#(i mean he is not supposed to be directly threating but just in case it feels that way srry)

[thedorfmirrin]

What a trustable goofy happy freindly guy very cheese very pepperoni

[cevansbrat0007]

Hello, Duchess

Summary: Your first encounter with Bounty Hunter, Ari Levinson, goes worse than you ever could've imagined. Takes place directly after the events in New in Town.

Warnings: Mature Themes, Ari Being A Menace, Bickering, Implied Jealousy, Threats of Violence, Cursing, Minors DNI

A/N: Special thanks to my creative consultant, @curls-and-eyeliner. Part my Sweet Renegade Series. Semi-proofread, not beta'd. All mistakes are my own. Likes, comments, and reblogs are always appreciated. Thanks for reading!

Ari’s P.O.V.

“Can’t believe this town actually has a real live bookstore.” Ari muses as he pulls up in front of the tiny, quaint-looking bookstore. “Fuckin’ wild.” Throwing his truck in park he takes a moment to survey the area, making note of the empty lot.

‘Must not do much business.’ He thinks before climbing out of his vehicle and confidently striding toward the door. Hopefully, the lack of an audience would make things flow a hell of a lot faster. Hell, if you were anything like some of the other women in this town, he’d probably just have to smile and flash his baby blues to convince you to spill your guts.

In fact, he was practically banking on it. Because this wasn’t Ari’s first rodeo – not by a long shot. He’d spent a lot of his life in and out of small towns like Bell’s Creek, which was part of the reason he couldn’t wait to bag his latest bounty and put this place, and its people, in his rearview mirror. Ari reaches for the handle on the door, only to frown when he gets a look at the sign hanging in the window that reads: “sorry, we’re closed”. 

Well, that couldn’t be right. 

He could’ve sworn that when he’d pressed Mrs. Turner, the First Lady of Calvary Baptist Church, about your whereabouts she’d said he’d be able to find you at your shop. Something about your preferring to work instead of resting and rejoicing on the Lord’s day. 

While the bounty hunter supposed he could always try back tomorrow, he was keen to check you off his list. Refusing to admit defeat, he decides to try his luck anyway, only to be surprised when the door opens with a tinkling chime of a bail. 

Confused but also now on high alert, Ari takes a tentative step inside as he looks for any sign of life. “Hello?” He calls out, finally allowing the door to swing shut behind him. Instinct has him reaching for his back pocket, checking to make sure he had brought along his firearm.

Just in case.

“Is anybody here?” He tries again, moving further into the shop. The place is clean and well lit, and boasts rack after rack of books. But what’s most impressive is that there doesn’t appear to be a speck of dust anywhere. “Look, I just came by to–”

“We’re closed!” A disembodied voice sounds from the back of the store. 

“Yeah, I saw the sign, ma’am…” He clears his throat. “But I think you forgot to lock the door, so I –”

“That means get out!”

“So much for southern hospitality.” Ari grumbles under his breath as he continues on his mission to track down the owner of the voice. “Ma’am, I just wanna talk. And maybe–ahh shit!” He curses when his hip accidentally connects with a half-full rolling cart, sending several of the heavier books crashing to the ground. “Sorry!” 

“Did you just break something?!” The voice suddenly screeches. “Don’t make me get my taser.”

“There’s no need for that.” Instead of picking them up, the bounty hunter hastily nudges them aside with his foot. “My name is Ari Levinson, and I’m just here to ask you a couple of questions.”

While this isn’t how the man had expected any of this to go, he’s relieved when he sees a familiar face peek at him from around the corner. A face that happened to be even more beautiful than he initially remembered. Even though it had only been a couple of hours since he’d seen you last. 

Damn! It was as if the image of you in that dress taking up space at the other end of the pew was now permanently imprinted into his brain. He'd have to tread lightly here.

Otherwise things could get complicated. Fast.

Your P.O.V

“Pretty sure this is what law enforcement calls trespassing.” You sniff, craning your head around the corner to stare at the man who was taking up entirely too much space in the narrow hallway. Sure said man was easy on the eyes, but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t at least a little concerned about his apparent inability to read. 

“I can assure you that’s not what this is.” The lawman holds up his palms in an effort to placate you. 

And although you try not to stare, it’s impossible to miss just how big they are – how rough they seemed – with just the right amount of callus. You can’t help but wonder what those hands would feel like on your bare flesh. 

“Then what is it?” You ask, struggling to keep your tone short and clipped as you emerge from your hiding place. The last thing you needed was to have this man thinking you were actually attracted to him. 

If anything, you considered yourself to be curious. No harm there, right? 

“As I said, my name is Ari Levinson. I’m a bounty hunter from just outside Rosewell, New Mexico who also occasionally moonlights as a private investigator.” He tells you, jamming his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I just stopped by to ask you a couple of questions. And while I didn’t necessarily mean to intrude, I figured you might appreciate me taking a more delicate approach on account of your relationship with my person of interest.”

Fucking Martin Westbrook. He’d been the bane of your existence ever since you’d first crossed paths back in high school. 

“I know you’re looking for Martin.” Annoyed by the very nature of the conversation, you pick up a box, hefting it onto your hip so that you can carry it out to the sales floor. “But I’m not quite sure how much help I can be.”

You brush past him, inwardly smiling when he scrambles to get out of your way. It was a subtle reminder that this was your shop. And you absolutely refused to be intimidated by him or anyone else. 

“I’m sure whatever you have to say will be plenty helpful.” He’s quick to reassure you as he turns to follow the path you set. “Provided you’re honest, that is.”

“Did you really just waltz into my shop and call me a liar, Mr. Levinson?” 

“I meant no offense.” Ari coughs, scrubbing a weary hand over his bearded jaw. If you were the overly presumptuous type, you might think you’d just managed to fluster the poor man.

Now feeling extra prickly, you drop the box onto the far counter of your cashwrap before turning to face your unwelcome guest. “As you can see, I have a busy day’s work ahead of me. And I was really keen on doing it by myself.” You gesture at the array of other boxes and racks placed around the store. “So if we could get a move on, I would greatly appreciate it.”  

“Gladly.” He gives a brief look around. “Is there some place maybe where you and I can sit and chat?”

“I’d say here is about as good a place as any.” You tell him as you step behind the counter. Bending down, you snag a bottle of cleaner, along with a couple of rags. If this man insisted on being here, then he would just have to deal with you taking care of your business. “I’m pretty confident in my ability to multitask.”  

Nodding along, Ari pulls out a small notepad and pen from his back pocket. “When was the last time you saw Mr. Westbrook?”

You let out a sigh as you begin to spray down your countertops with your all-purpose cleaner. While you supposed you could’ve gone with something a little more industrial, you were partial to the way this particular brand’s products always smelled. 

“I don’t know.” You shrug as you bask in the scent of rose and cedar. “Maybe three, four weeks ago.” 

“Do you happen to recall the day and time?”

“No. Not really. If I had to ballpark it, I’d guess sometime around the 5th of last month.” You move to the next flat surface, spraying it down just like the last.

“You sure about that?” You try not to let it irk you when you see him take a seat on a nearby step stool out of the corner of your eye. 

“As much as I can be.” 

“And did Mr. Westbrook happen to give you any indication of where he might be headed?”

“Nope.”

He’d been nervous though. That much you did recall. By the time he’d come to you that night, your old friend had been well beyond spooked. 

“Did he give you his reason for leaving?”

“We didn’t…” You trail off, taking a moment to scrub at a particularly stubborn sticky spot that’s marring the wood. “There wasn’t really much time for talking.” You’re so concerned with scrubbing that you miss the way the county hunter’s eyes narrow as he studies you. “He just stopped over to say goodbye.”

And to borrow all the cash you happened to have on hand – to the tune of $500. Enough for a bus ticket and a couple nights in a dirt cheap motel.

“Right.” Ari scoffs, admittedly with a bit more heat than he intends. “Not a lot of time for talking.” He pauses briefly to drag a hand through his shaggy brown locks. “Not sure why I didn’t wanna believe them.” 

“Am I sensing a problem, Mr. Levinson?” You hum, tossing your rag to the side in favor of focusing on the rugs. 

“I guess I’m just having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he kept you in the dark about his plans.” He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “In my experience, most men like Martin tend to have loose lips around the women they’re fuckin’.”

In that moment, it’s almost as if you can feel the air go out of the room. Just who the fuck did this knuckle-dragging, mouth-breather think he was?

“Excuse me?” Those two little words are spoken through clenched teeth. You’re so taken aback by his brazen accusation that you can scarcely breathe, let alone think.    

Ari simply quirks a tawny brow at you, seemingly unaware of the danger he’s just placed himself in. Did he not see how close your hand was to that damned stapler? While it was clear that folks in this town had been running their mouths, they’d apparently neglected to mention that you’d also been the star pitcher for your high school softball team.   

“Apologies if I offended your delicate sensibilities, Duchess. But I’ve never been the type to beat around the bush. Besides…” The smug bastard tucks his pen behind his ear. “You have to know that people in this town like to talk.”

Fire simmers hot in your belly, as you come out from behind the register. It takes less than ten  seconds for you to bridge the distance between yourself and the cocky lawman. While you might’ve been taught never to raise a hand against anyone, this man was sorely testing every last bit of your patience.

“I want to make one thing very, very clear.” You hiss once you’re finally standing toe-to-toe with the handsome interloper who, of course, makes no room to get up himself. “I have never – not even once – slept with Martin Westbrook. He’s a friend, you backwoods jackass. Something you clearly know nothing about.” 

“I get the feeling I struck a nerve.” 

And, judging by the newfound tick in his jaw, so had you. Except you had no way of knowing it was because he’d lost a buddy of his own a little while back. 

“And I think it’s about time you got the hell out of my shop.” His piercing blue eyes fly to yours, letting you know that you’d managed to surprise him with your heated dismissal. 

Good. Because this Ari Levinson fella had officially overstayed his welcome.

“Look, Duchess. I apolo –”

“That’s the second time you’ve called me out of my name, Mr. Levinson. And I’m not sure I appreciate it.” You spit as you take a step backwards with the intention of giving him enough space to stand. “Now, I’ve been nothing but amenable to your rather…invasive questions. But we’re done. So, I’m gonna have to insist that you leave.”

Before you decided he’d make a deserving candidate for death by a thousand paper cuts. 

Your pulse continues to thrum in your ears as you watch him rise to his full height – an impressive 6’4 – so that he now towers over you. Perhaps if you weren’t so angry you’d be a little more tempted to allow your mind to wander a little farther into the realm of fantasy. 

But not now. 

Right now, in this moment, all you wanted was to watch Ari Levinson’s sculpted ass walk right out your front door.  

Nodding, the now quiet bounty hunter begins moving in the direction of the entrance. Neither of you say a word as you make that quick walk. In fact, you don’t speak again until Ari’s hand is on the handle. 

“For what it's worth…” He blows out a weary breath. “This wasn’t how I meant for this to go.” His eyes find yours, as if imploring you to see the truth in them. 

However, instead of responding all you can do is offer up a shrug. Which he, of course, takes as an opportunity to keep going. 

“It’s just…the idea of someone like you getting caught up with a piece of slime like Westbrook…” He pauses long enough to open the door and take a tentative step outside. “I guess it bothered me more than I realized.”

His reluctant admission has your stomach tied up in knots, which prompts you to ask the one question you were almost certain you’d regret later: 

“And just what do you mean by that?” You do your best to seem unruffled as you awkwardly brace yourself against the doorframe.

“All I’m saying is that you’re out of his league.” Feeling even more confused, you watch as Ari’s lips curve in a faint smile. “And if you didn’t know that before, well, now you do.” His head dips politely as he turns to head towards his truck. 

“Guess I’ll see you around, Duchess.” You don’t have to see his face to know that he’s grinning. “Oh, and don’t forget to lock up. Might help with all those unwanted visitors you’ve been havin.”

Ari doesn't need to turn his head to know that you're currently giving him the finger. He can feel it. And all it does it make him smile harder.

END 

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[marsupials-of-mars]

I have a theory. It's a lot of speculation, but an interesting thought:

Euclidea was a hivemind. Or, at least part of it.

This is my main "evidence." The line "One of the few conciousnesses" and referring to the lonely humans as "you" somewhat implies that he himself is or was part of a hivemind consciousness. Like, for example, a fungal spore network.

With what we know of Euclidea (strict adherence to rules, valuing uniformity, fearing non-uniformity), it wouldn't be a surprise.

What constitutes as a "hivemind" here is vague, and if it is the case with Euclidea, it doesn't mean that all of the Euclideans were the same person with the same shared knowledge.

It may be more of an extrasensory connectedness, uniform patterns of thought, a general understanding of what others are experiencing/feeling, physically or mentally. This aligns with some of Bills powers: reading minds, possessing multiple corpses all using his own voice, seeing through many eyes (not necessarily simultaneously, but as "peepholes")

If we follow this idea, it makes the Euclideans seem less like fascists and more like people looking out for their community. So averse to a reality-breaking mutation because it posed a threat to the minds of anyone connected to bill.

Maybe, rather than forcing baby bill to be medicated just to make him normal, his parents were doing what they thought was best not just for their child, but for their people.

(^ I'll admit some of these screenshots are more "thematic" than "evidence")

Maybe it was so easy for Bill to destroy his whole dimension much by accident because all he had to do was stop taking his meds, and let this mutation which nobody else was physiologically able to handle into the minds of those people.

He felt so stifled that he made the conscious decision to endanger people; it wasn't fully an accident, nor was it fully violent in intent. But his choices directly resulted in the massacre.

All this to say, this concept is mostly just more fuel for angst. Bill not only destroyed friends and family, but pieces of himself. His blue flames and red anger aren't just influences or genetics from his parents, because his parents weren't just parents; They were pieces of himself.

He was alone in the universe, but it was worse than that. He was alone, truly alone with his thoughts, without knowing how to even process what "his" thoughts were, or what "alone" really meant.

He blacks out when he recalls the day he tried to fuse everyone into his own individual perspective, because the memories missing are the memories of countless dying people.

He's an idea. Not a soul, not a conciousness, because the soul was shared among his whole race of people.

Maybe this could be why he's so desperate for attention, belonging, friends, and family: He's desperately trying to fill in the gaps of his own consciousness.

And, it could explain why he's so, so very bad at it: Because he can't conceptualize the desires of individuals. They should all want what he wants, think like he does, that's how it's supposed to be when you love someone!

Your family is an extension of yourself, so why wouldn't they want to make you happy? If you're happy, everyone is happy!

He's a handful of selfish thoughts that persisted after the soul they belonged to was destroyed.

Now don't come at me with your conspiracy pants on and tell me how little evidence I have and how unsubstantiated and speculative all this is, I KNOOOWW but I'm having fun and playiiingg!!

[starsomens]

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 8・𝓥.𝓐.𝓝

̩͙‿ ༺ ♰ ༻ ‿̩͙‿   ‿ ̩͙‿ ༺ ♰ ༻ ‿̩͙‿

Warnings: Use of guns, speak of threats, language, slight implied smut, but not really, blood mention, poorly written action I’m sorry

̩͙‿ ༺ ♰ ༻ ‿̩͙‿   ‿ ̩͙‿ ༺ ♰ ༻ ‿̩͙‿

You sat in the cool leather seat. There were a few folders set in front of you. Nick and Jolly sat across from you while Ruffilo and we’re standing near the wall. They draw the shades and dim the room. A projector goes off behind you as the word V.A.N appears.

