#so if anything eugene would seem to me to be older?

[paintyoureyeswithavividmind]

close to home | chapter sixty four

close to home | chapter sixty four

plot: time continues to move on for the reader

series masterlist

Pairing: Eventual Daryl Dixon x f!reader Word Count: 3,214 Warnings: violence, blood, typical twd, the passing of a beloved pet A/N: thank you for reading!! This chapter is going to feature the death of Tora. I know how much you all love her, but with all the time jumps and to continue this story, cats unfortunately do not live that long. I apologize if this is going to be trigger, and if it makes any of you feel better, I based Tora on my cat who is only 3, and I was sobbing writing this as well. So as a little pick me up, there is the beautiful and loving cat that I based Tora off of (and my bookshelf lol) at the end of this chapter

Weeks turned into months as you and Daryl worked on coming back together. By early spring, you were even more in love with and fully committed to him again. You trusted him again, which seemed to elevate Daryl in unexpected ways. He was more open with the kids and even Michonne and took a seat on the council--you declined Michonne’s offer for the hundredth time. 

By late summer, you were happier and healthier after Daryl returned to you. It was coming up on a year since you’d reunited with him, and things were almost perfect again. 

Almost.

With Tora’s age, you had her out of commission. She wasn’t allowed outside the walls, and stairs were getting too hard for her to climb. You or Daryl would have to bring her up and down. She was getting older after all these years, and you knew she wouldn’t make it to the end of the year. So you spent as much time with her as you could. She followed you around the community, cuddled with you and Daryl every night, and even with Dog. You had Siddiq look at her, of course, and you knew she was having kidney issues. But you could do nothing about it until she started showing pain.

Despite Daryl telling you it was a bad idea, you visited with Negan a few times every now and then. You meant what you said to him years ago, that you were moving past things and letting go of the anger. That meant there was room for a tiny bit of guilt for him spending the rest of his life in a cell, not that you thought he should be let out. But you went down to talk to him, and he was never an asshole to you. For whatever reason, he respected your marriage to Daryl and told you he just liked having someone to talk to. 

You knew Judith was doing the same but didn’t say anything. And Judith was Judith; she would do what she wanted anyway, just like her brother and father. 

Which was why Michonne agreed to let you and a group take her out for a hunt. She was nine now, and Michonne knew how important it was for her to know the ins and outs of the area around the community. She trusted you with Judith’s life. 

So you had Rosita, Eugene, Laura, and Aaron come out with you, as they did most of the out-of-community work anyway. Daryl was needed to help build up one of the new farming stands, so you couldn’t have him come. 

You were meant to meet them in a few minutes at the gate and could hear Judith bumping around in her room while getting ready. The two of you never seemed to get anywhere on time these days. 

“You gotta be kidding me,” You mumbled as you adjusted your belt. It was too tight around your waist. But it was notched where it always was, and then you realized it wasn’t the belt that was too tight. 

“No,” You shook your head as you walked to the mirror that hung from behind the door. You lifted your shirt and turned to the side.

“No, no.” You mumbled as you set your hands around your stomach. It was definitely sticking out more than it should’ve.

You let the shirt drop, which made you look almost normal, and then you picked the shirt up again as you thought about when you got your last period--but of course, it was never regular after the end of the world to begin with. 

“(Y/N), I’m ready to go…” Judith swung the door open but paused when she saw you. “Are you pregnant?” She yelled. 

You immediately pulled her into your room and shut the door behind her. “Do you always have to be so loud,” You said, which made her giggle. 

“Let me see.” She reached for your shirt, which you let her, and she pulled it up. “I remember how big mom’s tummy got.”

“I’m not pregnant,” You said, but you weren't so sure when you looked in the mirror. The symptoms you had for your first were surprisingly few; if it was the same, it wasn’t a wonder how you didn’t realize sooner. 

“I bet Daryl will be happy.”

“Go get your sword before I toss you out the window, missy.” 

***

“Judith!” You screamed, flicking blood off your machete. Your heart was beating faster than you ever could’ve imagined as you looked around the woods for your niece. You felt tears burn in your panic, and you looked at Rosita, who looked as desperate and scared as you. 

You followed Rosita through the woods, screaming out for Judith. You ran towards the sound when you finally heard her yelling that she was close. 

“I heard them calling, they needed our help.” Judith said. 

You looked behind her and immediately drew an arrow. Five strangers were following behind her, all out of breath and in bad shape. Dog was barking like crazy in warning, and you whistled to recall him. He sat next to you. 

Rosita and Aaron discussed with Judith as to why you couldn’t bring them back, and you watched her threaten that she wouldn’t come back. 

“We bring them.” You said. “I will talk to Michonne. I want us in group formation. There are walkers behind every damn tree.” You said. 

Eugene and Laura took the lead, while Rosita and Aaron took the back. You and Judith walked side by side with the strangers. You noticed the two quiet ones were talking in sign language, and you could pick up a few things they were discussing. 

“Hey,” You took a couple quick steps and looked at the one who heard you. You set your machete away and did your best to sign as you spoke. “I’m (Y/N). It’s been a while since I’ve signed. I wanted to reassure you that you’ll be safe. We’ll help your friend. I can’t promise anything after that.”

“I’m Kelly,” The younger one said as she signed. “This is my sister Connie.” You looked at Connie while she signed. “She said-.”

“I got the gist,” You said, then you did your best to sign again and had to spell out a few words you didn’t remember. I went to school for speech pathology before switching to medicine. It’s been a long time, though.

It’s nice to meet someone I can talk to you, Kelly always has to translate for me, Connie signed to you. You were able to understand most of it and you nodded at her, which made her smile. 

***

Daryl was the first one you saw when you walked through the gates, and you smiled, jogging up to him. Your bow clanged against his crossbow as you hugged, and he kissed you briefly before looking past you. “What’s all this?”

“Don’t ask,” You muttered. “One word. Judith.”

“Ain’ a surprise.”

You turned back to the strangers as they marveled at the community, and you saw in their faces how relieved they were. They had to have been out there for a long time. You couldn’t imagine it. After all this time, you didn’t know what you would do without the communities. 

There was a slight argument amongst the residents before Michonne showed up, and after looking them over, she had them put away into holding for the night so the council could vote in the morning. 

Daryl had more work to do, so he bid goodbye, and you walked home with Judith. 

“So when are you gonna tell him?”

“Judith.”

“What? I’m just asking. Would that mean I’m an aunt if you have a baby?”

You smiled, looked down at your niece, and then wrapped an arm around her. “No, sweetheart. It would make you cousins. You’ll be an aunt when RJ has a baby in many, many years from now.”

“But I could help you take care of it.”

“Judith.” 

“Maybe you can ask mom to help you since you don’t have any kids,” Judith asked as she looked up at you. 

You frowned slightly and tipped her hat forward to cover her eyes. “I did have a kid. I had a son. But he died in my belly.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Judith said. “Was it before?”

You nodded as you stopped by the stairs to your house. “It was.”

Judith gave you a big hug. “For what it’s worth, I think you’ll be a great mom. You’re my best friend.” 

***

You were standing in your room a few hours later naked, having just showered. Your long hair was dripping as you turned to look at yourself in the mirror. Your stomach wasn’t extended the way it would’ve been if you’d put on a bit of weight--which you’d gotten back to your regular weight after being shot--but it was just your lower belly. And it took you back to years ago with Liam, and you were this size at around five months. If you were pregnant, you’d be showing earlier. 

You pressed your hand against the swell and sighed loudly. Pregnant. After all this time, you couldn’t be, could you? Not after all these years. 

The sound of meowing caught your attention, and you quickly got dressed before walking over to the window. Tora was at the front steps, and you didn’t like the sound of her howling. Your fingers trembled as you looked at her for another second. She was pushing thirteen, which was on her breed's older side of the lifespan. 

You quickly rushed down the stairs and outside. 

“Tora, sweetie,” You said as you scooped her up in her arms. She’d been losing weight a lot in the past month. You knew her time was coming. 

She meowed quietly as she got comfortable in your arms. Living on your farm, you’d grown up around house cats and barn cats, and they all acted the same way when it was time. When they needed to say goodbye. So when you saw Tora looking up at you with those sweet, innocent eyes, you knew it was. 

Tears burned your eyes as you thought about your old treehouse and living there with her alone. How she kept you alive because you were too stubborn to let her die. And even before that, when Liam gave you to her on Christmas morning, she immediately crawled into your lap and started purring. Thirteen years was long for a cat in this world, and she spent most of it malnourished, even though you did your best. 

“(Y/N)? What’s going on?” 

You looked up at Judith with tears on your cheeks. “Can you run and get Siddiq for me, sweetie?”

Ten minutes later, Siddiq held Tora in his arms as you watched him press around her belly. When she showed discomfort and tried to scratch him, he gave her back to you. 

“I’m sorry. It’s probably the kidneys. I can use the machine on her tomorrow to take a look.”

You nodded, but you knew it wouldn’t come to that. She wasn’t going to make it through the night. 

“Do you know where Daryl is?”

“He was with Aaron. I think they were workin’ late on the farming stand.”

Siddiq said goodnight and squeezed your arm before he left, and then Judith wrapped her hand around your bicep. “Can I come with you?”

“I’m gonna bring her back here, Jude. I promise. Can you get some pillows and blankets on the couch? You know how she likes it.”

Judith nodded and ran back into the house. You sniffled a few times and started walking towards the center of the community. 

You were already crying when you saw Daryl with Aaron, working with flashlights to get the stand finished. You tried to call out his name but had to take a deep breath. Tora stirred in your arms and you shushed her, kissing the top of her head. 

“Daryl?” He turned around the moment he heard the tone of your voice, and you saw his face drop when he saw you. “Tora…she…” You broke out into tears. 

He tossed his tools aside, told Aaron he’d see him tomorrow, and then came to you. “Come on, darlin’, let’s get her home.” 

You nodded as he wrapped his arms around your shoulders and led you home.

Judith set up the couch like you asked her, and you gently set Tora on the blankets before sitting on the floor. You gently ran your hand along her body and fluffy tail, and she looked at you with those big eyes. 

Daryl sat down next to you while Judith sat on the couch. You pressed your forehead on the cushion near her paws and tried not to start scream-crying in front of Judith. You wanted to do that and throw things around and punch holes through walls. But you didn’t do any of that. 

“Why don’ ya go get ya mom, Judith? She’ll wanna be here.” 

Michonne joined you with a sorrowful look on her face. She loved Tora, although she didn’t show it. But you remembered perfectly her sneaking little bits of food to her when she thought no one was looking. 

After a little while, you let Tora sleep and leaned against the loveseat. Daryl sat beside you, and Michonne took the chair with Judith on her lap. You told them all silly stories about Tora before they knew her when she was just a kitten, and you told Judith how much her brother loved the cat and how you’d always find him stealing her every chance she got--which was something they had in common. Over the past six years, Tora often slept at the foot of Judith’s bed. 

It drew further into the night, and everyone was half asleep when Tora stirred on the couch. The bell from her collar rang as she jumped down and limped her way toward you. She curled herself up on your lap, and you gently pet her. Daryl took your other hand, and Judith and Michonne came to sit on the floor with you. 

“You’re okay,” You said through your tears. “You can sleep now. Say hi to Carl for me, okay, when you get there?”

Around two in the morning, Tora took her last breath in your arms. You sobbed, holding her body to your chest. Daryl held you while Michonne held a hysterical Judith. 

Your heart ached when Daryl tried to take her body from you, and you finally gave in. “Make sure she’s comfortable,” You sobbed. “Wrap her in her favorite blanket. Please be careful.”

“I got her, I got her,” He reassured you.

