#I’m writing fan fic of this TWO EPISODE ONE SHOT

[blueberryspyder]

Listening to Rusty Quill Gaming holiday episodes has me like

I’ve gotten into some niche shit before, but this? This is a bit much even for me

[pixiesfz]

this isnt really a request with an idea but please more jessie 😭🙏

Killing two birds with one stone I am here, I got a request for a jersey swap fic so here we go!

jersey swap? j.f

plot: you and Jessie have always had on field tension but one game when you ask to swap jerseys, she finally makes a move.

warning: smut, obviously I like writing a dom Jessie 🤫. Let’s pretend Sam wasn’t injured for the Canada vs australia match, bi-sexual reader! (Taking inspo from this one tik tok I saw about Lia Walti which made me cackle)

Some matches were more interesting than others you had realised in your second year in of playing at arsenal wether it was against Chelsea or you were playing with the Matilda’s for your national teams.

Nothing had changed within the games except for the fans, since the World Cup people started to know your name and your whole life story but what they loved most of all was seeing you on the pitch with Jessie.

Wether it was Chelsea vs Arsenal or Australia bs Canada the fans loved watching your interactions and your team mates did to.

It was your Australian captain who always whispered jokes into your ear that took the most pleasure out of the two of you.

“I love Canada” you admitted as your team sat on the ferry “why it’s cold” Hayley shivered from behind you “but it’s just so cozy” you smiled as you cuddled into yourself.

“Is that why your always tackling Jessie, cause she’s cozy” Sam teased as she shook your shoulders “no” you said “I tackle her cause she’s good and she’s too nice to tackle me back” you said with a small smile and Sam and Hayley laughed.

“No but seriously what is it between you two whenever you play” Mary asked as she came over “Oh my little Mary, my young prodigy” you started and she rolled her eyes

“Y/n seriously I want to know, I’m also not that young I’m three years younger than you”

“Exactly you’re an infant”

You smirked but gave her an option to lean onto your should “I’m actually not sure how we started it” you admitted “we both had our debuts for Chelsea and Arsenal on the same day and were put on each other we both wanted to make an impact I guess”

“You made an impact all right, two yellow cards” Sam laughed “You’ve had this tension ever since, even when you were dating that Tom guy” she said.

You hid your head as you looked down remembering why the relationship failed, you couldn’t admit you were not sexually attracted to Jessie and he left, funny since later you had found out he had cheated on you with a girl who had been on 2 episodes of love island.

“Yeah well I’m not dating him anymore so” you trailed off and the three girls nodded “Do you think the tension will ever ease off?” Mary asked and Hayley laughed “I think once they finally sleep together-“

“Hayley!” You scolded her “what?” She shrugged “it’s true, even the fans can see it” she defended herself as you scoffed “do you even remember the World Cup!?” she practically now yelled

“Both of your hands were practically around each other when you were on the ball” she said and you laughed “sorry if I just wanted to get possession of the ball so we could score goals”

“We pass with our feet not our hands y/n/n” Mary said and you closed her mouth “hush little one” you said quickly and she shook her head out of your grasp.

“Admit to me you’re not sexually attracted to Jessie Fleming”

“I’m not attracted to Jessie Fleming”

“Now I thought your New Year’s resolution was to stop lying” Sam stepped in and you threw your head back “No you know what I’m going to be nice” you said

“At the game I’m going to ask to switch jerseys as an act of kindness” you smiled and Hayley rolled her eyes “that’s not what I would do” she warned and you shook your head

“Trust me it will work, we will be best friends by the time you know it”

“So you won’t mark her on the pitch?” Sam asked

“Do you want us to lose Samantha?” you shot back and she laughed “anyways” you said standing up “I see Mini standing alone so I’m gonna make sure Kyra hasn’t accidentally fallen off the ferry and drowned”

You ended up finding the girl in the captains area with a bawl of lollies in her hand.

“Don’t tell Katrina”

When you finally made your way to the stadium later the next day you grimaced at the floor “fake grass” you groaned and Polks laughed at you “not a laughing matter” you said and walked into the rooms.

You felt the stadium grow as Canadian watches and a few lucky Australian fans made their way into their seats.

You were tying up your boots when you felt a presence behind you “hey skipper” you laughed as Sam sat next to you “I just wanna say no reds” she said “I know they’re out for blood since World Cup okay and I don’t want a pissy Jessie coming back to Chelsea”

“No reds got it, what about a yellow?” You asked with a cheeky smile “I’ll allow one” she said and you acted like a two year old who got told they can get ice cream.

You both laughed and Sam pushed you out “cmon idiot”.

In the line up, you were out the front behind Ellie when you felt eyes burning into your head, you knew it was Jessie so when you turned around and saw her you just smirked which made her roll her eyes and look back at her team.

“Cheeky” Hayley said from behind you and you just shrugged your shoulders.

You went to your mark on the field where Jessie was as she looked concentrated “stop frowning Jessie it will give your face lines” you told her and she looked back at you “are you talking from experience or?” She questioned as she looked at your forehead and you laughed.

“Let’s just play for now okay and then you can think about my facial features later”

The game wasn’t different than usual, you and Jessie were on each other hot, whenever one of you had the ball the other was quick to try and get you down or stop you from a long kick.

You were a bit more touchier with the legs though as One time you nut-megged her own ball through her feet “come on” she complained as she was to far behind you to stop your assist to Sam’s goal.

You turned to Jessie “you know I can take a tackle Fleming” you teased and she crossed your head at you “Just play the game y/l/n” she said and you smirked from next to her “I seem to be the only person who is”.

Jessie was rough after that, she knew she couldn’t let you get away with anything else, so next time you had the ball she was quick to kick out from under your ankle as you hit the ground, accidentally taking her down with you, automatically you turned over on top of Jessie and you watched the ref walk over to you and the Canadian.

You looked down at the brunette who was still on the floor “did I get into your head?” You whispered before sitting up and reaching your hand out for Jessie to use but she got up herself causing you to roll your eyes and shrug it off.

The red pulled out a yellow for Jessie who shook her head “Still winning” she reminded you with a smirk and you smirked back “ooh she’s coming out of her shell”.

When the game finally finished and Canada came on top you shook all the players hands, lingering on Jessie’s before you joined some of the girls on a lap.

You saw a sign that made you laugh

Australia vs Canada

Nah.

Fleming vs y/l/n!

You smiled as you looked for Jessie and found her with her captain who was having her send off.

“Fleming!” You called out to her and she turned around with furrowed brows “what?” she asked and you smirked “come look at this” you said and turned your head back.

She followed you to the sign and also chucked a smile at it as people quickly grabbed their phones to take pictures of the two of you smiling at the sign as you laughed at each other.

You saw Hayley looking at you with a knowing look in the corner of your eyes before you remembered “Wait Jess” you said before she left, not realising the nick name you let out “yeah” she said “I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to swap Jerseys, last game after all before we face each other off in Olympic hopefully” you asked and Jessie’s cheeks blushed “yeah sure, need some more in my collection honestly”

Your heart raced as you saw the Canadian take off her top, you secretly took a look at her abs as she did so, you don’t know why you waited until she took hers completely off before you took yours off until you hear a whistle from the crowd you laughed and took yours off.

Jessie’s blush grew as she took no shame in staring at your body and your waist.

“Nice tattoo” she muttered as you held your shirt out for her, looking down you looked at your flower tattoo under your sports bra “thanks got it for my mum” you smiled and she gave you hers.

“Ready for the photos” you smirked and she nodded.

When you put them on you heard some fans scream out and you both turned around, you in front of Jessie as she saw her name on your back.

She lingered before stepping next to you and you smiled for some photos before a professional photographer came and you smiled again, one photo where Jessie was looking at you.

You both parted ways after as Jessie kept her eyes on you, pupils diluted as Sam went up to her “good game” she said and Jessie kept her eyes glued onto you and your back.

“She’s staying at the Grand Heir Hotel” she smirked before smacking her Chelsea team mate on the back and walking off with a smile.

You got some shit from the team when you walked in with Jessie’s shirt on, especially from your Arsenal team mates who were whisper shouting.

Sam walked over to you where your cheeks were blushing “I may have told Jessie where your staying” she admitted and you widened your eyes “why?” You asked and she shrugged her shoulders “just cause” she said and walked away.

“Samantha!” You called but she walked away.

You couldn’t help the smile that crossed your face as you turned back to your cubby.

You had showered when you got home and hanged Jessie’s shirt up in the open wardrobe so you could still see it as you lied on your bed.

It was about 10:00 when a knock on your door started. Furrowing your brows you got up and opened it to see a slightly puffed out Jessie Fleming.

“Do you know how hard it was to figure out which room was yours?” She asked out of breath “I’m sorry?” You replied and she nodded “you should be” she said as she made her way in.

“Jessie-“ “call me Jess” she cut you off “what?” You asked and she nodded “I liked it” she said “when you called me Jess”

You smiled “okay Jess” you repeated “what are you doing here?” You asked and she looked around until she found her shirt in your wardrobe and grabbed it and threw it to you “put it back on” she said as she stepped closer to you “excuse me?” You asked and she repeated again.

“Jess I’m in my pajamas I don’t have a bra on” you admitted and she smirked “put it on” she repeated and you grew hot.

fuck she looked hot right now, you thought to yourself as she looked down at you.

“Don’t act like you didn’t hear me” she whispered into your ear and you tried not to shudder at her words. “Do it for me” you whispered back as you looked into her hungry eyes, her pupils were dilated and you were sure yours were too.

Jessie gripped the edge of your white T-shirt before grazing her fingers underneath and hitting your bare skin but she kept eye contact.

“I want you to know that I’m going to fuck you, giving me that yellow today and egging me on, I’m not letting that pass today” she said as she grabbed your waist under your top and pulled you closer to her so that your lips were practically touching.

The feeling in between your legs was aching, you needed her.

“Take off my top Fleming” you told her before you stepped back, getting bing her room.

She smirked before grabbing the ends of your shirt and pulling it over your head, looking at your boobs before lightly pressing on them them “you’re beautiful” she said as she kissed on them, leaning your head back you groaned and she tugged on your nipple.

“No noise until my name is on your back” she ordered and you nodded “so loud on the pitch but I can make you silent with just one touch” she cooed and you closed your eyes out of pleasure, trying to not make any noise.

When Jessie pulled your arms up and slipped her jersey over your head you bit your lip and looked down at the jersey.

“Did you know I’d react like this? She taunted as she planted kissed on your neck “Did you know that I’d want to fuck your smirk out of you” she planted more “Did you know that sitting on top of me in the middle of the game would make want to kiss you right then and there” she taunted as she sucked on your skin, marking you.

“Jessie” you muttered out in pleasure as she walked you to the bed and through you on the mattress. You were so wet you didn’t know if she could see it through your grey tracksuit pants or not.

“We’re keeping to top on” she said as she leaned over the op of you and finally brought her lips to yours and kissed you, you let her take dominance of the kiss as her hands roamed your body until they reached your pants.

She looked at you for permission and you nodded “I need your words y/n” she said and you looked at her “yes”

“yes what?” Jessie taunted and you squirmed under her touch as she traveled her hand from your waist and teasingly down your pants without touching your pussy which you craved.

“yes please fuck me with your finger, mouth anything” you groaned out and Jessie smirked.

She returned her lips to yours before she grabbed the edge of your pants and slid them down, her moth following her as she kept them on you, trailing kisses along the jersey and until she hit your undies.

“Lace” she smiled “did you know I was coming?” She asked “I may have gotten a hint” you admitted and Jessie moved her hands up to squeeze your butt as she jerked your body up towards her,

“My favourite colour is blue” she fainted as she played with your blue lace underwear “too bad I have to take them off” she said as she blew on to your pussy and you moaned.

You were pulsing, searching for any friction.

Jessie slowly pulled your underwear down before she spread your legs apart and slid a finger through your folds.

“So wet, just for me” she said before leaning in and pressing her tongue through you, making you throw your head back and your back arch which she responded with putting her hand on your stomach and pushing you down so you couldn’t move.

She kept on going until you started moaning her name “Jessie- Jessie fuck keep going” you whimpered as she shot her head up, her chin covered in your juices.

“Turn around” she ordered and you did and she walked away “Jess” you nurtured and she walked back up to you “I’m not leaving don’t worry” she assured you and pressed her lips into yours as you tasted yourself.

She walked away as you heard her rummage through her bag she brought with her, you smiled to yourself as you saw the glimpse of the strap she held in her hands before stepping into it.

“Who’s name is on your back?” She asked you, her voice darker than usual “yours” you muttered out before she tapped your entrance with her cock “but louder than that baby, who’s name is on your back?” She asked again

“Yours” you moaned out louder and she slapped your ass making you whimper “exactly” she said before pushing in to your entrance.

“Fuck Jessie” you screamed out her name as she grew her paste wuick almost giving you no time to adjust.

“New question” she said as she moaned, the strap rubbing against her clit as she thrusted into you.

“Who’s cock is going to make you cum?” She asked as she somehow went quicker making you moan out in pleasure, your hair was up in a pony tail so she grabbed on to the end of your hair and pulled you back so your face was reaching the roof.

“That wasn’t an answer” she said and you closed your eyes “Yours Jessie, your cock” you whimpered out and she let go of your hair.

“You going to come with me” she demanded and you nodded “make me cum” you whined and she went in Harder and pressed you down more into the mattress.

It wasn’t long until you felt a coil in your stomach “Oh fuck, I’m bout to come” you repeated and you heard Jessie’s whimpers “me too, come with me” she said and you both let out moans as you came together and rides out your highs together.

You both stayed there until Jessie slowly pulled out and slowly rubbed her fingers over her last name on your back.

She then helped you go on your back as she leaned down and kissed you softly.

“Can we do that again?”

[starry-mist]

S5e15 and s5e16 thoughts:

Obviously I need to do these ones together. I'm also going to try to do this as sort of a review rather than general thoughts...it's my first time trying this so be nice, LOL.

I have a few thoughts before I jump into the episodes.

One of the main reasons (other than the obvious one of having these additional characters with their own storyline that initially seems separate from what the series regulars are doing) that this initially felt like a backdoor pilot is because one of the titular characters is noticeably absent. And we know this was because John and Meghan were expecting their third child to be born right around the time this was scheduled to film, so he wasn't available. I'm not saying it couldn't still be a backdoor pilot, but I think it's unlikely for the moment.

The story we got was very different from the original synopsis in the article about the Ontario government funding production in Northern Ontario (https://www.nugget.ca/news/five-film-tv-productions-receive-funding) which again, is likely because John was unavailable so they launched Sarah and Jesse into the spotlight for this one.