“Y/N, as you know we’re in mafia organization. We are well-known, but we are also hidden. Violence against nature and those who don’t remain that way.” Noah started

“As a mafia, we have our own branches that deal with money, arms, silencing, and punishment. Each division is in a different section of the city. We’re at the center of the city so we are the main branch, nearly all branches come and answer to us but we have a single higher up.” The slideshow swaps to the picture of a rough looking man. He had a single scar going from the corner of his left eyebrow down to the bottom his lip. His mean mug didn’t make the picture any more pleasant

“This is Lucian, the founder and head of V.A.N. Directly under him is Noah which is why he deals with so many things and has so much power over certain areas. Now in the case of you being targeted….”

Noah walks beside you and opens the three folders with pictures of people two faces of which you recognize and one you had not seen before. First Denise. You had even thought of her since the event you attended to with Noah.

“Denise Thompson. She is the daughter of Lucian and Heiress of this entire mafia. Whoever marries her gains control of the entire organization.” Noah explains “ I know you remember her going off on you and how she was supposed to be with me, but I declined the marriage.”

“Why? You’ve gained so much you would’ve been in charge of everything…” you asked

“ That was an option for me yes, realistically, I didn’t want to be married to Denis. On top of that, your father was in debt to me so I took advantage of my options,” he said closing her profile “Denise was raised to be an absolute spoiled brat. She gets everything her way when she wants it no matter what needs to be done. Knowing that you two had such a great introduction, she was the first suspect.”

“Hm…”

This was the most silent you had ever been. Even Noah, who was speaking to you, was taken aback by how little you had spoken in the past ten minutes. That morning, you had been quite talkative with him, yet now you seemed lost in thought as you sipped your coffee.

“Next,” opening the next file you see a very familiar face as well “Jared Conti. another nepo baby to add to the chain. Although he was raised with a silver spoon in his mouth he also inherited his fathers greed taking what he wants from who he wants no matter what it may be”

You thought back to the party were you first met him and how he just couldn’t take a no for an answer

“So you’re saying he’s targeting me because I said no?” You raised a brow at Noah

“Not entirely. We only recently found out Denise’s father arranged for the two to marry, since there’s that connection he’s a natural suspect since you had a bit of a run in with him” Nick chimed in “but we also suspect because of his past with Noah that it may be a way to get to him through you”

You pause for a moment to process the information you've just received. Knowing the potential suspects brings some relief, yet you can't shake the feeling that this might be a trivial matter or, conversely, something far more significant. Your gaze drifts to the table, where one last unopened folder catches your eye.

"who's this one?" you said flipping it open to find written statements but no name, picture or anything

"that's the fun part," Noah said sarcastically "third party, and we have no idea who it can be......but we are suspecting some inner work being done."

"you mean-"

"Someone who's working in the system against us, yes" Jolly chimed in "we have tried fingerprinting, but it looks like they've been using gloves, no hair was left behind, no blood...."

"So in the meantime we may relocate to my other property for your protection" Noah says as he walks towards you and sits one of his legs on the table "do you have questions?"

You take a deep breath "how....on a scale how at risk is my life?" he could see it was starting to get to you a bit

"Y/N, you're safe as long as-"

"Noah.....just tell me...."

"....a 9." he said bluntly. He noticed how it was all registering in your head now. Looking at the guys he gives them a knowing look. They silently take their leave and just you and Noah were left in the room, he comes down to kneel in front of you and softly speak "listen....you're my wife, and that means nothing to going to touch a hair on your head. Understand?"

You nod your head "where are we going to go?" you asked him

"I have a home in upstate New York, it'll be just for the time until we get this matter settled...now come on, the guys brought breakfast," he said standing and offering his hand for you to take. You walk towards the door hand in hand already hearing the commotion coming from the kitchen. Followed by Velma Tell them they were going to ruin he nice silverware that way. You couldn't help but chuckle coming into the kitchen watching Folio drown his waffles in syrup

"Hey there they are, we got you, your favorite!" Jolly said holding up a tray with a breakfast sandwich you really liked from the place Noah buys from "we made sure it's the way you liked, if not Noah would have kicked my ass,"

"Oh really?" you smile taking the food seeing some pink appear on Noah's ears

"Mhm, he always checks your food to make sure it's perfect," Nick said taking a mouthful of waffles

"Well, that's nice to know" you giggle loving to hear how attentive he was about you even when you weren't around. You sit down and take a bite from your sandwich; the savory and warm food honestly made you forget the entire ordeal for just a moment. That was until a smell had caught your attention in the wrong way. Looking around you see Noah eating an omelet with some veggies in it and cheese. You never thought the smell of eggs would throw you off like that. Shaking your head lightly you go back to your sandwich and ignore the smell. After some time eating and joking and of course them teasing Noah with how smitten he was by you, they still had jobs to do.

As they were saying their goodbyes, you were helping Velma to clean up the kitchen. Nothing too crazy most of the containers were disposable. The front door closes and no walks back into the kitchen

“Y/N, come on I wanna show you something “

“Oh boy I wonder what it is,” you chuckle as you walk to him and he rests his hand on your lower back. He leads you down the hallway to the backyard, but instead of heading to the gardens as usual, you turn right into a large shed just off the path. You've often seen Noah and the guys enter here on late nights. He opens the door and leads you into what appears to be a private gun range. This must be their spot for practice or stress relief. It also clarifies why you sometimes hear gunshots. You thought you were imagining things, but you weren't!

“Sooo…. You’re showing me the second part of the tour of our property. Now I know those gunshots I heard were real and I wasn’t going insane.” You joke as you walk up and down the aisle where you would stand and shoot.

“Well, yes but,” grabs a gun off of the table and releases the magazine, leaving it empty, “this time, you’ll take a shot”

“Pun intended?” You smile as he dangles the gun in front of you. You take a hold of it and look it over. It was much heavier than you were expecting. Of course your mother would never allow your father or any of her kids to be around. It was a strict rule that she had so this was your first time actually holding one.

“How’s it feel?” he asked with his hands in his pocket as he stands just a bit closer to you.

“Mmm, heavy and foreign,”

“Well, like I said you’re gonna take some shots today. Because if I’m ever not around, I want you to be able to defend yourself even though I always want to be there to protect you,”

Which he always will be! But he needs to think if worse comes to worse he needs to weigh of you being protected enough until he gets to you.

“ of course I’ll always be there, but this is just a precaution, now come on,” he places his hands on your hips and lines you with one of the isles. He put some protective earmuffs on you and loads of the gun. He shows you how to hold it and how to align your shot.

“Alright good, I’m gonna let go and when you feel ready, you pull the trigger okay,” he said softly completely contrasting your action. You are feeling much more nervous than you would have thought. “Just breaths dns hoot baby,”

You pull the trigger and and you’re jolted back just a bit. You squint at the target and see that you had aimed a bit higher, and punctured a hole just above the shoulder. Noah says,

“ Better than I thought for your first time,” He then puts his hand over yours to show you how to put a new bullet into the chamber “ give another go,” he stands back and gives you some room this time. He felt a bit more confident with your stance in your hold of the gun. You do as he says take your time, you take a deep breath….. and pull the trigger once again.

This time you got a hit into the neck! You give a small bounce in victory, feeling Noah comes closer behind you as his hands trace up the sides of your body and his neck cranes down to your ear as his lips gazes your ear

"Good, you're getting it," he said in a low voice, his back slightly against yours and his hands come up to caress your arms and hold the gun with you "just a bit higher and you'll get it,"

His fingers rests over your own on the trigger as you both pull the trigger, finally hitting the target in the head dead center. You lower the gun feeling a sense of power and self confidence. You were by no means a marksmen, but you could defiantly grab one if needed. He kisses the bottom of your ear

"Did so good baby, better than I thought," he chuckles

"Oh and you can do better?" you smile as you turn your face to him, the gun forgotten on the small table in front if you as his hands come to your hips and wrap around your waist

"Oh I know I can," he whispers against your lips "Maybe I should just show you, hm?" his lips open to capture your lips with his. One of his hands coming to cup your jaw as he deepens the kiss. You head felt light as you melted into the sweet moment.

He pulls back and whispers "fuck.." he dives back in backing you up against the table and hoisting you on to the table. He pulls you closer to the edge so that he was slotted between your legs. He moves your head up so that his eyes were staring right back into yours. But before anything could escalate his phone ring and he groaned in frustration.

As he side, he let his head rest onto your shoulder. You giggle slightly at his frustration of being cock blocked by his own business. He reached for his phone in his pocket and pulled up the screen to his face to see who was calling. Nicholas’s name showed up on the screen and he said deeply

“Looks like it might be a lead. I have to take this. But we will revisit your aim, flower “ he helps you to get off of the table and walks back out with you from the small gun range. After locking up the area, he takes you back inside as the sky begins to darken. It look like it was going to be quite a storm he sat on the couch watch him throw on his trenchcoat, and slip a gun into the waistband of his pants

“Do you have to go?” Well leaning your head on your hand. He as he walks over and kisses your forehead.

“I unfortunately have to. It’s for your own good. I have to go so I can see what kind of lead they have going on.” Looking at his phone he saw that his ride was outside “ I’ll be in contact okay? you call me if anything happens. Anything.” he made sure to raise his eyebrows on the word anything emphasizing his seriousness when he said absolutely anything. You could hear a mouse squeak in the house and he would want to know about it.

“I know….be safe.” You as you snuggle into the couch, the fire still roaring proudly in the fireplace as your finger saves the spot in your book that you were currently on.

“No promises,” he smirks at you as he closes the door, locking it behind him. He put his hands into his pockets as he leans over to one of the guards at the door.

“ She does not leave the house and no one gets in, understood?” There was a major difference when Noah was speaking to you and speaking to men who worked for him and that’s how cold he was and how threatening he was. “ Any movement, noise, any person near here is reported to me immediately.”

“Yes sir.” he he goes down a few steps before he stops and looks over his shoulder and says “anyone that comes on the property, you. No hesitation.”

After getting into the car, Noah drives off to the next location. Honestly, he considered ignoring the call to stay home, but he realized that doing so would hinder his progress on the case and only extend the risk. He preferred to eliminate the risk entirely.

“Koda,” you call for your adorable companion. Even though you knew he was supposed to be your protection and a threat to others couldn’t help but think about how cute he was. His he comes into the room with his tail, wagging behind them, the sofa near your feet to jump onto “come on boy,”

He hops on up and makes himself at home at your feet. Keep having Koda around honestly helped with how much was going on. Of course, well-being a furry companion with the most adorable eyes in years. He also guarded you and alerted you of anything.

As your gaze flitted over the pages of your book, your vision began to blur. Your fingers relaxed, losing their grip on the page. The warmth of the fire, the rhythmic patter of rain against the windows, and Koda's endearing snores gradually lulled you into slumber. You yielded to the comfort of the couch for a peaceful nap.

As the hours passed, you took a restful nap while the fire slowly died out. Awakening to the mansion's chill, your feet remained warm, nestled under your furry companion. Stretching your limbs, you enjoyed a satisfying stretch. Sitting up, you began to gently pet Koda's head.

He let out a toothy yawn as he scratch a nice part on his head.

“Good spot huh boy?” You smile. Looking around you must’ve not turned on any of the life since it looked pretty dark aside from the log in the fireplace that still burned orange was dying out. Stand up on the lamp of the couch.

It clicked a couple of times, but no light came on….weird. Maybe this must’ve burned out. So you walk into the hallway and flip the switch up for the elegant to be illuminated.

Nothing.

“Did the storm knock the power out?” You ask out loud padding the side of your leg you call Koda “here boy, watch.”

You gave him a command in which he walks along side you to watch for any potential threats. He quickly comes to your side and keeps his body close to yours as he scans the area with you. Pull out your phone and try to call it wrong and wrong, but it went right to his voicemail. He decides to send him a message and let him build up. The power has gone out and try again in about two minutes.

Your heart was pounding, yet the reason was unclear. The silence was deafening. Every door was securely locked, with Noah's men stationed outside. Perhaps it was an overreaction, or maybe it was just nerves.

“Vilma?” for the elderly woman “Vilma are you here?” no answer. But she was here when you went to sleep, how could she just vanish? "Vilma please, answer me!"

The rain began to pour down even more intensely upon the house, accompanied by the growling thunder in the distance. Frustrated, you pull out your phone and attempt to call Noah once more. Pacing through the house, you search for any functioning light switches. The kitchen's switch is unresponsive, the stairwell's remains inactive, and your call drops. You groan and punch in his contact again.

*ring....ring...*

"Y/N?"

You let out a heavy sigh "Oh thank god! Noah, the powers out and Vilma isn't here, nothing is turning on and-"

"Y/N? Y/N? Are you there hello?"

"Noah! Noah hello?!" you were starting to panic a bit

"Y/N I'm going to call security..." he hangs up

"No! NO!" you were so frustrated and stressed you could cry. Of course things can only go from bad to worst in these situations...Koda was on edge. You could see him whip his body around his vision focused on something in the far end of the hall. His low growl was not a good sign. You turn on your flashlight and slowly bring it up the long carpeted hall. A pair of shoes....trousers....it was...Alfred?

"Oh god Alfred....you scared me," you said resting your hand on your chest "do you know if there's a breaker where we can get the power back up?"

He remained silent.

"Alfred?..." he starts to walk to you "Alfred this isn't funny....." Koda starts barking as he inched closer and closer, taking his time, face vacant of emotion.

You reach down for you phone once again to call for help "it will be useless to try and call him Y/N...."

"but the guards must-"

"be gone? A simple hack really...they've left their posts. Noah can't reach a signal from you. Just surrender, come with me and things won't have to get ugly."

You couldn't believe it....Alfred. You stop in your tracks, standing your ground and thinking of what to do next

"So it was you huh?...the letter? the threats?" you ask as he got closer and closer

"no, no of course not. I was simply the messenger delivering the letter and giving information.....I have my own pawns to play with"

He was just a few steps from you and just before he could take another step you give Koda his Release word

"ON!” Koda jumps into actions and locks down on to Alfred's leg as you hit him over the head with a vase, shattering the pottery. Buying you some time to run. “KODA OFF!” You yell his release word

Indeed, you wanted him to buy you some time, and he didn't want to involve him in the process. Even though he was trained for this, you cherished him like a pet. You head to the backyard and dash toward the shed, only to twist the knob and discover it's locked.

“Come on! Fuck! Why?!” You keep jiggling the lock as if it would magically open. The rain soaking your clothes and hair blocking your view. Your turn left to keep running through the garden as lightning strikes in the distance. You look back to see if he was still following you. The other way, nothing, the other still nothing.

Something finally covers your mouth as you try and fight him off, Alfred holds a clothe to your mouth and nose as you lose consciousness. Slowly slipping away. Gazing into the eyes of who you thought you could trust. The person Noah let into his home, his life, your marriage. God only knows if he did something to Vilma as well.

