#put a lot of work into this theory can’t wait to be wrong

[evesedenramblings]

I want to take a moment and make a quick post about what I think Grace’s animal motif means, because I’ve seen a lot of in-depth analysis for other motifs but the discussion around the rabbit gets reduced to fertility which I think is a huge bummer. Funny initially, but now just a bummer.

The rabbit is considered “unclean” in the Bible, but that comes from a mistranslation from the original language being changed to English. Unclean means “morally wrong”, “impure”, and “evil”, so food for thought. Typical ominous motif implications aside, from what else I could find, Grace is basically the opposite of what a rabbit symbolizes: sensitive and gentle. I don’t think I have to explain how those two terms aren’t necessarily the first to pop into mind regarding Grace. However, the rabbit still holds other meanings. The rabbit also represents rebirth and new beginnings, which I think could indicate an upcoming Grace character arc. Since Wolfgang wanted to keep the group together, Grace could be motivated by Wolfgang’s death and try to uphold his wish (or talked/forced into it- we know how Damon is lol) Grace could work towards being *the group’s* loose canon rather than *a* loose canon. Assuming the ‘unclean’ passage is relevant, a character arc for Grace would represent her moving away from being ‘unclean’ (behaviour like how she treats Eloise) to ‘clean’ (closer to the gentler bullying she used with Wolfgang), and growing as a person.

Frankly I’m unsure what direction Grace’s character is currently going in. Before and during most of Chapter 1 she was definitely Wolfgang’s muscle, and even after he died she was still demonstrating aggressive behaviour. It would have been a logical assumption to say the group (or whoever the next leader will be) needs to secure her loyalty now that Wolfgang is gone, but after Eva’s execution Grace went silent, and couldn’t even look at anyone. She bounced back quicker after being shot by Mara than the aftermath of the 1st trial- whether or not Grace will be herself for chapter 2, I’m not sure. It seems like either Grace will “go back to normal”, or she’s tired. It seemed like she was barely holding on through that trial and now that Wolfgang is avenged, she has to recognize that he’s gone and there’s nothing more she can do. The second route, I think seems more plausible, and it also seems like something that better aligns with this theory- someone can offer her something new to fight for. I find Grace a really interesting character and I hope she sticks around for a long time.

[enhaheeseung]

SLEEP 🕒 - L. Heeseung

🕒Pairing: Heeseung X fem reader!

🕒Warnings: smut, mutual masturbation, cursing.

🕒Synopsis: it’s late, and you can’t sleep, but luckily, your best friend knows just the trick to help you out.

🕒Wc: 1,5k (Drabble)

-

Sighing to yourself, you set your phone down on the lamp stand after you noticed it was literally three in the morning.

You and your best friend had been watching movies talking and hanging out since ten and you hadn’t even noticed the time till now.

“You sleepy?” He turned to you just in time to catch you rubbing your strained eyes.

“Yes, it’s like three am, hee,” you groggily reply, turning on your left side facing away from him.

“Oh shit, you’re right. I’m sorry,” he chuckled. You could tell he was just as tired by how deep his voice had gotten.

“It's alright.” He set his phone aside as well and leaned up against the headboard.

“I guess I better get going.” On cue, he lets out a yawn.

“Are you crazy? It’s so late out you might as well just spend the night” you mumble out.

He rubbed his chin in thought; he was really tired, and driving probably wasn’t the best idea right now. “I didn’t bring anything for a sleepover.”

“Just wear whatever,” you respond, on the verge of passing out.

You feel a dip in the bed and hear him shuffling around. He takes off his pants and his flannel before he slips under the covers with you.

For most, it’d probably seem weird, a guy and a girl sleeping in the same bed, but the number of times you both knocked out together while studying during your high school and college days made this one of the most normal things between you two. “Goodnight, y/n. I might be gone before you wake up.”

“Just make sure to lock the door in the morning night, hee,” you whispered, turning off your lamp while he did the same after you.

You readjusted to get comfortable and pressed your cheek against your pillow, waiting for sleep to come over you.

Ten minutes passed, and sleep never came. You were tired, but for some reason, you just couldn’t fall asleep.

“Ugh,” you groaned and quickly cupped your mouth so you wouldn’t wake heeseung up with the racket.

Little did you know he was still wide awake.

“Y/n?” He asks, followed by a beat of silence. “You’re still up too?” He says with a hint of amusement in his tone. At least he wasn’t the only one having trouble sleeping.

“Yes,” you laid flat on your back, copying his resting position. “I don’t know what’s wrong. I’m tired, but I just can’t seem to sleep,” you respond in the pitch-black bedroom.

“Same,” he sighs, folding his arms over his chest.

You both lay there in silence for a few minutes until he says something that completely catches you off guard.

“I read that having an orgasm can help you fall asleep,” he says casually.

You giggle and push his shoulder, or at least you think it was his shoulder. It was so dark you really couldn’t see. “And where did you read that?”

“The internet, of course, says it has something to do with the release of oxytocin or some shit” he lets out an airy laugh putting his hands behind his head.

“Interesting,” you hum.

“It is, works like a charm for me,” he says through a yawn.

“TMI”

“Oh please, we’ve talked about so much shit that this is PG,” he scoffs.

“Yeah, but not you touching yourself.” You cringe as the words leave your mouth.

“I didn’t say anything like that. All I said was it works,” he shrugs even though you can’t see him.

“Whatever,” you say, too tired to argue with him.

It’s silent again, and the idea he mentioned sounds a lot more appealing than laying here all night without getting any sleep.

But you can’t necessarily try out this little theory of his with him in your room, so that idea was out the window.

“You still up?” He checks on you a minute later, and you hum in response. “I mean, I could give you one if you want,” he holds in his laugh, knowing that you’re about to chastise him.

“Lee heeseung, stop it this instant,” you tell him sternly.

“Okay, okay, just thought I’d ask. I’m your bestie, and besties look out for each other, right?” He continues to push your little buttons.

“Yeah, by giving a shoulder to cry on, not giving each other orgasms,” you huff out a breath.

A thought popped into your head: you weren’t getting any sleep anytime soon, and since he wanted to mess with you, two could play that game. “I mean, you could,” the words leave your mouth in a nonchalant manner.

He gasped, not expecting you to match his humor. Most times, you didn’t when it came to something sexual. “Knock it off. It’s weird when you joke about it,” he laughs.

“Who said I’m joking?” You taunt.

“Cause the y/n I know would never,” he says confidently, thinking he knows you like the back of his hand, and normally he does, but just not when you’re sleep-deprived.

“What about the y/n who’s in desperate need of sleep and will do anything just to catch a few hours before work in the morning?”

His ears are perked up now, the soft, sultry tone of your voice alerting him instantly. “You’re really not joking, are you?”

“Do I sound like I’m joking?” You shift closer to him, and he feels your body heat right away, making his heart beat faster in his chest.

“I-I y/n, if you’re joking, just tell me.” his voice shakes a little, the slightest hint of a whimper traveling close behind his words.

Calling it quits with talking, you find his hand in the dark and grip his wrist, guiding him right between your legs. “Hee, I’d never joke about this,” you gasped as his warm hand cups over your mound.

“Fuck” he whispers and props himself on his side, slowly gliding his hand between your legs. “You really are serious, huh?” His voice sounds even huskier than it did before as he confidently presses your clit over your sleep shorts.

“Yes, hee,” you whine, desperation dripping from your voice as you clench your thighs around his hand, keeping it firmly nestled against you.

“Shit, okay, turn over for me” You get back in your original position, your back now pressed against his chest, his crotch a few inches away from your backside. “Now close your eyes.” his hot breath tickles your ear.

You do as he says, too tired to even think twice about what you’re getting ready to engage in with your best friend.

His two middle fingers rub circles on your clit, working you up quicker than you could have ever imagined. You’re already leaking a bit of precum.

“Mmm,” you moan softly. His fingers felt so good, especially when he slipped them further down, teasing your entrance while his palm rubbed your clit.

Your hand caressed the one that was between your legs, tracing the veins along the back of his hand. “Does that feel good?” He swallowed thickly, his lower body pressing against you unintentionally.

“Yes, hee, so good” he humps your backside, his swollen cock being stimulated by the softness of your plush bottom.

“Yeah, so good,” he whispers in your ear. You feel so good you don’t even notice the way he ruts against you, the movement of his hips forcing your waist to roll against his palm more, bringing you even more satisfaction.

“I’m so close, hee, I’m gonna cum” you cry out, body shuddering as the warmth and pleasure builds in your lower region.

“Shhh, I know, I know,” he breathes out heavily, placing a soft kiss on your cheek and a few more rolls of his hips. You’re both coming undone together, panting exhaustedly.

He rubs you through it, whispering encouraging words in your ear like. “Yeah, feels so good, doesn’t it?” “Let it all out,” “Keep cumming” “That’s it.”

The pleasure goes on for so long that another orgasm follows after giving you the most intense pleasure you’ve ever experienced. “Hee,” you whimper his name, your body trembling against his as you shudder in the aftermath of cumming back to back.

He nuzzles against you, cuddling you and helping you ground yourself until you catch your breath.

He’s still struggling to calm himself with how hard he just came. He hasn’t cum that fast and that much in a while. “Was that good?” He asked timidly into your hair, releasing a deep breath.

“Mmm,” you moan in response, your eyelids finally feeling so heavy that you can barely open them.

But you couldn’t forget about heeseung, so you flipped over on your side, your forehead touching his. “What about you?” You slowly reach into his boxers, gripping the base of his length, feeling a good amount of wetness covering his shaft.

“Ahh, s-sensitive,” he moans shakily.

You retract your hand right away. “Did you-“ he cuts you off, nodding against your forehead, and you slowly pull your hand out of his underwear.

“I’m good,” he assures you. “Let’s sleep now yeah? We’ll clean up in the morning” his words sound slurred and you can barely even understand what he’s saying cause you’re so tired.

Apparently, whatever he read about orgasms was true cause you’ve never fallen asleep faster.

-

Thanks for reading likes comments and reblogs are always appreciated sorry for any typos or errors I hope you all have a good day/night♥️

[lynnie-ee]

Inktober Day 1; Pretend.

╰┈➤"The olive theory says that if one person likes olives, and the other doesn't, they're opposites that attract. The prefect hates olives, yet they always appear on their meals...And Ace seems suspicious about it."

╰►Gender neutral reader, oneshot, 1.2k words.

╰►Note: The prompts are based on words I found interesting and then I put them on a roulette to decide when I would write about them, lol. English is not my first language, so please let me know if there are any grammatical mistakes <3. Not proof read, I haven't written in a long time, so I apologise if anything is out of character.

╰►Masterlist / Inktober Masterlist.

⤿

⤿

“I can’t believe they did it again…”

“Is something wrong, Prefect?”

“They put olives on my sandwich again.”

The magicless human sighed, as they left their sandwich on the table under the gaze of their first-year friends. Every time they went to the cafeteria they asked for no olives on their sandwich, and every time they would ignore their request. It was getting tiring, by now, but that sandwich was really good and really cheap.

“Haha! Seems like it’s my lucky day. Your misfortune is my blessing.” Ace replied teasingly, grabbing the sandwich to remove the olives and putting them on his meal.

“Seriously, this is getting annoying. It shouldn’t be that difficult not to add something to a sandwich. If I was allergic, I’d be dead by now.”

“The cafeteria is always filled with people, I’m sure they don’t do it on purpose.” Deuce tried to cheer them up.

“If it’s bothering you so much, I could bring you a sandwich for tomorrow-“ Jack offered, but was quickly interrupted by Epel.

“No, you don’t want to do that.” Stated the Pomefiore student.

“Sorry?”

“You can’t bring sandwiches to the prefect.” Replied Epel, this time with a more intense glare, as if that would allow Jack to read his mind and understand the meaning behind his words.

“And that’s because…?”

“The prefect really likes the sandwiches from here. Isn’t that right?” Deuce answered, a smile on his face as he mentally praised himself for his save.

“I guess so.” The Ramshackle student replied without enthusiasm.

“See? We shouldn’t think so much about it. Class will start soon so-“

“My henchmen may prefer the sandwiches from here but I ain’t no sandwich discriminator! You’re all welcome to bring all the sandwiches you want to the great Grim.” Interrupted the small beast, still munching the rest of the food he was focused eating before he got into the conversation.

“Just eat, Grim.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

⤿

⤿

“Oh, that’s unfortunate.” Commented Trey. “The ghosts from the cafeteria are very friendly, perhaps you should just ask.”

The vicehousewarden of Heartslabyul walked next to the prefect of Ramshackle through the halls of the school. They had encountered the third year on their way to meet Deuce and Ace, who were waiting along Grim for the prefect to come out of a brief talk they had with Professor Crewel after class.

“You think so?”

“Yes. I can go with you right now, if you’d like. I’m sure the boys won’t mind waiting a few minutes more.”

“I guess you’re right, let’s go.”

They made their way to the cafeteria, chatting about different topics. As soon as they arrived, they talked to the ghost in charge of meals, getting a curious answer.

“I thought you really liked olives, that’s why I always put a lot of them on your meals. You always work so hard, I thought it’d cheer you up!” Was the reply they received.

“But I never said I liked them…”

“Oh, you didn’t. It was Ace who told me.”

…

“He did?”

“Yeah, and you two seem to be very good friends, so I believed he would be correct.”

The prefect sighed. Of course, Ace did it.

“I’m thankful for your good intentions, but I don’t really enjoy olives, so you can stop putting them on my meals, please.”

“Of course, don’t worry!”

Both students left the room with a confused demeanour, Trey being the first one to ask the question.

“Do you know why he did it?”

“I don’t. To bother me, perhaps, or to get more lives. He always eats them from my sandwiches. He could have just asked for them on his meals instead of mine!” They answered, an annoyed frown adorning their face, which soon turned into a curious one, when they saw the confusion expression on the vicehousewarden’s expression. “Is something the matter?”

“Ace doesn’t like olives, either.”

“What?”

“He has asked a bunch of times to let him know if there are olives in the food, so he won’t eat them.”

“That can’t be. He always seems ecstatic to take them from my sandwiches; I don’t get why-“ They were interrupted by Trey’s laugh.

“Perhaps you should ask him, then.”

⤿

⤿

“Hey, hey, slow down! You’re gonna break my arm!” A certain first-year complained, as the magicless student brought him to a more secluded area outside the school.

“You’re annoying!”

“Can I at least know why am I being dragged in this way?!”

