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angstysebfan · 2 years ago

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Just Friends - Part 1

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader Summary: This is a 2-parter. You've been just friends with Bucky since you first joined the Avengers, but is there more? You both deny it. What happens with Bucky gets a girlfriend, who may not like your relationship? Warnings: Angst, jealousy, asshole girlfriends, cursing

A/N: I hope I made this even better than it was before. It’s a 2-parter. Part 2 will hopefully be out tomorrow. None of my stories are edited or beta’d. If you want to be a part of my taglist, please request. My old taglist no longer is active.

When you first joined the Avengers, you instantaneously felt comfortable with everyone, but there was one person that you clicked with more than the others. Bucky Barnes. He was shy for maybe a day before realizing how much you both have in common. He became your person and you became his, platonically of course. Sometimes you wonder if there is more, but you don't dwell on it much. You're happy being exactly what you are to each other. Like right now, you're sitting on the couch watching TV, your feet on Bucky’s lap, with him massaging your calves. You both sit and watch Ace Ventura, because you both love comedy and Jim Carey is king. When the movie was finally over, you look over at Bucky and give him a smile.

“So what do you want to do now?” you ask, nudging your foot into his hard abdomen.

He squeezes your foot and tickles the bottom of it, making you giggle and pull your foot toward you. He chuckles and grabs you foot back to put in on his lap, continuing his massage.

“We could take a nap,” he said with raised eyebrows.

You smile and nod at him excitedly. “Your room or mine?” you ask.

He stands up, letting your feet drop, he turns and reaches for your hands. He pulls you off the couch and leads you toward his room, stilling holding onto your one hand.

You close the door behind you and climb into the bed with Bucky, and snuggle into his open arms. You feel a kiss on the top of your head and nuzzle your nose into his chest. It didn’t take you long to fall asleep with the sound of his steady heartbeat and the warmth of his arms. This is probably your favorite place.

When you wake up, a few hours later, you realize you're alone in his room. You decide to look for him and head back toward the common room and hear Sam, Steve and Bucky talking.

“It’s not a big deal guys. Y/N is my best friend… besides you,” you guess Bucky points at Steve when he says this last part.

“I don’t know man, you guys act like you’re dating,” Sam says.

“Are you sure you don’t have feelings for her?” you hear Steve ask.

Your heart starts pounding in your chest. Now you've been asked the same question by Nat and Wanda, and you always stated you were both just friends, but again you wonder if it's really true. And while you assume you know his answer, you kinda hope he says that he does have feelings, then you won't feel stupid for your "feelings".

“We're just friends,” he says with confidence.

You can’t help the slight disappointment, but shake it off because of course your just friends. You were perfectly okay with just being friends with Bucky, and you didn’t care that the rest of the team didn’t get it.

“Guys, trust me. I will NEVER see Y/N like that. She's far from my type. Plus, I already started talking to a girl, who's so amazing,” Bucky says.

You can’t help but gasp at that statement, and have tears coming down your cheeks. While you understand he may only like you as a friend, to hear that you'll never be his type hurts you more than you care to admit. Then to hear that he has been talking to someone else send another stab into your heart. Maybe you do have stronger feelings for Bucky than you realized, and maybe you need to deal with those feelings and quickly since they will never be reciprocated.

–

The next day you were in the the gym lifting weights, when Bucky came strolling in. He was on the phone, and you couldn’t help but notice the wide smile he had on. When he hung up the phone, he made a B-line to you. You take a deep breath and get into the correct head space.

“Hello my Bella. Haven’t seen you since our nap yesterday. Everything okay?” He asks. You continue with your exercise and give him a small smile. “Yup.” He looks at you, waiting for more of an answer. When you don’t elaborate, he can’t help but feel nervous, but quickly shakes it away.

“Hey, you busy later? I kinda have someone I want you to meet.” He asks. You look into his eyes, prepared to blow him off, but you see the hope in them. “Um… yea sure.” you say quietly. He smiles and walks toward the punching bag to begin his own workout.

After you both finish your workouts, and shower, he knocks on your door. “Hey Belle, you ready?” he asks when you open the door. “Uh, yeah. Let’s go.” You walk out of the room, and Bucky immediately wraps his flesh arm around your shoulders, as he leads you to the elevator.

Once you left the compound, you both walk to the pizza place about a 20 minute walk since the compound property is so big. Bucky has his arm around you the entire time, and eventually you wrap yours around his waist and relax. So what you're going to meet a girl he is talking to. Talking to someone is nothing, and maybe it won't even work out. You both enter the pizza place, and Bucky leads you toward a red head sitting in the booth in the back. Bucky had immediately released you when you entered, but grabbed your hand as he lead you walked to the booth.

The red head smiles at Bucky, but her smile slips slightly as her eyes asses you and your joined hands. You can’t help the blush of anxiety in your cheeks. Bucky releases your hand, when the red head gets out of the booth and tightly embraces her.

“Hey, Dot. You been waiting long?” he asks.

She shakes her head ‘no’ into his chest as her hands caress the hairs on the back of his neck. When they pull apart, she holds his head and pulls him into a kiss. Your breath hitches and you try to look somewhere else, wanting nothing more than to cry and possibly vomit. Bucky pulls away from Dot and turns to look at you with an embarrassed smile. You see the blush in his cheeks, but you try to act nonchalant, and you hope you succeed. Bucky takes your hand and pulls you next to him.

“Dot, this is Y/N. She's my best friend. Y/N, this is Dot. My girlfriend,” he says looking between the two of you with a proud smile.

Your eyes snap up to Bucky’s in surprise. Girlfriend?! You thought he was just talking but they are actually dating? What. The. Fuck! You put your spy talents to use and pretend to be somewhat happy.

“Dot, it's nice to meet you,” you say as you extend your hand to shake hers.

Dot looks at you with a fake smile. “I’m sure,” she says as she grabs your hand.

You are taken aback by this, but squeeze her hand as hard as you can. You see her wince, and just grin at her. Bucky looks happy and motions for the three of you to sit in the booth. He sits next to Dot, and they hold hands and Bucky caressing hers with his thumb. Throughout the whole lunch Dot kept leaning into Bucky and constantly touched him. You get more aggravated each time she touches him, knowing she was staking her claim on him in front of you. She obviously found you and your relationship with Bucky threatening. She also talks to him in a squeaky babylike voice, that runs right through you. You try your best to act the part of the best friend, but your heart is completely broken. No wonder he'll never look at you like that. This is obviously the type of girl he is interested in, and you will never be this type of girl. Thank god.

When you're done, you walk outside of the restaurant, turn and look at Dot.

“It was nice to meet you,” you say with a fake but polite smile.

She gives you a knowing smirk, “You too, uh… I’m sorry what was your name again?” she says.

Your polite smile falls and scowl forms. “Y/N,” you say flatly.

“Right, Y/N.”

You look at Bucky, “You ready to go?” you say.

Bucky looks weird and is avoiding you eyes, “Um, actually I’m going to go to Dot’s for the night,” he says quietly.

You're fucking pissed because you walked here, which means you now have to walk back, alone. It’s now basically dark, and you are in nowhere upstate New York. You stare at Bucky in disbelief and then at Dot, who has a smug grin on her face as she wraps her arms around Bucky, pulling him in the direction of her car.

“Oh, great. Well… uh.. have fun,” you say quickly but making sure he knew you were pissed.

You turn around and start walking back toward the compound feeling utterly defeated and pissed. You hear Bucky call your name asking you to wait a moment, but you just keep walking, tears running down your face. You feel your phone vibrating, knowing he was calling you, but again you ignore it. You walk up to the border of the compound property and stop and take a breath. You wanted to calm down before you went in. You look at your phone and see Bucky texted you.

I’m so sorry, Bells. I know should've told you.

Don't hate me.

Please let me know when you get back.

You decide to ignore him, he didn’t deserve to know you were back. You take another deep breath and walk up the walkway toward the building. You take the elevator to your floor and go straight to your room. You decide to shower and get ready for bed.

You lay there, wondering what will happen tomorrow when Bucky comes back. Suddenly your phone vibrates again. Its Bucky:

We really need to talk, tomorrow.

–

You wake up the next day and look at your phone. It was already 11:30. You quickly get up and change before heading down to the gym. You're half way through your run on the treadmill when Bucky walks in not looking like his normal happy self around you. He looks over at you, coldly and walks over. He then starts to look uncomfortable when he stops in front of you, and won’t meet your eyes.

“Hey,” you say.

He just nods. “Y/N, can you stop for a second, I need to talk to you,” he says, still avoiding your eyes.

You bring the treadmill to a stop and step down feeling confused by his demeanor.

“What’s going on?” you ask cautiously.

Bucky now looks at you, but his stare is hard and cold. You feel the air leave your lungs as you feel the anger starting to radiate off of him.

“Our friendship is over, Y/N,” he says, like it is nothing.

You feel the tears start to build. “What? Why? Buck… is this because I wouldn’t answer you last night? I.. I was upset because you didn’t give me the heads up about anything. I mean you didn't warn me I would be meeting your girlfriend, and then when introduce me to Dot, she made it pretty damn obvious she didn’t like me. Then to top it all off you made me walk home alone. I had a right to be pissed, but now you're ending the friendship?”

Bucky glares at you. “You made Dot feel very uncomfortable yesterday. She told me that you squeezed her hand too tight and would constantly make her feel like you were looking down on her. You were supposed to be my friend, and support me in my first relationship. Dot doesn’t like how close I am with you, and I want this relationship with her to work, because I think she could be the one for me. So I’m sorry, we need to end our friendship and keep our distance from each other.”

Tears are falling from your eyes, but you can’t help but get angry. “Are you fucking kidding me, James? I made her uncomfortable? She was assessing me from the moment we walked in the damn restaurant! I mean did you hear what she said when you introduced us? Or how about when I was leaving, she didn't even remember my name. But of course you don't give a shit about that, huh? So obviously our friendship has meant absolutely nothing to you this whole time! So fine, consider our friendship over, and stay the hell away from me. Goodbye Bucky.”

You push him out of the way and run out of the gym. Bucky’s heart is in his throat. He honestly doesn’t know what to do because when he spoke to Dot last night, she made it seem like you made her uncomfortable. He does want to try with Dot, because he knows he could never be with... you. Now he's lost you for good, which he thought would help him get over his feelings for you, but seeing your face broken by his words killed him in a way he never felt before.

He feels like he just made the worst mistake in his whole life.

Part 2

Oh Bucky you done fucked up man. Dot can go all the way to hell, and Bucky you might be joining her dude. Feedback is appreciated.