"that's it...that's it..." your finally tranquil on the ground feeling even your hearing starting to muffle "just wait until Lucien hears about this..." your vision fades into black.....your phone rings forgotten on the hallway floor.

Noah's name on your screen for the 5th time in a row, but no answer from you. Noah stares down at his screen feeling his heart drop down into his stomach.

"I'm leaving," he mumbles letting his chair spin as he gets up from the seat abruptly "Something isn't right,"

"Wait Noah! What about him?" Looking over into the chair where one of Jared's goons sat. His face bloody and bruised, his nose crooked and most likely broken. They were trying to get any information possible and of course resort to violence once the goon had referred to you as "Noah's whore"

"Water board him, sab him, hang him upside down I don't care I need to go and get Y/N," he grabs the keys to the car and run out into the rain. The guys looking back at the goon and then each other. Folio holds up a set of keys with a smile

"Wanna go into his secret drawer?" as he wiggled them

"Yes!" jolly exclaimed "No." Nick folded his arms

"Niiccckkk" they both whined at the long haired man, wanting him to "be fun for once"

As for Noah, he was currently breaking any traffic laws as he cut through traffic. His phone ringing and ringing. The cameras weren't on, Vilma wasn't answering and none of his guards were either. The longer he waited for a response the harder his foot pressed down on the gas. He ran 7 red lights, crossed 6 lanes and cut off a couple of trucks on his ways over. He pulls into the driveway with no men to be seen

"what the...Y/N?" he runs up to the house and twists the knobs open. No forced entry, but you wouldn't just let someone in. He steps inside to see none of the lights working "Y/N?" he called again

As he walks down the hall he sees the broken vase and what looks to be...blood? Wait where was Koda?

"Koda! Koda?" he hears scratching and barking from the closet at the end of the hall in the closet. Opening it up the young dog comes out sniffing around Noah looking around frantically.

“Y/N?!” He called again as he walks he steps on something as it cracked under his foot, it was your phone. He bends down to pick it up and waves in front of Koda

“Koda, smell,” Koda comes over to his and takes a few sniffs of the phone “good. Now, track”

Koda sniffs the ground around Noah for some trace of a scent.

“Come on…come on….”

Koda whimpers as he sits. His signs of finding no trace of your scent.

“FUCK!” he walked towards the front door again. Pushing the doors open and stepping out into the rain. He looks up into the sky and starts to question the gods of his misfortune.

He clenched his fists and screams

“Y/N!!”

̩͙‿ ༺ ♰ ༻ ‿̩͙‿   ‿ ̩͙‿ ༺ ♰ ༻ ‿̩͙‿

[Taglist🥃] @darling-millicent-aubrey @daylightlvrs @nyxthedestroyerofworlds @gretaswhore28 @cowpokeomens @lizzyanthony3 @cookiesupplier @lma1986 @lust-for-sacher @missduffsblog @thecartelqueen @twyftwyt @thenoahsebastianfiles @sorrowsofsilence @chemicallady @chemicaltendancies @shilohrosechicken @thefallennightmare @crimson-calligraphyx @calleyx13 @iknownothingpeople @lilhobgobbler r @niicoleleigh @badomensls @ladispo0p @skulliecadaver-blog @malixxxmizer r @kageyasma @samanthasgone @the-ancient-fae @lacktoesandtoddlerants @blackveilomens @thebadchic @badomensbabe @dsireland86 @ebechnasheim @somewhere-diamond @hayleylatour @raydenrrobertson @sundamariis @red-ace-in-space

[medusapelagia]

28 AU-gust: Royalty

Rating: Mature Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson WT: omegaverse, Omega Steve Harrington, Alpha Eddie Munson WC: 1794

AU-gust 2023 Masterlist

“You are so lucky Steve! You will never have to go through the humiliating process of being presented to society to find your mate! You already have one!”

Steve sighs, he knows that being presented to society is a very stressful thing, but also being destined to a mate you have never seen doesn’t sound so exciting.

The only thing that he knows about his mate is that his name is Eddie that he is the nephew of King Wayne Munson and that his parents were lucky enough to get him engaged with the king's son as soon as he was born.

Something about an eclipse or a premonition or who knows what. 

In any case, he is not going to be presented to society like all his friends. He will be kept hidden until the moment the king makes his appearance.

This means no more walking around the castle, no more threats from the kitchen, and no more time in the garden.

Robin is trying on another dress while Steve thinks that all that he will be able to do in the next few days will be staying in his room and staring from the little window in his chamber.

He is an omega, and omega can’t be trusted among so many alphas. That’s what his father said.

He sighs. 

A week is not so long after all, right?

***

Three days and he is ready to climb up the wall.

Not only he can’t get out, but he can’t even see the servant and they are giving him his meals on a tray outside of his as if he was in jail!

When his father told him that no one could look at him he wasn’t joking.

He sighs.

Being an omega and being left alone for an entire week it’s almost a punishment. He needs love, and cuddles, and his friends, and at least Robin!

“Steve?” She calls from the garden.

Steve let out a little whimper from his bed, too sad and tired to get up and try to force open the closed window.

“Steve?” She calls again, worriedly, and then she starts to speak with another person “That's his room. Are you sure you can break it?” 

An alpha’s voice full of pride replies “Of course I can. Tell your friend to stay away from the window.”

“Steve! Stay away from the window!” She yells, and then he hears a loud crash and sees a big rock falling next to his bed, followed by a curly dark-haired boy.

“Good morning princess, we came to your rescue!”

Steve’s heart starts to beat faster at the smell of the alpha's scent.

“Alpha?” He calls, trying to get up.

“My beautiful sweet omega.” He gets closer, brushing his hair away from his face “What have they done to you?” His eyes shine red for a moment, and Steve lets out a little whimper.

The dark-haired alpha hugs him even tighter, letting him inhale his scent directly from his bond gland.

“You are ok, omega. I’m going to take such good care of you.” He murmurs, still petting him like a scared dog.

“Is he ok?” Robin asks, getting closer to the window and trying to jump high enough to see inside the room.

“He is ok, but he is going to feel so much better when we take him out of this place.

“Alpha.” He calls again while the alpha picks him up like a baby.

Steve keeps his nose deep In the crook of the alpha’s neck, inhaling his lovely smell.

The alpha looks back at the window.

“Robin, do you think you can hold him if I pass him to you through the window?”

“Why? Is he unconscious? Oh my  god, he is dead and you don’t want to tell me!”

“He is fine! Just, not in his finest shape but he’ll be ok. We just have to find a way to take him away from this fucking prison.”

They think for a moment and then Robin says “I will check who is supposed to bring him food and see if I manage to open the door!” She yells, running away while the young alpha keeps comforting Steve.

“Alpha, alpha.” He keeps calling like a litany, while he feels his body getting hotter and hotter.

He trembles. That’s not possible! He can get his heat right now and with an unknown alpha! His father is going to kill him.

“No one will touch you sweet thing.” The alpha murmurs in his ear, but when finally the door opens it is not Robin who is holding the key, but his father.

“I knew it! You are such a slut! Like all the omegas! You are such a disgrace to our family! An omega male it’s the worst thing that could have ever happened to our family! And now you are ruined! No one will want to mate a slut omega like you!” He screams, filling the air with angry pheromones.

Steve whines, hiding making himself even smaller in the alpha hold.

The young alpha’s eyes are red with fury “You are making him distressed. You left him alone in this room for days! What kind of alpha are you?” He yells at him, ready to fight for the omega that is clenching at him like a little clamp.

“The kind of alpha who doesn’t know how to treat an omega, clearly.”

Everyone turns and King Wayne Munson is glaring at Steve’s father from the corridor.

“My king!” He says getting on his knees “I tried my best to keep him away from any alpha, but this one was relentless.” He lowers his head “I’m sorry if he is not a good match for your nephew anymore. I will dispose of him! He will get punished and I’ll send in some retreat for broken omegas.”

“You will not do such a thing!” The young alpha growls and Steve’s father gets up suddenly.

“We are going to lose everything and you will pay the consequences as well young man!” He threatens him.

“Come here kid, and bring the omega.” The young alpha gets closer to the king and the man gently brushes some hair away from the omega’s face “How are you feeling pup?”

“It hurts.” He complains, feeling his body getting feverish.

“I’m sure it does but Eddie will take good care of you, you just have to hold on a little longer.”

Eddie, the young alpha, snarls at Steve’s father “What about him?” He asks and Steve stares at him. How could he talk like that to their king?

“I’ll take care of him. Now you have an omega to take care of. Does he have a nest?” He asks looking back at Steve’s room. 

“I didn’t see any.”

The king doesn’t seem surprised “ You have to make one for him. I’ll have the servants bringing you some of his blankets. I should have taught you how to make a comfort nest, right?”

The boy nods in agreement and moves to the king’s chambers, the omega still wrapped in his arm,

“We can’t go there.” Steve murmurs “Those are the king’s chambers.” 

“Oh sweet thing, you are too out of it, right?”

Steve doesn’t understand what he means so he keeps silent.

“Let’s make you a nice cozy nest and when you feel better we could talk.”

Steve nods, while his body starts to burn from the inside.

“Alpha…” he calls.

“I know baby… I know… just let it go… I got you.” he whispers in his ear.

Steve’s eyes fill with fear.

Feral. He is going fucking feral.

He tries to escape from Eddie’s grip, he doesn’t want to risk hurting him, but the boy holds him tight.

“Don’t worry, baby. You’ll be fine. I’ll be here with you all the time. I will not let anything happen to you.” he assured him.

“But you… if… if I’m going feral…”

“I’ll deal with it pup. Don’t worry. Just try to relax and let it go.”

Steve shakes his head, trying to clear his mind, but he is not lucid anymore.

“Come on. Let it go. I’m here with you.” and finally Steve surrenders to hormones that are making him crazy.

***

When Steve wakes up he doesn’t remember what happened, he just has a few flashes of being cuddled, loved, and fucked out of his mind. And now he is lying, naked, in a cozy little nest, and the alpha, his alpha, is singing in his ear.

“Hello there sweet thing, are you feeling any better?”

He nods, sniffing at the nest that now smells so familiar. 

“Did I…. Did I hurt you?” he asks, ashamed, and the other boy smiles.

“I have dealt with worst.”

“I… I’ll always go feral?” he is terrified at the idea.

Eddie hugs him “I don’t know baby. I think that too many emotions triggered your body response and you weren’t ready for it, but I can’t assure you that you will not become feral next time. What can I assure you is that, no matter what, I’ll be at your side.” he replies looking him in the eyes.

Steve blushes and lowers his eyes, and then he looks around him and realizes that they are in the king’s chambers,

He startles but the alpha, Eddie, holds him tight “It’s ok. We can stay here. It’s my room, you know?”

His room? But that means…

Suddenly everything clicks and Steve tilts his head in submission.

“Don’t do that, sweet thing. You are going to be my mate and I’ll treat you like an equal.”

“But…”

“No buts, baby. Now, can you drink something for me?” He whispers, getting a cup close to Steve’s mouth.

While he drinks and eats Eddie tells him about how he had been searching for him for days because he could feel how miserable he was and that his friend Robin has finally helped him to get into his room. 

“My uncle has dealt with your parents. They will never see you again if you are not the one asking to see them. And our mating ceremony will be private, not public. And who knows, maybe we will be blessed with a pup.” He concludes by kissing Steve’s flat stomach.

“Is this real? Are you really the king's nephew?”

He nods, cradling his head into his hands “I will repeat everything when you will feel more lucid honey. Why don’t you try to sleep a little more, uh?”

Steve nods, getting more comfortable in his mate’s arm.

He can’t believe that he is going to be mated to the king's nephew, but after he broke Steve’s window to save him, he would have probably mated him even if he was a housekeeper.

[the-darkestminds]

Autumn's Shadow: Chapter 2

Azriel x Eris (Azriel POV)

Summary: A covert meeting between Azriel and Eris to exchange valuable intel leaves Azriel reeling—and questioning everything he has ever felt for the Heir of Autumn. Azriel finds himself inexorably drawn to Eris, unable to resist his captivating allure. With the threat of Koschei and Beron looming ever closer, can their forbidden love endure in the face of such danger?

a/n: Assume the Band of Exiles is aware of Eris's alliance with the Night Court.

Read on AO3!

Full Chapter List

Chapter 2:

Azriel stood in Rhys’s study, only half listening to the discussion he was having with Cassian. A few days had passed since his…altercation with Eris and he’d been distracted and anxious ever since. He couldn’t focus on anything else. He kept turning it over in his mind, trying to figure out what it meant, why Eris had done it, why Azriel had let him do it and how he felt about it. He’d thought he hated the male, but now all he felt was confusion, and other things he didn’t want to acknowledge. The conversation continued on without him for a time, until—

“Did you get with Eris?” 

Azriel whipped his head to Cassian. “What?” He suddenly felt hot in his too-tight leathers.

“Did you meet? Find out if Beron’s allying with Koschei?” Cassian was looking at him with raised brows. 

Azriel silently cursed himself for being such an idiot. He couldn’t remember the last time he was so flustered. “Oh. Right. Yes.” 

Cassian and Rhys stared at him for a beat. 

“And?” Rhys drawled, arching a brow at him and cocking his head. Everything alright, brother?

“I’m fine,” he responded quickly aloud. The last thing he wanted was Rhys rifling around in his head, not that he would without permission. But still…Azriel cringed inwardly at the idea of Rhys stumbling across some of the thoughts he’d been having the past few nights. He continued, lest they pry further, “Beron has been visiting the continent often, likely to see Briallyn. Eris suspects Beron might also join her in allying with Koschei, if he thinks it will serve his interests. Though he has no concrete proof Beron is even aware of Koschei’s existence. I could get that proof though.” Cassian cursed softly, but Rhys did not seem surprised by the news. He nodded calmly, thinking. 

“Perhaps it is time you got a closer look at that lake. See what you can learn of Briallyn’s alliance with Koschei, and if she has the means to free him from his curse. Just be careful,” Rhys said gravely, “You saw what happened to those Autumn Court soldiers. And we still don’t know the true magnitude of Koschei’s power.” Azriel didn’t let his surprise show. Rhys had been adamant that Azriel observe from afar so as not to risk exposure in case the crown’s influence could snare him from a distance. He supposed they were growing desperate, what with the miniscule intel he had been able to gather thus far. Rhys added, “Talk to Vassa and Lucien before you go.” They had already shared what they knew of Koschei, but it wouldn’t hurt to verify nothing was left out or overlooked.

He gave Rhys a curt nod, but said nothing else. His brothers were still looking at him with amusement. 

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you? You look weird,” Cassian demanded.

“I said I’m fine,” he bit out. If his brother didn’t shut up soon he was going to punch him in the mouth.

“But—” 

“Leave it, Cass,” Rhys ordered. 

Before Cassian could voice the undoubtably crude thought that glinted in his eyes, Azriel said quickly, “Are we done here?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he let his shadows whisk him away, though not fast enough to miss Rhys’s loud laughter as Cassian mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like “panties” and “twist.” Azriel rolled his eyes and huffed a begrudging laugh. If only they knew. 