Judith came over to you and sat on your lap to hug you, and you held her tight as you both cried. 

“I wanna bury her next to Carl,” You said through tears. “I think they’d both really like that.” 

Michonne wiped away her tears, and she stood up. “Of course, we can plant some flowers. Anything you want. I’m gonna take Judith up to bed. You can sleep in my room if you want, honey.”

Judith nodded through tears as she stood up. “I wanna help bury her.”

You slowly stood up and ran your hand on the back of her head. “We’ll do it tomorrow morning before the meeting. Don’t worry, sweetie, I’ll wake you up for it.”

Your niece gave you one more big hug before Michonne led her to the stairs, and you could hear her crying on the floor above you. You sat down on the chair and hung your head in your hands. 

Footsteps caught your attention, and you looked at Daryl, who you knew was crying. He must’ve taken a few extra minutes to avoid crying in front of Judith. 

“Wrapped her up gentle, I promise,” Daryl told you and helped you up so he could hug you. “In her favorite blanket. We’ll bury her tomorrow.”

“We have to give her a funeral.” You cried into his chest. “A good one. She was my life.”

He rubbed the back of your head and kissed your forehead. “We’ll give her the best damn funeral Alexandria has ever seen, okay? Come on, let’s get to bed. Ya gotta try and sleep, darlin’.”

You didn’t want to; of course, you didn’t. But you knew you needed to, and sleep would make you forget. So you let him bring you upstairs, help you into pajamas, and then hold you while you cried yourself to sleep. 

***

The following day, Tora’s absence had you hysterically crying. It woke Daryl up, and he held you, rubbing your back and trying to help you calm down. Then your door opened, and Judith ran in. 

“I thought you left without me, and I missed it,” She started sobbing and jumped on the bed, pushing her way so she was lying between you guys.

“No, sweetie,” You cried and kissed her forehead. She cuddled up against you to cry. 

***

Aaron must’ve spread the word about Tora’s passing because your family was there as you carried her wrapped-up body to the small cemetery. Michonne must’ve woken up early to dig the grave because it was already ready and waiting next to Carl’s. 

You knelt on the ground and gently laid her body to rest. You wiped away your tears and stood up. Daryl wrapped an arm around you and nodded at Aaron, who grabbed the shovel. 

“I would like to say a few words,” Judith said as she grabbed your hand. “If everyone would please pay attention…” When everyone was, she spoke again. “I knew Tora my whole life. I heard stories about her sleeping in my crib with me. And she was the best cat I ever had. And I love her so much.”

You smiled through your tears at your niece, squeezing her hand. 

“One time when we were on the road,” Rosita said, “Before we found this place, she came up to me and sat next to me. It was weird for me because I’m a dog person. But she just sat right there. It was like she knew I needed to not be alone.” 

“I enjoyed watching her chase birds,” Eugene bowed his head. 

Your eyes filled with tears as Michonne stepped up. “She used to try and steal RJ’s food,” She laughed. “I always let her have some.”

“Thank you guys,” You said. “Thank you for helping keep her safe. She was special. And even though this is heartbreaking, I’m happy I was able to keep her safe. And she passed peacefully in my arms. Safe, and warm, and so, very loved.” 

You looked up at Daryl, the only one who hadn’t said anything. 

“I, uh.. I first met the cat when I first met (Y/N), when we almost killed each other. I remember thinkin’ she must be crazy for havin’ a cat. But Tora was good. And ‘m gonna miss her every day.” 

[tsukiusagi180]

varian x reader

Your POV

Today is a special day, you see Varian and I have been friends since the day Rapunzel Cassandra and I went to him for Raps hair. After that a friendship is linked, it seems to me a lot of alchemy even if I didn't understand anything about it I try to listen to him despite everything, and after months of friendship I wanted to ask him to go out with me:

Raps: Come on (Y/n) you can do it! He will surely say yes to you

Eugene: or maybe not but it’s not super serious

Raps/cass/Lance: Eugene!!

Eugene: bha what?

(Y/n): but no, you see, even Eugene doesn't believe it!

I sat at the foot of the bed of raps putting myself in fetal position, I felt their looks showing their pity but I didn't pay attention to it until a hand was placed on my shoulder, it was Eugene:

Eugene: (Y/n) Varian and in love with you for sure, whether he knows it or not he certainly does

Lance: I can already see you in a boat looking at the lanterns

Cass: And you could go horse riding!

Raps: but for that (N/N) he makes you go see him okay?

(Y/n): yes! I'm going there, wish me luck! I

stood up confidently and they applauded me then I went to look for Varian, as expected he was nowhere in corona nor in old corona, he was in his laboratory when I returned I ran into his father and we it's exchanged brief politeness then I went to see my crush.

(Y/n): hi Varian!!

Varian: Ho hey (N/n) are you okay? What brings you here? You're good, I need your help

(Y/n): are you okay? I'm not allowed to go see my friend? And yes I can help you tell me everything

Varian: yes thank you um you see Cassandra? I'm in love with her but I don't know how to tell her

My heart is broken at this precise moment, ok he was in love with a girl who was 8 years older, ok they will never be together but he doesn't love me...

(Y/n): Var, she's an adult, she doesn't love you like that

Varian: just help me please

(Y/n): I...

I pretended to watch the time so I could make up an excuse

(Y/n): MY GOD DID YOU SEE THE TIME? I HAVE TO GO RAPS NEEDS ME!!

I ran away and started crying, I took refuge in my room at the palace because yes I lived there. I didn't want to see Varian for a few days, then one day we were confronted:

Varian: (Y/n) what's going on?

(Y/n): I don't want to talk about it

Varian: You want me to use a truth serum!?

(Y/n): DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT’S WRONG? I AM FUCKING IN LOVE WITH YOU!

Varian: but... we are friends?

(Y/n): and you like cass I know!

Varian: I'm sorry I don't love you but love isn't always reciprocated

(Y/n): I know...

I said this while crying because I knew we would never date

[gramaphonejammin]

This drabble exists only because I was compelled by the sheer enjoyment this scenario brought me. I joked on @swifty-fox 's beautiful beautiful Brady art that he is my sweet Catholic boy and if he lived in the modern day would love being involved in the gay community building part of his local church. Hence this short modern AU! Drabble was born. Brady's characterization is largely inspired by "understanding in a plane crash" but he has slightly less issues bc he got access to the socialist Catholics at like age 18. So obv this is dedicated to Swifty-Fox for the brain worms!

(Brief Catholic explanation: the Catholic church is really big globally, in cities each church community is divided up into "parishes" where one or more priests manages that local community. Pastoral councils are volunteer/community groups that advise the parish on certain social issues and run events etc. In the modern day there are growing numbers of LGBTQIA+ groups that seek to create belonging and advocate for change in the church. I'm a part of one and think John would be too. Cue comedy.)

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

A once-white plastic fan that’s been pulled to the end of its cord up to the plastic folding table is the only thing fighting against the oppressive late evening heat. This meeting should have ended an hour ago and John Brady knows it’s at least partially his fault.

John sighs, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief, “we are not changing the entrance hymn and I’m not budging on that.”

Thanks to this very pastoral council, their parish has been hosting a bi-monthly LGBTQIA+ affirming Saturday evening mass for years. Working with this fine group of people has been so good for John (or at least that’s what his husband tells him) but sometimes some of them can get on his nerves.

John is not even sure how they got to this topic. The entrance hymn has worked just fine for the past eight years, does it really have to change now? If anything, they should be talking about getting some A/C installed in this church. But this is the discussion they’re having, and John intends on finishing it.

Eugene, a retired older gentleman sitting across from John, is his main opponent. “I just don’t understand why not, it could be good to have a change. Spice things up!”

“It. Sets. The. Tone,” John says. Really, he’s the one who leads the church choir every mass you’d think they’d trust his musical opinions.

John looks around the table for back-up and realizes he’s almost out of luck. With summer vacations in full swing, there’s only five of them at tonight’s post-mass meeting and everyone (other than Eugene and John, of course) seem too tired to put effort into wrapping this argument up.

River, the youngest member of the group, is very clearly on their phone. David, Eugenes husband, is hopeless. (John doesn’t have anything against David, in fact he bakes wonderful shortbread, but he is Eugene’s husband and therefore a coward.)

John turns to his last hope sitting beside him and stares at her imploringly until she speaks without looking up from the rosary she’s thumbing, “we should listen to little John, he is usually right.” A Filipino grandmother to a transgender son, Mary Evangeline is the one voice of reason that John can always count on.

“Well, that’s two voices against one and—” before Eugene can interrupt him, John’s phone begins to buzz in his pocket. It’s his husband, “hold that thought, Eugene, I have to take this.” John rushes into the hallway and answers.

DeMarco’s smooth voice comes across clear and bright through the speaker. “There a battle going on down there?”

John laughs and silently sends a thank you to The Lord for gifting him this wonderful man. Benny knows him better than he knows himself. “And what makes you say that?”

“Could there be another reason why you’re late?”

“You know I don’t mean to fight I just—”

“Don’t like being wrong. I know.” John can hear the smug smile in his tone.

“I’m not wrong, that’s the thing.”

“You never are, dear. But it is getting late and I was expecting to spend my Saturday evening on the couch with you.”

Out of the corner of his eye he can see Father George shuffling down the hallways towards him.

“Sorry, love, I have to go. I’ll be home soon, I love you.”

“I love you, too. Play nice now!”

John hangs up just as Father George sidles up to his side, out of breath from the walk, “hello dear Bernard, are you all still here? It’s nearly 9!”

Pleasantly plump with tiny wisps of white hair and small rectangle metal glasses, Father George is the oldest priest in their parish and no matter how many times he earnestly gets his parishioners names mixed up no one has the heart to correct him. John, like everyone else in the parish, knows that that Father George has a weakness for treats and likely came by the meeting hall looking for any leftovers he could nibble on before going to bed.

“Yes, Father. But we are just wrapping up and will head home soon. There’s still some carrot cake that David baked left that you’re very welcome to, Father.”

“Now that, my child, is an offer I cannot refuse.”

Father George walks into the meeting hall alongside John to a chorus of hello Father. The Father walks over to the slices of carrot cake with intent and John watches aghast as Eugene turns to speak to Father George. That sneaky rat.

“Father George, you know that we’ve had ‘All Are Welcome’ as our entrance hymn for song long now and I was thinking that it would be great if—”

“Oh! I just love that hymn. What a joy it is to hear it!” Using the plastic fork he’s just grabbed as a mock-baton he starts singing in his nice but age-roughened voice, “let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live…all are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place!” Father George chuckles at the soft clapping he gets from River for his impromptu performance. “Now what were you saying about our entrance hymn, my son?”

Eugene looks defeated, “nothing Father,” he says. John smiles. Victory.

Time to get home to Benny.

[footprintsinthesxnd]

Epiphany

So here is the fic to accompany the BoB x Taylor Swift moodboard for Bull. I actually really enjoyed writing for Bull for the first time. Thank you to @sarah-457 for requesting a fic for Bull Randleman. Thank you @rain-lavender-rain for proofreading.

Y/n watched in defeat as members of Easy Company trickled back into camp; bloodied and bruised, some carrying their wounded comrades, others limping in on their own. Y/n hurried to help them, guiding them to the aid station where Eugene had already begun to patch up several wounded soldiers.

“Sit down over here, kid. Where are you hit?” She asked, rolling up the young man’s trouser leg when he motioned to the wound. It wasn’t bad, a clean hit straight through. She applied some sulfa powder, dressing the wound quickly before moving on to the next casualty. Her eyes continued to scan over the stream of men entering the camp, keeping her eyes peeled for one particular sergeant.

