#so probably going to have each one get called love by bobo

[axvwriter]

THE Love Spell -start-

Featuring my oc-inserted-yuu Bobo and my twst ocs, Paulie and Tuck.

Bobo gets hit by a particular spell by Paulie, though at least he isn't claiming she'll need a kiss to break it. She'll just be stuck with it with a vague claim of a few hours.

Bobo had several reasons, well maybe just two really, for hating the Royal Sword Academy. It was just her luck that one of those reasons had bumped into her while she was out in the island's town to run an errand.

"Bobo! How nice to see you!" Paulie, one of RSA's supposedly few troublemakers called out upon reaching her. "Are you all alone? Isn't your familiar usually with you?"

"Grim is not my familiar." Bobo sighed, meeting Paulie's cheerful grin with a frown. "I'm actually not alone, but Grim didn't want to come along. I got separated from my friend thanks to the crowds." Oh if only the crowded market had kept Paulie from reaching her.

"Which friend is it? I bet I could help you find them!" Paulie leaned over her, resting an elbow on her shoulder as he peered about the swarm of people. "Is it the blue or the red one?"

"I don't need any of your help." Bobo practically snarled as she swatted his arm off of herself. Paulie pouted at her before suddenly perking up.

"Ohhh, I get it. You're on a date! That's why you don't want to tell me!" Paulie tugged lightly at the second blazer draped over her. Bobo scowled as she grabbed his wrist.

"What type of assumption is that? I don't need to tell you anything, especially considering we are not friends." Bobo's words caused Paulie to fling his free hand over his own chest.

"Not friends?! After all the things I've done for you. You're just as mean as any Night Raven College student." Paulie sulked before jumping back to his usually cheeriness. "I got it!"

"Got what?! No! Don't you dare do another thing for me! All you ever do is inconvenience me!" Bobo released him to try running away. Running, sadly, wasn't an option with how packed the streets are.

"Cheer up! I'm simply casting a spell to help you better express your love!" Paulie's grin slipped into a rather mischievous smirk as magic startled to crackle around his fingers. "Why, someone like you loves everyone, don't you? What a shame to hide that. For the next few hours, I declare you'll only be calling out your love to all!"

"Bobo!" A familiar voice called out just as Paulie's spell hit Bobo in the back. Unfortunately for Paulie, and for Bobo, people noticed the commotion the young fae caused. Paulie laughed, shouting something about it being harmless as he easily fled the crowds.

"Bobo, what happened? Wasn't that the RSA guy who keeps bothering you?" Tuck's voice called out again as he pushed past the concerned passerby's to check over Bobo. Bobo patted herself down before grabbing onto Tuck's arm.

"Come on love, let's find somewhere quieter to talk." Bobo told him before addressing the passerbys that she was fine. "If only love hadn't run... though he never explains what spells he casts anyways..."

"D-did you call me love?" Tuck stuttered as he helped Bobo wind her way away from the busy streets and into a calmer spot.

"What? No? I'm sure I called you by your name, love." Bobo paused upon hearing herself. "Love... love... I swear I'm trying to say your name!"

"Do you think that's the spell that guy casted? Just replacing my name with... that?" Tuck rubbed at one of his ears.

"He didn't know who I was with though... I... I tried to say love's name as well. Great... Come on, we still have some stuff to buy for love, right?"

"For... Trey? Oh, I did get one thing! Though that's before I realized I lost you..."

"It's fine, love. Just keep close to me."

"Vice-housewarden Trey! We're back!" Tuck called out as he led Bobo into Heartslabyul's kitchen. He placed a bag of goods onto the nearest counter before turning to Bobo. She held a large bag of flour, just barely able to peer over the side to actually see where she went.

"Prefect, do you need help with that?" Trey asked as he stopped what he was doing upon spotting her. He walked over to try taking the flour from her.

"I got it, love. Just point me to where you want it." Bobo side-stepped him. Trey paused briefly before taking the flour.

"Right, you can handle it, but you wont be able to reach the cupboard this goes in." Trey carried it away, motioning for Tuck to open a specific cupboard for him. A cupboard that was indeed too high for Bobo to reach.

"Does it make any sense to put heavy stuff up that high?" Bobo mumbled as she eyed the weird furniture of Heartslabyul. "Where's love? Did he and love- oh rot, how am I supposed to clarify who I'm talking about?!"

"You feeling okay, Prefect?" Trey questioned, looking over her. Bobo looked over to Tuck for help. Tuck didn't notice, busy putting away the ingredients they had bought for Trey. Bobo sighed and went over to tug on his shirt-sleeve.

"Huh? Oh! Oh right! Vice-housewarden, Bobo got cursed by some RSA guy!" Tuck explained.

"Curse sounds a little strong. Just some sort of spell that's messing up my speech." Bobo added.

"A RSA student casted magic on you?" Trey gently pulled Bobo away from Tuck to try inspecting her. "Are you hurt at all? Do you know who was it?"

"It was that love guy! Gah!" Bobo threw her arms up in frustration before looking over at Tuck.

"...Sorry... I don't know his name... but I've heard he's trespassed on campus few times before to mess with Bobo." Tuck sheepishly offered.

"That sounds like it was Paulie." Trey sighed, stopping his inspection of Bobo. "He always seems to target Prefect for his pranks. His pranks are usually harmless though."

"Right... I suppose it's not too big of a deal to just call everyone love." Bobo pulled out her phone and started typing away. "Let me test something. It would help to know how strongly this affects me." She hit send, causing Trey's phone to beep. He pulled out his phone to check what she sent him.

"Ah." Trey coughed into his fist, "It says "Hi love"." Trey gave a sheepish smile as he wondered why such a small thing was starting to embarrass him.

"I was certain I typed your name in... Though... I recall actually typing the word love." Bobo groaned, hovering a hand over her forehead. "Love said it will only last a few hours... but I'm not sure if I should trust his sense of time enough to try avoiding people. At least it's the weekend."

Start (you are here) | Next (yet to be written)

[felix-lupin]

In Coraline, there’s a recurring theme with names and identity, and I personally don't think it's talked about enough. 

(As a note, this is dealing largely with the book, not the movie, although there are some hints of this theme in the movie as well)

Coraline’s neighbors constantly get her name wrong, calling her “Caroline” and not “Coraline”, to which she persistently corrects them. Despite her attempts, they never get it right, until chapter 10, in which Mr Bobo (Mr Bobinsky) finally gets it right.

"It's Coraline, Mister Bobo," said Coraline. "Not Caroline. Coraline." "Coraline," said Mr Bobo, repeating her name to himself with wonderment and respect. "Very good, Coraline."

It should be noted that, until this chapter, Coraline did not know Mr Bobo’s name either. In fact, it had never even occurred to her that he had a name. Up until then, she had just been thinking of him as “the crazy old man upstairs”, not as a person with a name. This moment, with her learning his name and him getting her name right, is a moment of genuine understanding and connection between the two, humanizing them both to each other.

Coraline’s other neighbors get her name wrong, which is representative of them not listening when she says anything, really, such as her telling Miss Spink and Forcible that her parents are missing and them literally not even acknowledging it at all??

"How are your dear mother and father?" asked Miss Spink. "Missing," said Coraline. "I haven't seen either of them since yesterday. I'm on my own. I think I've probably become a single child family." "Tell your mother that we found the Glasgow Empire press clippings we were telling her about. She seemed very interested when Miriam mentioned them to her." "She's vanished under mysterious circumstances," said Coraline, "and I believe my father has as well." "I'm afraid we'll be out all day tomorrow, Caroline lovely," said Miss Forcible. "We'll be staying with April's niece in Royal Tunbridge Wells."

Mr Bobo gets her name right after being corrected (only after being corrected alongside her using his name, mind you, showcasing her making an effort to listen to and understand him as well), which is representative of him actually making an attempt to listen and understand her. This point is further illustrated by a conversation Coraline had with the Other Mr Bobo in chapter 10.

As Coraline entered he began to talk. "Nothing's changed, little girl," he said, his voice sounding like the noise dry leaves make as they rustle across a pavement. "And what if you do everything you swore you would? What then? Nothing's changed. You'll go home. You'll be bored. You'll be ignored. No one will listen to you, not really listen to you. You're too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don't even get your name right."

He equates those in the real world not getting Coraline’s name right with them not listening to her, and fundamentally not understanding who she is. So, somebody getting her name right, then, shows them actually listening to her, and being willing to understand who she is.

The mice in the real world know more than they should be able to know, and they also get Coraline’s name right.

"The message is this. Don't go through the door." He paused. "Does that mean anything to you?" "No," said Coraline. The old man shrugged. "They are funny, the mice. They get things wrong. They got your name wrong, you know. They kept saying Coraline. Not Caroline. Not Caroline at all."

They seem to know about the other world, somehow, on some level, and the dangers it presents. Them getting her name right represents them knowing more than they should know, more than they are told. Animals in general seem to have this type of quality in Coraline, actually.

The cat does not have a name. It says so in chapter 4, that cats do not need names. It says that this is because cats know who they are. But humans need names, because they do not.

"Please. What's your name?" Coraline asked the cat. "Look, I'm Coraline. OK?" The cat yawned softly, carefully, revealing a mouth and tongue of astounding pinkness. "Cats don't have names," it said. "No?" said Coraline. "No," said the cat. "Now, you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names."

The cat shook its head. "No," it said. "I'm not the other anything. I'm me." It tipped its head on one side; green eyes glinted. "You people are spread all over the place. Cats, on the other hand, keep ourselves together. If you see what I mean."

This shows that, in humans, names are connected to our identities and who we are. Names are used to individualize and distinguish ourselves from each other. But cats do not need names to recognize each other, or be recognized.

"Oh. It's you," she said to the black cat. "See?" said the cat. "It wasn't so hard recognising me, was it? Even without names."

With or without names, it is still the same cat.

During the Other Miss Spink and Forcible’s performance, in chapter 4, they begin quoting Shakespeare. The specific quotes that they use are interesting to me when looked at under this lens of the importance of names, especially Miss Forcible’s.

"What's in a name?" asked Miss Forcible. "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

"I know not how to tell thee who I am," said Miss Spink to Miss Forcible.

Now, of course, this is just them quoting Shakespeare. But. Why these quotes specifically? They’re at the very least notable when discussing Coraline’s recurring theme of names. Especially the quote about the rose. It makes me think of what the cat said earlier, about how cats are sure of who they are so they don’t need names, about how Coraline didn’t need the cat’s name to be able to recognize it for who/what it was.

But, of course, this does not apply for humans. We need our names to be able to know ourselves, to be able to tell others who they are.

In chapter 6, Coraline wakes up and is disoriented. This disorientation is compared to the feeling one might experience upon being suddenly pulled out of a daydream. In this comparison, forgetting one’s name is equated with forgetting who one is and where one is.

Sometimes Coraline would forget who she was while she was daydreaming that she was exploring the Arctic, or the Amazon rainforest, or darkest Africa, and it was not until someone tapped her on the shoulder or said her name that Coraline would come back from a million miles away with a start, and all in the fraction of a second have to remember who she was, and what her name was, and that she was even there at all. Now there was the sun on her face, and she was Coraline Jones. Yes.

The ghost children have also forgotten their names, and with it most of who they were. In chapter 7, when Coraline is locked behind the mirror in the Other World, one of the ghost children says that names are the first things that one forgets after death.

"Who are you?" whispered Coraline. "Names, names, names," said another voice, all faraway and lost. "The names are the first thing to go, after the breath has gone, and the beating of the heart. We keep our memories longer than our names. I still keep pictures in my mind of my governess on some May morning, carrying my hoop and stick, and the morning sun behind her, and all the tulips bobbing in the breeze. But I have forgotten the name of my governess, and of the tulips too." "I don't think tulips have names," said Coraline. "They're just tulips." "Perhaps," said the voice sadly. "But I have always thought that these tulips must have had names. They were red, and orange-and-red, and red-and-orange-and-yellow, like the embers in the nursery fire of a winter's evening. I remember them."

The ghost children may have their memories, but they have largely forgotten who they were. They may remember their tulips, and certain strong memories, but there is very, very little left of them, and they have forgotten who they once were, they have forgotten their names.

"That is why we could not leave here, when we died. She kept us, and she fed on us, until now we're nothing left of ourselves, only snakeskins and spider-husks. Find our secret hearts, young mistress."

"She will take your life and all you are and all you care'st for, and she will leave you with nothing but mist and fog. She'll take your joy. And one day you'll awake and your heart and soul will have gone. A husk you'll be, a wisp you'll be, and a thing no more than a dream on waking, or a memory of something forgotten."

The Other Mother stole their hearts and their souls and their selves. She stole who they were away from them, their identities and names and the names of those they loved, leaving nothing in her wake.

The same ghost that talked about the tulips and the names of the tulips struggles to answer when Coraline asks their gender, as well, and when they do eventually give an answer they seem somewhat unsure of it, as shown by the word choice of “perhaps” and “I believe”

"A boy, perhaps, then," continued the one whose hand she was holding. "I believe I was once a boy." And it glowed a little more brightly in the darkness of the room behind the mirror.

(I personally take this quote, specifically it "glow[ing] a little more brightly" after coming to this conclusion, to mean either that the ghost is happy at realizing that he was once a boy, or even to mean that he has become somewhat more tangible upon this realization; upon remembering something about his self, and his identity.)

As an aside, it's noteworthy to me that we never learn the Other Mother’s true name. She is simply “The Other Mother” and “The Beldam.” Never is an actual name applied to her, only titles. We do not truly know who, or what, she is. Beings without names are shrouded in mystery (or should i say mist-ery). The ghost children are benevolent mysterious beings, the cat is an ambivalent-leaning-helpful mysterious being, and the other mother is a distinctly malevolent mysterious being.

"Who are you?" asked Coraline. "I'm your other mother," said the woman.

"She?" "The one who says she's your other mother," said the cat. "What is she?" asked Coraline. The cat did not answer, just padded through the pale mist beside Coraline.

But in conclusion, names in Coraline are extremely important. I’m sure there’s probably more that I'm missing, and feel free to add onto this, but basically—

People need names to know and remember who they are, and forgetting one’s name is the first step to losing the rest of who one is. Names humanize a person; with a name, they are less shrouded in mystery, more clear.

Knowing somebody's name helps one connect to and better understand that person; it is the first step in getting to know them and see them as a full person, the transition from “the crazy man upstairs” to “Mr Bobo”. Names, to people at least, are one of the fundamental building blocks of who we are.

[accio-victuuri]

11/19/23 updates cpn 🎂🍦🍪

for some reason, today, both of them decided to share on their social media. for wyb, it’s his douyin. for gg it’s weibo + douyin. xzs also posted on their weibo. they didn’t even bother splitting it up like one will post in the morning and the other afternoon/evening. nope. it’s all in the same afternoon.

we were hoping for some 24 hr relay, but these gremlins are like nope. we will just post very closely to each other. for wyb it’s definitely a part of his homework completion. lol. and the fact that he is wearing something evisu related again. how many things did he do during this shoot? 😂 as for ZZ, it seems like he is trying to catch up too? ( douyin stuff are from yuguyao promotion ) nonetheless, we are happy to get stock content.

doing this made them both go on HS. i love seeing their names on HS for stuff like this. (?FYI for wyb it’s more of the “cross dressing” meaning switching clothes.)

now let’s see what else is there….

1. The same use of emojis as captions on there douyin posts as if they really have no time to think of even a word or line to use. lol. tho this kind of caption is not exclusive to them, it’s just nice to see them matching like this on the same day.

2. There are a couple of guesses on what they are “celebrating” today ; what could possibly be the reason for doing this specifically on the 19th.

(p1) it’s wyb’s 105th post on douyin. 10.5 which represents zz’s birthday, so it’s special. that’s why they both posted today. (p2) the day zz shared his japan trip. i think this doesn’t need any more explanation, japan trip cpn is notorious on this fandom. (

(p3 and p4) this one is kind of reaching but it’s one of those 2020 candies that i love and it happened around this time too. 11/18 - 11/19 it was speculated that they spent time together. for those who were here during that time, WYB shared a video (11/20) of him skating and his caption was like i wish i could go skating everyday and then the three dots. WYB loves skateboarding and i don’t doubt that he wishes he can play everyday, but the cpn-colored glasses is wondering if what he is really talking about is skateboarding. or maybe, maybe he was wishing he could spend time with GG everyday or more often. and the three dots, which in turtledom means i miss you just adds fuel to this CPN. The penguin photo was shared by XZ on 11/18 and it’s a piece that people are adding, it is making the heart gesture and could be because XZ is happy to be with WYB.

There is a CPN timeline from that period in 2020 so lemme just refresh people’s memories even if it’s totally irrelevant ( probably ) to this post. I love myself some cpn archaeology. 🔍

11/17 was luoyang opening ceremony so he was kinda busy here but they still got to spend time together. In hindsight, this is very telling, cause there was some heavy speculation that GG was present during Luoyang presscon. If he was there during the opening ceremony for the filming, he might have been introduced to select cast and crew. So it was easier for him to tag along for the press con before the official release cause he knows the people. 11/19 was the release of the wolf and WYB attended the chanel x vogue event. 11/22 GG released a douyin video and we CPN about the curtains and how it’s similar to one of Bobo’s. Again, hotel curtains are not the most reliable measure, i know, but that’s how CPNs work.

11/25, YBO posted alluding to the douban issue of downvoting works. basically manipulating data — look at YBO calling out this practice years before, they know how unreliable DB is. everyone knows. the point is, around this time, The Wolf was getting downvoted by antis.

11/29, an episode of TTXS was aired where WYB said “i can’t give up what i like”. A sentiment that is true in everything he does, from dancing to his other hobbies. No matter how hard it is and even if it seems like everything is against him, he will not give up. The same is true (probably ) with his relationships. 🤍 this episode was filmed 11/22 which was very close to when they allegedly spent time together so the feeling is there ( and there is a whole different cpn for that day too lol ).

In 2019, GG’s Bazaar promo was release where he said that he saw his love in a dream ( i don’t think this needs any explanation ) and 2021 they also posted around the same time and both are transitions.

This is all guess work, they could be posting for the simple reason of KPI or their studios scrambling to get their bosses to be visible online 😂😂😂 BUT THE POINT IS, there seems to be significant things happening during this time and always including 11/19 between them. ✨ It fits the pattern we have been seeing for years.