***

Azriel’s shadows deposited him directly on the front doorstep of the manor Jurian and Vassa—and Lucien—were now sharing and he knocked twice on the large wooden slab. As he waited, he scanned the surrounding lands, the evidence of war still prominent in the felled trees and barren patches of earth. He turned as Lucien’s scarred, handsome face appeared in the doorway. He stepped aside silently to let Azriel pass. 

The male’s shoulders were tense as he said vaguely, “Lots of visitors today.” 

Azriel took in Lucien’s strained face, the warning that flashed in his russet eye, the other whirring and clicking faintly. Azriel cocked his head and walked down the hall beside Lucien as his shadows swept through the manor undetected. He sensed two human heartbeats—Vassa and Jurian, and a third, slower than the others. His stomach sank as he suspected who was visiting that had Lucien on edge.

When they entered the room his eyes went immediately to the red-haired male seated near the crackling fire. Eris lounged in a chair like it was his own personal throne, legs crossed, the picture of courtly grace and arrogance. Eris met his eyes and smiled widely, wicked delight sparking in his amber eyes. 

“Shadowsinger, it’s been too long,” he crooned in greeting. Azriel willed himself not to blush—prayed silently to the Mother that Lucien and Eris wouldn’t pick up on his racing heartbeat or the sweat now dripping down his back. Was it hot in here? “I’ve been meaning to ask you if you needed a hand with anything. What are allies for, after all?” Azriel stood rigidly, his mind reeling as he tried to think of something, anything, to say. The room was silent but for the roaring fire. Eris’s smile grew and he arched a brow at Azriel. Lucien glanced between them warily. 

“Azriel? Is everything alright?” Vassa’s voice clanged through him. Fuck. He was here to discuss Koschei with Vassa and Lucien. Two seconds in Eris’s presence and he’d completely lost his cool.

“Your majesty,” he bowed his head slightly, offering his respect to the human queen. She smiled and dipped her head in acknowledgement.

“Did you come with news or orders?” she asked.

“Neither,” he glanced at Eris before continuing, “I’m here to gather any more information you might have on Koschei before I leave for the continent.” 

Vassa’s eyes burned like blue flame at the mention of her master’s name. “I’d advise you to stay far away from that lake.” Her voice was coated in fear. When Azriel didn’t respond, she conceded. “Koschei is as old as the sea—older. Some say he is Death itself, though what that means I can’t be sure. He is truly immortal.” Her voice was hoarse as she added, “The true manner of his power is unknown to me. But he does have the ability to transport others long distances, like he did with your soldiers,” she jerked her head at Eris. The male’s face darkened, eyes flickering. “He is no mere sorcerer. Everything he does is to free himself from the lake. But he whispers on the winds…can see far…He was able to sow discord among my fellow queens while still trapped at the lake. Whether or not his voice holds some magical sway, I do not know. But you’d be wise to stay away, Azriel.” She seemed reluctant to say more. 

Some of it was new information. Azriel hadn’t known the death god had played any part in stirring up the human queens before Hybern launched its war against Prythian. Nor was he aware of any sorcerer-like power to control people like puppets, aside from the Crown. Would the death god have use for such objects? Or was he powerful enough on his own? Rhys had told him to keep the information to himself, so he said nothing.

“Be careful,” Jurian warned, his voice grim. Azriel only nodded to him, and then to Lucien. He bowed his head again in farewell to Vassa and turned to leave, ignoring Eris.

“I’ll walk you out,” Eris said behind him. Azriel tensed, his steps faltering. Eris breezed by him into the hall. He waited for Azriel to catch up and they walked side by side towards the front door. Eris didn’t speak again until they were outside. 

“You truly have nothing to say to me? Have I done something to offend you?” he asked mockingly, all graveness of the past few minutes gone. The shit-eating grin was back on his face. 

Azriel snarled softly. “Everything you do offends me.” 

Eris laughed darkly as he slid his hands into the pockets of his pants. “You wound me. And here I thought you’d be happy to see me. You seemed to enjoy our last meeting immensely, if I recall correctly.” 

Azriel’s face burned as he glanced down in embarrassment. Gods, he couldn’t even meet his eyes. Couldn’t think of a single damn thing to say to put Eris in his place. When did he become such a blundering idiot? He cursed himself silently.

“Let me know when you return from your little trip to the continent,” Eris said flippantly. Azriel nodded stiffly, still not meeting the male’s eyes. A beat of silence. And then—“I enjoyed myself too, shadowsinger.” 

Azriel snapped his head up to see Eris grin and wink, and then he was gone. His stomach fluttered strangely at the words. As his shadows whisked him away he allowed himself a small, private smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next Chapter

Tag list: @unanswered-stars

[anhed-nia]

I was delighted to learn that there was a crazy-girl Black Swan movie from before BLACK SWAN, and disappointed that it's exactly as mysogynistic, just in a much dumber way. We're all familiar with the John Hughes model of romance, in which girls who reject you just want you to be increasingly persistent and controlling--but there's a sort of kid brother to this framework, that says that when women reject you it's actually because they're literally fucking insane, and they need your help with that. In the movie ETOILE aka BALLET, Jennifer Connelly aka the most beautiful woman in the universe plays a ballerina whose psychotic obsession with Swan Lake interferes with her non-relationship with some little dweeb who decides he's entitled to her. The guy looks and kind of acts like the wormy new wave guy Chuck in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (fig. 1), but in ROTLD that used car salesman suit is a joke so I don't know what the makers of ETOILE think I'm supposed to feel when I look at this asshole (fig. 2). Something positive, apparently. It's funny, in my life I live firmly in the Ugly Girl camp and I have all the usual neuroses about it, but certain situations unlock this protectiveness about beautiful women--case in point, watching this jerk kiss Jennifer Connelly. I mean if he were like Bud Cort or someone with that Funny Valentine quality, who is warm and charming, then it would be fine, but with this low-end cretin it's really like...sir, please back away from Jennifer Connelly. This is not for you.

In this movie Jennifer Connelly is frankly way too good for this guy, and if this were real life, it would make perfect sense that she's polite to him and then gives him the brush-off when he pushes his luck; but of course, in the fantasy world of this movie, the reason she rejects him is that she's fucking possessed or something and she's just waiting for him to rescue her from her feminine irrationality. This is extra funny because the script itself directly references the myth of Apollo and Daphne which is like the original version of this: Daphne just wants to be left alone, but Apollo assumes his advances are desirable no matter what she has to say about it; to get away from him she transforms into a tree, and he's so sad about it that he desecrates her corpse weaves a wreath from her leaves. This is really the ultimate reflection of a man refusing to believe that a particular hot chick really, genuinely doesn't want him, but ETOILE isn't capable of figuring out that subtext, so the guy just forces himself on Jennifer Connelly until she isn't "crazy" anymore. Bonus points for the scene where he repeatedly screams at her to stop dancing, because there's really no bigger threat to romance than a woman's career and personal interests.

I wish I could think of more examples of this trope, I know they're out there, and I did just see another one called FEMME FATALE where Lisa Zane marries Colin Firth and then "mysteriously" leaves him, so he has to go on this whole odyssey to retrieve her. This is a particularly funny example because Firth is mopey and boring and untalented and a bad listener and out of shape and a drag, and Zane is this turbulent sexpot who is making it really obvious that she's not satisfied with him right up to the point that she "strangely" vanishes. Spoilers ahead I guess but the first thing Firth finds out is that she was in some psychotic art film by a militant lesbian who she used to date...and still the spurned husband thinks, nah, it CAN'T be that I'm boring and sappy and self-centered and I ignore her needs, and it ALSO CAN'T be that maybe she secretly prefers girls or is, at the very least, way more sexually exotic than I am. There has to be some OTHER reason I got dumped, something that involves me pursuing this uninterested woman to the ends of the earth and forcing her to admit that she loves only me, forever. And the movie totally agrees with him: There's no moment where Colin Firth realizes that he misread all the evidence, or even that she's EVIL or just not who he thought she was or whatever. Instead what he finds out is that she's literally insane! She's a paranoid schizophrenic whose only valid choices of companion are her dad or, you guessed it, Colin Firth. When I saw this I thought wow, this movie has gone impossibly far out of its way to explain that when a woman rejects you, it's not because you're a dullard and a jerk, it's because she's dangerously crazy. Only an actual lunatic would turn down a catch like YOU.

Anyway I know I was just talking about not being pointlessly mean about movies in public, but all bets are off if the movie manages to say something this insulting. I am now done talking about this and I will leave you with this hilarious thumbnail from a YouTube clip of FEMME FATALE, which pretty well sums up the whole movie.

[velvette-hussle]

I think saying that Valentino is being woobified is not…the correct word. Vox, and the way a lot of the fandom downplays his villainy into something more palatable for them by making him a victim and then overemphasizing that victimhood while downplaying his antagonism, is being woobified. On the other hand what’s happening to Valentino is not that.

Both the show (and large parts of the fandom as a result) aren’t downplaying Valentino’s villainy and status as a rapist to make people feel sorry for him so that they’re more comfortable with liking his character. The way Valentino is presented as by the narrative is as this complete fucking moron with anger issues who has zero tact or impulse control; the audience is supposed to point and laugh at Val any time he is not directly (and I do mean ‘directly’) interacting with Angel Dust, which in turn lessens his negative impact without technically just straight up erasing it or pretending it doesn’t exist, and makes him more comfortable to handle and for people to like (or even to dismiss and to hate in some cases).

That phenomenon is not him being turned into a woobie though, that’s him being infantilized; it’s infantilization. No amount of adding layers and nuance to a character (especially if those layers are properly tackled) is going to lessen the impact of a villains’ negative influence on a narrative like making the audience laugh at them more often than they grow apprehensive of them will, and that’s exactly what the show did.

IE: Depict the idea that Valentino is a joke and (outside of his interactions with Angel) he’s practically harmless.

How I see it the show is simultaneously asking the audience ‘how bad could he really be, he’s such an idiot?’ and then showing us exactly how bad Valentino could be and expecting us to just go back to laughing at him right afterwards now that the threat is not immediately in our faces anymore. EDIT: There’s also an implication - that parts of the fandom run with and the writers could maybe be actively showcasing - that Valentino is an undercover mastermind who’s actually smart, but the show itself doesn’t give enough hints at his “childishness” being an act he puts on for me to regard it as more than fans expanding upon the specs of Valentino’s character that they’ve been given to marry the two facets of his identity together and as more headcanon than canon.

With balance this doesn’t have to be an inherently bad thing, but I don’t feel that the show has that balance. Trying to soften the blow a depiction of a fictional rapist will likely have on an audience is not a horrible idea, but something about the way HH goes about it just doesn’t work for me and I cannot for the life of me directly articulate why. I feel the show just often misses the mark when it comes to deciding what about Val and the shit he does should be emphasized for comedic affect, what should be shown to the audience with relative neutrality, and when they should seriously emphasize him being a villain and a abuser/rapist.

From how I see it, Valentino needed more neutral scenes than he did comedic; for further understanding of my thought process his tantrum in “Radio Killed The Video Star” (s1ep2) is comedic (except for when he riles Vox up before the show goes right back to playing up Val’s anger for laughs), his inclusion and actions during the Vees’ meeting scene in s1ep2 is neutral (there’s subtle comedic elements to what he’s saying/doing but the audience isn’t meant to actively be laughing out loud or anything), and the scenes where he’s directly attacking angel (his meaner texts/voice messages to Angel, the dressing room scene in “Masquerade”, his appearances in “Poison”[♪], & when Val threatens then slaps Angel in “Welcom To Heaven”) are meant to showcase his menace without buffers. Less overtly comedic scenes would’ve just balanced him better I think, so there’s not this weird dichotomy of moments where Vox treats Valentino not like a non-threat but like a child having to be weighed against moments where Angel Dust is regarding Valentino like the Overlord is his personal boogieman who’s actually a threat to be taken seriously.

In general though, while some people do play up Valentino’s stupidity and incompetence in a bid to actively neutralize, undermine, or ignore his more violent tendencies for their own purposes (EDIT: sometimes for comedic value, sometimes to make him more palatable or more fun to play around with), the infantilization and further “dumbing down” of his character in fandom seems to mostly stem from an almost incessant need to make him as undesirable as possible even for a villain. It’s a phenomenon that I don’t really have a full explanation for, but for me it reads as a way to “diss” Valentino and the theoretical rapist that exists in many people’s heads that he represents. This isn’t a disavowing of that or anything either, it’s just something I’ve noticed that I don’t really have a name for but still find interesting.

I do think Valentino’s “dumbing down” in fandom has its drawbacks — making a character with such a medium level of influence like Valentino so stupid and impulsive he doesn’t even hide his crimes retroactively makes all the other characters around him seem uncharacteristically weaker for falling for him when he’s not even trying to hide how bad he is or how abusive he’d be, incompetent for not defeating him when he gets in their way even though some of these characters are both more powerful than him & not being manipulated by him, and uncaring since the characters he’s victimizing have someone who claims to care about them (or who’d at least have a vetted interest in the victim’s safety) that knows how bad Valentino is but just chooses not to do anything regardless as a result — but I’m pretty sure I understand where the desire comes from in general even if I personally don’t love it, so whatever.

Brought to you by me misconstruing the term “uwuify” with “woobify” so…..yeah. This post technically spawned from nothing but I did not want to put it to waste so here y’all go. This is kind of ordered wonky too, but fuck it.

[wish-incorrect-quotes]

Not putting this in the tags because I'm afraid of inviting too much drama, but anyway, I’ve made a list of stuff that happened before Magnifico ever used the book:

There’s the obvious one, setting up a system in which all the people who live in the kingdom need to hand over an important part of themselves to him, and he’ll only allow a very small percentage of people to have their life’s dream come true. This went on for at least decades, possibly more. It was not a single moment of decision making due to stress.

It’s strongly implied, if not outright canon, that when deciding which wishes to grant, he favors the people who choose to directly serve him and the people who have a wish that will personally benefit him.

Aside from the very recently 18 Simon, his castle staff seems to be made up entirely of underage teenagers. I highly suspect this is because he’s realized child labor means he will benefit from workers with more energy and enthusiasm, because they aren’t living without their wish yet.

Kitchens are full of sharp things and things that can scald you. Many people who work in them, even those who are highly trained, end up covered in burn marks and scars. Yes, Dahlia is intelligent and competent, but it's still wildly irresponsible to make a 16 year old run a professional kitchen without an adult on hand in the room.

Just before Asha meets the king, the previous candidate for the apprenticeship runs away sobbing. Amaya doesn’t seem surprised by this, which would indicate this is far from the first time Magnifico has made someone burst into tears.

He replies with “Do we call that a talent?” to the teenager excited to show him a few drawings she made. Not exactly “evil” I guess, but definitely a good way to crumble the self-esteem of someone who admires him.

He justifies his system by saying that “No one should have to see their dreams destroyed before their eyes.” But locked away in a tower, where most people will die before they ever see it again, that’s fine apparently.

Anyone who looks at an image of an old man playing the lute for a small handful of people and decides it’s a threat should not have complete control over which wishes could be considered “dangerous”.

