#so there was a point where everyone saw the funky purple sky

[applepies-and-starlight]

Hi mootie, pls share one hc you don’t share often but you love it regardless c:

The headcanons I love the most happen to be the most batshit insane ones... this is especially so for the Pjmoon hcs

Anyway one of those hcs is that the msgical girls used to be LobCorp agents who died and got tossed into the Well to make new abnormalities (and, in Library of Ruina, eventually take on a strange sort of familiar-summoner relationship... similar to a kwami-wielder relationship from Miraculous now that I think about it)

[echoesofwisdomcountup]

26 Days until Tears of the Kingdom Release. I believe today is Orthodox Easter so happy Easter to those who celebrate. Also I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and that we can continue the hype for TOTK for the next 26 days.

Spoilers under the cut because I'm still not done with the trailer.

Pokemon Sword and Shield? Nah. Zelda Sword and Shield. I already love fuse so much. Sticking a royal claymore and royal shield together and then using that to parry an attack is insane.

At first I thought this thing was a Goron but upon a closer look it's got a symbol on it. I'm guessing this ball that moves so fast and leaves flames in it's wake is some sort of game/challenge that the Goron's cooked up. Probably minigame related, like the Challenge at Gut Check Rock or that one challenge where Link has to stand the heat.

The trampoline thing is so sick and seeing the other flying boats makes me think of how fun it would be to travel by bouncing from one to the other. Also Tulin is more grown up in this shot, proving that a few years have passed between BOTW and TOTK (at least Link and Zelda got some time to themselves before everything went to hell.) It's also my belief that just cause Link is flying with Teba and not Tulin does not mean something bad happened to Teba. I think Teba took over as Chief of the Rito so he's a bit too busy to pull stunts with Link.

Glowy hand. Also this sequence was so satisfying, even more so than a parry or a bomb. Octoroks always hit you at the most inconvenient of times so it's nice to uno reverse their attacks back at them. Also I wonder if reversing time on one object slows/stops time for everything around it as well but leaves Link free to move. I think that's how it works and if so then I'm looking forward to seeing how it can be used in combat against groups.

This looks like a neat side quest but also at the same time it reminds me of the escort mission in Twilight Princess. Hopefully this one is far nicer to me then than the TP quest.

Looks like Link really fused a rocket to his shield. Also he's on Eventide island with all his stuff so we probably won't see a repeat of that shrine quest, at least not on this island. I keep thinking about how funny it would have been for Majora's Mask Link to travel to the moon via rocket in order to fight Majora. Link technically already has experience with space travel of a sort so guess it's not surprising they finally gave him a rocket.

Speaking of space travel, MOON JUMPS. Yup, these steps absolutely have to deal with funky gravity and I'm sticking to that point (too many reactors keep saying time.) These steps also look like they lead to a giant platform, a perfect place for a boss fight, and with the weird goo in the background I'm guessing the boss fight is with the black and purple ink like alligator we see later in the trailer. If we are getting dungeons again, I wonder if this is part of one of the sky dungeons.

Nintendo saw that we loved mine carts in BOTW and decided to use them more. Thank you Nintendo. While I think this race with a construct is hilarious, I'm even more excited by the glimpse at an underground area and once with some sick lava falls. Also this reminds me of a roller coaster at an amusement park where there are duel tracks. Maybe they should make one of these in Super Nintendo land.

The amount of reactors I've seen start laughing once the trailer gets here is numerous. This mech battle, some may say the slowest and shittiest mech battle in history, truly showcases Aonuma's comment about how much room TOTK leaves for the player's imagination. I can't wait to craft my own shitty jousting robot and then see people on youtube make them cooler than I could ever dream. Also the new outfit that Link is wearing reminds me of a Roman Centurion.

This shot has an even cooler looking outfit. The horns and earrings are absolutely a reference to the unknown character already shown in the trailer. In general, I really like the look of this one and can't wait to acquire it. Then there is the ruby arrow. I hope that it doesn't do the same thing as fire chu chu jelly because I want Nintendo to give us a reason to use an expensive ruby for something other than outfit upgrades and rupees. Huh I wonder if some outfits are going to boost the effects of fusing materials to weapons/arrows. That would be interesting to see. Maybe an outfit boosts the magical effects of gems/minerals and in that case you would want to use rubies instead of chu chu jelly.

Speaking of fire chu chu jelly, I'm pretty sure that bokoblin is carrying some in a pack on his back. I assuming that some of the enemies will be throwing elemental jelly at us. Also what is that contraption Link and how did you get it up there? I wonder if he just levitated it into the camp using ultra hand and if he did then that bodes well for long range combat. Also pretty funny to drop a giant laser machine from the sky into the middle of a boko camp.

Giant ice leviathan and 100% a boss fight. I've heard some interesting arguments about this thing being related to the Great Hebra skeleton but part of me hopes not. It'd be tragic if Ganon corrupted a creature like Levias the flying whale from Skyward Sword. Levias was nice. Still, I can't wait to fight this thing. Also Link is wearing a new outfit with some very bright blue stuff (that Tulin also seems to have on him) that I'm assuming works like extreme antifreeze. However, I think the headpiece reminds me of the Statue of Liberty so I will not be able to take this outfit seriously.

Ok, thank you for reading today's piece of trailer analysis. Probably only two-ish more days to go before I finish the trailer in its entirety.

[nerdyenby]

Purple time :D I’m watching Jimmy

Pre-game

Purples Posies 😭

Jimmy, horrified: “Are you demanding money?” Martyn, without hesitation: “Yes” Jimmy: “Same”

This team is gonna be peak chaos in so down

Also coincidentally the only team I saw do a 4/4 practice session

Scott flirting with Shane and then calling Jimmy and Martyn his husbands, more like purple polycule, am I right???

I didn’t even bat an eye but Scott being awed that MCC is something someone would use Make-a-Wish for is so <333

I am living for this chaos

Martyn: *talking about his wedding* Jimmy: “awww” Martyn: “What are you ‘awww’-ing for, you were there” Scott: “I wasn’t there, I wasn’t Martyn’s bestie at that point” Shane: “I wasn’t born yet” 😂

INSTANT disconnect lmao

Grid Runners

The way Jimmy was running around clueless during the first room and they still finished it first

They popped off, that’s simply all there is to say

“Four bros chillin’ in a hot tub, five feet apart because… one of them’s gay” “You changed that” thanks for noticing Jimmy 😂

Parkour Warrior

It’s fun how close Jimmy, Martyn, and Scott are staying to each other

Jimmy’s doing so well!!

Yeah the snake is so counterintuitive this time, kinda love it tho

Me, who has never played minecraft on pc, backseat gaming like a madman: “just flick the mouse, Jimmy”

It would actually be so cool to see a late pkw, it would suck but it’d be interesting

Shane talking about funky symptoms he got while exercising the other day and it being the exact same stuff I just got a diagnosis for ✌️(I doubt Shane has what I do, I get that literally every time I stand up lmao)

Sands of Time

Jimmy’s so excited to be Sam’s daddy 😭

The synchronized “Hi HBomb” :))

I love Jimmy but it bothers me to no end that he doesn’t fill the timer all the way, I can respect keeping one sand just in case but there’s no reason to not fill all the way when you have nine in hand

Solid performance all around, they had good comms and plenty of time

Ace Race

The way the just started talk-singing Hall of Fame 😂

The Kermit impression is solid

I feel like I haven’t watched a team where no one mutes in a while

Shane and Martyn 9th and 10th!!!

Jimmy 15th overall!! Stop putting yourself down, that’s great!!

Meltdown

Martyn is MIA and Shane is just singing Taylor Swift’s Blank Space as Kermit 😭

Rip, definitely not the worst I’ve seen though

Why are they all doing Mumbo impressions???

Battle Box

I think this team will do well and I’m very excited to see people pop off because the only pov I’ve watched so far is cyan and their bb was… rough…

This team either destroys or gets destroyed, there is no in between

Something about the WWWLLLWWW is unreasonably satisfying to me

Dang it, now I wanna look into what games have the highest coin differentials, obviously pvp games are at top but I’m wondering what’s at the bottom

ALL I DO IS WIN WIN WIN NO MATTER WHAT!! (Fun fact: I only know that song because we played it during football games in my high school marching band)

They’re so chaotic I love them

Sky Battle

“So… where do we wanna go?” “Home… home please” so true Martyn

Fighting lime while in the bubblevator is the most disorienting fight I’ve ever seen and that’s saying something

They’re doing a really good job dividing and conquering and allocating resources

Comms got clogged but they held together, apd went hard tho and I could not for the life of me understand what Scott was trying to say lol

Shane’s keyboard 😭

That ending was so chaotic oh my goodness

Everyone being self-deprecating and Shane just saying “You guys- you guys were there” 😂

Hole in the Wall

I have no idea what all they’re singing but they sound good

This team has such good comms :)

Them all hyping up Shane :)))

Dodgebolt

No 👏 funneling 👏 /pos

Grian’s message :((

“No, not that one, the football one” “I don’t- I’m gay” Scott sounded so confused 😭

Gosh, I love Shane, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone be so excited for a teammate hitting a shot in a 4v4

Martyn joking that he doesn’t know how to run and Jimmy absolutely floundering “Move your legs and move- move your body in… in order to each other” 😂

Gumi’s dodging is wild

SHES POPPING OFF

Shane hyping up his teammates is everything

JIMMY WINNING SHOT!!!! THATS MY GUY!!!

SCOTT 5 WINS!!! AS HE SHOULD!!!!

