#I miss watching the same couple of cartoons and episodes on repeat with him because they were on demand

[sunflowergirl522]

The nostalgia is hitting tonight

[ladyloveandjustice]

Spring 2021 anime overview: Quick Takes

Now for my Spring 2021 anime thoughts! I’ve decided from now on if a season’s like, 20- to-24 episodes I’m just going to wait ‘til it’s done to review it unless I feels super passionately, so though I watched To Your Eternity (it’s good!) and MHA (eh), I’ll comment on them next time. Also, for the record, I watched the first eight eps of Joran: Princess and Snow of Blood but I dropped it because it had clearly crossed the line from entertainingly dumb to boring dumb. 

I will probably give Supercub and some other stuff a shot later, this was a stacked season! May give updates on all that later, but this is what I have for now.

ODDTAXI

Quick Summary: A mild mannered middle-aged walrus taxi driver is drawn into a case involving a missing girl, yakuza, Youtube clout-chasers, manzai comedians and idols with big secrets.

It’s rare to walk away from media and be like “that is a singular experience I will definitely never see repeated again” but ODDTAXI is definitely one of those. A tense noir thriller murder mystery starring cartoon animals that spends an entire episode detailing the one (cat)man’s very fall into darkness triggered by addiction to gacha games and an online auction for a novelty eraser? Also there’s a porcupine Yakuza who speaks entirely in rap? Also there’s tons of meandering conversations about stuff like manzai comedy and the struggle to go viral on Twitter?

Admittedly, I had a hard time getting into the first episode, the dry meandering humor not being enough to hold my attention while I was sitting still, but once I watched this while I was working out at the end of the season, I found it an easy binge. A ton of characters with dark secrets or dangerous ambitions, each with their own part to play in a tableau of intersecting events- and it all actually comes together really well.(As for the female characters, it’s a pretty dude driven story, but they do get nuanced characterization and even some good heroic moments from one of them.)

 It’s a great example of a carefully planned narrative paying off, with all the twists appropriately seeded and foreshadowed to reward viewers who paid attention. Even when it ended on a perfect “OH SHIT” moment and denied me closure, I couldn’t help but respect it. If you that all sounds interesting to you, definitely check out the first couple episodes and see if you like it- you’re likely to have a memorable, satisfying experience!

Shadows House

Quick Summary: Emilyko is a ‘living doll’ who’s told she was created to act as the ‘face’ of her shadow master, Kate. The shadows and their ‘dolls’ all reside on the mansion and are required to pass a ‘debut’ to prove they’re a good pairing. If they don’t pass, they might be disposed of. And so the mystery of the Shadow mansion grows...

This slice of gothic intrigue was my favorite of the season, tied with ODDTAXI. With an interesting premise, slightly tense undertones and a strong focus on character building and relationships, it kept me hooked the whole way through. And for any squeamish fans put off by the hype about it, don’t worry, while there are some suspenseful elements, I wouldn’t qualify it as horror. I thought the relationship between Kate and Emilyko might end up being a completely sinister one, but it’s thankfully a lot more complex than that and it’s really interesting to follow how both their characters and relationship grow. The focus of the show is, unsurprisingly, on the “dolls” slowly discovering their autonomy and personhood as they struggle under the rigid system imposed on them by the mysterious elders of this weird Victorian mansion. Can they develop a more equitable relationship with their shadow “masters” (who are also shown to suffer under this system)? There’s a lot to dig into there, and the show has the characters develop through learning to understand and appreciate each other, which is pretty heartwarming. Our hero, Emilyko, is the typical plucky ball of sunshine (they even nickname her sunshine), but she’s also shown to be clever in her own off-the-wall way and she bounces off the far more subdued and cynical Kate well, not to mention the other ‘dolls’ she ends up befriending. 

What’s more, the show spends plenty of time to developing several other character pairings and combinations, and they all have their own interesting dynamic that makes you want to see more of them. Same-gender bonds are at the forefront of this show, and many of them are ripe for queer readings (I definitely appreciated the healthy helping of ladies carrying ladies), but even outside that it’s nice to see a show where a strong, complex bond between girls is at the forefront. My only real complaints about the show are the anime original ending is noticeably a bit rushed (though it’s not too bad, and leaves room for a season 2) and I wish the animation used the whole “shadow” theme more strikingly (like the opening and endings do)- instead the colors are a bit washed out which makes the shadows blend into the background sometimes. The “debut” arc also drags a bit in places, but it makes up for it by having a lot of good character integration.

I hope to check out the (full color)! manga soon and see more of this quirky, shadowy story. There’s some physical abuse depicted, sad things happening to characters and naturally the whole “oppressive familial system” thing, but otherwise not much I can think of to warn about. I give this one a big rec, especially If you’re a fan of gothic fairytales and stories of self discovery.  

Zombie Land Saga Revenge

Quickest summary: In this sequel season, everyone’s favorite zombie idol group must claw their way back into prominence after a disastrous show- the fate of the Saga prefecture LITERALLY depends on it!

This was a fun follow-up to the first season- if you liked the first zombie-girl romp, you’ll probably enjoy this one. In fact, there were a couple areas it improved on- namely, Kotaro failed, ate crow and embarrassed himself a lot more this season, which made him more likeable (as did the fact the girls gained a lot of independence from him). This season also shed more light on what the ‘goal’ of this zombie raising project is and what kind of shit Kotaro got involved with to make this happen, and it’s appropriately off-the-wall and ridiculous. We finally got some backstory for Yugiri too! I wish it had focused on more of her interiority, but she got to be a badass in it, and it was a treat to see this zombie idol show turn into a period piece for a couple episodes (also her song ruled).

 Tae also got a cute focus episode and there was a particular SMASHING performance early on! Also That revelation last season that had the potential to turn creepy hasn’t yet, and hopefully never will. The finale was heartwarming with big hints of more drama to come- I’m definitely down for more zombie hijinks!

Vivy: Flourite Eye’s Song

Quickest Summary: A songstress AI named DIVA (nicknamed Vivy) is approached by another AI named Matsumoto, who says he’s from the future and they must work together to prevent AI exterminating all of humankind 100 years from now.

This show is absolutely gorgeous visually with some really nice action scenes, but when it comes to the story my feelings basically amount to a shrug. It’s fine! I guess! Vivy starts out as an interesting layered character- and I guess still is by the end- with her stoic but stubborn determination bouncing off her fast-talking bossy partner Matsumoto well. She never listens to him, which is delightful. The way the show took place over the course of 100 years was an interesting conceit as well. However, it bought up a lot of themes and then sort of... dropped them. For instance, Vivy interprets her mission (PRIME DIRECTIVE if you will) as protecting humans at all costs, no matter how destructive said humans are or what their fate is supposed to be, and is perfectly willing to murder her fellow androids to do this, showing she inherently thinks of androids (herself and her own people!) as less worthy. Which is a little alarming! There’s a very dramatic point in the show where they bring this up as a potential conflict for her character but then it’s sort of...dropped. Pretty much.

Actually, despite the premise, the show doesn’t dip into the “AI rights” as much as you think it would with the main theme being more about Vivy’s search to find her own creativity and discover what it means to ‘pour your heart into something’. Vivy herself doesn’t actually care if she has rights or anything. Which is in some ways fine, because ‘AI as an oppressed class’ has been done to death, but IT’S ALSO KIND OF IN THE PREMISE, so that means that the show just shrugs really hard at a lot of the questions it brings up  basically just going “humans and AI should work together probably” and that’s it. There’s a lot that feels underexplored. The antagonists in the show also either have motivations that don’t really make sense or have boring hackneyed motivations. In the finale in particular, it feels like a lot of things happen “just because” and it falls a little flat.

I also have to warn that one of the arcs focus on a robot ‘pairing’ where the dude-coded robots actions toward his partner are straight up awful and rob her of her autonomy, but it’s played like a tragic love story. I suppose you could read it differently too, but it definitely made me go ‘ew’ the story seemed to want me to sympathize with this robo dude,

Overall, I wouldn’t anti-recommend this show, it’s an all right little sci-fic romp (and definitely SUPER pretty). My favorite element was definitely the episodes where Vivy develops an entirely new (an loveable) personality, because it played with the idea of of an AI getting “rebooted” really well and interplay between her two “selves” was done really well. But there are a lot of other parts of the show that just feel...a little underexplored and empty, making me have an ‘eh’ feeling on the show overall. It’s definitely an ambitious project, and while it didn’t quite stick the landing, there’s something to be said for a show that shoots for the stars and falls short over a show that just languishes in mediocrity.

Fruits Basket The Final

Quick summary: The final season of that dramatic drama about that weird family with a zodiac curse and the girl who loves them.

It’s very weird that after not cutting a lot out, they kinda sped through some material for, you know, the finale. I guess they thought they couldn’t stretch this final arc to 26 episodes? Or weren’t cleared for another double cour? However, though there were a couple places that felt awkward, despite being a bit condensed it mostly held together pretty well for a D R A M A T I C and ultimately heartwarming conclusion. I was really disappointed they kept the part where Ritsu cut their hair for the ‘happy ending’, I thought  their intro episode not showing them in men’s clothes meant the anime had decided their presentation didn’t need to be “fixed” but WELL I GUESS NOT. That was the only big upset for me though, otherwise the adaptation went about how I expected, sticking to the source material. Furuba has a lot of bumps, from weird age gap stuff to ...gender, but it also has a lot of important feels and great character arcs. It was a gateway shoujo for many and has its important place in animanga history, so I’m glad it finally got a shiny, full adaptation.

[ecoamerica]

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[fizzingwizard]

So I’m sure you’re ALL on tenterhooks to find out what I thought of episode 36... the answer is.... LOVED IT!!!! No I really did. If you like Taishiro friendship, this is an essential episode to watch. Doesn’t blow me out of the water, but still just good.

Although Taichi has a big something to do as usual, it’s still very much a Koushirou episode. FREAKING YAY. I have a dozen thoughts about it, and what bugs me the most, of course, is how we needed this episode AGES ago ugh. But we’ve now had two or three episodes in a row that have actually felt like Digimon Adventure, so perhaps all that finger-crossing is working?

They could unravel all that good work in a minute by never addressing it again... or not letting Koushirou show his personality unless it’s his “turn” for an episode from here on... but you know, I will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Pic of the day:

“I don’t like people. But they are occasionally useful.” - 2020 Izumi Koushirou’s life lesson, lmao

*The red strip at the top is about the big earthquake that hit Eastern Japan yesterday. It’s annoying to have it there for the entire episode - usually they only stick around for a couple minutes - but this WAS a large earthquake. It caused many people to lose power. So making sure everyone knows what’s going takes precedence over Sunday morning cartoons. (I’m in Osaka and didn’t even feel it, but my friends in Tokyo prefecture very much did.)

Lots and LOTS of ranting from a rabid Taishiro fan under the cut!

(also I didn’t check for typos so. yeah)

The episode starts right off by assuring us this is a Koushirou episode. We get the trademark Izumi Koushirou floating in the void of space sequence, which is excellent and very encouraging framing.

Koushirou Kenobi: “Use the force, Taichi.”

Taichi: “Use it yourself.”

(the episode in a nutshell)

The initial thing that bugged me - okay, so the kids got separated for the umpteenth time many episodes ago, and since then we’ve stuck to Taichi like barnacles. The only glimpses we’d get of the other kids showed: Yamato running towards something, Koushirou flying towards something while researching the satellite malfunction, Jou in the hot springs, and Mimi at the crystal caves. For Jou and Mimi, I don’t care, because they never tried to move, but Yamato and Koushirou were constantly moving. Yet, in the end, it’s Taichi’s group that catches up with Koushirou, rather than the other way around. It DOES make sense - it seems like Koushirou told them to “meet at the giant gold pillar” because that’s where they needed to be to save the world, so it became the rendezvous point. But it just bugs me because, once again, all the activity is on Taichi’s side. But that’s a minor quibble. The end result is still THIS:

More of the team is together!!! Taichi and Koushirou are together!!! Yaaayy!!!

... the betting pool for how long it will be till the next separation is now open >.>

Poor Komodomon’s long mop dog fur is so dirty. “Fizz his fur always looks like that.” He’s tracking mud everywhere. “Fizz look at his ears his fur is supposed to look that way.” Next episode - everyone gives Komondomon a bath.

So the start of this episode is just a bunch of talking about how dire things are with the satellite situation. I’m not gonna bother translating. Watch the sub when it’s out if you really want to know :P The important thing is, the gold pillar is directly causing the malfunction, no one on Earth can stop the satellite from plummeting to Tokyo, the city is being evacuated, and there are only 20 minutes till impact.

Koushirou has an elaborate plan which Sora adorably sums up as “So, we’re gonna shoot it out of the sky *makes punching motion*”

The crux of Koushirou’s plan hinges on a repeat of how Omegamon saved Tokyo from the missile way back in like, episode 2 or 3. Taichi says, “Yeah, but I barely remember how we did that.” Which is hilarious because I don’t remember either because it was 30 EPISODES AGO. Once again this episode feels like it was meant to happen WAY EARLIER THAN IT DID. It’s just weird to be referencing something that happened 30 episodes ago after everything else that’s happened, AND on top of that, there are many references in this episode and none from later than like, episode 10 or 12. Making this all seem very oddly timed.

I’m not quite sure if, within the story itself, it matters that Taichi “doesn’t remember well.” He also doesn’t remember the Devimon battle where he and Agumon were infected with dark energy. That one makes sense for him not to remember. If that hadn’t happened, I would just take his “I don’t remember how we stopped the missile” to just mean it was so long ago. But together, it’s making me wonder if something else is going on.

Or maybe Taichi’s just been hit on the head one too many times (okay, that seems the most likely of all, haha)

People of Tokyo: Is it Godzilla again? I heard he’s itching to fight King Kong. You know, given how often our city is attacked by kaiju, some might wonder why we haven’t moved away by now. But home is home, ya know?

The group sets up to fly to the peak of the gold pillar. Obviously, without Yamato, there’s no Omegamon. No one points this out, but Koushirou seems very stressed with his plan, and it seems that he contacted Taichi in the first place because he thought “Taichi’s the one who can pull this off.”

After hearing the plan, Taichi shoots him through the heart with another “Koushirou, you’re so awesome!” and YAY I MISSED THIS SO MUCH!!!!!! *sobs*

Then he does his best to reassure Koushirou by remaining positive and determined that they can and will do this no matter how much Koushirou waves. The majority of the episode is them flying up the pillar while being assaulted by enemies trying to stop them, so it’s not like they get to talk about their feelings (lol). But at least we get a bunch of close ups of Koushirou’s and Taichi’s expressions, and that’s how we see this dynamic in play. Yes, Koushirou is the brainy one who made the plan, but he doesn’t have the confidence to take the lead, so he handed the reins to Taichi. As for Taichi - yes he has the confidence, yes he can do it... but he also has absolute faith in Koushirou. So that’s why this episode makes my little Koushirou fanatic heart skip a beat.

First of the enemies is this guy, aptly named BladeKuwagamon.

They’re actually pretty scary! They do real damage. (Blood in Digimon word is glowy unicorn-like stuff haha). Birdramon gets stabbed, but before Sora can get too upset, she just yanks the blade out of her chest...

... and then crushes it into dust with her beak.

Sora: Holy crap, my partner is metal AF.

Forgot to mention earlier but 5 whole minutes of the 20 minute countdown are used up just by digivolving apparently xD Taichi keeps asking Koushirou “how much time is left” and Koushirou’s panic grows more visible with each passing second...

MetaLiffeKuwagemon looks cooler than he is. Supposedly he’s there to bring out the big guns, but to be honest...

... the BladeKuwagamon don’t seem to need the help :P The enemy’s strategy is obvious: isolate each member of the team to prevent anyone from getting to the top. This is why Koushirou’s so stressed: he’s got a plan that is totally reliant on there being a leader strong enough to pull it off AND there being enough backup to protect that leader from the large number of enemies. And Koushirou doesn’t like these odds.

Garudamon gets stabbed AGAIN

Sora: Go on, we’ll be fine.

Taichi: Are you sure??

Garudamon: *DESTROYS EVERYTHING WITH FIRE*

I MEAN HONESTLY! Garudamon is not only my favorite of Piyomon’s evolutions, it’s pretty much my favorite Adventure evolution. Always has been since I was 11 years old. And she (and Sora) NEVER get that credit. Like. Growing up, with US dub Adventure, I interpreted Sora as more of a straight up tomboy than she is in the original. That’s okay, that’s whatever, but what was most important to me was that I saw her as the third “strong” member along with Taichi and Yamato. Those two were clearly in a class above her, but I saw her as being in the same “Taiorato” league. Garudamon seemed to prove that: she was so cool, so powerful, and... yeah, I just always thought she had so much potential to be awesome and never got why it wasn’t used. That’s also why I was disappointed in Tri - like, I liked Soushitsu, but I just wanted more from Sora’s arc. Same thing in Kizuna: I understand Sora’s arc, I don’t hate it or anything - I think it makes sense for her. But since I wanted something different for her all those years ago, it just left me feeling a bit flat.

but enough about other Digimon series :P Garudamon gets to be super cool here and I only hope we get to see more of it in this reboot. I’ll forgive it some of its other mistakes if we do :D

With Takeru/Hikari and Sora isolated by the BladeKuwagamon, it’s up to Taichi and Koushirou alone to race against the clock! Their teeth are clenched, sweat runs in rivulets down their skin, their hearts are pounding in desperation...

Koushirou: Taichi-san! If we don’t get to the top soon it’ll be too late!

Taichi: Just don’t call me late for dinner!

Koushirou: ASDFGHJKL;’ DAD JOKES NOW?? REALLY????????

MetaLiffeKuwagamon makes life that much harder by knocking them against the pillar. However, this is a pillar of data, which enabled the BladeKuwagamon to evolve into MetaLiffeKuwagamon in the first place. Bugs aren’t that bright.

Taichi and MetalGreymon are nearly submerged inside the pillar as a result, and then we get this sequence of red and black. The pillar had been emitting dark lightning, so I started to think... omg... is MetalGreymon gonna get a Dark Evolution???????

.... Nah. That would have made sense, but.... nah :P

Overall I’m glad though, because that would really have turned this into a Taichi episode instead of a Koushirou one.

I’m not personally certain what the point of bringing BlitzGreymon out was. I had figured he would be like, a super fast evolution that would enable them to make it to the top. That would also have turned this into a Taichi episode. But...

... Taichi tells Koushirou that he will have to go divert the satellite because Taichi has to deal with MetaLiffeKuwagamon.

I was both really pleased and really surprised. Because, again, now what’s the point of BlitzGreymon...? Why did we need a new Agumon evolution? There’s no particular reason why they couldn’t have just isolated Taichi with the enemy the same way the others were and had him tell Koushirou to keep going on his own then. They did do that, but first they gave him a new evolution. Why? Just because it’s cool?? I assume that must be the reason but we don’t even see BlitzGreymon fight xD It’s... it’s weird. But whatever.

Taichi: Go, Koushirou!!!!! You can do it!!!!!

Fiz: *dies a thousand brilliant deaths*

So, Koushirou tells Taichi that he can’t do it - he can support Taichi, but he can’t take the lead. Taichi’s just like that’s wack, dude, of course you can do it. What I LOVE about Taichi and Koushirou’s dynamic is just that: Taichi never sees Koushirou as a weakling. The fact that he’s small, or that he’s brains over brawn, or even that he’s kinda antisocial - those are all reasons an energetic, extroverted kid like Taichi might bully, or at least think poorly, of Koushirou.

But Taichi values Koushirou. He knows how hard he works and is impressed both by that hard work and his talent. What’s more, he doesn’t see Koushirou’s brains as his support system. The whole time Koushirou’s thinking he’s there to support Taichi with his plan, Taichi was thinking, “I’m here to support Koushirou’s plan.” That is SO, SO important. And that’s why I LOVE this episode. The one thing the reboot seemed to really understand, that hooked me from the start, was the way it just GOT Taichi and Koushirou. They each support and follow each other, while each feeling like the other is better than them. Ugh I could like, cry over Taishiro now... omg....

Taichi is successful in pushing Koushirou to go on, but of course Koushirou himself is still plagued with doubts. He reflects on how he’s always been fine being alone. He hasn’t particularly wanted friends and didn’t mind not having them, even though adults worried.

(Side note: this is a normal, if kinda rare, personality trait. I have it too. I always score Koushirou on “what Digimon character are you?” tests too lmao. Just like some people feel the need to be surrounded by others at all times, there are those whose social needs are very very low. I’m one of them. There’s nothing wrong with it except that even those people can get lonely and it’s easy to misunderstand them as shy or snobby. So what I love about Koushirou is, yes he learns to value his relationships more, but also learns to value himself. He is Koushirou: a brainy kid who’s happy on his own, but also happy with friends. While some people, like Mimi, struggle with that aspect of his personality, others, like Taichi, just accept it. To me that’s the best life lesson there is: there are always people who can and will be friends with you. Yes, I’ve lost friends because I just wasn’t social enough for them. But I have other friends who I’ve known for literal decades now. And I REALLY love those friends.)

Koushirou feels grateful that he has AlturKabuterimon, and also that he has Taichi. So... here he is, reflecting on the last time he had meaningful interaction with that great friend Taichi... back in episode three. -____________-

Seriously, this would mean a lot more if this dynamic had been built on continually until this episode...

Koushirou then briefly reflects on each of the other Chosen. Notably, every single solo image of them is from an episode that Koushirou either wasn’t in or wasn’t with them at the moment. Then we get this group image. It’s from EPISODE 12. (I’m actually not sure of the episode number but the point is, it’s from A LONG LONG TIME AGO. I think it’s the swamp episode??) That drives me NUTS. We shouldn’t have to reach soooo far back to find meaningful moments!!! Urk.

Koushirou makes it to the peak of the pillar and AlturKabuterimon attacks the satellite to drive it off course. We see the impression of what looks to be HerculesKabuterimon and I really thought we’d get an evolution - it seemed way more appropriate than freaking BlitzGreymon - but nope.

Oh well. Koushirou still saves the day. The people at home get to see the Crest of Knowledge take over their screens, hopefully giving rise to the idea that a nerd superhero is protecting them. Koushirou is the hero we deserve.

The satellite falls into the water. I was like, shouldn’t that cause a tsunami lol?

... be careful what you wish for >_>;

fortunately people were evacuated soooo things will be okay.

He did it!! He’s so happy! AlturKabuterimon’s triumphant holler is adorable.

Taichi and BlitzGreymon fought hard OFF SCREEN!! OFF SCREEN!! HIP HIP HOORAY! And then we get to see him leaning on Sora T_T could this episode give me any more perfect moments?? Looooove it

So yeah, if you can’t tell, I’m thrilled with this episode. There are just a couple things I would have liked to improve: better animation, at least one palpable heart to heart between Taichi and Koushirou, or just a bit more time spent explictly in Koushirou’s head - but honestly we got something that is pretty darn good, especially for this reboot. I hope we do get more like this, both for Koushirou and for the others. I hope the growth here isn’t forgotten moving forward. I really, REALLY want to see more of that “I lead, you support me - you lead, I support you” mutually beneficial relationship that is the foundation of Taishiro <3

So next week! Mimi’s back and the heads are gonna roll!

Lmao!

My theory that she’s finding crystals to make Crests seems unlikely to be the case now that we know the rocks constract the rock Digimon. But... hey, we’ll find out next week.

Also Taichi’s gonna make this face after talking with Mimi bahahahaha. I can’t wait.

[nitaescence]

vii. “... daddy?”

genre: DDLG!au word count: 6.8k warnings — littlespace, fluffy Taehyung, con noncon, unprotected sex, arm choking, squirting, creampie, spankings, dirty talk, overstimulation, you’re bratty, mean Jk makes you cry & gets rougher

sweetpea masterlist

Your face beamed at the sight of Jungkook as you came out of the classroom. His smile was just as big as yours. You ran to him and he opened his arms to welcome you in a loving hug. You nuzzled him a little, grinning when you smelt his familiar scent and his strong arms squeezing you to his chest.

“You had a good day?” He kissed the top of your head and went to fetch your stuff from your assigned locker. “Hm-mm?”

While helping you putting your shoes on, Jungkook heard you mumbling in a small voice but could not make out what you wanted to say.

He saw you pointing at one of your classmates,who had become your best friend at school, as you repeated yourself.

“You want to invite her home?” He quired, standing back up. His soft, long black hair slid down, covering his face the longer he kept looking down at your pleading eyes.

He shook his locks back in place to study the girl who was now pointing in his direction.

Jungkook felt a bit uneasy when the older woman holding your friend’s hand caught his eye. The moment he had resolved not to address any other caregiver he could meet when dropping you in and out flashed in his mind.

The two of them began walking your way and his anxiousness increased.

The little girl immediately came by your side to hold your hand, sporting a loving smile as she looked up at your caregiver. He offered a shy grin back.

The woman seemed to be five years older than him and not at all thrown off at the idea to talk to him. You and your friend both casually watched them conversing as everyone else waved each other goodbye on their way out.

You noticed Jungkook’s eyes taking that familiar rounder shape as he made sure to catch every sentence coming passed her red lips. He seemed to be agreeing to every word she was saying. He politely bid her farewell and asked you to do the same after she beamed a goodbye to you.

The next day, you woke up in a very good mood. You spent the morning thinking about activities you could do with your friend when she would come home. You were impatient for her to arrive.