“You’re young, you don’t know anything.” Great way to handle a concerned citizen there. That will definitely show the younger generation you have their best interests at heart.

Asha, who I will remind you is a teenager, is upset but still makes her case without even raising her voice. Magnifico, who is supposed to have the temperament to rule an entire kingdom, responds with yelling and a threatening blast of magic. I’m rather concerned about what else might have happened if Amaya hadn’t interrupted them a moment later.

He deliberately raises Sabino’s hopes and then dashes them just to spite Asha for disagreeing with him. Also makes Asha publicly sit onstage in front of the entire kingdom to watch him do it.

He makes it clear that now he’ll never consider granting Sakina’s wish either, even though she hasn’t done anything but be related to someone he’s mad at.

If Asha plans to have a family someday, she has pretty good reason to worry that any children of hers will also likely be condemned to life with their wish automatically locked away forever.

Who knows how many other people were taken out of consideration just because the king didn’t like someone they knew?

Later on, he tells his people that they were put at risk by an unknown traitor with magic, then almost immediately starts getting annoyed because people are nervous and asking for some further clarification and reassurance.

The crowd gets at most a bit worked up, but still, no one ever says anything threatening or insulting towards Magnifico. They’re just asking questions because they want to understand more about what’s happening in the kingdom. This is enough for Magnifico to decide he doesn't have enough control, so he should turn to dangerous forbidden magic to increase his power.

Maybe you could argue that trying to use the situation to get a wish ceremony was a bit greedy, but I'd still say that if Magnifico didn't like people asking for wishes, he shouldn't have been literally removing people's ability to work on it themselves.

Of course people are going to be eager to get him to grant wishes, he's told them it's too hard for them and made it so they can't do it without him.

Last note, I've seen people suggest that the book's power was removed when he was imprisoned in the staff, and it's terrible that he was put in the dungeon anyway. I'm not sure the move ever said that, but if it is the case, he still shows zero remorse and thinks he was in the right. There's no "I shouldn't have used the book, I feel terrible about what it led to." Just "Can you believe they pushed back while I was purposely unleashing forbidden magic, crushing wishes, and chaining everyone to the ground? How could they do this to me?"

[matan4il]

Buddie vs Captain Swan meta

This is for the darling Nonnies who asked me to delve into the comparison! Thank you for your patience, I hope you enjoy it! xoxox

Abbreviations: OUaT = Once Upon a Time // CS = Captain Swan (the Emma/Hook ship) // SF = Swanfire (the Emma/Baelfire ship) // TPTB = The Powers that Be (the team making the decisions for a show) // ep numbers: 201 = ep 201 of 911; O201 = ep 201 of OUaT Unlike with other shows’ canon ships that I have compared in the past to Buddie in terms of what happens to them on screen, this meta is also gonna compare the two ships on the level of the decisions TPTB made (with the two levels not completely separate), which is a part of why this has been one of my fave meta posts to write, ever.

A love story on screen starts with love off screen

Alright, so let me start by mentioning that Hook’s actor (Colin) was only supposed to be on the show for a brief stint. I heard different reports on whether he was originally booked for one ep or five. Either way, it was officially confirmed that even before his first ep aired, TPTB already liked Colin’s performance enough to promote him to a series regular. Yes, before anyone at home even got to watch Hook once. They didn’t specify what they liked, but we can assume it was his acting choices, charisma, the color, humor and sex appeal he brought to the character, but also the chemistry between Colin as Hook and Jennifer as Emma, maybe as early as in rehearsals. Once they expanded Hook’s role so much, they had to tie him in with some of the other regular characters. Hook’s original link to the show was the revenge he wanted to take on Rumple (as established in O204, his first ep), but if he was gonna be a regular, he needed something more. So O205 introduces him to a group of our heroines, especially through Emma’s eyes (she’s the one who sees right through him), while the climax of this meeting plays out in O206, laying out the foundation for CS. Just keep in mind that on 911, Ryan got the part of Eddie because of how much TPTB liked and wanted to work with him. In other words, in both cases it seems the on-screen chemistry and joint journey of two characters started with an off-screen love of TPTB for a charismatic actor.

Both ships were given this initial trajectory of enemies to friends. In the case of CS, Hook starts out on the side of the bad guys while Emma is The Savior. He also uses a sleazy sort of flirting as a tactic: when his opponents are annoyed, it distracts them from his true intentions, and it also disarms them by making it seem like he poses no real threat since he can’t even “keep it in his pants.” He uses this on many, yet from the get go, he has a special focus on Emma. There are four heroines he meets in O205, but she’s the main one he negotiates with, tries to win over, flirts with and when the women have to decide which one of them would climb the beanstalk with him, once they chose Emma he even states, “I was hoping it would be you.” Even the way he puts the bracelet on her wrist is more physically intimate than it needs to be. That means we have an antagonistic start, alongside an undercurrent of attraction. That’s exactly what we have with Buddie as well in 201, when Buck starts out disliking Eddie, but under the surface it’s clear he’s attracted (and not just physically) to Eddie as well, to how incredible he is.

During the O206 climb, Hook starts a dialogue with Emma, but I mean, he really wants to get to know her. It’s still something he can rationalize away in his mind as him simply doing whatever serves his revenge (maybe in the long run this info might be useful), but he doesn’t strictly need this in the short run. Knowing about her first love doesn’t help with how they’ll defeat the giant and retrieve the golden compass. Yet, he wants to know. She intrigues him and makes him want more. It’s the only time we’ll see him in Os2 (other than the finale) doing something that isn’t directly needed for his revenge. In fact, the issue of whether he would betray Emma in order to further his revenge explicitly comes up (she assumes he would based on how Neal had betrayed her in the past), he doesn’t try any tricks when she’s wounded, instead he bandages her hand, goes with her altered plan on how to tackle the giant even though it puts him in a much greater danger (the new plan has benefits for Emma, none for him, yet he still accepts it), comments on how well they work as a team, and we also discover in O209 that he wouldn’t have betrayed her later on either (Hook tells her so when they both know Emma has a lie detection super power, showing that she got under his skin, to make him honest and loyal to her even when it doesn’t necessarily benefit him). My point is, this ep isn’t shy about setting up the possibility of CS being more than two people who temporarily share the same goal. This is so much like Buddie, whose compatibility is clearly cemented in 201 beyond just that one grenade call they worked on together in the ambulance, leading to them exchanging a vow to have each other’s back.

Emma’s reaction to him is played in a more understated fashion. She goes with him because they need the compass, but she doesn’t like the flirting, she openly doesn’t trust him and at first she doesn’t quite open up to his questions. However, we get a hint that her real reaction might run deeper than it initially seems because we get her flashbacks to Neal (the name Baelfire chose for himself in The Land Without Magic), the only love she’s had before. Those flashbacks are triggered simply by meeting Hook, later intensified by his questions. He got under her skin from the start. She also spots his tattoo and asks about the woman mentioned in it. She wants to get to know Hook better, too. When he doesn’t really wanna open up to her about his lost love either, she also guesses correctly what it is he’s not telling her. When he acknowledges she’s right by calling her perceptive, she returns his honesty by admitting she might have been in love before (despite lying about it earlier). That makes their interaction perfectly mutual. We get everything needed for the classic trope of enemies to friends to eventual lovers, not to mention soulmates. And again, the mutual nature of the attraction is so similar to what we get with Buck and Eddie, who both want to get to know the other one better even at the peak of not getting along. Buck still asks Eddie questions to better understand the new guy, while in all of 201, the only person Eddie is shown as being interested in on a more personal level is Buck, with that comment at the gym about knowing that he’s a good guy going through a tough break up, showing empathy, but emphasizing they’re on the same team...

Keep your friends close and your story telling options closer

But CS didn’t get a simple love story set up. I’m certain the original plan was for Emma to actually have a different endgame, which IMO makes the comparison of CS with Buddie so much more interesting. Os2 is full of hints that Emma’s intended endgame was Neal. SF as endgame includes epic symbolism: Emma, the daughter of THE Good Guys from the Enchanted Land, and Neal, the son and grandson of THE Bad Guys from that land, meet in the Land Without Magic, fall in love and have a child together, their union bringing eventual salvation for all. It’s the stuff fairytales are made of! I also have to say that I really loved Baelfire as a kid, so it makes sense that if TPTB set him up to be such a loved character, they would want him (and assume the viewers want him) to have the ultimate happy ending with Emma.

How does CS fit into that? Well, my theory is that when introducing us to them, TPTB saw dramatic potential in the chemistry between Hook and Emma, plus it helped link him to the show, but they hadn’t decided yet how exactly to play with this ship alongside their intended endgame one. I believe they saw three options, and they tried to create the foundation for CS so that it would reasonably lend itself to any of the three, though I do think they had a preference. The first option was to set up the potential of CS as a romantic ship, but then not follow through, making it clear that Hook is attracted to Emma, but that her link to him would just be as The Savior, with him being one of many she helps to save. In other words, Hook’s attraction would be one sided, but it would help him to redeem himself and at some point find his own happy ending. Another option, and I believe the main one they were considering during Os2, was for CS to grow into something romantic (and mutual), but not an endgame ship. It would be a station on Emma’s romantic journey, and the love triangle created by CS would be another obstacle for SF to overcome (and it makes me LOL forever that we got a bit of that love triangle treatment for Buddie when Taylor was around, even without Buddie going canon, unlike CS who had kissed by the time Hook discovers Neal is still alive). The last option is again one that I think TPTB were less interested in, but made sure not to close the door on, which is that the set up for CS would grow into an actual endgame ship.

Why do I think the love triangle option was the initially preferred one? IMO just like Os2 is full of signs that SF were meant to be endgame, we also have hints that TPTB’s course was to create that love triangle between SF and CS, for example in the O206 flashback to the time when Neal shoplifted the swan keychain for Emma. Right within the shot there’s a heart-shaped keychain with a pirate symbol on it. Another example that connects the two ships is that in this ep, Hook tells Emma about having been in Neverland, while in her flashbacks we see SF talking about settling down, and she jokingly asks, “Like, where? Neverland?” Also, on the beanstalk, Hook says he can tell she has the look in her eyes of a lost kid who’s been abandoned by her parents. We already know based on the set up of his revenge story that Hook’s a bit of a lost soul himself (and we’ll find out in O222 that he was an abandoned orphan, too). This was Neal’s background as well. All three are, in a sense, kindred spirits. In fact, while O206 establishes the start of CS and shows us SF for the first time through flashbacks, O221 is going to show us that, independent of this, Hook and Baelfire had also crossed paths and cared about each other, completing all sides of the love triangle. Notice how ALL of these things, because they connect and parallel Hook and Neal, can just as easily support the idea that Hook was always meant to be an obstacle for SF to overcome, or that Hook is Emma’s true love. This is what TPTB like, to keep their options open in case things (and their preferences) shift.

I see similarities here to what happened with Eddie’s character on 911. He was brought in because TPTB liked Ryan and wanted him on the show. They were reorganizing after Abby’s departure in 110, so they introduced Maddie’s character as the new anchor at Dispatch, as well as Eddie to make the team more dynamic. Both needed ties to the team. Maddie would have one in Buck, but she also needed a romantic connection. We know TPTB decided on having the new characters develop a romance. JLH took one look at the ship name and said, “Chim,” 'coz she’s a queen. Which means Maddie would still have her romance, but what would tie Eddie on a personal level to the 118? My guess is TPTB saw the chemistry between Ryan and Oliver, and decided to go with that as the significant bond they’d give Eddie. The changes were made before 201 even aired. Once the ep did, Eddie’s entire introduction is all about Buck, including some clear hints at the option of a romance, without committing to it yet. I’m talking of course about the way Eddie’s presented shirtless for Buck to take him in, the sexy tune “Whatta Man” playing in the background, plus of course the classic enemies to friends trope. Again, TPTB hint at it, lay out the foundations, but keep their options open. When you run a show, there are a lot of elements that might end up not playing out as you intended them to, so you have to reserve some level of flexibility, keep your plans in mind, but also be able to adapt to what ends up working on screen. That’s why I think there were other hints at a possible romantic Buddie throughout s2 (the most blatant of which was the Elf Lady scene in 210 and the social media comments about Buddie in 218), but without anything becoming explicit yet. I do assume back then, they hadn’t decided yet whether to go canon with Buddie or not.

A part of what makes the comparison off screen so fascinating to me is contemplating what made TPTB change course and decide that the option they’re going with is CS as endgmae after all, because it might reflect on when and how a similar decision has been/will be made on 911 regarding Buddie. I do think the ultimate factor was on screen chemistry that garnered CS tons of vocal fans even before anything canon happened between them. Does that remind you of a certain 911 ship? But then, I also think SF's chemistry paled in comparison (I can specify in detail why the ship fell short on the story telling level as well, but my impression is it was a poor decision to cast Neal without an audition, including a chemistry read for SF. CS absolutely sizzle together. Chemistry is a mystery that few have managed to decipher. It’s not about whether actors are good or not, it’s not about whether they like each other as people off screen, it’s an unknown. And it might also be, at least to a degree, in the eye of the beholder. I’m sure there are SF fans who think their ship’s chemistry was way better than CS’. But I say to a degree ‘coz there usually is a general consensus, and in the case of Emma, most viewers seemed to agree her chemistry with Hook was off the charts). If the only ship that OUaT set up in a way that could (and was meant to) rival CS was failing to do that, what were the chances that any other incoming ship would? I suspect this is what settled the score in favor of CS. Not only did they become a canon couple, not only did they become Emma’s endgame, they became in a sense the whole show’s endgame. OUaT’s main theme (explicitly repeated) is that anything is possible if you only hold on to hope. The last significant zoom in we get for the entire show is on CS hugging while holding their little baby girl, Hope. 911 is very similar in its hopeful themes to OUaT, so here I have to point out that no one gives Eddie or Buck hope that things can be good quite like the other man (just one example is Eddie struggling from the very start of s5, and Buck helping him and giving him hope in 514 in ways no one else, not even a therapist, can).

Basically, this dynamic of TPTB creating a ship and not committing to it, but wanting it present in the minds of the viewers and realizing over time that none other could compare to this ship is once more very similar IMO to Buddie. After scenes like the lasagna Buddifer one in 601, there’s no character in the world that can enter the 911 verse at this point and win viewers’ hearts as the endgame ship for either Buck or Eddie over what they have with each other. Ultimately, I don’t see how TPTB can make any other choice that would be satisfying (and acceptable) for most of the audience.

In case you’re wondering whether I’m wrong and CS was supposed to be endgame all along, OUaT actually hinted within the show that this is what happened. In O621, after CS had just been married and immediately torn apart, Hook gives a small speech that seems to reflect the decision making behind the scenes: “Look, we made each other better! All right? Emma and I were never a predestined love story, guaranteed a happy ending. We fought for our love, and we won.” Within the OUaT world, where a whole bunch of things such as Being The Savior ARE predestined, there's nothing that tells Hook he and Emma weren’t. So why is he saying that? It’s TPTB inserting a meta comment into the text. As I’ve been pointing out, I believe these words resonate true for Buddie as well, who might not have been the original plan either, but they found each other, made each other better, and have been fighting together for the little family unit they ended up having.