Permanent Taglist: @rebekahdawkins @marajade1974 @missvelvetsstuff @phillygirl77 @pattiemac1 @winterslove1917 @vampire7595

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dandelionjack · 1 year ago

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slight case of derangement today! you’ve been warned.

anyway has anybody considered… what if ruby sunday turns out to be river’s daughter from the 24 years she spent on darilium with twelve. plenty long enough to begin to raise a child. river could have wiped the doctor’s mind of all memory of their daughter for some kind of safety reason, likely to protect ruby (not that it works for long). would explain her tabula rasa heritage, and, more importantly, act as the obvious reasoning behind the bbc adamantly refusing to reveal the name of the leaked future companion played by varada sethu after millie leaves post-s1/14: it would be a massive spoiler for the series finale since she’s a regenerated ruby, 3/4 gallifreyan (or 1/2 weird time vortex augmented human?? one heart or two for ruby then? what even is river species-wise? many questions zero answers) another clue backing this concept up is the nature of the ruby/doctor relationship being completely non-romantic from what we’ve seen, with the doctor probably finding a male love interest in s1. just imagine a final two-parter — the doctor and ruby are facing some world-ending stakes, the universe is in peril, ruby ends up fatally wounded and… her hands start buzzing with a familiar golden glow

one more tidbit in corroboration: in a recent panel at some con (i can’t remember the video link now but if someone asks for receipts i will find it) alex kingston was quoted saying that river’s journey “may not be over just yet”. of course this could mean big finish or it could mean nothing at all but what if it hints at her showing up in a flashback sequence. what if she’s behind the black cloak, carrying baby ruby to the church? what if the doctor didn’t approach the hooded woman because of a subconscious recognition…

now, disclaimer so none of you start weird discourse for whatever reason, of course this could end up being a completely idiotic theory that’s way off the mark. or it could accidentally turn out to be spot on. imagine if i got it right. what would be the odds. would i feel vindicated or disappointed?

p.s. adding stuff i initially left in comments because it completes the post

post-postscriptum: (mrs) flood… river… pond…

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pinkiemachine · 8 months ago

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We need the entire El chronicles! (not in a pressurey way)

Lol! Okay, so here’s all I’ve got so far of DAWN OF SUPERMAN, to recap (full versions linked below):

SEASON ONE:

—Krpyton gets destroyed by both their collapsing sun and a massive civil war.

—Jor-El and his family try to escape Zod and his followers and head to the secret Kryptonian colony.

—Zod finds them and when Jor-El ejects his loved ones into space in escape pods, Zod opens fire, killing Zor-El and Alura, and knocking Lara, Cal, Kara, and Krypto of course. Jor-El evades capture.

—Lara and Cal land on Earth and Lara dies from an injury sustained in the blast. Cal is then left in the care of the humans John and Martha Kent.

—Clark has adoptive siblings, Micheal, Sean, Rueben, and Suzie.

—Cal’s desire to find his alien family leads him to become an investigative journalist and he moves to Metropolis in his early/mid twenties where he meets Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.

Now, the rest of the season I haven’t fleshed out as mush as I have Season 2, but that will be fixed in months to come. For the moment, here’s the basic outline: The premier two-parter follows the events stated above, along with lots of little anecdotes of Clark’s childhood. Then, once he arrives in Metropolis, things become a bit episodic. One episode, we’ll be watching Clark try to adjust to life in the big city and become Superman for the first time, then the next, we’ll be exploring Lois or Jimmy’s characters, fighting interesting villains like Livewire or Banshee, and building up Lois and Clark’s relationship. (Side note, Martha made Clark’s suit for him. When Clark was a kid, he asked her once to make him an outfit that looked just like the ones in his family holophoto, including his family crest on the front. Naturally, Clark had outgrown that old costume, but just before he moved out, Martha surprised him with a fair well gift: a new Kryptonian-style suit.)

HOWEVER… there’s another story growing beneath the surface. Ever since Clark became Superman, he’s had eyes on him. The whole world is watching this man become the most powerful, most undefeated superhero of all time, but that’s not precisely why the government’s interested in him. They’re interested because he’s wearing the same crest as the alien woman they found twenty+ years ago. Waller is immediately on the case, and she sends out a lackey to bring Superman in for questioning. (Haven’t decided who this character is yet.) When Clark realises that the men in black suits are coming after him, he immediately gets spooked and worries for his family. If they got hurt because he was being reckless and showing his powers publicly, he’d never forgive himself. So Superman’s gotta lay low for a while. Eventually, though, Waller figures out his secret identity, but Lois winds up being the one to save Clark for just a little bit longer, threatening to run this story in the papers if they don’t leave Clark—an innocent and upstanding citizen—alone. But as soon as the two of them have a moment, Lois immediately asks what’s going on and Clark reveals that he’s Superman.

By now, Waller is getting antsy, but there’s someone else who wants to join the party. Lex Luthor. He’s been funding the research on the Kryptonian pod, and LexCorp has been reaping the rewards of learning the secrets of their advanced technology for years. He crafts a machine/suit/(need to read the comics) that can go toe-to-toe with Superman and almost beats him. Doesn’t though. Lex will remember that.

By now, Clark is sick of running and hiding. Time to take the fight to them. With help from Lois and Jimmy, he tracks down the secret base where the pod and his mother’s remains are being kept, and the final battle commences. Waller loses, Lex loses his hair, they both swear revenge, and Clark takes back what’s rightfully his. He buries what’s left of his mother on the farm, and stores the pod in the shed temporarily. It’s a triumphant yet slightly melancholy ending for our heroes, especially as Clark and his brother get a chance to really talk some things through while he’s home visiting. Then Lois gets introduced to the family, and for a moment, everything’s right with the world.

Little does Clark know, though, that there’s a probe droid on Earth, watching him, and now it’s flying back out into space to report what it’s found to its boss. Zod.

SEASON TWO

—Zod shows up, tries to manipulate Clark, but they wind up fighting instead, and Clark beats his butt off the planet. He does manage to spook General Lane, though, and now he’s dead set against Krpytonians and what they could do to the planet if they so choose.

—Anyway, now Clark knows that his father is actually alive, and there’s also a secret colony of Kryptonians out there. He decides to look for them.

—The team (plus extra members) journeys into space where they meet all sorts of new aliens, including Green Lantern, and they also cross paths with Kryptonite.

—Then they find Kara and Krypto, who lead them to the colony.

—Along the way, they also manage to track down Jor-El, and he and Clark get to have a well-deserved reunion.

—They go to the colony together, but Zod follows them. There’s a big battle, Zod gets booted to the phantom zone, his ship is destroyed, and the colony is saved.

—PSYCH, just kidding. One of the extra members of Clark’s team is military, and he has secret orders from General Lane to kill any and all new Kryptonian forces he may encounter. So, using some Kryptonite he kept hidden, he makes a bomb and blows the colony sky high.

—Clark, Kara, and Krypto are the only Kryptonians to survive.

(Clark briefly wants to set Earth on fire…)

—Then Clark discovers that, on Jor-El’s ship, his father had made many recordings and created an A.I. Version of himself for company. This is now all Clark has left of him as they fly back to Earth.

—The ship later gets parked up the Arctic, becoming Superman’s Fortress of Solitude.

—Clark’s laid low with grief, but Lois and his family are there for him now more than ever. There’s still hope for the future.

THEN comes JUSTICE LEAGUE: HEROES RISING!

At the moment, I’m still working out which stories of Superman’s will be adapted into the show, but the main idea is that every season, there will be at least one or two BIG over arching plots that center around one of the main characters and an arch foe of theirs, like OG Teen Titans. But less episodic. Or, at least… not episodic like putting a tournament episode right in the middle of the Judas Contract arc, and more so like Avatar the Last Airbender episodic, where we’re having fun, but also learning more about the world and how various aspects of it work. The first major villain(s) will have something to do Zatanna and/or Green Lantern.

Speaking of the other heroes, here’s a quick little tidbit: So, Batman’s actually the one who brings the Justice League together. It falls into one of his contingency plan models. In case of emergency, CALL EVERYONE. During his first two seasons of BATMAN: GOTHAM FILES, he’s already come across The Flash—and Wonder Woman, over the course of the first two seasons of WONDER WOMAN: HEIR TO OLYMPUS, she’s become familiar with Atlantis and their royal family. And if you remember, Clark’s already met Green Lantern (Hal Jordon). Now all that’s left is Zatanna, hence I thought a Zatanna-centric Season 1 might be a good idea. Magic is a threat the rest of the Justice League can’t easily combat on their own. But I also had a thought, like what if I combined the Zatanna villain with the GL villain—SPACE WIZARDS!!! Idk, just thinking about it. Anyway…

I sadly haven’t had a chance to write Season 3, but what I do know (for just general stuff that’s supposed to happen eventually) is that Lois and Clark do get married and have a little boy named Jonathan. Then, some time later, Clark and Kara get called away into space on urgent business, and that’s when someone new appears: Con-El, aka Conner Kent, aka Superboy. He comes crashing down to Earth in an escape pod just like Clark’s, claiming to be a member of Superman’s family. After much convincing of the Justice League, they let him stick around until Clark gets back to truly vet him. In the meantime, he slowly gains the other heroes’ trust, becomes a member of the second generation of Teen Titans (The New Teen Titans) and helps save the world. HOWEVER… turns out he’s been working for Lex Luthor this whole time! Dun dun dun! I’ll save the rest of that story for later, heheheh…

Then, of course, when Jonathan grows up, he becomes the next Superboy and joins the third generation of Teen Titans, (Ultimate Teen Titans), and has some adventures of his own. Haven’t decided what his big arc will be yet.

Would love to do a mini-series following Kara when she was lost in space. T’would be cool.

And that’s currently all I have written, story-wise, for the Kents. Personally, I don’t really see many of the other SuperFam characters to be especially relevant to the story, or interesting, so I’m probably gonna either scrap them or repurpose them, unless there’s just, like, a MASSIVE fan outcry. It’s just that the whole point is that Clark and Kara are THE LAST KRYPTONIANS. The last of their kind, that’s part of their whole story—being alone. You can only get away with new Kryptonians falling out of the sky so many times before it gets old. And Conner was lying about his origins, so I can get away with that.

Here’s some fun stuff I wrote about Krypton and Kryptonians 👇

Here’s the Fall of Krypton and the El family’s escape 👇

Here’s the next part of Clark’s Origin Story 👇

Here’s a deep dive into Lois and Clark’s relationship 👇

And here’s Season 2 in-depth 👇

#dc #dc comics #superman #Supergirl #Superboy #krypto #jonathan kent #Kara kent #clark kent #fan fiction #head canon #fandom #Dawn of Superman

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anthurak · 7 months ago

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Theory on the End of Season 2... and also Stolitz

So here are my current theories on the ‘Goetia Trial’ we see hinted at in the trailer and the fallout it might have in the episode Mastermind and probably Sinsmas since I wouldn't be surprised if we have a two-parter situation.

To start, I think it’s safe to assume that the trial as a whole is setup by Stella and Andrealphus as a ploy to strip Stolas of his power, titles and status as a Goetia. Of course, Stella just wants to hurt Stolas while for Andrealphus it’s an actual power-play for all that Stolas has.

Specifically, the trial takes the form of Andrealphus and Stella dragging Stolas up on all the dirty and questionable things Stolas has been involved with over the course of the show. Things like the destruction of Loo Loo Land (given Mammon’s apparent presence at the trial), inadvertently letting a bunch of humans find out about Hell, and MOST importantly of all: Loaning his Grimoire to an IMP.

Like this is something I really haven’t seen discussed but frankly feels like a BIG FUCKING DEAL when you actually thing about it. We’ve heard Stolas comment a few times that his loaning of the Grimoire to Blitzo isn’t exactly legal, and I think it’s easy to imagine the other Goetia taking MAJOR issue with it if they ever found out.