My little cringefail loser winning the most statistically competitive mcc in history is so him

Callum’s manifesting worked :)

Jimmy prophet arc real

AIMSEY!!!! I wasn’t expecting him to show up but she has teamed with Jimmy and Shane in the last two mccs :D I love xem so much <333

“‘Martyn, we’re you sick this time?’ Yeah, sick of my teammates” I freaking love this team, their banter is everything

I know too much about mcc these days, Scott can say the last time he teamed with Martyn was when he blew him up with the tnt and I instantly knew they were talking about MCC7 lmao

[dreamofbetterthings]

Fake Out (Sam Winchester x reader)

Celebrity: Sam Winchester (Played by Jared Padalecki)

TV Show: Supernatural

Spoilers: None

Summary: You've had a problem with another student on campus that won't seem to leave you alone. When Sam finds out about your situation, he offers a way to get him off your chest. It's just for the time being though, right? You guys are still just friends, right? What happens after all this is over?

Warnings: Some angsty stuff later in the chapters, fluff in the form of best friends, and fake dating later in the chapters as well.

A/N: So...this is another update, after being gone for 84 years. When you lose your job and finish school work early every day, there isn’t much left to do, so yes, I am back. I was originally planning on using a picture of season one Sam, but I couldn’t find one that fit best with what I was picturing. So, I decided to use another where he looks a little bit older instead. Hope you don’t mind.

"Thanks again for helping me study Sam. There has to be some way I can pay you back.” You speak, rubbing your eyes for the umpteenth time. "It's no problem. You have most of the information down. Sometimes it's just easier to hear it from someone other than the teacher." He shrugs, shutting his notebook. You get up and start collecting your numerous flashcards and putting your books away. "I don't know. I haven't had a problem with Mr. Van since this semester started now all of a sudden, I can barely understand a word of what he's saying in class. It’s like he’s speaking another language." You close your notebook that was filled to the brim with highlighters and a rainbow of different colored notes in pen and put it in your bag. The two of you throw your bags on your shoulder and begin walking out of the little cafe. Your phone vibrates for another time that evening. Pulling it out of your pocket, the screen lights up the texts you have yet to respond to.

Brent

I'll see you tomorrow. Don't run off to class without me. Thu 4:30 PM

Brent

You like coffee, right? Thu 6:25 PM

You were annoyed. Brent had been texting you since class let out, which was at 2 in the afternoon. It was now 6 in the evening. Why in the hell was he always bothering you? Sure, you said hello to him a few times if you saw him around, but you did that to everyone. If you said anything to him then you initiated a conversation and he won't leave. If you don't say anything he will start a conversation himself and never leave. This is a literal lose-lose scenario. Oh god, what if he found your apartment? You don't even notice you've stopped walking until Sam snaps you out of it. "Are uh, are you okay? You zoned out for a bit." 

A loud sigh leaves your mouth and you stumble. "I-, it-, it's complicated." His eyes go soft as you two begin to walk again. “What’s on your mind?” You're silent for a moment, wondering how you plan to word everything. "If someone asks you out, and you politely say no, what do you do afterward if they still won't leave you alone? Hypothetically, of course." He raises his brow and asks "Well, that depends." You guys get to Sam's car and he opens the door for you. You thank him and he gets in after making sure you are fully seated. He lets the engine roar to life before driving off and answering you. "I would say you can talk to a campus adviser, but I don't know how much help that will do. If you're alone most of the time then try to find a couple of your friends to walk you to and from your classes, if that isn't too much trouble. Or, since he asked you out, just tell him you have a boyfriend. That should make him leave you alone. Hypothetically speaking of course. Although, part of me wants to think that you aren't being hypothetical about any of this, are you?" 

You stay silent and suddenly the music in the background wasn't loud enough. Every bone in your body wanted to just jump out of the moving car and run away from this problem. "It's alright. I won't make you talk about it if you don't want to." Part of your brain wanted Sam to know and you were glad you at least mentioned it. He was your best friend and it didn't feel right to lie to him. The other part of your brain didn't want him to worry and resented the fact that you said anything at all. Sam already knew your answer, even without you telling him. He had managed to see two messages that Brent texted you while you were studying for tomorrow's test. No wonder you needed advice on how to handle the guy, he just wouldn't take no for an answer. 

The youngest Winchester made it to your apartment just as the sun looked like it was going to start setting soon. The two of you got out of the car and as you looked up saw purples, blues, and oranges all tangled in dance within the sky. To say it was beautiful would be an understatement. Sam left his bag in the car and walked you to your door. Even though it was only a few feet from the car, he always insisted to make sure you got in safely. As you pulled out your key to the building you turned to face him. "Thank you again for helping me study. I think I'm going to start using the flashcard trick you taught me more often." He grinned and nodded his head approvingly. "I figured you would. That seemed easier than whatever it was you were doing before." After readjusting the bag on your still sore shoulders, you unlock the building to your dorm. Right before you take a step in, Sam calls you back. Turning around, he reminds you. 

"You know I'm always here for you, right? I know you've been stressing a lot lately, and I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't worried. I just wanted you to know that I'm always available if you need me, okay?" A smile appears on your tired face, and you wrap your arms around the male's much, much bigger frame. "I'd be lying if I said that you worrying doesn’t keep me sane. I appreciate it. I do. But, don't forget to take care of yourself, too. That means stop wearing clothes for two and a half days straight." You pull away and give him a funky face before you both burst out laughing. Sam was one of those students that became so focused on his classes, that was all he ever paid attention to. Which led to him lacking in proper hygiene among other things. Lucky for him, you could step in to remind him whenever he seemed to be slipping up. A bird ringtone erupts from your phone and you playfully roll your eyes. Quickly looking at the text and then putting the phone away, you tell Sam. "That's Andy. They're getting a little impatient, so I gotta go." He nods understanding and gives you one more hug before heading towards his car. 

"Hey, are we still going to the drive-thru tomorrow?" He opens his car door and nods. "You know I wouldn't miss it for the World. The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre starts at nine, and then A Nightmare on Elm Street starts sometime around ten-thirty." You nod and point to him. "You buy the tickets, and I'll pay for the snacks." Sam smiles again and as he gets in his car, he rolls the window down to say one last thing to you. "Pick you up at eight, that way we can find a decent spot?" "Sounds like a plan. Now get outta here, I gotta get ready for work." You both wave and he drives off as you enter your dorm building. 

__

Not in the mood for the stairs, you take the elevator straight to your floor. There was a pretty good amount of students going up and down the hallway. Either rushing to get to class from work, students in other programs hauling around sports equipment or cameras, or other things, or students like you rushing to get to work from class. You managed to make it into your room without any trouble, and as you take your school shoes off, you hear your roommate, Andy leaves the bathroom. "So, how was the date with Sam?" They ask with toothpaste foaming out of each side of their mouth. Shaking your head, go over to your bed, and drop your bag. 

"It wasn't a date. I have a test tomorrow and Mr. Van is hell-bent on making sure that I fail this semester. Sam offered to help me study on Monday, and we've been going over notes every day since." Grabbing your uniform you quickly change into it and switch places with Andy in the bathroom. "So that's where you've been running off to after class. At least he's cuter than Brent." An annoyed groan left your lips as you finished washing up. "Please don't bring him up again. I am so tired of hearing about that boy." Andy laughs and grabs both your working bags from the hook they're on. "I swear he follows you around like a lost puppy. Didn't you tell him that you weren't interested?" You spray yourself with deodorant and walk out of the bathroom to quickly put your shoes on when Cameron, the second of your three roommates bursts through the door. 

"Have you guys seen my laptop?! I had it earlier this week but I haven't seen it since." She runs to her room and starts throwing everything off her bed to look. Andy sets your work bags on the counter. "I thought you were working at the gym today, why do you need your laptop?" The nearly hyperventilating redhead walks out of her room to look through the couch as you head into your room to get her laptop. “I am. Tom was working on the computer that everyone uses to clock in and out of work when it went "pop." He unplugged it and tried to cut it back on again, but then it started smoking and he doesn't know what to do. I told him that the capacitor exploded and that he has to check the motherboard, but he just thinks cutting it off and on again will prevent a computer from smoking." 

Andy points out, "It could also be an electric surge from the power supply. You should have a warranty on those computers though. Call the company that he bought them from and see what they say." You walked back in with her laptop in her travel bag. "You messed up on one of the lines of code and put a nine instead of a six. I fixed the other problem you had, too." Cameron smiles ear to ear and takes the bag from your hands. Tossing it over her shoulder, she quickly gives the two of you hugs. "You two are lifesavers, honestly. We have our team meeting today and with all the computers out, Tom asked if I could bring mine since our place is closer than most." Andy checks her phone and tosses your work bag. "It’ll be our own lives we have to save if we’re late for work. We gotta go." After grabbing your keys, the three of you speed walk out of the apartment. 

You three take the elevator down to the entrance and towards your respective cars. Cameron gets into her grey 2014 Honda CR-V, while you and Andy carpool in her black 2016 Ford Escape. You two leave first, having the farthest drive, and wave at your roommate as you exit the parking lot. The drive is mostly silent until your phone buzzes in your bag. You pull it out and read the message.

Sam

I think we might have mixed up pencil pouches. Pretty sure the cover of mine doesn't have Bob Ross with sunglasses on. Want me to stop by your job and drop it off? Or would John get upset again? Thu 6:55 PM

 You laugh as Andy pulls into the parking lot of your job. Cutting the car off, you both get out. Quickly making it into the smoothie shop, the two of you clock in and grab your hats before relieving Michael and Steve at the front counter. You pull your phone out and send Sam a text back before more customers come in.