Love is stored in the parallels

It’s fascinating to me that after CS first meet, the rest of Os2 gives each a mostly separate plot, because they’re both still preoccupied with a former love and they’re not ready to be with each other just yet. Hook is chasing his revenge, haunted by the ghost of the murdered Milah, while Emma is surprised by Neal returning to her life and taking his place there as Henry’s dad.

I find it insane how similar this is to Buddie in s2. They meet as enemies, quickly become friends, but for the most part have separate plots for that season, where Buck has to find a way to disentangle himself from Abby’s ghost (which is how he defines her when he writes his letter to her), and Eddie finds that his one request for momentary help turns into Shannon surprisingly returning to his life and trying to re-take her place there as Christopher’s mom. I’ll repeat, Hook and Buck are both haunted by the ‘ghost’ of a past lover, while Emma and Eddie have to deal with their ex, who’s also the biological parent of their kid, returning to their life. When I tell you that this perfect parallel makes me wanna chew glass...

But this allows them to resolve their issues and come closer together. There’s a moment when Hook thinks he did finally get his revenge in O215, which leads him to ponder in O220 what will become of his life if he does kill Rumple. He realizes it would be empty, as he has no one to share it with. This is a change inspired by Emma. He grasps the emptiness of his pursuit since in spite of himself, he started caring about her. It’s because of what he told her in O206, that she’s “bloody brilliant” and because of what she tells him in O222, that they understand each other (as fellow lost souls). There is something real between them that is changing him. The Os2 finale forces him to choose between his revenge and his own life. It’s a choice that he had to make before and he always chose to put himself in harm’s way in order to avenge Milah’s death (in an O311 flashback he even explicitly tells Tink that dying for his revenge would be satisfying enough). But this time, he realizes he does want to live. And as Emma challenges him in this ep to care about anyone other than himself, he does. He cares about her enough to do the right thing, returning to Storybrooke to save everyone. He practically tells her she’s the reason, that she inspired him to remember he could care about others. When he realizes his return was too late for his initial intention, but he could still help by offering the magic bean to save Henry, he immediately volunteers to do so and even to join the search party. It’s during this time that we’ll see them really coming together. That made me think of the distance we saw between Buddie in 5a, which gave way to them growing closer than ever in 5b, as Eddie confesses his greatest fear to and finds comfort in Buck.

O222 still doesn’t commit to a specific CS option, though. It could be Emma as The Savior helping Hook become better without returning his feelings, it could be the start of something that will eventually make way for Emma choosing Neal once she’s reunited with him, or it could be the start of CS as a ship that OUaT is actually invested in, not just as an obstacle to SF. When did the show decide between those options? I suspect the answer is during the hiatus ahead of Os3. What Hook did in O222, when he chose to return, it was the first selfless thing we’ve seen him do. But is it something that means he’s worthy of Emma or can compete with the feelings she and Neal still have for each other? I would argue that there’s nothing in the Os2 finale to definitively answer that in the affirmative, at least not just yet. In the Os3 premiere, however, I believe we get exactly that. We have a moment when Hook and Regina discuss whether villains like them can get happy endings. It’s a continuation of their talk in O220, where for the first time Hook wondered about whether he should have something more to his life than vengeance. In O301, he lets Regina know he hopes they can get one. As their conversation ends, the camera pans from that to Emma. That may not seem so significant, but in O416, there’s a scene where CS talk about whether Hook, as a former villain, will get his happy ending. She asks him if he’s found it, and he replies, “Don’t you know, Emma? It’s you.” Visually, the show clues us in on this almost two seasons earlier, before Hook himself had even realized it, using that shot. TPTB have already chosen CS over SF, we just don’t (officially) know it yet either.

But it’s one of those things whose full significance you’re meant to only realize during a rewatch. That’s exactly what 911 gave us with that montage of memories Eddie has in 315, where he sees the family he recognizes he’ll always fight to come back to, and that family is not just his son, it’s about both Buck and Chris. As emotional and incredible as that scene was, we discover roughly a season later that it means even more than we realized, as Eddie reveals to Buck in 414 his decision to alter his will following that call, officially and legally binding Buck to their family. Now just imagine, maybe somewhere in what we’ve seen there’s already a scene that one day, with the gift of hindsight, we’ll watch and it will hit us that TPTB were using it to signal that they had already chosen to make Buddie canon, we just needed to wait for it to unfold...

I say this because even though O301 lets us know TPTB have already settled on CS, the show itself will continue to pretend as if the love triangle between them and SF is yet to be decided throughout the rest of Os3. Hook surprised Emma more than once along Os2, but as he chose her over his revenge, she got to really see the kind of man he can be. His bloodthirst for Milah’s murderer was always fueled by his love and by the kind of devotion that only lost souls can offer. If that was so intense, just imagine what he’s capable of feeling when he begins falling in love with the one woman who he thinks of as so amazing that she could even make him let go of his vengeance. Alongside this, TPTB still dwell on Emma’s lingering feelings for Neal. That makes it seem like an open race, but it was later confirmed in an interview that they knew they were going to kill Neal before Os3 even started airing.

There are still clues in the subtext that CS are it. For example, in O301 we get to see them as a battle couple again, something we hadn’t witnessed since their first quest together climbing the beanstalk in O206. Never estimate the power of this trope! Since the days of the ancient Greeks, it has been used to signify a pair of bonded souls, ready to kill and die for each other, playing on the duality of the fierce fight one conducts for the person they harbor the most tender of feelings for, with both partners being so in sync that their bond can be counted on even in the most life threatening of situations. And yes, of course Buddie falls into this long, intense (and historically, homoerotic) tradition, as we have seen them being the ultimate battlefield boyfriends multiple times.

Another thing is that the triangle’s two sides aren’t truly balanced. What I mean by this is that when a show hasn’t decided yet, and wants to build up both ships, it will make sure to balance every significant thing one ship has with an equal counterpart for the other. In O307, CS have a meaningful moment where Emma thanks Hook for doing the right thing and telling them Neal is in Neverland, so that he can be saved. She acknowledges this is something Hook did in spite of Neal being his romantic rival for her affections. Hook responds that when he wins her heart, and he will, it won’t be because of trickery, it will be because she wants him (there are actually three opportunities Hook has in Neverland to win her “unfairly,” and he resists using even a single one of them). What this does is cement the fact that the love Hook feels for Emma can help him be a better man, someone who he once was (as we saw in O305). It’s a redemption through love story. And Neal doesn’t have an equivalent to that. Another indication is in O311, when Emma and Henry have to leave Storybrooke, knowing that once they do, they will lose their memories of everyone else. Hook tells Emma there won’t be a day when he won’t think of her. She smiles and replies, “Good.” Hook on his part is confessing that his feelings have morphed into this hopeless, epic love that will haunt him even when they’re realms apart. Emma, by accepting that, is in turn admitting that she actually does want whatever it is that has started developing between them. But when Neal told her a moment earlier that it isn’t over and he will see her and Henry again, she didn’t answer. Again, these are small signs that TPTB already knew the endgame ship before we got Emma officially choosing Hook, but they still pretended as if it’s not settled yet, still acting as if the love triangle is balanced. And I am forever thinking about 911 and what TPTB have already decided, but still aren’t ready to admit...

The on screen parallels are, like love, endless

We talk a lot about what Buddie’s ‘Oh’ moment might be, that instance of recognition of what they feel. We might not have gotten one on screen yet, or we may discover later on that, like the visual clue in O301, we can only decipher their ‘Oh’ moment in retrospect. With Hook, I think he had his in O302. Emma has to admit who she really is, that she’s still a lost girl. We, as viewers, can tell how similar she is to Hook. When they talk about it later, he asks her, “And just who are you, Swan?” and she teases, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Hook is usually the one to bring on the flirting that most women don’t take seriously, but this time, when it’s Emma who’s being coy, he reacts with unusual sincerity and responds, “Perhaps I would.” It’s that uncharacteristic intensity that lets us know, he’s admitting it to himself. In O206, we saw that he was interested in getting to know Emma, but he could still lie to himself, hide behind how the info might come in useful at some point in his pursuit of revenge (even though we don’t see him take a similar interest in any of the other opponents). But here, he’s already let go of the idea of retribution, and is admitting to himself he honestly is interested in her, that what he feels is more than just attraction or a means to a goal. He genuinely would like to be the person allowed in. And yes, once more this is very similar to Buddie, who gravitated towards each other from the start, how they both showed such an interest in getting to know the other man better, and we got to see how similar in their trauma and journey towards healing they are, as well as being each other’s person, the one allowed in.

Another thing we have is instances of mutual longing stares. These are supposed to quietly make our guts turn, because CS exchange them in Os3 precisely whenever it seems like they can’t be together. For example, in O306 when Emma discovers that Neal, the father of her child, is still alive and in Neverland, there’s an intense exchange of stares between her and Hook. It reminds me a bit of how Buddie sometimes stare at each other, such as when the the team is discussing Eddie and Ana going to an event as a couple for the first time in 501, but it’s Buck’s eyes that Eddie meaningfully catches...

There’s of course the classic instants of jealousy. They don’t necessarily develop into full plots like on some shows, but they do exist in the background as a reminder for who someone really wants, no matter what facade they may present to the world. In O310, for example, Hook has decided to let Emma go so that she could have a chance to see if she could work things out with the father of her son. But he’s heartbroken, so he tries to take his mind off the pain by hitting on Tink, who of course realizes exactly what he’s doing and says no. Nothing happens, but Emma arrives just in time to see the two of them together and be visibly displeased by the idea. This is a lot like Eddie, even as early as 206, disliking the idea of Buck with any other person, like when he saw Taylor speaking to Bobby in that ep and ignored it, but the second he saw her speaking to Buck...

And let’s talk about building a family unit together! Well, Hook being Emma’s co-parent isn’t exactly a focal point of OUaT, since she shares custody of Henry with another, adoptive mother. The show is preoccupied enough with both Emma and Regina’s journey to accepting their motherhood and learning how to be a good parent to Henry, on top of Neal discovering that he’s a dad (not to mention all the grandparents this brings into Henry’s life), that I don’t think the show has a lot of space left to delve too deeply into Hook as Henry’s extra parental figure. And yet, it does have a whole bunch of really lovely moments that it dedicates precisely to that. For example, in O316, before CS even get together, Hook spends a lot of time with Henry to help this kid grieve. Even when we don’t see these moments on screen, OUaT makes sure to include references that let us know these are happening off screen. And to really cement it, all of O606 is dedicated to establishing that Henry does see them as a family unit and accepts Hook not just as Emma’s romantic partner, but also as an additional parent.

I don’t really have to explain how this is very similar to Buddie, where there’s no question Chris has basically embraced Buck as his other dad, and that these three ARE one family unit, right?

Another thing OUaT did with CS once it decided they were endgame is to give them an epic cinematic point of reference. I’m referring to O305, when Emma and Hook kiss for the first time. Hook, the womanizing pirate, is visibly shaken up by it. Emma, however, is still in denial and right away says it’s just a one time thing. But as she sends him away, he replies with, “As you wish.” This is an obvious reference to the movie Princess Bride which established that saying that is another form of saying, “I love you.”

Buddie have their own cinematic reference built into the ship. Their promise in 201 to have each other’s back is a clear reference to Maverick and Iceman’s exchange at the end of Top Gun accepting the other guy as their wing man. If you ask me, that was a way of saying “I love you,” too. And of course, Top Gun came out in the 1980’s, when mainstream Hollywood was not filming gay romances, but this hit film is widely known and understood as a queer coded movie. In fact, Val Kilmer himself once referred to Iceman as his first gay role... 

And God, that epic reference really fits CS. Even before they get together, Hook’s feelings for Emma are so grand, he chooses to follow her to the ends of earth and time, literally. Magical vortex that leads God only knows where opens up in O321? Hook wants to get out of there right away. It sucks Emma in? Hook deliberately lets go and allows the vortex to claim him as well, while he mutters that one day he’s going to stop chasing this woman (except he obviously won’t). You know who else follow each other into the craziest, most life endangering situations without a second thought? Yep, our resident moron in love firefighters. They will never stop chasing and saving each other either.

An additional way to build up CS as a ship and a significant one is to have them parallel the other canon couples on the show, particularly the ones that have such a sound foundation that viewers know their love is true. If CS parallel those couples, that means their love is true as well. I think the most obvious parallel on OUaT is between CS and Emma’s parents, Snow and Charming. They were THE romance in s1, cemented by their exchanged promise that they will always find each other. Just imagine how feral I went when in O511, we had Emma leading an expedition to the fucking underworld because she was hellbent on finding and saving Hook, and she utters the same epic promise of love her parents have repeatedly made to each other, that she will find him, she will always find him. Just in case we still had any doubts, in the underworld she has to undergo a test of true love, and unsurprisingly, she passes it. Hook and Emma get to spend the rest of their lives knowing that what they built together, by being there for each other, comforting and learning and saving one another, is true love. So I hope you get why it drives me a little crazy to think about how, in essence, that’s exactly what Buddie have as well, their relationship is built from the same building blocks. Not to mention, they’re also repeatedly shown to parallel the canon, foundational couples of 911, like Madney, Henren and Bathena.

Another of these parallels to Snow and Charming can be found in the language one partner uses when they try to revive the part of the ship. In O103, it’s Snow trying to save Charming in Storybrooke, and she’s begging him at first to come back to “us,” but that doesn’t really express what she feels, her desperation, so she switches over to “Come back to me.” That switch says everything about how significant the “me” is. It’s not just a general rescue attempt out of respect for the sacredness of all human life. This is personal. A loss that the rescuer cannot bear. And they have faith that the connection between them and the person they’re trying to save is another life line, in addition to the physical actions to keep the other person alive. That’s exactly what Emma is also begging Hook to do when she’s giving him CPR in O320, in those very words, after Zelena almost drowned him to death. That of course parallels Buck begging Eddie to stay “with me” in 414. Also worthy of note? None of these couples are together when one half of the ship has to rescue the other and ends up resorting to this intimate language.

A parallel I absolutely have to quietly scream about into my fist is the one about emotional walls. In O503, Hook confesses to Emma that he liked her exactly as she was. He tells her that he liked her walls, and he liked being the one to break them down. That confession holds so much, like the acceptance of the person you’re in love with as they are, with all of the parts of themselves that they see as the worst, like the love, patience and support that turns being there for someone else when they let you in on what they see as their ugliest parts into something you see as beautiful, and like that awe-inspiring realization that you are special to them because you’re the only one they let into their mess. Now tell me this isn’t precisely what we got with Buddie, when Buck physically broke down the door to Eddie’s most private space, his bedroom, and he wasn’t kicked out for doing that or met with any kind of resistance, instead what Buck got was Eddie letting down his emotional walls as well, not just in that moment, but also later on, when he allows Buck back into that mess, to help clean it up and fix his broken walls. Yes, the most significant emotional developments that happen between romantic partners are ones that Buddie got to have, too.

