#episode tag: Caves

[star-trek-fandom-confessions]

Confession #159

"If there's anything the episode "Caves" taught me, it's that Lower Decks should end with the main four characters being in a polyamorous relationship since they all have great chemistry with each other."

[dawdlecentric]

Every time Nijika says Daijoubu / 大丈夫

[ricky-mortis]

This is my first impression of them after the first broadcast- Dakkar, Ahlaam, and Addison are everything to me already.

[cocosnowlo-drawings]

Amethio and suspenders? Anyone?

[myfckingnameisnuwanda]

Man, listening to that woman tell her story I hated her so much. Maybe because I myself have a sister and can't understand how she just... left her sister behind. She didn't even try, she just sat down for hours, doing nothing. I just don't get it.

Masterpost

<- 014: Peacemeal - 016: Arachnophobia ->

<-<- 001: Angler Fish

[spicyvampire]

Okay so after the whole Sakuna/Wansarut and Phaya/Tharn "characters description" fighter (protector)/healer+protector(mediator) post, now imma talk about about our resident Snake (PhD), Doctor Chalothorn being a fighter and well how do you convince a fighter to not fight?

I've already made a whole gifset about this but I needed to put the stuff into words cuz u just can't say everything in a gifset so this post is gonna be about a few things, first of all, the way Charlothorn's goals shifted in the last 2 episodes, from wanting to kill Phaya so he can have Tharn, to wanting to save Tharn and Phaya's end not really mattering anymore, and second of all Tharn's role in this shift and where have we saw something similar to this shift before aka Wansarut and Sakuna and how Wansarut even did that

Same disclaimer as the last one applies : pulling this out of my ass from watching the show, these are raw out-of-order thoughts, ill try my best to separate but like the last post because I'm going to have to go back and forth between Wansarut (love of my life, talking about Wansarut has to be my favorite activity rn), Sakuna, Tharn (smooching him smooching him), Phaya and Chalothorn this might get hard to follow but hey that's what it's like inside my brain so welcome to the mess

Putting it under keep reading

So like I said in the last post, Chalothorn is a fighter, like you can't get more fighter than this, the man is literally the prince/ruler of Nagas and he is right in the middle of the battle field anytime there is a fight to be had, and like I said in Sakuna's part of the post he is a level that can probably can only be rivaled by Sakuna's brother, you can't be a higher level of Naga fighter from what I understand, so like how do you fight this man if you are Wansarut and Sakuna? (ep. 8)

Keep in mind that : the answer is that they never were supposed to fight Chalothorn

SCENARIO 1 : Chalothorn wins

This is what we've seen in the show, Sakuna/Wansarut/Phaya/Tharn would never win against him in a fight because they just aren't strong enough to began with, Sakuna and his Garuda were not Chalothorn's level when he was alive, Wansarut is a healer/protector not a fighter, Phaya can only do ✨Sparkles✨ of Garuda powers as of rn and while Tharn can do some powerful protecting he is of the gang the person who is the less in contact with his past and magical self (other than for protecting Phaya magic, we have not even seen his Naga in this lifetime) and also his past self wasn't even a fighter, so it makes sense that Chalothorn just keep killing them and every single one of their reincarnations, he kills them so much that it was destroying his own soul (ep. 8) because surprise he is getting affected by the little cyclic karma thingy they got going on too, this isn't just about Wansarut/Sakuna and PhayaTharn, Chalothorn is trapped in this shit too

Clearly fighting is not the answer, because even if you win, which Chalothorn has been doing a lot of, you still lose, Chalothorn is losing control of his Naga form, not only does it destroy his soul (ep. 8) but he might just not be able to turn into his human form anymore aka would be forced to be a Naga forever (ep. 9)

Another lost of this is that he keeps losing Wansarut and having to wait for the cycle to start again so he would get another chance, like the level of psychological damage getting done to him because he kills the one he loves and he is always left behind alone to wait is enough to drive anybody insane (ep. 11)

And I think that's one of the reasons why it took him so long to understand that he should let Wansarut/Tharn go, because when you do something so despicable and keep doing it over and over again you have to justifies your bad actions to yourself so you don't break and the more you justifies them the harder it becomes to see clearly through them, so you just keep doing it, like Chalothorn probably hates himself more than he even hates Phaya or love Tharn at this point because he keeps killing reincarnations of Wansarut, like this is his reaction to killing Wansarut the first time, falling to his knees screaming and everything (ep. 8), the cognitive dissonance in that man's brain must be insane

