#But I re watched some scenes to do gif. Because that's the only other tv version I know

[add1ctedt0you]

It's so fucking funny that the donghua writers were like "you know what would be romantic? If an incredibly wealthy young master bought a cheap toy for a homeless orphan. And did nothing else."

What are some other donghua writing gems?

Disclaimer: I watched the donghua three years ago, so I am not a specialist! But I re-watched recently some scenes. So, uh, everything is about jc and the jiang.

Lotus pier was destroyed for an hairpin

Do you think that novel!jfm is an useless sect leader? Don't worry, donghua!jfm is even worse! He was out of lotus pier to buy a jade hairpin for his wife apparently. Not getting into how buying material things to gain your wife's love isn't great, but why leaving lotus pier in such a moment?

Jiang Cheng (lack of) scenes

Do you all remember how novel!jc chased over wzl without even grabbing a sword? Good, because donghua!jc doesn't do shit! He stays right there, just saying: "Wei Wuxian!" perfectly chill.

Do you all remember how novel!jyl dies between novel!jc's arms? Good! Because donghua!jc is merely on the background. His sister was in mortal danger but he couldn't run faster than a tortoise!

Not a great change, but I am sure that novel!jc, whose face made wzl say: not today kid and run away and whose bitchy face made people piss on their pants, can defend himself!

Bonus:

My 4 years old niece can do better than this:

I couldn't put more imagines, but the quality is low a lot of time. And then you have:

Not understanding jc but spending all their budget on jc's last scene, it's wwx's peak behavior tbh.

Abandoned wife/ crazy ex jiang cheng

This is after the golden core's reveal (I am not getting into the chronological order); jc asks wwx why he didn't say anything about the core, why he abandoned them, and then lwj hits jc with his power (??) (I must say that donghua!jc takes a lot of punches: one time yzu slaps him, another time wwx punches him and then even lwj hits him. Man can't catch a break)

[sanaserena]

First impressions of the OPLA? I loved it. Yes, it has its flaws, and yes, there are some big changes, but the essence of the show, the heart and soul? It's still One Piece. All the main characters are who they are supposed to be, their back stories are still the same. I thought Inaki, Emily, Mackenyu, Jacob, and Taz all did wonderful jobs bring Luffy, Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji to life. I'm going to write a more comprehensive review sometime soon, once I've re-watched the entire eight episodes slowllyyyyy this time 😅😅😅😅.

But for now, here are some screenshots from Episode 1 (and only from Ep 1 for this post)!!! I've done my best to avoid spoiling too much with the screenshots, but also looking for some shots that weren't in the trailer or pre-release promo stuff.

This is literally one of my favourite episodes. On watching it the third time, I still really enjoy it and think it's a great opener to the One Piece Live Action. Plus, it's one of the episodes that has the most amount of comedy and action. I also loved the little references. (Sorry some of the screenshots suck, because capturing fights as stills is clearly the best way to go. I wanted to get a good shot of Luffy in the air hurtling towards Morgan, but that was an utter faillll. I haven't figured out gifs for netflix tv series/movies yet - if you know how, please let me know!)

Shanks is actually pretty damn charming and fun his scenes.

Luffy mentioned flying into the base - by bird!!! iykyk. (And there's reference to the fact that pretty bad at directions, but not as bad as Zoro.)

Zoro is super cool, his fight scenes here are wipe outs for his opponents.

Nami is badass with a bo staff (I did wish there was more of this towards the end of the season though.)

Helmeppo is an ass (sometimes...literally...)

Koby is endearing, and I think he had a good character arc all through the season. It took growth, and we got to see more of it than we do in the manga.

Inaki is a cute Luffy, though sometimes the acting is a little much. He was still very much Luffy to me many times throughout the season.

And the Buggy end scene was nice xD (Buggy himself is very interesting in the other episodes).

I failed to get a screenshot of Garp, but it's okay, my next post!

P.s. I just noticed the screenshots come out a little darker on my laptop 🤔🤔 (it's a new laptop for me so....) The actual colour grading is brighter on Netflix 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️. Another thing I need to figure out eventually...

[riplever]

Li Xian X Tan Jianci: Samoyed fool attaching himself to a pretty thing? — Unexpectedly Shippable Pairs from Hi6 [1/2]

See for yourself though:

Tan Jianci picks up on and imitates Li Xian's body language

This moment is the first (12-min mark) in n number of times Tan Jianci crosses his legs in response to Li Xian. I know you're thinking, for eff's sake Yang Di's legs are crossed too. But Yang Di doesn't cross his legs like this:

Full body maneuver to cross his legs and face him (and then look visibly awkward about it) while also forming a shape with his body. (24-min mark)

What shape?

Heart shape (23-min mark)

As objectively as possible, I think this is body language for "I'm listening" and "I'm interested in you" respectively.

Leaning in and it's mutual (17-min mark)

Leaning in so hard that he stands up in order to get fully into and block everything else from his line of sight (18-min mark)

How badly does this man need attention?

Tan Jianci arching his waist and back (attentive and self-conscious) (24-min mark)

Looking enraptured by his deduction (23-min mark)

Shooting a look at the poor sod Tan Jianci is accusing (23-min mark)

Listening with the entire left side of his head as Tan Jianci argues (23-min mark)

Man abruptly accused; wife appropriately astonished.

Tbh this one is probably the most damning to me. This is about 10 minutes after the very first gif and at this point in time Tan Jianci's body language has ripened (24-min mark). The gifs taken in this window contain his most exaggerated postures and behaviors.

Also, the first gif was the only time he crossed his right leg. All other times, he crosses his left leg so that he can slant towards Li Xian.

Next, here are some wide-angle shots of their conjoined body language:

Tan Jianci has uncrossed and is re-crossing his legs yet again (21-min mark)

Really though, why is Li XIan the only one who's slanting his body away from the scene of action (25-min mark)

It's like they're at a theatre watching a funny show together (25-min mark)

Lastly Tan Jianci normally man-spreads when he sits, but this time he's decided to make quite the exception.

In conclusion:

Dog-cat dynamic

Dog is a samoyed: easy to fool, easily attached

Cat notices he's being watched and is preening

And if I'm gonna guess what the hell was really going on:

Li Xian really really really wants to befriend Tan Jianci

Tan Jianci finds Li Xian quite attractive

Both their charms have worked on each other

There's more. I didn't gif the other instances of Li Xian bodily grabbing him, following him around, sitting next to him, and doing everything he can to grab Tan Jianci's attention, because you can watch them subbed in the main episode on youtube here:

Main episode (must watch for Li Xian's pursuit of his... goal)

Bonus content (where I grabbed these gifs from)

Bonus content II (must watch to see them throw water in each other's faces)

To my incredible surprise, I wasn't alone in this deluded observation! Searching "Li Xian Tan Jianci" on bilibili yielded 8 CP-angle vides from the top 15, all using material scraped from this exact Hi6 episode. That's more than 50%, and this variety TV episode is their first televised appearance together ever.

Also, it's personally shocking to me that this is actually the third rarepair from hell I unwittingly caught (like a brain disease) from hi6. The other two are less niche but definitely not any less cute:

Wang Hedi x Yang Zi (naughty kid X teacher's pet dynamic. I'll gif this)

Qin Xiaoqian x Meng Ziyi (class clown X popular girly who actually digs clown humor)

I feel like I've just discovered treasure from the bottom of the pacific ocean from swimming in a hole that nobody will ever even think to look in.

[space-blue]

Star Trek SNW review through SW lens

So I finished season 1 of Strange New Worlds (Star Trek), and it's such a bitter sweet thing.

I mean, the show is sweet. It has incredible trope use, adorable characters who have rich dynamics, cool set designs even if they don't aim for hard core realism (maybe precisely because of that).

More importantly, I feel like it perfectly managed to mix "adventure of the week" with overarching plot and character arcs.

The bitterness is because I'm a Star Wars fan.

I wish SW creators would look at SNW and learn a few things. They had it going in Mando season 1, until the easter eggs morphed into the plot itself.

This show didn't feel trapped by its legacy. It wasn't afraid to recast, and to tell its own story. I'm not a big trekkie (I watched the OG series on TV reruns as a child, missed a lot of episodes. I owned the Wrath of Khan tape though, and then saw the recent trilogy. Abandoned Discovery in season 1) so there's plenty of details that flow right over my head. I'm also conscious of the people being on tumblr saying "This isn't the Spock I know".

So I'm both unlucky (for the lack of depth) and lucky (because I loved that Spock, unbothered by other interpretations of the character).

I know how being too sauced in a fandom can really impact enjoyment. Re: being a SW fan. But I feel like the approaches have been incredibly different.

Can you imagine a SW show having fun with itself? Using tropes like Body Swap or Time Travel visions in a fun and thoughtful way? Even season 1 of Mando was an endless video game fetch quest, with the odd homage to movies like Seven Samourai. It worked fine then, but season 2 really devolved into a forever-fetch-quest, only for it to be completely invalidated/made pointless by BoBF.

I was positively giddy when the body swap happened, and the following shenanigans were GOOD. Well written, not too tropey, and genuinely useful for the characters.

Also, FUCK ME but it had FOOD. It had warmth and characters bonding. But the food really got to me. It's just *never* a thing in SW. They eat bland stuff or aren't shown to eat at all. You can go an entire film without a single meal. Meals are important!! People bond over food! Food is culture! A single shot of sawdust turning into beef stew isn't interesting. Characters having a moment over a shared meal is! There's a reason you see Spock and Pike giffed in the scenes where they talk about drinking tea or finishing the dishes. Those were fun dynamic moments that highlighted the character's relationship on a simple level we all understand deep down.

Fuck, I WISH SW would just try and bother to have people keep track of some internal culture, and make us relate a little more. The fashion is so bland, the food not present. Religions never mentioned. Politics dumbed down and pushed aside. It's no wonder they have nothing left but self cannibalising and Easter Eggs all the way down.

I'm this fucking close to dropping everything I'm doing to watch all of next generation and discovery. Like, maybe trekkies are better treated as fans than us. I certainly didn't spot any rabid toy marketing in SNW!

Okay okay I'll calm down. Basically, even if you don't know anything about any of the characters, go watch SNW. It's fantastic, the characters clearly had fun with their roles. The odd stiff acting or shoddy CGI is much more excusable, the world feels deep and well realised. You don't need background knowledge to enjoy yourself. Even if Pike has stuff going on that refer to another series, they never made me feel out of the loop.

Go watch it. It's the best scifi fun I've had since the Expanse.

[pappydaddy]

Terror at Starcourt Mall: Steve's Ending (s.h.)

a/n: so, i ended up changing episode eight up and straying from the actual plot for the show, but it's nothing insane or anything. i ended up re-writing this whole ending and that is why the series drop was so late... whoops. i ran out of things to say in these author notes a few parts ago - i am deeply sorry. my head is empty.

anywho, the only part left is robin's ending which also has episode eight changed in it. i am in love with this ending and i hope you lovelies love it too💛!

tv show/movie: stranger things

pairing: steve harrington x fem!russian!reader

requested

part i | part ii | part iii | part iv

| part v - steve’s ending - you're here | part vi - robin’s ending | steve's ending - steve's pov (special!) (coming soon) | robin's ending - robin's pov (special!) (coming soon)

warnings: the fear of violence/harassment, spoilers, blood, extreme violence, explosions, gunfire, mention of a car accident.

disclaimer: in light of recent acts of war inflicted on ukraine by russia, i wish to make it clear that i am in no way supporting russia through this series. a, this series was written well in advance to the conflict coming to light and, b, this is set in a different time in history/society/public relations. my heart hurts for the ukraine and for everyone that is effected negatively by the acts of war incited by russia. i am also horribly heartbroken over the people who have died thus far and i am deeply sorry for the families of the people that are stuck in the ukraine or that have died.

note: episode 8 is changed a little bit. billy also does not die because i want max to be happy and not traumatized by watching her step-brother die. i also do not put in if hopper dies or not so do with that what you will lovelies. the trauma max and el faced before the "deaths" of hopper and billy was enough.

sidenote warning: the reader is written to do ballet - explained above. quickly proof-read, will proof-read better when i redo my older fics and edit my newer fics.

sidenote: throughout the series, there will be some scenes skipped. this was a creative choice when i had to edit some things out to shorten it (it was over 100 pages).

taglist: @the-weeping-author | @lilypad-55449 | @rottenstyx | @boxofsilentwords | @badass-yn (disclaimer: for this part, i only put steve's taglist members as this is his ending)

masterlist | taglist | wips | navigation

- not my gif -

Everyone was scattered around the food court area of the mall. Some groups were just talking, others were working on getting their plans set in motion. Y/N sat on one of the restaurant’s counters, her feet swinging absentmindedly as she thought over the latest dilemma in this leisure time before the giant battle that was bound to happen occurred. With her bottom lip pinched between her thumb and pointer finger, she stewed in her own thoughts and guilt. She was about to hurt someone she cared about and nothing could prepare her for it. The reflection of the reddish-pink glow from the sign above her was squiggled in the white tiles. From within the pink, she could see a familiar silhouette walking by. “Hey, Robin, could you come here?” She looked up at the blonde as she passed by.

“Yeah, uh, sure,” Robin nodded, her blue eyes hesitant. There was only one thing this could be about, and they both knew where this was going. Her converse squeaked against the tile as she pivoted, starting to walk towards the guilt-ridden girl. Turning her back to the counter, Robin gripped the edge of the counter with her hands, hoisting herself up to sit beside her, their thighs brushing against each other. “What’s up?” She asked even though she knew exactly what was up.

“I kinda need to talk about what happened behind the counter earlier.” Y/N informed her, twisting her fingers in her lap nervously, her eyes looking over at Robin. Her blue eyes were facing her lap, her hair blocking part of her face from Y/N’s view.

“Yeah, I thought that would come up sooner or later,” Robin chuckled dryly, not looking at Y/N. “Look, Y/N, I might love you, but when Steve told me he also loved you in the bathroom, I knew it was either him or me. You can’t love both of us the same way and I’m perfectly okay with you being with him if that means you’re happy.” Robin finally lifted her eyes to look at Y/N, her eyes full of sincerity.

“I do love both of you, but in different ways,” Y/N whispered, her hand reaching out to grip Robin’s reassuringly. “There is just something about him, Robin. I honestly have no idea what it is. I hated him when he was in high school, but once I saw him last year, I was enraptured by him.”

“I get it, we don’t choose who we fall in love with,” Robin’s hand gripped Y/N’s forearm, the hand under Y/N’s turning under the weight so that she could wrap her fingers around Y/N’s. A soft smile stretched across both of their faces. Smiles with a hint of pain and discomfort behind them, but ones that told each other that everything was going to be fine. “It’s not your fault you have poor taste.” Robin nudged Y/N’s shoulder with hers gently, proving that she was okay.

Y/N giggled lightly, her head bowing as she smiled. She could feel the weight of Robin’s eyes on the side of her head making her look back at her. Meeting the slightly sad eyes of her best friend, she was compelled to ask another question. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I can tell Steve that nothing can happen between us if that helps. I mean, if you love something, let it go and if it comes back to you, it was meant to be, right?”

This invoked a small, soft laugh from Robin, her eyes closing instinctively as she tilted her head back, her freckled nose wrinkling ever so slightly. Y/N gazed upon her, glad they could still make each other laugh. As her head came back down, her eyes fluttered open, meeting Y/N’s yet again. “I’m okay with it. It might hurt a little bit at first, but you and Steve love each other,” She pressed, squeezing Y/N’s forearm gently. “I love you so much that it would kill me to get between your happiness, even if your happiness is Steve Harrington. But it’s like you said, if you love something, sometimes you gotta let it go if that’s what’s best for it.” Her voice wobbled at the end of her sentence making Y/N wiggle out of Robin’s hands only to wrap her in a hug.

“I’m sorry, Robin. I really am.” She muttered, squeezing the blonde girl tight as they clung to each other, the edge of the counter digging uncomfortably into their bare thighs. With a sniffle, Robin pulled away from Y/N’s tight hold.

“Never be sorry for who you love. Even if others do not understand it,” She wiped her nose gently, sniffling again as she gazed, teary-eyed at the girl in front of her. The girl who she loved, the girl who had such a big heart, the girl who (in her opinion) was the most beautiful girl in the world. “Go, tell him you love him. He might be shallow and slightly dimwitted, but he’s got a big heart and he’ll treat you right.” She pushed her gently, telling her to hop off the counter and go to Steve.

“Thank you,” Was the last, whispered parting between them as Y/N jumped down the front of the counter, walking over to the one Steve stood behind, rooting through the possessions of the restaurant. Full packages of cups were being flung as he searched for something, his head stuck in the cabinet, inaudible grumbles leaving his mouth. Gently laying her palms on the clean counter, she leaned over, seeing his body sticking half out of the cabinet. “Hey, do you have a minute to spare from your grand cavity search of this restaurant?” She questioned.

Her soft voice, though as low as she could make it to avoid bringing attention to them, seemed to startle him as he jolted, trying to lift his head but hitting the top of the cabinet. “Shit!” He cried out in pain. Y/N jumped at the thud, wincing as she felt his pain. Seconds later, he stood up, wobbling slightly with his hand rubbing the back of his head.

“Sorry, I didn’t think that through.” She apologized, using her strength to lift her feet off the floor, tucking her knees up, she settled on top of the counter, her feet cradling her butt. She looked up at him with wide eyes, worried that she had given him a concussion on top of all the other things that happened to him. Pulling his hand away from the back of his head, he examined it, not seeing a spec of blood on it.

“No, it’s okay. I think my hair acted like a helmet so it’s all good,” He waved her off. Rolling her eyes, she shimmed across the counter on her knees, hopping down to stand on the same side as him. “What did you need?” He asked, watching her as she grabbed a plastic bag from the back counter, filling it with ice from the machine.

“I just wanted to talk to you about what happened earlier.” She informed him, ripping off a big piece of paper towel, wrapping it around the sealed bag, handing it to Steve.

“What about earlier,” Steve questioned in confusion, pressing the ice to the back of his head. Y/N felt her heart drop to the soles of her shoes. Did he forget he professed his love to her already? Was he just too caught up in the fear of dying that he didn’t even mean it? In the bathroom with Robin, was he still too drugged to realize what he was saying? “Oh, you’re talking about earlier earlier. With the I love you thing.” He realized, his eyes widening.

“Uh, yeah, that,” She nodded, relieved that he was just having one of his moments. “I just talked to Robin-”

“If you love Robin, I’m okay if you guys want to be together. I want you to be happy and that’s all I care about. I could be miserable for all I care.” He cut her off, his free hand slapping against the counter quietly as he leaned on it, trying to appear nonchalant and completely cool.

“Steve, you didn’t let me finish, don’t put the cart before the horse, okay,” She reminded him gently. She knew he got worked up easily and had extreme anxiety around intimacy. He was pretty much the embodiment of any song by The Smiths. “I just talked to Robin and explained that I don’t love her the same way she loves me. That was what I was trying to tell you before you freaked out.”

“Oh,” Steve trailed off, sucking on his tongue as he processed what she had just said. “And you came over here to say the same thing to me?” He asked, his voice wavering as he tried not to let his extreme vulnerability in that moment show.

Y/N wanted to roll her eyes at his inability to read between the lines, but she knew that this all stemmed from his deep-rooted parental issues. It was hard to be annoyed when someone felt so negatively about themselves that they believed nobody would love them back. “No, Steve, what did I just say about putting the cart before the horse,” She reminded him as gently as she could. “I came over here to tell you that I love you too.” She laid her hand softly on top of his. He glanced down at their hands touching on the counter before looking back up at her again.

“As friends, right?” Steve was making it very hard for Y/N to be patient with him.

“Not as friends, Steve,” She shook her head. “I love you like you love me,” She informed him. “I love you in that soul-altering way. In the way that I get a storm of butterflies whenever you smile. In the way that just your presence can light up my whole world. In the way that I would risk my best-kept secret to help you translate Russian. In the way that I want to be with you every second of the day. In the way that I constantly dream of you sweeping me off my feet.”

“So, definitely not just as a friend.” Steve nodded, a bit too shocked to react appropriately.

“Definitely not just as a friend,” She nodded, pressing her lips together tightly as she watched him. She could practically see the thoughts swirling behind his eyes as he thought things through, processing them. “You alright there, Steve?” She called gently, slightly worried about him as he stayed silent and unreactive.

“Yeah, I’m just thinking-” He waved her off absent-mindedly. She furrowed her brows at this. He was the one who confessed to her, what was there to think about? “And Robin, is she okay with us?” He asked her suddenly. Y/N blinked, now the one that was caught off-guard. So that was what he was thinking so hard about. What new obstacles this confession brought up.

“She said it will hurt at first, but she’s okay with it,” Y/N shrugged, relaying the message to Steve. Sure, those were the words Robin spoke, but was she really okay with it? Y/N couldn’t imagine the pain of seeing someone you loved being happy with someone else. There truly was no pain such as the pain of unrequited love. It was a tragic, bittersweet, and truly heartbreaking thing love is. “Maybe we should keep it cool until we know for sure she’s okay with it.”

“Keep what cool?” Steve asked, causing a blush to form on Y/N’s cheeks.

“Sorry, I had just assumed since we both confessed our feelings for each other, we would-” She paused, ticking her head to the side, her eyes drifting to the darkened floor behind the counter. “You know-” She cut herself off, hoping Steve would catch on. She would feel completely stupid if Steve didn’t actually want to date.

“Oh! Cool off with the dating thing,” Steve nodded, catching on. Nodding, he suddenly paused all movement, eyes shifting over to Y/N in question. “Like the actual dating thing or just the public dating thing?” He wondered, his eyebrows covering his eyelids - at least the eyelid that wasn’t completely swollen.

“The public dating thing,” She answered him. “You know, the kissing, lovey-dovey stuff that makes everyone else sick. Just until we know it’s not like we’re pouring salt into Robin’s wound.” She explained.

Resuming his nodding, Steve smiled, the scabbing cut in his lip opening slightly. “I get it, but could I do one thing really quick before the ban on public displays of affection begins?”

“I mean, sure. I don’t see why not,” She furrowed her brows, not knowing what he was getting at. Of course, he could do something, it wasn’t like he didn’t have free thought anymore. It wasn’t until he slipped his hand from under hers and used it to cup her jaw that she understood what he was talking about. “Oh.” She breathed out. She was pretty sure her eyes were glazed over as dreamy clouds full of pink and red hearts clouded her vision.

She could feel the heat of his breath on her lips, making her flutter her eyes closed and tilt her head up towards it, leaning into everything he was giving her. Her heart was nearly beating out of her chest in anticipation for the meeting of their lips for the first time - sealing their new relationship, but it never came. Instead, the booming echo of Hopper’s voice made them jump apart, scaring them half to death. “Hey, heads up,” They looked over, seeing him tossing Dustin a radio from one of the dead Russians. “You can navigate, just from someplace safe.” He informed Dustin and Erica. Sharing a look with Steve, they both scrambled over the counter, feeling like this was going to be something that involved them.

“It’s not that simple.” Dustin broke the news to Hopper who just let out a huff of air.

“The signal won’t reach.” Erica backed Dustin up, knowing Hopper probably thought they were just trying to wiggle their way into the mission.

“Not with this. You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians’ radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins-” Dustin rambled.

“That’s us, isn’t it?” Y/N whispered to Steve.

“Yep.” He confirmed, popping the ‘p’.

“Oh wait, that’s me,” Dustin pointed the antenna of the radio to himself. “If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start,” He paused, looking at Erica before looking at Hopper. “And a car.”

Steve nudged Y/N with his shoulder, knowing full well that they were going to be roped into going with Dustin and Erica. No matter how independent they viewed themselves, they still were not able to drive, making them reliant on their older comrades. “Wait, Y/N,” Max lunged forward, her cold hands wrapping around Y/N's wrist gently, stopping the pair. “I was wondering if you could stay with us. I know Jonathan and Nancy are here, but they don’t know my situation with Billy as well as you do,” Max let go of Y/N's wrist, twisting her fingers anxiously. Max didn’t like asking for help, but she knew she wouldn’t face judgement with Y/N. “Y/N, I’m scared of what is going to happen to Billy.” She admitted in a hushed voice, trying to keep the interaction between Y/N and her.

“Hey, of course, I’ll stay with you, Max.” Y/N calmed her, her hands settling down on Max’s shoulders. Max nodded, her jaw ticking as tears welled in her eyes.

“Thank you,” She whispered, battling tears. Y/N could see her trying her hardest not to cry. Everyone was so worried about El, the Mind Flayer, and the Russians (rightfully so) that they all forgot who else was suffering. “I know that everyone has bigger things to worry about, but Billy is staring down death and I know he’s an asshole-” She swallowed thickly, glancing down at her feet before looking back up at Y/N. “He’s been a really good stepbrother since last year and he’s the only family I have other than you guys.”

“Your problem is just as big as anyone else's here. You love Billy, you care for him, it’s only natural for you to be scared about what is going to happen to him,” Y/N consoled her gently. “Will managed to overcome the Mind Flayer, maybe Billy will too. The beauty about this whole mess being unpredictable is that there could be good outcomes if you look hard enough.” With that, she pulled Max into a hug, tucking Max’s head into her shoulder, gently swaying her. Over Max’s head, she locked eyes with Steve. His brown eyes dug into her, questioning if she was sure about staying here. With a subtle nod and a soft smile, she told him she was. She wasn’t going to leave Max when she needed her.

