#-shuffling Season 2 thoughts under the rug-

[liaromancewriter]

The Elf Affair

Premise: When it comes to Christmas, there’s one tradition that Cassie Valentine would be happy to forget.

Book: Open Heart Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Cassie Valentine) Rating/Category: Teen. Fluff. Words: 2,040

A/N: I had one more holiday fic left in me. It's a follow-up to this Tiktok Tuesday edit. Submission for @choicesjanuarychallenge Day 16 prompt "rude". I'm also using prompt 2 from this prompt list.

Cassie Valentine loved Christmas. The upbeat music put an extra pep in people’s steps. The holiday decorations and festive lights brought much-needed brightness at a time of year when it was usually dark early.

The only gripe she had with the season was the presence of a stupid elf. It was creepy, and no one would ever convince her otherwise. The last thing she wanted after a long day at work was to come home and find it staring at her from the unlikeliest places.

None of the Roomies copped to it, but she suspected it was Sienna and Jackie. The other day she went to get a glass of water and almost screamed when she found the elf hanging upside down inside the fridge.

She barely slept last night, thinking about what it was doing now. For all she knew, it was outside her bedroom door, ready to pounce. She was pretty sure it came alive when no one was around. Like Andy’s toys.

Cassie shuffled on tired and aching feet to the nurses’ station on the fifth floor. She had patients on three different floors today. Only two more hours to go, she thought.

Yawning and rubbing her tired eyes, she leaned over the top of the counter to grab a pen, only to jump back with a loud scream instead.

“Dr. Valentine, are you okay?” Marlene asked, eyes widening in concern as she looked away from the computer screen.

Cassie didn’t respond, her eyes narrowing to slits as she stared down the elf hugging a plastic penholder tight in its grip, the creepy blue eyes and evil grin on its face daring her.

“Dr. Valentine? Cassie?”

Cassie shook her head as the worry in Marlene’s voice broke through. She forced herself to look away from the elf on the desk. She could’ve sworn there was a wicked twinkle in those eyes as if he sensed victory.

“I’m sorry.” Cassie forced a smile when she looked around and realized everyone was staring at her. “I thought I saw a mouse, but it’s just sleep deprivation. No rodents here whatsoever. No sirree. I need coffee. Like right now.”

She was babbling. She knew she was babbling. She started walking backward, practically running, wanting to put some distance between her and the elf. All of a sudden, she bumped into something hard and immovable, or rather someone.

Cassie glanced over her shoulder and sighed in relief when she saw it was Ethan. However, his raised eyebrow and perplexed expression told her he’d witnessed the whole sordid incident and expected an explanation.

He started to say something, but the shrill sound of her pager interrupted whatever it was. Saved by the bell, she thought and made her escape.

It was almost eight o’clock at night when Cassie unlocked the door to her apartment and stumbled inside. She had managed to successfully avoid Ethan for the rest of her shift, hoping he’d forget all about her bizarre behavior by tomorrow.

Hanging her thick parka and scarf in the hallway closet, she hopped on one foot as she unzipped her snow boots. She started sliding the closet door shut when she saw a flash of red from the corner of her eye.

She managed to hold back a shriek this time, but it was a near thing. An elf clung to Jackie’s winter coat hanging inside the closet, looking ready to pounce.

Cassie quickly grabbed her parka and boots, slammed the door shut and ran into her bedroom, locking the door behind her with a satisfied click.

Cassie breathed a sigh of relief as she followed Ethan into his apartment. He set her overnight bag on the living room rug and rolled her suitcase into the guest bedroom. She settled into the couch, tucking her feet under her hips.

The Christmas tree they’d decorated together just a week ago stood in the corner, the white fairy lights reflected in the windows overlooking the water. Her heart lifted at the thought of Ethan keeping their tree lit even when she wasn’t here.

“Want some wine? Have you eaten dinner?” Ethan asked.

He rolled up his sleeves as he joined her on the couch and used the remote to switch on the gas fireplace. When he draped his arm around her, she nestled close, one hand resting on his heart.

“No, I’m good for now,” she said, tucking her head in the crook of his shoulder. “I hardly slept last night and might just turn in early.”

They watched the flames, content in the companionable silence. Cassie yawned, feeling drowsy as her restless night and busy day caught up to her.

“What is that?” she said when her eye landed on a colorfully wrapped box on the coffee table. “Is that my Christmas present?”

“Secret Santa exchange,” he told her, handing her the box. “Apparently, I was on someone’s list. I was going to drop it in the hospital’s donation box, but I forgot.”

“Why didn’t you unwrap it? Could be something interesting.”

He scoffed. “Really? A Secret Santa gift? It’s probably a can opener or something.”

“I’ll wrap it again later,” she said, dismissing his dismayed groan as she tore into the wrapping paper.

When Cassie shoved the box away as if she’d just touched a live wire, he shot out his hand to catch it before it fell to the floor. He glanced briefly at the toy elf encased in a plastic box and then stared at her incredulously.

"Stop looking at me so weird!" she said, pushing herself off the couch.

"That's just how I look!"

“Whatever,” she grumbled, not wanting to explain herself. “I’m going to bed.”

She grabbed her bag and stomped into the bedroom without a backward glance. And in doing so, she missed the considering look in Ethan’s eyes or how he stared at the box before unlocking his phone.

A few hours later, Cassie woke from a sound sleep, her mouth dry from thirst. The bedroom was dark, but the drapes were pulled away from the windows, and she could see the city lights twinkling in the distance.

She was on her side and could feel Ethan’s hand resting on her hip, hear his soft, even breathing behind her. Wanting water more than anything, she gently removed his arm and started to climb out of bed.

When she switched on the bedside lamp, the first thing she saw was the toy elf lying on his stomach. Legs in the air, his chin resting on folded hands, he stared right at her, and she could have sworn it winked at her with an evil smirk.

She yelped and tried to scramble back. Her feet got tangled in the covers and sent her tumbling off the bed.

Ethan woke with a start, shooting off the bed and reaching for the lamp, holding it in his hand like a weapon.

“What is it? What happened?”

And then he saw her on the floor, her eyes still locked on the elf, and he started laughing. The belly-deep sound broke through her trance, and her eyes snapped together as she put two and two together.

“You…asshole!” she shouted, coming off the floor with fire in her eyes.

She grabbed a pillow and started hitting him. He just kept laughing, easily taking the pillow away and tugging at her so that she fell on top of the covers, her head crashing into his chest with an oomph.

“It’s not funny, Ethan,” she said, not amused at all.

“I think it’s hilarious,” he said, chuckling as he wiped tears from the corner of his eyes. “I finally found your weakness. It’s incredibly satisfying to be the one teasing you instead of the one being teased.”

“How did you know?” she asked, trying to be nonchalant, but curiosity colored her tone.

He folded her in his arms and leaned back against the headboard.

“After you had that incident at work today, yesterday,” he corrected with a glance at the bedside alarm clock.

“I talked to Marlene and looked around the nurses’ station. I noticed the elf then but didn’t make anything of it," he explained. "Then your reaction earlier to the box. So, I looked at your Picta feed and saw the post from yesterday.”

She sniffed dismissively. “You should’ve been a detective.”

“Are you really scared of an elf?” he said, not even bothering to hide his amusement.

“I’m not scared,” she retorted, insulted. “I’m just creeped out by the whole thing. It’s evil!”

“It’s just a toy, Cassie,” Ethan said, his arms tightening around her as he gazed at her with laughing eyes.

“It’s spooky,” she protested. “And I don’t like it.”

“So you said on Pictagram.”

He let her go and climbed out of their bed. He grabbed the elf off the table and held his hand out to her.

“Come on.”

“Where are we going?” she asked

Cassie threw the elf a wary look as she took Ethan’s hand and swung her legs off the side of the bed.

“You’ll see. Grab your robe. It’s cold outside.”

He kept her hand in his and led her to the covered balcony off the living room. The night air was brisk, and she shivered inside her robe.

“What are we doing out here, Ethan?”

“Do you really hate this thing?” he asked, peering intently at her.

“I’d like to throw it off a steep cliff and never look back,” she said grisly, relishing the image.

He rolled his eyes. “Will a high-rise balcony do?”

When she looked at him in confusion, he took her hand and closed her palm around the elf. Moving to stand behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her forward.

“Why don’t you show the elf who’s boss?” he said with a nod towards the railing. “It’s not a cliff, but I imagine the drop from this high is just as steep.”

Cassie grinned up at him as she connected the dots. She stepped up to the edge and held the elf out over the railing, giving the toy one last shake. She imagined the elf begging for his life, legs dangling in the air, staring fearfully at the ground thousands of feet away.

But she was unmoved, and, with a wicked sneer, she opened her fist and let him fall.

Her fingers gripped the top of the railing, and she hung her head over the metal. She watched the elf disappear into the darkness, her ears relishing the imaginary anguished scream as he fell to his death, insides splattering all over the sidewalk.

“Can you hear it screaming?” Ethan asked, amused as he read her thoughts perfectly.

He joined her at the railing, and she glanced at him side-eyed.

“You know, we’re basically littering, right?” she said, unable to wipe the satisfied smirk off her face.

He shrugged. “There are easily a few hundred units on this side of the building alone. They’ll never catch who did it. Besides, who would suspect the staid Dr. Ramsey of throwing anything off his balcony, let alone a toy elf?”

“I take back my earlier comment,” Cassie said, looping her arms around his neck. “You should’ve been a criminal mastermind.”

“Well, I do have a lot of practice being sneaky, if you recall,” he grinned, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her closer.

When he started to lower his head to kiss her, Cassie covered his mouth with her hand. “Not so fast, Dr. Ramsey. I still haven’t forgiven you for that prank you pulled earlier.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, kissing the inside of her palm, his tongue tracing the soft lines. “What will it take for you to forgive me?”

“Why don’t you take me to our bed?” she said, pressing herself against him and arching her eyebrow. “I’m sure I’ll think of something you can do with that clever tongue of yours.”

The dearly departed elf was forgotten as Ethan picked her up in his arms and carried her over his shoulder into the warm apartment, her laughter quickly changing to moans.

It was a long time before she got any sleep that night, either. Not that she was complaining.

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

All Fics & Edits: @a-crepusculo @annfg8 @bex-la-get @bluebelle08 @cariantha @choicesaddict5 @coffeeheartaddict2 @crazy-loca-blog @doriopenheart @genevievemd @headoverheelsforramsey @lucy-268 @jamespotterthefirst @jerzwriter @mysticalgalaxysstuff @openheartforeverinmyheart @peonierose @takemyopenheart @potionsprefect @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction @vi-writes-stuff @zahrachoices

Submissions: @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

Ethan & Cassie only: @custaroonie @lady-calypso @hopelessromantic1352 @mrs-ramsey

[vegalocity]

The Interrim-Red Groom AU

So i’m diving backward into the ‘Dont worry about it’ pool after that finale

SO DON’T EVEN WORRY ABOUT IT YOU GUYS WHO’S UP FOR MORE PRINCESS BRIDE AU?

I had to make an entire scene up because for the Story to keep going Princess Bride Style Red Son needed to get fucked over one more time

--

Soon enough three days time had passed and Red Son was ready to make his escape. Due to the nature of his ruse against the prince he hadn't made any arrangements to set up a forge or workshop for his passions, so he didn't have much by way of equipment to make his escape, and every day the prince asked to join him for at least one meal, wherein he would 'politely' ask over Xiaotian, claiming to want to know a little about the man whom had stolen his groom right out from under him.

He said these things in jest and laughter, but Red Son was no fool and could easily see the flint behind his eyes, ready and willing to twist any information Red Son gave about Xiaotian against him, to try and convince him that his beloved wouldn't take him back. Willing to take whatever details he gave him and put them in some falsified letter of rejection in attempt to make him believe his love wanted him no more, so he wouldn't put up a fight any longer.

So he lied. He spoke of not the Inn that he'd met Xiaotian in, but implied he'd always been the lord of his mountain. How they hadn't been able to be engaged due to his parents having a letter of neutrality between his family and Xiaotian's own, and how he'd had to go on a perilous journey to nullify that arrangement, but they'd believed him dead. He told him Xiaotian favored poetry, and was in fact a gifted shapeshifter, preferring a more human appearance like himself as it made travel far easier when people underestimated you.

The prince had soon grown bored of his prattling, and Red Son found it almost ironic that for once he was not speaking of tinkering and his projects when his conversational partner stopped listening. After those meals scarce as they were, the prince ended up straightening his back primly and claimed he had a meeting of some sort with his macaque general, and left him to his devices.

So now here he was, ready to make his escape.

It took actually took the longest time to try and pare down an outfit from this place so that it would be inconspicuous enough to use for travel, but he'd managed, sneaking some nonperishable food and a spare dagger into his pack for preparation and extra protection had been easy. He just made it seem to the servants that he was still anticipating the response to a letter that was never sent, and eagerly awaiting for a letter that would not exist that stated his return to Xiaotian's mountain was expected, and thus was slowly yet steadily prepping for the journey. The pitying glances he could sense the servants shooting him definitely told that they were aware of the fact that he was being 'tricked'.

But Red Son paid them no mind, after all, he knew the prince was full of lies, and he was going to be gone before the night's end anyway.

But then Red Son was summoned for his usual meal with the prince, and he willed his nerves to freeze over. He couldn't let his plans slip, while he'd long since regained his strength form his injuries in the forest he was only one demon and there was a mountain of servants and guards that would be standing between him and making a break for it if he didn't have stealth on his side.

“Beloved.” The prince greeted him as he entered. “My messengers have returned from their trip.” In three days time? How oblivious did he take him for?

Nonetheless he perked up, did his best to look eager and excited. He was never quite sure if he looked convincing, but he just needed to pretend for a few more hours.

The letter was brought right over to him, and he quickly undid the seal to reveal a message that in no way was written by his love. Though they did a good job at pretending, claiming it was written by 'his mother'—Xiaotian had never spoken of his biological parents, and his adoptive ones were both men, but in his prattling Red Son had invented a mother for his fake backstory—and that she was writing in 'her Son's stead as he was too upset and angry to be able to make a readable response. Going on to say that Xiaotian had returned to 'their mountain' in tears and had sworn that this was one too many cruelties Red Son had delivered him, and that he never wanted to speak to someone so two faced he convinced him twice of their supposed love only to twice have his heart ground into the dirt by him ever again.

It was well phrased, he'd give the prince that. It even stung a little when the supposed 'mother' had regaled that 'Xiaotian' had bitterly given 'his blessing' to his impending marriage. The thought of his love, bitter and betrayed, felt so wrong his heart hurt just at the idea.

But he couldn't let himself linger on that lest he lose his courage.

“This cannot be...” he breathed, hoping beyond all hope his knowledge of the deception read as simply denial.

“Is there something wrong?” The Prince asked around his cup. “Surely your beloved made it home safely.”

“This cannot be...” he didn't know what else to say without possibly giving himself away, so he could only hope that it sounded like shock.

“Beloved?”

He stood, he had to get out of the prince's sight before he failed to properly mask his knowledge.

“This is a lie! She... She never approved of us!” Red Son hoped at least that gave his reaction plausible deniability.

“Didn't you recently just regale to me that Xiaotian's mother loved you as a suitor for her son?” He cursed internally, but before he could scramble to cover the lie the prince continued. “Beloved, I know it must be hard to hear, but we had an agreement. Xiaotian wants no more to repair what he believed you threw away, his mother;s missive reveals as much. You gave me your word that no matter his desire you would respect his choices. Don't be selfish, love.” Red Son would be lying yet more if he claimed that that didn't sting a little.

But he'd get to that bridge when he got to it, so he turned on his heel and stormed from the room. The servants gave him a wide berth as he marched towards his rooms, face fierce but mind preoccupied with escape plans.

So preoccupied in fact he didn't notice a particular shadow following behind him.

Upon reaching his quarters he made sure to scare off any staff that would rat him out and began to scream, his fire coursing and bursting out from his body in waves, scorching the furniture around him and leaving piles of soot to build up atop his shoes. Soon enough the room had enough damage for word of his fury to have been carried to the prince, and the servants far too afraid to make their way in for quite some time. He'd have about an hour of being given a very wide berth before someone came in to check up on him.

Red Son darted for his bed and hidden among the luxurious blankets was his makeshift bag, he double checked the contents inside and nodded to himself when he came to the conclusion that everything was in order. Then he approached the writing desk and reached beneath it. Feeling around for a moment he grinned slightly to himself as he pulled out the small bottle. He'd always gotten praises in potion making, but this wasn't a potion that would make his tutors proud. He didn't NEED any magical properties in it, he just needed it to be flammable.

Which it was.

Just as he went over his plan one more time the shadows in the room seemed to flicker, and Red Son felt strikingly cold despite the amount of fire he'd just unleashed.

“I told him you were more clever than he was expecting out of you.” The voice startling him and nearly causing Red Son to drop the potion in his hands, he scrambled with the glass bottle and turned to the source of the noise.

The Six eared macaque had appeared in his room, how had he gotten in there without him noticing?

“Oh... I uhm...” He didn't have a lie prepared, Red Son's mind raced to try and come up with a plausible excuse but improvisation was never his strong suit, he would so quickly grow flustered and frustrated and usually do himself in so how could he be expected to lie convincingly on first bout?

“Don't waste a perfectly good lie trying to cover up what we both already know.” The macaque stated, a sort of boredom in his voice that made Red Son stiffen. “You know the letter was false, you know what the prince has planned for you.” The macaque took a step forward and Red Son prepared to fight him, but remembered after a beat the fire resistance charm he'd had on his person scant few days ago. He likely had it on him right now.

“I love it, he can't stand it, but I love it... Of course that also means his plans are a complete waste of your talents as far as I'm concerned.  If he hadn't planned that whole 'spider queen and her ilk' situation Your lover wouldn't have found out until it was too late, and we probably could have convinced you to go to war if he'd just been a bit more patient.”

“You're talking an awful lot for someone who supposedly is on his side.”

“I'm on MY side, highness.” The macaque said easily. “The Prince is no one to sneeze at, but then again, neither are you. Tell me, should I endorse this little sneak about and help you escape? What would benefit me from not telling the prince about your little explosive and your plans?”

He racked his brain for a moment. “I can tell my parents of your assistance in enabling my escape, they'd no doubt give you the same power you have here, accompanied by my family's resources you'd find yourself with more force behind yourself than you'd know what to do with. Or if I told Xiaotian he could do the same at his own mountain, he's not exactly a nobody either-”

That second part was a mistake, by how the macaque's expression darkened. “Yes I know He's the 'New Monkey King'. Sun Wukong's Body double.” He stated simply. But before Red Son could take it back or just ensure alliance with his own family, he found his arms being restrained. A pair of clones made of shadow clung to his sides and while they dispersed quickly under his fire  it was only for a moment.

Then there was a golden glow, and his arms all at once felt very heavy indeed as a cold pair of cuffs—the second set of wrist cuffs that the macaque had shown him- how had he forgotten about those?—activated and forced his wrists together. The magic quickly worked its way through his system again and he felt a cold shudder wrack up his spine.

“Your 'beloved' was quite loose lipped once I got him going on the machine. Don't hold it against him, highness, I haven't met a single man that could hold up against that level of pain.”

for a moment the words didn't process in his head, abut when they did any other thought flew right from his head.

There was only rage.

It was pathetic really, how quickly he'd been apprehended, how his fire had only a moment outside his body before once again being turned back round onto him, and his body—now remembering the pain he could do onto himself—forced his magic to cease. There was no instinctual blaze to shatter the cuffs this time, because he realized as more of the macaque's shadow clones pinned him down, that he didn't believe him.

There was no way that Xiaotian had been this monster's plaything. He had learned whatever it was he'd implied he'd learned through other methods, maybe as simple as recognizing Flower Fruit Mountain and Xiaotian had to explain the situation to him.

But If it was just his own escape the macaque was stopping then wouldn't he have not wasted the time in toying with him like that? Wouldn't he have just told the prince and been done with it? Put the cuffs on him without the monologue? Why would he waste his time in trying to trick Red son into believing him possible to sway?

Unless-

Unless he'd heard about Xiaotian planning on coming back for him himself

He almost wanted to laugh even as the clones forced him back to his feet and the Macaque crushed his liquid fireball in his hand. He was unsure if anything could make him as fearful or angry or whatever feeling it had been to make him break his restraints again as they did back in the forest, but it explained his knowledge of Xiaotian's identity, as well as his anger, and his attempt to trick Red Son. To test to see how far Red Son was willing to go to to defy the prince and follow his own heart.

But that didn't matter.

Xiaotian was coming for him.

It was a bitter medicine to take, to have to once again rely on his love to save him, rendered with naught but his intelligence on his side and left close to defenseless with these stupid cuffs back around his wrists, but He'd make it up to him.

For everything Xiaotian had done for him and how thoroughly Red Son had proved himself unworthy of such devotion, Red Son swore then to himself, that once this was all over, once he and Xiaotian were safe he'd make it all up to him. For every moment for the rest of their shared lives together.

Because when he saw him again he was never letting go.

–

“Captain I've heard rumors that the Monkey King is planning on killing my groom.’”

“My prince I've heard no such rumors-”

“Are you implying my spymaster lies to me?”

“Of- of course not my prince! What must be done to protect your groom before the wedding?”

“I'm currently having my beloved moved to a safer, more secure room in the palace to ensure no harm shall befall him before the wedding date, and we're moving the wedding itself up a few days. Go to the village and nearby forest, and the closest town, and round up all with former criminal histories. I want every possible hired gun behind bars by the time of my wedding in three days time.”

“Three days time your highness? Such a feat would require more men than we have at our disposal at the moment-”

“Then form a brute squad! You have my clearance! I want my prince safe from all harm! If He dies, then we'll have no choice but to go to war and we lack the men for such an insurgence against the Monkey King! I would have to go to his parents begging for assistance and that is not a bar I am willing to lower myself to!”

“Yes your highness!”

“Go! Waste no time!”

“Of course!”

–

Xiaojiao stared into the bottom of the jug of wine. Drained, just like all the others.

Her head was pleasantly fuzzy and the wine in her blood buzzed comfortably. It was a familiar state, she wasn't dependent on intoxication, but when she was at her lowest she would often find solace in the buzzed pleasantness of a good bender. Because here she was again.

No work, no leads, no friends.

Spider Queen had told her if they got separated that she should go back to where 'it started' i.e. The inn they'd gotten the job at. So she'd rented a room, and spent the next few days waiting, and when it became clear neither the Spider Queen, nor even Sandy were turning up, when Xiaojiao was made aware that she was well and truly alone, she blew most of her money on as much wine as she could get her hands on and began to chug.