You

Sorry, Sam. I didn't even check to see if I grabbed anything of yours. I had to change for work and then help Cameron find her laptop. When I tell you I just barely made it in on time... That was a one-time thing with John lol, but don't worry about it though. We'll see each other tomorrow. Thanks anyway. Thu 7:00 PM

Tucking your phone back into your pocket, Andy gives you a nudge. "So when is he going to pop the question?" Giving her a confused look, she points to your pocketed phone. "When is Sam going to ask you out?" "Never going to happen." You take orders down and get the customer’s payment before heading to the back to make their drinks. Having every recipe on the menu memorized by heart, you already know what exactly to grab for theirs. 

Andy makes her way to the blender next to yours and makes her own set of orders. "I mean seriously, you two would be absolutely adorable together. Think about it, the two of you are practically inseparable at the hip as it is anyway. If Sam doesn't shoot his shot now, someone else might." After pouring the newly blended smoothies into their respective cups and capping them, you turn to your friend. 

"Look, I appreciate you trying to get me out there, but I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship right now. Even if I was, I don't think Sam is into me like that. He doesn't have the best home life, and right now, all he needs is a friend. That's where I come in. We're friends, that's it." Andy snickers as you walk back to the front and call the names out on the order. 

As much as you liked him, there was no way on God's green Earth, would the two of you get together, right?

A/N: Hope you like this first chapter! There will definitely be more ahead. Requests are open as well if you want a story of your own.

[kaiju-z]

Seon Adventures Episode 10: “Family and Friends and Fond Farewells.”

Soooo, stuff happened last session, huh?

Coming right back from the heartwarming moment, of a group hug and concilatory pat, the party now must dispose of the elf wizard, Felaern Krissel,’s charred remains.

After a quick round up discussion, they come to the conclusion of weighing the body down into a nearby bog. Really, planning it out takes much longer than actually doing it.

With Luctan gearing himself up again and disguising himself, Belli has to wonder how the ring actually works, since once he puts it back on, he returns to the shaven human look , no peachfuzz on his face, no nothing. From what Luctan could guess, there is a specific recorded charm to it, but he is no magical expert, so he cannot be so sure.

They decide to leave town. But not at once. They first must make some appearances, look around, ask for a possible job opening or something. Look as little suspicious as they can.

Returning to Victrum, part of the party goes back to the Silver Hammer’s Inn, where they try to dissuade Gorruk from even an inkling of an idea that they may have done something to one of his tavern’s patrons.

There follows a lot of bluffing and headaching, faceplanting on the bar and groaning on the subject of shattered perspectives on people and heroes. And yet, somehow??? Luctan lives up to his chosen previous name and bluffs Gorruk into believing them (i.e. the DM was rolling low during the conversation).

A question comes up regarding the meaning of “suggar daddy”,and Gorruk just. Doesn’t answer the disguised tiefling.

With a successful negation of a disaster, the gang get some drinks and Luctan plays matchmaker for Mournimar and Gorruk, which leaves the half-orc man a-blushin’. Gorruk does show interest in a possible date. But Mournimar evidently was not in the right mindset to get together with the man, who’s customer he only recently saw on fire. But he does promiss to return eventually and have that date with the saddened and confused hunk of a man.

We also learn that Gorruk has had this bar for 4-5 years now, having it passed down to him by a man called Medive, who currently resides in Sa Doma, coincidentally, having opened a different establishment called the “Queen Nightingale”. Should the party meet him, they will be sure to tell the man that Gorruk and the Silver Hammer’s Inn are doing wonderfully.

Or. As a Nat 20 Deception Luctan put it: “ What do you mean, Gorruk? This place is a Palace. “

The party reunite with Samson, who had been cuddling up to Morgan, the Dire Wolf, during all this drama, non-the wiser of what had transpired. The lot of them get on the carriage and take off on a long road trip to Sa Doma, where Belli is to meet with Kit and her Brother.

And where Samson is to split from the party and fulfil his own, personal quest.

Night 1: 

As everyone gets to their sleeping time, Luctan finds himself having a dream. Feeling his hand get warm, due to an item he had collected about a month prior... And in his dreams, things occur.

Back in the waking world, Burk is the reigns holder as the others sleep. Rimefang happily at his side.

Felaern Krissel’s personal belongings:  89 gold pieces, 75 silver, expensive robes. Luctan holds onto these... for now.

On the second day of their travels, the highest perception people in the party notice something. A sign. Faded words spell “Love Shack, 50 miles away”.

There is not much discussion as the lot agree to follow the sign...

Along the way Belli helps Mournimar with his hair.

They reach the opening to an empty field with a small shack in the middle. As the tiefling two leave the carriage for the shack itself, everyone hears whooping and cheering coming from a carriage, coming close behind them. Lead by 3 horses, the carriage’s passangers  They’re dancing, singing, playing instruments and are all around having a good time.

The in-coming patrons look the party over:

- Like half the people wink at Mournimar

- barely few show interest for Belli.

- Luctan soaks in all of the attention once eyes fall on the “human” fighter.

- Amelia gets none of the spotlight, sadly, but Burk does get at least two people to show interest.

The enthusiasting group wave and gesture for The Cultbusters to come along. But Luck and Mournimar are way ahead of them as they are down right swaggering towards the entrance of the Love Shack.

“Stay away fools, ‘cause love rules at the Love Shack.”

Luctan rushes in, Mourni follows.

“IF you’re looking for fun, you’ve come for the right place.” A very funky tune is coming from the shack as the duo come on in.

This place is a hot spot for Ebriosus (Banned God of Forbidden Mortal Pleasures) worship . As well as for some of Fornas (God of Luck, Fate and Destiny)’ more lenient followers.

While the boys have their fun inside, Amelia and Belli keep to the carriage with the others...

Though Samson does eventually join in the shack, looking quite relaxed and blazed by the time he comes back with Luctan (wearing a Flower Crown) and Mournimar. Double thumbs up are thrown in the air. Friendship with Samson, acquired in the most weirdest of ways. High five between the tieflings.

And on that day, Luctan became a man (TM).

(There’s a green half orc, who yells “Eldritch Blaaaast” inside the Shack).

As the party takes off, Luctan blows an air kiss to the building. And a  half-elf dude catches his air kiss. Luctan swears to return one day. Maybe. Totally.

By the night of the 5th day, as the party is settling in for the night, around a campfire, they get joined by a wild looking woman, carrying three rabbits.

Thaks to Belli’s Zone of Truth, used with the woman’s consent, we learn that her name is Elouise and that she is a hunter, of sorts. She’s definitely not a serial killer or a cannibal. NO siree.

Not a townie, she is someone, who prefers life in the forest, as her appearance expresses, evidently.  Elouise is about as tall as Amelia. Ruffled hair. They introduce themselves and talk of Sa Doma. According to her, there’s a rampant problem with people of the trade. Something illegal? Criminals of all variety. Thieves, assassins, forgers, counterfitters.

As they go on in their talk, the party offers her a spot at their campfire. In exchange, and in grattitude, she prepares the rabbits and the party have a nice feast with this new friend, who they encourage to try the adventuring life out.

They discuss their journey so far and surprise Elouise with the tale of how they met a representation of Dyunificus; a golden stag. She eventually believes them (and Mourni gets the piss taken for giving away his gift from Dyunificus).

Shifts are taken during sleep. During Luctan’s, he takes the 75 silver pieces he had collected and Sleight of Hands them on Elouise’s person. Having decided not to let the opportunity of helping out someone, who was kind to them.

After Belli’s wonderful Breakfast making skills, the party and Elouise part ways. (AND WE LEARN OUT OF CHARACTER THAT SHE WAS A WEREWOLF! MY INNER TRAVIS WILLINGHAM IS SO DISAPPOINTED IN ME!)

“On the road again!”

About a week has passed since the Solstice festival. By now Luctan and Burk have spent some time training with each other. Sparring matches, working on strength and blade work. Or axe work, in Burk’s case.

They reach Baborum. The starting point of this whole journey that brought them together to begin with.

It is the Eve of The New Dawn (New Year’s Eve).

There is nostalgia in the air. It hasn’t been long, but they’ve accomplished so much since they met. And so much to come. 

In the sky, Mournimar can see them. There are many a constillations. Chuckling gnomes scurry about, doing their thing, everyone gathering i nthe center of the town and prepare for what comes next. 

There’s a brief thick silence as everyone stops speaking, before a flash of light, a crack , shimmer and fireworks. Purple, yellow and green. The sleepy eyed kids look in wonder.

“You’re doing alright, kids. You’re doing alright.” (Our DM)

As the fireworks are going off, Amelia checks for a child she had seen when they previously had been here. A boy, who’s father had passed. She sees him, with his mother. The boy sits atop the shoulders of a man, familiar to the mother, surely.

The boy is healing. For tonight, at least, he is happy.

And they are all content.

Belli makes eye contact with the tavern owners that capitalized on their capture of the cultist. Said tavernitestry to avoid eye contact with her. So much nostalgia in the air.

Samson learns from Luctan about the party’s start.

And that is the New Dawn celebration.

The morning of the 11th day, Kevin and Killer bring the carriage to Sa Doma, a massive city. FREAKING HUGE, OK?!

We make our entrance from the South-Western gate, passing by the evident buildings between the outside and the city walls. Temples, quite evident from the outside alone.

And when they go in... Half the party, all the boys at least, have certainly never been to a town like this before. So big. So thick. So filthy.

Pulling his hood up, Samson tells his fellows to keep an eye out for their stuff, lest pickpockets rob them blind.

They make their preparations and go on in. 