I know Jesse fans have a lot of feelings about his glasses, and I agree that the explanation for why he no longer wears them is pretty weak. Fans of this show do have a tendency to fixate on changes in character appearances (see also: much controversy on Facebook about Charlie's season 6 hair.) Anyway, characters evolve, people change, I'm just going to leave it at that. Maybe Justin was just sick of wearing them.

Without further ado:

We open with a lovely aerial shot of “Webster Bay,” which I’m sure is 100% a real place and totally not North Bay, Ontario. (It's absolutely not a real place.) A couple is having a romantic moment by the side of the road. Very sweet. Until it turns out the man is there to rob the house across the street. That's...perhaps a little less sweet.

The home invasion/robbery hits a little snag when the homeowner is, well, home, and goes at the would-be robber with a sizeable pair of scissors. He accidentally knocks her out trying to disarm her, and it's time for the happy couple to GTFO.

Roll credits.

Back in St. John's, the Major Crimes team has ordered lunch. Jesse gets an ominous phone call from his previously-never-mentioned sister.

It's the season of new family members coming out of the woodwork. Sigh.

Anyway, Jesse's sister is in Northern Ontario, as far as he knows (which is apparently where they both grew up...look I'm just going to keep rolling my eyes at all of these things that could have been mentioned IN FOUR PREVIOUS SEASONS) and is in trouble. Come quick. No cops. Doesn't sound sketchy at all...

Jesse's ready to go to her rescue, but Charlie doesn't think he should go alone.

Sarah: You want to go with him?

Charlie: I was thinking you. And Rex.

(Yeah, remember those establishing moments I mentioned in the previous two episodes? Those are now relevant.)

Apparently Charlie has some important stuff he has to take care of.

(Please remind me I need to someday write a fic about Charlie’s guilt at sending the trio into harms way.)

This whole scene is a little forced, IMHO, but anyway, off they go.

Cut to Ontario, where we now have MEGAN FREAKING FOLLOWS, OMG, BE STILL MY ANNE OF GREEN GABLES-LOVING HEART. At this point, I should note that I do love these fleshed-out original characters and their stories, which initially feel strange given we've never seen them before, but will make sense later.

(Pause for my usual commentary of same actor, different character: Cihang Ma previously played Holly in s3’s Seeing is Deceiving. Here they play Detective Kai Huang, and let me just express my appreciation for a non-binary actor playing a non-binary role.)

Anyway, Detective Anne of Green Gables Sidney Scott is on scene and having flashbacks. It looks like she lost someone close to her. Kai thinks the people who broke in were addicts. Sidney has other ideas. She talks to the victim's husband, Tim Cooper, who apparently worked with her husband as well. But she makes it clear that she's definitely off work and totally not on the case.

Right...

Back to St. John’s, Charlie is having someone dig up Constable Charlie Hudson’s incident reports from October 30, 2009. Okay first off, I would have appreciated some flashbacks to a younger Charlie, but I don't always get what I want (rarely, in fact.) And we find out that Charlie is investigating his "white whale" of a child abduction case that has haunted him for 14 years, which has of course been foreshadowed in prior seasons because this show is so amazing at continuity. /s

Cut to Charlie's house, with him taping up a makeshift "murder board" on the wall. My dude, you're going to need to repaint...

Meanwhile in Ontario, we have lovely wide shots of fall colours. So pretty. We also have rapid-fire voiceover exposition from Sarah and Jesse on their arrival, where they're going, how long it's taken them to get there, and honestly, this is yet another of those "show, don't tell" moments that this show struggles with.

The trio arrive at “an old Cold War missile site” where Jesse and Crystal came when they were kids, riding their bikes down from his uncle’s place. Questions abound about who actually raised Jesse, who has mentioned his mom (in a throwaway line in s2) and a deceased father. Now there was apparently an uncle? Okay we'll go with it. Anyway, Jesse and Crystal used to hang out here and build camps in abandoned buildings.

Sarah and Rex are the third wheels (actually fourth and fifth, I suppose) in the Jesse/Crystal/random sketchy boyfriend scene as they head into an abandoned hangar. Sketchy boyfriend (who has a name that I'm not bothering to look it up given he won't be around that long) wants to know if these new additions are cool.

Sarah: Dr. Sarah Truong, hi. We’re cool.

(I don't know why I find that line so amusing.)

Rex senses danger. Looks like it's time to GTFO of the hangar.

This is where I point out that two of these characters are weapons-trained cops, one of whom we have seen is basically a sharpshooter…And none of this apparently matters as neither of them have a weapon on hand that they can use. Oops.

Going to have to suspend disbelief at the fact that the sniper can instantly kill the bf, shoot out the tires on Sarah and Jesse's rental car (that's going to be a hefty repair bill,) but then they're all just able to run out in the open and magically escape…right.

This is pretty elaborate for a scene that is essentially just a setup for the plane crash.

Sidney Scott visits a man named Elvis Migwan outside the local hospital. We learn that there is a local Indigenous community whose water has apparently been affected by runoff from a mining operation. Elvis's daughter is sick. And this is a really relevant topic given how many Indigenous communities in Canada lack access to clean water.

Back to the airfield, and I'm just going to speculate that they blew the budget on this next scene and on the plane crash.

Apparently flight simulator games have taught Jesse enough that he can figure out how to fly a plane...again, suspending disbelief. The team take to the skies and are promptly shot down by the sniper, as my anxiety begins to ratchet up.

The remote lake where they crash would be a pretty place to camp in any other circumstance.

Anne of Green Gables Sidney has a nice, large house. It's actually pretty big for one person. Hey, Sidney has that in common with Charlie. They should hang out. Inspector Yousef Ali stops by and brings Sidney dinner. It's a salad. She's displeased. I start to ship them.

Charlie and Joe have a scene at Charlie’s house and it's just not working for me. I can't help it. The whole Alison case appearing out of the blue feels forced.

(However, Joe is totally checking out the new, shall we say, feminine touches in Charlie’s house.)

At the crash site, Jesse manages to smash open his door when there were two perfectly good open ones on the other side of the plane, because reasons? Crystal’s wrist is probably broken, Jesse’s got some cracked ribs…but at least they have a doctor with them who’s totally in one piece and definitely not injured.

Sarah asks for a first aid kit, presumably to do, you know, actual first aid...oh wait, no, instead she scribbles some notes on a piece of paper, which she rolls into a little case that she attaches to Rex's collar. With a tearful hug, she sends Rex off into the wilderness.

Cue “The Littlest Hobo” theme.

Rex wanders the woods.

Sidney Scott decides to go back to work.

Back at the crash site, we find out Crystal’s a pretty big screwup, and Jesse chastises her for her messing up her life. Not super helpful at the moment, Jesse.

Sarah starts to look disoriented and possibly in pain. This is going to get worse before it gets better.

Rex encounters some sort of bird of prey (I think it's a hawk, but I'm not an expert.) No worries, he'll just hide under a bridge for a moment.

Another "same actor different character" moment: the actor playing Bertrand Boyle previously appeared as Tucker Moore in s4’s No Man is an Island.

Rex is under a sky full of stars, which I'm sure he'd pause to appreciate if there weren't a pack of wolves nearby. I believe I read somewhere that Sherri Davis who trains the dogs actually trained all the animals that appeared in this one. I’m in awe of her talent.

Morning at the crash site. Crystal is about to peace out. Jesse talks her into staying. And Sarah wakes up in rough shape.

And here is where I state that Mayko Nguyen is the best actor on this show, fight me. She completely nailed that subtle shift when Sarah realizes that she's injured, and more seriously than she initially thought.

(Side note: I love that Mayko is wearing her trademark huge puffy warm coat. She is apparently always cold.)

So anyway, Sarah has realized that she's bleeding internally, and tells Jesse that he'll need to operate.

Right…

Sarah: You can do anything you put your mind to, Jesse Mills. You just flew a plane!

I really hope they submitted this episode for this year's Canadian Screen Awards.

On his continued trek through the wilderness, Rex encounters the most fearsome of woodland creatures: a skunk. Oh no! What if he ends up smelly?!! Anyway, Rex wins the territorial battle, and over the log bridge he goes.

Oh look, an owl.

So many critters.

There's a road! And with a short swim, Rex has officially made it back to civilization where he is promptly picked up by some sinister characters in a truck.

I'm not going into the gory details of Jesse doing field surgery on Sarah, because I still find it hard to watch, but anyway, give Mayko an Emmy. Hell, give her an Oscar. Give her all the things.

...right now, because I’m not watching these separately.

Ugh. Field surgery. I feel very much the same way as Jesse does when it comes to blood.

Cut to the Ontario Police Service (or whatever they’re calling their version of Ontario Provincial Police) HQ building, which I’m pretty sure is part of Nipissing University, as is the “hospital” we see later.

Detective Scott, meet Rex. He'll keep you on your toes.

See you later, sketchbags in the pickup truck. Nobody messes with our boy Rex.

Oh hey, it’s Charlie Hudson. Kind of forgot about that guy for a moment. Anyway Charlie and Joe get a call from Sidney about the plane crash. Charlie holds back...really any emotion whatsoever.

Sidney! Rex! Helicopter!

Sidney sends Charlie a photo of the note that Rex brought her, and Charlie recognizes Sarah’s handwriting. Joe tries to be reassuring. Okay, now they're showing a little bit of worry at the unknown fate of their friends.

Sarah is now semi-conscious and making last requests.

Sarah: If I don’t make it you have to find Rex…tell Charlie…

Jesse: No, you’re gonna tell him yourself…

Me: Tell him what, exactly? Because you've been a couple more than long enough that I refuse to believe there have been no "I love yous" exchanged, even if we've yet to see it said on screen.

Anyway Sarah passes back out, while I continue to hyperventilate.

Cut to St. John's. Charlie feels guilty for not going. Joe steers him back into his B plot. It still feels forced.

Sidney chatting "with" Rex as he leads her through the woods cracks me up.

At the crash site, Sarah wakes up feverish. She knows she probably an infection. So she should totally drink the unfiltered lake water Crystal brings her, because what’s a little E. coli going to do? Anyway apparently it’s all good as long as the paramedics push IV antibiotics…whatever. Sidney and Rex of course arrive at exactly the right time!

Rex lays protectively on his “mom.”

And the look Sidney gives Crystal tells us her shit is officially about to hit the fan.

Jesse has a phone call with Joe and Charlie to fill them in on all the nitty-gritty. Charlie wants to talk to Sarah, who is now in actual surgery. Jesse goes to check on his sister, who is now under arrest.

Crystal: I just watched my boyfriend get shot and killed and was pretty sure we were all gonna die in a plane crash. It’s been a lot.

Sarah Swire's deadpan delivery of the above lines is just so good.

Sidney questions Crystal, and it become clear that she definitely has a personal stake in this. Crystal swears there was no gun at the house her boyfriend robbed. She wants Jesse to cover for her by taking the backpack full of money, which of course he does. For now.

Sidney: Are you here as a cop or a brother?

Jesse: I have to be both.

Rex wants to help Sidney track the shooter. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

In Sarah's hospital room, she's sitting up in bed and talking to Charlie, albeit briefly. That conversation should have been longer and more emotional.

Tracking the shooter leads to more amusing Sidney and Rex "conversation." They find the type of gun that was used to kill Sidney’s husband. Suddenly Sidney's personal stake in the case makes sense.

Jesse and Sarah chat in her hospital room where she's looking pretty well recovered considering she just had two abdominal surgeries...and then she’s up and at it looking over forensics with Kai. It turns out Kai had the wrong time of death.

Joe reassures Charlie, who is feeling stuck on the Alison case, that he’s a great cop, great detective, blah blah. Says he needs to figure out how to move on so he can be ready for the next people who need his help. So clearly we’re done with this case and it definitely won’t reappear in a future episode...*eyes the next episode on the list*

The totally-not-the-shooter guy whose name I can’t be bothered to learn thinks Sidney’s husband would want her to move on and enjoy the life she has left. Okay then.

It seems that Crystal did in fact know that there would be money in the house. Also she knows about the contaminated runoff situation from the mine. Working as a cleaner, she managed to overhear all kinds of things, and through creative use of french fries, casually explains to Jesse how the mine’s money laundering scheme worked.

Incoming sniper. Again. Rex attempts a takedown but the sniper nearly runs him over with his car. Well, at least they should have a license plate now, assuming Jesse can actually see it without his glasses.

Seeing that it's time to come clean, the Mills siblings take the backpack full of money to Sidney. Crystal reveals how she knew the money was at the Cooper house by basically rehashing everything she just told Jesse. And maintains that her brush with law-breaking was "just one time."

Jesse to Crystal: Rex is really disappointed in you.

Sidney goes back to Elvis Migwan and asks how he knew about the mine runoff. And we now know that her husband faked the reports that said the water was clean.

Back at home, Sidney rips down her wall murder board. She's coming to terms with who her husband really was. He was killed in order to keep him quiet, but he knew a lot more than he let on.

Sidney goes off to question Tim Cooper, who is the actual mastermind behind all of this. Inspector Ali tells her she needs backup. It looks like she rolls up with just Rex, who stays in the car.

Sniper dude is on the scene. Oh, apparently his name is Wayne.

Rex takes him down.

Sidney gets a confession from Cooper.

And the rest of the backup team comes out of hiding.

Sidney, needing to make amends, takes a USB with proof of the falsified mine records to Elvis Migwan. It's everything he will need for his lawsuit against the mining company.

Jesse and Crystal chat as he is ready to head back home. Maybe she'll visit St. John's someday. (Here’s hoping.)

Sid puts away a photo of her and her husband. Ali shows up. Sidney tells him she's planning to sell the house, and that she doesn’t like salad. He's brought her a burger this time.

Could be love.

Sidney swears she's getting groceries tomorrow, and will be back at work on Monday. She's picking up the pieces. She also wants to choose her own partner. Say hello to Little Rex.

Sarah, Jesse and Rex head for the plane.

Jesse: You know, second time's the charm flying the plane.

Sarah: Too soon!

Charlie pulls the pictures of Alison off his wall. He's letting it go.

The door opens, and we get probably my favourite Charah scene ever. The clinging hug. The concern for each other. The intimacy of their foreheads pressed together as they gently sway.

Swoon.

Best episodes ever.

