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#But I need to do something waiting for DR season 2 or I will explode
satirates · 6 months
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I decided to watch Ninjago from the beginning again since it's being a while. Some of these episodes I haven't watched since 2012, but most of them I haven't watched since 2019 when I had my big Ninjago phase. Here's my thought on each season's from what I remember (I'm curious to see how it will change): Season 1: Good season with good characters. The final was PHENOMENAL and I watched it, like, 20 times. Baby me absolutely loved Zane and Hated Lloyd for some reason (I think it's because he was a brat) 9/10 Season 2 : I was not a big fan of the first couple of episodes or the city setting, but I again loved the final. It was so awesome! Still hated Lloyd for no reason, even has a teenager. 7/10
Season 3 (Rebooted): I strongly disliked that season, but for an excellent reason. I waited so long for season 3 that I couldn't wait any longer to watch it when it's release... in English... A language I didn't speak at the time. So my entire season 3 experience was trying and failing to understand the plot of a very confusing scenario that ended in my favourite character dying. I must tell that I wasn't a fan at the time, lol. 2/10
Season 4( ToE): I did wait for the French dub to watch season 4 and 5 so at least I could understand what's happening. I really liked season 4. Discovering new elemental masters was really fun, and they really nailed the tournament aspect of it all. 8/10
Season 5 (Possession): I didn't like this season when I watched it in 2015, but I loved it when I rewatched it in 2019. I think it's because I don't like scary things, so the ghost theming was too spooky for me when I was a baby. Strangely enough, this is the season that made me like Lloyd. I just needed him to be menacing, apparently. 9/10
Season 6 (Skybound): First season I watched in 2019 after giving up on Ninjago mid-possession in 2015. I knew at the time it was a very controversial season, but I LOVED it. It was my favourite so far. Not only did this season had very high stake, the Djin was also a very interesting villain. 10/10
Season 7 (HoT) : I'm not going to lie, I barely remember anything about the Hands of times other than it being focus on Kai and Nya and their parents. I don't remember disliking it, but it was clearly not my favourite. I don't remember/10
Season 8 (SoG): I'm going to say the same things for every season of this trilogy: I loved it! I liked the new design a lot, the animation looked amazing, and the scenario was the best we ever had. This was so cool. 10/10
Season 9 (Hunted): Same has the precedent season, but even better! Definitely the best season from what I could remember. I still own so many Lego sets from this era of Ninjago haha. 12/10
Season 10 (MotO) : I don't dislike this season, but it felt too short. I was really disappointed to see how the stake rise in the last episode without the emotions really landing that well. A miss in my opinion. But that final with the tornado of creation ? Fire! 6/10
Season 11 ( SFS) : I have weird feelings about this one. I do like what they did with the 11 minutes format in some cases (especially in the more humorous episodes), but it also felt like it prevent the episodes from reaching their true potential (haha). Everything has to start and end way too fast. I did like the Fire and Ice theming and both Asphera and the forgotten realm. If entertaining, this season was a bit underwhelming. 7/10
Season 12 (Prime Empire): Same critiques for the 11min format with this season (and onward). But I did like this one way more! The video game theme was really well-made and discovering the universe was really the selling point of season 12 for me. My biggest problem with it was that they just copied the scenario of Skybound which wasn't really original. 8/10
Season 13 ( MotM) : A Cole season! Yeah! This is the last season I remember really liking . The setting and scenario were fascinating, but a bit too simple for my taste. I think I was just happy to see my boy get a season to himself after 10 years . 7/10
Season 14 (The Island) : I don't really remember anything about this one. It was okay, I guess? It was just a really weird release. 5/10
Season 15 (Seabound: I officially dropped Ninjago after the first 10 episodes of Seabound or so. Not necessary because they were boring, but I wasn't invested in Ninjago anymore. I know Nya became the ocean since I was spoiled, but I need to watch this season to make my own decisions about it. 6/10
Season 16 (Crystallize): Haven't watched it, but oh boy did I heard bad things about it. This is on my list of new content to consume for a while now, so I need to watch it sooner than later. One day I will know/10
So yeah, wish me good luck! I hope I don't end up disliking things I loved as a baby, that would suck.
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myhockeyworld87 · 4 years
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Ruined - Jamie Benn - Part 2
Word Count: 5,716
POV: Jamie
Warnings: Language, Smut, NSFW, talks about losing virginity
Notes: Here is the next part right away. Hope you guys enjoy this. Happy Reading!!!
Ruined Masterlist
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Throwing on some shorts and a t-shirt, you headed down to the kitchen to whip up a quick protein shake before Tyler got there for your morning workout. With the season just around the corner, you’d pushed training into high gear, Tyler coming to your place every morning before you’d head off and workout with your trainer. In just a few short weeks training camp would be in full swing and you wanted to be in your best shape to make a run for the cup. But the Stanley Cup wasn’t on your mind as you turned the blender on, the grinding sound echoing through the empty house. Empty was the keyword there. You were tired of being alone, tired of going out to the clubs, ending the night with some mindless hookup. Maybe it was the fact that Jordie had finally popped the question to his long-time girlfriend Jess and the two seemed blissfully happy, that was making you want to settle down, or maybe it was seeing your sister with her little girl and longing for a family of your own. Whatever it was, you wished that you could just meet the perfect woman and fall madly in love. 
 The problem was you were too picky. They were either too tall or too blonde or maybe it was not blonde enough, then there were the ones that didn’t talk or were too chatty. You seemed to find something wrong with each and every woman you dated. Hell, your longest relationship only lasted six months and you’d only kept her around that long for appearance sake. You wanted a meaningful relationship with the girl of your dreams. It didn’t seem like much to ask for.
 “Hey, I see you're getting new neighbors.” Tyler’s voice brought you out of your musings and you glanced at him as he walked into your kitchen. “Well not neighbors exactly, since it’s like two houses up, but the woman who’s moving in is hot as hell.”
 “Do you mean in Doc Lundin’s place?” Dr. Lundin had been the team doctor for the Stars for the last several years and had finally decided to retire. You’d heard his practice had been looking at a young and upcoming doctor to take his place but didn’t know that they’d hired anyone. 
 “Yep,” Tyler finally answered. “Must be the new doctor’s hot wife. It’s a shame she’s married because, DAMN!” He gave a low whistle of approval. “I’m telling you, I’d be all over that.”
 “Don’t you have a girlfriend?”
 “We’re in an open relationship.” All you could do was roll your eyes, for all Tyler’s relationships were open, at least on his end. “But hey, if you wanted a crack at her, I’d give you first dibs, since it’s been a while.”
 “Gee thanks,” your sarcasm was not lost on your best friend.
 “I’m just saying it’s been a bit since you’ve gone out with anyone.” This you already knew and were just contemplating moments ago. “Maybe we should go for a run while she’s still out directing the movers.”
 “Why don’t we leave the new doc’s wife in peace at least for a day or so.”
 “You’re no fun.” Tyler downed half your drink but luckily, you’d made enough for another glass, before you headed out to your pool house that had now been turned into a gym. The two of you spent the morning and afternoon training before Tyler headed back to his house.
 It was just after dinner when you decided to go for a run, now that the sun was setting and the Dallas heat wouldn’t make your shoes melt to the pavement. You thought you’d head up to see Jordie and Jess, who only lived about six blocks away. It would be a short little run, but still, a way to get some exercise in. As you stepped out of your house, it was still a bit steamy, so you tossed your shirt off, and flipped your cap backward before heading up the street. The moving truck seemed to be gone, so you guess whoever it was that captured Tyler’s attention was busy inside unpacking. You were so absorbed in checking out the house you didn’t realize that someone was coming around the corner at you until your bodies collided. Your hands immediately went to her hips to steady her. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching…” you started to say while she was apologizing to you at the same time. It wasn’t until you looked at her face that recognition hit, then all words died on the tip of your tongue. “(Y/N), is that you?” She didn’t need to answer for you to know that it was her. This was your (Y/N), the first girl you ever kissed, the first girl you ever slept with, and the only girl you ever loved. Though you’d ruined all that. Standing there, you took in all of her features and you were reminded of how much you’d loved her back then. How much that first and only time with her had meant to you. 
 You’d been so nervous driving all the way to Vancouver with (Y/N), but she was more nervous. So, you took her hand and held it the whole way, occasionally dropping kisses here and there. The foot that wasn’t driving, bounced uncontrollably up and down with anticipation of the night to come. You were pretty sure you were wearing a hole in the flooring of the car. It had to be the longest car ride you’d ever had. “Did you maybe want to get something to eat before we head to the house?” You asked (Y/N) hoping to break some of the silence that was filled only by the stereo in the car. 
 “Yeah, we could do that.” She glanced over at you and gave you a weak smile.
 “(Y/N), we don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.” You totally meant the words you’d just spoken, for you in no way wanted her to feel pressured about having sex with you. This should be something you both wanted.
 “No, I want to. Don’t you?” Her voice picked up a little bit, the sound more reassuring than the smile she gave only moments ago.
 “I want to, too.” God, you sounded like an idiot. “I went to the pharmacy and got protection, so you don’t have to worry.”
 “Oh, you didn’t have to.” This time it was your turn to look over at her, trying to see if you misunderstood her statement before scanning the road again. “I’m on the pill, have been for a while.” She said by way of explanation. “My mom thought it would be best, once she found out I was actually dating someone, but we can use the condoms too if you want.”
 “I mean…uh…” were you really having a conversation about birth control methods? You supposed it was the adult thing to do. “If you think we should, we can.”
 (Y/N) turned in the seat to fully look at you then. “Ok, so this will probably sound stupid.” Your head bobbed back and forth between the road and the girl you were in love with.
 “(Y/N), nothing you say is stupid. You’re the smartest person I know.”
 She leaned over and kissed your cheek. “Thanks,” she took a deep breath. “Anyhow, I kind of don’t want to use a condom if we don’t have to, at least this time.” You weren’t quite following her thinking so you remained silent for her to explain. “Like, it’s both our first times, so there’s not a chance of us getting a sexually transmitted disease or anything. We just really have to worry about getting pregnant. Which since I’m on the pill, and before you say anything, I take it the same time every day, so no worries there. I think we’re safe on that account.” You nodded your agreement, for it was just like (Y/N) to be so precise about something. “But the real reason I don’t want you to use it is…” she hesitated, almost as if she was embarrassed to tell you why. She certainly had to know that there was nothing to be ashamed of, especially with what the two of you were about to do. 
 “Just tell me (Y/N). I promise I won’t laugh or make fun of you or anything.” You squeezed her hand giving her a little added courage.
 “I just want to feel you.” Her face started to turn a combination of pink and red, which looked totally adorable on her. “You know nothing in between us. I just really want to know what it feels like.” Fuck, you wanted that too. 
 “Yeah, that does sound nice.” You tried to downplay it though inside you were a jumble of nerves now, and thinking about what it would feel like to be inside her only made those magnify. What if you spent the moment your cock dipped inside her pussy? What if she didn’t cum? There were so many thoughts whirling around in your head, that you were ready to explode, and in more ways than one. 
 “So, then you agree? No condom.” (Y/N) asked you, drawing you back to the present.
 “Yeah, no condom.” The car grew silent again and you could feel your hand sweating as it held (Y/N)’s. There was only about another half-hour left in the drive. “So, where were you thinking to get something to eat.” You changed the subject hoping to take both of your minds off what would happen later. You stopped off at a little burger joint that (Y/N)’s family always went to when they were in town. You couldn’t stop grinning at each other all through the meal. It was really quite ridiculous. 
 Afterward, you headed over to the house. You carried both your bags in. “Umm…where should I put these?”
 “Oh, I don’t really have a bedroom here. I just sleep in one of the guest rooms, so we can just use one of them. They’re upstairs.” You followed her up the stairs, as she led the way to the bedroom. Inside was a massive four-poster king-size bed that had curtains draping down from it. Both of you just sort of stared at it for a full minute, letting the weight of what was about to happen sink in. “You can just put our stuff over there.” She pointed to the window that had two chairs sitting by it.
 It was late in the afternoon and you weren’t really sure if you should wait until dark to do this or start now. Everything felt too planned out, except for the exact timing. “Did you want to…” you trailed off, unable to put your thoughts into words. 
 “Oh…umm…yeah,” (Y/N) answered and you took a step closer to her. Your hands went to her waist, as you pulled her closer to you, before dipping your head down to kiss her lips. It was awkward, just like it had been the first time you kissed, but then your tongue slipped inside her mouth and you felt her melt into you. She pulled back though suddenly. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She stepped over to her bag, rifling around inside. “I brought these.” She pulled out a couple of glass candles. “I thought…well I don’t know what I thought, but you know, they always have them lit in the movies.”
 You smiled over at her, taking a couple of them and setting them on the nightstand and dresser. “Do you have something to light them with?”
 “Oh, one sec.” She took off downstairs and you could hear her rummaging around the empty house. You gazed at the bed. Should you turn the covers down? Maybe take some of the pillows off? You were contemplating what to do when (Y/N) came back in. “I found a couple more, and this.” She held out a pack of matches and you took them, lighting the candles that she’d placed throughout the room. She pulled the blinds down on the windows and it cast the room in a romantic glow, which reminded you of the item you brought to add to the romance.
 You pulled your mp3 player out of your bag and found the love song list you’d created for tonight and turned it on. You prayed that (Y/N) wouldn’t think that it was cheesy. When you finally turned around, she had the most adorable smile on her face. As you took the couple steps to close the distance between the two of you, she took a step back, and suddenly all those nerves from the car ride were back. “There’s just one more thing.” This time she grabbed her bag and headed into the bathroom. 
 While she was in there, you shucked off your shoes, then decided to get rid of your socks as well, since it would just be awkward to have them on. Grabbing the small bottle of Listerine, you had packed, you swished it around in your mouth then looked around for someplace to spit it out. There wasn’t any, so you just swallowed the small amount, coughing as you did. Lastly, you threw off the sweatshirt you had on. The fewer clothes you had to take off the better was your thought. You were tugging down the plain black t-shirt you had on, when (Y/N) stepped back into the bedroom, clad in a short silk robe. Your mouth went dry. Thoughts of what was underneath or what wasn’t filled your brain, both the one in your head and down below. Fuck, you needed to think of something else or this was going to end before it even started. You tamped down the lust that was threatening to boil over and walked towards (Y/N). “You look,” you shook your head trying to come up with the right word but there was only one. “Beautiful.”
 “Thanks,” she mumbled back as a blush stained her cheeks. “I’m nervous.”
 “Me too,” you admitted and you wiped your palms off before reaching for her. They slid around her waist then up her back as you looked her in the eyes. “Are you sure?”
 “Yeah,” she breathed out knowing that you were asking if she still wanted to have sex. You kissed her then like you had so many times in the past. Her arms slid up around your neck and you deepened the kiss. When you heard her moan, you let your hands roam to the belt of her robe, which came easily undone. Your hands roamed up her sides where you felt her lace bra. You were dying to know what she looked like in it. All the times that you and (Y/N) had done anything sexual together, she’d never been completely naked nor had you. It was always something hurried in the back of your car or on the couch when no one was home. Now though, you could drink your fill of her as you were alone with nothing and no one to interrupt you. 
 Gently, you pulled back from the kiss so you could gaze at her. Her body was covered in white lace, and you wondered if she had done it on purpose; sort of a nod to giving her virginity away to you. Unconsciously, you licked your lips as you took in the swell of her breasts and the curve of her hips. She was sheer perfection. “Damn,” you hissed out. “How did I get so lucky?” She giggled at your comment then let the robe slide off her shoulders; the view now even better than a second ago and you were finding it hard to breathe. 
 You felt yourself get hard just standing there staring at her. “Jame,” she said breaking you out of the spell. 
 “Yeah…uh…sorry.” You blinked hard, then took her hand and led her over to the bed, where you kissed her again. Slowly, you leaned her back onto the mattress, as your body hovered over hers. This part was nothing new, you’d made out with (Y/N) hundreds of times. It was what came next you were unsure of. Her hands slid under your shirt, and she bunched it up so that you could climb out of it. It fell to the ground somewhere in the bedroom. She then reached for the button on your jeans, but you knew if she took them off now, you’d be done. So, you rolled her to her side and followed her, unclasping her bra the minute her back was free. Your legs tangled with hers and you felt her hips gently rock into your thigh. She wanted this just as much as you did but you needed to make it good.
 Last night, you’d pulled Jordie aside and told him of your plans, purely so you could ask his advice. He’d chirped you, of course, for not having done the deed with (Y/N) sooner. But when you threatened to just leave, he stopped. He gave you a ton of information, go down on her first to help her relax, make sure she was wet before you even tried to stick your dick in her, go slow because it will probably hurt her, and the last bit was, make sure you didn’t bust your load too soon. The last part was the one you were truly worried about.
 (Y/N)’s bra now forgotten, you focused your attention there as you twisted both of your bodies so that she was now lying flat on her back. Kissing your way down her neck, you first took one nipple and then the other into your mouth. She moaned and it went straight to your groin. Thank god you still had your jeans on or you’d had spent right then and there. There were times you’d spend a good hour, just toying with breast but tonight was not going to be one of them. Working your way down her stomach, you kissed her right above where her panties were. The cute little white lace panties barely covered her pussy, and your mouth salivated just thinking about tasting her. You hooked your fingers around the elastic at the side, then started to shimmy them over her hips. (Y/N) rose up to help you rid herself of the flimsy garment.
 Setting back on your heels, you drank in the sight of her bare body. You’d never seen her totally naked before, so you took a moment to just drink in the sight of her. One leg slightly bent, her arms off to the sides, but fidgeting as you gazed at her. “Jamie?” Her voice wobbled slightly and you could tell you were making her somewhat nervous, yet you couldn’t take your eyes off her.
 “Sorry,” you said a blush coming to your cheeks. “You’re just…perfect.” She smiled, then sat up, grabbing the back of your neck and pulling you in for a kiss that had you wanting more. “Lie back,” you told her after kissing her breathless. She did and you took your hands and glided them from her ankles to her inner thighs; spreading her legs wide, so you could settle in between what you knew was your own little piece of heaven on earth. You grinned up at her before laying your tongue flat against her sweet little pussy, then licking between her folds. Her hips bucked forward even at the first contact. Your smile growing wider knowing that you were turning her on. You couldn’t help looking up at her as you flicked your tongue back and forth over her clit. Her hands fisted into the sheets and she moaned out something that you couldn’t quite hear. 
 Spreading her pussy lips with your fingers, you dipped your tongue inside her. “Jamie,” she cried out, and then you felt her hands threading through your hair urging you to continue. She tasted so sweet as you licked up and down her slit then flicked her clit. When she was wet and wanting more, you slid a finger inside her, mimicking what you wanted to do with your cock. Just the thought of being able to slide it into her warm and wet pussy had your cock hardening to granite. Fuck, you needed to get her off, so that you could feel her wrap around your dick before you lost your load. You made that come-hither motion, finding that spongy little spot up inside her. “Oh God,” she moaned out and you felt her legs start to tremble, as your hands kept them from clamping down on your head. Your tongue worked tirelessly on her little nub, alternating between flicking and sucking on it, as you fingered her. “I’m gonna…cum.” (Y/N) barely got the last word out and you felt her pussy spasm around your finger while her whole body bucked upwards. You felt a rush of wetness hit your lips and as much as you wanted to lick up every bit of her essence; you didn’t. 
 She slowly came back to reality with you, as you moved back up the length of her body until your lips were locked with hers. This time when her hands went to your waist you didn’t stop her as she undid first the button then the zipper. (Y/N) tried to help you shimmy out of your jeans but it was no use, so you rolled off her and wiggled out of them yourself. Her giggle went straight to your groin. “We have time, Jame.” You knew she was right but this was a moment you’d been waiting for, for a while now. You tossed the jeans and then your boxer briefs to the floor, before rolling on your side to face (Y/N).
 “I know…it’s just…” you couldn’t quite put it into words, but she nodded her understanding, bringing her hand to your cheek and slowly kissing you. Your hand roamed up her bare back, pressing her close against your skin. She felt so soft and supple in your hands, and you rolled her onto her back, your body looming over hers as your lips and tongues molded together. She moaned into your mouth, and you broke the kiss looking down at her. There was a questioning look in her eyes at your actions. “Are you sure you want to do this? You can tell me no right now and we’ll stop.” It would kill you, but all (Y/N) had to do was say the word.
 “I want this Jamie. I want you.” She cupped your face and brought it down to mere inches above hers. “I love you.”
 Your lips spread into the widest smile that ever graced your face and it had nothing to do with her saying yes to sex. “I love you too, (Y/N),” you told her and although they were only five words, they were the truest thing you’d ever spoken in your life. This wasn’t some fleeting crush that a sixteen-year-old boy had on a girl. This was true love in every sense of the word. You’d known your feelings for her the first time you’d met, now they were just intensified and what would happen next would bind you two together. 
 Her legs fell open, letting you work your way between them. Taking your cock in your hand, you slid it in between her damp pussy lips. She gasped, breaking the kiss and allowing you to stare into her eyes. “Let me know if I’m hurting you,” you hissed out as you nudged forward just an inch. Her walls surrounded your cock and it felt like heaven. Jordie was right, you just wanted to push all the way into her and shoot your load, but you couldn’t or wouldn’t do that to (Y/N). This had to be good for her too. She bit her lip, which made you wonder if she was in pain or if it felt as wonderful for her as it did for you. Another inch forward and you felt a barrier in your way. You knew enough about the female anatomy to know what it was and that going forward would change everything, not only for (Y/N) but you too. You leaned down and gave her another kiss, hoping to ease some of the tension that you could feel coursing through her body. When you felt her relax a bit into the kiss, you pressed all the way forward burying yourself deep inside her. (Y/N) froze and you pulled your head back to look at her, as all the blood in your body went directly to your penis. It took every ounce of your being, not to move. Sweat beading across your forehead as you asked, “Are you ok?” You couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not. She had to be, right? 
 Finally, she inhaled deeply and it was as if you were taking a breath with her as the two of you were finally joined as one. “I think so…I...just need a second.” God, you weren’t sure you could last that long. Her breathing started to even out, as yours became irregular trying to keep your body in check. “I think…” she wiggled and you hissed in a breath. “Yeah…I’m ok…maybe if you…” she didn’t finish what she was saying as your hips moved of their own accord, just a thrust in and out.
 “Fuck.” You were cursing more at yourself for moving than anything else, but damn if she didn’t feel good. 
 “It’s ok,” (Y/N) moaned out, her arms reaching around to your back urging you on. “Keep doing that.” Those words were like music to your ears and you found yourself surging forward back into the warm cavernous heat of her pussy, then pulling back out. 
 “God you feel so…” Good, just didn’t seem like the right word, but at the same time, your brain wasn’t exactly looking for another one. Your cock started to twitch, your balls getting that familiar tightening. You couldn’t cum, not yet, you’d only been inside her for a few minutes. You wanted this to last longer; wanted her to cum too, but there was no more fighting it. “I think I’m…”
 “Yes, Jame, cum inside me.” That’s all it took and you thrust one last time before shooting your load in her as she reached up and kissed your neck. Stars clouded your vision, as your climax hit you. A strangled groan leaving your lips. You’d never came that hard in your life, as you collapsed on top of her.
 It took a second for you to basically regain consciousness. “Shit, I’m sorry. I’m probably crushing you.”
 (Y/N) laughed. “Actually, I kind of like it.” Your laughter joined hers until you started to wonder if it was appropriate for sex. You could feel your cock softening inside her, so slid it out of her as you rolled to your side. She whimpered slightly.
 “Fuck, baby, did I hurt you?”
 “No, I mean…it was a little uncomfortable at first but…then it felt so good.” She was on her side now gazing at you.
 You brushed a stray lock of hair off her face. “Sorry, I couldn’t last longer, so you could…well you know.” It still felt awkward talking about getting off, even after what the two of you had just done.
 “Don’t be. It felt good, Jame…really good….and maybe,” she ducked her head down into your chest, suddenly shy and mumbled something incoherent.
 “Babe,” you said, lifting her chin with your thumb and index finger. “I can’t hear what you said.”
 There was the cutest blush on her cheeks. “I just thought…maybe we could do it again. Like later tonight and well maybe tomorrow before we leave.” You couldn’t believe what you were hearing, her words were like a dream come true. Damn right, you wanted to do it again; as many times as she’d let you.
 “Yeah, baby. I definitely want that.” Your lips connected with her, and after what the two of you had just shared, (Y/N) not only stole your heart, but your soul. That night you made love to her again, only then you made sure she came with you, just like you did in the morning before you left. Those twenty-four hours would forever be embedded in your brain and your heart, and as you dropped her off at her friend's house, so she could maintain her cover you knew that you would love only (Y/N) for the rest of your life.
 Now, here she was fourteen long years later back in your arms. You shook yourself making sure that you weren’t dreaming. She still looked the same, only better; all hips and curves and things that made men lay awake dreaming about at night. As you took in her features, it struck you then. All those other women the ones you’d found something wrong with all the time; didn’t have anything wrong at all. It was just, they weren’t (Y/N). They were only filling a void from the time that you’d ruined everything until now. She was the woman that everyone else had to measure up to, only now she was someone else’s. Fuck, the thought made your head spin. Had it truly taken fourteen years to get her back only to lose her?
 “Hello, Jamie,” she finally spoke and her voice washed over you taking you back to that day and the way she’d called out your name when you were inside her. Your cock hardened instantaneously. She was pressed close to your body and you wondered if she could feel it. 