3. WYB’s 105th post on Douyin and GG’s 1050 post on Weibo. 🤡🤡🤡

4. The use of a light in their hands as an element to their post. For WYB it’s a transition to change clothes and for GGs it’s more of a sunshine/light.

They share the same brain cell. Lol. and BXGs are so good cause there is already an art for it.

5. I love how XZ was like i don’t wanna be doing this while filming the Douyin. goes to show what happens behind the scenes and how similar he & WYB are. in the video, XZ was asking his staff “is this viral?” and they respond with “really viral” and he proceeds to make faces like he can’t believe 🤣🤣🤣 If he only knew, the most random things go viral. and he probably didn’t want to do it cause it had the cute vibe to it.

Similar to WYB, he prefers the cool transitions and he is someone who will not be willing to do a douyin trend. Both of them would rather share things they love like photos of places or their hobbies.

The lyrics for GG’s video is:

oh no oh no i haven’t talked to my baobei

baobei, what are you doing?

muah are you there? are you asleep?

baobei, what are you doing?

why aren’t you replying?”

Going by the theme of the song, missing someone, his baobei who is not replying lol is this a shout out to WYB? 😅

Anyway, it’s being linked to WYB’s post. The whole transition with the phone light he is doing was said to be popular in 2021. There is a couple version, which means two people are doing it and the BGM used is a song i will still miss you.

Looking at the lyrics, I understand why he didn’t use it and went with the cool tune instead. It’s a bittersweet song and about missing because the couple grew apart. WYB still wants to match the missing theme but probably scrapped it cause GG’s is more on the cute type of missing someone. 🙃

6. Going back to the Japan Trip, their posts seem to echo that time. 11/19/2018.

From WYB’s use of his phone and the shot. To XZ’s most obvious posting on the same day and SAME TIME 🤯🤯🤯

THIS IS WHY JAPAN CPN WILL FOREVER BE RELEVANT!!!!!! Happy 5th anniversary i guess! 💟 Dude I can’t fuckin believe Xiao Zhan did this the fuck he is insane for this.

7. In usual turtle clowning fashion, some of em commented xz or wyb’s photo on their douyin. These might be buried now cause solos are doing the most to make sure the top posts are theirs.

-END.

Disclaimer: this is all CPN. meaning, it is interpretation/speculation from a cpf’s perspective and uses lots of symbolism and past events that are known and understood by cpn-inclined turtles. this is not the place to wash things cause again, it’s all cpn anyway. I don’t make these posts to be picked apart, it is for fun and to enjoy. Okay? Okay. If you wanna complain, do it on your own blog.

[dragon-giggles]

Muppet Headcanons

I have so many random, silly Muppet headcanons I need to get out of my system, sooo here we go, bare with me

~Kermit still keeps in touch with the Sesame Street gang ever since he left them. He usually calls Elmo, Grover, or Ernie the most to check up on them and say hi!

~Apart from fish being his favorite animal, Lew Zealand is a big animal lover in general! He has an especially soft spot for all aquatic wildlife, including animals such as turtles and seabirds.

~I don't care what y'all say, Bobo and Uncle Deadly had something with each other in The Muppets (2011).

~Miss Piggy really does have a soft heart, her temper just makes it hard to show. Actually, this better be canon.

~Robin and Rowlf's nephew (from the Jimmy Dean Show) are good friends and love having play dates.

~Big Mean Carl is really emotional, he's just really good at hiding it.

~Fozzie has accidentally set things on fire more than once. Most times have been in the kitchen, he's not exactly the best cook. But it's happened so much somehow, it pretty much seems like he's prone to it.

~Sweetums gets along well with a lot of the tinier Muppets ironically. He's surprisingly really gentle when he needs to be, and is always careful with his smaller friends. Him and Yolanda are besties!

~Walter has more than once weirded out the others by just how much he knows about each of them. (Well that's what happens when your a super fan guys)

~Gonzo has a whole wardrobe that's just dresses.

~This is pretty much canon, but it's agreed Zoot has magical abilities. The guy has probably traveled to other dimensions and not even realized it.

~Also pretty much canon, but Rowlf has a much sassier side to him than he usually let's on. Most people just haven't seen it that often... except for Jimmy Dean. Jimmy Dean saw it plenty of times lol.

~Fozzie is like the resident tickle monster lol. Usually if someone doesn't laugh at his joke, he'll just be a little twerp and tickle them to make them laugh. He'll also just do it to be silly (Kermit has been a victim to his silliness the most lol).

~Kermit knows every first and middle name of all of his siblings. (which keep in mind he canonically has like over a thousand siblings)

~Beauregard knows a lot of cool random facts actually that he'll just randomly throw out there sometimes.

~Another one about Beau, him and Beaker are good friends. (They canonically usually set up stage props together on The Muppet Show)

~Scooter has so many father figures. Kermit, Dr. Teeth, Fozzie, and Rowlf are all his dads lol... and Janice is his one mom figure.

~Pepe and Rizzo have been together at some point.

~Nigel, more well-known as the band conductor from The Muppet Show, and Kermit are actually good old friends. (He was actually meant to be the host for The Muppet Show before the role was switched to Kermit)

~Lips and Dolores (trumpet girl) are really good friends despite him taking up her role as trumpet player. She'll still sometimes pick up her old trumpet and the two will play together for fun.

~I don't know why this isn't canon but. Walter. Autism. Real.

~Skeeter likes to visit the Muppet theatre every so often to visit Scooter. In the few times she's been there, she's developed pretty good relationships with all the others as well.

~Bunsen and Beaker have pretty much been together since they were literally babies (go watch Muppet Babies for proof)

~This isn't really a headcanon but something I've noticed about Miss Piggy. She seems to have a softer spot for a few of the others, and I don't just mean Kermit.

I've noticed that she genuinely baby talks Rowlf a lot, and calls him Rowlfy. She's never actually tried to karate chop him like she has others either. There's been like once she tried to swing at him, from The Muppet Show, and ended up hitting the piano instead. Personally to me, it seemed like she didn't really try with her hit like she has all other times; it was more like she was annoyingly swatting at him because he was aggravating her (which he was btw, he was teasing her). I just think her and Rowlf are good old pals, and I just think that she knows that he's genuinely sweet and doesn't wanna be mean to someone like that.

Same with Beauregard, she's been really nice to him too. She's even given him a motivational speech before from The Muppet Show (in that same episode, he hugged her and said she was his only friend and I sobbed so mentally hard over that). I think Miss Piggy just knows who generally good folks are and in turn shows her soft side to them.

Okay I've poured out all I can, for now! Here's some silly doodles of some of the headcanons!

[sortasirius]

what makes you think the writers want deancas? not trying to be an asshole, i'm just genuinely curious as to why you think that. i know berens' episodes are pretty heavy with subtext so i can see why you'd say that he wants it, but i'm not so sure about the rest of the writers/dabb. it seems like meghan isn't a huge fan either, given her "they twisted it so fast" tweet :/ of course she's a very new writer (think she's only writing one ep this season?) but still

OKAY this is a great question, welcome to my dissertation.

I’m going to address the end of your question first. Meghan is actually DeanCas positive, she has been for quite a long time. She actually, a few years back, posted a picture of her reading a literal book about Destiel and captioned it “writing reading” or something like that.

This whole thing just comes out of a boiling over of tensions because of how nasty fandom twitter can be. Like I said here, I think this has just gotten blown out of proportion, they shouldn’t have posted all this randomly disparaging stuff, but also like...can you blame them? The fandom is a lot, we always have been, and they’re probably also under a gag order not to talk about the finale, and are annoyed that people keep asking.

So nah, Meg is not anti Destiel.

To the first part!! So let’s take a look at the show runners since Cas has been around.

Seasons 4 and 5: Kripke

Seasons 6 and 7: Gamble

Seasons 8-11ish: Carver

Seasons 11ish-15: Dabb

So starting with Kripke. Okay, yes, I will be the first to admit that we have some pretty incredible Destiel moments in these seasons, but it’s less directly written into the plot and much more from Misha and Jensen’s uhhhh ~chemistry~. The only times it was directly written into the script was when the episode was handled by someone like Edlund (“On The Head Of A Pin,” “The End,” “My Bloody Valentine”). And you have to remember, if in season 5, there are moments here and there where you’re like huh that’s suspiciously romantic dialogue, remember that Cas took Anna’s place. Anna was supposed to be endgame for Dean, but due to a myriad of issues and Misha’s general greatness, Anna was replaced with Cas.

Onto 6 and 7. Hmmm. Gamble. 6 and 7 are my two least favorite seasons and that’s no secret, and that’s not only due to the plain old weird shit in the overall storyline, but also that homegirl killed off Cas in s7 and then Bobby like four episodes later. (Also it ALWAYS rubbed me the wrong way they couldn’t have Baby in that season lol). We still had some great DeanCas moments, but again, it wasn’t really written into the overall arc (until they had to change the end of season 7 because of tanking ratings and bring Misha back lol, anyone remember the fact that Dean kept Cas’ jacket and would randomly dream of him? Yeah.). But we still had those moments, those distinctly romantic moments, probably the best example in these two seasons is from Edlund again, specifically “The Man Who Would be King,” I wrote a little about that here.

We move onto Carver, who gave us, at this point, the most overt DeanCas season with season 8 (season gr8 is a better name imo), and this is the first time Dean and Cas’ relationship is directly written as an arc of the season.  I mean, you have everything in Purgatory, Dean “seeing” Cas everywhere, the fact that he felt so guilty that Cas stayed in Purgatory that he manipulated his own memories to think that he was the one that failed Cas, because he couldn’t comprehend that Cas would want to leave him, and let’s not forget Dean snapping Cas out of Naomi’s hold on him in “Goodbye Stranger.”  It was a very obvious shift, not enough to alert the general audience, but more than enough for most of us in fandom.

It’s also important to note that this is when Andrew stopped co writing with Loflin and started writing his own episodes (”Hunter Heroici” anyone?)  I like Loflin fine, but Dabb was able to stretch his legs a little bit more once he stopped co-writing, and we also began to see some DeanCas themes in his solo episodes.

In any case, them and their issues being a big part of the seasons continued with Carver, and Berens entered the scene, his first episode (”Heaven Can’t Wait”) is one of my favorites, with human Cas and the fanfiction gap and Dean and Cas just generally being awkward and funny and sweet.  This is Bobo’s FIRST episode, remember that.  He comes right out of the gate with it.

Also in Season 9, this is when Dean takes the Mark of Cain, and the Cas/Colette mirror is born, so obviously, Dean and Cas are the fabric of the season once again.  This is also the season where Metatron says Cas is “in love with humanity,” and then immediately refers to Dean as Humanity so uhhhh yeah.

Onto season 10, Dabb and Berens continue with their greatness (I could write pages on the DeanCas date in “The Things We Left Behind” alone).  And then we have one of the best scenes in the entire show in “The Prisoner” where the Cas/Colette mirror continues and Dean, driven by grief and pain and rage and the Mark, still doesn’t kill Cas.  He still can’t kill Cas.

Season 11 is important because it takes choice away from both Cas and Dean, and shows us, as the audience, how much losing each other takes out of them. We saw in season 10 how much losing Dean takes from Cas, but what about Cas losing Dean?  Dean loses his choice with his connection to Amara this season, and loses even more when Lucifer reveals he’s been possessing Cas, and plays on Dean’s connection to Cas like a mockery.  It’s also worth noting that, similarly to season 8, Dean breaks out of the connection with Amara when he’s worried about Cas, and that’s something that even SHE is surprised by.

But then season 12, the beginning to the Renaissance.  This is when we get the writer’s that become important for what Dean and Cas are today, and, truly, why I believe they want canon Destiel as much as we do.

This is the first season with Dabb’s writers: Davy Perez, Meredith Glynn, Steve Yockey, and of course Bobo all come in with their incredible talents and gave us episode after episode of good content.  “Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets” is probably my favorite, probably the best example of what I’m saying.  An episode where Dean is called out by an enemy directly, told to “roll the dice” on Cas’ life.  And Dean won’t, it’s not even really a hesitation.  And this comes from a character that has known Dean for ten seconds.  I also wrote more in depth about this episode here.  There are also some.....distinctly domestic details we get this season, specifically in “The Future” (written by Berens and Glynn) with the mixtape.  The most tropey of tropes mixtape.  Yeah, I’ll just leave that one here.

And then season 12 ends with Cas’ death, but also with the parallel between Sam and Dean with Jess and Cas.  Sam literally has to drag Dean away from Cas, just like Dean had to drag Sam out of his burning apartment in the pilot.  The episode drives it home in every way that it can: Dean is the one left kneeling by Cas’ body, while Sam goes to find out what is upstairs.  Dean is the one who stares at the sky, finally broken.  This isn’t a random thing, this is Dean’s whole arc, it’s the entirety of the beginning of 13.  Dean’s pain, his anguish, his anger.

Season 13 starts with them burning Cas, with Dean, who has begged God to bring him back, who has split his knuckles punching a door, standing, staring at Cas’ pyre with brokenness on his face.

I mean.....

Anyway, season 13 is where it gets interesting (well, I think all of this is interesting but I’m a writer nerd so).  So Cas comes back from the Empty in “Advanced Thanatology” written by Steve Yockey, and then a wombo combo of “Tombstone” by Davy Perez next (”Brokebacknatural” as the PR said at the time).  Listen.  This is the part that SPN crossed a line that they couldn’t come back from.  With Cas being Dean’s “big win,” the fact that Dean and Cas watch movies together, “I told you, he’s an angry sleeper.  Like a bear.” Talked about it here.

This is where, in my opinion, the network stepped in, but the damage was already done.  They had already established that Cas was Dean’s big win, that Dean’s poor coping was not due to Mary’s disappearance, but solely due to Cas, and that Dean and Cas have more married energy than anyone else.  The network had nixed blatant canon at this point, and they writing room had been pushing the boundaries of what the network would allow. 

After these episodes, we see a marked drop off of DeanCas heavy scenes.  They’re still there, still a part of the fabric of the season, but not as...obvious as it had been in early season 13.

And this continued through season 14, we’re back to scraps of Destiel scenes here and there, but to me it always felt like there was something bubbling under the surface, something distinctly unsaid in the themes of the season, even after the walk back of obvious “Dean and Cas are in love” scenes.

And then we get to season 15, which, y’all know I talk about all the time.  What’s important here is that Bobo and Glynn are both executive producers, calling more of the shots than ever before.  Additionally, it’s important to note that, though they only co write occasionally, Glynn and Berens refer to each other as “work husband” and “work wife.”  Each episode has just turned up the volume, and, not for the first time, but certainly the most obvious, Dean and Cas ARE the season.  Sure, they’re trying to beat God, they’re trying to finally find peace, defeat the final big bad, but really?  This season has been about Dean, and Dean’s relationship to Cas.

And not only do we have obvious and clear Destiel in nearly every episode, but we have episodes like “Last Call” which canonize bi!Dean (wrote about that here).

And, maybe most importantly so far, we have “The Rupture,” the breakup, and “The Trap,” Dean’s confession (both written by Berens).  And here’s the thing.  These episodes feel connected, but also feel like they’re missing something.  Beren’s last episode is 15x18, “The Truth.”  We’ve all spec’ed about what could happen in this episode, and I think *I* know what it’s leading to.  But for it to be leading to that, it means that the network has to have approved what we’ve all been waiting for years for.

Who got this change to happen?  Who got the network to change their minds?  It wasn’t us.  It was them.  I am fully convinced that Dabb and Berens quite literally put their careers on the line for Dean and Cas.  They believe in them, they’ve shown that from the beginning, but the only thing standing in the way was the network, never allowing them to take the final step. 

So, to answer your question: I think the writers want canon DeanCas because they’ve already shown us that they do.  Take a look at their episodes, at Dabb’s, at Beren’s, at Glynn’s, at Perez’s, at Yockey’s.  They’ve been telling us what’s going on with Dean and Cas for years.

Sure, I’m not in their heads, I guess I don’t know for *sure* that this has been their thought process, but if we put it all together, from the marked shift when Dabb fully took over in s12, to the change right after “Tombstone,” to the new shift, the blatantly romantic shift in season 15, what else is there?

I’ve said for a long time that we, the SPN fandom, are beyond lucky to have the writer’s that we do.  They’re all going to go on to have prolific careers and we were lucky to get them at the end of our little show.  I give them a lot of credit for what we have in the show today.

Just remember, they’ve been telling us in all of s15 who Chuck is.  He says he’s the writer, right?  But a writer who doesn’t have control of his characters?  A writer who wants to do the same ending over and over because it “works”?  That doesn’t sound like a writer, it sounds like a network exec.

They’ve been showing us what they want for years, and the way s15 is going?  I think they may have convinced the network to let us have it.

[teamfreewill2pointo]

Transcript of End of the Road Special

Transcript of End of the Road Special. 

Please let me know if I made any errors in transcription. Twitter version Family Don’t End with Blood Transcription Winchester Mythology Transcription

Dabb: Ultimately, we came up with something that we're all very proud of Singer: You never know what the audience is going to like so we really tried to say "what would make us happy? Would we be satisfied with where we've taken them?"

The Carry On song was a guideline.

Singer: The myth of what these brothers were throughout 15 years... We didn't shy away from fatalism, but we wanted to be able to have it be kinda uplifting as well.

Dabb: If you're going to do something that feels like a complete arc, you have to kinda go back to the beginning of it (clips of them hunting vamps from s1 & 15.20) When it comes to Sam & Dean- it's all about getting back to, in some ways, these two guys on the road in this car.

Dabb: They've been doing this job for 15 years now. They've fought everyone from demons to vampires to God himself, but at the end of the day, they're still working guys, out there on the road & taking cases. We've tried to never lose sight of that.

Dabb: There are times when we've been wrapped up in our own mythology a little bit. We've always tried to get back to the basics, which are: these two guys, saving people, hunting things. 

Eugenie: I think we sort of knew generally what the ending would involve.

Eugenie: We might not have known the mechanics, but we sort of knew there would be a victorious, glorious sacrificial ending bc I think sacrifice is a big theme in the series.

For every great thing you do, a cost must be paid.

Singer: Andrew & I talked about it. We were in agreement pretty quickly... talked to the rest of the writing staff & let them know what we wanted to do and we were open to suggestions. And then we pretty much pitched it to Jared and Jensen.

Jensen talks about flying to LA. Jensen: So before we ever even started 15, we knew how the last portion of the story was going to go. We didn't know how we were going to get there, but we kinda knew the final- the finish line- we knew what... what that was going to look like.

