#i love how he sorts girls into 'child child CHILD i am not interested please do not hit on me'

[gretahayes]

Ollie: oh, she has a crush on me. That's...wow. Time to dodge a romantic advance and kiss her on the forehead to show how completely uninterested I am!

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s3 episode 8 thoughts

i’m conflicted. i didn’t like this episode, and i don’t know if my reasoning is valid or not. but i guess at the end of the day it’s all subjective, right? it’s MY BLOG and i decide which episodes are good vs bad in the juni-verse.

(do not be offended if this is your favorite episode and i am slandering it. it’s not personal, pinky promise, but i explain my reasoning at the end, so let’s jump in)

((also i hear geese right now. not relevant but highkey distracting))

oooo today’s episode title looks french… i thought at first that it would mean (feminine) someone who forgets something, but it actually means “a type of dungeon with a single escape route”. the more you know!

i’m excited to watch this episode. it sounds interesting. it also sounds like it could be really really dark. so let’s see! (verdict: DARK!)

we open on high school picture day. a girl named amy is getting her pictures taken. these girls are in very cute outfits. a guy from the photography company is staring at amy though… OH! and stroking her picture in a darkroom. HELLO??? jail jail jail. 

(we later learn his name is carl. he will be referred to as “the creepy man” and “carl” alternatively throughout this post)

he cut out her picture and put it next to a picture of himself??? is he making a collage? GROWN MAN! GROWN MAN DOING ALL THIS BTW!!! in what looks like a trapdoor darkroom beneath his house. is this the aforementioned oubliette….?

amy is sleeping and. SOMEONE IS COMING IN HER WINDOW. NO MA’AM. it’s carl, who says that “nobody is going to spoil us”. a little girl sees this happen!!!! noooo… but maybe she can give a clue?? i mean a witness to a kidnapping seems like it’ll help solve the case, right?

now we are at a burger place, someone is taking a while to fill up some drinks- her name tag says “lucy”. and then there is BLOOD all over her from her nose. the boss looks majorly freaked. and she FAINTS! mumbling that nobody is going to spoil us. OH… so lucy and the girl must have some sort of connection. boy, that seems it'd be disruptive to the work day…

bum bum bum bum!!!! spooky noises. spooky imagery. you know it, you love it: the intro.

mulder and a very large coat are here to investigate the kidnapping. he is looking about at various rooms and walls. 

noooo, he is in a child’s bedroom :( and he finds a very sad mrs. jacobs looking out the window. he says they will do everything they can to help but she is like “how could you really know how i feel?"

well actually he is quite well versed in kidnappings!!! so please be mindful of your words. she walks away and he looks very sad. way to dig some stuff up for the guy. she didn’t mean it, i know, but still, it was a very purposeful dialogue choice.

(mulder is staring intently at dark red spots on the carpet) “it’s blood”, says a guy we have never seen before. excellent work detective. could have had me fooled. i was thinking it was jam /s

this guy thinks it was someone that knew her, mulder does not think this is the case because it was so bold. fight fight fight!

oh, he actually came on this case to talk to lucy from the burger place!!! and not for the kidnapping. we should have known that was far too conventional for our friend.

(door opens) (deep sigh) (scully’s voice from off screen) "mulder…" <- yeah this had me giggling. not even really sure why. they are reunited after a flight apart. it must have been harrowing. 

so, he explains: the girl, amy, is 15 years old, and was kidnapped. and twenty miles across town, lucy was repeating the same words the kidnapper said as she passed out! “well that’s spooky”, scully notes, and mulder replies “that’s my name, isn’t it?” <- LMAO

OH GET THIS: Lucy was kidnapped when she was 8 for FIVE YEARS!!!! until she was found by the side of the road. HUH??? THE PLOT IS THICKENING. same guy…? scully seems very deep in thought

first thing lucy says upon their entrance: “i’d like a cigarette” in the hospital. queen i think there are laws against this but idk 💔 

they explain that amy said those same words about spoiling it for us at the same time she did, and lucy has a thoughtful look on her face then says no, i know nothing about it. NOT BUYING IT!

paused on scully’s face to take notes and she really is just so beautiful huh. 

lucy asks when she can leave and they say um probs when the doctor says you can. and she’s like, no they said it was up to you. so they’re like uh yeah you can go. this is very exciting and she doesn’t even change before she leaves. 

CREEPY MAN ALERT. he’s on the side of the road with a busted tire and a tow guy offers to change it for him for $10. a screaming deal! until this fellow picks up a crowbar looking thing and screams LEAVE ME ALONE and chases him away!!! deeply suspicious behaviors. tow guy calls him a freak as he drives away. a very rare deserved case of calling someone a freak as you drive by them.

back at the station, the lead agent or whatever his title is tells mulder that lucy and her boyfriend have a criminal record, but mulder doesn’t think she’s involved. i’d have to agree, but maybe i’m easily fooled. 

“mulder, i got something- something weird” scully strides in the room and announces. and i’m thinking, YEAHHHH BABY, WE LOVE THAT AROUND THESE PARTS!!!

so, here is the weird stuff: lucy had two types of blood on her shirt that night… so scully is gonna test and see if there was a match to amy’s. but mulder doesn’t want lucy treated as a suspect, so he says to try and keep that quiet.

now we’re at a halfway house. a guy is going up some stairs whilst lucy shivers in bed. she has scratches all over her face and complains about being unable to see. and it looks like she has the same scratches as the girl in the creepy guy carl’s hole!!!

mulder rolling up to the halfway house. he asks to take lucy to dinner, as the paramedics say she is probably better now after her episode. 

she is going to town on some soup and insisting that she is clean, and you can even ask henry about this. she is very insistent that she CANNOT help amy, but he is trying to gently be like. well... maybe you CAN. and she says: NO.

back in the hole, amy is having pictures taken of her. and screaming

at the station. mulder is watching a video of lucy from 1978 where she is crying on the ground and also screaming. her eyes were hypersensitive to the light when she finally escaped from her kidnapping all those years ago. it’s honestly very upsetting to watch.

oh!! scully has a break in the case: all the school photos were sent out EXCEPT amy’s. and the assistant was fired THAT DAY AFTER THE SHOOT. his name is CARL. and he spent the last 15 years institutionalized “for a bipolar condition”. well would that make him not a suspect for whoever took lucy…? i can’t do math. but if she got back in ‘78 then it would be possible, right? because idk when s3 takes place. anyway, mulder’s gonna show the photo to lucy and see if she knows him.

(i groan when a story makes a villain bipolar or have any other mental health issue to enhance their ~scariness~. it’s cliche, it’s perpetuating harmful stereotypes, and it’s bad writing. i was mentally throwing tomatoes at the screen)

carl is leaving and he left amy in the basement. is this her chance to break free? or is it a trick. she finds a hole in the wall sealed with some wood and starts to rip it up 

back to lucy cam. mulder is trying to get her to stop running away and he grabs her shoulder and she says “DON’T TOUCH ME. i don’t like to be touched” this is understandable and he apologizes.

anyway, he shows her carl’s photo, and she starts to run away again, indicating that she does, in fact, know who it is.

back to amy cam. she’s trying to break free, but he is coming back in his car! he hears her trying to get out and sees her running out the window. she is running!!! into the woods!!! run run run run!!!

lucy is also running. 

but no!!! they both fall!!! mulder picks lucy up. nooooo, amy failed her escape attempt :(

but upon seeing the photo, lucy confirms that it IS the same guy that took her way back when. she says she feels like she’s going through it all over again. 

however, scully and the cops are at the door! lucy is suspicious. reveal: THE BLOOD ON THE UNIFORM WAS AMY’S!!! mulder is saying she didn’t do it, but scully says it’s concrete evidence. unless you believe in the migration of blood. 

carl is explaining to amy that she shouldn’t have run. she asks for some water. is she gonna make another break for it? no. she does not. but she does ask for her mom and also for her to please not die here. it’s very sad.

mulder throws out a theory: maybe lucy bled out amy’s blood. it’s a stretch. “i hate to say this mulder, but i think you just ran out of credibility” <- girl i think that was a while ago.

i jest, but it appears scully does not. yowch. okay, yeah, bleeding someone else’s blood is a little rough in terms of an idea, but some thoughts we try and keep inside our heads in terms of our pals having wild theories.

OHHHH... scully insinuating that he is seeing his sister in lucy, and that is why he cannot see her as the perpetrator when all the evidence points to it…. oh i felt chills... or some sort of adjacent negative experience. bad feelings washed upon me.

he says that not every single thing he does or says is traced back to his sister but… i’m actually not gonna agree with him on that one. anyway, he’s mad at her. and i would be too tbh!

someone is coming in to the station who saw carl. it’s the tow guy!! and he was spotted heading near the place lucy was found years ago!!! 

carl witnesses the cops racing off to his place. but the agents go to the photo store to see if he has an account. not a bad idea on behalf of mulder.

although, we don’t even know if they go in because next they are ambushing carl’s property. and they see the trap door!!! is she in there??? and she is!!!

WAIT NO. IT’S LUCY?? everyone is confused. 

okay, so they DID go to the photo store, because they have the photos of amy that were taken in the basement… i see now. i am listening and learning.

the cop guy wants to take lucy into custody because she can’t say why she is at the crime scene, but mulder is like “no i’ll take her” and scully tells the cop dude it’s alright. so now she must see what he was saying. he’s walking lucy out. and she’s saying that carl hasn’t touched amy, and then she starts shivering and coughing, saying she is cold and wet. and mulder’s touching her….

he says lucy is trying to tell them amy’s in a river, so they try to go there. and then when carl dunks amy underwater, lucy starts spitting up water!!! and then drowning in the car on land. 

agents are running in the woods.

they find carl, and mulder shoots him. then he runs off holding amy. so he starts doing mouth to mouth and she’s doing chest compressions and lucy is coming back to life?? maybe?? no.

scully is trying to tell him to stop because she’s dead, but he won’t, and they actually come to blows about it. he’s sitting there all soggy and wet and crying. but then she finally starts coughing!!! 

mulder learns that lucy was also dying, and he gets all freaked out and runs back to her. and lucy is, in fact, dead. he’s touching her face as water pours out of her and she’s crying. mulder is full on kneeling at her dead body and sobbing. and damn, if this moment didn't get me right in the chest.

scully shows up to the halfway house, where mulder is sitting on lucy’s bed with a bunch of pictures of her. scully says amy had NO INJURIES and she can’t explain it, but nobody wants to talk about it because everyone is relieved to have her back. and it turns out lucy drowned. despite being on land.

“mulder, whatever there was between them, you were part of that connection, did you think about that?” <- AUGH (girl who is in pain as scully tries to put into words how important he is to not just her, but the whole world)

but he says that dying was pretty much all amy could do to escape from her past. and i'm thinking, well, if this whole episode has been a way to comment on your past... what exactly are you saying? because i'm hearing things i don't like. what about the power of healing and friendship? have we tried this?

i’m not sure how i feel about this episode, so i want to hear your thoughts even more than usual. actually, i am pretty sure that i didn't like it. i love a good character-centric episode, and this was definitely a mulder episode, but i felt that scully was really sidelined. like REALLY sidelined. to the extent she felt almost mean, with the losing credibility comment and trying to get him to stop doing CPR and bringing his sister up into it. on the other hand, though, she did seem to accurately describe the situation as himself projecting his past onto these people. it was pretty clear that was the case no matter how much denial he had going on.

luckily, in long form content like this, when something is written that feels out of character, i have an ease of just ignoring it i feel is usually denied in tighter season or movies. like yeah, everyone has an episode or two where their favorite character acts weird as hell. i could already point to a couple episodes on mulder’s behalf- cough cough genderbender cough cough 3- so maybe this will even out the tally of agents doing stuff that feels wrong. and like those episodes, i can ignore them. i am the rememberer and when i need to i am also the forgetter.

(now, you may present an argument to me that these actions WERE in character for scully. and i will not deny you the chance to present that argument my way. i shall hear out cases with a fair and impartial nature. but my opinions have been voiced)

characterization aside. this was another dark episode with almost no lightheartedness. there were a few things i giggled early on, like the way she just announced his name when they’re reunited, but other than that… childhood kidnapping? a real bummer. also, their psychic connection wasn’t even explained. it didn’t seem to follow any sort of logic at all. she would just… snap into it sometimes and then out of it. but you couldn’t really tell why she’d snap into it beyond it seemed moments where amy was in danger. but like. when you’re kidnapped you’re basically in danger 24/7. so: ??? 

and the transmutation of physical injury. they said that amy had no injuries, but we could see she had the same face cuts and scrapes as lucy. so are they ignoring that or are we thinking that lucy dying absorbed all that damage…?

mulder also ends the episode saying that he thinks death was the only way lucy could escape her suffering, which has troubling implications for his own character and those who love him.

hmm. idk, i just don’t think i liked this one. i’m learning that i find children being hurt less campy and fun than aliens and bigfoot. a good scary episode can be that, both good and scary, but i didn’t feel scared because it still was fantastic in nature. when there was a real scary episode- i’m thinking of irresistible in s2- the reason that felt so scary was because it WAS an entirely human, no supernatural elements at all, spooky episode. and that was the whole point; that episode was used to explore scully’s greatest fears, her struggle with being unable to control every aspect of life, trying to grasp who she can and cannot trust, and the depths to which the human soul can descend. so we had something similar going on here, except that lucy was taking amy’s damage, and you can see how that sort of transmigration makes for a harder sell on the commentary of the evil things humans can accomplish, no?

hmm. again, please let me know. i actually might look this one up, because ever since i learned that there are wikipedia episodes for every single episode, i have mostly neglected that fact to avoid audience ratings sullying my own hot takes on the subject. but this one has me curious. 

[dreamingcloudie]

hello! I'm kinda shy to request about this if you don't mind at all, but is it okay that you write about dottore with a s/o adopting a child and basically just cute married couples with family type of shit? it would be interesting to see his dynamic with the kid would be!

If you want too ofc! ^^

also i really like your content! it's so well written and it cheers me up so much :) 💖💕

❛❛ A Step Into Fatherhood ❜❜

✎ ❛❛ What do you mean I'm getting soft? ❜❜

Pairing(s): Dottore x GN!Reader

Genre/Format: Fluff (oneshot)

Warning(s): Use of Dottore’s (speculated) real name

wc: ~3k

Notes: Oh god I'm sorry I haven’t posted in a while 😭 I was on writer's block and still kinda am. But at last, here's finally a fic!! Haven't written in a while and got rusty, so this might not be good :') Anyways, I LOVE THIS REQUEST AHHH 💕💕💕 Dadttore is so UGH 😫👌This request got me all giddy. I hope you'll like it :D

Gentle flakes fell to the ground as you went from store to store. Your husband was in need of some materials to carry out his experiments. He asked a segment to gather them but you offered to help instead. You wanted to go out for a stroll anyways, so why not?

You were about to go back to the palace when you heard a noise coming from a nearby alleyway. It sounded like someone was rummaging through something.

You knew it was dangerous to investigate on your own without any weapons on you. But you couldn't help it, curiosity got the best of you and your legs subconsciously brought you closer towards the sounds of clanking.

Following the noise, it led you to a dumpster. The lid was closed so you weren't able to tell what was inside. Judging by the size of it though, you assumed it would be some sort of animal. You were expecting to see a raccoon when you opened the lid but what you saw made you scream and stepped back instead.