SCENARIO 2 : Phaya wins

Now let's imagine for a second there that they did win, Phaya succeeded in killing Charlothorn, and then what? Isn't Charlothorn just gonna reincarnate and come back for them again? Like yes it might take some times but it will happen, and then Phaya and Tharn would be the one destroying their souls and making their karma worst, that's just not a solution

Also we saw with Narong's case part of the show that "victim turned attacker" is not the answer (anyways that's what the show says), when Tharn and Phaya are talking to the abbot at the end of episode 5 the abbot keep repeating that over and over again killing is not the answer

When Phaya Says "Those victims are left with no choice but to fight back in order to survive. They have to kill." The abbot answers "The basic code of moral conducts for human beings like us is the 5 precepts. One should be abstained from killing other living beings. These precepts can bring peace and happiness to your family and the society. Undertaking the 5 precepts will benefit not only yourself but also the people around you." Basically straight up telling them that [not killing] is the only answer that will bring peace to everyone

Also so many parallels can be made between Narong and Chalothorn (which is probably why it was easy for Chalothorn to possess Narong to attack Phaya but let's not get into that), because like isn't this Chalothorn? (ep. 5)

His mind is so clouded by anger and wanting to kill Phaya and getting Tharn that he is obsessed with it, he literally do not see anything else, specially if Phaya is in the room and/or mentioned, like I said a bit higher in this post, he hates Phaya, but he probably hates himself too, and so much hate and anger just blinds people

Also sidenote that I'm not really gonna dive into : How do you think Tharn would feel about Phaya killing Chalothorn, knowing what u know about him? like Tharn loves Chalothorn as a friend, and that's even if Chalothorn is responsible for all the bad things in his life (ep. 12)

Tharn may be looking at Chalothorn saying this but he said "Please stop killing each other." he could not be more clearly talking to both of them, he doesn't want Chalothorn to kill Phaya but he also doesn't want Phaya to kill Chalothorn

SCENARIO 3 : Tharn Wins

Now lemme say this, you can literally never convince a fighter by fighting him, like if you've ever had a fight/argument with someone you know that you cannot reach a compromise in the heat of the fight when everyone is angry and losing the control of their emotions, it just doesn't work, but what does work in the context of the show?

Wansarut and Sakuna

And now I'm back to Wansarut (<3<3<3<3<3<3) and Sakuna because well Wansarut did change a fighter's mind before already, this is part of Wansarut's power that's why I also describe Wansarut as a mediator, and what did Wansarut do exactly?

Well Wansarut healed Sakuna, even if he is from the enemy side, and took care of him and acted in a way that was protective of him, even if again Sakuna is an enemy of Wansarut's people (literally brother of the Garuda king) because that Wansarut's character, Wansarut is a healer/a protect/a mediator that's how Wansarut fights (ep. 8)

Then Wansarut tough Sakuna about Naga culture (Naga offering and breathing fire to pay respect to Buddha, on the 15th nigh of the 11th waxing moon)

And while being in love with each other did facilitate this change of view in Sakuna (which would later turn him a bit into a protector of Wansarut), you really do not need to be for this to work, like the best way to change people views on some things truly is just to expose them to the thing from the POV of the people living it, when nobody is in any immediate danger

And that is exactly how Tharn succeeded in convincing Chalothorn that the love between Phaya and him is good, by being there for Chalothorn and taking care of him, and being patient, until Chalothorn was ready to let him go on his own, not in the heat of of fight when everyone is angry and putting the blame on each other, which was again so healer/ protector/mediator of him like I talked about in my other post

Tharn and Chalothorn : the final

So with Wansarut and Sakuna we saw how Tharn could change Chalothorn's mind and what really does work, now imma dive into the last 2 episodes of this show aka the shift in Chalothorn

So in episode 6, Chalothorn says this

And at that time I think those words were true cuz that's literally what he has been doing isn't it? Like everytime he lost, both Wansarut and Sakuna's reincarnations died, so he was "okay" with killing Wansarut, as long as it meant that Sakuna was also dead and they weren't together (crazy way to fight cognitive dissonance if you ask me) but then something changed around episode 11 because Chalothorn started saving Tharn even if Phaya was still alive? (Ep. 11) (ep.12)

