#seriously I noticed the episodes were paced like family guy before I found out it was

[bloofbloofbloof]

Every comment section, page or fandom related site keeps talking about "what if the show was made for adults".

You're not going to get a serious melodrama, the writers worked for family guy.

[evilwickedme]

ok so to sum up my feelings for leverage: redemption, season 1(a): (long post warning, there’s a tl;dr at the end)

I knew that Hardison wouldn’t be in most of the season due to Aldis Hodge being a busy bee nowadays, but I didn’t realize that meant he’d only be around for the first two episodes. He was sorely missed, not only because of my attachment to him, but also because he’s usually the grounding factor in the group dynamic, and his role as info guy and tech guy was split evenly between two characters who had their own issues.

That said, Hardison is absolutely a highlight of the two episodes he’s in. his speech about redemption was everything I could’ve hoped for (plus, more evidence for the Jewish!Hardison pile...). I wish we’d gotten to see more of his dynamic with Breanna because what we saw was funny and sweet and we don’t generally get to see Hardison taking care of somebody who so desperately needs taking care of. I hope that Aldis Hodge is around for more episodes in 1(b), because what we’re left with feels a little hollow.

Sticking to original leverage characters for now, for the most part the leverage crew still felt true to the original series as characters, even if the show itself was a little bit confused at times. The actors understand their characters and embody them so well that I think one could give them the trashiest script ever and they’d still sell it. Sophie is a particular focus in 1(a) because of Nate’s death, and she’s particularly well written as a result.

That said, I’m super bitter that we saw little to no mastermind!Parker. Parker’s character being given the mastermind role was a big deal and it feels like they’re walking it back because they feel uncomfortable with it. It is eventually given an in-text excuse, but literally in the last episode, and it was not a particularly convincing reason, and in fact contradicted moments from previous episodes (Sophie leaving for a client meeting and ignoring Parker in ep3 comes to mind). It’s frustrating, it makes the end of the original leverage feel pointless, and letting Parker make a decision once in a while is not the same thing at all. The original series repeatedly showed us that while everyone in the team had their strengths, Parker works problems and solves them in unique, interesting ways, and other characters’ days in the limelight tended to be comedic or even failures. It’s a broken promise, and a pretty major broken promise at that.

On a more positive note, Parker’s dynamic with literally everyone was fantastic. She’s possibly the best written character this season. They’ve taken the autism out of the subtext and into the text (although obviously still undiagnosed), and given her coping mechanisms that were taken seriously in the text even when they were played for laughs, which I appreciated. Her attempts to mentor Breanna were sweet, her friendship with Sophie was electric and at times (CRIMES) hilarious, and as usual, she has a fantastic dynamic with Eliot that makes my heart burst. If you don’t think they’re romantically involved, at least acknowledge there’s a life partnership here. They’ve spent the last decade together.

(We’ll get to Harry.)

Eliot isn’t given much arc-wise, which is frustrating since he’s my favorite. He’s being presented as the goal at the end of a redemption arc, ie to keep working at it every day until your soul heals or whatever, and it doesn’t reflect the message they’re trying to convey via Hardison’s speech and our two new characters. He’s got his moments, but I think they under utilized his potential.

Breanna!!! Breanna’s my new favorite, except for Eliot. She’s hilarious, she’s insecure, she’s nerdy and excited in a way that’s similar to Hardison but still distinct in its inherent teenage-girl-ness and I LOVE IT. Unlike the previous series, where Hardison’s “age of the geek” was often a joke played on Hardison, we’re at the point where Eliot and Parker are both right there with him, and so they accept and even appreciate Breanna’s nerdiness. Also, canon gay character? In YOUR Leverage? It’s more likely than you think.

(No, I never thought they’d make ot3 canon on screen. I hoped, but I didn’t think it would actually happen.)

I think Breanna’s the character that will be the most interesting to see grow. She’s got a lot of potential and a list of crimes a mile long (or more). I adore her with all my heart. I want to see her tiktok account.

Harry. Oh, Harry.

It took me a while, but I do like Harry. It took a while, because the narrative positioned him at the same level as Nate back in episode 1 of original Leverage. But in episode 1 we didn’t know the other characters. We had Nate as the POV character, and so we cared about him because we were seeing the world through his eyes. (This is TV Studies 101. I know this, because I took TV Studies 101 in 2019.) In Leverage: Redemption, we no longer have a POV character, for several reasons:

Nate, previously the POV character, is dead.

As it is, by mid-season 3 of leverage Nate was no longer a POV character. This is, coincidentally, the point where the leverage writers realized they had four other characters in the main cast they could do something with, and in-universe, Nate accepted that he was a thief, not a special Good Man.

Sophie is sort of a POV character for the first episode of the revival, but only for the first few minutes. Afterwards, the series settles into the groove of seasons 3-5, i.e., the entire crew is our POV. We know our crew, and we love them as is.

Narratively, however, Redemption insists on positing Harry as the POV character, because it is his redemption we are pursuing most vehemently. And I think they really relied on us already knowing the actor - I’ve never seen him in anything before, so to me he was a completely fresh face and they put almost no effort into selling him to me. Beyond being competent and consistently mildly baffled by the antics of the leverage crew, I honestly don’t know who this man is by the end of EIGHT episodes with him. I have a much better handle on Breanna by the end of 1(a), and I can tell you I knew all five of the original leverage crew better by the end of the first episode of the original series than I do Harry. What’s the name of his daughter, John Rogers. Is he still married. How old is the daughter. Why is none of this worth mentioning. Give him a sense of humor that isn’t reacting to other people’s shenanigans. I’m so frustrated. It’s bad writing.

I did manage to grow to like Harry by the end, but I’m pretty sure this is down to Noah Wyle’s charismatic portrayal of an under-developed character, at least partially. And I never stopped being frustrated at not knowing who this man is at all.

The two highlights of the season are undoubtedly episodes five and six. Episode five was the first time I felt like the episode was more than a collection of good moments between the main cast and mediocre moments between the main cast and also the main plot. The issues with pacing and tone that I suffered through for most of the season were mostly non-existent in ep5 and 6, and at least in episode 5 I attribute that to the pared down cast. They had time to focus not only on our actual characters - Sophie, Parker, Breanna - but also on the case. This is the only client from 1(a) I am going to remember next week without googling it first, mark my words.

Episode six worked for the exact opposite reason - it completely disregarded the client and plot and immersed itself in the characters. Breanna gets a moment to shine, but everybody else gets their bits and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the script that was most fun to write. The characters felt natural, real, and captured the found-family dynamic that’s been missing all season for the first time.

While episode 2 is the weakest episode, I don’t actually have much to say about it. I am disappointed in episode 8. For a mid-season finale, I really expected them to do something. Instead, it was an episode about Nate Ford that copped out of being about Nate Ford (both with fake-Nate and with the new version of him being relayed to us). I would have told the writers to give that energy back to episode 1 and write an episode that’s about anybody who isn’t Harry, oh my God. I know I said I grew to like him but so many episodes were about Harry. He’s the newbie! Why didn’t Hardison get an episode that was actually about him, considering he was only around for two episodes? Why does Eliot have to be the butt of the joke when the theme of the series should directly tie back to him in a much more meaningful way? The last episode parodies their own tagline by saying Eliot isn’t just a hitter, but it deftly avoids noticing that they’ve turned him into nothing more than very muscly comic relief, including in that very episode!

Also, I hated the Marshal. Eliot actively looked uncomfortable around her.

tl;dr

The season took a while, that’s definitely true. But it did find its footing eventually, and by the halfway mark of 1(a) it finally felt cohesive again. The characters were played fantastically even when they weren’t well-written, and if nothing else, the humor landed every time. It still has its kinks and problems to work out, but if you look at it as a brand new show rather than a continuation of one that went off the air over eight years ago, it’s actually doing rather well. I’m choosing to judge it in both lights - according to its own standards, it establishes its identity in episode five; according to Leverage standards, it establishes its connection to its roots in episode six. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed 1(a), and continue to have high hopes for 1(b).

fic writing will commence in three, two, one...

[chaislatt]

WAYV AS HOGWARTS STUDENTS

QIAN KUN

ravenclaw , head boy, muggleborn

excels in every class he takes

when he first discovered he was magic, he flipped out

he had a matilda episode in his room one night

he was staring intently at his toy planes, wondering how it would be like to fly one someday

then suddenly it just?? levitated??

as an eight year old, he did the only thing he could do in such situations—scream bloody murder

first year : in his newly pressed robes and neatly gelled hair, sat at an empty compartment and started reading his textbooks

until the compartment door opened and a cat just walked over him

“oh sorry, leon doesn’t behave very well” says ten who he did not think would stick around but guess what? his cats liked him

being sorted into ravenclaw, he quickly became famous for being the smartest and wittiest most sensible? wizard of his year

he was especially great at charms got so surprised that there was an incantation to make things float, since all he has been doing is just think it (flitwick got a shock at his first year doing wandless magic)

as he grew older, almost everyone depended on him for help in everything

he couldn’t go a day walking in the corridors without someone asking to meet up at the library or thanking him because they aced their tests

but of course, this little ravenclaw had a limit

he didn’t mean to, but one day he just snapped at a poor gryffindor who kept bugging him to meet at the courtyard to practice spells (everyone finally left him alone, too scared to face the wrath of a wizard who knows all the spells for duelling)

OWLS year—the most memorable year for him, as he and ten spent nights in the library (and sometimes in the kitchen but if anyone asks only ten was in there) studying their bums off

that summer, ten just received a holler from him (surprise! he got all o’s)

naturally, he had been picked for prefect and head boy

the first years LOVED him

he taught them all the secrets to their tower and even handed them a parchment full of riddle answers, because let’s be real, even though you’re a ravenclaw doesn’t necessarily mean you want to use your head all the time

eats at the hufflepuff table because they have better breakfast items

adopted a whole assortment of kids with ten (winwin kinda just sticked around because yangyang was his buddy)

would be the boys’ go to— from pesky spells, ink blotts on their robes, th right grams for mandrake powder, they all depended on him for it

hendery was once asked why he wasn’t scared of him (knowing what happened before)

“he’s not dumb enough to duel someone because they’re bugging him. that’s why he’s in ravenclaw”

overall 9/10. minus one point because he still feels the need to get the last remark in everything.

LI YONGQIN

hufflepuff, pureblood

loves hanging out at the common room

doesn't really care much for grades, but does his best when studying

his housemates call him a sloth

moves so slow, especially in the mornings

likes taking walks along the corridors because it's fun to see other students rush and run to their classes while he walks a leisurely pace

always has his tie loosened

sometimes, he doesn't even tie it, he just wraps it around his collar and hope no one notices everyone does

has a talent for transfiguration

will turn anything into cat snacks

he once turned his homework in kibble and his excuse was "my cat ate it"

befriends all the cats in hogwarts

sometimes he lays down at the courtyard and they all just gather around him

one legendary moment (as lucas likes to call it) was when he was walking down the corrider and a train of cats just followed behind him in a single file

sweet wizard boy, befriends humans as well

he's so likeable, everyone just feels drawn to him

has this laidback energy that feels like a breath of fresh air when things get hectic in the castle

speaking of fresh air

he likes to stroll around outside, most of the time dragging yangyang and winwin out with him

"winwin could use the fresh air and your voice doesn't echo" - ten to yangyang

his sister is friends with yangyang's sister, so growing up he kind of babysat the three whenever their families would be together

he didn't imagine that it would continue during school, but poor winwin looked like he just wanted to get his head bitten off

despite having a lot of friends, he sticks with kun most of the time because he's not as chatty when he's focused (and kun is focused all the time so)

his favourite thing to do anywhere is lay down on his back and play with his wand, sending wisps of magic swirling around in the air, creating beautiful artwork

received pencils and a notebook from kun so he could just draw because "your magic might hit someone and i do not want to be involved with any of that"

doodles all the time

he likes to draw butterflies and magic them off of the paper and makes them follow his friends around

doesn't really say much when no one's talking to him, but will keep the conversation going casually

wanted to become a prefect so he could have his own bathroom

would patrol around at night with his cats (hendery jokes how he looks like filch and now he takes his filch impersonation seriously)

when catching students, he makes obvious remarks like "oh wow good to know that there aren't any gryffindors in this corridor! it would be an awful hassle to report them. good thing everyone's in their chambers!"

very lenient on students he doesn't know, but will threaten those he does and ask for something in return

accidentally gave yangyang the idea of becoming a prefect so he needn't have to worry at night

also accidentally gives yangyang dare ideas to give to hendery

he doesn't mean it! most of the time

overall 10/10. everything is cancelled out by the fact that he goes around the castle with atleast 2 cats following him around.

DONG SICHENG

slytherin, pureblood

mr frowns-a-lot, mr don’t-talk-to-me, mr i-want-to-go-back-to-my-dorm

the most stereotyped slytherin

first years believe that slytherins are scary because of him (but they immediately get debunked by hendery “you’re scared of a tall dude who gets tired from talking and likes to eat chocolate? yeah okay”)

but yes this not so little bean finds talking draining

it’s not that he doesn’t want to, but why would he have to talk about his day when as far as he knows, everyone just did the same thing he did??

you can barely get a sentence out of him

will reply with nods or shrugs and just point or look at things

only talks during class when the professors ask him questions

yangyang bugs him the most

when he got assigned to take care of this chatty, full of energy first year he almost cried

ended up just following him around and yanking the back of his robes to stop him from getting into trouble

because of this, yangyang’s friend are his friends

first got introduced to xiaojun, lucas, and hendery

ended up becoming a babysitter for four

when he met ten, he almost cried again, but now out of happiness  because he got yangyang to shut up

met kun last, and immediately took a liking to him for no reason at all

no one knows how, but suddenly mr-i-dont-want-to-do-anything started getting more mischievous and talkative

the whole hall got surprised when he laughed at lucas’ lame joke

this may be an exaggeration but the boy doesn’t even smile

after this incident, lucas just kept talking to him and he just kept replying, and pretty soon the four little troublemakers would joke around with him and he’d just sit back with kun and ten when he got too tired

this made him attractive

but unlike lucas who got confessed to everyday, there was no one who confessed to him

he didn’t really talk to anyone else and just minded his own business when he was alone, so everyone was too scared to confess to him

which is a huge relief to him because the not so little bean is actually very awkward

proven when hendery accepted yangyang’s dare of going right up in winwin’s face omygod when i tell you his whole face turned red

he avoided hendery for a week until he realized it was too hard since they have most of their classes together??

speaking of classes, it’s a miracle how he just passes everything since no one actually ever sees him studying or doing homework

it’s like everything he does is magic well

overall 7/10. doesn’t really try that much and will only voluntarily hang out with kun.

HUANG XUXI

hufflepuff, halfblood

was tiny, like a little bug

no one knows when he got so tall (summer of second year, he had to buy new robes for third year because they were already too short)

spends breakfast half awake, focusing on eating his meal and listening to yangyang complain about how hard his transfiguration classes yesterday were

he’s never around for dinner because he’s always at the pitch and no one has the energy to talk to yangyang in the mornings so he’s the poor guy

everyone loves him, no one can find a single thing to hate about him even if they tried

loves care for magical creatures with hagrid (he measures his height with the half-giant)

other classes? not so much

sure he tried a little bit, but why would he need to transfigure something into a pen when he could just look for one, and why would he need to concoct a drowsiness potion if he can just will himself to sleep

speaking of sleep, he does that a lot

he likes to wait for xiaojun during fourth period because they had arithmancy next, and he would lean against the corridor and sleep

learned how to sleep hunched over so it looked like he was focusing on class (begs whoever he’s sitting with to wake him up)

why does he do this?

“i’m saving up my energy for later”

he’s a quidditch beast

part of the quidditch team, originally tried out for seeker but they realized he couldn’t go fast enough without loosing his balance on his broom

he switched to being a beater, which the team found out he was very good at aha great power comes with great biceps

everyone falls in love with him when he’s on the pitch

he looks big and scary and ultra focused

and they realized after 3 games that he focuses so much because he aims the bludger to hit the player’s upper thigh only (this prevents player from taking a fall and just bruise, not break a bone)

once he accidentally sent his bludger flying too hard and knocked the chaser off, but he was faster than the seeker and caught them (followed the poor chaser for a week saying sorry and giving them semi burnt cookies he made with xiaojun)

gets confessed to every other day and just says “thanks”

but why don’t you ever reject them? 

why deny that i’m handsome?

that makes no sense

as with rejecting them! 

but truly is an angel

he even got winwin to actually converse with him

he makes everyone feel comfortable, talks to everyone and just hangs around when they don’t want to, offering company

overall 10/10. his cockiness about his looks just makes him endearing since everyone knows he can’t break someone’s heart.

XIAO DEJUN

ravenclaw, halfblood

kun’s reincarnation

but there’s one problem

he’s still immature

you would think he’s the prime example of a ravenclaw

practices his passions all the time

likes doing brain-productive things

reads about anything he finds interesting

goes in and out of their tower because he thinks solving the riddles is fun

but ho ho ho oh oh no

he’s a little devil

makes snarky comebacks under his breath that takes a little bit for you to understand

makes things harder on purpose just for fun and because he’ll be the only one able to do it

has a joke for EVERYTHING and never repeats them so i guess he can get away with that

he’s a little menace to the society but he can get away with it because it’s all just minor inconveniences

but we all know minor inconveniences are the most annoying things

likes to annoy kun the most because he understands and reacts immediately

doesn’t like to annoy the hufflepuffs because they just smile at him in confusion

despite that, he’s also a little sweetheart

remembers everything his friends say, so he’s always there to remind them

reminds kun about a test he has to retake, ten about his changing patrolling schedule, winwin’s meeting with a professor, lucas’ need to polish his broom after dinner, hendery’s homework, and yangyang about that incoming howler from his parents

when he realized he’s such a great asset, he became a bit nosy too

likes to meddle with all of his friends’ business

so if someone wants to find any of the six, he can tell you a vague description where they are

because of course he’s not gonna tell you lucas is by the lake practicing his swinging, he’s gonna tell you he’s brushing up on his quidditch skills so you’d go running to the pitch

this way he’s not technically doing anything wrong to both parties

one day, kun asks why he likes doing this

“it makes me feel like a king maker. feeding things into their tiny brains and knowing exactly what they’ll be doing”

“that’s not exactly what a king maker does”

“yeah but does it look like i want them to be more powerful than me?”

co-parents a dog with lucas

aka lucas asked him to take care of bella while he’s in practice but he forgot to take her back with him for 2 days so now bella thinks she lives in the ravenclaw tower too

does random errands for his friends as a way of apologizing (but really just as a leverage so he can cause more trouble)

his ultimate goal was to brainwash everyone so they couldn’t live without him and he succeeded????

now they’re the receiving end of all the sermons his professors give him (you wouldn’t expect it, but he causes quite a ruckus in class)

but still, at the end of the day, they choose to sit next to him at the ravenclaw table during dinner

overall 7/10. he’s annoying, but he’s good at everything he does and helps his friends out in different ways. which makes him more annoying because why? why not

HUANG GUANHENG

gryffindor, muggleborn

does not understand magic. like at all

the only reason he’s still managing is because he refuses to be beaten by xiaojun

he doesn’t know why he’s in gryffindor but anyone who’s ever met him can vouch for the sorting hat

he’s courageous in the way he faces learning magic (it won’t hurt me, i’m magic) he's brave to speak up to anyone and ask for help when he needs it, and most of all, he has the nerve to get right into winwin’s face

surprisingly good at harder spells than that of his year level, so he’s in a few higher level classes

the reason being he wants to save face when with upperclassmen so he actually focuses real hard and actually understands 

because when he’s with his friends, his mind goes wandering and he can’t focus his magic 

a very strange wizard indeed

imagine getting help from xiaojun to levitate a piece of parchment but can explain to ten how to brew an advanced potion

he’s very confident in his abilities

why would he be nervous to stay after curfew??

if filch catches you

then don’t i just have to avoid him??

but has realistic fears

will not go near a broom

yeah okay the broom can fly, but can he?? he can’t even levitate a piece of parchment, how can he levitate himself?

also very practical

lucas kept struggling since he kept spilling his ink pot so he handed him a pen

“dude i forgot these existed!” “who writes with feathers??”

the most laid back yet extra ordinary wizard ever

you can start a conversation with him and he can keep it going for hours on end

very friendly, will talk to anyone but the downside to this is that he talks to everyone like they’re his friends asdkjshjkd even mcgonagall

overall 7/10. uses magic to solve trivial muggle things and still makes bets with yangyang up to this day.