Stolas having a seedy affair with an imp and divorcing his wife might be scandalous but that’s about it, particularly given that he already has an heir in Octavia. But letting that imp TAKE and even USE his Goetic Grimoire? The very SYMBOL and very likely SOURCE of his power as a Goetia? Yeah, I think that’s something Stolas’ peers are going to take some big fucking issue with. Which of course is precisely what Andrealphus and Stella are counting on.

Now of course there will be a proverbial spanner in the works of this plan in the form of Blitzo and the rest of I.M.P. who will doubtlessly be doing something to try and help Stolas.

However, I think the BIGGER spanner will wind up being VASSAGO. Specifically, him stepping in to help Stolas as his advocate, as we see him in the trailer seeming to speak out for Stolas against Andrealphus.

As an aside, I wouldn’t be surprised if the trailer clips of I.M.P. suddenly being hunted down and Blitzo saying they need to go on the run are actually Blitzo and co. being hauled in by the authorities as material witnesses or even accessories for Stolas’ trial.

Now as to how the trial plays out, I do actually think things wind up being ruled in our heroes’ favor. Or at the very least, NOT in Andrealphus’s and Stella’s. Mostly through a good deal of legal loopholes, technicalities and a bit of truth-fudging, likely with the help of Vassago.

For example, this could be where Blitzo NOT using the Grimoire anymore and instead having an entirely legal means of accessing the human world, plus being under Asmodeus’s jurisdiction, could come into play. Perhaps with Stolas and even Asmodeus himself fudging the numbers a bit as to just how long Blitzo has been using the crystal.

Another possibility could be it being brought up/revealed that Blitzo has never actually used the Grimoire HIMSELF. This of course would lead to major developments and reveals concerning LOONA and her oddly prodigious talent with magic. Perhaps she turns out to be the lost/illegitimate/bastard daughter of a Goetia…?

One other possibility that feels both plausible and could have major ramifications going forward is Stolas getting around the scheming of his ex-wife and brother-in-law by abdicating his position of ‘Prince’ and thereby passing his titles, powers and all else that he has to Octavia, and also paying off the chekhov’s gun of Octavia being old enough to inherit her father’s position.

Like imagine if this takes the form of Stolas admitting his faults and failings in a big speech, both as a father to Octavia… and in his relationship with Blitzo. Essentially being the big conclusion to Stolas’ arc this season of owning up to his mistakes. Though potentially also (seemingly) putting an end to his relationship with Blitzo, through essentially stating that there was no way the two of them were ever going to work together. Something that Blitzo, after all the personal reflection he’s been forced to do over the last few episodes, finds it hard to argue with.

This in turn satisfies the Goetia court. Possibly to the point of not even punishing Stolas, out of respect for the dignity and grace in which he admitted and owned up to his mistakes and failings. Meanwhile, the court would very much LIKE to punish Blitzo and co. for the their unlawful use of ancient demon magic, but I.M.P. now being under Asmodeus’s jurisdiction means that’s out of their hands. Bonus points if there is some ‘Ozzie must met out some punishment on I.M.P.’ point, which he does… in the form of a whole lot of high-paying contract work on Earth.

Which of course infuriates Stella and Andrealphus. Stella because Stolas isn’t stripped of his status as a Goetia/isn’t punished/isn’t dead, and Andrealphus because he didn’t actually get the power and status he was gunning for. They probably also pitch a fit about it and get mocked by the court for treating the trial as a power-play for their own benefit (perhaps this is where Satan’s “You’re a disgrace” line from the trailer comes in if he’s the one presiding over the trial?)

This in turn leads us to the final wrinkle of the episode: Stolas and Blitzo having a final conversation at the former’s house… only to be interrupted by an ambush from an infuriated Andrealphus and possibly Stella as well, hence the clip we see of the former. And with Stolas having already passed most if not all of his power to Octavia, he’s pretty much helpless.

Which leads us to this shot of Blitzo futilely trying to protect Stolas as the shadow of a giant claw prepares to crush them both.

And as I outlined here, I think this is where someone else jumps in to save the pair. Possibly Octavia, possibly Loona, Moxxie and Millie, possibly Vassago, or some combination of all of them.

This is where I think the final proverbial nail in the coffin for Stolitz comes in. Because for Blitzo, this whole trial has been framed as his chance to make things right with Stolas. A chance to show Stolas that he really does care about him and them being together through being able to HELP Stolas in a time where he needs it the most.

But throughout the trial, Blitzo simply hasn’t been able to help Stolas. It’s not Blitzo who’s been able to support, advise and help Stolas, but instead people like Octavia, Asmodeus or perhaps most notably, VASSAGO. As in, Vassago is introduced to the story as essentially representing Blitzo would want to be for Stolas, but CAN’T. And of course, all the things Stolas would want in a partner.

And all this comes to a head during Andrealphus’s attack; with Blitzo desperately trying to help and protect Stolas… but simply can’t.

Only for Vassago to swoop in with big, heroic, rescue-romance fashion to save Stolas, and just to add insult to injury, Blitzo himself.

So when it becomes clear that Stolas and Vassago are about to, or at least very soon to, hook up, Blitzo can only recognize that there is nothing he can, or should do to stop this. That Stolas has found someone who can make him happy, unlike himself. And that this is something Blitzo can accept and even be happy for Stolas for it. Bonus points if Vassago is actually friendly and respectful to Blitzo, if only because he means a lot to Stolas and Vassago respects that.

Thus, Blitzo and Stolas have what is by all rights, a final conversation where they are able to put their relationship to rest and part on good terms. A mutual acknowledgement that what they had together was never going to work and that this is for the best.

Perhaps there is a hopeful note that they may still be seeing each other around as friends, particularly if Loona and Octavia are clearly hitting it off at this point. Maybe when Stolas comments on how their daughters seem to be getting along, Blitzo replies with something like ‘Yeah, maybe they can do better than we did…’, only to do a comedic ‘Not like THAT!’ verbal-backspace when Stolas gives him a raised eyebrow.

And with that, Season 2 ends with Blitzo’s and Stolas’ relationship definitively over.

…For now. XD

#helluva boss #helluva boss theory #helluva boss season 2 theory #stolas goetia #helluva blitzo #helluva vassago #helluva loona #loona #octavia goetia #stella goetia #andrealphus goetia #helluva andrealphus #stolitz #stolago #stolitz is a slowburn #i feel like people have REALLY misread what the goetia trial is actually going to be about #feels like its been a while since i've done a proper big theory post like this

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snotty-zombie · 3 months ago

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Rageous-tober part 4 (final)!!!

Day 27: Crossover (2 parts)

Day 31: Halloween

More under cut >xP

totally disregard all the writing if you dont care lmaooo this is just me word vomiting about my ocs and thought process when doing this haha i just thought id give some context cuz i always forget you guys know literally nothing about my characters

Day 27: Crossover! So this is a two parter, part 1 is Gumlee x Ritzneer obvvvvvviously because I’m basic I can’t help but compare them and a lot of others can’t help it either from what I’ve seen I had an insane stroke of genius calling Veneer ‘Prince Gumdrop’ and I don’t think I’ll ever reach those heights again

Part 2 of the crossover is MLP CROSSOVER!! Including unicorn ‘Colt Ritz’ which I am quite proud I must say considering I hadn’t drawn a pony in like- 10 years AS WELL AS Pegasus ‘Boogie Bomb’ which I am ALSO quite proud of, he has very big wings and is covered in little green spots (which mimic the spotty design he has on his shaved scalp as a Rageon) he looks a bit like a donkey but I think that’s just because of his little facial hair bits and massive pointy ears I gave him hmmmm Also, siren Velvet and Veneer!! I can’t remember the exact lore of the sirens since I haven’t seen the film in a real long time but I got some help from my friend who is a big MLP fan and she filled me in on the lore etc, as well as inspiration from another artist on here who also did a VV x MLP crossover, I reposted their amazing art on my other blog so def go check it out. Anyway, VV are sirens and disguise themselves as alicorns (but also hide their flanks as they have no cutie marks)

Day 31: Halloween!!! 🎃 👻 💀 🦇 🐈‍⬛ Last one!! This one took foreveerrrrr and again, I just had to try to outdo myself with the amount of bs happening on screen at once I tried to include all my main fav ocs, as well as the twins and KR all going door to door in a massive trick or treating horde

I called this the 'soft launch' of my Velvet and Veneer fan parents, Dr Velocity (mum) and Dr Voltage (dad), they're in matching Frankenstein and Frankenstein's wife costumes :3. They mean well of course as any parent does but their good intentions can get lost in translation (harsh punishments and struggling/refusing to understand their bizarre children). I will definitely give them their spotlight when I eventually get around to redesigning them (slightly) and writing out some information about them to share with you guys because I like them a lot :P

-Theres Glow Worm getting her costume repaired by Rhinestone after she ripped it doing multiple cartwheels in a row -Velvet and Veneer trading their sweets that they collected (you'd think they were discussing border placement or something, they take it so seriously) -Veneer and TV Girl finally getting along after telling their lame boyfriends to stop fighting with each other -And a zombie Boogie sketch I refused to finish whoops

SO YEAH THATS ALL I DID FOR RAGEOUS-TOBER, finally posting it to tumblr half way through November. be sure to check out the creators account, jobiesayscheese 😻😻😻 thanks for checking my art out, and if you read all of my stupid ramblings ily sm and thank you for hearing me out

I also did in fact win a raffle for Rageous-tober not to flex but yes to flex (totally wasn’t rigged cuz tf)

Part 1! Part 2! Part 3! Part 4!

#mount rageon oc #mount rageous #trolls 3 #velvet and veneer #kid ritz #trolls orchid #trolls band together #mlp oc #mlp art #gumlee

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buckleybltch · 3 months ago

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Do you think we’ll get some kind of hint about the chance of Tommy being back or is too soon? What is your speculation for Buck this week?

i honestly genuinely don’t know, but I have two trains of thought:

1. IF (very, very big if) Tim has had it planned from the beginning for BuckTommy to be following the romcom route and there is a planned reconciliation, then it could go either way next ep. Considering we haven’t even heard about Christopher and that’s meant to be a big plot line, I’m not expecting the show to be showing us more BuckTommy so soon, even if it’s a simple mention of Tommy in some obscure context. I simply don’t think the episodes are long enough for that. In an ideal world, sure, Buck might make another mention of Tommy just to keep the plot going and in viewers minds, but I think it’s unlikely. Should there be a planned reconciliation, I don’t think it will come till 8x10 at the earliest because the midseason finale and the spring premier should (in theory) be a two parter focused on an emergency with (most likely) no space for large character storylines outside the main plot.

2. I don’t really think Tim has it all planned out that far. They’ve wrapped filming on 8x09 but for all we know, not much beyond that has been written or even conceptualised. Tim has always been the “see where it goes” person, I think he likes to go with the flow rather than follow a strict plot he’s set himself, he likes to see where the story takes him, so part of me believes he hasn’t thought far enough in advance to know what’s going to happen. So, again, it could go either way.