“You’re ruining my food!”

“I never-“

“Why did you tell the cafeteria ghosts that I like olives? You know I hate them.”

 “That’s…because I wanted free olives, that’s it. Don’t think too much about it.”

“Trey said something very different to me, you know…”

Ace’s behaviour changed, his expression screaming ‘I got caught’, as they stop in the middle of the yard, (Y/n) quickly letting go of Ace’s arm.

“…Why did you even ask Trey that?”

“Ace.”

“C’mon, you’re making a big deal out of something very small-“

“Ace.”

“Prefect.”

“Ace.”

“Fine! I’ll tell you!” The first year surrounded quickly. “It was just an accident, okay?”

“An accident? For a month straight?”

“…Well, it was the first two times.” He murmured, looking away. “Like, I think the first time they just forgot and the second time they mixed the orders, I’m not really sure. The cafeteria is just like that sometimes, you know?”

The Ramshackle student just stared at him, a bored expression adorning their face, silently asking him to continue his explanation.

“It’s just that…You seemed…Very annoyed at it.”

“And what about it?”

“…You look very dumb when you’re like that, I just didn’t want to see it anymore.”

“Then why did you tell the ghosts that I-?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose-“

“Ace.”

“Because that way you’d depend on me for it, okay?! That’s it. You happy now?” He confessed, an irritating scowl appearing on his face, which didn’t match the reddish tone on his cheeks.

“That makes no sense-“

“Maybe it would if you weren’t so dense, idiot.”

“Sorry?”

“I can’t believe this, even Deuce noticed and you can’t even think about it.”

“About what?”

The first year sighed loudly, running his hands on his face to demonstrate his exasperation.

“About the fact that I like you! Great Seven, you’re really stupid.”

(Y/n) stood with a surprised expression, quickly thinking about Ace’s words, a sensation of heat reaching their cheeks as soon as they processed what he said, confusion still lingering. Silence settling for a few seconds, until the magicless student broke it with disconcert.

“…You really thought I’d noticed through olives?!”

“I thought you’d realise I’m very kind when I want to!”

“You insult me half of the time, how was even supposed to-!“

“Well then, will you go on a date with me or what?!”

“I will!”

“Fine, it was about time!”

They both stared at each other, still a bit startled from the sudden outburst. As their words settled in, embarrassment took over, both of them turning around to calm down.

“…You’re saying even Deuce knew?”

“I’ve been giving him the olives to him when you weren’t looking for the last week.”

…

“They really taste awful, don’t they?”

“Yeah I don’t wanna see one of them in a long time.”

“You did this to yourself.”

“I did it for you, idiot.”

“…You’re the idiot.”

“Whatever.”

⤿

⤿

⤿

[odileeclipse]

Gonna dump a small ramble here (i have it on my mind since morning and NEED to share it with someone)

So u know how Smilk is immortal and all and out dear MC is very much mortal and much more fragile, so heres the thing-

We die- be it by age or illness or we were just at the wrong place at the wrong time and someone k*lled us (accidentally or not is irrelevant) either way Smilk or Sage of Truth is devastated (even more so if we would be k*lled) so u can say it was his final breaking point where he soon after became our favourite jester the Beast of Deceit (if we would be m*rdered then he surely tortured crumbled our k*ller)

Small time skip-

We have our dear Pure Vanilla in Beast Yeast, ig few days(?) before the beasts break out free again- and we have our whole gang here,- Pure Vanilla, Gingerbrave, Wizard Cookie and Strawberry Cookie (and White Lily prob too-) oh? Thats strange… we have a new party member! Its a completely new face (I wonder who that is…) anyway another small time skip- oh.. oh no- the beast r free and out heroes are now against Shadow Milk, he (Smilk) is DELIGHTED to be free after so SO long~ he can’t wait to break his new toys and especially that soul jam thief Pure Vanilla Cookie- oh-? Oh wait… he recognises that face-…. who u ask? But its of course our dearest MC! Oh how perfect!! If he wasn’t happy before he certainly is now- ….. hmm, thats odd.. they don’t remember him… that’s ok! His appearance changed a lot, surely they’ll remember now that he told them his name right? No…? And not only that- they seem to be scared… of who? It can’t be him right? right…?

Oh… they are….

He is a n g r y, and especially devastated, the only cookie on whole Eartbread that truly mattered to him, the only one where he didn’t need to put up the “Sage of Truth” persona, the only one where he could be himself, the only one who didn’t judge him…….

He is convinced that its Pure Vanillas fault.. who else of course?! He’s his other half it HAD to be him,- he definitely fed you lies, how HE’S the “hero” the “saviour” and he definitely told you that Shadow Milk should NOT under any circumstances be trusted…..

It’s ok tho- Shadow Milk isn’t mad at u- he’d never be… its not your fault, you were always so trusting to everyone-

He’ll simply kidnap take u away for forever for a while, he’ll tell u everything, he’ll tell u the TRUTH, im sure you’ll love him again after you realise how blind you’ve been- and then… everything will be like the old times~ but this time, nothing will take u away from him,- not Pure Vanilla or his dumb friends or other wanna be heroes, not even other beasts or illness or time itself-,

He was once the Sage of Truth yes, but he was also known as the Fount of Knowledge- he had gained that title for a reason…. and he’ll gladly break all the rules and make you immortal- just like him…

(This was longer then i thought so im sorry for my “small” ramble TvT, hope u enjoyed! Have a chocolate as a reward🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫) sorry for any grammatical mistakes

This ramble incredible!!! I think in that reality it would be more likely the mc would hate him and would despise him since their memories he claims they share aren't even the mc's (I mean like they are reincarnated right? So ofc they have no memories with him) And that it would take a lot of work but I doubt the mc would fall in love with him again because if you think about it they know what he's done to PV someone who in this case is so much closer to them than this stranger (smilk) so ofc they're going to side with whoever they have a stronger bond with which is only natural and by giving the mc immortality I think they would be devastated because in theory immortality is incredible, but in practice they now have to watch people they've cared for crumble so it would feel as though smc has cursed them rather than gifted

and no worries sorry for any grammar mistakes on my end wiuodsdejwso

[differentnerddiplomatopera]

Modern Odysseus/Diomedes/Penelope AU 

When Odysseus married Penelope, he built her an art studio with an adjoining greenhouse. He blindfolded her and walked her over to it. When he removed the blindfold, he handed her the key to open it. She opened it, and was in awe of the carpentry. She saw the greenhouse and was like, “ohmahgodyouareawesomeiloveyousomuchtheywillneverfindyourbody.” 

Penelope, after kissing him stupid, talks about all the stuff she needs to put in it. Odysseus,  then produced the highest quality art supplies, and the best gardening tools and equipment. Penelope went weak in the knees, and Odysseus had to catch her. Fun

Odysseus works at a theater. I don’t know. Just feels right.

Penelope is an art teacher, and owns her own place. 

When Diomedes comes to one of Odysseus' shows (they knew each other, and they are meeting up for the first time in a long time), Odysseus is floored. Shamelessly staring, looking up all his social media’s all that stuff.

At said show, during intermission, Odysseus pulls Pen over and they both  gawk at Diomedes. Penelope is more subtle than Odysseus.

That night, they just search up everything they can find about Diomedes. All that stuff, marriage status, work, hobbies, pictures, etc. The start of a good relationship, internet stalking. They have a screaming match when they find out he is married, but have a dance party a few days later when Diomedes tells them he is getting a divorce.

All three hang out with a hell of a lot of tension. Dio helps Pen in the greenhouse, and Odysseus is off in a corner, debating whether he should take a picture of two of the prettiest people alive while they are talking about hyacinths.

Penelope really likes Diomedes. At first he is really shy and reserved around her, but when they get closer, he opens up. And when they get to talking about Odysseus, she can’t help but notice that beautiful flush when he talks about him.

Same thing with Odysseus. When they talk about Penelope, Diomedes tries his best not to affectionately recount his interactions with her. Odysseus internally jumps with joy like, “yes stay with us, leave that devil of a wife, fall for us, do it, do it nowww”

One night, after a bad fight with his wife, Diomedes gets invited to a night out with Odysseus and Penelope. Beautiful night out, Diomedes realized he feels more at home with them than with his wife. He prays the private investigator will quickly get the rest of the information to expedite the end of his marriage.

They went to a carnival. 

The boat ride malfunctioned and somehow while everyone fell into the water, Odysseus was the only one left on the boat. He was the only one who made it to the end. Penelope and Diomedes clapped for him as he got off.

Diomedes did balloon darts. He was originally encouraged not to because the game was rigged, but was told he should do it by a really tall woman. He won. 

Penelope participated in an art competition. She originally finished it in the first ten minutes, but everyone else wasn’t done. She kept painting over it while she waited, and it was the most beautiful thing the judges and the other contestants had ever seen. She was the OBVIOUS winner.

After, they walk on the boardwalk as the sun goes down, Odysseus and Penelope clinging to Diomedes on either side. Diomedes feels so guilty, cus he thinks he is a clingy intruder in their marriage. 

Odysseus snaps him out of his daydreaming. They ask him what's wrong. He tentatively explains, worried they are gonna confirm his fear and politely ask him to spend less time with them. Not that he would refuse. He would do anything they asked.

Odysseus and Penelope snicker at his outrageous theory. They explain their  feelings for him and asks if he would honor them by being their partner. Diomedes is like “…..what?” Diomedes is generally scared to agree, because they are married, they are “changing” for him, and what if they break up with me, and I don’t want another heartbreak, what happens when-

And when they kiss him, the world just feels okay. Just okay.

I’m not satisfied with this. 

Take it anyway.

Please. 

Muchos besos.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

Can I request the maximum of 🌲 and ⚖️?

Yes!

1k for 🌲:

---

As Buck gets back on the road, headed south to El Paso, he wonders if he’s made a mistake. Not in going after Eddie. Not even in leaving Chris. But in his timing. Is his timing wrong? 

He hadn’t wanted to wait. He’d wanted to get to Eddie as soon as possible. Who knows what the hell that woman is putting him through, right? Who knows if his father is hurt or dead or… Or what! But at the same time, what’s the plan here? What edge up does he have, going back? Should he have waited for business hours? Gone and purchased a gun or something? No. What? No. He’s being crazy. He doesn’t want a gun. He doesn’t even know how to shoot. Guns don’t make anything better. Not really. He’s just scared. He doesn't want anything to happen to Eddie.

He parks outside of a Cabela’s when he reaches El Paso. It’s not even six in the morning. The store doesn’t open until nine. He’s not sure what he’s doing here. Is he going to wait three hours? Buy a weapon? No. Right? He’s not… No. That’s not him. That’s never been him. But who is he willing to be, to protect Eddie? Pretty much anyone, he thinks. For Eddie? Anyone. Anything. 

“Fuck,” he whispers to himself, unsure of the next best step. He doesn’t know what’s right. He doesn’t know what’s crazy. He doesn’t even have a plan. 

The feeling of his phone vibrating in his pocket startles Buck. He doesn’t expect it. Not at this hour. He reaches into his pocket, hands a little shaky, and pulls it out. It’s a text. From Eddie. 

Idk if you’re awake or even nearby… But if you are, I need you to come pick me up.

Buck just stares at the text. He’s kind of baffled. Just… Just go pick him up? That easy? No gun needed?

Uncertain, he replies: 

How do I know this is really Eddie?

The response is immediate.

Buck… Really?

You’re the first to cry on emotional calls.

You watch way too much reality television.

You have a freckle on your left ass cheek. 

Need I go on?

Wait. He does? Well, okay. That’s Eddie. 

He replies:

I’m coming for you. 

🌲

There’s a long discussion. One that doesn’t include their mother. One that hardly includes their father. 

It’s a discussion about how to move forward. About how to take all this shit, and move forward anyway. 

Ramon will go with Sophia for a while. Stay in San Antonio. He needs time. Eddie can respect that. He’s been through a lot. Eddie’s not sure how much of the blame his father bears in everything that has happened. He’s not blameless. But whatever he did, no one deserves to have their agency stripped away. 

“Marcus is okay with that?” Eddie asks Sophia when she makes the call.

“He’ll have to be,” she says. “Plus, he can’t stay in this house. Not until it’s… A house again.”

Rather than a forest. Right. 

“I’ll work on that,” Adriana says.

It’s her Eddie is most concerned about, actually. Because it’s her who has volunteered for the unhappy task of staying behind. With their mother. Eddie didn’t like it. He didn’t agree with it. Surely she doesn’t deserve that; a child sticking by her after all of this. Especially Adriana, who she left out to rot in the woods, when she was the only person who could have known what had happened to her. 

“You can’t think of it that way,” Adriana argues. “It’s not about giving her what she wants. It’s about… Well, someone needs to keep an eye on her, first of all. You two have kids. Eddie, you… You never need to be around her again. I mean that. And I… I have a lot of time on my hands, while I figure out how to heal from this.”

She plans to fix the house. To make Helena help her fix the house. And maybe, if she can do it without making herself worse, take their mother back to Sweden.

“Maybe it’ll help her,” Adriana says. “Or maybe I’ll leave her there. Haven’t decided yet.”

“You know you don’t have to do this alone,” Eddie says. He’s told her and Sophia what he and Buck figured out. Their theory. The one he plans on rolling with, as best he can.

“We love you,” Sophia adds. “You’re our sister and we are always going to fight for you.”

“I know,” Adriana smiles. “I love you guys. But I need to do this. I have a lot to atone for.”

“It’s not your fault,” Eddie argues.

She shrugs. “That’s a flimsy line. And I need to feel less like a monster.”

Eddie supposes he understands that. 

“But you won’t be a stranger?” He ensures. “You’ll check in?”

She nods. “I promise.”

“Good,” Sophia says. “We will look through any forest to find you, Adri.”

“I know you will,” she smiles. She looks at Eddie. “Thank you for finding me.”

Eddie nods. “Always.”

For his own part, Eddie feels sort of like he’s getting away with something. Like the only one in the group project not doing any work. He is simply going to go home to his son and… Well, and his boyfriend. He guesses. That’s probably the right word for them. Anyway. Point is, he’s going back to his life. He’s going to try to get as much of it back as he can. He’s not taking on the care of any parent. He doesn’t actually have the energy for that. He doesn’t want to be involved in whatever happens to their mother, and he’s not too clear on if he’ll ever have a relationship with his father again. Maybe. He doesn’t know.