Jared: I don't think there's ever been a season of SPN in 15 years where the way the writers thought the show would play out for that season- ended up being the way it played out And so we were aware of that. They told us here's what we're thinking, here's what happens to Castiel

Jared: In the finale, Dean dies & Sam lives on. And then we think they're going to meet up in heaven. 

I remember Jensen... just because I know him so well- he seemed to bristle a little bit.

Jensen: It was hard to hear then & it was hard to read now. Not because I didn't like it, not because I wished it had gone differently... I'm not adverse to it. I think it's a great ending. I'm proud to film it.

Singer: And we just aimed for that, you know, throughout the season. We knew where we were going.

Jensen: Reading it & knowing that... there's just a weight that is so much larger reading these scripts than I've ever experienced before. 

There's an emotional weight that these scripts are going to carry & these episodes are going to have that I don't think we've ever seen before.

Brad: [J2] were so young when all of this started. They brought to it such conviction & such commitment to the effort. 

That's one of the things that kept the show going for so many years... a show that was designed for very young guys, footloose & fancy free, & on the road…

Brad: To see these guys grow up b4 your eyes into- men, not boys any longer- was amazing. 

BABY Jared: Though the story does involve Sam & Dean chasing supernatural things, it really is a story about two brothers that love each other & ultimately will do anything for each other.

Jensen: There's really one person that gets it on the level that I get it, and that's Jared. Jared: I've never spent as much time with another human being as I have with Jensen Ackles. He will be my friend and brother forever. And I know that.

BABY Jensen: There's a lot of dynamics between the two brothers, there's a lot of history between them, there's a lot of banter between them... it's good stuff S15 Jensen: We had a partner in crime & we leaned on each other for, you know, for times when it was tough.

Jensen: But we also won together. We got to share the experience of success & the experience of getting picked up for another season. Watching these two characters go through what they're going through, when we're working 14 hours & it's 2-3 o’clock on a Sat morning and we're just now finishing filming out in the rain and mud and we gotta race to the airport to get on a plane because we've got a photoshoot in LA & we've gotta do on camera interviews and we gotta promote the show that we love so much that we were just in the mud & the rain filming hours before we're exhausted and it's like there's only one person that gets that right now. That gets how I feel and that's this guy standing next to me. That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool to have somebody like that.

Brad: We knew it was going to be impossible to tie up every aspect of all of the cans of worms that we opened up. 

We did want to bring a proper ending to the guys, the guy's relationship.

Brad: Then of course we had this huge corner we painted ourselves into with the most powerful thing in the universe being the big bad of the season. We try and find a proper send off for Jack & for Cas. What to do w/ the boys & is that a together farewell or an individual?

It was just... lots of moving parts. 

Dabb: I give a lot of credit to Bobo who really was the one who started banging the drum early & often to ending the mythology in 19 and end the characters in 20.

Brad: You're battling God & battling God & you have this epic situation going on through the first 3/4 of the show & then what? You send off Dean in act 4? That just felt wrong. Eugenie: We had this obligation, it was really mandatory, that we tie up the mythic narrative and leave the final episode for the emotional resolution. I [was] more on the side of not wanting to best God. To have God change to be more like his creations. So there were philosophical arguments, but we always knew God's resolution was going to be a big ticket item.

Jensen: We'd started day 1 of the 2nd to last episode, 19. We were 1 day down on that episode & we were just about to start our 2nd day & we got the call that morning that we were not going to be coming in that day.

Jensen: So we figured ok, we'll figure out protocol, figure out what we need to do, & we'll just regroup, come back on Monday. As that day progressed, it was like- this looks like more of an apocalypse that is ascending upon us than just a bad cold.

They pulled the plug & they said everybody go home. 

Singer: Fortunately, we got assurance from both the studio & the network that one way or another we were gonna finish the series. That was comforting to us, but we didn't know when we were going to go back.

Eugenie: We didn't know what we were going back to... if this was the last time we would ever see the set. There was no plan. It was just get out of dodge. Dabb: When it first happened, we thought it would be a couple of weeks, maybe a month.

I had conversations w/WB where they expected everyone to be back shooting in June & then things got worse & pushed & pushed.

Eugenie: Slowly as we settled into that 4 or 5 month period, discussions were going on w/the studio, & the networks, & the actors. We knew there would be restrictions on what we were allowed to shoot, but finally, the mechanics were figured out. 

Singer: So they were ready to go pretty quickly, shooting in Van, where covid wasn't quite as virulent as it was [in LA].

Dabb: We were one of the first shows, one of the first WB shows to start back up. So in a way, we were kinda a guinea pig. But, in being that, I think everyone took it really seriously. We had 0 positive tests. Crew members weren't going out on the weekends.

They were like look, if I get sick, it hurts the whole show. That speaks to the family culture up there, where we've had so much of our crew for so long. Where J2 & Singer provide such great leadership.

Singer: When I was in prep for 20, I was basically in the office but couldn't go to the set. It was very odd for me not to be able to go to the set while I was in prep. 

Everybody just hung in there & did what they were supposed to do.

Brad: Then we were faced with the dilemma of having to rewrite a lot of the stuff bc of the pandemic bc of the limitations that we knew were going to come on the production.

Jensen: We were gearing up for, not only the end of that season, but the end of the series. There was a lot of big, big things written-packed- into those last two scripts.

Jared: At first, it was supposed to be a lot of our old cast from prior seasons in a Roadhouse with Kansas.

Everybody had already agreed. Kansas was going to be in Van. We were going to have dad there & mom there. Just probably 20 or 30 different actors & actresses who had been a part of the SPN's canon over the last 15 & a half years.

Jensen: It was scheduled to be the last day that we were going to film, so it was almost like rolling right into a nice wrap party on camera. 

Brad: The idea of flying a boatload of ppl up there to quarantine for 2 weeks so they could shoot for a day was making less & less sense.

Eugenie: How do we make this work? And while you're doing that, you also don't want to sacrifice the heart and soul of the project. 

So we came up with a reduced, much more intimate ending. It has been replaced by something equally magical & rewarding.

Singer: I felt an enormous responsibility in directing the finale of a show that's been on for 15 years. Andrew, when he saw the cut, he said some really nice things to me as to, you know, the way I handled the material.

Jensen: The scenes that were filmed on our last day on the sound stages were filled with the most emotion of the final episode. 

Singer: One of the really hard things was we're on another stage that wasn't the MoL stage & they started wrecking the MoL sets

They'd been working on this set and been apart of this- this family for just as long if not longer than the set's been around. I was like "it's really sad seeing this get taken down" and the other guy said, "I'm trying to hold back tears while I'm swinging this hammer."

Jared: As we start saying goodbye to characters, to locations, like it just seems like every day you would wake up and there would be some reason to cry. 

Misha: This is a show ultimately about love, & empathy, & caring, & I think that Castiel embodies that.

Misha: Half the crew was crying. It was really such a sweet, supporting environment to be in for the demise of a character that, of course, for me is really important. 

But it was so lovely to see that, you know, the folks that I'm- I'm working with were also there for Cas at that moment. 

Alex: To get to work with these caliber people & see your friends every day is really special & is not something that often happens in this business for this long. It's been definitely a topsy turvy last couple weeks here with us and the crew. 

Jared: Friday of the final full week was the big scene in the barn with the vampires where Dean suffers his fate. They did the first two days with the entire stunt team & the young boy actors. 

And then they cut it for Thursday night and they're like, okay, Friday, tomorrow, we’re starting the dialogue. Dean, you're on the post. Sam, you just cut off the last vampire's head.

That was the scene- that was where Supernatural was really encapsulated. 

Jensen: And then the next week we kind of had this- on the road encore get together filmmaking scenario that felt more like we made it & it was more pats on the back as opposed to tearful goodbyes. 

Dabb: In a weird way you can look at the 15 seasons is like Sam & Dean's emotional evolution. You know instead of therapy, they kill vampires, but other than that it's kind of the same & brings them both to a very good place. And a place where they can, as the song says, you know, lay their weary head to rest. 

This felt like the most honest & emotionally fulfilling episode for these characters to us. Jared: I got thinking about how Supernatural started & how the majority of times how I thought it should end. It started with Sam & Dean Winchester. I think it's proper that it ended with Sam & Dean Winchester together again. 

Jensen: When the cameras stop rolling & Bob yelled, “Cut!” and Bob yelled, “That’s a series wrap on Supernatural.” There was- a there was a loud cheer that echoed through that canyon we were filming in. I will- I will happily say that there were hugs that happened and that needed to happen. Those are people that I spent not just years with, but so much time with- it's like brothers in arms and so to put it to bed the way that we did felt really good and then felt good to hug some people, I'll tell you that much. Singer: I thanked everyone, but I wanted to really thank people who had been with us from the beginning and as I looked around, there were so many people who had been there from the beginning.

We really were a family. I always say about this show is one of the reasons that it was a success and is that it was not only about the Winchester family, but it was about the Supernatural family. 

Jared: So now that's all said and done, I guess I can look back at it and just be proud that I helped this show carry on and I'm really proud of the blood, sweat, and tears that I put in, and I feel like- I feel like that sacrifice was also maybe one of the things I learned from Sam, you know? Sam had to sacrifice a lot. So, I'm honored and flattered and grateful that I got to be a part of that journey.

Dabb: You're never going to have another show like this. You're never gonna have another experience like this. For a lot of different reasons, from how long it ran, from the family that the show became, from the amazing fans that we have. [Footage of us] From the emotional investment people can put in over 15 years of their lives. 

Some started watching this when they were in high school, when they were 15, they're 30 now, they might have kids. That's their- that's like half their life. They've been with this show. You're not gonna have that again. Shows just aren’t gonna run this long, especially genre shows, but I don't know that I'm ever gonna do anything else in my career that I'm gonna be more proud of than having been involved in this show. 

Jared: The things that stick out are just how important it is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. And keep on working and wake up every day and treat it like it could be your last and- and if you make it out the other side, you'll be happy and proud of what you did. 

Jensen: The crew had packed up, they had cleared the bridge, and they were all starting to, you know, load their trucks and get moving. And Jared and I just kind of hung back, and we just took a moment. I looked at him and I said, “I’m proud of us, man. I'm proud of what we've done.”

We know that that's the collective we, that is everyone that is involved, that is- you know from the top down. You know, for our portion, for what we contributed to this monster of the show, he and I reflected on that, and still able to see and smell the roses.

[chalkrevelations]

OK, y’all, I’m back, finally, with Word of Honor Episode 8, and I have … a LOT of notes on this one. I’m trying to figure out how to organize this. Buckle up, I guess, because this is kind of a long one.

First of all, the usual warning: SPOILERS. This is a re-watch, so there are spoilers not only for this episode, but for the entire show. Scroll away and come back later if you want to watch all 36.5 eps unspoiled.

So, this is an ep that’s really good to me, because the found-family dynamic is one of the things that sold me on the show, and a ton of the ensemble work that builds and enriches that dynamic is centered on scenes about food and eating together, on literally nourishing the body(ies) of the family, from A-Xiang’s repeated instances of cooking bread on a stick over a fire, to fish soup with Ye Baiyi, to Wen Kexing’s elaborate New Year’s meal, and all the various and sundry restaurant sit-downs in between. Feeding each other and eating together is how these characters form bonds. Alternately, inability to provide sustenance or rejection of food implies distance. The point at which Zhou Zishu is still denying Chengling’s request to become his disciple, he’s unable to cook a fish properly for the poor kid to eat. Cao Weining falls in love at first sight and immediately buys A-Xiang not one, but two dinners, because the first one gets cold and he’s going to spend the rest of his life providing the best (emotional) nourishment he can for her. Paying for Ye Bayi’s meal earns a favor from him. When A-Xiang is separated from Wen Kexing and Zhang Chengling and Zhou Zishu, she eats up the little corn family she sees as representative of them, as if she can keep them with her by taking the food that represents them into herself. Despite the fact that Zhou Zishu is losing his sense of taste (evidenced by his ability to suck down wine that any and everyone else spits out in disgust), he continues to fully participate in meals, sharing food and both accepting and providing choice bits to Chengling and WKX at Siji Manor, in a scene that is possibly the most heartfelt domestic bit of the show. Rejecting (dramatically so) the table that’s been set for him by Prince Jin is symbolic of Zhou Zishu’s rejection of their relationship. And as we ultimately learn from Ye Baiyi’s storyline, eating is what makes us human, with all of our messy, painful, gorgeous connections to the world, in contrast to the icy seclusion of immortality. Which makes me feel some kind of way about the facts that WKX started out by burning A-Xiang’s mouth on too-hot porridge before he learned how to take care of her and was saved by her in Ghost Valley and that A-Xiang and WKX, who are both trying to find their way back to the human world from the world of ghosts, become the primary physical nourishers in their relationships with Cao Weining, Zhang Chengling, and Zhou Zishu. It also makes me feel some kind of other (ambivalent) way that part and parcel of the immortality Ye Baiyi achieves for a time and passes on is predicated on being willing to only eat and drink ice and snow, and the symbolic ways that separates you from the rest of the world and from forming the various connections we see forged through food.

All of which is to say that I’m delighted by this ep, where one of the first scenes is an extremely awkward dinner scene at the restaurant with ZZS, WKX, A-Xiang and Cao Weining, which not only plays into a lot of that, but is also comedy gold, and possibly one of the best scenes of the ep (and I say that knowing we’re eventually going to be getting to Han Ying, My Beloved). It’s hilarious how irritated WKX is by the mere fact of Cao Weining’s existence (JunJun, your little pouty face, it’s amazing). And it is triply hilarious how much of a whole-ass troll ZZS manages to be when he realizes the opportunity this presents. I’m not sure we’ve seen ZZS this cheerful … well, yet, at this point in the show, as when he’s just realized how much WKX clearly disapproves of this character who’s after his baby girl and how much of a chance this provides to fuck with WKX. It’s such an asshole move, but at the same time, it’s so weirdly charming to see him willing to play like this. It gives us a great character grace note right in the middle of the comedy - it’s the sort of teasing we see from him with Jiuxiao over the hairpin in Ep 1, and at the same time, it’s also kind of subtle, I think, in the way it calls back to almost the entire ZZS-WKX relationship up to this point. ZZS has clearly been paying attention – almost everything he says to Cao Weining is him giving up with both hands stuff that WKX has had to pry out of him with a crowbar. And it’s blazingly obvious that it’s deliberate. When he compliments CWN, ZZS comments that “it’s our fate to meet each other,” directly echoing what WKX said to ZZS in Ep 2. He waves off the price of dinner, telling CWN that “money is just a possession” after making WKX beg for his wallet and deploy the Sadness Eyebrows before he was willing to hand it over in the last ep. He immediately volunteers his name (or, at least, the name he’s using, Zhou Xu), and asks CWN’s in return. He waxes eloquent about CWN’s sect and background. WKX’s entire face journey through all of this is a delight to watch. ZZS repeats that it’s their fate to meet, and WKX’s eyes almost roll out of his head. ZZS invites CWN to sit and have a drink together, and WKX’s mouth literally drops open. Finally, when WKX learns that A-Xiang is not going to make this interloper go away because he’s her ticket into Yueyang sect, he orders her to go find his wallet (presumably knowing that CWN will follow her when she leaves). As CWN leaves, ZZS reassures him that making friends is “mostly about resonance,” and the implication I presume, is that there is resonance between ZZS and CWN (and yeah, in more ways than one, as CWN will be the ZZS stand-in as these two relationships grow more and more parallel), in contrast to a supposed lack of resonance between ZZS and WKX. I … am not entirely sure that this is just to fuck with WKX, although it’s definitely part and parcel of that, or if it’s a little bit of ZZS trying to convince himself, particularly given a moment later in the ep, which I’ll get to later. In which case, sure, A-Xu. You keep telling yourself that. You didn’t get off at ALL on him staring at you like you’re the most gorgeous thing on earth. Uh-huh.

Outside, A-Xiang and CWN have a little foodie moment together, and if there ever was a fandom that needed a food-truck AU, it’s this one. I’m SO glad that after A-Xiang and Cao-dage got married, they settled down together and opened that little restaurant just down the mountain from Siji Manor. (Shut. Up.) Meanwhile, ZZS and WKX continue to drink inside, now that they’ve gotten rid of the kids. They discuss Mo Huaiyang (:spits:), with ZZS calling him a “cunning old fox” and wondering what a big rabbit like CWN is doing in his den (owowowoOW). WKX promises to get A-Xiang to check on ZZS’s disciple inside Yueyang Sect – he kind of emphasizes that your disciple bit, like he doesn’t really care at all what happens to Chengling, nuh-uh. OK, my dude, you keep telling yourself that, I guess. There’s yet another discussion about Philanthropist Wen’s real motives, which he claims are to empty out hell, which is metaphorically taken to mean saving the damned, although he probably literally means razing Ghost Valley and maybe the jianghu along with it, as he warns ZZS once again that “the fiercest ghosts tend to disguise themselves as human.” And because everything has a triple meaning in this show, this also, again, is also, again, a warning about himself – that he may look human, but he’s not, really.

