#i will be busy and Oh You Think My Posting Is Inconsistent Now? Just You Wait

[aquariium-ediits]

Oh hey ermm real quick. Just so y'all are in the loop and don't think I'm ignoring my inbox on purpose. School is gonna be starting for me tomorrow so as well as my inconsistent motivation I'll also be a bit busier and things may take a while to be done.

My apologies for any inconvenience this may cause, but of course, I do have a life outside of tumblr ^^'

[sdfgderp]

a/n: ARGENTIIIIIIIIIIII ARGENTIIIIIIIIIII AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH screaming aside, i believe he is the type to compliment even the features you don’t really like about yourself 🥹 this beauty recognizing beauty in others no matter how they look… peak gentleman also notice how my word count on my posts are inconsistent, sometimes i don’t put them, sometimes i do… sorry!!! also this is obviously longer than the gepard one, so guess who’s my favorite 🤭

argenti x gn! reader

cw: insecurities, gardening with argenti, brutish planting (the plants are fine, dw), cheesy argenti, subtle pining…, you aren’t together in this one lol u just got friendzoned!!! (he didn’t mean it), reader is an unreliable narrator

word count: 800+

-

sanguine locks covered your peripheral vision as argenti bent down just above you. you were crouching down to dig dirt for the roses he nursed in nursery pots, and it was time to plant them down on the ground. you look up and meet argenti’s curious green eyes.

“do you not stick your spear to the ground, kick it to get soil out, drop the seedling, and stomp dirt on it, my muse?”

his question, though harmless, stuck a spear through your plant-loving heart. in what world do you plant roses that way?!

“no? argenti, is what i’m doing not the universal way of planting things?” you counter, gently taking out a seedling out of its seedling bag. “yours is… kind of sad and brutish.”

the knight crouches down beside you, pulling back the sleeves of his turtleneck. you loosen up the soil the seedling was clinging to and bury it in the hole you made, spraying it with water infused in fertilizer. you turn to your left and dig another hole for another rose bush seedling to plant. argenti observes your way of planting, his gaze following your hands.

you break the silence as you take out another seedling from its bag and put it down on the ground. “i’m curious though, do your plants live using that method, argenti?”

he nods, “yes they do. they grow up to be fruitful plants that grow beautiful flowers, fruits, or leaves.”

“again with the compliments on plants,” you sigh. you thought, do i have to turn into a plant to get praises…

“no you do not need to!” argenti replies immediately. you realized you spoke your words out loud and dismissed it. however, the knight was faster in talking than you. seeing your hands were busy, he started showering you compliments.

“beauty is everywhere, my muse, and that includes you! you need not to turn into a photosynthesizing creature for me to compliment you! are you not aware on how your hair is just right, even when you’re under the blazing heat of the star of your home planet system? do you fail to notice how gentle you’re holding that plant? or how you look in this posture, although it could use some work…”

argenti goes on and on, complimenting the features you usually scrutinize when he catches you checking yourself out in the mirror. the shape of your nose, your uneven skin tone, your body shape, even the hair on your toes… all while you were “busy” planting when you were just busying yourself to hide the massive blush raging on your face. the nerve of this guy to catch on to your insecurities and shower them with praises. beautiful, just what is beautiful for a knight of the beauty?

“…indeed, it is a blessing for the universe to have me here with you, friend. it is a pity you downgrade your perfectly arranged body just because it doesn’t fit this planet’s standards.” him saying friend for you sounded sour. “you were once like the roses you’re planting now, devoid of flowers but still pretty, your first leaves of development adorning juvenile features you now don’t have. and i think,” he pauses, tucking hair behind your ear to clear your vision. “you’ve grown to host a lot of roses.”

in your mind, fireworks shot through the sky at the last compliment argenti dropped. your face stoic, yet your mind had gremlins scampering around, yelling “oh great heavens! this guy is going to kill me!”, and “how dare he shower us in compliments! i love it! i’m going to explode!”

“hello? did the heat get you already?” argenti snaps you out of your daze. you shake your head.

“y-yeah, i think. let’s plant these later in the afternoon.” you plant the last seedling for the morning and put back the remaining seedlings in a cool area of your garden. argenti kept the gardening tools used before sitting down with you in the makeshift tent you two made. you took off your gloves and throw it aside, sitting down and wiping your sweat. argenti crouched down and passed you a waterbottle.

