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a-shoebox-named-meap · 2 years ago

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a guide to people’s names, titles, and other forms of address in cang lan jue/love between fairy and devil

so for chinese media, i like knowing how to read and pronounce the characters’ names, but when trying to look up the names of the clj/lbfad people, i found the info i wanted rather hard to find. i wanted to know what characters made up their names! how to pronounce them! what their different titles and nicknames meant and what kind of people address them by those names! so i decided to try compiling this info myself, on a whim. it’s taken a HOT minute, and a Lot of scrubbing through the episodes, and it will probably need to be updated and edited as i go about rewatching the show (and improving my chinese :’) aha) but here’s what i got for now! feel free to message me if you have suggestions, edits, corrections, or requests :) hopefully some people find this helpful or interesting – i know some of the things i’ve included here are lost in translation in netflix’s english subtitles.

disclaimer of sorts: for definitions, i used MDBG (mdbg.net) and the Pleco app. also, i’m a native english speaker who’s been learning chinese for a handful of years; my chinese is so-so and i tend to miss things like Connotations™. i’ve watched the show 1.5 times and read 1 page of the book. i did my best :P again, open to suggestions! please be sure to check this source post for the most updated version, as i imagine i’ll be making edits now and again.

this is in no particular order. for each person, i put their official/most commonly used name at the top, then in bullets beneath that i’ve listed definitions for the individual characters in their name, along with any other titles or nicknames that they have been called in the show. any somewhat extraneous information is in italics.

苍兰诀 Cāng Lán Jué

the title of the show and the original novel; 苍 (cāng) refers to Dongfang Qingcang, 兰 (lán) refers to Xiao Lanhua, and 诀 (jué) means “farewell.” i’ve seen some people translate this as the Parting of the Fairy and Devil. (i discovered this halfway through watching the show and it made me SO nervous for how the show would end)

九鹭非香 (Ji�� Lù Fēi Xiāng) is the author’s name/pseudonym.

东方青苍 Dōngfāng Qīngcāng

character breakdown: 东方 (dōngfāng) = east, eastern. 青 (qīng) = green, sometimes blue or black (or blue-green), young/youth. 苍 (cāng) = dark blue, deep green, ash-gray.

my hypothesized derivation of his name: while i was researching the Black Tortoise (玄武 Xuánwǔ) for this post, I Discovered Something Rather Important. there are four mythological creatures that symbolize the chinese constellations and four cardinal directions. besides the Black Tortoise, there are the White Tiger (白虎 Báihǔ), Vermillion Bird (朱雀 Zhūquè), and the Azure Dragon (青龙 Qīnglóng). the Azure Dragon represents the east. so get this: its epithet is the Azure Dragon of the East. in chinese it is called 东方青龙 (Dōngfāng Qīnglóng) or 东方苍龙 (Dōngfāng Cānglóng). SOUND FAMILIAR?? ISN’T THAT COOL?? i just think that is so cool. yes, the characters are the same as in Dongfang Qingcang’s name. associated with the Azure Dragon are: East (direction), Spring (season), Dawn (time of day), Blue/green (color), and Wood (chinese element). my mind imploded when i discovered this, have a good day.

大魔头 dà mótóu: (used in the book, changed to “da mutou” in the show for reasons? some folks mentioned they might have been censoring “mo”) lit. translates to big devil head/boss/chief, big demon boss

大木头 dà mùtóu: (phonetically similar to da motou, changed to this in the show for Reasons™) lit. big wooden head, big wooden chief/boss, or big log. it can also be translated as big blockhead, as per the netflix engsubs, but it’s not my personal preference — the connotations and intent between “da mutou” and “Big Blockhead” feel very different to me. (i.e., if you’re writing dialogue in a fic, i would recommend Da Mutou over Big Blockhead.) Xiao Lanhua calls him this, saying that it sounds a bit less serious than other, more formal forms of address for him.

东方强 Dōngfāng Qiáng, 大强 Dà Qiáng: the name and familiar nickname Xiao Lanhua calls him in the early days before she knew his identity, after she misheard him saying his actual name; 大 (dà) = big, 强 (qiáng) = strong, powerful

本座 běnzuò: a term used to refer to oneself, like “i/me,” but specifically if that person is very high-ranking; your average person wouldn’t use this word. (the usual word for i/me is 我 wǒ. near the end of the show Dongfang Qingcang transitions to using 我 wǒ with Xiao Lanhua — it’s a notable switch that gets lost in translation! similarly, he also makes the switch during his heated tirade at his father in ep. 18, and switches back to his usual 本座 (běnzuò) after he momentarily collects himself. i could be wrong, but i think he drops the 本座 (běnzuò) when less formality or authority is required or desired, like when Things Get Personal, or when he’s stepping out of his role as Moon Supreme, so to speak.)

尊上 zūnshàng: “my lord,” by far the most common term used to address and refer to Dongfang Qingcang by a majority of characters who aren’t his enemy. also part of the phrase often used to formally greet Dongfang Qingcang, “拜见尊上!” (bàijiàn zūnshàng) “Greetings, my lord!”

月尊 yuèzūn: Moon Supreme, used to refer to Dongfang Qingcang or this position (as in the throne, the seat of the Moon Supreme, the name of this Job) respectfully

月尊大人 yuèzūn dàren: Moon Supreme Lord (netflix); 大人 (dàren) is a title of respect towards one’s superior. this title is often used to address Dongfang Qingcang directly. Xiao Lanhua uses it regularly when she is being kept in the Moon Palace, both in private conversation and in serious public settings. (as the show goes on, she switches to 大木头 (dà mùtóu) in their more private, casual conversations but maintains 月尊大人 (yuèzūn dàren) in situations that warrant greater respect and formality.)

魔尊 mózūn: devil king, demon king; used in the book to address him at times (by Lady Chidi for instance, who in the show calls him 月尊 (yuèzūn), Moon Supreme; were they trying to avoid the word 魔 mó in the show or something, i don’t know)

儿子 érzi, 孩子 háizi: “son/my son” and “child/my child,” respectively. used briefly by Dongfang Qingcang’s father to address his son directly. the other times, he calls him Qingcang.

兄尊 xiōngzūn: a specific form of “brother”; the word that Xunfeng uses to address and refer to Dongfang Qingcang. 兄 (xiōng) = older brother (i.e., only a younger sibling would use this term), 尊 (zūn) = a respectful honorific often appended to these titles, usually signifying high, venerated status. 尊 (zūn) comes up a lot :)

for those who are curious about the reverse: Dongfang Qingcang usually addresses Xunfeng by name. when Dongfang Qingcang refers to Xunfeng with a familial term in ep. 2, he says “我那弟弟,” my younger brother (possibly translated as “that younger brother of mine”). for “younger brother” he uses 弟弟 dìdi, there’s no 尊 (zūn) or other honorific — probably because his younger brother is lower than him in status, so there is no need for an honorific. (it’s also interesting to see that he dropped the 本座 (běnzuò) for this line and used 我 (wǒ), but i’m not sure yet if this implies anything, if it might be a mistake, or if it just sounds more natural. in ep. 10, Dongfang Qingcang calls Xunfeng “本座的同胞弟弟,” “my younger brother (borne of the same parents),” where he does use běnzuò to refer to himself, but this line is a bit sarcastic in tone.)

both Dongfang Qingcang and Xunfeng refer to and address their father with 父尊 fùzūn, which is father + honorific, similar to 兄尊 (xiōngzūn). others usually call their father the previous/former/old Moon Supreme, 老月尊 lǎo yuèzūn. (extra note: Dongfang Qingcang doesn’t use 父尊 (fūzūn) in every case where he is referring to his father — on a rare few occasions he uses the more generic term 父亲 (fùqīn) — but based on my Research and consulting a few people with better chinese than me, this may be because of the way the word “father” is used in the sentence. more of a grammar/syntax thing than something significant to the plot or his character.)

a neat thing that happened in ep. 21, around timestamp 38:15: Dongfang Qingcang accidentally uses 父尊 (fùzūn) when talking about his father to Xiao Run in the mortal realm, which might have implied to Xiao Run that his father is of very high, emperor-like status (very sus, for an undercover agent); however, he catches himself, and switches to 父亲 fùqīn, which is the more common term for “father.” in the engsubs it just looks like he’s stuttering over the word “father.” 父亲 (fùqīn) is also used in modern day to refer to one’s father, but it’s a bit formal and usually used in conversation with other people or in writing; you wouldn’t use this term to address your dad directly, that’s 爸爸 bàba. in case any modern AU fic writers were wondering ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

少尊 shàozūn: Young Lord. used to address Dongfang Qingcang when he was a boy, when his father was still the Moon Supreme.

属下 shǔxià: subordinate. used to refer to himself (in 3rd person) when speaking to Xiyun, when he was acting as her servant after her rebirth. (this term is also used by Shangque with Dongfang Qingcang.)

小仙 xiǎoxiān: lit. little immortal, perhaps translated as low/lower immortal. this isn’t so much a title as a description of his position, when he is pretending to be from Shuiyuntian in front of Xiyun. this scene helped me understand how the word 仙 (xiān) works, actually. Dongfang Qingcang called himself a 小仙 (xiǎoxiān) of Shuiyuntian, to which Xiyun later said, “你身上没有仙气。根本不是仙族。” netflix engsubs wrote, “You have no immortal aura on you. You are not immortal.” and then i thought to myself, but he is immortal though, isn’t he? but 仙 (xiān), meaning “immortal” or “celestial being,” refers more to the race of people in Shuiyuntian rather than the state of immortality. immortal the noun, not immortal the adjective. Xiyun isn’t saying, “you are not an undying entity,” (because he is); what she really means is, “you are not of the fairy realm/tribe.” 仙族 (xiānzú), the term she uses in this sentence, means fairy tribe or immortal realm, referring to Shuiyuntian.

东方员外 Dōngfāng yuánwài: translated as “Mr. Dongfang” by netflix. this is the mortal title Jieli assigned to him, and how he is usually addressed during the mortal realm arc. 员外 (yuánwài) is an old word meaning “counselor” or “landlord.” Jieli intended for him to be a wealthy businessman. when he is just addressed as 员外 (yuánwài), it is translated to “sir.”

东方兄 Dōngfāng-xiōng: 兄 (xiōng) refers to one’s older brother; this is a familiar term Xiao Run uses to address Dongfang Qingcang when they become Bros™

内兄 (nèixiōng): brother-in-law, wife’s elder brother. Xiao Run calls Dongfang Qingcang this, after Jieli announces that Xiao Lanhua is Dongfang Qingcang’s sister.

郎君 lángjūn: translated by netflix as “young man” and “sir.” it is also an archaic form of addressing one’s husband, and could refer to the playboy of a rich family. however, i think in this show it is a respectful form of address, possibly directed at the head of a household unit (Xiao Run’s father and occasionally Xiao Run himself are referred to with the same term). i’m unsure though.

小兰花 Xiǎo Lánhuā (Orchid)

character breakdown: 小 (xiǎo) = little/small, but commonly used in front of names and nicknames for ... reasons i am too lazy to explain here, but other people have definitely written about it if you’d like to look it up. 兰花 (lánhuā) = orchid.

小花妖 Xiǎo Huāyāo: lit. little flower demon, little flower monster; the name that Dongfang Qingcang initially calls Xiao Lanhua, when he still doesn’t like her. netflix subs say “little flower spirit,” but to me this phrase loses a bit of the evil/demon/monster connotation — i feel like Xiao Huayao is not meant to be particularly respectful or polite :’) interestingly, i noticed in ep. 10 that Shangque calls her 小花妖 (Xiǎo Huāyāo) to her face, perhaps because she was annoying him, but he calls her Xiao Lanhua (Orchid) in his private conversation with Dongfang Qingcang shortly after. forms of address really have so many potential implications…

兰花仙子 Lánhuā xiānzi: Fairy Orchid; she is sometimes addressed as just 仙子 (xiānzi), “fairy,” including in situations where her name is not known by the speaker

仙族女人 Xiānzú nǚrén: Fairy Tribe woman (used by some Moon Tribe people to address her in third person, not when speaking to her directly)

月主 yuèzhǔ: translated as Moon Queen; zhǔ on its own means host, owner, or master. this is how people of the Moon Tribe address Xiao Lanhua after she undergoes her trip to Non-Abidance Cave to marry Dongfang Qingcang.

息芸 Xīyún: her name as the goddess. 息 (xī) = breath, or to cease/stop/rest; 芸 (yún) mainly refers to the plant Ruta graveolens, the common rue, as far as i can tell

息山神女 Xīshān shénnǚ: Goddess of Xishan; 山 (shān) = mountain

息兰(族的)神女 Xīlán (zú de) shénnǚ: Xilan Goddess (without parentheses) or Goddess of the Xilan Tribe (with parentheses, used by Xiao Lanhua at one point to refer to herself). Goddess of Xishan is the more common title, compared to Xilan Goddess, but both have been used.

breakdown of previous: 息兰 (xīlán) = the name of the tribe, containing the words for “breath” and “orchid”; 族 (zú) = the word for tribe, clan, race, nationality, ethnicity, etc.; 的 (de) is a possessive particle; 神女 (shénnǚ) = goddess (lit. god-woman; it’s also slang for “prostitute” but that doesn’t come up in this show)

故人 gùrén: old friend (literary); how the Xuanwu god addresses Xiao Lanhua/Xiyun. (this word is also used to refer to the deceased/departed, but not in this context.)

when referring to Xiao Lanhua’s plant form, people in the show use (小) 兰花草, (xiǎo) lánhuā cǎo. 草 (cǎo) = grass. it means (little) orchid plant. not every mention includes the “little.”

her familial relationship to Xunfeng: in ep. 28 Dongfang Qingcang says, “If you still regard me as your brother, then she is your sister-in-law.” 她就是你的阿嫂。阿嫂 (ā-sǎo) is an archaic term for sister-in-law, specifically for one’s older brother’s wife. if Dongfang Qingcang and Xiao Lanhua were married, Xunfeng might call her this, but this never happens in the show. Xie Wanqing, similarly, also refers to Xiao Lanhua as her future 阿嫂 (ā-sǎo). in a modern AU, Xunfeng would call his sister-in-law either 嫂子 (sǎozi) or 大嫂 (dàsǎo). my mom is a native speaker and says the latter is more likely. it refers to the oldest brother’s wife, the “big” sister-in-law, even if she is younger than the speaker.

on that note, the word for “wife” is 妻子 (qīzi), and it’s sometimes used in the show when referring to Xiao Lanhua per her relationship to Dongfang Qingcang. Dongfang Qingcang himself often uses 月主 (yuèzhǔ), Moon Queen, in lieu of “wife.” a couple exceptions: when he’s pretending Xiao Lanhua is his wife to trick Xiao Run, the word he uses for “wife” is 内子 (nèizǐ). when he’s speaking to Changheng in his dream state, he does use 妻子 (qīzi) to refer to her as his wife.

兰花娘子 Lánhuā niángzǐ: Lady Orchid. commonly used to address Xiao Lanhua in the mortal realm. 娘子 (niángzǐ) is a polite form of address for a young woman, at least in Ye Olde Days™; it can also be used to address one’s wife, which Dongfang Qingcang does when he’s pretending that Xiao Lanhua is his wife to trick Xiao Run. there, 娘子 (niángzǐ) is translated as “honey.”

女侠 nǚxiá: heroine, lit. woman-hero; 侠 (xiá) can mean chivalrous, brave, heroic. this is how Xiao Run calls her when he first meets her, thinking she’s The One.

画中仙 (子) huàzhōng xiān(zi): fairy in the painting. Xiao Run calls her this early on after meeting her, and whenever he refers to the fairy in his dreams.

月尊副将觞阙 Yuèzūn fùjiàng Shāngquè (Moon Supreme’s lieutenant, Shangque)

character breakdown: 副将 (fùjiāng) = deputy general, translated by netflix as “lieutenant.” 觞 (shāng) = a wine cup or goblet, or to propose a toast. 阙 (què) = an archaic term for the watchtowers on either side of an (imperial) palace gate.

Dongfang Qingcang, Xiao Lanhua (later), and Xunfeng address Shangque by just his name. Jieli later refers to Shangque by name but addresses him with “stupid black dragon,” usually.

黑龙大哥 hēilóng dàgē: lit. black dragon big brother, translated by netflix as just “Black Dragon.” used by Xiao Lanhua and Jieli to address Shangque, at least in the earlier stages of knowing him — Xiao Lanhua eventually just calls him Shangque, and Jieli switches to “stupid black dragon.” 黑龙大哥 (hēilóng dàgē) is still a respectful form of address, but the appended 大哥 (dàgē) gives a bit of familiarity to it that i feel like “Black Dragon” alone doesn’t quite convey. (Jieli calls him this name as soon as she meets him. my guess is that she is trying to sound close to him, as a ploy to appeal to familiarity in order to persuade him not to throw her in prison.)

觞阙哥哥 Shāngquè gēge: 哥哥 (gēge) means “older brother,” but is often used to address a man or boy (of no blood relation) in a very familiar way. Jieli calls him this at least once in the show, when she’s trying to be cute and wheedle a favor out of him.

觞阙大人 Shāngquè dàren: Lord Shangque (大人 (dàren) is a title of respect toward one’s superior). palace staff address Shangque with this.

蠢黑龙 chǔn hēilóng: stupid black dragon. this is the affectionate insult Jieli uses to address Shangque. 蠢 (chǔn) means stupid, foolish, clumsy, or dull.

属下 shǔxià: subordinate. used by Shangque to refer to himself (in third person) when speaking to Dongfang Qingcang.

将军 jiāngjūn: general. the palace doctor calls Shangque this. it’s odd to me because Shangque was first introduced as “deputy general/lieutenant” — i’m not sure which is more accurate for the name of his position. unless Shangque got a mid-show promotion when i wasn’t looking.

结黎 Jiēlí

character breakdown: 结 (jiē) = (of a plant) to produce fruit; alt. pronunciation jié means to tie, knot, connect, bind. 黎 (lí) = many, multitude; (literary) black, dark; a surname; the Li ethnic group.

掌柜的 zhǎngguìde: shopkeeper, manager of a store. netflix translated this as “Miss” when the delivery man addresses Jieli in ep. 2.

长珩战神 Chánghéng zhànshén (God of War, Changheng)

character breakdown: 长 (cháng) = long or length; always, forever, constantly (not to be confused with zhǎng, an alternate pronunciation of the same character, with a different meaning). 珩 (héng) = an archaic term for the “top gem of a girdle-pendant (as worn by aristocrats and high officials)” (thank you, Pleco). 战 (zhàn) = war, battle, fight. 神 (shén) = god, immortal. 战神 (zhànshén) is his God of War title, and Lady Chidi’s as well.

长珩仙君 Chánghéng xiānjūn: Lord Changheng. fairies call him this, and he is often directly addressed just as 仙君 (xiānjūn) mid-conversation. 仙君 (xiānjūn) lit. means immortal ruler, as a title it’s usually translated to “Lord/my lord” or similar.

Supreme Liyuan and Master Sansheng call him 长珩战神 (Chánghéng zhànshén), in the first episode.

罪仙长珩 zuìxiān Chánghéng: immortal criminal Changheng :(

萧润 Xiāo Rùn: Changheng’s name in the mortal realm arc. 萧 (xiāo) is a surname, and a word that means miserable, desolate, or dreary. 润 (rùn) means moist, sleek; to embellish or enhance; or profit, remuneration.

润郎 Rùn-láng: the friendly name by which Qu Shui addresses Xiao Run, and by which Dongfang Qingcang also addresses Xiao Run when they are being Bros™. (however, when referring to Xiao Run privately, Dongfang Qingcang just calls him Xiao Run.)