____

Pacing along one of the benches connected to planters in the food court, Y/N found her mind stuck on Steve. Now that the excitement of trying to figure out a plan to fix the broken-down car out front was over, the group successfully rolled the show car back onto four wheels to access the hood, Y/N’s mind was free to worry about other things. Right now, she wished she had some form of contact with Steve, then she could know if he and the others were safe. While the walkie-talkie sat within reaching distance from her, she wouldn’t dream of using that to contact them. She had no idea what channel to put it on to reach Dustin’s super radio contraption. The only thing she could do was wait for Dustin to contact them.

From behind her, she could hear the click of the hood being released. Looking over her shoulder, Y/N saw Jonathan opening the hood more, the dented metal squealing in protest. “Do you see it?” Nancy asked him, power-walking around the car to look at the internals of it. Y/N wondered if the thought of one of them getting hurt weighed on their minds despite them being right next to each other. She knew that regardless of if she knew where Steve was or not, Y/N still constantly had protecting him on her mind.

“I don’t know, it should be right here,” Jonathan gestured to the spot the distributor was usually found in - at least, in the cars Jonathan was accustomed to. The Byers’ were not exposed to the fancy new anatomy of the newer models of cars. “Distributor, distributor-” He kept muttering, his eyes searching frantically for the metal distributor. Whirling around, Y/N kept up her pacing, her eyes flicking over to Max worriedly. On top of worrying about Steve and the others, she also had Max weighing on her mind. She was the one who asked her to stay, a big move for the redhead. She was not one to seek help from others, she much preferred to be independent and detached.

A sudden, sharp rumble from overhead threw Y/N off her train of thought. “What-” She whispered, the word not even forming into an actual sound. Looking up to the ceiling, she waited for a second. A thought tickled the back of her mind. Was it the Mind Flayer? Had it found them? It was highly likely. It was after El and her blood was smeared on the mall floor not far from the skylight. Even if it wasn’t drawn here by El’s blood, El also sat right in the middle of the food court. Perhaps their time to spare had expired, leaving them no other choice but to work fast.

Looking to Max, she noticed her looking up towards the skylight she stood under, obviously looking for the source of that rumble. Her expression was hard to read. Y/N couldn’t get a good read on what exactly she was thinking. The only other person who would confirm if it was the Mind Flayer was the direct link to the Upside Down - Will. Craning her neck, she looked over at the youngest Byers. His fingers danced along the back of his neck, his body rigid in fear, his eyes wide, his mouth falling open as his eyes stared at the skylight. It was the Mind Flayer. It had to be. Three people could not be wrong about the presence of the monster.

“Uh,” Y/N tried to speak, but her mind went blank for a second when another thud came, this time paired with the wobble of the skylight overhead. A second later another pounding sound came. Stepping closer to Max, Y/N lifted her eyes to the skylight. Some of the windows were warped from the weight of the monster, the joints running between the clear squares almost snapping. The glass of the windows started to crack, little shards of glass raining down. “Guys!” Y/N called, but her fearful voice went unnoticed, everyone else too preoccupied.

“Mike.” Max breathed out to the boy who stood next to her, trying to talk to El. Mike looked up, following Max’s line of sight. The glass bulged, trying to hold on despite the Mind Flayer standing on top of it. Gulping, Y/N watched the lights start to stutter, the wires running along the joints of the windows being squished. Walking backwards, Y/N knew that the only way to bring everyone’s attention to this problem was to get Nancy and Jonathan’s first.

“Max, take Mike and El, run and hide now-” Y/N was cut off by Mike’s scream for Nancy, gaining everyone’s attention. Y/N froze, looking up at the loud gurgling noise of the monster’s snarl. The glass cracking faster and louder. Mike grabbed El and Max’s hands, pulling the two out from under the skylight. Y/N wanted to run after them to be near them, but she was too far away, she wouldn’t make it to them before the windows finally gave away. The sounds of her sneakers running towards the car the others surrounded was the only sound for a second before the skylight broke, glass racing towards the tile, bouncing off, the sharp edges cutting Y/N’s ankles and arms as she tried to cover her head. The thundering sound of the little bit of concrete within the skylight was outshined by the thud of the Mind Flayer hitting the ground, the floor rumbling.

Scrambling, Y/N just made it around to the other side of the car, the others just settling in there as well. Panting, Y/N covered her mouth with her hand, trying to make her breathing less noticeable to the monster now on their same level. A loud shriek from the monster made them all flinch and whimper, their eyes closing tight. For a second time that night, Y/N found herself hiding from something intent on killing. This time, it was a bit more dangerous than Russians with guns. Thuds of the monster’s appendages hitting the ground, the creature crawling in search for El, shook the ground more. A low snarl was heard before the monster stopped moving, the mall going quiet once again. Despite the quietness, Y/N could feel the dangerous presence, the only thing blocking her from it being a car, that compared to the Mind Flayer, was like a dinky toy car. A second later, the silence lasted no more, being broken by the blood-curdling roar of the mind Flayer. Maybe Steve wasn’t the one Y/N was supposed to be worried about. Maybe it was the other way around.

____

With her eyes screwed shut and her head pressed against the cold, red metal of the wheel well of the front of the car, Y/N wished that this was all some sort of horrible night terror that she couldn’t wake from. A night terror would be slightly better than this being reality. Trying to hold back the tears that wanted to slip through her closed eyelids, she wondered if this was it, if this was how she died. El had no power left, she had exhausted herself too much, she couldn’t save them like she did with the Russians. Joyce and Hopper were in the Russian base, unaware of what was happening above them, Steve and Dustin were far from the mall (which she was thankful for now), and Nancy, Jonathan, Lucas, Will, Mike, and Max were all in the same boat as her.

In the back of her mind, she knew all along during this ongoing battle with the Upside Down that there was a strong possibility of death, but she never thought it would actually happen. She never thought that there was going to be a situation where she questioned if she was going to die. She could always see a way to survive. Now, she was positive she was pushing the limits of evading death. She had narrowly escaped being kidnapped by the Russians (only saved by Steve and Robin sacrificing themselves), outsmarted and outran two Russian soldiers (temporarily), and was saved from her imminent death at the hands of the Russians by El. Logic would predict that her luck was due to run out.

“Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over,” Dustin’s voice yelled through the speaker of the radio still perched on the bench Y/N paced in front of. Lifting her head, she was semi-relieved that they noticed something was happening. Stationed at the tallest peak in Hawkins would allow them to gaze upon the newly erected mall. “Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you copy? Over.” Dustin repeated when he received no response. The downside of knowing that the Scoops Troop knew something went wrong was that Y/N now had to worry about Steve running in to save the day. Sure it worked for the past two years, but who was to say it would work now. She couldn’t lose him when they just confessed their feelings.

The Mind Flayer let out a growl before the sound of one of its tentacle appendages grabbing something met their ears. The walkie beeped as if someone had hit the button to talk into it. The monster had the walkie. Surely, it would destroy it, seeing it as something to prohibit it from getting to El.

“Griswold Family. Do you copy? Do you copy,” Dustin yelled, more urgent. His voice sounded as if it were swinging about in the air confirming the monster has the walkie in its clutches. The Mind Flayer roared into the walkie, the noise-making them all flinch. Heart nearly beating out of her chest, Y/N fisted her hands so tight that she could feel her perfectly rounded nails digging into the soft flesh of her palm. Suddenly, the sound of something flying through the air made her perk up - on high alert. From the corner of her eye, she saw the walkie smashing against one of the restaurant signs, little pieces of plastic flying towards them. With silent gasps and flinches, the group jumped in surprise, the walkie pinging off the wall and clattering to the ground. Skidding across the tile, it stopped right in front of the car. If the Mind Flayer wanted to destroy it, it would no doubt notice the group cowering behind the car. “Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop. Please confirm your safety,” Dustin tried again, his voice distorted from the damage the walkie suffered. “Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Please confirm your safety! Are you en route to Bald Eagle’s nest,” The radio went silent again. “Please confirm your safety-” His broken speech was heard again until it became too distorted to understand. Y/N wasn’t sure if it was her ears shutting down as a fear response or if it was the walkie dying slowly, but either way, he the words were inaudible now.

A whimper fell from Y/N lips, hidden behind the snarls of the Mind Flayer. She would gladly take the corrupt Russians over this. At least with the Russians, she had an advantage. She was fluent in Russian, she could understand them when she was hiding from them. The Mind Flayer was completely unpredictable. She would rather have the Russians figure out that she was Russian than be here in this situation.

The ground started to shake once again as the monster started to move, sounding like it was walking away from the car - towards the direction El, Mike, and Max ran in. Gulping, Y/N slowly started to lean towards the front of the car, her hands crawling along the debris-covered tile. Her chest felt uncomfortably tight as she panicked, but she ignored it. Poking her head around the fender of the car, she saw what appeared to be the butt of the monster as it moved towards The Gap. Its large body hit the concrete pillars holding up the terrace of the second floor, dust showering the floor around them. Snarling and growling, its head hung close to the floor, almost like a dog sniffing a scent trail. It was as horrifying as she pictured. Resembling Will’s drawing from the last time they encountered the Mind Flayer, it matched the description the others gave to a tee. It looked like a genetic abomination of a spider. It looked as if scientists decided to mould a new kind of spider out of human flesh and instead of eyes, make it have tentacles that shoot out of its body and rows upon rows of jagged, discoloured, and razor-sharp teeth.

With a low growl and a loud thump, Y/N watched (horrified) as the small, squished leech-type monster El pulled from her leg dragged itself towards one of the Mind Flayer’s large appendages. With a chittering sound, the leech seemed to mould perfectly to the monster, being absorbed instantly - earning a loud roar from the Mind Flayer. Scrambling back to her spot, her chest heaved up and down, the adrenaline and panic flooding her veins. It seemed like the addition of that tiny little leech made the Mind Flayer stronger or something. Now it moved more swiftly and quickly while roaring a screeching, almost like it was yelling for El to come out of hiding and face it.

Heart dropping to her stomach, the squelching and thundering footsteps of the monster could be heard approaching the car. Its snarls and growls vibrating within all of their chests. It was close, it was closing in on them. Swallowing thickly, Y/N forced her eyes closed tight, her lips pressing together to hold her whimpers and cries in. The sound of something sliding across the floor made her screw her face up more. It was inspecting one of the Russian’s bodies. Seconds later, an unmistakable thud was heard on the wall directly opposite the car. Y/N tried to imagine that it was a chair the Mind Flayer threw and not a body, but it was futile. Her brain was hardwired to think nothing but realistically and negatively at this moment.

The monster had fallen silent, making everyone suck in their breaths, waiting for its next move. A clatter that sounded like store stands from The Gap echoed through the mall. A loud roar ripped through following the sound. Screeches, growling, and the racing footfalls of the Mind Flayer ensued, the floor beneath Y/N shaking. It was going after El. They had tried to escape, but with El’s injured leg, escape was difficult. They had to think fast to try and get the Mind Flayer distracted from El. The whole building shook as the monster burst through one of the many walls of The Gap, a screech leaving it. Leaning back around the front fender, Y/N saw the monster with its head stuck in the hole it made, a tentacle protruding from the mouth, weaving through the store.

Rolling up onto her toes, she prepared herself to move, but a hand on her wrist stopped her. “What are you doing?” Lucas whispered harshly, looking at her as if she was crazy.

“I told Max I would be with her through this, I’m not breaking that promise,” Y/N whispered back. “And I am not letting Max and Mike risk their lives to protect El, if anyone is dying tonight, it’s not going to be one of them.” She added in. They were part of her big family, everyone involved with fighting the Upside Down was her family. She couldn’t let someone in her family go without help. She also could not bear it if someone from her family died when she could have prevented it.

“Be safe.” Nancy spoke, leaning forward before Lucas could say anything else. She understood where Y/N was coming from. Eyes connecting with Nancy's, the two shared an unspoken conversation. Nodding curtly to Nancy, Y/N wiggled her wrist free from the stunned Lucas. With another peek around at the Mind Flayer, Y/N took off. Crouched low and moving fast, she tried to float across the floors by lifting with her core. Thanks to her ballet training she knew how to make the least noise possible. It was like she was trying to make the impact of the box of her pointe shoe silent during a performance - not to ruin the image of gracefulness for the audience. This time, it was so that she wouldn’t die. With agility and speed, she had almost made it to the escalators before she was startled by the sound of the tentacle grabbing something from within The Gap, pulling it towards it. With yet another loud roar, the monster assumed it was screaming in El’s face, but instead, it was a mannequin with the same outfit on.

Crouching behind the nearest planter, Y/N watched as it flung the mannequin into the wall of the gap. Gasping silently, her hands started to shake. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do to protect the kids, but she knew she had to move fast. Moving again, she slipped under the velvet rope stopping people from going on the escalator. Slowly to avoid the clanging of her feet hitting the metal steps, she climbed the escalator, her eyes locked on the fleshy skin of the Mind Flayer’s head. The smooth plastic of the rails tickled her fingertips as she climbed. Her breath hitched when the toe of her sneaker didn’t clear the height of the stair, nearly making her fall. Hand shooting out to hit the rough metal, a stinging pain rippled through her palm. Tearing her eyes from the monster, she looked to the top of the escalator, breathless. “Two more steps.” she thought to herself, noticing how close she was to the top. With the sudden pop of a balloon, Y/N whipped her head around to see Lucas clutching his slingshot to his chest, popping back behind the car.

With a soft smile of gratitude that he wouldn’t see, she turned around, pushing off the step, and used the cover of the monster’s screech and thundering footsteps to run up the last two steps, slipping under the second velvet rope. The soft carpet of the terrace hid the thumps of her footfalls, allowing her to run as fast as she could - her legs screaming for her to stop - towards the entrance to the back halls. Flinging the door open, she raced through the harsh white hallway with fluorescent lights. The lights strobed from the energy and power of the Mind Flayer, a side effect occurring when creatures of the Upside Down were near. It hurt Y/N’s eyes, but she pushed through, running down the stairwell that led to the main floor. She knew based on the location, she should be coming out near The Gap’s backroom. Slipping on the last step, her breath hitched but her stride never broke as she burst through the second door, turning towards The Gap to see the trio she was searching for hobbling down the hall, Max and Mike holding El up as she used them as crutches.

“Oh my god, I am so relieved that you guys got out,” Y/N startled them, but she was too happy to see them notice. Rushing forward, she couldn’t help but embrace them, Max and Mike happily embracing her back. El whimpered slightly from shifting her weight to accommodate the group hug. “I didn’t know if I would make it to you guys in time or not.”

“Weren’t you hiding with the others? Why didn’t you stick with them?” Mike asked, his dark, bushy eyebrows furrowed, his lip curling in confusion. Y/N released them, leading them down the hallway as fast as they could with El’s leg.

“I separated from them just before Lucas shot that balloon to distract the Mind Flayer. I couldn’t let you guys get hurt if I could help it and I wasn’t doing much hiding behind the car on the opposite side of the mall from you,” She explained, she was sure they would be safe from the Mind Flayer in the back halls. It was too thick for the Mind Flayer to hear through, and there was no way it would fit unless it smashed through multiple walls. Even then, they would have time to find another route out of the mall. “So, what’s the plan here?” She questioned, looking back at the group as they took another turn, heading for the loading dock closest to Scoops - not the one the Russian government used to smuggle promethium.

“Get out through the loading bay, join the others and get the hell out of here.” Max suggested, panting from carrying half El’s body weight. Nodding, Y/N licked her lips. It was a solid plan and they were almost to the loading bay anyway. They all rushed down the hall, just shy of breaking into a run.

“Alright, so when we get out, we have to work fast, the Mind Flayer will only be distracted for so long and once we’re out of these back halls, we’re easy prey for it,” Y/N warned, the single door leading to the large loading bay coming into view. At an unexpected sound, the group froze. Popping sounds were coming from outside in the parking lot. “Is that gunshots?” Y/N asked, looking back at the three kids with wide eyes.

“Sounds like it, but why would there be gunshots?” Max questioned, her brows furrowed, lines forming on her forehead as she looked from Y/N to Mike. Surprisingly, despite battling with Russian soldiers who were intent on capturing or killing her, this was the first time she was hearing gunshots this go-around with the Upside Down.

“Could be Nancy’s gun,” Mike pointed out. “Billy might be out there.” His eyes widened. They could hear the rev and rattle of an engine over the continuous popping. The look of recognition dawned on Max’s face. She could point out that familiar engine anywhere. She didn’t even need to see that car to know what one made that sound.

“Billy is here-” Max corrected him, her chest heaving up and down in panic.

“And he’s looking for El.” Mike added in, the three all looking to El in fear.

“We have to lay low until we can know it’s safe, it’s the only way we can protect El from the Mind Flayer and Billy.” Y/N informed them, ushering them back down the hall, away from the loading bay. Going out there with El’s injured leg with the flayed Billy and the Mind Flayer would result in another grand struggle. The odds were not in their favour with just the Mind Flayer, the addition of Billy would lower them even more.

____

“Do you think it’s safe now?” Max’s voice cut through the silence. The four of them were huddled in the dark backroom of Scoops, silent in case the Mind Flayer was still searching the bottom floor for them. Y/N strained her ears. There hadn’t been a sound of gunfire or of the monster for the past few minutes. A distant pop that sounded like two cars colliding had been the last thing they heard, and that had to be over ten minutes ago.

“Only one way to tell,” Y/N sighed, standing up from where she sat on the floor. Max and Mike watched her, El’s head resting against Mike’s shoulder as she rested her eyes. “We have to try and leave.” She finished, reaching her hand down to help Max up. With a grunt, Max stood in front of her, El’s eyes fluttering open at the sudden change in surroundings.

“What’s going on?” She muttered, her eyes heavy. Mike situated his feet, slinging El’s arm around his shoulders again. Max grabbed her other arm, slinging it around her own shoulders while Y/N walked around back, her hands holding under El’s armpits.

“We’re trying to leave,” Mike informed her. Together, they all hoisted El up to her feet. “We think the Mind Flayer left, which means the other’s probably left too.” Mike pointed out, realizing something. If the Mind Flayer left, it would have had to be chasing something. With the others in the car, it probably assumed El was in the car as well.

“If that’s the case, we’ll just have to walk until we figure out another plan,” Y/N shrugged. There wasn’t much they could do. Their main mission right now was to keep El safe and away from the Mind Flayer. “As long as the Mind Flayer assumes El is in that car, it’ll stay away from here. Let’s just hope Joyce and Hopper manage to close the gate before anything bad happens.” Y/N chewed her lip. She was glad Steve was up on the top of a hill right now, far from the danger. She could focus on the situation at hand and not worry about Steve being chased down by a thirty-foot monster.

That was the end of the discussion. With renewed energy from their little rest, Mike and Max helped El hobble towards the door which Y/N held open for them. “Just, whatever happens, make sure I am in between you guys and the danger, got it? Don’t pull any stupid acts of heroism.” She warned them, the door clicking shut behind them, leaving them in the little box before Y/N opened the second door, letting them out into the back halls once again. The lights were no longer strobing, all that was left was in low hum and the normal pulses from the fluorescent lights.

They were moving a bit faster now that they were rested, their muscles recuperated. Following their path from earlier, passing the service elevator another flight of stairs hidden behind a door, they came upon the loading dock door again. This one, unlike the double one near the movie theatre, was a single man-door. Behind it was the fresh summer air, a taste Y/N only got a lick of hours before this. Hope bloomed in her chest when her hand grasped the handle, pushing the heavy door open. Humid air with a mix of a night breeze hit her instantly before she even stepped outside. Breathing in, she took a second, relishing in the feeling of it filling her lungs. “Oh god, you have no idea how good the air feels on my skin,” She sighed out, holding the door open for Max and Mike to help El out. “I’ve spent too long cooped up in this hell-hole of a mall.” She explained, noticing the odd looks she was receiving from the three kids.

“Understandable,” Max nodded, looking to the white gate. “So, where do we go now?” Max asked, shifting El’s arm on her shoulders. Y/N pointed to the gate, letting the door close behind her.

“There is a button to open and close the gate right there,” She pointed to a small stand not far from the gate. “The only way to get away from the mall is through there,” She started towards the gate, the three following her. Cautiously, she moved through the bay. She knew it was highly unlikely that this bay was also used to smuggle chemicals into the Russian base, but she also knew how unpredictable this night was. Pausing in her movements, she sniffed the air. She could smell the hint of rain starting to drip from the sky and the heavenly summer night breeze, but she could smell the faintest hint of smoke whenever the direction of the wind changed. “I smell smoke, do you guys smell smoke?” She asked, glancing back.

Mike and Max sniffed the air, nodding. “Maybe that was what that big bang was, maybe they did something to scare Billy off? We had fireworks on top of the car.” Mike suggested with a small, constricted shrug. Nodding, Y/N had doubts in her mind, she didn't even question why they had fireworks strapped to the Wheeler’s Station Wagon. Billy wasn’t one to be scared off normally. It’s even more unlikely that Billy would be scared off while flayed. She remained silent. There was no reason to scare the kids more. If there was a fire, that meant an injury. If Billy was injured somewhere in the parking lot, all Y/N could hope for was that he was knocked out cold and hidden from Max’s sight.

Their footfalls echoed off the walls surrounding the bay. Y/N were more defined while the three following her scuffed their feet. Getting closer to the gate, they could hear the crackling and snapping of the fire, the smell of smoke growing stronger. Slamming her palm against the button, the gate rattled as it started to open slowly. “Alright, let’s go, hurry.” Y/N ushered the three out in front of her, glancing at the service door they just came from, paranoid someone was following them.

“Uh, Y/N, we have a problem.” Mike alerted her, making her rush forward, standing in front of them. Her mouth fell open in shock, noticing the orange flames licking the hood of Billy’s Camaro, the glass of his windshield surely about to succumb to the heat any moment now. Squinting at it, she saw the silhouette of Billy standing there, the backdrop of flames making his sweat-covered body glow. Stepping back, she extended her arms, seeing Billy take a slow step towards them, trying to get an advantage over the group.

“Go, run, get El away from here! I’ll try to hold him off,” She barked an order at the kids. Instantly, the three turned, hobbling off through the loading bay in haste now. Turning on her heel, she casted a fleeting look at Billy. Now, she could see the ink-black protruding veins along his built arms and rock-hard chest, his eyes dark with evil. Running back through the gate, Y/N slammed the button again, the gates stuttering a second before starting to close. She could hear the heel of Billy’s boots hitting the pavement as he strode powerfully towards the gate making her run faster. “I know it’s hard, but go faster!” Y/N pleaded with the kids who just reached the man door, Mike yanking it open with a slight struggle. Pushing a stack of boxes over, she hoped it would confuse Billy as to where El was hiding, but it only wasted time for her.

Hearing a ring hitting the metal of the gate, Y/N swivelled her head around, seeing Billy’s hand prying the closing gate open, sparks flying from the motorized tracks, breaking it. He screamed out a strained yell, his muscles contorting. Y/N’s mouth fell open again, shocked by the sheer strength. “Shit,” She cried, hopping in place before taking off running to the man door. Wrenching it open, she ran in. “He’s hot on my heels, find a place to hide, quick,” She told them the three of them were nowhere to be seen but she knew they weren’t far, she could hear the scuffing of their hurried footsteps. Slamming the door shut, she tried to find something to stop him from getting in. Spinning around, her eyes found nothing before the door was being thrown open again, this time by Billy. “You’re not getting to them!” She seethed, running at Billy, trying to push him back out the door, but his large hands simply grabbed her biceps before she could reach him, lifting her in the air. Kicking and thrashing, she hoped the toe of her shoes would make contact with his shin, but they didn’t. With a grunt, Billy smacked her against the now-closed metal door. A whimper fell from her lips, her head bouncing off it, pain pulsing from the point of impact. Her body slumped against the cold metal, the world spinning around her making her close her eyes, letting Billy know he could let her go. Her body slid quickly down the door, her tailbone smashing against the hard tile.

Dizzy and disoriented, she heard the distorted sound of Billy’s shoes stomping away down the hall. There was only one way the kids could have gone in this hallway, leading him right to their path. Groaning in pain, Y/N pressed her hand to the side of her head, her fingers slipping under the tangled hair. Placing her feet and pushing against the door, she stood up, the pain flaring in her tailbone and head. The harsh light reflecting off the white walls and the low hum made her head throb more. Grunting in determination, she pushed away from the door, stumbling and smashing into the wall beside her, her forehead pinging off that wall, her head flew back in reaction, warm pain localized to that one spot. Moving her hand to her forehead for a second, she pushed herself off the wall, trying to keep a straight line as she walked, her upper body weaving making her stumble over her feet. Shaking herself lightly, she remembered what would happen if she didn’t find a way to stop Billy. With renewed adrenaline and determination, Y/N’s pain seemed to float away. Striding through the hall, she moved quickly, bursting through the set of doors separating the long hallway straight out of the mall from the hallways leading to the store’s backrooms, knowing that was the way the kids would have gone.