She felt much like the scared twelve year old she once was, clinging to the handle of the Jade Sword and telling herself it didn't matter how terrified she was, as she HAD to fight. Her scar twinged at the memory.

At least no one would sell wine to a twelve year old. She didn't USED to be this pathetic when she was lonely and sad and on the verge of despair.  She used to have other avenues to vent it all when it became too much.

Someone could storm right in right now with news on finding the Six Eared Macaque and Xiaojiao couldn't even be sure if she'd believe them for how despondent she felt.

“Long Xiaojiao?” A voice broke her reverie. Xiaojiao blinked blearily up at the tough looking fellow before her.

“Who wants to know?” she slurred.

“You've been arrested twice for assault and once for theft, as a security precaution all with criminal records are behind detained for the next three days by order of the prince.”

She scoffed. “I'd like to see you try, buddy.” Her fingers felt heavy but she lifted the sword easily.

Her form was off, her limbs felt loose and limp, but she still held her own against the brute's clumsy axe swings. It would be pathetic to lose to this chump.

But before the fight could be solved one way or another, a pair of blue hands wrapped around the brute's torso and lifted him into the air.

And Xiaojiao was met with a very familiar (if blurry through her impaired vision) red bearded smile.

“Sandy!”

“Xiaojiao! So nice to see you again!” Sandy set the brute down but kept hold of his torso. “This is the friend I told you about captain, she's far more dangerous alone than she is with me. I'll keep her out of trouble, I can promise you that!”

She loved watching Sandy loom. The aura around him making anyone who didn't know him reel back as every alarm in their brains fired off danger signs. His pleasant grin and tone didn't change but to the people around them that was more frightening than before.

“Just mark her name right off there and I can handle the rest!” Sandy chirped and the shaking brute did just that, stiffly turning and marching out of the inn.

“Sandy you old bastard.” She cooed delightedly as Sandy shifted his focus back onto her and she felt the cool blue hands wrap around her own torso before she was pulled into a hug.

“You smell like wine, Are you okay, Xiaojiao you don't drink unless...-” Sandy shot her a far too knowing look.

“I've been better buddy, I'll admit.”

“Well, If it helps I've heard a lot of rumors and seen a lot of things as part of this little 'brute squad' some things that might interest you.”

“Hm?” She leaned into Sandy's embrace, her friend really gave the absolute best hugs.

“I think I found the Six Eared Macaque.”

Xiaojiao wasn't sure if it was disbelief, shock, sudden crashing cresting hope, or just the wine, but she suddenly got very dizzy.

And then everything went black.

[cosmica-candy]

Chapter Three: The Favored Realm

Another chapter written by @mechamastermind​ with illustrations done by yours truly for our Coraline NSR Au!! Sorry this one took a bit but I think you will all love this one!! 

Chapter Two

Neo stood in the hallway, clutching his shirt as he stared up at the thing wearing his father’s face. Its lips formed a smile so perfect Neo could feel his spine trying to crawl away. The eye was the worst to look at. In place of a pupil, its one eye only had a single X in the middle of it. It spoke with such a soft tone. 

“You’re just in time for Supper, dear.” 

Neo could feel his stomach twist as it spoke with Nova’s voice, with his father’s voice. He took a step back out of fear, and asked it, 

“Who are you?” 

“Why, i’m your father, Neo.” 

“You’re not my papa…” Neo took another step backwards, twisting the fabric of his shirt in his hands. 

“No, i’m better for you than he is.” 

“Why don’t you go fetch your daddy, Neo, he’s in his office working I bet.” 

Neo began to slowly back away, going further back into the hallway that he found himself in as he tried to get away from whatever or whoever that was in the kitchen.

He stopped in the doorway to what in his house would be Neon’s office, and through a half open door he saw his Daddy sitting in his office, scribbling into a children's book with a rabbit on the cover. The Other Neon looked over at Neo and his eye lit up and softened, despite his eye having a large X in the middle of it, Neo felt comforted because it looked just like his Daddy. The other Neon held out a hand and said 

“Neo! My boy… Come come, I just got done writing a new story for you, let’s read it together like we used to.” 

Neo felt his heart stop a minute, it had been weeks since he got to read with Daddy, they were too busy with the move. Even the fear of the unfamiliarity of this place could not stop him as he walked over to his daddy’s knee, and get scooped up into his lap.

Neon wrapped his arms around him as he held out the book for them both to see. 

“The Bunny and the Wolves den.”

“There once was a little bunny, who lived with his big bunny family. He was the smallest and youngest bunny of the bunch, and was loved by everyone. But one day the little bunny went wandering around the woods. When he hopped a little too far away from his burrow and found himself in a neck of the woods he didn’t know. He was approached by a giant bunny, the size of which he’d never seen before. It had big floppy ears and huge rabbit feet, Why he looked so friendly!! It had big soft eyes and large pointed teeth--” 

The Other Nova called from the kitchen, 

“Boys! Come on! Let’s dig into Dinner!”

Neo held his daddy’s hand as they walked back to the kitchen, and while he might not have his daddy’s eye, he still felt as warm and soft as the one he knew. 

Other Neon pulled the chair out for Neo as they sat back down. Other Neon sat right beside Neo to reassure him, even as the Other Nova walked to the table and sat at the other end. On the table was a huge spread full of Neo’s favorite things to eat: Mashed potatoes on a train, seasoned chicken breasts, spinach with melted cheeses on top, and three trays of jello in three different colors. Even with all his suspicions Neo couldn’t bring himself to not eat, afterall it was all of his favorites. He dug in grabbing all he could and putting it on his plate and chowing down. Between chewing and swallowing he exclaimed, 

“This is all so delicious! Thank you!” The polite boy with manners had to say, as Other Neon simply replied 

“It’s hard to believe something that looks this good is true!!” There was a soft thud that came from under the table as Other Neon went down to rub his shin.

With Neo's plate cleaned of all the food he could eat, he patted his stomach, the mark of a good meal. The Other Nova clapped his hands together as he looked around the table, 

“We should play a game!” 

Neo looked up at his Other Papa, feeling his little body gasp as this man that looked like Nova asked to play a game with him. It had been so long it almost brought Neo to tears. 

“A g-game?” He stuttered out as Other Nova leaned down and rubbed his hair,

“Yes my little one, a game! What kind of game would you like to play?” 

As Neo looked around the kitchen, there had only been one game on his mind since his family had moved into this big mansion. 

“Hide and seek?” 

The other neon jumped a little in his seat from excitement, resting his cheek against his clasped hands, 

“Oh that’s a lovely idea!!” He said, then leaning down to whisper into Neo’s ear. 

“Make sure to hide real good.”

Another thud came from under the table as Other Neon went to rub his shin again. Other Nova glaring at him,

before turning back to Neo, his eye glinting with a shimmer as he told Neo, 

“Hide and seek sounds like fun… I’ll give you a ten second head start.” 

Neo didn’t know what compelled his legs to run so fast, it felt like his body went into a fearful escape mode while his mind was happy to play with his dad, but he sure did run fast. 

Darting out of the kitchen and down the long twisting halls, he skirted across rugs and hardwood flooring nearly knocking over vases off tables as he found himself in the main living room. He looked over at the fireplace and thought it might be a good place, but one glance told him it was still hot from the glowing cinders in there. But across the room on the back wall was a large wardrobe, big enough for him to hide in! He giggled as he pulled the doors open and crawled inside, leaving a little crack open so he could peek out, and just as he crawled in he heard the Other Nova countdown to 1. 

“3… 2… 1… Here I come~” Neo giggled again, he felt so happy again playing this game with his dad-- It… wasn’t his dad. But he was still happy. This one was nicer than his dad. 

He heard Other Nova begin to slowly walk down the halls, as he was humming a tune that echoed through the big mansion. He was getting closer, Neo could feel his little heart beating in his chest from excitement. He was right at the entrance to the living room when Neo felt himself let out a little giggle, but as soon as it entered the room, neo reached up and covered his mouth out of fear. From the tiny crack that he could see out the wardrobe, he could see something so tall it hunched over in the house, many shades darker, details were hard to make out from the tiny sliver of visibility Neo had, but he could hear an unmistakable ticking coming from it as it walked in. Its clothes long, torn, as it looked like the night sky. This hulking thing walked over to the fireplace and knelt down by it, reaching into the still burning embers with its bare hands and digging apart the ashes. It was still humming. Neo could hear his heartbeat inside this wardrobe echoing out, and he let slip a tiny gasp.

The things head instantly snapping behind to stare at Neo, and through the crack he saw its eye, massive red and irritated with a shining splinter in the middle of the iris, and it was looking at him through the crack.

The instant it laid its eye upon him Neo curled into a ball and looked away. HIs heart beating so fast it felt like it was going to run out of his chest as he began to sing his Father’s song to make him feel safer. 

“Night sky… Twinkling star… Listen to daddy… I’m never too far…” He got stuck on the first line as he was too scared to remember the rest… he heard giant footsteps shuffle towards him and the wardrobe as the doors were flung open.

“Aha! I found you my little one!” Neo looked up to the sound of his father’s voice once again, now seeing the shape of his papa, a giant soft man with a single eye looking down at him… it looked just like his Papa again, the only thing was its different Iris, the X. 

“Wasn’t that fun my little one? Would you like to play again?” He asked him, as Neo reached up and wiped his eyes dry of his fearful tears.

“I… I think i’m tired… I want to sleep…” 

“Alright Neo.” The Other Nova picked up the small boy and carried him up the stairs, Other Neon joining him as he stood by as Neo was tucked into the bed by the Shape of his Papa. Neo was tired, more exhausted than he thought he could be by his time here… The last thing he heard before he drifted off was the voice of his Papa telling him, 

“Come back anytime, we’ll see you again~” 

Elsewhere… 

Nova was running around the house frantically, searching for his son that had been missing for hours at this point. No one had seen Neo, and Nova’s husband went running around outside to try and catch him. Nova’s mind raced with thousands of possibilities, not one of them good. He passed by neo’s room at least a dozen times, each one checking in to see if he’d be there, and each time of course, there was no son. Nova ran down the steps of the staircase and started heading towards the stairs to the basement neighbor, perhaps they had seen his boy. When he had suddenly heard a meow right by his head. He turned sharply and saw that sitting on the windowsill of Neo’s room was an Orange tabby cat with pink star filled eyes. Nova had never seen such a strange looking cat before, and certainly no one in the mansion owned a cat like that… and it was sitting on the window to neo’s room… Before he could question the cat he saw it walk under the window into Neo’s room, and Nova without realizing it called out after it, 

“Wait!!” He said, chasing it into the house as he darted back to his sons room. And there he saw the most peculiar thing yet. His boy neo was just in his bed, perfectly tucked in as if done by his parents. The cat was nowhere to be seen, but Neo was safe and sound and in his sight… Even if Nova had a million questions. 

[tungstenb]

WIP Weekend Whenever

Tagged by @rpgwarrior4824, @ljandersen, @natsora, and @inquartata30. Thanks for the mentions, everyone!

Inq and Nat asked for fluff, so that's what I'm gonna try. I don't think my writing style is suited for fluff. But! An attempt was made. ^_-

I'm planning a bit of an intermission between SAtS and BODS — a series of vignettes from the trip to Thessia first referenced in "Cardamom and Cloves" — so here's a snippet from that (~2,500 words).

Enjoy!

Thessia: Day 2

Something's wrong.

It wasn't so much a thought but a feeling, an instinct. A surge of adrenaline to rouse her from sleep, to tense her slack muscles and propel her to act. One short intake of breath and she shot upright. Eyes keen. Mind ready.

Stillness. Early dawn.

Not wrong, only different. She'd forgotten.

Armali.

Shepard sank back down onto the plush bed, her sigh lost in the breeze rumbling with the crashing surf. Beyond the vast bedroom windows and billowing sheer curtains, new light tinted the scenery outside in a cool muted grayscale, the sky dilutely inky, the ocean mercurial, the scattered islands and jutting rock formations awaiting the colors of day, just beginning to come to life with swaying trees and flocks of birds. She sighed again. Allowed the last of her hypervigilance to bleed away. And as she shifted, turning to her left, she couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips.

Beside her, Liara slept soundly, facing away, curled up comfortably under a drape of sheets. The relaxed curve of her shoulder rose and fell slightly with her steady breathing, the gentle sheen of microscales still somehow catching the dim early light. She glowed, even in the gray.

Shaking her head, Shepard barely suppressed a quiet breathy laugh, all amazement and relief and disbelief. She never thought she could have this. Never thought her heart could feel so full. She reached out, stopping just short of running her knuckles gently over Liara's arm, or sweeping the fallen strap of her nightgown back up over her shoulder.

She wouldn't wake her.

Hand sinking into the pillowy mattress, Shepard propped herself up and swung her legs over the bed, taking a deep breath, rolling out the residual soreness and tension in her shoulders, stretching her neck, massaging her bad leg. She stood. Breathed. Stretched again. The woven rugs were soft beneath her feet and the stonework cool as she made her way to the kitchen. Priority: coffee. Leave it to the asari to perfect the tech even for that. She hummed as she scooped the fragrant grounds into the machine, tapping a few buttons to start it brewing.

By habit she brought up her omni-tool before remembering she'd decided to ditch her usual early-morning reading for the week, her daily newsfeeds and all but the highest-priority messages muted, their pinned widgets grayed-out and transparent on her homepage. She clicked her tongue over the whirring and dribbling of the coffee maker, then wandered to the refrigerator, idly appraising its contents.

The rental house had been stocked with essentials before their arrival — maybe standard Armalian fare, maybe items a bit more suited to human tastes, maybe things Liara had requested specifically, Shepard couldn't be sure. Two large glass bottles, one green juice, the other milk (or something milk-adjacent). A variety of eggs cradled in a basket, some small and pastel, some larger, textured and mottled with bluish spots. A package of dense, doughy bread, sliced, cylindrical in shape. Small blocks of what appeared to be cheese, or butter, or another sort of cultured or aged dairy product, wrapped in decorated waxy paper. Assorted vegetables in crisper compartments. A bowl of shiny berries. A jar of… whatever the hell. She grabbed it, unscrewed the top, took a whiff. Fishy.

Best wait for Liara to wake before attempting to cook. Bit out of her element, at least with these ingredients. Chances were she'd fuck it up, Liara would wake up laughing at her and her sad burnt breakfast lump, and they'd have to go out to eat. And maybe Liara'd prefer to go out anyway, head to a quaint little cafe on the waterfront that starched its cloth napkins and served fancy drinks with like, olives and celery sticks or whatever the garnish for socially acceptable breakfast/brunch booze was here. Probably best to defer to her judgment; this was her home, after all. But she could, at the very least, have tea ready for her when she woke.

Taking the milk-like bottle and setting it on the counter, she readied and leveled her translation overlay. Tapped for an audio sample. Melikhratun, said a silvery voice in her earpiece. She poured some in a glass and tasted it. It was reminiscent of melted vanilla ice cream, even in thickness, and it coated the interior of the glass. Kinda weird, oddly tasty. She shrugged and set the glass aside, skimming through the article.

Melikhratun: a sweet liquid cream/yogurt made from haavi milk, rich in… well, everything. Fat, sugar, protein, vitamins, sometimes probiotics; eezo content variable, generally ranging from 0.5 to 5.0 ppm, depending on livestock origin and feed. Ideal for the energy needs of those who make ample use of biotics. Many regional versions, cultured and uncultured, in a multitude of flavors, some seasonal, some staples, some festive varieties only making brief appearances for annual holidays, most notably porfuranq flavor, for Janiris. Either drunk straight, used in recipes, mixed with other beverages — and essential for serving arwamaasi, a tea made famous in Serrice.

She tapped the link to arwamaasi, the article popping up beside the one for melikhratun, humming a tune as she shuffled over to the pantry.

Arwamaasi, arwamaasi… that one also sounded familiar.

The hinge squeaked as she opened the pantry door, and she turned. In the sliver of the bedroom still visible from the kitchen, she found Liara still sleeping soundly, face serene, arm relaxed resting before her. Thankfully undisturbed by the squeal of oxidized hardware needing oiling — constant humidity and salty sea air would do that. With a quiet breathy chuckle — and a mental note to tend to it later — she turned back to her search.

Translation overlay active she scanned the labels, looking for a match among the tins and boxes and jars lining the shelves. The pantry was well-stocked — nonperishables left by previous guests — and she scanned over the bubbles of transliterated text that popped up in real-time.

Arwamaasi, arwamaasi, arwamaasi, she repeated, silently. Liara had said the word before, back on the Normandy, the syllables rolling off her tongue as sweetly as the scent of spice that permeated the air and lingered on her lips after she'd drunk cup after cup, counting on the kick of caffeine to keep her awake and alert long after staring at her terminal had strained her eyes and made her mind weary.

"It's just not the same without melikhratun," she'd explained to Shepard, but assured her she enjoyed it even without the rich, sweet Thessian dairy product. Not practical to keep it aboard: perishable, spendy, difficult to acquire without eezo contamination. I'll see what I can do, regardless, Shepard had thought. Errands on the Citadel. What's that stuff called again? Alone, she'd detoured on Tayseri Ward and ordered coffee from an asari-owned cafe, hoping to jog her memory. Thought to ask for something nice to put in tea, a specific kind of tea, what's-it-called? Stopped. No, just the coffee. But… god, no. The gesture would be too forward. Her omni-tool chimed as she finalized the transaction and rocked, agitated, on her heels.

Pull yourself together.

It had ached, hurt like hell back then. Soft freckled cheeks and supple lips and spiced tea and she'd punched the Normandy's elevator console just a bit too hard, because it wasn't right, all these impure thoughts she couldn't shake, but what could she do but go run on the treadmill for half an hour and blow off that steam and longing and frustration because fuck, Liara had to know what she was doing to her when she talked so smart and sucked on her teeth and licked her lips and smiled like that.

No fucking way in hell should she even think about making the first move.

But if Shepard swiveled to her left — and she did, then — there, only meters away, Liara slept, that placid comfort clear on her face in the early light, and that sight ached too, but it ached so good. Warm and full and perfect and — god, how did she get so lucky? Bouncing on her heels, she quietly hummed while her nose and her eyes crinkled in a grin she couldn't fight, and she shook her head, scoffing in disbelief.

Shepard turned back toward the pantry, peering through the hovering transparency over her forearm. And a match. She waved the translation app away, tin in hand, flicking back to the article.

Arwamaasi: developed by tea artisans in Serrice. Made with leaves soaked in concentrated spices, then expertly woven into packed shapes designed to bloom when steeped; then fermented, where they grow in pungency; and then aged, where they condense into pellets as they dessicate. High in caffeine, this tea is treasured for its distinctive flavor, heightened with the addition of melikhratun.

Making it would be simple enough, and she collected the rest of what she needed — the melikhratun already sitting out — and switched the electric kettle on. The dry, compact tea pellets rattled in the tin as she pried off the top, then stuck her nose inside. Sniffed once and pulled back at the pungent sting. Punchy. Smells like a concussion but probably tastes real good. Gingerly, she plopped a pellet into a glass teapot.

Shepard poured a mug of coffee and drank, leaning against the counter as the tea kettle heated. It was good coffee. Really good, actually. Even better in the quiet, with the gentle humid air, the soothing rhythmic crash of the waves, the incredible view. She smiled, eyes lingering on Liara, still fast asleep —

The kettle beeped shrilly and Shepard spun to turn it off, shushing and admonishing it for its disruption, and quickly poured the boiling water into the glass teapot while sneaking glances toward the bedroom.

Stupid noisy thing. Hopefully it didn't — nope, still sleeping.

The packed cluster in the teapot unfurled lazily like some sort of sea creature, releasing amber swirls as its delicate leafy arms swayed in the steaming water. Shepard sipped at her coffee, waiting for the tea to finish steeping, tapping her fingers against the countertop as she sang soundlessly. She topped off her own mug before finishing Liara's tea preparation.

Coffee in one hand, tea in the other, she returned to the bedroom, setting the tea cup down on the nightstand. And as she lingered there, smiling, the sweet scent of arwamaasi spices wafted on the humid breeze. She leaned over, kissing Liara lightly on the cheek. When she pulled back, though Liara's eyes remained closed, a sleepy smile warmed her face.

⁂

Something warm and sweet tinged Liara's fading dreams. She stirred. Yawned. Stretched, breathing deeply as she sat upright, spilling out of a loose cocoon of soft sheets. Before her, on the nightstand, was the steaming source of that familiar scent, sweetly spicy and full as it mingled with the fresh air and tickled her nose. She picked up the cup and swiveled to look behind her.

Unsurprisingly, Shepard's absence on the bed meant she was out on the balcony. There, she sat, ankle on the opposite knee, coffee in hand, staring out at the ocean.

For a moment Liara just waited, watching her, one leg tucked up on the bed as she drank her tea. She'd never seen her look so relaxed. Never had her heart felt so full.

Eventually she slid off the bed, greeting Shepard with a light brush of her hand on her shoulder and a playful tousle of her hair.

"Mornin'. How's the tea?" she asked, scooting over in her chair to make room.

"Perfect." Liara sat, their shoulders brushing.

They didn't speak for some time, Shepard resting her head on Liara's shoulder, both watching the birds and boats and waves as the sky continued to lighten and the comfort of closeness was enough. Shepard set her mug on the table first, hopping off the chair and heading down the balcony stairs before Liara could ask where she was going. Reluctantly, setting aside her own tea, she followed.

The bottom tier, at water level, served as a dock. As Shepard leaned against the partial railing, taking in the scenery, Liara nestled up beside her. "Did you see something?" she asked.

"Something?" Shepard scoffed in amazement. Gazed back out at the ocean. "Everything," she said, awed.

Liara only chuckled softly in response, the warming breeze tickling her crest and her affection leaving her speechless. Pausing, she traced the curve of Shepard's cheek, her skin soft and slightly — as she'd recently learned to say — peach-fuzzy. "What did you want to do today?"

"That's such an open-ended question." She took Liara's hand and cupped it in both her own, running her thumb over her knuckles. "Dunno. This's your home. Anything. Surprise me. I'll even close my eyes the whole way there, if you want."

Liara shook her head, amused. "I would be willing to wager a significant credit sum that you couldn't manage to keep your eyes off me for a minute," she teased.

"Oho. Oh. One whole minute."

"An entire minute." Liara smirked. Lowered her hand from her grasp. "Okay. Let's practice."

"Okay." Shepard's gaze was unwavering as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, hands at her sides.

"I'm starting a timer," Liara warned, and brought up her 'tool.

Shepard closed her eyes, the hint of her smile still there, as she took Liara's hands in her own.

Hands occupied as they were, Liara couldn't reach out and cup Shepard's cheek, run her fingertip over the scar on her brow, trace the stubbly texture of the buzzed hairs on the sides of her head. But she could, in this moment, lean forward and kiss her.