 “It’s so good to see you.” They were the first words out of your mouth that made sense but they were also the most truthful. It was just too bad that the look on her face didn’t reflect the same. “Sorry, I’m just in shock seeing you is all.”
 “No, I get it.” She replied. “Do you live around here?”
 “Uh…Yeah, I’m the white house right there.”
 “Oh,” she seemed to be taken back by this knowledge, which was probably understandable. Especially given the fact that her husband was going to be your new team doctor. Nothing like having your ex be your new neighbor. 
 “What about you? What are you doing in Dallas?” Though you knew the answer, you needed to hear the words come out of her mouth as confirmation, for until you did; you held out that small hope that there was a chance to make things right again.
 “Um…well.” It was then that she stepped out of your embrace. You hadn’t realized how naturally she fit back in your hands and that of their own accord they didn’t seem to want to let go. “I just moved here.”
 “Kind of got that with the moving truck and all,” you replied, your hand going to the back of your neck at your awkward comment, though she did smile at your words. 
 “Yeah, I suppose that did give it away.” She shifted her weight from one foot to another. It was a nervous habit of hers that you remember from back in the day.
 “It was hard to miss, but I knew the old owner quite well since he was our team doctor. In fact, I heard our new doc was moving in. I guess I’ll be seeing you and your husband around more.” There you’d finally said it. It was like ripping a bandaid off. Sure, it hurt and all but once it was off the sting started to fade, only this time it didn’t, as a look of confusion crossed her face.
 “Husband?”
 “Oh sorry, my bad. I just assumed you were married. Fiancé then?” Either way, it was going to be awkward as hell seeing her at games and functions, let alone out in their yard. Maybe you’d need to look for a different place. Tyler had just moved recently, you’d have to get the name of his realtor.
 A look crossed her face, and you remembered seeing it once before. It was when you’d tried to talk to her after the whole gossip fiasco. She was angry and you had no clue what you said to make her that way, but this was not how you wanted the conversation to go. “I’m not married or engaged, for that matter.” So it must be a boyfriend then, though that didn’t explain her displeasure with you at the moment. 
 “Geez, (Y/N), I’m really sorry. I just assumed that for you to move all the way here you’d be engaged or married to the guy.”
 “There is no guy Jamie. I’m the new doctor.” A look of shock crossed over your face. Why hadn’t anyone told you she’d gone to study medicine? The obvious answer being you tended not to ask about her when you were back home, only because it hurt too much to think about her being with someone else. Though she wasn’t with someone else, it was just her, and she was now your team doctor, who you’d see almost every day. “I can’t believe that you’d think the only reason I’d move her was for a guy. Incredible! You haven’t changed one bit have you?” 
 “It wasn’t…I didn’t…” She started walking away, just like before when you’d tried to explain what had actually happened. “I just assumed…”
 “Yeah, Jame, you just assumed! That what, I couldn’t be smart enough to earn the MD after my name, or that I’m still only good enough for a quick roll in the hay.” You went to answer but she held up her hand and took a deep breath. “Save it, Jamie. I’m a professional and that’s what I’ll be when I see you at the arena or out, but other than that…we have nothing to say.” With that, she left you standing there speechless as she jogged back up her driveway and into the house. And here you thought you had a second chance, that things weren’t totally ruined between you two. Maybe they weren’t. If anything, her position on the team, meant that you’d be seeing a lot of each other, something you were definitely ok with. You might have messed up all those years ago, and somewhat today, but now you had a chance to turn everything around. Maybe things weren’t quite ruined….yet.
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myheartrevealedocs · 4 years
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Untouchable- Ch 1: Jenna Borge
Summary: A Spencer Reid x OC fanfic that retells select episodes, starting in season 1, from the point of view of Lydia Ambers, a forensic scientist.
Warnings: swearing, murder
Ch 2 | About Lydia
~ ~ ~
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Waking up in a hospital was not Lydia’s idea of a good time.
Not as a broke college student. And especially not when she had no recollection of injuring herself. In fact, she couldn’t even remember falling asleep. It was like she had blinked and found herself horizontal… Not great.
She tried to pull herself together enough to figure out what was wrong. Other than her head being fuzzy, she couldn’t seem to find any injuries on herself. Perhaps she’d passed out? But if that were the case, Jenna would have given her some water and put her to bed. What would warrant a trip to the hospital?
“Lydia Ambers?” A woman asked, pulling her attention to the door. “My name is Detective Richards. I have a few questions for you.”
Oh shit… 
~ ~ ~
“Last night, in Santa Cruz, California, college student Jenna Borge was stabbed multiple times in her dorm room. Her roommate, Lydia Ambers, was sedated with antipsychotics, but otherwise unharmed.”
“So, it’s personal,” Morgan inferred.
“You would think that,” JJ agreed. “Only, this doesn’t look to be his first kill. Two months ago, a recent graduate from UC Santa Cruz, Elizabeth Chang, was stabbed and killed while walking home from work. Six months before that, Lucy Max was found in an alleyway. The first two girls were assumed to have been victims of muggings, but now with Jenna’s death, the Santa Cruz PD are thinking it’s a serial killer.”
“Any connection between the victims?” Elle asked, but JJ shook her head.
“Nothing but age and gender. These girls were of different races, social standings, and Lucy was a college student at a different school than Elizabeth and Jenna. It’s highly unlikely that these girls have any friends in common.”
“Why leave the roommate alive then?” It was Reid this time, looking through the information on his file. “If our unsub has no preference for the girls he picks, why not kill her too? And the fact that he had the tranquilizer handy means he knew she would be there and had planned ahead of time not to kill her.”
“So, our unsub has some sort of connection with these girls. He’s killing these girls for a reason. The question is, what reason?” Gideon finished, standing up to leave. “Let’s go to California.”
~ ~ ~
“I need you to tell me everything you remember,” Detective Richards said, sitting beside Lydia’s bed.
“What’s going on?” Lydia demanded. “Why am I here?”
“I really need to know what you know before I tell you anything,” the woman explained, unhelpfully.
“I don’t know anything! I swear, the last thing I remember was studying in my room.”
“Was your roommate there?”
Lydia huffed. She didn’t get it. Something was going on, something bad, likely having to do with the fact that she ended up in a hospital with no apparent injuries. And the only person who knew was being passive and dodging her questions.
The last time she’d had to deal with the police like this, they’d been as blunt as a hammer. Sixteen-year-old Lydia had no clue what was coming and they swept the rug out from underneath her. She had felt like she was drowning, being asked a thousand questions before their words could sink in.
Somehow, Detective Richards was worse.
“Yes. My roommate was trying to sleep.”
“And was there anyone else in the room with you?”
Lydia did all she could to keep from scratching her own eyes out. “No.”
“Are you sure? This is vital information, Miss Ambers. We need to know everyone who came in and out of your room yesterday.”
“I’m not lying,” she insisted. “Only Jenna and I were in our room. Now please, tell me what happened!”
The detective hesitated a moment. Lydia’s heart leapt into her throat, the suspense finally catching up to her. Perhaps a realization, too. For some reason, she could see where this was going.
“Last night, someone came into your room and murdered your roommate, Jenna Borge.”
The denial struck first. “That doesn’t make any sense. Jenna was right next to me. I would’ve… No one was there but us.”
“You two were found by a classmate of Jenna’s. She thought you both were dead, but when the police arrived on scene, they realized that you had been knocked out, but were still breathing. The doctor can talk to you about that more than I can. Whoever killed your roommate drugged you first, to stop you from doing anything.”
And then, as always… the anger.
“Leave.”
~ ~ ~
Jenna was gone. Really gone. Lydia had tried calling her phone multiple times, but stopped herself when she realized that listening to Jenna’s voice was only fueling her anger.
It felt as if storms raged in Lydia’s stomach. If the universe was really out to get her, why did it never come for her directly?
She shed her tears quickly that night, knowing that her hospital room might be the only place for her to safely do so. Once she left, she couldn’t disappear. People would want to talk to her about it. She’d have to go back to class. And there really wasn’t any way of processing something like this except moving on.
“Drink a lot of water,” the nurse explained to Lydia, as she escorted her out of the hospital the next morning. “You’ll likely be lethargic for the next few days, so go easy on yourself. Take a day off or ask your teachers to be gentle with your workload.”
“Thank you,” she responded, shortly. “I’ll be fine.”
“Lydia Ambers?”
Lydia groaned. Another cop? Really?
The man who had called to her stood in the waiting room of the hospital. He pulled out a badge, though he was still too far away for her to see. His partner, a far younger, taller man, was raking his eyes over her, as if looking for something.
Lydia left her escort and walked over to the two of them, arms crossed over her chest. “Yes?”
“My name is Agent Gideon, this is Dr. Reid. We’re from the FBI.”
She raised an eyebrow, not intending to be challenging, but she couldn’t help it. Lydia had never been great at calming herself down, despite all the opportunities to practice. “Whoopie for you. I explained to Detective Richards what happened that night. I honestly don’t remember anything. If you’re here to take me in as a suspect, go ahead, but if not, there’s nothing I can do for you.”
“Miss Ambers, we work for the Behavioral Analysis Unit. We’re not questioning you as a suspect, but we believe the man who attacked your roommate might have known her before he killed her. You might have known him as well. Do you think you could come back to the station with us and sit through a few more questions?”
No, I can’t. The emotional strength it takes to pretend like I’m okay is too much for me. Another hour of questioning and I guarantee my head will explode, I’ll vomit what little is left in my stomach and then my own intestines, and I’ll assault a police officer… In that order.
“Don’t call me Miss Ambers,” she insisted, ignoring the violent monologue replaying in her head. “Lydia is fine. But yes, I’ll come along.”
Agent Gideon nodded and Lydia could see an understanding in his eyes. But she pushed it aside as simply his experience in dealing with grieving strangers.
He led her and Dr. Reid out of the hospital and to a black SUV. As they walked, Dr. Reid fell slightly behind Lydia, which she knew couldn’t be an accident considering his insanely long legs. And even if she didn’t know that, his gaze was burning holes into her side.
“Are you sure I’m not a suspect?”
“Do you think you should be?” Agent Gideon asked.
“No, but Dr. Reid here is staring at me like I might pull a gun on him any minute.”
The guy looked startled that she had even acknowledged him, glancing at Gideon like he needed permission to speak to her. “Um, I was trying to identify the source of your limp. Your hip and knee don’t jerk when you walk and you seem to be able to extend them fully, but you clearly favor your left leg.”
Lydia rolled her eyes. Normally the question was phrased as ‘What’s wrong with your leg?’ She had to admit, she appreciated his forwardness about staring, but it didn’t make her want to answer any more.
“Well, don’t worry Dr. Reid. My medical records will reflect the fact that I have had this for 5 years and it doesn’t affect the case. Thank you for the concern, though.” And with that, she slid into the backseat and shut the door.
He looked at Gideon, confused. “I wasn’t asking because I’m-”
“That means don’t talk about it, Reid,” Gideon told him, before he also got into the car and turned on the engine.
~ ~ ~
“How long had you known Jenna?” Gideon started, having Lydia sit down in an empty room in the station. Reid continued his hovering in the back, completely silent.
“Since we were freshmen… We were going to graduate together next month.”
Saying those words aloud was harder for Lydia than she thought. Her nose started to burn, a sign that tears were on the way, but she set her face with a look of determination. Jenna wasn’t going to graduate. That was a fact now. She couldn’t do anything about that.
“Are you alright, Mi- Lydia?”
She scoffed. “I’m sorry?” she asked, thrown completely off guard. “Should I be?? My friend was just…” The words died in her throat.
“I’m sorry.” Agent Gideon’s tone was completely sincere, but he continued mercilessly. “You’re not displaying some of the typical signs of grief-”
She laughed, dryly. “You analyze behavior and you don’t know that people handle their grief differently?”
“Of course I do. And yours indicates guilt. Perhaps some past trauma you’re trying to repress-”
“You said I wasn’t a suspect-”
“And you’re not-”
“Then stop profiling me!” She smashed her fist against the table and the sudden sting against her hand brought her back to reality. Don’t make this harder. Getting angry at the police only made both sides more frustrated, it wouldn’t compel anyone to find out who did this faster. She gritted her teeth to continue. “Yes, I feel guilty. I let someone sedate me and kill my roommate. And I just don’t understand why he didn’t kill me! Everything else: my anger issues, my past, my fucking leg, it doesn’t pertain to this case. So, please, just let me be.”
“I’m sorry that I’ve upset you.”
That was a shift from what she was used to. When she was younger, it was always the same routine. She’d lash out and the rest of the world would send her away until she calmed down. And she knew that it was her fault. That they didn’t deserve her rage. But she never realized how nice it might be to have someone stop her then and there. And take the blame away from her fury, if only for a moment.
“You didn’t upset me. Agent Gideon, I’m sure you’ve dealt with worse characters than me… at least I hope you have. Just know that I’m doing my best… if there was more to say, I would have told you. If it was going to help, I’d tell you every detail of my past, but it isn’t.”
He seemed to agree with that. Maybe he wasn’t so bad.
“Now then… what else do you want to know?”
~ ~ ~
“Notice anything?” Gideon inquired as the two of them left Lydia, exiting the room she was held in and joining the team in a separate part of the station.
“Yeah? She’s like a walking contradiction. She claims anger issues, but she shows no signs of stress. She makes snappy remarks, but physically she seemed anxious, not angry. Her face is relaxed and her shoulders hold all her tension, not her hands or jaw.”
Gideon nodded, listening closely to the boy’s observations. “What do you make of the fact that she keeps asking if she’s a suspect?”
“Nerves? Guilty conscious? Maybe she’s afraid we’ll find something and she wants to make sure we aren’t looking into her.”
“Good. She doesn’t want to be profiled, that usually indicates that she’s hiding something. But, it always comes back to her past, one she claims Jenna had no part of. So… she’s got a bad history, but it’s unrelated to the case.”
“And for some reason it’s taking priority in her mind, instead of Jenna’s death,” Reid concluded.
“You talking about the roommate?” Hotch asked as they approached.
“Yes,” Gideon explained. “She’s an interesting one. A challenge.”
“Do you think she’s involved?”
Gideon shook his head. “If her medical report wasn’t alibi enough, she shows no signs of being a psychopath. Or a sociopath, for that matter. But she’s hard to profile. She’s got a complicated past, no doubt.”
Morgan laughed upon hearing this. “There’s someone Gideon and Reid can’t profile?”
Reid tried to defend the two of them almost immediately. “It’s almost like she uses her generic differences to hide from the bigger ones. Like, she kept saying she had anger issues, and while that added up with her reactions, clearly they stem from something very particular in her life and she’s trying to pretend like that’s not there. Or something…”
Morgan looked him up and down, noticing Reid’s hesitance in his words: almost, like, something… “She’s got you all confused, Reid. I’ve got to meet this chick.”
“You can,” JJ said, walking into the room with Lydia in tow. “She’s still here.”
The whole room looked up as the new girl strode in. Spencer watched her closely, but for some reason, all his suspicions about her had dissolved after meeting her in the hospital. He tried to be unbiased, but he had something of a gut feeling about her. An inexplicable trust that this act of hers was reasonable.
Lydia’s hair was dark, the ends brushing her shoulders as she walked. She looked nervous, approaching the room of profilers, but her voice was completely steady as she spoke.
“I want to offer more assistance. Better assistance than talking about Jenna’s past boyfriends… I just finished an internship recently with the SCPD. I’m a chemistry student, on track to becoming a forensic scientist. I know I’m not anywhere near as qualified as you are, but I’m far more familiar with the crime scene. At the very least, let me point out anything suspicious. Before you guys clear it out, that is.”
Hotch sucked in his lips, hesitantly, before approaching. “Miss-”
“Lydia,” she and Gideon said simultaneously. She glanced at the older man with an unreadable expression.
“Lydia,” Hotch corrected. “I’m Agent Hotchner. What you’re asking to do is difficult. You’ve seen how some of these crime scenes turn out. It’s messy. We can’t guarantee you’re psychologically ready to see what’s there.”
“I won’t be a burden,” she insisted. “You can have surveillance over me the whole time. But I’m positive I can help.”
“Let her do it,” Gideon chimed in. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Hotch was clearly not convinced on the matter, but he nodded. “Reid and Morgan, go along.”
Derek approached, reaching his hand out to shake. “I’m Agent Morgan.”
“Lydia,” she introduced, her demeanor calmer now that Hotch had agreed. “Thank you,” she told the unit chief and left briskly.
“She’s definitely guarded,” Morgan admitted. “She must be hiding a big heart underneath that mask. That or she has ulterior motives to go to the crime scene.”
~ ~ ~
Don’t touch anything.
She almost ran the minute the door opened. It had been a day and a half and the room still smelled with an iron-y sharpness.
If you start to cry, or feel sick, just go. Don’t stop to explain yourself.
Every time she looked at the bed, the words ‘that’s not hers’ flashed in front of her eyes. That dark red stain… that’s not hers. And the light red droplets by the door… that’s not hers.
If you can’t handle it, leave.
Wait… that’s not hers...
“Did you guys test this blood?”
Morgan’s face read with clear confusion. “Why do you ask?”
Lydia’s eyes glanced between the bed and the few spots on the floor. “You said he tied her to the bed before stabbing her. Then, how did these get here? It’s not like he or the knife was dripping with her blood, or else there’d be more evidence of it around the room. Not to mention, he had to walk out of the room and down the hall without raising suspicions. So, it’s unlikely there was enough blood on him or the knife to drip on the floor over here. However, if he’d accidentally been cut, he’d be quick to cover it. Probably didn’t notice any evidence hit the floor. That’s why there’s some here, far away from the body, but not trailing to or from it.”
“Very clever,” Gideon acknowledged. “We actually did have that blood tested. It wasn’t your roommates.”
She nodded, but didn’t seem all that happy to hear she was right. Reid had taken notice that the whole time she was explaining her theory, she never called her roommate by her name. She was distancing herself, which was probably good at the moment, but he wondered what she could be thinking about.
“She struggled,” Lydia continued, looking at the disheveled blankets and items which had fallen from her desk. “That’s good… I need to look in these drawers.”
“I don’t know-” Morgan started, but Gideon was already pulling a pair of gloves out of his pocket. 
“Put these on first.”
The younger man was clearly not happy about it, but didn’t say anything, instead glancing at Reid, who looked on curiously. Both him and Gideon wanted to know what Lydia might find.
Once her blue surgical gloves were on, she opened up the drawers to Jenna’s desk. Nothing looked weird. A little scattered, but it reflected Jenna quite well. She was just beginning to think the unsub hadn’t touched anything when a thought crossed her mind.
“Where’s her jewelry?”
“We didn’t find any,” Morgan explained and Lydia shook her head.
“That doesn’t make sense. Jenna-” she caught herself, voice catching only for a moment. “...She always wore necklaces. She kept them in this drawer, because she didn’t like to leave expensive items out. She’d even hide them underneath all of the clutter in the hopes that a thief or burglar wouldn’t search all the way down for them. But they aren’t here. None of them are.”
“That doesn’t add up,” Morgan argued. “We didn’t profile this guy as a robber. Why’s he suddenly stealing expensive jewelry from his victims?”
Lydia shrugged and held up a wallet. “Not for the money. This is still full of cash.”
“The necklaces are a trophy for our unsub,” Gideon reasoned. “We’ve seen weirder.”
She nodded. “Her desk is always this disheveled. He could have searched them, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”
“Anything else seem odd to you?” Gideon asked, noticing a decline in her energy.
She bit down on her bottom lip. Her eyes scanned every corner of the room, zipping over the bed quickly. “Nothing.”
Reid paused, the wheels in his head turning. “We should check pawn shops nearby and see if any of Jenna’s jewelry ended up there. We can try to trace it back to him.”
Gideon agreed. “You two get on that. Lydia, can you come back to the station with me to look over a suspect list?”
She nodded, slowly.
~ ~ ~ 
“No… No… No… No… ”
Lydia was worried she had hit her limit. Any motivation to help was slowly seeping out of her and a need to scream was replacing it. She’d never seen these guys before. Never heard their names. The most she was able to do at the crime scene was tell them about the necklaces and then a bunch of stuff they already knew. The helpless feeling was taking over once more.
“Gideon.” JJ grabbed his attention as she walked in with a cup of coffee. She set it down next to him, then glanced at Lydia. “Can I possibly get you anything?”
Lydia shook her head. “No… I’m fine. I just-” Something compelled her to go out on a limb. “JJ? Do you know if Jenna had any jewelry on her when she died?”
The blonde woman paused. “No. I can go check the record?”
“Please,” Lydia mumbled.
As she walked off, Gideon raised an eyebrow at her. “You think the unsub might have left a necklace on her person?”
Lydia just dropped her head into her hands. “I don’t know,” she huffed. “Looking at these random men isn’t helping. It’s the only lead I’ve got so just… go with me here.”
They waited a moment for JJ to come back in. “She wasn’t wearing any jewelry, but it looks like they found a broken necklace in her pocket.”
Lydia’s ears perked up. “May I see it?”
“I’ve got a picture?” JJ offered.
“Yes. That’d be great.”
Once again, she was gone and Gideon was more invested by the minute. “Broken necklace. That’s interesting. Perhaps he left it behind because it was broken?”
“Maybe he ripped it off her,” Lydia fired back.
“Here you are.” JJ dropped a picture of a beautiful gold chain with a small pink jewel attached to it. And Lydia finally felt some relief.
“What is it?” Gideon asked.
“This isn’t Jenna’s necklace.”
~ ~ ~
“Lydia believes that part of our unsub’s ritual is taking his victim’s necklaces and leaving them on the next one. Lucy Max didn’t have any jewelry on her when we found her, but Elizabeth Chang had a broken necklace in her pocket, which we can’t identify as belonging to her and Lydia claims the one in Jenna’s pocket wasn’t hers either. And since he took all of Jenna’s necklaces, it looks like he plans to drop one on the following victim as well.”
Hotch shook his head. “That’s a lot of faith to put in a random college student. This could very easily have been placed.”
“I trust Lydia,” Gideon declared. “You should have seen her on the scene, Hotch. She’s a natural at this.”
“Yeah. Maybe she’s been studying up on you. We’ve seen that before. You said you could barely figure this girl out, how do we know she’s not manipulating our case?”
“She’s not,” Gideon insisted once more. “Listen, I’ll strike you a deal. Look into this. For me. We think this guy gets his high off of leaving hints as to who he is. Start with anything that might have significance to a necklace. If I’m wrong, I’ll do all the paperwork for the next 3 cases.”
“And if you’re right?” Hotch asked, not sure why he was even considering a deal now. But he was curious. And Gideon seemed set on the idea.
“If I’m right, you have to offer Lydia a job.”
~ ~ ~
Lydia woke up once again without any recollection of having fallen asleep. This time, however, she wasn’t in a hospital bed, which was a relief.
She found herself on a couch. In the police station. She sat up, worried about how long she must have been there, but no one had kicked her out yet. So… hopefully not long?
That’s when she identified the sound that had awoken her. A soft knocking came from the doorframe of the room she was in. She whipped around to find an exhausted Agent Gideon waiting for her attention.
“Sorry to disturb you Lydia, but we’re headed back to the jet, so you’ve got to leave the station.”
“Back to the jet?” She jumped from the couch. “Did you find him?”
“Yes… You were right.”
Lydia wanted to say something but found herself tripping over her own tongue. It felt as if a wave was crashing into her back. She was being pushed forward, away from the distraction of finding who did this to Jenna and instead down into the ocean
Grief was a bitch.
“I… I was right?” she asked.
Gideon started to explain the man they caught to her. Jonathan Carrey. She heard the key words as he said them: necklaces, pawn shops, mother, college girls, confession. But none of them formulated the actual accomplishment Lydia had been waiting for.
“Oh…”
She couldn’t react. Not anymore. All her energy was wasted. She was free from the strong compulsion to find out what had happened to Jenna and left with determination stats in the negatives.
“Lydia, do you have somewhere to go for now?”
She nodded.
“Okay… get some rest. You did good today.”
She felt like she was going to be sick. You did good…
She’s still dead.
And after some hesitance, Agent Gideon was gone.
Lydia picked up her phone, calling a friend to see if she could stay for a few nights.
Process. Cry. Move on. Rest.
She really needed that right now.
“Hey,” a soft voice called as she hung up the phone. This time, it was the strangely silent Dr. Reid who was watching her.
He sort of peaked in and waited for a response or invitation. After she didn’t give him any, just a blank, detached stare, he came in on his own terms
“Uh, I thought you might…” he drifted off, judging her expression before continuing. “I thought you might want these.”
He held open his hand to show her a small, knotted collection of necklaces.
“We recovered them from Jonathan Carrey’s shop. I was considering giving them to Jenna’s parents, but when we spoke to them, they didn’t seem to know as much about Jenna’s jewelry collection as you. So, I figured you’d appreciate them more.”
Lydia took them from him slowly, wrapping the chains around her fingers. Unexpectedly, a few tears slipped down her cheeks, but Lydia let them fall. She deserved it.
“Thank you, Dr. Reid.”
It was peculiar, but as he left, a single thought ran through his head:
With everything Lydia had been through, that was the first time he’d heard a tremble in her voice.
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chaoticriderlessb · 4 years
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“Camp Cretaceous” Season 2 Review
 As the title says, this is what this post is gonna be about xD. And, unless I’m very stupid (which is entirely possible), but the whole “Under the Cut” option for spoilers no longer seems to exist. Sooo....
