#the whole point why i work here is so that i can travel lots especially during spring convo season

[calpicowater]

Week 17/52: April 24th - April 30th 2023 | Abbotsford 🍟

In Abbotsford for work for the next 10 days... this was my week one. Fairly uneventful. Just work, scroll, rinse, repeat. My hotel was the worst... did not have a functioning shower... but otherwise, weather was super warm. Hello to summer weather! Had some really good Church’s Chicken. 2 piece spicy combo with fries and biscuit... and fanta! 🍊

[drtanner]

You know, I think I'm starting to understand why the sharing culture on this site is such dogshit now.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I spent several solid hours going through my art and writing tags as far back as 2012 and manually deleting everything I found, including all of my own reblogs, because I don't expect my opt out from having my blogs' data scraped to be honoured, and seeing the difference in the way people interacted with my work back then and the way they interact with it now (or the way they don't interact with it at all, more specifically) was deeply and tragically enlightening.

tl;dr, despite having had a fraction of the followers back then that I have now, as well as being an objectively better artist and writer than I used to be 10+ years ago, my work travelled further and people engaged with it more, and they also sent me asks with drabble prompts and questions about my OCs all the time, whereas none of that happens at all anymore. This place was a lot more communal back in that pre-2016 era and generally a lot more rewarding and fun.

There's been plenty of posts going around over the last few years begging people to reblog because that's how this site works, but every one of those posts always winds up lousy with people saying they just click "Like" on things because they like them but not enough to put them on their own blog, or because they don't want to clutter their blog, or because tagging things is too much effort or whatever, and I'm noticing a pattern. There's something that all of these common responses have in common:

All of these people are wholly concerned with themselves and the way their blog looks, or what their blog is supposed to be for, or some other similarly entirely self-centred point of focus.

Listen. Other people have already tried to explain to you that that's not what this place is about or what this place is for or that you can make as many sideblogs as you want if you're trying to curate something specific, and they've had little success in emparting understanding to you, so I'm going to try a different approach.

Here are ten (10) benefits of reblogging that will make this site more fun and engaging for you, personally! ( b ._.)b

You get to keep the thing for yourself, but you also get to pass it along for other people to play with, too! Best of all worlds. How often do you get to keep a thing and share it?

Look in your Activity after you reblog something you enjoy to find other people who like the same things that you do! This is a terrific way to find new people to follow.

Sometimes you'll make a comment when you reblog something and later find that an awful lot of strangers are reblogging it from you directly for some reason. This is usually because someone else later down the line made a much stupider and worse comment and those strangers are now all clicking on your reblog so that they can reblog the post without that other person's stupider and worse comment on it. I like it a lot when this happens. You can get a lot of new followers this way, too!

Even if you don't have the time or spoons to play with jpegs like dolls yourself, your reblog can put the post in front of those folks who do. Playing with jpegs like dolls is half of what makes this site function; give it a bit of time, and the jpegs will cross your dash again with new additions. As it is with anything you love, set it free, and the love will come back to you one hundredfold. 💜

Look in your Activity after reblogging some art or writing to see people going nuts in the tags. You can also go nuts in the tags if you want; everyone loves seeing this when it happens, especially the artist or writer themselves.

Commenting with your reblog is like raising your hand to share your opinion with the whole room, whereas reblogging with your comment in the tags is more like whispering to the person next to you and keeping it between yourselves. Contrary to what you might have been told by others, both are perfectly fine and good and they each have their place. You can do both on the same reblog, even! Take part in the conversation!

If you're too shy to talk, reblogging without commentary is a lot like parallel play. You're all enjoying the same thing quietly together!

When you reblog things a lot, you'll start to see the same people popping up in your Activity feed all the time. These people are your friends whether you actually talk to them or not.

Stuck for something to say? Point out something you liked about the post! It can be something small! Acknowledging things that make you happy out loud is good for your mental health and also your soul.

Reblogging also invites other people who are doing all of these things to find and follow you!

There's so much to do on here beyond checking your dash and occasionally looking at the For You tab. You can discover all kinds of people and things by making a bit of an effort and having a poke around in your Activity feed and on the blogs of people who interact with the posts you're seeing and passing along! I promise you don't need an algorithm to do this for you; the action of exploring the landscape around you on this website is fun in its own right!

Get out there and see who your neighbours are. 💜

[thebiggerbear]

Off Limits

Summary: When Reenie sends you to assist Colter with whatever he needs after getting arrested for breaking into a morgue in Virginia, you meet his older brother Russell for the first time. There's some flirting and definitely a mutual attraction there before you Colter sends you off. Little do you know at the time that Colter has warned Russell that you're off limits and that Russell has no intention of listening to said warning.

Pairing: Russell Shaw x Female!Reader; Russell Shaw x Female!PI!Reader

A/N: So I've had this idea in my head since I first saw the episode (and that whole food truck scene) and finally sat down to start writing it May 19th, the day we were all hoping Russell would return for 1x13 (no spoilers). I did change up the ending of 1x12 a little here. By the way, I love Colter and I'm only a few episodes into the season but he kind of gives a little fuckboi vibe to me (meant affectionately of course) so I decided to kind of play on that a little here. Not that Russell also doesn't seem to have that vibe here a little bit. (again, meant as affectionate) 😉 I may write a follow up to this to fill in/shade in more areas mentioned in here.

Anyways, this was a lot of fun to write and try to practice ratcheting up the UST a little between two characters. I'm not sure if I succeeded but it was still fun to try. 🥵

All unbeta'd.

Please let me know if you would like to be tagged in any future Russell or Tracker works.

Song while writing: Coming For You - Nuela Charles (you can probably guess what scene I was envisioning/writing with this one 🤷‍♀️)

Warnings: sexual tension; flirting; a little smut; language

Word Count: 9357

Taglist: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187; @rieleatiel

Jensen Taglist: @samanddeaninatrenchcoat; @deansbbyx

You pulled up to the area where two food trucks sat and tables were scattered throughout the center of it all. You quickly recognized Colter sitting there, eating, talking to someone sitting across from him. You softly groaned at the incessant pounding in your head, tenderly rubbing your forehead. Why had Reenie charged you with this? True, you owed her a favor (or four) but still, getting on a plane with only thirty minutes notice, no time to pack an overnight bag, and her insistence that you go and assist Colter with whatever he needed was a bit much. Even for her. 

But here you were, dressed in yesterday’s clothes, your hair up in a messy ponytail after you quickly combed your fingers through it, and feeling scuzzy after a long night spent on planes. That’s right. Planes as in plural. Reenie hadn’t even sprung for a non-connecting flight, though she’d tried to chalk it up to none of those being available when she’d booked the trip for you ASAFP. You’d been stuck in coach the entire time, which was fine (you were more than used to it) but you’d had the middle seat and then the aisle seat — both seating arrangements were pure hell. Needless to say, you may have indulged at the airport bar in between flights and ordered drinks while on both, putting it on your business card that you immediately wrote off as travel expenses in your head. Especially when one of the guys you were sitting next to (who thought he was the next young Robert DeNiro apparently) was intent on making conversation, filling you in on his romantic and sexual history (relayed through a ton of bad implied jokes of course), as if he thought that would be a selling point for you to immediately want to induct him into the mile high club (there was no way he was a member despite his many stories hinting to the contrary). No thank you. Not ever.

Thankfully, you were able to pick up some essentials when you finally arrived at your destination and used the airport bathrooms for a little clean up before grabbing a rental car. You still felt gross and in need of a shower, but you’d manage until you did what you came here to do and then your time would be your own again. You were sure you’d get a shower and a change of clothes somewhere in between there. 

So while the alcohol helped to ease the tension your sudden trip created, you were badly hungover. Yep, sadly you were at that age where if you even looked at a drink, you’d get a headache the next day. So while you had maintained a nice buzz, you were now paying for it. You took a deep breath, slipped on your sunglasses, and got out of the car. 

Colter saw you coming, surprise fleeting across his expression, before turning his full attention on you when you sat down next to him. “Oof. Rough night?”

Your answer was to flip him the bird which made him chuckle. You then yanked out the folder of files Reenie had thrown into a travel case for you and slapped it all down next to him. “There. Directly from Reenie. With my compliments. Not that I don’t have my own cases to work,” you finished in a mumble. You snatched his coffee, ignoring his frown, and took a deep gulp. You made an immediate face. “Ugh. How do you still drink this shit?”

“It’s coffee,” he informed you as he began peeking at the files.

“I know. How do you not put anything in it? Do you like the taste of bitter ass first thing in the morning? Wait, don’t answer that.” You slipped out an airplane shot you had snuck into your jacket pocket that you swiped from the drink cart as it passed by during your aisle seat fun, beyond desperate to ignore the chatty Cathy next to you (her name had literally been Cathy as you’d found out against your will). You immediately lifted the lid and dumped in the contents, picking up a fry from Colter’s plate and using that to stir things around quickly before tossing it in the grass behind you. You ignored the “hey!” sounding not too far from where the fry had most likely landed and took a generous sip of the warm liquid, nearly heaving a sigh of satisfaction as it settled into your stomach. Not exactly the hair of the dog but it would do for now.

Colter was shaking his head, watching you, and you immaturely stuck your tongue out at him, about to tell him to blow you when you heard a chuckle across the table. You turned to see the guy Colter had been talking to grinning over at you, amusement clear as day on his face. You lowered your glasses slightly and took in his features, noting his obvious attractiveness, and you would be loathe to admit that you wouldn’t mind meeting him in an airplane bathroom had he been the one sitting next to you on that ghastly flight. Almost as if he knew what you were thinking, his smile grew and those green eyes lit up in a way that was all too familiar to you, and also had you wondering if there were any public bathrooms around here that you could slip away to for a bit. After the long night you’d had, an orgasm or two might just be what the doctor ordered. 

You pushed your glasses back into position and gave him a smile right back. “And who’s this?”

Before Colter could answer, the man stuck out a hand towards you. “Russell Shaw, Colter’s older brother.”

Your smile dropped as your hopes were immediately dashed. Fuck. Not only was he hot in a very rugged type of way (right up your alley actually not that you’d ever admit that out loud) but he seemed like he would’ve been game for what you were up for, too. Dammit. You forced yourself to shake his hand and not be rude, all the while trying your best not to think about what those hands could do or how that rough, warm skin would feel like against yours. “Y/N Y/L/N.”

The light in his eyes burned brighter. “Y/N. That is a beautiful name.” 

You couldn’t contain the eye roll at the obviously bad pickup line. Perhaps it was best that he was Colter’s brother. Not that you would’ve been doing much talking if he wasn’t, so his flirting skills wouldn’t have mattered. “So I’ve heard.” You cut that off at the knees. “Russell Shaw,” you drew out his name, remembering something Reenie had mentioned before you went through airport security. You yanked out another folder from your case, slapping it down in front of him. “Reenie insisted that I give you this and told me to tell you that you owe her quite a bit for taking care of those fines from Fish & Wildlife and something about a donkey in Tuscaloosa?” You glanced up at him in question. 

He chuckled, sounding nervous, and gave you a reassuring smile. “That’s not— The donkey thing was a misunderstanding.”

Right. “Oh, I’m sure.”

“No, really. We ran into a situation and we tried to free him when these cops saw us and—”

You held up a hand. “I really don’t need the details. It’s fine. But Reenie did say you should Venmo her.”

He pressed his lips together and dropped his gaze to the papers, nodding. “Sure. I’ll get right on that.” You studied him as he studied the paperwork and despite the suspicious donkey thing and your decision to already back off, you kind of wished he would get right on you. 

You heard a throat clearing next to you and turned to find Colter glancing between you, that frown on his face again. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes once more. Whatever, Colter had no business looking like that. He’d had his chance and he’d fucked it up, royally. Instead of giving that pretend jealousy shit the time of day, you snatched a few more fries off of his plate and glanced back and forth between the two men as you chewed. “You two look nothing alike, by the way.”

“He should be so lucky,” Russell teased his brother before turning that smile back on you. You almost wished you hadn’t indulged in an all night booze fest and had a fresh change of clothes. You must look like a wreck right now, more than what you’d seen in the rearview mirror earlier, and you probably smelled like one, too. Desperately trying to tamp down the images popping into your brain of this man underneath you and those hands of his gripping onto your hips, you stole more fries from the plate near you.

“Seriously, Y/N, why don’t you just go get your own food? The trucks are right there.” Colter hated it when you did this which is exactly why you did it. 

You arched a brow over at him as you chewed. “You buying?” When he didn’t answer fast enough, you snatched even more fries from him. “Didn’t think so.”

“I am,” Russell interjected, smirking over at you. “Just tell me what you’d like and I’d be more than happy to get it for you.”

His voice deepened on that last part and it made parts of you clench. You bet he would. Why the fuck did Colter have to have a brother? And why did it have to be this guy who was watching you like the Big Bad Wolf, looking like he would gobble you up the second you’d let him? Who had a roguish grin to match? Besides, based on what Reenie had said during your quick interlude at the airport, Colter’s brother had been hitting on her big time. She had warned you to tread carefully due to his connection to this case Colter was looking into. That his brother might try to charm his way into peeking at the files for his brother that you were carrying among other things, but this information was meant to go strictly into Colter’s hands. You were almost insulted at her implying that you weren’t a damn professional and that you were so easily led by your libido (it had been almost six months which was a damn drought for you). It was almost as if she knew you too well (she did).

Even though you didn’t plan on going there, at all, you couldn’t resist, lifting your sunglasses to your head, not caring how bloodshot or tired your eyes looked. “Anything I’d like?”

He leaned forward slightly. “Whatever you want,” he promised, the look in his gaze making the same vow but for something completely different.

You leaned forward, too. “Well, in that case…” When you noticed him moving an inch more towards you, hanging onto what you would say next, you grabbed his box of fries out from underneath him. You smirked triumphantly and plucked a fry in between your fingers, popping it into your mouth. 

Instead of getting annoyed like Colter had, he quietly laughed and seemed plenty entertained as he watched you pick up another fry that had red sauce partially covering it. “I should warn you. I’m a sriracha on fries kind of guy.”