And lastly there’s of course the parallel that you can see in the header for this meta post, between the time Emma had to watch Hook be stabbed in front of her eyes in O423 and when Buck had to witness Eddie get shot right in front of him in 413. The way that scene plays out (one is fatally wounded, the other is horrified into paralysis, but then before they can rush in, a third party has to intervene and stop them, as the wounded partner reaches out to them) is a romantic trope in itself, because yeah, shows and movies usually only do it this way to one person when it’s their romantic partner who sees everything and is devastated by it. That Buck was put in the same position Emma during this scene, that says everything.

~~ Thank you soooo much to the amazing @buckleyirondad​ and @madsbuckley​ who shared the load of giffing for this meta (since there were so many scenes to gif). Your creations are breathtaking and so is your kindness! I seriously can’t thank you enough, I hope you had a blast making the gifs, and that everyone reading enjoys this meta! If you have, please consider supporting it by giving it a reblog, thank you! xoxox

[thedummysdummy]

When We Collide

The pen made a soft click as the ink cartridge within it shifted while the pen spun through Victor’s slender fingers. Despite his eyes being entirely focused on the computer screen in front of him, his mind kept drifting back to the odd encounter of the morning. That girl…the scene had been so familiar as she stepped out into the road, completely distracted. He hadn’t even consciously realized he’d stopped time until the surprise of finding her an Evolver broke him from his moment of reverie. While he didn’t exactly make a habit of rescuing dummies who stepped out into the road, something deep inside him had taken over just like it had in his childhood. 

Which he supposed he could have brushed off. She was just some random young woman, after all. There were millions just like her. He had no interest in her past the nagging curiosity that he must have seen her before. No, there was only one woman he had any interest in. Even at that, such interest was little more than a drive to know that the person who had selflessly saved his life had not lost hers. 

At least, that was what he told himself. 

But then, the same girl had shown up at his door. That solved the mystery of where he’d seen her, at least; there must have been a photograph of the company’s producer when he’d read their final report and deemed it time to cease their funding. Miracle Finder had been popular in its day, but like most things do, it had run its course. He was 100% confident in his decision to cut their funding. 

So why was he now considering something contradictory to his previous stance? Perhaps it was the passion in every inch of her small body. Or the way she’d looked him directly in the eye without any hint of nervousness. More likely, it was the drive he saw behind those threats. She made him believe that she had what it took to carry out her promises. And so? Just a hint of a smile pooled at the corners of his lips as Victor realized he’d already made up his mind and just hadn’t caught up to it yet. 

He would let her present her case at the investment assessment meeting, but what he really looked for in a good investment had already shone through. For now, some field research was required. 

Victor picked up his phone and pressed the number one speed-dial. The voice of Goldman soon filled his ear. “Boss! What can I help you with?” 

“I’m going out. Tell my 3pm appointment that they’ve been rescheduled to 4pm.” As he spoke, Victor plucked his jacket from the back of the chair and shrugged it over his shoulders. “Also, I want you to earmark 500 million for that studio. Add it to the quarterly report, but do not send the adjusted budget to the board yet.” 

A sputtering sound came from the other end of the phone. Despite his years of working for Victor, the man still managed to catch Goldman off-guard. “You mean that persistent little studio with the producer who buzzes around like a fly begging for funding? Sir, weren’t they only asking for 50 million? And why are you marking it as approved before the application meeting even happens?” 

Victor seemed to completely disregard his assistant’s questions, the only outward sign of their acknowledgement being a twitch of the corner of his upturned lip. “I’ll be back late this afternoon. If you have any issues with moving the meeting, tell Mr. Chin to call me directly.” And with that, he hung up the phone and stepped into the elevator. 

~~~

The set was awash with voices and people rushing around like a hive of excited bees. Victor met no resistance at the door; the staff were more than happy to allow the legendary CEO to explore the set at his leisure. Was he there to talk investment? Was he going to be on the show? They didn’t know, but they did know not to stand in the way of the man with the dark eyes. 

Victor watched the proceedings as the wheels in his mind spun the information into thread for later. If LFG was going to make such a large investment in the entertainment industry, he needed a deeper understanding of how production functioned. 

And, it seemed, the girl did too. Victor spotted her as she weaved her way through the crowd with her face buried in her notebook. He couldn’t help but chuckle as she continued to rush directly toward him with seemingly no spatial awareness. Would she look up in time? His solemn mask made no slip despite the amusement rolling around in his chest. Of course she wouldn’t. She was good at one thing: focusing on one thing at a time. 

She walked directly into him and looked up with those big eyes. The sound of surprise she made caused a huff of amusement to compress his chest, though she probably saw it as annoyance instead. His clear eyes scanned the exposed page of notes and the container of pudding in her hands. 

The pudding struck him somewhere deep in the back of his skull. Memories of a sandcastle, a little girl, and the hundreds of puddings he’d made since took center stage. Was this…a clue? Surely not. It wasn’t like he and that little girl were the only two people who enjoyed caramel pudding. But there was only one way to know for sure. “And put that thing in the cafe fridge,” he finished his lecture. 

His eyes never left the girl’s retreating back as suspicions began tumbling like stones in the polishing media of his mind. With a new mission, Victor returned to his car and made his way down the quiet, familiar streets that led to Souvenir. 

After this many years, making pudding had almost become something of a calming meditation. Whenever he needed to clear his mind, those familiar ingredients in his hand spoke like voices of prayer. The scent of caramel replied, always washing away his concerns with the affirmation of action. 

He thought about the recent encounters with the clumsy-yet-determined girl. She was about the right age, he’d guess. And just as stubborn as the little girl in his memory who demanded payment in pudding with no doubt in her mind that he would deliver. A single-mindedness shared by the producer who kept appearing like a stray cat. 

Soon, the warm puddings sat on the passenger seat while Victor made his way back to the film set. For a moment he doubted whether this shredded and disjointed plan would do anything at all, but he’d held the hope for seventeen years that the sweet dessert would again serve to bring the girl to his side. It certainly didn’t hurt to try. 

No one questioned the CEO as he slipped into the cafe and located the bag he’d seen the girl carrying earlier. It was an easy task to replace her clumsy puddings with his own. For a moment he considered just throwing hers out when he exited the building, but his curiosity led him to bringing them home. Maybe she, too, had been trying to perfect the recipe? 

A single bite told him that if she had been…she was failing. 

But he finished the dessert anyway while his mind followed the thread of events as it wove itself into the tapestry of his life. He didn’t know exactly what image the slowly-emerging fabric held, but he was starting to get a few clues. 

~~~

Days passed and Victor grew more and more sullen. Even if she’d eaten his pudding, how was she to know it came from him? Had he expected her to burst into his office singing the praises of this dessert that had magically appeared where hers had been? It wasn’t a well-thought out plan. But still he mused over the puzzle pieces scattered across his life one by one. At first he’d thought there were two puzzles: the mystery girl from his childhood, and the plucky little producer who made him feel something strange whenever he saw her. 

What if…they were really the same image?

There was really only one way to pull himself out of a mood like this. Victor unlocked his phone and began a list of ingredients, which he sent to Mr. Mills without any need for explanation. The elderly gentleman would know exactly what it meant: the Souvenir Boss was returning. 

Another message to Goldman ensured his free evening and Victor was off. He arrived at the restaurant soon after, immediately feeling his stress levels drop. No sooner had he pulled the apron over his head and tied it behind his back than he heard the click of the front door unlocking. Good old Mr. Mills, reliable as ever. Victor placed a hand on the kitchen door to greet his friend when a second voice gave him pause. 

“You’re our first guest of the day!” came the familiar voice of his elderly server. Victor backed away from the door and instead began pulling out the equipment he would need for preparing today’s food. He could hear the rising and falling cadence of the two voices in the other room as he hummed to himself with a smile on his face. 

A smile which immediately faded when Mr. Mills entered the kitchen. “The young miss wants to film here. I know it’s generally against your policy, but she’s very persuasive-”

“Absolutely not.” 

Mr. Mills nodded with a soft frown on his lips. “The usual response, then?” Victor returned the nod and his friend retreated quickly, leaving the chef feeling more than a little annoyed. Why were so many people obsessed with documenting their food rather than enjoying it? He scowled and peeked through the crack of the kitchen door, curious what kind of person was being impolite today. 

Only for his eyes to widen slightly when he saw the girl. Yes, that girl. She had found his restaurant?! He felt a small flutter somewhere in his midsection; most likely just pleasure that his plan seemed to be going better than he imagined. Except…he’d just kicked her out. Minor setback, that. 

His mind was already spinning with solutions when the dining room again filled with voices. Victor peeked out and saw, with less surprise than he expected, that the girl had come back inside. But this time she wasn’t alone. Victor wasn’t at all surprised to see the blonde superstar had arrived; Kiro was a common sight whenever Souvenir was open. But to see him with the girl? The scowl deepened. 

Victor had half a mind to kick the both of them out again, but did not allow himself to give in to his impulsiveness. This was surely fate giving him a second chance at a plan. He thought as he cooked, each dish bringing with it another half-baked idea. 