LIU YANGYANG

slytherin, pureblood

a force to be reckoned with

spend a day with him and your ears will bleed

why?? does?? he?? talk?? so?? much??

his friends always complain but everyone else in the castle can’t see why

in the eyes of a stranger, he’s actually cold and reserved, hard to approach

but if you actually knew him

oh boy you’d want to not

can talk for hours

he and hendery wanted to know just how long he could talk

so they timed it

talked for 9 hours straight, no one knows how they managed

good thing this talking is actually useful

he likes to recite during class, always has a lengthy explanation for his answers

people aren’t the only one he talks to

he talks to the ghosts and to the paintings, greeting them a lovely day or whatever

besides talking, he also has another passion–quidditch

he plays as chaser for his house, often times taking his time to freshen up, so he goes back at about midnight during thursdays

good thing ten patrols during thursdays

speaking of ten, he’s been a brother figure for him all his life

so when he was introduced to winwin, he got so excited because he had another brother

by the end of the night, fourth year winwin knew everything about first year yangyang

he loooves his buddy

tries to do everything with winwin but he doesn’t let him

despite being too much to handle, winwin actually likes him too (but don’t let yangyang know)

likes to do dumb dares with hendery

isn’t really into pranking and getting all up into other’s business, so they manage their mischief between the two of them

and the whole of hogwarts just enjoys and guesses which of the two would be the one running around the great hall in their pajamas

yangyang actually encourages his fellow slytherins to stop sticking among themselves

mostly because he’s tired of them bugging him to “go ask your gryffindor friend if there’s homework on-”

at the end of the day, all his slytherin friends have been adopted by ten, took a liking to kun, and watches lucas, xiaojun and hendery fool around for entertainment

that being said, he loves his friends

thankful that he has classes with at least one of them for all his classes

all his professors have learned to sit him next to them, otherwise he’ll just slack off and stare into oblivion

he’s actually more productive when he has someone to remind him to be

okay maybe sitting him next to hendery wouldn’t result to school productivity

overall 9/10. it would be an 8 but he actually does acknowledge he talks too much.

[lovely-necromancy]

A Cure for Insomnia CH.5

A scream shocks you out of your fuzzy thoughts. You look around and notice Connor sitting alert and looking like he wants to run down the hallway this very instant.

“Connor?” the head snaps to you immediately and before you can even question his presence in your home he jumps up and barks then walks in circles near the door.

Great a dog who has no sense of horror movie tropes. Since the scream did come from inside your house you should go find the person who made it and see what's wrong. Also maybe get clarification on why they're in your home. You aren't dead and are still in the same clothes so you figure you're alright around them. You follow Connor to where Toby is, in your kitchen staring out the window standing at a very odd angle. Like he caught himself before he fell backwards but hadn't bothered to get up.

“What's up....oh.” is all you can say as you see Chonk's head whip towards you and Connor before he books it for the tree line. Damn that fat raccoon can run fast, good to know if he ever wants to chase you down in the future. Which he might if you don't leave his slice of pizza out today.

“'oh' 'oh', that's all yo-you've got to say about a giant fuck-ing ra-mrrow- raccoon!?!” maybe thinking this guy was composed and unphased was a misconception, if seeing Chonk has put his world views in question.

“I mean he probably just eats a lot of pizza.” to put it simply you never gave much thought to the fat little trash thief, he was just fat and he existed. Visiting your home for the slice he deemed his every other week. Probably had other homes in Kepler he terrorized for the same reasons. God knows Leo would never put up with a raccoon trashing his store for his pizza. Or even his home for that matter.

“He's nearly half the size of Connor!” looking down towards Connor you tilt your head.

“Are we talking about with his legs or just his torso?” you could maybe see the size comparison with the dog's body but with his height it was a different matter all together.

Toby rolls his eyes before going and sitting down at the small breakfast table where he seemed to have found your fidget cube and had been well fidgeting with it. You take the seat opposite of him, it's weird having a guest over especially when you didn't invite them in. Well now that removes the chances of him being a vampire you suppose.

Perfect not a kidnapper, nor a vampire, and he's helped you out twice now. The two of you might well be on your way to becoming best friends. That is if he could get past this episode of yours.

“I still don't know what happened last night, but I'm done with the freak out.” you say as you idly pet Connor.

“...What?” he's squinting at you trying to get a read on how anyone bounces back from something like that so calmly in a matter of hours. Especially when he'd been checking up on you and Connor only to see you still staring off into space.

“Oh, uh... I have Autism. Isn't good for much but helps me rationalize events quicker and move past emotional and mental breakdowns pretty quick too.”

“Is that an Autism thing?” you shrug at his question as he jerks his shoulders forwards a few times.

“Probably more of a me thing, but I've read the trait tends to be more common in those of us who are neurodivergent.”

You hear a murmur of telling someone later later. Filing that away to take note of another day you stare at Toby who in turn stares back. This goes on for a bit, you couldn't even classify it as a staring contest since you are both still blinking occasionally. You aren't really sure if you should say 'thank you' first and then ask the man what he's doing in your home or wait for him to break the silence. But as you stare at Toby, into his eyes, you get the feeling this man is more of a zombie than anything else. The type to drag along and go at a snails pace rather than get into the messy bits in one go...ironic choice for comparison.

“Thank you for driving me home...but why are you still here?” you hear a huff of laughter?

“You weren't really in a position...” knuckles pop “to be left alone. What if you got back into your car again?” his eyes cut and there's a bit of bite to his words...it wasn't directed towards you, you can feel that much.

“Fair enough.” you glance at the stove and see the clock shine a little before six. “Would you like some breakfast” his neck snaps to the left triggering your own to snap as well, “or a ride home?” you finish asking.

“Can you make something for Connor too? Don't trust you behind the wheel yet.”

“Oh sure! What does he normally eat?” Perking up at the thought of the dog being off duty, that means actual pets!

“He-mrrow- normally gets oatmeal with some fruit or veg and anything raw I can find.” He finishes with a whistle for Connor's attention, and then a pointed finger flipping down in front of him. The dog trots over and sits down, while Toby takes off the vest you look through your cupboards to find the rolled oats you'd gotten as incentive to eat in the mornings before realizing you only liked them on certain days.

“So what does Tobias normally eat?” you call out as you look for some honey you know you threw in the cupboards.

“Anything really. I don't do slimy textures or anything watery.”

“Watery? Like soups?” Found a can of pumpkin, it's still in date too, perfect.

“Watery like...when you put too much water in oatmeal.” He nods when you silently show him the can of pumpkin asking if that'd be fine for his boy, who is sitting down drooling from his smiling face as Toby tussles his ears.

“Ahhh, thin watery got it.” You hear movement and a few grunts from Toby as you assume he tics, trying to ignore them so they won't trigger your own you look through the fridge. You suddenly take a deep breath, while looking for a meat in your fridge, and let out a shrill trill. Kinda sounds like a Togepi's cry from the cartoon. Shaking your head your eyes catch the eggs and turkey sausages you have.

“Will turkey sausage and eggs work for you two?”

“Never had turkey sausage but it should be fine.” he's leaning forward resting his head in his arms on the table as Connor lays by his bouncing feet.

You set the eye to medium heat and put the sausages on first, leaving three out for Connor. He is a big dog after all. You turned your focus on preparing Connor's oatmeal while the sausages cooked. It was kinda nice having company over even though the circumstances weren't the best. Your neck jerks to the side three times before pulling back. There's more on the way your neck didn't crack and your body doesn't let up until it does.

“So what disorder do you have?” You turn to give Toby a confused look you hope he can read through your mask.

“...I have a few..you want the list?”

“No, the tics. Lower level Tourettes or what?”

“Oh, they stem from my” head jerking twice to the side before cracking “there we go.” “Sorry, they stem from my Autism, at least that's the best I can gather without seeing a specialist. Virginia doctors suck big time.”

“Tell me about it.” that perks you right up, you knew you caught a transatlantic accent, it's pretty much the lack of an accent that gives Virginians away so easily. You already have two guesses on where Toby came from.

“I knew it, you're from Halifax aren't you?!” Since you've turned around to face him you see the exact moment his face drops. Eyes shocked wide open.

“How...did”

“Oh it's easy once you know what to listen for, in fact it was the total lack of any distinguishing accent or use of slang that gave you a way. A lot of people don't notice what they take from their communities linguistically speaking. And for us Virginians it's what we don't take. It's such a bland neutral midpoint it's why it had been so coveted during the radio era and while we might've lost the in-fluctuations as time went by, no longer needing them for our voices to be heard over various frequencies....am I talking too much you can tell me to shut up, really you won't hurt my feelings.” you give Toby a minute to process everything you've just said.

“Special interest?”

“mmm, more a...an interesting factoid.” you hope he registers your smile, hell you hope he doesn't think you're weird. You know how much you can be sometimes, especially when you info dump or overshare information. He manages to nod along with you before finding his voice again.

“Lemme guess NOVA?”

“Pfft, seriously.” you really need him to at least register the disgust on your face if he hasn't been able to read you before, “Listen the Beach isn't much better but I'd probably off myself if I was from NOVA.”

“A public service really.”

You both stare at each other before breaking into a fit of laughter. It's nothing huge but it does seem to put Toby more at ease you noticed. In the time it took you to make breakfast for all three of you you've found out a little bit more about Toby.

He's uncomfortable talking about his hometown, at least you assume, so instead he mentions that he recently came to town with his friends, Brian and Tim. Talks mostly about Connor and you learn he's to help alert Toby of his Tourettes when driving and he can even detect seizures with Brian. That's amazing, service dogs have sure come a long way! And you love hearing what a silly puppy Connor is off duty, it makes you smile. Toby in turn asks about you, and you are such a well of stories. You tell him about your family back on the coast, about your recent move to Kepler, give him a little info on Kepler to help him adjust to his stay, and even get on the topic of your extensive work with animals.

“Sounds like you were working towards being a trainer, why didn't you?”

Making a sound that sort of sounds like a jumbled 'I dunno', “Sort of don't like people that much. Dogs are fine, less complex and less likely to complain when you do something in a different way. But a trainer doesn't train the dog, they train the people.” You're placing Connor's food in front of him as he sits patiently.

It's quiet for a moment as you place a plate in front of Toby and set yours down as well. Not tense just quiet, it's very calming really. Until Toby ruins it.

“Thanks Connor.”

Like he's a voice actor who is over exaggerating the sound effects of a dog munching away at their bowl. Connor inhales harshly before diving head first into the bowl. The dog is ferociously tearing into his breakfast and you can't help the laughter that spills from you at his enthusiasm. Hands coming up near your face and shaking as you shift from foot to foot. It's a happy stim, cute dogs are of course a trigger, someone can complain later you're happy to see a happy excited pup any day.

Taking your seat and turning your attention to your food, you see Toby hasn't touched his own. He's staring at the plate with a furrowed brow, he glances up to you as you remove your mask. You feel a bit vulnerable to be honest.

“Oh is something wrong? Do you want something else?”  He's a guest who's helped you twice now the least you can do is make sure he leaves your home full.

It takes a moment but he gathers his thoughts to explain, “I have a scar...it's pretty bad.” he looks away from you.

You tilt your head not quiet understanding what he means, “Cool story, do you want me to look away?”

He stalls at this, you just keep throwing him for a loop since you met the other day. While he thinks on it you scoop some of your eggs on your spoon and into your mouth. Perfect texture and prefect flavor, today will be good.

Toby seems to have made his decision and without any show he takes his mask off to begin eating. You can see the scar he was talking about, and while the currently red and bleeding'?!' scar on the left corner of his mouth was bad it wasn't much compared to the gaping hole further up that side on his cheek. You can clearly see the even whiter, how this boy is so pale is beyond you, skin around the edges suggesting the wound was older and had started to heal at some point. But you could see most of the teeth on the left side of his mouth. You've never seen these teeth while they were still in the head. A skull or 3D model yea. But never a living breathing person's head. It's fascinating really, you hadn't even noticed that you finished your breakfast as you watched him eat, you were so enthralled.

“You know your lip's bleeding right?” eyes never leaving the boy's teeth as you see them grind down the eggs into the tiniest particles. Neat!

“Rwhatf?” the way he can talk with his mouth full without spilling it from the hole is fucking magic and you won't hear another word on it.

He takes a drink of water, again it doesn't spill. Then you notice the slight tilt of his head...oh he's had practice doing this. Impressive honestly.

“That's what you choose to comment on?” his eyes narrow at you're still gawking form.

“I'm sorry I've just never seen those type of teeth still in head, normally muscle and...and skin cover them. So this is really cool to see them in action!” gosh you're so damn weird. By his stupefied expression Toby seems to think so too.

“Plus the wound looks healed but the lips look fresh,” you get up and grab a few paper towels bringing them over to offer to Toby, “Not to mention it's bleeding and you haven't once wiped it.”

He doesn't reply as he takes the napkins from you and dabs at his scarred lip, looking back and seeing blood just as you said. He was right when he thought he'd been biting himself a few hours ago. He'd totally forgotten to check after getting you home.

“Well I don't feel it so I didn't know actually.” he just resumes eating as if this conversation didn't happen.

“Didn't, didn't, didn't” you get stuck in a loop for a bit before breaking out “you didn't feel it? What do you have congenital insensitivity to pain?” you ask incredulously.

“I haven't heard it called that since I got diagnosed.” still eating he looks at you through his long eyelashes.

This dude could not be a real person. You had to have been imagining your dream friend. Everything you learned about Toby was more interesting than the last...at least for you it was.

“Medical history podcasts are interesting.” you shrug, “should I get the first aid kit?” at his shrug you get up and go to your bathroom to retrieve the kit.

Coming back into the kitchen you catch Toby lowering your plates for Connor to lick clean. You don't see a problem with it but you will wash everything twice since the pup has slobbered on nearly everything anyway. When you don't say anything he lets Connor continue before placing the dishes in your sink.

“Such a big help” you say patting Connor's head as you pass him, “Yea I really am” Toby says as he sits back down. Propping his arm up on the table to rest his head on his knuckles, it was such a fluid and casual motion. As if he's sat at this table everyday of his life, like this was his home and you were his guest. Tied in with how comfy he is man spreading at your kitchen table you'd say he made himself at home just fine.

You smile and scoot your chair next to him first aid kit in between you on the table. Toby looks between you and the kit before leaning in closer for you to work. Grabbing the antiseptic cleaning towels you go to wipe Toby's lip when he flinches away. Probably faking to see your reaction.

“Oh, fuck off you have CIPA.” you laugh grabbing his chin to keep him in place. He rolls his eyes “And you're weird.” The vibrations feel weird against your fingers.

“I know.” you continue cleaning the small bite mark? Well he does have CIPA he wouldn't be able to feel the pain if he was gnawing at his lips. Would he be able to taste the metallic tang of his blood or were taste buds effected by the disorder too? You might need to do another deep dive on this, it just became relevant. Maybe an anxious tic, judging from the larger wound it could be possible. Wearing a mask must help to hide it but not not to stop it getting worse if no one can call you out on it.

“That wasn't an insult...” he says making you look up into his eyes as you dry the wound, “I know.” You smile down at him, knowing this time he can see it on your maskless face.

When you finished cleaning his wounded lips, you drove Toby and Connor back to their home. Which turned out to be the RV at the forgotten entrance of the forest. Toby had been a little wary you knew where he was talking about but seemed to shake it off just as quick when you mentioned hiking a lot and using that entrance because it was the closest to you.

He had put Connor's vest back on and hopped in the back with him. You noticed from the review that Connor's full attention was on you.

“This set up let's him focus on the driver, so he'll tell us if something will impede your driving.” Well that explains Brian's position the first time you four met.

Nodding you sync you phone with the car's bluetooth and pass it to Toby with spotify open.

“Rules of the road, passenger picks music.” you say simply when he questioned it.

He quickly clicked your last playlist. Probably either too lazy to find something or trying to get a better read on you. Music says a lot about a person even if not everyone thinks that way. And unfortunately for you this playlist screams mental illness and a need for therapy. But you have folk punk. So who needs therapy when you can just scream cry these lyrics.

Toby doesn't comment on it, either just totally apathetic or maybe he likes it. He's a bit of an enigma, he's open and honest for the most part but saves his opinions unless directly asked.

Even after making it to the RV without incident Toby tries to distract you for a bit and tempt you out of the car with the possibility of playing with Connor. As fun as the idea sounds and as much as you don't want to be rude, you're very tired and drained. Probably more from “hanging out” with Toby this morning than your actual episode last night. Plus you understand Toby's just trying to be nice and maybe ensure your safety.

“Could I maybe rain-check? I'm actually really tired.” you say with your most polite smile, though he can't see it through the mask  you know he sees the crinkle of your eyes.

“Sure, just get home safe.” you feel that's less about you, but you aren't sure what the hanging subject is. So cryptic.

“Yup,” you chirp, “See you later Tobias!” as you start to back out back onto the road you hear Toby say “ Later YN.”

Driving off you can't keep the smile off of your face. Toby's a nice guy, you hope you get to spend more time with him. And this time the thought isn't centered around also hanging out with Connor. Just about enjoying Toby's company.

Getting home and locking your door you strip your jeans and flannel, leaving you only in your muscle tee, and curl up in your unkempt sheets. You'll do laundry later, right now was time for a little nap.

[avengerscompound]

The Tower: Family - 7

The Tower: Family An Avengers Fanfic

Series Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Pairing:  Avengers x OFC, Bruce Banner x Bucky Barnes x Clint Barton x Wanda Maximoff x Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff x Tony Stark x Thor x Sam Wilson x OFC (Elly Cooper)

Word Count: 1896

Warnings:  Pregnancy, smut (MF, oral sex, vaginal sex, electrostimultion).

Synopsis: With new powers, Thor now living on Earth full time, a wedding to plan, and Natasha and Wanda expecting, a lot is changing for Elly and her large and rather unconventional family.  When Elise’s parents try to reestablish connections, Elly questions what being a family actually means.

Chapter 7: Glass Making

Our honeymoon was spent between the bed, the beach, and the pool.  Everyone went into full time, holiday mode for once. We were relaxing and just enjoying each other.  I was proud of them for just being able to turn off the way they all did.  I thought Steve would keep checking in with Hill and Fury, but I never caught him doing that once.  Instead, he was mostly out in the ocean with Thor, Clint, and Wanda, or at the bar with Tony and Sam.

There were a few small complications.  Bucky was having a little bit of a problem with sand and the salt air with his arm, but Tony would use an air compressor to clean it out when he needed it.  Mornings could be a little rough with Wanda’s and Natasha’s morning sickness, but with the right combination of ginger pills and bland food it usually passed before lunch and we’d spend the rest of the day sunbathing, swimming, going to the spa, or fucking.  Most of the time we were just relaxing and having fun.

There was a buzz of excitement about me getting pregnant too, and Tony was extremely protective of me, which I found very funny.  There was a firm rule; ‘the only dicking down Elise gets is his’.  He seemed to really want to make sure that baby was biologically his.

It wasn’t until the second week that Tony wasn’t just hovering over me all the time, ready to try again at a moment's notice.  I was taking the time to just relax on the beach, stretching out topless on a rug and getting some sun.  Thor came striding down the sand wearing nothing except a pair of dark blue swim trunks.  He had a bright pink frozen cocktail in one hand and Mjolnir hanging from the other.

“Elise,” he boomed, coming over and sitting beside me.  “You are without your shadow.”

I chuckled and lowered my sunglasses, looking at him over the top of them.  “Mmm… it’s nice isn’t it?”

Thor placed the glass down in the sand and Mjolnir above my head on the rug.  He leaned down on his elbow so he was hovering over me and looked down into my eyes.  “Very nice,” he agreed and brought his lips to mine.  His hand ran up my side and caressed under the curve of my breast.  I moaned softly and arched my back so my breast pushed up into his hand.

“Is Tony not being here a big turn on?” I giggled as he broke the kiss and began to kiss down my chest and latched on to my breast.

“My wife lying half-naked on the beach is a turn on,” he said looking up at me as his fingers danced down my stomach and slipped into my bikini bottoms.

I moaned and reached down and palmed his cock through his trunks.  “I’ll have to do it more often then.”

“It is just good to see your inhibitions dropped,” he said as he slowly fingered my clit “There are always so many people to worry about doing such things.  It is exciting, is it not?”

“Oh yes,” I gasped, rolling my hips up against this hand.  His cock hardened under my hand, and I outlined it with my palm as I stroked it up and down.

Thor chuckled and pushed my legs apart before kneeling between them.  “Try not to attract too much attention,” he teased before pushing my bikini bottoms to the side and running his tongue up in a wide swipe.

I hummed and closed my eyes, tangling my hands in his hair and tugging on it lightly.  He began to slowly and methodically lap at my cunt.  I rolled my hips against his face as he very gradually increased his pressure and pace and became more focused.  Despite his warning not to attract attention, he was in no hurry to get this over with.