“Let’s cook some pancakes. You love how I make them and I think she’d lik’em too,” Jungkook suggested right after turning on the washing machine.

You promptly nodded your head in agreement since you had your mouth full of yogurt. He began taking all the needed ingredients out as well as all the necessary cooking tools.  

You hurried to finish your dessert to be able to assist him.

He helped you crack the eggs, removing any pieces of shell that might have fallen in the large bowl and let you pour milk while he took care of mixing the content homogeneously. He naturally attended to cooking the batter and turned a blind eye to you gulping down the first two he made.

“Okay, that’s enough!” He announced somewhat sternly as he nimbly took the plate away from your side of the counter while flipping the pancake over.

“no, one more, one more,” you whined a little following the plate with your eyes.

He tsked.

“No, no, no, no, because one is going to become two and then two will become three.” Your mouth turned upside down comically. “What’s the point in making them if there aren’t any left for your friend, hm? Cutiepie?”

“but i promise i eat only one,” you begged showing your finger to defend your suggestion.

“Nu-uh, go wait for me in my room. I won’t be long,” he pecked at the top of your head and you resigned yourself, stomping away. “You can huff and puff all you want and there won’t be any left for you.”

You stopped immediately.

Later, he joined you on his bed where you had open a book. He made you lie by his sides and spooned you tightly to him.

The ring rang a couple of minutes after and your eyes lit up. You dropped the book and shifted to stand up but Jungkook prevented you from moving away from him.

He watched with an amused smile as you tried to free yourself from his strong grip trapping you to him.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go open the door?” He humored as you kept on moaning your way out. “She’s gonna leave if you don’t open it.”

Your struggle turned into frustration and he eventually let you climb down the bed before he would unintentionally make you cry.

You hurried out of the room but looked back to him, pleading him to speed up so he could open the intricate lock. You pulled him by his arms and stood up on your tippy toes behind him so you could peek.

You both recognized the woman who was the first to appear right after he opened the door. Your friend came in and greeted Jungkook shyly before you snatched her away and ran back inside his room.

He finished talking and closed the door after they had agreed on the hour she would drop by to pick your friend up.

He went to join you but then decided he would be in the way and left the two of you on your own.

He made the most of the opportunity to work on some projects he still had to finish now that you did not need his attention; but kept his ears open just in case.

You spent most of your time in his bedroom, either reading, drawing or watching any DVDs Jungkook was kind enough to put on for you, interrupting himself in his work.

He eventually reminded you of the pancakes you made together and checked if your friend felt peckish.

Your eyes lit up at the mention of the forgotten pancakes and you hurriedly took her hand to walk out.

“Go wait for me in the living-room. I’ll bring them,” Jungkook shouted at you when he saw you from afar.

It took him a couple of minutes to get a tray ready.

He carefully put it on the coffee table and you instantly went to sit on the fluffy rug right in front of the full plate.

Jungkook asked your friend whether she would like something on her pancake. You both looked at her. She sheepishly pointed at the jar of red berries jam.

“i do, i do!” You whined to show him you were taking care of it.

Jungkook frowned a bit, confused at your sudden burst. “Alright, let me just open this for you.”

You watched as he easily uncorked it, you readily took over. You folded the pancake and offered it to your friend.

He went to sit next to her, keeping his distance but got the sugar bowl ready, presaging you. You shook your head and spooned out some of the same jam on your own pancake much to his surprise.

When you were done, you stood up and forced yourself to sit between them.

“You could ask me to move,” Jungkook grunted as he scooted away to leave you some room on the couch. You did not pay attention to him.

“you put what in you’ pancake?” your friend asked you quietly.

“Hmm, like you.” you smiled, showing her. She grinned back satisfied you shared similar taste.

Jungkook got up and went back to the kitchen. “You want me to bring you some juice?”

“yes!” you yelled back without looking at him which made your friend giggle.

He came back with two glasses and you rushed to take your friend’s out of his hand to give it to her yourself.

“Careful,” he scolded lightly as he watched the liquid threatening to spill.

He chose to sit on the other couch and took his laptop from the table to keep working.

It felt somewhat strange to have you focus your attention on someone else beside him and Taehyung, but it also did not feel like you… You had never shown that much stubbornness nor that much lack of awareness with regard to him, even when Taehyung was around.

You finished your drinks and left to wash your hands in the bathroom. Jungkook noticed you out of the corner of his eye, whispering things to each other.

He looked up from his screen when you stood right next to him. He took your hand in his softly but you gently swayed him and pointed at his sweatpants pocket.

“i want dis.” You mumbled with a small scowl.

“What? My phone?”

You nodded and he instantly knew for what purpose.

Your friend was waiting expectantly right behind you so he did not feel like denying you his device.

He unlocked it and tapped on the youtube application. It automatically showed your favorite cartoon show. He opened his palm and the next second you were already running back to his room with his phone.

You spent the last hour before your friend’s caregiver would come pick her up watching videos, hypnotised by the small screen, so much so that when Jungkook came to fetch her you barely looked up to say good-bye.

You followed them in the corridor but left to go lay on the couch to keep watching the episode playing. Jungkook took care of bidding them farewell.    

“Okay baby girl, I think that’s enough screen time for today.” He huffed as he plopped down next to you.

You did not respond.

“Hey, hello?” He tried again. “I’m talking to you.”

You kept ignoring him and even had the nerve to turn up the volume. He bit one side of his lower lip and raised his brows.

“Miss?” He called again, teasingly pulling one of your ponytails. “Come on, ______. I’m being nice right now. Give me the phone back.”

“no.” You firmly pouted and slid down in the small space between the couch and the coffee table to get further away from him.

A sigh escaped him. He leaned back against the couch and raised his hands to rub his face. He inclined forward again and noticed you had crawled away underneath the table.

“______,” his voice lost any touch of humor. “I’m gonna get mad if you don’t listen to me.”

He stood up and walked around to join you. “Come on give it to me now.”

He bent down and took the side of the phone you were not holding. Your grip tightened when you felt him pulling it upward. You whined in one last attempt to persuade him to grant you another thirty minutes.

He gave you some time to get a grip on yourself.

“No, no, you are on a time-out now. Come on, stand up.”

You tugged back and he ran out of patience. He yanked his phone harder than he intended and your body jerked back in result, making you bump your head against the table.

You yelped and instantly cupped the back of your head but he did not want to waste any more time and pulled up by your other arm to guide you towards the corner.

“Stay still.” He groaned. “I don’ wanna hear anymore whining.”

Punishing you did not make him feel any better but he felt he had to to get his point across and in some way entrench his position as a dominant, even more so when Taehyung was not there.

You obediently sat down on the floor cross-legged and held your whimpers back the best you could while he went to sit back on the couch.

The first minutes, his eyes kept travelling back and forth between you and his laptop. Their corners creased slightly at the endearing sight of you gently rubbing between your ponytails.

“Hey���” Taehyung sighed exhausted as he threw his jacket on the couch.

Jungkook acknowledged him with one look thrown his way. He flopped down and stretched his legs tiredly under the table. You wanted to look around to catch Taehyung’s attention but at the same time did not want to get into more trouble.

Their conversation went on for a couple of minutes.

“Where’s ______ ?” Wondered Taehyung right before yawning. “Haven’t seen her…”

The mention of your name made your eyes water in spite of yourself, ashamed at the thought Jungkook would surely tell him about your behavior.

“She’s right there.” The latter pointed at you.

Taehyung slightly frowned at your sight. He was so tired he had not even noticed you although you were less than four feet away from him.

It was as if you could feel his stare on you and you tightened your hold around your soft toy — which Jungkook graciously gave you to comfort you a little — , lowering your head even more.

“Why? What happened?”

Taehyung knew this was part of the “game” but never imagined you would get to this point. This was supposed to be a fun experience.

Seeing you from the back so diligently sitting at your assigned spot not moving an inch, scratching your cheek and readjusting your position and posture as your ponytails swayed with every move was as funny as endearing.

You wished you could stop listening to them talking about you, your face was already flaming up with colors. You had disappointed one, what would the other think of you now?

“Didn’t wanna listen.” Jungkook automatically responded never looking away from the screen. His voice sounded a lot more harsher after Taehyung’s arrival. 

“How long has it been?”

“Fifteen minutes, I think.”

Taehyung licked his lower lip and slowly got up, shuffling towards you. You recognized his scent and quickly it surrounded you, enveloping you entirely as he bent down and gently thrust his face in the crook of your neck, softly pecking your cheek.

“Hey, baby.”

His arms slid beneath your armpits, “up we go. Come on. Stand up for me.”

You weakly leaned your weight on your legs that still felt numb from the sitting position. You refused to make eye contact with him. “You got in trouble, hm?”

He chuckled lightly, dissipating the foggy cloud that had condensed inside you and making your chest a lot less heavy.

His hands felt warm against your face as he cupped them in one last attempt to make you look up at him but you favored snuggling against his chest for now. Being punished and deprived of their warmth was the worst thing that could happen to you.

Taehyung softly cooed at you as he gave in and squeezed his arms around you. Your attempt to hide from Jungkook did not last long. Taehyung stepped to the side and gently made you walk behind him until you reached the foot of the couch where Jungkook was now lying on.

Taehyung moved behind you and closed his hands on your tummy, slowly rustling your hair with the tip of his nose while you frowned and kept looking down at your soft toy.

“She’s something to say.” Taehyung prompted you with an amused smile.

You frowning deepened and you quickly wiped your eyes with the back of your hand to prevent those irritating tears from showing.

You could barely meet Jungkook’s serious gaze.

You chin wobbled. “... i’m- i’m sorry.”

Jungkook remained silent.

It was not because he did not want to, he could not, not when Taehyung was there, not when he was holding you and being all kind and touchy with you. It would not be that easy this time around and he wanted you to grasp it.

“There’s no need to be sad, now. Gi’e me a kiss,” he pecked your cheek again and you turned back around to him. “Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

He walked beside you while patting your head. You flinched and he frowned.

“Does your head hurt you ?”

“yes.” You answered, instinctively placing your palm on the hurting spot. “the table hu’t me.”

Jungkook frowned at your answer.

He wondered if you purposely changed the truth, just like you did not complain after Taehyung had hurt you. It still was not fair, he did not mean to hurt you unlike Taehyung and yet he was not the one holding you at that moment.

Jungkook exhaled heavily and sat up to fetch his phone and get food for tonight delivered.  

A while later, Taehyung sent you to the living-room where you sat good as gold at the same time Jungkook left to answer the door.

You scooched over when he reappeared and layed out two large boxes.

He silently sat down and opened them. He helped himself to one slice and began eating.

You hesitated a little, thought he would serve you your pieces but he did not seem to acknowledge you. So you inched forward and stretched your hand but instantly stopped yourself when he clicked his tongue.

You raised your gaze to his resentful one and lowered your head, retracting your hands as your eyes watered again and stayed put.

Jungkook watched you closely a glint twinkling in his eyes and noticed the flush of your shower reddening the apple of your cheeks so adorably as your mouth quivered in an upset frown.

Taehyung came in not long after, plopping in the wide gap between you with a loud sigh. He leaned forward and turned his head toward you.

He raised his brows a little. “You’re not eating, kitten?”

You fiddled with your hands tightly gripping the hem of your onesie, mumbling softly without looking up.  

“You not hungry?”

Taehyung leaned to the side, speaking softly. “Did Jungkook tell you something, hm? He doesn’t want you to eat?” You subtly nodded. “Aw, baby. He’s just messing with you. Don’t cry. Sit up.”

You let his hand pull you back up a little closer to the table, blinking your tears away.

“How many slices do you want?” You answered him by showing your fingers. “Only one, you sure? Here, take this one. I’ll put another one right here. Just for you.”

You slowly began nomming, giving Jungkook a worried look as if to check his reaction but he was ignoring you.

Jungkook left to clean up and went to get ready to leave for work.

During all his round trips, you found yourself looking up at him. You met his eyes at some point, seeing how upset he was; it ruined a little your appetite and this time around you reached for one of the napkins delivered along the pizzas to wipe the tear you did not manage to hold back.

You did not know what you had to do to make him less disappointed in you and you hated to see him looking at you so coldly. Jungkook was everything but cold to you, he had never acted that distant.

You truly became brokenhearted when he did not even kiss you goodbye before leaving for work. It was the first time it happened. It was the final straw.  

You remained quiet on the couch, forlorn, while Taehyung cleaned up.

“C’mere, my upset little baby… Let me warm you up,” he cooed right after lying down. You did not need to be asked twice and crawled towards his open arms to lie on his chest. “I’m good at holding you, right?”

You remained silent.

“You need a lot of holding since you’re such a troublemaker…” He teased and you croaked out a tiny whine. “Someone’s gotta hold you down... I think you like it.”

You stayed this way, body to body, a good hour before Taehyung could feel his eyes beginning to give up on him. He still found some strength left to carry your whiny self to bed with him.

He laid you carefully down and went to turn the lights off. Your hand looked for him in the dark. He pressed his body to yours closely, always the thought of bringing the comfort you were seeking in mind. He pressed his lips against your forehead, eyes and cheek.

Your arm curled behind his nape and he felt you pushing against him.

“Babe, wait,” he breathed softly. “Let me spoon you instead.”

You reluctantly let him roll you over on your side but still pulled onto his arm to make sure no space was left between you. He grabbed your chest and nuzzled your hair.  

You held onto his hand and arched your back into him.

“Baby girl… behave,” he sleepily mumbled.

You turned a deaf ear and pressed your butt harder against his crotch.

His deep voice called your name in a serious tone. “I have to wake up early tomorrow…”

You whimpered in frustration and shifted.

“No,no,no,no,no… don’t move.” He repositioned the covers. He knew what you were going for.

His palm sneaked down between your thighs. You felt its warmth when he gently cupped your crotch. He moved your legs above his and slowly began to rub your covered slit with his thumb.

You pushed your head back against his shoulder while he peppered sleepy sloppy kisses on your neck. You grew a little impatient and blindly shoved your hand in his pants. Taehyung quietly hissed against your shoulder when he felt your palm rubbing him.

“______,” he repeated menacingly. He took your hand from his pants. You whined again, frustrated. He took his hand from underneath the covers.

He knew you being irritated was only due to your weariness and having sex was not a solution for him.

He turned you around, making your bodies face each other.

“Alright..., you need to get some sleep.” He positioned his arm under your head so you could nuzzle your face in his chest as you calmed down to little sniffles. Your whining got muffled against his skin. He soothed you, hushing you softly while gently patting your back.

“Wan’ me to sing you to sleep?” You nodded, knuckling your tired eye. “Promise to get some sleep, okay? Close your eyes.”

You did as told and nuzzled further into him. He began to sing quietly in your ear, a pleasant humming that quickly lulled you in a deep slumber before you knew it.

Taehyung breathed in deeply and stretched his legs a little. He blinked one eye open down at you and saw you already awake and lying on top of him, lightly clinging on his shirt. He moved his arms to hug you to him and gently moved you both to your sides.

“It can’t possibly be morning yet,” he complained with a groggy voice. You thrust your face in the crook of his neck, your breath tickled his skin still very warm.

“Morning baby,” he kissed your forehead.

You kissed his collarbones in response.

“Slept well? Hm-mm? Good. I slept well too.”

He slowly rolled over and pressed you into the mattress as he began kissing your face.

“Oh,” he craned his head back to look at your temple. “Something bit you here.”

You moved your finger to touch where his was rubbing and felt the tiny bump of the sting. You heard him breath deeply in before stretching his arm to reach for his phone and check for the time. He put it back and prompted his body on his arms above you.

You yanked him back by his shirt and let his hips fall back on top of yours with a small chuckle.

“C’mon baby, we need to get up.”

You shook your head and tried to pull the rest of his body back on top of yours to no avail. He effortlessly climbed down the bed away from your grabbing hands.

“Come on… I’ll make you breakfast.” He held out his hand and pulled you up. He stopped to point down at something. “Don’t forget your slippers. T’keep your little footsies warm, hm.”

You took place right in front the bowl Taehyung prepared you and put your soft toy beside you on the table. You heard the bathroom door open when he walked out to go back in his room.

You finished eating slowly, making sure they were no leftovers like he liked better.

“You done, baby?” Taehyung suddenly inquired as he opened the cupboard to get something he would eat on his way.

“yes, look!” You smiled up at him when he came closer. Worry quickly settled in at his sight and you leapt away before he could kiss the crown of your head, right in front of his confused eyes.  

“Baby?” He wondered as he followed where you had disappeared. “What are yo- Oh, kitten why are you grabbing your clothes?”

“i go out wit’ you…” You simply explained after extracting a pair of jeans.

“No princess,” Taehyung cooed as he walked closer where you had sat down to put them on. “I can’t bring you with me. I’m going to work.”

“i wan’ go…” you whined and pout down at you half-clothed legs while  he brushed your hair.

“I promise we’ll get to spend more time together… We’ll even build that Disney lego set we bought the other day when I come back, okay?” He watched as you reluctantly slipped out of the jeans. “Stay with Jungkook for now.”

You handed him the pair and he folded it back in his closet.

“Don’t look too happy about it,” he snorted.

You shrugged, a little dispirited.

“He’s not mad at you,_____.” He tried again, cupping your cheeks. He playfully pressed them together. “Trust me?”

You nodded but still did not seem any merrier.

“Can I get a smile? A tiny one?”

You gave in and offered him a tiny grin.

“There you go baby. Don’t look sad, I don’t like to see you upset.”

He pulled you up and craned your head to kiss your lips softly.

Jungkook woke up a few hours after.

You hesitated a bit about making eye contact with him, not wanting to see that look again but gradually managed to glimpse at him to take the pulse of his mood.

He kept roaming around the spacious apartment in his sweatpants before he eventually settled on one of the couches and lied down.

He was not in the field of your vision.

You breathed out lightly and mustered a shy smile before looking back as your way of greeting him but he was busy looking at his phone.

You did not want to doubt Taehyung’s words even though he was not acknowledging your efforts and comforted yourself thinking you would get other occasions and kept on colouring, an activity that had occupied the whole morning.    

You did not want to doubt Taehyung’s words even though he was not acknowledging your efforts and comforted yourself thinking you would get other occasions and kept on colouring, an activity that had occupied the whole morning.    

Jungkook did not like the palpable tension he was yet at the origin of.

You did not move from your spot on the rug, only to adjust your position, as you had switched activities and began to read books.

As childish as his behavior could be perceived, Jungkook remained silent but it did not prevent him from staring fondly at you as you inspected the colourful images seriously.

He was not as upset as he could have been the day before and any sign of vexation completely disappeared from his face the longer you did not look back at him.

A small sigh escaped you as you closed the book.

You rubbed your eyes as you sat up on your knees and the look in his eyes shifted to a more strict one as he looked away.

You could not ignore the subtle gurgling of your stomach anymore.

You tried to catch his attention again but did not leave him much time and stood up to walk away.

He could hear your small pitter-patter to the kitchen.

You curled your lip, uncertain, as you slowly scanned the clean counters. You ended up opening the fridge and spotted a big plate inside. You went to stretch your arm but another much more brawny moved faster and a gasp of surprise escaped you.  

When you turned around, you were greeted with Jungkook’s chest as he stood tall, towering you proudly. He was not looking at you, focusing on getting several things at once from the fridge.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were hungry?” he huffed as he turned around, not giving you time to react either.

You closed the fridge behind you and moved closer to him. You felt obliged to assist him in any way but he sent you back, ordering you to sit at the table and wait for him which you did without arguing.

You sat neatly and kept staring at him from afar as he was busy cooking.

You hesitated a second, wondering if you could go fetch your stuffie and after throwing a quick look at Jungkook who still had his back turned, you scuttered hurriedly to the living room and caught it.

It would help you feel less lonely.

You regained your spot and placed your soft toy next to you on the table. Jungkook came along not long after. He placed the plate right before you with cutlery. You took the fork and looked up at him with hesitation again when he came back with a bottle of water and a glass.

“You want me to cut me to cut this into smaller pieces?” You nodded sheepishly and looked at his hands framing you.

“t’ank you,” you said softly as you took the fork from his hand.

Jungkook heated something up for himself after you went to sit back on your spot beside the coffee table to keep colouring.

When he was done, he walked in the living room to vacuum.

You hurried to gather every color pencil and sheets on the table knowing he would move the table to clean the carpet. You climbed up and kneeled on the couch waiting patiently for him to get done.

Jungkook turned the hoover on. He noticed your concern not to get in his way or do anything you thought might make him any more upset he was with you.

Cute.  

You quietly reviewed your works, silently making up your mind on which was the best.

He piqued your interest right after he finished vacuuming, he had not put the table back but instead went to lie down.

“Come down here,” he suddenly blurted.

You frowned a little at him, confused and hesitant.

He looked up,“c’mere.”

You obeid and felt him getting closer right behind you.

“Show me what you got here…” He took some of the pieces of paper you were clinging onto.

Since he was not planning to put the table back, you thought you could go back to finishing your drawing and stretched out on your front.

Jungkook’s eyes moved sideways directly targeting your perky bum right in his field of vision and shamelessly stared at it.

“You’re still drawing some more?” he observed after positioning himself right by your side.

You nodded and offered a quick smile before looking back down.

He smiled back and lingered his eyes on you.    

“you- you not… angwy anymo’e?” you wondered in a small, soft voice.

Jungkook bit his lower lip. He gently brushed your hair backward to take a look at the side of your face.

“I never was…” He trailed slowly. “I was just… upset you did not listen to me… I still am a bit?”

Your mouth turned upside down in a light pout and your hand stilled.

He shortened the space between you two, his warm breath tickling your ear. “... I know a way that could make me feel better.”

It was as if a light had been switched on inside you.

He was never angry, still a little disappointed in your behavior based on what he was saying but he still wanted you.

Now, that you knew it, it took off the guilt and fear and he had you putty in his hand in a split second.

His hand felt heavy as he caressed you down your spine, halting on the small of your back. Shivers followed his track and you found yourself leaning against his face.

“You game?”

He picked up again, smoothing his middle finger down the slit of your ass. You squeezed your fist around the pen you were holding and bit your lip in anticipation. His digits gradually pressed up as he put pressure on your covered clit.

He slowly began to draw small tight circles. You shut your eyes.

“Baby? M’not hearing you?”

He yanked open the bum flap of your onesie in one gesture, earning a soft yelp from you.

His palm flattened against your left cheek and he squeezed your skin. He pouted and cooed as he dragged his hand to your other cheek and slapped it without notice.

You clenched in response and tilted closer to the floor.

“Answer me.”

The small whine that escaped you did not satisfy him.

“I think I should make the most of our time alone to make… slight adjustments, hm?” he breathed in your ear and slapped you again, jolting you forward and drawing out a mewl from you.

“I love your cute little ass so much.”

He slaps you four more times.

“You want it baby?” He snickered as he hovered your body.

You felt him press his clothed hard cock against your stinging skin. “You want me to help me feel better? And ruin you? Ruin your fucking pussy?”

He sat back and dragged the tip of his fingers along the rose marks, soothing the throbbing. “Such a good girl… How did I get so lucky?” he wondered and right after the sound of your onesie seams getting torn off followed suit. “You’re fucking perfection.”

Your panties did not outlive his eagerness either. You were finally exposed to him and he could not look away from the beautiful sight of your tight little wet cunt all his. He twitched in his boxers and mindlessly took out his cock out.

“I’m so fucking lucky I get to ruin you.”

You whimpered when he began to rub his leaking tip along your wet slit, soaking himself which had you clenching reflexively. He felt thick and hard.

He watched his precum leak out right into your little hole and melting in your juices.

“Deep breath now, babygirl…” He hissed, thrusting the head of his cock against your swollen clit and eventually pushed his way inside. “Just the tip baby, just the head.” He quickly muttered when you whined.

He thrust in and out carefully a couple of times, enough to have you a little bit more relaxed.

The softness of you felt too enticing and soon he found himself yearning for more. He could not resist anymore and made you take him deeper than you anticipated.

You arched your hips and rolled your eyes at the delicious sting of his stretching. A smirk curved the corner of his lips.

“Fuck… You feel so incredible.” He bent over you and reached for your neck to crane your head back and whisper in your ear. “It hurts so good baby, right? I’m so hard inside you… so fucking hard... You’re so fucking adorable in your onesie… ”

“Wan’ me to pound your cunt, baby?” You helplessly whined when he bottomed out. “Holy shi’... Remember your pleases and thank yous, baby…”

“please…” you moaned pitifully, feeling your thighs trembling already.

He violently yanked your hair making you help, “didn’t catch that…” He slowed down and pulled out, leaving solely his thick head right at the edge of your sensitive lips.

You clenched so as to get him back in and tried to repeat yourself a little bit louder. You flinched when you felt him rubbing your sensitive clit.

“Does it feel torturous?” His voice dropped lower, “but you gotta admit... It makes you cum so much… Ah... shit... I love the way you grip on my cock, baby…” His breathing became labored and loud against your skin. “Uh...Oh! Fuck yeah, baby…” He groaned and thrust back firmly.

The slapping of your skin along with your mingled moaning were the only sounds in the apartment. His tips press around your throat and your nails creased the skin of his hand, pushing him to fuck you even harder.

His arm sneaked around your neck, “gonna choke you like a good slut…” His thrusts became overwhelming. “Who’s my good little whore? Hm?”

Your hands clung onto his thick arm as a way to ground you.

“I want you to say it… Say it baby girl… I fucking own you. You’re my sextoy baby… fuck- isn’t that right?” He groaned, aroused. “Uh… fucking take all of it.”