You glanced at the fry and then back at him, shrugging. “Oh, I’ve had way hotter things in my mouth than this, trust me.” You never broke eye contact as you slipped the fry past your lips, not reacting in the slightest when the spicy taste came into contact with your tongue. Russell’s eyes darkened and you had the distinct feeling that if you weren’t in public right now and Colter wasn’t here, you’d be at serious risk of him testing that theory.

“Okay,” Colter interrupted. “Let’s focus on the case, please.” He almost sounded irritated which made you glance over to see him glaring in both yours and Russell’s direction. You laughed to yourself and continued eating your stolen fries and sipping your modified version of an Irish coffee. As much as Colter’s annoyance amused you, you were also grateful that he was reminding you why you were there. You needed to get your horny ass in check.

“So this is everything Reenie could find on them?” He asked.

You shrugged. Reenie hadn’t exactly given you all the particulars and you assumed that was purposeful on her part for whatever the reason. Not that it bothered you in the slightest; you had your own shit to worry about. Besides, she also implied Colter would fill you in on everything once you caught up with him.

He looked displeased and then shook his head at you. “Why did she even bother sending you?”

You got angry then. How dare he? It’s not like you wanted to be sent on this fun little errand at the whims of the lawyer who was hellbent on helping him at every turn. “Hey. I traveled on two annoying ass flights to get here, dealing with chatty old ladies and misogynistic perverts, to hand deliver you this shit and to assist wherever I can. Without any warning or time to even pack a toothbrush, I might add. All while I have my own caseload to work on, thank you very much. To help you out and fast. So how about a goddamn thank you instead of whatever this is?” You gestured towards him. He went to reply, but you cut him off. “And while you’re turning that ungrateful frown upside down, why don’t you tell me what exactly it is you’re working on?”

Russell spoke up then, prompting you to look over at him. “A buddy of mine went missing and we’re trying to track him down. His wife called me and asked me to look into it. Colter’s helping.”

That quelled your irritation slightly and you pressed your lips together. You could only imagine how sick with worry this guy’s wife must be; you knew that feeling all too well. “I’m sorry to hear it,” you offered, your tone as genuine and sympathetic as you could make it. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Colter watching you, his frown gone, now replaced by the same sympathy you were feeling. You hated it so you decided to ignore it. “How long ago did he go missing?”

“A few days back. He was returning home after a grocery store run but he disappeared from a gas station while filling up.”

Your brows furrowed. “Taken?”

Russell shook his head. “No. He ran off. It looked like someone may have been after him.” 

Colter slid over the file to you, nodding when you glanced at him questioningly. “Doug Thompson. Former military. Now working for these guys as a private contractor.” Well, now Reenie’s explicit instructions made more sense. 

You opened the file and skimmed the papers as quickly as you could. “Wow,” you murmured. “So these guys are no joke.”

“No, they’re not.” You glanced up to find Russell watching you, all traces of any flirtation and humor gone. “But I don’t think they have anything to do with it. I would’ve heard something if they did.”

Your brows arched in surprise, hearing what he wasn’t exactly saying. “You’re working with them, too?”

He gave you a nod. “I am. We do mostly private security, that kind of thing.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see the disbelief in Colter’s expression. He wasn’t buying it either. “Which is code for black ops, am I right?”

Russell tensed. Bingo.

“Which means that whether or not they’re responsible, they’re most likely connected to what’s happening. If someone was really after your friend.”

His jaw tightened. “What makes you say that? It could be anyone.”

You shot him a look and shut the file. “Because I was engaged to someone who did this kind of thing and I know how these things work.”

You watched as his eyes widened slightly and he leaned forward, curious. “Was?”

Ignoring that question and no longer as curious about him, you tossed the file back over to Colter. “Bottom line is this firm is where you should be looking first. Carefully, though. We both know how they like to keep their secrets.” You gave him a thin-lipped smile and sipped your coffee, slipping your sunglasses back on and getting up to head over to the food truck behind him. On your way, you spied a young family nearby. The mother was feeding a baby, smiling as she watched her husband spin his kindergarten-age daughter in circles by the arms, making her giggle. You felt an all-too familiar lump forming in your throat but you forced it back down and continued your trek, coming to a stop at the back of a short line, intending on getting your own food. You weren’t really hungry but you needed a few minutes to regain your bearings before you could switch back into professional mode and be of any help to the brothers.

By the time you returned, Colter sent you a sympathetic glance which you promptly ignored and dug into the case as well as your meal. 

Colter sighed when your car pulled away. He had insisted you go check into a room and clean up while he and Russell made some calls, did some digging, and he would call you if something turned up. You had been only too happy to agree.

Russell turned back to him, after watching you drive off. “Oh, I like her.”

“Of course you do,” Colter muttered.

“Alright, you already gave me the sit rep on you and the lawyer. Now I need one for you and her.” He gestured in the direction you had disappeared in with his thumb. “And don’t hold back because she is…” He gave his brother the perfection sign.

Colter shook his head and wiped his hands with a napkin. “There really isn’t anything to report there, either. We had a…weekend about a year back when I was working a case in her town. Then I got a new case in the next state over and we went our separate ways. Nothing ever came of it.”

Russell continued chewing his fries that you had returned before you left, thinking it over. “There seems to be quite a bit of hostility between you two for just a casual weekend.”

Colter folded his arms on the table. “We didn’t end on the best terms.”

His brother chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee. “Bit of an understatement.” He then wiped his hands clean, too. “So, she’s fair game then, I take it?”

Colter shot him a glare. “No, she’s not. She’s off limits, too.”

“Come on, bro. You already said the lawyer was off limits.” He gave Colter a look. “Are you telling me you’ve got a thing for both of them? Because if you do, I wouldn’t blame you. They’re both—”

“It’s not like that,” Colter interrupted. “With Y/N, it’s… She’s been through a lot.”

Russell nodded and glanced back down at his food. “Yeah, I caught that.”

“The last thing she needs right now is a reminder of any of it.” Russell glanced up to catch Colter eyeing him sharply.

Russell got the message. He hadn’t addressed it at the time but he hadn’t missed it when you claimed to know how companies like Horizon worked or that you had been engaged to someone who worked for one of them. There was obviously a story there. And that combined with your change in demeanor when he mentioned Doug’s disappearance, you referring to your engagement in the past tense, and Colter’s protectiveness of you — Russell had a pretty good idea of what probably happened. It didn’t mean he didn’t like you, though. If he wasn’t mistaken, he had gotten the impression that you had liked him, too. But in the same vein, until he knew what he was working with, he didn’t want to do anything that might cause you to relive anything that you’d rather forget.

“You don’t plan to call her to help with any of this, do you?”

Colter shook his head.

Russell studied his brother, determining if that was the best option here. You were a PI and a damned good one if Reenie Green had sent you to help. It was obvious from his short interactions with the woman that she didn’t suffer fools and there wasn’t a single thing she missed. So he knew you had to be good at your job. Doug was still missing, Tracy was still worried, and they still weren’t any closer to finding any answers. It might be helpful to include you in this. Another pair of discerning eyes was always a good thing. In the end, though, Russell decided against saying anything. Instead, he asked, “So, you sure she’s off limits?” His brother gave him a glare and he couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m just kidding. I got it. Off limits.” 

He also didn’t mention that he had discreetly entered your number into his phone when you inconspicuously slid your business card over to him. At the time, he had thought you were giving him a greenlight to contact you after this was over, but now he realized you probably had known what Colter was going to do all along.

Instead, Russell mentioned the autopsy report he had stolen from the morgue and handed a copy to Colter to peruse. While he studied the paper, Russell discreetly sent you a message so you also had his number and so he could shoot you a text when the time was right.

You were in a store, grabbing some clothes to have for the next few days, not knowing how long you were going to be needed here, when your phone began to ring. One quick glance at the screen had you smirking. Russell Shaw. You had slyly given him your number earlier when Colter wasn’t looking, telling yourself you were making sure you were included in the case so you could do what you were sent here to do. But another smaller part of you had hoped the man would contact you for a whole other reason. You may not have been thrilled to learn what he did for a living but that little fact didn’t have to ruin any possible fun you two could have, right? 

Sure, you felt a little guilty because he was Colter’s brother but you were also a realist. There wasn’t anything happening with Colter and whatever had was never going anywhere. Plus that had been well over a year ago. In your mind, you were free as a bird. So, you made a move; now it was up to Russell to make the next one. And you were hoping this was it.

You slid the green button on your screen and put the phone up to your ear. “Russell Shaw,” you greeted, making sure your voice sounded something akin to warm honey slowly drizzling over some fruit. “I had a feeling you’d be calling me.”

“Could it have something to do with me texting you earlier that I’d call as soon as I had an update?”

“Tomato, tohmato.” Hearing his smooth chuckle come down the line, you continued to sift through a rack of shirts. “So, what can I do for you?”

“A lot it sounds like, if I’m being honest.” His voice had dipped in register much the same way it had in your presence before but the effect it had being spoken directly into your ear like this…well, it was a good thing you had already grabbed a half dozen pairs of panties to have on hand. While it took you a second to recover, you couldn’t help but smile. You had been right earlier; he was definitely interested.

A woman walked right past you and you lowered your voice further. “Do you plan to find out?”

“You bet your ass I will. As soon as I’m free to.”

Fuck. If you weren’t in the middle of a store right now, you may have just asked him to start talking dirty to you right there. You had only been on the phone with him for less than a minute and already you were digging your teeth into your lip to keep a guttural moan from escaping you. This man had you so turned on you were surprised that you could still see straight or that you hadn’t run to the dressing room to temporarily alleviate the fire he had started in your belly that was blazing a trail down in between your legs. That voice and the way he was using it right now…it was pure liquid sex being poured into your ear. Your irritation with Reenie had abated some when you met him, now it was all but gone as were any warnings she gave you about the man as well as the thought of his younger brother. “Good. I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Oh, I hope you do.” That didn’t make you clench down on nothing, not at all. If this continued, you would be in that dressing room in the next thirty seconds, guaranteed. You were already starting to get seriously aroused at the images playing in your head. 

“Trust me, there will definitely be some type of holding going on,” you promised. 

“Don’t I know it,” he nearly growled into your ear. Holy… That was it. You were on your way to the dressing room. The sign said only three items were allowed at a time but you didn’t give a fuck at the bulkload of items in your arm; this was an emergency.

But what he said next after quietly clearing his throat had you stopping in your tracks. “As much as I’d love to continue this conversation, I only have a limited window of time. But I promise, we will pick this up later.”

You nearly let out a whine of disappointment. You very much wanted to continue this conversation right now but it slowly was coming back to you that yes, there was currently a missing persons case that was supposed to be your first priority. His missing friend in fact. Your brain knew that was more important though your body was screaming for something else. He had promised though that you would continue this later, something you could keep in your mind’s eye at the end of this very long and fucked up rainbow. As long as he dove into your pot of gold at the end, you could hold out a few more hours. “You better,” you grumbled.

Another warm chuckle floated down the line.

You turned to another rack of shirts, aggressively working your way through it. “So you said something about an update?”

“Yeah.” You had to admire how quickly he switched gears. While you were still struggling to get your libido under control and you were irritated, he sounded completely professional and nonplussed, as if he hadn’t been just talking to you with that tone of voice or implying what he wanted later on. “I reached out to one of my contacts and we think Doug might be hiding out in a location outside of town. We’re on our way there now to check it out.”

Shame immediately filled you at the mention of his friend. Here you were, horny as hell, about to go take care of yourself in the dressing room a minute ago and possibly ask him to tell you in explicit detail what he’d like to be doing to you if he were there, and Doug was still missing. You were more professional than that — hell, you knew better than that. You shook off the remnants of the last few minutes and went right into work mode. “Alright, you want me to come along for backup?”

“I’d love to have you back us up, but, uh…” 

You frowned at the uncertainty suddenly coating his tone. He wasn’t one of those guys, was he? That would be severely disappointing if he was and quite the mood killer, not to mention his third strike against him. You needed to get laid but not that badly. Though you hadn’t gotten the impression that he was one of those misogynistic assholes who thought a woman didn’t know her way around the big scary noisemakers known as guns earlier. “But what?” You snapped.

“Colter thinks you should sit this one out.”

Your jaw tightened and you quickly moved away from the mother and daughter that had just moved near you, lowering your voice. “That motherf— I don’t give a flying fuck what Colter thinks. I am not being sidelined.” You fucking knew it. The minute you had heard what the actual case was, seeing Colter’s gaze of sympathy directed at you — you fucking knew he would try to pull this shit.

“I think he’s just worried about you. You know? After what you’ve been through…”

That pulled you up short. “Exactly what did he tell you?”

“Uh, not much. He just thought this kind of situation might hit a little too close to home.”

You muttered a curse under your breath and made your way to the cashier. Fucking Colter. You knew you should have never told him about what happened with your fiance. He was the type of guy who would keep that in mind every time something like this came up. Hell, you were pretty sure that was partially the reason he had bounced out of your apartment so fast at the end of the long weekend you’d spent together. Sure, he had snagged another case, but you would never forget the look in his eyes as he quickly dressed — the same look you had seen at lunch earlier. At that time, you had liked Colter and you didn’t think your past would be something that could be held against you. Even though your time together had been strictly casual, he had talked to you about his father a little bit and he had seen a picture of Nate in your living room. What were you supposed to do when he asked you about it? Lie? After he had just shared something so personal with you? After he had slept with you four times thus far? You weren’t ashamed of your time with Nate and you had loved the man, been ready to spend the rest of your life with him before he lost his. That was just a tragic fact in your life. Never in a million years did you imagine that not only would it kick someone out your door so fast but now it would prevent you from being able to do your job.   

“Is it?”

You had completely forgotten you were still on the phone, silently fuming about this sudden development. “Is it what?” You dumped your clothes on the counter and gave a nod to the cashier in return when she greeted you.

“Is it hitting a little too close?”

You decided to nip this shit right in the bud. “Okay, Shaw, you listen to me and you listen good. It doesn’t matter if it’s hitting too close as you put it, or not. I do my job and nothing gets in the way of that. Just because your asshat of a brother has apparently decided that I’m some fragile flower of a woman that needs protecting from my own feelings doesn’t mean shit. I’m damn good at what I do and I’m a fucking professional. You hear me?” You handed the woman your credit card, noticing she was giving you an approving nod. You had forgotten that she was hearing every word of this side of the conversation. 