What the…

You slowly opened the lid again and an equally shocked but frightened face stared back at you. 

What is a child doing here? You thought.

It was a little girl who looked no older than ten. She was wearing a thin layer of clothing and her hair was stained. In her hands she was holding a paper plate of thrown out food from a restaurant.

When you got closer again, her hands that were holding the plate recoiled to her torso and turned into fists. Tears were forming at the corner of her eyes and her form shook.

"Hey… it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," you said in a hushed voice.

Once the little girl seemed calmed down enough, you spoke again, “What are you doing here? Where are you from?”

"I'm from over there…" She pointed. You followed where her finger was pointing at and your heart dropped.

House of the Hearth.

The orphanage where Arlecchino trained the kids to become soldiers? What was this kid doing here?

"I see… I don't know how you got here but why don't I take you back—"

"No!" She yelled, taking you off guard.

"Please… I don't want to go back there… The others are mean to me…"

She was now sobbing and you were trying to think of what to do.

She looked like she really didn't want to go back there… You would feel bad for forcing her to go back. But it couldn’t be good to just leave a kid all by herself here as well. 

From the looks of her fragile frame, she definitely hasn’t eaten a sustainable meal in a long time. Poor kid, it was cold out and that bread didn’t look edible.

What other options did you have?

You were someone who adored kids, and the protective instinct inside of you screamed.

Without thinking, you blurted out, “Why don’t you come with me? I can take you to a warmer place and give you something nicer to eat."

The little girl was hesitant, but you could see her eyes lit up a little.

“Really?”

“Of course! Being out here by yourself is dangerous anyways.”

She got out of the dumpster and approached you with small steps. Once she got close enough, you took your own coat off and draped it over her.

“There we go, this will keep you warm enough until we get back,” you muttered, gently taking her hand into yours as you made your way back to the resting quarters.

- - -

When you reached the palace, you quickly took her to your room, trying to avoid anybody on your way there. You couldn't risk letting anyone see the kid here, who knew what they would do to her if they found out she escaped Arlecchino's orphanage?

And you most certainly didn't want to face that harbinger's wrath.

You let out a breath of relief when a Fatui agent only nodded to greet you as he passed the hallway without making a comment on how your stance was off, while simultaneously holding the bag of materials at an awkward angle. You waved back at him with a sheepish smile. Once you made sure he was out of sight, you reached behind you to take a hold of the little girl's hand again before continuing on your way.

"Alright, we're almost there."

You looked both sides of the hallway, taking a double check to make sure nobody saw you before grabbing the door handle and pushing it open, pulling the kid inside with you.

The door closed with a click and you leaned against it, trying to calm down how fast your heart was beating. Archons, were you glad that Dottore convinced you to take some basic stealth lessons. You didn't think it was necessary… up until now.

"Okay, well, welcome to my room!" You walked over to a desk and set the bags there. Thinking you could just give them to your husband later.

The girl looked around your room in awe, it was huge. To her, this felt like a bedroom a royalty would own from the tales she had heard of. There was a queen-sized bed in the middle and the blankets looked really soft and fluffy. She could imagine how nice it would to sleep on it.

"Wow… I've never been in a room this big before!" She exclaimed, her eyes wandered through different pieces of furniture and objects decorating the room.

"How about we give you a nice warm bath? Then I can show you around more later."

You took her to the bathroom and ran a hot bath for her. She was making bubbles in her hands while you washed her hair, rinsing the suds off her head.

"And we're done!" You clapped your hands together, feeling satisfied with how clean she was now.

You wrapped a towel around her and took her back to your room again, digging through your closet for clothes that were suitable enough for her to wear for the time being. Fortunately for you, you were able to find some of your old clothes from when you were a kid. You didn't throw them away just in case you wanted to reminisce about your childhood.

Well, instead of sitting at the bottom of the drawer collecting dust, you could put them to good use again.

Once you were done with dressing her up, she looked at herself through the closet mirror and her eyes widened at how nice they looked on her.

"Mr(s)... Um…" 

"What's wrong?" You asked, worried that she might not like them.

"I don't know what to call you…"

That was when you realized you never told her your name, nor did she ever tell you hers.

"Ah, how could I forget! My apologies. You can call me (Y/n)! What about you, sweetie?"

Her eyes glinted at your name and smiled.

"Thank you, Mr(s) (Y/n)! I really like these clothes. They look so nice!" She paused before responding to your question.

"My name is Lilly."

Right as she finished her sentence, someone knocked on the door.

"Dear? Are you in there?" A voice you knew too well spoke.

Shoot.

It was your husband. And there was a random kid with you. 

Oh no, what am I going to tell him?! You panicked. How were you going to explain to him you brought a child to your shared bedroom?

Your thoughts were disrupted when he knocked on the door again.

"Dear? I'm coming in—" The door handle twitched, but stopped when you yelled, "Wait!"

You told the child to hide in the closet and to not come out unless you said so. A look of confusion mixed with fear appeared on her face but she obliged anyway, hiding at the corner of the closet.

Closing the closet doors, you jogged over to the bedroom door and opened it, revealing your husband who was standing there, twirling a vial of blue liquid in his hand.

"There you are, darling. That took you a while, is everything alright?" He asked.

"Oh nothing, I was just, uh, examining the materials I went to collect for you!" 

Archons, you hoped that was convincing enough.

"Really? Since when did you get interested in Chaos Cores?" He teased, showing you his signature grin.

"Just today! Haha…"

"Is that so…" He trailed off, noticing something on the ground.

"Hmm?" He hummed, taking his mask off to take a better look of the floor.

There was a water droplet. No, multiples of them.

"May I ask why the carpet is wet?"

Oh no, it must've been from the little girl's hair. It was still wet and you didn't dry it fully.

"I-I spilled some water! Yeah… I was clumsy." You smiled sheepishly at him.

He looked around the room and raised a brow.

"But I don't see a cup anywhere around here?" His attention went back to the droplets on the ground and noticed it was a trail. 

A trail leading toward the closet.

He walked over to it and stopped right in front of it. You were about to stop him but he was quicker. His hands swung the closet doors open.

From where you were standing, the clothes on the hangers casted shadows on her form and they were hiding her well. They should be able to hide her from your husband's sight too… you hoped.

But of course, with keen eyes such as his, nothing could escape him. His squinted eyes were now slightly widened. He expected to find someone or something, but definitely not a kid.

"What—"

"W-wait! Zandik, let me explain."

You told him how she ran away from the orphanage and she was all alone out there, so you wanted to help her.

"So you're telling me… this is a kid from Arlecchino's orphanage? Darling, you know how she could get if she finds out," he reasoned with you.

"I know, but she was scared! And I couldn't just leave her on the streets on her own either. So with no other choices, I decided to just take her here, and maybe take her in…" You trailed off. Gesturing to the little girl that it was safe to come out now. She got up and approached you, hiding behind your leg as she looked at Dottore.

"So, can she stay, please?"

He stared intently at the ground, seemingly deep in his thoughts.

Now, you knew that Dottore was not fond of kids. But unbeknownst to you, occasionally he would dream of having this fantasy of his. To have a little family with you…

And of course, he wasn't ready to become a father to his own kids yet, so maybe he'd take this opportunity to practice parenting.

He signed, faking his annoyance to conceal his unexplainable excitement.

"Fine, she can stay."

- - -

For the first week of her stay here, she was shy. The only person she wasn't afraid to talk to was you. She tried to talk to Dottore once but he unintentionally acted cold towards her, causing her to back away. 

You couldn't blame him though, he was awkward around kids.

So, to make it up to her in his own way, he ordered his segments to set up a new room for her.

You brought her to the room they were preparing in, wanting to know how she was liking her room so far and to also introduce her to the segments.

You knocked on the door and went in, while she trailed after you, hiding behind you as usual.

The segments stopped what they were doing and turned to the sound of someone coming in.

"Ah! So this is the kiddo Prime told us about." Beta was the first to speak.

Theta got closer to the both of you and kneeled down to Lilly's eye level. 

"Hello! I'm Theta, you must be Lilly, yes?" 

Lilly was too distracted by the white and black mask he was wearing, not listening to a single word that came out of his mouth. She tugged at your pants and said, "Mr(s) (Y/n), he looks like a clown!"

Upon hearing her words, you and the other segments began to laugh, all except for Theta.

"S-She called you a clown!" Beta wheezed.

"Quite fitting, don't you think, Theta?"

"I'm not a clown! God, what was Prime thinking when he chose to wear this mask back then…" He said, deadpan.

Omega quieted down his chuckle and asked, "So, how are you liking your room so far, little one?"

Lilly looked around the room, the wall was painted with her favorite color and animal for the pattern. The bed she was given to was smaller than the one in your room, but was still big to her. A unicorn plushie, which was made by Delta, was placed on it.

"I love it!" She bounced slightly in excitement.

- - -

For the second week, Dottore and Lilly would start to interact with each other more. He has been taking notes by observing the way you'd talk to her, how you'd take care of her… 

He was still awkward around her, of course. But at least he wasn't being cold to her anymore,  so that was an improvement. 

And Lilly, she was starting to grow more comfortable around him, as well. He wasn't as intimidating as she thought he'd be when he gifted her a mini robot, made with the leftover parts of a ruin guard. And now, she would sleep with it next to her at all times.

You were out to run some errands today, leaving Lilly in Dottore's care. She was reading a children's book on her bed, while Dottore sat next to her, patting her gently on her head.

She got to one of the pages and her eyes shined at how pretty the princess looked in the picture.

"Mr. Zanny?" She called out to him, using the nickname she gave him.

He hummed in response, signaling her to continue. 

"I want my hair to look like this pretty lady's, do you know how to do that?"

He leaned over to see an illustration of a woman with long, braided hair.

"Why yes, I do, angel. Would you like me to do that for you?" He said.

In return, he also had a nickname for her. He thought the word "angel" suited her. As she's such a pure and innocent child.

Lilly nodded eagerly and turned around, her back facing Dottore. Grabbing a brush from the vanity table, he brushed her hair and undid the tangled locks, until it was tidy enough to be put in a braid. 

You'd expect him to not know anything about braiding someone's hair but he was surprisingly good at it. 

Once he was done, he grinned at how it turned out. Lilly went over to a mirror and admired her hair, it looked neat and exactly how she thought it'd look like. 

She turned back to where Dottore and muttered out a little shy "Thank you."

- - -

It was late at night and everyone was sound asleep. Well, almost everyone.

Lilly was turning in her sleep, horrid images of scary monsters flashed in her mind and she woke up with a gasp. Her eyes darted around her room and it was dark. The moon light from the window barely lit the room up. She got out of bed and took the tiny robot Dottore made with her.

Luckily for her, the room you and Dottore slept in was not far from hers, she opened the door slightly ajar and peered inside. Noticing the two slightly moving silhouettes in the room. 

She tiptoed to your side of the bed and poked your arm.

"Mr(s) (Y/n)?" She whispered.

You were a light sleeper so it didn't take you long to stir awake.

"Mmm… Lilly? Why are you awake?" You asked, turning over to face her fully, waking your husband up as well.

"I had a nightmare and I'm scared…" She told you, her voice trembled and her arms wrapped around the robot tightly.

"Oh, you poor thing…" 

You helped her to get on the bed and laid her down between you and your husband. He yawned and was trying to comprehend why Lilly was in the bed with the two of you.

He looked at you for answers and you only said, "Nightmare." 

"Would you like to listen to a story to help you sleep, Lilly?" You asked.

She pondered for a while before answering, "Yes please."

“Let’s see… Once upon a time, there was a little girl,” you began, then looked at Dottore to continue. He groaned a little and tried to think of something in his sleepy state.

“The little girl had a knife— I mean uh… A teddy bear? His name was… Bob,” he said. Making his sentence a bit more family-friendly when you glared at him.

“She and the teddy were best friends, they would go on an adventure together.” You added more to it.

“Then the little girl later strangled the teddy—“ He stopped when you hit his arm. 

"What he meant to say was, the little girl later helped the teddy bear with a mission…"

The both of you carried the story on, well, more like you having to constantly make changes to Dottore's… questionable imagination.

But overall, it went pretty well, sometimes Lilly would snicker at the jokes Dottore made. But laughed even harder at his horrible attempt at talking in a high pitch voice to mimic the teddy bear. 

His face was red from embarrassment, to say the least, that he made a fool out of himself just to make the two of you laugh.

It was embarrassing… but it was worth it, to hear the laughter of his two sweet angels.

"And finally, Bob made it home safely… The end." You ended the story.

You turned your attention to Lilly and you could tell she was getting tired, her eyes were droopy and she could barely keep herself awake.

As her mind was about to take her away into the land of dreams, you heard her muttering.

"Night night, daddy… Night night (mommy / other daddy)..."

Bonus:

Dottore walked into Arlecchino's office and slammed some papers onto her work desk.

"The papers are signed, she is now officially my daughter."

"Very well."

[hanakou-often]

I just happened to stumble upon your blog.. and I never really thought about HanaKou before, but these posts are very compelling. I love seeing other people’s ships in things and would love to be convinced into them.. heh. I’ve sort of fallen out of tbhk recently because the most recent arc hasn’t been compelling to me PARTLY BECAYSE KOU AND NENE AND HANAKO DONT KNOW EACH OTHWR?!?!? Which is really depressing, because I like them a lot. Ermm idk where I’m going with this I just was scrolling through the blog like “heh.. they’re cute I want to know more..” and now here I am. Please excuse my nonsense blabber idek if this makes sense 😔

Oh boy. Despite Hanakou being my hyperfixation for around 3 years, I still don't feel equipped to salesman my way into convincing someone 😭 most of my love for them has just come from PURE brainrot so I'll try my best to actually formulate more logical reasons why I like this sinking ship as much as I do. Long ass spoiler-filled rant incoming!!

1. Narrative Foils

A narrative foil is a character that contrasts another character, often the protagonist, to highlight certain aspects of their characters. Think Kabru and Laios from Dungeon Meshi, Sayaka and Kyoko from Madoka Magica, Draco and Harry from Harry Potter, etc.

To begin, Kou is a 'weak,' naive exorcist who always fights for justice and to protect the people he loves out of his own volition. Since he is the underdog of his family clan, the mediocre middle child next to his eldest exorcist extraordinaire brother, Kou is willing to do anything to prove his worth. This is primarily exhibited by his first meeting with Hanako as he recklessly plunges into a battle with the most powerful ghost in Kagome despite his inexperience with his weapon. When he's confronted about such, Kou states, "I don't care what happens to me as long as I can protect everyone!" and if that doesn't sum up his ideology, I don't know what does. He is shown to be the type of person to put everyone's safety, happiness and livelihood above his own, ultimately leading his selflessness to be his own detriment.

Contrarily, Hanako is a strong, knowledgable apparition who is given the role to protect students of Kamome, regardless of his detachment from the student body, as a way of atonement. As the long standing executive leader of the seven mysteries, Hanako has grown largely apathetic towards everyone, easily taking the cold, calculated and unconventional routes to reach the outcome he deems best no matter who it would hurt in the process. This is exemplified many times in the manga but to pick a lighter one: The time Hanako confessed to Nene under the kodama tree without telling her before hand that it wasn't real, leading him to hurt her feelings. It's clear that Hanako is the type of person to value his own goals and interests above everyone else's input, making him the more selfish antithesis to Kou's "selflessness."

