#Emily T Lane

[deepcreekvulture]

Spencer Reid's College Timeline

So, I was chilling at my local Library and decided to use my very extensive free time to write out Spencer Reid’s College timeline (or at least how it makes the most sense to me).

There’s probably going to be a lot of inconsistencies and possible contradictions in this, but please give me a little grace. I don’t go to college, and I'm just silly. 

I did try to be as accurate as I could, but there’s only so much I can do with my little brain and 10 mgs of Adderall. 

I also tried to be as realistic as I could, especially with considering how Diana’s condition would affect his education. But, again, it's not going to be perfect. Feel free to share your thoughts.

What we know:

-Spencer Reid graduated from a Las Vegas public high school at the age of 12 (01.18 “Somebody’s Watching”)

-He went to Caltech. I personally like to think that he also went to MIT (Breen Frazier has admitted that Spencer saying he want to MIT in 07.04 “Painless” was a continuity error, but I think it is possible that he went to both, just not at the same time.)

-He has 3 PhDs in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering (04.08 “Masterpiece”)

-He had 3 Bachelors degrees in Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy  (04.08 “Masterpiece”)

-Joined the BAU around July of 2004 at the age of 22 (05.16 “Mosley Lane”)

Spencer is talking to Sarah Hillridge and mentions that he’s been with the BAU for “5 years, 7 months, and 19 days...” doing the math puts it around July of 2004.

-Spencer was born in October of 1981

There is some confusion about whether his birthday is October 12th or October 28th. I believe that his birthday is October 28th 1981, Emily Prentiss’s birthday is October 12th 1970 (04.14 “Cold Comfort” & her headstone)- and it is very unlikely that the two of them would share a birthday and it not be mentioned. (It also gives some more insight to why Spencer loves Halloween so much- it’s right after his birthday!)

So, assuming he started kindergarten at 5 years old, Spencer was in grade school from around 1986-1994. It is likely that he could have finished grade school faster, but a lot of the time public school systems want to keep students from jumping too many grades in order to not stunt their social development. 

I am taking the liberty of assuming that Spencer received all 3 PhDs before joining the FBI- so from age 12-22 (Over 30 years of schooling for three PhDs in the span of around 10 years, wowza).

Someone as smart as Spencer would’ve definitely gotten a 36 on the ACTs, so prestigious universities would be banging down his door to get their hands on his geniusness. BUT, Spencer loves his mom, and he wouldn’t want to stray too far from her. He also says he was drawn to Caltech because of certain professors in an article written about him.

We know that Spencer went to Caltech and would bike to classes and such. He was most likely able to stay at the dorms for free and given financial support from his scholarships. It is unclear how Spencer could’ve balanced having his mom in Nevada while he was in California, but there are buses and public transit to and from Las Vegas to Pasadena (ranging from 4-7 hours for a one way ride, so 8-14 hours round trip). William Reid, despite leaving Spencer and Diana, most likely maintained providing money to them due to paternal obligation and guilt.

There are, of course, ways for Spencer to care for his mom even all the way in Pasadena: Neighbors could’ve checked on Diana regularly/daily, Spencer could’ve called daily to remind her to take her medicine, etc.

To make Spencer going to both Caltech and MIT make sense, I figure Spencer would get his PhDs in Mathematics and Chemistry from Caltech then after Diana is institutionalized Spencer enrolls in MIT for engineering. 

The University term dates are loosely based on the academic calendar they provide on their websites.

(Rough) Caltech term dates:

Spring term: April to June

Summer term: June to August

Fall term: September to December

Winter term: January to March

(Rough) MIT term dates:

Spring term: February to May

Summer term:June to August

Fall term: September to December

I know that in the U.S. you don’t have to have a Masters degree to get into the PhD program, but Spencer likes to learn and I figured he might want to get the most out of his time in college- or it might be a little contingency from the University so he’s still pacing himself and they can still see his growth and all that good stuff.

NOW ONTO THE TIMELINE.

At Caltech, Spencer would most likely have more freedom to complete his schooling faster and they would’ve worked with him to create a good plan for him to complete things at his own pace while also following whatever school protocols they have. 

Spencer stays in Pasadena from the Fall term (Begins around mid September), through the winter term, and until the end of the Spring term (Ends around end of June), he goes home to Las Vegas during the summer term and winter/spring breaks.

Beginning of Fall 1994- Starts college @ Caltech studying Mathematics– Age: 12 turning 13

End of Spring 1995- Finishes his Bachelors in Mathematics– Age: 13

Summer 1995- Home

Beginning of Fall 1995- Starts Masters in Mathematics– Age: 13 turning 14

End of Spring 1996- Finishes Masters in Mathematics– Age: 14

Summer 1996- Home

Beginning of Fall 1996- Starts PhD in Mathematics & starts Bachelors in Chemistry– Age:14 turning 15

End of Spring 1997- Finishes Bachelors in Chemistry– Age: 15

Summer 1997- Home

Beginning of Fall 1997- Starts Masters in Chemistry– Age: 15 turning 16

End of Spring 1998- Finishes PhD in Mathematics & finishes Masters in Chemistry– Age: 16

Summer 1998- Home, Diana suffers a bout of bad psychosis and Spencer cannot return full time at Caltech during the Fall term. Due to his mother’s condition, Spencer contacts the school board and they work out a plan where Spencer can work on his Chemistry PhD in Las Vegas with the use of public Library computers and occasional trips to the campus for exams if possible. 

Beginning of Fall 1998- Works on his PhD in Chemistry, living in Las Vegas– Age: 16 turning 17

Spring 1999- Works on his PhD in Chemistry, living in Las Vegas– Age: 17

End of Summer 1999- Finishes PhD in Chemistry, living in Las Vegas– Age: 17

Spencer starts making arrangements to move Diana into a facility when he turns 18. He also applies to MIT to start their engineering program, manages to work out a plan to enroll in their Fall term but only move to a dorm at MIT after he gets his mom institutionalized (around October/November 1999)

Beginning of Fall 1999- Enrolls in MIT’s fall term on scholarship, starts Bachelors in Engineering– Age: 18

End of Spring 2000- Finishes Bachelors in Engineering– Age: 18

Beginning of Summer 2000- Starts Masters in Engineering– Age: 18

End of Fall 2000- Finishes Masters in Engineering– Age: 18 turning 19

Beginning of Spring 2001- Starts PhD in Engineering– Age: 19

Summer 2001- Works on PhD in Engineering– Age: 19

Fall 2001- Works on PhD in Engineering– Age: 19 turning 20

Feeling immense guilt for having his mother institutionalized, Spencer splits his attention between his Engineering studies and studying Schizophrenia independently. At the end of the Fall term at MIT, Spencer starts corresponding with a professor at Harvard University and is invited to help with a study on understanding Schizophrenia and the effects of different medications. He takes off both the Spring and Summer terms of 2002 in order to do said study.

Beginning of Spring 2002- Independent study– Age: 20

End of Summer 2002- Independent study– Age: 20

Beginning of Fall 2002- Resumes working on PhD in Engineering– Age: 20 turning 21

End of Spring 2003- Finishes PhD in Engineering– Age: 21

Beginning of Fall 2003- Starts Bachelors in Psychology at MIT– Age: 21 turning 22

Spencer goes to a seminar hosted by the BAU (Most likely with Gideon and Hotch), he’s very engaged and vocal during the seminar and catches Gideon’s attention.

Spring 2004- Spencer starts at the FBI academy– Age: 22

FBI academy is 4 months.

Summer 2004- Spencer joins the BAU after graduating from the academy– Age: 22

After joining the BAU, Spencer transfers his credit hours from MIT to a University in Washington D.C. to continue going to school part time.

End of Fall 2004- Finishes Bachelors in Psychology– Age: 22 turning 23

Most of Spencer’s attention is on his work in the BAU, so he slows way down on getting his degrees, and gets a degree in sociology both because it interests him and also because it’ll help with work.

Beginning of Spring 2005- Starts Bachelors in Sociology– Age: 23

End of Fall 2005- Finishes Bachelors in Sociology– Age: 23 turning 24

Beginning of Spring 2008- Starts Bachelors in Philosophy– Age: 26

End of Fall 2008- FInishes Bachelors in Philosophy– Age: 26 turning 27

Again: Breen Frazier has said that the line in 07.04 “Painless” about Spencer going to MIT was an error. I actually think it might be another way to show Spencer’s guilt over putting his mom in the psychiatric hospital- being so close without visiting might’ve made him feel even worse so he wanted to run away to a school across the country. 

Also I feel like Spencer having all these degrees shows that he didn’t really know what he was supposed to do with his intellect so he was just doing whatever interested him at the time until he met Gideon.

We are shown two articles (that I can remember) about Spencer college time frame:

There's one from 1997/1998, we are shown an article written about Spencer getting a Bachelor's degree, this would make him ~16. I’m not sure if it lists that it’s his first Bachelor’s degree- but I’m going to say that it’s just about the one he got for Chemistry which was his second Bachelors based on my timeline.

I don’t think it makes sense for Spencer to have done ~3/4 years of college before getting his first bachelors and then the other 6 or so years cramming the rest of his schooling? Eh, I don’t like it.

And there’s one in 04.08 “Memoriam” we are shown an article about Spencer receiving his first PhD at the age of 17. In my timeline he finishes his first PhD at the age of 16- which isn’t too far off so I’m choosing to believe that it’s a typo in the article (I know it’s kinda cheating but whatever).  

I had his PhD programs take around 2 years to complete because research and dissertations take time, no matter how speedy Spencer is.

If Spencer wanted to make any extra cash on the side, he could help with tutoring, work at the campus library, help coach any collegiate sports teams at the college, etc.

A lot of the things I added in this are just things that I thought of and don’t have any sources from the show (ex: Spencer doing school from home to help his mom, and the independent study thing from Spring 2002 to Summer 2002).

Again: a lot of this may be inaccurate, if there is anything you want to add or correct, feel free to do so. I spent only around 5 or so hours on this, it’s not perfect.

I love Spencer Reid. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. 

(if anyone is curious about how I write Spencer, my writing blog is @deepcreekvultures-writing )

[wearethekat]

Anticipated New Releases of 2024

**As anticipated by Me. Mostly SFF. Links are to goodreads because that's what I use, sorry. Anything marked "new to me" I haven't read anything by that author before and therefore can't vouch for the quality. I just think the premise is neat.**

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, Heather Fawcett (16 January)

Sequel to the charming novel about the fairy anthropologist.

Exordia, Seth Dickinson (23 January)

Well, it isn't a new Baru Cormorant, but this modern SF about first contact may be the next best thing.

City of Stardust, Georgia Summers (30 January)

New to me. A young woman descends into the underworld in order to break her family's fatal curse.

The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett (6 February)

New to me. A sherlock holmes flavored duo solves the mystery of the murder of an imperial official in a labyrinthine fantasy realm.

What Feasts at Night, T Kingfisher (13 February)

The sequel to the mushroom horror book What Moves the Dead.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts, Katherine Arden (13 February)

A ghost story set in WW1 about a woman searching for her missing brother.

The Fox Wife, Yangsze Choo (13 February)

New to me. A detective in 1908 Manchuria investigates a young woman's death in an area full of mythical foxes.

Redsight, Meredith Mooring (27 February)

New to me. Unpowered priestess and Imperial pawn is set on a collision path with a pirate with a grudge for the Imperium (Gay romance).

Sunbringer, Hannah Kaner (12 March)

Sequel about the professional godkiller Kissen.

Jumpnauts, Hao Jingfang (12 March)

New to me. A SF novel in translation from Chinese, with three scientists joining forces to deal peacefully with a first contact situation.

The Woods All Black, Lee Mandelo (19 March)

I liked Mandelo's debut novel very much so I'm excited to read this queer horror novella set in 1920s Appalachia.

Floating Hotel, Grace Curtis (19 March)

New to me. A series of cozy character vignettes on a space cruise ship after a murder has occurred. One of the four (!) space hotel murder crimes books coming out this year.

The Emperor and the Endless Palace, Justinian Huang (26 March)

New to me. Reincarnation gay romance set in 4 BCE China, the 1740s, and modern-day LA.

Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky (28 March)

Far future space xenoarchaeology by a man trapped on a prison planet.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell (2 April)

New to me. Bizarre lesbian cannibalism monster romance from the point of view of the monster.

The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo (9 April)

Glad to see Bardugo writing more adult fantasy, and this one is especially exciting because it's a fantasy set in early modern Spain with a Jewish main character. Fun to see a more original historical period.

A Sweet Sting of Salt, Rose Sutherland (9 April)

New to me. Lesbian selkie romance.

Death in the Spires, KJ Charles (11 April)

Charles branching out from romance into historical Oxford murder mystery about a group of friends with dark secrets.

Audrey Lane Stirs The Pot, Alexis Hall (22 April)

The new Hall thinly veiled british baking show romcom. Libby says it's releasing in April but I've heard nothing from the author so I think it may be Alecto'd (shifted to next year)

Necrobane, Daniel M Ford (23 April)

Sequel to the dungeons and dragons-esque low fantasy lesbian necromancy book.

A Letter to the Luminous Deep, Sylvie Cathrall (25 April)

New to me. Sweet underwater epistolary academic romance.

How To Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, Django Wexler (21 May)

New to me. A young hero caught in a fantasy time loop gives up and tries being the villain in an attempt to escape.

Goddess of the River, Vaishnavi Patel (21 May)

Another woman-centered retelling of Hindu mythology, this time based on the river goddess Ganga.

Escape Velocity, Victor Manibo (21 May)

New to me. Evil and toxic private school alumni jockey for position in a space hotel event in an attempt to escape a dying Earth.

The Fireborne Blade, Charlotte Bond (28 May)

New to me. Gay dragon slaying knight novella.

Evocation, ST Gibson (28 May)

New to me but looks very cool. Attorney and medium David attempts to escape his deal with the devil with the help of his ex boyfriend and his ex boyfriend's wife (Poly romance).

Service Model, Adrian Tchaikovsky (4 June)

In an SF future, a robot kills its human owners and ventures out into a world where human supremacy is beginning to crumble.

Lady Eve's Last Con, Rebecca Fraimow (4 June)

New to me. A con artist seeks revenge on the man who hurt her sister, who's coincidentally also on a space cruise ship (Sapphic romance subplot).

Triple Sec, TJ Alexander (4 June)

An actual mainstream published poly romance (!!) by trans author Alexander.

Running Close to the Wind, Alexandra Rowland (11 June)

Gay! Pirates! Scheming! Alt fantasy world! Monks! I liked Taste of Gold and Iron a lot and I'm very excited for this one.

The Knife and the Serpent, Tim Pratt (11 June)

New to me. Space opera about an interdimensional organization. Also, there's a sentient starship.

The Witchstone, Henry Neff (18 June)

A childhood favorite of mine's adult debut, featuring a demon who suddenly has to shape up at his curse keeper job after eight hundred years of slacking.

Rakesfall, Vajra Chandrasekera (18 June)

VERY excited to read more weird queer sff from this author after a fantastic debut. Looks weird. I'm in.

Foul Days, Genoveva Dimova (25 June)

New to me. A witch in a Slavic fantasy inspired world flees her evil ex, the Tsar of Monsters. There's also a plague and a detective.

Saints of Storm and Sorrow, Gabriella Buba (25 June)

New to me. Filipino inspired anticolonialist fantasy novel about a nun who is secretly practicing the religion of her goddess.

The Duke at Hazard, KJ Charles (18 July)

A queer regency with an incognito duke by one of my particular favorite romance authors.

Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan (30 July)

!!! Very excited to see a new adult fantasy by Brennan. A reader is dragged into a fictional world and finds herself the villain.

A Sorceress Comes to Call, T Kingfisher (20 August)

A retelling of The Goose Girl from reliably good fairy tale stalwart Kingfisher.

Buried Deep and Other Stories, Naomi Novik (17 September)

Collection of Novik's short stories.

