#which is a little fair since it’s Nate’s story but I can understand why it would bother some

[ghostinacardboardbox-oldblog]

Just watched Uncharted and I really enjoyed it. It’s like National Treasure except instead of Nick Cage playing a disgraced historian/treasure hunter, Tom Holland plays a dorky, history-obsessed pick pocket and instead of getting a girl at the end he gets emotionally attached to his asshole partner in crime.

[angst-fairygodmother]

Feelings an’ Shit Ep1: Fall (Misfits; Nathan Young x Reader)

A/N: I’m not going to follow the whole continuity of the show, and most things are going to be in between/canon divergent but there’s a handful of episodes I want to do stuff with, including the first, since it only makes sense. Word Count: 2185 Rating: T - canon-typical violence, canon-typical swearing

You watched as the curly-haired kid bounced around, taunting the other one and couldn’t resist a snort of amusement. He turned back to you, flashing you a dramatic wink and waggling his eyebrows. You rolled your eyes, nodding back to Hat Guy who was still foaming at the mouth for a fight. Curly continued to antagonize, playing it up for the attention, and eventually Hat Guy had enough and went after him. After that, things became a bit of a blur of shouts and the probation worker pulling them apart. You made eye-contact briefly with the girl who’d been on her cell phone and you both rolled your eyes, laughing. 

If only you’d known then that this moment was the last normal one you’d have. 

~

“So what about you?” the curly-haired kid, Nate or whatever it was, asked, turning his paintbrush on you. “What’d you do gorgeous?”

You liked the sound of his lilt. But he needed to learn to shut up if you were ever going to get along with him, and you wanted to, if only because you were all stuck here. 

You shrugged. “I think the official labels were disturbing the peace and intimidation. And maybe something about rioting which seems unfair. It was just a little bar brawl, and it definitely wasn’t my fault. Although I did glass that guy. So maybe it was.” 

You tried to keep your voice nonchalant, painting away at the bench across from the quiet one, without looking up to see how the others reacted. If you were being honest, the crime you got stuck with wasn’t even the worst thing you had done, just the one that got attention. But these people, with their minor infractions and their ‘I shouldn’t be here’ attitudes (or maybe it was just the one guy) didn’t need to know that. 

“What about you Weird Kid,” Curly continued, apparently choosing not to comment on your offense as he had the others. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like a panty sniffer.”

You grimaced, offering him a sympathetic roll of your eyes. “Ignore him, he’s a moron.” you mouthed across the bench. The boy offered you a faint smile in return. 

Curly continued his antics, trying to provoke your new friend who finally snapped, “I tried to burn someone’s house down.”

Your eyebrows shot up, impressed, as Curly whined uncomfortably, instantly backing off. You didn’t have time to comment on his own excuse for getting picked up, eating pick-n-mix, before the probation worker came back, annoyed with you all for Hat Guy’s paint spill. 

Then a massive hailstone crashed into a car, and you were too scared to worry about much else. Several more fell as you all stared up at the unnatural stormcloud moving overhead, and you all took off running for the relative shelter of the building, panicked and doing your best to shield your faces and heads from the shrapnel. Some instinct made you lag behind, bringing up the rear to make sure that everyone stayed together, no one got left behind. 

You were just coming up on the rest of the group, the probation worker unhelpfully taking the time to lecture them about their language, when there was a flash of light and you felt yourself get thrown backwards. 

You came back to your senses a moment later, sprawled on the concrete, entire body aching like the worst hangover you’d ever had, times ten. Smaller but still massive hail smashed on the ground around you as you and the others slowly sat up or climbed to your feet. 

The probation worker seemed to be having some sort of fit as you all discussed what had just happened and whether everyone was alright. 

“We just almost got killed by freak lightning and hail. Fuck what anybody says, I’m outta here,” you snapped, dusting yourself off with some attempt at dignity. 

“She’s right,” the probation worker groaned, making you turn to gape at him. “Maybe we should call it a day.”

~

The next day passed in a blur: finding Hat Guy dead, the probation worker going berserk and nearly killing you all, super powers? It was all too much. By the time you were all out digging holes under the overpass, you found the activity strangely calming. 

You tried not to think too hard about that fact, since apparently Kelly could hear you. You debated offering a (metaphorical) hand of friendship to Alisha, maybe suggest some self-defense classes to help counter her fucked up powers, but seeing the way she snapped at Curtis you decided against it, for now. Then you were startled out of your thoughts by Nathan draping an arm around your shoulders. 

“So it looks like just the two of us that haven’t figured out our powers yet,” he observed, leaning on you.

You side-stepped out of his grasp, causing him to stumble, nearly ending up in Tony’s grave with him, and hid your smirk behind your hand.

“What’s your point?” you asked, tired and irritated and not wanting to put up with his shit.

“Maybe we should spend some extra time together, figure it out.” He waggled his eyebrows, a behavior you were starting to notice was a habit of his. 

‘This arrogant sod,’ you thought. ‘He’s really got the nerve to be standing there, not doing any work, hitting on me, while we are burying bodies. Who the hell does he think he is?’ 

You were furious, the more you thought about it. 

Suddenly, a wave roiled up from the river, crashing over Nathan, knocking him to the ground in a sopping puddle.

“What the hell?” Alisha shrieked, jumping back from the splash zone.

“Y/N. I think you did that,” Kelly pointed out.

You stared, wide-eyed. “No way.” 

“Ya were gettin’ pissed at Nathan, I heard it. Then he gets dunked on.”

“No. That’s...that would be...not fair.”

“You think having some sort of water control power isn’t fair?” Alisha looked like she was going to start something and you backed away, trying not to cry or vomit from the fear. “It’s a million times better than my shit power.”

“No. You don’t understand…” you felt like your throat was closing up. “It would be...sick. A sick joke. The universe can’t have that kinda humor.” You looked wildly around at them, five pairs of eyes fixed on you, trying to breathe and not think.

“Let’s just finish burying the bodies,” you said shakily, “forget this ever happened, and get out of here, yeah?”

~

The next morning you dragged yourself up out of bed, forcing yourself to dress in some ratty jeans and a tank top, braiding your hair with trembling fingers as you got ready for day three of community service. Even if there wasn’t going to be a probation worker there, even if you just went and then left, you had to make everything look as normal as possible.

“So, if anyone asks,” you heard Nathan say softly as you, Alisha, and Kelly all passed the guys on their way out of the locker room and your way in to change. “It was just a completely normal day.”

“Actually…” you caught their attention, holding them back a moment. “The new probation worker’s in there right now, digging around the office. They’re going to ask us questions, and we need to have our stories straight.”

“What story?” he protested, a little too loudly, earning a glare from Kelly and Curtis. “We saw nothing, we did nothing.”

“They’re not going to buy it. We were the last people to see either of them, and now they’re missing with no sign of where they went.”

“So what do you suggest, if you’re the mastermind with all the answers?”

You glared at him, then licked your lips nervously. “Look, I’m not going to volunteer it outright, but if we have to, I’ll tell them it was me.”

“Wot?!” Kelly asked, staring at you like you had just sprouted a new head.

“It’ll suck but better one of us goes down than all of us. I’m the one it’s most believable from.”

“No! No way!” You were surprised that Alisha was fighting you on it, expecting her to be the first to throw you under a bus in order to get away from it herself.  “You’ll go to prison!”

“Or we all will. I’m just being practical. If we’re lucky, they think we don’t know shit and we all walk away. But if they start asking questions, real questions,” you set your jaw, steeling yourself for the story you were going to spin. “Tony and I got in a fight over the shit he said while we were takin’ shelter from the storm. I got pissed, and I hit him until he stopped moving. Made you help me move the body. Then Hat Guy, what’s his name, was gonna snitch so I killed him too.”

“I don’t like this,” Curtis cut in. Nathan nodded slowly in agreement, eyebrows furrowed and far more serious than you had seen him so far. 

“What happens to you if we do this?” Alisha asked.

“They slap me in cuffs,” you wiggled your eyebrows suggestively, trying and failing to cut the tension. “Drag me down to the station, ask me a bunch more shit. Then I go away for a long time for murder, or they don’t believe me and I’m back on Monday.”

“Even if they don’t believe her,” Simon offered hesitantly. “They’ll be less likely to look at the rest of us. She has no reason to cover for us. We’re practically strangers.”

“Exactly.” You snapped your fingers, pointing at Simon. “See, he gets it.”

“Why would ya take the fall for us?” Kelly asked. 

You considered her question for a while, not really sure of the answer yourself. Then you sighed and shrugged, shoving your hands in the pockets of your jeans.

“I’m real good at screwin’ up, and lucky I’m not already jailed for it. Least now I can use that fact for a good cause.”

~

Nathan watched as the girl walked over to her locker in the back, casual as can be as if she hadn’t just offered to go down for a double murder. He tried not to show on his face how impressed, or turned on, he was. 

He considered staying, trying to catch a glimpse of her and see if her body was as dangerous and sexy as her mind seemed to be. 

“Yer disgusting,” Kelly scoffed, glaring at him until he left behind the other guys.

~

The six of you stood in a line, uncomfortable and awkward as you faced your new probation worker. She introduced herself as Sally, and said she’d been sent to take over your supervision.

“Gary and my colleague, Tony, have both been reported missing,” she continued, staring at each of you in turn, as if a little eye contact could drive her point home. “Their families are really worried about them.”

You rolled your eyes, not believing for a second that either of those two assholes had anyone out there looking for them. You tried, slightly, to hide your boredom. 

“Did any of you see anything unusual? Anything at all?”

Everyone glanced at each other uncomfortably out of the corners of eyes, shifting weight from foot to foot. 

‘They’ve got nothing,’ you found yourself thinking with relief. ‘Everyone keeps their mouth shut and it might actually work.’

Suddenly Nathan raised a finger in the air, looking nervous and uncomfortable, one might even call it scared, and you swore under your breath. Were you really so wrong to trust them, him? Was he about to snitch? Of course an idiot like him couldn’t stick to a cover story. Your mind raced, debating if you should start running and try for a lead on the cops. 

“A few days ago, I go into the toilets, Tony and Gary are in there - they’re butt naked. Tony’s got Gary by his hair - like this. He’s doing him - doggie-style,” you gaped as Nathan carried on. 

“Or...we could go with that,” you muttered watching Nathan’s antics and rubbing your forehead to stave off the growing headache (a headache you suspected was going to be semi-permanent and named Nathan Young). 

“I ask you - in a world of prejudice and intolerance - who are we, who are we to condemn them?”

Sally scoffed, rolling her eyes and storming off to the office. 

“Who wants a smoke?” Kelly asked, nodding her head toward the stairs, and you all followed, headed for the roof. 

~

“What the fuck was that down there?” you shouted at Nathan, gesturing angrily.

“It was me, improvisin, actin. I think I did a pretty good job, don’t ye?” he grinned smugly at you.

“I think you’re an idiot, and almost ruined the whole thing. Now even if I do try to take the fall, at the very least, your goose is cooked too.”

“So don’t try. I think we got away with it.”

“D’you actually believe that?” Curtis asked, staring dumbfounded at Nathan. “Or are you just really dumb?”

[busterkeatonfanfic]

Chapter 14

Buster caught it good from Natalie at breakfast the following morning. As soon as Connie collected the kids to wash them up and the room was empty, she let him have it.

He was made to understand that just before he reappeared inside the house after seeing off Nelly, Louise Brooks had exited the rear loggia, hair and dress rumpled and a nipple exposed, and dashed toward the bathroom. Natalie saw the whole spectacle and saw Buster too, strolling through the front door a minute later with a telltale smear of lipstick on his face. There wasn’t anything he could do to defend himself when she snapped, “I suppose you weren’t thinking about me at all when you went off with Louise last night? What everyone there would think?”

Oh, actually it wasn’t Louise, Nate, that was a crazy coincidence. It was this other girl, you see. Yeah, that’d go over like a lead balloon. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, after giving his answer some thought. “I really am. I had too much to drink. I didn’t know what I was doing.” There was nothing else he could say. Whoever had been out there with Louise, whether George or another lucky man, had either slipped back in unnoticed or left unnoticed, leaving good old Buster to take the fall. He wasn’t convinced that anyone had put two and two together concerning Louise and him, but that hardly mattered to Nate. All the elements to humiliate her had been in place.

“You say you care about me, but that isn’t true at all. Otherwise you wouldn’t be two-timing me every time my back is turned,” she said. Her beautiful eyes were shimmering with unshed tears and he did feel terrible looking at her. He wanted to comfort her, this woman he’d loved since the day he’d stepped off that train in New York and gone to seal their engagement, but he knew it wouldn’t do a lick of good, even if she had allowed him to gather her into his arms and hold her close, which he knew she wouldn’t. 

“You know about the two-timing,” he said. “I never lied about it.” He felt the futility of the argument as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

“Yes, but you said it wouldn’t be public,” she said, breaking into a sob.

“Nate, I fucked up, alright!” he said. “I don’t know what you want. What do you want me to do, put on the hair shirt and get out the cat o’ nine tails? Jesus, I’m sorry.” He pushed his chair back from the table and stood up. Now he was angry and couldn’t quite grasp why. Something to do with his stupidity and carelessness but also Natalie’s long-standing refusal to engage in the normal rules of marriage as he understood them. He was angry at everything. He shoved the chair so the arms struck the edge of the table, hoping they’d dented the table’s pristine finish, and stormed out. Eleanor was mopping the checkerboard floor and he ignored her meek hello as he jogged up the stairs and stalked into his bedroom. 

He yanked open his closet, pulled out a jacket, shrugged it on, and laced up his shoes. Before leaving, he collected his fishing poles and tackle box. 

He ended up driving out to Franklin Canyon Lake where he could be alone with his thoughts. He found an isolated spot and parked the Duesenberg, then set up. The absurdity of it didn’t escape him, sitting on the grassy edge of the lake getting the seat of his pants wet and dirtying up a $200 pair of leather shoes with a $9,500 car behind him.

He had been pretty drunk last night, but not so drunk he hadn’t known what he was doing when Nelly kissed him. She’d made the first move, but he’d been getting ready to beat her there. His thoughts had been returning to her all morning. He’d grown to like her and there wasn’t much question as to why. She was pretty for starters and she had a backbone, which he’d always liked in a girl. He was amused by her sense of pride. Her stakes also seemed very low. She didn’t want to be the leading lady in a romance or even the leading lady in one of his comedies, for that matter. No, it was fusty old Shakespeare she had her hopes pinned on. His first thought upon waking up, apart from lamenting how ferociously his head hurt, was that he wanted to see her again.

Nate’s sad, pretty little face at the breakfast table rose up in his mind and guilt gnawed. She deserved a husband who would be faithful to her; he did believe that with his whole heart, even though he couldn’t (Couldn’t or wouldn’t? hissed a part of him) make that sacrifice. It wasn’t fair of him to treat her the way he did, to be thinking of Nelly and how much he’d wanted her last night. Still, the selfish part of him objected stridently. He had needs too and didn’t he deserve to get them met? Hadn’t he tried his best to make things better before going outside of his marriage? Didn’t he still do his damndest to make Nate happy, what with the Villa and parties and letting her control the purse-strings?

The fishing was good as morning wore into afternoon and afternoon wore into evening, but he threw everything back. Gone were the days in Muskegon where Myra cooked everything he caught, frying the fish up in butter and cornmeal. Caruthers bought the fish and other meat fresh every day and it was usually exotic, skate fillets and swordfish and the like, not the humble trout and largemouth bass his line was currently fetching. When he tired of fishing, he got back in the car and drove home. He would miss dinner, but he wasn’t hungry. He parked in the garage and headed to the east wing, where he climbed the stairs to his balcony and let himself into his room, not wanting to come through the main entrance and risk encountering Natalie. He kicked off his shoes and tossed his jacket and trousers on the floor, and crawled into bed. The hangover had caught up to him and he fell fast asleep. 

When he woke up, he had no idea where he was or what time it was. It took him a few seconds to remember the fishing trip, the fight, and the party. He grabbed the alarm clock on his bedside table and brought it up to his face. Almost nine o’clock. He’d slept for over two hours. He sat up, feeling groggy and hungry, and pulled his trousers back on. He padded into the hall. The house was dim, Caruthers having turned down the lights for the evening, and no trace of the previous evening’s festivities remained. He wondered if Nate had decided to go ahead with the barbecue tomorrow in spite of the fight. Even though he would have rather inspected the kitchen for leftovers, he passed the stairs and went on to the west wing. The door to Natalie’s bedroom was closed and he tapped on the door to announce himself before pushing quietly inside. 

Natalie was sitting up in bed in a blue satin nightgown and a matching translucent wrap reading an issue of Colliers. She didn’t look at him as he sat at the foot of the bed. “Hi,” he said, giving her toe beneath the covers a friendly tweak. She withdrew her foot and turned the page of her magazine. The cover advertised the new Zane Grey novel and was subtitled A Story of Love and Adventure in Arizona. 

He knit his hands in his lap. “I know you’re angry.”

No response. 

“I’m sorry.”

Silence.

“I love you.”

Only then did Natalie put down the magazine and look at him. “A fine way you’ve got of showing it.” The expression on her face was cold.

He stood up and climbed into the bed with her, making himself comfortable against the mound of pillows on the vacant side. It was a risky move, but she didn’t object. “I wanna make things work.”

Natalie scoffed. 

Her king bed felt as big as a steamliner compared to his double. Even if he had been permitted to sleep in the same bed with her, with its size there would have been no danger of them ever touching.

“You know I still care for you. I’ve never stopped.” Cautiously, he stroked her arm.

“You humiliated me,” she said, not looking at him. 

“I know. I deserve to be castrated.” He didn’t think he deserved any such thing, but she was letting him stroke her arm, so he went on.

“Does the whole world know you’re stepping out on me? That I’m not enough for you?” Her voice was trembly. 

He sighed. “I don’t think anyone noticed last night. We came from opposite ends of the house.”

“Yes,” she said tearily. “It was very clever of you. But I noticed.”

“Because you’re my wife. My wife who I love very much.” He threw caution to the wind and moved into her space, putting his arms around her and laying his chin on her shoulder. “I don’t want to lose you.” She was rigid, but didn’t attempt to pull away.

“What will it take for you to treat me with respect then?” she said, reaching up to dash away a tear. 

Buster sighed again and nuzzled her shoulder. She smelled of flowers and baby powder. “I do respect you. You know what the problem is.”

The silence between them was heavy. After a while, Natalie said, “I could try again to like it, I guess.” She sniffled.

He looked at her, surprised. “Do you really mean that?”

She nodded. “I want us to be happy. I want Bobby and Jimmy to have a mother and a father. Under the same roof, that is.”

