#yes we are calling greg bear

[britsgovernmentmh]

GREGGGYYY AND ORSOOO!

I swear I'm done with the bear now, for the foreseeable future, but Greg needed to be in here.

He's so difficult to draw, though

@musingsofmyown @britsgovernmentmh there you go, the two Orsos

[cleclercbaby]

Chasing Cars - Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc x Fem!FBI Agent!reader x Criminal Minds

Mentioned Cast: Criminal Minds Cast (Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau/JJ, Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan)

Word Count: 2086

Warning: mention of guns, m*rder word, sh**ting, AND THIS IS MY FIRST TIME SO BEAR WITH ME🫶🏻

Location: Los Angeles (Made up location)

Summary: as a Supervisory Special Agent, your team have been assigned to a murder case which involved street robberies… but then Charles Leclerc comes into action. (Inspired by a CCTV footage of Charles chasing down his watch thieves.”

Abbreviation: UnSub (Unknows Subject- The criminals), B.A.U (Behavioral Analysis Unit)

----------

You put a black sunglasses as you get out of the airport. You and the rest of the Behavioral Analysis Unit Team split into two different SUVs as you, Reid, and Hotch go straight to the LAPD office while Derek, Emily, and JJ go to the crime scene. The case the B.A.U team is working on is about some murder that took place in Malibu with stealing expensive watches as the modus operandi. We believe that the UnSub is more than one person.

All the victims were found in the alleys and all of them have lost their expensive watches. The B.A.U team came to the conclusion that the victims had fought back the UnSub but instead got murdered in the middle of the fight.

Your team arrived at the LAPD office 5 minutes later. The LAPD has set up the office for your team. Hotch, Reid and you directly setting up the files and the map. Reid spent another minute doing the geographic profiling as you and Hotch talked to Sergeant Reyes about the evidence.

Hotch’s phone rings and it shows Garcia’s name on the screen. Penelope Garcia is our tech analysis. She’s doing her job back at our office in Quantico.

“Yes, Garcia. You’re on speaker.” Hotch says, his eyes still fixed on the victim’s pictures.

“I got the brand name of those expensive watches. Rolex and Richard Mille, they only stole these two brands.” She says as her typing sounds got faster. “The UnSub let go of 2 victims who wore another brand.”

“Do you have the name of those 2 victims?” You ask her.

“Of course, Honey. Their names are Jacob Rhodes and Lilian Harris. I’ve sent their addresses to your phone. Ciao!”

With that information, Hotch calls Derek to go to those addresses and talk to the victims.

—

“Fuck!” You mutter under your breath as you try to control the steering wheels. You end up in this situation because Hotch asked you and Emily to watch the UnSub when Garcia sent the address of their whereabouts to the team. Your team have two UnSubs who match the profile. Greg Finn and Tyler Brendan.

You and Emily wait for them silently and patiently inside the car, until a man gets out of his car in front of the UnSubs. The UnSubs seem to know the man because they ask for something. You frown, thinking about the worst thing about the man being their leader or something, but then they hold up their phone to take a selfie with the man. What? Is that man a celebrity?

You try to look closely, but you just can’t see the face clearly. You’re not that far from them but they’re facing the opposite direction which makes it harder to see the man’s face. They seem good for a while until everything turns into chaos when the thieves run to their car as the man shouts at them.

“Merde! My watch!” He shouts while he abruptly gets into his car, trying to get ahold of the thieves car.

You and Emily are trailing behind him and my god! He is fast. “Watch out!” Emily yells.

“Fuck!” You mutter under your breath as you try to control the steering wheels. “How is he driving so fast?”

“Girl, he’s driving a Ferrari. Of course he is fast.” Emily replies, as it is so obvious.

“Damn! We need to get one so we can be fast when catching the criminals.” You joke, trying to ease up the situation. Emily laughs, agreeing with you before she calls Derek to let him know where the UnSub is heading.

“I’m ready at the end of the road, bring them here Y/N.” Derek says through the speaker.

“Copy that.” You reply. “Their victim is chasing them too. It seems like they tried to ask for a selfie then stole the watch and ran afterwards.”

“There was no fight?” Now Hotch turns to ask through the speaker, “They just ran?”

“Yes, they just ran.” Emily answers him. “We’re close. Do you guys see them?”

“Alright. We’re gonna cut him from here.” Derek says then turn off the call.

“Wait the man’s car didn’t know Derek is gonna cut them off, he’s on high speed with a fucking Ferrari.” Realisation hits you as you think of the worst thing that will happen if he didn’t slow down.

“Damn it! You’re right.” Emily cursed, “I’m putting on the siren. Can you drive faster?”

“I’m trying. Might as well be an F1 driver after this case, though.” You groan, trying to drive faster so you can get to the man’s car. You’re not a big fan of driving this fast so you feel your hands are sweating. It makes you grip the steering wheels harder so you don’t slip.

Finally you’re trailing right behind the man. You try to overtake him but he’s driving like a freaking pro F1 driver. Fuck it! “Emily, turn off the siren and shout at him. I’ll try to get as close as possible. This man thinks he’s in F1 and doesn’t let me overtake.”

Emily does as you said. She turns off the siren then puts herself over the car window. “SIR. I’M SSA EMILY PRENTISS FROM FBI AND I ORDER YOU TO SLOW DOWN.” Emily shouts as loud as possible and you hope he hears him.

Thankfully, he heard her and slowed down his car so you finally can drive right beside him. You gesture your hand to ask him to roll down his window.

“Charles Leclerc?” You’re surprised and not surprised. Surprised because you never thought of seeing your favourite F1 driver here and not surprised because like you said, he’s driving like a pro F1 driver and my god, of course he drives a Ferrari.

You’ve always been a F1 fan but the job makes it hard to catch up with the races and the driver. Sure, he is your favourite but you don’t even know what type of Ferrari he drives daily. You rarely watch F1 races ever since you joined the B.A.U team 3 years ago. The day you get to watch it was on your phone while you were writing your report at the office.

“They stole my watch.” He says. My god his accent! You always love his accent.

“My team will cut him off. That’s why we ask you to slow down. Now I’m gonna go first and you need to trail behind me. Don’t overtake me because it would be dangerous as you’re their target.” You explain to him.

He nods, “Okay, Agent.”

“Y/N!! Is that Charles Leclerc? Your favourite F1 driver that you and Hotch talked about a lot?” Emily smiles, she can’t hide her excitement for you. She knows how much you idolised Charles.

“Yes. Oh my god, why should we meet in this situation? So chaotic.” You groan.

“Girl, are you kidding? This is the best situation. He might become your fan after this.” Emily says.

You roll your eyes, “Being my fan, my ass! I’m not that cool .”

“C’mon! You and I know that we’re really good at this job and we’re badass. How can he not become a fan after seeing you catching some criminals?”

You shrug, “I don’t wanna be delusional.”

As Emily would talk again, she got cut off by the scene in front of us.  There are Hotch and Derek pointing guns at the UnSubs while the UnSubs do the same. The LAPD officer also surrounded them with their guns pointing at them. They can’t go anywhere.

“Shit! They’re armed.” You cursed, then quickly parked the car. You and Emily get out of the car with your gun pointing at the UnSubs. One of them knows you’re there so now he’s pointing the gun at you and Emily. It’s Tyler.

“We both know this is useless. Lower your gun!” You demand, but they don't seem to be affected by you. “I said lower your gun!”

“Agent.” Charles calls you. Shit! You nearly forgot that he was there behind your car.

“Step back, Charles.” You say to him but your eyes don’t move from the UnSub. You can see Hotch look at Charles but quickly divert his attention back to the Unsub.

“We just need this watch.” Tyler says, “we don’t wanna cause any trouble.”

“You think we don’t know that you murdered those victims after you stole their watch?” Derek says to them.

Greg gulps. His face turns pale after hearing that information. Bold of them to assume that your team don’t know what they did.

“Just get down and we’ll talk more at the office.” Hotch says calmly, try to make the situation as safe as possible so nobody gets hurt and the UnSubs go to the custody alive. “We want to know more about you.”

Tyler seems to think about it. You knew from Garcia that Tyler is the submissive and Greg is the Dominant. So in this situation, Tyler is more likely to surrender. When Greg sees Tyler thinking about it, his instinct of flight or fight got the best of him as he knows they can’t flight, he points his gun to Charles, his finger is ready to fire the gun. But before he can do anything, you quickly shoot him right in the chest. Greg’s blood splatter to Tyler as he screams and puts down his gun.

Derek quickly gets Tyler and puts a handcuff on him while Hotch checks Greg’s heartbeat. He looks at me then shakes his head. It means Greg is dead.

You and Emily let out a sigh of relief. It was a clean shot and a clean take down even though one of the UnSub is dead. So you see it as a successful take down and glad it is over.

“I believe there’s someone who wants to talk to you.” Emily whispers to you.

You see Charles walking towards me with a smirk on his face. “I didn’t know an FBI agent could know my name.”

You chuckle, “My boss is a big fan of yours. Of course I know your name.”

“How about you?” Charles asks, furrowing his perfect brow.

“Me? How about me?” You ask him, confused about what he means.

“Are you a fan, too?” He asks me. His eyes fixed on yours.

“She’s a huge fan. A total tifosi but never had time to watch a full race because of the job.” Emily chimes. You guess she can’t take your bullshit anymore because she knows you probably say no.

Charles smiles. His dimples showing as he does it. Oh, how cute! “Glad to know a brave, badass FBI agent is a tifosi.”

“Not a big deal.” You mumble. “Alright, I’m a huge fan then what?”

“Then I would like to ask you to come to the paddock on Sunday. I have a race here.”

“Huh? Me? I—”

“She’ll come. I’ll make sure of it.” Emily says with a huge smile on her face. “She’s got VIP Access then?”

“Of course. I’ll arrange the VIP’s for the FBI Team. I’d be happy if you all want to come. This is the least I can do as a thank you for saving my life tonight.”

“You don’t have to do that. We’re just doing our job.” You stated, trying so hard not to scream yes when he said about the VIP thing.

Charles smirks and without saying anything to you, he walks to Hotch and Derek. He shakes their hands then talks to them a bit then looks at you with a big smile. 

“Your boss says yes.” He says when he is in front of you. “I’ll see you in the paddock.”

You smile, shaking your head. “Nice one, though”

He winks at you. HE FREAKING WINKS!! “I need your number for the VIP information.”

Trying so hard to control your scream, you give him your name card. He takes it with a smile then reads it. Oh stop smiling! Your heart can’t take his smile anymore. He’s too cute.

“Alright then, see you in the paddock Supervisory Special Agent Y/N Y/L/N”

--------

Whoa can't believe I made it here haha. please let me know what you think.

Ciao ciao.

All the love.

Edith

[nflsundayticket]

Caleb Williams' Rookie Season Predictions Revealed!

well I'm gonna answer it this way because I'm gonna give you something that I don't think is talked about a lot with Caleb Williams.  I think is real positive I everybody talks about you know the so-called momes element okay and let's put that aside because to use an educational term it's really hard to major in momes. News Summary: Chicago Bears' rookie sensation Caleb Williams is set to take the NFL by storm, igniting excitement among fans and pundits alike. With high expectations and a city hungry for success, Williams' journey promises to be one of triumph and triumph. He's just a special cat and you don't want to start thinking that every quarterback that comes in league is like Patrick Mahomes um what I really like about Caleb Williams is he really controls the ball exceptionally well. What I mean by that is he can place the ball exactly where he wants to place it and sometimes I think that gets over look rich because we focus so much on movement now because of the M the mahomes's because of the Josh Allen the Lamar Jacksons. I'm sure I'm missing some other names as well um but we focus so much on that and there's no question that cayb Williams has that ability we've seen it in college but he really controls the football beautifully and I think when all said and done that's maybe the most critical piece. Because you can do everything right as a quarterback rich but if you can't throw it where you want to you don't really have anything and you think he's got that ability while also doing the off-platform stuff. I mean it's hard not to like Caleb Williams based on tape I mean you know I'm not going to sit here say he's the best quarterback I've seen in you know in 44 years of NFL films um but he's certainly a high level prospect and again having said that do I think he's going to come in and throw 40 touchdowns and five interceptions not likely although he is going to go into a pretty good situation. Normally a number one draft choice does not go into a situation quite like that and I know a question I'm about to deliver is not usually the lane in which you thrive or like to drive Greg but do you agree with the assessment the Bears clearly made to send Justin Fields packing and choose this kid do you agree with it. I do agree with it yes why is that um you know I think Fields has played enough games I believe he started 37 games in this league and one of the things that I think that is just stands out and it's very hard to coach this believe me you've had these conversations. I've had these conversations it's very hard to teach someone to see things clearly when they really don't just innate and I think that's one of the major issues with Justin fields that may never change and if that doesn't change he'll always be a spectacular player who can make special plays and will have special games. But may not just be exactly what you want at the quarterback position long term and based on what you saw out of Russell Wilson last year on tape Greg if this is truly an open competition between these two gents. The training camp opens in Pennsylvania in August do you think it's uh it's a that Fields has a shot at being a week one starter you think Russell's going to take the gig what do you think you know you know me Rich I'm not a a hot take guy yeah know but I would think that based on the way Mike Tomlin talks anyway you know I've not had this conversation with him I actually think that because he wants to run the football and that's important to him it seems to be anyway doesn't it playing physical football doesn't that seem to be important to Mike Tomlin yeah. I would almost think that Justin Fields because of the quarterback run game element would actually give them a more diverse offense than with Russell Wilson neither Fields nor Wilson is a true timing Rhythm passer so you know Fields would give you more options offensively if he was the quarterback if assuming that that's the way they want to play. If they want to run the ball with their two backs Naji Harris and Jaylen War if that's the way they want to play you know and be physical up front and establish that kind of offense then Fields gives you more options well listen I know when you talk about two-way threat quarterbacks. Ryan tanhill is not usually the first couple of names out of somebody's mouth but Arthur Smith had Derk Henry and on Ryan tanhill on the same offense and they they they look pretty damn good there were a couple years there they were really good I mean they went to the AFC Championship game they averaged over 30 points a game that year they almost beat the Chiefs right I mean no question catch the rich eyes. Read the full article

[wutbju]

A WutBJU reader wanted to be sure we called attention to Greg Mazak's falderal in the BJU Seminary CORE Conference. You can watch it here.

