#i hope they're having a killer sunday

[november-babey]

i hope the couple in front of me at the concert last night are having the BEST day

[ittosthicknjuicyazz]

can you write about some of the hsr men w/ a lover who really likes collecting figures, wearing cute clothes and obbsessed w/ sanrio and stuff like a super girly s/o (sorry idk how to explain shit)

HSR Characters x s/o who enjoys cute things

a/n: nah you're good I'm bad at explaining too💔 I hope this meets your expectations since I added a bit more than intended.

warnings: might be ooc, rushed (sort of), some of these had more effort than others 💀, no specific gender or pronouns used, lmk if I should add more

Dan Heng

Upon meeting you, he was flashed with your (fav color) clothing. Was even a bit stunned by your cute clothing style.

When you joined the express and got your own room, him and the Astral Express Crew watched as you lugged box after box into your new room.

Days later, They were invited into your room, or better yet your gallery of figurines of anime characters and Sanrio. Not to mention your obvious theme of (color).

He was impressed by your interior design abilities.

And was almost embarrassed to invite you into his room that was also the archive room.

"Sooo, why is your room the archive room? Not judging! Just wondering is all," you asked him. He shrugged, "I'm not sure, It's more comforting in here I suppose." Comforting? This was comforting?

The day the two of you got together, with the help of Cupid and her assistant (March and Caelus LMAO), Dan Heng bought you a Cinnamon key chain and presented it to you after he asked to be your boyfriend, to which you said yes to.

You cheesed so hard afterwards. The keychain now hung on any part of you at all times, whether it was the belt hoop on your pants or hooked onto the backpack you decided to wear that day. It always stayed on you.

Pompom once complained about your crippling addiction to buying cute things. "You're going to flood the Express with all these things you keep buying!" they scolded.

It didn't get any better when Dan Heng walked in. "And you!" Pompom turned to him, pointing an accusing finger at him, "you need to stop encouraging your partners shopping addiction!"

Did the scolding stop the two of you? No it did not.

The following day, you and Dang Heng stood side by side with matching fluffy sweaters with cute accessories and make up that slayed.

"There's no stopping you is there...?" Pompom sighed, defeated.

Aventurine

"Oh? And who's this cutie?" he questioned, grinning at the figure that stood next to Jade. "Oh, this? This is (name), they're new here! Don't they have a killer style?"

Yes, Aventurine agreed. He loved the cute fluffy Kuromi sweater you wore and matching black shorts and shoes, your make up also fitting the color scheme.

The next time he went shopping after that, he spotted a Hottopic and immediately thought of you. He figured he'd be seeing you again and decided to buy you a Kuromi keychain. And Hello Kitty headphones. And Cinnamon wallet.

The two of you only met once and he's already gifted you three things that probably cost more than you'd like to think about. "Thanks, I guess! But why would buy such nice things after meeting me once?" you asked.

He shrugged, "I just saw the hottopic and thought of you, Cutie. You stand out to me, after all."

Truth was, he was intrigued. How could such a cute thing such as yourself be a part of an organization such as this one? How did you find yourself with a position here? Were you the same as him or did you come here all on your own? He had a lot of questions for you, but didn't dare to ask you. Not just yet.

Looks can be deceiving, he learned. You joined him on his mission to Penacony and witnessed first hand the skills you had that probably got you into (I forgor the name). He also learned that you could very well hold your own. How can you make fighting look so...cute?

After his encounter with Sunday, you tried so desperately to find him. You wanted to make sure he wasn't hurt, you were afraid you wouldn't find him in time.

By the time you did find him, it was too late. His form had changed and he was battling the Astral Express Crew.

You only met up again after it was all over. You expressed your concern and told him what happened after you two got separated. He didn't want to admit how it made him feel.

"Also I'm sorry...I sort of lost the Kuromi keychain you bought me while I was trying to find you," you apologized.

To think you cared so much about his safety that you ended up losing your precious keychain.

He chuckled, "That's alright, Cutie. We can always get you new one." He pat your head, slightly ruffling your hair. Gods above, even your hair was soft and cute.

After a year of denying his feelings, buying you gifts, pushing you away and pulling you back in only to push you away once more, an almost never-ending cycle.

After you told him about himself and how he constantly played with your feelings, he was able to snap out of it. In that moment, he truly felt as if he was going to lose you.

Your usual cute outfit replaced by something dull and boring compared to your usual. He knew he fucked up.

And in the heat of the moment, he ended up spilling everything. His fears, his past, his feelings about his so called gift, his feelings about you.

His confession was said so abruptly that you weren't sure how to react. Should you be mad? Happy? Confused even?

"Sugar? You okay? I know that was a lot and I'm sorry..." Aventurine ducked his head, looking down at his shoes shamefully. He felt mega embarrassed for dumping all of that onto you.

"I love you, Aventurine. Please, never think for a second that I'd leave you. Not if I can help it."

Aventurine promised himself to always keep yourself from loosing your bright colors ever again. He never wanted to see you in the state you were in that day again, not if he could help it.

Blade

You were the complete opposite of this man. His dark colors and brooding personality a stark contrast from your colorful clothing and bright smile.

That's why Kafka thought you two were perfect for each other. You know how the saying goes, opposites attract. Plus she hoped you'd be able to bring him out of his shell.

Upon meeting for the first time, he showed no reaction. Didn't even comment on your super adorbs outfit. Though he did catch a glimpse of the hello kitty keychain that hung on your hip.

You followed his gaze and realized he was looking at the hello kitty key chain. "Do you like Hello Kitty?" you asked that bright smile of yours. Before he could respond, you detach the keychain and held it out for him.

"Here, for you," you gifted. "I don't need that," he responded, rejecting the gift. "Oh c'mon, think of it as a first meeting gift," this was the best excuse you could come up with on the spot. Truth be told, you just wanted to see this cold brooding man with a hello kitty keychain, oh how hilarious that would be.

He grunted but took the keychain anyways.

Mission after mission together and finally Blade was able to open up a bit, especially after the mission at the Xhianzou Lofuo.

On the way back their base, Kafka caught Blade gazing at the Hello Kitty keychain he held so dearly in his palm. She grinned and leaned in close, "they've done much for you during this mission, don't you think they deserve something in return?"

And you did receive something in return. Once the two of you were alone, Blade gifted you a kiss, "thank you," he said, pulling away.

Of course, that wasn't enough for you. So you pulled him back in, neither of you letting go until you were completely out of breath.

Never did he expect such actions from a cute thing like you.

From then on, whenever Blade spots Sanrio, figurines, or the clothing style you liked so much from shopping districts in the planets he visited, he doesn't resist on buying anything he thought you'd like.

"Seriously? More things? How big are your pockets man?" Silver Wolf complained as she spotted Blade walking down the street with multiple bags in hand.

"It's for (name)," he explained. "Right, of course," she answered sarcastically. Who else would it have been for anyways?

[vastderp]

I Had A Baby Brother

My brother was found dead last tuesday in his apartment.

He died anywhere from Sunday to Monday, and his landlord got worried and checked up on him and found him on the floor with one hand over his face. There was an open jug of methanol nearby. My sister thinks he drank it, I pray he didn't. It was an ugly, fucked up death.

He was in declining health this past decade because he was a paraplegic and uncontrolled diabetic. There are systems in place to help with low income people in his condition, but they were barred from him as he was a convicted felon.

He went from learning to walk again in the physical therapy pool to drinking a gallon of vodka per day, growing more hostile and bitter as the pain got worse, until his body just gave out. He drove away his friends, he drove away his family, and then he hit the floor and never got up.

I was meant to view the body with my sister and her grown kids, but the funeral home couldn't tell us where his body had been sent, and stopped answering the phone on friday before memorial day weekend, and then we had to wait for someone to follow up on my sister's dozens of phone messages, which they finally did, to try and make their little profit.

My sister, who has been handling all of this along with my niece, selected a different funeral home for the cremation because the first one was disgraceful with my mother's death in 2007, and they're disgraceful all over again with my brother's now.

At one point today they finally established contact, and asked how my sister wanted to handle the arrangements for her "father". O how casual the not giving a fuck goes! Dude pressed to make a sale even after she told him how unhappy we were with their work.

All this to say that I have a car full of inherited possessions, unused medical gear, and the shitty fucked up remnants of my brother's shrine to Mom.

Good old Mom may have died almost 20 years ago, but her gentle, loving mission to smother her only son to death (and probably into eternity) is finally successful. Of all of us, I've often wondered who got it worst: The golden child, the scapegoat, or the parentalized invisible middle kid. Now that one of us has effectively committed suicide, I guess it's for the scapegoat and me to hash out who gets second place. My mother crippled him long before his car accident, in one long and winding but uninterrupted line of consequences from his birth to death. I consider it a murder-suicide. Which was which? They were both the killer, and both the victim. Enmeshment is a motherfucker.

I'm super bitter, really fucking sad, and incredibly proud of what's left of my family for how they're coming together now. (Except my dad, who is in another state, petting his dogs, because I don't think he can really deal with this shit).

So what's left? To go put some cologne on his corpse when they finally let us go view what's left of him. He always liked to smell nice and he probably doesn't right now.

They'll cremate him, and give us a ridiculously heavy cardboard box of ashes that we'll have to carry out, knowing it's all that's left of a lifetime of struggling and pain. Probably we're gonna mix his ashes with Mom's, and make that lifetime of enmeshment official.

I hope if they go to the same afterlife, he kicks her in the cooter. I hope she kicks him back. I hope they can see each other with eyes unclouded by trauma, and forgive each other for the choices they both made. I hope they forgive me for still being mad at them both for not being stronger. I hope I will forgive myself for a lifetime of resentment and blame. I sure got enough time for that.

Jason was funny, weird, secretly really smart but never made a point of it. He was stylish. He was a broken man who could have made better choices and didn't, who was happily fed poison until he couldn't live without it, who was basically his own whole ass Pink Floyd song. His violence sent me running into a better life. His death sent me trudging back into a damaged family with gaping holes like torn out teeth, into the arms of my sister, and we reconciled. There's just us two left now, and it's our job to make something beautiful come out of this jerry springer childhood we shared. We're doing our best.

Dozens of catheters still in the package. Leakproof bed padding in a plaid pattern. Gallons of creams, antacids, fiber supplements by the jar, pressure sore ointments, fungus treatment creams, lidocaine pads, antibiotics, antipsychotics, a hash pipe or two.

An entire apartment hoarded with moist towelettes, pressure garments, and cleaning supplies. An entire life choked with mental damages and crying relatives. I put on CeeLoo Green's "Robin Williams" and sobbed until my face felt burned. It helped.

All the usable/safe to give away medical equipment is being distributed to the other impoverished disabled people in his apartment complex, who will hopefully put it to good use. I got his old manual wheelchair because sometimes I can't walk. I'm terrified of becoming more like him, so back to phsycial therapy I go.

The rest?

The memories, the pity, the jug of methanol that I pray he never actually drank, the stain he left on his floor after a lifetime of compulsive tidiness, the shrine to the woman he killed who also killed him? All these things I will keep with me forever. I will honor him. He could have been so much more, for so much longer. He had a whole story I'll never know. He contained incredible kindness and generosity, and also a rage so deep it was fatal. He was only 41.

If you can spare a couple bucks for the gofundme my niece set up, it'd really help make the financial side of this horseshit a little more bearable while we do all the shit that comes with a death. Thank you for taking the time to read this post, for your sympathies, and for reading my fucked up family trauma dump. Rest assured there will be more.

Dear god, will there ever be more.

Send help. Send pizza. Send sad hip hop. Hail Atlantis. Hail Jai.

[eldritch-nightmare]

heyy!! can i request LJ and Candypop ( ,,if you write for him) sharing a fem!reader? (headcanons or something else) i don’t mind <33

a/n: I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT CANDY POP WAIT omg he's one of those creepypastas that i heard about but never really looked into so. first time writing him so i hope i did him justice for you! i wasn't sure if you wanted something more lighthearted or something darker so i did my best to keep it balanced.

LJ and Candy Pop sharing a fem!reader.

warnings: my knowledge of candy pop comes from the creepypasta files wiki page so just a heads up if i get something wrong, opted to make reader a creepypasta here but it's very vague, lj and candy pop are like frenemies in this i suppose, sorta hints that the reader might've been forced into this relationship, my hand slipped and i dropped a 'good girl' in here somewhere i couldn't help myself, possessive behavior from both of them, implied unhealthy relationship.

Man, what's it like having a 7ft tall imaginary monochrome clown that terrorizes children and a 7ft tall colorful Night Terrors possessed jester be in love with you? It's probably a strange experience.

They both argue over who caught feelings for you first. LJ swears up and down that he fell for you first, but Candy Pop claims it to be love at first sight. Honestly, you've just chosen to believe that they both fell for you around the same time.

The two of them were definitely hesitant to share you, though that was more on Candy Pop's side than it was LJ's. Listen, sharing a body/soul with the literal demon king makes you a bit possessive over things, okay?

You don't particularly mind either way, to be honest. They're both a bit... much to handle at times, but you guys make it work. Like... literally. You had to plan out an entire schedule and everything because they kept bickering about how much time the other spent with you.