Their differences in philosophy are really striking at times. Kou is endlessly optimistic while Hanako is more pessimistic, seeing the grimmer aspects of reality that Kou usually neglects. For example, Nene's lifespan has been a divisive topic between them for a while. Hanako had known about it from the start, originally intending to keep the poor girl in ignorant bliss for how much time she had left. At the point of the reveal in the clock keeper arc, he had no plans on trying to change her fate, solemnly stating that "there are things in this world that must not be changed...It's better for Yashiro this way." This is a direct contrast to Kou's more 'human' perspective as he immediately protests Hanako's claim of "There is nothing you can do," passionately asserting that he won't give up, he'll do whatever it takes save her and that is final. In the face of a dark reality, Kou completely rejects it, choosing to believe there's hope, like the naive son of a gun Hanako knows he is. From personal experience, Hanako knows it's stupid, it's idiotic, it's downright suicidal to go up against fate but somehow he ends up hoping Kou is right, trailing "I'm counting on you" as they settle back into a world that will never be the same after this revelation between them. (Something something Their differences are key to propelling the plot forward since Kou is the one to inspire Hanako not to just let Nene's life go by!!)

All of this is not to say they don't have anything in common. In fact, they are united by their desire to save the people they care about, grounded in their ruthless determination to see out their goals and are self sacrificing to an extent. I would love to go deeper on this topic but I'm afraid my brain is already starting to fry lol. In short, their differences are what make them interesting as a duo!! Each of their qualities can compliment the other's contrasting attributes and as people say, opposites attract!!!

2. Pivotal Roles in each other's Narrative

Hanakou are very important to each other's story since they are a key player in both their humble beginnings and tragic ends. Respectively, they are each other's gateway to a new life. Much like Nene, Kou is a symbol of hope for Hanako, his spunky attitude and determined nature igniting a humanitarian spark that Hanako lacked in the sixty years he lingered Kamome. For Kou, Hanako is the first apparition he meets, the one that sets off his rocky journey with navigating the world of supernaturals as a lackluster exorcist, and the second person to fuel his fire by believing in him. Specifically, Hanako tells Kou he looks forward to the day he can expel him with ease, a statement that foreshadows their distant future. In order to complete their whole character arcs (Hanako going from stubbornly clinging to the near shore to repent to accepting he's done every to atone and ready to pass on; Kou starting off weak and naive then ending as a stronger exorcist capable of understanding both the supernatural world and humanity) they'll have to do exactly what Hanako anticipated: Exorcise him once and for all. This aspect of their relationship is something intricately intertwined with their fates and while AidaIro may have forgotten about it, I can only hope they'll deliver so that they can bring their narratives full circle.

Now in the context of a romantic relationship, there are some absolutely soul crushing implications here. The hands Hanako loves to admire, intertwine his fingers with and adore are the same ones that will ultimately be his demise. Kou is Hanako's deathbed. That’s what they’ve known all along. It’s something that looms over their heads with a lingering heaviness neither boy wants address: Kou wanting to silently avoid his crushing responsibility while Hanako is just trying to savor whatever time he has with Kou. It's doomed just like everything else in TBHK <3

3. Young Exorcist arc

This one goes hand and hand with the second point but I felt that this needed to be discussed on its own since it's where many Hanakouers (ME) really took interest in their relationship. The arc begins with Kou being pulled aside by Teru, the two having a conversation about how Kou was supposed to immediately exorcise any seven mysteries he encounters. When Kou fumbles around him, insisting that he can't find it in himself to see Hanako as a bad supernatural, Teru is quick to remind him that "There is no such thing as a 'good supernatural'" and promptly takes him off the case. He was going to take matters into his own hands but the moment Kou looks at him with pleading eyes, Teru decides to give him more time to carry the duty out.

This is where Kou sets off to find Hanako, get some irrefutable proof that he's not evil like the generalization Teru makes. The effort he puts here into defending Hanako is absolutely adorable, if not a testament to their potential then a testament to Kou's sweet character. The suspicion he's built as he spies on Hanako who saunters around with a sack of stolen items is broken once the ghost explains that he's gathering them to return to their rightful owners. As stated previously, Hanako’s noble deeds are done more as a way to atone rather than out of his own good will so to see that he went out of his way to return stolen items to students, one of which being Kou’s safety earring, without being obligated to do so is great evidence to support Kou's idea that supernaturals can be good. Given this, Kou decides right then and there that he won’t exorcise Hanako after all. Now, Hanako here could have reveled in this decision, his kind act successfully manipulating Kou into compliance with his schemes, but instead, Hanako shows him exactly why he shouldn’t give up.

He cares for the kid. He does. Which is why he has to show how wrong he can be. It’s a downright dangerous thought because it lures Kou into a false sense of security that all supernaturals can be “good” like Hanako.

Cue Teru's dramatic entrance where he immediately apprehends the offending apparition and tries to execute him (for good reason). Blah blah blah Teru is condescending towards Kou because he made the wrong call again, something something Kou is trapped in Teru's bead bracelet and question his view of Hanako once more. For a moment, Kou almost gives into despair, letting Teru exorcise him without another word. After all, what does Kou know about the supernatural world? He's a weak link to Teru's infinite knowledge, power and experience. Maybe he should just let him do what he deems best.

However, as Hanako objects to his sentencing, screaming that “death would only be a release” and he still has so much to do here, it reminds Kou that Hanako is here for a reason. Sure, he’s an apparition, something that’s synonymous with evil, but all that time they spent together has to mean something, right? Hanako indulges Nene and Kou, joking around, Hanako has indulged Kou when no one else believed in him, he's saved them when he easily could’ve left them to their own devices. That definitely means something. Suddenly, Kou breaks free from the beaded prison, charges in the middle of the battle field and grips Teru's blade with an iron fist, all to save Hanako.

Just look at that. Kou slit his own palm trying to protect Hanako, someone he vowed to erase just weeks ago, because he's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He defies his brother, someone he highly admired for the past fourteen years of his life, for Hanako’s sake. Kou’s change in attitude towards his exorcist duties is largely attributed to Hanako. The sole notion of Hanako, the not so evil supernatural, has turned Kou’s world completely upside down.

I'll never forgive the anime for omitting this arc, not only because it excludes a pivotal moment in their relationship but also because it deprived an enriching detail to their development!!! Oh my god. Kou finally stands up for himself and owns up to his naivety. He knows he’s stupid for jumping from one extreme conclusion to the other before he has fully understood everything Hanako has to offer but he can no longer side with Teru’s one note view of him or supernaturals in general, lest more decent apparitions be erased without cause. He brings a level of nuance to the function that Teru does not appreciate!! When Kou decides to vouch for Hanako, undertaking the massive responsibility to watch over him all on his own, it shows a lot of growth in his maturity and his perspective of the ghost.

So yeah. A lot to say about the young exorcist arc. Not only has it deeply impacted the Minamoto brothers relationship, but it has brought a significant change within Kou’s mindset. He’s no longer trying to label Hanako as a definitive good or bad but trying to deepen his understanding of him and decide what to do from there. As for Hanako, he seems to respect Kou more now, giving credit where credit is due, and feels as though their bond is strengthened by the vulnerable state they saw each other in. He even acknowledges this in the first chapter of ASHK when Teru comes in to “help clean" by immediately taking cover behind Kou and questioning the commitment he made to keep Teru at bay. It's also weirdly sweet to see Hanako taking cover behind Kou here!! It really goes to show how much trust they've built for each other and how safe Hanako feels around the exorcist C:

To sum it all up, the young exorcist arc was an important part of showing how Hanakou work together and cement how their views of humanity/supernatural world are shifting because of each other!! I didn't get to talk about it too much but they also have a bunch of cute moments here which sorta feeds to the next point.

4. Classic Bromance to Romance

A bromance is defined as a quote en quote "close, friendly but non-sexual relationship between two men" and that's more or less what Hanakou brings to the table!!! First and foremost, they are complete opposites in a lot of their personality traits which makes it fun to see how they interact. Hanako's pervyness to Kou's disciplined innocence, Hanako's mischief to Kou's gullibility, Hanako's love of teasing to Kou's fiery denials, it's all just so entertaining to watch!!! They bounce off each other sorta like a coke and mentos relationship where on their own, they're absolutely fine but when they're together BOOM explosions, dumb arguments, rough housing 24/7, etc, etc. Just take a look at the shenanigans they get up to in this panel.

How? Just how did they get here? They used to be enemies, they're still supposed to be enemies but here they are, a hopeful descendent of a powerful exorcist clan and an executive leader of a important supernatural group, just play fighting with a mop and broom like they're no better than two clumsy best friends goofing off on their free time. I love their little bromance so much because it's the result of their growth during the many adventures they've had together. URUGHH After they've been through, it's deeply endearing to realize that they really are just boys being boys at their core!! C:

Now moving onto the romance part, I want to preface this with how I do believe men should be allowed to have intimate platonic relationships with each other without having to get accused of being gay but alas, I fear Hanakou's closeness as friends can easily pave the way for something more as they blur the line between friendly and flirty banter.

It's already been established that Hanako feels safe enough to be his usual self around the exorcist, knowing that no matter how mischievous, touchy and downright despicable Hanako can be, Kou won't ever hurt him. It's a sweet sort of trust that can be explored further with some typical bromance shenanigans, IE Hanako gets bored and decides to test Kou's boundaries just for the hell of it. At first, it's only joke flirting and some harmless teasing here and there. Maybe a lingering touch or two (only to push some buttons of course). Most of the time, Hanako finds this endeavor to be deeply rewarding since Kou reacts in a way that Nene doesn’t, his responses leaning into his more physical, boyish volatility as he either bashfully pushes Hanako away, chases him off or just straight up punches him in the arm, visibly flustered. The reactiveness encourages Hanako to keep upping the ante to the point where it's more unusual for him not to mess with Kou. It's grown into a bad habit of his: snaking his arms around Kou's shoulders, fiddling with his fingers with reverent fascination, sneaking glances at the boy and making funny faces in the hopes he'll look back and laugh, etc, etc. As Kou gets used to Hanako's antics overtime, his extreme reactions gradually diminish and it's becoming increasingly clearer that Hanako isn't (wasn't?) just doing it because "he's bored" anymore. No, it's something worse. With a sinking clarity, Hanako realizes boredom isn't the driving reason for being around Kou anymore, it's fondness of the cute (flustered) expressions he makes, it's the giddiness that swells in his chest when Hanako manages to make him smile, the electricity that floods his system when Kou flirts back, it's...something else he does not want to dissect. And so, Hanako will bury this revelation under the belief it's due to his unfamiliarity of friendship. Fifty years of isolation has to do a number to your perception of romance vs friendship, right???

Meanwhile, Kou is committed to the promise he made in the young exorcist arc so he's usually admiring from afar watching over Hanako to make sure he's in line and keeping an eye on Hanako isn't hard as of late; they're spending more time together before, during and after school and as much as he doesn't want to admit it, he genuinely enjoys the company. Kou likes what they have, it's good that they can rely on each other and still leave room to joke around but to be honest, Kou has some...weird feelings towards Hanako. Every time their eyes meet his heart skips a beat, whenever he lets his mind wander it usually finds its way back to Hanako, their friendly banter stuck in his head, and for whatever reason, Kou's body can't seem to forget the ghost's touch, even long after he's fucked off to who knows where. There's something different about it. It's not the detestation he had when he first met Hanako, nor is it the quaint glee he had when he decided to not exorcise him. It's something completely new, something foreign that has his stomach doing flips every time he sees Hanako's bright smile or hears his stupid laugh. Kou tries not to think about it too much, lest he gives Hanako exactly what he wants, so he just chalks it up to his view of supernaturals being challenged. After all, going from believing all supernaturals are dangerous, evil vermin that need to be exterminated to voluntarily hanging out with such a friendly one is bound to stir up some mixed feelings, right?

Do you see my vision now? The bromance to romance pipeline would be unreal with these two confused idiots!! There's so much room for the internalized homophobia, the confusion of trying to differentiate friendly feelings from the clusterfuck of emotions the other boy evokes and the funny fumblings of two teenage boys letting the joke flirting go a bit too far like a game of gay chicken gone wrong. Their relationship speaks to me in a way that can only be described as the entertainment you get from mixing two reactive substances and waiting for the inevitable chaos that proceeds. Even if you don't ship Hanakou romantically, you gotta admit their dynamic is super fun to explore!! C:

5. Other characters reactions

I swear I’m taking this somewhat seriously but I really enjoy the more wholesome aspects of this ship!! Nene being the third wheel to her two guy best friends, the LEAST romantic people she knows, is something that is deeply entertaining to me <3 She came into Hanako's life wishing for a boyfriend, failed to get one and then had to watch him get one himself. She would be so happy for them but at the same time, she'd be fighting demons trying to figure out how these two IDIOTS got more rizz than she does. (How much aura do you lose for this LMAOOOO)

Then you got Teru which if you liked this aspect of Mitsukou where Teru disapproves of his brother dating a school mystery then hooo boy YOU’LL LOVE HANAKOU!! Whatever apprehension he has towards Mitsukou it's increased tenfold because it’s one thing to date a school mystery, it’s a whole other thing to date not only the ghost of a murder but the LEADER of the seven mysteries??? Teru would absolutely flip his shit, wasting no time to charge into Hanako’s bathroom and expel him right then and there the SECOND he finds out (AND I DON'T BLAME HIM!! he just doing his job fr). I’ve been told it’s sorta like a Romeo and Juliet situation where two star crossed lovers are kept apart by a long-standing feud between their opposing houses (Montagues and Capulets WHO? I only know the Minamoto clan and Seven Mysteries) and I think that can just about sum it up!!

6. Hanako-San (ASHK)

This post is already as long as it is so I’ll save you the trouble of attempting an analysis and copy and paste my ramble from another post: “In regards to HanaKou discourse, I've always seen people say 'Kou's into Mitsuba!!' or 'they're just platonic besties! Plus Kou rejected Hanako!!!' and sure, maybe Kou doesn't have a thing for Hanako but has anyone REALLY stopped to consider Hanako has a thing for Kou??? And just. Didn't process it because of internalized homophobia AND his crush on Nene overshadowing his feelings for Kou??? Because THIS chapter had NO RIGHT to be so fruity on Hanako's part” and yeah why is the first thing Hanako decides to do when he turns into a girl is flirt with Kou??? And an even better question is why did he genuinely sulk when Kou rejected him??? If you didn't mean it why were you so butt hurt then huh??? Hanako really is the type of guy to passively think "if Kou was a girl or if I was a girl, I'd date him 100%" and it definitely shows!!!

