#well! we shall see what happens next. i got an ask about the next episode so i will be paying very careful attention

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s6 episode 7 thoughts

life can be so beautiful… but will it be today? that is the essential question.

yesterday’s episode was a contender for greatest of all time. and i enjoyed holding space for that. in fact, i could stand to hold even MORE space than i already have. 

but from reading the episode description here, this one sounds… darker! so, we shall see. i will not go into this one expecting to feel holly and jolly. although “terms of endearment” sounds like a sweet title. AGAIN, though. i am not foolish enough to think that it will actually be a sweet episode.

ahh, time to get cozy and see what the evening brings us!

post-episode thoughts: (shrugs) this one didn't do anything for me, really. except get that song stuck in my head. and make me kinda uncomfy. those are pretty much my only thoughts.

wait: mulder befriending those random kids was funny, too. thus concludes my opinion.

the evening brings us a sonogram, it seems. a mystery sonogram? there’s some sort of development on da baby. plates on the skull. 

WHY did this wayne guy get up and leave when the doctor said there may be some strange developments?! go be with the woman who also had to hear this news!!!! and the bony plated thing is growing in HER, so like!! don’t make this about you!!!

wayne is getting a sip of water. the woman says that it might be nothing; they need to wait and see. and wayne says he just “wants it to be normal”. "IT"??? "NORMAL"?? bro. i don’t know anything about these matters, but it doesn’t seem like he is very sympathetic to his wife. "normal" is a CRAZY word choice. may i suggest "healthy"? because "normal" sounds like you'll bully the poor little dude if he gets into stuff you consider too nerdy.

they go home to virginia, where he brings his wife a glass of water. her name is laura. good to know.

“i love you, laura. no matter what” <- why does it sound like he is implying that this is somehow her fault with that statement?? or she is lesser for it?? or that he's brave for sticking by her despite it all? that is your job, you utter beast.

what is going on? this man is pissing me off. and he called her “poopydoo”, which pissed me off even worse. 

i hate wayne. team laura. look at her freckles as she falls asleep.

EGADS!!! THE DEVIL IS AT THE FOOT OF HER BED???? WITH FLAMES AND SCARY EYES!! see, if i had seen this at age 7, i wouldn’t have slept for weeks. in some ways, it’s so great i’m not 7 anymore. 

she’s yelling for wayne,,, and the devil is grabbing her????? THE BABY COMES OUT??? with little horns???

okay, that seemed to have just been a nightmare. WAIT, why is he covered in blood.

OH MY GOD??? OH MY GOD. hold on. hold on. she is very bloody. oh my god.

hey guys. what’s going on?

is wayne the devil?? or a devil??

(pause for momentary cheering as the intro shows us our lead actor’s faces. and the intro is full length… nature is healing)

a cop is presenting the tale of laura’s baby being abducted to… SPENDER?? NO ONE WANTS TO SEE THIS!! literally booing and throwing tomatoes at my screen 🍅🍅🍅

laura is the sister of this cop!! so this is personal.

spender says he will put this in their priority caseload, and i do not believe him. maybe he’ll outsource it. 

NO!!! he shredded it right away!!!! SPENDER!!! you dastardly man!!!

so what is he even DOING down in that office if it isn't solving crimes?!?!

MULDER FOUND THE SHREDDED PIECES AND TAPED THEM TOGETHER!! OHHH!!! he is a hero in this way. and he tells the cop not to tell people his name!! LMAO, he is definitely NOT supposed to be there.

he is going to wayne and laura’s beautiful house to ask some questions. she’s talking about the nightmare. the baby was a monster with horns and a tail. she gets up to go cry. leaving him with wayne. 

oh, mulder def thinks this guy is the devil. 

WHAT IS SCULLY DOING?? interviewing some guy??? asking if he smokes weed? has he consorted with people who have? LMAO, she looks so relieved when the phone rings and she can ask this dude to leave. 

“mulder, where are you? i waited 45 minutes for you this morning” “i, uh… before i tell you, i-i’m going to ask you to keep an open mind” <-LMAOOO, he is self-conscious 

BAHAHA, she looks somehow even more done with his news of a demon baby than she was asking this random guy if he knows people who smoke marijuana

she is doing background checks!!! this is so wrong!!! her talents are being WASTED!!!! she is literally a DOCTOR!!! SHE SAVES LIVES!! AND YOU PUT HER IN AN OFFICE?!?!

she calls him out for rooting through spender’s trash but, like. well! i can’t say i blame him. not saying i would do it, of course. but! you know how he is!

“oh, like that’s any different from the assignment we’re stuck with” “‘we’, mulder? i’m stuck with. you’re not here” <- GET HIM!!

his constant conflation of the words "i" and "we" continues to piss me off. he is NOT beating the selfish allegations.

“scully, this is a classic case of demon fetal harvest-“ ohhhhh right. right. that clears it up. (heavy on the /s)

oh shoot, while she rolls her eyes, it seems something or someone is recording his phone call!!

it’s being picked up over the baby monitor!! wayne hears him saying all of this!! he looks distressed. but: is he guilty of the crime???

laura comes back in the room and wayne is nowhere to be seen. something is on fire….. what is he doing?? laura just wants her nightgown!!

he’s holding something bloody in the leaves. and there’s a flame altar sort of thing??? 

he’s covered in sweat and claims to be burning leaves in the middle of the night. he claims he wanted everything to look perfect for when she woke up. 

see, he seems so obviously evil that maybe i’m supposed to guess that he really is innocent. 

it seems like he’s crying as some bones burn in there or something. which is not reassuring.

mulder!! sleeping in his car!!! waking with a pain in his neck from such an awful position!!! what a silly guy!

scully she found something on the charts he sent her… he doodles horns onto wayne as she describes the conditions

but she says the father is not some sort of evil force… and he has to put laura under arrest?? labor was induced? with mandrakes. which can also be a hallucinogen. she says the doctor told her that wayne was very upset, and she seemed not to be. 

hmm… she suggests that he proceed very carefully, as it is incredibly emotional territory. he proceeds to very carefully doodle more horns on wayne’s head. while wayne pulls out in his car, watching him.

i feel like any plot point i jump to guess here will be subverted. so perhaps i should just stay silent and sit back and watch. 

why does he have to get involved? is it actually his case now? can’t he just be like “damn, maybe this one doesn't look so spooky; i actually have something else to do, bye!” 

now where is he going…. and why did he leave his car window open… i am scared it will rain and land in his car...

wayne goes to the house of ANOTHER WOMAN??? who asks where he has been??? he says he has been “on the road” and calls her “poopydoo”! 

yeah, this man HAS to be the devil.

this woman has the bluest eyes i have ever seen. and she’s pregnant, too!!!! 

A DEVIL AND A TWO-TIMER!!! free my girl laura!!

the cop from before is here with mulder and laura, and he is defending his sister against mandrake accusations. but she does say she took an herbal sleep aid. and wayne was seen bringing her a pill, so i don’t think this is her fault.

oh no… wayne is here now. mulder says he doesn’t want to arrest laura and throws a devil reference in there. HE IS ON TO YOU, WAYNE!! COUNT YOUR DAYS!!

wait, if mulder doesn’t believe in god, how does he think you get rid of devils?? does he keep some emergency holy water in his suit jacket?? just in case??

i need to ponder this.

the cops are searching the premises. they find a lot of jars labeled “fiber”. unless it isn’t fiber. and is instead mandrake. hmm...

oh no, wayne is confessing a secret to laura…. he wasn’t in bed that night… and he says she had the baby in her hands??? she was in some sort of trance?? mumbling stuff?? so he took the baby and wrapped it up and burned the body??

he says he was doing it to protect her. sure enough, they find some bones out there. 

oh wayne, this is evil. laura is crying. mulder is watching. and he does look terribly handsome which is interrupting the vibe, as laura tells her cop brother that she thinks she did something wrong, and perhaps this was her punishment. and btw, cop brother is named arky. which is not a name i have heard before. 

arky tells her not to say anything more and reads her her rights. wayne says she’ll be okay as she walks out. he's still pissing me off.

mulder declares he knows what wayne is as he walks out. bro, be careful getting in a tussle with the devil. or a devil. still not clear on the hierarchy of devils in this show.

wayne is speeding off, blasting his tunes and calling the other woman- betsy! GAG!!!!

he wants to be there for the sonogram, AND they’re married????? “it’s a picture of the expression of our beautiful love” <- oh, i would need holy water for that statement even if the guy wasn’t a demon 

MULDER PULLS UP NEXT TO HIM LMAOOOOO AND NOW THEY’RE RACING!!!!! 

so wayne goes to a client’s house and takes a woman’s blood instead of going to the sonogram appointment. which is not what i wanted to see. this lady has like 4 kids running out the door.

buhhhhhh, i don’t want to see the blooooooood, not looking at the screen, lalalalalala. wayne says she has fine looking boys and she doesn’t know how lucky she is. but when he bends down he has these weird bumps on his spine. OHHHH LORD!! deliver me!!

and mulder is outside honking and waving LMAOOOOOO

THE KIDS CRAWLED IN WAYNE’S CAR, BAHAHA. but why is mulder’s tactic here to simply annoy a devil until he stops what he’s doing? and the bigger question: will it work??

and he is befriending random children. typical mulder activities.

but scully calls!!! and mulder is busted!!! wayne called kersh and reported mulder for harassment. she warns him to leave him alone.

he says to tell kersh he’s doing a background check on somebody and hangs up. 

poor laura is in the jail cell. and wayne comes to see her. she’s afraid!

she’s been thinking about his story, and it doesn’t make any sense.

AUGH, she finds a gash mark on his neck where she scratched the devil… so must be him….

HE BREATHES IN HER SOUL?????? 

man. what?

they’re trying to do CPR, while wayne is literally RIGHT there, claiming she collapsed. 

he’s shocked when there’s a heartbeat on her. and mulder sees this.

wayne races back to betsy. she has had enough of his excuses!!!

and this baby too has bony growths!!! and again he claims to love her no matter what. 

NO, DON’T GET HER A GLASS OF ANYTHING!

betsy, you need to kill this guy. 

scully is here to take a look at laura!!! she says there is no evidence of the husband being why she is in a coma.

mulder presents her with some new facts. and yes, i did hit rewind to hear scully say “czechoslovakia” once again. what about it?

ohhhh, he tracked down wayne’s aliases!!! he's been a bunch of different people over the years

“mulder, i will accept that a man can be demonic, that he may have demon-like attributes, but why would a demon- if there were such a thing- bother with a 9-5 make room for daddy routine just so he can off his wife and unborn child?” <- AHA! she believes man can be demonic! this isn’t entirely surprising given the catholicism, but still interesting and worth noting.

he says he’s not a psychologist and I THOUGHT HE WAS, THOUGH?? wait. maybe he doesn’t have like a license to practice. maybe he just has that sweet, sweet oxford BA.

let me google some things. 

well. i’m actually gonna throw the flag in here and admit defeat. because i feel like i’ve read about this line before back when i was first googling this show to see if i wanted to watch it, and how he says this- or something like it, possibly about not being able to prescribe meds- and it blatantly ignores canon. which probably should have been a warning for what i was getting into and the struggles i would face as someone who NEEDS continuity to stay sane. but here we are. 

maybe i can choose to interpret that he’s being a sarcastic little man. or, he just isn’t considered a professional psychologist without the masters or license to practice. 

and i will certainly do my best to not lose sleep over such a line. 

like i still do over the colorblind thing...

wayne is warming up milk and probably adding some sort of herb. why is the milk glowing? yeah sure, whatever. it glows.

betsy, don’t drink it, NOOO!!! she gulps it all. i was hoping she’d claim to be lactose intolerant and tell him that he needs to go get soy milk now, but no. 

scully and mulder arrive to where the cops are searching for the body. and sure enough. baby. in the yard.

mulder demands that the cops put out an APB, saying wayne’s done it to other women. 

mulder theory time: OHHHH, wayne actually DOES want a normal child… but he has only made demons so far. well. i think that is how genetics work???

betsy is sleeping. and she also has a demon arrive at the bottom of her bed and spread her legs open. 

OH!!! SHE GRABS HIM AND ASKS WHAT THE HELL HE’S DOING!! BAHAHA!!! GET HIS ASS!!!

mulder and scully are off on a mission. and he pulls over and drives somewhere else to find wayne's second wife at his second residence.

betsy stops the agents!!! she’s covered in blood!!! and says he took her baby!!!

scully is trying to comfort her and say it’s okay, but it’s very much not. i still appreciate that she tried. 

they’re trying to find wayne with their dramatic guns and flashlights. a creepy film is playing in the living room as wayne digs a hole. 

wayne says that all he’s wanted is a wife and a normal family. he’s claiming she took the baby. betsy is…. (gunshots cut him off as arky shoots him)

wayne says “i just wanted what everyone wants”, and when he does this, mulder looks to scully. which surely has no implications!!! /s

arky is freaking out because they’re placing wayne next to laura in the hospital. i respect that. even if you shouldn’t shoot people.

somehow, wayne is recovering. probably from his demon blood. and then HE gets his soul sucked out???? by laura????

did he give himself up to her? or was she actually a demon, too??

shrugs. i truly can't be bothered to work it out.

scully is digging up baby skeletons, seeming pained at this fact. i cannot blame her. there are 4 so far. and all the ones they’ve found are normal. 

so betsy was an eviler demon? and she is driving away to the same song he was speeding to with her little demon baby in tow!!!

okay, she has creepy red eyes now. 

well!

allow me to file this one under the category “episodes that make you close your laptop and stare at the wall for a bit”

um. diversity win?? this baby killing demon is a woman??

well, from an incredibly practical standpoint, this episode didn’t have enough scully. which is a valid enough reason for me to not like it. 

but other than THAT, i was actually pretty interested at first. idk, it kinda lost me though. this show uses women so weirdly. there’s this obsession with breeding. in a decidedly unappealing way.  

once again, mulder was the guy who could put together the dastardly plot when no one else could. which is annoying. 

man, idk, i don’t consider myself like, sensitive to the topic really, but i find babies being murdered unenjoyable as a plot point. maybe it’s overdone. maybe there’s just no room for humor in it. maybe it’s the theme of reproductive coercion again pissing me off, because how many times are we going to have this beast rear it’s ugly head? even if it’s is now in the opposite direction, when everything in the past on this show has been about women being assaulted into pregnancy, the removal of consent- wayne tricking laura into inducing labor and losing her baby- is STILL reproductive coercion.

tbh, i don’t really have more thoughts on the subject. like, i’m not even going to write a think piece on how i didn’t like it, because it was just eh. which happens. some of the episodes are unremarkable. if there is something to be noted, it’s this weird handling of women characters as a recurring theme. but i’m not fired up enough to write a dissertation because... at this point, i guess i’m kind of used to it in this show??

damn! that wasn’t a raving review. well, i hope you’ll forgive my lack of enthusiasm. maybe you’ll tell me that everyone else hates this episode too, and i’ll be like, okay, cool. but maybe you’ll tell me everyone actually loved it, and then i’ll feel cool and edgy. but i

[gay-dorito-dust]

hi sweetheart 🥺🥺 I love ur page so much!! Also I feel so thirsty to ur cannibal and reader things we need MORE and more PLEASE FEED US 🙏🏻🙏🏻🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

I will keep feeding you cuz I have some stuff in mind but I’d like to add some benjicot Blackwood brainrot into it also bc he’s been on my mind since the sneak preview for episode 3.

So I might as well do a little short piece for you right here cuz I can:

Since we’ve toyed with the idea that reader and Cannibal would/could have a telepathic bond, so what happens if reader gains a crush on someone?

Cannibal is extremely protective over reader, no man -or woman- is good enough for them in his eyes and will let that be known.

Let’s say you met benjicot by pure coincidence, whether it be by a Bracken boy being a cunt and you kicked him in the dick, or you just happened to run into him and find his shy awkwardness somewhat charming and endearing as you found yourself wanting to get to know him more and he with you.

However Cannibal sees this interaction and is immediately in your head saying; the Blackwood boy? While skilled with the sword the boy can barely put together a sentence in your presence, what do you find so appealing about that small friend?

And you’re like: he’s sweet and kind and strong but has a warriors heart.

Only for cannibal to respond with seconds later as your getting lost in Benjicot’s eyes, cutting your daydream of being his short: he’s a guy that you’ve barely known for five minutes and you’re already saying he has your heart? Small friend you must realise how dangerous this mentality is, for your sake and mine.