“Hey Hoob,” she called out as Donald Hoobler walked passed her. “Have you seen Bull?”

“No sorry,” he mumbled. “Not since we retreated. He was there during the advance though. I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”

Y/n nodded, continuing to wrap a sling around the injured soldier's arm, her mind too preoccupied with the thoughts of Bull.

She wasn’t exactly sure when she and Bull had become friends. He was a private person and hadn’t warmed to her as quickly as the likes of George Luz and Skip Muck had but they soon became firm friends. Bull seemed to have this older brother persona and was always watching her back, even though Y/n didn’t see him as a brother and may or may not have been harbouring the world's largest crush on the sergeant.

As the night drew in, Y/n finally retreated to the foxhole she shared with Eugene, although as usual, Eugene was checking on someone. Y/n often wondered if he ever slept. He would rise early and go to bed late, the second someone was wounded he was by their side and she often wondered how he got there so quickly.

She slumped into the foxhole, cursing the world as she threw her musette bag off her shoulder. She still hadn’t seen Bull and the niggling feeling in her stomach grew to an all consuming ache.

“Hey Y/n, have you seen Bull yet?” Johnny asked, glaring down at her. Johnny always glared, despite the three of them being friends she could rarely recall a time when she witnessed Johnny Martin really smiling.

“No I haven’t seen him and I’m getting really worried,” she spoke softly, trying to hold back the inevitable tears that she’d been holding in all day.

“Some of the guys are going out on a patrol to look for him…”

“I’ll go,” Y/n interrupted, grabbing her musette bag and scrambling to her feet.

“No. No. No. Bull would never forgive me if I let you get injured whilst looking for him. Not a chance Y/L/N. Stay here. I’ll let you know as soon as I know anything.”

She knew Johnny was right but the thought of Bull all alone, trapped and possible injured caused her heart to ache.

The next morning came too soon and with no sign of the patrol or Bull, Y/n couldn’t help the growing suspicion that something had gone terribly wrong.

She was sitting in an empty crate, counting through her medical supplies when she heard the all too familiar shout from Johnny. “BULL!”

Could it be? Was she just hearing things?

Shoving her supplies back into the musette bag she hurried over to the crowd, spying Webster and Hoobler who had gone out on last nights patrol. Then the unmissable figure of Bull Randleman appeared, his great barking laughter filled the air as he embraced Johnny and several other paratroopers.

“Bull?” She called out, stopping in her tracks. The group of paratroopers all turned to face her. Now normally at this point in the movies the girl would go running towards the man, jump into his arms and they share a passionate kiss as music plays around them. This however is real life and neither one moved. Johnny coughed and began to usher the other paratroopers away.

“Little lady,” Bull greeted her with his usual nickname, watching her cautiously as the cogs in Y/n mind seemed to turn into overdrive. Something within her snapped and she felt herself hurtling towards the large man her first raised.

“YOU IDIOT! What the hell were you thinking! You could have died!” She felt her fists hammering against his chest as she shouted, cried, screamed at him in anguish. Bull just stood still, waiting patiently for her to calm down.

“I could have lost you,” she sobbed, burying her face into his ODs. Bull quickly wrapped his large arms around her, pulling her closer to him and muffling her cries.

“Those Kraut bastards couldn’t kill me if they tried and by God did they try. I’ve got too much to live for to do something stupid like dying,” he confessed, cupping her cheek in his warm hand and bringing her face up to look her in the eyes.

“I’m sorry I made you worry. I promise I’ll try not to do it again.” He smiled and his heart swelled as she returned it with a tearful grin.

“You’d better keep that promise, Bull Randleman.”

“Anything for you Little Lady.” He looked passed her to check the others had dispersed before pulling her close again and placed a much needed kiss to her lips. The smell of tobacco was strong as she kissed him and had it been on anyone else she’d have probably pulled away for some fresh air but it made her want to kiss him more. His strong arms wrapped around her, pressing against the small of her back.

“Bull, I…”

“Shhh. For once in your life just don’t worry,” Bull comforted her but she fought against his grip.

“No Bull. I can’t give you my heart, you might break it and I don’t know if I could survive that.” Y/n felt tears welling in her eyes again and wiped her face in the grimy sleeve of her ODs.

Bull looked down at her, his eyes shining with adoration. “Oh Little Lady, I could never break your heart. I promise I’ll look after it.” Bull kissed her again, this time gentiler and slower, savouring every moment of…

“Hey Bull! Y/N! Come on, we're moving out.” Johnny called from somewhere on the road behind them and the pair couldn’t help but giggle like naughty children.

“Come on, let’s get that shoulder looked at Tough Guy.”

“Anything for you, Little Lady.”

Tags: @georgieluz @iceman-kazansky @yeahcurrahhe-e @lieutenant-speirs @sharpshootershifty @liberteuniteegalite @msmercury84 @mayhem24-7forever @blvestxr @dustyjumpwjngs @theflyingfin @jump-wings @kafka-ohdear @kmc1989 @mads-weasley @docroesmorphine @liptonsbabe @merriell-allesandro-shelton @sweetxvanixlla @hesbuckcompton-baby @ronsparky

[wh0r4m0r]

Still formulating thoughts on Queer, watched it last Tuesday, and let me say: Luca has done it again. (Slight spoilers ahead⚠️)

Before anything I want to get some surface level ideas out, such as a comparison to Luca’s earlier film (and arguably what launched him into main stream) Call Me By Your Name. It’s easy to want to make any comparisons between these two works, as both are some commentary on young gayness explored between an older man and a younger man, but I believe Luca has learned from past mistakes, because where CMBYN’s greater messages got diluted and ignored in favor of enhancement of the surrounding environment and the romanticism of such, Queer takes on a mute almost distant atmosphere. Empty Mexico streets, grimly apartments, standard bars and restaurants; it all sets the scene for the characters and story to create their environment instead of having a pre-placed environment they must work around. This stark contrast between Queer and the other works of Luca is only the beginning of a uniquely mystifying film.

Part I~The Incomplete Self:

Who is Lee? Other than being the main character who’s depressing life we see at glances, Lee is someone who doesn’t even seem to know himself. When asking whatever kind of young man that he stumbles across in dimly lit bars and lively cafes, “are you Queer?” you get a sense he’s not asking the boy sitting across from him, nor is he asking the nerdy little homo in the audience watching the scene unfold, but rather asking himself. You’d think a man—who’s sexual prowess is implied to be far and wide on the “Green Lantern” scene of this washed out Mexican town—would know the answer to such a question, but the longer you follow him down these weirdly empty streets it becomes apparent just how little anyone knows about him. One of those clueless spectators being Eugene, our main love interest (if you could call it that). Whether it be through Eugene, or because of Eugene, we watch a transformation of Lee, a regression. Where Lee was once a matured homosexual man, sure in his skin, now stands a stuttering, tripping, love stricken boy. Eugene entertains this, laughing along, letting Lee steal glances into who he might be, but never letting him any closer; from this rises our first conflict: who is Lee with Eugene?

Part II~The Complete Self:

Eugene brings on the giddiness within Lee, spurring on our adventure but now in a new, more motivated, light. Lee is chasing after himself by chasing Eugene, but he is always just out of reach. We see the looks through windows, the fleeting touches, the ghost touches, all of it amounting to Lee’s want to have more: to be more. He finds that more in Eugene, that completion. The first intimate scene between Lee and Eugene is slow, sensual, and all consuming; you feel the heat and passion of Lee, and the unsure wanting of Eugene, all summing up to a beautiful completion as they both climax. This is the last time we see them both come.

Part III~Rebirth of the New Self:

Lee’s completion does not last long, as it is respective that to have completion with another you must rebirth yourself with them to come back into life with that other. Lee and Eugene fail this rebirth. The mystifying root (whose name escapes me now a week later) Lee is desperate to find is supposed to be the beginning of that rebirth; we see Eugene’s silence throughout the film, it’s what seems to capture Lee in the first place, he wants to know who the queer on the inside is. Lee wants the telepathic abilities of the root so he can finally reach Eugene, he doesn’t want to have to actually break down the wall himself, it’s as if it doesn’t feel natural to him. Cut to one of Lee’s strange dream sequences: a baby crying, a not queer disembodied touching a woman, the knife is sharp, the people are judging, the hate is hiding something: someone. It is Lee’s knife, his own knife is being sharpened preparing for a punishment if he cannot follow through with the rebirth; the baby is crying, Lee and Eugene, they cannot be rebirthed, they’ve failed. Lee is touching a woman, he’s failed, he is not queer: he is disembodied. Without the new form of fusion between both him and Eugene Lee has no body, he has no self. When Lee and Eugene—and our randomly amazing trip sitters from the depths of the forest—take the root, they fuse. Or at least try. Maybe it’s Lee’s drug abuse, maybe it’s Eugene’s “girlfriend” back in Mexico, or maybe love isn’t real and Lee and Eugene were doomed from the start. It’s probably the drugs. Lee is constantly lying to everyone while not speaking at all, tripping over himself, acting koi, like a school boy with a crush: or maybe a grown man high on heroin. High on the root together, Eugene and Lee begin fusing—literally. Veins pulsing, connecting, reshaping into something new, something together. I believe this scene is the most intimate, as they take in a fetal state consuming each other with flesh and mouth. This feeling doesn’t last. Before the trip to the forest they have sex, Eugene does not come.

Part IV~Disembodied:

Lee loses Eugene. Lee loses himself. He’s back in Mexico, the Green Lanterns still there, the bars, the streets, but not Eugene. Eugene is south again, with a new man: he’s not queer. We enter Lee’s dream again, more empty than before; a snake in the shape of infinity eating itself, Eugene laying in bed with a glass casing over his chest, a bottle on Eugene’s head, Lee’s pistol. Aim. Shoot. Who pulled the trigger? Lee races to Eugene’s side and cries, but when the window opens he looks away and when he looks back, Eugene is gone. Like the man he was many moons ago Lee walks to bed and shakes, withdrawal; this poor man has been withdrawn from the world, from his body, but it’s not heroin this time. It’s his self. As he shakes a young Eugene comes up behind him and holds him, Lee stills, they rest. I’m not queer, I’m disembodied. Lee wants to be brought back to his body, but he can’t until he realizes it’s his, not Eugene’s, he can’t keep running forever.

Fin

[soldierandawar]

I have so many questions. I know that Luca directed Daniel and Drew to act on ''love'' and that they love each other. Did you feel like Eugene loved Lee? I know that in the book, Lee pays for his trip and in return, has to ''give'' him sex, which feels pretty unromantic and not much of a love story plot to me. What did you think of Eugene as a character? Did you see him as queer, bi-curious? I have heard plenty of people say that he switches on a dime, going from being ''open'' to being cold and nochalant. What di you make of that, did you see it as him struggleing to accept his sexuality/being disgusted or something else?

Full transparency, I have not read the book, so this is all based on the movie and what I could gather from it. Also, spoilers, obviously.

Before I get into whether or not it's a love story, I'll talk about Eugene's sexuality. The film essentially confirms that he's queer (I would say bisexual). He has a connection with a woman, Mary, who is set up (without any speaking lines, mind you) to be Lee's opposite. When Eugene isn't spending time with Lee, he's with Mary. We never actually see them kiss, but they have affectionate touches, and there's intimacy there. Mary (again. without speaking, lol) also seems to want to challenge Lee. She knows he wants Eugene and is a little smug about having his attention when Lee doesn't. I think Eugene was struggling with his sexuality, which is also mildly touched on at the end when they go on their trip. During a bizarre sequence, he tells Lee, "I'm not queer. I'm disembodied." their guide, a doctor who helped them with the ayahuasca, tells him he should stay and asks him what he's afraid of. That's the last time Lee sees him.