SPOILER ALERT!!! For this whole post, just in case.
 Alright, first off, I just wanna say this show has surprised me, yet again. I was concerned that this season was going to feel very rushed and turn out disappointing since the date for it was so soon after season 1. Because as I’ve probably said in my last review of this show...usually, when things get a date that soon after the first season/movie/book/whatever, they don’t turn out quite well, most of the time. So yeah, the date for this 2nd season did make me feel really skeptical. However! I binged it, today, and was genuinely surprised that it turned out to be just as good as the first season! Maybe even better!
 I’ll try not to make this review as long as my last one ^^;.
 Anyway, first off (again, but for realz or whatever), I knew that Ben was going to come back. I noticed the twitch in his fingers at the very end of season 1. So I saw that coming. What I didn’t see coming was his kinda sudden character development (if that’s what it’s called...I dunno, I’m no expert on the whole character development thing ^^;). He went from a very skittish boy to like, Tarzan. Lol! He grew a pair, and I’m a little proud of him xD. Then again, I guess that’s what being alone and surviving like that with lack of sleep will do to you. I also loved how big and powerful Bumpy grew up to be! And protective! I mean, of course, she kinda did imprint on the boy (or is it the other way around?), just as how Blue was protective of Owen. I just love those sort of bonds in wild animals and humans that they share (I’m being a nerd, please ignore me xD).
 Oh! Blue! I love that they gave her a bit more screen-time! Just like the first season, her screen-time only lasted about a second...but she had more scene cuts like that than she did in the first season! I kinda hope she’ll make more of an appearance in season 3 (yes, I read that apparently, season 3 is probably a strong possibility), and if she does, I hope she’ll actually have a full scene with her in the spotlight, if that makes any sense. She is just like, my top most favorite character in the Jurassic World movies (with Rexy coming in second).
 Speaking of Rexy, our old girl is as badass as frickin’ always! Her roars will forever give me the chills (I’m still so happy that they kept all the dinosaur sounds from all the movies. I find it interesting that she had pretty much made Main Street her little home. I was confused about her making a nest, though. Like, she an old lady, why does she need a nest xD? On a different note, maybe I just didn’t see them...but, I noticed that she did not have her scars. That confused me because since I didn’t see any of her scars, I wasn’t sure if it was actually her...or, if there has actually been a 2nd T-Rex on the island that nobody knew about (that’s unlikely, though). But she’s supposed to have scars, people! She’s a fighter, and has been in some tough battles! Lol!
 I liked that the people who made this show brought back Toro. Even for only two scenes, and Ben had gone up against her in his story of what had happened after the end of the first season. The Ceratosaur making an appearance did kinda surprise me, as the last time I saw that dinosaur, she was in the 3rd Jurassic Park movie (please don’t at me about that, I grew up with all 3 of those movies). I mean, I saw her in the season 2 trailer, but honestly, she had such a small clip in said trailer that I forgot about her ^^;. Even in this show, she didn’t really make too much of an appearance as I had thought she would.
 The Baryonyxes. This trio were very interesting antagonists! I actually liked them, a lot! And I’m not really much of a Baryonyx fan (probably because growing up, I never really paid it too much mind as I did Velociraptors and Tyrannosaurs. I only remember seeing 1 Baryonyx in the Jurassic World movies, but she only got a little bit of screen-time. Now that I think about it...it might’ve been the two siblings in “Fallen Kingdom...because I think one of them died when the volcano exploded, and the other one was carried onto one of those ships. I could be totally wrong, though...but after watching this season, it would kinda make sense and an interesting theory. Anyway, I went off-track, there. Main point being: Baryonyx, very interesting antagonist, actually terrifying. I was not expecting them to sound like that, either. Maybe I’m just crazy, but they sounded just a little bit like the Indominous! Maybe.... 
 I was not expecting poachers to be in this show, at all. I’m actually very against poachers...I feel like they’re the reason some certain animals are going extinct. But anyway, that was an interesting reveal! I was suspicious of them from the get-go, but I honestly thought that they would turn out to be working for Manticore. The show did a good job on making me constantly second-guess this couple! I never liked them, to begin with, simply because I felt something off about them...but they were just horrible people! The woman, I forget her name, was the worst of the two, or so she turned out. She seemed to be the one actually in charge of things. Lemme tell you, when she killed one of the Baryonyxes, I literally had a “uhhhmmm” moment because I just knew that her actions were going to come around right back to her...literally. My heart actually went out to the other two Baryonyxes because it was just...a bit of a roller-coaster of emotions, there! The woman later on left her husband for dead (now, that’s just a douche move). But ya know...what goes around comes around! So, I wasn’t shocked when the two Baryonyxes made their way onto her boat.
 Yeah.... Karma is a bitch.
 What I really liked about this season was that it threw in so many elements of the first Jurassic Park movie. I loved that! I haven’t seen the movie in a really long time, so those elements in this season was a nice quick nostalgia ride for me. Raptors in the kitchen (though, in the show’s case, Baryonyx in the lab), the watering hole (I think that was in the first movie, but I could be very wrong), Rexy with the flipped over Jurassic Park (World) vehicle...all of it was amazing to see!
 I talked a lot about the dinosaurs, sorry ^^;!
 The kids were great, of course. Honestly, I feel like there isn’t too much to say about the humans, this season. The kids get along, well, and prove to be a great team, Kenji is...well, Kenji xD, and like I said, Ben coming back was expected but still great to watch. One thing I also liked was that the kids realized and pretty much implied about what had happened to the Indominous.
 To close this review off, I have just one question in mind about something that has me totally thrown off and kinda desperate for answers.... What in the hell is in that locked room in the lab?!?! What was cooked up that the show is so implying to be incredibly scary and dangerous?! Is it another I-Rex or is it a I-Raptor or a half-dino, half-human creature?! What?! Dr. Wu?! Explain, please!
 Ok, I’m done with my confused ranting xD.
 That is my review for season 2 of “Camp Cretaceous”! I am curious to see what season 3 will bring and what the kids will do, now, since they’ve decided to no longer wait for people to come rescue them. I’m also curious to see what sort of dinosaurs season 3 will bring. That is all if season 3 does get decided to become a thing. 
 Until next time! Later! 
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peterstanslizzie · 4 years
Text
Reacting To: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Season 3 Episode 2)
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Episode Title: Code Word Milkshake
Spoiler Warning: Kindly proceed if you’ve already seen the episode or are able to handle spoilers 
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1. OMG! A K-pop song? That’s so cool! It sounds like BTS lol. And the song is pretty catchy too 🎵; “Dive into my ocean of love”. It’s such a bop! We see the mutes (even the Mod Frogs) fangirling HARD. But what animals are these guys supposed to be? Are they dolphins? But why do they have horns? And apparently abs as well: 
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2. Aww but the leader of the group, Hyun Soo (as revealed in the subtitles) soon gets paralyzed by a dart and is kidnapped after signing fan autographs. And of course, it’s the doing of Dr. Emilia as she’s seen testing a serum sample on Hyun Soo. Again, I’m impressed with her ability to be so stealthy. However, she’s finding it difficult in getting the right formula for the genetic serum since none of the samples she’s used so far has worked on the kidnapped mutes. BTW, Jamack talking to Hyun Soo is hilarious. 
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3. In Timbercat Village, Kipo is planning with HMUFA a mission to find Emilia, rescue their friends and retrieve Song’s research journal. Oh, did Asher get a haircut? If so, they look really nice.
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4. Our boy, Benson wants Troy to come along because he feels safer when he’s around. How precious! I’m  happy he gets to go on a mission with Kipo for the first time too. It’s nice to mix groups up sometimes. And it looks like it’s just gonna be a human/hybrid-only mission because the mutes won’t be able to handle Emilia’s sonic emitter. Dave is upset that he won’t be able to tag along with them. I think it’s a good thing to sit this one out because he does have a tendency to die during their missions lol.
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5. They manage to hitch a ride on a couple of dragonfly mutes due to Kipo coming up with the codeword, “Milkshake” to keep situations calm.  Random but okay. As they’re flying over the sea, they spot a ship, which definitely belongs to Emilia since we hear Zane asking Greta to turn on the sonic emitter as some mysterious sea creature was circling around them. Because the dragonflies are not immune to the sound, this causes them all to fall into the water
6. The group tries to climb over the ship to get a peek of the situation aboard and they can see the burrow humans enjoying their time there, splish-splashing in a giant pool paired with a crazy slide and everything. 
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7. Dave lets Lio and Roberto know that he wants to have a boys night out (BNO) with them. But it’s clear that he’s doing this because he still feels salty about not being included in the stealth mission. Roberto looks like he doesn’t want to go out but Lio is down to hangout with Dave-o lol. 
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8. Back on the Dr. Emilia’s ship, Kipo and gang try to find her lab but they almost got spotted by a blonde human girl, who apparently is able to hear Hyun Soo  sing through the cafeteria vents and thus, wants him to sing for her. Kipo and Troy actually recognize her from their old burrow. She’s actually Hoag’s daugther, Doag! I can’t believe he named his daughter that lol. Anyways, they were all actually friendly with one another, so we shall see if she’s willing to help them or not. Doag really likes dancing and we see her dancing around to Hyun Soo’s singing. She then does a split and spots them. Well, she doesn’t look alarmed actually. 
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9. Meanwhile, Dave and Lio are playing cards but afterward, they went to check out the so-called “community bonding” session between Timbercats and the Umlaut snakes. At first, it seems like they are having a huge argument but they’re actually just writing a song and having a couple of debates. It’s song-break time. This time, the song is called ‘Friendship Alliance’. How fitting. After the performance, Lio says he wants to go to bed but Dave isn’t done yet and wants him to check out his secret stash of explosion berry cola.
10. Doag explains to the group that Dr. Emilia has been treating them nicely so far but they want her to know the truth about Emilia who has been trying to kill Kipo since she was a baby. Plus, according to Troy (and Benson from earlier on), she didn’t eat his Benson’s pancakes. Troy is way more upset about the part about the pancakes, which of course he has to be since it’s his boo’s pancakes. But my goodness, Doag’s voice is like nails on the chalkboard. Don’t you agree? 
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11. I think it’s hard for them to convince her that Dr. Emilia is a bad person, especially since they don’t have any real evidence to show. Emilia is like a savior to these humans. Fortunately, Doag wants to help them rescue Boom-Boom, Jamack, Camille and Hyun Soo regardless. 
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12. She takes them to Dr. Emilia’s lab, which isn’t very hidden like they said lol. The door’s locked but Troy, the skilled magician was able to pick the lock no problem. Benson is impressed and he actually addressed him as his boyfriend! Cute!
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13. They enter the lab and we see all the kidnapped mutes trapped in their individual mute-proof cells. Aww the way Jamack called Kipo, Burrow Girl was so sweet. He has come a really long way with her since Season 1 huh? I don’t know what’s up with Boom-Boom but she(?) doesn’t look too good, almost unhinged. So, Hyun Soo is known as a Dolphicon! I guess that’s short for Dolphin and Unicorn. That’s explains the horn. I actually like the name “Wall Siren” for him as well. Despite only speaking in Korean, Hyun Soo does seem to understand English when Doag asks him “who are you?”. I feel like the introduction of Hyun Soo is like paying homage to Kipo’s animation studio, Studio Mir, which is in fact South Korean. 
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14. Kipo proceeds to then break them out of their cells. Doag declares she’s going to help them escape. I actually hope there’s a chance that she would be part of Kipo’s group officially. She seems cool, mostly lol. Wolf also finds Song’s research journal but before they could make their escape, the traumatized Boom-Boom looks at the needles Dr. Emilia has been using on her, freaks out and drops her nectar bombs on them, which causes the whole lab to explode.  Boom-Boom needs therapy for sure. Ughh…Wolf also accidentally drops the journal and leaves it behind the lab. That book is probably destroyed. 
15. Back at Timbercat village, I assume Lio had already drank the cola before he is super hyped. Yumyan also joins in on their shenanigans and he gives them the idea to steal Molly’s axe and put it in an axe bush (is that what Yumyan said?). Also, is this supposed to be a pun or something?
16. Doag puts Hyun Soo in their getaway boat but it’s weird since he’s a dolphin and can just swim in the water instead lol. They’re supposed to leave now but Kipo wants to face Emilia now. I say she’s making a bad decision here. Dr. Emilia then arrive with Greta and Zane but Wolf takes out the latter two easily. The rest of the humans come out to the deck to see what the ruckus is all about and Emilia tries to play coy and innocent with them. 
17. Hoag notices that his daughter isn’t around. Our heroes try to explain to the humans that Dr. Emilia is the bad guy; They told about how Song is the Mega Monkey and how she got her to attack and destroy their home back in Season 1. And they explain that she mind-controlled Song to kill her own daughter. 
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Even grandma can deliver a beatdown on someone lol
18.The humans are reluctant to believe them because it does sound very farfetched. But c’mon…they should know by know that Las Vistas is a messed up place; Anything can happen. Also, don’t they remember the Mega Monkey saving them from getting gilded in Season 2. Suddenly, Hoag makes an attempt to paralyze Kipo with one of the darts but she quickly reacts and knocks him out. The humans see this and they get mad at her. Eventually, Kipo and the others make their escape. Finally. 
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19. Back to Lio and Dave. We find out towards the end that Molly actually killed Dave 5 times for the stunt he pulled on her lol. Anyways, the both of them are glad to have this bonding session with one another since Kipo isn’t around. 
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20. Our heroes reach land but Doag wants to go back because she knows her dad is worried sick about her. And so, Hyun Soo and I guess the rest of his groupmates are bringing her back there. Aww, she should’ve stayed but I understand why she wants to go back to the ship. But to be honest, somebody should’ve thought to give her a communicator or a walkie-talkie or something because at least they can know what Dr. Emilia’s next move is. Perhaps they don’t really have to think too much into it since the journals has been decimated and all…or is it?
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21. Wolf, I hope you’re happy you dropped the journal lol. Dr. Emilia figures out that Kipo is X. Wait, I’m trying to remember if there any mention of X in the previous episodes. Anyways, I wonder what she’s going to do with the fur Kipo left during their last confrontation. I guess since Kipo is a human who also has the DNA of apex predators, Emilia is going to play with her recombinant DNA and figure out a way to reverse the effects of the mute DNA so that only the normal DNA will be present? I dunno….
22. Last note/tiny bit of criticism: Is it just me or do you guys sometimes think that some of the character designs look a little wonky in this episode? Sometimes, I felt like Kipo, Benson and even Troy look a little off in some frames. Anyways, that’s the end of my review of episode 2. Stay tuned tomorrow for my review of episode 3. Thanks for reading everybody!
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needtherapy · 4 years
Text
to be human is a haunting, Part 1
A love story for Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen
In a modern world, in a modern city that still has need for cultivators, Song Lan 
(war hero, rogue cultivator, orphan)
goes for a run in the park, kills a dankang, makes a friend, and meets a beautiful man with a dog, all before he has to go to therapy. It's the best day he's had in ten years.
Read more Kristina Writes Tiny Stories
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3
Read over on AO3 instead
Title from molly ofgeography’s song Runaway, Run
Rated E for Explicit sexy times, mild demon killing, and swearing.
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Part 1
Song Lan wakes to the sound of screaming
 familiar
 too familiar
and he knows it is his own voice seconds
 long seconds
before he can snap his mouth closed around the last trailing sob.
The thrum of the city leaks back in, pushing past the roaring in his ears, and reminds him to ground himself. The clean white walls of the stark room around him. The feel of the bed underneath him, the smell of lemon dryer sheets, the glow of the neon light across the street. All known. All safe. He skips the taste of morning breath.
If he could remember the nightmares, the exact details, maybe he’d tell his therapist. It would at least give them something to talk about instead of the silent hour he wastes twice a week now.
No. That’s a lie. He knows what’s in them. He still wouldn’t talk about it.
The clock by his bed claims it’s 5:04 am, a fairly reasonable time to be awake, so he gets up. May as well get his run over with.
— ⚔ —
“Do you run every day,” Dr. Wen asks.
Song Lan nods.
Dr. Wen writes something down.
“Do you enjoy running?” Dr. Wen asks.
Song Lan nods.
Dr. Wen writes something down.
“Why do you enjoy it?” Dr. Wen asks.
Song Lan shrugs.
Dr. Wen writes something down.
— ⚔ —
Song Lan doesn’t really enjoy running any more than he enjoys digesting food. But it’s too ingrained in him now, the rhythm of air and feet and arms. He couldn’t stop if he wanted to. It is the anchor of his day.
Ten miles covers a lot of the city, and as familiar as it is, as long as he’s lived and run here, it looks different every morning, like noticing a light freckle on the back of his wrist. When it’s cloudless before dawn like today, he runs down the lakeshore path to watch the sunrise at the halfway mark. On cue, with all the fanfare and flourish of a seasoned professional, at 6:17 am, the sun erupts in yellow and pink over the horizon and turns the water to diamonds. It looks like magic every time.
This he loves and doesn’t have to lie about.
Song Lan is two miles from his place, running through the park, when the skin on the back of his neck prickles, and he slows his pace. Is it a hundred yards away? Maybe closer? He opens his mind and sends out a questing wave of qi from his core. He doesn’t know if he needs to draw the sword strapped to his back yet. There’s no one else around. Maybe whatever it is will just...mind its own business.
He doesn’t hunt anymore, not actively, but he still runs with his sword. It’s just habit, probably. He would feel incomplete without Fuxue’s weight between his shoulder blades. And even if he doesn’t go looking for danger, danger is often waiting.
Without warning, an enormous dankang explodes from the bushes by the running path and careens toward him. The green pelt that had camouflaged it glows in the early morning light, and Song Lan is swinging Fuxue almost before the sword is even in his hand. The boar roars in a very un-pig-like way, and he idly wonders, as the blade cuts into the demon’s hide, what the taxonomic difference between dankang and pigs is. Are they different families? Orders? Or is there some divergence further back? It squeals in pain but doesn’t give up the attack, changing direction mid-stride and flashing wicked yellow tusks at him.
It takes six strikes to kill the monster. He always counts. The counting, like the running, is an integral part of him. One downward hack. One thrust to the shoulder. One spinning jab in the dankang’s ribs. Two upward slashes. One strike in the throat and the beast is dead.
Song Lan texts the Nie cleanup crew his coordinates and takes a thin cloth from his pocket to wipe the blood off of Fuxue, dropping it on to the body when he’s done. He’ll clean the sword properly when he gets back.
“Six strikes,” a voice says from behind him, and he whirls, surprised to be surprised. “Was it luck, or are you really that good?”
There’s a man in a long trench coat standing on the path with a dog sitting next to him. The dog is one of those scruffy brown mutts that would be completely ordinary in every way except it looks far too clever to be a dog. It cocks its head and one floppy ear flips inside out.
The man is backlit by a golden ray of sun
 not ordinary
 in no way ordinary
and Song Lan can’t see his features clearly enough, not from this distance
 a hundred and thirty-three feet
 wind from the east
but it looks like he might be carrying a sword.
— ⚔ —
Sometimes in therapy, Song Lan counts the holes in the acoustical ceiling tiles.
Sometimes he counts the colored pencils on Dr. Wen’s desk.
Sometimes he counts the number of times Dr. Wen spins his pen in his fingers, waiting for Song Lan to answer a question. Any question.
— ⚔ —
Song Lan counts to seven before he answers, the numbers slowing his heartbeat.
“It was one more than last time.”
The man laughs, a bright chime of bells that wrinkles his nose. The dog looks up at its master, and its mouth drops open in a doggy grin.
“Clearly a failure, then. I hope the next time I see you, you will have improved.”
Song Lan is distracted by his voice, deeper than he expects, more musical than he expects, and he’s acutely disappointed when the man turns and walks away, the dog at his heels. He’s almost overcome by the impulse to call the man back, just so he can see his face again, so he can decide if it’s real or not.
“I’m here every day at 7 am,” the man calls over his shoulder before he disappears around a corner. Or maybe he disappears into a beam of light. Song Lan can easily believe either.
He takes one step to follow, and then realizes what he’s doing. It’s ridiculous. He takes a second step anyway. But a woman is suddenly at his elbow, handing him a clipboard, asking for his ID and signature. He has no idea how the cleaners got there so fast.
“I haven’t seen a dankang in this park before, have you?” the woman asks.
Song Lan shakes his head.
“Yeah, they usually prefer the suburbs. More hedge rows,” she says, and Song Lan isn’t sure if this requires an answer, so he doesn’t.
She takes the clipboard when he’s finished and peers at it. “Oh, I should have known. You’re the silent rogue—not technically a hunter, but still has more kills than most of the competitive cultivators? Wild!”
Silent rogue, he wonders. As opposed to what?
The woman hands him a card as her team finishes loading the demon into a step van.
“Luo Qingyang. Call me directly next time. I have an office competition to win.” She winks at him and saunters away.
By the time Song Lan gets to the corner where the man disappeared, there’s only cars and pedestrians and noise, and it’s 7:30 am. He has somewhere to be at 9 am, and he doesn’t want to be asked why he’s late.
— ⚔ —
“Dankang?” Dr. Wen asks.
Song Lan’s eyes flinch, glancing up in confusion.
“Well, that was almost an answer,” Dr. Wen says cheerfully.
Song Lan frowns.
“If you want to know, you’re going to have to ask,” Dr. Wen says, eyebrows raised in what might almost be a challenge.
Song Lan doesn’t care. He really doesn’t.
“How did you know?” his voice says anyway, low and soft. Maybe no one heard the question, and Song Lan can pretend it didn’t happen.
To his credit, Dr. Wen doesn’t gloat, but he smiles. Song Lan suspects he’s not going to be able to stay silent forever after all.
— ⚔ —
Song Lan takes a shower after therapy, not only to wash the tattling green dankang fur out of his hair, but scalding enough to burn the words off his skin.
 I’m here every day at 7 am
Is he really going to feel like he is fluttering at the end of a rope for the next twenty hours
 twenty hours and seventeen minutes
until tomorrow’s 7 am?
Evidently, yes. The shower doesn’t shake the man’s voice loose from his thoughts. Neither does lunch, the library, an episode of a cooking show in a tent, weights, two more episodes of the show—whatever a kouign amann is, he wants one—and sixty pages of Dune. He doesn’t even bother trying to work.
Song Lan makes a salad for dinner, neatly arranging paper-thin slices of carrot, cucumber, jicama, apple, and red onion on a bed of dark green leaves and half a chicken breast. He likes salads that are more toppings than lettuce, so he throws almond slivers and cranberries in his bowl too. “Love yourself enough to make a salad,” is practically the only thing he’s learned in therapy. He’s not sure about loving himself, but he’s pretty fond of salad.
He takes his meds before bed, turns on the white noise, and for once, falls asleep before the world spins into a new day.
— ⚔ —
“Do you blame yourself?”
Song Lan keeps on the blank face he’s so familiar with and stares over Dr. Wen’s shoulder at the photograph of three black cats sitting in a window.
“If you don’t blame yourself, who do you blame?”
Song Lan does not narrow his eyes. Or maybe he does, because Dr. Wen tips his head and gives him a piercing look.
“Even if you’d gotten there sooner, Song Lan, what could you have done? Tell me one thing you could have done.” Dr. Wen almost sounds like he’s pleading.
What I should have done, he thinks. Die with them, he thinks.
— ⚔ —
The man is there at 7 am, sitting on a bench.
With the dog, who is also sitting on the bench.
And that face.
Oh, the face is worse, actually, because Song Lan can see it clearly now. The man smiles when he sees Song Lan, a curving, curling, invitation of a smile on a mouth that looks like a bow without an arrow. The angle of his cheekbones, the graceful lines that can’t fairly be called anything as mundane as dimples, make Song Lan wonder if the rumors of fae in this country are true. The man’s eyes tip up at the corners when he notes Song Lan’s inspection of him, and Song Lan stops moving, maybe stops breathing.
The dog sticks its wet nose in Song Lan’s hand, and he jerks back, staring down at the animal. He doesn’t like to be touched, even by animals, but he isn’t angry, just surprised. He’s just surprised. He can’t understand why he’s just surprised.
“She’s inviting you to sit,” the man says, laughter in his voice.
The dog snorts at Song Lan, a chuffing noise that sounds like she is laughing at him, too.
“Is she?” Song Lan asks, and the man grins
 an unfairly perfect expression of genes
and shakes his head.
“No. But I am. Will you join us?”
Song Lan sits on the bench on the other side of the dog.
“A-Qing, get on the ground like a normal dog,” the man scolds.
The dog harrumphs but stands, delicately sets her front feet on the ground one at a time and stretches her long body the rest of the way, as slowly as caninely possible. Song Lan feels the corner of his mouth twitch.
“I’m Xingchen,” the man says, his lips shifting to a different kind of smile, a tip of the hat friendly smile.
He is wearing a white sweater, a white scarf, baggy white pants, and his name is stardust. Of course it is. Song Lan wonders if it’s a real name or one he’s invented.
“No last name?” Song Lan asks, and the man laughs again. Song Lan can’t imagine what it must be like to have so much laughter bottled inside him. Even before the war, before the massacre that took everything from him, laughter was a precious commodity, not something anyone would squander in the park on a cloudy day with a man like him.