---

1k for ⚖️:

---

 Buck is hardly functional when the knock hits the door. He’s crashed out hard after delivering that punishment. Half because of the relief of the tension inside him, half because of the horror of viewing that man’s life. It makes it sort of hard to stay awake and think. Not to mention days and days of hardly sleeping at all have taken their toll on him. 

The point is, when he opens the door to Eddie, he feels like a zombie. He’s sure he looks like a zombie, too. 

Buck frowns when he sees Eddie standing there, two coffees in hand. 

“You don’t have to knock,” he says by way of greeting.

Eddie's mouth tightens a little. “I wasn’t sure.”

Buck sighs. “I told you it’s not… Can you just come inside?”

Eddie hands the coffee to him and steps through the door. 

“Thanks,” Buck mumbles. 

“I don’t know how much space you need,” Eddie says. “So tell me to leave, I guess. But I’m worried about you, okay? I just wanted to make sure you’re okay and you didn’t answer my texts.”

“Sorry,” Buck says. “I was sleeping pretty deeply… After not sleeping for a while.”

“Oh,” Eddie nods. “Uh, sorry for waking you up.”

Buck shrugs. “S’fine.”

Eddie exhales heavily. “Buck, are we okay? I don’t… I don’t want us to not be okay.”

Buck does his best to smile. It probably doesn’t look very convincing. 

“We’re totally fine, Eddie.”

Eddie frowns. “What? You were… You were pretty mad at me yesterday.”

“I’m sorry,” Buck says. “I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have.”

“Okay,” Eddie says. His brows furrow, like he’s still not satisfied. “I appreciate that. But I’m also kind of thinking that there’s, like, a bigger issue than just some heightened emotions yesterday.”

Yeah. Yeah, Buck can see how he’d think that. 

“There was,” Buck agrees. “But I fixed it. It-it won’t be a problem anymore. So we can forget about it.”

“What does that mean, Buck?” Eddie asks. “What did you do?”

“Does it matter? It’s… It’s fixed.”

“Fixed?” Eddie asks. His expression turns from concerned to angry. “The problem where I don’t want you to look into my future is just fixed? You aren’t worried anymore? So, yeah. It matters. What did you do? I mean, when did you even… We didn’t even touch after that!”

Okay, right. He can see how that looks. 

“No, no, no,” Buck shakes his head. “I didn’t look. I didn’t do anything.”

“Then how the hell is it fixed?” Eddie asks. 

“I made a deal,” Buck says. “I made a deal with Nemesis.”

Eddie’s face slackens. “What?”

Buck explains it. The whole thing. The deal, the terms, all of it. What he had to do in the middle of the night. The way he feels now. Eddie listens, face frozen with terror. He should be happy. Why isn’t he happy? Buck fixed everything. All their futures. Everyone is going to be okay. 

“Oh god, Buck,” Eddie says. “That’s not a good trade.”

“What?” Buck demands. “What do you mean? It’s a great deal, Eddie. Everyone I love is going to get the best future they can.”

“At what cost? You torturing yourself?” Eddie asks. “This is too much.”

“No,” Buck says. “No. I was already stuck with this either way.”

“But this is worse,” Eddie protests. “You could have gotten by on helping people. You liked that part.”

“I… I still can,” Buck reasons. “It just doesn’t… It won’t be enough.”

Eddie sighs. He pinches the bridge of his knows. The way he does when something - or someone - is exasperating him. Buck tenses. It feels oddly condescending. 

“Stop,” Buck pleads. “Eddie, stop. Just be happy. Please. You’re going to be happy.”

“Have you possibility considered I don’t want to buy my happiness at your expense?” Eddie asks loudly. Almost a shout. 

Buck swallows. He doesn’t understand why this is so bad. He doesn’t get it.

“Well, I’m the one that made the deal,” Buck says. “It was my choice.”

Eddie purses his lips. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Buck. I’m not going to pretend I’m not freaked out for you.”

“Okay, well I’m good. I’ll adjust,” Buck says. 

He’s actually not sure that that’s true. He thinks he might be lying. Because really… He’s scared. He’s terrified. He feels awful. He wishes Eddie would just get over this so Buck could just… He doesn’t even know. Ask him to stay here and hold him for a little while? Would that make it better? Maybe not for long, but for now…

Eddie sighs. He crosses his arms tightly, like he’s cold. “Okay, well… Alright.”

“Alright, what?” Buck asks. 

“Alright, I… I guess I don’t know what to say.”

“About what?” Buck asks. “It’s done, Eddie.”

“Oh, I can see that,” Eddie replies. 

“What do you want me to do?” Buck asks. “I’m not going to take it back. So either… Either you…”

“Either I what?” Eddie demands.

“Either you-you have to be okay with it, or… Or you leave me, I guess!” Buck flounders.

Eddie’s whole face falls. “Are you serious?”

No. No, Buck is not serious. He doesn’t want Eddie to leave. He doesn’t want any sort of ultimatum to be issued. Not really. But, what else is he supposed to say? What more does Eddie want him to do? What's done is done.

So Buck just shrugs helplessly. He feels helpless. He feels exhausted. 

“Wow,” Eddie says. “So much for your best possible futures for everyone, then.”

“Wait, no, that’s not-”

“You know, I think I’m gonna go,” Eddie says. 

“Eddie, come on. No, I-”

But Eddie is already walking towards the door.  “You know, when I was struggling, you were allowed to worry about me without me giving you some sort of ultimatum,” Eddie says. “I think you’re in trouble, Buck. And if you can take your head out of your ass to actually listen to me, I’ll be around.”

[plum-petals]

Hi Rosie!! Firstly I adore this world you created! The story literally lives rent free in my head! But I had a question. Now we know that most of the marked ones have secondary signets in canon, we aren’t told when Liam figures his out but it is mentioned that he has the ability to create ice. My question is will our precious assistant be telling his boss about this if you decide to keep this bit of canon intact. If so, will this lead to her figuring out that Xaden potentially has a second signet? (And will adorable Ivan be getting one as well?) Because I feel, if Violet and Liam have that conversation it would only be fair for her to share what she can about the time stopping. And she could tell him. There’s no reason for her to divulge everything about how the signet works just what she can do temporarily. Of course she would have to get permission from the grump first, but still Liam would probably figure it out left to his own devices. Our boy is little too smart and perceptive for his own good sometimes.

As a side note! I just adore the relationship that Violet and Liam have in your story so much! Not to say I don’t love how Violet interacts with her whole squad, but these two have a special place in my heart. If you ever find the time it would be really cute to maybe get a snippet of their late night talks. You could call Conversations from the Lab. 😆! I can see these two theorizing some outlandish shit for sure!!

Ok enough out of me! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing world with us! This story hits just right in every way. I can’t wait for what you have coming up next!!

Thank you, this is so kind 🥹 I love sharing it with everybody! A lot of your questions would be spoilers, so I'm just going to put some of my canon-adjacent assumptions and let you know how it'll inform Spyverse.

I think Liam manifests before the final battle because Xaden knew what his second signet was when Violet asked about it.

There is some disagreement whether or not all marked ones have second signets or if it's down to the dragons they bond with... I understand Sgaeyl bonded to Xaden's grandfather and that would explain his, but that doesn't fit for me... like I just don't buy dragon riders in your family tree are that common in Tyrrendor. I blame Xaden's "our dragons picked us for a reason" shit... like that implication that every single marked one that have been revealed to have a second signet so far (Xaden, Garrick, Liam, Imogen) had to have bonded with a dragon their ancestor bonded to? Dragons appear to live like ~two centuries (Tairn being a little over 100 and described as middle-aged for dragons) so I guess it could be that way but only Xaden and Liam are mentioned to have dragon riders in their family at all. I understand dragons can lie about their names to Basgiath, but this makes less sense to me than the second signets being a consequence of their relics. It's why I think Bodhi definitely has a second signet + Xaden might even have a third one idk don't quote me on that

I could 1000% be wrong and Bodhi actually doesn't have a second signet + it's because he's the one (1) dude unlucky enough not to have a dragon alive who bonded with an ancestor... but since that's not what I think and Spyverse is a roundabout way to shove my theories and favorite stuff at you, we're going to go with the assumption that all marked ones will have second signets! That means Ivan will likely get one but I'll avoid speculating too early haha maybe I'll just make up another new signet. For funsies.

Whether or not Liam tells Violet about the ice wielding and this leads to her finding out, or she tells him about Andarna, we'll have to see! Liam is kind of going through a rough time right now after everything with War Games so they are definitely overdue for a talk in general.

I also love Violet and Liam's friendship. He's the one who puts the plural in life of spies 🥹 And I would love to write more of just the two of them in the future!

You're welcome 🥰 I'm glad you're excited!

[a-spes]

S T A I N E D H E A R T S - One shot.

Words count - 1,4k.

Tags & Warnings - Natasha Romanoff x reader, a bit of angst / comfort.

Summary - Fury sent you and Natasha on a mission even if he knows you are in a relationship.

— — — — —

You are on the roof of a building, laying on the dust, not letting your eyes out of the window of your target’s apartment. The window is on the opposite building, right in front of you, if he decides to finally come back, you would be able to shoot him quite easily. 

Except that he is not here, probably decided it was a good day to stay longer outside. You sigh, starting to be impatient. According to the informations given to you, he should have been here two hours ago, it’s been twice the time you have been waiting him to open this fucking door, barely moving.

“ I swear, if Fury gave us the wrong address, I am gonna chop his head off ” you mumble. Throught the communication device, Natasha can be heard chuckling.

You almost forgot that you are not alone in that mission. While you are waiting on a roof, laying on the concrete for hours, burning under the summer sun, she is comfortably sitting in a car parked near to the target’s building. Since you got here, none of you talked, except a few words from time to time because he was supposed to arrive soon and you both needed to concentrate. At least, he was supposed to show up. He is still not here. 

“ I am serious, ‘tasha ” you add. Most of the agents would be fired if they dared to talk to Fury the way you are, but he needs you too much for that. Also, he probably appreciates you more than he wants to admit it.

“ I know, love, I know ” she replies and, if you can’t see her, you know she is smiling, it is something you can tell by her tone.

An additional ten minutes elapsed before the wait was eventually worth it, you sighed in relief when you saw him. The man enters the building, coming into the apartment a few minutes later, all under your surveillance, you aren’t missing any of his movements.

“ Here you go ” you whisper.

You can hear Natasha saying something like she gets it and doesn’t want you to move but you can’t be sure, the man taking all your attention at the moment. In fact you are not here to kill him, you are supposed to do it just in case things go wrong - it would be a shame to kill the man that has the information you need.

In fact, the plan is supposed to be very simple, at least according to Fury. But, to be honest, if you are listening to him, the missions are always easy. However, working for him made you learn things never go the way they are supposed to : in Fury’s language, easy is just a synonym for death trap. 

Obviously this mission is no different from the others. The man you are looking for has something you need to take back before it can be used by the terrorist organization he is working for. He is just a subordinate so, in theory, it shouldn’t be that hard. You don’t know much more about the story, Fury rarely gives a lot of information : he asks you something, you do it and then you get the money. It is how things work and, even if most of the time it annoys you, here you are, exactly where he wants you to be.

“ Crap ! ” she exclaims. 

“ Nat’ ? Is everything okay ? ” you immediately ask, your voice being full of worries. Your girlfriend is not the kind of person to curse, it is more your thing, hearing her using such words is a sign that something is not going well.

“ Yeah - ” she starts but she is being cut by a loud noise, as if she is thrown against a furniture. Oddly, you don’t believe her when she assures you that everything is fine. “ Stay where you are. ”

“ What a liar … ” you mumble. The problem with going on missions with Natasha as a partner is that she is trying too hard to keep you safe. She doesn’t think twice before putting herself in danger, even when it is unecessary, just so you don’t get hurt. 

And it is exactly what she is doing right now. You are trying to keep an eye on her through the apartment’s window but you can’t see anything, they must be fighting in another room. 

“ Fuck it ” you eventually say. This time, you are the one cursing and Natasha doesn’t even make a comment about it. All you can hear from her side are some fight noises, she probably didn’t even hear you talking.

You really tried to do as she asked you but the wait is unbearable. There is a difference between not moving for hours, waiting for a target to show up, and not moving while your girlfriend might need your help. Even if she is probably doing fine on her own, your worries make seconds seem like hours and staying here is impossible.

A few minutes later, you decide to leave your position to lead to the building she is in. The closest you get from the apartment, the loudest the noises are. It is until they suddenly stop, leaving you with an odd silence : the time you get here, the fight must’ve stopped and you don’t know how you feel about that news. As the door is wide open, you can easily make your way into the dark apartment. It has a living-room with an open kitchen but those rooms are empty so you decide to keep walking, entering the corridor that leads to the other pieces. The sunlight can barely come in so you have to be careful, you know it.

“ You better be alive ” you whisper as you slowly make your way into the apartment.

Suddenly, you feel a movement on your right. Sadly, by the time you realize, it is already too late. Your mind is too busy worrying about your lover that you forgot to pay attention to your surroundings, a rookie mistake.

It all happens in a few seconds, so quickly that your gun is useless. An arm around your throat, your opponent is holding you firmly and struggling is useless as they would tighten their grip until you can barely breathe. If you want to get out of that situation, you are gonna need to outsmart them.

“ Love ? ” the voice says. She immediately lets you go. “ I told you to stay where you were, why can’t you listen for once ? ” at her tone you can guess that she is really mad at you right now.

“ Can’t let you have all the fun while I am waiting, can I ? ” you reply once your breathing is back to normal.

You don’t really mind her harsh tone, you know that it is not against you. Natasha fears that you could get hurt, sure, but she is even more scared by the idea that it could be because of her. You told her many times that it won’t happen but she doesn’t listen to you, the person she was being stuck in her mind, even years after she left the Red Room.

In any case, you can see that your joke didn’t make her laugh. Your attempt to lighten the mood is a failure, all you get in exchange is Natasha’s dead-stare, the one that makes you immediately go quiet. You know that anything that you could say from now would only make things worse. Slowly, you come closer to Natasha, your hands taking hers. At first, she is tense, her first are clenched, but she eventually lets it go, wrapping her fingers around yours. It is the only way you know to comfort her when she is in that state, prisoner of her past. 

“ There is blood ” you quietly say after a few minutes of silence, looking at her bloody hands. Her suit is in a similar state.  “ Not mine ” she replies in the same tone, and a soft smile appears on both of your faces. As you look behind her back you can, indeed, notice three men. They are laying on the floor, all unconscious and tied and you weren’t expecting less from the woman you love.