Meanwhile, Chengling’s been delivered to Gao Chong at Yueyang Sect, where he’s undergoing the worst kind of family bonding. We learn where ShenShen gets his sparkling way with people, when Gao Chong’s first move is to frown at Chengling, feel his biceps and want to know if he’s sick, because he’s such a weakling. We also see where ShenShen gets the yelling and threats of violence. Both Gao Chong and ShenShen put the press on Chengling for the Glazed Armor, as he continues to insist he doesn’t remember anything about it, while Zhao Jing continues to be the “reasonable” one, tearfully telling Gao Chong to be nicer to the traumatized orphan for the sake of his father, oh, oops, I didn’t mean to remind Da-ge of the estrangement with Mirror Lake that’s mentally torturing him now and make him so emotional that this conversation gets cut short, no really, that was not my intention at all, my bad. Sure, buddy. Anyway, this gives us confirmation that Zhang Yusen hadn’t been interacting with his Five Lakes brothers for a while before Mirror Lake was targeted. But never mind that, you can trust us, Gao Chong tells Chengling, and follows up by asking him: Besides us, who can you trust? Which does not actually sound that trustworthy, my guy, and I begin to suspect that Five Lakes Alliance is running things because you’re the biggest bullies, as not a single one of you seems to know how to be the least bit politic. Except for Awful Yifu, who’s not so much adept at politics as at skullduggery. ANYWAY, when asked who he can trust, we can see Chengling thinking “MY NEW DADS” like it’s lit up in neon over his head. We also see him continue to press or clutch the place on his abdomen where we previously saw his injury, so that’s still bothering him, and I can’t imagine why it might do that any time he has to argue with one of these Five Lakes assholes about the Glazed Armor, amirite? I do also notice, though, that he calls both Gao Chong and Zhao Jing “bobo,” which I think is a more familial term for uncle? as opposed to “shishu” for ShenShen, which is martial, and I’m not sure exactly what distinction he’s driving home by doing so, but there you go. Chengling is sent away to rest, and on leaving the hall he immediately gets bullied by Xie Wuyang, one of Zhao Jing’s undercover Yueyang twinks, before being rescued by Gao Xiaolian, daughter of Gao Chong. She takes him to his new room, which faces right onto the training grounds, because no one’s told him yet how much he needs to build himself up, right? And we get to see a bunch of little Yueyang shits who acted like good boys and promised Xiaolian to her face that they would train with Chengling but who then immediately turn around and start mocking him as soon as she goes away, so WKX’s assessment of how the jianghu is full of assholes continues to look kind of correct. What is Cao Weining doing in this whole hive of scum and villainy?

We get a brief detour here to go with Xiaolian to meet Cao Weining and A-Xiang, and she agrees to let A-Xiang stay with her, before a disciple comes to get her to help set up for taking Chengling to worship at the Five Lakes Alliance memorial. Xiaolian helpfully lets us know that this is weird, because it’s going to be dark soon. A-Xiang sneaks away and informs WKX and ZZS that this is weird, because it’s going to be dark soon. ZZS and WKX also spot some of the Tian Chuang Action Lanterns and surmise that some “feudal lords” seen outside the city are up to no good, so they go and skulk in the bushes along the road to the Five Lakes Alliance monument.

This is getting super-long, so I’m going to get right to the next important part, which is the bit where Han Ying (My Beloved) and his Tian Chuang forces have laid a trap for Gao Chong and Chengling on the way back from the monument, and they try to kidnap Chengling. Han Ying continues to be cold, haughty, and capable at his job right up to the moment when ZZS jumps out of the bushes to foil the kidnapping with his signature Swiftly Moving Steps and a frankly ridiculous bit of gauzy fabric tied around the bottom half of his face as a disguise. Han Ying’s instant change of demeanor is something to behold – he can’t even notice that WKX has him by the throat around the hearts in his eyes as he recognizes ZZS. Which, let’s face it, he ought to, because ZZS spent a decade and a half running around with all of these guys with the bottom half of his face covered, so you’d think more of them would recognize him, but apparently the Cover Girl bangs throw them off. Anyway, WKX grabs Han Ying and they use him as a hostage to get Tian Chuang to release Gao Chong, Chengling and a bunch of Yueyang disciples. Once everyone else is gone, WKX and ZZS drag Han Ying into the bushes, where he hits his knees ten times faster than WKX has yet for ZZS, so maybe it’s WKX’s own fault that he’s left standing around, ignored and vinegary. Han Ying is back to the puppy-dog he was around ZZS in Ep 1, and interestingly, the way Zhang Zhehan is styled here makes ZZS look more severe than he has in a while – he’s got a lot of his hair up in the high pony that looks a bit like the topknot from the front, all the rest of his hair is back behind his shoulders, and his bangs are pushed back out of his face more than usual, making him look more like his Tian Chuang self as he talks to Han Ying. Who he calls Ying’er, and omg, fuck you subtitles, for not including this because HE CALLS HIM YING’ER AND I’M DYING. (Also, oh god, I just realized that the Ying of his name is the same character as “hero.” Which, just, the simple fact of it, of course, but also it was used in the “hero saving the beauty/beauty saving the hero” (overdubbed) lip-read from Ep 6, and now I’m dying on the floor, because that’s kind of a weird little link between Zhen Yan WKX and Han Ying already. It’s likely coincidence, but it’s potentially USEFUL, yes, all my fic writers out there?) Anyway, Han Ying is desperately worried - he knows something’s wrong, because ZZS isn’t bothering to disguise himself with that awful fake face anymore to keep himself safe from Prince Jin’s spies, and also, HOW IS YOUR INJURY, MY LORD? (DO YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TAKE TENDER CARE OF YOU?) WKX continues to look vaguely uncomfortable about this whole thing that’s going on right in front of his salad. Han Ying swears he’ll do anything for ZZS. WKX clears his throat loudly to draw attention and suggestively asks if he should leave for a while. (I am not shitposting here, this actually, literally happens.) ZSS literally huffs in annoyance and ignores him. He tells Han Ying that he saw signs of Tian Chuang at Yueyang and thought they were after him. We can see Han Ying thinking, “No, if I’d known you were here, you’d have found me on my knees by your bedside waiting patiently like a good boy.” We learn that Duang Pengju (that asshole) has had Han Ying looking for the Glazed Armor since the Mirror Lake massacre, probably to take credit for anything he finds. Han Ying reiterates that he’ll do anything for ZZS, and ZZS tells him to stay out of all this, saying that what Han Ying can do for him is stay alive (well, OW).

After this, we get a scene of ZZS and WKX still hanging around by the side of the road after dark. ZZS sincerely thanks WKX for his help, and says he owes WKX a favor. WKX asks him what’s really going on with ZZS and Chengling. ZZS says that he couldn’t stand around and do nothing while this kid was in danger, likely stirring some Zhen Yan feels in WKX that we don’t officially know about yet, at this point. ZZS asks WKX, again, about his Weird Thing about the Five Lakes Alliance and whether it was a coincidence that WKX was at Mirror Lake for the massacre. WKX goes vaguely Ghost Valley Master wild-eyed and says of course not! before laughing and saying, “I followed you, remember?” He gets friend-zoned and follows up by asking ZZS, “Why don’t you ask what I think of you?” ZZS – pretty unconvincingly, tbqh – says he doesn’t care and stomps off, leaving WKX to stare after him soulfully and call him zhiji. Much like that resonance thing earlier - you keep telling yourself that, A-Xu. The next time we see them, they’re at the marketplace, probably the next day, and you remember that thing I said about bonding via food? We’ve come back full circle to that, too. Zhen Yan WKX is 7 years old again, he wants some reassurance that he is ZZS’s super-special friend, and he works his way through the marketplace making ZZS buy him every sweet thing to eat that he can find. Every time ZZS has to pull out his wallet, he makes this pissy little face, but he keeps paying. ZZS is hopeless at cooking, but if you can’t make your own, store-bought will do, WKX is craving reassurance, and as uncomfortable as ZZS is with how close WKX has gotten at this point, he continues to provide it. I also want to point out another censorship dub here, thanks again to AvenueX on Youtube: As they’re figting over the way WKX is spending ZZS’s money in this scene, when WKX tries to grab ZZS’s hand, and ZZS is all ‘”Don’t touch me,” the voice dubbing has WKX say that repaying ZZS is no big deal, he’ll just let ZZS order him around, with ZZS’s response being to tell him to get lost, then. OTOH, lip-read gives us, from WKX, that it’s no big deal, he’ll sell the rest of his life to ZZS, with ZZS’s response as a threat to sell him to a brothel, then. :hands:

Quick wrap-up from there: They go watch some exotic dancers, only there turns out to be an unexpected pile of heads in the follow-up magician’s act, which turn out to be from the guys who were in the “bridal party” at the Ghost Valley “wedding” a few eps ago, and everyone swears vengeance against the Ghost Valley. WKX and ZZS go to visit Chengling, who is supposedly sick and can’t see them, but they get introduced to Gao Chong. Gao Chong and WKX are weird at each other, and ZZS is increasingly suspicious. He’s got his thinky face on, and we don’t get any literally pokey fingers, but I can’t help but think there are some mental pokey fingers going on, as he turns over all the info he knows in his head. Then some Yueyang disciple comes shrieking in about a dead body, omg, death, destruction, death, and Gao Chong is all, Seriously? In front of guests? before we’re out.

[skycruise]

Misha virtual panel Sunday 22 Nov, 2020

Tried to type as much as I could as he spoke. I know the whole thing will probably be up fairly soon so you can watch, but for now--

--He finished shooting in March

--Thought he had mourned the passing of the show & had processed it but finale was an emotional experience, took him out for a couple days

--Thinks the fandom isn’t going anywhere

--Favorite memory making recipe with kids and Vicky, talks about how cookbook came about, West made pasta with jam sauce for Thanksgiving

--Projects for future? Worked on political elections recently, planning to do more of that particularly Georgia in January. Publishing book of poetry. Couple of film projects but not as actor, one he’s interested in directing.

--How do you think Jack brought Cas back? There was a different ending that Covid made impossible, but not supposed to talk about it. Involved bringing back lots and lots of cast members from the past. In original ending, Cas hadn’t gone to rebuild Heaven there was a DIFFERENT CONCLUSION FOR HIM. He did not read the last 2 episodes after the changes. He thinks Cas and Jack are more “ethereal” when rebuilding Heaven. Pure speculation though, he doesn’t know. Will probably be better explored in fan fiction than what he could come up with.

--Fan from Brazil thanks him and asks a question I don’t fully understand. Misha talks about watching the finale with his kids. West and Maison asked him to tell them if a scary part comes up, but he had no idea. Evil clowns “shell shocked” and probably traumatized the kids. West wanted to watch something else to get it out of his head. Went to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm lol. Misha jokes he is doing a shitty job keeping his kids away from the horrors of the world.

--Castiel “melded” with Misha. Cas was just a soldier at first but over time we saw him unfurl so that he didn’t fit in anywhere “fish out of water” but tried to be a good person.

--What is the one thing he will take with him from playing Castiel? A lot. On a professional level, it was fascinating to play a character for so many years. Talked about it with J2, how the characters became part of them over the years. Watching Dean’s death scene, he cried but because it was Cas’s friend Dean. It was a weird thing on an emotional level because the lines were blurry between himself and Cas. He feels he will literally take the character with him. Cas is part of him. Maybe he should double down on therapy to try and untangle him lol. Has a “naive” idea the fandom won’t go away, at least right away. Feels grateful to be a part of that, the fandom community does a lot of great things. 

--Favorite thing to bake with the kids? Pies. Though he doesn’t love pie, but he does bake a lot of them and the kids like them. Favorite kind of pie? Probably strawberry rhubarb. Doesn’t bake enough cakes! Recently made fortune cookies and put little messages inside, he put lewd messages in.

--He wants to know if he’s naive thinking the fandom will be around awhile. Fan says NO he is not.

--Misha also teared up in 15x18.

--Anything more he can say about stuff that didn’t happen in finale that was supposed to? He doesn’t want to be the one to reveal, but what are they going to do, fire him? It was a version of Sam and Dean’s Heaven that was populated with all these people from their past, all of the characters that we love from over the years were there. But COVID. 

--Favorite bts memory with the boys? He doesn’t have one, they were close friends for 12 years, lots of antics. Laughing fits, fights, got pissed off at each other, fondest memories of any work he’s done were on SPN, so much laughing and mirth, he’s going to miss that.

--Why did Cas’s trenchcoat remain intact despite all his deaths? Cas never lost the ability to magically mend his clothing. It made no sense that if he got stabbed or shot, sometimes it ripped the shirt but sometimes it wouldn’t. Or it would be cleaned up by the next episode. They wanted him to look like Constantine at the beginning, costume was 3 sizes too big, finally (he doesn’t remember what season) asked for a better fitting costume. New suit first, then lost the tie but eventually put it back. One season they just got him a whole new wardrobe and never explained it. He stole some trenchcoats.

--Cas’s confession was one scene where there wasn’t much joking around, he needed to be in an emotional state. Sat on a folding chair and ruminated on his own. Stunt coordinator noticed that and just stood by, knew Misha needed his space, it was really sweet. Made sure no one bothered him. Didn’t ask him to do that, it was intuitive & Misha was appreciative. Crew was great about that during heavy scenes.

--How did he feel reading script where Cas dies? Knew it was coming, had had conversations with Bobo, was happy with it. Felt a little risky and brave, was happy to be a part of that. Happy his character could express love like that. Has seen people complain about bury your gays trope and doesn’t think that’s what was happening. Cas is in Heaven, rebuilding Heaven, and also so much good came from that declaration. Cas saved Dean which was essential to saving the world. That declaration saved the world and was of Cas’s own volition, he wasn’t forced to do that, it was his choice & that’s important. Maybe he’s naive but he didn’t think they were playing into that trope. He’s glad Castiel got to express that. He’s proud that the show did that. He’s sure it’s a conversation that will continue to be dissected.

--Will he ever get an SPN tattoo? Hasn’t thought about it, has thought about getting one related to his kids. Is that a “has-been” tattoo? Should he get Jensen and Jared’s faces? LOL. Tattoo of Cas’s face on his abdomen? Nah probably no SPN tattoo.

--3 things he does to be kind to himself? Has a tendency to be hard on himself. Sleep, run, meditate. He feels guilty he doesn’t spend enough time with his kids so he does but doing that he sometimes doesn’t take care of himself as much which makes him grumpier and not a great dad. Balancing act.

--Fave moment of finale was Dean’s death scene. Masterfully executed, well done, excellent performances from J2. Made him cry. 

--Best memory of last day on set. Everyone was being really sweet, lots of tears from crew and cast. Last scene was last thing on Friday, Him Alex, Jensen, Speight had to fly to convention next morning. Finished around 130 am, got on chartered flight, 15 minutes in flash of light and BOOM, one of the engines exploded, circled back to Vancouver and plane was shaking, really scary, during emergency landing they were texting their loved ones because they weren’t sure if they’d see them again

--Did angels get their wings back? Yeah probably. Why wouldn’t they? He misses Castiel’s car though. The Pimpmobile. Had hydraulics. Remembers car jumping up and down because JARED broke it.

--Cas would be a great security guard because he never sleeps. Would not be a great teacher or architect or artist...could be handy in a kitchen though.

--What color are Cas’s wings? Misha always thought they were black, but maybe they’re rainbow colored!

--Worst joke from J2? Jokes J2 are not good people, they got really excited leading up to him directing because they were plotting, they were going to break into his apartment and steal his furniture but Misha was tipped off by crew. Fish left under his car seat, again he was tipped off. One thing he remembers is Jared messing with his directors chair so that he would fall when he sat on it. Fell for it probably 5 times. Also Jared messing up his lines until Misha went to talk to him, which is when he got pied in the face. Everything looked blurry for like 20 minutes, Jensen brought him another shirt & apologized, then during lunchtime Jensen pied him too. 

--How did Cas feel when Jack became new god? Vindicated. Like, “we did it”. Also feels concerned that Jack is no longer Jack. But at his core Jack was still himself.

--Real story behind handprint? He doesn’t know, but it was a nice touch. Doesn’t remember how they came up with that. Great call back to very beginning. Poignant. 

--Favorite Dad joke? The one with the snail getting thrown across the yard and 2 years later asking what was that about.

--Didn’t hear this one well but what I picked up was Favorite con moments? He and Jensen have had really fun panels in Rome

--Favorite version of Castiel to play? Loved playing LuciferCas and HumanCas. Wishes there had been more HumanCas. But regular Cas was his overall favorite, wouldn’t have wanted to trade regular Cas for any other Cas.

--Miss you guys, love you, hopefully see you soon.

[bbaronpiper]

Red

Hi, to the anon who requested this, I’m sorry it took too long. I got a little busy and haven’t had the time to write it until today. Soooo.. here it is, I hope you’ll like it. 

Also, I don’t know if the translations of the lyrics are right. I just googled it. lol. thanks google! Parts in italics are either flashbacks or thoughts and paragraphs inside a parenthesis are translations. Some names here are completely made up. sorry if it happens to be your name. 

I don’t know which category will fit this story. fluff? angst? smut? definitely is smut *winks* or all of the above. 

Lastly, this one isn’t proofread yet, probably will revise later when I woke up (it’s 5 am and I haven’t slept yet. blame the coffee) if there are mistakes or rewrite the whole thing hahaha. okay enough talking. Enjoooyy! 

Hiii I saw your taking requests & I wanted to request an Arón Piper imagine. Where him & the reader are costars & he’s always had a crush on her but she was in a relationship until her boyfriend cheated on her & because of that her & Arón became closer & she eventually let’s him in for them to be more than friends. I got the idea from the song Soltera by Lunay ft Bad Bunny & Daddy Yankee (basically it just says how she’s single & that’s trendy rn & that she wants nothing to do w/ love)

Arón x reader

“Y/N, are you almost ready? the party started like an hour ago!” you heard Omar groaning in the living room. You are going to a sending off party the Elite’s casts and production team set up for Danna, Mina, Ester, Jorge and Alvaro.

You look at yourself on the mirror one last time and put on your red high heels before opening the door of your room. You wore a red sleeveless bandage dress that complement your curves and ends just before your knees, your hair tied up in a ponytail exposing your neck up to your chest. You matched your dress with a bright red lipstick. So bright enough to scare a hooker. You were never this extra, you’re more of a girl next door type of girl. But that was then.

Months ago, you believe that red symbolizes love, celebration and happiness. Funny no?  But now, you don’t believe in love or in any of those things anymore. The old you were long gone and now, red has a new meaning for you: fire, fierce, and power sometimes anger.

“Damn girl! You’re on fire!” Ester said excitedly examining you from head to toe. This was more of her style and it suits her perfectly. Me? I’m not sure, but I try so hard just to bury my old weak self. My old self that believed in happy endings.

You laughed “Thanks to you! I should do more shopping time with you!” you said to Ester. You heard Omar clearing his throat “Okay, okay, we’re going hot stuff! So impatient!” laughing even more with the girls as Omar rolled his eyes at you. “Finaaalllyyy!!!!” he said dramatically. You took his arm and went downstairs.

Once you arrived at the club, you saw paparazzi’s on the entrance blocking the way making it almost impossible to enter the club. You expected this as you are a public person now, but you never got used to it. Grown ass men calling after your name at the same time, sometimes saying nasty stuffs too while their camera flashes at your face almost blinding you. “Y/N! Y/N! I heard you and Mateo broke up? What can you say about that?” “Is it true he cheated on you?” “he’s with Elena now, he says she’s much better than you!” that last one caught you off guard that you almost stumbled. Luckily, a hand grabbed your arm, tucked you in his arms shielding you from everyone and pulled you inside the club. You didn’t freak out even though you didn’t see his face. You knew who it was by the smell of his perfume.