“If I tell you my last name, you’ll think I made it up,” Xingchen says, and it’s so close to Song Lan’s thoughts, he tips his head, realizing belatedly that he looks like the dog when he does it.
Xingchen’s face shifts to mischief, and Song Lan’s mouth feels dry, chasing a mirage in the desert, only to discover it’s real. “You tell me your first name, and I’ll tell you my last name,” Xingchen says.
“Zichen,” Song Lan says immediately, without thinking, without the capacity for thought. He backpedals. “No one calls me that anymore, though. I’m just Song Lan.”
He has not been anyone’s treasured child in three years. He only thinks of himself as the mist now. It’s easier to be insubstantial, just passing through, nothing to see here.
“Oh no, you must be Zichen. Precious child, treasured seed,” Xingchen says in a singsong voice like it’s a line from a song or a poem. “Song Zichen, I’m Xiao Xingchen. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Would you like to have breakfast? With us?”
Song Lan does think it’s a made up name now, but he could have said his name was Horsehead Nebula, and Song Lan would still say yes.
“Yes, thank you.”
Xingchen stands and a-Qing, who had been laying on her back in the grass, snaps to attention, dashing over to lean against his left leg, looking up at him with clear adoration.
It hadn’t been a sword.
It is a cane.
“Well?” Xingchen asks. “Are you coming? I’ll tell you about it on the way, if you like.”
Song Lan nods, and then answers out loud, in case the nod was stupid and thoughtless. “Yes.”
— ⚔ —
“Do you have friends?” Dr. Wen asks.
Song Lan frowns at the rude question, which inexplicably makes Dr. Wen grin.
“I’ll take that as a no,” he says. “How about this? Do you want friends, Song Lan?”
Song Lan doesn’t give an answer, but Dr. Wen seems to think he sees one anyway.
“Well. What are you planning to do about that?”
— ⚔ —
Xingchen says it’s not that interesting of a story. He is slowly going blind. There is nothing anyone can do, and everyone has tried. Surgery. Magic. Lasers. Everyone. Everything. He says a-Qing is helpful. He says he decided to learn to use the cane now, while he can still see a little. He says all of it like it doesn’t matter, and it is Song Lan who is numb with the pain of a loss that isn’t even his. That he didn’t even know about until five minutes ago.
Oh, and Xingchen says he does have a sword, actually, but it seemed like bad manners to bring it on a first date
 first date
 implying date
 implying subsequent dates
even if he hadn’t been entirely sure Song Lan would show up.
Breakfast is in a diner not much wider than a dead dankang, and they tuck into a booth in the back. A-Qing lays on Song Lan’s feet, and it still doesn’t bother him. She’s warm, and he thinks he likes the way it feels when she rolls on her side and sighs.
They order pancakes and a poached egg for a-Qing. He tells Song Lan that a-Qing came from a local shelter because there’s no requirement that service dogs be purebred, they just usually are. He says it’s just harder to pick mixed breed dogs who will be good service dogs, but he didn’t pick a-Qing, she picked him.
“She scaled an eight-foot chain link fence and sat at my heel as though she’d been in service her whole life,” he says with a laugh, reaching his foot to poke a-Qing on the belly and accidentally brushing Song Lan’s leg.
It is a very good thing, Song Lan thinks, that he is accustomed to hiding his reaction to being touched because the feel of Xiao Xingchen’s foot rubbing against his leg makes him suddenly, painfully, embarrassingly hard, and he can vividly recall what it was like to be a teenager in want of a very large notebook to hold in front of himself.
Song Lan rarely eats food he doesn’t make, even more rarely eats fluffy pancakes drenched in butter and syrup, and he has no idea why. They taste like heaven, and watching Xingchen eat is...an experience. He cuts his food precisely, examines every piece, and closes his eyes when he chews, as if each mouthful is a fine wine he plans to savor. He finishes in twenty bites.
“Is your name made up?” Song Lan finally can’t resist asking, and Xingchen shrugs.
“Aren’t all names?”
Song Lan snorts, almost a laugh. “Is it the name you were born with?”
“No one is born with a name, Zichen.” Xingchen sounds like he is very seriously and very patiently explaining why the sky is blue, and Song Lan wants to shake him.
But that makes Song Lan think about laying his fingers on Xingchen’s shoulders, caressing his skin, grazing his collarbone with his thumb, and he shudders, blinking for a heartbeat too long.
“It is my real name,” Xingchen says softly, touching the back of Song Lan’s hand tentatively, as though he understands it might not be welcome. It aches like a spark from an autumn campfire. “My mother is a bit of a hippie, and I was a beautiful baby.”
This time it is a laugh. A real laugh. He hasn’t laughed in so long, he forgot what it would sound like, how it would feel to vibrate through his chest, how it could turn to tears. He covers his eyes with his hand
 not the hand Xingchen is touching
and tries to turn back the choking gasp that catches in his throat and forces its way out.
Xingchen doesn’t ask, just holds Song Lan’s hand and waits.
“You are a beautiful adult,” Song Lan says, when he can swallow again, and Xingchen smiles.
“So are you. Although, I have no idea what you looked like as a baby. This could be a recent development. Maybe you were hideously ugly a year ago.”
Now he sounds like he’s teasing, and Song Lan looks at him. Xingchen’s head is propped on one hand, and his expression is both curious and evaluating.
“Would you like to come home with me?” Xingchen asks, threading his fingers through Song Lan’s as though it is completely natural, and somehow, it is. His fingers fit perfectly into the spaces between Song Lan’s. The flames that spill from his fingertips into Song Lan’s arm and flow through his blood whisper the answer.
It is the easiest thing in the world to give them voice and say yes.
Read Part 2 Here
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signor-signor · 4 years
Text
Pre-S3 Shorts Idea
May 18, 2020 - We’re 40 days away from the 4th anniversary of Wander Over Yonder’s second season finale, and have I got something special to share with you.
You know how there was a series of shorts (directed by @owner-of-wendys) involving Lord Hater’s broadcast of his attempt to destroy Wander taking place between S1 and S2? I just thought of something innovative, and anyone who’s ever worked on the show should also check it out.
Suppose Hater is still chasing Wander and Sylvia around the new galaxy in his Skullship, as depicted at the end of The End of the Galaxy (just before the cliffhanger that still hasn’t been resolved). Meanwhile on the ex-secret planet, Andy the Watchdog has quick interviews with various groups of refugees who provide their own reasons for wanting to get off the planet as soon as Wander and Sylvia return. Some others just give an update on their status. As we might have noticed after Dominator’s ship exploded, other Watchdogs became acquainted with the refugees, so it stands to reason that Andy did the same.
Without further ado, I give you... (drumroll)
The Eye on the Galaxy
The Rulers - Bingleborp, King of Flendar (with Flendarians) King of Sherblorg 7, Beeza (with Ballzerians), an appearance from the queen from The Axe, Cashmere (with Baahallans), Demurra and Dracor (with their guards). Just as Destructor’s about to start, time runs out.
The Elderly - Stella Starbella and Mittens, the lost and found guy, Trudi and her clones, the Slug Boss (with the two mummy thugs), Papa Doom (with his gargoyle companions), a call from Ms. Myrtle, who just saw Wander and Sylvia dashing by with the Skullship in pursuit and having deployed an Eye Drone for Andy to check on anyone and anything too big to sit on the ex-secret planet.
The Teammates - Badlands Dan and his gang, Oink and the Motorhogs, red and blue ants, the Insurgent Generals, maybe a call from the Robomechabotasquad asking what happened to Robomechabotatron.
The Youth - Melodie and the kids who appeared in The Legend, Olive (with her mother), the Slug Boss’s grandsons, rock babies carried by the Rock Lady, Huckleberry Knucklehead (backed by his parents), the smartphone son (with his camera parents), the trio of teens from The Black Cube, maybe Demurra and Dracor’s daughters and son.
The Gutsy - Ripov, Thrax and his cohorts (Andy would have added Thrax to The Business Folks, but that group was fully booked), Harvax and Stok, the Slug Boss’s nephew (with the two mummy thugs from earlier), Ryder being shown via Eye Drone and “trying to free a karate sensei from his chamber,” explaining his abscence in The End of the Galaxy. I’d mention the three bounty hunters from The Bounty, but I’m not too sure about their status.
The Reformed - Destructor (picking up from The Rulers), Major Threat, the Black Cube accompanied by his new girlfriend Tracy (plus Stacy and her new boyfriend, both of whom have already realized the Cube turned over a new leaf), a postcard from Westley (found by Barry), maybe the half-torn picture strip of Wander and Bot 13/Beep Boop (found by Jerry when he was sent to check on Dominator and Emperor Awesome in The Rival), Something the So-and-So, who gets cut short like Destructor did previously.
The Business Folks - Blarpee’s cashier, Okeydokian restaurant manager and his employee Michelle, apple-and-lemon-headed bartender, landlord and fast food manager/fry cook, garbage collector, Dr. Scrivellix (the dentist), Clancy and Nancy Shmancy, the plumber, curator of MOGA, Weasel, the two Okeydokian movie directors, hat shop owner, the locksmith.
The Mysterious - Neckbeard, Lords of Illumination, fortune teller, Mooplexians, Keister von Derrière and the other Gnees (with censored heads), the Eye Drone checking on the planet where the currently closed structure of the celestial star being stands, a special one-time visit from the Intergalactic Guru via hologram.
The Creatures - The bunny rabbit from The Good Deed, the pit monster from The Birthday Boy, the fire lion, Grizzlocks, Giant Hoarder Scorpion, Trigrex of Nil, electric bird mother and three chicks, the Frankenstein monster, squills from The Wanders, the Hufflerumples, animals from The Breakfast, animals from The Night (the centipede being the only one from the episode to speak), Frederick, maybe a doom dragon or two, the mother and child from The Egg. Seen via Eye Drone are the Gracknore, Buster, and the giant worm from The Hat that promptly gobbles up the Drone.
The So-and-So - You can guess who the interviewee is in this one. Just like The Whatever, this short foreshadows what’s next for Wander, Sylvia, Hater, and Peepers.
The Rest - Of all the shorts, this one has the most interviewees, each one taking 2-3 seconds to give an answer. Cluckons, hogs, Bobbles, Zetuons, Flankarians, Tiki beings, rabbit-like folks from The Showstopper, Mr. and Mrs. Brittle, ornament beings from The Gift, the balloon man, Dragor the Distractible, Galactia, Veronicron and her husband Jim (the Neon Knight of Nalpraxis), Gelatinous Bob animatronic, Fleeblebort and Marsha and the two hillbilly families, flower-headed birds, any notable residents of Okeydokia, cloaked refugees from the end of The Secret Planet, Brad Starlight and his wife Remora having returned from their honeymoon, his cousin Chad, anyone I might have left out. Lastly, the hooded refugees, also from The Secret Planet.
DISCLAIMER: If these shorts should happen, some of the refugees mentioned here but not seen in The End of the Galaxy may or may not appear.
We can all relate to the refugees in some way. The refugees (most of them) have to wait for Wander and Sylvia to get them back home so they can go about their normal lives. At the start of S3, that’s where the Star Nomad, the ship allegedly made from the one that appeared in The Secret Planet, would come in. We have to wait for the COVID-19 pandemic to be over so we can go about our normal lives. Considering those who worked on the plans for S3 still haven’t given us more clues even in these difficult times, I think the time is right to make more people aware of WOY with this particular idea.
Of course, there is the matter of which medium to use. Animation will probably be time consuming, and much to the perpetual dismay of Wander fans, Disney still doesn’t want to pay to make more WOY. Heck, if there’s no time for animation, animatics might do. A much cheaper method might be the podcast - this way, no visual art has to be made. Hey, it worked for Futurama doing an audio episode titled “Radiorama,” not to mention The Loud House having a podcast titled “Listen Out Loud.” Then again, there’d have to be multiple voice actors reprising their roles, and I doubt they’d do it for free. In the case where visual art is needed, we could do what @suspendersofdisbelief and @benbalistreri did for Star Wanderer and make a comic version of the shorts with help from them and the other writers and illustrators, assuming they’re not too busy with their own projects. We don’t really need Disney’s permission to know exactly what’s supposed to happen after S2, do we?
Regardless of circumstances, I still think it’s a great idea, one @crackmccraigen and the crew could take into consideration whether or not Disney gives them a chance to properly close out the show after Kid Cosmic is done. After all, I am a Disney employee and the only one to come up with this particular idea as far as I know. The only question is, why didn’t anyone else in the fandom think of it before? Also, if @andydaly knew about my idea, maybe he’d be all for it, what with the country still in lockdown.
Look, many of us are still bummed WOY got canceled before S3 could get made, but moping about it and not doing anything to save it won’t get us anywhere. Formerly canceled shows like Hey Arnold!, Samurai Jack, and The Clone Wars got true closure, so I don’t see why WOY can’t do the same. If we all work together, we’ll make history.
To all you pessimists, cynics, and skeptics out there...
Hopelessness stops now.
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mason-gaylord · 4 years
Text
The Beginning part 11 (Season 1 finale)
~Last time~
“I wish all stories ended like that.” He huffs.
“That isn’t the end. Not yet kid. But, we’re close.” Kaaru chuckles.
~storytime~
The girl sat in Winston’s laboratory, working on her essay as she keeps an eye on him. 
It’s been two weeks since he was tasked with making a machine to send the younger versions of her parents home. He’s been stalling all afternoon, asking her risque questions she ignores and trying to get a gage on why he’s doing this. It’s like she doesn’t care for his ideas or his sciences, dismissing them with a scoff. 
He eventually gives up on asking her questions and focuses on the machine. 
“Don’t put that there.” She says nonchalantly as he reaches to screw a bolt in. 
“So she speaks. Why shouldn’t I put it here, agent K-M-S-M?” He says, looking at her. 
“It’ll blow up in your face later if you do.” She says, chewing the eraser of her pencil. 
He rolls his eyes and puts it in anyway, finishing the machine. 
“There, it’s done. Now all we need to do is test it. Any suggestions?” He asks the girl who’s staring down her notepad full of scribbles. 
“Try this.” She tosses a hair tie to him. 
“I will assume you want this back.” He says, putting it onto one of the pads hooked up to the machine and turns it on. 
The hair tie disappears and then reappears on top of the girl’s head a few moments later. 
“It works!” He smiles triumphantly.
“Great! Now go get the people.” She says with fake enthusiasm. 
“But I will need to have the present versions present. As well as Dr. Zeigler if anything goes wrong.” He says, trying to get her to have more of a conversation with him. 
“Then hop to it, Casanova.” She says, scratching something out on her notepad before flipping a few papers to look through it more. 
He sighs and does as she tells him, gathering the people who need to be present in the lab for the big event. 
Meanwhile the girl says goodbye to her parents and sends them home, sending her dog Toby with them. When she gets back to the lab the present Hanzo is leaning against his Mccree, looking sick and miserable. 
“Is everything alright?” She asks them and Mccree just nods. 
“Just a little hangover.” He says and she nods, helping them into position with the younger versions. 
Winston starts everything up and the pads beneath their feet glow a light blue. Electricity starts to flow through them, their hearts starting to race as they’re stuck in their place. Winston begins to put in the time they need to be sent home, loading the machine up to its maximum capacity, that last bolt he put it rattling and heating up.  
The girl watches, making sure not to miss a thing. 
The bolt rattles louder and louder, turning red hot before shooting out of its socket, electricity sparking and covering everything, making the men standing on the pads scream in pain. 
Winston jumps, frantically trying to turn the machine off but gets shocked as his machine is engulfed in bright blue electricity. He backs away, staring in shock as the machine begins to break apart. The younger versions of Mccree and Hanzo disappear into the electricity, their pained screams fading with them. Mccree is then thrown off his pad into the wall and Hanzo falls into a crumpled ball of pain as the machine explodes.
Winston is thrown back and knocked unconscious. Mercy runs out, calling for backup as the laboratory goes into lock down. 
The girl watches, from the corner, panicking as she’s frozen in terror as the fire rages. It slowly calms and from the flames a baby rocks back and forth in the rubble, crying loudly. The girl looks at it and tries to go to it but the laboratory door creaks open forcefully. She gasps and panics, making a portal shakily and jumps through, not making sure she was going to the right place and time. 
Kaaru gets up, grunting in pain as her panicked portal closes. She looks around and nothing looks right for the time she was aiming for. 
“Son of a bitch.” She huffs and gets up. 
She looks around and pulls off her sling, her cast having burnt up in the portal. She dusts herself off and puts her hood up, walking out of the alley she landed in. 
After a few minutes she passes another alley and hears crying. She looks down the alley and sees a shiffy man threatening a kid with a switchblade. 
“I can’t get a break, can I?” She huffs and runs in, pulling the man off the kid. 
~reality~
“Wait wait wait wait. That’s how we met. That was a week and a half ago.” Jesse says
Kaaru chuckles and nods as they stop on the doorstep of Sunshine Acres Children’s Home. 
“When you’re my age, 24 hours ago is a long time ago.” She says, leaning down to look him in the eye. 
“Wait, why are we here?” He asks, looking at the orphanage. “I have to go home. I have to go to my time. And I can’t take you with me.” She sighs. 
“Why not? Why can’t I go with you?” He starts to cry. 
“You belong here. In this time. I’m sorry Jesse.” She says, kneeling down. “We’ll meet again, I promise.” She adds and he hugs her tight. 
She sighs and hugs back. When he pulls away from the hug he goes to take off the serape but she stops him. “Keep it.” She smiles.
“Really?” He sniffs and Kaaru nods. 
“And how’s this, you take up that Mccree name. You’re strong, firm, and brave. You deserve the name Mccree.” She smiles.
“I, Jesse, will do you proud. Promise.” He salutes. 
“Now, this orphanage needs you. And you need it. Head on in. Okay? Tell them your mother left you here.” She says and he sighs, nodding. 
He heads up the stairs and sees the doors. He stops at the top and looks behind him, his mouth open to say something to Kaaru, but she’s gone and with her, his memories of her and her story, his mind shifting to feel very sad as he imagines a mother he never knew dropping him off here and driving off. He sulks into the orphanage, all he has is his clothes on his back, and his name, Jesse Mccree. 
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10
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okimargarvez · 6 years
Text
EVERY FAREWELL BRINGS WITH IT A NEW BEGINNING- Wheels up
Original title: Ogni addio porta con sé un nuovo inizio.
Prompt: 13x01, 13x05.
Warning: character’ death.
Genre: angst, family, romantic, drama, friendship.
Characters: Penelope Garcia, Luke Alvez, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, Tara Lewis, Stephen Walker, Spencer Reid, David Rossi, Matt Simmons, Mark, Diana Reid, Will LaMontagne, other BAU family members.
Pairing: Garvez, Emily x Mark, JJ x Will, Spencer x Maeve, Matt x Kristy.
Note: 2 oneshot.
Legend: 💏😘🔦🐶⚰.
Song mentioned: none.
Note: I written this almost a year ago, before watching the 13th Season Premiere. There is a second part, dedicated on episode 13x05 (Lucky strikes). What I wanted to see. I’ve tried to write as it was a screenplay. Less descriptions and more dialogues.
Every Farewell Bring With It A New Beginning- Masterlist
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GARVEZ STORIES
EVERY FAREWELL BRINGS WITH IT A NEW BEGINNING
 Previously
A very loud noise, indeed, more than one. The bang of exploding tires, first the front ones and then the rear wheels. The screeching brakes of the asphalt.
A female voice: -Is everyone OK?-
-Yeah.- another woman, after a break of consultation. Sighs of relief filled the cockpits of both vehicles.
Then a sudden and blinding light. Another danger lurking. Not even time to scream. Again, a cacophony of sounds horrifying. The metal being bent by the impact. The glass that are shattered; some splinters sticking into the skin, causing superficial wounds and bleeding.
 Wheels up
Start a new gig: moaning giving way to genuine complaints.
On its own, separate from others, was hear a broken voice. Far. -Guys, what's happened?-. She doesn't get an answer. She's afraid to try again. But again, the woman speaks through a mobile miraculously survived. -Are you okay? Please give me a sign!-. sob, pulled up the nose, another sob. -Emily? JJ? Rossi? Tara? Alvez? Walker?-. It seems almost a list, a roll-call for only absents. The order isn't really random.
Anything.
Then fingers quickly press the keys, outgoing call -911, what's your emergency? -. No time to let be governed by panic.
-I'm an FBI agent, my colleagues have been hit during a mission, I need at least three ambulances at the address which I'm forwarding to you, NOW! - despite good intentions she yells and screams a bit 'too much.
-We will immediately did. Can you tell me if it was involved a firearm or...?- she stops the operator rudely.
-No, no! I think that it was a car accident but... just before I heard the bang of the tires bursting. It wasn't bad luck, it was deliberate.- she act is found to do the part of the profiler, that she had never wanted to be.
 The first thing she hear is a sharp pain in the chest, stretching the length of the chest. At the same time a kind of whining. Soon she realizes that she herself is producing that sound. The head is spinning, because they were overturned.
She opens her eyes and even that tiny gesture causes suffering. Next to her, at the wheel, there's Rossi, unconscious. All at once a groan, but not came from man. -Tara?- she feels her mouth dry, almost the impact had taken away all the saliva. The belts have become a prison. She tries not to panic and follow the procedures, learned too many years ago. She puts her hands on the roof, then with one can press the lock and release. She sighs of relief and gradually let go the grip with her feet. She finds herself sitting crooked. She looks again at Dave, who doesn't move.
Something, maybe her instinct tells her to stay alert. She peers in semi-darkness in search of her gun. She finds the weapon and holds it close to her. Turning back to Tara, still upside down, she makes a sign to remain silent. A thousandth after a blinding light illuminates the road and then the passenger compartment.
 She cleans the lenses with the rag, but those salty stains will not go away. Then she off her glasses and she put them on the desk. She looks blinking dot on her screen; fixed, always in the same position. Help is coming. She must think this, or go mad.
-I'm at the airport now, hold on, baby girl. Wait. In a moment I'll be with you.- she nods, but he can't see her. But she can't talk at this time. And it is strange, for she usually begins to rave when they are in trouble.
They knew it was risky. They were talking about this just a moment before it happened the incident. Mr. Scratch is the worse unsub that they had met.
The call ends with a click. But she can't afford to do another cycle of crying. She has something to do.
 Slender hands leaf through the pages covered with photos. Others, a bit older and wrinkled, cover the younger hand indicating a particular image. He portrays a man, a woman and a small child, in front of an institutional building.
-Here we had just returned from the science fair, which of course you won.- he smiles and it's funny, his mother remembers a piece of their lives that he, with an eidetic memory isn't able to remember, because it was really too small at the material time. He looks carefully one of the people, more than others.
Dad. I miss dad.
A simple thought for one with an IQ as him. But the woman's fingers shake his. She know it; she feels the same thing.
One annoying vibration forces him to open his eyes. It's his phone. The caller is Penelope. Instantly he understands that something bad happened. He stands up, moving away from the mother so she doesn't hear. Just when he presses the green button he was denied a chance to speak.
-Reid , the team had an accident... I sent the ambulances... no one answers... Derek is coming here... I...- he understands that she is in clear and justified drowsiness. He glances at the blonde woman sat on the couch.
-I'm coming.-
 She sees a metallic shimmer. She counts mentally two seconds. She hears Tara's breath and her own, they seem loud as the roar of a plane. She rushes forward and fires five shots in quick succession. She is sure that it's not the help. The watch Rossi leads the wrist says that only within minutes have passed from the accident and not even Garcia isn't so rapid.
She turns to Tara. She's fighting with belts and finally succeeds in.
She gives a kick to the last bits of the window glass, remained precariously together. She tries the door handle of the door, but the latter is deformed, and then fails to open it. Without thinking too much, she comes out straight out of the window, accumulating other scratches.
A pool of blood is spreading under the body of a man dressed all in black.
Behind her she hears Dr. Lewis shouts  -Rossi! Rossi, c'mon!-
 Hearing gunshots she feared the worst. Looking out, the glow has enabled her to understand that the victim wasn't one of her team, because it wasn't on the cars but outside.
-Are you all right?- to they it went better. They weren't overturned, but flipped on its side. -Luke?- no movement, however slight. -Walker?- she asks then, but is not likely to get any kind of response.
 The flashes light of ambulances.
The cries of the paramedics.
-There need to intubate! -
-B.P. is dropping!-
-We're losing him!-
Then they are transport on stretchers. People waiting sessions for less wounds serious watch helplessly that show.
-I'm fine, you have to help Walker, Rossi and Alvez!- the protests of one of the three women are settled with any simple gazes. -I said I'm fine, leave me!- she attracts everyone's attention.
-Madam, calm down. You had to be visited as the others. We are taking care of everyone.- the bed continues to wobble. A needle inserted gently into the skin.
Finally, peace and oblivion.
They hold hands as a few days before, when he was finally released from prison. That time he was in need of comfort and support. Today the roles have been reversed. Garcia is a strong person, despite all the tears that she annually weeps. He has never seen her like this. It had never happened something like that, a disaster that involved the safety of the whole team.
She doesn't know what to think, for those she has to pray. This time she can't believe that it happens a miracle and that's will right.
Something, a voice tells her that it's not.
Without even realizing it, she lost consciousness.
 -It was a Scratch's trap. I should have thought. I have examined all possibilities.- the brunette shakes her head to self-inflicted reproaches of her boss. A bandage covers her forehead, concealing a deep cut right on her eyebrow arch. Various scratches are scattered all over the face. The hospital gown doesn't take off one gram of her authority.