Instantly, she saw Billy storming towards the scared-looking Max, his hand clutching his leg as he appeared to be walking with a limp - something Y/N hadn’t noticed before. “Billy,” Max spoke, blinking frantically as she tried to connect with him. “Billy, you don’t have to do this-”

“Max, no! Run!” Y/N yelled, running towards Billy once again, but Max ignored her.

“Billy. Your name’s Billy, Billy Hargrove. You live at 4819 Cherry Lane-” She continued. Y/N cut her off by grabbing the back of Billy’s matted mullet that was fused with dirt and blood. The tall, bulking boy stumbled back, giving Y/N the upper hand. With another tug to his mullet, Y/N stepped to his side, her fist striking his cheek.

“Go!” She yelled to the kids, trying to get them to hide from Billy. Quickly, she brought her knee up to where his hand was clutching his knee, earning a scream in response from Billy. She could only hold him off so long before he eventually took the upper hand away from her. Jabbing his face with another punch, her knuckles hit his nose, blood soaking them. Shaking the pain and the warm blood from her hand, she refisted it, ready to throw another one.

“Billy, please, I’m Max, I’m your-” Max tried but Y/N cut her off.

“Max, run!” Y/N yelled, looking back at the redhead, taking her eyes off Billy for a split second. She realized her mistake quickly, Billy grabbing her wrists with one hand, lowering her defence before striking her with his closed fist. Her head shot to the side from the force of Billy’s punch, the metallic taste of blood rushing into her mouth, her cheekbone throbbing. Gasping, she didn’t have any time to recover before Billy gripped her shoulders, throwing her towards Max. Max screamed, stepping out of the way as Y/N’s figure hit the ground, skidding across the floor, her skin squeaking painfully, into the wall. A breathless gasp left her mouth when her back hit the wall, her head thrown back from the force of her impact, smacking the wall.

“Max, go.” Y/N sputtered out, blinking, trying to clear her sight of the blurriness. Billy’s approaching figure looked like a blob of white, blue, and blonde. Her eyes became heavy, the sound of Max pleading with Billy still was muffled - as if Y/N was submerged in water. The only thing she could hear distinctly was the sound of the back of Billy’s hand meeting Max’s cheek, the girl’s pained scream, and her body falling to the floor by Y/N’s limp body. Y/N’s eyes were nearly dropped shut, but she forced them open to look at Max, her blue eyes lidded shut, her head rested upon her arm. She was knocked out. Lifting her eyes, she heard the muffled scream of Mike, running at Billy before he too was thrown into a wall, instantly out cold as his head smacked against the white-painted pipes, the sound reverberating.

“El, run!” Y/N slurred, unable to keep her eyes open any longer. Succumbing to the urge to close her eyes, she no longer heard anything, no longer felt the cold floor below her. Next, her thoughts stopped. She had finally fallen unconscious - no longer being able to fight it.

____

The first thing to return to her was her mind. “What happened? Why am I so sore and why does my head hurt so much? Did I go drinking?” She asked in her mind, not remembering the past few days. The next thing to come back was her feeling. She could feel the cold floor against her left side, her right shoulder against the equally cold wall. But she also felt a warmth on her neck, as if two fingers were pressing into her skin. Then, it was gone, the heat now on her bicep, shaking her. Like a TV turning on with its volume on full-blast, her hearing came back.

“Come on, Y/N. Come on, Max,” A voice pleaded as she continued to be shaken. Grunting, Y/N flinched from the harsh noise. “Yes! Good Y/N, wake up! Come on!” The voice encouraged, shaking her more harshly. Whimpering, she screwed her face up for a second before relaxing it, her eyes peeling open only to snap shut when meeting the harsh, flickering lights, pain flaring in her head, making everything that has happened come back to her.

“What the hell,” She groaned, slowly opening them again, being met by the face of the still beat-up Steve who was nearly in tears, desperation clearly on his face. He was crouched on one knee beside her, his hand leaving Max’s bicep. “Steve? Is it all over? Why are you here?” She questioned as Steve let out a relieved chuckle, helping her sit up.

“I am so glad you’re okay. When I saw you lying here unconscious, I thought my world was ending,” He ignored her question, his arms immediately wrapping around her to pull her against his chest. “I didn’t know what to expect when I decided to investigate the broken gate, but this certainly wasn’t in my mind, what happened?” He asked, letting her go enough for him to inspect her. His fingers lightly touched the part of her head Billy smashed against the door, his fingers coming back with the smallest amount of blood on the tips. He gulped, looking at the cut on her forehead and feeling the back of her head. Y/N hissed at the contact-making him apologize.

“It was Billy. When we finally got out to the parking lot, he was there by his car and saw us. I tried to hold him off by closing the gate again, but then he stopped it before it could completely close,” She muttered, telling him as she started to regain her wits. “Then, I tried to fend him off at the door but he threw me into it, and I got up and tried to buy the kids more time after he found them, but he won - obviously,” She recounted, looking at Max and Mike. “Wait, El’s missing. Did she get away?”

“I don’t know where El is, I assumed she was here somewhere, we just got here not long ago. The Mind Flayer was chasing us in the car and then turned around so we followed it back to here.” Steve told her, steadying her when she nearly fell over from his words.

“That means Billy has her and the Mind Flayer is in the mall again! We have to wake Max and Mike and save her!” She fretted, standing up. Steve shushed her, helping her up knowing she wasn’t going to sit back down.

“It’s okay, the others have a plan, you hear the fireworks,” He asked her, making her fall silent. She could hear the explosions of fireworks, the sounds shaking the building slightly. She nodded, looking at him to see his brown eyes already looking at her. Her wide eyes stared up into his eyes for a moment, calming her. With their eyes connected intimately, Steve brought his hand up to cup her cheek, she nuzzled her cheek into it. “That’s them distracting the Mind Flayer,” He reassured her. Nodding, she heaved a breath, trying to calm down. “Now, I’ll try to get Max and Mike up, you stay standing here, if you feel like you’re gonna fall, tell me, okay?” He spoke to her softly and calmly, crouching slightly to meet her eyes when she darted them down the look at Max who laid not far from the pair.

“Okay, but I think they are waking up.” She pointed to Max as she stirred, a low groan leaving Mike’s lips at the same time. Max rocked her head, showing the already forming bruise on her cheekbone making Y/N gasp. Y/N moved to go inspect it, but Steve stopped her, his hands falling onto her shoulders.

“Hey, hey, one thing at a time, you’re in no position to be acting like a first-aid responder. I am sure Dustin or Hopper contacted the government and paramedics, they’ll be waiting for us when we get out, they can check on her injuries, okay?” Steve reasoned with her, his movements and actions were quick. He looked stressed out as he looked around at three of the people he swore to protect injured. Max’s eyes fluttered open, meeting Steve and Y/N instantly.

“What’s going on? Why is Steve here? Is it all over? Where is El?” Max asked instantly, her questions going a mile a minute, sitting up in a state of confusion and mild panic. Steve helped her to her feet, knowing that she too would refuse to listen and stay seated. There was no use fighting them, they wouldn’t listen - not in this situation.

“I think Billy has her, but apparently the others have it under control.” Y/N informed her, looking to Steve. At another low groan, the three of them snapped their heads to look at Mike as he stirred as well, his head lifting up to look around, eyes trying to fight against the urge to flutter closed. Steve sighed, knowing the first thing that was going to come out of his mouth, but he was surprised when the tall teen shot up, frantically looking around the small space.

“El, where is El-” He asked, looking desperately at everyone for an answer before he froze, realizing. “Billy has her! We have to save her!” He cried, pulling at his bushy hair. Steve stepped up to him, his hands clamping down on his shoulders.

“Hey, hey, look at me,” Steve told him, making Mike meet his eyes. “The others are taking care of it. I need to make sure you’re okay,” He informed Mike. Mike didn’t calm down, only trashing to try to get out of Steve’s hold. “Mike! Mike!” His yells fell to deaf ears as Mike tried to get to El. Huffing, Steve regretted not taking Robin up on her offer to go with him.

“Hey, Steve,” Y/N spoke up nervously, noticing something. Steve hummed, looking over his shoulder at her, his eyes softening and his body relaxing, but he still kept a hold of Mike. “I don’t hear fireworks.” She whispered, her wide eyes looking at Steve with panic. Steve listened closely, his own face dropping. Max and Mike looked at the two in confusion, but once Steve let Mike go, the boy bolted off without a second thought, the others hot on his heels. Sneakers squeaking and skidding against polished tile rang in their ears as Mike yanked open the first door to get into the backroom of Scoops, everyone’s fingers gently touching the metal door when they passed it. Flinging the second door open, they all raced through the darkroom, avoiding the table and chairs easily. A roar shook the entire mall as the Mind Flayer was now fully focused on its mission once again, not having any fireworks being hurled at it anymore.

Busting into the parlour, the swinging door smashed against the drywall, surely leaving a dent in the drywall. From inside, they could see the horrid sight of the Mind Flayer. Steve stumbled back, it looked even worse and more horrifying up close. Recovering from his shock he caught up with Max, Y/N and Mike as they suddenly stopped just under the ripped-up gate, their mouths falling open in shock. “What’s happening? Billy was flayed when we last saw him.” Y/N blurted out, taking in the scene in front of them. There, with a background of rolling smoke, flickering neon lights, and little fires everywhere, was Billy and the Mind Flayer locked into a battle of some kind. Billy stood there, tall and ready to fight as the Mind Flayer dipped its head, almost challenging Billy, trying to control him again as it roared.

“El must have found a way to unflay him.” Mike muttered, just as confused. Just then, the mighty jaw of the monster opened, revealing several circular rows of razor-like teeth. Nestled within the mouth was what appeared to be a tentacle instead of a tongue, lifting from its rating spot. Y/N gulped, she had not seen the creature head-on yet, the sight sending ice-cold water through her veins. Eleven whimpered, slowly crawling away, thinking the monster was distracted by Billy’s betrayal, but the tentacle jumped out, opening the claw-like points, aiming right at her. Y/N jumped, her head being thrown to the side, not wanting to see Eleven impaled with it - hitting Steve’s shoulder since she had failed to realize how close she was to him. His hand came up to hold her head there, protecting her from the assumed outcome, but Eleven’s screams of agony never came - only the sounds of grunts leaving Billy.

Slowly looking back, she saw Billy’s fists punched into the mouth of the tentacle, his back straining as he fought against the force of the monster. “No!” He yelled, a scream ripping from his mouth as he used all of his strength, pushing the monster back. Eleven, horrified, still crawled backwards. Everyone watched, their breaths caught in their throats, unable to do anything.

“Hang on,” Steve muttered, making Y/N look over at him. Flicking her eyes down, she saw his hand was in his pocket closest to her. Looking back up, she saw the neon lights reflecting beautifully off his sweaty and grimy face, making him look like he should be in a scene of a movie. He lifted his face to look up at the second floor, the wheels in his head visibility spinning as he formulated a plan. Almost like he felt her eyes on him, he glanced at Y/N, pulling something from his shorts. “I forgot I put a firework in my pocket to keep it from falling,” Steve informed her, unravelling his fist to show her the small but mighty firework. “Do you have your lighter on you?” He asked. She always carried a lighter on her, not to smoke, but for breaking new pointe shoes. After a while, she realized that carrying it on her person all the time was not a horrible idea. After all, you never know when you will need a lighter.

“Yeah,” She nodded, pulling the Zippo lighter from her back pocket of her shorts, handing the silver object to him. “What’s your plan here, Steve?” She pressed, watching as he flicked it open, touching the flame to the fuse. Without answering her, Steve wound his arm up and with all his might, he threw the lit firework. Y/N’s eyes trailed it as it arched perfectly in the air, the flame sparkling as it crawled along the white rope of the fuse. Just as another tentacle started to pull its way from the fleshy skin of the monster, the firework hit it, exploding on one of its many legs, the bright colours exploding wonderfully. The monster shrieked out in pain, its leg lifting as the sparks burned it, making the tentacles retract from Billy, the teen falling forward from the lack of force pushing against him. The great body of the Mind Flayer swayed, losing its balance as it hissed, the skin of the leg still sizzling. Its body swayed into one of the pillars holding the second floor up, making the group up there scream, the floor shaking beneath them, threatening to collapse with them up there.

“I think Joyce and Hopper closed the gate!” Y/N yelled as they watched the Mind Flayer sway and screech. There was no way that tiny little firework caused that much agony. Eleven rushed forward as the Mind Flayer swayed dangerously, hitting another pillar, the cement crumbling, the group above shrieking again. They watched as Eleven helped Billy to his feet, the pair running straight for the group huddled in Scoops, watching the monster they were so scared of squeal and flail, its skin sizzling. Its body collided with the railing above, a plume of dust lifting into the air before it fell to the ground. Everyone stumbled from the shockwave the impact caused, dust being thrown into the air before settling down on top of it. Laying there, among the sea of debris and crackling fires, the Mind Flayer let out one last weak snarl before it went completely limp.

With choppy breaths, everyone watched it with wide, suspicious eyes - half expecting it to jump back up. “I-is it dead?” Robin asked, loud enough from above for everyone to hear, her hands gripping the railing as she peered over, not wanting to get her hopes up.

“It’s dead,” Will confirmed, his eyes locked on the monster. If anyone other than El would know, it was him. He was still connected to it, he still felt the presence, he still felt the effects of the Upside Down. With that, everyone let out a relieved sigh. “The Mind Flayer is dead.”

____

Y/N watched the raindrops hitting the puddle in the parking lot not far from where she sat, the orange hues of the fire they narrowly escaped reflecting in it. The still bright Starcourt Mall sign was overpowered, but still highly visible. The sirens and flashing lights rang in the background as she focused on the pink letters of the mall’s sign, the ripples from the falling raindrops distorting it. The firefighters yelled to one another, trying to extinguish the flames as the paramedics jumped from one person to the next. “Alright Ms. Y/L/N, you’ve got a nasty concussion and your stitches are done. You’ll be contacted soon for a hospital appointment just for a check-up and to get your stitches out. Other than that, there are no other concerns so you are free to go,” The paramedic read off the chart he filled out, looking up to give Y/N a kind smile. Blinking, she looked up at him to let him know she was listening. “If you’re waiting for a ride, you can wait here, I don’t mind.” He added, gesturing to the gurney she sat on.

“Thank you.” She smiled politely back, earning a nod from the young paramedic. He clicked his pen, walking off to the next person. Y/N’s eyes didn’t return to the puddle, instead, they drifted around the parking lot. Firefighters in full gear ran around, army officials milled around the parking lot - radios in hand as they waited for the soldiers infiltrating the lab to report back, and former lab scientists waited to go examine the lab below the surface and whatever was left of the Mind Flayer. Looking to the other gurneys, Y/N saw Billy and Max seated on the same one, locked in conversation as paramedics looked over Billy, some government officials waiting to talk to Billy about what happened and what he has to do. Her eyes bounced to another, seeing Robin on the other side of Max, talking kindly to the paramedic that just left Y/N. Nancy and Jonathan sat, each wrapped in blankets as they cuddled on the bench of the ambulance Will sat at. Mike, Lucas and El sat on the tailgate of another ambulance beside Will’s, Steve leaning against the door, talking to them.

Sighing, she tucked her legs under the blanket she had wrapped around her, crossing them. She found it hard to believe that it was all over, that something else wasn’t going to be thrown at her. For the past twenty-four hours, it was nothing but curveballs being hurled at them. It was like every time they came close to being safe and done, something else came along to jeopardize that. “Hey,” Steve’s gentle voice startled her slightly, too caught up in her own thoughts. “How are you doing?” He asked, hopping up onto the gurney beside her.

“Good, the paramedic gave me a clean bill of health aside from the stitches and the concussion, which the lights are definitely not helping.” She noted, wincing. The flashing lights and the harsh neon lights did send shockwaves of pain through her head.

“I wasn’t talking physically, but I’m glad to hear it,” Steve explained sheepishly. “I mean how are you doing with everything that happened?” He clarified, swooping his head down to meet her eyes as they dropped to the puddle once again, the reflection of the sign haunting her. His eyes locked with her’s made her lift her head to look at him better.

“Paranoid,” She said simply. “I’m terrified that something else is going to happen and we’re going to be launched into another twenty-four hours of this.” She expressed, earning an understanding nod and hum from Steve.

“I feel the same way, it’s odd for it to just stop so suddenly after it was just one thing right after the other,” He sympathized, using his hands to talk. Y/N watched them. He was so expressive, it was adorable and heart-warming. She found herself entranced by his cuteness, the worries of everything fading away from her as she watched him talk, not listening to a word he was saying. Blinking, she was amazed by the fact that he liked her back. In the fast-paced events, the profession of love was buried until now. “What do you say, we both have clean bills of health so let’s go pick Dustin and Erica up. I’ll drop you back off at your place, sounds good?” She tuned in at just the right time.

“Uh, yeah, sounds good to me,” She nodded, wiggling to the end of the gurney before jumping off, her feet landing right in a hidden puddle - skewing the reflection, the cold water splashing on her ankles. Steve grunted as he shifted, the adrenaline wearing off and leaving him in pain from his injuries sustained in the lab. “You’re still hurt.” She noted, watching as his face screwed up, the cut on his swollen lip opening again.

“Just a little sore, it’ll go away with rest.” Steve brushed off her concern, his feet hitting the same puddle, droplets hitting his socks.

“We have some stuff to make a tea that helps ease inflammation and pain, I can brew some up for you if you would like.” She recommended as they draped theory blankets over the gurney, starting to walk towards his car, the firefighters obtaining his spare set of keys from Scoops for him.

“Yeah, sure,” He nodded, looking up to the night sky to hide the smile stretching across his face. The girl of his dreams, the girl he had been in love with for so many months now, was inviting him over to her house so she could brew him tea to help him heal. He knew she loved herbal and homeopathic treatments, she could go on for hours about how drinking tea infused with certain herbs can help with certain things. She was inviting him over to do something she enjoyed doing. “Your parents wouldn’t mind, would they?” He suddenly asked, looking over at her. He knew about her being of Russian descent, but would they be upset about having someone like Steve intrude?

“They’re not home. Every year during the week of the Fourth of July, they travel up to Canada. They feel like people become more hostile towards them around this time because of their accents. I’m home alone because of how my summer intensives were scheduled.” She told him.

“So you were going to go back to an empty house after all that has happened tonight,” Steve questioned, his brows furrowed in concern. He was going to the exact same thing, but it felt wrong for her to be alone. She nodded, instantly walking around to the passenger side of Steve’s car while he unlocked the driver’s side. “You shouldn’t be alone after this, Y/N.” He spoke earnestly, opening his door and sliding in. Reaching over, he unlocked her door, pulling the handle to open it - something he had to get fixed, the lock on the passenger side door. Slipping into the passenger seat, she looked to him, slamming the door behind her.

“I’ll be fine, Steve-”

“No, absolutely not, you’re not going to be alone all night. I’ll sleep on the couch.” He declared, not leaving any room for argument.

“Well,” She tried to hold back a smile. “If you insist, I guess.” She couldn’t hold her smile back as butterflies swirled around her stomach. He was going to stay the night to protect her from any nightmares or fears she might have at night. This boy was going to be the end of her, she was sure of it.

____

Walking into the house, Y/N moved through expertly while Steve gazed around amazed. He was used to large houses that felt cold, but this was a nice cozy house just large enough for the family that lived there. The living room was filled with pictures and overflowing bookcases, it was an organized mess that gave off the impression it was used regularly. The couch was lumpy and had permanent impressions from people sitting in it. The coffee table was filled with books that were dog-eared and read so much that they didn’t close properly anymore. Coffee rings, crayon and marker marks, and scratches could be seen on the bits of wood poking out of the mess. “I know it’s a mess, but with so many people living here and having parents work full-time only to still pinch your pennies, we don’t have much time to clean.” She apologized, noting him being stuck in the living room.

“No, I love it. I can tell you guys spend a lot of time together from the mess. It’s nice to see, it makes it feel homier.” He explained his fascination with the room. He could feel the love and the warmth in the room. She smiled fondly at this, making a mental note to bring him around more often.

“Come on, let’s brew this tea for you,” She nodded towards the kitchen behind her before disappearing into it, leaving Steve to follow behind her. He instantly fell in love with the kitchen. It felt even warmer than the living room. On one side, wooden cabinets lined the walls, the stove and fridge filling in gaps where there weren’t cabinets. It reminded him of a kitchen a grandmother would have. Everything had a floral theme, the countertops were cluttered with enough room for them to work upon. Teacups, fine china, and crystal water glasses filled a cabinet anchored to the wall with the back door on it, separating the kitchen from the dining room. The dining room was technically the same room as the kitchen, housing a long wooden table with scratches and gouges in it, littered with papers and flowers in vases. Mismatched chairs surrounded it. “What, are you in love with this room too?” Y/N asked, looking over at him as he looked around the room.

Looking at her, he watched as she filled the tea kettle with water, turning on the burner and sitting it on top. “Yes, actually. I’m used to huge houses that I’m alone in. The rooms aren’t used, there is no sign that anyone even lives there. This on the other hand. This is a well-used house. Every room has signs of life, signs that people love each other and they love the house. It’s amazing.” He gushed, walking closer to her, taking a peek at the stove. It was old, there were stains on it that would not come clean. It was beautiful.

“Here, you can sit up on the counter, that’s where whoever is helping cook sits usually,” She pointed to a small patch of counter that was cleaned off. Smiling at the endearing notion, Steve hopped up happily. He watched her float through the kitchen, her movements light and graceful thanks to her years of ballet training, as she grabbed two teacups and saucers. The teacups matched the teapot, a beautiful floral pattern with a bee buzzing over the flowers, the sun shining. “My mom has our summer tea set out right now. We have three different summersets, she took the other two with her to Canada.”

“You have seasonal tea sets?” He asked, his eyes sparkling at the adorableness.

“Yeah, you don’t,” She questioned before waving her hand, telling him not to answer that. Of course, he wouldn’t. It wasn’t normal and his parents only had one set of dishes in their house anyway. “They are all handmade and hand-painted by my grandparents. They also make matryoshka dolls.” She told him proudly, taking out two tea infusers. Packing one with different dried herbs, barks, and powders, she placed it in one of the cups. In the other, she used an assortment of different ingredients expertly. Steve had no idea what she was adding, but he trusted her knowledge and expertise.

“So your grandparents make all kinds of things, do they sell them?” He asked, watching her plop the other infuser into the second teacup, the tea kettle whistling. Grabbing a tea towel, Y/N turned the burner off quickly, lifting the still whistling teapot up, careful not to burn herself as she poured the boiling water into the cups.

“No, not anymore,” She answered, her fingers gently pressing against the cover of the teapot, careful not to let it fall off as she tipped the kettle up, filling the cups. “They used to when they lived in Russia, but not many people want to buy Russian stuff here in America,” She continued, stirring and bobbing the infusers in the water, trying to saturate the water with the flavours and nutrients from the ingredients. “It’s a shame too, their stuff is breath-taking and it just sits in their house or ours.”

“That is a shame.” Steve agreed, watching as she laid the infusers on the tea towel, walking towards him with one teacup.

“Here, it’s infused with fresh ginger, willow bark, and turmeric. They are all good with bringing down inflammation and helping with pain management,” She passed the cup towards him. He graciously took it. Grabbing her own cup, Y/N took a small sip, the liquid still too hot. Steve copied her, sipping gently at the tea. Y/N smiled as he licked his lips, his eyebrows furrowing as he tasted the liquid. “You don’t drink tea often, do you?” She asked fondly.

“Admittedly, no. And if I did, my parents would only buy the tea in tea bags, not the loose stuff.” He confirmed her suspicions as he set the cup back on the saucer, placing the set on the counter far away from where he could accidentally knock it off. Y/N followed his actions, setting her tea down not too far from him.

”Say,” She hummed, stepping closer to him. He opened his legs, his hands instantly grabbing for her hands, pulling her even closer. “The past couple of days have been very eventful if I do say so myself.” She recounted.

Steve nodded, humming as he agreed with her, his fingers interlacing with hers. “They really were, but I think tonight was the most eventful. I was losing my mind about you being in that mall. Even before the Mind Flayer got there.” He informed her. It was true. Dustin had to tell him to get a grip after they had left the mall to head to the tallest hill in Hawkins. Then, Lucas had told him the same thing when they were being chased by the Mind Flayer.

“You think it was a walk in the park having the Mind Flayer literally drop into the mall? I was cowering behind a show car,” She pointed out. “The only thing keeping me remotely sane was the thought of you safe up on that hill. Then, come to find out that you ran away from the safety of the hill towards the danger you had originally avoided.” She spoke pointedly but also jokingly. She was glad that Steve had shown up. If he hadn’t, Nancy, Jonathan, and the kids would have died and Billy would have died. Steve saved lives. Then he woke Y/N, Mike, and Max up before flames combined, engulfing the mall into a huge, uncontrollable fire - saving them from that. If he hadn’t gone searching for them, who knows how long they would have been out for.

“I don’t care about anything that happened within the past couple of days, all I care about is that you’re safe and in my arms.” Steve told her, wrapping his arms around her waist, yanking her to stand fully between his spread legs.

“Oh, so you don’t care that we confessed our feelings for one another tonight?” She asked, teasingly as she brushed her nose against his without thinking. For a split second, she was horrified and afraid that he would pull away, thinking she was weird for the action, but when he did the same back, she relaxed into him again.