The others notice that this portion of the city is littered with Qorin and Embriosus symbols... Keeping an eye out, they can tell that shadyness is the norm. And anything outside of it, will catch attention. Like most of the party.

Goblins, Tieflings, Golliaths, Centaurs... Yeah. Burk is the “normal one” here.

Someone bumps into Belli as they go along. She receives a parchment from Kit. “The Lean peacock, north-east.”

They walk past some guard barracks, a dodgy looking tavern called “The scattered heart”, a guild hall for the DarkbBane Army. “The Brave Fighters standing against evil” and past the “Warmaster’s office”

There’s a city hall, currently being guarded by two almost identical tieflings. Luctan takes note of them. The male and female tieflings are red skinned, they have long black hair both. One has a figure, the female?! The male one’s got his arms folded and being way more macho than usual.

They pass through Peppery Pete’s, they spot the guild hall for the Lawyer’s Guild.

It is here, where they part with Samson. There are hugs, there are handshakes and there are salutes.

And there are finger gun genstures. Whatever a “gun” is, anyways. (We seriously question whether Luctan is The Fonz by this point, with his “Eyyyyy!”  routine).

Luctan offers Samson their services if trouble arrises.

The last place they pass by is “Liliana’s Bath house.”  (Jokes are made, as we wonder if it’s an actual bath house or just a kink thing).

They make it to the tavern. There’s a very elegantly painted bright bird. “The Lean peacock.” Anxiety is in the air. They can feel it. Hell, Belli and Mournimar embody it.

They scan the room and see Kit with the pink ribbon. A very inconspicuous looking redheaded half-elf. Sat next to her is a face they seem to recognize, but not sure where. (It’s Ficus. He looks similar to Belli. They are siblings after all.)

Ficus is a tattooed gray half-orc with red and blue tattoos on his person, a number of rings on his fingers and blue highlights in his darker shade of brown hair.

They recognize each other, Bellia and Ficus. They recognize each other.

Belli goes over to Kit and Ficus, being awkward, while the rest of the party go to the bar. Mournimar takes a seat nearby and just watches, willing to jump in the conversation if things go bad.

Kit smiles up, but she gives a half-glare, a negative emotion directed towards Ficus.  She gestures to Belli to sit. Ficus looks terrified.

“It’s nice to see you again, Kit.”  - Belli.

“It’s a fantastically tense surrounding, isn’t it?” - Kit.

“it’s certainly been a while. That was a bad start, that was a bad start. Oh God.” - Ficus.

As they talk, Kit, sitting beside Ficus, becomes something of an awkward intermediary

I thought you were dead. We thought someone had kidnapped you in the middle of the night and you were dead.” - Belli speaks, her voice evident with a mix of emotions.

I tried to leave some kind of note. I don’t-I guess-“

“Yes, a rock and you think a note is a good thing to disappear with.”

“If they had known I was going to go, they wouldn’t have let me.”

“They did everything to try and find you. They never stopped looking. Why did you leave? You’re family and you just left?! Didn’t eeven say goodbye”

“I was scared. Is that so hard to believe?”

“I was scared and I never did what you did.”

“I didn’t want what they wanted me to be.”

“They didn’t want me as a son. They wanted someone lively and fun, someone who could play the instruments and I was not this.”

“We’re bards, Ficus.”

“I’m not.”

As they continue, Mournimar subtly moves closer, by a table. Luctan keeps his eyes on the other tiefling, giving him a look of pure “WTF-ery”.

Ficus didn’t want to be like them. He didn’t want to be a “clown”. He wanted to do something bigger than perform.

“There’s more to being a bard than performing and throwing glitter about.”

He wanted to be there, be at the front. And he did. He fought in the wa of years prior. And left. 

He admits he became a thief, after being pressed to answer, by Belli. “I’ve taken contracts to hurt-to kil people. I’ve killed people.”

It’s what the bands on his neck mean.

“If you were that desperate for money, why didn’t you go back home and ask for help?”

“Because they wouldn’t understand.“

Ficus wants to make amends. He’s hidden for too long and needs to see them again. He was selfish to leave, but couldn’t take it anymore and had to go.

And it is with this OOF. That Belli spills the beans on her own witnessed OOF.

On the story of how she found her parents frozen in stone, when returning with supplies to fix the carriage.

Ficus’ face goes through many negative emotions. But the superior one that bursts through like a damn dam is grief and sorrow as he starts to cry.

Belli’s had to do a lot of things to survive. She is angry with him. BUT!

As pissed as she is at Ficus, she still wants him in her life.  He is openly weeping. There is sadness in the air. Kit doesn’t know how to comfort people. She uses one of Belli’s hands and pats Ficus with it.

At this time, Mournimar joins the conversation.  Belli introduces Mournimar to Ficus. In a hell of a way. He’s better than Ficus. But Belli still loves him and doesn’t want to lose him.

Ficus immediatelly goes invisible, much to Belli’s frustration with her older brother.

From below the table, a small tabbycat hops on the table.  Mournimar pats it, but it feels like Ficus is petting it.  Belli demands he show himself again. And he does. He is a total mess.

Kit is panicking by this point, the poor Changeling, as she doesn’t know what to do. But she will see this through. For both Narahs’ sake, she must!

Mournimar tries to encourage Ficus, but man, it doesn’t go well for the drow born tiefling. Luctan has to pull him out of the conversation and scene itself, much to Mournimar’s dismay as he desperately wants to comfort the two half-orcs.

But ultimately, he submits and steps out, towards the  “Obnoxious Bee inn”, opposite of “The Lean Peacock”. As they leave, Burk hands Rimefang over to Mournimar for emotional support, (aww), while Amelia has not stopped drinking since the whole conversation started.

The poor Air Genasi has been stressed out beyond words.

The boys go in and look around the place, but don’t find anyone recognizable.

Mournimar drinks, while Luctan gives him a sober pep talk, giving him assurance that everything will turn out well with the Narahs. After all. They’re family.

Mournimar mentions a drow named Lazarus and Luctan seems to recognize that name... Strange.

Mournimar elaborates on his history with this person and why they’d evidently be in this town.

2 years prior to all this, Mournimar got in a relationship with a drow-elf named Lazarus. Tall guy, charming, very nice to him and they hit it off. He ended up distancing himself. Next thing he knew, he found him passed out, bloodied at a shrine to FUCKING POTENCIA, after he knew what she did to Mournimar...

“He had the balls to say “It wasn’t Potencia’s fault!”“

Once the older tiefling gets this off his chest, Luctan drops another pep talk. He may not be the brightest yarnball in the oven, but even he can see things from a certain perspective.

Mournimar sighs and is getting his composure back together.

Back with the Narahs.... Emotions are a bitch.

By now, Ficus starts to calm down.  “Well, where are they?”

Belli explains that she had left them at home.  Ficus has a lot to make up for and it may  take him the rest of his life to make up for it. 

Do you kind of understand, or was this all for nothing?”

They talk well and Ficus almost smiles. He elaborates that he’s had friends keep tabs on Belli, during her recent travels.

“Do you remember what today is?”Belli’s 17th Birthday

Ficus remembers, of course. And even has a present for Belli. A necklace container shaped box.

“Yes. You’re not completely hopeless as a brother, then.”  The Sibling bonding is exciting and cavity enducing as we learn about their past shenanigans, involving pools of water, mud pies and the like.

Kit asks if they’ll go to Keemas for Night Cap?

Ficus shares that he has a place, somewhere in town. But isn’t that good with words, the poor awkward half-orc.

(From their interaction, this player can only discern that Kit is Ficus’ Belli as Mournimar is Belli’s Ficus.)

The cat that Ficus has with him is, as he puts it, his Fae familiar. One very pettible boy named “Bumpkin”. Which surprises Belli, to say the least.

There are kazoo puns made and laughter is had between the siblings as they hug it out. They missed each other.

Belli proceeds to introduce her brother to her friends, startign with Amelia and Burk. Amelia is drunk, but constute enough to handle herself. She gets to meet Bumpkin, who’s form is that of a tabby cat.

Burk is not impressed with Ficus and lets the evidently scared half-orc know this fact. And he asks if Ficus threw a rock at him.  He makes sure to let Burk know that omeone else threw a rock at him. Ficus doesn’t want Burk to kick his teeth out.

Belli drops some truthbombs, while Ficus tries to explain that the necklace he got her can do the same thing that brought Bumpkin to the Material plane.

Belli basically gets to have her own familiar! Belli has a friend necklace, which she is very excited about. A very drunk Amelia points out the boys went to the other tavern and that’s where the gray half-orcs take to.

Amelia has an emotional breakdown. Existential crisis.

Amelia gets more Rum. Burk gets another Tequila slammer.

There is further sibling bonding as they head to the Bee inn. Talk of chair theft. So much chair theft. It’s wild.

Mournimar hasn’t drunken that much, thus he is but tipsy as the two enter. Via belli kicking the door in, to announce their presence.  Mourni freezes immediately. “Oh, Fuck!” He panicks.

But the situation looks much resolved, compared to earlier. very much resolved.

The two meet Ficus and shake his hand.

Luctan having to shake it in motions to where it looks like a normal one, countering th shiver the taller man has. He oozes that charisma in ways to calm down the male Narah, while Ficus apologizes to Mournimar.

The awkward handshake ensues between the awkward boys and Mournimar asks of Sa Doma.

“To summrise it politely, it’s a shithole.” There are lovely people here. The lady at the bathhouse is one of them.  Liliana is a lovely old lady. The bathhouse is nice. 

Mournimar asks about Lazarus  When he mentions the sword, Luctan just stares, his interest peacked.