-Emily, don't say that. At best, it was our mistake. We had to think about any kind of variable. It wasn't your fault.- she repeats, but the other woman ignores her. The brunette runs a hand over her face, feeling tangibly her wounds.
-It was impossible to predict one such thing.- Rossi gives her help, but it's useless.
She keeps looking in the direction of the last bed. Empty.
 It was only a moment and no medical intervention was necessary. Never letting go they reach the room where the BAU members are hospitalized. Spencer runs from JJ.
-You already warned Will and the boys?- the blonde asks, without breaking away from the embrace, the computer technician nods.
-I... I called everyone I could. Morgan is coming too... – this doesn’t seem to surprise Prentiss. Not even Rossi, who giggles. When he arrives from the latter he realizes that it doesn’t add up. Someone is missing from the party. The smile goes off on her lips.
There is still another bed in the room. And there's nobody on it.
-Garcia...- she doesn’t remain there to hear an unpleasant story. Before disappearing, she glanced at Reid, who didn’t want to tell her what the doctor had told him while she was "absent".
The others look at her running away, sighing and exchanging eloquent looks.
 She washed her face several times with cold water, but every time she raises her eyes on the mirror, she sees a redness on her skin that doesn’t want to leave. She can’t stop crying.
She seems to hear a male voice making her name. She ignores it. But this insists, tries again. Anything. She recognized who these nuances and accent belong to, but it is only her mind that makes fun of her.
Suddenly the hallucination becomes tactile. Soon after a strange noise, like wheels on the floor; a hand is resting on her back. Big, certainly belongs to a man. And hot. She can feel heat even through layers of fabric.
She turns slowly, and he releases his grip.
Sitting in a wheelchair there is special agent Luke Alvez.
 -So, what we do?- the brunette went for a moment in the bathroom and when she came out wearing the gear brought by Garcia. Yes, she had thought of everything...
-We can’t do anything right now, Emily...- the paternal and condescending tone of the elder irritates her. She knows perfectly well that this is irrational sensations, but this changes things a little.
-Rossi is right. You have to rest, you are still under observation... – she chases the boy's words with her hand.
-You shouldn’t be here, rather. You should be with your mother. Good heavens, you're just back in freedom and just a few hours ago we freed Diana! What the hell are you doing in the hospital?- everyone has understood the reason for their boss's behavior; nobody takes it too much.
-We are a family, have you forgotten it? We have to stay united.- even the blonde has to add the dose. What no one says is especially at times like these.
Quick disordered flashbacks pass before their eyes.
The attack in New York.  Hotch disappeared.
Garcia in the operating room. -The bullet entered the chest and rebounded into the abdomen. She lost a lot of blood. But we managed to repair the injuries. A centimeter higher and would have crossed her heart but could be discharged in a couple of days.-.
Spencer kidnapped by a bipolar fool. -Dad, don’t do it!... Shut up, son.-.
Savannah hit while she was pregnant. Outside a hospital.
The funeral of Emily. That of the chief of the section, Erin Strauss.
-The superhighway of information is closed.- Elle almost dead.
-We have a case... it concerns Gideon...-.
JJ kidnapped and tortured while she was pregnant. Mateo Cruz, chief of the section, half dead.
Hailey killed by the Reaper. And Jack save by miracle.
The anguish, then the relief. Sometimes only despair that fades too slowly. The pain that becomes a friend to cling to.
There have already been so many times, yet each one is always different. Probability doesn’t mean certainty, but possibility. Hope.
- We must think only of Stephen. We have to pray that everything is going good.-
 -Luke?! Oh God! Oh God! You're... you're...- the man understands what she can’t say aloud. He shakes his head, without the shadow of a smile. Then he raises his leg to show her that it's nothing serious.
-It's just a dislocation. Really, Garcia. I'll just have to use crutches for a while.- now he tries to smile to reassure her. The comfort, however, lasts very little.
-Oh, then it's Walker!- for a moment he would like to protest, to say that as usual she would have preferred it was him, the one in danger of life, because he had no one who would mourn his death, while Stephen had a family, wife and sons. He was only the newbie and he would remain forever. But luckily, he manages to hold back and drive away a thought that is so selfish, yet sensible.
-Breath, Garcia!- he tries to take her by the shoulders, but from that position is too difficult. He sees that look she had during the Reid hearing. -It's in the operating room, right now.- thin consolation. That bad presentiment that has haunted her since Prentiss showed her the false message sent to Derek, is now stronger than ever.
-I have to... Oh my God! Monica and the children! They are already arrived? She will need help... - she feels herself missing again. The head turns like a crazy top. The legs are too heavy. She can’t speak anymore. Luke assists helplessly, fearing she may fall, but not knowing what to do. She leans against the wall and takes a breath. -You remember... what you told me?- she just stares him. -Now I want to cry and that someone can stand me while I do.- the tears are already peeping from the pupils and it is clear that she will not accept a no for an answer. Luke smiles sweetly. He doesn’t know how he managed to make such a confession that day. And certainly, she hadn’t taken him seriously. But now it is he who takes his responsibilities. Penelope lowers her height and hugs him. The masculine hands gently caress her back. He trembles, strives not to cry in turn.
A few sentences whisper in her ear, while a hand moves through her hair. -I'm sure you did everything you could, all the necessary calls.- her biggest enemy is herself, and it's always been so obvious. She will never be enough, up to her expectations. There will always be something that she could have done but was not able to. Something to think about. She and Prentiss are very similar. – Stop crying, stop. It's not your fault, Penelope.- and she notices once again how Luke is not Derek. The latter would have allowed her to let off steam until exhaustion. The Newbie no; he wants her next to him at the crime scene; he has the courage to tell her truth that she would prefer (it would be easier) to ignore. -It will not help Walker survive.-
 -But why are they putting so much? To wedge a leg, it doesn’t take all this time …- the anxiety has spread throughout the room. Nobody tries to comfort others. Even Spencer gave up after receiving a glare for coming out with one of his quotes. -It says no news is good news.-.
Then the noise of wheels on the floor and the door that opens makes everyone jump. Enter Luke, in a wheelchair. But even more shocking is that to push it is Garcia. They see that she cried, but this doesn’t surprise anyone.
-Are there any news?- he immediately shoots that question, aware that otherwise he will not do it again. Both Emily and Rossi shake their heads. The wait continues. Silence seems almost unreal. Only JJ notices the hand of the former task force agent gently gripping the arm of their computer technician. For a second, she wonders if something has happened between those two and promises to ask her friend. When all this will be another bad memory.
But then the door swings open and this time a doctor enters, still wearing a bloody smock, headphones and a mask. Indecipherable expression. -Are you colleagues of Agent Walker?- so many nodding heads, hands clasping each other, in a gesture of prayer, intertwined fingers. -We have done everything possible, I'm sorry, the head injury was too extensive.- the rest of the doctor's words is confused in their minds.
He can’t really be dead.
We had just met him.
Monica, poor Monica.
It's my fault, my fault, mine. Mine.
After a few minutes the ambassador of misfortunes comes out and no one can even say anything. Penelope glances at the door, but before she can even think of escaping, the hold on her arm tightens and takes her back to her duty.
They are a family, for better or for worse.
 The cry of the child lasts very little. Two pairs of arms are already ready to tighten and console him. A couple and a half. -You should not lift weights, have you forgotten what the doctor said?- the husband's sensible words don’t sound good before a mother who just wants to embrace her own fruit. -Honey, let me, I don’t make him fall!- a moment of resistance and then surrender.
She sits on the couch, abandoning herself to dead weight.
-Mummy, do you want me to help you put the jacket?- the blond child with glasses bigger than him make her smile.
-Sure, my love.-
 -I know, I know if you could you have been here.- she walks across the room, making the same route.
-I know you, Em, you want to make everyone believe that you're well, being strong enough to overcome anything by yourself... but you're not alone, love, ok? There are me and there are your colleagues. Nobody expects you to be the next Iron Lady.- but she shakes her head.
-Mark, it was my fault, if Stephen died! I'm the chief of this unit... Hotch...- he stops her before she can say other nonsense.
-Don’t say something like "Hotch would not allow it". He is a human being, like you. Such development couldn’t be foreseen.- the man on the other end of the line sighs. He passes a hand on the head. -Listen to me, I'll be there tonight. Okay?- this time she nods, but he can’t see her anyway.
She end the call without adding anything. She sits down, takes off her shoes and massages her feet. She is no longer used to putting on her heels. She far prefers something more convenient and practical.
 Trying not to be too brusquely he drives away the woman's hand.
-Mom, enough. So you're suffocating me.- he tries to loosen the tie a bit. He feels strangled. He is having a crisis. It didn’t happen to him for a while. He thought he was already free of stress for having spent six months in prison but reading at the speed of light or having a volcanic mind doesn’t save him from the human emotions of ordinary mortals. In that sphere he is vulnerable, just like everyone else.
One name seems to pass quickly in front of him. Maeve. He feels a caress on his arm. It could be a breath of wind, entered through the window that his mother left open. Before he can even take a step, the new nurse intuits what he is thinking and closes it. Yet that shiver doesn’t go away.
I'm with you, Spencer.
 -You're very well dad, really.- a laugh.
The man doesn’t turn around, he continues to admire his reflection in the mirror. He sees all the wrinkles, some white hair despite the color. And yet... not bad. Overall, it could be put much worse.
The female hand rests on his shoulder and forces him to turn around. -I'm sorry to distract you from contemplation, but you'll be late for the ceremony...- he looks at his partner and daughter, their faces both anxious.
That dress he would have preferred to put on another occasion.
 She isn’t convinced of her choice, but she doesn’t find anything better. She ponders the stupidity of the need to concentrate negative emotions on clothes that society considers suitable for the occasion.
-Tara?- the man says her name. His tone is delicate, he knows how much her sister is suffering, but she is the strong one, who doesn’t show her weaknesses. She spends her life listening to the thoughts and problems of others, while she doesn’t even consider hers. She turns to look at him. -It's time to go.- he offers her his arm and after a minute hesitation, she accepts.
 He fastens his shoes and then look at the bed. The dog is looking at him curiously, bending his head following his movements. -What's up, girl? Don’t you like it?- he using the arms to bring the wheelchair next to the mattress. -No even I wanted to put clothes like that.- he sighs, for a moment losing in his memories.
The bell rings.
He gives Roxy a caress. -She is here.- he announces, the voice a bit trembling. He moves to the entrance and opens the door. A blonde woman, entirely dressed in black, with a hat of the same color on her head, is smiling to him sadly.
-Are you ready?- she asks him, staying on the threshold. The man nods. She turns around and turns back. -We see you later, Roxy.- she greets the dog and then helps him to get off those few steps, then to get on board the car. She puts in the driver's seat. It's a strange thing, it was usually the opposite, but lately, because of the fracture, she was often found in this situation.
-Penelope...- he puts a hand on hers, already on the steering wheel. The woman turns to look at him, tightening her lips. -Are you okay?- she shakes her head, deciding to be honest. -Me too.- he says, intertwining their fingers and giving her a hold. -We will get also through this.-
-Do you think so, Luke? I'm not so sure.- she starts, without breaking the contact. -We go ahead, because there isn’t much else that can be done... as to overcome it... no.- she shakes the head again and she is necessary not to cry, not to ruin the make-up.
 Standing in front of that closed coffin, everyone tries to stand up as they can. JJ clings to Will, Rossi to his daughter, Tara and Emily remain close, Reid alone (or almost), with his hands in his pockets, Garcia behind the wheelchair of Luke, a hand on the man's shoulder, that of him on hers, without looking at each other.
In the front row a woman embraces two children, a boy and a girl, who can’t stop crying.
-The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.- a man dressed in ceremonial clothes pronounces in a solemn tone. A priest, a great friend of the Walker family. He baptized Ely and Maya, celebrating the marriage of Stephen and Monica. He didn’t think he would survive that boy who spent his afternoons helping him with the parish, instead of playing the park like everyone else.
The box is lowered, and the pit filled with earth.
It's over another day.
 -We need to take that bastard!- the brunette slams a fist on the round table, making the other members of the team jump. That empty chair stands out terribly. -It's my fault, if Stephen is dead.- now her voice seems to come from beyond the grave.
-Emily, it's not true...- the blonde expert in communication tries to contradict her.
-Yes, that is. I'm not just talking about Scratch trap. I let him come here, I wanted him to be part of this group, and now Monica no longer has a husband, two boys no longer have a father... and we've lost a fantastic person. I want the head of the son of a bitch, and I want it before this month ends!- with the last cry, she gets out of the room. With strange glances, the others gradually get up and leave. Only the computer technician and the former agent of the task force remain.
-Do you need help, Newbie?- since the incident she changed attitude, indeed, she took care of him, making him a nurse, helping him in the kitchen, taking Roxy out... basically they attended a lot in the non-working hours and have discovered to appreciate each other's company. Luke has become used too easily in the presence of the woman and at this moment he realizes that when he gets better, everything will return as before and he doesn’t know if he's ready or if he wants it. On the contrary, he knows perfectly well that he doesn’t want to start spending his free time alone. Or without her, which is about the same thing.
-No...- he answers after what seems an eternity. He returns to her own papers. -Penelope...- he finds the courage to call her, the blonde raises her head to look at him, but then her cell phone starts to sing. The man shakes his head and sighs.
-Matt?- she asks surprised. -What?- she turns her back to him, she is distracted for a moment. When she looks around, Luke is gone.
 -Welcome to the team, Simmons. I hope you'll help us capture Lewis.- the woman shakes her hand. The man with Asian features reciprocates the grasp and smiles.
-Thank you, Prentiss. I hope so too.-
 It's all dark and already the thing appears quite suspicious. JJ gives a boost to the man, forcing him to enter. On her face a strange smile. As soon as he sets foot in the meeting room, the light is rekindled and the sight hits him. The others are also stunned, all except the blonde.
-Surprise!- shouts a voice that he knows well. On the round table there are several glasses already filled with a semi-transparent liquid and even a cake with the word Welcome in uppercase.
The former newcomer can’t hold back a grimace of annoyance. Garcia can’t but celebrate the entry of a person in the team; pity that she hadn’t reserved such a consideration to him. Indeed, all the opposite. He notices with horror that he is jealous of her. Every smile, every minimal gesture that the woman dedicates to Simmons, is unbearable.
He doesn’t even listen to the usual proclamations and so he is taken aback when a female hand is resting on his shoulder.
-Are we going, Luke?- he nods only, fearing what he might unwittingly say.
 He opens the door trying to make as little noise as possible. It's night. He doesn’t want to wake his partner. He climbs the stairs moving like a thief or an assailant and the idea almost makes him laugh, risking ruining everything. Arrived at the last step he almost falls due to a toy; he bites his tongue not to say a dirty word.
He opens the door and contemplates his children sleeping for a few seconds, then moves into the bedroom and does the same with his wife. Then he undresses, wears his pajamas and finally slips under the covers.
Sigh of joy.
This is home.
 -Are you sure everything's ok?- they're waiting for the elevator together. The ex-newcomer tries to keep his distance for what he is allowed by a wheelchair; he begins to strongly hate this machine. It makes him feel too vulnerable and made him discover what it feels like to have Penelope Garcia in their everyday life, knowing that it will end too soon and that it isn’t enough anyway. -Do you need help later, with Roxy?- the woman asks after waiting for the answer to the first question, in vain. She doesn’t understand his strange attitude of these last hours.
-No.- he finally answers, always closed. She looks up and pretends nothing. Silence, they only hear the buzz of the elevator that is coming. Finally, the doors open. They go up, he avoids her help and Penelope doesn’t know what to think. They remain silent for a few seconds, then she blurts out: -Listen, what's your problem? Say it immediately and let's get it over.- she puts her arms crossed and forces him to look at her.
-Nothing...- he begins in an unconvincing tone. -just that... when Prentiss came back you gave her a toast, Walker… you welcomed him with open arms- he had a hard time saying that name -and Simmons... you gave him a welcome party- she starts to guess where he wants to go, but she lets him end. -I'm the only one who didn’t have this honor.- he closes his eyes and shakes his head, just wanting that the doors open and can go down. In any case he can’t drive, so he will not easily get rid of the woman.
Penelope has a smug smile on her face. -Oh no, no, I can’t believe it!- she exclaims with exaggerated tone and theatrical way. -You are... jealous of the attention I gave to Matt?- it annoys him that she called him for his own name. -You are completely out of it, a little sounder- she warns him that they have reached the parking floor. He pushes the wheelchair outside and heads for his car. -But you know that he has four children?- she emphasizes the number.
He sighs, desperate. He should have found a way to restrain himself, but it's too late now. -Of course, I know, I'm the godfather of the twins.- he confesses. She is so surprised that she stops and stands in front of him to scrutinize his expression more carefully and catch him in the face of a lie. -It's a great friend of mine, we've known each other since the days of the academy...- she starts walking again and then helps him to settle in the passenger seat. He no longer opens his mouth halfway and the blonde decides to respect his colleague's silence. -I've known him for a long time.- he suddenly begins to speak, while they are still at an intersection. -So no, I'm not jealous of him.- she turns to look at him confused.
-But then…- he doesn’t give her the chance to reply and even the light turns green. She press the foot on the clutch, then on the accelerator.
Luke sighs, totally resigned. -I'm jealous of you.- he no longer has the courage to look at her and not even her. -Now, please, if you want me at least a shred of love, don’t say anything, leave me at home, slip away and... forget what I told you.- she nods, but knows she will not.
TAGS: @theshamelessmanatee @itsdawnashlie @talesoffairies  @kiki-krakatoa  @gcchic @arses21434 @jarmin @kathy5654 @martinab26 @thisonekid @thenibblets @perfectly-penelope @ambrosiaswhispers @reidskitty13 @jenf42 @gracieeelizabeth27 @silviajajaja @smalliemichelle99 @charchampagne14 @thinitta  @skisun  @myhollyhanna23 @thenorthernlytes @garvezz @mercedes-maldonado
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setmysoulonfire · 7 years
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domestic beca and chloe? possibly with a kid of their own? feel free to be creative with it but just like future them together all settled and stuff :))))
Ohhh I’ve been busy the past few days and I just have to say coming back to write this cuteness just filled my heart up. I think I have a new thing for domestic chloe and beca now?! So THANKS!!!
Occasionally,  Beca could hear Chloe even from underneath music blasting in her headphones. Once, Beca was in their room working when Chloe got home. She heard singing from downstairs, so loud and so joyous that she pulled her headphones down just to listen for a few moments before recognizing Smile by Uncle Kracker. Beca followed the music to the kitchen and watched from the doorway as Chloe pulled ingredients out of the refrigerator.
“I got it,” hummed Chloe without breaking the melody of the song. Beca tilted her head and briefly marveled at how Chloe knew she was there without even turning around, but then it hit her what she was talking about.
“No you didn’t!”
“They called me on my way home.” Finally pausing her singing, Chloe leaned her back against the counter to face Beca. She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to contain a smile way too large for her pretty, perfect face. She tried to appear calmer than she was, but revealed herself by bouncing on her heels, waiting for Beca’s reaction. Chloe was never great at squashing her emotions.
“You got the job!” Beca yelled. “You’re a veterinarian, officially.”
“Dr. Chloe Beale,” she mused with a smile. Then, at Beca’s sudden frown, “What?”
“Nothing,” Beca shook her head. “That’s just like… hot as hell. My girlfriend being a doctor.”
Chloe’s contained smile finally broke free and exploded all over the both of them. “Your girlfriend is a DILF.”
“Dude… No. That’s not what a DILF is.”
“D-I-L-F. Doctor I’d like to…”
“No. Nope.”
Chloe winked, and Beca again wondered how it was possible she loved another human being as much as she loved this stupid face in front of her. She rolled her eyes affectionately and eyed the vegetables on the cutting board over Chloe’s shoulder. She shook her head firmly.
“Okay, no. Throw those things away; tonight we are celebrating with takeout. Way too much of it. The unhealthiest, grossest things on every to-go menu we have.”
“Mmmm,” Chloe moved Beca’s hair away from her neck so she could paint a soft, sweet kiss on it. “Do we get to eat straight from the boxes?”
“Mhmm.”
“In the tub?”
“Sure.”
“Watching The Bachelor season 13?” At Beca’s furrowed eyebrows, Chloe raised her hands and shrugged. “It’s MY celebration, isn’t it?”
“Season 21,” Beca countered.
Chloe pecked Beca’s lips and beamed. “I love you.”
It took only seconds before Beca realized this was not one of those times. She knew Chloe’s cry better than she knew her own - there was only one cry, a very recent addition, that seemed to hold the power to pierce her heart the same way, maybe even more. She listened for that cry too, but Chloe’s was the only sound she could make out from upstairs.
She had been gone for an hour now. Beca had a tough morning; she completely lost it by ten-thirty. Chloe had walked into the kitchen to Beca pulling every pot and pan out from the underneath cabinet and declaring, “I’m SICK of looking at this.”
“Let me help,” Chloe had offered sweetly.
“Yes of course, why DON’T you help?” Beca had snarled. “Since you’re the one who throws everything around without a single care in the world. Seriously. If you’re not going to put things away properly, just leave the stuff in the dishwasher. Don’t try to help in the first place.”
“Becs…” Chloe said cautiously, peeking her head around the corner of the kitchen island. “Where is Aria?”
“She’s right there!” Beca pointed at the empty swing on the kitchen table. She noticed it as soon as she said it. “She was right there.”
Beca and Chloe both sprang into action, Beca near exasperated tears when Chloe walked into the dining room, kissing and bouncing their four-month-old daughter.
“Oh my God,” Beca tilted her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, steadying her heart rate to a speed that doesn’t require a hospital visit. She buried her face in her hands and shook her head. “What is wrong with me? I swear I remember putting her in that swing.”
“She was just relaxing in the living room,” Chloe assured her. “Totally content. Just looking around.”
“Because she’s perfect. She’s a perfect baby. Of course she is. She’s Chloe, part 2.”
Chloe smirked and offered to take Aria for a walk so Beca could finish her pot and pan cleaning, or perhaps, she suggested subtly, take some Beca-time and relax? Beca thanked her and started playing around with mixes. Nothing serious or productive, but one thing she had lost recently was the time to just dick around and have fun. An hour was as refreshing as it could be, and she felt much better by the time Chloe’s crying pulled her out of her zone.
“Chlo?” she called, bouncing down the stairs. “Chlo? You okay?”
She tried hard not to laugh at the scene she walked into: Chloe, still with her coat and shoes on, sitting on the bench in the mudroom, crying her mascara off her face, while Aria sat in her onesie on Chloe’s lap, contently looking around and smiling much too big for her pretty, perfect face when Beca walked in and greeted her with “hi, baby.”
“Hi,” Chloe reply-sobbed back. For that, Beca let out a tiny noise attempting to mask her giggle. “What’s funny?” asked Chloe genuinely. She looked like she wanted to laugh, too.
“No, nothing. What’s wrong?”
“I’m a disgusting, horrible, pathetic excuse for a per–”
“Whoa okay, can we like, hold on for a sec? What happened?”
“She deserves so much better,” Chloe sniffled. “So, so much better. I practically neglected her.”
“Can we start at the beginning?”
Chloe sighed, as if it brought her great pain to relive this trauma. “She started crying. Well, sort of. I’d say more of whining, you know how she gets?” Beca started to agree, but Chloe didn’t give her the time before continuing, “Well I decided to take her home since I didn’t bring her bag with me or anything if she needed something. So I just kept talking to her as we’re coming home, right? Like, ‘It’s okay, pudding, we’re almost there! Just a few more minutes!’  but she just kept getting more mad!”
This statement seemed to remind Chloe how traumatic the event was. She needed a few moments to recuperate with deep breaths before finishing her story.
“I didn’t even look at her! So then we’re back at the house and I go to unbuckle her and get her out and her..her hat is all… all o–on her face. She was just fussing because she couldn’t see!”
Beca nodded, waiting for Chloe to continue, while Chloe looked at Beca for a reaction. Beca tried to formulate something, but no words came.
“Chlo, I really don’t know what the bad thing is here.”
“The bad thing is SHE COULDN’T SEE, BECA! ALL SHE WANTED WAS FOR ME TO FIX HER HAT SO SHE COULD SEE! She asks for so LITTLE in this world and I can’t even give her that!”
Beca rolled her tongue around in her mouth, trying to remain serious. It was a task too difficult; her smile spread all the way up to the crinkles in her eyes.
“I think we should call Aubrey,” Beca suggested. “Maybe she wants to spend some aunt-niece time with Aria tonight?”
“Tonight?”
“Uh. Yeah. I think we need to order takeout tonight. The grossest, most unhealthiest thing on every to-go menu we have.”
“Yeah?” Chloe looked up, her eyes still shining from the tears. “And eat out of the boxes?”
“Duh. In the tub.”
“And watch the Bachelor?”
“Don’t push it.”
Chloe smiled and kissed the crown of Aria’s head.
“We’ll do better tomorrow?” Chloe said, but the way she looked at Beca, Beca knew it was a question too. Will we? Can we?
“We will.”
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britishchick09 · 4 years
Text
sherlock ep 3 the great game livewatch
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since i did a live-re-watch of ep 1 and a re/new livewatch of ep 2, i figured i’d finish off the season! i’ve never seen this one, so it’s the first totally new livewatch of the year! :D
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ooh spooky beginning!
sherlock is talking to a guy for a case why in an old school tho?
omg sherlock keeps correcting this guy’s grammar lol :D
the guy will get hung for it (sorry hanged) is this victorian england
dramatic intro strikes again!