“Yes, ma’am.”

That was all you wanted to hear. “Good. Now, when are you going to send me that location so I can meet you?” You took the bag from the cashier, quietly thanking her, and made your way out of the store. 

“Tell you what. We’re only about thirty minutes out. From where you are, it’s about an hour and a half drive. Why don’t you let us check it out first and if it’s no dice, you can meet us on the way back into town? We’ll regroup and work it together from there on out.”

You tossed your bag in the backseat of your car. “Shaw,” you growled. “What did I just say?”

“This isn't that,” he assured you. “It’s a matter of us working against the clock. We’ve got to get to Doug before the guys looking for him do. That’s all this is.” 

You placed a hand on your hip and unclenched your jaw. He had a point and you also heard what he wasn’t saying: you racing up there to meet them would only slow them down and Doug couldn’t afford that. “Alright, is there anything I can do to help from here?”

“Not at the moment but keep your phone on. Depending on how this goes, we may need to lock down an address and quickly. And for that, we’re going to need you. I’m assuming you have an FBI contact somewhere?”

You pressed your lips together and got into your car. “I know someone,” you confirmed. “He owes me a favor or two.”

“I really want to say something right now at the idea of you and favors and me being the one to close out that guy’s tab but I can’t. My window of time is closing in about fifteen seconds.”

You smirked, shaking your head. “Pretty sure you just did.”

He cleared his throat one more time, affecting an even more professional tone than you’d heard from him thus far. “Got to go. Keep your phone on. I’ll text you as soon as I know what the situation is.” 

“Okay, will do.” You briefly closed your eyes, deciding the hell with it. “And, Russell?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful,” you quietly urged, digging your teeth into your bottom lip. Despite what you said to him before, hearing speak in a way that was similar to Nate had your nerves sitting a little bit on edge, now knowing what he and his friend Doug did for a living and what he and Colter could possibly be walking into. 

“Copy that,” he responded, making you realize that his limited window of time he mentioned had expired and he was no longer alone. Sure enough, you could hear the sounds of a car door shutting in the background.

“Keep me updated.”

“Will do. Talk soon.” Before you could say anything else, the line disconnected. Even though you’d heard the confirmation of why he had to go so quickly, a part of you irrationally worried for a second that you had probably scared him off. That your warning him to be careful only cemented whatever Colter had said about you to him and why the former wanted to keep you sidelined. You had meant what you said earlier; you were a professional and your personal tragedies would never get in the way of your job. But that didn’t mean that an age-old worry you’d had every time Nate had gone to work didn’t immediately resurface the minute you were faced with a similar situation. And even though you were pissed at Colter, you also didn’t want him to get hurt.

The moment you figured you had screwed yourself with Russell, and not in the good way, an alert sounded on your phone. You glanced at your screen and saw a new text message from the very man you had just been thinking about. 

“We’ve got this. I’ll text you the minute we’re done checking it out.”

A small smile formed on your face and you texted back a genuine “Thank you”. You forced yourself to take a deep breath and get your head back in the game. You still had to find a motel to check into and you also had to be ready in case they did end up needing that address Russell had mentioned. You quickly looked up motels on your phone, weeding out the ones with the worse reviews, and settling on a place. You fired up Google Maps and started the car, intent on getting a room and firing up your laptop to check on a few cases to keep you busy while you were waiting. That had always been the worst part for you: the waiting. Waiting for a phone call or text to let you know Nate was okay after a job even though he couldn’t tell you the details of said job. So you were determined to place your focus elsewhere but also be ready in case you were needed. 

You truly hoped the brothers found Doug alive at this location they were headed to and that the danger, if any, was minimal. That it was truly nothing the two couldn’t handle together.

Russell quickly hung up with you the minute Colter hopped back into his truck. His brother had stopped to get some coffee at Russell’s insistence though Colter had kept repeating they shouldn’t be stopping. When the latter didn’t immediately get out to go get the beverages after they parked, Colter arched his brows expectantly. Russell had given him a wide smile. “Mind getting it quick?” He waved his phone at the man, indicating he needed to make a call.

Colter looked less than pleased but gave him a nod, most likely assuming it was a call to one of Russell’s contacts that should remain unknown as his older brother had intended, and left. Russell removed his sunglasses and immediately pressed the phone icon next to your name, calling you.

Now, he definitely knew three things: you had lost someone to this type of work, you were a little bit of a spitfire and he liked you even more now, and he was definitely going to pay you a visit after he closed up this whole thing with Doug and got the man back to his wife in one piece. 

Sure, when he’d first seen you, you had been somewhat hostile but entertaining and you’d been a hot mess. One hell of a hot mess in his opinion. Then you’d been flirty, checking him out, and you had even stolen his fries to use them for implications that definitely hadn’t been lost on him (or Colter for that matter, the glare his brother graced you with when you weren’t looking he hadn’t seen since they were kids). Though he’d clocked your change in demeanor when Doug’s situation was brought up and hadn’t missed your evading his question about your engagement status, he couldn’t resist eyeing you up as you walked over to the food truck behind him, nearly whistling at the perfection he was staring at. Not to mention, he liked your spunk and that only made him want you that much more. Then when you plopped back down with your food, completely in professional mode and talking over the case quickly before Colter sent you off, he was even more impressed and he just knew he had to take his shot with you. Under him, over him, to the side of him — whatever you wanted, he was game. No matter what Colter had to say on the matter. Unless his brother had feelings for you, he was going for it the first chance he got.

Colter handed him his coffee, nodding at Russell’s thanking him. “You get anything?”

“Nothing more than we already know.” He placed his sunglasses back on and sipped at his coffee, feeling slightly bad for lying to his brother. He knew Colter’s “off limits” was more about protecting you than it was anything else. But he also had just gotten his brother to start talking to him again, to work Doug’s disappearance with him, and he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. Nothing within reason, anyway. So a little white lie needed to be told; he’d done it before and way worse. Besides, he also didn’t think it was fair that Colter didn’t allow you the decision of whether you wanted to be involved in this or not. While he could appreciate his little brother looking out for you like the good man he’d turned out to be, everyone deserved to make their own well-informed choices. Considering your ex had been former military turned private contractor, you more than knew what you were dealing with. You had made a good point earlier: your history shouldn’t impact the job you had come here to do. And far be it from Russell to be the one to stand in your way and keep you from doing just that. Plus, they could really use your help if this safehouse Ann had given them didn’t pan out. 

Colter nodded and backed out of the parking spot. “Onward to the safe house. No more stops, right?”

“Right,” Russell confirmed. While Colter was distracted, he discreetly adjusted himself. There had been a moment in your conversation there that he had been tempted to tell you just how hard your sexy-as-hell voice and heavy flirtation had gotten him. But he knew once he did that, there would be no going back and either he’d have to jerk off in his brother’s truck (which would just be awkward especially if Colter returned quickly) or he’d have to somehow sneak into the coffee shop and make his way to the bathrooms so he could rub one out in there. Though that might also prove to be awkward if anyone else walked in to overhear the absolutely filthy things he would be murmuring into your ear from a stall, all of the promises he’d make about what he wanted to do to that sweet body of yours as soon as he had the chance, the sounds of him whacking it echoing loudly in the small space along with his deep groans. There had even been once or twice he’d gently rubbed the bulge in his jeans as you talked, only backing off when it got to be too much and he was about to break, close to ordering you to go somewhere private where you could touch yourself as well while also making sure you could be loud enough so he could hear every amazing sound he knew you would make. Hell, when you’d laid down the law to him, he’d nearly unzipped his jeans and stuck his hand inside to get some relief right there. Not that he didn’t hear what you were saying, not that he didn’t respect it or you, but damn if that little bit of fire you’d thrown his way didn’t turn him on even more. When he had answered you with “Yes, ma’am” a part of him had definitely been saluting you, no doubt about it.

Then he heard someone talking to you in the background, presumably a store clerk since it sounded like you had been told an amount for whatever you were buying. He had the quick thought, or hope, that maybe you were in a Victoria’s Secret or one of those places, buying a little something for him to unwrap you out of later on. Realizing just how much lust had fogged up his brain during this conversation, he dropped his head back against the seat, shut his eyes, and compulsively swallowed. He was immediately determined to keep his cool for the rest of your chat, especially when he opened his eyes to see Colter holding the coffee shop door open for an elderly couple walking inside, coffee cups stacked in his other hand. From there, he’d kept things professional and brief, though he hadn’t been able to resist getting that one last tease in before Colter opened the door. 

And then he’d heard your warning, detecting a note of worry in it, so he’d done what he could to reassure you with the text message he just discreetly sent you. He appreciated the fact that while this case might be stirring up some feelings from the past, you still had gone ahead and told him to be safe. He knew it was meant for both him and Colter, you obviously knowing how dangerous the job could be, but he was still getting used to him being included in that group. It was a little strange for him if he was honest. Other than Tracy saying it when he would pick Doug up for a job and the occasional conversation with Dory where he mentioned he was about to go to work, there was no one else who told him to be careful, to be safe. He found he kind of liked the idea and that only increased his appreciation of your situation, especially now having an even better idea of what you might be currently experiencing. He was no stranger to trauma, that was for sure, and so he could only imagine the thoughts racing through your mind right now, you being pissed off at Colter or not, you having just met him or not. He didn’t intend to give you cause for any more worry. No, he intended to give you something else when all was said and done. He couldn’t help but smirk at the thought.    

But now — now, it was go time. He needed to clear his head and focus on the job. He needed to get Doug back to his wife alive. Colter had made Tracy a promise that both brothers were intent on keeping. And Russell had made you a promise, one he was determined as hell to see through. 

You were just leaving the bathroom wrapped in a towel, your hair damp and sitting on one shoulder after you just squeezed the water out of it, when you heard a knock on your motel room door. 

You frowned, wondering who it could be, thinking maybe it was Colter. He always had a way of finding you when that was the last thing you wanted him to do. Truthfully, you had bitched him out earlier when he called you to inform you that he had just successfully delivered Doug back home to his wife, alive and unharmed. He and Russell had found the man at the safehouse and he told them who he had been running from. While Colter didn’t share that information, you gathered from what he did share that it had something to do with a job he and Russell had done for Horizon in the past. You kept your mouth shut but you shook your head. You knew it. Doing that kind of work was always dangerous and always carried risks like that. 

They made the long drive back and now the case was closed. Something you already knew thanks to the text message Russell had sent you already confirming this but you didn’t let on to Colter that you knew. Instead, you proceeded to tell him to stop treating you like a fragile porcelain doll and from there it quickly became heated between you two. The conversation ended soon after with neither of you willing to budge and you let out an aggravated sigh when you hit the end call button. You were grateful he and Russell were okay, but the former could drive you up a wall sometimes. If you could go back in time, you would definitely have told him to get lost when he showed up on your doorstep that one Friday night.

That immediately made you think of Russell and you realized you hadn’t texted him back yet. Colter had called right after you received the text message, with you assuming they had just gotten back into an area with service, and he had told you they had Doug and he’d call again when they got him safely home. You had sat on pins and needles, trying to focus on your most prevalent case, but the worry gnawed at you. Colter’s tone had not been his usual calm, devil-may-care one. It was coated with concern, not something you heard from him too often. So you had been distracted until Colter called you again and then the rest was history.

You slid over to Russell’s name on your screen and tried to call him but it went straight to voicemail. A different worry began to gnaw at you this time, the worry that you had indeed scared him off earlier. He had thought twice about it and decided you weren’t worth getting involved with, not even for the casual one night stand. The disappointment sat in your chest for a moment until you got angry. Between the argument with Colter and now Russell bailing on the plans he had implied to you that he wanted to keep, you were done. You hopped up and grabbed the bottle of whiskey you had purchased earlier, twisted off the cap, and took a swig. Well, it looked like it would be another dry night for you and your trip out here had been a complete waste. Colter hadn’t wanted your help and now you weren’t bumping pelvises with his hot older brother either so it was a lose-lose for you. As usual.

You swigged some more whiskey before deciding it was time for that shower you had been craving since this morning. Sure, you could take care of yourself in there and it might ease some of this angry tension in your body that Colter had helped to create, but you were too annoyed. You had angrily slammed your laptop shut and headed for the bathroom, intent on washing all of the bullshit from the last twenty four hours away.

And now, Colter had decided to show up. Of course he had. He might have a thing for Reenie that he refused to acknowledge (as did she), but he was angry (something not usual for him), worked up, and you were in town. Of course he’d show up wanting a repeat performance of the angry sex you’d had in the past. While you could really use the lay to get you out of this drought you found yourself in, you had no desire to go back there and you were definitely not in the mood.

That didn’t mean you wouldn’t give him a tease of what he couldn’t have, though. Not after that argument. Which is exactly why you decided to answer the door dressed (or underdressed) as you were. But when you angrily swung the door open, the person staring back at you in momentary shock was not Colter Shaw. You were shocked yourself; how the hell had he found you?   

Russell’s gaze darkened as he took all of you in. You noticed that he had changed his clothes and his hair looked slightly damp, as if he had recently taken a shower himself. “Hey,” he greeted, his voice dipping in register again. 

And just like that, as if a button had been pressed with that deep tone of his, you were back in the mood. You smirked and leaned against the door. “Hey,” you silkily replied. “Not the Shaw brother I was expecting.”

“But the one you were hoping for, right?” Russell’s wolfish grin was back, completely undeterred by your teasing.

You pretended to think it over for a moment. “Depends.” You grabbed at his jacket and yanked him in closer to you, making him chuckle as you swung the door shut behind him. “What does this brother plan to do?”

“Like I said,” He used that voice again, making goosebumps rise along your skin. “Whatever you want.”

“Exactly what I wanted to hear.” You lifted up and wrapped your arms around his neck, the movement forcing the towel to fall from your body, as you pushed your lips to his. You ran your fingers through his hair and greedily kissed him, nearly moaning into his mouth when his tongue delved into yours and his hands palmed at your ass. If he moved those fingers a little lower, he would find you already practically dripping for him. If you weren’t so busy trying to keep your balance as he proceeded to devour you, you might have marveled at the effect this man had on your body.  