The most dramatic thing about Mazak's talk is that he's not a complete authoritarian. He's actually conceding that people might have a different view. It's kind of startling to hear him be . . . well, accommodating.

But you can't ignore the fact that he's still reduces everything he teaches to rhyming proverbs like:

Root determines fruit.

Yes, Jesus does say that every tree is known by its fruit. But, Greg, no tree bears fruit continuously. There are dormant seasons and even well, seasons where it looks like the tree is dead.

Take, for instance, my raspberry bed yesterday. It was a mess. I needed to do a spring clean-up. This is the time of year for pruning. And in the same bed, of course, are sawbriar plants with the raspberry. Both are vines. Both have thorns. Neither are blooming right now.

Now I can tell the difference between them. But it's not because of the fruit. If I were to cut off all the vines that weren't bearing fruit in March, I would be kind of a dingaling. Nothing has fruit in March.

There's a time to rest and a time to reap. A time to prune and a time to wait. That's what gardening is.

And remember, Greg, what the fruit of the spirit actually is:

Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

Joy, there, is chara. If you dig into that, it sounds like Paul is saying that God will give you occasions to rejoice. It's not saying that you won't ever be sad or depressed or even hopeless. It's not saying that if God is not producing joy in you at this moment or all the time, the Spirit is not in you. Nor is it saying that if you feel sad or depressed you're not a Christian.

We know that's where you are headed.

[sebeth]

Who's Who In The DC Universe #1: Animal Man, Anthro, Apokolips

Animal Man by Gil Kane

Stunt man Buddy Baker was bathed in radiation from an alien space ship that crashed to Earth

He later discovered that he could absorb the special abilities of any animal within a certain range

Buddy designed a costume and called himself “Animal Man”

He later retired and married Ellen Frazier and had two children with her – Cliff and Maxine

Buddy was later recruited by the Immortal Man and joined several other semiretired adventurers in an organization called the Forgotten Heroes

My first exposure to Animal Man (besides Who’s Who) was his appearances in the Justice League Europe issues. I fell in love with him immediately. I love his power set – Vixen is another favorite for the same reason. He was so down to Earth and his relationship with his Ellen is one of my favorites in comics. Buddy is perfect proof that an “everyman” hero can have a wife and children. My recommendations for anyone interested in Animal Man are the Animal Man series by Grant Morrison, his appearances in the Justice League Europe series, and his role in the “52” series. As far as I know, Buddy hasn’t made any appearances in any DC animated are live-action roles – Vixen tends to be used instead. And yes, as a woman and person of color, Vixen’s appearances are important for diversity (and she’s simply a great character) but Buddy is cool too, so how both characters be allowed to shine? If Young Justice can have Superboy, Superman, Captain Marvel, and Icon (all similar powersets) than Animal Man and Vixen can make appearances in the live action/animated parts of the DC Universe.

Anthro by Howie Post

We journey to the era of time when Neanderthals were giving way to the rise of the Cro-Magnon. Anthro was born in this era, the son of a Cro-Magnon mother and a Neanderthal father.

Ne-ahn, Anthro’s father, was chief of the Bear Tribe, and Anthro’s deceased unnamed mother was a member of a tribe long thought destroyed.

Anthro’s mother doesn’t receive a name but his stepmother is Emba.

The Bear Tribe had no permanent home, lived a nomadic existence, and tried to survive the hostile elements of the dawn of civilization.

The background art shows Anthro riding wooly mammoths, spear fishing, and battling Neanderthals.

Anthro debuted in the Showcase series – issue “74. The only appearance I’ve read of Anthro was in the Crisis of Infinite Earths series. He was so much fun in his appearance. If that was typical of his character, Anthro must have been a blast in his Showcase appearance.

Apokolips by Greg Theakston

The New Gods were Jack Kirby’s original end game for the Marvel Asgardian gods. Kirby left Marvel and brought his idea to DC with a few changes (for legal reasons).

“There came a time when the old gods (the Asgardians) died. The final moment came with the fatal release of indescribable power which tore the home of the old gods (Asgard/Nine Worlds) asunder, splitting it into great halves, and filling the universe with the blinding death-flash of its destruction.” (Ragnarök)

Two worlds emerged from this explosion (Apokolips and New Genesis).

New Genesis was “given nobility and strength from the living atoms of Baldurr (Marvel’s Baldur).

Apokolips was “saturated with the evil and cunning which was once a sorceress (Marvel’s Karnilla).

Apokolips is ruled by Darkseid.

Notable locations on Apokolips include the Armagetto (home of the Hunger Dogs and the Energy Pits), Darkseid’s Tower of Rage (his home palace), and the Granny Goodness’s Happiness Home (home of the Dog Soldiers and Female Furies).

“As of this writing, New Genesis has apparently been destroyed, leaving the New Gods to seek their destiny among the stars, and leaving Darkseid among the ruins of Apokolips, a bitter, frustrated man.e

Poor Darkseid, someone took his away his toys!

I’ll delve into the importance of Darkseid and the New Gods to the DC Universe when I get to those entries, as for Apokolips itself…it has to be in the top 10 in the “alien comic book planets” category – for the entirety of comic book universes.  Off the top of my head, no research, and no generic  or real planets (ex – Skrull homeworld or Mars), I can list: Apokolips, New Genesis, Oa, Thanagar, Rann, Khera, Hala, Krupton, Mogo, Tamaran, etc. As a Legion fangirl, I can name numerous home planets of the Legionnaires: Colu, Rimbor, Trom, Bismol, Daxam, etc but I’m not sure how well known those are to a non-Legion fanbase.  I can name numerous alien races from Marvel but blank on their home planets except for the Kree (Hala) and the Eternals (Titan).

I would also put Apokolips in the “Top 10 Worst Comic Book Locations To Live In” category.  Horrible place to be born.

Apokolips has featured heavily in the comics (the various New Gods titles, Superman, Justice League, Legion of Super-Heroes, DCeased, etc) and has made multiple appearances in the animated/live actions series.

[stickytyrantfan]

Dating Glamrock Freddy

Here's my HC, Glamrock Freddy and Gregory came across you when you were doing human things, instead of maybe calling the police or whatever you offer them to stay in your place and thus true love is blossoming

Dating Glamrock Freddy includes lots of a kisses and cuddling, he's much like a teddy bear... Er... Minus the metal parts that aren't so teddy like

Glamrock Freddy not only beholds medical knowledge but as well phycological knowledge as well, so he's very good at attending you times of needs and ranting

This dude is def a bear himbo, despite his knowledge his innocence makes him so clueless and thus still a pure Himbo at heart

If I were to compare him to a Himbo it'd be Kronk minus the playboy aspect, he's very clueless and may do some stupid stuff that can be out his knowledge

He very much will always ask what you are doing, he can be very clearly see you doing something simple as washing your hands and ask, he's curious

He definitely freaks out over the smallest wound on your body, "Super star are you ok!?" "Yes Freddy, it's just a scratch-" "We must go to the first aid!" "Freddy we are in my house"

He follows you everywhere like a lost puppy, and has a hard time grasping the concept of personal space and getting too close

Says sorry for the smallest things a lot more on a relationship, he's scared to this new relationship he has bonded between you and doesn't want to ruin it

He very much has a bear pur when you pet him, yeah, you'd be surprised the amount of wiring is in him just for the sensation of touch

Loves it when you and Gregory interact with each other, Freddy is fatherly like with Freddy Mercury mixed in one, so seeing you just being kind to Gregory and getting along flutters the big ol bears heart, maybe you can be papa's!

One hundred percent sees you two as the official parents of Gregory, Greg is pretty down for it since he likes you and he likes Freddy

He loves to sing with you, just hearing you hum with his music will make him wanna duet, he especially gets flustered when it's his music

He very much wishes he was human so he can do "couple things" but he is a bear, a robot bear, and thus not really something people will like to see, especially cause he's a missing Animatronic

You probably have to hide them from family if they ever come to visit, like hide him in the closet or something and go "shhhhhhh, my family is coming hide in here." "Your family? Well why must I hide? I'm sure they'd love to meet me." "No, no, you're a missing Animatronic they are most likely gonna get us in trouble,"

Gregory ends up hiding in your room with some snacks or something, maybe you sign some adoption papers for him but for now you're hiding this random boy to your family in his room

Overall, you and Freddy have a kid and Freddy loves you.

[transmutationisms]

id love to hear more abt the piss motif could u give me a comprehensive guide so far

omg yes of course

so on the surface level, pissing on this show is often a way of expressing dominance or power relations. which makes sense on an intuitive level—it's sort of like a dog marking its territory. that's what logan is doing in 'lifeboats' when he pisses on kendall's floor, and what matsson is doing in 'too much birthday' when he pisses on the waystar app. it's also what that rando is doing when he throws piss at logan in 'austerlitz' (impaled upon his own piss-sword, humiliated by his own design, etc).

i think the writers also subvert piss-as-dominance, though, by drawing the audience's attention to 1) the grossness of it and 2) the times when characters (logan) transgress the bounds of the appropriate time/place to piss. eg, the opening scene with logan pissing on the rug. he's an incredibly rich man and he can afford to just pay someone to clean up after himself—but it's still humiliating, he can't look directly at the person doing the cleanup, and obviously it foreshadows his haemorrhage. similarly, in 'retired janitors' he's pissing constantly because he's lost control of his bladder and consequently his mind, and he becomes a tragicomic figure rather than the omnipotent patriarch-king he normally tries to be.

most interestingly, though, i think the flow of bodily fluids in general tells you something about the character's emotional state. when you see someone bleeding, pissing, shitting, puking, yerfing, or even spitting you're usually also seeing some kind of emotional turning point or release. (my faves are kendall shitting the bed at his big emotional shift in s2, and the way tom swallowing his own load is symptomatic of his emotional constipation/repression/inability to get what he wants).

plus, when i think about piss motif, i also think about the large number of scenes that take place in bathrooms (depends how you count, but roughly an average of one per episode). the bathroom is socially coded as the one place where civilised people can go to release, and i don't think it's a coincidence that we also see so many emotionally charged and significant conversations on succession happening in these settings. eg, tabitha has two significant convos about roman's sex and intimacy issues where she's in the bathroom; tom has a couple important phone calls with shiv where he's in the bathroom; i also wrote about togan piss dialectics here which was semi a joke but also... true lmao.

there's also some excellent power plays in bathrooms. eg, kendall bringing the bear hug letter to logan. he catches his father off his guard, half-dressed, in a vulnerable situation. but, because he's kendall, he feels bad about this and logan can tell, and still manages to bully his son. still, the scene ends with logan's hand literally in the toilet, so i'd say this was a relative high point for kendall. or there's greg catching logan in the bathroom and telling him he wants out of waystar, and logan manipulating him into staying. logan is the character who's most free to be emotionally expressive/manipulative, and he's also the one the piss motif centres around.

there's obviously some overlap here with other recurring imagery/motifs in the show. kendall and roman both have a thing with mirrors; kendall has a water motif; there are also lots of other bodily fluids flowing on this show. i also think that, strictly speaking, piss motif and bathroom motif are two different things, though for obvious reasons they do come together in some scenes. but bathroom motif involves a lot of like... vulnerability and emotional dis/honesty and secrecy.

anyway yeah tl;dr: piss motif, to me, is about 1) power relations, 2) the inherently humiliating nature of possessing a human body, 3) emotional expressiveness/release. it's a top-notch motif :)

[pearlplusau]

Pearlplusau Chapter 9 part 2 & 3- The Big News

The next morning, Greg was at the gates and was on his way to see the giant weird alien lady who lived on the beach. He thought about their day together from the day before. He didn’t think babysitting with her could have been more than looking after the baby. But it turned out to be a lot more work than he anticipated. If his heart attacks from Rose babysitting Sour Cream didn’t get him killed, Vidalia sure would.