萧家二郎 Xiāojiā èrláng: translated by netflix as Mr. Xiao, used to refer to Xiao Run when his gifts were formally presented to Lady Wanqing. i might translate this as “the second child/son of the Xiao family,” but to be honest, the definitions i’ve found for 郎 (láng) are a little hazy to me. i could be wrong. but Xiao Run does have an older brother, who is referred to as 萧家大郎 (Xiāojiā dàláng), which i would translate as “the eldest young master of the Xiao family.” Xiao Run’s father, similar to Dongfang Qingcang, is referring to as 萧家郎君 (Xiāojiā lángjūn), which is translated to “Master,” presumably as the head of house.

萧家郎君 Xiāojiā lángjūn: and on that note, Xiao Run is also addressed as 郎君 (lángjūn)! not often, but on at least a couple occasions, such as by Lady Wanqing and Xiao Lanhua. this form of address is still translated by netflix as Mr. Xiao. again, in other situations Xiao Run is referred to as 二郎 (èrláng), and his father is referred to as 郎君 (lángjūn). i honestly don’t know how the word 郎 (láng) works at this point.

萧公子 Xiāo-gōngzi: also translated as Mr. Xiao. could also be “Young Master Xiao.” used to address him directly.

丹音仙子 Dānyīn xiānzi (Fairy Danyin)

character breakdown: 丹 (dān) = cinnabar, red, powder. 音 (yīn) = sound, musical note, tone, noise.

曲水 Qū Shuǐ: Danyin’s name in the mortal realm arc. 曲 (qū) is a surname, and a word that means bend/to bend. 水 (shuǐ) = water.

蛐蛐儿 Qūqu-ér/Qūqur: it means Cricket, and it contains a homonym for the first character of Qu Shui’s name. this is Xiao Run’s familiar nickname for Qu Shui.

容昊仙君 Rónghào xiānjūn (Lord Ronghao)

character breakdown: 容 (róng) = to hold, contain, allow, tolerate; appearance, look, or countenance. 昊 (hào) = vast, limitless; the vast sky. interesting potential interpretations for his name! (both also happen to be surnames on their own.)

仙君 xiānjūn: Lord, my Lord, in his case. this is how the fairies address him.

阿昊 Ā-Hào: what Lady Chidi calls him. 阿 (ā) is placed as a prefix before monosyllabic names or kinship terms to indicate familiarity; this form of address shows that Lady Chidi is close with her apprentice.

海市主 Hǎishì zhǔ: Lord of Haishi; same 主 (zhǔ) as in 月主 (yuèzhǔ), Moon Queen, meaning “host” or “master”

主上 zhǔshàng: Lord, my lord, the lord. this is how he is addressed and referred to in his Lord of Haishi persona, such as by Dieyi and other Haishi underlings.

海市 (Hǎishì) is made up of the words for “sea/ocean” and “city”; together, they mean “mirage.”

also the 昊 (hào) in 容昊 (Rónghào) is the same as the 昊 (hào) in Haotian Tower, where Dongfang Qingcang was imprisoned. 昊天塔 (Hàotiāntǎ). “the vast, limitless sky” would be my translation of Haotian.

战神赤地女子 zhànshén Chìdì nǚzǐ (God of War, Lady Chidi)

character breakdown: 赤地 (chìdì) = barren land. there’s an idiom that goes 赤地千里 (chìdì qiānlǐ), meaning “a thousand li of barren land — a scene of utter desolation (after a drought or insect plague)” (copied from Pleco). this definition reminds me of the Xuanxu Realm. hmm … thoughts for later. anyway, 女子 (nǚzǐ) = woman, female.

i’ve seen some translations of her name as “Chidi Woman” but i much prefer “Lady Chidi”

师父 shīfu: Master. this is how Ronghao addresses her (same as Xiao Lanhua towards Master Arbiter Siming).

谢惋卿 Xiè Wǎnqīng: Lady Chidi’s name during the mortal realm arc. 谢 (xiè) is a surname, and also means “to thank,” or sometimes “to apologize.” 惋 (wǎn) is a sigh, or to heave a sigh. 卿 (qīng) has several archaic meanings: high-ranking official, term of endearment between spouses, term used by the emperor for his subjects, or an honorific. (oh, where would i be without my dictionaries…)

惋卿娘子 Wǎnqīng niángzǐ: Lady Wanqing, commonly used to address Xie Wanqing in the mortal realm. when she is addressed as 娘子 (niángzǐ) alone, it is translated as “my lady.” (again: 娘子 (niángzǐ) is a polite form of address for a young woman, at least in Ye Olde Days™; it can also be used to address one’s wife, but that isn’t usually its purpose in this show.)

月族首领巽风 Yuèzú shǒulǐng Xùnfēng (Moon Tribe Chief, Xunfeng)

character breakdown: 巽 (xùn) = to obey; one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦, symbolizing wood and wind; ☴; ancient Chinese compass point: 135° (southeast) (this definition copied directly from MDBG because all these definitions seem cool). 风 (fēng) = wind

巽风殿下 Xùnfēng diànxià: 殿下 (diànxià) is an honorific, usually meaning “Your Majesty” or “Your Highness”; Xùnfēng diànxià basically means “Your Highness Xunfeng.” he is sometimes addressed as “dianxia” alone, it’s not always Xunfeng dianxia.

to clear up possible confusion: Xunfeng is introduced in ep. 10 with the title card “Moon Tribe Chief,” per the netflix engsubs: 月族首领 (Yuèzú shǒulǐng), Moon Tribe leader/head/chief. this occurs after Dongfang Qingcang is reinstated as Moon Supreme, but in ep. 2 and ep. 10 it was mentioned that Xunfeng was made Moon Supreme (月尊 yuèzūn) upon Dongfang Qingcang’s presumed death 30,000 years earlier. nobody in the show, as far as i’ve noticed, calls or refers to Xunfeng as 首领 (shǒulǐng). the kings of the North and South are also introduced with the title 首领 (shǒulǐng), while we’re on the subject.

Dongfang Qingcang and Xiao Lanhua call him Xunfeng; Shangque and most other people call him 巽风殿下 (Xùnfēng diànxià) or just 殿下 (diànxià).

random note: if you’re like me and some of my friends who have watched this show after watching or reading Tian Guan Ci Fu/Heaven Official’s Blessing, it might seem like 殿下 (diànxià) is a term specific to the prince or crown prince-type figure. turns out, that’s not exactly the case. Xie Lian’s title, 太子殿下 tàizǐ diànxià, marks him as the crown prince. 太子 (tàizǐ) = crown prince. but Xunfeng doesn’t have this title, he’s just Your Highness, 殿下. anyway, this was kinda like that one twitter meme for me. “guy who has only seen tgcf watching any other chinese drama with a prince in it: so when are they gonna call him taizi dianxia?”

another note: it seems to be somewhat common practice on tumblr to refer to his character as Dongfang Xunfeng, but i should mention that nowhere in the show does anyone append Dongfang to his name. for several reasons (see my reblog), i don’t believe Xunfeng has a last name, and i don’t think Dongfang operates like one. it’s likely that Dongfang Qingcang is just the guy’s name, and Xunfeng is just another guy’s name, and that the two brothers don’t necessarily have a family name. BUT, i will say, if you’re looking to bequeath a last name to a modern AU Xunfeng, Dongfang probably works. “Dongfang” is an actual last name, in other contexts.

水云天帝君云中君 Shuǐyúntiān dìjūn Yúnzhōng-jūn (Shuiyuntian Emperor, Lord Yunzhong)

character breakdown: 水云天 (Shuǐyúntiān) = lit. water, clouds, sky/heavens. 帝君 (dìjūn) = emperor. 云 (yún) = cloud, 中 (zhōng) = middle, amidst, among; i might translate the meaning of his name as Amidst the Clouds.

云中君 Yúnzhōng-jūn: Lord Yunzhong. this is his usual title when people refer to him.

君上 jūnshàng: my lord. used to directly address Yunzhong. (yes, similar to the 尊上 zūnshàng used to directly address Dongfang Qingcang; “jun” and “zun” really abound with this show, but they are different terms. don’t ask me why some characters have jun and others have zun, i only have a vague notion.)

兄君 xiōngjūn: a specific term for “brother,” used by Changheng to address and refer to Yunzhong; again, similar to how Xunfeng addresses + refers to Dongfang Qingcang with 兄尊 (xiōngzūn)

in Changheng’s trial (perhaps a more official setting), Lord Yunzhong refers to his and Changheng’s father as 父神东君 fùshén Dōng-jūn, Lord Dong (lit. father-god Dong-lord) and Changheng’s mother as 母神 mǔshén (lit. mother-god). in other settings, Changheng refers to Lord Dong as 父君 fùjūn, similar to how Dongfang Qingcang and Xunfeng call their father 父尊 fùzūn.

澧沅仙尊 Lǐyuán xiānzūn (Supreme Liyuan)

character breakdown: 澧 (lǐ) = a surname, as well as a river in Hunan Province called Lishui River. 沅 (yuán) = the name of the Yuan River, another river in Guizhou and Hunan. funnily enough, both rivers flow into Dongting Lake. don’t ask me if that means anything significant, though.

仙尊 xiānzūn: Lord or my lord, in his case. similar to 仙君 (xiānjūn).

爹 diē: “father,” as addressed by his daughters. (please, it is not pronounced like the english word “die” … dee + ehh = dyeh, kinda like that)

司命仙君 Sīmìng xiānjūn (Master Arbiter/Lady Arbiter)

character breakdown: 司 (sī) = a department; to manage, take charge of, or attend to; it’s also a surname. 命 (mìng) = life, fate, destiny. so she Manages Fates, basically.

仙君 xiānjūn: Lord/Lady/Master. this word haunts me

司命星君 Sīmìng xīngjūn: also translated to Lady Arbiter, but there’s a new title this time! this is what Changheng and Dongfang Qingcang call her when they pay her a visit, near the end of the show. 星 (xīng) means star, or heavenly body. so this title means that she’s a lady of the heavens, or something similar. i wonder if this is because she was imprisoned and no longer an immortal of Shuiyuntian, where everyone is referred to with the word 仙 (xiān).

师父 shīfu: master (as addressed by Xiao Lanhua; the chinese subs say 师父, it’s a variant of 师傅, also pronounced shīfu)

sometimes addressed as just 司命 (Sīmìng), such as by Shangque and Dongfang Qingcang at the beginning of the show. by the end of the show, Dongfang Qingcang still refers to her as 司命 (Sīmìng) when speaking with Changheng, but addresses her with her title 司命星君 (Sīmìng xīngjūn) when speaking to her directly. Changheng, in contrast, keeps using her title even when she is not present.

上仙 shàngxiān: high immortal. less of a title and more of a description of her position in Shuiyuntian, e.g., “she is a high immortal of Shuiyuntian.”

海市流芳阁主蝶衣 Hǎishì Liúfāng-gézhǔ Diéyī (Pavilion Master, Dieyi)

character breakdown: 蝶 (di��) = butterfly. 衣 (yī) = clothes, clothing; cover, skin.

阁主 gézhǔ: Pavilion Master. this is how most of the Haishi underlings address Dieyi.

流芳阁 (Liúfānggé) = Liufang Pavilion. the chinese subs use 留 instead of 流 sometimes, but for all these names and titles i default to the title cards written onscreen, not the subtitles.

三生仙君 Sānshēng xiānjūn (Master Sansheng)

character breakdown: 三 (sān) = three, 生 (shēng) = life, birth. in buddhism, 三生 (sānshēng) refers to three lives — past life, present life, and next life.

仙君 xiānjūn: Lord/Lady/Master, pretty much. if you’ve read this far you should kinda get what this means by now, right? and yes, the term is gender neutral, if anyone was wondering. a lot of these titles are.

三生姑姑 Sānshēng gūgu: Aunt Sansheng; the fairies call her this. (姑姑 gūgu refers to one’s paternal aunt, but can also be a familiar term for an aunt-like figure who is not related by blood.)

元龟玄武 yuán guī Xuánwǔ (the Great Turtle, Xuanwu)

this dude’s got whole wikipedia pages dedicated to him but i’ll try to sum it up

玄武 (Xuánwǔ) literally means Black Warrior, Dark Warrior, or Mysterious Warrior. it is often translated as the Black Tortoise, though the name contains no animal-related words — this is just due to how it’s usually depicted. the Xuanwu is one of the four symbols of the chinese constellations, each being a guardian of one cardinal direction. the Black Tortoise’s usual epithet is 北方玄武 (běifāng Xuánwǔ), the Black Tortoise of the North. the other three are the Azure Dragon of the East (!! Dongfang Qingcang??), the White Tiger of the West, and the Vermillion Bird of the South. each symbol represents seven of the 28 Mansions; the Xuanwu would be the seven mansions of the north sky (or the god of the north sky in Taoism). each symbol is also associated with a season, time of day, and chinese element, but i’ll let you look those up yourself. anyway. tl;dr he’s a cool dude with a lot going on.

上古神灵玄武 shànggǔ shénlíng Xuánwǔ: netflix’s translation is “Great Turtle.” Xiao Lanhua calls him this when she first meets him. i might translate this title as “Ancient God Xuanwu” or similar. 上古 (shànggǔ) = distant past, ancient times, remote ages, antiquity. 神灵 (shénlíng) = god, deity, divinity, spirit, spiritual being, supernatural entity. Xiao Lanhua also addresses him by just 神灵 (shénlíng), a moment later. (it’s translated as “God” — no, not that one.)

玄武上神 Xuánwǔ shàngshén: God Xuanwu, as addressed by Xiyun. could perhaps be translated as High God Xuanwu.

元龟 yuánguī: translated by netflix as the Great Turtle. Sansheng refers to him with this term. the place where we see the Xuanwu is called 玄武幻境 (Xuánwǔ huànjìng), which basically means “Xuanwu dreamland.”

凶神太岁 xiōngshén Tàisuì (Evil God Taisui)

character breakdown: 凶神 (xiōngshén) = evil god; demon, fiend, devil. 太岁 (tàisuì) = a deity, the God of the Year, who was believed to change his dwelling on earth annually; also an archaic name for Jupiter, and a nickname for the most powerful man in a locality. (i think in this show he’s just some kind of evil deity named Taisui, not necessarily the God of the Year described in the dictionary.)

乌姑 Wū-gū (Ms. Wu, Dongfang Qingcang’s childhood caretaker who taught him woodcarving and music)

character breakdown: 乌 (wū) is a surname, but it can also mean “crow” or “black/dark.” 姑 (gū) refers to one’s aunt, a father’s sister; here, it is Dongfang Qingcang’s familiar term for her. (same concept as with Aunt Sansheng, although i’m not sure why it’s translated to Ms. Wu instead of Aunt Wu, especially since she seemed to have a very close relationship with Dongfang Qingcang. the singular 姑 (gū) might convey a bit less familiarity or closeness In Olden Times compared to 姑姑 (gūgū), and Dongfang Qingcang as the young lord might have had to maintain that marginal bit of distance for politeness and tradition and royalty reasons, but i could very much be mistaken, or just reading into it more than necessary.)

look, i know she’s not a major character but she was important to ME, ok! so here’s her name. hope someone writes a fic involving her someday.

长渊 Chángyuān (Arbiter’s dragon husband)

character breakdown: 长 (cháng) = long/length; forever, always, constantly. 渊 (yuān) = deep pool; deep; profound.

罪龙长渊 zuìlóng Chángyuān: convicted dragon Changyuan, dragon criminal Changyuan. same 罪 (zuì) as in “immortal criminal,” 罪仙 (zuìxiān).

aaaaaall righty, i am done for now. (it’s been over a week… phew…) again, i’ll update this if i discover new things or receive suggestions. thanks! :D

#cang lan jue #love between fairy and devil #clj #lbfad #苍兰诀 #meap posts #clj stuff

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1moreoffkeyanthem · 7 months ago

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WELCOME BACK!!! That’s right fellow humans, it’s the second episode of

Bedtime Stories With PCE

And man did I enjoy writing this one, my sweet boys, Stan with the broken ribs and struggling with being hurt for the first time since running dry, his super awesome sponsor, Kyle w the solutions, Moose being the best lil cat ever, just!!!!! And this one is really important to me, because it is SMACK DAB in the middle of Broken Bottles From Apartment 2 after our beloved vet tech Stan gets kicked by a scared horse at work, setting the ball rolling for the rest of that story. Essentially I wanted to address more of his mentality following that incident, and to have y’all meet his AA sponsor! Iconic. Here’s

•coconut yogurt•

“Jesus, dude, that looks bad.”

“I’m-“ Stan cut off with a sharp *schh* as Kyle helped him the rest of the way out of his scrub shirt. “Fuck, I’m okay.”

Breathing fucking hurt. More than that, he was seriously bummed that not only was he on bed rest for two weeks (something that his partner would no doubt enforce with an iron fist), but he was gonna be stuck to paperwork once he could finally go back to work. And it wasn’t like he could quell the boredom by slipping away to the clinic for a few hours while Kyle was at his own job, because Wendy ran the front office and would not hesitate to rat him out.

“Baby, they’re only a little cracked.”

Kyle rolled his eyes and carefully helped him ease to a more comfortable laying position on the couch, gently resting one of the big ice packs they always kept on hand over his side. “Where’s your discharge shit?”

“Front pocket,” he muttered.

Kyle grabbed the papers and scanned them quickly. “Hairline fractures… bone bruising, sweetheart, how on earth are you breathing?”

“Carefully?” His partner didn’t seem to like that response. “Ky, I’m okay. You know how much worse it could’ve been?”

“YES! Yes, I do, Stan! Don’t fucking-“ his face softened. “Don’t smile like that about broken ribs, dude.”

“I’m not smiling about that; I’m smiling about you.”

“You’re hopeless,” Kyle laughed. “The hell am I supposed to do with your hopeless romantic ass when you say sappy bullshit?”

Stan might’ve been a little foggy from the pain. Maybe. “Aww, babe, C’mere,” he struggled to open his arms, which was annoying, yeah, but he wanted to hold Kyle.

“Dude, I am SO not laying on you.”

“Just a little?”

“No.”

Kyle went to read the paperwork again, fully ignoring Stan’s efforts to get cuddled. “Babe…”

“Your prescription should be ready, dude.” Kyle knelt down to kiss him. “Gonna be good if I’m gone for a few?”

Stan pouted, knowing damn well he was being dramatic, but not caring. “I don’t want it.”

“We went over this, sweetheart. You had a problem with alcohol, not pills. Is it just because you don’t like taking stuff anyway?”

“…yeah.”

“Okay.” Kyle kissed him again. “You’re sure?”

Honestly, he wasn’t. There were a lot of feelings coming up right now. Kyle noticed, because of course he did. “Stan, I know that face.”

Against his will, tears started trailing from the corners of his eyes.

“Oh, dude, I know.” Kyle took Stan’s face in his hands. “Look, I really don’t want you to hurt, okay? I know you’re emotional right now. I’ll give you your meds when you need them, and you don’t need to think about it. I can ask the pharmacy about the info too. Hon, we’re gonna know exactly what you’re taking, and you’ll be just fine.”

“I- I always heal fast.”

“You do,” Kyle assured him. “And there’s nothing wrong with needing a little help, okay?”

“Uh huh.” Yeah, he would call his sponsor. He needed to talk this out, with someone who got it. Kyle understood for the most part; he literally had a degree in psychology and had been firsthand through an eating disorder, which was its own form of addiction, but, well, specifics. “I’m- *hic*- gonna text Mark, maybe zoom into tonight’s meeting.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Kyle rose and ran his hand through Stan’s hair. “Ten minutes, hopefully.” He glanced at the corner and laughed. “Oh, poor thing doesn’t know what to do! It’s okay, Moose, c’mere, keep your dad company.”

Their cat slowly crept up to the couch, perching on the arm like a sentinel and making a cute little “mrrmm”.

“Good boy.” Kyle spun his keys once around his finger, and put on a serious face, staring down at Stan with one eyebrow raised. “Now, don’t you move.”

“Just stay where I can see you douse the lights.”

Kyle laughed. “You’re incredibly lame. I’ll be right back.”

That laughter seriously helped so much. “Okay, dude, you know where to find me.”