My cunt tingled and my toes curled.  I gripped his hair and pushed him harder against my cunt grinding it against his face.  He groaned loudly and pushed two fingers inside me.  He twisted them inside me and spread them, adding a burn to the buzz traveling through me.  I rocked my hips faster and faster as I got closer and closer to the edge.  Just as I was sitting right there on the edge, Thor pushed his fingers against my g-spot and I came, bucking up against his face.

He groaned drinking up the fluids that gushed from me.  He started to crawl back up my body, pushing down his trunks just enough to free his cock.

“Woah,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder.  “Where do you think that’s going?”

“You don’t want it, Elise?” He purred, kissing my neck and palming my cunt.

“Thor,” I moaned, rolling my hips against his hand without even meaning to.  “Not until I’m pregnant.”

“But you are, my queen,” he said, his hands still sending waves of pleasure running through me.

I froze and looked up at him.  “What?”

“I just noticed as I came over, mea vida,” Thor whispered.  “You are with child.”

Tears pricked my eyes and I pulled him down into a deep and passionate kiss.  As his lips caressed mine and his tongue flicked into my mouth, he sunk his cock deep inside of me.  I moaned into the kiss and wrapped my arms around him, holding him close as he rolled his hips with mine, pulling himself up so that the base of his cock rubbed against my clit.

I raised my hips and pulled my knees up and he moved to his knees and pulled me up more, starting to fuck me hard.  He leaned down, his spine curving, and his muscles flexing as he pounded into me.  I reached my hands over my head and my hand wrapped around Mjolnir’s handle.  A crackle went through both of us.  It made my muscles clench and my hips buck up hard.  I cried out and lightning started to dance on our skin and blue plasma leaked from our eyes.

“My goddess,” Thor groaned, looking down at me.  I cradled his jaw and we began to move as one.  He leaned down and kissed me deeply.  Everything was intense, there was no thought of no longer attracting attention, we were loud and bright.  Electricity danced along the sand, turning it to glass as we got closer and closer to our orgasms.

“Oh god,” I mewled, arching my back up.  He angled his cock so the head hit my g-spot again and again.  “Thor, Thor, I’m so close.”

“I am with you, lover.  With me,” he groaned and picked up his pace.

We came as one, I cried out arched right up off the rug and Thor roared and he jerked inside me and released.  A crash of lightning exploded out of us and burst up and along the sand.

As everything settled, I collapsed back panting.  The ground was hard under me and when Thor rolled from on top of me onto his back he started to laugh in a soft deep rumble.  “I think we marked our spot,” he chuckled.

The gate that led to our bungalow opened and Clint and Steve came out.  “Well, well, well, what have you two been up to?”  Clint teased.

“That thunderclap scared the shit out of me,” Steve added.

“Sorry,” Thor laughed as he got up and I put my bikini top back on.  “We were taking a moment and Elise took hold of Mjolnir.  Two thunder gods coming together like that will always make a mark.”

“Jesus,” Clint said, coming over and kneeling beside us.  He brushed the sand away from the glass on the ground.  “You can say that again.  You made a sex sculpture.”

I got up and moved the rug.  Beneath where we had a thick piece of glass had formed.  Branching out from the large center where we lay were long tendrils of glass that resembled the roots of a tree.  “That is beautiful,” I said.  “Can we keep it?  I bet it would look amazing in a fountain.”

“Yes, that’s what we need, El,” Clint teased.  “A big ol’ sex sculpture.”

I pouted and Steve sighed.  “Thor and I will dig it up and put it on the jet.”

I ran over and kissed his cheek.  “Thank you, Steve.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist and drew me close.  “Weren’t you supposed to be holding off on penetrative sex until we knew you were pregnant?”

I smiled up at him.  “I am pregnant.”

Steve’s eyes went wide and then softened.  “Really?”

I nodded, tearing up again.  “It is true,” Thor added.

“Oh, El,” Steve said and leaned in and kissed me deeply.  Clint moved up quickly and when Steve pulled back, Clint pulled me into his arms and kissed me too.

I pulled back and leaned against Clint as his calloused fingers brushed over my stomach.  “El, I think there’s someone you need to go tell before everyone else.”

I nodded.  “Yeah. Yes.  I’ll go do it.”

“And tonight we’ll have a nice family meal on the beach to celebrate,” Steve said.  “Four new children.  This is going to be interesting.”

“You’re telling me,” Clint said.  “Thank god we’re getting nannies.”

I flicked through the threads, locking on to Tony’s and I followed it to where he was sitting at the Bar with Sam.

“There she is,” Sam said with a slight slur in his voice.  He held out his hand to me, and I took it and let him draw me in against him.

“What was the bang?”  Tony said.  “Gave me a minor heart episode.”

“I was making lightning with Thor,” I said.

“Well, warn a guy next time,” Tony said.  “Were you looking for us?  Ready to try again?”

I smiled and took Tony’s hand, putting it on my stomach.  This was what it was supposed to be like when you were having kids.  People were supposed to be there for you and be excited.  I was so happy to be getting it now and I wanted to drag it out as long as I could.  “I’ll doink you if you want.”

“Doink,” Sam giggled.  “You’re so sexy, princess.”

“I know I am,” I teased.  “We don’t need to try anymore though.  So it would just be recreational doinking.”

Tony blinked at me as Sam wrapped me in his arms and kissed my neck.  “Congratulations, babe,” Sam whispered.

“Seriously?”  Tony asked.

“Yeah.  Thor just told me,” I said smiling and playing with Tony’s fingers.  “You happy?”

He seemed to be frozen and in the moment between heartbeats, I began to panic that he’d changed his mind and he was going to panic again.

All at once, he lit up, a huge smile crossing his face.  He drew me into his arms and kissed me deeply.  His hands going into my hair.  I started to cry as we kissed, my emotions getting the best of me.  I was so happy.  Tony pulled back and brushed the tears from my cheek.  “Why are you crying?”  He asked.

I shook my head.  “I just… can’t believe we get this life.”

He smiled and pulled me close.  “Me either, honey,” he whispered.  “But we do, so let’s just enjoy it.”

// NEXT

[serenityseventeen]

Love & Letter: To The Thirteen Boys I've Loved Before

The Thirteenth Letter

----------------

To: Lee Chan

From: Y/N

How are you, Chan?

I feel like I've seen this kind of storyline before. A summer romance that ends with you ghosting me.

I've been looking for work as I've told you before summer ended. I wonder what you are doing now. Now that the summer dance club where we met is closing, I can't see you anymore. You don't answer my calls either which leaves me to assume that you and I weren't dating seriously.

Gosh, I should have seen the red flags when you and I seemed to progress too fast into our relationship; but I just ignored them because you had me flipped out, falling for you head over heels. The way you spoke to me, smiled at me, gazed at me, the way you acted around me, I was convinced that you were just confidently liking me.

To begin this strange love story, should I start from the beginning, Chan?

Well, I graduated from grad school with my degree. I noticed that I was gaining a bit of weight so to try and burn it off, I joined this summer dance club. You were one of the members and immediately, when I spotted you practicing in front of the people, with confidence, your moves swift, I was amazed. I didn't expect that someone like you would fall for me.

Chan, you look like a genuine, passionate dancer. You told me that you've been dancing all your life and from that first impression, I was able to tell that.

When I joined the dancing club, I had not danced in a while. Yet, you taught me with so much care. I didn't ask for your help but you approached me first whenever I was struggling to learn a choreography. You taught me head-on and took the lead.

Your leadership skills are also amazing, Chan.

Before we both knew it, we were learning and practicing for long hours in the summer, sweat trickling down the sides of our heads to the point where our hair was wet. Your hair was wet from sweat a lot of the time but to me, you looked extremely masculine and handsome that way. We practiced so much that it was nighttime by the time both of us decided to call it a day. We were usually the only ones left.

Before we started dating, you would always give me water and wipe my sweat for me. It hadn't even been two weeks of getting to know each other when we had our first kiss in the practice room.

You and I were exhausted and leaning against the wall, sipping water.

“This is fun,” I commented.

I know you probably don't know, but I noticed you staring at my lips. I just didn't want to say it out loud in fear of ruining the nice atmosphere. The air conditioner was blasting cool air and since I was feeling so sticky, I just closed my eyes and let the floating cool air brush over my skin.

I don't know what you were doing but I'll guess that you were staring at my lips; because that's when I felt a pair of soft lips press onto mine. I was flustered at first, having your arm block all my possible exits, leaving me in your enclosed space. Our lips locked for a few seconds before I pulled you in closer, deepening the kiss. I placed my hands on your jaw, caressing you gently as your kisses became more passionate. It just felt like the right thing to do as my heart burned with fluttering butterflies.

Since it was summer, we both had quite a lot of time on our hands, but from time to time, I had to study too. I'm planning to start training in my line of work soon.

Well, we were able to hang out around each other a lot. I, believing you liked me, treated you like my boyfriend. You treated me like your significant other. We were dating. You behaved so sweetly around me, showering me with soft kisses on my cheek, surprise dates. Spending time with you was fun and wild.

When people left the practice room, we would linger with the practice being our excuse, but then I would be sitting down on your thighs, facing you, my arms wrapped around your shoulders and your hands holding my hips. We would be kissing, making out, cuddling.

I enjoyed every second of it. I was falling for you fast, I was falling for you hard.

What about you?

How did you feel about me?

Sometimes, I would find it strange how easily you told me that you liked me, and every time, it sounded genuine. Whenever you're walking me home on a hot summer night, you always tell me that you like or love me before you leave. I would say the same back to you.

I don't think you're a fuckboy or something like that. You seem way too innocent for that. To me, you seemed like a mischievous boy that was also a masculine man.

At the same time though, what we had seemed to be mainly physical.

No, sorry. I shouldn't be thinking of it that way.

You and I spent a lot of time together and with you, I was very happy. I was able to forget about anything hard and just have fun, in the moment, with you. Whether it was me straddling you on the couch, us sleeping together, waking up together, cooking together, I was happy through it all. We had fun and refreshing summer dates at the beach playing in the water, splashing waves at each other before you pull me in and give me a passionate kiss with the golden summer sunset in the back.

But now, I start to realize everything; from the incredibly fast pace of our relationship and the way we found joy in our physical desires. Now, I realize it.

In the end, I barely know who you are, Chan. You never really talked about yourself. You told me a few things, like how you had a younger brother, how you wanted to become an idol, how you dreamed of performing on stage, but during those summer months we spent together and dated, we were still learning about each other. You were learning about me and I was learning about you.

Yet, the way you treated me and made me feel special makes me sure that I do love you. I probably love you more than you love me but, of course, I can never know that.

I can't reach you now and it seems as if your number was fake all along. I don't see you in the places we used to hang out. When I asked the dance club members, it seemed like they knew more than I did about my boyfriend, but every answer was different.

Some told me that you auditioned for a company and got accepted.

Some told me that you were already a trainee.

Some told me that your family was planning to move.

Some told me that you were continuing your life as usual but didn't specify any details.

I don't know what to believe. If you are an idol trainee then, well, good for you. I guess I was just something to fulfill your desires that had been kept inside for a long time. If you got accepted, well, good for you again. I hope you debut since it's always been your dream.

If you're purposely ignoring me, I don't know why you would, but as you can see, I have a few theories. If you didn't love me back, you could have just told me that you wanted a summer fling instead of a summer romance and relationship because then, I would have rejected you firmly.

Were our memories nothing to you?

We never properly broke up either, why is it that you're suddenly ignoring me? Where did you go off to? Are you ghosting me? Why did you suddenly disappear like that? Did you never love me? Was our relationship nothing?

I have so many questions, why won't you answer them?

I'm afraid that the person I loved wasn't the person I loved at all. I hope that you didn't lie to me.

If we ever meet again, what would you say? What would you say to my sincerity? What would you do?

I hope that you can remember these memories just as much as I will. I hate thinking that I was just an escape for you, a goat that you used to fulfill your desires. If you really are who I know, then I won't have any doubts that you would remember everything.

Chan, you seem like a pure guy. You never really lied to me. You would always play around with me, making me feel like a youngster in love. Just looking at your face, I could see the purity and curiosity you have within yourself.

Up until now, I will believe that you gave me all of you. I will continue to believe that you encountered something unfortunate or fortunate and now, we can't meet nor contact each other. I will continue to believe everything positive because I loved you.

I won't wait for you though, Chan.

I remember this one thing you told me, do you remember it too?

Now that I think about it, it seems like you asked that on purpose, perhaps foreshadowing your future disappearance.

We were leaning against a fence, watching the orange and purple ombre sunset and its reflection on the rippling waves of the ocean.

You had your arms warmly wrapped around my waist, your head buried in the crook of my neck, when you asked with a muffled voice, “If you had to wait for someone who was indefinitely coming back, what would you do?”

You kissed my neck softly with your gentle lips, tightening your hands. I felt my heart thump out of my chest.

“Hmm... I don't think I would wait.”

You seemed to be a bit surprised by my answer. I didn't think of this question as anything special then, just pure curiosity.

“Why not?” You asked, planting another kiss on my neck afterward.

“They are leaving and it's indefinite when they would come back. I wouldn't wait for them, when they come back, they just do. I shouldn't worry myself with waiting.”

You nodded gently and then brought your hand to my chin, kissing me again.

I'll do exactly as I said.

I won't wait for you. I loved you and since your comeback is indefinite, I'll also write this. I can't tell you it in person, so I can't get your answer, but I will consider it this way, even if you do appear in my life again.

My last words to you, who I can't reach.

I hope you're doing fine.

I'm breaking up with you.

Yours truly,

Y/N.

-----------------

© serenityseventeen

7/14/21 - 10:19 am

a/n: GoSe today!!! I'm excited, I'll watch the episode when I eat! + I've finished this series, hooray! I'm sure one day, when I'm a better writer, I'll come back and possibly revise this. Thank you to everyone who read this series!

[artificialqueens]

Baby Let's Keep It Secret (Jan x Jackie) - Ortega

a/n: i speed-wrote this after being struck with inspiration and a new-found obsession with jankie, so enjoy!! i legit hate it more with every re-read though so i’m submitting before i honestly del-yeet it off the face of the internet. it’s a little piece within the strictly au-verse from one of the background couples’ points of view, and i’m planning to do more of these so keep a lil eye out! i hope u all enjoy anyway, and that u for all the love on chapter 4! it makes me dead happy xxxxxxxx

plot summary: “But now she’s here, on a wet, cold Monday morning, with no texts and no sign of Jackie and a heartbeat that belongs to a hummingbird. Jackie probably regrets everything and Jan has to spend the rest of the competition with her and it’s going to be unbearably awkward.”

***

Jan is the first to arrive at the church hall on Monday morning. It’s freezing, and she pulls her off-shoulder gym sweater over her wrists and fidgets with the sleeves. She both feels the cold and doesn’t. The racing that her pulse is currently doing serves as a heater, and she can’t stop pacing either. She thanks God that the film crew aren’t there this morning, because she doesn’t have very many coherent thoughts, never mind words.

They had won the first episode. Well. “Won” isn’t the right word, but they came top of the leaderboard, and the praise from the judges still rings in Jan’s ears if she thinks about it hard enough:

“The technical elements were all there, and Jan, that choreography was to die for, well done.”

“This partnership is gonna be one to watch, for sure, the chemistry between you two is just incredible!”

“This was a strong first week, keep this up, I can’t wait to see what comes next from you.”

“It was so full of fun and joy, such a cheeky routine and you both created so much tension, good job!”

Although instead of the joy they’d all sparked on Saturday night, instead they now all serve as a reminder as to what happened after that, and Jan feels her face flush hot as the embarrassment hits her all over again, fuck. Why does she have to be such an eager lovesick puppy all the goddamn time? It never ends well. Jan knows that, but she keeps repeating the same behaviour every time she gets a new crush and expects different results.

But Jackie is different. She’s a woman, at least, and that’s new for Jan. Jan’s used to either men- rough, heavy hands, too fast and too slow all at once- or girls- all her high-school experiences that she’s repressed and shoved in the back of a filing cabinet in her mind for future Jan to deal with.

Except they’ve all come bursting out at once like that scene in Bruce Almighty that used to make her laugh so much as a teenager. It was induction day, really, that had caused it all. Jan remembers standing on the opposite side of the room to Jackie Cox and trying not to make it obvious that her gaze was getting drawn to her every five seconds like she was a magnet, the black running leggings and cutout strappy sports bra she had been wearing still sending shivers up Jan’s spine if she thinks about them again. The way her heart had risen to the sky with anticipation and excitement was almost cringeworthy; she had truly felt like a schoolgirl with a crush on a teacher. Okay, Jackie isn’t that much older than her, but Jan knew her, of course she knew her. She is Jackie Cox. You can’t switch on the news without seeing her face, you can’t go on Twitter without seeing people retweet her latest biting bit of government-critical commentary that’s likely going to get her fired one day. Watching her chat with the other girls on that induction day was mesmerising- she was fun and goofy and had a big smile on her face the whole time but she simultaneously exuded a calm and self-assured sense of power that Jan had felt inexplicably intoxicated by.

They’d been paired together and Jan had been so nervous and anxious to impress her and get on well with her but Jackie had just been so relaxed and easy-going and had taken to everything Jan had taught her like a duck to water. When they’d been officially paired on launch night Jan had been so overjoyed that she’d screamed the place down.

And now they’re partners. For the past fortnight they’ve spent every waking moment together, and it’s been both a blessing and a curse. In rehearsals, Jackie is no-nonsense- she wants to learn the dance, and she wants to be taught- but every time they stop for a break Jackie’s goofing around and winding Jan up and pestering her to post this, that and the next thing to Instagram. The woman is limpet-levels of touchy, not that Jan’s complaining. She’s always resting a hand on Jan’s knee when they stop for a break, grabbing her arm as she laughs at something Jan’s said, gently butting her head against Jan’s shoulder when it’s late and they’re both tired but they just have to finish up this last little bit of the routine.

Of course, if Jan notices it with every hour they spend together, then it’s not long until it gets picked up on by others. They’ve gone live on Instagram one day and Jackie’s got her arm around Jan’s shoulders and Jan’s leaning into her. Jan can feel Jackie’s heartbeat and it’s going like a bullet train and Jan wonders if it’s her that’s making Jackie’s heart race as much as it is before dismissing that thought as the delusional ramblings of someone with a too-big crush. They’re answering questions that their fans have sent in and Jan taps on one a little deliberately.

“Jackie, what’s your favourite thing about rehearsing with Jan?” Jan reads, smiling with her tongue trapped between her teeth. She doesn’t dare turn to face Jackie because she can see on screen how close her face is to hers and she doesn’t need that proximity adding to the list of reasons Jackie’s able to mess with her head. Jackie’s looking at her though, and her smirk is so cheeky that it turns Jan’s insides to jelly.

“Uh, nothing, she’s dreadful,” Jackie says, causing Jan to yelp an affronted cry and Jackie to stick her tongue out at her. It’s near the end of their first week of rehearsals and it’s nice that they’re already at the stage that they can joke about in the way that they’re doing.

(Some might call it flirting, but Jan’s loath to get her hopes up so high.)

“No, I think in all seriousness it’s…her smile,” Jackie concludes, and the answer feels like the best kind of gut punch. Jan has to actively control her facial expressions and mold them into something that isn’t just two ginormous heart eyes and a dopey lovesick smile. The smile that Jackie likes the best. Jackie continues, her eyes now cast into her lap as she picks at a bit of fluff on her leggings. “She’s always smiling, she’s always positive. Even if I mess up the routine, she’s still smiling at me and patient with me. And it’s just nice. So…yeah.”

Jan can’t help herself. She turns to face Jackie, deliberately shoots her a dazzling smile. “That’s sweet. Thank you.”

Jackie gives her a little wink that translates to you’re welcome. Jan wants to interpret it as something more, but she can’t hope that much.

That’s when it starts. The first comment scrolls across the screen, then another, then another.

janetmanitoneeeee: omg u guys are too much

strictlyjan2003: something’s going onnnnnnnnn

janstan04: WE ALL SHIP IT

janstan04: JANKIE

Jan tries to ignore them all but they’re relentless and swarming across her screen like locusts, and Jackie points them out before she can do a thing about them.

“What the hell is Jankie? What ship?” she laughs, confused. Jan waves her hand dismissively, gives a snort.

“Oh, God, it’s like…they think we would be good together. Like. As a couple.”