"Hey Rose!" Greg called as he met up with the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. Her pink curly hair was perfect as always, despite the huge mass. The smile on her face was getting bigger with every step she took. She usually leaped over the distance between them and landed with grace. But today she was skipping with both hands pinching the sides of her dress. Rose looked like she had the best news ever and she was eager to share it with the being across the land.

“Hi Greg!” She greeted back and gave him a big hug.

“Oof-“ Greg was not expecting the bear hug today. “Wow, someone is in a good mood.” He said as she let him go.

“Oh yes,” She grinned. “I’ve been thinking a lot about our day yesterday. And last night, or simply a few hours ago, I finally concluded what I took from that experience.”

“That’s great Rose!”

Rose nodded in agreement.

She looked at him, somehow grinning even wider as if she was waiting for him to ask the question. “So… are you not curious about what I came across from our day together?”

“Oh yeah,” He blushed in embarrassment and cleared his throat. “So, what did you have in mind?”

Rose took a good look at Greg, the adorable but also serious human boyfriend. Somehow, throughout her time on this planet, he was the one who had loved and surprised her more than she could ever anticipate. He was the one who changed her view on relationships. Her views on humans had also changed since then. She was positive about her decision and that this human will be too.

“I want a baby,” Rose announced to her human boyfriend. “And before you say anything, I just want you to know that I’ve wanted this for a very long time.”

Greg was, surprised, to say the least. His expressions shifted from shock to confusion to being in process and finally fully grasping the info. “I-I’m sorry, a baby?” He finally spoke. “You just met Sour Cream yesterday, how did that convince you to have a baby? How did that even happen? And how would that even work?”

This was not the reaction Rose was hoping for. She clasped her fingers and rested her lips on her thumbs. “That, is an awful lot of questions.”

Greg blushed a bright color of tomato red. “I’m sorry, this is just, so unexpected. I never thought I would have kids, much less with someone like you.”

Now it was Rose’s turn to be confused. “I didn’t- I thought- Isn't it natural for a human to want offsprings before they end their mortal life? Isn’t that why the humans on this planet is no where close to extinction?”

“I guess it is a human instinct to want kids, but you’re not human! What made you think a kid is a good idea?” Greg went on to the possible issues to deal with having a kid. “We’re gonna have to take care of it, but I can barely even keep a roof over my own head. There’s a roof over at my friend Vidalia’s place, but we can’t live off of her forever. And do you know how expensive kids are? I work at a car wash! Not some money-rolling rockstar!”

Greg was obviously panicking, and Rose was not sure how to handle this.

“I-I didn’t know.” She finally spoke. “There’s actually something else too.”

The panicking human heard the urgency of her tone and sat down on a rock. Please don’t let this be worse than the money problem. Please don’t let this be worse than the money problem. He thought to himself.

“I don’t want just a baby, Greg. I want to be a part of the baby and experience what it is like to be human. I know it is difficult to understand my decision, but I need you to trust me.”

The human calmed down, but he was still worked up from the panic. “Ok, so you want to have a baby and experience human life with them? That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“That’s actually what I wanted to tell you about. I don’t think I can give birth to a human without…giving up my own physical form. It’s complicated.” She scratched the back of her head. “Every gem can create one body form according to the type of gem she is, but they can’t create a new form without a gem. So, if I want to have this baby, I can only do it if I give up my physical form.”

Greg was trying very hard to digest the things she said. But once he understood, he tried very hard not to go into panic mode again. The most he can do was staying completely still, but his trembling eyes screamed out, That’s so much worse than the money problem!

It took a while for Greg to gather enough courage to react. “So, you’ll be gone forever? Rose! I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for a baby! There are other ways to get a baby without… that! There are probably a lot of adoption agencies outside of Beach City. We can just raise one of those babies!”

It sounded so reasonable and so tempting. She could simply adopt a human baby and enjoy life with them. But the thought of loving something waiting for the inevitable death pained her even more. No, she had to do it.

“But I want this, I really, really do. For once in my life, I want to experience what’s it like to be a human. And the only way to do that is to be part of the baby. The baby and I can’t both exist. I have to become half of the baby or no baby at all.”

She held his shaking hands, feeling his trembling figure. He was scared, and so was she. “The baby is going to be something extraordinary. The baby is going to be a human being. This is the best thing I can ever ask for. I am sure of it.”

She sounded very sure of it. Greg hesitated and asked, “Are you sure this is what you want? A chance of living as a human than your own immortality?”

“Of course, this is a huge change, it's even something that’s truly unprecedented and unheard of. Being able to change and grow, instead of being the same for the entire existence. And I like not knowing what’s really gonna happen. And this, us, the baby, it will be the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Greg was still not convinced. “I don’t know about this Rose. This is such a huge change. You’re talking about ending your own lifeline for a baby. Wouldn’t it be scary to not… exist after such a long time?”

The idea never stuck to Rose. She just assumed she would be a conscience inside the gem. So she might still be around. “Remember what I told you while we were babysitting Sour Cream? The part about being a gem and doing the same purpose forever. It’s true. This is the only chance for me to reinvent myself. Everything should grow and everything should change, and it's so natural to humans. Us gems never got that experience, and this is my one chance to have that! I hate to leave the gems. We went through so much together, but I really think this is the best and only chance I can grow and be part of something more than what I was made for. This is my chance to do something good for once.”

“This is going to change everything.”

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

“You are not changing anything.” Greg hadn’t heard that since he left his home.

The home was less of a home and more of a prison. Everything in the house was super old-fashioned and faded, especially the wallpapers. His parents never intended to do any renovations around the place, much less let him do any redecorations. Anyone who’s ever been a guest in this house would always comment on how “lovely” and “cozy” the place was. But they never saw the gruesome truth of their hosts.

He was just about to take down his old horrific graduation photo from high school. The photo showed him in a blue robe and graduation cap while holding a scroll. But he looked completely miserable in the photo. He saved up and cared for his luscious, beautiful mane for his exciting gig the day after graduation. But Mother and Father made him cut it so short he might as well have been bald. Looking at it in the halls since then has been a nightmare. He wanted to take it down and never see it again with the rest of them.

His mother was at the end of the hallway, glaring daggers at him. “I said, you are not changing anything.” The woman wore her usual pink shirt and a long black skirt. Her dark hair was in her usual low bun with hints of grey hair. “Don’t you dare take that down. That photo serves as a reminder of what you should be, a college graduate, nothing less.”

Gregory was stunned, but not too surprised. “Is that why you never let me put any of the photos I like? Like my first gig?” He took out a photo from his pocket. It was a picture of his first gig as a real guitar player. He had long flowy hair that was the envy of every girl in the audience. He had his guitar in hand doing his finishing move which was sliding to his knees and ending it with a strum. He looked so happy in it. “That was a huge deal for me, and you never even considered how happy it made me. How could you when neither of you showed up? Do you even understand how miserable I was after that haircut? I would have looked so good in that photo!”

“I’m sorry Gregory the hair had to go. It was a graduation photo!” His mother approached him like a cat ready to pounce on its prey. “We can’t have you looking like an 80’s hippie, especially when you apply for the job interview. How do you think an employer will react when he sees the unprofessional hair in your graduation photo?”

Gregory sighed, “Mother, I told you hundreds of times that I'm not applying for that boring business job! I wanna sing my songs and tour the world! Not community college and getting on with a boring life like everybody else!”

“You’re too young to know what you want, Gregory.” His mother had her arms crossed. “You won’t survive in this world with those songs you call music. Performance and arts will get you nowhere! You’ll be out of the house and living in your car in a month!”

Gregory clenched his fist in anger, but his mother took no notice.

“You are finishing college and going to that interview. That is final! I will not have my son working on a disgraceful low-wage job like a car wash!”

“You know what, I’m sick of this.” Gregory had been holding back his whole life. But today, he had finally reached his breaking point. “I’m sick of rules, the stupid curfews, this house, and I am getting really sick of you and Father nagging me about the things I like. Would it kill you to ever let me be who I actually want to be? Of course, it would. All you see is how much of a failure and disgrace I am because I’m not who you want me to be! You and Father never ever considered what I wanted and forced me through all those boring business classes. And face it, Mother, if I want to be a disgrace to the Demayo family, I might as well do it right for once.” He turned to the other side of the hall and bolted for his room.

He slammed the door and locked it right away. He knew how his mother hated slammed doors in the house. He took one last sweep of his prison cell before his eyes landed on the only joy in his life, his first guitar.

His irritated mother was at the other side of the door. She turned the doorknob, but it won’t budge. She knocked on the door louder than a morning rooster. “Gregory, open the door this instant!”

Gregory looked into the small mirror on the wall. His hair had barely grown to a third of what it used to be. It looked like Monica’s debut hairdo from Friends, minus the attractive features of a woman and lots of bad acne.

He held up a card from a pale-looking man at the gig. Written in marker were the words “Marty the Manager” along with two phone numbers below. The first number was crossed off. Marty wanted to be his manager and promised a bright future for him as a rock star. Back then, he thought it would be too good to be true, so he never contacted him.

Now, he's the only one that can help him.

Gregory packed his bags as his mother was banging on the door. “Do you hear me, young man? Just wait till your father comes home!”

He took a small box full of cash from all his gigs. He was saving it for an emergency, and it looked like now would be a good time to use it.

He shouldered his pack and strapped on his only guitar. He opened the window and quietly went down as his mother's voice screeched from outside the room.

One foot at a time. He whispered to himself. This wasn’t the first time he climbed down. Fortunately, his parents never found out about the broken ankle incident from last year. Sure it was mild, but that just proved how little attention he got from either of them. He reached to a tree branch and shimmered down its trunk. He landed on the grass with a light thump and ran away from his forever prison.

Just you two wait, he thought as he urgently looked for a telephone pole. This is going to change everything.

The flashback went through his head as Greg stared into Rose's void black irises. He didn’t want to disappoint her and tell her how unready he was to be a father. But he couldn’t let her down any more than he let his parents.

“I think I get it.” He said as he grabbed Rose’s hands. “And if this is what you want, then what kind of a boyfriend I’d be if I don’t grant it to you? Whatever happens after… the baby comes, I promise I’ll be the best parent I can ever be.”

Rose held him up like a life-size doll and showered him with kisses all over his face. “Muah! Muah! Muah! I knew you'd understand! Thank you so much Greg! Despite the possibly fatal end of me, you'd still understand why this is so important to me. I love you so much!”

Greg, who was dazed from all the kisses and half a foot off the ground, smiled at her. “Oh Rose totally, I love you too hehe...”

She gave him one last peck on the lips before setting him down. Greg was spinning from all the affection, but he shooked his head and gained back his conscience. “Soo, we're gonna have a baby?”

“We’re gonna have a baby!”

Greg still wanted to make it romantic. He held her hand to the end of his van, opened it for her like the gentleman he was, and helped her up the van despite how unnecessary it was.

“Come on, let's get the mood on.” The two got into the van and spent their first night together.

(A/N: Hey guys sorry for the delay, I was supposed to have part 2 out by yesterday but I hesitated cuz of the immediate continuation of part 3 from the end of part 2. It just made sense to put them together instead of separating them.

Anyways, I did my best with Greg's past based on the SUF episode that involved his old life. The whole "Mother/Father" thing is what I assumed he would address his parents since they're so old-fashioned and strict. I didn't plan on including Greg's past into the chapter, but I think it worked out after all.

Chapter finale will be out a week after today so come back in a week if you're wanna read it. Thanks for reading and see ya next week!