7. Fanfiction. So. Much. Fanfiction.

This one doesn't have much to do with canon but it's more than likely why some people (ME) began to ship Hanakou!! My personal experience was I thought they were sorta interesting and I checked on ao3 to see if there were any others who thought the same. To my surprise, there were a bunch of fics lovingly written for them already and out of curiosity I started reading one. One became two, two became three, then suddenly I was tumbling down the rabbit hole feverishly consuming whatever I could get my grubby little hands on. As you've stated, seeing others' passion can be pretty compelling reason to start shipping something and I totally agree!!! Exploring the dynamics in such a freeing medium like Fanfiction can be much more invigorating than just reinterpreting canon so do give it a try if you're interested!! I promise Hanakou nation is a welcoming space and we'd be delighted to see more people on board with these two idiots C:

END

AUGHHHH I struggled to find the right words to express my thoughts but I hope it gave you a better understanding of Hanakou!! These two really are my Roman Empire and despite how much I floundered around this post, I am genuinely grateful for the opportunity to share my visions!!! Thank you so much for asking C:

[bibellebibuck]

Finale Thoughts

This is a long ramble that I’ve attempted to categorise and form into something coherent - but bear with me if there’s any mistakes, I’m working rn and didn’t have time to proofread🙏🏻

HENREN & MADNEY

I adore Madney and how inherently GOOD they are all the damn time. My favourite straights ever.

I know there’s differing opinions on this plot line but honestly I am glad that Madney are fostering Mara, for Maras sake. It’s a safe space her for where she’ll be loved and can keep in contact with Henren.

I do agree, though, that the constant struggles they put Henren through as they try to build their family is getting old and tired now, let them off the struggle bus, it’s time for a breather.

It’s a testament to how rushed this episode was that we didn’t even SEE the councilwoman at all. She just drops this bomb on the Henren family last episode and then disappears? No follow up? Okay.

My thoughts/hopes on these guys for S8 are; Madney will be left as they are once the Mara storyline is resolved (which I think won’t take long after the whole Gerrard situation is sorted) as they’ve had a lot going on with their wedding etc. I think they’ll be put aside for a while while other characters stories are expanded this season. I think it’s a possibility we’ll get another Buckley-Han baby after they see the sibling dynamic between Mara and Jee. Afterall, it was Maddie who commented on Denny and Mara “getting along so well” “like siblings”.

Henren specifically id like to see more of, I want Karen and DENNY! to have more screentime. Karen’s job is fucking interesting, SHOW US MORE SOMEHOW!! And Denny, what’s going on with his relationship with his dad now? This kids a great actor, give him a little more screen time.

BATHENA & AMIR

Now, Athena was bad ASS this episode. I love BAMF Athena with all my heart, that’s literally my mother. Her talk with Amir was emotional and I think well written (one of the few well written moments in this episode..) but it all went downhill from there. Amir’s rescue was rushed as fuck, I wasn’t tense at all, Athena basically showed up, burnt the place down and sauntered out with Amir like it was nothing. Ofc my girl is capable of this no problem… but it wouldn’t have hurt to have had more of a fight scene, maybe Amir being a little more proactive, then show them struggling to get out of the fire? Idk. Just SOMETHING to expand on the scene a little. I did like “I’m Mrs Bobby Nash” though, hell yeah you are <3

Oh also Yay! May sighted!! Love my girl, wanna see more of her in S8 I miss her sooo much :(

For S8, I think Bathenas marriage issues should be gently explored a little more, i feel this plot line wasn’t properly resolved during the cruise eps? Idk maybe I’m just a nervous child of divorce but I’d like to see some of their trust issues put to rest. I mean, just an episode ago Athena was terrified Bobby was going to off himself, and Bobby literally retired without telling her. It’s not healthy, I wanna see them work it out and get stronger together. I don’t want more conflict between them to cause this though, maybe they just start up a conversation when things have calmed down and agree to talk it out or go to couples therapy or something. Leaving them where they are right now will feel like a dropped plot line.

I want to see more of Amir but I sincerely doubt we will, I have a feeling he won’t even be seen in S8 at all to be honest. It’s a shame, he’s an interesting character that I’d totally love the see explored more. Someone suggested he could be a connection opportunity for the hospital? I like that. Tim, take notes !!

I also want them to stop murdering Angela Bassets hair. Let her slay, please.

BUDDIE

I wish I had more to say here, but sadly… I don’t. My heart is telling me we’ve been gently queer baited once again, but I think that’s just old scars hurting (Destiel and johnlock survivor ✊🏻), my head is telling me a lot of the hype was stirred up by us as fans giving journalists and actors comments a little too much credit.

This isn’t to say I don’t think Buddie is happening, i still have my naive little belief that if WILL be canon eventually. They’re just going to drag it out as long as possible for the drama and possibly to appease Those fans, and the older viewer base who won’t be pleased by buddie canon.

I was very disappointed by the scene after Chris left, where Buck just put his hand on Eddies shoulder. We can say all we like that the shoulder touch is Their Thing™️ but in that situation a hug was absolutely goddamn necessary. Idc about shipping, that man needed a hug from his best friend in that moment. I think Buck needed it too. They just said goodbye to their son for an indefinite amount of time ffs why are we standing here like absolute mugs.

S8 - I want gay Eddie this season. I want it.

I want gay Eddie and then I want them both to be single for a while and Then I want buddie. If they can fit this into season 8 while keeping a nice steady pace (I have little faith after this insanely rushed finale, but let’s give them the benefit of the short season doubt) then I want Buddie feelings realisation towards the end of S8.. possibly setting up canon for S9 or even ending S8 with canon and a cliffhanger.. maybe a good one this time though!

As much as I’d like to see Buck supporting Eddie as he navigates life without Christopher, I don’t think we’ll get many scenes between them at first. I think this is where Ryan is talking about Eddies isolation. He’s going to go to work, be with his family, then go home and be without his family, and it’s at this time that he’s going to be working on himself. To get better for Chris, and for his own mental health. This journey is his alone, and I think it (although a little painful) makes sense that Buck isn’t involved in this too much.

EDDIE & CHRIS

To sum it up.. OUCH!

Eddie is an amazing father, and if you think otherwise just block me. He made a mistake with Kim, that does not make him a bad father. Him respecting Christopher’s space and choices in this ep was soooo healing and lovely to see, he called Buck because he knows Chris trusts and loves him and needed somebody to talk to, and knew he wasn’t the person for that right now.

I’ve seen some people bothered about how it’s unrealistic for the Diaz parents to have gotten to eddies so fast after the incident. To this I say, how are you not used to 911s complete disregard for timelines/timeline realism at this point? Just let it happen and move on, like it’s a fantasy land where time isn’t real. Now, I’m not American so maybe I don’t get the extent of the distance between LA/Texas - but still, I enjoy the show more I think, because I don’t overanalyse the timeline 😅

What I DO find unrealistic is that Chris would call his grandparents and not Buck. I’m not looking at this through shipping lenses either, I’m saying that when Eddie had his breakdown, Chris’s first instinct was to call Buck. When Chris was upset and scared at the Ana situation, he went straight to Buck. And now this, he doesn’t talk to Buck at all before calling his grandparents?

It makes sense that he wanted to go to Texas as if he stayed with Buck he wouldn’t really be getting much space from his dad, and maybe he’d be thinking that Buck/Eddie would be on his case trying to force forgiveness on him while he’s there. But I think he first instinct would still have been to Call Buck to discuss the situation first, to confide in him, ask for help. Then he’d call his grandparents.

For S8 - I hate to be a downer but I don’t think we’ll see Chris this season. At LEAST the entirely of 8a, anyways.

As I mentioned earlier, I think this season will show Eddie growing and healing from this situation and becoming the person he wants to be, for himself and for Chris.

I think there is a lot of potential for us to finally get some Eddie & Maddie scenes, she could open a conversation with Eddie about her own struggles with feeling like an unfit parent for Jee - maybe Buck initiates this conversation, asking Maddie to speak to him?

I hope he will finally be able to put his insecurities about his parenting aside and stop trying to find Chris a mother figure, and accept that they’re a fine (wonderful, even) family unit as they are.

BUMMY / BT

Ooooohhh lord let’s get into it then.

It’s no secret that I hate this relationship. I do NOT hate it because I am a Buddie shipper, or because I’m homophobic (the fact that I have to clarify this is stupid, but the anon hate in my inbox means it’s necessary). When BiBuck became canon, I was OVERJOYED! I was excited to see Buck exploring his identity and enjoying a relationship with a new partner (I did want him to be single for a while originally, but it wasn’t a big deal, the Natalia relationship was barely a relationship anyways).

I initially had a bit of an ick from the way Tk kissed Buck to ~shut him up~ but I’m a bit of a hypocrite here because I don’t entirely hate this trope usually, but only when it’s between two well established characters who know each other well. At this point, Tk is still new to Buck so it did bother me a little. But, we move.

Then… the first date. I fucking hated this date, Tk almost outed Buck and then left him on the pavement like an a class ASS. I lost all interest in this relationship at this exact moment.

In this episode, on this date, we see Buck opening up about his relationship with Bobby as a father figure (WIN!! Let’s appreciate our small victories!!). Tk then gives us “but your fathers alive” which ?? What’s your point?? Why aren’t you comforting your partner right now?

And shared his own experience with having a shitty dad. We then get the daddy issues joke.

To detour for a moment; we all remember when Buck went to therapy and opened up about his sex addiction, right? How he was being vulnerable about his trauma/mental health, to the point that he was in actual tears… and then his therapist came onto him and slept with him. The show brushes this under the rug and even later makes a joke about it. We’ve all expressed our distaste for this in the past and rightly so. Aside from how morally wrong it was, it was also incredibly distasteful in a very real way.

We’re given a very close repeat of this situation in the finale. Tommy sexualising Bucks trauma is not only unfair on bucks character, but also a shitty slap in the face to real people in the real world too. How many times have we been sexualised for having “daddy issues”? The answer is a lot. This scene was Downright Offensive.

It’s so disappointing because in some ways this show is so progressive, and has handled some sensitive topics in such a great way in the past. But it’s really fumbled the bag with this one.

A large and hopeful part of me thinks all these tense/awkward/unhappy/unsatisfying BT scenes are a setup for BT bones in S8. If they wanted us to like Tk and be invested in this relationship, SURELY they’d make him more likeable & more supportive of Buck?

The awfulness of his character and the stilted scenes between him and Buck do feel intentional. And I reaaallly hope this is the case.

S8 - preferably, BT Bones off screen before the season even begins, Natalia style.

More likely, BT bones within 8a, due to Gerard’s return and the tension this will cause between him and Tk.

Most likely, BT bones by the end of 8b. I truly truly truly, with all my heart and head and hands, do not believe BT is surviving to season 9.

BUCK

just wanted to put in a little paragraph here about Buck specially, piggybacking off of what I’ve said about his trauma being sexualised etc.

They have consistently missed opportunities to flesh out Bucks trauma, and he has MANY to choose from. If they continue to ignore this aspect of Buck, it will be a great disservice to his character. I know we all joke about wanting Buck to go through more shit situations for the angst, and how we want him to have a big breakdown at some point but honestly - it really is overdue. I don’t just want him to suffer for funsies, I want his character to make sense, I want him to continue to be massively relatable, I want him to address his trauma and work through it and move on etc. etc. etc.

Here’s hoping we get the single Eddie and Buck arcs in S8/maybe 9 and both of them get therapy, properly.

RAVI

My boooyyy!!! The framing of that last shot, I do reckon Ravi will main soon. They didn’t drop his insane childhood lore, and built on him as a character (while Chim was at the academy with him) for no reason.

I am personally really looking forward to seeing him get a lot more screentime in S8. It’s what the people want!!!!!!

GERRARD

Why did they act like this was such a major twist?? Like why else would they have shown him last episode..

I don’t really understand how he can have been made captain of the same firehouse he was removed from for bullying a crew that is literally still there.. but for the plot I guess we’ll go with it!

I look forward to him finally getting his comeuppance in season 8, but the asshole he’s going to be to everyone sounds less fun.

Let’s look at what we might have in store, hm?

-Racist to Chim, Hen and now probably Ravi too.

-Homophobic to Buck.

-If Bobby is around, no doubt he’ll be demeaning to him.

-And, i fear, if he somehow knows about Eddies current situation, will he make snide remarks about him as a father? Idk, I wouldn’t put anything past the bastard.

I’d really like to see the team take a stand against him though, I know he’s their captain for now and they will, to an extent, respect him (or at least do as he says). But it would be nice to see some firefam crew solidarity the face of his bigotry and bullying. It won’t be realistic if any of them just stand by and listen/watch while he makes shitty racism/homophobic jokes to their family.

Going to be a fun (🫠) few episodes!

FINAL THOUGHTS

As an episode, this wasn’t horrendous, but certainly not great. As a finale, it was terrible. Underwhelming sums it up, disappointing emphasises it nicely.

I look forward to getting back to a full length season that has hopefully will be written a little more in advance than this one was. Let’s be optimistic, or this hiatus won’t be too enjoyable.

Can’t wait to spend the next few months binging Buddie fics and reading all your theories!! And don’t forget we get S8 BTS pics in just a few weeks 😭🫶🏻

Feel free to send me any asks if there’s something I’ve forgotten to mention that you’d like my thoughts on - or if you have any theories etc. I love to get asks from your guys 💛

[topguncortez]

What to Expect | A J. Seresin Series

masterlist | next part

synopsis: "Exes can have a baby, right?", a story in which Jake finds himself having a baby with the one person who can't even stand the sight of him. Slow burn, exes to lovers.

word count: 1.4k

warnings: pregnancy, vomiting, cursing, eventual smut, mentions of infidelity, fighting, TopGun shit.

➣5 years ago, North Island

If there was one thing your father wanted you to take from all the advice he had ever given you, it was to stay away from Naval aviators. Your dad, being an Admiral himself, knew how most of the aviators were like. They had a certain playboy attitude about themselves. They dripped confidence wherever they went. Anyone could tell when a group of aviators walked into a place, as all eyes went to them. Some of them loved it, and basked in the glory of having all eyes on them. Especially the TopGun pilots. Especially a certain blonde haired TopGun pilot. 

            Maybe that’s what drew you to him. He was forbidden fruit that your father had told you to stay far away from. You were the youngest of three girls, and you were the rebel child. Your father said you were the reason for his gray hair. For most of your adult life, you had listened to your fathers advice and stayed away from the Aviators. But it was hard to find anyone worth your interest when you were surrounded by pilots. 

            He had been eyeing you the whole night as you sat with your group of girlfriends. Your closest friend, Alyssa kept nudging you and pointing him out. You would occasionally look up at him, catching his eye and either giving him a smile or a wink. He had gorgeous green eyes and a perfect smile. You could see the singular silver bar on his uniform and knew that he was either fresh out of TopGun or had just been invited to attend. 

            “Would you stop eye fucking him!” Alyssa said. 

            “I am not eye fucking him!” You shot back and looked back over at the pilot. He was laughing with a group of other aviators. You assumed that this was the next class of TopGun aviators. Your dad had been getting everything ready for them to start. Even though at his rank, he could pass off all the introductions to someone else, he still liked to do it. It was probably because seeing the young class made him feel young in a way. 

            “Who is she not eye fucking?” Bradley asked, coming back to the table with a fresh drink for you and himself. Bradley, who had become your sort of adopted brother over the years, had been invited to TopGun. You were happy to have him back for a short amount of time, you missed him a lot. 

            “That blonde pilot over there,” Alyssa nodded towards where the blonde was once standing, “Wait. . .  oh shit, Y/N.” 

            You turned around right as the blonde had walked up to your table. He gave you that smile, which was even brighter up close. Bradley narrowed his eyes at him, knowing exactly who he was from seeing his picture on your father’s desk earlier in the day. 