Apparently he hadn’t been the only one with the D word on his mind. “Okay,” he said, not quite believing she’d just said what she had. “Well, you know that would make me very happy.”

Natalie laid her hand on his forearm. “And you’d stay faithful to me, if …” She was so delicate, she trailed off instead of naming the unseemly act to which they both referred.

“Yes,” he said. “Of course.”

“I don’t want to tonight,” she said, sounding almost frightened.

“I don’t expect you to.” He leaned up and kissed her cheek. “We can take things at your pace.”

“Okay,” she said. He felt her relax in his arms.

She permitted him to linger cuddling her a while longer, and when she kicked him out so she could sleep it was with a kiss.

Standing in the kitchen eating a shaved-beef sandwich a few minutes later, he felt like the tide was turning just a little. The cutting of Steamboat was going well. The barbecue was still on for tomorrow and those always cheered him up. Natalie had done better than just forgiven him for his indiscretion, she told him she was willing to resume their marital relations. Even so, once he’d taken a bath and was lying between his sheets in his silk pajamas, he couldn’t sleep. He was thinking about the night before and the girl who had attended in her rented dress and had thrown away his flask of whiskey. He remembered too that she’d cried when he filmed the facade scene Notes: Thank you for your patience, Buster kittens, as I adjusted to some big life changes the past week. My therapy is this story, though, so I’m back at it again! A couple notes: Buster and Natalie had servants called Connie and Eleanor, which is a little confusing given that Natalie’s sister Constance was sometimes called Connie and Buster found his happily ever after with an Eleanor. According to Myra Keaton, Buster never stopped loving Natalie, and I do think that he genuinely wanted their marriage to work. What do you think?

[ghinanotlinetti]

A Review of HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ Season 1

Hi! I’m going to be talking about the first season of the HBO TV series, Euphoria. A few weeks ago my body has been experiencing fatigueness, so I’ve taken time to rest and what better way to relax than to snuggle in bed binge watching TV shows! I started my HBO Go free trail so I thought, hey, why not rewatch this show that I really liked from summer 2019. Careful for spoilers ahead as I will be talking about the plot.

So before I begin talking about the show, I just wanna say that the genre that is teen melodrama hits a soft spot for me, I love watching Skins UK and other shows that are in the teen drama category. I’ve watched my fair share of these types of shows and I can definitely see differences between the UK and US productions, personally I favour the UK produced shows just because I like the way they use humour whilst also exploring melodrama. The End Of The F*cking World is a great show which does it for me when I think about the things I love in the teen melodrama shows/movies; there’s dark humour (like actually dark sad depressing humour not problematic humour!), exploration of duality through character relationship dynamics, character development, the writing is just exquisite and the acting is wow! So, when I watched Euphoria I can definitely see the similarities to Skins UK, this was exactly what the show was going for (if I’m not mistaken) and I can see why they chose to have some resemblances since both shows deal with similar issues.

The format of each of the episodes is the same as Skins UK, each episode centres around one character and we learn more about them and their personal life in the episode. I think this format is so great especially for these types of shows that revolve around a set of characters, the layout makes it so that understanding each character is easier to do because you get one episode that focuses on them. I love Rue’s character; the exploration of addiction in her storyline was very interesting to watch, they also touch on mental disorder in her scenes as well as love, sexuality, family, great stuff! I think what the show does really well is its exploration of femininity and womanhood because of the stunning female characters created on the show. We see Jules struggling with having a balanced relationship with femininity because of her trans identity, Cassie’s relationships with men that’ve be tarnished (her dad, boyfriend, lovers), Maddy in an abusive relationship with Nate, Kat dealing with body image and navigating sex etc. The shows portrayal of masculinity is interesting to say the least; on the one hand there’s fathers who are caring, thoughtful such as Rue and Jule’s dads, on the other hand there’s Nate’s dad who’s terrible (and so is Nate!). After watching the last episode there’s a couple things I just thought “damn wish they could’ve covered that” and for me this was the character-episode layout, and more family dynamics. In Skins UK, each episode is titled after a character, and each season wraps up the whole crew’s plots for the next season which does sort of the same thing. So from the first season that we meet the crew members, we know their story and each of their dynamics, and in Euphoria season 1 there were characters that we didn’t get to see much of which was a shame. I read that the reason is because these characters’ episodes are coming up in the next season, but I think that might make the plot go a bit all over the place since we already have storylines that we want to see progress as well as character explorations that we didn’t see in the last season. I was itching to see an episode dedicated to Fezco, Lexi, Ethan, for me there was some episodes with characters that I thought didn’t really need to be the focus point. The male characters they chose to be an episode focus point wouldn't have been who I would've picked, but that's just me. And I wanted to see more family dynamics play out with other characters besides Rue, it’d be interesting to see Nate’s mother have a bit of dialogue and story to compliment Nate’s story. There were things the show touches on, most of the time these scenes involve a male character in the show, and the context felt a little off for me. I get that discussing "difficult" issues is going to make everyone uncomfortable, but that doesn't mean the show can't address things in interesting ways whilst also making it clear to the audience that these things (misogyny, assault, harassment, pedophilia etc.) are not okay in the slightest bit.

I find that the British melodrama series tend to do really really well in the writing from dialogue to story craft, but the American ones go all out for the production whether this is music, cinematography, hair, make-up and wardrobe, etc. I love those cinematic scenes from Euphoria that we got, made me so mesmerised I love it! Because I’m someone who prefers the writing to engage me rather than visuals, I still prefer the British-produced melodramas. But I think now it’s interesting talking about British vs American TV, I’ve seen lines sort of blurred in terms of the culture. Sex Education, though it’s set in Britain, uses a lot of American culture influences in the production from clothes to soundtrack, even Moordale the school looks somewhat more like an American high school and not a British sixth form college but I digress.

I give the screen writing for Euphoria season one a 9/10, love Rue's narration of the story, for story and character I give 6 or 7/10, again I just think the pick for which male characters to explore in the episodes was off, and the production gets 10/10! Melodramas are my favourite series to rewatch, I’d definitely watch season one of Euphoria again and I also can’t wait for the next season!

Last edited: August 28th 2020

[xsecretblastsx]

1x18 Much I do about nothing

So, here it is the final recap for S1. Once again this one took way too long, but long story short I have limited access to a laptop I’m basically only able to do this on mobile, which is not the best.

I normally do the recaps in one sitting, which takes me quite a while and it’s hard for me to find the time to do it. So going forward I’m going to try to do it a bit differently and watch the epsiode in parts, I’m hoping that will help to have the recaps out there faster.

Anyway, here’s the recap.

Thoughts I had while watching the episode

Serena calling after Dan all night... he isnt’t worthy of that but she loves him so there’s that

Rufus and Lily finally got their sexy time. Too bad is the morning of Lily’s wedding. Talk about akward.

This is one of my fave scenes of Chuck and Blair, there’s cuteness, there’s flirty banter and feisty Blair, what’s not to love.

I still want to know the story about him not removing that scarf. Just for entertaining purposes.

Nate and his dad running is a nice little call back to the early episodes of S1, which feels like ages ago.

And here we are with Dan and Georgina and Serena finally exposing her as a manipulative evil mastermind

Thanks Serena for reminding that Lily & Rufus can’t coexist with Dan and Serena 😪

That scene between Bart and Lily is actually good, he’s obviously making a point and letting her know she must make a choice, the good old days when Bart was actually a character and not a cartoon villian.

I remember thinking on my first watch while Dan and Blair are scheming, the show should make them snarky friends that would be fun. 😪

Seriously Dan and ‘Sarah’ have known each other for how long and they already have “their spot” guys are the worst

“Humphrey you’re a born liar” you don’t even know the half of it Blair

As much as I love Blair and this iconic line “haven’t you heard, I’m the crazy bitch around here” I still can’t believe that aftet plotting the whole night with Chuck their plan was just ratting her out to her parents.

Sorry Jenny but that dress Vanessa is wearing is awful. Actually I’m not a fan of Blair’s dress either. Anyway everything is a tad better with ‘Time to pretend’ playing in the background, overplayed as it was I still love it.

Also Blair and Chuck again with the flirty bantering, reminiscing a bit about that first time and Chuck getting kicked. Quality content all around.

I don’t know about Serena but luckily for Blair twenty years in the future she won’t be on her fourth husband

I always hated that “I didn’t sleep with Georgina, but I may as well have” like first of all what does that even mean. Second it’s so frustating because it feels like the show went through great lengths to keep Dan as the “good guy” on this particular situation, and that wasn’t fair to Serena.

Even though I know this is only the end of S1 and there’s more to come I’ll forever be bitter about Rufus and Lily not being together. I do like the bittersweet note of this particular moment though.

Rufly aside I have such a soft spot for the Van der Basses. Sure it was far from perfect but still.

That earlier bit between Nate and Chuck with the captain pointing out that whoever the girl they’re fighting about ain’t worth it and Chuck agreeing and Nate saying that’s the problem may seem like another of Chuck douchbag smarmy moments, but I actually like how it sort of makes sense later in the episode, because is only when Chuck admits the truth to Nate about how he felt about Blair, that Nate not only finally listens to him about the captain, but is also willing to have his friend back.

Poor Nate, always being let down by his father, at least he got to make his point, even if he had to punch his dad (again) to do it.

Even though Blair is on full bitch mode towards Vanessa, she ain’t actually wrong about Nate: endless family drama and never getting over Serena.

Nate and Chuck’s friendship isn’t as larger than life as Blair and Serenas, but is one I still love, and finally is back on. Also Nate’s amused and surprised smile about Chuck’s feelings for Blair is priceless. Chuck’s reaction too, how con someone be smug and shy at the same time?

Dan makes me want to scream like what bullshit is thid “i got seduced by a girl who was pretending to someone else and you knew” so somehow that’s Serenad fault? “I am the most understanding person in the world” Excuse me!!! In what universe, like honestly Dan just shut up.

The fact that this show actually has Serena saying “we are exactly we were at the Bass brunch when we started dating I wasn’t the person you thought I was and you can’t forgive that” and then Dan just sidetracks and claims a lot has happen... and we’re only on season one

Beside the fact that I love the scene of Chuck’s speech while he’s looking at Blair, this line is so spot on “in the face of true love you don’t give up, even if the object of your affection is begging you to” the whole speech is basically the abreviated version of the Chuck and Blair story.

Serena’s is in her own cloud of missery and yet she still makes a face when she sees Chuck and Blair are kissing 😂

Chuck Bass is a romantic, and that’s all that matters 😉.

As much as I’m not sad about Dan and Serena breaking up, it is kind of sad watching them have a last dance with ‘the ice’s getting thinner” playing in the background (such a good song btw)

I had honestly forgot about Jenny for a bit here.

I feel so robbed because they just skip a week and we didn’t got to see any of it, like Chuck being a complete gentlemen? C’mon! Anyway Blair’s traveling outfit is almos customy, nevermind I still love it, it also helps how fears about helicopters aside, she’s excited she’s about the Tuscany trip,

I remember the first time I was like so that’s the end of Nate and Vanessa? How swift. Not that I mind because that scene between Nate and Serena was so promising about summer and the Hamptons... but that’s a rant for S2

The way Bart can’t help but messing up Chuck’s head, even if he doesn’t try to, though whith Bart one never knows. Fun fact: the first time I watched this episode when Chuck goes after Amelia I literally screamed to the screen: “NO!!!’ You idiot”.

So that’s a wrap on Season 1! It was such a fun ride and I’m going to miss it. This last episode was really packed, it also felt quite long for some reason. It also ends with every major ship on the outs, which sucks a bit but it’s also a great set up for season 2.

First there’s Dan and Serena, who call it quits because for the last few episodes their relationship has been a constance struggle of secret and lies. One could make the point that their relationship was always dishonest by Dan’s secret identity as gossip girl, god knows I’ve been ranting about that the whole season particularly the last episode, because in principle is very hypocrital of Dan to be so mad about Serena’s lies when he’s keeping the biggest secret of all. But since she doesn’t know this the whole discussion is centered about her mistakes... Serena makes the very valid (and true) point that Dan can’t forgive her for not being who he thought she was, and this is something that’s going to keep being an issue for them the whole show, but for this particular break up the other big issue is lack of trust

Trust is the key point in a relationship and how can Dan trust Serena if she lies and hides stuff, they can’t have a relationship that way, even if she has come clean about her past who’s not to say if they come across another issue Serena will be honest this time and not hide and try to handle it on her own, truth is she most likely will, (she does act this way in future seasons) but what I would like to point out is that as much as Dan can’t trust her now, Serena actually never trusted him, not in the sense that he would spill her secrets but rather that she didn’t trust him not to judge her and she also didn’t trust that he would still love her if he knew everything about her. And in her mind he proves her right that’s why she points out they’re having the same argument they had at the Bass brunch and even so (sadly) Serena still wants to work through this and Dan is the one that says no, let’s break up. I don’t disagree with him is better for them to be separated but I ‘m petty and so I kind of hate he’s the one in his high horse breaking up with her, when he almost cheated on her with Georgina and even has the nerve to be like “i only did that because you cheated on me and you’re a liar and you let me get involved with a psycho” and it’s just hell no Dan! First of all no one force you to do anything, and also how long did he knew this girl Sarah and they already have “their spot” like that’s on you, and I’m not even mentioning how this argument of the psycho pretty much destroys itself when one remember he’s gossip girl so... who’s the most twisted manipulative one there. I would have issues with Dan and Serena even if he wasn’t Gossip Gilr, but the fact that he is... seriously he’s one devious guy.

Also not a fan of the show going out of their way to keep Dan’s nice guy image, they keep teasing his night with Georgina and then they decide to be light, well he didn’t actually slept with her, the intention was there, but he didn’t because he’s good Dan and sex is meaningful for him, so it’s a big deal for him, but still he was nice and faithful. Sorry but no, have him cheat, everyone else in this show makes questionable decisions and surely the UES changes Dan, so I would like for the show to embrace, they eventualy show it, but they had the space to start to show it much earlier, also just for the record sex with Dan was meaningful for Serena, it wasn’t something she had really experienced before, and it was pointed out earlier in the season, so sex it’s not only meaningful for Dan.

Other two relationships have a quick death this episode: Rufly & Nate and Vanessa. The later gets set aside almost like and afterthought which was dissapointing because it was like why bother then in the first place? Also I actually like their interactions and Vanessa while still judgemental makes and effort for Nate to be more understanding and in turn allows her to show different sides of her character and that’s nice. Then we have that scene between Nate and serena and it’s iluminatinhg, because at list at this point it looke like the show wanted to set something up there and it’s like finally! let’s unravel this (and then...😪 but that’s a rant for the next recap). Rufly on the other hand I like how it went, it felt natural and yet sad because basically they don’t take their chance because they feel that boat sailed a long time ago, it’s been 20 years, and they could have stolen moments, but more than that is just not possible, doesn’t seem like it could work at this stage of their lifes, and while it’s exciting to take the plunge I totally get why they didn’t here.

Finally there’s Chuck and Blair, and me screaming into infinity. Don’t get me wrong I love this episode and even when I still was like No Chuck you idiot! In some ways it needed to happen. Or at least some version of it, but I’m getting ahead of myself. What I love about this episode is all their flirty banter, their chemistry shines through every single scene they have, and they truly make me think of much ado about nothing, i like the back and forth and the obvious subtext of how much they truly like each other, and one can also tell how this is exciting for them, these thing between it’s a first for both of them for him it’s the first time he wanted more from a girl, he yearns for her in a way he never has feel before, he feels, he’s in love, and to her is quite a heady experience to be so openly wanted by someone, she doesn’t even have to try, to force it like she did Nate whose eyes were always following her best friend, Chuck’s eyes follow her and no else. For a minute there they take the plunge, armed with having his best friend back and getting a family Chuck’s goes for it via a best man speech and an apology. He’s a romantic at heart and he wants her to know, and she can’t resist it and goes for it to.

We’re robbed from that week they’re together after that night and is such a shame because while I feel internally each of them have acknowledged they’re in love with each other, there’s a difference between falling in love with someone and actually loving someone, and I feel this is the time that while they obviously don’t speak about it, I don’t even think they fully realized then but they truly fell for each other to the point where it was never the same again. It’s a scary thought, and it’s Bart who brings those fears to the front of Chuck’s mind, the guy is scared to death, is not only because the change of going from womanizing playboy to boyfriend seems monumental for a guy like him but more importantly Chuck’s someone who believes the worst of himself, and it wasn’t a big deal for him, because to eyes of the person whose opinion matters the most to him he’s alreayd a failure and that’s not got to change, but Blair is his second thoughest critic, what she thinks matters and unlike Bart she actually believes he has it in him, to be whatever he wants to and Bart’s words make him think of the expectations Blair may have of him now, and the thought of proving her wrong, he doesn’t want her to see that, and sure he’s going to fail and she’ll hate him for it... and that would be it. So better to end it now, on his terms while he’s the one in control of the situation and put a stop to it.

Bottom line he ain’t ready for it at all, he actually won’t be for a long time, and because of this is going to take Blair a lot of time too to be ready for it. Is what I like about Chuck’s best man speech at first glance is his way to tell Blair he feels something for her and he wants her to give him, them the chance to be something. It’s a plight at heart. It also works perfectly as a summary of what their relationship will be for a while. That no matter what, they love each other, theirs is true love and even if it’s hard almost impossible at times, they can’t give up, and that when one of them wants to throw the towel there’s the other one to remind them of why is worth it in the end.

The game between them is really about to start, here we go S2.

Random bits I’ve noticed:

Chuck lightly squeezing his dad’s arm when Lily’s almost at the end of the altar warmed my heart.

[fanforthefics]

For the writing prompt, #16 for Tyson/Gabe! Bonus points if it has anything to do with Tys’ return to Denver! 🥰

16: One person pouting, only to have it removed by a kiss from the other person.

“So...” 

“He’s not here,” Nate says, immediately, and Tyson. Well. He’s pretty sure his face does a thing, even when his face has been doing things since he got back to Denver. It’s the weirdest mix of heartbreaking and great that he’s ever felt--he thought he knew what this was like, after his dad getting traded all the time, but it’s different. Being back in Denver, back in the familiar tunnels of the rink, but not. The visitor’s locker room is different. 

Nate’s not different, though, and neither are the rest of the guys, when Tyson ditched the team after practice and he and Kerf went to crash the Avs’ locker room. It all feels so familiar, down to Kerf messing around with JT and Josty in the corner. It feels like letting out a breath, being here. It might have been different, if shit had been better in Toronto, but now--

Now, he’s willing to take the W of being able to be standing next to Nate, to catch up with Willy and EJ like he didn’t text them all the time anyway. To be with guys who know him already. 