You mentally curse this telepathic bond of yours as you tried not to show Benji that you were far away in your head to listen to him talk about anything; so? I can always get to know him more of you stop butting in you overgrown lizard.

Cannibal growled at the insult from afar, watching you practically eat the awkward Lord Blackwood with your eyes; I don’t want to see your filthy fantasies mortal, your hormones are getting the best of you that I can smell it from where I am.

‘Would you like to come visit Raventree hall sometime soon?’ Ben’s calming voice pulled you from your mental argument with your dragon as you blinked at him before realising what he had just asked.

‘Oh yeah, I would love to but I don’t wish to intrude-‘

‘It’s honestly no harm,’ Ben cuts in, cheeks flushing red after realising how desperate he might’ve looked in wanting to see you more as he clears his throat, ‘what I mean is that I’m the one who offered the invitation and besides I’d like to think my aunt would come to enjoy your presence.’ He adds with the shrug of his shoulders to act nonchalant.

You could hear cannibal groan at the obvious tension between the two of you, complaining that it was burning his sensitive nose, but you only smiled at Benjicot softly and laid a hand on his bicep. ‘I’d love to Benji, I would be honoured. I shall send a raven whenever I can.’ You tell him and you couldn’t help but smile when he smiled, warmth flooding your chest as you both bided the other farewell and see you soon’s.

When you got back to Cannibal and needless to say if a dragon could raise a judgmental brow, you knew that’s what he was doing as he huffed.

I don’t approve. Cannibal growled in your head.

You never approve of anyone I’ve ever fancied. You retorted back as Cannibal gave you the silent treatment for the next week for thinking about the sweet nobleman of house Blackwood.

[thesparkling-diamond27]

The Second Bridgerton And I: Part 8

Benedict Bridgerton x Reader

Summary: Y/n Clearwater is named the “Sparkling Diamond” by Queen Charlotte herself, but she doesn’t know what to do with all this attention. Of course she has her family, but sometimes that doesn’t seem enough. But what happens when she encounters a specific Bridgerton, which changes the course of her season.

Author’s Note: This chapter includes scenes from season 3 episode 5 of Bridgerton. Down below is the link to the part 7. I hope you enjoy!

Dearest Reader,

While most seasons of our fair marriage mart follow a predictable pattern, this author likes it most when there is a surprise. It is said that surprise is one part secrecy and one part speed. And last night, an announcement came with great speed indeed. It may come to a surprise to all that Mr. Bridgerton’s rumored assistance in helping Miss Featherington find a husband has, instead led the two of them finding each other. Regardless of how it happened it is surely a wonderful time for the happy couple.

Adeline finished reading the Lady Whistledown pamphlet that was released this morning and to say that I was surprised was an understatement. I know that Penelope and Colin recently shared a kiss with one another, but I did not except them to become engaged, and especially with such haste. They did not even court one another!

However, although I was surprised I was also quite elated for my dear friend. I know how long she had harbored feelings for Colin and it is about time that Colin saw what a remarkable woman she is.

“Oh that is wonderful news!” I exclaimed from the couch in our drawing room.

“Their betrothal is definitely a surprise.” Noah said as he plucked a biscuit into his mouth from the plate that was on top of the nearby table.

“Did you know about this Carina?” Alex asked me.

I shook my head in response

“No. I knew that they shared some sort of affection for one another, but I had no idea that they would get married, especially since they never began to court one another, and definitely not so soon.”

“Well no matter how quick or surprising this news may be, Penelope is a lovely young girl and it is nice that she has found someone who appreciates her for who she is. They will make a handsome couple.” My mama said.

I nodded in agreement.

“Can I visit Penelope Mama?”

“I know you would like to visit Penelope and congratulate her, but I would wait Y/n. Her family is probably celebrating at the moment, so I would wait a few days before doing so.”

“I guess you are right.” I said disappointedly.

“But you can still send something if you would like. We can go shopping for a gift this afternoon. How does that sound?”

“That sounds lovely mama thank you.”

My mama gave me a smile and returned to the book she was currently reading and I returned to the embroidery I was working on.

I was stitching blue cornflowers with a few baby’s breaths scattered around. I am not the best at embroidery, but this one did not seem to be turning out so bad. Seeing the needle go up and down, as it poked holes within the cloth, was soothing and I found myself enjoying myself.

I heard Adeline playing the piano forte in the background. It was nice melody and I soon found myself humming along as I stitched.

“What has got you in such a pleasant mood sister?” Alex asked.

I looked up to where Alex was sitting, across from Noah, at the table.

“Hhmm?” I asked.

“What has you in such a pleasant mood?”

“Yeah. You are in a chippier mood than you have been of late.” Noah added.

Mama did not look my way, but I can tell that she was intently listening for my next words.

“I do not know. The weather is lovely, Adeline’s playing is excellent, my best friend is engaged. What more can I ask for?”

“Being married yourself perhaps.” Noah said.

“Well…Maxwell is returning this week, so we shall see what happens.”

Noah seemed satisfied with my answer, but Alex looked at me unconvinced, but said nothing nonetheless with a knowing smile. He knew me so well that he could tell when I was lying.

I was not lying though. They were all real reasons why I was happy, but the main

reason I was in such a good mood was, because of me and Benedict. We finally resolved the misunderstanding between us and he graced me with his presence this morning. Well sort of. He waved at me from the street below while I was in my bedroom. He is lucky that my basket of thread was near my window because he would have been waving at nothingness if I had not seen him.

Of course I could not voice that Benedict was the reason for my unexpected happiness, so I kept quiet and hoped that my family (except maybe Alex) would believe my answer.

When thinking about Benedict, I couldn’t help, but reimagine a certain series of certain events that happened at last night’s ball.

When his lips came into contact with my own, it was as if I was reborn. The woman I once was completely gone and I was left with someone who was fresh and enlightened. Benedict made me feel things that I did not know was even possible.

Our first kiss was beautiful and gentle. As if he was afraid I would break if he attempted the kiss otherwise. But this kiss was hot and heavy. It was as if Benedict was demanding me to kiss him. His left hand found itself at the side of my face, but his right hand wandered lower.

His kisses trailed down from my mouth and to the nape of my neck, which caused noises of pleasure to escape my mouth. Benedict brought his mouth back on to my mouth to silence me and separated from me enough for him to say,

“You do not want us to get caught right?”

I nodded.

“Then keep quiet.” He whispered in my ear, which sent shivers down my spine.

I nodded again and he continued to where he left off.

Eventually, he lifted up my leg to his waist and he slowly inched his hand under my skirts. I quickly pulled away and stopped his hand from going any further.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I brought my leg down.

Well I did know what he was doing I was not stupid. My mama made sure I knew everything I needed to know a few years ago, but I was surprised that he would do such things in a public setting. Even though we were alone, someone could easily walk to the very balcony we were at for some air. And then we would be caught and it would all go downhill from there.

“Do you trust me?” He asked.

“Yes.”

I did not even need to think. I did trust him.

“Then you do not have to worry about what I am doing.”

“That is not what I meant. I know what you are doing?”

Benedict looked at me shocked, but said nothing.

“I just…do you think it is a good idea to do such things here where someone can easily find us?” I asked.

He took a step back to think about my words.

“No I do not think it is a good idea. I think it is an excellent idea.”

I looked at him puzzled. Benedict stepped towards me and cupped my face.

“I love you and you love me and that’s all that matters.” He said.

I was shocked. I did not expect him to say that. He loved me. I could not believe it. Benedict loved me. I was happy. No I was more than happy. I was overjoyed. What I was once wishing for was actually reality. He loved me. I did not know how much I yearned for him to say those three words until he did.

“You love me?” I asked.

“Of course I do. You are kind.”

He kissed the back of my hand.

“Compassionate.”

He kissed my ear.

“Strong willed.”

He kissed my cheek.

“Insanely beautiful.”

He kissed my nose.

“And the woman I want to be with.

He kissed my lips.

“Any man would be stupid to not fall in love with you.”

He looked into my eyes. His blue eyes met my e/c eyes and I knew I was a goner. I was probably gone a long time ago, but it was not until now I realized the true depth of my situation.

“How do you know I love you.” I said teasingly.

“Well you are here. With me. Alone. And you have no objections when I do this.”

His lips found his way to my mouth again and I got lost in his touch. Benedict bit on my bottom lip lightly, which caused me to to leave a small opening for Benedict’s tongue to have complete access to my mouth.

Without breaking a sweat Benedict gently pushed me up against the wall, so that we can be concealed better. My hand found its way into his hair. His touch set me on fire, but it felt familiar at the same time. I could be like this forever in Benedict’s arms. Doing this, or simply holding hands while promenading. It did not matter what we were doing just as long as it was with him. I wanted to do everything with Benedict.

I slowly pulled away and we both took a moment to catch our breath. Then I uttered the three words that he said to me earlier.

“I love you.”

A smile broke across Benedict’s face and his hand pulled a stray hair out my face. He grabbed my back securely holding me up straight. I wrapped my arms around his neck and re-connected his face to mine.

His hand slowly bright my leg to where it once was and his hand went—

I had to stop.

I was currently daydreaming about what occurred between me and Benedict when the rest of my family was still in the room. I had to get out of here, before my family noticed I was acting off.

“I am going to see if I have green thread in my room for my embroidery. Maybe a different blue as well.” I said.

I grabbed the blue thread I was currently using and stood up from the couch.

“Are you alright dearest?” Mama said, “you look a little pale.”

“I’m fine I assure you.” I said.

I walked out of the drawing room before the rest of my family could say anything, with my blue yarn in hand, and made my way to my bedroom. The walk to my bedroom gave me some time to steady my breathing and calm down from my daydreaming. Benedict could still affect me even when he wasn’t present.

What a discovery!

I entered my room and went towards the basket of yarn that sat beside my vanity on the floor. I found a green thread that I thought might match the blue I had already used and another blue thread I quite liked. When I rose from the ground, I noticed the hancherchief that Benedict had given me still on my vanity.

I looked down at the threads in my hands and then back at the handkerchief. An idea suddenly popped into my head.

————————

Benedict

I quickly walked up the stairs to enter my home. Anthony and Kate were supposed to return from their extended honeymoon today and I wish not to be late. Before I entered the main entrance of the house I heard a voice that sounded like Anthony’s.

“I could get used to such long journeys if every return was like this.” Anthony joked.

They must have just arrived. I entered to see my family welcoming back Anthony and Kate.

“Brother.” Anthony said as he grabbed Colin’s arm.

“Brother. Good day.” I said as I pulled him into an embrace.

“And from where have you returned?” Anthony asked.

“Just out for a morning stroll.”

I did go out for a morning stroll. And it was to see a particular Clearwater through her bedroom window. Good thing when I waved to her window she noticed me because then I would have look like a mad man. Well I guess I did look like a mad man to the general public. Who knows what I looked like to them when I was waving at someone who was not in front of me.

But I did not care. I was living in my wildest dreams ever since last night and I did not have any plans of leaving my dreams. Then I remembered a little piece of information I heard in Whistledown’s issue this morning.

I looked Colin dead in the eyes and said,

“I read a curious piece of news in Whistledown this morning.”

“Mm-hmm.” Colin responded.

The rest of my family showed knowing grins while Anthony and Kate looked confused.

“Oh. What is it?” Kate asked.

“Brother you must tell them.” Hyacinth said excitedly to Colin, but before Colin could say anything she said.

“You delay so I shall. Colin is engaged to Penelope Featherington!”

Kate looked in complete shock, but seemed overjoyed for Colin, while Anthony, well I could not read his expression, but he did not seem overjoyed.

“Hyacinth must be the most excited of us all.” Mother said.

“Congratulations.” I said.

“Thank you.” Colin replied.

“Ah. Well what wonderful news.” Kate said to Anthony mostly. I think she was trying to get him to be happy for Colin.

“Of course.” Anthony replied.

“Thank you. I am in high spirits.” Colin responded.

“It seems…” Anthony said as he broke away from Kate to meet with Colin and I, “…we brothers have much to catch up on, indeed.”

The three of us decided to go to a local bar where we could discuss Colin’s engagement with an afternoon drink. We found ourselves a table and Anthony went to go grab our drinks.

“Devin was very well, but…we have bigger fish to fry.” Anthony said, “First…” Anthony took a seat beside me before saying, “…explain!”

Anthony and I looked at Colin waiting for his answer. Our seating arrangements were like an interrogation. Rather comical if you ask me, but Anthony and I wanted answers.

“No furtive looks necessary.” Colin said.

“Come now, you must admit, its’s all rather sudden.” Anthony said and I had to agree with Anthony on this one.

“What was sudden was my last betrothal.” I had to agree with Colin on that one. His betrothal with Marina was much more shocking and sudden compared to his betrothal with Penelope.

“So I cannot blame either of you if you are prone to think me foolish.” Colin continued. “My feelings for Penelope are not a thunderbolt from the sky. I have known her for a very long time, and perhaps I have always felt something for her. My only foolishness this time was not realizing it sooner.”

I sighed at Colin’s words. He really did care for Penelope and he was serious. I can see the vast difference compared to his last betrothal with Marina. Penelope was a perfect fit for Colin.

“Have you said these words to her?” Anthony asked.

Colin tensed up. I guess he never told her these words.

“The final part, the betrothal, it…it did all happen rather swiftly.”

Swift indeed Colin. Swift indeed. Colin’s words made me think about what happened between Y/n and I last night. The feeling of having her so close was ecstasy and I only had a taste of her. I simply could not get enough. I wanted to discover more about her and I could not wait to do so.

I wonder if she enjoyed it as much as I did. I would think so since she greeted me rather warmly this morning through the window.

“Ah, it’s swift because—“

“Are you going to duel with your own brother, or…” I interrupted Anthony.

He looked at me with a look of annoyance, that I was right, and understanding.

“Well you are marrying her, and for all the right reasons, it seems. That’s all that matters. But tell her.” Anthony continued.

Anthony and I both looked at Colin expectedly.

“Very well. Perhaps I shall go see Penelope now.”

Colin stood up from his chair, but before he could leave, I raised my glass and said,

“First…to your wives,”

Anthony raised his glass and so did Colin.

“Congratulations.” Anthony said.

“Thank you.” Colin said.

We all drank.

Colin then quickly left the room without another word.

“Can you believe that.” I said “I did not know that.”

Anthony looked amused.

“What about you brother?” He asked.

“What about me?”

“What about your wife? I’m married. Colin is engaged. Is there a special someone that caught your eye?”

My mind immediately went to Y/n. I would like to court her, show everyone in society that we were betrothed to one another. But I know she was currently courting Maxwell. But maybe after last night…My thoughts probably showed on my face because Anthony said.

“There is someone!”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Do not lie to your brother.”

“I am not.”

Anthony seemed to realize that I was not going to change my answer.

“Very well then, but I would like to meet her. Or at least know who she is.”

“Maybe.” I replied.

————————

“One chocolate and two vanilla please.” Maxwell said.

“Oh you do not have to pay for mine dear.” My mama said.

“No it is alright. It is the least I could do since you let me take Y/n out for an outing today.”

Mama looked at Maxwell with acceptance and gratitude. He definitely received some brownie points from my mama today.

The worker took our order and then told us to sit in the corner near the display of treats. Maxwell and I sat at one table and my mama sat at the table next to ours.

“I used to love coming here as a kid.” I said.

“Yeah? Why so?” Maxwell asked.

“Well doesn’t every child love to go to the ice cream parlor?”

“Well…yes.” Maxwell laughed.

“Well me as a child obviously loved coming here for the ice cream, but I also loved coming here with my family. I have the fondest memories here. I remember one time Alex threw a spoonful of ice cream on my dress and I had a fit. I was furious back then, but now I remember the memory with fondness. I guess that’s what happens as you get older. Maybe it’s because you want to go back to when times were simpler. When all you had to worry about was an ice cream stain on your dress.”

“That definitely makes sense.”

The waiter arrived with our glasses of ice cream.

“I bet it is nice having siblings. Being able to grow up along with the same group of people.” Maxwell said.

“You are an only child right?”

Maxwell nodded.

“Being an only child is probably vastly different from growing up with siblings.” I said.

“It is indeed.”

“Is it lonely?”

“Sometimes. But sometimes I quite enjoy the solitude. Allows me time to think.”

“I cannot remember the last time I had some quiet to hear my own thoughts.”

“I can see how that can be a problem.” Maxwell said with a laugh.

“You do not have any cousins?” I asked.

