#but let's see what they have in store for the next eps

[dtaegis]

seems like ep seven caused a division in the fandom (or at least helped building it), and honestly? i'm glad i left the discord channel earlier in the series

[a-dude-named-mom]

I rarely leave comments, but this time I feel like I have to do it at least for myself.

Your PBBE story fascinated me with its vivid and realistic description of the relationship between the victim and the maniac kidnapper. It is rare to find cases when an author can maintain a delicate balance between describing cozy everyday moments and the hidden threat that is constantly present during interaction with a serial killer.

I also want to mention three of my favorite moments separately.

The first is when Kevin gradually falls into despair, coming to terms with his fate. This is a very emotionally intense moment in history.

The second point is the description of cosmic forces and its unearthly glory. It was easy enough to turn it into a utilitarian thing, but even appearing only in a few small fragments, it appeared truly unearthly and majestically incomprehensible.

The third point is the cultist's reaction to all these games of Bob and Kevin, because it is sharply unsettling, giving a clearer look at these relationships and understanding how strange they are for outside observation.

I could write a lot more about how I liked your story, but I think the fact that I have been looking for something with a similar relationship dynamics for several days now will say better than any words about it.

I would like to thank you once again for creating this wonderful work and wish you further creative success.

THANK YOU this is such a nice and detailed review oh my god. I give you a big kiss anon, bless your heart

[danikamariewrites]

Babysitters

Azriel x f!Reader

A/n: this is inspired by the babysitters ep of Bluey (yes it’s a kid show so what)

Warnings: none

Knocking on the front door of the River House you let yourself in, “Hi Feyre!” Nyx comes bounding towards you from the living room, “Y/n!” He screeches, clinging to your dress skirt. You kneel down, eye level with the little 5 year old bouncing on his feet.

Feyre comes into the entryway, “Y/n! Thank you so much for watching him tonight, it truly means a lot to Rhys and I.” You get up and hug your friend. “It’s not a problem. I love seeing this little guy.” Feyre leads you into the sitting room with Nyx holding your hand, where Rhys is sitting on the floor surrounded by Nyx’s toys.

Rhys stands to greet you, “Y/n, lovely to see you. What brings you over this evening?” He says giving you a feline smirk. Feyre gives him a look like she can’t believe he’s even asking that. You laugh, “I’m babysitting while you and Feyre go to Viviane and Kallias’ for dinner, silly.” At that moment the front door opens and closes, Azriel comes into the sitting room. He stops short seeing you, “Sorry I’m late, Cassian would not let me leave. I swear he’s a toddler.”

“Uncle Az!” Nyx runs over to the shadowsinger jumping into his arms. “Hey buddy.” Az says, clutching the boy to his chest. Feyre looks at Rhys, she knows her mate is up to something. “Sorry darling, did I not tell you Az could watch Nyx?” “No my love, I don’t believe you mentioned it.” He chuckles.

Nyx wriggles out of Az’s arms grabbing one of his scarred hands in his little one. He drags the male over to you as the little boy grabs your hand with his free one. “Mommy, daddy can both uncle Az and y/n watch me tonight? Please?” He drags out the last word looking up at his parents with big, pleading eyes.

Before Feyre can say anything Rhys answers, “Of course, that is if they don’t mind staying.” You look at Azriel. He looks hopeful that you’ll say yes. You and the spymaster have an odd relationship. You met him a little over a year ago at Feyre’s art studio. You work at one of the art supply stores in the Rainbow that Feyre happened to come into one day to pick up some extra paints. The High Lady told you all about her studio and offered you a teaching position if you were interested.

During your first class with Feyre, Azriel had stopped by and he ended up introducing himself. You were quite taken with his soft demeanor given his reputation. Not to mention his beauty. After bumping into from time to time and quick conversations you found that Azriel is a kind male. He always gave you his undivided attention when you spoke and you loved when he told you his thrilling stories from his years of spying.

You had quickly found yourself falling for him and had tried to keep your crush for Azriel to yourself. But keeping it to yourself was unsuccessful, one night after a few glasses of wine Feyre got it out of you.

You broke eye contact with Azriel to look down at Nyx who was looking between the two of you, hopeful you’ll both stay with him. “I’ll absolutely stay.” Relief flashes in Azriel’s face. “Perfect! Nyx, be good for your uncle and y/n.” Feyre hugs all three of you goodbye, quickly being ushered out by Rhys. The couple winnow away, leaving the three of you alone.

Nyx runs back to his toys, plopping down on the floor. “Can we play a game?”

…

A few games and a dessert definitely not meant for a 5 year old before bed, it was the little boy's bedtime. You and Az were sitting at the end of Nyx’s bed tucking him in. “Good night Nyx, sleep tight.” You say kissing his head. You and Azriel go to leave when Nyx suddenly sits up. “Wait.” You turn to look at him, “will you both tell me a bedtime story?”

“What do you say, think we can come up with a good one?” Az asks, you chuckle following Az back to Nyx’s bed. Sitting down next to Azriel you let him take the lead. He’s always been a great storyteller and you were excited to hear the tale he would tell his nephew. Azriel clears his throat as Nyx lays back down cuddling with his teddy bear.

“Once upon a time there was a girl who-“ “Princess” Nyx interjects, throwing off the story Azriel had set up. “What?” The boy rolls his eyes, “Mommy and daddy always tell me a story about a princess and a prince that save each other and it’s my favorite. Can you tell me something like that?” Azriel takes his time thinking about how to change his story. “Ok I got it. Once upon a time there was a princess who ruled over a beautiful kingdom. The sun was always shining, the people happy and cheerful, and occasionally a rainbow would appear after a storm. Showing the kingdom that even when things are dark and gloomy there’s always beauty hiding behind it.”

You smile, you didn’t know the spymaster had quite the imagination. Azriel continues, “On one of these rare days the princess was out for a walk. Shopping and watching her people enjoy the beautiful day. Before she could walk into her favorite candy shop she bumped into a dark, mysterious stranger.” Nyx gasped, clinging onto every word Azriel was saying.

“She was bright and bubbly, the complete opposite of the stranger. She apologized to him but he didn’t know what to say so he just nodded and stepped out of her way. She continued on into the shop like any other day. Not knowing she had changed the mysterious man’s life. After walking around town some more and bumping into the stranger several more times the princess wanted to know more about him. After running into each other again that afternoon the princess invited the man to join her for lunch. He was going to say no but something in his heart said he should. Talking during lunch the man revealed he was the prince from the neighboring kingdom, sent by his father to meet with the princess to start an alliance.

“Once they were back at the castle the prince and princess were inseparable. They would spend their days in the library, riding horses, and seeking out adventure. As the days went on she realized the prince had changed. He became happier and more open with the princess. On the prince’s last day of his visit he thanked the princess. She asked him why do you need to thank me. He said he was thankful she spent time with him and became his friend. Not many people would be because of the darkness that surrounded him.

“She couldn’t believe that the prince had no friends. She was happy she had a new friend too. When the prince went to leave the next day-“ you tapped Azriel’s arm, cutting him off. He looked at you and you pointed to Nyx, who was fast asleep. You both silently crept out of the room, gently closing Nyx’s door.

Once you are back in the living room you sit next to Azriel on the couch. He seems like he’s shying away from you. You clear your throat, breaking the awkward silence between you. “That was a cute story.” Azriel’s cheeks heat up as he tries to not make eye contact with you. “Thanks.”

You were done with awkwardness and avoiding each other. Moving closer to Azriel you grasp his hand, “It actually sounded like us, was it?” His head snapped toward you, his eyes going wide. You panicked, did you overstep? Did he not feel the same way about you?

It seemed that Azriel was also done with whatever awkward energy was between you. He cupped your face in his large, calloused hands and kissed you. It was exactly how you hoped it would be. His lips were soft and gentle, and you loved the way he held you. He pulled back, resting his head against your forehead. “Ever since the day I met I’ve been crazy about you. Getting to talk to you was always the highlight of my day. I don’t know why I’ve waited this long to say anything but I’d love to take you out to dinner.”

The biggest smile spread across your face as you nodded, “I’d love to go out with you Az.”

…

Hours later Rhys and Feyre winnowed back into the foyer of the River House. Feyre giggling and poking at Rhys’ face. “You are positively tipsy Feyre darling.” Rhys chuckled. “What can I say, the Winter Court wine is delicious. We need to get some for the house.”

“We can but the challenge will be keeping it out of Cassian’s hands.” The couple strolls into the living room, stopping at the sight before them. “Aawww Rhys look at them.”

At some point while talking, you and Az had fallen asleep on the couch. You looked so peaceful wrapped up in Azriel’s arms. And Azriel looked so happy having you laying on his chest. Feyre walked over to the couch draping a blanket of you. She was definitely going to get all the details out of you tomorrow.

[raynetheinsane]

Batfam (and friends) as Henry Danger quotes

(Because im a nerd and love this show)

Damian: Tt, my parties arent that bad

Jon: Christmas. 3 years ago. 15 kids ended up in the hospital!

Damian: FATHER!!!

Tim: Damian! Were trying to study here *indicates to Duke and Steph, both clearly not studying*

Damian: I’m talking to my Father.

Robin!Jason: Dangit! All these jobs say i gotta have skills..

Dick: You have skills!

Jason: Name one.

Dick: You’re a great dancer!

Jason: No I’m not?

Dick: You could take lessons.

(More under the cut i just dont want this to be super duper long)

Bruce: How old are you?

Tim, trying to become robin: Im 13, I’ll be 14. On my next birthday

Dick: Ah so youre aging sequentially

Tim, extremely tired: Do you ever dream about sleeping?

Steph, extremely confused:…no??

Tim: good. If you did youd be dead.

Bruce: Lets ride.

Robin!Jason who is very new to this: Wha- Ride where?

Bruce: We’ve got people in the Jandy River that need saving.

Bruce: Come on.

Jason: You mean we’re going there? Together? Like right now?

Tim, extremely dirty and has a cut on his face walking into Drake Manor:

Jack, not paying attention: Hey Tim, did you get the job?

Tim: Yeah, just finished my first day.

Jack: So hows work?

Tim: Uh it was pretty… interesting.

Bernard: Hey, you never told us what you do at your new job

Tim: *just stares wide eyed silently*

Bruce: While we were patrolling, Poison Ivy stole packs of baby bottles, can you guess why?

Robin!Dick: Uhhh

Bruce: To flood the bottles with radioactive plant matter.

Dick: I would not have guessed that.

Jason: I see youre in your pajama pants.

Tim: Yeah its almost midnight, I was studying for this test i have tomorrow

Jason: What subject?

Tim: Puerto Rican history

Jason: Ah Puerto Rico… land of…

Tim: Puerto Ricans?

Jason: yeah..

Red Hood: Strike three.

Spoiler: That was only 2

Hood: Okay, don’t correct me in front of the criminals

Duke: Whats in the mug?

Tim, who just poured himself and entire pot of coffee despite hating it: Coffee.

Tim: To keep me alive.

Duke: no, no, no, no, you cannot drink this much coffee after work. This mug is comedically large!

Steph: I have the same dream all the time. It satrts with me getting a horse for my birthday. Then my dad shows up. Then the horse kicks my dad in the face!

Jason, helping Tim study: You want a good grade on your puerto rican math test?

Tim: history

Jason, who died before he finished highschool: Same thing

Non-Bat who needs the antidote for Joker gas or something: Will this hurt?

Black Bat: Yes, very much.

Bernard, talking about a criminal the Bats cant catch: Its not Batmans fault, he just needs a better sidekick

Tim: One more time.

Bernard, who knows: Just saying, I’d be way better at catching criminals than the current Robin

Dick: I’m gonna die..

Jason: Not in the house. If you’re gonna die, do it outside

Tim: I’m Robin.

Bernard: I know. I figured that out.

Damian: Todd, I wish to speak to you about something.

Jason: BABIES COME FROM THE BABY STORE

Oracle: Steph, come to Gotham Park right now!

Steph: noo, I’m not in the mood for trees

Oracle: did i ask you what youre in the mood for?

Vikki Vale: So, Spoiler, how did you catch Two Face?