[samaraannhan20]

Harry Styles Imagine: College AU!: The Final Show

A/N: Hey guys! this is my first time writing smut, so please be gentle with me. I’ve been working on this fic for a week now, and I’m excited to finally put it out in the world.

A/N 2: I guess when I copied and pasted the text from google docs my links for the outfits didn’t transfer, so I just went through and added them in, they should all be there now!

Warnings: 18+!!!, unprotected p in v (Wrap it up guys!), oral(fem! recieving), fem!reader, Collegestudent!reader, mentions of anxiety and depression

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

“One more show,” I quietly say, both to myself and Harry, as we stand in the bathroom after showering, getting ready to leave for the stadium. “One more show,” he echoes, both of us just staring into the mirror. “How are you feeling?” I ask him “Nervous,” is the first word out of his mouth, and he pauses for a second before continuing. “Happy, sad, excited. A little bit of everything. It’s been three years, and it’s crazy that it’s coming to an end. Love on Tour is ending.” “I feel all of those things too,” I admit quietly. “Not to the same level you do, but I feel them all. Life without Love on Tour is going to be weird. I mean, without this tour we wouldn’t be here. Together. We probably wouldn’t have even met. If it wasn’t for that concert that I managed to get pit tickets for, you never would have noticed me or met me,” I say, chuckling a little. “You know,” I say, beginning to laugh a little harder, “we really have a typical fanfiction romance story.” “Do we now?” he asks, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. “Yes. I mean, I read a lot of fanfiction when I was growing up. I was a fangirl. And how we met and our love story really is typical of fanfiction.” 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ November 19th, 2021 I walked into the Forum with my best friend at my side, both dressed-up and matching from head to toe, with feather boas around our necks. “I can’t believe we actually got pit tickets,” I say as we walk in, only a couple of other people being let in before us. “I know. I really thought that was a pipe dream,” Haylee responds, and I nod in agreement. We find our spot at the front of the pit, and plant ourselves there, not allowing ourselves to be pushed or shoved away from the spot. We spend the entire concert jumping up and down, and at random intervals I hold the poster I had made, that says “I skipped music theory to be here,” because I had left school early to drive out here today. One of the times I hold the sign up happens to be a time that Harry is standing in front of us, and he looks down and reads my poster, before smiling and shaking a finger at me. I watch as he mouths ‘shameful’ and then dances away. “Did you see that?” I shout as I turn to Haylee, and she looks to be in as much shock as I am, and just nods her head vigorously. We both turn back towards the stage, and just enjoy the rest of the concert as though nothing had happened. At the end of the concert, one of the security guards comes towards us, and I begin to get concerned that we did something wrong. “Hello ladies,” he says as he stands in front of us. “Um, hi,” I say quietly as I feel the panic attack begin to set in. “Are we in trouble?” Haylee asks, speaking up because she knew I wouldn’t. She’s the braver of the two of us. “No no no,” the guard says, shaking his head, and then continues. “Quite the opposite actually. Harry saw your sign,” he says, nodding his head towards me. “And he watched as the two of you enjoyed the concert, and he wanted me to come over and give you these passes, and invite you backstage,” he says, and hands us two VIP passes. “Wait what?” I say, vaguely sounding like Anna from Frozen. “Harry would like to meet you,” he says again, and then moves the barrier to let us through, and lets us follow him backstage. “What just happened,” I whisper to Haylee, grabbing her hand as we follow the security guard. “I have no idea,” she responds, and we walk in silence backstage. When we get back to the common area, Harry is standing there talking to some of his bandmates. I see him when he notices me, and he says something to the people he was talking to, and then he walks over to me and Haylee. “‘Ello ladies,” he says as he stops in front of us. “I’m Harry,” he says, and holds out his hand. “Hi,” I say softly. “I’m Y/N.” “And I’m Haylee,” Haylee says from next to me. “Nice to meet you both. Would you like to meet everyone else?” he asks, and we both nod our heads, and make the rounds to all the others as he introduces us to everyone. The more time we spent talking to other people, the more comfortable I got, and I could feel my body loosening and my body language becoming more welcoming.  Haylee separates from me and Harry, going over to talk to some of the band members, and Harry gently touches my elbow to get my attention, and then nods over to the side, motioning for me to follow him. I do, and before I know it we’re standing in our own little corner talking to each other. “Did you really skip music theory to be here?” he asks, and I blush and tuck a spare hair behind my ear before looking up at him. “Yeah. We wanted to be at the front of the pit, so we left super early this morning and sat in line all day.” “I never knew I had such devoted fans,” he says with a small laugh, and I laugh right along with him. “Yeah right,” I say in response. “There were others who were out there before we were, and we thought we were super early.” “Wow. Well, I hope you didn’t miss anything important in any of your classes today,” he says, and I laugh. “The classes I didn’t miss anything important, but I did miss rehearsals today, so that might be a little hard to catch up on,” I say, smiling as I look at him, and then I frown when I see a small frown cross his face. “Well I hope it’s not that hard to catch up. What kind of rehearsal?” he asks, and then we spend the next hour standing alone and talking about different things, not noticing what is going on around us. 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ “I’m glad you skipped class that day,” he says, placing a kiss on my neck, and snapping me back to reality and out of memory lane. “Me too,” I whisper, and then turn in his arms so that I’m facing him. “Last show.” “Last show,” he repeats, and then leans in to kiss me. When he pulls away he has a cheeky smile on his face. “And then two weeks in Italy before heading back to the States to make sure you’re back in time for classes,” he says, raising his eyebrows up and down in a teasing manner. “You’re cheeky,” I say before leaning in and kissing him again. “I can’t believe you’re moving to America for a year just for me.” “It’s true love baby love,” he says, leaning in and pressing his forehead against mine. “True love,” I whisper, and then peck his lips one more time before pulling away. “C’mon. I need to gather my outfit for the show before we leave.” “No you don’t,” he says, and I stop in the bathroom doorway and turn back to him. “Yes I do. I’m not going to the final show in this,” I say, and motion to my bike shorts and oversized Pleasing sweatshirt that I had stolen from him. “I know that. I had Lambert pull together something for you. I wanted us to match for the last show,” he says, and I run the short distance to him, jumping on him. He catches me easily, and laughs as I start to kiss all over his face and neck. “No love bites,” he says with a laugh as I focus on one specific spot. “I still have one more show.” “Did you really have Lambert pull something together for me H?” I ask as I pull away. “Of course I did. This night is just as much for you as it is for me.”  I shake my head as he puts my feet back on the floor. “No it’s not. I don’t perform or do anything. You do it all.” “Maybe so, but there wouldn’t be a Harry’s House yet without you. Over half of those songs were written and produced after you came into my life. It’s amazing we were able to get the album out when we did,” he says, and pulls me in for a kiss. “I love you. I wouldn’t have made it through this tour without you. This night is just as much yours as it is mine.” I kiss him again, before turning to leave the room. “I love you. We really do need to go though,” I say looking over my shoulder at him. He laughs and follows me out of the bathroom. 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ “Okay Lambert,” I say as I stand in Harry’s dressing room. He’s been kicked out for the time being so that my outfit is a surprise for him. “Get me in this outfit. Also it better be comfortable because the concert is over 2 hours tonight,” I say smiling at him. Harry had already changed, but not let me see him. I had been led into the dressing room with a blindfold on, giving Harry the chance to kiss me before he left so that my outfit was a surprise for him. “You got it girlie,” he says with a laugh, and then grabs the garment bag off the rack behind him. “Prepare to be amazed. Also, keep in mind you don’t know what Harry’s outfit looks like yet, so this might not make sense but it will.” After he says that he unzips the bag and drops it on the ground, holding out the outfit for you.   “Lambert…” I say trailing off, shocked at how beautiful this outfit is. “I know. It's beautiful. And just wait until you see Harry’s.  You guys will look amazing together,” he says, pulling me into a hug. “And, Harry told me you would refuse to wear heels, so, even though I picked out a pair of heels for you, he got these for you,” he says as he bends down and grabs a box of shoes from under the clothing rack and opens them. “MY OWN PAIR OF SATELLITE STOMPERS!” I yell, super excited, jumping up and down.   “Yep. Everyone got a pair for this last show, but Harry had something special embroidered on yours,” he says as he holds them out for me. I grab them and inspect them, fawning over the Love On Tour logo on one side, and then I tear up as I read the embroidered message. “My Satellite,” I whisper as I read the message. I hear Lambert sniffle and look up to see him tearing up. “Why are you crying?” I ask him through my own tears. “Because I am one of the people who got to watch the two of you fall in love. I got to watch him text you everyday, starting from the first meeting, through random concerts you were flown out for, the trips he would make just to see you when you both felt it was too early in your relationship for you to join him on your yet,  until you joined us this summer because you both agreed it was past time. I’ve watched you watch his concerts and I see the love you have in your eyes for him. The two of you were meant to come together,” he says, and I walk to him and give him a big hug. “Thank you Lamby,” I say, and then pull away and wipe my tears off. “Okay, I’m going to go change. You go get H and tell him he can come and wait on the couch.” I turn and head into the bathroom that’s in the dressing room, and quickly change. I smooth out my hair and wipe the small run of mascara off, before opening the door and stepping out. When I step out Harry is sitting on the couch, and he stands up and walks over to me. “Wow, Darling you look amazing. Lambert did a good job,” he says, and as he says that I take in what he’s wearing. “Lambert did an amazing job of making us match,” I say as I walk closer to Harry and press my lips to his own. “Thank you for the shoes. And the extra special message I whisper, looking up at him through my eyelashes. “They’re going to become my new comfort shoes. I’ll wear them everyday,” I say, and he kisses me. When he pulls away he smiles and says “Did you notice I got yours as platforms?” “Yes I did. And I greatly appreciate it. You know I’m crazy about platforms because they make me taller,” I say with a huge smile, and he leans in and kisses me again. We have some time to spare so we go and sit on the couch together. “How are you feeling?” I ask as I curl into his side after he takes his vest off and sets it aside. “Nervous. Sad. I’m ready for it to be over, but I’m also sad it’s ending. But excited because we’re staying here in Italy for a few weeks and we get to spend unbothered time together,” he says, and I can tell from the sound of his voice that he’s really feeling all of these emotions. “I’m really nervous to play that song for them at the end.” “All these emotions are valid. But I know that no matter what your fans are thankful for the time they got from you. You gave them three years of your life. A new album in the middle of that. They love seeing you, but they know you need a break to stay healthy. And they’ll be here waiting when you come back. No matter how long it is,” I tell him, rubbing his back as I say it. “What if they forget about me?” he says very quietly, and I gently grab his face in my hands. “Harry Edward Styles. Never in a million years will those fans ever forget about you. You saved so many of them. When I was just a fan, you saved me. And you saved me again when you brought me backstage that night and gave me your number before I left. Those people love you. I love you. Your mum loves you. Everyone who works with you loves you. No one will ever forget you,”  I tell him, and as I finish he pulls me into him and crashes his lips onto mine. When we pull away we’re both breathless, and we both need a minute to calm down. I stand and cross to the bathroom to fix my lipstick and grab a wipe to get the lipstick off of H. As I sit down and start to wipe his lips off, there’s a knock on the door and Jeff comes in, followed by Glenne and Anne. “Oh. Sorry,” Jeff says with a laugh as he sees me wiping Harry’s face, and Harry and I both laugh in return. “No worries,” Harry says when I move the wipe away from his mouth. “A minute earlier there might have been worries, but you’re just in time,” he continues, and I quickly get up to throw away the makeup wipe and try to hide my blushing face. “Harry, don’t embarrass Y/N,” Anne says with a smile on her face, and I mouth thank you to her from where I stand. “It’s not as if we all didn’t already know what was going on in here before we walked in,” Jeff says, and I laugh when Glenne gently smacks him on the chest. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop now,” he says with a laugh, and everyone sort of chuckles in response. I cross back over to Harry and he wraps his arm around my shoulder and places a kiss on my forehead. “Sorry love. Are you okay?” he whispers to me when he pulls away, and I just give a small smile and nod my head, before laying my head on his shoulder. 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ “My family are here tonight, my friends are here tonight. My girlfriend is here tonight. Thank you for my family,” Harry says, continuing his final speech, and I watch as he starts to tear up, before pausing to collect himself.  “I was doing so well!” he exclaims, trying to make the situation less serious. “Thank you for the support. Thank you for loving me the way that you have. My friends are here tonight. Thank you for having my back, always. I love you all so much. My girlfriend is here tonight. I wouldn’t be here tonight, finishing the tour on this date if it wasn’t for her,” he says, and pauses as he searches the area his mother is standing in looking specifically for me. When he finds me he zeroes in, his gaze falling solely on me. “I love you,” he says, with tears in his eyes. “I have a lot of things to feel incredibly lucky for in life but I feel the luckiest with my friends’ support. It allows me to do this. I am so full right now. I’ve never been happier in my entire life,” he says, pulling the microphone away from his mouth and mouthing “I love you” to me one more time, before turning to the band and starting to talk to him. I walk to Anne and stand right beside her as he continues his speech. We stand there holding each other as he talks to the audience. “Thank you,” she says to me, voice barely to where I can hear her, and I turn my head to look at her with a questioning look on my face. “For what?” I ask, and she just smiles and shakes her head. “You don’t see it, but everyone else does. You’ve brought him back to life.  Without you this tour would have ended a long time ago. Don’t get me wrong, he loves his job, but he probably would have ended this specific tour the first time around, found the inspiration to finish and then  release Harry’s House, and then organized a new tour. You gave him the ability to write while on tour, because you inspired him while he was on tour,” she says to me, and I tear up, and kiss her on the cheek. “Thank you Anne. But none of it would have happened without your support,” I say to her, and she tugs me to her and gives me a tight hug. When we pull away and turn back to Harry I can tell that he is starting to finish up his speech. “I see it- the love- in how it’s affected all the people around me, continue to affect people. It does not end with this tour, it doesn't end when this tour ends. Put some love into the world, it really needs it right now. I love you and I’ll miss you. You not only changed my life, you have made me the happiest. I’m so thrilled, I’m so happy. There’s lots of emotions tonight,it’s been a long time and I just wanna thank you very seriously for what this has been to me. You’ve changed my life,” he says, and then pauses for a second, and I watch as his eyes circle around the stadium, as he turns to the band one last time, and then turns back to the audience. “None of you are alone. Look around, look at how many people there are here. We’re all the same. I love you. Thank you so, so much.” As he finishes his speech, I tear up, and look around at all the people in the stadium and all those surrounding me. They may have changed his life. I may have changed his life.  But he’s changed mine as well. 