[writingmochi]

ｌｏａｄｉｎｇ ｉｎｔｅｒｆａｃｅ．．．

you have reached year 2

lissie: greetings, visitor! this is your flight director speaking~ welcome to the two-year anniversary of this blog (freaking awesome if you ask me). thank you so much for reading, indulging, and/or interacting with this blog, me, or my works. the sentence before cannot describe the gratitude i'm expressing towards all of you. this is a yearly recap for me and maybe for new visitors who come to know what has happened on this blog for the year.

before we get to it, i'm doing a survey to get to know my audience better (and more research). if you have spare time, do fill in the survey so that i get to know more about the visitors, the works, and the audience on tumblr in general! (average time is around 3 minutes~)

survey link! (survey closed)

leggo!

all research done (read: works written and released)

troubled pixies | txt's taehyun (2 parts; 52k [novel])

smirch episode 2: jay | enhypen's jay (27.4k [novella])

isobel | txt's soobin (43.3k [novel])

pizzeria run | enhypen's sunoo (17.9k [novella])

total: 4 works (1 two-shots, 3 oneshots) and 140.6k words written

all the navigators connected (read: mutuals i got within the year. check last year's recap if you didn't find yours!)

@it-rains-blue (via @itz-yerin)

yerin! the other biggest bamtori i know here! gosh i hope you're doing well irl and online... hope for the best for your confession cafe >> check it out folks @the-love-cafe

@heart2beom

hey jazmine! i notice you haven't posted in a while now. so i'm hoping your doing okay, okay?

@tyunlatte / @wave2tyun

alex! if you are lurking, i hope you're doing so good irl! live your life for the best (edit: alex's back!)

@lovejoshua

1/6 angels: ilem istg! hi! you've been like one of the constant presence when i check the discord server. hope you treat yourself well!

@junniieesbby

2/6 angels: whenever i see a heart, it always reminds me of you, angie. i think you're busy currently, so the best i can say is that hope you have a good rest cause you need it and always hydrate ;)

@hanniejie

3/6 angels: hey lex! i just saw the band au teaser on your blog and i wanna punch myself for not noticing that sooner! /j hope you have a great time writing that one :D

@txt-yaomi

4/6 angels: sof!! i gotta have to consult you more for street spirit cause just the way you work with the album for angel is just *chef's kiss*

@talesofyuan

yuan~~ ngl i can't wait to read your kei lovesick series (tho i'm hoping to staying loyal to yixiang) can't wait to see more of your &team fics. check the blog out for &team content, folks!

@choistick

5/6 angels: saph !! thanks for the tag and hope your hiatus is treating you well~

@robin-obsessed

6/6 angels: lee~ i've just seen that you also like riize like akfjbaieufiw okayyyy i hope you have a good day/night whenever and wherever you are!

@dido-of-the-endless

hi nida! tbh you have so many side blogs i'm confused in which one you post your writing (so i'm tagging your main account). feel free to consult me if you have any wips you wanna let out lmao >.< n thanks for joining the txt hub server, i won't know you if not from there...

@pyeonghongrie (via @pyeonghongrie-main)

rie! thank you so much for letting me in the cult (mueheheheh) and hope we can interact more here or on the server

@aduh0308

welcome to the roster, ada! thanks for letting me join the soobin collab and nice to see you!

director's journal entries (read: all the rants i have thought out the past year. some are genuine, some are sarcastic):

wow… i freaking broke tumblr huh

i shouldn't have been too ambitous fook me

bruh my body's crumbling…

i swear i hate college for not allowing me to write

i broke tumblr twice w/ a txt fic alsnskdams

tumblr can’t handle things :(

is my mind running too fast or is it just harder for people to understand me? annoying much…

i’m literally a step away from going out of the kpop fandom. this kind of fan behavior is sickening

^ and the fact is: i’ll probably survive

kinda wish someone could appreciate my writing just like i do for other people here

is there something wrong with how i write asks? i should have put more tone indicators…

the desire for me to revert back to web 1.0 is crazy. like, me owning a blog? ughh yes pls!

i’m getting freaking frustrated!!!

AGGHHHGHHHHHHHH

… will i ever … :")

*queue yoda's voice* you pushing back more wips i see

how the fuck have i made fewer works yet the wc is 20k away from last year's result? (166k for 12 compared to 140k for 5 works)

^ it's quality over quantity now darling

^^ and the fact that the year 3 count will get higher because of the fics you've delayed

notable moments from the past year

established @a-dream-bookmark, a rec blog + kpop writer & reader network

reaching 200!

started writing for ateez!

joining @kflixnet, @k-labels, and @cultofdionysusnet networks

what’s next?

lissie: if you haven't seen it, i'm starting a new big-scale series called terra incognita for enhypen's jake, do check it out if you like cyberpunk, or dystopian fics! also, i an doing the wips that i promised will be released this year (will prioritize evaluation and subterranean homesick alien first)

lissie: once again, thank you so much for following me on this journey! cheers~

[hereforlou]

bad buddy fandom getting-to-know-you meme!

I was tagged by @dudeyuri to answer these BB related questions by @fiercynn Thank youuu <3 these are always fun but I often forget to do them u_u

note: i consider "fanworks" to pretty much everything people create related to a fandom, including but not limited to meta/analysis/discussion, gifs, fanvids/edits/fancams, filk, fanart, fanfic, fan food, fan crafts, etc. please include this note with the meme unless you have a different definition

name and whatever you want to share about yourself

I’m Maggie (Magui), from Argentina, in my 30s, just enjoying the creative burst this show (which I love very, very much) gave me until it petters out. I’ve been in a loOOooOOoot of fandoms under different usernames over the years and I tend to delete stuff from the internet without much warning, so save what you like (but don’t repost, please!)

when did you watch bad buddy/join the fandom?

I watched it from episode 1 as it aired and could feel the brain rot spreading week after week but didn’t write fic until the day after the last episode came out, and I don’t think I posted any drawings until one or two months later? But I have the first couple of doodles I made on an old sketchbook after the first ep! (note I needed to write their names to remember what they were)

favorite ship(s)

PatPran and InkPa

favorite character(s)

I really can’t choose so I’ll say Nong Nao.

favorite episode(s)

I have a soft spot for ep 11 - running away together to a safe place, both trying to understand each other, the silly guy scene, Our Song, the imaginary montage at the end, the memory of watching it for the first time and being sucker punched by the ep 12 preview??? perfect all around x_x

favorite scene(s)

Off the top of my head (and in chronological order): the trashcan scene in ep 1, the bus stop role-play, rooftop kiss, the last scene/montage in ep 7, the simultaneous parent confrontation and rooftop meeting in ep 10, the silly guy convo at the beach, the last scene with the tin cans on ep 12 ;_;

one thing you would change about the show if you could

I think everyone answered the same thing but the whole Wai conflict and how they resolved it (including maybe Pat getting shot, though at this point would it really be BBS without Pat getting shot?)

what are your some of your favorite fanworks made by other people? 

I'll stick to people instead of particular fanworks, and only those I know for sure are on Tumblr so I can tag them, I'm really sorry if I forget someone!!

@architectxengineer @kit-teung @kornswasianguyswag @miscellar @dimplesandfierceeyes @yourunwiththewolves @icouldhyperfixatehim @fiercynn @charthanry @isaksbestpillow @pransobrave @faillen @jemmo @snickerdoodlles @alexshenry @nanons @mantrisanu

(if you create fanworks) what are your favorite fanworks that you’ve made?

Have I shown you the fridge magnets I made over a year ago? They’re pretty wonky but I think they're cute, considering I don’t know what I’m doing

a song that makes you think of bbs (the ones in the show don’t count lol)

I'll tag the same people I mentioned above, if you haven't done it and want to:

@architectxengineer @kit-teung @kornswasianguyswag @miscellar @dimplesandfierceeyes @yourunwiththewolves @icouldhyperfixatehim @fiercynn @charthanry @isaksbestpillow @pransobrave @faillen @jemmo @snickerdoodlles @alexshenry @nanons @mantrisanu

[reinahwanggg]

Me + You = ❤️ • Jake Sim

❤️pairing basketball player!jake x fem producer!reader❤️

❤️genre established relationship, interview style, fluff❤️

❤️word count 1.6k words (1650)❤️

❤️warning(s) one (1) mention of bullying (as a joke), i overused a bunch of words ngl, please let me know if i missed anything❤️

❤️synopsis hey everyone and welcome back to RVV, a relationship and friendship channel where we interview real friends and couples to get an insight about how they made it all work! this episode is featured by the newest couple on the scene (but most certainly not with each other) Jake Sim and Y/N L/N as they talk about their relationship and take us down memory lane.❤️

❤️notes from reina hey y’all! i decided to write a fic based on my most recent delusional scenario. i am a huge basketball fan (which is why jake’s a basketball player since he’s filling in for the person i had the scenario about lol) and i have a very vivid imagination so i thought, why not make a one-shot about it? enhypen is not a group in this au, but they are still friends with niki and heeseung also being in the nba, jay, sunghoon and sunoo being media journalists, and jungwon being head coach to heeseung’s basketball team. niki and jake are on the same team, but heeseung is on a different team. anyways let’s get into it! ❤️

the lights in the studio turn on simultaneously, casting a warm tone on the set up. space gray walls, two beige wing chairs on top of a patterned rug, with a mahogany coffee table between them. in bold, LED lighting are the letters RVV. it switches on a lovely shade of pink, and the lights of the studio turn the same color. two people walk to a different wing chair and settle in, one fixing their jacket as they sit, and the other one smoothing down their hair. the guy smiles widely at the camera, and the girl gives a small, shy wave. then, the interview begins.

Q: Introduce Yourselves. 

“hi, my name is jake sim, and i play as the shooting guard for the los angeles lakers.” the brunet says with a smile, hand raised as a greeting to the camera for the people who’ll be watching. 

“and i’m y/n l/n, songwriter and producer.” she says afterwards, shifting in her seat a little bit since she’s starting to feel a little awkward. 

Q: How long have you two known each other? 

“five years.” they answer simultaneously, giggling a bit once they realize. 

“i met him on vacation. he asked me to take a picture for him, but he was so awkward with his poses. it was embarrassing.” y/n starts to explain, body turning to look at jake as her hands immediately start to move as she speaks. 

“i didn’t think you’d say yes? asking someone to take a picture of you is more nerve wracking than people say it is.” jake defends, hand on his chest as he explains his case. 

“it sure is. well, that and you’re a super awkward kid.” y/n replies. 

“you’re younger than me.” jake retorts. 

“logistics.” y/n rebuttals. 

Q: When did you two start dating? 

“two and a half years.” they answer, again laughing at their synchronization. 

“i still question why i agree sometimes, you know?” y/n jokingly says. 

“ditto.” jake follows up. 

“what? saying you don’t like me anymore?” y/n asks, feigning hurt. 

“didn’t you just -, never mind.” jake shakes his head as he gives up early. 

Q: Who asked who? 

“i did.” jake answers, looking at y/n to see her looking away. 

“he carried me to an arcade and asked me out while we were playing air hockey to distract me so he could win.” y/n supplies. 

“i didn’t ask you to distract you. i wanted to ask you all night, but didn’t know how, so i just asked.” the brunet responds, looking at the camera to show sincerity. 

“but the minute i was about to beat you in air hockey? like bro, pick a better time for that.” y/n argues. 

“not my fault you couldn’t multitask,” jake shrugs as he rebuttals. 

“you literally asked me to be your girlfriend?!” y/n incredulously asks. 

“i said what i said.” jake retorts. 

Q: What’s your trope? 

“trope?” jake questions, confused. 

“what dynamic are we, like a book/fanfiction genre pairing thing.” y/n supplies. 

“oh! strangers to friends to lovers. i don’t think i ever heard you guys ask a question like this in your interview-” 

Q: How do you guys juggle your relationship with your careers? 

“communication.” y/n answers. 

“we talk to each other a lot, we update each other with our schedules and such, and we tell each other how we’d like to spend our days off. i go to his games a lot, so i barely have any problem with seeing him, but when it’s time for me to work on music for deadlines and stuff, i rarely get to see him. we also facetime a LOT.” she continues, her hand reaching over the wing chair, intertwined with jake’s as he saw it, and wanted to hold it. 

“understanding each other as well. y/n travels a lot depending on who she works with and what she has to work on, so understanding that our schedules are both hectic and trying to work with it instead of against it helps a lot.” jake inserts, swinging y/n’s arm a bit between them, just because.

Q: Fondest memory? 

“the amusement park.” they answer concurrently, shocking each other with their answer. 

“i honestly thought yours would be the hotel in bora bora.” y/n states. 

“just because i rave about the food a lot, doesn’t mean that it was the fondest memory, y/n.” jake follows up. 

“well, why was the amusement park memory fond for you?” y/n asks. 

“it was the first place i told i love you.” jake answers, looking over at her to see that she was already looking back at him. 

the two of them stare at each other for a few seconds before y/n looks away with a smile on her face. jake smirks, and the producers start to squeal in excitement. 

“you won that one.” y/n softly says, and softly pushes jake’s face away when she turns back to see him smirking. 

jake looks at the camera and shakes his head. 

“she acted just like this when i told her back then. looking away, pushing me away from her. she even had to sit down because apparently her legs started to give out.” jake tells the staff, who all oooo’d in reaction.

“don’t expose me.” she pleads, pushing his face away again. 

Q: Have you met any friends or family?

“I know his entire team, and all of his close friends. riki continuously messages me whenever any of us are away. I get too many derp photos from him.” y/n responds. 

“who even uses the word derp anymore?” jake jokingly questions. 

“me, get used to it.” y/n retorts. 

“i have met her siblings though. they all came to one of my games recently. it was funny to see because her brother startled her while she was booing heeseung while he was taking a free throw.” jake says. 

“don’t bully ethan or i’ll boo your boyfriend for the rest of the game. like boy, you’re literally in the los angeles, be a hater at home.” y/n sassily supplies. 

“she also met my family when we were just friends, so they know her and they love her.” jake follows up. 

Q: Any future plans? 

“secret!” they both excitedly respond, grinning mischievously as they look at the camera. 

Q: Last question, any words of advice for people who are dating a busy partner? 

“all relationships are different despite people trying to categorize everything. if you aren’t a busy person, but most of your partner’s time is taken up by either work or school, then try to talk to them about your schedules, and be mindful about the fact that their schedule is hectic. don’t work against a schedule, work with one. work around one, work alongside one. you can also use extra time to work stuff out with yourself. pick up a skill, master your favorite hobby, all that jazz.” y/n informs. 

“we send each other our schedules, and after analyzing it, we find common free times and discuss whether or not we wanna spend them together or apart. contrary to popular belief, y/n is actually much busier than i am. i usually have between june and august off - depending on the postseason - but y/n’s schedule fluctuates according to what project she picks up. we discuss that, and then we plan with it.” jake also informs. 