“I am not that close with them.”

I could not help but feel sorry for Maxwell. I could never imagine not growing up with siblings or not being close with my non-instant family. I then realized how different Maxwell and I are.

I for one have three siblings, Maxwell has none, and although they drive me insane, I would not trade them for the world. Secondly, I am quite close with my cousins, while Maxwell is not close with his at all. I guess we are what people call “opposites attract”. Right?

“Well this conversation took a sad turn.” Maxwell said.

I lightly laughed in response.

“Now enough about me. I know you said nothing happened much while I was away, but I want to know everything. Even details that you might think are boring.” Maxwell said.

I instantly thought about what happened yesterday with Benedict, but I absolutely could never mention this to Maxwell because he would immediately call off this courtship.

“I already told you. Nothing eventful happened. Plus I wrote you letters, while I was gone. Although one thing that recently occurred, that you might know about already, is that my friend Penelope Featherington recently became engaged to Colin Bridgerton.”

“I in fact have heard about it. I did not realize you two were friends with one another.”

“Oh yes! We have always been friendly with one another, but it was not until the end of last season that we became friends.”

“Ah I see.”

We continued to talk as we continued to eat our ice cream. I had just finished laughing at a joke Maxwell said and he continued to say,

“I really enjoy spending time with you Y/n. If being married to you is anything like this, I will be the happiest man alive.”

My smile slowly fell from my face as I heard his words. His words were simple, but to me they carried so much weight.

“Are you alright?” Maxwell said.

I cleared my throat and said, “Um…yes I’m fine. I just had some ice cream stuck in my throat.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes I’m sure.”

I smiled at Maxwell and he seemed to think that I was alright.

“Okay then, but if you are feeling upset you can tell me.”

I nodded.

“Good. Now I am going to go pay for the ice cream. I will be right back.”

“Alright.”

Maxwell left our table to go pay for our ice cream and I was left alone with my thoughts. If I were to be honest I felt guilty.

Guilty for cheating on Maxwell with Benedict. Well maybe not necessarily cheating. Me and Maxwell are not married, but we are courting. That is two steps down from marriage, so my actions do carry some significance. Maxwell does not deserve such treatment, but I could not help but think about Benedict and—

“Y/n are you alright?”

I turned around to see my mama looking at me concerned.

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“You were simply sitting still at the table. I wanted to make sure you were alive.” She joked.

“Oh…I was simply thinking.”

“About?”

“Maxwell.”

Which was not a lie.

“He is a fine young man isn’t he.”

I nodded.

“You found a good one Y/n.”

“I did didn’t I.”

My statement was true, but I was not happy about it like I should be.

—————————

“Miss Y/n there is a letter for you Alexandra stated.

I looked and noticed that she had an envelope in her hand. I grabbed the letter and replied with a thank you before noticing that it was from Penelope.

I quickly opened the envelope to see what she had written.

“Dear Y/nn,

Thank you so much for the blue silk coin pouch. The embroidery on the pouch is exquisite. I can tell it was done by you (you have always been better at embroidery than me). Thank you for giving me a blue one instead of a family color. You know how much I distaste those colors. I am sorry I have not been able to see you recently. Ever since my engagement things have been hectic. We must spend time with each other soon. Perhaps a promenade around the park? I do hope to see you this weekend though. In the envelope I included an invitation to my engagement party. Your entire family is invited as well. I would love for you and your family to be able to attend. I hope you have been doing well and I cannot wait to see you again.

Sincerely,

Your dear friend Pen

I smiled at Penelope’s letter. I am glad she enjoyed my gift for her and I did in fact work hard on the embroidery. I figured I should give her a blue coin purse because a) she hates her family colors, and b) she will become a Bridgerton soon.

I looked into the envelope and found the invitation Penelope was taking about and I knew I had to show this to mama. Suddenly my mama entered the room.

“The menu is set?” My mama asked.

“Yes ma’am.” Our head maid Mary replied.

“Tea?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“The children?”

“Two out of four are ready ma’am.”

“Only two?!

Mama turned to see that only Alex and I were currently present.

“Where are the others? The Bridgertons are about to arrive any minute!”

Before Mary could reply I interjected.

“Relax mama. Everything shall be perfect. There is no need to be so formal.”

“Y/n is right mother.” Alex said. “It is not like the Queen is coming over for dinner. It is only the Bridgertons.”

Our words seemed to calm her down.

“You both are right. It is only the Bridgertons.”

It seemed like my mama finally came to her senses.

“Very well then. Mary, see where Adeline and Noah are. Y/n and Alex go up to the drawing room. There is no need for you two to be down here. I am going to make sure that a few things are in order.”

Our mama left before we could say anything.

“Oh Mary before you go. Make sure that my mama reads this eventually. It is an invitation to Penelope and Colin’s engagement party. And can you bring this letter to my room?” I asked.

“I will have her read it before the Bridgertons arrive.”

“Thank you.”

Mary took the invitation and my letter from Penelope and went wherever my mama went.

“Mama’s mind gets so frazzled sometimes.” I said as Alex and I began to walk upstairs to the drawing room.

“I know.” Alex said, “At least we know where Adeline gets it from.”

We both broke into laughter.

“Are you looking forward to seeing a certain special someone?” Alex asked.

“I do not think Maxwell is attending dinner tonight.”

But I had a feeling that Maxwell was not the “special someone” Alex was talking about.

“I am not talking about Maxwell. I am talking about a certain Bridgerton. The second one to be exact.”

And it appears that I was correct.

“Benedict? Well of course! He is a great friend. As is Francesca. The whole Bridgerton family really.”

“As a friend? Really? Is that why you decided to wear the dress you are wearing? The same exact dress you wore in order to impress Maxwell at a ball not too long ago.”

I suddenly had a loss for words. I looked down and realized that I was in fact wearing the same exact dress that I have worn to impress Maxwell. I completely forgot I told Alex such information. The one time I regret doing so.

I did not intentionally mean to wear this dress, but maybe I did subconsciously. Benedict has been on my mind for quite some time now and that may be why it influenced my wardrobe choice. Was I trying to impress Benedict? I did not know. I did want him to think I looked presentable.

Alex must have noticed my overthinking because he grabbed my shoulders and said,

“Hey I am sorry for saying such things. I was only teasing. I know you are courting Maxwell and you are happy about it. You are happy aren’t you?”

I nodded. That was not a lie. Maxwell did make me happy.

“Then forget I ever said anything. Can you forgive me?”

“There is nothing to be forgiven.” I said with a smile. “And like you said, you were only teasing.”

Alex smiled back at me.

“Now come on. They will be arriving any minute now.” I said.

As we walked to the drawing room I could not help, but feel nervous. Benedict will be arriving shortly and this shall be the first time that I will see him since the event that occurred three days ago. I hope we both can act civilized and not draw any attention to ourselves that would reveal anything to our families.

When Alex and I entered, Noah and Adeline were already seated in the drawing room.

“Were you two here this entire time?” I asked.

“Of course!” Noah said, “It was stupid to think to even listen to mother and wait for the Bridgertons at the entrance of the house.”

“You could have said that more nicely.” Adeline said. “There was no need to drag mama.”

“I am being honest.”

“A little too honest.” I added.

I decided to take my seat at the piano forte. I hovered my hands above the keys before I began to play a simple familiar

tune. I let my muscle memory take me and fell into a trance as I played a song that I knew since childhood.

I didn’t realized I had an audience until I heard applause at the end of the song.

I turned and noticed that the Bridgerton family were standing near the couches watching me. I wonder how long they have been here. I quickly rose from the piano stool to greet them.

“That was lovely piano forte playing Y/n.” Violet said as she brought me into an embrace.

“Thank you. It has been a while though, so I was a little rusty.”

“Nonsense! You are as good as me. Maybe even better.” Francesca said as she hugged me as well.

“Have you met Anthony and Kate dear?” Violet asked.

“No I do not believe so. I believe they were on their honeymoon when we last had dinner.” I said.

“Oh! That is right. Well here is my eldest son Anthony and his wife Kate.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you both.” I said as I slightly curtsied.

“Oh you do not need to be so formal.” Kate said. “The pleasure is mine to meet you as well.”

Kate seemed nice and her smile was warm and welcoming. I turned to Anthony and he gave me a kind smile and I returned the favor.

“Am I chop liver over here.” I turned to see Benedict on the other side of Violet and I instantly blushed.

“Oh my goodness! I am so sorry Benedict I did not see you there.”

“It is alright. I am used to it by now. Being second best. Who can compare to the Anthony Bridgerton.” He joked.

“What…that was not my—“

“Quit hogging her Benedict!” Gregory said and I was grateful for the little boy for freeing me from further embarrassment. I knew that Benedict was joking, but I was too nervous to say anything in his presence.

Hyacinth grabbed my arm and added, “We are going to go play cards with Y/n.”

And before I could protest I was dragged over to the table where a game of cards was already set up for three.

“How did you know where to find the playing cards?” I asked.

Hyacinth shrugged and I shook my head. I played a few rounds of cards, with Gregory and Hyacinth, until I got bored and decided to join Francesca at the couches, along with her mama, my mama, and Kate.

“I hope you all will come to Colin and Penelope’s engagement party this weekend. I am sorry that Colin could not attend tonight. He had some matters he had to attend to.” Violet said from Francesca’s right as I sat next to Francesca.

Francesca gave me a sweet smile and I returned it.

“Oh Y/n! I am glad you can join us. Your mama was telling me that Penelope sent you an invitation to the engagement party this weekend.” Violet said.

“Yes she did and I cannot wait to attend.”

I answered.

“Yes you can expect all of us to be there.” My mama said across from Violet.

“Wonderful! I do not think there should be much people in attendance from our side, but I am not sure how much people will be there from Penelope’s side. I hope there is not much people. I recall Lady Featherington mentioning a long list of people, but I hope it is not true.” Violet said.

“If there is a lot of people attending, I hope I prepare enough food for everyone.” Kate said worried.

“I am sure you will dear.” Violet said. She placed her hand on Kate’s shoulder for support.

“Y/n it is so great to meet you. The whole family told Anthony and I so much about you.”

“All good things I hope.” I replied.

“Oh you have no idea.” Kate said, “You were praised by everyone and especially Benedict.”

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of Benedict.

“I was only speaking the truth.” Violet added. “You are a very lovely young lady Y/n.”

“Thank you.” I replied with a blush. I never took compliments well, but it was nice to think that I am thought of so highly by the Bridgertons. And “especially Benedict” did not go undetected by me and the comment made my blush even deeper. But I was saved by the bell, literally, when Mary walked in to announce that dinner was ready.

“Finally!” Alex said, “I am starving!”

I rolled my eyes at his comment.

As I rose up from the couch Francesca asked me.

“Shall we walk together?”

“Of course!”

We linked arms and joined our families to dinner.

“I have some wonderful news Y/nn.” Francesca said. “Can I call you Y/nn?”

“You most certainly can. But do tell this wonderful news.”

“Well do you remember, not too long ago, when you and I and our mama’s went shopping together?”

“I do recall.”

“And we ran into Lord Kilmartin and he left rather abruptly?”

“Yes.”

“Well he left… because he went to go get the sheet music, that the musician was playing on the street, and he had it arranged to the way I would have liked that piece of music to be! Can you believe it! I could not even believe it! I have been learning and playing it non stop and now I have it memorized.”

This is the most excited I have ever seen Francesca. Her feelings for Lord Kilmartin seemed much stronger compared to her feelings for Lord Samadani, if she had any feelings for him.

“I am so happy for you Francesca! Lord Kilmartin seems like a nice man.”

Francesca nodded.

“I decided to follow my heart and that is to pursue Lord Kilmartin and my family is supportive with my decision, or rather they are at least trying, and that is all I could ask of them.”

I nodded in understanding.

“What about you and Lord Tewkesberry?”She asked.

“Things are going quite well. Ever since he left for Paris, Maxwell and I have exchanged letters to one another, and yesterday him and I attended the ice cream parlor together.”

“Do you feel happy with him?”

“Things are easy with him.”

“Are you happy?”

“I could be.”

There was a frown displayed on Francesca’s face.

“Can I be frank?” She asked.

I nodded.

“It seems to me that you feel comfortable with Maxwell, but you do not feel content. It could be because you are holding yourself back or maybe…maybe…”

I could tell she seemed hesitant to say her next few words.

“It is okay. You can say what you would like to say.”

Francesca took a deep breath

“Maybe Maxwell is not the one for you. Maybe you need to go over your options. It is just a thought.” She said quickly.

I stood silent and began to process what she had just said. There was some truth to her statement, but I could not say that I wanted to court her brother. I believe that she did not even have an inkling of our feelings for one another.

“Oh my goodness! I said the wrong thing haven’t I.” Francesca said. “I am so sorry! I overstepped and now you are—“

“Francesca relax it is alright.” I interrupted “Your words just gave me some things to think about.”

Her words gave me a lot to think about.

“Are you sure?” She asked with uncertainty.

“Yes I am sure.”

“Alright because the last thing I want to do is to make you upset.”

“Do not worry. You have done nothing wrong.” I reassured her, but her words did not reassure me, so I began to consider my options.

I thought about the good qualities that Maxwell possessed. He was kind, considerate, caring and he takes great care of me. My family also approves of him. He is also someone I can talk to when I am down. All qualities that I would want to have in a husband.

But I could not help, but hear the nagging voice in the back of my mind. Telling me to look the other way. Telling me that Maxwell was not the one for me, but in fact Benedict. But this was not the time to think about such pressing matters. Tonight I am supposed to have a lovely night with my family and the Bridgertons. My thoughts on my future husbands can wait until later.

We all made it to the dining room and we began to take our seats.

I was about to sit beside Francesca when someone pulled me away from her.

[reidsc0nverse]

A Rose by Any Other Name (Chapter Three)

Summary: Reader and Rossi spend some father-daughter time together in which they host an all out Italian dinner with the team. Leading to someone getting a little tipsy, enough to need a carpool back to her apartment and who better to take her than the one guy she finds herself to be a little flirty with

Warnings: mentions of alcohol and being drunk, other than not none!

AN: I really wanted to extend the relationship that Reader has with Rossi and I love the father daughter bond that I'm trying to portray here, but also further deepening her relationship with the one and only Spencer Reid.

Series Masterlist

---------------------༺⚘༻---------------------

I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was waiting for the rest of that night for a text from Spencer.  

The thought never left my mind, so much so that for the next three hours I just so happened to stay up binging episodes of Buffy and occasionally glancing at my phone for a text.

I fell asleep soon after, still on my couch, and only just waking up to a knock on my door. I checked my phone to see the time, it being 8 am, and got up groggily to the door.

"You look rough." I hear come out of my dads mouth as I open the door to him.

"What are you doing here? It's way too early for me to be doing things." I say rubbing my eyes, trying to wake myself up completely.

He lets himself in my apartment and I shut the door behind him. 

"I wanted to spend some time catching up with you, is that so bad?" 

I shrug, "It is when it's eight in the morning." I say sarcastically and he laughs. 

"Look, let's spend the day together, how does that sound? And tonight I'm having the team over for dinner, maybe you can use this to your advantage." He tries convincing me.

I narrow my eyes at him playfully, "This seems like a scheme, Dad."

He laughs softly and pats my shoulder, "No scheme." 

"Fine, what do you have planned?" I ask, nudging him with my shoulder.

"Let's go to brunch, hang around at my place, then you help me show how to present some true Italian cuisine to your coworkers." 

I weigh my options, this or slumping around my apartment all day while looking over some paperwork. Yeah, option one sounds pretty good.

"Sounds good," I say to him smiling and he places his hands on my countertop.

"Well then go make yourself look presentable! I thought your mother would've ingrained into you her morning routine."

I laugh at that, my mom was always a morning person when I was growing up, waking up at the crack of dawn with her full face of makeup and attire that looks as though she was going out with her girlfriends everyday. Definitely something that dad was not fond of. 

I rush into my room, leaving my dad in the kitchen to inspect my apartment as I get ready. 

I slip on a simple but classy outfit, doing something with my hair to make it look like I haven't just rolled out of bed, despite that being exactly what I did, and going into the bathroom to brush my teeth. 

"You really did just get up huh..?" My dad said walking to me as I get out the bathroom. He sticks his hand out to my face and rubs my chin with his thumb, "I'm not gonna let you out the house with toothpaste still all over you." He says with a goofy smile and I roll my eyes playfully,

"Thanks Dad, how classy." I joke and he shrugs. 