Swordcrossed, Freya Marske (8 October)

VERY excited to see a new book by talented writer Marske. A man falls in love with the duelist hired for his arranged wedding. MEANWHILE. details of the fantasy world wool industry.

Feast While You Can, Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta (29 October)

New to me. Small town queer cave horror.

The Last Hour Between Worlds, Melissa Caruso (19 November)

Multiple reality murder mystery spy vs spy type antics, with lesbians.

[peachiemilkytea]

ᴘʀɪᴢᴇ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛᴇʀ

Pt 1 , Pt 2

Summary: you’ve always worked at Frebear’s diner as an engineer. Since your dad is long time friends with Henry Emily. Though life gets overwhelming with home life and work.

Parings: Michael Afton x Reader

Warnings: slowburn, semi strangers to enemies to lovers, more so strangers to friends to lovers, mention of Y/N, AFAB!reader,

A/N: I am so excited to be bringing this series onto Tumblr. I am a little nervous considering this is the first series I am purring onto tumblr- please enjoy! I love hearing about critical criticism from others. Tumblr writers are like.. deities to me so 😭 I’m really nervous.

WC: 28K

☆════ ⋆★⋆ ════☆

In greek mythology, humans had four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. Zeus split them into two separate people. They long for their other have. they throw themselves into relationships to search their lives for their other halves. A woman who was split from a woman looks for her other half, a man who was split from a man looks for his other half, and a man who was split from a woman looks for his other half. When a person meets their other half they are struck by their senses of love. A sense of belonging to one another. They don't want to be seperated from each other, not even a moment. The soul of every lover longs to be whole. We look for our other half to find ourselves. This is apart of Aristophanes Tale of Love.

I hope I can find my other half soon so I can get out of this house. I muffled myself further into my pillow. Making it cover my ears. Yet no matter how much I rolled back and forth I'm still hungry! I sighed and got up from my bed. Passing by my mirror. My hair was a bird's nest. I strike a pose in the mirror with a smile. Then walked downstairs where all the noise was coming from.

In the kitchen was my mom leaning on the kitchen counter. A red turtleneck, fluffy curly outward hair, and mom jeans with a belt. Another woman known as my best friend's mother, Darlene Jo. Brunette big curly hair going down to her shoulders with bangs leaning to the side. Chestnut eyes with natural shadows. In a green striped suit jacket, a collared ruffle shirt, and a pendant on the collar. A black skirt with black heels. Sitting at the table. Always a sweet face. Gossiping like they always do.

"Mom, do we have anything to eat?" I whined annoyingly.

"Did you look, Dottie?" Mom says calling me by my nickname. I opened the fridge, looked at it, then closed it again. I turned to my mother, holding out my hands to the fridge. My mother looked down and shook her head.

"Oh (Y/n)! You're becoming so big, how old are you sweetie?" Darlene asked.

"I'm nineteen," I answered causally, pulling out leftover lasagna out of the fridge. Reaching up past my mom to grab a plate. I put the lasagna on a pan and lit up the stove.

"You're growing up too fast, you've certainly grown into a young woman. Oh do you remember the times you and Cheryl would go to the park? Then you would push her on the swing? Oh memories~" Darlene swooned in memory lane with nostalgia twinkling in her eyes. I chuckled at the memory and nodded my head subtly.

They went back to gossiping. I got curious and listened in while I reheated the lasagna. Apparently a new girl named Betty just got stationed at my moms office. Going on about how Betty doesn't do her job right and bosses other people around. She would boss my mom around about what should be in the paper and what not should be. Which was just a bunch of bogus. Then my mom told her off politely, schooled her. She is a journalist. Darlene is a lawyer. I always loved listening to her cases and crime stories. Though it's classified I'm an expectation.

There was this one case where four employees were killed at Chuck E Cheese, one was injured. The shooter was Nathan Dunlap, a 19 year old former worker. He was full of rage after being fired 5 months after the incident. He went into the restaurant and ordered a sandwich then played arcade games. Dunlap hid in the bathroom till closing time. Once it was closing time he came out of the bathroom with a pistol. Dunlap shot Sylvia Crowell, she was cleaning the salad bar. She was 19. Shot closed range from her right ear. Ben Grant was vacuuming till he was shot close to his left eye. He was 17. Colleen O'Connor begged for her life on her knees till she was shot by Dunlap in the top of her head. She was 17. Bobby Stephens survived the shooting. When he came back from taking a smoke break out in the back. He thought the noise inside the restaurant was kids popping balloons. He was 20.

When Stephens came back inside he unloaded the dishwasher. Though Dunlap came through the kitchen door and shot him in the jaw. Stephens played dead. Dunlap made Marge Kohlberg unlock the safe. She was 50. Once it was opened Kohlberg was shot in the ear. He took the money and shot her in the other ear after he saw her move. The manager that fired him wasn't there. Stephens escaped through the back door. There was an apartment complex, Mill Pond. He alerted the people there that others had been attacked and shot. He was hospitalized at Denver General Hospital. When the police arrived they found the bodies. Crowell was half alive and they hospitalized her. Though she was brain dead and died from her injuries in Aurora Regional Medical Center.

Dunlap ran away with 1,500 dollars of cash and game tokens. He was arrested at his mothers apartment a few hours later. Darlene actually met Stephens and Dunlap. She got more facts on the shooter and the full story from the survivor. She said how he was behind bars when she interrogated him.

Nathan Jerard Dunlap, born April 8, 1974, was raised by his adoptive father and biological mother, who married each other when Nathan was a few months old. He had never met his biological father. His mother had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Atleast twice in Dunlap'slife, he tried to commit suicide.When Dunlap was 14, his adoptive father asked the psychologist at Overland High School to evaluate him, and testing revealed signs of hypomania. Scary stuff, I know. I don't know how Darlene does these cases.

"Vivian, don't worry about that girl. Sometimes we need to put up with arrogant people." Darlene says, taking a sip of her coffee. I noticed my mom's coffee on the counter next to me. I slowly snuck my hand over to her coffee. It looked good! I wanted a sip! Mom smacked my hand away. I jumped away holding my wrist jokingly offended.

"I guess you're right, Dottie, you left your comic books all over the table in the living room." Mom said, stroking my cheek and holding my chin.

"I'll go clean it in a second mom, Darlene what's been happening? Any cases?" I asked, rubbing my hands together.

"Nothing you need to know Missy, that is until Viv leaves." Darlene winked, leaning her cheek on her hand. My mom gasps dramatically and holds her hand on her chest.

I chuckled and left the kitchen. There was a pile of my magazines on the coffee table. I groaned at the sight. Since when did I become such a slob? It's fun being a slob though. Lazing around all day. Now that's the dream. I picked up my comics. It consisted of Akira, Vampirella, Daredevil, Spider man, and etc. The phone rang on the nearest coffee table next to the couch. I dropped my comics back on the middle table. If it's another advertisement call. I picked up the phone.

"Hello?" I asked, holding it up on my shoulder and picking up my scattered comics again.

"Hello (Y/n)! Can you come down to the diner? I have some new plans to show you." My good friend Henry Emily, a close friend of mine. He was friends with my dad in high school. Henry was invited over by him to have dinner with my family. Ever since I first met him at dinner I warmed up to him. I could sneak out sometimes to see him and helped him around the diner. He is a family man, very joyful. A ray of sunshine. He always had bright ideas to make others happy and do what he loves. If he would be a flower he would be a sunflower. Sweet as honey. A teddy bear of a man. His smarts were outstanding! It always amazes me at how his brain works. My best friend!

"Yeah I can come down, I'm excited to see those plans. I'll be down there soon." I said and hung up. I dropped all my comics again and put the phone down.

"Mom! I'm going to the diner!" I yelled and ran to the kitchen. Peeking out from the hallway. I don't need permission to leave but I should at least tell her where I'm going.

"Okay Dottie be safe!" Mom said and walked over to me. Holding my face and kissing my cheek. That's going to leave a mark. She's wearing red lipstcik. My nose scrunched from all the love and affection.

"Mooommm!" I whined.

"Bye (Y/n)!" Darlene waved.

~~~~

"Thank you for coming (Y/n), I got some new ideas for the animatronic I'm working for you." Henry said, waving his hands around excitedly.

"Is this about Trickster? Oh! Now you got me all excited!" I said with a bounce in my step.

"Yes it is! I got the blue prints all ready and I was hoping you'd come and help me pick out the materials you want her to be made with." Henry asks, looking down at me. Trickster was a jester animatronic that he was making for me that is inspired off of me. This little project has been going on for months now. He led me inside his office and opened the door for me.

I looked over his desk. There were blueprints of Trickster. A clown animatronic with (h/c) (h/l) hair and a hat that has outstretched on two sides with jingle bells. The hat was (f/c) and white. Around her neck was a ruffled collar that stood out at every end. There were light reddish pinks on her cheeks and nose, red lips, and blue eye shadows. Jingle bell dangle earrings hung from her ears. A (f/c) corset with a ribbon tying in the middle. Ribbon bow straps around her arms that were also (f/c). Pearls that slung down her arms, neck, and thighs. A (f/c) tutu that pointed outwards with jingle bells on the ends of it. A lace thigh harness. Jingle bell ribbons around her wrists and thigh. Lastly was Mary Janes with white Lace ruffled socks to top it all off.

My pride and joy. I came up with this design with Henry. I remember the awe on our faces when the final design came to be. Now it's time to choose what to make it out of. What I didn't notice was how Henry was admiring me. My fingertips traced the thin lining of the blue prints drawing.

"I was thinking that for its endoskeleton we would give it a thin skeleton with all the wires connecting in the middle. The shape of it will be similar to the human skeleton. The head should be smaller than the body. The wires will make it move and the control flannel. That will be in the center. The chest capsule. The control planned will be programmed with movement and commands to give to Trickster. Then we'll have a voice box in the throat that you've picked out." Henry rambled writing what he was saying on another piece of paper next to the blueprints on top of a folder labeled 'Trickster prototype.'

"You should probably make her out of light-ish things. Nothing too heavy that the endoskeleton couldn't take. Maybe something like aluminum and steel? For the wires we can use rubber. The servos will be all around. Arms, legs, hips, you know the rest. The sphero RVR will be in the parts that most need support like the chest, legs, head, and arm. The tensorflow will be with the motherboard in the chest or it can be in the head. Either one is okay really. It's just to do tasks. The cameras should be in the eyes too. How does that sound?" I explained tapping the pencil on the desk against my lips. Moving my fingers to what parts should be where.

I learned this geeky computer and robotics stuff from my science robots club. It's an engineering club that they held when I was back in high school. I took what I learned and ran wild with it. Though I was teased for it. Always being called a nerd and being thrown in trash cans.

"You always amaze me (Y/n)," Henry said, pushing his hair back with a grin looking down at his newly made list of things I rambled about. I nodded bashfully.

"I should get back to work now but we'll hang out later (Y/n), how does a movie and dinner sound?" Henry asks, rubbing his hands together.

"Sure! I'd love to see the twins again." I beamed. Sammy would always jump in my arms and make me hold him. He would never leave even for his parents. Always a quiet little sweetheart. He would read books with me. He would sit on my lap and flip through the pages after I read them to him.

"I'm sure he and Charlie would love to see you. Now I should get back to work, we'll have it on Friday at eight." Henry said and sat down at his desk. I was leaning on it using my arms as support.

"I'll see ya later Henry," I hugged him leaning into his touch. He held me back and rested his head on mine. Henry pulled away but I was still holding onto him. He chuckled and hugged me again. I finally pulled away. I closed the door behind me.

Maybe I should go bother Will. I walked to the office that wasn't too far away from Henry's office. On the door read 'W.A." I knocked on the door and walked right inside. There William Afton sat at his desk tapping his finger on his desk while his other hand held his head stressfully.

"Sod off, I didn't even tell you to come in." William groaned not looking up from his work.

"Wow, not even a hello?" I said smirking, leaning against the doorway. He finally looked up from his work. He softened with a smile, lifting his head from his work.

My friend, William Afton. A sophisticated man. He is practical and cold. Though at the same time he is a tease. I met him through Henry. He is known as Henry's best friend and partner in the business. Henry brought me in to work to have me help around and spend more time with him. Henry introduced me to Will when he was coming out of the spring Bonnie suit. We would see each other more and more around the diner. Though he ignored me and was annoyed at me trying to talk to him every time, till I dealt with animatronic fix. I repaired the broken Spring Fredbear parts. He was actually amazed at my work! Though he wouldn't admit it, it still showed. Since then we've been friends. Let's just say, it took a year for him to warm up to me...

"Come here dearest, have you come to help us again?" William asked, his British accent slipping out. He went back to working on the papers.

"Yes I have, I just got done talking to Henry about our little project. Relax a bit, Will." I said, walking behind him and rubbing his shoulders.

"You know how I love that, duchess." He sat back leaning into my hands. When he gets stressed he gets snappy. The last thing I need is him being snappy. I love little moments like this. He's rarely showing his sweet side. I feel him relax under me.

"Now what's got you so stressed out?" I asked him palming his back. He sighed happily leaning his head back.

"Just work. I have so many papers on the company's taxes and ordering more supplies. Food for the chiefs, materials for the animatronics, more plates and silverware, and you know the rest. Just keeping the building running. It's been so stressful lately." William pauses on his words as if he was forgetting his worries.

"Adulting is hard. I feel bad for you. Why don't you take a break?" I patted his shoulder. He picked up his pen and started signing off his papers.

"Because my job is very important, (Y/n)." William said not looking up from his papers.

"When's the due date?" I asked, tilting my head.

"In two weeks." William said. I picked up his pencil and threw it far away. He looked up at me with a gruff on his face. The corners of his lip twitched.

"Oops." I said smiling. William sighed leaning back in his chair. Tapping his finger against the desk.

"Guess I'll have a break, so dearest, what did you have in mind?" William asked, putting his elbows on the table, his fingers intertwining together, and resting his hand on the back of his hands.

"Want to play cards?" I suggested pulling out his card deck in his desk side drawer. I shuffled them on his desk.

"What will we play?"

~~~~

The door slammed behind me. I was kicked out of William's office by yours truly. All because I won a game of monopoly.

Maybe I should become a millionaire.

[victusinveritas]

1937 - Frederick Seidel

It’s always about to rain except When it’s already raining, like now. They go from the pub to the cinema through the rain, To the newsreel and the Disney cartoon, With tickets that are half-price

One day a week in the afternoon. It was the Basque city of Guernica last week, Weeping under airplanes dropping bombs. Walt Disney is not Picasso, But his art is gloriously sunny,

But Mickey Mouse has already said The poems of Lorca will never be funny. Disney, the century’s genius, makes amends. Only he can make butterflies And hurricanes make friends.

D. H. Lawrence is a kamikaze Burning up the sky On his way to bite England explosively and die. He has bad English teeth

That are sharp as a shark And a burning brain That sings like a lark. Silkworms eat mulberry leaves to feed Rainer Maria Rilke the silk he needs

To address the angelic orders. Even the enormous angels Dismount from the sublime, dismount From Pegasus, the horse with wings, And instead of wine, sip brine.

The nostrils of the T. S. Eliot crocodile Lurk just above the surface of the river Nile. His periscope is two nostrils that watch like eyes. His snout stays submerged In water bitter as bile.

Kisses of passion grunt like electroshock And cause convulsions and rigor mortis And sexually join together Two hard-shelled hunchbacks, Each shaped like a tortoise.

They’re Eliot, they’re Lawrence, Each honking on and on, on his moral high horse. If Lawrence caught her, Lawrence would slaughter Emily Dickinson, Eliot’s daughter. Some will get sick and some will die But that is not the reason why A small plane Tows an advertisement For a nearby bar and restaurant

Through the sky Above the beach at Gibson Lane. It is the opposite of insane. Everybody knows Pete the pilot. It’s his plane,

Which he crashes without harm now and again. Black marvelous waves, white August, Is the summer song of Gibson Beach. There’s a skywriting plane crossing the sun With a marriage proposal from someone for someone.