Moose had started purring, asleep next to him by the time Stan worked up the motivation to get his phone and send Mark a “yo I got the fuck kicked out of me by a horse I won’t be there tonight”. The old man immediately called him.

“Hey,” Stan answered, trying not to laugh at how fast that call was, because he knew that would feel awful.

“The hell do you mean, “hey”, Superman? How’d you get kicked by a damn horse?”

“Oh, you know.” Just hearing his sponsor’s voice helped. Some of the older crowd at AA had taken to calling him “Superman” too, which was objectively funny, and also comforting to hear, especially right now, when he was feeling vulnerable. “Went to give him an antibiotic shot, he got scared and bucked around, broke my ribs.”

“Christ.” He could practically hear Mark rolling his eyes through the phone. “Leave it to you. How ya doin’ with all of that? Gonna be able to come chair tomorrow?”

Judging by how much he was hurting, definitely not, even if Kyle would let him leave the apartment. “I was thinking I’d Zoom in. Will you, uh, do you think that’d work?”

Mark chuckled. “Well, I don’t know much about the video callin’ you young folks do, but I’ll figure it out. Might need ta get Laura to help me. She’s good with technology.”

Laura was a woman even older than Mark, who was not good with technology. Oh yeah, this was gonna be fun.

“Seriously though, kid, are you okay?”

Stan sighed. “It’s- I’m nervous,” he admitted. “About the feelings this is gonna bring up. We’ve talked about my coping mechanisms before, like how I like to move, when I start feeling down, instead of drinking? But I…”

“You can’t go for a hike or work out with busted ribs,” Mark finished. “I know being injured, havin’ to stay put, that’s a trigger for you. Like the bender you told me about in high school, after you broke your arm.”

“Yeah…” Not even Kyle knew how bad he had spiraled that time. He knew it had been bad, but not to the extent that it had gotten to. Getting hurt because of something he loved, combined with the timing and completely changing his career path senior year, all of that had led to a full depressive episode, complete with binge drinking and attempting to cut his cast off with bolt cutters. “I still could’ve been scouted in the spring,” he muttered dejectedly.

“But you chose to quit football,” Mark reminded him. “You’ve said you don’t regret that. You remember why you don’t regret it?”

Reaching up to pet his cat, the little creature who had been the driving force to him actually applying his degree, Stan was reminded that he really did like how his life was turning out.

“Yeah. I’m where I’m supposed to be, right?”

“Not for me to say, Superman,” Mark said. “You’re a damn good vet, and gettin’ hurt because of your job happens.” The smile was clear in his voice. “You’re more worried about the horse, ain’t ya?”

Stan once again had to force himself not to laugh. “Dude, he was scared. I was literally coming at him with a needle.”

“And what would you do if you were in his horseshoes?”

“Mark, dude, please don’t make jokes, laughing hurts like a bitch.” He checked the time. Kyle would be back home any minute. “Same thing, though. Ky’s gonna be on my ass about painkillers. That’s… uh, kinda why I needed to talk.”

“Hmm. I gotcha. You’re worried about the addiction potential? Combined with being home alone until you go back to work?”

Hit the nail on the head. Stan nodded, then remembered that Mark couldn’t see him. “Pretty much. I’m just… I haven’t been hurt this bad, since running dry. I’m not sure what to do to distract myself, honestly.”

“Alright.” Mark could be pretty straightforward, when it came to a course of action, a lot like Kyle. “You like them video games, right? And reading your fantasy books? Bet you got one downloaded on your phone right now.”

As a matter of fact, he did. “Uh, yeah, Atherton, I think”

“I don’t know what the hell that is, but you catch my drift?”

Moose had moved down to drape over him like a scarf, warm and little and soft. Sweet little guy; he always took care of his dads. And Stan had a support system. He’d be okay. “I’m picking up what you’re putting down, dude,” he said into the phone. “Distractions that aren’t physical, but keep me engaged, right?”

“And bingo was his name-o,” Mark confirmed. “Good to think of some that you can do when you’re my age, anyway. You ain’t gonna be Superman forever, right?”

“Dude-“ Stan heard the security door open, finally. Kyle.

Mark interrupted. “I know you got that whole thing about age, kid, sorry. I know you’re strugglin’ so how’s about we just focus on today. That boyfriend of yours taking care of ya?”

“Mhm. I’m pretty sure he just got home.” Yeah, definitely, because Stan could hear the voice of Sheila Broflovski through the door, and Kyle probably didn’t even have her on speaker. “Yeah, he’s home, and on the phone with his mom.”

“Uh oh,” Mark laughed. He had heard many a tale. “She’s gonna give you an earful. I’ll let ya go, then. You can call me anytime, okay? It works if you work it.”

“It works if you work it,” Stan repeated. “Thanks, dude. I’ll probably skip tonight, but I’ll call into the meeting tomorrow, okay?”

“Gotcha. Tell Kyle and y’all’s critter I say hi.”

“Will do.”

Right as he ended the call, Kyle burst in, arms full of Walgreens bags and his phone sandwiched between his ear and shoulder, looking hilariously frazzled. “Oh my GOD, Ma, look okay, he is literally right here just- OKAY, Jesus, yes I’m putting him on-“ he gave Stan an expression that clearly was asking if he was up for this. Stan nodded and grabbed the phone so Kyle could get everything set down.

“I’m here.”

“STANLEY!!! Are you okay?! Oh my GOODNESS I can absolutely drive up- do you need anything?! Have you told Sharon?”

Kyle mouthed “don’t blame me”. Stan shifted a little. He’d been talking a lot for the past half hour and he was actually starting to have trouble catching his breath. “No ma’am, I- wait, how did you find out?”

“Your friend Bebe’s gossip list! She posted to Facebook and said “a certain vet got kicked by a horse” and I just KNEW IT WAS YOU! Kyle said he was picking up your medication?”

“Fuckin-“ Kyle took the phone back. “Ma, okay, I’ve got him. I’m going to take care of him and- Ma. I’m not putting Stan back on the phone. It hurts him to talk. Yes, I’ll tell his mom. No, he’s on bed rest. Do you seriously think I’m letting him out of my- okay, okay, sorry, no- oh my God, I’m not making chicken noodle soup, he’s been vegetarian for twenty years, Ma. Alright. We love you too. Christ, yes, I’m eating. Please don’t start right now. Alright. Yes. We got it. Okay. I’ll keep you updated. Yeah, love you. Bye.”

Kyle slumped over the kitchen island, groaning. “If you say anything about me being exactly like my mother, I’m gonna be super annoying and not run interference next time she calls.”

“Pretty sure you’re not beating the Sheila allegations, baby.”

“Ughhhhh.”

Stan reached his hand backwards, eyes closed, waiting for his partner to take it. “Talked to Mark.”

Kyle took his hand, kneeling by the couch and kissing his forehead. “Good, sweetheart. Do you think you’re okay to get some medicine in you? I know it hurts.”

He was always so thoughtful, so gentle with him, and not in a condescending way, either. No wonder Kyle was so good at his job. He could handle a grown ass man emotional over broken bones; angsty preteens were probably a cakewalk to him.

Stan bypassed the cat across his chest, lifting the ice pack from his lower torso. “How’s it looking?”

“Oh, honey.” Kyle sounded genuinely distressed, and Stan opened his eyes to see his partner actually genuinely distressed. “Stan, I can see the hoof print!”

“…damn.”

“Jesus, dude, you poor thing. ” He stood back up and grabbed the prescription bag from the counter, along with a snack sized yogurt from one of the bags. “Solution time.”

“I’m listening.” He’d take just about any idea. It hurt.

“Here’s what I’m thinking. I got a few things of that coconut yogurt you like. I checked with the pharmacist and she said we can crush up your painkillers into it if you want, if you’re not feeling the swallowing pills. I can keep up with your dosage schedule so you don’t need to think about it.” He tilted Stan’s face up to make sure they were seeing eye to eye. “But if you want to take them less often and stick to ice and over the counters, that’s okay. I’ll handle the thinking about shit, and you handle the taking it easy.”

Stan eyed the bottle. “Are they gonna make me sleepy?” The thought scared him.

“Oh, dude.” Kyle could strategize incredibly, though. “We can start with half, okay? It isn’t likely that they’ll knock you out, sweetheart. You’re not a small guy, and I asked. Dosage isn’t high. And you say the word; we work something else out. First priority is keeping you comfortable so you can heal, okay? Does that help?”

“I’m gonna be okay.”

“Yeah, you are,” Kyle assured him. “I’m right here, you know how to deal with this, and you’ll be better before you know it. Now, some meds and I’ll help you upstairs? We can take a nap? I’ll be right there, dude. Keep you from moving around too much.”

He knew damn well Kyle wouldn’t be sleeping a wink. But he nodded. “You’re for real gonna feed me my painkillers in yogurt like I’m a puppy?”

Kyle grinned. “Whatever works.” He reached over to pet Moose. “Whatcha think, young nastyman? Do I have good plans or what?”

Stan slowly sat up, an arm around his midsection and definitely not comfortable, but that was alright. Pretty soon he’d be able to breathe a little better. “What would I do without you, Ky?”

#them #south park #style #Bedtime Stories With PCE #my shit #OrangeJuiceVerse #BBFA2 #fanfiction on tumblr #idk how to tag this #injury #broken ribs #whump #idk #fanfiction #snippet

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isekai-crow · 9 months ago

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Doctor Elise Ep. 5

| Ep 1 | Ep 2 | Ep 3-4 |

Nuuuuuu I'm finally caught up with Doctor Elise.... My potato chips....

This was a very fun (Mary Sue (positive)) Girl Boss episode, with Elise taking proud ownership of what she did despite being disbelieved, and keeping things professional between her and her patient.

This Prince y'all. He don't know shit about romance. He's never had the inclination to even bother with romance before, and watching his little baby-deer-leg-like attempts is very very cute. It's very fun to be watching this and the BL/yaoi Cherry Magic at the same time because man they are two sides of the same coin in playing with tropes and dealing with power imbalance in romance.

THIS show could be a yaoi if it WASN'T A COWARD.

I am enjoying this show SO MUCH because I (am old) enjoyed watching Dr. House, Scrubs, Grey's Anatomy, and the autopsy/sciencey bits in CSI:LV and NCIS (with Abby!)

Capybara is enjoying this because he is a connoisseur of well researched fanfiction, with Sick Fic being one of his main staples. He has learned to recognize certain illnesses because some of his favorite authors do a shit ton of research on what to do to their whumpees darlings, and those well researched stories don't go with boring reasons for why certain symptoms are appearing, but more realistic diagnostics.

He was very excited at guessing what was wrong with each patient in these episode and it was fun to watch him get excited about it.

Spoilers Under the Cut

Elise defending and explaining her report about the Splenectomy was funny because... her hand writing was such an issue, but despite all the little hearts and the poor writing that is OBVIOUSLY not Dr. Graham, they still have trouble believing it's hers until she can walk them through the report.

MORE HAND WAVING WITH THE "I turned this surgery over and over in my head" (more like she already did a successful one with the Dead Mom Hair lady) Its just barely believable, but it marks her as a literal genius, and actually makes for a good story if she WAS an actual medical genius.

HMM I WONDER WHY THE TEST IS GOING TO BE HARDER THIS YEAR??? Fuck all the other students, we wanna make this lady fail so she can be queen! But she has 3 doctor reccs to be able to take the medical exam!

And another doctor immediately tries to steal her with NO consideration for the Head of the Hospital and Head of Surgery being RIGHT THERE IN THE ROOM WITH THEM. No subtly this man, which makes sense if he CANT EVEN RECOGNIZE ONE OF HIS REGULAR PATIENTS!!!! FAILURE.

This No-Thoughts-Head-Empty Just Having A Good Time face is so funny to me.

Then we get some more reminiscent of the backstory, and I'm okay with this being a little Mary Sue -ish type tragic backstory cause she kinda deserved it, admits she deserved it, and is trying to make amends (because she wasn't THAT evil of a villainess, just an ignorant and spoiled rich kid).

But the Prince finally admitted something was wrong with himself and goes to the clinic to get himself checked out by Elise/Rose while he is in his Ron disguise. He finds her pulling ivy off the buildings, and MAN the initial angle on this made it look like she was two stories up (so I started chanting fall, fall, fall so that you can get caught).

but no, she's on a fucking step stool lmao.

We DO get a classic "Staring at each other from across the way as the wind blows and their eyes meet and they have Thoughts."

She then proceeds to diagnose him and Capybara started chanting "Hyper thyroidism? Hyperthyroidism." as each symptom and question is answered

and dammit he was RIGHT!!!

AND OH. I WAS WRONG. YES. GOOD.

THIS SHOW IS A YAOI AND ELISE IS THE SEME.

LOOK AT THIS BLUSHING MESS OF AN UKE. She's taking your PULSE, sir, not your CLOTHES OFF.

And he keeps coming back for more lmao. And is SO UPSET when the two months are up. But is probably like HELL YES I GET TO MARRY THIS LADY. maybe. the thought probably hasn't occured to him actually now that I think about it...

Until he goes to her BROTHER for advice on what to get her, and despite being the grumpy big bro IS SO ACCURATE IN HIS ADVICE. But the Prince thinks he knows best (with ZERO experience, like, what did you even ask him for then?) and gets her a shiny thing instead and fails.

It's all worth it though cause Babygirlboy prince smiles in the end!

R E W A R D GET

I want more potato chips. Please let next week come soon so I can have more potato chips anime. Please.

#gekai elise #doctor elise #medical drama #manhwa recommendation #romance anime #villainess #外科医エリ��ゼ #elise de clorance #shojo anime #fantasy europe

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mochidreambubble · 2 years ago

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10, 15, 18, 27 and 40 for Ashe and A), D) and J) for you, if you don't mind :3

asdfghjk the way the ask came pretty fast. tysm for being keen to know more about Ashe ✨TY for all the questions, I enjoyed just rambling on about him 💕(and I do mean I rambled, I think I typed quite a bit much but no one stopped me XD)

10. What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them? Promising Vivian he absolutely would never step one foot into Scarlet Hollow (Ha!). She started needing him to promise when he started having dreams from a young age, and she just knew on sight (well, on the vaguest description) where he was talking about. It was both frustrating for him because it's not like Vivian ever explained why, after all. He was never going to keep that promise, and with Vivian gone and a good excuse to go... Well. No one left to physically stop him. He's going home. It didn't start haunting him until it literally does of course (why would mother warn you for no reason, Ashe).

15. How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first? I had one line in his initial profile that he prefers to be direct, but he's not necessarily brutally honest. It's a favour he wants both ways, for people to be frank or straightforward with him. He knows people don't start out that way so you can take it as his method of extending the hand first, no hiding behind masks or lies. And no he doesn't think his words through, unfortunately. He absolutely made the The Dead Moms club joke every chance he gets, and that may not have been the best thing to say to Tabby first meeting lol.

18. What embarrasses them? It's the 'I wish I did not do that' type. I also kind of mentioned in his profile write-up, being that he knows people like to look at him because he's textbook Hot. But when he first started as a music streamer, he really did want people to subscribe for the music - even with the understanding that Covers would get more interest than the Original stuff. But that was going almost nowhere so he did the very clickbaity thirst trap route, a lot of things he could never confess to Vivian or anyone actually. Boosted his following enough to make an ok-ish living with an apartment (and a needy bossy AF cat roommate) but now he just can't scrub that part of his history away. Once anything is on the internet it's there forever. He probably doesn't truly want Stella to look him up but it may be too late for that. (on a very hilarious note, his full name is embarrassing to him personally. It's a mouthful and sounds like nonsense) 27. What causes them to feel dread? Is saying the minute he stepped into Scarlet Hollow a cop-out. Being in the Holler lights his Mystical senses as if he was standing right on a pyre. Sure he's had vague dreams all his life but actually being in the place that had been calling, practically screaming in recent months leading up to his visits... He's 4 days for 4 days on Cassandra premonition on Something Absolutely Insane and People are going to Die or get Hurt (except on Day 4 where no one truly did but a lot of things certainly happened all at once all of a sudden even). Also as of Day 4, our dear Sybil Forsyth. Which internally confuses him because he can swear to himself he sensed no malice but when she stared him down after the whole Kaneeka incident? Something just doesn't sit right with him. (Am I saying he at least genuinely trusted her prior Episode 4? Yes. The over-reliance on his Mystical trait is maybe even a huge potential detriment) 40. How sensitive are they to their own flaws? You can say Tabby hit the nail on the head about him. He needs people to like him and needing that validation maybe does eat at him. He takes being a people person to the extreme sometimes. So you can say he knows he's needy for love and attention and he's aware but he sure as hell as not managed to do anything to change that. It circles back to wanting people to trust him and people he can be equally honest with as well. Also the double edge sword of 'Do people like me only because of my face or actually for me'. Game-wise, it does work out for him in gaining trust at least but he does not know that.

#(answer for ask meme)#my oc: ashelia #my ocs #cymatile #tumblr said the full post was too long lmao will answer the rest in a separate post

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jack-nack · 10 months ago

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10th anniversary and still nothing... Not even a peep. It's so sad... All that and we never even got a proper ending. What a waste of potential. I hope Jack's happy, with all his money from loyal fans...

Do me a favor and stick a fork in the nearest electrical outlet. Anyway. Hi. I’ve been getting a lot of these asks for the show’s anniversary, so I thought I’d come out of hibernation for a little to check in on the fanbase. By which, I mean, the twelve of you still writing CeVonn/Brian slash fic well after both characters got murdered- shine on, you magnificent bastards. I hope one day to have a fragment of the dedication you all have to shit that doesn’t matter. To the rest of you- I’ve put together this handy Q&A guide, after which I’m never speaking to you again. Enjoy! Where’ve you been since the finale? Out. The team is not A Coherent Unit anymore, which means we largely had no interest in carrying on our social media presence. You can still find the other folks Around, at social media links I’m not gonna bother with. I know Timothy is doing some spin-off thing. Allison’s scrubbed her online presence, which was the smartest move of any of our little gaggle. Jamir’s gotten really into Horizon shit. And Lakeisha died in a dust collapse a few years back. Sorry if this is how you found out. Why haven’t you made any follow-ups to Station 55? Lot of reasons. I told the story I wanted to tell. And frankly, seeing how awful everyone was being about the end, I didn’t have any real interest in making more content for that particular audience. It’s a horror series, whatever else the fanbase wanted it to be. And just like The Pump Operator said in episode 3- this was never going to be a story with a happy ending. What was in the green barrel? What happened to The Noise Machine? What did the Drill Repairwoman’s song mean? Use your imagination. Were The Deep Tunnels based on a real place? Yes- and filmed there, too. The entirety of Station 55 was produced and recorded in Safety Bunker A93, adjoining the city of Port Conroy. After Dustfall, the whole team were stuck living there while we waited for the surface to be inhabitable again. And there wasn’t a lot else for us to be doing with our time. Can I make a spin-off series? Can I sell Station 55 merch? You can. And you should. The fuckers that own the rights now are content to make Silt Monster Funko Pops every year or two- you can do better. Make a James doll from the vivisection scene with little removable organs- have some fun with it. I found your other social media- why does it say Ethel instead of Jack? Take a wild guess. Take a realllllly wild guess. Really rub your brain cells together, get the old hamster wheel in your skull moving. Are you serious about never talking to the fanbase again after this? Yep. Inexplicably, I still want to see more of your content. Where can I do that? Twitch.tv/ethelnightshade- stream Wednesdays and Sundays. We write, watch movies, and indulge in wildly self-indulgent ARG bullshit. Occasionally, I will Play a Video Game if I really need manna for the electric bill. I found this blog because I saw you were participating in the Grand Brutale, and have no context for any of the above. Sincerely- what the fuck? Sorry.