I think the goal was to tell a love story, but the film's lowest point is its inability to capture the intimacy and love between Eugene and Lee. The focus is on Lee's obsession and longing for companionship, which then turns into longing for Eugene. The reason that Lee wants to do this experimental drug (it was the 50s, lol) is so that he can speak to Eugene without words, which he says as much to him in a scene where he passes out at a party after Eugene spent a few weeks ignoring him. He bribes Eugene with this trip, saying, "You can service me twice a week," and Eugene avoids him on it until Lee is like, "I'll literally buy this bar so that you'll have a tab with me and can't ignore me." (paraphrasing). Once they're on the trip, Eugene spends most of it taking care of Lee withdrawing from Heroin. They spend a lot of time together, obviously, but they only have sex once, and Eugene pushes Lee to the floor when he tries to have sex with him again. then, he's in the middle of the forest trying ayahuasca with him after not showing an interest in drugs the entire movie, and he says the "I'm not queer. I'm disembodied." line, which is carried over from an earlier scene in which Lee says it. In the end, we learn that he ran back to South America with some other older man and was planning on meeting up with Lee again (though he never did).

All that to say, I think Eugene was in love with Lee and afraid of his feelings and sexuality, but because the story doesn't care about Eugene, it's hard to tell. Drew Starkey says a total of 40 lines, maybe more. He doesn't really get any chance to do anything until the end, and this bizarre sequence looks amazing (was he a dancer? Cause he's got the body), and then he's shipped off. it's a shame.

I know that Luca is a director that people either love or hate (i like him), but he was just jerking himself off with this one, more concerned with his talent than the substance. it disappoints me because the thing I like about him is that he's good at finding the connection between his actors and capturing that. he did it well in Bones and All and Challengers, movies that are also IMO about longing and love and the different ways they exist, but ehhhhh. 2.5 from me. hopefully, this answers your question?

[josefavomjaaga]

Hi Josefa!

I've been scrolling through your stuff on Eugene and the impression I'm getting is that he was mediocre??

Of course, that's probably not all that is to him but he seems to be rather normal if anything so much so that I may not recognise him if he ever appeared in front of me. Is he just someone that is overshadowed by the more powerful personalities? Or is there something else to it?

Although reading about his sweet family life is pretty cute 🥰

Hi and thank you for the Ask! 💖

And I think you got it perfectly right. As a matter of fact "mediocre" is precisely the expression Joseph Bonaparte used for him in his memoirs (and if there's ever been an expert on mediocrity, it's Joseph). According to Joseph's friend Miot de Mélito so did Napoleon himself at the beginning of the Empire. In the "Mémorial de Sainte Hélène" Napoleon phrases it differently by saying that the only thing that made Eugène special was a certain balance in his character: He knew what he could do, and he did it. That already sufficed to distinguish him from plenty of others.

Eugène clearly was not a genius like Napoleon, not a romantic or tragic hero like Murat or Lannes or Ney or Junot, not even an imposing general like Davout or Soult. He was your regular run-of-the-mill guy, Monsieur What's-his-face, washed up by events to a rank he would otherwise never have occupied, like all of Napoleon's family, but - unlike Napoleon's brothers - very aware of this and trying to do his best to merit his position.

That's why I can relate to him much better than to the more prominent figures of the era. People like Lannes, Soult or Murat, let alone Napoleon, will always remain a mystery to me precisely because they are heroes and thus have so little in common with me. I fail to truly understand how they "tick". But somebody whom his stepfather's maelstrom has pulled, without his own doing, possibly even against his own will, out into a churning ocean and who now desperately tries to keep his head over water with the bit of force he has - that is something I can understand.

As to his "legacy" (or rather lack thereof) - some is due to the fact that his family pretty much was swallowed up by others over the next generation. His older son died without issue, the younger became a kind of prince consort to a daughter of the Russian tsar. Eugène enjoyed some prominence during the Second Empire, but as the Second Empire and Napoleon III have a pretty bad name in history, I'm not sure if that did him much good. I understand his name was all but forgotten in Northern Italy until recently.

During the Empire, at least up to 1809, this may have been much different. But with 19th century historiography focusing on the Napoleonic legend and the "big events", the role that Eugène may have played in the eyes of many contemporaries can barely be detected anymore. There's only the occasional hint of his high position, like the panic of Oudinot's ladies when they are suddenly to meet him, or the confusing rumours in the army in Austria 1809. Kérautret in his biography of Eugène emphasizes that Eugène, up to the birth of the "Roi de Rome", indeed was the only high functionary with a unique title. There's plenty of ministers and "grand officiers", plenty of marshals, a bunch of kings - but only one viceroy. And that's how Eugène is usually referred to in contemporary writings. The Viceroy. The second-in-command - or at least that's what some people may have read into it. If you add that, from all of Napoleon's family, he was the only one to govern the territory entrusted to him to Napoleon's satisfaction (well, as much as Napoleon would ever be satisfied with anything) and that he at least had some reputation within the army, him being seen as the future of the empire gains some credibility.

Because you do not consitute a stable empire (or any other state) through people like Napoleon (or Murat, or Junot, etc). For that, you need the stuffy, trusty second and third-in-line workers. If you want something to last, you want boring, reliable, grey.

But, coming back to Eugène, the one thing he really had going for him, the one thing that I first noticed about him, was his amiability. From contemporary sources up to the preface of volume 9 of Napoleon's "Correspondance Générale", everybody seems to agree that he was one of if not the most lovable figure of the Napoleonic saga. In historic sources, it's almost like another title: "Davout, the Duke of Auerstedt, Masséna, the Prince of Essling, Soult, the Duke of Dalmatia - and the prince Eugène. Such a nice guy!" 😁

Sorry for rambling so much - I'm always so excited when somebody notices "the boy", despite his lack of colourfulness. 😁

Thanks again for the question!

[ajgrey9647]

"Suck on it." + Boom! Comics; GGPR universe or Coinless Universe + Billy/Skull ^^

In the Moment/It's All That Matters

That night as they sat at the counter in Billy’s kitchen, devouring steaming bowls of Hamburger Helper and hotdogs, followed by shy, soft kisses, Skull considered one of the best of his life. To know that the blonde genius returned his affections made his heart feel as if he were soaring. He thought he must be dreaming that he’d tasted the Blue Ranger’s soft lips.

He kept his promise about keeping the Rangers’ identities a secret, not even letting his best friend, Bulk, know what he’d seen. Nor did Billy make the others aware that Skull had seen them morph. All that the scrawny teen could do was cheer quietly from the sidelines, though his stomach clenched with worry whenever he watched the deadly battles on television screens.

Seeing Tommy strutting down the halls at school made him bristle. Knowing that the viper was slithering about so close and being unable to do anything about it made Skull feel nauseous. He was right that Oliver, that fucking dick, was dangerous. More than once Tommy caught Eugene glaring at him angrily and he’d smile brightly before flipping him the finger.

That dreary, rainy Saturday afternoon, Skull lounged on his lumpy mattress, idly flipping through his new copy of a Spiderman comic, gifted from Bulk, when he heard a sudden series of blows hammering smartly against his bedroom door. He jumped causing the brightly colored pages to flutter to the floor.

“Hey butthead!” Stan screamed from the opposite side. “Your little boyfriend’s here to see you!”

Butterflies swirled in his guts as he scrambled to his feet, excited to be seeing Billy unexpectedly even here in this hell pit. Straightening his clothes and running a hand through his disheveled dark hair, Skull struggled to fight the goofy grin threatening to stretch across his face.

As soon as the door swung to, the problem of a cheesy smile was no longer his biggest issue.

“Hey there, buckaroo,” Tommy cooed, all sunshine and rainbows except his eyes which were bottomless black pools.

‘He really IS a demon,’ the punk’s mind realized despite the eruption of fear and panic blasting away logical thought.

“You two don’t be making out now,” Stan chirped before bounding back down the stairs to the living room where his buddies were plotting their newest escapade.

As soon as the older boy was gone, Tommy bulldozed his way into Skull’s bedroom, shoving him back until he tripped, landing roughly on the worn carpet in an untidy heap.

“Why are you here?” Eugene squeaked as he stared up at the menacing, psychotic teen who was pointedly swinging his door shut.

The patrician lips curled in an icy smirk when he heard the latch click ominously.

“You tell me, you chicken-looking motherfucker… Because I think you know.”

Skull inched away on his bottom under the Green Ranger’s contemptuous glare.

“I think you’re giving me too much credit, you fucking dick!” Skull spat, the words tumbling out to his bewildered horror.

Tommy’s head tilted as he considered the smaller, weaker boy scooting across the rug like a dog dragging worms out of its ass. His feline grin was full of sharp, white teeth and the black eyes flashed an emerald fire.

“Now, now, which one of us is running around pushing people off ledges, Eugeeennneee…” he hissed. “You can stop playing dumb. I know you know about me. And the other technicolor bitches.”

Somehow Skull managed to find his feet, not that it would do him any good. He couldn’t fight, not really, not skilled in any martial arts like the Rangers or this raging asshat. Dumb luck was the only thing that seemed to step in on his behalf and that wasn’t exactly a reliable weapon. His ass knocked into the splintered wooden chest of drawers, blocking further retreat.

“Did it make you feel good, Eugene, feel like a hero? Swooping in to save that little Blue nerd…” Tommy growled, coming ever closer. “Did it finally earn you some ass?”

Skull’s grey eyes were stormy as he stared back defiantly.

“Eat shit, Oliver, you pompous, power hungry, witch humping dumb fuck!” he snarled. “I bet you prance around in that Madonna inspired titty holder like you actually are in charge of anything, you sniveling puppet bitch!”

Tommy’s advance halted, his expression one of stunned fury at the scrawny little punk’s outburst.

“The fuck did you say to me?”

“What? Are you deaf AND stupid?” Eugene nearly yelled. “I had you figured out from the start even if I didn’t know you were a Ranger! You’re a sick fuck and I’ll be glad when Jason trashes your smug ass!”

This made the Green Ranger howl with laughter, his hands clutching his sides like a cartoon style bad guy.

“Is that what you think is going to happen, Skull? Haven’t you seen little Red Riding Hood limping down the school hallways? Or any of the rest of them? I know you saw what I did to Billy, the night you two sucked face…”

Inching his way around the room, Eugene frantically tried to figure out how he was going to escape this monster. Tommy slowly circled like a shark, awaiting an answer, amused at the boy’s glowering stare.

“What I think is going to happen is you getting your ass kicked five ways from Sunday!”

The green-clad teen rolled his eyes.

“So full of empty insults and pathetic wit. I’m going to bring those pitiful little children low, toy with them until they beg me for death, then drag them into the fiery pits of hell. But first I think I owe you for my little impromptu swim, don’t you, Eugene?”

At that moment, his shaky hand brushed a large plastic box perched on his nightstand and he instantly knew what he was going to do.

“Alright, Mean Green, come on! Take me out!” Skull challenged. “I’m not afraid of you, you nutty trash panda!”

Time seemed to stand still as Tommy took a large step forward, teeth bared and rearing an arm back to punch the smart ass into next week. He didn’t realize that the other boy’s arm was also moving until five seconds past too late. A wave of bright orange smacked him squarely in the face, painfully coating his wide eyes and invading his nostrils and mouth.

As the evil Ranger spat and hissed in fury, a mist of orange kinetic sand issuing forth when he bent forward to dig at his burning eyes, Skull ducked around him and out of the bedroom, sprinting down the stairs in a mad dash towards the living room. Fortunately, Stan was no where to be seen and his good ol’ ma and pa were who the fuck knew where…

Slamming into the front door, he hurled it open and darted out into the chilly rain.