"Shall we get going?" He asks and I nod.

The car ride to the brunch place included some semi awkward small talk about my mom, as well as me checking my phone every two minutes.

Still no text.

"What's up?" My dad asks, looking from the road to see me for a moment.

"Nothing." I say as convincingly as I can. Was I upset? Maybe a little bit. But it's not that big of a deal.

"You learn pretty quickly on this team that you can't lie to a profiler, so I'll ask again. What's the matter?" He asks.

"Just waiting for a text."

This time he looks at me completely, raising his eyebrows, "Oh? Is that so? What's his name?" He asks with a cheeky grin.

I roll my eyes, "Not like that, Dad."

He nods as we pull into the brunch place and huffs out, "Yeah, right."

Brunch went well, we talked about what I've been doing before he reached out to me again after not being with my mom and I for a couple of years. How he was sorry for not being there throughout my teenage years and only trying to build up a relationship with me after my first two years in college. It was nice to hear it coming out of him to my face, and I could tell he was genuine.

We are now staying in his house- er, mansion, while he prepares all of the ingredients to make one of our favorites, baked mostaccioli.

I check my phone again, still nothing. Whatever, I should probably stop fixating on it anyway.

"Y/N, come help." I hear my dad call from the kitchen. I walk in and he hands me the block of parmesan and the grater, he's a firm hater of pre-grated cheese.

I start getting to work as he begins, "So, how are they all treating you?"

"The team? They're all super nice. I really like Emily, she's awesome." I say and he looks up at me.

"What about Reid?"

"What about him?" I can feel the red on my face.

"He's a real rambler that's for sure."

"He's nice."

He eyes me a little bit, "Mhm. You two have been getting along?"

"Yes, I would think so." I ask with a slight laugh.

He brushes it off a changes the subject as we continue to prep everything.

After a couple hours we actually start cooking the food and we hear knocking on the door.

"I'll get it" I tell my dad as I walk to the door to see Hotch and Emily, and I must say, Hotch looks a whole lot different when he has a smile on his face and he loses the suit.

"Y/N! Hey" Emily says and brings me into a hug, while I let them in the house where Hotch and my dad already start their chatter.

"I brought wine." Emily says with a grin on her face as we sit down on the couch.

It doesn't take long for everyone else to arrive, Derek, Penelope, and Spencer all arrive together and I welcome them in.

Penelope joins Emily who's pouring herself a glass on the couch as Derek follows her. I shoot Spencer an awkward smile and let him in as I close the door behind him.

We all sit around the couch chatting (and drinking) as my dad now forces Hotch to be his sous chef instead of me.

"So wait- you graduated two years early AND was valedictorian?" Emily asks after they ask me about myself before the BAU.

"Well, salutatorian, but close enough." I laugh, and she shakes her head.

"You're gonna give pretty boy a run for his money." Derek says and claps Spencer's back.

"Yeah right, didn't you graduate college at 16?" I ask him and he nods with a smile. "Plus, I'm no genius. I just worked really hard and my mom decided preschool was a waste of time and put me in elementary school early." I shrug.

"Better than me." Emily huffs with a laugh.

"Dinner is served." My dad shouts from the kitchen, we all settle around the dining table where the platters are set out, the mostaccioli as well as some panzanella and of course, breadsticks.

Emily looks at the meal, "Is this a fancy lasagna or something?"

My dad looks up at her with all seriousness, "Say that again and you're never invited to my house again."

We all laugh, but I know that he's only semi-joking and we sit and enjoy the dinner together.

After a little while we all finish and everyone settles back into the living room to share stories and drinks. I decide, however, to help out a little bit back in the kitchen and clean up some stuff.

"You know you don't have to do all of that" My dad says as he comes to get another bottle from his special cabinet.

"It's the least I can do." I say, he shrugs and walks to the others when I hear someone else walk in.

"I promise I got it" I say, thinking it was my dad again but turn around to see Spencer standing by the counter. "Oh sorry," I say and he shakes his head, "Don't worry about it."

"So.." I say. Great start Y/N that's not awkward at all.

"Do you need any help? I know you said you got it but Emily wants you back over there soon, I can help you finish a little quicker."

"Yeah, sure, if you want. Just start putting everything in the dishwasher." I request and he does so while I rinse everything off in the sink first.

"You're pretty impressive, you know that?" He says.

Oh boy, I can feel the blush creeping up on my face. "It's not that big a deal. Like I said before, it's just dedication and hard work. I'm sure you can relate to that."

He nods, "Yeah, but it's still a great accomplishment. Soon enough, if of course you actually go for it, you could become the youngest member in the BAU. Of course I'd still have the youngest age to get in but you get the point."

"Only by ONE year dingus." I say, shoving him.

He laughs, "Two actually." So he was 22 getting in, go figure.

"Oh well excuse me" I say playfully and he smiles at me, we finish the dishes and go sit with everyone.

Emily hands me a drink and we go on about god knows what and everyone kind of does their own thing, my dad and Hotch go be adults somewhere in the backyard while the rest of us are left to occupy ourselves.

Penelope and Derek are playing a drinking version of never have I ever with my dads bourbon and Emily is trying to convince Spencer to take a chance at dancing but he stays in his place on the couch.

"You're too sober for this, come on Y/N" Emily says pulling my arm.

"What are we doing exactly?" I ask with a giggle and she drags me to the stereo, looking at the cds.

"He has nothing good, this sucks. I'm guessing you're not carrying a cd of your own."

I laugh and shake my head no, "Wasn't planning on having a dance party when I was told we were having a dinner."

Penelope rushes over to us with her iPod in hand, "Fret not my pretties, I have just what you need." She plugs in a cable to the stereo and then to her iPod.

Just in time my dad walks in, "What in hell are you guys doing?"

We all laugh and Derek comes to the rescue, "Calm down, old man, we just need to see your moves."

"OLD MAN??" He asks, "I'll show you old man." He continues and lets us continue to play something.

The rest of the night goes as this: my dad getting a little too groovy and having to sit down after not even three minutes with Hotch laughing the most I've ever seen. Emily and I attempting to recreate that one dirty dancing scene, however Derek and Penelope definitely were a better duo than us and Spencer just watching it all play down.

Once it gets a little late everyone settles down and decides to start heading out.

"Princess Penny and I are having one of my friends drive us home, we'll see you guys later." Derek says as the two of them walk out and Emily follows soon after.

"I'm gonna grab a taxi, have a good night yall." she says.

"Yeah I should get going too, thanks Dave." Hotch says as he heads out.

My dad looks at Spencer and I, "Y/N, are you staying here or-"

"I can take her home" Spencer says, which makes me shoot my eyebrows up.

"Okay kids, have fun goodnight, I've had enough party time." He says walking out and Spencer stands up and faces me, "Is that okay?" he asks.

I nod and bite my tongue as I smile. "Yeah that's good."

We walk out and I get into his car, him entering the drivers side. I give him my address and we start driving.

"You and Emily's dance routine was um, definitely an interesting attempt." He says with a laugh and I giggle at him.

"She almost lifted me up."

"Like three inches off the ground." He snickers and I smack his arm.

"Hey how come you never text me?" I ask, of course the words escaped my mouth before I could even understand what I was saying. Oh well.

His face went red, "Oh, I don't know, I guess I was nervous."

"What do you possibly need to be nervous for. It was just asking to get coffee together, not asking me to marry you." I joke.

He obviously got a little antsy at that, "I, um, well I dunno."

I poked him in the cheek, "Do I make you nervous, Spencer?" I tease.

He smirked a little bit while the blush on his face only increased. "Why would you make me nervous."

"You're avoiding the question."

"You need to get some sleep, sober up a little bit."

"I'm fine Spencer." I smirk and he pulls in front of my apartment complex and puts the car in park.

"Do I need to walk you to your apartment?" He asks me as I unbuckled.

"If you want." I smiled and he quickly got out, I used my key to get into the building and we got on the elevator to my room.

"Here's mine.." I say as we stand in front of the door.

"I'll text you this time." He says with a small smile on his face.

"Good." I say as I start to open my door.

"You do, by the way."

"Sorry?" I turn before walking in.

"To answer your question. You do. But in a good way. Goodnight Y/N."

"Goodnight Spencer."

---------------------༺⚘༻---------------------

I love this so much.

taglist: @darkenwolfie @justlivinginadaydream @daddy-dotcom @itsametaphorbriansblog @rosesandlavendertea @4karaa @lockwoods-coat-and-reids-vests

[jujumin-translates]

[A3!] Event | Devil Maid’s Holiday | Episode 8

Yuki: Sakuya and Muku, Taichi and Azami, Citron, and Arisu. Looks like everyone’s here.

Yuki: Alright, here they are.

*Paper rustles*

Muku: That’s…

Citron: Ohh, it is the costume rough drafts! You have already thought of this many new costume designs!?

Taichi: That’s insane, way to go, Yuki-chan!

Homare: You truly overcame the scene of carnage.

Citron: Yes! They are all the loveliest~!

Yuki: Obviously. I’ve double-checked with the client about the direction of the costumes and they’ve given me the okay, so I’m going ahead with this.

Yuki: Actually, let me explain things again. I told you guys that the play request the troupe got wasn’t gonna happen, but then Sakuya and the Director negotiated with the person…

Yuki: So now, they’re gonna remake their decision about requesting us to perform after watching our play.

Yuki: So I redesigned the other costumes to match the first costume I made because those are the costumes we’re gonna wear for the play. 

Azami: Gotcha. So I’m gonna hafta come up with makeup to match these.

Yuki: Right, by the way, you’re gonna be wearing that one, Azami.

Azami: Wh…

Muku: If you look closely, you can see each of our names by the rough sketches.

Citron: What does that mean?

Yuki: Because those are the costumes you guys are gonna wear.

Taichi: We’re the ones wearing these…!?

Yuki: I did the same thing I did with the butler costume ideas. I decided on the casting first because it was faster for me to decide on whose costumes to make by doing that.

Yuki: Each of the costumes is tailored to your body types, ages, and acting styles.

Yuki: I put a lot of the things I personally like into them, but I also put a lot of thought into them to make sure that they’d fit the people who’d be performing in them.

Citron: Even our ages and acting styles… That is amazing.

Yuki: I AM the one who made them, after all.

Yuki: That’s why I want you guys to wear these and for us to all put on a play together.

Azami: …Gotta be honest with you, I never woulda thought we’d hafta wear something like that.

Azami: But if that’s what you want, then I’ll hafta suck it up. Let’s put on a play and show them what we’ve got.

Muku: Yeah! I’ll do my best, too. I hope they’ll end up loving both Yuki-kun’s costumes and our play.

Citron: I will, of course, do that too! We will surprise the commissioner. And then we will turn them into one of our regular fans!

Taichi: We’ll def make them wanna commission MANKAI Company!

Homare: Just leave it to us. Let’s wear Yuki-kun’s splendid costumes and put on a play that’ll convince the other party.

Yuki: Alright, if nobody’s got any objections, I’ll get started on making them. …Right, Sakuya?

Sakuya: Yeah!

Sakuya: We don’t have much time before the client sees it, so let’s all divide things up and start preparing!

Azami: Aight, I’ll take the rough drafts as they are and start thinkin’ up ideas for makeup. I’ll check in with you again once the costumes are done.

Yuki: Sounds good.

Homare: Well then, I shall ask Tsuzuru-kun about the script. How about we slightly change the theme from last time? Does “Devil ✕ Maid” sound good?

Yuki: That is the general concept of the costumes, so that should be good.

Citron: You will also need costume materials. Muku and I will go shopping!

Muku: Yeah! I’m willing to help with whatever I can!

Yuki: Okay, I’ll send you a list later. It’s gonna be a lot, so are you sure you can handle it?

Muku: We’ll do our best!

Citron: If we need to, I can call the Itaru Taxi!

Muku: Wait! You don’t have to… I don’t want to be a bother…!

Citron: Should I call the Masumi Taxi then? Or perhaps the Chikage Taxi.

Yuki: Are you sure you’ve got it?

Yuki: …Well, whatever. I’ll start working on the costumes. Dumb Dog, you’re up.

Taichi: You bet! You’re finally relying on me!

Yuki: Quit yapping. You’re gonna be stuck working for the next few days. Be prepared.

Taichi: Hiie! I-I’ll do my best…!

Sakuya: If we do this… Then I’m sure we can get our play across to them…!

Yuki: Well, don’t just stand there doing nothing then. You’ve gotta help out too.

Sakuya: I’m… gonna talk to the Director and Banri-kun about the stage direction.

Sakuya: I want to show the client the actual stage as closely as possible using the equipment we’ve got…

Yuki: …This better be a success. Especially since you’ve been going on about things so recklessly. 

Sakuya: Yeah. We’ll definitely be up there standing on stage!

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] [ 🕸️ ] [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[teachingmycattoread]

Things We've Yelled About This Episode #4.2.5

Once again we spent most of a Discworld episode quoting the book, so all the quotations get their own post! The page numbers are from the 1990 Corgi Books edition.

"'[Duke Felmet] said he died of natural causes.'

'Well, being assassinated is natural causes, for a king," said Granny. 'I don't see why he's so sheepish about it'". p. 53

"The Fool jingled miserably across the floor." p.56

"'Witches just aren't like that,' said Magrat. 'We live in harmony with the great cycles of Nature, and do no harm to anyone, and it's wicked of them to say we don't. We ought to fill their bones with hot lead.'" p. 219

"The storm was really giving it everything it had. This was its big chance. it had spent years hanging around the provinces, putting in some useful work as a squall, building up experience, making contacts, occasionally leaping out on unsuspecting shepherds or blasting quite small oak trees. Now an opening in the weather had given it the opportunity to strut its hour, and it was building up its role in the hope of being spotted by one of the big climates.

It was a good storm. There was quite effective projection and passion there, and critics agreed that if it would only learn to control its thunder it would be, in years to come, a storm to watch." p. 6

"As the cauldron bubbled an eldritch voice shrieked: 'When shall we three meet again?'

There was a pause.

Finally another voice said, in far more ordinary tones: 'Well, I can do next Tuesday.'" p. 5

"'I hate cats.'

Death's face became a little stiffer, if that were possible. The blue glow in his eye sockets flickered red for an instant.

I SEE. he said. The tone suggested that death was too good for cat-haters. YOU LIKE GREAT BIG DOGS, I IMAGINE.' p.12

"He rubbed his dagger hand, although the word was becoming inappropriate." p. 133

"'It's the witches,' whispered the duke, to no-one in particular. 'We must tell the world about the witches. They're evil. They make it come back, the blood. Even sandpaper doesn't work.'" p. 67

"[The voice] apparently belonged to a large fat man who had been badly savaged by a moustache. Pink veins made a map of quite a large city on his cheeks; his nose could have hidden successfully in a bowl of strawberries." p. 32

"'Mrs Vitoller,' [Granny Weatherwax] said eventually, 'may I make so bold as to ask if your union has been blessed with fruit?'

The couple looked blank.

'She means-' Nanny Ogg began.

'No, I see,' said Mrs Vitoller, quietly. 'No. We had a little girl once.'" p. 36

"Witches are not by nature gregarious, at least with other witches, and they certainly don't have leaders.

Granny Weatherwax was the most highly-regarded of the leaders they didn't have." p. 7

"The calendar of the Theocracy of Muntab counts down, not up. No-one knows why, but it might not be a good idea to hang around and find out." p. 190

"...he was also one of those rare individuals who are totally focused in time.

Most people aren't. They live their lives as a sort of temporal blur around the point where their body actually is - anticipating the future, or holding on to the past. They're usually so busy thinking about what happens next that the only time they ever find out what is happening now is when they come to look back on it. Most people are like this." p. 10

"Like most people, witches are unfocused in time. The difference is that they dimly realise it, and make use of it. They cherish the past because part of them is still living there, and they can see the shadows the future casts before it.

Granny could feel the shape of the future, and it had knives in it." p. 42

"Granny Weatherwax didn't hold with looking at the future, but now she could feel the future looking at her.