I found this blog because I was an earnest fan of Station 55, and have no context for what a Grand Brutale is. Sincerely- what the fuck? Video game battle royale competition that I’ve inexplicably been chosen for. I am excited to take a clean 98th place after I’m killed in the first ten seconds by a Vtuber with an anime girl falsetto and coloring normally reserved for poisonous snakes. I just wanted to say, how much your show has meant to me. It really helped when I was going through a bad time/helped me meet my friends/come to terms with my sexuality/made me realize I wanted to make movies when I grew up. 1) Thank you. Genuinely. 2) Christ the Buddha, please have higher standards. I wrote this shit when I was 19, you can do better.

#station 55

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drarry-with-a-side-of-harry · 4 years ago

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SO Diamond of the Day HMMMMM this episode was not was i was expecting and IT WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN I’D IMAGINED. HEARTBREAKINGLY DEVASTATING? YES OF COURSE. BUT SO SO BEAUTIFUL. i didn’t think it was going to be almost entirely Merlin and Arthur intimately talking and holding each other and everything coming out. and i’m so so happy that that’s what it was 🥺🥺🥺 it was fully just a Merthur episode. the episode we all deserved despite the tragedy because it did fit well even if it’s heartbreaking okay? 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Merlin: “you’re bleeding”

Arthur: “that’s alright i thought i was dying

ARTHUR BABE COULD YOU MAYBE NOT FOR LIKE TWO (2) SECONDS???

Merlin’s just rambling about everything he’s done and should’ve done and Arthur’s just smiling at him dopily i cannot deal with this 🥺😭 and Merlin just breaks down crying as he tells him that he’s the sorcerer i- 🥺🥺🥺

the way they’re holding each other

Merlin said ‘i use my magic for you, Arthur. only for you’ 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 let’s be honest, Diamond of the Day Part 2 is all just 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 oh, and some more 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Arthur just fucking breaks when Merlin first does magic in front of him knowingly obviously lmao he’s just so scared and feels betrayed i-

when Gaius comes back with the herbs and Merlin’s angry at his dad Gaius for not getting the best things he could because he’s just so scared about Arthur this boy i swear- 🥺🥺 but Gaius just knows and tells him to go water the horses lmao come on Gaius you KING

it’s so lovely when Gaius is talking to Arthur about Merlin and trying to talk him round and then we get the gem: ‘there are those who say he’s the greatest sorcerer to walk the earth’... ‘Merlin?’ lmaoooo Arthur stop being a little shit for like TWO (2) SECONDS and listen to Gaius

Merlin is just distraught ‘i can’t let you die’ OH BABY. the ANGST i simply could not deal

then they come across the two saxons ‘you have to help us, we were ambushed’ ‘by who?’ ‘tHEse tWo mEN’ nice one Merlin glad to see your ability to lie has not improved since.. the poetry incident lmaooooooo i can’t with him then Merlin fucking magics them into oblivion and all Arthur can say is ‘you’ve lied to me all this time’ 🥺🥺🥺🥺 and the look he gives Merlin just broke me. THE ANGST

then in the forest at night Arthur half heartedly spits ‘why don’t you use magic’ when Merlin’s tryna light the fire oh baby Arthur’s so mad i can’t with this boy. you little arsehole Arthur Pendragon boy’s been saving your life since day one pipe down ANYWAY Merlin gives him a proper answer and says it’s just out of habit and he turns to Arthur and this boy just NODS AT MERLIN AND THE GROUND, WITH A SLIGHT HINT OF A SMILE AND RAISED EYEBROWS AS IF TO SAY ‘GO AHEAD, DO IT’ THE CHEEK OF THIS MAN he just wants to watch him do it. anyway Merlin does and says ‘it feels strange’ and all Arthur can say is ‘yeah’ yeh alright well done mate do better next time i know you’re dying babe but please

Arthur still has the same expression on his face, ever so slight smile, and says ‘i thought i knew you’ and Merlin’s looking at him like ‘wtf man what do you want me to say to that exactly??’ but actually says ‘i’m still the same person’ 🥺🥺🥺 ‘i trusted you’ 🥺🥺🥺🥺 ‘i’m sorry’ 🥺🥺 ‘i’m sorry, too’ 🥺🥺🥺 I’M SORRY TOO. ARTHUR SAID I’M SORRY TOO

OH I’M SORRY BUT I CAN’T ANYMORE THIS IS TOO MUCH 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

then a crazy intimate moment where Merlin takes off Arthur’s boots and Arthur’s so confused as to why he’s still acting like this UHHHHH KING that’s all Merlin’s ever done he just wants to be yours take that as you will

then Merlin’s feeding him and Arthur just comes out with it. he doesn’t understand why he would act the servant when he’s a sorcerer 🥺🥺 ‘it’s my destiny’ ARTHUR IT’S HIS DESTINY I- ‘as it has been since the day we met’ and Arthur cracks a slight smile at that 🥺🥺🥺 ‘i tried to take your head off with a mace’ ‘and i stopped you, using magic’ AND LET ME TELL YOU THESE BOYS REMINISCING JUST FINISHED ME OFF ONCE AND FOR ALL WHY IS THIS SO SOFT 🥺🥺🥺 ‘you cheated’ ‘you were going to kill me’ ‘i should have’ ‘i’m glad you didn’t’ and Arthur scoffs i’ve asked you before, can you just pipe down for a sec? thanks. and Merlin’s just saying lovely things to him and Arthur’s just looking at him so intently and sweetly ‘there’ll never be another like you, Arthur’ and then Arthur’s pondering and Merlin looks away like he’s spoken out of turn and idk man getting a bit of a GAY VIBE like he’s admitting his love and shouldn’t have. idk seems kinda gay to me. idk though

the way he holds his head while he’s feeding them yes i know this is just what you do but 🥺🥺🥺🥺

at this point every time Arthur collapses i was crying because i kept thinking he was gonna die at any minute i- i’m a mess

Arthur says ‘why did you never tell me?’ king. KING. how could he??? 🥺🥺 and Arthur just looks so so sad

the way Merlin’s holding him

Merlin tells him he didn’t want to put Arthur in that position of deciding whether or not to chop his head off and Arthur replies with a smile ‘that’s what worried you?’ 🥺🥺🥺 YES KING HE’S ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT YOU. Merlin tells Arthur that he was born to serve him and that he’s proud of that and Arthur’s just looking at him like Merlin’s just given him the world 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

‘so you’re not an idiot that was another lie’ lmaooooo king stop ‘no, it’s just another part of my charm’ and Merlin turns back to him and gives him the warmest little smile 🥺🥺 and Arthur has a little smile to himself 🥺🥺🥺

then Merlin’s doing all his little magic tricks to distract the saxons and Arthur’s watching so intently. so quizzically. and says with his trademark sarcasm ‘you’ve done this before’ and Merlin just looks at him and Arthur almost doesn’t know what to say until ‘all these years Merlin, you never once sought any credit’ YEAH WE KNOW KING THAT’S WHY YOU LOVE HIM

i just love how this episode is just the progression Arthur slowly coming to terms with who Merlin is and accepting him for it which is not what i thought it was going to be but boy oh boy am i glad that it is 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Arthur’s starts ‘whatever happens...’ and is about to say something sad and Merlin just- ‘shh don’t talk’ ‘i’m the king Merlin, you can’t tell me what to do’ ‘i always have, i’m not going to change now’ ‘i don’t want you to change. i want you to always.. be you’ 🥺🥺 this episode really gave us everything and then took it all away huh? and then they’re joking and Arthur’s delirious and passes out and Merlin’s got tears in his eyes, just holding his neck to make sure he’s ok 🥺🥺🥺

and then it’s time for Morgana to die and Arthur has to watch Merlin plunge this blade into his sister because that’s who she is even if she’s gone a bit bad lmao and Merlin says ‘goodbye Morgana’ and Arthur’s just staring like he feels nothing at this point 🥺🥺🥺🥺 but then he says ‘brought peace at last’ and i just- 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 i’m broken 🥺🥺

and then Arthur collapses. and they joke about Merlin’s magic not being able to save him🥺 and Merlin’s just holding him. 🥺 because that’s what Arthur asks him to do 🥺 please. and Arthur says ‘there’s something i want to say’ and i was just sobbing uncontrollably at this point. and Merlin thinks he’s going to say goodbye. but that’s not it. of course that not it Merlin. 🥺🥺 ‘everything you’ve done... i know now. for me, for camelot... for the kingdom you help me build’ AND IT’S COMING. Merlin tells him he would’ve done it without him and i think we all know that’s not true and Arthur says ‘maybe’ with a smile at him 🥺🥺🥺 AND IT’S STILL COMING ‘i want to say something i’ve never said to you before’ and I FUCKING KNEW what it was going to be ‘thank you’ and i just broke and so did Merlin and Arthur’s just smiling at him and Merlin’s shouting his name but he’s gone and 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 he whispers ‘stay with me’ but it’s too late 🥺🥺🥺 and Merlin screams for the Great Dragon.

he tells him there’s nothing that can be done. and Merlin thinks he’s failed but dragon boy tells him that’s not the case 🥺🥺 because he’s built everything that he was supposed to with Arthur 🥺🥺🥺 ‘i can’t lose him, he’s my friend’ oh

‘Arthur is not just a king... he is the once and future king’ i-

and then Arthur’s in the boat and Merlin touches his forehead and he just breaks down crying and if i remember correctly Merlin, Arthur told you no man is worth your tears 🥺🥺🥺 and he just keeps touching him because it’s the last chance he’ll ever get. and he sets the boat off and he breaks down crying again. baby, me too

now, i don’t know if he was meant to light it up and couldn’t bring himself to??? but that’s what i’m thinking currently

OKAY I AM DONE. yes this was a post to help with the trauma. yes it’s long. i am currently dead. i’ll keep you updated lmao

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sortasirius · 4 years ago

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What the Fuck Happened to the SPN Finale?

Okay so here it is, my Charlie Kelly style manifesto.

Before I get into it, I recognize that I will look like this to many of you, and that’s okay, I understand:

Secondly, your personal Takes about the writers don’t interest me, I don’t need to hear them. This, as I’ll explain, is going to remain a writer positive blog, and that’s the end of it.

Third, and most importantly: some of what I’m going to talk about is fact, and some is highly educated speculation. I will notate what is speculation, just so there’s no confusion or hot takes in my inbox that I’m a conspiracy theorist or stirring shit up for no reason.

A list of what I’ll be discussing

The episode in regards to the rest of the season

The episode issues: length, editing

Scene placement and speculation of scenes cut

The scrubbing of Jack, Cas, Eileen

Network involvement and general timeline of when things were cut

Misha: theories on where he was, official company line, why we can’t expect to hear anything directly

The silence of the cast post episode (in Misha’s case, mid episode) and what this might mean

Jensen speaking with Kripke about the ending: why it doesn’t mean what you might think (also why kripke remained positive on the ending)

Walker, and why this episode had a major shift

Why the network would do this or get involved

Why the writers of the show simply aren’t the bad guys here, and what I “want” out of this post, since I know it’ll get asked

This is very long and under a cut, but I hope you’ll give it a read.

The Episode In Regards to the Rest of the Season

So, I’ve discussed this already here, but it’s the most obvious thing to me, and that’s the way this episode simply doesn’t fit with the rest of the season.

These people in this room have, truly, been nothing but consistent when it comes to their arcs, especially this season, and the marked dropoff in quality for the finale episode is just too sus to discount to me. Dabb’s whole focus has been character-based. In his seasons, we’ve moved far away from MOTW and bro-codependency, the found family taking it’s place. Does it really sit right to anyone that that was all thrown away in literally the last episode of the entire show?

This is speculation on my part, but as a writer myself, there is no way I would be happy or willing to stamp my name on something that I didn’t think would, at the very least, wrap up the season+ character arcs that I and my team had been crafting.

And before anyone comes in here saying, “well GOT did that!” Bruh. The writing was on the wall for GOT long before the final episode. You could tell that the showrunners just wanted to be done (not only from the plot, but from the fact that they lobbied for a shorter season). Miss me with that, it doesn’t apply here. Andrew has, besides Singer and J2, been with the show longer than anyone. He cares, he is meticulous and detailed, and this ending feels worse than anything Bucklemming has ever written, let alone Dabb.

Additionally, I’ve seen a lot of people say that Dabb was never behind Destiel, that it was all Bobo and Meredith and no one else. That is reductive to the point of insult of the work Dabb has done to get this greenlit. This man did not write the s13 Dean grief arc to be slandered like this. That being said, YES, Bobo and Meredith were the leads on the DeanCas arc this season, but ANDREW IS THE SHOWRUNNER, TO GET EVEN THE CONFESSION APPROVED BY THE NETWORK HE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE THEIR BACKS. AND HE DID.

Finale Issues

So, now that we’ve gotten the fact that this episode doesn’t hit on any of the major themes the show was barrelling towards all season, let’s discuss the fact that the episode is just...weird.

Not only is it shorter than any other episode (I think with the intro and the credits/crew thing at the end, it was around 38 mins), but it was also...idk, 90% filler?

One of the lovely humans in the POLOL server did the legwork here, and broke it down:

This is weird, y’all. Most series finales are LONGER than normal (Lost, SOA, Longmire are the ones I can think of off the top of my head), and for the final episode to be this? I saw more than one person point out that we only really needed 19 episodes, what was the point of 20? AND THAT’S EXACTLY IT? WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS FINAL EPISODE IF THIS WAS ALL WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET?

It simply doesn’t make any sense, the first half of the episode was rushed, a final monster hunt gone wrong, but in the second half? Nothing really happened? Sam lived his entire life and Dean just drove around. It doesn’t make sense to have all the emotional arcs left unaddressed in an episode that definitely needed some kind of spark.

Here’s the speculation I have: the episode seemingly went through a lot of changes between the initial inception of the final season and when we actually got it, but I think it would have been passable (as in, we wouldn’t be sitting here asking each other why each arc feels incomplete) until the editing room got ahold of it. The only think that makes this episode make sense is network fuckery. Truly, that is the only thing. It explains the weird, cuts, the rushed pacing of the first half followed by nothing in the second half, the double montages of “Wayward Son” back to back, and Dean just...driving around for the last half of the episode.

Scene Placement and Speculation of Scenes Cut

Before I get into this section, the info of the shots in the episode I have come from a source that @occamshipper got a week or so before the finale. She’s talked about this here.

So here’s what Min was given:

1-5: 1 INT MEN OF LETTERS – DEAN’S ROOM Dean is greeted by Miracle

6-10: 6 INT MEN OF LETTERS – HALLWAY/SAM’S ROOM Sam has his routine

D1 1 11-15: 15 EXT FARM HOUSE Establishing

N1 1/8 16-20: 19 Dad’s journal, marker, drawing of masked man in journal.

21-25: 23 INT IMPALA – PMP Driver picks the music

N2 1 3/8 1,2 26-30: 28pt2 INT BARN: A face from the past

28pt3 Sam and Dean say goodbye

28pt4 Shot early for technical reasons, presumably the overhead shot

N2 31-45: 41 INT MEN OF LETTERS – SAM’S ROOM Sam’s alarm goes off D4 1/8 1 46-60: 56 INT N7glasses for Sam, laptop.

So...it all fits right? It all tracks with the actual episode, where it lands, etc. The issue is between shots 29-40 which were apparently “too big to spoil.” Uh. Where are they? And where’s 28 pt4?

After Dean dies, the next scene is Sam burning him, then shot 31, the shot of his alarm going off.

So. Where are those 11ish shots?

PLUS we have the boards, which are scenes we KNOW were actually shot:

As well as scenes for 20 that were shot in 19.

It’s just...weird, it’s weird and again hits on the fact that the episode is so short and like 80% montage.

The Scrubbing of Jack, Cas, and Eileen

So now we have to reckon with the fact that Eileen was last mentioned by Sam after she got snapped by Chuck, Jack’s last mention is that he’s off being God somewhere, and Cas’ last mention is a ~knowing look~ between Dean and Bobby.

I’m sorry, make it make sense:

???????? That’s the end if it? They don’t need to be discussed after this??? It’s just simply not something a writer would do, they would not introduce these characters, these arcs, without thinking there’s going to be some kind of follow through here.

So not only were three major characters (including two leads and both of the original characters’ love interests) completely wiped from the finale episode, it was as though Sam and Dean never even needed them, which just...ain’t it.

So why Eileen and Jack too? Why not just take Cas out of it if they were afraid of the gay? Because, ultimately, the episode went back to Kripke’s original story: just the bros, they only need each other and no one else. They don’t want anyone else, they don’t need anyone else. Easier to go back to something they knew was successful than trust the writers and their audience and take a big leap.

Alex even said he shot for 20 with “some of the guys” here. What happened to that footage?

The complete 180 of it all still shocks me, I still cannot believe that we were essentially at the finish line, and the network just stopped short, and decided to go run another race, at the expense of the arc of this fifteen year legacy show.

Network Involvement and When Things Were Cut

Okay, now into the juicy stuff.

So I’ve pretty well established that network fuckery is clear, but how much did they get involved, what was the original intent?

Well again, we may never actually know what Andrew’s original script was, but I think, at the least, it would involve Dean speaking his truth to Cas and Sam living a life with Eileen.

Now, it seems today, that Misha said that Jimmy Novak was supposed to be in the finale in one iteration of the script, and while initially my brain was like “that truly makes no sense and he’s either straight up lying or telling a half truth,” I think what may be happening is Misha talking about as much as he can right now.

So Jimmy right. Weird as fuck. Why would he been in the Roadhouse and not Cas? My current thought (this is about as reachy as I’ll get) is that Jimmy had no lines, could he have been in the Roadhouse as a red herring, like it said “Jimmy” in the script but it was just Cas in human clothes, a way to get around the network saying Cas couldn’t be in the final scene. Also, you’ll notice that Misha didn’t say that Cas wasn’t supposed to be in the ep at all, just Jimmy in the last scene.

All this to say, there have clearly been multiple versions of the script, getting lighter and lighter with Cas and Eileen as the network pulled further and further back. Remember, Dabb has to get things approved before they get shot, and if the network kept asking and asking and asking to cut Cas and Eileen, he had to find a way to work around it. Granted, I still think that if we had been able to get a Dabb script that wasn’t torn to shreds in editing, it wouldn’t be so bad. It may not be what a lot of us wanted (Dean speaking his truth to Cas and a reciprocation), but doing everything he could to give it to us in subtext or visual clues.

Plus, in all honesty, my man can’t keep his story straight anyway. He said twice in his panel that the Empty and offscreen Heaven ending weren’t his original ending either.

In addition, remember that Jensen did ADR post episode 18, AND said in a meet and greet last weekend that Dean’s reaction to Cas’ confession was “cut down.” (Source here). Many of us clowns got excited when we first heard about ADR, because we thought it would be upping the ante on Dean’s reaction, but I remember being a little sus when it was just crying. My speculation on that is that they cut out Dean actually SAYING something, @winchestersingerautorepair spoke about that here.

The biggest sins were, in my opinion, committed during editing, where the network got too gun shy and sliced the episode until it was nothing but a heartless bro-fest of a finale, not mentioning anything about the other major characters that we all love, and letting the boys just suffer in separation until Sam died and finally joined Dean in Heaven. The editing came by cutting all the major emotional beats between anyone other than Dean and Sam, leaving the skeleton of the story intact, just shorter and less...poignant than it was ever supposed to be.

Misha

We know Misha was in Vancouver, we know he quarantined, but we also know he wasn’t in the final scene, when he spoke about being in the last moment of the show months ago. We were not crazy, he was there, he quarantined, and, in all likelihood (speculation but fitting with the timeline), he actually may have shot something (not much, but something).

I have sources here, here, here, and here showing where Misha was at that time.

Remember, the man was completely open about coming back until they finished shooting (look at this thread). The switch happened, just like everything else, halfway through them shooting.

Please also remember Jake Abel posting his “Where’s Misha” video here. Jake isn’t malicious, he isn’t being nasty here. Misha was there, and everyone that’s trying to convince people he’s wasn’t just...isn’t telling the truth about it.

This is one of the things that makes me really mad, because they’re literally attempting to gaslight people into thinking, “oh we were totally wrong he was never supposed to be there” WHEN HE WAS THERE, WE KNOW HE WAS THERE.