For the most part, I don’t see any large BuckTommy mentions possibly coming till 8x10 or after, with the exception of Buck possibly mentioning Tommy in passing in 8x08 or 8x09, but this depends on if their relationship has been planned out beyond the breakup. I have plenty of thoughts already about Tommy’s text bubble being included in 8x07 and what it means, but if there is no future for their relationship, then there’s no reason to have a Tommy mention in the next two episodes. That being said, it doesn’t mean there’s no future if he isn’t mentioned, it just depends on what’s planned for them. Even if he doesn’t get mentioned, the door is still open for him to come back.

IF (another very big if) there is a Tommy mention in either 8x08 or 8x09 then I think that’s a good sign- usually we only get one mention of Buck’s exes in the episodes following a breakup, and that’s to tell Eddie that they broke up (or some variation- see 7x01 and 6x01 with Natalia and Taylor). Usually the exes are done and gone (with the exception of Abby, but she was also a main. so). However, it’s not a bad sign if we don’t. Not every episode is about Buck and what he’s going through; Denny got hit by a car in 8x06 and we didn’t hear anything about it in 8x07- many plots just go into the background.

I genuinely think Tim only has vague ideas of what he wants to happen and then he just sees where the story goes and where it takes him. We’ve already had two BuckTommy heavy episodes (8x05 and 8x06) so I dont see another one coming for a while either way. There’s other storylines that need wrapping up. Eddie needs to resolve the Christopher situation, Bobby and Athena need to build their house… These have been going on since season seven and have yet to be resolved, and I’m honestly disappointed that the Christopher plot has been on the back burner for so long.

If Tommy does come back, it’s going to take longer than we’d like because of all the other plots the show has to work through. A lot of plots go on the back burner with the intent to continue them, but other things take priority, so they drag on, leaving the viewers a bit like “???” (much like the Christopher plot line- wdym he’s been in Texas for six months and counting). I think and hope it’s a very real possibility that Tommy will return, but I also think we overestimate how much thought goes into the plot lines. It would be perfect if we were right and this is a long romcom plot and we’re just in the third act breakup, but I don’t know if I believe that’s how it’s being written. Might be a fluke, might be intentional.

The episodes are only so long and there’s so many characters and plots to work through. Buck’s had his spotlight episodes, now it’s time to move on to the other characters. They can only include so much in each episode, and we know that scenes get cut, so it won’t shock me if there’s no mention of Tommy for this reason. At the same time, I honestly don’t know if it’s been planned out this far and this show isn’t the best at foreshadowing, so even if a reconciliation is planned I don’t know if we’ll see much of it. The upcoming episodes aren’t about Buck so I’m not expecting his plot to continue in the spotlight right now. Truthfully, I’m not expecting Buck to get much screen time at all in the next eps if the pattern continues- the focus will be on someone else.

In summary, I will be very shocked if we do see Tommy in the next two eps. I think it’s 50/50 on if Buck mentions Tommy. If there’s a reconciliation, I don’t know if it’s already been planned or if Tim is still seeing where the story takes him, and I don’t think it’ll be till later in 8b if it happens.

Of course, I could be horrifically wrong and we’ve all been conned, and they’ve already planned, written, or filmed a reconciliation, but I think it’s highly unlikely. I don’t think the plot is going to continue till mid 8b, if it continues at all. I’m keeping a very open mind about all of this.

We can all hope for things to happen, such as Tommy returning and BuckTommy reconciling, but what we can’t do is expect them. I would love it if they get back together, even if it takes till mid 8b, but I do not expect it to happen. The show will take the course it wants to take and we might be let down- that’s the risk in watching TV instead of creating your own content. As long as Buck is alive, whatever plots his character goes through, I will be happy. I would be happier if Buck and Tommy were together, but for me? I win either way. I just want the characters to be happy and live.

Hopefully this is all coherent and makes sense :)

#911 #911onabc #evan buckley #tommy kinard #bucktommy #tevan #spec #speculation #ask #anon #asks

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isagrimorie · 2 months ago

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youtube

A Look Inside the Writers Room of AGATHA ALL ALONG with Jac Schaeffer & The Writing Team - FYC

Notes:

Jac Schaeffer loved the idea of a Mare of Easttown, a prestige TV parody. Similar to WandaVision.

Episode 2 is the real pilot episode of the Agatha All Along show. Because episode 2 had so much exposition going on. The writers thought episode 2 might be a two-part episode. The writers decided against the two-parter idea. They needed the coven to be on the road by the end.

The original antagonist idea was the Debt Collector. The Debt Collector was a Witchy T-1000 that would pressure the coven forward.

The Debt Collector was originally a man until Aubrey Plaza entered the picture. The Debt Collector became Rio, and only then did Rio/Death have a romantic backstory with Agatha.

The original conception of Death's speech patterns was of someone from another age; because Death is a being out of time.

According to Schaeffer, Aubrey Plaza is such a specific actor and has a very present energy that the ancient speech patterns didn't work for Aubrey's energy.

Jac: "I know, we've, like, that is the some of the fandoms disappointment is that they didn't quite get enough of her. But I'm like, I don't know, we might have melted the platform."

Not with that attitude, you can't!

Joanna: How did the team decide what needs to stay versus what could be cut? And how did this pacing and storytelling choices? Who wants to tackle that?

Jac: I mean, I think it's me. I'm the one who cut things. We knew that Jason's episode would be substantial. Let's see. What else? I think it was a surprise that Giovanna's episode, it was a surprise that we were like, we're going to do the whole big musical number. And then we're also going to have all of this falling action in the campfire. And then it was a surprise in post, on the day, on set and, then in post that really that episode is all about that final moment between Rio and Agatha. We thought we were doing a musical number episode with a demon, and a curse, and a whole bunch of stuff. And it turned out we were just doing two ladies almost kissing. And THAT was the thing. I mean, it was on the page, but we didn't know. So that ended up being much longer than we thought.

Episode 7 started as Poseidon Adventure, Murder on the Orient Express, and Death on the Nile. And then climbing the tower.

Jac took inspiration from Memento. Gia and Cam outlined the story chronologically and color-coded certain chunks.

And now, we go to the most contentious part, Episode 5:

Laura Monti wrote a lot about Salem Seven and their backstory. They had to cut for momentum in the episode.

Monti also wrote more on Agatha being a medium, and the lore behind it. It could explain why Agatha is the spirit witch. And, why mediumship was Agatha's trial.

Also cut for pacing: a longer broom sequence. " --the length of that, like how we got into it, like what we actually were seeing."

Another reason why the scene was truncated was because they were committed to practical effects.

Other ideas nixed because they committed to more practical effects and less CGI: Vines that can move on their own. A CGI skeleton Sparky the dog.

LOL, Jac really taking to heart on spitting on the concept of 'Save the Cat'.

Megan McDonnell suggested Rio cut with her dagger through the canvas. Peter Cameron suggested the last trial as a very sparse room where nothing could grow.

Agatha would have seen Eddie before she announced herself to Billy as a ghost. She would have razzed Billy about Eddie.

There was more on the page about Agatha giving birth to Nicky. It would have tied into episode 2's Witch Kit. But the witch kit idea was nixed.

The reason why they showed Agatha giving birth in a natural and raw way. Jac wanted that for Wanda in WandaVision. Disney gave a note that Wanda should give birth behind the couch. So now Jac was able to scratch that itch.

#bts #tv: agatha all along #writer's room #Youtube

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feministsouthpark · 6 months ago

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South Park Filler Guide - Season 22

Link for Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

S22E1 Dead Kids is CANON

Sets up the main theme for the season, which is the fact that school shootings happen way too often. We get comfirmation that Nichole and Tolkien got back together since their breakup in S20E2. Stan gets shot at the end. S22E2 A Boy and a Priest is CANON

Stan has his arms in a cast, which is the only way they ever acknowledge his incident from the previous canon episode, which means this one is canon, even if most of its content is basically filler. Clyde has his birthday party for which is probably the same birthday he invited others in S21E8. Stan also seems to love board games now, which is a follow-up to S18E6. S22E3 The Problem with a Poo is CANON

This is the continuation of the Strong Woman arc from S21E10, in which she got pregnant, and now she is giving birth. Her children will return in later episodes and get their own arcs. Mr. Hankey also gets banished from the town. S22E4 Tegridy Farms is CANON

If there is one episode that you won't ever question the canonicity of is this one. If the season premiere set the tone for the season, this one sets the tone for the next season and basically serves a new pilot for the remainder of the series. They were not joking around with this one. S22E5 The Scoots is LORE

Kenny bonds with Mr. Mackey and while the scooters will appear later, other than their existence, the events of the episode don't matter much. S22E6 Time to Get Cereal is CANON

How could it not be, when ManBearPig not only appears, after being heavily foreshadowed back in S10. (Yes, I know real life context is different, but by storytelling logic that is what has happened), but Satan is also back for the ride and sets up a new development for his arc, but that is to come in the very connected next episode... S22E7 Nobody Got Cereal? is CANON

Satan v ManBearPig fight to the death. This is a big one for the series canon, which has had Satan go through a ton of development that helped him get to this very point. S22E8 Buddha Box is CANON

The Strong Woman arc continues! Seems like this season is really good at switching between a few multi-season storylines to focus on. Eric also gets diagnosed with anxiety. S22E9 Unfulfilled is CANON

Yeah, sure, why not? Tweek Bros. Coffee is no longer alive, due to Amazon, this might have helped Helen's independence in later seasons. The mall workers are now zombies from abandonment. But this is more obviously a set-up for the finale and that one IS canon, because... S22E10 Bike Parade is CANON

This is the culmination of the season as a whole. Although if I really want to find a reason for this one to count, we see Ned to be alive after the events of S22E6, which made it dubious if he survived his incident with ManBearPig.

SPOILER-FREE RUNDOWN

S22E1 Dead Kids is CANON S22E2 A Boy and a Priest is CANON S22E3 The Problem with a Poo is CANON S22E4 Tegridy Farms is CANON S22E5 The Scoots is LORE* S22E6 Time to Get Cereal is CANON S22E7 Nobody Got Cereal? is CANON S22E8 Buddha Box is CANON S22E9 Unfulfilled is CANON S22E10 Bike Parade is CANON *We learn how the scoots in the finale first appeared

CANON counter:

S1: 9 out of 13 S2: 3 out of 18 S3: 6 out of 18 S4: 10 out of 17 S5: 8 out of 14 S6: 11 out of 17 S7: 6 out of 15 S8: 4 out of 14 S9: 8 out of 14 S10: 4 out of 14 S11: 4 out of 14 S12: 8 out of 14 S13: 3 out of 14 S14: 7 out of 14 S15: 6 out of 14 S16: 2 out of 14 S17: 4 out of 10 + a highly lore based game S18: 8 out of 10 S19: 9 out of 10 S20: 10 out of 10 S21: 7 out of 10 + a highly lore based game + 2 DLCs S22: 9 out of 10

Overall: 146 out of 298 Personal notes: This season is heavily serialized, however unlike S20, not all 10 episodes follow the same storylines, mostly 2 episodes share a storyline and that's it. We have two two-parters and another two that are part of another storyline, a status quo changing episode and several cross-references between them all. South Park keeps finding new ways to handle continuity.