You looked up and saw Arón looking at you worriedly. He must’ve heard it, you thought. He was about to say something when you beat him to it. “God that was crazy! Thank you though” you said lively like it didn’t bother you. It did, for a second but you were over it. You promised yourself you wouldn’t let anyone hurt you ever again. So, you put on a smile on go on with life.

“Anytime, Y/N” Arón said as he loosen his grip on your arm, slides it down to your wrist before totally letting go. You notice him just standing there staring at you so you took his hand and led him inside the club, the others following you close behind. You didn’t mind holding his hand or any of your cast mate’s hands, you two are good friends, you see him as a brother. He was there when you’re crying over your asshole of an ex-boyfriend. He knew what he did to you. He knew about all of your drunken nights and one-night stands and you knew about his. He was just like you. He enjoys life, loves to party and likes to fuck but never commit. That’s why you two grew much closer than before.

After one to too many shots, you are now having the time of your life. You’re a hot mess dancing and grinding over Jorge on the dance floor with Danna doing the same on him on the other side. “Oh man, you know I’m gonna miss all of you!” you screamed over the loud music. “eh? You’ll be fine you still have Arón” Danna laughed devilishly and winked at you.  oh this girl is so drunk. You looked over at Arón on the other side who’s not looking drunk yet with Itzan who on the other hand is dancing like crazy. He was always like this. He needed to get drunk a little first to bring out his extrovert side.

He was already looking at you so you raised your middle finger up at him and smiled. He laughed at you knowing it’s something you got from him. You both stared for awhile and you notice something different on the way he looked at you but you can’t just point it out. Was it just the alcohol you had or is he really… “You know he’s crazy bout you right?” Jorge said close to your ear snapping you out of your eye-fucking contest with Arón.

“what?!” you heard him but you just want to make sure you heard it right. You hear Danna laughing loudly and suddenly you burst out laughing too. You don’t know why but probably it’s because you both are drunk as fuck and everything is so funny at this point. You took Danna’s hand and start jumping up and down with her, laughing about nothing. “Y/N!! Y/N!!! it’s so fucking fun in hereeeee!!!!” she slurred. "I knooowww rigghhttt!!?" You continue jumping all over the place with her until Omar and Mina joined you and eventually more people did. Your head was spinning but you didn’t care. You’re having fun. You needed this.

You felt your back, mostly your ass bumped on to something. You turned around and saw Arón smirking at you. Soft blush starting to show on his cheeks signaling he’s drunk enough. “Heeeeyyyyyy Julio Manueeell!!!! You having f-fuuunn?!!!” you laughed at his face and scratch his shaved head. “Eh, not as much fun as you’re having, Y/S/N” he said while shaking his head at you. You and Arón has this thing where you call each other by your second names. Giving you both some type of ownership on one another. Like no one can call you by it except him, and his by you. You closed the gap between the both of you. pressing your body against his and spoke close to his ear “C’mooon I’ll shooowww yyou what’ss fuunn!!” He turned his head to the side at the same time you finished talking making your face so close to him. So close your lips almost touched. Damn this alcohol.

Soltera by Lunay ft Bad Bunny & Daddy Yankee started playing and you both went crazy. “This is our jam!!!” you screamed. “Your jam!” he corrected laughing at your drunken state putting emphasis on the word your.

You are dancing closely with your back against him. Swaying your hips as his hands went to your waist. You smirked to yourself as you felt his growing bulge on your ass. You didn’t care how close you are to him or if people will see you. Again, Blame the alcohol. You just want him close. So you grab him by the back of his neck and pulled him closer. His face was now buried on the crook of your neck. The feeling of his soft lips and the warmth of his breath turned you even more. You both drunkenly singing along to the song when he suddenly tightened his grip around your waist and turning you around to face him.

He grabbed your face with both of his hands and started singing to you. “Me dijeron que te acabas de dejar, Que el bobo aquel te engañó” (They told me you just left that fool that cheated on you.)

 “Que ya no crees en el amor. Que andas suelta igual que yo. No sé, pero la noche está pa’ desquitarno” (That you don’t believe in love. That you’re on the loose like me. I don’t know but the night is made to get even) He continued looking straight into your eyes.

The look on his face confused you. You guys are just friends right? But why is looking at you with so much.. what is this? Passion? Even on your drunken state, it had you thinking if he was sending you a message. Whatever. You decided to go along with it and send him one too.

“Porque 'tar soltera está de moda. Por eso ella no se enamora” (Because being single is in style. That’s why she doesn’t fall in love.) You sang to him with as much passion as him, smirking. “'Tar soltera está de moda. Por eso no va a cambiar” (Being single is in style that’s why she’s not going to change). Now it was your turn to hold his face while singing the lyrics hoping he got your message.

You both just dance there not giving a fuck about anybody, singing the song to each other the whole time trying to send the message. You are not ready for love nor commitment. You think you’ll never be ready for it. You promised yourself never again. Besides, it’s Arón. What you have with him as friends was so beautiful that you never want to ruin it by taking it to another level.

“Si no, nos vemo', mami, en el after party. Ponte pa'l problema, ándale, déjate ver. Lo que aquí empezamo', lo matamo' en el motel” (If not, mami, we’ll see each other at the after party. Get ready, let’s go, let me see you. what we start here, we’ll end at the motel. You’re singe, I’m single) Arón finish off the lyrics, with eyes full of lust. You were sure of that by now.

“okay, mister, did you just ask me to fuck you?” you said seductively as you bit your lip.

“Si” he said simply.

----

You woke up the next morning feeling like you’re still drunk. Your head was still spinning a bit so you decided to get up and go to the kitchen to look for some medicine. You grabbed the door knob and twist it open. Hmmm that was weird? since when did I paint the door white? you thought to yourself but shrugged it off for now as you desperately needed that medicine.

You walked around the apartment absent mindedly trying to get to the kitchen when you bumped into someone. “AAHHHH!” you screamed as you were surprised that someone is in your apartment when you live all by yourself. You heard the other person screaming as well. You looked up and saw who it was. “Arón! What the fuck are you doing here?!” you said trying to cover yourself as you are only wearing your oversized shirt. No bra, no panties, just your shirt.

“Umm, I live here?” Arón said unsure also questioning himself now. Scratching the back of his head.

“wha-? What do you mean you li-..? you looked around and saw the white walls, the windows made of glass where you can see Madrid’s skyline. Panic starts to creep in now. You looked at yourself. fuck. It’s not your shirt! It was Arón’s. You looked back at him turning red as a tomato. “Did we….? You trailed off afraid of his answer.

Arón laughed his ass off as he looked up laughing so damn hard. You hit him playfully on his stomach. He returned a small “oww!” from the hit you gave him. “The fuck you laughing about, dumb ass?” growing impatient now. Desperate to know if you fucked him.

“What do you think, Y/N?” he raised his eyebrow on you. “why are you all so red now, babe?” biting his lips trying to hold his laughter.

“Dare laugh one more time and I swear I’ll beat the shit out of you Julio Manuel” you threatened him as you massage your temples. “ugh damn this headache”

“C’mon sit, I’ll get you breakfast and medicine while you rethink your life choices… specially last night” he teases.

“fuck you, Arón” you gave him the dirty finger as you proceed to his kitchen table.

“You already did, cariño” your eyes widened as he gave you a wink in return. You took a deep breath and placed your elbows on the table supporting your head. Trying to think about the events on the previous night.

You tried so hard to remember but all you get was flashes of memories. The last thing you remember at the club was when you asked him:

“okay, mister, did you just ask me to fuck you?” you said seductively as you bit your lip. “Si” he said simply.

Then you remember grabbing his face and smashing your lips onto his. “Fuuucckk!!!” you whispered to yourself but Arón heard it and chuckled. “What you remember now?” he asked playfully.

You put your pointer finger up at his direction “Shhhh!!! Not a single word from you again, Piper!” as you went back to thinking again.

Arón came back with two plates of pancakes. One for him and one for you and one Advil for your headache. “Thank you” you murmured. You looked up at him and saw he has his goofy smile plastered on his lips. You knew he was about to mess with you again so you glared up at him. He just shrugged and bit his lips in return.

“Can I?” Arón asked with his voice full of lust as his hands was already placed at the hook of your bra. As soon as you moaned yes, he wasted no time and unhook it revealing your breasts. His pupils getting larger and darker at the sight of you. He then proceeds to kiss your neck down to your collarbone. He kissed everywhere around your breast but not your nipple. Trying to tease you. he kissed you lower and lower until he reached the hem of your panties. Your hand then travelled to his bare chest down to his belt buckle and undone it. you unzipped his pants and tried to pull it down but failed. “Arrrooonnnn!!!” you pouted and whined like a ten year old that can’t reach the jar of cookies on the top shelf. Arón then laughed at you, sit up and remove his jeans by himself.

“God you are so drunk Y/N, you sure you wanna do this. I feel like I’m taking advantage of you?” you didn’t answer him. You just pulled down your panties. “ohh okkkkaayyyyyyy” Arón said under his breath feeling himself getting harder. “say red if you want me to stop, okay?”

 “Just fuck me.” And just like that. Arón grabbed both of your ankles and spread your legs wide. He started off licking your clit slowly and slid a finger inside you and curling it. earning a moan from you.

“You’re so wet, Y/N” he spoke and dive back in. licking you harder and faster than before. Grabbing the back of his head, you felt his tiny hair around your fingers, pushing him harder against you. He looked at you from in between your legs. You had your eyes closed and your mouth opened forming an O shape. Just about before cumming, he stopped.

 “Why’d you stop? Haven’t said red. have I?”

“I gotta have you. Now.” He aligned himself on your entrance. looking at you asking for your permission once again. You trailed your fingers to his chest down to his abdomen ‘til you reached his dick. You wrapped your hands around it, stroking it a little before guiding him inside you. you heard Arón groan. As you sighed in pleasure. He felt so good. He started pushing in and out of you slowly until it became faster and faster slamming on your g spot. You heard yourself screaming his name.

“Fuck Arón, you feel so good.” You moaned thrusting upwards to meet with his. Earning loud groans from him. He leaned down and kiss you. Sucking on your lower lips. You wrapped your legs around him forcing him to go deeper. The sounds of your moans filled the room and you felt yourself clench around him. And you knew you were close.

“That’s it baby. Cum for me” Arón encourage you. With that, you finally let yourself go. Arón not far behind you feeling your pussy fluttering around him. He pulled out of you, stroke himself and cum on your stomach.

“Fucking hell” you said as you instantly dropped the fork your holding and looked at Arón who was sitting opposite of you. He still had his goofy smile on him. Is he seriously happy about this? “Arón, what happened last night… we gotta, we gotta forget about it” you stuttered as you watch his face drop.

“huh? Why?” He stared at you trying to figure out what you were thinking.

 “You know damn well why, Arón” You looked down on your untouched pancakes avoiding eye contact.

He didn’t say a word for a while. “I’m not him, you know” he said under his breath poking on his pancake with his fork.

“I know that. I never said you are him” your heart’s starting to race. Unprepared of the coming conversation with your best friend. “but we’re fine like this right? You don’t want to be in a relationship, and so do I. Arón, we’re friends. We don’t wanna ruin it” trying to make up excuses but in reality you’re just scared to admit it to yourself.

“We?!” he asked clearly disappointed at the words he just heard from you. “who’s we Y/N? you meant you? Cos if you’re gonna ask me, I’m more than willing to try”

 “Arón you know I can’t. I’m happy being single. I’m done with all those fucking heartbreak! I just want to be happy!” you raised your voice a little, getting frustrated at the fact that Arón, your best friend said, he’s more than willing to be with you.

“Then we’ll be happy together! I’ll make you happy!” he said at the same tone you had. His eyebrows furrowed.

“It’s not that simple!” you completely lost your cool now. “You don’t know what it feels like! It’s hard that you’re always the one willing to take a bullet for the one you love only to discover that they’re the ones behind the trigger! I can’t go through that again!” you pointed your finger at him.  “it would kill me. You think I chose this? You think I chose to be this stone cold?” tears now forming on your eyes.

Arón’s face softened at your words. He stood up and walked over to your side pulling you close to him. You were still sitting down so your head only reached his stomach. “Shhhhh! I’m sorry Y/N, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry” he tries to soothe you as he rubbed your back. “but please just hear me out?” you nodded your head yes as you sniffed. He knelt down on your level looking at you with love in his eyes. “Y/S/C, you know I had my eyes on you the first time you walked in on set.” He caressed your cheek with his thumb. “I figured I liked you that one time when you pulled a prank on Miguel and Itzan causing the whole cast to laugh. I knew I loved you the moment I saw you crying over him outside the club and you told me what he had done. I can't believe he treated you like shit when you deserve the world. I spent my whole night with you when all I wanted was to knock him out. I mean don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed your company. But yeah, I’d rather beat the shit out of him that night” he said causing you to laugh a little. “I know I said I don’t wanna be in a relationship right now but what I really meant was, I don’t want to be in a relationship if it wasn’t you.”

“I’m scared” your voice was trembling. 

“I know baby. I know. I can’t promise you I won’t hurt you ever in anyway. That’s not how love works, right? We will probably hurt each other at some point. But I can promise you that I would never ever hurt you the same way as he did. Just let me prove it to you. Please? Don’t give up on love just yet.” He said with sincerity. You knew him. You knew he wasn’t lying.

You felt yourself melting under his gaze. You stayed silent as words fail to form on your tongue. So you just placed your hand at the back of his neck stroking it gently like he did to your cheeks and your other hand layed on his chest close to his heart. You felt his heart beating faster and so is yours every second that passes by.

You thought about it hard. You weren’t exactly sure when it happened or when it started. All you know for sure is that right here and now, you are falling hard and you are hundred percent sure he was there to catch you. it would be tragic to let something like this pass.

“Sometimes we have to stop being scared and just go for it. Either it’ll work or it won’t. That’s life, no?” you stared at him waiting for his reaction. Small smile forming on your lips.

Arón smiled widely at you and exhaled the air he was holding in for a while now while waiting for your answer. He hugged you tightly whispering “Te quiero, Y/S/N”. He pulled away and kissed you passionately. You kissed him back with as much passion as his. You felt his hand travel up your thighs but just before things got heated, you pulled away.

“Woah, lover boy, can I eat my pancake first?” you said winking at him. He just laughed, shook his head and went back to his seat, pouting like a baby. “Why do you have to be such a tease?”

You stick out your tongue and your middle finger up at him, smiling. Happy at the thought that he brought back the meaning of red you once tried to forget. 

[zwritestuff]

Some Things Are Bound To Be (Kyara) - Epilogue

A/N:  This is it homies. We've made it. I'm sorry it took me so long to post the epilogue, I hit writers block and tbh didn't want to let go of this fic. I tried to make the epilogue longer, but at the end of the day I don't think that's necessary. A big thanks to Emerald for being my biggest supporter during this ride and beta-ing every single chapter. Also, a huge thanks to the people that stuck around even after the season finished, I treasure all of you 💕 I have thought of a sequel focused on another ship that didn't get to shine here, but it's still a thought. I hope you all enjoy the epilogue. 💕

Find the rest of the chapters here | Read on ao3.

Kyne has no idea why she’s so sweaty.

Under normal circumstances, she’d be annoyed. Instead, she has Priyanka talking her ear off on one side, giving her one of her usual pep talks, while Bobo on the other is trying to get her eyeliner as sleek as possible. Bo has her head in her wardrobe, criticizing each and every clothing item she owns. That would gain a hundred eye-rolls from her—but then again, these are no normal circumstances.

She’s had dates before, despite what Priyanka might try to say, it’s just that they were never all that exciting. She was lucky if she was interested enough in someone to accept to go on a second date, and third dates were unheard of for her.

The fact she’s this nervous over her first real date with Kiara should be a surprise, considering she still swings by her office every day, coffee and cupcakes in tow, they still go out for lunch almost every day, they’ve been together just yesterday at work, not even 24 hours ago; but still, she can’t help the anticipation welling up inside her—it’s one thing to grab lunch together, to have movie nights and stay over at each other’s places when they think it’s completely platonic; but once they acknowledge the feelings meddling in the middle, it becomes harder to keep their cool.

It’s just a date with Kiki, she thinks, trying to keep her calm. It’s just Kiki, she repeats it like a mantra, because it’s really not that deep. She knows how to talk to Kiara, how to get out of her those throaty laughs that echo through the room and make her eyes crinkle at the corners. It shouldn’t be all that different from their usual “dates.”

Then again, if that’s the case, why does she feel like her brain has been replaced with TV static once the time for Kiara to pick her up arrives?

Kyne’s going to dig a hole through the carpet pacing back and forth. She doesn’t think she was ever this nervous, not even during her final exam to graduate.

“Don’t stress too much about it,” Scarlett yells out from the bathroom, possibly—definitely—smoking against the window. “She already looks at you like she wants to propose every time you open your mouth, a date can’t be all that bad.” Kyne’s cheeks heat up, not even bothering to yell out anything because she’s too busy chewing on her nails while she waits for a text from Kiara.

And then it comes through. 

‘I’m parking, I’ll be up in a second,’ followed by a red heart. Kyne smiles unconsciously as she grabs her purse and jacket, and turns to Priyanka and Bo sitting on her couch, intently looking at her.

“Right. So, you two keep your hands out of my fridge, don’t let Bobo stain the whole place with smoke, and for the love of god, don’t blow up my phone every ten minutes,” she says, like she’s a single mother giving her children instruction before going out on her first date in years. She stops to wonder why she ever allowed them in in the first place, but considering Priyanka has a spare key, they probably would’ve entered anyway.

They nod with childish grins, and Kyne paces around for a little while before there’s a knock on the door and she nearly jumps out of her skin.

It’s just a date, she thinks one last time.

Then she opens the door, and she feels her cool fade away the moment she sees Kiara’s smile.

“Hey,” they say at the same time, eliciting a chuckle from the other.

“You look really nice,” Kiara offers as a compliment, the smile on her face never faltering. Kyne opens her mouth to return the compliment, when she hears Priyanka and Bo snicker behind her back, making Kiara cock a brow and look past the door. “Ah, nice seeing you guys,” she says awkwardly, waving at them.

“Looking good, Kiki. Have fun, don’t make stupid decisions again,” Priyanka calls out as Kyne shuts the door behind her, mumbling apologies about her friends as they walk to the elevator.