The importance of Chalothorn saving Tharn those 2 times, is that 1) now Tharn knows what the fuck is going on and 2) (like I said in the other post) Tharn end up understanding that Chalothorn can be talked too and reasoned with (the abbot would call it enlightenment), because in that 2nd saving he told Chalothorn to not kill Montee, and Chalothorn listened

Sidenote : Wansarut also did tell Chalothorn to not kill Sakuna and Chalothorn did listen that time too, like Wansarut has a BIG influence on this man (wish we saw their relationship before the mess), the only reason why the fight did continue was because Sakuna did not let Wansarut go

Why did he listen then? because he loves Wansarut, it really is as simple as that, and that's why he also listened to Tharn with Montee, because our chronically involuntary celibate man is head over dick for Tharn (valid and relatable)

So remember when I was talking about cognitive dissonance and stuff, well by ep 12, Chalothorn cannot justifies killing Tharn anymore, he is tired, he is turning into a Naga, and he cannot stand seeing another reincarnation of Wansarut die again, but most importantly he cannot stand to see Tharn die by his own hands

It's easy to concentrate on Phaya's distress in this scene but Chalothorn is in as much distress as Phaya, you can hear Chalothorn's voice break when Tharn is dying in both Phaya and his arms after asking them to stop killing each other, they are both screaming Tharn's name, and this time Chalothorn just listen because this is too much, his hatred for Phaya is just not important anymore, killing Phaya is just not as important anymore because anyways Tharn did choose him didn't he? isn't that what he wanted? even if Tharn clearly is in love with Phaya, Tharn did choose to come with him, so in a way none of this shit even fucking matters anymore

So for the 3rd time, he saves Tharn, this time by literally giving Tharn his soul so he would live (wish we saw him breaking down over Tharn dying in his arms in the Naga caves until he ended up giving Tharn his soul tbh), Chalothorn chooses to save a life instead of ending one and thus ending the curse on his part

[vakariaan]

ultimate ships challenge - the otp to rule all otps

Jack/Nikki  »  Silent Witness

I can't imagine a day without you. I can't.

[juliets-roller-derby-awesomeness]

seriously the most smiley i've been watching an episode (and i've watched bollywood homicide)

sorry for not posting about it, but i loved the reveal at the end, and the one at the climax, and the one at the beginning

i just loved the (head the tail the) whole damn episode. i love despereaux so much, i love shawn fanboying, i love shawn and gus fighting, i love lassie being smug about shawn's downfall, this was all just such a feel-good lovely episode

[darkclouud9]

Sarada and Kakashi, the "say that again" siblings

[oflgtfol]

when u f. when u feel a new interest taking hold . in ur brain

[octoagentmiles]

do you have any hcs for barnacles and dashi ? I'm rewatching it and many episodes start with the two of them in the main area , oftentimes there's a third person involved but it's always the two of them so they must spend alot of time around each other :O 10 / 10 bonding

Had to think hard about this since Dashi's role in the main series is so small—but you're actually so right 👀 10/10 buddies 👍

You'll get my headcanons I promise but first you gotta listen to me infodump, okay? Deal:

I personally headcanon that Dashi was one of the first Octonauts, she hasn't been around a super long time- but at least long enough that she was probably around for the first Octopod, and that would give her and Barnacles (and the other OGs) plenty of time to get close.

We know Inkling canonically founded the Octonauts, but I imagine that it was actually Barnacles who picked out the crew—over various fateful encounters (Kwazii, Peso), or already knowing them (Tweak)—with the two exceptions of Dashi and Shellington.

Shellington heard about them through the kelp vine by pure chance, and got himself a job via determination. Then, at some point—he recommended Dashi to Barnacles or Inkling, and got her a position as an intern. (He knew her through her photography; she took pictures for him once or something like that.)

I also headcanon they weren't called The Octonauts yet at that point. I headcanon that Dashi came up with the "Octonauts" name during her first few days, and they kept it. (Coincidentally, the first Octopod crashed during those first few days. T'was completely unrelated, I promise 😅)

Fast forward: I've been thinking about Dashi in AnB a lot lately, and the one question that keeps coming up is: "Why did Barnacles make her the Captain of the Octoray?"

They haven't addressed it in the show yet, and it felt a little bit like the writers just wanted her to Do Something, y'know? So I went back to rewatch some of her main series episodes, and this scene from The Surfing Snails stuck out:

This scene shows how much he trusts her. He trusts her to make the right calls, and to be careful. He shows this trust in her again in the Wild Windstorms:

"...I'm ready for this!"