LJ gets you on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays while Candy Pop gets you on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Sundays are days you spend alone because it's always good to have some time for yourself.

Of course, they don't... follow the schedule that often. Why would they? They aren't confined to the mortal chains of schedules.

They are both equally romantic in their own right, and you won't lie, you certainly have enjoyed a few of the spontaneous dates they've taken you on. Sometimes, they'll even get together long enough to plan out an outing for all three of you. They can get along, see?

Now, we can't forget that they are both murderous entities. One is an imaginary friend turned serial killer and the other is... something. A demon? A poor possessed soul of a jester? Whatever he is, he's deadly. Shall I provide some examples?

Example one: Laughing Jack was abandoned by the one person he was created to befriend, so trust me when I tell you that he has some deeply rooted abandonment issues. He's all fun and games until there's even the slightest possibility of you leaving him. Even if someone makes an offhand remark about how you should leave him, his entire persona does a complete 180.

Suddenly, his hold on you is just a bit more tighter than it normally is, and you can feel his nails digging into your skin, threatening to draw blood. It's a subtle, silent threat of what he could do to you if you ever tried leaving him.

Example two: Candy Pop, as a whole, is somebody you have to be wary around because his mood can flip like a switch. He'll be happily humming away about some random topic one moment, and the next he's pushing you up against a nearby wall and looking at you with such a crazed look that it's almost hard to believe that this is the same person who claims to be in love with you.

He's the type to remind you of where you belong. You belong by his and LJ's side, so don't you ever forget that, okay? You really don't want to see what'll happen if you do.

In the end, though LJ and Candy Pop have a habit of bickering with each other, they'll make one hell of a team if it means keeping you in their grasp. You don't fit with anyone but them, and you don't need to fit with anyone other than them. They're the perfect match for you, and you'll come to see that sooner or later. So, all you need to do is be a good girl and stay by their side, got it?

It's Sunday. Sundays are supposed to be your day. You had plans to hang out with the other girls, maybe even play dress up with Sally if she was up for it. So, why the hell were you currently stuck in bed, sandwiched between a clown and a jester?

You have no clue because you just woke up and they were already here. Sure, you could just… wiggle your way out of bed but then they would wake up. Do they even need to sleep? They aren't mortal like you are, so sleep doesn't seem like a necessity to them. But it's not like you can just stay in bed all day either. You had things you wanted to do!

So, with a very silent sigh, you slowly start to sit up, untangling yourself from the mass of limbs trapping you to your bed. You were able to sit up with relative ease, the hard part would be crawling over either LJ or Candy Pop to get out of bed. That would be… that would be difficult.

Even if you were to try and crawl over one of them, you weren't able to because before you could even decide which one to crawl over, you were being pushed back into laying down again by Candy Pop.

You let out a small 'oof' as soon as your back hit the mattress.

"Where do you think you're going?" You hear LJ ask, and with one quick glance at him, you can see a slight pout on his face. It was almost enough to make you forget about the feeling of his nails gently grazing your stomach.

If he just decided to dig them into your--

"She's not going anywhere." Candy's voice murmurs directly next to your ear, effectively cutting off your train of thought. You only belatedly realize that he had buried his face into your neck, his hair brushing against your face, "Right, angel?"

Well… it seems like you're not going to be getting rid of these two today, so whatever plans you had for the day were going to have to be put on hold until next Sunday. You just hoped the two of them didn't make a habit of this.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Five Fics Friday: February 9/24

Happy Friday everyone! Got 5 more fics to start off your weekend!! I hope you enjoy today's fics, and give some extra love to my boosted fic!!

Enjoy, and see you Sunday!

SIGNAL BOOSTING

Breathe by LoloLolly (T, 8,517 w., 1 Ch. || HLV Fix-It, Grief, Angst, Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Mary is Not Nice, Feelings Realization, Character Study, Blood Mention, Vomit Mention) – In which Sherlock's death is announced a bit...  prematurely in HLV. Things spiral from there.

RECENT MARKED FOR LATERS

Lying in Winter by Raina_at (E, 6,486 w., 1 Ch. || TSo3 Fix It, Established Relationship, Relationship Talks, Blow Jobs, Domestic Fluff) – What do you do when the love of your life is asleep in your bed and you're both excited for and terrified of what will happen when he wakes up? If you're Sherlock Holmes, you have a bonfire and do some midnight shopping. Or: John comes home. Sherlock does, too.

The Meeting Place by standbygo (E, 14,653 w., 11 Ch. || Man Up AU || Case Fic, Alternate First Meeting, Romantic Comedy, Mistaken Identity, Misunderstandings, Murder, Serial Killers, First Kiss / Time, Past Abuse, Romantic Fluff, First Dates, Blind Date, Happy Ending) – Sherlock thinks it's a breakthrough in his case. John thinks it's a date. They're both kinda right.

The Stories in Our Veins by victorianpining (E, 26,088+ w., 8/29 Ch. || Dracula Crossover / Victorian / Vampire AU || Unreliable Narrator, Blood and Injury, Blood Drinking, Gaslighting, Mental Instability, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Strangers to Lovers, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Angst with Happy Ending) – You hold in your hands a leather-bound book inscribed with the title The Stories in Our Veins. No author is named by the cover. On the first page, the following passage has been written in an elegant, cursive hand: A confederate who foresees your conclusions and course of action is always dangerous, but one to whom each development comes as a perpetual surprise, and to whom the future is always a closed book, is indeed an ideal helpmate. Sherlock Holmes in “The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier,” written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1926.

RECENT LOKIUS BOOKMARK

Exsanguination by Beb (T, 3,061 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Protective Loki, Mobius Whump, Hospitals, Worried Loki, Mobius Needs A Hug, Blood and Injury, Angst, Hurt/Comfort) – As a trained agent, Mobius really believed his presence was required in every mission, no matter how risky. As a worried friend and lover, Loki really believed this was absolutely, undoubtedly the last straw. He wasn't about to do nothing and let Mobius carelessly throw himself in danger anymore. Not after the last incident nearly cost Mobius his life.

[camillecrellin]

A Sacrifice — Grace Chasity

Synopsis: Grace's catalystic power hungry riddance of dirty dudes comes with a sacrifice of her own to the Lord in Black: Nibblenephim.

Word Count: 872

Warnings: Grace's murder spree, bisexual!Grace, internalised homophobia, mentions of virginity, references to Christianity, soul devouring

A/N: Please request Hatchedfield characters or even just Angela fics! I loved writing this. Hope you enjoyed <333

Grace didn't consider herself bisexual, that was Ruth. Grace on the other hand was a 'good' girl of Christian faith who just happened to have a weird fascination with you that went deeper than her one with Max Jagerman.

The Jagerman was a phase, besides you couldn't maintain a relationship with a ghost you inadvertently killed with you plan only to give up your prize possession to kill again. No, that was unreasonable.

Yet when Grace was near you, she felt those same feelings that she had with Max. The same that lead her to worship new Gods. Ones who were real.

The Lords in Black.

Pokotho, Bliklotep, T'noy Karaxis, Nibblenephim, Wiggog Y'wrath.

When those names were invoked an unspoken euphoria in her arised. A power-hungry purge of all those who sin.

Though Grace's faith in Christ were doubtful, his readings stood strong in her actions. Dirty dudes were to die. Sinners were to die. They're not the Lord's child. She was.

Grace Chasity was the child who stood on a dying town. A blood thirsty, sinful town in Michigan. Fulfilling the wishes of her Gods. For she was the Prophet laid upon Hatchedfield.

To invoke a rebirth of the timeline, fix the problems that laid upon those who did not believe.

For Grace, not believing was not an option it was death. She had the book in her hands, she'd be the only survivor of Hatchedfield. Outlive the sins that fell upon the world.

Grace had yet to run in any problems killing any dirty dude that dare bats a single glance at her. The souls made her strong, but at what cost.

Her Gods called upon her power, they needed a soul to make them strong and she would give them one. But they wanted more. There was one who was hungry for more.

Nibblenephim.

Nibblenephim, also known as Nibbly, was the hungriest God. He was blind in his eye, but he wouldn't forget a face. Rather a smell, the smell of lust from the perv killer.

Nibbly was gluttonous. He needed a sacrifice from Grace. It was his dinner time after all.

Grace offered up many perv’s, but Nibbly wasn't satisfied. He wasn't hungry for them.

She went for Pete, Steph, her parents, and even all four of them at once. But his stomach craved for something more meaningful.It wasn't until Nibbly invoked your name that you even crossed Grace's mind for a sacrifice. She couldn't though. You weren't like other people, you meant something. That's what the Lords in Black wanted.

The only thing she valued more than you was her virginity. Ever since that was gone, she knew staying with you was a dangerous choice.

You had yet to even do anything except hug, but even that made Grace feel weird inside. She was a good Christian girl, not some dirty bisexual slut.

Yet the Lords in Black promised a utopia world of no sins. One where it would be safe for you two to live in another life.

And so, you were asked to meet Grace on the football field on a Sunday. The day of the Lord.

Excited to meet her, you put on your best outfit. You even did you makeup to make sure you looked the best for Grace.

What you didn't expect, though was a sombre look on Grace's face as you met up. This made you worried, scared even.

"Grace?" You called out her name, but she just stared at the book in her hands.

"Grace?" You tried again, and a few more times walking up to her.

Placing a hand on Grace's shoulder you let out a shaky breath, "Grace, you're scaring me."

Grace looked you in the eyes and her gaze immediately soften before she quickly thrusted you into a hug, muttering in your ear, "Don't be scared. The offering won't take long."

"The offering?" You pulled backed, a confused look on your face.

"I'm sorry, Y/n, but my craving is too strong it must be devoured to be rid of its sins." Grace explained, opening the black book in her hands.

"Craving?" You asked, looking in Grace's eyes, madness and joy filling them. "What the fuck is happening, Grace?"

"Nibblenephim must feast." Grace declared as a forceful power overcame you, forcing you down onto your knees. "Your soul will be in service of the good."

You felt your bones crack as you no longer became able to move any muscles in your body. The Lords in Black had won. Nibbly had won.

You let out a bone chilling cry as you felt your life drop before your eyes, the sky turning to black.Grace's hand lingered on your shoulder before she turned away, not being able to able the sight as a pink fury creature with grotesque smile roared out your name.

"I've been waiting for you." Nibbly licked his lips. "Yum, yum." Nibbly launched forward, closing his jaw around you.

Grace heard your screams; she couldn't do anything. You were her treasure, so you were Nibbly's prize. A lost for the Chasity, but it meant no more sinning, no more unholy thoughts. They had just been devoured with your soul.

Nibblenephim didn't go hungry that night.

[lady-yfrit]

HSR 2.1 SPOILERS BELOW CUT - UNSOLICITED THOUGHTS

Okay ramble time bc binged the whole story just earlier

Aventurine is such a fucking wet cat of a character and I can't believe it took me until now to realise this

This update really was the "Acheron & Aventurine Adventure, also featuring the Trailblazer" and while I didn't expect that I can't say they did a bad job at all

He's still a bit of a dick fuck and definitely a weasel but I'd be lying if I didn't say I didn't have trouble maintaining my composure at the closure of his story section, at him entering the stage (and again in the void at the end), just really well done

Also loved how fucking catty Ratio is with him and they're so "dated in college but broke up" coded lmao omg

Acheron powerful and cool idk what you want me to say

AND FIREFLY

THE REVEAL?? 😭

I genuinely hope it's what it seems with her and Sam being one and the same (or at least mostly, maybe the armour affects her a bit but not separate entities at least) because it's just it changes everything

I was thinking it was one of the explanations for her mystery and I had been spoiler about Sam actually being an armor / being tied to Firefly a while ago but it still hit me like a truck

Like, if she's actually basically Sam or more accurately Sam is how she presents herself then how does that reframe everything you do with her in 2.0??? Because it means she deliberately sought you out rather than you happening upon her because she's a SH and obviously knows you and has the explicit task of guiding you along

But then she puts in all the effort to get you to the edge of the dreamscape because she wants to honestly be vulnerable with you and kind of tell you about her (which I still believe was sincere and personal to her) and like ??? if she's a SH then she already knows who you are and must've specifically wanted to do that and I love that??

And also there's Sam talking about being bad with people and not really having a thing he's good at, just indiscriminate violence, and that carries so much extra meaning if it's actually her, the sweet girl who opened up to you about struggling with her weakness

It has so many implications and I really really hope it's exactly as it seems there, genuinely afraid it's gonna turn out to be a "Sam the exosuit is sentient and they're just bound together" type of situation

I know he's probably got links all the way back to the swarm disaster and I imagine he predates her but I'm hoping it's a case of she's a mechanic, or she somehow got it idk ramble

BUT ON THAT NOTE

IS THAT SAM SHE'S HOLDING THERE?? And it looks like a firefly / winged insect of sorts??? I adore her sm y'all you have no idea

Purely personal thoughts obv I totally understand if anyone's upset about the prospect of Sam maybe not being a killer robot of his own, I'm just really latching on to the way things have unfolded here

ALSO THE BIRD

I HAD THE THOUGHT THAT IT KIND OF LOOKED LIKE THE MEME COLOR SCHEME HALFWAY THROUGH

RIP Sunday

(he'll probably be okay tho if his sister is any indication)

[mushroompollution]

Their second date starts off easier. After the looks they'd attracted last time, the pair decide to go somewhere a little more casual for dinner. Since the theme of their dates so far has seemed to be trying new things for both of them, they end up at a nice, but informal, restaurant serving food from a country to the southeast of their own. It's a cuisine that Leo had warned Elliot he probably wouldn't like.