So we’ve already heard from several people (Meghan Fitzmartin, Jay, a PA on the set of 19 (WHO WAS NOT WORKING FOR 20), Misha himself) that this was all down to Covid restrictions. Ultimately, as this post says, we’ve heard FIVE versions of where Misha was. None of it makes sense, but the Covid protocol seems to be the company line that others are repeating.

You may ask: why? Why lie to all of us when we have questions? Why, in Jay’s case, say that we’re all spreading false lies to stir up trouble, when we just have questions and things that do not make sense. Simply? Warner Brothers is absolutely massive. These people have their careers to protect and are likely all under NDAs. They want to work for WB again and don’t want to burn bridges, including Misha. It sucks, but that’s why it’s unlikely that we’ll hear someone come out and say, “yeah we’re lying to you.”

Silence of the Cast Post Episode

So this is...probably the worst part of all this, at least in my opinion.

The guys had all been pretty excited about the end of the show (especially Jared, but Jensen’s panel last week was Jensen as happy and jokey and positive as I’ve ever seen him. He was so excited about episode 18, about what it meant for Dean and for Cas, and I just cannot buy that he would have been that excited unless he thought there was something more in the episode.

Misha live-tweeted the episode, and was watching it with his kids. It’s well known that Misha and the kids don’t watch the show because it’s too scary, and let’s ask ourselves, why would he have them watch an episode that he’s barely even mentioned in?

He also stopped live-tweeting at a very specific point in the episode (Dean’s death) and has not mentioned Supernatural since then.

None of them, not Jared, Jensen, Misha, or even Alex, said anything about the episode for nearly 36 hours, when Jensen posted a salty photo on instagram. It’s just...not what you’d expect for the end of a 15 year show, when the cast and crew are so close to the fans, so close to each other.

My theory? They didn’t know. They thought Misha was, at least, going to be in the episode in some way, and when he wasn’t, they decided not to say anything.

You really think that Jensen “Heller” Ackles would have been so excited about the end of the show last week if he thought Cas wasn’t going to be in it at all? Nah son, doesn’t make any sense.

Even today, in Jared and Misha’s panels, they seemed sad and...more than a little careful, both saying that there were things they couldn’t say, both talking around things that we all have questions on.

Jensen Speaking with Kripke

So this is where a lot of people are getting fodder to take shots at the writers, saying that Jensen hated it from the beginning, but I don’t think so. I actually think I know what Jensen went to him about, and it wasn’t the lack of Cas or the weird pacing or the montages (which I don’t think were there when Jensen got the script); I think it was the manner of Dean’s death.

I know a lot of people were upset about that, upset with how...normal it was, coming off an episode where they literally beat God. I actually didn’t mind it, I thought it was an interesting thematic take to be like: you can be a hero all your life, but sometimes shit happens, and you just die.

But imagine how hard that was for Jensen to read. He would run to Kripke for that, because for him, Dean dying by being impaled by a piece of rebar had to be tough to swallow.

So, why didn’t Kripke say that? Why didn’t he say, “oh well he had a problem with Dean’s death, none of that other stuff was in the script.”

Guys. Why would he get involved? He’s not going to burn bridges any more than anyone else is. He said the ending was good because it’s the easy thing to do, it’s simple, will cause him no problems in his career, and he can just ignore the people trying to engage with him on it.

Walker

Something else to talk about is the major shift this episode had from the rest of the season: the shift from Dean to Sam. I am NOT saying that Sam isn’t important, he definitely, absolutely is, but it was DEAN who really needed to wrap up his arc, Sam just needed to move on, get married to Eileen, become the leader he was always meant to. So what changed? What was with the shirtless scene, the Austin number and random case there, most of the episode being heavily Sam focused, going through his entire life in a montage?

Anyone else notice the 375 Walker promos, or Jared’s little spiel about Walker and how he hoped SPN fans would “come along for the ride.”

It’s...kinda obvious? CW wanted to appeal to who they think the key demographic of SPN and Walker is: rural areas in the South. It would explain a lot, why so much editing, why so Sam focused, the Austin number, the number of Walker promos, all of it.

I’m not saying this is fact, I don’t know that it is, but it is a little suspicious that even in Jared’s panel today, he talked A LOT about Walker and how he hopes SPN fans will watch it.

Why Would the Network Get Involved?

Simply put: $$$

If they think Walker can be the new SPN, and that those crazy SPN fans liked it originally, it’s a lot safer to go with the “original intent” of the show than do something risky (like making one of your two original leads queer).

And? They don’t care. They don’t care that the episode didn’t make sense, they don’t care that all the emotional arcs were left hanging, they don’t care by (potentially) smashing together two of Dean’s monologues (one to Sam, one to Cas) that it came of as...gross. ( @curioussubjects wrote a beautiful post showing how part of that death speech was likely meant for Dean here). They don’t care, they never have, they just want to make their money and move on from the too-loud fandom that fought for representation too hard for too long.

It can’t help but feel insidious, which, honestly, it might be, but it really all comes down to the next cash cow, which, they think, is Walker, even at the cost of the fifteen year legacy show.

The Writers and What I Want

So here it is, all this weird, sus shit laid out on the line. And you know what? To me, there is no way to blame the writers, because they didn’t want this.

I don’t think Dabb and Bobo would have gone ahead with the confession in 18 without thinking that there would be some closure to that arc, they wouldn’t have done that not only to the fans, but for the sake of their own story as well: no writer wants to start something that they can’t finish. (And this applies to both Cas and Eileen).

Here’s a basic rundown of what I think happened: they had a clear arc from 18-20, ending in reciprocation at some level from Dean, Sam marrying Eileen, Hunter Sam as the new Bobby, Dean in heaven with Cas and big roadhouse reunion at the end. Covid prevented a good amount of that. Network had to stare at big gay 18 for six months, got cold feet. Thought about Walker, target audience and alienation of the rural areas if it went full gay. Misha quarantined and likely shot something (not much), he was then cut by execs and went home. They likely added in lines referencing Eileen and Cas to make it clear but more subtextual. They wrap, editing gets it and hacks it to pieces, so we get a shorter episode that’s mostly montages and jarringly bro-centric with nothing else. Arcs are left hanging. Dabb gets episode but it’s too late, there’s nothing he can do. Actors aren’t told so they can continue to do positive PR for the ending, they all found out at the same time we did: hence almost complete silence about the finale.

And you know what? They warned us. I talked about it here, but they’ve been telling us all season that Chuck wasn’t the writer, he’s the network. I don’t think, still, that they thought it would be cut up like this, into something so unsalvageable that it’s been panned by almost everyone, even people who didn’t care much about Dean and Cas.

Finally, a masterpiece can be ruined by editing, and while I’m not sure even the script they ended up shooting on was a masterpiece (due to the network meddling already), but to me it’s blatantly obvious that it’s no one but the network that caused this, that took away closure for Dean, Cas, and even Sam.

So what do I want? Nothing really, there’s nothing we can do, but I wrote this mostly to show people that the writers are not your enemy. In fact, to the people trashing them? You’re doing exactly what the CW wants you to: blame the obvious targets, blame Misha, blame Jensen and Jared, blame Dabb. Scream and yell at them on Twitter and about how the show is ruined because of them. The network keeps their engagement levels high, they don’t get as targeted for their behavior, and just keep moving along.

Just, please, think about who did this, Mourn the show, be angry, but not at the people who fought tooth and nail for this for literal years, not the people who wanted it more than we did, not the people who cannot say anything because of their careers and the NDAs they’re bound by.

Someone is going to spill eventually, but until then, we just have to wait, and continue to be loud.

#my writing #my meta #supernatural #spn #spn finale trash fire #MY MANIFESTO IS DONE

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traitor-boyfriend · 3 years ago

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south park re: scientology

Scientology specifically but cults more broadly have been a subject of interest of mine for a long time. I'm an avid listener of Leah Remini and Mike Rinder’s podcast exposing the state secrets of scientology. South Park's episode "Trapped in the Closet" has been mentioned in passing several times and I think people who are unaware of scientology outside of South Park underestimate just what an impact that episode had and continues to have in the present day.

I was motivated to write this post after listening to an episode featuring a guest appearance by Marc Headley; Headley is a former Sea Org member and author of Blown for Good. His wife, Claire Headley, is also a former Sea Org member of a higher OT (Operating Thetan) level than himself. The Sea Org is the administrative body of scientology. In his episode, Headley discusses how, after their joint defection from the church, they watched this episode together. Neither had ever seen it before leaving their positions within scientology.

Scientologists are notorious for their adversarial relationship with journalists, news media, and the internet; members are routinely advised to avoid seeking out anything related to scientology, founder L. Ron Hubbard, or its current head David Miscavige. Their access to such information is monitored as a prophylactic (and punitive) measure.

And Marc Headley mentions that the this is what scientologists actually believe sequence was the first time he was exposed to the ‘truth’ of scientology, and the role it played in contextualizing how absurd and bizarre the reality of what devout scientologists are indoctrinated to believe at a time when he was in the baby steps of deprogramming. He turned to ask his wife Claire if that was all true -- as this is not knowledge readily given to anyone below OT 3 -- and she simply laughed and said yes, it’s pretty accurate.

The reason for that is because Matt Stone and Trey Parker, facilitated by longtime producer Anne Garefino, invited Mark Ebner to speak with them while preparing the episode. Mark Ebner is a journalist who has been writing about scientology for nearly three decades and is one of many great writers covering the church from the perspective of someone who is not a high ranking ex-member. Though, Ebner did join the church in an undercover effort to gain firsthand understanding of the audit counseling process. This experience is from where much of his contribution to the episode is drawn from.

Matt and Trey had previously poked fun at scientology before, albeit in a more covert way. The 2001 season five episode “Super Best Friends” in which the boys are recruited into a cult headed by David Blaine (creatively called ‘Blaintology’) was later acknowledged as an early hit at the church. This episode is oft forgotten due to it being one of several episodes in South Park’s catalogue that is neither in syndication nor available through streaming owing to its depiction of the prophet Muhammad; it was scrubbed after the airing of the show’s infamous 200th and 201st episodes.

They were inspired to make a full episode on the church after a conversation with friend Penn Jillette, who was advised against doing an episode of his documentary program Bullshit! with Showtime out of fear for legal retaliation from the church. When asked about the decision to do so, Trey Parker said:

To be honest, what kept us from doing it before was Isaac Hayes [who does the voice of Chef]. We knew he was a Scientologist. And he’s an awesome guy. We’re like, Let’s just avoid that for now. But we’re friends with Penn Jillette, and Showtime wouldn’t let him do an episode of Bullshit! on Scientology. We’re going, That’s fucked up. And hearing other people say, “You can’t do that,”—you can only say “You can’t do that” so many times to Matt and me before we’re gonna do it. Finally, we just had to tell Isaac, “Dude, we totally love working with you, and this is nothing personal, it’s just we’re South Park, and if we don’t do this, we’re belittling everything else we’ve ripped on.” So we realized we had to do it, and now that we’ve done it, now it’s like we’ve sort of opened the floodgates. People will be less scared.

A few years back, Tony Ortega -- a remarkable journalist and the definitive authority on all things Scientology -- wrote a brief article on his website in conversation with Ebner about the impact South Park's episode had within the world of scientology. What is described are the ways in which Matt and Trey became targets caught in the cross-hairs of the church as well as corporate figureheads at Comedy central and Paramount who bent their knees first and foremost to none other than -- you guessed it -- Tom Cruise. Cruise, in true toddler fashion, threatened not to participate in any promotional publicity for the upcoming Mission Impossible: 3 (a Paramount production) unless Comedy Central pulled the episode out of cable syndication, which did happen. Comedy Central and Paramount are both properties of Viacom. At this time in the mid 2000s it seems inarguable that Tom Cruise’s star power burned far brighter than that of Matt Stone and Trey Parker in the corporate consciousness. Money talks, and quite loudly at that. The LA Times affectionately dubbed this controversy Closetgate.

But what of the church?

What happens here next is that the Church of Scientology set their sights on Matt Stone and Trey Parker. They are declared as SPs (suppressive person). Suppressive person is a label applied to anyone that is critical of scientology or its mouthpieces and is considered ‘dangerous’ to the ultimate goals of the church. People who are deemed SPs are liable to be subjected to “fair game”. Fair Game is a policy within scientology conducted by the OSA (office of special affairs) wherein which sustained and relentless harassment campaigns, excessive litigiousness, and surveillance is levied upon whomever has been declared “fair game” with the express purpose of ruination.

Here comes Marty Rathbun. Rathbun is an ex-Sea Org member, David Miscavige’s former right-hand man, and the #2 executive in the corporate structure of a global cult. He famously left the church in 2004 but considered himself an “independent scientologist,” which is common with defectors. Some years later he would begin his own blog where he wrote extensive articles revealing internal documentation and his personal experiences as a mafia capo facsimile about harassment campaigns against famous SPs, abuse and degradation faced by Sea Org rank-and-files at the hands of Miscavige (as well as himself), and the church’s many, many legal misadventures. He was also a consultant seen in Louis Theroux’s terrific and terrifying 2015 documentary, My Scientology Movie.

Rathbun is why much of this information about fair game directed at Stone and Parker in retaliation for “Trapped in the Closet” is corroborated public knowledge. But keep in mind, Rathbun is a controversial figure within the community of ex-scientologists and adulation as a hero should be avoided; there is a lot of confusion regarding his status within the church. Many believe he has rejoined, which is doubtful. What is more likely is, following a lawsuit filed jointly by himself and his wife against the church regarding their harassment of the couple, that there is a high likelihood of a generous, under-the-table cash settlement. This would explain why Rathbun has in recent years set his sights more and more at discrediting fellow ex-scientologists speaking out against the church like Leah Remini and Mike Rinder, as well as reputable journalist Tony Ortega. He is essentially still a scientology attack dog, but acting independent of directives of the church that were previously required by his position.

There is not an overwhelming breadth of specificity regarding the harassment lobbed Stone and Parker’s way, but lots in the way of generalities. This article by Tony Ortega at The Village Voice details it as such. Highlights include:

Private investigators hired to rifle through garbage for incriminating refuse

Close friends and employees being stalked, investigated, and/or asked about their connection to the pair. Such people include Troma Entertainment founder Lloyd Kaufman (Parker) and actor John Stamos (Stone)

Seeking out public footprints -- i.e. bank records, phone records, legal records etc. -- available on both Stone and Parker as well as their associates in attempt to uncover potential criminality or otherwise private information for use as ammunition in public smear campaigns to discredit and degrade them

These efforts were obviously unsuccessful, but they are said to have been under high investigative scrutiny within the church for a “significant time,” and though they certainly have bigger fish to fry in defense of the church’s public reputation (namely the many internal whistleblowers), it is not improbable there is still sporadic monitoring of the two.

Now, the arc within the episode itself regarding the ‘truth’ about scientology (Xenu, aliens) is somewhat beside the point as it relates to the broader hold of scientology as a ‘religious technology’. Scientology -- like most cults -- has a very boil-the-frog approach to indoctrinating people. As earlier specified by Headley, this does not become part of scientology’s ecclesiastical canon until a person reaches OT 3. For reference, Stan in the episode is lauded for having a thetan read of OT 9. In order to reach any of the OT levels of the scientologist bridge to total freedom, a person must first go through the process of “objectives.” These are the introductory courses provided in pursuit of “going clear”; once someone has gone clear (meaning, when one no longer possesses a “reactive” mind), then they begin climbing the rungs of the OT ladder.

These courses are designed to do two specific things: be a financial drain, and desensitize a person to objective reality and guide them toward a mental state in which they are vulnerable and receptive to manipulation. Courses are pedantic, repetitive, and extraordinarily strict in regards to interpretation of source material (dianetics). Scientology engages in absolutes and relies on black-and white thinking.

It is useful in the episode to straight-out go to the Xenu storyline. For the general public who either 1.) knows nothing of scientology, or 2.) only knows it as a fringe, wacky but harmless woo-woo Hollywood happening, it undercuts the work (read: brainwashing) necessary to be entrusted with this information. By the time your average scientologist who has gone through all introductory coursework, gone clear, and begun climbing OT levels, this is a person who has already sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial investments and several years of their life. This is a person who can be sold a bridge. Most scientologists will never reach this level; though no hard numbers are kept, several former scientologists estimate that only 5% of people affiliated with the church will ever reach OT 3.

If you ask someone today what they know of scientology there is a large array of documentary media, stand-up comedy, podcasts, journalistic coverage in mainstream media, celebrities etc. that they may point to. Chances are good though that if you asked the average person in 2005 what they know of scientology, they would tell you: Tom Cruise is a member of it, and South Park made fun of it.

It is a genius setup to have Stan left out from the group because he is trying to save money, and to have him stumble upon the offer of audit counseling by people who seem well-meaning, happy, and helpful. He “discovers” he is depressed; he is offered the one true solution. Like any cult, Scientology sinks its claws deepest in people who are depressed, aimless, alienated. It provides purpose and clarity and community in a life where there is none.

Unlike what many people believe, no one is too smart to become a member of a cult; anyone can find themselves in a potential state of mind in which they are desperately seeking something and are highly suggestible. Uniquely suggestible, too, in a way that bleeds American is scientology’s reliance on celebrity to sell a bill of goods. The power of celebrity and iconography is something L. Ron Hubbard sought to harness from early on to effect mainstream proselytizing. It is an excellent subversion of such for South Park to then humiliate Tom Cruise, the most bombastic and steadfast of all celebrity scientologist bell-ringers, by portraying him as a simpering lunatic who is, well... throwing a fit in a nine-year-old’s closet for the duration of the episode.

One thing to keep at the forefront is that Scientology is indeed in its death throes. Despite constant inflated figures regarding current membership, the church is losing members at an exponential rate; chief among those growing ex-members is the scientologist golden goose -- celebrities. Given the widespread accessibility of the internet, scientology is not drawing in numbers the way it used to. But in the time following its initial publication, Hubbard’s Dianetics was popular among circles seeking reprieve from the woes of life outside the crude callousness of then-conventional psychiatry. For some perspective, note that Dianetics was published May 9th, 1950; it was only just the previous year that Egas Moniz -- mentor to American neurologist Walter Freeman, who popularized the lobotomy -- was awarded the Nobel prize in medicine for developing the radical procedure that was promised to ‘revolutionize’ the treatment of mental illness. Dianetics was once an appealing alternative.

I would be remiss to make no mention of the fact that there is, of course, the suspicious circumstances under which Isaac Hayes’ role on the show as Chef was terminated a few months after its premiere and what responsibility his association with scientology might have in his untimely death. Isaac Hayes is known to have left the show through a public statement that was presented in protest against Matt and Trey for their portrayal of scientology by crossing the line of satire into “intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs.” Isaac Hayes unfortunately died three years later in 2008.

What many people don’t know is that Matt and Trey allege they did indeed discuss their intentions for the episode with Isaac Hayes before its production, and he had no qualms about their tackling of the church. He is quoted to have said on an episode of the radio show Opie and Anthony that December (roughly a month after the episode aired):

“Well, one thing about Matt and Trey, they lampoon everybody, and if you take that shit serious, then I'll sell you the Brooklyn Bridge for two dollars. That's what they do.”

“Trapped in the Closet” premiered on November 16th, 2005; three months later on march 13th, 2006, a letter purportedly signed by Hayes was issued that detailed his objection to the episode and a desire to be released from his contract -- which Matt Stone obliged. There was no direct, physical contact between Hayes, Stone, and Parker at this time.

Coincidentally, a week after that open letter was issued it was reported that Isaac Hayes had suffered a stroke earlier that January. Hayes’ spokesperson, Amy Harnell (who is herself a scientologist) denied this claim and said that Hayes had only spent some brief time in the hospital for the comparably benign issue of high blood pressure. However, later that October, Hayes himself confirmed he did indeed have a stroke. Isaac Hayes would be dead less than two years later.