[deans-baby-momma]

Law & Love Chapter 18

After his daughter leaves, Beau sits back in his chair and runs a hand over his mouth.

Truth be told, he often ponders if getting back together for Emily's sake was beneficial to the teenager or not?

Yes, he loves Carla and the life he has here but all he can think of is the woman who had been sneaking her way into his heart during his time as Sheriff.

Beau would be lying if he said Y/N hadn't crossed his mind at least twice a day since he'd moved back to Texas.

He could hear a song and think of her, see the sun shining and remember how it illuminated her Y/H/C hair. She was sometimes on his mind more than Carla. 

And for that, he felt terrible! He wanted things to work out with his ex-wife, he really did, but he also was slowly realizing he was no longer in love with the woman who warms his bed now.

Yes, Beau grew up in a 2-parent family who loved one another and never seemed to have a bad word to say about the other, but times had changed.

For one, Beau's Momma didn't work outside the home. Her career was taking care of the chores in the home, raising Beau and his brother and being a confidante for his father. And she did it with a smile on her face and love in her heart.

And Carla is the complete opposite. She works outside the home, sometimes long hours and most weekends. There are not many home-cooked meals to be had at the Arlen house, unless Beau himself grills something for he and his daughter; Carla's portion is always wrapped and stored in the refrigerator to be eaten later.

The more he thinks about it, the more he is certain that he is not happy with the way his life is going and as much as he hates to admit it, his ex-wife needs to stay that way; as an ex.

He sits up in his chair and turns to his computer, opening a document and begins typing up his resignation. 

After Geri drops the bomb that she'd recently fucked Cordi, he acts as if the news was just small talk, but I seem unable to get past it.

The bartender's words played on repeat in my head all through dinner. 'This is whose name slipped out when we slept together the other night?'

Even as Cordi reaches out his hand, asking to dance, I can't help but glance toward Geri to see if she's watching; to see if she is planning on laying claim to the tall Ranger.

But, Geri seems unbothered by our presence as she continues to pour liquor and pull beers for other patrons. 

As soon as we are in his truck heading back to the Walker ranch, I bring it up.

"So, how many women are you fucking?"

"What?" Cordi asks, never taking his eyes off the windshield. "What do you mean?"

"Well apparently, you get physical with Geri often. So, I want to know, his many other pussies are you banging? Because I'm pretty monogamous. There's only been you since before I moved West."

"Really?" Cordi questions as he looks over at me. "That's what has your panties all twisted? I've not been down here pining away for you; that I fucked a woman I've known for years?!"

“You act like it’s no big deal,” I explain, trying to control my disdain. “I just don’t see sex like that. I don’t go around fucking every Tom, Dick or Harry when I get the urge. It is an intimate act to me. I take pride in the fact that other than you, I’ve only been with 2 other men.”

“Like I’m going to believe that,” Cordell chuckles.

“What’s so funny about that?” I ask, letting my rage take over. 

“Nothing, I guess. But,” Cordi pauses as he turns off the main road onto the dirt lane leading to the ranch. “You and I see sex totally differently. Sex is just that, sex. It’s a means to an end. I don’t have to love the person I’m fucking. Yea, I wanna make her feel good but I want her to make me feel good too.”

As we pull up to the front of his parents’ home, Cordell shuts the engine off and we both sit still, neither of us moving to get out. This night was turning out completely opposite of what I had assumed.

After a beat, Cordell shakes his head and opens his door, stepping out of the vehicle. Before closing the door, though, he speaks. “I really thought you knew this was a casual thing for us. I didn’t mean to lead you on.”

I sit in the cab of the truck long after he shuts the door and walks toward the barn with my phone in my hand as I navigate the airport website to book a 1 way ticket back to Helena; back to loneliness and missing Beau.

“Shit!” My little mini-vacation didn't turn out like I expected. 

I step out of the truck and look around for the man who lives here but am instead met with dark silence. 

Seeing as he is nowhere to be found, I begin walking down the gravelly lane toward the main road. It'll be easier for the cab to pick me up.

As the asphalt comes into view, my phone dings alerting me to a message. I pull it out of my pocket and open it to see something I'd never, ever expected.

Beau: Hey Y/N. It's Beau. Looks like I'm going to be coming back to Helena. Could we meet up and talk about some things?

Instead of texting back, I hit the call button and put the device to my ear, hearing it connect and begin ringing. 

"Y/N?" Beau answers with my name rather than a normal "Hello".

"It's me."

"How you been, sweetheart?"

'I've had better days….and some worse ones too. So, what is taking you back to Montana?"

"Wait, what do you mean taking me back?! Don't you still live there? Please don't tell me you've moved back East," he pleads. 

Not realizing what I'd said until he brought it up, I laugh.  "No, no. I still live in Helena. I'm just…..not there right now."

"Oh. Good." Beau replies and I can hear the relief in his voice. "Where are you?"

I sigh, then smile. "Uh, about that. I'm actually in Texas. Austin, in fact."

@spnbaby-67 @sea040561 @delightfullykrispypeach @larajadeschmidt13 @atc74 @vicariouslythruspn @squirrelnotsam  @sandlee44 @blacktithe7 @hoboal87 @mogaruke @supraveng @akshi8278 @lyarr24 @kazsrm67 @chriszgirl92 @deanwithscissors @raisinggray @fanfic-n-tabulous @hobby27 @stoneyggirl2 @purpleeclipseeggsland @kmc1989 @deans-spinster-witch @yvonneeeeeeee @tmb510 @globetrotter28

[isfjmel-phleg]

February 2024 Books

Westmark by Lloyd Alexander (reread)

According to GoodReads, I read this years ago. Had zero memory of it. I had a hard time getting into it this time around, so I suspect that was the case last time too.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett

Such a pretty cover, such an interesting premise. I wanted to love this one. I really did. But sorry, everyone, I struggled with this book.

I had a hard time with its being set ostensibly in 1909 but doing absolutely nothing to ground the narrative and world in that time period. A magical world with vaguely historical flair, like in HMC, would work fine, but the moment you evoke a particular year, you're committing to a definite setting and need to incorporate features of that time into your worldbuilding. No one in this book was living in the Edwardian Era or its equivalent; their thinking and society were very contemporary, so I don't understand what the point was of the 1909 setting.

Besides that, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and I'm not sure why?

The Last Dragon by Silvana De Mari

Featuring the most endearing little elf I have ever encountered. Yorsh is adorable.

Between Homes by W. R. Gingell

I continue to get further and further invested in the characters while having nothing intelligent to say about the series.

Pog by Pádraig Kenny

Not bad, but not as strong thematically as Kenny's other books that I've read.

Illuminations by T. Kingfisher

Loved the premise of the characters and a lot of the interactions, less captivated by the plot.

The Bellwoods Game by Celia Krampien

Very effective at the intended creepy tone, but I failed to connect with it.

The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth edited by Leonard S. Marcus (reread)

Picked this up at a bookstore a while back and enjoyed getting to revisit the creative process behind a book I loved as a child. (It is deeply appropriate that Juster wrote the book while procrastinating on another project!)

Ann of Sunflower Lane by Julie A. Sellers

An innocuous book that leans way too hard into its connections with Anne of Green Gables. The eponymous Ann reads AoGG for the first time and is obsessed (relatable), but unfortunately this means that the narrative and many of the characters are constantly drawing parallels between events and people in her life and those in the book. This doesn't allow the story to develop very strongly in its own right. Ann has a different past and some different struggles from Anne, with potential for a distinct story, and the Kansas setting is lovingly depicted and definitely different from Avonlea, but everything keeps coming back to Anne. The supporting cast tend to be pale imitations of Montgomery's characters (for instance, when Ann meets a group of other girls, she mentally designates them as "the practical one...the sweet one...the Ruby Gillis one...the nasty one" and their characterization goes no further than these stock roles). What makes Montgomery's novel work is its very human characters, its sense of humor, and its earnestness. This book was less successful at capturing these elements, so it was harder to get actually emotionally invested.

(I've already mentioned this elsewhere, but the index in the back of every quotation, from AoGG and other books was a little much, especially since the quotations in the narrative were self-conscious enough already.)

Lands End by Mary Stolz

I think this book was making some statements about childhood emotional neglect, which was intriguing, but honestly I'm not sure what the conclusion was. The narrative was contemplative and took quite a while to get to an actual plot. I mind that much less as an adult, but I can't really imagine most children really getting much out of this book, despite its intended middle-grade audience (presumably).

Secret of the Emerald Star by Phyllis A. Whitney

More character-focused and among Whitney's more engaging middle-grade mysteries.

Mystery of the Strange Traveler by Phyllis A. Whitney

But I was less interested in this one. Connected less with the cast and the mystery.

Comics

The Flash by Mark Waid Book Six

Gradually making my way through this series. The stories of course vary in interest, but Waid's characterization of Wally is always well done, and Wally and Linda's relationship is genuinely sweet.

Reading/skimming Tim Drake's every significant appearance, which is still a work in progress.

I am having emotions and tucking things away in drafts, so brace yourselves. Also discovering things that quite frankly are more interesting than fanon (and sometimes funnier).

[godsaveforum]

TUMBLR | AMBIENTACIÓN | GRUPOS

Abrimos la lista de reservas de faceclaim. La misma será actualizada  constantemente hasta la apertura del foro.

Recordamos que la reserva será por llegada de mensaje así que les pedimos que controlen bien cuales son los PB que ya han sido reservados.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson — High

Abigail Cowen — missmyowndream

Adelaide Kane — leire

Andrea Damante — Mr T.

Agustín Bernasconi — Shishoska

Alan Ritchson — Almaespada

Alina Olesheva — Xenia

Allissa Salls — Cyro

Alycia Debnam-Carey — Galadriel

Amelie Zilber — Khaleeliz

Ana de Armas — Beth

Anabelle Wallis — acinderellastory

Andy Blossom — Perséfone

Angelina Michelle — Miel

Anna Zak — Hécate

Arthur Benedetti — shiker

Bar Zomer — Lost

Ben Barnes — Khaleeliz

Ben Dahlhaus — Shishoska

Brock O’Hurn — Thor

Carolina Moura — Elena

Charleen Weiss — Magdalena

Chris Evans — Mr.Sin

Chris Pratt — ScarletGuy

Chris Hemsworth — Lawson

Cindy Kimberly — Luna

Cole Sprouse — kattokoshmar-blog

Constance Dominik — Perséfone

Davey Fisher — Dr. C

Do KyungSoo — Carpincho

Dua Lipa — Khaleeliz

Eden Fines — Gotita

Elizabeth Olsen — Galadriel

Elliot Page — kattokoshmar-blog

Emilia Mernes — Shishoska

Emily Blunt — Moony

Emily Carey — Carpincho

Emily Ratajkowski — Ritsu

Emma Watson — El Sensei

Federico Cola — Beth

Gal Gadot — butterfly

Grey Damon — OnAir

Han So-hee — Athena

Hande Ercel — Coonie

Hanna Edwinson — Rose

Henry Cavill — Galadriel

Herman Tømmeraas — K.

Jacob Elordi — Laurificacion

Jake Gyllenhaal — Toffee

Jean Carlo León (jashlem) — Hana

Jensen Ackles — Perséfone

Jessy Hartel — Harrington

John Krasinski — Lighting

Jonathan Bailey — El Sensei

Josie Lane — withmew

Kailee Morgue — Tested

Ken Bek — Red Ranger

Kennedy Walsh — Carpincho

Kerem Bursin — Mr.Sin

Kwon Ji Yong — Piruleta

Lily Collins — Kaz

Lily Easton — Pinky

Lily James — gilmoregirl

Liza Weidmann — Elena

Lucas Jade Zumann — Hacker

Lucy Boynton — Bo Peep

Lusya Abramovskaya — Hana

Madelaine Petsch — Xenia

Maia Reficco — Clover

Maks Behr — poseidón

Margot Robbie — Laurificacion

Marissa Long — Harrington

Mathew Daddario — Blossom

Michael Yerger — Pikachu

Nicki Nicole — Beth

Nicola Porcella — Darkish

Noah Centineo — Astro

Oliver Stark — kattokoshmar-blog

Pedro Pascal — Karmela

Phoeve Dnyevor — OnAir

Richard Madden — Theo

Romaneinnc — lunita

Ryan Gosling — Dopesmoker

Ryan Guzman — Blossom

Sadie Sink — Obsidian

Scarlett Leithold — Blossom

Sebastian Stan — Themuffinman

Sergio Carvajal — Xenia

Sienna Raine Schmid — Fallen

Stefania Spampinato — OnAir

Stephen James — Conejito

Sophie Thatcher — safismística

Sydney Sweeney — muñeca vudú

Thomas Doherty — Coryo

Tobias Reuter — poseidón

Tom Hardy — Dr. C

Tyler Hoechlin — El Sensei

Vanessa Kirby — leire

Victoria Bronova — Laurificacion

Victor Pérez — PikachuPaldeano

Vinnie Hacker — Soul

Vladislav Gerasimov — Dimitri

Willy Whey — Hana

Yael Shelbia — elizabeth

Zoe Kravitz — Karmela

[angelofrainfrogs]

Going Back: Ch. 9

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: Things are looking up for Gregory. After putting the soul of a formerly-immortal killer to rest, he and his new family can finally begin their lives anew. Sure, Gregory might have been cursed with mysterious Remnant in exchange for being involved in this mess—not to mention his caretakers consist of sentient robots and ghosts… But there’s no doubt that the bond they share is unbreakable. They love him, and he in turn. 

All in all, life is finally starting to go right for once. 

…Unfortunately, true peace is a hard-won battle. There are other things to contend with besides William’s decrepit soul, and Gregory will learn that his role in the lives of the Aftons and Emilys is far greater than anyone could’ve imagined. 

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

Bonnie’s approach was lackadaisical, strolling casually beside Freddy as he watched the kid doze off completely. The sugar and adrenaline crash hit Gregory hard, and by the time they piled into the elevator for the attraction the boy was practically asleep in Freddy's arms. Curiously, Bonnie reached out and brushed the shaggy hair away from Gregory’s face, asking Freddy when out of earshot from the others: “So… since when did you want to be a Papa Bear, ol’ sport?”

The rabbit was still somewhat confused by the whole thing. Their AIs desired the safety and protection of all kids, this was true—but Freddy became so devoted to this sole child so fast…

“Oh… it was a rather sudden decision,” Freddy murmured, his gaze moving slowly between Gregory and his old companion. Taking a seat at a table near the lanes, Freddy patted the empty chair by his side with a soft smile. “You and I need to have a long conversation about what you missed, old friend. But for now I will say that it was a combination of many factors that led to the situation Gregory and I are in now. He is such a brave boy and helped with things you cannot even fathom at the moment.”

As he explained, Freddy absently ran his fingers through Gregory’s hair. “Michael influenced my decision greatly. He and I were, ah… bonded, for lack of a better term, and his humanity rubbed off on me—which only heightened my desire to protect and care for Gregory.”

Looking up at Bonnie’s absolutely confused gaze with a measured one of his own, Freddy could see him desperately trying to understand. He didn’t like keeping his friend in the dark, but he also didn’t want to overload his circuits. Still, he could at least give him something to dwell on before they got to talk one on one.

“You have seen and accepted that Evan is a ghost. This may or may not come as a surprise, but so are Michael and Charlie. However, before they got these android bodies they needed other vessels, and Michael happened to pick mine. It is a wonder what a human soul can do to a simple piece of coding.”

Bonnie sat and listened, absorbing the words Freddy told him. He wished to understand how people had souls that could imprint their marks into machines and computers... Was Freddy different now?

Bonnie seemed off-put for a mere second before dismissing the thought entirely, his bunny nose twitching. Freddy was the same as before. But what he felt was real.

“A human soul really made you feel this way?” the rabbit asked tentatively, eyebrows scrunched. It was an incredible thing to come to understand. “When did you realize? Y’know, that you felt human?”

“When did I know?” Freddy hummed, tilting his head. “Hmm... that is a good question. I suppose it was more of a feeling than an exact moment. The night I met those three, there came a time when Gregory and I were in a bit of distress.”