Slap!  

Your whimpering and moaning increased a little more which had him chuckling, completely fucked out. He was already so close. He growled and pressed his hips against your abused ass, letting you cope with the stretching.

“Oh fuck baby, I can feel you tightening… You wanna come? Hm-hm? Beg for it- shit… I wanna hear you fucking bed...”

His hand crashed in a harsh slap against the supple skin of your butt.

“Not got enough…” The softness of his voice mismatched the strength he use to pin your arm when you tried to prevent him from slapping you again.

His rhythm picked up, his embrace tightened every time he would drag his body backward cutting your breath short and water your eyes. “Fuck… fine… you can cum with me…”

Your thighs trembled as you were finally granted your climax, the taut coil in your lower stomach unravelled when he cupped your skin there, pushing up and having the rest of your body shaking in powerful waves.

“That’s it babygirl… there you go, come for me… You wan me to fill your pussy up? Oh-” Jungkook ground deeper inside, not slowing his pace, squeezing your body into the rug, his muscular thighs and legs pinning yours strongly.

“Fuck…. Ah…” He breathed hard in your hair, thrusting your face in your drawings when he felt you squirting on his balls.

He dragged out his moans as his cock throbbed in hard pulses against your clenching sensitive walls and overstimulated you.

He continued rocking his hips, riding out his high while hot spurts kept being pumped out deeply inside you.

He eventually seemed to get a grip on himself but his grip around you did not loosen as if that now he had you back to him he did not want to let go — never would.

He breathed deeply out, “fuck me… No, no...” He freed your neck. “M’not pulling out just yet.”

Slap!

You keened.

“Wanna make sure every drop is nice and deep inside of you…” He brushed your hair back and lovingly kissed your cheek.

“Fuck… come back, come back, come back with me…”Jungkook whined securing your back against his chest as he both lead you down on the soft carpet. “This way I’m not gonna fall out… I’m happy in there.”

He spooned you so you would not have to support his weight.

He cradled your head in his arm and cupped your face with his other hand to look into your eyes. He closed the space between your faces and softly rubbed your nose with his before sealing your lips in a kiss.

“I love you baby girl.”

“i was good?” You mumbled while knuckling your eye.

He frowned down at you taken aback, “yes… yes, you did a very good job… Perfect as always.”

He kissed your face again. He swore again when his dick, still hard, slipped out of you.

“We need to wash ourselves…” He whispered as he looked down at your bodies. “I’ll go down on you in the shower… You can sit up on that ledge… You’d like that?” He looked back up and smiled at you. “You know I fucking love the taste of your pussy, sweetheart… You’ve got the sweetest pussy.”

He kissed your lips and lied down on his back and you turned around to rest your head on his chest.

“I need five more minutes of laying here though…”

You looked up and he felt you hovering his face behind his closed lids.

“M’not gonna fall asleep, I swear… You’ll still get your snooze time afterwards though...”

You smiled a little. “you- you still love me?”

“Of course, baby… still love you…” He cracked one eye open. “Just checking?”

You nodded sheepishly and lied back your head.

He chuckled lightly and hugged you to him as he turned over on his side. “You’re so fucking cute…”

Your voice got muffled against his skin.

“Hm? Carry you?” he repeated. “Yeah, can do that… still didn’t hear a please though…”

You cried out when he slapped you. He heard it this time around loud and clear.

“There you go… Poor baby,” he cooed when you whined.

“You just wanted a reason for me to spank you, hm?”

You slowly craned your head up and met his fucked out face, mouth hanging open and eyes half closed.

He could not look away from you, your innocent eyes as you clung onto him for dear life as if only him mattered. He felt himself falling deeper and deeper for you. How could you think he could possibly stop caring for you, feeling for you.

He pecked your forehead. “Arms around my neck. C’mere.”

next part : viii. lovers

[spn-safeandsound]

01. The Beginning

Safe and Sound

Dean Winchester x Original Character

Episode: 1x01; Pilot

Word Count: 10,001

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence and gore, dirty thoughts

Author’s Note: Here is the first chapter of my Supernatural rewrite! I hope you like Julia! Just know that more of her personality is shown the further we go along. Let me know what you think. Don’t forget to reblog and like!

Masterlist in Profile Description!

Throwing the damp motel towel on the dresser, Dean wandered over to the bed he didn't plan on using to zip open his duffel of clothes. He quickly pulled on one of the last clean pairs of jeans he had and a black t-shirt that he sniffed to make sure didn't stink. He had only managed to slip the necklace Sam gave him years ago over his head when there was a knock at the door.

Dean paused, narrowing his eyes over at the door covered in chipped red paint. He had just paid for the room and didn't plan on staying more than a couple of hours. He didn't think that gave anyone much time to know that he was in town. Besides, the only two people he knew in Palo Alto didn't even know he was there.

He grabbed his gun and held it cautiously behind his back, peeking through the peephole. He didn't see much, just the top of a girl's head. And then the girl stepped onto her tip toes and waved at him, knowing that he was watching her.

"Trick or treat!"

Dean pressed his lips together and set his gun back down on the table. He opened the door and set his unimpressed expression on the younger woman, who smiled sweetly at him.

"What are you doing here, Julia?"

Julia Petersen didn't drop her smile as she slipped past him into the motel room. Dean rolled his eyes, already exasperated with her, and shut the door. He looked her up and down as she paced around the room, studying the furniture with a curious gaze.

She was dressed in a black t-shirt with a ridiculous cartoon ghost on it and khaki shorts that made her legs seem longer than they actually looked. When she turned toward the bathroom, he got a look at her ass and almost groaned before controlling himself.

This is Julia, he reminded himself, cute little Julia who is six fucking years younger than you.

"Julia."

"Right," Julia shook her head to focus and turned back to Dean. "I was looking for some candy but I guess someone's not in the mood for Halloween."

"Halloween's stupid."

"Yeah, I know," Julia rolled her eyes and wandered over to his duffle bag. "All you Winchesters are the same."

"Woah, hey," Dean rushed toward her and pulled her hands away from his clothes. "Keep your hands to yourself, Junior."

"Sorry, I forgot about the weird boundaries you have," Julia gave him an innocent smile and sat on the bed.

"They're not weird. Everyone has them."

"Not me."

"That's cause you're crazy," Dean playfully snapped at her

"That's true," she conceded. "Uh, what was your question again?"

Dean sighed impatiently. It had been almost a year since he had seen Julia and he was already getting annoyed with her. He wouldn't say that she was annoying all the time but she was a kid. A kid who never stopped talking, was always distracted, and the human embodiment of sunshine.

"What are you doing here," he repeated. "and how the hell did you find me?"

"Oh, I tracked your phone," Julia informed him. "and I'm here because Dad left me a message to find you."

"Luke told you to find me?" Dean asked thoughtfully.

If Luke had asked his youngest daughter to find Dean, he probably knew about his dad being missing. Why else would he want Julia to find him? She was already with Sam so it wasn't like she needed protection.

"Yup."

"Well, what'd he say?"

"He said that John was missing and that you needed my help to find him," Julia informed him, scratching her cheek nervously. He caught her tell, having experience from over the years.

"You're lying," he pointed out; she pouted. "Seriously, Julia. Come on."

"I'm not lying about that," Julia stated honestly. "but...I did kind of have a bad feeling."

"What kind of bad feeling? Like you ate something bad for lunch or you forgot to do your taxes?" Dean raised his eyebrows.

Julia's smile slipped from her face. "The kind of feeling where I knew I needed to find you. My dad's message just confirmed it."

Dean appraised her, pressing his lips together. When she was growing up, Julia had bad feelings all the time. There was one time that she knew that her older sister, Beth, had broken her arm and when he used to indulge Sam and Julia and play hide and seek with them, she would find him every time without fail. It was common knowledge that she had some kind of sixth sense but no one really talked about it.

"Okay," he accepted her answer. "Is that it?"

"That's it," Julia nodded, a smile back on her face. "What time were you going to talk to Sam? I wouldn't wait long because we're going out tonight. Well, maybe it would be best if you waited to talk to him until after he was drunk. He might be more likely to hear you out. It's gonna be hard to convince him to go with us but—"

"Hold your horses, Junior," Dean cut her off. "I already had a plan."

"And that is?"

"Private."

Julia fixed him with an unimpressed stare. "If you break into my apartment I'm gonna kill you."

"I won't break into your apartment," Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm not a heathen."

Julia hummed, giving him a doubtful look.

"Okay, anything else you needed?" Dean sighed.

"Nope," Julia jumped up from the bed walked toward the door. "I'll be packed and ready by the time you come to get us."

"Sure thing," Dean nodded sarcastically. "Now leave."

"Oh, one more thing—"

"Nope. Bye," Dean gently pushed her out of the room and shut the door before she could finish what she was going to say.

"Dean!"

-

-

Julia heard the crash out in the living room and sighed, shaking her head as she finished shoving a pair of boots into one of her duffle bags. She had warned Dean not to break into the apartment and he had said he wouldn't but he lied to her face. She had to start getting better at detecting lies, especially if she was gonna be trained to be a hunter.

She was actually excited to go on the road with Dean. She had wanted to be a hunter for a long time. It had been years and her father still hadn't trained her like he trained her older sister, Abby. He had told her to get an education, which she did, and then they'd see. Well, it was now that time and she was itching to learn everything.

Her family had always been in the business of hunting supernatural creatures. Her father's side, the Alexanders, was a well-known family in the world of the supernatural as they had a special talent for getting rid of demons. Her mother's side of the family—the Petersens—were famous, too, though not for the same reason.

Her mother's family owned Petersen Sports Co., a sports store that catered to regular citizens who needed soccer balls and football pads but also to hunters who needed salt rounds, holy water, and all the guns and knives they could buy. The secret hunter part of the store also provided ways to get ahold of other hunters and provided lawyers in case something went south during a hunt. It was a family business, with her older brother Levi as head of sales, Beth and her husband—Taylor—as lawyers for the company, and her Aunt Maggie as CEO.

Either way, she was a bit of a legacy. And, since Abby was the only child out of the four who had gone into the hunting business so far, Julia had to step up.

Julia finished packing by setting her backpack on top of her other bags and left the room. As soon as she entered the hallway, she ran into Jess, Sam's girlfriend and one of her closest friends.

"Jules, I think Sam's fighting off a robber," Jess said hurriedly, cheeks flushed. "Should we call the police?"

"No, no, it's fine," Julia hurried to assure her. "Sam and I were expecting someone."

"At one in the morning?"

"...Yes," Julia laughed awkwardly. "Come on, I'll show you."

Jess nodded and by the time they entered the living room, the fighting between Sam and Dean had stopped. Julia flipped on the lights in the living room, illuminating the Winchester brothers so she and Jess could see them clearly.

"Sam?" Jess called her boyfriend's name, looking wearily between him and his older brother.

"Jess, hey," Sam sighed and introduced her to Dean. "Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jessica."

"Wait," Jess paused, giving Julia a curious look; Julia nodded. "your brother, Dean?"

Dean grinned sleazily at her, his eyes flitting up and down Jess' model figure. She wasn't dressed the most modestly but it was nighttime and Julia's usual pajamas showed just as much skin.

"I love the Smurfs," Dean complimented her, gesturing to the low-cut top Jess was wearing. "You know, I gotta tell you, you are completely out of my brother's league."

Julia rolled her eyes while Jess gave him an unimpressed smile. "Just let me put something on."

"No, no, I wouldn't dream of it," Dean shook his head coyly. "Seriously."

"Dean, stop being a creep," Julia sighed, smirking at the annoyed look he sent her.

"Mind your own, Junior," he snarked at her and then addressed Jess again. "Anyway, I've gotta borrow my brother and this dwarf here—" Julia scoffed in offense. "—to talk about some private family business. Nice meeting you."

"No," Sam objected, walking over to Jess' other side, wrapping an arm around her. "No, whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."

Dean looked over to Julia and she shrugged, giving him the choice of whether or not he would divulge what was going on. He must have decided that he would just tell Sam anyway because he gave in.

"Okay," he nodded. "Um, Dad hasn't been home in a few days."

"So, he's working overtime on a Miller-Time shift," Sam shrugged, not worried about his estranged father. "He'll stumble back in sooner or later."

Dean pressed his lips together and looked at his feet for a brief second before looking back at Sam. "Dad's on a hunting trip," he elaborated. "and he hasn't been home in a few days."

Sam's face went blank like it usually did when Julia brought up their families and what they did for a living.

"Jess, excuse us."

-

"What did Dean mean by his dad being on a hunting trip?" Jess asked as Julia tied her hair up in a messy bun and packed her toiletries that she had almost forgotten. "Sam seemed pretty upset about it."

"Well, John Winchester had always been a fan of hunting," Julia sighed, scratching her cheek. "Big game, as far as I know. Usually he gets drunk and passes out for a few days before heading back home."

Jess made an indignant noise. "Charming."

"Yeah, no kidding," Julia agreed, giving her an amused smile. "That's John, all right."

"Poor Sam," Jess sighed as they moved back to Julia's room; Julia made a noise of agreement. "So, why do you have to go with them again?"

"My dad called earlier and asked me to," Julia informed her. "I found Dean earlier today and it seems like he's really concerned."

"Well, how long are you gonna be gone?" Jess' eyes scoured over Julia's two duffle bags and backpack. "You're packed for a long time."

"I'll be back by Christmas," she assured the blonde. "and Sam will be home in time to make his interview. I'll make sure of it."

Jessica sighed heavily but nodded, knowing that Sam would probably give in and go with his brother and Julia for the weekend.

"Just be safe, okay?" she requested. "For me?"

"Course I will," Julia gave her a quick hug and grabbed one of her duffle bags, along with her backpack. "I'll send Sam up, okay?"

"Okay," Jess nodded. "Bye, Jules."

"See you later, Jess."

Julia left the apartment and made her way down the stairs, through the gate, and to the parking lot where she assumed Dean parked. She spotted the two giants across the lot and quickly approached them just as Dean was convincing Sam to listen about the case John was hunting.

Dean nodded at her in greeting and grabbed her bag, dropping it onto the concrete before unlocking his trunk. He pulled up the flap that hid the weapons underneath and began rummaging through the various guns, spell ingredients, knives, and other things necessary for hunting.

"Where the fuck did I put that thing?" Dean mumbled, looking for something.

Julia and Sam exchanged a pointed look, knowing that Dean was a slob for the most part, and waited patiently for Dean to grab whatever he was looking for.

"So, when your dad left, why didn't you go with him?" Julia asked him curiously.

"I was working my own gig," Dean answered. "Some voodoo thing down in New Orleans."

Sam raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?"

Dean gave him a pointed look. "I'm twenty-six, dude," he located a manila folder and pulled it out of the trunk, grabbing some papers that he had printed off. "All right, here we go. So, Dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California."

"About a month ago, this guy went missing," he continued, handing some of the articles to Sam and the rest to Julia. "They found his car but he vanished, completely M.I.A.."

Sam scanned the article on top of his pile. "So maybe he was kidnapped."

"This article is from April," Julia spoke up, showing Sam the articles she had been going through. "And this one is from December of '04."

"There's one for '03, '98, '92," Dean added. "ten of them over the past twenty years. All men, all same five mile stretch of road. It started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. I hadn't heard from him since, which is bad enough, but," he pulled a recording device out of the trunk. "then I get this voicemail yesterday."

He pressed play and John Winchester's voice came out of the small speaker. "Dean...something big is starting to happen.  I think it's serious. I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may...Be very careful, Dean. We're all in danger."

"You know there's EVP on that?" Sam looked to Dean.

Dean smiled, pleased. "Not bad, Sammy. Kinda like riding a bike, isn't it?"

Sam shook his head while Julia chuckled.

"All right, I slowed the message down, ran it through a gold wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got..." he pressed play again.

It was a woman's voice this time. "I can never go home."

Julia shivered at the creepy voice while Dean looked at Sam expectantly.

"Never go home," Sam repeated thoughtfully.

Dean nodded and set the recording device back into the trunk, along with the articles he had collected. He threw Julia's bag in, shut the trunk, and leaned on it, giving Sam his version of a guilt trip and puppy-dog eyes.

"You know, in almost two years, I've never bothered you or asked you for a thing."

Sam sighed, quickly giving in. "All right, I'll go. I'll help you find him."

Dean smiled happily.

"But I have to get back first thing Monday," Sam informed him, turning away to walk back to his apartment. "Just wait here."

"What's first thing Monday?" Dean called after him

"I have an interview," Sam told him.

"What, a job interview?" Dean shrugged. "Skip it."

"It's a law school interview," Sam said proudly. "and it's my whole future on a plate."

"Law school?" Julia saw that Dean looked a little impressed.

Sam nodded. "So, we got a deal or not?"

Dean didn't say anything but Sam got the gist that he agreed with him. Julia told him to bring down her last bag as he ran off to the apartment stairs, getting a wave of confirmation in return.

"How many damn bags do you need, anyway?" Dean asked Julia as she turned toward him with a happy smile.

"Three," she told him simply. "Clothes, shoes, toiletries, books, schoolwork, computer."

"Jesus Christ," Dean sighed as he stood from his position against the Impala's trunk and started walking to the driver's seat. "You're in the back, shortcake."

Julia grumbled, already annoyed with the short jokes, and slipped into the backseat. She pulled her pillow into her chest and snuggled into it, getting ready for the long drive to Jericho.

-

The breeze was cool and welcoming as they stopped at a gas station, just outside of Jericho, California. It was still early in the morning, around seven, but all three of them were already up. Dean was inside, getting some things to eat and drink while Sam went through Dean's cassette collection and Julia read through her emails.

"Did you see these, J?" Sam asked her, sorting through the cardboard box the cassettes were kept in. "He's got cassettes. I don't think he's heard of a CD before."

"Uh, Dean doesn't like change, remember?" Julia shrugged. "It's not really surprising he has every old white man's collection of music."

Sam laughed and continued his search. Eventually, Dean came out of the gas station, carrying a plastic bag of goodies he had scored.

"Want breakfast?" he asked them as he started pumping gas.

"No, thanks," Sam mumbled.

"Oh, did you get the—?"

"Cherry cheese Danish and apple juice," Dean cut Julia off, slipping them through her open window.

"Thanks!" Julia immediately tore open the Danish, taking a large bite out of it.

"So, how'd you pay for that stuff?" Sam asked cautiously. "You and Dad still running credit card scams."

"Yeah, well, hunting ain't exactly a pro-ball career," Dean excused himself, finishing with the gas. "Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards."

"Yeah and what names did you write on the application this time?"

"Uh," Dean slipped into his seat. "Burt Aframian and his son, Hector. Scored two cards out of the deal."

Sam scoffed. "Sounds about right," he shook his head. "I swear, man, you've gotta update your cassette tape collection."

"Why?"

"Because they're cassette tapes," Julia spoke up, finished her breakfast with a sip of apple juice. "And then there's the music itself."

"Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica," Sam listed the tapes he had been through. "It's the greatest hits of mullet rock."

"Ooh, good one," Julia giggled.

Dean gave them annoyed looks, not liking the fact that they were gaining up on him, and grabbed the Metallica tape from the box. "Well, house rules, Sammy," he put the tape in the stereo. "Driver picks the music, shotgun—and backseat—shut their cakeholes."

Julia rolled her eyes while Sam gave Dean an exasperated look.

"You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old," he reminded Dean as the tape started, not fond of his childhood nickname. "It's Sam, okay?"

"Sorry, I can't hear you!" Dean said loudly, a cheeky smile on his face. "The music's too loud!"

Julia laughed and leaned forward so her chin rested on the seat between the brothers. "Don't worry, Sam, you weren't chubby when you were twelve."

Sam gave her a flat look. "Thanks, J."

Julia winked at him and leaned back in her seat. While Dean drove closer to Jericho, Sam took the time to call the hospital and the morgue in town to see if there was anyone matching John's description. It was only when they were five miles out of town that he got off the phone.

"All right," he sighed. "so, there's no one matching Dad at the hospital or the morgue. So, that's something, I guess."

Dean raised his eyebrows and nodded. Julia shut her Bible, as she had started to reread Romans for her New Testament class, when they came upon the bridge that went into Jericho. There was what looked to be an abandoned car, a cop car ahead with its lights on, and a couple of police officers milling about.

"Check it out," Dean pointed the scene out to Sam and Julia.

He pulled to a stop at the side of the road and leaned over to the passenger side of the car, opening the glovebox and pulling out a box. The box contained numerous fake FBI badges with Dean and John's names on them; Dean picked a federal marshal badge out of the box and smirked at Sam and Julia.

"Let's go."

Julia didn't think that plaid and jeans—and in her case, a t-shirt and shorts—were the best clothing they could be wearing while they pretended that they were agents of the law. She didn't even have a badge, nor did Sam, and they were all kind of young to be federal marshals. Nevertheless, she got out of the car and followed Sam and Dean over to the police officers on the bridge.

"All right, first lesson," Dean quickly looked back at Julia. "Stay quiet and observe."

Julia fought the urge to roll her eyes and smiled brightly at him, acting like she was zipping her lips. Dean sighed heavily and continued on, giving Sam a pointed look that Julia caught but didn't react to.

As they got closer to the bridge, they saw that the officers had search and rescue down in the river, looking for the missing man.

"No sign of struggle, no footprints, no fingerprints," one of the officers told his partner. "Spotless. It's almost too clean."

The other officer nodded. "So, this kid, Troy, he's dating your daughter, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

"How's Amy doing?"

"She's putting up missing posters downtown," the first officer informed him, shaking his head.

"You fellas had another one like this just last month, didn't you?" Dean announced their presence, raising his voice so the officers could hear him.

The second officer looked toward them, straightening up so he stood taller. "And who are you?"

Dean held up his badge and quickly closed it before the officer had a good look. "Federal marshals," he gestured between himself and Sam before pointing back at Julia. "Intern."

"You two are a little young for marshals, aren't you?" the officer asked suspiciously.

Ha! Julia thought. I knew it.

Dean chuckled. "Thanks, that's awfully kind of you," he walked over to the victim's car. "You did have another one just like this, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right," the officer confirmed. "about a mile up the road. There have been others before that."

"So, this victim, you knew him?" Sam asked him.

The officer nodded. "A town like this, everybody knows everybody."

Julia noticed Dean gesturing for her; she left Sam's side and walked around the car where he was standing. He pointed into the car, mumbling for her to take a look to see if she found anything.

She did as she was told, searching the front seats and dashboard of the car as best as she could while not touching anything. She didn't see anything particular; no blood, scratches in the leather, or dirt on the floorboards. Like the officer said, it was spotless.

"Any connection between the victims, besides that they're all men?" Dean spoke up.

"No, not as far as we can tell."

"So, what's the theory?" Sam wondered.

"Honestly, we don't know," the officer shrugged. "Serial murder, kidnapping ring..."

"Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys," Dean commented with a scoff. Julia looked over at him in shock while he winced, Sam having stomped painfully on his foot.

"Thank you for your time," Sam told the police officer with a gracious nod.

Julia hurried to his side as the three of them started walking hurrying off the bridge. Once they were a few feet away from the Impala, Dean took the opportunity to slap the back of Sam's head.

"Ow!" Sam hissed. "What was that for?"

"Why'd you have to step on my foot?" Dean retorted.

"Why do you have to talk to the police like that?"

Dean narrowed his eyes at Sam and stepped forward, cutting him and Julia off so they couldn't walk any further. "Come on, they don't really know what's going on," he stated. "We're all alone on this. I mean, if we're going to find Dad, we've got to get to the bottom of this thing ourselves."

Julia's eyes swept past the brothers, wincing when she saw three older men walking toward them. She cleared her throat loudly, getting Dean and Sam's attention; Dean whipped around to face the men himself.

"Can I help you three?" the man who looked to be the sheriff asked them sternly.

"No, sir, we were just leaving," Julia shot them a dazzling smile. The sheriff almost melted in her presence while the FBI agents walked past Sam and Dean to go question the police themselves.

"Agent Mulder, Agent Scully," Dean nodded at the agents as he grabbed Julia's arm and pulled her past the sheriff; Sam followed them. "Nice work, shortcake."

"I have one of those smiles, I guess," Julia shrugged sheepishly as she slid into her seat.

Dean scoffed. "I guess you do."

-

-

Dean, Sam, and Julia walked through the town square, searching for the girl they overheard the police officers talk about. Amy was her name and she was the victim's girlfriend who was hanging missing posters up over town.

It wasn't hard to find the girl, especially in a town this small. The police officer had been telling the truth when he said that they knew everyone around here.

"I bet that's her," Dean pointed to a young brunette hanging up posters outside of a post office. They approached her carefully, trying not to scare her off. "You must be Amy."

Amy had to be only a couple years younger than Julia and around the same height. She was dressed in dark clothing and had dark make-up on like she was taking grieving to a whole other level.

"Yeah," the girl confirmed.

"Troy told us about you," Dean went with the easiest story he could come up with and introduced himself, Sam, and Julia. "We're his uncles—I'm Dean, this is Sammy—and our little sister, Julia."

Amy gave him a skeptical look and started walking away. "He never mentioned you."

Dean quickly followed her. "Yeah, that's Troy, I guess. We're not around much, we're up in Modesto."

"So, we're looking for him, too," Sam took over; Amy stopped walking to look up at him. "and we're kinda asking around."

"Hey," a girl Amy's age walked up to her. "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Amy assured her.