[yubel198]

SMG4: Revival AU notes

((These are mostly little tidbits and notes for an AU I’m making for SMG4, or rather, I’ve been working on for awhile, called Revival, which mostly has Axol come back to life))

** the ending to Revelations gets changed, instead of both Niles and SMG0 dying, Niles splits from SMG0 and launches him to the others, sacrificing himself to let Zero have a second chance

**SMG0 stays at Meggy’s hotel for th meantime, with both Melony and Meggy bonding with him regarding losing Niles

**after the credits roll, we see SMG0 in his room, praying that Niles be forgiven for what he did.

**surprisingly, Niles appears in SMG0′s rom, alive.

** the two hug and have a good long cry

**Axol is brought back to life shortly thereafter, being found by both Niles and SMG0, who take him to the hospital

**Axol’s friend from the afterlife, Garcello (yes our boi Garcello from FnF) also gets revived

** Unlike Niles and Garcello, Axol doesn’t come back in one piece. He’s missing his right arm, his left eye, some of his frills, and his internal organs, he’s also paralyzed from the waist down

** Axol does regain his frills, eye, and organs, and learns to walk again, but his right arms is gone for good, so he has a prosthetic now

** Belle and Tari help Axol adjust to using a prosthetic (them having Mreta Runner  arms and all) while Meggy, Melony, Niles and SMG0 help with physical therapy

** Axol and Melony rekindle their relationship, and start living together

**SMG0 and Niles start dating as well

** Garcello and Axol reunite, along with Garcy’s friend Annie, and Chris (Rapping Demons mod)

** the three boys learn that Garcello’s friend King (Post Mortem Mixup mod) gave the three a second chance at life, as he’d done it before with three other people, BF and GF being two such people.

** Axol can now see spirits, which include seeing Desti, SPudnick, and Fred following their friends. He hasn’t seen Greg or Terrance follow Mario or SMG3 though

** Garcello has the ability to go back and forth being human and a ghost, curtesy of his cigarettes

** Boopkins is a therapist to both Axol and SMG0, while SMG3 takes care of Niles and his own therapy

** Garcello, Annie, and Chris become part of the SMG4 crew

**during Axol’s initial recovery, Kaizo’s brought out of the game

** Axol reveals that he drew Kaizo’s design, along with Saiko’s.Mario calls him their dad, only to get promptly smacked by Saiko

** Because Chris is a demon, Shroomy did try to kill him once, until Annie threatened him by drinking “THE LIQUID”

** Let’s just say Shroomy’s now terrified of her.

** Axol was also believed to have been a demon by Shroomy, until Melony scared him in her deity mode

** Niles tries out various ritual games, like Hide and Seek Alone, The Bath Game, and Baby Blue.

** Niles winds up getting possessed by Francis in Hide and Seek Alone

** Even though it’s been confirmed SMG no longer stands for Super Mario Glitchy, SMG3 still calls SMG4 Glitchy, mostly as a pet name.

** SMG0 gets compared a lot to N from Murder Drones, while Niles gets compared to Angel Dust

** Niles has a very bad case of stage fright, and only prefers to sing around SMG0, who he’s comfortable with.

** Back in Mage, SMG0 and Fred both gave Niles his first kiss

** SMG0 has a terrible fear of thunderstorms, as a result, Niles usually sings to him to help calm him down during storms, one song in particular being Seasons of Love from Rent

** Garcello has a stuffed bear from when he was young named “Beetle-Bear”, a green bear wearing a striped hoodie, named after Beetlejuice. He was made by Gar and his dad when he was only 6 years old

** Garcello was adopted when he was 6, his father being Lucks from Meta Runner (this has been my headcanon for over a year do not judge me!)

** If woken up, Melony and SMG0 get cranky, same for SMG2 and JubJub.

** Boopkins has a Pikachu harness he uses to keep an eye on JubJub

** Rob somehow becomes friends with Zardy

** Niles is a top while SMG0 is a bottom

** SMG0 is not a virgin, having lost it to Fred back in Mage before Niles showed up.

** before Niles came along, Fred and SMG0 were friends with benefits

** When Bob tried getting Melony to sing “Can I put my balls in your jaws” Axol shut it down, handing her a different rap. Bob was about to call him out, until Melony started singing Stringer than you from Steven Universe, looking right at Bob and singing “Well, I think you’re just mad you’re still single.”

** Not even King could bring Bob back after that one.

** Mario once tried making fun of Annie for her height. He learned his lesson the hard way.

** Mario once asked why Niles and SMG0 were gay, Niles responded by asking Mario why he’s still bitchless

((That’s all I got for now. Honestly, I’m heavily debating on if I should also revive Desti, Spudnick and Fred down the line, or, Hell, if I should bring in any other dead characters as well. lemme know what you all think))

[nevermindirah]

Yitzhak!

is a character! who Gregadiah What-Is-Math Rucka gave us almost no information about!

I've gone through Tales Through Time #6: The Bear and #1: My Mother's Axe with several magnifying glasses and done a lot of googling and taken my copy of the Tanakh off my shelf for the first time since (well, since the last time I needed to read Torah for TOG reasons, which I think was Booker Passover headcanons) and here's the best I can come up with.

In The Bear we meet someone who goes by the name Isaac Blue:

Read on for a lot of comic panel analysis and historical research and Jewish flailing!

So what do we know about this Isaac Blue person?

He's Lorge, he's got curly hair, he's basically a taller version of Joe as drawn by Leandro Fernández (ie an antisemitic stereotype why the fuck did they approve this character design?? and then why did they double down and copy-paste it to Yitzhak??):

He's got a mezuzah on the doorpost of his house in Alaska!

I screamed about the mezuzah way back in January in this post where I (very reasonably) assumed this character was Joe and spun myself a tale about how Booker is still Joe's brother so the mezuzah stays up even though Booker isn't welcome in that house for a century. Bottom line: the mezuzah is a tradition with origins in the commandment from Deuteronomy 6:9 to "write the words of G-d on the gates and doorposts of your house" and evolved over the course of the Rabbinic period into the modern mezuzah we see here.

I did unnecessary levels of google image search to glean absolutely no useful information about Yitzhak’s origins from this panel:

I've decided the variant cover of TTT 6 is Yitzhak because of a panel in My Mother’s Axe, shown here, and what's likely an unnecessarily deep reading of Exodus, discussed further down:

The person at the right of the bottom panel is wearing the same clothes as in the TTT 6 variant cover and has the same shoulder-length curly hair and hairy forearms.

Left to right, the people in this panel are Lykon (I'll never get used to him being white in the comics), Andy, Noriko (I think? why doesn't Andy mention her by name here?), and Yitzhak. Andy's robe has a stereotypically Greek design on the sleeve cuff, and I had to stop myself 10 minutes into a Wikipedia rabbit hole because Gregorforth doesn't think that deep about this shit. The solid clues as to timeline that we get in this panel are:

Andy's iron axe

the presence of Lykon, who Andy first met in 331 BCE

So all we know is that Yitzhak is an immortal, he was a contemporary of Lykon, and he's Jewish.

Isaac is the most common Anglicization of Yitzhak (which in turn is the most common Anglophone transliteration of יִצְחָק‎), and Greg always uses the (transliterated) Hebrew when he refers to this character. Yitzhak is the long-awaited child of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis, the child who G-d commanded Abraham to sacrifice but spared at the last minute. I see what you did there, Gregory.

Why Isaac Blue? This is where I pulled out my Tanakh. According to the New JPS translation, blue is the first of three colors of yarn listed in Exodus 35:6 among the gifts requested of the Israelites to construct the priestly garments for the Tabernacle and later the Temple. Then in Numbers 15:38 the Israelites are commanded to "make themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner."

And now for sandbox timelines party! Gregadiah gave us ALMOST NOTHING to go on, so I'm gonna make my own fun.

I, like many modern Jews, think the stories in the Tanakh are foundational mythology that are valuable because of how they've shaped our people but that contain some fucked-up shit and either way aren't meant to be a record of historical facts. Modern scholarship generally agrees that the community we now call Jews emerged as a distinct group of Canaanites sometime in the late Bronze Age (cw this video's host says the Name of G-d aloud despite being a religious studies scholar who knows that is not a name anyone but the Temple priests are allowed to say). The first non-Biblical written record of the people Israel is from an Egyptian source c. 1200 BCE, and the Biblical kingdom of David and Solomon was probably an exaggeration of whatever really happened during the Bronze Age Collapse. We start getting into historical-fact territory a few centuries into the Iron Age:

588 BCE Solomon's Temple destroyed, Babylonian exile begins

538 BCE Cyrus of Persia allows Jews to return to Jerusalem

515 BCE Second Temple construction complete

332 BCE Alexander the Great At Something I Guess conquered Judea, beginning the Hellenistic period of Jewish history — 331 BCE Andy & Lykon find each other

167 BCE another jerkface Greek king desecrated the Temple and basically outlawed Judaism

164 BCE recapture of Jerusalem and Temple rededication during the Maccabean Revolt

70 CE destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans, beginning of the Rabbinic period of Jewish history that we're still in now

What if... and hear me out... what if immortals come in pairs, and the pairs are:

Andy & Quynh

Joe & Nicky

Booker & Nile

LYKON & YITZHAK

What if Yitzhak was a priest of the Second Temple? What if he and Lykon killed each other just like Joe and Nicky would in the same city around 1300 years later, but instead of enemies-to-lovers speedrun with an absurdly long happily-ever-after, when Lykon died permanently Yitzhak decided to separate from Andy and Noriko and become the hermit we later see in Alaska?

We don't know how old Yitzhak is compared to the others, only that he was a contemporary of Lykon at a time when Andy was using an Iron Age version of her mother's axe. Other plausible origins for him:

a Jew of the early Rabbinic period, maybe a child or grandchild of people who were still alive before the Second Temple was destroyed

a Judean of the Second Temple era under the Romans or Greeks or Persians, maybe a priest, maybe not

an exilee in Babylon, maybe of the generation who got to return, maybe of the generation who was exiled (he doesn't look like he was 50 at his first death but who knows, he could've been mortal for both)

an Israelite of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, maybe a priest of Solomon's Temple or again maybe not

an Israelite wandering in the desert with Moses

THEE Yitzhak, ben Avraham v'Sarah, our patriarch who was brought up for sacrifice and then spared, and then spared again, and then spared again, and again, and again...

or! he could also be a Canaanite or other Levantine who predates the people Israel, who at some point in his very long life chose to join our mixed multitude, who like Andromache before him (and like Avram and Sarai would in this case do after him) took a new name to reflect the magnitude of influence this people has had on him

Why do I keep saying Yitzhak might have been a priest? It's thanks to the one detail in the artwork I could plausibly connect to solid research without getting a PhD real quick. Take a look at the gorgeous detail on the opening of his robe in the TTT 6 cover. He's dressed in rags, holes and dirt everywhere, rough stitches probably from hasty repair work — except for the neck opening. Compare that to this description from Exodus 39:23 of the construction of the priestly garments for the Tabernacle: "The opening of the robe, in the middle of it, was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around the opening, so that it would not tear."

The next verses describe the intricate designs for the hem of the priestly garment. Yitzhak's ragged garment looks like the hem was torn off entirely.

Am I overthinking this? Yes I am! You're welcome!

My friend and historical research hero @lady-writes​ is in a Discord server with Gregadiah and asked the man himself some questions about all this. He clearly thinks he's being sneaky?? No shit Yitzhak is Jewish, dude, I want DETAILS!

I will not be giving up my Jewish Booker headcanon, I've put too much thought into it by now, the internalized shame of antisemitism explains Booker's depression too well for me, and it just adds so much richness to Booker/Nile both being children of forced diasporas. Fortunately (for him, not me, bc I'd do it anyway!) Gregothy supports fan headcanons even when they're not in line with his own:

One last thing before I close like 100 research tabs and go back to writing historical fantasy and/or porn! I love that, despite that atrocious caricature of a face design, our canon Jew and our fanon Jew are both Lorge and Soft and Kind, flying the face of the antisemitic stereotype of Ashkenazi Jewish men as small and weak, but also not falling into the New Jew / Muscle Jew stereotype that Zionism created. (I am trying SO HARD not to talk about Israel/Palestine for once ughhhhhhhhhh) Anyway here's a (US-centric but very good) primer on both these stereotypes of Jewish masculinity. Is this why I'm forever projecting my transmasc diasporist feels onto Jewish Booker the service sub? 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’ll reblog a second version of this with full image descriptions so that there’s a version accessible for folks who need IDs as well as a version accessible for folks who get overwhelmed by walls of text.

[mimisempai]

It belongs only to us

Summary:

Sherlock catches Greg and Mycroft kissing rather passionately in the kitchen. Before leaving, he makes a little remark that makes Mycroft reflect.