Freddy grimaced slightly at the memory of Monty chasing them on the catwalks. It was a far cry from the friendly gator they'd just encountered in the golf course not thirty minutes before. “Of course my goal was to protect the child, but when I saw Gregory in such a dire situation something in me just... snapped. I realized that this urge to protect far exceeded anything my programming would allow, and I was thinking with my heart instead of my head.”

The redhead smiled down at the boy in his lap. “It was not long after we were safely out of that situation that Gregory first called me 'dad,' and then I could deny it no longer: I felt things—emotions. True emotions. I wanted to care for him and keep him safe, and I wanted to do the same for Michael and Charlie. I felt happy at the thought of protecting them, thinking of how wonderful things would be when set to rights again. After that it was simply a matter of timing and fate as to how I ended up in this body, holding Gregory as I am now.” 

Bonnie listened, the look on his face uncharacteristically stoic and unanimated as he absorbed the meaning of what Freddy was talking about. He clenched and unclenched his hand against his bowling shirt. A brief flash of thought crossed his mind; a vague question of, ‘Can I feel things?’ as he watched the small family by the bowling lanes begin to wrestle. He didn’t quite feel all the emotions that Freddy described to him when watching the kids, though Bonnie felt himself becoming closer—but that could be chalked up to simple prolonged exposure.

That didn’t explain the weird stints of unmistakable jealousy he felt when others appeared to be getting along better with Freddy than him, though. He wasn’t programmed for jealousy; the emotion was ugly and unnecessary for entertaining robots.

“A human soul…,” Bonnie repeated wistfully. He looked on as Liz practically tackled both Charlie and Michael to retrieve her brother from their clutches. He chuckled at this display and unhealthily pushed down the false 'emotions,' ignoring them and hoping they would simply scatter with time. Still, it begged Bonnie to ask curiously: “Do you ever feel… bad?”

Freddy’s gaze sharpened, locked onto his old friend’s face as if searching for something. After a moment Freddy let out a small sigh.

“Yes,” he admitted softly. “I feel bad things, too. That is the trouble with these silly emotions—the good ones are amazing, but you must also contend with the negative ones. I have felt anger before—a white-hot, burning thing that I previously could not even comprehend. I have felt scared, annoyed, and anxious, among many other things.

“But regardless of how these emotions might make me feel about others, you are still my dearest friend,” Freddy reassured with his signature grin that crinkled the corners of his eyes. After a moment’s pause, Freddy’s brow furrowed slightly, a knowing light in his bright eyes. “I have been meaning to ask: how are you feeling, Bon? Besides what your internal diagnostics tell you, that is. Or, I suppose I should say—can you give me an answer to that question right now? It is perfectly alright if not, I am simply… curious.” 

How did he feel? Well, besides from the sudden tight—grateful?—wave of emotion he got from Freddy's assurance, he was feeling strangely. Could Freddy tell there was something wrong with him? Bonnie could sense something wrong. Yet with every background diagnostic test he ran that turned up negative, he wondered if it was all in his head.

“I’m… weird, Fredbear,” Bonnie answered, glancing to others to see they’d moved down the lanes to be fully in the company of the Emilys. “I've been running diagnostics for two days and found nothing wrong. But I swear I feel things, too... Things never in my programming. Not like you, though; you get all the nice things. The best thing my database can liken these to are… self-doubt and jealousy.”

When his eyes shifted back to see a worried expression on Freddy’s face, Bonnie elaborated with wide eyes. “I'm fine! Really, I know these are just programming bugs. Something I'll have to tell Boss-man about later. I'll be alright, Fred.”

Maybe Michael’s soul did something while he was working on his decommissioned body? Though Freddy said they had to be bonded, whatever that means, for those emotions to imprint upon him.

For just a second, Freddy’s worry slipped into an ache of sympathetic hurt. He’d been lucky—Michael was a good soul, and therefore had seemed to transfer mostly positive emotions. It wasn’t that Freddy couldn’t feel jealousy or self-doubt too, and Michael’s anxiety certainly seemed to take a toll on Freddy’s already amped-up concern for others. But the boy was nothing compared to his father. Who knew what sort of influence William’s soul would have on an animatronic, even as sweet a character as Bonnie?

Freddy didn’t doubt they could work through anything in time, but he hated to see his friend grapple with such confusion.

“There is nothing wrong with you, Bonnie,” Freddy said once he’d composed himself, his face once again a mask of serene calm. His voice was low and soothing, coupled with a tight squeeze of the rabbit’s paw. “And I am certain you will be just fine. Tomorrow, you and I are going to have a long chat about what happened while you were out of commission—just the two of us. Hopefully things will start to make more sense afterwards, but until then please try not to worry so much. Fretting about things is my job.”

The ursine man finally cracked a grin, slipping his hand out of Bonnie’s to lightly push the rabbit’s shoulder.

“Just what do you have to be jealous about anyway? The new friends I have met are wonderful, but they are no comparison to my best friend of unquantifiable years.” A light chuckle escaped his lips. “I came running straight to you when I heard you were back online, you know.” 

Bonnie couldn’t help but laugh as he shrugged off Freddy’s playful shove. “You came runnin' huh? Aw, shucks.”

It was less of a way to tease his friend and more of a reassurance that Freddy didn't forget about him. No one did. Everyone still loved him and people were probably hoping one day for his joyous return back to the Glamrock crew.

“Yeah, that sounds so silly when you put it that way... And you know what? I should be happy Monty's got a whole big attraction for himself now! He deserves it for how hard he works,” Bonnie said, the dopey, sweet bunny returning the more he worked through those negative emotions. It wasn't long before he gently rested the side of his head on the top of Freddy's own. “Thanks for listenin,' Fredbear.”

“Anytime,” Freddy promised, chuckling as Bonnie aggressively nuzzled their heads together. Seconds after the pair sat up straight Michael appeared, huffing as he pulled out a chair across the table from them. With a raised eyebrow, Freddy asked: “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” Mike replied, a grin twitching up the corner of his mouth despite his attempt to keep an exasperated expression. “They’re all ganging up against me, so I left them to their own devices; hopefully they’ll harass Sammy instead.”

“I see; how gracious of you,” Freddy commented, clear sarcasm in his voice. Michael flashed a real grin and leaned his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his palms.

“Thank you! How’s Gregory? He looks totally passed out.” 

“He is alright. You know how erratic his sleep schedule is—he probably just had a bit too much excitement at once,” Freddy said, running a hand through Gregory’s hair once more.

“We really need to fix that…” Michael grimaced briefly, then let out a snort. “He looks so calm and peaceful when he’s asleep; not like a little terror at all. Don’t you think, Bonnie?” Pale blue eyes flickered to the rabbit’s, showing he hadn’t been forgotten about.

Gregory's chest rose and fell deeply as they spoke. The kid was in such a deep state of sleep that a thing line of drool began to seep from the corner of his mouth. It was adorable—though worrisome that his schedule had been interrupted so frequently. It seemed the only time he could truly rest was when he completely ran out of energy, his mutated stamina still no match for the very nature of exhaustion.

“You kiddin' me? Look—that kid's plotting our destruction as we speak,” Bonnie replied, pointing down at Gregory with a rounded purple finger. “I think we may be dealing with some form of criminal mastermind here...”

“Mm, good point,” Michael conceded, narrowing his eyes and staring hard at the sleeping boy. His pensive expression only cracked when Freddy noticed the drool and wiped it away with his sleeve and a soft click of his tongue.

“Oh, hush you two,” Freddy chuckled, looking between the pair with a grin. He was so happy to see Michael and Bonnie getting along it was infectious. Tilting his head in question, Freddy asked: “What time is it, Michael? I feel as though we may need to leave soon…”

“You’ve got a phone now, you know,” Mike said, though he didn’t hesitate to take his out and check the display. “Yeah, I think I should take Liz and Evan back down to Henry so we can head out.” He stood, stretching out his arms before glancing at Freddy with a slight frown. “Oh damn; we didn’t get to talk about Gregory’s situation.”

“Hmm.” Freddy glanced down at his son, then let out a small sigh. “As much as I hate to disturb him either, this is an important topic. How about I come with you?”

“Sounds good,” Michael agreed, then stepped over to Bonnie and clapped the rabbit on the shoulder. “It’s good to finally hang out with you, Bon; we’ll touch base again when I come back for my next shift, okay?” 

Excitedly, Bonnie curled his paws into fists and held them by his chest as he looked to Michael.

“It's going to be so fun workin' with ya!” he predicted.

When the end of the week was up and the Pizzaplex returned to normalcy after a period of strangeness, it was be obvious his new coworkers would provide some much missed fun to Bonnie Bowl. Upon looking over to said ghost children, it seemed they’d overpowered the Emilys, with both Charlie and Sam being bullied by the two after Sammy dared to call them runts. Liz was still too fast for them and had Sam's arm in a lock behind his back.

“Lizzie! Lizzie, come on! Sam is actually old! You can't rough him up like that!” Charlie attempted to separate them with much difficulty.

Sam shot her a glare, griping to his sister with a bellow: “I am not old! I'm middle-aged at most, but I don't look it!”

“No—” Charlie answered, trying to hide her laugh as she told her twin. “—it’s worse: you just look like Dad...”

“What?!” Samuel shouted, causing Liz to let go as he nearly tumbled into Charlie and Evan.

Michel had moved to the other group for damage control, snagging the Aftons by their shirt collars before they could launch another attack. With a raised eyebrow he asked Sam: “They giving you trouble?”

“Nooooo!” Evan insisted, wriggling in his brother’s grip. He knew full well Michael sent them after Sammy intentionally, but before he could call his brother out Mike went on.

“Uh-huh. Well, Sam, you’re about to be saved—time to go back to Uncle Henry.” Michael released his siblings, then jerked a thumb over his shoulder to where Freddy and Bonnie were saying their goodbyes. “Freddy and Gregory are coming with us to see you off. You want to join, Charlie?” His gaze flickered to Sam with a wry grin. “You’re welcome to come too—if you can handle it, grandpa.”

Completely unaware that Michael had been the one to set the dogs of war loose upon him, Sam looked to his good friend with gratitude. He wasn’t the same relatively meek and stoic kid he had forced himself to grow into. Being with Michael and the others reminded him of what a hell-raiser he used to be with the others.

“Again with the old man crap—” Sam tutted, cracking the aching knuckles on his hands as he rejoined the group. “—aren’t you a month older than me?”

“He's right, Mikey,” Charlie pointed out, willing to stop picking on her biological brother to turn the tide on her best friend. “You are the oldest, technically.”

Michael narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared between the Emilys. “Oh sure, rub it in on me, why don’t you?”

“I mean, you are suuuuper old,” Evan added with a shit-eating grin, not unlike his big brother’s. “Like… ancient!”

“Okay, okay, chill out!” Michael snipped, shoving Evan unsteadily off his feet… though he did feel a minor swell of pride at his little brother’s sass. “You’re only a few years younger than me, damn.”

“Come on, everyone!” Freddy called as he walked over, now with his other arm wrapped around Gregory. “Let us get going before Henry starts to worry.”

“Honestly Sammy, you should take a rest,” Michael said, his tone softening as he amiably patted his back, though his lips were still quirked up in a smirk. “Anyone needs to recover after dealing with the Aftons all day.”

This was what made all the jeers and jokes worth it, knowing his friends really did have his best interests at heart. Sam scratched at his growing beard and reasoned silently about getting a few hours of sleep in his office before the dayshift showed up. If Samuel could see himself now, he might ask his own reflection who the old insomniac was and what they were doing inside his Mall...

“Heh—” Sam laughed, fixing his glasses as if hiding the heavy bags there. “—alright, I could squeeze in a few hours of rest. Then it's back to work.” Sam quick leaned on Michael, giving him a rough hug to communicate his thanks where words wouldn't suffice.

“Make sure Charlie doesn't pick her nose too much while I'm gone,” he asked of Mike, earning a slap on the shoulder from his sister. She gasped at the accusation while Lizzie just raised her finger to laugh at the group.

“Ew, Charlie you don't still pick your nose, do you?” Liz managed to ask through her giggles, which led to Charlie shaking Liz by her shoulders.

“I never did! He's a dirty fibber!” she asserted, throwing a glare Sam’s way.

“Oh no, she totally does—eeevery day,” Michael added, then turned fast on his heel and dashed towards the exit with Charlie in hot pursuit.

“Goodness…,” Freddy chuckled, shaking his head at their antics. He looked to Sam, offering him a smile. “I hope you get a solid nap in, Sam—and thank you again for these!” A pat of his pants pocket indicated the slim outline of his phone. “We will be sure to stay in touch.”

“Bye, Sammy!” Evan piped up, giving his old friend a quick hug on his leg before pulling Lizzie after Charlie and Michael. Freddy lifted Gregory’s rag doll-like hand in a little wave to the CEO then followed after the young Aftons, flashing Bonnie another gleaming smile as they piled into the elevator.

Samuel would retire to his office, heading off after parting ways with Bonnie—though that rabbit was no longer content to stay in Bonnie Bowl either. Without a guard to tell him otherwise, the distracted bunny would travel aimlessly through the Pizzaplex as he used to.

Upon arriving in the basement, it seemed the other children had been running around and leaving their mark while Henry worked tirelessly. Scorched items from the old dinner had made their way around the hidden workshop. Torn, half-melted plushies and collectors’ items were scattered haphazardly with evidence of being abandoned after the ghosts grew bored of their novelty. As soon as they crossed the door, Charlie was quick to ambush her hardworking father with a bear hug.

“Dad! Whatcha working on?” she interrogated.

“AH!” Henry was so focused on the schematics he was working on he hadn’t heard his daughter’s stealthy approach. He would’ve jumped a few feet in the air if her firm grip hadn’t cinched him in place. “Christ! I oughta put a bell on you guys!” He chuckled, giving Charlie a quick kiss on the cheek. “Hi, sweetheart.”

“Hey, Uncle Henry!” Michael greeted with a wave. As he stepped up to the Emilys, Henry was quick to shuffle a few papers around, causing Mike to raise an eyebrow. “What are you working on?”

“Oh, I’m thinking of repurposing some earlier drafts of your androids so others can have bodies, too,” Henry explained, wrapping his arm around Charlie’s waist. He grinned, swinging Charlie around to show her the workbench of papers. “You’re going to like this one—take a guess who it’s for.”

The schematic on top showed two images side by side: one of the generic inner workings of an android, and the other a distinctive “outer casing” that showed a sketched overview of what it would look like. The body was short and lanky with a bob of wavy black hair. Upon closer inspection the face seemed to take inspiration from Charlie’s, sharing almost all the same features except for the eyes being a smidge larger for even more expressive capabilities. 

Charlie speculated for a bit. The design for the animatronic looked so darn familiar. She cocked her head to the side as she let go of her father in contemplation before grasping Mike’s shoulder and shaking him with a gasp. “Look! It's the Marionette! Doesn't she look good?”

The design Henry gave her was so cutesy. With Henry's plans to retrofit the old AIs into newer bodies, she marveled at the possibilities. Would the public need to know that she was just a robot? Did it matter? After all, Puppet could probably pass for a college girl starting her first internship were she to hang around the Pizzaplex.

“Dad, your genius is showing,” Charlie warned him in a joking manner, soaking in the blueprints and designs for her longtime animatronic friend.

“Is it?” Henry said with a slightly embarrassed laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Really, making another android isn’t going to be too hard—it’s really just a matter of retrofitting a model you’re not using, finessing the outer casing, then uploading the AI. Although, Freddy already proved that was a big success!”

“Puppet is going to love this,” Freddy praised, peering down at the drawing as well. Gregory was sure to get a kick out of this, and seeing as they needed to wake him up anyway Freddy reasoned this was the perfect opportunity. He gave the boy a light squeeze, speaking softly. “Wake up, superstar; we have something exciting to show you!”