"Do you mind if we ask you a couple questions?" Sam asked her politely.

It wasn't hard to say yes to Sam's puppy-dog eyes so Amy agreed to answer some questions for them. They settled at a nearby diner and on the walk over, Dean quietly answered some of the questions Julia had for him. He informed her about what kind of questions to ask people—like whether they noticed any cold spots or anything strange that occurred around them.

He had to admit, despite her ADHD, Julia was a quick learner. She soaked the information in like a sponge and it impressed him a little bit.

"I was on the phone with Troy," Amy informed them once she and her friend were settled at a table with Dean, Sam, and Julia. "He was driving home. He said he could call me right back and..." she hesitated sadly. "He never did."

"He didn't say anything strange or out of the ordinary?" Sam took over the questioning, seeming to have a better response than Dean did.

"No," Amy shook her head. "Nothing that I can remember."

"I like your necklace," Julia suddenly spoke up, pointing to the pentagram around Amy's neck.

Amy sadly smiled down at the charm. "Troy gave it to me," she sniffled and laughed a little. "Mostly to scare my parents with all that devil stuff."

Julia grinned at her. "Actually, it means the opposite," she corrected her, recalling some of the information she had learned in one of her classes. "A pentagram is protection against evil. It's really powerful if you believe in that kind of thing."

Dean pursed his lips at her, unimpressed with her change of discussion. "Okay, thanks, Unsolved Mysteries," he snapped at her, earning a frown in return, before addressing the girls, "Here's the deal, ladies, the way Troy disappeared, something's not right. So, if you heard anything..."

Amy and her friend exchanged hesitant looks that Dean caught.

"What is it?"

"Well, it's just—" Amy's friend, Rachel, started. "I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk."

"What do they talk about?" Sam and Dean asked at the same time.

"It's kind of this local legend," Rachel sighed. "This one girl, she got murdered out on Centennial, like, decades ago. Well, supposedly, she's still out there. She hitchhikes and whoever picks her up—well, they disappear forever."

Dean and Sam exchanged knowing looks. Not all myths were based on fact, but most of them were. If there was a local legend around town, there had to be some truth to it—even if some of the details were blurred.

-

-

It was nighttime by the time Julia, Dean, and Sam headed back to the bridge on Centennial Highway. After getting some information at the library about the so-called hitchhiker the girl was talking about at the diner, they headed there to take a look around. The bridge was much spookier at night, especially once they found out about this mysterious hitchhiker.

The article they had found was about Constance Welch, who committed suicide at the bridge in the eighties. She took a dive into the river and drowned only an hour or so after both of her kids died in the bathtub. Her husband had said that she just couldn't handle her grief.

After Dean parked the impala on one side of the bridge, the three of them walked the length of it. Julia bit her lip nervously as she looked around, hoping that this spirit wouldn't just appear out of nowhere. Then again, she wanted the training, so some of her nerves were from anticipation.

"So," Dean walked over to the ledge of the bridge, looking down at the black river below. "this is where Constance took the swan dive."

Sam nodded and leaned against the railing beside him. "So, you think Dad would have been here?"

"Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him."

Julia wasn't assured by Dean's statement. "What now?"

"Now we keep digging until we find him," Dean informed her, his eyes darting toward Sam. "It might take a while."

"Dean, I told you, I've gotta get back by—" Sam started to remind him but Dean cut him off with a nod.

"Monday," he recalled somewhat sourly. "Right, the interview."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I forgot," Dean lied. "You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just gonna become some lawyer and marry your girl?"

"Maybe," Sam shrugged. "Why not?"

"Does Jessica know the truth about you?" Dean started to goad him, irritated and a little jealous that Sam could leave hunting so easily. "I mean, does she know about the things you've done?"

"No, and she's not ever going to know."

"Well, that's healthy," Dean's tone was dripping with sarcasm. "You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are."

Dean turned and started walking away, knowing that he pushed his little brother's buttons. He was right; Sam started following him at an angry pace while Julia hovered nervously at the same spot by the railing. The conversation was none of her business and even though she was definitely going to eavesdrop, that didn't mean she was going to interrupt.

"And who's that?" Sam stomped after Dean.

"You're one of us."

"No," Sam's voice was sharp as he caught up with his brother, staring down at him with a glare. "I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life."

Dean paused to confront him. "You have a responsibility to—"

"To Dad and his crusade?" Sam scoffed. "If it weren't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like and what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone and she isn't coming back."

Dean lunged at Sam, grabbing him by the collar and pushing him against the railing on the other side of the bridge. Julia gasped softly and started to rush over, practically feeling the rage in Dean's veins.

"Dean!"

There was a long pause as Julia gently touched his elbow. Dean calmed down a little bit and quietly warned Sam, "Don't talk about her like that."

He roughly let go of Sam's collar and brushed off Julia's hand, turning to walk back to the Impala. He stopped in his tracks, seeing a woman dressed in a white dress standing on top of the railing of the bridge, her skirt blowing in the wind.

"Sam, Jules..."

Julia gawked at the woman as she looked over, made direct eye contact with both of the Winchesters, and jumped down into the river. Dean, Sam, and Julia took off running to where the woman jumped, hearing no splash and seeing no one down in the river.

"Where is she?" Julia asked loudly, her nerves wracked.

"I don't know," Sam shook his head, his eyes still searching the water below them.

The sound of an engine roaring caught their attention. Julia looked over, her eyes widening in horror when she saw that the Impala had started up with no help. She looked over at Dean in confusion, sincerely hoping that it was just a carjacker and not the spirit messing with them.

"What the fuck?"

'Who's driving your car?" Sam asked Dean.

Dean simply reached into his jeans and pulled out his car keys.

"Oh, no," Julia whimpered.

Whoever—or whatever—was in the Impala pressed on the gas. The car sped forward, going way too quickly, and started driving toward them. Sam grabbed Julia's arm and urged her to run as he and Dean took off running.

Julia ran sometimes when she had the time but that was nothing like running for your life. She had adrenaline pumping through her veins as she sped up to keep up with the brothers, almost overtaking Dean. The car was too fast, however, and they had to jump.

Dean vaulted over the railing and dove into the river. As Sam jumped, too, Julia ran behind him and, before she could even process what she was doing, grabbed his arm to keep him from falling.

Sam looked up at her in surprise as she grunted, half of her body practically hanging off the railing so she could keep him from dropping into the water below.

"Oh, my God, you're so heavy!"

Sam scrambled to reach up, grabbing the bottom of the railing so some of his weight was relieved from her. He easily climbed up with Julia's help; once he was back on his feet and Julia was wincing at the strain in her muscles, they looked into the river to see if Dean was okay.

"Dean?"

"Dean, are you alive?"

"Dean!"

"Are you okay?"

"Dean?" Sam and Julia chorused together.

They heard an annoyed groan before, "What?"

"Hey, are you all right?" Sam called down to him, relieved that his brother hadn't drowned in the nasty-looking river.

Dean crawled onto the muddy bank and made an 'okay' gesture. "I'm fucking super."

Julia broke into a relieved snicker and Sam chuckled, growing amused and joining in

They didn't stay at the bridge long after Dean pulled himself off the bank and walked back up to the highway. He didn't waste time waving the other two into the car so they could drive back to town and get a motel room for the night.

Once at the closest motel, Dean took a few minutes to check out the Impala for any damage.

"Everything okay with Baby?" Julia asked him tentatively, wrinkling at the horrible smell wafting off his muddy hair and clothes.

"Yeah, whatever she did to it seems fine now," Dean sighed and shut the hood. "That Constance chick, what a bitch!"

Sam smiled at him, amused. "Well, I guess she doesn't want us digging around," he commented; Dean scoffed in agreement. "So, where's the job gonna take us now?"

Dean huffed and threw his arms into the air, frustrated. At the same time, Julia gagged, the smell coming from the mud covering Dean making her feel nauseous.

The brothers looked at her expectantly and she shrugged, covering her nose. "You should take a shower," she advised Dean. "You really stink."

Dean glared at her. "Thanks for that, Junior."

Julia gave him a sweet smile as he rolled his eyes and Sam chuckled. Dean pulled out his wallet and started toward the motel office, Sam and Julia dutifully following after him. Once at the front desk, he threw his credit card on the counter.

"One room, please."

The old man working the desk gave Dean a reluctant look-over and then grabbed the card, reading the name on the front. "You guys having a reunion or something?"

Sam furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"I had another guy, Burt Aframian," the man informed them. "He came and bought out a room for the whole month."

Julia looked at Sam and Dean, surprised, while Dean made an expression that told her that he was thinking he should have known his dad would rent out a room. Sam quickly made an excuse that they were coming to check on their father while Dean paid for another room.

Once they had their room key, the three of them went straight to the room that John rented out, picking the lock. Sam yanked Dean into the room after him and Julia and firmly shut the door.

Julia looked around the room, her eyes wide. The room was an absolute mess that made her skin itch; there were clothes all over the place, numerous papers taped to the walls, and old food sitting around. Dean turned on the lamp closest to him so they'd have more light to look around, picking up a half-eaten burger on the table below it.

He sniffed it curiously and silently gagged at the rank smell while Sam and Julia stepped over the salt ring on the floor to get a better look at the walls. "I don't think he's been here for a couple of days."

"Salt, cat's-eye shells," Sam listed as he looked at the salt on the floor. "He was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in."

In the back of her mind, Julia remembered that salt was like a barrier for all sorts of supernatural creatures, but at the moment her focus was on the papers taped to the wall. There were a bunch of articles about the disappearances over the last decade, as well as some local lore that he dug up.

"What have you got here?" Sam walked over to her.

Julia wrinkled her nose as Dean came over to take a closer look as well, and said, "Centennial Highway victims."

"I don't get it," Dean mumbled. "I mean, different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities...There's always a connection, right?"

Julia gave him a questioning look. "So, what do these guys have in common?"

Dean shrugged at her and Julia frowned, looking back at the profiles John had made for the victims.

"Dad figured it out," Sam spoke up, having moved across the room where more papers were taped on the wall.

"What do you mean?"

"He found the same article we did," Sam gestured to the wall where the article about Constance Welch was taped. "Constance Welch, she's a woman in white."

Dean smirked as he looked back at the victims. "You sly dogs."

"What's a woman in white?" Julia wondered, her eyes darting between Sam and Dean.

"It's a sort of phenomenon," Sam explained to her. "They're spirits that have been sighted for hundreds of years in dozens of places. They're women who had husbands who were unfaithful so they suffered from temporary insanity and murdered their children. They take their own lives afterwards and become cursed, killing any unfaithful man they find."

Julia winced but mentally stored the information in her head until she could write it down in the journal she brought with her. She'd been cheated on before but she was never angry enough that she would take a life—let alone a child, if she had one.

"Wow," she breathed; Sam nodded in agreement.

"All right, so if we're dealing with a woman in white, Dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it," Dean spoke up.

"She might have another weakness," Sam suggested.

"Well, Dad would want to make sure," Dean insisted, crossing the room to stand next to Sam. "He'd dig her up. Does it say where she's buried?"

"No, not that I can tell," Sam's eyes brushed over the article on the wall. "If I were Dad, though, I'd go ask her husband if he's still alive."

"All right," Dean nodded in approval. "Why don't you, uh, you guys go to the room and see if can find the address. I'm gonna get cleaned up in here."

Dean started toward the bathroom but Sam soon stopped him. "Hey, Dean?"

Dean looked at him expectantly.

"What I said earlier, about Mom and Dad," Sam said sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

Dean held his hand in the air, stopping Sam from speaking further. "No chick-flick moments."

Sam laughed and nodded. "All right, jerk."

"Bitch," Dean mumbled in reply before heading into the bathroom.

Julia furrowed her eyebrows and walked over to Sam. "Your brother has some serious issues dealing with emotions."

Sam scoffed. "No kidding. Come on, let's go."

He turned to leave but paused when he saw a picture stuck in the full-length mirror. He pulled it out of the frame and smiled softly when he saw that it was him, Dean, and his dad more than a decade ago, sitting on the hood of the Impala.

Julia took a peek at it. "Were you born in plaid?" she joked, sensing that he needed a little cheering up; it worked and he smiled slightly. "You look happy."

"We were," Sam sighed as he pocked the picture.

-

It was noon the next day when Dean finally woke up and started moving, having caught more than his usual four hours of sleep. He went straight into the bathroom, ignoring the happy greeting Julia sent him, and got ready for the day.

Julia rolled her eyes at the grumpy man and went back to her laptop, reading the website that Sam had showed her. There was a lot of information about women in white that Sam hadn't touched on earlier and she made sure to record it in her journal so she could look back on it later if she needed to.

It was while Sam was listening to a message from Jess he had missed earlier that Dean came out of the bathroom.

"Hey, I'm starving," he informed them as he slipped on his hand-me-down leather jacket that was a little bit too big for him. "I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. You guys want anything?"

"Nah," Sam declined, continuing to listen to the message.

"Aframian's buying," Dean tried to tempt him but Sam shook his head. Dean sighed and turned to Julia with raised eyebrows. "What about you, shortcake?"

Julia bit her lip, thinking about what she wanted to eat. Dean subtly checked her out while she decided, enjoying the pajama shorts and cotton tank-top that she was lounging around in.

"A turkey club?" she smiled up at him.

Dean winked at her. "Coming right up."

Julia's heart raced and her smile fell as he left the room. That man was just too gorgeous for his own good. Dean was attractive, everyone knew that, but Julia had a crush on him when she was five years old and he was an awkward-looking preteen going through puberty. Luckily the crush went away by the time she was in high-school and Dean was a very legal adult. If she wasn't careful, though, she'd be sucked in again.

Her phone rang only seconds later. It was Dean.

"Yeah?"

"Five-oh," Dean warned her quietly; she stiffened nervously. "You and Sammy take off."

"What about you?" she asked worriedly.

"They kinda spotted me. Go find my dad, all right?"

He hung up and Julia stood up, quickly grabbing a pair of joggers to pull up over her shorts. "Sam, the police are here," she informed him hurriedly, grabbing her laptop and sliding into her backpack. "Let's go."

"All right," Sam nodded and stood up. "Come on, there's a window in the bathroom."

Out in the parking lot, Dean smiled charmingly at the police officers approaching him. "Problem, officers?"

"Where are your partners?" one of the officers—the one they spoke to the day before—asked.

"Partners?" he played it cool. "What partners?"

The officer nodded over at his partner and gestured to John's room and their room. The partner made his way over to John's room first, which relieved Dean. It'd give Julia and Sam more time to get away without being noticed.

"So," the first officer looked back at him. "Fake US Marshal, fake credit cards...You got anything that's real?"

"My boobs," Dean stated matter-of-factly, flashing the officer a cheeky grin.

The officer didn't like that very much. He called over his partner and grabbed Dean, hauling him over to their cruiser. He was slammed down on the hood and cuffed behind his back but he didn't care. Sam and Julia got away and he hadn't committed any crimes—yet—so they didn't have anything on him.

He was processed quickly when they got to the station and sat in an interrogation room while the officers gathered evidence from John's room. It was an hour later that the sheriff came in, holding a box of things they had taken.

"So," the man grumped, sitting the box on the table in front of Dean. "you want to give us your real name?"

"I told you. It's Nugent," Dean insisted cockily. "Ted Nugent."

The sheriff gave him a flat look. "I'm not sure you realize just how much trouble you're in here."

"Are you talking like, misdemeanor kind of trouble or squeal-like-a-pig trouble?" Dean asked smartly.

"You got the faces of ten missing persons taped to your wall along with a whole lot of Satanic mumbo-jumbo," the sheriff informed him needlessly. "Boy, you are officially a suspect."

Dean scoffed; this guy was an idiot. There was no way that Dean was gonna go down for these murders since all they had were a bunch of printed out pictures of the victims. That's not actually enough evidence to do anything.

"That makes sense," he snarked at the man. "cause when the first one went missing in '82, I was three."

"I know you got partners," the sheriff was deterred. "One of them is an older guy. Maybe he started the whole thing. So, tell me, Dean—"

Dean paused when the sheriff said his name, a cocky look on his face. The older man grabbed a book out of the box and threw it on the table in front of him. It was his dad's journal.

"—is this his?"

Dean's heart sank in his chest at the sight of the familiar, leather bound journal. His dad never went anywhere without it. Everything they knew about the supernatural creatures they've come across was recorded in those pages, along with a lot of personal information that Dean didn't like to be shared. Information about his mom's death and the way he grew up wasn't something he wanted random strangers to know about.

The sheriff recognized the look on Dean's face. "I thought that might be your name," he acknowledged, walking around the table so he could open the journal. "See, I leafed through this. What little I could make out—I mean, it's nine kinds of crazy."

Dean stared passively down at the pages he flipped through, the pictures of his ancestors, his mom, him, Sam, and their hunter friends filling some of the plastic sleeves inside.

Finally, the sheriff stopped on a page toward the back. "I found this, too," he pointed at a page with Dean's name and coordinates. "Now, you're staying right here till you tell me exactly what the hell that means."

"It's my locker combination," Dean lied easily.

"Bullshit."

"I'm not lying," he insisted. "It's from years ago, when I was in high school."

The sheriff, rightfully, didn't believe him but Dean wasn't budging. He didn't know where the coordinates led to, but it had to be something important. Something that police officers or anyone who didn't know about John or the things that go bump in the night needed to see.

He questioned Dean for an hour, asking about many things. After a while, he veered the interrogation away from the coordinates and asked about his dad. He asked about Sam and Julia, too, but Dean insisted adamantly that he was alone. The sheriff didn't believe him but he didn't give a flying fuck—he wasn't a snitch. He enjoyed riling the old man up, too, seeing his face turn red with frustration and anger.

"I don't know how many times I gotta tell you," Dean sighed when the sheriff asked him about the coordinates again. "It's my high school locker combo."

"We gonna do this all night long?" the sheriff asked him grumpily.

A deputy poked his head into the room. "We just got a 9-1-1," he informed his superior. "Shots fired over at Whiteford Road."

The sheriff looked over at Dean. "Do you have to go to the bathroom?"

Dean gave him a weird look. "No."

"Good," the sheriff pulled handcuffs out of his belt and locked Dean to the table before leaving the room, the door shut firmly behind him.

Dean rolled his eyes and pulled the paperclip he had been eyeing from his dad's journal. He quickly set himself free and grabbed the journal, slipping it into his jacket. He waited until all the police officers left and then escaped, having the time to whistle a little tune.

"Finally," he heard a sigh as he walked out of the building. "I'm been waiting for ever."

Dean gave Julia an impressed look as she walked over to him, her arms folding across her ample chest. "You did that?" he pointed back at the station with his thumb; she nodded with a grin. "A fake 9-1-1 call. Impressive and very illegal."

"You're welcome," Julia beamed at him, pleased with his praise. "Come on, Sam went to question Joseph Welch."

"Ah," Dean nodded and walked by her side as she lead them to a car parked on the curb a block down. "Did you steal the car, too?"

"Sam taught me."

"He taught you?" he gave her a skeptical look. Even he had a couple lessons before he was successfully jacking cars. Julia was good but she wasn't that good.

"Okay, he stole it for me before taking off," Julia admitted. "but I paid attention."

Dean hummed and slid into the driver's seat, starting up the car. He asked Julia to call Sam as he started driving toward Joseph Welch's house and she did it without protesting.

"Hey," Sam answered quickly.

"You taught Jules the fake 9-1-1 call?" Dean greeted him. "I'm proud, Sammy."

Sam laughed. "Well, you're welcome."

"Listen, we gotta talk."

"Tell me about it," Sam sighed. "So, the husband was unfaithful. We are definitely dealing with a woman in white and she's buried behind her old house. That should have been Dad's next stop."

Dean sighed in frustration. "Sammy, could you shut up for a second?"

"I just can't figure out why Dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet."

"Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you," Dean stated. "He's gone. Dad left Jericho."

"What?" Sam's voice stiffened while Julia looked at Dean in shock. "How do you know?"

"I got his journal."

"He doesn't go anywhere without that thing."

"Yeah, well, he did this time."

"What's it say?"

"Ah, same old ex-Marine shit," Dean grumbled. "when he wants to let us know where he's going."

"Coordinates. Where to?"

"I'm not sure yet," Dean admitted.

"I don't understand," Sam said, frustrated. "I mean, what could be so important that Dad would just skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on?"

Dean stiffened when they heard the tires screech on the other line. It sounded like Sam had stopped very quickly.

"Sam? Sam?" Dean asked frantically.

Sam didn't answer, though, and the call quickly died out. Dean tossed Julia her phone and stepped on the gas, speeding up toward the address listed on the article about Constance Welch's suicide.

"Do you think he's okay?" Julia asked him nervously.

She was worried to death about her best friend and from Dean's reaction, he could be in seriously danger. She knew Sam was faithful to Jess but maybe the spirit didn't care. Apparently some of them didn't follow rules.

"I don't know," Dean said tightly. "We just got to get there fast."

"Okay."

"You know how to shoot a gun?"

"Of course."

"Good."

They pulled up to the old Welch residence, spotting the Impala parked right out in front. Dean and Julia jumped out of the car they stole and ran toward it; Dean handed her one of the spare guns he kept in his jacket—thankful that the police didn't do a body search—and used his own to shoot out the driver's window where the woman in white was straddling Sam.

The woman in white disappeared but promptly became visible again. Julia shot without thinking, her bullet disturbing the spirit. Sam took the opportunity to start the car and speed into the house, going through the front wall.

"Oh, my God!"

"Jesus Christ, I hope he didn't hurt my car," Dean mumbled furiously as he and Julia ran into the destroyed house.

"Sam?"

"Here!"

Julia ran over to the driver's door. "You okay?" she asked, ripping the door open; Sam nodded. "Can you move?"

"Yeah," Sam breathed as Dean rushed over to them. "Can you help me?"

Dean reached in and practically pulled Sam out of the Impala, getting him to his feet. Julia wrapped one of Sam's arms around her shoulders and allowed him to settle his very heavy weight on her as Dean stepped in front of them in case Constance came back.

Constance sure didn't look very happy with them. She threw down the portrait that she was looking at and waved her hand. A heavy dresser flew toward them, painfully pinning them to the wall.

Julia squeaked in pain as she was pressed against the wall. She was officially unable to move and unable to get away from the pain that the furniture inflicted on her stomach. Dean and Sam tried pushing the dresser away from them but it wouldn't budge.

Then the lights in the house started flickering and water started pouring down the staircase. Two creepy-looking child-ghosts appeared, getting Constance's attention. She stared at them in horror and a deep sadness.

"You've come home to us, Mommy," they whispered in unison.

Julia shivered, creeped out.

The children appeared behind Constance and promptly hugged her, causing her to scream. Her body flickered for a few seconds before all three of them burst into a weird fire that had Julia turning away and disappeared.

With Constance's spirit gone, Dean and Sam were able to move the dresser away from the three of them. Julia sighed in relief now that the pressure was gone and wrapped an arm around her torso. She was pretty sure she had bruised a couple of ribs.

My first hunting injury, she thought proudly.

"So, this is where she drowned her kids," Dean assumed, looking at the spot where the three spirits appeared.

Sam nodded. "That's why she could never go home. She was too scared to face them."

"But I fought we had to burn her corpse to kill her?" Julia spoke up, kind of confused.

There was only so much she knew about hunting but she thought you got rid of ghosts by salting and burning their corpse. That didn't happen here.

"Sometimes you can find a spirit's weakness and that can take care of them," Sam informed her.

"In this case it just happened to be her kids," Dean added, clapping Sam on the shoulder. "Nice work, Sammy."

Sam laughed loudly and grinned at his brother. "Yeah, I wish I could say the same for you," he mocked him. "Where were you thinking, shooting Casper in the face, you freak?"

Dean gave him an offended look.

"By the way, J, nice aim," Sam added, just to tease Dean further.

"Thanks, S," Julia grinned at him before sticking her tongue out at Dean.

"Children," Dean scoffed, shaking his head. "I'm working with children. And another thing," he warned Sam. "If you fucked up my car, I'll kill you."

-

It was almost midnight by the time they arrived back at Stanford. Sam had successfully found where the coordinates that John left them led, a place in Colorado, and had turned Dean down when he offered to drive there now, wanting to go to his interview. Dean was visibly upset but he didn't argue.

Dean pulled up the apartment and parked in the lot. Sam slid out of the car and grabbed his bag from the back before leaning down to talk to Julia and Dean through the window.

"Be careful, J," Sam poked her in the forehead. "Listen to Dean, all right?"

"I will."

"And call me."

"Yes, Dad," Julia playfully rolled her eyes at him. "Say hello to Jess, would you? Love ya."

Sam winked at her and then turned to Dean, his face falling when he saw the sullen look on his brother's face. "Call me if you find him?"

Dean nodded.

"And maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?"

"Yeah, all right," Dean agreed easily. "You know, we made a hell of a team back there."

Sam smiled, his dimples popping out. "Yeah. Be careful."

Dean nodded and pulled out of the spot he had parked in. He quickly drove away from the apartment building and Julia assumed it was because he didn't want to dally and be sad about Sam's departure.

"You all right?" she asked Dean.

"I'm fine," Dean answered gruffly and changed the subject. "So, you survived your first hunt. How do you feel?"

"Good," Julia grinned. "Yeah, it was—"

She paused, scrunching up her nose as she got a bad feeling. She couldn't explain it and it felt different from the one she had about Dean but she knew something was wrong.