“Oh,” Jackie raises her eyebrows. Jan is blushing slightly as she keeps her eyes trained on the screen. Jackie’s face is surprised, but not unpleasantly so. “So they want to see us bon-”

“Family show, Jaqueline!” Jan laughs, cutting her off before she can reach the end of her sentence. Jackie snorts and the conversation is dropped as they move on to something else.

But Jan wonders how the sentence would’ve ended. Scratch that, she knows how the sentence would’ve ended, and from that day on there’s a change in the atmosphere. Jackie doesn’t look at her the same but that’s not necessarily for the worse. Their routine ramps up a gear- it’s somehow just better. Well, not somehow, there’s a reason. It’s the same reason Jan can feel Jackie’s eyes on her whenever she stretches in rehearsal, whenever she peels a layer of clothing off in a break. It’s the same reason they’ve started openly flirting with each other, and Jackie’s little suppressed smile and raised eyebrows is what Jan imagines cocaine might feel like- she’s not done it, she wouldn’t know. Making Jackie laugh becomes an addiction, spending time with Jackie is an addiction. When Jan gets the tube back from Hounslow and arrives back at her flat all shrouded in darkness she feels as if there’s part of her missing. Which is ridiculous. They’ve only been paired together for a week. Admittedly in that short time there’s been a few tabloid articles about them, the speculation already beginning. Jan would be lying if she said she didn’t like it.

Through it all, they rehearse. They practise and practise until Jan’s muscles ache, because more time rehearsing means more time with Jackie and the more they rehearse means the better they get. It’s a win-win situation. So when they smash their routine on Saturday, really knock it out the park, and get (“Eight!” “Eight!” “Eight!” “Eight!”) 32/40, Jan’s head is spinning. On the floor they were electric and sexy and the sparks were practically flying off them, Jan didn’t imagine it. Jackie doesn’t take her hands off her once it’s done- a protective arm around her waist as they receive their critiques, her hand in Jan’s as they tear up the stairs and give their post-routine interview, both arms around her in a crushing hug after their scores are revealed. An arm around Jan’s shoulders as they weave their way backstage to yet another interview, a hand lazily pressed against her hip. The constant close proximity is making Jan almost lightheaded, and so when they’re finally alone Jan isn’t really thinking straight. That’s why she takes Jackie’s hand and tugs her towards her dressing room, laughing gently at the confusion painting her face.

“Jan, we’ve got to go back to makeup!”

“Just…c’mere!” she giggles, tugging on Jackie’s hand again. Jackie gives her a roll of her eyes and a long-suffering smile, and takes two steps forward to follow Jan into her dressing room. As soon as the door swings shut, Jan can’t control herself any longer and she immediately pulls Jackie in, one hand still tangled in Jackie’s and the other curled around her waist, and Jan is so close she swears she can pinpoint the moment Jackie’s pupils dilate.

“Oh,” Jackie murmurs. It’s nothing, a literal letter of the alphabet, but Jan swears it’s the hottest thing she’s ever heard. Jackie wets her bottom lip with her tongue. “So this is why we’re in your dressing room.”

“Uh-huh,” Jan nods quickly. Her heart gives a concerningly heavy thud as Jackie brings her free hand up to ghost over her neck and tangle in her hair, tousled and wavy for the routine, and Jan thanks Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus that it’s not in some intricate bun. There’s a pause where nothing seems to be happening except the two of them smiling at each other and waiting to kiss. Jan loves it, though, this kind of purgatory they’ve created, so she presses her body against Jackie’s as she drops her voice lower. “You were so good out there, fuck, you were amazing.”

Jackie tries and fails to conceal a smile. She drops her hand out of Jan’s grip and brings it up to rest at her waist. “Did you just bring me in here to compliment me, or are we going to kiss?”

“Fuck, please,” Jan breathes. It only takes that much for Jackie to instantly lean down and close the gap between them. It’s not enough and too much all at once, the tension that’s been building between them finally coming to a head and Jan feels like she’s melting, ice to Jackie’s fire. Her lips are soft and slick with the gloss that makeup applied before they went on stage and Jan is gripped with a sense of longing and wanting that’s so visceral it almost scares her. She pulls her body flush against Jackie’s own and she feels Jackie gasp against her lips. The noise only adds to how embarrassingly needy Jan’s becoming- she’s way too turned on already, shockwaves pulsing through her whole body. It’s a kiss, it’s nothing more than that, and yet it’s better than any sex Jan’s had with a man in her life.

Jackie pulls away. Jan whines, and it elicits a smug smile from the other woman. Jan doesn’t want to know how much of a mess she looks. If it’s half as much as how she feels, it’s going to be too telling. She takes Jackie by the wrist again, pouts as she tries to pull her in. Jackie doesn’t budge.

“Makeup,” she teases. Jan lets out a groan. She cannot go back and interact with other people right now. Her whole world is Jackie.

“Please, just two more minutes,” she begs. For a moment Jan thinks she sees a flash of lust in Jackie’s eyes. She takes the sign of weakness and runs with it, pushing her bottom lip out. “Please?”

“Fuck, Jan,” Jackie laughs, rubs the back of her neck and rolls her head to the ceiling. “You’re so gorgeous and it physically pains me to have to say it but someone’s gonna come bang on this door if we don’t get back soon.”

Jan sighs, doesn’t wipe the pout off her face. Jackie quirks a warning eyebrow at her in return.

“Stop being a brat, c’mon,” she warns her, and Jan would be lying if she said Jackie didn’t just make the whole situation worse.

Or better. Probably better.

They go to makeup and they get their smudges cleaned up and the foundation they’ve sweated off re-applied, and they head back to the studio to watch the final dance of the night, Crystal and Gigi’s. Jan cheers for her friend despite the fact the pair of them are so good at their frighteningly fast Samba that they threaten to topple her and Jackie off the top of the leaderboard. They don’t, but they come close (thirty-one), and as Jan claps she makes a mental note to step up her and Jackie’s choreography tomorrow. The pair of them don’t get another moment alone until they’ve cleaned all their makeup off and got changed back into their comfies ready to head home. Jackie swings by Jan’s dressing room as she’s packing up and Jan involuntarily blushes, remembering the last time they’d both been in this room a mere thirty minutes ago.

“Hey. Crushed it tonight,” Jackie smiles proudly, the praise lighting up both Jan’s face and heart.

“Yeah, we really did that, huh?” she returns her grin, looks to the floor with slight embarrassment. Jackie pauses before she speaks next.

“Well, guess I’ll see you Monday?”

Jan tries not to look disappointed, but really, the single logical brain cell she possesses scolds her, what the hell did she think was going to happen? Her smile becomes fake despite it not physically changing. “Yeah, sure!”

Jackie gives a small laugh. “Sure, Jan!”

Jan has to let out a small snort at that, and she risks meeting her partner’s eyes again. Jackie is hovering at the door.

“I’ll text you,” she smiles decisively, Jan’s hopes instantly being raised as she nods enthusiastically and waves goodnight.

But now she’s here, on a wet, cold Monday morning, with no texts and no sign of Jackie and a heartbeat that belongs to a hummingbird. Jackie probably regrets everything and Jan has to spend the rest of the competition with her and it’s going to be unbearably awkward. All Jan did on Sunday was choreograph their dance, the sexiest tango she could possibly manage, while replaying their kiss in her head and checking her phone obsessively. She feels like an idiot, even more so when Jackie bounces through the door and waves at her with a big grin on her face as if nothing has happened.

“Morning!” she sing-songs as she shrugs her jacket off and chucks her bag down underneath a pile of stacked chairs. Jan blinks at her, taken-aback. “How are you? Good day off?”

“Well, I mean. I was doing choreo, wasn’t exactly a day off,” Jan shrugs. She can’t help but be cold- Jackie is acting as if she’s got short-term memory loss, and it’s killing Jan along with the sweatpants that are slung low on Jackie’s hips and the baggy sweater that’s hiding her thin frame. The shift in tone seems to work and Jackie is looking at her through narrowed eyes, then laughing slightly.

“Shit, yeah, sorry I didn’t text. I honestly was wiped out yesterday, I did a stint on News 24 and then I had like an eight-hour nap in the middle of the day.”

Jan can’t help but quirk a smile at her. “Eight hours? That’s not a nap, that’s a full sleep.”

Jackie shrugs, and her dark eyes soften. Jan is reminded of looking into them on Saturday, her pupils wide and blown, and the memory almost gives her whiplash. “I am sorry, Jan, I can tell you’re mad at me.”

Jan gives a scoff of a laugh, tries to pretend she’s offended. “Mad? I’m not mad at you, God, I’m not…no, I’m chill. It’s fine.”

Jackie raises her eyebrows at her disapprovingly and it makes Jan’s stomach flip over and heat pool low in her stomach. “Yeah, you sound it. Okay, what’re we doing this week?”

Jan swallows before she speaks. “Uh, tango! I thought, y’know, the judges loved our chemistry so much last week so if we play on that it might get us good scores again.”

Jackie’s smile grows on her face and it makes Jan’s heart flutter in anticipation as she takes two steps closer to her. “Mm, good plan. Definitely not seeing an ulterior motive behind that at all.”

Jan is warming up to her but she wants to make Jackie suffer just a little so she flips her golden ponytail over her shoulder and turns away from her, fiddling with her phone and scrolling to the song she’s chosen. To her satisfaction, Jackie follows her over to the speaker near the raised little stage at the other end of the hall, jumps up so that she’s sitting on it and swings her legs. “What’s it to?”

Jan bites back a smile. “React.”

“As in Pussycat Dolls, React?” Jackie grins at her. Jan is fighting to hold back her smirk as Jackie inspects her nails. “That’s kind of ironic.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Jan shrugs lightly, making to walk into the centre of the room when Jackie shoots a hand out and takes her by the wrist.

“Hey,” Jackie murmurs, pulling her close. Jan is standing right in front of her and Jackie’s knees are digging into her stomach a little, but she doesn’t mind. “I was thinking about you yesterday. I promise I didn’t forget about Saturday night.”

Jan raises her eyebrows in slight disbelief. She’s about to make some comment about not missing her enough to text her, but Jackie spreads her legs and guides her in between them so that they’re close. The action makes Jan’s eyes flutter shut in a heavy blink as she attempts to gather her thoughts. Jackie squeezes the hand she’s taken.

“You’re really cute,” Jackie says bluntly, and Jan feels the blush hit her face like she’s been slapped.

“You’re really cute,” Jan parrots back at her, her knees almost turning to jelly when Jackie reaches out and tucks a small strand of loose hair behind her ear. There’s a moment where they’re both just gazing into each others’ eyes, and Jan feels as if it’s straight out of a movie scene. Her heart almost hurts with how much she likes Jackie.

Jackie drops her voice low to a whisper, pulls Jan closer. “Can we kiss in a church?”

Jan feels like she’s just been shocked by a defibrillator. “Well. Jesus might be watching.”

“I’m sure he’ll allow it,” Jackie shrugs before tilting her head, sliding her hands onto Jan’s waist, and meeting her lips with her own. Jan melts into her slowly, refrigerated chocolate on a hot day. This kiss is different to the one they shared on Saturday night- they know it’s just them, and they know they have all the time in the world so they kiss as if time doesn’t exist. It’s so early that Jan can taste Jackie’s mint toothpaste, and the realisation makes her heart give a twinge of affection. Jackie does like her, and Saturday wasn’t a mistake, and the blood in her veins races in anticipation because something is happening between them and it’s more exciting than any glitterball trophy.

Jan breaks the kiss this time, the petty side of her still wanting the upper hand, but she doesn’t move her arms from their position looped around Jackie’s neck and resting on her shoulders. She doesn’t even try to conceal the smile that appears on her face as she watches Jackie’s eyes flutter open lazily, the moment so unexpectedly tender that it knocks her for six.

“Is this a thing now?” she finds herself saying before she can stop the words rushing out of her mouth, and she instantly wants to cringe. Too keen, too eager, too enthusiastic. Although the panic rising in her throat dissipates when Jackie tries to stifle a grin and fails.

“Fuck, we’re the worst kind of cliché. Strictly curse got us by week three,” she groans, tilting her head to the cracks in the ceiling. She brings her gaze back to look Jan in the eye, suddenly turning serious. “We’re going to have to keep this quiet, though. Not that I’m ashamed or anything, sorry, that came out wrong. I just don’t want anyone thinking this is some cheap stunt we’re using to get votes because it’s…more than that. To me, anyway.”

The affirmation Jackie’s just given her sends Jan’s hopes rocketing skywards and this time she doesn’t even try to lower them. The smile on her face turns scheming. “I can sneak around if you want, although I don’t know how easy it’s going to be for you to keep your hands off me, Miss Cox…”

Jan laughs as Jackie groans and shoves her away playfully. As much as Jan wants to pin her to the stage and smother her with kisses and maybe a little more (the thought of fucking in a church is too much to entertain at this particular moment), she straightens her posture decisively and grabs her phone.

“Right, we need to rehearse. Because the better we do in this competition, the longer you get to spend every single day with your hands all over me. And that’s just during rehearsals.”

Jan shoots Jackie a wink and Jackie laughs as she saunters across to the middle of the room to warm up.

If Jan’s got anything to do with it, they’re not going to be leaving the competition any time soon.

[fizzingwizard]

Yay it’s my favorite time of the week! Digimon Adventure:! Can’t believe we’re already at episode 16! This week somewhat recapped the mission we’ve been on for... 14 episdoes now x’D and I realized I forgot all kinds of shit. It’s so funny, when I was ten and watching Digimon Adventure I could remember everything, but now that I’m sadly an adult I can’t keep track of these high paced children’s shows!

(Supposedly they spoon feed kids stories so they can understand it more easily... but I gotta say I think I’m the one that needs the help, bahahaha)

ALSO... apparently there was an earthquake this morning! It was too north of me so I didn’t feel it (I was... also sleeping >-> so...) But it was right when the show started airing so the info came scrolling across the screen. At first it said

“Just in case, be careful of tsunami”

and like just three min or so later

“There is no need to worry about a tsunami due to this earthquake”

Phew! Also, Digimon causes earthquakes! Hide yo wife hide yo kids! Is that meme still current?? Does it matter???? I’m a millennial, boomers hate me, gen Z hates me, at least let me have my memes! XD

OK enough goofing off, on to what really matters, freaking Digimon man! This episode gave me tons of Taichi spam. Mmm my favorite kind of spam! But it also gave me avocado cheeseburger spam too!

So although I completely forgot about it, I was pretty excited for this ep when they allegedly return to the real world! Last week’s preview made it pretty obvious it was going to be either a fake reality or the evil Digimon had taken over the real world much more deeply than we realized. Fake reality made the most sense. But they tried to trip us up anyway! The opening shots are clear references to the famous episode 21 of 99 Adventure, although given that was the best animated episode of the entire show, this one just doesn’t do it justice.

He’s not sweating, the sun isn’t as intense... it just makes Fizz nostalgic

Finding them suddenly home, the kids are all pretty bewildered at first. Predictably, Mimi is the first to recover. What motivates her?

AVOCADO CHEESEBURGER! AVOCADO CHEESEBURGER!

From Burger Jack’s bahahahaha

Mimi starts excitedly listing all the things she wants to do now that they’re home. Aside from eat delicious burgers, she wants to take a shower, change clothes...

I’m like “Oh, so these kids HAVE been feeling the effects of how much traveling they’ve been doing!”

Seriously though why didn’t anyone comment on it before now?? In 99 Adventure most of the kids couldn’t shut up about the lack of basic necessities and creature comforts. It was really easy to feel how much they were struggling! Everyone in this series is so darn serious all the time. Sora even brought that big bag of emergency supplies but we only rarely see it get used.

Taichi and Koushirou are a little more wary, though they come across as mainly confused.

Mimi wants to go eat burgers right off, but Taichi convinces her they should go home first. “Oh yeah, I have parents” - Mimi, probably.

They get on a train. The Digimon are very cute. They finally notice that no one’s paying attention to them. It took 0.3 seconds for Tokyoites in ep 21 of 99 Adventure to start freaking out over Koromon, so this was a big clue if you somehow missed that there’s something not right.

On the other hand, for a world that is presumably an illusion created by some Digimon, it sure is, er...

... accurate in surprising ways, bahahaha

(no seriously did we NEED bikini girls?? did we NEED them? I know it’s everywhere on every train for all kinds of proucts but did we NEED them here)

(the TEEN 17 in particular is killing me)

Some gratuitous Taichi spam

Mimi lives in the affluent Shibuya area now so the kids split up to continue on home. I love Taichi called her ‘ojousama.’

Taichi wonders if Yamato and the others got home okay too. Koushirou wonders if whatever was causing the blackout has really been defeated. (Mimi’s theory is “Sora-san and the others must have done something about it!” Which I just liked because by naming her she identifies Sora as the one she feels closest to awww)

They won’t say it, but the truth is these two are kinda disappointed... lol

However they won’t be disappointed for long... because this midnight train really isn’t going anywhere. *wink* see what i did there

Mimi’s walk home has also turned into a labyrinth. Which is totally normal for Toyko subways really. Mimi gets so tired from walking that she starts hallucinating that Palmon’s head is in fact an avocado.

Girl you got a problem but no judging. I got the same problem.

AVOCADO BURGER!! Think of it in your heart and it will appear!

Now that’s not creepy at all.

Several episodes ago we learned that Mimi has never seen The Mummy. Apparently she’s never seen any horror movies at all, because she still approaches the counter to order her freaking burger even after seeing the cashier’s shadowy clearly evil visage.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR LITTLE GIRL

On finally realizing that this train can’t go anywhere but Shibuya, Taichi and Koushirou get off and reunite with Mimi, who has learned nothing and continues talking to people. The only possible result of this is...

... creepy eyes appearing and trying to EAT her

Mimi: “Taichi-san!!”

she could ask her partner for protection but Taichi’s around and he’s everyone’s big brother so

The cause of all this mischief turns out to be this creepy dude! He’s kind of cute!

Also rather larger and more solid than I anticipated!

Of course this nightmare won’t end so easily.

You know you’re in for it when the walls are covered in glowing red eyes. That uh, shoot laser beams at you.

Cyclops: Not lasers! Concussive optic rays!

It turns out there wasn’t just one creepy dude, there were many. I’ve found my Halloween costume!

Our heroes finally figure out that this world is not their real world when they come across these tetris people.

For someone who’s never watched a single scary movie, Mimi does an impressive white-girl-in-a-horror-flick face.

I know she’s not white I’m saying she’s good at impressions she should become a comedienne

Now that we know the blackout in Japan is still ongoing and causing all sorts of issues, we get our usual peek into what’s going on for the people of Tokyo. We get to see Hikari! She’s cool as a cucumber. Her mom’s freaking out and packing a suitcase. Her mom says “Hikari go get ready!” Hikari just says “Oh I’m ready anytime!”

Hikari: I’m not worried about anything, big brother’s taking care of it!

Awww we get to see Miko! And that looks like a cat carrier <3 Mom’s not leaving their furry friend behind in the dark while they evacuate to grandpa’s place in Ibaraki...

... She is apparently cool with leaving behind her only son though! X’D

The letter reads “Taichi, we’re going to Grandpa’s place in Ibaraki. Call me when you get home.” The arrow says “Address.”

Ibaraki is a bit over an hour from Tokyo (I used to live there!) so not too far and very easy to get to by train. Still... there’s a huge power outage, I can only assume Mom’s reason here really is evacuation and not just “seems like a great time to go on a visit!” but she doesn’t know where one of her kids is and she’s just like “eh no worries he’ll figure out his way home!” Does she KNOW her son is 11? Japanese kids use trains very independently but again, POWER OUTAGE. ONE HOUR+ AWAY.

I’m remembering episode 1 when Taichi was acting like such a Dad and his mom was totally on board. Apparently that is going to be a Thing in their family. Taichi is the kid in Home Alone. Scratch that, he’s like the pets in Homeward Bound X’D

Mimi is understandably disappointed that she doesn’t get to shower... I mean see her parents... I mean, eat a freaking avocado cheeseburger

But Palmon knows how to make her feel better. “We’ll come back here someday and eat avocado cheeseburgers together.”

Mimi: “Heck YEAH I’m psyched!! AVOCADO CHEESEBURGER!”

this show understands the only true way to a woman’s heart is through food.

Our heroes are surrounded by Homunculus from FMA.

They merge together forming the aptly named EYESMON!!! lmao

Look at freaking long Greymon’s cyborg arm is. Whut.

AtlurKabuterimon gets hit by a train buhaahaha. Somehow this was way funnier to me than Lilymon getting hit by a plane or buildings falling on MetalGreymon.

The kids are outnumbered when look who appears!

The three of them sitting on Zudomon is the cutest thing ever also I JUST NOTICED ZUDOMON’S DOLPHIN PATCH WHAT THE HECK HAS THAT ALWAYS BEEN THERE!??!?!?!!?