As it turns out, Leo was right.

And Marcel agrees. But at least he isn't quite as vocal about it.

Their conversation comes easier, perhaps aided by their more casual interactions throughout the week. Elliot had loaned The Fruit of Uncertainty to him on Monday, and is eager to talk about it over dinner. So eager, in fact, that Marcel barely gets more than a few brief comments in.

The oft dreaded topic of parents and properties and investments comes up. It's the kind of boring conversation that usually dominates the more formal dates his sister arranges, but it's bound to come up eventually. Elliot mentions the orphanage he wants to assume management of after school, and Marcel's eyes widen.

"In Sablier?! Doesn't the Nightray family have the money and resources to put those poor kids anywhere nicer?"

But Elliot can't tell him why that's a bad idea. The children of Illegal Contractors attract Chains, but that's not exactly public information, is it?

"It is what it is."

The more they talk, the more Elliot realizes how much there is he can't tell the other young noble.

Marcel asks what he has planned for the rest of weekend, and Elliot catches himself. Officially, Oz Vessalius is still dead, isn't he? So he lies and says his only plan is studying. At least Marcel's Sunday plans are about the same.

"Maybe we can meet up and study together."

"Yeah, maybe." But probably not.

The atmosphere between them feels a bit off as they leave the restaurant, but Elliot has high hopes for the haunted attraction they're headed to next. Marcel seems... A little nervous.

Things start out fine. Elliot puffs out his chest as they begin their trip through the haunt, doing his best to seem brave and confident beside his timid date. But things quickly change. Every jumpscare makes Elliot flinch, and every flinch makes him embarrassed, and as his embarrassment grows, so does his temper.

They're about halfway through the attraction when Elliot's nerves finally snap.

A killer clown jumps out in front of the pair as they're hopelessly lost inside a maze, and this time, Elliot doesn't jump.

Instead, he throws a mean left hook directly at the clown's big, red nose.

He's able to talk--and bribe--his way out of any legal repercussions, but the pair are still asked to leave. With Marcel quiet and embarrassed beside him, Elliot grumbles on about "What do they expect to happen? Jumping out at people like that!" as he orders them an Uber.

Should they get some drinks, he asks?

Marcel mumbles a reluctant, "Sure."

They're quiet, awkward again, as they wait. And wait. Though it's only a few minutes, it seems like an eternity marinating in that silence.

They don't talk as they get into the backseat. "Should we just go back to the school instead?" Elliot asks.

"Whatever you want," Marcel's response has him gritting his teeth, and silence falls again.

The car passes a large, formal park, with two impressive clock towers illuminated in the night like beacons, and Elliot suddenly demands the driver to stop outside the closed gates. He offers to pay for the full ride, plus an impressive tip, and all but drags Marcel out of the back seat.

"I don't think we're supposed to be here after dark," Marcel says sheepishly.

"It's fine, my brother said he used to come here late at night all the time," Elliot insists. Though the drive is gated, it's easily walked around through the grass.

In the dark of night, the formal garden takes on an almost ethereal quality. It's unbelievably quiet, and the two speak in hushed voices as they walk through elegant flowerbeds, their colors pale in the moon's light.

"You know, Ernest always swore that he and some friends heard sirens singing in this park once."

"Really? Like magical sirens?" Marcel gives him a wide-eyed look.

Elliot laughs. "No way, that shit's not real. But he'd get so into the story when he'd bring it up, and the details never changed.

"They were walking around out here, and heard singing from the centerpiece and went to check it out. But when they got close enough to be make out the silhouettes of other people, and those people didn't stop singing, everyone was overcome with such a feeling of dread that they ran away and never came back here after dark again."

A different kind of silence falls between the two men. Marcel stops walking, and Elliot stops two steps ahead of him. They just kind of look at each other for a second.

Listening.

Listening...

The long, still quiet is finally broken by a loud, barking laugh from Elliot. "Then again, my sister did say Ernest was a party boy when he was in school. Who knows, they all mighta just been high."

And Marcel laughs, too. Elliot kind of nods his head in the direction of the wide, open lawn, and leads Marcel to a soft patch of grass with a view of the stars and encourages him to sit.

"I dunno, I think a part of me wanted to believe it, though," Elliot says lightly as he lies back.

Marcel lies beside him, their arms and shoulders just barely touching. "I get it," he says. "Sometimes it's fun to think, maybe there is a little magic in this world. Somewhere...."

They talk lightheartedly for a while about their families. Marcel has two older sisters, making them both the baby of their respective family, and they laugh over that. Though it brings up a bittersweet feeling, Elliot is happy to reminisce about his own siblings, both here and gone.

They talk about responsibilities and expectations, both desirable and not. Suddenly, Marcel gives a funny little chuckle, and Elliot raises an eyebrow.

"You know, when I was 15, my family actually put in an application for me to be your valet," Marcel admits, timidly.

"Wait. Seriously??"

Marcel nods. "Apparently, word had spread that it was a pretty exclusive position, that even the most qualified applicants were being vehemently rejected, so there was no point in even trying. I think my family hoped that meant yours would get desperate when everyone else gave up."

Elliot stares at him for a few seconds as that information processes.

"Is that why you have beef with Leo?"

Marcel goes quiet for a moment, looks away. "I don't have... beef with him..."

Elliot sits up suddenly. "Then say his name."

"Wha....?"

"You've never once called him by his name. If you don't have beef with him, if you have any respect for him at all, then just say his name. It's not like it's hard to pronounce."

Marcel stares up at him with a complicated expression. Finally, he sighs. "I don't have beef with Leo."

"That's better." Elliot lies back down in the grass, but on his side this time, head propped up on one hand. "So why do you get all weird when I bring him up?"

"I don't--"

"Oh come ON, Marcel."

Marcel doesn't look at him. "...Okay. Maybe that. Does have something to do with it. But also, it's impossible to tell what he's thinking, so the way he's always smiling is kind of... Creepy, isn't it? So, um. When he approached me about courting you I um. I thought it was a prank--"

"Leo wouldn't do that." Elliot cuts him off suddenly. "He can be a dick sometimes, but he's not cruel."

"I know. I... Figured that out when our first date turned out to be um, real...? But I still just. Mm." Marcel seems to be trying to find the right words as he stares at a blade of grass between his fingers. "You're together all the time, and you always seem so... Close. Even when you're fighting, you two just look... Good together. So... so maybe I am a little bit, um. Jealous..."

"You should be thankful." Elliot's voice is blunt, but gentle, and it makes Marcel blink.

"Excuse me...?"

"If you'd been hired as my valet, then we couldn't do this." Elliot leans over to give Marcel a small, reassuring kiss, and they return to the way they were before. Staring up into the night sky, their shoulders and arms lightly touching.

"It's like, illegal for nobles to have relations with their servants. You know that, right?"

Marcel's face reddens. He glances away, but doesn't move. "You talk about him like you love him, though...."

Elliot goes quiet for a moment, staring up at the stars, and they remind him of those eyes. Not exactly beating the charges... and he knows that. He sighs.

"I guess I kind of do."

He hears Marcel swallow thickly. Sees him turn away out of the corner of his eye.

"It's not like that, though," Elliot insists. "Leo was the first person outside of my family that I ever opened up to. He was the first friend I ever had. He doesn't care that I'm a noble, and I don't care that he's not. He's been by my side through everything, he was there for me when my brothers were assassinated and our home almost burned down. I love him, but it's. Different. Than this."

"So you're not. Um... Sleeping together?"

Elliot sits up again, choking on a too-loud laugh, and his face goes scarlet. "Seriously?! Is that what this was about?! As if! Leo doesn't have any interest in that stuff, he's asexual, or. Whatever. No. Who do you think I am? I'm a man of honor, I'm no cheater. And I don't lie, either."

"Never....?"

Elliot shrugs as he flops into the grass again. "Sometimes I might tell a fib or a half-truth, to like, protect someone, or if it means breaking a promise otherwise. I wouldn't out someone, something like that. But I'd never lie if it means hurting someone I care about. I can't keep a secret like that, and I would never lie about it."

He does remember that night, of course, and now it's his turn to look away. "So I'm gonna tell you the truth, right now."

Marcel glances over at him again.

"I did kiss Leo."

He hears Marcel suck in a sharp breath. He can feel the disappointment.

"Once. And we agreed that it was a mistake. A really stupid, selfish, impulsive mistake. And... That was that. It was a while ago, anyway."

Okay.

So that timing's a lie.

But it's one of those little exceptions.

"That's dumb," Marcel says. And Elliot turns his head to give him a searching look, dumbfounded by that response. Suddenly, Marcel feels bashful, but he continues. "I-I don't know, I just thought. You were more of a 'rules are rules, unless they're stupid' kind of guy. Who stands up for what he believes in, even if it's against the pack."

"Are you... Disappointed that I'm NOT cheating on you???"

"No! No no no, oh, man. No, that's definitely a relief, there, um. But..." Marcel sighs quietly. "Why are you going out with me, then? A-as a distraction, or--"

"No! Fuck no, no. I uh. I'll admit, it never. Really crossed my mind until you asked me out first?" Elliot admits. "But I've really enjoyed the time I've spent with you. I know I fucked tonight up--" Marcel laughs. "--but even that's a story, I guess. Look."

Elliot's face burns as he draws a deep, deep breath. "I've always seriously hated courting and shit. But I know I don't hate dating you. And I think I even, maybe, really kind of. Like you." He averts his eyes, embarrassed by his own confession there.

Marcel turns to look at him, for a long, long, long time. Finally, he smiles.

Except, it's not quite happy.

"Since we're confessing things, there's actually... some things that I need to be honest about, too. I don't actually like rock music. I hated being stuck in that crowd, and it was so loud it didn't really sound like anything to me. I was glad when it was over."

Whatever smile Elliot had fades quickly. "What...? You said you had a great time?"

"I did... Because I was with you. And, um...." Marcel continues. "I was kind of relieved when we got kicked out of the haunt. I'd been hoping all day that it would storm and get rained out."

"You said--"

"I know. I wanted to do whatever you wanted." Now that he's started, Marcel has more to confess, though. "Also, um. I never read Holy Knight until I knew it was your favorite. I never really read graphic novels at all. I used to think they're kind of immature, but then you made them seem cool...."

Elliot sits up again. "Hold on. Did you even like it--"

Marcel shrugs. "I did, yeah. But, my favorite was actually Edgar. I just. Knew that was a topic to avoid...."

A million gears turn inside Elliot's head, but some of them haven't quite connected yet. "But you-- Then why did you-- How did you--" Each question comes out not just louder, but with more annoyance, too. "Did you even read Fruit of Uncertainty?"

Marcel winces. "I um. I really couldn't get into it."

Elliot pinches the bridge of his nose, desperately trying to avoid a full on assault against this poor young man. "Why. Why did you say you did, then???"

"I-I don't know!! The Oth-- I mean. Leo gave me a list of your interests and suggestions for getting to know you. I um. I had a c-crush on you for so long, I was just happy to spend the time with you..."

"Why did you lie, though?" Elliot asks breathlessly.

Marcel bites his lip, takes a second to respond. "I really, really hate arguing..."

A tense silence begins to build, Elliot looking down at Marcel incredulously as the other man brings his hands up to cover his face, fingertips pressing into his eyes.

"And there's... One more thing I need to come clean about."

—————

Back at their dorm, Leo yawns and glances at his phone as he closes the book he's just finished. It's getting awfully late, late enough he's starting to consider turning in for the night.

Suddenly, the door flies open, hitting the wall with a loud bang that makes the valet jump so hard he almost falls out of bed.

He blinks a few times as he takes in the sight of Elliot standing in the doorway, blue eyes wild, his body shaking with seething rage. He draws in a long breath and screams,

"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME I HAVE A FANCLUB?!?!?!"

[annes-room]

🐌 Aug 1, 2024

July went by so fast 😵‍💫 I can't believe there's only one month of summer left 😭

📚 July reads: -The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern -Botticelli in the Fire and Sunday in Sodom by Jordan Tannahill -Maus by Art Spiegelman -Forget Me Not by Julie Soto -Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

they're all standouts in their own right, but I kinda can't wait to read The Night Circus again to get lost in the world 😍 Maus and Killers of the Flower Moon are both incredibly important works on the Holocaust and systemic murders of the Osage Indigenous Americans, respectively.

nothing to note in my receiptify, but I mostly listened to podcasts in July, so this might not be super accurate

moving on to school and focused time, I finally got a job so I no longer have to job hunt 🎉 and I finished sorting my photos so I don't have to do that again until next year!

as for school, it's bad right now :( I'm not sure if I just don't gel with my prof or if I actually don't understand the material, but I'm struggling :/ my midterm is tomorrow but I don't have high hopes for it. I just want it to be done.