Except for one. “Where is he?” Tyson asks, giving the room another look. There’s one blonde head conspicuously missing. It’s a head that’s usually hard to miss, because it’s so big, but also because, well. Tyson always knows where Gabe is. 

“IR,” EJ says, sounding surprised Tyson has to ask. Tyson rolls his eyes. 

“Yeah, no duh,” he says, because of course he knows that. It hasn’t been good, that Gabe’s laid up, but it’s been kind of nice that they can both be miserable at the same time, if for different reasons. There have been a lot of whining texts on both sides. It’s always nice to remember that no matter how much everything sucks for Tyson, Gabe’s always going to be more dramatic about it. “But, like. He said he might come in today? ‘cause, you know. For the game.” Tyson can’t quite make himself say ‘Because I’m here.’ 

They weren’t--they were really good friends, but they weren’t that. Quite. Or they had almost been? It had felt like maybe they were going to be there, at the end of the season, but then the Trade had happened and Gabe hadn’t said anything and Tyson had been too busy to deal with all his overwhelming feelings for his not-his-captain-anymore, so like. Tyson had left and they still texted all the time, and they weren’t anything. But Gabe had said he’d try to come in. 

EJ’s face does something that’s almost sympathetic. It’s bad, if EJ thinks he has to do sympathy. “He didn’t say anything to me,” He says. Which. Okay. Tyson can take the hint. 

“Whatever,” Nate interrupts, throwing an arm around Tyson, because he’s the best bro ever. “Who needs Landy. We’re getting dinner, yeah? Everyone?” 

“As long as I’m not paying,” EJ retorts, and Tyson grins at him. At all of them. His boys. Not like, his boys anymore, because the Leafs are that now, and he’s like--he likes them, and they’re getting there, but these guys are different. He went through fire with them. 

“I missed you guys,” Tyson says aloud. Nate makes a sad face, because he knows that and also he doesn’t like to think about Tyson being a country away. 

“Missed you too,” Willy says, sincerely. EJ makes a face. 

“Shut the fuck up, Brutes,” he tells Tyson, which Tyson understands means that he missed Tyson too. 

So they go out for dinner, and Tyson--it’s fun. but he also can’t stop fucking thinking about it. 

WTF Landy? he texts under the table, when Nate’s getting them a round of drinks. 

Then, when Gabe doesn’t text back even though Tyson knows he saw it because he sees everything--

Are you avoiding me? 

Still nothing. Which is a yes. Tyson’s getting pissed, actually. Like, whatever they were or weren’t, they were friends. Tyson counted Gabe as one of his guys too, and he’d thought Gabe did the same.  

“Is he mad at me?” Tyson asks into a lull in the conversation. Nate rolls his eyes. 

“No,” he says. 

“How do you--” 

“Because he asks about you all the fucking time,” Nate informs him. “Which I don’t get, because he could just ask you too, but all he fucking wants to talk about is how you’re doing and shit.” 

“Because he’s bored and on IR?” Tyson fills in.

Nate gives him a look, which is fair. Tyson knew that wasn’t the answer either. But then, “So why isn’t he here?” 

“I don’t try to understand Landy.” 

“That’s fair, it’s dangerous to try to understand that twisty Swedish brain. Pretty soon your head would be growing and you’d only be eating meatballs and talking about IKEA, and then what would we do?” 

“You’d be happy with two Landys.” 

Tyson has a brief mental flash that’s sort of mindblowing but also needs to be tucked away until he’s very, very alone. His cheeks probably go very red, thinking about it, but whatever. 

“But I couldn’t give up my Dogg,” he says, and Nate grins a little, happy. Nate’s easy. Not like, actually--Nate’s grumpy and bullheaded and emotional and actually takes a lot of managing as a best friend, to keep him on an even keel, but all that is easy to do. Tyson gets him. Tyson’s always gotten him. 

Gabe, on the other hand...

“Maybe this is like, giving me a hint. I could probably take a hint.” Tyson had taken the hint, thank you very much, when Gabe hadn’t said anything when they left. Their texting had all been super things bros would say. Or, well, Tyson wasn’t great at figuring out the bros line, because he’s flirty with all his bros, and Gabe is too, so maybe it’s not the most platonic, but not like, out of the usual for him. Gabe wouldn’t need to drive the point home by ghosting him. 

Nate makes a not-sure face. “What?” Tyson asks. 

“I...” he trails off, makes the sort of face that means he knows something but isn’t sure if he should tell Tyson, probably because he feels some loyalty to his captain. 

“What do you know, Dogg?” Tyson demands. “Come on. Best friend privileges. What happened?” 

“What are we talking about?” EJ asks, sitting back down next to them. Nate gives him a warning look, but since when has that worked. 

“Nate knows something about why Landy’s ghosting me and won’t tell me,” Tyson informs EJ. “Because he doesn’t respect best friend privileges. See if I let you stay with me in Toronto,” he adds to Nate. Which is an utterly empty threat, like he was giving up Nate time, but Nate still makes a horrified face. 

“Oh, you mean how I’m not sure who’s sulkier when you don’t text them back immediately, this one or Gabe?” EJ asks, casual, jerking his head at Nate. “Or how ��I’m pretty sure he was crying over that clip of you scoring against Arizona?” EJ adds. “Or like, doing something else, I wasn’t going to ask. Whatever is up between you two is between you two.” 

“Like you don’t want all the gossip?” Tyson retorts, but--okay. That doesn’t sound like Gabe’s trying to give him a hint to ghost him. “See if I tell you what Factor told me about--” 

EJ tries to look superior, but he’s the biggest fucking gossip in a league of gossips, so he caves pretty quickly. 

Tyson tries not to dwell. He’s with Nate, with his boys, he can breathe again--he got a goal at last, Babs is gone, maybe things will be better now--but he can’t fucking stop dwelling. It’s uncomfortable. Tyson’s not meant to dwell, he’s not good at it. But what the fuck is Gabe doing? It’s bullshit. It’s Gabe pulling his Gabe bullshit, that he thinks he can get away with because he’s hot and charming and Gabe, and Tyson’s historically so easy for him, but-- 

“Just go,” Nate says at last, interrupting a story Tyson was half-telling about Kerf and Mo. 

“What?” 

Nate rolls his eyes. “He’s at home. Just go figure this out.” 

“But--” Now that Nate’s said it, it’s all Tyson wants to do, but also he doesn’t want to leave. Gabe is Gabe, but he doesn’t want to give up his time with these guys either. There’s not enough. There won’t be enough, again. 

“Go,” Nate tells him. Grudgingly, but sure. "Figure this shit out. You need to.” 

Tyson loves him, so much. “You’re the best Dogg a man could ask for, you know,” he tells Nate, and Nate flushes and looks away, sheepish like he gets when he’s confronted with being a good person. 

So Tyson goes. The uber ride to Gabe’s is so viscerally familiar, the same as he’s done for years. But like. Different. Because he’s not the same, or whatever. It shouldn’t be this weird. Tyson’s moved away from friends before. But somehow, it is. 

Then he’s at Gabe’s, and the lights are on, so he’s definitely awake. He was definitely ignoring Tyson, then. 

Tyson knocks. There’s no response. Open your door, Tyson texts him. Then, when that doesn’t get a response, he leans on the doorbell. He is very good at annoying Gabe into doing what he wants. 

Sure enough, there’s barking, then the sound of a cast clomping on hardwood, then the door jerks open. 

“What the--Tyson?” Gabe asks. He’s--somehow, Tyson had forgotten just how hot he was since he’d seen him, or maybe just forgotten how hard it hit every time, even now when he was in basketball shorts over his cast and a ratty t-shirt, his hair messy like he hadn’t left the house in days. Even when his mouth was hanging open in confusion and shock in a way that should have been unattractive. “What are you doing here?” 

“Saying hello to Zoey, clearly,” Tyson informs Gabe, and raises an eyebrow. “Are you going to let me in?” 

He’s a little worried Gabe’s going to put up a fuss on the doorstep, but Gabe steps back, and Tyson pushes past him. He drops down to his knees immediately to greet Zoey, who’s barking excitedly and licking at his face, because he wasn’t lying about missing her too. The pictures Gabe sends of her isn’t enough. 

“Okay, enough, Zoey,” Gabe says, after a minute or so. His voice sounds sort of tight. “Tys. Why are you here?” 

Tyson gives Zoey one more pet, just to be contrary, then stands up so he can glare at Gabe. “Why do you think I’m here? What the fuck, Gabe.” 

“I--” 

“You can’t just fucking ghost me like that,” Tyson goes on, warming to his theme. “Like, so you don’t want--whatever, that’s fine, I’m an adult, I can deal with rejection. Or not even rejection, just like, not taking off. I’ve been preparing myself for that since the beginning, you’re you and I’m me, that was always like, inevitable, that’s whatever. But I thought we were friends at least, and that’s shitty of you, I’m only here for a day and it’s been so shitty and I just wanted--” 

“We are friends,” Gabe interrupts. He sounds pretty offended Tyson would think otherwise, which is rich. 

“Then maybe act like it,” Tyson snaps. “And don’t ghost me while I’m in town.” 

“I didn’t--”  Tyson glares. Gabe flushes, the sort of stubborn flush he gets when someone calls him on his shit. Tyson’s been gone a few months and this is what happens, clearly. Other people on the team call him on some of his shit, but most of the team is too in love with him to tell him when his drama’s going overboard, and EJ thinks its too funny to say anything and Nate won’t say anything if it doesn’t affect the game. Tyson’s had long years of figuring out how to both be kind of in love with him and also call him on bullshit like this. 

��If you don’t want to see me, that’s--fucking shitty, but whatever, you don’t want to. You could say so.” Tyson crosses his arms. “It’s called communication. I’m pretty sure they’ve heard of it in Sweden.” 

“I wanted to see you. I want to see you.” Gabe says it in his voice where he’s so fucking earnest, where it’s impossible not to believe him. Tyson makes an inarticulate, angry noise, because if that’s true what the fuck is even happening? 

Then, because Tyson has never been inarticulate for very long in his life, “Could have fooled me.” Tyson tightens his arms around himself. “And like, if this was you trying to give me a hint I shouldn’t--that whatever was happening--” there’s no way to say it when they’d never acknowledged it, whenever the vaguely antagonistic flirting that had always made up their friendship tilted into something more real. “That we’re just friends, or whatever, there are less shitty ways to do it. Hell, you could tell Nate, he’d tell me. Or EJ, he’d probably think it was funny. Unless this is a way to mess up my game tomorrow? Because I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t need you to mess up my game, I’m doing that well enough on my own, and--” 

“That was Babs,” Gabe interjects, fast and fierce. “That wasn’t you, he wasn’t letting you play your game. You looked a lot better--” He cuts off, flushing when Tyson gapes at him. 

“What the fuck, Gabe?” he demands, yet again. “You ghost me and then you say that? I can handle whatever is happening here if you just tell me what it is! If--” 

“I couldn’t, okay?” Gabe bites out. Not like he’s angry at Tyson, but like he’s angry at the words themselves. He’s drawing himself up to his full height, anyway, and Tyson is suddenly faced with how ridiculous it is that they’re doing this in Gabe’s front hall, with Tyson still in his jacket and shoes. But it’s hard to remember Gabe’s ridiculous when he looks like he does, all big and righteous. “I thought I could, I wanted to see you--I want to see you--of course I do, but then it was today and I just--couldn’t.” 

“Why not?” Tyson demands. That’s not enough. 

“Why do you think?” 

“I don’t know! If I knew, I wouldn’t be here, I’d be hanging out with my best friend, who I ditched to come here and yell at you, because you’re being a dick.”  Tyson gives Gabe his best stare down. “I was going to get Nate to break his diet plan to take me to Dairy Queen, Gabriel. That’s what I gave up to do this.” 

Gabe snorts, shakes his head. Smiles, but not his usual overwhelmingly big smile. Something sad in it. “Fuck, I’ve missed you, Tys.” 

“Could have fooled me.” 

Gabe sighs, and runs a hand through his hair. Tyson only thinks about doing that himself for like, a second, which is probably a win. “I couldn’t,” he says again. Which is still not a thing. “Not when--we were so close, at the end of last season. Something was going to happen, finally, after--or I thought something was,” Gabe interrupts himself, giving Tyson a questioning look. Tyson bites his lip, but he nods. 

“Yeah. I thought so too,” he admits. Gabe’s smile flickers across his face. 

“But then you were traded, and nothing did. Which I get,” he adds, captain-earnest again. “You needed to settle in. And long distance is hard, when you need to bond with your new team.” 

“Are you saying I’m the reason nothing happened?” Tyson asks. Gabe shrugs. 

“You didn’t say anything, before you left.” 

“Neither did you!” 

“I didn’t want to push you,” Gabe retorts, his back up a little again. “You had a lot going on, I thought you’d say something if you could handle it.” 

“What the--that’s not how it works!” Tyson protests. “That’s--you were always going to have to make the move, I thought we both got that. And,” he goes on, because Gabe looks like he’s going to protest. “It’s always the person staying who’s supposed to make the dramatic gesture, like, running after me at the airport, or whatever. Not the person who’s leaving. I--” he cuts himself off. “Anyway. We’re circling back to that,” he informs Gabe, who looks like he’s trying not to laugh. “But continue.” 

“I wasn’t here, I couldn’t chase you through an airport,” Gabe points out. Tyson is tempted to keep arguing this, because he would absolutely not put it past Gabe to take a transatlantic flight for a grand gesture, but he refuses to be distracted. 

“Gabe.” 

“Right, so we were almost there, and then we weren’t, but we were still--close. And I, fuck. I missed you, Tys. A lot.” Gabe says it like a fact. Not like something to throw at Tyson, not accusatory, not a confession. Just something true. “And it killed me that things have been so bad for you and I couldn’t help.” 

“You helped,” Tyson has to interject. Because that’s true too. Just being able to talk to Gabe about it, to hear Gabe’s anger on his behalf, had helped. 

Predictably, Gabe perks up a little at that. “Good.” He pauses, then shakes his head a little. “But--you were going to be here, and we still weren’t--you know--and I just--” He makes a face at himself, like he’s frustrated at his inability to articulate something. It’s not a face he makes often. “I couldn’t do it, Tyson. I couldn’t see you like we were just friends, for just a few hours. I just couldn’t. I knew I’d do something drastic. And you’d just be leaving again, and nothing had changed about why nothing happened, so--” 

Tyson blinks. “So let me get this straight,” he says, slowly. “You ghosted me because you missed me too much, and didn’t think you could see me without doing some dramatic gesture? That you thought I don’t want?” Gabe opens his mouth, but Tyson’s not done. “That is the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.” 

“I--” 

“Long distance is a fucking thing,” Tyson interrupts. “Hell, half the team is long distance with someone. That’s just how hockey works. It’s not the end of the world. It’s doable.” Gabe’s face is doing something unacceptable, in how it’s lighting up. Tyson has never been able to deal with Gabe’s face when he’s happy. Especially when he’s pissed at Gabe. “Which you know if you’d fucking talked to me, and maybe said any of this, instead of being such a drama queen and hiding alone in your house like some sort of Victorian spinster or whatever.” 

“Tyson,” Gabe says, in that stupidly happy voice, and takes a step forward. 

“You have had so many opportunities to say something,” Tyson goes on. “It’s so easy. Just, hey Tys, so we have a thing, what do you think about figuring out what it means and how good we are at Skype sex? Which I think we’d be pretty good at,” Tyson adds, flushing, because it’s not like he hasn’t thought about it. “I mean, I don’t shut up and you’re good at talking, we--” 

“Hey Tys,” Gabe says. He’s taken another step forward, towards Tyson, so Tyson’s back is against the wall. Tyson tilts his head up and resolutely does not respond to that tone of voice, half glee and half growl. It’s really hot, but Tyson refuses. Gabe was being an idiot. He’s not rewarding it. 

“No you don’t, I’m pissed,” Tyson warns him. It’s very hard. Gabe is very close and he’s so large and his face is so fucking perfect. “You could have done this when i got in this afternoon, instead of having us do this whole thing, you don’t get--” 

“Come on, Four,” Gabe murmurs. Tyson maybe shivers, but he refuses to let Gabe win this. 

“That’s not my number anymore,” Tyson points out. He maybe looks at Gabe’s lips, because he’s weak. But still. 

“I really don’t care.” Gabe lifts his hand to touch Tyson’s cheek, but lets it hover. “Yeah?” 

Tyson is still pissed, because they could have avoided this so easily. But also he knew Gabe was a drama queen when he irritatingly tumbled into whatever this is, and like, he doesn’t have much time here. 

“Fine,” he says, half sighing like he can at all hide the eagerness in his voice. “But don’t think this means I’m not still mad, you’re going to have to--” his mouth keeps moving against Gabe’s mouth for a second, trying to talk, but then it sort of registers that he’s kissing Gabe, and his brain short circuits and his body takes over. 

It’s good. It’s so good, and Gabe kisses like Tyson had thought he would, overwhelming focus and like he’s trying to make sure Tyson can’t think at all so he’ll stop arguing, which is working irritatingly well. Tyson’s not going to let that stand, and the best way to deal with that is to kiss him back, to make sure he knows what he was missing, so Tyson wraps a hand into Gabe’s hair and tugs him closer. 

When they break apart to breathe, Gabe stays close, his forehead resting against Tyson’s. Tyson takes a second, then, 

“We could have been doing that for so long if you weren’t an idiot,” he says, “You owe me so much, imagine if I’d indulged you and we didn’t--” 

“Be quiet, Tyson,” Gabe says, laughing, but then he kisses Tyson again, which isn’t exactly a good way to incentivize Tyson not talking. 

“Okay, but now we only have a little while, ‘cause I’ve got to get back to Nate’s tonight,” Tyson tells him. Gabe pulls away enough to gape, looking affronted. 

“You’re going to stay at Nate’s? Not here?” 

“One of the two of you made an effort to see me today,” Tyson points out. “And anyway, you know perfectly well my list of priorities and where you fall on it compared to Nate. It goes Ralph, Nate, Zoey, you. Or, no. Ralph, Nate, Duke, Zoey, Cox, you.” 

“Zoey doesn’t beat Duke?” Gabe demands, sounding more irritated than he has been during this entire conversation, and Tyson can’t handle him even a little. 

“Look, the heart wants what the heart wants,” Tyson says, and tugs on Gabe’s hair a little, experimentally. given the noise Gabe makes, it seems to work. “Are you going to argue about it or kiss me again?”

“Kiss first, then we’re arguing that,” Gabe says, and cuts Tyson off with his mouth before he can reply. Tyson lets him. Gabe’s admittedly doing a pretty good job of convincing Tyson to stop being pissed, and Tyson guesses he’s willing to be convinced. 