A moment later, he gripped your ass tightly and picked you up, prompting you to wrap your legs around his waist. You could feel the covered bulge against you and you couldn’t help trying to grind a little against it, trying to get some friction.

When you both needed air, you moved to his neck, yanking his head backwards and making him chuckle as you went to town on him. You could also hear him letting out tiny groans above you as he tried to catch his breath. It was one of the hottest fucking things you’d ever heard and you intended on hearing more before the night’s end. “I should tell you before we go any further,” he panted.

“Mmmm, the only thing I need to know is if you’re clean. Because I really want that in my mouth.” You reached below to squeeze his erection, making his breath catch that was then let out in a quiet hiss.

“I-I’m clean,” he assured you.

“Good, me too,” you murmured, nibbling on his ear. “You just need to make sure to pull out and we’re golden.” 

“Okay. I, uh, I also came packing.”

You moved your hand over him and squeezed once more, earning another drawn out hiss of “shit”. “You certainly did.”

He moved you back so he could look at you, his eyes the darkest you’d seen them yet. He cupped your cheek, gliding his thumb along your bottom lip before gently placing it inside your mouth against your tongue. You sucked the digit in further, moaning around it. His gaze was so transfixed on your mouth that you couldn’t help but snicker and release his thumb with a pop. “Russell.”

His gaze slowly trailed upwards to meet yours.

“Was there something you wanted to tell me?” You teased as you rubbed earnestly at his erection. 

“Uh,” You noticed his eyes close briefly when you rubbed near where the tip was located. You could feel a little wet spot forming on the denim underneath your ministrations and it made you grin. “Uh, Colter said you were off limits.”

Your hand immediately stopped its motion. Oh no, that motherfucker had not. He had no claim to you and whatever moment you two had back in the day had long since passed, along with the several women he’d bedded after you including Reenie. There was no way in hell he got to play the dibs card or tell you and Russell, two consenting adults, what to do. You planned to tell him that the next time you spoke with him, if you ever did again. For now, though, you only wanted to focus on the man whose fingers were hungrily roaming over your bare ass and lower, groaning when he found your own wet spot.

You cupped his chin, making sure he was looking straight at you as you stated in the sexiest voice you could manage, “I think you mean no limits. Right, Russell?”

He groaned and held you to him as he hurriedly walked you over to the bed. “Fuck, I knew I liked you.” You let out a giggle as he tossed you gently onto the bed that was quickly cut off by a moan when his body immediately covered yours and his tongue plundered your mouth.

A sudden thought occurred to you and you nearly chuckled against his lips. You had seen the way he had been eyeing you up earlier today and you realized you had the man completely pegged right then. Because just like the Big Bad Wolf, he proceeded to consume you completely, before the tables turned and you did some devouring of your own.

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[grandhotelabyss]

Advice/hard truths for writers?

The best piece of practical advice I know is a classic from Hemingway (qtd. here):

The most important thing I’ve learned about writing is never write too much at a time… Never pump yourself dry. Leave a little for the next day. The main thing is to know when to stop. Don’t wait till you’ve written yourself out. When you’re still going good and you come to an interesting place and you know what’s going to happen next, that’s the time to stop. Then leave it alone and don’t think about it; let your subconscious mind do the work.

Also, especially if you're young, you should read more than you write. If you're serious about writing, you'll want to write more than you read when you get old; you need, then, to lay the important books as your foundation early. I like this passage from Samuel R. Delany's "Some Advice for the Intermediate and Advanced Creative Writing Student" (collected in both Shorter Views and About Writing):

You need to read Balzac, Stendhal, Flaubert, and Zola; you need to read Austen, Thackeray, the Brontes, Dickens, George Eliot, and Hardy; you need to read Hawthorne, Melville, James, Woolf, Joyce, and Faulkner; you need to read Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, Goncherov, Gogol, Bely, Khlebnikov, and Flaubert; you need to read Stephen Crane, Mark Twain, Edward Dahlberg, John Steinbeck, Jean Rhys, Glenway Wescott, John O'Hara, James Gould Cozzens, Angus Wilson, Patrick White, Alexander Trocchi, Iris Murdoch, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, Anthony Powell, Vladimir Nabokov; you need to read Nella Larsen, Knut Hamsun, Edwin Demby, Saul Bellow, Lawrence Durrell, John Updike, John Barth, Philip Roth, Coleman Dowell, William Gaddis, William Gass, Marguerite Young, Thomas Pynchon, Paul West, Bertha Harris, Melvin Dixon, Daryll Pinckney, Darryl Ponicsan, and John Keene, Jr.; you need to read Thomas M. Disch, Joanna Russ, Richard Powers, Carroll Maso, Edmund White, Jayne Ann Phillips, Robert Gluck, and Julian Barnes—you need to read them and a whole lot more; you need to read them not so that you will know what they have written about, but so that you can begin to absorb some of the more ambitious models for what the novel can be.

Note: I haven't read every single writer on that list; there are even three I've literally never heard of; I can think of others I'd recommend in place of some he's cited; but still, his general point—that you need to read the major and minor classics—is correct.

The best piece of general advice I know, and not only about writing, comes from Dr. Johnson, The Rambler #63:

The traveller that resolutely follows a rough and winding path, will sooner reach the end of his journey, than he that is always changing his direction, and wastes the hours of day-light in looking for smoother ground and shorter passages.

I've known too many young writers over the years who sabotaged themselves by overthinking and therefore never finishing or sharing their projects; this stems, I assume, from a lack of self-trust or, more grandly, trust in the universe (the Muses, God, etc.). But what professors always tell Ph.D. students about dissertations is also true of novels, stories, poems, plays, comic books, screenplays, etc: There are only two kinds of dissertations—finished and unfinished. Relatedly, this is the age of online—an age when 20th-century institutions are collapsing, and 21st-century ones have not yet been invented. Unless you have serious connections in New York or Iowa, publish your work yourself and don't bother with the gatekeepers.

Other than the above, I find most writing advice useless because over-generalized or else stemming from arbitrary culture-specific or field-specific biases, e.g., Orwell's extremely English and extremely journalistic strictures, not necessarily germane to the non-English or non-journalistic writer. "Don't use adverbs," they always say. Why the hell shouldn't I? It's absurd. "Show, don't tell," they insist. Fine for the aforementioned Orwell and Hemingway, but irrelevant to Edith Wharton and Thomas Mann. Freytag's Pyramid? Spare me. Every new book is a leap in the dark. Your project may be singular; you may need to make your own map as your traverse the unexplored territory.

Hard truths? There's one. I know it's a hard truth because I hesitate even to type it. It will insult our faith in egalitarianism and the rewards of earnest labor. And yet, I suspect the hard truth is this: ineffables like inspiration and genius count for a lot. If they didn't, if application were all it took, then everybody would write works of genius all day long. But even the greatest geniuses usually only got the gift of one or two all-time great work. This doesn't have to be a counsel of despair, though: you can always try to place yourself wherever you think lightning is likeliest to strike. That's what I do, anyway. Good luck!

[shortpplfedup]

We Are Episodes 13-16: The gentlest of landings

As if I didn't love this show enough already, it gives me a 'Love Score' joke right at the end to seal the deal. I hope GMMTV directors continue to insert that song into every possible series until the end of time.

As the saying goes: the real We Are was the friends we (and they!) made along the way. Watching this gaggle of silly boys grow into a bigger gaggle of silly boys over the past 16 weeks was surprisingly satisfying and entirely enjoyable. The final four eps are really just a fluff victory lap, but it feels so sweet.

The pillars of the show for me right to the end were the platonic bonds within and amongst the friend group: Q and Peem's friendship, the core 5, Phum and Fang's brotherly relationship, the slow enmeshing of the disparate groups into a mammoth whole, and the way everybody silently agreed that Toey was theirs and spoiled him to death. Without the platonic love surrounding the romances, this show is cute enough but simply doesn't hold up.

Speaking of the romances, the only thing left to 'resolve' in these last eps, insofar as it required resolution, was the Chain/Pun romantic arc. This thing between them has been bubbling along in the background for the entire show, as Chain slowly got bolder and bolder about expressing his feelings, and Pun seemed more and more determined to never express his. Mans literally went 'I do not see it.' When Chain's frustrations finally boiled over and he just came out with it, Pun at least didn't let the shock hold him back. Nor the hooting, hollering onlookers🤣. And yunno what, I totally agree. These two waited long enough.

I was discussing with @ginnymoonbeam the real-time nostalgia feeling of this show, and this final block of eps really put an exclamation point on that with a lot of little vignettes and montages of the couples cementing their relationships emotionally and physically, and the whole gang just having a fucking blast travelling and hanging out together. It never really matters to them what they're doing, it could be absolutely nothing, as long as they're doing it together. You can see this footage playing on a mental loop for these boys ten, twenty, fifty years from now as they reminisce about these halcyon university days having a great time with their friends and their lovers.

To wrap up, I went on and on about enjoying how this show tackled courtship, so I wanted to categorise our couples on that along with my final couple scores!

Q and Toey (interrupted courtship): 3/4 hearts

Ah the second chance romance, truly an all-time classic trope. The key to this trope is always unpacking the feels about what happened before, what's happened since, and what's happening now, and I think the show made a decent fist of covering all three of those. Also, I gotta praise Satang here. Of all the actors, he was asked to play furthest away from himself, and he really finely balanced the Toey character I thought. This character is basically twelve types of aegyo in a sack and he made it cute rather than annoying, to the point where I totally understood why the rest of these boys were ready to do anything to see him happy.

Phum and Peem (long courtship: 3.5/4 hearts

Enemies to lovers, my old friend. The only couple without a history, who really had to get to know each other, and the continued contact their servant 'deal' drove gave them the opportunity to do just that. These two probably had the most satisfying traditional romance arc of the four couples, and I think Pond and Phuwin and the chemistry they've built worked great for these characters.

Tan and Fang (delayed courtship): 4/4 hearts

Phum and Peem might have been the most traditionally narratively satisfying, but Tan and Fang gave me the most emotional satisfaction of all the couples. They were the romantic heart of this show for me, and Tan especially held the centre, as the person who put his entire focus on loving out loud, giving his friends an example to look to. I've said it before but Tan telling his friends his and Fang's story is really the fulcrum this show rests on. Aou is the MVP of this show to me, for bringing this character to vivid, lovable life.

Pun and Chain (what is a 'courtship?'): 3/4 hearts

Absolutely totally unhinged. They'll probably get married the day after Chain's confession. It's the way everybody knew it but them. True idiot4idiot representation.

Farewell my good boys! I hope we get a reunion special!

[stormblessed95]

Okay so I’m on my fourth watch of the travel show

It gets better the more you watch, they are just so much fun

They have me smiling from ear to ear the whole way through

I know there is a lot of conversation about the car conversation but seriously, apart from Jungkooks beautiful ‘finally’ (and I’m glad that is in English so we hear it without mistranslation), what struck me upon this watch, is that he could actually mean them being in content together. 

Hear me out, but the kid spent the better part of the first half, and even to a degree still asking in the later half, of 2023 begging to go live with Jimin, inviting him over on lives. Including the bed begging live days after this filming, and now I’m framing it that he was probably thinking they have filmed this show, why can’t they have a live? I know that the show wasn’t going to be aired straight away but I can totally see him going with that thought. 

But it just struck me, he’d been asking and probably denied so many times, whereas Jimin had gone live with Yoongi and Hobi etc during work promotions, but denied JK. This was his olive branch, his two birds one stone, a trip for them to spend time together when free, but also for them to be alone in content (albeit airing a year later atp). If we remember too that they could not leave SK without work and a permit, the chicken and egg, hence the show. Jimin had the time at that point to plan it with the company, it makes sense he pushed it, though I’m sure Jungkook was involved too. 

People are moaning about Jungkooks attitude and they are so wrong and miserable, not to mention they misunderstand him. They guy is glowing with his Jimin, he’s being cheeky and kids around and it’s so beautiful to see it. To see their dynamic, as they are. 

Seeing them say they hasn’t planned another trip in NY, and the Forbes article said this too, they must have thought it a success enough to plan jeju and so on. I think a post from another blogger here also helped frame this for me, bc at the end of the day they talked about and proposed the show, just the two of them, to the company and needed a deliverable product. This involved planning to a degree, scouting locations and a vague idea of activities. They definitely had more freedom than Bv, and they had to rely on their natural chemistry, which is there in spades, but they still had to deliver/ this is where Jimins panic comes in when he is sick, bc he has to power through to make the show work, hence the are you sure? It’s so logical when I think about it all in that framed way. 

And mainly I think this also because they do not present as people who had had a falling out, or massive distance, or had issues, or something more ridiculous people are proposing. I mean logically do we really think Jimin (sensible Jimin) would even think it a good idea to do this if there was bad blood or feelings. Exactly, he would not.  There was no tension there, not that I saw anyway. They just vibe with each other. They present as pretty domestic, in tune and loveable goofballs. 

Also when you think about MS application being a month after this, they had to have seen and spoken to each other, it’s a complete reach to think they didn’t. Also, it’s their habit, Jimin literally said the same sentence in the very brief restaurant scene, that JK says to him in the doc and we know that was a complete fib. Also I feel the way JK looks at the camera in that scene and in the hand holding scene is very telling about how he felt around the cameras at first, especially when Jimin touches his throat, like he hesitated. 

I also hold in mind that at the end of the day we got about 5/10% of their time on screen, the rest is on the cutting room floor, and also probably not even filmed (esp given Jimins condition). Leaving them plenty of time for them. 

Just my thoughts. 

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[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

So now we have all the behinds and the show in it’s entirety, nobody can convince me this wasn’t a vehicle in which to establish themselves as a duo and to show their bond.  

The first episode and the behinds cemented this for me, along with the 3rd episode. 

I also want to clearly state I mean this in a positive way, as in the why of their decision to make the show, and it is not in any way negative. If we go back to Jimin saying he mentioned it a while back, doing a travel vlog, it was obviously an idea they knew they both liked and felt comfortable with. It’s something they had also done with the group and by themselves. They know they can travel together and it works.