“Nah, don’t worry about it, Rita and Tynomi came over to bother me before I left, too. I get it.” She rolls her eyes, scoffing with an amused smile, and Kyne feels the nerves melt away as she laughs, hooking an arm around Kiara’s biceps, letting her head fall against her arm.

“I have no idea why I ever thought giving Priyanka a spare key would be a good idea,” Kyne comments, chuckling slightly as Kiara recalls that one time she gave Tynomi her apartment keys so she could water her plants while she was away, and she has yet to return the keys.

Kyne makes a comment about not having noticed Kiara’s plants in all the times she visited, and Kiara just shrugs with an embarrassed expression. “Yeah, that’s ‘cause I don’t have any right now—I don’t have a green thumb like you, y’know? My plants always end up dead one way or another,” she admits, as the elevator opens its doors and they step outside.

“I can help you grow some stuff, I think we have plenty of time ahead of us for that,” she comments, meaning it, but Kiara has that shit-eating grin on her face that makes Kyne roll her eyes right away.

“How are we going to grow a garden in just a few hours?” She asks, leaning in on Kyne, and she’s feeling generous tonight, so she doesn’t shove her off, saying how corny she is; she just scoffs and softly headbutts her.

“You know what I meant, dumbass,” Kyne says, the affection in her tone palpable despite the name calling. Kiara doesn’t seem to mind; she smiles cheerily as she opens the car door for her, and Kyne dreads the moment their hands let go, if only for a couple of seconds.

“I know, I know,” Kiara chuckles after a moment, fastening her seatbelt so the annoying beep will stop. She turns to look at Kyne with a smile as she turns on the engine, “I’d love to have a garden with you, babe,” she says, with a tone so soft Kyne can tell she means it. She gets the car going, searching for Kyne’s hand almost right away, giving it a small squeeze before lacing them together.

She’s not sure if it’s the fact she hasn’t had a proper date in a long time, that she’s waited a long time to be like this with Kiara, or just that all of this seems straight out of a romantic movie, one she thought she’s never get to live herself—but she feels like a teenager in love all over again, wanting to dive head first into what she has going on with Kiara without a helmet, because she knows she’ll be there to catch her when she falls.

*

A week after their first date, Kyne gives Kiara a pot of dahlias, and promises to help her not let them die. If Kiara catches the symbolism behind it, she doesn’t say anything, just gives Kyne a kiss and promises to take great care of them.

Red camellias come next, some weeks after the dahlias, when Kyne thinks Kiara is doing a good job with them. Then, a small arrangement of orchids—Kiara notices the pattern at some point, and just smiles and kisses her forehead when Kyne brings her a new plant.

The dates keep on coming, and so do the flowers and indoor plants; Kiara eventually runs out of space to put them. Kyne isn’t of much help, either, since her place is small and barely fits her own plants.

“It’s not fair,” Kiara childishly complains one day, while Kyne’s staying over. They’re cuddled up on the couch, not paying attention to whatever it is that Kiara randomly selected from Netflix’s catalog. “A flower shop opened around the block, do you know how much I have to contain myself to not enter and buy everything when I ride past it to work?” She pouts, adding a vocal fry to really get her point across.

Kyne just laughs, amused at her girlfriend’s antics, while five different types of flowers hang from the sides of the TV. Maybe getting her into gardening wasn’t such a good idea.

“If space was really the problem, you’d be throwing out stuff to bring in more plants,” Kyne comments, not really giving it much more than a second thought.

But Kiara bites her lip, fidgets with her fingers for a little while, and avoids Kyne’s gaze for a solid minute. Kyne knows that demeanor all too well.

“No, yeah, I know. But, like, I dunno, I’ve been thinking about moving somewhere else, somewhere bigger, obviously, where the sun actually can come through and I don’t have to haul a bunch of plants in the same five spots,” she explains, stammering over her words, visibly nervous. Kyne prompts her to go on, knowing there’s more to it. Kiara breathes in hard, looking at her straight in the eyes. “And - and I want to live with you, too.”

The world seems to stop during the seconds it takes Kyne to process what she just said.

When it dawns on her, the sun seems warmer, birds are chirping and the flowers are in full bloom—even if they’re in the middle of winter and there are no birds in the city. That’s just what love does, she suposes.

“I’d love to move in with you,” she says softly, pulling her in for a hug, and Kiara breathes out a long sigh of relief.

She’s ready to plant a long-lasting garden with Kiara.

[chuckepisodes]

Chuck vs. Santa Claus Part 2

Tons and tons of cops were gathered all around the store now. Inside, the man still had his gun pointed at you and Chuck. Chuck made sure to keep you behind him. "Not good... Not good. Oh, boy. Okay, Ned. Just calm down. Think, think, think. Hi, Hi. Uh, my name is Nathan Edward Rhyerson. Uh, people like to call me Ned. I'm sorry about the entrance. Could someone please tell me who's in charge here?" " Chuck!" Lester, Jeff and Anna yell. You and Chuck looked at them, giving them a "Seriously?!" look. " Actually, I'm not technically in charge." Chuck told him. " I don't want to hurt anyone, Chuck. So, as long as no one gets brave, no one gets shot, okay? !" You put your hand on Chuck's shoulder and squeezed it and he grabbed your hand and looked over at you and nodded. "Okay." He then looked over at Big Mike and Emmett and they ducked down. " I think we're safe. Yeah. Um, this store has a very strict "no bravery policy. "" "Okay. Okay. Everyone, uh, get over there by the Santa's Village. Now! Come on!" You and Chuck put your arms down, and you ended up putting your arms around each other as you two and everyone else made their way down. "Uh, Chuck?" Ned called out. You and him turned around." Where's the security system?" " It, um... just follow me." "Chuck..." you said, worried and grabbing his hand. "I'll be okay. Just go over with Ellie and Awesome." You just nodded and turned around to join them.

Chuck led him to the front of the store. "Right over here. " Chuck pointed to the system. "Are there any other ways in and out of the store?" " Um, yeah. But they're all locked down because we technically haven't opened yet." " Good. Lock it down." Chuck did as he was told and the whole store went into lockdown.

You were sitting down with Ellie and Anna in the Santa Village display. You were starting to bite your nails nervously and Ellie noticed. "You okay Y/N?" Ellie asked you softly. "Um... Yeah. I guess. Just nervous." "Yeah. Me too." "But on the bright side... if I had to be in this situation, at least I'm with Chuck, you, Devon and Morgan. The people I love. My family." Ellie smiled and put her arm around you and gave you a side hug. Chuck then came walking over to you and Ellie. "Hey girls. You okay?" Chuck asked, bending down in front of you both. "We'll manage." Ellie told him. "What do you think he wants Chuck?" you asked him. "I don't know. But I'm going to go over and talk to him." "What?" you and Ellie said at the same time. "I'll be fine. Don't worry." "Be careful babe." "I will." Chuck smiled at you and leaned in to give you a small kiss before leaving. You sighed and looked over at Ellie who gave you a reassuring smile then pulled you in for a side hug again.

Ned was watching the news where they were reporting about him. Chuck slowly walked over, hands up. "Hey... Hey, Ned. It's Chuck." he said calmly. "That's a terrible picture of me. Hey, you can put your hands down. You know, the truth is I'm really not a bad guy once you get to know me. " "When you're not crashing your car into electronics stores and waving a gun around?" " Yeah. Look, I know it's no excuse, but I lost my job, man. All I wanted was to get a few gifts for my kids so we could celebrate Christmas. And the next thing you know, I'm the next OJ. What am I going to do, Chuck? I mean, they're going to put me in jail, aren't they?" " No, no, maybe not. Maybe not, you know, uh... I mean, you haven't hurt anyone yet, right? So, maybe if you give up, they'll work out some sort of deal. Probation or something." "W-Why would they do that?" " Look, keep this between us, but... me and my girlfriend over there, we know some people. You know, people who could make all this go away as long as you don't do anything stupid." "Like who?"

Meanwhile, Sarah and Casey were sneaking into the Buy More through the entrance in the break room from Castle.

Chuck and Ned were standing at the Nerd Herd desk when the phone began to ring. "Who's calling?" Ned asked, gun pointed. " Uh, that's probably the police. Maybe they want to know what's happening." " I don't want to talk to anyone. Do you think you could answer it?" " Yeah. Nerd Herd. How can I help you?" " This is Lieutenant Mauser. LAPD. Who am I speaking with?" "This is Chuck Bartowski. Nerd Herd supervisor. " "All right, Chuck, I'm going to need to talk to Ned." "He wants to talk to you." Chuck told Ned and Ned just shook his head no. "He doesn't want to talk to you." " Okay, then you and I are going to have to work through this ourselves. So tell me, is there anyone hurt in there?" " No, nobody's hurt. Everybody's okay. Uh, Ned... is it okay if I call you Ned?" " Sure, Ned's fine." " Okay. Uh, Ned explicitly told me that he wants absolutely no trouble." " Tell him to send out a hostage as a sign of good faith." "He says that you should send out a hostage as a sign of good faith." " Good God, pick me!" Emmett shouted, running over to Chuck and Ned. "Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me... My 86-year-old mother is dying of a very rare disease. It's leukoplakia. And she needs me... her bobo." " Uh... okay, fine. Send him." " Oh, thank you... thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

Meanwhile, you all sat back there and watched the whole thing, not believing what Emmett did. "That scoundrel. I bet Bartowski worked out a deal." Lester said. " Yeah, Chuck let Emmett go so he could get better lunch shifts." Jeff added. "That bastard's selling us down the river, making a sweetheart deal for himself." "I guess it's prison rules now. Every man for himself." You and Ellie just looked at them, giving them weird looks. "Oh my God. Idiots." you said.

You, Chuck and everyone were standing around the TVs as you watched Emmett make an idiot of himself in front of the reporters. Big Mike was the only one who seemed proud. Ned then came behind you and Chuck. "Uh, so, uh... Hey, uh, Chuck, and you must be his girlfriend?" "Yeah I am." "Okay. Well where are these people that can get me out of this?" "People?" you asked, looking at him. "Yeah our people." "Oh! Our people!" you then looked ahead and saw Sarah and Casey opening a door and looking over at you guys. Sarah waved you two over. "Um... They're uh, they're closer than you think." you told him. "Can I use the bathroom? I mean, the store is already locked down, so I can't really go anywhere." Chuck asked. "Yeah me too. I've been holding on for way too long." "Yeah. Sure, of course." Ned told you both. " All right. We'll be back in a sec." Chuck told him and you two were off.

You and Chuck quickly headed to the back and looked around and found Sarah and Casey waiting in the break room. "It's about time the cavalry showed up." Chuck told them, as he opened the door. "So what's the plan?" you asked. "The plan is to lock you both in the Castle till this is over. Come on..." Casey said, starting to push you into the entrance to Castle. " Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, whoa, whoa. What about Ellie and Morgan and everyone else?" Chuck asked. "We're instructed to remove you two and only you two. There's a team coming to extract the rest, and they will be in good hands." "We're not just going to leave my sister behind." Chuck argued. " There are rules, Chuck, and we have to follow them. So let's go..." Sarah argued back, trying to grab the both of you but you both pulled away. "We understand that there are rules, but when it comes to family and friends, there's a time to break 'em. " you told them. "Get in the hatch, Bartowski and L/N." Casey warned. "Y/N , Chuck, you're letting your emotions cloud your judgment. I promise nothing bad will happen to them. Now please, come on." "We can't take that chance." you said. "Chuck, Chuck's girlfriend, is that you?" It was Ned. " John, John." Chuck whisper yelled, warning Casey to close the entrance to Castle. When Ned came in, he yelled when he saw Sarah and Casey and pointed his gun at them. " No, no, no, Ned!" Chuck shouted. " Chuck, what's going on?" " Ned, Ned, please, please, please don't shoot that gun." "Who are they?" " They're harmless. They're harmless, okay?" you told him. "Look, they heard your crash and they hid. This is my co-worker and best friend, Sarah." " Hi." she greeted. " And this is John Casey." you introduced. "Who's even more harmless than she is." Chuck told him. "Ned, please, just uncock the gun." you told him, pleading a little. Ned looked at you all for a second but agreed. "Okay. How do I do that? 'Cause the truth is, I never used one of these before." " There's probably a button on it, like a safety or something like that. Just go ahead and push... " Chuck started. Ned fiddled and had the gun pointed down, but Casey could tell he was doing it wrong. "No, no, no!" Casey shouted.

But it was too late and the gun fired. Everyone on the main floor in Buy More heard and Ellie feared for you and Chuck.

[the-writer-nerd-ro]

Excessive cuddling? In my Dankesy ship? It's more likely than you think.

Anyway I can't stop myself from writing this and the end of this chapter will directly flow into the start of the next one so this chapter is shorter.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2

Men out of Time Chapter 3

Deke lay across Daniel’s lap, trying to message his grandparents and future mom as Kora and Daisy managed the ship. They all did their best to pull their weight but both boys admitted that Daisy and Kora were more important to the crew than they were. Sometimes Sousa felt like he didn’t even belong there at all, since he couldn’t fight like Daisy and Kora or innovate like Deke. Then a crisis would happen and he would realize that he held the one brain cell whenever something stressful happened. Because everyone else on this ship chose fighting or martyrdom as the response to almost everything and Daniel was the only one who could talk any of them down. 

Of Daisy’s boyfriends, Daniel was the only one Kora actually liked. He got along great with family, he was just charming. Whenever Deke called his grandparents they spent more time talking to Daniel and Daisy than him, which is why Deke had started messaging them more than calling.

Coming out to FitzSimmons had been an absolute trip for Deke.

“Nana? Bobo? I have something to tell you,” Deke had mentioned after they had all finally gotten used to the whole not dying thing.

"Yeah, Deke? You can tell us anything," Jemma assured, per usual a thousand times more patient and affectionate with Deke than her husband. 

"I'm in love with Daisy."

"That's not news. We already knew that," Fitz said, ready to get back to their daughter. 

"Oh, Deke, I'm so sorry. I know it can hurt to be in love with someone who doesn't see you that way. But Daisy has a boyfriend," Jemma broke the news so gently that Deke had to hold back his laughter.

"Uh, no, actually, we have a boyfriend. I'm in a relationship with both Daisy and Daniel. I'm bi. And polyamorous."

Fitz surprised him the most, "Was it Mack?"

"What?" 

"Everyone's a little bi for Mack."

"Bobo, are you attracted to Mack?"

"Everyone is!" Fitz protested.

"Tell him about Hunter," Jemma suggested, and Fitz let out the loudest groan.

"Before Simmons starts making stuff up we should probably go."

"Leopold," Jemma started.

"Right. We're very happy for you, Deke. We're very proud and glad that you could be open with us."

"Thanks, Bobo, that means a lot to-" Fitz had clearly hung up, "-me." Deke didn't mind his Bobo's impatience or teasing. He was just happy that his family accepted him.

Of course, Daisy and Daniel were his new family now. Their acceptance was the only kind that really mattered. He felt so comfortable and seen with them, he didn't have to be on guard, didn't even have to pretend to be happy all of the time. He didn't feel like a nuisance or a pet because his partners always treated him like a person.

He tried to make it up to them in a thousand ways. Lemons, easy chores, broken electronics. He'd learned how to repair Daniel's typewriter, and was perfecting his backrubs. Sometimes he almost felt good enough for the relationship and then Daisy or Daniel would run their hands through his hair and he'd feel so good and so small at the same time. 

His other family helped with that. Just talking to Nana and Bobo, or Mack and Elena, or Coulson, or sometimes even May helped immensely. Because they all kept in touch with Daniel and Daisy as well, so all of Deke's frantic calls could be met with the assurance that his partners were madly in love with him, that he didn't have to prove anything to anyone, he just had to start believing it himself.

Daniel was better at saying it than either of them. He could say, "I love you," without a moment's hesitation. It had taken Deke and Daisy a little longer to be comfortable with the turn of phrase. At first, they found other ways to say it. Easier ways to say it. They got so tongue-tied around love that they would rather just lock lips or tangle bodies than commit to the sentence. But eventually even the hardest I love yous fell easily from their tongues, the earned reward of a difficult devotion. 

They clicked together so naturally, but their love wasn't always easy. Deke, Daisy, and Daniel all had heads full of storms, pasts from which they could never fully recover, moments of insecurity that cut them deeply. Together everything made sense but apart their heads jumbled and their love took work. It was easy to love each other. It was much harder to love themselves.

[thefloatingstone]

MST3K Recommendations for people who’ve never watched it

So if you’re somebody on the internet under the age of 22 there’s a chance you may have HEARD people talk about Mystery Science Theater 3000 or “MST3K” for short, and may even know exactly what it is, but you’ve not watched it and have no idea where to start. Or if you’ve never heard of it, this is me telling you you should probably watch it.

In the early to mid 2000s, when the only people on the internet where nerds and teenagers who were nerds (like literally. I have no idea how to explain to the Today’s Kids(tm) that the internet use to ONLY consist of nerdy people and fandoms. None of this “Influencer” shit.) Anyway, back when the internet was just nerds, before video was easily available, MST3K was still being talked about via audio clips, usually made by holding microphones right up to the TV, and when youtube launched in 2006, some of the very first videos were MST3K episodes cut up into 10 parts (because originally you couldn’t upload videos to youtube that were longer than 10 minutes and they had to be 240dp). And before google bought youtube, you could find full, complete episodes of MST3K on Google video.

It’s kind of a staple if you’re a nerdy internet person, and you’ll probably see it get referenced by fandom people and youtubers in their late 20s a LOT. Or use some of the things MST3K introduced in their own videos (like the Stinger after the credits for instance)

So MST3K is kind of essential viewing imo. And luckily, because of the nature of the show, unlike... basically EVERYTHING tv related, sharing links of MST3K is actually actively and honestly encouraged by the show creators.

The show ran from 1989 to 1999, changing from airing on one channel to another as it went (I’m not American so I never caught it on TV). And at the end of literally every single episode throughout its entire 10 year run, you would see this after the credits;

The show actively encouraged its audience to tape the episodes to video and share those videos with friends and family. This is because the show was never about “building a franchise” or becoming monetarily valuable for its creators, but it was about people actually watching the show. Even to this day, with copyright claims and “Subscribe to our streaming service to watch this show” running rampant, MST3K continues to be a show whose prime focus is to get people to watch it. (unless you want to buy it on DVD in which case the prime focus is for you to be rich to try and afford them because they’re like $70 for 4 episodes).