"Five seconds," Liara announced smugly, pulling away.

"Hey — uh, no!" Shepard sputtered. "Sabotage. Doesn't count."

Liara flicked up her brows. "Try again, then?"

"I have a feeling by 'try again' you mean — ahhh…"

Liara kissed her again, pulling her close. Suddenly, she gasped and staggered back — and not because Shepard's fingertips had found pressure along the ridges on her spine.

A trio of maidens skipped by on a motorized skiff, squealing and hollering their delight at the show while triumphantly waving protective hats and fishing gear. Liara clapped her hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

Shepard, shoulders rocking with silent laughter, cleared her throat. "Uh, where were we?"

"Day plans," Liara said, removing her hand from her mouth just enough to speak.

Shepard continued to rock with laughter. "Right," she deadpanned.

"Hmm." Liara gazed upward, sucking on the inside of her cheek as she thought. Looked back to Shepard, raising her brows. "Armali Natural History Museum?"

"Oh shit, dinosaurs!"

"Excuse me?"

Shepard, expectantly wide-eyed, mouth excitedly open, burst into actual laughter.

"Is that a 'yes' or a 'no'?" Liara pressed.

"It's a 'whatever you want to do today, Li.'"

"Petraaa."

That earned Liara a nose-wrinkle. "Nobody calls me that."

Liara tapped the end of Shepard's nose and shrugged, grinning. "I do."

"At the very least," Shepard said, playfully swatting the arm attached to Liara's nose-bopping-hand away, "we should talk breakfast first." She took Liara in her arm, pulled her close, kissed her shoulder. "There's some weird-ass eggs in the fridge if you know how to cook those. Or we could eat out… hey, why are you looking at me like that?"

Her grin turned devious. "I think I'd like that," she said, and she grabbed Shepard's hand and pulled her up the stairs.

[loverr-not-a-fighterr]

Gallavich 10x8

Uhhhh so I wrote something for the first time in 2 years and it’s sucks but I really wanted to share my take on how Ian and Mickey’s final scene in Season 10 Episode 8 should’ve gone.

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

“Mickey come on, hold up.” Ian stuck his hand between the elevator doors to stop them from closing, shuffling in through the gap.

“Leave me alone Gallagher.” Repeatedly pressed the ‘close’ button, hoping it would stop the redhead from entering, praying he wouldn’t have to have this conversation today. He internally cursed as he felt his eyes tear up, shame and humiliation burning inside of him. 

“It’s just that I hadn’t really thought this marriage shit through.” Ian stumbled over his words as Mickey angrily blinked his tears away.

“I don’t know, I didn’t think we were gonna be having this fucking conversation today.” 

“Then why the fuck did you bring it up?” Mickey hated to admit it, but he couldn’t help but to feel a little bit hurt and rejected. It was painstakingly clear that Ian had only proposed so they wouldn’t have had to testify against each other, because he really thought Mickey had killed Paula.

“The whole thing was your fuckin’ idea, you talked me into this shit!” Mickey’s voice cracked as more tears flooded his eyes. 

“I know! I know.” Ian rebutted, guilt rising at the sight of hurt on Mickey’s face. Mickey had never looked so defeated.

“Frank and Monica aren’t exactly the fucking picture of marital bliss, okay? I don’t really have a frame of reference to connect this shit to!” Ian tried to argue, but Mickey interjected.

“Oh poor fucking you!” Mickey shot back. He knew Ian’s parents weren’t perfect, hell they were far from it, but having a dead mom and a homophobic and violent father weren’t exactly a step up.

“It’s not personal!” Ian snapped and Mickey had had enough.

“It’s fine! It’s fine.” The elevator doors opened and Mickey all but ran through them, desperate to get away from Ian, and for a cigarette. 

“Mickey, I love you!” Ian followed Mickey out of the courthouse as he fled down the steps.

“I-I-it’s marriage that I don’t know if I love, y’know?” Ian admitted and Mickey stopped in his tracks.  

“Maybe, I-I, I don’t know but you’re right, it is, it is really fucking important, so can we just talk about it for one second, please?” Ian pleaded, his guilt bubbling higher as Mickey lit a cigarette with his back turned in an attempt to hide his hurt. 

“I wanna know how you feel, y’know?” 

Mickey couldn’t help but laugh. Ian wanted to know how he felt? 

“Fine, you wanna know how I feel?” Mickey spun around, his red-rimmed eyes darkening with anger as he stormed up the steps.

“I fuckin’ hate you sometimes Gallagher,” he reached the top of the stairs, now standing before Ian, his pointer finger jabbing his chest. “You’re so fuckin’ clueless. I came out for you, went to prison for you, stuck by you through your fuckin’ manic and depressive episodes and held your goddamn hand through all of it. I waited around, sick to my fuckin’ stomach with worry when you ran off with Monica and yet I still fuckin’g stuck around after that. I fuckin’ stuck through all of that shit, told you I loved you and fuckin’ fought for you, for us! And you’re not sure if you want to marry me? Well fuck you Ian.” 

Mickey’s words were dripping with venom, saliva trickled from the side of his lips as a result of the anger in his annunciation. But his eyes were akin to a kicked puppy, betraying the hurt and humiliation he felt. 

“Mick..” Ian reached out to touch Mickey’s cheek but he jerked away, scoffing under his breath.

“Don’t fuckin’ touch me Gallagher, I want nothin’ to do with you. You fucked up my life. I put everythin’ on the line for you, and yet you still don’t know if you want me? This just shows that you don’t love me, nearly as fuckin’ much as I love you.” Mickey knew he was overthinking this, drawing conclusions that weren’t there but in this moment he didn’t care. Ian had rejected him.

Ian had proposed an idea Mickey would never even dare to entertain, because what Milkovich got married and stayed married, huh? He wasn’t some 15 year old girl dreaming of walking down the aisle on her wedding day, so why even think about it?

But now that he had, now that he had accepted it as a possibility and maybe, even become a little bit of excited about it, he had the rug completely ripped out from under his feet.

“Fuck you Gallagher, we’re done.” 

[random-imagines-blog]

On It {James Ransone x Reader Oneshot}

Requested by: @h-a-j-i-m-e-ru​ Wordcount: 2048 Summary: An unexpected storm puts a halt to your roadtrip with James.

Since everyone was saying that It Chapter 2 was going to be a huge success, James had suggested that the two of you go on the trip that you’ve been talking about since your school days together. It had been something that you started to plan after learning more about the country in Geography class, and saw things in your textbooks such as the Grand Canyon, The Statue of Liberty, Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Now was the perfect time to do it. With the movie finished filming, reshoots already completed, he had the time before he would have to do the press junkets, and before his face would be as out there for the world to see. The last thing either of you needed was people interrupting your road trip around America, begging for selfies and autographs. He loved the attention that he got when his work was recognized, of course, but this was more about making memories with you, his favorite person in the world, than advertising his career.

“Is that rain?” You asked, on the third day of the adventure.

“Worried about a little bit of water?” James joked, though the skies ahead were starting to look ominous. You both were just now leaving New York City, having started off there by seeing the Lady Liberty herself, and taking in Times Square where James was able to remain anonymous. He let out a deep breath as you gave him a glare, and focused on making the correct turn to get to Connecticut. “Because we’re going to be there in just a couple of hours, and that’s if traffic is bad.”

You were tapping on your phone, looking at upcoming weather forecasts and winced at what you were seeing. James kept glancing over at you, growing worried since you weren’t saying anything in response. Nothing was coming out of your mouth except for little winces and then a groan, so he just turned up the radio which was playing an obnoxious pop song.

You finally turned it down after the commericals started. “James, I think we should stay in Connecticut instead of continuing onto Rhode Island today. What the weather apps are telling me is honestly pretty frightening. I’ve been searching up hotels too, and I found us a deal on a room in a bed and breakfast, is that okay?” As he was doing the majority of the driving on this trip, even though you had offered to do your fair share, you wanted to make sure this was alright with him before going ahead and booking it.

“Now that’s another day to add onto this trip,” James grumbled, but he instantly regretted it when he saw the look on your face. “Which is wonderful?” He added, but your look of disappointment didn’t change. “Sorry, you just know how I like to stick to my schedules.”

“You want to drive through a storm, that’s fine with me. For some reason, I thought being courteous here was the right thing to do,” You huffed, folding your arms in front of you. It was clear that being in the same car as James for so long was beginning to irritate you, and even more so was the fact that he didn’t seem to be bothered much at all.

During the drive though, the rain started to fall. It was in big fat drops at first, and you looked at James with an ‘I told you so’ expression. But James gave you the same smug look and pointed in the backseat of his car where, along with some trash from fast food places, souvenirs and your suitcases, there was an umbrella for the two of you to use while you looked around the city. You rolled your eyes and brought your phone out again, deciding at the very least you were going to book the bed and breakfast for you, since you weren’t crazy enough to go through a storm, even if you weren’t the one driving.

And, of course, the rain didn’t let up as you crossed state lines. “You’d better drop the bravado act, this is getting bad, James.” The fact that as soon as you said that, thunder rumbled throughout the sky and the rain started to fall harder and harder until it was getting tough to see, helped your cause. You weren’t setting out to piss off James, you just wanted the both of you to be safe, even if that meant going off schedule a little bit.

When you reached the city of Hartwood Connecticut, James finally gave in and asked you the directions to the bed and breakfast. “Y/N, you win, we’ll stay the night.” He sighed, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as he tried to make out the street signs. You read off the directions, refraining from saying anything that might bother him further. The trip into the city became more about safe driving than sightseeing. You managed to steer James in the right direction and the car pulled up to an old house, three stories high, that would look cheerful on a sunny day but looked drab in the gray.

You started to shuffle through your stuff in the back seat, looking for your overnight bag that you used the day before. Over your shoulder, you noticed that James had turned off the car and was preparing to run out. “Don’t forget the umbrella,” You said, grabbing it and handed it over. Once he had it, he was out of the car and into the rain, circling around the car instead of running straight up to the door like you had half-expected.

“It’s freezing!” James announced as he opened your door for you, shivering beneath the umbrella.

“Oh James, let’s hurry then. Here, take this.” He took his bag from your arms and awkwardly held it and the umbrella and tried to keep it over you as you got out with your own bag. You noticed that he hadn’t pulled the umbrella out quick enough when he stepped out of the car, and the top of his head was damp from the rain. You wanted to stop for a second and admire how adorable he looked with his short hair plastered to his forehead, but he was right - the weather put a chill up your spine.

As luck would have it, it was a slow season for the Bed and Breakfast, and they had your room available immediately. Essentially, you would have to be out very early in the morning, but that wasn’t a problem with how tight James wanted to stick to the schedule. He smiled at you as he was handed the room key, grateful for your insistence. You knew that he wasn’t the type to say anything such as how wrong he was and how right you were, but you could see it in his eyes that he felt that way.

“Don’t look at me like that,” He chuckled as you both went up the stairs to the third floor where your room was. Smiling, you pretended that you had no idea what he was talking about.

The room looked as cozy as a picture, with floral bedding, home-made looking furniture, prints of artwork that could probably be seen in every bed and breakfast around the world as if they had a store just for that, and a small TV mounted on the dresser. James put his damp bag on the circular rug that went part-way under the bed and headed to the window to look out at the car. When you came up behind him, you could smell the rain on his clothes, despite the fact that he had barely been caught in it. You put your arms around him from behind and pressed your head to the space between his shoulderblades.  

“Once we unpack a bit, I promise I’ll make it up to you,” You told him, nuzzling him gently.

“First thing in the morning, we’re out of here,” He said, offering that as a compromise to staying here for the night rather than the original hotel in the next city. You nodded and let go of him and took a couple of steps back.

“You’re right, we should go early,” You sighed, not looking forward to waking up at the crack of dawn. His smile was reflected in the windowpane so you could see it. James had a lovely smile, and you felt that you didn’t see it often enough. “So I’m going to go and take a shower now, rather than wait for later. Do you want to join?” You asked the last question with a cheeky wink as he turned around.

“How? If the bed is this tiny, I can’t imagine what the shared bathrooms are like.” He said, making you laugh. You shrugged at his question, rummaging through your bag for your pajamas since it seemed like you two would just be staying in for the rest of the day.

“I guess I’m just going to have to find out.” James gave a nod, and sat on the end of the bed, picking up the remote and turned on the small TV. The door closed behind you, but he didn’t get up to turn the lock. He just fell back onto the bed, his head landing on the pillow. Because of the force, he supposed, a couple of feathers came loose from the inside of the case and tickled at his ear. You usually enjoyed nice long showers, so he knew not to expect you back too soon. For a little while, he played with the feather, and thought about this road trip that you two had been having.

Honestly, he had been excited about it since you brought up the prospect when the both of you were younger, before his acting career, before you got busy with yours. He thought about it when he got his driver’s license in the hope that he would be driving the two of you around sooner rather than later. As he picked up the feather and let it free fall once more, he frowned, thinking about how he had acted earlier to you. You didn’t deserve it - you didn’t control the weather.

He snapped up into a sitting position and looked around to try to find something to woo you with. The TV was playing an old episode of Happy Days, and that was extremely far from romantic. There were no flowers, no little chocolates, not even a coffee pot in the room, it was as simple as he could imagine. Something Eddie might live in, though his room would have medication bottles on every surface, he thought. As he thought this, he smiled, thinking that he had been really lucky to land the role, and it had been thanks to you. You were the Stephen King fan, you had goaded him into reading the book, which made him want to try out for the role. You really were the biggest part of his life.

James wasn’t able to find anything that he could use to woo you, so he laid back on the bed, once again playing with the feather until you came back into the room, hair damp against your head, skin slightly red-tone from the warm water. As he watched you come in, he sat up slowly, the feather sticking to the side of his head without his realization. So when you looked back at him, you had to stifle your laughter, sticking to a grin instead.

“Do you forgive me for being a grumpy jackass?” He asked, a nervous smile playing at the corner of his lips. You, wearing your cutest pair of pajamas, climbed onto the bed beside him, and blew the feather out of his hair. It flew up, but then landed right down on his lap, as if it didn’t want to leave him, which was pretty amusing.

“I guess so, chicken boy,” You giggled, picking up the feather and tickled his chin with it.

[theskystillwakesup]

MERRY PITCHMAS @introvert-luce !!!!

I hope you have wonderful day and a beautiful year ahead of you! I was your secret santa and I hope you enjoy your gift :) !! 

Words: 2410 Rating: T Pairing: Beca/Chloe AO3: coming soon!

Beca Mitchell does not like Christmas.

She doesn’t hate it, but she's neither fond of the holiday nor the days around it. The stretch from late December to early January is just a melancholic, monotonic blur that bleeds into itself and it’s not exactly a good time for her. The days are cold, dull and depressive, doing nothing to help her already pensive mood around that time of the year.

She’s just never celebrated the holidays, period. Her family was as messed up as it could get right before a divorce, and nobody really wants to celebrate a thing like that, not even a five-year-old who was all too aware of what was going on around her.

Back at Barden, she just used to take part in the gift exchange with everyone else and help with errands if they were short on people – it didn’t hurt to do any of that. Afterwards, she used to chill out with the Bellas that didn’t celebrate the holiday either, and that’s the way she liked it.

She’d normally not be invested in the occasion at all, just simply mail a few cards to her Bellas and call it a day.

But this year, it’s her first Christmas together with Chloe, and she doesn’t know what it’ll hold.

(She has a hard time believing that Chloe’s actually her girlfriend as it is.)

Chloe understands her perfectly and wouldn’t prod her about doing something. If Beca doesn’t want to do anything with her, she knows she can tell Chloe and two will plan the day according to both their wishes and reach a compromise.

But that’s the thing: this year, she wants to spend the holiday with Chloe. She wants to see where it takes them and what it’s like when it’s just the two of them.

Most of all, she wants to make sure Chloe loves it.

~

The first thing they do is go Christmas shopping.

Chloe’s face is gleaming as she looks around the streets, eyes drawn to those shops that are already way too decked up even if the holiday’s less than 2 weeks away. Beca deems it too early for any sort of decoration, and honestly, it’s a bit of an eyesore.  

But she glances at Chloe again, noticing how content the woman looks and smiles to herself. If it’s making Chloe smile, it’s not stupid.

“Beca, are you alright?” Chloe voice shakes her from her musings, and she shakes her head before meeting Chloe’s eyes. “What? Yeah, I’m fine.” “You kind of zoned out for a while there, are you sure?”

Beca doesn’t even think before she replies.

“Yeah, it’s just that you were looking, like, really pretty, so…”

Color rushes to her cheeks, and she can’t believe she just said that out loud. Smooth, Mitchell, she thinks. She looks at her feet, shuffling them together to break the silence and wonders how awkward Chloe felt.

(Okay, fuck it, Chloe’s her girlfriend, she’ll tell her she’s pretty anytime. But still, that doesn’t make her feel any less embarrassed. Her college self is facepalming herself big time.)

Soft fingers lace with hers, and she looks down to see their intertwined hands. There’s a press of lips against her cheek, and Chloe’s face splits into a soft smile. Beca knows Chloe’s understood what she was trying to say – she doesn’t need words to know that.

Giving their hands a quick squeeze, Chloe tugs her into her into a huge, overly red and white shop.

As daunting as the rows upon rows of weird trinkets and eatables look, Beca thinks she’ll just about do anything and go anywhere as long as she’s with Chloe.

~

Beca’s bored three minutes into their shopping trip. 

Frankly, the displays of red, white and green are making her sick and every time she sees a gallant looking Christmassy sculpture she wants to barf. What happened to the simplicity of decorations?

Chloe seems to be entirely unaffected by any of this, and easily picks out whatever she needs. Beca can recognize the basics, like fairy lights and tree ornaments, but most of the other things in the cart are a mystery to her.

For her, the holiday’s never been more than what she’s seen in movies, and it’s not like she has any memorable times from when her father tried to celebrate it with her. There’s a snippet in her mind, of what it would have been like to celebrate the holiday like most other families do. It’s enough to make her feel like she’s missed out on a lot, and sometimes she wonders if she’ll ever get to feel that.

She guesses that growing and maturing in life really does make you want the things you couldn’t have cared less about ten years ago.

Chloe’s voice snaps her out of her brooding thoughts yet again, and she sees the woman waving her over, probably asking for her opinion on something she has no idea about.

Chloe explains to her that they’re in a grave situation, and that Beca must help her pick the best flavour of marshmallows or everything will absolutely go to hell. 

(Beca thinks, that with Chloe and the bellas, she’s already got the family she’d never had.

And with Chloe, the future she wants doesn’t seem too far off.)

~

Beca had thought shopping was going to be the most tedious part about the festive season. But half an hour into their attempt to hang up some fairy lights, she’s done.

“Chloe, I can’t do this anymore. Why are the walls so high? I knew we shouldn’t have bought this place.” She whines, shakily balancing herself on a ladder that is bound to fall any second.

“You’re just short, Beca.” Chloe replies from the other side of the room, neatly winding the wires around nails and over picture frames.

“It’s not like you’re any taller.” Beca mutters under her breath. “I heard that. It’s why we use something called ladders, Becs.” “Can’t I just do something else? I really don’t think I’m doing it right.” “How can you possibly mess up hanging a fairy light?” “Try me.”

Sure enough, when Chloe turns around and sees the lopsided mess of wires and bulbs that was supposed to be cute and organized, she sighs and shakes her head.

Chloe tells her to hold the stream of lights for her while she tacks them to the wall, which basically means that all Beca has to do is stand by the ladder and pull the wire when Chloe asks her to.

In the three hours that it takes for them to finish, Beca nearly remains silent, while Chloe does the talking. She talks about everything – her vet school life, the animals she’s treated, that one puppy that wouldn’t stop clinging to her and Beca listens promptly, drinking it all up, eyes never leaving Chloe.

She’s positive that it’s at least the third time she’s hearing Chloe bring up the same incidents, but she could listen to the redhead talk all day. Their time together is already limited, with Chloe still having a few months more of vet school all the way in Davis, and Beca’s producing career just on the verge of taking off. 

She’ll take what she can get for now.

Chloe’s laughter interjects the conversation every now and then, her eyes filled with mirth, and it makes Beca feel warm in a way she’s never felt before.

There are boxes open all over the floor, bits of paper strewn across the rug, pieces of tape stuck to her pants and lights illuminating the whole room.

(She could probably stay like this forever, she thinks, depressing holiday season be damned.)

~

They do their gift shopping separately, and Beca absolutely wrecks her brain trying to find Chloe a perfect one. Chloe’s the kind of person who’d be perfectly content with anything Beca gets her, and that doesn’t exactly help her narrow down her options.

Ultimately, a bracelet in a jewelry shop catches her eye, silver and glistening. It’s expensive, but not exactly unaffordable thanks to her salary. It has certain tiny engravings on it that she knows Chloe will love, and at this point, not buying the bracelet is out of the question – she herself loves it.

As she pulls out her card and pays, she thinks of Chloe’s smile, of sunlight glinting off the band in the early mornings, of the cool metal resting against her skin.

Yeah, she can’t wait for Christmas to come around and give Chloe her present.

~

Christmas day comes around faster than any of them had anticipated, and before they know it, they’re getting ready to host Stacie and Aubrey for the evening. The two were the only two Bellas who were close enough to visit them, with all the others promising to visit some other time.

They’d spent the morning lazing around and doing absolutely nothing - Beca’s ideal morning -  which naturally meant that their entire afternoon is spent preparing dinner and doing other errands around the house.

A few minutes after they’ve just wrapped up and Chloe’s busy getting ready, Beca answers the door to reveal Stacie and Aubrey. Stacie pulls her into a bone crushing hug, while the blonde is too busy checking out her loft, admiring the place as soon as Beca ushers her in.

“Okay, I think I now understand why Chloe’s dating you.” Aubrey remarks.

Stacie lets out a snort at that, and Beca simply rolls her eyes. She knows Aubrey’s pulling her leg, but she can’t resist a little jab at the woman either.

“Are you jealous? I can set up a trust fund for you if you want.”

This time, Stacie laughs at the retort, clearly amused by the two, while Aubrey simply glares at her.

Chloe walks in just as Aubrey’s about to respond, dressed in a flattering sweater and jeans. She gives an exasperated sigh as soon as she sees the two women glaring at each other - she’s seen this scene play out in front of her too many times before.

“Are you two seriously doing this? On Christmas?” “Aubrey started it!” “Nobody asked you to continue it!”

“Sometimes I still have trouble believing you’re both adults.” Chloe states, and Aubrey cracks a smile before rushing over to Chloe and hugging her tightly.

~

They drink a little wine before dinner, and once they’re done eating Chloe says words that makes Beca’s blood run cold.