Spoiler: I’d love to take all the credit, but it was really all thanks to my partner, Black Bat.

Vikki: Interesting. Black Bat, can you tell us more?

Black Bat: No.

It really bothers me the lack of Babs, Cass, and Duke worthy quotes there are 😔😔 also my personal favs show a lot and im sorry for that, but there will be more as i think of them, these are just eps 1-4, the rest will be posted like in a queue or something and as single quotes cus im eepy

[dianadeadwing]

Inktober Day 5- Map

TLDR - Here’s a map of the shops on Bob’s Burgers Ocean Avenue as based on the Bob’s Burgers Movie and parts of season 13. Extensive Notes to follow.

This is the map I alluded to earlier in the week of the storefronts with visible names in the movie. The dimensions of the buildings are based on the aerial shot from the end of “The Plight Before Christmas”.

There are inconsistencies between the movie and the series (as well as within the movie itself) as far as the color and location of some of these buildings. I’ve defaulted to colors used in the series but names from the movie. Several of these shops have had different names earlier in the series so I’m working from the movie onward for consistency’s sake.

1. Hotel- Unsure if this hotel has a name.

2. Reflections

3. Spoke of the Devil (Bike Shop) - Shop is named “Spoke of the Devil” the words “bike shop” can be seen as part of a neon sign in the window.

4. First Oceanside Savings Bank

5. Yours Truly, Stationary

6. Jimmy Pesto’s Pizzeria

7. The Petalphile

8. Unknown store front - This building is usually depicted as blue with a large front window indicating that it’s some sort of storefront but I’ve been unable to find a name so far.

9. From Here To Maternity (Pregnancy Clothes) - The movie depicts this building as being brown but the series almost always shows it as green so I’ve made it green on the map.

10. Fresh Off The Presses (Cleaners) - Shop is named “Fresh Off The Presses” with “cleaners” in a neon sign in the window.

11. Unknown Store Front - This shop has a visible name in several shots from the movie but I can’t make it out.

* Some shots from the movie show an additional pink building at the end and others don’t. It does not have a awning or large front window and could therefore possibly residential or a service (such as a lawyer). This building does not appear in the aerial shot so I did not include it.

12. Ocean Market

13. Needles to Say - This shop as well as the following three also appear in season thirteen and are particularly visible in “What a (April) Fool Believes”.

14. Walk All Over Me (Flooring Showcase)

15. You Were Framed (Picture Framing)

16. For Pete’s Cake

17. It’s Your Funeral (Home and Crematorium)

18. Bob’s Burgers

19. Store Next Door - The often vacant orange store front next to Bob’s.

20. Red building- This building is very visible in several shots but isn’t shown to have a name. It has three front doors at the top of some stairs. Because of its layout it seems most likely to be residential. (As we know this neighborhood has mixed zoning, such as Mr. Huggins’ apartment building)

21. Blue Building - The positions of this building and the beige building are switched in the movie. In the series it’s fairly consistently blue so that’s what I’ve included. It seems similar in structure to the red building and could also be residential, but we don’t get many good shots of this part of the street so it’s hard to tell.

22. Beige Building - This part of the street is most often seen from the alley. It appears to have a loading dock. This where Alice parks her food truck in “As I Walk Through the Alley of the Shadow of Ramps” in season 8.

23. Liquor - This building has been depicted in different colors but has a prominent sign stating “Liquor”. I’ve seen it called “Oh La Liquor” but I’d like to see this in later season materials.

This is just what I’ve gathered as of ep 14.1. Please feel free to let me know if you have any additional information. (Or an official map) I’m absurdly invested in this.

There is also an aerial shot from the movie that shows Wagstaff in relation to Ocean Avenue (it’s also mentioned to be four blocks away) and I just wish I could take screen shots so I could study it better. I’ll make a map of this whole dang town.

[bengiyo]

Only Friends Ep 1 Stray Thoughts

We've been waiting for Jojo to be unleashed for a long time. Let's do this.

Wouldn't be a Jojo show without a Jennie cameo.

Oh, they're letting First sing again.

Real shit, I kinda like the wristbands to signal what people might be into at this bar. Hearkens back to older handkerchief traditions.

Ray is kinda feisty. He's so ready to beef with someone.

Oh my god I have been part of this friend group as the table keeper.

Neo looks so good.

Ew, vomit.

They are about to fuck up Mew's academic career.

Of course Khaotung is playing the rich brat.

Boston messed them up first by combining work and sex. He's definitely going to bring Top on as the designer.

Hello, again, Mark. Always glad to see you.

Okay, love seeing Nick and Boston vibe.

Very refreshinging to just see guys flirting with each other without the BL pretense. Even gives us Ray being shitty because he feels possessive of Mew.

Top said he's had enough of the sex tryhards.

Oh, Boston, what was that? You brought Top around your friends and now you're jealous of Mew?

DRAKE?!!!

Ray is that friend who always requires so much when we go out.

"I'm gonna charge you more than an airport taxi." 😂

First and Khaotung really are just so powerful. I'm glad this is a strong cast, because their teamwork when it's just them is still so enjoyable to watch.

Congratulations to ForceBook for being the first to have a scene on this show, and on the counter no less.

Not these two having ice cream since Mew isn't ready. Top is going to be a problem, but at least he understands what No means.

Should I keep a counter for how many times Ray throws up in this show?

First still has it. One fond look and it's over.

No one had Neo and Drske as the first to fuck on their bingo board. Cutting this with Nick jacking off to unethically acquired thirst traps? My goodness.

Oh interesting. Top didn't put his pants back on.

I know we all came here for the hot stuff, but I really like seeing Mew and Top negotiate intimacy during this first night together.

Sand put Ray in a POOR BOY shirt. Those used to cost $5 in the city now I can't get a good sandwich for less than $12.

Ray you could just say thanks. No need to be a dick constantly.

This book store date is cute.

Okay, Nick! I like this thirst trap play!

Everyone is just going for it! Good job, Neo and Mark.

I really liked this one week montage.

Ray is channeling Bruce Wayne. "Harvey Dent. Can we trust him?"

Boston called Ray right out on his crush on Mew.

Only Cheum is invested in helping Mew out here.

"You're concerned about your friend, or you're just jealous?" Top clocked him.

Oh no is Force going to sing?

Oh, whew, it's just a grand gesture.

This was so much fun! I love that Boston and Ray are going to be the source of everyone's problems! Jealous Thot and Rich Boy With Anger Issues are some of my favorites. Why does First always have the most soulful eyes? Mew is another really good role for Book, and Force is clearly having the time of his life. Is there nothing Mark Pakin can't do? Lookjun is warming up, but I'm looking forward to more.

Also, Drake cameo! Who's going to show up next??

[mazeofyeni]

(🔴) ... [ NOW PLAYING ] 7ILLIN IN THE DREAM : EP. ONE !

(🤍 ) ... outfit for video !

"dammit , it is cold." she shivered , balling her fist up in her sweater. "you're wearing a sweater and you dare say such nonsense?" chenle said. "it wasn't that cold when i left the house this morning." she responded. "if you checked your text you would've seen the message of me saying bring a coat." she scoffed. "you're only saying that because i ignored your text."

they made it up the steep hill to the house. "it's nice." she said, walking into the house and out of the freezing cold. "hi." she smiled , waving to the camera. "do agyeo." she scrunched her nose in disgust. "no." she took her shoes off making her way into the house.

"let's have one person go in the water today." "let's have the leader wake up by going into the water." renjun said as they all starred out the huge mirror. "you only treat me like at times like this." mark defended.

"it's like a rich kdrama house." she looked around. "like eerily empty and lack— ciara." renjun stopped her. "sorry." she moved to the next part of the house.

"why must i?" she climbed into the bathtub. "you take the weirdest pictures." she sat in the tub. "it's like one of those photos you take as a kid and then re-create when you're old." she posed for the camera. "what?" jaemin said. "i'll tell you in 50 years when we come back and recreate it." she crawled out of the tub.

they made it to the site that jaemin reserved for rheir survival game, meeting the instructor. "of course you pick the coldest day of the year to do this." she shivered as the instructor helped her with putting the gear on.

"first split into groups of four." she began to explain. "it's a survival game, to play with sensors and lasers , let me tell you the sensor location first" she pointed to the vests. "the front of the vest you are wearing, what's attached there's is the sensor, the front and back, there is a sensor in front of the gun you are holding, what that means is if it hits." she shot the gun at the sensors making them go off. "if you feel the vibrations that means you're hit."

"there will be a respawn machine inside the camp."

they all made it to their respected hiding spots — she chose to hide behind a big piece of metal , holding the gun waiting for the game to start.

at the now of the horn , she shot up running away from everyone else. "i can't remember who's on my team."

screaming her head off , she tried to run in different directions away from the guys who were shooting at her. "i need a break."

she found a hiding spot, bending down. "as a dancer , this is embarrassing , why am i so winded." she said huffing, not seeing jeno creep up on her , shooting at her.

"oh wait." she picked up her gun , running away. "i was taking a break." she shot back. "i died." she said , walking over t the resurrection point. "oh that was easy." she ran back out.

they ran around shooting at each other , collcting different mini missions while trying not to be shot. "i found one!" she picked up a black box, opening it. "stay still for 5— dammit." she tossed the box down. "seconds."

"go away." she tried to kick her feet at haechan. "i said go away!" he evil laughed , shooting her. "yah!" she shrieked. "im gonna get you back." she yelled, taking off to the resurrection point for like the 5th time.

in the end haechan won first place. "ciara." mark pointed to her name laughing. "how did you get killed so many times." she shrugged. "couldn't even tell you , half the time i wasn't even paying attention."

she also ended up having to go grocery shopping — which she didn't enjoy. "it's the company card anyway." she said. "im gonna bankrupt sm entertainment at the grocery store." she starred into the camera. "im gonna spend all your money." she sat the gun down. "my damn fingers are old."

"the camera is out of focus." she said. "okay there we go, lee haechan if you see this , im gonna end your life." she said. "ciara you died the most , you were dead more than alive." chenle said. "because y'all wouldn't give me a chance!" she yelled , mark patting her knee signalling her to calm down.

"ciara what do you want?" she shrugged. "im not cooking it so." jeno turned back at her. "like we'd eat your cooking anyway." she scoffed. "she's cursing at me with those eyes again." he smiled. "cute." she rolled her eyes.

"let's just buy everything and go from there." she held the camera getting out the car. "oh this is the angle." she held the camera down. "nah , no it's not." she fixed it. "zhong chenle , come." she linked arms with him.

"let's go!" she shouted.

©️MAZEOFYENI

[dreamweaversfavsandthoughs]

Rick and Morty S7 Ep. 4: That’s Amorte

(There is no ethical consumption under capitalism)

Don’t read any further if you don’t want to spoiler your appetite…

My Favs

We got Morty back!

When the world was about to send out an Amber Alert on a missing kid, Morty decided to return to us! I’ve enjoyed the season so far but having Rick and Morty together is a stark reminder that the strength of this show is found in the dynamic between grandfather and grandson. Also, I love seeing Rick getting healthy and bettering himself, but I also love to see a Rick that’s amoral and a bit unhinged.

Facial animation:

I don’t know if this is due to the Irish animation studio they’re working with now, but I’ve noticed there’s a bit more diversity in the facial expressions compared to the last two or three seasons. Has anyone else noticed this?

They did a Soylent Green!

I predicted that this might have been a red herring seeing the initial clips and they might instead do something akin to the Universal Paperclip game, but a Soylent Green is what we got. Well, the idea behind the paperclip game is still on the table for next season…

Euthanasia, Cannibalism, and Suicide

Quite the trifecta of “subjects we don’t discuss in polite society,” but I admire them for taking the risk and weaving everything together well. Kinda surprised S&P let them get away with it.

“His dying wish is to see deader people so he can feel superior.”

Morty-O’s Suicide Spaghetti

“ Is this people or not people? I just need to know how much I should pretend to be upset.”

Oh, Jerry…

“They dyed their sun institutional gray.”

“Ooo gray areas. My specialty.”

Classic Rick

Kotomi’s cover of “Live Forever”

“Life itself is wrong and that means death is right. But you can’t side with that. So you live, even when it means eating.”