She didn't like its expression at all." p. 17

"'Goodie Whemper did a recipe,' she confessed. It's quite easy. What you do is, you get some lead, and you -'" p. 219

"'A magic sword is important', said Magrat. 'You've got to have one. We could make him one,' she added wistfully. 'Out of thunderbolt iron. I've got a spell for that. You take some thunderbolt iron,' she said uncertainly, 'and then you make a sword out of it.'" p. 188

"Totally mad, the Fool thought. Several bricks short of a bundle. So far round the twist you could use him to open wine bottles." p. 65

"'What I'm saying is,' said Granny firmly, 'that we've got a king who is no worse than most and better than many and who's got his head screwed on right - '

'Even if it is against the thread,' said Nanny." p. 250

"When the giant growled, and turned around, an arm like a couple of broom handles strung together with elastic and covered with red fur unfolded itself in a complicated motion and smacked him across the jaw so hard that he rose several inches in the air and landed on a table." pp. 166-167.

[fillingthescrapbook]

Let's Talk About: Fantasy High Junior Year and Ragenarok (Part 1)

I shouldn't have watched the teaser for next week's episode prior to writing this because-- Well, now I'm even more pumped for the finale and my thoughts for this episode were already very jumbled to begin with--

But begin we shall!

"Fabian, is there anywhere you want to live?" is a hell of a line at the start of the episode--especially with the context of a Bad Kid needing to steer the fall of Fabian's house to anywhere in Elmville.

Lou and Emily going all in on a bit in the background while Ally, Murph, and Brennan were figuring out the logistics of something was funny as heck. Ally really has gone far from the Freshman Year where the allure of a bit would have certainly derailed them from the more serious figuring-out-the-stuff talk with button-up boys.

But the most important revelation this episode? SQUEEM HAS FINALLY REACHED ELMVILLE! They still have some distance to cover but they're here!

And, can I just say, Siobhan rolling quick for the group roll just before Murph could was clutch as fuck. I must admit though that I also felt sad that we missed out on a possible addition to the collection of "I have just as good a chance as any of you to roll good" bits. It did allow the Bad Kids enough time to squeeze in a short rest though, so, hats off to you, Siobhan!

Now, onto the battle itself:

A Rat Grinder going down QUICK got me in my suspicious era. Like, what is going on with these rat grinders? Why do they have such high level attacks and yet--

Oh, never mind. The others' HP are more robust.

Brennan clustering his bad guys is always funny to me. Especially when you see an Intrepid Hero fight the urge to moustache-twirl as they see Brennan unconsciously giving them an area of opportunity. And it happens twice this episode!

Zac--not Gorgug--being so angry at Mary Ann passing her saving throw was hilarious to me. Especially because another Intrepid Hero tried to stop her from saving--only for Mary Ann to be naturally resistant anyway.

Riz going full maniac, saying "make sure to cut his head off so he can't be revivified--" and then Murph pulling back… Murph, the actor that you are! Chef's kiss.

My absolute favorite part of the episode though was when Zac had to reroll a bunch of dice. Ally asked why, and Zac cited one of Gorgug's feats. Having Ally say "I thought we were honoring something" absolutely broke me.

It's funny to me how Kipperlily was created to be the foil of Riz--but she's not really Riz's nemesis. She's Murph's.

And I rejoiced when Brennan, pulling the Box of Doom out again, got a stern "put my partner down" from Ally. It's been a while since they returned to this bit. I thought they had forgotten their relationship.

With this season coming to a close… I have to say that it's really one of the most enjoyable seasons of Dimension 20 for me. Is it my favorite Intrepid Heroes season? I think A Starstruck Odyssey and the first season of The Unsleeping City are still fighting for the top spot… But Junior Year is definitely following those two.

Especially with Brennan finally gifting Ally with Ice Feast--not realizing the implications of said spell to his finale battlemap.

And lastly… the way Brennan said "reincarnate" at the top of the episode? Saying "re-ANKARNA-te Porter?" The yelp I yelped.

I can't believe the season ends next week.

[knickynoo]

Back to the Future: The Animated Series, s02ep013 "Verne Hatches an Egg"

✨Last episode of the series!✨

Previous episodes linked here.

In this episode: Verne gains a cute little buddy, creepy Mr. Wisdom returns, and a jarring final moment with Real Doc

Well, friends, we've reached the end of our journey into the world of the animated series. It was almost exactly one year ago today that I posted my review of the first episode, and it's been a super fun project to work on. I'm kind of sad to be done with it.

Let's see what this last episode has in store for us, shall we?

We start in the lab, where Doc is making adjustments to his latest invention, the "ELB Pediatric Policer."

It's basically a lie detector designed to be worn by children, lol. When a child does something they know is wrong, or if they lie about something, it flashes with lights and blares a siren. He plans to present it at the Annual Convention of the Home Inventors of Mad Geniuses.

Gonna be real with you, Doc—not sure how I feel about this invention. Sounds like a good way to raise very anxious, paranoid children.

Anyway, this reminds Doc of something that happened to Verne when he was doing show and tell one day.

The cartoon begins with someone attempting the steal the DeLorean. They're shrouded in shadows, but it's pretty clear that it's Verne. He's got a pretty high track record for DeLorean thievery. Doc's security system catches him, though, locking him into the car, setting off an alarm, and taking a picture, which is sent directly to Doc's room.

Quick little sidenote, but I don't think I've mentioned that Doc regularly calls Clara "Clarabelle" over the course of the series. When he's woken up by the alarm system, it's the name he uses to call to her, and I was like, "huh. why have I never written about this in my posts?" I looked it up, and Clarabelle (the spelling according to the subtitles on the DVD) is a variant of the more official spelling, which is Claribel. It means "bright and beautiful" but seems to be a pretty obscure name, as it's only listed at .009% usage at the height of its popularity in 1893.

So, I'm left wondering: Is the animated series implying that it's perhaps her "real" name, with Clara being her nickname? Or is this just an affectionate nickname Doc uses for Clara? And if it's a nickname, is it something Doc simply thought had a nice ring to it, or is it because he's secretly a big fan of the Disney character Clarabelle Cow??

That's Clarabelle with her boyfriend Horace Horsecollar, btw. If you even care.

Verne tells Doc that he was only taking the DeLorean so he could go looking for something cool to bring to show and tell. Doc decides to help him out by letting him borrow an arrowhead he has. Verne is psyched, but before he can even reach the school building, Biff Jr. intercepts him and demands his lunch money. He steals the arrowhead from Verne.

Verne's teacher isn't happy that he had nothing to show or tell about, and she tells him that if he doesn't bring in something the next day, she's going to make him play Prince Charming in the upcoming school play. Which is a really weird threat if you ask me!! How does one force a child into a lead role of a play he doesn't want to be in just because he didn't have show and tell? What kind of school is this?

Verne is horrified by this news on account of he'd have to kiss some girl named Beatrice. He says he'd rather be, "dead like a dinosaur" which gives him a sudden idea. I sense a bad decision coming! And I bet Marty is going to be in on it because he always enables Varne in these types of shenanigans.

Yep. I knew it.

The boys take a quick trip to prehistoric times, where Verne swipes a dino egg for show and tell.

Shortly after arriving home, the egg hatches, and Verne finds himself caretaker to the world's cutest dinosaur.

Look at that guy. (Verne faints when he sees it)

Within the hour, the dinosaur has already grown significantly, and it escapes outside to the yard, where Verne begs Jules to help in hiding him. Just then, they hear Doc approaching and quickly work to form a ridiculous story in which the dino is their friend who painted himself green because they're playing a game involving aliens.

They're able to get away with it on account of Einstein is so afraid of the dinosaur that he launches himself at Doc's face and refuses to move.

Doc decides to take Einie to the vet, leaving his sons and their "friend" to continue their game. Jules insists Verne return the dino, but Verne wants to keep him as a pet. He names him Tiny.

It doesn't take long for Tiny to go missing in town. He ends up at the Tannen home, where Biff Jr. is watching Mr. Wisdom (who you may remember from an episode earlier in the season). If you don't, you just need to know that Mr. Wisdom is an evil children's TV show host who also happens to be one of Doc's old college roommates.

Mr. Wisdom announces that he's offering $50,000 to any viewer who can capture and send in an alien, bigfoot, or dinosaur. Very unfortunate timing, huh? Biff captures Tiny and sends him into the Mr. Wisdom show. After airing a special episode featuring Tiny, Mr. Wisdom plans to kill him and sell pieces of him to research labs for money.

Thankfully, Verne comes clean to his parents, and they work together to form a plan and sneak onto the set to free Tiny.

When Mr. Wisdom starts his show and reveals the "dinosaur," it's really just Marty and Jules on stilts.

Jules looks just like the monkey in that one meme.

The family gets home and prepares to bring Tiny back where he belongs. Before he goes, he spits out a baby tooth, which Verne is excited to be able to take to show and tell.

With that story wrapped up, we go back to Real Doc, who teaches us a little about eggs using a raw one. While he's talking, he takes out the lunch he'd packed, of which one of the items is a hard-boiled egg. Can you guess what happens? Yeah, he mixes up the two eggs. After some time to think about it, he feels pretty confident that he's figured out which one is the hard-boiled one and. And he just BITES into the egg, shell and all, like an absolute lunatic. And he's wrong about it being the hard-boiled one.

Who does this? Who on EARTH eats a hard-boiled egg in this manner? Are you telling me that Doc regularly leaves the shells on his eggs and bites into them like an apple?? He eats the shells? Is that what I'm supposed to take away from this??

We're ending the animated series with the revelation that this is how our beloved scientist finds it acceptable to eat a hard-boiled egg?? What am I supposed to do with this now? How will I make peace with this information?

Join me next time for nothing. The animated series is over, folks. Doctor Emmett Brown eats eggshells.

Adiós.

[pfffsfic]

Post-Fall Falls False Starts- Chapter 13: Hard To Kill (Part 1)

Bits and pieces of this chapter were rewritten to comply with new material in the Book of Bill. To read the old version, click here. Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

"What is it you've always wanted? I can give it to you!"

Sarah only smiled down at him.

"What I've always wanted?" she asked.

"I just need to get into town and, shall we say, take care of some personal business- don'tcha worry, no hot pokers involved... that you'll have to see! If you free me, when all that happens, hey! I'll owe you one. Think big! Do you want a guy you like to like you back? Do you want a pool full of money to swim in? Do you want to rule your own kingdom? Small potatoes!"

He would have been holding a hand out for a handshake out of instinct, only something was still keeping his arms behind his back. Sarah rubbed her chin, really drawing out the whole 'thinking hard' shtick, and then nodded her head. So she did want something-

"I want you to tell me about your past," said Sarah, and Bill groaned with a deep-seated sort of fury.

"If I do that, you'll free me?"

"Sure, sure."

"I need a real promise, here. If you backstab me, I'm melting you down the millisecond I get into the third dimension for real!"

"I promise."

She patted his head and he screamed so loud the glass of the TV in the clearing rattled. It was like a train wreck in that it was very difficult for Rob to look away, but even now that he had turned the other direction, he could still hear their loud back-and-forth. Most of the 'loud' was coming from Bill.

"Did you have any siblings?"

"No!"

"An actual answer! Ooh, that's a start, that's a start. Now, tell me what your parents were like..."

As Rob left the campsite and hovered into the forest, he could almost feel Bill's gaze burning a hole into his back, but he really needed to be able to hear himself think. Thinking this clearly would be out of his reach the moment he was back in his sleep-deprived body- and he had a lot to think about. Order of thought business 1: the past! The past that, as now occurred to him, he was currently in.

Which was weird. Sarah had already seen the whole series before Elmore collapsed, so logically, upon coming here, he should have come out after Weirdmageddon, right? And yet all signs pointed to that not being true. Bill was in the Nightmare Realm, not dead and/or a statue, at least that was what he had said. He had also mentioned getting into the third dimension for real. Hey! Why was this place called the third dimension? Rob, now he was a bona-fide 3D guy. This place was flat. It gave him a little rush to think that he could perceive something that even Bill seemingly couldn't, and then he remembered that forbidden knowledge was never thrilling for very long. Eventually it just ate you up inside... just like everything else did. He let out an angsty sigh that nobody could hear and committed point 1 to memory.

-

"My old man got angry a lot. Never at me, no, never at me- well, except for when I..." Bill glanced off into the distance for a second, smile faltering- "...point is, he got angry at everybody and everything else! He was the sort of guy to imagine somebody bumping into him on the street and start yelling at thin air." Sarah couldn't tell if his facial expression had gotten a little more genuine or if it was a trick of the light- or perhaps of the exhausted facial muscles. She nodded intently.

"This is all honest, right? Not just a lie because your real past is too personal or something?"

"Me? Lie? No! Psssh, no! No way. Kid, what do you take me for? A-ny-ways. My mom- ha! Now there was a firebrand..."

-

If the red van could transcend channels, perhaps it had simply arrived here in the middle of a rerun. In that case, Rob wondered, did that logic still apply? Assuming they hadn't interfered with the timeline, Weirdmageddon could still come on schedule. Afterwards, would time reset back to episode 1, like it had apparently been doing over and over since the show finished airing, assuming the rerun theory was correct? Maybe not. His own show surely had reruns as well and yet he had lasted a week beyond what he thought had to have been the series finale. Maybe they'd just keep going. Their own private sequel season- but Rob didn't want to spend his time here stalking the Pines twins back to California if the opportunity indeed presented itself. Sarah, though, would definitely do that, wouldn't she? Maybe he could tag along. Maybe he could split from her and go see what kind of town this world had where Elmore was supposed to be. It wasn't as if they could just hop on a bus, though. There was no easy way to get home- no, not home-

Home!

Home had been so far away for what felt like so long now, and the stressors of life in this unfamiliar environment had driven it to the back of his conscious mind. He had been so focused on the present that he had neglected both his past and his future. If he ever got the chance to head back to Elmore, would he pick up right where he left off, or would he land somewhere in his past? Then there would be two of him. Maybe he could change things. With twice the Rob, there might be twice the chance at a successful exodus! But, then again, that might cause a time paradox and erase him, which he refused to knowingly go through again. Why was he even entertaining the possibility of returning? The van was never coming back. He had to accept that. He thought he had accepted that. He was not the type to be swayed by the naive dreams of others. Not now, not ever.

Either way, Rob had survived the void for what felt like months, so he assured himself that, whatever came afterwards, a few days of the apocalypse would be a piece of cake.

-

"...but back home, biology and geometry were the same class. When I found out that third-dimensional kids had to have both of 'em separately, I was all, man! What a bummer. If I was human I'd just skip out on the whole school thing. Heck, I wish I had the foresight to do that when I actually was in school, 'cause ultimately they taught me absolutely jack about useful stuff like how to pull the wool over people's eyes! Now that's an idea for a class. If I had my own school I'd make Swindling 101 a core subject, but, get this, I'd give the kids incorrect advice as a joke..."

-

It seemed pretty uncharacteristic of Bill to just jump straight into possession. Part of Rob thought that maybe he had somehow unintentionally schmoozed the demon into doing it- this part was very proud of himself. The other part of Rob thought that Bill probably had a plan beyond what was immediately obvious to either of the Elmoreans- this part was very nervous about the prospect. There was a lot that didn't add up about his actions, and that all came back to the question of when exactly the two of them were. Maybe he just hadn't been summoned properly yet? Was there some kind of time limit on summoning? It boggled the mind- not that it was a particularly complex question, but it was one that nobody could give the answers to except for-

-

"...and you have no idea how long that took for me to get down! I was practicing my opening speech to this asteroid for days on end and still, still messing up! All I'm saying is, yes, I have plenty of regrets. Plenty of lines I only ever came up with after losing the chance to use 'em. You can manufacture another chance, but it's not the same! It's the spontaneity of it, kid, you don't get it! It's the organic reactions, it's the look on the other guy's face- ack! My throat hurts! Curse these vocal chords for putting a limiter on my genius."

Sarah laid a cool hand on Rob's body's torso right where his neck would have been. Her posture had changed- she was sitting cross-legged and upright on a nearby rock, nodding attentively as Bill found himself spilling his feelings all over the place.

"When you think about your home," she asked in a measured tone, "how do you feel?"

"Huh? Where did that question- happy," he responded hoarsely, driven by instinct alone. Sarah gently shook her head in response. "Angry. Regretful. Sad... hey! Why am I telling you all this?"

"Durapy."

"That's, what, something plus therapy?"

"Duress plus therapy."

"Ah ha ha! You'll go places, kid."

"I like to think so. So, which of those emotions you mentioned would you say is dominant?"

"It's like a regret sundae with anger sauce and sadness sprinkles. See, I don't have a heart, but I do have this mostly-flat organ that looks kind of like a heart if you look at it from a certain angle, and when I think about home, it kind of aches, but on a different subject- you're okay with me changing the subject, right?- it also aches when I think about this time Kryptos fell into this magma cloud as we spent a few hundred years putting his molecules back together. That meant I had to miss out on the start of the Bronze age, which, I mean, what a shame, 'cause..."