“Beca, it’s time for you to put on your sweater.”

Chloe doesn’t have to specify which sweater she’s talking about.

The color drains from Beca’s face and she sits rooted to her spot.

“No.” She answers resolutely. She’s dodged the weird tradition of gaudy Christmas sweaters all her life and she’ll be damned if she wears one this year.

“Beca, please?” Chloe asks, her voice syrupy sweet and eyes softened. Usually, a pout is enough for Chloe to get what she wants, but this is a serious matter. Beca is not going to wear a hideous, bright turtleneck no matter what.

She spares a glance at Stacie and Aubrey, and Aubrey’s having way too much fun stiffling her laughter, while Stacie grins and looks on. Everyone except her is clad in ugly red, white, green and brown Christmas sweaters, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to wear one too.

“No.”

“Come on, Beca, even Aubrey’s wearing one! You can take it off later, just put it on for now.” Chloe insists, clutching a  brown paper bag in her hand. Beca doesn’t even know where Chloe procured that from, and frankly, she’s a little scared.

Beca shakes her head again.

“Alright, you know what.”

Chloe grabs her hand and drags her to their bedroom. Beca would be amazed by the feat of strength under different circumstances, mostly ones that didn’t involve ugly sweaters.

The redhead trudges closer to her, backing her up against one of the walls, until their bodies are almost touching. “Wear it, and I’ll make it up to you later.” She whispers in a sultry tone that she knows makes Beca weak.

“I-“ 

“Thanks.” Chloe says sweetly, before swiftly turning on her heel and walking away, shutting the door on her way out.

Beca glares at the packet lying on the bed and tries not to rip apart the fabric the moment she lays her eyes on it.

It’s the ugliest thing Beca has ever seen.

It’s chunky and gaudy and has a horrendous reindeer sewn into the front of it. The colors make Beca’s eyes hurt and she knows she’s never going to live it down once she walks out the door. The things she does for Chloe…

The moment she walks out the door, to Aubrey’s laughter, Chloe’s giggles and Stacie’s camera going off, she knows there’s no going back.

She resigns herself to wearing the monstrosity for the rest of the evening, and sulks in the corner while the three women finish laughing over her.

She looks at Chloe, doubled over in laughter, clearly enjoying the sight of her wearing something so silly, and decides that maybe it isn’t so bad after all.

(On second thought, she takes it back. The sweater is fucking horrible.)

~

Stacie and Aubrey leave a few minutes to midnight, and Beca realizes that she never actually got around to giving Chloe her gift. Chloe had given hers in the morning only, but Beca had insisted on waiting till the evening to give hers.

She rushes into their bedroom, rummaging through her closet until she finds the box and runs out to a confused Chloe, standing dazed in the kitchen.

“Close your eyes.” The redhead promptly does as instructed, and Beca takes her right hand in hers.

Beca takes the bracelet and clasps it on Chloe’s wrist. Chloe’s eyes open the moment she feels the cool metal against her skin, and her eyes visibly widen as she takes in the sleek, silvery piece adorning her hand.

“Do you like it?” Beca asks, a little thrown off by Chloe’s lack of a response.Did she go too far?

“I love it, it’s beautiful. You know you didn’t have to get me this.” Chloe lifts the bracelet to her face and examines it closely, awed by its make and design. I know, I wanted to.”

She detaches the hand holding Chloe’s and brings it up to the redhead’s cheek instead, stroking it softly.

“Merry Christmas, Chloe.” She’s never felt this happy greeting someone.

“Merry Christmas, Beca.” 

Chloe’s happy, the kind of happy that comes from within your bones, and Beca knows it because Chloe’s eyes are shining and her hands are shaking and she can’t stop smiling.

It’s alright, Beca thinks.

She wouldn’t mind a million more days like this, as long as Chloe’s with her.

[sidespromptblog]

Away: Part 2

One, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, End

Summary:  There’s no point staying in a place that does not welcome and loves you, there’s no point in causing yourself daily pain for people who would love for you to never exist again. That’s why he has to do this, to be selfish for himself, in a way that his host and the others could never grasp.

If you would have told Deceit that he would have ended up missing the life he had ran so desperately from, he would have laughed, hard and right in your face. At least before he started hissing at you and telling you to run along now before something just so happens to accidentally happen to you. Honestly, he was damn certain that he would enjoy his life, a life he chose to have instead of having it forced on him, with a title he had never wanted, and never wanted to be judged forever for. Sure the first night had been bad, curled up under a lonely abandoned bridge with nothing but a sleeping bag and hopeful thoughts of the future to keep him warm as his first rain started to pour all around him. He had ended up wet, but even then… it was still better than going back to the other sides.. To Thomas and explaining what he had done. That he was too weak to handle what the outside world had to offer.  

He had been too cold to properly miss anything as he watched the rain drizzling in almost a mesmerized manner, to wet to miss anything except the comfort of his bed inside of the mindspace, and the warmth of accidentally falling asleep next to Remus after a horrific marathon of horror and SAW movies.

But here he was, a month later sitting in his own apartment feeling so sorry for himself and looking like a complete wreck.

“This is ridiculous,” Deceit hissed to himself as he angrily scrubbed at the tears that had accidentally started to drip down his cheeks, making the scar on the left side of his face tingle and itch angrily. “I’m gone, I’m free, I’m.. I’m actually feeling things nowadays! This shouldn’t be happening!” He snarled, thumping his gloved hands against the small table he had squished in the tiny kitchen of his apartment, making it precariously wobble back and forth and in turn make his tea spill a few drops on the stained surface.

He angrily mopped it up, a scowl remaining on his face even as his eyes continued to burn with tears.

He shouldn’t be feeling like this, he shouldn’t be wondering if the other light sides had even noticed he was gone, or if they even cared about him in the first place. He had his own place and his own life, so he shouldn’t..he shouldn’t…

He shouldn’t have missed them.

But he did, and that fact above all of the others infuriated him more than anything.

Deceit stubbornly shook his head, “They hate you. They hate you. They hate you.” He kept the mantra going as he cleaned the table, before chucking the dirty rag in the laundry basket as he made his way to his bedroom. “They hate you.” He muttered again as he got dressed for work, pulling the tie so tight that he choked for just a moment before he loosened it enough to where he could breathe again. “They hate you.” He confirmed as he smeared the foundation over his scar hiding even it from the sight of the normal people around him. “They hate you…” He whispered one last time before he slipped his shoes on and left for work.

Outside the ground was bathed in even more fallen leaves, he couldn’t take a single step without hearing that satisfying crunch ringing in his ears. It was just one of those things that brought a smile to his face, as he hopped from one of the cobblestone pieces to the next a soft melodic hum vibrating in his throat.

The stores around him while wildly different all had the same stock. As ghouls, witches, vampires, and werewolf themed items all lined their shelves. October had barely even just started, and yet everyone was acting as if Halloween had already been kicked into gear. He couldn’t really say that it bothered him any, the act of dressing up, of scaring people with masks, and just pretending to be something that you weren’t as appealing to him. Even though the only thing he had really bought to commemorate the season was a faded rug that had a spooky-looking pumpkin on it from a thrift store that had been selling them for dirt cheap. It had been one of those gifts to himself that hadn’t cost that much, especially since he highly doubted that he’d be participating at all this year.

Especially given the fact that he didn’t have a costume.

It wasn’t like he could just slip back into Thomas’ mind and nab his scooby doo outfit without the other seeing him and having to deal with them and-

Oh.

The crushing sensation doubled as he stopped before the stain glass door of his employer, just the couple of seconds that it took to breathe..to refill his lungs with oxygen so that he didn’t feel so damn small and utterly smashed to pieces felt like they lasted for an eternity as his hand lingered on the brass doorknob.

“Why now?” He bitterly asked, fighting the urge to rest his forehead on the cold glass of the door in front of him, “Why them?” He could feel the hand by his side curling into a fist, as the urge to smash the bright and colorful door that had cartoonish bat stickers all over it into a pile of shattered glass. He wanted to break something.. Anything really to relieve himself of this sensation that gripped him tight and refused to let him go, like a cobra that had finally caught its prey.

It wasn’t fair.

It was this thought alone that nearly made him burst into hysterical sobs, it was this that almost made him fall to his knees and just weep into his hands until he had nothing left to give. It really wasn’t fair, they probably didn’t even miss him. So why should he be so bothered by it..by missing them?

It. Just. Wasn’t. Fair!

No matter how much he wanted to cry though, Deceit swallowed down his tears, his hurt, and his very limited regret and opened the door. Greeting the smiling face and bright bubblegum pink hair that beamed back at him, as he had been simply waiting for Deceit to show up. Honestly, he couldn’t help but to be reminded of Patton every time he saw that smile, no matter how he chose to respond to it, it would always be the same. A warm look, and the occasional cup of hot chocolate with extra cream and extra sprinkles waiting on his desk every morning. It made that tiny minuscule part inside of his heart throb with such an intense want that it almost made him breathless, being so pathetic as to wish that this sweet kindhearted man who had known him for only a month could be Patton..could be the moral side that he had always wanted to be on equal footing and discussion with. That is without resorting to dressing up as someone else and pretending to be his friend for the sake of an argument that none of them would never ever be resolved if they really knew.  

Instead of spouting any of that out loud he dropped his gaze to the ground offering a two-fingered wave, “Mornin Doc,” He mumbled, shuffling his way over to the reception desk he had worked at for just a month, and even so, somehow managing to be the longest-lasting receptionist to have worked for the guy who was somehow one of the highest-paid in his field.

Then again, not too many people could handle his… specific excentricities.

“Oh hush now Dillan!” The man giggled as he gushed over the new receptionist, beaming that perfectly stupid smile of his as soon as he saw Deceit coming through the door, “I’ve told you before, given our work setting, you’re free to just call me Emile!”

[qtsp00k]

Memory being ever problematic, i was raised with my Irish heritage and not just on st patrick's day but every Sunday & much of the time my childhood home rang with irish folk music. I don't have any of the tapes my father made and don't recall any of the songs or bards. I made request of my little brother when he was granted weekend with my father and i was not (because i confessed my father has been molesting me and my brother either blocked or was not favored but in any case that's the justice system for you) that he beg on my behalf for the music i grew up with, the music that played before my world became dark and the music that became scattered light thru the darkness of my abusive family unit.

He returned with The Wolfe Tones on verbatim cd that looks like record vinyl, colored orange on the label where there so nearly written in my father's perfect handwriting, the handwriting of an artist of a poet, and as ive come to heal more i have played this cd not just on st Pat's but every Sunday. And then i left it to cycle in the shuffle of my system which holds 51 cds.

And now that I've worn it out effectively desensitizing myself to it's special.

The special if it just my father's handwriting on the last thing he gave me.

I remember being in the house on Lakeview and I was so happy and I was singing in the shower and my dad heard me and he was amazed that I even remembered those old folk songs and he didn't even realize what his role as my father meant to me, what his contribution of heritage and pride in history lent into the very foundation of my being.

And so in fitting when i asked for irish music he sent along the last thing he knew me to have appreciated.

I think if my brother had been older & remembered the music enough to jog Dad's memory then i would have gotten more than just wolfe tones one album.

And at the time I was both appreciative and utterly slighted because at the time I didn't understand that medication can rip music out of your soul.

And I only understand now because medication because chemical lobotomy and brain damage from other sources as well has left me a shell.

I thought twitch was a streaming platform but there's no one streaming Irish folk music on St Patrick's Day in america?

And all that I know to do is look up chumbawamba I think and somebody asked me where chumbawamba was from like 2 days ago and I didn't know but I'm thinking now like wait a minute is chumbawam and Irish band?? How do I not know such things?

I miss my father so terribly on this day. And I'm trying to pretend like it's the tradition or what the teachings instilled in me but it's not that really. It's just it's just it's just that in the light of the Irish folk music that I grew up with their shone my father, Bruce Lee, and only my father. That music soothed a beast in him. And a beast that until last year I didn't even understand why it was or what it was but now I understand so much more than I did before.

And honestly everybody judged me so much for forgiving my dad immediately after I had him removed from the household for my physical safety.

My father was a beautiful boy with dancing eyes and the dark woman with a dark heart and a dark family and a dark purpose snatched him up to breed beautiful children.

My mother did not learn about my father and his history and she didn't get to know him before she slept with him and when he fell in love with her despite her being a whore she leaned into the light that came from him but then after she got what she wanted all she did was add to his damage.

And I just found this out you know like it's so fresh. It was only after my mother made the phone calls to my father's side of the family relaying to them that I had accused him of sexual misconduct with me. Only then was it revealed that my beautiful father while living with his uncle in the dead of the fruit season in the cotton trade when his mother and father were homeless. That Uncle who took in the Lee family it was an evil man who drank and took his own daughter as one does their wife. And so it's that cousin who told my mom all those years ago but when my dad found out what his uncle was doing to his own daughter he convinced this man to take him instead because he was such a pretty boy.

And so my dad hid away his cousin and sacrificed his innocence and his safety to protect hers.

So I didn't know that at all when I just immediately forgave my dad for getting confused and messing up thinking I was his wife. At age 16 I didn't know that.

But now I understand that it wasn't my dad or my dad's uncle or my mother or any one person's fault. The monsters in My blood the monsters that cause schizophrenic symptoms and suicide and addiction... They just take up residence in whoever's soul they hollow out in the process of abusing children.

And so the only way that I can understand to fix this and to fix this problem that is not just my family's problem but that is a worldwide pandemic that is slipped under the rug... It's just to share what I know and help other people find forgiveness in their hearts for the people who abuse them because when in that moment the music stopped my father ceased to be in the room at all. He was severely damaged person and that's why he sounds so brightly and so beautifully.

All those cracks.

All those cracks.

They don't let you hide your light.

And there are things that are older and darker than most people know and those things prey upon the light.

I am my fathers daughter.

[emilysn2019-blog]

Our 1-day Pasadena, California itinerary covers the most popular things to do in the City of Roses. It provides an efficient yet leisurely walking tour through Pasadena’s Old Town, past its most iconic homes and buildings. In so doing, we’ll take you to the highlights of Pasadena, including gardens, museums, and architecture, all in (under) a single day.

Visitors to California flock to Los Angeles, Disneyland, the beach cities, and even the nearby Hollywood studios in Burbank. However, Pasadena seems to get lost in the shuffle. This is unfortunate, as Pasadena is a charming community with a vibrant small town atmosphere, unique businesses, and distinct residential architecture.

We happen to love Pasadena. Like Laguna Beach or Palm Springs, it’s a nice and quiet alternative to busier, trendier spots in and around Los Angeles. It’s difficult to say Pasadena is “underrated” given that it’s well-known thanks to the Rose Bowl, but as a tourist destination, Pasadena is underrated. It’s also a surprisingly short drive from Downtown Los Angeles, making it an easy option of a day or half-day outside the city…

With this itinerary, you can explore Pasadena, strolling past its lovely residential architecture and stopping at its best points of interest, all in a relatively efficient manner! Let’s get started…

Parade of Homes – Our favorite way to spend a morning in Pasadena is taking a self-guided architecture. The city has several neighborhoods with a high concentration of landmark homes and buildings, most notably exemplars of the American Arts & Crafts Movement by Pasadena architects Charles and Henry Greene.

If you’re into residential architecture, we highly recommend using the Explore Pasadena Architecture brochure for a self-guided tour. Our favorite of these, by far, is Not only does this cover a few blocks that include many Greene & Greene highlights, but it also passes Frank Lloyd Wright’s Millard House or “La Miniatura” (pictured above), and also offers some stunning views of the Rose Bowl.

Morning Gamble – Along the way, you’ll encounter the most famous home in Pasadena: the Gamble House, which was built in 1908 for David and Mary Gamble (of Procter & Gamble fame) and also designed by Greene & Greene. Southern California has no shortage of homes to tour, with a variety of mid-century modern and case study homes dotting Los Angeles. Pasadena is renowned as being the pinnacle of the Arts and Crafts movement, and nowhere is the American Craftsman architecture better represented than in the iconic Gamble House.

The Gamble House offers a variety of different tours on different days, but its most common offerings are one-hour tours held from mid-morning until early-afternoon. We’d recommend booking the first tour of the day, which is usually at 10 a.m. The reason for this is that the sun is still low enough in the sky for natural light to shine through the house’s stained glass, which produces an ethereal, glowing beauty. Read our full Gamble House Tour Review for more photos & thoughts. 

Simon Says – If you want to continue walking, you’re only about 10 minutes from the Norton Simon Museum, which is one of the top art museums in California. The museum is home to the private art collection of industrialist Norton Simon, who amassed thousands of pieces over the course of three decades.

Today, the Norton Simon Museum’s collection contains over 12,000 pieces, including European masterworks from the Renaissance to the 20th century, South and Southeast Asian art spanning 2,000 years, and a serene sculpture garden. The collection includes works by prominent artists such as Rembrandt, Fragonard, Goya, Degas, Vuillard, and Picasso. It’s all beautifully-presented in a stunning setting, both inside and out.

Old Pasadena – We like to continue this tour by foot heading towards Old Pasadena by walking down Colorado Blvd towards Pasadena Playhouse, and then heading back towards City Hall. After that, you’ll head up towards the Pasadena Library and down Walnut towards where you started the morning.

If you want to get a bit more aggressive with this and see more along the way, check out on the “Explore Pasadena Architecture” walking tour maps we linked to above. Alternatively, you can drive this, with the key stops being the Pasadena Playhouse and City Hall.

Gardens Galore – You’ll find a lot of gardens in the Pasadena area. In fact, the whole city has a strong garden vibe (perhaps that’s why the Tournament of Roses is held in Pasadena?), and in addition to being the City of Roses is also known as the City of Trees.

Near Pasadena, you’ll find Arlington Gardens, the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, and Descanso Gardens. We’d recommend choosing between the last two. The Huntington is a grand place–a cultural destination and stately estate.

Descanso Gardens is more laid back and chill, with some rugged natural beauty, internationally-renowned botanical collections, and stunning seasonal horticultural displays. Which you should choose is totally a matter of personal preference; after everything else you’ve done in Pasadena, Descanso Gardens might provide a nice contrast.

Evening in Griffith Park – Even if you take your time, you’ll probably finish up your day in and around Pasadena before sunset. Regardless of whether you finish at Descano Gardens or the Huntington, you’re under 20 minutes from the north side of Griffith Park.

There are a variety of things to do here, and you could truly spend a full day just in Griffith Park. Depending upon when you arrive, you could start at the (underrated) Los Angeles Zoo, or just head directly to the Observatory. Our go-to is the latter: Griffith Observatory, which is one of our favorite things to do in all of Southern California. It’s a great spot for watching the sunset, and evening fall over Los Angeles.

If you’re planning a trip, check out our Ultimate Guide to Los Angeles or our California category of posts. For even more things to do, The Best Things to Do in Los Angeles: 1001 Ideas is an exceptional resource, which is written by other locals. If you enjoyed this post, help spread the word by sharing it via social media. Thanks for reading!