Dean gave her a worried look when she stopped talking. "You okay?"

"No," she shook her head. "I have a bad feeling."

As if the universe was agreeing to her statement, the radio glitched out. Dean looked at the dash, noticing that the clock had stopped working. He quickly turned the vehicle, his heart starting to race, and started driving back to Sam.

By the time they got there, the apartment was in flames and Jess was dead.

(Gif is not mine)

[spidermecc]

Is this it?- Ch. 1 (an elu au)

Summary: Eliott is with Lucille, he has his own apartment and he goes to uni. Life hasn’t always been easy on him, but things are finally looking up, and he’s content. So when Lucille asks him to meet her family, he agrees, as is expected of him. But what he didn't expect, was for Lucille's younger brother, Lucas, to take his breath away. ___ “The first thing that catches his eye is the boy’s soft eyes. They were so.. blue.  Someone punch him in the face if he ever compares someone’s eyes to the sky or the sea, he will not be that guy. But holy shit, he could really get lost in those eyes”.

”Babe, don’t forget dinner at my parents’ place tomorrow” Lucille says, tying her shoelaces.

”Yeah, don’t worry I didn’t forget. I’ll come over right after uni, okay?” Eliott smiles, trying hard to give her a convincing smile.  

Lucille was great, she really was. They had been friends since high school, and she’d always been there for him. Eliott wasn’t stupid, he knew that she’d had a thing for him throughout high school, always hoping that their friendship would blossom into something more. He’d always cared about her, and depended on her, but he also knew that it would never develop into anything further, he just didn’t see her that way.

Well, he thought he knew. During their last year of high school, Eliott had been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, and it had turned his world upside down. He’d successfully pushed all of his friends away, not being able to deal with them walking on eggshells around him, always afraid that they might say or do something that would push him over the edge.

He had enough of that at home. His parents would always keep an eye on him, treating him like an infant, worrying when he didn’t answer texts right away or didn’t pick up the phone on the first try.   After he was diagnosed, it was as if they’d forgotten that he was still a regular person, still the same son they’d always known. It was as if, his disorder had taken away his right to have bad days, and good ones for that matter. Always having to explain himself, reassure his parents that no he wasn’t having an episode, he was just really fucking tired.

After a year of being constantly watched by his parents, he finally convinced them that it was probably be for the best, if he moved out. He needed his own space. They’d reluctantly agreed, after settling on a few terms, one of them being, that they’d have dinner together at least once a week.

Lucille had been the only friend he wasn’t able to push away. She was simply too stubborn. No matter how cruel he was to her, no matter how much he ignored her or told her he didn’t need her, she kept coming back. She’d leave him be for a few days, but then she’d be back, assuring him that she wasn’t going anywhere. At first he had truly resented her for it, simply wanting her to leave him the fuck alone. But over time, as he realized she wasn’t going to leave him be, he began to embrace it. She’d become his rock, his safe harbor. No matter how bad he fucked up, he knew she would always be back, and Eliott found some comfort in that – having a constant, in his messy and sometimes chaotic life.

She’d even helped him reconnect with Idriss and Sofiane. After months of radio silence, he’d finally mustered up the courage to contact them again, and they’d been understanding and supportive, just like Lucille said they would. He could never thank her enough for pushing him to contact them again. He doesn’t know how he’d even survived those months without them. But then again, those first few months, after he got diagnosed, were still somewhat blurry in his mind.

Now, both in uni, they’d found themselves in some sort of comfortable routine. They’d never really discussed what they were, simply drifting into a relationship over time. But they were comfortable and he was content, he could only assume that Lucille felt the same way.

That is, until last week when Lucille asked him if he’d want to meet her family. And really, what was he supposed to say? They had known each other for years now, she was practically his family, and he knew how much it meant to her. She had been dropping hints that she wanted to introduce him to them, for weeks now, so it didn’t come as a shock when she finally asked. And so, he’d reluctantly agreed.

He tried not to think too much about what it would mean for their relationship, going forward. Would she want to meet his parents as well? Would she start arranging double dates with their friends? Would they become a ‘we-couple’? “We don’t watch TV before going to bed”, “we try not to eat meat at home”, “we can’t come to the party” -  we, we we.

Just thinking about it made Eliott’s heart race, and honestly if he was going to survive tomorrow, he had to just.. not think too much about it. Which was practically impossible, seeing as he had a way of overthinking everything. Sometimes he’d overthinking the smallest things, like encounters with the cashier at the supermarket or conversations with his professors. He could be in the shower, when he’d suddenly think of something he should have answered instead of what he did answer. He would create a completely new conversation in his head, replaying it over and over, until he couldn’t remember how the actual conversation had gone. Only snapping out of it, when the hot water betrayed him, finally turning cold.  

“I can’t wait” Lucille says, softly yanking Eliott down to match her height, giving him a soft peck on the mouth.

“Although I’m a bit nervous about you meeting Lucas” she smiles, lips still on his.

Lucas was Lucille’s younger brother. She always spoke fondly about him, telling Eliott stories of how brave he was coming out to his family and the entire school. And Eliott had to admit that he sounded like a cool guy.. for a high schooler, that is.

“Why’s that?”

“Let’s just say he can be a bit uh-” she brings her head back, meeting Eliott’s eyes “grumpy”.

“I can work with grumpy” he assures her, as he gently nudges her towards the front door “now go, before you miss your class again”.

“You’re right, I’ll see you tomorrow” she salutes, giving him one last kiss on the cheek and then she’s out the door.

He shuffles into the kitchen, pouring himself coffee that Lucille had made a few hours ago. It’s not even lukewarm anymore, but it’s still caffeine, it’ll suffice.

As he plops down on his couch, he lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. The harder he tries not to think about meeting Lucille’s parents, the more he does. It reminds him of something his teacher in kindergarten once said:

“I’m going to make all of you think about the exact same thing at the same time”

That’s impossible, little Eliott thought to himself. She’s no magician, otherwise she’d surely have turned the awful lunch into something delicious, like pizza!

“Okay so listen to me. Under no circumstances, are any of you allowed to think about a pink elephant right now, okay?”

Eliott’s mind immediately started picturing a big cartoon elephant. It was pink, of course.

“I bet you all thought of a pink elephant, didn’t you?” the teacher asked.

All the kids nodded in unison, Eliott included.

“If you want someone to think about something in particular, just tell them not to, and they immediately will. It’s human nature”.

It’s human nature, Eliott thinks to himself. Is it human nature to obsess over every little thing? Sometimes he spent hours thinking whether it was his illness that had made him that way or if it was simply the way he was wired. Was it even possible to separate the two things? If it was his illness, then surely it must also be the way he’s wired, right?

He lets out another sigh, sipping his, now ice cold, coffee.

It’ll be fine he tells himself it doesn’t have to change anything. Maybe if he repeats it enough, he’ll actually believe it. __

His last class ends at 4pm, which gives him exactly one hour before he has to be at Lucille’s parents’ house.

According to Google Maps, their house is a 20-minute walk from campus, so he decides to go the opposite direction, towards his favorite coffee shop.  

As he enters the shop, the familiar aroma reaches his nostrils straight away. There’s something about coffee shops, that just screams; home, comfort and familiarity to him. He’d made it his personal mission to try as many independent coffee shops in Paris, as he could. But this one was his go-to, he’d been here more times than he could count, and it had actually gotten to the point where he didn’t even have to place his order anymore. The few baristas that worked there, all knew what his usual was. So he’d simply go up to the register, exchange polite greetings, pay for the coffee and then they’d bring him his drink.

As he makes his way up to the register, he immediately notices that there’s a new guy behind the register. He’s definitely new, because Eliott is sure that he’d remember that face.

The first thing that catches his eye is the boy’s soft eyes. They were so..blue. Someone punch him in the face if he ever compares someone’s eyes to the sky or the sea, he will not be that guy. But holy shit, he could really get lost in those eyes.

The boy has soft brown hair, sticking in every possible direction, as if he’d combed his hands through it one too many times. Eliott really wished that he could comb through the boys’ hair, just once, just to satisfy his curiosity.

The boy is fidgeting with his apron, furrowing his brows, as he tries to tie the apron on the back, around his small waist. Eliott wonders what it would feel like to wrap his hands around that waist.

After a few moments, of what could only be described as staring, he finally walks up to the register, trying to act as natural as possible. As if he wasn’t staring at an actual angel in an apron.

“Hi, what can I get you?” the boy asks, as he finally manages to secure the apron successfully and notices Eliott.

“Salut, I’ll have a latte with soy milk” Eliott announces, not taking his eyes off the boy, who’s actually writing down the order on his notepad. Eliott is pretty sure that he’s never seen anyone else do that, and he can’t help it when a smile forms on his lips.

“Oh, and could I have some cocoa powder on top?” he adds hastily. It’s been so long since he actually placed the order, that he’d managed to forget the most important thing.

“Cocoa on top” the boy says to himself, as he scribbles on his notepad “anything else?”

Please look at me again.

“Nope, that’s it” he answers as he pulls out his wallet.

Instead of settling at his usual table in the corner, he sits next to the window, where he has a perfect view of the register, without having to crane his neck.

And okay, Eliott knows he shouldn’t be staring at the cute boy behind the counter. First of all, he is with Lucille, and he is happy, he really is. Second of all, the boy hadn’t spared him a single glance since he sat down, which was a pretty good indication that he definitely wasn’t interested.

Not that Eliott wanted him to be interested. What would he even say, if the boy did show interest? You’re really cute, but I have a girlfriend. Also, could you please memorize my order so we never have to interact again, pretty please with cocoa on top?

No, definitely not.

As he takes out his laptop from his bag pack, the boy comes over with his coffee.

“One latte with soy milk and cocoa on top” he announces proudly as he sets it on the table, with too much force, resulting in half of the coffee landing on the table.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry!” he exclaims, frantically pulling out tissues from a nearby table.

“Don’t worry about it, I wasn’t even thirsty really” Eliott assures him, pushing his laptop away, before it gets soaked in coffee.

“It’s only my second shift, so I’m still a bit rusty” he explains, as he continues wiping the table “I’ll get you another one, on the house”.

“There’s really no need” Eliott assures him, trying not to dwell too much on the sweet cologne the boy is wearing. He’s not trying to smell the boy, but he’s just so close, leaning in over Eliott, to wipe the coffee before it lands on the floor.

Snap out of it Eliott.

“I actually have to go now anyway, but if I could get the rest in a to-go cup?” he asks, suddenly desperate to get out of the shop. He’s supposed to meet his girlfriend’s parents, not sniff the baristas’ cologne. No matter how cute the barista might be.

“Oh, yeah of course” the boy says grabbing the cup of coffee, which is almost empty by now. But Eliott is really a glass half full kind of guy, so he doesn’t mind it too much.

“Again, I’m really sorry” he says handing Eliott a paper cup with the remaining coffee “next time you come in, just tell them that Lucas owes you a coffee on the house”.

Lucas. That’s a pretty name.

Eliott can’t stop himself from letting out a soft laugh.

“I will, don’t worry about it, really”

He catches the boys’ eyes and suddenly he’s overcome with the urge to compare them to the sea again.

Lucas looks at him expectantly, waiting for Eliott to introduce himself as well.

But he doesn’t, too afraid that if he shakes his hand, sparks might fly, the electricity might circuit and all that, so he simply grabs his bag and coffee and walks out, making sure not to look back at Lucas, whose gaze he feels on his back, the whole way out. ___

As he gets closer to Lucille’s parents’ house, he automatically starts walking slower, trying to steady his breathing. It’s going to be fine, it’s just dinner.

So why does it feel like more? Like he’s reaching a point of no return. If he does this, then they’re officially a couple-couple.  

Is he ready for that?

Just 10 minutes ago he was ogling the cute barista shamelessly. A good boyfriend wouldn’t do that.

Fuck, he really needs to get his shit together. Lucille needs this, she needs him to get a fucking grip and do this for her, and that’s what he’s going to do. He owes her that much.

He takes a deep breath before ringing the bell. Here goes nothing.

When the door opens, he almost does a double take. The middle aged woman, with brown hair, cut just above her shoulders, looks just like Lucille. Or rather, Lucille looks just like her.

“Eliott!” she exclaims, reaching out her arms and pulling him through the threshold.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, I’ve heard so much about you” she beams, “I’m Diane, Lucille’s mom” she continues, still holding on to Eliott’s arms.

She radiates warmth, and Eliott can’t help but return her smile.

“It’s so nice to meet you as well Mrs. Lallemant” he answers genuinely.

“Oh no no” she says, flailing her arms “call me Diane, or don’t call me anything at all”.

Eliott feels a faint blush reaching his cheeks “so nice to meet you Diane”.

She pulls him into a hug, and Eliott automatically stiffens. He doesn’t like to be touched, especially not by strangers. But still, he returns the hug with as much conviction as he can.

When she finally releases him, she gently nudges him into the hallway, and gestures for the coat rack.

“You can leave your bag and coat here, dinner isn’t quite ready yet, and we’re still waiting for Lucas, he’ll get off work in half an hour or so”.

That’s when the smell reaches Eliott’s nostrils. It smells like butter and onions, and he can’t help but let out a faint moan, as he takes in the smell. He’s pretty sure he hasn’t had a decent home cooked meal in, what feels like, months. He’s not the greatest cook himself, and neither is Lucille. They always praise themselves lucky when Lucille’s roommate, Amélie, cooks for them. Sometimes if he’s lucky, he even gets to take leftovers home.

“It smells amazing Mrs – Diane” he corrects himself awkwardly, as he receives another warm smile.

“Hi baby” Lucille says as she emerges from the living room, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. She’s never been a big fan of PDA, and neither has Eliott, they’ve always agreed on that. Never wanting to be that couple, who subject strangers to their affection publicly.

“I take it you’ve met my mom?”

“Oh he has” Diane says, and if Eliott isn’t completely mistaken, giving her daughter a, not-so-subtle, wink.

Guess he didn’t mess up, just yet.

Lucille beams at her mother and gently strokes his arm comfortingly. She knows he’s not a big fan of meeting new people.  

“As I just told Eliott, dinner will be ready soon, but we still have to wait for your dear brother” Diane says “why don’t you introduce Eliott to your father and I’ll bring us all something to drink?”

Lucille nods at her mother as she takes Eliott’s hand into her own.

“I know you hate this, but I swear you’re going to love them as soon as you get to know them” she whispers in his ear.

Eliott answers with a reassuring nod, as he places his hand on her lower back. He wants her to know that he’s determined to do this for her. He wants to make her happy, she deserves as much.

Lucille’s dad is sitting in an armchair, in the corner of the living room, reading glasses on the bridge of his nose, seemingly lost in a book. Eliott tilts his head slightly, so see the cover of the book. The Goldfinch, he mentally approves of the man’s choice of book, it’s one of Eliott’s personal favorites.

“Dad, I’d like you to meet Eliott” Lucille says as she takes the book out of his hand and gestures for him him to get up.

“Ah, Eliott!” he exclaims, as he takes off his glasses and places them on the chair “so you’re the guy that stole my little girls’ heart” he laughs, a smile forming on his lips.

A nervous laugh escapes Eliott’s mouth, because what is he supposed to say to that?

“I’m Victor, it’s great to finally put a face to the name. We’ve heard so much about” he says, reaching out his hand, which Eliott quickly grabs and shakes.

“So nice to meet you as well Mr. Lallemant” he says, retrieving his hand and swiftly placing both of them in his jeans pockets.

It’s not that Mr. and Mrs. Lallemant didn’t seem like nice people, because they did. They radiated warmth, but Eliott couldn’t rid the urge of fleeing out of the house. It was all so formal, so serious. He obviously knew that their relationship would come to this one day, but still, he wasn’t ready for this just yet.

If you’re not ready after almost two years, when will you be?

He desperately tries to push the chaotic jumble of thoughts to the back of his mind. He just has to get through tonight, this is the worst part. After this, he will be okay.

It’s just a few hours, it’s just a few hours, it’s just a few hours.

“Eliott dear, why don’t you take a seat?”

Mrs. Lallemant was back from the kitchen, with a tray of glasses and a big bottle of, what Eliott could only assume, was homemade lemonade. She pours everyone a glass, and takes a seat next to her husband, one hand nursing her lemonade, the other drawing circles on Mr. Lallemant’s back.

For the first time in what feels like hours, he realizes that Lucille is still standing next to him, never having left, her reassuring hand still on his lower back. He appreciates the gesture, but it really makes no difference, she could he cooing soft words in his ear the whole time and he’d still feel uncomfortable as ever.

He takes a seat next to her, and starts making small talk with Mr. and Mrs. Lallemant. After a few minutes, he feels himself easing up. They’re easy to talk to, and they don’t ask too many personal questions. Something tells him, that Lucille instructed them, before he got here.

Just as Mrs. Lallemant is telling Eliott about her special lasagna recipe, the front door slams open.

“Oh that must be Lucas, he’s home early” Mrs. Lallemant places her glass on the table as she gets up to greet her son.

Eliott gets up from the couch and wipes his slightly sweaty palms on the back of his pants, as he prepares himself for another round of half-awkward introductions and politeness.

There’s some slight commotion in the hallway, a silhouette frantically trying to hang his coat on the overstuffed rack. Eliott immediately notices that he is very small, compared to the rest of his family.

When the boy enters the living room, Eliott swears his heart stops.

He’s greeted with those baby blue eyes, and recognition washes over the younger boy’s face just as quickly. 

It’s him.. It’s the breathtakingly beautiful barista. And fuck, he’s just as handsome as Eliott remembers him. Don’t look him in the eyes, stop staring, stop staring.

Lucas slowly approaches him, almost as if he’s afraid Eliott might bolt again. Fat chance of that happening, seeing as Eliott is practically frozen on the spot.

“Hi, I’m Lucas” he says softly, catching Eliott’s flickering gaze, as he reaches out a slightly trembling hand “you must be Eliott”.

[ecoamerica]

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[loopy777]

You've (famously) done an entire fic where Mai riffs on various shippings, but I'd love to know what your *personal* thoughts on all the different ATLA ships are. Obviously, I know you like Maiko, Maikka, and Sokkla, but how about a bunch of other ships? Like Kataang, or Taang, or Sukka, or Tokka, or Jinko, or Yukka, or Toko, etc.? How about F/F or M/M ships?

“Mai’s Ramblings” is still famous? Huh. I still need to figure out how to get it on AO3.

Anyway, I’m afraid my answers can all probably be summarized as “It’s fine.” I like the ships I like pretty much because the involved characters are my favorites. But I’ll give it a go and see what I can say…

Kataang: These two fit well together, and I think the cartoon does a pretty good job of showing how they have complementary personalities and priorities. If anything, it does too good a job, because there isn’t really any reason to delay them getting together until the finale aside from genre convention. Katara’s “confused” feelings never get an explanation, just a range of possibilities, leaving the fans to try to fill in what seems to be a critical part of the subplot. But when they’re together, they build each other up nicely.

Taang: I like that they have similar heights, and the way they look when they’re Earthbending in unison. Very superficial, I know, but them’s the breaks. After their initial difficulties, I think the cartoon did a good job as showing them as friends, and that can be a good basis for a romance. But I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a single fanfic for this pairing that I liked, and that affects my feelings on the pairing.

Sukka: Here’s another ship I like because I like the characters. Sokka is one of my favorites, I’m fond of Suki for her cool ninja abilities and the depth she could have, and I think they have complementary personalities. I like their storyline in the cartoon (it’s the romantic plotline with the most meat on its bones in the entire cartoon, IMO), with how it combines with both Sokka getting over his sexism and moving on after Yue’s death. It also had the best shippers, back in the glory days of ASN.

Tokka: I prefer this pairing as friends, simply because the romantic fanfics are all just variations on the “Sempai, please notice me!” theme, and I’ve never been into that. The non-romantic stuff for this pairing is all about them being buddies and getting into shenanigans and trolling the other characters and getting in over their heads and- well, all kinds of fun stuff. That said, friendship is a good basis for romance, so I think they could be good as a couple.

Jinko: I’m kind of cool on this one because I don’t think Zuko really had any attraction to Jin, and Jin herself is a fairly generic character. The fun of their date is mostly about seeing Zuko being a dork (making it a much more successful implementation of the same idea behind the Fire Teen antics in “The Beach,” especially with Azula’s subplot there), and I just don’t see Zuko getting that invested in a strange girl at that point in his life/story.

Yukka: I like it as a doomed romance, but I’m a bit biased on this one because the first episodes I watched of Avatar were “Lake Laogai” and “The Earth King,” so I knew that the ‘Suki’ who Sokka is excited to see would win out over Yue. Yue’s death and role are cool, and her conflict between her duty and her feelings are compelling, but I’m more invested in her as a tragic figure than someone who really works for Sokka. She’s his fantasy of his perfect mate, and even if she lived, I think he’d have to eventually realize that he needs someone less reserved. Likewise, I think she appreciates Sokka’s goofy charm and his kindness, but I’m not sure she really likes him for the full range of his character, including his flaws.

Toko: I like the dynamic between Zuko and Toph, but this is another one where I like it without the romantic flavor. However, while it’s another “Notice me, Sempai!” attraction, I think it works a little better than with Sokka because Zuko is a much more oblivious personality. He can completely miss Toph’s attempts to throw herself at him, no matter how blatant, while Sokka would eventually figure things out. But, romantic or just friends, I think this dynamic has good thing going with the way Zuko and Toph have similar parent-issues, but enough contrasts in their issues and situations so that they don’t feel like repeats of each other. They can start with an understanding of each other, while still being able to learn from each other. And I think Toph would fare best if pulled into Zuko’s Fire Lord life, if just because she is good at walking away. Which leads me to…

Zutara: You didn’t ask about it, but I think it merits an opinion. It’s not my favorite Katara ship, but “The Southern Raiders” shows how they can egg each other on in the worst ways, and that can be very interesting. Zuko and Katara also play off each other in high-energy ways, so I can see why it fascinates. But my biggest problem with it is that it supposes that Katara gets subsumed into Royal Fire culture, becoming ‘Fire Lady’ and living her life in service to Zuko’s. Maybe if Zuko doesn’t become Fire Lord, it would be more interesting to me, but no fanfic wants to go that route. I don’t see Katara resisting assimilation in the way Toph would, if just because Katara would take it all seriously, while I can see Toph maintaining a wry detachment even while married to Zuko.

Katoph: Putting Zuko aside, I’m in love with the idea that Katara was nursing a little crush on Toph that helped fuel their rivalry, and her confusion about Aang was caused in part by also having an attraction to Toph that she didn’t realize. I don’t see the pairing working out, if just because Toph is canonically boy-crazy, but I think it would be amusing to see Toph try to let Katara down gently and Katara not having a clue what’s going on.

Kazula: I think these two could have an interesting dynamic, either romantically or not, but I’ve not seen enough to really get a feel for it, and I haven’t gotten around to any of my fic ideas for bouncing them off each other, so I can’t say much about it. But I think they have enough similarities that there’s something that could be done with them.

Ty Zula: I recently did a post on this.

MaiLee: I did a post on this as well.

Zukka: I struggle with this one. Zuko and Sokka have a solid friendship, and as I’ve said, friendship is a good basis for romance. I’ve even written a fic where Sokka is in a three-person marriage with Maiko, But I really do think there’s something more in their Bros friendship, as established by “The Boiling Rock,” than any romance could bring out. A little distance is necessary for the way they keep measuring themselves against the other, and I’d hate to lose that aspect.

Jetko: This is another one where I think the fandom over-estimates Zuko’s interest in the other party (the first being Jinko), but that’s what makes it hilariously fun. Jet as Zuko’s obsessed stalker who develops a kind of romantic fascination with him is practically canon, and Zuko dealing with that in a surly and exasperated way sounds delightful.

Zukaang: I mean, isn’t this one canon? Make Aang a girl, and I don’t think you’d have to alter a single line of dialogue in the cartoon to get the entire audience to see it. The pure hero bringing the angsty anti-villain over to side of the angels is the basis for countless romances, and “The Firebending Masters” shows wonderfully how these two would work as partners. And as the Avatar, Aang wouldn’t get subsumed into Zuko’s life as royalty. Honestly, it’s the second-best Zuko ship after Maiko, and that’s only because Maiko snuck in there with the Childhood Friends bit.

[duhragonball]

Reading your DBZ live blog I was surprised there is only two episodes of filler during the three year time skip before the androids show up. In your opinion was it a good thing they did this or do you think they should have had some more three year filler episodes so as to have less filler during the actual events of the android/cell sagas?

That throws me off too sometimes.     I remember a couple of months ago looking over the episodes that were coming up and thinking “Wow, there were only two here, weird.”   I think that just speaks to the high quality of Episodes 124 and 125.   They packed a lot of story in those two, so it’s easy to think of it as lasting longer than it did.  

It would be easy to say “Yes, more of this, please,” but we live in a world where they keep making sequels and remakes and bonus content for just about everything that’s popular.   I haven’t watched WWE in months but from what I understand they don’t bother puttiing anything cool in the third hour of Raw because everyone accepts that no one watches the entire show anymore.   Why is there a third hour?   Because the USA network finds it more profitable than running something else in that hour.    But the fans don’t want it, and WWE doesn’t know what to program for it, so it seems like a waste.   

With regards to filler episodes in anime, I get the sense that Toei only produced those for Dragon Ball when they absolutely needed to.    Generally, their preference seemed to be for adding filler scenes to pad out episodes mostly based on the manga.    But the  Frieza Saga’s structure made that very tricky to do, which is why you have so many filler episodes in and around the Trunks Saga.    I can’t really see Toei deciding to just add an extra one in for the sake of it.   