As such, some episodes are available for free on the MST3K official youtube channel completely for free. Some episodes you can buy from the Rifftrax website (which is where the show creators now work, doing basically the same thing as MST3K minus the puppets and host segments unfortunately) but I would be honestly shocked if ANY episode is unavailable online because sharing the episodes is.... just kind of the point of the show? I literally managed to find each and every one in 2008 (although that dark drive doesn’t want to work with my newer laptop so I might have to download all the episodes AGAIN. Thanks Technology...)

But if you’re somebody who has NO IDEA which episodes are “the good ones” or you just want to jump in and watch but you’re scared you’ll get a complete dud as your first experience and then not know what all the fuss is about, or you just want to know some good episodes to watch, I decided to throw together a list, along with links.

And with that VERY lengthy intro out of the way, here we go!

In no order

The Touch of Satan Year: 1971 S09E08 Host: Mike Mads: Pearl, Brain guy and Bobo

Despite the movie title there is no Satan in the film. A baffling movie where a good looking “All American Boy” named Jodie drives through a small town while road tripping from Texas to San Fransisco. There he meets a really pretty girl named Melissa who lives with who she claims is her mother and father on a walnut farm, as well as her insane grandmother. For seemingly nonsensical reasons (other than he’s attracted to Melissa) Jodie decides to spend the night at the farm. Eventually he gets pulled into the family curse and learn just who Melissa really is (It’s not Satan).

The movie is incredibly stupid and WOULD be pretty bland if not for the absolutely ridiculous dialogue, bizarre little details you can’t help but focus on (why a Walnut farm? Why is the father always so sweaty??) and just how.... 70s everything is.

Mike and the bots are super on point with their jokes, and it has a few of my favourite jokes and host segments in it.

https://youtu.be/ZebKhabJItE

Gamera Year: 1965 S03E02 Host: Joel Mads: Dr Forrester and TV’s Frank

Look. If you’re gonna watch MST3K you’re gonna have to watch a Gamera movie eventually. And since I could literally put ANY of the Gamera films here, I’m gonna start with the first one. Especially since the following Gamera movies the host and bots have running jokes and references to the first films.

Gamera is a Japanese Kaiju movie franchise originally created to compete with Godzilla. And completely misses the point of Godzilla. Whereas Godzilla was originally intended to be a metaphor of Atomic weaponry and Japan’s national wound following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki... Gamera is about a giant flying turtle monster who is friend to all children.

....and I friggen LOVE Gamera. It’s because of MST3K’s episodes that I ended up buying a DVD boxset of every single Gamera movie. It’s good stuff. Start with this episode and watch the others as you go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rly_1NPCXAM

Pod People Year: 1983 S03E03 Host: Joel Mads: Dr Forrester and TV’s Frank

This is MANY people’s favourite episode in the whole show, and was my favourite as well until I couldn’t pick a favourite any more. However this is the only episode of the show where I had to pause it the first time I watched it at one part because I was laughing so hard.

Originally intended to be an alien slasher movie, the producers asked the director Juan Piquer Simon to include a subplot where a cute child makes friends with one of the aliens so that they could market the movie as an E.T. rip off (E.T. had come out the year before) If you think this would make the tone of the movie confusing where half the aliens are killing off teenagers and half the aliens are being friends with a small, badly dubbed child... you are absolutely right. But it’s the Host segments and jokes within the film that make this one of the top 5 best episodes in the whole show, if not top 3.

It is the episode that people will most commonly reference even 30 years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCl2ZNkfnS8

Jack Frost Year: 1964 S08E13 Host: Mike Mads: Pearl, Brain Guy and Bobo

One of the many badly Russian films that deserved much better than the shitty dub they got. I was THIS CLOSE to putting “The Day the Earth Froze” here instead, but I felt Jack Frost is the easier watch of the two (however I do recommend checking out The Day the Earth Froze as well).

Honestly, this film isn’t that bad at all. It’s shitty dub is a shame but even with the silly voices and calling Baba Yaga “The Hunchbacked Fairy” for reasons I will never understand, the film is actually pretty charming, and if I had it on video as a kid I probably would have really liked it.  It’s a classic fairy tale about a pretty and kind young girl who is treated badly by her stepmother and stepsister, but she finds true love in a handsome prince who had been turned into a bear until he could learn humility. Also Jack Frost is there (I have no idea who he’s suppose to be in the original language of the film and I doubt its Jack Frost). The movie is innocent and weird and overacted and the main character of Nastenka is so pretty and big eyed and innocent it’s an easy target for jokes on just how silly and whimsical everything is. The jokes are never outright mean spirited or nasty, just in line with the whole silly movie, and honestly this is a great episode to introduce your kids to the show as it’s not scary and doesn’t have any gore (like some of the other films showcased)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVpOaeBtr7w

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies Year: 1964 S08E12 Host: Mike Mads: Pearl, Brain Guy, Bobo

Yes. That is the real title of the movie. And it is also the most exciting thing about it. This movie is..... incomprehensible, to say the least. I am only BARELY aware of what the fuck it’s even about. There’s a fortune teller on the amusement park wharf? And I remember a terrifying robot monkey asking people to buy tickets, and the main character (I use the term loosely) becomes evil? I’m sorry but this movie is so cut to ribbons in editing and has so little dialogue it’s barely even a movie. It’s held together by the thinnest threads of recurring images. However, unlike some of the other episodes in MST3K with the same problem of barely being movies, I find the jokes by the hosts land much better and they’re not in as agonizing pain as “The Beast of Yucca Flats” which I still consider the worst movie I have ever seen in my life.

I have no way to describe this movie. It’s not even crazy enough to garner enthusiastic “this movie is batshit insane” praise. Watch this one for the jokes by the hosts. And for the title so you can tell people “I watched a movie called The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jLGqN3XG-Q

Eegah Year: 1962 S05E06 Host: Joel Mads: Dr. Forrester and TV’s Frank

Ugh. This movie. Ok. “Starring” Arch Hall Jr. who was a sort of actor and one of those 60s “teen heart throb” singers before boy bands became a thing after the Beatles. He never made it super big, but it was considered a big selling point to films he was in (he went on to being an airline pilot and good for him). This movie is about him and his girlfriend his girlfriend’s father finding a giant caveman in the desert outside their town (in a cave which is NOT made of burlap sacks). The giant caveman falls in love with the girlfriend and follows them to the suburbs.

It’s not the most remarkable movie MST3K ever did. It’s not the best movie they ever did nor is it the worst movie they ever did, but for some reason this film has a tendency to stick in people who watch MST3K’s minds. Maybe the jokes are just THAT quotable, but for whatever reason, it’s one of the staple episodes to watch. And hey, at least the movie is WATCHABLE. MST3K went on to reference things in this film for the rest of the show’s history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvFBKsW3Aew

Santa Claus Year: 1959 S5E21 Host: Mike Mads: Dr. Forrester and TV’s Frank

A Mexican movie about Santa Claus and his friend Merlin who live on the moon and watch the children of Earth through a telescope to make sure they’re all being good. We focus on the devil Pitch who is sent by Satan to make children misbehave, most noteably a 4 year old girl named Lupita who is from a poor family and wishes she had a pretty doll to play with, and a rich little boy who wishes his parents would spend Christmas with him.

This movie is.... weird. In case the whole “Santa and Merlin are friends and live on the moon” thing didn’t already tip you off. The movie’s pretty harmless overall but it’s just WEIRD. Santa’s castle on the moon is full of children from all over the world wearing the most stereotypical clothes of all time (Japanese children in full kimono, American children all dressed as cowboys, African children dressed in tribal clothes etc etc) and they.... I think they make the toys? I’m not sure. Santa’s reindeer are terrifying wind up toys who laugh maniacally when they’re turned on. There’s a giant mouth on the wall that’s part of Santa’s computer? And an ear that can hear what all the children are saying on earth or something?

It’s just... it’s bizarre. And an excellent episode to watch for Christmas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTWs3zvz1z4

War of the Colossal Beast Year: 1958 S03E19 Host: Joel Mads: Dr. Forrester and TV’s Frank

I am recommending this one not actually for the movie itself, but for the short which plays first, which is “Mr. B Natural” and which is easily the best and most referenced MST3K short in the whole show.

It follows a little boy who wishes he was cool. He’s visited by Mr. B Natural, the spirit of music. Mr. B Natural is played by Betty Luster and is a bizarre character in himself, being completely androgynous and using male pronouns while being played very obviously by a woman with a very obviously female voice. Mr. B is presented as a sort of pixie character and possibly meant to be like the stage version of Peter Pan which is also traditionally played by adult women. The episode of MST3K aired in 1991 LONG before the concept of Non-binary was even a thing. As such MST3K plays along with the weirdness that is Mr. B, using only male pronouns for him and addressing him as a man, while also commenting on how attractive he is.

Mr. B teaches our little boy main character that if he wants to be cool he needs to buy a trumpet and join the school’s band, and goes on to be one of the most beloved MST3K “characters” who they often keep making references to and who shows up in the host segments now and then as a cameo.

Oh. And then there’s a movie following the short that’s a sequel to another movie. It’s about a man who keeps growing larger and larger in size but the bigger he gets the more he loses his intelligence. It’s directed by the notorious “Bert I. Gordon” whose movies are always more vehicles for cheap special effects than story, plot or characters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRL8umsMe28

Squirm Year: 1976 S10E12 Host: Mike Mads: Pearl, Brian Guy and Bobo

I am a little biased towards Squirm because I’m pretty sure it was the very first MST3K episode I ever saw (not counting the short “Are you Ready for Marriage?” which was the first anything MST3K that I saw). But even if it wasn’t I think Squirm is still a great episode to check out, and it comes with the double whammy of having the short “a Case of Spring Fever” in front of the film which, if they had the short in an earlier season, would definitely have become a running joke throughout the show. Sadly They only aired it here in the 10th season, but even being in the last season, it’s one of the show’s most famous shorts they’ve done.

As for the film, it’s actually pretty great too. It takes place in Georgia and is SUPER southern to a point of coming across as a parody almost. Our main character is the boyfriend of a local girl, a “city boy” who she met antiquing (a hobby they both share and talk about a lot throughout the film). However, a powerful electrical storm struck the small town a few nights ago, and as a result, it has turned all the earthworms underground into blood thirsty, violent predators (without actually growing in size). The movie is a silly and ridiculous B-Movie, but honestly a LOT of the effects are pretty damn impressive. Before he made it big in Rocky, Sylvester Stallone really wanted a role in the film but didn’t get it. All the worms in the film are real, and bought from the bait and fishing industry. So many worms were used in this film that they completely used up the entire New England’s bait supplies for the whole year following the shooting of the film.

Erm... so don’t watch it if you’re squeemish about bugs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3msPmLpLTUM

Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders Year: 1996 S10E03 Host: Mike Mads: Pearl, Brain Guy and Bobo

omfg this movie X’D this fucking movie.

Ok. So what kind of movie do you expect with a title like that and if I tell you it starts off with a grandfather telling his grandson a story about how Merlin’s magic is real and has come to benefit mankind and help others?

You’re probably expecting some whimsical fantasy low budget Princess Bride knock off, right? This is exactly what the film THINKS it is, too. It THINKS it’s a magical child friendly story about magic and Merlin and him and his wife running a shop that sells magical items to better the lives of others.

So it’s kind of a fucking problem that the stories in this movie are based off of Stephen King horror Novellas!!!

And that’s basically all you need to know about why this movie is kind of a disaster. It thinks it’s an all ages magical romp when in reality it’s a horrifying double feature of pet deaths (warning for a dog dying in the second story) an abusive husband (warning for domestic abuse in the first story) and demonic powers.

Also, despite the film being made in 1996, the second story uses footage from the director’s earlier film “The Devil’s Gift” which was made in 1984. As a result, despite the 1996 release, the child in this part of the movie is playing with Star Wars toys and wearing an E.T. shirt through most of it.

This movie also has one of my favourite jokes by Mike right at the end of the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Q-RuAx4V4

Ah crap that’s already 10 movies and I haven’t even mentioned “Werewolf” or “Puma Man”. dkfhskdhfks Go watch Puma Man and Werewolf!! They’re great!

and finally, special mention;

Manos: the hands of fate

Year: 1966 S04E24 Host: Joel Mads: Dr. Forrester and TV’s Frank

The great grandpappy of ALL the MST3K episodes. Of all the episodes they’ve ever done and all the movies and shorts they ever covered, Manos is the one that crawled under the skin of the hosts and the audience the most. Many people say it’s the very worst film they ever did EVER. As I said, I personally think the Beast of Yucca Flats is much worse if only because it’s painfully boring, but in terms of sheer “this is so fucking bad I can’t even process this”, I guess Manos wins. Being terrible because you’re boring is one thing. Being terrible because you’re completely batshit insane is another.

The story BEHIND the movie Manos is fascinating. Made when the creator of the film made a bet with a friend that he could make a movie despite never having done anything with film before, he went ahead and did it, with a screening and a premiere and everything. The actor playing Torgo was high on LSD the entire time of filming. The Camera used to shoot the film got so hot they could only film 30 seconds for each scene before they had to cut to a new one. The entire movie was filmed without sound and dubbed afterwards. The actor who was going to play the main character broke his leg before filming started and had to be replaced last second.

The movie is indescribable. It is PAIN and it is SUFFERING and it is BAFFLING and you should really build up a resistance to bad movies before attempting to watch this episode. I do NOT recommend starting your MST3K viewing with this one. But eventually, if you like MST3K, you’re gonna have to watch it. There’s just no escaping it.

The only way I can properly explain what Manos is like is to quote Crow who comments in the opening credits (which the film but forgot to put the actual credits over) “Every frame of this movie looks like someone’s last known photograph.”

And that’s it. That’s the whole movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ5baft7Kv0

I forgot to add my links!

⭐️Patreon⭐️ Or consider ☕️Buying me a Ko-fi ☕️

[drwcn]

ok but for fem!wwx au does lan zhan believe the rumours? and if so what does that mean for the whole 'i birthed him with my own body!' cause lan zhan did the maths and was like 'no it was just the once and this child is too old' but if he thinks he was just one in a line does he go back to bm after nightless city to rescue a kid he thinks is wei ying's but with another man? does he spend the three years in seclusion cursing every jin whose name he remembers as cowards only to step out, take one look at sizhui, and have an 'oh. i know why wei ying was so determined to save wen qionglin' moment???

Answer:  Haha, nah, Lan Wangji was fairly sure Sizhui wasn’t Wei Ying’s, for several reasons. One, Wen Yuan was born before the wen remnants even went to the Burial Mount. Lan Wangji saw the small child amongst the escape party that rainy night at the  concentration camp. Also, Wen Ning was several years younger than them, which would make it kind of weird if he were the dad. Before Wen Ning became the Ghost General, everyone just knew him as Wen Qing’s kid brother.  Lan Wangji, however, absolutely believed Jiang Yan to be Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian’s child even before Wei Wuxian was resurrected... 

《the midnight sun》 — 

[original], snippets [x] [x] [x] [x], other posts found under #lanyan or #midnight sun

midnight sun [snippet 7]

When Yan’er turned ten, Jiang Cheng decided it was time for her to accompany him to Cultivation Conferences. Most sect heirs began their training this way; Jiang Cheng still remembered his first time, trailing nervously in Jiang Fengmian’s wake. 

Heiresses, in comparison, were few and far between. Even head disciples were rarely girls. Jiang Wanyin had no children. His head disciple was his heiress, and his heiress was Jiang Yueqian (江月千). 

长烟一空 - when the smoke clears; 皓月千里 - the moon casts a thousand miles of light 浮光跃金 - which dances upon the water, golden 静影沉壁 - the shadow of the moon itself like jade underwater*

A jade underwater indeed.

“Shifu.”

Speaking of the devil, here she comes, walking measuredly down the long stairs of Jinlintai towards Jiang Cheng, the epitome of an obedient, filial disciple. It had only been a day and Jiang Yan already had the world fooled. Only Jiang Cheng knew how impossibly obstinate and utterly uncontrollable she was when her mind was fixed.

"Ah, Jiang-zongzhu, this is..." Spotting her, Lan Xichen glanced beyond his shoulder, the question dangling in the sentence he did not deem necessary to finish.

Unbeknownst to Lan Xichen, the child that made her way over was his niece by blood. Jiang Cheng was acutely aware that Yan'er actually resembled Lan Wangji a great deal, and despite having weighed the risks and gains against each other repeatedly before deciding to bring Jiang Yan along, now he was no longer so certain in his calculations. Lan Xichen was not a simple peasant; what if he detected a trace or a hint of her heritage between the furrow of her brows or the curve of her eyes? What if...

Jiang Cheng turned, raising an arm towards Jiang Yan, an introduction ready, but whatever words he had prepared in advance died on on his tongue when he laid eyes on the girl. Suddenly, he was no longer worried that others would suspect her to be Lan Wangji's child.

There was a red ribbon in her hair.

Yan'er stopped at a polite distance from the two older men and bowed in perfect form.

Jiang Cheng's heart stuttered violently in his chest at the sight of that red ribbon falling sideway over her small shoulder. If souls could travel, his would have left him in an instant. He stood in disincorporated panic, wrestling with the nauseating sensation of being ripped from his reality and tossed so far into the distant past that he felt whole again.

"Shifu, Lan-zongzhu." Yan'er greeted.

Shifu. Lan-zongzhu. In another world, another life, she would not need to be so formal. She could easily bound up to them, carefree, cooing jiujiu and bobo and ask to be bailed out from whatever trouble she caused.

Instead, he was only her shifu, and Lan Xichen, a stranger in her life. It would be laughable, if fate had not dealt them each such a wretched hand.

Jiang Cheng stepped towards her. “Where did you get this?” 

Jiang Yan looked up in surprise, her hand reaching up and making an aborted motion to touch the red ribbon in her hair.

“Qin-shenshen gave it to me. Is it not nice?” 

Qin Su. Jiang swallowed down a sigh of relief. Earlier, the Jin servants had sent word that Jin-fu'ren had baked treats for Jin Ling, and the boy had wasted no time dragging his favourite person - his Yan'er jiejie - to his aunt's place with him. Clearly, Qin Su had seized the opportunity to dote on the girl in place of the daughter she never had. Qin Su meant well. She couldn't have known. She's never even met Wei Wuxian.