So then comes the idea of a duo show, just them in theory. However as filmed content it was never going to be just them, let alone the guest, and although they are used to staff and cameras, it’s still invasive to a point, and they know this. I’m sure there is footage that will never see the light of day, the staff said they were worried about editing it, but there is trust there obviously they knew they were in good hands, and they did let their guard down somewhat, at times. 

The behinds actually show more of the staff than the show itself, you can see they are ever present in reality, while they are eating whilst camping they are wandering around, while Jimin films the firefly there is a woman right next to him, whilst they are packing up in Japan, packing in NY, you can clearly see staff wandering and sat around. 

So back to my point, they weren’t ever truly alone alone at times, but this was and is for content, for fans. Let that sink in. Although it was a chicken and egg, as in they wanted to probably travel alone but couldn’t leave SK without a permit for work, because of MS approaching, so this became work. A trade off. So yes, whilst it was a way to spend time together being free (and it’s a testament to them they felt that despite the staff and cameras), it was still agreed content. And truly what I mean by that is there was a reason why, a deeper reason, why they wanted to do this just them. A blogger said it the other day on here but it’s to establish themselves as Jimin x Jungkook. A duo within a band. It had to be them, no one else. It’s about showing the world at large, or really those willing to see and listen, them. 

Less, making up for something gone wrong. Nope, this became a plot device of sorts, one I personally expected, one that fit the narrative they had largely created themselves during chapter 2, especially in early 2023. This wasn’t about fixing a divide, because Jimin would never do that on camera anyway, that’s not his mo. This was a long awaited way to be in content just them. I also say this because I read on twitter an op ot7 who visited the kayak place, and the owner told her that location scouts came out three months prior to filming, that’s around April, this was not last minute, this was planned. They knew extremely what they were doing, and again the last minute narrative became a plot device to explain the show, friends catching up. This is also clear in them mentioning the members a lot in ep1 especially, keeping the ot7 connections. What aired was Jimin saying he missed V, then calling Yoongi, but the behinds have him saying he missed Namjoon, and Hobi. Jin was also mentioned a bit and also JK said he missed the members. Aside from the guest in jeju, the members weren’t mentioned again in such a way. 

In episode 3, Jimin said he was speaking about having a meal all three of them for something to say for the show. This gave a glimpse into the reality, and an understandable one, that they tailored their conversations for the cameras, found that’s interesting/acceptable to talk about. That absolutely makes sense, they aren’t going to talk how they usually would when together in front of us. That goes for the band as a whole really. 

All in all, these things all added together supports my theory that this was about us seeing them, and by that I mean them as a duo, not necessary making amends, or anything so dramatic. The other piles of evidence to support this is the fact that they don’t seem distant in terms of their behaviours, they seem to loose grasp of that in ep2, and never heard of again. Then the fact that they’re inside jokes and the way they know each other so so well is off the charts, that doesn’t come from spending time apart, that’s married behaviour. The way they prioritised each other is evident in all that they did, the activities and food they picked out, they did for each other. They were really out there living their best life, travelling under the guise of work. Love that for them and I for one see them

Hi, anon! I've been meaning to answer this earlier, but as this is a longer ask that touches on a lot of points, it took me a while. Anyway, you mentioned some things that I don't see going around much in terms of jikook "narratives" made by shippers, which is basically the only reason why this ask stood out to me.

The short version, I agree with mostly everything, but I want to address individually some of the points you made.

1. Jimin x Jungkook establishing themselves as a duo. Yes, that certainly became clear with AYS?!, although they had already did that in terms of performing as idols. But with this show, they took one step further. A bold decision, but I see it contextually. And I'm a glass half empty kind of person, so you or others might not agree with me. I think that AYS?! could only be made in the context of this small window of solo projects before enlistment. It was part of Jimin's projects in which Jungkook was brought on board and both of them decided together what to make of it. And the wish had been granted. Do I think jikook as a duo is something that will exist post-military in the context of a bts reunion and subsequent solo paths? Not really. At least not from what I can see now from this position. Once they are all together, the company might suggest to replicate the success of AYS?! with the entire group, or turning it into some dumb ot7 army dream and have the guest gimmick become a regular thing. Have other duos be established. Wasn't their group leader enthusiastic about the idea of units with the most predictable and fanservice-y combinations? I don't trust BH/Hybe and never will. I want and hope to be proven wrong.

2. Anyone who believes that AYS?! was something spontanous that could have been planned in a month or a couple weeks is naive. There's no need to have any sort of industry knowledge to just think a little bit and you can image the amount of work that goes into pre-production. From preliminary talks which would involve getting the idea out and presenting it to the company and the producers, deciding how it's going to pann out, how will it work in the context of jikook's schedules (no, Jimin did not ambush JK in NY, in case a nutcase is reading my blog). Scouting the locations takes a while. Deciding the most suitable place, if it's available during the period in which JM and JK are also available and so on. And from everything we know, both of them were involved (there's even that interview with the show's director?) throughout the process. And what you said about scouting that place 3 months in advance? It tracks, obviously. If it's the type of production that has a substantial budget that will be streamed on Disney+, you bet your ass they didn't do anything last minute.

3. This last point is connected to the second one. I don't subscribe (never did) to this idea that this is truly some show in which the idea of spending time together for a short while, away from album work, is somehow a way to compensate for some perceived distance or not seeing each other and all the implications (read "fiction") that some have come up. I won't go into too much detail because I find it pointless*, but I guess Jimin watching and commenting on Jungkook's wlives as early aa Feb 2023, saying stuff like "my baby eat well" or "I want to tie your hair neatly" or all that ridiculous flirting that happened each time, was basically a big red neon sign that said in capital letters BREAKUP! Such a distance, such an abyss, worse than Mariana's Trench!

Don't get me started on the amount of talks and planning that most likely went into applying for the buddy system. I thought that would shut people's mouths, but I guess it's a case of short memory and some lack of logic (common sense?) Hopefully this doesn't come out as a surprise, but you don't do that with a person with whom your relationship is a bit rocky or has been through a recent rough patch. Unless jikook are masochists and decided to spend 18 months together in an isolated unit near the border. Fun, right?

*This is for everyone else who will read this post. DO NOT take it as an invitation to use my inbox to share your opinions about break ups, breaks, distance, nature of relationship, timelines, etc. Your opinion over an uncofirmed relationship between JM and JK is not better than mine, nor is mine better than yours. Until jikook do a tell-all interview or they give a tour of their home, I don't care. I've heard everything. All the theories. Save yourself the time you'd spend on typing 300 words and then find yourself blocked. It's not worth it.

[tryingtograspctrl]

SHE: BILLY LOOMIS AND STU MACHER X BLACK PLUS SIZE READER

SUMMARY - You moved to Woodsboro 2 years ago and quickly became friends with Marlon and Shawn, you did your best to make friends with their friends but you couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around them because of those two... and your feelings were very valid.... Title inspired by the song "She" by tyler the creator. I reccomend you listen to it.

You jolted up at the sound of your alarm clock blaring. You reached over smacking your hand against it to quiet it down while simultaneously blowing out the candle you seem to always leave lit, one day you were gonna burn the house down.

"I don't know what it is that you've done to meee, but it's caused me to act in such a crazy wayyyy." You sang along to the radio as you brushed your teeth.

You got dressed as quickly as you could knowing Marlon and Shawn would be in the driveway any minute.

You met Marlon and Shawn when you first moved to Woodsboro around 2 years ago.

Your parents had been killed in a car accident and you had no other living relatives in your hometown so you were forced to move in with your Aunt in California.

She traveled often due to work so you only saw her a couple weeks out of the year.

You didn't mind it though, you liked to be alone, sure you'd get homesick sometimes, missing all your old friends but Marlon and Shawn filled the empty space well.

The hardest part for you was mourning the loss of your parents and adjusting to a new school, nobody liked being the new kid. Plus there was a lot of attention on you due to your appearance, you had been a big girl your whole life and people always tried to use it against you, but you loved your body no matter how other people felt about it. You cherished every curve and every inch.

The eyes could be annoying though, people acted like they've never seen a plus size black woman before.

Flashback

"Heyyy slow down a little girl, I'm Shawn you must be new here?" The tall dark skin man stood in front of you, hand extended for you to shake.

You looked him up and down, scoffing before attempting to make your way around him.

You knew plenty of guys like Shawn, one of the schools golden boys who every girl wanted to be with, and every guy wanted to be. You had met plenty of jackasses like that back in your hometown, the ones that would play friends with the big girls and the weird kids for shits and giggles with their asshole friends.

"Damn i just wanted to show you around, why you so harsh on a brother?" He stood in front of you again.

"Listen, i don't need any help. I can find my way around on my own, ok?" You snapped placing your hands on your hips.

"Whatever you say." He held his hands up in defense.

You looked down at the paper the lady at the front desk gave you, a schedule with your classes and which room they were located in.

"It looks like you have science first period, i do too. I can take you there." Shawn pointed from over your shoulder.

You jumped slightly at his voice, not realizing he had been following you.

"Fine." You gave in, he seemed too hard to get rid of and you didn't feel like putting up a fight.

He walked ahead making sure you kept up behind him.

"I never got your name." He peeked at you.

"Y/n." You spoke softly.

"Y/n, that���s pretty. Listen my brother Marlon is in this class too, i just wanna give you a heads up, he's super loud and goofy but he's got a good heart don't take him too seriously ok?" He looked down at you.

"Ok." You nodded.

You both walked in together and despite the teacher's best effort to get you to do the whole awkward introduction thing Shawn had stopped him, explaining that you were tired from the big move and just wanted to get settled.

You smiled a little at him, you really appreciated that especially since you'd get super anxious speaking in front of other's. Maybe you shouldn't have judged him too quickly.

"Damnnn the new girl is fione! Yo i'm Marlon what's your name baby?" He pulled his desk closer to yours, the legs making an awful screeching noise as they moved across the floor.

"Hey man get out of her face, and stop being so damn loud it's 7 in the morning." Shawn glared.

"My bad a brother can't be jolly in the morning? Who pissed in your cheerios?" He huffed.

You giggled at his antics shaking your head.

"At least someone appreciates me." His eyes lit up.

"I'm y/n." You shook his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you madame." He spoke in a terrible french accent lifting your hand to kiss it.

You laughed swatting at him.

"Hey you're a lot nicer to him than me." Shawn frowned.

"What can i say, i like funny guys." You winked.

Back to present

You smiled fondly at the memory as you laced up your shoes.

"Here she comessss, the beauty queen!" Marlon sang as you walked out the front door.

He got out of the car and opened the door for you bowing.

"Stop it boy." You laughed getting into the car.

"Did you sleep good?" Shawn asked kissing your cheek.

"Yeah i did, how was the party last night? Sorry i couldn't make it." You asked applying your chapstick.

"Eh it was fine, nothing crazy. You coming to the big game tonight right?" He asked taking his eyes off the road for a moment.

"Of course, i couldn't miss the biggest game of the season." You smiled at him.

He smiled too shutting off the car once he found a place to park.

"You guys go ahead i'm gotta go use the bathroom first." You grabbed your bag shutting the door.

Small time skip

You shook your hands out as you made you way across the courtyard.

"That bathroom never has any paper towels." You shook your head talking to yourself.

"Hey y/n?" Someone called out to you.

"Oh hey Randy." You turned around.

"I haven't seen you in the video store in a while, a bunch of new releases came out." He jogged catching up to you.

"I've been busy studying, my grade in math has tanked and i'm trying to get it up before the end of semester." You frowned slightly.

"Hey if you ever need help i can tutor you, i'm great at math." He placed a hand on your shoulder.

"That'd be great thank you." You smiled brightly at him.

"Of course, and when you get the time stop by the store. I got something for you." He smiled.

"I will, see you later." You waved turning back around and walking toward the fountain.

"What did that creep want?" Tatum asked a look of disgust on her face.

"Don't be like that, Randy's sweet." You frowned.

"Yeah trying to sweeten his way into your drawls, i don't trust him." Marlon scooted towards you as you sat beside him.

"Awww you jealous?" You pinched his cheeks.

"Jealous? of Randy? Girl have you seen me?" Marlon stood flexing.

"Feel that girl." He pointed at his bicep.

You just laughed squeezing his arm.

"Alright come on muscle man before we're late." You grabbed your bag.

"You're coming to the game right?" Sydney tugged at your wrist.

"Yeah of course i'll be sitting right in the front." You nodded.

"That's great, we'll need our favorite cheerleader." Stu spoke up for the first time that morning.

You laughed brushing it off as a joke.

You looked over at Billy to see him already looking at you, staring directly into your eyes.

Your face fell and chills ran up your spine, but you quickly recovered doing your best to smile at him.

"I was thinking we could stop by that mexican spot after the game, you know like a celebration dinner." Shawn suggested.

It took you a moment to peel your eyes away from Billy but you eventually did, nodding in agreement.

"Whatever you want." You relaxed in his embrace.

Part two: here

[bricreative]

Thoughts on Life is Strange: Double Exposure so far (SPOILERS) because I think about this stupid series way too much

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings. Some of it’s good, but I’m mostly just sad and disappointed about the whole thing. I’ll try to keep it just about the game, but I also want to talk about the build up, how the marketing (so far) has mislead fans about certain choices and characters, how fans have been teetering on harassment to the devs, and what I’m hoping for in the chapters 3-5.

I'm sure there are others out there who can articulate these points better than I can and I'll probably repeat said points, but if you want to see a rare ramble from me, here are my thoughts, either in full paragraphs or bullet points ->

EDIT: Leaks are already coming out so half the shit I say in this probably doesn’t even matter 🙃

Early access has been out for more than a week now and I was only able to finish parts of it until I had to go on vacation. Parts of the story were spoiled for me before I got around to finishing the second chapter. So any “ twist” or revelation that did occur wasn’t as exciting as it could’ve been. And that’s mostly on me because I never really feel the need to block words/tags to avoid spoilers, unless I actually cared about said story.