The thing you have to remember is that there were eleven filler episodes before Trunks showed up.  The Garlic Junior Saga was ten, and then Episode 118 showing what the characters were up to before Frieza came to Earth.   Then you have Trunks do his thing from 119-123, an then you get “Z Warriors Prepare” and the Driver’s Ed episode.    That’s a pretty long run, and I’m guessing if some writer pitched an episode about Tien and Yamcha having a side-story together, they would have nixed it, no matter how good it might have been.   “We’ve been doing filler for the last four months, it’s time to get back on track.”   That’s probably what they’d say.  

And I’m speaking as someone who enjoys the Garlic Junior Saga, but it generally hasn’t been well received by fans, and with good reason.   It doesn’t advance the main story, it’s missing a lot of key characters, and the plot isn’t exactly groundbreaking.   Toei’s main goal was to meet deadlines more than anything else.    Episodes 124 and 125 were much better, but they’re not necessarily indicative of Toei’s output at the time. 

I know the fanbase is fascinated with that time period, mainly because that’s when Vegeta and Bulma got together, and there’s plenty of other things that could have happened during those three years.   But I think most of the appeal is based on the mystery.   If they made a spin-off series set during that time period, I think it would disappoint a lot of people, just because it wouldn’t live up to their expectations.

I’ll give you an example: I used to be really fascinated with Darth Maul.   Where he came from, how he was trained, what he was up to before Episode I happened, and what might have happened if he survived that movie.    Then Lucusfiilm (and later Disney) actually started producing stuff with the character.   They fleshed out his origin story and resurrected him as a cyborg so he could run around in their cartoons.    I liked some of that stuff, but I think they missed some good opportunities to re-kill him in a suitably epic style.  Instead, they just sort of left him running around in the background.   He’s a side-villain in Rebels, and he’s the secret mastermind in the Solo movie, and both of those roles seem beneath a guy who used to be the Dark Lord of the Sith.    If anything, the Maul revival just proves why they were right to kill the guy in Episode I, and why there should only be two Sith Lords at a time.   A third one just dilutes the concept.  

I detest the whole chesnut about writers “giving the fans what they need, and not what they think they need.”   It’s been used as a cheap rationale for hacky writing, and nonsensical plot twists.    Even so, I think there is some wisdom to it, in the sense that you can’t just give people more even when they say they want it.  

The other thing I was thinking about recently was Michigan J. Frog, the character from the classic Chuck Jones cartoon, “One Froggy Evening.”   If you haven’t seen it, this singing, dancing frog gaslights a construction worker for seven minutes.    It’s a good cartoon, and people love the character, but there’s really no good way to do more of that.     They used the character again in the 90′s, but not in the same context.    There was a Tiny Toon Adventures short where he heckles a turtle who’s trying to to cross a busy freeway.    The WB network made him their mascot, which amounted to him singing jingles and not much else.   

Today, I discovered the obscure sequel cartoon, “Another Froggy Evening”, made in 1995 which was probably made as some sort of cross-promotion for the WB network.   But it’s just the same gag as the original 1955 cartoon.  Different characters through history find the frog, think they can make money off of his act, only he won’t sing on cue, and they suffer for their hubris.  It’s just the construction worker from the original, only he’s wearing different historical garb.  

The only innovation is the ending, where  Marvn the Martian finds Michigan, and he accepts him unconditionally, because he’s just happy to have a singing frog, whether he actually sings or not.   Also, Michigan’s croaks are apparently him speaking Martian, so Marvin likes that even better.   It’s kind of cute, but it also has nothing to do with the original appeal of the 1955 short.    I don’t think anyone liked the frog for the frog.   It was never about the character, it was the strange enigma he represented.    No one knows how he can sing or why he only does it for one person at a time.   Was he being a dick on purpose, or did humans simply misunderstand him?    I don’t think we were ever supposed to know.    I will say that my favorite thing about “Another Froggy Evening” is that they kept the metal box he was stored in from the original short.    Somehow the frog is immortal, but the metal box has always been around too, even in caveman days.   So in that, at least, Chuck Jones preserved a sense of mystery.

And that’s why you really can’t do more of Michigan J. Frog, because if you repeat the same story, it’s unoriginal, and if you take the story in new directions, you lose the original appeal.  

That’s not to say that it’s pointless to try to tell more stories with characters.    Dragon Ball Z’s cast has a much wider range than Darth Maul and Michigan J. Frog.    I just mean that sometimes it may not be worth the attempt, even if there’s popular demand for it.   Sometimes it’s best to just leave the party early. 

[zebraslovescupcakestoo]

Lucky (BBTIM AU)

This is a story about two boys named Mickey Disney and Bendy DeMon. Both who are different from each other, yet shared almost the same lives...

Early morning, he wakes up.

Knock, knock, knock on the door. (Boom boom boom!)

The first boy was woken with a smile by his early morning, blue bird friend he named Toppins who he chirped cutely from the window. They were morning buddies since he helped the little one from his fallen nest on one windy day.

The second boy was unamused by the ringing alarm clock on his night table. Yet he wasn't shy for using a hammer that he carved the 'silencer' on the handle and smashed it into pieces with rage. At least it makes his mornings feeling more 'tolerable.'

It's time for fresh up, perfect smile.

It's who they are waiting for.

After they got out of bed, they do their morning, cleaning hygiene and dress up routine.

Mickey quickly got down the stairs and went straight to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for three. Him, his big brother and Toppins. It was his turn today to make it and he was pretty good with cooking, maybe not like his brother but at least he doesn't burn the toasts or the eggs. It was a simple but a neatly well balanced breakfast with the usual lightly buttered toasts, scrambled eggs, fresh cut strawberries, blue berry muffins and his brother's favorite banana-blueberry pancakes. He even got whole grains bread and made it into crumbs for his blue little friend too!

Bendy just sluggishly dragging his knuckles on the floor into the dinning hall. Despite he wished he hasn't used a lot of energy on that alarm clock, he doesn't regret it. He sat on the dinning table and lay his head on it to catch up some shut eye. But that 'Just a few more minutes' turned 'Never mind! I can do it at my office job!' once he heard Boris coming out with a trolley filled with the 'simple' breakfast feast for today. There was monkey-bread danish, cinnamon-sugared waffles, cinnamon rolls with a delicious looking frosting, New Orleans style beignets, chocolate filled croissant and a tall glass of tomato juice. For health reasons. He was pleased that his partner was very thoughtful....  

After breakfast, they went straight to work!

They go: Isn't he lucky? This Hollywood boy.

And they say...

Mickey arrived at his father animation studio for another day of animated work. He loved to draw since he was little and he was talented too. He was everybody's favorite person to talk, hang out, and even asking for help. Granted! At first, everybody thought he was going to be a brat since his father owns the business, but they were wrong. He was like the nicest guy at work like his cartoon counter part! Sometimes he even got asked if they wanted him over at lunch break to have a friendly chat. Despite he really wanted to, he politely declined since he wanted to reserved that as a little 'bro time' with Oswald.

Bendy went to work in his Joey Drew Studio the Third. He was greeted by his subordinates making a welcoming bow as their usual morning routine. Anyone who works there knew the rules when Bendy is 'in' for work. He runs a tight ship aside a really awful tyrant attitude. Despite they get pair very well, it was a literal nightmare working under him. They worked for double time cause he wanted them twelve episodes up on time in less than four days, sometimes one of them is being used as a ottoman for his feet, and sometimes he fired some people and he keeps their pay as a choice. You either live without it or die with it were the options. He was one of the perfect example of a spoiled brat. His father was the original owner and then his uncle Henry took over until he bought it from him. All they can do is try not to suck in his presence or say anything awful about him.

But to these two, it was only their 'public' image only 'they' knew.

He's so lucky, he's a star.

...Yet only the very few knew the 'real' person behind those masks they wear.

But he cry, cry, cries in his lonely heart, thinking:

If there's nothing missing in my life, then why do these tears come at night?

In the afternoon, it was a bit different for each day depending on the week. Yet they would always find time for their favorite big bros!

Mickey would make sure that he would finish all his work for today before he can go see his big brother at their amusement park his father wanted to open soon. Nobody knows much about him apart he's related to himself, but he wanted to be there for him and always make sure he gets noticed whenever he gets the chance. He always look up to him since they were little and he was the reason why he didn't became one of those spoiled rich kids and was very considerate to other people. He's also multi-talented like him, but different.

Mickey was charismatic, enthusiastic and has a very positive personality. Oswald was mysterious, serious and realistic type. But they were thick as thieves and they try their best to see in each others perspectives whenever they had a minor argument. But apart from that, Mickey knew one of his big brother's hidden talent and not so much of a secret that he never shared to anyone.

Ever since they were hearing the newest upstart singer Elvis Presley, Oswald was an instant fan! He got all of his vinyls songs up to date, he was doing those signature dance moves and best of all, he was a really good singer! Oh, did he forgot to mentioned that he can play the guitar too? He switched from piano. He was deeply touched on his birthday when Mickey got him the Elvis style jacket in his favorite color.

He arrived at the attraction and he spotted him working on those bumper cars. He wanted to greet him until he spotted a couple of his mechanical friends that beat him to it and he quickly hid behind the cotton candy machine. It's not that he didn't like them, it's just that every time he comes in his group of friends, they somewhat ignored his brother's presence for the whole conversations and that bothers him. So at the very least, he wanted to let him have some meaningful conversation in his co-working buddies without any 'huge' distraction like himself. The small talk didn't last much long but it seems like they were in good mood. After they left, he got out of his hiding spot and meet up with him.

Bendy was a bit picky on how he spends his afternoons. Depending on the week days, he was a 'busy' guy.

Today, he was going to revisit the CEO of an ice cream company named Frezzies Treatsies. He wanted to make some Bendy special treats for his promotional business tactics in the 'public' industry. He wanted those Bendy ans Boris shaped ice cream sandwiched with their best of the best they've got. He had taste tested their sample before and he paid a very good price for it too. Until that sonavagun cheated out of their deal and it tasted like icy sand with half-descent cream fillings when he received the first batch 'samples.'

When that happened, he calls his big guns and his best man, Boris Wolfenstein. He's the only person in this world that he would care from whatever he's got left in him. He was there at his worst and he deserves 'only' the best after him.

They LOVE to greet their business partners in these cases with a surprise, a friendly greeting, talking like gentlemen and find a solution to the problem...

By that I mean they kick down the door of the CEO, yelled 'F*k you, you double crossing sonavab!tch!,' beat the crap out of the guy until he's left breathing and told him to get their next year supply orders for what they've originally agreed on with half the price or they'll cut him up and fit into one of those smaller ice cream tubs!

Bendy always like to let Boris do most of the beating... it's like watching an skillful pottery artist making something out of a lump of clay but different...

Both boys love to spend their quality time with their favorite older brother.

Lost in an image, in his dream

But there's no one there to wake him up.

After work, they both had the evening to spend their time.

Mickey wished he didn't agreed to replace his father in a special interview that moment cause he wanted to help Oswald with their 'special' project, despite he said that he was alright to do it by himself for the evening. It may been a request by his father, but he still wished he could have picked a different evening, but he guessed it's all ready been done with him in his best tuxedo night and all freshen up for the shoot.

The interview went pretty well and the guy who was there was really swell. He told him all about his personal life and how's it going right now. He was even happier when he told on one of the stories about his older brother.

One time when he was ten, he was being pick on by a few kids that made fun of his unusual signature bun curls. At first he just brushes them off until they repeated the teasing everyday whenever he goes out in the public and it bothers him. His brother found that out and he told him to say to them that he was just made extra special and that they were just jealous.

However, he left out in the interview the other part that his brother told him that if they keep picking on him, he wanted him to say: 'My brother can eliminate you punks in one brawl because he's a black belt!'

Bendy's evenings is also varies depending the day.

He would have some spare time to read today's paper or watching some television. Mostly the news.

He's not really interested on events or the weather forecasts, what he's REALLY interested is BAD news. Because he's an entropy fan and he loves misery especially when it involves death.

He doesn't care about politics unless it's one of those nincompoops that's going against him, nor the news about a baby animal being born at the zoo unless it's something useful like an alligator, a lion or any meat eating animal that's going to help him dispose 'dead meats,' he wanted to see the whole world crash and burn! If it happened in THIS town he would call out to Boris and said: Let's go look for the bodies!

So far there's only the 'good' news on the television for tonight, pity. He turns it off and reads the papers instead. Which he instantly regret cause there was a picture of that ace detective rival, Felix Cat.

In THIS section and what it was told, Felix has successfully stopped one of his secret 'personal' smuggling drugs for his 'other' job and that was the third time he busted his hide out! He gritted his teeth as he crumbled the morning paper into a ball and tosses it in the fireplace.

“Stupid @$$, street cat, money loosing, ace defective, motherf#kr!” He cussed out as he took out a pack of match, light up the stick and tosses it in the fireplace to watch it burned to crisp in a matter of seconds. At least the sight of something burning lifted his mood a bit...

At least until later for tonight... he smug an idea of what to do.

And the world is spinning, when he keeps on winning.

But tell me, what happens when it stops?

At night, they were different from the public view... if they knew.

Mickey and Oswald were vigilantes for justice. They wanted to help the victims from the injustice. Since they were the future CEOs of the Disney Animations, they have access to the elites and wealthy businessmen that gave them the advantages of knowing their 'enemies' and their money safe.

On one occasion, they robbed the wealthy crooks to give back to the poor. Another was to take down a group of thugs that causes troubles for their neighborhood.

Mickey's special paints he crafted can make wondrous things. How it was possible and how he created it was his secret...

His older brother Oswald, was an inventor extraordinaire. He crafted most of their weaponry and he also just made two motorcycles just for their operations with the help of his little brother.

Their code names were Souris and Lapin. The media and the press called them the modern day Robin Hood or one of the comic book super heroes. Either way, they were very well praised by the public.

Bendy was then switched to the mafia boss.

On tonight's schedule, he was going to visit the 'mold.' A.K.A. One of the authorities of the law enforcements. He got a tip from the inside that there was some evidence against him and he decided to get rid of it.

Once that was done, he went to the abandoned docks and immediately made a bonfire to get rid of the evidence. This place was an ideal spot for getting away with almost anything, including a self-made fire pit with an old barrel. Anyone with a half of brain would be smart enough not to even go here...

Unless you have been on a hit man’s shopping list.

There was a gang of five guys... Nothing special to them aside they were armed... He had experience under his belt to tell that they are freshmen from a rival mafia. Either it was an order, a death wish, or it was just to please their bosses and go up in their ranks the 'easy' way. Pitiful.

Seems he needs to 'teach' them who's in charge and who not to mess with. Not that he planned to let them lived, it did makes him 'smile' from his mood earlier this evening...

They go: Isn't he lucky? This Hollywood boy.

And they say...

Mickey and his brother Oswald were just out on parole to look out a certain biker group that causes trouble at their favorite soda shop they liked to go when they have their day off. Not only that, it was popular among the kids and people alike. They spotted them outside of the shop, grafting the widows and walls with disturbing images...

Mickey MAY have done this in the past, but he doesn't write offensive languages and paint naked women with his art work...

“I knew this is going to bite me in the rear one day... but at least I can become a better person.” He then took out a paint grenade and tosses it at the center of the gang. One of then noticed it and just before he was going to say something, it exploded and all of the purple liquid surrounded their feet have glued them down. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't break free of their situation.

The three guys were unable to escape from their sticky situation. Which is exactly what it was supposed to do. At least until you add water to disperse it... but he's not gonna tell that to them. Then they leaped out from their shadows with their paint guns readied and they unload a round of paint balls at them. It stung them a bit with their green and yellow colored 'bullets' but the hooligans smelled something weird from them... it didn't took them long to realized they were knock out gas as they passed out on the purple glue.

They both high five as they celebrated another peace keeping victory of the night.

Bendy have made the first move with a quick draw from his knives hidden from his left sleeves. He turned from his left side and swing his left arm to throw his knives at the group. Only four of them hit the foreheads... Leaving the last one standing. Meh! He though. He smirked at his remaining visitor with his glowing red eyes and it made the newbie petrified, even though he already had his pistol drawn.

He then rapidly launched himself forward and it made the newbie shoot him. Unfortunately for him, Bendy was trained to dodge bullets and he's showing the soon-to-be departed newbie who you should NEVER mess with without paying a heavy price. Bendy then took out his signature knife, the Red Velvet, as his finishing weapon. He sliced it upwards to take out the gun and then he quick jabbed multiple times to the abs and stomach, sending more gushing blood on his cheap outfit. At least he was the smarter one with experience AND fashion sense. He took a step back to let him drop on his right knee while he struggled to breathe.

“When you reached the gates of h3ll, say hello to my pops for me once you've met him.” He then grabbed a fist full of his back hair, pulls him back and then slowly slid deep his throat. The sound of his final blood-curling scream is his king of music to his ears... Aside from Boris' clarinet pieces.

Once he stops moving, he then lets go of his head as it hit the pavement and then watched more blood that is now coming out of his body. Such a satisfying site to see after a little work out, for him. He then noticed his loyal right hand man along with three others who were 'volunteered' as escorts, or extra security, came rushing in with some blood stains on them.

Guess that explains why these insects came to him under Boris' watchful eye, but then again like he stated, he had a swell time!

He's so lucky, he's a star.

Once they got back home to their bedrooms, they revealed their 'true' image that nobody wanted them to see.

Both of them took a huge yet quiet sigh of relief and frowned... Both of them got in their jammies... and then slid into bed.

After a long day of work, day and night, they then took out from their secret compartment that's hidden from anyone who knew them. Both of them... had an old picture frame. Of their prime teenage year at a local pizzaria.

But he cry, cry, cries in his lonely heart, thinking:

If there's nothing missing in my life, then why do these tears come at night?

Both of them stared at the picture group for quite some time.

Weather you believed it or not, both these boys were once a trio along with Oswald. Both used to be good friends from one another.

“Why did you had to be this way?” Mickey sadly whispered at Bendy's image.

“Why did you abandoned me for something I was trained to do?” Bendy angrily scoffed at the Disney brother's faces.

He is so lucky! But why does he cry?

“We used to be best of friends... We were so similar in a way and... You were like a second brother to us.” Mickey tried to find the good in him.

“I thought I could trust you two... Have someone who I can relate... At least have a backbone to do the impossibles like I could have done only better!” Bendy tried to be detached of his true feelings.

If there is nothing missing in his life, why do tears come at night?!

“Why did you do it? Why did you broke that no-kill policy under our team name? That man didn't deserved it!” Mickey then started to sob a bit.

“I was a fool to think you knew better. You both knew I was already in a mafia family! You both knew they came before you two rodents! I had to leave no witness that night! You don't know me THAT well, just like the other living miserable worms!” Bendy silently lashes out at them.

Then they had enough. They placed it back in their secret compartments before their emotions escalated more than it should.

He's so lucky, he's a star!

They then broke down in tears.

But they cry, cry cries in their lonely hearts thinking...

They were upset.

Mickey thought of many reasons why Bendy had to do it. He knew that he was part of a mafia family. He knew that he always had a sneaky yet a dark sense of humor. He used to trust him so easily, like a true friend would.

Bendy also was thinking of the reasons why they did left him alone. He knew long ago about Mickey as a child star at the age of nine until he met him and his brother personally. He was to be honest, was happy that they had a wild knack of sense of humors similar to his. He did too, used to trust them like a true friend.

If there's nothing missing in their life...

And now after that faithful night, their thrusts were shattered and their bonds were broken.

Mickey was heartbroken and was in a depressed state once they've returned to California. It took almost a week to convince himself, along side with his brother, father and some of his animation friends from their family's studio to move on.

After that incident, he was more careful of who he wanted to be friends with. He wasn't gonna turned pessimistic over everybody just for that one incident, but he will be more cautious like his brother would be on who to trust from now on.

Bendy was also heartbroken but angry instead. It took him about a week too, but he was in Boris' care after they learned what happened between them. (Because only Boris can calm him down.) He even took more jobs that's normally preferred to the other lowly members, but Bendy said that he needed to vend out his 'frustrations.' In truths, he was just finding ways to keep 'them' off his mind....

Once he was 'over with it,' he was determined not to be emotionally vulnerable like that again. He would never trust any new comers until they've proven themselves to him and also, he would never let anyone who had similar 'interests' be his 'acquaintances' on the spot. Also, they will be shot on his site if ever they did left him like they did.

Why do these tears come at night?

After they cried their eyes out, they fell asleep. They knew that nothing that they can do now can change the past. What's been done it's done. They learned their adult lessons in a hard way, but they did find a solution that fits both of them.

It's not that they took that photo out every night, but they've kept it as a memento of the good times they used to have and why they needed to be stronger as a person.

“Tomorrow's another day...” Bendy said before he sleeps.

“Maybe one day, it will be better.” Mickey cheered himself up before he too sleeps off.

He's so lucky, he's a star!

But he cry, cry, cries in their lonely hearts thinking:

If there's nothing missing in my life, then why do these tears come at night?

-----AUTHOR’S NOTES------

It’s been almost three months since I’ve started to write this one shot. Mainly due to work and lack of motivations.... And updates, youtube, and other stuff...

The Song was from an early 2000′s music era. back when they still had some good songs and one of early Britney Spears’ songs titled Lucky.

The music video depicted about how one girl  despite seemingly having it all – fame, wealth, beauty – is truly lonely and unhappy on the inside. So I imagine how Bendy and Mickey would feel the same way in a manner of daily lives they live at the moment.

If I wrote it incorrectly of their characters, I’m sorry. If you had a hard time understanding the fighting situation, I’m sorry for that too cause I suck on combat explanations.

I was just as curious on the canon story line of how Bendy, Mickey and Oswald met and why are they on rocky terms at the moment. The only info I’ve gotten were from pasts question posts and arts. Maybe in the later chapters I might get a better picture of their relations.

Anyways, this is just an AU of the BBTIM AU, It’s non canon but it’s just a pass time until the next comic pages are up.

BBTIM characters like humanized Mickey and Bendy belongs to Marini4.

[domargo22]

Let's talk about Voltron

I need to make a premise here: I'm Italian, so I didn't have an easy access to the show. Like, the first two seasons aired THIS YEAR on Netflix (I think also on television somewhere, but the house I'm in doesn't have one so I never bothered to find out). And it is still like that. The last season will air on friday (to my understanding) and we still don't know where the hell Shiro went, who is that Lotor guy and if Zarkon is still alive.

So, grinding my teeth in frustration (I am your typical legal neutral person, with big difficulties with understanding made-up english words in strange accents), I found and watched it.

And what a wonder it was!

First of all, the art! I loved the colours, the sceneries, the characters and their expressions! That was really well done.

I loved the plot too. As I am familiar with japanese genres, I would describe it as a mix between a shounen and a seinen. Made for giving you an adrenaline high, with power jumps miraculously there when needed, but still with character growth (not distributed equally, I admit, but everyone got theirs time to shine) and deep themes. Nothing like ATLA, but I don't think they aimed at the same type of story. I especially liked the fact that with Zarkon death the plot didn't stop. There was all this arc with the fallout and chaos of the Galra Empire, a logical theme of course, but rarely seen in cartoons. Usually when the big bad guy died, there was immediately an happy ever after.

I also appreciated the twists the show pulled sometimes. Such as Keith's parentage, Pidge real identity, MATT, the shift of the lions, LOTOR, and so on. Still pissed about Coran taking a frustrating amount of episodes to remember he had the crystal from the Castle around his neck (if he said "oh, if only we had a crystal" one more time, I would have zapped myself inside their universe to beat him). Also, I don't know how, but apparently I managed to avoid the spoilers about what was inside the overpowered robeast, so here I am, still in shock since half an hour ago, when I finished the last episode.

I admit there was an excessive amount of Deus ex Machina moments, but, I repeat, shounen.

Important mention: Adam. What the hell?!? I'll be clear, being on the edge of the fandom I wasn't that indignant after knowing they killed him, because I didn't know they had promised representation. I said to myself 'let's see how they did it'. And it was horrible. Seriously, not enough to make me regret watching the show, but enough to interrupt my concentration during the viewing. During. The. First. Viewing. I couldn't shake the feeling that he was better suited for the role they gave to James. Adam was already characterised, in par with Veronica, was a senior pilot and, as he was the first in the comms and last to fall, I guess he was a good pilot. Why giving Griffin's generation the opportunity lo learn the simulator and not to already expert pilots? Especially when Admiral Sanda thought so little about cadets? I had for more than half season 7 the constant undertone that instead of one good character we were given two half-baked ones in James and Adam.

Obviously, I can't exclude ships in this post. I know ships are important in the vld fandom, but, after seeing it in it's entirety, I can't fathom why. It's so NOT a central part of the plot. It's an action based show, almost promising from the start an epilogue romance at best. Still, as I myself discovered Voltron through a random Klance image years ago, I would like to talk about them (and here you can stop reading if you don't want to risk hearing negative things about yours).

At first I was a Klancer. Its aesthetic, the chemistry and potential I saw in those two first seasons...it was good, and possible. But then it all faded. I'm sorry, I know a lot of you saw in season 3 this big romance bud, ready to blossom, but I just can't. All I could see, all the writers wanted me to see, was an almost healthy friendship. Lance is a support, a leg, from the start, and his role in the team remains despite changing lion. And Keith learns to accept his and others help. It is still growth, but I couldn't read it as romantic, because the camera didn't want me to. No zooms or details, no strange references made by other characters and so on. And I could justify it as sublte enough to not be caught by my oblivious self, if it wasn't for the occurrence of all the above between Lance and Allura.