Somehow, Skull had gotten lucky yet again…

However, eventually luck does run out and he was keenly aware of this fact.

The Day of the Great Battle was coming, though no one could know that and in the interim, Angel Grove was trashed along with many other cities across the world. The Rangers were hanging on by a thread, exhausted, demoralized, and knowing that they were most likely looking down the barrel to their own death. But they stubbornly refused to back down and surrender.

No where was safe and the frightened citizens had abandoned their homes, fleeing in terror from the army of monsters that seemed to come in wave after wave, prowling the streets as they gleefully sought weak, pathetic humans. Fires raged well into the night, the smoke permanently choking the air and giving everything the scent of burnt wood and decaying flesh.

This night was no different as Skull carefully crept amongst the shadows toward the park, not the popular one everyone else used, but a smaller one that he and Billy spent hours in as small children. The wooden play structure that served as their ‘ship’ somehow still stood against the dark sky, backlit by the moon.

And waiting inside, a lithe figure crouched.

“You came,” Skull whispered as loudly as he dared, hooking a leg up to climb into the makeshift tower.

“Affirmative,” Billy answered, leaping to his feet, his smooth hands gliding along the sides of Eugene’s face to pull him in for a deep kiss.

The lanky teen was happy to accept the passionate lip lock, relishing the warmth and softness under his lips. He wasn’t sure that he’d see the Blue Ranger again. And after tonight, he just might not, thanks to that demented, evil fucker cavorting up and down the city with his band of merry assholes.

Pulling back from his boyfriend’s lush mouth, but only slightly, he gazed into those amazing blue eyes intently.

“I thought you might be too busy. You mentioned that you guys might have found a way to stop that slimy son of a bitch, Captain Crazy Ass.”

Billy chuckled, always amused with the wide variety of nicknames and adjectives his boyfriend had coined for their deadly nemesis. It made the gravity of the situation a little more bearable.

“We’re harnessing the power of the White Light. They’re being made from the light of goodness and are stronger than any of our Ranger powers, including the Green Dragon,” he answered. “Ninjor, one of our allies, is feeding the energy into a coin that will create a new White Tiger Ranger. It should be ready in a day or two at most.”

“Sweet! I knew you guys would figure it out!” Skull crowed, pulling Billy tightly against him to twirl through the air. “So, who gets the honor of smoking that fucker?”

Steadying himself once he was back on his feet, Billy adjusted his glasses and quickly scanned the shadows for listening ears.

“Jason has the best shot against Tommy compared to the rest of us. He’ll have to take on these new powers and it might take some time to do it safely. We don’t want to risk overloading him by doing it too fast. It’s unknown how much Grid energy a human body can safely handle,” he whispered. “We just need to hold out a little longer.”

Eugene gave a theatrical sigh.

“Thank goodness! I miss the way things used to be, even going to school every day, just don’t tell Bulk I said that!”

Taking the Blue Ranger’s hands in his own, the skinny teen brushed his thumbs tenderly over the scratched and burned skin. Billy had been working nonstop, fighting the Green Goofy, repairing Zords back to back to back and earning painful electrical burns in his hurry, and assisting with this new power coin. It was obvious he was overwhelmed and exhausted.

“You know, in spite of all this fuckery and shocking revelation going on, I can honestly say that one positive thing came through,” Skull’s eyes twinkled. “I don’t know if I’d have ever got up the courage to tell you how I feel. Or to save a Ranger. Well, Rangers, I mean if you count me and Bulky intercepting Oliver before he blitzed Jason.”

He chuckled.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself during all this and it’s changed a lot. So, when this is over, Billy… I want everyone to know what you mean to me. I don’t care what anyone thinks about it. They can go pound sand!”

The blue eyes behind those wire frame glasses were sad and Eugene paused.

“What?”

Billy nestled closer into his boyfriend’s protective embrace.

“We not out of the woods. Not yet. Anything could happen between now and defeating Tommy. My brain can’t help but look at probabilities, Skull, and overall we don’t have the greatest odds until we secure the White Tiger powers.”

He was right. Skull knew it too, though he couldn’t bring himself to go down that line of thinking. Every moment needed to count.

Starting now. If Billy was feeling what he was feeling. There might be no second chances. Oliver was too goddamn nutty and unpredictable.

His hand moved to smooth the soft blonde hair back from the Blue Ranger’s face. Billy felt the charge in the air that sparked between them and his cheeks flushed shyly. All the uncertainty was making things happen at a faster pace than they would have if they could have gone along their natural course. Considering that they had never faced a foe as deadly as Tommy was proving to be, neither wanted to have regret.

Words were not needed once blue eyes met grey ones.

A sudden volley of passionate kisses and swarming hands was not something Skull expected from Billy. If anything, the punk was quite surprised that the Blue Ranger beat him to it. That evil asshole might liken Billy to an innocent, pathetic lamb, but there was a wolf hiding in this sheep’s clothing.

And he loved this unexpected contrast, seeing the meek, quiet boy ignite into full bloom.

Skull was more than happy to oblige Billy’s wild side as he no longer had to worry about frightening his boyfriend or if he was moving too fast. Time was a factor in their lives, looming over them like a Grim Reaper.

Scarred hands tugged at old black leather jacket, yanking it from the other man’s shoulders and down his arms before tossing it absently to the mulch below. They found their way to the hem of the faded orange t-shirt and worked it up and off to join the discarded coat below.

For once, Billy’s rational brain was offline.

Skull’s lips felt swollen from the deep, desperate kisses, the skin was his jaw to ear peppered with nips and licks before descending his throat in long sweeps.

“Fuck!” he couldn’t help but hiss, tilting his head back to give more access.

Where was this coming from? Billy had been holding back his human instincts for years, whether due to his shyness or the chaotic lifestyle of ‘Rangering’, and it begged for release. NOW.

Pulling Eugene’s face back down, those piercing eyes flashed with Grid energy, the Blue seeing the hints of Orange flashing in and out of existence, like a ghostly aura. Soul recognized soul, their places long cemented by forces beyond their control in the great vastness that comprised the mysterious, almost sentient Grid.

Fate or destiny or whatever you wanted to call it was not alone in making the decisions that shaped this world. The Grid was her chess partner in this friendly game.

Perhaps that is why it was so easy for the two new lovers to come together this way.

Breathlessly, Skull panted into Billy’s open mouth.

“Tell me what you want, Blue… I want to make you feel good, you deserve to feel so good…”

Without realizing what was going to tumble from his lips, the blissed out Ranger hissed painfully.

“Suck on it…”

He was too far gone to feel the embarrassment that he normally would have at uttering such crass and vulgar words, for desiring something so…so… primal.

But his boyfriend was more than eager to obey his strained wish, already sinking to his knees as he unzipped the pants confining an already engorged cock. His slim fingers slipped inside the waistband of the underwear and smoothly slid them down the smooth, muscular thighs.

Billy stared at the top of his dark hair as he moved and the moment his head passed the salivating lips, all thought was gone. He was fully flush with hormones and need and the way he needed this intimate moment with the man he loved.

Because in his heart of hearts, the Blue Ranger felt something ominous was on the horizon. Though no logic dictated this to be so, the Triceratops, the Blue energy felt the encroaching Green with its obsessive and monstrous force of will…

A more evil energy loomed, one unfamiliar but no less real…

Standing in the shadow’s a mere stone’s throw away, Tommy stood, watching the lovers. Of course, he knew the Rangers’ comings and goings. He even knew where they laid their heads at night. No reason to broadcast his knowledge because it wouldn’t matter in the end.

But this clandestine tryst revealed something he DIDN’T know.

‘Interesting… A new power for Little Red Riding Hood?’

He grinned in the darkness.

“We’ll see about that… I have a feeling things are going to go out of control…”

[imanalbertross]

It's Unpopular Opinion Time with Uncle Al!

TTS Proshipping

I'ma gonna make some people mad, but here I go.

Most of the optional ships I have seen/read/heard of for Varian that are not Hugo or maybe Nuru, though to me she reads incredibly lesbian, are really huge proships. I am, of course, talking about cannon characters (You wanna ship him with an OC, go ahead. I don't have to approve but I can remember being young and wishing I had an OC to give my favorite boy-things). For the most part, the characters that are available to him are of a significant age-gap and power-gap, and that's not a good thing.

I feel like it needs to be remembered that so many of these women/men being shipped with him (though in the lists I've seen that don't include Hugo, the only guy they really offer is Eugene, so still a huge proship) are adults. Which is point number 1. No matter who that person is- Cassandra, Rapunzel, Eugene, whoever- going after the 14 year old, even after a gap of time to allow him to age, would be considered grooming.

Why? Well, largely because of just the three I named, they met him as a child (yes, fourteen year olds still count as children in the eyes of the law) and he had sort of a hero-worship attitude for them at first. He had a full on crush on Cass, respected Raps for being a princess and also the fact that she really thinks his alchemy is cool- which seems to be rare in his world-, and Eugene was probably his first gay crush. That puts them in a position to use that respect he has for them in their favor to gain his interest.

So, Cassarian/Cassandrian has a woman literally almost ten years older than him coming back and getting into a relationship with a person she knows had a crush on her when he was a child makes dating him in the future abusive. The reason for this is because she is leveraging this information to get a relationship based on a child’s feelings, which is super creepy. If this was a male YouTuber and a fan, you wouldn’t be shipping this.

Rapunzel is a princess, and knew she was when she met him, so she gets the Cass rundown plus the fact that the power balance between them is insane. Let not even mention the fact that those two are so high in the sibling vibes category that it makes it an extra step of creepy. And is anyone actually shipping Eugene with him? I kind of feel like that’s a fake ship that angry people use as an example of why we shouldn’t have gays in kids’ shows.

The second point is that most of the other characters that end up on those lists are either small children- like 10-12, and he’s 14-16. I don’t know if you know this, but Varian is kind of an exception to the rule, when it comes to 16 year olds hanging out with younger kids. He’s still learning to friend, which is how he ends up with such a diverse group of friends.

I’ve seen Vex in these lists, and she barely wanted anything to do with the main group, and Varian’s villain schtick wasn’t who he really was. We all have a villain arc as people, and seldom is it the person we long to be or would be on purpose if given the choice. Usually, like Varian, we end up pretty ashamed of that part of our lives. But the characters listed that don’t know him probably wouldn’t want that kind of a relationship with him, nor would they be likely to hold similar desires and ideals- this kind of thing can be a deal breaker in relationships.

This said, we also kind of need to talk about leaving Hugo off the list. Is this because he’s from a program that was denied by Disney? Possibly, but it needs to be said. If you want to post about partners for Varian, you need to state “out of the canon characters” because, honey, there are so many non-canon choices. Hugo is just the one that the writers chose. Which is kind of important too, since they built him. They know Varian better than we do.

Being anti about gay ships but fine with straight proships is a rant for another day. But I got to a point with Cassarian that I just needed to point out the genuine nope surrounding it.

[midisty]

Love= Literal gagging

Before reading my blog, just know I am no one special. I don’t mean this in a bad way toward myself, but I am not someone who had it very tough growing up. I wasn’t physically or emotionally abused. I have no trauma. No PTSD. Just borderline personality disorder, which we can get into in another post. I just need a place to vent and bitch and complain. Let’s face it. I’m an attention whore. I’m not one to hide it or even be ashamed about it. I guess that’s the performer in me and why I love singing so much. That high of all eyes being on me. If you would have asked me when I was 15 if I loved attention I would have probably denied it. Now I wear it loud and proud. I’m unapologetically myself nowadays. Flaws and my beauty. Here it is, all on my sleeve.