And well, as much as I try to give Deck Nine some grace, the outlook for this game wasn't looking great to begin with…

Like the fucking break up with Max and Chloe?? While it wasn't a total shocker, the marketing has been leading towards that, it still left me heartbroken that this is how it's playing out. I was trying to be hopeful (delusional) that maybe they were going to do the long distance route. I thought that just made the most sense. I thought that’s why they were only releasing the first two chapters.

(I also know it was to get people to buy the ultimate edition, I know, I know)

I can see a route where taking some time apart could make sense given the overwhelming guilt, pain, trauma they obviously faced. But the way Chloe is currently written just feels so ooc? I don’t think she would’ve thrown so much shit Max’s way, especially about her rewind powers. I would think given it's been 10 years after the events of Arcadia Bay, she would trust Max completely. It’s also crazy considering Deck 9 made a whole ass prequel game revolving around Chloe?? And made a cute DLC with Max and Chloe as kids. It’s just baffling me how they’re treating her character.

I wonder what the reason was for not including Chloe more into the story. Did Square not want her in it at all? Did they even attempt to try and bring Ashley Burch back? I figured, they probably couldn’t get her to reprise the role full time, so maybe they opted her for a part time role, or a meaningful cameo. Are they hiding Chloe because they only have Rhianna and they’re afraid of disappointment/ backlash? 

And now we have lines from the original game redubbed by her, so it’s looking more and more like that’s the case. It’ll be Rhianna...

And look, I don’t hate her or her performance in Before the Storm, I’m just not crazy about it. She has some powerful scenes in it for sure, but I do think it is the weakest game of the series. At the end of the day, Ashley will always be Chloe, and she has the best chemistry/dynamic with Hannah Telle.

It doesn’t help that we barely know what happened in between the events of LIS and DE. It’s crazy to me that the writers didn’t even bother to put simple dates on text messages, some journal entries, etc. They have in the previous games, why not now? Are they hiding something or was it just an oversight or lack of care? And don’t get me started on the artwork in this journal....

It’s not bad but it's SO not Max’s style. It’s so cartoony? She’s writing less and less. What would’ve been cool to see is a portfolio of all of her previous work so far. She would’ve had SO much from traveling the country? Such a missed opportunity. AND an actual photo mode, hello?? What we have right now is kinda lackluster

I don't like that this series is becoming a glorified dating sim.The romances that did work in the past were built off of genuine connection and chemistry? They just jump right into this one?? 

While I actually do like Amanda, I can see them working in a BAY route only

Max would not go for a guy like Vinh in any timeline. Holy fuck, he’s so gross

It's just so obvious they had to shoehorn his romance route last minute

At this point, i'm agreeing with the argument that Max is a lesbian rather than a bisexual (even though I love the pattern that all lis protags are bi)

Or better yet, we don't have to go the romance route at all

I know all fandoms are annoying but the way certain fans have been acting towards the official accounts/ developers has been frustrating to witness?? I'm not saying you can't be critical, especially when it's on your own personal posts/accounts, but it's getting to the point where y'all are harassing them for every little fucking thing. I don't know, I just don’t have the energy to pester or harass accounts this fucking much. Don’t yall have better things to do? There are bigger things going on in the world

Focus all of that energy into creating art, writing, etc.

Remember that these characters are made up, it is a game

There’s a difference between thoughtfully criticizing and just plain bashing people

While I do think it’s frustrating, I can kinda understand why Square/D9 decided to be cagey about Chloe’s appearance. They’re walking a thin tightrope right now

There have been issues revolving around leaks even before the official announcement of the game came out AND there are leaks going around as we speak

They went the Last of Us II marketing route and essentially tricked people, yes. It sucks, it’s frustrating, I get wanting to build hype, any press is good press I guess

Maybe Chloe will have a bigger role in the later chapters? I’m more than prepared to eat my words but I’d rather maintain a little bit of hope here

I also think it's important to point out the things that I do like, at least to keep me sane:

The performances, especially from the first chapter, are pretty strong! Particularly from Safi, Max, Amanda, and Moses. Like that performance capture technology doesn't get talked about enough! The level of detail, the expressions, it’s incredible! You don't even see that in AAA games sometimes!

I do love that D9 brings in talent from outside the gaming industry, really makes the performances feel well rounded. True Colors did this very well, especially with Erika Mori

The doppelgänger power that’s being hinted at is SO cool imo. Every time I think that there aren’t any other worthwhile powers they can bring into this world, they surprise me. I’m interested to see where they’ll take it

Maybe they’ll do something fucky with Bay/Bae route. It’s hinted that timelines are overlapping. Maybe something crazy will happen.

What if we encounter multiple Max's (again) maybe another Chloe, were already jumping between timelines

Maybe they’ll bring Rachel back, maybe the doppelgänger ruined Max and Chloe’s relationship. We don’t know!

And look, I love this series. That much is obvious. The brain rot has always been there. I can joke and jest that this new story makes me sad and depressed, (even my playlist that I made is hitting different knowing that they broke up Max and Chloe,) but at the end of the day it's a GAME

I feel like I need to reiterate this for people but the game is still not fully out yet! I, at least, want to reserve some judgment before I fully decide how I feel about the game. Maybe they’ll surprise us, maybe Chloe will show up in the later chapters, maybe there will be a positive twist.

If it doesn’t turn out that way then that’s fine too! There are other games and comics and books to fall back on. There is so much more to this series than just Max and Chloe. I wish more people would realize that and give the other games a real chance

[cocogum]

The theory behind the sick eliatrope explained.

‼️SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4‼️

LEAVE AT THE WARNING IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN EPISODES 7 AND 8 YET.

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If you’ve been thinking the same thing about this then you’re right.

There’s a high chance that the sick eliatrope is Nora.

This theory started to circulate among the primordial eliatropes when Adamaï explained there was a hole in the deepest part of Abuela’s ocean that looked a lot like an eliatrope portal, especially Qilby’s.

Of course, Yugo immediately assumes Qilby was the one who opened a portal for the necromes but Qilby does not waste any time and straight up tells Yugo that he’s wrong.

And it’s painfully obvious Qilby was being honest but Yugo doesn’t see it.

Qilby had already attempted to destroy the world and the only reason why he hadn’t put his plans into motion earlier was because he was still weak from being stuck in the White Dimension for so long.

Yes, when he created a portal for the shushus, it looked identical to the one Nora and Yugo found in the Sadida kingdom. But that’s just what an eliatrope portal would look like if it was used to travel to another dimension.

Not to mention that when he attacked Toross with the eliatrope dofus, he genuinely looked like he didn’t mean to strike Toross with wakfu.

Therefore, in defense of Qilby, if he was the culprit, he would’ve admitted it a long time ago. The only thing I’m betting about him is that he would have loved to have been the one responsible for this.

So to clear out the problem and see what’s really going on, the three eliatropes and Adamaï, accompanied by Joris and Amalia, all travelled to Toross’ world. When they took a look at the portal that was linked between the two planets, it was finally deduced that it was in fact made by an eliatrope.

However, they also realized that the portal created by this presumed eliatrope had lines of stasis in it which made Adamaï conclude that the one responsible for this was not only guilty but physically sick.

Yugo obviously interpreted Adamaï’s words at face value since he already believes Qilby is sick in the head and does not see the logic behind the fact that Qilby couldn’t have been working with the necromes because of Yugo himself (keeping him in the White Dimension).

Qilby is not the culprit no matter how many times Yugo claims he is.

The actual sick eliatrope is Nora for the following reasons below :

1. Her eliatrope portals are diamond-shaped just like the one that brought them all into Toross’ world.

2. During Nora’s exposition about how she managed to rescue the Eliatrope goddess, we can see how she painfully holds her chest from something. Nora doesn’t specifically explain this part, it is only shown to us but this could’ve been the exact moment when she got infected by the necromes as soon as she landed on Toross’ planet.

3. When she was fighting the rogues in that one mission given to her by her mother, if you pause at the right moment, you’ll only see the purple color flash on her while her weapons remain blue.

All points directly line up with Nora.

She’s the one responsible for the portal leading to the World of Twelve.

But the real question here is how come she doesn’t seem aware of all this?

Throughout the whole time she’s been in Toross’ world, she felt and looked scared, skeptical, and confused.

Some who believe in the theory might’ve deduced that she’s been acting but that doesn’t seem right. The way Toross talks to her doesn’t imply that she’s working for him and we can see how his words affect Nora as she looks completely petrified.

So I came up with three possibilities as to how this happened :

Toross already knew how to make portals because he had his dofus. After eating some of the Eliatrope goddess’ power, he was finally able to fully use his ability properly.

Toross doesn’t know how to make portals but after Nora came into his world, she accidentally got attacked by one of his minions which allowed him to use her energy to make portals.

After consuming Efrim’s energy, he was able to use Nora’s power through Efrim since primordial eliatropes and their dragon siblings share a special bond.

In short, the sick eliatrope is Nora but she is not guilty of being the one to link the two planets together. Toross is the one using her ability.

Because as Qilby said, it’s not just the eliatropes who can create portals. Some others have the ability to use this power in other ways.

[oncewhenalongtimeago]

Sorry, but I Think I Lost Your Plot pt 8

Pairing: Onesided!Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III x Modern!Fem!Reader

Words: 1,794

Hiccup learns. Or, well, he tries. And then he doesn’t.

Tags: Time Travel, Reader into Movieverse, the earth is round, the earth is flat, quiet moments pt 2, Changewings

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“Chores?”

“Yeah, you know, fetch water, deliver parts and do laundry. Clean carts, a bit of herding on the side, I wash down dragons sometimes for a few extra coins. Plus doing all of my stuff,” You picked at the sleeves of your tunic then decided better of it.

“Your stuff.” Hiccup stated.

“Laundry, clean out the hay in the barn, cook, repair the shed, which is really nasty by the way, I hate it, something’s always wrong. Like that.”

“That’s… A lot. And you’re not getting paid? For all of it?”

“Yeah. I am, I mean. I get food and board. Coin, I only get that sometimes. The stables get kind of chilly in the winter, otherwise it’s alright.”

Hiccup looked at you oddly, “No, no, it really is not. You live… in the stables.”

Most Vikings even across clans would take the time to hunker down together during the winter, especially during the devastating season even if they hadn’t yet gotten to the point where everyone had to be ushered into the Great Hall together. You knew at least that much, which was maybe why it came across as odd to Hiccup.

“I mean, yeah? I don't see you getting paid for working in the forge.” You shrugged.

“I guess, well, point, but also I get to build what I want with whatever I want. Which can get kind of… expensive.” You nodded. That made sense enough.

“Well, I guess it is what it is. I can’t really be picky, you know.”

You were both sitting on the hill in front of his house. He’d caught you in between jobs somehow. You always seemed to be busy.

There were a few Vikings below putting effort into rebuilding 

“This is really comfy,” You sighed. While making a delivery for the Chief, Hiccup had come by and the two of you had stumbled into each other, getting whatever he had in his arms spilled all over onto your shirt and sizzled a bit.

It probably had something to do with the cleanup going on. You were just glad you cleaned up fast enough to avoid getting burned.

“It’s my favorite,” He said.

“Really?” You sat with your knees up to your nose, arms wrapped around your trousers, which were salvageable, though your skirt was not. Your arms were donned in red fabric of a familiar shade, which was extremely comfortable despite its scratchy exterior.

“You gave it to me, so…” Hiccup shrugged his shoulders oddly. He avoided looking in your eyes as he spoke.

“That’s awfully flattering.” You said kindly. You could tell why it was. Or maybe you were just extra thankful to be in something dry. Whatever Hiccup had been carrying was very sticky and hard to scrub off, which you had a ball doing, hidden away behind a curtain in their home with a small wash bin and rag. 

You spent the whole time in a rush hoping that Stoick wouldn’t come back early and catch you in the nude, or something, despite the irrationality of it. That would be incredibly embarrassing.

“I’m sure,” Hiccup nodded his assent fiddly, before he gestured with his hands, laughing awkwardly, then staring down at his own knees, “But, you know. So, what brings you up here?” 

You yawned, resting your hand over your mouth, “Well… Package for the Chief, mostly. Also, I wanted to say thank you.”

“Thank you?”

“For helping me out, earlier. I would have died, you know.”

There was some drama earlier, a Dragon attack that had something to do with lucky stones, which you didn’t have a lot of time for. 

You paused running, probably not a very smart move, as you spotted a small group on the other side of the clearing standing far enough apart for you to watch and ogle as someone who you thought was Tuffnut pet the base of a fire tower.

“Oh, well,” Hiccup said, scratching his neck, “It was nothing.”

Hiccup was the one who got you out of the way in time. To not die. You owed him another favor, you guessed. You sighed.

In the time it took for either of you to come up with something new to say, Toothless came and lumbered in from the back. You’d seen him wander off there earlier. He probably spent a lot of time out when he wasn’t stuck like glue to Hiccup’s side. Berk was going through a very rare and treasured heat spell, which the dragons were very much taking advantage of.

“What do you think about?” Hiccup asked, leaning backwards.

You blinked at him, and at the set of bandages peeking out from under his green tunic.

“Not much. What I’m going to do later, what’s for dinner. I think about home sometimes. And… The world is round,” It was a bit random. Admittedly, You usually avoided talking about future your-world things, but you had gotten into a tizzy over a few things earlier with one of the Vikings by the fields. Maybe you were feeling a little peckish about it still.

“What?”

“Yeah.”

“But…”Hiccup raised his eyebrow, squinting quizzically, “The world isn’t round.”

This world, apparently, did not operate on cartoon physics. It would have been a really cruel joke on you if it had, you thought, You double checked. It was just the people. So there was no reason as to why they shouldn’t be able to get it.

“You’re kidding, right? Come on, Toothless.” 

Toothless deadpanned at him, turning around to walk away, his tail ending up smacking Hiccup in the head and arms as he made an effort to protect his face.

“Oh, wow, great, thanks, Bud.”

Hiccup squinted, and waved his arms at his dragon, mock brushing him away.

“See? He agrees.” You grinned.

Hiccup turned to look at you, “That’s my best friend, if you would believe it.”

“Are you sure about that?” You sniped, “Because I’m not so sure about that.”

“I can tell.” He deadpanned, shrugging playfully.