“but like y/n said, all relationships are different. what works for us, may not work for others. the best advice is to study yourself and study your partner. if you really want to be with them despite the hectic schedule, then you work with them. if you want to be with someone with a less busy schedule, then you date someone who can accommodate that. it’s that simple.” jake continues, hand reaching over to hold y/n’s own once more. 

RVV: Ending Ment 

“thank you guys for clicking on this video and watching it to learn more about our relationship.” y/n starts, clasping her hands together as she talks. 

“if you enjoyed this video, make sure to leave a like, comment on the video, and share it to help with the algorithm.” jake continues, hands going on his knees as he looks at the camera. 

“if you want to watch more videos like this one, make sure to subscribe to RVV, and turn on the post notifications by clicking the bell icon and choosing ‘ALL’.” y/n concludes. 

“i’m jake sim.” 

“and i’m y/n l/n.” 

“and this has been the relationship interview with RVV.” they finish. 

the guy gets up first and straightens his jacket, before turning around and offering his hand to his girlfriend. she laughs at his antics, but she grabs his hand, and lets him help her out of the chair. they both walk away from the camera hand in hand, and the RVV lettering behind them turns off, signifying the end of the interview. 

RVV Bonus 

Q: Who takes longer to get ready? 

“jake.” y/n answers immediately, which causes jake to gasp in surprise at the sudden accusation. 

“i do not take longer to get ready.” jake defensively replies. 

“you had a game for 7pm, if it wasn’t for the fact that you had to get there earlier to get some shots up, you would’ve been late to your own game.” y/n retorts. 

“hey, the question is referring to who takes longer between the two of us, not in general.” 

“so you admit that you take long in general?” 

“i do not admit that i take long to get ready in general, and i will stand by my claims.” jake emphasizes, arms folded to assert his defiance. 

“where’s my phone? let me call riki, and ask him what he thinks of this question.” 

🩷ending ment from reina: welp, here's the end of this fic, hope you guys enjoyed this because this was fun to write. no over explaining , no extra description. just you, jake and a studio. i also want to do a "who knows who" kinda thing because those are fun too. thank you for reading! bye!🩷

[electronicwitchcollection]

My mind is such a mess right now. Usually I hyper fixate on one thing. Which is fine, it’s just one thing to obsess over. Recently I’ve been fixating on too many things at the same time. my mind can’t comprehend them so I end up simultaneously unable to stop thinking of everything I’m fixated on while not being able to think of any of them properly and I feel like my heads going to explode 🫠

I’m trying to watch lost again, because I suddenly remembered I couldn’t remember how it ended 😂, two different anime, read one manga, write two fics while trying to write one shots. I’m super excited for the next bleach and demon slayer episodes next year!, better rewatch them in preparation too!

I have this urge to read other stories, but I can’t focus on the words because I end up mentally writing my own stories. Which I can’t do because then I think about what’s next in the anime which I can’t concentrate on because I need to finish that manga! all the characters smoke, which reminds me, what’s that black smoke monster in lost? Oh yeah, I was reading a fan fiction with Urahara, Aizen, Ichigo and Grimmjow on a desert island… Speaking of Grimmjow.. better finish the next chapter of accidental mate!

adding on top of that the busy Christmas period while trying to single handily raise two young boys and care for three disabled family members. My mind isn’t built for all this 🙃

[utilitycaster]

this is fully hitting the wasp's nest so if you don't post it, i get it but like...i wish more of fandom was open to interacting with the material as presented than forcing into their preferred narratives. I like imodna as a concept. I've been interested in it since c3e1 and I'm intrigued to see where it may or may not go. But I would absolutely rather read your takes after an episode than the imodna fans because you're not trying to force every character action so its fit a specific narrative

Hey anon!

I really appreciate this! I hope you don’t mind me using it as a jumping off point to talk about a lot of general fandom response thoughts that have been percolating for a while, but I do want to answer you specifically which is that I’m incredibly grateful you told me. I do this too! I like to follow people who have different favorite characters or ships but who are engaging thoughtfully with canon. I genuinely have a much, much better understanding of Veth, whom I always liked but often struggled to get, because over time I've followed a number of people for whom she was one of their favorites and who write good meta about her.

With that said, people can engage how they want! It’s entirely valid to interpret things through shipping goggles/only watch because you want two characters to kiss (and you can want them to kiss for no reason other than "it would be gay”), or to like or dislike characters based on surface details. It’s just that like…to me, meta based on canon, or talking about the narrative and themes is saying “this is what I see, and I’m explaining it to you in the hopes that you can understand what I see, even if you don’t see it the same way” and shipping goggle interpretations are, ultimately, preaching to the choir. Like, honestly, I was never terribly into it, but I gave Imodna a shot! It hasn’t delivered on anything that specifically interests me and I’m more invested in other relationships for them right now. I'm also still open to things happening in canon in the future that would change my mind. But I'm not personally interested in forcing them to be together at all costs. Honestly, even for things I really, really ship, I never feel that way, because in the end I'm more interested in watching a story.

This could be a whole treatise - honestly the starting point for a lot of these thoughts is that masters’ thesis on toxic fandom behaviors w/r/t shipping that went around - but I’ll keep it relatively short here and if anyone wants me to elaborate on anything here, they can ask.

Basically, as I said above, there are lots of different ways to engage with the text, and the vast majority are valid, but looking at the canon and writing about conclusions drawn from it, or even writing fic that is deeply based in canon and makes smart extrapolations from it, are a way to make your own feelings about the text accessible to others. Saying “I think Blorbo 1 and Blorbo 2 should kiss with tongue” is not. It’s just as genuine and valid to say! I take it in good faith that the speaker truly wants Blorbos 1 and 2 to kiss with tongue! But If I don’t already agree, it’s not going to convince me because it’s not an argument. And, to be honest, if that’s a really common fandom feeling, and I don’t particularly care for Blorbo 1 and Blorbo 2’s dynamic, I might write about the limitations I see in it from canon (on my own blog, to be clear, not as a reblog or anything obnoxious like that). And, if I do that, I don’t mind if someone looks at what I wrote, and says “anyway, I think Blorbo 1 and Blorbo 2 should kiss with tongue”, and continues along their way, and ignores or blocks me and finds like-minded people! I only mind if they start directly engaging with me with the intent of convincing me, without putting in the effort to provide arguments tailored specifically to me. And even then…does it matter if I don’t want Blorbo 1 and Blorbo 2 to kiss with tongue? I don’t have any more control over this happening or not happening in canon than you do.

I think there are two big reasons why discourse can get so fraught and vicious. The first is that  I think a lot of people who aren’t writing in terms of narrative, canon, and argument have very personal feelings about characters, which is good and valid! But they then see a dislike of that character as a dislike of them, which isn’t actually true, both because what makes a good character or interesting ship is not the same as what makes a good real-world person or healthy relationship (insert Anna Karenina line here); and because one person’s dislike of a character can be for different reasons than why someone else relates to the character (eg: the reasons I didn’t vibe with Molly were because he was often flaky and manipulative. If you relate to Molly but it’s because you’re genderfluid and do circus acrobatics and tarot readings, then our feelings are not in contradiction; we’re just responding to different things about him). I also think some people see a preference for one character over another, even if the person expressing the preference likes both characters, as an attack on their favorite. That, to be honest, is just really stupid and they should work through that.

The second, and this is where this does get more judgmental, is that I think that sometimes, people who are responding to surface things or relatability attempt to make arguments that inappropriately co-opt the language of social justice (not that it’s inappropriate to use social justice language when apt in fandom, but like…keep it systemic and about patterns), or which are inconsistent. To use an example, during Campaign 2, I remember receiving two different anons, one in which someone basically said “funny how Essek is granted the grace that Astrid never is; fandoms hate women”; and one in which someone said “funny how Astrid is granted the grace that Essek never is; fandoms hate characters of color”, and the real answer is that Astrid and Essek are very similar but do have key differences and if the criticisms of Astrid or Essek are rooted in misogyny or racism, respectively, then that’s worth pointing out, but I think it’s really unhealthy and unkind to assume people don’t like something because they’re bigoted (and indeed, this demonstrates a no-win situation with two characters each of whom is a member of an oppressed group, so that no matter whom people prefer you can always make this accusation, which means it’s meaningless without evidence.) And, if someone says in your inbox “well I don’t like Essek because he’s a wizard who is interested in power”, then it is valid to say “ok, well, then why are you arguing that I should like Astrid, a wizard who is interested in power?” because you’re pointing out the flaws in their argument. (sidebar: I, personally, like both Essek and Astrid. This is purely for illustrative purposes.)

Anyway I think the conclusion to be made is like, everyone may like what they like, but if it’s important to you that other people like what you like, you need to put in the work, and also, it’s worth examining why this is important to you...but it's that kind of thinking that makes people insist on certain narratives rather than just watching the show, because they are trying to prove themselves right rather than providing predictions and opinions, sitting back, and seeing if they come to pass.

[sylvies-chen]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤️

Ahh ok this is so cute I’m glad I was sent this because I feel like I never promote my own stuff on here and wouldn’t unless prompted lol.

Hopelessly Devoted To You - anyone who’s read my stuff has probably read this one, it’s my most popular fic and my first ever AU. I was so proud of this story, and met some of the most wonderful fandom friends through this story

Spinning Out - this is my most severely underrated fanfiction ngl!! I was so proud of this when I wrote it and was in my Burzek feels. I owe @fighterkimburgess for this, who championed this fic for me, like I was writing it solely for you at one point cíara! you were its biggest fan for sure. anyway y’all can pry ballerina kim from my cold dead hands it was glorious.

Violin Concert in D Minor, Op. 47: I. Allegro Moderato - MY KENSTEWY FIC MY BELOVED yes I absolutely wrote a fic because of a violin concerto I’d heard it’s the geekiest thing ever but I lovedddd getting to write college!kenstewy and this was right after the succession finale too so I needed a win (or at least to write a little smut).

Where the Mind Wanders - one thing about me is that I LOVE the “dream sequence where deceased loved ones visit them” trope. think that episode of Sherlock where he gets shot, think 8.15 of Bones, things like that. because you get such an insight into a character’s psyche while also getting feral worried energy from character B who’s in love with them, and it’s just. SO GOOD. so I tried writing that for Chenford because we have yet to experience any true whump from established chenford now that they’re actually together and I wanted to write Tim losing it over Lucy being in danger!!

Love & Metachrosis - listen I love getting to write sort of higher concept fics and getting super creative with it, but this fic is none of that. it’s heartfelt as all my stuff is, but I’m proud of it for its comedy and humour. I genuinely did try writing it as a real scene from a (hypothetical at the time) season 2 episode of OFMD, and added in some comedy in there (I hope) so I’m proud of it precisely because it is super kitschy and silly and fun, but there is still a lot to sink your teeth into and it slowly sinks into the emotional stuff just like the show does. Idk, it was just the first fic I’d ever written for a show that is technically a comedy so I was really happy with the balance!

bonus points for my new chenford AU that I’m writing right now which is probably the best thing I’ve written and my favourite new idea, because I haven’t posted it yet but I still am so excited for it!! Title is TBD but @morganupstead knows what’s up (morgan it’s my superpowers fic and it’s coming along beautifully I totally need to send you the first two chapters or something because you kept me going with writing this)

[realbeefman]

Angus loyal follower here I love your posts I actually started reading hilson fic because of you even though I’ve never seen the show and I never will because once I heard Hugh lauries voice in a fancam and it was so unsexy also they filmed a lot of b roll at my school anyway Seeing your destiel post was so surprising to me please tell me more about your spn opinions I’m so curious I love discourse <3

very long answer so i’ve hidden it under a readmore for the sanity of casual dash scrollers and people who dont care

first off his american voice or his british voice? this is kind of controversial and may seem wild considering i spend a solid chunk of time thinking about what house would be like during sex but i ACTUALLY find him deeply unattractive. i’d love to have his face and wear his skin but never in my life would i consider him a sexual being. he’s too british for it. the only way british people can be sexy is if they are women this is my most political belief on foreign policy. however i do think hugh laurie’s AMERICAN voice is actually very normal and makes him very endearing to me. hilson fic is awesome but honestly!!! most hilson fic for me just does not hit the same unless u can visualize the creepiness with which house looks at wilson. it’s genuinely sickening. he talks about wilson in the softest voice. so many of the most iconic lines in the show just dont HIT the same if u dont listen to the way they’re delivered.

that is SO cool that they shot b roll at ur school though!!! honestly seems like a dream. if i knew i had walked the same halls the house film team had i think i would die. the camerawork on that show is just fucking PHENOMENAL. i could write entire essays fangirling over how they shoot certain scenes but i fear that would be chronically desperately boring

oh man my supernatural opinions… first off disclaimer i have not seen supernatural recently because i am a deeply paranoid individual and prone to delusions and when i first watched the show i genuinely convinced myself that the monsters were real so. i think my most controversial spn opinion would have to be that it’s a PSYCHOLOGICAL THREAT. have you ever met a normal supernatural fan? NOBODY HAS. BECAUSE THE SHOW DRIVES PEOPLE NUTS

other than that my opinions are pretty normal i thiunk. i actually dont have anything at all against destiel even though i am solidly on the wincestie side of fandom. i dont care for the ship and i think it sucks but OBJECTIVELY its a good ship and has strong canon support. i think my hatred comes because i have read SO many destiel fics and have yet to come across a genuinely good one that accurately portrays the characters. i dont understand why an objectively reasonable ship with strong canon support has created some of the middest fic ive ever read in my life. genuinely fascinating. it’s not even that the fic itself is not good or entertaining it just doesn’t feel anything like the actual canon dean and castiel! i have read like two genuinely entertaining destiel fics that felt realistic and BOTH were from authors who primarily write samdean so!!

other controversial spn opinions i have. the “chuck is god” stuff is by far the most entertaining late seasons retcon. objectively ridiculous but so goddamn amusing. i think season 8 and the leviathans was the peak of supernatural. by far the best season in my opinion. plotwise it was not the most believable but i strongly believe that what makes a story good is not it’s logical soundness nor it’s objective value but whether it is ENTERTAINING and COMPELLING and by god the leviathans were both of those things. what a season. also benny and dean were having sex. i loved castiel going insane. OH and i think endverse spn is overhyped both as an episode and in fanon! i did not understand what endverse referred to for so long because i couldnt comprehend that SO MANY PEOPLE could possibly by THAT fanatic over a very mid episode.

not a controversial opinion but rowena is hot. she should've been in every episode for this reason alone. last semester i set up an office meeting with my professor who looked JUST like her to shoot my shot and she literally died before the meeting could happen. i've always felt in my heart that these are related.