(The next day, visitor’s locker room: 

“Bear, you have a visitor,” Mo tells him, throwing a towel at Tyson. 

That really doesn’t specify anything--Tyson’s pretty sure Nate won’t manage to stop by, after losing, but Willy totally would manage it. Or maybe Emily wants Tyson to humiliate himself on camera a little, for old times sake. 

Still, Tyson goes outside, and then he grins for a second before he puts on his irritated face. 

“So you made it today?” he asks Gabe. “Enjoy the game?” 

Gabe’s face does something very fun, which Tyson’s going to enjoy for a while, probably. Annoying Gabe is always fun. “That was a good goal,” Gabe admits, a little grudging, but also Nate has it on good authority he likes watching Tyson’s hockey, so he’ll take it. 

“Yeah?” Tyson asks. “So you just came here to tell me that, or--” 

“Come here,” Gabe mutters, and then he gets a hand on Tyson’s wrist and is pulling him away towards an empty room. “How long do you have?” 

“We leave in like an hour,” Tyson tells him, and grins when Gabe pushes him against a closed door. “Think you can handle seeing me for that much time? Or are you going to do something drastic?” 

Despite the game, Gabe grins, that ridiculously happy thing that always makes Tyson go all squirmy and stupid. “Definitely something drastic,” he says, and then Tyson has to save up his retort for that for when his mouth isn’t better occupied.) 

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, @dottie-wan-kenobi!

Dear @dottie-wan-kenobi, I hope you have a wonderful holiday and that this little fic brings a smile to your face!

*****

Instant Family

*record scratch* *freeze frame* Yup, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.

Stiles posts the picture on his Instagram and then sighs, leaning back in his chair as he watches it upload. It’s a photo that he didn’t take and he isn’t as amused as he knows the people who follow him will be. He’s in it but he’s not alone, unlike most of his usual posts. But then, he hasn’t really been alone for the past few days, until just now when he’s finally getting a little bit of a reprieve and a moment of peace.

It’s been a wild ride from the moment that he and Derek drove up to Satomi’s home last week because of the phone call she made to Derek. She didn’t say much, only that it was an emergency and involved a pack having been attacked by some hunters. Most of the hunters were dead by the time she called, though a few of them got away with only being arrested for the ambush and murders of the pack members. Derek said he’d known of the pack and that they’d been friends of his parents once upon a time.

Now, a week later, Stiles finally has time to process everything that happened. The tiny pack, only a family really, had been ambushed in their own home, surrounded and their house set alight the way the Hale house was years ago. Only, because it wasn’t in as remote an area as the Beacon Hills Preserve and because the hunters had not known about the tiny detail that was mountain ash – something that the Kate Argent used against the Hale pack – there were some survivors.

The pack’s Alpha managed to get the kids out in time. She didn’t have a chance to save the adults since there were only two left to begin with, her and her husband. She, despite her healing abilities, didn’t survive the wolfsbane bullets that hit her while she was rescuing the children and her mate had been human, which meant that he didn’t survive the fire itself.

That’s why Stiles now has a multitude of photos where he’s surrounded by the kids, five of them, all under the age of seven.

Satomi called them because her pack is still not stable enough to take in newcomers and she knows that the Hale-McCall pack is in a better position to help even if only temporarily. They all have had years to recover but the Ito pack suffered bigger losses in the war against Gerard’s little army. Derek didn’t hesitate to volunteer them for fostering the children since their parents had been his family’s friends. Stiles said nothing at the time but he’s reconsidering that choice the same way he has been doing ever since they got back to Beacon Hills.

“All the regrets,” he mutters and then sighs.

“Really?"

"Oh my god, I’m getting you a bell,” Stiles grumbles once he catches his breath and turns around to face Derek.

“You’ve been promising that for years, I think you might be bluffing,” Derek replies with a grin and Stiles watches him land on the bed and closing his eyes.

“Kids asleep?"

Derek huffs.

"Most of them, yeah,” he says after a beat. “Aya asked if she could stay up a little longer to read. Nate needed extra bedtime stories."

"Lyra?"

"Out like a light, teeth seem to be done torturing her."

"The twins?"

"Sleeping in Aya’s room.”

“Camping?"

"Simon wanted to be close,” Derek says, lifting himself up on his elbows and looking at Stiles. “It’s the moon, probably. Close enough to full that he needs his pack. And of course because he wanted to be with her, Daniel had to follow suit.”

“Naturally,” Stiles deadpans. “Does Aya have a deadline?"

Derek pauses, looks like he’s focusing hard for a moment, then grins. "Well, she did, but apparently it wasn’t needed.”

“Sleeping?”

“Yup.”

Stiles lets out a relieved sigh. He knows that it’s probably only going to be a short blessing and the youngest, Lyra, will wake up before the morning and need his or Derek’s attention, but he’s willing to take what he can get. He gets out of his chair, drops his phone on the table, then moves over to the bed and drops on top of it, just next to Derek.

Sleep has been a rare commodity because of the kids and he’s not willing to give up the possibility to catch up on some of it now.

As he’s drifting away, he feels the warmth of Derek’s palm on his lower back and the comfort of it lulls him to sleep.

-=-=-

It’s another week before they get some time away from the kids again. They’re all still in the house – a situation that Stiles thinks has a chance of becoming permanent, the way Derek is bonding with them – but Stiles and Derek are not, for a change. Lydia is back in town for a while and she and Jordan offered to babysit. Without anyone suggesting it, the rest of the pack invited themselves and there’s now an entire sleepover happening.

“Bonding time,” Lydia called it when everyone else started showing up.

The plan wasn’t to take the kids in permanently but Stiles can’t see any other way. Not only have the kids latched on to both him and Derek but everyone else is becoming attached to them fast. He knows that his dad is already considering them family, though it’s only been a few weeks. And even if the decision was made to find them a different permanent home – not that Stiles has any idea who would make that particular decision – there’s no way they can separate them. It wouldn’t be right, not with what they’ve already been through.

So he’s pretty sure that the Hale-McCall pack is getting their first batch of the next generation. It’s not surprising, really, considering Scott’s ongoing mission to find and fight all the remaining factions of Gerard and Monroe’s former army of hunters. They don’t leave happiness in their wake but this was the first time they’ve only left underage survivors and that they had nowhere else to go. Most of the packs in the country are closely connected nowadays, through a network that Stiles and Lydia set up for information exchange and the ability to call on each other for help if needed.

All of what’s going on is weighing heavily on Stiles’s mind, hitting him hard when he gets to stop and think. All of it would be a big deal regardless of the circumstances, considering they’re five children, very young ones, some of them werewolves without the familial bond of their pack. But it’s an even bigger deal because it’s not like Stiles and Derek have what would be called an established, solid family that would have been around for as long as other packs have. Their own pack is a jumble of people, more than half of the time scattered across not only the country but several continents. Stiles can’t help but wonder if theirs is the right place for the kids.

“You’re thinking very loudly,” Derek tells him as they pull up at the diner. “You’re lucky mind-reading isn’t a werewolf ability.”

“You’d complain that my thoughts give you a headache,” Stiles replies with a smirk. “Like you used to say about me talking.”

“Would make it easier to follow your train of thought.”

“Keep those pipe dreams alive,” Stiles tells Derek as they get out of the car. “I can’t even do that sometimes and they’re my thoughts."

"Okay, fair,” Derek concedes, reaching out and linking his fingers with Stiles’s. “What is it that’s got your mind spinning this time?‘

"The kids."

"You thinking we’re not right for them?"

Stiles pauses and looks at Derek in surprise. It still amazes him how well Derek can sense – or guess, Stiles hasn’t yet figured out which it is – what it is that’s running through Stiles’s mind at any given point. They’ve known each other for years now and they’ve been together for two of them but the connection continues to be mind-blowing.

"Yeah,” he says quietly. “I mean, they’ve obviously latched on to us but we’re not…. they’re not…”

“We are a pack, strange as it is,” Derek replies. “But you’re right, it’s a very big deal if we were to keep them.”

“The most important question, because nothing else matters more,” Stiles says and takes a breath as Derek nods. “Do you want to keep them?"

He doesn’t get a response immediately. Derek turns his head to the window next to their table and sighs. Stiles doesn’t rush him, no matter how much his mind is racing and craving an answer. He knows what his own reply would be, if it’s only his desire that’s to be considered without thinking of any other circumstances.

"What can I get you boys?"

Stiles startles as Tina – she’s been the waitress here longer than Stiles can remember – asks her question, since he was too lost in thought to pay attention to his surroundings.

"You both look like you could do with a rather sizable meal,” she says with a smile that’s betrayed by the concern in her eyes.

“Two specials, two fries, two Cokes,” Stiles says and glances at Derek for confirmation.

“That and a basket of onion rings,” Derek adds.

“Be right back with those, you just relax,” Tina says and heads to the counter.

Another moment passes and then Derek takes a deep breath, like he’s bracing himself for a rejection – Stiles remembers that expression from the first time Derek asked him on a date – and then finally answers Stiles’s question.

“I do. I want to."

"Keep them?"

"Yeah.”

“All of them?”

Derek throws Stiles a glare which Stiles can understand because it’s a dumb question.

“I mean, yeah, obviously all of them,” Stiles says quickly. “Sorry, just processing.”

“Do you not want to?” Derek asks and he sounds disappointed.

Stiles shakes his head, then speaks up before Derek takes it the wrong way.

“I do. Just as a pure want, yes, I wish we’’d keep them.”

“But?”

“But I’m also thinking, is this the best place for them? Can we handle it?"

"I think we can, yeah. Money is not an issue, obviously. We do have the space for them in the house,” Derek says. “We’d need to figure out schooling, I don’t know if homeschooling would work or if we can do that and with what they’ve been through, I don’t know if all of them will be able to handle school just yet.”

“I think Aya will. The twins are obviously not an issue and we’ll have to see about Nate and Lyra,” Stiles tells him. “Think they’re were?"

"Lyra probably is. Nate, I’m not so sure. Might be a late bloomer, normally we start showing signs at around twelve months."

"You’d need to school me on what to look for, other than hearing conversations they’re not supposed to hear,” Stiles says with a grin.

Aya, the oldest of the kids, has already given away her ability by accident, first time at Satomi’s when she overheard Stiles and Derek talking about taking the kids with them to Beacon Hills. She was out in the yard while they were in the kitchen, separated by a closed door and windows.

“I also think that the pack will help,” Derek says. “Your dad for sure. Melissa too."

"So. Five kids. Should I request a desk job?"

Stiles has been on leave since they brought the kids home. But he knows that his job at the FBI won’t wait for him forever. He’ll need to return at some point for many reasons, one of them being that he’s the liaison for Scott’s search for the hunters.

"I wouldn’t ask you to do that. I know you can’t.”

“Well, I can, theoretically.”

“You shouldn’t. Not if you being out there means it can prevent any tragedies like the one that brought the kids to us."

"I’ll see if I can extend my leave some more,” Stiles says quietly.

“Does that mean I’ll see both you boys in here more?” Tina says with a bright smile as she puts their burgers and fries down on the table.

“You just might, Tina.”

“Bring those little mites with you next time,” she says. “It’s a great thing you’re doing, taking care of them.”

“Thanks. We’ll see about that,” Stiles says. “Might not want to get them addicted to these goodies quite so soon.”

“Pssh. Like we don’t have healthy options,” Tina says. “You two enjoy your date night."

"Thanks.”

Stiles starts picking out fries out of the basket and eating them, his mind spinning around what feels like a decision.

“So. Anything else we need to consider before we start figuring out the paperwork we need?” Derek asks just as the silence starts feeling like it’s been going on for too long.

“Maybe just asking them if they want to stay?"

"I think we know the answer to that. But you’re right, Aya and the twins will want to tell us.”

“So, we ask them tonight?"

"They’ll be in bed by the time we get home.”

“Keep those dreams alive, Derek,” Stiles chuckles. “Everyone is there, I have a feeling the kids will have a weird sleeping pattern for a few days.”

“Not like Lyra doesn’t already have that without any interference,” Derek says, then takes a bite of his burger.

They don’t talk about it any more after that. Once their meal is done, Tina brings them pie – on the house, she says – and with that little sugar boost, Stiles doesn’t feel like going home just yet. Instead, they drive out to the lake at the back of the Preserve and sit there for a while, watching the stars until the air chills too much.

“So, tomorrow?” Stiles asks.

“Hm?”

“We ask the kids if they want to stay."

"Yeah.” Derek agrees. “Are you ready for that?”

Stiles thinks for a moment and then he reaches out for Derek’s hand.

“Yeah, I am. It’s gonna be wild though,” he says.

“It is. But the pack always has been a little strange. Nothing we haven’t dealt with before.”

Stiles can’t do anything but nod. They’ve dealt with so much crap in their lives, them and the kids. It’s time to make something good out of it all, together.

[disappearinginq]

OG Excerpt of Randomness - because really, do I do any other kind?

“What?” I protested angrily. “What do you mean, I don’t get to go with you this summer?”

Dad kept his eyes on the road, refusing to even look at me. “Did I stutter?” he asked. “I meant exactly what I said. You’re not coming on the road with me this season, end of story.”

“Not that I have anything against Casey and her family, but come on! I haven’t seen you for more than like a week all semester!”

For every summer, as long as I can remember, Dad and I have spent it on the road together. It’s nothing fancy – Dad is a long haul truck driver. Together we’ve crisscrossed the continental United States more than a dozen times every summer. I’ve even been to Canada a few times, depending on who he’s working for. But during the school year, I stay with Casey and her folks because there’s no time even for homeschooling on the road.

I don’t remember the last time I spent a summer in one place.

“Look, dad, I’m sorry about the fight!” I said, trying to apologize for what felt like the millionth time. “But Nate –”

“I don’t care what Nate said, or what his friend said, or what anyone said, Erin!” Dad cut me off. “You threw the first punch over words. People will always say bad things, things that aren’t true, or things that will make you angry. But they’re just words, and you don’t seem to understand that. I told you last year, no more fighting or you weren’t coming with me. Did you think I was bluffing?”

“Well, no…” I said, feeling my face flush pink.

“Did you think I was going to make an exception if the fight was about defending me against a couple of kids I don’t even know the last names of?” he continued.

“No…” I muttered.

“You have got to learn to control your temper, young lady,” Dad said. “And clearly, being on the road with a bunch of truckers with the social graces of drunk sailors is not hacking it.”

“It’s not like Casey’s family is any better!” I protested. “I mean, sometimes I wonder whether or not she was actually raised by wolves.”

Dad shook his head as we pulled to the intersection just before Casey’s house. “I’m not rewarding you by leaving you all summer with your best friend who clearly has no better influence on you.”

Instead of turning right towards Casey’s, we turned left towards the highway.

“Uh, what? Dad, you missed the turn – it’s that way,” I said, gesturing out the window towards the familiar dirt road.

“No, I didn’t,” Dad said. “What did I just tell you?”

“That I wasn’t being rewarded by spending the summer with my friend?” I echoed hesitantly. “But…you also said I wasn’t coming on the road with you. Last I checked, those were the only two options.”

A sudden weight formed in my stomach.

“You’re taking me to the children’s home?” I protested.

Dad actually looked at me for that little outburst, the look on his face clearly stating he thought I was being an idiot. But seriously, that was the only other thing I could think of. Mom was gone, we didn’t have any contact with her family, and Casey’s mom and dad had been my adopted relatives since I was old enough to crawl. If I wasn’t going to Casey’s, and I wasn’t going with him, I had only but so many places to go that didn’t involve him leaving me on the side of the road with a backpack and a ‘fare thee well’.

“What?” he said. “No. I’m not taking you to an orphanage. Jesus, kid. I may not be happy with you, but you’ve done worse things in your life and I haven’t once thought to leave you. You’re going to stay with family.”

I scrunched my face up, trying out that thought. “Family,” I echoed. It sounded strange even to me, without the context of it being either my dad or Casey. “Hold up, I thought you were like an orphan or something?” A terrible thought occurred to me. “You’re going to leave me in the cemetery all summer?”

I got that same incredulous look, like my dad was wondering where he went wrong with me, and if I was even his.

“You’ve heard me talk about my brother,” he said flatly.

“Uncle George? Um, yeah, but nothing close to what I would call affectionate,” I said. Actually, most of the words used to describe him were words I couldn’t repeat in polite society. Or in the presence of an adult if I wanted to avoid being grounded for a month.  

“Yeah, well, he agreed to take you on for the summer,” dad explained, eyes back on the road and away from me.

“You’re sending me to live with strangers?” I said. “How is that any different than leaving me at the orphanage? A less stringent return policy? Buy back options? At least I could have a moderate say in who adopted me instead of just getting dumped with some guy I barely know.”

“Oh, well, when you put it like that, I can totally see your point,” Dad said sarcastically. “Let me just hang a u-ey and we’ll put this whole thing behind us.”

I crossed my arms across my chest, slouching into the seat. “Sarcasm. That’s helpful.”

“Just because your uncle and I may not be on the best of terms, doesn’t mean we can’t help one another out. He offered to take you in for the summer because he has the room, and he feels bad that you haven’t gotten to know one another. Or that you and your cousins haven’t met since you were babies.”

“I have cousins?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, Erin, you have cousins, and you’ve met before. Don’t pretend like you don’t know them.”

I tried to recall anything resembling cousins in my memory and drew a complete blank. “You wanna give me some context?”

“The family reunion in Tennessee when you were like three,” Dad explained.

“So thirteen years ago? Gee, wonder why I don’t remember that.”

“It was at that big lake,” Dad continued. “Remember? They had a big boat, and we went out fishing almost every morning on it?”

Okay, that actually sounded a little familiar. Not that I remembered cousins being there, but I do remember being up at the crack of dawn with my dad and a fishing rod on a bright teal lake on a boat I know we couldn’t ever afford.

“Vaguely,” I admitted. “But if we were on such good terms then, what happened? How come I don’t have anything more recent? Like – a Christmas card or something?”

My dad shrugged, his answer for when he didn’t want to get into details with me. “Well, right after that, your mom was gone, and I didn’t talk to them for a while, and your uncle took it kind of personal, I think.”

I suppose that makes sense. I don’t really have any clear memories of my mother, and dad doesn’t talk about her. We don’t even have pictures.

“How many cousins do I have?” I asked, trying not to sound too interested. You know, just in case he thought I’d forgiven him.

“George has two daughters. Melissa and Miranda. I think one is your age, and the other one is probably about…thirteen?” Dad said, eyes back on the road. I glanced at the signs. We were headed north. “They’re into horses too. You might actually like one another by the end of the summer.”

“Sounds promising,” I grumbled. In my experience, people my own age and I didn’t go together very well. Also, to be fair, I didn’t have a whole lot of experience with people my own age. I spent most of my time with Casey, who was an only child of two older parents, or with Dad and a bunch of guys and women closer to his age than mine.