You shook your head. There were more important things to be talking about. Like…

“I don’t understand how you guys fly around all the time and you still don’t know the earth is round,” You snickered.

“It’s not,” He insisted, “Flying wouldn’t change that.”

“It would!” You insisted, “It’s all about perspective.”

You shook your head as one of a pair of vikings down below dropped a large log from his shoulder, causing it to roll off and back towards the other houses.

“You’re up in the air, or somewhere up high, really, and you see that the horizon line is round.” You’d been up to Gothi's enough to be sure, “It’s like when you look really close at a ball or something. And the ball is spinning a lot. It’s physics. Science.”

“What kind of science? The Thorston kind? I find it hard to believe, if that’s the case.”

At some point, you realized that, despite it all, he didn’t actually know a lot about you. Where you came from, what your family was like, if you had one. What you liked to do. You really did have to explain.

You wrinkled your nose at his sarcasm, ignoring it as you decided to go on, “The world is really heavy. Like I said, it also spins. Like when you sit on something soft and it sinks. It works like that for both the top and bottom. It’s Gravity.” You used the English word for it.

There was a thump on the roof above you as a flock of Terrors landed by your feet. Probably one from the group. They tended to spin out of control often, especially if it was breezy out.

“It’s common knowledge where I come from,” You said, 

“Is it?” Hiccup squinted, as if he was seeing you in a whole new light. A whole new, mental light, “Well, I don’t know about the whole round thing, but- What next, are you going to tell me that the sun revolves around Midgard?”

“Also yes,” You interjected, with a vendetta, gesturing with both hands, “Why do you guys always lead with that? Is it really that crazy of an idea? Seriously.”

You glowered at him, “I think you all are busted in the head. Or the lightning scrambled your brain, or something, because I have no idea how you’re seeing this.” 

“What? No,” Hiccup said, “No, I’m perfectly healthy.”

“Yeah,” You snorted, “You guys lack what I would call common sense.”

There was a loud rumbling from back inside the Haddock House. It was definitely Toothless. At least someone had your back. It probably didn’t help that the only ones who agreed with you were the twins.

Hiccup turned back to shoot a nasty look at Toothless, probably forgetting about his bandages. And the burnt skin under.

“I probably owe you another favor, don’t I?” You winced as he jerked back around, cursing. It was kind of silly, and kind of nerve-wracking watching his scrawny shoulders curl in over his stomach. 

“Nah,” Hiccup looked up from his knees and feet, resting on the steps to his home, to you, and then back, trying to hide his wheezing, “This one’s… on the house.”

Your hands hovered over his bak unsurely, worried if you tried to help you might agitate his burns more. You would probably take a trip up to Gothi later and ask if she had anything more to use to help.

“And, well, We’re Vikings.” Hiccup grimaced, “And, hey, I have some common sense, too.”

You stayed silent, giving Hiccup a moment as he gathered himself. You hoped he hadn’t any acid left in his skin. You felt awful about it.

Hiccup sat up steadily, and you made sure to scoot back and give him space as he did. He kept an unhandy smile on his face, the corner of his mouth twitching, eyebrows pushing up as you attempted to make sure he was alright.

Your face fell, molding into something more confused, as he mouth a question under his breath.

“Why did you leave?”

“What?”

“Sorry, I’ve just… Been wondering. What brought you to Berk?” Hiccup brought a shaky hand back up to his neck.

You felt your eyes unfocus a bit.

You guessed it was probably the natural progression of things. You wondered whether you were supposed to come up with something, or just not. You decided on something more square in the middle.

“I don’t know,” You huffed, a little lost, “One day I just started walking and ended up here.”

Hiccup looked at you skeptically, though not without sympathy. You were on an island surrounded by all water, but still. You stood up straight, puffing out your chest.

“Take it metaphorically, if you don’t believe me.”

[lfghughes]

Stay Forever

a/n: got a little barzy request about moving in and it’s been a long while since i got a barzal request

“Mmm, I don’t want to go to practice.” Mat stirred next to you, his fingertips traveling up and down your spine. You seconded his statement, last thing you wanted was for either of you to leave this bed especially when soon enough your time here would be coming to an end once again. Living in a different city had its challenges. It could definitely be worse but a three hour drive was still rough especially when it was mostly you making the drive.

Not that you were blaming him at all but during hockey season you understood he couldn’t just come and go as he pleased and there was no way that after a game he’d want to drive three hours to your place so you usually made the sacrifice. Again it could be worse but this was still tough. “Are you still planning on heading back home later today?” He asked and you could hear the tone in his voice was slightly on the down side. 

It would definitely be another week before you’d be able to make it back down since you had a few projects you needed to focus on this week and you knew Mat wanted to spend as much time with you as possible. “I’m probably going to head out as soon as you go to practice so I can beat the traffic.” You could still feel his finger tips on your skin as he cleared his throat slightly like if he was nervous.

“I’ve actually been thinking that maybe we should start thinking about maybe you moving in with me. That way you don’t have to drive as much and I mean there’s plenty of space here for you to work and do your own thing.” The idea was beautiful but there was also a big part of it that made you feel anxious. You had lived with an ex before and it clearly hadn’t ended well. Not that you saw yourself and Mat breaking up but living together changed a lot of things. 

You pulled away slightly from his touch and a frown grew on his lips. Immediately you felt the guilt settle in. “I don’t know, I have to think about it. I like my place, you know. I know it’s far but I’m not sure if I’m ready to change my life yet.” Maybe not the right set of words for this moment. “I mean I want to. It’s not that. I just…living together will change so many things and what if it’s not for the better.”

Luckily, Mathew knew all about your previous relationship and he knew how it affected you and the insecurities you had now so right away he knew why you were worried. “It’s going to be a change but not a big one. I mean you’re here pretty much every weekend but hey we can do a slow move in. Whatever makes you comfortable.” His expression had softened and you knew that he would let you take this at your pace which meant the world to you. “I really have to get to the rink, but just think about it. You already have a key and half your stuff is here but whatever you need, I’ll do it.”

With all that being said, Mat slipped out of the bed going off to his practice and leaving you with your thoughts. He had a point and even though it wasn’t ideal you could pay rent on your own place for a few more months until you were sure this was a good idea and once you felt more comfortable you could sign the lease over to someone else. You knew you could trust him but seeing how he was willing to move at a slower pace and the fact that even if you did say no he wouldn’t get angry made it so much easier to make a decision. You took out your phone sending out a quick text to him “What about we try this whole moving in thing next weekend?”

[iamdispleased]

Hatchetfield & the Real Musical References

That theory of ‘the plays-within-plays foreshadow the next musical’ got me thinking about the real musicals referenced in the Hatchetfield Series and how they could connect to the story. That led to these findings.

CW: Relgion (Godspell), spoilers for the Hatchetfield Series, Godspell & Brigadoon

(I know there are more details I’m missing, as I haven’t seen either musical, but I’m just excited and wanted to share. Wikipedia is my ride-or-die.)

So. Godspell. Or, ‘God-awful’. Or, ‘Gotdamn That Was Bad’.

Y’all…

First, Godspell is mostly based on the Gospel of Matthew. Like Paul Matthews, the very guy who did not like musicals himself.

Skipping to Act II for a moment— there is a scene where…

“Jesus returns to his followers to find them all asleep. He begs them to stay awake, but they all fall asleep again, and Jesus warns them that they will all betray him three times.”

Remember in Act II of TGWDLM, after the song ‘Not Your Seed’, when Alice, Deb, and Hatchetfield Bee are talking to Paul after they killed Bill? And remember when they said:

“Bending countless civilizations to our will, yet, you, Paul, have defied us thrice!”

Insert The Incredibles’ (2004), “Coincidence? I think not!” meme here.

Godspell includes the tale of The Parable of the Prodigial Son, also known as the Parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father.

“The parable begins with a man who had two sons, and the youngest, who is impatient and greedy, asks his father to give him his share of the estate immediately. The father is like, “Y’know what? Fuck it. I’m feelin’ kinda funky today,” and agrees, dividing the estate in half.”

“Upon receiving his portion of the inheritance, the younger son travels to a distant country, where he squanders his wealth through reckless living.”

The younger son gets humbled, he comes back home in shame, blah, blah, blah, lesson learned.

If that’s not Emma Perkins, then I don’t know what is, especially considering she literally inherits land. I’m looking at you, Nightmare Time episode Perky’s Buds!!

And I admit, this is a reach, but the Parable of the Prodigal Son starts in Luke 15:11. Emma’s favorite band is 311. In military time, 3 pm = 15. So, 15:11 = 3:11 pm. This is either a happy accident or an intentional tidbit that managed to work out well.

Similar to the beginning of TGWDLM, it begins with God and the characters breaking the fourth wall and explaining shit via song.

At the end of Godspell, Jesus is crucified, and he is carried off stage by the cast. There has been a lot of controversy over the ending, because the musical does not mention Jesus’ resurrection at any point.

Almost like how in TGWDLM, Paul sacrifices himself, and when we thought Paul was resurrected at the end, he wasn’t. (To put it simply.) And we can’t forget how the cast carries a screaming Emma off stage, and the show ends on a (good) controversial note.

Brigadoon!

Brigadoon starts with these two New Yorkers, Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas doing that fancy kind of hunting white people do when the men hear music coming from a village nearby. But wait a hot second! There is no village on their map! And yet!! Turns out that village is a special place called Brigadoon. Why is it special? Here’s some WIKI for ya’.

“200 years ago, the local minister prayed to God to have Brigadoon disappear that way it would remain untouched by the outside world, only to reappear every 100 years. All citizens of Brigadoon are forbidden to leave the town, or it will disappear forever.”

Kind of reminds me of the whole ‘no one can ever truly leave Hatchetfield’ thing. So, could Hatchetfield be seen as a mirror of Brigadoon in some sense?

Hm.

There is literally a character named Tommy who ends up falling for Fiona, a lass from Brigadoon. The issue is, he’s engaged to a woman named Jane who he isn’t really that into. Even after he leaves Brigadoon, Tommy still thinks about Fiona.

Tommy is Tom. Jane is Jane. Fiona is Becky. Of course, this isn’t to be taken as they are the Hatchetfield equivalent to that character.

And it turns out, Emma Perkins hates Becky Barnes. Why? Sisterly principle. (Emma knows Tom always viewed Becky as ‘the one who got away’, even after marrying Jane.)

Going back to Paul and Emma!

After after meeting Fiona, Tommy asks the Brigadoon schoolmaster, Mr. Lundie, if outsiders were allowed to stay. He replies:

“A stranger can stay if he loves someone here – not jus' Brigadoon, mind ye, but someone in Brigadoon – enough to want to give up everythin' an' stay with that one person. Which is how it should be. 'Cause after all, lad, if ye love someone deeply, anythin' is possible.”

In TGWDLM, Paul and General MacNamara have that Iconic Conversation which has a similar vibe.

MacNamara: I follow a higher law than any institution could decree, and that is the universal truth of love and the strength of the human heart.

&

Paul: I can’t leave without Emma.

MacNamara: Who’s Emma, Paul?

Paul: A friend of mine.

MacNamara: Friends don’t move my heart, son. Is there a chance at something more?

Paul: […] I’d like there to be. I want there to be.

Shout out to Mamma Mia, and Bill wanting to see a feel good musical with his daughter about a daughter and her three possible fathers.

I stand behind the idea that Alice is Bill’s biological daughter, she’s just white passing. I’d also like to appreciate the fact that Alice’s favorite restaurant is Red Lobster.

I plan on actually watching these musicals soon, that way I can make more in-depth posts, but like I said— this just made me really happy and excited, and I wanted to share it.

Feel free to reblog and add onto this post! Seriously! I love when that happens! Okay, bye!

[tea-earl-grey]

Prodigy s2 thoughts/review (spoilers under cut)

my spoilerfree tdlr: this was almost certainly the best season of Star Trek and i love it so dearly. while i have a couple of nitpicks, there really was not a single bad episode in the whole season and i think this is the only bit of new Trek that's managed to be serialized while still pacing the series well, keeping up with pretty much all the character arcs (and there are a lot), and including lighthearted and heartwarming moments without sacrificing plot. it's a solid 9/10 for me.

i'll start with nitpicks/critique first since it's a much shorter list:

i think Solum was still a bit underdeveloped as a setting and it might have done better to explore a bit more of Ascensia's motivations for going to war but this could also be the result of me having not seen s1 of Prodigy in a few months and forgetting some things.

i'm someone who really really likes time travel stories and has written complex time travel stories before and even i thought some of the time travel logic was a bit convoluted and confusing. they brush it off in the beginning but i still don't really get how preventing the Solum Civil War (and thus preventing the Diviner from being at Tars Lamora and creating Gwyn) wouldn't make Gwyn and all of the Protostar kids paradoxes? if anyone has an answer here, i'd genuinely love an explanation because i want to like it but i can't work it out.

related a bit to this point ^ i really like including Ilthuran/the Diviner as a sympathetic character this season but i feel like we needed to see a bit more of him to really understand him and why he was so corrupted in s2 and see the Protostar kids (not just Gwyn) deal with how a guy who formerly enslaved them is now a good guy.

i think the set up to a potential season 3 hit the emotions perfectly with the Protostar kids serving as a bright beacon of hope and outreach in a time when the Federation is becoming withdrawn and insular (and that Janeway would facilitate that dream of exploration) but on a plot level.... i just don't buy that Starfleet would let seven kids and a single hologram have one of the fastest & most powerful ships in Starfleet just to train on when Starfleet had just lost so much of their Fleet in the Mars attack.

i think most of the characters had really good clear arcs this season except for Jankom Pog who was just kind of... there. this is a pretty minor critique because i'm probably attached to Pog the least out of all the Protostar kids and again it could also be because i wasn't paying attention to him that much but i wish we could have a bit of a more serious storyline with his character.

but all in all – those are pretty minor critiques because i don't mind if the plot gets a bit wishy washy as long as the emotional and character beats hit.

now things i really liked:

Dal's arc this season was so so good. i heard others talking about how he's great ADHD representation (especially for BIPOC kids) as someone who's intelligent and extremely skilled but really struggles in traditional education and despite seeming cocky/confident is often acting out of insecurity that he isn't really good enough or that the adults around him don't really care about him.