“That is one of the only other parts I care about.” He whispered, his face inching closer to hers. Feeling his breath fanning over her face, she let out a soft breath through her nose. Heaving a large sigh of relaxation and comfort, his chocolate eyes dipped to her lips for a fraction of a second before she blinked and the weight of his lips was on hers. Shocked, her eyes popped open only to slowly close again, her lips picking up the rhythm of his as if this was a dance they practiced many times before. His warm hands left her waist, finding refuge along her jaw, angling her head up ever so slightly to allow him to press his hungry lips harder against hers, deepening the kiss. The cut on his lip was rough on her soft lips, scratching them slightly. He could feel the weight of her hands resting on his waist, almost tentatively as she was too caught up in the kiss.

Y/N swore, at that moment, her heart could light up the entire night from the energy that was pulsing through her from the kiss. It was almost like she was going to burst, light shining through the cracks. Rays of shimmering, golden light stretching into the dark night as if she were a beacon. The kiss was soft, but the feelings being poured into it were heated, expressing all of the love that had been bottled up for months. Sucking his bottom lip into her mouth, she tasted the combination of flavours from his tea infiltrating her mouth, attacking her taste buds. Releasing his lip, she dropped her jaw, his tongue wasting no time exploring the new space. Humming at the feeling of his tongue against hers, she pressed herself flush against him, the lip of the counter hitting the top of her hip bones, but she didn’t care. All she cared about were the fireworks exploding behind her eyelids, the fires travelling along under her skin, and the way Steve’s kiss left her head reeling.

All too soon, they pulled their lips from each other, seeking the sweet taste of oxygen. Panting, their foreheads rested against each other, their lips swollen and their eyes closed in bliss. The summer moon slipped through the kitchen window and the back door, illuminating the pair as if they were in a movie scene, making it a beautifully crafted picture. Fluttering her eyes open, she was met with the face of Steve, his eyes still closed, his lips parted as he basked in her calm presence. Her hands left his waist as she nuzzled her face into his warm hands more, her fingers slipping along the back of his neck to tangle in his dirty hair. She could feel the grime and the blood matted in the beautiful waves, but she didn’t mind it. Holding each other so intimately, she found it baffling. Twenty-four hours ago, they were just friends hiding their feelings for one another, now they are holding each other, lazing in their warmth and love. “I love you.” She whispered, her voice soft and floating through the air as gracefully as she moved.

Steve’s eyes finally fluttered open, meeting hers in an electric wave hitting her right in the stomach - releasing millions of butterflies. “Ditto.” He whispered, a smart smirk lifting one corner of his lips. She pulled away slightly, but his hands immediately flew from along her jaw, clamping at her sides to hold her close to him.

“Did you just say ditto?” She questioned, trying to hold back the joking tone and smile. Steve nodded, his face pressing against hers again, his lips teasingly hovering over hers.

“Well, I do agree,” He hummed, the smile on his face evident from his tone. “I do love you too,” He clarified, his lips meeting hers again. Gently, he pushed her back, causing her back to arch so slightly that it was barely noticeable. Her lips stretched into a smile against his, her hands dropping from his hair, her arms loosely looped around his shoulders. His fingers scrunched against her sides, making her giggle, her lips pulling back from his only slightly. He laughed in response, closing the short distance to press another quick, romantic kiss against her sweet smile. “I could kiss you forever.” He whispered, laying another peck upon her lips.

Pulling away, she smirked at him, mischief dancing in her eyes. “Ditto,” She couldn’t keep her laugh in as he tried to look mad, but the sparkle in his eyes couldn’t be hidden. She giggled, this time pressing her lips against his as he forced them into a frown that wanted to be a smile so bad. “What, I could kiss you forever.” She used his earlier line making him scrunch his fingers along her sides again, her laughter bubbling off the walls of the darkened kitchen until they stopped suddenly, his eyes staring at hers, warm and everloving. Smiles dropped to the smallest ones, their pair too absorbed in each other for their muscles to hold up the beaming smiles. By being lost in his warm eyes, light bloomed in her chest, almost like the sun was finally rising after a long winter's season, dawning a season of happiness and new growth along with it. For a second, she was endlessly thankful for at least one of her near-death experiences for if it had never happened, she would have been laying in bed right now, dreaming of this very scenario.

[fantasticallyfoolishidea]

So, bath scenes. Amirite?

The Witcher fandom is quite blessed. Over the course one season, the showrunners decided to gift us with not one but two scenes of Henry Cavill, naked in a bathtub, two episodes in a ro-

Wait a minute.

Two back-to-back episodes featuring drawn out bath scenes that go on for 2-3 minutes each. That's a lot of time to dedicate to fanservice when you only have 8 episodes to get your point across. Unless, of course… No. They wouldn't. Or would they?

I re-watched these scenes more times than I care to admit. For science. They’re interesting for numerous of reasons (Henry Cavills’ pecs being only two of them). But you know what’s even more interesting? Some sexy, sexy cinematic and narrative parallels and contrasts.

(Obligatory linebreak for your protection. You thought I went overboard analysing Her Sweet Kiss? This is worse. If you’re on mobile – I apologise. Now’s the time to scroll fast. It’ll take longer than you’re expecting, trust me. I’m sorry.)

Bath in “Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials�� Bath in “Bottled Appetites” Please excuse the terrible of the second clip. It’s the only one I could find that had the whole scene in it.

First things first,

the setting

The scene in “Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials” takes place in an inn. The room is dark. Throughout the scene you can hear chatter from the bar. Candles are the only visible light source, although, at the beginning of the scene you can see more light coming in through what’s presumably a window outside the shot. Due to the lighting, the majority of the room has a noticeably blue tint, except for the cabinets on each side of the room where most of the candles are placed. Apart from the cabinets, the bathtub Geralt is sitting in is the only area that’s properly illuminated.

The room itself seems big enough, although we only get to see the bathing area which is separated from the rest of the room by blue curtains, but due the way the scene is shot – frequent close ups of the actors, wider shots frequently partially blocked by the curtains – it appears smaller than it actually is. Geralt stands out against the background due to his skin appearing orange in the candle light; in wider shots he usually appears centred.

In contrast, Jaskier moves from one side of the room to the other a lot and doesn’t remain in either light source for long. Unlike Geralt’s skin, the colour of his clothes matches the background. This is somewhat unusual because in many of his scenes Jaskier and his colourful outfits tend to stick out like a sore thumb – the red outfit in “Rare Species” probably the most visually distracting out of the bunch – but in this scene, the exact opposite happens. Whenever Jaskier’s not the focus of the shot he frequently fades into the background or even gets obstructed by the curtains.

(While I’d love to add visual references for every single point I touch upon, honestly, the amount of editing that’d require is astronomical. Jokes on me though, because it already is. Watching the scenes should give you a better idea of what I’m talking about, though. Also, full disclosure, screenshots and gifs had their brightness an colours altered slightly for better visibility.)

Now, on the other hand, we have the room inside the mayor’s house, which – while also dimly lit by candlelight – appears open and spacious. Due to the candles, the room appears tinged only in colours on the orange/yellow spectrum. No curtains to obstruct parts of the shot, and unlike the inn, this room has got visible windows one of which sits behind Geralt. That window in particular lets in a stream of blue light that, in wider shots, often appears to frame either Geralt alone or both, Geralt and Yennefer. However, the blue light remains behind the characters, neither Geralt nor Yennefer are ever directly illuminated by it.

Why is she going on and on about the lighting you might ask? It’s because there’s basically a whole science to colour theory, colour grading, and the ways they’re used in visual media. It’s one of the reasons why, for example, Guillermo del Toro movies are always such goddamn feasts for the eyes. TV Tropes also has a page dedicated to it, if you wanna get a rough idea of what’s going on here.

Both bath scenes in the Witcher (2019) are gorgeous examples of colour grading and set design. You can tell that a whole lot of thought went into it. “Bottled Appetites” even takes it a step further, carrying the orange/blue colour scheme over into the next scene and directly contrasting the bed frame that’s bathed in amber light with the blue windows it’s framed by.

Fun fact, while colour grading can be used to give colours that certain “pop”, you can also achieve the exact opposite effect. See how washed out and grey Jaskier and his blue clothes appear on the orange bedding in this shot? It becomes even more apparent later on in the scene.

He might as well be one of the pillows for the way his clothes make your eyes just kinda slip over him. Honestly, I wanna marry whoever was in charge of doing colour correction on the Witcher. That person is a fucking artist. I’ll get back to the matter of colours and backgrounds in a minute. For now, let’s talk about

body positioning

Or in other words, yet another reason I’d sell my immortal soul to directors Alex Garcia Lopez and Charlotte Brändström.

One thing the scenes have in common (apart from the copious amounts of eye candy) is that Geralt remains mostly stationary at the centre throughout the scene. Jaskier moves around a lot. He dries his hands behind Geralt, moves in front of him to fiddle with the bath salts, sits down next to Geralt, sets Geralt’s mug down on the cabinet behind him and only stops his continuous back and forth motion when the conversation takes a turn for the serious and he settles down in front of Geralt.

Yennefer, on the other hand, starts off at Geralt’s right hand side, slightly to the back of him. She briefly lies down, stands up, and moves to Geralt’s left while taking off her gown. Same as the other scene, Yennefer settles down as the conversation is about to grow more serious. However, unlike Jaskier, Yennefer is far less restless, once she’s moved to Geralt’s left she settled down and doesn’t get up again.

What’s really interesting about this scene is that throughout the entirety of their interaction, Yennefer and Geralt never look at each other at the same time. They both alternate between staring off into the distance with varying degrees of wistfulness and/or melancholia and turning to look at the other. But their eyes never quite meet, not even when Geralt turns around in surprise after Yennefer says she won’t be taking any payment. The conversation ends with Geralt abruptly getting up and out of the tub and Yennefer turning around to watch him leave (dry up? get dressed? who knows what he’s getting up to in that moment). Notably, when the shot focuses on Yennefer alone in the tub, a significant portion of the room that previously appeared mostly orange suddenly is tinted almost all blue.

However, where eye contact is conspicuously absent in the scene in “Bottled Appetites”, it’s a vital component of the scene in “Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials”. Eye contact is a significant part of Geralt and Jaskiers communication. Mainly because Geralt spends a significant amount time sending glares Jaskier’s way with Jaskier paying him varying amounts of mind, even poking fun at his “scary face” when the opportunity presents itself. Jaskier is all over the place in every sense of the word. His attention is divided between Geralt, the bath, the banquet, etc. before it eventually turns back to Geralt and the whole cycle begins anew. The shift in conversation, from the banquet to Geralt, coincides with a shift in Jaskier’s behaviour. He stops moving around the room and his attention settles on Geralt. He then kneels down and holds Geralt’s gaze until Geralt abruptly switches the subject.

Look at the screencaps above. See how, even in a screencap, the lighting is capable of creating an entire visual narrative all by itself? Yennefer and Geralt are sitting in the water together with their backs to each other in a room full of orange light but their immediate surroundings are tinted blue. Jaskier and Geralt are facing each other directly but despite the orange light surrounding him Jaskier appears shadowed as he kneels in front of the tub while Geralt who is sitting inside the tub glows orange against a blue background.

There’s a metaphor hiding somewhere in that juxtaposition but I can’t quite put my finger on it yet.

edit 12/01/20: I actually got a submission from odense who elaborated on the blocking of the scenes from a theatrical perspective. Go read it for even more meta on the bath scenes.

Anyway, moving on. Next on my list is

the matter of service

What, no more Film Studies for Fandom 101, I hear you ask? Well. Originally, I wanted this part to be about the conversation as a whole but that would’ve gone on for too long (ha! too long, she says like that means anything) so I divided it.

Both scenes deal with the performance of service in one way or another. Jaskier is trying to convince Geralt to act as his bodyguard for a night, while Geralt asked Yennefer to break the djinn’s curse and they’re still settling the matter of payment.

In a way, you could look at both scenes as very, very unusual forms of negotiation. Jaskier may spend a lot of time talking about himself but his actions are almost all focused on Geralt. He douses him with water, “rubbed chamomile onto his lovely bottom” at some point (decide for yourself what you wanna make of that statement), prepares the bath salts for Geralt’s bath, and – also at some point – arranged for Geralt’s clothes to be washed. All throughout the scene, he’s performing a variety of services. He’s taking care of Geralt, whether Geralt likes it or not, and does so like it’s the most natural thing in the world, to the point where it just kinda comes across like more of Jaskier’s usual antics and theatrics.

Geralt may claim he needs no one and doesn’t want anyone needing him but there is some form of reciprocity in their relationship – big things like the shared adventures and the ballads about which made both of them famous in their own right, but then there are the little things like drawing your friend a bath, or watching his back at a banquet so he doesn’t get stabbed by a jealous husband, which Geralt eventually agrees to do despite all of his grumbling and glaring protests.

Which is one of the reasons “And yet... here we are.” is such a brilliant line. Just from this context, you could read it in a number of ways. Jaskier could be calling Geralt out on his bullshit like, e.g. “You might not like it, but yeah, you do need me and I need you.” or he could be asking him to make a decision, e.g. “I know you don’t like it but I really do need your help. What will you do?” or it could be an affirmation, e.g. “I know you didn’t want it but somehow we still ended up here.” etc., etc. And you might have guessed, there’s still more to come regarding this line. Later.

So while Jaskier’s scene is about getting Geralt to perform a service, Yennefer’s scene is about figuring out the cost of the service Geralt asked of her in the previous scenes. Where the first bath scene was about persuasion, this one is about payment. The initial negotiation has already happened, the service been rendered, what’s left to do is figure out the price. And Geralt already offered to pay whatever the price.

Since Geralt seems intent on honouring his promise, that creates a bit of a power imbalance between Yennefer and Geralt at the start of the scene because Yennefer could ask for whatever she wanted, Geralt even brings up that he’s worried about “having agreed to indentured servitude”. (That being said, he does not seem too bothered by current the situation or Yennefer’s company. Quite the opposite, he actually seems quite comfortable talking to her.)

Aside from the payment they haven’t agreed on yet, Geralt’s also got a second promise to make good on since he initially offered Yennefer to “indulge her curiosities” (take that however you will). It’s quite apparent that Geralt is a lot more forthcoming with his thoughts and emotions (actually, his words in general) with Yennefer than he is with Jaskier. In Yennefer’s scene, she and Geralt talk about equal amounts whereas in the other scene Jaskier mostly carries the conversation by himself while Geralt reacts.

However, Jaskier also reaches out where Yennefer keeps to herself. She occasionally teasingly bumps her back against Geralt’s as she’s washing herself but other than that she makes an effort to keep out of sight, even magically turning away a mirror to hide herself, whereas Jaskier touches, quite literally gets all up in Geralt’s “scary face” and just generally repeatedly puts himself in Geralt’s line of sight going so far as to kneel down until they’re at eye level.

Despite the matter of coin coming up repeatedly (mostly in the form of harmless teasing about brothels and prostitution, but also on a more serious way when Geralt accuses her of making a profit off the townspeople), Yennefer eventually decides not to ask Geralt for anything in return for saving Jaskier’s life, determining his “company and conversation payment enough”.

Interestingly, in the scene preceding the bath in “Of Banquets, Bastards and Burials” Jaskier also broaches the topic of coin as he’s setting up to ask Geralt for help. In a sense, Jaskier initially attempts to use that thing about reciprocity I brought up earlier to convince Geralt to do him a favour. He lectures Geralt on his role in making him famous and that he should be making money off their arrangement in an attempt to make the favour he’s about to ask off Geralt seem irrelevant in comparison, like “Look at everything I’ve done for you. Please do this tiny little thing for me.” Obviously, that approach doesn’t work. The (un)holy trinity of “food, women and wine, Geralt”, on the other hand, seems to do the trick. Or maybe it’s the bath and a heart-to-heart. Kind of like Geralt’s company and conversation were payment enough for Yennefer?

While we’re still on the matter of conversation, let’s talk about one of the components that make up part of the emotional core of the scenes. Let’s talk about

the matter of past and future

Geralt has lived a long, long life and its history is written on his body in a web of scars. What struck me is how differently the bath scenes deal with those scars.

With Yennefer, the scars are on full display. She notices and scrutinises them as someone seeing Geralt naked for the first time can be expected to. The scars on his shoulders and back are placed front and centre of the shot several times.

In contrast, with Jaskier, you, as a viewer, barely notice the scars. Most of the time they’re simply not visible to the camera. They’re never in the foreground of the shot and you never even get to see Geralt’s back. The scar on Geralt’s shoulder that Yennefer noticed could easily be mistaken for remnants of dead selkiemore. There’s only one moment that draws attention to the scarred shoulder and that’s when Jaskier pats it as he’s getting up to put away Geralt’s mug of ale.

Again, I feel like there’s a metaphor hiding somewhere in there but what do I know?

Back to the point. While Geralt and Yennefer are talking in the bathtub it immediately becomes obvious that they have a connection. They’ve both had unhappy childhoods, lived long lives and as Yennefer points out Geralt was “created by magic. Our magic.” They have an understanding that quickly let’s you forget that they’re virtual strangers at this point in the Witcher canon.

In the other scene, Jaskier and Geralt have known each other for quite a while already, yet the conversation seems to be restricted to superficial topics at first, mainly Jaskier’s prowess as bard and lover. However, Jaskier unwittingly steers the conversation in a more serious direction when he asks Geralt about retirement, what he wants to do when “all this... monster hunting nonsense” is over and done with.

So far, there’s a pattern in the show that when Jaskier talks to Geralt about serious matters, he starts making plans for the future. After the incident with the elves in Posada he promises to work hard to change Geralt’s reputation. In the infamous scene in “Rare Species” he’s trying to figure out what to do with his own future and offers Geralt to go to the coast with him. Here, in this scene, he’s trying to work out what Geralt wants from his future. Even if Geralt claims to want nothing.

At that point, Jaskier’s already made good on his promise to change the public tune about Geralt. The people in the beginning of the episode are talking about the White Wolf, not the Butcher of Blaviken, which makes for such an interesting parallel when paired with Yennefer’s comment about “Our magic”.

Yennefer’s magic created the Witcher; Jaskier’s song created the White Wolf.

Which, in all frankness, would be a good point to end this post but what’s the point of doing anything if you’re not gonna overdo it? I said the matter of past and future makes up part of the emotional core of the bath scenes. So there must be other parts of that supposed emotional core, right? Of course, there’s still

the matter of want and need

While discussing Geralt’s lack of retirement plan, Jaskier and Geralt keep tossing the word “want” back and forth. Jaskier tries to find out what Geralt wants; Geralt rebuffs him, he wants nothing; Jaskier turns it around on him by saying, well, maybe someone will want you. You could, of course, read that as your run-of-the-mill “just wait, the right person will come along (and that person might just so happen to be me – if you’re wearing shipping goggles)” shtick but the thing is, that’s the kind of reply you usually offer someone who’s bemoaning the fact that they’re single, the exact opposite of what Geralt is doing, and Jaskier strikes me as someone who’s emotionally intelligent enough to know that wouldn’t work on Geralt. I think Jaskier might be very literal when he’s saying “Maybe someone out there will want you.” As in, “even if you want nothing, maybe someone who wants you will come along (and that person might just so happen to be me – again, if you’re wearing shipping goggle).” But Geralt changes strategies and rebuffs him again, he needs no one. And the last thing he wants is someone needing him.

What’s interesting about this bit is the body language. I mentioned Jaskier and Geralt communicating a lot via eye contact. And Geralt is looking at Jaskier quite intently right up until Jaskier kneels down in front of him as he’s saying “Maybe someone out there will want you.” The camera cuts to Geralt and he’s looking off to the side while he says “I want no one.” Then, a pronounced pause follows before he turns to look Jaskier directly in the eye as he finishes, “And the last thing I want is someone needing me.” (I really want to say that this looks so much like he’s warning Jaskier to reconsider whatever he’s building up to say. But alas, that’s just fantasy.) The camera cuts away again and we see that Jaskier’s now looking down behind his clasped hands before looking up and answering “And yet... here we are.” Geralt acknowledges his answer with one of his famed “Hm”s. Then, he immediately changes the subject to the whereabouts of his clothes which Jaskier sent away to be washed.

In the other scene, Geralt and Yennefer breach the topic of “want” and “need” while talking about coin. Geralt claims she’s profiting off the political situation, whereas Yennefer claims she’s working in the interest of the people, “filling a need. Ever heard of it?” Which, yes, Geralt has, literally one episode ago, and he pulls a face that’s simply beyond words. (btw, kudos to Henry Cavill for cramming like five different emotions into one expression.)

Geralt and Jaskier had an entire conversation about how Geralt wants nothing and needs nobody. Jaskier even references that conversation when he yells at Geralt while they’re arguing over the djinn. “You always say you want nothing from life, so how was I supposed to know you wanted three wishes all to yourself!” he screams.

(Also, upon rewatching that scene, I literally just realised that Jaskier was drinking at the beginning of the scene. Combine that with the fact that he repeatedly brings up the Countess de Stael, and flat out states he’s currently heartbroken, and yeah, that explains a lot about his comparatively sour mood and short temper; also, why his speech comes across as much more chaotic than usual. Seriously, compare it to the way he speaks to Geralt after he’s gutted the selkiemore. He talks a lot in both – ok, Jaskier always does – but in the selkiemore scene, or basically any scene that isn’t the djinn scene, his diction is eloquent, artistic, florid; in the djinn scene, it’s all over the place, repetitive, and often bordering on the nonsensical. Frankly, you could probably make a whole post about that scene by itself. I’ll get back to that some other day.)

(Also, am I implying that Jaskier seems bitter over the fact that Geralt apparently keeps telling him he wants nothin from life? ...Yesn’t. Hard to pretend I’m not wearing shipping goggles when I’m literally almost 4000 words deep into a meta post. But remember, nothing but speculation!)

Anyway, and now there’s Yennefer broaching the subject, asking him if he’s ever heard of “filling a need”.

The conversation carries on until Geralt is blindsided by Yennefer telling him that his company and conversation are payment enough. He whirls around but Yennefer isn’t looking at him so he hurriedly gets out of the bath. In the next scene, he emerges with a new set of clothes he doesn’t like, which his companion from the previous scene procured for him. Now why does that feel familiar?

In conclusion...

honestly, I don’t even know where I was going with this originally. This started off as a joke but then things inevitably escalated and now I’m really tired and I wanna go to sleep. (Also, the whole djinn thing is giving me feels now which kinda puts a dampener on the humour in the episode. Jaskier’d already been having a bad day and things just. Keep. Getting. Worse. Ugh, my heart.) But I feel like this post needs a proper conclusion.

I feel like, in the context of these scenes Jaskier and Yennefer could be seen as foils to each other? They’re two of the few people Geralt lets close, very close, actually, since getting naked in front of someone is frequently equated with showing vulnerability to someone. In a lot of ways, Jaskier and Yennefer’s roles work in ways that are the exact opposite of that of the other. Jaskier tries to be seen where Yennefer wants to remain hidden, yet Jaskier gets obscured by the environment while Yennefer is exposed. Jaskier is asking Geralt for a favour, Yennefer did Geralt a favour; Jaskier insists on taking care of Geralt where Yennefer gives him space. Yennefer sees Geralt’s past, Jaskier his future. Jaskier touches the scar but doesn’t look, Yennefer looks but doesn’t touch. But both find a way to scratch at the emotional walls that Geralt’s put up and both times Geralt reacts by immediately trying to escape the situation. Both times, he ends up wearing clothes he doesn’t like in the following scene.

Speaking about nudity and emotional vulnerability, maybe that’s kind of part of the conclusion as well? Sorta? Especially, since Geralt seems to start looking for his clothes or for a way out of the tub the moment someone gets too close. Furthermore, afterwards, he never seems comfortable in the clothes he’s been given, which you could read as a metaphor of sorts, I guess? Like something inside Geralt getting knocked loose in the conversation with his companion and Geralt consequently having to arrange himself with an uncomfortable truth in the aftermath? Does that make sense? Have we finally reached the point where I’m getting too cerebral? Or did we sail past that point like 4000 words ago? God, my brain hurts.

[chuckbass-love]

Can I request reader and Henry Cavill, reader is decides to hide the fact she’s hurt herself while working out with him and when he comes back from being on set all day he finds her unable to move, she was scared to say what happen from a past experience with an ex🙏🏼 P.S: this happen to me a couple of years ago

 Hi love, first of all, i know you got my messages but just want to say again, i’m sorry this happened to you and i hope this can put a smile on your face as no one deserves to feel shitty or sad. Plus it’s Henry and i love him so i’m glad you picked him for this. Enjoy...

Disclaimer: My work is not to be posted anywhere else other than MY Tumblr, Wattpad and Ao3 without my permission. However, reblogs are welcome.

Pairing: Henry Cavill x Reader

Warning: slight angst but mostly fluff.

Word Count: 1,767

GIF NOT MINE!!! Credit to @supersweetstache go check them out 🥰

Nothing Like Your Last

You take a seat next to Henry, holding up his phone to film as he continues to work out, sweat glazing his forehead. 