I do have plans to finish summer on a high note, I just gotta keep going 🥲

[gryfflepuffinthetardis]

Valentía: Plain Sight

Summary: Spencer Reid's twenty-fourth birthday party is interrupted when they are put on the "Tommy Killer", a serial rapist and killer in San Diego who rapes, murders, and glues his victims' eyes open.

Warning: Mentions of rape, Mention of Zoe's criminal ex-boyfriend; Spencer pining after Zoe but not admitting it; Zoe's emotional walls; Hints of past vague assault of main character; Season Six Arc References and Spoilers, Emily Prentiss Cameo; Mentions of a post-traumatic Trigger pushing on repressed memories; Vomiting

"Just be yourself. Let people see the real, imperfect, flawed, quirky, weird, beautiful, and magical person that you are." — Mandy Hale

October twelfth. Spencer Reid's birthday. His twenty-fourth.

They had a cake that Zoe had specifically baked but no one other than Alexander knew that.

"Make a wish!" Elle said and Spencer blew on the candles but them being trick candles, they came back on.

"Come on, man! Blow, baby, blow!" Morgan teased.

"I thought you were full of hot air, Reid." Elle joked.

"Come on, Reid!” Morgan teased.

"They're trick candles, Spencer, Okay? They're gonna come back on every time." JJ explained but that didn’t deter him from trying.

"Aww, mommy to the rescue." Morgan teased, tugging on Spencer's ridiculous but cute birthday hat... which Zoe didn't care about.

"Mommy?”

“Ignore him. He’s actually a mommy’s boy.” Zoe said.

“Hey, Reid. Does it make you legal yet? And how old are you turning this month, Zoe?”

“Twenty.” She said, blankly. “Twenty the thirty-first.”

“A whole year until you’re legal.” Morgan teased.

“In Mexico, the drinking age is eighteen. I could just go there, Mama’s boy.”

“Your birthday’s in nineteen days? Halloween?” Spencer asked her curiously as the cake was cut.

“Yeah.” She said, shortly.

“Doing anything special?”

“Yeah, will we meet your mama? I bet you were a mama’s girl.”

“Uh, no, she’s dead.” Zoe said, blankly and Morgan quickly shut up.

Behind them was Hotch, Gideon, and Alexander, “Isn't it amazing he knows what he knows and he's only twenty-four?”

“Imagine what he'll know by fifty.” Gideon said.

“Imagine what Zoe will know. She’s been smarter than me since she was three and she could beat David at the Sunday crossword puzzle in pen.” Alexander said, looking at his daughter. Gideon smiled, remembering how cranky Rossi had been.

“So how are we supposed to put these out?” Morgan asked.

Zoe had gotten a metal bowl and plucked the candles off and dropped them in.

“A little water will solve that. Trick candles relite due to the magnesium powder in the wick.”

“Magnesium is a highly reactive metal when powdered or sliced thinly. It can ignite at temperatures as low as eight hundred Fahrenheit.” Spencer said.

“Yes, it is, Spencer. And when the flame is blown out the remaining red ember relights it. Just cut off the oxygen supply with water.” Zoe added.

“How do you know all this?” Elle asked.

“My dad’s a big fan of trick candles.” Zoe said, glancing at said father before taking the bowl to the sink and dosing the flames in cold water as Alexander joined her.

"Hope you like chocolate." Elle said as Hotch was called by a fellow agent.

“You havin' fun?” Gideon asked.

“Yes. Definitely. I'm definitely having fun.” Spencer said, rather dully, not used to having so much attention of him as his mother often forgot his birthday due to her Paranoia Schizophrenic disorder, heck, she couldn’t feed herself, Spencer had to remind her since he was ten after his dad just left and hadn’t seen him since, but he’d have to be an idiot not to realize how much his mother loved him.

“Make a wish?” Gideon asked.

Spencer subconsciously glanced at Zoe who was smacking Morgan’s hand away from the cake and when he did it again, she sprayed him in the face like a misbehaving kitten with a spray bottle full of water. He looked back at Gideon, “Can I take this hat off?

Gideon’s eyes went up to the hat, he knew Zoe had specially ordered for Spencer’s birthday. “I wouldn't.”

“Hey, Spence. First piece for the birthday boy." Zoe called with a rare, sweet smile on her face that brought heat up to Spencer's cheeks.

Spencer started to head over before he turned to Gideon, “Do you know she's the only person in the whole world who calls me 'Spence’.”

Spencer came over to eat his piece of cake as Zoe smacked Morgan's hand again.

Hotch hung up the phone and announced to his team, "Sorry, guys. Party's over."

They met back up in the conference room.

"We're going to San Diego." Hotch said as he and JJ entered the room with the details about the case

"But not for the surfing, huh?" Morgan quipped.

"They're calling him the 'Tommy Killer'." JJ said, placing the files down.

"Six women raped and murdered in their homes in the last three weeks." Hotch said.

"Six in three weeks?" Elle asked.

"That's a short fuse." Gideon said.

"And getting shorter. First two were eight days apart, then the next four in two weeks.

"Rapid escalation." Spencer identified, "You think he's regressing to a psychopathic frenzy?

"No, he's too controlled for that." Hotch said. "See you on the plane." Then he got up to leave.

"Why the 'Tommy Killer'?" Morgan asked.

"You know the rock opera?" Hotch asked, turning back, "Well, this UnSub glues his victims' eyes wide open."

Zoe's memory went back to those eight months, it had almost always been pitch black.

"He wants them to see him." Spencer said.

"And feel him."

Zoe got up and left to get ready.

Then her phone rang, it was an unknown but from the area code, she knew it was from Italy. Only one person in Italy would call her today of all days.

"Come sta la ragazza più ribelle di tutto l'FBI?" Asked the undercover agent.

"È questo il saluto che ricevo dalla festeggiata? Non ti sento da otto mesi." Zoe said into the phone with a teasing tone.

"Non è il mio compleanno."

"Potrebbe non essere il compleanno di Lauren ma è il compleanno di Emily."

She chuckled. "I haven't been her in while."

"Where are you, are you safe?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah, I'm away from the villa right now. I don't think he suspects anything, I knew you might track me down if I didn't call."

"Damn right, I would, but unfortunately I've got a case so it will have to wait."

"Oh, you've been at the BAU for almost seven months now. How's it going?"

"Really, great. I already knew some and obviously Dad. But I've been dreaming of this since... forever. Even if they don't know who I really am."

"I know how that is." Emily said and then said, sympathetically, "How are you?"

"Since those six months or when I had to track him down?" Zoe asked.

"Either."

"You know how I am."

"Unfortunately I do."

"How close do you think you are?"

"I'm afraid I can't comment on it with you anymore. You already know more than you should. You shouldn't have done what you've already done."

"It helped, didn't it?"

"So, what's the case?"

"Uh, there's a serial killer in San Diego, he's raping women and killing them by strangling them with some kind of cord or wire and gluing their eyes open." She talked about it with Emily who was talented in profiling but she didn't often do serial killers.

Spencer left the conference room a little bit later and he saw Zoe at her desk on the phone with a smile on her face. He wondered who was making her smile.

When he got to the jet, he noticed something in his go-bag. A gift. A rectangle wrapped in gift wrap, it seemed to be a book.

———————————————————————————

French poet Jacques Rigaut said, "Don't forget that I cannot see myself, that my role is limited to being the one who looks in the mirror."

Hotch walked the length of the plane, handing photos of the victims to his team members, "Brenda Samms was found yesterday by her children when they got home from school. She had been strangled with a thin ligature, possibly a wire.

"No weapon left at the scene."

"Residue on the wrists and mouth indicate that duct tape was used, then removed." Spencer said.

"Also not found at the scene." Hotch added.

"Brought it with him, took it with him." Elle said.

"He also started leaving messages at the fourth scene, this was on the mirrors." Hotch said as Gideon was sketching eyes.

"Fair lady, throw those costly robes aside, no longer may you glory in your pride, take leave of all your carnal vain delight..." Alexander read, he frowned why did that sound familiar.

"I've come to summon you away this night." Spencer finished.

"It's a ballad from the late 1600s. A Dialogue Betwixt Death and a Lady."

"The Great Messenger of Mortality." Zoe recalled.

Morgan extended his hands like, how in the world do they know that? While Gideon and Alexander smiled with pride.

"A seventeenth-century ballad?" Elle asked.

"Yeah, essentially a woman begging Death to live." Spencer said.

"What kind of person knows this ballad?" Elle asked.

"People who read." Zoe deadpanned but Elle ignored her.

"Are we looking for a literature professor?" Elle asked.

"Well, anyone with an Internet connection, actually. You should see what comes up when you type 'death' into a search engine."

“Reid, no wonder you can’t get a date.” Morgan joked, Zoe noticed the shift in Spencer’s eyes.

“When was the last time you had a date after sex?” Zoe quipped.

“When was the last time you had a date?” Morgan countered.

“Depends what you mean by date.” Zoe said with a sudden darker undertone, looking over the file. Spencer furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

"What?" Morgan asked, his demeanor suddenly changing.

Zoe’s phone beeped on the table next to her lighting up with M.D.

"Of course, I only know it because my mom was a big reader and she annotated books before, you know..." She trailed off, biting her lip.

Oh. Spencer's eyes softened. It seemed her mother's death still weighed on Zoe.

"Reid, Zoe you two stay on the messages. See if there's a deeper meaning." Gideon said, "Do you have the notes your mother wrote?"

"I might have scanned it so I could have a digital copy. She... you wouldn't believe how many books she wrote notes on for... me." Us. Zarah and me.

"Well, it definitely looks like he ransacked the crime scene pretty well." Morgan said, showing the picture they all had.

"A lot of damage, nothing taken." Hotch said.

"Well, the eyes are the thing. The signature. The behavior that isn't necessary for the murder, but necessary for the emotional release. That's what he's there for.

"There used to be a widely held belief that the eyes record a snapshot of the last thing a person sees before they die." Spencer said.

"Optography. They used them in Jules Verne novels but it's a myth." Zoe said.

"People used to write poems about talking to Death." Morgan said.

"Ballads." Spencer and Zoe said.

"Whatever." Morgan scoffed.

"You think they'll ever run out of new things to do to their victims?"

Zoe let out a nearly inaudible scoff, she knew more than anyone in that room that that what people they hunted were good at.

"Well, finding new ways to hurt each other is what we're good at." Gideon said.

———————————————————————————

Task Force Headquarters

SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPARTMENT

The team apart of from Hotch, Zoe, and JJ went past the detective in charge of the case. He held his hand out to Hotch, the first who didn't look right past him.

"Captain Griffith, Task Force Commander."

"Sorry. We all get tunnel vision." Hotch apologized for his team. "Um, I'm Special Agent Hotchner. This is Agent Jareau, our liaison. And this is Doctor Zoe Valdez, she's one of our special agents."

The girls shook his hand. "I appreciate you coming out."

"Thanks. Hope we can help." Zoe smiled, "Uh, excuse me." She went past him to get set up, going over to Spencer where he was looking at the pictures of the

"‘My name is death. Have you not heard of me? You may as well be mute’.” Spencer trailed off to reading silently.

JJ was looming over Spencer's shoulder.

"Creepy, huh?"

“No.” Zoe said, giving her an irritated look.

"Actually, uh, conversations between Death and his victims was a fairly popular literary and artistic theme throughout the Renaissance." Spencer said and JJ stared at him. "Yeah, creepy."

“Do you need something, JJ?” Zoe’s tone was sharp, defensive. Then Zoe’s phone rang and she picked it up, “Hey, M.D.” She got up and walk off.

"What's her problem?"

"Her mother's death, I think." Spencer shrugged.

Zoe shortly came back, she had her laptop out and was going through files upon files of scanned books that were in no way organized.

"Who's M.D.?" Spencer asked, cautiously.

"A friend. I went to Harvard with her." Zoe said, vaguely.

"Were you talking to her before we left?" Spencer asked.

"Huh? Oh, no, that was..." Her smile faltered, "A different friend. She's... she's kind of unable to call very much because of her job. I can't say much but today's her birthday too, so she knows to call so I don't track her down. She's thirty-five today."

"I-I'm sorry about your mom."

"Hmm?"

"You mom. I'm sorry. I... I didn't have much of a dad, he walked out when I was ten, so my mom was all I had and I was a twelve-year-old in a Las Vegas public high school, so I didn't have many friends. So, I just... I'm sorry."

"It's no problem. It happened nearly two decades ago." She shrugged but Spencer could see her grief and guilt.

"But you're only nineteen. How old were you when she died?"

"Little." Zoe said. "These books are really all I have of her. Of who she really was as a person. I think she would've like you and she would've said to not hold back your passion for these things for anyone, not even JJ. But you are unequivocally you and as Oscar Wilde, 'everyone else is already taken'."