Hayes’ stroke was by no means a minor medical issue -- according to his son, Isaac Hayes III, in conversation joined by Parker and Stone for South Park’s 20th anniversary, Hayes was left unable to speak and with severe cognitive and neurological impairment that notably necessitated him needing to relearn how to play the piano -- the piano being an instrument Isaac Hayes was a proficient virtuoso of from the time he was a teenager. Hayes III believes with certainty that a currently unknown entity with some association to his father published the open letter that him from his South Park contract at the behest of the church given Hayes was medically incapacitated at the time of its publishing to do so on his own behalf.

On August 10th of 2008, Isaac Hayes was found unresponsive by paramedics near a treadmill in his home. At the time his cause of death was not known publicly; an autopsy was not performed. His death was later ruled a stroke. It is estimated that roughly 15-30% of people who survive a stroke are at risk of a recurrent stroke within two years of their first, and the mortality rate of a recurrent stroke is substantially higher without preventative medical intervention.

Keep in mind, this is not to lose sight of the forest for the trees. I do not believe Isaac Hayes was murdered; what I do believe is that it is a reasonable assumption to make that Isaac Hayes’ medical condition left him extremely vulnerable to his scientologist handlers. His immediate professional circle was made up almost entirely of fellow scientologists, according to Hayes III. This is a common reality for a celebrity parishioner. It is entirely possible that Isaac Hayes was discouraged by a scientologist entourage to seek the appropriate, long-term rehabilitation and medical support he needed after his initial stroke which may have worsened his outcomes. This is all pure speculation but were anything definite to come out some day alluding to such, it would not surprise me.

There is a harrowing breadth of personal accounts from former Sea Org members regarding the extreme reluctance with which any of them ever stepped foot in a hospital to be treated for serious illness or injury -- injuries ranging from electrocution as a result of members with no vocational training being made to perform electrical work, punitive beatings and torture performed for derelictions of duty or violation of church policy, and motorcycle accidents occurring onsite at scientology’s notorious Gold Base in Riverside County, California. Hospitals are avoided to prevent any legal prying into the abusive and illegal manner these injuries are often acquired due to mandatory reporting laws in addition to beliefs that physical ailments can be resolved through auditing to rid oneself of the Body Thetans that cause them as opposed to conventional medicine.

There is also the devastating case of Lisa McPherson, a woman who was privately sequestered for monitoring and counseling under the guise of “rest and relaxation” after experiencing an episode of depressive psychosis. She died 17 days later of a pulmonary embolism with no attempts made to provide her with standard hospital care. It remains one of the church’s largest scandals to date; a lawsuit brought by her family reached a private settlement in 2004, a little over a year before “Trapped in the Closet” aired.

To reach some sort of conclusion, Matt and Trey built an early reputation for themselves as the “anti-establishment.” This is no longer the case -- not with South Park currently in its 25th season, both Stone and Parker being worth millions, and with many other successful, mainstream business ventures. However, I think it’s easy to lose sight of the fact they are certainly creators of a different cloth. You don’t need to look much further than a quick google search of “south park controversy” to see that.

But this entire debacle does demonstrate something specific about both the show and Matt and Trey themselves -- that being, even when I disagree, I have a deep appreciation for Matt and Trey’s refusal to see any topic as off-limits or any bully too big. Scientology is well-known to file suit at the drop of a hat and have skirted much legal repercussion by simply exhausting and discouraging all dissent and criticism by abusing the pay-to-play parameters of the American judicial system. It is the reason the church still maintains its tax-exempt status and its classification as a religion. Countless others of comparable status to themselves have said, no, I don’t want to deal with all that -- and this is not a condemnation; it’s definitely not a wrath I would wish anyone to incur. Of Matt and Trey, it is an admirable quality they possess as public figures to have been warned of all the professional and personal risk they may be taking on to make a mockery of one specific, niche subject -- at a time when South Park was a definite cultural phenom, but not quite yet the too-big-to-fail iconoclast staple of American media we know it as today -- and to say fuck that, we’re doing it anyway.

About the show, scams/grifts/snake oil salesmen are recurring fodder for South Park to attack. And they have a relatively good eye for such; great examples outside scientology include their episode on psychic John Edwards to as recent as this past special, with future butters and his NFT ponzi scheme. Something that holds true as a broad generalization is that the vitriol is concentrated on these scams and not those who fall for it. Matt and Trey seem to detest few things more than someone or something that seeks to pull the wool over another’s eyes for profit. You see it in “Trapped in the Closet” when Stan approaches the podium after scientology is revealed to him as a ‘global scam’ by the Miscavige stand-in. It pans to the auditors we see earlier in the episode: the joyful woman crying as she takes dutiful notes, the excited man with clasped hands and bated breath.

These are not the bad people. And we are not meant to believe they are bad people. These are people who think they are witnessing something extraordinary that will alter their lives in a deeply special, magical way. The narrative extends our sympathy to them -- this is what compels Stan to tell the truth because no profit is worth deceiving someone to such an immoral degree. Where it’s very easy to find a sentiment of “what sort of idiot could fall for xyz?!” mirrored in other media, South Park avoids this low-hanging fruit and taps into something both more sympathetic and closer to reality.

TL;DR: it is a good thing that much public awareness about the Church of Scientology in the culture of American media is born from South Park’s “Trapped in the Closet.” It bears a significant, material responsibility in humiliating the church, consecrating its status as a cult, and shedding light on the octopus of malice that is the hierarchal structure of scientology’s corporate body. It paved new ground for emboldening creatives, journalists, and watchdogs to speak freely in the public sphere about the evils of the church. The 2010s saw innumerable celebrity scientologists and ex-members come forward to condemn executive leadership and denounce scientology as a belief system. The tide is turning -- has been for some time -- against scientology and Miscavige in the present day but instances in which anyone other than journalists and ex-scientologists offered criticism both harsh and accurate at the expense of their person were few and far between. South Park deserves a bone thrown its way for that.

#long post #man oh man did i absolutely not intend for this to get as long as it did #but everything felt necessary to the context #south park

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screadingchallenge · 2 years ago

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Behind the Keyboard: Volume 3

Behind the Keyboard is a series of interviews with different Schitt’s Creek fanfic authors. The series will last as long as there is interest (from authors) and capacity (from me). If you are an author from the Schitt’s Creek fandom who would like to participate, send a DM to this account.

Each author was given ten questions. The first five questions are the same for every author, the last five will vary.

Remember, this year’s Reading Challenge begins July 15, so polish up those MFL lists.

Let’s meet our next author:

Sspaz1000 / @sspaz1000

How many fics have you written?

For Schitt’s Creek only 6, but a few other fandoms have quite a bit more, and a bunch never put onto Ao3 yet (slowly working my stuff over from the days of LJ, lol)

When did you publish your first fic on AO3?

November 12th, 2020

Describe your writing process from “Oh, I have an idea” to pushing publish on AO3

I write notes down, anywhere, and then I probably let it sit for way way too long, and then sometimes I just start writing and see what happens. Hopefully I finish something. Then I freak out for a bit, ask a friend to Beta, and edit and freak out some more. Then post.

Tell me about your most recent fic? What do you love about it? Is there anything you think you could have done better?

Last Schitt’s Creek fic was titled I will help you out, if you let me. Yes a total play on Noah song lyrics. I think I love the title, and I liked that I got into each of their head’s during friends and family episode. What could I have done better? Not use so much dialogue from the show in a short piece? But I kind of had to go along with it. I’m torn on this one.

What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about publishing their fic for the first time?

Just do it, and don’t give a f*** what people say. Get out of your head and do it. Take Dan’s advice and follow through. Because if you follow through guess what you have a finished product.

What’s one thing that you’d like to say to your favorite Schitt’s Creek character?

David Rose, you are well loved and have a lot of love to give. Let it all out and enjoy your husband.

The beginning, middle or end of a fic. Which do you like the most? Which is the worst?

In writing? I like the beginning, because that’s generally where my ideas are beginnings of somethings. Then actually making the words to fill out the rest of it is tough. And titles making titles is the worst.

Are you interested in writing original fiction?

Yes, you can see on my Ao3 page I’ve posted some old school originals from 2009. I’ve done NaNoWriMo since 2007, only made the 50k words one time in 2012. But I’ve written something every year for it. Most times it’s a combo of fanfic and original. Try to see which idea gives me more motivation or steam. Do I have an outline of a m/m romance story that has been outlined for a decade? Yes. Will I ever start writing it? Someone kick my butt into doing the scary thing.

When did you start writing?

Umm I don’t remember, but I kind of always liked writing, though being told in college I wasn’t good at journalism and stuff took some fun out of it. Fanfic I started writing most likely 2009 with Torchwood fanfic. Though I feel like I wrote stuff for Scrubs (Patrick Drake/Robin Scorpio Drake) on General Hospital before that. (I’m not sure if any of that exists anywhere if I did but definitely they were my first ship)

Schitt’s Creek got me back into writing.

Outlines - yes or no?

As defined by NaNoWriMo, I’m a Plantser. Someone who plans and doesn’t plan at the same time. Like I kind of like having a it starts here, needs to go here, and this is how I want it to end, but I find if I do too much more than that, I get really detailed, and I don’t write anything except detailed outlines of stuff.

#behind the keyboard #meet the authors #sc fic reading challenge #sc reading challenge #sc fanfic #schitt's creek #schitts creek

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tinyboxxtink · 3 years ago

Text

"Betrayed" *Chapter 21*

Chapter 20

Chapter 22

Woof, guys. It's been a rough week. I got this ridiculous toothache last Sunday and it still hasn't gone away. I finally went to a dentist on Friday, only for him to tell me I need a root canal. And about a million other things, but that's irrelevant.

I've been managing on Tylenol and Orajael, it mostly only hurts when I eat or drink a lot now.

Anyway, that was a long-winded way to say this chapter is also a bit "Short". It's taken me four days just to write it, and I have more plot for it, but I found a good stopping point and I had to give you something.

I hope it's not too huge a disappointment for waiting a week!

Disclaimer: I do not like Lucia Barba, I never have. She was a horrible mother to Rafael on SVU in my opinion, and no one will ever convince me otherwise. So, I have written her equally as evil as I saw her on SVU episodes. Don't like it? My universe, my Lucia. Sorry!

Tag List:

@madamsnape921

@lolliepopsicle

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@milkshqke

@wanniiieeee

@gibbs274

@sassyada

@aprildecker-blog

@bookishfanfic

@stars-in-the-skies-world

@stars-trash-18

@omgsuperstarg

@objection-argumentative

@thatesqcrush

@shittanyy

@mrsrafaelbarba

@fandom-princess-forevermore

@meishaabae

—------------

You couldn’t believe it. That nurse had pulled for you at the last possible second, and you couldn’t be more grateful. But now what? You have to get to Room 228. That’s what the doctor had told Rafael’s mother. So, assuming you were currently on the ground floor, you’d need an elevator. Or some stairs.

You looked around at all the nurses and doctors running around all lost in their own worlds, but a few did give you questionable looks. You debated whether you should try and find some scrubs to wear in order to blend in, or just take your chances.

After about a half of a second of deliberating you decided this was no time to start attempting some sitcom hijinks, you’d just wing it. Family members could be back here, right? Just stay calm, and act like you belong here. It will be fine.

You confidently strolled through the hall where you reached an elevator. You pressed UP and waited for it to arrive. You were doing your hardest to stay calm and nonchalant, but inside your social anxiety was nowhere near stable enough to keep this up for long. Maybe you should have taken the stairs.

After what seemed like an eternity, you finally heard the ding of the elevator and the doors opened. You immediately jumped into it and hit “CLOSE DOOR”, but a hand reached in at the last second to hold it open. You held your breath waiting to see who was getting on with you. Luckily, it was Dr. Wolowitz. Well, you sure hoped it was lucky.

“Ah, hello again,” he gave you a warm smile, allowing you to let out a breath you were holding.

“I don’t believe we were properly introduced downstairs,” He extended his hand. “Dr. Howard Wolowitz,”

“Y/N Reynolds,” you said meekly while shaking his hand.

“Oh well I certainly know who you are, Miss Reynolds,” He winked. “You’re trending on New York’s Twitter feed right now, actually,”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…” You put your hands over your face in embarrassment.

“I assume you’re heading up to see Mr. Barba?” He tried to change the subject.

“...Yes…” You looked at the floor nervously, terrified he was going to kick you out.

“Well, if I were you, I’d wait for his mother to leave," He chuckled to your relief. "She is…”

“Scary?” You finished his sentence.

“Very,” He laughed. “I think she was lecturing him when I left, even though he’s still sedated!”

“Jesus Christ,” You muttered under your breath, scared of what exactly you were about to walk in on.

—---

--Meanwhile--

Rafael’s mother had indeed been lecturing her son while he was unconscious, but it was more for her benefit than his. She always felt better if she was talking; she hated silence, Much like Rafael. Luckily for her he was starting to come out of it before she really let loose on him.

“...Mami?” He groaned, hearing her voice at his sudden consciousness.

“Raffi!” She stopped muttering to herself and threw her arms around him. After a moment of hugging him, she slapped him across the back of his head.

“Ow!” Rafael yelled. “What was that for?”

“Are you stupid?! ¿Eres estúpido?!” She tried smacking his head once more, but he grabbed her hand and pushed it away.

“Ay! Mami!” He exclaimed while dodging her disapproving blows. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh right, like this isn’t the reason I had to take two trains and a bus to get here in midday traffic,” She held up her phone to his face; it showed a headline of yours and Rafael’s “intimate” moment.

“Dios mio– Mami WHY do you have that?! You don’t even have a smartphone!” He pushed the phone away in disgust while his face turned a deep shade of red. He had never dreamed his mother would see that photo, and now here she was shoving it in his face.

“My friends have been sending me “links” and this photo since your little escapade, Raffi!” She exclaimed.

“Like you can open ‘links on that dinosaur phone,” he rolled his eyes.

“Well, my dinosaur can still load pictures! LIKE THIS ONE!” she shoved the phone in his face angrily.

You approached room 228 and peered in the window, listening to the conversation now:

“...And then I get a phone call today from the hospital saying my son has just been admitted with a heart attack. And then when I get here, some ‘doctor’ who could easily be my GRANDSON tells me you had it from ‘extreme physical activity’!”

“So, I was running, and–” Rafael immediately tried spinning a tale for her.

“Oh no no no,” She wagged a finger. “Don’t even try that mierda with me, Raffi. We both know what kind of ‘workout’ you were getting,”

“Mami…por amor a los dioses…” He muttered angrily. “Can we not do this right now?”

“Oh, what? Discuss your little ramera?” Mrs. Barba narrowed her eyes.

“DON’T call her that,” Rafael growled. “She’s not a tramp, she’s the woman I’m going to marry,”

“QUE?!” She screeched. “Now what in the holy hell did she do to you to get you to propose to her?!”

“She loved me,” He replied simply, making you smile behind the door.

“And…?” She crossed her arms. “You meet this girl after two seconds and wanna get married? What’s this really about?”

“You know what it’s about, mama,” Rafael said seriously.

“Que?” she asked with genuine confusion.

“Yelena,” Rafael stated flatly.

“Yelana?” his mother laughed. “Wha– Alex’s Yelena?”

“She was MY Yelena first and you know it, mami!” Rafael yelled as his fists clenched.

Well, you couldn’t say that didn’t hurt. But you knew what he meant.

Yelena and Alex had destroyed a part of him all those years ago, and you brought it back. Now he wanted to hold you as tight as he could to himself, and you couldn’t blame him for it. Hell, you couldn’t be mad at it. You wanted to be held as tight to him as he wanted to.

“Oh Raffi,” She shook her head. “You were children, ustedes eran niños! You really still hold a grudge against him for that?”

“Are you serious?” Rafael’s eyes widened in shock. “You think that–”

“And anyway mijo,” She talked over him. “After that happened it drove you to pursue law school, si? So really, you should be thanking them,”

“Thanking them?!” He scoffed. “Really mami, you think–”

“Is that why you didn’t help him with his legal troubles?” She cut him off while thinking out loud. “Because he ‘stole your toys’?”

“I didn’t help him because he was sleeping with minors, mami!” Rafael suddenly bellowed angrily.

“Ay, Raffi!” She looked around as if people could hear the two of them. “Don’t be so judgmental, mijo. He could’ve done a lot of good for el barrio if he had become mayor. Just because he had a zipper problem–”

That was it, you weren’t going to stand here and let another woman steamroll Rafael’s self-worth another second.

----------

“Alright that’s enough,” You swung open the door and stormed into the room.

“...Yeah, that seems about right,” Rafael’s grimace turned to a triumphant smile as you burst in.

“You!” Mrs. Barba gasped. “You little–”

“Uh uh, you’re done talking,” You wagged an angry finger.

“What took you so long?” Rafael sighed in relief, knowing his lady of shining armor was here to protect him.

“Well, I was waiting for an opening,” You pushed past her and sat down on Rafael’s bed while he instinctively draped his arm around your shoulder.

“But you,” You scowled at her, taking Rafael’s hand. “You are a horrible mother, and I’m not gonna sit here and listen to you badger your son while he’s HURT,”

“How dare you–”

“No how dare YOU,” You cut her off, standing up from Rafael’s bed. “You really stood there and told your son to be more like a PEDOPHILE? Are you serious?”

“He is NOT–” She protested.

“Oh bullshit,” You weren’t letting her get a word in. “Look I don’t know what it is with you and that guy, but he’s a bad person in general AND he betrayed your son. How is that not grounds enough for you to hate him?”

“You know you might wanna review all the facts before you start on me, chiquita,” She narrowed her eyes.

“Raffi just finished telling me Yelena is the reason he’s marrying you, so he clearly is just doing to, what Raffi?” She looked past you at Rafael.

“Marrying a younger woman, more attractive than Yelena? Who’s got the zipper problem now?”

“You stupid–” You started to rip her a new one, but Rafael grabbed your hand from the edge of his bed and pulled you back.

“Get out,” He growled at his mother.

“What?” she half laughed at the notion.

“Get…out,” He repeated in a slow, guttural tone.

“Rafael, you are in the hospital after just having a heart attack. I’m not leaving you with some girl–” She started to lecture him.

“That ‘girl’ loves me more than you have my entire life, mother!” He finally lost it.

“Excuse me?” Mrs. Barba let out an offended exhale at his statement.

“I’ve never been good enough for you,” he continued. “Alex was the son you never had, I was just this burden who made your husband leave,”

“Rafael!” Mrs. Barba gasped, looking from you to him. She was clearly more horrified that he was airing out their dirty laundry in front of you rather than actual remorse. “How can you say that?”

“Because you let him beat the shit out of me!” Rafael screamed angrily.

Both you and Mrs. Barba froze at the accusation. You looked from Rafael to his mother and back again, waiting for either of them to make a move. You could see Rafael’s lip trembling, but he wasn’t backing down.

“Rafael, you know that’s not true–” Mrs. Barba tried to gaslight him, but he wasn’t a kid anymore.

“Bullshit!” He yelled. “All those nights when you asked me to sleep with you in your bed when he would go out until the bars closed. You told me it was to keep me safe, but really it was so he’d get to me before YOU!”

Both you and Mrs. Barba gasped out loud at the revelation.

“Mijo you’re hopped up on all of these pain meds, you have no idea what you’re saying,” Rafael’s mother was still playing the ‘loving mother’ act, but neither of you were buying it.

“Mrs. Barba, I suggest you get out of here, right now,” You warned.

“Excuse me?” Mrs. Barba scoffed while she stepped towards you, threatening to get in your face. “If you think that I’m going to leave my son–”

“Oh please, please give me a reason,” You stood up from the bed.

“To what?” She asked with a confused look.

“To beat the shit out of you,” You warned. “I’ll claim it was self-defense,”

“Cómo te atreves…” Mrs. Barba huffed under her breath. “Raffi wouldn’t let you–”

“Why not mami?” Rafael chimed in. “Aren’t you the one who taught me to lie for your significant other?”