Not My Fav:

They could have gotten nastier.

This is my one small gripe in an episode that I think is fantastic. I’m confident there is an earlier draft out there that got so much grosser before S&P made their cuts and I demand to see that draft!

Release that nasty cut!!!

My Thoughts:

First my less serious thought, how in the hell did Rick find out that those people turned in spaghetti when they unalived themselves? My headcanon is that he has made a regular habit of impersonating a doctor on that planet because he sees doctors as nothing more than glorified mechanics, but for people. Rick knows he’s the smartest man in the universe and a proper scientist so practicing medicine would not be that much of a challenge and along the way he discovered this delicious trait about the Keplar people.

On a more serious note, there are two moments that really stood out to me. First, was when Morty broke the news of the spaghetti’s origin to the family and their reaction. They were angry and disappointed—in Morty for delivering the message rather than Rick for feeding them people-spaghetti. That spaghetti was amazing and brought everyone joy and they were more angry about losing their joy than the moral implications of consuming human flesh. Morty destroyed the illusion that they were “good” people and instead of actually being good people and refusing to eat the spaghetti, Morty created a work-around so that he and the family could still maintain the illusion.

That felt very realistic to how, dare I say, all of us have acted at some point, whether it’s the food we eat or that store that sells the jeans that fit perfectly or the online retailer that delivers anything we could possibly want the next day. Maybe, we find out someday that it’s not created in the most ethical manner and we rationalize it. We think, “ Oh, it’s not that bad.” or “ I can’t afford the more ethical option,” or "I have such few joys in my life I don't want to lose this as well.” It’s easier to uphold the illusion of being morally upright under a system that makes it exceedingly difficult to do so. But even if the capitalistic system is destroyed can we ever really be absolved? This leads to the second moment that stood out, Rick’s monologue.

“Life itself is wrong and that means death is right. But you can’t side with that. So you live, even when it means eating.”

My interpretation is that Rick is saying, “Life, by it’s very nature, is inherently unethical and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Even if the meat you eat comes from an animal that is well taken care of, killed as quickly and painlessly as possibly, and processed in a facility that treats its workers well and obeys all regulations—that animal still had to die in order to produce that meat. You’re a vegan. Plants are still living things and for many plants the process of getting food from them destroys them in the process. Millions of bacteria are destroyed every time you wash your hands. Life needs other kinds of life to end for it to keep going, but humans are the only creatures that are aware of this fact so we create arbitrary categories around which types of life are okay to destroy (categories we can’t all agree on) in order to maintain the illusion of morality.

This episode does not have a feel-good message among the jokes and absurd characters and I appreciate that. This one got my brain a-churnin’ and I’m sure I read way too much into this episode but I couldn’t help myself.

[eusion]

i love ur work omg >< can i req maknae line as long distance bfs too? ^^

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪&team maknae line as ur long distance bf ⌒☆

pairing ⌒☆ &team maknae line x reader

word count ⌒☆ idk...

note ⌒☆ thank u for requesting! this was hard to think about since i just think about hyung line exclusively LMAO enjoy!

yuma ⌒☆

sends u lots of memes and silly videos on tiktok. u both have the same humor so hes always excited to share new ones with u

always invites u to play games with him whether itd b just u two or with his friends, he never fails to invite u

same with movie nights

always wears the beanie u sent him & complains that its starting to smell less and less like u

sends u so many selfies in .5 after u introduced it to him this one day. now that he knows u find them hilarious he will send them as often as he can

i dont see him fting much tbh but will always text and check in frequently with a "u doing okay?" message

likes to plan out dates with u, even if its just for fun & not to actually plan. he just likes to be with u even if its just in his mind

as a date u two make little crafts together over ft

"do i grow out my hair or cut it" and does the opposite of what u tell him

jo ⌒☆

takes pictures of the little things because he knows how much u love to see picture updates

learned how to make those big knit blankets so he can make his own to give to u

sends u handwritten letters very often along with printed polaroids of the pictures u two have together

u have several of his art pieces framed on ur wall

when u both debrief about ur days he always asks a lot of questions so he can hear u go into extreme detail

props up his phone on his nightstand when going to sleep so u can see him snooze. he wakes up earlier than u do so he wont end the call until u wake up

asks u what ur plans are for the day n sometimes he will try n match what ur doing

when u two plan a day to meet up, he crosses out the days in his calendar above his desk every morning until the day of

ur name in his phone is just ur name but it has this emote next to it ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

harua ⌒☆

lots of ft calls with him sitting in his car while snacking

loves to see what u bought from the store n always begs for a haul with u going over every item in detail

matching phone cases that u both bought together, he has not changed it out or taken it off since

hes very playful so theres a lot of banter between u two but itll always end in laughs. hes more than comfortable enough to play around with u & this means a lot

flirting but in a cringe way. the amount of winks & kisses through the camera never fails to make u both shiver

"why arent u here..." in a sassy tone but hes :(((

study calls are a very common thing between the two of u & hes always willing to help u out even if he doesnt know it 100%

always has the sweetest compliments ready for u & will always be the first 10 comments on ur instagram post

while hes out shopping he sends u pics of things n asks "do u like this?" n will buy it 99% of the time if u do

taki ⌒☆

u both binge watch a lot of shows & will get really upset when he finds that u watched an ep without him on ur shared netflix account

his friends always send u off guard pictures of him n when u show him hes extremely confused

always yells a good morning message into ur voice memos. sometimes he'll sing it

fts u with all of the lights off n when u ask him to turn on the lights so u can see him he uses a handheld flashlight n points it under his face

has blocked u more times than u both can count because he thinks its really funny

"when we meet up next time lets do this tiktok challenge"

his every day bag is equipped with all of the pins, chains n small plushies u gifted him

when ur too tired to talk he reassures u that its okay n that he can talk for u so u just sit n listen with ur eyes closed

sends u random videos throughout the day of him dancing

maki ⌒☆

always brings u along to watch his night routine, will prop u up on the sink so u can watch him brush his teeth n wash his face

matching profile pictures on almost everything. whenevr he posts and his icon pops up he smiles so wide because he knows ur the other half of it

records & sends u mini vlogs if he goes out and does something fun n will always end the video with him saying "miss u!"

whenever u two are on ft and his family is in the same room, he always turns his phone around to face them n says "say hi!"

everyone in makis circle knows u very well because he cannot stop talking about u

plays roblox with u when u both have free time... ur avatars are extremely goofy

has fallen asleep on cam many times & u have multiple screenshots n video recordings of him snoozing

99% of his bereals are of him n u while ur on cam

study nights always turn into 5hrs of u two watching random videos on youtube

[ggukkiedae]

Rough and tough we play hard | DREAM 8lace | EP.1

Click Below to See the Video

(italic dialogues are spoken in english, bold dialogues are spoken in chinese. this is just a little something to celebrate dreamscape's release!)

while they’re walking up to the house, hannah and chenle have their arms linked together

they’re just watching everyone in amusement

inside the actual house, she sees haechan lying down on the couch

“stay still”

she plops herself down, head on his stomach and feet over the arm of the couch

he grunts at the impact then starts laughing

“stop laughing! my head is shaking”

he laughs harder before telling the other members to move away from the window

they both get up to look at the view with the others

she laughs when they point out the sound team and cleans up the toys they were playing with

“GUYS COME HERE” “GEGE CALM DOWN”

chenle laughed the hardest at that

while everyone gets on the tub, she waits then decides to stand in the back next to haechan who she asks a question to

“why are we doing this?” “we listen to renjun”

when they gather to discuss the survival game, she crosses her arms and looks at everyone

“so do i get to play? or does this count as part of taeyong oppa and hyuck’s “no violent games for hannah” list?”

jaemin throws an arm around her shoulders

“no physical contact, so you’re playing” “damn”

haechan fixes the beanie on her head while helping her into the gear

she bounces slightly in place, moving to keep warm while the instructor tells them what to do and the boys ness around

once in, she hides behind one of the wooden boards and fixes her gloves before holding her gun

“i am not going grocery shopping”

she gets up and spots mark, shooting him from the back and hiding again

“wait…. hans! was that you?”

she stood up, shooting him continuously until he dies before he could kill her

“dude!” “every man for himself, mark!”

she actually moves forward

there a clips if her shooting renjun and jaemin before she hides again and sees chenle

“noona! noona, let's be allies?” “sure thing, chenle”

she and chenle go back out into the field and take down jeni and renjun again

she’s in the middle of running away from haechan when she realizes

“where’s jaemin?”

she looks ahead and sees jisung looking up in confusion, then sees jaemin shooting from near the rest area for spectators

she and haechan exchange looks for a moment then haechan shoots her, effectively killing her

she gave him an incredulous look before haechan laughed and ran away

there’s more clips of her shooting and being shot at before the instructor calls them over

when haechan doesn’t call her name, she grins, then he says those he called goes home

“are you kidding me, hyuck?” “haeeun-ah, i trust you”

she sighs and loops her arm through chenle’s in solidarity

in the car, she’s the one in the driver’s seat

when mark asked why he chose the three in last place to go home, she scoffed

“hyuck was being petty for variety because of our cheering” “what?”

she left it for chenle to explain as she buckled her seatbelt

when mark turned the camera to chenle in his frustration, it caught her smiling fondly at the younger boy and gently brushing his cheek

she started the car

“you three talk amongst yourselves, don’t distract me while i drive”

jeno opened a vitamin drink and passed it to her before she pulled out of the parking lot

“wait, hannah, what are you cooking today?” “i can make hotteok for us to snack on, but is there anything you guys want as a meal?” “how about a soup?” “hmm… does yukgaejang sound good?” “sounds great” “good, now don’t distract me!”

she pulls out of the parking lot while the other three continue debating what else to cook

when they arrived at the store, chenle walked over to her side of the car and opened the door for her

she looked at chenle attentively while he talked about his sunglasses

“lele, i told you not to wear your sunglasses at night, didn’t i?” “they’re a necessity, noona”

then it fades out and shows clips of the next episode

taglist: @1-800-enhypennabi @strwberrydinosaur @sunflower-0180 @caratinylyfe @1-800-minji @one16core @kimhyejin3108 @chansols @akshverse @world-full-of-roses @stopeatread @allthings-fandoms

drop an ask or a dm if you wanna be added or taken out of the taglist 🥰 requests are also open!

[pedrito-friskito]

strawberry wine - joel miller x ofc!liv stone/fem!reader

during - part seventeen

series masterlist | main masterlist | read on ao3

a bright spot, and some not so bright ones.

a/n: THE LONGEST PART YET. I crammed a lot in here honestly, and some of it probably pretty canon-divergent BUT we got two eps left and I still have a lot of unanswered questions which means we are RIFFING and I am MAKING SHIT UP OKAY but this is pretty much an au at this point sooooooo it is what it is

word count: 8.5k (I KNOW)

warnings: MY BLOG IS 18+, MINORS DNI, canon typical violence/injuries, blood, treatment of injuries, some pretty heavy violence, family fights, tHERE IS FLUFF ON THE WAY I PROMISE YOU OKAY (a bit in the next part, a looooooot in a few parts coming up)

✨follow @friskito-library for updates on new chapters/works!✨

You just stare at him.

For a moment, Joel’s gut fills with dread. Oh fuck, is he fucking this up even harder? He just spelled out every terrible thing he’s done to stay alive since the outbreak, has that changed things? You had your fair share of horrible things to share, but…Shit, how can he f—

Your eyes narrow slightly, and you slide towards him, inching further toward the edge of the mattress. You wrap both hands around his forearm, the ring held between you, your eyes darting between it and Joel’s face. “Ask me again.”

Heat rises in Joel’s face and he drops his head for a moment before he feels your fingers under his chin, lifting. “What’re you—”

“Ask me again,” you repeat, chewing your lip, an excited flare in your eyes, “so I know I’m not dreaming.”

Joel swallows, throat bobbing, and licks his lips before, “Marry me, Liv.”

Your gaze roams his face for a moment, silver tears lining your lashes. “Yes.”