It wasn’t until the final dish went out that he’d settled on a plan he liked. The pudding was in the oven mere minutes later and the bill written up. Victor left the bills on the counter, replaced his apron, pulled out his keys, and exited through the back door. He couldn’t stand another minute of hearing her laugh with Kiro, anyway.

~~~

It had been barely five minutes and Victor already knew that the board would have none of this nonsense. Where was the passion and drive that he’d seen before? It was obvious to him that she was not excited about the proposal in the least. “You took this long to prepare a report like this? You seemed more at home on the film set.” At least there she’d been earnest and excited. This? This report had no life whatsoever. This was not work worth the prize he had already allotted, but he knew she could do better. And more importantly, it seemed she knew she could do better with her lack of argument.

She’d already convinced him. Now it was time for her to convince the board. It seemed she needed a little more motivation. 

“I will not be attending the meeting. Now, you can go.” Victor watched as her shoulders drooped and the girl hurried out of his office. He’d been tough, yes, but no tougher than he was on any other applicant. He knew she could rise to the bar; he simply had to show her where it was. 

No sooner had she left than he noticed the notebook sitting on the corner of his desk. “Dummy,” he grumbled as he picked it up and began rifling through the pages. “Didn’t I tell you to get rid of this thing?” His eyes scanned the pages and pages of notes, pausing when he reached a large section about Souvenir. 

Ah, now this. This showed passion. This showed heart. Even her scribbled half-ideas in a more hurried writing showed the story which made the whole meeting come together. She didn’t seem excited about the report because she wasn’t excited about it. A half-smile crept up the left side of his mouth and he pulled out the business card she’d left at the restaurant. 

If this was where her passion really lies, well? She’d piqued his curiosity enough to see where this all would go. He pulled out his phone and typed a short message: “You may film here.” 

There was a knock at the door, the familiar cadence of Goldman. “Come in,” Victor called out, setting down his phone and opening a folder of documents. The assistant came bustling in with another similar folder, which he set on the corner of the desk. 

“Hey boss, I brought these in for you. I saw that girl here again; she really is persistent, isn’t she?” Victor looked up and nodded, hardly realizing the smile was still on his face. Goldman seemed surprised to see it and got a mischievous glint in his eye. “You seem pretty happy about it, boss. You aren’t getting fond of her, are you? A little bit of a crush?” 

Victor immediately stonewalled his face and shook his head, though he felt the tips of his ears getting a little warm. “You’re being ridiculous, Goldman. She’s just another potential business partner. Now, get out of my office before I give you more work to do!” Goldman began to laugh and backed out of the office, giving Victor a wink before closing the door behind him. 

Absolutely not. How ridiculous. Victor shook his head and did his best to ignore the tiny voice in the back of his head asking, “What if you are?”

[melishade]

So you know how in RiD the Primes send Optimus back to Earth to fight The Fallen? I think it would be funny if Optimus was just going about his day on Paradis and then just popped out of existence for like a week and everyone was freaking out about it. And then he just reappears, dusts himself off, and tells the very concerned Survey Corps “sorry about that, I had to go kill a demigod with my son.”

And the Scouts are very confused because one, “what do you mean you have a son?” And two, “sorry, you killed a WHAT?”

And Megatron’s just in the background like “was he cool?” Because y’know, he named himself after that guy!

RID2015 may be non-canon in AOP but this would be so hilarious in hindsight. Because Micronus can astral project in real time. He used Grimlock to astral project his head to tell Optimus ‘oh we need to take the powers we gave you back since Megatronus is dead.’

So just imagine Optimus and Eren are training one day and all the humans panic when they see Micronus’ head directly on Eren’s chest. All the humans aim their weapons and Levi full blown attacks but Micronus locks him in a sphere of energy in response. He then turns to Optimus, tells the Prime that his presence is needed and locks him in a sphere before teleporting him somewhere else. Micronus disappears, dropping Levi in the process and the Ackerman face plants on the ground. There’s silence before everyone starts freaking the fuck out!

Meanwhile, Megatron returns to the island from his surveillance in Marley and everyone is swarming him and telling him what happened. Megatron thinks they’ve all lost it until he heard that Optimus was locked in a sphere and taken somewhere. Megatron has to ask just how small that head on Eren’s chest was.

Hanji: Why the fuck should that matter?!

Megatron annoyed: It does matter! Just answer the question!

Armin is the one who makes the estimated guess and Megatron is defeated. He explains that it was Micronus Prime that just took him. And everyone is floored! Another Prime?! And with that kind of power?! Why didn’t he say anything?!

Megatron: Look the Primes are elusive and demanding. If they took Optimus, it probably means that there’s some universal threat coming soon.

Eren: So what the hell are we supposed to do?! Just wait?! Are they even going to give him back?!

Megatron gives an expression of doubt. Because Optimus has cheated death quite a few times, but if the Primes want something there’s probably no room for their minds to be swayed. Their only options are to wait for Optimus to come back or to proceed without him.

Everyone ends up working double time and making contingencies for the worst case scenario. But a month later, Optimus is dropped off by the orphanage without warning scaring all the kids.

The Survey Corps are alerted and immediately swarm Optimus, grateful he is alive and demand to know what the hell happened. Optimus explained that another Prime, Megatronus Prime, aka the Fallen, always breaking out of his prison and he needed to help eliminate him with the help of the other Primes and Bumblebee, who’s on Earth. Optimus only agreed to do it if he was brought back, and they complied. However the Primes refused to help Optimus and Paradis, despite his insistence that they do. So Optimus tells Bumblebee as much as he knew about their world before the Primes brought him back here. And they also took all of his upgrades while he was at it.

Levi:…the Primes are dicks.

Optimus: Levi!

Levi: Look me in the eye and tell me I’m wrong.

And yes, Megatron would ask what the Fallen is like. Leading to probing from the Survey Corps.

Hanji to Megatron: You named yourself after someone titled ‘The Fallen’?

Megatron: I don’t need explain my reasoning to you!

Levi: You became evil, just like that guy.

It’s some dramatic irony if they ever saw it.

Six months later, Bumblebee and his team manage to get a space bridge to Paradis and Bumblebee tackles Optimus into a hug.

[marimeeko]

Just for fun I ran to my desktop to aid me with Google translate, which isn't perfect. But given that I don't know Japanese myself....

Here's what I found; on my own, with only translate and my existing language skills.

This is wrong:

This is CLOSER, AND MORE INDICATED OF THE CORRECT SUBJECTS OF THE SENTANCE. :

While it isn't one to one, Japanese has a lot of feel and implication, from what I understand. There's a lot of context.

So I tried scanning the fan translations a few times just to see what it said on my own. I broke it down into parts:

AITSU: him, that guy (in this case, Izuku)

The "Nuguenee" part seems to mean "can't wipe it" or "to wipe away"

Kocchi- here

De nuguu - means something like 'take off with "

Eventually, I felt like it wasn't scanning off the screen well enough, and I actually WROTE THE KANJI in the translation of the panel out on paper, which was very interesting bc again, don't know or write Japanese.

But I scanned that:

(The word "if" is covered by the icon)

"IF YOU CANT WIPE IT OFF

I WILL WIPE IT HERE"

Shows that the verbiage used is "wipe," or "to wipe away," but it is SO MUCH CLOSER in spirit to "I'll step in for what he can't handle" and also the use of Aitsu indicated he is talking directly about Izuku.

I GET that the official translator's job is to try to capture the dialogue in a way that FLOWS for the new audience, since Japanese is a very differently constructed language than English.

They are supposed to find a way to translate certain things with keeping the mood and intent of the dialogue.

"OFA couldn't keep you in the ground, but we'll finish the job and then some"???

Where the hell did they get that???

I didn't dig any further back bc it might take a while but everyone has also pointed out that the original dialogue is a direct reference to the apology scene(I know it is in the fan translation but I think it is also being indicated that it is the same in Japanese as well? Pls fact check me of you desire)

So bc it was originally referring back to that scene, there is an added STING that comes with this official translation

And the ADDITIONAL BLOW that is katsuki once again being kind of...pigeon holed into the aggressive, more self-focused kid that he once was...a caricature of his former self, instead of his emotionally upgraded, self assured, "needing to help Izuku or he will perish" self.....instead of letting this moment be a crazy cool declaration about how HE is the one you fuck with when Izuku needs help.

Which like yeah, in itself is a little bit agrandizing, HOWEVER it is literally also serving as a vow or a completion of his vow earlier in the story that he will take on what he can't handle!

It's super important for Katsukis arc! It acted as not only a THREAT to anyone who give Izuku a run for his money and tests the limits of his OFA, but a VOW to Izuku that HE HAS HIS BACK.

He just YELLED ABOUT IT on a battlefield, while Izuku is probably still staring at him with heart eyes.

And ultimately, there is NO REASON THE ORIGNAL TRANSLATION, WHICH PLAYS OFF THE OFFICIAL TRANSLATION OF THE APOLOGY SCENE CANNOT BE USED OFFICIALLY.

It reads properly, and packs a HELL OF A PUNCH EMOTIONALLY. More so than essentially "I'm gonna put you in the ground bc Izuku CAN'T"

It seems like the fan translation kept the literal meaning but added the flavor to make it flow, such as "stepping in" "to handle" and calling Izuku a Nerd. But the official translation just tweaked it by too much to where it just reads differently and most importantly, doesn't carry that punch.

In conclusion, I did a little bit of independent research and decided that YEAH it doesn't make sense why they translated it so wildly different. Other than just wanting Bakugou to remain a frigging caricature, even in the Finale.

[childotkw]

So I've been obsessing and re-reading all of your notes for Ruination and came to the realization that although you've briefly touched on the reactions of his family and human enemies, we've left out the response from another important group: The Dragons

How does Cannibal's presence impact the dragons? How do to they react to his presence and he to them?

Vhagar is obviously very special. Thanks to their link, Cannibal knows that she is part of the source of his bonded's absolute burning fury and hate, but the human's thoughts are a bit muddled too and that's given a new dimension and anticipation to their encounters. Dragons, as smart as they can be, are still beasts at root, so natural instinct dictates that they'd both recognize each other as a threat, possible mates (?), and in Cannibal's case a literal snack.

What do you suppose the old gal would make of him? Depending on the lore and speculation you're going off of, Cannibal could be just as ancient as Vhagar if not older, and seeing as she was born/raised in the same area, who knows, they may have clashed long before this generation of Targaryens even existed.

I also like to think that dragons have their own sort of heirarchy system. The older and larger the dragon, the more they can establish their presence, but perhaps the bonds with specific humans can also impact their ranking too.

For example, Vermithor and Silverwing were established mounts of royal blood with known history. They're large and established enough other dragons probably just let them be. But due to age it seems they got a bit lazy, so in the heirachy, they aren't really doing much and among the dragons aren't considered an "active" threat. That would probably change once they get riders though and then Vermithor would be a prime fighting target for Cannibal.

But what about Caraxes? A large, battle tested beast in his prime, bonded to a veteran warrior like Daemon? That practically oozes alpha male energy. I can imagine Caraxes being on edge around this oustider which is further fueled by Daemon's protectiveness. Their humans manage to keep them from fighting, but just barely. Caraxes is too well trained and his bond with Daemon gives him some restraint. Cannibal only manages not to maul him because on some level he recognizes through his bond with Lucerys that Caraxes is important and cannot be eaten right now. He is NOT happy, but the boy promises that he will have other dragons to hunt. There's probably a ton of threat displays and posturing on both of their parts any time they're within each other's range of sight though. Imagine noodly Caraxes all twisted and arched up like a cat, hissing and whistling at a very unimpressed Cannibal, who just needed to lie right in Caraxes' favorite spot to sunbathe. Unstoppable force meets an immovable object. lol

Syrax is the Queen's dragon and that bond means she should be important too, but she doesn't have active combat experience and she's still relatively small and young for a dragon? She might not be too important in Cannibal's eyes, but Lucerys clearly has Syrax on the DO NOT ATTACK list. She might think of him as a big threat to both Rhaenyra and her own offspring though. (According to the wiki, Cannibal ate hatchlings and dragon eggs from the area, so safe to say the big guy probably ate someboy directly related to Syrax.)

Any dragon is probably wary of Cannibal though. Animals can sense predators among them, and generally they're content to stick to their individual territories in the dragon pit or the surrounding areas on the island. They give him a wide berth and he largely ignores them...except when he's petty and antagonizes the others in a fit of boredom. (Daemon totally pushes for Lucerys and Cannibal to be sent out on missions to give them something to do once they start going stir crazy and to give Caraxes a break. lol)

Do you think certain dragons get a little more used to him and tolerate him better than others? You mentioned Jacerys trying not to treat Lucerys too differently. I can imagine him insisting that they go out flying together between training and meetings. As a result, Vermax is a little more at ease around him. Never fully relaxed, but at least he isn't skittering away whenever Cannibal so much as shifts his weight.

Might be a fun dynamic to further explore how Lucerys' love for his family translates over to Cannibal. He doesn't get the concept of love, but he does understand the draconic penchant for hoarding and possession. For good or bad, the humans and dragon's loved by Lucerys are now HIS, and there is nothing more brutal than a dragon guarding what belongs to them. It makes him even more violent when attacking the Greens.

Sorry for going on and on about the behavior of giant fictional flying lizards, but this is what happens when I have a new obsession and then decide to watch an animal documentary series. Haha.

No need to apologise! It's always fun to see the ideas people spin!

Cannibal will still keep himself, largely, apart from the rest of the dragons. Just because he has Lucerys now doesn't means he's house-trained enough to be left unsupervised with the other dragons lmao. It's also symbolic of the distance Lucerys now feels to his family. For the other dragons, they'd probably feel a bit uneasy around Cannibal, since he's so old, big and violent.

The only one I see as initially less adverse to approaching Cannibal would be Caraxes. The whole idea of the bonds playing into how the dragons hierarchy works is definitely interesting! I think Caraxes' bond with Daemon would definitely influence how he and Cannibal interacted. They'd both know the connection and love between Daemon and Lucerys, so they'd probably play nice just purely on that. Of course, they're still dragons, so their idea of playing nice would be not actively murdering each other.

Same would go for Syrax and even Vermax. Their bonds with Lucerys' family - the ones he loves dearly - would offer them a tentative protection from Cannibal's hunger. He's still wild, so if they did push too far with him, he'd snap back, but he'd restrain himself from outright killing.

I think Cannibal would consider Rhaenyra, Jace, Daemon, etc. as more 'non-entities' at first. Lucerys is literally the only human he cares about because he's his. But over time, he might start to at least identify them as 'family-adjacent'.

Lucerys' family's dragons would get used to Cannibal more quickly, given the proximity and forced interactions - but I'd keep some of the friction there for a good while, I think.

Eventually, over time, Cannibal would be seen as 'one of them'. The uneasiness would likely never fade completely, but once he started to curb the baby / egg eating a bit, the other dragons would probably be more welcoming of his presence.

Now, Vhagar would be the interesting one. Obviously the thing between Aemond and Lucerys is bleeding through a lot, so Cannibal is definitely checking her out (both as a threat and a mate, which is very smart of him). Their clashes are fierce but also dance-like in nature, because they're unconsciously presenting to their potential mate.

Vhagar would see and acknowledge Cannibal's strength and brutality, and she does mark him down as a 'maybe'. He's worthy, but he's also an asshole. I like the thought that they might have clashed in the past. Vhagar's been all over Westeros, and Cannibal's been around the block before as well. At the very least, they would have heard each other at some point - dragon roars carry quite far, after all. So that's a cool concept!

[who-the-fuck-knows-blog]

holy christ. this fandom is fucking exhausting about mental health and mental illness and abuse. i dont want to directly engage with people saying this stuff because i am pretty sure they wont change their minds or really listen to me, but Ed can be mentally ill and abusive/toxic (<-those aren’t necessarily interchangable but I’m going to be using both in this case).

Ed’s actions can be a result of his trauma, he can hate that he does it, it can be within his own justification a result of previous threats or negativity from others, and they can still be not okay or justified.

The majority of people who have been abusive in my life have been struggling with something. Mental illness, addiction, trauma, all of the above. Trauma and trauma reactions can lead to further abusive behavior.

When you have personality disorders or mental health issues that come with extreme cognitive distortions (everyone has cognitive distortions, but mental illnesses and trauma tend to lead to more extreme examples or more cognitive distortions than you would have otherwise), it can lead to you continuing with dangerous/manipulative behavior in a more unaware manner. Many are aware it is manipulative, though. and I suppose that’s where the distinction can be made between whether or not this is a toxic or abusive relationship. One comes with more of an intent to control, the other is more about mutually lashing out/having disproportionate emotional reactions to situations.

This post, to me, isn’t about determining whether Ed was Abusive or Toxic, but moreso about conversations around abusive behavior. The way it has been described, Ed’s behavior towards Izzy in S2 has been deliberately controlling and manipulative, as Ed has been towards the entire crew in that season. Does it matter if he’s doing it because he is spiralling and wants to push everyone to their breaking point to kill himself vs just to be a dick? Yes, to a degree. It means he likely just needs help and is capable of changing. On the other hand, no. The behavior is terrible and not justifiable, and having mental illnesses that caused it doesn’t make it suddenly not his responsibility.

I guess I’m more annoyed at the overjustification and removing Ed from his own autonomy and responsibility for his behavior than anything. There can be reasons behind why someone does something, and those reasons can be very sympathetic and understandable and make a lot of sense, it just gets to a point where people seem to be using that to excuse the behavior and remove Ed’s agency in the harm he himself has caused deliberately (even if the intention wasn’t to make people miserable but to kill himself, the goal and method through which he did it was to cause emotional and physical damage and torture to ensure this would happen, with little to no care for the wellbeing of the others.)

If people are upset about Ed’s behavior and lack of actual personal accountability for what he’s done, that’s fine. The same way that it’s fine for people to be upset about the emotional harm Izzy has done to Ed.

I know a lot of posts are not super nuanced when it comes to Ed and abusive behavior, I’m not gonna say hes iredeemable, and in fact he’s already ahead of other people who display this behavior in that he realizes he needs to change and puts in an effort to do so. He’s still sympathetic to most folks, and I personally still love him.

I also acknowledge I, like everyone else, am not immune to personal biases and lack of insight and emotional reasoning. Many folks have been having trauma reactions based on the events in the show or have had their trauma triggered or have fallen back on (understandably) emotional responses that are due to trauma. Some people have been applying their personal experiences with people that behave similarly to characters on the show to their analysis and impressions of the characters. I’m not gonna say that’s morally good or bad. It just exists and is unavoidable when you have a ton of people with trauma discussing things. But it can skew perceptions, as trauma does. so it’s just something to be aware of, because it doesn’t feel like you’re being skewed it feels either like you’re being attacked or you are more aware of/closer to/have a better understanding of the emotions and responses of the characters you are projecting onto.

I dunno. maybe I’m full of shit! Who knows! I just wanted to ramble more about this stuff bc it’s very upsetting to me (<-could be a trauma response I am not adequately handling or aware of or acknowledging) to see the way ppl have been defensive of Ed via “he’s not doing it because he wants to do it/live like this, he’s traumatized, he’s mentally ill, and Izzy pushed him into it” because those can be explanations of his actions but not justifications of his actions.

[totkdaily]

Day 43: Ring Ruins, Naydra, and Lanayru

I reach the last accessible ring ruin around Kakariko Village, hoping for more fragmentary clues. Gordi is beside himself because someone is asleep on the stone slab - that sounds like the guy from the worries journal - and Gordi says the sleeping guy is also the inn owner. Two mysteries in one go. Gordi says that this slab says that the sages left something behind in case the Demon King returns. What was it? 

I check Tauro’s translation notes for this Large Ring Ruin: 

“The Demon King… vast power… No hope… victory… King’s own life… managed… imprison him… Imprison… not… indefinitely… Prepare… Demon… revival… We sages must… leave our knowledge… future generations…”

There’s enough to get the gist, but not enough to know the details. Tauro thinks it means that Rauru gave his life to contain the threat of the Demon King. The Sages, left without him, tried to leave something for the future in case - or, when - he returned. But what? 

I stare across at the last ring ruin. I bet it says what in there. Stupid Calip. Foolish Paya.

I wake Ollie, the inn owner, with a hearty truffle. He surmises - correctly - that the traveller he left in charge will not be happy. 

As I’m talking again to Gordi I notice a flash of blue. Naydra!

The dragon is flying directly at the ground - no! Directly into the chasm! Just as Farosh did!

I have to get over there. I race across the hills and leap into the chasm with her. I have to put on all my cold weather gear to bear it, but I do it. I ride a dragon into the Depths. 

There’s a monstrous creature on the ground at the bottom of the chasm, but I’m safe with Naydra. It’s a privilege to fly with her.

And I even spy some lightroots along the way. 

We emerge from Naydra Snowfield Chasm. The red Gloom of the chasm walls makes it feel like a throat. 

We come out right by Mount Lanayru Skyview Tower, and I say adieu to the Lady Naydra. It's only when I reach the tower that I realise I'm at the peak of Mount Lanayru. No hiking for me, I suppose. 

This tower, unusually, is not broken. I launch.

I land on a strange island. covered in snow, in the light of a gorgeous sunset.

There's a terminal for Rauru's hand. There's a sled shield, and a circle appears at the bottom of a snow ramp.

I can guess what that means. I take the leap.

And suddenly I'm sledding down Mount Lanayru. And at the bottom of the course, a shrine appears from nowhere, and I hop in.