Your Thoughts

Have you spent a day in Pasadena? If so, what did you think of experience? Any additional tips or stops to add that we didn’t cover? Do you agree that Pasadena is underrated as a tourist destination, or do you think there’s not enough excitement here? Would you visit Pasadena again, or do you think it was a ‘one and done’? Was it worth your time and money? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!.fca_eoi_form{ margin: auto; } .fca_eoi_form p { width: auto; } input{ max-width: 9999px; } .fca_eoi_form_input_element::-webkit-input-placeholder {opacity:0.;color:;} .fca_eoi_form_input_element::-moz-placeholder {opacity:0.;color:;} .fca_eoi_form_input_element:-ms-input-placeholder {opacity:0.;color:;} .fca_eoi_form_input_element:-moz-placeholder {opacity:0.;color:;} .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper:hover, .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper input:hover {background-color: !important;} .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox {max-width:100%;} .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_name_field_wrapper {max-width:49%;} .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_email_field_wrapper {max-width:49%;} .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper {max-width:100%;}div.fca_eoi_form_text_element,input.fca_eoi_form_input_element,input.fca_eoi_form_button_element{display:block;margin:0;padding:0;line-height:normal;font-size:14px;letter-spacing:normal;word-spacing:normal;text-indent:0;text-shadow:none;text-decoration:none;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;width:inherit;height:inherit;background-image:none;border:none;border-radius:0;box-shadow:none;box-sizing:border-box;transition:none;outline:none;-webkit-transition:none;-webkit-appearance:none;-moz-appearance:none;color: Sans", sans-serif;font-weight:normal;transition:background 350ms linear;}div.fca_eoi_form_text_element{text-align:center;}div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper{font-weight:bold;}div.fca_eoi_featherlight .featherlight-close-icon{background:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);}div.fca_eoi_layout_3,form.fca_eoi_layout_3{display:inline-block;box-sizing:border-box;}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper{width:100%;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 .fca_eoi_progress,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 .fca_eoi_progress{margin-left:32px;margin-right:32px;height:24px;position:relative;background: 1px 2px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);margin-bottom:32px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 .fca_eoi_progress span,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 .fca_eoi_progress span{text-align:right;width:55%;display:block;height:100%;border-top-right-radius:3px;border-bottom-right-radius:3px;border-top-left-radius:3px;border-bottom-left-radius:3px;background-color: bottom, 37%, 9%);position:relative;overflow:hidden;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 .fca_eoi_progress span:before,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 .fca_eoi_progress span:before{content:;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;background-image:linear-gradient(-45deg, rgba(255, 255, 255, .2) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 50%, rgba(255, 255, 255, .2) 50%, rgba(255, 255, 255, .2) 75%, transparent 75%, transparent);z-index:1;background-size:50px 50px;animation:move 2s linear infinite;border-top-right-radius:8px;border-bottom-right-radius:8px;border-top-left-radius:20px;border-bottom-left-radius:20px;overflow:hidden;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 .fca_eoi_progress span:after,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 .fca_eoi_progress span:after{content:50%;vertical-align:top;position:relative;top:5px;color:white;font-size:14px;line-height:14px;font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:1px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 img.fca_eoi_image,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 img.fca_eoi_image{max-width:100%;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_image_wrapper.placeholder,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_image_wrapper.placeholder{text-align:center;white-space:pre;border:1px dashed div.fca_eoi_layout_content_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_content_wrapper{margin:20px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper{border:solid 1px transparent;border-radius:3px;margin-bottom:10px;position:relative;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_name_field_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_name_field_wrapper,div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_email_field_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_email_field_wrapper{width:100%;display:inline-block;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper input,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper input,div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper input:focus,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper input:focus{border:none !important;width:100%;height:auto;font-size:1px;line-height:1.2em;padding:7px 0;outline:none;background:none !important;box-shadow:none;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper{clear:both;transition:background 350ms linear, border-color 350ms linear;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_fatcatapps_link_wrapper a,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_fatcatapps_link_wrapper a{display:block;margin:10px 0 0;font-size:12px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_form_text_element ul,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_form_text_element ul{list-style:inside;padding:0;margin:14px 0;}@media (min-width:1px) and (max-width:450px),(min-height:1px) and (max-height:450px){div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_content_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_content_wrapper{margin:8px 13px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_fatcatapps_link_wrapper a,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_fatcatapps_link_wrapper a{margin:0;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_form_text_element.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_form_text_element.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper{margin-bottom:5px;}}@media (min-width:1px) and (max-width:78px){div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper{width:100%;}}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper{margin:-20px -20px 20px;}@media (min-width:1px) and (max-width:450px),(min-height:1px) and (max-height:450px){div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper{margin:-8px -13px 8px;}}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper div,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper div{padding:10px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_field_inner,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_field_inner,div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_popup div.fca_eoi_layout_field_inner,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_popup div.fca_eoi_layout_field_inner{margin:0 30px 0 5px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper i.fa,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper i.fa,div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_popup div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper i.fa,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_popup div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper i.fa{position:absolute;top:0;right:10px;height:50%;width:auto;transform:translateY(50%);-webkit-transform:translateY(50%);}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox svg.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_triangle,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox svg.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_triangle,div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_popup svg.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_triangle,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_popup svg.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_triangle{display:none;}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget{position:relative;}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_field_inner,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_field_inner{margin:0 5px 0 2em;}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper i.fa,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper i.fa{position:absolute;top:0;left:10px;height:50%;width:auto;transform:translateY(50%);-webkit-transform:translateY(50%);}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper{margin-bottom:0;}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget svg.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_triangle,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget svg.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_triangle{position:absolute;left:0;width:100%;height:20px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_description_copy_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_description_copy_wrapper{margin-top:40px;}@media (min-width:1px) and (max-width:450px),(min-height:1px) and (max-height:450px){div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget svg.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_triangle,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget svg.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_triangle{height:10px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_description_copy_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_description_copy_wrapper{margin-top:20px;}}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_inputs_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_inputs_wrapper{margin-left:30px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_inputs_wrapper i.fa,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_inputs_wrapper i.fa{left:-25px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_field_inner,form.fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_widget div.fca_eoi_layout_field_inner{margin-left:10px;margin-right:10px;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper{border-bottom:solid 4px transparent;border-radius:3px;padding:0 !important;text-align:center;width:100%;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper{border-bottom:solid 4px transparent;border-radius:3px;padding:0 !important;text-align:center;width:100%;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_inputs_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_inputs_wrapper{margin:20px 0;}@media (min-width:1px) and (max-width:450px),(min-height:1px) and (max-height:450px){div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_inputs_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_inputs_wrapper{margin:8px 0;}}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_field_wrapper{border-radius:3px;background: div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper input,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper input{background:none;border-radius:3px;border:0;padding:px;width:100%;white-space:normal;}div.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper input:hover,form.fca_eoi_layout_3 div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper input:hover{background:none;} .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox { background-color: !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox { border-color: !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper div { font-size: 27px !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper div { color: !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_headline_copy_wrapper div { background-color: !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_description_copy_wrapper p, .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_description_copy_wrapper div { font-size: 15px !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_description_copy_wrapper p, .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_description_copy_wrapper div { color: ddd !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_name_field_wrapper, .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_name_field_wrapper input, .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_name_field_wrapper i.fa:before { font-size: 14px !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_name_field_wrapper, .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_name_field_wrapper input, .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_name_field_wrapper i.fa:before { color: !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_name_field_wrapper { border-color: !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_email_field_wrapper, .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_email_field_wrapper input, .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_email_field_wrapper i.fa:before { font-size: 14px !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_email_field_wrapper, .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_email_field_wrapper input, .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_email_field_wrapper i.fa:before { color: !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_email_field_wrapper { border-color: !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper input { font-size: 1px !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper input { color: !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper input { background-color: !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_submit_button_wrapper { background-color: !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_privacy_copy_wrapper div { font-size: 13px !important; } .fca_eoi_layout_fca_eoi_layout_postbox div.fca_eoi_layout_privacy_copy_wrapper div { color: !important; }

101 Things to Do in Southern California

The eBook is 51 pages long, featuring 75 photos, and (obviously) 101 things to do in Southern California. If you want a copy of this totally free 101 Things to Do in Southern California eBook, all you need to do is subscribe to our newsletter and you will receive a link to download the eBook.

We respect your privacy.

The post 1-Day Pasadena, California Itinerary appeared first on Travel Caffeine.

[mandimormon-blog]

Door-No-More

Once upon a time in a village named Covington.  A vibrant, young housewife polished her floors to reduce pathogens transmitted by bodily fluids (primarily vomit).  She scrubbed and scrubbed the tiles with a brush assuring each square was meticulously cleansed and free of germs.  She mopped the entire home, freshly.  Just then, the smaller, younger, less feisty girl on this given day, entered the bathroom, and in a blink of an eye explosive diarrhea splattered across the bathroom, covering the girl’s clothing, the bathtub rug and virtually every square of tile in the entire room. 

We’ll call this story Monday. (In case you were wondering, I repeated the process of sanitation.  Names of persons have been protected.  If you don’t have children and you find this story gross or inappropriate, good luck in your future.) Since the morning routine had been unusual, getting just two kids ready for school, while trying to separate them from the illness occurring in the same little cottage, when my son arrived home after school, and had been hanging out for over an hour, Remi realized he'd worn his pants backwards, all day long, and the zipper was unzipped in the back, displaying the perfect view of his Big Hero 6 undies.  Wow.

On Tuesday morning, my oldest daughter said to me, “Mom, I want to make a unicorn for my Valentine’s Day box.”  Admittingly, I was up for the challenge but a part of me thought back to simpler times, when I was an elementary-aged child and Pinterest didn’t exist.   We didn’t get samples of the best of the best Valentine boxes ever made in the history of crafting.  

Here came the moment I’d been waiting to happen for months.  Which ‘recycled’ or ‘repurposed’ boxes from my storage closet would be utilized and which ones would be truly “recycled”?  If you missed it, several weeks ago, I wall-posted a friend of mine who happens to be the blogger behind “Save Time, Make Time”.   My predicament was – I long to be a minimalist.  I dislike clutter and too much “stuff”. But I’m not a true minimalist, because I will occasionally buy paper products for convenience and drink out of a plastic water bottle.  I have my shortcomings, as we discovered in ‘Purgeney 2017’.  Regardless, Lamora wrote a spot-on-topic blog focusing on how to organize these items that seem to get tossed into my utility closet into an unruly heap.  Things like plastic bags, used gift bags, grocery sacks (ALDI shoppers unite!), and cardboard boxes.  

After her inspiration, I organized this closet.   I even put a couple of nails into a board 1) to hang my grocery sacks on and 2) to manage clothes to be donated < #organized  - I give a half laugh at that because of the current status of my closet upstairs, it’s better.  After recycling two ginormous bags full of paperwork, but FAR from perfect.  Another side bar, I hate staples.  I broke two nails in the process from ripping staples out of schoolwork.  After I was finished with hours of sorting, organizing, and recycling, there were probably 57 (no joke) staples I had to clean up.  

Did you know you could create a unicorn out of two empty cereal boxes, an empty oatmeal box, and a square kettle box?  You can. Magical crafting supplies include duct tape, a white roll of paper, a variety of colorful crepe paper, and a Sharpie.

I’d done extensive Pinterest research on choice Valentine’s Day boxes.  I had even found a few unicorns but Reis wasn’t impressed she wanted a very specific head-shape, like the unicorn emoji.  So, on her handy, dandy Chromebook (I wonder if modern-day Steve from Blue’s Clues would have a Chromebook?), she pulled up Google Images and showed me.  Maybe I’m not remembering accurately, because it was a few days ago now, but I think at that point there was the sound of dramatic scissor chopping, duct tape tearing, and my eyebrow lifted slightly higher on one side, as I glanced back and forth at my cardboard and at the screen of the “perfect unicorn representation”.

As did my thing, Reis did hers.  She chopped three strips of crepe paper, out of each piece of approximately 18 inches, in each of her desired colors.  She was very particular over this.  She also chopped hearts out of the glitter duct tape, printed her name, and cut small pieces of “frayed” white crepe to add texture on a couple of the sides of the box.  Very clever.

It only took a couple of hours, start-to-finish, and a Dollar General Run for tape, glitter duct tape, and more crepe paper, and it was done.  Voila!  Presto!  

The crown of the unicorn head, (I’m guessing it’s the crown - like a human head), there’s a flap we taped, and double taped, and triple taped  - in every direction – maybe 22 times – to allow entry for Valentines!  

Too much detail?  I apologize.   Let me briefly explain Remi’s Valentine Box (which is actually a bucket).  Sure, this isn’t in chronological order, Remi went with me to the Dollar Store a couple of days before unicorn crafting, to select her supplies.  She, too, had found a great example of a cupcake on Pinterest. She loved it!  The thing is, this pinner somehow had access to a rounded piece of foam and was able to shove all of her pieces of tissue paper into that to secure it.  We had no such luck with a rounded piece of foam.  But while shopping Remi came up with the idea we could probably use a bowl. Best suggestion ever.  We found a cheap plastic bowl, a plastic bucket, tissue paper (ripped into strips), a red bouncy ball, cardstock for the cupcake liner, and about 24 glue sticks to secure the tissue paper to the plastic bowl. Thanks to my husband’s handy work, he cut the perfect circle in the bowl for the “cherry” or the red ball to fit on top. Kids insert their cards and candy through that, and it falls into the “cupcake”.  

This project, too, was a little bit time consuming.  I had a meeting on Monday night so after getting about ¼ of the way through it with Miss Remi, I had a short recess but came right back to hot gluing the night away, when I returned.  Remi helped by gathering a couple of strips of tissue paper in the color she wanted (she wanted a pattern, friends), and folding those, using a small elastic to tie around each piece and fluffing it.  Then I’d place glue and she’d carefully stick it down to the bowl.  She was happy to be able to take it to school the next morning.  

A piano lesson, a basketball practice, a choral performance of the Star-spangled Banner, a basketball game, a trip to the Temple, an afternoon enjoying PERFECT weather, and The Lego Batman Movie.

This was just the latter-half of the week.  A few time slots in our schedule were double-booked.  For example, baseball camp.  Oh, baseball camp.  

I will never be prepared when unexpected tantrums arise.  I have two examples from this weekend.  

This first concerning baseball camp – we arrived on Saturday morning a few minutes later than our goal. There was much scurrying around the house, beforehand, it didn’t help I, personally, was running behind after running. So much so that I didn’t shower… yeah, that happens, a lot.  I sometimes have to blow the sweat dry in my hair, because that’s the only option I have. Saturday mornings seem to be notorious for my children turning off their listening ears.  I only said, “Please get your shoes on.”  or “Get your shoes on.”  or “GET YOUR SHOES ON NOW!” – only like 18x.   I asked my oldest daughter and her friend to straighten up her bedroom and get into real clothes, as opposed to pajamas, because the day was expected to be glorious, as my two youngest and I shuffled out the door, to my younger daughter’s first basketball game of the season.  

Back to where I deviated from when beginning that last paragraph, we had to round up a jersey, go change into it, and by that point, the bleachers were almost full, so Jude and I opted to sit on the floor.  At this moment, Jude realized it was Saturday.  He realized Baseball Camp is on Saturdays.  Then he got really frustrated because he was upset I was prioritizing Remi’s first game over Baseball Camp.  He began to sob stating in between gasps, “I want to go to BASEBALL CAMP!”  Then he began to hit me every 15 seconds or so, out of anger.  He was clearly throwing a tantrum, which I hadn’t seen in months, not even in the privacy of our own home.  Being a child you always pick the most in-opportune moments to breakdown and give the illusion your parents suck and you don’t have to obey rules. There were only like 100+ other parents, grandparents, siblings, and kids, there, witnessing my child’s tantrum.

I didn’t speak under my breath, while gritting my teeth, (although I’ve used that method before, come on, we all have), I just ignored him.  I told him we couldn’t make it this week, we will try to make it next week. I didn’t threaten him (I’ve done that before, too).  I didn’t bribe him (this is my favorite choice while in public).  I just patiently waited until my husband arrived. Usually, I vocalize, “Your dad will be here in five seconds, cut it out.”  But I refrained.  He naturally quit when my husband arrived and said the exact same thing I said to him. “We couldn’t make it this week, we will make it next week.”  

Why does it work for him and not me?  The world may never know, but this is how the dynamics are.  I’ve been told I lack a follow-through.  I threaten but it’s white noise, because my kids know I become soft and don’t follow through with punishment.  It’s honestly because I start considering how my children really are good kids, the choices they’re making are just because they’re independent. Should they respect their parents? Absolutely.  There’s a fine line, friends.  

Remi did great at her first game.  She was a little nervous but she made a couple of baskets and did a good job of listening to instruction.  She loves sports and physical fitness.  

When we returned home, I went to check on the oldest girls and guess what?  They were in their jammies, the room was a disaster, and they were watching a video on the Chromebook.  I reminded them 7x more (give or take), the room needed straightened up and they needed to get out and get some fresh air, but it was like I was speaking a foreign language.  

I bobbed and weaved around the house as I picked up shoes, and random items, wiped down counters, and threw laundry in.  I was trying to expedite the cleaning process so I, too, could get outside and enjoy the beautiful day.  My personality type will not allow me to “enjoy” anything until my tasks are done, otherwise, my stress levels rise.  I don’t think I’m the only one.  

I reminded my oldest, again, and again.  So, I sent my husband a text and said, I’d like for her to get outside but not until her room is cleaned up and she’s ignoring me, Ignoring me while I beat on the door over and over, again, because it’s locked.

A few minutes later, he walked through the door with a drill.  Without saying anything, he unlocked the door, and took the door down, as in removing it.  That was the moment crap it the fan.  This was the most ultimate punishment in the entire world, friends.  You would think that we grounded her for all eternity. Nope, just removed the door.  She had a complete and total meltdown.  The reason I’m saying this isn’t because it’s funny, (it’s a little funny because as an adult human, we know this is minor in an eternal perspective) but to shed light for other parents, sometimes something seemingly subtle can make the biggest different in obedience.  Through the complete meltdown, my husband told her if she changed her behavior he would put the door back on that night, but not until she changed.  

It worked!  It worked!  If you have a tween or an 11 going on 25 year-old, this could help you, too. You’re welcome.

Let me back all the way up to last Sunday, because I finally posted the last blog on Saturday.  Last Sunday, we had our Second Annual Sabbath Bowl!

What is Sabbath Bowl? It’s exactly as it sounds.  We prepped some amazing superbowl-inspired appetizers, quite the spread.  We turned our dining room table into a football field and created two teams. This year it was the Lumpers v. Jedos. A set of Elders (or boy missionaries, as Jude calls them, usually 18+), and a set of Sister Missionaries (girls 19+) that are serving our Ward currently, or the church  building we attend, participated.  My mother attended this year, too.  She has vast knowledge of the Bible and that is our basis, a bible trivia game.  We began with our mini football on the 50 yard-line.  Coin toss gave possession to our starting team who answers questions until they can’t answer or answer incorrectly, gaining 10 yards with each correct answer.  If the question isn’t complete, the other team can intercept the ball.  Gram was on fire.  She carried her team to the lead and maintained a tie.  In fact, they were more than generous during a question for the other team (consisting of all males), or else the girls would’ve clinched the victory.  When the score was tied up the final question was a written question to see how many of the original apostles they could name, accurately.  The Jedos ended up with the win on this one, but Gram was still our Sabbath Bowl MVP for her biblical accuracy.  

This is such a great time that we feel like adding in an Olympic Games or Final Four version of this would be super great.  As soon as it was over I was ready for the Third Annual Sabbath Bowl, next year.  Is this how football fans feel about the Superbowl?  I wonder if next year we should add in some gospel-related commercials, like a mix between Taboo and Charades?  I enjoy doing the sports announcing for this activity.  It’s great to witness this game going down, so much passion! 

Here we are to Sunday, again.  The sun is shining gloriously outside.  I love the sun.  In my mind I wanted to take a family walk, but the wind is crazy out there.  I’m on a gluten-free cake pop kick, not for myself, I can’t eat that on AIP, but for anyone else.  I’m been making them like they’re going out of style.  Also, I found this yummy snack mix recipe that my children enjoy and I gave to our Young Women, at church, today, as a Valentine gift.  It’s super easy to make and it’s gluten-free!  Win-win.

Do you remember that mantra kick I was on a couple of years ago?  Yeah, I think it was right after Time Out for Women, which is coming up, woot-woot! 

Anyway, in my head, I create mantras all of time like self-talk.  Sometimes it’s something like, “You can do hard things” or  “Just breathe.” or “Brussel Sprouts are good. You should like them.”  To be brutally honest, I was on a Brussel Sprout kick and now to think of them makes me want to gag.  Everything in moderation, even Brussel Sprouts.

There is a point, I promise.  The point or quote I recently have discovered and felt impressed to focus on is, “Nothing changes until YOU change.  Everything changes once YOU change.”   Apply that to everything.  To give you a visual or more personal example, consider these areas: Fitness, Health, Diet, Occupation, Education, Church Experience, Work Relationships, Marriage, Personal Relationships, Parenting, Budgeting - I could go on but those encompass a lot.  There’s a video circulating about how blaming lack of motivation is complete crap, as in it doesn’t exist.  This isn’t my advice to you, this is my advice to me.  I just wanted to remind everyone life isn’t perfect, my life definitely isn’t perfect and change is what’s going to make a true difference.  I don’t want to have a perfect life that’s not what I’m striving for, but I am trying to be better than I am, now (note: not better than anyone else but myself).  Progress is important - it’s growth.   Choices are what determine destiny.  

[stevedonnellyfaith-blog]

Family Gatherings (Post 118) 12-2-15

About two months ago Pam's mother Barb let me know about that Pam's Aunt Patty was planning a family reunion for the Saturday after Thanksgiving and asked us if we would be able to make it down.  I told her we would attend as my social calendar is as empty as the state of Wyoming in a spring snow storm.  I think my next semi-firm appointment is my brother's retirement from the Navy this spring. I don't count the plant Christmas party because really that is business.  

I will probably attend that as well, as my office mate has solemnly promised me that he will not twerk this year.  Several people have offered to provide me with video clips of his outstanding performance last year, but I am a "no twerking none of the time" type of guy.  Anyway I guess I have a few things I will be going to this holiday season, but a trip down to Maryland sounded like a good way for Natalie to get to meet more of Pam's family than she has gotten to see since we migrated back East.

Although Abby had made plans to spend Thanksgiving with her friend Tyler in New York City, she arranged her schedule so that she could catch a bus down to Baltimore on Friday morning.  As usual, she had everything about her week in New York and the transit south to meet up with the rest of the family planned down to a tee.  Nicholas also performed to his consistent level of planning efficiency by forgetting to ask off from work at O'Reilly's Auto Parts but that was serendipitous for me as his oversight freed me from having to kennel the two dogs that my middle children conned me into allowing them to purchase nearly two years ago.  One of the two critters is actually lying on my legs and gnawing on a raw hide product as I am typing.

So everything about the trip to Maryland went smoothly unless you count the text message that I got almost immediately after leaving my Ohio house. It was from Tyler who let me know Abby's schedule because Abby had left her phone accidentally in Tyler's dormitory room and was headed to Baltimore incommunicado - something no normal person has considered doing on purpose since 2005.  Unfortunately for Abby, I had goofed off that morning and slept in late enough so that my vector was trailing her now silent arrival into the greater Baltimore area by several hours.  Luckily, Barb was able to coordinate an effective meetup without the need of cellular communication.  I wasn't all that disturbed as the rendezvous was in broad daylight at the White Marsh park-and-drive which, in no way, resembles the hood.

Stephen, Natalie and I arrived at Barb's house a few hours later to find Abby and Denny, Pam's father, binge watching some type of post zombie apocalypse martial arts cable series of which I had never heard.  Abby had planned to stay at the house with Denny, Barb, Pam's brother and his son.  She wanted to do what she could to cheer up Denny who was recovering from shoulder surgery and has been feeling out of sorts.  In retirement Denny likes to keep busy but physical activity does not mix well with a shoulder sling.  My father-in-law looked quite pleased to have his granddaughter handy for watching what looked to me to be the modern equivalent of a spaghetti western.

The rest of us, on the other hand, were scheduled to stay with Pam's uncle Johnnie, a retired probation officer who lives alone in the old house that his father had built for the family fifty or sixty years previous.  Johnnie gets a kick out of Natalie and Abby, but was quite satisfied to have at least one of them under his roof, which is located about twenty minutes away and within a couple of minutes' drive of the family plot where Pam is buried along with her grandparents.  We met up with Johnnie at one of Pam's sisters' houses located another twenty minutes from Pam's folk's house in another direction entirely.  Pam's Baltimore-centric immediate family does a Friday night post-Thanksgiving left-over pot luck that was quite enjoyable.  Plates cleared, we trailed behind Uncle Johnnie, or UJ as the kids call him, back towards his Hanover, MD abode after the dinner broke up.

I stayed up a while talking with him after Natalie shuffled off to her guest bedroom.  Stephen and I were sleeping in the living room.  I enjoy talking to Johnnie as he and I share many interests.  His politics are more conservative than mine and he prefers the Latin Mass only while I am more Catholic with respect to my Catholic masses, but we both share a love for military history.  With regard to the Civil War, he likes the gentility of the Gray while I prefer the idealism of the Blue.  I am forever a Yankee in all respects other than baseball, but Johnnie and I appreciate each other's opinion.  We also share an unspoken camaraderie as circumstances have turned both of our lives into sometimes lonely but not morose slogs in the footprints of those who have preceded us towards and though the veil to eternal life.

We woke up relatively late, breakfasted and made a quick stop at the cemetery for a visit with Pam and her grandparents before heading to the family reunion on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  Natalie was pleased that her memorial stones painted as a butterfly and hamburger were still in the same positions on the graves where she had left them in September.  Some poor soul had pilfered the bronze vase from the marker assembly of Pam's grandmother, but Johnnie was already aware of the desecration and seemed resigned to the fact that we live among a generation of grave robbers.  

After a short visit and no tears we began a much longer car trip than I expected to where Barb's other sibling, Patty, now resides.  Her husband, a twice retired cop - formerly a barracks commander for the State Police and then a County Sherriff - has now found work in an unelected second-in-command at the Sherriff's office of a county that is very close to a place called Ocean City that I had heard of but never visited.  I believe that Ocean City is a Maryland equivalent of the Jersey Shore without as much swearing and orange toner.  That might be an inaccurate characterization as I am a rank amateur with respect to Maryland cultural studies.