Todays message from my ex earlier today triggered me to start my first blog post in a really long time. Out of the blue, this guy I dated in Tennessee messaged me, saying he was in Boston, just an hour away from where I live. He asked if he could “visit” me. Not meet up. Not buy me dinner. Not go out on a date, but visit me. In other words, try to get in my pants again. This guy is a real piece of work. His name is Eugene; Gene for short. He is a bilingual, IT tech piece of shit. I met him on the bus that took us to and from our place of employment in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. What drew me to him, was his perceived innocence and the fact that he was older than me. Date #1-he blew me off. That was the first red flag. Red flag #2-“Im not looking for a relationship or anything serious”. Back in this year, I still had hope for these boy type creatures, thinking I could change his mind. I did this a lot out of fear of abandonment and being alone. I wasn’t honest with myself. Red flag #3-He avoided sitting next to me on the bus WHILE we were dating/sleeping with each other. Red flag #4-he took me out to dinner, but then had a full out conversation with our waitress in Spanish so I couldn’t understand what they were talking about. Red flag #5-He completely bailed on me for the 4th of July and blocked me for no reason. When I went to his house, crying and trying to understand why he wouldn’t talk to me, he turned me away. I moved back to New Hampshire, and this guy convinced me to stay with him for a couple nights. He said he’d pay for everything and certainly didn’t. Then when I returned home from the trip he pushed me away again, saying he was seeing someone else. Yeah. I tried way too hard and it came back and bit me.

I have a long history of jerks that I have dated. I have lost count of how many people I’ve dated and forgot names. I now have a block on my heart. No matter how much I miss the feeling of being crazy and obsessed with someone, I can’t seem to bring myself to give anyone a shot. I fooled around with a guy a couple of months ago. I gagged. He didn’t taste bad. I’m definitely attracted to him. He smelt fine. It’s just the literal thought of being with someone again makes me sick to my stomach. My sex drive and desire to love? Gone. I’m passed desperate. I’m passed hurt. I’m passed angry. I’m passed bitter. I literally just don’t want it. I may be single the rest of my life unless somehow this block can be lifted. I have been a desired side piece to marriages. I’ve been used. I’ve been lied to. I’m just done. I love my alone time with my cat. I have no desire to try anymore. And that goes for some other things too….

That’s a story for another time ;-)

[maichans-blog]

Boss

The leader of Underworld office.

He cares very much about the rules

Gets angry if you break the rules

Little smiles or laughs and is very calm

Age: 28

Height : 179 cm

He have a parents and a sister

Relationship

Eugene

Boss doesn't want in the first time to do anything with Eugene 'cause he is a mortal .

Boss cares about Eugene and sees a bit himself in Eugene .

River

Boss seems to detest to river non serious.

Often threatening to punish her or smacked her with his fan .

He also cared a lot about her .as we have seen in chapter five "when he get mad when Eugene called her to place she can't go through."

Joan

Although not many interaction between the two are showing in the game .

Boss respects Joan in chapter 4 when he called Joan "ma'am"

But he despite him being older than her. But he does not hesitate to call her out for her behavior if she argues with River in front of Hayden, Sean, and Eugene in chapter 3 (The quarrel happens if you choose to follow Sean's way).

Hayden

Hayden respects Boss and does as the elder ghost says even if it is too much work. Unlike Sean and Eugene, he does not fear Boss and talks to him in a very casual way. Boss even compliments him and Eugene in chapter 3 (if you choose to follow Sean's way).

Sean

Sean is scared of Boss and often hides when he is around. He acknowledges that Boss is a good person but he can't help but fear and call him Sir.

his appearance in chapter one

Quotes:

Boss: "Try to make a use out of Eugene. And tell me if you really cannot get anything done. We will just eat Eugene alive."

Eugene: "E... eat me alive?"

Hayden: "Boss, you eat humans?!?!"

Boss: "...I am joking."

—Chapter 2: Luke

Boss: "Any debtor that gets useless..."

Eugene: "...?"

Boss: "I will bite into tiny pieces."

Eugene: "Eeeeeek!!"

Boss: "...I cannot even make a joke."

—Chapter 2: Luke

Boss: (to Eugene) "You shall go with River today. As long as you keep her from making unrelated moves... It will most likely be a more meaningful experience."

River: "Are you flattering (sic) me because you want to be on my team, Boss? Wanna team up for another 300 years or so? Would you like that?"

Boss: "I will seal you for another 300 years or so."

—Chapter 3: Sean

Eugene: "Is there a problem?"

Boss: (carrying Eugene) "I have one in my arms right now."

—Chapter 7: Life and Death

Boss: "you are my sin"

Boss might be left handed 'cause he always holding his fan with his left hand 👌.

[aberrant-webnovel]

Chapter 9 - G.I.A.N.T.S.

Chapter 9 - G.I.A.N.T.S.

I spent about an hour getting poked and prodded. I recounted events about the recovery and how short of a time it was.

Eugene kept a serious look the whole time. He seemed more exhausted and carefree last time. Something must either be interesting or worrying. Maybe both.

After getting two small blood samples, I was told the exam was over and sent off. Since I'm a Vault Breaker, he could pull my contact info and get a hold of me if needed. Otherwise, Harper will probably correspond with me about returning for tests.

Now I'm just walking on my own towards the main lobby. I wanted to go find Silva and Uncle Varun, but the R&D labs were all on the other side of the main lobby from where I was.

"That him?"

"Yeah, looks like it."

Three men were staring at me from a corner of the room. I couldn't hear what they said, but I saw them staring. I was about to just keep walking, but they started to approach.

"You the newest Runner?"

The one to speak was a huge man. Arms thick as steel beams. Torso wide like a wall. Legs rippling with muscle and had visible machinery exposed. His skin was dark and his hair was shaved entirely. Seemed like he was trying to following Yorrick Bartman's example. He was pretty cool, actually. He looked a bit older than me. Couldn't tell how much though. Maybe 10 or 20 years. His skin was too clear for his age if that was the case.

"Yeah. My orientation and training is two days from now."

"You really a C-Ranker?"

"Yeah. I am."

I looked over the group at this point. I shifted my sight to the right to see a man about my height. His skin was especially pale, but he didn't really look too healthy. His black hair was shaggy and fell in front of his face. His body was all lean and skinny. He, like the first man, was dressed in the uniform for the Runner corps. And here I thought skinny dudes like that can't be Runners.

To the left side was another person with dark skin. Even darker than the hulk in the middle. He was just a few inches taller than me and seemed pretty fit. His uniform seemed to have been altered so that a high collar wrapped around and over the mouth. I couldn't see half of his face, but that just made his whited out eyes more imposing. I couldn't tell if he was blinded or just had some augments that changed the look of his eyes.

"We're all C-Rankers, too."

I looked back at the big guy in the middle.

"Yeah? Then I'll be in your care while I'm learning."

"Hah! I like that. Yeah, I'll take care of you. You're gonna need help once the other Runners get you in their sights. The rumors about the C-Ranker newbie are already spreading through the HQ."

"Not bad ones I hope."

"Some bad. Some good. Bad ones are about how you got in cuz of family. Didn't work for it at all. But that's not taboo here. Family fights harder for each other. Good rumors say you're some handsome newbie and that's making some guys jealous and clerk girls swoon."

"First one is true, though. Chief Harper is family. So is Commander Varun. I don't know how true that last bit is, though."

"No shit? We got another Dirge?"

"Sorenson."

"Come again?"

The big guy bent forward to get a good look at my face when I said my family name. He locked onto the dog tags around my neck. I lifted the chain so that the full tag could be read.

"Those are the old Captain's tags…"

"You knew my dad?"

"Your dad, huh… Well I never met him, but his name is well known in our crew. He trained Commander Vasquez in the past."

"I learned about that recently. You work with Vasquez?"

"He's the Commander in charge of all the Runners. We all know him. But the three of us are members of his team. We're the G.I.A.N.T.S."

That was crazy. These guys were the personal team for the top Runner under the Chief. Just what kind of monsters were these guys to be at such a high place. And still just C-Rank? Well I guess anything higher would make them Captains at least. Wouldn't be serving under someone, but would rather be leading groups.

But what the heck is that group he mentioned?

"G.I.A.N.T.S.? What's that?"

"Task force made of only elites. We're short one member. There should be six of us altogether. Captain and the Commander aren't here right now, but the three of us are the best besides them and the Chief."

Now he started to introduce the group to me. He started by gesturing to the darker man to his side.

"That's Musa, CODENAME INFILTRATOR, but we call him 'Beep'. He's deaf and doesn't talk at all but he can read lips and can use a long-range comm device just with thoughts. A bit archaic in style cuz it only uses short and long tones. Just lil beeps. None of us know sign too well, but we can get by talking to him that way, too."

I looked to Musa and signed to him.

[Good to meet you. My name is Ymir.]

I wasn't very good at using sign, myself, but I learned a lot from my mom.

[Likewise. Musa.]

Seemed to be a man of few words altogether.

"Looks like you're pretty smart, kid. What's your name though? I'm bad at the letters."

"Ymir."

"Ah okay. Well then Ymir, this here is Zachary Giles, CODENAME NETWORK."

The larger man gestured to his other side at the scrawny and sickly man.

"Call me Zach."

"Sure thing. Good to meet you."

He just nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"And what's your name?"

"Just call me Hammer."

"What's your code?"

"CODENAME SECURITY."

"What do those mean for you guys?"

"We all fill different roles and operate that way. Beep's a Runner, but as INFILTRATOR he acts as a Scout. He can solo clear a Class 2 Vault."

"Impressive."

Musa must be pretty strong if that's the case. I'd love to learn from him.

"Zach is NETWORK so he controls information between the whole crew. We're all augmented with a special comm system that links with both Beep's comms and Zach's comms. We transmit information with the two of them to communicate at a distance in the Vault. We can also see through each other's eyes if we need to. Zach acts as a control center for all of that and more."

What the hell? That's a seriously high-tech system! And their whole crew uses it? Zach's brainpower must be insane. No wonder he seems so drained right now. If he's got such intense activity in his brain, I doubt he gets any good rest.

"I'm SECURITY. When inside a Vault, I substitute for a Breacher and also act as the main defense in combat. Ain't a single fuckin' abbie out there that I ain't been able to beat down. And they ain't ever gotten through me to the team either."

"Ever fought a Charger?"

"Flipped it like a pancake."

"You're a beast."

This whole crew was the real deal. I knew Runners were all super strong, but this was beyond what I imagined from C-Rankers. I wonder how crazy their Captain is. That position meant they were a B-Ranker. And having a leadership role in this group probably meant they were even stronger.

"What about the other roles?"

"Commander Vasquez is CODENAME TRAPPER. Vaults have dangers other than aberrations. Lots of tech protects the Vaults. We don't fully understand what augments he uses for this, but he can connect to and disable most defenses that block us. He's able to take control of them to an extent, too. Physically, he's stronger than I am with his gear. He wears an exo suit to compensate for not having many body augments, but it's tech that he doesn't share with us. Shit's strong as hell."

"I saw his suit when I met him. It didn't look too bulky, but it's really stronger than you are? You're huge!"

"Haha! Yeah! I'm fucking massive! I like it, too. Just like the great Sarge!"

Nailed it. I had a feeling he was a fan. Not like it was a bad thing. Yorrick Bartman is one of the greatest there ever was.

"What about your Captain?"

"Oh yeah. The Captain. She'll be mad if I tell you her name before she does. But she's called CODENAME ASSAULT in our lineup."

"Assault? Sounds heavy-duty."