            “Hi,” The pilot smiled, “My friends didn’t think I had the balls to come talk to you.” 

            “Is that your opening line?” You asked and Bradley snickered behind you. The pilot’s jaw dropped a bit, but he quickly recovered, “I was thinking more along the lines of-” 

            “I can’t help but notice how beautiful-” 

            “Yep, there it is,” You cut him off, “Classic pilots,” You said to Aylssa who nodded, “I’m Y/N. And I’m guessing you have a ridiculous callsign, you are about to tell me about.” 

            “They call me Hangman, but only some get to call me Jake,” He introduced himself, “Care for a drink.” 

            “Got a full one,” You lifted your glass. 

            “How about a dance?” 

            “I don’t like this song.” 

            “Okay, I am really striking out here,” Jake laughed nervously, “A helpline, please.” 

            “Walk on the beach,” Alyssa said and Bradley nudged her, “What?! She likes looking at the stars. And it’s romantic.” 

            “Unless you like sand in places where sand shouldn’t be,” Bradley said and you pointed at him in agreement. 

            “I think that’s my best chance,” Jake said to Alyssa, who raised her drink in response, “So. . . Can I take you for a walk on the beach?” 

            You looked at him, and you contemplated it. He was a nice looking man and was trying hard to get you to go with him. Most men would’ve given up and found a new girl to woo by now. But not Jake. You could see the determination in his eye, and could feel Alyssa nudge you to give him an answer. 

            “No walk,” You said, and could see the light in Jake’s eye diminish, “But I will dance with you. ONE, one singular dance.” 

            Jake smiled and held his hand out for you as the song changed right in time. The opening beats to the song sounded out of the jukebox, and Jake’s lips turned up in a smirk as you took his hand. He dragged you to the makeshift dance floor in the bar, putting one hand on your hip and the other held your hand. You rested your hand on his shoulder as he started to sway. 

            “I love this song,” Jake said. You listened for a moment and shook your head, “What’s wrong with this?” 

            “Slow Ride?” You questioned, “What. . . are you in the mood for a slow ride, Lieutenant.” 

            “I’d do anything if it meant I get to do it with you,” Jake answered, and spun you around, “So tell me, you from around here?” 

            “Born and raised,” You nodded, “Dad’s a flyboy like yourself.” 

            “Really?” Jake seemed shocked by the answer, “And he let you come to a Navy bar?” 

            You smirked and stood on your toes to lean in his ear, “He doesn’t know.” 

            Jake smirked and looked at you, “Breaking the rules. . . What else are you good at?” 

            The song finished and you pushed yourself out of Jake’s arms, “Stick around and find out, Lieutenant.” 

            Jake watched as you walked away, swinging your hips as you did. You went to the table your friends were at, telling them that you were heading out, and grabbed your purse. You looked back at Jake and nodded your head towards the front door. It took him a second until he realized what was going on, and he moved quickly to follow after you. He told his friends he was leaving and that they needed to find somewhere else to stay tonight. By the time Jake got out to the parking lot, you were leaning up against the door of his truck. 

            “How did you know this was mine?” He asked, unlocking it. 

            “Well, it's souped up and has a Texas license plate,” You pushed yourself off the door and walked over to him. Jake’s hands went to your hips as you drape your arms around his neck, “And I overheard someone call you ‘Tex’ earlier and put two- and - two together.” 

            “Smart girl,” Jake said, and leaned down, “Can I kiss you?” 

            “Shut up, Hangman,” You said and closed the gap between the two of you. Jake’s hands roamed your body as your lips clashed together. He licked your bottom lip, before slipping his tongue in your mouth. He gently pushed you against the door of his truck, his hand going behind your head so you didn’t give yourself a concussion. Your hands went down his broad chest, to his pants, pulling at the gold belt buckle. 

            “Wait,” He sounded breathless as he pulled away, “As much as I want to do this, I can’t let an Admiral’s daughter go down on me in a parking lot.” 

            “Who said I was gonna go down on you?” You asked and Jake’s cheeks went red, “I’m kidding. I was totally about to suck you off, if you didn’t stop me.” 

            Jake chuckled, “You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you.” 

            “Like I said,” You reached into his pocket. Jake stiffened as your hand brushed against his cock and you grabbed his truck keys, unlocking it, “Stick around and find out.” 

            Jake moved quickly, as he picked you up by your legs and put you over his shoulder. You let out a giggle as he walked around to the other side of the truck and opened the door. He put you gently into the passenger seat, and buckled you up. He placed a kiss on your lips, before shutting the door and jogging around to the other side. Jake looked at you, before putting the truck in drive and then smiled to himself. He could get used to seeing you sit in his passenger seat. 

taglist form

taglist: @materialgirl01 @cherrycola27 @love2write2626 @averyhotchner @maddievevo @xoxabs88xox @nagygreta @bioodforbiood @saramaple @violyn20 @abaker74 @misshoneypaper @callsign-joyride @auroraboreallisfine

[subhumanselflover]

HELLO! Is it too early for me to come back and request more romeo? I just think he's the cutest thing ever hfhfh I'd like some cute hcs like giving him a sheep plush or something If this is spammy of me you can disregard this rq dw ^^ - Bedman Anon

note: bedman anon no it is not too early!!! you can request whenever you want. anyway im taking this as an excuse to curate some of my personal bedman hcs for you because i’m kind of crazy abt him. i’m currently getting off of a two week period of listening to the circle obsessively and telling anyone who would listen abt romeo lore. also, please assume these hcs are in an au where bedman is awake because.. that part of canon is very difficult to write with like 90% of the time. anyway!

A Handful of Bedman (Romeo F. Neumann) Headcanons for one Bedman Anon!

First of all I love the sheep plushie idea. That is canon to me now.

Actually.. perhaps in addition to that, I think he might collect plushies. When the bed isn't in fighting mode, it is lined with his stuffed friends :]

Also, he seems like the type to name all of his plushies. Except because it's Bedman, they all have complicated and refined names.

Kind of canon, but his buckwheat pillow is his #1 comfort item.

A sweet older brother hc for you, I think Delilah struggles with sleep deprivation, which leads to Bedman throwing together warm milk with cinnamon and honey for her. He's been doing it since they were younger, and she still asks for it now. They both swear by it working.

Bedman has.. interesting music taste. While you'd expect him to mostly listen to something classical, that's a rare piece of his taste. I don't know why, but some part of me feels like he would love something like Love Live. I am chuckling at the mental image of Romeo listening to silly anime girl music.

On the topic of music, I think he knows how to play piano. It's a random thing he learned as a child that stuck with him.

Adding to both of those above. Rhythm game fiend. He's crazy good at stuff like Bandori, Taiko no Tatsujin, Osu!, etc etc.

Oh my gosh I almost forgot. I think, though part of me feels this is canon, that he is a huge cinema nerd. Google show me this guy's letterboxd account.

Additional thought, I think maybe he likes Studio Ghibli and Wes Anderson movies. They're sort of comforting to him.

Hope you enjoyed!!

[new-tella-us]

Alright. No art. Just positive rant. The entire point of my redesigns was me being slightly annoyed at the designs and story of Seduce Me and having way too much positive nostalgia to be normal about this game. I love-hate this game. However! The one thing I will never, never shit talk Seduce Me for is its characters. The main six love interests (Yes I am counting Diana as a main love interest. Thank Demon War for that) are all so well written! I genuinely love them. Even Sam, my least favorite character, isn’t boring. I don’t dislike him for being a bad character, I dislike him because the tsundere trope annoys me.

But this isn’t a rant about the characters as a whole. This is a rant about Damien. Let me rave for a second. Because as melodramatic as his backstory is, it got me hook, line and sinker. I am convinced that either Michaela had a period of being obsessed with Damien or some redheaded fuck boy named Damien pissed her off so much that she made him into a character just to make him suffer. This boy is tragic!

Like b r o, all the other boys’ backstories can be summed up with “The palace life is boring, my dad is kinda shitty and I got one other, reoccurring, minor inconvenience” and then there’s Damien being like- “My mom suffered as my dad’s harem girl until she couldn’t take it anymore and tried to murder me before killing herself. Also my dad is extra shitty to me. He tried to kill me a few times. Food? That’s a luxury. Energy? I’m used to not having it. A room? What is that? Please let me become human because mind reading kinda sucks, oh wait, I only got a 1 out of 6 shot for that ending. And I’m not even the canon ending!”

And another thing! Matthew’s main bad ending has traumatized me for multiple reasons but that line, “That’s what you get for making me go to the human world” after he kills Damien! Now, Matthew is a favorite of mine, but in that moment, I wanted to shake that little bitch until his soul evacuated his body! Like, I don’t care that he was being controlled, how d a r e he come firing shots at Damien when all he wanted was a good life away from his abusive ass dad!? Bro Damien may have been the illegitimate child but at that moment Matthew was the bastard.

Tragic…

On a different, lighter note, I do love the sort of contrast between him and Matthew, at least on the topic of “naivety”. Of the two, you expect the fun loving, goofball to be the naive, kind of innocent one. But that’s not the case. Matthew is optimistic, Damien is innocent. Matthew knows what he wants and while the world is a wonder to him, he goes about the world with this sort of maturity, knowing what he wants to see and when. Damien is more of the spacey type. There is this level of inexperience to how he grasps the world as if he can’t even believe that it can exist. Plus, as much as he has an idea of what he wants to see, sometimes he feels like he must ask permission. Like in the New Years Episode where if you go on Damien’s route, he asks “Can we do this every year?”.

In conclusion, I want to wrap Damien into a blanket burrito and tell him that everything is going to be okay. And then take him to therapy because this man probably has C-PTSD. As my friends would say, I am mentally ill for this demon equivalent of a sad, wet dog.

[greymoonfeelings]

Goddamn, Man-child

you fucked me so good that I almost said “I love you”

Pairing: Frat boy! Jake Seresin x Fem! Reader

Summary: Your Friday night doesn’t go exactly as planned, but what can you expect when you’ve fallen for a fuckboy?

Word count: 2.9k

Warnings: toxic fuckboy Jake, alcohol consumption, dirty dancing, jealousy, degrading names, oral (m receiving)/facefucking, unprotected PinV and creampie.

thanks to @green-socks for editing help!

•••

When you first started college three years ago, you had no interest in partying. Your top priority was getting good grades, not spending your weekends hunched over a dirty toilet seat. For three years it stayed that way. It wasn’t until your final year that you finally indulged in the partying and that was for one reason only: Jake Seresin, the president of the biggest fraternity on campus.

The first time you met Jake was two months ago when your friends dragged you to Gamma Delta Chi’s Halloween party. Apparently, he has a thing for sexy pirates because you hooked up that night. What had started as a drunk mistake turned into somewhat of a ritual for the two of you. Jake is by no means the “nice guy” you were hoping to meet when you started college, but he’s charming and gorgeous and he knows how to please a woman which is more than you can say for most guys his age.

After a long and stressful week, it's finally Friday night. Jake sent you a text Wednesday night saying he missed you, accompanied by a foggy mirror picture post-shower. You nearly ran over to his house right then but you knew you had an 8 am class the next morning. However, you planned on making up for it tonight.

When you first walk through the front door of the house, you’re hit by the overwhelming stench of weed and cheap cologne. As you push through the sea of bodies on the way to the kitchen, your eyes subtly scan the house for Jake. He’s usually easy to spot. He’s tall with a mess of blond hair and likely to be surrounded by a few girls or freshman boys who worship him like some sort of god.

You finally locate him when you make it to the kitchen island that’s lined with an array of alcohol. In the corner of the connected dining room, directly in your line of vision, stands Jake. He’s pressed up against some redhead, talking intimately. From the smile that breaks out on her face, it’s apparent that he’s flirting with her.

The sound of her giggling turns your stomach. Your grip on a beer bottle starts to slip as your palms grow sweaty and your heart hammers in your ribcage. You exchange the beer for something stronger, quickly screwing the top off so you can chug straight from the bottle.

No matter how much you drink, your mouth still feels like it’s full of cotton. The scene playing out before you is nothing new. Jake is notorious for flirting with any girl who crosses his path. You’re not officially his girlfriend, but that doesn’t stop it from hurting.

You exit the kitchen with the bottle of vodka tucked under your arm in search of your friends. If you can distract yourself for an hour or two, you’re sure Jake will eventually seek you out.

As the night progresses, Jake and his new friend stay attached at the hip. Jake hasn't looked at you once despite your circle of friends standing only a few feet away. Eventually, he brings her over to the pool table and starts to teach her how to play, the same thing he did with you and likely all his potential hookups.

How could you be so stupid as to fall for that and think that you were somehow special? You knew what kind of a man he was, a horny 22-year-old frat boy who prided himself on being a womanizer, but somehow, you convinced yourself he was different.

Deciding to leave and stop attending these parties completely would be the smart thing to do, but at this point, you’ve consumed too much alcohol to be making any rational decisions. Right now you need something to make you forget about Jake. Or someone…

That distraction comes in the form of a rowdy frat boy who bumps into you as he high-fives his friend that’s in your circle. You recognize the guy as Bradley Bradshaw. The two of you shared a few classes over the years and he’s always been nice to you unlike some of his frat brothers. He’s attractive, athletic, and gets good grades. You could do a lot worse.

“Hey, Bradley!” You throw your arm around his shoulder, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

“What’s up?” He greets you with a squeeze on the hip.

“Let’s dance!” Without a second thought, you grab the brunette’s arm and drag him toward the horde of dancing couples. He doesn’t question you, instead falling quickly into place with his hands on your hips as they sway to the beat of whatever song is shaking the house at its foundation.

As you dance, you put all your energy into forgetting about Jake. You get lost in the music and the feeling of Bradley’s body pressed against yours. The alcohol coursing through your veins helps and for a few minutes, the distraction works. That is until you catch Jake staring at you from across the living room.

He watches the way you move to the music along with the man pressed up against your back. The sight of someone else feeling you up causes his body to tense up and his grip on his beer bottle tightens, squeezing it the way he wishes he could to Bradley’s neck.

You smirk proudly at Jake ignoring the oblivious girl in favor of glaring at you and your dance partner, obviously jealous. This was not your original intention, but Jake deserves a taste of his own medicine.

You keep your eyes locked with his as you begin to grind your ass harder against Bradley’s front. One of Bradley’s hands snakes around your waist to pull you flush against his chest. He presses his mouth into your neck, warm breath fanning the exposed skin.

Jake stands there seething until he can’t take it anymore. His reserve finally breaks when you grab Bradley’s neck and turn to smash your lips together. When Bradley tries to slip his tongue into your mouth, you decide it’s time to pull away, but before you can, he’s being pulled off of you.

Everything is a blur as Jake grabs your waist, pulling you through the crowded house past other couples and into the first-floor bathroom. The door slams behind him with a resounding thud.

“What the hell are you doing with Bradshaw?”

“We were dancing!”

“His dick was pressed against your ass!” Jake is now mere inches from your face and you can’t help but think that he still looks hot even when he’s angry. His beautiful green eyes darkened, nostrils flared and that prominent vein popping out of his neck. God, you wish you could bite it.

Fuck. You remind yourself why you’re furious with him in the first place.