So this was the reunion ep after all! I’m a little disappointed just because I wanted something more dramatic.

What Fizz, illusion magic and homunculi plus exploding Shibuya isn’t dramatic enough for you?

I mean EMOTIONALLY dramatic. Like, someone should hug.

Oh well. This is the face Taichi makes when he sees Yamato. D’aww. I guess i’ll be satisfied with this.

Yamato gets them started on a plan and they all fight as a group!! But Koushirou’s realized that this Digimon, whatever it is, is what’s causing the blackout. They can’t properly defeat it...

... and it’s already the night of the third day. Soon their 72 hour window will be up. Then Ariel will turn back into a Mermaid and the Sea Witch wins :’<

We end with an ominous digivolution! Next week....

Orochimon!!! I love multi headed monsters.

More Taiyama action!!! Lookin a bit beat up but still cool!

OK so in sum this episode was pretty fun. I still feel like the writers for this season just don’t dig in deep enough to really make things come alive. They’re so concerned with battles that they miss moments for fun character interactions etc. And in the end, the whole of this episode can be recapped simply as “They discover the world they’re in is an illusion and they fight the bad guy.” However, we got a lot of fun with Mimi in particular, and though we didn’t get the kind of Taishiro teamwork my heart yearns for, at least we saw them sticking together and hashing things out.

I really do hope this show dials up the character relationships a bit soon though. We keep getting tidbits so it’s not like they don’t have things planned. It’s just a matter of execution. Anyway I’m happy to have the whole group (well as many as we’ve got so far) together again!

[badlydrawnmanic]

time for episode 3 i guess! wish i could focus on the things i gotta do but something’s bugging me and i just can’t, i might have to start from scratch but anyway...

• manic wants to find a place where he belongs... • why were the triplets born in... an alternate dimension??? what • dingo is a tree and it’s freaking me out • sonic: hey did you notice anything strange about that tree   manic and sonia: no we did not see the canine face with stupid glasses staring at us directly as we passed by • the fact that manic’s drums can cause earthquakes and stuff is pretty neat • i seriously feel bad for dingo at this point • there’s a camera angle where it looks like manic’s levitating in front of sonic when sonic is supposed to be dragging him along real fast • i don’t understand why the bad guys are like “lmao nature and clean things are stinky” like i know you’re bad but like ??? man • i think this show would be much more visually appealing if they used brighter backgrounds like in mobodoon • again how old are they supposed to be, it’s their birthday? they’re so small • i know mayor winnieham (how the fuck do you spell that) is a horse but she looks like a soft dragon, she’s so nice and i actually like her voice • hooray for socialism • sonic sniffs and it sounds like jaleel had a stuffy nose that day • horse lady is so nice but a ton of nice people in this cartoon are traitors so i’m like :grimace: • A CHAOS EMERALD • manic is so overwhelmed by the fact that someone cared about him and his siblings that he starts to like fall backwards and the lady has to push a chair under him, he’s crying someone hug this boy • “sonic’s always been cool, having this mondo world as his home” sorta implies that he had adventures before all this, i only say this because i’ve been trying to slap together a timeline and i think i made underground take place between satam and sonic 3? i forget exactly

• h • you’d think horse lady would be more excited that they’ve returned and stuff • gee sonia why does your mom let you have super speed and strength • did she recognize dingo this time?? she got mud on her and immediately attacked him so like... would she do that to anyone??? • the people who wrote this show don’t understand how siblings interact with each other, i don’t call my brother “bro” every two seconds and i don’t think anybody does • okay why does the horse lady say they were born in this nursery room, i would assume that that’s... not true... please tell me there’s a hospital or something in this city • three episodes into the series and manic’s like “i’m gonna stay here and break up the band :D” • horse lady made evil eyebrows i don’t trust her all adults are bad • SONG TIME AGAIN, SONIC UNDERGROUND STYLE • I think this is one of the only songs where manic sings and it’s not even clear that it’s him? i was told that it was him singing • GSDJG MANIC’S HAIR IS BIRDS • sometimes the baby triplets are cute and sometimes they’re terrifying • they reused animation that was used like just before the song started • manic goes “wow” in his normal voice right in the middle of the song • i actually really like this song, but like... the singing voice is odd, a bit nasally. other than that it’s good and i’d listen to it again, like... 9/10 i think, i’ll hum it absentmindedly after the episode is done. if they re-recorded this for any reason or if there was a cover of it i’d be pretty happy about that! • sleet unrolls a huge sheet of paper with absolutely nothing on it • the background characters in mobodoon aren’t as hideous as the normal background characters • sonic leaving fire everywhere when he runs seems like it would be an issue at some point • sleet and dingo are terrorists • they deadass just stole a family’s whole house • THE CHAOS EMERALD • i’m calling it a chaos emerald, apparently it controls the daylight cycle and structural integrity of the whole dimension which is odd • if she’s so worried that mobodoon will fade why don’t they evacuate? unless they can’t without the chaos emerald or something • apparently they can leave whenever because sonic’s back with sleet and dingo • they used footage from this episode in the previous episode’s music segment...? i wonder how production was • sonia and manic fall from the sky • “manic, hold all the important doohickeys while we do the cool stuff” • dingo’s fucking feral in this segment holy shit calm down • the cave of wonders................ • MANIC HAS LITTLE SHARP TEETH • manic did it!! • i still don’t get how mobodoon works • how unstable is that dimension if the chaos emerald being gone for an hour max is enough to make it nearly collapse • sonic called dingo “dingus” and i have no idea how old that term is

• manic looks like a very small child waiting for his mom to say he did a good job saying “thank you” to the grocery store checkout person and that’s adorable but also he looks goofy as shit • this poor boy, i imagine he just wants a mother figure, horse lady has her hand on his shoulder and she’s probably one of the few dependably nice people they’ve encountered in a while • aw, sonic and sonia like... acknowledge that manic is happy here and are willing to let him stay in mobodoon, that’s pretty wholesome. i feel like this was supposed to be an emotional beat but like... bad pacing kinda mucks it up

• “don’t forget to visit” god, my heart, he says it so gently like poor baby • “oh i almost forgot that your mother who has been absent in your lives since you were literal babies and that you’ve been risking your lives to find stopped by during the climax of the episode, my mistake”

• okay, i can see the horse part of her now maybe more of a donkey • “together at last” is one of the audio blurbs they play and they say it like they’ve been separated forever • they knocked sleet back into mobodoon like that solves the problem??? • i kinda like how they replay part of the song at the end of the episode to like... reestablish an idea in a different light? like when it played the first time it’s like “oh i found my childhood home and the place where i came from” and now it’s like “i’ve found the place where i belong with my loved ones” and that’s actually really good imo • i feel like manic has the most potential for depth out of all of them just because if you look any deeper into what’s happening in the show it gets kinda sad? [slaps roof of manic] this bad boy can fit so much emotional trauma in it

[creativeskullcreations]

HTaHHQ Episode 1: First Meetings(part 3)

In all seriousness, I'm really sorry it took so long to update anything. I had a sudden loss of motivation to do anything productive. I think it was caused by stress and burnout. So I'm gonna try and work on schedule, and hopefully that will help a bit.

Basically, one fic will be updated every Monday! Which fic will it be and Monday? Idk, it's a surprise! But actually it'll be Outside next week, and hopefully for at least a few weeks after that. And then I've got video uploads on Fridays and live-streams on... Idk yet. Just whenever for now I guess.

"What do you mean she's missing?!" Came a shout as Mary stormed out of her office. "How long has it been since anyone's seen her?!" "Mrs. Stein, please!" Johnny, the poor assistant that had been sent to tell the head writer about what happened struggled to keep up. He found himself having to jog to keep pace with the tall woman. "We're looking for her now. Nobody saw her leave the building, so she's got to be here somewhere...!" Mary turned, giving the poor guy a death glare. "That's not what I asked." She ground out. He gulped. "U-uh, t-two hours, ma'am. A-a-and it was Riley and Nick who saw her last!" 'Please don't kill me!' He thought as he looked everywhere but at her. 'I have a family of shrimp to feed!' "Two. Hours." She repeated calmly. "And those two didn't think to tell anyone between then and now." She turned, stalking down the hall at an even faster pace. "They'll be sawdust by the time I'm through with them." Johnny watched her go, then turned and sprinted down the hall in the opposite direction. He'd done his job, and there was no reason to stick around to see the fallout. In Mortimer's office, the Puppets were gathered. While Mortimer himself was at his desk, Daisy was pacing in front of him. Riley and Nick were glaring at each other from opposite sides of the small room. While neither  said anything, it was clear to the other two that they blamed each other fro what had happened. "Oh, that poor girl!" Daisy fretted, twisting her apron in her fists. "I do hope she's okay." "Oh please, what danger could possibly be in here?" Nick said, finally pulled away from his glaring match. "She's probably raiding the kitchen or something like the others like to do. I'm sure she's fine, and this whole fuss will be for nothing." "The kitchen has been searched and she was not found there! Who knows what secrets she could see or hear!" Riley scolded. She rubbed at her temples, look pained. "This whole day has been a disaster! Thank god it's almost over!" "Riley, please calm down." Mortimer told her, trying to head off any possible arguments.. "Nick is right, there's no reason to worry or frown." "I-I apologize, of course you're right." She sighed. "The contract she signed is surely air tight." "Er..." Oh how would he explain this. His hesitance was noticed, and Nick and Daisy both turned to look at him the longer he took to agree with Riley. "She did sign the non disclosure, right Morty?" Daisy asked. Everyone was looking at him, and he found himself clearing his throat uncomfortably. "Technically, I cannot force anyone to sign. Even for me, that would be crossing a line." He told them firmly. Instantly their faces turned to looks of shock, and anger in the case of Riley. "She didn't sign?!" Riley exploded, slamming her hands on his desk. Mortimer resisted the urge to flinch back and nodded. "We're doomed!" Nick bemoaned, clutching his head. "Our show is over, canceled, caput!" Mortimer went to scold the artist for pessimistic thinking, but was cut off by the door swinging open. "Would you two shut up!" Mary hissed as she entered the room. She carefully closed the door behind her, then turned to face the room. "Now, would one of you kindly explain how you managed to lose my stepdaughter!" "It wasn't our fault!" Nick was quick to jump in. "Riley and I were simply trying to get Scout, when your daughter had some sort of attack and ran off!" "Indeed, it was really quite strange." Riley agreed. "It was almost like she was afraid..." Mary almost scoffed at the idea. "Stacy, afraid? Please, she's only doing this to be a nuisance." She refocused on the two Puppets. "Where were you when this happened?" "By the cafeteria." Nick told her. "Just outside it in the dead end." "Then we'll start there, and work our way through." Mortimer told them. "And yes, you'll be helping out too." "Fine." Riley spat, wheeling out of the room. Nick Nack followed her, as did Mary. Only Daisy and Mortimer stayed behind, with him catching her as she went to leave. "Ah, Daisy my dear, a moment if you please. Might I have a word, before you as well leave?" He asked. She stopped and turned back, wheeling back to the desk. "Of course, Morty! What's wrong?" She asked, gripping her apron. It's about Stacy, and how you're the best to help her. You know this place best, both under and over." Mortimer said. Daisy nodded, slightly confused. "Well, yes. But I don't see-" "Since she's a child, and a frightened one at that, I expect you to search the hiding places of your brats." Daisy blinked and almost protested(Hand Puppets or not, they were still her children, and he shouldn't call them brats just to make a rhyme), but then stopped to think about it. "You know sugarplum, you might actually be on to something there." She said, missing Mortimer's approving look as she turned. racing out of the room. "And I think I know exactly where I should look." Half and hour later, and Daisy had steadily worked her way through all of the Hand Puppets' hiding spots. While they technically had hundreds, she had managed to shrink the list to just a fraction by eliminating the places Stacy wouldn't be able to fit in. She'd shrunk it even further by getting rid of the options that neither the girl or Scout would know about. The end result was a very small list of possible locations for a human child to hide. She had searched all of them and Stacy was nowhere. As of now she was out of ideas, and had decided to search the by now very empty Sound Stage. Most everyone having already gone home. She knew Lydia was still around, but other than her, a few senior assistants, and Mary and her son, the studio was devoid of any humans. Daisy really hoped Stacy hadn't noticed this, as she didn't want the girl panicking over it. Based on what Riley and Nick had described, the poor dear was probably terrified out of her mind by now. That thought is what kept the homemaker from giving up, determined to find her before one of her "siblings" did. She loved them, she really did, but neither of them were really all that... good, with the kids, and she worried what might happen if either of them found Stacy first. So she worked her way through the Sound Stage, checking inside each set and looking in each door to make sure she didn't miss anything. However, as she made it to the prop closet that specifically held her props, she heard a noise from inside. She pressed her ear against the door, and felt her heart sink when she heard a quiet sniffling from within. "Stacy? Honey, are you in there?" She called out, only to be met with complete silence. "Sugar I know you're in there. You've got everybody awful worried about you." No reply, but she did hear something shifting around inside. Boxes being moved, fabric rubbing against itself. It sounded like she was coming out of hiding, and Daisy couldn't help the small smugness she felt at accomplishing that. "Stacy, you have to come out of there. Everybody's awful worried about you. Your mother-" "She's not my mom." Stacy interrupted, throwing the Puppet off with how angry she sounded. "Step-mother then." She corrected herself. "Please, sugar, Mary's worried about you too." "She doesn't care. Not really." "Oh now, don't say that. I'm sure she cares a lot." Daisy tried to assure her, grabbing the door knob, pausing when Stacy answered. "If she really cared, I wouldn't be here." A pause. "I definitely don't want to be here..." "What do you mean by that?" Wouldn't be here? According to Mary, Stacy loved the show, and watched the new episodes every week with her brother. Why wouldn't such a loyal fan of the show not want to be here? "I don't know what she told you, but this job is supposed to be a punishment." Her voice was quiet, but Daisy could tell she was on the verge of tears again. "What?!" Daisy felt faint. Surely Mary wouldn't...? She yanked open the door, finding Stacy hidden behind a stack of several boxes. Her face was tear stained, and her eyes were red and puffy. "Oh, sweetheart..." She sighed, then backed away from the door. "Come on sugar. Let's go tell the others you're alright..." Stacy came out of the closet, following Daisy as she wheeled back to Mortimer's office. She paused at the door, unlatching it carefully before backing up and charging through it. "Mary Stein, what is wrong with you?!" Everyone in the office jumped, and she too notice that the other Puppets were there. Ignoring them for now, she extended her stand to get into the human woman's face, putting on her best Daisy Danger Death Glare. "How dare you use us to punish your step-daughter!" "Punish?" Nick questioned from behind, but the baker ignored him. "I don't know what you're talking abo-" Mary said, but Daisy pushed on. "Really? Because Stacy told me everything. And now, I want you to tell me what ever possessed you to use fear to punish a child? And you had better have a really good answer." Whatever Mary was going to say was never to be heard, as she was cut off with another question from behind. "She's afraid of us?" Riley asked in a small voice. She looked more upset than Daisy had seen her be in a long time, and Nick, standing beside, had a similar expression. For a moment, "Of course not!" Mary insisted. "She watches your show all the time with Danny. She wouldn't do that if she was scared of you!" "Or maybe she would, if she cared what her brother thought of her." Mortimer pointed out. "The siblings are quite close, you've said so yourself many times before." "Yes, well-" Mortimer cut her off again. "You told me before that her working here was to keep her out of trouble, give her a fun Summer. Had I known that to be a lie, I'd never have agreed to hire her." Mortimer sounded genuinely mad for the first time in years. Mary went to protest, but the Puppet held up a hand to stop her. "I will allow her to continue to work here." He told her. "On the condition that us, she doesn't have to go near. There are plenty of other jobs for her to do. Sound control, editing, writing too." He said to the room at large. "I'll talk to Lydia and have her choose where she can stay. In the mean time, take her and Danny home, you've all had quite a day." "Of course." Mary said, turning to leave, but was stopped by Mortimer. "Oh, and one more thing." He waited until she'd turned back around. "If you ever pull something like this again, your time here with us will come to an end." His tone remained calm, but even Mary could tell his was still angry. So she simply nodded and hurried out of his office, closing the door behind her. Stacy was sitting beside the door, arms on her knees as she stared quietly at the wall. If she had been listening or not, Mary honestly couldn't tell. She thought about saying something, anything, about what had happened. The words "I'm sorry" came to her mind, but she couldn't figure out what to be sorry for. In the end, she simply sighed and gestured towards where the door was. "Come on Stacy. Let's go get your brother and you guys' stuff. We'll talk about this when we get home." She told her. The girl didn't answer, but did stand up and follow her step-mother down the hall. Her hands were shoved in her shorts pockets, and her head was down, but at least she was moving.. 'Tomorrow will be better.' Mary assured herself as they picked Danny up from Lydia. 'I know better now, and Stacy won't have to be around the Puppets. We'll have a nice talk about everything when we get home, and things will be fine. They have to be.'        

[samuelkwinchester]

14.11 - Sister!Winchester

Warnings: Language, Gore (kind of?), Mentions of rape, Unwanted touching (isn’t super detailed and doesn’t get very far, but please avoid if easily triggered).

Summary: Hope Winchester is Sam and Dean’s little sister from a different mom. This takes place during the events of season 14 episode 11, “Damaged Goods,” when Dean visits his mother and Nick is searching for her so that he can get revenge. Unfortunately, Hope gets caught in the crossfire between Nick and his obsession to find who killed his family

(I know that the picture is not from the episode, but bear with me. Also, it is not mine)

Enjoy :)

“Sam, I’m worried about Dean…” I whispered into the phone.

“What’s wrong, Hope?” Sammy asked, his breath hitching in his throat.

“Dean is getting real close with Mar- mom. Plus he’s been in the shed for almost an hour now. There’s a lot of noise going on. I think it’s a blowtorch and maybe some sort of power saw? I don’t know. Either way, he had a lot of books with him. And that’s really not like him. You know that, Sam. He’s just not himself. I mean, I know with Michael being stuck in his head and all, but really thi-”

“Hope. Breathe.” Sam commanded through the phone. “It’s gonna be okay. I’ll be over in maybe four hours, give or take. Stay there, stay alert, and stay safe. You have your phone, so call me if you need me. I’ll be there soon, okay?”

“O-okay.” I said shallowly. The phone went dead.

I got up from my curled up position on my bed. The sun had gone down, and the room was no longer visible. I shivered, remembering what dad had said about the dark. My feet touched the cold, bedroom floor. I carefully guided myself toward the lightswitch, finding the panel, and switching it on. 

The floor was pristine, obviously hadn’t been walked on in at least a few months. I looked in the mirror next to the doorway. There I stood, dressed in a simple pair of light denim ripped jeans (which Sam and Dean gave me a lot of crap for), a black short-sleeved undershirt, and a red and black flannel. My socks were black, warm, and fuzzy. Dean got them for me around Halloween, when the weather started to get cold. 

I quickly looked away from the mirror, and walked into the hallway, down the wood stairs. I walked into the kitchen, smelling something greasy and… familiar?

“Hope!” Dean smiled at me from the kitchen. “You hungry? Mom and I were making and old favorite- Winchester Surprise!”

I forced a smile on my face. “Of course! Let me go wash up real quick and I’ll join you guys.” Excusing myself to the restroom, I locked the door and leaned against it, doing the one thing I haven’t done in over a year.

“Castiel? If you are hearing this, I need you to stay where you are. I just wanted to tell you that I’m with Dean and Mary. Dean doesn’t seem to be doing well. He’s not like himself. I just wanted to tell you so that you could keep Jack posted. He deserves to know as much as I do, especially with everything going on right now. I’ll keep you up to date.”

//

“Jeez, Dean. I can’t believe you remember how I used to feed you and John this dish. It’s so… greasy.” Mary smiled, reliving old memories that I obviously wasn’t apart of.

“How could I forget? I love this stuff.” Dean smiled, stuffing his face with this interesting concoction. Meanwhile, I just picked at my food.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Mar- mom asked.

“I’m just… Not feeling well. I think I might take a walk. Some fresh air might help.” I said, slowly getting up from the dinner table. Before I could get far, Dean grabbed my hand.

“Don’t forget your gun. I’m not letting you step out of my sight without it, okay? Especially out there.” Dean’s eyes glazed over, and I knew that something was eating him up.

“O-okay. Love you, D.” I said before grabbing my gun from the buffet table. Putting the gun in my waistband, I slipped my boots on and walked out the door.