“Maybe if you didn’t have the social graces of a honey badger, I’d have higher hopes of you getting along sooner than that, but face it, honey. You and people just aren’t a good match. Hopefully, some of their manners rub off on you and you can finally make it through a school year without winding up in detention, failing classes or getting into fights.”

“That’s some pretty lofty goals there, Pops,” I said.

“I’ll be happy with one out of three. I won’t even pick which one, just to make it sporting.”

[afraschatz]

Leverage - The Nigerian Job

It’s been a while since I watched “The Nigerian Job” and wow, what a joy to do that again. Because there are so many things I love about it. Here are just a few: I love...

... the introduction of Nate - so much exposition is needed and that’s always difficult to deliver without it seeming clunky and, well, like exposition, but Rubinek and Hutton just DELIVER.

... Dubenic. One of my favourite villains of them all. So fucking ruthless, he makes NATE seem like a choir boy in comparison, and that’s saying something.

... Nate’s reaction to “Steal them back”. Yes, he’s interested because of the money and because of wanting to stick it to his old boss, but that look? Yeah, Nate, keep kidding yourself. You WANT to be a thief ;)

... ‘No, but Parker is in-sane.’ And Nate’s look to accompany that, hahaha. Where is the lie.

... the music of this show. The intro music but also the signature “the game is on” music. I have it as my ringtone and my alarm and really, it’s just so awesome. Because right here at the start, a very dark and gritty start, the music sets the tone and tells us: This is gonna be a clever show and a fun show and KEEP WATCHING <3

... Hardison’s first words on the show being “No. No, no, no, no, hell no.”

... Hardison calling Nate ‘Brah’ and talking back at him right from the start

... “This is not the room you’re looking for.” - Also, I know that Hardison can’t possibly actually TELL this story to Nate and the others at this point, but we all know that he will eventually. And I LOVE that this is his mind’s go to story for being the ultimate hustler. Oh, Hardison, how I love you and your geeky priorities.

... “You can hear everything.” - “Not as useless as you look.” - Instant love. Also: HI ELIOT. And hi Eliot’s glasses. What happens to you later on? And seriously, Eliot, why did you decide to wear them for this job? I mean you clearly don’t need them, so is this a fashion choice? Where you reading while you were waiting for the others to set up?

...No but seriously, I LOVE the outfit choice for Eliot here and in the flashback. He looks like he just got up from a coffee with Sartre and Camus and I cannot stress enough how I LOVE how that (aside of course from being funny) already sets up how he is NOT just the muscle <3

...Eliot not even putting down his mug. Yes, he is that badass

...the baseball card

... “You can have the whole box” (Flirty!Hardison - and yes, of course he is fascinated and turned on by Parker instantly, but I think what I love most is how this is different to how he sees her later; he is overall more aggressive, edgy, pushy pre-team)

... “Age of the Geek, baby. We run the world.” - “Hm. You keep telling yourself that.”

... Thief.

... Parker’s flashback being so fucking DARK, even in comparison to Eliot’s who just put down 10 thugs

... the tell-tale ages of their flashback selves - Hardison the teenager, Eliot the adult, Parker the kid. Talk about what shaped you / who you are

...Eliot and Nate being professionals vs. Parker and Hardison being the brats <3

... Parker taking such obvious pleasure in her work

... Nate’s background images being the cold blue schematics

... Hardison being SO TURNED ON by Eliot’s speed / his efficiency / his dislike of guns (love the emptying of the magazine) / his smile

... that shared smile when the door opens. STOP IT, YOU GUYS

... Nate’s I-am-in-command-here voice. Later on he uses that to play generals and higher ups - his favoured role aside from ‘the annoying one’ - but here it’s no game, no play acting. This IS Nate right now

... technically that would be Plan G

...the OT3 working so perfectly together during the burn-scam sequence

...the almost-morning-at-the-end-of-an-obviously-fucking-cold-night atmosphere when they split. Talk about symbolism here. And lovely light

... Dubenic. Seriously. He dupes us, the viewers, fair enough. But he also does this with Nate, Parker, Eliot, AND Hardison. And can we just take a moment and appreciate that because we know how insanely smart they are. - And there is just that HINT of Dubenic playing them in the way he picks up his cup and sips, like he has no care in the world

... the way Hardison holds his gun

 ... the fact that Eliot hasn’t taken it away from hm yet. Because sure, he could. But he actually WANTS Hardison to BELIEVE him, doesn’t he

...Hardison and Parker having brought guns. Which makes sense. Eliot not bothering. Which also makes sense. But Nate? He just doesn’t give a fuck at this point, does he? Dangerous man, he who has nothing left to lose. And that maniac’s laughter when he figures it out? Holy shit, there is something very, very wrong with him

... Eliot helping Hardison up (already the protector <3)

... the reason why Hardison fell in the first place - looking back to check where Eliot is <3<3

...the reflection of the fireblast on Nate’s face. The whole explosion. Damn, that is some fine pyro work there.

...Parker switching so effortlessly between razor-sharp logic and crazy aloofness

...the ever changing dynamic during that conversation in Hardison’s flat. Like, Hardison keeping Eliot from finally losing it and taking it on with Nate and all the other little shifts and changes. Like, Nate already knowing Eliot’s and Parker’s different priorities (Payback and Money / Money and Payback); Parker and Hardison being hooked straight away, Eliot being the cautious one

...Eliot’s FACE during Sophie’s acting

...Nate being so FASCINATED by Sophie

... that flashback - Nate, like the OT, has a very... interesting way of remembering things

...Parker’s super aggressive popcorn reading

... Eliot’s continued ‘Parker is crazy. CRAZY. Am I the only one seeing that?!’ Possibly, yes, Eliot

...Nigerians. I mean, not only is that THE con. But it’s also the con that works because it targets people too stupid to not know better. The fact that Nate uses that on Dubenic. Because they were double-crossed and now HE gets double-crossed with a con that he SHOULD have seen coming because no one in their right mind would buy Nate Ford trying to pull of the ACTUAL Nigerian Scam

...Sophie just walking out on Dubenic

...Eliot’s outfit as an IT expert. That is so offensive, Eliot, even BEFORE the Klingon. I love you. Also? I love the reaction of the secretary as he walks in. Like, damn, he’s fine. She’s not wrong

... the bridge in the background of Sophie’s and Dubenic’s scene outside. God, that is SUCH a perfect metaphor and so pretty

... “I take it to Pierson.” - Sophie is not just a great actress, this little decision here already shows how she will have no problem taking over from Nate when he is in prison

... the Eliot/Nate conversation at the pool table. Easily my favourite scene of the whole episode. I wrote about how I love all the characters’ relationships in an earlier entry (http://afraschatz.tumblr.com/post/175521619189/afraschatz-i-think-the-reason-why-i-love), but Eliot’s and Nate’s is one of my favourites. And this scene breaks my fucking heart EVERY time. I want to be angry at Nate for being so harsh to Eliot reaching out and I want to weep for him at the same time. And Eliot. Oh, Eliot. All of the others so wrapped up in the current con (and Nate in his pain) that they can’t see what he can already sense and what he already sees and understands. Why else would the hitter, the “I work alone” man, Moreau’s former right hand man reach out like that? This isn’t the hitter checking whether the insurance man might turn on him /them; this isn’t even the man set out for revenge trying to make sure that the mastermind behind the plan can focus properly. This already is Eliot caring. And Nate being unable to accept that at this point. Ah, I love them so much

... the hospital flashback. Oh Tim Hutton <3...

... Sophie and the earpiece. Sure, Sophie, you need help. Sure.

... locked up comedy frame. Hardison hahahaha. Love that chair-roll

... Dubenic’s smug expression in the elevator

... “I can take your underpants”

... “This particular project has a different revenue stream” - Ah, eloquent!smug!Nate

...Sophie’s reaction to the HUGE cheque. Like, WHAT?!

...Hardison starting to explain what he did - I kinda wanted him to continue explaining that to me because a. maybe he could actually shed some light on some stock stuff that I really don’t get and b. competence porn

...Eliot wanting to kiss Hardison :)

...the slow round-and-round of the camera during the team’s talk outside. I need to write a separate LONG post about how great the camera work on this show is

... Eliot looking at Hardison while Hardison waits for Nate to suggest that they should do that again, then, when Nate doesn’t, immediately trying to get his defences back up and his hopes down. Oh, Eliot <3

... Black king, white knight. Aside from me being very much in love with Sophie’s SHAMELESS flirting (and Nate’s reaction to that), this is such a pretty description and fits him so well

... that last scene and the way they stand / sit. I mean, man, thank you, Sophie, for being kind to the victims while the rest of your team plays a very weird mashup of Reservoir Dogs and Godfather in the background

... NATE, YOU ARE SO CREEPY, I LOVE YOU.

[douxreviews]

Legends of Tomorrow - ‘Terms of Service’ Review

"The power is in the Palm(er) of your hands."

Is it rude to point out that the Emperor has no clothes, if you point out at the same time that the Emperor is super ripped and has been clearly doing a lot of cardio?

Because.... Damn, Emperor. You got it going on.

Which is, of course, my frivolous and subtextually homoerotic way of saying that there's an embarrassment of riches in this episode when it comes to things to like, but they all kind of rely on some serious glossing over of problem spots.

The problem in a nutshell can be boiled down to one thing. The basic opening foundation for this episode doesn't match at all with where things were left at the end of the previous one. I'm tempted to assume that I'd missed an entire episode worth of plot development, except that I know perfectly well that I didn't. It's almost as if the writers room broke a 17 episode series of stories and then just completely excised one of them when they found out they were only getting 16 to air.

For the love of God, CW, please start giving Legends a full boat of 22 episodes. It's getting embarrassing.

OK, so here's what I mean. A not insignificant portion of the plot development tonight entirely relies on the fairy godmother currently being under Gary's control. That's actually an inspired plot development, and his relationship both with Tabitha and with the next inheritor of the fairy godmother mantle were pure gold as far as both comedy and plot development goes.

The problem is, when exactly did Fairy Godmother bond herself to Gary? He calls to her at the end of the previous episode and she saves him from Mona as if their relationship was an established thing, but unless I missed something significant completely, that was not a thing they'd ever set up.

I'll be fair. I drink a lot of wine. If I missed something that explains this, please do let me know in the comments.

Additionally, at the end of 'Nip/Stuck,' Mona ate off Gary's evil nipple – not a sentence you get to type every day – and Gary was rushed out of the Time Bureau with unconscious Mona, Tabitha, and Neron in Ray's body. The implication strongly was that Gary's nipple was behind the mass hypnosis of the Bureau, and now that it had been destroyed the bureau was saved. Left behind to witness the bad guys escape was Nora, Ava, and Sara.

This week we open with the bad guys still in possession of the Bureau, only now it's due to Gary's influence over the fairy godmother rather than his fancy hypnotic nipple. Not only do we see no evidence of the bad guys leaving the bureau together, they aren't even all in a group anymore. Mona is imprisoned in the Bureau cells, which makes no sense if they were fleeing with her body ten minutes earlier. Neron and Tabitha aren't even there anymore as they're busy setting up 'PalmerX 2019,' a low key tech con with only one panel and one guest. Ava and Sara are back on the Waverider as if they'd never liberated the Bureau in the first place, and Nora is Die Harding her way to rescue Mona with no mention of how she got separated from them.

I'm sorry, show, but I have to ask. Did you smoke a gigantic bag of crack between these two episodes, or what?

It's all very frustrating, because I said earlier, where they take all of those plot threads is fantastic. Neron's plan to create fear using the monsters so that people will download an app in order to locate the monsters and in doing so sell their immortal souls through a lengthy terms of service agreement is both goat-shit crazy and completely brilliant. What's more, it would absolutely work. If you doubt it, just consider how much none of us noticed when the guests of PalmerX were shown agreeing to a terms of service agreement that they didn't read. Seriously, go back and look. The camera shots practically luxuriate on people swiping through the TOS as fast as they can, but nothing about that reads as unusual or sinister to us anymore and so we just blanked it out.

Similarly, Tabitha's plan to trick Nora into taking on her fairy godmother mantle was inspired, despite being lifted pretty completely from genie-lore, particularly Disney's Live Action Aladdin Soon in Theaters Near You. And God bless the show for keeping Jane Carr around as Tabitha. I absolutely expected that they'd find an excuse to recast Tabitha into the body of someone younger and sexier as soon as they possibly could, because that's the kind of gross thing that network execs tend to insist on. I love, love, love that they're keeping her around as Neron's love interest. And while we're talking about it, it's such a good choice for them to show that Neron and Tabitha do genuinely love each other. It would have been so easy to tumble into the cliché of a villain team eager to backstab one another.

But the best choice this episode made was in the nature of Gary Green himself. Wonderful reveal that Gary was perfectly aware the entire time that the fairy godmother was trying to get him to wish hurt on the Legends and so he was deliberately just focusing on wishing to hang out with them as a way of defying her. Even when 'Dark Gary' finally gets called forth, his glorious flow of vengeance never goes further than acne and tap dancing. Gary is a good man, fundamentally. And he's absolutely right, he does not deserve to be laughed at. I've been saying since the beginning of the season that the Legends need to face a consequence for the way they're played Gary as convenient bait that can be had for a little flattery. I think they finally learned that lesson here.

Which brings lastly to John Constantine, in a plotline I like to call, 'This should absolutely have been an entire episode all on its own.'

When they mentioned Hell's Triumvirate I briefly entertained the thought that they might be about to do the good parts of 'Dangerous Habits' that everybody always leaves out when they try to adapt it, but alas, no. It felt right that he chose Astra over Ray, as much as it broke my heart, and it felt equally right that Astra betrayed him. Can't wait to see what will happen there when Nora gets to Hell to rescue John. I do, however, which that they'd gone with the imagery from the comics and had Astra only have one arm.

Everybody remember where we parked:

There was actually shockingly little travel this week. The Waverider just hung around Washington D.C. in 2019, and a couple of our heroes went to Hell, which may or may not equate to the same time zone, it's hard to tell.

What is interesting is the reveal that Zari grew up a little outside of D.C. Did we know that already, or was that a reveal of convenience this week? Zari appeared to me to be in the 8-10 range, although I am a notoriously bad judge of age so she might be a bit older. That actually answers a couple of longstanding questions I was pondering last year about what baby Zari might be up to in our time period.

Zari mentions that it's only a few years away from when ARGUS takes over everything and creates an anti-Meta, anti-Muslim Dystopia. We're all kind of assuming they're just never going to deal with that, aren't we?

Quotes:

Sara: "Mick, Nate, do you think you can handle Tabitha?" Mick: "Granny’s dead."

Sara: "OK, can you guys stop being dragon baby crazy right now?"

Gary: "And now I have three nipples, because a spare never hurts." Having a third nipple was historically a sign of witchcraft. There is a zero percent chance the writers don't know that.

Calibraxis: "You’re dead, demon hunter!" Constantine: "I was gonna be a demon proctologist, but the pay wasn’t as good."

Calibraxis: "I’m a demon, not a pirate, John."

Zari: "It’s a demon app. I’m gonna read the fine print."

Charlie: "If I die, I’m gonna come back and haunt you." Zari: "I would love a ghost friend."

Nora: "Gary, you dick!"

Bits and Pieces:

-- This season has for some reason brought up a lot of embarrassing confessions from me. Adding to the list that already contains my love of semiotics and the assembly of flatpack furniture, this week I have to tell you how much I love logo design. Honestly. I bring this up because the PalmerX logo is a masterwork. The solid 3-D cube implied by the background framing device conveys an unspoken implication of solidity and dependability with the third implied square breaking the frame and shooting 'toward' the viewer implying a daring willingness to work outside conventional rules and by implication 'think outside the box.' The coloring, meanwhile, subtly underscores the 'Palmer' portion of the name, thus reinforcing the higher brand. Honestly, and with no ironic joking involved, the PalmerX logo is a f*cking masterpiece of work.

-- I actually have a startling number of opinions on the quality of logo design. Feel free to ask, but I warn you that the answers get lengthy.

-- I get that they were underscoring the connection between Tala Ashe and Zari's younger self, but that hairstyle just fundamentally did not work for her. That's actually kind of rare and notable for her. Just about every hairstyle they've ever given her has looked gorgeous.

-- Looks like Wixtable the dragon is hatching in time for the season finale.

-- I went back and forth on whether or not it was smart or stupid for Zari to have brought the egg with her on the mission. Ultimately, I think there was no guaranteed safe place for the egg, given how often messed up stuff happens on the Waverider when they aren't there.

-- I hope Nate is understanding about Zari leaving the egg behind.

-- So many questions about why Nate has a 'Kid Steel' costume hanging around. And why Gary picked it.

-- This week's fabulous dress watch. Jane Carr looked stunning in that evil black number she adopted once she'd ditched her godmother duties. Also, the designer of that asymmetrical sheath number that Nora wore to PalmerX is underpaid. Regardless of how much he or she is paid, they are underpaid. That dress was amazing. Please, please, Courtney Ford, tell me that you stole that dress and have it in your personal collection. Also, call me. We'll brunch.

-- They're really getting their money out of the Stein puppet. Bless.

-- Hell's triumvirate included Satan, not Lucifer. Which means a crossover with Lucifer is still possible. Fun fact, in the comics the triumvirate in Hell stepped in to rule when Lucifer left to go open up his nightclub in LA. Which means it all totally works together if they can get Tom Ellis to make a stop in the Waverider. And then possibly he and Matt Ryan could share a torrid embrace and... I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?

-- That's like the third episode in a row where they've mentioned Damien Darhk. Dare we hope to see him again next season?

If you squint at it and assume that we missed an episode of plot development, this would easily be a four. Sadly, we can't, and so I can't in good conscience give it more than three out of four fantastic logos.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

[charlottestarchild]

When they ask me what I liked best, I’ll say it was you.

It’s been a long time since I wrote and it’s time for an update. Live has been an incredibly mixed bag, full of skyrocketing highs and hell-deep lows. The paradox that is live is still challenging me with the lemons it tries to throw at me and I am still not any better at making lemonade.