[wordsandrobots]

IBO reference notes on . . . original(ish) characters

So I’m pretty good at inventing original characters in fanfic. By which I mean, I'm good at creating circumstances where I need to. It's one part mostly writing post-canon to two parts rampant gap-filling world building. I usually end up needing to fill a role for which no canon character works.

With Iron-Blooded Orphans, however, there are a plethora of relatively distinct extras and background character designs that serve as the basis for populating the roles I'd normally make someone up for whole-cloth. Not that I haven't done that too over the course of Wishing on Space Hardware, but I thought – as an end of the year post – I should go through and note down where I've bolted personalities on to existing character models (or retrofitted character models to OCs, because that has happened too). Plus a bonus full-on OC if you reach the end . . .

It's a fun exercise at least, and has bulked out my reference images folder nicely! I hope anyone who follows me for those stories will get a kick out of seeing who I've been talking about this whole time. And if you haven't already read the fics and you're an Iron-Blooded Orphans fan . . . ? Maybe the ideas I jot down here will let you know if you want to take a look.

Spoilers ahead (for the entire series and my fic). Screenshots snipped from Netflix and Youtube for illustrative purposes only. You should go watch this show – it's good! Content warnings (for the series and these notes) for child abuse, child soldiers, and mentions of substance abuse and sexual assault.

Tekkadan

So due to events of the series (SPOILERS, ye gods, I did warn you), my fic bumps everyone up at least one character tier (secondary and tertiary characters have become primary ones, various extras have taken secondary roles). Nowhere is this more apparent than in Ride Mass' roving brigade of junior revolutionaries. The core of this group consists of the surviving members of the background quartet, seen here with Merribit. Clockwise from the left, these are Hirume, Trow, Elgar and Embi. They have minor speaking parts throughout both seasons of the show and what I'd call variable levels of actual personality traits.

Trow is the guy usually seen in a blue cap and scarf. He seems to have quite a serious personality, with his most prominent speaking parts being telling Mr Alesi that 'this is a battle for revenge' while loading up the train in episode 23 and explaining to the new recruits at the start of Season Two that most of Tekkadan have nowhere else to go. Post-canon, I decided he'd developed into a fairly gregarious person, somewhat inverting his previous stoicism and generally taking a Shino-like role in the group. However, his original seriousness re-emerges when there's fighting to do and he probably takes the least pleasure in combat. He is extremely loyal to Ride, who he credits with turning their anger at what happened to Tekkadan into concrete action.

Hirume gets the fewest lines and those he has are largely exposition. As a result, I made him inclined to being quiet and thoughtful, as well as the one who comes closest to sharing Ride's growing consciousness of the systemic problems with the world. He's a smoker where Trow is a drinker – each of these kids has some kind of coping mechanism – and a bit of a player. Has definitely had the most girl/boyfriends out of any of them. Gets much more excitable when fighting breaks out, which is influenced by how he looks in the Tekkadan group shot taken after the Battle of Chryse (he's the happiest-looking person in that picture by a mile).

And then there's Embi. Oh boy, Embi. His twin brother Elgar is killed in the final battle of the series and this event looms largest in my characterisation of him. Aggressive, misanthropic, absolutely haunted by his brother's death – Embi only signs on with Ride for the chance to lash out at the people who hurt him and quickly ditches them when thing turn political.

Side-note: I am taking this guy who shows up during the epilogue to be Embi, sans hat and grown up. It's not a one-to-one match with his original model (he normally has double-pointed eyebrows ala Treize and Dorothy from Gundam Wing) but it's close enough to make sense.

In all this, I'm building off the one clear trait he has throughout his appearances which is that he is a jerk. Both the twins are nuisances but Embi is actively mean to other people, insulting Ride and calling Elgar a coward for not wanting the Alaya-Vijnana surgery again (which Embi does, clearly idealising Mikazuki). His vice of choice is smoking harder drugs than Hirume, specifically those that get him far enough out of his skull that he stops imagining his brother is still at his shoulder, which is honestly when he's the most pleasant to be around.

Also, he actually likes fish, having been in hearing distance of Atra saying how amazing it was during that one meal where everyone else refuses to eat it. This is entirely based on where he's sitting in the scene and the priceless look of indecision he's wearing throughout.

Anyway, he ends up falling under Almiria Bauduin's influence which makes everything better.

(Additional spoiler: that was a lie.)

Pel is the name I gave to the guy on the left here, pictured while severely unimpressed that Eugene went from scolding him for perving on Merribit to basically doing the same thing in the key of 'puppy-dog.' As far as I can tell, this character model doesn't show up ever again but I like it and I needed an extra member of Ride's group for a recurring role. He's their fourth pilot, using a restored Garm Rodi, and is a basically decent guy, doing his best. 'Pel' is short for 'Pellinore' and he will deck you if you call him by the full version.

There is a fifth member of Ride's crew, Saji Watts, for whom I do not have a character model assigned because he's not Tekkadan but rather an ex-member of another mercenary group who got pulled into their orbit. Again, there's not much to him beyond 'can fight, will do so for good cause.'

Moving over to the non-terrorist side of post-Tekkadan life, we have Alessio, who appears to the left of the group shot I mentioned earlier. I really wish I had a better image of the character model but, again, he only shows up here. Alessio is the larger guy on the right and grows into a chill enbee (they/he) who works as an engineer at Kassapa Factory. They favour baby blue overalls, royal blue mohawks, and are generally a nice, calming person to be around. They are also have decent musical taste, being the group's resident DJ.

The guy pictured next to them is John Plant, their old boyfriend, because I refuse to believe Yamagi was the only person to develop feelings for someone they lived with for so long, or that Shino's denseness over how found families work was in any way endemic. Sadly, their story had a similarly tragic conclusion to the main gay romance because John was a pilot and, well . . .

Yeah.

I took John's name from those scratched on to the memorial stone in the epilogue. He's the last in-action casualty Tekkadan suffered before they retreated to Mars.

Finally, we have the back of Ivan's head. I mean, Ivan is the name I gave to the chap seen giving a report to Eugene in the epilogue scenes with Kudelia's office. He's second-in-command of the Admoss Company security team and his primary traits are being intimidatingly large, fiercely loyal,  and willing – if not necessarily able – to help Akatsuki with his homework. I've made Ivan a Tekkadan veteran but sadly haven't hunted down a younger character model that quite fits. Just imagine he was there, off-screen somewhere.

[UPDATE: Young Ivan!]

Turbines

Moving on to the other group with tons and tons of interesting-looking background characters, I picked out this lady to play the part of one of Azee's right-hand pilots in a future iteration of the Turbines. Ria is a competent, serious woman and a bit of a bruiser. She fills the role of security chief aboard Azee's ship as well as flying a Hekija in combat. She is also in a relationship with Bilt Turbine and has at least one kid, Barrett 'Barry' Turbine, who is the splitting image of Naze.

Bilt herself is one of the few non-central named Turbines, serving as part of the Hammerhead's bridge crew. I carried that job forward, making her the chief pilot of Azee's ship. I don't think I've really expanded her much beyond what she does in the series, but she's a fairly bright, glamorous presence and a good sounding board for Azee. She and Ria get very soppy over one another. (I'm sorry, was I not supposed to ship aboard the ship of polyamory?)

Chloe is another named Hammerhead crewmember from the show and I include her mainly because I've promoted her to captain of another Teiwaz ship. I don't really have much of an idea for what she's like as a person, but she seemed prominent enough among the Turbines that using her in the story made sense.

Finally, another one I created both name and personality for, Lola is a systems expert and general hacker who will talk your ear off about coding technicalities if you're not careful. I retrofitted her to this character model at the last minute because it's dead-on for how I pictured her (she shows up in episode 10, right before the Brewers arc).

There's one further prominent OC I introduced called Claire, a trainee mobile suit pilot, but she explicitly isn't based on an in-show Turbine as I intended her to have joined Azee's main group from another part of the organisation.

I would be remiss, however, not to include the Turbine kids I invented. Barry I've already mentioned – he's a good boy and a bit of a clutz, who is noted to have inherited Naze's looks but not his brains. Likes nail-painting (it's Lafter's fault) and should not be allowed to work on heavy machinery unsupervised. Gabriela, meanwhile, is merrily following in Amida's footsteps as a pilot and general badass. An absolute terror who will reprogram your simulator at a higher level when you aren't looking. I described her as having frizzy hair, which I will hand-wave as saying she grew into because she is absolutely meant to be the baby Naze was holding in the Turbines' backstory episode.

Civilians

Back to Teiwaz proper, I created a character called Nikolai Critchlow – a pedantic, fussy accountant – to serve as a thorn in Azee's side for several parts of the story. I didn't mean for him to match a character model from the show, but blow me down if this chap from the Teiwaz board scenes early in Season Two isn't bang on the money. I don't know if it quite makes sense with the character for him to have been at a meeting that's clearly for the underbosses the Italian/Japanese fusion space mafia, but I could certainly come up with a reason for this to be him. On Jasley's side of the table too, in case you needed a clue to where his inclinations lie.

I also created a character to be an actual underboss: Grayling Une, head of the 4S Phalanx security company. Sadly, I forgot this scene existed when I made him up, so I missed out on matching him exactly to one of the people here. He could almost fit the very bald gentleman to the right, except that I did emphasise his enormous bushy eyebrows and I'm too enamoured with this image to want to change it. Given his personality, it'd be quite fitting if he wasn't present here, so I'm OK with that.

(Content warnings for the next part: reference to sexual abuse of minors.)

(Also, don’t adjust your sets, this screenshot was taken through a car window.)

At the opposite end of . . . well, one spectrum or another, is the kid who shows up in the limo with Iznario Fareed right after the Dort arc. I named him Asher and there's no way to sugar coat that he's another kid like McGillis who was sexually abused by Lord Fareed. This is, in hindsight, an obvious meaning of this scene and I made Asher the 'spare' to McGillis' 'heir': a second kid who Iznario was in the process of adopting when the whole Edmonton debacle happened. He's definitely the character I am most worried about writing well, given the sensitive subject matter he's wrapped up with. Personality-wise, he comes across as incredibly forgettable and bland to most people, but much of that is obfuscation as he's a very good actor. He joined up with Almiria and plays the part of 'Montag', the face of the terrorist activities that she helps orchestrate. It's unclear, even to him, if he really wants to be involved or if he's just desperate for companionship after being left adrift after the events of the series. A chronic condition results in bouts of extreme muscle pain, which he copes with via both medical and recreational drugs; it was via the latter that he met Embi, to whom he has taken an unaccountable liking. Asher is just about the only person in the solar system who thinks of Embi with any fondness and as to where this or the trifecta they make with Almiria is going . . . you'll just have to read the fics!

Gjallarhorn

This guy isn't someone I needed to do much invention for, since his role in my story is to be killed for doing what he does in Season One. Johannes Gough, the officer in charge of the mission to crush the workers' unions in the Dort Colonies, gets promoted for his dedication to upholding the status quo and takes over as operations director for the Ariadne Network. He is a trusted ally of Rustal Elion and has part to play only insofar as Ride shoots him with a missile during a party at which Azee and the cast of the IBO spin-off manga are guests.

Less loyal to the new order by far are two of the officers who were part of McGillis' crew in the final retreat. The first guy appearing in this scene prior to Mackie's last blaze of glory goes on to become part of a radical group that forms the bulk of the alliance Almiria builds to take on Gjallarhorn. Callum Rai (yes, that's a Gundam mythology gag) appears briefly in The Ares Affair, running an operation on Mars – he's the thin, haggard man Chad and Yamagi encounter. He has somewhat lost his revolutionary fire in the years between the end of the show and the present timeline of my fic, which is going to be important later.

The other one, Reuben Bonnaire, absolutely has not lost his belief in a reformed Gjallarhorn and serves as the brains of the outfit. A clever tactician but less-than charismatic leader, he agrees to work with Almiria because she can provide a figurehead for their efforts (Asher/Montag). This will also be important later and may or may not be a colossal mistake.

And I suppose, while on the subject of Gjallarhorn-adjacent OCs, I may as well include this sketch I did for my main villainous OC. This is Resource Major Almandi Iversion, R&D division commander, obsessive Gundam fan-nb, all-round manipulative bastard, and one of most horrible people I've ever written. Only, you know, in a cathartic way. They're not exactly the main antagonist of the series but they are the vector through which major parts of the plot operates.

Other reference posts include:

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (Part 1)

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (Part 2)

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (corrigendum) [mainly covering my inability to recognise mythical wolves]

IBO reference notes on … three key Yamagi scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Shino scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Eugene scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Ride scenes

IBO reference notes on … the tone of the setting

IBO reference notes on … character parallels and counterpoints

IBO reference notes on … a perfect villain

IBO reference notes on … Iron-Blooded Orphans: Gekko

IBO reference notes on … an act of unspeakable cruelty

IBO reference notes on … Kudelia’s decisions

[magnumdays]

Magnum PI 4.20 - ‘Close To Home’ review

WE BE CANON!

I can still not believe even as I KNEW as soon as we had the whole flashback to Higgy talking with the doc after her run! I just knew. 

Then I was like Oh no Lia! Maybe we won’t get it and they’ll leave it all angsty. But the very next scene is like Magnum telling the guys ‘nothing happened’ and then I knew 100%. (I’d also been spoiled by amazing kissing gifs from my two seconds of opening tumblr!)

Anyways, I like-loved this episode, (duh) and over all I’m not sure how much I have to say today. Only OMG if this was the series finale I’d be able to die happy and since it’s most likely not WE ARE GETTING A WHOLE SEASON of Miggy. They better not mess it up!!!

But I mean...can’t stop rewatching that last scene! Still, I’ll try to remember and talk about the rest of the episode too!

Thos one felt like a mix of so much because we have A) Magnum and Higgins acting like high schoolers in love or like some Shakespearian play. It was like a classic ‘darkest moment’ in a romance novel where the characters are finally about to come together and then something stops them. But it’s all actually a misunderstanding. So I’d say the Miggy plot this week is a romantic comedy. 

B) Gordon’s kidnapped wife (+him at first) and then Beth being shot and them breaking a guy out of prison and a big shoot-out and finding out the bad guy was responsible for Gordie’s sister’s death. It was pretty heavy. And he no longer with the HPD (are we going to get Magnum, Higgins and Katsumoto investigations next year? that be... something). So that was a pretty dang serious thriller-detective-suspense-crime plot-line.