As soon as he slides the ring onto your finger, you lunge for him, throwing your arms around his neck, the pair of you sprawling backwards on the floor. He grunts as he lands on his back, and you flinch, grabbing for his head. “Shit, Joel, are you okay?”

“M’fine,” he chuckles, laughing under his breath as you start peppering kisses all over his face. It’s nice, to see you like this, a different version of the Liv he’s come to know now, but with that spark, that excitement, that same girl he romanced in the aisles of a hardware store so long ago. You’re giddy, giggling into his mouth when he kisses you, twines his fingers in your hair.

You don’t move from the floor, and Joel hums when you fit yourself against him — like you haven’t been doing it all night. You lift your hand, wiggling your fingers, bending your thumb to rub it over the band. “Where’d you find it?”

“The jewelry store,” Joel replies, lifting his jaw until his mouth is pressed to your forehead. “The day you…” He trails off, chewing the inside of his cheek. It goes without saying, he realizes. The day you got bit. “Thought about giving it to you that night, but it didn’t feel right. And then when we got back…”

“My ex shot you in the head,” you finish, and immediately burst into laughter. Joel can’t help but laugh along, spurred more so by the lightness in your tone, the smile on your face. “There’s something funny in there, I think.”

“Poetic justice,” Joel says, but then his brow crinkles. “Or is it irony? I can’t remember.”

“Doesn’t matter,” you mumble, rolling up onto your elbow, lifting yourself slightly above him. You hold your hand up again, bring it closer for inspection. “It really is beautiful, Joel. I love it.”

Joel hums, trailing his fingers across your back. “I’m glad, baby.” You press your lips together, the giddiness fading slightly, and Joel can see it in your eyes, the way the wheels in your head are turning. “I know it’s not the same, no more big white dresses and all that, but I just—”

“I don’t care,” you declare, cutting him off. Your hand falls onto his chest, crawls up until his jaw is set in your palm, and you turn his face to yours. “It’s always been you, Joel. No question. I don’t need the big white dress.” You let out a little noise, half scoff, half laugh. “If things were…normal, I’d drag your ass to Vegas this very instant.”

“Well, I dunno above Vegas,” he replies, turning his face to kiss at your fingertips, “but there’s the FEDRA office down by the front gate and Tess brought back a bottle of Johnnie Walker from her last run.”

“Sounds like a wedding to me!”

+

In a shocking fucking twist, it doesn’t go as planned.

It’s two weeks later. You’re halfway home from the front gate office, marriage license tucked in Joel’s pocket, your ring tucked into your shirt. You wore it on your finger for the first day after Joel proposed, but it earned you a few looks walking through the QZ, so you were quick to find a chain in the piles of jewellery you’ve collected, stringing it around your neck for safer keeping.

Joel’s got his arm slung around your neck, mumbling to you about how he still hasn’t been able to find a replacement bed frame for your place, but that he saw some cinderblocks on the lower levels of the building across the street, and thinks he can make something temporary with that, that he thinks the box spring should be enough support. You’re listening, nodding along, your fingers laced with his, almost feeling drunk on the thought that he’s your husband now. Officially. Signed on the dotted line and everything. Mrs. Miller, nice to meet you.

You’re going back to your place. Both Tommy and Tess were thrilled for you both — and you didn’t miss Tommy’s sidelong glance at Tess — and agreed to dinner and drinking after you and Joel went to sign the papers. Truly the best way to celebrate anything in the QZ.

You are listening to what Joel’s saying, having moved on from your broken bed frame to the space beneath your wardrobe, how he thinks he can piece out the floorboards so you can stash stuff at home and still keep it hidden. You are listening, but you’re also distracted, glad that he’s directing you home, cuz your eyes are stuck on his ridiculously handsome. You’ve never seen his hair this long — though the space above his right ear is still much shorter — but it’s wavy, flipping out around his ears, curling against the back of his neck.

How is it possible that Joel Miller has managed to get better looking as the fucking world has ended?

“Baby, what’re you lookin’ at?” he asks, his brow raising slightly.

You go to answer, lips parted to tell him exactly what you’re looking at, when the sound of gunfire makes you jump. Instantly, Joel is pushing you against the nearest building, using his body to shield you. The ground beneath you shakes as a FEDRA truck parked at the next intersection explodes, flames curling towards the sky, debris raining down. Joel pulls you into a crouch, shuffles you back until you can slip into an alleyway.

You’re both in fight mode, instantly. Of course, you don’t have any weapons handy; the bat is stowed beneath the floorboards in the apartment, the guns are all in the cache, except for Joel’s revolver, which is tucked alongside your bat. Joel presses you against the brick, one hand coming up to cup your cheek.

“You okay?”

“M’fine,” you reply, gripping his wrist, peering back up the alley. Worry is twisting your gut. “What the fuck was that?”

“Dunno,” Joel replies, shaking his head. His brow is furrowed, the crease between deeper than usual, and you want nothing more than to smooth it flat, make him relaxed. Fuck this fucking—

“FREE BOSTON, MOTHERFUCKERS!”

The ground shakes again, screams echoing from the mouth of the alley and you…

You freeze. Your throat seizes, stomach dropping into your toes, and suddenly, it’s 2003 all over again. You’re stuck in that godforsaken bookstore, being yanked out of sleep by the sound, the ground beneath your feet rumbling, people screaming and Infected howling and it won’t stop, it won’t stop, make it stop, why won’t it—

“Liv,” Joel calls, his voice louder than your thoughts, and you’re pulled out of it, almost. The ground shakes again, someone shouts, gunfire echoes, and you whimper. “Baby, it’s okay. You’re okay. I’m right here. I’m gonna get you home, all right? You’re okay.”

He crushes you to his chest, his arms a tight band around your torso. You’re gripping the front of his shirt like a lifeline, and your breaths are coming so fast you’re instantly lightheaded, your vision blurring at the edges. There’s more gunfire, and you let go of his shirt only to clap your hands over your ears, burying your face in his chest.

More shouting, and Joel’s grip on you tightens. It takes you a moment to realize he’s shouting too, and you can just make it out. “What the fuck is a Firefly?”

Confusion takes over the panic, and you peel your face from his chest just enough to glance down the alley. McCoy is standing there, gun brandished, a hard expression as he looks between you and Joel. Beyond the alley, another bomb explodes, another truck, and you all flinch, Joel shielding you further.

“I’m taking you both in,” McCoy shouts, and Joel releases you only to push you behind him. “I have to.”

“The hell you are,” he spits, an arm held out to the side. “I need to take her home.”

“C’mon, Joel,” McCoy replies, shaking his head. “You know I have to—”

“You don’t have to fuckin’ do anything,” Joel shouts, and you grip the back of his shirt. “You really think we’re stupid enough to hang around if we planted that shit?”

Somewhere, you find your voice. “Who are the Fireflies?”

The soldier’s brow goes hard, and he lowers the gun. The knot in your stomach unravels slightly. “You really don’t know?”

“Does it sound like we know, McCoy?” you retort, stepping closer to Joel, still keeping yourself behind him. “We’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. Clearly.”

“Who are the Fireflies?” Joel repeats, and you can hear more soldiers shouting in the street, the explosions apparently over. You curl your fingers tighter in the fabric of Joel’s shirt.

McCoy steps towards you, glancing over his shoulder as he does. “It’s a rebel group, we think. No one really knows who’s running it, where they’re based, but we know this is them. Someone caught wind of it, and well, it’s—”

“Just let us go, McCoy,” you call, shuffling a step back, taking Joel with you. “You know we’re not part of this.”

He sighs, letting his gun drop, waving at you both. “Just get the fuck out of here, will you?”

You tug on Joel’s shirt, and he falls into step with you, the both of you turning down the alley, Joel with his arm around your shoulders again. You’re in a good spot; near enough to one of your shortcuts through the city to get home without crossing any patrol paths. You feel like a spooked cat the entire way, the hair on the back of your neck standing on end, your spine tingling with every step.

It’s not until you’re back in the apartment that your body relaxes slightly, but your heart is still racing, sinking into a kitchen chair the moment it’s within reach, pushing your face into your hands. Joel locks the door, crosses to the window, peers past the curtain.

“Fuckin’ car bombs in the QZ,” he mutters, shaking his head. “You gotta be kiddin’ me. Like the fuckin’ infection isn’t enough to deal with, now we gotta worry about getting blown to shit in the middle of the—”

“Joel, stop it,” you blurt, hands pressed against your eyes. “Please, just…just stop.”

“Baby,” he calls, his tone changing, softening, and a moment later you hear the chair beside yours squeak across the floor, a warm palm on your leg. “It’s okay. Talk to me. What happened back there? You…you shut down, Liv.”

You swallow hard, your heartbeat in your throat, and slowly lower your hands. “It’s one thing, talking about what happened back then. When it all first…happened. Dean, the bombings, the hiding, Nick. But…feeling it again, feeling like I was right back there, like no time had passed, like I was still…” 

You trail off, voice cracking on the words, and Joel reaches for you. You let him, let him gather you into his lap, hold you in his arms, bury your face in his neck, inhaling deeply. He rubs slow circles across your shoulders, up and down your spine, over and over until you can feel your heart slowing to a normal rate, your breathing no longer shallow, the wetness in your eyes receding.

After a while, he slides his hand up and into your hair, tugs light until you lift your face to look at him. “I want you to listen to me,” Joel says, his voice soft, his tone gentle. “We go nowhere without each other, you understand? I won’t let anything happen to you, Fireflies or Infected or FEDRA. No one’s taking you from me, not now, not ever. You hear me?”

You nod. “I hear you.”

Joel brushes the hair from your face, a tiny grin tugging at his lips as he cups your cheek in his palm, thumb swiping over the curve. “I love you,” he pauses, grins wider, “Mrs. Miller.”

The knot in your gut disappears completely, replaced with a rush of happiness that almost knocks you over. You can’t stop yourself from grinning into his kiss, melting into him as you go.

+

In the weeks following the Firefly attack, you’re reluctant to leave the apartment, but Joel doesn’t blame you. He doesn’t push, goes with you to the food bank just to get you outside, lets you tag along with him to do odd jobs around the building. Tommy asks, but Joel brushes his brother off, telling him you’ve had a hard time finding QZ jobs that appeal. 

After a particularly long day, one that has him blowing his hair out of his face all day, he comes home in a mood. You had followed him earlier in the day, but headed down a few hours before, claiming that you wanted to play housewife and have dinner waiting when he got home. You could barely get the sentence out without choking on giggles, and Joel had kissed you soundly and pushed you in the direction of the stairs. The moment he’s through the door, he’s grumbling at you that he’s gonna shave his fucking head, pushing unruly curls off his forehead.

“You will do no such thing, Joel Miller,” you chide, locking the door after him, directing him to one of the kitchen chairs. “Sit. I’ll fix it.”

You fetch a pair of scissors from the bathroom, metal-handled ones he’s never seen before, but you don’t start cutting straight away. You stand behind him, and drag your fingers through his hair. He doesn’t know the last time he let it get this long; probably sometime back when he was a teenager, when every rockstar had long hair and he still had dreams of something not construction-related.

Joel sinks into your touch, your nails raking along his scalp. He lets his head tip back, resting against your stomach, and you laugh quietly, moving one hand along his jaw, scratching through his beard. Fuck, it feels nice, and he can’t stop the moan that slips out, one arm bending back to keep you where you’re standing. “Keep doin’ that.”

He blinks up at you, and you smirk, pulling your hand back up to his scalp, dragging your nails through his hair again. “Can’t do this if you shave your head.”

Joel grunts. “It’s too fuckin’ long,” he tells you, and you hum, cupping the back of his head and lifting it straight again. “Keeps gettin’ in my eyes and shit.”

“Stay still,” you order, tilting his head slightly, leaning down to kiss his scar. “I’ll fix it.”

He loathes the loss of your hands as you pick up the scissors. You’re slow with it, methodical, pieces of his hair falling to the floor around the chair. You pause a few times to flick it off his shoulders. When you get around his head to the left side, he flinches at the suddenly much louder sound of the scissors, and you grip his shoulder.

“Joel?”