"And she's anything but. Never seen anyone faster or with crazier close-range skills. Got more augments than the rest of the team combined. Optical camo on top of it and she'll rip through full armies in a Vault. I keep the team safe, but she operates in front of me. Sliced a Behemoth to shreds one time."

"A FUCKIN WHAT?"

I let that out without holding back. I read Gajjet's notes on the Behemoth. It's only found in Class 4 Vaults. When aberrations swear fealty one stronger being, they feed it. They feed it their own bodies as nourishment to let it grow and evolve. The Behemoth is an aberration that has full control over all of the others inside a Vault. Kinda like the NETWORK thing they mentioned, it can see through the eyes of other aberrations and communicate throughout the whole Vault with its army. It's the strongest type ever recorded.

"Yeah. A Behemoth. We cleared a Class 4 about a year ago. She's gunning for the Commander's seat in the corps. Of course, it's his own plan. He's training the Captain for it. Chief Harper helps."

"Auntie Harper does?"

"Auntie? Hah! Call her Chief. She'll kick your ass if you don't!"

"Sorry, but that's nuts. And yeah, she beat the shit out of me yesterday. She took off her limiter and everything."

"Against a civvy?"

"Against her nephew. But yeah, I don't have augments yet."

"How the fuck are you walking around right now?"

"I wonder about that. Either the stim I got after was super amped up or maybe she took it easy on me."

"One tough fuckin civvy, I'll tell you that. Well, we gotta get to a meeting. The Captain should be here soon. Gotta get together with the Commander."

Hammer turned around and so did Musa and Zach. I was curious about one more thing.

"Hey Hammer. One more question?"

"Hm?"

He stopped and turned to look at me. The other two kept walking.

"What's the sixth role?"

"CODENAME GENERALIST. But we've never had anyone in the role. They're supposed to be able to know the Vaults inside and out better than anyone. That and operate in every role like all of the top brass can. Chief Harper would be the closest we got, but she's the Chief. Not part of a lower ranking crew. We got a nickname for it since we've never been able to fill the role."

"And that is?"

"CODENAME GAJJET."

Excuse me? You're using my nana's name for your empty role? I'm kinda honored, actually. Sounds like they based it on what she did during her service.

"Big shoes to fill."

"Right!? Hah! Anything else?"

"That's it. Good luck in the meeting."

I parted ways with him there. I should probably go find Silva and Uncle Varun now though.

[cowinatrenchcoat]

I'd never approached this train of thought from a Christian purity standpoint but had definitely noticed the need on the left to agree (aggressively) on all things and a disagreement resulting in being permanently outcast from the group with no opportunity for change.

I've seen this with Dr. Seuss most recently! I was having a benign conversation with family on children's books and a family member who is frequently on tik tok and identifies as far left said with a surprising degree of emotion that they would never allow anything Dr. Seuss in their home EVER because, "he was an awful, vocal supporter of eugenics." Since this info surprised me I looked it up and all I could find was during WWII he made political cartoons in favor of Japanese internment and generally racist against Japanese people. Pretty much all of his political cartoons otherwise were leftist, anti-natzi, anti-isolationism. Clearly the racist content is bad, but it's not exactly eugenics.

We have no explicit written statements from Seuss saying "I disavow these comics" but we do know in the 50s he went to Japan and then wrote Horton Here's a Who (the message of which is "a person's a person no matter how small") and that work is largely considered to be a walk-back of how he had originally portrayed Japanese people in his political cartoons. There was also a letter he wrote expressing some degree of regret or at least an openness to criticism of his political cartoons calling them poorly drawn, hastily made, and full of not so great hot takes.

Now, all of that was a lot and doesn't even touch on the nuance of what Seuss must have been feeling as a Jewish American during WWII right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Does my family member know any of that? Did they even try to fact check? Would any of the nuance matter to them? No idea, they very much do not seem open to hearing any question or nuance on it at the time.

I mentioned they were leftist, but why did I mention tik tok? Because what they said sounded like a verbatim prompt. And not a week later an older coworker mentioned her son having this same opinion of Seuss and when I asked what he said, she said nearly word for word what my family member had parroted. Reminding me very much of what my mother sounds like when regurgitating what she reads on Facebook posts.

All this to say, I'd never thought of the black and white hardling and zero room disagreement on any topic from a culture of Christian purity perspective and it's certainly shedding a fascinating new light.

I genuinely believe that a lot of the reason that the American left is so ineffectual and self-sabotaging is because of how deeply and unrepentantly calvinist it is.

[outoftheirdifferences]

...you know what? Putting out there the final ramble that I’ve had saved in my drafts for a while, too!

This has been sitting around since my girlfriend and I finished our watch of the Tan.gled series season 3 last year. I, um... sure had some thoughts about its ending, but that’s for another time. Rather, what I’d like to ramble about this time is a frustration that is, naturally, related to my favourite two characters.

Yep, that’s right: Angry and Red.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad to see them again, and I’m happy that they got more screentime - I do prefer their younger designs, but their older looks grew on me too, after a while. But that then leads me on to my greatest frustration regarding them, and that’s this:

WHY did they have more screentime... if they weren’t going to be used to contribute to the plot in any meaningful way?

I really don’t... get it? They kind of get to tag along with the main cast in several episodes, but in a grand total of none of them do they aid in resolving the conflict of the episode or helping in any way whatsoever. Beyond the werewolf episode (which I have... very mixed feelings about), they don’t even have any moments of bonding with the other characters.

They’re just there.

At first, I thought it was setting them up for a significant role later in the season. I mean, the two girls have never actually met Cassandra - she was in bed with a broken foot the whole time they were around the castle in Big Brothers of Co.rona, Rapunzel and Eugene were away from the party in Vigor the Visionary, and of course Cass had done her thing by the time they showed up again in season 3. So I figured they had a more neutral perspective on her to provide than anyone else in the cast.

Add to that, the way Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf seemed to be setting up for something like that? Opinions on that episode aside, I spent most of the season expecting that Red was ultimately going to be the one to get through to Cassandra; what she has to learn in that episode, the “it’s okay to be angry, but this is not an okay way to deal with it” moral, felt like it could VERY easily apply to Cass in her situation. It would have not only been an interesting parallel to play with, but would have shown how Red had grown in accepting her own emotions since that episode, and give Angry a chance to support her sister.

And yet... not only did that not happen, the girls presence in the finale feels like it had no effect on the outcome. It feels... I dunno, frustrating? Wasteful? That they have these two great characters and failed to utilise them?

I dunno. I’m just disappointed that they didn’t get to add anything to the story at all in the end, you know?

[josefavomjaaga]

Hi, i have seen in one of your posts that once Napoleon intended to take Eugene's family hostage. Why was that? Their relationship is always potrayed as good so why would be plan to threaten his stepson. I always had a feeling that napoleon's relationship with his stepkids are not as amazing as potrayed

(Now look at me. Barely three weeks have passed, and I'm already getting back to you... I'm sorry. I suck.)

I've written a bit about this before, so with your permission, I will mostly summarize and link to older posts for the details.

For context: This happened in late February 1814, with allied forces invading both France (where Napoleon was) and Italy (that Eugène obstinately had refused to leave). But it goes back to autumn 1813, when German newspapers openly started to speculate about Napoleon's two "Italians" - Murat in Naples and Eugène in Milan - both abandonning Napoleon and joining the Allies.

To some degree, spreading such rumours surely was a deliberate political move, an attempt to sow distrust among the enemy. (And it worked. Hortense already wrote about offers being made to Eugène weeks before he actually received them...) But to some degree, they were based on facts. Murat really was negotiating with the Austrians and would come to an agreement with them. And after the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, Eugène's father in law King Max of Bavaria had spoken very much in favour of his son-in-law and tried to score a few points for him with the Allies. Resulting in the offer made to Eugène in November 1813 ("leave Napoleon, get a crown!") that Eugène, however, refused.

But the distrust in the French camp seems to have been very real. In some aspects, Eugène may have looked like the most likely candidate to leave Napoleon's side:

Napoleon had dumped Josephine.

Napoleon had broken his promise to make Eugène the heir to the Kingdom of Italy.

Eugène had been very irritated about the way Napoleon critisized his actions in Germany in spring 1813.

Eugène was related to one of the monarchs in the Allied camp, even best buddies with his father-in-law, and likely to be received well among the Allies, probably better than Murat.

So when Eugène did not immediately follow Napoleon's order to evacuate Italy (no matter his reasons), Napoleon already felt the need to bring out the heavy emotional artillery: Both Josephine and Hortense were told to write to Eugène and to tell him to obey to this order (an order that neither of the two ladies had any knowledge of, by the way). This in turn wounded Eugène deeply; he felt that, while he was doing everything in his power to help Napoleon, and refusing very real advantages offered to him for the sake of loyalty, he met with nothing but distrust and ingratitude.

So, Napoleon in Paris thought: "The boy is up to something down there in Milan, he's going his own ways, I cannot control him as I would love to." And Eugène in Milan thought: "The Emperor is ungrateful, and no matter what I do and how often I prove my loyalty to him, he will never believe me, let alone thank me for anything I do."

Let's add that Auguste, Eugène's beloved wife, was pregnant again. And briefly after the letters Josephine and Hortense had written to him, that he clearly saw as a sign of Napoleon's distrust, Eugène received the following missive from his Imperial stepfather:

Napoleon to Eugène. Château de Surville close to Montereau. February 19, 1814 My son, the vice queen must immediately go to Paris for her delivery; my intention being that under no circumstances she should remain in a country occupied by the enemy: therefore, make her leave immediately. [...]

Frankly, when I read that order in the course of Eugène's correspondence, right after the incidents explained above, my first understanding was precisely like theirs: that Napoleon wanted to get a hold of Auguste and the children, in order to assure Eugène's obedience.

If that really was Napoleon's intention? I do not know. Quite possibly not. He was always telling women to come to Paris in order to have their babies. Josephine and Hortense had already asked if Auguste would leave endangered Italy and come to Paris. But such an explicit and abrupt order, in that tense situation, did indeed look like a threat. Plus, Eugène and Auguste may have had a bit of a bad conscience, too, as Eugène had contacted the Austrians and asked them to guarantee the personal security of his family in case something happened to him - and that was something he apparently had not told Napoleon about. Napoleon most likely had learned of it anyway.

Anyway, this resulted in an exasperated Auguste writing a letter to Napoleon, in which she finally allowed herself to let loose all her grievances against him, on behalf of herself and on behalf of her husband. I have quoted it in full in the course of this post. Here are some highlights:

Auguste to Napoleon. Milan, February 27, 1814. Sire, Eugène has just communicated to me the order given to him by Your Majesty: it surprised me greatly, for I did not expect that after all the proofs of attachment Eugène never ceases to give you, you would also demand of him to risk the health and even the life of his wife and children, the only asset and consolation he has in this world. If he does not speak on this occasion, it is for me to do so.

("If he doesn't speak up on this occasion" - insert a slightly annoyed "as usual" 😁.)

Without doubt I know his and my duties towards Your Majesty. We have demonstrated this to you often enough, and we have never failed to do so; our conduct is known to all; we do not resort to intrigue, and we have no other guides than honour and virtue. It is a sad fact that our reward has been nothing but sorrow and mortification [...] What have I done to deserve such a harsh order of departure? When I got married, I never thought that things would come to this. [...]

Remember all the bullshit you promised me in Munich in 1806? Well, I do!

In spite of this I will obey your orders, I will leave Milan if the enemies should come here; but my duty, my heart, makes it a law not to leave my husband, and, since you demand that I risk my health, I want at least to have the consolation of ending my days in the arms of the one who possesses all my tenderness and who makes all my happiness. Whatever his fate will be, I will share it, and it will always be worthy of envy, since we will be able to say to each other that we have deserved a happier one, and that we will have a conscience without reproach. [...]