“i’ll do the planting later, my dear. now that i know the beauty of your way of planting, i can perfectly recreate it and grow rose bushes whose leaves that under that star’s light, and whose roses rival the color of my hair.”

argenti goes on for another ramble about beauty, fixated on roses. meanwhile, your mind began to wander in dangerous territory. for someone who’s not used to receiving meaningful compliments, argenti is starting to look like a potential crush for you. unbeknownst to you, the knight is waiting for you to take the hint already. as you debate your tiny crush on him, argenti is praying that the beauty that sits before him will grace him their company, to be his lifelong friend partner in searching for his aeon. that is to say, if he doesn’t believe his aeon is in fact, right beside him.

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

The importance of setting rules for your fictional universe

I talked about this a little in another recent post in terms of rules for character design (not any like…theory or rules for designing characters, but rather rules for WHY a character looks a certain way) and it made me think more about world building in general.

I’ll be talking mainly about Hellaverse stuff since it’s on my mind, at first because I rewatched HB and now again b/c the HH trailer dropped.

B/c I gotta be honest, I’m pretty sure the world of Hazbin Hotel is gonna fall flat for me the same way that Helluva Boss has.

And as a reminder, I’m not trying to bash Helluva and Hazbin. I enjoyed the recent Hazbin trailer, but I think it’s really important to examine and think about story stuff.

Critique/Review below!

I think one of, if not THE biggest thing keeping HB and HH from feeling like a fully realized world is that we don’t really have any rules or standards for what is considered “normal” in Hell.

And since there’s no baseline for what is considered moral and immoral in hell, characters and their reactions to violence, crime, verbal abuse, body shaming, etc. seem to switch rapidly between sharing an earthly human morality, where everything is mirroring our current day society, and an anything goes kill-steal-maim total anarchy ideology.

To me the HH/HB version of hell comes off like the purge, except actually there ARE some crimes that are off limits. Like murder is okay sometimes and of course there are assassins everywhere that’s just a normal freelance sort of business. But also there’s organized crime and if you steal from a bank you go to hell-jail.

For example, after “Exes and Oh’s”, I had assumed killing other Imps or hellborn must be considered a crime, the way that Crim’s behavior and killing of his underlings was portrayed as completely negative and horrific. But then remembered that Millie having a neighborhood body count due to getting too competitive is mentioned as a joke, and it’s pretty clear that her family thinks of it as more of an embarrassing incident than like…an actually terrible thing to do.

I thought, “Okay, we’ll, maybe it’s just Moxxie’s Mom that was against all the violence being taught to her son.” But apparently she’s from the Wrath ring, the same ring as Millie. So was Moxxie’s Nameless Mom seen as being particularly different or strange to the what a “typical” Wrath Imp is? We can’t know.

Like. We see that imps have romantic relationships and can care deeply about each other and fall in love, just like humans do. In reference to the neighborhood bodycount thing, were Millie’s neighbors not extremely upset with her? Wouldn’t they also grieve their loved ones? Is it sometimes socially acceptable to kill other Imps like in sporting events???

Are the rules for what is seen as socially acceptable for sinners different from what’s socially acceptable for hellborn? Are there different ideas of what is socially acceptable from ring to ring?

I worry that when I ask these questions about a fictional universe, people will think I’m TRYING to dig or look for things to tear that world apart.

I promise I’m thinking about these things so deeply out of curiosity and because I want to engage with the material.

I want to understand and have fun in the fictional universe the writers have invited us all to. But if the rules of your universe are not clear, it can make it much harder for audiences to navigate the story you are trying to tell in that setting.

The HH/HB universe just does NOT have that clarity right now. Since season 2 of HB I’ve noticed that the world building has become more and more inconsistent, and if it’s supposed to now SHARE that world with HH, I really don’t know how they’re going to make their world coherent.

As a final note these are just my opinions. They are not objectively right. If you love Hh and HB and firmly believe the story is clear and the world building makes sense that’s great!! Genuinely, I am happy that the story means a lot to you and you enjoy it. These are just my personal critiques and views.

[fractualized]

Time for a surprise The Man Who Stopped Laughing post! Here I was all mad that Jason disappeared in TMWSL #11, and then Rosenberg basically decided Gotham War: Red Hood #2 is a TMWSL side story with a lot I was not expecting!

I still hate that there's no effort at a legible timeline but all the surprises in this issue are helping me move past it. (OK I can't lie I'm always going to hate it at least lowkey.)