He’s been meaning to tell you. Really. He realizes this is turning into his M.O., to keep things to himself, to keep you out of the loop. And it’s not fair; you’re his wife now. He knows he has to tell you. He promised to keep you safe, and with this…how can he do that? How can he feel confident in his ability to keep his promises to you?

Joel opens his mouth to say it, to tell you what’s going on with him, but you beat him to the punch.

“I wanna go on a run.”

Everything in him stalls, the words on the tip of his tongue sliding back down his throat. “What?”

“I need to get out of the QZ, Joel. Even just a short one. Other side of the city, not where we…” You trail off. He catches your meaning. “We take Tess with us, or Tommy. Doesn’t really matter, I just…” You pause, pulling a lock of his hair between your fingers, snipping the end. “I need to do this, Joel. And you said it, we go nowhere without each other. I won’t go without you, but I need to.”

He’s silent, for a long moment. You don’t say anything more, continuing his haircut. Finally, you put the scissors down on the table, coming to step in front of him, leaning against the edge of the table. You reach up to brush his hair across his forehead, inspecting your handiwork. “How’s it look?”

The corner of your mouth quirks. “Handsome as ever.”

He reaches for your hand, tugging it between his own. “Liv, there’s somethin’…somethin’ I’ve been meanin’ to tell you.”

Joel can see the dip in your expression. He can almost hear your heart sink, and his gut twists with guilt as you lean back an inch, bracing yourself. “What is it?”

“Ever since that night, with Cowan,” he starts, finding himself struggling with the words. “Since he shot me, I—” He grunts, scrubs his hand over his face, staring down at your linked hands. “My hearing’s been off, in my right ear. Like it’s full of cotton or somethin’. I can’t…if we go out there again, Liv, I don’t know if I can,” he shakes his head, “if I can keep you safe.” He forces himself to look up at you. “I couldn’t keep you safe the last time we were out there, and after the Fireflies, I promised. I won’t let anything happen to you. I can’t. But out there, I’m—”

“Oh, Joel,” you nearly sigh, pulling your hand from his grip to cup his face in your hands. Your thumbs swipe his cheeks, and he lets himself sink into your touch, inhaling as you push your fingers through his hair again, mussing it into place. “Baby, why didn’t you tell me?”

He lifts a shoulder. “I thought it would go away, eventually. That it was just a temporary thing, y’know? But it’s not, and I…” He shakes his head again. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“Why are you apologizing?” you ask, sliding forward until you’re almost in his lap. “This isn’t your fault. It’s Nick’s.” He sees the hardness forming in your eyes. “Or…I guess it’s my fault, in a way.”

“No,” Joel says instantly, his hands finding your hips, squeezing. “You didn’t cause this.” Your head drops forward, and he kisses your forehead. “Feels like every time I turn around, there’s something else to fight off. I just want you safe, baby.”

Your hands slide through his hair, down the back of his neck, kneading at the meat of his shoulders. “And who keeps you safe, huh? That’s my job, isn’t it?” He nods, eyes falling from your face to your collar, where the chain around your neck is visible, the chain holding the ring he gave you. “If the Fireflies get bad, if we have to leave Boston, then we need to be prepared. And sitting around here doing nothing isn’t gonna help with that. So, we go for a run. We go to the radio room and see who we can contact, arrange something. We’ll ask Tommy to come; I love Tess but your brother’s a better shot by a landslide. And I guard your right side, no matter what.” You lean in and kiss his temple. “We’re a team, Joel. Always.”

He nods, tries to ignore the unease that twists his gut. “Always.”

+

“We still need to celebrate, y’know,” Tommy says to you, leaning forward so he can see you on the other side of Joel. “Since your wedding day got a bit overshadowed.”

Joel snorts. “There’s a fuckin’ word for it.”

You chuckle, letting yourself fall back half a step, the brothers slightly ahead of you. You’re on full alert, head on a swivel, ears pricking at every little noise. “At least the Fireflies have been quiet since then.”

“They’re just doing what they think is right,” Tommy says, and both your head and Joel’s snaps in his direction.

“You sound almost sympathetic, little brother,” Joel tells him, and you can see the way Tommy bristles at the nickname. “Like you agree with it.”

Tommy shrugs, adjusts his grip on his gun. “FEDRA’s been wreaking just as much havoc these days,” he says, and your brow hardens. “You know they’re gonna start hanging people for getting caught out past curfew? Like we’re goin’ back in fuckin’ time or something.”

You sidestep a piece of debris, catching up to Joel completely again. “Getting caught outside the QZ has always been a death sentence,” you say, “this isn’t anything new, unfortunately.”

“Says the woman who was nearly beat to death by a FEDRA officer.”

“Tommy,” Joel says, his tone warning. “Why are we talking about this, anyway? You been talking to  Fireflies?”

The younger Miller says nothing, and you just keep going.

You pointedly went in the opposite direction you and Joel had gone that day when you met Gwen. Just looking in that direction sends a chill down your spine, but you’re determined. Since that day in the QZ, when they blew up the trucks, you’ve been trying to push through it. The feeling still lingers, that terror, and you’re coming to realize that the terror is just…a part of life now. Joel helps, of course; his presence alone is enough to remind you that you’re not back there, that you’re still alive, that you can keep going, that you survived.

That you’re immune.

It’s another thing to add to the list, another tick in the back of your mind. Immune. You’ve gotten in the habit of tucking your shirts in on that side, just in case, not wearing anything that might ride up and show where you were bit.

You think about Anna, often. You wonder what happened, what FEDRA did. You try not to let your mind wander someplace dark, but it’s hard. You hope it was quick, painless. You hope she didn’t suffer.

My baby sister.

You’ve been good, thus far, keeping it a secret. Joel is a brick fucking wall, and you know he’s the last person you have to worry about letting anything slip. You feel bad, Tommy and Tess not knowing, but you know it’s safer this way, that they don’t. It would just put them at risk. Joel knowing is enough of a risk.

Letting Nick live with the knowledge was a risk, and look where that got you.

The thought has wormed its way into your mind more than once. Should you turn yourself in? Show them the scar, tell FEDRA just how long it’s been since you were bit? Let them haul you off to some facility, poke and prod and maybe kill you in the end? Is it safer that way?

What if you’re the answer? What if you’re the cure?

You’ve heard it before. Miracle cures, the answer to the infection, the final easy fix. Maybe that’s what you are. Maybe it’s not luck. Maybe it’s something else.

But whenever that thought appears, it’s accompanied by another. Joel’s voice, rasped in your ear. 

No one’s taking you from me, not now, not ever.

And then when he told you about his hearing…

You can’t leave him. You can’t do it. Is that selfish? Probably. Just add it to your list of sins. It’s long enough by now. What’s one more?

The drop goes off without a hitch — bullets and rations from a group in Providence — and it’s like a sigh of relief, a weight off your shoulder. You and Joel share a knowing smile, and you notice Tommy is still a touch distracted, his thoughts clearly elsewhere. You don’t say anything, and neither does Joel. 

You’re nearly halfway back, when you hear the scream, that inhuman noise that sends your heart racing every single time. Joel leads you behind a large truck, the three of you ducking low to wait for the Infected to pass. Tommy lifts his gun, peering through the scope, but Joel grabs the barrel. “Don’t,” he tells his brother, his tone almost scolding, and you nearly smack his shoulder.

Before the argument can even start between the brothers, a loud shot echoes through the street, the bullet finding a home in the Infected’s head, sending it stumbling forward before it slumps onto the ground. You slide towards the other side of the truck, peering around the truck, in the direction the bullet came from.

Eyes clap onto you before you can even think to hide.

“Liv?”

Fuck.

Joel’s staring at you, his gaze hard as steel, and your heart picks up in your chest. As far as Gwen and the people from Hartford know, you died that day. I’ll deal with it, Joel had said. Someone had cocked a gun, and he’d pushed them all out, claimed the burden for himself. But as far as they knew, you never made it back to Boston. Nearly three months ago, now, and yet here you are. Alive. Breathing.

Immune.

“I saw you, Liv,” Gwen shouts, and you nearly bang your head against the truck as Joel rises slightly, just enough to see who’s out there. “Come on out.”

“Fuck,” Joel grunts, and on his other side, Tommy looks between you two, his brow pinched with confusion.

“What?”

“Just keep low and keep your eye out,” Joel tells him, his voice low, and Tommy nods.

Slowly, you get to your feet, step around the truck, your hands in the air, gun hanging across your chest. There are four other men with Gwen, two faces you recognize from that day. Her brother, Trevor, and another man you never got the name of. As soon as you’re in the open, five guns are pointed at you, and behind you, you hear the click of Joel’s gun, not needing to turn to know he’s got his own weapon pointed at them, sweeping back and forth.

“Hi, Gwen.”

“You’re supposed to be dead,” she says, and you’ve never heard her voice so harsh. Every interaction you had with her, before that day, it was always pleasant. You were just survivors, trying to make your way, wanting what was best for your people. Now that you see her, she looks different. Her face is more sunken, her features more pronounced. She looks unwell — not infected, but not good. “I saw it myself. You got bit.”

“I did.”

“And you went back to Boston?” she almost spits, her face screwed up as she says it. “You put all those people at risk?”

“We waited it out,” you say, your hands still in the air. “I never turned, and so we went back. That was almost three months ago, Gwen. If it was gonna happen, it would have happened already.”

Her expression changes, and one of the men to her right says something. His gun lowers slightly, and so does Gwen’s as she turns to him. You’re too far away to make it all out, but you catch a few words.

Fireflies. Immune. The answer.

When Gwen’s eyes slide back to you, you have a pretty clear idea how this is gonna go. You remember what she told you when you met that day; that Hartford wasn’t what it used to be, that things were changing. If you had to guess, the Fireflies aren’t just infesting Boston.

“You’re coming with us,” she says, simply, like she’s discussing the weather. “The Fireflies have a plan, Liv. You could be part of that.”

“Like hell!” Joel shouts, and you turn your head slightly to see both him and Tommy on their feet, guns pointed toward the Hartford crew. “Anyone touches her, I won’t fuckin’ hesitate. We’re leaving.”

“James, grab her!” Gwen orders, and the man closest to you lunges forward, crossing the short distance between you. His hand extends towards you, and Joel’s first shot sounds, rippling through the air, the echo  ringing through your head.

The first bullet rips through James’ extended hand. He screams, stumbling to the side, and you hear the yank of the bolt handle, a casing clattering onto the asphalt. Another man lunges forward, bullets shattering the windows of the truck, and Joel’s second bullet hits the other man in the throat. Blood sprays as he falls, hot on your face, and the third bullet hits James again, right in the temple. Tommy’s gun is automatic, and you see Gwen and the other two men drop behind cover as he shoots.

“Liv, get down!” Joel shouts, and you drop like a stone, crawling back towards the truck. There’s enough space for you to slide beneath it, and you squeak as a bullet clips the heel of your boot. You’re nearly there, hands scrabbling against broken asphalt, when a hand wraps around your ankle, yanks you backward. Your stomach scrapes the gravel, making you scream.

Tommy drops the third man.

You kick off the limp hand, and surge forward again, under the truck. Joel reaches down and hauls you the rest of the way, his gun still pointed at the Hartford people. Tommy’s staring through his scope.

“It doesn’t haven’t to be like this!” Gwen shouts, her voice strained. You wonder if Tommy hit her. “Just come with us. We could fix everything! I’ll kill both your men and drag you to the Fireflies if I have to. Don’t make me do this, Liv!”

Joel stares at you. There’s blood on your face — not your own — and blooming under your fingers, beneath your shirt. “You okay?”

“Scraped,” you say quickly, shaking your head. “I’ll be fine.”

His jaw goes tight. “We can’t leave them alive, Liv.”

The thought sinks like a stone through you, but you understand. Hartford was changing, who knew what that meant. Who knew what kind of hell might rain down on you if Gwen made it back to the rest of her people, if she regrouped and came after you again?

“You can save everyone, Liv!” Gwen nearly screams, and you lift your head slightly, just enough to see where she and her final man are. It’s a clear fucking shot. You look at Joel, reach for your sidearm, the smaller pistol strapped to your thigh. He nods, and you nod back; behind you, Tommy is breathing heavily.