Ficus hasn’t seen this guy. Nor heard of him. His surname is fairly common.

There are sex jokes that ensue. Yes, things have definitely gone to a good vibe again.

Ficus then proceeds to tell them about sights they could partake in, depending on their disposition. And on things to avoid.

There’s a battle axe and a half woman around. Don’t tangle with her.

A brewery.

He mentions The “Queen Nightingale”, Medive’s place, where he apparently gambles???

And, should they look for them, there are many a brothels.

There are temples and the like.

Belli mentions their meeting with Dyunficus. But Ficus doesn’t believe them.

Somehow. Someway the conversation leads them to Belli barring Ficus from having a “go” at Luctan. (Yes. In ;)  way).

Much to her bro’s dismay. Ficus finds Luctan attractive. That 15 charisma, man. It’s really something.

Should they be interested, there is a school of the arcane to look into for study.

At the temple of Keemas there’s some good shit that’s not exactly legal. (Light the previously mentioned stuff).

There’s a market and there are many a shops. Including a library/tavern mashup.

And should they look for it, there is a fight club. Around the corner, behind, if you come out a door and go straight past 3 buildings, there’s an open area, where fights occur occasionally. Something to share with Burk, definitely. 

After some accidental and “accidental” flirting with Ficus, the boys return Rimefang to Burk, having decided to go to that library tavern, afterwards.

Amelia, by this point, is pretty out of it. No barfing, but she does throw a glass across the room. Luctan decides to carry her to a room, tries to buy one and is told to take her out of the establishment.

So he goes back to the Bee’s inn and tries there, with better luck as the brunette half-elven woman running the bar points him to a storage closet, where Amelia can take a well deserved nap.

“Everyone’s a little fucked up.”  - The Half-Elven woman.

“Mood, sister.” - Luctan.

Ficus even lends her Bumpkin as a cuddle buddy.

(YES, HE HAS A B! IT IS MY HEADCANON!)

As the boys leave, they agree they are horrible to Amelia, accidnetally as it is.

“This is our truth. We are horrible.”

And as the two head to the library, we reach an ending point.

Previous Episode / Next Episode

[lizartgurl]

“Be Brave” (Aqualight Coffee Diem AU)

So forgive me, because I actually hate coffee, but the concept of coffee shops is really cute to me, especially when you bring @super-spoiler‘s Coffee Diem AU into the mix, so this is cute scenario+cute ship+Owl City’s new song=More cute! So enjoy!

Kaldur decided to blame the heat on his cheeks as his body’s natural defense against the falling snow, and definitely not at the cute girl in front of him.

Being bi was a disaster. He was attracted to basically everyone he saw. There was no escape. Roy and Conner were taking their lucky exchange student buddy sledding for the first time (they didn’t get snow in Kaldur’s Mediterranean home). 

He was confident that he’d seen the girl with a long black braid and a gold nose piercing before, but he couldn’t place where. She was currently laughing in a manner most uncouth as she struggled to help a gaggle of blonde girls about her age drag their huge sled up the hill, but all of them kept tripping through the deep snow. 

They were halfway up the hill when Kaldur and his friends caught up to them with their own sleds.

“Hey Kara,” Conner grinned at the tallest blonde, who stuck out her tongue at him.

“Piss off, Kon,” She said. The girls burst into laughter again.

“Can I help you with your sled?” Kaldur was asking before he could think.

Another blonde, who appeared to have dyed her afro, and who wasn’t Kara, placed her hand over her heart dramatically, “What a gentleman!” The girls backed up to let Kaldur dump the snow off of their sled and hang it over his shoulder to bring it up to the top of the hill.

“Who’s the gentleman, cuz?” Kara asked Conner, holding the hand of the third and final blonde. Kaldur tried not to notice that the girl he had noticed earlier was smiling at him gratefully.

“Ladies, this is Kaldur. He’s an exchange student from Greece.” Conner patted him on the shoulder with a wink as they followed Roy.

“I love Greece!” Kara’s hand-holding buddy squealed appreciatively, “I go there every summer with my mom for work!”

Afro-blonde shoved her hand at Kaldur, “I’m Stephanie, I’m a disaster bi and I’m from Gotham.” Kaldur tucked both sleds under his arm to be polite.

“Kiran, you’re an exchange student, right?” Kara asked the dark-haired girl.

“Yeah, I’m from India,” Kiran smiled. Kaldur almost tripped. Her smile was almost as bright as the sun, dancing off the pure white snow in a dazzling display of light. Kon elbowed him. He knew.

“Is this your first snow?” Kon nodded in Kiran’s direction.

“Yup!” Kiran caught a snowflake on her tongue, adding a little skip to her step, her thick green winter shawl spreading like a pair of angel wings as she bounced along. 

He was going to have a heart attack.

“Hey! It’s Kal’s first snow, too!” Kon patted Kaldur on the back with a little too much enthusiasum, and he fell over.

By then, thankfully, they had reached the top of the hill. Kiran helped Kaldur to his feet and helped him brush the snow off his shoulders. “So, what do you think of the snow?”

Kaldur looked around, blinking up at the sky, praying to the gods above for an answer.

“Cold,” He settled on at last. Like an idiot.

“Hey!” Stephanie held up the girl’s giant sled, “Let’s see how many people we can fit on here!”

“We could barely fit ourselves on there,” Kara’s girlfriend, Cassie, pointed out with barely-contained laughter.

“We can squeeze real close,” Kara suggested with a wiggle of her eyebrows. “Come on, Kon! Grab Bart and Roy! We’ll dogpile on the thing!”

Roy immediately said no, and slid down on his own before further argument could be made, but Kon’s other friends were all in.

“You wanna join in?” Kiran asked Kaldur. Stephanie had already claimed seat at the front of the sled.

Unable to form a coherent sentence, all Kaldur could do was not. Still smiling, Kiran took pity on him, or maybe she wanted to see him spontaneously combust, and gently took his hand and sat the two of them on the sled with Cassie and Kara. 

Rose, one of Kon’s co-workers, agreed to push them down once they were all on.

“Remember!” Cassie barked, “We lean together!”

“Go!” Rose shrieked with glee and gave the sled as big a shove as her tiny muscles could, which was much more than Kaldur expected. They shot down the hill with a collective scream, shooting past every other sled on the slope.

Kiran was seated right behind Kaldur, and as he held onto the sides of the sled for balance, she held on to his torso, like they were riding a motocycle. Kaldur didn’t have a motorcycle, but he had a moped back home in Santorini.

The joyride ended all too early, as Stephanie screamed at all of them to lean to avoid a tree. Everyone leaned in a different direction, and the momentum sent them tumbling into the snow.

“Bart! That was all your fault!” Cassie shouted as they lay red-faced in the snow.

“How was it my fault?” Bart pouted, throwing a clump of snow at Cassie. It hit Kara instead, who threw a snowball at Kon. Then it was just a free-for-all.

Kaldur’s gloves had fallen off, so he packed the snow with his bare hands, tossing one at Connor, then at Stephanie. Kiran surprised him with a snowball exploding on his back. She laughed, and it sounded like the tinkling bells that played at Christmastime.

He was in love. 

“Oh crap,” Kara checked her phone, “Steph! We have a shift in like five minutes.”

“Aw, already?” Steph pouted.

“Come on, maybe you’ll see business girl today,” Cassie teased, making Stephanie’s cheeks flush a lovely shade of pink. 

“Or Wayne boy,” Kara grinned.

Stephanie was already running through the snow, “I’m going, I’m going!”She shouted, sprinting for the coffee shop across the street.

“Any of you guys wanna come in for some hot chocolate or something? I work in the back, and Steph’s only allowed to man the register, but Court and Harper are pretty much barista wizards.”

“Do we get a discount for being your friends?” Kiran asked, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

Kara laughed. “No.”

“Trust me, if I could get a discount for being her girlfriend, I would,” Cassie whispered in an exaggerated manner. Kiran and Kaldur laughed.

“Where’s my discount for being the best cousin ever?” Conner demanded, running to catch up.

“Reserved for Clark,” Kara smirked, holding the door open for everyone.

The bell rang to announce customers in the mostly-empty cafe. The only occupied table was a girl with a soft smile and short black hair,

“There you are!” A girl in a green apron and purple and blue hair waved at Kara from behind the counter.

“Steph came in early for once, and I was wondering where you were.”

“Hush, Harper, I brought us customers, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Harper chuckled, “Klarion and Amy did something funky with the frother, so I’m going to make that my main project for today.”

“Ugh, Klarion,” Kara rolled her eyes. “Steph will be out in a sec to take your orders,” She promised. She ducked behind the counter with Harper and disappeared into the kitchen.

Kiran sat down at the booth with the only other customer in the store. “Origami?”  She asked, noting all the folded scraps of paper.

“Yeah,” The girl waved her arms, “Harper’s brother found a book and taught her, so she taught me.”

“We wrote little fortunes on the inside of all of them!” Harper grinned at the girl in the booth.

“Take one,” She handed a crane to Kiran, who shook her hand.

“I’m Kiran.”

“Cass.”

They were all made with neon-colored sticky notes. Cassie took a little folded-up bright green frog that you could hop across the table, Conner took a tiny pink paper airplane that didn’t fly very well, and when Kaldur stood around shyly, Kiran pressed another crane into his hand. While hers was bright yellow, his was a beautiful blue.

Kaldur carefully unfolded his crane. He wanted to see this curious fortune that Harper and Cass had come up with, but he also wanted to preserve the complex folds in the shape of a bird.

He found it, under the wing. Two words in black ink, written in cursive.