The journey did include a fly-by of Annapolis, my stomping ground several decades previous, but mostly the drive broke new ground for me.  I am sure that I probably have been across the Bay Bridge - Chesapeake version, but I didn't really remember the road or the scenery.  I did notice a definite improvement in how property was maintained in the towns of the Eastern Shore in comparison with some of the Baltimore neighborhoods we had driven through the previous day.  Things appeared conservatively well-kept if not crazy wealthy and the drive was a pleasant one.  I was just glad that the reunion was not planned for the summer as there seemed to be only one main drag, Route 50, which probably would be grossly inadequate for the onslaught of weekend beachcombers if we were visiting in the last days of July instead of the final November weekend.

Once we arrived, we enjoyed the party although we found the festivities slightly divided along family lines as many reunions tend to be.  Patty's relatives tended to congregate in the living room and sun room of the house, while her husband's relations mostly conversed in the kitchen and family room.  It was a natural division and an amicable one.  I had joined the family over a quarter century pervious and had encountered a couple of Scott's extended family members less than a handful of times.  

I caught up with the lives of those few that I knew, but mostly played wingman for Johnnie when I wasn't conversing with Abby.  Natalie played with the pack of collective kiddies, while Stephen wandered around the yard which had little bit of a beachhead on a creek-side location that let into a river then into the Chesapeake and eventually into the Atlantic. I was disappointed not to catch of whiff of salt marsh, an odor that evokes my seafaring days.  Unfortunately, this property was more inland and manicured like a golf-course in a tasteful and charming sort of way.  Perhaps Copperopolis, Round Valley and Muir Wood has spoiled me so that I can now only appreciate the breathtaking.  Ohio fall forest colors does fit the bill, though.

While we were frittering through the afternoon in small talk over light snacks, I did catch a bad vibe from Johnnie.  The nexus of his discomfort seemed to be the respective spouses of the brother and sister who had been the flower girl and ring bearer at my wedding what seems like eons ago.  To my eye both had married well.  The ring bearer had picked up the tools of the family trade, a badge and pistol of some sort.  His spouse was a pretty blonde whose slim waist seemed in congruent with her three rug rats that I could see pictured in the family portrait on the coffee table next to where we sat.  His sister had married a nice looking young man that was thoroughly balding but pretty athletic for a posture that was probably pushing thirty-five. I watched him pitch whiffle balls to his two pre-school aged sons alternately.  The younger one was a tiger. 

I didn't see the problem, so Johnnie explained the issue.  Both the spouses were atheists and none of the kids had been baptized.  Under closer observation, I noticed that neither of the spouses really smiled or enjoyed other people. Maybe they were put off by being tertiary participants in a family gathering that didn't interest them, but they seemed to be alone within a large group of joyous people. It is possible that other people were thinking the same thoughts about me, but their separation seemed to be palpably different, and I considered adding the two of them to my prayer list, but I didn't know their names.  Johnnie couldn't provide them, he said that he had never been introduced in the half decade since the two joined the family.  Evidently, both the flower girl and ring bearer live quite close to Johnnie, but there is no contact between them. I expect that UJ is the Godfather of both of them as he is to one of my children.

 The separation seemed strange and disheartening to the both of us.  Both of the little families had raised high bulwarks to prevent any possible intrusion of Jesus Christ. I expect that someday and unforeseen tragedy will visit them in their purposefully insular worlds and they will discover that their walls bricked to keep out Our Savior will unfortunately form a bathtub of pain for them to marinate in.  Neither Johnnie, Jesus nor I are satisfied with that situation, but we respect and disagree with their choices as responsible adults.  

I am not a particularly good prayer warrior, but I do plan to spend some time praying for something to innocuously breach the walls of their atheistic aquaria.  Advent seems like an excellent time to affix our eyes on a better outcome for whatever relatives and friends we have that have chosen problematic paths that are currently orientated away from True North.

[briangroth27]

Supergirl Season 2 Review

Supergirl felt a lot more natural for The CW than CBS, so I was glad it made the move this season. While remaining on its own Earth, I'm glad the show has increased potential to cross over with the other Arrowverse now. I was sure the Invasion crossover would be a Crisis that blended Earths-1 and -38, and I'm glad I was wrong. This way, Supergirl can build its own world while still interacting with Earth-1. And the world building they did in Season 2 was great!

Full Spoilers…

Kara Danvers/Kara Zor-El/Supergirl Kara (Melissa Benoist) setting out at the beginning of the season to find out how to be "Kara Danvers" was perfect, given CatCo Kara was such a real, learned personality last year—not a mask like "Clark Kent" is, which I’ve long thought is a brilliant character choice—and it felt like the right time to develop that part of her life. Kara's reasons for wanting to be a reporter felt right to me, but unfortunately this arc ended up being underserved in the latter half of the season. It started strong, but I feel like the season lost direction for “Kara Danvers” along the way. Perhaps this was due the fact that the villains were driven by Supergirl’s influence on their children and the world moreso than anything Kara did at CatCo. Perhaps if Kara had been working to expose Cadmus or Rhea (Teri Hatcher) as an alien through journalism, that arc would’ve remained strong the entire year. That said, I loved that the season focused on Kara’s influence on others, specifically how her relationships with Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) and Mon-El (Chris Wood) made them better people. The entire Super family is built on believing people can be better and inspiring them to do so, making this a solid theme to cover on Supergirl.

One part of being “Kara Danvers” that hasn’t been covered yet is the darker side of that prospect. Season 1 revealed that Jeremiah (Dean Cain) and Eliza Danvers (Helen Slater) essentially raised Kara to be a human first and a Kryptonian never, given the world already had Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) and they wanted her to walk under the radar. We got a taste of Kara not seeing the Danvers through rose-colored glasses when Jeremiah was working for Cadmus and Kara noticed something was wrong almost immediately. I’m not saying this came from retribution on her part—he is a father to her and the human conditioning wasn’t malicious—but I think there could be some resentment hidden under her surface that needs to be explored. I think we need to see more of Kara confronting her parents about raising her to be someone she’s not, and doing so this year would’ve been a strong parallel arc to Alex’s (Chyler Leigh) coming out story. Supergirl is closer to Kara’s origins than the woman the Danvers raised and has seemed like Kara's way of finding her true self and owning her power up until now. So, while “Supergirl is what I can do, Kara is who I am” is true—and Kara Danvers has been growing to be more assertive as she's gotten more comfortable being out with her powers/heritage as Supergirl—I feel like we've maybe missed seeing scenes where she started seeing CatCo Kara as her real self and Supergirl as just what she can do. Now that she’s gotten to team up with her more famous cousin and save him from Silver Kryptonite (in a fantastic fight!), I hope the hero worship has worn off so we can see Kara confront Clark about abandoning her with the Danvers. Alex brought up the fact that he ditched her this year, but Kara didn’t follow up on it. Coupled with the fact that Kara’s entire mission in coming to Earth was to protect and raise Kal-El, confronting him over the idea that he apparently couldn’t be bothered to return the favor would make for some great drama. I love it when the show balances Kara’s sunny optimism and hope with the fact that she’s faced real tragedy in her life—anytime she tries to talk with her mother’s AI (Laura Benanti) but is met with the computer’s inability to return any emotion is perfectly bittersweet—and I hope the writers continue to mine that drama in every aspect of Kara’s life. The reveal of what kind of man Zor-El (Robert Gant) really was worked against Kara’s memories of him, so I hope they continue to explore that as well. I don’t ever want the show to be as dark as Arrow, but a Flash-like balance of lightness tinged with tragedy would be ideal. I think they’re moving in that direction this season compared to last, so I’m hopeful they’ll explore these drama-rich story threads. Benoist is perfect as Kara and I’d love to see what she can do with personal conflicts like these!

In the move to The CW, some plotlines and characters were quickly shuffled away or undone outright, the biggest being Kara and James’ (Mehcad Brooks) relationship fizzling within the first hours of Season 2. I liked James and Kara’s budding romance in Season 1 and I shipped that relationship back then, but wasn’t heartbroken that they didn’t work out here. I’m glad they were both adults about it, respected each other, and remained friends, but I think that romance’s screentime in the first season deserved a longer fizzle, even if the relationship wasn’t going to last. Trying to make it work despite the dawning realization that they didn’t fit together would’ve paid off the investment Kara, James, and the fans put in last season, and it would’ve played into the realities of being human as Kara tries to “have it all” and realizes the parts don’t always fit together correctly: it’s completely realistic that even though something feels right, it doesn’t work for whatever reason. Maybe James’ secret life as Guardian and possible feelings of inadequacy over not doing as much good as Clark and Kara could’ve also driven their relationship to an early end, since he kept it a secret from Kara. Whatever would’ve finally ended the Kara/James relationship, we should’ve seen why it fell apart in more detail. If nothing else, I can safely say I truly believe James wanted nothing but the best for Kara, even if that wasn’t him.

The far more divisive relationship, Kara and Mon-El, started strong with her teaching him to be a better person and him revealing some uglier prejudices in Kara. I loved that the writers refused to make her hatred of Daxamites a one-and-done issue; instead, it was clearly something she struggled with every day. I didn’t want them to date from day one, but I admit that things like them playing Monopoly, their fun training sessions, and their good chemistry made the idea grow on me. I just didn’t think Kara needed a relationship with her trying so hard to figure out how to balance her Kara and Supergirl lives. I liked that she was struggling to be a reporter and to find out who “Kara Danvers” could be, and she never needed a guy for that. It also didn’t help that Mon-El was so tied to her alien self, which necessarily pulled focus from her Kara Danvers side for the vast majority of his appearances. I believe everyone can improve, and I absolutely believe he genuinely did try to be a better person, so I didn’t have a huge issue with them dating; I just wish they’d kept focus on the rest of her life too. That said, I was pleasantly surprised she asked Mon-El point-blank if he had feelings for her and even more surprised the writers almost never let Kara let Mon-El get away with the problems he brought to their relationship. Every single time—except once, post-breakup—she called him on his crap and he was forced to better himself. Mon-El was legitimately a possessive and jealous jerk at first, and while Kara looks for the best in people and believed he could be a better person—so she probably gave him more slack than a lot of people would have—she always stood up for herself and didn’t lower her standards or feel like a pushover. I really liked that, so I was disappointed when their breakup ended so abruptly with the musical crossover with Flash. Unlike Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris’ (Candice Patton) breakup, Kara and Mon-El’s didn’t feel like a mistake, but like Kara had finally reached the limit of her patience and wouldn’t put up with his issues anymore. His silent admission that he might not have ever told her the truth about being the Prince of Daxam should’ve been the final nail in the coffin, so a magic declaration of love from him (literally the next day in our time, even if it was longer for them) shouldn’t have changed her mind. She did make a comment about dropping a mountain on Mon-El if he lied again, but I felt like there needed to be a bigger conversation between them in the wake of their breakup instead of a quick scene in the next episode where it seemed like him super-loving her and making her a big breakfast made up for everything. It’s one thing for her to have hope in his potential, but another thing entirely to expect her to keep dating him while he continues screwing up in increasingly bad ways. It’s a shame that got swept under the rug so fast, presumably so the drama with Mon-El’s parents wanting to take him away would be bigger. I would’ve liked a twist in “Duet” where the reality of the non-musical world hit Kara and Mon-El to show that the Music Meister might be wrong on this count (a suggestion I liked from Twitter was that Alex’s sisterly love for Kara could’ve been just as strong as Barry and Iris’ romantic love). As much as I was won over by their chemistry, I wouldn’t mind if Mon-El’s banishment prevented him and Kara from getting back together for a long time, if ever. I’m not sold on Mon-El as Kara’s endgame relationship at all (to Benoist and Wood’s credit, though, they made me feel the sadness of his banishment in the finale); it feels too early in the series for that and I’d like to see her date Brainiac 5 or someone else. If Mon-El changes on his journey, we’ll see if that will change my mind on whether I’m reinvested in a future for Kara with him.

One other thing I thought would’ve improved the Kara/Mon-El relationship is the two of them sharing their cultures with each other. Not only would it have been an excellent opportunity for Kara to re-embrace her Kryptonian culture (something I’ve wanted from day one), but it would’ve paralleled real-life relationship culture clashes perfectly to see him wanting to have Daxamite holidays and her preferring to celebrate the Kryptonian way. Those could’ve been fun, relatable speed bumps in their relationship that didn’t rely on Mon-El being a work in progress and would’ve gone a long way to show that—with some shared culture between these neighboring races—there were bigger reasons Kara felt a stronger connection with Mon-El (another member of an endangered species) than James or anyone else she’d dated so far. Seeing more of what Kara lost would also help connect Rhea’s crusade to Kara, giving us a greater instinctive understanding of what the villain was trying to recapture, since we would’ve seen Kara trying to reestablish that for herself throughout the year. It also would’ve connected Kara more strongly to Lillian Luthor’s (Brenda Strong) quest to preserve Earth culture in the face of the alien immigrants.

Like her issues with Daxamites, I loved that Kara’s growing proficiency as a journalist was a hard road to travel. It would’ve been so easy to paint Snapper Carr (Ian Gomez) as irrationally angry like J. Jonah Jameson can be sometimes and allow Kara to ignore his rules and impress him with her moxie or something, but making him right almost every time forced her to grow, just like Mon-El truly wanting to be better forced her to reevaluate her thoughts on Daxamites. For example, even if she knew she was right about a story, there were still journalistic standards she had to abide by. It was also really smart to take Cat’s (Calista Flockhart) offer of any job Kara wanted and turn it around on her as a sign of unearned privilege. I wanted to see more of Kara learning how to be a journalist—I’d even hoped Iris would give her a few pointers in either crossover—and I feel like this was the plot that dropped the ball most this season. While her job as a reporter allowed for some classic superhero undercover work, like visiting Alex and Maggie at a crime scene for a story, it felt like this plot fell to the wayside too often. I don’t know why Kara didn’t continue to work as a blogger after getting fired for posting a story despite Snapper’s dismissal of it. The one time we saw her do just that, it was several episodes later and she got her job at CatCo back for it. In the meantime, I grew very tired of her just hanging out at her apartment with Mon-El instead of doing stories for her blog or even just looking for work (a single line about Snapper blackballing her would’ve been enough to solve that issue, at least). Kara even had a line about being happy she didn’t have a job because she could spend more time with Mon-El, and while I don’t think it was meant to be taken that she’d given up on work altogether—it played mostly like she was reaching to find the positive in the situation—this was about the time that he started to feel like he was holding her back instead of supporting her.

Kara’s Supergirl side fared much better this year. Lines like “It’s hope; how could it be false?” were the perfect encapsulation of what she stands for (along with incorporating her new motto, “Hope, Help, and Compassion for All”). There were several classic Super moments over the course of the season, including Kara “Doubtfiring” as both Supergirl and Kara Danvers at one of Lena Luthor’s events (though I would’ve liked an explanation for why J’onn (David Harewood) couldn’t double her again), Supergirl pulling off huge saves like rescuing a train and stopping a space ship from taking off, entertaining excuses like “Supergirl was getting coffee with Kara,” and fun investigative moments with Mon-El that reminded me of Clark and Lois’ interaction on Smallville and Lois & Clark. Bits like Kara standing up to alien guards without her powers were awesome and I’m always up for seeing Kara use her brain to defeat villains like Mxyzptlk (Peter Gadiot) over her fists. On that note, I feel like both this and (to a lesser extent) Flash have a tendency to make Kara and Barry just the muscle, if only so the rest of their teams have things to contribute (Kara's not really even the leader of her team, J'onn is). That's something I'd like to see remedied in both their upcoming seasons. Perhaps an arc towards leadership is part of Kara’s series-long growth, because we definitely saw her gain confidence this season when it came to her superheroics. Kara telling Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez) she and Barry “feel like we help the world because we do” could’ve easily come off as pompous, but Benoist played it like hard-won confidence instead. That was a nice moment for her, considering how she spent most of Season 1 defending her effectiveness against what everyone thought of Superman; she’s clearly taking none of that anymore. I also wish more heroes would respond like this when confronted with allegations that they’re causing the problems they’re trying to stop. I liked that Kara came off the crossover feeling she should be doing more than just saving cash and jewels from common thugs; that felt real after getting a taste of larger threats. I loved how much focus they put on the effect Kara/Supergirl had on others: perhaps her greatest power, next to her compassion, is her ability to change hearts and minds and inspire people, so it's good to see the show didn't forget to include that…or villainous reactions to it.

Kara being so eager to jump in and help Barry without hesitation was perfect; I love their friendship and I hope we get many more crossovers (or even a CW Seed show like this). The two of them tag-teaming Cyber-woman (Erica Luttrell) and high-fiving was so fun, and their musical crossover was even better! Benoist and Gustin have excellent chemistry, so any time the two of them get to be super friends it’s a delight. On the other hand, I thought Kara’s frustration at Guardian picking up her scraps felt slightly out of place after the massive team-up of the Crossover, but I assumed that not knowing who he was after all this time was actually bothering her more. I loved her confrontations with James when she finally found out: they were very well-written and mature. I do wish he’d invoked Alex and the rest of the DEO as heroes who don’t have powers either, to which she could’ve responded that they’re extensively trained and he isn’t. That just felt like an exchange that could’ve fleshed out both their arguments a bit. I was glad the show took Kara’s side by having Guardian and Mon-El still need her help when Livewire (Laura Prudom) returned; Mon-El was too green and Guardian routinely takes severe beatings as it is, so they shouldn’t have been able to overcome villains with the power levels Kara usually faces. I’m glad Kara and James later came to a better understanding about his need to be Guardian; I thought that whole arc played out very well. I’d still like to see more from the lives of the other heroes Kara works with—the DEO agents—but I’m glad we finally got an official answer as to why Kara only sometimes wears her CatCo disguise at the DEO this year. I’d assumed it was an open secret, but it was nice to have it confirmed as common knowledge within the organization. I’d also like to see Kara take on a bigger leadership role with the DEO or at least as a superhero; moments like the first part of the season finale felt like she took a backseat to everyone else’s plans to deal with the Daxamites.

The aspect of Kara’s Supergirl life that didn’t feel like it got the attention it deserved was her willingness to kill or go along with plans that included killing enemies. Parasite (William Mapother) was her first kill, I believe, but the aftermath dealt with her being proud of Mon-El for being a hero, not the fact that she’d just killed a guy (even considering she warned him to stand down and he continued charging). I’m glad they didn’t try to justify it by saying “he’s not human anymore” (neither is she and aliens have been humanized on the show, so that excuse should never fly), but saying nothing didn’t feel right either and I think that should’ve been dealt with, particularly as she insisted they not kill Mxyzptlk in the very episode where he temporarily brought Parasite back to life. Kara was on board with at least seriously injuring the Dominators and outright killing any Daxamite who couldn’t get off Earth in time with the lead bomb, so the latter instance especially was another missed opportunity to clarify Kara’s morals. While Lillian could’ve brought up breaking the no-kill rule when she mentioned Kara’s politics in the finale (and Kara trying to peacefully persuade Rhea to stand down was a strong moment), I would’ve liked a scene where Kara’s adoration of President Marsdin (Lynda Carter) didn’t stop her from speaking against the plan to commit genocide. There’s also a dark grey area where Kara setting off the lead bomb lead to Rhea’s death, but it was Mon-El who refused to help her escape with the rest of the Daxamites. I do think Kara kicking all the Daxamites off the planet was a stronger moment than Lillian betraying everyone like I thought she would, but they absolutely need to dig into Kara having a hand in Rhea’s death next season. I think Kara and Barry should be heroes who don’t kill ever—they should always find the impossible solution no one else can think of—but if they’re going to, they absolutely need to deal with it. Perhaps they are, and Kara flying into the atmosphere in the final moments (and pushing back her human side in Season 3) is their spin on the Superman “Exile” storyline from the comics.

Alex Danvers I loved Alex’s story this year, with her coming to terms with her sexuality and building a healthy relationship with Maggie Sawyer (Floriana Lima). That was a well-crafted and solidly paced relationship that felt real—the best-written subplot of the season—and I’m very anxious to see if it will survive Maggie not being a series regular next year. Chyler Leigh’s portrayal of Alex’s coming out was excellent and immediately had me invested in them making it work. I was just as thrown as Alex was when Maggie initially shot her down and it was great to see Alex so happy with Maggie once they worked things out! I loved that this arc also brought Kara and Alex closer and paralleled Kara living with her secret, even if they didn’t dig into Kara’s side as much as I feel they could have. I’d missed those Danvers sisters couch moments, so it was nice to see them return. When Jeremiah came back working for Cadmus, both Benoist and Leigh were excellent at running the full gamut of emotions as the two sisters found themselves on opposite sides!

Alex was consistently awesome when it came to action sequences, like taking down Cadmus’ facility and keeping herself alive after being kidnapped. Creating a life jacket out of her pants was nothing short of brilliant! It’s no surprise that both Alex and Maggie were total badasses in the Daxamite siege, but that Alex/Kara “Meet me outside!” extraction from the compromised DEO was nothing short of spectacular! I do wish Alex could’ve taken part in the crossovers; I’d love to see her reaction to the Earth-1 heroes and ARGUS and she absolutely should’ve been a part of breaking Kara out of the Music Meister’s induced coma. That she wasn’t at least there to stay with Kara felt very wrong. I’d also like to see how Alex relates to the DEO agents besides J’onn and Winn (which was a fun, unexpected bit of chemistry), even if they’re just small moments. As second-in-command, she should know most if not all of them and it’d be fun to get glimpses into any friendships she may have at work.

J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter I’m a fan of the calm, composed presence Harewood brings to J’onn and the fatherly relationship he has with Kara and Alex. That said, giving him some friction with characters who aren’t White Martians was a good change of pace. I liked J’onn’s established history with Clark and their problems over J’onn keeping a cache of Kryptonite, but at the end of the season’s first two episodes their issue was resolved too easily. Even though the tension was mostly external to the two of them—Superman was worried the order to use the Kryptonite against himself or Kara would come from J’onn’s superiors even if he knew the Martian wouldn’t use it himself—it seemed like it had existed for years, so just handing the Kryptonite back to Superman to resolve it felt a little underwhelming. I thought J’onn’s relationship with M’gann M’orzz (Sharon Leal) was much better developed, even if it didn’t go where I thought it would. J’onn’s relief and excitement over meeting another surviving Green Martian was palpable and it was nice to see him so thrown and hopeful at the same time. I’d expected something like Young Justice’s younger take on Miss Martian, so seeing her and J’onn start dating was a shock that I thought worked well regardless of my expectations. That whole arc gave J’onn some solid growth—his learning to trust a White Martian nicely paralleled Kara learning to trust a Daxamite—and I really hope she comes back often in Season 3.