The woods were somewhat of a sanctuary- especially where I’m from. I was raised in Seattle before Sam and Dean found me. Dad was on a case there and met my mom. I was conceived the night they met. Then Dad up and left, but came around for the few birthdays I had (before he died) and the occasional Christmas or Halloween (again, very few). I wasn’t completely special to him, but I was his child. And there was still love given to me from him.

He’d tell me about my brothers before I had even met them. He said that Sammy was a genius going to college so that he could do something with his life besides ‘the family business’- which was what he would call it back then. Dean was described as the legacy of the family, the one who would continue the business.

I hadn’t met them before John died.

Sam and Dean had barged into my house the night my mom died. I was five years old when the demon was killed. That’s when I started touring with the Winchester duo, and I contributed as the final part to the trio. I went through it all with them but stayed with Bobby a lot. When Mary came into the picture, I didn’t know how to react. She wasn’t my mom, but I was Sam and Dean's sister. She accepted me as her own early on, and I love her for it, but I’m still adjusting.

As I walked away from the cabin, I noticed headlights in the distance. I had a bad feeling about it, but I walked away. I knew I would regret it, but I didn’t just how much. 

Continuing into the woods, I thought about Dean. What was he doing in the barn? Building something maybe? Or was he just releasing some pent up feelings? Either way, something was up, and I knew there was something he was keeping from me. I know he was possessed by apocalypse Michael, but he knows that at one point I was possessed by Michael from this world. I may not have been possessed for long, but it was still hell. I can remember that much. Especially because Michael only talked about wanting to use my brothers so that he could kill his own. He messed with my head too, and Dean doesn’t realize it. I want him to know I’m here. I need him to know I’m here. He shouldn’t go through this alone. He didn’t let me go through it alone.

I heard sirens coming from the dirt road, which made me feel a little safer but also a little more on edge. I didn’t think there was anything obviously wrong, so it was a shock to know the van was being looked for.

 I quickly returned to the road, the cabin nowhere in sight, and turned to see Donna and… Nick? They were fighting, and for a moment it looked like Donna had the upper hand. Then Nick pulled the taser out from nowhere and tazed Donna. I froze, not knowing what to do. I could yell, but that would bring attention to myself. I watched as Nick effortlessly lifted Donna, and put her in the cop car. As he finished up, he turned around and locked eyes on my distant figure.

My blood ran cold- and not because it was near 40 degrees.

I had heard about a killer roaming around the Pike Creek area in Delaware, but I didn’t put two and two together. I should have known- I should have said something.

Nick started to walk towards me, and my body kicked into fight or flight mode.

I started with a jogging pace, getting away from Nick. I started to sprint as I heard a clicking noise. While trying to run in a zig-zag pattern I heard a ‘boom’ and then pain spread throughout my hip. I cried out, the pain was sudden and unforgiving. As I fell, I could feel the blood staining my clothes and my waist. My left hand moved to the wound so I could attempt to stop some bleeding. Everything was in slow motion. I hit the ground with a hard ‘thud’, my head spinning. The pain was almost unbearable, but I’ve had worse. I heard running footsteps and I knew he was coming for me. I took my hand off of the wound and pushed myself back up. I suppressed a groan as I put pressure on my leg, which traveled to my hip. I started to run towards the cabin, praying that I could make it before I either bled out or Nick caught me. 

I could see lights, indicating I was close to Dean. Maybe not as close as I’d like, but it was something. Hope filled my veins and pushed me forward. I was so close to being home, so close to having the upper hand in this fight, so close to telling Dean that it was going to be okay. That I was going to be there for him.

Until I wasn’t close anymore.

Hands traveled to my hips, grabbing hard and intentionally pressing against my damaged hip. I choked out a quiet sob. I was caught, and I couldn’t see the light in this situation anymore. I wasn’t just scared- I was terrified. Nowhere left to go.

Game over.

“Where do you think you’re going, princess?” Nick sneered into my ear, obviously rubbing his victory into my face.

“Fuck. You.” I growled. I began to get defensive. I knew that he didn’t need me for anything, but he didn’t want his cover blown either. The worst outcome was that I’d be killed right now, leaving Dean with Michael and without Mary. I’m praying that he doesn’t go down that road.

“Feisty, huh? We can fix that real quick,” Nick pushed harder onto the bullet hole decorating my hip. I hissed at him. “Okay. That didn’t work… I could try something else. Something I remembered from when I was shacked up with Lucifer…”

Okay, I was wrong. Being killed wasn’t the worst scenario.

Nick ran his other hand, the one not putting pressure on my hip, down to my thing and squeezed just slightly. He started to move up, and he pressed up against me. He stopped right before he reached a place I definitely didn’t want him to touch.

“We have two options, Little Winchester. Either you give up, or I bring up some repressed memories. Some that haven’t seen the light of day since they were scarred into your pretty little head. But hey, it’s your choice.” Nick taunted.

My mind was racing a million miles per second. I felt dizzy and nauseous. I actually thought about throwing up on his shoes, but I don’t think I could aim for them. But in all seriousness, my mind was at war with itself. I didn’t want to just give up and be submissive, but I couldn’t risk being killed, or worse.

“Alright. I’ll behave. But you have to promise me something.” I said with the strongest voice I could come up with.

“And… What would that be, Hope?” Nick grinned against my ear.

“Keep Dean and Mary alive. They don’t need to be killed.” I was practically begging and he knew it.

“Okay. We have a deal.” He smiled as he took his hand off my thigh. 

I let out a sigh of relief, before suddenly being spun around and lifted over his shoulder. He turned and walked towards the van. The back door of the van was opened and I was shoved inside. I held in a cry as I somehow landed on my hip (just my luck). Next thing I knew the van doors were slammed shut, and my vision was fading fast. My last thoughts were dedicated to my brothers, praying that they’d find me or move on if they didn’t, before I blacked out entirely.

//

*2nd POV*

“-Dean, he’s going after your mom,” Donna sighed into the phone.

“He who?” Dean asked, feeling very confused yet on guard.

“Uh, some guy named Nick.” Donna finally spit out, and Dean acted immediately.

Dean ran outside after hanging up with Donna, gun in hand. He was going to find that bastard before he found Mary. He walked out of the bushes and onto the dirt road, taking a faster pace. Sticks were broken behind him, and in less than a second his gun was cocked and pointed to whoever was behind him.

“Dean! Woah, easy!” Sam yelled, clearly not wanting to get shot by his brother. “Dean, what’s going on here?”

“It’s Mom,” he rasped. “She’s gone.”

//

Mary awoke in the van, her head pounding. Her head was resting on something… soft? She slowly opened her eyes to see the ceiling of the van. She pushed herself up and turned to see Hope laying on the floor, bleeding at a steady pace.

“Oh god!” Mary yelled. “Help!”

She scanned the back for anything that could stop the bleeding. She found an old cloth and some alcohol. Perfect. After she shredded the cloth, she poured alcohol onto it and tied it tight around Hope's waist, making sure that it was covering and putting pressure on the wound. Hope shot up, eyes wide open, and fear evident in her eyes.

//

*1st POV*

I shot up, my eyes wide open, and my heart beating out of my chest. I took in a shaky breath and saw Mary leaning over me.

“Oh, thank god.” She said, tears rolling down her face.

“Hey, Mary.” I croaked out. Smiling, she helped me sit up against her.

The back door swung open, and Nick was standing there with a smirk on his face. I’m not entirely sure why he needed Mary, but I could tell that whatever the reason, it wasn’t good.

“Morning, Ladies!” Nick sang, before hopping into the back with us. Mary pushed me to the far corner, trying to get me as far away from Nick as possible. “Oh, come on, Mary! I wasn’t going to do anything… yet…” He smiled viciously.

“Alright, what do you want?” Mary asked, clearly not happy with the situation she was in.

“You know… The demons, they know where you are,” Nick said, taking a seat across from me. “They keep track of you, you and your kids. They’re sort of scared of you. So wherever you are, they’re not. So that’s how I got to Hibbing. I didn’t have an address. Luckily, that- that perky little sheriff lady- what’s her name? Deborah? Debbie? Something? Whatever. She had some emails on her cellphone talking about you and her family cabin, so here I am.” Mary just glared at him while he rambled.

“I know that’s a lot to take in, but… And if you feel like screaming, you can- you can go ahead cause we’re pretty remote…”

“Nick,” Mary started. “What are you doing?”

Nick got up suddenly and moved right next to me as I flinched. Mary looked slightly afraid, but kept it in knowing that I was watching.

“Tonya Baker,” Nick began. “Yeah, you knew her. You saved her life. Her whole girl scout troop was murdered and she was the only survivor, thanks to you. These two demons were about to finish her off, and then you came in and chased one away but you faced off against the other one, a demon named Abraxas.”

“I remember. So?” Mary snapped.

“So? Abraxas murdered my family the same way he killed those girls- bloody, brutal, slow.” Mary's face fell at his confession, and even I felt bad.

“I’m sorry, Nick,” Mary started. “But you could have just asked me. This, shooting Hope, this is cr-”

“Crazy?” Nick asked, finishing her sentence. “What would you have told me?”

“That I killed him!” Mary raised her voice. “Abraxas is dead.”

“So you would have lied to me?” My eyes widened at his statement. “You didn’t kill him, you trapped him in a box. How’d you do it?”

Mary stuttered. Nick grabbed her coat and shook her. “Tell. Me.”

“Okay, okay. We put him in an Enochian box. He’s contained.”

“Do you have him?” Nick asked, clearly done with beating around the bush.

“No… but I can take you to him.”

//

Dean and Sam were pacing, waiting for a response from Donna’s radio. Dean was beyond worried. When Sam and him got back, Dean immediately went upstairs to look for Hope. He was praying that she got back while he was sleeping, but when he opened the door to her room, she wasn’t there, and he lost it. Sam was stunned for a minute but began to worry more and more.

Eventually Donna got a trace, and they sped off to Grand Rapids.

//

We pulled up to a storage unit that, Mary said, had the box containing Abraxas. Nick pulled Mary out of the van, then me. He pulled me along as I struggled to keep up. Mary unlocked the door, and he pushed her inside first before pulling me in.

“Alright, where is it?” Nick asked. Mary remained silent. “Listen, if you tell me where it is, you and little Winchester get to walk away.”

Mary sighed, obviously struggling with her decisions.

“It’s over there.”

Nick looked around while Mary stood still.

“Where is it?” Nick asked, clearly getting angrier by the minute.

“In the lockers…” Mary said. “Too bad I don’t have the key.”

I smiled a little at how dumb she was playing. I liked her style. Nick shrugged, grabbed a machete, and chopped off the lock, moving into the room with the lockers.

“Which one?” Nick asked. Mary just shrugged, not giving him a clear answer.

Nick grunted and shoved me towards Mary. He started to chop off locks again while Mary helped me keep steady.

“Just sit here, hun. Against the lockers.” I nodded and slid down the lockers onto the floor. I was losing steam, and I didn’t know when Dean or Donna would find us. I was rooting for sooner, rather than later.

“Open the box.” Nick said as I looked up.

“Sorry, but you need a host. It can’t be you, it can’t be me,” She lifted her shirt to show her tattoo. “And, it can’t be Hope.” She lifted up my shirt so he could see the tattoo on my side.

“Well, then I’ll improvise.” Nick said, before leaving.

//

Nick walked in with the security guard from the post out front. He sat him down and pulled the bag off of his head.

“Nick don’t do this-”

“How do I open this thing?” Nick cut her off.

“I don’t know.” Mary sighed.

Nick turned around while trying to figure out the box, which gave Mary a chance to walk up behind him and kick his knees out from under him. She attempted to grab the dropped box, but Nick got back up and kicked her over while she was laying on the ground. I tried to get up and help, but everything was still spinning, and I couldn’t see who was who at this point. I was useless. So I prayed that it wasn’t too late to save us all.

“I said I could handle it!” Nick yelled as he pushed her up against the fence. Nick continued to mess with the box, but then threw it onto the ground. Nick, frustrated as ever, picked up the drill and drilled into the box. Black smoke came from the black cube and flew right into the security guards' mouth.

“Heya, Blondie.” Abraxis cooed at Mary, then looked my way. “Who’s your cute friend?”

“Why’d you kill my family?” Nick demanded.

“Have to be more specific.” Abraxis smirked, clearly messing around.

“Pike Creek, Delaware.” Nick stated, getting emotional.

“Oh. Nick. Why are you walking and talking? I thought the big man had you on lockdown.”

“He’s dead. Now, why did you kill my family?” Nick raised his voice.

“Kill her first, then we’ll talk.” Abraxas looked towards me. “Mary here locked me in a box and I hold a grudge. But I want her to suffer instead. Kill the girl nice and slow, then maybe we’ll talk.”

Nick looked at me.

“Nick,” Mary started with a grin on her face. But Nick looked serious about going through with it. And I was terrified. “Nick! Don’t do it!”

Nick walked toward me slowly, and suddenly my adrenaline kicked in. I needed to get up and run. I tried pushing myself up, but Nick picked up his pace and pounced on me. He straddled my waist as he bound my arms together.

“You ready to die, little Winchester?” Nick sneered as he prepared his knife. He lifted up the knife, and was about to drive it into my stomach, but a gunshot cut him off.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Sam yelled, holding Nick at gunpoint.

Nick cowered away from me, and Dean came rushing over to me. His eyes filled with rage as he released my arms and saw my bloody hip. Sam was helping Mary out of her handcuffs while I tried to stand up against the lockers.

“Hey, De.” I said weakly.

“Hey sweetheart.” Dean smiled slightly, struggling to watch me keep myself up.

“Is she okay?” Sam asked, his voice wavering.

“Not sure, Sammy.” Dean sighed. Sam rushed over and gave me a bear hug. I hissed when he held me tight against him.

“What’s wr-” Sam saw my bloody hip, and his face fell. “No, Hope…”

“I-It’s okay, Sammy. I’ll make it.” I chuckled lightly. Sam gave me a kiss on the forehead before pointing his gun at Nick again.

“What are you doing?” Sam questioned.

“What I have to.” Nick said, before grabbing a knife and scraping off a piece of the devil's trap.

“NO-” We all yelled, before being lifted into the air and slammed onto the floor. I groaned out in pain as the cloth fell off of my hip. More blood started to pour onto the floor.

“You wanna know why I killed your family? I was following orders-” Abraxas started.

“From who?” Nick pressed, not giving up.

“Who do you think? Lucifer.” Abraxas smirked.

“I-I don’t understand.” Nick stuttered. “Why me?!”

“You were chosen, but you’re not special. We threw a dart at a phone book and-”

“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica-”

“Stop,” Abraxas said as he forced Dean into one of the storage shelves.

“Dean!” I coughed, looking back to make sure he was okay. He groaned and tried to push himself back up.

“So. Who dies first?” Abraxis asked, before Nick pulled his head back, forced him onto his knees, and stabbed him in the chest.

Nick got up and started swiping at anyone who would come near him. 

“Take it easy!” Sam yelled, before Donna shot him in the leg and M- mom knocked him out.

“Payback, bitch.” I choked out a quiet laugh while trying to fight the darkness from taking over.

“Hope!” Sam and Dean yelled, rushing over to me.

“You gotta stay with us, sissy. Okay?” Dean asked, trying to keep me awake.

“N-no pr-omises…” I smirked.

“Even with a bullet in your hip and at least a quarter of your blood on the floor, you’re still a pain in our asses.” Dean chuckled, trying to make light of the situation.

“I try, De.” I smiled, before slipping into the darkness.

//

I woke up to Dean by my side. I tried to sit up, but my hip was burning.

“Woah. That’s some kick.” I joked, pushing myself up to the headboard. The pain wasn’t nearly as bad, but it still hurt.

“Take it easy, kiddo.” Dean ordered, clearly not messing around. “How are you feeling?”

“Like hell, but I’ll be okay.” I tried to smile, but I just couldn’t. The fight was finally over, and somehow we won. The tears came right after, but I let them fall.

“Hey, it’s okay, sweetheart. It’s over now, I promise.” Dean climbed into the bed with me and held my head against his chest.

“H-he did so much more, De… So much more than just this.” I sobbed.

Sam quietly entered the room while Dean and I sat in silence. He sat down on my other side and kissed my head, letting me know that he was here too.

“W-when he shot me, he… He said he remembered something about me from when Lucifer was possessing him…” I stuttered, more tears flowing but I didn’t care.

“What’d he say, kiddo?” Dean asked, clearly defensive.

“H-he said that he’d use something against me if I didn’t stop fighting him… He moved his other hand to my thigh a-and…” I sucked in a breath, trying to stay calm even though everything in me wanted to scream and thrash. “He made me think he was going to touch me… He knew what had happened to m-me bef-fore… I thought he was going to r-rape me-” I sobbed, wanting to crawl out of my own skin.

“I’m gonna kill him.” Dean growled lowly, getting out of the bed and pacing the floor. “How did he know? Lucifer wasn’t even apart of that… That was another assholes fault…” Deans held his head in his hands.

Sammy comforted me as I continued to sob. My face was buried in his chest, but I didn’t care. Dean sat back down and held me.

“We’re gonna fix this, okay? We’ll get through it together. You’ll always have us. Always.” Sam choked out, trying not to lose it because he wanted to be strong for me.

“We got you, Hope. We love you.”

[mtvswatches]

Wynonna Earp 2x11 Gone as a Girl Can Get

Click here for previous recaps!

Stray thoughts

1) Nicole and Waverly are in the middle of this revenant war…

…and honestly, just before watching this episode, I was wondering what the ramifications of Wynonna vanishing from existence would be. Does this mean that everyone she’s ever killed is still alive…?

2) Oh, so Waverly remembers Wynonna at this point! So what happened between her vanishing and now?! At least I’m glad to hear Waverly knows how to get her back…

3) What the actual fuck! Did they all just blow up?!

That’s a crapload of information for the first minute of an episode!!

4) So… clearly reality has been altered, and old Doc does not have a clue what this Alt!Doc has been doing. Apparently, he’s the “boss” of the revenants now, and he’s killed many of them since the ring has gone missing, which is the alt!reason he was in the well - looking for the ring. But Doc remembers Wynonna and he’s mind is set on finding her, he doesn’t care about the ring at all. I’m really interested in seeing what was the chain of events unleashed by the erasure of Wynonna’s existence…

And damn, he truly is the boss…

5) “Without Wynonna, I’m…” What was he going to say?! I need to know! I need to know how he perceives Wynonna’s influence on him! I know what was her impact on him, but I need to hear him say it!

Well, instead of protecting Rosita and dating her, Alt!Doc kidnapped her and has her shackled in a shed. Of course, after realizing what his alter ego has done, he immediately releases her and asks her to take him to Waverly… GIBSON?! She changed her name! And Xavier is the deputy…

6) Mercedes The Widow is still being held by Xavier, who can’t really remember how they captured her in the first place. She seems to believe that without Wynonna, she and her sister are free and Dolls and the gang will all die. But why would she let Xavier know that he should be looking for a woman?

7) Damn, Alt!Doc is vicious! He scarred Xavier with a knife and apparently blew up the power plant, lumber yard, and Nedley’s house, I’m assuming with nedley in it. DAMN. Doc mentions “her” and it seems to trigger something in Dolls, but it’s not enough yet to make him remember Wynonna. And now they’re throwing Doc in the same cell where the Widow is…

8) Wait…

2015? So this means that in Wynonna-less universe, Nedley was killed even before she got to Purgatory?

9) And now Nicole is putting on lipstick and getting ready for someone’s visit and thank god, it is Waverly… but Waverly is obviously engaged to someone else and Nicole has clearly been pining over her all this time, that’s as sweet as it is sad.

10) Nicole is wearing a wedding ring because she was indeed married - as we learned in the previous episode, but she can’t remember why she’s wearing it. Waverly, on the other hand, is sort of having second thoughts about marrying “him”. (Who is “him” by the way? Is it the douche she was dating at the beginning of the show? Champ, was it?) And even in a completely different universe there’s this undeniable gravitational pull between these two…

Kind of reminds me of Willow and Tara in Tabula Rasa, you know? Memories erased but their mutual attraction survived…

11) Now, that’s interesting… the Widow has run out of poison.

12) So this is who she is marrying?

That’s one of the guys who had made the deal with the demon, using the cup that the Iron Witch used to vanish Wynonna…

Alt!Waverly keeps talking about wanting to escape Purgatory, which is basically the opposite of what our Waverly would do. And we also learn that they almost got married three times… How can’t she tell that’s a huge warning sign and that maybe she shouldn’t be marrying at all?

13) Huh. I guess Alt!Waverly has the same issues with her partner as regular Waverly…

WAVERLY: Because knowing something about me before me is a total invasion of my privacy?