YO GUN SHOTS WUT
sherlock just chillin
AND SHOOTING WTF LOCKIE
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SMILEY FACE!!!!!
john: “what the hell are you doing??” SAME WTF MR HOLMES
he’s shooting because he’s BORED OMG SHERLOCK LOL
omg john almost said the f word :o
WHY IS THERE A SEVERED HEAD IN THE FRIDGE
ooh they referenced ep one’s title in john’s blog post!!!
does that mean john comes up with the ep titles coolio :D
sherlock doesn’t like it tho :/
he deletes things he doesn’t care about like the earth going around the sun woah sherlock computer! :o
sherlock just said ‘hard drive’ epic B)
sherlock: “UGH HELL, WHAT DOES THAT MATTER?? so we go around the sun or we go around the moon round and round the garden like a teddy bear IT WOULDN’T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE!” ...teddy bear?
oh hey mrs hudson
awww she called their argument ‘a little domestic’ :)
let me guess sherlock hates the quiet peaceful world
RIGHT!!!
MRS HUDSON SAID ‘BLOODY’ OMG
and she’s putting the smiley face on the rent ‘young man’ :/
OMG WHAT THE FRICK EXPLOSION
hey is that sarah cool! :D
oh crap THE FLAT EXPLODED!!!!!
WTF DID SHERLOCK DO????
i thought this would happen in like s4 since that’s super dark not s1!!!!
lol sherlock’s just plucking his violin like nothing happened :D
yo is that moiarty mycroft?
ok this is his bro so according to google it’s... mycroft!
mycroft: “a case like this would require... ‘leg work’” ...leg work?
in my holmes inspired series the sherlock and mycroft characters hate each others guts and act like children around each other so it’s good to see that these bros just act cold and keep correcting each other
mycroft: “your business seems to be booming, ever since you and sherlock became.. ‘pals’’ johnlock shippers be like: ;)
mycroft wondered if it was hellish and my holmes character describes his bro as hellish COINCIDENCE I THINK TOTALLY!!! :o
the plans were on a ‘memory stick’ does mycroft mean ‘usb’?
sherlock putting rosin on his bow during the conversation tho ♥
mycroft: “you need to find those plans, sherlock. don’t make me order you” wowoza older bro much?
is sherlock badly playing his violin to test it or to kick mycroft out faster lol :D
this is probably benedict cumberbatch really playing because he didn’t take violin lessons until s2 i think and even then there was an overdub!
OMG I JUST REALIZED I’VE BEEN SPELLING HIS NAME AS BENNEDICT WHY
sherlock: “i’d be lost without my blogger” aww he really does like the posts! ♥ also major johnlock squee there
sherlock likes the ‘funny cases’ ;)
hey is that lestrade cool he’s back
the first thing sherlock says while reading the letter is ‘nice stationary’
john: “that’s the pink phone!” guy: “from the study in pink!” sherlock: “you read his blog?” lestrade: “of course we all do!” awwww :D
everyone’s snickering at sherlock not believing the ‘earth sun’ theory lol :D
ooh a warning! :o
john: “hold on, what’s gonna happen again?” sherlock: “BOOM!” bada bing, bada... B O O M!!!”
mrs hudson can’t get anyone interested in the flat aww :(
some weird lady’s calling what
SHE JUST SAID ‘STUPID BISH’ WOAHHHH
woah she was a hostage??
sherlock wants john to delete 8 mycroft texts lol :D
sherlock sarcastically called john ‘doctor’ lol :D
molly: “why did you say ‘gay’? we’re together!“ WAIT DID SHERLOCK JUST SAY THAT?? JOHNLOCK SQUEEE!!!!! also sherlock is aromantic sorry molly :/
molly: “he’s not gay!!” woah john much?
also that was about  her bf sorry johnlock shippers :/
sherlock says his makeup and underwear peeking out make the guy gay RUDE MUCH LOCKIE??
john: “that wasn’t kind” yeah LOCKIE
john: *figures out who the shoes belong to* how did i do?” sherlock: “well, john, really well! i mean, you missed almost everything important” lol :D
sherlock is great at finding out things props to him :D
the shoes were bought 20 years ago just like su lin!
sherlock: “a child with big feet-“ you mean senpai lol
1989 is 21 years ago here wowza :o
oh no the kid had a fit in a pool and died :(
someone stole his shoes! :o
aww john wants to help :)
mycroft is texting john now lol :D
john: “it’s of national importance.” sherlock: “how quaint.” john: “what is?” sherlock: “you are” :)
john is wearing a suit to see mycroft how quaint ♥
john: “he’s investigating now. investigating away” that’s sherlock for ya :D
mycroft knows it all just like sherlock what bros they are! :D
oh no the kid had poison! :o
it’s cool how a 21 year old mystery could tie into a bomb from a day ago :D
NO IT’S CRYING LADY AGAIN
she lives in cornwall camilla who
ooh pager! :D
sherlock is bored WHY
OH GREAT IT’S THE ‘FREAK’ LADY FROM EP 1 UGHHHH
oh no another mystery caller!
sherlock guessed he’s ‘stealing another voice’ ooh :o
aww they showed the guy he’s crying :(
they have 9 hours to solve the puzzle!
sherlock is faking being super sad to get info from this lady oh lockie!
random lady: “fishing! try fishing!” john’s reaction tho :D (this is like ‘daang that’s rad!’ but not as funny)
sherlock says ‘mazda’ weird but it’s cool :D
sherlock: “you’re very helpful” ...he’s not
sherlock: “mr. hewitt’s a liar” SEE I WAS RIGHT!!!
the drops in the lab look like the intro :D
phone guy: “we were made for each other, sherlock” woah woah YOU’RE NOT JOHN
ooh the blood was frozen :o
the way lestrade says ‘columbia?‘ is funny :D
the case is solved yet we’re only 37 minutes into the ep hmm....
sherlock: “i am on fire!” YAS LOCKIE!!! :D
great another call...
why is this guy constantly crying WHO HURT YOU SIR?
a restaurant scene... ep 1 was queerbaiting, ep 2 was stereotyping and this one is... SHERLOCK EATING??? :o
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epic 2010 smartphone ;)
john: “lucky for you mrs hudson and i watch too much telly” yas john!!! :D
CRYING LADY SAID ‘BISH’ AGAIN
12 hours now WHO ARE THESE PEEPS AND WHY ARE THERE TIME LIMITS
throughout the scene there’s a snoring sound... is someone sleeping in the afternoon??
a dead 54 actress died 2 days ago... connection?
she cut her hand on a rusty nail dean from supernatural who
sherlock: “goodnight vienna!” *ringo voice* ♫ na na na na na na goodnight viennaaa!!!!!!! ♫ :D
lockie’s mind is racing again!!
john’s dr skills and sherlock’s mind are perfect for this :D
sherlock: “do you want to help?” john: “of course!” ♥
lestrade: “tell me, what are we dealing with?” sherlock: “...something new’ ;)
ughhhh her again!! THREE HOURS HAS IT EVEN BEEN 12 YET???
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awww kitty!!!! ♥
the kitty is so loud and cute awww :)
the tv lady taught mrs hudson how to do ‘colors’ aww :)
sherlock went to fan sites for the show coolio :D
...omg what if there are fan sites for him and people ship johnlock in the show besides mrs hudson :o
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awwww kittyyyy!!!!! :D
john thinks the lady got tetanus because of the cat NOT THE KITTY!!!
so are the shoe kid, tv lady and creepy phone people connected?
the phone people are bombers so at least that’s a connection
great the phone lady wants help UGHH
she’s telling sherlock things about the guy GIVE THE ADDRESS LADY!!!
wait was that a gunshot
it was another gas leak explosion! :o
the bomber killed the lady oooohh :o
sherlock: “heroes don’t exist and wouldn’t be one of them” oh but you are lockie ;)
sherlock: “you SEE you just don’t observe!” john: “okay, okay, girls calm down!!” GIRLS OMG LOL :D
sherlock: “you’ll never find him (some guy named gollem). but i know a man who can” lestrade: “who?” sherlock: “...me.” ;)
lady: “any change for a cup of tea?” sherlock: *gives her fifty* wowza what a generous lockie!
onto part 2!
the lady said a message was left ‘on the landline’ how 21st century of you...?
other lady: “am i supposed to be impressed?/” this is sherlock holmes we’re talking about here lady
lady 3: “we were having a night in...” *wallace and gromit intensities*
joe: “are you the police?” john: “sort of” he’s a consulting detective assistant thank you very much :)
sherlock sure likes giving lots of change to people in need :)
and he said earlier he doesn’t care about people unless it involves the case!
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aww moonlight walk ♥
they’re in the tunnels like the netflix pic! :D
i wonder if this inspired that pic...
YO THEY BE RUNNING
the lady is watching a show on jupiter a gas planet hmmm...
she just wants neptune :D (i know her fave sailor senshi...)
OH NO SHE DED!
the tape is going backwards it’s so weird
OMG IT BE GOLLEM!!!
john: “let go or i will kill you” oooohhh gollem’s in trouble...
yo wtf is going on
SHERLOCK SHOT
who is this fancy french lady
sherlock s n a p !
the painting is a fake and that’s why she was killed?
some kid is counting down WHO ART THOU SMOL ONE???
sherlock: “shut up it only works if i figure it out!” yeah that’s true
aaand it worked!
the planet film helped sherlock discover the nova in the painting coolio :D
the mystery kid needs help! but where is he...
i still have no idea what’s going on tho it all went by so fast!
is this new french lady the one behind everything?
THE WHISPERS ARE MOIARTY OH FRICK
lockie be like ‘oh god...’ i’d be the same way if my mortal enemy was behind the case
why is john talking about strawberry jam with lestrade
oh it’s blood?
cool lifejackets :D
a wild sherlock appears!
is memory stick british slang for usb or just a holmes bro quirk because sherlock said it too
sherlock just broke into someone’s flat lol
and their last name is harrison... george much? ;)
so harrison stole the memory stick and gollem put in the bomb, moiarty hiring them both and having creepy people call sherlock and kill the tv lady, the guard at the gallery with the nova painting and maybe the shoe kid? is that how all this is connected?
john: “i’m not the world’s only consulting detective” aww he considers himself one too instead of just an assistant! :D
HOLD UP there’s a pool... is this the infamous tackle scene from the sarah z tjlc vid?
john is wearing a big coat hmm...
this is the pool where the kid died CONNECTION!!!!
oh no is this the calling guy
why does he sound like a silly american
YO he’s an american pulling off a brit accent
MOIARTYYYYY
moiarty: “jim moiarty! hiiii!!!” lol :D
plz shoot him sherlock this guy sounds so stupid
DID SHERLOCK JUST CALL HIM ‘DEAR JIM’??
the near fake kiss in that one ep makes sense now
moiarty in a sing-songy voice: “daddy’s had enough nowww!!!!’ DADDY WHAT
moiarty said gay :o
he just called sherlock ‘johnny boy’ why
AND HE SAID ‘borr-ing!!!’ OMG MOIARTY WHYYYY
i already hate moiarty so much but his lines are so funny what a villian!
sherlock: “what if i were to shoot you right now?” please do lockie
sherlock: “catch... you... later.” moiarty: “no you won’t!!! :D”
sherlock took off the jacket was that the scene?
john: “you ripping off my clothes in a darkened swimming pool...” THAT’S THE SCENE OMG JOHNLOCKERS ARE SQUEEING!!!!
omg moiarty’s back how stupid
SHOOT HIM LOCKIE PLZ
the music is intensifying...
LOCKIEEEEEEE......
and it ended!! i’m guessing sherlock doesn’t shoot moiarty which is a bummer but hey at least we’ll get more lols next season with them! :D
this was a great season finale! the beginning was wild and it got crazier from there. this is my least fave ep so far, but i still really liked it for how insane it was (and that kitty/moiarty lols!). it took 4 years to reach the end of s1, but it was well worth the wait! :D
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The Contest-Part 1-(Reblog)
*To Celebrate 3000 followers, I thought I would reblog my most popular series, The Contest, to give people who didn’t read it the first time around the chance. I will be reblogging the first few chapters.  I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it!*
To celebrate Supernatural’s 15th season, the producers have decided to hold a contest to cast an unknown in a recurring role as Sam’s rumored love interest. They are doing open casting calls all over the country. Your best friend Nikki wants to go and she drags you along.
Characters: Reader, Best friend Nikki (OC), Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, other Supernatural cast and crew
Nikki and I have been best friends since the second grade. She has seen me through breakups, crappy jobs, losing my Dad, and 4 grueling years of nursing school. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her.  I had just finished 3 twelve hour shifts in a row and I had four days off. I couldn’t wait to put on my comfy PJ’s and watch Netflix until my brain exploded.
My cell rang and I smiled when I saw who it was.  “Hey, Nik! Perfect timing as always! What’s new?” I asked.
“Hey Y/N, remember when you took your nursing boards and I had to drive you because you were convinced you were gonna puke from nerves?” Nikki said in one long breath.
I was immediately suspicious.  She wanted something.  “Yeah,” I said slowly.
“Well, I need you to do the same for me on Saturday.” She blurted out.
“You're taking nursing boards on Saturday?” I was really confused.
“No silly.  Supernatural is having a contest to celebrate its 15th season on the air.  They are having open casting calls in cities around the country for a new character.  They want to cast an unknown.  And the rumor is its Jared’s love interest!!” She was practically screeching with excitement.
I sighed.  This again.  Nikki had tried everything to get me to watch this show. I had watched maybe 10 minutes of the pilot before I completely lost interest.  She was obsessed.  She talked about these guys non stop.
“Is that the pretty boy or the freakishly tall one?” I asked, completely not listening or caring either way.
“The tall one of course! Please say you’ll come with me.  A role on Supernatural, it’s like my dream come true. PLEEEAAAASEE?” She whined.
“All right. Fine, whatever.  Just stop whining!” But if you get the job and move to L.A., I can come visit you whenever I want, right?” I teased.
“The show films in Vancouver, not L.A!” She immediately replied.
“Canada???  It’s colder there than it is here.  Never mind.  I’ll see you on Saturday Shorty.” I couldn’t resist calling her by her hated childhood nickname just to annoy her.
“Later Giraffe.” She snorted, giving it right back to me.  Bitch.
Saturday morning Nikki picked me up at the asscrack of dawn to drive to New York City for this thing.  She was dressed to the nines with perfect makeup and even more perfectly coiffed hair.  I was barely awake and wore jeans, boots, my red peacoat and a grimace of pain.  “Why do we have to go so early?” I whined.
“Because the line will be long,” Nikki responded.
“Seriously Nik, no one watches this show but you.  There’s a Starbucks. I need coffee.”
It was only 8:30 by the time we reached the nondescript warehouse where this thing was happening.  We walked inside and a miserable looking girl wearing a headset and holding a clipboard wrote down Nikki’s name and gave her a number.  “What about you?” She asked, looking at me.
“Oh, I’m just here for moral support,” I replied.
“You can’t go any further unless you're participating.” She replied in a monotone.
Nikki grabbed my arm in a death grip.  “Please Y/N.  You HAVE to come! I can’t do this without you. Please!”  She legitimately looked terrified.
“The things I do for you, girl,” I muttered before I gave Ms. Happy my name and got my number.  “I am so going to regret this.”
We were ushered into a large room with a stage set up at one end.  A man came up on stage with a microphone to give us instructions.  “You are going to form a single file line and walk across the stage one at a time.  You will either be told to go to the right or the left.  Please have a seat on the chairs indicated.  You will be given further instructions.”
“This is so stupid,” I grumbled.
Some of the girls sashayed across the stage, for lack of a better word.  I just walked. I got sent to the left, Nikki went to the right.  I didn’t see her for a long time after that.  We kept going to different rooms and they asked us questions and our group got smaller and smaller.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we went one at a time into a room with a table and two chairs.  There must have been another exit because I never saw anyone come out.  I was the last one from our group called in.  There was a middle-aged woman sitting behind the table.  She flashed me a bright smile.
“Hi. And you are?”
“Y/F/N, Y/L/N” I replied.
“So Miss Y/L/N, what do you do for a living?” She was writing stuff down on a yellow legal pad.
“I’m a nurse.”
“And how tall are you, Dear?” She looked at me, expectantly. I had spent my teen years trying to hide how tall I was, but I had finally learned to embrace it.
“I’m 6 feet tall,” I replied confidently. She jotted some more stuff down.
“And how long have you been a fan of Supernatural?”
I decided the truth was best.  “Can I be honest with you?” I asked.
“Of course, Dear.” She said.  She reminded of my Mom.
“I’ve never really seen an episode of this show.  The only reason I’m here is because my best friend Nikki loves this show and is obsessed with that Jensen Padaleski guy.  I think he’s the freakishly tall one.  Or maybe the pretty one.  I honestly don’t know what they look like. I came for moral support but they wouldn’t let me stay unless I took a number.”  Whew.  It felt good to get that off my chest.
“Do you sing at all?” She asked me suddenly.
“I was in choir in high school and college, so I can sing.  Why do you ask?”
She suddenly gathered up her papers.  “I think we have what we need.  If you could head down to the last room on the left and have a seat, that would be great.”
“Okay.  Nice to meet you.”
“You too, Sweetie, you too.” She said kindly.
As soon as you were out the door, the woman dialed a number on her cell. “Bob, is Jared here yet? I’m sending you a video of a girl I just saw.  I think she’s the one.  And get this, she doesn’t even watch the show!  I just emailed you the video.  Call me back after you watch it.”
Robert Singer, executive producer of the show, opened an attachment on the email the casting director Susan had just sent.  Jared had some input into who they chose, so he had decided to come to New York since it was the largest casting call they were doing.
Jared and Bob watched the video on Bob’s IPad, laughing when you called him “freakishly tall”, and “Jensen Padaleski”.
“She’s only a little shorter than me. I wouldn’t have to sit down to kiss her.” Jared noted. “And she’s pretty, really pretty.”
“We need to see if she can act, and sing,” Bob commented.
The writers had come up with a soulmate storyline for season 15.  Sam meets a mysterious woman during a hunt and starts having dreams about her.  The dreams all take place in the past.  In them she and Sam are lovers, but something always pulls them apart.  Sam eventually finds out that she is his soulmate from Castiel.
“Since she doesn’t know what I look like, I want to meet her.  I need to see if I have any chemistry with her.  I have an idea.  Where is she?” Jared asked.
“Do I even want to know what your idea is?” Bob asked nervously.  “She’s in the last room on the left.  Please don’t do anything stupid.”
Jared flashed his dimpled grin as he left the room.  He walked down the hall and stopped outside the correct door.  Pausing for a moment, he took a deep breath before entering the room.  Time to see if his act could fool her.
“Hi.” He said, smiling at you.  “I’m Tom.  What’s your name?”
Part 2
@percywinchester27 @a-sea-of-fandoms @dorky-and-i-know-it @pinknerdpanda  @atc74 @jayankles  @midnightjazzmine @moonlitskinwalker @we-are-band-sexuals @winchestergirl-love @gecko9596 @ronnie248-blog @essie1876 @bohowitch @just-another-busy-fangirl @captainradicalpassion @keelzy2 @disneymarina @kittenofdoomage @frankiea1998 @akshi8278 @stylinson531 @valynsia @dr-dean @theoutlinez  @imweirdandobsessed    @luciisthebest  @laurenisnot @maddieburcham1  @canadianjelly @muliermalefici @brewsthespirit-blog @ilsawasanacrobat @nanie5@weasleywinchester-blog @samisimportant @fatalcrossbow  @violetsamalamb @letmusicguideu @grantsgorgeousgirl @faegal04 @feelmyroarrrr @kay18115@milkymilky-cocopuff @mikimausiii @the-greatest-temptation @superpanicromancesummer @wh1sp3r1ng-impala @emoryhemsworth @squirrel-moose-winchester
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Into the Unknown Part 2 Chapter 4
Into the Unknown
Fandom: Undertale, Coraline (book), Over the Garden Wall, Paranorman, Gravity Falls (season 2)
Characters: Frisk, Norman B., Dipper P., Mabel P., Coraline J., Wirt, Greg, the Cat, the Frog; Sans, Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Asgore,; the Other Mother, the Beast, Agatha P., Bill Cipher, Asriel D., Chara D.,
Pairings: Not the focus. Alphys/Undyne, with mentions of Papyrus/Mettaton, sans/Toriel/Asgore, and Wirt/Sara. Due to the nature of Undertale and the dating segments, there is also interpretable Papyrus/Wirt, Undyne/Mabel, Alphys/Dipper, Napstablook/Norman, Mettaton/Norman, Mettaton/Mabel, Sans/Dipper, Sans/Norman, and Sans/Greg.
Rated a high +K for violence, mild language, horrific elements that may be disturbing to younger readers,  mentions of child abuse and bullying, character death that is sometimes permanent, and mentions of suicide that may be triggering. These elements remain relatively unchanged from their source material, which most all are for children, but discretion is advised nonetheless.
Disclaimer: Undertale was created and owned by Toby Fox. Coraline was created by Neil Gaiman and owned by Bloomsbury and Laika. Over the Garden Wall was created by Patrick McHale and owned by Cartoon Network. Paranorman was created by Sam Fell and Chris Butler and owned by Laika. Gravity Falls was created by Alex Hirsch and owned by Disney. Any other work mentioned or homage are property of their respective owners. This is a fan-made, nonprofit work that only seeks to entertain. Please support the original franchises.
Start from beginning / Previous chapter / Next chapter (soon)
Chapter 4
“I didn’t expect a laboratory in a place like this,” said Greg.
“What?”
Wirt was pulled out of his thoughts as he looked up. A building sat in front of them, plain except for the words “LAB” printed on its side.
“Oh,” said Wirt. “Well, maybe we should go around then.”
“I’m not sure if we can,” said Greg. He pointed to the rest of the road, barely a cliff left from where the lab ended.
“Then we’ll run in,” said Wirt. “And we’ll be very polite and we won’t stick around long enough for them to figure out we’re human.”
“Sounds like a plan. Lead the way, Spuds McKenzie!”
The frog croaked and hopped towards the lab. Two automatic doors slid open and the three walked in.
There was only one light source in the lab, a monitor that filled the room with an eerie blue glow. There was no one around, Wirt realized. The light hum of machinery felt a lot louder than it really was.
“It’s you!” Greg said, and pointed to the monitor.
Wirt turned. His reflection stared back.
“We’re going,” said Wirt as he pushed his brother through.
They were not halfway through the hallway when the lights snapped on, startling Wirt to a stop. A door opened beside him as a small dinosaur monster walked out. Its eyes instantly fell onto the two.
“Hello!” said Greg.
“Oh. My God.” It breathed. “I didn’t expect you to show up so soon! I haven’t showered, I’m barely dressed, it’s all messy and…”
It stopped its pacing and took a deep breath.
“Uh…h-h-hiya! I’m Dr. Alphys, King ASGORE’s royal scientist,” it said. “B-b-b-but I’m not one of the bad guys! Actually, since you stepped out of the Ruins, I’ve been, uh, been ‘observing’ your journey through my console.”
“We noticed,” said Wirt.
“I-I was originally going to stop you,” said Dr. Alphys “But there’s something about watching people on a screen that really makes you root for them. So I want to help you.”
“I think we’ll be fine,” said Wirt.
“But Wirt!” said Greg. “We could be famous!”
“She’s the only one watching us!” said Wirt. “And that’s weird!”
“A-a-actually, uh…” said Dr. Alphys. “T-t-there is a problem of…that. A long time ago, I made a robot named Mettaton. Originally, I built him to be an entertainment robot. Uh, you know, like a robotic TV star or something. Anyway, recently I decided to make him more useful.  You know, just some small practical adjustments. Like…uh…anti…anti-human combat features? And, uh…now he’s an unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood?”
Wirt’s blood ran cold. A set of heavy thuds filled the room and echoed about.
“So what you’re saying is,” said Greg. “We’re going to be on TV?”
“OH YES!” A highly processed voice rang out through the lab.
The child was not there when the Cat awoke. Neither was Beatrice. The Cat could not help but think these two were related.
“ �|ҁ�w6 ,” said the man who spoke in hands.
“I believe they mentioned they can do that,” said the Cat. “Is that why you want me to follow them?”
“ �|ҁ�w6 ?”
“Hardly,” said the Cat.
“e �|?”  said the man, a tease in his voice that the Cat could not quite figure out. “ st-font-�|ҟ�  ҏ� �|Ҏ RESETTING� w6 ?”
The Cat said nothing. He was right of course, and he did not want to admit it out loud.
““,” bri"," MERCY�|Ҍ� w6 ,” said the man. “eigh�|Ҏ �w6.  MERCY “,” reast-theme3|�v�w6 .”
Frisk was the first true visitor to Aunti Whispers’ cottage in a long time. Most visitors just got eaten.
“There’d be no point to eating you, of course,” said Aunti Whispers in a tone that was probably supposed to be jokingly. “You would always just come back. It’d be a waste of perfectly good spices.”
The tea was served by a young woman who was more dust than skin. It was made of golden flowers. Aunti Whispers ordered it especially for them. It was a rare plant in the Unknown, but Frisk recognized the bright colors and sharp fragrance of that in the Underground.  It felt familiar, and not just because of that. It smelled like the Mr. Dad Guy that the Other Toriel had created. It reminded them of the flowers that had broken their fall when they first fell down, and again in the Dump.