"I know you are, Dashi."

I REALLY wish they had spent more time giving her some kind of arc, showing this trust being built. She absolutely deserved an arc like Peso's, where we could've seen her growth and her bond with Barnacles getting stronger. It would've made the Octoray thing make much more sense, and I would've loved to actually SEE her evolution from "getting stuck in a whale shark" to "inventing stuff with Tweak" to the level of respect that Barnacles clearly has for her in S4 and Beyond, but instead it feels like all that stuff happened off-screen.

I also wanna point out real quick; that Dashi is one of the select few characters to ever call Barnacles by his first name only. This is something that the writers frequently use to emphasize closeness between Barnacles and someone else (Kwazii, Natquik, etc), and Dashi has done it twice. I'll admit I thought it was an error the first time, but then I caught her doing it again in Sac Actun. SO CLEARLY THEY ARE CLOSE. YES? WE AGREE. YES.

ok I'm done. pleasure doing business with you 🤝

*slams hands down on table* MISC. HEADCANON TIME ‼️ (which technically, could all totally be canon until the writers finally decide to give us real information ✨)

She has 100% read ALL of his books and journals, at least twice. Sometimes he gives them to her so she can beta read them, and she's also helped edit a few.

She has written her own journals, mostly in the form of scrapbooks, that she shares with him too. He has a first edition signed copy of one of them.

She made friendship bracelets for everyone on the ship after the Octopod was rebuilt, and he keeps his on his desk. It's still in mint condition.

I feel like at least ONE of the cameras in her collection was a gift from him.

She is trained on how to steer the Octopod manually. Considering the only two on board at the time who knew how to do it were Barnacles and Tweak—her showing slight interest was the only convincing he needed to teach her.

Sadly, she's never needed to use this skill. Yet.

She learned how to play harmonica when he decided to learn accordion, so they could duet together, but she got the hang of it much faster than he did.

They work out together sometimes. She's much stronger than she looks—and has won an arm wrestling match against him at LEAST once. She's also beat him in a foot race; it was almost a very close tie, and she needed to lay down for an hour after—but she did it. He will never live either of these down.

They definitely gossip in HQ sometimes, when it's just the two of them.

[ishipthis]

iDidn't see this coming - Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I wasn't going to put this on tumblr because of its contents. 😳 But you voted so here it is. ❤️ Please be aware, if you did not like chapter one there is no way you are going to like chapter two. Like really, I mean it, you will not like it. Abort Mission. This is literally 30% Creddie smut. I can't say it anymore plainly. If you're not up for that, do not click past the read more section. It will hurt your eyes.

“It’s going to be totally fine, you’re going to be totally fine. So you kind of crossed a line with Freddie last night, it’s not like you had phone sex, your clothes stayed on, Carly, your clothes stayed on” It’s not the positive affirmation repetition she’s become accustomed to, but if positive affirmations are going to save their friendship, she’s going to positive affirmation the crap out of this morning. 

“I am loved and worthy….. And it’s going to be fine.”

“I am complete as I am, others simply support me…. Especially Freddie who is not going anywhere because he’s my best friend and any decisions we made last night will be forgotten this morning because that was the deal and we will be totally fine.”

“Today I align myself with freedom, growth and joy….. And the assurance that Freddie and I are going to be fine” She’s not spiraling, she’s not.

“My body is a vessel of wellness and… Ugh who am I kidding?! You’re a body of Lies! What did you do to me, urges? How dare you, libedo? Good going, hormones, I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done.” Carly groans, the colour draining out of her face as she takes in the sight of herself again, flushed cheeks, wide eyes, messed up hair. It was one of the best sleeps of her life. But not the point. It was a one time thing, a terrible miscalculation, a monumental slip…. A drunken mistake…. That she can’t stop rereading again, and again, and again.

(Seriously, final warning, do not read down if you are not ready for 🌶🌶🌶. You have been warned.)

“I’d walk you to your room with your legs still wrapped around my waist and I’d drop you on to the bed, kissing you deeply before moving my attention lower.”

“Lower? How low? You’re making my heart race”

“Just a little lower. I’d kiss down your neck but then I’d pull away so I could remove some of those clothes. I’d start with your shoes… and then your socks, and then I’d shimmy those pants down your legs and let them join the pile…… And you should see mine, feel like it’s beating through my ears”

“Why?”