“I…you…” Mrs. Barba blinked back tears at her son’s words. Unable to think of anything to say back, she quickly scurried out the door.

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

You sat back down on Rafael's bed as soon as she exited. It was a few moments for the both of you to process what had just occurred, but before you knew it Rafael was burying his face into your shoulder, collapsing into sobs. You sat there and just held him, looking up at the sky while mentally yelling at yourself.

“You will not fall apart right now. You will not. This isn’t your trauma, this is his. Woman up. Even if this is completely freaking you out because you’ve literally never seen him break down like this. You will keep calm,”

You took a deep breath and sucked back tears, stroking his head lovingly while whispering comforting words to him. “Shh, it’s okay baby. It’s alright,”

After a few more minutes of him quietly sobbing, he finally managed to calm himself down enough to look at you.

“Thank you,” He whispered.

“What?” Your eyebrows scrunched at the gratitude.

“Thank you for kicking her out,” He gestured towards the door.

“Oh,” you shrugged. “No problem,”

“No, really,” He sniffled, composing himself. “I’ve wanted…needed, to say that for a long time,”

“Yeah?” You asked him sadly as a pang of guilt hit your heart.

You knew how close Hispanic families were, especially when it came to mothers and sons. While Rafael never seemed like a “mama’s boy” to you, it was pretty obvious they were extremely close.

“Yeah,” He nodded sadly.

“...I’m so sorry baby,” the guilt ate at you the sadder he looked.

“No, no seriously Y/N I needed to–” He shook his head while he tried to dissuade your guilt.

“No, not about that,” You waved your hands. “I almost killed you!”

“Killed me?” He let out a small laugh.

“Yes!” You exclaimed seriously, annoyed he wasn’t taking this more seriously.

“Miss Reynolds,” He sat up straighter.

“Rafael Barba is not a man who can be taken down by a vagina,” he teased, letting you know he remembered everything you had said back at the apartment.

“Not even one as sensational as yours,” He added with a wink.

“Raff!” You blushed as you lightly hit him in embarrassment. “But seriously– the doctor told me why you had a heart attack–”

“Angina attack,” he clarified. “Not even a real heart attack, Y/N,”

“Whatever,” you rolled your eyes.

“I guess next time I’ll just have to let you keep control then, won’t I?” He winked at you.

“Next time?” You bit your lip with a small smile.

“Oh, most definitely,” He chuckled while pressing his lips against yours in a small kiss. “And many more times to come, I assure you,”

“Oh well in that case,” You giggled as you kissed him back.

“You know maybe I should just get in better shape. I do like being in the driver’s seat,” He suddenly thought out loud.

“Baby I don’t want you to overexert yourself–” you protested.

“Hey, I’ll have you know I was quite the stud before my little…sabbatical,” He puffed up his chest all macho-like.

“Oh, were you?” You raised an eyebrow at the clear peacocking he was attempting.

“Yes, in fact–” He was ready to start bragging boisterously, but the nervous expression on your face made him think better of it. “...Never mind,”

“It’s fine, Rafa,” You stroked his hair with a sad smile. “It’s not like I thought you were saving yourself for me,”

“There weren’t tons,” He quickly changed his tune.

“Liar,” You gave him a look. “I’m sure there were plenty,”

“Well let’s put it this way, mi amor–” He pulled you closer back into his chest. “None of them ever gave me a heart attack,”

“Yeah, because you weren’t old,” You gave him a tongued smile.

“Oh, you little–” He started to tickle you just as Dr. Wolowitz walked in.

“Ah, feeling much better I see, Mr. Barba,” He smiled at the two of you.

“Yes, I am,” He agreed while not letting go of you.

“Glad to hear it,” the doctor smiled at the two of you.

“Are you–” You looked around uneasily. “...Am I okay to be in here?”

“What?” Rafael looked at you curiously.

“I believe what she means is the fact that she had to sneak in here, Mr. Barba,” The doctor explained to Rafael.

“Sneak in here?” Rafael’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why would she have to–”

“It’s family only back here in the ICU,” the doctor answered his question without him finishing it.

“Oh, right,” Rafael mumbled, looking down at his bed. He was playing with your hands in his when he looked back up and over to you. "You know, we could remedy that problem very easily,”

“What?” Your mouth dropped open.

“Oh, it’s really not a problem Mr. Barba,” Dr. Wolowitz assured him.

“But what if I had died?” Rafael looked at him seriously. “All of my estate is sanctioned to go to my mother if I were to pass, and right now that is entirely unacceptable,”

“Oh my god,” you muttered. “Rafael if you’re trying to scare me or piss me off into marrying you right now–”

“I’m just pointing out facts, dear,” He smiled smugly.

“Well, we’re not doing that, especially not here,” You shook your head.

“Why especially not–”

“Because that nurse out there basically told me that if I told her we got married, she’d let me back here,” You gestured towards where you had come from.

“So…?” He made a face at you.

“So she could call the tabloids, Rafael!” You exclaimed.

“She could call them anyway!” he reminded you.

“I’m sorry, are you actually upset just because I don’t want to call in a priest to marry us right now?” You half laughed with a snarky bite.

“I just said, all of my things would go to my mother, and she doesn’t deserve ANYTHING–” He started to argue again.

“Alright see that’s the thing,” You stopped him. “Baby you’re pissed at your mom right now, and rightfully so. But, you’re also hopped up on pain meds, and emotional, and–”

“Now you’re on her side?” He sounded more hurt than upset.

“I’m not on any sides! There are no sides!” You exclaimed.

“Where have I heard that before?” Rafael suddenly threw your words back in your face with a sly smile.

“Not to be combative here Mr. Barba,” the doctor chimed in. “But I do believe your—” He looked between the two of you trying to discern a term for your relationship.

“Girlfriend,” you finished for him.

“Fiancee,” Rafael clarified.

“Anyway, you are probably still very…for lack of a better term, ‘out of it’. Sedatives from surgeries aren’t an easy drug to come off of,” Dr. Wolowitz went on.

“Right, so just get some sleep baby and we’ll talk about this later, yeah?” You stroked his hair while giving him a sympathetic look.

“We need to wheel you into a non ICU room anyway, now that you’re awake Mr. Barba,” The doctor added before addressing you. “Recovery rooms are on the fourth floor,”

“I’ll see you up there,” you gave him a kiss on the cheek before starting to walk out.

“Y/N,” Rafael called, making you pause and turn.

“Yes?” You looked back at him with one hand on the door handle.

“You’ll come back, right?” He asked in a soft voice.

He sounded so small, so vulnerable. Not the rough and tough man you’d always see strutting around the courtroom. He was clearly very much still ‘out of it; and the debacle with his mother wasn’t helping his abandonment issues already bubbling at the surface of his still foggy mind.

You walked back over and slowly kissed him long and deep while running your fingers through his hair. After a few moments of your assuring kisses, you pulled back with the biggest smile on your face:

“Try and stop me,”

#rafael barba imagine #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba x you #rafael barba #rafael barba fanfcition #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfiction #law and order special victims unit #raul esparza #rafael barba fanfiction #betrayed

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takerfoxx · 3 years ago

Text

The Owl House, Season 2, Episode 12, "Elsewhere and Elsewhen," First Impressions!

In which new familial bonds are formed, old ones are repaired, and we are treated to the world’s most obvious plot twist (that still works)!

So we finally get a full Lilith episode! Hey girl, been a hot minute! Congrats on the whole “coming out” as one of the few aroace reps in a children’s cartoon! Man, The Owl House is bound and determined to hit all the colors, ain’t they?

Lilith has really grown on me over this last season. I never really disliked her, but she was firmly on the stuffy antagonist side for all of season one, so it was hard to really dig into her, even with her relationship with Eda. But here in season two we’ve been able to slowly peel away those layers. We’ve gotten to see her softer side with her lovely friendship with Hooty, we’ve seen her try make up for how much she’s hurt Eda (while still never really being let off the hook for it, which I appreciate). And most of all, as she is no longer the head of the Emperor’s Coven, she’s finally been able just be herself and reveal my favorite part of her: her geeky side.

I love watching her nerd out over her studies. Like, she is just so better suited for academia instead of her old job. And okay, I know it’s kind of a somewhat problematic stereotype the Venn diagram between aroace and autistic characters is kind of a circle, but screw it, I’m aro, I’m autistic, and right now I’m feeling that autistic vibe from her and loving it.

But she’s also taken numerous blows to the ol’ ego. Yes, she’s repaired her relationship with her family and I’m sure that she’s secretly glad to be away from Belos, but with no magic and her name now being mud, that doesn’t leave someone as ambitious as her with very many job opportunities. So she’s basically having to start over, taking a scrub job at the museum. Still, I can see her rising through the ranks to become head curator or whatever, but it’s clearly going to be a climb, and it’s clear that she isn’t happy with how far she’s fallen, though I’m glad that so many people came out to support her, including her biggest simp. Hey, Steve!

…

Get it?

Because he’s voiced by Matt Chapman?

Hey, Steve? The obscure Homestar Runner character? Like, his name was literally Hey, Steve?

I thought it was funny.

But also in the party is another new character, Flora Explora (and yes, the Dora thing is totally intentional and lampshaded. Apparently she’s voiced by the same person that voices Dora’s mom or something, ha), who was Lilith’s mentor before Lilith turned away from exploring and academia, and while she’s glad that Lilith is back on “the right path,” she’s also kind of condescending about it, and seeing how sensitive Lilith is about her fall from grace, it just gives her the drive to prove herself.

Naturally, there’s someone nearby that knows exactly how that feels, someone on a quest of her own, who is still stinging over recent failures and could use someone with a vast wealth of knowledge.

Now that they’re no longer enemies, I really like Luz and her new Cool Aunt Lilith. And it might be blasphemy to say so, but they actually kind of click a little better than Luz and Eda did. Lilith is just into more of the same things that Luz is, and the two have a lot of chemistry when it comes to rooting out secrets, such as the Time Pools.

Though to be honest, I thought the Time Pools would be a bigger thing than they were, but nope. Just the device to send them back in time to finally meet with Philip Wittebane. That whole business about paradoxes and the Bloodyfly Effect (heh)? Never even becomes an issue. But given how much they packed into this episode and how little fat it has, they really had to keep things moving.

And yes, the dead reveler gag was amazing.

Anyway, Philip, our mysterious journal-writing human from the past! We finally get to meet him, and in the process we learn a few things!

First, the time of Wild Magic? Actually pretty cool, and people who use it regularly are pretty nice. Actually, things seem a bit more advanced and civilized than Belos’s nightmare world.

Also? It apparently took him years to find all the glyphs that he has, while it only took Luz a few weeks. Almost as if the island was hiding them from him…

Okay, look: he’s Belos. Everyone called it, including me. He got stranded in the Boiling Isles like Luz, he sought out to learn about magic through glyphs like Luz, but because he’s a fucking manipulative asshole who is very much a British Imperialist, he ended up becoming a despotic monster. Those weird mutations Belos has been dealing with? Came about because he tried writing glyphs on his own flesh. Not a good idea. And hey, did’ja notice that blue tooth in his bag, along with the stolen Palisman? Remember the demons that were pushing him around, one with a green tooth and one with a red tooth, and how they mentioned that they got their friend Blue Tooth killed? Guy is a straight up serial killer, only interested in how he can exploit everything and everyone around him. I already suspected that was the case, but when Lilith noted how uncomfortably familiar his mannerisms were, that cinched it.

But that does raise quite a few questions. I’m assuming that he actually figured the portal out fairly early, and could have gone home at any time afterward. But he hints that he has greater aims than simply finding a way home, what with the Day of Unity thing. Obviously it will be an invasion of some kind, and will also involve the Collector, but in what capacity is impossible to say.

As for the aforementioned Collector, I’m getting serious Bill Cipher vibes. As if in, this is going to be the ultra-powerful wildcard threat, the chaotic evil that will likely be a major part of the finale. We know very little about him though, other than his affinity for celestial body symbols (as do the Blights, just pointing that out), and that he was the one originally responsible for turning the Owlbeast into a cursed scroll. Other than that? Not a whole lot.

And does he remember Luz and Lilith? Does he know that Lilith was the one who broke his nose? Was that what all of Belos’s cryptic mentions of them meeting again were all about?

Also! We get another brief glimpse of Philip’s brother, who yes, still looks a whole lot like Hunter. And we also see what seems to be an early Grimwalker recipe in Philip’s lab. So it looks like the theory of Hunter being a magical clone of Philip’s brother is proving to be correct. It did say that he needs Stonesleeper lungs for the recipe. And, uh, I guess we now know how he got them (yikes). Though let me just say that when Lilith made an offhand reference to Stonesleeper’s weak spot, I knew it would come back later in the episode.

But what is Hunter for? Did Belos simply miss his brother, or does he have some other purpose for the kid? He kept mentioning sacrifices. Like, is he going to sacrifice Hunter to the Collector or something?

In the B-Plot, we finally meet Eda’s dad, who she’s been running from ever since her curse was tripped and she unintentionally attacked him. Apparently, he was an expert Palisman carver, but the injuries she inflicted upon him made it impossible.

Man, this family just has so much guilt. Lilith felt terrible for cursing Eda and spent so much time trying to help her (but went about it in very much the wrong way). Gwen feels bad for letting her daughters down, causing her to make even more mistakes. And Eda feels awful for hurting her father, leading her to run from him for decades!

And what really hurts is that it isn’t like she feels that he hates her or whatever. No, she knows full well that he has already forgiven her. It’s that she feels that she doesn’t deserve his forgiveness, and so won’t let him give it to her.

But I’m glad that they finally got the chance to talk. It’s clear that he’s come to terms with things and just wants his daughter back. That was really nice. Dell is a good dude.

Also, Eda is totally going to take up his mantle and help Luz with her Palisman, isn’t she?

And we also get another interesting bit of information. The Owl House is Dell’s old tower, now repaired! But Hooty wasn’t a part of it then! How did he and Eda meet, I wonder?

This season continues to fire on all cylinders, and each new episode is the highlight of my week. I am so going to miss it when it’s gone.

#the owl house #toh #luz noceda #lilith clawthorne #philip wittebane #emperor belos #eda clawthorne #dell clawthorne #king clawthorne #gwen clawthorne #hooty #elsewhere and elsewhen #reaction

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yungbud · 4 years ago

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Silent Treatment+X

Req? Yes! @madonnasinn said: Can you write a smut about Dom ignoring y/n over a petty fight they had a few days ago, and y/n parades in a very tiny skirt around him when they go out to have dinner with his friends (to get his attention). He then gets really mad because all the guys keep eyeing her, which she knows he hates so she tempts him and fuck in the restaurant bathroom 🤭 just a lil idea i had LOL

Word Count: 2.4K

Tw:Light choking, semi-public sex acts, a little bit of thigh spanking/smacking, idk smut obviously.

A/N: Feast

—

You sat in the kitchen with Dom. Well, Dom sat, you stood, washing the dishes as he talked to you about how the album was going.

“I’ve just been so stressed for the past three fookin weeks trying to get this done. I just want it to be perfect, you know? And I keep wanting to go back and tweak it but Gav tells me not to.” Dom ranted, absentmindedly picking at his nailpolish while he did.

You reached for the knob of the faucet, turning the water on to rinse off the dish in your hand, accidentally turning it too high and ending up being splashed with water, soaking the bottom half of your shirt.

That reminded you, tomorrow you had to do the laundry, then clean Dom and your shared room, then you’d have to shower– No, that wouldn’t work. You’d have to shower then do laundry before you leave, or else you’d end up being late for your appointment.

God, these last few weeks had just been so stressful. You felt like you barely had a chance to breathe, you’d finish one thing and up would pop the next. Oh, and you couldn’t forget lunch right after your appointment. You hoped there wouldn’t be traffic, you can’t be late because (Y/B/F) would only be visiting you on their lunch break, they’d have to go back to work straight after.

Who were you kidding, it’s LA, of course there’d be traffic.

Should you reschedule? You were both so busy as is and this was the one time your schedules had allowed you to meet up in what must’ve been months.

Shit, you thought, how long had it been? You began replaying the last few months in your head as you absentmindedly scrubbed at the plate in hand.

“And you’re not even listening.” Dom pouted.

“No, no I am. That’s great sweetie.”

“What’d I just say.” He tests, looking at you, his raised brow doing very little to hide the fact that he’s annoyed.

“You were talking about the uh- The uhm,” You paused, mustering all your brain cells to remember what he had just been talking about. The towel squished between your hand and the counter as you leaned against the sink, your fingers coming up to stroke the bridge of your nose as you thought “The drums, you just finished the last of it, right?”

The oven dinged, signalling the food needed tending too. Your mind flipped as you searched the kitchen for the oven mit.

Where could you have possibly put it if not right next to the oven where you could’ve sworn you left it. You spun, searching the other counters, even going as far as to look in the sink before realizing it had slid to the floor right below where you put it. Sighing, you leaned down to grab it, pulling open the oven to tend to tonight’s dinner.

“Uh, what else happened today?” You ask, trying to keep your mind on track. You were careful not to burn yourself as fussed with the food

“Shit, babe can you hand me the tongs?” You ask, reaching a hand out behind you. That’s when you realized he hadn’t responded.

“Babe?” You try again, turning around only to realize he’d already left. You scoffed, grabbing it for yourself before leaning back. Standing straight, you take a moment to bask in the warmth of the oven before closing it.

*~Three days later~*

Dom raised his head to look at you, your spoon clinking against the side of your bowl signalling your entrance of the living room. He looked back to the TV just as soon as he had looked over, obviously too invested in whatever he was watching to acknowledge your existence. A sigh of relief left your lips when your butt hit the cushions, leaning back into the inviting, cushiony supports.

“Ugh, this week has been so stressful. I feel like I haven’t had the chance to sit in like… forever.” You say, your eyes focusing on what was playing in front of you. It was an old episode of the great british bake off.

You laughed a bit, but it came off more as a hum.

“You know, I heard when contestants would cry, Mel and Sue would stand by them and use un-airable language so the footage wouldn’t make it to the final cut. Isn’t that so thoughtful?” You say, trying to perk some conversation out of the boy sitting next to you.

He wasn’t responding. Your eyebrows furrowed as you searched through anything you might’ve said to upset him recently. You couldn’t think of a single thing, come to think of it, what was the last thing you had said to him? Hell, when was it?

You realized quickly your last exchange was in the kitchen, and even that had been cut short by him leaving.

Yes, that’s right. When you had crawled in bed with him that night, he had been asleep and you were in such a rush the next morning you couldn’t remember if he was awake next to you when you woke up. He wasn’t exactly avoiding you as much as he was not talking to you.

Had he seriously been giving you the silent treatment for that long?

“Is everything okay?” You tried, sure you were only getting in your own head. Your eyes had completely left the TV at this point, focusing solely on the quiet boy next to you. There was no response, not even so much as a nod.

“You haven’t talked to me in almost a week.” You continued

“Doesn’t matter. Even if i did, you wouldn’t be listening.” Dom retorted

“I’m sorry i made you feel that way. It honestly was not my intention, i’ve just been so caught up this week.” You were sorry, but it seemed awfully ridiculous to have gone this long giving you the silent treatment just because you had been distracted.

The conversation ended entirely there.

Dom hadn’t said more than two words to you since your argument, doing everything in his power to avoid you. It wasn’t hard, after all he was a very busy man. Especially with the release of his new album coming up, there were interviews and meetings to be had, but at a certain point they became less of a responsibility and more of an excuse.

You were on twitter, you had seen his fans practically begging him to take a break, but taking a break would mean seeing you, and that just wasn’t something he had been in the mood to do recently. It was bad enough already that he had to go to dinner with you.

That was okay, you would help him get in the mood. Or, rather, out of his mood. If Dom wanted to be petty, fine, you could be petty.

You slipped the soft material up your legs, admiring your reflection in the mirror. If Dom was going to ignore you, you were going to give him something to ignore.