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comicgeekery · 1 month ago

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Sherlock & Co.: The Sign of Four

New Sherlock and Co. Thoughts!

Ok, so of course I HAD to talk about The Sign of Four. I was intrigued from the first episode. I’d been wondering when and how Sherlock and Co. would tackle the novels. They sprinkled in a few elements of The Valley of Fear early on, but that novel is a whole other situation, seeing as the majority of it isn’t a Sherlock Holmes story at all. And of course A Study in Scarlet is unavoidable as Watson and Holmes’ origin story. I suspect S&C will visit those again in different forms at some point, since neither mystery was really explored.

So The Sign of Four was an interesting choice at this stage. The show’s gotten into a good grove with 2-4 part adventures, they could have done for ages more, but it looks like the S&C team is ready to tackle more ambitious ideas.

I admit I was nervous at the start. Some of the four-part adventures have felt over-stretched (particularly Silver Blaze), so a TEN-parter might have been a disaster. Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about! The Sign of Four was captivating every week, brilliantly balancing interesting elements in every episode while also keeping the listener engaged with the larger mystery.

There were excellent deductions, familiar humor, some genuinely gripping suspense, and SO much fun when the gang all went to India! Whoever it is on the writing team who loves to write in poetic descriptions of landscapes had an absolute ball about that long train ride. I really felt like I could feel the scenery, not to mention the peaceful comradery of John, Sherlock, and Mariana. It’s so heartwarming to see how close they’ve all gotten.

I also really appreciate the tactful way that the writers and characters dealt with questions of Indian culture, British colonialism, and the connections between superstition, history, and the many things a big diamond might mean to different people. Everything seemed super respectful of India and British people of Indian descent. I don’t know if anyone at S&C is Indian themself or if there were sensitivity advisers or what, but it all clearly came with significant effort and that was SO nice.

(Note: I am white though, so it’s also possible that I missed some inaccuracies or insensitive elements.)

However, the real star of the show was always going to be the often-reimagined Mary Morstan. I was VERY curious about her, as in the original canon she and Watson get married shortly after the events of The Sign of Four.

In canon my opinion of Mary is…fine. She’s fairly brave in her adventure and it’s cute how she and Watson fall in love. But…yeah. That’s it. She’s mentioned offhand in a few other stories. Her presence is actually so vague that Sherlockians struggle to establish a timeline for her after The Sign of Four. She becomes Mrs. Watson. She’s there. She dies at some point so Watson can move back in with Sherlock. Then she’s back again? Or maybe she’s a second wife, also named Mary? It’s another one of those areas where the fans care more about Sherlock lore than Doyle ever did.

So there’s been various versions of Mary in the hundreds of Sherlock Holmes adaptations over the years. She’s usually pretty boring, a plot convenience for Watson to talk to about his latest adventure with that master detective what’s-his-name. I’m not sure if she ever showed up on Elementary, since they were focused on that whole Joan/Irene/Moriarty thing. And BBC’s Sherlock got…interesting with her. I wasn’t a fan of Mary as a secret elite assassin, but I give them credit for at least doing something with her. Until she died. Which was stupid.

The trouble with Mary is that, no matter how incredibly straight Holmes and Watson are, Mary functions as a wedge between the BroTP. She is, explicitly, the reason Watson moves out. And, since so many writers struggle to convey that people generally love and cherish more than one person at once, that means Mary must to an extent replace Sherlock in Watson’s heart.

I say all that because I want to emphasize that, hands down, Sherlock & Co.’s portrayal of Mary Morstan is the best I have ever seen.

I’m on record as really rooting for Sherlock & Co. to evolve into a gay romance. Fans have been waiting literally over 100 years for Sherlock and John to fall in love and be a couple in a professional production. I’ve felt shipping vibes in some episodes and in others John and Sherlock seemed completely platonic to me. I knew bringing in Mary could mean confirming the show as another Strictly Straight interpretation. Which would be disappointing, but not actually a sign of poor quality in any way.

First off, Mary was introduced as not quite a new character. She was meant to go on a date with Watson in the first episode, but got held up because of a traffic accident (and Sherlock did a bunch of deductions and was very clever). In functioning as a call-back to the first episode, she also easily illustrated the growth that John has had since the start of the show, when he was so freshly traumatized and uncertain about his life. Back then, it just made sense to him that his date would ghost him. He was the kind of person to be ghosted.

But we also got beautiful insights into Mary’s character. I think it was a brilliant idea to open the story with a recording of Mary as a child getting her plot-relevant bedtime story from her father. S&C is often limited in what it can portray because of the “true-crime podcaster” premise. This diagetic flashback was super clever and excellent way to tell the listener “We’re doing something different this time. Something big.”

Mary is such a FULL character too. She’s smart but shaken from her own military PTSD. She has a goofy, self-deprecating charm that complement’s John’s similar humor. She’s bisexual, a trait that informs her past and personality without feeling like just a token element to please the fans. She’s got complicated feelings about her father and his legacy. She’s understandably torn between wanting to help save a missing boy and bring criminals to justice or just washing her hands of a situation that seems to hurt more with every twist.

She and John do have an easy chemistry. They bond over their similar humor, their military trauma, and just being a warm piece of comfort for each other. As a fan of pairing John and Sherlock, there were times where I outright groaned because of how great Mary was and how sweet her budding relationship with John was. Beautiful, infuriating, 10/10.

SPOILERS BELOW

By the last episode of The Sign of Four, I was ready to admit defeat. Clearly Mary was going to be a new regular cast member and I was going to love her for the rest of the show….which is also basically what John thought.

I sincerely did not expect for her to die. Why would she? She was such a great character! I didn’t expect to end a Sherlock and Co. adventure with a real, lasting tragedy. Other characters have died, but never ones I would expect to be mentioned as on-going sources of grief in later adventures.

Her death also felt surprisingly real. It took her a week to die from her wounds and she was touch and go in the hospital. She easily could have lived. And now she’ll always be a point of a divided timeline for John. Of what might have been.

When BBC’s Sherlock killed off Mary, it felt cheap and perfunctory. She died to raise the stakes and the drama for Sherlock and John. I was never especially clear on why John was so in love with her, honestly. (It didn’t help that he’d been considering an affair at the time.) Sherlock and Co. has just delivered a masterful lesson on how to introduce a character, make her sincerely matter, and then make her death hurt for the simple reason that now she’s gone.

Bravo to Sherlock and Co. and bravo in particular to Acushla-Tara Kupe for her excellent performance as the best damn Mary Watson who never was.

#sherlock & co #mary morstan #sherlock holmes

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anteroom-of-death · 10 months ago

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Yayo

Synopsis: Gideon Shepherd wastes a life or two over a girl.

A/N: thanks to @lex144 for inspiring me to not give up. Will be a 2 parter/prequel. Dark fic time. Sorry for no publishing of all .... burn out. Listen to the unreleased version of Lana del Rey while reading.

How many times must he repeat the same life, the same lie, over and over again? How many times could he go through the exact same suffering and the exact same thwarting of evils in this world?

Gideon, in his sixties, again, having a cup of tea in an inconspicuous tea shop, mused. He’d just stopped a plane crash he had stopped dozens, if not hundreds of times. He was losing count. Losing control.

He knew it was only a matter of time before he was locked back up, dressed in red with those detectives again. Bargaining with the girl, Lucy. Trying to make her understand her son and him. Each time it seemed a tad more futile.

He tied the bag’s string around his finger like he’d done with that red one in that room. Repetitive and simple as always. Perhaps even a nervous tic.

He’d always die, just before total lucidity. It was annoying. And it just added more into his already over-crammed skull. He felt bursting at the seams. Almost like he had multiple brains.

Preposterous!

He admitted that in this particular cycle he’d been a little more neglectful of his needs. More rash. Less calculated…It was getting worse each time. More world-saving. Less keeping himself intact to save it.

He had to change all of this. Maybe take a breather. He’d still stick to his schedule from thousand lives past. This time, it would be difficult, just infinitesimal.

He even had been to this little tea shop every single time. Exactly the same day, the same time. He had observed people casually. Not much to do with anything…

Everyone was safe by his calculations.

The slouched-over nervous girl was going to accidentally water board herself with her drink in a few seconds.

On cue, her little iced coffee spilled. She sighed, seemingly looked up, as if beckoning a favor from God. She grabbed a napkin and went to wipe herself and the ground up.

In an echo of so many times previously, “Nothing comes easy, does it?” She muttered and slouched into her knees. She started to scrub a particular big stain in the making on her floral skirt with her spit.

It was probably incoherent to anyone who didn’t hear it or know to hear it time and time again.

She eventually pulled herself off the ground, her hip cracked. The slit in the side rode up, accidentally flashing the grey panties she wore…

Suddenly he felt like focusing in on her.

Maybe next cycle he’d offer to help her.

For now he got up and offered her his napkin. A small smile spread on his face.

“I have a spare coat in my boot…you can cover it up, keep it.” He offered another shiny object.

He didn’t know what exactly started coming over him. It was carnal, primal. Effervescent even. She obviously suffered from some self-confidence issues. Despite her bold outfit choices. Her large earrings clanked against her necklaces. Skittish. Unsure.

It made him incredibly hard.

He hadn’t allowed himself any pleasure, just the continuous pursuit of justice. In his own way. The only way that was dramaturgically correct he felt. He had to be the one to make it happen. The cops were as much as complicit as sometimes perpetrators.

“Go to the toilets and freshen up, yeah?” He instructed her plainly. The pit of the toll of all his dark deeds starting fray him like the trim of her denim jacket that seemed slightly too small.

He forced himself out to the car and popped the boot. He grabbed the aforementioned coat.

He walked back into the shop just she exited the loo.

She sniffled and saw the coat. It was black, utilitarian. Nothing special.

“Thanks.” The smile was weak, she still was obviously reeling from her previous remark of nothing coming easy. However, it was genuine. She was thankful and seemed placated by the action.

“I’ll…get another coffee.” She remarked as she tied the thing around her waist.

He couldn’t help but notice it hung sensually around her hips. Accented the torso and her tits in a weird way. How would it be to bite them? Mar them with his teeth?

“Why don’t you join me?” He offered.

“I can’t.” She frowned, a line developing in her still somewhat-young forehead that didn’t go away when her face relaxed moments earlier. It was fully etched in.

How lovely was it that such a nervous wreck had somehow made it this far in life? To see such a line. Pity it was there in the first place.

Such a contradiction…

She got her new coffee.

He still felt incredibly urged to take her and hide her away. Stop her from herself and her own nervous nature.

The proverbial butterfly was stepped on, who knew what was in store now…

Next cycle, he remarked to himself as he got into his car and drove off. He had to complete this. Make the Lucy woman understand. Die, come back. Same shot, different day…

His cock still remained at attention. The depraved thoughts still rung in his thoughts.

×××××

Here he was, back at the tea shop. She was walking in. Here was his chance!

He’d fantasized about this chance for decades now. Ever since the first rush of teenage hormones rushed into his body. Again.

She walked in, her tote bag swinging.

Only one chance. He could blow it, hypothetically. But this opportunity was literally once in a lifetime. No matter how many he’d been allowed. (Or cursed with depending on current emotions and outlook…)

He knew the pitfalls of approaching a woman and making oneself known. It came off predatory. Not that he wasn’t predating her, in more than one sense of rationale, or definition. Was there any good, wholesome way to approach her and her grey panties? He’d killed enough rapists to merit knowing what they liked.