“You know why, Carly”

“I’d ask you to take your pants off too, and I’d lift my shirt over my head and hand it to you, so you could add it our pile”

“Why?” he mimics

“You know why, Freddie”

Ugh. Just the thought of what they did next starts getting her all hot and bothered again. But, she thinks, Still technically not phone sex. All physical items of clothing stayed on. At least that’s something?

Ding.

She panics, dropping her phone into the empty sink before grabbing it out again. Harper. She’s not disappointed, she’s not. It’s totally fine. Fine. 

‘Hey Bestie, Vinet turned out to be vin-no, he wouldn’t even make me eggs. Who does that, after I put all MY eggs in his basket last night. Anywayyyy it’s okay, Spencer’s insta shows he’s got a chef making him waffles, so I’ll meet you there, kay?’

Waffles. She could do waffles. Maybe waffles is exactly what she needs to stop looking at her stupid phone. Yes, waffles will be great. 

She looks to the mirror one final time, steeling herself. “I am cool, calm and collected….. And I am not going to look at my phone again because Freddie is my best friend and I don’t have feelings for him. ” Hearing the words fall from her lips, even she knows it sounds like a lie.  

“I said to him, it's my sacred space. Rules are made to be broken, I'll fill it with waffles and eggs if I want to. And he laughed, so I did what anyone would do, I hired his wife to do it. And that’s why you can’t trust an artist, or a republican.” He smirks, wiggling his eyebrows before turning toward the front door that’s swung open. And seriously, do they ever lock the door? For a multimillionaire it seems like it’s probably a security risk. 

She’s zoning out again, staring at the maple syrup dripping off the waffle on her fork when she hears his name.

“Freddie! You made it! This is Susan, Waffle extraordinaire. Also known as Byron’s wife, but we don't like Byron so let's not waste another breath talking about him.” 

“Hey Susan, mind if I grab one of those?” Freddie says with a grin as he drops down into the seat across from Carly. “I had to drop Millicent off at school this morning because her teacher wanted to have a chat about ‘Inappropriate use of school resources’, my little hellraiser.”

“She both excites and terrifies me” Harper responds, as she hands Freddie the syrup. “Susan knows how to make a mouth watering syrup, just wet enough, you got to try it” Carly chokes on her waffle. Wet enough? 

“I’d kiss down your stomach taking my time to savor the taste of your skin against my lips”

“I’d run my hands through your hair, tugging gently to lift your head so I could look at you and see the look in your eyes.”

“I’d look hungry”

“I’d be wet”

“Carly”

“Freddie”

“You right, Carls?” Freddie asks, a curious look etched on his face as Harper smacks her on the back, shooting her a concerned smile. 

“Guess some things are too wet for you, huh?” 

She kicks Harper under the table. 

Freddie’s not even paying attention, she realises, as she looks over to him for the 100th time since he walked through the door 30 minutes ago. For the most part everything has been normal, he’s been happy, dorky, Freddie, and everything Carly was worried about prior? Not needed. Apparently Oprah was right, and affirmations do work, because Freddie? He’s thriving. She hates it.

“These are great, Susan. And you’re really not a chef?” No, Susan’s a 30 something year old blonde housewife with an affinity for making syrup that you keep licking off your full pouty kissable lips, Ya jerk. “I mean I never would have known, these could be restaurant quality!” he licks his lips again, Carly swallows heavily. “Don’t you think, Carly?”

Two can play at this game, she thinks, wanting to give him a taste of his own medicine, even if it is on his part non intentional medicine. “Oh yes” she says with a smile of her own, picking up her unused spoon to dip it right into the pot of syrup in front of them before bringing it toward her her mouth. “It’s such good syrup, I just loveeee it. Great job, Susan'' She lets the spoon hit her lips finally, purposely letting them get messy in the meantime before licking them clean. Take that, she thinks. 

He does. He takes it and does nothing with it. Nothing but smile at her and hand her a napkin, looking at her in the way you look at a dog chasing its tail, with mild amusement and nothing more. “Can’t take you anywhere can we?” Freddie says with a laugh, reaching over to rustle her hair, before turning back to the others to continue the conversation. Like What?! She’s not a labrador.