You knew this skirt would do the trick, every time you saw another girl or, fuck it, boy, prouncing around and one of these skirts even you nearly fucked them. Everybody looked good in these, it was a fact of life, you’d decided. You knew you definitely looked good, you almost had to stop for a moment and touch yourself to the sight, but glancing at the clock you realized you didn’t have nearly enough time for a bit of self pleasure.

You were practically already running late, spending all your time getting yourself ready to grab Dom’s attention. You added some finishing touches before heading out to the living room where Dom sat, waiting for you patiently.

Any other time Dom would’ve been right next to you in the bathroom, admiring your work on your makeup, outfit and hair, but today he stayed in the living room

You tried not to smirk as you made your way into his line of vision. The look on his face was completely worth the hours of tireless work, though. He’d turned his head to look at you, a distinct glare replaced by shock, his eyes widening a bit as they landed on your outfit. It was tight and loose in all the right places and only added to your stunning features.

“What?” You teased,

He tried to recover quickly, returning to his pouty state, not even bothering with a response as you followed him out the door.

You were sitting at the table, surrounded by you and Dom’s friends when someone finally made a comment on your appearance.

“You look really good, (Y/N).” Tom commented, everyone nodding in agreement as the conversation momentarily shifted to you.

“Thank you! I thought so.” You praise yourself, smiling down at your outfit.

The conversation drifted off again, a newfound confidence bubbling up in your chest. You reached over to Dom, grabbing his hand and placing it on your thigh. It stayed there for a moment before he moved it, and it continued on like that. You did everything in your power to remind him of how good you looked and how short your skirt was until he motioned for you to stand. A couple eyes turned to you as you walked off, but no one asked any questions.

Dom was practically dragging you, your feet fumbling as you struggled to keep up with his long strides. When you realized where you were headed you glanced at him, eyes wide, but he wasn’t looking back. His eyes were focused on the bathroom doors ahead, his jaw clenched, gorgeous green eyes shadowed by his black eyeliner.

“Dom, what are you doing?” You began to plead, uncomfortably aware of the fact that you were about to walk into a bathroom with your boyfriend in front of the whole restaurant. You glanced around, checking for any cameras or onlooking eyes. There were none in sight, but you knew that didn’t mean much.

Your head clobbered light as he pinned you to the stall, his eyes burning into your own. Your gaze faltered, looking everywhere but him. Normally sex with Dom never made you nervous, he had always managed to make you feel safe and comfortable, but going from complete silence to being pinned against a stall in The Olive Garden so abruptly made you timid. His hand pressed down on your shoulder, your legs bending until your knees hit the tiled floor, staring up at him through your lashes. Dom hastily unbuttoned his pants, maintaining his gaze, er, glare on you. Your eyes flickered from his own to his hard dick springing from its constraints, watching as he stroked himself achingly slow before his tip slid past your lips, sliding himself across your tongue a few times, his head leaning back as he felt the warmth of your mouth surround him.

You hollowed out your cheeks, eyes remaining on his expression. When you reached up to replace his hand with your own you felt a harsh tug on your hair. It took you a moment to realize what he wanted from you, but when you realized you let your jaw go slack. Dom’s hand remained wrapped around the base of his cock, shoving it down your throat unexpectedly, causing you to gag.

Your mouth hung open, weary not to let your teeth scrape against him as he thrust into your mouth. You pulled back a bit as you gagged, your head lightly hitting against the wall behind you. Dom continued to push forward, his hard cock pushing farther and farther back in your throat. You were pinned between his thrusting hips and the bathroom stall, you had no choice but to let him fuck your throat.

Not that you were complaining.

Well, you couldn’t.

You gagged around him, hands coming up to grip at his hips as he continued to use your mouth to get himself off, angelic moans falling from his plush lips.

Dom finally took mercy on you, pulling away and grabbing your chin with his thumb and forefinger, staring down at you.

“You look so pretty gagging on my dick.” He says, wiping the tear coming from your eye. His hand makes its way down to your neck, wrapping around it and pulling you to your feet.

“Or maybe it’s just that fucking skirt.” He adds, slapping your thigh before lifting the skirt up to reveal your lace underwear. A groan slips past his lips, bringing his fingers against your core. You let out a sigh of relief as his fingers rubbed against your clit, glad to finally get some relief after all this time. It was short lived, though, as he pulled you to your feet using the grip he had on your throat, tilting your head up to look at him.

The air around you seemed to freeze, your eyes roamed eachothers faces, desperate for one another. His lips came against yours slowly and then all at once, his hand remaining around your throat as his tongue slipped its way into your mouth. The hand that wasn’t wrapped around your throat remained between your legs, working steadily at making your legs shake for him.

It was almost embarrassing how ready you were for him, so needy that the slightest touch beckoned a whine. Things became heated again quickly, his hands moving from your neck to your thighs, a quick hop before you wrapped them around his waist.

Dom reached between your legs, trying his best to move the material without dropping you, eventually giving in and letting you do it instead. Reaching between your legs, you wrapped your hand around him, lining his hard dick up with your aching core. He paused there for a moment, enjoying the feeling before pushing himself in. His lips reconnected with your own, thrusting into you a few times before sighing and setting you back to the floor. Your eyebrows furrowed up at him, unsure what to do before he was spinning your around, pinning your face against the wall. You felt him slide between your lips once more before pushing in. It took him a moment to find his rhythm, but soon you were being pounded against the bathroom stall, pathetic moans falling from both your lips, Your senses clouded by pleasure leaving you completely lost to your surroundings.

You would have to be petty more often.

#Yungblud #yungblud smut #yungblud fanfic #yungblud x reader #dominic harrison smut #dominic harrison angst #dominic harrison fanfic #dominic harrison x reader #yungblud angst #submission

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lowkeyanakin · 3 years ago

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Yay!! You did the game! It's fun though, right? It's making me look through all my WIPs and get excited for them all over again.

Okay onto the ask game... I'm super curious about 5 + 1 hands and the Scrubs one!

hello!! it is indeed super fun because i honestly forgot about half of those lmao and ahhhhh i just want to put them out there for people to read

BUT, LET'S GET INTO IT!!

5 + 1 hands

it was a random non sw prompt i reblogged a few months ago and it gave me super tender obikin ideas. basically it was this one:

(yes it's seven not six one has to go I KNOW)

Star Wars x Scrubs

@complementaryhalves is to blame for this and basically a CERTAIN character dies (not satine lmao) and obi-wan is very obi-wan about it. it's based on a scrub's episode revolving around a funeral (for those who have watched it: 3x14) and cecilia will write the 'prequel', using episode 15 of season 6 as a reference. i'd like to say more but i dont want to spoil the series lol

very fucking sad with a background obikin!!

for this wip game, please send more!!

#elisa answers #elisa writes #obikin #anakin skywalker #obi-wan kenobi #star wars #ask game #spare an askkkkk #pls? <3

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snipsnsnailsnwerewolftales · 3 years ago

Text

Blue Moon - Part 4

A/N: See masterlist for prompts used. (And the list of amazing people who have helped me with this.) I felt it necessary to say, remember, these are all following along with the episodes from 03x04 on till the end of 3A. Without *directly* inserting the reader into the plot line, but more an off screen role. (Aside from the beginning, where, obviously, Derek fought the Alpha’s while Cora watched from the sidelines.) And because of that, it’s more angst than I usually write. It was a very angsty season. And the prompts have inherent angst, but lots of fluff, and sass, so once we get out of the murkiness that is Jennifer Blake (can you tell I don’t like her? - which, kudos to the actress, who I think is beautiful and brilliant, for making me hate her so much. 😆) we can move on to that happy, feel good, Sourwolf love we all enjoy so much. But until then, I guess this counts as a slow burn of sorts?

I do not own Teen Wolf or it’s characters. Sadly.

Warnings: See Masterlist

Word count: 2,633

Xxx

The next day was lonely. Stiles would text you every now and then, but other than that it was a quiet day. No word about Derek from anyone other than Peter and Cora going to get his body and it not being there. And neither was Ennis’, who Derek had pulled down with him. You decided not to dwell on the many possible things that could mean.

You drove in silence to all the places Stiles had mentioned the night before and spoke meekly at each one. You felt almost like you were floating through the day, going through the motions, but your mind was a million miles away.

The meet ended up getting canceled due to weather, and they were all going to be stuck staying at some crappy motel that Stiles insisted was haunted through multiple texts with an excessive amount of emojis. You couldn’t get ahold of anyone else, which was kinda odd, but also not totally abnormal.

To top it all off, you needed something you left at the loft, so you told the Sheriff - who had taken the night off and ordered a pizza to stay in with you this evening, after finding out Stiles wasn’t coming right back - you would be back in a flash, you just had to “run home real quick”, careful not to mention the loft, to which he just chuckled and said something along the lines of, “Just make sure you run the speed limit.”

Sighing as you pulled into the loft parking lot, you glanced through the windshield up at the top floor where it sat. It was so ominous looking, bathed in moonlight, it almost gave a faint glow. Resting your forehead on the steering wheel, you took some deep breaths, panic rising as flashes of your tango with an Alpha came back rapidly. But instead of feeling like a badass, it made you hyperventilate. There was this gnawing feeling that it had been a one time thing, and that should you ever encounter them again you would be in so much trouble.

Taking one last deep breath to steady your nerves, you stopped mid inhale, slightly cocking your head to the side, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

Derek.

You had caught Derek’s scent. Well, it’s his loft, you rationalized to yourself. But no. This was fresh. Less than a few hours old. Glancing back up at the loft one last time, you grabbed the handle and yanked your door open, mustering the courage you could find to climb up the winding staircase and see for yourself.

Taking them two at a time, you felt your courage build with each step and your hope that Derek was there along with it. As you stood in front of the loft door, your outstretched hand just shy of the handle and trembling, you took a tentative breath and knew Derek had been here very recently. That was the final push you needed to firmly grip the handle of the loft door, preparing to give it a hefty pull, but something made you stop short.

A whisper.

Just on the other side of the door, a woman's voice, then Derek’s. Surely your mind was playing tricks on you; you didn’t smell anyone else. You did pick up on something vaguely familiar, but couldn’t place it. The smell reminded you of school, and the crime scenes of the sacrifices you had been at, and lately, the loft. Unable to place the smell, you slowly slid the door open, stopping after only a few inches to peek in.

What you saw made your heart speed up, as there Derek sat on the edge of his bed, covered in scratches and blood, but alive. He was alive.

Your feet that had been glued to the floor suddenly felt like they were floating, the distance between him and you too much. You couldn’t contain the smile that brought to your lips, but it soon melted when another figure stepped into view in front of him. On instinct you had started to move forward, barely making it over the threshold before the other silhouette made you pull up short.

Jennifer.

You covered your mouth to hold in whatever was about to come out, anger, disgust, pain, you didn’t know, they were all swirling in your gut at the sight. You fell to your knees, bracing yourself on the doorframe to try and stay just out of sight.

No, Derek hadn’t caught your scent yet, which is what you found the most strange, and worrisome, and only reinforced that she was doing something to his mind.

You finally placed the smell as belonging to Miss Blake, but it was different from her scent she had all the other times you had seen her, and that somehow made it worse. It didn’t smell like emotions or anything, it smelled like an entirely different being. Barely even human.

This last thought made you knit your eyebrows in determination, about to rise to your feet, charge in there, and show the she devil a thing or two, but you only made it to one knee, still bent on the floor, before you froze, eyes wide, eyebrows practically in your hairline. What you saw could never be unseen. Like two dogs in heat, they were on one another as if space between them was too painful. Your grip on the door frame and the loft door handle almost broke them under the pressure.

You felt sick. Physically sick to your stomach. Whether from the feeling of betrayal, knowing you were right that something was weird about this whole thing, the fact that they had been getting it on in front of you, or all of the above, you weren’t quite sure.

Sliding the door shut calmly, you tried to keep it together as you softly, but quickly, made it back down the stairs, into your car, and back to the Stilinski driveway, putting your car in park and shutting off the engine before you let yourself feel anything.

You wanted to kick and scream and sob your eyes out because you knew she had been doing something to him, you knew something was wrong, but you didn’t go with your gut, and now here you were. In your car, alone. In front of the Stilinski house. Silent tears racing down your face at the feeling of betrayal, both from seeing them together tonight and at yourself for not doing something sooner.

A tap on your window made you jump, and you saw the Sheriff trying to peek in. Opening your door, you hopped out, swiping rapidly at your tears, and plastering a smile on your face. “Sorry that took so long.”

He looked at you skeptically, waving it off. “Nah. The pizza just got here. You’re right on time.”

Wrapping an arm around your shoulders, he ushered you into the house, quietly closing the front door behind the both of you. He stayed silent until you were both in the living room. He had the remote in his hand about to press play on the movie, but it dipped once in hesitation before he sighed, and it fell along with his hand to the armrest beside him. Scrubbing his face for a moment with his free hand, he finally looked up at you. Opening his mouth once before snapping it shut, staring blankly in front of him as if the space held the right thing to say, he scratched his forehead with the remote, his face making the face you had come to learn and love earlier on from Stiles. “Are you okay, Y/N?”

You stopped trying to grab a slice of pizza from the box, clearing your throat and wiping your sweaty palms on your jeans before nodding gently, staring at the floor. “Yeah.” You looked up and met his gaze, seeing concern painting his features. “Yeah, I’m okay, Mr. Stilinski. Just boy trouble. Thanks for asking.” You smiled as best you could, and he seemed to do the same.

“Well, we’ve known each other forever, sweetheart, and I want you to know that you can tell me anything.”

The smile on your face felt a little more genuine. “I know. Thank you.”

“No matter how uncomfortable it makes me,” he continued as if you hadn’t said anything. The words sounded pained and forced, his brows knit like he was eating a lemon, and you finally let out the full smile that had been trying break through, even laughing.

His lips twitched up gently. “There she is.”

“I will. Thank you. But for both of our sakes-” you leaned in, placing a hand on his forearm- “I’ll probably just tell Stiles.”

“Oh, thank God.” He let out on a huff of air, making you laugh again. “Now. Let’s watch this movie.” He hit play, and you settled into the couch, letting the plot unfolding on the screen take you away, if only for a little while.

Xxx

Your phone vibrated in your pocket, waking you up with a start.

The DVD menu played softly on a loop, the movie long over, and to your right the Sheriff was snoring with his head on the back of the couch.

You tossed the blanket you had been using on top of him before leaving the room and checked your phone, only to see it was Stiles.

“Stiles?” You spoke quietly into the receiver, not wanting to wake the Sheriff.

“Y/N? Why are you whispering?” Stiles sounded kind of stressed, just a little bit off.

“Your dad took off work tonight and we had a pizza - yes, I let him have pizza, don’t you dare jump on my case and go on a tirade about how he needs a salad, let the man live, Stiles - and we watched a movie.”

“I was wondering why that soundtrack was playing on a loop in the background. He used a DVD, didn’t he? I taught him how to use streaming-”

“Stiles!” You cut off his tangent with a chuckle. “Why are you calling me so late. Or, is it early?” You checked your watch to find it was early morning, still dark outside.

“Well, let’s just say tonight has been interesting, we are all alive, which is good, but sleeping on the bus-”

“The bus?”

“The bus. Our rooms weren’t safe, and I don’t mean because of roaches or mysterious stains, Y/N.” You grinned. “Although there was this one smell in my room that was rather suspect….”

Smell. Scent. Shit.

Screwing your eyes shut, palm on your forehead, you spoke quickly, “Stiles, don’t be angry with me.” Peeking your head into the other room to see the Sheriff still soundly asleep, you stepped onto the back porch and closed the door behind you, ignoring Stiles’ incessant questions as you did.

“Stiles! Hush! I had to leave the room so your dad didn’t hear!”

“Oh,” was all he said. You heard the squeak of the bus as he slumped back against it, obviously doing the same as you and trying to get a bit of privacy.

Taking a deep breath, you told him everything you saw at the loft.

The only thing he did was suck in a sharp breath, but was otherwise silent. Finally he said, “I’m so sorry, Y/N.”

“Yeah, thanks, whatever.” You cleared your throat, looking down at your feet before lifting your gaze to stare vacantly across the yard. “My main concern was that scent. It didn’t smell human, but not entirely not human.”

“Well, that’s terrifying,” Stiles said blandly, making your lips twitch up just slightly. You heard another voice on the other end, Scott, and Stiles mumbled something about speakerphone before the phone was jostled around a bit. You could hear a mumbled, “Well, no, you don’t need speakerphone because you’re a freak of nature, Scott, but I, a mere mortal, need the aid.” You chuckled and could hear Scott let out a groan and soft chuckle himself.

“Y/N?” Finally Scott’s voice came through clearly.

“Yeah?”

“First of all, thank you. For everything.” His voice sounded distant, and you sure as hell were going to interrogate them when they got back as to what the hell happened that night at the motel, but for now you just nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see you and rolled your eyes.

“You’re welcome, Scott. The feeling’s mutual. Thanks for making it so easy.”

Stiles humphed. “I feel like that last part was directed at me.”

“But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

A mumbled, “Thanks, I guess,” but you could hear his smile.

“Y/N, the scent. The one you smelled at Derek’s loft.” Scott was back to business. “I think I smelled it here tonight.”

“Really? How is that-” You were cut off by Scott who was obviously talking to Stiles.

“Right before we decided to stay in the bus, when Lydia saw something in the fire, after the explosion-”

"Okay, what the hell happened to you guys?!" you asked loudly, cutting them off. Grimacing, you quickly used your hearing to pick up on the Sheriff's continued snores, let out a sigh of relief, and lowered your voice. "I feel so left out."

“No, I’m glad you weren’t here,” Scott said. “Long story short, something went after a specific group of our friends, and when it finally showed its face,” you heard Lydia cut in from somewhere behind, “I’d barely call that a face,” and you didn’t know whether to laugh or be afraid.

Scott continued pointedly, “When it showed its face, I got a whiff of something I can only describe how you described the smell at the loft. Not human. But also not… not…. human.”

A smacking sound could be heard, and you realized Stiles was patting Scott on the back while saying, “It’s okay, bud. It’s been a long day.”

“One question.” You took a deep breath, trying to decide on the winner of thousands that swam around your brain right now. “Why is Lydia there?”

“She came with Allison.”

“Why was Allison there, Stiles?”

“Uh-uh. You said one question.”

“This is still technically the same question since they apparently came together.”

“….Touché,” Stiles finally came back with, before sighing. “Look, I’ll tell you everything when we get back, okay? It’s been a hell of a day and I just want to sleep,” he continued in a mumble, “if I can ever sleep again after seeing what I’ve seen.” A brief pause. “You werewolves need to come with a disclaimer. ‘May cause sleep disturbances’.”

You laughed loudly. “Okay, okay. I know I’m not going to get anywhere with you guys this tired. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” came a chorus of voices, and you felt relief wash over you at the sound of each one, knowing they were safe and sound.

“Goodbye, Y/N.” Stiles’ voice came through by itself after some fumbling, probably taking you off speakerphone.

“Goodbye, Stiles. Are you sure you don’t want me to stay on the phone until you fall asleep? I mean, I am part of the reason, after all. I do come with a disclaimer.”

“I would absolutely love that, but I need to save my battery and I am in a bus surrounded by werewolves, whatever Lydia is, and a hunter. I think my security system is pretty good for tonight.”

You chuckled. “Okay then. Goodnight, Stiles.

“Goodnight, Y/N. Oh!”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for being there with my dad.”

“No problem, Stiles. You know he’s like family to me. He was there for me when I came back from the loft, said I could talk about it if I needed.”

“He offered to listen while you talked?!” He was almost yelling.

You laughed again. “Goodnight, Stiles.”

He chuckled. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

Xxx

Tags: @mayahart02, @palaiasaurus64, @shydinosaurcandy, @lucyqueenofthestars, @c-breanne1999, @l4life, @ethereallysimple, @teenwolffan-with-nolife, @bellabadacadabra, @lilostif16, @wandas-love, @emily500, @babygirl-angel-love, @c-dizzle99 What’s This?

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