What he found was the MAN who killed Waverly’s family, does that mean we’ll see Bobo again…? (I guess in this reality it wasn’t Wynonna who accidentally shot their dad...)

14) YES MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!

I’ll never stop wanting Bobo back! And Bobo, just like Dolls, can tell that reality has been altered. He tells Waverly that she has another sister, Wynonna, who is missing and whom she needs to find, but of course, he’s a fucking madman so why would she believe her? There’s one thing, though, Wynonna's influence wasn’t completely erased, considering Bobo still let Waverly leave as a result of Wynonna traveling to the past, saving him and telling him her name was Waverly… So there are echoes of her existence, I guess? Bobo did say she was “shaded”, so that means that she’s been hidden somehow but still there, right?

15) Oh, Widow McBitch is still trying to raise Clootie…

…but it’s not working because it requires both of the widows to perform the ritual. I guess she’s going to break her sister free now.

16) This is some Back to the Future shit, isn’t it?

17) Called it.

At least Doc is out, too.

18) I truly love how Doc got to Jeremy, like, he truly knows Jeremy?

19) Doc next visits Waverly, who is terrified at the sight of him and that probably hurt him badly considering Waverly had always had a soft spot for him. Damn, I really love what they did with Doc in this episode? There’s no Wynonna, and he could’ve so easily jumped on the “I’m the town’s boss” wagon, he was a king in this reality, probably the kind of villain he’d always wanted to be, but Wynonna’s influence and presence is too strong to ignore it. He’s a changed man because of her, and even if she doesn’t exist, he can’t revert to his old ways. There was no hesitation, no “well, maybe I could get used to this...” And to see him going around town trying to rally the troops and convince them that he’s a good guy and that there’s a better reality is just… *chef’s kiss*

20) DAMN HE WENT THERE!

HE ACTUALLY SHOT DOLLS! But at least he feels bad about it…

21) WTF NOW DOLLS FUCKING SHOT DOC!!!

THIS IS THE DARKEST TIMELINE AND I HONESTLY FEEL LIKE TROY...

22) Damn, I know this isn’t real and yet…

At least he told her how to bring Wynonna back before he died, right?

And she fucking cried? She was terrified of him two minutes ago, but when she saw him die it’s like she remembered she loved him? 

23) Nicole can’t keep it in her pants and I love it…

WAVERLY: You’d do that for me?

NICOLE: I’d do a lot of things to you.

WAVERLY: “For”. “For” me.

NICOLE: Yeah, that, too.

24) Dolls is about to die and he’s instructing Jeremy to “locate the asset” and “complete the mission” and I have no idea what he’s talking about but I do get this…

And he remembered Wynonna right before he died…

25) And the Iron Witch…

…has lost an eye, had a shitty life and had her sister killed by the season 1 killer Jack of Knives… I guess she’s a cautionary tale for the old saying “be careful what you wish for.”

26) The Iron Witch lifts the glamour for a few seconds, which allows both Waverly and Nicole to remember what brought them here and who Wynonna is, and I just… Waverly’s face when she remembers her sister just about killed me…

And how they describe her? Warm and funny and insanely protective? Yes to all.

27) Bobo is on the loose!

They need to get into the homestead, which has been taken over by revenants, and who better to get you through a sea of revenants than the king of revenants himself, right?

28) Jeremy and Rosita jumped to the conclusion that Black Badge must be behind the time-altering spell by tainting the town’s water supply with drugs… for some reason?

29) Why do I fear that Wynonna will be back right after these two assholes raise their Big Bad of a husband…?

30) Okay, so they need to remove the talisman that Bobo made Waverly bury when she was a little girl, which allowed revenants to walk on the homestead’s ground… and while they’re digging and digging the Widows are getting closer and closer and the revenants are approaching them as well… it’s chaos…

31) “Also, I think I’m gay.” Okay, this is definitely a callback to Willow in Tabula Rasa!!! There’s no way this wasn’t done on purpose!!!

32) And now Rosita is fucking dead! Who else is going to die in this reality? Seriously, I’m getting some serious “The Wish” vibes here…

33) EVERYONE IS GOING TO DIE. Waverly is going to blow the trophy and themselves up to bring Wynonna back!

34) One more for the road…

35) They did it. They blew everything up and now they’re themselves again.

But is Wynonna back….?

36) And Bobo’s still here! What does that mean? I’m happy, but why?! How is that possible? Does that mean that Dolls and Doc are still dead?

37) Bobo is making a deal with the Widows, fuck, Bobo! Don’t betray me like this!

38) Wynonna is back! And she’s still pregnant, thank god! I thought she might have been sent to another dimension where the time goes by at a different pace and the baby might be a teenager by the time they were returned to this reality...

39) OH FUCK.

She’s having the baby at the same time that Clootie’s been raised!

40) Well, that was an interesting episode. I liked the exploration of what Purgatory and everyone’s lives would have been like had Wynonna never existed, although I think some things were not as I would’ve imagined them. I also kind of feel this was something that could’ve been explored a little bit more? It felt kind of rushed. I mean, it was a major spell, erasing someone’s existence, and I guess considering Wynonna’s impact on everyone’s life, her absence was bound to be noticeable, regardless of how powerful the spell was. But for the viewer’s sake, it would’ve been interesting to explore this world a little bit more? I don’t know, I was left wanting. Of course, there’s no reason why we can’t go back to this universe again in the future, right?

And while I found a lot of parallels between this episode and Buffy’s “Tabula Rasa” and “The Wish”, I like this show’s take on the whole “memories erased” trope because of two reasons: 1) Wynonna’s absence and the echoes of her existence were truly felt, kind of like what happened with Peter Bishop in Fringe, and 2) even if the spell was broken, it still had repercussions… Bobo is still alive, for once. And although we’re still lacking an explanation for that, I think it’s interesting the writers chose to make the spell have actual real-life consequences because it’s easy for supernatural shows to explore other realities in this way and then once the spell is broken, nothing of what transpired in the episode has real consequences. But this is not the case here.  Like I mentioned, Bobo is back. Clootie is out. And we’re yet to find out if Dolls and Doc are alive…

Everything is a mess going into the season finale and I can’t wait to find out how they wrap up this season!

41)  Hope you enjoyed my recap, and, as usual, if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi.Thanks!

[nellie-elizabeth]

Supernatural: Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven (15x08)

I'm screaming.

Cons:

Buckleming episodes usually piss me off, but this one was actually really great. It was still plagued with the same pacing problems I always see in their episodes, though. A lot of great stuff happened here, but it didn't necessarily have a ton of room to breathe. Some of it did - the Cas and Dean stuff, the Michael and Adam stuff. And maybe that's the most important. But it might have been nice to have a longer beat with Rowena, or a bit more buildup with Eileen and the case. For an episode written by these two chuckle-fucks, though, I'm honestly really, really impressed.

Donatello is an okay-ish character, but his presence here felt mostly unnecessary. Didn't we have enough to juggle, without introducing him into the mix? Eileen, Cas, Rowena, Chuck, Michael, Adam... there's a lot going on here. It probably could have been done without him.

Pros:

I really don't know where to start, so let's start with Eileen. Just the fact that she's in this episode warms me from head to toe. She's... actually in the show. She's here, in the mid-season finale, where important Plot Stuff is happening. She's a real player in events, and after she came back from the dead, she stuck around in the bunker. Like she's... really in the show, you guys. Three episodes in a row!

On a more specific note, I love that Sam followed her and Eileen called him out on it... this could have been really creepy but I think they played it right. Eileen died and came back to life, and Sam is just starting to develop this relationship with her. It makes sense that he might be a little overbearing. And Eileen's reaction was pitch-perfect. She's a little annoyed, a little amused, but also maybe a little touched? And Sam takes the criticism to heart, realizing that he's probably overstepped. Later, when Eileen has a case that she needs to go on, to help an old friend, she goes to Sam and tells him, and he tags along. This seems like a good arrangement - Eileen isn't being stupid and running off by herself for no reason, but Sam is also respecting her boundaries and letting her approach him if and when she wants help with something.

We've also got Dean giving his seal of approval to the relationship, telling Sam that if he wants to do the family and relationship thing, Eileen is probably a good way of going about that. She's a hunter, she gets the life. And, as Dean says... Sam could do a lot worse. And Eileen could do so, so much better. I honestly think this little conversation was important to include. It's not like Sam needs Dean's blessing to start a relationship with Eileen, but... let's be honest, guys. Yes he does. Not literally, but can you really imagine either of the Winchester brothers being able to foster a healthy and lasting relationship with someone who didn't meet the other brother's approval? The codependency issues here are clear, and not to be discounted.

So then let's move on to Rowena. I loved her return here. It was totally unexpected, and totally brilliant. As I mentioned above, I really could have used more of her. The brief moment where Sam wants to hash out their last moments, and Rowena brushes him off, could have felt weightier. But the fact that we even got to see her again was such a gift. And what a natural end for her character! Queen of Hell. It fits, especially since I think we've pretty much confirmed that we won't be seeing Crowley again before the end. She got to show up looking like a boss-ass bitch, save Sam, Dean, and Castiel from getting their asses handed to them, shout orders, try to help them find Michael, assert her dominance and her happiness in her new role, and even try to kick Dean and Cas into gear, as she notices that they're clearly in some sort of "tiff." As brief as her return was, it certainly packed a punch, and I loved it so very much.

Cas and Dean's strained relationship right now is giving me life. This is the most Destiel-adjacent content we've gotten since Season Eight, and with the two of them returning to Purgatory, we're bound to get a lot of material in the new year, as well. The thing that I like so much about their story arc this season is that... there is a story arc. Dean has been cruel and dismissive of Cas in the past, and Cas has made mistakes, and circumstances have conspired to keep Castiel out of episodes as he goes off on his own quests... none of this is strictly new. But what is new is the narrative weight being placed on it. This is a slow-burn conflict that's going to have to have meaty screen-time to resolve. They had a serious fight, and it's actually affecting both of them in their actions.

Both Jensen and Misha are pulling out all the stops in giving this conflict the weight it deserves. There are so many delicious moments. They make their plans and discuss their options, but they can't even meet each other's eyes. There's the moment after Cas forces Michael to confront the truth, and Dean comes in and says "maybe you went too far." It's a gentle remonstrance, and he's clearly trying not to ruffle Cas' feathers. I loved the way Jensen played that, like he needed to talk to Cas about what went down, but he wanted to be careful not to antagonize him. When Rowena confronts them, they both do the typical thing of pretending everything's fine, still refusing to look at each other.

But the moment where my heart just squeezed in my chest was obviously when Dean cut his hand in order to do the spell to get to Hell, and Cas healed him, his hand hovering over Dean's fist without touching. Dean's hand unfurls and for a moment their fingers are centimeters apart, but they never touch. Many a meta has been written about the intimate way that Cas has always healed Dean, and how that juxtaposes to the way he heals other people. And in this moment, they don't touch, and it speaks volumes. I seriously have to ask the question - why was this moment in the episode? Sam could have been the one to cut his hand, or Dean could have, but then could have wrapped it up and moved on. It's not like we haven't seen Sam and Dean brush off wounds like this and ignore them before. This was a weighty, intentional moment. We lingered on it. I am alive, y'all.

Now let's turn to Adam/Michael. This is so amazing, and not at all what I think anyone was expecting when we found out Jake Abel was returning. Sure, Adam is a little pissed off at his brothers for leaving him in the cage, and sure Michael is still going on and on about being God's favorite, but even as so much has stagnated for these two characters, we've also learned what they've been up to in the cage for the past decade. They've made an arrangement. Only one body, but two brains... so they agree to share, more or less peacefully. Sam and Dean were shocked when Michael let Adam come to the forefront to say hi to his brothers. But the two of them seem to be... buddies. Adam is able to speak freely to Michael, to express his opinion that the Winchesters might have a point. Even though Michael can't quite listen to him in this instance, it's clear that he gives real consideration to Adam's opinions.

Adam was introduced on this show such a long time ago, and it would have felt disingenuous and annoying if we'd spent too long on the whole "you let me rot in hell" business. Of course that's something Adam would be thinking about, but it's not like Sam and Dean really knew him all that well. He doesn't seem to place much weight on his status as their brother, and I can't really blame him for that. He's had to forge his own path, and he's done so by becoming friends with the angel who is possessing him. I love that glow-up for Adam.

And Michael... he has to have his heart broken the same way Sam did when he found out that Chuck has been playing them all along. I loved the moment when Cas forcefully made him confront the truth, because of course it was too much, of course it was overwhelming, but ultimately it pushed him to understand that his loyalty to God is not worth the pain and suffering he's been through. And so, in much the way that Chuck knew how to cage Amara, Michael knows how to cage Chuck. He's willing to help by passing that information along. It's a spell, of course. And the most vital ingredient is something that can only be found in Purgatory. What with Sam and Eileen dealing with Chuck elsewhere, it's going to be up to Cas and Dean. They must return to the place where their epic romance really took off and began to slowly murder us all!

Chuck has Eileen and Sam right where he wants them, and even worse, Dean and Cas don't know. This is going to create great drama, as well as opportunities for our two couples (shut up and let me have this) to spend time together as we go in to the back half of the season. My heart is really starting to break, thinking about how little time we have left with this show!

I feel like this review could get out of hand very quickly. In many ways, this felt understated for a mid-season finale. Nobody died, the status quo didn't really shift all that much. But I actually liked it better for all that. Things are in motion. Character dynamics are being explored. This is a good season of Supernatural, y'all. Fingers crossed they can stick the landing!

9/10

[clamydomona]

Impressions of Game of Thrones after watching the show (because my local library had the first two seasons on DVD and I thought what the hell, why not watch the whole thing now that it’s done):

Spoilers for the whole show!

- I thought it would be this epic masterpiece, since half the world seemed so crazy about it, and was surprised that 90% of it was a medieval soap opera with family feuds and intrigues, illegitimate children and (accidental) incest

- I loved the intro, both the music and the animation. But half the time I have no idea which of the characters are actually in which of the locations shown in the beginning.

- I guess some of the battle scenes were pretty impressive, but I honestly couldn’t care less about all of them. The only time I really enjoyed the fight scenes was with Arya, because she was so cunning and elegant, and to a lesser degree with Brienne and her brute force, but during the full blown battle scenes I always paid little attention (partly because some were really terribly lit and it was hard to see something on TV during the day).

- Since I knew the most mayor players in the last season due to twitter osmosis, I found it hard to connect to a lot of characters since I knew they would bite it at some point or other. Mostly Robb who I couldn’t connect to at all (though I was surprised that he looked pretty attractive when I rewatched the Red Wedding, before that I thought he looked pretty bland). I also didn’t notice Theon at all in the first season and it took me a while to understand who he was when he got a bigger part in the second.

- In the first season, the only Stark children who I thought could act convincingly were Arya and Bran. I’m very glad that Sansa and Jon improved throughout the seasons, they were great later on. I didn’t much care for Robb, since I knew he wouldn’t win anyway.

- I’m surprised how many characters were put on hold in some seasons and just didn’t do much. Like Jaime in season 2, where he was almost completely absent, or Sansa before she returned to Winterfell.

- I didn’t fully get the religion plot in season 6 and I didn’t really care for it, but Cersei’s acting was great.

- The person I hated most was Joffrey. I already knew about Ramsey going in, since I watched him raping Sansa and his death in a college class, and most of the other “evil” characters were at least interesting to watch, but he was such a whiny sadistic piss baby. At least Jaime could actually fight, even though I found him also very annoying in the beginning. I’m sad that Arya never defeated him in a duel and cut his head of or sth. Though his death was very satisfying and I watched it more than once on youtube when I found him annoying. I would love to see Jack Gleeson in something completely different because he was a pretty good actor.

- I felt similar about Daenerys’s brother, and I looked forward to his death, but he got humanized during his death and I was surprised I felt a little bad for him as well. But had he lived, Cersei would have crushed him.

- I also loved Littlefinger’s death scene and watched it more than once, but compared to his masterful manipulation in the beginning he got very sloppy in later seasons, to be bested this easily. But Sansa also got very good at looking through manipulation and deception and playing that game herself.

- I could have watched the Stark siblings fucking shit up in the North for ages.

- I didn’t expect that so much tension came from waiting until various family members reunite again. I wouldn’t have expected that it takes 8 seasons for Arya and Jon to see each other again.

- I was surprised how much I liked Bran in the early seasons, since I knew he would end up on the throne in the end and most of the internet was disappointed by that and most of the pictures I saw of him were pretty lackluster. I still feel bad for him considering that he was pushed out of a window in the first episode and would never see his parents alive again. Regardless, he got very creepy once he became the Three Eyed Raven or whatever and actually seemed to lose the ability to act. He would have been the last person I put on that throne.

- Why didn’t every kingdom do what Sansa did and declare independance? Seems like a better deal.

- The show was very good at this buddy comedy road trip plot that it had going on for various unexpected characters. I liked both Jaime and Brienne a lot more after their road trip and I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed Arya and the Hound. They were my favorite reunion in season 8. Also Tyrion and Jorah to a lesser extent.

- I love Emilia Clarke and I was impressed how much control she had over her eyebrows. (I mostly saw her on Graham Norton and she has the most expressive eyebrows I have ever seen). Sadly, I lost more and more interest in her story, mostly because she was so far removed from all the other action, I think. But I’m glad I finally know what a Khaleesi is because I was so confused whether she was called Khaleesi or Daenerys or what.

- I’m further confused by how much time has passed in the show. Based on how much Cersei’s younger children were aged up from season 2 to season 4, you’d assume around five years or so, but based on Gilly’s child it looks like the show as a whole only took 4 years. Also seems weird to me that Arya, Bran and Rikkon spent years wandering around the country. Really?

- One of the most unrealistic things to me is that I am expected to believe that Tyrion is four years younger than Cersei and Jaime. He looks so much older than them.

- I love Sam. I love that he found the place he best fit in in the end, where he was appreciated for his talents and taken seriously. And I loved his story with Gilly.

- Considering that half the seven Kingdoms knew in the end that Cersei’s children were Jaime’s and most people couldn’t care less, was it really necessary to push Bran out of a window? (Though I guess that got out after Robert’s death, so it might have gone differently.) Additionally, who the fuck ordered the attack on Bran to kill him? It sure as hell wasn’t Tyrion, so was it Littlefinger who told Cat about the knife? But how did he know about that all the way in King’s Landing, since it takes 4 weeks to get there from Winterfell and they were all on the road. I guess someone could have sent a raven to him and he ordered someone he trusted to kill Bran with his knife, but in that case that someone with the knife had to have been there already. Logically, it should be either Cersei or Jaime (probably more Cersei, since she’s the mo0re ruthless of the two). So did Littlefinger just pretend it was his knife when Cat asked? Though I guess he could have ordered someone to steal the knife from Tyrion to frame him later on. Or Cersei did.

- Also, why the hell would anyone be stupid enough to assume that Tyrion was responsible for Bran’s attack or Joffrey’s death?

- Why did Shae completely turn on Tyrion and on top of that also sleep with Tywin? Was she this hurt by Tyrion sending her away?

- Pity that Tyrion and Sansa didn’t work out, he was the only one who truly respected her and her intelligence.

- Because I was shown Sansa’s rape on her wedding night and Ramsey’s death in class once, I spent a lot of time confused after I saw some gifs of Sansa and Tyrion’s wedding. I didn’t really recollect what Ramsey looked like, so I thought for a while that it was Tyrion who raped Sansa while Varys looked on, since someone in class explained that the guy who was forced to watch was castrated and Varys was the only castrated guy in the beginning of the show. And then I was confused why everyone liked Tyrion so much, since I thought the character raping Sansa wasn’t very well received.

- They cast Cersei’s and Jaime’s children very well. Especially after they cut off Cersei’s hair, I wasn’t sure whether some of the pictures I saw in passing in the last years were of Joffrey or Cersei. Furthermore I’m very glad that Jaime got a more rugged appearance in later seasons. He reminded me so much of a Ken doll I had as a child (who always lost one of his legs, poor guy) that I couldn’t take him seriously and actually thought he was just as much of a phony as his son as a knight. But, how the hell was Ned Stark only the second guy to notice that all children are blond while Robert’s relatives are all dark haired? And how is that considered proof? Jon is a Targaryen and he’s not blond, so Ned of all people shouldn’t judge by the hair color.

- Also, why didn’t Ned tell Cat that Jon was his nephew? Everyone else could still assume that Jon was Ned’s, but Cat could have known the truth. It’s not like she would have told Robert.

- While I thought it took ages for some storylines to move forward in the early seasons, I think it was preferable to the fast pace in the last two seasons. They felt more rushed, but also very surface level due to the huge cast.