Notes:

Mystrade Monday #39 “You’re holding back”

@mystradepromptsandscenarios​

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39702762

Rating G - 631 words

Mycroft watched Greg working in the kitchen as the sounds of the little party they'd thrown reached him from the living room.

"You're still looking at me like that," Greg remarked with a smile, pulling a bottle of wine out of the fridge.

"Just enjoying what's in front of me," Mycroft said simply, reveling in the blush his words brought to Greg's cheeks.

Greg set the bottle down on the kitchen counter and turned to Mycroft, replying with a playful smile, "It can't be as pleasing to the eyes as what I have in front of me."

He was gratified to see that he too had the power to make his lover blush.

He raised his hand, brushed Mycroft's hair -already perfectly styled- back, let his hand slide over his shoulder and then down his arm until he took Mycroft's hand in his own.

"Then let's say we're both blessed with a pleasant view," Mycroft said softly. Their faces were inches apart, and Mycroft leaned in a little more to close the distance.

When they separated to catch their breath, Mycroft let his forehead rest on Greg's and said softly, "I wonder how I managed to live so long without you."

As if he couldn't resist, he pressed his lips to Greg's again as he tied his arms around his back.

Greg put his hands around Mycroft's neck, drawing him even closer, as if he wanted to melt into him.

It was as if neither of them wanted a single inch to separate them, they were enjoying the connection between their chests, their lips, their tongues, the connection between their hands and bodies as they caressed each other, oblivious to everything around them.

"Sorry to disturb you but..."

They both startled, but barely separated as their heads turned in perfect sync to Sherlock who had just entered the kitchen.

He walked past them and grabbed the bottle and corkscrew from the counter and said cheekily, "I don't like to drink my white wine warm. Don't mind me at all, go ahead."

He walked towards the kitchen door under the gaze of Greg and Mycroft who had not moved and turned back to them before walking out, "I knew it. John didn't believe me, but I knew."

"What?" asked Mycroft and Greg in unison.

"That you're holding back."

The two men didn't answer, looking confused.

Sherlock looked up at the thought of having to explain himself, "You are holding back when you are in public."

"Yes, so what?" asked Mycroft, "It is our business."

Sherlock shrugged and said as he walked out, "As long as you two are on the same page."

He closed the kitchen door.

Mycroft and Greg looked at each other for a few seconds in silence and then Mycroft asked, "I know I'm the one with the most restraint, do you think we are holding back too much?"

Greg shook his head firmly and replied, "I don't need you to kiss me passionately or sit on your lap in public to know you love me, you hold my hand, touch me casually and sometimes kiss me when the moment is right, that's more than enough for me, everything else is ours alone."

Mycroft smiled tenderly at him and Greg ran his thumb over his lips, "That right there, that smile, you always have it when you look at me, whether we're alone or not, I don't call it holding back."

Mycroft's smile turned playful and he said softly as he leaned in, "So Greg... since we're alone in the kitchen..." he pecked his lips and continued, "... I'm not going to hold back."

Greg couldn't contain a small laugh that quickly died out in the passion his lover was putting into kissing him.

And Greg didn't hold back either.

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story  🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

Mystrade masterlist here

[love-takes-work]

Notes on SU Commentary Tracks

I watched the commentary tracks on the Complete Steven Universe DVD Set and I took some nerd notes.

The episodes with commentary tracks are “Reunited,” “Change Your Mind,” and “The Future.”

I’ll bold stuff that was maybe bigger news or more surprising for easier reading. And yes, some of this was already known from podcasts, other Q&As, or interviews, but I listed it if they said it again here.

Read on after the jump to read these and other highlights:

Steven’s original wedding speech

Older ideas on dialogue for Lapis when she came back to the beach

Scrapped concepts for the scene that ultimately included Steven communicating with the others in a mindscape

Discussions of earlier concepts for White Diamond having a power to “freeze” Gems into statues to make them perfect and having a gallery of them on Homeworld

Pink Pearl’s original fate

The translation of the writing on Obsidian’s sword

The origin of Pink Steven’s design

What Rebecca did to pitch the “SHE’S GONE” scene

Earlier plans to include Shep in “Change Your Mind”

An unused concept of how Steven feels about Biggs

The inspiration for the Heaven and Earth Beetles’ healed design

How Volleyball/Pink Pearl was almost a mini-villain

Discussion of how they did not get to share the origin of the Diamonds

Jasper’s scrapped participation in the movie

“Reunited” - 

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

In 2015, an episode idea called “If You Love Yourself So Much” was discussed but rejected. It included some early ideas that ended up getting incorporated into “Reunited,” most notably Garnet marrying herself and putting rings on both hands.

The idea of the Cluster arm wrestling was planned for a long time. A scrapped idea of Steven banging his fist on a vending machine to get some Chaaaaps was supposed to visually parallel some of that scene, but it was axed.

When they got pushback on the wedding idea, they kept adding more and more “high entertainment value” items like a big musical number so the episode would be absolutely unmissable and appealing to everyone.

The song at the beginning of the episode was meant to check in with the entire cast and sort of remind you they exist and what their state of mind is going into the wedding.

Ian made a comment joking about “All 15 people in Beach City” being in the audience.

Just about everyone on the Crew touched this episode, despite that there are four main storyboarders credited for “Reunited.”

In 2016 Ian Jones-Quartey proposed marriage to Rebecca Sugar. They felt like the characters based on them (Sapphire and Ruby) HAD to get married in the show now because otherwise it wouldn’t be honest. But then their characters got married before they did.

They really love the idea of having characters get married who have known each other for a really long time, versus the fairy tale trope of movies ending with weddings between people who have met very recently.

Steven’s speech as officiator at the wedding used to be longer in its first draft--it was described as being weird and full of jokes, and there would have been a scene with Pearl getting weepy and pulling tissues out of her pearl.

Ian mentions loving a joke Jeff came up with having Greg play one chord to make Steven fall asleep--it’s sort of a “dream” chord you hear in cartoons a lot before a dream sequence.

The Crew discussed what it might be like if someone had never seen the show before and started with this episode.

Ian really wanted Steven’s psychic powers to figure into the episode.

Blue using a sadness wave to attack the Gems was a very old idea they’d planned for a long time. So was Lapis’s arrival.

There was a discussion of having Lisa Hannigan performing her lines as Blue VERY early in the morning.

Ian was happy the sword got broken because it was so momentous but it was just a sword. And later appeared on a shelf in the house as an artifact.

Miki had drawn a torn dress for Garnet at one point so she could be shown fighting and moving around more accurately, and this led to a long discussion of whether Gem clothing can even actually get torn the way human clothes can. They concluded that no, it shouldn’t be torn, so they backed up and gave Garnet an open-front dress from the beginning so the fighting version would make more sense.

Lapis originally might have had a longer speech upon arriving back on the beach. They eventually decided to just have her say “Hey.”

The barn falling on Blue Diamond was an intentional Wizard of Oz reference.

They point out that Steven even once said “drop the barn on the beach” (in a previous episode, “Can’t Go Back,” which was also a Miki episode).

Destroying the house was a big deal, and they always thought they’d end up doing it but backed away from it until “Reunited.” They almost even did it back in “Coach Steven”! But it just ended up with a little damage to the porch.

The Crew thinks Miki is really good at drawing ensemble shots.

Rebecca was always overwhelmed whenever she got to have Patti LuPone record for Yellow.

Originally the giant figures of everyone’s statue bodies in the mindscape were too dark and had to be revamped so they could be seen.

An earlier idea of Steven’s “psychic-ghost-situation” had him as a ghost actually trying to interact with the other characters during fighting action, but it was pulled back to this mindscape so there wouldn’t be as much confusing action to keep track of and more focus on what Steven was doing to encourage his teammates and contact the Diamonds.

Hilary was glad not to have to block out a fight.

Ian mentions loving having Bismuth back in the group.

They originally wanted the “Diamonds sensing Pink’s energy” plot to happen when Steven was in the palace somehow, but everything got moved to this scene--which the Crew all agrees turned out incredible, like how cool it was to have Steven essentially reminding each character why they fight and summing up their whole arc in a sentence.

“Change Your Mind”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

They like to refer to this episode as “The movie before the movie.”

They loved incorporating “princess tropes” into Steven’s time on Homeworld, which is why there were so many references to “mice” (well, Pebbles) making clothes, being locked in a tower, being reminded of his manners, loving animals and freeing imprisoned pets, etc. 

Deedee did the voice of the rainbow worm pet. She apparently didn’t find it memorable and was surprised when she was reminded she did the voice.

Rebecca was super excited for the confrontation with Blue.

There was some discussion of how Steven would have died of starvation if he didn’t have someone practical like Connie to remember to bring food.

They love working with the huge scale the Diamonds present.

The Crew always wanted to put someone in Blue’s hair loop. Originally they wanted Blue to tuck Greg in there when she kidnapped him, but they didn’t end up being able to do any hair-loop-carrying until this episode.

The Crew bantered back and forth about what the heck those Pebbles’ names were and how hard it was to track them.

They agreed that Paul draws the best Yellow Diamond, which makes sense since he also drew the first episode with Yellow (and her stink face). 

The scene where Yellow asks Blue to stop using her powers on her and then realizing she’s crying on her own was one of Rebecca’s favorite scenes to get to finally.

Steven Sugar thought Gems would spend a lot of time in their own chambers/rooms just not really doing much of anything unless they had to fulfill their purpose.

Some of the Homeworld ideas were based on a Soviet artist’s concepts, Boris Artzybasheff, and also many ideas were inspired by Busby Berkeley regarding how people were objects and furniture.

The mech was an old idea. Once they had the hand ship from “Jailbreak,” they knew there had to be bodies somewhere.

They focused a lot about what could be the coolest and funniest way for something to happen. The concept of the yellow and blue spaceship arms appearing out of the sky to smack the White Diamond mech around was one of those.

Rebecca really wanted things to look more and more cartoony and bizarre as you get deeper into Homeworld.

They spent a very long time trying to decide on characters’ new outfits.

The trash can lid is said to be a reference to “a flying bear cartoon” and they dance around speaking a direct reference because they’re not sure they’re allowed to say its name.

In discussing the powers of the Diamonds, there were debates on what White’s power would be; with Yellow being physicality-based and Blue being emotion-based, they thought White as identity-based made the most sense.

Different ways to express this were played with before settling on the idea that she thinks she’s perfect and others’ colors make them less like her and less perfect. But then she becomes a hostage to her own beliefs about herself because if she does anything that reflects on everyone else, so it’s best to do nothing.

They had some cool earlier ideas of White’s powers making statues out of other Gems and having a gallery full of frozen Gems, frozen by White to make them perfect.

They also weren’t sure what fate befell the original Pink Pearl and discussed whether she might have been destroyed. 

Rebecca discussed how creepy it was to have White Pearl speaking in Christine’s voice and not Deedee’s--that we should find it fundamentally disturbing at this point.

Tom Herpich came up with the crack on White Pearl’s face.

In real life, pink diamonds aren’t understood as well as yellows and blues. It’s more known what makes a diamond yellow or blue, and some of those facts Rebecca researched were originally woven into the speech White gave about their “impurities.” But it turned out to be too dry and most of it got cut.

Rebecca loves having Lapis with pants and sandals for easier cosplay.

Ian had to draw the scene where Steven is falling and fusing with inert characters--he wasn’t able to properly explain it to Rebecca so she had him draw it.

They really wanted Rainbow Quartz 2.0 to have a scarf, but they couldn’t figure out how to get that into Pearl’s design. They miss the scarf.

It was really important to have these Fusions display call-forwards of the Gems’ new outfits which we hadn’t yet seen.

Rebecca points out that Sunstone’s design breaks a design rule and she feels like Sunstone should have Garnet’s pant leg colors on their legs, but at the same time she understands the rule of cool and likes it like this.

It’s discussed how none of Steven’s fusion weapons are exclusively offensive weapons either.

Rebecca still really wants a suction cup Sunstone toy.

Sunstone’s ability to transcend reality and break the fourth wall was a joke that exploded in the discussion room among the Crew. As soon as the idea was pitched everyone kept coming up with ideas. Sardonyx’s fourth-wall-breaking is more snarky, but Sunstone’s is helpful.

Rebecca was disappointed that the rule about Steven’s clothes wasn’t always followed with having his clothes appear on Obsidian’s hand, but she was delighted that you could see them in one scene.

They spent a lot of discussion time on making sure Steven-Obsidian was different somehow from Rose-Obsidian. The hair is different.

Old versions of Obsidian were drawn with wrapped-together Twizzlers legs, which sort of is reflected in the present design.

The sword had been planned forever--and it first appeared in “Bubble Buddies.”