Spencer looked at her, his heart swelling for the closed off girl before he cleared his throat and said, "it looks like what he's written at the scenes are most of the first three verses of the same ballad."

Zoe pressed a button on her laptop, making the screen go black and locking it and scanned the lines. "It's only Death's lines." She realized. "Go tell Hotch."

———————————————————————————

Zoe had wanted to help the woman who survived a similar home invasion and rape attempt. She had found her file on the poem and printed paper copies of it.

Elle, Hotch, and Zoe entered the house of the survivor, Marcia Gordon.

"Lucky woman." Hotch said as they walked through the kitchen.

"Yeah, well, she's probably not feeling so lucky right about now." Elle said.

"Just don't tell her she's lucky." Zoe said with a note of disgust in her voice.

Marcia and her husband were surrounded by male officers.

The husband of Marcia repeated his description, "He was black and six feet tall. I watched him run out that back door."

Captain Griffith walked to them as he said, "Get a description out in the field ASAP."

"Interracial serial sex crimes are rare." Hotch informed them.

"Are they impossible?" Griffith asked.

"Uh, no."

"Then what's your point?" Griffith asked.

"Only to provide you with information." Hotch said.

Zoe and Elle looked past him to the woman who looked at them. They were the only other women in the house. Zoe couldn't remember much of the days after she was found again. Any of the times. But she knows why she's kept quiet about what happened. Because all the people who helped raise her were men. Even if she knew they wouldn't judge her, she knew telling them what happened would make her feel weak.

"I'm going to go talk to her." Zoe spoke.

"Me too." Elle said.

"May I ask why?" Griffith asked.

A note of danger appeared into Zoe's eyes. "She was nearly raped, and she's surrounded by men." Zoe said, simply and then walked past him.

"Mrs. Gordon? I'm Doctor Zoe Valdez with the BAU of the FBI but you can call me Zoe," Zoe said and Elle arrived, "This is my college, Elle Greenaway."

"Would you like to go outside?" Elle asked.

Mrs. Gordon hesitated.

"It's all right. We're just going to go some place quiet." Zoe reassured her.

Zoe and Elle took Mrs. Gordon outside to the patio, "I really don't know that much about him." She insisted.

"You don't have to." Zoe said, "Just take a little time to collect your thoughts. To just sit here. Breathe."

"You two don't want to ask me questions?" Mrs. Gordon asked.

"Not until you're ready." Zoe said.

"We'll be right behind that doorway." Elle said and Zoe got up and they started to walk to the sliding door that led them out of the house.

"I didn't even know he was in the house. Is that common?" She said.

Zoe and Elle came back and Zoe sat back down, "Very."

"He slapped me from behind, and pulled me down on the floor. I tried to scratch him and bite him, but he was so strong. And then my husband came home from work. He screamed, and the man ran out the door." Mrs. Gordon said.

"He was a black man?" Elle asked.

"Bill was sure of it, but I... I only remember his eyes." Mrs. Gordon said and Zoe forced herself not to shift. "When we were fighting, I kept staring him right in the eyes. I remember thinking, if he's going to kill me, then he's going to have to look at me while he does.

Zoe's memory flashed back to when she was twelve years old. His eyes peered at her through the mask. They were hazel-brown but not like Spencer's, they were lighter in color but darker in soul. No empathy. No remorse. Still with the dark warehouse she was in and the shadows from the mask, she could still see the gold tint of them.

"And he just kept staring back at me through the ski mask."

Zoe almost didn't catch it but she did a double take, "Did you just say ski mask?"

———————————————————————————

When they returned to the station, Zoe made her way to the bathroom, she felt sick. Like the repressed memories, she wanted to keep repressed forever were itching to the surface, she made her away for the nearest toilet before throwing up into it, flashes of those eyes kept coming back. Not just in that moment but flashes of those eyes in her repressed memories. Those five days.

During the eight months, three years later, she was never allowed to see. But in those five days, he had wanted to see her eyes, to see if she ever showed fear. What Mrs. Gordon did was exactly what Zoe would've done. If he was going to kill her, he was going to have to look her in the eye.

———————————————————————————

They were ready for the profile, they had realized that he had started leaving the verses because the police hadn't connected his crimes yet, so he wasn't getting enough attention.

"The UnSub brought his weapons with him. Tape, glue, wire. He did not leave them at the scene. He took them when he left." Gideon told the room of cops, the BAU stood spread in front of them and in front of the victim boards apart from Zoe, Gideon had reassured them that she was fine and to continue on without her. "He has a kind of killing kit that he carries."

"Organized killers usually have a skilled job, likely technology related, which may involve the use of the hands." Hotch continued, "The crime scenes are far enough apart that he needs a vehicle. This will be well-kept, obsessively clean, as will be his home. He's diurnal, the attacks occur during the day, so the vehicle may be related to his work, possibly a company car or truck."

"We believe he watches the victims for a time, learns the rhythms of the home, knows his time frame." Morgan said.

"You're not going to catch him accidentally." Hotch added.

"He destroys symbols of wealth in the victims' homes. He harbors envy of and hatred toward people of a higher social class." Gideon said. "He feels invisible around them."

"Class is the theme of the poem which he left at the various crime scenes. At one point in the poem, the woman attempts to bribe Death, but he doesn't accept it." Spencer said as Zoe reentered the room, "He says this is the one moment when riches mean nothing. When Death comes, poor and the rich are exactly alike."

"So he's poor?" An officer asked.

"Probably middle-class. A decidedly lower-class person would stick out in a highly patrolled neighborhood." Hotch said. "This guy appears to belong there. He blends in."

"Why does he glue the eyes open?" An officer asked.

"The UnSub is an exploitative rapist." Zoe spoke up as she joined them, next to Spencer who looked at her concerned, "Most rape victims close their eyes during the attack, turn their heads. For some rapists, this ruins the fantasy.

"For this type of rapist, the goal is more related to the victim watching him than the act itself." Elle continued.

"The verses, the staging, the aggressive language, 'I am Death.' This is a guy who, while being in control at the crime scene, almost certainly feels inadequate in the rest of his life." Alexander said.

"That's why he couldn't wait for you to figure out what he'd done." Gideon said, standing back up. "Why he needed to make sure all his crimes were counted. His victims. They represent whatever it is that's controlling him, and he wants that control back. He is under the thumb of a powerful woman who frightens him. And a final point, he is white."

"We have witnesses that identify him as a black male." Griffith said.

"The attacker was black. He is not the Tommy Killer." Gideon said.

"Mrs. Gordon's husband came home at the same time that he always does. The Tommy Killer would have known that." Hotch continued.

"And Mrs. Gordon's attacker wore a ski mask." Elle added. "The UnSub knows when he walks into a house he's going to kill the woman who lives there. If you're not leaving any witnesses, why wear a ski mask?"

Zoe shifted her weight.

"And he wants the victim to see him anyway." Morgan added.

"Your attempted rapist is a garden-variety, disorganized young man." Alexander said.

"As the victim's age goes up, generally the attacker's age goes down. Mrs. Gordon is about sixty, which puts her rapist at about twenty." Elle said.

"And it takes years to develop the level of calm and sophistication that Tommy displays at a crime scene. And the rapist is far too young for that." Gideon added.

"Mrs. Gordon told me that there's a young man who delivers groceries to their home. He fits a lot of what we're describing here." Elle said.

"Great. So we're back to zero on Tommy." Griffith said.

"Not at all. May I see you in your office for a moment?" Hotch asked, already walking towards said office.

"Zoe," Gideon's voice said, approaching the girl who was like the daughter he never said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She said.

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

"I don't need to take time off, Gideon." She argued.

Hotch walked over, "He's right, Zoe. You became triggered today, it's understandable just take the next few hours off and come back after the conference tonight and we'll be covering the tip line for the public."

———————————————————————————

They arrested Mrs. Gordon's would-be rapist and brought him back during JJ's conference, claiming him to be the Tommy Killer. Zoe was sitting with Spencer and Elle, Zoe was reading one of her mother's annotated books, Villette by Charlotte Brontë when she suddenly threw her head back and groaned, "God, I hate waiting like this. I hate waiting. I hate boredom."

"It's probably your ADHD." Spencer said.

"Obviously, doesn't make it better." Zoe groaned.

"Do either of you think it's weird that I knew that ballad?" Spencer suddenly asked them.

"No." Zoe said.

"I don't know how it is that either of you know half the things you know, but I'm glad you do." Elle said.

“Don’t listen to Morgan, Spence. He’s a playboy. He has sex with no emotional connections, he doesn’t really do... deep unless it’s explicitly pointed out to him. Typical guy. But you're not a typical guy and trust me when it's me saying that. It’s better to be smart and know things about what you do that saves lives than be a playboy of average intelligence who doesn’t know the things you know.” Zoe said.

"Do you think that's why I can't get a date?" Spencer asked.

"You ever ask anyone out?" Elle asked.

"No." Spencer said.

"That's why you can't get a date." Elle said.

"You don't want to be Morgan, Spencer. Just because you want connection over sex. Just means you're not a typical guy." Zoe said.

"Have you ever had a boyfriend, Zoe?" Elle asked.

Zoe went quiet for a moment, "I... had a boyfriend shortly before I joined the BAU, it was on and off for about four years, I mean, we didn't really go on dates when I was fifteen, something... really bad happened and he helped me through it and we bonded and suddenly we were dating and we didn't really break up but we both know that we're not together anymore."

"What happened?"

Zoe hesitated. "He was arrested. He's kind of a criminal, in a high-max prison. He's a hacker. Like better than Garcia level hacker."

"And you were dating him?"

"Like I said, we never properly got together. He was there when I needed someone and he had the unique requirements that he could relate in a way no one else could. He had a hard life. His parents died when he was ten and his life at his uncle and aunt's was less than ideal to say the least, on the streets by twelve, and then..." Her voice trailed off, looking off at the side. Spencer felt a twinge of jealous and sadness.

Zoe then cleared her throat, "If it makes you feel any better, Spence, you're more likely to get a date than I am."

"Why?"

"Women with higher IQ's have a harder time finding a mate. Men are fine dating a woman with a lower IQ than they do."

I don't think I am. Spencer thought.

"Here.  This was one of my mom's favorites." She said, handing him a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.

The phone rang and Zoe cleared her throat, picking it up, "Doctor Valdez. This is the San Diego police depart..."

Immediately someone started screaming at her through the phone.

"YOU STUPID BITCH!"

 She pulled it from her ear, making gestures and whispering Spanish to the others.

"Line six, Penelope. Line six." JJ said.

Elle put the call on speakerphone as

"You stupid incompetent sons of bitches! I don't make mistakes! I am Death! You hear me? I am Death! You'll see now. Tomorrow. Mark my words, you will see! And while I'm taking her, I'm going to be thinking of you!" Then he hung up.

"I kind of wish a guy had answered him." Zoe muttered.

"Anything?" JJ asked into the phone with Garcia. "She said she got nothing."

"Nothing?" Morgan asked.

"We missed him?" Hotch asked.

"What do you mean, that was long enough to get a location?" Zoe asked, "let me call her, we can figure this out twice as quickly."

———————————————————————————

"We have an undercover car for each of your teams and the entire damned department out there, too." Griffith said, walking to them, the next morning.

"Remember, a truck, maybe a work truck in excellent condition." Gideon reminded him as Zoe arrived with a Mexican hot chocolate and an extra sugary coffee for Spencer.

"Everyone knows."

"All right. He might make a mistake today. He's angry and he probably hasn't done the kind of surveillance he'd like."

"Yeah, well, neither have we. Let's go, Reid.

"Zoe, you go with Morgan and Reid." Gideon said.

"You want to spend all day stuck in a dude car?" Zoe groaned but followed.

———————————————————————————

"Why do keep moving back there?" Morgan complained to Zoe who was in the backseat with her laptop, she kept moving and laying in different positions.

"I don't like cars, they're too cramped, I prefer motorcycles." She whined.

"You do know motorcycles are statistically more likely to crash." Spencer said, disapprovingly.

"Eh." Zoe shrugged. "They're cooler and don't smell like dude."

"I do not smell like dude!" Morgan protested.

"Yeah, you do. I was raised primarily by men. I know what dudes smell like. You smell like dude, the gym, like you coat yourself in baby oil, and either baby powder or that that deodorant powder scent. Spencer smells like bookstore with a coffee shop."

"Oh... thank you?" Spencer blushed.

"It's ten-thirty already."

"All he said was tomorrow, he didn't specify morning." Spencer said.

"Reid, this guy's got to spend a lot of time in that house. A lot. He needs it to be morning." Morgan said.

"Are we sure this is a good spot?" Zoe asked.

"Three of the victims lived within a block of this street. It's the main artery through the neighborhood." Morgan said.

"True, but three victims in the same block could mean he's done with the area." Spencer said.

"Or that he's just really familiar with it." Morgan said.

"And comfortable in it." Spencer added.

"And if he's really familiar with it, he knows to what spots in the neighborhood to avoid." Zoe said.

"But then on the other hand, the other victims lived more than a mile in either direction." Morgan considered. Then he hit the steering wheel. "God, I hate not having a plan."