They’ve been back in their apartment for all of three seconds when Harper turns on her. “Are we going to talk about why the heck you almost deep throated your spoon back there, or….?” Was she that obvious? Shit.

“Deep throated a spoon? What are you even talking about, I didn’t almost deep throat anything?” 

“But you wanted too?” Harper raises an eyebrow as she puts her hands on her hips, a ‘this is an interrogation and I’m going to get this out of you whether you like it or not’ look if ever there was one.”From the way you were looking at Freddie and licking your lips you wanted to real bad, Bestie”

Carly groans, making her way towards the couch before flopping her body onto it face first. “I don’t want to have this conversation” she mumbles into the couch cushions. 

“And I didn’t want Jennifer Lopez to miss my sweet 16th, but we don’t always get what we want, Carly. Now what in the love of Beyonce happened to make you get all….” She scrunches her nose up. “Messy.”

“It’s your fault”

“Most things are” Harper reasons, before physically pulling Carly up into a sitting position as she takes the seat next to her. “But 50% of the time I’m around when they happened. So what’s got you exuding all of this energy, did yall finally hook up?!” She looks over to Carly. “Oh my god! You did! You hooked up with Freddie!”

Carly covers her face groaning. “We did not hook up! Well not really anyway… I don’t think?"

“Did he get it in the wrong hole or something, because that’s okay, a bad sense of direction can have some good outcomes”

“What?! No! God No, What does that even-” she trails off, groaning again. “He doesn’t have a bad sense of direction, whatever that means. I…. I did something stupid last night and one thing led to another and…”

“And…..? Spit it out!”

“I can’t, I’m too ashamed, leave me here on the couch to wallow”

“Carly, if you don’t tell me, I’m going to have to go ask him myself and I know you don't want that”. She’s lying, Carly knows that, but even so the threat of bringing any of this up with Freddie is a no go. 

“You can’t tell anyone okay, sworn to secrecy. You have to promise… On Beyonce.”

“Beyonce?” Harper asks. 

“Beyonce.”

“What did you do?! Okay, I promise, but what in the world is so bad that you made me promise on the queen?! We’ve already lost one, Carly”

Carly cracks a smile, hitting Harper with the pillow next to her before taking a deep breath and saying the next words so fast they all stick together. “Wehdirtahtextd”

“You what now?”

“We…” she huffs out a breath, closing her eyes before finishing the sentence. “Dirty texted..”

“You dirty texted?”

“Yes. Last night, I dirty texted Freddie” 

“So you sexted? That’s not bad Carly, I can’t tell you how many people I’ve had a textual cohabitation with, I thought you guys banged or something”

“We didn’t sext” Carly corrects, putting her face in her hands again. “At least I don’t think we did. We just talked… about what we would do.. If we were….together….in an intimate way..”

“Uh huh. So you were sexting. I need to see the evidence” Harper smirks, attempting to reach for the phone. A direct reversal of their situation fifteen hours earlier. “Well did you like it?! By the waffle thing this morning I feel like you did.”

“NO!” Carly groans again. “I can’t do that to Freddie, and anyway, it doesn’t matter if I liked it, because it’s not going to happen again.”

At this Harper finally quits trying to steal the phone, turning instead to face her best friend. “What do you mean it’s not going to happen again, and also not that I’m not flattered I was involved in you two finally losing your shit, but how, can I ask, was this my fault? I’d like to know so I can take credit on your wedding day.”

Carly stands up from the couch and walks to the fridge pulling out a bottle of orange juice before reaching for the wine and two flasks. “It’s not going to happen again, because we said it was a one night thing, and in any case as you could see today, Freddie didn’t seem to even care.” She puts the glasses on the table and starts pouring. “And, it’s your fault because this whole stupid thing happened because I sent him that fanfiction you had open on my phone last night!”

“Girl, you sent him the deep throat cake fic?! You saucy minx! I didn’t know you had it in you!”

“I didn’t have it in me! I thought it was about baking a cake!” Carly protests, before downing her whole mimosa in one go. 

“That seems more in character for you” Harper nods, a smile still evident on her face. “So let me get this straight, you’re throwing down cocktails at 11 am-” 

Carly interrupts. “11:27am”

Harper rolls her eyes. “11:27 am because you texted Freddie a fic about licking frosting off his body and then you guys sorta maybe had phone sex, but you told him that it was a one night thing and now you’re upset because this morning, after the one night, he did what you wanted and acted like your best friend again without making it weird?”