Miki worked on the Ninja Turtles show so Rebecca was really excited to see her depictions of Bismuth and Sunstone.

An early plan to have Obsidian draw the sword from their mouth was complicated because fusion weapons should be combinations, so they finally reached the solution of having them combine to make the hilt, then get the blade out of Obsidian’s mouth.

The blade of the sword is thought to say “We’ll always save the day,” but you’d have to ask Steven Sugar.

Another really old idea was climbing into the White Diamond mech eye.

Rebecca was disappointed that some of the merch made of White Diamond did not feature her cape sparkles.

There were many debates early on about where Rose might “actually” be. There were tons of references to this fundamental question throughout the show--introducing Lapis as a Gem trapped in an object, having Pearl ponder pulling Steven’s Gem out as a baby, straight-up wondering what would happen to him in “Bubbled” when Eyeball was trying to take his Gem, etc. They all decided Rose was definitely gone but that the idea of her possibly being inside him should be on his mind a lot, leading to disturbing images like dreaming about coughing up her hair.

Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond both challenged Steven about things he was very confident about, but White’s question of his identity got to him because he in fact is not confident about that.

The black and white eeriness of the fuzzy background and the other characters having their colors washed out helped make the scene in White Diamond’s head so disturbing and creepy.

The split screen showing Steven’s two perspectives was exciting to Rebecca, and was a pretty old idea. And she points out it sort of “breaks the show.”

The Gem Steven, Pink Steven, was represented by a slightly modified version of his model sheet. Everyone laughed when they saw what was getting used.

They decided that an earlier idea of Pink Steven looking angry should be replaced by an emotionless version of him. All the emotion should be with Organic Steven.

In the pitch meeting for this episode, Rebecca herself screamed “SHE’S GONE!!” and shocked the hell out of everyone. She pointed out how no one expected this of her because she’s pretty quiet, but she just wanted to shock everyone the way Steven would in the show.

They point out this is the first appearance of the geometric shield that got so much use in Future.

The fact that Steven is Steven is the ultimate reveal of the show. Usually in fantasy shows there’s some other kind of revelation, but Steven just being amazingly human and amazingly Gem and amazingly himself is wonderful here.

They like having the pilot reference with “What’s your excuse?”

If Rose had somehow still been alive in him, all of this would have been cheapened.

Ian loves that you can faintly hear Sadie’s concert from way out in space as the camera approaches Earth.

They got a lot more use out of the Beach-A-Palooza stage than they thought they would when it had to be designed for “Steven and the Stevens.” There was a joke about how at one of the conventions a real Beach-A-Palooza stage was constructed and they had a thought about how oh good, it’s getting reused.

Sadie having green hair in the finale was a late change but they liked showing her progression. 

They had originally kicked around the idea of Sadie already having her new partner Shep at this point, but decided to develop that in Future instead.

They compare White Diamond’s stepping gingerly into the fountain to skeptically getting into a public pool.

Some silliness they didn’t get to use was that Biggs would be “beloved by everyone” except Steven. They never got to cover it, but originally Steven was just going to not really understand why everyone loves her so much and doesn’t personally much care for her.

The Heaven and Earth Beetles are based on the Mothra Ladies.

The healed Gems’ horns are supposed to be side effects of the corruption that they continue to bear in the present.

Larimar and Orange Spodumene ended up different in the ending scene than they became in Future. Many of the designs were retroactively pulled into this scene after being designed for the movie.

Rebecca wrote “Change Your Mind” as a personal song to express her feelings surrounding her fight for the wedding.

“The Future”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Kat Morris, Alonso Ramirez Ramos, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, and Ian Jones-Quartey.

The animatic for this episode ran SO long--they’re supposed to be just over 11 minutes but this one was 17 minutes.

Steven’s calisthenics routine, a callback to “Future Vision,” was on the chopping block to make the episode shorter but Rebecca wouldn’t allow it to be cut because she wanted to show that Steven’s been taking care of himself.

They were very excited to get a chance to cover some of the things in Future that they couldn’t squeeze into the original show, like the unbubbled Rose Quartzes, Volleyball, etc.

The new writers on the show also helped bring forward the idea of Steven finally making some of his OWN mistakes to fix.

This also helped construct the idea of Steven essentially being the “final boss” of his own battle.

Usually stories that involve someone being in a fight and winning don’t explore the effect just being in a fight has on a person, regardless of whether you won. 

Rebecca really wanted to play Ocarina of Time after beating it so she could go back to all the places and see how people were doing. She wanted this epilogue series to explore that a little too.

Little Homeschool is sort of a Tiny Toons reference--older cartoons teach younger cartoons how to be cartoons, and this is Gems teaching other Gems how to be Gems on Earth. 

Lamar came up with the silly joke about receiving that art set with all the different media types in it--the one artists are always getting from a well-meaning relative at holiday time.

A scrapped plot idea involved Volleyball/Pink Pearl as a sort of “mini-villain,” with a focus on her activating the un-activated Pearls.

There’s discussion of how victimization turns people into villains sometimes. But since showing that happening with Volleyball wouldn’t have served the interests of Steven’s arc, they couldn’t fit it in.

There was also a “very specific” Gem origin and Diamond origin story that’s quasi-religious in nature--it’s very cool and complicated. But they do not tell us what it is.

Ian and Joe both really wanted to have Jasper living alone in the woods and stacking rocks. They’re glad they got this series to do that with her.

There was originally an idea for a B-plot involving Jasper in the movie. They don’t discuss the specifics.

There were many ideas they didn’t get to work on because they would have started new arcs and Future was not about kicking new plots into gear.

“Mr. Universe” was the last episode they wrote/finished.

Miki really wanted to include a kiss between Connie and Steven to show their relationship was okay. Among the Crew everyone knew their relationship was basically eternal but Miki wanted to make sure WE knew that.

Steven driving conveyed momentum for Future; in the original show, we always came back to the laundry hand, back to home, but in Future that’s changed and home isn’t what it was. 

They were really excited that a gourd family made it to the crowd scene in Future.

Thanks for reading!

Note: The movie had some commentary tracks too, but the one on this DVD set is the same as the one released on the original standalone movie DVD, so I did not outline it here. Here is my post about the DVD commentary from the movie.

[7prettylies]

Chapter Four: The (Fe)male Gaze

welcome bAck to an all-new episode of Original Sin! well, two episodes are, but I'm covering them in separate posts. so, let's cut to the chase and get into it.

1999

We see Angela with a friend smoking for the first time. A man comes up to them and asks them if they've been smoking to which the friend - Marjorie - says she wasn't, but Angela was. Angela is taken away while Marjorie walks away with a guilty look on her face. Soon after, she apologizes to Angela and gives her a gift.

Present DAy

Adult Marjorie (Noa's mother) finds a gift in her office. It was a stuffed bear (the same one she gave to Angela) with a t-shirt that said 'Mother of the yeAr' and a pill bottle attached with the name 'Addison' written on it.

Imogen takes a phone call during detention asking someone about Angela Waters. He's an old classmate from that year (1999) and refuses to say anything about her.

Detention is over for all of the girls and for the last two weeks, they haven't received any texts from A.

Tabby goes into the locker room to retrieve her camcorder again like she did in the first episode and hides in a stall when Greg and Tyler come in. They disclose a crude and disgusting conversation about Tyler sleeping with someone (a 'nymphomaniac' because she came twice ??) and finishing inside her twice without telling her. Greg makes a joke that everyone's slept with her. Not a day goes by where males do not disgust me.

At Tabby's house, her mother tells Imogen that a lovely couple put an offer on the house and that she has time to pack up Imogen's things.

FridAy

In dance, Faran notices "Kelly" switching lockers to Karen's because she likes it better.

Our cute track star Noa is running fast! But apparently not fast enough as she's out of practice. Her mediocre boyfriend is there to cheer her on.

Ash is reassuring Mouse about the Spectrum club and invites her to spend Halloween together. She says she can't since her moms don't let her go out on Halloween since it's "too dangerous".

Imogen enters her home alone and sees a good amount of stuff already packed up and covered. She gets nostalgic and remembers the first time her mother showed her the house when she was younger. Which side note - young Imogen is played by Bailee's niece! Anyways, she hears a creek and goes downstairs where A is hiding (although she doesn't know that). Outside, she sees the couple who bought the house and scares them out of buying it.

Back at Tabby's house, Tabby's mom tells Imogen that her mother was in a lot of debt and was hoping that selling the house would help cover that. She also tells Imogen that she knows she's been asking old classmates about Angela Waters. Imogen says that there's something between Angela and her mom that no one is telling her and Tabby's mom tries to dissuade her from going further.

At the movie theater Chip and Tabby are discussing movies over popcorn for their film assignment.

MondAy

"Horror, from the point of view of the female gaze." - Tabby

Tabby decides to switch the genders of the shower scene from the movie Psycho for her film project. She asks her friends who would play the woman in her scene. All of them decline except for Faran. They need a boy who isn't shy and is not against being objectified. They set their sights on Greg.

PLS WHY ARE M*N SO EASY. Greg says yes.

In dance practice with just Kelly, Faran gets a hint or reason to believe that Kelly isn't Kelly. She tells Faran to "be a queen, girl" which is what Karen said to her.

Imogen is back at her house actually packing things up this time and sees a Ouji board that her mother and her used to use. She asks Tabby if her and the girls could get together to try and contact her mother.

Faran is confronted by her dance crush about cutting Kelly some slack. Unbeknownst to him, he lets it slip that dancing with Kelly felt like dancing with Karen again. This obviously increases her suspicions even more. So, the next session she has, she apologizes to Kelly. She brings up an article she read on twins to try to feel out the vibe with "Kelly". She points out that she's wearing Karen's leotard.

At Imogen's home, all of the girls are gathered around to summon her mother. Which like, besides Mouse and Faran, where are the father's of the other girls? Dead, alive, away, in the picture? Anyways, the board is working! Imogen is getting emotional and airing all of her questions out loud. She's hurt at the thought of her mother being the one who took herself away from her. She becomes enraged and yells at her mother and not wanting anything from the house or her. Her friends reassure her that Imogen will always have them. Friends 'til the end.

Sheriff Beasley decides to make a search at Noa's house just because. He wants to violate her probation in any way possible. While her mother tries to take the blame away from herself, which we've seen from Noa's flashback and 1999 that it's a theme for Marjorie.

WednesdAy

Noa believes that there's something in her mother's bag - she suspects her of using again. She finds a pill bottle with the name Caleb Rivers on it. Sound familiar, anyone? It's her last day with the ankle monitor on, so we'll see how that goes.

Tabby and Chip break down their plans to shoot the scene to Greg and Faran. They'll start shooting after school at 10 and be done by midnight. The last time someone was at the school after hours was A and the janitor. We all saw how that went.

Honestly, if I was Imogen I would ask one of my friends to come help me pack up the house. She finds her old diary and that inspires her to do some digging around her mom's room for her own diaries. She finds what she's looking for with a relieved smile on her face. JAIL. Later, she finds that her mother ripped out some pages of the diary.

At the school, Tabby gets upset over Greg not wearing anything for the scene. Faran and Chip aren't fans of it, but for the sake of time, they're okay with shooting as is. Tabby storms off and we see that a part of who she is and what she pushes for stems from her own trauma. By the time she recollects herself and goes back in, Faran and Greg have gone home. Chip wasn't able to reach Tabby as her phone wasn't on her and it was getting late so he finished filming the scene for her. She seems annoyed but decides not to start anything.

Noa ordered a pizza and received a text from A, saying that her mother never learns her lesson. When the pizza seemingly arrives, she goes down to go get it. She finds a broken window with the pizza on the ground. She begins to walk back to her apartment and sees A at the door. She runs like hell and leaps across one building to another to escape. She screams at A, asking what they want. A says "to punish the guilty". And I think mentions Angela Waters and her mother. Crying, she calls the hospital and tips them off that her mother has been stealing pills. She hangs up, crumbles to the floor, and A disappears.

SOMEONE GIVE MY GIRL MAIA REFICCO AN AWARD FOR THAT PERFORMANCE I LOVE HER SO MUCH.

Faran is conducting some social media stalking on Kelly. She notices in one of Kelly's photos that her feet are a certain way. This instantly brings her mind to Karen's injury with the blade in her ballet shoe.

ThursdAy October 29th

Faran asks Henry for help and shares her theory of Karen not being dead. She reminds him that Karen and Kelly would switch places all of the time. He doesn't believe her and calls her deranged. She tells him that she has a way to prove her theory. She tells him that her foot would have a scar due to the blade. He reluctantly agrees to help her.