Napoleon's reaction to this missive (and a similar from Eugène) seems genuinely confused (see the link above) - "What's up with you two? What have I done this time? All I said was: Come to Paris!" - so maybe he really never had the intention Auguste and Eugène read in this order.

But who knows. If there was ever a human who qualified as a "political animal", it was Napoleon.

I hope this is still of interest to you after all the time it took me to come up with this answer, and thank you once more for your interest in "the boy".

[five-rivers]

Ancestral 3

“Maddie!”

Danny saw Maddie go completely rigid just before Joanna - Princess Joanna, who was second in line for the throne after Matthew - slammed into her.  

Joanna was a few years older than Danny’s parents, and very pretty, in a sort of faded way.  Her hair was a slightly-graying strawberry blonde, and every part of her was thin in a way that spoke of chronic worry.  

“Thank all the ancestors that you’ve gotten here safely.  If something happened to you, too, I don’t know how I’d stand it, after everything else.”  She pulled back, tears glistening in her eyes.  “Do you know what happened?  No one will tell me anything, but I don’t know if it’s because they don’t know, or…”  She trailed off.  

Living so far away, and with Maddie intent on not getting involved in the family business, Danny didn’t know the details of family drama.  Maybe he could have at least gotten the outsider perspective from tabloids, but that seemed… wrong.  However, even he could do a little math and figure out that Joanna had only been seventeen when she had Eugene.  

The rest of the family not trusting her was… not reasonable, but not without a reason, even if that reason was twenty-six years old.  Mostly, though, he’d always felt that it was sad.  

“I don’t know, either,” said Maddie.  “Are you the only one here, or…?”

She looked around the foyer, as if expecting more family members to appear out of thin air.  In her defense, the foyer was rather large and had many expensive-looking pieces of furniture and art in it. 

Also, there were ghosts there.  Two of them, a man and a woman.  Watching.  

Danny caught the woman’s eye, and watched her twitch in surprise.  She tilted her head sideways, her braids swinging, the edge of her gown twisting like smoke, and pressed her hand against her chest, slowly, deliberately, as if asking a question.  

Can you see me?

Danny debated the merits of responding, but…  He didn’t think he could pretend not to see them the whole time he was here.  He nodded, minutely.  

The ghost frowned, deeply, and backed out of the room, through the wall.  

“... Sir John is in the hospital for shock, and we’re still waiting on Alicia,” finished Joanna, wringing her hands.  “But except for Eugene and I, I don’t think anyone has slept for well over a day, so they’re all in bed.  I’m worried about Matthew, honestly.  I think the Assembly is going to bully him.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” said Maddie, who had stepped back out of Joanna’s hug range.  

“I hope you’re right,” said Joanna.  “I really do.  He’s not made for politics.”

From Maddie’s expression, she clearly didn’t agree.  “Joanna–”

“I know what you’re thinking, but those are businesses.  It’s different.”

“Hm,” said Maddie, noncommittally.  

“Oh, and you’re all probably exhausted, too.”  For the first time, Joanna acknowledged the rest of the Fentons.  “Your flight was just as long as mine, but I couldn’t calm down enough to rest.”

Maddie nodded.  “I can understand that.  Do you know where we’re staying, while we’re here?  Which rooms we’re using.”

“I think everyone just took what wasn’t already occupied.  Lewis and Leo are sharing, though.  I think with their sister missing…  I mean, if it was Matthew, I’d be beside myself.”  She swallowed.  “Maddie?”

“Yes?” said Maddie, with forced patience.

“Are you going to try the Trials?  Or are–  I suppose Jasmine and Daniel–”

“No,” said Maddie.  “You know how I feel about that– that nonsense.”

“But the ancestors–”

“Ghosts are no one’s ancestors,” interrupted Maddie, sharply.  She clenched her jaw.  “Six of the most protected citizens of Avlynys are dead–”

“Maddie,” Jack tried to interject.  

“-one is missing, and I’ll bet you anything they were poking around some ill-advised ritual when it happened, making nice with soulless abominations pretending to be ‘ancestor spirits.’  I warned them, after Mom and Dad–”  She cut herself off and shook her head.  “You’d think they would have learned!  That they would have listened.  Maybe then they wouldn’t be dead, too!”

Mr. Kynbaz entered the foyer, an attempt at a smile on his face.  “We’ve got all your luggage in your rooms if you want to–”

Joanna ran out of the room crying.  Mr. Kynbaz stared after her for a minute, then fixed a disapproving gaze on Maddie.  

“It’s the end of my shift, Princess,” he said.  “If I stay up much longer, my effectiveness will start to drop.  You know how to contact me.”

Maddie gave a brief, imperious nod, and exited through the door opposite the one Joanna had run through.  Jack 

Mr. Kynbaz looked conflicted, but in the end, he shook his head.  “Stay safe, Master Daniel, Miss Jasmine.”  He left.

Jazz sighed.  “Great.  So.  I’ll make sure that they don’t…”  she trailed off.  “You know what I mean.”

Danny did know what she meant.  Jack and Maddie could find trouble anywhere.  Or make it.  

“Will you look after…?” she tilted her head toward the door Joanna had run through.  

“Yeah,” said Danny.  He took one last look at the ghost man, and went to look for Joanna.  

Should he have told Jazz about the ghosts?  Yeah.  Maybe.  But he was coming off an eight hour long flight.  He was tired.  

He stepped into a hallway lined with landscape and still life paintings that were probably worth thousands of dollars - or maybe they were just random.  Danny didn’t know anything about Martin’s choice in decorations.  

The ghost woman from earlier stepped out of the wall, making him jump.  She pointed down the hallway, then flew away to point at a specific door.  Feeling cautious, Danny approached.  

“Anything you wanted to tell me, or…?”

The ghost pointed at the door again.  

Well.  If it was booby-trapped, he’d probably survive.  

He opened the door.  

Behind it, was a well-appointed and spotless kitchen.  And Joanna.  Who was still crying, even while attempting to make a pot of tea.  She seemed to be having trouble with the lid on the kettle.

“Here,” said Danny, “let me help.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I can at least boil water,” said Danny, taking the kettle from her.  “Why don’t you, um, sit down?”

Joanna blinked tearfully at him.  “Alright,” she said.  “Thank you.”  She sniffled.  “I know no one much cares for me.  They think I’m irresponsible and untrustworthy, and Maddie and Alicia have been nice about that, but ever since her parents died, she’s been so angry about ghosts.  I understand it, but…”  She looked at Danny beseechingly.  “The people we’ve lost watch over us.  Isn’t that something we should embrace?  Isn’t it a comfort?”

“Um,” said Danny.  “I don’t– I haven’t really thought about it, too much.”

“Oh,” said Joanna, disappointed.  

“I guess I don’t…”  He chewed over his words.  “Mom’s never really talked about what happened to her parents,” he said.  “Do you… know anything?”

“Oh,” said Joanna again, wiping away tears, “well, they didn’t die at the same time.  It was…  Are you sure you want to hear about this?  Now?”

“I don’t know when else I’d learn about it, honestly.”  Something about the way everything was going right now made Danny feel doubtful that they’d be visiting Avlynys all too regularly in the future. 

“Alright, well… I was pregnant with Eugene at the time, so I never really got all the details.  Uncle Leon was taking the Trials, and there was an accident…  It really was an accident, not- not– Some people said it was a sign of the spirits’ disfavor, but it wasn’t.  I think it was something about, um, construction materials that hadn’t been put away properly.”  She nodded.  “Yes, that was it.  We’re always fixing things, you know.  Someone had left construction things in Andyr, and Leon had run into them…  Because the Trials are supposed to take time, no one went looking for him until it was too late.”

“Where’s Andyr?”

“The tunnels beneath Kyr Argyn,” said Joanna.  She managed a very watery smile.  “There’s a legend that you can use them to get to the other islands, even.  I’d say I’m surprised you don’t know about them, but I can’t blame your mother for not wanting to talk about it.  They’re supposed to be haunted.  The ghosts…  I suppose you don’t want to hear about that, either?  You and your sister were very adamant that you didn’t believe in them when you were younger.”

“I don’t mind,” said Danny with a shrug, glancing at the other ghosts around the room.

“Well, they’re supposed to be closer to things down there.  Not that Uncle Leon got very far.”  She shook her head.  “Then, Aunt Maria walked off a cliff.”

Danny startled.  “She killed herself?”

“I don’t know.  She’d been saying things about seeing Uncle Leon…  I think Grandfather hoped it was a real vision, really his ghost, but…  In the end, I think she was just too lonely, without him.”  She shook her head.  “A terrible thing to do to Alicia and Maddie.  I wasn’t surprised when they decided to stay in America.”

Every part of that story was suspicious on so many levels, made worse by even more silent ghosts starting to show up.  Danny wanted to scream.  

“But Maddie was convinced that some kind of shape-shifting monster had- had stolen Uncle Leon’s face and lured her mother over that cliff.  I know spirituality isn’t for everyone, but Maddie’s doing more than rejecting it, she’s…”  Joanna trailed off, seeming to remember who she was talking to.  “I don’t mean anything bad by it.”

“It’s okay,” said Danny, starting to look for teacups or mugs in the kitchen’s numerous cupboards.  He decided to take a risk.  “I know not all ghosts are bad.”

“That’s a relief,” said Joanna.  

“You don’t think anything like that happened this time, though, do you?”

“Everyone’s been telling me they can’t even figure out a cause of death.”  She stared at the teapot.  “For six people… it has to be poison, doesn’t it?  Or some kind of miniature bullet.  I… can’t believe it was a ghost.  Our ancestors would protect us, if nothing else.”

The ghosts around her nodded.  

“Right,” said Danny.  He found the teacups and took two out.  “Do you… know what they were doing when it happened?  When they… died?”

“The tea is here,” said Joanna, lifting a package.  Once Danny took it, she answered his question.  “They were doing the planning for the Moon Masque, I think.  Martin… Martin had been texting me about it.”

“Moon Masque?”

“You haven’t been here for one since you were little, have you?  I forget…  A masque is a kind of costume party, but there’s a performance, too, and choreographed music and dancin…  A bit like a pageant.”

“Like a Christmas pageant?”

Joanna lifted a hand and tilted it back and forth.  “Somewhat.  It’s mostly a tourist attraction, now, but the Trials touch on it, too.  Vivian was thinking about taking them–”

The kettle began to whistle, and Danny quickly took it off the stove.  

“Do you know who else was there, at the… planning session?  Meeting?  Conference?”

Joanna giggled a little, but it was still very watery.  “Half of Myrgyn was probably there, between planners, nobles, and contractors.  It’s a big thing.”  She slumped.  “It probably won’t happen now.  There’s a lot of things that won’t happen now.”

Yeah.  Even when someone came back as a ghost, it wasn’t the same as being alive.  Danny sometimes, when everything was hard and terrible, felt like he’d rather have died in the portal… but the truth was that he’d been incredibly lucky.  Life - and the opportunities that came with it - was precious.  

He poured the tea into the cups.  Joanna took hers quickly.  

“I think,” she said, “that I had better get some rest myself.  Maybe then I won’t burst into tears at Maddie, hm?”

“It wasn’t your fault,” said Danny.  

“I don’t think it was anyone’s fault,” said Joanna.  “Except whoever…”  She trailed off, shaking her head hard.  “You’ll be alright down here alone?”

Danny wasn’t alone at all.  “I’ll find my way to a bed when I need to.”

“Alright, then,” said Joanna.  “I’ll see you later.”

Danny watched her go.  

Now to solve the haunted house problem.  He turned to look at the ghosts.  “Hi."