and i love how both Janeway and Chakotay serve as such great mentors!! Janeway for actually looking for ways to support him and show that she trusts Dal (and the rest of the Protostar kids) instead of punishing them for misbehaving. and Chakotay for that wonderful scene where he explains how there can feel like a push to always be at the top and be the best but the best thing in life is to find a place where you belong and can grow in healthy ways even if it means waiting to fulfill your ambitions (and what a good representation of healthy masculinity that is!)

and on that front. pretty much all of the scenes with Janeway and Chakotay were so lovingly crafted with how they both existed as mentors for the main characters but also had their own arcs and their mentorship reflected back on their own characters. i'm also not a huge j/c shipper (i like it theoretically, i'm just not that committed) but the loving glances they shared were Noticed.

i also like to think that the reason Janeway and Chakotay were so could at dealing with the Protostar kids was their command of Voyager's mixed Starfleet-Maquis crew and how they both know that despite Starfleet's ideals they often let down people who aren't Perfect enough (whether because of mental health, species, neurodiversity, etc). i'm specifically thinking about Tom and B'Elanna but i'm sure it also goes for Voyager's other crew that we don't see onscreen.

i love Gwyn. so much. i love how this season turned around expectations a little with Gwyn getting to have her Captain-y moments more so than Dal (through the series too, not just at the end) and her confronting her fear over her responsibility for an entire planet of her people who she's never even met before and insecurity that she's not really One Of Them.

i was also a little wary of Zero's arc this season at first because of how Star Trek tends to have "this autistic coded character is missing a fundamental part of existence and that's sad" narratives but i honestly think it was a pretty fresh portrayal of disability in that Zero in their normal metal body is missing senses that other people have and they enjoyed experiencing them in an organic body but going back to their metal containment suit wasn't sad, it was just a part of their life. and they even added a disability aid to their suit so they can still experience touch without all the "they're getting closer to being human" ableist shit that scifi tends to do. also their organic body using a mobility aid for a few episodes was Very Important to me. i might make a bigger analysis post of this portrayal later but i have to think on it.

i don't have much to say about her right now but i love Rok-Tahk so dearly and was overjoyed that she just got to be happy this season. every scene of her getting excited over science or another character commenting on how she's a genius was just so good.

Ma'Jel was also a fun addition and much needed to add a bit of common sense to the extremely chaotic dynamics going on. her and Zero Vulcan kissing at the end was extremely cute.

also every time either the Voyager-A crew would start saying "it's okay. we'll mutiny with you." to Janeway or Janeway got an order from Jellico (hey nice to see him btw! he's played by the same actor too!) that she immediately ignored, i was so happy. now that's my Captain!

i also have mixed opinions on the EMH in Voyager (mostly due to the last two seasons) but i thought he was great in here with a good balance of comedic scenes and some more serious moments. i did chuckle every time he started talking about his awful holonovels.

WESLEY CRUSHER!!!!! i'll be honest, i had a few ideas of characters that might make cameo appearances (i was banking on Harry Kim tbh) but for some reason Wesley never crossed my mind even though it makes SO MUCH SENSE given how his story in tng paralleled/was an inverse of the Protostar kids. instead of being a kid far away from the Federation who dreamt of of belonging somewhere safe, he was a genius kid on track to be a great captain and fulfill the Starfleet Dream TM but became lost and burnt out when he started to question if that was ever what he really wanted. both Wes and the Protostar kids dealt with self doubt and were dismissed at various points as Just Kids but they went in opposite directions.

i also just really love chaotic Time Lord Wes who's kind of forgotten how to be a person but is just doing this emoji 🤠 in every scene. the vibes were so impeccable.

also BEVERLY!!!!! as soon as Wes showed up i immediately made a post about how funny Janeway explaining All Of This to Beverly would be and then i was SHOCKED when it actually happened??? this show quite literally predicts my every want.

just everything about The Devourer of All Things was written specifically for me. the Loom were such good monsters (it's been forever since Star Trek did a straight up Scary Monster story). the explanation of all the different universes and timelines set my nerd brain on fire. the return of Janeway in a tank top. the snappy writing that also had some great character moments. the Doctor Who-ness of it all. i need to rewatch it asap.

the other episode highlight for me was Cracked Mirror for fun parallel universe exploits and getting to see Mirrorverse versions of Janeway and Chakotay. (there was even a Disco reference with the Agonizer!) it was predictable but the throwaway line to "Captain Tuvix" in whatever reality Rok and Zero ended up in almost made me do a spit take.

as someone who does genuinely love Picard (the show) despite its flaws, i am really happy how much was integrated into this season of Prodigy both with showing Beverly with a young Jack Crusher and with the attack on Mars being shown at the very end.

all in all – VERY GOOD SEASON. it gave me everything i wanted and more with only some minor nitpicks. and most importantly, i had fun in pretty much every single episode. i cleared my schedule on Monday because i thought i would be able to binge it all in one day but i simply had too much fun and only got through half of it. if season 1 of Prodigy was the best ever first season of a Star Trek show then this is maybe the best ever season of any Star Trek show.

[all-hail-trudos]

The way Zelda redditors behave like BotW is going to be the template for future titles is absolutely hilarious. They are convinced that Nintendo is done with classic Zelda elements forever. TotK proves it! Never mind that they can barely agree on whether this even deserves to be called a new game or overpriced DLC. Or that Nintendo themselves have said that this was a very big experiment, where they let a team comprised of mostly younger devs run the show, and the director of BotW has actually left the company to go work on Infinity Nikki of all things. I don't know what the future of Zelda is going to look like. I can't see Nintendo just walking back everything they did in BotW. (And they better not. Skyward Sword is the worst mainline Zelda title, and BotW was the exact opposite of the hand holding the series had gotten really bad for). However, we can guarantee one thing for sure. The open-air game concept that specifically defined Breath of the Wild and its direct sequel Tears of the Kingdom is not simply going to be the new template for the series.

I could leave it there with a "because Nintendo said so" but it's midnight and I'm already making bad decisions, so I'm going to go one further and back this up with a second supporting argument. That's not how Nintendo as a company works. That's not how they've ever worked. They stopped doing rational, clear iterative upgrades when they followed up the Gamecube with the Wii. The Zelda series itself has constantly been one of self reinvention. Ocarina of Time is incredibly special in that Breath of the Wild is the first time they've so clearly broken away from the model it set. But when you look at the rest of the series, it's obvious BotW was the biggest experiment, but not even remotely the first. Majora's Mask turned the main gameplay concept on its head by putting everything on a Very. Tight. Timer. When you hit midnight of the third day, that was it. Rewind or die. All your progress was reset except for your sword (iirc), your masks, and your rupees if you put them in the bank (because the banker was a time traveler?). Wind Waker flooded the whole continent and had you sailing around on a boat, using a proto-physics system to fill your sails. The wide open world of OoT was gone altogether, and Princess Zelda didn't show up until halfway through the game (we won't talk about what they did to Tetra). Twilight Princess made the game super linear and made Zelda herself almost secondary to the plot. Actually, TP almost feels like the most direct callback to OoT with the doubling down on horse mounted combat, an art style that looked more like it next to whatever WW was doing (but which would ultimately age a lot worse), dungeons that also felt more directly inspired, and a combat system that was a little less fluid and reactive. But it also had Link temporarily become a werewolf, and gave us an egregiously underappreciated Spaghetti Western shootout that came out of nowhere and was all together too brief. Then Skyward Sword came along, which was the least reinventive of the bunch mechanically, but which did at least try to turn the classic narrative on its head. Also Zelda went from being barely there to being a driving character in the narrative. And she walked so BotW Princess Zelda could run. That said, imho, you can see why they leaned so much harder into experimentation with their next game that nearly skipped a whole console generation, because by SS the series tropes were getting a little too strong. The series was actually drifting into iterative territory, and that's not the typical Nintendo way. Especially not with one of their two core in-house franchises.

(Please don't bring up Pokemon here. I know it's Nintendo's third core franchise. But please remember, Zelda and Mario are solely owned by Nintendo, while Pokemon is at this point is at the center of an entire corporate conglomerate, which Nintendo is only part of).

I get that some people didn't enjoy BotW. I can sympathize with the people who did not want more like it and who were consequently less than thrilled by TotK's arrival. But bemoaning the fall of the franchise and saying Nintendo is going to be like Ubisoft, EA, and all the other trend chasing studios out there is really going too far. Nintendo has spent too many years baffling investors to start doing that now. Yes, Tears of the Kingdom exists. No, it's not proof of the trend. It was a planned sequel (itself an enormously rare concept in Zelda history). You can't make a planned story and gameplay sequel to a game and just throw away the concept you're following up on. That would be an enormously bad idea. (Worse, even, than trying to make your sequel game stand on its own for new players and erasing nearly all memory of Link from the same people he helped save. I love TotK so much, but I am not blind to its flaws, what few there are).

ALSO yes Echoes of Wisdom has Zelda stacking beds into a diy staircase. NO that doesn't mean we're seeing a return of this apparently beloathed systems-based physics gameplay in 2D fashion. If there were physics, the beds would have fallen over. That's like calling Minecraft or Dragon Quest Builders a physics based exploration game just because they have objects you can stack. That is the dumbest take I've seen come out of a community that is profoundly skilled at coming out with dumb takes.

[thenightfolknetwork]

Hello,

I need help. Or maybe I don’t. Maybe I need someone to tell me to stop worrying? Oh let’s be honest I have no idea what I need, that’s why I’m writing in.

See, I have a perfectly ordinary job during the week. I work in an office. It’s nice. Spreadsheets, cake on birthdays, quarterlies. It’s a boring existence but my afternoons and evenings are my own and the pay’s good. Sapio-Liminal relations are improving, but by bit. Honestly I’m just impressed my coworker got the time off when they wound up expecting in two of their three dimensional shifts.

So that’s during the week and you’d be forgiven for thinking I’m just about the most sapio a sapio can be. My liminal properties tend to activate on Friday afternoons, when I- travel.

Teleport?

Move. I move. To the same general area of a whole new plane of existence. It’s a known family trait- I’ve got a grandfather who became king of a small nation in my secondary plane, and my sister’s the apothecary for the capital city. She sells the really good potions, by the way, so if you’re in the area of Spirits and Sundries or someone gives you a radiant quest to bring ingredients to Amaranthia in the Bronze Quarter, just be polite and she’ll fix you right up.

Ah, but this isn’t about my sister’s business, it’s about me and what I do. See, this shift is so regular that I went and got myself a weekend job, just to have something to do. So if you’re sent to the Caves of Madness just north of the Foresaken Forest, be ready for the Riddle Master!

I’m in the first room of the dungeon, just after you pass the initial key puzzle. I keep my uniform in a chest in there, and there’ s a nice break room off the back. I like the work a lot! I see lots of new people and I’m always gathering riddles- there are some chat standards but I like to mix it up sometimes. They aren’t supposed to be hard, or else what’s the point of trying to conquer a dungeon? So sometimes, I admit, I give hints. There’s always the rude adventurer who attacks me first but when you take a job like this you don’t die, it’s in the fine print. I don’t like cleaning the blood off my stuff, though. Takes ages.

Anyway now that we’ve walked halfway around the block, my point.

I look very plain. Humanoid, two arms, two legs, a beard. It’s never bothered me but I am very distinctly ordinary which tends to be recognizable and last weekend I was in the village during my break and I saw a coworker. Not from this side, not from the Caves of Madness, no. It was Tina, from accounting. She was picking up a quest by the stocks.

And I realized, she might wind up at the Caves of Madness. She might make it through the puzzle door and be faced with the Riddle Master only to realize this Riddle Master is Jeff. From the office.

I don’t have hangups about my two worlds meeting- it’s hard to, when your sister pops in for Christmas still dressed for the Winterscratch Festival, or your brother’s filing out taxes for a whole kingdom over lunch. I just really like my job in the Caves, and I like to think I do it well. Our rating as a starter dungeon’s quite high, and I’m proud of that. What if my transdimensional adventurer coworkers encounter me and just- aren’t impressed? That’s not the Riddle Master, that’s Jeff. He has a rubber band launcher on his desk. His mug says ‘party naked’ with a balding chicken on it and he won’t let HR throw it away.

I don’t want to disappoint adventurers, especially not ones who work with me in my primary plane. I also don’t want to cause harm to my dungeon’s reputation. But aside from the whole ‘moving planes’ thing I am utterly dull. What do I do if my performance isn’t enough to make up for not being fantastical like Mordrath the end room boss or Reyala the sidequest kobold queen?

Is it okay to just be Jeff the Riddle Master?

Thank you for writing in, reader. Your letter serves as an excellent example of quite a common genre of letter we get through the inbox here at the Nightfolk Network and I think it might be rather illustrative for other followers.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but what you've done here is make up a scenario in your head based on the worst possible interpretations of everyone involved, and then worried yourself sick about that scenario coming to pass.

This may sound a little blunt, but please understand, I don't mean that dismissively. I only hope to offer you a little perspective, and to help you come to a more accurate understanding of the situation as it actually stands.

You enjoy your work in the dungeon, and are clearly doing a good enough job to keep your managers happy. None of your previous visitors have expressed any disappointment at your relatively mundane appearance, and it hasn't been an obstacle in the job so far.

Perhaps your co-worker will end up in your dungeon. Perhaps she'll make it to your section, and perhaps she'll recognise you. So what? I don't see any reason why she should be any more likely to be disappointed by you than any of your other visitors.

And even if she is disappointed, that doesn't have to mean anything to you. She's a co-worker, not a treasured friend whose opinion could make or break your self-esteem. You owe it to her to be a conscientious, respectful colleague. That's all. What you get up to outside of work, and whether she enjoys your efforts, is irrelevant.

You haven't let down your dungeon so far, and I see no reason to believe you will in the future. Stop borrowing trouble from the future, and concentrate on having fun and being the same old Jeff the Riddle Master you've always been. He seems plenty interesting to me.

[For more creaturely advice, check out Monstrous Agonies on your podcast platform of choice, or visit monstrousproductions.org for more info]