He turns his head to look and smile at you, earning a giggle from you as he does so. One thing you’ve not necessarily noticed yourself but others have, the way he looks at you. Henry’s brothers say it’s that smitten look. The look of love. But you’ve not said those words yet so you always wave them off when they tease you.

You feel it though, love. Whenever you’re around him, it’s like nothing else matters or exists.

“You coming to join now?” he asks, standing up and putting the weights down, you smile and walk over, placing his phone on the side. Kal nudges at your leg, whining until you kneel down to give him fuss “such a good boy” you talk in a baby like voice to him, as if he’s going to talk back. Instead he just barks, his way of agreeing you guess.

You lie down on the floor in a sit up position, Henry puts some weight on your feet so you can properly execute a good 10 without flailing all over the place.

“So i was thinking we could chill tonight. Chinese takeaway, lord of the rings and all that” 

One of the many things you adore about Henry is his geeky side. He loves gaming and lord of the rings and it’s the cutest thing when he get’s excited about them.

“I’d love that”

With the 10 sit ups completed, he then sits down so you can help him do his own, obviously more than 10 but you only workout to keep fit. Whereas he does it because of filming and to bulk up.

Suddenly, you hear the phone ring in the other room “you gonna be okay here for a couple minutes?” he asks, resting his hand on your arm in a protective manor, waiting for you to give the go ahead. Which you do. He rushes out to go answer and you carry on.

You do some Russian twists, some push ups and a plank. All of your usual work out exercises. 

Just as you’re doing the last couple of Russian twists, you feel a huge shooting pain up your side. You wince and feel tears brimming but as soon as you hear Henry’s footsteps, you stand up and shake it off. 

“Shall we warm down and then shower?” you ask and he nods, you try to get through it without him noticing, thankfully he doesn’t.

Once you finish, you both head for the shower. He starts kissing you and being overly affectionate.

He’s away all day tomorrow filming so you won’t see him until really late, so he’s probably just making it up to you now. By the time you wake up tomorrow morning, he’ll be gone.

You shove on one of his rugby shirts, some knee high socks and panties before joining him in the kitchen for dinner. He ordered a Chinese as soon as you got out of the shower.

“Something smells good” the smell brings a huge grin to your face. Well, that and Henry standing there laying the table. 

It’s times like these where you picture a future with him, where every night is like this eventually and that thought fills your heart with the biggest amount of happiness.

You sit down, eating away as he tells you about how filming has been going for The Witcher season 2, hearing him talk about something he’s very passionate about is just another thing that makes you fall more. 

“So what time are you off out tomorrow?” you ask, shoving some chow mein into your mouth, not even caring how un lady like you look. Henry never complains so surely he doesn’t mind.

“I have to get up around 6 and i’ll be back around the 8 in the evening” you just continue to eat, humming in response “It’s just a couple of scenes tomorrow but the makeup and hair is a nightmare to get on and off but don’t worry, as soon as i get home. We have a couple of days to relax. Just me and you” he stands up to collect the plates and put them into the dishwasher, kissing your forehead as he walks past. 

The rest of the night is spent with cuddles, making out and a whole lot of laughs. 

Which is not unusual, you always find yourself laughing a lot with him, he knows exactly what to say and do to keep you feeling good and you’re the same with him.

You’re gonna find it hard to be away from him tomorrow but it’s just one full day right? It won’t be long until he’s back in your arms.

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

As you get out of bed and head to the kitchen for some breakfast, you spy a note on the counter. 

‘Good morning baby,

Obviously i had to leave early 

But i cannot wait to get back to you tonight

Lots of love

H x’

You smile at the note, your tummy full of butterflies as you go about making some breakfast and tea for yourself before settling down in front of the tv.

If there’s one thing to be said about Henry being away it’s that you can watch shows like Love Island and Dance Moms. He tried to get into them but failed. So you watch whenever he’s away. 

You finish with eating and stand up to go clean your mess up but when you reach up to the shelf for dishwasher stuff, a shooting pain rushes through your side. Making you wince like you did yesterday after hurting yourself during the workout. 

You never told Henry about it because you were embarrassed and worried that he’d laugh.

The memories of your last relationship come flooding in despite your best efforts to prevent it.

“Get up for god’s sake”

“I can’t, it hurts, i can’t move it” you protest, trying to defend yourself against his venomous words.

“I’m sure you do this on purpose you know, injure yourself to get out of housework”

You don’t, you’d never do that. 

You hurt yourself on a run with your friend Jules, but he doesn’t care about that right. He just cares that the dusting hasn’t been done, neither has the washing up.

“I’ll just put some ice on it for a couple hours, i should be fine soon”

“No, the dishes have been sitting there all day whilst i’ve been at work and you really think i’m gonna do them. I’ve had a stressful day as it is, don’t need you making it worse” 

“Okay, i’m coming. I’m sorry” you use the arm of the sofa to get up before you begin to limp and hop to the kitchen, ready to finish the housework.

He’s right. The last thing he needs is you making things more hectic for him. 

You soon wipe the tears that you didn’t even realise were falling from your eyes and go about sorting this pain in your side.

You rummage through the draws and cupboards, searching for any form of painkiller. As you pull open the last drawer, there they are. Paracetamol. 

You take 2 immediately and pray that it’ll magically go away soon or better yet, that it’ll go before Henry returns.

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

 “Honey, i’m home” he calls out before appearing in the doorway, a huge cheshire cat like grin plastering his face.

“I’ve missed you” you run up to him, he squeezes you tight, bringing the pain on again. 

“Ahhh” you whimper, clutching at your side like it’ll somehow bring the pain to a halt.

“What’s wrong?” he pulls away from you, lifting your chin up so you’re looking directly into his eyes. 

“It’s noth-”

“Come on, it’s clearly something” he walks you over to the sofa, sitting the two of you down and you lift your shirt up to point to your side.

“I think i pulled something yesterday during our workout” your voice laced with shame.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” you shrug, but before you can even look away from him, his index fingers keeps your head in place, keeping your eyes on his.

“I don’t know. I guess i was just embarrassed”

“But why? I don’t get it”

“It’s just my ex used to pick on me whenever there was a slight sign of weakness. He’d make me feel like i was a dead weight, useless. He’d even go as far as to make it harder for me to heal and i just i don’t kn-”

“Hold on. Baby, you should know by now that i would never do any of that. You mean the world to me, if you’re hurt i want you to be able to tell me. Maybe that was his style but it’s certainly not mine”

“I’m sorry, i didn’t mean to assume the worst of you but i-” he cuts you off again.

“Don’t apologise. It’s my job now to prove to you that i’m nothing like your last, i’m always here to take care of you, make you feel good about yourself and this is one of those times where i need to take care of you. Let me go and get some ice for it. Wait here” he makes his way into the kitchen. 

You hear the freezer door open, along with the draws until a simple “there they are” comes from the kitchen, you giggle and seconds later, he re appears. 

He helps you lie down, placing the ice to your ribs area and handing you some more pain killers.

He brushes the hair out of your eyes, lowering his head to kiss your lips.

“Thank you” you mumble

“Don’t thank me. It’s my job to take care of you. If i plan to love you forever, then i might as well start as i mean to go on” your heart skips a beat as he says it.

That word.

Love.

“You love me?” 

You see his cheeks turn a little red, he looks down, chuckling.

“I do, but don’t worry, i won’t force you to say it-”

“I love you too”

He kisses you once again.

“Please don’t ever be scared to talk to me okay? Like i said, i love you, i want the best for you and i’m not here to hurt or upset you”

“What did i do to deserve you eh?” you both smile, forehead to forehead.

“I was about to say the same thing. But I guess we both got lucky”

“I guess we did”

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

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[jade-marie]

I didn't watch episode 4 but I saw gifs of Beth yelling at Jane and it got me thinking, what's your view on the Boland kids not being parented?

Lmao you love getting me in trouble🤣

Sorry. It got long but I could rant about this for weeks.

Pre canon and S1

Obviously, we don’t see anything pre canon when it comes to the Boland kids, but you can put together an idea of what their situation was like from the first few episodes. Beth was a SAHM - she made them fancy packed lunches for school, had them enrolled in extra curricular activities, dropped them off/picked them up from school, put them to bed, got them ready etc. She was the main caregiver and Dean was at work. When he came home, he got to be the fun dad.

It seems like they had a decent amount of structure, as far as schedules go, but they’ve never been given any responsibility and didn’t appear to be well disciplined. We had Kenny telling Beth she sucked at math in s1 - something I certainly wouldn’t have gotten away with. Anyway, they had a decent amount of structure and stability, they were used to things being a certain way and that was all disrupted when Dean was kicked out of the house. Then suddenly, Dean was back, but he was sharing a bedroom with Kenny. It doesn’t seem like any of this was really explained to the kids properly or that they were helped through the process, which can have some knock-on effects. 

Throughout Season 2

First episode of S2, Dean was shot. The kids were told that he was mugged and were, understandably, shaken up by the whole thing. Once again, nobody truly comforted or helped them through this process and we started to see the fallout of that. Kenny essentially developed an eating disorder and started bingeing, Jane “ran away from home”. But again, nothing is done about it. Beth says they need to be more present, no phones at dinner, they look into a child therapist, but we don’t ever hear about the kids actually getting therapy even though they desperately need it.

Throughout the season, the structure that they still had in S1 rapidly disappears. It goes from Beth being the main caregiver to her handing the reigns over to Dean in 2.05 and he doesn’t do a good job of it. The house becomes a mess, the kids run wild. This would be a perfect opportunity to start giving the older children some chores, helping to re-introduce structure, but it doesn’t happen. From the kids perspectives, they would notice their mother becoming more and more absent from their lives, missing dance recitals, coming home late, missing dinner, missing bedtime and so Dean is becoming the consistent parent (important for later).

Dean decides to weaponise the children, taking them away from Beth and going to stay with his mother for a while, before going back home. Beth and Dean tell the kids that they’re going to be getting a divorce, obviously that doesn’t happen, again creating quite an unstable environment for them. Effectively, they have a roof over their heads and they’re being fed/clothed, but nobody is actually parenting them. 

Throughout Season 3

At the beginning of S3, with the dealership gone and Beth no longer working for Rio, they have significantly less money. It’s not clear how much of a knock-on effect this had on their extra curricular activities because Jane still has her piano lessons and Kenny has hockey. Beth’s taking them to the park a lot, it’s also not clear whether this is simply because she’s stalking Rhea and Marcus or genuinely because the park is a free activity for them. Regardless, they’ve been going to the park enough that it’s no longer fun. The kids really don’t seem to have any structure anymore and, once again, it doesn’t seem like they’ve been receiving any emotional support during what would be a challenging time for any child. 

Dean has gone back to work, Beth is now also working, so Judith steps in to help take care of the kids. She takes things a little bit far, which pisses off Beth, so Judith is quickly removed from the equation. Again - instability. Then we have the fallout between Rhea and Beth, which means Jane can no longer play with her best friend Marcus for (at least from her perspective) absolutely no reason. Again – instability. Fast forward a few weeks, the entire house is emptied so the kids have to go and stay with Judith for an unspecified amount of time. Again – instability. We can play the blame game to decide who is the cause of this instability, but it’s pretty irrelevant. The fact is, the kids lives are being shaken up and nobody is helping them through it.

Beth buys new furniture, the kids come home, it all seems great, and then Dean gets arrested. So now their dad ,who has been the more consistent parent in their lives for the last year, is out of the picture. Once again, nobody is really offering them support during this time. We see Jane asking for her dad, we see the kids talking about how Dean lets them eat by the TV, because they’re missing things which have been consistent for them, and then we finally get to Janes little stand-off with Beth over the remote control.

That is quite clearly the result of her emotional needs going unmet for God knows how long, so she’s acting like a brat. Instead of taking care of and supporting her child, Beth lashes out. I find the editing choice to mute the yelling and playing music over the scene annoying, because it lightens it quite a bit. It’s pretty obvious that Beth was wildly over reacting to the situation, because she was lashing out at a child over things that had nothing to do with Jane. She was stressed about Dean, she was stressed about Fitzpatrick‘s upcoming murder and taking that out on a kid. Yeah, she felt bad and gave her a hug after, but you’ve still got 3/4 kids (is Kenny coming back??) who’ve been emotionally neglected for at least a year. 

Beth’s kids compared to Annie/Ben

We don’t really see a lot of Ben‘s relationship with Greg, it doesn’t seem like he’s a particularly bad parent in any way, Nancy is probably a bit neurotic, but nothing major. Annie, is pretty emotionally stunted and immature, she puts way too much responsibility on Ben, so it’s the complete opposite of Beth. Ben is effectively the grown-up in their relationship, he leaves reminders for his mother to make sure shit gets dealt with and any structure Ben has is structure he’s created for himself.

But at the same time, he trusts his mother and when something is bothering him he actually talks to her. We saw him come out to Annie before Greg and Nancy, he told Annie when he was being bullied. As he gets older, you can see him growing tired of parenting his mother, but I think she’s learning from her mistakes by recognising the way they’ve impacted her son.  I think it’s also important to remember that Ben has been largely unaffected by Annies criminal activities, this is predominantly because she has a shitload of baggage to deal with. 

Beth’s kids compared to Ruby and her kids

As a whole, Ruby‘s kids have been relatively unaffected by her criminal activities. It doesn’t look like they ever had a rigourous schedule of extracurricular activities, but they’ve always had a stable home life. Not financially well off, but happy. We’ve always seen them be respectful, they have boundaries with their parents, they don’t particularly misbehave etc. They just appear to be good kids with good parents. They witnessed Stan being arrested and Sara especially took that quite hard, but she was supported through it. It’s also quite clear that she’s had a good emotional support system throughout her illness and kidney transplant. When she found out that Ruby was up to something shady in S3 and their relationship became strained as a result, she spoke to her mother in a way which was disrespectful, eventually that behaviour was checked. Because Ruby and Stan parent their children.

Beth’s kids compared to Rio/Marcus

From the very first time we were introduced to Marcus, we’ve seen that he’s very polite, very well-balanced and has a good relationship with his dad. We’ve seen Rio patiently instil important lessons in his son, such as cleaning up his messes, being patient and waiting his turn - things which Beth’s kids still don’t understand.

For the most part, Marcus seems to be pretty well shielded from Rio’s criminal activities, which is why I think Marcus was so heavily affected by his dads absence in S3. But, unlike the Boland children, he was emotionally supported through the process by his mother. He went to her for comfort and he received it. When Rio isn’t around, Rhea appears to pick up the slack and ensure Marcus still has some stability.

I think they’ve deliberately contrasted Beth’s kids with the other children on the show. Her children are the only ones who seem to be truly feeling the effects of choices she’s made during the course of the series. She claims to be doing all of this for her kids, but is completely ignorant to the fact that her choices are hurting them. This isn’t me bashing her character or saying she’s a shitty mom because I don’t like her, this is just stating what’s happening on the screen and right now, whether or not it’s deliberate, she’s being a shitty parent. Dean has always been a shitty parent. So now those kids don’t have anyone😕

[one-more-fangirl]

Quarantine cookies - Timothée Chalamet

(gif not mine! credits to owner)

timothée chalamet x oc

summary: during quarantine, oc is bored and tim comes up with a way to pass the time

warnings: might take you back to those quarantine boredom moments, swearing, a suggestion of sex (for like a second, but maybe it needs a warning, idk)

a/n: i wrote this during quarantine, i was reading some tim imagines and i was like, why not? also there’s a joke about edward cullen not being pretty and i just wanna say that it’s a joke, just in case someone hates me for it

masterlist

***

The United States of America have been in quarantine for five days and I’m already bored out of my mind.

I’ve done it all! I’ve made puzzles, I’ve binge watched the whole child section and family sections on Netflix, I’ve had a Harry Potter marathon, I’ve re-read like ten books… I can’t find anything else that I want to do in this apartment.

[...]

“Ugh!” I sigh dragging the word as I flop on the sofa “This is so boring!” once again, I drag the last word, just to make sure whoever can hear me feels my agony.

And I know for a fact that someone can hear me, because they live with me and have no option but to bear with me and my cranky self for as long as this social isolation lasts.

I hear his laugh and seconds later I see his figure get out of the bedroom and into the living room.

“Are you bored?” Timothée mocks, looking at me from his spot in the side of the couch.

I glare at the sight of his smirk. Unfortunately, him being upside down doesn’t hide it, and it can be so annoying when I’m not in the mood and he’s just making fun of me. When my glare just makes his smirk bigger I change my expression into a pout.

“Yes” I sigh, bring my arms up and letting them fall for emphasis “There’s nothing else to do in here!”

Timothée lifts my head up and sits down, placing it on his lap. He still has that stupid smirk on.

“Poor, poor Iris. What ever will she do?” he asks dramatically. A mischievous grin replaces his smirk and he looks down at me again “You could always do me” he winks.

I look at him with an unamused expression.

“You’re not funny Chalamet. There’s gotta be something for us to do! We’re only five days into this imprisoning, I can’t possibly have run out of things to do”

“You could always keep watching TV, there’s something new every hour” he suggests “Or you could find some tutorial in YouTube and try to do your make-up, you like that”

I think about it, furrowing my brows as if it were a very important decision. My boyfriend’s fingers found their way to my hair, and started playing with it, making my body relax almost instantly.

“I’m not in the mood for that, maybe tomorrow” I close my eyes, humming as I smile in delight. Damn, this massage feels amazing.

I feel Tim chuckle lightly at my actions, his chest vibrating beside me, making my smile grow bigger.

“Well, we have all the time in the world, so-” I bolt up, scaring him.

“Spy Kids: All the Time in the World! I’m adding that to the list of movies to watch. Good call, babe” I pat his arm as a reward. He just looks at me dumfounded and blinks “Sorry, I interrupted you. What were you saying?” I lay back down and put his hand back on my head. It takes him a second, but he shakes his head and rolls his eyes with a smile.

“How about… we cook something? Oooh, we can bake cookies!”

“Yeah, we can do that… But first let’s stay like this for a bit, mkay?” I sigh in content again, turning on my side so I can wrap my arms around his torso and hide my face in his belly.

Instead of letting me stay like that, he picks me up, ignoring my protests. And just when I think he’s going to make me bake cookies with him, he walks to our bedroom and lays us both on the bed. He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close to him, then he moves his other hand to my head and goes back to playing with my hair. I nuzzle my head on his chest and close my eyes, letting myself drift off.

[...]

When I wake up, it’s been three hours since Timothée carried me to bed. I smile softly, still holding onto him, and look up to see his face. His eyes are closed, but I know he’s awake. His career is acting, and yet he has never been able to fool me into thinking he’s sleeping. He says it’s because it’s me. Whenever he tries to make it seem like he’s doing it, a smile slowly creeps to his face and he always ends up laughing.

Like right now, his nostrils are getting bigger, the corners of his lips are twitching upwards and I can already tell that in five seconds he’s gonna burst out a breathy laugh.

“C’mon Tim, just laugh already” and he does. And his laugh makes me smile and join in.

“I don’t know why, I just laugh. It’s your fault, y’know?” he said when he calmed down. I let out another laugh and shake my head at him, leaning in to kiss his lips “Can we make cookies now?” his excitement is similar to a child’s.

“Have you slept at all? Or you’ve been too occupied thinking about the cookies?”

“For your information,” he says in a matter of fact tone “I have slept. I woke up fifteen minutes ago”

“And you’ve been watching me sleep?”

“Pretty much”

“What a creep. Are you trying to out win Edward Cullen or something? I mean, you’re pale baby, but not that pale” Tim rolls his eyes at my stupidity.

“I am more handsome that that bloodsucker”

“A lot of people are. Don’t think you’re special, honey” I pat his cheek and he pouts.

He pecks my lips and gets up, taking all my warmth with him. I sigh before following him. He’s taken out apron that his mother gave us and he’s put it on. The apron is bright pink and say “Kiss the Chef” on it in white. He looks at me and puckers his lips.

“Kiss the Chef!” he exclaims, and I laugh walking over to do so.

“Ok, Chef Chalamet, how do we make these cookies?”

“First, we take out the ingredients” he claps his hands, giggling in excitement “You take out the butter, eggs and flour, I’ll get the rest” I turn around to get to the fridge and get the eggs and butter out, then to the cupboards.

When I turn around, Tim has his back to me and seems to be occupied doing something. I silently walk over to him and stand on my tip toes to see what he’s hiding.

“Are those chocolate chips?!” I exclaim, so loudly that he jumps around. He has chocolate on the corner of his lips “And you’re eating them without me?!” I point at him accusingly.

He shakes his head, looking like a kid that was just caught with chocolate all over his mouth. When he realizes how stupid he looks, he swallows whatever is left in his mouth.

“Uh… no?”

“Good try. Gimme that” I snatch them from him. I take a fistful and throw it in my mouth “Now, don’t take anymore. We need them” I manage to say while munching.

“Right” he narrows his eyes “Okay, let’s start. We’ve been saying that for five minutes and we still haven’t done anything”

I leave the stance to go find my phone. If we’re doing this we need music, and I’ve been wanting to listen to soundtracks. I get my phone from the coffee table in the living room and turn on the Bluetooth to connect it to the speaker. She’s So Gone from the old Disney Channel movie, Lemonade Mouth comes on, and I smile.

“Now we can start” I say, looking over at my boyfriend, that just chuckles and shakes his head, curls bouncing around. We both know I’ll spend more time singing and dancing than helping with the cooking thing.

I can’t sing, my voice is not pretty, and my dancing isn’t the best either, but hey, at least I have fun. I mix the ingredients in the bowl jumping slightly on my feet, singing to the lyrics. When the chorus comes around, I take the whisk and use it as a microphone, making a whole scene right then and there.

“She’s so goooooneee awaaaaay” I sing to Timothée “Liiiike hiiiistooryyyyy… Sing with me Timmy!”

But he doesn’t, he just bobs his head to the rhythm, tapping his foot. He laughs at my dance moves, like he always does, but I don’t care. Music puts me in a good mood, and this is probably the first time in five days I’m moving more than to go from the couch to bed or vice versa.

The song ends, and The Other Side comes in. I go back to mixing, bumping my hip with Tim’s and smiling brightly at him. He’s mixing his own bowl and at this rate he’ll end up mixing mine too. I’m a disaster with staying concentrated as it is, but if you play music for me… let’s just say I had this phase at high school where I was failing almost everything and later we found out it was because I kept listening to music while studying.

And just like I predicted, the boy beside me takes everything from my hands and starts doing it himself.

“Go dance in the living room” he orders “You have more space” I smirk and elbow him.

“You’re just saying that ‘cause you can see me from here. It’s okay Timmy, you can say that, don’t feel embarrassed. I mean, you admitted you watch me sleep earlier” I wink at him, and he rolls his eyes “It can’t really get any creepier can it?”

“Just go!” he laughs “You’re not helping here anyways”

“Hey! I can do this and not dance!”

“Oh really?” he challenges.

“Yes, really. I’ll show you”

But just as I say that, Dancing Queen comes up, and I know I’m screwed. I’ve never been able to resist this song and luckily for me, neither has Timmy. He looks at me with his lips pursed.

“After this song” he states, before taking my hand and twirling me around singing “Having the time of your life…”

[...]

“These are amazing babe” I tell him while biting my third cookie “You really are a chef. God” I moan as I go for the fourth.

Next to me, Timothée chuckles and holds me tighter, kissing my head.

“Took a lot to make them too, you were quite distracting”

“But you had fun, and I had fun. So mission Avoid Boredom During the Day was a success! And as a plus, now we have food to last us a day or two if you stop me now”

“I am gonna stop you know, otherwise you’ll get sick and I don’t want to take care of you to avoid getting bored tomorrow”

“Gee, thanks hun”

“Anytime chérie” he winked.

[ruthoakenshield]

Very Good Friends (Chapter 16)

Catch up here: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8]  [Chapter 9]  [Chapter 10]  [Chapter 11]  [Chapter 12]  [Chapter 13]  [Chapter 14] [Chapter 15]

Reader x Henry Cavill, Reader x co-star named Dan

Warning: This tale is for 18+ readers ONLY!!! Mentions of flashbacks: (rape, anal sex, non-con sex, abuse), severe bruising and injury, mentions of suicidal thoughts, depression,   humiliation, and some of the good kind of fluff to make us feel better. Smut (the happy good kind) comes soon!!!

If  ANY of the warnings upset you or make you uncomfortable, DO NOT read  below  the cut! go find something else to read in this case and if you want to be removed from the taglist for this story, let me know. I won’t be upset, I promise!

If you are okay with reading those things then enjoy the tale below the cut.

Feedback  and reblogs are appreciated. I do not own Henry nor do I have any   personal knowledge of him besides what is common knowledge amongst the   Cavillary. Any mistakes and typos are mine, story is not beta-tested.   GIF I got from the tumbler search thingy.

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

Two weeks later you, Henry, and several co-stars, as well as crew members find yourselves in the courtroom facing down Dan, your co-star. He is glaring daggers at the two of you as you testify to his behaviour, words and deeds as well as how it affected you and threatened the film. The two of you are each dismissed after your time on the stand. After two days of hearings all day long, you and Henry and your co-stars and crew members wait to hear the results out in the hallway. Henry sees how upset you are after having to answer some of the questions and being verbally attacked by the defense attorney who kept trying to pin this all on you

You tremble in Henry’s arms, your mind racing with all the ‘what if’ scenarios. Henry recognizes the start of you having an anxiety attack starting, and he uses the distraction techniques your counselor taught the two of you to bring you out of it. He helps you focus with deep breathing and holds you close. “Just listen to my heartbeat, Kitten. Focus on that and my breathing.” he tells you. “Find things around us to focus on for each of your senses”. He reminds you.