"Well, that's life." Zoe deadpanned, "You need to relax more. Try reading."

"I don't want to read, Zoe."

"Well, clearly, you don't know the difference between a poem and a ballad." She sassed back.

There was a snickering giggle coming from Spencer but when Morgan looked at him, Spencer was looking in the other direction.

"Shut up." Morgan said and sighed, "We're looking for a needle in a haystack here."

"Actually it's more like we're looking for a needle in a pile of needles." Spencer corrected.

"What?" Morgan asked, incredulously.

"A needle would stand out in a haystack." Spencer pointed out.

"Okay. And we're not looking for someone who stands out."

"No, we're looking for a particular needle in a pile of needles." Spencer said

"Elle tells me your ex-beau's in prison?" Morgan said in a teasing tone.

"Yeah, because he could hack circles around your beau, no offense to Garcia but it's true." Zoe said. Technically it was the truth, he was as hacker and a genius but not why he was arrested.”

"It's the eyes." Zoe suddenly said.

"What are you doing back there?"

"Helping Garcia see how many substations our exploitative rapist unsub routed his call through. That's why Garcia couldn't get a fix on it."

"What do you mean the eyes?"

"There's something off about the eyes." Zoe said.

"What that he glues them open?"

"No, it's just a unique signature for exploitative rapists to force the victim to watch.

———————————————————————————

Gideon realized that if he could reroute the calls through as many as twenty-five substations meant he was a phone technician. They got the name Franklin Graney and Zoe got her motorcycle out and was the first to get there. She spotted an open yellow gate and she stopped her motorcycle and could hear a baby crying. She leaned her bike against the yellow fence and took out her gun as she followed the baby's crying. She spotted a tool belt, one that a phone technician would have.

"AHHHH! AHHH! MAMA! MAMA! MAMA!" The baby was screaming.

"Hey, shh... shh..." Zoe cooed, picking up the baby to calm him down, when she heard raging screams and crashing. He was breaking the riches. She took out her phone and was about to dial Hotch or Gideon when it suddenly it stopped. She turned and saw him, looking at her.

Zoe took off, running up the stairs as Graney chased her but Zoe was much quicker from him, she ran towards the room she could hear the crying from the mother coming from and opened the door, twirling inside. He grabbed the door handle, fighting her for it  and Zoe managed to set the baby down and grab it with both hands and she pushed, making it fly open and hit the Graney in the face, making him let go and fall over and she slammed it shut, locking it.

"Help me. Help me." The mother cried through the duct tape on her mouth.

Zoe ran over as Graney pounded on the door and she ripped the tape off and cut the binds.

"Help me barricade the door to save us time." Zoe whispered. Zoe did most of the work since the mother was still in shock. "We don't have much time. Do you think you could crawl out the window?"

"But my baby..."

"Right, of course. It's the suburb, no fire escape. I'm going to have to talk him down or something, I want you to take your son and hide in the closet." She said, "If you hear a gunshot and you don't hear me, get a clothes wire and fight like Laurie Strode. Go. Go!"

The mother ran into the closet with her baby, shushing him.

Graney started shooting and Zoe threw herself backwards, out of the way of the bullets.

He pushed through and pointed his gun at Zoe who pointed her's back.

"FBI! Franklin Graney, put the gun down and put your hands up!" She shouted.

"FBI? I must be a big deal."

"You're raping and killing women. The San Diego department had to call in my department, the BAU." She was stalling.

"What's that?"

"I'm a profiler. I catch people like you by studying their behavior."

"What does mine say?"

"All these women are surrogates for a dominant female figure in your life, based off their age, I'd say your wife. You force them to watch you rape them before you strangle them with a wire and then you glue their eyes open so their dead bodies can watch you go back up those poles, someone they see so often but never see. That gets you off more than the rape itself. But the police department weren't able to connect your signature, the eyes. It was too subtle to you left behind the notes of The Great Messenger of Morality. Only Death's lines."

"You're the girl from the phone last night, aren't you?"

"Yes. You're the one who called me a stupid bitch."

He was approaching her with a hunger in his eyes. "You're just a little girl. Imagine how famous I'll be after I attack a FBI agent."

"I wouldn't do that, Graney." Zoe said, backing away. "I will shoot you and you're out of bullets."

"No, I'm not."

Zoe nodded to his gun. "That's an M1911 pistol. A single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol and it only holds seven bullets. You shot seven times."

Graney then grabbed a lamp and threw it at Zoe, making her miss her aim when she shot and he tackled her to the floor.

Her memory went back to that warehouse, those eyes. Those eight months. The countless nights afterwards, she would stifle her sobs into her pillow so her dad wouldn't hear.

Never again.

"Never again!" She grunted as she kicked her foot out, kicking him in the face, he fell back and she stood up, he had her primary gun but she still had her ankle holster, she stood up, pointing her first back-up gun, first of many. "You hear me? Never again."

"Franklin." Gideon's voice said, entering the room, he had spotted Zoe's motorcycle and came upon them.

"I'll shoot her." Franklin said.

"No, you won't, Franklin." Gideon said.

"Yes, I will. I have her gun."

"If you hurt her, I'll kill you." Gideon said. "And we'll just say we caught a low-life burglar. You didn't turn out to be Tommy after all."

"He will remain uncaught. After awhile, people will forget you. You'll be nothing." Zoe added.

"Once every five or ten years they'll do a TV show and they'll ask, 'Whatever happened to that 'Tommy' guy?' 'Why did he disappear'?" Gideon said. "And then they'll stop talking about it altogether. Put the gun down. Come on, walk out of here with us. I'll make sure your face is splashed across every newspaper and TV in the country. Tommy Killer: Franklin Graney. Everyone will see you then. Bundy, Dahmer, Graney, the whole world'll know who you are."

"It's up to you, Franklin. You can be famous, or you can be invisible." Zoe said.

"You'll tell everyone?" Graney asked.

Gideon nodded, "I have a media specialist outside right now. It is your choice."

"Promise?"

"Yes, sir, I promise."

Then Graney put down Zoe's gun.

"Back away from the gun." Zoe said, "Hands behind your head." He did so as she side-stepped around him and picked her gun up.

Hotch and Elle arrived, "Where's the woman?"

"Closet." Zoe walked over to the closet, holstering her guns and opening the door as Hotch arrested Graney. Zoe crouched down to the mother and child. "It's okay to come out. You and your baby are safe."

The mother finally allowed herself to sob aloud, "Thank you. Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay." Zoe whispered.

———————————————————————————

Rose Kennedy once said, "Birds sing after a storm, why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?"

Zoe sanitized her gun after deciding against burning it to sterilize it of the rapist's touch. And she was now on the jet, continuing to read Villette by Charlotte Brontë as she had headphones on.

Gideon and Spencer were playing chess when Gideon said, "Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you."

"Oh, yeah?" Spencer muttered, somewhat distractedly.

"I forgot to give it to you at the party." Gideon said, handing Spencer a small, elongated box giftwrapped with blue paper and a red ribbon

"But you don't give birthday presents." Spencer chuckled. He undid the ribbon and tore the blue paper off and opened the box to see a pair of Redskin tickets.

"Wow. The Redskins." Spencer said.

"It's a VIP box." Gideon explained.

"Wow. Thank you so much." Spencer smiled.

"Ever been to a pro football game?" Gideon asked.

"No, I honestly didn't know this was football." Spencer chuckled.

"You're going to love it." Gideon said.

"We are. You're coming with me, right?" Spencer asked.

"No. There's someone else on the plane who is a huge Redskins fan."

"Who?"

Gideon looked past Spencer to the twenty-four-year-old blonde liaison.

"JJ?" Spencer blushed, he kept glancing past Gideon at Zoe, reading a classic.

"She's a huge Redskins fan." Gideon said.

Spencer frowned and looked at Zoe. He was not unaware of the effect that violent tomboy had on him. His heart raced when he saw her and he yearned to learn more about her but he also felt she was keeping things from him, but not just him.

Gideon was also not unaware of Spencer’s feelings for Zoe. Spencer was the least experienced profiler and while he was uncomfortable with emotions, he didn’t do a very good job at hiding the ones he had for Zoe.

Spencer looked at Gideon and said, softly, “JJ’s great and all but she’s just not Zoe.” This was the closest he had ever come to really acknowledging his feelings for Zoe.

Before he met Zoe, he had had feelings for JJ but… then he collided with Zoe and…

“Zoe’s had a hard life. She’s against letting people in easily. She likes to hide her emotions and prove she’s strong.”

“She is strong. She has ADHD and is still one of our best profilers.” Spencer said, almost defensively.

“I know that. But she’s from a culture that typically views mental health as a weakness. I know it’s not but because of that she likes to prove to everyone that she’s tough. She’s been through a lot and she’s not open to new relationships until she’s ready. She’s too guarded right now.”

Gideon phrased all of this as if it was something he had profiled from Zoe which was technically true but Gideon had also helped raise Zoe and knew this personally about her.

Spencer nodded. He had gotten this from her too, plus she was recently-ish out of an on and off five-year relationship.

"Wh-What should I say?" Spencer stammered. Gideon just looked at him. Spencer tucked the tickets into his lapel pocket, glancing back at JJ and started to get up when he moved a chess piece on the board and said, "Checkmate."

Gideon furrowed his brows as Spencer got up before smiling and chuckling as Spencer headed to JJ, still thinking about Zoe.

He awkwardly sat next to JJ across the aisle and cleared his throat

"Heard you're a fan of football..."

———————————————————————————

When Spencer got home, he remembered the gift-wrapped book in his go-bag and he opened it to find a nice edition of the 1967 classic, The Outsiders.

Spencer opened it to see something written in pen on the first page.

"My mom always said the message of this book is to always be true to yourself no matter what society tells you to do, no matter how touch it is, be who you are and not what people want you to be."

—————————————————————————-

Translations:

Come sta la ragazza più ribelle di tutto l'FBI? — Italian — How’s the most rebellious girl in all of the FBI?

È questo il saluto che ricevo dalla festeggiata? Non ti sento da otto mesi – Italian — Is that the greeting I get from the birthday girl? I haven't heard from you in eight months.

Non è il mio compleanno. — Italian — It’s not my birthday.

Potrebbe non essere il compleanno di Lauren ma è il compleanno di Emily. — Italian — It may not be Lauren's birthday but it is Emily's birthday.

*Personal note: I cut my finger with a potato peeler when I was making a deviled egg potato salad, like a deep cut but manageable, so while I have a bandage, my writing will be slower. I do have to the next few episodes written down (I'm writing LDSK now), but I want to slowly release them. So for the next few weeks, it'll be slower*

[vyla-and-the-pods]

Vyla's Sunday wrap-up!

Hello lovely people on my screen! I've been getting really into podcasts these last few weeks since finishing Wolf 359 and I am DYING to talk about them! This is my way to talk about what I've been listening to this week and dumping my thoughts since I do not have friends that listen to podcasts lol

Cry Havoc! Ask Questions Later (ep 14) (minor spoilers)

I'm a die-hard Cry Havoc! fan. It's one of the few podcasts I've caught within the first few episodes and it is quickly one I will jump to every time a new episode comes out. Who would've thought a workplace comedy set in ancient Rome would be so good! The humor is dry and mostly situational and works so well.

This episode had a bit more heart than Cry Havoc! has had before and it worked so well! Listening to Octavia and Charmian have a serious discussion that helped further their relationship beyond "ooh haha sexy morally grey lesbians" was really refreshing and nice to see such character growth within just a few episodes.

And the entire plague plot with Gaius and Mark was a great way to balance it out. I love Cry Havoc!'s style of humor. My only qualm is I couldn't find a transcript for this episode but I might've been looking in the wrong place.

Arden (eps 1-4)

GUYS I LOVE ARDEN SO MUCH!!!

This is also a Shakespeare inspired piece! Season 1 is inspired by Romeo and Juliet, which I realized embarrassingly late in, and the little R&J easter eggs I have been picking up are really cool and make me feel like I remembered something from 9th grade English haha.

I used to looove true crime podcasts but I got uncomfortable by how the hosts would discuss the killers and victims so Arden, as a fake true crime podcast, is a great middle ground! I heard season 3 is coming out soon so hopefully I can catch up in time! I love Bea and Brenda's banter and honestly the two just need to kiss or something, but I digress. The writers make this a really compelling story and even though only one aspect of the cold case is examined per episode I am hooked and not at all bored or frustrated when we divert to Bea and Brenda's side convos. I have listened to this when going to bed and gotten scared once or twice, and for a fake true crime podcast I consider that a win!

Wolf 359 (finale)

I don't have the word count to say everything I want to say about Wolf 359. If you know me you might have seen the post I made about finishing Wolf 359 this week and how it was just so world alterting for me because I've been listening to it on and off for about 8 years. It really is the end of an era. It didn't go down the way I thought it would and it was a very bittersweet ending. I feel like everything was tied up well but I do have some questions about Bob. I am going to miss Lovelace, and Eiffel and...everybody! Maybe not Kepler. Truly is an end of an era for me. I was podcast-hungover the whole day.