With every step and jostle, Gregory didn't move an inch on his own. It was oddly adorable that Gregory only stirred at the sound of Freddy gently beckoning him back to the waking world. The little man rubbed his eyes, groaning that he’d fallen asleep so easily when he tried to fight it so badly. Barely remembering the last half an hour of their fun in the Pizzaplex, Gregory smacked the drool from his lips with a grumpy look on his face. 

“Huh? Wuzzat?” he muttered, glowing eyes blinking unfocused at the plans on the desk.

Charlie offered a smile, speaking a little louder to try and wake the boy further. “It's going to be Marionette's new model! She'll be able to talk to us now. Isn't that cool, Gregory?”

Charlie burned to know what he thought. Even though she technically designed the first Puppet, she felt bad with how many kids were scared off by one of her best friends. Hopefully this design didn't freak Gregory out too badly—ironically, she noticed how stand-offish he became around humans.

Tilting his head to the side, Gregory scanned the blue paper and accidentally murmured out loud: “It's Charlie, but cuter—”

Which Charlie was quick to react to. She pinched his cheek and shook his face, thoroughly waking him up now as she asked: “What?! What's that supposed to mean, you little twerp—”

Michael snorted, quick to snatch Gregory out of Freddy’s arms and save him from Charlie’s attack. Setting him down and taking on the role of human shield, Mike held out a palm for Gregory to high-five behind his back. “Nice one.”

“I’m glad she has your approval,” Henry said, crossing his arms and leaning casually against the workbench while he watched the interaction with a grin. “I haven’t even showed Mari yet, so you guys were the first opinions I got!”

“Mari?” Michael quirked up an eyebrow, and Henry nodded.

“Mm-hmm; I tried out the nickname last time she was down here and she seemed to like it—I thought it would suit the new look.”

Michael looked at the drawing again, then gave his own nod of approval. “Yeah, it does! She’s going to be really happy, Henry.”

Gregory snickered, sticking his tongue out at Charlie as his brother stepped in to save him from her onslaught. He peeked around Michael's back to glance back at the blueprint. “She was just supposed to be a security robot, right?”

Gregory was heavily attached to the Puppet. She and Charlie had protected him more than a few times. Though he always wondered if it was Charlie's selfless attitude that rubbed off on Mari, or if it was the never-ending protocol of a robot's design that kept them fervently fighting for him when they were bonded... Now, Gregory and the rest could finally pick her brain.

“Oh, she was the best!” Charlie answered for her father. Beaming at her one and only creation and contribution to the Fazbear Family line, she reminisced on the fun they had together. “I don't care if the other kids thought she was creepy! She kept the diner pretty safe. She could play a music box and give out prizes, and she was the first model that could think and react.”

Charlie was attached to the toy in more ways than one. It had become her comfort friend after Evan's passing. Those few months shutting everyone out and just hanging out with the Marionette had turned out to do her more harm than good in the end...

“That she was,” Henry confirmed, patting Charlie’s shoulder. “I think she turned out pretty damn well, all things considered. Oh, oops—pretend I didn’t curse, kiddo.” He flashed a grin at Gregory. “Next time Mari comes down here, I’ll get her approval. Then it’s just a few minor tweaks and we can start working! I’d love for you to help, Mike.”

“Of course!” Michael readily agreed, more surprised his uncle would consider the possibility of him not assisting with something like this. “Gregory can help with the transfer part, too—we’ve got to keep those skills up!”

Freddy listened to the conversation with a smile, glad to see Gregory included. He knew his son would jump at the chance to give more of his robot friends a body just like he’d done for Freddy.

Right—my son.

A slight frown crossed Freddy’s face as he recalled the looming topic at hand. Upon a lull in the conversation, the redhead cleared his throat. “There is another topic we need to discuss tonight before we leave. It involves the children, although I think Henry should be made aware of it as well. Superstar, can you please grab your friends and bring them over?”

Michael ran another hand through Gregory’s hair, though this touch was much softer and soothing. He’d seen the boy tense up at the mention of the pressing topic that, frankly, scared his entire family more than Gregory realized.

For all that Gregory had been preparing for, he felt a self-doubt for one single moment. That was before he felt Michael’s encouraging hand brush through his hair. The look he had been given by his family had bolstered his courage and Gregory gave them a silent but strong nod before running off into the darkness.

“I’ll be right back!” he promised, knowing he could find them even in the blackest shadows.

As his body and mind went through changes, Gregory knew he wasn’t normal anymore. His enhanced eyesight made it easier for him to make out shapes and faces in the dark. It was in one such corner where he found the majority of his spirit friends had gathered. They were hanging around outside the employee entrance in the back of the burned diner.

“Look who finally decided to wake up!” shouted a cheeky Elizabeth, nudging both Evan and Cassidy who resided on either side of her. It only mildly interrupted their game of pretend with the plushies where it looked as if the all the Fazbear characters they gathered had ganged up on the bunny in the middle…

“It’s about time!” Cassidy jeered, looking at Gregory with a short-lived sneer. “We need someone to play Bonnie. Wanna join?”

Gregory spared a laugh at the odd session of pretend. “Hard pass—I actually came to ask you all a favor. Where’s the others?” He stepped closer, looking around for Hannah and the other ghosts he was told had found their ways into their little group.

“Inside; gimme a sec!” Evan volunteered, hopping to his feet and running to the back door. Instead of actually opening it he simply stuck his head through the metal, calling out: “Hey, guys! Gregory’s here!”

Hannah was the first to emerge from the diner, phasing through the door and looking around. Spotting Gregory, her face lit up in a huge grin and she walked over to give him a quick hug. “Hi! I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“Hannah—” he said, feeling an involuntary and goofy grin pull at his lips while trying to explain himself. “—I wanted to see you sooner. We had a lot of stuff to do and I couldn’t find you.”

That was when he caught Cassidy whispering into Evan’s ear. Paranoia briefly took hold of him, wondering if his friends could see what Gregory felt was obvious to everyone. But it was really just the old ghost warning Evan about the twins coming by to hoist Gregory from the ground by each arm.

“Hey, Smith, you forgot about us, too!” Quinn gripped, taking an index finger soaked in an odd ectoplasm from being in his mouth and shoving it roughly into Gregory’s ear canal—thoroughly embarrassing him as Gregory attempted to shake from their grasp.

“GROSS! Shit—I’m sorry guys! Kn-Knock it off!” the smaller boy griped, flailing harder with no avail as his face turned a bright red from the shame of still being bullied by the neighborhood goons.

“Stop that!” Hannah snapped, raising both hands and giving the twins an identical smack to the backs of their heads. “It’s not Gregory’s fault any of this happened—it was those psycho bunny furries. We’ve been over this, morons.”

Evan stood between Lizzie and Cassidy, wringing his hands nervously. He liked Hannah—she was sweet and friendly and in a vague sort of way reminded him of how Charlie was in their youth while they were all still alive.

Cain and Quinn, though? They made him anxious. While Hannah reminded him of his kind friend, the boys reminded him of his brother in the prime of his tormenting phase. The twins had quickly been curbed of any real desire to harass Evan after their first “prank” ended up with the boy nearly hyperventilating on the floor, crying as Cassidy lost her absolute mind. She’d only been prevented from beating the ever-loving shit out of them by Hannah and Liz literally holding her back—although they did allow her one solid punch each for them to really learn their lesson. Since then Cain and Quinn were wary of the company Evan kept, and while they didn’t actively go out of their way to avoid him they definitely made a point to only play nice lest his guard-friend attacked again… or worse, they somehow incurred his siblings' wrath.

“OW! Hannah, don’t hit so hard!” shouted Cain, rubbing the back of his head. Neither experienced pain after their deaths, unless it was a corrective smack from one of the other ghosts. As Gregory was dropped to his feet, he furiously rubbed the gross goop leaking from his ear.

“Serves you jerks right! I didn’t even do this to you…” He huffed, cursing himself mentally. They’d never help if he kept insulting them. With a grateful glance sent towards Hannah, Gregory’s head whipped around to hear Lizzie speak up.

“Guys—Gregory was about to ask us something,” she reminded the group, curiously invested in whatever adventure the kid had in store now. He thanked Liz with a curt nod.

“I need your help. It’s… real serious. Those jerks that made me live with them are looking for me.” Gregory spoke with a rare tightness to his voice. Looking back on the twins, their combined shit-eating grins fell into what Gregory assumed was genuine worry. They were annoying and mean, but not heartless.

“You mean Rita and Terry, right? Fuck, dude…” Quinn rubbed the back of his neck. He wouldn’t have picked on Gregory so hard just then if he’d known what was going on. They’d seen firsthand the shit Gregory went through at the hands of his foster parents, and their pranks were literal child’s play in comparison.

At Gregory’s nod of confirmation, Cain spoke up after his brother. “What can we do to help?”

Perking up, Gregory’s smile grew back into a recognizably evil smirk, one that Cassidy picked out right away—as the girl had slowly become the patron saint of mischief within their ranks. “Follow me, and we’ll make a plan together.”

Herding them together, Cassidy couldn’t wait to unleash terror onto Gregory’s old family. They began their short trek back to the workshop portion of the basement towards the only trustworthy adults the group knew.

***

“Alright, while it’s just us, fill me in,” Henry said once Gregory left the room, keeping an eye on the door he’d disappeared through. “What’s going on?”

Freddy let out a heavy sigh. “Gregory’s foster parents have come looking for him.”

There was a heavy pause, in which Henry seemed to be waiting for a follow-up. When Freddy remained quiet, the man scratched his beard, a deep crease between his eyebrows. “Wait, so… this kid you adopted actually has a family?! What the hell were you all thinking?!” 

Charlie’s brows flew up to her hairline, waving her arms to garner her father’s attention. “No! Well—yes? Kind of? They’re his foster family and he ran away from them almost a month ago, Dad. They just now decided they wanted to find him…”

She gulped, hoping her father would agree with their admittedly felonious idea of kidnapping Gregory. Clasping her hands together to appear meek, she implored to Henry's heart. “Please hear us out—we don’t trust the Smiths. When we first found Gregory, he was covered in cuts and bruises…” 

Henry crossed his arms, the epitome of paternal suspicion. “I’m certainly not one to judge questionable life choices, but this is kind of a big deal, guys.” 

“They’re neglecting him, Henry—and god knows what else,” Michael spoke up, gaze cold. “At first we thought the bruises were from him running around the Pizzaplex, but most of them were not fresh. Gregory’s been cagey when we try to ask about his home life, but his foster mom showed up looking for him the other day and he finally told us just how shitty they were. He’s just a paycheck to them.”

“We cannot let him go back to them,” Freddy insisted. “He will be terribly mistreated, and we fear for his safety.”

“Shit, guys…” Pulling off his glasses momentarily, Henry rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I get where you’re coming from, but you can’t just take a child.” 

“He’s going to die in that house,” Michael whispered, looking at Henry with hardened eyes. “I don’t care if he’s immortal or whatever now—if they already mistreated him so badly before he ran away, imagine what they’ll do when they finally get their hands on him again.”

There was another moment of silence, in which Henry replaced his glasses and looked between the three set expressions of his daughter, nephew, and creation-turned-genuine friend. Charlie seemed like she might drop to her knees and beg for help if her dad still said no, Michael had a dark edge behind those pale blue eyes, and Freddy… Henry let out an involuntary shiver. The normally serene man looked like he was about to march into that foster home himself and take matters into his own hands, which were clenched so tightly in a poor display of controlled rage the knuckles were white.

“Okay… okay,” Henry finally relented with a heavy sigh. He placed a firm, reassuring palm on Freddy’s shoulder as he told the group: “Fine. I can see how serious this situation is, and I’d be a heartless bastard to send the kid back to such a place… so before Freddy makes headlines for committing double homicide, tell me this plan of yours.”

“I would never—” Freddy began, though before he could proclaim his intent the gaggle of kids arrived in the doorway. He recognized all but two, yet another set of twins to add to their rag-tag band of lost souls. Freddy rightfully assumed these to be the other missing kids Charlie and Michael pulled from the depths of the Pizzaplex with Hannah.

Hannah herself initially brightened at the sight of more friendly faces, although when her gaze fell upon Freddy the expression slipped. She didn’t recognize this guy, though she could only presume him to be a friend. Still she leaned into Gregory, lightly tugging his arm. “Who’s the redhead in the sweater?” 

Gregory saw the unease on her face and decided to pat her shoulder, pointing at Freddy with a jut of his thumb.

“That's Freddy! Long story; he's my dad now,” he made sure to clarify, though it probably only led to more questions. Unaware of the tumultuous talk they all just had, he reintroduced the groups. “Okay so, now that we're all here, I have something to ask you guys...”

He separated himself to stand alone. He hoped to get everyone's attention easier this way. It started with a deep breath and eyes staring ahead like headlights to focus on how he wanted to explain this.

“I won't go home. Not back with my foster parents. I'd run away again and again until I'm eighteen or something happens to my legs.” Gregory spoke with a straight face, utterly serious. “If they find me, chances are something would happen to my legs. So I need everyone's help to get them away from me. Please...”

“...They hurt you?” Evan's small voice was the first one to break the silence. He wore an uncharacteristically blank expression, save for the little crease between his eyebrows.

“Badly,” Michael clarified, arms crossed as he leaned back against Henry's desk. It may have seemed like a casual pose, but it was really to keep him from bouncing his limbs in an anxious rhythm. Evan's gaze shifted between his brothers before he gave a resolute nod.

“I'm in,” he said, offering his twin a little smile. “I can do all the ghost stuff too, so just tell me what you need, Gregory.”

“Same here,” Hannah offered, raising a hand. She couldn't imagine anyone wanting to harm Gregory, let alone his supposed parents... It made her queasy to think about. “I wanna help, too.”

Freddy slipped a hand into Charlie's and squeezed, silently reassuring—and needing a bit of reassurance himself—that they were doing the right thing. He hated putting children up for such a task, but for now this really was the best thing they could think of that was both fast and effective. Who knew how much time they had before the Smiths called in some real authority to come poking around the Pizzaplex?

“Of course I'm in, obviously,” Lizzie added, shoving herself aside Evan in solidarity. Cassidy joined in wordlessly besides her friends, as any plan of revenge was something she could get behind. All that was left was the twins, both whom looked at each other with a resolute nod.

“We already said we’d help,” Cain replied, shrugging simultaneously with his brother.

“Yeah—” Quinn agreed, knowing they wouldn't have anything better to do. The Smiths deserved whatever was coming to them anyway. If they just treated Gregory right, the kid wouldn’t have tried to sneak away and then he and Cain would never have never followed him into the Pizzaplex. “—what's the plan, Smith?”

The planning phase was where Gregory drew a blank. “I-I was thinking of scaring them. You know? Like, maybe even make them think I died—then there’s no reason to keep looking for me, right?”

“Just scare them?” Cassidy asked. She’d begun doing that thing Gregory hated, where her face flattened and turned the slightest bit uncanny when she spoke, intentionally adding fear to any conversation she was having. “You're thinking small—let’s hurt them so they never come sniffing around here again.”

Gregory was unsure on how to feel about the suggestion, answering honestly as he crossed his arms.

“I'd be lying if I said I never thought of that. But... I...” He trailed off, unable to think of a reason why he shouldn't when they’d hurt him so much over the years.

“Hurting them is definitely going to bring on some unwanted attention,” Michael chimed in, trying not to be unnerved when seven sets of little eyes turned on him. When some of them started to glare he held up his palms, adding: “I'm not saying you can't rough them up a little if you need to, but you can't seriously injure them.”

“Michael's right,” Henry spoke up, surprising everyone with his apparent willingness to go along with their little scheme. “No grave harm or injury—that's not up for debate. As for how much you can scare them, well... we want to make sure they think Gregory’s beyond recovery, so however we can do that without also sending them running for police would be ideal.”

“Um... I'm not totally sure how we'd do that yet, but maybe I can pretend to be Gregory?” Evan suggested with a questioning tilt of his head. “I can look pretty scary if I want to—like Cassidy and the others.”