“Fuck you!” You push him away. “Why don’t you go back out to Strawberry Short–”

Before you get the chance to finish, Jake is all over you like a cheap suit. He captures your lips in a heated kiss that sends you stumbling backward. You bump into the wall just as he slips his tongue into your mouth.

Part of you wants to shove him off, keep yelling at him for being an asshole and maybe even slap him just to prove a point, but you won’t. Your need for him significantly outweighs your anger and frustration. After all, he’s here with you, isn't he? Not that other girl.

Running your hands through the hair at the base of his neck, you use it as leverage to pull him closer and force his tongue even farther into your mouth. One of Jake’s hands trails under your skirt, groping the supple flesh of your ass before drifting between your thighs.

“Pathetic,” Jake growls as his fingers trail over the wet patch of your panties. “So wet just from grinding like a bitch in heat.” He rips the flimsy fabric down your legs. “You were a little slut teasing him like that. I bet he thought you were gonna fuck him. He’s probably standing out there with a tent in his pants. I bet he’ll be rubbing one out to the thought of you later on. Maybe I should let him in here, let him use you any way he wants.”

The response that pulls from you is something between a whimper and a moan. Jake lets out a dark chuckle, “I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you? Well, that’s too bad. The only guy you’ll be taking care of is me.”

“On your knees,” he orders and you oblige, slipping off the counter and onto the tile floor. You sit on your heels, watching patiently as Jake undoes his belt buckle and pulls his dark-wash jeans down to his calves along with his boxers.

Jake smears your lips with precum as he taps his leaking tip against the delicate skin before ordering you to “open up”. You stick your tongue out and relax your jaw, allowing Jake to slowly feed you his cock. He starts slow, letting you take your time to get adjusted to the feeling of him in your mouth. He’s gotten you well-trained over the past two months though and within a minute you’re taking him back until your nose rubs against the curly hair at his base. When your hands grip his thighs and you look up at him through your long fluttering lashes, Jake knows you’re permitting him to use your mouth.

He holds your head still as he pulls his dick almost completely out before forcing it back down your throat. The surprise jolt causes you to gag around his thick cock as your eyes water and drool pools at the corners of your mouth. Peering up at him through wet lashes, you try to hold eye contact with him, but his eyelids flutter closed as he revels in the feeling of your warm mouth.

Jake looks down at your flushed face to admire your ruined eye makeup. Black mascara is smudged under your eyes, running with tear tracks. The sinful sight fuels his arousal. You focus your breathing to avoid violently gagging anymore as Jake begins to steadily fuck your face.

“Knew you had to be good for something,” he grunts.

Between the spit you’ve coated his cock in and the feeling of your warm mouth, Jake can feel his orgasm creeping up on him. You swallow around him as he pushes to the back of your throat once more and Jake decides that’s enough. You whine at the loss of contact but he tuts.

“Did you think I was gonna let you taste me?” You nod solemnly. “Nah, that would be too easy. I gotta make you work for it.” Jake motions for you to stand up and then bends you over the counter. The temperature of the granite is a stark contrast to your body which feels like it’s on fire.

When he nudges your legs apart and flips up the fabric of your skirt to expose your wet cunt, Jake notes the glimmer of your slick-coated thighs under the warm light. He leans down so he can whisper in your ear. “You get off on me using you, don’t ya?” You can hear the amusement in his voice. His heavy drawl sends a new wave of arousal to your neglected cunt. If you don’t feel him inside you soon, you fear you might die.

Your wish is granted when Jake lines his cock up with your dripping entrance. Within one thrust he’s fully sheathed inside your pussy. You yelp as your body slides forward, your head nearly hitting the mirror from the force of his pelvis slamming against your ass.

The sensation that comes with being full of Jake’s thick cock is nearly too much. It’s a painful yet delicious stretch, one you’ll be feeling for days after. Every time you think you might have gotten used to his size, he proves you wrong.

“I can feel your tight little pussy squeezing around me, sugar. I can tell I’m splitting you open.” Jake uses his grip on your hair to gently lift your head off the counter. Your eyes meet in the mirror as he watches you squirm on his cock. He’s got that shit-eating grin plastered on his face like always. “Always so needy for some cock, huh? My greedy little cockwhore.”

Jake’s pearly whites tug on your earlobe before releasing your hair, allowing your head to lull back against the counter. He pulls his cock out halfway then slides back in. His first few thrusts are slow yet purposeful. Slender fingers dig into your hips as he pulls them back to meet him with each deliberate punctuation of his cock.

With your face buried in the crook of your elbow, your moans are muffled. This doesn’t please Jake. “I want to hear you, sugar. I want everyone to hear how good I make you feel”, he growls. You obey, letting your arm fall to your side.

Your volume increases as Jake picks up his pace, now mercilessly pounding into you. The high-pitched cries that fall from your open mouth are like music to Jake’s ears. Your hands clutch onto the edge of the granite as if your life depends on it and it might as well with the way Jake is fucking you.

“Is this what you wanted?” Jake’s angry voice snarls in your ear. “Wanted someone to fuck you like the dirty slut you are?”

He lifts your left leg to rest it beside you on the counter, allowing him to slip in at a new angle. Your body rocks against the counter with each snap of his hips. The nudge of his cockhead against your cervix is unrelenting as he takes his frustrations out on your body.

The tiny bathroom is filled with the sounds of skin slapping and euphoric screams but the music booming through the frat house muffles it from the unsuspecting crowd.

“Please,” you cry. You’re so close to your orgasm, but you need something else to push you over the edge. Jake knows exactly what it is that you need, but he refuses to give it to you.

“Please?” Jake taunts. “Please what?”

“Please make me cum!”

“Make you cum? I don’t think so. I think I’ll just fill you up and let you walk around the rest of the night unsatisfied with me dripping down your thighs. Maybe that will teach you a lesson.”

Your head shoots up from the counter. Looking at Jake in the mirror again you cry out, “No, Please! Please don’t! Please!”

Suddenly, the door bursts open. A deep voice yells out, “What’s going on in here?”

Your head snaps to look at the intruder, embarrassment flooding you as you come face to face with Bradley. You’re even more horrified at the fact that Jake is still pounding into you as if his sworn enemy hasn’t just walked in on the two of you fucking.

Bradley’s face turns beet red as he realizes what he walked in on and that it was not, as he had thought, some girl getting harassed. His brain is screaming at him to run away, but he stands in place frozen and wide-eyed as he grapples to understand what he’s witnessing.

“What the fuck are you looking at, Bradshaw? Get the fuck out of here!” Bradley finally scrambles out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. “Fucking idiot,” Jake grumbles. “Now, I believe you were asking me for something?”

All your embarrassment dissipates as Jake’s cock rams against your sweet spot again. “Will you make me cum? Please, Jake?” Your voice quivers as you plead.

He considers you for a moment, eyes glassy and a pout on those perfect lips of yours. Jake loves to tease you, but he loves the feeling of you coming apart on his cock even more.

“Guess Bradshaw knows not to mess with you now.” Jake resigns as one hand trails to the front of your body. Two deft fingers find your swollen clit, offering you the stimulation you desperately craved.

“Thank you! Thank you!” You cry out as you reach your climax. The white-hot pleasure spreads through you like wildfire, causing your entire body to shake against the counter.

Jake’s body folds over yours as he’s propelled closer to his orgasm by the feeling of your sweet cunt pulsing around him. His teeth sink into your shoulder as his cock twitches inside of you. He ruts into your spent pussy, pumping you full of his cum that will surely leak out of you just as promised.

Once he catches his breath, Jake pulls out of you and redresses his bottom half. You stay propped up against the counter trying to compose yourself while Jake picks your underwear off the floor. He tosses the article of clothing onto the counter before pulling off his baseball tee.

“Here. You should probably clean yourself up before you go back out there.” He extends the shirt out for you to take before reaching for the door. “I’ll see you around.”

“That’s it?” You ask, incredulous. Jake’s brows furrow as he gives you a quizzical look. “Are you kidding me?”

“What?”

“You can’t just fuck my brains out because you were jealous that I was dancing with Bradley and then not say anything. You’re the one who ignored me all night while you flirted with some other girl.”

“I am *not* jealous of Bradley.”

“Then what do you call what just happened?”

“It’s called hooking up, sugar. We do it all the time.”

“and now you’re just gonna leave?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. We’re not a couple. We can do whatever we want.” With that final remark, Jake walks back out to the party, still shirtless, leaving you alone in the bathroom to process what just happened.

When he nudges your legs apart and flips up the fabric of your skirt to expose your wet cunt, Jake notes the glimmer of your slick-coated thighs under the warm light. He leans down so he can whisper in your ear. “You get off on me using you, don’t ya?” You can hear the amusement in his voice. His heavy drawl sends a new wave of arousal to your neglected cunt. If you don’t feel him inside you soon, you fear you might die.

Your wish is granted when Jake lines his cock up with your dripping entrance. Within one thrust he’s fully sheathed inside your pussy. You yelp as your body slides forward, your head nearly hitting the mirror from the force of his pelvis slamming against your ass.

The sensation that comes with being full of Jake’s thick cock is nearly too much. It’s a painful yet delicious stretch, one you’ll be feeling for days after. Every time you think you might have gotten used to his size, he proves you wrong.

“I can feel your tight little pussy squeezing around me, sugar. I can tell I’m splitting you open.” Jake uses his grip on your hair to gently lift your head off the counter. Your eyes meet in the mirror as he watches you squirm on his cock. He’s got that shit-eating grin plastered on his face like always. “Always so needy for some cock, huh? My greedy little cockwhore.”

Jake’s pearly whites tug on your earlobe before releasing your hair, allowing your head to lull back against the counter. He pulls his cock out halfway then slides back in. His first few thrusts are slow yet purposeful. Slender fingers dig into your hips as he pulls them back to meet him with each deliberate punctuation of his cock.

With your face buried in the crook of your elbow, your moans are muffled. This doesn’t please Jake. “I want to hear you, sugar. I want everyone to hear how good I make you feel”, he growls. You obey, letting your arm fall to your side.

Your volume increases as Jake picks up his pace, now mercilessly pounding into you. The high-pitched cries that fall from your open mouth are like music to Jake’s ears. Your hands clutch onto the edge of the granite as if your life depends on it and it might as well with the way Jake is fucking you.

“Is this what you wanted?” Jake’s angry voice snarls in your ear. “Wanted someone to fuck you like the dirty slut you are?”

He lifts your left leg to rest it beside you on the counter, allowing him to slip in at a new angle. Your body rocks against the counter with each snap of his hips. The nudge of his cockhead against your cervix is unrelenting as he takes his frustrations out on your body.

The tiny bathroom is filled with the sounds of skin slapping and euphoric screams but the music booming through the frat house muffles it from the unsuspecting crowd.

“Please,” you cry. You’re so close to your orgasm, but you need something else to push you over the edge. Jake knows exactly what it is that you need, but he refuses to give it to you.

“Please?” Jake taunts. “Please what?”

“Please make me cum!”

“Make you cum? I don’t think so. I think I’ll just fill you up and let you walk around the rest of the night unsatisfied with me dripping down your thighs. Maybe that will teach you a lesson.”

Your head shoots up from the counter. Looking at Jake in the mirror again you cry out, “No, Please! Please don’t! Please!”

Suddenly, the door bursts open. A deep voice yells out, “What’s going on in here?”

Your head snaps to look at the intruder, embarrassment flooding you as you come face to face with Bradley. You’re even more horrified at the fact that Jake is still pounding into you as if his sworn enemy hasn’t just walked in on the two of you fucking.

Bradley’s face turns beet red as he realizes what he walked in on and that it was not, as he had thought, some girl getting harassed. His brain is screaming at him to run away, but he stands in place frozen and wide-eyed as he grapples to understand what he’s witnessing.

“What the fuck are you looking at, Bradshaw? Get the fuck out of here!” Bradley finally scrambles out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. “Fucking idiot,” Jake grumbles. “Now, I believe you were asking me for something?”

All your embarrassment dissipates as Jake’s cock rams against your sweet spot again. “Will you make me cum? Please, Jake?” Your voice quivers as you plead.

He considers you for a moment, eyes glassy and a pout on those perfect lips of yours. Jake loves to tease you, but he loves the feeling of you coming apart on his cock even more.

“Guess Bradshaw knows not to mess with you now.” Jake resigns as one hand trails to the front of your body. Two deft fingers find your swollen clit, offering you the stimulation you desperately craved.

“Thank you! Thank you!” You cry out as you reach your climax. The white-hot pleasure spreads through you like wildfire, causing your entire body to shake against the counter.

Jake’s body folds over yours as he’s propelled closer to his orgasm by the feeling of your sweet cunt pulsing around him. His teeth sink into your shoulder as his cock twitches inside of you. He ruts into your spent pussy, pumping you full of his cum that will surely leak out of you just as promised.

Once he catches his breath, Jake pulls out of you and redresses his bottom half. You stay propped up against the counter trying to compose yourself while Jake picks your underwear off the floor. He tosses the article of clothing onto the counter before pulling off his baseball tee.

“Here. You should probably clean yourself up before you go back out there.” He extends the shirt out for you to take before reaching for the door. “I’ll see you around.”

“That’s it?” You ask, incredulous. Jake’s brows furrow as he gives you a quizzical look. “Are you kidding me?”

“What?”

“You can’t just fuck my brains out because you were jealous that I was dancing with Bradley and then not say anything. You’re the one who ignored me all night while you flirted with some other girl.”

“I am not jealous of Bradley.”

“Then what do you call what just happened?”

“It’s called hooking up, sugar. We do it all the time.”

“and now you’re just gonna leave?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. We’re not a couple. We can do whatever we want.” With that final remark, Jake walks back out to the party, still shirtless, leaving you alone in the bathroom to process what just happened.

[cordeliawhohung]

My phone glitched in the middle of sending an ask so sorry if you got something half baked, ignore it if you did lol

Anyway

YOU!

That last chapter... girl... G I R L 💙✨️

I'm going to walk you through the emotions i went through reading it.

Let me just say how cute and adorable it is that John felt comfortable enough asking Lolly to give her his number to send pics?? Also L GRANDMOTHER MOMENT. I cannot stand people like that. One of my in laws is from not this country and when she takes the kid back home with her, she will leave my relative in the dark for weeks at a time (she usually leaves for these trips for around a month at least) and not give him any sort of update on his own child so I'm just... I see that shit and I'm like c'mon!!! Throw a man a bone!!! And John is a SINGLE FATHER at that RAHHHH SEND PICS but also it's OK cause now Miss Lolly gets to :)))

The way you know John wasn't bullshitting just to get her number because Amelia is so ecstatic when Lolly offers to send a picture of her art to John 😭💙✨️

Amelia wanting to match with Miss Lolly and being so happy and excited for her to notice!!!! And she wants a picture with her!!! I understand Lolly's trepidation but you literally cannot say no to that cute little face come on 😭😭😭

My girls

My girls

MY GIRLS???

MY GIRLS CORDELIA???