As usual, lots of what has happened has centred around men. I guess it’s fair to say that I have come to terms with the biggest feelings in me always being evoked by men. No matter what other amazing things happen, my mind and heart only seems to care about that one thing. For the past one and half years that I’ve been single I tried hard to teach myself to be content on my own. To not seek for affection and validation from men and just be happy and strong on my own. But maybe it’s a fool’s errand I’m running. Maybe it is better to allow myself to recognize that what I am seeking is love. Not any kind of love. But the deep, sincere and passionate love you see in movies. It’s no coincidence that when I feel depressed I turn to watch movies or TV shows in which the story is built around two people deeply caring for each other with such passion that nothing can keep them apart. The sort of love Romeo feels for Juliet, Jamie feels for Claire and Seth feels for Maggie. And come to think of it, all of these are examples where their love is not meant to be – Juliet falling in love with the rivalling family’s son, Claire falling in love with Jamie, a man 200 years her junior and Maggie falling in love with Seth the Angel. All of them overcome incredible obstacles between them to be together. Watching these movies makes me weep. Because deep down I know that there is a high chance that I will die and never have felt the kind of love these characters feel for each other. And then I get angry and mad at myself for being so naïve and stupid to chase after fairytales. Does love like that exist in real life? I know not one real life example. Not one. So, it seems I am setting myself up for failure and yet, what can I do. The heart demands what the heart demands. It also seems that this is a reason why I keep falling for the unlikely lover. The Swiss scoundrel musician, the Brazilian passionate forever bachelor. There is one lover I haven’t told you about. His name is Nate and he is also quite the unlikely lover. We matched on Tinder and at first I was certain I matched with a fake profile. He had only one image but that packed a punch. We started texting and that’s all we did for 2 weeks since I was traveling. When I got back home we decided to meet – he kind of invited himself to my place suggested I cook something. He came, and besides the fact that he didn’t seem to like the food I had cooked we also didn’t exactly hit it off conversation wise. It became clear quite quickly that we had huge differences in values – him having had a conservative Muslim upbringing in Egypt and me having been brought up very liberal. There was mention of his marriage having been arranged and sometimes he would start sentences with “in my religion we do...”. At some point during the evening I was certain I should send him home;  but, we both had had some beers and he had come by car and since he was hot after all and I was needy I thought to myself “might as well”. 

Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I’ve made in the past year. The sex was out of this world not just because I finally seemed to have found someone who put my pleasure over his own. But he just also clearly knew what he was doing. The way he touched me, held me in his strong arms, kissed me. It was so full of passion that it took me quite by surprise. That first night, we had sex for hours and after that he stayed the night and we fell asleep tired, in each others arms.   That was back in September. 8 months ago. We have been dating ever since. Not very seriously in the sense that we are not boyfriend and girlfriend and have never had “the talk” in which we defined our relationship. But somehow it just worked for both of us. He has a complicated family life – technically still married and has two kids but is trying to get a divorce which, let’s just say is neither a very common nor a very easy thing to do in his culture. And me, not really wanting a relationship cause “hey, I’m an independent woman now” and also traveling a lot. So, we have been meeting every so often, usually every 2-3 weeks. And every time, we meet we have a fantastic time together. We cook together, laugh, watch football or a movie and still, each time, have incredible sex.  He is also the first guy who does not fool around. With that I simply mean that he doesn’t make things more complicated than they need to be. When he reads my message, he replies. As soon as he’s read it. That might not sound like a big deal but it actually is. Because for some reason all my earlier encounters ALWAYS took their time replying. Often having me wait for days and the replying in an ambigous way. He doesn’t do that. He doesn’t play. He is straight forward, honest and when I ask for example “when will we meet again” he says things like “honey, you tell me when you have time and I will make it happen”. I appreciate that a lot in him. I can also tell that he is an incredibly loving father to his children and just generally a good guy. Which really isn’t what I expected when I first saw him. Why? Because he is insanely good looking and the first impression you might get is that he is a total player. I’ve stayed sceptic all throughout us dating but not a single time has he given me any reason to believe that he’s playing with me or using me. At least not more than I am using him. And knowing quite a bit about his family life I know for a fact that he wouldn’t even have time to date other women as well. He is super sensual and caring and lying in his arms has been the rock that kept me sane over these past months where depression and burn out have been taking quite a toll on me again. But we both always knew our time together had an expiration date and a short while ago we found out about that date. The second of June. That’s when he will move back to Egypt and although I keep telling myself that I am not in love with him, it will crush my heart. But if he is so amazing, why am I not in love with him you might ask. Well, remember those differences in values? That is a real thing. And although he is a truly good human being, he for example is very narrow minded when it comes to for example immigration and matters around sexual orientation. It’s just the way he’s been brought up. Not sharing the same values on such crucial world views is, I believe, what keeps me from truly falling in love with him. Looking at it one way, I guess that’s a good thing. p.s.: I will keep editing this story over the next few weeks, our last weeks together.  Edit 1: After having been 3 weeks apart, we met last night. We had dinner together and then things moved to the bedroom pretty quickly. I don’t know if it was the fact that we hadn’t seen each other for a long time, or the fact that we both now that the end of our relationship is near but it almost seemed like our love making was even more passionate which is not something I thought possible. The embrace we were in was so strong it almost took my breath away. After many hours, we went to sleep. Usually I first fall asleep in his arms but then for comfort I turn around playing “little spoon”. I fell into a light slumber when I suddenly noticed he was stroking my hair, my cheek, my shoulder. Somehow it felt like the most loving and caring way I have ever been touched. I will never forget it. 

Edit 2: Well... this didn’t exactly end as I expected and I’m not even sure what happened. I’ll just lay it out for you and you can make up your own mind as to what went wrong here.  So... after our last meeting which went really well and the fact that I knew he was leaving soon anyways, I kind of felt like I can let my guard down. Which only meant that I was a bit more forthcoming in expressing the fact that I’d like to see him as much as possible before he leaves. I wrote to him that I had only one wish before he left and that it was that we’d spend one full night and day together, without me having to go to work in the morning or him having to pick up his kids. His response was super sweet, he said that yes for sure we will manage because he is also tired of rushing away first thing in the morning and he also “needs this”. All fine and dandy. He then said that he will try and get a day off from the kids on the weekend so we could be together. That was on a Monday. By Wednesday evening I still hadn’t heard from him and so I texted him - here is the conversation

What you need to know, is that he will move to Egypt with the kids but his ex wife (”that woman”) will not follow until a few months later. So what my message was trying to express was just surprise that she would care about her kids so little that she’d rather go to her cousin than spend time with her kids while she still can. 

Either way, I did not respond to his last message as I was pissed off about him telling me off by saying “let me deal with it my way”. I was pissed because over the past months I had been incredibly understanding, patient and tolerant about his situation with his ex and him having to cancel meetings last minute due to stuff with the kids etc. Fact is, his situation with his ex is so fucked up that not a lot of women would have made up with that shit. But I did, so I didn’t need him telling me to let him deal with it his way.  So I didn’t reply. And neither did he. That conversation happened on Wednesday. He did not text to confirm if we would meet on the weekend or not. He did not message me at all. For a week. I then saw a post on his instagram that he was on his way to the Netherlands. And I was gonna go to Croatia the following weekend. So this then confirmed, that the only day we would still see each other would be the public holiday before the weekend he was leaving. Although I even had my doubts about that since I knew he had to pack and empty his apartment etc.  But the point was... here we were, having a few last chances to spend time together and you decide to be an asshole and not text me.  Of course I thought if I should text him, if I’m over reacting. But no... I was super clear about what it was I wanted - see him. And I wasn’t the one not having time. So the ball was definitely in his court.  So one lonely and sad Wednesday evening I decide to re-download Tinder. Just to pass time and see what’s out there. And guess who I came across. Mr. “let me deal with it my way”. 

Now again, you might say “well you were on Tinder too”. But the reason why I think this is a bit different is because I will still spend time in this country while he is leaving in two weeks... I had been on Tinder every so often and never ran into his profile anymore and this was a new profile, with very recent images, so he had to have set it up recently.  It stung. Badly.  I did what I always do in situations like this, which is be dramatic. I removed him from my Instagram, unfollowed him and deleted all messages.  And that’s it. End of story. Never heard from him. He’s leaving in 5 days.  I was quite sad for a while because it could have ended with love and respect for each other. But it all went to shit instead. Most of all I felt stupid because I truly thought he cared about me in some way. 

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

sarahf(Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): In the latest issue of the New Yorker, reporter Jane Mayer suggests that Fox News has become a propaganda organ of the Trump administration, but who do you think really sets the agenda? Is President Trump influencing Fox or vice versa? And what does that mean for the state of journalism in the U.S., particularly in an era as politically polarized as ours?

Also welcome Jay Rosen, who is joining us today from New York University!

natesilver (Nate Silver, editor in chief): I suppose it’s a cop-out to say that it’s a symbiotic relationship? But I think Fox is following Trump’s lead — and the ratings he produces — more than the other way around.

One of the things I was wrongest about in the 2016 GOP primary was that once Fox went to war with Trump he’d have to back down (thinking of when Megyn Kelly asked him tough questions at that first debate, for example). But nope. He called their bluff.

That’s the short-term history, though. In the long term, Fox did an awful lot to lay the groundwork for Trump.

clare.malone (Clare Malone, senior political writer): Mayer points out this dynamic in the piece, about former chairman and CEO of Fox News Roger Ailes working with Fox to create the audience that would eventually come to love Trump. And in some ways, I think we have to concede that Trump was a member of that audience himself, before he ever ran.

jay.rosen (Jay Rosen, journalism professor at New York University): I think we should see it as a merger, in which it no longer makes sense to ask: Who is influencing whom? The two have become one. You do not have the necessary separation between the two to even say that Fox “covers” the Trump presidency since the Trump presidency is so frequently driven by what’s on Fox.

clare.malone: Maybe it’s a symbiotic merger … I think we can agree that Trump/Fox share a certain tabloid sensibility. That’s what really makes it all zing so well on TV.

sarahf: What was hard for me to grapple with in Mayer’s piece was how things at Fox have changed. To Clare’s point, Fox’s audience predates Trump and Fox News has long been a conservative outlet criticized for its right-leaning coverage coverage. So what’s really changed?

clare.malone:That’s an interesting question, Sarah. Mayer’s story does suggest that Ailes at least urged a valence of journalistic norms … that seems to have disappeared under the new leadership.

jay.rosen: This is the central problem in discussing Fox as a propaganda network. One way to answer that is that Ailes understood that it was in the long term interests of Fox News to preserve some independence or some space between itself and the political actors it promoted. Now that discipline is gone.

natesilver: If you’re a Weekly Standard (RIP) conservative, maybe you think that Trump does too much long-term damage to the cause of movement conservatism. But I don’t think the people running Fox News have never been those types of conservatives. They’ve always been attracted to the sensational, the conspiratorial and sometimes the slightly or not-so-slightly racist or xenophobic angle. They probably also want lower taxes and conservative Supreme Court justices. But if Trumpism is a bridge to get there — that’s more a feature than a bug for Fox News, especially since Trump is so good for ratings.

clare.malone: It’s basically the rise of New York Post conservatism over Wall Street Journal conservatism, I guess!

natesilver: I mostly agree, although the New York Post has a pragmatic streak on issues like gun control by virtue of being in New York, which Trump sort of had during the course of the campaign but has mostly given up since then.

Like, although it’s a subtle difference, I think Trump would be slightly more popular as a New York Post conservative than as a Fox News conservative.

But part of this is also that there’s not much of a market for the Weekly Standard/Wall Street Journal brand of conservatism. That was reflected in the failure of Marco Rubio’s campaign, for instance.

jay.rosen: Something that makes it hard to interpret the behavior of Fox News: For the most part, the people at Fox sneer at the legitimacy rituals of mainstream journalism. The network was founded on the rejection of those norms. But every once in a while they find the pressure too great and the situation “flips” into a conventional one, where the criticism is too great and they fire or reprimand someone, or pull back from a story. But it can be hard to predict when these normal rules take over, and when they will be rejected.

natesilver: Isn’t that a little bit like Trump himself? He will back down from a crisis, e.g. the government shutdown, at least occasionally. Every now and then — say, the State of the Union — he tries to exhibit some auspices of normality.

jay.rosen: Yes.

sarahf: But Fox does have some good reporters. I’m thinking about Chris Wallace here. So I don’t think they’ve entirely abandoned all journalism post-Ailes, even if they’re giving Sean Hannity a longer leash than they did, say, Glenn Beck.

natesilver: They do, yeah. Wallace is a very good reporter. Also, there’s Martha MacCallum. But as the New Yorker piece illustrated, their Trump boosterism is starting to impinge upon the journalistic parts of their operation.

clare.malone: I think we have to talk about the way that the public has no real sense of the separation between hard news reporters and opinion journalists at networks (and newspapers).

Journalists complain about that, but it’s not an intuitive distinction for a lot of people, i.e., Rachel Maddow is not a journalist, even if you like what she’s saying and even if she’s reporting tax returns (in a long and drawn out manner).

She has a point of view and I use MSNBC as an example because while they’re obviously different from Fox, they do very much have point of view in their journalism that can be difficult for viewers to separate out from their hard reporting.

jay.rosen: Disagree that if you have a point of view, you’re not a journalist. I wrote about it in greater detail here.

clare.malone: That’s not quite what I’m saying, Jay.

I think that shows where the host is first and foremost a personality — a Maddow, a Hannity — can have outsized effects on the way that the audience views the network as a whole.

natesilver: I’m with Jay on this, although I do think it’s interesting that Hannity has, at times, explicitly said he’s not a journalist — something you could never imagine Maddow saying.

I guess I think the whole opinion vs. newsroom distinction is problematic on a LOT of levels. Like, it’s a big problem for the New York Times and the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, because the distinction as they advance it doesn’t make a ton of sense to consumers.

jay.rosen: To me the relevant distinction is not whether a POV is present in the presentation, but whether you maintain high standards of verification, or regularly relax them to accomplish some other agenda you have that comes from outside journalism.

But a personality-driven style is different, I agree with that, Clare. That said, I still don’t understand why Rachel Maddow is not a journalist.

clare.malone: It’s fair to say that networks or a reporter with a certain point of view can have high standards of factual verification and can report really important work. For example, you can point to a place like Mother Jones that has a distinctly liberal point of view and still does a lot of investigative work. But I guess I’d again point to the, shall we call them, atmospheric effects that politically slanted presentation can have? A liberal news network’s opinion/point of view hosts might cover the Mueller investigation with greater gusto for instance, because of editorial choices that inherently influence what an audience should think is the most important news of the day.

natesilver: I guess I’m arguing that news organizations should abolish their opinion sections. If it’s good enough to run in the New York Times, you don’t need to segregate it into an opinion page, even if has a point of view or makes a devil’s advocate case. If it’s not good enough to meet those standards, it shouldn’t run.

clare.malone: Ooh, there’s a take, Nate!

sarahf: But Nate, we would never have learned about the #resistance inside the administration!

natesilver: I’m not sure we learned much about it anyway! Probably would have learned a lot more with a Maggie Haberman story about it.

clare.malone: I don’t think we should abolish the opinion sections of newspapers, though … but maybe there’s a better way to telegraph the editorial red line that exists between opinion/hard news?

Should they be published only in the weekend editions of the paper? Is that the silliest idea ever in the internet age?

A separate site online?

natesilver: Maybe by the comics page?

jay.rosen: Both the New York Times and the Washington Post use the news/opinion distinction to start doing things they should be doing to innovate in news by labeling them “opinion” to avoid a holy war in the newsroom.

natesilver: But again, readers absolutely should hold the New York Times (substitute WaPo or WSJ or anyone else as you see fit) accountable for dumb shit that runs in the op-ed pages.

They certainly benefit from the traffic and buzz those hot takes create.

clare.malone: But when you say that, Nate, do you mean the publisher should be held accountable? Or the top management/editors? Because a lot of people take their frustration out on reporters and writers who don’t have as much power.

natesilver: The publishers (so e.g. the Sulzbergers in the case of the NYT) should primarily be held accountable. But I also think the NYT executive editor Dean Baquet and every reporter in the newsroom should be furious at the Sulzbergers every time there’s some Bret Stephens piece engaging in hokey climate change semi-denialism, for instance.

clare.malone: Yes. That’s fair.

But to take it back to Fox …

Who should be accountable there? Is anyone accountable? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

jay.rosen: My solution to this mess is: All journalists state where they are coming from, all practice high standards of verification, all are transparent — explaining how they work — and all engage in dialogue with their users.

clare.malone: In some ways, the Mayer story and the anonymous Fox contributors who gave quotes is some people raising a kind of alarm from the inside. But does Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch and his sons have much incentive to change the network?

Of course not.

sarahf: The accountability question is a good one. I find this idea that Ailes was a moderating force … hard to believe?

Especially considering his preoccupation with Fox covering Obama.

clare.malone: The news is a business on some level, and if the businesspeople are not “The Trust” (a la Sulzbergers) it gets really tough. Journalism is both integral to democracy and accountable to capitalism. Unless you get Laurene Powell Jobs’s money. And even then, who knows …

jay.rosen: I don’t know if “moderating” is the right word. He was more concerned with maintaining power by making them fear you. Even your “friends” should fear you, Sarah.

natesilver: It’s hard to know, but it does seem from Mayer’s reporting that Fox News is extremely personality-driven. So Ailes and Murdoch matter a lot, as individuals. In the news organizations that I’ve worked for, I think outside observers actually overrate the influence of the two or three leaders at the top as compared to the overall institutional culture. But it doesn’t seem to be overrated at Fox News.

There’s also something to be said about the culture of sexual harassment at Fox, which also seems to flow in part from highly hierarchical and closely-held decision making processes.

jay.rosen: Here’s a question I have for FiveThirtyEight people: Do you think Fox and MSNBC are fundamentally similar, or fundamentally unlike each other despite the right vs. left POV?

clare.malone: I mean, they have roots in similar approaches to TV news.

But they’ve obviously gone different directions.

natesilver: I think about halfway in between similar and dissimilar.

sarahf: I would argue similar, though I don’t know MSNBC’s origin story as well.

natesilver: The business model is pretty similar, but a higher percentage of MSNBC programming adheres to higher (or at least more traditional) journalistic standards.

sarahf: Yeah, that’s the distinction I was going to make.

natesilver: But I don’t think there was the same degree of symbiosis between MSNBC and, say, the Obama administration, so that’s also something that’s qualitatively different.

jay.rosen: For me the key variable is standards of verification and in this they are fundamentally dissimilar.

natesilver: In some ways, CNN has somewhat more of those problems (not the verification problems, but the symbiosis problems), since they’re sort of a revolving door between both Democratic and Republican White Houses and with positions for them as an on-air commentators.

jay.rosen: Also, a story like Mueller pushing back on Buzfeed’s report. It is not likely that MSNBC would simply pretend this did not happen. But that kind of thing happens on Fox all the time. Which is not to say MSNBC doesn’t ignore inconvenient stories sometimes.

natesilver: Yeah, that seems like an important point. Very often, Fox News simply won’t cover the major story of the day.

clare.malone: It’s also possible there are/were a lot more left-leaning mags/outlets that served as feeders to bigger orgs that adhered to rigorous journalism norms — The New Republic, The American Prospect, Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, The Nation. The conservative movement had fewer. Maybe The Weekly Standard, The Federalist, The American Conservative? (I’m sure I’m missing some.)