-

The way back to camp was quiet and uneventful. More and more things weren't adding up, and this was one of them. There were so many monsters living around this area, and yet he had hardly encountered any of them since he arrived! Why was it that the forest seemed so empty? Maybe he and Sarah had established territory that the others were afraid to encroach on, an idea that made him feel like a wild animal. It was a confusing feeling. And why hadn't Sarah melted, seeing as it was summer (or at least that's what he had assumed) and it was hot out? And where on her person had she hidden that rope and that DVD? Maybe he didn't want to know the answer to that last one.

Thinking hard about the questions had only given him more questions. There were no answers, and of course there weren't, because he didn't care to look for answers. He had bigger things to worry about. But now these questions were his biggest things to worry about- well, them and the demon who was currently in his body. It was actually easy to forget about that, but he could hear Bill's indistinct voice through the trees as he approached. He didn't seem hesitant anymore. He was... rambling.

"...and that's how I got my powers. That was exclusive, you hear? You're trustworthy, right? You wouldn't tell anybody, right? You wouldn't want to get turned inside out, right?"

"I won't tell a soul."

"You better not! And I have turned people inside out before. That reminds me of this time when- oh, hey, Rob's back!"

Sarah turned her head 360 degrees.

"Where is he?"

"How about you untie my hands and I'll point for you?"

Sarah reached down and undid the rope around one of Bill's hands, and soon enough Rob had an accusatory finger in his invisible face. Within a few moments, Sarah was my his side, a little too close so that their bodies were slightly overlapping, but the sentiment was there, at least.

"One more thing before I let you go-"

"Don't let him go!" said Rob, but nobody could hear him.

"-Did you ever have a thing for Stanford?"

Bill's eye- or rather Rob's eye- widened. Mental-Rob's eye widened, too.

"Hey, what do you know about-"

"Ah... no need to continue. Your face has told me everything I need to know~" said Sarah, almost surely misinterpreting a few facial cues and untying the other wrist. In an instant, Rob's body lurched forward like Frankenstein's monster coming to life on the operating table and let out a maniacal cackle that put all of Rob's own evil laughs to absolute shame. Maybe he could ask for technique tips... no, no, this wasn't the time!

"Wait! I have some questions for you as well!"

"Tough luck, kid, that wasn't part of our deal."

"You can't just-"

"Hasta la vista!" said Bill, and scrambled out of the clearing with all the bodily coordination of a marionette being puppeteered by a third grader.

"Hasta la vista?" mused Sarah. "Does that mean he's gonna come back at some point?"

Rob hoped he didn't come back with four broken limbs and a hot poker burn mark in his eye. Hey, wait, he could follow Bill! It wasn't as if he had a way to communicate with Sarah, anyway; she had thought of making a sock puppet for him to use during the planning phase, but as it turned out, neither of them wore socks, so that was a tall order. He noticed mid-thought that she was turning on the TV.

"I'm hoping this will work..." she spoke in response to a question he hadn't asked. "Maybe you can make like that girl from Ringu and mess with this DVD? Wouldn't that be cool? Plus, you're, like, a TV guy, aren't you?"

"...I'm a cyclops."

She couldn't hear him. Throwing the fear of disappointment to the wind, he approached the TV and stuck his hand through the screen. It startled him and amused Sarah when a burst of static momentarily replaced the DVD menu and distortion spread from the intersection point of his arm and the video!

"Ah!" he yelped, and his voice was joined by a clip of Dipper making a similar noise that suddenly appeared on the screen. Wait...

"Was that you, Rob?"

"It- was-" came two clips in short succession, playing without an episode being selected on the main menu. "It's- me- rob-"

Saying his name had been a test, but as it turned out, the word 'rob'- the verb- had been used in place of it. Okay, that would do, but what about-

"Earth to Sarah," he said. The first two words got through fine, but the third one was replaced with another burst of static. Come to think of it, wasn't static a signal thing? What business did it have on a DVD? Wasn't this TV too modern to have that kind of interference? Whatever.

"Earth to you," he clarified. It was like listening to a live YTP and all these acronyms were getting to his head now.

"So, what did you think of our conversation earlier? Do you think Bill was full of it, or was he just opening up? Either way, the stuff he said has so much potential! My heart is leaping out of my chest, you have no idea. I am so going to use this. But enough about me, let's talk about you! How cool is it being a ghost? Or a mindscape apparition, or whatever?"

"It's- ok," the TV said, "I- wasn't- listening- to- Bill- I- was- off- thinking."

"Whaaaat? But he said so much juicy stuff! Oh, well, I guess that means it's all a secret between me and him! You know what? That totally has appeal. Thinking, you say? About what?"

"Stuff-"

"Don't give me that."

He paused for a long moment.

"Well- first- thing's- first- we- might- be- in- a- time- loop."

"A time loop? Where'd you get that idea?"

"This- is- a-" there was another burst of static as Rob tried and failed to convey the word 'rerun'.

"It's a what?"

"I'll- tell- you- about- it- and- the- rest- when- I- get- my- body- back."

"Oh yeah! Your body! We should follow Bill for only that reason, and definitely not for any other reason!"

"Whatever."

"I'm gonna sneak out of the woods," she said, sticking a handful of wood chips to her face in an effort to camouflage herself and standing on all fours like some sort of creepypasta monster. "Don't worry, you won't see me."

"Wait-" the TV said. "How- am- I- supposed- to- follow- you- if- I can't- see-"

She had already scuttled out of sight. Rob sat up, pulled his arm out of the screen, and headed in the direction he had seen Bill go earlier, wondering with every new rustle of the foliage around him whether Sarah was nearby, watching, out of sight. The idea unsettled him more than the idea of Bill watching him. That didn't bode well for their friendship. No! This wasn't a friendship! It was...

Well, he didn't really know what it was.

-

"Sir, would you classify your vehicle as a time machine?"

"I would classify it as a... van."

"But if you've used it to travel through time-"

"I haven't. I'm simply traveling between dimensions that measure time differently, which I'm sure is perfectly legal, and I am also planning to drive away before you have the chance to tell me it isn't."

"You're under- hey! Come back here!"

[nofomogirl]

Metatron's manipulation step by step

Part 4: Putting on a human face

Part 1 - where I discuss the significance of the coffee.

Part 2 - where I take a look back at season 1

Part 3 - from Metatron's arrival on Earth to sending the Archangels away

Okay, so after we've discussed how Metatron set the stage, it's finally time to have a look at how he interacts with Aziraphale.

Obviously, Aziraphale's initial attitude is not friendly. He's very guarded and doesn't want to talk at all.

His exact words are "I don't believe there's anything left to be said. I've made my position quite clear."

Sure, it's not said in the most assertive way possible, but what taints it is simple nervousness, not indecisiveness of any kind. Aziraphale genuinely means it. Whatever he said and did in season 1 was not something that happened in the spur of the moment and was regretted later. I haven't seen anything in season 2 that would hint at Aziraphale being in any way unhappy with his little retirement or missing his attachment to Heaven.

I'm absolutely sure he was ready to stand his ground.

So what does Metatron hit him with?

"Yeah, well, I brought you a coffee from the shop."

It's a deceivingly simple two-layered trick.

The first layer is a classic foot-in-the-door technique, where you see pushing your agenda doesn't work, so instead you temporarily drop the subject and simply don't allow the interaction to end in the hope that given enough time the other person might lower their guard down or otherwise become more open, and then you will present your case again.

As a matter of fact, Crowley used the exact same strategy in season 1 episode 1, when he was trying to convince Aziraphale to try and stop the Armageddon.

"We've only got 11 years, and then it's all over. We have to work together." "No." "It's the end of the world we're talking about. It's not some little temptation I've asked you to cover for me while you're up in Edinburgh for a festival. You can't say no" "No." "We can do something. I have an idea." "No! I am not interested." "Well, let's have lunch."

Of course, lunch with Crowley was something far more appealing for Aziraphale than a coffee offered by Metatron (not to mention he didn't actually want Armageddon). Still, he is far too polite, far too caring about the proper etiquette, to simply tell someone who had brought him a drink to piss off.

But what really makes it work is the second layer - confusion.

The gesture is so unexpected, Aziraphale completely loses his footing. His love of Earthly food and beverages was something other angels could never understand. It made him an anomaly, in the worst sense possible - something gross and unnatural. And here the great Metatron not only tolerates it when Aziraphale chooses to indulge, but he himself offers!

He's so baffled, he needs to make sure. "Shall I...?" he asks uncertainly rising the cup in question. And only after Metatron confirms "Drink it? Of course" does he take a sip.

Now, the next line is quite interesting:

"I've ingested things in my time, you know."

Metatron very efficiently shows how he's different from other angels and may have more in common with Aziraphale than the Principality might suspect. He humanizes himself. Maybe not in the most literal sense within the lore of Good Omens, but he does. Not only is he okay with Aziraphale's unusual interests, he understands the appeal.

But he's actually doing something truly devious here. Yes, it is validation, but somehow it's dismissal at the same time. The in my time combined with the creepy tone in which the line is delivered, gave me strong "it's okay, it's just a phase" vibes. Made me think of all the situations a small-minded person belittled someone's passion by saying it's fine to have a hobby and they also had hobbies when they were younger but you can't make a career out of it. Or that some place is fun to visit but one cannot seriously consider moving there. Or that it's normal to experiment when you're young, who didn't experiment, but then you grow up and enter straight marriage...

Metatron offers Aziraphale a coffee and says it's fine to indulge but he doesn't have a drink for himself. Because he only went for it "in his time".

So yes, Metatron is demonstrating he understands Aziraphale, just like I've written earlier. But at the same time, he's already subtly signaling it's time to let go and grow up and be a proper angel.

But for now, Aziraphale only sees the good things, like he so often does.

And it works.

Metatron once more insists they need to talk, and this time Aziraphale isn't as ready to turn him down. He doesn't outright accept, but he is not certain what to do anymore.

He turns to Crowley. And Crowley, unfortunately, doesn't see the danger at all and encourages Aziraphale to go.

And Aziraphale leaves.

And I'll end here.

Continued in: Part 5: The offer ("canonical" version)

[sserpente]

Loki Season 2 – Episode 1 RECAP

HERE WE GO AGAIN! FINALLY! LET’S DO THIS, SHALL WE?

As always, HEAVY SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 1 BELOW THE CUT!

Also from now on, as usual, in addition to the keep reading tags, I will tag posts that contain spoilers with the hashtag "#loki season 2 spoilers" and "#loki spoilers" so you can filter them from your dashboard until you're ready!

Did I stay up until 3 a.m. to watch the first episode again? Yes. Yes, I did.

We are starting off so damn STRONG. Damn it, I just wanted to hug Loki so bad. He’s been through so much shit and he was so heartbroken and desperate! Imagine you get to cup his face and just tell him to take a deep breath with you! What made it even more painful was the moment he fully realised that Mobius didn’t recognise him—his one friend, the one person who likes him for who he is… and he doesn’t remember him… and then the relief on his face when was in the right place again!

Loki was so panicked about the impending war. For good reason, obviously but it truly shows that Thor: Ragnarok lied. Loki wouldn’t be a bad king, now hear me out—in The Avengers, Thanos had the upper hand. You all remember that one scene where he sort of backtracks and says “It’s too late… it’s too late to stop it…” but can’t join forces with Thor because The Other was watching him? Loki understands the sacrifice for sure and in the first Thor film, when he tried to wipe out Jötunheim, what I believe is that he wanted to prevent the war that Thor himself had started by attacking those Jötuns. Loki’s not about violence and causing pain and destruction, he just got caught in the middle of it several times, and circumstances forced him into choices that were not heroic. We knew that already, of course… but it’s nice to see that reflected in the series. Besides, we don’t need him to be a hero. We just need him to be Loki. 🥰

The jokes were spot-on, not too silly, not out of place, in my opinion, but sprinkled in just right so far. Skin? Also, can we please talk about the warning on the floor that said Spaghettification? Come on! 😂😂😂

Now in that sense, O.B. is indeed brilliant. A lovely and light addition to the serious bureaucracy of the TVA for sure!

I really wasn’t worried about Loki making it back safely, somehow. Let’s face it, they wouldn’t have killed him in the first episode of Season 2. With that being said… I hope for their sake he stays safe at the end too, otherwise, I will hurt a lot of people! 🙂

X5… X5, what are we gonna do with him? I hate him. Of course, I do. He’s got something about him that just makes you want to slap him in the face. 😒

Now there are two questions we immediately ask ourselves, right? Where, or rather, when did Sylvie come from? And who pruned Loki? Was it another Sylvie, or another Loki? Another Mobius? B15? An antagonistic character who realised their wrongs? A new character? A Kang Variant? They’ve definitely left us some loose ends! 🤔

And lastly… it’s absolutely heartbreaking to see how much Loki cares for Sylvie despite what happened at the end of Season 1. She basically betrayed him! For reasons Loki understands, of course, but still… it broke his heart… and hence it broke mine. He was so ready to stop the others from going after her even though he was facing the very gruesome time slipping problem. 😭

If you’ve seen the video I posted earlier, you’ll know that I have already seen Episode 2 as well today. I won’t lose a word about that one until next week though! 😉 All I’m gonna say is that we’re in for a treat. 😏

PS: I want that TVA handbook as a notebook for my writing.

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s3 episode 12 thoughts

ha! a post at a different time than usual! you didn’t see this coming, did you? well i like to keep you guessing

do you hate bugs? if so, this may not be the episode for you!

(based on the poll i have running, i’m going to try putting a “read more” thingy on this post. please let me know if this enhances your experience. what a cruel thing to only think of 3 seasons in…)

disclaimer on the formatting of this blog aside, let us jump in, straight from the moments right before i clicked the play button.

okay, so last episode will be a hard act to follow, given that it was my new favorite episode. BUT i think i’ve seen that this episode is a fan favorite?? i think?? so we shall see…

trying to go in with no expectations at all. not even one. just let the story take me where it goes.

but i thought i did see something about this episode referring to a mulder ex?? not sure i can deal with that again at this point in my life. not after phoebe. still haunted by that arthur conan doyle thing.

it's bug time in massachusetts. learn some bug facts with this kindly looking fellow. 

i love academics who are really into things like bugs. i love when they love funny creatures. WAIT HE STEPPED ON IT!! that was cruel??? maybe he is not a kindly fellow after all…

okay, i THOUGHT this dude was teaching a class on science, but he’s an exterminator... LMAOOOOOO they got me with that gag

so he’s putting down a new pesticide to kill the cockroaches. always risky business, those pesticides.

he sprayed the bug with the stuff and then stomped on it and it seems like he started choking?? is he messing with some dangerous poison here??? pesticides scare me…. 

the bugs are pouring out of surfaces and onto him and it is making my skin craaaaawl!!!

oh, a cricket now graces our screen! a pleasant creature. on mulder’s windshield? he went up to massachusetts for the weekend! but not for family reasons. for alien reasons.

scully is cleaning her gun and talking to him on the phone while he looks up at the sky. it’s quite charming <3

“look scully, i know it’s not your inclination, but did you ever look up into the night sky and feel certain that not only was something up there, but it was looking down on you at the exact same moment, and was just as curious about you as you are about it?” <- ohhhh he’s waxing poetic. ohhh what does the massachusetts bring out in this man?

scully is going on about how she thinks the real fascinating truth is that life exists here on this planet at all, and uses the word “anti-darwinian”… and he asks what she is wearing??? she laughs at this 

(i actually really liked her little monologue here and would copy it down, but i want to see what happens next)

he references planet of the apes and they both understand it, which means they have both seen a movie that i have not. sad!

a bright light shines on him and he says he has to go, so he hangs up. way to freak her out!

it’s a cop. he asks what mulder is doing. “just sitting, thinking” LMAOOOO they hate to see a man who ponders

the cop asks for his ID after implying he is on drugs, and then is gagged when he pulls out his FBI badge. and then all of a sudden he’s a “sir”... okay. only getting respect AFTER the occupation reveal. not the most morally outstanding thing...

the cop asks why he has his windshield wipers on and he’s like oh, just knocking a bug off, and the officer reaches for his gun??? and asks if the bugs he is referring to were cockroaches. he’s like… maybe? or maybe a beetle?? “i’m not really good with bugs” LMAOOO

then the cop leaves when he says there is a roach attack. oh?

scully is trying to just enjoy a meal and some tv when he calls and says that she needs to get up here because “it appears that cockroaches are mortally attacking people”, to which she replies “i’m not going to ask you if you just said what i think you just said, because i know it’s what you just said”, which would also be my response to this information!