J’onn made a comment this year about Kara helping him to accept himself, which was a nice touch, but I really wish we’d seen more of that either this year or last. That could’ve been a cool counterpoint to Kara digging into Kara Danvers this year, to Alex dealing with her sexuality, and to Kara helping Mon-El to acclimate to Earth. My least favorite J’onn moment this year also involved Kara, when he told Mon-El to keep her under control and safe; in no world would that need to happen. That felt way out of character, even for a protective father figure like J’onn. I really enjoy J’onn’s easy friendship and rapport with Jeremiah, so it was a shame for things to go the way they did when Jeremiah turned on everyone to protect his daughters from Cadmus. I thought his motives seemed more sinister than that explanation, but I hope he and J’onn can repair this rift. I would’ve liked to see a similar rift explored further between J’onn and Alex when he impersonated Jeremiah to test her loyalty. The pull between her two “dads” could’ve made for some interesting drama. It also would’ve been nice to see when Alex and J’onn got back to running the DEO. Even though their search for Jeremiah was cut short last year, there was a slightly awkward jump from Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan Tatum) running things to them taking over again. I assume Lucy is still running the DEO’s cave bunker, but some mention of her current status would’ve been nice.

Lena Luthor Katie McGrath seemed to have a blast playing Lena and she got some great lines, like "That's the difference between us: I've never stood behind a man" and responding to "I'm a black belt” with “I'm a Luthor!” I really liked McGrath as Lex Luthor’s sister and I loved that Kara found real friendship with her. It was cool that Kara talking to and trusting this Luthor made things turn out differently than between Clark and Lex. I feel like Superman might unintentionally come off as high and mighty whereas Supergirl doesn’t, so simply talking and listening may have made all the difference here (to say nothing of the fact that Lena has a much smaller ego than Lex). I certainly hope Kara and Lena’s friendship continues, and that Kara’s trust in her is justified. Lena’s a great improvement over Max Lord (Peter Facinelli) and I liked that she was genuinely trying to redeem the Luthor name, though the show was smart about playing her intentions close to the vest early on, like when she set a trap for a gang of thieves when it seemed like she was setting one for Kara. It was funny to me how closely Lena’s history and the Luthor vibe in general paralleled Tess’ (Cassidy Freeman) past and the Luthors (Michael Rosenbaum, John Glover) on Smallville, as did James telling Kara that Clark and Lex used to be best friends. The Luthor mansion even looked like it could’ve been a room from the Smallville mansion. I loved Smallville, so stylistic shout outs like that and Lillian getting her name from that show made me smile.

I wonder what Lena will get up to now that she knows she’s the only one who can access Lex’s bunkers assuming he has others). There was a scene with a chess board that seemed to imply she thought of Supergirl as “her” knight, and I wonder if that will come to mean more than “Supergirl’s in my corner.” I don’t want her to follow Lex’s path, though. I liked that Rhea used Lena’s need for a positive parental figure to win her over and that was a smart plot connection between the season’s two villains, even if Rhea and Lillian didn’t get to meet face to face. I was also impressed Lena so quickly uncovered Rhea’s real identity and kicked her out. After being kidnapped and almost forced to marry Mon-El, Lena casually strolling down an alien hallway while he struggled to take out a Daxamite guard was funny, as was hacking a computer terminal with her tiara. Since Lena knows Mon-El is an alien and has met him as “Mike,” she has to at least strongly suspect Kara is Supergirl, right? I liked Lillian’s reasoning for not telling Lena about Kara, but I don’t think Lena will have the negative reaction her mother is hoping for.

James Olsen/Guardian I thought getting to run CatCo was a nice extension of James trying to do more than photography last season, but this plot was far too rushed and ignored in favor of Guardian to really work. They should’ve spent more time with James learning the ropes at CatCo before switching to trying to be a vigilante upon realizing he still doesn’t feel like he’s doing enough. Even if he totally failed at running the place, they should’ve stuck with the plot (which also could’ve opened avenues for Kara to spend more time there). Snapper’s curt reactions to how James wanted to run things worked just as well as they did for Kara (for as long as they lasted, anyway): again, he was in the right and James had to learn from him. 

Despite rushing through the CatCo business to get to it, I think Guardian’s the strongest material James has had on the show so far. I didn't think I'd be down with Olsen trying to be a vigilante, but Brooks’ acting and the writing in scenes where he had to justify himself to Winn (Jeremy Jordan) and Kara brought me around. I thought tying so much of his vigilantism to his father’s camera was a little heavy-handed, but I liked the idea behind honoring his dad. It also makes sense that he'd want to do more when all his best pals are superheroes. James' insecurities over people's love of the Supers vs. their fear of him played really well into classic Jimmy's persona and subtly reflected the double standards real-life society puts on white and black criminals (routinely showing black kids' mugshots and white kids' graduation or Facebook Profile pictures on the news, for example). I don’t think the people of National City were scared of him because he's black of course, but I do think there was a parallel to that in there. On a general superhero level, this was a really effective way of displaying why Kara and unmasked heroes inspire trust and hope while angry masked vigilantes don't; disputing the effectiveness of Batman (at least in a place like National City) without actually needing Batman. It was also cool that Guardian got to touch on the importance of representation in our superheroes, since Marcus (Lonnie Chavis) would only open up to James because he saw something familiar in him. I’m interested to see where they’ll take Guardian, but I’d like them to balance that with James at CatCo so he can interact with people as a reporter (or similar position) again; he seemed to miss just talking to people and hearing/telling their stories.

Winn Schott Winn working with the DEO is exactly what I was hoping for from his character and I'm glad they did it. He makes so much more sense there than at CatCo. I would've liked to see his official recruitment, but ultimately that didn’t matter. And who knew Alex and Winn would have such great chemistry? Winn’s interactions with James were also very well done; Winn yelling at James to cool his jets until the Guardian suit was complete was his second-best moment on the series (the first was everything involving his father last year). Winn’s concern for his friend was palpable and raw, and I’m glad that the Guardian plot brought these moments out for both of them. It was also a plus that they weren’t stuck in a love triangle again, since that defined their characters so much in Season 1.

Working with the DEO seems like it made Winn grow up a lot and I was impressed. His dating advice to Mon-El was actually really good. I’m glad that his almost childlike wonder didn’t go away with his newfound maturity either; his reaction to meeting Superman was perfect (as was Clark’s simple kindness in the face of that fanboy love), and there was such love in his eyes when Mon-El came to save him while quoting Star Wars. After hating him and his toxic crush on Kara last year, I’d say Winn is easily the most-improved character this season.

Mon-El At first, I thought Mon-El was the weakest link of the season, since Cadmus was more compelling and the reaction he provoked in Kara—her struggle with her anti-Daxamite prejudice—was more interesting than he was as a character. His adjustments to Earth culture were fun and it was nice to see Kara give mentoring a go, since that’s why she was sent here, but I didn’t want them to date (even seeing the Romeo/Juliet plot coming with Krypton and Daxam). I felt their chemistry felt more like an older sister/younger brother at first but it changed over the course of the season and their cuter moments won me over. I was surprised he was so shy about remembering their first kiss, but maybe not just announcing it and demanding what he wanted was one of the first signs that he really was changing. It’s worth noting that Kara was right about him becoming a better person: his honesty about being so possessive on Daxam being the “easier” path meant he’s genuinely trying not to be that person anymore. I absolutely disagree with a large section of the internet’s assessment that he was abusive to Kara; certainly not physically, he wasn’t emotionally manipulative, and she never let him get away with anything in their relationship (until “Duet,” which I’ve already stated was a problem, but I don’t think it was abuse). Even though I ultimately enjoyed their chemistry and relationship (minus the post-musical reunion and him potentially holding her back job-wise), I would’ve been fine with Mon-El going off to build a better Daxam. If M’gann can go help her people find a better way, why not him? He’d be fulfilling what Kara saw in him and had been nurturing all season. However, a permanent ban from the planet does make for more drama and it didn’t seem like the Daxamite army was going to listen to a kinder, gentler Mon-El anyway. According to the comics, he has a much bigger destiny in store, so it’ll be cool that Supergirl’s influence on him might essentially create the Legion of Superheroes on this Earth.

Maggie Sawyer I liked Maggie a lot; admittedly I don’t know much about the character in the comics, but Lima brought just the right mix of street smarts, compassion, and boldness to the role. She and Chyler Leigh also had great chemistry and I liked that Alex helped Maggie to open up again. I hope she returns early and often next season. I also hope she says yes to Alex’s proposal, but not answering and leaving it on a cliffhanger made me feel like maybe she won’t want to make that commitment. That’d be sad; it’s clear she loves Maggie and I can’t imagine why she’d say no. We’ll get to meet Maggie’s dad this year, so I can’t see how that affects her relationship with Alex. Regardless, it’ll be really good to dig into her personal life a bit more.

Beyond a stellar arc with Alex, the other invaluable thing Maggie brought to the show was the woman on the street perspective. Outside of people like Cat Grant and Max Lord commenting on Supergirl last season, we didn’t really get an in-depth look at what the citizens thought about Kara’s alter-ego. Even CatCo’s employees and Kara’s fellow DEO agents seem detached in this area and don’t really seem to have opinions (something I’d like to see remedied), but Maggie brought all that to the show and into Kara’s face. I loved that she introduced a “how legal are Supergirl’s arrests?” question and I hope they continue to explore things like that. Supergirl swooping in and stopping a hostage situation Sawyer and the National City PD had been working on for hours—frustrating Maggie—was another great point of conflict. Questions about the best use of superheroes’ time—should they just stick to fighting supervillains or should they handle street-level crime that’s beneath their powerset?—aren’t often asked in movies and TV, and I hope that Maggie continues to bring these questions up. The question of how much Kara should be helping National City before she stunts its growth is a fascinating one, and Maggie is just the person to ask it.

I also liked Maggie and Kara clashing over the best way to save Alex when she was kidnapped and their eventual bond from the experience. It was cool that they learned from each other’s opinions on how to deal with the situation, and to see each of their struggles with breaking the law to rescue Alex. I did wish Maggie hadn’t bashed Kara’s glasses disguise, though. That’s something the show should lean into instead of calling it out as pointless; even having Maggie say something as simple as “once you know, it’s kinda obvious” would’ve been enough.

M’gann M’orzz/Miss Martian I was stoked for Miss Martian to appear on the show ahead of the season—she’s been one of my favorites since Young Justice introduced her to me—and Sharon Leal didn’t disappoint. She played the crushing guilt of being part of a race that tried to cleanse Mars of Green Martians (even if she herself didn’t want to participate in the slaughter) very well, to the extent that I think she was trying to goad J’onn into killing her when she served him up to Roulette (Dichen Lachman). That sort of pain and guilt was something I hadn’t seen in the character to this extent before and I was glad Supergirl dug into it. That she literally got trapped in a coma by her guilt, necessitating J’onn to go in and rescue her, was a brilliant way heal the rift between them and to externalize her turmoil (ironically by internalizing her psyche).

I was hoping Miss Martian would play a larger role this season, particularly that she and Kara could become close friends and bond over being aliens with powers on this planet. I’d still like to see that in the future; they’ve got so much in common yet are such opposites that it’d be a great friendship to explore. I was sorry to see M’gann head back to Mars, but I love the idea that she’s going to try and lead her people on a better path. I do think they laid it on a little thick about J’onn inspiring her to be a hero, though. She’d turned on her people to try and save Green Martians from death 300 years before she even met him! He inspired her to stop running and feeling guilty, sure, but she was a hero long before that. I can’t wait to see what she’s like after her mission is fully complete and I’m glad it has hope in people at its core; Kara would be proud! Her return in the finale with an army of reformed White Martians was a great surprise and an awesome sign that her mission isn’t hopeless!

Lillian Luthor I was surprised the cool, calculating, evil mad scientist leading Cadmus was Lena’s mom, but that was an awesome twist! Her mistrust of aliens makes so much sense when you consider she’s basically echoing what Lex is always spouting about Superman; he must’ve gotten it from her. Like the rest of the Luthor presence on this show, Lillian and Lena’s relationship felt right out of Smallville’s Luthor playbook, and that’s a great place to go for inspiration IMO. Her skewed view of Lex’s downfall was perfect and I really liked all her plans with Cadmus this season. I wasn't expecting telepathic murders and it was cool to see Cadmus using alien tech! Bringing her back to team up with Kara and the DEO against the Daxamites made perfect sense and I loved that Kara’s very existence was so against Lillian’s views. Not only did she represent the alien menace, but Kara “corrupted” her daughter away from the Luthor way of doing things, making Lillian’s vendetta against Kara both personal and philosophical. Brought to life by a perfectly evil performance from Brenda Strong, Lillian and Cadmus might be my favorite Supergirl villains so far.

Queen Rhea I definitely didn’t expect Teri Hatcher to be playing an alien here, but she was great and felt totally natural as a ruthless queen! Rhea worked really well as a parallel to Lillian—she was trying to protect her race and ended up “losing” her child to Kara’s influence—and as a good villain in general. I liked that Cadmus attacked what Kara is and her right to be here, while Rhea attacked who she is (both as a Kryptonian and a hero defending Earth) and both of them clashed with what Kara inspired in others. Positioning Kara between two women who believe in their planet before all others was a great idea, as was making it personal because they saw Kara as “poisoning” their children and turning them against them. I loved the revelation that Daxam was a party planet for the express purpose of keeping its population stupid and easily manipulated. Her plan to set Mon-El up as a “new” kind of leader while actually embracing the same old systems also felt like a clever spin on modern politics. I had a feeling Rhea would kill her husband (Kevin Sorbo), but I didn’t expect her reaction to Mon-El turning his back on them to include a trip in a cage back to New Daxam. I liked that for how similar she was to Lillian, Rhea was even more horrible when it came to her child disobeying her wishes. I also liked that Rhea seemed to genuinely respect Lena at least a bit; that added a layer to their interaction even if Rhea was also totally using Lena for her technology and as a symbolic sign of the union between Daxam and Earth. I expected her to have a secret army, but I didn’t expect so many ships! The invasion was a great step up from the Kryptonian attacks last year and while I would’ve liked Kara to use more ranged attacks like heat vision and ice breath in her final fight with Rhea (particularly after Rhea revealed her Kryptonite-laced blood), the season came to a very satisfying conclusion. I was hoping Rhea would survive the season and I was sorry to see her go. I also really wish they’d found a way to reunite Hatcher with Dean Cain on screen.

Cat Grant I missed the Cat/Kara mentoring scenes from Season 1, caused by Flockhart's reduced role due to the production’s move to Vancouver, but it was also good to shake up that area of Kara's life even more. Snapper challenged Kara in ways Cat never did, so losing Cat’s support at CatCo—particularly with James also distracted by his Guardian duties—was good for Kara. That said, Cat’s return in the final two episodes of the season was very welcome and I loved bits like her conversation with Kara outside the bar. Telling Kara what she’d learned about the secret to happiness—it’s human connection, so wanting to rescue the people she loved wasn’t selfish, it’s everything—was a great moment. Cat’s interactions with Winn and James at the DEO were great, particularly her recognizing James’ eyes through the slits in his mask. Her constantly hitting on Clark is fun too. Cat’s diffusion of the Marsdin/Rhea standoff felt a little cheesier; I liked the intent, but it felt like it went on for too long and I’m glad Rhea didn’t go for it. I will say that was one of several moments this season where I was acutely aware that there was no one but powerful women on screen, and that was an awesome realization! I wonder if Cat knows Clark is Superman, because she finally revealed that she knows Kara is Supergirl (to us, anyway). I didn’t need her to know, but I’m glad that question has finally been answered. I liked her parting advice and pep talk for Kara, and I definitely appreciated that it was a fire that pulled Kara away: she committed to her Kara Danvers persona by ignoring a fire when she was first hired by Cat, and now she’s fully embraced her role as Supergirl (and, from what we know of Season 3, she’s actively pushing away her human side).

Superman I like this version of Superman a lot. It was definitely time for us to meet him and he didn’t disappoint! Asking Kara to tell him about Krypton at the end of his second episode was a great touch; the fact that she knew things about Krypton that he didn’t was one of the areas Smallville failed to cover when they introduced Supergirl. I just wish we’d gotten to see that conversation. I also felt like they did an excellent job of showing Superman was the more seasoned superhero without making Kara look inept. Both onscreen and off, Hoechlin made a point to be clear that it was Supergirl’s show, and that definitely translated into his generous performance as Superman. Beyond that, from the superheroics to Kara’s frustration with everyone fawning over Superman (and Clark), his team-ups with Kara were simply fun. He also shared some great insight with her and I hope he gets to return next season. I thought for sure the WB wouldn’t let Supergirl use him much due to the Justice League movies—I even thought he’d die in the crossover if it were a Crisis—and I’m extremely happy to be wrong.

Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers It was good to see Eliza back and doing science with the DEO this year! I’d like to see her become a recurring consultant for the agency. Eliza telling Jeremiah that they needed “to learn each other again” when he suddenly reappeared was a brilliantly realistic way of handling his absence that totally took me by surprise. I’m sorry we didn’t get to see that this year and hope we do next year, even if it doesn’t end up working out.

Dean Cain should be on the show more often! I liked that they let him play some darker shades of Jeremiah this year and he did it well. I knew something was fishy the way Kara and Mon-El left Jeremiah in a hail of bullets that didn’t seem to be hurting him during their escape from Cadmus. I didn't expect him to be a cyborg upon his return, but I liked it. I was honestly surprised Jeremiah really was fully coerced to help Cadmus, since he’d seemed darker in the previous episode. I was sorry to see Jeremiah shuffled off into captivity again after the attempted alien exodus plot and I hope he comes back soon. His relationships with Kara, Alex, Eliza, and J’onn are still full of potential drama that could and should be mined in the near future.

President Marsdin Lynda Carter was good as President Marsdin and I liked the callbacks to her time as Wonder Woman ("You should see my other jet" and Kara putting out a fire by spinning). I loved that Kara was such a fangirl of her character, though like I said earlier, I wish they’d let Kara overcome that when it came time to plan the attack on the Daxamites. That said, I liked her motives for taking quick action; this is maybe the first time I’ve seen a "shoot first and kill them all" President's motives that didn’t play like they were evil and corrupt. I'm not sure I like that she's secretly an alien, though. It may’ve been a stronger arc if everyone knew she were an alien but not everyone was ready for an alien president (they’d have to say she was born on Earth, of course). I also feel like her pro-alien stance would mean more if she weren't an alien herself; aren’t all of her pro-alien policies going to be criticized as self-serving rather than truly progressive if she’s ever discovered? …Though that could also easily parallel backlash to President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and any other progressive politicians and policies that try to create equality instead of continuing to support systemic oppression of anyone who isn’t white, straight, and male. I wonder if she’ll be impeached if/when the general public finds out she's not human; that seems like a powder keg that has to go off. Could it be big enough to start a civil war?

Other Allies Meeting Zor-El was overdue and having him create Medusa was a smart twist. I hope he continues to appear, because we haven’t seen much of Kara missing her birth father yet. It was great to see Vasquez (Briana Venskus) back at the DEO; I’d still love an episode focused on her and other DEO agents to see how they view Supergirl and other heroes. Are they like Maggie, and think it’s annoying that the Supers swoop in to take the glory they’ve worked hard for? Are they bitter that she sometimes isn’t in as much danger as they are? The addition of Eve Tessmacher (Andrea Brooks) as Cat and James’ assistant was a fun shout-out to the Superman movies. I’d like to see her get some more depth, but I was glad that even though she was into “Mike,” she didn’t fight Kara over Mon-El. That was a smart move on the writers’ parts. “Clark’s friend” who projects fear and uses gadgets has got to be Batman, right? There were at least three references to him on the show this season. When can we get a Kara and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl team-up?

I initially thought Lyra (Tamzin Merchant) was a bounty hunter sent to capture Mon-El, then I thought they might be setting up a discrimination subplot about humans and aliens dating (I was looking for a larger use for her character beyond just dating Winn). I didn’t expect Cadmus to be trying to force her and all the other aliens off the planet! I wasn’t too invested in her pulling heists to save her brother—I think I’ve seen enough of Winn being in sad romances—but I was glad she turned out to be good in the end. Lyra getting angry at Winn when he told her she couldn’t fight crime with him and Guardian because she was too violent felt like it should’ve been more of a problem for James taking on a partner rather than leveraging her relationship with Winn for drama, so that wasn’t very successful in my eyes either. Any character can improve, so I’d be willing to see where they take her next year if they bring her back. Brian (Josh Hallem) the alien snitch is also a fun recurring character I wouldn’t mind seeing more of. I enjoy how easily he can bridge Maggie’s down-to-Earth police side, the DEO, and Supergirl’s more superhero-oriented worlds.

Other Villains Harewood may not like playing Hank Henshaw, but I think he’s entertaining. I do agree that the cybernetic eyepiece looks a little cheesy, but not too bad. I’d like to see more of Henshaw on his own and forming his own plots, though. I’ve long wanted to see Metallo explore the loss of humanity he felt on Superman: The Animated Series, but with John Corben (Frederick Schmidt) dead here and cybernetic body parts in great abundance, perhaps Henshaw could take that on instead. He’s got Metallo’s evil cyborg role down already and also has a personal vendetta/connection to J’onn. There’s definitely territory to explore with why he sees himself as an equal to Superman and his hatred of aliens. Perhaps he thinks cybernetic enhancements are the only way to keep up with the growing alien presence on Earth. Whatever the case, I’d love an episode devoted to exploring him.

I liked this version of John Corben. His origins mirrored the Animated Series well and he was fun cannon fodder. I liked Metallo's return and enjoyed the run-up to his "death"—who knows if he's really gone—but since they established that anyone can be a Metallo, I don't think he was as much of a case of missed potential as I did Parasite. I liked the vast majority of what they did with Parasite, with the exception of his death. Beyond the issues with Kara killing him (I wish they'd at least tried to contain him somehow), I think there was more to explore with Rudy Jones: the use/misuse of power could have more directly tied into Mon-El's arc and stealing power versus using it selflessly like Kara does would’ve been an interesting contrast. At least this Parasite was a member of an alien race, so they can always have another worm show up (the Thing homage was pretty cool!). Perhaps bits of him survived and infected the bystanders when he “died,” creating the other Parasites from the comics. At first I thought the climate change angle was a little weak (if timely), but then I realized it paralleled Kara's attempts to save the world. I also love that we got a full-on purple monster version of Parasite here!