You close your eyes and focus on him. His musky scent combined with his sandalwood and cedar wood cologne, his warmth and strong body holding you secure. His calming and steady heartbeat beating in your ear as you lean against his broad chest, and his steady breathing, you look at his huge arms holding you close and you taste the peppermint he gives you to suck on. They all lulled you into a relaxing trance while you both waited to hear the results.

Henry rested his chin on your head, focused on keeping his breaths steady, the scent of lavender and your peace and calming oil keeping his nerves at bay. He focused on your body and how it felt in his arms and against his chest. Your arms wrapped around his waist, hidden by his suit jacket from everyone. He counted your breaths for something to do to keep his focus on you and not the ‘what if’ scenarios his brain kept trying to come up with.

Finally, the court room doors were opened, and people began to leave. The studio’s attorneys approached you both and told you that he was convicted on all accounts and will be in jail for the next 30 years and will have to register as a sex offender now. they say, “His acting career is over.” They inform you that you will be getting a hefty amount for restitutions for all the pain and suffering and slander you suffered by his hand and decisions and you will receive a letter from them when it hits your bank account.

Your jaws drop and you look at each other. Henry thanks the attorneys and they shake both your hand and Henry’s. You look back up at Henry and he is beaming. “I’m proud of you, Kitten. You stopped him from hurting any other women.” he says and kisses your forehead. “And Hollywood now knows they won’t be able to mess with you like he did!” you blush and nod. He gives you a hug and offers you his arm. The Cast and crew who also testified cheered at the news and congratulated you and give you hugs and handshakes as well. The two of you head out into the sunshine and walk to Henry’s BMW.

Suddenly a reporter spots the two of you and asks for an interview. Henry and you decline and tell her you are not able to discuss the case or it’s results. Then the two of you climb into the car and Henry pulls out of the parking lot.

He takes you to his favourite little restaurant that is off the main drag and the two of you enjoy a nice dinner with your agents and publicists. The six of you discuss the case and it’s results and the reporter who approached you both. “You handled it nicely.” Henry’s publicist tells him. “Do the same thing if anyone else approaches or asks about it.” she tells you both.

Once everyone is done eating, Henry picks up the tab and you all head home. You and Henry crash into your beds and quickly fall asleep knowing you both have to be up ridiculously early for filming. It’s going to be 16 hour days for the next few weeks and you both are looking forward to it, yet are dreading it too.

You arrive and the whole set is abuzz with the news of the verdict. Everyone is congratulating you and telling you how proud they are of you for standing up to him. Finally the director gets everyone settled down and you are able to film your scenes. Richard is there today with you and Henry filming some of the last scenes with him. He gives you a gentle hug and also congratulates you and tells you he is proud of you and how you’ve rebounded from this. “I hope you continue to get wonderful parts in film, Sweetheart. You’re an amazing actress!” he tells you, making you blush.

The remaining month and a half passes quickly and principal filming wraps ahead of schedule leaving time for re-shoots if they are needed. You both get called back for re-shooting a couple scenes with Richard. Then you have to go into the recording studios after that to do the voice overs for the scenes that they recorded when your voice was still hoarse or non-existent after the attack. Once that is finished, you all are whisked off to begin press junkets, interviews and tv spots all over the globe, glad to be able to start them earlier than expected.

**********

The night before the rat race of Press Junkets begins, you and Henry are in adjoining rooms at a lovely hotel in Los Angeles. You are cuddled on the bench on the balcony and he has made you Peppermint tea to drink and he sips on coffee.

You are watching the sunset and talking quietly enjoying the cool night air. Henry looks at his watch and sighs. “Time for bed, Kitten. We’ve got to be up early in the morning.” he tells you and lifts you off his lap. He easily carries you into the suite and sets you down. “Night Bear.” you tell him and give him a hug. Henry grins and pecks your nose with a goodnight kiss. “Night Kitten.” he tells you and watches you head into your room through the adjoining door.

The two of you agreed to keep the doors open in case your nightmare flares up, which it does occasionally. Henry can always tell when it does because you crawl into bed with him, wrapped in your burrito of the comforter or heavy blanket and you plaster yourself to his side or back.

You crawl into bed and sigh. You’re nervous to start the press junket and you can’t sleep. You toss and turn for over an hour. Finally, you get up and grab the comforter. You wrap it around yourself and creep into Henry’s room. He is sprawled across his bed spread eagle. The room is warm still even with the French doors open letting the evening’s cool breeze in. He refused to use the AC, knowing how you hate the sound of them. You hesitate to crawl up against him knowing he hates being hot when he tries to sleep. You sigh quietly and turn to go back to your room when you hear him sit up and say quietly, “Can’t sleep either, Kitten?”

Turning, you see him propped up on his elbows looking at you. “How can you stand being cocooned in that comforter?” he asks quietly as you approach the bed. He sees sweat rolling off your face and neck. He scoots to the end of the bed and unwraps it from your body. You’re covered in sweat and his fingers gently graze your arms. He is trying hard not to be turned on by your heady scent. “Come with me.” he says quietly and takes your hand.

Leaving the lights off, Henry turns the water in the Jacuzzi on filling the tub with cool water. He strips down and climbs in, then holds out his hand. You hesitate, but want to cool off so you strip down to your panties and bra and climb in.

Henry watches you with appreciative eyes. He pulls you over to him and puts you on his lap as the two of you relax in the cool water. You try to ignore his massive hard on pressing into your back and you focus on his breathing and the feeling of his arms around you. The two of you end up falling asleep in the Jacuzzi’s cool water.

Somehow during the night, you end up turned around and facing him, straddling his hips, his morning wood is pressing into your belly and your head rests on his chest. His arms rest on your thigh and his hands on your ass.

You are surprised you were asleep with him like this and try not to move. You feel him stir and his hands grip your ass momentarily and he moans. Once his brain catches up with his body, he quickly moves them to your back and he quietly asks you if you’re awake. “Mmmm, just woke up.” you murmur. He glances at the clock and yawns. “We need to get going, Kitten. We have to be at the TV studio in an hour.” he tells you.

You sit up and yawn, then stretch, forgetting that you’re nearly naked and sitting on his equally naked lap. His hands grip you to steady you and your eyes open in surprise. “Oh, OH!!! I’m sorry, Bear, I forgot …” you start to apologize when you see the surprised look on his face. You look down and realize your bra and panties have become see through now that they are wet. He lifts a hand to your lips and stops you from finishing. “Don’t apologize, Kitten. I rather like the view.” he says with a smirk. “Soon I will be able to enjoy it every morning in my bed, if you let me.” he purrs making you blush beet red.

Grinning, you move to stand and climb out of the Jacuzzi tub. You grab a towel and dry off, then head to your room. Henry enjoys watching your nearly naked ass sway from side to side as you walk, your hair just barely touching your waistline. He sighs and looks down at his morning wood. Groaning, he takes care of it as he drains the Jacuzzi and then climbs into the shower to freshen up. You do the same in your room. Then you both get dressed, grab your things and head down to meet Richard at the SUV that the studio sent to pick the three of you up.

You spend the next month hopping from one plane to another, one country to another, one hotel to another and one interview to another promoting the movie you were in with Richard and Henry. Sometimes the questions were easy to answer, and other times the interviewer just didn’t get that you couldn’t talk about some things in the movie and they would get upset, which in turn upset you. Henry and Rich both quickly learned your tells that you were getting upset and would quickly squash any unpleasantness.

Twice one particularly belligerent interviewer asked the two of you about the rape case and got upset when all three of you told him that the topic was off the table for discussion and no questions regarding it would be answered. Richard and Henry eventually told him to get out and that the interview was done, despite him still having 10 minutes left. Henry told him that since he couldn’t be respectful of what the three of you could and could not discuss, that the interview was done and if he didn’t get out that security would be called.

The man quickly got up and left, Henry apologized to you, and the film crew taping the interviews just stared in shock. Henry looked at Richard and Rich nodded, so Henry ushered you out into the hallway, seeing you were upset and helped you to calm down. “Why do some people have to be like that?” you say as he holds you and gently rubs your back.

“Because they never learn manners. All they want is to get their story and don’t care who they hurt. They’re no better than paparazzi.” Henry tells you. “Now, are you ready to go back in and hit repeat?��� he teases. It was the running joke between the two of you and Rich. You placed bets each morning how many times you’d get asked the same questions. Some days you were closer, other days he or Richard were.

You giggled and nodded. The two of you entered the small room once more and resumed interviews. As the busy day ended the two of you walked out of the studio with Richard, and Henry chuckled, “Well you won today, Kitten. Where do you want to go eat at?” he asks.

You pull up the restaurants in the area and decide on one. The three of you walk arm in arm through the streets with you in the middle, stopping to sign autographs and let people take pictures with the three of you. Everyone seemed excited to see the movie. Finally, you all reached the restaurant and the three of you were seated. None of you could read the menus since they were in a foreign language, and you all laughed trying to figure out what they said. You each decided to just pick something from the pictures that looked good and hope it was something that tasted good.

You all giggled and laughed as you ate and enjoyed the meal. You ended up with something resembling a stuffed steak with a type of potato and local veggies. Henry ended up with a seafood platter including squid and calamari. Rich ended up with something resembling Shepherd’s pie. Henry offered you some of his platter, but you declined, knowing he just wanted your huge steak. You giggled as he eyed you enjoying it. You’d tease him and pretend to offer him a bite only to quickly put it in your mouth. He laughed and told you that you’d pay for that. To which you quipped, “Nope, I won the bet, so you’re payin’ big guy.” Which sent Richard into a laughing fit.

You all were stuffed silly by the time you left the restaurant. You ate your fill of the steak and let Henry finish it off and he ate most of his platter too. He didn’t seem a huge fan of the calamari and squid though.

The three of you walked through a nice park. You were in the middle and Rich was on your right arm, Henry was on your left arm. The three of you visiting, laughing and sharing stories of press junkets they’d done as you all headed back to your hotel. You all arrived, tired and with full bellies.

You wished Rich a good night, then went to your room and began to pack your stuff for the early red-eye flight out. Henry did the same, as did Richard. You and Henry again had adjoining suites so the door between the two was left open. Your suite had a Jacuzzi and Henry was a little jealous his didn’t. You invited him to come join you in it and you set your alarm for an hour before you both needed to be leaving in case you fell asleep in it again.

You and Henry cuddled in the Jacuzzi enjoying the jets circulating the water. Henry massaged your tired feet and you thought you had died and gone to heaven. He was grinning from ear to ear at the lovely moans he was drawing from your lips as he simply massaged the knots and pain from your aching feet. You returned the favor when he was done; and at first he didn’t want you to do it, but once you caught one of his big feet and began to rub with a slow, firm pressure, he melted like a stick of butter in your hands.

“Oh God Kitten! That feels amazing!” he murmurs as you face each other in the Jacuzzi. His foot propped up in your lap as you massaged it. His eyes were closed, and he had a goofy grin on his face. You let his foot slowly drop back into the warm water, and he lifted the other one for you to grab and work on. You noticed he was close to falling asleep. Once you finished his other foot, he was asleep.

“Henry,” you said as you gently shook his massive shoulder. “Henry, wake up. Let’s get you out of the tub and into bed.” you tell him. He groans and moves to stand, his eyes still closed. You chuckle and guide him out of the tub. You hand him a towel and he dries off, his eyes still closed. You giggle and ask, “Aren’t you gonna open your eyes?” he shakes his head and holds out his hand. You chuckle and guide him over to the bed and turn back the covers, you turn him around and sit him down in the bed. He scoots in and you cover him up. He is snoring before you get back to the tub to drain it.

Once it’s drained, you climb into bed next to Henry and curl up and try to get a few hours of sleep. He ends up curling his huge frame protectively around you as he spoons you and pulls you against him as he sleeps. You giggle and just let him cuddle. Just as you finally fell asleep, the alarm goes off, startling Henry, since it wasn’t his normal alarm. You giggled as you heard his going off in his room.

He groans, and gets up. He walks into the room and you admire his god-like physique as he saunters away from you completely naked. His member swung as he walked. Even flaccid, it was huge. You shook your head wondering how it would feel inside you someday if you could ever manage to tolerate having sex. Henry’s sleepy head peers back in through the doorway and he has a funny look on his face once he shut the alarm off.

You sit up and say, “Hen, what’s wrong?” he comes back into the room with his boxers now on, and sits on the bed for a moment, trying to wake up and figure out what was different. “You slept next to me in your bed. I was naked and you weren’t wrapped in your cocoon.” he comments, looking at you puzzled.

You shrug. Hen, we’ve got today left of interviews and then it’s just the red carpet for the movie release. I figured it was safe enough to not cocoon myself up. I felt comfortable and yeah. Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything inappropriate. Just cuddled and spooned me.” you tell him with a giggle, then look down at your lap.

He reaches over and takes your hand. He brings it to his lips and kisses each finger, letting his lips linger on each one, almost sucking them into his mouth. Then he slowly and sensuously kisses the top of your hands and your palms. He stands and leans over the bed to you and kisses your forehead, “Soon.” is all he says and heads back into his room to get ready.

You sit there, in a daze for a moment wondering what the hell was that. You shake your head and yawn, then get up and get ready. The three of you head to the airport and board the plane for the last leg of the trip… London… and their PR whirlwind of a day.

Henry and Rich are both excited to be ‘on home territory’ as they say, and Henry can’t wait to show you around after today’s press junket finishes. Both men are giggly, beaming and in very good moods for the day, setting you at ease once again.

More chapters to come…

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[detectiveinchicago]

Sparks Fly: Chapter 8

Chapters list here

Note: Hi guys! Thank u for all the comments and reviews, you are amazing. If you want to be tag in this story please let me know. THANK U FOR YOUR REVIEWS!!! English is not my first language. Enjoy xxx.

DISCLAIMER: GIF IS NOT MINE.

WARNING: Bad language and anxiety issues. 

“They won’t talk” Sheryll said walking into the room “Anything on the house?”

“Nothing on the house” Caitlyn answered

“We are still checking the cameras but so far nothing” Hanna added looking at her computer.

“So basically we have nothing on them” Sheryll concluded.

“It’s hard to say it but yes” O.A answered.

“We will have to release him” Caitlyn said.

“We still have a few hours left” Clinton pointed “CPD is talking to the detectives in the other cases and running some labs on the lipstick”

“This is a waste of time” Kenny said “We have nothing on this guy, nothing, we don’t even know who he is yet”

“Well, start digging then” Jess answered walking into the room “Re-interview some the recent victim’s coworkers, see if they have seen anything suspicious or have anything to say” he explained walking around the room “This guy can’t be invisible, serial killers don’t hide, they like attention and recognition”

“Thing is we are chasing a ghost” Caitlyn pointed

“Not for so long, he must have left behind bread crumbles” Jess answered “If we find them, we find him. Let’s work” He finished coming back to the interviewing room.

The next few hours burned slow, Kenny went through the club cameras where these girls used to work while Hanna checked the cameras in the alley one more time. Jess and Sheryll had to let the gang go and they along with Clinton went to interview some of the girl’s coworkers. Caitlyn went to every pharmacy record or suspicious purchases and O.A was re-reading the files.

“So what do we have so far?” Jess asked entering the room.

“I have nothing on cameras” Kenny said looking at Jess.

“Me either” Hanna added

“No suspicious purchases in any Pharmacy” Caitlyn said.

“The forensic has just confirmed the lipstick clue but it was meaningless since it was a popular brand” Clinton notified “He confirmed we have 55 victims matching this patron in the last six years”

“I have notice something in the files, all the girls have a little or any family circle, he made sure no one would be looking out for them” O.A informed “As we already knew they were all exotic dancers or hustlers with blue eyes and brown hair but three of his last five victims where exotic dancers at Clubhouse”

“He is out of control” Jess said walking around “He is killing almost every day and he is repeating places, that’s unusual”

“At first he used to kill every two months, he was smart by waiting the cases to go cold” Caitlyn added.

“Something must have taken him out of place” Sheryll pointed “He is more dangerous than ever”

“He is reckless” Jess added “He doesn’t care anymore”

“We can give Clubhouse a try” Clinton suggested

“We need eyes on the inside” Jess told them “You are going undercover” He pointed to Caitlyn.

“Why me?” She asked.

"Well you are his type, brunette, short hair, and blue eyes" Jess said “He might bite the trap”

"You want me to go undercover... as an exotic dancer" Caitlyn said “It’s not the usual work”

"You can get some information of their coworkers and then if he bits the trap he might target you and then we will be able to track him you down" Jess clarify for her.

“Why only me? Hanna is brunette too” Caitlyn complained.

“You are more athletic” Hanna pointed with a little smile.

“Shut up” Caitlyn answered “Since I know you guys, I always do the undercover work”

“What can we say? You are talented” Clinton added jokingly and Caitlyn gave him a death look.

“Let’s keep digging but we have a plan” Jess finished.

“I will put everything together for tonight” Clinton added.

Everyone dispersed and Sheryll approached Kenny and leaned on her partner's chair “I saw you”, she said.

“What?” Kenny asked.

“You are stalking her” Sheryll pointed out “You are still in love of her”

"It's been years; Caitlyn means nothing to me anymore” Kenny said without taking his eyes off the computer.

“Why can’t you just be friends?” Sheryll asked raising her eyes bows.

"Most people don't befriend their exes” He answered looking at her “There is a reason why Sheryll”

Sheryll nodded without quite believing him before taking a file and walking to the table.

As if the situation wasn't already uncomfortable enough, his colleagues insisted on raising the issue. Kenny was perfectly aware that everyone was waiting for him or Caitlyn to explode at any moment like a time bomb. However, he knew himself and knew Caitlyn well enough to know what to do in public scenes was not their thing. Was he angry? Yes, he was. But he didn't need people to remind him of Caitlyn's existence any more than he was already aware of.

He had to admit though he was angry that his love was still intact. He needed her, more than he will ever know but he was too proud to admit it. Too much water had passed under the bridge, there was too much history between the two and it just wasn't that easier to fix. He was bereaved, his heart still hurt every time he looked at her, not only because he loved her madly but because his heart had left with Caitlyn when she left him five years ago.

Her blue eyes were a fantasy, she still had those dimples on her cheek every time she smiled and her brow furrowed every time she was focused on something. Those things were just some of the reasons he had fallen in love with her. Of course, she was smart, her sense of humor mixed with sarcasm could drive him crazy, Kenny had learned to ignore her bad mood in the morning and still remembered how adorable she looked every time she watched a hockey game.

"I found something” Hanna said getting up of her chair and interrupting Kenny’s thoughts “He avoids cameras so he should know where the cameras are and study the places for that”, Hanna explained showing the cameras on the TV “This guy was around Amelia's block on Tuesday night, you can't see his face but he is there and then, he is again on Thursday night and then he is gone. He never comes back, on Friday night Amelia was killed"

“Do you have his face on any camera around Amelia’s block?” Sheryl asked approaching to her

“Nothing so far but I will keep looking” Hanna answered.

“We know that Amelia and Sienna, our Jane Doe, where killed probably at the same time so they should have been together when he killed them” Sheryll told her.

“They worked together so maybe they went home together and he took them from there?” O.A asked.

“Kidnapped two at the same time without anyone noticing it?” Kenny said “Does the club have any cameras apart from the ones pointing the entrance?”

“The detectives were on their way here, I will tell them to go back and check it” Hanna said referring to Hailey and Jay.

Caitlyn had to admit that she liked being back with her team, it was like going back to the old days. She had to admit that over the years her FBI coworkers, first the Most Wanted team and then the New York team had become her family. In the absence of her true family, she had created bonds with everyone, had spent Christmas with Clinton, Jess and Tali, thanksgiving with Sheryll and Charlotte, and even once Kenny and her went to Florida to spend a New Year with Hanna. Then, in New York, almost the same thing happened, her first Christmas after breaking up with Kenny, she thought she was going to spend it alone in her apartment, but Jubal took her to meet his family. The last Christmas she had spent with her siblings and her parents was before her mother got sick.

"God, I'm almost naked," Caitlyn said to herself, adjusting her suit, Clinton got her a "suitable" suit, but that suit was many things, but adequate was not one of them. She was practically naked, it fit her perfectly anyway. She took off her suit and put it back in the bag, she was supposed to enter as a new employee, the owners of the club were not very friendly when they interviewed them so she would go completely undercover."I guess exotic dancers don't wear a lot of clothes" Caitlyn thought to put on a sleeveless shirt and taking the outfit that was hanging on her locker door.

When Kenny entered the locker room holding the microphone in his hand, Caitlyn was finishing putting on her jacket.

"I need to wire you up" Kenny said quietly.

"Go ahead" Caitlyn said accepting the necklace she was offering her.

"That's your camera and this is your microphone" he said handing her the microphone and placing the microphone on the neckline of her dress "Sorry"

"Stop" Caitlyn answered putting the necklace "Nothing you haven’t seen or touched before"

However, Kenny chose not to answer and continue adjusting the microphone.

"What? You came here and you were very quick judging me but when you can finally say something you choose to shut up and be condescending to me?" Caitlyn said frowning "Are we going to tiptoe around and play cat and mouse?”

“You broke it” Kenny said simply looking at her after finishing with the microphone.

“I don’t want to blame you but let me remind you that you broke our relationship, Kenny” Caitlyn pointed adjusting the necklace.

“You left me” Kenny answered starting to raise his voice.

“Our Marriage was way broken before that and you know it!” Caitlyn shouted “Nevermind I had the guts to walk away!”

“You’re right but you didn’t have the guts to say goodbye so don’t expect me to play nice after all these years” Kenny answered shrugging “I don’t know who you are anymore, beautiful angel” He added before walking outside the room.

“I don’t even know who I’m anymore” She answered overwhelmed by the old nickname.

"Beautiful angel" That's what he used to call her, especially when they started dating but sometimes he just dropped the nickname in a casual conversation like: "How did my beautiful angel get up this morning?" or "What is my beautiful angel cooking?" He just dropped the nickname out there naturally and Caitlyn had to admit that he managed to speed up her heart. The nickname brought back fond memories she must admit.

----flashback----

“What are you doing up so late?” Kenny asked walking into the living room “It’s 2 AM Caitlyn”

"I can't sleep yet" she answered looking at the TV screen "I watched the NBA Finals and then I was hooked watching the replays"

"Tomorrow we have to go to Sheryll's house for Anais' birthday" Keny remembered her

"Yeah, I know" Caitlyn replied getting up from the sofa and walking towards the kitchen "I'm sleepy"

"Then come to bed with me" Kenny replied walking behind her.

"I need jellybeans" Caitlyn said checking the kitchen drawers.

"Caitlyn, jellybeans are not going to help you sleep" Kenny pointed out "They are pure sugar"

"I know, there are no more jellybeans anyway" Caitlyn answered opening the refrigerator

"What are you doing?" Kenny asked

"I have late-night anxiety" Caitlyn explained "I need sugar or something to eat to kill it”

Kenny knew it, eating was a way for Caitlyn to keep at bay the anxiety caused by certain situations but what he was wondering was what had caused it this time.

"So ... are you going to tell me what's going on, or will you make me guess?" Kenny asked leaning on the counter.

"Nothing is going on, Kenny" Caitlyn answered with a bad mood.

"Let's pretend I believe you" Kenny replied, surrounding her and opening the freezer "Here you go, beautiful angel" he said offering her banana ice cream.

Caitlyn was a fan of jellybeans and banana ice cream and sometimes had a soft spot for popcorn and wine.

"Than...?" Caitlyn asked looking at her with raised eyebrows

"What can I say? I'm always well prepared" Kenny replied jokingly before Caitlyn climbed onto the counter with a spoon and the ice cream pot "So what's going on?"

"My father" Caitlyn replied "I hate to say it but today's case left my head spinning"

"So..."

"Then then it took me back to when I was a teenager and my life was a complete mess" Caitlyn added, "Today's case showed us that there are shitty parents everywhere". They had caught a man who since his wife had died not only He beat his children until they broke their bones, but starved them so much that they ended up dying of inaction, they stumbled upon it by accident while investigating a trafficking ring.

"You know Jess also had a father who was far from ideal" Kenny replied standing between her legs "Maybe you can talk to him about it"

"I don't want to talk to him about it" Caitlyn said "I just want to bury him and stop the pain, even when I left home he keeps coming back to haunt me"

"Beautiful angel, our personal experiences are what make us good agents and even better people" Kenny said to her "Your father is a son of a bitch, you know that"

"Yeah, I know," she replied with a sigh.

"C'mon, don't be sad," he whispered, stroking her cheek. "Changing the mood," he added with a playful smile before taking the ice cream and leaving it on the counter. He picked her up and carried her over his shoulder.

“Stop Kenny, stop” she said laughing “Put me down”

"Ok but promise me that you are going to sleep" Kenny replied going to the bedroom "I don't want a sleepy and grumpy girlfriend in the morning"

"I'm not grumpy" Caitlyn retorted hitting him in the back

"Yes, you are" Kenny replied turning off the television before heading to the bedroom "You are the grumpiest person I know in the morning"

Kenny tossed her onto the bed while Caitlyn giggled "Stop, I will go to sleep"

----flashback----

“Ready?” O.A asked her.