“Be Brave”

“Okay!” Stephanie burst out from the kitchen in a hat and apron that matched Harper’s and stepped up to the till.

“You know what you want yet?” Kiran asked Kaldur.

He shrugged. Right now, he was trying to contemplate the complexity and simplicity of his fortune. 

“I think I will just get a black coffee. That is what I usually get.”

Kiran’s nose scrunched up. “You can’t just get the same thing every time! There’s like fifty items on the menu! Don’t you want to improvise?”

Kaldur glanced at the menu hanging over Stephanie and Harper’s heads as the fourth barista, “Court”, burst in.

“Peppermint latte?” He asked Kiran for approval.

She nodded, satisfied, “It’s seasonal, you have to appreciate it while it lasts.”

“Be Brave”

The writing on his fortune flashed in his mind again. 

“Can I buy you a coffee?”He asked.

Kiran blinked, as if his request had blown her away.

“Two peppermint lattes coming up!” Stephanie declared.

“Court, get your butt out here we got work to do!” Harper barked.

Kiran laughed again, as Court stumbled out to help Harper with the drinks. 

Neptune’s Beard, she was beautiful.

“Don’t worry, I was going to say yes anyway,” She promised, taking his hand.

They walked up to the til, where Stephanie smiled smugly at the two of them, to pay for the drinks. Kaldur slipped his crane into his pocket. He may need it later.

[crossedbeams]

ROSE REVIEWS… THE X-FILES - S1.E11 Eve

<<1.10 Fallen Angel ———————————  1.12 Fire >>

I’m salty today and what better way than to transfer that into something positive than to finish this long overdue and almost certainly irrelevant recap of Eve. Read on for children who are almost as scary as their acting is bad, prison aesthetics and idiotic blithering by me.

THE PLOT

The fathers of creepy children are being exsanguinated on opposite coasts and Mulder wants to know the aliens have upgraded from cows. IVF suspicions run wild and with a little help from good old Deep Throat, the terrific two suspect genetic government experiments gone wrong may be responsible for the shenanigans. When the creepy kids go missing, things escalate and soda becomes a very dangerous refreshment...

Let’s go...

MY STREAM OF SEMI-CONSCIOUSNESS

Ah. The X-Files, the show that is always a scenic autumnal bath for my eyes…. And where under the leaves there is probably a dead person eaten by a molewoman or an alien. Honey? I’m home.

We find ourselves in an idyllic suburban neighbourhood, (always bad news on screen), where very concerned joggers approach an underdressed child and her stuffed animal. It’s hard at this stage to decipher whether the kid is creepy or just a really bad actor but the suspense synth hardly encourages us to give her the benefit of the doubt...

They head to the backyard, where peppy jogging neighbour fails to notice that the kid’s dad is dead coloured, posed like a corpse and basically, stereotypically and obviously dead... until he claps him jovially on the shoulder causing a tragicomic half slump of dead dad, and exposing vampiric looking marks. The kid screams, not sure why, she’s way too far away to see anything. This is the point at which I begin to suspect that she is both a bad actor AND entry #224 in the Vancouver local listing of Creepy Kids for Hire. Move over Conduit boy!

CREDITS!

This week we only wait 2.5 mins for our special baby Agents to materialise, Scully dressed as a Catholic grade schooler and Mulder wearing a tie designed, as far as I can tell, to look like mushroom soup with licorice allsorts floating in it.

Their poor fashion choices don’t seem to put them off them though, and we zigzag between lip biting (Mulder), making weird moany noises (Scully), and the level of inter office eye contact we’ve come to expect from these fluffy baby agents all set to a soundtrack of cattle mutilation chatter. And our series first (!) cow slideshow!

Scully is still naive enough to ask why Mulder believes cattle mutilation is linked to aliens. Give it a few weeks and you’ll realise that aliens is pretty much always the answer to “Why….” on the X-Files and that eyebrow is the only appropriate response before you just go with it.

I can’t wait :D

As Mulds and Sculls traverse some stairs, I realise that creepy kid #1 is called Teena. Spelled the same as Mulder’s mum. Because apparently the X-Files name bank isn’t only shallow in the male department. Also is Teena a normal spelling in the States? Here it’d only really be Tina….

I then get distracted by Scully in the biggest of purple coats. I’d love to see S1 Scully’s closet. A symphony of oversized pastels with overcoats to clash… don’t worry though hon. You’ll get some style later though for the bargain price of two (2) family members and also your ova. Poor Scully.

Scully also looks incredibly young in this scene, speaking all soft to the kid. Moments like this I struggle to believe that Mulder “never saw her as a mom” until Home. She’s all melty round the edges even though the kid is weird and creepy.

When creepy Teena starts talking about red lightning, the massively coached and unnatural pauses in dialogue and the trouble pronouncing exsanguination are just so glaring you can’t believe that this kid’s innocent charade will hold up as long as it does. But it all adds to the creep, just in time for…

**bring bring ** Scully leans in to kiss her spoopy partner tell Mulder there has been another murder. Darn. Seriously though. Close talkin to the power on uuuungghhh right here. No wonder this fandom is so thirsty.

We’re in Vancouver San Franciso, still in giant coats, for another exsanguination and what we now know is death by digitalis. Mulder says that the two estimated times of death were at the “exact same time” and I chuckle to myself like the pedant I am. Estimates cannot be exact dumdum. It also takes the edge off him mansplaining timezones to Scully. SHE IS A MEDICAL DOCTOR DAMMIT. 

This scene has very nice warm, sunsetty lighting which is nice as our Spooksters demonstrate why the X-Files department is always over budget; they’ve flown cross country to do two laps of a crime scene while reading a file aloud and the kid they wanna question isn’t even in town. Where is she? I’m glad you asked, coz remember that sunny warmness? Well it’s over.

Back on the east coast, creepTeena is getting outcreeped by a thunderstorm and what appear to be disembodied footsteps at her door. We see nothing but a flash and then the door is open. It’s tense and I’m pretty sure this is never explained, raised as a concern beyond “she got abducted”?

A new day means new suits, Mulder in a tie inspired by parquet flooring and Scully in eggshell and pinstripes and a brown trenchcoat named regret. It’s a lot to process and they still don’t seem overly concerned about Teena’s kidnapping. Despite his post Samantha abduction PTSD, Mulder’s only contribution is a dramatic sky point and the suggestion the cops need to look up, but then dun dun dduuuuunh - there’s another one.

Sinister Cindy in the house. Literally.

She informs them she has lived there “since she was born eight years ago”. Zero inflection with that info and a sentence structure as unnatural as the phenomena Mulder wants to blame. Deffo a rent-a-creepykid. 100%. The woodenness only adds to it.

Commence super awkward kitchen convo where they Mulder and Scully try and fail to find a tactful way to imply Cindy might not be this grieving wife’s legitimate child. A birthing video is offered and declined. Thank god. Imagine is CHris Carter had to watch rushes of an actual woman’s vagina with a female child emerging. 

Mrs Reardon’s insistence that Cindy was daddy’s girl is pretty horrifying once you know how it ends. Damn creepy kids. Listening in while watching politics, Cindy is infinitely creepier than Teena and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not for this kid “actor”.

Back in the car and Mulder is still pretty blase about Teena’s abduction/kidnap, though I forgive him because his flippant potato/potahto is adorable and he does hang out in the bushes to try and protect Cindy from getting nabbed sending Scully off to the IVF clinic alone. Ahh... the foreshadowing is out there.

At the Luther Stapes Medical Centre, a doctor mansplains IVF to Scully. She does not punch him. Another way that she is better than me.She does however, maintain super intense eye contact with him for the entire walk and truly it is a miracle she doesn’t fall over.

The next scene is pretty uneventful except that I can honestly say that Sally Kendrick is the last human I would want toying with my cervix. She’s...robotic and it looks like she has to work out how to sit down like a human. She could give Theresa May lessons.

Back at the hotel there’s some funky camera panning that I am here for and also I think there is some dialogue but let’s be honest.... this is more important 

Yes Professor I would like some extra credit and may I also just smooth your poofy hair.

Even Scully knows it. Hence her confusion at being ushered out, for no obvious reason. She just wants to look at him and maybe get inside his shirt and ... and... Mulder’s “what’s a girl” is cute.... but this is cuter. (even more overanalysing of this scene here for ya glasses lovers). 

Instead of meeting a girl, Mulder meets Deep Throat in an excessively aesthetically pleasing place. Honestly, Eve is a beautiful episode. Despite the creepy kids and imprisoned women. (Eve Aesthetic here). DT seems very concerned that Scully not be invited and while I’m sure that this has some link to the possibility of spy!Scully, it reads more as jealous older manfriend wants pretty Mulder to himself. And honestly I get it. God, fic has ruined me. Anyway, enough of that, enjoy this picture of pensive waterside Mulder and try to recall the specifics of the Deep Throat reveal. Project Blah. Boys called Adam. Girls called Eve. Clones. Bad. Disaster. EVE-il is at work. ¬¬ (sorry)

Mulder has brought sunflower seeds because meeting an informant without snacks = rookie error. 

The important thing to note is that Deep Throat basically sets the stage for the Super Soldier Arc and everyone forgets about it when they actually get to the super soldier arc. God, for a continuity pedant, my fave is SO problematic!

Deep Throat finishes by telling Mulder he’s scored him front row seats to what’s left of the whole fucked up thing.

Cut to the most aesthetic Institute for the criminally insane and after some hot DAMN camera angles we get panic buttons and a tromp into the deeps where they keep all the government created monsters, including Eve 6.