I HOPE ITS NOT A TYPO

Lord

Let this man be trying to make it clear as day he's interested in Ms. Lolly Lord PLEASE DO NOT HAVE HIM MESSAGING TO CORRECT THE MISPELLING. MY LORD AND SAVIOR CORDELIAWHOHUNG PLEASE DO NOT-

Anyway yeah you get the point. Fucking baller chapter I am fucking BITING AT THE BIT FOR THE NEXT ONE

okay so that rat picture took me OUT lmfao. that is actually what i look like whenever anyone comes into my inbox and is like yOU!!!!

an e way -

Grandma Diana is going to be an interesting character, and i'm intrigued to see who all is going to hate her guts, and who all is going to understand where she's coming from. we'll get to see more of her later. not sure if y'all wanna call that fortunate or not though lmfao.

and ugh watching Amelia get so close to Miss Lolly. How she looks up to her? Wanting to match with her? (difficult to tell if she's a daddy's girl or a mama's girl.......)

but eek! so glad you enjoyed! i love these silly little characters so much <3

[simslegacy5083]

NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 9

Today's (7/26/2024) Episode: Birthday With Friends

Luigi’s rise to fame came just in time for him to age up. In one way it seemed like he’d just begun “adulting” as he’d so recently graduated university, but in another with his young son, high paying job, and all the medical drama it felt like this birthday should have happened ages ago.

It surprised no one when he decided to go “all out” to celebrate. Rather than having 1 big party he chose to split the merriment over multiple days, planning separate get togethers for his family and his friends.

First up was a small beach party with his buddies. This was perfect for socially awkward Noemi who felt at home within her small circle of friends.

While the boys and the happily child-free Bonnie enjoyed a little snorkeling on the tropical reef paradise, the moms settled in the shade not to far away to chat and keep an eye on all their tiny and not so tiny loved ones.

With Skye playing quietly at her feet Noemi checked in on how Isra was doing parenting little Elyse while also pregnant again, and with twins to boot, while Breanne kept an eye on the intrepid Bruce, who was happily crawling away to some grand adventure up the hill.

Isra was already in her second trimester. She’d been a “lonely only” growing up and had worked hard to get pregnant again as soon as her doctor told her it was safe. She told the girls that she had no regrets about the “double trouble” coming her way soon; in her opinion the more the merrier!

Noemi couldn’t relate, having been quite happy as an only child herself. She was pretty certain that Skye would also be her only, but she nodded along and silently hoped it all worked out well for her interesting new friend.

Later on, everyone headed back up to the house where Peachy had set out a tasty meal near a cozy campfire. He decided to save his voice for filming, entertaining the family with some classic guitar music as Blossom and her kittens crawled all over the yard investigating the visitors.

Luigi took the opportunity to ask Beau: “How would you like to adopt Marigold or Tulip here as a fine feline companion for little Bruce? Noemi and I don’t really want three cats, and it would sure be nice to send one home with a friend.”

“Well, as long as it’s free, I wouldn’t mind a tiny tiger for my little adventurer”, Beau replied. “Cats are great indoor playmates, and easy to care for.”

After saying goodbye to their friends, and little departing Marigold, the couple got Skye to sleep and retired to the living room to unwind before bed.

“It was so great to catch up with everyone!” Luigi said, a big smile on his face. “Can you believe Isra? Excited about having two newborns AND an infant?”

“I know!” Noemi replied. “I’m glad she and Rhys are happy, but no more for me please. Unless you want to have the next one?” she grinned evilly.

“No way!” he quickly replied. “You’ve seen the pictures of dad when he was pregnant with me” he shuddered “I am never doing that to my body. Not to mention the prize at the end of it all is major surgery and more dirty diapers, and I don’t want either of those!”

“Well… it’s a good thing we’re all set up to have fun without having any more babies.” Noemi leaned in close to show him exactly what was on her mind.  The TV show they’d planned to watch was quickly forgotten as her fiancé eagerly responded: “I love the way you think.” leaning in to get their little private party started.

This idea of two birthday parties was inspired by how a friend of mine always celebrates birthdays in her family. When she told me about it, I told her I simply had to use it in my story, and it seemed like just the sort of thing Luigi would do.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[skeletonpunching]

Buddy Daddies interview with Kino Hina

Interview with Kino Hina (voice actor for Unasaka Miri)

Interviewer: When you first saw the character design, description, and other information about Unasaka Miri, what impression did you have?

Kino: The first time I received and read the script for episode 1 was at the audition. In the script, a 4-year-old girl turned up in the middle of an intense gunfight - I remember it was quite the shocking encounter. As for the character design, it ranged from a natural smiling face to more comical looks; I thought it was very expressive. "I might have to give a more exaggerated performance, if I'm going to live up to these faces...!" I thought, and let my imagination run away with me.

Interviewer: Now that you've actually acted as Miri, what do you think makes her appealing and interesting?

Kino: Plenty of people with actual parenting experience were involved in the series production, and so Miri's speech and behaviour are very close to those of a real child. Everyone is continuously at the mercy of her unpredictable actions and dialogue, and I think that's her charm. They all get jerked around big-time! But the way she's so straightforward and earnest about everything makes it endearing. I really enjoyed giving such a free and unrestrained performance!

Interviewer: Miri is the only source of solace in this hard-boiled world, and singlehandedly brings all the coziness to the series. When acting as her, was there anything you kept in mind?

Kino: Ever since the audition, I was directed to give a realistic portrayal, without the sort of theatrical exaggeration that is usually used when playing a small child. I was very conscious of this the whole time I was acting. And so, in the recording sessions, I constantly aimed to let the words slip out without thinking about them, but it was really difficult. During the practice takes, I figured that since she was a child, I would try letting the emotions run wild without worrying about my volume, but I was directed to cut back on that a little. The series alternates between serious scenes and cozy scenes, and I recorded almost all my scenes together with Toyonaga-san and Uchiyama-san; their acting really drew me in and made every scene a delight to perform.

Interviewer: Please tell us your impressions of Kurusu Kazuki and Suwa Rei, and what you find appealing about each of them. 

Kino: Kazuki is a cheerful man of the world. But deep in his heart, he also harbours lingering scars from his past, and so he's a character who flees from love. Rei lacks energy and doesn't really know how to smile, but he's a highly skilled assassin; due to his childhood and upbringing, he's a character who still doesn't know what love is. I really love those scenes where they're talking not as assassins, and not in front of Miri - those occasional conversations where you can glimpse both of their true selves. The "I won't ask" "I wouldn't tell" scene, and the "For three…?" "For three" scene - those scenes so meticulously show their emotional development and growth as the story progresses. They're a must-see.

Interviewer: From the episodes that have aired so far, are there any scenes that left an impression on you, or that you're especially fond of?

Kino: The episode 1 scene where Kazuki becomes Papa Kazuki - "I'm your papa!" - and the episode 3 scene where Rei becomes Papa Rei - "I am... her papa." - were both incredibly memorable. When we were recording the lines for both of those scenes, actually hearing those words was much more impactful than I'd imagined. I felt myself getting goosebumps from sheer joy. My favourite scene is from episode 5, when Miri and Kyu-chan (Kugi Kyutaro) split into one group, and Kazuki and Rei into another. Kyu-chan has been shrouded in mystery until that point, but he unexpectedly ends up watching over Miri, and when she asks about their jobs, Kyu-chan tells her in his usual tone that Kazuki and Rei are a comedian and an oil baron. Those fake jobs are so unexpected, it really lightens the mood. And I love the scenes where Kazuki is in a tricky situation and getting even more worked-up than usual; I always giggle to myself when watching them. Oh, and I also adore the scenes where Rei makes his deadpan quips; when we were recording, there were so many times I had to hold in my laughter, thinking, "That's how you're delivering it?! Brilliant!"

Interviewer: Please tell us what you think are the selling points of this series "Buddy Daddies".

Kino: The interactions at the government office, the conversations when preparing to enrol in daycare, Miri throwing a tantrum and yelling "I'm boooored~!" as she kicks the car seat - all those are realistic elements that aren't featured in other stories. But at the same time, there are plenty of heavily fictional aspects; the fact that you can enjoy both these things makes it a very captivating series. The story blends realism, comedy, and serious drama, and moves along at a fast pace; I feel like every episode goes by in the blink of an eye. Besides Kazuki, Rei, and Miri, the other characters are really charming, and will be important in future. There are many characters I'd like you to look out for, but personally, I love Anna-sensei and Miri's friends, so I hope you enjoy what happens at the daycare!

Interviewer: Finally, please give a message to everyone who is enjoying this series.

Kino: Thank you so much for watching "Buddy Daddies"! No matter whether watching it makes you nostalgic for your own childhood days, or you're currently raising a child, or you're thinking your own parents must have had a really tough time. I think this is a series that can be enjoyed by a wide variety of people, all with their own different perspectives. Acting as Miri has brought up a lot of events from my own childhood that I'd totally forgotten. Since it's an original series, there's no way to know what will unfold from now on; please do keep watching to the end!

[i-guess-im-into-this-now]

The Apothecary Diaries

S1E6 First Watch

Here's where I watch The Apothecary Diaries for the first time and give my thoughts, analysis, predictions, and occasionally I stumble into a joke.

If you want to start at the beginning:

Episode 1

My character cheat sheet:

Yinghua - pink flowers LIW

Lady Lishu - child bride concubine

Lady Lihua - concubine Maomao saved from poisoned powder

Crystal Pavilion - Lady Lihua's Pavilion

Lihaku - officer giving out a lot of hairpins

It's the garden party and I'm so excited!

Cryptic openings are what this show does. And this one starts with palace gossip about someone who is apparently a picky eater. The gossips state:

It's not like it's going to kill her or anything.

What terrifying foreshadowing.

Now we are finally at the party. There is dancing and music. Everyone is freezing. That probably includes the infant princess who is also at this party.

Oh that's the dowager empress holding the baby! This is the first we are seeing her. And yeah... she's got to be Jinshi's mom. It's like the artists were told to design a female Jinshi.

Apparently the empress gave birth to the emperor at a nauseatingly young age because it freaks Maomao out even though we never hear the number.

Oh the empress actually has two children. You don't say. There is a younger brother, who is conspicuously missing from his place of honor on the stage. But according to gossip he has a weak constitution and has rarely been seen. Sure.

In my best guess, prince #2 has been away with the military which is why he hasn't been around. Upon his glorious return the emperor immediately assigned his handsome brother to the rear palace. It's only speculation at the moment, but I don't think I'm far off.

Someone mentioned earlier that this event seems designed to pit the concubines against one another. And yeah it is. I guess that sort of thing appeals to the emperor, because he has created drama between the ladies before when he went to Lady Gyokuyou to request that Maomao take care of Lady Lihua. Wow, it occurs to me that maybe he wanted to meet Maomao in person because he realized his younger brother was interested in her. That's probably not good.

Yinghua has managed to get involved in some kind of drama with Lady Lihua's ladies. Oh they're talking smack about Maomao! Lady Lihua has the absolute dumbest ladies in waiting. They literally cannot recognize Maomao because she changed her clothes and put on some eyeliner. That's lucky for them, because they wouldn't be saying any of this to Maomao's face since they are legit terrified of her.

Maomao must have inflicted some lasting psychological damage on those ladies because they run the moment they recognize her. I do love that Maomao's friends are defending her though. She's not in this alone.

Yinghua: Don't listen to those bullies. I mean, just look at how adorable you are!

Maomao: Oh. I don't care.

I believe her. Maomao's self-esteem isn't on the outside. Instead she prides herself in her skills, and particularly on how she can use them to help others. Insults to her looks can't touch her. After all, she was trying to worsen her appearance to protect herself. Now, if she ever failed to help someone or if she made a misjudgment or mistake that hurt someone, that would probably crush Maomao.

I love her delulu pavilion friends. They view Maomao in the most sympathetic way and want to protect her. And they're all in on JinMao (probably have the ship half built).

Yuck. This girl was made a concubine at age 9. Maomao's appalled. So am I. This show doesn't pull any punches. And I do think this show has a lot to say about the oppression of women. I'll try to refrain and let someone more qualified analyze that. Please share if you've seen someone talking about this issue.

Lady Lishu makes it a point to rudely ignore Maomao while she's holding Lady Gyokuyou's baby. Maomao notes that she is wearing a color that clashes with Lady Gyokuyou and wonders if it's intentional. I'm sure it is. And here is someone for you to keep an eye on. She should not be underestimated just because she's only 15. She's actually been in the palace for 6 years, which I think is longer than Lady Gyokuyou.

Maomao sees the idiot ladies of the Crystal Pavilion shivering and despite their treatment of Maomao in the past, and earlier that day, she can't bear to see someone suffer. She offers them something to warm their hands and they flee in terror.

Oh Maomao observes someone exchanging a hairpin, Yinghua explains that it's some kind of recruitment thing and that there is a secret meaning, however Maomao doesn't care... But this is relevant! Considering she just received a hairpin herself that very morning! Yinghua also calls bullshit and says, hilariously:

Excuse me, I'm trying to gossip with you over here!

She's dying to tell Maomao the hidden meaning behind the hairpins, but we never find out what she would have said.

In any case, Maomao promptly accepts another hairpin from the first stranger she meets, a bouncy officer named Lihaku. Directly after she gets another one from Lady Lihua. This one is given with a compliment and a great deal of warmth. Maomao's going to look like a pin cushion before the day is done.

Also, where is Jinshi? These folks are making moves on your girl!

The next part of the garden party has commenced, with everyone waiting motionlessly in lines. Maomao has taken off all of her hairpins and looks around while she waits. She thinks Gaoshun looks good, like a soldier, and realizes he has a higher position then she realizes. She gets a polite acknowledgement from him when he notices her attention. She also spots the cute bouncy officer, Lihaku. She breaks the 4th wall to wonders where Jinshi is:

I don't see our ✨sparkly✨ eunuch anywhere, but, who cares.

Maomao is such a weirdo about poisons. She loves the stinging sensation.

Maomao is noticing a lot of things going on around her during this meal. Lady Lishu has a severe issue with food. This isn't someone being a picky eater. Maomao is brushing it off for now, but I assume she'll help this girl at some point. Some other lady is witnessing Lady Lishu suffer and she's giving a creepy smile. Maomao isn't happy to have seen it. But it will force her to figure out whatever mystery is playing out here.

And Maomao just ate something that made her blush and lick her lips, so it's either an aphrodisiac, or poison. I mean it could be any tasty food, the girl loves to eat, but it's probably poison. Yup, it's poison. She's so into it though...

Jinshi finally arrives (where was he?), just in time to... not attend the party and follow Maomao instead. To be fair he deduced instantly that she may have been poisoned. And then he knows she has been because she's smiling at him.

Meanwhile Maomao is fantasizing about being incompacitated by poison. And I don't know ethically where to fall on this one. I'm not one to kink shame but I don't support self harm either. Jinshi doesn't have that problem, he is very much not happy about it. He's dragging her to medical care. And this is exactly what I'm talking about when I say I'm glad Maomao has people in her life who care about her well-being because, for as good as she is at caring for others, she doesn't take care of herself.

She wants more of the poisonous soup and Jinshi has just about had it with her. Turns out some dumbass ate the rest of her soup and collapsed at the party. Anyway, Maomao offers a solution to treat him that involves more poison. Jinshi does not approve.

Maomao notices Jinshi's new hairpin and jumps to the best conclusion which is that he got it as a gift from his secret male lover. I'm not even going to offer a guess of my own because I hope Maomao is right.

The stress of this day has made Jinshi upset. He's not bothering to try and keep up any pretenses. Maomao is seeing him unmasked, and she prefers it.