“Yes” Caitlyn answered getting up from the bench.

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

Tag list:

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[thegayhimbo]

True Blood Season 1 Review Part 1 (Spoilers Ahead)

It’s been about 2 years since I first saw season 1. Contrary to the hundreds of GIFs and posts that I’ve reblogged about True Blood, I’m a lot more familiar with the later seasons of the show than I am with the first season. When I first viewed season 1, it didn’t click with me, and the only reason I sat through it is because I had seen clips from season 2 that convinced me the show was worth watching. I’m not someone who usually gets into the vampire genre (aside for a brief period of time when I was in middle school), but something about True Blood hooked me in and got me to watch it. I can’t say that it’s a show I completely love, but I am inspired to talk about it.

In any case, I’m doing a rewatch for the first time as a way of getting closure on this show, and maybe moving on so that it isn’t in the back of my head all the time. I also wanted to view the show with fresh eyes, and see if my opinions changed while watching it.

This review will be split into 2 parts because I’m realizing that I have a lot to say about season 1, and it’s gonna get lengthy. Part 1 will just focus on my general opinion about the season. Part 2 (which will be posted a few days from now) will focus on my thoughts about how the vampires ar portrayed on the show.

Overall, my opinion about season 1 improved a little bit during rewatch. It’s not my favorite season of television (and Lord knows there are issues with it), but it’s a lot better than I remember it being. The casting is stellar, and I didn’t have any problems with the actors or how they played their characters. The interactions between the characters kept me engaged even when the main story started to drag (more on that in a minute).

While re-watching season 1, I was surprised to pick up on some subtle aspects that had been planted by the writers in season 1 that I missed the first time around, and that would come into play in the later seasons. For instance:

Sookie mentioning that her cousin Hadley had been missing for over a year since she ran away from the rehab center that Gran paid for, and that she didn’t know how to get hold of her (all of which makes sense come season 2).

The appearance of Theodore Newlin (Steve Newlin’s father), his subsequent death in the 3rd episode, and Steve Newlin taking the reigns of the Fellowship of the Sun

Bill warning Malcom, Liam, and Diane that he knew of “higher authorities” than Eric, and Diane saying “Well she can suck on sunlight for all I care” (All references to Queen Sophie Anne).

Diane mentioning that Bill “used to be fun” and that he had a very “sizable appetite.” Also, the reference to Bill having a sexual relationship with Diane in the 1930s (which is around the time he left Lorena). 

Jason telling Amy about how his parents died, and how he felt responsible for it (the death of their parents becomes a major plot point later on).

There’s a lot to be said about the way the later seasons handled its arcs, but I think the writers were planting seeds in season 1 for future stories and twists that would be revealed down the road. Some of them were capitalized on. Others weren’t. 

I will say for the record that I firmly believe the twist about Bill that gets revealed in season 3 was planned by Alan Ball and the other writers from the beginning of the show, and it does color the way I view Bill’s character and his relationship with Sookie, even in season 1. I should also point out that one particular aspect of the season 3 twist came directly from the books (and those who have read them know what I’m talking about here), so there’s that. Again, I’ll go more into detail about the Bill/Sookie relationship and my thoughts on it as I go through this rewatch.

In regards to the main story about a serial killer coming to Bon Temps and Sookie trying to figure out who it is, I will admit that not only did I NOT find this story engaging anymore, I thought it DRAGGED and should have been resolved within 6-7 episodes as opposed to 12. It’s a lot less thrilling when you already know who the killer is, and while there are some nice clues and red herrings that get dropped, the constant attempts at misdirection (like that scene when Sam goes over to Dawn’s house and sniffs her sheets, or Jason consistently being framed for murder) feels time-consuming instead of fun. It doesn’t help that the story loses momentum halfway through the season, and gets bogged down by all these other subplots that don’t connect to it at all. 

Also, I didn’t pick up on this the first time, but rewatching has helped me realize there are some irritating plot holes with the story I couldn’t overlook. For instance:

In one scene, Sam goes to Dawn's house to sniff around and pick up Rene's scent. Later on, he’s at Gran’s house after Gran died where he also should have identified that same scent since Rene climbed through the window. And considering that Rene spent a huge amount of time at Merlotte's and interacted with Sam on many occasions, Sam should have been easily able to associate Rene's scent with the scents he found at the crime scene, and figured out early on that Rene was the killer. So why does it take him so long to connect two and two when Sam already knows what Rene smells like?

Likewise, it's been established that vampires have a good sense of smell. Bill was around Rene in several scenes, and should have been able to pick up his scent at Gran's house after she was murdered. So how come this doesn't happen?

On top of that, when Bill gets interrogated by Andy and Bud about Gran's murder, he claims that he heard a car (most likely Rene's) pulling up across the cemetery to Gran's house. He also claims that vampires had heightened senses. However, when Sookie finally reads Rene's mind in the season finale, it's shown that Gran screams and Rene shouts at her before killing her. So if Bill could hear Rene driving up to Gran's house.................then how come he didn't hear Rene and Gran shouting at one another before Gran got killed?

For that matter, why did Rene go over to Gran’s house in the first place? He knew that Sookie was going on a date with Sam. He saw them leave the church together, and he had no idea when Sookie was going to be back. It came off like really poor planning on his part for someone who’s been methodical about how he killed people up to this point.

Also, why didn’t Rene throw away the video he took from Maudette’s house, as well as the tape on bulding a Cajun accent? That seems incredibly stupid leaving that stuff around from someone (like Arlene’s kids) to find, especially since he no longer had use for that stuff.

There’s also the way Sookie’s mind reading abilities work. I thought the way that was handled was not only inconsistent, but that it also didn’t make sense how she didn’t pick up on Rene being the killer in the first place. Everything about that screamed “plot convenience.”

The other thing I noticed is that a lot of the problems that fans complain about in the later seasons (added side-plots, deviating from the books, added supernatural creatures, plot holes, inconsistent mythology, characters making stupid decisions, the focus on vampire politics, the problems with the Bill/Sookie relationship, etc) can all be traced back to season 1. To give a few examples:

There were a BUNCH of side-plots in season 1, from the Jason/Eddie/Amy arc to Tara’s exorcism and her conflicting relationship with Lettie Mae to Lafayette’s hook-up with the closeted gay senator to Sam’s backstory to Bill’s trial and so on. I didn’t have an issue with this because I get the idea was to do world-building and show different sides to the characters (if anything, I found the side-plots more interesting than the main story), but I always find it odd that one of the biggest complaints about the later seasons was the added side-plots and how people couldn’t follow them. Frankly, I thought they were pretty easy to follow, and could even be engaging at times.

Even in season 1, the show introduced other supernatural creatures besides vampires. Sam was revealed as a shapeshifter, Maryann was introduced as this unknown entity (and would later be revealed to be a Maenad), Sam mentioned the existence of werewolves to Sookie, and even Sookie was implied to be a supernatural herself because of her ability to read minds. Add in the fact that the books had a plethora of other supernatural creatures (werepanthers, faeries, demons, witches, etc) that were bound to be introduced, and I think it’s pretty fair to say that this show wasn’t always going to stay “grounded in realism” like some people complain it should have been.

Vampire politics was always there from the beginning: The show was NOT subtle about its “vampires as a metaphor for oppressed minorities” message that it kept shoving out there (and again, I will talk more about that in my part 2 review because there’s a lot to be said about they way vampires are portrayed on this show). Characters like Nan Flannigan and Steve Newlin were introduced in season 1 (albeit regulated to TV) as well as organizations like the American Vampire League (AVL) and the Fellowship of the Sun (FOTS). There was already a conflict within the vampire community between vampires who mainstreamed and vampires who wanted to keep killing humans like they’d done in the past. Bill’s trial gave an extremely ugly look into how vampires dispensed justice among their own kind. And there were constant references to the VRA (Vampire Rights Amendment). This show was pretty clear from the beginning that the driving force behind this story was about whether or not vampires could integrate into human society and co-exist peacefully with humans.

Also, in addition to the added side-plots, we also had the expansion of characters like Lafayette (whose character was completely different from the books) and the introduction of Jessica (who wasn’t in the books at all). Basically, this show was already beginning to deviate from the books even before the later seasons happened. 

The way V works in this universe is all over the place. For some people (like Jason and Amy) it acts like an LSD drug, whereas with Sookie, it just gives her heightened senses and dreams about Bill. Lafayette does briefly tell Jason that V has different effects depending on the individual, so maybe this really isn’t a plot-hole. However, at the same time, it just feels like V was whatever the writers wanted it to be. In other words, inconsistent mythology was already a thing in season 1. 

As for characters doing stupid stuff, this came as a surprise to me as well, but it isn’t just limited to Jason. Some examples include:

Tara deciding to drive drunk down the road in the middle of the night while downing a bottle of Vodka (and later getting arrested for it).

Sam sleeping on the same bed as Sookie in dog form, even though he knew (or should have known) that he could transform back into human form while sleeping, and Sookie would see him naked (which is exactly what happens).

Lafayette deciding it’s a good idea to sell Jason V instead of just giving Jason the Viagra he requested in the first place.

Bill letting Diane, Malcom, and Liam into his house when he knew Sookie was coming over to give him the numbers for the electrician. Also it was pretty stupid of him to not consider how Diane, Liam, and Malcom would react to seeing Sookie, or whether or not Sookie would be scared off by the way those three were acting.

Bill deciding it’s a good idea to mouth-off to The Magister about mainstreaming when a.) It is painfully obvious that the Magister doesn’t care about seeing humans as equals, and b.) Bill stands the risk of angering the Magister and making his situation worse than it already is.

Andy’s insistence that Jason is good for the murders without considering all of the evidence, and his refusal to admit he’s wrong. That, and he sucks as a cop.

Sookie using the gun to attack Rene, run out of the house................and then throw the gun into the bushes instead of keeping it as a weapon to defend herself.

Bill choosing not to erase the bite marks on Sookie, which could have made her a target for other people who hated fangbangers (although it’s debatable whether or not this was stupidity on Bill’s part or if this was done intentionally). 

And I’m sure there are plenty of other examples, but my point is that Jason isn’t the only one making stupid decisions here. Again, YMMV on whether or not a character’s stupidity makes sense in the context of the story, or if it just screams “plot convenience,” but it was there. It seems like Jason gets made the scapegoat by fans for everything that was wrong with the first season whereas the problems with other characters/stories get ignored because of inherent biases in the fandom.

I know it sounds like I’m ragging on this season, and I guess in some ways I am because I’ve long been tired of the constant bashing of the later seasons, as well as the excessive hate that gets directed at some of my favorite characters (Jason and Tara) while everyone consistently ignores the other problems with characters and stories that existed as far back as season 1. I am being genuine when I say that season 1 had its moments (the Tara and Lafayette moments were probably the highlights of that season) and it was better than I remember it, but it’s not a favorite of mine. I don’t really see myself going back to rewatch season 1 as often as the other season. And if it had been the only season of True Blood they made, I probably never would have watched it again. Like I said, something about season 1 just didn’t work for me, and I think a lot of that has to do with the show placing more emphasis on the character’s flaws over their redeeming qualities. It was season 2 rectified this and helped to soften the characters in a way where I cared about them. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I’ll give my opinions on how I think the show handled vampires. 

[lavender-lizzy]

I finally watched “Emma” (2020). I was a bit unsure about this film, not just because I felt I saw the entirety of it in gifs, but because I was not sure about the two leads. I’ve seen Anya Taylor Joy in The Miniaturist (where I liked her), and in Peaky Blinders (where I didn’t like her), and Johnny Flynn in “Vanity Fair” (I liked him). They just did not correspond to my idea of Emma and Knightley at all.

First things first, I love the 1996 film. I don’t think many people do, for various reasons? I always see it being criticised. When I saw it for the first time I re-lived the atmosphere of the book, I loved the soundtrack, the colours, the cast as a whole (Miss Bates is great), and Jeremy Northam is and always will be MY Mr Knightley. It was the kind of movie I rewatched a lot when I was sad (especially during high school years).

I also enjoyed the 2010 miniseries, which had a good cast, good costumes, good music, just a lovely adaptation. It just weirds me out to see Jonny Lee Miller as Mr Knightley, because he is Edmund Bertram. A couple of years ago I watched the 1996 tv movie with Kate Beckinsale and Mark Strong and thought it was alright, but not much more than that.

And... I loved it. I loved the colours: so much pastel, it’s a feast for the eyes. The cinematography: I want to screenshot the entire film. The soundtrack: lovely. I wasn’t expecting there to be traditional songs and arias, they usually go for the instrumentals only with Jane Austen adaptations. The costumes: I want all of them. The houses and the greenhouse: gorgeous. 

And the picnic, they truly make you feel how much Emma insulted poor Miss Bates. And the ball: how I love dance scenes, and Mr Knightley asking Harriet to dance is one of my favourite scenes. I enjoyed so many of the choices made for the film. 

I loved the supporting cast: Josh O’Connor is always great (I’ve loved him since I saw the first episode of The Durrells and the bit with the frame for the painting was amazing) and Miranda as Miss Bates was such fun (get it?) and I think she really gave us a good performance showing the sad side of her character. Really good casting with Gemma Whelan as Mrs Weston and Rupert Graves as Mr Weston, Bill Nighy as Mr Woodhouse, all the schoolgirls. Mrs Elton was hilarious. Jane Fairfax deserves more than Mr Churchill, I’ve always thought so.I loved how they kept dialogues from the novel.

I know some people said that it was more ironic than focused on the romance and they they liked it for that, while others didn’t like it for the same reason. I am absolutely ok with Austen adaptations being fun and witty, it’s an aspect I love, and there was enough romanticism, too! I liked the two leads as well (even though they aren’t my favourite Emma and Knightley). Glad I have another Austen adaptation that has a place in my heart.

[izzyizumi]

Digimon Adventures ~ x Kagerou Project “ Otsukimi Recital ” [ Moon-Viewing Recital ] AMV [ music ( C ) Jin, singer: IA / Vocaloid ] ( K@gepros [subbed] video for Comparing: watch here ! ) featuring DUO/SHIP: Taichi Yagami [“Tai Kamiya”] x Koushiro(u) Izumi [“Izzy Izumi”] [Taishiro(u)]

PAST AMVS / VIDEO EDITS IN THIS SERIES: Kagerou Daze (Heat-Haze Daze) / Children Record [+Adv Chosen] / RED / Additional Memory and Imaginary Reload music edits for KageDaze / Days (short edit) / Lost Time Memory / Yesterday Evening / Summertime Record / Shounen Brave [+Jou] / Outer Science [+Villains] / Headphone Actor (short edit) / DAZE (short version / TV Size OP) / KOUSHIROS ? CYBER JOURNEY [+Maki] / Brave Heart x Kaien Panzermast [+Chosen Children] / Night Tales Deceive [Yobanashi Deceive] / [KOUSHIRO’S] Imaginary World / Mekakushi Code [Blindfold Code] [+Yamato&Sora&Adv Chosen] / Ultramarine Rain [+Mrs Yoshie Izumi; Izumis] / Imagination Forest [+Mimi&Jou] / Transparent Answer [TaiKou+Meiko] / Jinzou Enemy [Artificial Enemy] / DEAD and SEEK (short edit) / Headphone Actor (Full version Preview) REPEATVERSE/EXTENDED STORY INTRODUCTION: HERE ( *note: extended summary contains some spoilers for the fic ) [ however, it also explains the worldbuilding involved and plot setup ! ] ( * It’s ok to start on/only watch this current AMV ! ) [ *You may understand the story/implied timeline of things better if you begin from my “Kagerou Daze” AMV, though it’s also not required! “Children Record” is also recommended as a starting point/upbeat song! ]

Basic Summary of This Video:

{ NOTE : PLEASE read my FAQ and “about” sections BEFORE interacting directly with me, my contents / fanworks / this series, or my blog !! ! } { IF YOU IGNORE THIS WARNING AND I NOTICE ( UPON VETTING YOUR BLOG ), YOU WILL LIKELY BE HARDBLOCKED. DON’T DO IT } { IF YOU FIT ANYTHING IN MY DNI, THESE CONTENTS ARE NOT FOR YOU !!! }

part of my Taishiro [Taichi x Koushiro] REPEAT?_ ficverse (please note any and all notes/trigger warnings for said ficverse!!) [seriously, please note the warnings, the plot is kinda heavy] (please note any and all warnings for K@gepro’s plot too if you look into that!!) - no, it’s NOT a direct parody (but v[ERY] inspired) (if you can’t tell) - watching it in HIGH(ER) QUALITY at the original Youtube link is encouraged! - to do so, go to the original youtube link, click “HD” button, then “ 1080p ” !

{ Additional note: this post/fanworks series is mainly intended TAICHI x KOUSHIRO [Taishiro], please remember + respect this when interacting please tag ONLY as “Taishiro” for ship and not just “brotp” or the like, thank you! } [ * it is ok to tag as “friendship” along WITH the ship name ! ] { * I don’t mind if others have differing LGBTQIAPN+ headcanons for them, please simply respect mine ! }

- short version of implied story/plot of this series: T I M E L O O P S - Tri ( and as of lately, um, KIZUNA [AUs?] ??? ) is here because … ah... - let’s just say it’s probably AT LEAST ONE part of the “start” of it all ah - KOUSHIRO IZUMI VOICE : ( ‘ W H Y ’ ) - DO THEY MAKE IT TO THE END - @ TAICHI & KOUSHIRO, ARE YOU SURE YOU /WANT/ TO ——-

- TBH HOW MUCH do KOUSHIRO or TAICHI even REALLY REMEMBER - MUCH LESS THE REST OF THEM - who even knows after a certain point anymore - timeloops are fun !! ! ! ( this particular AMV also explains SOME of it … )

Spoiler warnings for Tri / Kizuna / DigiAdv 2020 scenes used + Further notes/warnings & LYRICS under ‘read more’!

A.M.V. Summary: - is it TAICHI HELPING KOUSHIRO or KOUSHIRO Helping ..... - WELL YOU GET THE IDEA BY NOW IT'S LIKELY ( BOTH ) - oh Tri!Taichi is Kinda here too ( BRIEFLY ) { AS AESTHETICS } ( PLOT RELEVANT THOUGH ) ;;;; - tbh there's some too-slow scenes here I wanna Replace later if I remake this but ( wHEN WE GET MORE INTERACTIONS ) { HOPEFULLY }

LYRICS PREVIEW: (if you click the ‘lyrics’ link and ‘English translation’ tab on that Wiki, full lyrics there as well!):

" OH , WHATEVER I DO NOW , IT’S ALL P O I N T L E S S "; I SAW YOUR DISTRESSED FACE , And I knew just saying                          " DON’T GIVE UP !!! " WASN’T GOING TO                           CUT IT !!!!

FEELING BLUE IN THE SUNLIGHT , I’M GENUINELY     CONCERNED FOR YOU! YOUR EYES     GET WATERY, " I’M SURE IT’S NO USE     FOR A WEAKLING LIKE ME ..... "

FEELING BLUE IN THE EVENING , As   THE SUNLIGHT   is   LOCKED     AWAY , IN A MOMENT     YOUR FACE     LAMENTED , AND SOUNDLESS TEARS     SPILLED AND F A D E D . . . THIS TERRIBLY SMALL WORLD BARES     ITS BIG FANGS, THINKING                         " I WANTED US TO BE TOGETHER , " IT WEIGHTS DOWN ON   YOUR HEART . . .

EVEN IF MY MEAGER WORDS CAN’T GET THROUGH ANYMORE , I WANT TO GIVE YOU STRENGTH ! " - I WANT TO HELP YOU. -   PLEASE , GRANT MY { WISH } !! " " I BELIEVE               BECAUSE YOU’RE YOU !!! " SAY IT LOUD          AND MEAN IT !!! " IT’S ABSOLUTELY NOT HOPELESS !! IF YOU   { WISH }  FOR IT ,   YOU’LL  M E E T  AGAIN !! " TAKING A GREAT BIG BREATH , YOU TIMIDLY FACED     THE DISTANT  M O O N , AND SHOUTED ,          " I’LL GIVE IT A SHOT !!! " ... Did THAT   sound kinda   " COOL ? " *    "  ... I / GUESS / " !!

* TAICHI VOICE  “ SUGOI ” !!!  =  {COOL / AWESOME / AMAZING} { GIF BY ME } { PLEASE DON’T REPOST } { Thank you !!! }

[ Note: commenting/tagging positively/respectfully is ok !! ]

FULL LYRICS: [ VERSE 1 ] " OH , WHATEVER I DO NOW , IT’S ALL P O I N T L E S S "; I SAW YOUR DISTRESSED FACE , And I knew just saying                          " DON’T GIVE UP !!! " WASN’T GOING TO                           CUT IT !!!!FEELING BLUE IN THE SUNLIGHT , I’M GENUINELY     CONCERNED FOR YOU! YOUR EYES     GET WATERY, " I’M SURE IT’S NO USE     FOR A WEAKLING LIKE ME ..... " " THEN YOU NEED     TO KEEP YOUR SPIRITS UP , Or else   TOMORROW   WILL   DAZE     YOU TOO !! " WITH THAT ,     I TAKE YOU ALONG , PERHAPS A LITTLE     F O R C E F U L L Y ...  " FEELING BLUE IN THE EVENING , As   THE SUNLIGHT   is   LOCKED     AWAY , IN A MOMENT     YOUR FACE     LAMENTED , AND SOUNDLESS TEARS     SPILLED AND F A D E D . . . [ CHORUS 1 ] BUT I BELIEVE     BECAUSE YOU’RE YOU ! SO WHY NOT LOOK     AT WHAT’S   AHEAD ? WHEN THINGS ARE TRULY     H O P E L E S S , I’LL GIVE YOUR HEART     THE SUPPORT     ... IT NEEDS !!(?!) DON’T GIVE UP     with      " MIGHT AS WELL "s, That's a big     NO-NO !! HEY , CAN’T WE GO AHEAD     TOGETHER ?? LET’S DESTROY     ALL THESE LONESOME     FEELINGS ! [ VERSE 2 ] " I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON , " ... You say as you     HOLD IN TEARS   A G A I N , SIGHING ALL THE TIME     and     SHUTTING YOUR EYES ;

YIKES , this is     DESPERATE ! [ INTERLUDE VERSE ] " IF YOU DON’T GIVE IT ALL YOU’VE GOT , YOUR MEMORIES WILL     VANISH     INTO YESTERDAY ! " So we     DASH DOWN THE STREETS , No doubt     AGAINST YOUR     WILL (?) ... [ INTERLUDE VERSE 2 ] FEELING BLUE IN THE EVENING , As   THE SUNLIGHT   is   LOCKED     AWAY , IN A MOMENT     YOUR FACE     LAMENTED , AND SOUNDLESS TEARS     SPILLED AND F A D E D ... [ CHORUS 2 ] THIS TERRIBLY SMALL WORLD BARES     ITS BIG FANGS, THINKING                              " I WANTED US TO BE TOGETHER , " IT WEIGHTS DOWN ON YOUR HEART ... EVEN IF MY MEAGER WORDS CAN’T GET THROUGH ANYMORE , I WANT TO GIVE YOU STRENGTH ! " - I WANT TO HELP YOU. - PLEASE, GRANT MY { WISH } !! " [ FINAL CHORUS ] " I BELIEVE               BECAUSE YOU’RE YOU !!! " SAY IT LOUD          AND MEAN IT !!! " IT’S ABSOLUTELY NOT HOPELESS !! IF YOU   { WISH }  FOR IT ,   YOU’LL MEET AGAIN !! " TAKING A GREAT BIG BREATH , YOU TIMIDLY FACED     THE DISTANT M O O N , AND SHOUTED ,          " I’LL GIVE IT A SHOT !!! " ... Did THAT   sound kinda   " COOL ? "    "  ... I / GUESS / " !! * SPOILERS / NOTES: this one is . Overall, Major Spoilers free but TINY scenes for: ( Bokura no Mirai ) an aesthetic shot of Taichi simply just, glaring - the background scenery kind of spoils a bit but not a Lot - ( Kokuhaku ) ending Taishiro interaction moments ( Kyousei ) not majorly spoilery Taishiro by campfire with Concerned!Taichi seeing Koushiro's face ( less spoilery Tri things ) just like an aesthetic shot of Taishiro being Silly { Saikai ; long before any battles }: ( Movie 1 near end ) TAICHI VOICE ' FOOD ' + ( from Movie 1 start ) aesthetic scenes of Tri!Taichi, at the lake Brooding + { early on from intro scenes }  Lifting His Head ( Kizuna ) ONE shot of Taichi during a battle moment but not The Battle Scenes but it technically is because all he's doing is reaching out but you can see a tiny bit of context of What's Happening to him ( DigiAdv 2020 ) Eps 01~03 scenes & Ep 14 Sad!Koushiro moments yUP ok but this one is MOSTLY scenes from pre Tri Advs + DigiAdv 2020 /For Once/

{ PROBABLY THE BIGGEST SPOILERY MOMENT }: ( Tri ) Movie 6 / Bokura no Mirai - Taichi; Not Long Before The Ending except it's not The Ending Battle Scenes ( more specifically if you've already seen these in the past AMVs, you know it ) : when he's in . ( scroll for spoiler ) . . . the Capsule . . .