And yet, here he was entering his era of perversion.

He firmly believed he had to liberate her from herself. Somehow.

Never one for true romance, even in the first time he seemingly entered the cycle, he lingered unsure.

He got up and made a show of asking for extra napkins.

One word, one small line would disrupt this. She’d not spill her drink, and he’d garner an actual chance with her.

“Those are some lovely necklaces.” He tried for a bit off a soft entrance.

She touched the tangled mass of gold on her neck, “Oh! Thanks!” Her left hand went to fiddle with some of the pendants on a few of them. The free thumb rested on one of those comically-large hoops.

She placed her order and went down to fight for her life to find her pocketbook.

“No worries,” Gideon assured, “I’ve got it.” The fiver, easily produced from his jacket pocket.

“Oh?” She flashed a befuddled, nervous half-grin at him. “What do I owe you?”

“Nothing.”

She shook her head. “Thanks so much!”

He felt moved to go back to his seat. He didn’t know exactly what to do to go from here.

Something told him to just toss her in the boot and drive off. Or perhaps, to lure in promising safe travels to wherever she was headed.

The darkness rubbed off so easily.

The toll of a billion lifetimes.

He remembered some parable of a little bird and a rock. Something about a boy saying something about it being ‘One hell of a bird…’

He sucked on the options. They all weighed heavy on his heart and his conscience.

He ultimately chose the less devious of them all.

Just asking.

He saw her go to pick up her drink. Would she spill it? He half-wished to see. See of the actions interrupted the truth of time. Such a small gesture maybe would provide her a sense of calm? Could it? Would it?

He started to rise yet again from his seat, and she spilled it anyways.

A flash of grey panties, a mutter again about nothing being easy for her, her spine twisting into a serpentine knot. Her lovely skirt and top stained.

He offered her a clutch of napkins. Then repeated last life’s offers.

“Are you my guardian angel? Or something?” She asked. “First paying for my latte, now this?”

Fate must have been sick to give her him if she thought he was an angel. Even in a semi-facetious manner. Sure, he was on the side of angels, in a sense. However he was far from celestial. Mortal, frequently.

He went out, produce the jacket. Came back. She tied it.

He offered to pay for her replacement- “On caveat you join me, an old man for a bit of a chat on a slow day.” He went for the genteel route.

She involuntarily shook herself, her eyes blinking rapidly.

She looked at her phone’s clock.

“Sure. Why not? Only five minutes, yeah?”

She sat at his table and they chatted. Her name was (y/n), she was (insert your age, reader) and she was between jobs. The drink went much easier down now that she was sat. Gravity and natural klutziness weren’t fighting her here.

The way she placed her elbows on the table further accentuated her heaving chest. Despite her current state, she seemed to breathe a little harder than Gideon suspected someone should.

Maybe her baseline anxiety messed around with her rhythms.

Gideon gave her the most basic and innocent of responses. Just enough information to tantalize. Keep it light, keep it friendly, he chided himself over and over again…

She glanced over at her phone and saw the time…she excused herself and left. Thanking him for everything.

She even brushed both of his cheeks with a small, friendly, definitely foreign kiss on each.

The door bashed her on her way out and she tripped on her way over the bus stop across the street. She put in her headphones and leaned against the pole marking it.

He felt them burn in response. His cock stayed as hard as rosewood.

He regretted not getting her number.

Or he could follow her discreetly. Put in what he learned from men worse than him by a thousand-fold into practice. Keep her somewhere safe, where she couldn’t be harmed by anyone, let alone herself.

Yes, that would be fine. He would just be looking after her best interests? Correct?

Correct.

He waited a moment and trailed his way to his car.

The bus pulled up, she went in. He turned his car on. A simple game of cat and mouse. If the cat were ever so interested in the mouse’s uninterrupted survival…

Or perhaps, did he not want her to meet a darker end at anyone else’s hand but his? His thoughts kept delving deeper. Were these dark, frankly barbarous images his fantasies regarding this (Y/N)? Or just fears?

He did notice from their brief conversation that she did have some scar tissue around her wrists. So even if he did very into these mental images, it would probably be for her betterment. They were obviously self-inflicted.

He felt himself grow more and more irrational. There was something burning in his chest. An itch that maybe he’d scratch just this life. Then the next, go about, offer her the basic kindness of the jacket and go.

If he was doomed to repeat every sinful day of every sinful life, what was one slip up? He’d done so well before.

He was trying so hard.

Yes, why not?

#personal #the devil's hour #gideon shepherd #peter capaldi #self insert #gideon Shepherd x reader #you x gideon shepherd #yall better be ready #or not #song fic

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sequinsmile-x · 9 months ago

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Some Things Are Meant to Be

She freezes at the sound of the voice she hadn’t heard in years, her shoulders tight as she turns, her jaw clenched as their eyes meet, a face she hadn’t seen in two decades staring right back at her.

A sequel to Take My Hand, Take My Whole Life Too

Part 2/3

Part 1

-x-

Hi besties!

Here is part 2 to this fic based on a prompt from the lovely @sometimesitswho . I got massively carried away with what I wanted to include in this, so it is now a 3 parter.

Please let me know what you think, your comments mean the world!

-x-

Words: 4.1k

Warnings: mentions of pregnancy, but not a main plot point.

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

August 1996

“You look beautiful.”

Emily smiles as she catches Aaron’s eye in the mirror and turns to look at him, glancing up and down as she takes him in. He was wearing one of the suits he usually wore to work and a new tie she’d specifically bought him for today. It was Gucci, the red silk material soft as she reaches out and adjusts it, and expensive. It was something she would have once bought without thinking about it, not even looking at the price before she made the purchase.

Now it was something she’d had to save for, the trust fund she’d always had as a safety net gone because she’d fallen in love with the man standing in front of her. She’d put money aside for a few weeks so she could buy it for him and it felt nothing short of amazing when she’d watched him open it last night, love for him swelling in her chest as he insisted it was too much, as if he hadn’t just given her a necklace she never wanted to take off.

“You don’t look bad yourself,” she says softly, her grip still on his tie as she tugs him in for a kiss. He hums into it, his hand warm through the satin of her dress as he pulls her closer. As she pulls back she rests her forehead against hers, “The tie looks good.”

He smiles as he reaches out and tucks some of her hair behind her ear, “Thanks, sweetheart,” he says, stepping back to look at her, to take her in. She’d kept the dress a secret from him, hiding it in the back of her closet and telling him not to look before today, and despite his curiosity he was glad he’d waited. That he hadn’t seen the white satin dress that had seemingly been made for her, even though he knew it hadn’t been, on the hanger. A thrill rushing through him at the thought that he’d that he’d only ever seen it on her, “I love this.”

She feels her cheeks go pink under the intensity of his stare, the unadulterated way he loved her still so overwhelming all these years down the line.

“Thanks,” she says, looking down at herself, smoothing her hands over the satin that fell to just below her knees, “I know it’s simple-”

“It’s beautiful,” he replies, leaning in to kiss her, “Just like you,” he kisses her again and when he pulls back he can see a flash of something in her eyes, a sadness that always seemed to linger whenever they were on the cusp of something big happening in their lives, her parent's absence always sharper on days like this, “Em, we can always do this another day-”

She shakes her head fiercely as she reaches for his hands, squeezing tightly as she cuts him off, “No, I want to do this,” she assures him, “I want to marry you today. It’s just…”

She drifts off, not sure how to put it into words, how to express that even though it was almost three years down the line a small part of her still struggled with the fact she didn’t have a relationship with her parents at all. This wasn’t how she’d ever envisioned getting married. Instead of a quiet appointment at the courthouse, she’d always pictured a huge event. Senators and ambassadors invited along to watch her get married in a dress she’d argued with her mother over, not one she’d bought off the rack in a sale, to a man she was sure her parents would have found appropriate.

“Not what you imagined.”

She looks up at him as he finishes her sentence for her and she can’t help but smile. Whenever she’d pictured getting married when she was young she’d never quite been able to picture the person standing opposite her, their face blurred and out of focus, but the moment she realised her relationship with Aaron was serious, not just the sex she’d originally kidded herself that it was, she started to picture him. He loved her in a way she always thought would bypass her, something she’d never get to have because it didn’t exist for people like her, and she loved him the same way.

“Yeah,” she says, looping her arms around his neck, sighing contentedly as their chests press together and he wraps his arms tightly around her, his embrace her favourite place to be. She stamps her lips against his, a soft delicate kiss as she scratches at the back of his scalp. When she pulls back, it’s barely enough just for her to speak, “I think this is better though.”

___

For a moment, it feels like she’s stepped back in time, her mother’s gaze burning into her. She feels like she’s 16 again and nothing like the confident woman she now is. She hates that it all feels like it’s been stripped away, like she’s a teenager being berated for nothing more than acting her age.

“You have a daughter?”

Her eyes snap up to Elizabeth’s when she speaks, her dark eyes meeting the ones she’d passed down onto her own children, and she clears her throat and nods, “Yes.”

Emily purposely doesn’t mention that she has two other daughters too, seeing no value in bringing them into this situation, a fleeting moment that she wishes she could have protected Evelyn from.

“I think I heard you call her Evely-”

“What are we doing here, Mom?” She asks, cutting her off as she crosses her arms over her chest, not wanting to hear her mother talk about her little girl, her shackles rising just at the mention of Evelyn’s name on Elizabeth’s lips, “Passing the time of day? I need to get home.”

Elizabeth furrows her brows and chokes out a derisive laugh, one that Emily had heard countless times in her life, “I’m just surprised to see you, that’s all. It’s not every day you learn you have a granddaughter.”

It’s Emily’s turn to laugh, and she shakes her head, “Well that was your choice wasn’t it.”

Elizabeth sighs, “Emily-”

“I’ve got to go,” she says, turning to look at the car, not surprised to see Evelyn watching her interaction with Elizabeth, before she looks back at her mother, “I’ve got to get her home.”

“Emily-”

“You don’t get to have any interest in my life, or her,” Emily says fiercely, turning and walking away before she throws one final comment over her shoulder, “Not when you and Dad decided her father wasn’t good enough for me.”

She ignores Elizabeth’s final attempts at getting her attention and she walks towards the car with determination in her step. She knows she only has a few seconds to ground herself, to push away the ache that had settled into her chest, and she blows out a slow breath before she climbs into the car, throwing Evelyn a smile as she starts the engine.

“Mom, who is that woman?” Evelyn asks, turning to look at where Emily had been standing, the other woman already gone.

Emily can feel her smile get tight as she looks at her daughter, and she knows she’ll have to tell her eventually, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it right now, not when she’d barely got her head around the fact she’d just seen her mother for the first time in twenty years.

“No one important, honey.”

Evelyn frowns, clearly not believing her, “But Mom-”

“Evie,” Emily grits out, her grip on the steering wheel tight as she tries not to lose her temper with her daughter, “Please, honey,” she says, looking at her briefly again before she starts to drive, “Not now.”