Michael tried to hide the involuntary wince as he thought about what that “scary” look would be. If it was like the twins, then that meant it would be a spitting image of the moment Evan was as good as dead after being pulled from the jaws of Golden Freddy. If Gregory's foster parents saw their son looking like that, Michael doubted they'd want to stick around...

Gregory rubbed his chin in thought, nodding to Evan. Time would tell if pretending he'd been horribly murdered would work out, though he doubted Terry and Rita would go to the police in Gregory's honor should they draw that conclusion.

“If you could pretend to be a dead me, then could the rest of you guys scare them out of the Pizzaplex?” Gregory asked, looking towards Hannah and the rest. “If they show their faces here and all.”

Raising an eyebrow, he wondered how someone like her could be scary. The twins were scary even without having to change their appearances, though for completely different reasons. Those two psychos would chase you down the street with lit roman candles aimed at you head just for looking at them weird. Hannah might be too sweet and docile for this operation. “Hannah quick—what’s the spookiest face you can make right now?”

All it took was a blink for Hannah's sweet face to change. The features underneath remained the same, though there was a sudden rush of dark, dripping blood that leaked out of the corner of her mouth, along with identical streams of red from her eyes, irises bloodshot and cold. Her throat turned dark and bruised, imprinted with the thin metallic fingers of the endoskeleton that choked the life out of her. It had shaken her for good measure, which added a crick in her neck that caused the expanding blood trails to drift slightly to the right.

“How's this?” she murmured in a voice gravely from torn vocal cords. Her stringy hair was still in a ponytail, though it now appeared greasy and unkempt. Coupled with her greyish pallor, she was most definitely dead.

“Fuck...,” Michael whispered so quietly only Henry standing right by his side could hear. His uncle was quick to slip an arm around Michael's shoulders and pull him close, looking to the ground with a pained expression. Seeing one of the ghost children like this brought back the feeling of dark hatred and regret deep in their souls for everything William had done that led to this moment.

When a warm droplet fell upon Gregory’s lip he knew the stress of seeing Hannah in turn had given him a nosebleed. Feeling the warm red trickle down his face, Gregory quickly wiped at his mouth and fervently nodded.

“Yep—that’ll definitely—oh man... Hannah, holy crap that's good,” he praised despite the shiver of terror racing up his spine.

If the scares from Cassidy and Evan taught him anything, it was that none of them were in any pain no matter how grotesque it looked. Knowing Freddy might freak out, Charlie had risen fast on her tiptoes to quickly shield his eyes before the image of Hannah broken and bloodied flooded his vision. Gregory came forward, unafraid after forcing himself to stare at her twisted neck and battered face he patted the side of her now damp feeling hair.

“Okay bring back normal Hannah, you're going to make my brother sick,” he laughed, trying to keep it light despite the content of their plan-making. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to feel uncomfortable because of the things he asked his ghost friends to do. 

Another blink and Hannah was back to her usual self, albeit with a tinge of red to her cheeks from Gregory's comment. Choosing not to address it right now, she glanced towards where Evan stood next to his sister, looking completely unfazed by her transformation. “Huh? He's fine!”

“Our other brother,” Evan clarified, jerking his chin to Michael's gaunt face.

“Oh. Uh... sorry,” Hannah grimaced, realizing that, ironically, the adults seemed more disturbed than the kids about this whole thing.

“It's fine, you're... you're all good,” Michael reassured with a shaky smile, disentangling himself from Henry. “That's definitely going to be perfect for what we're trying to do, though.”

Meanwhile, Freddy murmured his thanks to Charlie for saving him from such a horrific sight, squeezing her hand that was still clutched in his own. Focusing on the kids now that the traumatic image was past, Freddy told them: “This plan is starting to come together, I believe—Evan will be Gregory's doppelganger to convince the Smiths that he is deceased, and the others can be staged at certain points. That way, we can assure they only go where we want them to go.”

Cassidy raised her hand with a valid point to make.

“Okay, sure! We can scare them no problem. But what are you guys going to do?” Cassidy asked, resting a fist on her hip as she and using Evan's shoulder as a rest for her opposite elbow.

Removing her hands from Freddy's person, Charlie cleared her throat and garnered Cassidy's attention easily. “Either keeping Gregory safe somewhere, or helping out in the scaring! As long as one of us is following them, we can guide them through the Pizzaplex and back out again in no time.”

Gregory had a devious smile on his face. “I really can't thank you guys enough—”

When the twins ambushed Gregory, this time a little less roughly. Quinn's arm squeezed Gregory around his shoulder while Cain messed with his hair.

“Don't thank us yet!” Cain warned him, though he was grinning even as he said it.

“Yeah,” Quinn agreed, matching his brother’s expression. “The only ones allowed to wail on you should’ve been us, anyway...”

“Alright!” Michael clapped his hands, finally flashing the group a real grin. “Ideally they won't show their ugly faces around here again, but if they do then the plan is on.” He spared a glance at Charlie and Freddy. “We should fill Sam in—think he's had enough time to rest?”

“I hope that boy isn't overworking himself again,” Henry sighed, raising an eyebrow at Charlie for confirmation.

It was Michael that answered brightly. “Oh, he sure is—but I'm trying my best to force him to take naps here and there. He's not nearly as young and spry as the rest of us! Anyway, speaking of rest, we should head back to the hotel.”

It was no doubt that Sam was hit with another wave of insomnia, spurring on yet another restless night of work inside his office. Though it would be assumed he would love to see his family and friends before they headed off to their hotel room again. And if Gregory was promised that they would return tomorrow night for another round of fun, then he would easily part with his friends for now. Gregory was put down by the twins, awkwardly saying goodbye to his newest and unlikely allies before feeling Liz’s arms wrap around his chest from behind.

“Take care, Gregory! You can show Evan and I the rest of the Pizzaplex tomorrow!” she said with a wink, relinquishing him after a hearty squeeze.

While Cassidy wasn’t a touchy person even with people she was extremely close with, only seeming to latch to Evan from time to time, she bumped her fist to Gregory’s with an excited smile. It was Hannah’s turn now, and Gregory opened his arms to give the girl a short embrace goodbye.

“You can come hang out tomorrow too, you know… If you want to,” Gregory said, pulling back to scratch the back of his head.

“Sounds like fun!” Hannah replied, clasping her hands behind her and rolling back on her heels after Gregory pulled away. “See you soon, Gregory.”

“Bye!” Evan piped up next, popping out of existence and reappearing directly in front of Gregory, where he’d jump the boy in an embrace that nearly knocked him over. When he stepped back there was a hard light of determination in his eyes. No one messed with his family and got away with it unscathed. “We’re gonna get this taken care of, don’t worry.”

Henry had been saying his own goodbyes, grabbing Charlie in a tight hug and pressing a kiss to her head. He repeated the gesture with Michael, although he had to force the boy down in a bit of a headlock to reach his crown. To Freddy and Gregory he offered a firm squeeze without the added kiss. After a few last farewells, the group started making their way back to the surface.

“Let’s go, Romeo,” Michael murmured when Gregory lingered in the workshop doorway. Silver eyes snapped up to find Mike wearing a knowing smirk, though he’d been sure to speak soft enough the other kids wouldn’t hear as they broke away to start another round of tireless games. 

Gregory was thankful for Evan's assuring words. He was a lot like their older brother in the way he was considerate of others feelings—even if Michael hadn’t always acted that way, it appeared to be something that ran in the family. Then, Gregory was beckoned away by the very same man. With his eyes widening and a bright pink flush apparent still on his cheeks he shushed Michael as if he hadn't already spoken quietly. As he caught back up to his father and Charlie, Gregory waved goodbye to Mr. Emily. Then it was back to slipping his hand into someone else's for comfort once again—this time it happened to be Charlie's and she turned to look over her shoulder at Michael, then back down at Gregory. It was time to pick on their little brother again it seemed.

“So Hannah's pretty cool, huh?” She asked, trying to gauge a reaction from Gregory. Taken aback by her question, Gregory stuttered then quickly recovered to answer her.

“Huh? Uh... Yeah? Hannah's super cool. All of my friends are.” He cleared his throat, looking around for something to change the subject. “Can we get waffles when we go back home?”

Michael snorted, amused by his little brother’s horrible attempt to deflect. Even so he decided to go easy on Gregory for now because of his stressful situation—though not without slipping in one final quip.

“Waffles sounds good—and this isn’t over, kid,” Michael both threatened and promised. Though Gregory’s crush on a ghost girl was morbid and unfortunate, it was also kind of sweet. Reaching out, Michael aggressively ruffled the boy’s hair, much to his chagrin.

Before long they’d reached Sam’s office, where the CEO could be heard busily shuffling around inside. Michael knocked on the door with a frown, calling out: “That doesn’t sound like sleeping, Sam!”

At Sam's door, there sounded to be the banging and subsequent falling of metal onto a rubberized floor. Sam's office/workshop used to echo with the clattering of metallic parts until he coated his floor in liquid rubber. Having been thoroughly startled like a child caught playing video games late on a school night, he shouted back.

“Uh—just straightening up, Mikey!” Sam replied, attempting to straighten the endoskeleton he was working on and to shove it away in hiding. 

“I’m not your dad, Sam, relax!” Mike laughed, entertained as always by his childhood friend. Although he really did wish Sam would take better care of himself—Michael had only been partially joking with the comment about Sammy being legitimately old compared to the rest of them. When the door was opened a minute later the group stepped into a room that looked in quite a state of disarray. “Damn, Sammy, if this is ‘straightening up’ I’d hate to see it before the bomb hit…”

“Michael, leave him be,” Freddy chided gently, having a soft spot in his heart for Sam and his messy workshop. Like father, like son it seemed, for Henry’s wasn’t much better. Addressing his creator, Freddy offered a smile. “We have spoken with the other children and made a plan for dealing with the Smiths if they come around searching again, so you do not need to worry about that, Samuel.”

Sam couldn't say he blamed Mike for his reaction to his workspace. It seemed he was falling into his father's old habits of hoarding spare parts and broken things he’d promised to fix whenever he had the time.

“It's a pigsty, I know...,” Samuel said with a sort of defeated laugh, as if rhetorically asking, 'Well what can ya do?' He rose from his workbench and did some light stretching to relieve the ache he now felt in his joints. “I got a quick fifteen minutes of sleep in before the stress of this deadline woke me up again.”

This was his life now—the path he'd chosen when deciding to take up the family mantle. No wonder his dad needed Uncle William in the beginning. Doing it all by himself felt impossible some days... Though Samuel did physically relax when Freddy relayed that there was a plan put in place for Gregory's so called “parents.”

“Good—see? Told you that you're in good hands, kiddo,” Sam said to their shared responsibility, Gregory, before glancing to Mike. “If they come around, they'll likely want to talk to me. Can I trust to have my Security Guard slash Parts & Service manager around to help?”

He already knew his friend had his back. If Michael was more versed in the plan, he could take care of the Smiths should they show up again.

“Of course; I'll try and stick close by, but if you ever need me and I'm off on an adventure just give me a call,” Michael replied, patting the pocket where his phone rested. His mouth quirked up in a grin. “Luckily for you, this guard doesn't need nearly as much sleep as his boss.”

Freddy breathed out a relieved sigh, pressing a hand to his chest. Now that Sammy was on board with the plan to an extent, the ursine man realized he'd been holding in a lot more tension than initially anticipated. He leaned down to pick Gregory up, doubting his son would protest the affection as they shared a hug before Freddy rested the boy on his hip.

“Thank you again for all of this, Sam,” Freddy said, unable to fully express his gratitude. He wasn't just talking about the help with Gregory's foster parents, but for accepting their story and building the Pizzaplex in the first place. Without Sammy, this Freddy wouldn't exist. “We are indebted to you—truly.”

Samuel listened to them, leaning on his desk while trying to hide just how tired he really was before waving his hands meekly in front of his chest.

“No no, I-I'm just trying to make things right. No one's indebted to anyone here,” he protested in the most polite way possible.

The generosity of the Emilys really knew now boundaries; all of them would give up the shirts on their backs and the roofs over their heads if you asked nice enough. Sam saw that his security measures failed—many children's lives were ruined because of his negligence. If he could make their afterlives better along with Gregory's then maybe he could still manage to sleep at night.

If he found the time...

“Still... You work too hard...,” Charlie said, sounding worried for her brother. He wasn't a young man anymore, and the stress he was pushing himself for just didn't seem healthy to her.

“Charlotte,” Sam told her firmly, there was no arguing with him, he was simply too nice to want to draw that line in the sand. “You are a good sister, but I'm fine. Look at me!”

To which Charlie looked him up and down with wholly unconvinced expression.

“Well that's clearly bull, but I don't want to offend Freddy's sensibilities by arguing,” Michael joked, though there was an edge in the harsh pat he gave Sam's shoulder. “Just make sure you're taking care of yourself, alright?”

“Yes, I would be more than willing to assist where I can as well!” Freddy piped up, feeling a strange twinge of inadequacy. He'd been expected to do so much as the ursine leader of the Fazbear band, and yet now that he was human it seemed like his current existence had devolved into watching over others.

Not that he minded, of course—that'd been his favorite thing to do as an animatronic bear, to look after the children that came to see him. But he just knew he could be doing more...

“Freddy, you're amazing—trust me,” Michael assured, flashing him a grin. “None of us would be where we are right now without you, either. Give yourself a little more time to relax before jumping back in. And you—” He whirled around, pointing an accusing finger at Sam. “—better get some sleep, or I'm going to turn the lights off and sic Moon on you to drag you to the Daycare.”

…That actually didn’t sound too bad.

“Freddy,” Sam laughed, flashing his extended family a tired smile. “If you ever want a job, I could use a new stage director. You’ve got all the cues and controls programmed in your head already so I wouldn't have to train anyone.”

Actually, that would clear up his schedule even more. With the youthful and accusing face of Mike staring him down, Samuel stood and cracked his aching fingers.

“You're right. I'll go hit the hay. Maybe sleep until noon... Day shift should be able to handle the salvage project and get everyone's parts together,” he grumbled in thought. “I hate to send you off, but my manager thinks it's best to sleep before I keel over.”

He laughed, coming around to pat on Freddy's shoulder. Sam would say his goodbyes, and the moment his family was gone he'd exit his office and lock the door behind him. No one needed to see what he was working on in there, and he didn't need the opportunity for someone to come by and mess with his ongoing creations. Sam went down to the Daycare and slid into the ball pit, happy to see the lights were already off and waiting for him.

With Freddy ecstatic at the prospect of working at the Pizzaplex again, the family set off for the hotel in high spirits. There they would get a multitude of plates piled high with waffles and laugh the rest of the night away until they drifted off to sleep one by one, safe in each other's company.

***

Previous Chapter ~~ Next Chapter (Coming soon)

Looking for more? Check out the Chapter Masterlist on Tumblr!

Or check out the entire Wires that Bind Us Series on ao3!

[ncisfranchise-source]

Though TVLine has made a case for why any number of cast members/characters from NCIS‘ past could/should return for any possible on-screen tribute to the late David McCallum, there are also very valid reasons why that RSVP list might turn out to be quite limited.

Heading into its 21st season come February 2024, CBS’ NCIS cast now boasts zero original cast members, seeing as — if you get technical (and people do) — Sean Murray (who plays McGee) and Brian Dietzen (Dr. Palmer) did not become series regulars until Seasons 2 and 10, respectively. (Rocky Carroll made his debut as Vance in Season 5, and joined the cast in Season 6.)

As such, from go, any episode that might aim to give McCallum/Dr. Donald Mallard a proper sendoff will be light on colleagues who actually worked alongside McCallum/Ducky for more than a third of the well-watched series’ run.

That is why, when speculating about any “Ducky tribute” episode (no official plans have been announced, yet), there have been cries of, “Well, Mark Harmon/Gibbs has to be there!”

“Yes! And Michael Weatherly/DiNozzo!”

“Ooh, a perfect time for a #Tiva reunion, if Cote de Pablo comes back…”

“But don’t forget Emily Wickersham! We need closure on Bishop’s exit!”