Maomao receives some impressive drugs that make her purge. The moment she's done Jinshi asks her to immediately solve this case.

She asks to speak with Lady Lishu. She knows she has an allergy to fish. Her nasty food taster did not. Maomao lets her know that trying to give fish to Lady Lishu is the equivalent of trying to poison her. The issue now is that Lady Gyokuyou's fish meal was swapped with Lady Lishu's non-fish meal. Most likely by her own food taster, as a way to torment Lady Lishu by forcing her to eat fish. However, the dish that was intended for Lady Lishu, the one she never received, was the one that poisoned Maomao. So, now the question is, who tried to poison Lady Lishu?

Maomao terrifies that food taster and is confident that she won't allow Lady Lishu to eat fish again.

Maomao is left alone with Jinshi and Gaoshun. Jinshi promptly lays a hand on her shoulder and gets told:

Please, I'm of lowly birth. It's not right for you to touch me.

Jinshi doesn't like that.

Jinshi: You're the only one who has ever used that excuse.

Maomao: That's just because everyone else is being nice to you.

And Jinshi hates that.

And it may seem like they're playing around, and bantering as they both like to do, but in fact they are drawing up new boundaries. Things have recently taken a turn for them into something more serious. And this is the first time they've been able to talk.

First Maomao shared her story about being nearly assaulted, and then being kidnapped, which made Jinshi react in a powerful way, he gave her his hairpin which carries unknown meaning, then Maomao was poisoned, and Jinshi got pretty scared for her, and she caught a glimpse of the real Jinshi. All of this happened today!

And neither one of them has any idea where things stand between them. Jinshi pushes forward. A hand on her shoulder. Maomao pulls back. She removes his hand - no.

And she tells him something true that he needs to hear. We are not of the same class. There are rules to these things and you are breaking them. I'm not going to break them for you.

And then she tells him, something that hurts worse. People don't treat you authentically.

From the only person who does see him as a real person and not just as some lofty official he hears I see you but I won't get close to you. No one else will either.

Jinshi is trapped by the elevation of his station. People are unwilling or unable to interact with him in any real way. And he has a role to play that requires him to mask himself, and do things like manipulate servants, and flirt with concubines.

Maomao is right that the people around him are just being nice. And Jinshi hates it.

He wears different masks to achieve his goals in the harem but he's desperate to take them off and have someone see him. It's why he loved when Maomao glared at him. It's why he delights in her sarcasm and biting comments. And now she's pulling away from him.

Jinshi is completely alone.

And here is where Maomao and Jinshi serve narrative foils to one another. Because Maomao is authentic with everyone. She speaks her mind, behaves how she wants and people see her and adore her. She has real relationships all around her.

Maomao is loved.

It is worth noting, that even though Maomao is putting up a boundary between herself and Jinshi, she did not return his hairpin. She is drawing a line, but she isn't completely walking away.

Maomao, exhausted after everything:

What a day.

Indeed.

If you want to read these from the beginning:

Episode 1

Next episode:

Episode 7

[candyredmusings]

“Another One Of Those ‘Things My Discord Said’ Sentence Starters.

Things taken from DMs and a few group chats from Discord. CW: NSFT Change / Edit as necessary !

i am literally tom cruise

cum is cool.

[NAME]  is fucked up cus he is straight man

[NAME]  show me your fuckin tits

[NAME], you better not be standing catatonic in your room wearing your handmade jigsaw robe again.

its like they creampied me but instead of cum it was new music

like what about my pussy-area makes u think sea cucumber

the mind is weak. but the body is funky

so im reading that fanfic where 1d like, buys your soul or whatever and im shook

well tom servo is a sex god

and then i freaked it

FUCK YOU APPLE JACK FUCK

ILL SLURP WITH YOU

LEMME SHOW U DICK

ITS A SIDE QUEST YOU SILLY BITCH

I’m a zombie the law can’t stop me

LEAVE YOUR GOLDEN UNCRUSTABLES OUT OF MY HOME I WILL NOT FALL VICTIM TO THY TRICKERY

you, telling me to ignore a twink with side swept brown hair? foolish.

Hes so hot i briefly started texting like a straight person

and because I’m god and I’ve decided that. No. In fact. I’m not done.

MY DUMB BOTTOM BRAIN FOLLOWS COMMANDS TOO WELL

[NAME], I know you love bloopy reggae jams. Now is not the time

OH THATS WHAT I THOUGHT YOUD SAY YOU STUPID ACCIDENTAL HIMBO DEMON

man i rlly am attracted to paul mccartney.

its not that kennedy was gay af sleeping w jackies fat ass out, he just has a better one-

jealous of my massive honkeers

YOU BRAINCELLED BITCH

this forced open my third eye and i saw the devil--

oh me seeming romantically interested in u is making u uncomfortable?? noted

the only pussy this party city shake out wig looking mother fucker is getting

[NAME]  expose your teeth right fucking now

IN THE DEPARTMENT OF OLD MAN FUCKING, WEVE GOT YOU BEAT

What if we kissed while one of us got called racist and we are both boys

i just jacked it to minecraft piss porn

I will pop a huge tentacle boner

i hate females fr fr

we left u to die to play minecraft

IM GONNA FRICKLE-FRACK YOUR WIFE

CAN I KARATE CHOP IT LIKE IN SPONGEBOB

DWIGHT FROM THE OFFICE IS NOT MY SKRUNKLY

she would never ever take away one of these stupid fucking hats

My brother in Christ you’re being haunted

i want to wring you like a wet towel and slap u against a wall

Yeah you'll come to learn I just have a thing for milk

Piss ur pants harder pls I wanna watch

I'm gonna corn on the kill myself

good morning to parappa and his stans. everyone else..... hi ig

lol look at this clown with no slurs

God has abandoned his children but unfortunately for you I pay child support and I will smite thee.

this is how I reveal myself to be homophobic

I have no sluts

idk what it is abt it but boba makes me become like an actual whore

im homophobic suddenly

he was like ‘You're so big”.... and i just started crying

anyones penis can be hard hes not special

for the love of god please help me

i can talk about piss for hours

im sorry i havent recognized mickey mouse clubhouse ost as the cultural landmark that it is

I ASKED IF WE WOULD RP AFTER FUCKING BIBLE STUDY OR WHATEVER

the benefits of being a yandere is that i dont have to forgive OR forget and I am a living breathing PVP zone so Fuck with me white boy.

When toxic by ashnikko comes on I enter the gaslight gatekeep phases of my girlbosshood

im like a child in line for the newest fucked up disney ride

[NAME] is just all fucking Sorts of fucked up

im clownfaking

why are we here? to suffer? every other day i get messages from a whore

always thinking abt when my friend called me a "white boy whore"

you gotta PUMP the errand girl with cocaine

im beyond shame bc i love all cock try again

people have fetishes.

They really do crucify anyone these days huh

u may have never hungered for cock but you have hungered for a sub sandwich and honestly? theyre basically the same thing-

hi im drawing hentai

[NAME] idk why but that really. makes me want to stab you

“Don't have sex FOMO, [NAME], no! “

“TRY AND NUKE THIS, BITCH.”

“There's a group of golden skeletons behind you hitting the griddy “

“GRANDPA’S ASHES SUCKED MY COCK AND TOOK ME TO ARBYS.”

“You’re lanky with no gender and silly goofy with the rizz it works.”

“You can’t just tell me I could be a Tumblr sexy man to my face at 4:30 PM.”

"I have strong opinions about the soviet union"

“CALL THAT PUSSY THE MATRIX CAUSE IM IN THIS BITCH AND I CANT GET OUT “

“dont cry. 8000 types of reptiles on the planet, okay?”

[NAME] lives his life like he’s an RPG character but picks only the rude dialogue options.”

“I need to beat off to this before God destroys California.”

"No amount of pussy could get me on a rollercoaster with three loops"

"I love your senior citizen pussy"

"Gerber is pretty reliable .. I mean .. The Gerber baby didn't die .... did it?"

“you are white i assume”

"I hate you terrorist, and you may quote me on that"

"I love watching you play minecraft. It's like watching a baby fawn."

"I've never seen old men who fuck harder."

"i don't need him to KILL i need him to FUCK ME"

"well maybe if you just dicked down your wife she wouldn't have gone on a murderous slut rampage"

"why cant these BIG titty bimbos stop HANGING around me"

[cassiopeiasdaughter]

hi hi hi!! ive been reading some of your theo nott stuff and oh my god i am so obsessed you are such a talented writer!!

i was wondering if youd be able to tell who youd ship me with if thats ok! if its too much i understand and dont feel pressured at all to respond xx ❤️

i'm 6ft tall (pretty abnormal for a teenage girl i know haha) and i come from a big polynesian-australian family! (my mums side is māori and samoan).

i have tanned brown skin and central eye heterochromia with green in the center that sort of bleeds into brown and blue which i must admit is one of my favourite things about my appearence!

i have long brown hair with curtain bangs that i cut myself (they used to look absolutely horrific but practice makes perfect haha)

im obsessed with percy jackson and rick riordans writing, i have adhd and autism which makes school a bit hard for me but obviously i try my hardest i swear ❤️

i love stuffed animals and collect a bunch of stuff!!

im pretty nervous for the most part but once someone gets to know me im a massive yapper and love sharing the things i love with people but i do sometimes get into disagreements with teachers if i feel they are treating me or my friends unfairly

my love language is physical touch and i really dont have a preference when it comes to partners as long and theyre a good partner x

thank you so much! once again no pressure to respond have an amazing day/night!!! ❤️

okay so you are a gryffindor, the lionest of gryffindors if i am allowed, and i love you for that.

you seem lovely and full of colour and i want to pair you with someone who not only will admire your colours, but also add to them. You aren't the muse, or the creation, or the creator, but all these together and I find that extremely unique and special and beautiful and I want us to be friends.

So I will give you many options...

first and maybe obvious person for you BUT a great match nonetheless is Fred Weasley. You two would plan the greatest pranks but you would also inspire eachother to be more in tune with your inner child, and that would lead to a relationship full of warmth and fun and love forming a strong bond.

then, there is also Luna who would be fascinated by your energy. I can see you two having the greatest conversations and dates in the most peculliar and creative places. She would feel safe around you, safe enough to open up to you and show you her world and the two of you would geek about books and stories you love!!!

And last but not least, allow me to pair you with Regulus…hear me out, you sound strong and protective and i think these are traits Regulus would be attracted to, along with your genuinity and the fact that you dont hide yourself (like he does- because of how he grew up). His quietness in turn and his softness- despite his upbringing would make you curious about him. You would find him interesting, like a puzzle begging you to be solved. And oh, how fun the solving would be. Ah, he would love you so much. I think of him as a feral cat, that once tamed will give the most love to the one who deserves it, and you do. And he seems like the best listener, best best listener. He will stare at you in awe as you go on about the things you love, and he’ll make mental notes to search about the things you tell him about. Regulus is my favorite match for you tbh, i cant wait for you to find a Regulus (when you do please lmk so my hopes for love can be restored).

Also, thank you for this ask, i really missed doing these 😭😭😭

[archduke-enver-gortash]

i am crawling into your inbox like a depraved creature from the depths of long abandoned fungal ridden sewers, holding to you the mycelia born from a long dead corpse in offering so that i may pick your grey matter about zeke's time before the temple of bhaal, im curious as fuck and the dynamic you have written for him and gortash is SO fun and interesting, also really fun to think about in comparison to my own durge and gortash, g-d your brain is huge, but i really want to know what experience he had outside of baldurs gate before mr butler extraordinaire walked into his life like hey! ur like. the chosen of bhaal lol :) i want to pick apart zeke as if he is a new and rare creature of the deep sea that i have to keep in a pressurized tank just so that his body does not melt and turn into mush from the depressurization

waughhh thank you sm!!!! framing this ask on my wall i feel like you understand™️ hi hi hi yes of course i will talk about my creature!!

so, i don’t know how others handle timeline stuff but i always imagined zeke being no older than 10 when being taken into the temple of bhaal, so most of his life was the temple, but there is some stuff that i can tell you because i am spending all of my braincells on him (and gortash) these days lol:

his adoptive parents were older, humble librarians who didn’t have much, but took in a few children without homes like him. about 6 other kids lived with him. i feel like due to their experience they could sort of tell that zeke was. different in a way? they loved him all the same.

didn’t learn how to speak at all before sceleritas taught him (he perfectly understood people, just didn’t like doing it/find it to be a necessary skill lol) he mostly wrote to people in a little notebook he carried around with him everywhere.

of course my uquiz declared dweeb spent most of his free time in the library with his parents.

was one of those kids who you can just tell is a genius from an early age—he could not only read books with an advanced reading level as soon as he could hold them in his hands, he could also comprehend a lot of these concepts.

he never had any friends or genuine connections. he tried to befriend others, which for him looked like stalking them around the street, learning every possible thing there is to know about them and never actually approaching anyone because he was too scared to.

his first “kill” was during one of those uh. watches? ig. a girl he liked was playing alone near a creek and started to pick a beautiful bouquet of flowers—wait, he’d read about those, they were highly dangerous to touch. before he could step in and warn her, she already fell over groaning in agony. he tries to take another step towards her, but then his entire body shudders and freezes at the sight of the light leaving her eyes. he doesn’t go over and finish the job or call any help—he just watches. watches until he is sure that she is beyond saving and cries. out of sorrow? fear? joy? this he doesn’t know or understand (yet), those pesky little nuisances called emotions always puzzled him way more than a book ever could—in himself or others.

while those “need to please father/parents above all else i’m worthless otherwise” tendencies of his were of course highly amplified by his life in the temple, they were already there before. he tried to be the “best child” of his parents, wanted to impress them at every turn. that there were so many of them certainly didn’t help either.

so, one day his father complains about one of the other children, they were all troublemakers/outcasts in their own way—one of them had accidentally smashed a window while playing. and zeke thinks to himself that he would never do such a stupid thing, how dumb could you be? and decides this is the perfect opportunity to test out a thing he read about.

later that evening, despite the quarrel from earlier, everyone is sitting around the dinner table, and zeke voluntarily and eagerly helps with setting the table today. a few minutes after starting to eat, the kid who broke the window starts coughing heavily, spitting blood, everyone starts panicking when zeke interrupts them by tugging at his father’s sleeve and excitedly showing him his notebook, his father thinks that zeke being the clever boy he is might know what’s going on or even how to help, so he leans down and reads. reads a detailed description of how zeke created a poisonous powder with the flowers from earlier and coated his sibling’s cutlery in it to not spoil the food they had. the last sentence of the page says something about a “perfect solution” to mom and dad’s problem.

his father is obviously starting to lose it, then his wife tells him that their child is beyond saving and already dead, which just makes him fully lose it—he just starts screaming and uncontrollably sobbing and shaking the confused to the hells and back zeke demanding why he did it. the others eventually start catching on what happened and understandably freak out as well.

zeke is just so confused man. wasn’t this a good thing? he certainly thought he felt good watching his own sibling die—his bloodshot eyes and fingertips turned black just like how the book described it would happen. he did it perfectly. so why were they acting like this? weren’t they proud? they were supposed to be.

next thing zeke remembers is standing in a pile of corpses and a ruined house in a pool of blood and tears streaming down his face, when a certain little butler approaches him.