(she has flowers on her glass of water. it’s quite pretty)

anyway. bodies with roaches. (nicki voice) ROACHESSSS!

oh, they’re very scientific up there in this town, all the people who were victims/witnesses were expert scientists... hmm. any roach scientists?

the guy whose house was being exterminated says he sees cockroaches when he closes his eyes, and he can’t sleep!! that is very concerning.

scully says it might be an allergic reaction to roaches that killed this dude, and this seems to please mulder as an answer, or at least bide him enough time to let her stay the night at her place. and when the cop asks who was on the phone, he says “my drug dealer” <- hahahaha get his ass

in this next scene, i at first thought people were doing some science, but it seems these are teenagers that are doing drugs. and whatever it is has a cockroach crawling in it?

OHHHH OHHHH NO. A COCKROACH JUST CRAWLED INTO AN OPEN WOUND ON THIS KID'S HAND. OHHHH IS THIS GONNA BE A BODY HORROR EPISODE??? BLECKKK this was not what i was expecting after many jokes!! 

he’s scratching and scratching and i literally cannot look. i heard him yell “get them out of me” but i am already light headed and we shall leave it at this.

cut to scully cam. her dog is getting a bath!!! with anti-flea shampoo….. does the creature have bugs or is she just being very cautious? not sure if more bugs would be an auspicious sign. good to see the dog again, i’ve missed him. what a cute little fellow. he whines. 

of course her phone rings when she is covered in soap!!

mulder says she better get up there. the kid is dead. and there were very much drugs at the scene, but mystery drugs.

she says that sometimes people who are high can imagine bugs in their skin- it’s called ekbom’s syndrome. again, love when she knows this stuff. and he says that she is probably right, and she doesn’t really have to come up. “sorry to bother you”, he says, and she says “it’s no bother” into the phone with a smile. 

but the dog!!! he has run away!!! still covered in soap!! naughty little fellow.

back a the scene of the crime. a roach has been caught. mulder somehow squished it. but the exoskeleton was made of metal?? OH! his hand is bleeding!!!

GET HIS HANDS CLEAN NOW!!!

is this some sort of future cockroach that has developed advanced resistance to eradication efforts?? like the darwinian stuff scully was talking about earlier???

he is still bleeding. at the doctor. and the doctor wants to know what the hell is going on. mulder doesn’t know. and the sheriff asks the same thing!!! many are wondering.

doctor goes to the bathroom and a roach approaches. NO NO NO I SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING AND I HATE IT NOOOO. 

“i see the correlation, but just because i work for the federal government doesn’t mean i’m an expert on cockroaches” mulder!!!! what a way to speak of your coworkers! hahaha

oh!! someone has been doing experiments in the town!! this dude says killer bees were an accident, and maybe these cockroaches are something similar- is that true about the bees??? need to fact check. OH MY GOSH IT IS??? what the hell. what a scary world we live in.

so the doctor is dead. he was covered in cockroaches when he was found dead, but now they are gone? except for one on the sink. that one falls down the drain.

back to scully cam. she’s reading truman capote’s breakfast at tiffany’s!!! she picks up the phone with “who died now?” LMAOOO

she says it was probably a brain aneurysm that killed the doctor, and it looks like it was. cutscene to him jumping into the secret area.

scully at home, looking up cockroaches on a… laptop? with her glasses on <3 and eating ice cream right out of the carton. honestly queen shit!!! her hypothesis: new cockroach species…?

“mulder, you’re not thinking about trespassing onto government property again, are you?” she asks, while he is at the door LMAOOOO 

“i know that you’ve done it in the past” <- yeah, he is a repeat offender. her tone here was so funny, too. trying to gently talk him out of it.

“it’s too late, i’m already inside” HAHAHA

(deep resigned scully sigh) “well, what’s going on? what do you see?” this exchange says so much about them <3 if he's gonna get his ass in trouble, he at least better describe to her in great detail what is going on

he is giving her a full walk through of this place, which looks like a normal house except the moving walls. until the roaches burst through.

and someone turns a light on! he says he has to go. see, that is exactly when i would want someone to be on the phone with me, when a mysterious entrance is made.

so we see dr. berenbaum. i guess she was at home alone, but damn, they are really trying to show off her chest.

“what’s a woman like you doing in a place like this?” he asks. gag (and not in the slay kinda way, in the "please stop mulder, you're making me cringe" kinda way)

OHHH scully is still staring at the phone… is she contemplating or did he forget to hang up?? does she have to listen to all of this? another case of her being god's strongest soldier if she has to hear this.

and in the next scene, dr. berenbaum has buttoned her flannel. it is differently buttoned in the next cut.

WAIT. she’s talking about UFOs. she thinks they are really insect swarms. this seems like a trap to lure mulder into some trouble, by getting him distracted...

she’s saying something about loving insects. so now we get a REAL academic who loves bugs!

LMAOOOO the phone rings and he answers it only to say “not now”, ohhh he wants her bad. he says that he finds insects to be very interesting. LMAOOOOOO an absolute LIAR!! just after she said she loves bugs for being honest. mulder is not immune to lying to women to make them like him. a cardinal sin! just be yourself, man!

at a motel room, a cockroach is approaching another guy’s feet. and he’s scratching at himself and i see where it’s going and i’m NOT LOOKING. i can’t bear it. 

mulder waking up. in. a bed? did they hookup??? oh i don't need to imagine that.

no, seems he is by himself, in the motel. which is good. i don't need that kind of energy in my life. 

he opens his eyes and immediately calls scully. who was sleeping with the phone on her pillow to be there if he called again. AWWWW. she is so thoughtful.

she does not seem to be enjoying that the scientist is a woman, and also that her name is bambi, which like. okay, i get that. bambi is kinda wild as a name, lmaooo. she cannot believe it. no offense to any bambis reading this, you are deeply valued. he's babbling about bambi and bugs and her parents were both naturalists, and dude, shut upppp

“scully, can i confess something to you?” he asks

(scully is visibly cringing, with pain in her voice) “yeah sure, okay!” <- LMAOOOO she was prepared for the worst!!! but ready to try and be supportive no matter what!! that is friendship! this moment was sosososososo cute. she was bracing herself for the worst but still trying to be kind. she did NOT wanna hear about his antics with this bambi!! and i do not blame her!!!

he says “i hate insects”, and she tries to comfort him saying lots of people are afraid of them!!! because that is a good friend who sleeps next to the phone waiting for your call, even after you mysteriously hang up on her!!!

! MULDER LORE REVEAL ! he was terrified of a praying mantis as a child. they look like aliens. he was repulsed by the mysteries of the natural world. we can unpack that at another time.

he says that it “wasn’t a girly scream” that he let out as a child, and she asks if he was sure LMAOOOOO 

she’s so funny i SWEAR. they need to call more late at night/very early in the morning just to make fun of each other but also do their very best to support each other.

but! a loud screaming in the distance. he hangs up the phone again and she rolls her eyes. 

discovery: that the dude seen in the hotel earlier was covered in cockroaches. also, he is dead.

mulder at the scene with his JEANS ON, NO SHIRT, BELT UNBUCKLED????

wait. we need to unpack this. was he SLEEPING in jeans??????? holy fuck... we need to lock this man UP, that is CRAZY!

anyway, the cockroaches that were just on that guy's body are gone. so they just disappeared somehow. not as crazy as a man sleeping in jeans, but it is up there.

she’s getting her stuff to come up there now. and i like that we get to see into her place, her little kitty on the desk, her two giant bookshelves. maybe i tried to pause and read what was on there, any maybe i had no luck!

also, now she’s on the phone with him explaining the mysterious death, and he’s clothed. he must have saw the dead body and realized he had time to change.

mulder seems to think that this dude had a heart attack. and all of scully’s theories have seemed correct. but that doesn’t explain the metal exoskeletons, which he had NOT mentioned before, and leaves her gagged.

“mulder, i’m coming up there” “whatever”, he says, as he sneaks onto the ground, to catch a roach!!! petulant child of a man.

cut to bambi, analyzing the cockroaches. with mulder pressed veeeeery close to her face. and the cockroach is… hung? but they are actually robots??? so this robot cockroach has that as a design. interesting. 

turns out, a guy who makes bug robots lives in town. so mulder is off to visit. and we see a little one walk by!!! about the size of a roomba or small dog. mulder seems enchanted by it, following it in. it's a very cute little guy. i politely request 10 of them.

dr. ivanov is the fellow behind all this. they’re trying to make AI robots by making them bugs. interesting strategy. if only AI was used to make cute little dog-sized robot bugs in our age...

the robots are following mulder about. dr. ivanov says the bug robot likes him!!! aww

the goal of this research is that they want to send the bugs to space!!!! to explore alien civilizations! and that if aliens visit our planet, they will also be robots. if you think otherwise, you have been brainwashed by sci-fi. scalding hot takes coming from dr. ivanov here.

interesting to see two separate takes on what aliens/UFOs actually are in this episode from someone other than mulder.

these roomba or small dog sized bug robots are soooo cute, not at all like those real looking cockroaches.

ugh! i just realized they probably had to get a TON of roaches on set to film all this. and they were probably crawling about…. euGhHhh

he asks dr. ivanov to identify the bug legs. and dr. ivanov looks terrified. he says it is beyond his comprehension...??

and then a cockroach walks across the screen? it looks like it’s walking right on the camera. i had to replay to see if it was supposed to be walking along their faces, but no, it’s completely flat, right on you, the viewer’s screen, which i’m sure made a lot of people jump!!!

the grocery store is being looted for all things, even chocolate and pantyhose. someone crashes a car, and someone else slams into scully, who looks IMMENSELY displeased.

scully just wants a damn map, but one person is saying that roaches are eating people whole, then another person says they’re spreading ebola. the misinformation panic can produce!

she starts yelling in the convenience store, and people mostly calm down. queen of controlling the situation. until someone knocks over some candy that sort of kind of looks like roaches if you squint and the stampede resumes. 

LMAO SHE TAKES ONE OF THE CANDIES. 

dr. ivanov and mulder are drinking whisky??? okay, boys night i guess. he finds a real looking roach on the way out. and starts talking to it.

he brings it to bambi and she confirms it’s a real cockroach.

scully calls, saying this town is insane. and that she has a lead! the alternative fuel researcher brought various animal dungs in, which could have started an infestation. and she says “maybe you can confirm this with your dr. bambi” and there is a sort of venom in there that has me giggling. get his ass queen.

oh, and now he’s going on about aliens. she says he’s been in this town too long. 

HE BRINGS BAMBI TO THE INVESTIGATION??? he says to wait until it’s safe and he’s worried about the human element. DOES HE MEAN SCULLY?? or the researcher...

so poor bambi is just gonna sit in the car i'm crying

it’s the guy who was saying he was seeing cockroaches in his sleep!! and who found the first body, of the exterminator!!! he’s in there spraying stuff on a cockroach and it doesn’t do anything.

sure enough, cockroaches in his dung samples. mulder goes to touch it when this DUDE SHOOTS AT HIM?? his name is dr. eckerle. he says they’re following him. and that the bugs drive him crazy. 

scully rolls up and says “let me guess- bambi” and bambi says “fox told me to wait out here” FOX?? hearing his real name is always such a jumpscare. she loads her gun and says this is no place for an entomologist. OKAYYYY steal his girl!!!

back in the lab, dr. eckerle has mulder at gunpoint. he’s reciting bug facts to distract him.

mulder tries to explain that dr. eckerle hasn’t gone crazy, but then he brings the gun back up to his chest and asks mulder if he’s a cockroach, so. jury’s out on that one. 

scully in da research facility. she can’t find him. so she rings his phone. and dr. eckerle takes this as a sign that he is a cockroach!! he fires his gun in the facility full of methane gas and they have to run run run!! they make it outside and tell bambi to get down just in time.

agents are covered in exploded dung. deeply unfortunate.

and there had been 4 other fires that night!!! and a whole lot of automobile accidents, assaults, other such panic induced things. but no cockroach problems. 

the episode ends with another planet of the apes quote and bambi hitting it off with dr. ivanov.

scully observes all this and says “smart is sexy” LMAOOOOOOOO 

AND THAT THEIR CHILDREN MIGHT SAVE THE PLANET THE NEXT TIME DUNG EATING OUTER SPACE COCKROACH ROBOTS REACH THE PLANET. she is sooooo out of pocket!!!!!! but it was deserved.

he doesn’t seem to know what to say to this so he tells her she smells. and she seems taken aback LMAOOO

episode wrap up time. mulder edition. “the development of our cerebral cortex has been the greatest achievement of the evolutionary processes. big deal.” <- okay i’ve said lmao a lot, but that one got a real, genuine laugh out of me. ugh his dumb ass… love him so bad. 

he is typing and typing and we see his fish in the background. also he is eating something. that i really hope has no cockroaches.

he’s going on about the vastness of technology but then has to slap the computer to get it to work LMAOOOO

he’s calling humanity mindless and primitive and BAM cockroach looking thing on whatever it was he was eating. he gets around to smack it. and then he lands a great smack, with an FBI file. i paused in case it had any clues to various mysteries and the file number is “667386”, but i don’t think that’s actually relevant at all

we hear a cockroach chirp as the end credits roll

WELL! that was an interesting episode. it’s interesting how even an episode centering on mysterious cockroach deaths can be made funny. they leaned into the campy elements, which i enjoyed.

things on my mind, in no particular order: scully cleaning her gun while calling mulder, mulder talking in poems while watching the stars, how they quoted planet of the apes at the beginning and then when two other did it it was in an implied romance (hey listen, you can’t stereotype the bond between two academics sharing a niche interest into such basic categories as “romance” or “friendship”, but i call it as the narrative presents itself), doggy bath time, the intimacy of long distance phone calls in pajamas, scully sleeping with the phone on her pillow, scully reading breakfast at tiffany's, this man sleeping in jeans.

it’s always weird watching them flirt with people that aren’t each other. and i know the writers do that on PURPOSE but it’s so weird!! the thing you did to be purposefully weird is working!!! so i was wrong about my initial assumption i had seen based on posts crossing my dash, she was NOT a former romantic partner, but a current love interest that did not seem to really feel the same. she just loves bugs, man. can you blame a woman? is there any greater love than between a woman and her research?

but seeing scully lowkey kinda jealous was also making me laugh. i’m not a believer in the whole “men and women can’t be friends thing”, so i choose to interpret that she wasn’t thinking along those lines at first, but the way she clocked him as down bad for her that fast was soooo funny. the minute that first name came out it was game over. 

(i mean, maybe it could be interpreted less as jealously and more as friendly antagonism, but that wasn’t the vibe i was getting. she wanted the tea. and then cocked her gun in front of said bambi and implied she and her new scientist friend were sexy due to their smarts at the end. always watch your back because scully can and will flex in front of ur girl)

it was nice to have a silly one!!! a good old fashioned silly one. although the body horror really did jumpscare me because i was enjoying the silly and then WOAH. cockroach in the arm. i also just shivered thinking about bugs again. nasty nasty! i’m sorry bambi they are just crawly!!! i appreciate their value to science but i just watched that little critter crawl in an open wound so have some space for my discomfort!

i wonder if in the writer’s room, they allotted how many silly episodes are per season. or arc. i see people referring to “arcs” in my reblogs by specific names; you’ll have to fill me in on that measurement of episodes. because it sounds intriguing. but yeah, sometimes you need a lighter one, and it’s nice to get that. 

need a scully fancam to femininomenon….

[seventeenlovesthree]

Quick thoughts on the Digimon Adventure 25th anniversary PV

First things first: It got me incredibly teary. It was beautifully nostalgic while still giving it a fresh paint to some degree. I feel like this is what Butterfly could have been if Toei decided to merge Digimon with One Piece - because just like it's the case with OP openings, there are always so many things going on that it takes numerous rewatches to see what's going on. So let's break it down, shall we?

So the PV was an overall homage to some of Adventure's most famous/prominent scenes - but instead of re-animating it 1:1, they merged several scenes that didn't happen in the exact same way. The only 1:1 shots could be seen when the 8 kids got their "sad moments montage" each. So, what's new, what's memorable, what does the PV tell us about the characters?