Stellar Firma (ep 1)

I gave the first episode of Stellar Frima a try, I'm a big Rusty Quill fan so I had high hopes but guys, I don't think this is for me. The pilot episode didn't click for me the way I thought it would and it just didn't seem my speed. What do you guys think about Stellar Firma? Should I give it another shot?

Malevolent (ep 6)

Malevolent is another show I'm trying to get into since everybody loves it but the pace just feels so slow to me right now. I know more overarching plot points develop later on so I'm willing to stick this one out. I like malevolent but it just feels like all the places and things they're doing right now are building toward something I'm not at yet and that's just frustrating.

Time:bombs (1 -3)

What better way to get me out of my Wolf 359 hangover than a podcast made by the Wolf 359 folks? This one came recommended to me by anon so thank you whoever you are! I listened to the entire podcast (3 episodes) in one day and loved it! I miss you Radio Bob. I hope you're doing well. Humor was elite but what else should I have expected from Gabriel Urbina? I loved the character development they were capable of in 3 episodes. I can see myself relistening to this soon!

The Kingmaker Histories (prologue....ep 0?)

another podcast I heard had a new season coming out soon. I don't know how I feel; about fantasy podcasts but I liked season 1 of The Two Princes so I have high hopes. I only listened to the prologue so far and haven't even met the MC so I don't have many opinions yet.

Liminal Criminals (ep 1)

I listened to the first episode twice. It was so funny. Few podcast make me actually laugh out loud. I interrupted my roommate making dinner to tell her about this because I kept laughing. The dry voice the narrator has while he explains the most ABSURD FAKE TRUE CRIME sold this for me. "Mr. Breadsticks stays. Mr. Breadsticks stays. I will kill you with a fork. Mr. Breadsticks stays." is my discord status and no one understands me. I hope the rest of these episodes are as funny.

Alright well that's my week! Thanks for dealing with my ramblings folks! Tell me your thoughts on these shows, what's worth it what's not? I'll be shitposting about some of these shows throughout the week, but we'll see what the Pod Gods hold. Til next week lovely people!

~Vyla

[listieshadows]

Listie babbles about her CD haul (2024/01/14)

Yesterday I walked into my local Sunrise Records with the intention of purchasing The Beatles' Yellow Submarine Songtrack to complete my collection of Beatles albums featured on a picture I've had of their discography that's been hanging on my wall for years. However, unfortunately, it wasn't there, and in a fit of "Well, since I'm here," I impulse purchased a bunch of other albums. And since I wanna talk about music more, hey, I'm gonna take a sec to talk about them! I hope nobody who sees this on their timeline minds the self-indulgence.

Green Day – Warning (2000)

One of my top five favorite Green Day albums. Probably even top three. I really liked this brief folk punk turn for the band, and tunes like "Misery", "Macy's Day Parade", "Waiting", "Church On Sunday", "Minority"... Aw, it's just great stuff.

I've been meaning to get more Green Day stuff, anyway. For years the only albums of theirs I've had are American Idiot and Revolution Radio, and I'd like to have an unbroken line of their discography from Kerplunk to 21st Century Breakdown. After that, with stuff like the "Trilogy" and Father Of All... Eh, I'll pass. And we'll see about their new album when that comes out. For now, I'll say that I did also consider picking up Dookie while I was there, but all they had was the anniversary box, and I didn't wanna add an additional $92 onto my purchase. But speaking of anniversary editions being my only option...

Elton John – Honky Châtaeu (50th Anniversary Edition) (2023)

This is currently my second favorite Elton John album, behind Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I mean, come on, side one is a killer. Aside from having "Honky Cat" and "Rocket Man", it's got "Mellow" and "Susie (Dramas)"... Come on! Of course side two is great as well—"Amy", "Hercules", all that—but "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters" has just never done it for me, honestly? Plus, sometimes I forget what "Slave" sounds like, so there's that, too.

Now, if I could've avoided it, I wouldn't have paid $32 to own the two disc anniversary edition. But that was the only version they had there, an', y'know, that just sucks a little sometimes, right? Like, you just want the darn album and not all of the extra demos and live recordings they're charging you more for, but that's your only option unless you wanna go trawling around Discogs or eBay for a more standard edition. And if I didn't love physically browsing so much...! Although that's probably what I'm gonna hafta put up with anyway if I wanna get Yellow Submarine Songtrack, so...

Iron Maiden – Powerslave (1984) and No Prayer For The Dying (1990)

I'm pairing these two together for a specific reason, and I'll get to that in a second, but first lemme get my opinions out of the way. Powerslave might be my favorite Iron Maiden album—at the very least it's in solid competition with The Number Of The Beast. I find there's hardly a moment wasted on it, and of course the big hits are all fantastic: "Aces High", "2 Minutes To Midnight", "Powerslave" and the incredible "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner". In terms of Maiden's "epic songs," I like "Empire Of The Clouds" better, but "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" still holds a very high second place.

No Prayer, meanwhile, is an album I only first heard last year, and I can sort of tell why people don't like it so much. After the innovations of Somewhere In Time and Seventh Son, it's a big step back; and even for fans who preferred the earlier sound to the synths, the songs just aren't as tight as Killers or Number or any of them. Fear Of The Dark later on was an improvement, but only so much because of its bloated track list. Still, I've listened to the From Fear To Eternity compilation enough times that I have a spot for "Tailgunner" and "Holy Smoke", plus I think "Mother Russia" is kind of neat as well.

But why did I get both of them? You might not be wondering that up until I tell you that I've already owned a copy of Powerslave for years. In fact, it was the second or third Iron Maiden album I'd ever bought. So what's, uh, the deal, then? To put it in short, there was a box set released in 1998 called Eddie's Head which had their first twelve live and studio albums, from their eponymous debut all the way up to Live At Donington. At some point they were all released individually, and those were the copies I was collecting. After all, their spines formed a picture of Eddie. I had to have a full collection!

But I had one stipulation in mind: I knew that No Prayer was considered the worst Dickinson album, so I wanted to get that one last. That meant if I wanted to finish my collection, I had to find a copy of Live At Donington. Though no matter how many times I looked at HMV or Sunrise, I could never find it. It was only years later when I finally checked Discogs and saw how much a copy was going for these days that I realized, "Oh, they're not selling this at chain stores anymore." And in fact, they're not selling any album from this release anymore. They've all been replaced by the 2015 remaster, so I couldn't even get an Eddie's Head version of No Prayer even if I wanted to.

So I just gave up! I picked up the 2015 remaster of No Prayer so I could finally have an unbroken studio run from their debut to The X Factor, and I got Powerslave alongside so it wouldn't look stupid sitting all by itself. Will I ever get the rest of them? I mean, if that's the only option for the Iron Maiden albums I'm still missing, sure, I guess. I like their spines, too, so I'm getting that out of this whole ordeal at least.

(And in looking up a picture of the Eddie's Head spines to link to, it seems like I was also missing A Real Live Dead One as well? So... Oops! Guess that's two albums I would've had to get!)

Prince – Come (1994)

The first time I heard this album, it was because of a podcast I'm making my way through: Jukebox Zeroes. The whole concept of the podcast is that it sees the two hosts plus guests reacting to and reviewing what's considered the worst albums from famous artists, like Metallica's St. Anger or Madonna's American Life, for example. Come was the album they'd selected to cover Prince, though by the end of the episode they admitted that they should've picked, like, Rave Un2 The Year 2000, 'cuz Come really isn't Prince's worst, or even a bad album. Frankly, it's rather something that Prince considered this "lesser material" that he threw at Warner Bros. just to get out of his contract with them.

I think they largely singled "Dark" as their favorite song on the album, but for me, it's "Letitgo". I absolutely love that synth melody that Prince sings along to for the chorus. The pre-chorus is really fun, too, I think. For, like, a month or two afterwards it was in my frequent rotation, usually played alongside Angela Aki's cover of "Still Fighting It" for some reason.

Ultimately, I prefer the album he put more attention into and wanted to have released at the same time, The Gold Experience (which I've had for months longer), but I don't think Come should be skipped. I mean, at the end of the day, it's still a Prince album. It's rare he makes bad music, and Come doesn't fall into that. Well, maybe "Solo", but your mileage will vary, of course.

And as a little divergence, can I just say that, before I got Come, it was really funny that I had the Love Symbol album and The Gold Experience sitting right next to each other on my shelf? Jus', one where Prince used the symbol as an album title, and then one where he used it as his name. It's great.

[lottesiu]

Animals are not art supply

Will you claim killing is a form of art? This article argues that animals is not art supply and they should never be killed for making art. This article examines the art of Damien Hirst as an example. Damien Hirst, a British artist known for his controversial works, has been criticized for his use of animals in his art. He killed estimated 913,450 creatures , according to Artnet. Many animal protest groups, e.g. PETA, RSPCA. 100% Animalisti( the Italian animal rights group) had raise their concerns and complaint towards Hirst.

In 1990, Hirst entered the public attention by his work “A Thousand Years”, first exhibited at the warehouse exhibition ‘Gambler’, in 1990. Showing a real decaying cow’s head under ac fly-killer. At that time “Killing animals has nothing to do with art, it just shows the arrogance of people who literally will stop at nothing for their own interests,” a PETA representative said in response to the work. This installation made him 

A Hundred Years. 1990 in The Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg 

 Another Hirst’s most famous pieces created in 1991, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living .He paid a fisherman to caught a 14-foot tiger shark in Australia, then put it in a glass of 5% formaldehyde solution. However, the shark was preserved poorly at the beginning. It began to decayed and the liquid in the glass became grey and muddy. When a collector brought the work, Hirst offer to replace the shark, captured and killed).

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living , 1991

Within one million creatures killed throughout Damien Hirst’s career, mostly are Butterflies. He used real butterfly wing to make a stained glass. Trapped 9000 butterflies in a gallery room in United Kingdom as an art installation.

In 2008, he used real wings to create stained-glass again, named The Rose window. And Hirst said. “I love how it’s turned out; I wanted to create an optimistic kaleidoscope of hope and light and butterflies and I think the result speaks for itself.” Why would he think killing thousands of creature can represent hope and light? Hirst has also used other animals in his works, including cows, sheep and fishes and most of them are capture from the nature environment.

The Rose Window, 2008

What Damien Hirst doing is just showing the world that animals are nothing more that objects to be used for human purposes. With the Natural History series, Hirst said that he, ‘just wanted to do a zoo that worked ... because I hate the zoo, and I just thought it would be great to do a zoo of dead animals, instead of having living animals pacing about in misery ... I never thought of [the works] ... as violent. I always thought of them as sad. There is a kind of tragedy with all those pieces.’ (Quoted in Damien Hirst, pp.122 and 134.) Note 1. However, if Damien Hirst hated the zoo, 

why would he took all those animals away from their home in nature and used them for making art ? He made himself the United Kingdom's richest living artist, with his wealth estimated at US$384 million in the 2020 Sunday Times Rich List by abusing the animals.

Although some people in the art industry had high comment on Damien Hirst. 

"Damien's work always grapples with really essential themes, sort of art and science, life and death, fear and beauty, religion. And he's thinking about these sort of bigger picture ideas, and they're really all really beautifully incorporated in this body of work," says Millicent Wilner, Director of Gagosian Gallery. Many artist also explore the topic of life and dead without abusing animals. For example, Marina Abramović, a Serbian conceptual and performance artist, also explores the topic of death in her art. However, her approach is quite different from that of Damien Hirst. Abramović's work often involves herself and endurance, rather than the use of dead animals. In 1974, her work” Rhythm 0”,  Abramović performed with 72 objects, allowing the audience to decide what to do on her. 

One of her most notable work, “The Artist in Present”. (2009, MoMA).During the art performance, Abramović sat in a chair for over 700 hours, while visitor were invited to take turns sitting opposite her. Both art performance explores the themes of time, life, and the human connection. Abramović’s used her own body as a medium which need great courage.In comparison with Damien Hirst, all he did was paid for someone to capture the animals, then killed them in the name of art. 

Rhythm 0, in Naples in 1974.

In conclusion, Damien Hirst is only an example of abusing animals for art. Sadly, he is not alone. More research and discuss about Animal rights should be conduct. When more people aware of it and join the protest against abuse animal in art. We all have to think if artist expression are more important than a life. 

Note 1 :Manchester , E. (2009) 'away from the flock', Damien Hirst, 1994, Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hirst-away-from-the-flock-ar00499 (Accessed: January 25, 2023). 

[thelonewolfstar]

Crimes of Passion (Theory List)

Contains heavy spoilers!

Since Sunday is a no work day, I am replaying Crimes of Passion.

Juliana theory

I'll start with Juliana, because the title of the book is Crimes of Passion, it's possible that Trystan killed her or had her killed. According to Olivia, Juliana is a reformer. So here's my theory.

I think Trystan found out that Juliana was only using her to gather information to use against the King(Trystan's father), she was so enraged by the betrayal that she either

Pushed her off the yacht, or..

Told her father about her plans and had people sent to assassinate her on the yacht. Trystan didn't do anything to help her.