Evelyn stares at her, her gaze burning into Emily’s side for a moment before she nods, something Emily catches in her peripheral vision, “Do you think we could get some doughnuts on the way home?”

Emily sighs in relief, her shoulders sagging with it as she reaches over and briefly squeezes the teenager's hand, hoping she understands how grateful she is, “Absolutely. I think you deserve them after today.”

Evie smiles at her, clearly happy that she’d cheered her mother up, no matter how briefly, and she reaches over to turn on some music, the rest of their conversation on the way home light and carefree.

___

Aaron was worried about his wife.

He could tell something was wrong the moment she’d come home, her smile tight and fake as Evelyn excitedly told him all about her day, about the things she’d learned at the conference. It was only when she’d gone upstairs, excited to spend some time reading the materials she’d been given before dinner time when he’d had a second alone with Emily.

She’d told him that she’d seen her mother, an undeniable shake to her voice that she’d only ever let him hear as she said it before insisting they’d talk about it later. He knew her well enough to understand that she needed time to think about it herself, to come to terms with randomly seeing her mother after so many years before she spoke to him about it, so he’d simply nodded and pulled her into a hug before Hazel had called for her. Watching her slip back into the role of Mom so quickly would have been jarring if he had never seen it so many times before, her love for their children always overriding everything else.

He’s just about to seek her out to suggest ordering dinner when he hears a knock on his office door just before it opens and Evelyn walks in, an unsure look on her face as she closes the door behind her. She pulls the sleeves of her sweater down over her hands, her shoulders tight with nerves in a way they never were, her usual self-confidence nowhere to be seen.

“Are you okay, Evie?” He asks as he stands up, stepping around the desk to put his hand on her shoulder. She blows out a breath and sinks her teeth into her lower lip, looking impossibly more like Emily than she usually does. “Can I…can I ask you something?”

“Always,” he nods and guides her over to the couch they kept in the home office. It was where Emily would sit when she was pregnant with her and then later Hazel and Mae, she was too uncomfortable to sit at her desk and catch up with her casework, but insisted she didn’t want to sit in a different room to him. He’d bought the couch to allow her to be comfortable and stay close by.

All these years later he could still picture the way she’d smiled at him as he led her into the office, his hand over her eyes so he could show her the surprise, assuring her he wouldn’t let her and the baby fall.

“That woman Mom and I saw earlier,” she asks, her hands in her lap as she picks at her cuticles, “Was that…is she Mom’s mom?”

For the first time, he curses how intelligent his daughter is, and how good she is at putting things together just from a handful of context clues. He clears his throat, “What makes you ask that?”

She rolls her eyes at him, “Because that’s the only reason I can think of to make Mom as freaked out as she was,” she says, “And she looks exactly like her.”

He chuckles, “First of all, if you talk to your mom about this, I’d recommend not saying that,” he says, his smile getting wider as hers does, “And yes. That was her mother.”

They’d given the girls a very watered down version of why they’d never seen or met their grandparents. He knew as they got older they’d need more information, that they’d ask for it, but he hoped they’d be able to get away with it a little longer. He didn’t want to explain to them that the estrangement between Emily and her parents came from the fact they thought he wasn’t good enough for her, because he knew it would imply they weren’t good enough either.

And he never wanted his girls to think they were anything less than important.

Evelyn blows out a breath, her cheeks puffing out with it as she shakes her head, “Poor Mom, that’s…rough,” she tilts her head curiously as she looks at him, “Hasn’t it been forever since she saw her parents?”

“20 years.”

“So yeah,” Evelyn says, looking at him in a way only a teenager could manage, “Forever,” she grumbles as she leans into his side, her head on his shoulder as she settles against him. It takes a moment for him to wrap his arm around her, no longer used to the affection from his eldest, “Dad?”

“Yes, princess?” He says, trying out the nickname she’d declared herself too old for a couple of years ago. If she has a problem with it she doesn’t say anything and instead settles further into his side.

“I don’t ever want to not talk to you and Mom.”

Something about the way she says it makes him ache, the vulnerability she so rarely had shining through in every word. He drops a kiss to the top of her head, as he assures her, taking as much from this rare moment between the two of them as he can before she remembers she’s too cool to love her parents like this nowadays.

“That will never happen, Evie,” he says, kissing the top of her head again, “I promise.”

___

January 1999

“Has it been three minutes yet?”

Aaron smiles as he checks his watch and then looks back at his wife, “No, sweetheart. Not yet.”

She grumbles and rests her head on his shoulder, wrapping both of her arms around one of his as she physically has to stop herself from turning around and looking at the pregnancy test on the counter behind them.

“This might be the longest three minutes of my life,” she complains and he chuckles, pressing a kiss to her temple as she squeezes his arm even tighter.

They hadn’t been trying that long, only for a few months, but she hadn’t even realised how much she wanted this, until the first time she took a test that had a negative result. The disappointment had been bitter, painful and burning as she tried to swallow it down, tampering it out with hugs and assurances from Aaron that it was okay, that it would happen when it was meant to happen.

Something felt different this time. She was exhausted and her stomach felt off, the smallest thing prone to making her nauseous. She was trying not to get her hopes up, trying not to get Aaron’s hopes up, but she couldn’t help it.

She was so entirely ready to start a family with him.

She was nervous about becoming a mother, an overwhelming fear she could never quite escape that she’d end up being just like hers. That the lack of maternal affection was genetic and she’d never be able to connect with her child like she wanted to. She knew Aaron had similar concerns, his childhood had been wildly different to hers but he’d been left with the same insecurities. He was constantly outrunning his father’s violence, desperately trying to get out from under the shadow of it.

She knew he had nothing to worry about. He’d never made her feel anything short of safe and loved, and she knew he’d do the same for their children.

“It will be okay, Em,” he assures her, his cheek against the top of her head, “No matter what.”

She hums and turns her head to kiss his jaw, “I know.”

He smiles and checks his watch again and blows out a slow breath, “It’s been three minutes,” he says and she tenses against him, her grip on his arm tight. He turns her to look at him and pulls her against his chest, purposely making sure she can’t see the test, and he runs his hand up and down her back, “You ready?”

She nods and pulls back, her smile shaking a little as they both look down at the test, matching gasps escaping them as they see the bright pink plus sign staring up at them.

“Oh my god,” she exclaims, picking it up and inspecting it closer, as if the very bright lines would disappear, then she looks up at him, a delighted laugh stuck in her chest, “I’m pregnant.”

“You’re pregnant,” he confirms, pulling her into a hug, pressing a fierce kiss to her lips, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she says, her eyes still fixed on the test before she places it back down, “We’re having a baby.”

He cups her cheek and wipes away a stray tear, kissing her again before looking at her with such adoration it makes her ache, “You’re going to be such a good mom.”

She chokes on a laugh as she shakes her head at him, once again taken aback by how well he knew her. How easily it came to him to extinguish any flames of doubt that she hadn’t even expressed to him. She cups his cheek and smiles when he turns his head to kiss her palm, her cheeks aching with it.

“You’re going to be an amazing dad.”

He drops to his knees and presses a kiss to her t-shirt covered stomach and she hugs him to her, her arms wrapping around his head as she uses him to keep her upright, her love for him, for the family they were building, so overwhelming that she thinks she’d fall over without him there.

“Hi baby,” he says quietly, and she has to press her lips together to stop herself from saying anything, wanting to bask in this soft moment between them, the gentleness no one would ever believe he was capable of if she told them one of her favourite things, “We’re so excited to meet you. And you’re so lucky, want to know why?” He asks and she runs her fingers through his hair, her eyes shining as he looks up at her, still talking to her belly as they maintain eye contact, “You have the best mommy in the entire world.”

She can’t hold back the sound that comes out of her, something between a sob and a laugh as she places her hand on her stomach.

“You’ve got a pretty incredible daddy too.” She encourages him upwards, smiling as he crowds her against the counter, the positive pregnancy test just behind her, “We’re really doing this.”

He smiles at the awe in her voice, his love for her expanding in his chest, taking up all the space in his lungs and making him light-headed. He kisses her, the action lost to their wide smiles, and then he pulls back as he nods.

“We’re really doing this.”

___

Emily smiles softly as she walks into the master bedroom, only slightly surprised to find Hazel fast asleep in their bed, the 10-year-old snuggled up against Aaron.

“I thought she already went to bed,” she says quietly as she walks in, sitting on the edge of the bed and reaching over her husband to run her fingers through Hazel’s hair, “Is she okay?”

He nods and places his hand on her leg, squeezing her thigh through the material of her pants, “She asked if she could sleep in here,” he says, smiling softly at her, “I thought you could do with the extra company too.”

She huffs out a humourless laugh and nods, leaning in to stamp a kiss against his lips before she stands, “You thought right. I’m just going to get ready for bed.”

She makes quick work of her night-time routine, barely looking at herself in the mirror, the similarities to her mother staring back at her in a way they hadn’t in a long time. She’d isolated herself all evening, trying to get her head around what had happened. Aaron had taken it in his stride, keeping the girls entertained all evening with the help of Evelyn who had read with Mae until she fell asleep.

She sighs as she steps back into the bedroom and slips into bed, the weight of the day finally resting on her shoulders the moment she’s lying down. Hazel rolls towards her even though she’s still fast asleep, drawn into her mother’s side almost by instinct. Emily wraps her arms around her daughter and closes her eyes as she breathes her in, the strawberry scent of her shampoo calming her nerves.

“She emailed me.”

Aaron frowns as he turns to look at her, his head tilted in curiosity as their eyes meet, “Who did?”

She clears her throat and presses her lips together, cursing herself internally when her voice shakes a little, “My mother.”

Whatever Aaron had anticipated her to say, it wasn’t that. He feels anger lick at his insides, irritation aimed at a woman he hadn’t seen in two decades threatening to overwhelm him.

“What?”

She laughs humourlessly and nods, running her fingers through Hazel’s soft hair to distract herself, “Yeah. She emailed me this afternoon, which means she’s always had the capacity to find out where I was working or what I was doing,” she swallows thickly and shakes her head, “Which I guess I’ve always known…but having it confirmed sucks.”

He feels the anger threatening to take over, everything he’s always to say about her mother on the tip of her tongue, but he sees the grief in her eyes, the sadness she’d put to rest long ago resurrected by a chance encounter and an email she never could have anticipated receiving just that morning. He pushes the anger away, knowing there would be a time and a place and that it wasn’t now. She needed his love, needed him to be the support he had been for the last two decades, so he slips closer, wrapping his arm around her and their daughter, and kisses Emily’s temple.

“What did it say?”

She sighs, “She wants to see me. She said Dad does too,” she explains, and they fall into a brief silence that she’s grateful for. He knew her better than anyone ever had, and she knew he was waiting her out rather than trying to guess what she wants, “I stopped missing them a long time ago. I don’t think I want a relationship with them, I just want to know what they want.”

She thinks she already knows, a heavy feeling low in her gut that tells her it has everything to do with Evelyn, that her mother may view her as a second chance to have the legacy Emily herself had never quite been able to provide. The thought of it makes her feel sick, protectiveness bubbling in her gut as she thinks of her eldest, of all her daughters, and the life she wants to protect them from.

“Then we’ll go see them.”