- Also, why did everyone say Walder Frey’s daughters were so ugly and terrible? They looked like perfectly normal and nice girls. (I loved that moment when Walder introduced all of them to Robb and one corrects him on her name and he says “fine”. I laughed out loud at that.)

- Lady Olena was like every snarky twitter and tumblr comment come to life. She was awesome and her death was a really great moment.

- I was under the impression that Jon and Daenerys were some star-crossed lovers or something since all of Twitter seemed shocked that he killed her in the last episode, but they seemed like such an afterthought to me, especially since they only met for the very first time in season 7. (But kudos to that meeting, the way Ser Davos introduced him was awesome.)

- Also, for someone who told Jon he shouldn’t hold her responsible for the sins of her father, she sure likes to bring up the crimes of relatives to others. (Like Gendry in season 8, who didn’t even know who his father was for most of his life.) Seriously, that was so annoying to me.

- An finally, I cannot stress enough how much I hate that fucking phrase “Winter is coming”. By episode three I was fed up with it and it didn’t get better, not even when winter finally arrived. Honorary second place is “bend the knee”. I could have strangled everyone in season 7 and 8 who said that.

[lunawings]

King of Prism SSS Episode 2 commentary (Yukinojo)

Watched this episode live with you guys at 1am, stream froze right at the ending. That was the tipping point I needed to stay up to watch it again as soon as it was released on Crunchyroll at 3am, with the few folks who stayed in the chat. And of course after all that extended King of Prism woke me up, now look who can’t sleep and is watching it a 3rd time tonight at... 5am... aha ha... ha...... don’t look at me like that I don’t have work until 4pm it’s fine

So like most folks in Japan I experienced this episode as part of a three pack bundled with the prologue and Taiga’s episode, which makes up the theatrical SSS Part 1. 

While the theater experience is great, it’s also kinda bizarre since the tone in this episode is drastically different from the other two. After the dinner scene ends there is no basically cheering until the end of this episode. What can we say! I just kinda fall into a prism coma until the Prism One show when I am suddenly like wha... WHAAA OH YEAH knocking my concert lights on the floor trying to quickly grab them in time and all that. 

But not because this episode is bad or anything. Quite the opposite. It’s just....

Mesmerizing.... 

Anyway.

ITS ABOUT FRIKKIN TIME 

Renjishi is a pretty famous Kabuki show, and I think “Two Lions” is an accepted English translation so I don’t know why they didn’t bother to translate it? 

 This translator couldn’t figure out what to do with the “18″ either... I would definitely be confused why there is so much 18 this and that in this episode if I hadn’t looked it up for my own translations. It’s a reference to a certain collection of best kabuki plays.

And if you’re wondering why Yukinojo is the 7th generation while his father is the 3rd.... well... hell if I know, because that actually not a mistranslation. 

*throws hands in the air* If someone can explain it to me let me know.

In the theaters sometimes people will hold up two red lights and break them apart here and I always want to do it but I ALWAYS FORGET AHHH. My brain just isn’t in cheering mode during this episode. 

Also it took me like eight viewings before I noticed there is a continuity error where Shin’s chopsticks fix themselves ahah.

FACE

(Also someone in the livestream pointed out his earrings. Not sure if we have seen Yu with earrings yet.)

One of the many things that makes SSS so amazing is how much it changes the first two movies. Just when you thought you were done with them, all of a sudden you want to watch them all over again to see them in a new light. While the movies largely follow Shin’s perspective, for the first time we finally get to see things through the perspectives of other characters and it just adds layer upon layer upon layer and it’s just.... ahh..... 

THE PRISM

THE ONE SPECIFIC PRISM

The way the translator phrased this I imagine them all worshiping a giant stone in the back somewhere. ALL HAIL.... THE BRILLIANT PRISM....... 

This line is super weird out of context. When I translate King of Prism stuff I put in “prism jump” just to add context when it’s not there. But that’s.... just.... m...eee..............

This is my favorite damn Kakeru line in SSS and he doesn’t even say anything. 

Eeeeyaah... ....

Taiga is amazing in this scene too. BE TRUE TO YOUR EMOTIONS YOU’RE  RUINING DINNER DAMMIT 

I thought when I paused on this scene I’d be able to read some of these posters but not really. Wonder if these are a reference to Yukinojo getting into Japanese rock like he did during the curry event on Prism Rush? Maybe they just wanted to show he has typical teenage boy stuff in his room too. Also, of course, cameo from Andy! 

A translation I actually liked. This is basically exactly what he says ahha... the old men group of Edel Rose (2nd year high schoolers).

For anyone who read my shitty out of context spoilers during the first weekend and thought I was kidding when I said Kakeru almost got murdered by Yukinojo but he kinda deserved it.

I’m still reeling from how fucking real Kakeru gets here...... damn........

Someone in the livestream pointed this out, but we almost never hear Kakeru call Yukinojo “Tachibana” do we?

I jumped an inch in my seat when I saw this at the midnight showing. It was the moment where I was like holy moly we’re not in Kansas anymore and started to realize exactly what we were getting into in SSS. This is a whole new King of Prism. 

When you watch the episodes all strung together in the theater, the first episode runs at the same pace as the movies (in my mind I kinda of think of it as a shorter 3rd movie in itself), so it’s not until you get about here where things first start to slow and deepen and it’s you realize wow.... this really is an anime now..... 

I thought Nikkanen mentioned this superhero on Prism Rush, but he said Yossha-Man haha. Well they are both parodying the same series. (Yattaman/Yattawan?)

I really like Yukinojo’s grandpa. He just has the best old man voice. 

WHOOOOOOSH

This scene is foreshadowed in the first episode of SSS. While Shin is introducing everyone you see Yukinojo’s mother look down at her wrist. 

So it was kind of weird to be like is that gonna be a thing--OH THATS A THING right after haha. The theater experience is great, but these episodes are probably better paced week-to-week like this instead of in odd chunks the way they show them in theaters. 

I think this was foreshadowed in Pride the Hero too isn’t it? (His hairpin shines when he looks at his Mom?)

Perhaps something more shocking happened in the next scene though.

At least to me anyway. 

So ages ago, maybe first movie era, I was reading a profile of Yu in a magazine. Specifically this one:

It mentioned that Yu wears Bell Rose pajamas. 

And I always remembered that. Because hey that’s pretty hilarious. 

YEARS PASS

King of Prism SSS episode 2.

Yukinojo just had a breakdown 

AND THERE’S YU

IN HIS GODDAMN BELL ROSE PAJAMAS

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Seriously my mouth fucking dropped open when I saw this. If only I was at cheering I really would have shrieked and ruined this serious scene ahah.

AND THEN THERES THIS 

This scene just gives me goosebumps everywhere. Yukinojo’s first prism jump. The way Shin screams. AHHHHHHHH--

This scene actually gives me goosebumps too. It’s such a mood. This whole episode is such a mood. 

Kakeru and Yukinojo really have a lot in common. I understand now why they made such good duo partners on Prism Rush. Not only do they both have a lot of weight on their shoulders from their families, but the both inherited it from their mother’s side. Just like Yukinojo’s father married into kabuki, as we learned in Young of Prism it was Kakeru’s father who married into the Juuouin group. Don’t mind my random fact, I just thought it was super interesting.

So. This line kind of confused me a bit. Because I thought a major theme in this episode was about how Yukinojo couldn’t escape his blood. Yukinojo’s mother made that clear.

But then again Yukinojo’s mother also knew his father had this experience where he learned his fate wasn’t controlled by blood at all. 

Maybe that just served for a reason as to why she can see Yukinojo’s soul is in prism shows? I don’t know. 

I’m also really confused by how differently she treats Yukinojo in this scene compared with the flashback. I’m glad she came around, but I feel like we missed something in between. 

I don’t need to say how awesome Yukinojo’s prism show was. It just keeps building more and more tension as it goes on and just ahhhh....

I was really sad the stream froze before you guys found out Yukinojo beat Shin’s score (in sparking). 

Also I feel super dumb because I said something about Yukinojo being only the second male star to do four jumps in a row. I FORGOT ABOUT HIRO

So Louis -> Hiro -> Yukinojo, the first three male stars to successfully do four consecutive jumps. The top male stars by pure skill. 

So this ending.... is NOT the ending we see in the theater. The song and visuals were all new. (Well except for assets reused from the episode well you know what I mean.)

I’m a bit town about this. On the one hand I was REALLY REALLY REALLY looking forward to hearing 366 Love Diary.... But on the other hand it’s cool that they are doing something so special for the TV showing by having different endings every week. And after all, the CD for 366 Love Diary is coming out literally tomorrow.... but....

Okay so clearly I loved this episode but part of me is just really glad it’s over because next week is TAAAIGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA and I cannot fucking wait to share it with you guys. 

(My favorite episode of the show.)

(I don’t even know if I can fit all my thoughts on it in a post how long is the limit on Tumblr srsly)

[lia-nikiforov]

Spring 2018 Anime Final Review

So, uh, this is six months late. I’ve had half of this post in my drafts forever. To make it short, as I’ve mentioned previously, mom lost her job, which has not only been a heavy hit to my sense of stability for the last six months, but also means my time to watch anime was seriously reduced and even now a slight change of plans fucks up my whole schedule and sets me back for a full week. Anyway, nobody cares about any of these shows anymore so let’s get straight to it? I’m gonna ommit the two-cours that continued into the Summer - hopefully I’ll be able to make that post soonish? idk. Worst to best, same as usual

The crappy gender politics pit of shame

Darling in the FRANXX: I think everyone has ripped this show to threads at this point and there isn’t much I could add to that. It is quite funny to me to see how many people flipped out when the show went completely bananas in its last few episodes. Feels a bit like KADO, I’ve been telling y’all this was a ton of empty crap since episode 2, it just took the writing to completely self-destruct for everyone else to notice. A part of me feels tempted to do a long post breaking down just how badly the show collapsed in its final shebang, specifically how every single twist and turn completely nulled any remote kind of message or central thesis the show may have had, but at the same time it doesn’t seem worth the time. In the end, I may have given What is Internal Consistency, The anime way too much credit. It’s not hateful antigay propaganda, it’s just dumb as shits, with a writer and creators who didn’t think for half a second of the implications of what they were doing, and who were so incompetent they couldn’t even conserve the minimal plot and character coherency within a single episode, let alone 24. In other words, Darling isn’t saying “gays shouldn’t exist” but “I have no idea of anything regarding gay people”. What makes it egregious is that the show spent so much time acting like it was “meaningful” and “important” and yet it ended saying absolutely fucking nothing. Except mayb “have babies”. Down to oblivion you go, along with the likes of KADO, to the void of shows that couldn’t even be offensively bad and no one will remember a year from now. Bonus garbage points for the half-assed “bury your gays”.

Nil of Libra Admirari or whatever this show was called: I’m not trying to diss on the show, I just genuinely never remember the title because I have the JP and EN all mixed up. Not that it matters much, as far as I could tell, the show could call Shalabalabatuna and it would have the same significance in regard to the content. But the title isn’t important. In fact, it may be a bit unfair to have this show in this section. For the most part, Main Girl is very self-determined and has an active role in the story.... but then the last two episodes heavily featured a lot of rape threats or rape themes and forced pregnancy (real and threat) and I don’t really understand why they’d go there all of a sudden. One of them was treated relatively well, even empowering the victim in the process, but when the ikemen bad guy was rambling endlessly about how he wanted to impregnate the protagonist it really turned me off :/ I’m also not a fan of “main boy was her secret fiancé all along”, but at least they also handled that somewhat decently. It’s a very disposable series, but since I watched all of Amnesia, I think I owe every otoge adaptation at least the smallest chance to clear that very low bar, and Libra of Nil does it, more competently than most other stuff in the same genre.

Hisone to Masotan: I really, really wanted to love this show. Even now, as I put it in the pit of shame category, I’m pained. There was a good show in this, and a lot of it made it to the screen: an adorable, charming little story about a woman finding her place in the world, making new friends, finding her calling and bonding with an adorable dragon. Unfortunately, it got buried down under this opressing, horrendous gender politics that tried to do something with bringing attention to sexism in the military only to cancel it out making the one dude that embodied that sexism getting rewarded with the affections of a girl he explicitly tried to crush. It also called back on the virgin or whore fallacy and even managed to shove in a “bury your gays” trope. Even though Hisone challenges the ritual bullshit, it’s too little, too late, and she does end up carrying it out anyway, so the defiance to the status quo is of little importance in terms of problematizing the ritual itself. Sorry BONES, it wasn’t meant to be this time. 

The ni fu ni fa section

Ni fu ni fa is a Mexican colloquialism for “It was okay but it didn’t change my life.”

Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu HAPPY KISS: This soft reboot of the franchise had some really great episodes and did an actually good job of developping its characters. For the most part, it achieved what its predecessor did in terms of satirical comedy and I enjoyed it quite a bit. However, what bunked it down so low in the list was the final episode. At some point, the writers forgot they were doing a parody and made the show somewhat self-serious, way closer in tone to the magical girl anime it was supposed to be making fun of, rather than the satire its predecessor was. Whereas S1 ended with the whole Magical boy stuff being revealed as a crappy space reality TV show, this one ended with a real cheesy conflict about happiness and family and blablabla. Which is not bad by itself if this were a Precure show, but that kind of self-serious plot development just didn’t work for this series. I still enjoyed it, and the fanservice episode is one of the best of the whole franchise, but I’m a bit sad the finale missed the mark so badly.

Hinamatsuri: Hinamatsuri was very hit-or-miss for me. There were some truly brilliant episodes, a lot of funny vignettes and heart-warming stories, and then there was some stuff that made me uncomfortable -like every single Hitomi story- or felt unnecessary and dry. It also threw me off that the superpower dynamic completely disappeared in the second half of the show, especially in Anzu’s part of the story. It was okay but I feel like I needed something that felt like a closing, and choosing to end it with Mao who featured very minimally in the show overall didn’t cut it. It’s a fun show, I’d reccommend people check it out, but it felt a bit too disjointed for me

Persona 5: The Animation: This is a hard show to place because I love the looks of it and I think the concept is interesting and pretty cool, but there is something that’s keeping me from connecting emotionally to the story. The part where changing the villains’ heart makes them repent from their sins and become “good” feels very artificial and very tasteless when you’re dealing with rapists and abusers. I ended dropping it at episode 16, I just couldn’t find the motivation to catch up with the 6 episodes i’d fallen behind on because my schedule is a tragedy

Tokyo Ghoul: Re: I guess it’s fair to say I’ve kind of outgrown Tokyo Ghoul. There’s something messy and confusing about how this season panned out, and there comes a point in which misery porn just doesn’t cut it anymore. I still watch because Ishida has a way to make every single goddamn character extremely sympathetic, which makes for an emotionally engaging viewing even when you’re not sure of what the plot is supposed to be or who you should be rooting for. I tried picking up the new season that just started airing and immediately found I had no idea of what was going on, who was on who’s side and in general, who the fuck were 90% of the characters, so I dropped it.

Nanatsu no Taizai: Imashime no Fukkatsu: I’ve mentioned it before, this second season had the opposite problem than the first one: the pace was too slow. It took more than half of it to get to Escanor, and then the season ends at a kind of random spot. I really thought we’d get further along on the story, since Gowther’s backstory was hinted at in the openings, but no such thing happened. They did manage to give us a variety of cool moments and fights, and I love Ban so his scenes with Zhivago and Elaine made me quite happy, though I really wish the romance between Elizabeth and Meliodas wasn’t su dubious and cringy. In light of some revelations that take place further along the manga, going out of their way to emphasize that Meliodas was a sort of mentor figure for Elizabeth when she was a toddler seems unncessary and just very squeamish. I do hope we get a third season though, and an OVA of the Vampires of whatever side story would be great too.

Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori: I was pleasantly surprised by this show, and it’s closer to being one of my top of the season than it is to “meh”. It had some weaker, cheesier segments, but it also managed great whacky moments and a genuine soothing atmosphere. What surprised me most is that the vanilla looking cast of moderately handsome dudes managed to develop into interesting, funny individuals with a dynamic that made every episode enjoyable. A solid reccommendation for anyone wanting to see delicious looking food and moderately handsome dudes being ridiculous. Also, the cat episode is the best episode of anime ever produced.

The I’m probably the only person alive who enjoys these shows

Mahou Shoujo Ore: This is a difficult show to place because it wasn’t quite as great as I wanted it to be and its parodic nature took me by surprise, but somehow I was still seriously entertained more often than not. The twists in the final quarter and the absolutely bonkers finale was a total riot, but I definitely advise caution before going in, given that some of the jokes may seem insensitive or in poor taste in regards to gender presentation, sexuality and there are even some mild harrassment jokes that certainly made me roll my eyes.

Yowamushi Pedal: Glory Line: I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but I think through half of the show’s 25 episode run, I was convinced the title was actually Glory Road. It’s kind of anticlimactic that it’s called Glory Line if they don’t actually reach the final Goal btw. Anyway, I feel I say this a lot, but really, if you didn’t like the previous Yowapeda seasons, there’s nothing here for you, and if you did, you’re probably not gonna hop off this late in the game. This season does suffer from the same dragging than its predecessors, with the added issue of being quite pessimistic for no reason in about half the episodes, and a diminished presence for Onoda. I really wish they hadn’t dragged the Day 2 goal so long, I really hoped we’d see the end of the race, but no such luck I guess. Still love most of it and hope we get one more season or a movie to complete the story.

The favorites of the season

Golden Kamuy: In spite of its pacing issues, terrible animation and general clunkiness, I can’t help but love this show. When season 1 ended my feelings for it had mellowed quite a bit, but as soon as I picked up season 2 this Fall I just fell in love all over again. It’s fun, unique, over-the-top in some ways, incredibly grounded in others, and the dynamics between the characters are incredibly charming. 

Hozuki no Reitetsu: It’s hard to talk about this one because it feels repetitive, given how tonally the show remains just the same across its three seasons. It could’ve very well been a one-season, 36 episode show, for how little it changes in spite of the time that transpired between the first season and the second. But in short, the comedy continues to be as spot on as always, the Zashikiwarashi twins are the best addition to the cast. It’s definitely a show I could watch endless episodes off, and the rare case of an episodic series with no overarching plot that I can enjoy wholeheartedly. 

Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card arc: Over the course of the series, I’ve expressed a few concerns and misgivings about how the story of this 20th anniversary sequel was playing out. The final episode was particularly troublesome in that it left the story unfinished in spite of deviating from the manga. In spite of this, more than anything I’m very happy that this continuation still retains what made the original so special, that they captured the magic behind Sakura’s “everything will be alright” spell and gave us the chance to spend more time with these beloved characters and see their stories continue. The slow but sweet development of Sakura and Syaoran’s puppy love is a definite highlight. Needs more Touya/Yukito and Yue in general.

Piano no Mori: This show got heavily overlooked because it was kidnapped by Netflix (pls stop immediately), and then when it was finally unceremoniously dumped a month or two ago, it came under fire for the wonky CGI during the piano scenes -and it is indeed very wonky-. But beyond that, I found the story very engaging, especially because Kai is such a fascinating protagonist, his intense rivalry-friendship with Megane-kun (sorry, it’s been six months, i can’t remember names) is exactly the type I can’t help but root for. Kai’s participation in the final episode gave me goosebumps. I’m very happy we’re getting a continuation,  can’t wait to see how the Chopin competition develops.

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii: Sweet, funny and absolutely delightful from start to finish, Wotakoi was easily one of the highlights of the season. Although there were some aspects about Cosplayer-senpai and Yuri Otaku-senpai’s (I’m really trying to remember the names, I’m sorry!! ;---;) that didn’t work for me -namely the izakaya segment- Narumi and Hirotaka more than made up for it with their clumsy yet adorable romance. I spent the entirety of the amusement park episode screeching. I really hope we get a continuation -and get a chance to see more of Hirotaka’s brother and his gamer friend too- and that in general we can get more anime about adult stories

Megalobox: Who would’ve thought that a show that wasn’t even in my radar before the season started would’ve end as one of my favorites, possibly of the year? Even as someone who’s only marginally acquainted with Ashita no Joe and has no interst in the sport of boxing, I was completely enthralled by the style and passion of this production. As I said a bit above, intense rivalries are very appealing to me, and the build up in the tension between Joe and Yuri was almost palpable, their mutual respect gave me chills. Definitely the surprise of the season, made even better by its optimistic happy ending to contrast with its predecessor’s tragedy. Megalobox is a unique anniversary project that is closer to an homage and it works perfectly. Definitely check it out.

That’s it for the Spring season! I hope i can do the summer season this weekend and maaaybe even my watchlist for the Fall season. Fingers crossed i won’t get swallowed up in other stuff :’D