C) the baby coming early and Suzy having complications. I felt weirdly responsible for this (since I did kill her in a fan fic and occasionally I seem to mind link a bit with the writing team... but she survived so it’s not my fault) and Rick being shook and then everyone having a moment with the cute-fake baby. Like that was a fake baby right? I mean yeah? Or did I just insult someones baby? And this last one, it’s like IDK family+medical drama? Or perhaps angst family? 

No matter. 

Despite how different they all were weaved together pretty good, and just like the contrast of the first scene with kidnapped Gordy+Beth, 

then Higgy on her jog and in the kitchen when she’s going to tell him and then the utter devastation of Lia being there...

Look at her face, she so sad and we so sad too!

(I feel like Higgy was sad a lot this episode, like even there at the end when she’s told him she’s mostly just sad, which is depressing. Because it means she’s pretty sure he dosen’t have feelings for her in return. While I think Magnum actually had a clue that she did have feelings for him just not that she was so in tune with them, Higgy was just telling him because she wanted to be honest and not because she was expecting a HEA. At least not as much as I feel he was.)

Then scene switch to Magnum and the guys waiting for Gordy and Magnum being all defensive about/ explaining to the guys that Lia did JUST SLEPT THERE - NO FUNNY BUSINESS - it was just... chef’s kiss on the tone shifts and somehow managing to make me love ever moment of it. I mean I was legit so upset for my babies and the possibility of them messing it all up but I was still smiling because I was amused by the wacky-drama-ness of it all!

Least favourite bit or thing I’m not 100% sure how I feel about Higgy getting emotional when they were all there with the baby, at the same time I did like how that whole thing played out. 

(And I was right about the balcony scene not being Higgy having said ‘can I talk to you about something’ - promos be liars!) 

Did love that he notices right away and follows. Magnum knows what’s up!

And I of course loved the last scene. I’m both torn between liking that we’re in a new set, nothing familiar just like the situation, it’s sun set (symbolising one thing ending and another starting) but I would maybe have liked their first kiss to have been at Robin’s Nest. Maybe. Still I did like this pick for setting too. Very dramatic!

I think they despite the situation/conversation nailed the whole Miggy dynamics with Juliet being all “I bet this is doing wonders for your ego” and Magnum being all “I asked to spend the day with you yesterday because I was going to say the same thing”. I do hope we get call backs to them debating who had feels first and who made the first move - since he did ask her out for a hike but she actually told him!

Then having both confessed to having feels they’re like “maybe we shouldn’t do this” and kind of agree, and then still kiss = so them! And I really look forward to seeing how they handle this going forward and how they keep them Magnum and Higgins but still give us Magnum&Higgins situations and development of their personalities. 

Now, just because...

And they were so freaking soft with each other this whole episode and I hope they keep that up for a bit, but then as they settle in to the relationship next season we get some good bickering and stuff too. Anyone know anything about season 5? When will we know? 

Overall I think I probably need to watch this episode again without just focusing/waiting for the Miggy moments because I’m not sure I gave it proper focus. Also me just having moved and the new job this week is making my brain feel a bit unfocused. So I def. think I’ll appreciate this episode more on the re-watches!

[puddygeeks]

Wᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ Dᴇᴀᴅ Oʀ Aʟɪᴠᴇ - Sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀ Tʜɪɴɢs, Eᴅᴅɪᴇ Mᴜɴsᴏɴ/OC - Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 5: Iᴍᴘᴜʟsᴇs

Masterlist

Episode: Pre season 4

Rating: Mature

Summary: Since she was five years old, Marcie Bell and Eddie Munson have been inseparable. There was never one without the other. That is, a near death experience with the Mind Flayer changed everything. Now, Marcie must navigate her newly realised feelings for Eddie, whilst facing down the Upside Down all over again. Whoever said love was easy?!

Fix it fic. There will be absolutely no Eddie Munson death here!

Fandom: Stranger Things

Pairing: Eddie Munson x OC

Status: Ongoing

My writing is entirely fueled by coffee! If you enjoy my work, feel free to donate toward my caffeine dependency: will work for coffee  

Warnings: 𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝐷𝑟𝑢𝑔/𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑜ℎ𝑜𝑙 𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑡/𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑠𝑡, ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡, 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛, 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑎, ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑎, 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ, 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑈𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝐷𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑓𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑦.    

Taglist: @toobsessedsstuff

A/N: I am so sorry for the massive delay in getting this published. It was a real struggle to make this chapter work and took many edits, but we got there in the end! As for my posting schedule, I actually just had my first baby a couple of weeks ago so life is complete chaos right now. I still absolutely plan to write when I can but I have no idea when that will be. Thanks for sticking with me anyway. Every kudos and comment means the world to me <3

♫  ♠  ♫  

Chapter 5

Robin and Steve looked equally uneasy as they followed Marcie into the dive bar. Their feet stuck to the floors as they walked, residue of spilt drinks or other substances that didn’t bear thinking about now decorating the soles of their shoes. Though there was a gig planned, it was surprisingly quiet with only around 10 drunks hanging around by the bar. However, they could only shake their heads in bemusement at the way Marcie strolled in and waved at several of the audience as if she was in her element. 

Marcie approached the bar with confidence, chuckling at how lost her friends looked behind her. Despite being underage, she knew all of the tricks to a good night out at this venue and simply ordered three colas, planning to top hers up from the flask that was hidden in the back of her jeans. She gestured for the other two to come take their glasses when she caught the eye of a familiar older customer who sat on a stool nearby.

“I was starting to wonder where you were.” Terry called as he wandered over to her side with a teasing smile. “Your boy’s playing tonight. He was looking nervous without you.”

“He’s not my boy, Terence.” Marcie scolded lightly, her words making as little impact on the clearly drunk man as usual.

“Sure he’s not and I’m stone cold sober.” He laughed, before turning to nod toward the others. “You bought friends? Almost enough to count as an actual audience here now. Let me know if any of you want a beer. My treat.” 

“Thanks for the offer, but you know I always have my own supply. Besides, I think I’m the only alcoholic in my crew.” Marcie winked, breaking away from the well meaning bad influence to rejoin her friends who seemed utterly horrified by the interaction.

“You hang out with a lot of creepy old men who like to get teens drunk?” Steve questioned whilst she pulled out her flask to mix a drink.

“Yes, actually. This is the Corroded Coffin fan club. Welcome.” She teased, breaking into a laugh at the way that Steve’s brows shot up. “You should really learn not to judge a book by its cover, Harrington. Terry used to babysit my mom. He’s one of the good ones. He’s still pretty well known for keeping an eye on the youngsters here. I got spiked a couple years ago and he took care of me until he could hand me over to Eddie.”

“By buying underage kids alcohol?” He questioned, noticing that even Robin was slipping her the side eye for this.

“As if you never drank underage.” She scoffed, before rolling her eyes at his judgement. “Terry’s policy is simply that it’s better to allow people to break the rules in a safe way, by getting weak, unspiked drinks from someone who will ensure they don’t get wasted, than to leave them to get taken advantage of by trying to find their own way.”

Clearly not entirely convinced by this story, Steve simply shook his head and glanced at Robin, who made a concerted effort to disguise how uncomfortable she was. Marcie shrugged it off as she led them closer to the stage ready for the show. After years of hanging out with Robin, she’d got used to having to remind herself that not everyone grew up in the same white trash environment that she and Eddie did. Things that seemed mundane to them were shocking to others and she had learned that most times it was easier to agree to disagree.

“I do appreciate you guys coming with me tonight. I know this isn’t really your scene.” She remarked, flashing them both a smile that seemed to at least partially calm them. “This place gets a bad rep, but it’s really fine. Most of the sketchy people won’t arrive until much later. And if at any point it gets too weird for you, we’ll leave. Okay?”

“I’d still rather if either of you wanted a beer you asked me.” Steve pointed out, earning a sceptical look from both girls. “You’re right. I’ve been drinking for years, but not through creepy old guys. I have a fake ID.”

“Okay, Mom.” Robin groaned, easily earning a snigger from Marcie.

The unexpected comment eased the tension in the group, and in little time at all Robin and Steve had already engaged in one of their usual spats. Marcie was content to sip on her drink, only half listening to their conversation as she watched the empty stage. 

There was a far stronger feeling of apprehension in her stomach tonight as she waited for the band to appear. As well as she had done until now, she was painfully aware that there was no time more challenging for keeping her attraction under control than when watching Eddie perform. No matter how badly she wanted to be here for him, there was something about him playing guitar that drove her absolutely wild every time. 

A couple of drunken cheers echoed around the draughty space, announcing the arrival of the band and as her friends finally stopped bickering to position themselves on either side of her, Marcie steeled herself. 

From the moment that Eddie stepped foot on the stage, he began scanning the area with a nervous expression. It only faded to a relieved smile when his gaze landed on her face. In an instant, she knew that she had made the correct decision by pushing herself to attend and couldn’t even bring herself to imagine how crushed he would’ve been if she’d missed it. 

With his confidence restored, Eddie moved to the front of the stage to get the crowd hyped up. It wasn’t long before the usual band of drunks were cheering together to the songs and even Robin and Steve found a way to enjoy themselves, as he returned from the bar with beers for the two of them whilst he nursed another cola. 

Marcie finished her drink rather quickly as a result of repeatedly catching Eddie’s eyes and being unable to withstand feeling as if he was singing directly to her. There was no denying that she would find the man attractive if he was wearing a garbage bag, but whilst dressed in his ripped jeans and shirt, his hair thrashing in the dim backlighting of the stage, she could have fallen in love with him all over again.

Eddie strutted the stage with a confidence befitting any rockstar, his husky voice blasting from the speakers and sending shivers down Marcie’s back. Just as she felt as if she could hardly keep her thoughts clean, he descended into an epic guitar solo that drew her attention to his hands. Watching the way that he worked the strings, the spotlights reflecting off his signature rings, she found herself biting her lip.

By half way through the set, she gave up on mixing drinks and instead took sips directly from the flask in an effort to suffocate the rising desire in her chest. Between songs, Robin bumped into her side and flashed her a concerned expression.

“I don’t want to kill your buzz, but you might want to slow down on the drinks, Marce.” She fretted, glancing to Steve for backup. “I know you can hold your liquor, but I’m starting to fear for your liver.”

“My liver has been well trained. Believe me, it can handle it.” Marcie insisted. “Besides, it’s all part of my tactic. I’m having a drink every time that I think of non-friendship thoughts. It’s helping me to bury them.”

“Actually, I think it might be bringing them out.” Steve argued and she turned to face him with confusion. “You’re totally giving him bedroom eyes.” He added, his accusation supported by Robin snorting with laughter.

“I am not!” Marcie gasped, whipping her head between the pair of them in horror.

“You kinda are.” Robin choked out between breaths. “You look like you want to climb up there and devour him. Why do you think he keeps looking at you?” She cackled as she necked the last of her drink and put the empty glass aside as if she didn’t ever want to touch alcohol again.

“It’s okay, Robin. We’re clearly imagining it.” Steve interrupted with an equally amused smile. “Just like the little bit of drool you’ve got right there.” He continued, pointing to the corner of Marcie’s lips.

“Where? Right here?” She crooned mockingly, before reaching out to punch him in the arm. “You two suck.”

♫  ♠  ♫

Eddie struggled to concentrate during the cleanup of their set. Though he’d been delighted to find that Marcie had attended tonight, he couldn’t deny the fact that her bringing Harrington along had gotten under his skin. Sure, it added to their usually sparse audience, but he couldn’t stand the thought that she might use one of their gigs as an opportunity for a date.

Then again, if that was the case then Harrington had absolutely failed to get her attention throughout the night. He held a smug satisfaction for the way that Marcie’s gaze had been glued to him during the entire set. Now that he thought about it, perhaps that had been the cause of his distraction. He felt somewhat strange for thinking it, but he could’ve sworn there was something different in her eyes tonight, something strangely resembling desire.

Eddie shook his head to dislodge the thought before it could settle, rushing to finish the job so that he could assess the dynamic between the pair for himself. It took longer than usual to pack up without his head in the game, but eventually they finished loading the van and he was able to re-enter the bar. He pushed through the crowd that had begun to gather for the next act looking for any sign of the trio, but was only able to find Marcie and Robin near the door.

Robin was standing protectively by Marcie, who was half sat, half leaned against a bar stool clutching her ankle. They both seemed in high spirits still, talking loudly and laughing together, but something seemed off about his friend that caused him to rush over to join them.

“Hey, Marce. Are you alright?” He blurted the moment that he reached them and Robin startled as if she hadn’t noticed him coming.

“Eddie!” Marcie breezed, turning to him with a familiar sense of delight that indicated she had been drinking rather heavily. “I’m totally fine. I might’ve just missed the step coming out of the restrooms and given my ankle a little roll. Fortunately, the whiskey has numbed all pain.”

“Unfortunately, she’s walking like a wounded animal.” Robin cut in, throwing her a long suffering look that hinted she had been the one to force her into a seat. “She’s sprained it, but apparently doesn’t think that should stop her from dancing. We’re gonna take her home before she really hurts herself.”

Eddie chuckled at her enthusiasm, especially when she stuck out her tongue at Robin. It was exactly the kind of behaviour he would expect from drunk Marcie. She was the kind of person who wouldn’t let anything ruin a great night, but judging from the heaviness of her blinks and the slight sway in her position, they were correct in deciding that the time had come to remove her.

“Getting high of your own supply again, Hells Bells?” He teased, a fond smile filling his lips.

“You know it.” She answered with a devious expression, opening her jacket to reveal the trusty flask he’d bought for her last Christmas. “You guys were great tonight. You really tapped into your rockstar performance. The way you handled that guitar-”

“-Had girls swooning. Other girls!” Robin interjected.

Eddie raised his brows in surprise at her flirtatious attitude, wondering exactly what she would’ve said if not interrupted. Robin made a conscious effort to catch her friend's attention, her eyes wide in warning as if silently instructing her to keep quiet. Marcie giggled to herself, amused by her antics.

Eddie opened his mouth to question how they were getting home, when the answer rushed through the door. Harrington seemed flustered as he jogged to Robin’s side, barely even noticing Eddie’s presence as he turned his concern to Marcie.

“I’ve moved the car out front, but security is only giving me a couple of minutes so we need to be quick.” He explained, looking sceptical of her speed when she stood and immediately winced. “Okay. You know what? Hold on.”

Without warning, he crouched to lift Marcie and threw her gracelessly over his shoulder. 

“Steve!” She squealed in shock, before releasing a slurred laugh as she dangled over his back. Eddie felt his temper rising at how casually he handled her and when Robin moved to wave goodbye, he couldn’t prevent the words from escaping.

“Woah! Hold on a second.” He spat, grabbing Harrington’s arm to hold him in place. “What’s your plan here? You can’t take her home like that. Her mom will freak.”