“Don’t make me do this, Gwen!” you shout back, your voice hoarse. “Just let us go! Forget you ever saw me!”

“You know I can’t do that.”

You and Joel both rise at the same time, aim already locked, triggers pulled in unison. The final two drop together, and instantly, you stumble to the side, emptying your stomach into the gutter. The street is suddenly eerily silent, and a moment later, you feel a warm hand on your back, rubbed up your spine.

“You’re okay,” Joel says, and you just nod. You wipe your mouth with the back of your hand, spit onto the ground. Joel offers you a water bottle, and you mumble your thanks. He throws his arm around you once you’re upright, pulls you against his chest, palm against the back of your neck. “We had to.”

“I know,” you say, nodding. “She would have killed you both. I know that.”

It’s shit rationale, maybe, to anyone else. Your hands are shaking, and you step away to holster your gun, shove both hands through your hair. You can feel Joel looking you over, reaching out to wipe the blood from your face with the sleeve of his shirt. Your heart is still racing.

Then Tommy speaks, and your stomach plummets into your toes.

“Either of you wanna tell me what the fuck that was about?”

You open your mouth to explain, the story on the tip of your tongue, but Joel beats you to it. He reaches for you, wraps his hand around your wrist. “You can’t tell anybody, Tommy.” Joel moves himself in front of you, shielding you from his brother, and you can’t tell if it’s intentional or instinctual. “You need to keep your mouth shut.”

The younger Miller steps sideways, meeting your eyes over Joel’s shoulder. “You’re immune?”

Slowly, you nod. “Just like Anna.”

Tommy’s eyes slide to Joel. “You told her?”

“It was the only way to get her to stop beggin’ me to put a bullet in her head,” Joel answers, and your spine prickles with the memory. “Last run we went on. We got cornered in the drugstore near the edge of the city. And she…” He glances at you, something so sad in his eyes that your gut twists. “She got bit.”

“Gwen and her men were there,” you supply, stepping around Joel slightly. “We met them for a drop; that’s when we got cornered, and she…she saw it, the bite. She thought I was a goner, but Joel said he’d deal with it, and they left.”

“And now they’re dead,” Tommy snaps, and you flinch. You’ve never heard his voice so stern. “You came back to Boston, after all that? You put that whole fucking city at risk, Liv! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“We waited it out, Tommy,” Joel spits, and you can hear the anger rising in his tone. “You remember Anna. It was the same. Liv is the same. It’s been months now.”

“I’ve stayed off the radio since then,” you offer, another pitiful excuse, “in case Gwen came across the wrong channel. Joel arranged the drop today, and no one else knows.” You glance over your shoulder. “They would have killed you both, Tommy.”

“You promised,” he grits, staring at his brother. “The moment we were all in Boston, you promised me, Joel. You fucking swore.”

“I’m protecting my family,” Joel replies, his hands clenching into fists. You reach out, squeeze his arm, but he just goes even more tense. “I’m protecting you.”

They stare at each other for a long moment, a tension in the air you feel like you could cut with a knife. Tommy’s gaze slides to you again. “Tess doesn’t know?”

“Nobody knows,” you repeat. “No one. Except for Cowan.”

Tommy’s eyes go wide. “You told a fucking FEDRA soldier?!”

“Not on purpose,” you sigh. “He figured it out. That’s why he took Deanna and the kids.” You can feel the tell-tale prick of tears behind your eyes. “I never meant for any of this, Tommy.”

Those dark eyes — darker than Joel’s — pin you in place for a moment that manages to feel like an eternity. Finally, he tears his gaze away, slings his gun over his shoulder, and starts heading back in the direction of the city.

Joel reaches for your hand, and you follow suit, leaving the bloody street behind you.

+

Joel keeps a careful eye on his brother.

He’s always felt like he could trust Tommy. Sure, he was a bit of a shit when they were growing up, always relying on Joel for one thing or another. Bail money or a case of beer or a job or a part for his truck, the list went on and on. Joel never once felt like he was owed something, like there was some debt for his brother to repay. Tommy’s family, that’s just the way it is. The way it’s always been.

After that first night, after Sarah, Joel knows a part of him disappeared. He knows he scared the shit out of his brother, forced him into the protector position that has always run thickly in Joel’s blood. It was close, too close, on multiple occasions, Joel too buried in his grief to see what was coming and Tommy too distracted by Joel to react quickly enough. But they managed, they stayed alive.

They got to Boston. Too much blood on their hands, but they made it. And Tommy’s right: Joel promised. He promised no more.

But then there you were. There you are.

I’m protecting my family.

The look in Tommy’s eye, as you all walked away from the fight, it still sits in the back of Joel’s mind, weeks later. He’s always felt like he could trust his brother, that he could trust him to keep his secrets, have his back. Have your back.

And for the first time in his life, he doubts that. It gnaws at him like a disease, an annoying tug in his stomach that twitches to life every time he crosses paths with his brother.

Tommy starts ditching jobs. The lists of repairs are usually doled out early in the morning, and they’ll look them over together, pick out the ones that can be done solo, which need an extra set of hands. Tommy meets him in the morning, but by the afternoon, his brother is nowhere to be found, and Joel ends up picking up the slack himself. It reminds him oddly of the old days, when Tommy was fresh off of Desert Storm, when he claimed he just needed to keep his hands busy, but would bail on Joel halfway through the day, slinking off to some bar or another.

Three times in the same week, Joel heads for a repair they’ve agreed to do together, and Tommy never shows. He asks Tess about it, hoping she might have some insight, but she’s just as confused. “He leaves at morning curfew, and he’s home by evening curfew. I don’t know what he does; he doesn’t tell me. I always assume he’s with you.”

On the fourth no-show, Joel has had it. He ditches his own repair, promising to come back and fix the creaky floorboard first thing in the morning, and heads into the city. Dark clouds loom overhead, the threat of summer rain as he loops up and down the streets, searching the few crowds that linger along the sidewalks.

The Fireflies have been quiet since that first ambush, but Joel’s heard a thing or two on the radio. He knows a few of the buildings that have been tagged as hideouts, caches and the like. He stalks past them all, keeping his hands shoved in his pockets, trying to look as casual as possible.

But when he sees Tommy slinking out of the building on the corner of Stillman and Cross, he can’t keep his cool.

His brother hasn’t seen him, and shouts with surprise when Joel grabs him by the collar, hauls him into the nearest alleyway and shoves him against the bricks. “Jesus fuckin’ christ, Joel!”

“What the fuck are you doing, Tommy?” Joel sneers, anger flaring in his gut. “Did you tell them?”

“The fuck is wrong with you? You want us both thrown in lockup?” Tommy grits back, and as the rumble of a FEDRA truck grows closer, Joel releases him, takes a step back, puts a foot of space between them. “You can relax, big brother. I didn’t tell them about your girl.”

“My girl?” Joel repeats, brow creasing. “She’s my wife, Tommy. The fuck is wrong with you?”

“You’re telling me you don’t feel the least bit guilty for what we did to those people? How can you be okay letting Liv walk around here, knowing she—”

He never gets the rest of the sentence out. Joel throws a punch, feels the crunch of his brother’s nose against his knuckles. Tommy decked him once, decades ago, when they were teenagers. They’d gone after the same girl without the other knowing, and when Joel came home pleased as a peach, Tommy was less than impressed when he found out why. Joel had a black eye for a week.

He stalks from the alley the moment Tommy’s back upright, clutching his face. Joel’s knuckles sing with pain, and he heads straight for your apartment before he can do any more damage.

+

Joel glares at you. “Your spaghetti is not a cure-all, baby. It’s not gonna fix this.”

You huff, tying off the gauze around his knuckles. “Sure it is. When’s the last time we had family dinner, anyway?” Joel opens his mouth to answer, but you beat him to the punch. “Too long. Everything has been too tense since everything…happened, and we need something good, Joel. All of us.”

He lifts his brow, pulling his bruised hand out of your grip to reach forward, tugging the chain from where it’s hidden in your shirt, poking his finger through your ring. “Us getting married wasn’t good enough for you?”

You roll your eyes at him, shaking your head, but kiss him anyway, nails scratched through the hair at his temples. It’s the best feeling in the world. “You know what I mean.” He tries to chase your lips for a deeper kiss, but you pull away before he can, pushing back your chair and starting to collect the first aid supplies from the table. Joel watches the sway of your hips as you take it to the bathroom, reappearing a moment later. “Besides, it’s too late; I cornered Tommy this morning and he already agreed, Tess too.”

Joel heaves a sigh. “You’re a menace.”

Your mouth splits in a grin. “And you love me anyway.”

It’s been a few days, since he cornered Tommy outside the Firefly building. As far as he knows, his brother hasn’t skipped out on a job since, but he’s steered clear of Joel, which is just as well. It’s taken a few days for Joel’s temper to settle.

You weren’t exactly impressed with him, when he got home that night. You’ve relaxed some, gone out for a few gigs with Tess, still hesitant to be apart from Joel, but more comfortable than he’s seen you since the car bombs. His knuckles were split, a deep throbbing in his fist, and you’d scowled at him, ordered him to sit at the table while you found something to clean the blood with. And that was before he told you what had happened.

“Fuck, Joel,” you’d nearly shouted, leaning back in your chair, visibly exasperated. “He was never supposed to find out. No one was supposed to find out.”

“I know, baby,” he said, and reached for you with his good hand, curled it around your knee. “I don’t think he’ll—”

“Maybe I should turn myself in,” you said, and Joel felt like the world had dropped out from under him. His chest went tight, suddenly a thousand pounds. His vision is blurry around the edges, breath hitched in his throat, and he nearly topples out of the chair. “Joel?”

He couldn’t remember the last time he felt panic like that, not at first. But then it barrelled into him like a freight train, left him reeling as you slid off your chair and onto your knees in front of him. You were talking, calling his name, grabbing his face, but his mind was somewhere else.

It’s not the same sort of panic, but it’s similar. Similar to the racing heart and short breaths he felt that night, similar to the helplessness he felt when that soldier cornered them, rained hell, took the one thing Joel had left, ripped it away like it was nothing. Left him empty, barely a shell of what he was.

Just a shell of a man with a broken watch he still can’t seem to take off.

Turn myself in.

What would FEDRA do to you? Haul you off to some facility, take your blood and test you like some kind of animal? What if he never saw you again?

What if it killed you?

He couldn’t—

“Joel,” you’d nearly yelled, surging upwards and wrapping your arms around his neck. His nose found your neck, your pulse thumping against his forehead, and the familiar scent of you eased him some. “You’re scaring me. Come back. I’m right here, okay? I’m not…” You trailed off, your voice thick as he slide his arms around your waist and held you closer. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Since that day, you’ve been watching him as closely as he’d been watching his brother, no subtlety whatsoever, not that Joel minds. He’s always liked the feel of your eyes on him.

Now, you push a hand through your hair, wrinkling your nose. “I seriously need a hair wash before they show up. Start the pasta, would you? Stupid flourless crap takes forever to cook.”

Joel chuckles. “Okay, baby.”

There’s a knock at the door ten minutes later, and Joel hopes it’s Tess, knowing full well he’s not quite ready to be alone with his brother again. His knuckles ache just with the thought.

But sure enough, Tommy’s on the other side of the door.

“We need to talk,” his brother says by way of greeting, pushing past Joel into the apartment. “Where’s Liv?”

“She’s in the—” Joel starts to answer, but Tommy cuts him off.

“We have to give her to the Fireflies, Joel. We have to.”

Joel’s chest goes tight again, the same way it had when you mentioned turning yourself in. You meant FEDRA, Tommy means the Fireflies. His head is spinning. “Tommy—”

“I’ve been talking to their leader, this woman Marlene? Joel, they have facilities out West, doctors and labs and people who are working on a cure. Liv could be the answer to all of it, Joel. Just like the Hartford people said: she could save everyone.”

“Shut up, Tommy,” Joel grumble, shaking his head. His heartbeat is in his ears, nearly drowning out his brother’s words, almost twice as loud in his bad ear. “Just don’t—”

“We could fix this, Joel. If we give her to Marlene, she can take her to the facility. I’m sure she’d let you go with her, if you would just talk to Liv, both of you talk to Marlene, we could—”

“Shut up, Tommy!” Joel roars, and his brother’s eyes go wide as he stumbles back a step. “I’m not talking to any fuckin’ Fireflies, and no one is takin’ my Liv anywhere, you understand me? I won’t…I won’t put her at risk, Tommy, not again!”