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ As soon as I get backstage I go on the hunt for two things. One being water, and the other being Harry. As I get to the refreshments table I grab a water bottle and begin scouring the area with my eyes, looking for Harry. I see him just as I take a sip of water, and choke a little when I see that he has ditched the vest, never quite prepared for the image of him shirtless, even after two years together. I immediately begin walking over to him. He’s surrounded by the band, but when he sees me his smile gets bigger, and they all immediately turn to see what it is he’s looking at, and then cheer when they see it’s me. He pulls me in for a deep kiss as soon as I reach him, and for a minute the world is lost to us. I don’t register the hoops and hollers that are happening behind or around us, all I notice is him. When he pulls back he raises his hands up and starts jumping in the air, and everyone around him follows suit. As I jump up and down with him I can see Anne standing a few feet away, and I jump/hop my way over to her and pull her into the group. When Harry sees her he pulls her in for a hug, and then reaches out to pull me in too. The three of us stand there hugging and just lost in our own world. After we separate from our hug, someone starts playing music and Harry and I stand and just dance around, partying with everyone around. Eventually Harry pulls away and gets everyone’s attention. “You all did so amazing during this tour, and I am so thankful for each and everyone of you. But it’s late, and we’re all tired. So let’s go to our hotel rooms or wherever we're staying. I will see all of you at dinner at my house tomorrow night for our final family dinner!” he exclaims, and everyone cheers one last time. Before I know it the entire band and crew and anyone else who was back here partying with us has corralled everyone into one big group hug. Some people are crying, others are laughing. The people at the back are the first to break free, and as soon as we are finally released from the hug, Harry and I head towards his dressing room to gather our things and go home. “What a night,” I say as the door closes behind Harry and we’re alone for the first time in hours. I start to gather some belongings that we had strewn across the dressing room, and as I start to throw items in my tote bag, I hear a sniffle come from the door. “Harry?” I say as I drop what I had been holding and begin to walk towards him. He hasn’t moved, and is still facing the door, so when I step up to him I place my hand on his arm and turn him toward me. “Honey what’s wrong?” I ask once he’s facing me and I see the tears that are falling down his face. “It’s over,” he whispers, and I let a small “oh” escape my mouth, before pulling him into me. He buries his head in my neck, and I feel the tears start to fall off his face and onto my skin. I stand there holding him for a while, but after a few minutes the tears slow and he pulls himself away from me. “I’m okay. I just didn’t want to cry in front of all of them.” “H, it’s okay to be sad that the tour is over. It’s been your life for three years now. And everyone else is sad as well.  I’m sad, and I haven’t even been here since the beginning,” I tell him, and gently lead him over to the couch. “You were only a few months late,” he mumbles, a small smile coming across his face. “Right, but either way it wasn’t the beginning. You’ve been doing this amazing thing for three years now. It’s okay, and it’s time for you to take a break. In all reality, you don’t have to be onstage to be doing amazing things. Your music does it for you,” I tell him, and I watch him close his eyes and nod in agreement and understanding. “Thank you,” he whispers, and before I can ask why he continues. “Don’t ask why, I can feel the look on your face. Thank you for being here. For being with me. Or always being there to talk me down.  Just being there. Even when you weren’t physically here you were just a call away. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in this world,” he explains, and then leans forward and kisses me. “I love you,” I say when he pulls away, and he just leans back in and kisses me again. Our bodies are so in tune with each other that with each push and pull or move of our bodies or tongues it is a seamless connection. When we pull away we lean our foreheads together as we catch our breath. Harry leans in and attaches his lips to my neck, and I laugh a little as he moves his lips further down, getting closer to my chest with each move. “Harry, we can be home in twenty minutes and continue this if you’ll let me finish gathering up our stuff,” I say, laughing, and gently pushing him away. He places one last kiss on my collar bone and pulls back. “Okay, let’s go,” he says, standing up and holding his hand out for me, helping me stand so I can gather the rest of our belongings. 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ “Harry we have to get up to meet with the caterers,” I say as I try to get out of bed, but am quickly pulled back into bed with a vice grip around my waist as Harry holds on. We had both received a text from Anne and Gemma saying that they were going out for the morning, and that thought alone made Harry not want to let me out of the bed, knowing that we were alone in the house for some time. “We have like 3 hours before they will be here,” he mumbles into my shoulder, placing small kisses all over it. “Right but we both need to take a shower,” I say as I continue to try to pull away. “Okay, so 30 minutes to fool around in bed, an hour to shower, 30 minutes to fool around in the shower, and we’ll still have an hour left to get dressed,” he says, flipping me over so that I’m laying on my back and starting to move his body down mine, lips trailing over my body as they move down. “I don’t have the heart to stop you,”  I tell him, getting a little breathless as he gets closer to my core, and I feel his small breaths of laughter on my lower stomach. He continues down my body, and spreads my legs open, slipping between him. I shiver as he kisses the insides of my thighs, before he moves to where I really want him. He starts flick his tongue on and around my clit as he inserts a finger into me and starts to move it in and out, making a ‘come here’ motion when he is inside of me, hitting the perfect spot. I thread my fingers through his hair as he starts sucking on my clit, and slips two more  fingers inside. He looks up at me through his eyelashes as he brings me closer and closer to the edge, and I see the smirk on his lips as he suddenly pulls away. He brings his body up over mine and brings his lips to mine as he pushes into me. A moan escapes both of our mouths as he begins to move in and out of me. “How are you doing baby?” he asks when he pulls away from my lips. “Amazing,” I moan out, and scratch my nails down his back. “Harder Harry,” I moan out, and he obliges. He starts to move in and out faster, and reaches a hand down to rub my clit. He keeps moving in and out of me at an excruciating pace, but it feels amazing and I do not ask him to stop. He takes his time, making sure that I get to my breaking point first, and then he follows after. After we both take a few moments to catch our breath, he moves his body down mine and starts to eat me out again. He works me up again, rubbing at my clit, and before long he has me hurtling over the edge again. He moves his body back up and lays down next to me, pulling me into him, and we lay there in silence for a few moments, catching our breath. Neither of us makes a move to pull away from the other, instead laying there together. After a few minutes Harry pulls himself away, before holding out his hand. Together we walk to the bathroom and get into the shower. As soon as the water is heated up, Harry is on his knees and eating me out again, cleaning the mix of our cum out of me. 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ “I tried to tell you that we weren’t going to have enough time,”  I say to Harry as we both scramble to put clothes on after hearing the doorbell ring. “I didn’t hear you complaining,” he says, buttoning his pants and grabbing a shirt. “I’ll get the door,” he says, crossing over to me and pecking me on the lips as I straighten up after slipping underwear on. “I got it. Take your time,” he says and then heads out of the bedroom. I slip my pants and sports bra on, and walk back into our en-suite to apply mascara. I put the mascara on and brush out my hair, and then walk back into our room and grab the shirt I had laid out and slip it on. I stand in front of the mirror for a second and make sure that my outfit looks okay, and will be okay for the last family dinner with the Love on Tour family dinner. I then slip  out of the room, and walk down the hall towards the kitchen. As I near the kitchen I can hear Harry talking to the caterer that he had let in. “I think setting up the buffet right here would be best, and then people will just be standing and eating or sitting and eating wherever they decide. We weren’t planning on pushing any tables together or anything. It’s essentially one big house party before we all go our separate ways for some time,” he tells the caterer, and as I step in and walk next to him the caterer nods in understanding. “I will bring my team back in a few hours with all the food you ‘ave requested,” the caterer responds as Harry leads him to the front door to let him out. “Sounds great, thank you so much Tomas,” Harry says, and then waves as he walks out the door, shutting it after the man has made it out. “See,” he says, turning to me with one of his trademark smiles. “I told you everything would be okay.” 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ “Hi, welcome,” I say as Lloyd and some of the other photographers come in the front door. They all stop and give me a small hug as I say “the food is in the kitchen to the right, and everyone is spread all over the room.” I close the door as they all walk in the direction of the kitchen, and turn and look over the house. From this spot I can see Harry and Pauli dancing around. I can see Sarah and Mitch holding the baby and giving him little pinches of safe food every now and then while they talk to Anne. I can see Jeff and Glenne talking to Lorryn and some of the other band members.   I go through the kitchen and grab a little food and then cross the room to sit with Anne. I grab the glass of wine I had left there when I went to answer the door and take a sip. When I place the wine glass down again, Anne wraps her arm around me and I lean into her. “How’re you doing sweet girl?” she says when there’s a lull in the conversation. I watch as Sarah and Mitch take the baby and walk over to where the other band members are, and I can tell it’s their way of giving me and Anne some privacy. I set my plate down in front of me before answering her. “I’m… okay,” I respond. “It’s been the best summer of my life, and it’s not fully over yet, but it feels like it is. Especially since I’ve made so many friends traveling with H, and now I know it will be a long time before I see them again,” I explain, and I can see the understanding across her features. “I can understand that,” she says, and then leans down and kisses me on the forehead. “How long until the two of you head back to the states?” “I thought he told you everything,” I say with a laugh, and she laughs with me. “We’re heading back on the 12th. I’m one of the leaders for orientation and I have a meeting at school on the 18th, but we discussed it and we both wanted some time to settle back into the house. Well,” I say pausing to let out a small laugh. “I guess we wanted time to move in and settle. He sold the LA house, which you knew, and the movers are moving everything into the new house, which is closer to my school and has a private beach attached to it. We had everything, both his and mine, moved into a storage unit. The only clothes I currently have access to are the ones I packed for this trip,” I say with a small laugh. “I’m not positive what we’re doing with the very little furniture and other things that I have, but we have to figure something out.” “Would you like for me to come out around that time to help you guys figure it out?” she asks me, and I immediately wrap both my arms around her. “I would love nothing more. And I know Harry will feel the same. He misses his mom.” She smiles in response and squeezes my sides before pulling away. “I miss my boy. It’s settled then. I’ll look at tickets the moment I get home tomorrow,” she says and I lean over and kiss her on the cheek before reaching out for my wine. I sit silent for a minute, sipping on my wine and thinking. “I feel bad,” I say when I speak up again, and Anne looks at me as though I’ve grown two heads. “Why on earth do you feel bad?” she asks me, reaching out and placing her hand on my arm, gently squeezing. “I’m taking Harry away from you. He’s moving to America for me,” I say, refusing to look in her eyes and instead staring into my wine glass. “Oh my sweet sweet girl,” she says, and gently reaches out and tips my chin up so I’m looking in her eyes. “You are not taking him away from me. He was getting close to moving there full time anyway. He sold the one LA house to find a new one, not to move home. He might not have admitted that, but we both knew it. It is in no way your fault. I would be upset if he was moving there and didn’t have anyone, but he has you. And you have shown me time and time again over the last two years, that you are the person for him,” she tells me and I smile. “Thank you. I’m gonna miss you when I’m back at school and don’t have as much time to see you.” “I always tell Harry that I’m only a phone call away, and that goes for you as well. I love you sweet girl,” she says, and I lean into her again, wrapping my arms tightly around her. “I love you Anne.” When we pull apart we sit there visiting for a while longer as I pick at some of the food I had on my plate and take a few small bites and finish my wine. I don’t notice Harry watching me pick at my food  until he comes over carrying a plate of fruit and a glass of water.  He comes over and gently takes the plate out of my hands, handing me the plate of fruit at the same time, and that  is what brings my attention to him. I look up at him with a questioning look and he just smiles. While I’m looking at him I feel Anne get up, and Harry is quick to take her place on the couch. “Haz, I have a plate of food,” I tell him as he gets comfortable next to me. “But you didn’t want it,” he says simply, and I feel my facial expression morph into one of bewilderment. “How could you possibly have known that?” I ask him, not wanting to admit he was right. I had only grabbed the plate of food because everyone else had one, and I didn’t want to be the only one without food. I typically only eat one meal a day, with some snacks here or there, and I had eaten lunch so I wasn’t that hungry. “Because I know you. You sat here drinking your wine, and took maybe two bites of food. I don’t like that you only eat one meal a day, but I know it has to do with your depression and anxiety, and I know that being one of the hosts of a party is causing you some anxiety,” he explains as he wraps his arm around my shoulders and gently pulls me to lean on him. “However, I also know that you need to eat something. Fruit is a comfort food for you. So I grabbed some of your favorites and brought it over,” he finishes, and I tilt my head and lift it to meet his lips in a kiss. “You’re too good to me,”  I whisper when I pull away, and he just smiles and shakes his head. “No, you’re too good for me,” he says, and then leans down and presses another kiss on my lips. 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ “Thanks for coming,”  I hear Harry say from my spot laid out on the couch,  as the last guests leave. Anne had gone to bed about an hour ago in her room here at the house. Gemma had also gone to the guest room she was staying in, which was right across from their mother’s room. Sarah and Mitch had left hours ago, heading back to the hotel to get the baby into bed at a semi-decent time. I close my eyes as Harry walks back into the room and Moon River, by Audrey Hepburn, comes over the speaker in the room. I quietly hum along with it until I feel a shadow fall over my head. “Come dance with me,” he says, gently playing with the necklace that is resting on my collar bones, one that he had given me a couple of months after our one year anniversary. I hum in agreement before allowing him to take my hand and pull me up. As soon as I’m standing he pulls me to him and we sway back and forth, slowly moving around the room. Another slow song comes on as we continue dancing, lost in our own little world. After a while I pull back and look at him. “Ready to rest now?” I quietly say, not meaning for the night, but meaning for a greater amount of time. He gives me a small smile and nods yes. We stop dancing and make our way over to the couch, and he sits down first, laying down on the couch. He spreads his legs so that I can slip my body between them, and I lay down with my head on his chest. He rubs his hands up and down my back as we sit there in silence, the only noise being the music that is playing through the speakers. “What are we going to do tomorrow?” he quietly asks after a few minutes. “Rent that boat you mentioned. Clean up from this party and get the house ready for the guests that are coming next week.  Say goodbye to your mom for now,” I say, and then pause. “It doesn’t really matter what we do. What matters is that you get some well deserved and needed rest,” I say, and then place a gentle kiss on his chest. “What is this rest thing you speak of?” he says, and without looking at him I can hear the smile in his voice, and feel the chuckle rumble through his chest. “It’s something you deserve and need to enjoy,” I say, and then I stand up, holding my hand out for him. “Here, let me show you.”