In this state, Jiang Cheng could barely bring himself to look at his disciple, but he forced himself nonetheless to kneel and tuck an errant strand of baby hair behind her ear. “Very pretty.” 

Yan'er smiled.

Jiang Cheng could cry.

They'd been lucky thus far. Yunmeng's Jiang-xiao-guniang was born a taciturn girl who did not like to smile or laugh, not even when she was expected to for polite society. Whether she was happy or sad, one would be hard pressed to tell. Only in front of her master Jiang Cheng or her Jin Ling-didi did she elect to reveal the full expanse of her emotions. Yet, whenever Jiang Cheng bore witness to that smile as warm and incandescent as sunlight, he could not help but shudder somewhere deep. Recalling the radiant days of years gone by, he could still see - every time he closed his eyes - his er-shijie smiling at him in the very same fashion.

Aiyo, Jiang Cheng ~

So...they'd been very lucky thus far, that Yan'er was not so like her mother in that way, not so free and generous with her smiles. Or else this devastating secret —Wei Wuxian's only wish — would not be able to withstand the test of time.

"Very pretty, Yan'er." He reaffirmed. "Did you thank Jin-furen?"

"I did."

Jiang Cheng stood and turned back to face Lan Xichen, and realized they were being joined by two others: Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji. The latter of two stared directly down at Jiang Yan, visibly stricken and unblinking, as though he'd just seen a ghost. After all, he had often been on the receiving end of that signature smile once upon a time. It was probably not a smile he'd ever expected to see again in this life.

In hindsight, perhaps Jiang Cheng should have made Yan'er wear her uniform like all the other disciples instead of her favourite indigo robes.

“Ah, Wangji, shufu -” Lan Xichen was quick to react, sensing animosity brewing in the disquiet that stretched taut between his younger brother and his fellow sect master. "Jiang-zongzhu, perhaps you would introduce us?"

The First Jade smiled kindly down at Yan'er. She returned his kindness with a polite nod.

Lan Wangji finally dragged his gaze up to meet Jiang Cheng's, a rarity since their violent parting at Nevernight. The venerated Hanguang-jun had developed a habit of pretending that Jiang Wanyin of Lotus Pier did not exist at all. He probably preferred, dreamed of it even, if Jiang Cheng had been one to fall of the cliff that day. He probably hated himself for not shoving him into the molten abyss when he could to avenge the love of his life.

Love. What did Lan Wangji know of love? Jiang Cheng sneered inwardly. One did not compromise one's love and abandon her, ill and with child, to bleed out alone in a cave tainted by demonic spirits.

One did not watch idly as one's love and her people are reduced to ashes for the power and greed of men either....

Jiang Cheng buried the offending thought, too familiar with Wen Qing's ghost that still haunted him in his moments of weakness. Without breaking gaze, he laid a hand on the crown of Jiang Yan's head and said, "This is my first disciple, Jiang Yan, Jiang Yueqian."

"Yueqian greets Zewu-jun, Lan-lao-xiansheng, Hanguang-jun."

Jiang Cheng watched as the icy fire within Lan Wangji's eyes flicker, fizzle, and extinguish entirely. Jiang Cheng's vague silence had allowed him the space to make his assumptions, and he had assumed the most insane explanation.

Is it so difficult for you, wondered Jiang Cheng. To believe that she could be yours? So impossible, that you would choose to doubt Wei Wuxian instead?

Fine.

Hanguang-jun. The venerated Second Jade of Gusu. That's all you'll ever be. Yan'er will never call you Father.

Jiang Cheng decided he had spent enough time today making nice. "Zewu-jun, it's getting late. If nothing else, I will be taking my leave. The conference continues tomorrow. I will see you then. Yan'er, come."

Yan'er bowed again to the senior cultivators, perfectly well-mannered. A dash of surprise crossed those bright eyes, however, when Jiang Cheng took her hand to lead her away. She followed wordlessly, trusting him, and did not look back once at the Lans she left behind.

Now that Yan'er was out in society, there would surely be rumours. No matter. Rumours were nothing Jiang Wanyin could not withstand. How ironic, indeed, that this was to be his lot in life.

For the first time, Jiang Cheng felt he could understand his father.

Note:

The poem is from the Song dynasty, by poet 范仲淹 from his work 《岳阳楼记》

Jiang Cheng of course is also working off a lot of assumptions about Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's relationship. He has his reasons for hating and blaming Lan Wangji, but not all the blame is deserved.

[ofxwordsxandxletters]

Push Until I Break

Series: Wynonna Earp

Disclaimer: The plot is by request and the characters are borrowed in this work of fan-made fiction off of which no money is made.

Pairing: Hollirey

Rating: PG-14 for content

Thanks to the Hollirey server I’m a part of you get this angsty/fluff thing because we all agree that Bobo is bad at pain management or at least focusing on his own. So when he gets injured; he ignores it until he can’t with varying results.

As always, it’s laced with Hollirey…

*~*~*~*

Push Until I Break

To be fair, it hadn’t occurred to him at the time to be anything near concerned. He was a demon and it wasn’t Peace Maker. It wouldn’t kill him. Funny how that had become his gauge by which to judge the importance of things. Had Wynonna shot him? No? Then all was fine and he could damn well go about his day.

There is a nagging part of him that suggests maybe this isn’t the healthiest way to handle a situation but he pushes it down. There was stuff to do and he needed to focus. He had Revenants to handle and an heir to keep relatively amicable so no one got shot up in his compound.

Besides, the unlucky individual who had managed to stab him of all things got a very harrowing lesson on making sure the person he shoved the blade into was actually human and therefore could die like that. He should have been more aware of his surroundings. That sort of nonsense could kill someone. Well, someone else anyway.

A call from Wynonna has him making the trek to Shorty’s irritated that he yet again has to have a sit-down and wondering which idiot of his was going to be shaken and or tossed over the line until they actually thought better and makes himself comfortable at the bar. The twinge in his back worsens a bit, the weight of the coat and his shirt uncomfortable but that, too, was usual so he forces it away as he orders a drink. Might as well try and pretend civility.

Pretending was about all he had at that moment anyway.

So watching her saunter over has him telling himself to be downright pleasant if he wanted to not deal with anything resembling her threatening him with Peace Maker to add to his troubles. “Do your Revenants just like to push boundaries for no reason?”

He wants to drop his head onto the bartop but barely manages to keep himself from it before managing in what he hopes is a neutral tone, “Are you just figuring this out now?”

“So it’s nothing for them to just see how far they can take something then?”

Bobo gives her a flat, unimpressed look. “No. Did something actually happen or did one of the boys decide to amuse himself by doing something you can’t quite make a stink over?”

“The latter.”

“Then what am I doing here?”

“Can you reiterate…”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Earp!” he snaps, “You are being ridiculous about nothing and I’m not in the mood to cater to you! They’re going to keep doing this so long as you keep freaking out every time one of them comes into contact with someone. They know the rules and they obey. Everything else you are just going to have to ignore unless you’d like to drink twice as much as Holliday.”

He watches her look at him, really look at him and suddenly doesn’t like the way her brow furrows. “What, something on my face now?”

“Are you okay? You look….a little paler than normal.”

“Am I…” His back twinges hard and it’s a strain to keep from showing his discomfort, “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know, you tell me, but you look off. You sure you’re okay?”

“If I wasn’t would it bother you?”

“Not me but I’m sure Doc would have a few complaints to make in that direction.”

He snorts before reaching for his drink. That it takes effort to raise it has his attention before he realizes that his vision was getting a little fuzzy.

The stabbing. Oh. Right. “Earp,” he says quietly as the adrenaline, as even his own stubbornness finally gives, “You’re gonna need to grab this bottle.”

“What, why?”

The twinge becomes a ripple and his teeth snap together a moment before he manages, “‘Cause I’m about to pass out.”

“Wh-what...Bobo? BOBO!”

His vision goes gray and then black as he feels himself tumble with the parting thought of, ‘Fucking hell why did it have to be in front of her?’

He doesn’t come back to awareness on Shorty’s floor, he finds which is quite frankly a kindness he wasn’t expecting. The faint smell of tobacco and whiskey, however, tells him exactly where he’s resting, his face in a pillow. “You know, John Henry, most gentlemen ask a man to their bedroom,” he remarks trying to sound casual.

“Most men don’t faint in the middle of a bar from a stab wound up through their back and between their ribs, Robert,” comes the response that warns him someone wasn’t happy.

“Wasn’t fatal,” he tries, “Didn’t really think it was going to cause me such grief. I’m sure Wynonna enjoyed that performance.”

“Despite you and Wynonna not being civil to each other in any public forum she does not truly wish you ill so no she did not particularly like the sight of you collapsing in the bar less when we peeled your jacket off to reveal your injuries. How is it that you still have no concept of takin’ care of yourself better?”

“Revenant, remember? If it’s not Peace Maker it’s not a problem.”

There is a huff before the bed would dip down and the feel of hands would be on his back careful about the pressure over his mark. “You need to treat yourself as more precious than that, Robert. You’re worth more.”

His eyes go half-lidded before he lets out a soft sigh at a particularly gentle touch. “N-not to point out the obvious here but...pain’s been something of a familiar friend for a while. I got used to it. Probably should have paid better attention but I had things that needed to be done.”

“You cannot do that, you realize. It’s not fair to you.”

“See, there you go again. Be gentle. Be fair. John Henry, I’m a goddamn demon. There’s nothing remotely soft or gentle or...a-ahh...f-fuck...don’t do that!” His chastisement is of course interrupted by the press of fingers right along the edges of the mark; a massaging motion that has him arching chasing that feeling.

“Maybe I should keep a closer eye on you then because Wynonna doesn’t trust you to follow the rules and I don’t trust you to take care of yourself. Everyone wins.” Bobo would make an argument but at that moment the man presses his lips directly against the mark drawing a low whine from him as he squirms.

“F-fucking hell, J-John H-Henry, if I agree will you stop the goddamn chatter and put your mouth to better use?”

There’s a low chuckle before would come, “Well now darlin’, I do love your negotiation skills.”

[3cf]

AoS Finale

It is the end and I have too many things in my head and too many feels, so I am just going to put out there a “few” things I really love about 7.12 and 7.13. I tried to kind of sort it out by character.

(Warning: forget proper English, it does no exist here, or at least probably even well less than usually).

Mack

This is the end and we get to have the iconic association of Mack and his axeshot gun one last time.

Love his sassy answer to the chronicoms coming for their faces: typical Mack one-liner (and Sousa’s comment afterward). 

Him bounding with Sousa and showing him appreciation.

“Find me some duct tape”. I guess I appreciate comic relief Mack a lot.

Reunion at the bar with YoYo. awww

Director Mack building a Lola for Coulson, being with YoYo, being uncle Mack and all. Always there to be the SHIELD, leading his man. Love to see it.

Deke

When he imitates Fitz !!! Especially considering the fact that the posture is something that Deke actually unconsciously do quite regularly (something that many amazing “like Bobo like grandson” gifsets show perfectly). The scene takes very little time and it is cute and funny and a proof of the FitzSimmons Family bond. I love it so much.

When there are vibrations to open the door, Deke is in defense position to protect Nana in no time. Protective Deke

And then so sweet, and caring with his beloved Nana who is so lost.

Him figuring out what is the machine and proposes the plan to bring the chronicoms. Well played Deke.

CEO mode, I’m in charge of the operation vibe.

Mack telling him he is a great friends, thanking him, calling him agent Shaw and all.

Staying for the team and especially for FitzSimmons to have their happy ending and because he is competent with the tech. I wish we had more of a goodbye but time running out and all... He expressed that he could actually like being stuck in the 80s (7.8 I think), he found his place in this time and so he too can have a happy ending there, even if he does have to sacrifice seeing the team. 

the new guy in charge *what? oops* “yeah!”. It is SO Deke.

(I really love what they did with Deke in s7, especially as his writting has been a diffucult journey sometimes).

They did mentioned him being in another timeline and being missed at the bar ...

Sousa

Well, AoS is really good at dynamics and relationship but they really nailed wrtting ships. In only 11 episodes they manage to make Daisy & Sousa love interests in a way that neither felt forced or rushed. I was a bit skeptical at first but I have to admit they made it work. Partly thanks to the whole loop in 7.9 as it gives different opportunities and less risk on Daisy’s part as he will not remember. So I did like the Sousy part of the episode.

“Impressive” “Thank you” I just found it hilarious. 

Gentleman and very smart man: chronicoms becoming missiles. Hell yeah!

He got to be a part of SHIELD, see the universe and be with Daisy, so he is a happy man.

Coulson

Throwback to s2 (with the hand and) with Fitz’s tech against Gordon (Science biatch!)

We got to hear him say on last time the classic: I am Phil Coulson Agent of SHIELD

Smug Phil agains Sybil and all. Plus Coulson interacting with the villain is always good.

His relationship with May getting better by the minute.

Well, good news he does not feel like “dying” just yet, he enjoys the world, is crazy about Alya and all, I was expecting so much sadder but no! He got to be around quite happily!!

Coulson Academy!!!!!!!

LOLA !!

May

Phil & Melinda sorting things out. Both wondering who they are, because they have been through so much changes, expressing their appreciation for each other even after all of those changes... It was time they had a bit of time to address it and I’m happy they made it and it was in a very Philinda way.

Huging Daisy !!!! and once she felt like it might have been to impulsive, Daisy reassuring her. (Daisy is so happy, smiling so much).

Her banter with Coulson

The Cavalery !!!! My fav thing about May in the finale. So much trauma, so much fights but she made it, she can own that name now, make it mean something else. That’s just... woaw powerful and beautiful moment.

someone other than Coulson calls her Melinda during the bar/annual reunion scene ! (i was shocked but happy they are family after all).

Saying she hates her job and complaining is such a May moment. But like Coulson says she loves it and somehow she seems to be stuck to find and take care of her own little ducklings from now on. FitzSimmons and Daisy gone well there is an academy full of potential agents to form and help becoming their best version of themselves.

She really insists about Coulson passing by and it seems like she really wants to be closer to him.....

YoYo

YoYo killing it is always a joy to see.

Her little exchange with Sousa

I think we got one last turtle man from her at the bar.

She got her happy ending, things going well with Mack, kills it as an agent. She does what she always wanted, changing the world for the better, saving lives, giving hope. It fits her so well. I love that she works with Piper and Davis. (7.8 was such a great episode and it gives her her time to shine, the whole bouncing back storyline is so beautiful).

Daisy

Her being all happy about the kiss with Sousa, she simply radiates joy and excitement and there is a playful side too.

Happiness and hug when she sees Deke! Okay her moto was saving my sister Jemma (SISTER JEMMA!!!!) so I was very pleasently suprised by her relief and warm welcome of Deke.

Any scene where she uses her power.

Talking about Jiaying and being lost with Kora.

Going straight to hug Coulson at the bar and then to May. I love when she embraces her daughter status

That fight against “Mister I am always in the tag”. Pure Agent Quake. And the last quake... damn. (Thank you Kora on this one though.)

Happy Sousy building a relationship. Still with SHIELD, helping Kora to find a place. The series is in a good part about her leaning who she is and relearning when everything changes, finding a family, a place and she does it for Kora... Happy Ending for Daisy !!!

That last talk with Coulson

Fitz

That he is THE threat to the chronicoms, the one constant that make them loose.

When Fitz appears! and then his joy and the whole team’s joy.

He is back with his accent and gestures. Trying to explain stuff and all.

He asks Deke to team up with him on the machine. awww

Fitz was so well prepared for the whole memory thing. It was geartly done.

we had time flashback and FitzSimmons scenes. 

the whole she remembers a bit of Fitz but not her feelings for him and then Fitz issaying that she forgot something that matters way more !!!!!! I mean he is hopelessly in love with her and he says that !!! Seriously such a magnificent proof of love for his little monkey. (because that left no doubt that they had a baby).

OUR EVERYTHING !!

Happy loving Dad Fitz !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When Fitz arrived in the bar having trouble working I was so disturbed but it is just his little monkey. and LITTLE MONKEY like it is everybody’s headcanon about Dad Fitz but we got to hear in the show !!!!!

Jemma

Costume and can I have one stuff when she saw Daisy (+ Daisy and Deke’s yes). Cute and funny bit in the episode.

Smell his hairs!!!! When she says UNSTOPPABLE!!!

She called Z1 home !!!

two becomes one and three becomes one when putting the 084 together because no way they don’t have a child. so yes I love it/

Jemma’s ring beeing the key is such a Fitz and FitzSimmons thing to do.

we had time flashback and FitzSimmons scenes.

When she remembers,” what we are fighting for” ahhhhh

every scene with or about Alya. FitzSimmons Family in Z1.Mama Jemma ! I want it all.

Enoch

loved every single mention of him or small apparition I love both.Enoch

when the chronicoms say as we have always been... that punch in the gut. (though it does not make that much sense)

His ending is way less happy but 7.9 gave him a beautiful one no the less and it took the time to do it properly, it makes me cry so much but it really is a special moment and they did no rushed the scene for which I am very grateful.

Piper & Flint

I was so happy when they appeared on the screen, even if we did not see them much, I was expecting less, so good suprise.

Just all the Piper in 7.13, felt good to have her back.

anything you want -> Davis !!!!!!!!!!! Damn !!

Flint at the academy !! (May is going to have to take care to new ducklings).

Alya

Well I love that she exists. The little family is the cutest, they are so happy to be a little family, all the uncles and aunt seems to love her so much too. FtzSimmons as parents are adorable (and unstoppable).They are just so happy with their little life together and their own perthshire cotage. And she seems a bit special in a very FitzSimmons way so... I love it!

Also, the whole doing her own fish is so funny and cute. Especially with Little Girl Jemma talking about her project to study some special kinds of fishes in inescapable and the little ref to it when her memories are still a mess.

Other stuffs

Young John Garrett (I like him in his few episodes in s7).

Kora “redemption” but like mainly because she was very clearly being manipulated and because of Daisy. it is less heavy on Daisy like that and in some ways she got another chance with her biological family and she can do for her what other have done for her.

084 scattered through time and in pieces to not be seen by Sibyl & cie. It’s smart, 084 is also a classic of early seasons (one of the first mission, Skye, the whole obelisk...) and Enoch

I like that they say “what we are fighting for several times” but never really explicit it.  (I think)

Happy endings for everyone !!! Honestly that does feel great. Plus, they are just happy to see each other again.