“Yes!” Carly bursts out, pouring more orange juice into her cup for round two. “Like who does that?!”

“Uh… Someone who can read an instruction manual? You did kind of give him one didn’t you?”

“Who’s side are you on here?” Carly whines, giving Harper a look.

“Yours, of course. All I’m saying is, I would look at this like the perfect situation, Bestie.”

“How..”

“You guys got to have ‘dirty texting’” she air quotes the dirty texting. “And get your innocent little rocks off and then the next day go back to being best friends again with no weirdness, aside from you know, the spoon incident.” She’s not wrong. “So why stop? If you enjoyed it, and I assume he enjoyed it?” Carly Nods. “Then you’ve proven things don’t have to be weird, and you can keep doing your thing. It’ll give you something to do besides knitting, which believe me, you need.” 

“I..” Carly begins, scrunching her nose up as she thinks through what Harper said. “I don’t want to complicate things further. What if it leads to… physical touching?” 

“You mean like hand holding?” Harper smirks. “Most touching is physical, Carly. But okay so it leads to touching, at least you can stop lying to yourself about being crazy about him”

“I’m NOT crazy about him.”

“Uhuh, need I mention the spoon again, Carly?”

“No mention needed.” She huffs falling face first into the side of the lounge Harper isn’t sitting on. “Why did I let you get inside my head!”

It's 11pm when she finally caves. She's been reading through his texts over and over all evening wondering why he is happily texting in the group chat like nothing is bothering him when she's sitting here having an existential crisis of the highest order. When she mentioned it being a dream last night, this is not what she meant. Or maybe it is, maybe it's exactly what she meant, only she still feels like she's asleep and for some reason he's wide awake. On some level it feels disjointed because with their dynamic over the years the scales should be tipped the other way. He's supposed to chase her. She's mad at herself for even thinking that. 

Last night he had been so open, he'd literally talked about going down on her, he'd said she drove him crazy, he’d said her name, or well, typed her name, but he typed it like it meant something, like he was feeling the same thing. And then this morning happened and it was like he forgot. Like he completely wiped the fact that eight hours earlier she’d been telling him she wanted to.. 

“I’d want to return the favour”

“You wouldn't have to”

“I know that, but I'd WANT to’

‘Really?’

‘Yes, I've thought about it before”

“Carly you're killing me”

And she had liked it. Last night he'd been so responsive, so In tune with her, it was like they were two spies hiding out from the rest of the world and their messages, this dirty little secret that only they would ever share. Well I suppose it was something only they were meant to share. But it felt like something. It felt like the start and yet… For him it wasn't?

And okay, so she'd been the one to say it was a dream, but that's because it had to be. She hadn't wanted to risk their friendship on something she hadn't even had the chance to think through. Last night was an accident, she hadn't known what the fic was about, it all sort of just happened. So it made sense that they had some ground rules, that they kept it hypothetical, because she wasn't ready for any of it to be real anyway. Right? 

But why wasn't he affected? Why was he treating her like some kid sister? Why didn't he care that she almost deep throated a waffle for him. And why is she the only one that's obsessing over them? Him? All of it. That can't be right. 

She thinks back on what Harper said, ‘So why stop? If you enjoyed it, and I assume he enjoyed it then you’ve proven things don’t have to be weird, and you can keep doing your thing.’ 

Had they proved it? I mean they technically had. They'd been fine today, normal even. So maybe Harper was right? Why stop? Besides, she thinks, why should she be the only one thinking about it. One more time can't hurt?

She pulls out her phone navigating back to the site she was on last night scrolling through the stories looking for something that will leave a mark. 

Freddie and Carly adopt a.. No. Freddie gives Carly a new.. Nope. Carly and Freddie get trapped in the Icarly studio when a power outage caused by a freak snow storm causes them to cross a line they never have before. Rated Mature. Yes. 

She starts reading, eyes rapidly sliding from one side of the page to the next as she devours the words on the screen. Fic Freddie has Carly up against the wall, much like they talked about last night. Fic Carly is dropping to her knees, somewhat like they spoke about last night. It's perfect, she thinks, copying the link before pasting it into their text chain. She doesn't bother to say anything this time, she just presses send.

Ding. 

His reply comes in Instantly, and there's no way he's finished reading, no way. She panics, thinking maybe he's going to turn her down, after all, he hasn't even bothered to read the story, that can’t be good.  