At lunch, Imogen tells the girls about her mom's diaries and Noa reveals her attack from A. And the fact that her mom did something to Angela Waters.

[titioosstuff]

https://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/news/18785082.tv-highlight-prepared-laughs-taskmaster-returns-screens/

Alex and Greg discuss Daisy May Coopers advanced pregnancy and their concern that her fits of laughter would be her going in to labour.

"When we got to about episode 9, we're thinking: 'Well now, this would be a good story'... we'd have been the worst at delivering a baby," says Horne.

"We are not a good paramedic team. You wouldn't want this combination turning up in an emergency," agrees Davies.

As for whether the pair would ever consider brushing up on their first aid skills?

"When you're giving birth, you don't want a man with a stopwatch and another man shouting... Maybe this interview could answer that question? Maybe women giving birth could let us know if that's what they actually needed? Maybe we'll become professional birthing partners?

"I'm ready. Call my agent."

And since I read this I can't get this idea out of my head. Because, you know what? As a pair I think they would be excellent doulas.

Yes, Alex seems to be embarrassed and uncomfortable with any sort of contact with women (other than his wife, I'm presuming). And it wouldn't be ideal if he approached a woman in labour with the same energy he had when he ate the mask off of Katherine Ryans' face.

But! Someone with a stopwatch is really really good to have around during delivery. It's very helpful to time the contractions. And I think Alex is a meticulous orderly man with a sense for details. There are things that needs to be done at certain intervals, in specific phases, and that it is important to keep track of.

Yes, one would want him to have read a book of some kind on the subject before it starts, but he has three children, which makes me think he once read all the books about it. And having a calm person with a clipboard and a stopwatch keeping track on what's going on and thinking about what's going to come next is a really good thing.

When it comes to Greg shouting it very much depends on what he's shouting about.

During hospital delivery being an advocate for the person giving birth is a very important job, and I for one wouldn't have minded one bit having someone on hand that could if necessary bellow down hospital corridors for help, or who could glare threateningly at people for me when needed. Being in labour is a very vulnerable process, and a strong support network is important.

But I don’t think he would shout that much. When Jessica Knappet fell off the stage he lunged forward immediately to check on her and help her up. No shouting at all, and no hesitation.

Most of all Greg could be an absolutely awesome physical support. There is a lot of leaning on people and getting around in increasingly difficult and ridiculous positions. Kneeling, squatting, laying on your back with your knees up, standing on all four - all the while having contractions, being in pain, and with a cumbersome, heavy body. Giving birth is a miracle, but a rather awkward business all around. So having Greg there, a great cuddler with massive strength, would be perfect. He could support and hold up and be safe to lean on.

The pain part is important too. Both of them seem fine with the two things that tends to be the most discouraging when it comes to giving birth. The first one is that it's painful, and the other one is that it is messy.

Gregs' happy sadistic chuckles might not really come in to play when it's this kind of pain, but I can't really imagine him freaking out about it either. He seems to be able to bear other peoples discomfort in a perfectly calm and balanced way, whether it's physical or emotional. Yes Alex of course, but in the Taskmaster-setting I also come to think of when Iain Sterling found it genuinely hard when his volcano fizzled out. Greg dropped it and moved on, neither stressed about it nor pushing the issue.

Alex is the one who thought up and carried through with tasks that for example required people to roll through geese droppings, drink vinegar with a straw, rub onion and chilli in their eyes, crawl with bare legs over gravel and just generally be uncomfortable, stressed out or in pain.

While he observed them holding a stopwatch and a clipboard. That makes me very calm when it comes to his ability to endure standing with his clipboard and observe the painful and absurd process of childbirth without freaking out.

And the messy part shouldn't face either of them. During a birth there will most probably be every kind of bodily fluid; feces, vomit, urine, blood, everything. But on the other hand, the same is true about any series of Taskmaster.

For better and for worse I wont be giving birth to any more babies, so I wont be able to test this theory. But if Alex and Greg set up shop as professional birthing partners I will definitiely recommend them to my pregnant friends.

Come on guys! You can do it!

[leascorner]

j.b.b. | Safe [1/3]

Summary: “You keep an eye on her,” he ordered Alpine in a whisper. The cat only blinked at him in return.

Bucky nodded and made his way to the front door. Slowly, he closed the door of his bedroom and got his gun out. He didn’t know who could be at his door at this time of the night, and for a moment, he could only see Tom, being there to finish his work.

Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x f!reader

Warnings: Description of wounds and mention of blood, mention of violence, mention of guns, probably inexact medical facts, mention of alcohol consumptions

Word Count: 4k

a/n: Feedback is greatly appreciated. Next part published on May 29th.

Masterlist / Part 2 >

Something was wrong.

Bucky didn't know if it was the metallic taste in his mouth, the fact Alpine didn't even greet him when he had stepped a foot in his apartment like usual or the electric atmosphere everywhere around him. But all his senses had suddenly awoken. Chills down along his spine, he instinctively reached to the gun at his waistband.

Slowly, Bucky progressed through his apartment. On his left, the kitchen was just as he had left it this morning; his mug in the kitchen sink, pack of coconut sugar near the coffee pot that he did not have time to put away. Clear. He moved to the living room. Alpine was not on the cat tree near the bay window nor on its favorite spot on the couch. The blanket he had slept on last night was still on the floor. Clear. He was now at his bedroom door. The bed was perfectly made, like it had been for a couple of days since he could not bear sleeping on it. He checked underneath the bed, in the closet. Clear.Last but not least, he moved to his en-suite bathroom. The door had been put against the door frame, but it was not closed. It wasn't something that he ever did as Alpine's litter was in the bathroom. He slowly pushed the door open, ready to fight.

What he found in his bathroom was not what he had expected. Agent Y/L/N was standing right there in front of him. Messy hair. Clotted blood all over her nose and chin. Ripped up clothes. Right arm wrapped around her stomach, potentially hiding wounds from the amount of blood on her shirt and keeping pressure on it at the same time. Left arm outstretched and holding a gun. She did not look good.

At the sight of Bucky, Y/N immediately dropped the gun on the counter of the bathroom sink she was leaning against, well aware he was not a threat. She looked deathly pale, ready to pass out at any minutes. Through the fabric of her shirt, Bucky could see the distortion of her right arm; from there, he couldn't tell if it was an open-fracture or a very huge lump. Her left foot was not resting on the floor completely and she had applied a tourniquet a little above her knee to stop the bleeding of what seemed to be a bullet wound. She was gripping the edge of the bathroom sink with her now free left hand, both for support and to get through the pain.

“I didn't know where else to go.”

Her voice was hoarse and low. Bucky could not see if she had bruises on her neck, but he could tell from her voice she had been strangled. She had obviously been beating up, but all he could think about was how - and why- she knew where he lived. He could count with his right hand the number of people that knew his place and it included Sam, his partner, and Sarah, Sam's sister. She sure wasn't one of those.

He searched his bathroom, making sure she was alone, as if he was not aware his bathroom was tiny and that he could see from the doorstep if there was somebody in the shower stall. Clear. He returned his attention to Y/N, still gripped at the edge of the bathroom sink. She must have gone through his stuff as there were a bloody washcloth and a clean towel on the counter near her. A bottle of vodka was there too, for disinfecting her wounds or for pain relief, Bucky wasn't sure. Neither of that he ever needed, it was one of the perks of the super-soldier serum in his veins. Alpine was sat on the toilet seat, eyeing her carefully from afar.

Bucky finally lowered his gun.

“What happened?” he questioned, checking through the small window of his bathroom if he saw anyone suspicious roamed around the neighborhood.

“He figured it out,” Y/N mumbled, so low he barely heard her, but it still got him to look back at her.

  She had been undercover for the past two years, working on breaking up a network of handguns resale for the NYPD. Bucky joined the case only about a year ago when it turned out Tom O’Brien, the boss of the network, was also very interested in the super-soldier serum. Growing closer to Tom, Y/N had found out he was planning on creating new super-soldiers and selling them as lethal weapons to the highest bidders. At that time, Tom had yet to get a hold on the serum and Y/N's mission aim radically changed to gather any information regarding people involved in this new kind of resale.

Bucky had only met her once with Sam. It was in Mexico, last year. Y/N was accompanying Tom's right-hand man to complete a deal with some Mexican gang. They had met at her hotel spa, where Y/N was supposed to have booked a massage session. He had barely recognized her from the picture in her file. She had her hair cut shorter and dyed in lilac color. She was the exact contrary of the frail and fragile person he had imagined her to be. In reality, she was very smart and hard-working. She had let Sam and Bucky know about everything she already knew, and the duo introduced her to some new targets for her to get information on.

The encountered lasted less to thirty minutes and they never met in person again after that. However, Bucky kept an eye on her; he joined the small team that was handling the information she would gather. The team was made of Greg, the inspector in charge of the case; Marco, the IT genius; Larry, whom was an infiltration expert at the NYPD and Faith, a new recruit that came in very handy as it turned out she had an excellent memory and could recall every details in a file after just one read. They were mostly monitoring her whereabouts through CCTV. Her place was also under surveillance; there were mics in every room and a small camera in the living room. Y/N had also put mics at Tom’s places – in his office and his apartment; that was where they were staying the most.

Bucky had spent the last year or so watching or listening to her. In the street, in the train, at home - though she was not home much. There wasn’t a day he hadn’t watched her every move or listen to one of her conversations. As creepy as it may sound, he felt like he had known her for a very long time. He knew she liked to get takeout from that Chinese place near the train station. He knew she didn’t like coffee. He knew the way she would scrunch her nose when she was thinking – yes, he thought it was adorable. He knew she liked her black sneakers – the shoes she would always wear. He knew so much about her and her habits. Like her Starbucks ritual.

Every morning ever since Y/N had been undercover, she would go to the small Starbucks two blocks down from Tom’s place. Marco had hacked the boutique camera so they could watch her. She would usually order anything with tea in it and just stand there, chatting with the bartenders about how their day was going. To others, it looked like a habit of hers. To the team, it was a sign she was still alive and doing well. Sometimes, she would be abroad with Tom, doing god-knows-what, and it was always a celebration when she would be back to her morning rituals. It naturally became the first thing Bucky did in the mornings when he got to the office; get in front of his computer and watch her order tea. He knew it was stupid, and that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but seeing her, smiling, happy, it made him feel close to her and the lump in his throat – that he recently identified as the fearof anything happening to her – would disappear a little. He cared about her so much that the three months ago, when she ordered an expresso instead of her usual tea, Bucky had to break protocol just to make sure she was okay. He had called her from a phone booth on her cell phone and made up some shitty story of being an old friend trying to reconnect. Only for her to laugh at him because she had recognized him, but she still played along. In the end, she simply hadn’t been sleeping alright and needed something to get going in her day. Sam made fun of him for days after this incident, but all that really mattered to Bucky was to know she was safe.

Tom was no angel; he was even the complete opposite, known by everyone to be pitiless. Bucky didn’t know what Y/N did to earn Tom’s trust. All he knew was that it was not romantic, nor sexual in any way, but Tom still had taken her under his wing to work for him. She truly worked wonders but also took a major risk for her life. A step wrong and he would end her like she was nothing. And all this time, she had been doing an amazing work. The amount of information she got back to the team was huge. They identified a super-soldier resale network taking place on several continents. They were just a few weeks away – days even, of the biggest good catch in the NYPD history.

Bucky and Sam had made arrangements to get her safe as soon as it was all over and planned for her to take out into the countryside before the Tom’s trial at which she would be the main witness. She would be freed of her character; she would finally be herself again. And Bucky could not wait to know the real her.

  “How could he have known?" Y/N asked more to herself than anyone else. She had gone back to whatever she was doing before Bucky went home; that was to say vigorously trying to remove the dry blood spread out all other her face. "I know he wasn't suspected a thing. Tom is not that smart. He knows his business, but he is oblivious to anything else. He didn't even know about the mic in his office.” She stopped, having a moment of clarity, realizing Tom must know now.

“We’ll worry about that later.” Bucky interrupted her. The more blood she was getting off her face, the paler he realized she was. He was pretty sure she had lost a significant amount of blood, but she was still talking and sort-of standing so he knew it was not that bad. He also knew it could worsen very quickly and that her right arm and left leg most certainly required medical attention. “We need to go to the hospital," he insisted.

Y/N did not even look at him and continued to talk to herself. “He knew my real name; it can only come from us.” She kept repeating ‘it can only come from us’ over and over, while washing her face. Bucky was not sure what that was supposed to mean because all he could see was how red the white washcloth nowwas, and how he could see all the scratches appear on her face. Her right eyebrows arch. Her left cheekbone. Her lower lips. He wondered how Tom, or whoever she had fought with, was. He wondered how she could have gotten away and made it to his place; she could have been anywhere, but she still chose to cross all Brooklyn to seek refuge to him. And he still wondered how she could have known where he lived.