There were just a lot more jobs for young journalists at left-leaning places. And conservative outlets tended to get more think tank/former political operative writers. That probably fed the ecosystem divide writ large.

natesilver: Clare, I think there’s an imbalance in that the rightmost 30 percent (just a rough guesstimate) of the news-reading audience is catered to by a small number of outlets (e.g. Fox News), whereas remaining 70 percent is catered to by a large number of outlets.

So you have a large field of news organizations that’s center-left, on average. It’s definitely not right down the middle, in part because their readerships lean left because the most conservative 30 percent of the audience is missing.

sarahf: And for that 30 percent, Fox News is their main/only source of political news, at least according to a 2014 Pew Research study.

jay.rosen: This was another key moment in Mayer’s article because it makes an important distinction. The speaker is Nicole Hemmer, assistant professor of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and the author of “Messengers of the Right,” a history of the conservative media’s impact on American politics, “Fox is not just taking the temperature of the base—it’s raising the temperature,” she says. “It’s a radicalization model.”

That’s different from just “appealing” to the base.

sarahf: Unpack that a little more for us, Jay. How is it different?

natesilver: Some of the stuff that appears on the Lou Dobbs program is extremely — “radical” would be a polite word for it, frankly.

jay.rosen: It’s because it’s a leadership strategy. Not striking a responsive chord in the audience, but pulling it somewhere. If you have someone in your family who has been changed by Fox News (I do) you get this distinction right away.

sarahf: If Fox News really has become the propaganda organ of the Trump administration, what are the implications? Do we really have an example of “state TV” on our hands? And does this just mean the polarization in news will get worse?

clare.malone: I do think that we’ve got a problem for democracy with what’s going on at Fox News because it does spread misinformation and disinformation. And liberal democracies do best when they’ve got an educated citizenry. And he fact that journalistic lines have been blurred so completely there is a real harm. I’m not sure what happens with Fox.

jay.rosen: The implications are that 30 percent of the electorate is being isolated in an information loop of its own, and increasingly do not live in the same world as the rest of the voters.

natesilver: One thing that helps both Fox and Trump to succeed is the sort of autoimmune response that they generate. Journalists get outraged — occasionally they get trolled by something minor but usually, the outrage is fully justified! And so they drop their “view from nowhere” (to use Jay’s term) veneer.

But because the audience has been taught for years that the “view from nowhere” is how you know when a new organization is “objective” and trustworthy, it doesn’t say “gee, this outrage must mean the offense by Fox or Trump was really serious.” Instead, it thinks that Trump’s point is being proven!

Or at least, that’s one somewhat stylized view of what’s going on.

It’s worth remembering that Trump is a rather unpopular president and that the average voter trusts the New York Times a lot more than she trusts Trump.

Both Fox and Trump are quite smart at understanding where the weaknesses are in the journalistic immune system.

They might be smarter still if they dialed it back by 10 percent, but that’s a minor quibble.

[distinctivelibrarians]

Each character's pet, pet name, and personality from the Librarians and Leverage. ^__^

Oh goodness here we go (As a disclaimer, my favorite pet as a kid was a twenty-something-pound half feral cat named Precious. I was six. He hated my mother. So if any of this is weird, please remember that that is the bar.)

This is less headcanon, and more “two steps from being a drabble whoops”

The Librarians

All of these pets are in the Library at the same time for reasons.

Eve - big ol’ german shepherd named Lady. Lady was originally gotten, and trained, as a guard dog, before her stint at NATO. An impeccably behaved guard dog. Having to travel more for work though meant that she eventually gave Lady to her parents to look after, where she was spoiled rotten, and smart enough to take advantage of that fact. She’s still whip smart, still could follow an order to the letter if necessary, but honestly? She just really likes being a lazy, spoiled mutt who sits at Eve’s feet by the desk, while Eve pretends not to notice all the treats everyone else gives her.

Flynn - not sure I’d trust him with a pet, but if he had one, little yellow lab that never quite grew into his paws, ears and tail, named Manny. As explosive in personality as Flynn is, but, jokingly, more likable to the others given that he just straight up looks like an uncoordinated puppy at all times. No one’s entirely sure how Flynn actually got Manny, and no one can pin him down long enough for the story.

Jenkins - Goblin Sphynx cat. Always impeccably dressed in little sweaters and the like. It’s not actually a cat, but lord only knows what it actually is. Ezekiel’s convinced it is actually a sphynx and nothing Jenkins says has convinced him otherwise. He’s deadset on getting this thing to talk. Jenkins, Flynn and Jacob are probably the only ones who would understand its actual name, but it answers (as well as any cat answers) to Clair. Much to Jenkins’ annoyance, Clair actually adopted all of them before Jenkins deigned to acknowledge they weren’t all bad. Except Flynn. Clair and Flynn have staring matches that Flynn never wins - particularly when Clair steals Flynn’s seat and refuses to move.

Cassandra - Once everyone stopped her from adopting everything moving at the pet store (she got jealous of Lady, Manny and Clair okay), she ended up going home with a ragdoll kitten named Xena. (Clair is not impressed. Manny is ecstatic. Lady just wants to sleep) Xena doubles as a scarf for anyone who sits still long enough for her to pounce - her favorites are of course Cassie, and Ezekiel. Ezekiel is not impressed (or so he says). If one can’t find Xena, its best to stop what you’re doing and go find the little fluff monster as quickly as possible - as much as she loves cuddling, she loves knocking over precious artifacts more.

Ezekiel - Okay, so, first of all, Ezekiel is the one in the Library that brings home strays like. Weekly. Never with the intention to keep (which is what everyone else thinks at first), but definitely with the intention of making sure the shelter they’re dropped off at can take care of them. This is definitely a habit left over from before the Library. He’d probably take the longest to get a pet that’s just his, what with still mourning Stumpy and babysitting for Nessie. And then somehow he ends up adopting...well. No one’s actually entirely sure, but they had a job in Mexico, and when they came tumbling back through the backdoor, it came with them. It likes looking like a mutt, but never looks quite the same, day to day (the fur color changes, eye color, ears a little different, snout a little shorter or longer, etc.). Sweet thing though. Adores Ezekiel, loves anyone who pays attention to it for more than two seconds. Absolutely terrible at stealth - and yet, somehow manages to pop up in the most random of places when no one’s expecting it. Either way, they haven’t really settled on a name yet; Ezekiel calls it buddy, dude, baby, sweetheart, his precious little thief (from when it stole Jacob’s lunch from right under his nose), and increasingly ridiculous nicknames. Cassie and Jacob have come across Ezekiel lobbing actual names at it, but none seem to stick. (He still picks up strays on a weekly basis though.)

Jacob - First of all, he was adamant that he did not need a pet, even as the Library filled up. He was fine. And then one day he got a call from home, disappeared for three days, and then tumbled back into the Library, arms wrapped around a very confused beagle he said was named Sugar. He explains it away vaguely - his family always had beagles and his cousins had called him about Sugar, with even vaguer mumblings about his Pop’s involvement. Sugar doesn’t like anyone except Lady and Jacob, and can either be found being guarded by the larger dog, or curled up behind Jacob’s feet.

Leverage

Nate - man doesn’t like pets. They were going to get Sam a pet when he got out of the hospital. And he’s self-aware enough that he probably shouldn’t be responsible for any animal’s well being. Much to Sophie’s amusement, he ends up being the favorite of a bunch of a stray cats, wherever they end up though. (Wherever they end up. Only time he escapes them is when they’re in the house boat.)

Sophie - she doesn’t end up getting a pet that’s not an add-on to an identity until her and Nate “retire”, and just to drive Nate up a wall, she gets a Maine Coon she names Tuscany. This cat is the most spoiled thing on the planet and she knows it, and plays it up. Sophie thinks its cute that Nate and Tuscany only get along when Sophie’s not in the room, which Nate staunchly denies of course. Oddly enough, spoiled as this cat is, she seems just as content to flop across Sophie’s lap when they’re having a down day with a movie and sweatpants, as when they’re both getting dolled up.

Hardison - Pomeranian named Megabyte He hasn’t had a pet since the rabbits the kids managed to convince Nana were a good idea. He remembers a couple foster families that had dogs while he was with them, but no pet that was really his. So when it looks like they’re gonna stick around somewhere for a long stretch of time, he goes all out in finding the perfect pet. And yet, despite all that preparation, he ends up coming home one day with a waterlogged box he found in an alley with two puppies that are immediately taken to the vet. They’re straight up short-haired mutts, who Eliot jokingly names Buddy and Tiki just to screw with Hardison but hey, jokes on him, it sticks. They’re the biggest lap dogs ever - emphasis on biggest. They don’t fit, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. Not the brightest dogs either, but after throwing himself into research, Hardison’s managed to train them with a lot of basic commands. Still working on more advanced stuff. (They also regularly kick him out of bed, which he doesn’t think is fair. But, hey, they join him on the floor if he just stays there because all they wanna do is cuddle, so he can’t be too mad.)

Parker - She never really saw the point of pets honestly? She loves Buddy and Tiki, but a pet for herself is stretching it. Up until she becomes aware of the fact that you can get rats as pets. So, she gets Houdini (Sophie suggested the name, Parker about had a fit laughing, so hey). Houdini’s given free reign of the apartment, and though Hardison and Eliot can’t prove it, they’re pretty sure he gets joy out of scaring the ever loving hell out of them. Parker just laughs at their shrieks.

Eliot - He’s pretty sure taking care of Buddy, Tiki and Houdini (on top of the brewpub and their actual job) is a full time job as it is, so he definitely does not go out looking for a pet, alright? That’s his story and he’s sticking to it. Doesn’t explain the sweet-faced, bow-legged pitbull he ends up bringing home one day with no explanation. Jolene (Jo) fits right in with Buddy and Tiki (and also helps them by sending Eliot to the floor at night as well. Hardison and Eliot can’t figure out why Parker’s the only one the dogs don’t manage to kick out of bed), and is properly wary of Houdini. She fits right in.

[itsluhsbitch]

sneaking out II

After that night with Jack, you were really worried you had ruined your friendship. You weren’t sure what was going to happen the next morning, but since everyone had been drinking and decided to stay at your guys’ place, the next morning you and him were the first two awake and he basically confessed that he’s had a thing for you and he would love if you would let him take you out, but if you don’t want to he didn’t want your guys’ friendship to be ruined.

So your first date, you teased him about how long he had been crushing on you, but to be fair, you’d been crushing on him for quite some time too, he just confessed first and you were having too much fun with it.

He admitted to never making a move because of JJ, which caused you to roll your eyes. You understood that they were best friends and all, but you figured if your brother could pick the boy you date, he would pick Jack, just because of their friendship and how well they knew one another.

Fast forward a month later and here you and Jack are, still going out on dates, and still sneaking around your brother. Of course, when Jack would come over, your brother was never too suspicious, because you and Jack were so close before, it was nothing for you two to sit by one another on the couch while you all watch a movie, or have him throw his arm around your shoulder when you guys would be out walking around, or at the mall. And you and Jack would hang out before, just the two of you. Like JJ would be with Mike or someone else and you and Jack would go grab something to eat, or he’d come over and wait for JJ to come home and the two of you would just sit around and watch a movie, or go sit in the hot tub, or jump in the pool. So sneaking around wasn’t too hard to do, but at time, it still kinda was.

Jack had told you he wanted to see you tonight, take you out to get something to eat and then you two could go back to his place and watch a movie or something. He really wanted you to stay the night, and you couldn’t say no to the face he made when he had asked, so you told him you would. You told your family you were parents you were gonna go get something to eat with Jack and he would drop you off at Andrea’s, and also had texted JJ that same story, since he was with John and Nate.

Jack picked you up and as soon as you got in his car he immediately turned your face towards his and planted his lips on yours; you melting into the kiss.

“you look cute” he spoke as you two pulled apart and he threw the car in drive and started heading towards the restaurant.

“thanks” you smiled, lacing your fingers with his as he slipped his hand into yours.

Dinner was great. You guys went to some local diner. It was a small little hole in the wall place, but you could have gone to wendy’s with Jack and it would have been just as great, as long as you were with Jack you didn’t care.

It was around 8 when the two of you had left the diner, and it was just starting to get dark. The radio was playing lowly in the jeep and Jack was mouthing along. You couldn’t help but smile at him, admiring him.

You reached over and placed your hand on his thigh, causing him to look over and smile at you. You bit your lip in response, the only thing on your mind at that point being him. His smile just seemed to put you in a trance, ridding you of all clear thoughts, and Jack Gilinsky being the only thing on your mind then.

You leaned over and kissed Jack’s cheek, and then moving your lips down towards his jawline.

“Lia, what are you doing babe?” Jack asked as your lips made their way to his neck, sucking and nibbling, your hand that was on his thigh moving higher until it was tracing the outline of his dick through his jeans.

“nothing” you mumbled, fumbling with the button of his jeans.

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

Jack threw his head back and bit his lip. You were so good with your mouth. His knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel. He was so glad he was stopped at a red light.

“fuck Lia” he groaned as you hummed around him

A car next to him honked, bringing him out of his daze as he turned to look at who was honking to see Sammy.

“fuck” Jack muttered, nodding his head at Sammy as he hit the back of your throat.

Sammy gave Jack a nod and thumbs up and Jack could read his mouth saying get it as he saw a head on Jack’s lap. Sammy knew exactly what was going on.

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

When the two of you got back to Jack’s place, he carried your back pack full of clothes into the house, your hand in his. Once inside, you two headed up to his room, where you changed into one of his shirts and your panties and crawled into his bed next to him, only in his calvins, where the two of you watched netflix and made out until you both fell asleep.

The next morning Jack had completely forgot JJ and the guys were supposed to come over and watch the Nebraska football game and chill. Had he remembered, he would’ve set an alarm for the two of you, but instead he was so caught up in being around you he let it slip from his mind.

“YOOOOO G” JJ yelled through the place, knowing his family was all out doing something.

“he’s probably not awake yet, he was definitely getting some last night” Sammy spoke, walking into the kitchen with the rest of the guys, cracking open a beer.

“what do you mean?” John asked, rolling a blunt on the kitchen counter.

“well I saw him last night at a red light in town and dude was getting dome. There’s no way he didn’t bang after.”

“shit you saw him?” JJ asked.

“yeah man, I mean, a girl that gives road head is a blessing” Sammy laughed.

“true” Nate and John agreed, JJ nodding his head.

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

Jack woke up before you and just admired you for a minute. You looked so beautiful, your hair thrown all across the pillow in different way, your lips slightly parted, and the way the sun came in from the window and highlighted your face. Jack smiled and kissed your cheek before slipping out of bed and sleepily heading towards the kitchen to make you guys some breakfast.

Shuffling in, mid yawn his eyes shot open at the words “there’s the man” from Sammy.

“fuck. w-what are you guys doing here?” Jack asked, looking behind him to check for any sign of you from upstairs.

“the game’s on today. remember?” JJ spoke, laughing and sliding G a beer.

“oh. Right... I-I forgot”

“forgot? or just had some late company last night?” Sammy spoke, all the guys looking at G

“what?” Jack asked

“Sammy saw you last night getting some road head” John spoke, taking a hit from the blunt and passing it to Nate.

“oh...uh yeah I gue-” Jack started but was cut off by your sweet voice.

“Jack? you in her-” you cut yourself off as you walked into the kitchen and saw all the guys, including your brother. You stepped away from Jack, who you had started to wrap your arms around, but realized that didn’t help considering you still only had on his shirt and no pants.

Everyone was looking around, speechless and wide eyed.

“Lia?” Sammy broke the silence, staring between you and Jack, and the hickey on your neck and mark on Jack’s collarbone.

“uh..hi” you muttered awkwardly.

“so are you two like...?” Nate looked between you and Jack.

“uh..” you started, but didn’t know what to even say. You felt extremely awkward at this moment.

“you fucked my sister?” JJ spoke, everyone looking at him now

“listen it’s not-” Jack started but was cut off again.

“you either did or you didn’t” JJ spoke, looking at Jack.

“I mean-” Jack started but was cut off, yet again.

“what the fuck man!? That’s my little sister!” JJ started, throwing his beer aside and walking towards Jack, but was grabbed by Nate.

“guys, can I talk to him alone” you spoke, everyone looking at you; you nodding to let them know it was okay.

Jack was the first one out of the kitchen, heading up to his room to throw on some actual clothes besides just his boxers, the other boys following behind him and heading to living room, where you soon heard the tv.

You and Jack stood in silence until you finally decided to speak, having your thoughts all together.

“Jack” you sighed, walking towards your brother, putting your hand on his shoulder to test the waters. He didn’t say anything, or look up at you, but you could work with this.

“what the fuck is going on Lia? I thought you were staying at Andrea’s”

“I know...that’s just what I told you.”

“so you lied to me so you could fuck my best friend?” Jack looked up at you.

“No...we didn’t sleep together...well, not last night” you muttered, causing Jack to look at you.

“so then what the fuck is going on here Lia? why are you in my best friends house in his shirt?”

“Jack...I really like him. We’ve been hanging out more. Like last night he took me to dinner and then we came back here and just sat around and watched movies and talked and stuff.”

“so what? you’re dating my best friend?”

“I really like him J” you confessed, looking away from your brother now.

“when did all this happen?” Jack spoke, looking in your direction even though you weren’t looking at him.

“the night you had everyone over and I stayed in my room all night. I was gonna sneak out and go to Andrea’s since you told me I couldn’t but then Jack came in and pulled me back into my room when I was halfway out the window.”

“that was like two months ago” Jack muttered.

“yeah, almost.”

“so you guys have just been what? hanging out?”

“yeah. I guess”

It was quiet between you two for a minute. You didn’t know what to say anymore. You were hoping he would understand where you were coming from.

“he makes you happy?” Jack spoke, finally breaking the silence.

“yeah” you smiled looking at your brother.

“I mean...I guess if you were gonna get with any of my friends I’m glad its G. He’s a good guy. I just-It’s gonna take a bit to get used to I guess” Jack spoke, making you smile wide, throwing your arms around him.

“I love you” you muttered into his shoulder.

“I love you too Lia”

you two pulled apart and you couldn’t stop smiling.

“can you please go throw on some actual clothes? I mean, I’m cool with you guys. Like I said, it’s just gonna take some getting used to, and you standing in his shirt isn’t helping” Jack laughed.

“oh right. yeah. sorry” You spoke, kissing his cheek and turning and running upstairs to change.