Maybe she should have left it. They’d made it out alive, what was she thinking tempting fate again? She looks down to the phone reluctantly ready to see his rejection when she spots the four words. 

“What are you wearing?” 

There is no pretense, no mucking around, no scene to set up, he's just straight to the point and It makes her body heat up and tingle all over. This does sound like the prelude to actual sexting. This was the boundary that she set for herself. This is the line they were not meant to cross. Last night it was hypothetical, pretend, this is…. not. 

ding. Another message pops up. 

“I’m going to be honest, I've been thinking about it all night.”

Thank God, she thinks, taking a deep breath as she types back into the phone. 

“Really? You didn't forget?”

“Forget?” He replies quickly before sending another one straight after. “You've been running through my mind all day”

Her whole body visibly relaxes, a breath coming out she didn't know she was holding. He thought of her all day? It shouldn't make her so happy, but it does. It just does. 

She types back. 

“I'm wearing my pink Pyjama shorts, you know the ones with the peaches, and the shirt that says “you've got a peach of my heart” she presses send, then panics. 

Was she meant to lie? Say something about wearing sexy lingerie? Does one actually stay honest about what they're wearing during a sext? She groans, grabbing the phone again to write another message. 

“Pretend I didn't say peaches, pretend I said something sexier, something lacier.”

He writes back immediately. “The sexiest thing to me is you being you. I’ll take the peaches, thanks.”

She whimpers, cheeks going hot as her hand goes to rest over her chest eager to feel if her heart is beating as fast as she feels it is. It is. 

“What are you wearing?” she responds, biting her lip as she pictures him laying on his bed, shirt off, thinking about her. 

“Just some pajama pants and some boxers” he responds, and okay now she's really thinking about it. She's thinking about throwing her rules aside and walking the 300 meters to his apartment so that she doesn't have to imagine anymore. In this moment, she wants it. 

She flushes and types back. “Take the pants off?”

Ding. 

“They're off, what about you?”

“What do you want?” she replies.

Ding. 

“I want the peaches to hit the floor”

“Done”

Ding. 

“God, I want to see you. What are you doing, baby?”

Baby. Baby? The minute she reads it she feels the ache. He called her baby. He's never called her that before. Actually, she can count the number of people who have said that to her on one hand. And even from the list of ex boyfriends on that hand, not one persons ‘baby’ has ever hit her the way that reading Freddie's does. She’s so hot and bothered now it's not even funny.  They've already broken one rule tonight, what's another, she thinks. 

She grabs her phone, pressing his number before bringing the phone up to her ear. 

He picks up on the second ring. 

“Carly..” he says, breathing heavily. “I.. is-”

She cuts him off. “I needed to hear your voice, I needed to hear you say it..”

He lets out another breath, a contented sigh making its way into her ear as she waits. 

“What did you need to hear?” He whispers, as everything else around her goes silent. 

“Call me baby” she pleads. She's breathless herself, her hand still resting against her rapidly beating heart. “Please?”

He grunts, and it's the sexiest thing she's ever heard, or at least it is until the next word slips from his mouth. “Baby”

She moans and he curses under his breath which only makes her want him more. Freddie cursing in frustration and pent up need? um yes please. 

“Are we still dreaming?” He asks. 

She sighs, slipping her fingers underneath the hem of her shirt fiddling with it. “I think so… But Freddie, I don't want to stop”

He grunts again. “Are you on your bed, baby?” His voice is choked and smoky in a way that makes him sound like he's just smoked a whole box of cigarettes, all deep and throaty and enough to drive her wild. 

“Yes..” she manages to whisper. 

“Okay” he whispers back. “I want you to lay back and pretend your hand is mine”

She does. 

TBC

[asanjou]

the last two showa shows i watched were 71 and zubat so this episode of jakq having the end of the plot be two incredibly competent female fighters rescuing 20-30 men with military training was like. Where am I

[waitineedaname]

wwx has bipolar disorder I know this in my heart

[gregmarriage]

someone talk to meeeeeeee!!! 👉🏻🥺👈🏻

[a-metaphoricblast]

Wtf the Doctor regenerates before the end of season 21??

:( I thought I had another story with Five! Fifth Doctor probably had some of my favorite TARDIS crews next to the UNIT folks with the Third Doctor. I wanted more with him and Peri though :(