[deanstudies101]

5x04, The End

Critical theory: Hope. Devotion. Inevitability.

Key quotes: Dean, “Don’t ever change.” 

Further reading: "I like past you." (@subcas) vs. "I love past you." (@bloodydeanwinchester)

"Don't ever change." (@castielbabey)

Discussion: 

[When Dean is telling Sam they’re better off apart. Those are John’s words right out of his mouth.] 

Love future Cas. Don’t think it’s real. [Agree.] But we see a new version of him, an extreme version of him. It gives him depth. He may not be far down that axis, now or ever, but that axis exists. Zach definitely had a hand in crafting that, but there has to be some truth in that. How much Zach had a hand in it we’re not sure, but it certainly seems to play into Dean’s fears. That Cas exists to be wrong to Cas. This was a concoction to make Dean say yes, with some truth. Overall, this feels like it’s not completely real, but not completely fake. 

2014 Dean should’ve used 2009 Dean as a human shield is the leading thought. 

Saw the decision Dean makes coming from quite early on, because of course this would make Dean realise he needs to be close to Sam. [And you’ve been saying this for a while actually! Why would they send Sam off, unsupervised?] Bobby’s still would’ve been the best solution. It’s sad, because Dean felt so relieved to be apart from Sam, away from the reminder of (in his eyes) his failure. And now he feels like he has to be a babysitter forever, or the world will literally end. He can’t share this with anyone. He never asks for help, and the only person who even remotely understands is Bobby. It’s sad for him.

[Admittedly this episode is a slight spanner in the works for the “Cas is a homosexual” theory.] However, if this was crafted by Zach, it kinda makes sense actually… If it’s crafted for Dean to hate it… well… 

[I “like” past you.] That’s not an i. [What is it?] It’s an o. [It is an o.] [[They were silent for a long moment here. There were hands over mouths.]] That’s a really weird thing to say in this situation. [I’m gonna say, this is not the last time one of them said they love the other one and it gets cut/edited. The first. But not the last.] 

Jared's acting is jarring. Can’t tell if it’s a choice or bad acting. A lot of actors put their entire pussy into their ‘possessed’ version. Mary’s dad ate. Still think about that one. Probably helps that Azazel had a very distinctive character at that point, and Lucifer doesn’t yet. However… you’re being possessed by Lucifer. It should've been bigger. Lilith gives instant chills. Whatever actress, you instantly knew it was Lilith. Lucifer being the hallucinations is creepy. Lucifer possessing one of the brothers should've been a bigger performance, more impactful, more iconic. 

[Strangely, I don’t mind this performance? I think he did okay. I think it works. Like, in this moment, Lucifer has won. He just killed Dean. And then 2009 Dean shows up. So what? Like he says, killing 2009 Dean would be redundant. He doesn’t need to do any posturing. He doesn’t need to gloat. He just… won. This subtle, subdued version just works for me.]

Lucifer’s whole thing is convincing people. Subtle and seductive. But he should’ve been more charismatic. [But again, why? He doesn’t need to talk Dean into anything. He knows that whatever Dean does, Lucifer still wins. He won!] It would’ve been more fun to see a more charismatic possessed Sam. [I agree. But I do think it works here.] 

Feel bad for Sam. Sam feels like he’s been abandoned by Dean, and he’s very nervous, asking to be taken back. It’s “please let me come home, please don’t leave me.” It’s the flipside of “poor Dean having to babysit his brother”, but of course you feel bad for Sam. He’s always wanted to go off and be normal, and he just can’t. They are trapped in the narrative. 

Cas waiting there is really endearing. He doesn’t have anything else to do. We like him. [And I’m gonna say it. He’s autistic.] He didn’t want to be late. He had something to do in a few hours so he was kinda just waiting for it. Couldn’t do anything else. 

The way Cas looked at him at the end. He looks smitten. 

[I'll end with some words you may be familiar with already, in light of Dean's "Don't ever change."] [spoilers for 15x18]

Cas, "You're the most caring man on Earth. You are the most selfless, loving human being I will ever know. You know, ever since we met, ever since I pulled you out of Hell... Knowing you has changed me. Because you cared, I cared. I cared about you. I cared about Sam, I cared about Jack... I cared about the whole world because of you. You changed me, Dean."

[arthur-lesters-tylenol]

Looking Back on Episode One of Protocol

so I am in the middle of another relisten of The Magnus Protocol and reviewing it before the second season starts and wow they really immediately started throwing punches. The tree/plant references that seem to have a lot to do with the new supernatural forces here (themes of transformation, bringing back old ghosts, love ones and reincarnation through plants, etc). The point that supernatural forces work differently here, so they need to be categorized differently (where in TMA we could pretty easily separate each fear despite the fact that they were all actually parts of one whole, here it is immediately made clear that it is not so simple, so ofc the computers who have the voices of Jon and Martin cannot properly categorize these new/changed supernatural forces). The second statement having Norris’ first line be that?! The statement with Arthur and the amalgamation (a new archivist/archive of this universe in my current theories, maybe the Archivist/[Error] is what is left of Jon or some other archive/archivist from another universe that was pulled here due to 200, and the amalgamation in that statement is the actual form of archive/archivist originally in this universe?) and having a character say, in Martin’s voice, that they are afraid of what is left of a lost loved one?! Crazy. Oh and don’t let me forget how ominous every single one of Alice’s lines are (love her ❤️❤️❤️) and the literal tonne of explosion allusions (all of the uses of the words blast, etc). All of the allusions to the philosopher’s stone/the stages of transformation in alchemy (1/20 cases being read out loud which is 5%, 5 being a number heavily associated with the Philosopher’s Stone, and this stone is alluded to literally so many times in so many episodes through mentions of colour, the number 5, and the motif of crystals surrounding Celia’s current motives (sacrificing Sam so she can stay in this universe, clinging onto this life, that kind of thing)). Ooo and all of the talk about imitation and how it is similar to and contrasts transformation (Teddy imitating Lena, the OIAR employees imitating a family, Teddy being compared to a plant, the amalgamation as transformation and imitation coming together, Teddy putting words in Colin’s mouth (even if it was just a joke), Gwen telling Alice to “turn it off” like she is a computer, the obvious references to Binary, humanizing Fr3-D1, Colin comparing Sam to a plant, so many references to the Spiral/ more specifically the Distortion, Alice comparing Sam to food (definitely foreshadowed the end of s1)). The fishing motif. Are the supernatural forces completely different or are they simply the same ones as in TMA but they have been split and refracted like light through a crystal. Are they a mixture, some forces from the universe the first season of protocol takes place in along with some new forces that have been pulled here by the events of 200? Oh and in episode 18 when they mention daffodils, alluding to Narcissus and that whole narrative. Anyway, just theorizing for the funzies. Can’t wait to see how wrong all of my current theories are and how they pan out in the coming seasons! Thank you for staying and listening to my rant.

[ladysolidor87]

More thoughts on the season finale. WARNING: Spoiler Alert 🚨 Only read if you’ve watched the season two finale.

- Towards the end of the episode we see Sauron with Feanor’s hammer, which I assume he will use (alongside his own blood) to forge the one ring. We also see Elendil take Narsil, the blade that will cut the ring from Sauron’s hand.

We see both Sauron’s way to power and the beginning of his downfall. As Celebrimbor tells him, he creates his own doom. All his power in one object, an object we know will ultimately be destroyed by one person, Gollum. Celebrimbor pretty much predicts it for Sauron and Sauron hates it.

Sauron weeps. I’d like to think a small slither of him is sad for killing Celebrimbor but let’s be honest, he’s crying for himself. I’m almost certain, deep down he knows he’s doomed.

- It’s implied at the end that Durin may end up wearing the ring that led to his father’s madness and death. (Loved that he managed to take the bloody ring off in the end though) With oppositions rising to take the throne they all look to the ring, be it warily at the moment. I’ve got a dreadful feeling Durin will eventually put it on. I can foresee lots of horrid things and it makes me sad. I love them so much. But the dwarves do dig and Khazad-Dum does fall…gotta get there somehow.

- Queen Miriel is seen in chains before Pharazôn. Am I right in thinking that he marries her in text to strengthen his claim to the throne? Forgive me friends, my knowledge isn’t as complete as I’d like. If a learned friend could confirm or deny that would be great. Whatever the case, I hope Elendil raises a force to rescue her.

- I think Eärien will see the errors of her way. She looked rather uncomfortable at points, especially when the faithful were declared as traitors and she immediately went to warn her father. When Isildur returns I think she will turn against Pharazon if she doesn’t before hand. A nice mini redemption arc would be sweet for her. Bonus points if she bumps off Kemen (although I think Isildur will do that!)

- Gandalf has arrived. Not sure how I feel about his early arrival but I must admit it’s bloody lovely to have him! He is such a wonderful character and we see now where his deep love of the Halflings comes from. I do wonder who the dark wizard is though. Any theories? I don’t know Tolkiens work well enough to guess myself. (I’ve only read the Silmarillion once and my poor mind couldn’t absorb much of it.)

- Did we see the birth of Rivendell? That’s where the elves are, right? Can’t wait to see that explored in season three.

- Gil-Galad and Galadriel getting on for once was lovely 🥰

- Elrond is perfection as always. For the record, I don’t think the kiss between Elrond and Galadriel was at all romantic. Just my opinion! If you ship them then that’s great. I just think it was a farewell kiss and a bit of distraction. They definitely love each other but just don’t see the romantic aspect myself. I loved when he put on the ring. He was so reluctant but did it for Galadriel. Loved it ❤️

That’s all for now! Send me your own thoughts and theories. I genuinely want to talk about this amazing series. Also, for anyone who knows the texts inside and out, teach me! And correct me when I’m wrong which is…probably a lot 😆

[barrenclan]

i just found this blog (and by extension the series), and, omg, IM IN LOVE WITH EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS!!!! there’s so much i want to say, from how much i appreciate your character writing, and like, super realistic traits, fears, and interests, as well as how amazing your art is, and how well you incorporate things like shape language, color theory, and family heritage with each design. it’s really clear that the effort you put into this series has so much passion and love in it. each of these characters are so well done, and i can’t wait to see where you take each of them!! also, the whole concept that you’ve made, and the style you’ve done this story in, is super fascinating!! from a mix of experience of my own, and stories from friends of mine and some creators i know, it’s not hard to see the frustration that can come from writing stories or writing AND drawing comics. seeing you so seamlessly blend the two mediums is both impressive and inspiring! i really, really like how you organize pages, and your clean lines and colors really allow for the characters to communicate things that are hard to visualize, whereas your writing (which is great, by the way) really helps describe things that can be harder to understand from just one picture and really blends into the story nicely. alongside that, your dialogue is done in a really nice way, so that it feels both realistic and it also helps to keep the story going, well!! your portrayals of moral grayness is both accurate and digestible. you have made characters both be in the wrong, and incredibly likable, which can be really difficult!

sorry for my rambling, but this series is just amazing, and i can’t wait to see more of it! i hope you like this little pie paw doodle i did very quickly (please forgive how messy it is i was rushing so i could send in this ask 😖)

Aw my gosh this is all so kind of you to say!! :,D I'm really really glad you've enjoyed the story, I've had a wonderful time working on it. Your words really mean a lot to me, I'm always thrilled when someone likes something I've made so much, it makes the hours I put in more than worth it. And I hope you keep liking it going forward!

Also, thank you for the Pinepaw drawing! He's so cute!!

[simslegacy5083]

Not So Berry (Straud Descendants) Gen 9

Today's (8/29/2024) Episode: Mini Me

Luigi would be the first to name Noemi his better half in most aspects of his life, including childcare, but he was not a neglectful parent.

Now that Skye was a toddler and displayed more independence and personality, Luigi was struck by how many of his behaviors mirrored the stories his Dads had told about his own early days, starting with a hatred of being carried.

Letting Skye walk places on his own was quite the hassle, since it took him twice as long to get anywhere, even when they kept him headed the right direction. However, the fit he would throw when they tried to pick him up quickly proved not worth it, so they resigned themselves to the wait.

A less annoying inherited trait was Skye becoming a heavy sleeper.

Fortunately, with no school schedule to worry about yet, letting him sleep in late each day was not only harmless, but quite convenient.

Noemi could head into the office first thing in the morning without worrying about waking him as she got ready. Luigi could likewise do any chores he liked and roll into work in the afternoon without needing to do much in the way of childcare for their sleepy son.

Luigi’s recent visits to family combined with seeing his boy acting so much like him triggered a particularly odd dream about meeting his younger self.

Young dream Luigi spent a lot of time congratulating the current version on finding his ���special someone” and become a famous pro gamer but was very critical about adult Luigi’s struggles to put others first and failure to verify papa’s theory about The Watcher and their “legacy heir” status.

With the frankness of youth, he burst out “Well, it doesn’t seem like knowing I’m a legacy heir has done me much good! I can’t tell anyone AND it turned me into a self-absorbed sim. Papa is always right… but was he was wrong to tell us about this even if its true”?

When Luigi awoke from his dream the next morning, he headed right in to check in on Skye, who was sleeping soundly as usual.

Looking at his little boy, so small and innocent in his toddler bed, Luigi thought about his dream and what his younger self had said.

Papa Jack had started teaching Luigi about his special status as a toddler, but should he do the same for his son? Noemi would surely object, and really, had knowing he was a legacy heir done anything to help him over the years?

Skye would remain the heir whether he knew it or not, just like all Luigi’s distant ancestors papa had identified by their accomplishments and strong preference for a particular color.

With a sigh Luigi turned towards the kitchen. Given his multiple dietary restrictions he’d stepped up and started doing most of his own cooking since his step-moms departure. It wasn’t as fulfilling as mixology, but he’d quickly become pretty good at it, just like every other skill he put his mind towards learning.

That sunny morning as he grilled up some breakfast for him and Skye, he found himself with a lot on his mind and a big decision to make.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[douglysium]

Episode 5 TMP Quick Thoughts

Housekeeping and Prologue

Hello, this is Douglysium and you might not know me as that guy who wrote over 100 pages of analysis on the Eye (which can be read on Tumblr here (https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/735599414228484097/the-relationships-between-the-dread-powers-the) or Google Docs here (The Relationships Between the Dread Powers: The Eye- Knowledge is Fear and Ignorance is Bliss)) or as that guy who wrote an article on the Extinction (which can be read on Tumblr here(https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/717929126195003392/what-would-avatars-of-the-extinction-be-like-a) and Google Docs here(​What would Avatars of the Extinction be like?: A TMA Speculation)). Suffice to say I might be a bit of a TMA fan. Also, spoilers for TMP up until episode 4. You can read my ramblings on the last episode here (TMP Quick Thoughts 4).