DISCLAIMERS re: the original K@gepros video: - the duo is Slightly Controversial in that fandom now because we were Not Given Aged Up Designs after nearly 10 years and Yeah No Comment on original duos status bUT ;;;;; IN GENERAL... IN GENERAL... MY FAV... CHARAS - Interlude before final chorus bit gore-y - POLES - TIMELOOPS SERIES

[sereisstuff]

Lupercalia

(by the way this was inspired from the chilling adventures of Sabrina) 

Warlock!Kim Taehyung x chubby reader

summary-this was your very first Lupercalia tradition as a witch being nervous and not wanting to do it a certain warlock helps you get through it.

Warnings-none

Lupercalia meaning-  an ancient Roman festival of purification and fertility, held annually on 15 February. in the story and TV series the female witch chases her chosen partner through the woods where if she catches him they complete the ritual with having lust filled interactions with.

(A/N) to the requester who requested i do a story based on a wizard i changed it up and did a warlock hopefully that’s all right, ill complete the other two tomorrow with the werewolf one and mafia thank you so much

Not proof read....

not my gif

.....................

“Lupercalia it's a tradition amongst us witches to desire and feast upon another under the beam of our moon to release courses of Ecstasy and lust, it sounds rather dreamy don’t you think” a friend of yours said rather excitedly she was more than happy to participate in this so called festival being able to release all her desires on a particular warlock she’s set on pursuing this year.

“ah yeah-” you coughed to mask your hesitance to answer said question “it sounds cool” your friend bobbed her head to the side her pure black hair shifting with a bounce while she gazes into your eyes with a narrowed look “you don’t seem so sure y/n, what's wrong?”

you shrugged unsure of what was holding you back “I'm just a bit unsure, actually i’m probably not going to participate this year” she shook her head gasping at your allegations “you know the rules y/n every man and woman who attend the academy must participate in its festivals and traditions”

you sighed leaning your head down in sorrow, what would you do having to participate in this whole sex act in front of the moon sounded beastly would you dare say that to a witch or warlock of higher ranking, no. but those were your true thoughts.

“babe if i could help i would do it so fast your worries will leave that beautiful mind of yours” she gently grabbed your chin gifting you with a bright supportive smile “I just don’t want to do it so fast you know, it's only my first year i’m still not that flamboyant woman everyone wants me to be, i still have certain areas iv’e rarely accepted.”

soo yun nodded her head in a very accepting manner “babes i understand maybe this year Satan will bless you with a more accepting partner” she gripped your hands tightly gesturing for you to both leave the mortal cafe “we my dear need to head back to the academy, don’t want to be smelling like rotten pigs as we meet our desired partners” she ruffled your hair, as you both ascended back to the academy.

you both walked arm and arm through the red halls passing many excited witches who were secretly planning to glamour themselves as other women in hopes of getting their desired partner which you thought was smart yet a rather dick-ish thing to do, but over all no one knew who was truly going to be theirs for the night.

“ladies” you rolled your eyes at the sound of his voice, how seductive and deep it was being able to receive anything he wants just because his father is high priest “Taehyung, how may we help you?” soo yun said with a smug look eyeing the fine looking man she too in the man's appearance drinking it down like fine wine he is who she wanted to encounter this year, hoping to get a taste of his so called ‘treasures’.

“well it is the choosing ceremony soon, are you not excited” Taehyung couldn’t keep his eyes off of you frowning upon your distressed look, glancing back at soo yun who once again stole his attention.”I'm thrilled for the evening. iv’e been anticipating it for quite a while” she spoke seductively barely touching his clothed chest.

“as do i” Taehyung gently caressed her hand pulling it from his to place a gentle kiss upon her soft glowing skin, in your mind you could just think of multiple things she would be saying in the filthy mind of hers and you’d prefer not to say them.

“what about you?” the young warlock let go of her hand as he inched closer to you, the question took you by surprise there was nothing to say about this rather stupid tradition after all he was the son of the church of nights priest you couldn't possibly share your words with him.

“absolutely liberated” you lift your head announcing the words with sarcasm you just couldn’t wait for it to be over was all.

“I see well i hope to see you both tonight, soo yun”he glanced at her before smirking at you “y/n” the he left your sight leaving nothing but a deepening blush on your cheeks “i see the wolf wants you instead,” she said with a charming smile nudging you suggestively.

“Oh please, I wouldn't dare to anyways i would very much prefer to stay home with my familiar” she scoffed slapping the back of your head “stop complaining i would love to spend a night with you but its tradition, I really wish I could help” you nudged her back playfully “forget it let’s go get ready”

she slapped the back of your ass “that’s the spirit you satanic beauty” your back arched and you furrowed your brows looking at her with a defeated look “too much” she said and you burst out in fits of laughter “come on let's go”.

upon entering the room high priest demanded all be prepared under the dim of lights feeling as if it begins the ritual to fill the lust residing in you, once again stupid the lights did nothing but make you feel like your in a scene were a woman is going to come up and have sex with you.

oh wait.

maybe it wasn’t a bad idea it also helped give you a bit of coverage in a room full of girls changing into their black lingerie and red hoods, you clenched your fist taking in deep breaths come on you can do this you encouraged yourself slipping the lacy fabric on the under wear covered up to your belly button having clips beneath the edges were you clipped on a pair of long stockings and a black fabric bra that seemed similar to a sports bra yet all black and a lot more sexier.

placing a thin long dress on for the ceremony the girls chatters soon began to disperse from the room as they all left one by one to surround the main room “you done” soo yun asked, grabbing your hand as she dismissed your pleads and complaints so you guys could join the others.

she stopped right next to the young warlock who stood closely next to you leaning into your ear”you seem skittish” he whispered leaning back to watch contort into some emotion he couldn’t decipher but found it amusing.

.”i’m just gonna be honest i don’t e-” your words were cut short upon the loud booming voice of top girl “Welcome witches and warlocks in front of you are seats which yo warlocks will be sitting on as for my fellow witches i would like for you all to grab a piece of fabric standing closest to a warlock” before you could leave Taehyung grabbed your wrist placing you in front of him giving you a piece of red fabric dangling from the pole.

“just go with it” he whispered with a smile feeling as if he was trying to re assure you, you still stood tense searching for soo yun’s eyes in hopes of gaining some sort of comfort she stood on the opposite side of the room giving you a thumbs up for encouragement.

you foot tapped anxiously against the hard wood floor waiting for the sound of music to enter your ears, you didn’t want to do this but for the sake of the academy you will “may Satan choose your partners tonight children, bless it be” and then the song came on, slow and sensual enough to make your heart race everyone meaning the witches began to move circling around the warlocks while elegantly gliding through each other in symphony.

this was similar to a game of duck duck goose as per say the mortal people play in early child hood, but to us this game helps you choose a partner to increase fertility and lust within each other.

once the music stops the warlock seated in front of you will go through the acts with you.

you bit your tongue nervously still moving with your eyes closed, oh Satan.

it went on for what felt like hours eyes grazed over the former figures of your peers, men conjuring the lust with in as the music deepened exciting everyone in the room whom began to be captivated with dirty gazes.

then the music stopped, a deep breath filled your lungs with the intention of calming down from you high rise of anxiety.

the person grabbed your waist as you have to do encircling your body with his long arms “you can open your eyes now” you knew that voice you could decipher it anywhere as much as you hate to admit his voice was extremely attractive but had a soft undertone “Taehyung” you whispered slightly unsure of what you were seeing.

“that would be my name, yes”he chuckled making you scoff.

“hope your all fruitful with your picking, now please ladies and gentlemen we shall meet in the forest after traditional attire is worn” the top girl yelled through the halls as everyone began to leave. Every one but you and Taehyung he stared into your eyes”you can let go now”you muttered not once tearing away your gaze, up close the beauty he held just proved the main reason why he has the title of warlock whore.

“what if i don’t want to”he whispered weakly, your breath was ragged when you took his hands off”i-ill meet you in the forest, good bye”your words were all jumbled causing you to run off in embarrassment

“fuck” you screamed as you entered the room of witches, soo yun squealed running your way knocking you over in a hug causing you too fall flat against your bed “you got Taehyung”she repeated making some girls who wished to have him this year groan in annoyance.

“soo, get off of me” she did so clipping her deep red cloak up from the top “how are you feeling?” she asked placing a hand on your shoulder, to be honest you didn’t feel all that bad something about Taehyung reassured your being he just had this soft vibe to him that wiped away any of your worries.

“not too bad” you replied shortly removing the veil covering your body to let the cloak relish your body tossing your hair messily having to be in the woods with in five minutes was a tough call you both ran to the woods hand in hand soo yun giggling loudly as that fresh moon air touched your bare skin.

your feet adjusted to the damp floors as that energy of safety erupting from the forest entered you mind

the base for the race wasn’t to far having to only reach there for it to begin, as you entered everything felt fascinating and new, you always had this obsession with the sky on the darkest nights looking at the moon as it shone brightly comforting you in this time.

the surroundings were filled with torches and multiple baskets with essentials to help you all prepare.

“are you all ready” yelled the top girl, everyone roared in victory lifting there fits in the air as you could only stare in worry “warlocks” she yelled pointing at the shirtless men who screamed in excitement “witches”she lowered her voice in a sensual way as we all copied the boys.

“well then warlocks please grab a basket and set your place to run”she yelled directing them to the baskets you noticed some essentials easily seeing the potions for fertility and sex note down that those you will not be in contact with.

“warlocks are you ready”she asked again trying to hype up their adrenaline, she began to raise her hand smirking “well praise be Satan, now go!!” she used her deep raspy throat as it filled the woods they all began to run. Taehyung glanced at you before continuing his chase.

“witches” and then you pushed your chubby legs to encounter your partner , half of you wanting to just stray from your path but you couldn’t once seeing the back of your partner who giggled as he tried to fasten his pace, Taehyung took a turn and you followed cluelessly in order for the ritual to begin you must touch a piece of his skin.

There he stood in all his glory the edges of his lips threatening to smile as he watched you huff in anger and tiredness, limping your way to touch his shoulder”while the others are acting like sex craved beast my own partner prefers to touch my shoulder politely” he placed everything down.

“cute”he adds sitting on the blanket placing the potions on the end of the basket, you hesitated to seat next to his laid figure, Taehyung noticed patting a spot next to him your hands reached for the cloak removing in to seat upon your knees “can we just get this done with”you asked not once opening your eyes fearing the worse.

Taehyung placed a soft hand on your cheek mimicking your position of seating”if you don’t want to do such acts we don’t have to” he suggesting calmly hoping you would open your eyes. Taehyung felt a sense of need to protect you from everyone as seemingly innocent and nurturing you were this festival and tradition seemed like it made you uncomfortable.

your heart raced having him sit there made you want to jump from the highest place possible but the comfort held in his words keep you from falling if he was so sincere in his words you could finally release that long held breath, relaxing your shoulders.

“really?”you stammered liking the way his palm held your cheek like that feeling the urge to lean in he hummed in reply admiring your striking looks the way the sky bounced off your skin so effortlessly but he was too caught up to notice your own admiration for him as a whole.

“we could just sit here and get to know each other under the moon light”he suggested

you nodded honouring his words “that sounds a lot better”

“you don’t seem to enjoy this festival, why’s that”he asked trying to break away the barrier of awkwardness, he noticed your suppressed look figuring it was cause of his title and father “it’s okay you can tell me my father isn’t much of a worry to me” your jaw dropped dramatically “i never noticed”you replied sarcastically

“i don’t have much interest in sexual acts right now and don’t really want it to be in the middle of the forest” you muttered he nodded agreeing “i agree with what your saying, i personally don’t like this festival with this sexy face everyone wants me which is a bit overwhelming’hearing that you laughed at his cockiness nudging his unclothed shoulder.

he peeked at his shoulder”what should we do now” Taehyung shrugged the atmosphere going quite for a while.

until a loud moan echoed the forest and a few grunts you and Taehyung looked at one another with a petrified look both screaming at the excessively loud couple “please quieten down you two” you yelled laughing with Taehyung again.

he threw his body back looking at your own “lay down with me” your head shoot down at him with a threatening look which he lifted his hands in defence”i swear i’m not gonna do anything” you decided to take a leap of faith lying down next to him a you both laid bare beneath the bright rays of the moon and the supporting stars that blanketed the sky.

“Thank you, Taehyung” you said gratefully and in all seriousness.

“no need to thank me i understand” Taehyung answered as you propped yourself on your elbow pecking his cheek. Taehyungs eyes widened with surprise as for you who laid down once again with out uttering a word letting that deep blush once again creep its way on your chubby cheeks, Taehyung lifted his hand slowly feeling his face with a smile moving slightly closer to you enjoying the view.

he moved closer to you skin to skin and barely any space for you to move enough for you both to enjoy the others warmth, he leaned his head on your shoulder sighing in content

and for the first time Taehyung swore an oath to protect and love you with every fibre of his being.

[letterstothemidnightsociety]

THAT’S RIGHT BITCH! It’s October and I am still watching and inexplicably blogging about Supernatural - a dinosaur of a television show that’s been on the air longer than most children I know have been alive. 

I know I’m An Old because I don’t think kids these days understand the struggle it was watching television before streaming. We had to wait for episodes. Hell, I don’t think kids these days even really have to wait for seasons. I mean, Voltron premiered on Netflix in 2016, capped off their seasons at 13 episodes a piece and, oh yeah - aired seasons 5 - 8  all in 2018. Was I mad about that? No of course not. Do I also say phrases like “kids these days? Yes, so who even knows if what I think is relevant anymore. 

Alright, so speaking of seasons, last time I looked at pilots and pilot seasons and how the streaming era is changing everything we know about starting a TV show. But once you’ve got your pilot down, now what? 

Not this kind of pilot. Also, based on the prerequisites for demon possession, we’re all agreed this co-pilot’s like, an alcoholic, right?

There’s a rule in TV (sort of) that the first six episodes (some might argue the first season entirely) should be a kind of rehash of the pilot. The pilot sets up your premise and once you’ve got your pilot down, your job as a TV writer is to re-establish that premise over and over again. You’re building your world, you’re writing it’s rules. You’re setting up a template, a formula for how your episodes are gonna play out. This helps your audience get to know the characters, get familiar with your world, get comfortable spending time with them. Essentially, you’re getting your audience to trust the show that they’re going to be tuning in to for at least the next 20-some-odd episodes. 

I’d also argue that this is important so that later, you can break that format later. I’m not saying you should break the trust your audience puts in you, and that’s probably a real fine line of distinction. But if you break your rules right, it can hit the audience with a big emotional sucker punch. Or, it can stand out as a real breakout, tentpole of an episode - I’m thinking specifically about Ghostfacers! In season 3, or Once More, With Feeling, from Buffy. Those episodes work, really work, because they deviate from the formula, but they only work because we know the formula so well.  And these aren’t big changes to the way episodes are done, they’re just shifted ever so slightly that they felt new again.. 

So what is the premise of the first four episodes Supernatural? What’s the formula they set up for the rest of the series? 

Brothers. I said it in my last post, I’ll say it again, Sam and Dean/Jensen Ackles and Jared Jared Padalecki are what makes this show. Full stop. I think we could have gotten 5 seasons out of a show starring two other dudes. I do not think this show could have gotten 15 seasons with two other dudes. So from the pilot through Phantom Traveler, we learn that Sam and Dean have a sh*tty home life - their mother was killed by some mysterious evil thing and their father raised them to be little demon-hunting child soldiers while they look for the killer. Oh yeah, and Sam’s girlfriend died the exact same way which we will never forget because Sam’s gonna have a dream about it almost every episode from here on out. We set up the tension between the brothers - that Sam got to go to college while Dean stayed with their dad like a good boi. We learn that everybody hates each other probably because they are deeply and unhealthily codependent love each other so damn much. 

Next we get the basic rundown of the season arc: 

Dad’s on a hunting trip and he hasn’t been home in a few days. The Winchester brothers are looking for him and by extension, looking for answers as to what killed their mom/Sam’s girlfriend. We also get the basic rundown of every episode: dad is a mysterious and elusive sonuvuabitch, so every episode they go about, say it with me now:

“The family business.” I would also accept “Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can,” but why can’t I find a gif for it?!? 

Backtracking on this but you know what else gets hecking established with the Winchesters? Sam is the cute one with the people skills and the puppy dog face, so you’d naturally assume that he’s the soft one. No. Not the case. Dean is the Sofffft Boi. The SOFTest boi. Dean wants Sam to talk about his feelings, Dean wants Sam to not keep things bottled up, Dean is the one who desperately wants to keep a hold of his family and also is just deeply broken and traumatized on the inside and oh no, I told myself I wouldn’t do this but I did it anyway. Sorry not sorry. This watch, I’m really picking up on the fact that Dean is, weirdly, the Mom Friend in this first season. Like, he’s basically a Trailer-Trash-Teen-Pregnancy Mom who’ll give you spaghettios five nights a week and a shot of whiskey so you’ll quit yer bitchin’ and go to sleep faster, but he’s the Mom nonetheless. Later in this season and in other seasons, I think you even see him do his dumb-baby-best filling in as the Mom when John went off the deep end. Anyway, I have a lot of feelings and we don’t have time to unpack all of that so I’ll just move on.

RUDE.

Next we set up our Supernatural Bag of Holding - what’s in it? What are the mystical artifacts they use to kill those evil sons of bitches? First up is The Car. Damn, I am not a cars girl, but that 67 Chevy, it does things to me. 

This car has some weird pavlovian trigger for me, it’s not NATURAL. 

The journal. 

John Winchester, you journal the way I imagine a psycho killer journals and I would just really appreciate it if you could be ANY MORE ORGANIZED THAN THIS.

The Trunk Full of Weapons - I love that in these first few episodes (and possibly the rest of the series???) they give this HELLA conspicuous look every time they open the trunk full of weapons. It’s hilarious EVERY TIME.

No, you’re not being obvious at ALL, guys.

The Fake ID’s - from credit cards to impersonating feds, these boys are not afraid to break the law to save some lives and I feel like that’s...that’s the theme of the show maybe? They’re here to save people and they’ll do what they have to to do that? In a world that clearly establishes a dark vs. light/good vs. evil dichotomy, the Winchester make it their job to live in a world of grey? Basically? 

Next on the checklist for this first season of Supernatural - it’s spoopy. *Spoop mileage may vary.* I said it last time, but I’ll say it again: this first season aired at 9:00pm at night. That means it’s primetime stuff for the 18 - 25 year old crowd, but they don’t want to risk some 13 year old watching it and getting too scared before bed. 9:00pm is X Files time slots, Fringe time slots. 9:00pm says you’re gonna get something a little more gruesome and gory and shocking than at 8pm. 8pm is for Friends. Vampire Diaries aired at 8pm its first season. 9pm is for the real adult content (but not too adult because the audience is still mostly children). 

SPOOP!

But yeah, let’s look at the real horror vibe that you get off of these first four episodes. We talked about La Llorona from the first episode - this is a legit ghost that they fight. The kids at the end that literally drag their mom to hell? Pretty spooky stuff. The Wendigo in episode 2 is a literal monster of the week and so for me personally, it’s not that scary, but it is a cannibal monster that eats human flesh. Dead in the Water has vibes from both Jaws and Friday the 13th. Everything from the lighting to the sound design let’s you know this is a horror show, or as horror as you can get on network television. Listen to the scenes just before somebody dies and you get a nice creepy “Come play with me” whisper coming out of the water. I’m a little spooked just thinking about it now. Yes I know I’m a chicken, and I’m OK WITH THAT. And if we go past my season 1 disc 1 into episode 5, Bloody Mary is STILL terrifying and I STILL watched that episode with half my face covered. That’s where I am these days. It’s 2020 and the world is a nightmare but imagining Bloody Mary creepin’ out in my mirror does not need to be a part of it. 

SHE F*CKIN CLIMBS OUT OF THE MIRROR GUYS! I DIDN’T KNOW SHE COULD DO THAT!!!

Then we get Phantom Traveler and our very first case of black-eyed-demonic possession. Watching this episode now, it’s like watching someone’s home movie of their first steps as a baby. They’ve never even done an exorcism before guys! They have to read the exorcism rite out of the journal! It’s so cute!!! Let’s not think too hard about how they got that full sized bottle of holy water past TSA in a post-9/11 world. And try to ignore how poorly these special effects have aged - the smoke from the demon possession?? OMG! THIS EFFECT! I’m pretty sure I could make that effect with my first ever graphic design software on my, like, 2009 mac book pro. So cute and soooo good! I’m gonna leave that CG plane alone, they’re doing their best. 

SO cute and SOOO good!

You want to know what my favorite established staple of Supernatural season 1 is? The extras. LOOKIT these guys - 

Wendigo you have Cory Monteith who later goes on to star in Glee. 

You have Alden Ehrenreich, Debatable Han Solo, doing a lot of face work with very little dialogue. 

You have Gina Holden who is in SO. MANY. Spooky-type things! My personal favs are Blood Ties and Harper’s Island, but she’s in Fringe, she’s in the SAW franchise, she’s in the Final Destination franchise, she was in some deleted scenes on an episode of Teen Wolf! I LOVE seeing Gina Holden, anywhere she pops up. 

And speaking of Harper’s Island, you’ve also got Callum Keith Rennie who played John Wakefield in Harper’s Island, a show that was A+ Great and I highly recommend if you like Agatha Christie and/or murder mysteries. 

Honestly, Rennie looks like he’s about to murder a bitch in this episode of Supernatural, it is not a stretch to believe he’s a psycho killer.

Dead in the Water you’ve got Amy Acker, a regular in Joss Whedon and Whedon-adjacent type shows.

Good LORD, this wardrobe was SO 2000′s WB and it PAINED me.

And finally in Phantom Traveler, you have Jaime Ray Newman who also shows up in a lot of the shows that I like to watch. She was in Eureka, she was in Midnight Texas, both kind of terrible shows that I love because they are terrible, but she was ALSO in Bates Motel and Veronica Mars, which are generally considered to be more quality, so there’s that. 

This still implies that they actually LIT scenes, which is a SURPRISE TO ME. 

Point is, seeing these actors in Supernatural back in the early 2000’s felt like I was seeing the start of their careers. That may or may not have been the case, but as a viewer it was exciting to see them pop up again in other things.

So what about TV now? Do we still use those first 6 (sometimes more) episodes to re-establish the premise? Well, it certainly hasn’t gone away. Look at any network show that still produces 22 - 24 episodes a season and you’ll still see that the pilot season just keeps re-iterating the premise established in the pilot episode, specifically in anything that’s procedural - that’s you’re monster/problem-of-the-week shows. Think sitcoms like Brooklyn 99 or Superstore or dramedies like Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. The reason being that these shows play in the traditional model of television - on a network, once a week. They are not releasing episodes all at one time or relying on their audiences to stream a whole season in one sitting. These are shows that still assume that someone out there is going to tune in or stumble across their show one night while they’re surfing channels (lol) and need to be told, no matter what episode they’ve just turned on, what the premise of the show is. They need to be formulaic so that people can pick it up anywhere at any time.

But what about shows that don’t follow this traditional model? I mentioned in my last post that seasons are getting shorter and shorter, so when you’re writing a show that only has (8) episodes instead of 22, how much time do you really want to spend establishing the premise? Because of these short seasons, you’re also dealing with shows that are more serialized and less procedural than their predecessors - meaning, you’re dealing with a show that focuses on a season long story (think Game of Thrones or Stranger Things where each episode is an important chapter that you can’t skip) vs. a procedural (think the shows I mentioned above or any cop drama really) where each episode is it’s own contained story, neatly wrapped up at the end. These are shows where you can skip an episode and still know where you are in the show no matter where you start or stop watching. Supernatural is a little bit of both - procedural with their monsters of the week AND serialized with a season long arc. We’ll talk more on that in a later post. 

Not only are we getting shorter seasons, but we’re also dealing with shows that are not released over long periods of time. A few streaming channels, like Disney+ and HBO Max, make a deliberate point to slow-drip their seasons, but most streaming channels will release entire seasons in one shot. You don’t need to worry about your audience missing an episode because they have 24/7 access to all the episodes all at once. And for the most part, they’re designed to be binged. They start at full speed and they don’t slow down to keep driving you to the finale. 

Do I think the procedural is ever going to go away? No. As much talk as there is about dropping the cop drama from TV all together, I think audiences still love a good mystery series. And you can’t just think of procedurals as cop dramas either - a procedural also covers most if not all sitcoms. New Girl, Letterkenny, Parks and Rec, Superstore - these all have a premise that doesn't change from week to week. They may make tiny shifts away from what they set up in the pilot, but by and large, you know what you’re getting into any time you turn on an episode. I think we as an audience still like that kind of familiarity. We may be seeing a bigger swing towards more serialized content, but that doesn't mean that the procedural is dead and gone. 

So that’s what we’ve got for Supernatural - two dudes, driving around in a car full of spears and hand guns, killing bad guys. Some day, they may even find that father that’s missing. What could possibly go wrong? A lot. Stay tuned.