The latter is more likely, *praying* I hope so.. Because when MC asked Trystan if her death was her fault, she'll say "I did my part". But, because of the book title, I won't rule out the first.

Sonja's killer theory

Why I think this guy, Tony Kowalski is our Killer.

In the previous chapter while chasing the Killer, he tells MC "You weren't supposed to be here.", while meeting our Blacksmith who is hired by Devona. He became paranoid when he saw MC and Trystan lurking in his shop and began shouting "You are not supposed to be here." oddly familiar, isn't? MC asked him why he was attacking them? He will tell you that he's scared that MC and Trystan are among them(Hand of Mahra). Hmm I'm not buying it. You were attacking them because you thought they discovered you are the killer sir.

When Kowalski attacks you, there are 3 items you can grab to stop him. A blowtorch, a medical book and a jar. Isn't our Killer carrying a jar? A jar where he store Bethany's heart.

Let's talk about Medical Book since I already mentioned it. According to Ruby, Sonja's incision "aren't quite surgical but they're good". Dodd commented the same about Bethany's incision "almost perfect but sloppy" because he was in a hurry, MC and Trystan were just across the room from where he killed Bethany. When Trystan confront Kowalski about the book, he responds that he is studying nursing. Which is I doubt, I believe he is studying the book for human sacrifice. Suspicious right?

The reason why they can't find the Killer's DNA is because the Killer is a foreigner. Kowalski sounds like a European or Russian last name to me.

We also found a flyer for a metal show held in an art studio, and if Sonja has been schmoozing another artist, it's possible that Sonja and Kowalski may have met in 'Guillotine Promenade'. So, Sonja knows her killer.

Kowalski isn't just making knives and masks for Devona, he is also killing everyone who tries to expose the cult.

Marguerite being part of Hand of Mahra Theory

It's suspicious to me that Marguerite asked Trystan if it was a good idea to be involved in Sonja's death after the Juliana incident. She claims that she cares about Trystan and that Trystan is the reason she is visiting New York, to watch out for her but didn't stop her from pursuing the Killer, despite of the possibility of being killed. (To avoid confusion, V3s is MC's dog whom I named after Vito and Trystan)

I already made post about this after the chapter was released. There's a scene which MC and Trystan are playing with the other cult members. MC will say a word, and three people will respond relating to that word. MC must guess which of the three is the real Trystan. One of the imposter sounds like she's describing Marguerite, based on her responses. Only Devona and Vosegus are aware that Trystan has become an initiate, the rest of the members knows her as Eurydice(in MLW path MC and Trystan's aliases are Orpheus and Eurydice it's different alias for WLM, WLW, MLM, NBLLI). Oh there's another person who knows about Trystan and MC's trial of the cult, it's Marguerite. Which convince me that the imposter is Marguerite. When MC says murder the Trystan imposter responds "Heh, Sonja." and everyone flinches upon hearing that and call her out.

Which made me think that Marguerite dislikes Sonja. She's probably the Devona loyalist called Hel.

Sonja and Bethany theory

According to the cultist Sonja is the loud-mouthed initiate. Looks like the reason why Devona wanted to get rid of Sonja is because she stole a statue from them and gave it to Madani to dig some information about it. It pisses off Devona because Hand of Mahra is suppose to be a secret group.

While Bethany is the foolish member, Devona wanted to get rid of her because she was the one who put the paper in Trystan's pocket with the "I have info" message. I think before she died she wanted to quit the cult and wanted to confess about what she knows about the cult because she's feeling guilty about Sonja's death, she's probably the one who invited her to join the cult.

Anika Desphande/Devona Theory

I think the real Hand of Mahra follower here is Devona and her loyalists. Vosegus and his people are just bunch of posers who only wants the benefits of the cult not really believing the Hand of Mahra.

The kid in the photo is probably Devona. Who survived the Blake Mansion Fire and returned a few years later to reclaim the mansion and revive her Father's cult.

Also Tony Kowalski grandma could be Blake's daughter.

Additional theory regarding Trystan's confession.

Honestly, I am not convinced that's what happened. According to Olivia, Juliana is a reformer, Juliana may have done something to piss off the Queen or King or she found out something that will destroy their reputation as ruler. According to Trystan they drink a little, so if the water is choppy, the unsteady waves and motion of the yacht made them drunker. MAYBE while they were sleeping someone broke into the yacht and killed Juliana making it look accident and then dropped her off the yacht. If I remember it correctly it was Trystan's father who suggested to use the yacht or something like that. My theory they really planned to kill her off and took advantage of the natural phenomena so Trystan won't suspect it was a murder. But their plan backfired when Trystan blame themselves for what happened. If you pay the diamond scene with Olivia you can make her ally. She might show up again with information about what really happened in the yacht.

[killerandhealerqueen]

Hey! Hope you are well and your exams are going well! Wanted to know if you've got any recommendations for bl dramas??? I've watched a few already and just can't seem to find new ones. Finished watching the devil judge like 2 days ago and now I need another one to fill in the void.

Hope you have a great day xx

Anon, hello!

Now, I don't watch a lot of bl, but I can do my best! You can find everything that I've mentioned in this ask on my Drama/Movie Masterlist.

Chinese

1. Killer and Healer

It's not a BL (the drama's not, but the audio book and the novel is, I think) but oh my god the chemistry in this drama is fucking insane. I will literally never shut the fuck up about this drama so it's always going to be a drama that I recommend for people to watch. It is very angsty though, like very, so make sure you have a lot of tissues. Like a lot. You will cry. I am not sugarcoating this. Ep. 37 will WRECK you. But other than the angst, it is probably one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever seen

2. The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty

Again, not a BL but the novel is. This one is more...established relationships and the found family is off the fucking charts in this drama. Also, if you like food, there's a lot of food scenes in this drama so you will get very hungry, very quickly. Would not suggest watching this drama on an empty stomach. But yeah, this drama is good. And it has a happy ending, which is great

3. The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

Again, not a BL but oh man oh man, the chemistry in this one is bonkers. Every much so enemies to friends to lovers/soulmates/partners/I don't really know what to call their relationship other than it's good. Like, probably one of my favorite Cmovies I've seen to date

4. Master, Wait a Moment

Not a BL, but the relationships between the two mains is very cute and very enjoyable and I adore them a lot. They have "girlfriends" but they don't really...act like they're dating...idk, it just seems more like they're friends, at least that's the vibe I'm getting. The two mains are the ones that you really gotta focus on. It's a good drama, the subs are a little wonky but you'll slowly start to get the gist of what the sentence is trying to say

6. Couple of Mirrors

Not a BL, but it is a GL (but you know, this is China...). This one is really good and it's really cute. The two FL are just...they're precious. I enjoyed watching them together and they even raise a kid together, what the fuck. They're also just very sweet with each other and they care about each other a lot and it's just a really cute drama. It does end on a bit of a cliff hanger but supposedly we're getting a Season 2 (me thinks) so that'll be nice

7. S.C.I.

The novel is a BL, the drama is not, but like Killer and Healer, the chemistry of the two mains is insane. It's very established relationship, bicker like an old married couple, they've got nicknames for each other, they care a lot about each other, they adopt a kid, like...I've seen this drama almost as many times as I've seen Killer and Healer and this drama was actually the first cdrama that got me into the world of cdramas/jdramas/kdramas, etc. Good shit, this drama

Japanese

1. Aozora no Tomago

This drama is very cute and very short. It's not quite BL but it's very much so established relationships and it's very cute. Also a little angsty but overall, it's very cute and I enjoyed it a lot

2. Seven Days: Monday - Thursday

3. Seven Days: Friday - Sunday

This drama is like...one of the OG bls (I've heard) and it's a really really good BL drama. I quite enjoyed it and I quite enjoyed the premise of the whole "he dates a person for seven days then breaks up with them on sunday" like...that's such a wild concept and yet it works. It's a really good drama (I've combined 2-3 in this description)

4. HIS (2020)

Oh man, this movie fucked me up, but in a good way. It's so soft and we get to see like...how old lovers reunite and slowly become a family with one of the main leads little girl. And it also like...does the divorce really well (yes, one of the main leads was married to a woman but he really never loved her like he loved his past lover) and it shows that like...even though people are divorced and have moved on, they can still be good parents. Like...I don't know how to describe this movie, you just gotta watch and experience it for yourself. I cried and I don't normally cry at like...romance

5. The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window

The live-action isn't BL but I know the anime is (which I haven't seen). But the live action is really good and it hints at BL in certain lines and certain actions. Also, it's got Okada Masaki and Shison Jun, both of whom I love to death.

Korean

1. Beyond Evil

This is also a really good drama. It's not BL but it's a really good drama. I'm not good at describing how good it is, but it's definitely one of those dramas where you need to watch it to understand how good it is.

2. Nobleman Ryu's Wedding

This drama is so cute, short, and a little stupid at times but I had a good time watching it. It was super cute and I like the main leads and how they care and take care of each other.

3. Color Rush

Now this was an interesting take on soulmates and I have to say, it works pretty damn well. I really enjoyed this drama and can't wait for a second season because it was really good and I'm curious to see how they're going to expand their relationships

4. You Make Me Dance

This drama was so stinking cute, oh my god. I cried at this drama too and like I said before, I don't cry at romance dramas but this damn drama got to me. The way their relationship grew and the way that they loved and cared for each other and like...the red string of fate? Fuck me up, that's the good shit.

I hope you enjoy these dramas if you ever get around to watching them, anon!

[ratherbefangirling]

🦋Butterfly 🦋

Kim Seokjin x Reader

Episode 4

Masterlist

Previous / NEXT

You find Namjoon much more calmer around you these days. He also pays special attention to his work. Even the seniors compliment him for it.

Things are monotonous until you find another boy from the Polaroids.

Jeon Jungkook

Male

19 y/o

Diagnosis : fibula fracture (left leg)

Namjoon enters beside you.

"Jungkook..." he mumbles.

"Do you know him?" You ask.

"He was a junior I was close with during high-school."

"Ah. He will be happy to see you then ." To this he had nothing to say.

For now the boy lay passed out.

When you come for another inspection Jungkook is awake.

"How are you feeling Jungkook?" You ask.

"It's manageable with the pain killers doctor."

"How did it happen?"

"I fell down the stairs."

"You sure someone didn't push you?"

"No doctor." He replies not meeting your eyes.

"That's all for today. If you feel the pain increasing call for me, alright? For now rest and get well soon." You give him a small smile.

He nodded.

As you're leaving Namjoon enters Jungkook's area, while you didn't plan on eavesdropping you are curious about them since they seem to hold the keys to your husbands past.

Namjoon puts snacks on Jungkook's bed table.

"Namjoon hyung." Jungkook says surprised.

They're both quite for a moment.

"Stay out of trouble kid." Namjoon says after he's done giving Jungkook painkillers.

Jungkook doesn't reply.

"What are you doing these days?" Namjoon asks.

"I got into art department in a local university. "

"Scholarship?"

Jungkook nods.

"I'm proud of you kid. Do good. You deserve it." Namjoon says ruffling his hair.

Namjoon turns to leave.

"H-hyung.." Jungkook says.

He stops.

"Would you like to come to my school exhibition next month. "

"Sure kid." Namjoon says after a pause.

"Do you think we could go back to before hyung."

Namjoon doesn't have the heart to tell him otherwise.

"In another world we'd always be together... for a long long time. But in this world I hope we get a chance to." Namjoon says.

You leave wondering what went down to the boys that made Jin complacent. Namjoon angry. Jungkook hopeless.

Your phone rings.

"Hey Jin."

"Hello love." Since the night you broke down Jin has been calling you love more often and you think you'd get a heart attack due to this, I mean, who wouldn't?

"Are you busy?"

"Is something the matter?" You ask.

"No well my dad wants us to go the opening of our new country resort together. So I called to ask for your schedule. "

"I'm free this Sunday, also the Friday evening charity is there. I hope you remember."

"I almost forgot.." He admits.

"Ha! what would you do without me." You taunt.

"I was managing just fine."

"Fine then, go to your events by yourself."

"I'm pulling your leg love." He relents.

You still don't respond pretending to be angry.

"'What if I pick you up today and we go to the ice cream parlour." He bribes.

"You seem too free is your dad being lenient towards you?"

"What if we also get doner kebab."

"You drive a hard bargain Mr. Kim." You concede.

"Anything that pleases my wife Mrs. Kim."

You laugh.

"After all happy wife, happy life. Right doctor?"

"K bye Lily is here. I have to go see you at 6." You say spotting your friend.

"Bye." He says hanging up you can sense the smile he's hiding.

Lily looks at you amused.

"Why are you blushing? Let me guess post marital bliss." She smirks.

"Lily." You raise an eyebrow at her

"If I didn't know I'd recommend you to go to derma."

"Be nice to your friend." You say.

"Riight." She says dragging the 'i'

You hit her playfully.

"Go ahead abuse your best friend." She fake cries.

"Lily" You whine.

"Lily." She copies you.

Before you can say anything a nurse informs you about the emergency patient.

Ah long work days.

I need cheer leader jin in my life

Previous / NEXT