Y/N hissed and threw abruptly the washing cloth in the sink, making Bucky look back at her. She was now eyes closed, her left hand holding her right elbow to keep her arm in place, repeatedly counting to ten to get through the pain. She must have had moved her right arm too much. Bucky didn’t know what was going on in her head, what she was even doing here. He knew she was more than capable of doing it herself, taking care of herself without help, but since she was there and he was there, he was going to help her.

“Let me see,” Bucky ordered.

Y/N slowly turned to him to allow him access to her shoulder. Bucky delicately lifted the cloth off her body to have a closer look. She yelped out in pain when his metal fingers got in contact with her skin, palpating her shoulder to understand what was going on.

"Dislocation." Y/N stated, already fully aware of what he just had deduced and of what he was about to do. "Please do it quickly," she whispered.

Bucky nodded and abruptly pulled on her right arm in a certain direction. The sound of her arm bone getting back in the joint made Alpine hiss; the sound was as uncomfortable to hear as it must have been for her to feel. In the contrary, Y/N did not make any sound; her left hand was gripped on his right arm, nails digging into his skin. Her eyes were still closed, and her eyelashes were wet. Whatever the amount of Vodka she had drunk it obviously had not been enough for her not to feel the pain. Bucky wished he could have taken it all away for her and cursed himself for not having any painkiller in his damn apartment. It had been a long time since he had felt any physical pain; all he felt now was brief discomfort whenever he would get injured thanks to the serum in his veins, but he knew – he remembered, deep in his guts – what it was like, and he didn’t want anyone feeling that. Especially not her.

“I am sorry,” Bucky said, brushing tears off her cheeks with his metal fingers.

Her breaths were shaky and her breathing rate erratic, as Bucky slowly bent her elbow to have her arm rested against her chest. He was trying to be as gentle as possible while manipulating her arm, remembering his own memories of what happened to his own left arm. The same memories that sometimes still kept him awake at night, even after all those years.

When he looked back at her, her eyes opened to look at him in return. Bucky could see all the details of her iris and he realized how close he was standing from her. This was what he had stupidly craved for so long, to breathe the same air as she was, and that was how life gave it to him.

“I'll get you cleaned up and changed, okay?”

She nodded, releasing his arm from her hold. The idea of bringing her to the hospital had completely disappear from Bucky’s mind. He would take care of her himself, he knew this was the right thing to do, but he would still have 911 dialed on his phone, ready to call anyway.

  Bucky started by getting back to his bedroom to pick from his closet a T-shirt and one of the few scarves he owned. When he got back into the bathroom, Y/N was standing against the sink counter and Alpine was sat on the counter just at her side, looking up at her, purring. Though it surprised him – Alpine wasn’t very fond of people just like he was, he noticed how the purring was calming Y/N down.

Bucky left his clothes on the next side of the counter and stood in front of her, wondering what he should do first. “I need to take it off,” he said, pointing to her shirt.

Y/N nodded again, and he started unbuttoning it. He discovered a lacy nude bra underneath, something he never thought he would see, but he purposely chose not to think about it and remove her left arm sleeve first; it was then easier to remove the right arm sleeve without moving her injured upper limb much.

She stood there, in her jeans and bra, looking up at him. She could have done something, but she just stayed still, letting him take care of her, like she knew he had done all those months when he was looking out for her. Though tonight, he clearly failed.

Bucky tried to ignore the fuzzy feeling in his chest by focusing on cleaning some dirt off her collar bone with another washcloth he had took from the cupboard underneath the sink. He then had a look at her cut on her stomach; the wound did not look as bad as he thought. Though it went from her right side to nearly the other side and Bucky knew it would leave a nasty scar once it had healed, it was mostly superficial. He gently cleaned it, removing the dry blood, and looked back at her. She nodded again, understanding without a single word was he wanted to do, and Bucky reached to the bottle of alcohol. She grimaced when he pressed a cotton pad soaked in the liquid to her skin.

After disinfecting her wound, he helped her put his T-shirt on and improvised a sling for her right arm with one of his scarves. He made sure not to tug on her hair when he tied the scarf around her shoulder, while she observed his every move in silence. Bucky smiled softly when he realized his T-shirt was way too big for her. Even looking like terrible, she was still looking cute.

  Once he was done with the sling, Bucky moved to the lower part of her body. He squatted down, to remove her shoes and unbutton her jeans. Before getting her pants off, he needed to remove the tourniquet. He silently prayed all the gods in the universe to not make her bleed out and it seemed for once, they had listened. By some kinds of miracle, the gunshot wound was not bleeding anymore so he continued and slowly removed her pants. Shivers run through her body at the contact of his fingers on her skin.

Bucky repeated the same actions as he did for the wound on her stomach: cleaning and disinfecting. Thankfully the bullet had gone straight through her outer thigh and didn’t touch any artery. She got lucky, a few millimeters down and it would have shattered her knee. The hole was quite big, and it would probably require stitches to heal properly, but for now, he would leave it in the open air.

Once he was done, Bucky got up to face Y/N again. She was now standing there in her underwear and his oversized black T-shirt. “Thank you.” Was all she could say.

Bucky softly looked back at her. “I’ll get you lay down, okay? You need to rest.”

She nodded again and took the hand he was offering her for support. He helped her walk to his bed, Alpine following close behind. Y/N was limping as she couldn’t let too much of her weight resting on her left leg. It took her a good three minutes to walk a total of six steps, and Bucky reallywondered how she had made it to his place. He made her sit on the end of the bed, while he removed the comforter for her to lie down.

“Did you hit your head?” She looked at him confused, instinctively touching her face as if it was going to help her understand what he was talking about.

“I need to know if you have a head trauma,” Bucky said before helping her move to the spot he had prepared for her.

“I can recall all the potato chips flavors you have in your kitchen cupboard – who even eats salt and vinegar chips?” She laughed at him slowly as he lifted her legs off the floor and put them under the comforter. When he looked at her and she saw the concern still on his face, she insisted: “I am fine.”

“Alright, missy,” he mocked her in return, putting the comforter up to her chest, carefully of not touching her right arm. “For your information, salt and vinegar flavor is the best chips flavor.” She chuckled in response, settling more comfortably into his bed, and smiled as Alpine lie down on the other pillow next to her. Short after, she was closing her eyes and falling asleep.

  For a couple of hours, Bucky stayed there, sat against his nightstand, listening to Y/N’s breathing, and making sure she was still alive. She had not moved one muscle, caught up in one of those dreamless sleeps he always wished for before falling asleep. He should have tried to get some sleep too, but instead he couldn’t stop thinking. How had Tom known? Y/N was right, Tom hadn’t suspected a thing and nothing unusual had happened these past few days. Y/N and Tom were preparing for their first super-soldier serum delivery and Bucky and the team had been busy preparing their good haul – the grand finale as Macro was calling it. There was no way Tom would have discovered the truth on his own; someone must have told him. But who?

A sharp knock on his front door brought him back to reality. His breath caught up in his throat and he looked at Y/N, just to make sure she was still asleep. Alpine, in the other hand, was now wide awake, listening carefully to what was going on. Another knock on the door and Bucky slowly got up.

"You keep an eye on her," he ordered Alpine in a whisper. The cat only blinked at him in return.

Bucky nodded and made his way to the front door. Slowly, he closed the door of his bedroom and got his gun out. He didn’t know who could be at his door at this time of the night, and for a moment, he could only see Tom, being there to finish his work.

Another knock on the door. Bucky removed slowly and as silently as he could the safety lock of his gun, ready to shoot. When he got to the door, he cleared his throat, trying to sound as normal as possible. “Who is it?”

There was some talking that Bucky couldn’t really understand through the door as the sound was muffled. It took a few seconds to realize who that was, put the safety lock on his gun again and open the door.

“Sam?”

His partner, Sam, entered the apartment as soon as Bucky opened the door, shouting: “Can’t you answer your damn phone! I’ve been trying to reach you all night.” Sam thrown, looking at Bucky, with a gun in his hands, who was checking the rest of the floor to make sure Sam was alone. “What are you doing?”

Bucky locked the door behind them and moved past Sam to open the bedroom door, showing him the person still fast asleep in his bed.

“Oh, thank god.”

Sam’s face lighted up when he saw Y/N asleep in his friend’s bed. He moved closer to the bed, eyeing her to assess her injuries and making sure she was alive. Alpine got up to greet him and Sam offered some strokes to say hello. When he was done, he got back to Bucky at the bedroom doorstep and Alpine laid down near Y/N again.

“How did you get her?”

“She was there when I got back. I had to clean her up with Vodka and I didn’t even have any band-aids and-”

“Hey, it’s alright.” Sam put a hand to his friend’s shoulder, trying to ground him in the present moment and stop the wave of panic that was starting to shake him. Bucky took a deep breath, nodding. “She is alive, that’s all that matters.”

[newtonsheffield]

*clears throat* Ahhh no one asked for these, but I goaded @aspoonfuloffiction with them, and now they won't leave me alone. which I suppose I deserve. So ahh... Here's hot stay at home dad Gregory ft.Lucy feeling a little thirsty.

Gregory had been waiting to be able to do this costume, for a very long time. 6 years in fact, And Daphne and Anthony had flatly refused to let him use their children for it. But now he had his own baby And even Lucy had found it very hard to deny that Katie, all of three weeks old at her first Halloween, would look very adorable in what he had planned. The picture of Gregory smiling broadly, in his Mandalorian armor, helmet tucked under one arm, Katie in a Grogu costume in the other, ends up going a little viral from Lucy's instagram post. Lucy takes great delight in responding to some of the thirstier comments left on it with You're not wrong. The picture is the wallpaper on Lucy's phone for a very long time. And Lucy is a little annoyed that she hasn't yet been given the OK by the doctor for a more...vigorous appreciation of Gregory's costume.

It wasn't a secret that Lucy found her husband ridiculously attractive. What was surprising though was how much more attractive he seemed to be to her when he was holding their tiny baby. There shouldn't be anything sexually charged about her husband laying on the couch, their daughter on his stomach watching a movie. And yet... and yet... Lucy couldn't take her eyes off it. And now Obi Wan's going to zjooom Gregory said making a lightsaber noise in time with the television, swinging their daughter's arm in time with the noise. And he looked so happy, his hair rumpled, his stupidly adorable wire rimmed (Dad spectacles he called them) askew from Katie grabbing at them earlier, his tshirt stretched tight across his chest and arms bearing the words Yoda One for Me and god help her she just couldn't take it, heat rising to her cheeks. Greg it's time for Katie to take a nap. Gregory looked up a little startled Luce, can we please just finish Attack of the cl-? Lucy sighed Gregory you look ridiculously attractive to me at the moment are you going to keep questioning or let me take my clothes off for you? Gregory is off the sofa and up the stairs before Lucy can blink.

When Katie started preschool, Lucy had noticed that the other mothers had a certain... reaction to Gregory. She saw the way they eyed him when he bent to pick up Katie, roaring happily as his daughter giggled at being hoisted onto her father's shoulders, saw the way they cooed over the baby strapped to him, and Lucy really couldn't blame them but the poor Man had no idea. He'd never really had any grasp on just how attractive he was, how his cheeky smirk had made her heart want to burst out of her chest to get to him and now he had absolutely no idea that volunteering to go on field trips and baking for the class, and standing outside the school expertly fixing their daughter's hair was like catnip to women. And again, Lucy couldn't blame them, when she saw Gregory with their children, so happy and content to just be with the family they ha made together, it simultaneously made her heart beat out of her chest and do very filthy things to him. But that didn't stop the savage pride she felt when Gregory was called over to a group of giggling women at a PTA function, and he tugged her by the arm smiling charmingly and said Ladies, How are we today? Have you met my wife Lucy? Now you finally see why Katie's so beautiful! and the women eyed her despondently, smiles tight with a quick Hi and no, Lucy's not proud of the quite demonstrative kiss she gives him after he makes a rather impassioned speech about why they should be supporting girls in STEM. Well, Maybe A little.

And yes, on more than one occasion Lucy has caught the expectant looks that their range rover gets when she pulls into the car park. The mother's fluttering around to see the new baby only for them to visibly deflate when she steps out. Ugh save your energy Jacqui, It's Mrs. Bridgerton today Stephanie Green said and Lucy couldn't hold back her smirk as she said Don't worry Ladies, My husband will be back tomorrow, and he's bringing shortbread. And as she left she heard Jacqui mutter God she's a lucky bitch.