“Now go rearrange the bones of the past visitors,” Aunti Whispers said to the servant girl.
“I already have, Aunti Whispers,” the girl said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Then clean the floor. Our guests have tracked in quite a bit of mud.”
Frisk couldn’t help but feel a wash of shame as the servant girl’s shoulders slumped and she resumed to her chores. They cocked their head to the side, a quiet indication of confusion.
“It is best that Lorna keeps to her chores,” said Aunti Whispers. “Working will keep the beast within her at bay. Now then, child, what brings you to the Unknown?”
Frisk started to sign.
“I’m afraid I do not know the language of hands,” said Aunti Whispers. She did not say it cruelly, but it was still disappointing. Frisk fetched the paper pad and pen.
How did you know I could Save?
“You are not the first person to enter the Unknown and use the powers of your Soul.” said Aunti Whispers. “A few of them are downstairs now.”
I didn’t know I could do it, wrote down Frisk. They don’t write down the part where they found out they could do it.
Aunti Whispers hummed in thought. “Lorna! Fetch me a book from my bookshelf. Mysteries of the Soul, Volume One. Think it’s by some fellow named Faux.”
“Oh no…” Alphys said.
“OH YES!” Mettaton announced as he popped over the kitchen counter. “WELCOME BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES TO THE UNDERGROUND’S PREMIERE COOKING SHOW! COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBOT!!! PREHEAT YOUR OVENS, BECASE WE’VE GOT A VERY SPECIAL RECIPE FOR YOU!”
“A cake?” Greg asked.
“RIGHT YOU ARE, MY LOVELY ASSISTANT!!!” Mettaton said. “GO AHEAD AND GATHER THE INGREDIENTS. THEY’RE RIGHT ON THE COUNTER BEHIND YOU!!!”
“We’re not going to be a part of any cooking show,” said Wirt.
“It’s just a cake, Wirt,” said Greg. “And the audience is counting on us.”
“LET’S GIVE THEM A HAND FOR ENCOURAGEMENT!!! Mettaton said.
A confetti cannon exploded from behind the kitchen set, covering Wirt.  Greg clapped along before getting to work. He dropped off the eggs on the counter, dropped the sugar on the eggs, and the milk in the sugar.
“PERFECT!!! GREAT JOB BEAUTIFUL!!” Mettaton said. “NOW WE JUST NEED OUR SECRET INGREDIENT!!”
“Love?” Greg asked.
Mettaton held up a chainsaw.
“A HUMAN SOUL!!!”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Wirt said. “Don’t you have a substitution or something?”
“WHY WOULD I EVER NEED ONE WHEN THE REAL THING’S RIGHT HERE?” Mettaton asked.
“Well, what if someone’s….vegan?”
“VEGAN?”
“Well—”
“THAT’S A GREAT IDEA, SWEETHEART!!!” Mettaton said. “ACTUALLY, WE DO HAVE AN OPTION ON SET!! MTT BRAND COMVENIENT HUMAN SOUL SUBSTITUTE!!!”
Mettaton pointed off the kitchen set and out of the room. A wooden cabinet with a jar sat in the corner.
“That looks suspicious,” Wirt said.
“YOUR IDEA, BEAUTIFUL.” Mettaton said.
“I’ll get it! I’m a lovely assistant!” Greg said.
Greg ran off the set. The cameras followed him. No sooner did he lay a hand on the counter did it shoot up into the sky, taking Greg with him.
Wirt let out a series of panicked noises he could not quite form into words.
“OH DEAR. WHAT A TRAGEDY,” said Mettaton. “WELL, WE’RE ON A SCHEDULE, SWEETHEART. IF YOU CAN’T GET THEM BACK IN ONE MINUTE, WE’LL HAVE TO MOVE ONTO THE ORIGINAL PLAN!!!”
The phone rang.
“I know this looks bad,” said Alphys. “B-but I think I have an idea. S-see that button on your phone that says JET PACK?”
Wirt looked down at the phone.
“Press it,” said Alphys.
Wirt knew exactly where this was going.
“TIME’S RUNNING OUT, SWEETHEART!” Mettaton reminded.
Wirt swallowed, looked up to Greg so he wouldn’t have to look at the phone, and pressed the button.
He was a good twenty feet in the air before he could process his feet left the ground. He was not much higher when Mettaton began to throw things at him. The sense of vertigo faded as his attention shifted to dodging puffs of flour, eggs, and cups of sugar.
He had passed Greg by the time he was actually able to get his bearings. He looked just in time to see the jar that Greg had tossed it start to fall. Neither of them could catch it in time. It collided to the ground in a mess of glass and red goo.
“HUH,” said Mettaton. “HOW ABOUT WE GO TO A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS, AND WE’LL FINISH UP WITH THE CAKE WE MADE AHEAD OF TIME!”
Mettaton flew off closer to the real set. Wirt managed to catch himself and fly down as the dresser coiled back into himself.
“That was fun!” said Greg.
“That was terrifying!” said Wirt.
He pulled Greg closer to him, stopping him from going back to the set. Mettaton was talking to his cameramen, and wouldn’t see if they left.
“How about we leave before he notices we’re gone?” Wirt asked.
“But I wanted to try the cake,” said Greg.
It took Lorna a minute to find the book. It was old and musty, with binding falling apart at the seams and pages nearly yellow with age. It was big enough that it hit the table with a thud, regardless of how carefully Lorna put it down. Aunti Whispers turned the page carefully, leaning in as she read. Frisk tried their best to read over her head. They could only make out vague shapes; heats in different colors with pigment that faded over time, and carefully sketched triangle patterns.
“Souls hold a type of power,” read Aunti Whispers. “It holds their owner together and shapes their personality, no matter what they may go through in life. Bravery, Justice, Kindness, Patience, Perseverance, Integrity…the strongest of these, Determination. The power is rare, but its powers are innate. The ability to persist after death, or rewind time. To fix what went wrong, or what went right.”
I thought it was like a video game, wrote down Frisk. Every time I felt determined, it was like I was saving the game.
Aunti Whispers made a face of confusion. Frisk supposed she did not understand what a video game was.
“I will admit my knowledge of how Souls work is lacking,” she said. “That was not the kind of magic I work with. If you truly want to find the powers of your Soul, you should try to look within the Kingdom of Monsters.”
Frisk perked up.
That’s what I want to do! They wrote. Do you know how to get there?
“There is a way,” said Aunti Whispers. “But I do not know it. How did you end up in the Unknown in the first place?”
Another wash of shame overcame Frisk as they started writing. I reset.
Aunti Whispers studied them carefully, eyes cold with something Frisk could not read. “Were you here before?”
Frisk shook their head. They started to write things down, that they were in the Underground at first and then the Other World, but Aunti Whispers spoke again.
“The other ones that used Determination were much older than you, you realize. They were much more in control of what they could do. If you came about the power recently, you may not be well-equipped to use it. One small slip, and you may have traded places with someone.”
Frisk nodded.
I know I have, they sign. That’s why I want to go back. But not before I fix things.
Aunti Whispers did not understand.
Lorna did not fall asleep until well into the night, as her body finally collapsed from exhaustion. Frisk did not fall asleep until after that. Though Aunti Whispers had proven she had no ill will towards them, her house was not exactly comfortable sleeping in.
When they woke up, Lorna made them a small breakfast of things they couldn’t quite eat and more tea. Aunti Whispers only emerged to give Lorna more orders and give a final warning to Frisk.
“Beware my sister, Adelaide. She lives in the pasture. She must not be trusted.”
The Cat was waiting for them outside the house, curled up in a tree.
“I was wondering when you’d step out,” said the Cat. He sounded like he did not care. “I take it that little trick was how you ended up in the Other World, yes?”
Frisk nodded.
Didn’t mean to, they signed. You were in danger.
The Cat watches them carefully, as if looking for a sign they were lying. His sign reading was not too good, but he could ready body language.
“I don’t believe Beatrice will be joining us again,” said the Cat. “Do you know the cause of that?”
Frisk nodded. They didn’t want to say, and the Cat probably would not understand them anyway.
The two of them head off into the unknown.
Author’s Note: I am so sorry for the late update! I drank too much eggnog and lost track of time! Hopefully this should be the last of it, and the good news is I’ll post the next chapter tomorrow since it is rather short.
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funface2 · 5 years
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101 Funny Quotes — Hilarious Quotes to Make You Laugh – Parade
Whether it’s a play on words, a funny observation about everyday things or old witty sayings, comedy has a way of making us realize we’re all going through the same stuff in this crazy life. These funny quotes about work, love, friends and family will have you saying, “So true!” because, well, they are. Others will have you remembering hilarious, meme-worthy movie and TV moments.
Take a much-needed break from your day to check out the 101 funniest quotes we found in stand-up comedy, books, plays, celebrity Twitter and interviews, as well as movies and TV shows, guaranteed to give you a quick chuckle. 
1. “I’m sick of following my dreams, man. I’m just going to ask where they’re going and hook up with ’em later.” —Mitch Hedberg
2. “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here. This is the war room.” —President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers), Dr. Strangelove
3. “My mother always used to say: The older you get, the better you get, unless you’re a banana.” —Rose (Betty White), The Golden Girls
4. “Halloween is the beginning of the holiday shopping season. That’s for women. The beginning of the holiday shopping season for men is Christmas Eve.” —David Letterman
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5. “Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.” —Jack Handey
6. Bob: “Looks like you’ve been missing a lot of work lately.” Peter: “I wouldn’t say I’ve been missing it, Bob.” —Bob (Paul Wilson) and Peter (Ron Livingston), Office Space
7. “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.” —Mark Twain
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8. “Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow Internet to see who they really are.” —Will Ferrell
9. “I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” —Rita Rudner
10. “Ned, I would love to stand here and talk with you—but I’m not going to.” —Phil Connors (Bill Murray), Groundhog Day
11. “When your mother asks, ‘Do you want a piece of advice?’ it is a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway.” —Erma Bombeck
12. “I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.” —Phyllis Diller
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13. “Never follow anyone else’s path. Unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path. Then by all means follow that path.” —Ellen DeGeneres
14. “Insomnia sharpens your math skills because you spend all night calculating how much sleep you’ll get if you’re able to ‘fall asleep right now.’” —Anonymous
15. “Breaking up is like knocking over a Coke machine. You can’t do it in one push; you got to rock it back and forth a few times, and then it goes over.” —Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), Seinfeld
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16. “I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.” —Michael Scott (Steve Carrell), The Office
17. “I walk around like everything’s fine, but deep down, inside my shoe, my sock is sliding off.” —Anonymous
18. “I haven’t spoken to my wife in years. I didn’t want to interrupt her.” —Rodney Dangerfield
19. “I used to sell furniture for a living. The trouble was, it was my own.” —Les Dawson
20. “There’s nothing wrong with you that an expensive operation can’t prolong.” —Surgeon (Graham Chapman), Monty Python’s Flying Circus
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21. “Someone asked me, if I were stranded on a desert island what book would I bring: ‘How to Build a Boat.’” —Steven Wright
22. Ted Striker: “Surely you can’t be serious.” Dr. Rumack: “I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley” —Ted Striker (Robert Hays) and Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen), Airplane!
23.“There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it.” ―Mindy Kaling, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
24. “You know you’ve reached middle age when you’re cautioned to slow down by your doctor, instead of by the police.” —Joan Rivers
25. “Truth hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with a seat missing, but it hurts.” —Lt. Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen), Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
26. “My Mama says that alligators are ornery because they got all them teeth and no toothbrush.” —Bobby Boucher (Adam Sandler), The Waterboy
27. “I never feel more alone than when I’m trying to put sunscreen on my back.” —Jimmy Kimmel
28. “Marriage is like an unfunny, tense version of Everybody Loves Raymond, but it doesn’t last 22 minutes. It lasts forever.” —Pete (Paul Rudd), Knocked Up
29. “Being a mom means never buying the right amount of produce. Either everyone suddenly loves grapes and a week’s worth are eaten in one afternoon, or fruit flies are congregating around my rotting bananas.” —Lessons from the Minivan
30. “I’m not insane. My mother had me tested.” —Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), The Big Bang Theory
31. “There are only three ages for women in Hollywood: babe, district attorney and Driving Miss Daisy.” —Elise (Goldie Hawn), The First Wives Club
32. Usher: “Bride or groom?” Wedding guest: “It should be perfectly obvious I’m neither!” —Four Weddings and a Funeral
33. Stan Fields: “Describe your perfect date.” Cheryl: “That’s a tough one. I’d have to say April 25. Because it’s not too hot and not too cold. All you need is a light jacket.” —Stan Fields (William Shatner) and Cheryl Frasier (Heather Burns), Miss Congeniality
34. “I saw a study that said speaking in front of a crowd is considered the number one fear of the average person. Number two was death. This means to the average person, if you have to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy.” —Jerry Seinfeld
35. Lucy: “There’s just two things keeping me from dancing in that show.” Fred: “Your feet?” —Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Fred Mertz (William Frawley), I Love Lucy
36. “Common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it most never use it.” —Anonymous
37. Coach: “How’s a beer sound, Norm?” Norm: “I don’t know, I usually finish before they get a word in.” —Coach (Nicholas Colasanto) and Norm (George Wendt), Cheers
38. “If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn’t be more surprised.” —Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
39.“There’s nothing simpler than avoiding people you don’t like. Avoiding one’s friends, that’s the real test.” —Dowager Countess Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith), Downton Abbey
40. “If I’m not back in five minutes, just wait longer.” —Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey), Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
41. “The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize.” —Clairee Belcher (Olivia Dukakis), Steel Magnolias
42. “I’m at a place in my life when errands are starting to count as going out.” —Anonymous
43. “A good rule to remember for life is that when it comes to plastic surgery and sushi, never be attracted by a bargain.” —Graham Norton
44. “I’m not good at the advice. Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?” —Chandler (Matthew Perry), Friends
45. “Here’s all you have to know about men and women: Women are crazy, men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid.” —George Carlin
46. “When I’m in social situations, I always hold onto my glass. It makes me feel comfortable and secure and I don’t have to shake hands.” —Larry (Larry David), Curb Your Enthusiasm
47. “As you get older, three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can’t remember the other two.” —Sir Norman Wisdom
48. “That’s why New York is so great, though. Everyone you care about can despise you and you can still find a bagel so good, nothing else matters. Who needs love when you’ve got lox? They both stink, but only one tastes good.” —Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
49. “Here’s some advice: At a job interview, tell them you’re willing to give 110 percent. Unless the job is a statistician.” —Adam Gropman
50. “Does it disturb anyone else that ‘The Los Angeles Angels’ baseball team translates directly to ‘The The Angels Angels’?” —Neil DeGrasse Tyson
51. “I never forget a face—but in your case, I’ll be glad to make an exception.” —Groucho Marx
52. “Here’s something to think about: How come you never see a headline like ‘Psychic Wins Lottery’?” —Jay Leno
53. “A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.” —Steve Martin
54. “My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far I’ve finished two bags of M&Ms and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.” —Dave Barry
55. “Never do anything out of hunger. Not even eating.” —Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn), True Detective
56. “What do you mean, he don’t eat no meat? That’s okay, that’s okay. I make lamb.” —Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin), My Big Fat Greek Wedding
57. “You know you’re getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you’re down there.” —George Burns
58. “To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people!” —Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis), A Fish Called Wanda
59. “Instead of the mahi mahi, may I just get the one mahi because I’m not that hungry?” —Shelley Darlingson (Anna Faris), The House Bunny
60. “Accept who you are. Unless you’re a serial killer.” —Ellen DeGeneres
61. Francois: “Do you know what kind of a bomb it was?” Clouseau: “The exploding kind.” —Francois (André Maranne) and Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers), The Pink Panther Strikes Again
62. “My ability to turn good news into anxiety is rivaled only by my ability to turn anxiety into chin acne.” —Tina Fey, Bossypants
63. “There is one word that describes people that don’t like me: Irrelevant.” —Anonymous
64. “Why do they call it rush hour when nothing moves?” —Robin Williams
65. “I remember it like it was yesterday. Of course, I don’t really remember yesterday all that well.” —Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), Finding Dory
66. “I don’t have to take this abuse from you; I’ve got hundreds of people dying to abuse me.” —Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ghostbusters
67. Police officer: “Pull over.” Harry: “No, it’s a cardigan. But thanks for noticing.” —Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels), Dumb and Dumber
68. “I grew up with six brothers. That’s how I learned to dance: waiting for the bathroom.” —Bob Hope
69. “If we’re going to pay this much for crab, it better sing and dance and introduce us to the Little Mermaid.” —Claire Foster (Tina Fey), Date Night
70. “I prefer not to think before speaking. I like being as surprised as everyone else by what comes out of my mouth.” —Anonymous
71. “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow just as well.” —Mark Twain
72. “Woke up today. It was terrible.” —Grumpy Cat
73. “Eggs are fantastic for a fitness diet. If you don’t like the taste, just add cocoa, flour, sugar, butter, baking powder and cook at 350 for 30 minutes.” —Anonymous
74. “I can’t end my messages with Love, Shaq because the B-52s ruined that for me.” —Meme attributed to Shaquille O’Neal
75. “My husband and I fell in love at first sight. Maybe I should have taken a second look.” —Halley Reed (Mia Farrow), Crimes and Misdemeanors
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76. “Thanksgiving dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Half-times take 12 minutes. This is not a coincidence.” —Erma Bombeck
77. “Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.” —Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant), Arsenic and Old Lace
78. Brian: “Look, you’ve got it all wrong. You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody. You’ve got to think for yourselves. You’re all individuals.” Crowd: “Yes, we’re all individuals!” Individual: “I’m not!” —Brian (Graham Chapman) and cast, Monty Python’s Life of Brian
79. “Why can’t you just be happy for me and then go home and talk behind my back later like a normal person?” —Lillian (Maya Rudolph), Bridesmaids
80. “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” —Oscar Wilde
81. “What they could do to make it easier is combine the two, real estate and obituaries: Mr. Klein died today leaving a wife, two children, and a spacious three-bedroom apartment with a wood-burning fireplace.” —Harry (Billy Crystal), When Harry Met Sally
82. “The key to faking out the parents is the clammy hands. It’s a good non-specific symptom; I’m a big believer in it. A lot of people will tell you that a good phony fever is a dead lock, but you get a nervous mother, you could wind up in a doctor’s office. That’s worse than school. You fake a stomach cramp, and when you’re bent over, moaning and wailing, you lick your palms. It’s a little childish and stupid, but then, so is high school.” —Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
83. “I like my money where I can see it: hanging in my closet.” —Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Sex and the City
84: Cal: “You are really pushing my buttons today.” Becky: “Which one is ‘mute’?” —Waitress, the Musical
85. “The worst part of online shopping is having to get up and get your credit card from your purse.” —Anonymous
86. “People say, ‘But Betty, Facebook is a great way to connect with old friends.’ Well, at my age, if I want to connect with old friends I need a Ouija board.” —Betty White
87. “My therapist says I’m afraid of success. I guess I could understand that, because after all, fulfilling my potential would really cut into my sitting-around time.” —Maria Bamford
88. “From the ages of eight to 18, me and my family moved around a lot. Mostly we would just stretch, but occasionally one of us would actually get up to go to the fridge.” —Jarod Kintz
89. “Money cannot buy health, but I’d settle for a diamond-studded wheelchair.” —Dorothy Parker
90. “The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat. So people who don’t know what they’re doing, or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self.” —Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), You’ve Got Mail
91. “Good parenting means investing in your child’s future, which is why I am saving to buy mine a hoverboard someday.” —Lin-Manuel Miranda
92. “I love airports because the rules of society don’t apply. Eat a pizza and have a glass of wine at 7 am while in track pants. Nobody cares.” —Anonymous
93. “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” —Groucho Marx
94. “I’m one stomach flu away from my goal weight.” —Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt), The Devil Wears Prada
95. “My perfect beautiful miracle baby? Never slept. Ever. Never. Twelve years later the memories of those nights, of that sleep deprivation, still make me rock back and forth a little bit. You want to torture someone? Hand them an adorable baby they love who doesn’t sleep.” —Shonda Rimes
96. “I’d like to have a kid, but I’m not sure I’m ready to spend 10 years of my life constantly asking someone where his shoes are.” —Damien Fahey
97. “Why yes, I can carry on a conversation made up entirely of movie quotes.” —Anonymous
98. “I’m sure wherever my Dad is, he’s looking down on us. He’s not dead, just very condescending.” —Jack Whitehall
99. “I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.” —Noel Coward
100. “Trying is the first step toward failure.” —Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
101. “I have a lot of growing up to do. I realized that the other day inside my fort.” —Zach Galifianakis
Want more great quotes? Check out… 50 Thinking of You Quotes  150 Good Morning Quotes  100 Wedding and Marriage Quotes  50 Friday Quotes  50 Monday Motivation Quotes
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ironinkpen · 8 years
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The Seventh Wheel: A Case for Black Lion Lance
Alternatively titled: Lance Deserves The World Because He is My Son and I Love Him
Okay, so Shiro’s gone and someone’s gotta fill his big ass shoes. In the toss-up between him, Allura, and Keith, I’m going to be arguing in this post that Lance could be the guy to do it. And, fair warning, this is going to be ridiculously (like, ridiculously) long lmao so here’s the TL;DR right now: I think that a) Lance already shows the character traits of a good leader, and b) there’s a good chance of him becoming one, given his impending character arc. 
It also has a chance of not happening, of course, but who cares?? I already started writing this thing, so:
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Alright, let’s begin at the beginning, because that’s always a good place to start.
Lance is first introduced to the audience as the classic loud, arrogant, goofy flirt. The perfect comic relief character. He rescues a guy because his “rival” was gonna do it first and he can’t have that, the first thing he does in the giant robot cat is fart, and he hits on a girl who just fell out of a pod in a magic castle. He’s there to make you laugh.
I can’t imagine anyone looking at a character like that and “You know what? This guy could be a leader.” Allura says it herself in episode 1. The black lion is supposed to be the decisive head of Voltron, a person who’s a natural born leader, who’s in control, and,
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Basically, calm, collected, and respected. “A natural born leader.” So, definitely not Lance. Case closed.
But, not really. Because Lance actually is calm and collected. He’s just not respected. He has all the leadership traits– the problem is that he’s not treated as someone who could be a leader.
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So you get scenes like the above, where Lance tries to tell another character what to do (in this case, Keith to not run off and blow their cover) and, despite his advice being relatively reasonable, isn’t taken seriously.
Allura talks about a “natural born leader” needed for the Black Lion. At first glance, it’s easy to be like “well, that’s not Lance,” but the thing is, Lance actually does have a lot of leadership traits. They’re just not being acknowledged, most of the time.
Why’s that?
Well there’s the fact that he can be arrogant, which kind of turns people off to the idea of him being in charge. Also, while the team clearly likes Lance (I’ve seen people saying he’s under appreciated by the others but I don’t really agree with that tbh), I don’t think the take him very seriously since he tends to make light of things. And there’s something else I noticed while watching Voltron: while everyone else has gone through some version of a character arc already, Lance… hasn’t yet. At all.
A character arc is the growth of a character over the course of the story, right? A character begins in one place and ends in another. So, from season 1 to season 2, Hunk goes from terrified to more confident in his ability to help others and protect the universe. Pidge starts off focused on saving just her family and grows to understand her role in saving everyone. Keith goes from a very intense, live-in-the-moment character who clings to the team for companionship to someone who explores, acknowledges, and faces his past and heritage. Shiro goes from traumatized to overcoming his trauma to defeat the ones who hurt him. Allura goes from grieving the fresh loss of her people to accepting that it happened and working with others (even Galra) to make sure it never happens again.
But Lance doesn’t change.
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(tbh Lance…. same)
There’s no deviation from the starting point for Lance. His character traits have remained ridiculously consistent. So it’s deceptively easy to look at him and think: oh, he hasn’t matured at all. 
But that’s simply because he hasn’t had his arc yet. So instead of watching him grow, we’ve just been… getting to know Lance better. Him not growing doesn’t mean he’s not a mature, respectable character (though he’s definitely immature at times). It just means we haven’t gotten a chance to see him do so yet.
And anyway, as we get to know Lance, here are the traits we find:
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In his first appearance, Lance crashes their simulator because he’s too busy showing off to pay attention. This seems like the perfect introduction for a selfish character, right? Except that’s quickly reversed by the narrative. Immediately after they fail, Lance diverts Iverson’s attention off of a mouthy Pidge. He lets Iverson say awful things to him with a tight lip and says nothing back. And then afterwards, he doesn’t even get mad at Pidge for mouthing off. He takes the fall without so much as a complaint, and later on in the night tries to invite Pidge to go out with them.
The protective instinct we see in this scene is expanded upon later, when Lance jumps in front of Coran to save him from, you know, exploding.
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And then even later when he wakes up from a coma to save Pidge:
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Other moments that stand out where Lance is protective of others is in episode one where he tries to get the Galra ships away from Earth, later in the season when he tells Keith to be careful about hurting the Balmera because it’s alive, and when he fights Hunk in season two and makes it a point not to hurt him, even though Hunk is brainwashed and trying to feed him to a giant snake thing. Like I said, this protective trait’s been there since the beginning. It doesn’t change. He doesn’t grow with it and become more protective or anything. It’s just expanded upon the more we see of Lance.