Whilst Harrington focused on analysing him, Robin appeared as if she had only just considered this problem. Eddie held his rival’s gaze, struggling to contain the need to rip Marcie out of his grip as he willed himself to use his words instead. His hands clenched at his sides as he forced his attention away from the places that Harrington was gripping her.

“He’s right. Her mom is cool with most things, but she’ll be pissed that she got drunk enough to injure herself. She at least needs some time to sober up.” Robin conceded, drawing the attention of Harrington who observed her with confusion. “I could take her back to mine?”

“Yeah? Your parent’s cool with your friends getting too wasted to walk?” Eddie questioned, waiting a few moments for Robin to shake her head in a defeated manner.

“I’m fine!” Marcie slurred, attempting to fidget out of the tight hold. “And perfectly capable of my own choices, thank you. Put me down, Steve!”

“She can crash at mine.” Harrington suggested, ignoring the squirming of the girl on his shoulder despite Robin’s obvious disapproval. “I’ve got a spare room and my parents are away. I’ll drive her home in the morning. No harm, no foul.”

“Absolutely not!” Eddie growled, his voice filled with an intensity that caused both of the people before him to flinch. “Look, I’m the one who lives closest. I’ll drive her back to mine, she can put her foot on ice, hang until she’s sobered up and walk back when she’s ready.”

Marcie’s friends turned to face him with scepticism, as if they were aware of something that he was not. They didn’t answer this suggestion for a few moments, instead peering at each other in silent conversation, until Marcie gagged from being held on her stomach and Robin grew tired of watching Harrington hold her captive.

“Steve, put her down before she pukes all over you.” She warned, reaching out to assist him in lowering her to the ground delicately so that she wouldn’t fall. “I can tell my parents I’m staying at Marcie’s and come back with you. You’ve still got a few movies from the store to catch up on. We can make it into a sleepover. What do you think, Marce?”

There was something about the way that Robin pushed this idea on her friend, gripping her shoulders to focus her attention, that didn’t sit right with Eddie. Behind her, Harrington gave her a meaningful look too, as if they were both encouraging her toward the decision. Though he was sure that their intentions were good, he couldn’t deny the feeling that she wasn’t being given a choice and couldn’t understand why they would blatantly ignore his offer.

“Guys, as much as I love your company between work and school, I think I’ve seen quite enough of you lately.” Marcie answered, her words bleeding into each other from the effects of the whiskey. “I want to go with Eddie. He’ll take care of me.” 

For a few moments, Eddie faltered as she turned her half lidded gaze to him with a dozy smile. His heart skipped a beat, hardly able to believe that she had so clearly chosen him and he couldn’t help returning her smile.

“If that’s what you want, then I’d be happy to have you.” He offered, relishing the way that her eyes lit up at his words. “She can take my bed if needed. It’s only a short walk home and Wayne’s working tonight so no one even has to know that she was there.”

“Oh, I’m sure her mom would love that.” Robin grumbled, her arms crossed over her chest as she seemed to struggle to decide whether she was more annoyed by his behaviour, or Marcie’s.

“Actually, she’s pretty cool about her staying out, as long as she’s kept updated. Just pass a message that she’s staying at yours. Her mom won’t even care.” He countered, noticing that Robin didn’t seem convinced. “She slept at mine when she got spiked, too. I know how to cover for her. It’ll just sound better coming from you.”

Harrington nudged her side, quirking his brow in silent question and Robin sighed in defeat as she noticed that her friend was still smiling at Eddie in delight.

“It’s her decision. She trusts him, she said she wants to go with him, so we should respect that.” Harrington muttered, barely loud enough for Eddie to hear as he leaned closer to check on Marcie.

“I parked at the back to load up the equipment. You gonna be okay to walk that far?” He asked in a hushed tone, and she rolled her eyes.

“I only sprained my ankle, Eddie.” She chuckled, shaking her head at his concern. “It might take me a bit longer than usual, but the fresh air will do me some good anyway.”

“If you say so. I just didn’t want anyone accusing me of not treating a lady in the way that I should.” He teased, winking at her and noticing that a rosy blush spread across her cheeks.

“You wouldn’t know what to do with a lady, even if you found one.” She retorted, issuing a challenge without even realising it.

“Fine. She’s all yours.” Robin announced, turning back from whispering with her conspirator and Eddie couldn’t prevent a smug smile from spreading across his face.

“Alright, my lady. Your chariot awaits!” He announced, dipping down to meet her before she could protest.

When he lifted her from the ground he made a point of demonstrating that his treatment of her was far more careful than Harrington’s had been. He balanced her in a bridal style carry, pausing for a moment to reestablish his balance from the additional weight before navigating only slightly clumsily out of the door.

“You’re a nutcase, Munson!” Marcie giggled in his embrace.

Her arms came to rest around his shoulders and her head nuzzled into his neck, as if she were hiding from the cold of the nighttime air. It was strangely nostalgic to have her this close to him, but he knew that he couldn’t show too much joy for this situation as he felt her two friends following closely behind.

When he reached the van, he lowered her into the passenger seat, taking extra care to ensure that he didn’t bump her injured foot and turned to find Robin lurking behind him as if she was waiting to check on her. In a bid to keep the peace, he stepped aside to allow them to catch up whilst Harrington seized the opportunity to grill him on everything he’d had to drink tonight to prove that he was safe to drive.

Stepping closer to the van, Robin leaned against the door to examine her clearly incapacitated friend. Although she knew that she had promised not to hold her responsible for the events of the evening, she couldn’t help feeling as if she had somehow let her down by allowing her to end up in Eddie’s care and for her own peace of mind, she needed to confirm one final time that this was the correct decision. 

“Are you sure you’re good with this, Marcie?” She asked quietly, her brows knitting together in concern. “I thought you didn’t want to be alone with Eddie?” She questioned, noticing that in her current state Marcie seemed thoroughly confused at this suggestion.

“Eddie will look after me! Eddie always looks after me.” She stated in a tone of minor offence, but seeming to notice the worry in her friend’s face, she flashed her an understanding smile. “I’ll be fine, Robs. I promise. I’m just having a moment of weakness. This isn’t your fault. I’m not mad at you and I won’t be tomorrow. You can go home.”

Though reassured by her surprisingly clear consent, Robin hesitated for a few moments longer until she noticed Eddie making his way around to the driver's side. She quickly checked her friend's seatbelt, then faced her with a forced smile.

“Alright, Marce. You deserve a night off from your heartbreak.” She breathed, despite a tightening in her chest. “But if he does anything to upset you, I’m going to take a page from your book and come after him with a baseball bat. Capiche?”

“Capiche.” Marcie laughed. “Night, Robs.”

♫  ♠  ♫

Eddie had his hands literally full with attempting to coordinate unlocking the door to his trailer, whilst also keeping Marcie upright. With only one hand available to grip her, he wrapped an arm around her waist and clung to her hip as she sagged against him, mentally willing the door to give him a break.

Unfortunately for him, the fresh air had only caused the alcohol in her system to take further effect and she seemed significantly more drunk than she had at the bar. Now he had her complete lack of inhibitions to contend with alongside her injury.

Without warning, the door swung open and they practically fell inside, Eddie barely managing to catch Marcie before she face-planted the floor. He paused to prop her against a wall, instructing her not to move before turning back to lock up for the night.

He was so distracted with the task that he failed to even notice her moving around behind him. In fact, he was practically completely lost in his own thoughts on his next move as he seemed to only just have considered how strange this situation was after she had been avoiding him for weeks. 

It occurred to him now that he might have scored the perfect opportunity to ply the truth from her, but a small, niggling part of him wondered if the truth was really something that he wanted to hear. Not fully present in the moment, Eddie turned slowly toward the living room and slid off his denim jacket, followed by his leather jacket, throwing them both onto the couch where he realised he would likely be sleeping tonight. 

It was only when he spun back to where Marcie had been standing that it dawned on him something was wrong, something he never would have imagined in a million years would happen to him. He froze to the spot, his eyes widening to an extent that he was sure they hadn’t ever before.

In the time that she’d been unsupervised, Marcie had dropped her jeans to the ground and stepped out of them. Her t-shirt was already making its way over her head, thankfully giving way to a tight silk camisole that protected at least some of her modesty. However, the length of this garment failed to cover the very small pair of black lace panties that were currently on display to him, cutting over her perfect ass in a way that made his mouth fall open.

Eddie wanted to speak, to say anything to interrupt her, but the words seemed to fail him. He stuttered the syllables, desperate to prove to himself that he wasn’t a creep, but no sound emerged. Instead, he found himself staring as she threaded her hands under the delicate straps of her cami to fish out a bra that matched the panties, throwing it onto a dining chair in a mind blowing method that somehow kept her breasts covered the entire time.

Unable to allow this to continue any further, Eddie suddenly sprung into action as he leapt forward to grab her arms before she could remove anything else.

“Woah, woah!” He cried as he hurried into her space and she startled as if she had only just realised that he was present. “Christ, stop! What are you doing?”

“Eddie!” She gasped in surprise. “Don’t be a perv! Get out of my room.” She slurred her words, but the annoyance in her face cracked some of the tension between them.

“You’re in my trailer, Marce.” He chuckled, before his gaze was drawn downward by her attempting to cross her arms over herself despite her complete lack of coordination.

Through the thin fabric of the cami, Eddie caught sight of something he knew he absolutely should not have seen. The smallest sparkle of silver was visible on either side of her chest, its placement easily translating to Eddie who had spent more than his fair share of time staring at alternative models in magazines.

Eddie’s mouth rapidly became dry and he struggled to swallow the lump that had risen in his throat. He willed himself not to stare, already noticing that his pants seemed tighter and he shifted his grip on Marcie to hold her slightly further from him. He strained to think about anything other than the undeniable nipple piercings she had that were wreaking havoc on his mind, tearing his gaze from her altogether before he could say or do anything that he would later regret.

“Fuck me.” He cursed under his breath as he released her to search the room for anything that could remove the distraction.

At the bottom of a pile of old clothes, he managed to find a practically vintage trucker t-shirt of Wayne’s that was several sizes too big. Throwing it roughly over Marcie’s head, he was relieved to find that it covered both the piercings and her panties, the length coming down to her knees on her thin frame. 

“Better.” He choked out in a voice that was obviously strained, but Marcie seemed entirely too inebriated to notice. “Come on. You need some sleep.”

“M’not tired.” She grumbled, rubbing at her eyes and spreading an exceptional amount of black eye shadow all over the back of her hand.

Despite already being stained with more substances than Eddie cared to name, he worried how his sheets would fare against this amount of dark makeup. Unsure what he would be able to supply to assist in properly removing it, he decided that it was better for her to discover tomorrow morning that he’d at least tried to meet her needs.

With a heavy sigh, he wrapped an arm around her waist to lead her toward the bathroom. Squeezing into the tight space, he leaned her against the counter and busied himself with searching for a clean washcloth. After soaking it under the tap, he returned his attention to her face as he attempted to push aside her unruly locks. 

“You have so much hair.” He remarked, pushing as much as he could behind her ears to prevent drenching her. 

“Rich coming from you.” She scoffed and he could only smile at this entirely fair retaliation. 

“Alright. Sit still. I need to get some of this war paint off.” 

Marcie attempted to argue with him, but was quickly silenced when he pushed the cloth to her face. Regardless of his best efforts to be delicate, he couldn’t help some degree of clumsiness in his movements. The more that he wiped at her skin, the more the makeup seemed to simply push around and when he rinsed the cloth under the water, he chuckled under his breath at the state of her.

Instead of revealing clean skin as he’d hoped, she now resembled a child who had been wearing face paint in the hot summer sun. Concentrating his energy on the black eyeshadow and dark lipstick that would undoubtedly get everywhere, he managed to remove a reasonable amount, but eventually had to accept that soap and water couldn’t hold up against the staining under her eyes. 

When he finished, he rinsed the cloth again of the murky water, before he was distracted at the sight of the only hair tie that he owned. He spun Marcie around to face the mirror so that he could go to battle against her waist length locks. 

“Eddie! What did you do?” She slurred, leaning closer to the mirror whilst he gently yanked her back by her hair. “I look like a panda!” 

“Pandas are cute.” He chuckled, but the moment he removed his grip on her when he finished his task, she whipped around to flash him an annoyed pout. “Only so much I can do with soap and water. I don’t exactly have many lady visitors, Marce. You can’t say I didn’t try.” 

Marcie moved to storm out of the bathroom, but lost her balance almost immediately and Eddie shook his head as he swooped her into his arms again. 

“Easy, Sweetheart. Let’s get you to bed.” 

It was a challenge to navigate the narrow halls of the trailer with her laid across his chest, but he stuck with it anyway, knowing that it would take far longer to herd her back toward the bedroom. He almost tripped over the mess of clothes on the floor, barging his way over to the bed where he lowered her down as if she was made of glass. 

Finally tired enough to stop fighting him, Marcie sank into place as he lifted the covers over her in satisfaction. Her eyelids began to flutter closed from the moment that her head hit the pillow and he couldn’t resist hesitating for a moment, gently stroking the hair back from her face. However, when he turned to leave, she startled awake. 

“Where are you going?” She gasped, gripping onto his wrist with as much strength as she could muster and he spun back around to face her with a fond smile. 

“The couch.” He stated in a nonchalant manner. “You can have the bed, my lady.” 

“No. I don’t want you to go.” She slurred, causing Eddie to freeze to the spot for the second time tonight. 

Her brows were furrowed together with stubbornness, as if she hadn’t imagined for a second that he would leave her until now. By stark contrast, he had been deadly serious when he advised her friends of the sleeping arrangements. Sure, they had shared a bed before, but things were different nowadays. He hadn’t considered doing that again tonight at all and the very thought caused him to gulp. 

“I’m not gonna be far, Marce. Just the other side of the trailer.” He chuckled awkwardly, but her expression was unmoved. “You’re really drunk and I’m trying to respect your space. I really don’t mind the couch.” 

“But…I don’t want to be alone.” She admitted, her determination giving way to a vulnerability that caused his breath to catch in his throat. “Please stay with me, Eddie. Like old times.” 

Eddie’s stomach flipped at her words, his mind struggling to decide what the moral thing was to do. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been in this exact situation with her in the past. He’d slept at her side when she got spiked, despite being sober himself, but that was mostly because he was afraid she might choke to death during the night. Then there was the night when the power went out and she ran to his trailer in fear of the storm. She’d demonstrated that she was comfortable with this arrangement before, but since she’d been avoiding him, he was unsure whether she would regret it in the morning.