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

Everyone was sitting around watching the game, G had his arm thrown around you, pulling you close into his chest, with Sammy on the other side of him, and then Nate John and JJ on the other couch.

Jack turned to look down at you and couldn’t help but smile. Tipping your chin up towards his, he gently pressed his lips to yours.

“aw c’mon guys. I know I said I’m okay with it but seriously?” you heard JJ, causing you to smile against Jack’s lips as everyone lightly laughed at the comment before turning their attention back to the game.

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

a/n: so idk wtf kinda ending that is. Also....after like 5000 years I’ve finally posted again. I’m so so so so sorry it took this long, I honestly was just at like a roadblock apparently and had no motivation to write this, and then had like writer’s block. I’m sorry it’s so shitty. Pls don’t hate me. I love you guys.

[aion-rsa]

Power Rangers Beast Morphers Season 2 Episode 21 Review: Source Code

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This POWER RANGERS BEAST MORPHERS review contains spoilers.

This episode was a huge gamble for Power Rangers Beast Morphers. As I wrote about last week, invoking a plotline from Power Rangers RPM could have blown up in their faces. The cliffhanger with Venjix in the morpher has gone unresolved for over a decade and fan expecations for it being paid off were sky high. If even one detail was wrong or out of place, the whole episode would have collapsed.

But Beast Morphers did the impossible. They followed up on Venjix cliffhanger perfectly and delivered the best team-up episode in well over a decade. How did they pull this off? Well, very smartly, the episode knows its following up continuity from over a decade ago but only uses that as flavor for the episodes real focus, Nate.

It might seem odd when you say it out loud. Why bother focusing on Nate at all when you’re bringing back a villain from ten years ago and Dr. K? Who cares about the Beast Morphers team? They’re just window dressing for resolving some continuity! No, Beast Morphers made the smart decision of centering this episode on Nate because that needed to be the emotional core to drive everything else.

We learn that years ago when Nate was just a kid he experimented on old Ranger tech hoping to find new ways to morph. In the process though he experimented on the RPM morpher that had Venjix in it and accidentally released him into the Grid Battleforce computer system. Venjix became Evox! It instantly sends Nate into a spiral. His actions caused all the destruction from the past year. 

He beats himself up for his actions and the show doesn’t quickly resolve it as they have in the past. Nate is given the proper time to lay all the blame at his feet. Venjix wipes the floor with him and constantly needles him with what he did. It’s no wonder Nate just throws his hands up and refuses to do anything; afraid he’d mess up again.

It’s extremely relatable. It’s easy to be harsh on our younger selves with the knowledge of today. It’s not fair but it happens. Doubly so for Nate since he was hit with the crushing weight of what he’d unintentionally done all at once. He had no time to process it, the only thing he could do was blame himself. Plus the kid has lived alone all his life! He probably deep down blames himself for his parents being away all the time so it’s easy to imagine him blaming this on himself as well. He shoves everyone away, including Zoey, and just wants to be alone.

It’s only then the show brings in Dr. K. She’s not here to catch you up on what all the RPM Rangers are doing. She doesn’t tell you her team says hi. She’s there to help Nate but critically, unlike Jason in the big dino team-up and pretty much everyone in ‘Dimensions in Danger’, she feels like she did in RPM. She’s not exactly the same, we can tell some time has past, but from the jump she’s written like she was in RPM. She doesn’t sound like a generic Power Ranger which was critical because Dr. K had a very specific way of speaking and relating to others and we get to see that on display here.

Dr. K was called in by Zoey not just because of her history with Venjix but because she went through the same thing Nate did. In RPM we saw her wrestle with how she’d unleashed Venjix on the world and had to come to grips with it. She’s now helping Nate do the same thing and that is perfect. It’s bringing in continuity but not just for needless pandering to the fans. It’s there to help Nate get through his problem and deal with the emotions around it. Nate is also acting different than Dr. K did so it doesn’t feel like a retread. 

Dr. K tells him, “you want to feel sorry for yourself. Ok. You want to feel guilty and unsure of your ability. I completely get it.” She knows what Nate is going through but doesn’t allow him to stew in it. That’s perfectly in character for her but unlike in RPM where she might have just yelled at him or done the work herself, she simply says, “no matter how you feel, the world needs you.”

She’s grown so much and the episode doesn’t need any exposition to convey it. We simply see it through her words and actions. I love it! Nate doesn’t just roll over either. He really thinks he’s worthless but she finally manages to convince him by saying the only way to solve the problem is by starting with the first step.

That’s a fantastic lesson for anyone watching the show and it’s the most earned lesson we’ve gotten in Beast Morphers. Others have been good but this was beyond perfect. It’s a beautiful synthesis of plot, character, emotion, and callbacks.

Nate works through his guilt and is able to make a counter measure to Venjix which the team tests on Robo Blaze and take him out. It’s wonderful just to watch the Rangers get a call from Dr. K during the fight. It’s a small thing but having her be involved in solving the problem of the day in a cool way does so much to help the episode feel bigger. It ups the threat because these Rangers can’t do it alone and that makes what are usually mundane fights compelling.

Dr. K leaves before Venjix is taken out with the very understandable reason of wanting to go back to Corinth to check if the virus is still there. While I’d love to see her show up in the finale this was more than enough to explain it away. Before she leaves she tells Nate that, “You are guaranteed to face challenges in life, but you don’t have to face them alone. Not when you’ve got such good support around you.”

It’s the perfect lesson for Nate but there’s subtext there that’s a nice callback to what she learned in RPM. She couldn’t do it all on her own, she needed to be closer to the Rangers to accomplish her goals. She then leaves with the killer line of, “you have a beautiful world. Keep it safe.” Chills. With everything that happened to her Earth, that has an incredible depth. 

This episode was perfect. Perfect. Every single moment played off each other and forwarded the overarching story of Beast Morphers, gave Nate some time to shine, or let Dr. K have the spotlight! She doesn’t take over the episode but they do let her interact with the world of Beast Morphers which is half the fun of a team-up. Her bits with Ben and Betty were not only in character but also genuinely funny. When those two aren’t given over the top slapstick they’re pretty charming! The little mission she sent them on was pointless but wasn’t totally dismissive and the compliment she gave felt genuine.

Considering how little she thought of the RPM Rangers at the start but still grew to love them (including the wacky Gem and Gemma) I can believe she wouldn’t mind having Ben and Betty around. Dr. K’s come a long way since she hid away from the RPM Rangers and only referred to them by their Ranger color.

The focus on Nate was also incredible and showed off the bond that’s been built up between him and Zoey. We get a nice nod to her need to solve big problems and Nate admits he’s learned to count on her. Which leads to the adorable reply from Zoey, “feels good to be counted on.” Growth in a relationship! A male character learning it’s okay to open up about his emotions and be able to share them with his significant other. I love it!

And how about that scene where Evox revealed himself as Venjix? That was damn intense! The way his voice slowly morphed from the Evox we’ve heard all season to the old Venjix voice? Glorious and a real surprise, which is rare in the age of social media. (Well, until the Power Rangers twitter account spoiled it but those watching in the UK got to see it unspoiled.)

I could say more about this episode but then I’d just be recapping the entire thing. It’s a triumph and easily the best thing Beast Morphers has done. That isn’t just because of Dr. K showing up (although it was nice) but it struck that balance I’ve wanted of incorporating a good lesson into an emotionally engaging story. It just used Dr. K and the revelation of Evox as Venjix to push that character story. Beautiful.

I guess you could nitpick and wonder why Dr. K handed over the Morphers to Grid Battleforce in the first place but when the rest of the episode is so good I can ignore that. They at least set up the Ranger Vault before now (but they really should explain how that thing came into being.)

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And so now we’re heading to the finale! Venjix is getting ready to use all the Morph-X! This is thrilling! I can’t wait to see where this goes! I haven’t been this excited for a new episode of Power Rangers in a long time. I really hope the finale nails it because this episode showed just how great Beast Morphers can be. They took a gamble and won BIG. Let’s see how they use their winnings.

The post Power Rangers Beast Morphers Season 2 Episode 21 Review: Source Code appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[libraryofrewrita]

Chapter 18: The Festival and The Extreme Dare

Nate walked down to the festival at Mount Wildwood with Katie, who was wearing a light blue kimono with ligt pink sakura petals on the sleeves, and their Yo-kai friends. They were very excited since Terror Time couldn’t activate due to a lot of children being allowed to attend the festival that night and being allowed to head back late. Of course, even before they learned that Terror Time existed, they always enjoyed the festival. In all honesty, they needed a break from the Yo-kai hi-jinx and the festival was the best place to do so.

“It’s been years since I’ve been to a festival! They used to be quite common before I was sealed away and I went to a lot of them.”

The group could see Whisper’s eyes sparkling as he gushed about how he couldn’t wait to attend his first festival in almost two hundred years.

It’s quite sad really. I should be happy for him, but it really hurts to knyow that he missed out on a lot during his imprisonment. I want to make this special for him so that he’ll nyever forget it, but how?

*****

When they got to the bottom of Mount Wildwood, Nate and Katie gave the Yo-kai some money so that they could enjoy the festival as well. They did have a lot of money from what they have been doing for the past couple days, so they could afford to spare some cash.

“Have fun, you guys, but try not to cause too much trouble. Okay?”

“Don’t worry, Nate. It should be a small festival. There’s not much we could do to cause any trouble up there.”

The minute they entered the festival, Whisper’s eyes lit up and he flew to the nearest stall, which was selling goldfish.

Wow, Whisper is acting like a kid in a candy store right now.

Of course, one could hardly blame him. If they had spent almost two centuries in isolation, they would’ve acted the same way.

“We’ll meet near the shrine, okay?”

The Yo-kai nodded and the group went their separate ways, the Koma Brothers going to an ice cream stall, Nate and Katie going to wait for their other friends near the shrine, and Jibanyan going over to Whisper.

“You’re very exicited, Whisper.”

Whisper nodded as he floated down and looked around.

“It’s great to know that festivals haven’t lost their touch over the years.”

Jibanyan offered his paw and asked,

I think it’s considered romantic if you confess under some fireworks. At least, that’s what I heard Amy say or did I hear it somewhere else? Gah! Curse my memory loss!

“Jibanyan? Are you okay?”

Jibanyan looked at Whisper, who was giving him a concerned look and nodded.

“I’m fine, nya.”

What if he laughs at me for having a crush on him?

Jibanyan looked at Whisper, who was unaware of the longing gaze Jibanyan was giving him.

“Hey, Whisper?”

“Hmm?”

Jibanyan mentally prepared himself for the worse.

“I…umm…”

Jibanyan blushed as he looked at the ground and mumbled,

“I have a crush on you, Whisper.”

“Why?”

Jibanyan hadn’t expected Whisper to look confused.

“Why? You’re the first Yo-kai that didn’t make fun of my goals, you were willing to fight Roughraff for my picture of Amy, and you’re helping Nyate and Katie understand us Yo-kai. What I’m saying is, I love you for your kindness, Whisper.”

Whisper blushed, clearly not expecting a Yo-kai he had met a few days ago to be crushing on him.

“Well, this is a surprise. I mean…we’ve only known each other for a few days. Also, I didn’t exactly fight Roughraff. I was just so mad at that fact that someone could stoop so low to steal a prized possession that I wasn’t exactly thinking straight.”

“I kynow…but I love you anyway. Y-you’re not going to laugh at me, are you?”

Whisper shook his head.

“No, Jibby. To be honest, I find you very cute and I love your determination. It’s just I have trouble telling the difference between romantic feelings and plantonic, or friendship, feelings.”

Whisper seemed embarrassed to admit that, but Jibanyan was relieved that Whisper wouldn’t make fun of him.

“Sooo…if I were to kiss you, how would you react?”

Before Whisper could answer, he heard something going on near where Nate and Katie were and went to investigate. Jibanyan could only sigh as he followed Whisper, annoyed at his unanswered question that would be most likely answered much later than he hoped for.

*****

“So, did you guys hear about the latest school mystery?”

“Is this a new ‘Seven School Mysteries’ thing, Bear? I swear, we never have a consistent mystery there, let alone seven of them.”

“Maybe it will be…I’m not sure yet, but I heard that a teacher heard a child-like voice when they were working late one night. It supposedly said, "Wanna play?”, but the teacher didn’t find anyone after searching the school. Rumor has it that the voice is still there and that you can only hear it if you’re near or in the school at night.“

"Creepy…”

Nate and Katie had been talking to Bear and Eddie about their summer so far, leaving out the Yo-kai related stuff, of course, when Bear brought up a story that had been going around recently.

“Well, to be fair, it was kinda late and when people are tired, they do tend to hear things that could be written up as their imagination.”

Nate and Katie were hoping that Eddie’s explanation was enough to convince Bear because after being friends for so long with him, they could tell that he wanted to see if the rumors were true and after what they had been through, they really just wanted to relax.

“You guys know that the fireworks will be starting later this evening? I was thinking that we need a better view and what’s a better view than the top of the school? I even have some ramune soda for us to drink while we’re up there! What do you guys say to that?”

Eddie eagarly agreed as Nate and Katie shared a worried look.

Oh no…not another attempt to sneak into a building ! We just did that last night and I doubt there’s a Mirapo active at the school right now!

“Bear, we can’t even get into the school this late.”

“Ah, that’s no problem. The side door is unlocked right now. They’ve been having trouble with the lock recently, so it’s pretty much fair game.”

Before Nate or Katie could bring up the possibly of someone else breaking into the school, they watched the dark blue kimono and green kimono of Bear and Eddie leaving as they chuckled about how much of a good time they were going to have.

“Isn’t there Yo-kai at the school?”

“Yeah…and?”

“They’re going to get inspirited in some way.”

“So we should go after them?”

“Just to keep them from getting into too much trouble. Besides, it’s kinda hard to resist rooftop fireworks and ramune soda.”

Nate just sighed as he knew Katie was right.

“Alright, but we’re getting ramune soda for the Yo-kai. I doubt Bear considered the possibly of there being more than just the four of us on the roof tonight.”

*****

After getting the Yo-kai rounded up and getting some extra ramune soda, they proceeded to head down to Springdale Elementary.

“Why did you two agree to this?”

“We have to keep our friends that can’t see Yo-kai out of trouble with them or at least make sure that they’re okay.”

“I wonder if Eddie told Bear about our little adventure last night?”

“I hope not…unless Eddie is still looking for proof of the supernatural and he decided that this was the perfect opportunity to investigate a supposed haunting again.”

“It just occured to me that Whisper never said that we couldn’t tell anyone about the Yo-kai Watch and what it does. Why don’t we just show them?”

“Umm…there’s actually a reason that you two were chosen.”

Nate and Katie turned to Whisper.

“Oh? What’s that?”

Whisper rubbed the back of his head and said,

“Firstly, before I was released, I had a dream where someone came to me with the Yo-kai Watches I gave you and told me that I was to give the Yo-kai Watch to whoever released me. I can only assume they gave me both models because they weren’t sure who would release me. Secondly…you two didn’t scream and run away like a normal person would upon seeing a singing capsule machine and releasing a Yo-kai from a capsule from said singing capsule machine.”

“We did try to sneak away though…”

“Yes, but that was after you released me, not before. Plus, as I’ll repeat, you two didn’t run away screaming, which usually means that you can handle having the knowledge that Yo-kai exist. Of course, I did give you a choice on whether or not you wanted to be able to see other Yo-kai, so it’s not like I forced you into it.”

Whisper does make a good point. We did accept the Yo-kai Watches, even though we easily could’ve said 'no’ and returned to our regular lives, but we didn’t. Plus, despite the fact that it’s only been a few days so far, we did get a more exciting summer out of it and we’re making connections to a world we didn’t even know existed.

“But what does have to do with why we can’t show our friends the truth?”

“If word got out that there were a group of kids and possibly adults that could see invisible creatures and that most of the said invisible creatures affected humans in so many ways before the bridge between us can be gapped, there would be chaos. You would be separated from your families and friends for various reasons, there would be ongoing debates in both realms about whether or not humans and Yo-kai can coexist together, flase accusasions will rise, war might happen between the two realms, and many things I don’t want to bring up.”

“Whisper, have you been doing late-night research on the internet recently?”

“Maybe, but I’m just saying that before you go around revealing that you can see and communicate with Yo-kai, you should see if whoever you want to tell would be willing to keep a massive secret like this until either they die, they find someone else that can keep a secret or is connected to Yo-kai as well, or the gap between humans and Yo-kai is bridged and we can all be friends with no fear.”

Once again, Whisper had brought up a good point. A very lengthy one, but still a good point.

Maybe when we’re all older and a little more mature to handle things like this, we can tell Bear and Eddie the truth unless they do something that convinces us not to tell them. It’s a long road, but we can handle it. And if they don’t believe us, even with proof, we’ll just ask Wazzat to erase their memories of us telling them.

As they passed a tree near the road to the school, they heard a rustle in the trees and they looked up to see a familiar Kyubi with glasses and a white coat.

“Hey, Mr. Barton. What’s up?”

“I overheard your friends saying something about investigating the mysterious voice in the school. I came here to warn you that I have investigated the voice and I believe that’s actually a Yo-kai, but sadly, I’m unable to communicate with it. For some reason, it doesn’t want to talk to me.”

He tossed down a set of keys to the group and they quickly pocketed them.

“These keys will help you get around the school, just don’t tell your friends where you got them from.”

“Mr. Barton? Is the lock on the side door really broken?”

“Nah, I was going to ask you two if you could help me with the mysterious voice, so I made it look like it was broken. Unfortunately, it appears that I unintentally made an invitation for people to sneak into the school at night for many reasons.”

“So, do we just leave the keys or give them back to you when we’re done?”

Mr. Barton thought it over and said,

“If you can find the cause of the mysterious voice, I’ll give you free range of the school at night, meaning all the doors will be unlocked.”

Nate and Katie shrugged. They weren’t sure when they would need to ever come back to the school at night, but hey. If they could at least keep their friends out of trouble, it would be worth it.

“Okay.”

“Oh, a few more things before I leave. One, your friends are right. The rooftop is an excellent place to watch the fireworks. Two, be careful. There are Yo-kai that hate humans and Yo-kai being together and they have heard of some kids that are connected to Yo-kai, but thankfully, they don’t know who you are specifically. Three, Lucas has been following you and I have to go now. Good luck!”

Mr. Barton disappeared, so the group turned around and sure enough, Lucas, dressed in a red kimono with yellow cuffs, had been a few feet away from them. They had no clue want to say or do as Lucas walked closer to them.

Previous Chapter: https://libraryofrewrita.tumblr.com/post/166509021289/chapter-17-explanations Next Chapter: https://libraryofrewrita.tumblr.com/post/166756554814/chapter-19-rescues-and-fireworks