Another example of this consistency in character is Lance’s deductive reasoning and creativity. In the first season, he’s able to figure out that the bot is a bomb almost immediately because Pidge isn’t with it. In the second, he’s quick to ask questions of the mermaids (”How did your queen know we were here?” “What is that garden?”). Lance is pretty good about paying attention to his surroundings and asking questions, and at noticing when something’s off (though he can still be pretty naive, re: Nyma). He’s also really creative!! Season 2 Episode 2 shows this off well. When he fights, he often incorporates his environment. He’s a resourceful kid!
He’s also very quick to change his mind when his first judgements about situations are wrong. Lance’s adaptability and emotional sensitivity make him able to make snap decisions in battle about who to trust and what side to fight for. In the beginning, he’s quick to trust Allura and Coran despite the fact that Allura tried to break his arm before. And then in season 2, not only does he quickly join up with the mermaid rebels when they ask him for help, but-
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-he figures out that the queen is being genuine and immediately changes his strategy to accommodate this new information. He’s pretty attentive to the moods and needs of the people around him (like when he starts that space snowball fight so that everyone can have some fun, jumps into that fountain to help Pidge get the gaming system she wants, explains the plan to Hunk all theatrically so it seems exciting instead of absolutely terrifying, etc. etc.). He’s also able to sort through information and change gears easily. 
Plus he just has good battle instincts in general, though in a slightly different way than Keith. Lance is a more plan-oriented guy. One notable instance of this in season 1 is when he holds back Keith from charging into that Galra control tower and suggests that they sneak in instead. And there are tons more examples of Lance’s little ingenuities in battle. It’s in season 2 episode 2 that he really gets to shine though. Especially in that scene where that giant worm thing is chasing him and Hunk through the ocean, and he says,
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This line is gonna become relevant against Lotor next season mark my words.
But yeah! Lance has good ideas! He’s able to come with strategies and work-around solutions extremely quickly! And that actually brings me to this:
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Lance is patient and decisive. He thinks things through (in battle at least, his thirst gets the best of him at other times lol). He waits until the time is right to strike. And he’s confident when he does, too. In the scene above, he says “wait, I’ve got this” and fires the shot at the perfect moment to save Slav, even as the doors are closing. And like just. The entirety of his Garrison backstory. He wanted to be a fighter pilot, but he was put in the cargo class. And yet he stuck with it. He kept working hard so that he was the top of his class, and then when Keith dropped out, he got his shot. We don’t really know when Keith dropped out, but it’s pretty likely that Lance worked for at least a couple months with no indication of whether or not a spot would open up at all.
Lance has been showing off Shiro’s “patience yields focus” thing this whole time!!
There are so many more leadership traits that Lance displays (and more examples of the ones I’ve already listed), but I’ll stick with these. Basically, a recap: Lance is and has always been protective, inquisitive and alert, adaptable and emotionally sensitive, instinctive, and patient. 
And look:
Protective, like the Yellow Lion. Inquisitive, like Green. Adaptable and emotionally sensitive, like Blue. Good instincts, like Red. And patient and decisive, like the Black Lion.
(do you ever write an essay on the fly and then you start thinking “holy shit i might actually be onto something” because lmao)
Lance displays a combination of every lion’s traits. He’s completely well-rounded. Which is arguably the most valuable leadership trait of all.
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But he doesn’t really see that.
He sees all of the people around him being great and talented (on another note, another great trait for a leader is an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of his team, and Lance definitely has that) and fails to see his own worth in the team because doesn’t have his own special niche. This is actually one of his greatest strengths (ever heard the phrase, ”a jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”?), especially if he were to become a leader, because a good leader should be balanced. A leader doesn’t have to be most talented on the team– they just have to be the one who can best direct the team.
The thing is, Lance doesn’t really get that. He sees the leadership position as the position for like. The coolest, strongest, best person. His character is really preoccupied with the idea of gaining respect and notoriety. It’s why he’s constantly at odds with Keith at the beginning, because Keith is the best pilot and everyone always praises him and Lance wants to be that person. In season 1, we get that daydream where he’s waving a flag with his face on it and everyone’s giving him thumbs up. In season 2 episode 2, Lance jokes that when he helps free the mermaids, he’ll be a hero. Despite the humor in these scenes, there’s something more substantial under the surface– Lance’s number one fantasy is to be acknowledged. 
That’s why he’s attached to the idea of him being the “sharpshooter,” gets sad that no one else thinks so, and is so happy when Shiro calls him that. Because he thinks he needs a “thing” to be praised for. He thinks that to be great you need to be the best at something. So he fails to see the worth of his own well-roundedness.
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But, look at the scene above, where Lance is listing everyone’s strengths. Shiro’s special skill according to Lance is being an “awesome leader.” He’s not the best pilot like Keith, not the most handy like Hunk, not the cleverest like Pidge– Shiro’s… a lot like Lance. Well-rounded. Shiro’s main skill is that he can bring everyone together and keep them calm in hard situations. Lance is really similar to him in a lot of ways, though he doesn’t see it. He’s almost like a younger, more immature, less experienced Shiro. He hasn’t grown into himself yet.
To be honest, one of the main reasons I think Lance could actually end up being the Black Paladin is that the story arc is really compelling. With Shiro we came into this show with a stable leadership figure that didn’t really have to grow into his role. Shiro’s story arc wasn’t about becoming a worthy leader for Voltron, it was about dealing with what happened to him while he was in captivity and overcoming the ones who tortured him. If we’re going to see a new leader, it’d be really interesting to see someone who has to learn how to be a leader. And Lance, with all of his insecurities and his preoccupation with heroism, would be a cool character to unpack with a leadership arc.
Like, as I mentioned before, Lance is the only character who hasn’t grown yet. And that’s really fucking weird, narratively speaking. It doesn’t really make sense to have one of your main characters be static. But I honestly don’t think that this is a case of the writers neglecting Lance. I think they’ve been quietly laying the foundation for his arc since day one.
Lance has some insecurities that have been hinted at pretty consistently but never fully confronted. We see it in his weird “rivalry” with Keith, which is very out of character for a guy who seems to be pretty open and friendly with literally everyone else he meets (he meets the yupper in Beta Traz and fifteen minutes later is literally ready to fight to the death for it like??). We also see it in Iverson comparing him to Keith. And then we get several scenes in season 2 that continue to prod at the issue. We learn that he’s not super confident in his relationship with his lion (seen when Keith mentions the blue lion outside his door and Lance gets defensive because “me and blue are very happy together”), that he doesn’t actually see himself as a hero even though he’s preoccupied with the idea of being one (seen in his surprise when the mermaids called him their savior), and that he sort of sees himself as a “seventh wheel” to all the other paladins. But we never get a real resolution to the problem at all, just a steadily mounting pile of scenes where it’s present.
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So the question that’s being set up here is: what does Lance contribute to the team? Lance is the only character that shows something of a lack of confidence in his value as a member of Voltron. He and Blue don’t seem to have bonded all that much (despite there being an entire episode where he’s in the water!! what the hell!!), and we’re seeing that affect his view of his worth within the team. Typically, insecurity storylines like this can go one of two ways: either the character who is insecure becomes secure in their position, or they are put in a new position and forced to prove themselves. Lance’s character arc is going to be that he starts off as sort of insecure and grows… somehow. More confident? More assertive? More secure? We have to see which route the Voltron writers will take. 
Either way, Lance is almost definitely going to get an arc next season, given with how the writers have built up its foundation. With Voltron’s power structure about to be shaken up, the questions of where he belongs and how he’s going to grow are going to get answered. And I personally think the way to gives us those answers would be to have him step up and lead.
I mean, this isn’t all to say that he’s perfect for the role, though. He’s still distractible, somewhat insecure (which can translate into arrogance), can be impulsive, and he doesn’t have the same kind of authority in the group as Shiro does. He’d definitely have to grow into it. But I think that the building blocks are there, and I honestly feel like that’s the most riveting part of this set up: seeing Lance slowly come into his own would be so satisfying.
(And just like. Picture the Black Lion choosing Lance. Lance pointing to himself and saying, “Me? But I’m just a boy from Cuba” like!!!!!)
Of course, the other two contenders for the Black Lion presidency, Allura and Keith, also definitely have a shot. Allura especially. She fits the “natural born leader” thing to a tee:
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The only issue is that I think that that kind of narrative would be almost… too easy? Allura is a lot like Shiro in a way– they’re both very put-together, authoritative characters. If the purpose of making Shiro go away for a while is really to challenge the power structures in Voltron, then putting Allura in as Black Paladin is kind of a strange move (even though she’d be an amazing Black Paladin and I really want her to be but that’s an essay for another day) considering it would just be swapping out one leader for another. Shiro didn’t really have to grow into his position as Black Paladin, because he was already respected and assertive. And so is Allura. So while the change would make sense, it might be a less interesting option.
Plus, in the beginning, when Allura is explaining the traits of the lions, this happens:
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Lance cuts her off, and we never actually get to hear in the show what exactly the Blue Lion’s “thing” is. But a look on the Voltron website tells us that the blue lion is the friendliest, most confident, and also the most accepting of new pilots.
Hm.
The fact that this information is kept from the audience makes me think that someone new is going to be put in the Blue Lion. And Allura does match the traits of the Blue Lion as well. Alteans are diplomatic, so she has the friendly thing down. And she’s obviously very confident in her abilities.
(Wrote a longer essay on Blue Paladin Allura here lmao)
Of course, she could also be unable to pilot a lion at all. Coran’s often said that the castle runs on her quintessence, so if that’s really the case and wormholes aren’t the only problem, she might not be able to be a paladin, in which case it could be that Coran will be a paladin instead. But I think there’s a good chance that Slav will update the castle next season, so either Allura and the castle are gonna get some sick new weaponry, or he’ll make it so that Coran’ll be able to make wormholes while Allura fights in a lion. We’ll have to see which path they take.
Really, I personally feel like Allura doesn’t actually… need to be Black Paladin. Her plot next season is going to be really busy for her between her new powers, the mini-resistance she’s leading, and the whole Evil Alteans thing, so having her also bond with the Black Lion (which I feel like is going to be difficult for the next pilot given the loss of Shiro) would just be. A lot. It’s already pretty much universally acknowledged by the team that she’s the brains of this whole universe-saving operation– when Shiro was around, he was her second in command. The authority she has within the group won’t change just because she isn’t the titular head of Voltron. Plus, consolidating those two roles - the role the leader of the resistance and that of the head of Voltron - would be weird I think. While Allura could definitely handle doing both, it’s kinda like asking the President to also lead Congress. She could do it. But it’s just. Weird.
As for Keith, I think he could do it too!! But hmmm.
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First of all, we run into the same problem we see with Allura. Shiro already choosing a successor? That’s. Kind of boring. Too “Chosen One.” I mean it absolutely makes sense for Shiro to think of something like that, especially when he’s dying from a poisonous purple wound, but from a storyline perspective it’s kind of dull. The transition of power would be too smooth, like “Shiro told me I should be leader so I am and here we go.” Also, it was just kind of weird that they made it a point to mention this? Again, in the context of the episode it made sense, but narratively, it feels almost like we’re being setting up for Shiro’s decision here to be challenged somehow. 
On an unrelated note, Keith is hella reckless, which is definitely an obstacle for him, leadership wise. Sure in season 2 episode 1 he’s like “patience yields focus” or whatever, but then the poor boy just forgets that for the rest of the season lmao. 
Like, the short list of impulsive things he’s done in s2 is: tried to run away from the castle, threatened to stab a guy, fought a knife dude at a mall, got the shit beat out of him for knowledge, ignored Hunk when he said they should go back and watch that video (even though there was no reason they couldn’t) and almost got them killed because they didn’t have the information they needed, jumped into a pool of stomach acid with no indication of whether he could get out before being digested, and jumped out of Hunk’s lion (which was such a bad idea that Hunk legit thought he was joking) and almost got fried by lasers.
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(poor boy doesn’t even deny it slkdjfldskj)
And there’s also the fact that Keith’s a narrow-scoped guy. He’s gotten better about this lately (we see him looking out for Lance), but for the most part in battle Keith is mainly looking at the enemy in front of him. Which isn’t a bad thing!! It’s actually really to his advantage, and makes him the focused pilot we all know and love. But he’ll need to learn to keep better tabs on his team as leader.
So. I love Keith. And he definitely has the decisiveness, battle experience, and good battle instincts that the Black Lion needs. He’d be a fine leader (tbh any of them would, which is why I’m writing out essays like this to try to untangle where the writers are going with this)!! But his major obstacle would be being patient and learning to coordinate the team.
On a related note, though, Keith doesn’t seem to actually want to lead the team. He brushes Shiro off when he mentions it both times. He seems sort of uncomfortable with the idea of replacing him like that. I think that Keith might try to pilot Black because Shiro told him to and it’s his Duty or whatever, but… I don’t know. Between his grief of losing Shiro again and the discovery of his Galra heritage (galra mom! galra mom!! galra mom!!!) and the new powers he’s apparently going to unlock, he’s like Allura: he has a lot to deal with. So even though he’s definitely going to pilot Black for at least a while, I don’t know if he’ll stick with the role.
But if Keith does become the official Black Paladin, Lance is almost definitely going to end up being his second in command. The two of them have grown into something of a partnership this season (space ranger partners?) and I get the vibe that Lance’ll be the “woah calm down” to Keith’s “come on let’s go!” The pool scene is a good hint of what we can expect from them moving forward.
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I remember seeing it the first time and thinking “why the fuck did they include this lol” but upon reflection it seems like it’s symbolism for both their personalities and their relationship. Keith always “shoves too hard,” whereas Lance doesn’t “shove hard enough.” Keith is always too intense in Lance’s opinion, whereas Lance is too cautious in Keith’s. But eventually they find a balance, and when they stop bickering with each other they find a solution.
In a way, their dynamic is really similar to Shiro and Allura’s. You know how I said that Lance was a less mature Shiro? Keith is basically a less mature Allura– they’re both hotheaded characters (re: their running away from the castle in s2), though Allura is a little more diplomatic and a little more willing to think things through. Shiro and Allura relied on each other to shoulder the burden of leadership, so there’s a chance that Lance and Keith will end up doing the same thing.
Basically I guess that no matter which one of them becomes leader, the other one is kinda gonna be co-captain, sorta.
On another note:
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The bond between Keith and Red was really emphasized this season! It’d be weird if they put such a stress on how close the two of them have gotten and then rip it away the next season, I think. Like, if they wanted to set up Black Paladin Keith, I feel like they should have had less bonding.
(With that in mind, if they decide to go the OG series route and put Lance in the Red Lion instead, it definitely echoes the whole “you’re only here because the best pilot in your class dropped out” thing. If they do go that route, I hope they acknowledge that parallel and have Lance work past it!!)
Okay, god, this is getting to be a mess and some of it was probably reaching but basically!! Any of these three could be the Black Paladin while Shiro’s gone and there’s no possible way for me to guess what the writers of Voltron are thinking. The obvious choice is Keith given that he was leader in the OG Voltron, but they’ve already changed so much in this new series that Allura and Lance have a very good chance at it. But even if Lance doesn’t end up being the one picked, I get the feeling that he’s going to be the Right Hand Man character that calms down the new Black Paladin and encourages them to think things through (Allura and Keith can both be very…. intense).
Personally, though, I think that Lance has the goods to be a good leader but is held back by some insecurities, and that his storyline as Black Paladin could be the most compelling. And not just because he’s my son and he deserves the world.
(But also he is and he does)
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brightlotusmoon · 8 years
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Sneak Peek, “The Spirit Within” #2
So, @lacrymosa99 had joyfully requested that I expand my TMNT 2012 Season 5 headcanon of “Leo and Mikey become Spiritual Intuition Bros, discover their powers together, have loads of fun, and hang out with Ghost Dad Splinter and become like psychic mediums for the family and Unfairly Departed Rat Dad, with hilarious results.” And I was all excited and got to work, because that does make for a really good story with tons of character development. I posted some of the start a few days back. Now I decided to post some more. Except it is still in the Angsty-Fluff stage, not the Sweet-Fluff stage or the Silly-Fluff. The boys gotta practice! And there are side effects! And Leo has no freaking clue what he’s doing! And Mikey may have all that raw talent but he needs discipline and commitment! And Donnie has a new toy! And I am actually learning to write Leo better because of this, I can totally sympathize with him for the first time without muttering “Wonder Boy” under my breath. Turns out, using Mikey as the focal point lets me dive into the turtle’s heads easily, as long as they care about Mikey, I can work with them like whoa. I shall also tag @jumpybox and @mysillylittlesoapbox because there was interest expressed, and Angel123, who doesn’t have a Tumblr. Not gonna apologize for repeated themes, because you should know me by now. This story, which when finished will become part two of The Sunshine Child series, is Canon Divergent. I shall be following the show for the most part, but these stories are meant to be supplemental and take place in that mysterious time lapse between episodes that Ciro loves to gloss over. Who knows what happens offscreen? They don’t really tell us. This is actually a good thing for us writers, because we can write little things that could or should happen in the show but obviously won’t. I am rambling. All right. Lacrymosa, I hope you like where this is going. I mean, you can totally ask for it to change, I give you permission since you made the request. But I have Plans and Plots, sooo. Yeah.
He waited a few days before testing his unspoken theory; he didn’t want to spook his brothers, But it was time now.
Leonardo settled himself before the dojo tree, calling up this new spiritual power like the flow of a river. He sensed Michelangelo kneeling beside him, and that rush of spiritual power from his baby brother was like a burst of oxygen, blooming life and warmth and sunlight. He reminded himself to not feel envy or jealousy. It was just Mikey.
Mikey spoke in a whisper, but to Leo it was a shout. “It’s like my whole brain just expanded and I feel everything.”
Leo frowned. That wasn’t quite his experience; his spiritual feelers were more refined and detailed, seeking out information. Mikey’s seemed more like a solid mist spreading everywhere, eager and childlike in curiosity. How deeply could Mikey sense things? Has Sensei known all this time? Should Leo have known? Why hadn’t Sensei prepared him for something like this?
Sighing, Leo bit his lip, huffed, and concentrated again. His aura rose around him, streamlined and steady, taut and waiting, patient and quiet. It hummed comfortingly.
And then that flowing sunset orange mist nudged it, carefully wrapping around the edges of Leo’s energy, prodding so gently, trying to find a way to ask politely. Leo reminded himself to relax completely. Mikey had an insatiably curious nature, naturally his spiritual energy would be the same. But Master Splinter had never mentioned auras being able to expand so rapidly outside their own boundaries.
“Mikey,” he hissed. “Quit poking me.”
“M’not,” Mikey hissed back. “It’s doing that by itself.”
“What, you can’t control it?” Leo jerked back in horror, his eyes snapped open, his head whipping to the side.
Michelangelo slowly opened his eyes and turned to smile at Leo. It was a kind, gentle smile, easy and delicate. Something in his eyes…his pupils were dilated and the strips of summer blue were glittering. “I never said that,” and Mikey’s voice was different, soft and sweet like a kitten’s purr. Leo blinked, and sunset color surrounded Mikey, tapping and bouncing against his skin like waves. Around his head, the aura looked like a radiating star, like a solar eclipse with Mikey’s head as the moon. Mikey opened his mouth in a grin, and the color was there too, puffing like vapor from his mouth.
“Leo,” the colors said, “Don’t worry. It’s all good. Everything is awesome.”
Leo watched as Mikey’s aura only brightened and widened, spilling out into the dojo, colliding with the tree and lighting it up with colors he had only seen in outer space. He couldn’t breathe. He pressed both hands to his chest. It was too much. As Leo felt himself slide sideways, he saw a white core of power, ringed in summer blue, the color of his brother’s eyes.
 . . . .
“…eo? Leo, I’m sorry. You gotta wake up. Can you hear me? Please, big brother, we need you!”
It was Mikey’s voice, but it was Mikey as a child, tormented by endless nightmares, scrabbling to cling to Leonardo’s plastron in tears, and Leo would automatically embrace him tightly, so tightly, and murmur, “Shh, little brother. I’m here. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll always keep you safe.”
“Guys, did you hear that? He said something!”
“Are you sure, Mikey? He hasn’t even moved in six hours.”
“Donnie, I swear, he said something! Leo, say it again? Leo! Leo, please! Wake up, wake up!”
“Mikey, don’t shake him! Quit it, ya shellhead. What did you do again?”
“Stop it, Raph, I didn’t do anything, I swear! No! Lemme go! Leo!”
“Ow! Mikey! Stop hitting me!”
“Raph, ease up. Maybe Mikey can connect with him. They were meditating with their new spiritual intuitions, after all.”
“It’s been six hours, Don. Ya think something would’ve, y’know, happened?”
“M-maybe he’s lost. In the colors.”
“Mikey, you’re making less sense than usual.”
There was blackness, then whiteness, then a rush of colors like a rainbow erupting. His own dark gray-blue, Mikey’s amber orange, Donnie’s soft violet purple, Raph’s deep crimson red. They danced around each other frenetically, and the orange fringed them all, mist flowing like water and air, curling in a strange attempt to calm them.
“Leo, I had a bad dream, there was a big monster with teeth and he hurt Papa and then he tried to hurt you, and I couldn’t find Raphie or Donnie, and I was alone and no one could help…”
“Mikey, it wasn’t real, you know that. Dreams aren’t real. They’re all in your mind. Your mind wants to scare you so you can learn to be brave.” Those lamp-like eyes shone at him. “You’re already brave. I bet you don’t have nightmares.”
He smiled. “Of course I do Mikey. I have nightmares about losing all of you. But then I remember that I will wake up and you’ll all be here.”
The hug got tighter. “I’ll always be here, Leo. Promise you will be too?”
“I promise, Mikey…promise…s’okay…it’s okay…”
“LEO!” The shout was full of amber orange and he flinched. He felt something – someone – close to his head.
“Leo? Can you hear me?”
He groaned, his entire body feeling weighed down. “D-Don?”
“Oh, thank science. Can you open your eyes?”
“Nnngghh…” He pried his eyelids open and his vision was filled with russet eyes framed in purple. He decided to try breathing, and was grateful when oxygen filled his lungs. “Donnie. Mikey? What happened?”
“Leeoo!” And then Mikey’s freckled face was all he could see as Donnie was shoved aside with a grunt. “Leo, what happened? What did you see? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do whatever I did. It just went everywhere. I couldn’t figure out how to pull it back. I think I exploded you! I’m so so sor--”
“Mikey, Mikey…” As he struggled on his elbows, Leo realized he was lying on a mattress, still in the dojo, his head on a pillow. There was equipment lying around him. His head was pounding. He took several deep gulps of air and rolled his head, neck, shoulders. Everything seemed to be all right. He was just wrung out. Donnie was holding up a tablet-like device pointed at Leo.
“What is that, Don?”
“Hm? Oh, something Dr. Rockwell built for me. It scans the body and the brain like a CT scan. Neat, huh? Anyway, you’re completely fine, except you went into a near coma for six hours, and your brain activity was wild.”
“When did Rockwell build that?”
Don waved a hand. “I dunno, a week ago. I hadn’t gotten a chance to use it on anyone but myself. It uses Kraang tech to pinpoint accuracy, so I can tell if there’s internal damage, brain injury…plus, it helps keep track of April’s psionic powers. I figured I could track these new abilities you and Mikey have been displaying.”
“Don, can you look at me while you’re talking?”
“Sorry.” Donatello, glanced up from the screen, frowning. “Does anything hurt? Do you think you can stand up?”
Leo rubbed his head. “I’d love something for this migraine. Raph, help me up.”
Standing was much better than he had expected. Raph held onto him like he expected Leo to fall, but Leo squared his shoulders, cracked his neck, and sighed. Ugh, Sensei had not prepared him for this. “That feels better. Now. Mikey…”
And when he looked next to Donnie, he realized that Mikey had taken a few steps back and was trembling, head down, hands twisting.
“Mikey, wait. Hey. It’s okay. I’m fine.” Leo spread his arms, spun easily on one foot, grinned widely. But his littlest brother stayed, and the shaking increased, until there were tears at the corners of his eyes and tiny whimpers in the back of his throat.
Raphael ran to his side, throwing an arm around him, green eyes wide and alarmed. “Mikey, what’s the matter with you? Don’t tell me you’re gonna pass out too!”
But Mikey could only shake his head back and forth, and his breathing became harsh, and Raph was now embracing him completely, staring at Leo and Donnie in utter frustration and worry. “Donnie, use that thingy, quick! Make him stop!”
As Don scanned the freckled turtle, small beeps came from the tablet and Don jumped back, frowning. “Wait, I don’t get…hang on…there’s a massive energy fluctuation! Can you hold him still? I need to bring this closer to his head…”
Leo began to feel the rush of his spiritual energy flow and expand, and this time it felt insistent, impatient, searching. All he could do was hang on and watch as his aura moved toward Mikey’s aura, which responded by widening and enfolding Leo’s own. Leo gawped, watching the colors curl and wrap around each other. But then, dark spots began to appear in Mikey’s orange, and Leo suddenly felt chilled. His blue appeared to be trying to cover the spots.
Donnie was tapping furiously on the screen. “It’s like an electric storm. It looks like his neurons are rapidly misfiring.”
“English, please!” Raph snarled.
“I think he’s having some sort of seizure!” Don yelled. And then Mikey let out a strangled scream and slumped bonelessly in Raph’s arms.
Leo’s scream was just as strangled.
Sensei hadn’t prepared him for this!
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