Tommy stares at him for a long moment, and for a second, Joel thinks he’s said enough, that his brother won’t cross the line again, that he won’t try to push any harder.

But he’s wrong.

“She could be the answer to everything, Joel. Everything. They could make all of this go away.”

“Or they could kill her,” Joel spits, hands curled into fists at his sides. His chest hurts. “And I will die before I let that happen.”

“You’re being selfish.”

“Don’t say another word, Tommy, I swear. I hit you once, and goddamnit, I’ll do it again.”

“Joel—”

“Tommy, I said don’t!”

Wordlessly, Tommy points over his shoulder, and Joel spins to see you standing there, your eyes big and watery, arms crossed, hands gripping your biceps. This time, it’s you that calls his name, and Joel all but runs to you, puts himself in front of you, protecting you.

He knows what’s coming; it’s like he feels the words before they’re out of his mouth, twisting around his heart all over again. His body reacts before his brain does. “Maybe I should go, Joel. Maybe this could be g—”

He can’t hold back the tears. His body won’t let him. They pour down his cheeks, close his throat, his words stuttered out as he grabs for you, his knees giving out beneath him. You try to grab him before he hits the floor, but you’re too late, his body thudding to the floor, falling against you as he goes. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. “I won’t lose you,” he rasps out, and it takes him a moment to realize his face is pressed against your stomach, one hand finding your waist, the other curled in the back of your shirt. “Please, Liv. Don’t—I can’t. Please.”

+

You can feel his tears soaking the fabric of your shirt, hot on his cheeks. You’ve seen Joel cry before, but never like this. Never so heavily, the emotion so thick it’s literally brought him to his knees before you. He’s gripping you like a lifeline, his face buried in your stomach, and you rest one hand on his head, slide his hair between your knuckles. You want to curl yourself around him, protect him the way he’s always trying to protect you.

And on the other side of the kitchen, Tommy just stares at the pair of you. Every emotion known to man crosses his face; guilty, sadness, anger, all of the things that have become commonplace in this new world. You can’t blame him for any of them, you feel half of them yourself.

But then Tommy opens his mouth. “Liv, if you would just—”

“Please, Tommy,” you say, your tone heavy, tears sparking in the back of your throat. “Please don’t.”

He turns on his heel and heads for the door. When he yanks it open, your breath hitches when you see Tess standing on the other side of the door, obviously confused. Tommy says nothing, pushing past her and disappearing down the hallway. “What the fuck?”

At the sound of Tess’s voice, Joel all but leaps to his feet, peeling himself away from you and bee-lining for the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. It suddenly smells like something’s burning, and you curse under your breath as the pot on the stove bubbles over.

Tess closes the door quietly, walks towards you, puts a careful hand on your arm, places a bottle of whiskey on the counter. “So much for family dinner.”

You scoff out a laugh as you flick off the stove, kicking your boot into the dented bottom drawer as you drop the pot of ruined pasta into the sink. Shoving a hand through your hair, you sigh, reaching for the bottle. “You’re telling me.”

“You gonna tell me what the fuck just happened,” Tess asks, leaning against the counter beside you, holding her hand out for the bottle as you take a big swig, “or do I have to guess?”

“I caught the tail-end of that conversation,” you say, guilt twisting your stomach as the lie rolls all too easily off your tongue, “but from what I gathered, Tommy’s joining the Fireflies.”

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(adding more text down here in hopes that tumblr doesn’t cut off my post again!)

🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓

[ariesmusingz]

૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ╱    MANIC DREAM PIXIE SENTENCE STARTERS ( created using lyrics from peach prc's manic dream pixie ep. feel free to adjust to fit your muse. )

"i know your favourite pair of jeans"

"i'll lay them out when you leave"

"i'll make you breakfast, coffee black"

"receipts told me that you like that"

"i was thinking spring, silver wedding rings"

"i've picked out all our baby names"

"i'm kind of obsessed"

"you're kinda famous"

"don't wanna be friends"

"you're not a phase"

"i know you don't know me yet"

"my obsession know you well"

"take me out backstage"

"i know all the names of every song you played"

"one day you'll write about us too"

"i can be your muse when we say i do"

"you might love me if you knew me"

"you're gonna love me soon enough"

"you're gonna love me"

"i'm your biggest fan"

"can we go outside for a walk?"

"they told me you guys were hitting it off"

"she kissed me in the bathroom"

"it's just for attention"

"i'm making her jealous"

"you guessed it"

"i'm not a good friend but she doesn't know that"

"she's gonna hate me but i want you so bad"

"kiss me"

"i'm not scared if she's gone"

"i'm done tryna play it fair"

"i don't care"

"touch me"

"i'm alone"

"i want you on your own"

"she might want you but i do too"

"baby i'm perfect for you"

"harley had a party you were at"

"you were in boots and a cowboy hat"

"jenna said you knew my music"

"now i can't betray her"

"i'm in your sweater"

"don't wanna upset her"

"i can do what she can do so much better"

"i know it's been a while since you've seen me"

"i heard you're doing well now with your comedy"

"i reminisce nostalgic bits of 90s hits"

"we listened, do you miss it?"

"have you thought of it since?"

"if you still think of me, i'd love to meet for coffee"

"if i could just see your face, i'd look into your eyes"

"i hate your jokes and don't think you're funny"

"i hope you choke, go broke, lose your money"

"know that you were the worst forty five seconds i had in my life"

"i hope your conscious haunts you at night"

"fuck you and goodbye"

"a couple therapists are now familiar"

"by the way, i caught up with your ex"

"we shared regrets and most of them were sex with you"

"i'd sit down at your table and scream if i was able"

"thanks to you, gentle hands still resemble demands"

"loving lips on my mouth feel like currency now"

"thanks to you i fear kind"

"now i can't spend the night"

"i bet we were a couple bugs just living in the mud, happily in love doing bug stuff"

"i think i met you in a store in 1944"

"i probably wrote you letters while you went off to the war"

"we could have been two birds"

"now wouldn't that be so absurd?

"maybe just lost lovers that keep getting rediscovered"

"i think i loved you before back when we were dinosaurs"

"i wanna stay in love in this life and the next one"

"i think we've already met somewhere on another planet"

"i wanna stay in love in this life and the next one"

"i loved you before"

"i loved you"

"maybe you loved me on a trip, two pirates on a ship"

"counting all our gold as the boat tipped"

"could we have been there drinking win in medieval times?"

"forever just lost lovers that keep getting rediscovered"

"if i'm the sun and you're the moon"

"if it's over soon we'll go back through"

"i try not to compare a teenage love cause i know that isn't fair"

"why can't i just shut up?"

"i'm always going on about you when i'm drunk"

"i see your name in every numberplate"

"i tried to erase your fave but you're there everyday"

"you're my favourite person"

"i have created a version that hurts less"

"I had to tell myself you're toxic"

"better off cause you're the problem"

"really, i just couldn't take it"

"being hated by my favourite person"

"i tried to fall but i can't cause they're not you"

"i hate that i'll never stop thinking that we're not still home growing up"

"i hear your tropes in all my stupid jokes"

"i'm starting to lose all hope of ever letting go"

"if the world was ending i know i'd be spending my last day pretending we were fine"

"when we both grow old with families of our own"

"i'll probably always go back in my mind"

"someone kissed my closing eyelinds"

"i made it mean more than it did"

"someone put a plate down a little too loud"

"now i still flinch whenever i hear the sound"

"as i'm getting older, i learned my mumma was just trying her best"

"not that i owe her forgiveness but i'm sorry to that girl in a dress"

"if you wanna wear pink, i'll wear it for you"

"if you wanna dance then i'll strap up my shoes"

"if you wanna sing then consider it sung"

"i'm sorry that you had to grown up this young"

"forget that love is earned cause it was always deserved"

"i know you had to work hard just to show them your worth"

"remember that a plate is nothing but a plate"

"even if it breaks, we can throw it away"

"i learned that i was only trying my best"

"i think i owe her a deep breath"

"she was the strongest little girl in a dress"

"you were the strongest little fighter who carried me here"

"i know that you're tired from surviving in fear"

"now i got us for the rest of our life"

[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls: Season 3/Ep 7: They Shoot Gilmores Don't They (Henceforth known as Dance Marathon Episode)

Original Air Date: Nov 12th 2002 This is tied with Lorelai Graduation's Day as my favorite episode, so let us begin.

"Charity". All proceeds go into Taylor Doose's pocket. We'll be getting into that shortly (again).

Heh heh. Lorelai tells a ridiculous story about how she didn't win the trophy at the previous DM. Luke declines her invitation to be her dance partner.

Thank you Luke.

THANK YOU LUKE. Allow me to put this into further perspective. *clears throat* *gets up on Bridge Rage soapbox* SO ABOUT THAT BRIDGE...

From the season 7 episode Knit, People, Knit, original air date 11/26/2006. Dance Marathon aired in November 2002. If fundraising had already been ongoing for 8 years by 2002, that means bridge repair began in 1994 and was ongoing in 2006. Therefore, one can deduce it will take a minimum of 12 years for Taylor Doose to replace a few planks of wood on a tiny bridge. Despite there being visible evidence that said bridge is still not repaired after 12 years, Luke is the only person who ever dares to question this. I'm not sure if the last plank of wood was finally paid for in KPK, I can only stick around in Seasons 6 & 7 for a few minutes at a time or I start to break out in hives and no intrepid scientist has invented a Later Seasons Gilmore Girls Vaccine yet. I get my screengrabs and get the hell out. Taylor: We're not raising money to restore the bridge. Luke: We're not? Taylor: No, we have that money, our Tennesee Williams Lookalike Contest put us over the top. This is for a tarp to cover the bridge. We can't start repair on the bridge now at the start of snow and rain season. The work will be ruined and we'll be back at square one. We need a tarp! Luke: Taylor you are asking me to donate free coffee to hundreds of people so you can raise money for a tarp! You know what, this episode is about a dance marathon and Shane Campbell's untimely demise, not political corruption in small town america and Taylor Doose's obsession with a Broken Bridge and how he's funneling town funds into his offshore bank account so he can use the money to take vacations to Maui and then tell the IRS they're just "business trips" for the Small Town Grocery Store Owners Convention. Carry on.

Lorelai managed to snag a dance partner named Stanley Appleman but she quickly loses him after his wife sees a picture of Lorelai and Mrs.A deems Lorelai too sexy to dance with her husband.

Now when has a Gilmore ever slept with someone else's husband? Where would she get such a crazy idea? Pshaw.

I was about to blast past whatever Newspaper Nonsense was about to take place next but then I noticed the background of this shot. Madelyn and Louise my slutty queens! Since Shane's demise is imminnent, going forth they will carry the slutty torch in her honor.

Jamie is about as tittilating as mayonaise on toast. Jamie will henceforth be named Mayonaise. Jaym-onaise?

Rory is right there, Paris. She’s right there. Urrgh. Why must we pretend Paris Geller is straight? Mayonaise was too busy with dullard business at Princeton for the last 3 months to contact Paris, but now he has some free time so he thought’d he come hang around at a high school with a bunch of minors.

Paris Geller's fragile remnants of heterosexuality are shaking in their boots looking at this face. I’m trying to forget that it only gets worse from here and Paris' next love interest is Asher Fleming 🤢You know what it’s fine it’s fine Jaymonaise can stick around it’s fine

SECURITY!

I thought about this weird and clunky "go find a pirate to sit on" long and hard until I think I figured out what the hell she's trying to say.: "Pirates sometimes have hooks for hands, so if you sit on a pirate's hand maybe the hook will go up your ass." That is WILD. She can't say "let go of my fucking hand you knob" on The WB, so "find a pirate to sit on" it is. Paris would say "Let go of my fucking hand you knob" on my gritty unrated realistic Gilmore Girls spinoff with a lot of swearing called The Hollow. And then immediately turn to Rory and make out with her.