I just wanna take a moment away from my snark and give a huge shout out to Harriet Harris who is SO good and creepy in this episode. A lot of the Season 1 extras/bit parts are average to the extreme and honestly, Harris makes this episode. Without her eyeball biting, jerky, wild eyed delivery, this ep would be as mediocre as the creepy twin actresses.

Now we’ve got that out of the way - we find out that Eve 6 screams when the lights are on but is fine with  an industrial sized flashlight being shone all up in her face.  Nobody’s ever got a good look at her... except presumably the person who undoes her straitjacket so she can pee? And now Mulder and Scully.

Eve 6 is my fave Eve tbh. She’s this perfect mix of terrifying and pitiful, alludes to the telekinetic connection that the younger Eve twins later reference, and is the kind of proof of government misdeed that and older Mulder and Scully despair of, delivered while they’re way too young in their partnership to do anything about it. She tells them that Eves are into suicide, psychosis and murder, and on exiting, our baby agents still don’t suspect the kids.

(Break for actual analysis) It struck me during this scene how this case tunes into both Mulder and Scully’s demons. For Mulder, it’s the missing girls and the incarcerated Eve represents a scenario that could explain Samantha’s absence in the most horrifying ways. What if she is a locked up experiment just like Eve 6? For Scully it’s a visceral representation of her struggle between scientific duty and Christian morality. The creation of Eve 6 is an aberration against both good scientific practice AND the divine right of Good to control life and death... and yet she is also a victim who did not choose too be engineered and while Scully tries to question her, maintaining composure, this face/stress swallow really says it all.

Just to double the sucker punch we cut to Cindy asking the lord to take her soul, her mother looking on with a mournful doomladen stare before telling her daughter how special she is. Cindy is unmoved, because she is special(ly evil) and Mama Reardon leaves, bereft of her husband and unacknowledged by her kid. We get it Chris Carter. Genetic experimentation BAD, family GOOD, foreboding, CHECK.... now can we just-

Mulder Scully stakeout! There is no iced tea in the bag and when Mulder posits that the adult Eves 7 & 8 did done the murders, Scully pulls this face, and mutters without much conviction that she was beginning to suspect the girls. 

GOOD CALL SCULLY

Except Mulder then says “no no and here is why” and Scully just goes with it. The whole delivery at set up of this scene feels very Season 1, by which I mean Scully vacillates wildly between submitting to Mulder’s experience and being done.with.his.shit, Mulder gets all the big lines/theories/feelings/hunches and Gillian especially (and David to a lesser degree) seem unsure how to play their nuances and dynamic. Essentially it all becomes irrelevant because CRISIS takes precedent but being the super-nerd I am, this stuff fascinates me as evidence of them still learning their characters. No way S5 Scully gives up on a plausible theory so easily, even if it makes 8-yos into suspects. If cats can be evil, these staring, soulless kids can be too.

Cue Mark Snow jangles and Cindy and her similar to Teena’s bunny rabbit run away from her terrifying wall dolls and many crucifixes towards the window where she makes terrifying eye contact with Scully’s binoculars before getting grabbed by someone who is considerate enough to announce themselves by turning on the lights?!.

Mulder will take the back! (any time Mulder. Any way ¬¬ ) and sets off with his almost convincingly held gun/torch combo while Scully takes the indoors. This is, invariably, only going to go one way.

DOWN GOES SCULLY!

Sally Kendrick/Eve? leaps through the window where Mulder confronts her by asking her which Eve she is, allowing her a chance to pull a gun, shoot at him and escape and this is why you don’t want S1 Muldo and Sculls handling your home invasion. I mean who holds their gun like this, takes out a psychopath and ends the day without a hole in them?

Fox “Thinks he can outrun a car” Mulder is who. 

I love his idiot face though.

Despite the fact that Cindy didn’t struggle/scream/react to her apparent kidnap at all, Scully’s remaining focussed on the adult Eves in support of Mulder’s dismissal of her earlier theory... well I already said it but - *sigh*

After Scully briefs the police and Mulder tries to reassurea distraught Mrs Reardon that her increasingly abnormal daughter will be found we get the kind of side by side, meaningful  moment that I am here for all day long. Except that the height difference is so extreme that they never actually get Scully in focus!

And Scully’s “and then what” brings us back to unsettling truth that even if the kid gets found, things aren’t looking good for her given how much murder is in her genes. Poor Mrs Reardon.

Very X-Files, through-the-motel-sign shot and we see Sally Kendrick taking Cindy into motel to meet Teena. The girls look... creepy... and Kendrick looks weirdly and simplistically happy given that she has multiple abductees, severe genetic issues and the FBI on her back. Maybe poor old Sal just wants a normal life? Unlucky girl, this is the X-Files, no happy ending for anyone EVERR. Except possibly a two-faced rapist who likes Cher but that’s for another time.

Back to Sally Kendrick who is rocking a poloneck and showing a remarkable lack of nutritional concern for someone supposedly a genius. Pretty sure 8 cartons of fries are no better for psychotic murder-kids than regular ones. She begins to explain that she was pretty hopeful that she’s evolved the murdering out of her second batch of Eves but turns out she actually made it worse! Let’s pop a check in the box for “playing into popular concerns about genetic testing” and “reasons you shouldn’t do it yourself”. She tells Cindy and Teena she’s “disappointed” that they’ve done murders ahead of the curve. They are not bothered which is unsurprising given they don’t know her/are psychopaths.

Aesthetically this scene is very pleasing and the lack of stilted kid dialogue “we just knew” vs. long sentences definitely adds to tension. As does the total lack of background music. Hearing even these fairly limited actors candidly and remorselessly admit to murder is effective. And Kendrick’s slightly desperate plea that they not think that way, that they be “better” as she designed has the double effect of showing her own Eve-y instability and her very human desire to not have made a horrible mistake in creating this terrifying she-devils.

Sorry Sal.

Genetic destiny’s a bitch

And the X-Files narrative demands that when you play god you get dead. unless you’re the CSM in which case you probably drink digitalis and kale for breakfast to aid skin regrowth. Bye bye Sally Kendrick. Thanks for the creepers.

On attending the crime scene, Mulder and Scully are midway through being told that the scene is undisturbed when they hear stuff breaking. This prompts some X-Files-Action-MagicTM and some truly outrageous faces by Gillian.

Yup

What is most disturbing on rewatching is that with the scene secured, Scully confirms death and Mulder goes to gaze out the window while the Creeper twins cower and cry on the floor. Noe we know they’re guilty AF by this point, but in the narrative DumbScull and MulderingItOver haven’t quite got there because they’ve been too busy gazing at each other so we have two children just whimpering in the corner while Scully pokes a corpse and Mulder mulders about. 

Scully does eventually go and pat them. And again I say fuck you CC and anyone else who “didn’t see her as a mother”.

Mulder volunteers to chaperone the creepsters to hospital and beyond and the guy in charge kinda just goes “meh”. Pretty sure some liberties have been taken with child service procedures but hey, at least this means we’re almost at the crescendo moment. Right?

Having loaded them into the car, where their spiffy red outfits match the velour upholstery and promised they’ll talk about “what happens next” (again, is this really FBI jurisdiction? Fox Mulder counselling bereaved kids seems like a HORRIBLE plan to me) , Scully and Mulder note the girls attachment and somehow miss the horrifying expressions of murder on their creepy little faces. 

Again though #aesthetic

Cue some spangly night driving music, Mulder looking all pops over a red vinyl steering wheel, Scully playing mom and the creepsters plotting murder in the back. Ver ver X-Files. They pull up to a used car lot masquerading as a rest stop and go for a group wee,Mulder makes the rookie error of a) hyping evil kids with sugar and b) letting them order a murder weapon, and as soon as Scully’s distracted, one of the creepsters, possibly Sinister Cindy creeps out to spike the drinks. 

Now at this point, honestly, I’m questioning the kids narrative motives. Yes they’re murderous, but aren’t they also meant to be hyper intelligent? Amd getting marooned at a nowhere rest stop, with the corpses of two FBI agents seems SUPER dumb. Like they’re a bit small and loudly dressed to hitch a ride to Vegas and make it on the strip. What gives, creepsters?

The waitress tries to stop her plan by insisting she wait to take the soda until it’s paid for, but is way too easily placated by the kids excuse. Stick to your guns lady, you might just stop a murder.

Although apparently nobody is paying any attention because THIS ISN’T SUSPICIOUS AT ALL IS IT?

Apparently Mulder doesn’t think so, even knowing digitalis is sweet and that there is something weird afoot, he doesn’t question his super sweet diet drink or the kids totally normal and not at all weirdly resistant to drinking sugar free soda and just does this. Seriously it’s like he wants to die in agony.

Scully’s not much better, simply commenting on the “syrupy” taste. MMhmm. Bitch. You’re a medical doctor with a previously voiced suspicion. Quit sipping the murder juice.

Fortunately, after some suspenseful drawn out paying and a forgotten key excuse, Mulder FINALLY twigs when he finds some green goop on the table. Apparently murderTwin is cackhanded when she pours and Mulder, having licked the poison just to check it’s murdery enough (I just cant even) rushes outside to karate chop Scully’s drink away from her in a way so unsubtle that the creepers escape.

Which is actually great news because it gives us all the chance for a nice dark, X-Files bread and butter cat and mouse around a truckstop, cool lighting and tubey-arty stuff sequence. Which I’m here for. 

Despite some pants ruining puddles, the twins are quickly apprehended except for some gun wielding truckers interfere because in this universe regular citizens can hold law enforcement at gunpoint and prevent them doing their job/identifying themselves and anyway everyone almost gets shot and the kids run off again. I should probably insert some pithy political point here about arming the kids too but I’ve been writing this review for 84 years and I don’t have the energy.