However, Protocol offers a very unique opportunity and experience for me because I didn’t actually get into TMA until after it was over and I binged all of it. So this is my first time experiencing something even remotely similar to what the original TMA fans probably experienced when waiting for each episode week by week and slowly having to put everything together with the limited information they had. So I decided to throw my hat into the ring since this might be my only chance to do something similar. However, I’m working on some longer form TMA content so I can’t spend as much time on these articles giving a bunch of super detailed thoughts. I will try to keep these short and that inevitably might mean some could have questions about why I think or predict certain things and in those cases I would probably recommend you read at least some of the two articles I mentioned above to get a better idea of where I’m coming from. This also means I won’t be giving you a play-by-play of every single thing that happens in the episode so I encourage you to listen to or read them yourselves and feel free to comment if you feel something is important.

These reviews are probably going to end up focusing mostly on the Entities and their manifestations as they are what I have thought about the most and spent the most time interpreting and there’s been a lot of… interesting theories floating around about how the Entities are manifesting that I want to go over.

Finally, I’m just going to say it right now, spoiler warning for all of The Magnus Archives. I know that Jon and co said one could start with Protocol and be fine, and while that’s probably true, media like this tends to be made in conversation with or take into consideration what came before it in the irl chronology in order to connect them. While I’m sure you could skip The Magnus Archives, I don't really see the point of skipping over it when we are already getting characters from TMA showing up in TMP in Protocol. So to me it’s pretty clear that if we want to understand the full picture of TMP and all the things it is trying to say then we can’t just try to pretend TMA doesn’t exist or scrub it away. Just because you could understand what’s happening without the context in broad strokes doesn’t mean you're getting all the nuances.

These articles are meant to be quick and short so sorry if there’s typos and if I don’t address every possible question or possibility. I don’t want to repeat myself too much in this series outside of the prologue so be sure to skim some of my other articles.

Episode 5 “Personal Screening”

If you ask me, the statement in this episode is almost definitely Eye aligned and it’s one of the most Eye flavored statements I’ve seen in a while. But let’s try to slow down and walk through some bits of the episode. Like always it may be an act of hubris to view TMP through the lens of Smirke’s 14 (and potentially The Extinction if I feel it comes to it) but even if I’m wrong I still find this to be fun and the parallels interesting.

Like always, we are hearing the story of TMP from the perspective of something / someone listening in via device and the transcripts clarify that this time we are listening through a landline.

Sam enters Lena’s office to express his worry about Colin’s paranoia and says “Well, today I found him crawling along the corridor, yanking out wires and muttering to himself.” and points out that Colin has “added all those locks to his office door and he refuses to even go near a camera now…” I feel like this mirrors TMA in how we see a coworker becoming worried about another coworker's increasing paranoia. And, similar to Jon, Colin’s paranoia in part seems to be coming from the feeling that he is being watched or monitored by something. I maintain that if the Entities are present then the O.I.A.R. is at least partially connected to the Eye and we see Colin is even becoming afraid of being seen by cameras and the like.

I think it’s also interesting that Lena says this “Right. Well firstly, thank you for raising this with me Sam. It’s important we don’t keep secrets here.” which feels a lot like some ominous foreshadowing we don’t yet understand. The Eye is all about having no privacy and exposing secrets and Colin seems to indeed be keeping some sort of secret. Not only that, but considering what Gwen saw last episode Lena is also keeping at least one secret.

There actually seem to be a lot of parallels or allusions to TMA structurally or thematically. Many of the statements sure but also the roles certain characters play. Sam is too curious for his own good like Jon and may be here to look into a previous encounter with the supernatural, some have pointed out that Alice and Tim both seem to cope with jokes, and Lena is a shady boss like Elias / Jonah. Just to be clear I’m not saying these are 1-to-1 or are meant to be alternate versions of each other or something. Rather that either The Eye tends to attract certain people, that this is meant to be a reference (Sort of like how how Part 7 and onwards in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure have many direct references and parallels to other characters even though they aren’t always the exact same person / personality or one-to-one), or we are going to end up with some extrapolation, divergence, and / or commentaries on these similarities (either directly or indirectly).

However, long story short, Lena dismisses these claims and basically tells Sam not to worry, schedule a meeting next time, and mind his own business before we cut to one of the computers Sam and / or Alice work at to catch the rest of the story. Alice mentions “Ah. Yeah, Lena isn’t exactly known for her diplomacy.” which points to the idea that Lena probably isn’t the nicest person, or at the very least doesn’t sugarcoat things. Sam finds that Alice left some papers on his desk and she explains “I had a nosey while you were in Lena’s office. Looks like it’s for your Response Department one to one.” One thing I mention a lot about The Eye is that it tends to attract people who are very curious and / or want to know things, such as “Nosy Rosie,” Jonah, Jon, etc.. This scene shows us that Alice might be more curious or nosy than she lets on in some aspects. Of course, in typical Alice fashion when Sam expresses worry about the paper and the Response Department she tells him to basically just ignore it and throw it away but Sam decides to fill start filling it out anyway.

I wonder if this is similar to the magically binding contract from TMA and if Sam just accidentally tied himself to something. Alice does also say “Just chuck it. I told you, I’m pretty sure the Response Department doesn't even exist anymore. It's just the system spitting out dead paperwork. Happens all the time.” so we can’t even be sure that this is coming from the Response Department. In fact the paperwork coming from the Response Department could be The Eye or some other Entity and / or supernatural occurrence. We also continue to have Sam’s curiosity hammered into us when he says “And I’m going to fill it in any way. See what happens.” Sam notes that the paperwork asks strange questions when he says “Uh huh… They want my last seven addresses. I don’t know if I’ve even had-” This could point to the idea of the paper wanting a suspicious amount of information since it not only wants to know where you currently live but the last seven places someone has lived.

(Probably rather luckily) Sam gets interrupted by a statement as Alice manages to convince him to stop as CHESTER gives us our statement for the episode.

This statement is about Tom and the blog he is running. On it he reviews horror movies and even says “Hey all you sick freaks out there, Tom here, your gruesome guide to the most twisted horror films of the world wide web!” He also says “I can’t believe this blog’s still up. Was looking for somewhere slightly less confrontational than social media to post my film thoughts, and I remembered starting this back in, what, 2009?” As I’ve mentioned before The Eye is the fear of being perceived and known which also involves the fear of being judged for things. To put it even more broadly, The Eye seems to be about the fear of knowledge in general. Not just the fear that someone / something might know too much about you (or a specific secret) or is just gathering information by watching you but also the fear that you yourself might know too much or have seen something you wish you hadn’t. In MAG 200 we are told in what order the Powers emerged and what led to their birth and for The Eye we are told it came from the fear of one’s eyes “showing them too much.” In essence, that they saw something they didn’t want to. A more direct example of this is Jonah being able to force information into the minds of other people like Martin and Melanie. Jonah mentions that this information has to be true and it points to the idea of forcing someone to know something against their will.

We also get “That first post... Fourteen years old and convinced I was the edgiest writer on the web. Might keep it up for posterity, god knows the kid went through enough” which implies a rough childhood. Considering what happens with the movie I would also like to point out that tying into The Eye’s whole “seeing too much” thing is the idea of being forced to remember or relive certain things you don’t want to. The most obvious form this took in TMA was the statements (as they were people recounting what happened to them) but Jon could also force people to give statements (forcing them to recall things against their will) and when Jon takes live statements both Jonah and Daisy point out that when this is done the victim will be forced to relive said statement every night via a dream in which Jon is watching. Sometimes, if there’s a monster involved, the victim sees things from the perspective of the monster (forcing them to watch their own suffering in a way).

Tom explains “I remember I was pretty lonely in those days. Ever since I was a child, making friends has always been kind of a struggle. My interests have always been seen as a little strange... While other kids my age at the time were looking up to football players and other celebrities, I was looking up to Pinhead and Freddy Krueger... It wasn’t in a psychopath kind of way or anything, I’ve just always been fascinated by horror. I can thank my dad for that, he showed me Puppet Master when I was six. ‘oh don’t worry, buddy! It’s just like Toy Story”... He had kind of a dark sense of humour like that.” before continuing to describe how he was really into horror and continues to have a fixation on it. This also implies that it’s possible the young Tom wasn’t always aware of what he was about to see and was tricked or lied to about what it was. Which could tie into the idea of seeing something you didn’t want to if we assume that this poor kid was expecting Toy Story only to get a scary movie. Funnily enough, someone judging and critiquing films on something like a blog could draw a connection to The Eye via the idea of judgment and the like.

Strangely, the next 3 reviews have been deleted. I wonder if they reminded Tom of something or if he just wanted to forget about it? But that would be kind of weird since he still leaves up the announcement that make mention of the terrifying film he watches later, “Voyeur.” It might also be a much weirder reasoning like someone or something wanting people to find this movie and / or post and making sure the post is preserved for a statement. It’s pretty clear Tom has at least some of the trademark Eye curiosity when it comes to horror movies since he seems to put in a lot of effort into finding this specific horror movie in order to watch it despite searches mostly just revealing what is presumably porn. However, in his search he comes across one thing- “The only thing I could find was another old blog with what must have been the shortest film review I have ever read. You can check the link, but I’ll save you some time: all it says is “Voyeur needs to be seen to be believed. The Scariest movie I have ever seen”.”

Of course, if you’ve gotten this far you can probably guess what I’m probably going to say. This is so obviously The Eye or some similar overlapping Entity trying to bait curious people into seeing something they will probably regret. In TMA Gertrude did mention that The Eye is also the drive to know and understand even if what you find might hurt you and we can see this in action. The drive to know and understand even if this movie could mentally scar you. Unfortunately, Tom doesn’t realize he’s in a horror podcast and this just makes him want to see it even more.

In the next blog post Tom mentions “Oh my God. I can’t believe one of you found it! Thank you SO MUCH Cinephobia12220 for the link!” Based on a quick google search I don’t think “cinephobia” is a real word (and if it is it’s super obscure). However, I can take a wild guess at what the username “cinephobia” means by looking at the root words involved. Cinephile basically means “movie lover” and phobia has to do with fear, so we can assume that the term cinephobia would probably mean something like “fear of movies”, “movie fear”, “phobia of movies”, etc. 

After doing a bit more digging I found the term “cinephobia” which according to a wikipedia page means “The fear or hatred of films and the cinema.” Whether or not you want to see this as credible is up to you and I’m proud of the logic I used originally so I’m keeping the previous paragraph since it was at least in the ballpark. Either way, this username is foreshadowing since their name literally means “fear / hatred of movies” (ie the fear of a media you would watch).

Tom manages to find a link and a contest that only asks for his name and he somehow wins said contest despite noting that the site hasn’t been updated in years. At this point it’s clear that all the blog posts not relating or leading up to the “Voyeur” have been deleted. What does voyeur even mean? According to google voyeur is defined as “a person who gains sexual pleasure from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity”... okaayyyyyy wait there’s a second definition “a person who enjoys seeing the pain or distress of others.” Okay, I’m going to assume the second definition is what’s applicable here since this ties very heavily into The Eye and the idea of a sort of sadism or someone watching you suffer. Of course, this can also tie into statements as people like Jon gain power and strength from literally hearing about and or watching people suffer. So the movie’s title is yet more foreshadowing. The title might also have a double meaning since depending on why someone likes horror and to what extent you could describe them as a “voyeur” in the sense that they like seeing people suffer in movies. Tom is so desperate for horror he might be somewhat close to a voyeur in this sense but maybe I’m reading too much into that.

When Tom wins the contest he explains “I WON THE CONTEST! I can’t believe it! The invitation was waiting when I got home today, in a small black envelope. I don’t even remember giving them my address. The website must have logged my IP and looked it up or something... I’m really not sure how any of that works.” This is another red flag because The Eye is known to randomly give or find information it otherwise shouldn’t know. We see people like Jon had the ability to know things that they shouldn’t and Jonah was borderline omniscient and could know almost anything he actively put his mind towards.

The cinema “Voyeur” is being filmed at is a theater that Tom actually went to when he was a kid. “And I’ve actually been to this cinema before... I used to go all the time with my dad... they would play classic horror films midday every Saturday.” Considering that Tom probably had a rough childhood this could be The Eye setting up a situation where Tom is forced to remember his past (I mean besides watching the movie of course) and I wonder if this is the theater where his dad tricked him into watching a horror movie. We know that the movie seems to actually be about Tom himself and it’s being played in a place he remembers as a child. Also, Tom mentioning how he wants to give his thoughts on this movie could be likened to a statement and someone giving their accounts about various horrific encounters.

Tom of course is apparently live blogging the event and I think that usually The Eye wouldn’t have it any other way. The more people can witness the horrors another person is facing in real time the “better.” The outside of the theater seems like it’s in a sorry state but the inside is beautiful and clean. Tom asks about this while buying food from an employee and we get “I asked about the mess outside, trying not to be rude about it, but he just said “It’s what on the inside that matters”.” This could be foreshadowing to the idea that the movie is about Tom himself. So the “inside” that matters would be Tom’s own memory and / or experiences. Also, this employee is noted to be old and probably doing all the jobs around this theater. He is at least the one running the concession stand, and usher along with the other stuff. But Tom says that the man is in high spirits which makes me wonder if we’ll see him as a recurring character in TMP’s statements and / or in person (sort of like Simon Fairchild and the like).

Then the movie starts and based on Tom’s reaction he clearly recognizes what's being shown “ I can hear what sounds like... beeping. It sounds so familiar but I can’t quite place it. Medical equipment maybe? There’s something [UNINTELLIGIBLE] the screen... Looks like it might be a flashback or something, handheld… looks like it was filmed on an old camcorder... Wait. Is that...? I know that room…. How... How did they get [UNINTELLIGIBLE] This was after the accident. Mum wanted to to film it for my brothers... Dad... I... [UNINTELLIGIBLE] Wait. Who is that? In the corner of the screen, there’s... WHO THE HELL IS THAT?” and the final thing we hear from the blog is 

BLOG POST: FILM REVIEW: VOYEUR 

Voyeur needs to be seen to be believed. The scariest movie I have ever seen.