I will be clear, I don't particularly ship Allurance. I simply think they are the more probable couple as it is now. Since Lance's awe at her in the scene we first see Allura using the bayard as a whip, it is implied his flirting is no more a comic relief, but a deeper affection. Was I pissed at her lukewarm romance with Lotor? Yes, but more because I, being involved in the fandom before watching the series, was seriously biased on Lotura. It's a pity, I liked, and still like their aesthetic, but I wasn't able to judge it fairly because I knew it ended.

As for Sheith, Shiro and Keith's whole relationship is borderline romantic, until Keith murders it with the declaration he sees a brother in Shiro, in a 'we're going to die' situation. He had nothing to gain lying in that moment.

I won't examine other ships further, as the only other interactions I could read as romantic are: Keith and Acxa (well played the 'saving each other' trope that started since the Weblum, but Keith kinda nipped that with groaning at the sole mention of her crushing on him, so I'm hesitant here), Lance defending Pidge from Ezor (cutest moment ever, but one scene in 7 season is simply not enough), Sam reminiscing flirting with his wife while watching Pidge and Hunk argue (their reaction and the totality of their relationship kinda screams friendship to me, though), and, ugh, Keith and James exchange (what was that? Posturing? 'Oh, look at that, the asshole is back'? What. Was. That. Long. Ass. Silent. Scene).

So, in short, I loved Voltron (despite having years to bulid an excessive expectation from it), I hate James Griffin's role (you damn Keith wannabe), and Keith win the crown as the savage murderer of ships.

(I know I missed a lot of points, but this is my heated first impression, and is not to be taken as complete or unbiased; and I'm still kinda grieving about Klance T-T)

[aion-rsa]

RiffTrax: A Guide to Christmas and Holiday Episodes

https://ift.tt/3p3xspq

Since its inception, RiffTrax has regularly visited the crazy world of Christmas movies and shorts because when you get down to it, Christmas is a crazy time and Santa’s such a rich concept that it’s easy to go completely off the rails with him. Here’s a look at all the various Christmas-related movies they’ve watched. Luckily, all of them are available on-demand, so you can buy them and download the entire movie with the audio already synced up.

A handful of the shorts were featured in previous editions of RiffTrax Live, but are also available on their own. Then there’s the Christmas Shorts-stravaganza, which not only featured a bunch of Christmas-based short films, but also a film about serving pork and some kind of competitive swimming event. Weird Al was there too! At the show…not…not the swimming event.

Like when I discussed the 30 Most Insane RiffTrax Shorts, I’m going to give both the lucid explanation of what each short or movie is supposed to be in a sane, reasonable world and what we actually get.

You can check out RiffTrax’s collection of Christmas movies and shorts right her.

“Now, come on. Let me show you the rest.” “No, really, I have to go, I…”

NESTOR THE LONG-EARED CHRISTMAS DONKEY (1977)

The Idea: Remember how great the Rankin/Bass stop-motion version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was? It was such a classic that people watch every year as a holiday tradition. Expanding on that world, the same company released Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, figuring they’d spin another classic out of a more religious context. In it, Nestor undergoes some hardships due to the massive size of his ears, but is chosen to help Joseph and the pregnant Mary make it to Bethlehem.

The Output: You remember how Rudolph went, right? He was teased for a bit for being different, but that led to him discovering lovable, memorable characters and getting into fantastic adventures before proving his worth and showing that his so-called deformity was really his greatest strength. Okay, now imagine that exact story, only remove the lovable, memorable characters.

Then take that part of the movie where he’s teased and stretch it so it makes up 95% of the story. Hell, just make the thing completely depressing. There. You have Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey.

Read more

Movies

MST3K: A Christmas Episodes Guide for Mystery Science Theater 3000

By Gavin Jasper

Movies

The 21 Best Christmas Horror Movies

By Rosie Fletcher and 5 others

This is an earlier RiffTrax release, so the only one on it is Mike. Hearing one riffer can be a little off-putting, but it’s worth it to see such a terrible rewrite of Rudolph without any of the magic. Oh, and spoilers for a 40-year-old holiday special, but Nestor ends up becoming best buddies with the man who killed his mother and it’s never explained because it’s at the very end of the movie. I guess Jesus being born really packed a punch.

“Introducing Chewbacca’s family!” “And many scream-yourself-awake nightmares!”

STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL (1978)

The Idea: In a time when Empire Strikes Back was far from release but the studios wanted to keep Star Wars in the public’s mind so they’ll keep buying their merchandise, it was decided to bring the cast in for a prime-time holiday special in the ’70s. Based on Han Solo trying to get Chewbacca home to his family in time for Wookie Life Day, the special features everyone from Luke to Vader with special guest stars Art Carney and Bea Arthur. It also has an animated short that gives us the very first appearance of Boba Fett!

The Output: Whenever I try to explain the Star Wars Holiday Special to someone who has never seen it or even heard of it, I point out that George Lucas, known for being a pretty greedy guy, refused to make money off of it in any way. He would never release the Holiday Special in any format because he was that disgusted by it. I don’t blame him because if not for Mike, Kevin, and Bill, I wouldn’t have been able to sit through it myself.

Read more

TV

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader Had a Rematch Before A New Hope

By John Saavedra

TV

100 Best Christmas TV Episodes of All Time

By Wesley Mead

Each segment appears to be more horrific than the last. We get huge stretches of time where Chewbacca’s family just kind of meanders around their household, growling at each other, with no subtitles. There are “comedy” and musical bits that are just a slog to sit through. One such bit appears to be Chewbacca’s father Itchy watching virtual reality porn. Not even kidding. Mark Hamill is covered in enough makeup to put the studio in the red from their cosmetics budget, Harrison Ford looks like he’d rather be doing anything else, Carrie Fisher is pretty high, and Bea Arthur sings lyrics over the “Cantina Song.” It’s a glorious Hell.

As the cherry on top, the version they watch has all the 1970s commercials completely intact. One of which features Schneider from One Day at a Time!

“He always has loads of fun.” “Why, here he is in Dallas in 1963!”

A VISIT TO SANTA (1963)

The Idea: A couple of kids send a letter to Santa Claus, asking to visit him at the North Pole before Christmas. Santa decides it’s a good idea and has them picked up and brought over in a magic helicopter. He shows Dick and Ann around his home and talks for a moment about how he spreads yuletide cheer through Thanksgiving parades. Then they ride around on a rocket and look at Santa’s prized train set.

The Output: It’s summed up perfectly when Kevin notes, “Interesting. I didn’t know that David Lynch made a Christmas film.” The whole production is very creepy, reminiscent of Manos: Hands of Fate’s cinematography. With all the many Santas that the RiffTrax guys have seen over the years, this one is probably the least jolly (that is, until A Song for Santa). He comes off as a deranged murder suspect trying to lay low with a disguise. In fact, everything about this short is suspect, like the elves, who are really just little kids in miniskirts.

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Movies

Why Chronicles of Narnia’s Santa Claus Celebrates Christmas with Weapons of War

By Juliette Harrisson

Movies

Christmas Movies: A Complete Holiday Streaming Guide

By Alec Bojalad and 1 other

Dick and Ann only have a few lines in the opening and thank God for that. We can understand maybe five percent of anything they have to say.

“Ah, good. Finally, on the silver screen, the be-top-hatted spider-dog of my nightmares. Unless…I’m just having another nightmare.”

CHRISTMAS TOYSHOP (1945)

The Idea: As two kids are put to bed on Christmas Eve, their father tries to set up the tree and all the gifts downstairs. He stumbles around and the ruckus makes them think – in their dreams – that Santa just fell down the chimney. Sharing the same dream, they go downstairs and greet Santa. The little girl asks about where the toys come from and Santa tells the story of a magical toy shop. From here, it becomes a cartoon about living toys having fun when the shop owner is gone.

The Output: The animated sequence is your usual old, black and white cartoon fare. A bunch of toys do stuff for several minutes, including a forgettable musical number, then a plot suddenly happens at the end. Here, it’s an evil spider showing up to try and kidnap a toy of Little Miss Muffet, causing the toy soldiers to come to her rescue.

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Movies

20 Christmas Movies for Badasses

By Michael Reed

Movies

The Mystery Picture on the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation DVD Cover

By Daniel Langrish-Beard

Somehow, the live-action segment is supposed to be a framing device and everything about the cartoon is being related by Santa. Why he’s telling them about a spider kidnapping a toy, I don’t know, but there you go.

This won’t be the last questionable piece of Santa Claus storytelling. We’ll get to that in a bit.

“Wow. I have literally never seen anything as small and of no account as this tree.”

CHRISTMAS RHAPSODY (1947)

The Idea: A lonely, tiny tree sits in the middle of the snowy forest, feeling itself worthless and meaningless. To its surprise, it’s taken in by a family and set up in their cabin. They decorate it for Christmas and give it the meaning it had been wanting for all this time.

The Output: You know, this one is almost decent, at least in concept. The basic Christmas moral buried in there is rather touching. Too bad the short has two things working against it. One, it’s really boring. Two, the tree is such a sad sack and won’t shut up about how much it sucks. It keeps explaining itself as being small and of no account, which will get your eyes rolling after the eighth time it repeats that.

There’s really nothing else to talk about here. Well, maybe the father’s creepy scalp.

“I need you tonight.” “WHOA!”

RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (1948)

The Idea: No, not the Rankin/Bass cartoon we all know and love. This animated short is a completely different adaptation of the Rudolph song, predating the stop-motion special by decades. Rudolph is still made fun of for his nose and Santa needs his help due to a foggy night, but don’t expect to see his elf dentist buddy or the abominable snowman.

The Output: Other than the missing characters (which isn’t a criticism, since this came first and those guys weren’t mentioned in the song), the biggest difference in this telling is Rudolph’s status. The Rankin/Bass version made sense in that Santa had a bunch of reindeer living at the North Pole, so of course Santa would come across Rudolph. Here, Rudolph lives in a reindeer civilization. According to this short, animals live like humans around the globe in different sectors (ie. a rabbit-only town) and the only known human being is Santa Claus.

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TV

Doctor Who: revisiting Steven Moffat’s Christmas specials

By Mark Harrison

Movies

17 Movies Secretly About Christmas You Need to Watch

By Mike Cecchini and 4 others

Oh, man. Maybe this is a sequel to Peace on Earth. Pretend you know what I’m talking about.

Another high spot is Rudolph’s mother, who is for some reason shown completely dressed, walking on her hind legs, and having almost human proportions. The riffers all find themselves sexually confused by this.

“Watch this!” “I saw Bam Margera do this on Jackass!”

A CHRISTMAS DREAM (1946)

The Idea: A little girl is happy to receive a few new toys on Christmas. So happy that she discards her older, rattier doll. As she goes to sleep that night, Santa decides to teach her a lesson about the value of one’s belongings by giving her a dream where her old doll comes to life to plead for her attention.

The Output: This is live-action and the doll is depicted with stop-motion animation. To this short’s credit, the animation is incredibly well done, especially for such an old film. It’s also really horrifying and the riffers don’t stop harping on that. The little girl is so excited when any sane person would be in a fear coma.

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Movies

The Strange History of the Die Hard Movies

By Ryan Lambie

TV

Doctor Who: revisiting Russell T. Davies’ Christmas specials

By Mark Harrison

Also, Santa can make you dream whatever he wants. I didn’t know that. That’s disturbing and a far bigger threat than getting coal in your stocking. All he needs are elves in the background, playing jump rope.

“One, two…you better not shout… Three, four…you better not cry… Five, six…you better not pout… Seven, eight…I’m telling you why…”

“Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!” “Well, Happy Christmas to the one household I visited! The rest of the planet can ram it for all I care!”

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1946)

The Idea: We all know the famous poem A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore. This is another adaptation of it, though without the bickering cartoon mice. Rather, we see Santa as he visits a home, delivers gifts, and flies off into the night.

The Output: This is one of the most reasonable of all the entries here because there isn’t much you can do to screw up that classic. The only questionable stuff is how rather than have any kind of special effects budget, shots of Santa flying off on his sleigh are done through animation and go back to live-action in close-ups. Otherwise, it’s fairly forgettable amongst the other freaky shorts and movies they watch.

Still, it is a dick move of Santa to give one kid a tiny toy shovel for Christmas. Who the hell would want that?

“Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in 150-plus movies, RiffTrax has nothing to say.” “Just this…enjoy.”

SANTA AND THE ICE CREAM BUNNY (1972)

The Idea: Santa is stranded in the sands of Florida. His sleigh is partially buried in the sand and his reindeer have abandoned him. He calls over a group of children to help him get the sleigh out of the ground, but to no avail. Santa insists that they don’t give up and relates their situation to the story of Thumbelina (or Jack and the Beanstalk). Luckily, the kids know one magical creature who just might be able to help Santa and make sure Christmas is saved.

The Output: God, where do I even start with this? It’s hard to sit through, but this is one of the most must-see riffs.

The Ice Cream Bunny is practically a mascot for RiffTrax (sorry, Disembaudio). It’s bad in every way. It’s an inconceivable mess. The Santa parts are embarrassing to watch and make you feel really uneasy in its disturbing, low-rent cheesiness. Then you’re rescued from it thanks to Santa telling the story of Thumbelina. By that I mean that they play a completely separate movie with a higher budget that has absolutely nothing to do with the Santa situation. This “flashback” is 50 minutes long and the entire movie is an hour and a half, so yeah. The Thumbelina stuff is also creepy to watch, if not boring at times, but it’s worth powering through.

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Movies

A Complete History of RiffTrax Live

By Gavin Jasper

Movies

The Rod Serling Christmas Movie You Never Saw

By Chris Farnell

Once we return to Santa, we’re finally introduced to the Ice Cream Bunny. Words cannot do this justice. It’s a guy in a terrible rabbit suit driving a fire truck filled with kids when the guy most certainly can’t see what he’s doing and almost runs over a dog. There’s this really unsavory feeling watching what’s supposed to be a delightful movie for children and Bill kills it by adding a horrifying, demented laugh whenever the Ice Cream Bunny is on screen.

RiffTrax has two different versions of the movie. One is the classic VOD released in 2010, where the movie takes a lengthy break to show us the stuff with Thumbelina. In 2015, they did a RiffTrax Live edition with a different print of the movie. In it, the Thumbelina stuff was replaced with Jack and the Beanstalk. Comparing the two is a no-brainer as Jack and the Beanstalk is far more entertaining on its own and is 70s as hell. Plus the RiffTrax Live version includes several bonkers shorts beforehand.

“The sequel to The Ice Cream Bunny’s Amos and Andy!”

SANTA CLAUS’ PUNCH AND JUDY (1948)

The Idea: Santa visits a large group of children (orphans?) and delivers their presents, but one of them asks for a Punch and Judy puppet show. Santa uses his magic to summon such a performance to the delight of the children.

The Output: Have you ever watched a Punch and Judy show? Yeah, nobody goes out of their way to see one. There’s nothing all that wrong with the kids, Santa, or the setup in this short. The focus is just on what I imagine to be a skilled exhibition of puppeteering that hasn’t aged well. Just a puppet beating his girlfriend with a stick, as well as various animals, and we get a break where two minstrel show puppets have a boxing match. So yeah, fun for children.

“He’s like some horrible Soviet Bloc animated version of Santa.” “His nose looks like an infected thumb!”

THE SHANTY WHERE SANTY CLAUS LIVES (1933)

The Idea: A poor little boy live alone and in the cold, doomed to freeze on Christmas Eve. Luckily, he’s discovered by Santa, who takes him away to his own home, where the kid sees all sorts of wonders.

The Output: First thing’s first, the Santa Claus in this movie is rather horrific, one of the scariest of all the Santas in all of these movies, which is impressive for a cartoon. Despite being the title character, he only gets about a minute of screen time anyway. The rest is either the kid being depressed and cold or the kid watching yet another old-timey cartoon scenario where the toys just kind of do stuff and sing for several minutes until something resembling a plot happens at the end. In this case, the tree accidentally catches on fire and the boy has to help put it out.

The most striking thing about this short is the never-ending parade of racism. Lot of uncomfortable toys lounging in the shanty where Santy Claus lives.

“Ooooooh, I’m full grown, all right!” “Kids, if you ever hear someone say that in that voice, call the cops.”

MAGIC CHRISTMAS TREE (1964)

The Idea: A child befriends a witch around Halloween and is given a seed that will eventually sprout a magical Christmas tree. Not only does it talk, but it will also grant him three wishes! Unfortunately, the power goes to the boy’s head and his poor decisions put Christmas in some serious danger.

The Output: While it may not be the absolute best RiffTrax, it’s the best kind of bad movie for them to tackle. The movie is incredibly strange, but it gradually builds on it. In the beginning, it’s almost straightforward, but it gets more and more questionable as the minutes pass. For instance, there’s a scene where the main character’s family leaves to go Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. The boy makes a wish to have ultimate power for a limited time (why a limited time? I don’t know) and uses his power to make it day and then goes around messing with people who are doing their usual daily routines, not at all aware that it’s supposed to be the night before Christmas.

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Movies

The Best Alternative Christmas movies

By Mark Harrison

Movies

Disney+ Christmas Movies for Kids: The Best Family Films to Watch this Holiday Season

By Alana Joli Abbott

By the end, we have a greed-loving giant living in the mountains showing up out of nowhere. What Christmas movie isn’t complete without a greed-loving giant living in the mountains showing up out of nowhere?

“And in the second place, ice cream break was over more than an hour ago!” “Ah, kids love it when furries have labor disputes.”

SANTA’S ENCHANTED VILLAGE (1964)

The Idea: As a sequel/extension of the Mexican Santa Claus movie (more on that later), we see a village where Santa’s various helpers get toys ready for the holiday season. Unfortunately, Stinky the Skunk would rather take extremely long breaks, much to the chagrin of his supervisor, the Ferocious Wolf.

The Output: By “sequel” I mainly mean that the guy who made this had the rights to the Santa Claus movie and would occasionally toss in clips from it. The original footage in this short (and the two that follow) are incredibly low-rent, mainly in the form of the mascot costume characters and their terrible voices. Most notable is how the Ferocious Wolf is accompanied by loud, obnoxious accordion noises whenever he walks around. Which is a lot.

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Movies

The Best Christmas Movie Soundtracks of All Time

By Ivan Radford

TV

The Best Christmas Movies Available on Netflix

By Alec Bojalad

One of the true highlights is when the Ferocious Wolf visits Santa’s office and rants about how Stinky the Skunk is such a bad employee. Santa’s reaction is to just sit there the entire time, nodding and laughing his ass off like a lunatic. Which reminds me, the Ferocious Wolf complaining about his ulcer is – I kid you not – his catchphrase.

“Hey! Right here at this moment, this officially became the craziest thing ever made by man.” “Seriously, Merry Christmas, everyone. Merry Christmas.”

SANTA CLAUS AND HIS HELPERS (1964)

The Idea: The Ferocious Wolf, Stinky the Skunk, and Puss’n Boots get in a big argument and Santa is none too pleased. Watching from space along with his good friend Merlin, Santa decides to go give his angry employees a visit and set them straight.

The Output: This installment of the Santa’s Village of Madness Trilogy is easily the least coherent. Seeing the costumed characters is complete bedlam and even the riffers give up in awe of the chaos. Not only is half of the footage of this short taken directly from Santa Claus, but a couple minutes are taken from Santa’s Enchanted Village! But hey, no angry accordion music this time, so that’s something.

“Whoa! He’s got a face like a squid’s anus!”

SANTA’S MAGIC KINGDOM (1966)

The Idea: Puss’n Boots is the head of security in Santa’s Village and he confronts a visitor. It turns out to be a princess on the run from a giant ogre that’s out to destroy Santa Claus and end Christmas! Puss needs to gather an army together to face this beast and save Christmas.

The Output: So this giant ogre? They never actually show him. Well, except for a shot of a lame dinosaur statue that we see for a second. I don’t know if that’s actually supposed to be the ogre. Whatever. Otherwise, the narrative is just another fever dream filmed with the tiniest budget. Merlin ends up being the one to challenge the big monster and what a fight it is! I think. They never actually show any of it. We just hear them off-screen while everyone else reacts. The elves couldn’t even do that right.

“Ladies and gentlemen, a third-string ballerina on painkillers.”

SANTA CLAUS AND THE FAIRY SNOW QUEEN (1951)

The Idea: A six-inch tall woman called the Snow Queen visits Santa on Christmas Eve, but is annoyed to see him sleeping in her presence. As a joke, she gives life to a handful of nearby toys. The various toys dance and laugh, but are reluctant to be given off to children as lifeless gifts. Not only have they taken to being alive, but they’ve also grown attached to each other. Whatever will Santa and the Snow Queen do?

The Output: This whole thing is incomprehensible and it doesn’t help that the Snow Queen has a really thick European accent that you can barely cut through. The real star of this short is the Candy Lion. See, while you have understandable, recognizable toys hanging around like a toy soldier, a ballerina, a ragdoll, a Jack-in-the-box, and so on, you also have the Candy Lion. Described as a half-mummified Chewbacca, the dead-eyed toy stands around in the background for the most part and gets one memorable line when he excitedly brags to Santa, “I can eat candy!”

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TV

13 Craziest Interpretations of Santa Claus to Ever Slide Down a Chimney

By Daniel Kurland

Culture

The Beatles Christmas Messages Were Carols to Be Played at Maximum Volume

By Tony Sokol

The Jack-in-the-box is easily one of the more annoying characters in RiffTrax history, though. Goddamn that repeating freak. This is all hosted by Snoopy, a high-pitched “brownie” (which appears to be no different than an elf) who I’m not sure if I’m repulsed by or attracted to.

“My finger isn’t tired!” “Oh, God! What is he about to do?!”

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964)

The Idea: On Mars, children have become joyless and robotic due to the planet’s lack of fun and insistence on constant studying and good behavior. The only thing that brings them any happiness is watching Earth programs, such as news on this Santa Claus character. Afraid for the future of his planet, Kimar and his crew visit Earth to kidnap Santa (and eventually two children) and bring him to Mars so that he can spread joy to their world…whether he wants to or not!

The Output: While this movie may be on the IMDB bottom 100, I consider it a guilty pleasure. As I discussed when speaking with Kevin Murphy, I think at its core, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is a great concept for a children’s movie. It has its own unique whimsy. Unfortunately, it’s hurt by bad, hammy acting and the kind of bad costuming and effects you’d expect from a movie like this.

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Movies

10 remarkable things: Santa Claus Conquers The Martians

By Ryan Lambie

TV

The Best Christmas Movies Available on Amazon Prime

By Alec Bojalad

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is the only RiffTrax movie to also be featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, Cinematic Titanic (the offshoot where the other MST3K cast members went off to), and RiffTrax, all with their own unique set of jokes. There’s a good reason for that. The movie is incredibly silly and ripe for mockery, yet at the same time completely and utterly watchable. The RiffTrax version features the movie in its entirety, rather than the abridged version from MST3K.

“Don’t you wish that your school bus looked like this?!” “Packed with bearded lunatics and flanked by grim clowns? No!”

FUN IN BALLOON LAND (1965)

The Idea: A little boy goes to sleep and dreams of a world of giant balloon people and other children to play with. After getting into a variety of adventures, he and a little girl watch a holiday parade filled with all sorts of balloon floats.

The Output: This 1960s nightmare is the perfect B-side to Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny. The first third of it is complete and utter nonsense. This little boy would just wander around a warehouse, stumble upon some kind of big balloon statue, someone would voice said statue by shouting from across the room off-screen, and then it would move on to a completely unrelated scene. There is a group of ballerinas who show up to dance for absolutely no reason. At one point the boy is inexplicably walking around in only a gold lamé diaper and Kevin wonders, “Is this movie even legal?” The boy proceeds to hit on mermaids and plays hide-and-seek with a lobster thing.

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Culture

25 Unsung Christmas Icons

By Gavin Jasper

TV

The Best Christmas Movies Available on Hulu

By Alec Bojalad

Then it becomes old footage of a holiday parade that lasts about a half hour and has more clowns and majorettes than I have ever seen in one place at one time. It’s pretty dry, but the woman narrating it is completely insane and the RiffTrax crew show absolutely no mercy in painting her as some kind of drunk lunatic. She ends the movie with a “guessing game” where she keeps changing the rules every three seconds and you don’t even know what the hell is going on.

“Still going? If this was a game of Ski Free, the Abominable Snowman would have gobbled them up hours ago.”

ZLATEH THE GOAT (1973)

The Idea: A boy named Aaron reluctantly has to bring his family’s prized goat Zlateh to the butcher in order to sell her. During the journey, the weather takes a horrible turn and Aaron and Zlateh are forced to hide out under a pile of hay for several days. The two form a bond that allows them to survive the ordeal.

The Output: This Hanukkah story is absolutely miserable. Despite being just a short, it feels like it goes on forever and pads itself out with many shots of the kid having to drag the goat through the snow. And you know how I just said that they form a bond that allows Aaron to survive? Yeah, that’s from him drinking milk directly from Zlateh. It’s nasty.

“It’s fun to make things of sugar. And they are good to eat.” “WHAT?!” “Just grab a slice of instant diabetes, kids!”