The use of Livewire this season totally surprised me; I thought she was able to give her power to minions and didn't expect her to be the victim. That was a great twist! Kara's very-Return of the Jedi moment where she chose to believe the best in Livewire was also cool. I'd like it if Livewire became something like Kara's Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller), even if she never becomes as heroic as he did. Playing Mr. Mxyztplk as an insane Disney prince was a really fun choice! I hope he comes back, both because they can do anything with him and because he had great chemistry with Benoist. He allows for some great comedic moments and off-the wall Silver Age zaniness and they should lean into that. I’m always down for a White Martian invasion, and the Thing homage with a White Martian impersonating one of the DEO agents was great (as was Jeremy Jordan playing evil!). This version of Roulette was a good small-scale enemy. I’d like her to continue to return in any number of criminal enterprises; I like that she diversifies. I really liked the twist that Jack Spheer (Rahul Kohli) wasn't the bad guy he seemed to be and I liked his past with Lena a lot. Also, his sci-fi technology was so cool! Rick Malverne (David Hoflin), Alex’s stalker/kidnapper, was another surprisingly strong one-off villain. His connection to the Season 1 flashback of Kara saving people from a car wreck was clever, and I was impressed by how smart they made him. His back and forth with the DEO and unwillingness to break and tell them where Alex was unless his father was broken out of prison contributed to one of the show’s most dangerous villains yet. I loved that Kara was able to get through to his father (Gregg Henry) to eventually stop him before he killed Alex, and I’m glad that his memory was erased. He was a great villain, but I don’t think a return would have the same impact his actions in “Alex” did.

General Notes I liked the shift in filming style that came from the move to The CW. I don’t know if they’ve switched to the stunt teams the other CW DC shows use now or if they’ve just gotten more ambitious with using the full range of Kara’s powers mid-fight, but while they were never bad in Season 1 the fights looked even better this year! I rarely like slow-motion breaks in fights, but they weren’t too distracting here. I wouldn’t want them to become the norm, though. There was some spotty CGI, but it didn’t bother me; I’m amazed we’re getting such great comic book action on a weekly basis! And there was also some great CGI, like Parasite! The alien worlds and technology the show incorporated also felt realistic and tangible. I liked the new DEO building and the expanded use of the Fortress of Solitude as well. The locations they kept didn't look jarring compared to their location shots and the production seemed pretty smooth. The pacing on all of The CW’s superhero shows has always felt very good to me: though they’re only 42 minutes an episode, more often than not they feel like a lot happens in them.

The alien acceptance plot was well-written and nicely relevant to current politics. Personalizing it through Kara and Mon-El, J’onn and M’gann, Lillian vs. aliens, and Rhea vs. extinction was great too. After the Daxamite invasion, I can’t wait to see how human/alien relations develop in the coming season. The alien bar was a cool addition and I’d love to see more of the alien subculture that’s developing in National City, as well as humans’ reactions to it (both positive and negative). The mix of Cadmus in the first half of the season and Rhea in the second—united by the aliens vs. humans plot and themes—was a good start to breaking up the seasons. I still want long seasons, but one villain over the whole year might not always work and this was a good way to utilize two great enemies.

The finale’s siege of National City was awesome and I loved all the mini battles. I like that they took the time to have Clark and Kara convince Cat to disperse any potential bystanders too. However, I would’ve had the lead bomb go off on top of the building instead of in Lillian, Lena, and Winn���s faces. Lead’s toxic to humans too, so while I can by that this only increased the content in the atmosphere enough to kill Daxamites but not enough to poison humans, having it explode in their faces was a little too big a stretch.

I wish Supergirl had had more to do with the CW mega-crossover, but I liked that Barry and Cisco’s (Carlos Valez) attempts to open a portal to Kara’s dimension still played into the plot to a small degree. They even saved Kara at one point! It’s unfortunate the CW hyped it as a 4-show event so much and they included the Kara/Barry/Cisco scene in the Flash portion too, making Supergirl’s contribution to the crossover inessential. This was apparently caused because they’d planned the season out before they knew Supergirl would be moving, so hopefully viewers weren’t turned off and Supergirl is much more integral next season. That said, Kara meeting all the Earth-1 heroes and her reactions to them—particularly Heatwave’s (Dominic Purcell) origin—were perfect! It was clear the writers were having a blast pairing Kara up with all the other heroes and I’m definitely hoping we get more team-ups in the future. I’m glad the crossover ended with Kara able to dial up Earth-1 anytime she wants, so there’s no need for Barry or Cisco’s direct involvement due to a specific plot to justify her crossing over. Also, the LEGO Batman/CW heroes crossover ads after the episodes were so fun!

Despite some missteps in Kara’s arc—particularly her journalism career and an eventually problematic relationship with Mon-El—I thought this was a great season! It was an excellent step forward from last year (which I also liked a lot). I don’t remember anything about Reign (Odette Annable) from the comics, but I’m interested to see how she plays into Season 3.

I can’t wait to see what else the coming year brings!

[childrenofathoria-rp-blog]

◆Out Of Character Information◆

Name/Age: Katie, 22 Preferred Pronouns: She/Her Timezone: CST Desired Character: Shiva

◆Character Information◆

(1) What pronouns will your character be using? Would you like to list their sexuality at this time?: 

She/Her – Bisexual For Shiva, she has always felt a draw to the beauty of the human body, no matter what gender they present themselves as. She is one that is entranced by the outward appearance of someone, being drawn into characteristics of beautiful skin, hair, teeth, etc.

(2) Any changes or comments? Completely happy with it all.

(3) Why this character? 

The process of finding the perfect character was definitely a hard one. At first, I found myself diving into a plethora of characters while knowing Shiva was there. Shiva herself resonates with me a lot in many different ways, which put her back a little bit. I recently took a writing hiatus, having lost muse and faith in myself. It wasn’t until writing Shiva’s para sample that I began to see the beauty in her and through a therapeutic sense, I began to love her more deeply with each word I wrote.

Typically, I always write the anti-hero, making a character like Shiva one of the few on my list to write. But as I’ve been changing as a writer and as a person, I see more authenticity and reliability with a character like her. I’m excited to expand with someone much more internal than one who’s filled with a plethora of one-liners, and in the end, I think our transition together will be a quite beautiful one.

There’s a significant beauty that lies in the character of Shiva that helps you respect the way that the mind works while still getting to indulge in the happenings of a fantasy world. I think there’s so much to do with her in the future that not only involves the growth of her connections, but also her own internal and personal maturing. I’m excited to see where Shiva takes me as well as herself in with this new season. And I think together we can work and become a great duo in Athoria.

(4) Interpret this character:

Shiva has never quite felt herself, even as a child. While the truth being her species was kept from her until she was an age that understood the power behind a secret, it never quite helped the dissociation that came with being a Hybrid for her. While Hybrids cannot change like the generations that brought them to be, they mimic some of the same symptoms and skillsets, which for Shiva can come off with her mind dissociating and not feeling as though she is who’s she’s supposed to be.

Because of this, she wonders if a life as a full blood Werewolf would change her disposition. But even with that thought as a fix to one of her most nervous characteristics, she hasn’t acted upon any of this in years since the idea first came to her mind. With this being said, that is another great habit of Shiva. When she is aware of a problem at hand that doesn’t deal with work or the practice of coin making, it’s very rare that she acts upon the logical response. It’s that doubt that she is who she feels like, a wandering mine looking for something to feel right rather than to know it’s right.

While Shiva has a very small demeanor and stature, her personality is much bigger than she is. The great abundance of personality is one of the few things she can attach to, even if it truly isn’t her own. At times, it can seem as though she switches from a timid, shy mouse into a loud, overbearing woman. The change comes from her drastic inability to pin down her own personality, always wavering on the woman she wants to be.

It is this that comes in handy with her work. For the people she wants hustle from, she can bark commands like none other. But when trading or attempting to find a deal, her timid voice can win over anyone with even the bat of her eyes. This also seems to work whenever she’s on a quest to find a suitor, may it be even for one night. Shiva’s shape shifting personality is one of her best and worst characteristics.

Another big part of her character and dissociation is her habit of never being in one place for a long period of time. While she simply adores life in Dragos, she does spend lots of her time traveling to mines and finding newfound types of metals, ores, and everything in between. It’s her lust to find home even though she likes to convince herself that Dragos is just that. This feeds into the wandering soul in hopes of a Pack of which Shiva subdues with human affections rather than the root of the problem. One of the only times she is truly content and stable in herself is around the Anshega Pack. It’s there that she feels as though she is finally surrounded by people who understand her.

This comes from her childhood, especially with her mother. While she never truly had a father figure (something she blames her inability to settle down on), Shiva’s mother was always intensely direct about covering up any of her Hybrid tendencies. A lot of her abilities and skills were pushed under the rug and seen as something bad or immoral about her. For the longest time as a child, Shiva grew up with the fear that she was a monster. It wasn’t until meeting the Pack and spending time with her grandfather that she started to treasure her talents, this leading to her playing games with the men in town, winning her the position with the Mint she now has.

It’s the childish nature in Shiva that adores games, still to this day. While she couldn’t encompass her Hybrid skills at a young age, she focused most of her time on games, whether they were played with other kids or alone. Even herself has become quick and talented with shuffling cups and items beneath, something she taught herself in the spare time she had. This plays as a party trick whenever she finds herself in a tavern or pub of which she is attempting to impress an individual. The cup trick has lead to numerous conversations, rounds of drinks, and even finding herself in a few individual’s beds.

That same childish nature is the one who loves to explore and travel just as she did with moving around beside her mother. While she is searching for home, she can commonly find herself enthralled and surrounded by the customs of the places she goes. This is one of the reasons Shiva has become so connected with fashion. It works as a souvenir and reminder of all the places she’s gone. One of her favorite pieces are a pair of black leather boots she wears to work each day, something she brought home from Hala.

The need to explore is one of the things that put Shiva on a lot of her quests. Even though a lot of her traveling is for work, there are several times that she finds herself working for some extra money on the side through a series of adventures. It is these that help fulfill Shiva a bit more than her typical job. There is a part of her that longs to please others, even if it’s through simple tasks. Many of the quests she puts herself on have very little danger, but lots of travel involved. It is through this she’s met a few of her closer friends as well.

Even though travel and exploration of cultures and unique places is a big part of Shiva’s life, it’s her overall self-search that’s the greatest quest of all for her. For her entire life, she’s been after the purpose of her being that exalts working in the Mint and the person she has become. She is always hunting for that place that feels like home to her. Many of the quests and journeys she go on have an underlining search, asking if she feels as though she belongs in this spot. It’s very rare that any place she has traveled outside of Hala has felt remotely comfortable, always making her miss Dragos more than she truly does.

A big part of this quest is involved with a deep passion for physical contact, or so she believes. In her search for home, it can easily be mistake in a person rather than a place. Many times on her travels, Shiva has found herself in a plethora of mistakes by falling into the wrong bed. It’s those moments of feeling special that feed that desire of setting up a home somewhere, wanting something more permanent. But the lack luster moment usually drops the rose colored curtain at some point, filling a great feeling of disgust towards the individual she took the break from reality with. It is this reason that most of Shiva’s life has been spent with little long-term commitments, in both friendship and romance.

And though this is the main reason, many of her friends would say her lonesomeness comes from her inability of detaching work from her life. Even on her time off and on her travel, it seems Shiva is always thinking about work through peaking at different currencies, metals, and ores wherever she goes. It’s that which people think she is too career focused that no sort of romantic interest will stem, that is unless it’s with her own work passion.

Shiva’s work ethic and passion for perfection can come off as a very cold part of her personality, even though she has a deep sense of caring. With her lack of self-awareness, there are times that what she means does not always get interpreted correctly, leading in a series of wrong signals. This comes from a bit of social awkwardness due to the length of time she has spent on her own or really only with her money. Social cues are not a specialty for Shiva in the least.

PHYSICAL HEADCANONS

-Whenever she is nervous, Shiva has a tick of where she places a piece of hair behind her ear. It’s this time she uses to think about her next response, as though it’s just a normal action or part of the question.

-When she’s traveling, it’s very rare that she isn’t wearing gloves. While her job is known for the tiny scars and scratches, she has still not become accustomed to them yet and can make her a bit weak to the stomach when someone brings them up. Instead, she wears finely made gloves that receive a better-suited bit of attention.

-In conversations with new individuals or people she is trying to impress, her voice goes up in octave in sound. It’s a habit rather than a noise that appeases people. For Shiva, she thinks the lightness and airiness to her voice makes her seem more delicate, which people tend to be easier on. It’s much later in knowing Shiva that her voice goes back to its normal tone.

-Shiva is about 5’2 in height and is roughly 102 pounds. She has always been a fairly thin girl, something her mother blamed on a fast metabolism from her own body heat. It’s the small frame and inability to eat large quantities that play into whenever she begins to crave raw meat. Whenever she eats it, she usually grows weak/sick for a good week or so.

◆ Interview Questions ◆

(1) How did your immediate family end up in Dragos?

“That’s.. Well- Quite the story,” a sheepish grin grows onto my lips as I push a piece of hair behind my left ear. I have this tone that comes on whenever I speak to someone I’m rather unfamiliar with. Anyone who’s worked with me always twists and turns to the voice, as though I’ve become a whole new person. In hopes of sounding sincere or sweet, my voice raises a pitch just as it does in this moment. A rather strange habit, I think before focusing back onto the hair between the tips of my fingers. It’s always been a nervous habit of mine, one that’s grown to be just as annoying as biting my nails or the shrill of my people pleasing tone. The habit itself takes over every time a question like this pops up and no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to keep the damned hand against my side. I doubt I’m even in control of myself at this point as I blink back to the question. That sort of topic is better left for later, perhaps when I finally choose to sleep. Instead, I find that annoying voice of mine, telling a vague story with a short crook in my left lip. “Well, mother… bless her soul,” the words I say come out far more sweet than I intended them to be. “She was always moving us up and around as though she was on some sort of mission. The child in me always took it as some sort of epic love story. We were always searching for my father to be the perfect family again. I suppose that wasn’t how the story ended up,” I let my shoulders shrugged. This part of the story smells of childlike disappointment, one I would have rather preferred to push back. Instead, I let some sort of sick grin grow onto my lips, one ready to tell a secret. “Everywhere we went, my mother played a florist. It just so happened that my father was busy pushing the daisies for her.”

I stop for a moment, letting the terrible pun of a joke settle in. Another bad habit I always find myself doing without reason. The truth isn’t the easiest for me to handle, I fear. And because of it, my mind wanders for a way it can. Jokes have just always seemed to be the means, especially in this moment. Truth be told, I ended up in Dragos for a different reason. Instead of the epic love story, it was a chronicle for my mother’s ever present chronicle of keeping me safe. And while I smile, I push back the bitter taste that this memory brings. A mother’s quest for her daughter’s life is great to an extent, besides when it’s for a girl like me. So what’s there not to joke about since in the end it’s the biggest joke of all.

“It ends pretty simply. She just wanted to protect me the best way she could. Mothers never quite know what they’re protecting from, but there’s always something. I think she believed that I was in danger every time a doctor thought I was too warm or when the butcher explained that raw meat wasn’t a healthy meal to me in front of a drawn crowd of shoppers. You know, childish antics was all it was,” I let out a small sigh, bending my head to the side. It was hard to bury the truth to such a truthful question, something I want nothing more than to answer with honesty. But from what I have learned to this day, honesty is dangerous. And if I wanted to lose what I had, it was better to just suppress this story under childish ideals. “We were just a traveling freak show. It ended up Dragos liked the entertainment. Or,” I shrug. “Perhaps it was the flowers.”

(2) If you were found out about being a hybrid and it wasn’t received well for any reason, do you think living with the Pack might be the best course of action? Have you considered speaking to Alastair about it regardless?

“What Hybrid in their right mind hasn’t thought that way?” I ask, letting one brow rise above the other. It seems that the sweet, endearing tone I had has been replaced with my normal tone of voice. This is the sound all the people that work with me are familiar with; a childish voice that demands to be heard and even comes off a little threatening. I chalk it up to the fact I always act as though I have had the most experience in my life when really I’m quite a bore. There’s something people always want to listen to when you add a tinge of excitement to your words, as if you have the secret to life itself dangling in your hand.

“There’s safety in numbers,” I gesture my hands with my words as though they’d do the convincing for me. “Packs are all about safety and numbers. It’d be the place to be if I ever wanted to keep my head or sleep peacefully if that came into play. But,” a finger of mine lifts, the smile returning onto my face. “I have done a fairly proper job of keeping myself safe and hidden back. So I’d like to say my life in Dragos is a piece of cake,” I lie like I’ve figured out that secret again. Truly, I’ve actually been reconsidering the life in Dragos considered to that in a Pack, yet lying seems like the easiest escape. “I can make a life wherever I please. It just so happens that safety in numbers really isn’t my thing.”

For a moment, I let my eyes roll. I’ve heard that name brought up too many times to count, especially regarding my safety. “I’d find it rather odd if my grandfather hadn’t already attempted that route,” I sneer, the lack of satisfaction comes from someone writing my life instead of my own hand. As terrible as I might be at decisions and such, I still prefer to guide the mess of my life steadily with my own two hands. “But who knows. Anything could really happen given the time or place,” I let my hair behind my ear fall back as it seems my nerves have evaporated with this new found charisma that comes whenever I feel my life slipping between my fingers. “Though it seems like time has gotten the best of me here, really. I’ve got work to do,” I suggest, better to hint towards leaving than kicking them out myself. “You must have a very long journey ahead of you, yeah?”

◆Writing Sample:◆

TW: Mention of Self-injury, dissociation, blood, sexual themes, & bones

Her bones read vacant. It was an odd sensation in your body when your bones dissociated from the world around you, wanting to function for the skin of another yet Shiva had become far too familiar with it. Instead of prying a knife deep and handing each individual bone to the rabid dogs that lined the street as both the voice in her head and her heart wanted, there was a different precaution, one that involved getting out of bed before the latter took place. So she took the other route, not that a knife was near or dear to her at this very moment. And with the little strength she had, Shiva found her way to her feet.

The ground was cold, but that had little surprise. It had something she had become far too accustomed to that she ultimately expected whenever her bare feet touched a surface. It’d be such an experience to feel heat against her feet instead of cold, yet it was rare that anything was warmer than the touch of her skin; a consistent fever she could never sweat out. But the truth was etched across the pale skin of her toes against the floor now. She was something greater than her body could process, an overwhelming heat that always filled every stretch of skin she had. It was that untrained fever of sorts and no surface in the world could compare to the heat. So, instead it sent a chill down her spine, something she had grown to live with time and time again.

Over time, she had searched within on some quest of to look at the bright side of the reoccurring chill. If she could blend it with some silver lining, the whole ordeal could be better looked at as a blessing rather than a curse. And with that sort of agenda in mind, Shiva had decided a long way back that the chill woke her up, an ongoing phenomenon that brought the dissociation to a halt and reminded her that she was alive. More importantly, it was a reminder that connected to the self-heated skin was a person, and that person went by the name of Shiva. She was Shiva, her mind constantly reminded. How could she herself ever forget that?

Quietly and with very little effort, her eyes captured the empty dress on the floor as an object of her attention rather than the bubbling questions in her head. The way it sat looked as though all it wanted was to be filled, to hold itself close to a human body in Shiva’s mind. Clothing, especially a dress of that price had no reason to ever talk or feel, but her brain always gave objects that edge. She felt sorry for them; almost as though without her or the partially nude man behind her that their lives would be meaningless. That thought alone was something even in her adult age she couldn’t seem to bear. It was the same as a child who picked up the doll with one eye because they knew the doll needed it. For Shiva, every object, including these coins had some rational feeling behind them. How strange, she thought, a world made out of objecting empathy.

Her feet tiptoed across the wood in fear of waking the body against the bed, the one that wrote the sign of vacancy on her bones to begin with. What an odd disposition it was to crave contact of another and only feel emptier the moment it was achieved. And with that thought rolling around in her mind as the dress first hugged her small hips and then her spineless back before she rolled her eyes back toward the partially naked man covered by sheets. He looked disappointed, no shock there since he hadn’t gotten exactly what he had wanted. But, neither had she. While he wanted nothing more than for warmness to cover every limb of hers, Shiva found very little desire in giving to something that hadn’t gave back. It had turned into an odd tango of lying in one’s arms with anticipation of what would happen next before falling asleep. Lucky for her, he had given up first.

See, his bones read vacant too. It had been one of the numerous reasons she laid her eyes on him in the first place. The vacancy signs meant easy entry almost everywhere, especially when they were rested on a person rather then a place. There was this ever-present openness in their eyes, just waiting for someone to fill the vision in their mind. They had a simple desire, one that a shadow of a person ran alongside them, just asking to be filled. And as it seemed, Shiva felt nicely in a lot of people’s plans. It was the familiar face she had, one that people always claimed they had met before. And even if they had, Shiva wasn’t the type to remember every encounter. While her timid features and small demeanor typically made people believe she was much more caring than she truly was, it was very rare that a conversation outside of her work and practice made any bit of impact on her. No, when she went to bed at night, her mind thought about metal and ore, not the faces she had come across on the streets. It was a burden to not remember a name, even face, making her feel even more dissociated from her mind than the ache in her bones.

But this, no this wasn’t part of the plan as each foot slid into the shoe as she looked back to her dress instead of the man. It was easier to focus on that object empathy than the apathetic wandering of her mind’s desire to get out. If she listened to her mind, she’d be plucking her teeth with a bone from the other hand she had maneuvered out. So instead, it was that precaution again; the mindset to follow what she had arranged as a plan to a T to avoid any sort of wandering thoughts. Shiva had become quite the master of instances like this, a small shell of a woman who always left before their blood fell on the sheets of a man she could care less about. It was that empathy, really. To not ruin the sheets of someone she didn’t even care about would be too much, and even that was an understatement. With that in mind, she fell back to what she knew. The thought of this dress is nice was much better than this was a mistake, or so Shiva had convinced herself over and over again. There was compassion in the wake of one’s own personal consideration, a mastery of excuses that she had come up with to make the blow of each mistake and wrong turn a bit more tolerable. It was logical and fair for her, especially when moments like these arose.

Her hand placed against the door, letting it creak slightly for a last chance to sway her mind and to crawl back into bed. That was the craving for physicality now blooming back in her lungs, making the air sour as it touched wood instead of flesh. She had just spent a night looming about the body of a man made up of nothing other than disappointment, and yet she wanted nothing more than for him to beg to bring her back. It was sick, the need for touch, almost as sick as the dissociating rambling skull between her eyes. And with what little patience she had left in herself, she let the door swing its last break. But, just as it usually went, the man only grunted before rolling over, making the sinking grotesque sensation in her gut wavered longer.

“The end justifies the means,” her voice muttered lowly before she spoke a bit louder, her voice having a fading shake to it. “The end justifies the means.”