It seems like what happened is the movie was a video Tom’s mom had taken of a tragic even but there was something that shouldn’t have been there. This wouldn’t be the first time something like this happened with The Eye. In TMA MAG 193 (A Stern Look) we get an account from the original Elias that details how a friend named Allan Schrieber died from presumably reading some sort of book. Upon reading it Allan started to mentally break down and sob while saying things like “It has no eyes”, “so it has to feel its way towards me. But it knows. It knows!” before eventually dying with his eyes mysteriously missing. A lot of people immediately assume this means The Dark was at play but there are statements where someone / something aligned with The Beholding seems to be missing eyes or taking The Eyes of others. Sometimes the idea is that it’s scary that something can somehow still know where you are or see you and sometimes this is the whole “seeing too much thing.” It’s also mentioned “But he remembers so clearly what he was thinking as he looked at the what was left of Allan Schrieber: where are his eyes? What did they do with his eyes?” 

If you want a clearer example of seeing something you shouldn't, there's the hand mirror that appears in MAG 060 (Observer Effect). Upon looking into this mirror Rosa Meyers notices a dark figure in the night that only has its eyes visible and she feels like she is being watched / stalked even after dropping the mirror and breaking the glass. So The Eye definitely plays around with the idea of seeing something, noticing a figure that shouldn’t be there, and then things follow you before something happens. It wouldn’t completely surprise me if Tom was even replaced or had his mind and / or body taken over somehow (something that has a precedent with people like Jonah) which could explain why his review is eerily similar to the original one. Maybe the old man is body hopping like Jonah? That might explain the old man’s excitement and maybe the old man is in fact “Cinephobia12220.” Hmmm, such an assertion about body hopping with so little information is a bit of a stretch though since the man could just be happy to have a victim and it would be an oddly specific ability for some random new character (merely one iff background or otherwise) to have.

Obviously, Tom also expresses surprise at this theater having the footage and wonders how they could’ve gotten it which ties into The Eye and someone getting information they shouldn’t. Being forced to relive something like this is also comparable to a statement. 

Some Entities that overlap with some of the stuff happening in this statement are ones like The Spiral. I could see an argument for some of its themes with the idea of noticing something you missed before or thought wasn’t there as a sign of your senses being wrong. Maybe also The Stranger since Tom doesn’t seem to know what he’s seeing.

We then cut to CCTV audio and Alice talking on the phone before this conversation happens

GWEN 

“Do you remember the IT manager before Colin?”

ALICE 

“Who? Amelia? What about her?”

GWEN 

“No, before Amelia, before I joined. German guy. Lots of tattoos.”

ALICE 

“I mean, I think Amelia mentioned him once or twice maybe? Mostly I remember her complaining about his work, but he’d have been here well before my time. What’s this about?” 

GWEN

“Nothing. None of your business.” 

ALICE 

“What? Seriously?”

GWEN 

“(walking off). Yes.”

Once again, Gwen being cagey and weird but this time we have a better idea of why. There’s a chance that this German IT manager may in fact be Klaus. I wonder if being the O.I.A.R. IT manager comes with some sort of drawback or “curse?” Maybe even some weird agreement between whoever has the position and Lena? Who knows

Conclusion

Idk having a blast. Feel free to leave corrections and / or thoughts and I may respond to them and explain if I agree or disagree, or consider why it is or isn’t likely, etc.

[enterpris]

An Education in Attraction, Chapter 6

Pairing: Reader x Gojo

Summary: It's spring when you start your Master's degree. As the flowers and leaves unfold, so too do your feeling for Gojo

Warnings: None

Previous Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5

Ao3: PlaidSparrow

Working solo on the group project frees up time and energy, and you’re happy to shift your focus to the rest of your life. Planning lessons for the Eikaiwa school is taking up most of your free time outside of class, the last couple weeks have left barely any time to hang out with Saito or Kuzume besides walking to and from courses. You don’t really mind your dwindling social and personal time though- the class has become more lively and engaged since the beginning of the term.

The English students are excited to learn. The new vocabulary you’ve taught the last two sessions and focusing on the tangible of what they want to achieve has unlocked something in your class- they’re active and excited, more talkative than they’ve ever been before when you open up discussion time. You listen to their goals and how they want to put their language skills to work. You can’t help but be invigorated by the energy and idealism from the young people you work with.  

Your classes are another matter altogether. The program is very theory heavy- deeply exploring why different approaches are used and how to maintain your classroom, and while you are somewhat interested in the abstract teaching philosophy, you’re much more ready to get into the practicalities of teaching. So far, you’ve been able to keep your head above water with assignments, but the fatigue of staying up to the early hours of the morning is catching up.

One small relief is that Gojo hasn’t been in the classes the last couple days. You haven’t interacted with him since the second time you met for the project, and have kept your attention in the classroom far from him and on the material. If he can’t apologize, you’re not going to be the first one to reach out.

For now, you’re completely absorbed in your weekly assignment. The mid-morning light streams through the window of your dorm as you’re writing. You skim the last chapter you read, looking for the right quote to support your paper when your phone goes off. 

It’s probably time for a break, so you check the notification. Kuzume messaged you, just checking in. You haven’t had much time to talk or study lately, so you type a quick response  and invite her to join you for dinner later in the week before returning to your book.

You find the passage you’d been searching for and highlight the phrase. Your fingers fly across the keyboard as you copy the transcript and fill out the paragraph. This is why you like academia, the thrill of finding the explanation and breaking concepts down into more manageable pieces. A satisfied smile lifts your lips as you review the paper as a whole.

Your phone goes off again. And again. Anxious curiosity pools in your stomach- your friends and family don’t usually double text. If something is wrong, you’re not sure you’d be able to take time off of school to go back home. You take a breath and prepare for the worst and check what’s going on. 

Gojo texted you twice, asking if you’re available to work on things today. 

The anxiety in your belly peaks into surprise. Weeks have gone by since you last spoke. Why is he messaging now? You re-read the messages. They’re brief, but not hostile. Although the texts are much more polite than your last interaction with Gojo, there’s an immature part of you that wants to ignore the messages altogether. 

But your education is more important than some bruised feelings, and you don’t have a lot completed as a group yet. You’ve started a document with notes and some initial writing. Gojo acting like an ass won’t stop you from getting top marks.

You hadn’t exactly told Gojo that you were going to begin writing alone, so he probably thinks that you’re waiting on him to get anything done. You steel your resolve and respond that you’re free, nothing else. You’re still a little upset at how he insulted you, and if he really wants to mend fences and work together, he can put forth some effort and plan when and where to meet. 

You don’t have to wait long for a response- he’s at the library on the main floor, ready whenever you are. 

Before you can rethink your decision, you pack up and head towards the library. The sun is mild and you enjoy the soft warmth on your skin as you walk. The campus is bustling too- everywhere you look there’s other students chatting, laughing, walking. It puts you in a good mood as you prepare for what might be waiting for you in the library. 

When you enter the main floor, the building is bright and lively with other students. You see Gojo set up at a long table in the middle of the landing. He gives you a short wave as you approach the worktop. He’s not wearing his usual grin.

“Uh, hey." Your greeting is polite but lukewarm as you sit.

"Hi. I got us drinks, just guessed based on what you had last time."

There’s two drinks from the cafe in the middle of the table, and a bag of pastries just to the side. He’s got things set up already- handwritten notes spread in smaller groups across half the table. You get the feeling he’s been sitting here for a while.

It’s not an apology. And he’s certainly not forgiven for the way he behaved. But it’s a start, and you don’t want to draw out the awkwardness between you. You did agree to meet today, so you’ll put aside your hurt feelings and accept his olive branch. As long as he doesn’t continue taking unwarranted shots at you, working as a team will make writing the paper significantly easier.  

"Thanks." You take a sip from the drink and are pleasantly surprised. The beverage is a bit tepid and it’s not your usual order, but it’s not bad. 

You wait patiently for him to begin the conversation and survey the piles of notes that he’s organized. It seems that he’s broken out examples and existing research based on the field. When your eyes flick up to him, it seems he’s just as engaged at examining the notes as you were. 

"It looks like you’ve already got some work done.”

Gojo runs a hand through his hair as he looks down at the papers. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about how we can structure everything.”

“Setting apart the key theories in each field is a good start. But we’ll have to be able to tie things together later.” You turn a set of papers to face towards you. It’s been years since you’ve taken a class in physics, and you can’t call yourself an expert in advanced mathematics either. You’ll have to do some reading to prepare for writing. 

Gojo breaks you out of your thoughts when he points down at the top sheet of a group of pages. “I outlined some example problems. Take a look.”

He passes you the stack of notes and his hand brushes yours. It’s hardly any contact, but you’re acutely aware of the heat from his body and his proximity, eyes glued to his hand as he pulls it back. The veins stand out from the smooth skin of his wrist and the back of his hand, where they disappear into his shirtsleeve. You avert your eyes and bring the stack closer to examine.

Skimming through his notes you’re impressed with the level of detail. There’s pages and pages of messy handwriting listing sample problems and outlines of how to encourage student partnership in class. There’s simplicity in the examples he’s chosen- both in math and science. It doesn’t seem like the work a protegee would choose to showcase, but you’re not going to complain. Difficult problems aren’t a requirement. 

“They’re good.” You shuffle the papers back to their original order. “You were thorough in all the details and teaching mechanisms.”

He looks up at you and leans back from his writing. “I figured we could combine those with the notes you took last time.” His tone is carefully neutral. 

“Yeah, I’ll add these to the doc.” You crack open your laptop and pull up the document with meager notes from last time. “Although, I hope you’re not planning on doing all your work by yourself. It is a group project,” There’s no malice in your voice, just the hint of a challenge. 

Your eyes drift up from the notes back to his face. He’s hard to read behind the glasses. Maybe that’s why he wears them, you think. The two of you study each other for a moment, and for a moment you think the tension might shatter again, that he might lash out at you. But Gojo stays silent, observing you.  

“But I expanded some of my example ideas too. I’ll send you the rough draft now.” You affect nonchalance and look back down at your computer. 

You don’t need to prove yourself to him, but you haven’t taken these weeks off from your work. Even if he thinks himself superior, your drive and passion make you an excellent teacher and collaborator. 

“Apparently I’m not the only one working alone.” Gojo’s voice is light. 

“Well,” you say primly, “this project is important. I’m not going to procrastinate. Half of teaching is making sure you’ve got the right material and pacing.”

“I’m not disagreeing. Just saying, we both did some independent writing.”

As much as it shouldn’t bother you, the fact that Gojo might think of you as lazy or not bright enough to keep up with him grates on your nerves. You may not have the accolades that he does, but you are willing to work hard. 

“The examples we each created should give us a good place to start from. I’ve got some initial notes on how the theories we’ve discussed in class connect.”

“Show me.”

Conversation flows easier after that- Gojo’s mind quickly connects the dots between your subject areas, and he seems pleased with the example work you’ve created. His answers are short but his questions are perceptive and probing. Today, he’s an ideal partner. 

Whatever problem Gojo seemed to have with you in previous interactions seems to have dissipated completely. You feel the weight of his full attention on you as you speak and offer your opinion, putting the inattentiveness of your prior conversations in sharp relief. 

The two of you make significant progress. You type rapidly as you converse with Gojo on the details of his examples, and note places where your philosophies and objectives align. In a longer conversation, his competence and experience in academia are obvious. 

As afternoon approaches you’re sorry to pack up. You feel productive, and cautiously optimistic about the prospect of working together. You can only hope that Gojo’s current good mood will last into the rest of the writing process. 

Gojo stays on your mind into the next week. You find your thoughts drifting to him as you read the assigned sections and when you’re walking through campus. Your eyes drift to him across the classroom during discussions. He listens dispassionately, only taking notes occasionally. His attendance seems to be stabilizing though, he’s been in class every day since you met in the library.  

His behavior in class is so opposite everything you’ve seen and heard about him. He’s extremely bright and handsome, and he could surely be popular if he tried to be. But he seems dedicated to a self-imposed isolation from your peers. Gojo is enigmatic and the more time that you spend with him, the more you’re drawn to him.

Luckily, classes are keeping you plenty busy. Today, the professor describes the differences in building curricula for public and private schools while meeting the national criteria set by the Ministry of Education. 

Ensuring that material is up to date and compliant with the national standards is not only a huge part of your partnered project, but of course with maintaining a top notch classroom once you��re a licensed teacher. It’s also something you’ve already had the chance to see in your own English students. It seems that each year the students start with a more advanced level of proficiency, so you’re constantly revising old lesson plans and creating new ones to engage your class. 

Saito asks a shrewd question about the innovation and new advancements in different subjects. It’s not something you’ve thought about much, but scientific and technological advancements seem to be growing quicker each year, and it must be quite tiresome to adjust lessons with that amount of change. Some teachers must have to research throughout their career just to keep up. Without thinking, your eyes are back on Gojo. 

Even though he doesn’t normally talk much in class, you wonder if he’ll chime in now. He’s surely seen more change and innovation than anyone else in the room because of his academic research. After the last time you met, you want to hear him speak and you’re curious what he might say. 

He looks the way he normally does in class- sprawled casually in the chair, taking in the rest of your classmates. The professor opens the floor for discussion of Saito’s question and one of your other classmates offers his opinion. Gojo listens to the man and plays idly with the pen in his hand. He’s not going to share. 

You sigh softly and raise your own hand. As far as you’re aware, no one else in the grad program has experience teaching yet. Your knowledge might help as others consider how to stay abreast of new developments and increasingly advanced students. 

You raise your hand and share with the room the experiences you’ve had teaching English. You emphasize that in your experience, you can sometimes recycle lessons and build off the work you’ve previously done to ensure that your students remain challenged. 

As you speak, you try to look around the room, but your attention is caught on Gojo’s dark sunglasses. You feel rather than see his attention intent back on you. 

As you finish your answer you break your attention from him and focus on the rest of the room. Kuzume brings up the fact that even fields that don’t change tremendously, like music, can still benefit from adjusting lessons, and many of your peers agree.  

Another student asks about pedagogical differences and the conversation drifts to comparing different learning and teaching styles. 

The rest of the period follows similarly with leading questions from the professor and your other classmates. You give your opinion on one other question, but mostly absorb the perspectives of your peers. Talking about the tangible of teaching ignites some of the fire that you had seen from them on the first day of classes, and once again you feel lucky to be part of such a passionate group. 

As you listen to your classmates, you feel eyes on you from across the classroom. You know that it’s Gojo, but you’re not in a hurry to acknowledge his gaze.