“Can we also get visits from some ghosts of dead characters, too??”

Yeah, you can see how this can get very out of hand.

The fact is that — any scheduling/availability issues aside — you can’t simply “bring back” Gibbs. Or DiNozzo. Or any of the above. No matter how much their presence might be warranted for this occasion.

I mean, you can absolutely bring back Gibbs — especially if Mark Harmon knows about it. But then you’ll have to commit some dialogue/screen time to coaxing updates out of the team’s taciturn former leader.

Ditto Weatherly/Tony and de Pablo/Ziva, who have not shared a scene together in more than a decade (but presumably reunited off-screen after de Pablo’s most recent solo visit). An appearance by Tali’s father or both her parents will consume much storytelling oxygen, since fans of that primetime supercouple will want/need to know how their unconventional family unit is faring.

And if Emily Bishop resurfaces after abruptly peace-ing out on NCIS — including Nick, her apparent boyfriend…? There will be those demanding some i’s be dotted and t’s get crossed on that front.

What that all adds up to is, if you accommodate even two of the aforementioned returns, suddenly this Very Special Episode is a lot less about David McCallum and Ducky, and more about “Boss, what kind of fish are you catching in Alaska?” and “Sooo, might Tali get a big brother or sister anytime soon?”

Is that a trade-off you’re willing to make, all in the name of a well-attended trip down memory lane?

Or do you see some other option that brings back many of the above but successfully “cheats” us on proper catch-ups?

Me, I could be content with a Case of the Week that thoroughly vexes Dr. Palmer as he mourns a recently passed Dr. Mallard. But it’s flashbacks of wisdom imparted over the years, by Ducky, that helps Jimmy near single-handedly crack the case, ahead of a proper memorial for his mentor.

[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls, Season 2, Episode 14-"It Should Have Been Lorelai" (Part 2)

Part 1 and all previous commentary can be found in my Pinned post. This will be brief since I ran out of space the last time and the episode is wrapping up. As shitty as CrustyPher is I really don't want this episode to end because I have to face the HellTornado ShitShow Circus that is "Lost and Found" after this. Please take your time, Judgy (Lorelai) and Crusty. Let's recount part 1 a bit first. I'm waist-deep in the middle of a concerning conversation between Rory and Lorelai. Christopher's victim, Sherrie, isolated Lorelai in her kitchen while she was a guest in her home, told Lorelai she had no interest in being her friend but insisted that she needed immediate access to her underage daughter to which Lorelai accepts and sends Rory out to face an unknown fate with this complete stranger who just insulted her and that she just met an hour ago. The details of where Sherrie took poor Rory are vague at best except for a mention of the movies. While Rory and Creepie are at the movies, Judgy and Crusty (Lorelai and Christopher) went to FND together, which I skipped over because who the hell cares. The mysterious Rory and Sherrie evening is over and it's the next day. Rory is recalling the evening to Lorelai, where we learn Sherrie spent the evening spilling extremely personal details about herself to 16 year old stranger Rory Gilmore and was acting "very touchy feely". Lorelai of course is showing the appropriate level of concern for a mother.

(talking about Emily) Having not seen the scene in question, I'll just assume that Emily's reaction is a reasonable one so far as hearing about Lorelai agreeing to a premeditated kidnapping of her grandchild. Luke's arms come into frame for two seconds as he sets down two coffees they won't pay for. This episode is sorely lacking Lucas.

Cut to an amusing scene whereby Rory uses Kirk and Michel to sneak a contraband cd into Lane's totebag. Back to the diner where Crustypher and Sherrie show up to talk to Lorelai. Creepie Sherrie immediately asks about Rory and wants to know where she is.

Someone needs to sic Chris Hansen on your ass, you weirdo.

NO! MY GIRL RORYGIL HAS SUFFERED ENOUGH. SHE'S BEEN THROUGH IT! OKAY. Rory tells Lorelai that as a kid she sometimed imagined her real father was either Pee Wee Hermann or Matthew Broderick. Very random choices but okay. A deflated soccer ball would be a better father than Crusty.

What ever would this show be without Lorelai Gilmore Constantly Opening Her Big Fat Mouth Without Thinking First?

Lorelai tells Crusty he is so ingrained in her brain matter that he has caused her to subconciously sabotage every decent relationship she has ever had. But now that Crusty is settling down with Creepy Sherrie, she can finally move past him.

It's once again time to visit a classic Gilmore Girls Trope-The Man Who Has An Immediate Public Freakout At A Woman In Public. People are staring at you, you wad. ("People Are Staring, You Wad" should be printed on a bumper sticker they sell at the Stars Hollow gift shop. It should be plastered on the vehicle of every man who causes a scene in public with a woman on this show). No wonder poor little RoryGirl wanted to live in Pee Wee's Playhouse with a talking chair instead of having this sewer dwelling sperm donor for a father. PeeWee would make an excellent father, damn it. Globey and Jambi could be like her uncles. I wish to one day see the women of The Hollow rise up and revolt against every god damn Penis Haver on this show. They need to be sacrified to the Man Volcano. Even Jess. Okay, I can make a few exceptions. Dave Ryglaksi will be spared. Kirk will be spared. Paul Anka of course. Maybe Luke will get a trial first before being sarcified to the Man Volcano, he's kind of borderline, depends where we're at in the show.

Oh honey, I hope you packed some high SPF sunblock because you're definitely getting sarcified to the Man Volcano along with Dean, Logan, Logan's Annoying Friends, Tristan, Taylor Doose, Jason DiggerStiles, Max Medina, Mitchum Huntsburger, Lane's husband Zac, Headmaster Charleston, that creepy old professor Paris dated, and all the rest. We ride at dawn, Ladies. Meet me at Miss Patty's. Bring skewers. Luke in the background like "Jesus Christ I'm trying to run a business here."

Spared from the Man Volcano. For now. And this guy in the hat just trying to enjoy his fruit salad, he can live. Christopher immediately leaves to hug Rory outside like he actually gives a damn about her and looks back to make sure Lorelai is watching them through the window. What is the rent at Pee Wee's Playhouse? Rory should look into that.

[notstilinski]

Happy Place Starters !

Taken from the 2023 novel by Emily Henry, Happy Place! Some of these have already been edited. You can change them however you see fit!

“We all went to school together but we live in different places now, so it’s hard to get our schedules to line up.”

“Oh, no, it was t a medical procedure. It was an Etsy spell.”

“Remember the first time you brought us her? That guy (Name) ghosted me, and you and (Name) made a PowerPoint about his worst qualities.”

“Wow, things descended into orgy territory pretty quickly.”

“I’ve never had friends like this.”

“Eight years, and you’re still never more than three feet apart.”

“(Name) tends to embellish.”

“You should try sending a big-ass nude painting of yourself ahead when you’re going to meet someone new. It’s always worked for me.”

“You’re staring. Suspiciously.”

“I’m sure plenty of murderers are punctual.”

“They told me it would be impossible to tell whether you were flirting or not.”

“Clearly you’re unfamiliar with the concept of the Regency-era duel.”

“Oh, I’m familiar, but since I rarely find myself flirting with the unwed daughters of powerful dukes, I figure I’m okay.”

“Oh, come on. We’re step-friends now. You might as well tell me.”

“I love sluts! Some of my best friends are sluts. I’ve dabbled in sluttery myself.”

“That’s right. I’m slow-release hot.”

“No. I’m doing this for the sheer pleasure of annoying you.”

“(Name), they didn’t know we’d been hooking up for a whole year.”

“So you proposed and they said no and then they proposed and /you/ said no?”

“You can’t shove a person into a dark room and tell them to relax!”

“(Name) got an air horn app.”

“Are there any places you go back to again and again in your dreams?”

“If you could have another life entirely, separate from this one, what would you do?”

“Overthinking is the thing I’m best at, though.”

“Do I make you anxious?”

“You ask a lot of questions, but you don’t like answering them.”

“Funny. Interesting. It’s like, pick a lane, buddy.”

“Just to be clear, you’re always welcome to touch me.”

“I’m voracious for physical touch. Can’t get enough.”

“Don’t worry. It was clearly vengeful grinding.”

“I’m not made of money, (Name). Water’s all I got.”

“I have never loved a grocery store like I love this grocery store.”

“”How is (Name) even alive let alone whooping and cheering?”

“I’m probably just tired. I always worry more when I’m tired.”

“Um, I literally just walked up. Did I catch you two in the middle of a drug deal or something?”

“Oh, you haven’t found yourself imprisoned with any other jilted lovers in the last five months?”

“Oh? Then what was it that made you finally kiss me, (Name)?”

“I want to know if you’re happy too.”

“I got great pictures of the body shots, by the way. Those will be perfect for the photo wall.”

“You don’t have to be fine.”

“It could still happen. Life’s long.”

“He looks like he’s the tormented leader of a motorcycle gang.”

“If we aren’t friends, what is this?”

“I finally stopped falling asleep to that humiliating memory one month ago and now I have to start all over.”

“The I want to go down on you face?”

“What’s that? Is that just global warming I’m feeling, or has hell frozen over and (Name) is actually agreeing with me on something?”

“(Name), I’m serious. Don’t you dare break my delicate angel’s heart.”

“You’re a mystery to me, (Name).”

“I’m hiring a hitman to take out (Name) for buying that last round of Fireball last night. Feel free to Venmo me your contribution.”

“You have the instincts of a Victorian women’s hospital orderly.”

“Lots of things start with me. That doesn’t make them good ideas.”

“I’m not sure I’m up for four hours of vampires.”

“That just means whoever finds the body has a boring job and wears sweater-vests.”

“If I’m going to be an ass, I’m glad to be yours.”

“They think they’re showing me off.”

“Wow. Being a washed-up former golden boy isn’t so bad after all.”

“Thank you, (Name), for saving them from themselves.”

“I know. I think that’s really why I went. To find you.”

“Moved back in with your mom and get high with her twice a week.”

“I can hardly believe it myself. The chemistry was undeniable, but it wasn’t enough.”

“That is so unbelievably on-brand.”

“The nuance being they can know something’s objectively terrible but if it’s even loosely connected to one of their family members, then it’s got to also be groundbreakingly special.”

“And here I thought it was the crosswords themselves getting you riled up.”

“Hey, are you guys doing drugs down there?”

“We are young, (Name). We’ll always be young. It’s a state of mind.”

“I can feel my blood. And these colors have tastes.

“I am definitely really high. But I’m also right.”

“So I guess some things change and stay the same.”

“It happened! We replaced our parents as the drunk-mom-on-vacation generation

“Tell me to kiss you, (Name).”

“Plus, I want to see if this place is as haunted as it looks.”

“I like how you talk to me like you expect me to understand what you’re saying.”

“I’m every universe, it’s you for me. Even if it’s not me for you.”

“Compared to the rest of our relationship, this is a brawl.”

“I’m great with parents, (Name). Talking to old people is one of my very few God-given skills.”

“Are you planning to stab me or something?”

“Because you’re good at loving and that’s all you have to do.”

“How can love end up like that? How is it possible to love someone so much and have it all just go away?”

“Do you want me to promise I’ll love you forever, (Name)? Because I will.”

“What’s one thing you’ll miss about these trips?”

“Stupid, stupid, stupid heart. Don’t you know he hasn’t been yours to cry over for a long time?”

“Breathe for a second. Rushing makes you clumsy, and we can’t afford to be clumsy.”

“So when they ask for my best qualities, I tell them I’m amazing in bed.”

“I hardly have any expenses right now—maybe you’ve heard: I live with my mom?”

“It’s amazing. Seeing you like this. So happy.”

“I wanted to be special, (Name). And since I wasn’t, I settled for trying to make everyone love me.”

“I am. I am still yours.”

“Thanks. I don’t work out.”

“You think they’re Postmatesing magic mushrooms to the table?”

“If I waited on all of you, this friendship would already be over.”

“So, what, you’re going to consciously uncouple from our friendship.”

“If I’m good enough, I’ll be happy.”

“This is what you wore to a fight?”

“Good. You should be at least a fraction as proud of yourself as I am of you.”

“Good. Don’t forgive me. Stay mad at me. Don’t get over me.”

“Love means constantly saying you’re sorry and then doing better.”

“I never learned how to fight.”

“I don’t know how fights are supposed to end when you love the person you’re fighting with.”

“It’s embarrassing! Being jealous of your own partner? I didn’t even tell (Name) until a few months ago.”

“I don’t need you to stay the same, (Name).”

“You don’t want that anger becoming fear. You want it turning into trust.”

“I told that one shitty poet you dated that I was a witch, and that if he ever contacted you again, I’d he’d him so his dick fell off.”

“Your fingers are cold.”

“All the more reason to give you a ride. These could be the last minutes of your life, period.”

“Because there’s nowhere I wouldn’t go for you.”

“I’d rather have you five days a year than anyone else all the time.”

“I’m saying it’s not home unless you’re there.”

“Because it makes me happy. And I don’t consider anything that does that a waste of time.”

“I’m never not going to worry about you.”

“What about you? Don’t you want to be happy?”

[lesenbyan]

'Ight, Jayden's Complete List of Books taken from my Libby app. All of these were listened to as audiobooks and thus are available as such.

Feel free to ask about them! I'll give summaries trigger warnings (that I remember) rate it and maybe tell you a fun fact I love or a favorite character

* is for a series that continues further than I read

+ is for an ongoing/incomplete series

[Explicit] is for detailed sex scenes; assume all books here swear

The Unwanteds - Lisa McMann *

Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells (x3) +

All Systems Red

Artificial Condition

Rogue Protocol

Exit Strategy

Fugitive Telemetry

Network Effect

Wayward Children - Seanan McGuire +

Every Heart a Doorway

Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Beneath the Sugar Sky

In an Absent Dream

Come Tumbling Down

Across the Green Grass Fields

Where the Drowned Girls Go

The Mercy Thompson Series - Parricia Briggs * +

Moon Called

Blood Bound

Iron Kissed

Bone Crossed

Silver Borne

River Marked

Frost Burned

The Anita Blake Series - Laurel K Hamilton * + [Explicit]

Guilty Pleasures

The Laughing Corpse

Circus of the Damned

The Lunatic Café

Bloody Bones

The Killing Dance

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman

Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid

Fractured Fables - Alix E Harrow

A Spindle Splintered

A Mirror Mended

Broken Earth Trilogy - N K Jemisin

Under the Whispering Door - TJ Klune

The House in the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune

Fifth Season

Obelisk Gate

The Stone Sky

Less - Andrew Sean Greer

One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston

Detransition, Baby - Torrey Peters

Sofi and the Bone Song - Adrienne Tooley

So This is Ever After - F. T. Lukens

Gideon the Ninth - Tasmyn Muir *

How to be Perfect - Micheal Schur

The Watchmaker's Daughter - C J Archer *

Cackle - Rachel Harrison

The Burning Girls - C J Tudor

Plain Bad Heroines - Emily M Danforth

Nettle and Bone - T Kingfisher

The Hollow Places - T Kingfisher

The Book of Tea - Judy I Lin

A Magic Steeped in Poison

A Venom Dark and Sweet

Only A Monster - Vanessa Len +

What Moves The Dead - T Kingfisher

Malice Duology - Heather Walter

Malice

Misrule

This Vicious Grace - Emily Thiede +

Once Upon a Broken Heart Series - Stephanie Garber +

Once Upon a Broken Heart

The Ballad of Never After

The Art of Memoir - Mary Karr

The Storyteller - Dave Grohl

When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi

The Princess Saves Herself in This One - Amanda Lovelace

The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One - Amanda Lovelace

The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins

Hunger Games

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

[gilmoregirlscult]

Season 1, Episode 2

"The Lorelais' First Day At Chilton"

In the opening scene, Lane runs in the Gilmores' house with her new CD. It's Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) by the English rock band XTC, released in the 20th of May, 2000.