They animated the novel scene of the baby Digimon meeting their partners - which was absolutely adorable. If you didn't go "awww" at Tsunomon, Tanemon, Pyocomon, didn't chuckle at Pukamon and didn't melt at Koromon, I cannot help you!

Then we got the montage - and the amount of "low res shots" I will take in the next few weeks will be insane, because they were absolutely beautiful. But let's go step by step - I will not discuss every moment, just my favourites, since we got A LOT of group shots!

Here we already see a lot of common themes: First of all, Taichi is depicted to be incredibly curious, basically exploring the entire time. Of course he radiates happy MC energy overall, which I will always adore, but also seems more serious than we're used to. (Unless... he's bickering with Yamato. Which is a common theme for him after all, but I will get to that in a second.) The other theme is Mimi's >o< face, which I will never get tired of. They really hammer down the point that she is NOT happy with the situation they're on and finds something to complain about throughout the first few episodes;

We even get a merge of episode 5 and 10 here! Koushirou is usually seen thinking and theorizing (before he's being interrupted by something/someone). Sora's theme overall is... Being pretty chill, I'd say? We'll get to that in a minute as well. Yamato is the resident cook of the group (THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH EGGS THOUGH) and Takeru's job is just being adorable (meanwhile Hikari unfortunately suffers from a severe lack of screentime, but that was to be expected)...

But what about Jyou, you may ask? I feel like he'd deserve his very own post, because... Boy is straight up not having a good time and may or may not have several life crises in a row. Aside from Mimi, Palmon and Taichi, Jyou might provide the best low res screenshots and, like I said, I will have a blast looking for them.

I also really love the snowball fight there. Oh look, Takeru is attacked by snowballs again, where have I seen that again in the past 12 months??? Sora's helping Jyou to build up his safe space, meanwhile Koushirou has to play mediator between Taichi and Koushirou (welcome to your life for the next 30 years at least, my boy). Speaking of Yamataishirou...

You may have noticed that the scenes are out of order - and I also noticed a little mistake in this screenshot here! hile it is true that Taichi, Agumon, Yamato and Koushirou were missing from the group and the others were ordered to mediate - Patamon was not Patamon yet though, but still Tokomon!

Again, there are so many scenes to show, and I will just post a few more, but will only talk in more detail about two scenes here;

I absolutely ADORE the Gennai scene, oh my God. There was absolutely no need for these absolute dorks to collapse on top of each other, and yet here we are, 5/6 are, once again, not having a good time... And THEN THERE IS MIMI, who we saw complaining the whole time, and now she's having the time of her life falling on top of her found family pile (Sora and Koushirou in particular by the way). Meanwhile Takeru is just like... What the heck did I just look at. Absolutely amazing. 10/10, would watch again.

In case you haven't noticed, I feel like Mimi got pretty much the biggest piece of cake in this PV - and thus we were blessed by the most beautiful Jyoumi scene we've seen in a while. Wholesome. 10/10, would watch again. Also, Sora just enjoying her tea - GOOD FOR HER.

I just love all of this so much, I do love the following montages, the fight against Apocalymon, the ending got me teary again... I love them all so much.

[ewanmitchellcrumbs]

🦋's Post show thoughtsssss

Superb Acting, as usual

Thankful for our Helaena sighting, no matter how short. My heart went out to her when they got mobbed, my poor girl😭

Aemond serving cunt, I kinda giggled when in that first scene at the beginning hehehe

Honestly I really wanted that scene with Aegon to show him saying something along the lines of he loves him in his own twisted way, blah blah, some loyalty or remorse or something. But god forbid we have the greens actually liking each other.

I'm actually looking forward to Otto coming back, tbh, like him or not the man was a powerhouse- Aemond knows what's up (not always)

DAERON MENTIONNNNNN

Gwyane really said yea girl ya'll kinda fucked up in this place ngl, thank god I wasn't raised here lol

I may not have been Viserys's biggest fan, however, to see Paddy again was surprisingly welcome.

Alys slayed, I can't wait for her and Aemond to meet, I'm gnawing at the bars of my enclosure for this to happen.

I really wanted to see a fallout of the mobbing with Alicent and Helaena, particularly with Aemond, to see some kind of regret of something in him, but again, god forbid they give Aemond some level of complexity. Only thanks to Ewan's skill as an actor do we get any depth, but we get not one shit from Ryan Condal.

Poor Aegon, honestly.

Even though I'm tired of Daemon at Harrenhall, I really hope that the direction it's gonna take is him getting to the point where he's back to being the ultra loyal uncle-husband, SEND HIM HOME TO HIS WIFE, DAMMIT

Now, the Mysaria and Rhaenyra kiss. I know this could potentially be divisive amongst fans, however.....it was hot. I'm sorry, but....it was hot. I kinda wanted more, this is way better than seeing Alicent and Crispy. I felt the chemistry between them but I rlly thought they would leave it ambiguous. Again, not a fan of this overarching narrative of Rhaenyra being this holy blessed chosen one, and the greens are all one dimensional assholes who hate each other, but- that was hot. Give us them scissoring next episode k thanks.

Despite the general issues, I am curious for next episode.

Excited to see your thoughts (can't believe there's only two more episodes) I'll miss these post show asks but alas we shall find more things to discourse over <3

One of my highlights of the week is you coming to my asks after the episode has aired. I can't believe that after this one we only get to do our thought dumps twice more! :(

Here are mine!

I have to get this out of the way first, because it was my absolute favourite part and I cannot stop thinking about it; Rhaenyra and Mysaria!

I've had a feeling something like that would happen from their very first encounter, all of their interactions just feel very charged. It was hot AF and I hope we get more of that. Such an interesting dynamic.

Aemond had a little more screen time this episode and, as usual, Ewan slayed. He ran that small council meeting like a fucking drill sergeant and seeing him all hot tempered and mean was...UGH.

I think Aemond's reasoning for dismissing Alicent from the small council was similar to Criston's for not wanting to name her as Regent - he wants to keep her out of harm's way and protect her from the horrible decisions they are going to have to make moving forward.

The way he set Larys up was so fucking good, and I am frothing for the return of Otto. I just know he is going to deliver some absolutely incredible lines next episode.

The exchange between Aegon and Aemond at Aegon's bedside was so well acted by both Tom and Ewan - Aegon's fear and Aemond's unsubtle threat of "this is the version of what happened and you better not tell anyone otherwise" - I do think it's stereotypical sibling rivalry, but the context makes it so much darker.

Aegon and Larys's exchange was amazing too - Larys just laying it out there, basically saying "you are going to look deformed and people will judge you for it" - so powerful, and yet so sad to see Aegon's realisation that he's changed forever.

I have a huge gripe with the writers for what they have done with Sylvi. Yes, her relationship with Aemond was purely transactional, and it has now ended, however, Aemond has been vulnerable with her, spoken to her of things he's not told anyone, so he wouldn't take kindly to the untruths she's spreading around Flea Bottom. I think he would have her killed, not just for treason, but out of fear of what she might tell people about him. However, Michelle Bonnard isn't going to appear again this season, so that is yet another gaping plothole created by the writers.

I'm so bored of Daemon's story arc. Alys is the only part of it holding my interest. It's heavily implied that she had a hand in killing Grover Tully, and I am wondering if she did that to actually help Daemon, or if she has another agenda. Is she going to work with Daemon to help cross Aemond, or does she simply want to take them both down because of their callous attitude towards small folk? I am genuinely excited about her character and storyline.

Cute as it was that Seasmoke claimed Addam, it is yet another glaring oversight from the writers - give us some indication of what's happened to Laenor! Should we just assume he's dead?!

It was cool to see the groundwork being laid for Sheepstealer, though I am still annoyed they gave Nettles' storyline to Rhaena.

Anyway, overall, I really enjoyed this episode. I think this one and episode four have been my favourites so far!

[hils79]

Hils Watches Only Friends - Ep 7

If Sand gets hurt because Ray is driving drunk I am going to be mad

Well, that's better than the alternative I guess

Wait, why were there headlights shining in Ray's face if he just drove into a wall?

I love Sand so much

They literally just said he was fine apart from a potentially fractured collar bone. But okay, Ray, be dramatic.

Uh, who the fuck is this? Presumably Ray's dad? Have we even seen him before now?

Mew is one of my favourite characters after the last episode. I've legit been thinking about it since I watched it on Thursday.

Oh, he's going after Boston next. I am so here for unhinged and angry Mew. For my DMBJ fam he just became Sha Hai Wu Xie

Oh shiiiiiiiit! He just figured out Nick is the one who bugged his car

Yeah, he is definitely not going to do that

I mean you brought this on yourself my dude

Literally the worst thing you could say to him tbh

I don't know if it's just because I'm used to western messy gay dramas always resulting in death but I am lowkey worried that someone is going to snap and kill someone else before all this is over. Maybe I should ask someone who has watched it to tell me if they all survive or not, but I don't know if I want to be spoiled for it or not. I shall ponder.

SAY NO!

I'm trying to read what it says at the bottom of Mew's shirt but the font/colour is really hard to read. Where don't friends let friends go to?

I'm honestly delighted because I was so sure Top was going to ditch Mew once they had sex but nope he fell hard. Forcebook are so great I need to see if they've done any other dramas that I haven't seen yet.

DAMN! He burned his birthday gif right in front of Top. I mean obviously I am sad Mew is sad but this is honestly so dramatic and highly entertaining

Good luck with that, my dude. And you know I respect that he's willing to fight for Mew when he could easily just go back to his fuckboy ways

I mean he could probably stand to quit drinking permanently but neither of those things have anything to do with a hurt arm

Well, I'm glad they've apparently got over the huge fight they had when Ray was drunk. Sand deserves better though.

It's a nice touch that someone thought to put lines on Ray's shoulder from where he's been wearing his sling all the time.

On the other hand Ray has exactly zero facial hairs yet claims he hasn't been able to shave for days. I have more hair on my face than he does!

That's probably a better vice to have tbh

Because you are?

Yeah, you tell him!

I JUST WANT HIM TO BE HAPPY FOREVER 😭

If Ray and Mew fuck I am going to lose my goddamn mind!

Nope, instead Boston has arrived to see them holding hands in a comforting way and leap to conclusions. He's 100% going to tell Top about this.

And I'm back to being worried not everyone is going to survive this. I don't know which is worse. The anxiety of not knowing or the anxiety of knowing and having to wait for it to happen (if it happens)

Gah I'm at the image limit again. You can tell it's a good drama when that happens because I have a lot to say. I'll be back with part 2 in a bit

[peachandcherryaredelulu]

Shadow of You TEASER

VAMPIRE!Seventeen

Pairings:Seventeen??XOC, Seventeen??XOC, OT13

Synopsis: Quinn and Kitty are two normal twenty somethings, but when they find themselves in a new country the duo come face to face with love, heartache, and the unknown... or perhaps the supernatural

~ Not edited ~

It started like a whisper, so quiet that Kitty almost missed it. Every night it was the same, no light except for the candles that lined the room, flashes of images of an old dark castle surrounded by mountains capped with snow.. She could see no one else in the room with her, but could feel them watching her and just as the panic began to set in the voices got louder. 

“Katarina” It was loud enough now that she could hear the different voices. Still, she had no idea where they were, the only thing she knew was the louder the calling got the more desperate she was to get to them. To find them. 

“Come to us, Katarina,” It was so loud now as if they were standing right behind her speaking directly into her ear. 

“Katarina.”

“Katarina!”

“Kitty! Get your ass up!” She sat up with a start, nearly rolling off the couch. 

“I’m up Quinn, I’m up.” Kitty rubbed the sleep from her eyes and grabbed her glasses from where they had fallen from the couch. The sun was still up outside and the TV was playing some random episode of Criminal Minds in the background. 

“Did you fall asleep out here? You have a whole bed,”Quinn plopped down next to Kitty on the now free couch cushion. It was the fourth time this week that Kitty had fallen asleep out in the living room, it was never intended either. 

“I know, but I’m not sleeping well at night. I keep having the dream, I don’t know how you sleep so soundly with it,” Kitty was exhausted from her restless sleep. It had been months since the girls had started having identical dreams each night. 

“At first, I was so creeped out and it felt like I was having a panic attack every night when I closed my eyes. But it’s never been like a nightmare, I realized at some point I never felt scared of what was happening. My panic was because I feel as though my soul is weeping to get to those voices,” Quinn had told Kitty this all before and she couldn’t help but agree to some degree with her best friend. She had never had a true nightmare since these dreams started but there was something that sat low in her gut every time she slept. Fear of the unknown or of all the superstitions her family had drilled into her as a child. 

“I know, but all I can think about is the scary stories my Father would tell me as a kid so I would behave. That if I was a bad child the red-eyed men would drag me away into their castle and eat me,” Mr. Turca was a harsh man and had always been rather ill-suited for fatherhood. Even now the only thing he was good for was paying the bills, his trade off to keep his first born daughter as far from his new family as possible. That’s how the two girls met, when Kitty was shipped off to boarding school after her Father had remarried. 

“He’s such an asshole, you know that. He acts so high and mighty all the time. I’ve never even met the man and we’ve been friends since we were 12!” the two girls broke out in giggles, one sure fire way to make their days better were to talk shit about Mr. Turca or Quinn’s mother. 

A buzzing sound started from the coffee table in front of the couch, the two turned to each other trying to sober up from their laughter. 

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Kitty flashed her phone screen to Quinn to show that her father was calling her. 

“I can only imagine what he wants now. You know he only ever calls for two reasons,” The two girls rolled their eyes knowing that he was either about to yell at Kitty for being a disappointment again or he was going to ask her to do something that was beneficial only to him. 

“Hello.” Kitty’s voice always became cold when speaking with her father, gone was the happy and loving woman she had worked so hard to become everytime his voice rang out over the phone. 

“Katarina, I have news about Aunt Lucia. She had been put on hospice care and given only a few weeks to live,” Kitty’s eyes went wide with the news and Quinn took that as her cue to retreat into her room to give her roommate some privacy during the phone call. 

Quinn was known to be too curious for her own good, let’s be honest she was a nosy bitch. She wanted to know everyone's business all the time, but she also respected her best friend above all else. Kitty’s father was a sore spot and most of their calls ended in some sort of fight between the two of them followed by him buying her something expensive to make amends. To keep her from going anywhere near his new wife and kids and imposing on his new happy life without her. 

Quinn occupied herself with her books and the other random crap in her room while she waited for the phone call to end, Kitty would almost always come and debrief after a conversation to process the bullshit that her father would spew. 

This conversation seemed to be taking longer than usual. The goal for both father and daughter were to keep these calls as brief as possible, the less they interacted the better. 

Twenty minutes passed before waltzing into Quinn's room with a smirk on her face. 

“I just scored us a free summer vacation traveling around the whole of Europe,” Kitty was rather proud of her bartering skills this time around. Her father wanted something huge from her and she wanted something huge from him. 

“What’s the catch?” There was always a catch with the Turca family, nothing was ever truly free with them. 

“We have to go to Romania and stay with Aunt Lucia until she dies. Then we can spend the rest of the summer traveling Europe as we please on my fathers dime.” Kitty was a little too nonchalant in her delivery of the real reason behind their Europe trip.

“I don’t know how I feel about this, have you ever met this woman?” Quinn was usually fine with all types of fuckery but this… the vibes were just slightly off with this. 

“No, I’ve never been to Romania. My dad went with his grandparents when he was very young, but that was the only time he’s been. Aunt Lucia is my father’s great aunt, his grandfather’s twin sister.” Quinn’s eyes went wide at the news of this woman’s age. 

“She turned 108 in March, the look on your face gave it all away. I don’t know how she made it this long either, kinda feel bad for her.” Kitty stopped playing with the book she had picked up off of Quinn’s bedside table to think back to what she knew of the woman she would see to the end of her life, “Never married or had children, she’s lived in the family home her entire life. She refused to leave when her brother decided to leave the country. She’s like a hermit from what I understand, but no one should die alone.” 

“Well then, looks like we're going to Romania and Europe for the summer. Good thing you’re a kindergarten teacher and have summers off.” Quinn assured her best friend trying to bring the mood back up.

“Good thing your job is writing erotic monster fiction and you can do that from anywhere,” Kitty pocked back at Quinn tossing the book with Quinn’s name across the front towards her spot on her bed. 

Thousands of miles away fate was stirring. Thirteen pairs of red eyes were open and looking into the darkness of night waiting, longing for their brides to come to them once more. To complete them.