Paris is hesitant to go on another date with Mayonaise, so Rory plays wingman and declares that Paris is free to go on a date, Mayonaise says we're going on a date, then Mayonaise steals her books and runs away with them, leaving Paris bewildered with the smell of "only vague consent" lingering in the air.

Dean's one brain cell is either deep in thought or he's about to soil his diaper. I'm very sorry. I'm glad someone in the Gilmore household decided Dean doesn't deserve a plate to eat from. He can eat his pizza on a napkin on top of a limp throw pillow balanced on one knee like the animal he is. What's with this show and wooden bowls full of walnuts?

According to Lane, Dean is deathly allergic to walnuts. *scooches bowl closer to the couch*

Can you even ask any other kind of question?

Can we go back to doing this, as well as going back to feeding him walnut-laced cookies? D: When did you hang up on me? R: When we first met. D:You should have said something. R: But you would have known that I was calling and therefore I liked you. D: But I liked you too! R:I know that now. D: You could have known that then... Hey, can you two shut the god damn hell up? Both of you stay the hell away from phones and answering machines for the next 15 years. Thanks.

Better declare your love quickly before he gets sucked up by the Male Gilmore Girls Character California Wormhole.

Good boy. #CaptionsFail

Dean came prepared with a pillow shield so Lorelai can't grope for his junk.

You're just a boy, you know nothing. But I'll make you a man, Dean. Just toss that pillow aside.

[pinkmoondoll9shihtzu]

Lol how do i explain this chain of events...

there's no way i can make it brief xD So..today i was in an odd mood, feeling so sensitive that any time someone talked to me i almost flinch from how overwhelming it is. And a certain heaviness. sunday is slimbo's only day off tho so i wanted to hang out. We decided to draw, and as we were finishing setting up i suddenly remembered my stereo & how i havent used it all winter. i grabbed it from my room n put it on slimbo's bedroom floor , i was sitting next to it as we focused on drawing for a few hours n listened to CDs.

then as we were about to eat dinner slimbo suggested we watch sopranos. i was reluctant due to my mood today, and ok hear me out: Something about sopranos has like, consistently felt really psychic to me, cus i dont watch it that often but every time i do it's like. that episode will be freakishly synchronized w something happening in my life at that moment. usually in a metaphorical way. Could just be power of suggestion but ive never rly had that with a show before except for a few animes.

ANYWAYS..i agreed to watch it because i felt it to be fateful that slimbo suggested it. like Ok what message is this supposed to send me today, might as well see since i'm already in this strange mood. We sat on the ground where i was drawing and started watching. and ofc, (spoiler warning,) ofc the last ep we watched was the one where junior shoots tony, so this episode is the one where tony's dying in hospital (and having his prolonged dream sequence). Which, if you know me, you maybe know about my Core Wound, but if you dont, well, it definitely involves hospitals and death and fathers. So i'm just sitting there watching like LMAO 🙂 Ok Guess this is what's on tonight's agenda Let's Gooooo 🙂

and i can see slimbo keeps looking at me with an expression like "we can turn it off" but i was like nah im going to watch this im curious now. (i havent seen season 6 of sopranos in 6 years and its the season i have the least memory of because when i watched it i was high as fuck on opiates due to getting my appendix removed (awful experience) so it kinda feels like my first time seeing it). i keep watching and THEN. THE WEIRDEST SHIT OF MY LIFE OCCURED

the fucking scene. Where carmela's in the hospital room with tony and she receives a stereo from chris. she takes it out of the box and i'm like wait....it's only showing the back of it at first, but it looks so familiar, i look over to my right where my stereo is coincidentally sitting on the floor next to me with the back facing me. it's the same. then i see her open the cd slot. ITS THE EXACT SAME FUCKING STEREO SAME color SAME model SAME Everything !!!! and the part that freaked me out most is that my stereo is always just sitting on top of my tv i almost never move it even when i use it but at that moment it just happened to be sitting there on the floor RIGHT FUCKING NEXT TO ME !!!

idk. it gave me kind of an adrenaline rush. it freaked me out. like that is bizarre i dont know. especially with the context of the stereo in the show and how it's there in the hospital to play music for tony as he's basically dying. hospital scenes r always like, intense for me on a cellular level. but that just kinda blew my mind. i got this stereo from a thrift store 2 years ago i had no idea it was in the show lol. IDK. i feel like there's a message here. something to do with my dad and healing and music. See im telling you like.....sopranos makes me consistently feel that God is joking around w me, its ususlly just a feeling but today it was tangible. so.... o_o

[moka44]

Bear's girlfriend punching Jackie for him.

(Bear x native/mexican f!reader) A/n: this will take place season 1 ep 2. This is my first story so please be kind, its also 3 in the morning for me so if it didnt come out good thats also why lol. But I hope you enjoy.

TW: A lot of swearing

One minute Bear was walking down the alley, the next minute he was done getting jumped by Jackie and her gang, soon waking up to seeing a spirit, ”Aho! Young warrior!” Bear heard. After everything, Bear couldn't help but walk in pain to the one place he knew he can alway go to. As Bear arrived he knocked on the door until his eyes met beautiful dark brown eyes, he could stare at them all day and those eyes belonged to his beautiful girlfriend.

“Oh dios mio! Bear what the hell happened?” you asked. You made him sit down on the couch and closed the door. “Fucking jackie and her crew.” Bear said as he rested his body on the couch while putting his head up. “That puta!” you responded. You sat down next to him,setting the first aid kit on the coffee table that was in front of the both of you.

You started cleaning Bear's nose, he couldn't help but think how lucky he was to have you. How you are always there for him when he needs it, to the time they spend with each other, the way you laugh, how you speak full spanish when you are pissed even though it does scare him, he still loves that about you. How your long black wavy hair is always soft. How you teach him how to cook your favorite Mexican food. Remembering when he first saw you, when someone mentions you he always thinks about how beautiful you are. He can tell you anything but of course you are going to tell him what you think but he loves that about you, how you are honest with him and will tell him if he was in the wrong. When he told you about Daniel, you pulled him into a hug and let him cry his heart out. 

“What are you thinking about in that head?” Bear hears you ask him as you finished cleaning his nose. “Just how lucky I am to have you in my life.” he said, putting his arms around you and pulling you closer to him. “Oh really?” Y/n giggled looking at him while you put an arm around his neck gently as your other hand is on his chest. “Yup and thankful for having you in it too, because if i didn't then i would be at the hospital right now.” Bear said, grabbing your hand that was on his chest kissing it. Bear looked over at you leaning in to kiss you. You can tell he put all his emotions into that kiss, you can feel it all. You pulled away to catch some air putting your forehead into his. “But you know you still have to go to the hospital, mi oso. That was actually where I was going to meet you guys before you got here. But just because I cleaned the blood from your nose doesn't mean it's not bad.” you told him.

“My mom going to freak the fuck out.” Bear said, sitting up and sighing. “I know but you still have to go babe.” you told him rubbing his back trying to comfort him. You soon get up from the couch going to the kitchen, grabbing some water and tylenol for him. You hand him the water with the tylenol, “This should help with the pain.” you said. He drank the tylenol with the water, after he was done he handed it back to you saying thank you. You set the glass in the sink, soon grabbing your keys, “ ready to go?” you asked him while holding your hand out. Bear looked at your hand, grabbing it while you both walked out the door. After you locked your door, the both of you got in your car and made your way to the hospital.

You both arrived at the hospital seeing Elora, Willie jack and cheese, as you both said what's up to them. You helped bear check himself into the hospital, “ill be right back, i forgot my mom asked me to get her some snacks for lunch, do you want anything?” you asked Bear but he shook his head no. As you were in the store getting snacks you noticed a black car that looked really familiar, so you hurried to the register to pay then left. When you got back to the hospital, you saw Bear outside with Elora and Willie jack, “What did the Doctor say?” you asked, “Well he basically asked if he can get with mine or your mom but other than that its not broken.” Bear replied. “That good it's not broken” you said, hugging him. Bear hugged you back but soon let go so you can take the snacks inside. You asked Bev to give the stuff to your mom, handing her the bag.

You went back outside and made your way to the group hearing Bear, “The fuck is this?”, “Fucking nerve, man, leaning on your car. Trying to act solid” Willie Jack said to Elora. You couldn't help but feel the anger you had earlier when Bear first came to your house with his busted nose. You couldn't help but think ‘im going to beat this bitch up’.” Where the fuck is Cheese? Let’s do this then, ”Bear said. “Yo, what's up, motherfuckers?! Oh, you guys were so fucking sick when you jumped me by my fucking self.” Bear said, walking up to Jackie and her crew. You and Willie jack both started taking off your guys' earring walking behind Bear. You notice your mom and bear mom Rita came outside to break everything up. After they did Officer Big came out to stop everything but as everyone was walking away Jackie said “Go on, mama’s boy take your little girlfriend with you.”.

That made you snap, “Jackie” you said making her turn around, you ran towards her punching her in her face knocking her down. “That's what happens when you jump my boyfriend. Estupida maldita perra. Te golpeare el culo, pruebame otra vez perra.” you told her that as your mom pulled you back before Jackie could do anything. "Holy shit." Bear thought, he couldnt help but smile at himself. he never seen him girlfriend react like this before but boy did he think she was so sexy punching Jackie. After everything you went home to rest since it was already getting late. After getting ready to go to sleep you hear someone tapping on your window, you already knew who it was. Opening the window for Bear to come in, but when he stepped into your room he kissed you like he was starving.

Bear soon pulled away, “you were so hot when you punched that bitch in the face.” he said looking at you. “Is that so? Well hopefully now she knows to keep her distance.” You said laughing. You walked to your dresser pulling some of Bear's clothes out, throwing them at him. This was just another normal night, where Bear comes over to hang out sometimes like this night, he spends the night. You turn off the light to your room, making your way to the bed. As you both laid down, Bear pulled you to lay in his chest. He knew you loved to hear his heartbeat, it was like a lullaby to you. “Thank you.” Bear said. “For what mi amor?” you ask. “Sticking by my side today.” Bear responded, sitting up a little to look at you, moving a little piece of hair out your face, you both looked at each other moving closer until Bear closed the gap between you. Bear pulled away, “I love you so fucking much.” he said. “I love you too Mi Oso.” you said to him as you laid back on his chest, you both soon fell asleep in each other's arms.

Oh dios mio= Oh my goodness

puta=bitch

Mi oso= my bear

Estupida maldita perra.Te golpeare el culo, pruebame otra vez perra = Stupid fucking bitch.i'll kick you ass. Try me again bitch.

[bengiyo]

Living With Him Ep 2 Stray Thoughts

Last week, two childhood friends that had grown apart moved in together before their freshman year of college at the insistence of their mom. Natsukawa is excited about being on his own and not being so responsible for chores and child care anymore. Kazuhito seems quite gay for Natsukawa and very happy about this new arrangement.

In the course of getting to know each other again, Natsukawa was surprised to learn that Kazuhito is single, and wanted to figure out why women keep dumping him. He decided they should hang out on what was absolutely a date day and see the neighborhood. They went to the batting cages and to a furniture store. We also got to see Kazuhito take care of Natsukawa when he caught a cold. I'm sold.

I thought Kazuhito couldn't cook? I guess he can do simple breakfasts.

He wants to learn to cook more! I love this man.

This shirt brand Kazuhito is wearing is everywhere. I have one of those shirts.

Look at Kazuhito already angling for a shopping date.

Kazuhito's friends definitely have heard about Natsukawa. Not sure if Haruna already clued in on Kazuhito being queer, but he and Yoshida seem to know something.

"Yoshida is good looking." "Oh, is that so?" This man, I tell you. I love the "letting you in" type.

Did Kazuhito choose to work at an Italian restaurant because of Natsukawa?

He's flirting with a salad! Incredible.

So Yoshida is one of these exes, Natsukawa definitely can see what's going on with Kazuhito, and Haruna is clearly having a great time watching this.

Kiss? It's episode 2!!

Wow we are talking directly about this next week!

I am so into Kazuhito. I will not let this preview lead me astray. I like the friends so far. They're nosy in a way people who've been watching someone pine for a long time can be.