Next morning, it's Rory's first day at her new school. Chilton is a very imposing building and Rory says she remembers it being smaller and less "off with their heads". The Queen of Hearts is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. One of her most famous lines is "Off with his/her head!" / "Off with their heads!"

Lorelai says "I'm trying to see if there's a Hunchback in that tower", comparing it to the Notre-Dame Cathedral, in reference to the 1831 French gothic novel by Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

Rory wants Lorelai to go with her, but she thinks she's not dressed properly. The Dukes of Hazzard is an American action comedy television series that aired on CBS from 1979 to 1985. The show is about two cousins, Bo and Luke Duke, who live in rural Georgia. Their cousin, Daisy Duke, is "that chick" Lorelai is referencing, since she's wearing jeans and cowboy boots. There are more cowgirl comparisons, from Rory proclaiming she didn't know the rodeo was in town, to Emily later asking her if her horse is parked out front and saying "no spurs please" to Friday night dinner.

Rory says she wants to be like Christiane Amanpour, a British-Iranian journalist and television host. From 1992 to 2010, (so at the time) Amanpour was CNN's chief international correspondent. Headmaster Charleston - condescendingly - mentions Cokie Roberts (American journalist and author, at the time a reporter for ABC News), Oprah (producer and host of The Oprah Winfrey Show), Rosie O'Donnell (at the time, host of her daytime talk show The Rosie O'Donnell Show) and the talkshow The View (an American talk show that aired on ABC as part of the network's daytime programming block since 1997) and asks "And to be a part of something big you have to be on TV?" clearly taking the tv-host part to heart, thinking that Rory just wants to be a reporter.

In the same scene, Rory says "And I was in the German Club for a while, but there were only three of us, and then two left for the French Club after seeing Schindler’s List, so..."

Schindler's List is a 1993 American historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is based on the 1982 novel Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally. Based on real life events, it tells the story of Oskar Schindler, a German Nazi Party member who unexpectedly became a World War II hero after saving hundreds of Jews from Auschwitz.

Later, Louise calls Rory a Dixie Chick cause she's from Stars Hollow. The Dixie Chicks, now known as The Chicks, are an American country band from Dallas.

Miss Patty is teaching a class of baton twirling to the patriotic American march The Stars and Stripes Forever. It was written and composed by John Philip Sousa in 1896.

Lit class at Chilton comes with many brief references, including the Russian writers Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky, English novelist Charles Dickens and French novelists George Sand (whose full name was Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil) and Honoré de Balzac.

Two of Tolstoy's novels, War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are mentioned, the latter considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever written. David Copperfield, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities and Little Dorrit are all novels by Charles Dickens.

At the inn, Lorelai tells Sookie, "I was supposed to look together and fabulous, and not like I’d been up all night playing quarters." Quarters is a drinking game which involves players bouncing an American quarter or similar-size coin off a table in an attempt to have the quarter land in a certain place, usually into a shot glass or cup on said table.

Lorelai asks Drella to play the harp softer, to which she replies "Hey, do I look like I got Panasonic stamped on my ass?", meaning she's not a stereo whose volume you can adjust, since Panasonic is a Japanese multinational company that makes consumer's electronics.

Miss Patty says to the girls in her dance class: "Now walk smooth that's the new Harry Potter on your heads, if they should drop Harry would die and there won't be any more books". At the time, the "new" Harry Potter was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, published in early July 2000.

We learn that Lorelai and Rory have dial-up internet access, when Emily tries to install a DSL at their house. A DSL, or Digital subscriber line, is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing and in this episode, the term DSL is understood to mean asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), the most commonly installed DSL technology, for internet access.

The guy installing it is called Mick and played by Sean Gunn, who will later be renamed and become the regular character Kirk Gleason instead.

Lorelai says her problems are nothing Shakespear couldn't turn into a really good play. William Shakespear was an English playwright and a common theme in his tragedies is the idea of family.

"The Romanists have, with great adroitness, drawn three walls round themselves, with which they have hither to protected themselves, so that no one could reform them, whereby all Christendom has fallen terribly."

Rory’s history class is studying the German theologican Martin Luther, who was a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. His theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism. The teacher quotes from Luther’s tract To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520).

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", often shortened to "all work and no play", is an old proverb that means without time off from work, a person becomes both bored and boring. It was newly popularized after the phrase was featured in The Shining, the 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick that Lorelai is referencing. The movie is based on Stephen King's 1977 novel of the same name.

As Lorelai explains, Tristan has been calling Rory "Mary" because of the Virgin Mary, meaning that she looks like a goody-goody, a virgin. She adds that if, in the guys' opinion, she looked like a slut, they'd probably call her Mary Magdalene instead. She was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to His crucifixion and resurrection. In popular culture, she is often viewed as a sinful woman and portrayed as a prostitute.

"Wow, biblical inslults, this is an advanced school!"

"Do you want me to talk to anybody? A parent, a teacher, a big guy named Moose?" Lorelai is refering to Marmaduke "Moose" Mason a fictional character in the Archie Comics universe. He was originally created to serve as the personification and stereotype of the jock and as such, he's strong, athletic and often protects his friends from bullies.

[leopoldainter]

Desole

StikArund.w

Too bad

Harpies brother

Strong or overpower oooh

I raise you one Daria Valedictorian speech and pizza Overlord, then a bottom heavy 5osomething wig n warm beer; correction, hot to the touch

Hot SawdiSwagger *blow*

Wood pulp

Spire it of thee

Saint

Louis

Arch

Fire Lane

Singing

In the car

Sorta

Theire

White

On the outside

insideOCuEc iGot andにgallow

So

A stag and doe in the cornfield, anyone else aroused by the idea of fundraising

Precisely

Color blind

Pella windows, survives even this imaginary 2 bu4And parasol combo. When hurricanes barrel in from Africa hee hee, you got the glass with those sensors that need to be attached or your car battery dies

No no it's nice, throw some Christmas lights up, pews, sweep. It's Rubble, Barney Rubble!

I am not paying for the lawn and the carpeting, can I see this toilet?

へ

I don't see anyone wearing those hats

-C.Bing

They're tourists

-Vendor

*chimes*

MonicaBang

Pretty sure Emily's a hustler, her "parents" don't even know her

Quick! GIVE ME THE NUMBER OF THE LOCATION OF THE DRESS REHEARSAL?

Hug?

No! Turkish de, NO! Someone es trying to ruin the wedding

Triplets?

頁somehow where there's hopeful headward

Sorry ed

There's a five year old ad for a defunct radio station on the newly branded Govan line with Ed and Justin and a she who? Sorry, shades.

One just went by, it's ariana

Time of death

Swastik

Pocahontas

Hypothetical nymph

Hypo collateral

Get

To

The

Copper

Dildo

No, this is not Sable, it's dusgusting

I thought he was a midget ma fa

No applause necessary

-postman with whistling eyes

Fount.d

Caucasian

Cockney accent

Buy a model T for 100$ no greenbacks we are armed

.

.

.

Model Ford Focus, affordable, vibrant, educator on passenger side

[brokenbeldam]

WANTED FACECLAIMS:

this is just a list of fcs that i not only like to use, but also like to write against. please note that this list isn't set in stone and i am happy to use anyone who might not be featured. this list will be updated regularly. i will always prioritise older fcs.

a-d:

aaron moten

aaron taylor-johnson

amber riley

amy adams

angela bassett

anthony mackie

anya chalotra

ashley graham

avan jogia

ben barnes

blake lively

bradley cooper

brie larson

brock o'hurn

bryce dallas howard

carla gugino

caterina scorsone

chanel iman

charles melton

chris evans

chris hemsworth

christina aguilera

daveed diggs

david harbour

dom benjamin

e-h:

e.r. fightmaster

elizabeth olsen

ella purnell

emilia clarke

emily blunt

florence pugh

gabrielle union

gemma chan

greta onieogou

henry cavill

henry golding

hilarie burton

hugh jackman

i-l:

idris elba

jacob artist

jamie campbell bower

jamie chung

jason momoa

jeffrey dean morgan

jesse williams

jessica capshaw

jessica chastain

john hamm

john krasinski

kassius nelson

kate beckinsale

kate siegel

kate walsh

kate winslet

keke palmer

kylie sonique love

lana parrilla

leigh-anne pinnock

lily james

loey lane

m-p:

maggie q

margot robbie

mark ruffalo

maya jama

melanie lynskey

michael b jordan

naomi scott

natalie portman

nico tortorella

nikki de jager

normani kordei

olivia munn

orlando bloom

oscar issac

patrick dempsey

paul rudd

penn badgley

pom klementieff

q-t:

rachel weisz

rahul kohli

ray fisher

robert downey jr

royce pierreson

ryan destiny

ryan reynolds

sandra oh

samantha logan

sara ramirez

sarah paulson

sebastian stan

shay mitchell

simone ashley

stephanie hsu

taika waititi

tati gabrielle

tessa thompson

tom ellis

tom hiddleston

u-z:

winona ryder

winston duke

zendaya coleman

[omagazineparis]

Adut Akech : étoile montante du mannequinat

Du haut de son mètre soixante-dix-huit, voilà plusieurs saisons qu’Adut Akech fait tourner la tête de la mode. Sous ses airs de Grace Jones, avec son teint d’ébène et sa moue mutine, l’australo-soudanaise foule absolument tous les podiums des fashion weeks, devenant la coqueluche des créateurs. Avec un CV hors-norme, Adut est ainsi devenue la fière égérie de ces nouveaux mannequins engagés, redonnant espoir en une mode enfin placée sous le signe de la diversité. Portrait de cette étoile montante du mannequinat.  De jeune femme réfugiée ... Rien ne prédestinait Adut à ce monde fashion et glamour. En effet, la jeune fille est née dans l'actuel Soudan du Sud le 25 décembre 1999, son jour de naissance inédit laissant déjà présager un destin grandiose. Quelques mois plus tard, sa famille fuit la guerre et se rend à Kakuma, un camp de réfugiés au Kenya. 7 ans plus tard, elle part pour l'Australie afin de démarrer une nouvelle vie.  Adut fait ensuite ses premiers pas dans le mannequinat à l’âge de 13 ans. Elle défile tout d’abord pour sa tante, modeste créatrice de vêtements. À 16 ans, elle signe un contrat avec l’agence Chadwick Models à Sydney. Néanmoins, c’est lors de la Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia à Melbourne que le déclic se produit. En effet, elle est prise en photo pour un casting d’Yves Saint Laurent en vue de la fashion week parisienne. Quelques jours plus tard, elle reçoit un appel lui confirmant qu'elle est retenue pour le défilé d’YSL. Elle prend alors l'avion pour Paris dès le lendemain, et y fait ses débuts majeurs au défilé printemps-été 2017 d’YSL. Elle devient ainsi la nouvelle protégée du créateur Anthony Vaccarello. En effet, elle signe avec Elite Model Management un contrat d'exclusivité pour Saint-Laurent. Sa carrière est lancée ! "J’ai participé à presque toutes les campagnes depuis que Anthony est devenu le directeur artistique, j’ai grandi proche de lui et de l’équipe. Ils sont comme ma famille", explique-t-elle au magazine I-D. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jArln_ePZ4 À mannequin ultra prisé ! Tout s’accélère ensuite pour Adut. Libérée de son engagement avec YSL, elle enchaîne ensuite 32 défilés lors de la fashion week automne-hiver 2018. Tous les créateurs la veulent : de Calvin Klein à New York au show Fendi à Milan, en passant par Chanel, Dior et Givenchy. Adut Akech devient ainsi un incontournable sur la scène mode.  La jeune femme fait également la une de multiples journaux et enchaîne les couvertures de magazines. Elle participe également en 2018 au fameux calendrier Pirelli, réalisé par le photographe Tim Walker. Ce dernier choisit d'uniquement photographier des mannequins noirs, Adut étant donc aux côtés de Sasha Lane, Whoopi Goldberg, RuPaul ou encore Naomi Campbell. Arrive ensuite la consécration d’un parcours extraordinaire. En novembre 2018, Adut Akech fait la une de Vogue Australia, 2 ans seulement après avoir démarré sa carrière dans la mode. Adut boucle ainsi la boucle avec brio.  Mais cela ne s’arrête pas là ! Après Anthony Vaccarello, c’est Karl Lagerfeld qui s’éprend de la beauté soudanaise. En juillet 2018, lors du défilé Chanel automne-hiver, le Kaiser la choisit pour présenter la robe de mariée clôturant le show. Dans un ensemble vert menthe, Adut Akech devient alors la deuxième mariée noire de Chanel, après l'inspirante Alek Wek.  «Je n’arrive pas à croire que je viens de bousculer les codes et de marquer l’histoire en étant la seconde mariée de couture noire de Chanel.» s'exclame Adut en sortant du défilé Chanel. Ultime preuve de son immense succès, le British Fashion Council récompense cette étoile montante de la mode en décembre 2019. En effet, Adut est sacrée «mannequin de l’année» aux British Fashion Awards, à Londres. Signe que son extraordinaire ascension a atteint des sommets. A lire également : Emily Ratajkowski : la femme 2.0 Une It Girl engagée et fière de son passé Des rêves d’entrepreneuriat et de travail caritatif plein la tête, Adut Akech poursuit avec sérieux ses études en parallèle de sa carrière. "Pendant qu’on fait mes cheveux ou mon maquillage, je m’occupe de mes devoirs scolaires. J’ai une école qui me soutient dont je suis très reconnaissante. Ils facilitent tout le processus", raconte-t-elle au site Broadsheet.  De même, malgré son succès fulgurant, Adut n’oublie pas d’où elle vient. Son passé, la jeune mannequin le revendique avec fierté : «Je représente les femmes noires, les réfugiés, les personnes qui partent de rien et construisent quelque chose», assure-t-elle dans le magazine Numéro. Elle travaille d'ailleurs en étroite collaboration avec l'ONU et soutient les programmes humanitaires pour les réfugiés. La top model est donc bien déterminée à insuffler un vent de diversité dans le monde de la mode. Néanmoins, Adut Akech est encore victime de préjugés. Elle a notamment été confondue avec un autre mannequin noir en août dernier dans un magazine de mode australien. La belle soudanaise s’en est indignée sur Instagram, en profitant pour rappeler les discriminations subies par sa communauté : «Cela ne serait jamais arrivé à un mannequin blanc», dénonçait-elle. «Celui qui a fait cela a clairement pensé que c’était moi dans cette image et ce n’est pas normal. Cela montre que les gens sont très ignorants et ont l’esprit étroit, ils pensent que chaque fille noire ou africaine est la même.»  La jeune fille suit cette même dynamique lors de son discours au British Fashion Awards. En effet, elle dédie son prix de mannequin de l'année à tous les jeunes ayant actuellement le statut de réfugiés : "C’est pour les jeunes femmes et hommes qui ont trouvé une représentation et une validation dans mon travail. Je veux qu’ils n’aient jamais peur de rêver grand comme j'ai pu le faire autrefois. Peu importe ce que vous voulez faire, que ce soit un mannequin, acteur ou médecin, vous ne devez jamais douter de vous-même. Ne laissez pas le monde vous convaincre que ce n’est pas possible. Si une réfugiée soudanaise qui vient de rien peut le faire, n'importe qui peut le faire" conclut-elle.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQZxOhZJGTI Un destin inspirant Adut Akech est donc la preuve que la volonté peut tout accomplir. Pleine de force et de courage, la jeune femme s'est donnée les moyens de réussir et a construit de ses propres mains un destin auquel personne ne la prédestinait. Dans une interview, Naomi Campbell, qui est comme une mère spirituelle pour Adut, déclarait ceci : "Je me souviens la première fois que j’ai aperçu (son) visage, je me suis dit : « Mon Dieu ! » Ce fut comme un déclic. « Ça, c’est une star ! » — je l’ai vu immédiatement !". Adut Akech est bel et bien devenue une star et nous a surtout appris une chose. Il ne faut jamais se laisser définir par son passé, mais au contraire provoquer sa chance et saisir les opportunités, ce qu'Adut a donc bien démontré ! Read the full article