He fidgeted on the spot as he agonised over the decision, but when his eyes met hers again, he felt his resolve begin to crumble. There was a sadness in them that he hadn’t seen before, something deep and hidden that made it almost impossible to deny her. He glanced back toward the couch again, before a defeated sigh left his lips. 

“Alright. You win.” He mumbled, watching as visible relief washed over her. 

Eddie switched off the light then removed his jeans, leaving his T-shirt on. He nudged Marcie to move her over so that he could climb in beside her, and was careful to ensure that he left plenty of space between them. It felt strange to stay so far apart, when they had spent the night snuggled into each other for warmth one winter when they couldn’t afford to heat the trailers. 

In the silence of the night, he stared at the ceiling unable to sleep. Where this would previously have been comfortable, he found himself feeling self conscious, worrying that he might have overstepped by bringing her to his home at all. The only sound to distract his wandering mind was Marcie’s breathing that grew steadily deeper and slower. 

Eddie couldn’t be sure how long they had laid there, when she shuffled closer to his side. Delicately, she leaned her head against his shoulder, one of her hands wrapping around his upper arm in a reserved embrace. Without thinking, he leaned his head toward her too, his jaw coming to rest on the top of her head and allowing him to breathe in the sweet scent of her hair. 

“I miss this.” She whispered, her voice barely even registering against the crushing silence of his bedroom. 

“Me too.” 

The confession escaped before he could stop himself, relieved when he felt her smile against him. Her breathing grew heavier still, indicating that she was battling against sleep and he debated whether it would be taking advantage of her condition to ask why she had been avoiding him. 

“I wish it could be like this all the time.” She admitted in a slow, sleepy voice and Eddie couldn’t resist the opportunity that she had presented him with.

“It can.” He muttered. “I don’t know why it ever changed.” 

“Because of the secret.” She slurred between deep sighs that almost sounded as if she was talking in her sleep. 

“What?” He questioned, his stomach dropping with nerves. “What secret?”

After a few moments without a response, he lifted his head to glance down at her, only to find that she had finally succumbed to her alcohol driven exhaustion. Eddie cursed under his breath. If he had thought that he was going to struggle to sleep before, he had no idea how energised this teasing comment would make him. 

He looked down at her dozing off, her face tucked into him as if it was the most comfortable place that she could be. It was the longest that he’d ever been able to stare at her, especially this close. Even with her hair messed up and eyeliner smeared down her face, he couldn’t help thinking how beautiful she was. It took a few more moments of admiring her before he acknowledged that a fleeting thought of kissing her at the back of his mind had grown to be all consuming. 

Wait. Shit! 

This was Marcie he was thinking about. The same girl who had given him wedgies when they were kids; the one who stuck chopsticks in her mouth and did walrus impressions; who almost got arrested with him one summer for a ridiculous firework prank and got sick on the waltzers at the last fair. She was his best friend, his partner in crime. He couldn’t ever risk doing anything to jeopardise what they had. 

However, he couldn’t deny what he felt as he noticed how peaceful she looked sleeping on his shoulder. He wanted to kiss her. 

Now that he considered it, it wasn’t the first time this thought had occurred to him. There had been numerous moments in the last few years where he had found himself wondering what it would be like to cross the boundary of friendship. Each time they had come close, it had been harder to pull himself back from the edge. The last time she slept over, he’d had to put himself through a cold shower after she left to try to clear his head. 

As hard as he tried to deny that anything had changed between them, he supposed it wasn’t unreasonable for him to have doubts. She was arguably the only person who he had allowed to get close to him in his entire life. She knew his darkest secrets, and he knew hers. They had comforted each other during the worst times, celebrated together during the best. It was inevitable that she would become important to him and it was only natural that he might wonder at the nature of their bond. It didn’t have to mean that he wanted more. 

Marcie shuffled closer in her sleep, her arm draping across his waist and he lifted his arm to allow her to snuggle into his chest. At this angle her head tilted slightly toward him, positioning her face exactly into the moonlight that streamed in through the window. 

In the dim light of the room, Eddie found himself utterly fixated on her lips. He was consumed by the thought of kissing her, acutely aware of every part where their bodies touched. Delicately, he reached out to tuck her fuzzy hair behind her ear, lingering his touch for a few seconds on her jaw. 

Her lips parted for a moment, a drunken mutter escaping that he couldn’t quite make out. His heart leapt into his throat as he replayed the sound in his mind and was almost able to convince himself that she had said his name. He watched as her lashes fluttered indicating that she was dreaming, only finding himself hoping that it was about him. 

Regardless of what he might tell himself, one thing was clear to Eddie at that moment: he had already passed the boundary of friendship a long time ago.

[erithel]

How do you come up with ideas for fan-fiction ?(specifically Voltron I guess)

I think in your “future” fan fic it was about addressing details and things in the show that were abandoned/ or just weren’t mentioned a lot. But of course correct me if I’m wrong, it’s been a bit since I read it :)

Hm. Interesting question.

Mainly when writing fanfiction (or anything tbh), I usually start with one single concept or even an image as a basis.

And honestly it's usually a super simple concept.

To give you examples, for "The Future" the entire fic was actually just built around the line Lance said in canon "Sometimes all you have to do is knock." It stuck in my head in congruence with Keith having walls up and, and it just felt too perfect a combo not to do something with. That's how the fic started. And as I fleshed it out, it gave me an opportunity to naturally address some of those unresolved issues.

Another example is my current multi chapter fic, "Chasing Stars and Memories." The entire thing was born from the single idea that what if Keith and Lance met alternate versions of themselves, but one of them was female?

I have a whole word doc (which I really need to organize better) where I write down ideas if I get them.

A lot of these ideas don't go anywhere, or they go somewhere but not enough for a one shot.

My writing process usually involves writing out individual scenes or moments and then seeing if it's worth building on. I've posted one or two of those scenes on my Patreon, but most of them need some major editing lol.

For VLD, there are always some underlying things I like to address if they fit into the story – Keith sacrifice, Lance's death as examples – but everything starts out as the most basic, one-note idea.

What if the team had to only tell the truth for a week?

What if instead of the actual Game Show, Bob showed a reel of one significant moment for each of them that the other team members had no idea happened?

What if Keith kissed Lance on the lion right before his date with Allura?

What if the canon episode where they were stuck in space going space mad was actually only in Keith's head?

Everything always starts with something quick and easy, and it's really fun to see which ones I can expand on more. :)

[rabbitcrimes]

WANGXIAN FIC REC: Reality TV

🌟 Knight Hunt! Phoenix Mountain by travelingneuritis 51k Summary: Contestants get paid by the week. The longer you stay in the running and the more you charm the fans, the bigger your paycheck after the season wraps. People compete on Knight Hunt for fame, fortune and love. In that order.

🌟 start getting real by azurewaxwings 21k Summary: “Did you break the ward to come in?” Lan Wangji asks, point-blank. He has his sword out and pointed at Wei Wuxian, no bothering with niceties like hello I’m Lan Wangji, and you are?

Wei Wuxian eyes the sword, but doesn’t react. He keeps lazing back on the roof, casually drinking his wine, as if this is the usual way he meets new people. (And maybe it is! I don’t know your life, Wei Wuxian!)

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian meet on Season 8 of The Cultivation World. Ouyang Zizhen writes the recaps.

🌟 shoot your shot - hot or knot by defractum Summary: "Hi, I'm Wei Wuxian. I'm a Career Omega and this is my fourth season on the show. I like spicy food, archery and alphas who are funny. Or maybe I don't, I haven't rolled over for one yet." On-screen, Wei Wuxian winks at the audience laughter.

Hot or Knot is the world's most popular reality TV show. Part dating show, part survival show, Hot or Knot is everyone's guilty pleasure - and Wei Wuxian is a fan favourite.

The Love Island/Hunger Games reality dating tv show A/B/O au

Heat It Up! with Wei Ying by justpeace Summary: “Close your eyes,” Wei Ying says, and Lan Zhan, surprisingly obedient, does. He takes a piece of the dessert and presses it gently against Lan Zhan’s lips. He notices a gentle crease between Lan Zhan’s eyebrows, at first, before he—and again this is a surprise—opens his mouth to take the bite, lips brushing against Wei Ying’s fingertip. Wei Ying wrenches his hand away, nearly dropping the plate. It’s clearly been too long since he last slept with anyone if he’s having impure thoughts about his coworkers eating food at 3pm on a Wednesday. Or: Lan Zhan and Wei Ying work in the NYC test kitchen for an unnamed food magazine.

Battle Chefs by Sami 25k Summary: BATTLE CHEFS IS COMING! by Qin Su

The new season of Battle Chefs is upon us, and once again I will be recapping every episode. Join us to discuss the latest season of everyone's favourite video-game-themed cooking contest!

Wen Qing is returning as the Referee and Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli will be our Players for the PvP section once again. Raid Boss Wei Ying is sure to make things interesting as always, and the trailers for this season promised us new heights of drama and excitement.

They honestly could have just promised us pretty. It's going to be great!

After the Final Rose by azurewaxwing 55k Summary:

(A talking-head interview. JIN ZIXUN, 36, entrepreneur.)

JZX: Oh, yeah, he’s a fucking catch, alright. He’s rich, he’s hot, he’s a Lan. Like, he’s been ranked number two among the local bachelors for years, and now that his brother’s seeing someone, he’s number one, right? So, yeah, of course I want to win.

Offscreen voice: Do you know anything else about him, besides that he’s rich and hot?

JZX: (shrugging) What else is there to know?

In which Lan Wangji agrees, reluctantly, to be The Bachelor, only to fall in love with Wei Wuxian, his cameraman/producer. Can the Bachelor find his way to a happy ending? And will The Bachelor: Lan Wangji be a ratings hit?

The Great Chinese Cook-Off by aubreyli, cafecliche, etymologyplayground, mme_anxious 20k Summary: Ten amateur chefs, one coveted title. Who will be the first to win The Great Chinese Cook Off?

[ryosei-hime]

I got tagged by @ernmark​

RULES: post the names of the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! tag as many people as you have WIPs.

(yeah I’m not doing that. I don’t even know that many people on tumblr. see it, feel free to consider yourself tagged.)

Strap yourselves in. I have so many wips because I keep starting things and not finishing them because of writer’s block. All Helluva Boss unless stated otherwise. 

Fics I stopped after their last chapters first then individual documents.

Love and Loathing - Fizz learns self love through a Robo Fizz (Fizz x Ozzie x Robo Fizz)

Raising Hell - Loona x Sallie May

Murder of Mirth - a Stolitz AU I did a lot of research for to set it in the 1700s-ish but then never followed up on.

Stolitz AU - Hellhound Discussion - a short bit from Murder of Mirth

Crim x Reader - Pretty self explanatory.

Epilogue Chapter 13 - The second to last chapter to my longfic Sex and Therapy. I don’t tend to name them til they’re done.

Body Language of Abuse - A script for a video I had intended to make on the last episode but got too scared to post because I’m not a youtuber lol.

Epilogue Scraps - scraps from or for various chapters in Sex and Therapy. I actually have four or five of these, numbered appropriately.

Wedding Episode Scraps - bits and pieces of the final chapter of Sex and Therapy not yet put into a cohesive whole.

Road Trip - Lannah and Cog’s road trip to Greed to get a replacement part for Fizz in Sex and Therapy.

Robo Fizz x Everyone - a list of ships and synopses for a one shot project I’d like to do where I ship Robo Fizz with everyone.

Robo x Woobly - the first in that series.

Striker x Robo Fizz - the second in that series

Robo Fizz vs Wally Wackford - a fun idea for a pitch that didn’t end up happening when working on One Helluva Zine

Blitz and Loona Anniversary - Blitz trying too hard to celebrate the anniversary of adopting Loona

Untitled - started after episode 7, Loona finding Blitz when she comes home from her party at Tex’s

Striker x Stella: Cleans Up Good - Stella needs Striker to act as a body guard at a fancy event

Prompts - Angel x Blitz - a request from twitter that I started but didn’t finish.

Prompts - Lilith x Stella - Same

Fitzo Purring - posted what I had during Fitzo week but never finished it

Real or Not, People Love Me - was supposed to be a look at Robo Fizz and real Fizz experiencing what it’s like to be fake in two very different ways

Fizz Dating Sim - A Robo Fizz dating sim I started writing a million years ago that I’ve been thinking of going back to and adding a real Fizz option for.

Fizzarolli x Reader x Robo Fizz - this one’s been sitting undone a loooong time

Stage Sex - another Fizz x Reader that I started and never finished.

Biggest Fan - A degradation smut piece involving Fizz’s creepy fan from episode 7 that I had legitimately forgotten about

Fizzmodeus: Robo Fizz Origins - an idea I had for a fizzmodeus fic set during the time the Robo Fizzes were being conceived and built.

Fizzmodeus Museum Date - Fizz takes Ozzie to a children’s interactive science museum for a date, shenanigans ensue.

Baking - Fizz bakes Ozzie a Valentine’s surprise but it gets ruined

Fizz x Ozzie - Beauty and the Beast - An AU I started working on but stopped, inspired by art by pyronormal on twitter.

Krem - Fizzarozzie - Something I was writing for @/kremlin_art on twitter :P

Laugh, Laugh, Cry Chapter 3 - Continuation of a short chapter fic I had planned with Robo Fizz x Angel Dust

Unhealthy Obsession Chapter 12 - My Robo Fizz OC Ransom spending some time infiltrating Ozzie’s and Fizz’s

Ozzie and DumDum - a very short late birthday present for @/the_ratbus on twitter featuring DumDum (a robo fizz oc) being genuinely nice to Ozzie when he’s usually a rat bastard.

Mansplaining - Ransom asking Mammon lots of questions that he totally knows the answers to

Ransom vs Robo Con - Ransom is a guest speaker at a Robo Fizz convention. It all goes terribly wrong.

Greed - Angsty look at Mammon in Unhealthy Obsession, set soon after Fizz breaks up with him.

Hickies - Ransom learns what hickies are and wants them despite it being impossible for him to get them.

Dancing Lessons - Mammon teaches Ransom to dance

Kisses Experiment 2 - Ransom x Mammon. Ransom getting kisses all over

First Time - Ransom x Mammon. Not the first time they have sex but the first time Ransom has a certain reaction during lol.

Stolen Kiss - Ransom steals a kiss and Mammon “punishes” him for such impudence.

Sword and Shield Scraps - bits and pieces of writing ahead with my Hazbin OC story.

Scavenger and Val - A specific encounter between Valentino and my OC Scavenger in Sword and Shield.

Jo vs Scavenger - a fun fight scene I needed to practice because of some interesting mechanics between these two OCs.