Fortunately, at this point Mulder and Scully rediscover some investigative nous and having flashed an ID and truckboy, they trick Sinister and Creepy into thinking they’ve sped off after a school bus. Mulder goes full on child catcher and nabs them with a “gotcha” and is finally deaf to their “we’re just little girls” plea.

I’d like to take a second to flag up his response “that’s the last thing you are” because he’s wrong too. They are little girls, as well as psychopaths, and everyone’s insistence that they must be one thing or another is a device for narrative obfuscation as old as the bible. The appearance of beauty/youth/innocence is not mutually exclusive of the presence of malign intent or evil. Just ask Henry James/Oscar Wilde. Or me. I literally wrote a dissertation on this so. Yeah. They can be little girls and killers Mulder. Don’t be reductive.

But I guess we do need the simplicity of “this kid is evil” otherwise Mrs Reardon ripping her daughter out of a picture and burning it would be more conflicting and we’re only on season 1. 

Likewise the disturbing concept of two eight year olds in a secure prison. I mean yes thy’re creepy but - duh duh dunnnnh - rescue is at hand! Eve 8 shows up for them and once again thy “just knew”. This is the kind of X-Files ending I love. This is the kidn of story I would have loved the revivals to pick up. Imagine (recast) grown Cindy and Teena, off doing murdery clone stuff. Yep. Okay. I’m done now. This is the end. 

Except the score. Which is...

A solid “C” Grade (26/50)

Plot 6/10 - It’s entertaining and a good idea but I penalised it because it depends on Mulder and Scully being super slow on the uptake. That said, they do actually solve the case.

Mulder  6/10 - Mulder is in charge (thanks S1) and presents a mess of grieving brother, heroic car catcher and good cop. Good, in character stuff but not exceptional.

Scully  4/10 - Scully seems to forget she’d an MD and a badass here. She lets Mulder talk her out of (correct) suspicions, gets taken down in the action scene and generally second fiddles. She’s a cute mom but not the Scully we want to see.

USP 3/5  - This was an ambitious idea, beautifully presented, and while it didn’t quite get the polish to make it iconic it is memorable, creepy and a good representation of S1 bread and butter eps. 

Other Characters  5/10 - These points are all for Harriet Harris. None for you creeper twins. None for you.

Bonus points 2/10 - One for being aesthetically pleasing. One for the dorky, cute, feeling out Mulder/Scully moments (motel urnghh) and also their mom and pop act at the rest stop.

That’s all for now folks. I’ll probably have the next one done this decade. Fire. Goodie.

<< 1.10 Fallen Angel ———————————  1.12 Fire >>

[nedyma]

hiding - florence and the machine + coldatom

THANK YOU SARAH

Ray’s heart constricts in his chest as the music plays louder and louder in his ears. The raving lights and the music and the crowd is something Ray feels like he hasn’t been able to experience in years. He feels young again as a childish glee fills him. 

When he was younger, he’d sneak away and grab a bus to the closest concert that he knew about. It wasn’t hard keeping it from his parents, since they never were around much. He knew they didn’t approve of the music he listened to, and he definitely knew they wouldn’t approve of the crowds the music brought. 

But he’d feel at home with these strangers that he never bothered to know. Strangers that he’d only share smiles with as they bounced and sang as loud as they could to the song, even though they still couldn’t hear their own voices over the raging music. 

It’d been so long since he’d been able to attend a concert of any kind and boy did he miss it. The night sky above the crowd, the colored smoke clouds floating across the field, or the light shows that some bands would provide. All of it was riveting to Ray. It was an experience that he wanted to repeat over and over. 

But things got serious the older he got. He was forced into so many classes, and as things between his parents got worse he would put all of his attention into his school work. He thought maybe, just maybe, if his parents could see all the hard work he puts through, and if they saw that he’s the head of every class it might bring them together. It might give them something to celebrate. But it never did. They never even noticed Ray’s grades. They never noticed how hard Ray tried. 

And then Ray became the owner of Palmer Industries, after a lot of hard work. He knows what he had to do and all the accomplishes he had to make to rise to the top, but there’s no way he’d ever let that change him as a person. And now with his career, and his money, and all of the possibilities Ray thought naively that he’d be able to go to concerts again. 

He was wrong. 

Owning his business consumed his life. He was always drawn into important meetings regarding finances, business strategies… all the stuff he never wanted to deal with when he started the company. So he hired Felicity and she took care of that for him while he hid himself in his inventions, creating prototype after prototype. 

Then he built his super suit. A few things happened in between, far from trivial but nothing he’d like to relive. Then he became a part of the Legends… strangely one of the best things that has happened to him. He’d dare to say the best thing that had happened to him. 

A group of misfits brought together and somehow along the way the formed a family… Something that Ray hadn’t realized he’d been craving, needing, until he’d grown close to them all. 

And then there was Leonard Snart. More than family. Something more like love. Ray’d go as far as to say true love, but his naivety ends there. 

It’d been a slow day on the ship when the team had decided to lounge around in the ship’s version of a living room. There were large wrap-around couches with huge duvets thrown over the back, complete with lots of comfy throw pillows. 

The team were strewn across the sofa, all still in their pajamas. A day to relax is rare, so they were trying to take advantage of the moment as best they could. Amongst them trying to relax, someone started talking about their fondest memories. What they would be doing if they were back in their proper timeline. Ray thinks it was Jax who started it, but everyone’s started sharing so he’s not too sure. 

Then the conversation turned to him and Ray wasn’t quite sure what his answer was. He fiddled his two thumbs together in his lap as he thought, but finally his blank mind filled with one answer. He’d go to a concert. He’d grab an old band t-shirt, some jeans, he wouldn’t bother doing his hair, and he’d go stand in a pit of people as he listened to songs pulse around him. 

Most of the team let out a small sigh in agreement, mainly Sara, Jax, and even Nate. Mick couldn’t care less about Ray’s answer, chewing on a muffin as if he’s stuck in his own world. Stein’s falling in and out of sleep where he sits on the end of the couch, and Amaya looks like she has a few questions about concerts. When Ray’s eyes dance over to Leonard’s, he finds the man looking back at Ray as if he’s thinking… calculating something in his mind. 

Ray wants to ask what he’s up to, but then the team is moving on to the next topic and Ray’s lost his chance. So he shuts his mouth, giving Leonard a small smile and turns back to listen to the team. 

                                                           -

A week later and the team found themselves in the seventies, of all time periods. If Ray had to be honest, the seventies were growing old. But then again, he never minds throwing on a pair of bell bottoms and an unusually tight t-shirt. The clothes seem to fit him well. 

Even Snart had to get down with the funky clothes, adorning a paisley button-up with a nice flared pair of pants as well. 

The two had made their way out into the field, prepared for their mission… but it was over before they know it. Which Snart had smugly stated he knew it would. It was a simple recon mission that Sara managed to retrieve what they needed before he and Ray barely stepped off the ship. 

At the fact that Ray would be crammed back on the ship, his shoulders fell and he sighed. “Damn… I was actually looking forward to some action.” 

The words has Leonard’s eyes on him, cool and calculating once again. Then his eyes fall to the ground as he thinks further, but within a few seconds he seems to come to a conclusion. He spins on his heel, waving Ray on lamely. “Come on, Raymond. I’ve got something I want to show you.” 

There was a part of Ray that wanted to protest. He stayed planted where he stood, wondering whether he should actually follow… Then he comes back to his senses. Why in the hell wouldn’t he follow after Snart? So he jogs forward up until he makes it to Leonard’s side. 

“What are we doing?” Ray inquires, now looking around them as they walk. The sky is turning an array of dusty pinks, vibrant oranges, and deep purples. Ray wishes that he had a camera, but Leonard’s drawl drags him back, 

“It’s a surprise.” Leonard states simply, giving no further explanation than that. 

And Ray wants to press on, really he does, but he doesn’t want to ruin the moment. It’s too nice, walking side by side with Leonard as the sky continuously seems to darken. They’re not fighting, no guns are being pointed at anyone, and no one’s life hangs in the balance. Yeah, Ray’s not going to ruin the moment. 

It’s another few minutes of walking, until Ray starts to hear some noise in the distance. His face scrunches instantly as he turns to share his confusion with Leonard… only Leonard’s not looking confused at all. He’s actually got a small curl of a smile on his face as they keep getting closer. 

“Do you hear that?” Ray questions, trying to peer further ahead. 

“Yeah,” Leonard answers again, now grabbing onto Ray’s wrist and taking an abrupt right. 

And that’s when Ray sees it. 

In front of them is a crowd of people, some laying on blankets in the giant field, some up close to the stage that’s set up as the band plays. The lax attitude everyone holds matches the seventies well, and Ray feels like he’s been thrown into a black and white image he had seen in his old history text book. 

Now, with the sun setting behind them, Ray turns towards Leonard with wonder in his eyes. 

“How did you…?” Ray trails off, not even sure what to ask. 

Leonard only shrugs at him, adding a fond roll of his eyes. “I’ve got my ways.” 

Ray huffs out a laugh in disbelief, but his eyes never leave Leonard’s. The warmth he feels blossoming in his chest is love. True love. “Yeah,” Ray says breathlessly, now leaning in to cup Leonard’s cheek in his hand. The orange sunlight tinges Len’s skin, but makes his blue eyes opalescent as they dance down to Ray’s lips and back. “You do.” Ray agrees, then doesn’t wait any longer as he presses a soft kiss to Leonard’s lips.