AT YOUR FINGERTIPS: SUGAR AND SPICE (1970)

The Idea: The At Your Fingertips series is all about arts and crafts using stuff around the house. Here, we see how you can use sugar to create festive Christmas ornaments. Through creativity and hard work, you can make decorating a blast!

The Output: The At Your Fingertips series is all about spending way too much time on ugly and insane crap that really looks far from fun. This Christmas-related one is no different. Things come off as less festive and more gross and unpleasant. And that’s before the children start eating pure sugar. Ugh.

“If she’s already sleeping, we might be able to see her dreams.” “We’re in, children. Let’s get ready to begin our Christmas inception. I won’t lie to you: we might have to shoot our way out.”

SANTA CLAUS (1959)

The Idea: In a Mexican adaptation of the Santa Claus myth, we see the jolly one as he spends the night delivering presents. Some children get extra focus for the movie, including a little boy whose parents don’t seem to have time for him and a poor, little girl who only wants a doll to play with. As Santa tries to make right by them, he’s vexed by Pitch, a devil sent to ruin Christmas for everyone.

The Output: This is another MST3K double-dip, but for good reason. It’s delightfully insane. See, Santa is already a nutty concept, but we get into Drunk History territory here where the people behind the movie don’t quite get it and his mythology gets even stranger in translation.

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Movies

The Strangest and Most Disturbing Santa Claus Movie of Them All

By Jim Knipfel

TV

The 12 Best SNL Holiday Sketches

By Chris Longo and 1 other

Did you know Santa is good friends with Merlin the Magician? Did you know that he has a burly blacksmith working for him? Or that Santa lives in space with little children from all around the world doing his bidding? Or that he regularly fights the minions of Satan?

The MST3K version might be better, but it is nice getting to see the full cut of the movie for once.

“Who and what are you?” “I am—“ “Meryl Streep. I am good in everything.”

A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1952)

The Idea: The Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol, otherwise known as Scrooge, is considered an outright classic. Perhaps the greatest telling of the Charles Dickens story of a hateful rich man realizing his own humanity thanks to being visited by ghosts. Here, we get to see the movie in its abridged form and get through it in minutes.

The Output: Listen, A Christmas Carol has a pretty solidified structure. Scrooge is a dick, his dead friend warns him, he gets led around by three other ghosts, and he comes out of it a better person. Abridging it simply does not work. Basically, Marley introduces him to the Ghost of Christmas Present and that’s enough to make a change. Bridget puts it best: “They edited the Dickens out of the movie!”

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Movies

A Christmas Carol: The Best and Worst Adaptations

By Robert Keeling

TV

The Most Disturbing TV Christmas Specials

By Wesley Mead

This short is part of Have a Mary Jo Christmas and a Bridget New Year, which is done by Mary Jo Pehl and Bridget Nelson instead of the usual riffers. It features some non-riff stuff in-between this and the following short…

“Man, I wish I hadn’t gone commando today…”

THE LITTLE LAMB (1955)

The Idea: During storytime, a group of children ask to hear a story about an animal while one girl wants to hear a story about Jesus. Their mother figures to cover both by telling the story of Jesus’ birth from the point of view of three shepherds. While two of them brave strong winds to save a lost, little lamb, an angel appears to them to tell them about the birth of Christ. They and their curmudgeonly associate go off to find the new king.

The Output: Honestly, this one isn’t all that bad, really. It’s a pretty solid production and the only part that really gets a rise out of Mary Jo and Bridget is when they warm baby Jesus’ body by laying the lamb next to him. It’s not the most memorable little short, but it’s fine for what it is.

Plus I’m always distracted by how much the guy playing Joseph looks like CM Punk. It’s downright uncanny in some shots.

“A real child’s actual tears! I know I’m ready for Christmas!”

I BELIEVE IN SANTA CLAUS (1984)

The idea: Simon is a bullied child whose parents have been kidnapped by African soldiers. Desperate to get them back, he and a friend sneak off from a school field trip and board a plane in hopes to find where Santa Claus lives. Alongside a Christmas Fairy (who looks an awful lot like Simon’s kindly teacher), Santa goes to Africa to rescue the captives. Meanwhile, the children are captured by an ogre.

The Output: Did any of that sound lucid? Because this French film is out there, man. It’s cute, but it also decides that being a kid’s movie means it doesn’t have to be logically coherent. You know, even though there’s an entire plot thread about African warlords kidnapping people. Kids like that stuff, right?

You know that, “I’m the captain now!” part of Captain Phillips? Imagine Tom Hanks replaced with Santa in that scene and you’re just hitting the tip of the iceberg of how bizarre this Christmas film is.

“Monkeys, you know, are very much like human beings in many ways. And sometimes they do the very same things that we do.” “Why, here’s a monkey Black Friday stampede!”

SANTA CLAUS’ STORY (1945)

The Idea: It begins with Twas the Night Before Christmas and ends with the, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” speech. In-between, Santa tells two children about how monkeys also celebrate Christmas and have their very own Monkey Santa Claus.

The Output: Monkey Santa Claus. Really.

This short is barely being held together by a narrative. They basically have a bunch of footage of monkeys and chimps doing stuff and since this includes 20 seconds of a chimp wearing a horrifying Santa Claus mask and costume, they decide that there’s a Monkey Christmas and write everything around that.

Somehow, this was the sanest thing shown at the RiffTrax Live for Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny.

“Bricks on his face. Sure! He’s a dragon.” “All dragons have bricks on their face.”

THE TALE OF THE CUSTARD DRAGON (1965)

The Idea: Ogden Nash’s poem for children comes to life. A little girl has a pet dog, cat, mouse, and dragon. The dragon, named Custard, is a bit of a coward and only wants to be let alone. But then on one Christmas Eve, when his friends are attacked by an evil pirate, Custard has to stand up and save their presents.

The Output: The poem is acted out via a handful of kids in little Halloween costumes, including Custard being a dragon with a brick facemask. The short takes place in somebody’s den and aesthetically, the whole thing is a weird mess. Custard also straight-up murders the pirate, which makes sense on the page, but feels a bit off the reservation when we see a child viciously attacking an adult in a lame costume.

“AAAAAHHHH! Hannibal Lecter’s Christmas trees!” “Good God, he’s keeping them alive!”

THE CHRISTMAS TREE (1975)

The Idea: This short tells us the story of three pine trees who are cut down and go through the process of becoming Christmas trees. This means being sold, being decorated, enduring Christmas, and, sadly, being discarded. Shown in live-action, the trees are portrayed by mimes in tree costumes and facepaint.

The Output: It’s cute, but also bewildering. With zero dialogue, we watch these three guys mug at each other while Christmas stuff happens around them. As strange as it is by default, it loses its mind in the final minutes when we see the trees thrown in the garbage as they start to die. Not only do the trees-with-faces die, but we get to see their trees-with-faces ghosts fly up into the sky.

Tree ghosts. Yup.

“GAH! His face looks like a series of horrible wounds!” “That just started healing.” “What are the dots..?!”

SANTA’S CHRISTMAS CIRCUS (1966)

The Idea: Hey, kids! It’s time for Whizzo the Clown! This local TV clown has a special show in store for everyone as he and his audience of kids play around and pretend to be circus performers! Then they check out some motorized Christmas-based decorations before getting ready for the main event: riding a magic carpet and visiting Santa himself!

The Output: This one’s best summed up right after the opening credits end. As Whizzo walks out and mumbles loudly like he’s having an episode, Mike laughingly wonders if they’ve gone too far, knowing that the three of them are about to sit through some rough shit. While Whizzo certainly has energy and some kind of charisma, he’s also the poster boy for why people are frightened of clowns without having to go the easy serial killer route. No, he’s a friendly and jokey clown, but he’s also completely horrifying to look at.

This low-budget affair not only features Whizzo’s catchphrase of, “Now I have that to worry about,” but also the catchphrase of one girl in the audience loudly coughing throughout the hour. It’s incredibly uncomfortable to sit through.

“Yeah… Celebrate the nativity… That’s what daddy likes…”

GIFTS FROM THE AIR (1937)

The Idea: A poor boy wanders through the snow, enduring Christmas Eve without food, family, or toys. He comes across a toy store where a dancing toy soldier annoys the store owner enough to have him thrown out. The boy takes the soldier in to his humble home and his good deed is rewarded as the toy soldier happens to know how to summon Santa Claus himself!

The Output: Dancing toy cartoons with poor kids is nothing new for RiffTrax, but this one is certainly unique enough to be a must-watch. The moment Santa delivers the toys to the little boy, it becomes complete and utter madness. It’s a bunch of bizarre toys who talk like what appears to be 1930s celebrities. Like there’s a goat that sings like Bing Crosby, so even though I know who Bing Crosby is, that doesn’t make the toy goat make any more sense.

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Movies

MST3K Turkey Day: The Long History of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Thanksgiving

By Gavin Jasper

Culture

Best Holiday Gifts for Geeks in 2020

By Chris Cummins

The highlight is when a Santa Jack-in-the-box pops out and tells another toy something so indistinct that Mike notes, “‘How the hell are you, scramble puss? Smelly Christmas to you,’ is what I heard.”

“Well. This place looks cozy. I LIVE HERE NOW!”

SANTA CLAUS’ WORKSHOP (1930s)

The Idea: Once again, we get to see how Santa Claus performs his duties. From his home in the North Pole to the home of a nice middle-class family, we see Santa get letters from kids, fly on his sleigh, and deliver the presents themselves. We also get a look at the family in question, who celebrate the holidays via singing a lovely rendition of “O Come All Ye Faithful.”

The Output: It’s your usual fare on this one and not too much that sticks out. That’s not to say that it’s meant to be skipped, as Kevin singing “Pretty Woman” over “O Come All Ye Faithful” makes this worth the dollar.

The one part of the short that makes it seem off is the revelation towards the end that Santa doesn’t simply fly across the world to deliver presents in one go, but instead flies back and forth for every single household. I mean, Santa can only carry so many presents in that sack of his, right?

“And so, they started out together, not realizing they were being followed.” “Well, they were easy to track…thanks to a long trail of spunk.” “DAMN IT, KEVIN!” “(Sorry.)”

SPUNKY THE SNOWMAN (1958)

The Idea: When a group of children write a letter to Santa, it’s up to their newly-created snowman Spunky to deliver it to Santa himself. Spunky and the little dog Jeff go on a quest, only to be opposed by a fox, an owl, and a wolf. Each creature wants to steal that letter and bring it to Santa, figuring that they can then steal the gifts. Spunky and Jeff are soon aided by a bear, but can even he keep them safe?

The Output: The guy’s name is Spunky. You know exactly what kind of jokes you’re getting the second you see that title.

Otherwise, it’s an animated story that tries to be whimsical, but is really just nonsense. It takes a bunch of Christmas cliches like magic snowmen, letters to Santa, talking animals, and desire for Christmas trees and badly pastes it all together into a confusing package.

“When you’re not shaking that over our heads to make us work, you can hobble around on it and enjoy your sciatica!” “A zinger from TV’s Frank!”

BEYOND CHRISTMAS (1940)

The idea: Three old rich men feel lonely during Christmas night and one comes up with an idea of throwing wallets with $10 bills out onto the sidewalk and inviting anyone kind enough to return them to enjoy dinner with them. The gambit pays off and leads to a romance between a Texan with a golden voice and a schoolteacher. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes the old men and they have to help the couple out from beyond the grave.

The output: This movie (originally known as Beyond Tomorrow) is actually pretty damn good. It’s a little sluggish in the second half, but it’s original, has some likeable characters, and never really gets too stupid. Even Bridget and Mary Jo find themselves getting invested in what’s going on when they should be telling jokes. With them, it feels more like you’re watching a movie together rather than just watching them rip it apart.

Personally, I think it would make for a better Christmas movie if the first act took place during Thanksgiving and built towards an ending happening during Christmas. Might have made the supernatural and uplifting stuff pop more.

“Seriously, what the Hell is going on with the mitten tree?!”

CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS NEAR AND FAR (1955)

The idea: As some children prepare for a Christmas pageant, one asks their teacher about the origins of the Christmas tree. This leads to her explaining how children from different countries celebrate Christmas in varying ways.

The output: As we all know, different = funny. While some of the customs might be normal, it doesn’t help that most of them are depicted by children dressing up as foreigners while standing in front of a curtain. So it’s a Christmas pageant within a short about the attempt to rehearse a Christmas pageant. Crazy.

Through the short, we get to see a weird kid dancing around in an elf hat, a Christmas tree covered in mittens, and a thing about how kids in China do a big ceremony to celebrate the events of Christ’s birth.

“Whaddya know?! Armed and dangerous!” “None of my quips are funny but some…make very little sense!”

JACK FROST (1997)

The idea: Not to be confused with the Michael Keaton family film from the same time, Jack Frost deals with a serial killer who escapes captivity, only to be seemingly vaporized by a chemical spill. In actuality, he survives as living snow and uses his new form to attempt revenge on the police officer that arrested him in the first place. Even when the officer and his family know what they’re up against, they don’t even know if there’s a way to stop him.

The output: I remember renting this baby back in the late-90s and, hoo boy, it’s a lot worse than I remembered it being. As a horror villain, Jack Frost wants to be like Freddy Krueger or Chucky, where he kills his victims while belting out memorable one-liners. The problem is, everything he says falls flat or is complete nonsense. He constantly stumbles on his own attempts at charisma.

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Movies

MST3K: The Landmark Episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000

By Gavin Jasper

TV

Doctor Who: The Weird Anomaly of the 1965 ‘Christmas Special’

By Andrew Blair

Despite taking place in a town in winter that’s supposed to support the existence of snowmen and sledding and the like, it’s obviously taking place in a hot and sunny area with weak attempts to hide it.

It’s still better than the sequel, which was one of those cringeworthy “intentionally bad” gems.

“God… Oh no, have they been hypnotized?” “I…I…I think it might be a cult. They’re quietly chanting to that tree right now.” “…I think the tree might be marrying them.” “This is horrible!”

A CHRISTMAS FANTASY (1962)

The Idea: Two children admire their Christmas tree before falling asleep on the couch. As they dream of trees in the winter, Santa Claus appears to deliver gifts. It’s only just over five minutes, so there isn’t much happening here.

The Output: Despite its short runtime, this one really meanders. The way the kids stare at the tree like they’re about to be murdered by the Blair Witch. The endless shots of trees with no leaves on them.

The money shot of this short is when Santa shows up. Rather than just get a guy to wear a beard and call it a day, they instead have him wear a mask. It seriously looks like Leatherface is pretending to be Santa here and it’s HORRIFYING. As the guys put it, even Krampus is freaked out by this Santa.

“Santa, I wrote you a new song!” “Oh, good! A song! That’ll get me hammered.”

A SONG FOR SANTA

The idea: A trio of lost boys find themselves in a church and sit down to enjoy the warmth and chorus. One child nods off from the music and finds himself in Santa’s domain, where he offers to create a new and original Christmas song to delight Santa and his angels.

The output: The first half is normal enough, despite little of interest happening. Right when the Santa stuff happens, things get weird and creepy. Instead of elves, Santa has little girls dressed as angels and disturbingly leers at them like there’s no good that can come out of whatever’s happening. The boy’s attempt to write Santa a new song goes nowhere, as he just sings him an old song with the justification that, “I didn’t know this song until now, so it must be new to you too.”

This is another one of those oddball shorts or movies where there’s a framing device that’s forgotten about. The boy never wakes up from his dream or anything. It just ends with him hanging out with creepy Santa and his underage harem.

“Spirit…tell me if Tiny Tim will live.” “I see an empty chair in the chimney corner.” “Oh, so he not only lives, he walks?!” “No!” “It’s a Christmas miracle!” “No, no!”

A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1959)

The idea: I explained Christmas Carol earlier. Luckily, we finally have a version that’s the full story and not abridged like what Bridget and Mary Jo watched.

The output: This one’s by Coronet Films, meaning it’s old as hell and feels cheap. To its credit, despite running at just over 20 minutes, it tells the complete story without feeling rushed. It just feels a bit under budget, what with the limited quality in costumes and several sets being some props on a fog-filled sound stage.

Still, it’s A Christmas Carol and you have to go out of your way to do a bad job with that. This one’s still fairly watchable, even if the riffs are well-deserved.

“This isn’t so much A Miracle on 34th Street as it is A Horse Who Took a Dump on 34th Street.”

SANTA’S SUMMER HOUSE (2012)

The idea: A group of travelers get lost in a fog and end up at the doorstep of a kindly couple who allow them to stay in their mansion for a couple days. Little do these visitors realize that their hosts are none other than Santa Claus and his wife! The two try to use their wisdom and magic to improve the lives of these visitors and mend their relationships.

The output: This piece of shit is written and directed by the same guys who gave us A Talking Cat!?! It even takes place in the same house. At least with Talking Cat!?! there were two separate houses used. Here, it’s just the one.

It’s a hell of a lineup of actors. Mrs. Claus starred in RiffTrax target Honor and Glory. The egomaniac scientist guy in this movie is the JCVD knockoff from MST3K’s Future War. Santa himself is played by Robert Mitchum’s son. Even though he isn’t all that overweight and doesn’t have a beard, he’s still identified as looking a lot like Santa.

The movie is just bad dialogue said by bad actors, occasionally broken up by wipe edits featuring Christmas Clip-Art. It never reaches Talking Cat!?! levels of batshit, but it’s still stupid as a pile of rocks.

“They’re buying a brother?!”

CHARLIE’S CHRISTMAS SECRET (1984)

The idea: A young Seth Green plays Charlie, who feels that he’s outgrown Christmas. The commercialism does nothing for him and makes him feel hollow. At first, his instincts are vindicated when he comes across various others – a bitter, old woman, a poor single mother, and a scheming homeless man – but soon he realizes the meaning of Christmas by putting their needs first.

The output: Again, this one is halfway decent. All in all, it tells a really sweet story. It just happens to have a few awkward aspects to it. The whole thing has subtitles and they almost never match what’s actually being said, instead going for the simplest way of conveying whatever thoughts. Like instead of saying, “No thank you, I’m not hungry right now,” it would just say, “No.”

The most questionable part of this special, and something that I’m glad is called out by the riffers, is that Charlie apparently has to buy his own Christmas gifts. Part of the plot is that he has his eye on a stereo and instead of asking Santa for it or having his parents buy it for him, he has to save up the money from his paper route, get the stereo, and then have his mother wrap it and place it under the tree.

What the Hell?

“No. No way. There’s no such thing as Santa Claus. You’re just someone in a Santa suit.” “That’s why YOU never get anything for Christmas!” “Also, ’cause you made Feeders!”

FEEDERS 2: SLAY BELLS (1998)

The Idea: Previously, aliens invaded and feasted on a handful of confused and horrified Earthlings. Now a second UFO has arrived to conquer again, this time with its aliens creeping around and causing havoc through a suburban town. As one family gets ready for Christmas, they gradually come to realize how doomed they truly are.

The Output: RiffTrax was kind of slick on this one. On Halloween of 2019, they put out a riff for an utterly terrible low-budget piece of garbage called Feeders, which is about a bunch of laughable alien puppets invading Earth and killing some of the ugliest people to ever show up on film. Then, just a couple months later, they released a riff on its Christmas-themed sequel.

While I do suggest watching the first one, you won’t be too lost if you don’t. A survivor from the first movie goes about summarizing the first movie’s events in a series of loose framing devices that aren’t directly connected to the rest of the movie. It is pretty funny on its own, though, because a character who died in the first movie and is featured prominently in the flashbacks is played by the very same guy who is the protagonist of this movie.

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Movies

The 16 Best Winter Horror Movies

By Daniel Kurland and 3 others

TV

The Twilight Zone Marathon: A History of a Holiday Tradition

By Arlen Schumer

Not only does the climax take place on Christmas Eve, but Santa gets involved! Santa, who for some reason sounds like Homsar from Homestar Runner, is attacked by aliens (who look even worse than in the first movie) and proceeds to be the secret weapon in saving the world. He’s up there with the over-the-top boss character and the silliest-looking dead cat special effect in reasons why you should watch this one.

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“And now I will read you this editorial.” “‘The Rent is Too Damn High!’ by Virginia O’Hanlon”

YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS (1974)

The Idea: A young girl, teased by her classmates, wonders about the existence of Santa Claus. Various adults try to assure her of his existence despite admitting that they’ve never actually met him. She ends up writing to the newspaper and asks them. Egged on by an ambitious paperboy, the newspaper’s editor decides to publish his response for everyone to read.

The Output: Imagine watching a Peanuts special that features absolutely none of the Peanuts cast and is at about 75% the quality. That’s what this cartoon is. It’s also very dull, what with them trying to add a narrative to the whole newspaper editorial.

There is some real heart in it, but it doesn’t work as a whole. Probably my favorite part is when the “Yes, Virginia” editorial is read out loud. Despite the simplistic animation, the people’s reactions are emotional. Some kids seem humbled. Some adult couples embrace. Then all of the sudden, the local Irish cop character does a happy jig that probably cost them half the animation budget.

“All of this was in Dickens’ first draft, by the way. Even the goofy music.”

BANKS: THE MONEY MOVERS (1977)

The Idea: Due to his familiarity as a popular literary character, Ebenezer Scrooge (er, Arthur Scrooge?) is used as a window to help people learn about how banks work and why they are a worthwhile place to put your money. As a stand-in for the viewer, Scrooge learns about deposits, withdrawals, interest, loans, and other aspects of the business.

The Output: This is all explained via a version of Christmas Carol where Scrooge is taught a lesson by ghosts for being stingy with his money. Namely that he keeps it in his mattress. As Mike points out, it’s incredibly messed up that Marley is suffering eternal damnation because he never got a Wells Fargo account. I get trying to map your lesson onto a preexisting story, but think it through a little!

Also wild in this is how despite his old-timey appearance, Scrooge exists in modern times and is even seen using a check to buy a motor scooter. It’s completely inane, but at least the guy playing Scrooge seems like he’s having a fun time.

“The birth of Jesus Christ, ladies and gentlemen. That’s what it’s all about.”

ALIAS ST. NICK (1935)

The Idea: As a family of adorable mice get ready for Christmas, a scheming cat decides to get through their defenses by dressing up as Santa Claus, delivering their gifts, and then devouring them. His plan appears to be working extremely well, but there’s one mouse child who doesn’t believe in Santa and is quick to see through his disguise.

The Output: Although the guys don’t bring it up, it’s kind of odd that the kid who spends the whole cartoon being loudly and annoyingly skeptic about the existence of Santa Claus is absolutely 100% vindicated. There isn’t some kind of last-second evidence of Santa or something. It just ends.

Otherwise, this is just your average off-brand Looney Tunes cartoon. Probably the most bizarre moment is when the cat puts together his Santa costume and strips a doll naked to make his beard.

“And now the ancient tradition of giving a present to Tommy Lasorda.”

DECEMBER HOLIDAYS (1982)

The Idea: A narrator explains three of the bigger December holidays: Posadas, Chanukah, and Christmas. Through what appears to be fly on the wall footage, various families celebrate these holidays with their festive traditions. The narrator tries to educate the viewer on the families’ behavior and how it relates to the origins of the holidays.

The Output: I mean, that’s…pretty much it. There’s nothing wacky about this short. It’s pretty dull, but it’s a decent enough target for Mike, Bill, and Kevin. Sometimes you don’t need an Ice Cream Bunny to have a good time.

“When are you planning on going back to Florida?” “I think we’re going to wait until you have your baby. Just want to make sure you’re okay.” “And that you don’t give birth to a CGI vampire baby.”

BABY OF THE BRIDE (1991)

The Idea: A made-for-TV movie starring Rue McClanahan is actually the second in a trilogy about a dysfunctional, all-grown-up family filled with all kinds of interpersonal problems. In the previous movie, Margaret Becker married a much younger man and it took her children some time to adjust. Now things are getting crazy as not only is one of her daughters pregnant, but Margaret is pregnant too! She, her new husband, and her four kids all have to deal with a ton of drama, which all culminates at midnight mass!

The Output: This is another Bridget and Mary Jo installment and the two have a habit of tackling movies that aren’t so much the worst thing ever, but are too corny to ignore. That’s Baby of the Bride, pretty much. It’s very much a watchable movie, but it’s also a movie about Blanche from Golden Girls being pregnant, which is buried among all kinds of different subplots about how dysfunctional her family is. This family collectively gets divorced more than they get their cars’ oil checked.

The whole narrative is about eight months long because of the whole double pregnancy thing, but the climax is during Christmas Eve, so I guess it ultimately counts as a holiday movie. It just takes a long time to get there.

“I think this guy was a boss in Cuphead.”

THE SNOWMAN (1932)

The Idea: Somewhere in the arctic, an Inuit child and his animal friends enjoy their slightly-less-chilly summer by building a snowman. After happily putting it together and throwing snowballs at it, the snowman comes alive and goes on a rampage. Can the child destroy what he created before the malevolent snow beast goes too far?

The Output: This cartoon is all over the place and is one of the absolute best holiday shorts RiffTrax has commented on. So much crazy shit is compressed into this package. Snowman buttcracks? Check. Jimmy Durante impressions? Check. Penguin church? Check. I won’t even spoil how the snowman is defeated other than saying that it’s completely ridiculous and makes zero sense.

Still, it’s better than that Snowman movie with Harry Hole getting all the clues.

The post RiffTrax: A Guide to Christmas and Holiday Episodes appeared first on Den of Geek.

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