She frowns as she looks up at him, her eyebrows knitting together as she smiles sadly, “Honey, you don’t have to come with me,” she says, unhooking an arm from around Hazel and cupping his cheek, “You shouldn’t have to face them after everything.”

She knew that even now, even after everything they’d built together, he still felt as if it was his fault she didn’t have a relationship with her parents. More than once in the weeks and months that followed after them cutting her off he’d asked her if he was worth it. At first, it hadn’t even been about him, it had been about her freedom from expectations she’d never quite been able to escape.

As time went on, it did become about him. As he went from her boyfriend to her husband and then the father of her children, she became more and more irritated that her parents hadn’t been able to accept him. He loved her in a way that she hoped her girls would one day get to experience, and she couldn’t imagine ever wanting to make them choose between the person they loved and her.

Aaron deserved better than whatever her parents thought of him, and she wanted to protect him from that.

“Sweetheart,” he says, his voice firm but kind as he kisses her palm, his breath tickling her skin, “I’d never make you go alone. We’ll face them like we do everything else - together.”

The relief she feels is palpable and she nods, leaning in to kiss the corner of his lips, “Together.”

-x-

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kaleen-art · 10 months ago

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Lupin Zero Sucks (Clickbait)

Spoilers. Duh.

Lupin Zero is a 2022-23 6 episode miniseries following the adventures of Lupin III and Daisuke Jigen as teenagers. I watched the full series recently. It’s very rare I watch a show and am both in awe and also disappointed. Here are my thoughts:

Chapter 1: Aesthetic

Lupin III Part 1 is my favorite Part. It’s where I think the characterizations are at their best and the A-Production episodes with the involvement of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata are some of the best Lupin adventures to this day (not a big fan of Osumi’s “deep and emotional” episodes, will make another essay about this probably). Zero takes a lot of influence from Part 1 and I love it. The music is on point and matches with the very late 60s-early 70s stylings of the first series. The animation and expressiveness is also on point. The artstyle is always distinctive and it’s amazing how they were able to translate the artstyle of the original series into a digital era when I felt like previous attempts (see: digital Part 1 art, Return of Pycal (sorry Shmeepy)) failed. I hate the filter applied over the series though. Besides it just muddying up very nicely done backgrounds and artwork, it also makes the whole series feel like a TikTok “edit”. It’s gross. But at least everything else about the series’s aesthetic is strong enough that this is only a minor nitpick.

Chapter 2: Lupin and Jigen

The best part of Lupin Zero is definitely the relationship between Lupin and Jigen. Jigen is a stone-cold criminal with experience to his name at the start of the series and Lupin is (though he wouldn’t admit it) a rookie crook. Both have exactly what the other one needs. Lupin gives Jigen the love Jigen seemingly gets from nobody else, and Jigen provides Lupin with a partner in crime. Their dynamic as the show goes on, especially prominent in Episode 4 (The Best One) and Episode 5 (Had the great scene between them) is great and the highlight of Zero. The gay vibes are strong on this one and I’m pretty sure this is the part of the show the writers wanted to do the most. Like I said earlier, the show ties in with Part 1 very nicely and the Lupin-Jigen dynamic is no exception. I love Part 1 Jigen so it’s no wonder why Zero Jigen is also great. I like when he Has Fun and Smiles I wish they let him do that in Part 2 and the new stuff.

Chapter 3: Lupin and his legacy

I really like how they executed Lupin’s relationship with his family. Lupin (the Third) and Arsene Lupin both want him to become a thief, but Lupin the Third wants to forge his own path instead of adhering to his grandpa’s expectations. Meanwhile, Lupin II wants Lupin to follow the “straight and narrow”. I think this show not only speaks to the feelings of teenagers of every generation, but especially the generation growing up in the 50s and 60s who would become adults in the 70s. Speaking as a teenager who is in the Gen Z generation I understand how it is to feel the weight of the previous generations and their expectations for you, but I also know this was an especially prevalent issue amongst the youth of the mid 20th century, and I think Lupin in Zero really represents that. At the end of the show, he is able to forge his own path and later becomes the Lupin we know and love, resolving this generational conflict. This is another aspect done great in Zero.

Chapter 4: Lupin and Yoko

Fuck Yoko. She ruins the show. This isn’t a joke.

Yoko is… I think? Lupin’s love interest? “But isn’t that Jigen-” THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING! The show felt the incessant need to add a female lead so they could have boobies on screen. The problem is it’s really gross in Zero. Yoko is an adult ass woman flirting with Lupin the 13 year old and it’s very groomy. In the first episode she even sings about forbidden love (with someone younger than her) to Lupin and Jigen. She contributes close to nothing to the show up until Episodes 5 and 6 (a two-parter). In those episodes, she has a plot with this guy named Gaucho who is like, the villain, and like… She loves him but she also loves Lupin, and it gets really convoluted and dumb. If it seems like I don’t care, it’s because I don’t.

At the end of the show Gaucho dies and Yoko is in a life-or-death situation, so she decides to kill herself to die with Gaucho. She does this in front of two children, one of whom she is fully aware that he's in love with her. This is a character we are meant to feel sad about when she dies.

She's a total creep and throws me out of the show whenever she's on-screen. I feel like if she didn’t show any interest in Lupin besides an innocent friendship, and Lupin just fell in love with her anyway, that would be significantly better. As is, she gets way too flirtatious with someone literally less than half her age for me to give a fuck when she dies.

I think if they really needed her to be in the show (she does not need to be there) they should’ve removed her and Lupin’s “romance” entirely and instead tried to parallel Lupin and Jigen’s romance plot with her and Gaucho, showing how she and Gaucho are like a bad version of the two. That, in my opinion, would’ve worked a lot better.

Chapter 4: Too Much, Too Little

My biggest problem with Lupin Zero is it tries to cram too much into 6 episodes. If it had just stuck with Lupin and Jigen’s relationship blossoming + Lupin vs. his family, it would’ve been killer, but the stuff with Yoko as well as the final two episodes’ weird war-government plot just muddies up a great idea. It leaves me disappointed because I think Lupin Zero had so much potential but it was ruined by the writers forcing in ideas that detract from the themes already present instead of adding to them.

Conclusion

Overall, is Lupin Zero worth a watch?

I mean it’s only 6 episodes, you might as well if you like Part 1 or Lupin x Jigen or anything of that sort.

But do I think it’s as great as people have said it is?

God, no. It’s messy and I think overall it’s a 6 or 7 out of 10. 7.5 on a good day.

Good but nothing remarkable. But if this kind of show is what Lupin III series…es went forward with? I wouldn’t be mad, not one bit.

Anyway don't forget to like and subscribe for more bad takes, ok bye see you when I remember I have a tumblr again

#lupin the 3rd #lupin sansei #lupin the third #lupin iii #lupin zero #shoutout to shmeepy #he watched it with me

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mushroompollution · 1 month ago

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Chapter 52: Bloody Rites (pt 1)

Previous Chapters: The Sablier Arc Masterpost (35-42) || 43 || 44 || 45 || 46 || 47 || 48 || 49 || 50 || 51

Read the manga: imgur || mangaread (ad warning / full chapter so spoiler warning) I promise 2-parters won't be the new norm, but I think the second half of this is too important to cut down that much. also this chapter is just stupid long, I'd have to combine pages to fit it in one imgur album anyway

Isla Yura is speechless as he watches Lottie and her Chain make short work of his two guards. But as she threatens to do the same to him if he doesn't take her to the Stone, it's quickly apparent that it's not fear that Yura is gripped with.

It's admiration. This man could not be more excited to have the big bad Baskervilles murdering his servants. Actually, its the highest honor. This is his own Christmas!

But unfortunately, he can't just hand the Stone over, he still needs it for his ceremony. And so, he readies himself to fight her with his legendary hand-to-hand skills.

Yeah. Yura proves to be no real threat, to the point it's kind of pathetic.

But Break is another story.

It's not too much unlike they way met back in Sablier. Remembering that interaction, Lottie asks what he meant back then, when he had asked her to be his friend.

It's simple, Break says. He and the Baskervilles seem to have the same goal, so why don't they team up?

Oh, but their partnership does hinge on one little detail. He knows about the Pandora guards murdered by the Baskervilles. But there's one of them still unaccounted for. Depending on the fate of Reim Lunettes, he may give up any plans of a peaceful solution, Break threatens.

Back in the other hall, Oz tells Leo to go ahead. Leo protests that it's too dangerous for him to be alone, but Oz makes a great point. If the Headhunter is really there, wouldn't Elliot be a more likely target than him? Besides, Leo wanted to apologize for their fight as soon as possible.

He admits to being a bit envious of Leo and Elliot's friendship, the respect they have for each other that allows them to speak their minds so feely to each other.

Leo thanks him and takes the traumatized maid as he races back towards the main ballroom. Oz watches them go, then turns back to the hall with a much more serious expression.

Whoever was lurking at the end of that hall is suddenly taken down as Alice pops out of Oz's shadow. As he tries to comprehend what's going on, he hears Sharon's voice in his head, speaking to him through her Chain, Equius. She explains that she heard the tense conversation and didn't want Oz to go alone.

Meanwhile, Alice pulls back the hood of the shady figure she's just tackled. And Oz is shocked to recognize them.

Back in the other hall, Break and Lottie are suddenly surrounded by two red robed figures wielding short swords. Except, they aren't any Baskervilles Lottie recognizes.

From his place on the ground, Isla Yura laughs.

Gilbert and Elliot race up to Sharon as all hell breaks loose in the ballroom. A red robed figure appears behind her as she tries to relay Oz's situation to them, and is summarily neutralized by one roundhouse kick from Gil.

Finally, he's not entirely useless.

But Sharon still has no time to explain, as she and Gilbert watch in horror as more people in those red robes begin to set fire to the billowing curtains. In the chaos, Vanessa and her valet frantically search for Elliot, who seemed to just disappear into the stampede.

Back in the other hall, those figures who had ambushed them are no match for Lottie and Break.

Doug's chain moves too quick to really see. But as he grabs Lottie and whisks her off to safety, her eyes meet Break's. They escape, and Break notices that Isla Yura had also managed to disappear some time during their brief encounter with the imposters.

Judging by their skill level, or lack thereof, the pair that had ambushed them lacked any real martial training.

So why were they dressed up as Baskervilles? Why did they attack them?

Break thinks about his missing friend. And then Sharon. He grinds his teeth and turns to go back to the ballroom, knowing his duty is at her side.

#ooc #there's still another lol 24 pages to this chapter #honestly I think it should have been cut at the reveal of the name of the 'play'#but I want to post the next part mostly uncut bc it's the most we ever get to see Elliot and Vanessa interact #and I think it's too good and relevant to this tl to not show in full #so I cut it here instead #part 2 will probably come tomorrow #oh boy oh boy #oh fuck oh man #we're really in it now guys #don't worry I STILL have some big twists to reveal through the tl and drabbles #I'm trying to pace this so when the ceremony happens in the tl #everyone ooc can go in w the apprehension of knowing its going to be so very Fucked #and completely unable to do anything ic to stop it (:#and then surprised by the conclusion hopefully #some things about the ceremony will go very differently in this tl #but #most of this will be the same #let's read ph together

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