More thoughts:

So basically the Gotham War stuff is all happening before/during TMWSL #11 meaning the two Jokers were just hanging around Gotham for the two months Bruce was asleep I KNOW I SAID I'D STOP I'LL STOP. Jason strayed into Gotham War at first partly because of his search for Joker, asking the men Selina has recruited for clues about his location, but then he got more involved, enough that GW Red Hood #2 starts with Joker trying to find out where Jason is.

What an interesting turn!

The note does get to Jason, via a dead body (laid to rest by Scarecrow, not Joker).

Ohhh this is a twist. Last month in TMWSL, Ravager gave Manhunter a list of locations from Jason, places to look for Joker, and now we know they were provided by Joker himself?! Because he wants to make sure Jason finds him? And is probably plain insulted that someone who was pursuing him so single-mindedly suddenly stopped? hahaha

Jason says he'll meet up with Ravager in a couple days, but he misses his appointment because, as you may know, Zur-influenced Bruce decides to Clockwork Orange him so he'll feel debilitating fear whenever his adrenaline ratchets up. But Ravager isn't the only one who notices Jason's absence.

Joker did say back in the hospital in TMWSL that he might have plans for Jason, but I took that more as a taunt. I didn't know he actually was depending on Jason being around. (Though given the time jump, that could be a recently created plan.) Also, "Batman can't have him! I TOOK CUSTODY IN THE DIVORCE."

And look at Joker all ready to go with his hat! And the umbrella. The umbrella detail kills me.

It's also just really funny to me that like, sometimes Catwoman in Gotham War acts parental toward Jason. Here, Joker is intent on finding him. In the following pages, Harvey hears what happened to Jason and says Jason is "more one of us than he knows. And he's had a rough life because of that." And then Scarecrow comes upon Jason during a Missing Scene that takes place during Catwoman #58 when Jason tries to save a little girl from a fire...

Just when I'm laughing that Jason is everybody's blorbo, this happens.

MOMMY. Batman is Jason's Daddy, and Joker is Jason's Mommy. Oh my god. Rosenberg, you magnificent glowing sunrise.

Joker chases Scarecrow away like a disobedient cat with his squirtgun, and then turns back to Jason.

I think Grundy's pee could probably still ward Scarecrow off. Also is Joker mad Jason didn't tell his parents they have a granddaughter? :(

Joker again insisting Jason is important for his plans. Joker saying he's going to fix Jason, his "sweet boy." Is Joker of all people going to undo what Bruce did? That would be pretty hilarious, something to hang over Bruce's head later.

But whatever it is, it's not going to happen now, of course. Joker leaves Jason under the beam so the scene can play out as it does in Catwoman #58, in which Jason did not mention Scarecrow or Joker. I'm not sure if that's just because he still wants to take care of his own business or that he's not sure they were real.

I'm assuming all this means Jason will in fact appear in the TMWSL finale, though suddenly afraid of everything, which will be kind of weird for people only reading that story. Then again, maybe Bruce will end up fixing Jason himself in the last GW issue on Halloween, with how weird and inconsistent the GW writing has been.

Regardless, this particular issue was an unexpected delight, and it's boosted my assumption that the end of TMWSL #11 is a fakeout and this Joker is very much the real one. Too much would hit different in a bad way if he wasn't…

[tigerdrachin]

I HAVE DONE IT

I'M FREE

Ok, what the fuck is going on? Well in a post from like a few months (its been like... a year and a half at this point) ago I rambled about NYs character being inconsistent at best with how often he changes between outfits and the characterization always changing slightly with it.

So I decided to make a character deep dive for him out of boredom (oh past me I envy you) , I know Ben did not intend for the characters to have very in depth personalities, it's just a fun thing I noticed and wanted to talk about.

I have rewatched all the videos NY appears in (yes all of them. twice. took ages) and my suspicions have just gotten stronger, so here I will present to you everything I pulled from the video canon, which is the only thing I will be pulling from.

I also can't give episode names to most of my points, as sadly a chunk of my notes were lost while I was neglecting to finish this and I don't have the time to rewatch them all a third time, so if you want to know why some points are in this, ASK. I will try to provide answers (as far as my incomplete notes can provide).

Starting with the groundwork that basically started this project.

I don't think NY is NY, the state, most of the time, but more NYC posing as NY, kinda like the Austin-Texas situation just flipped with the city calling the shots while the state takes backseat, mirroring real life (as in NY being only known for NYC).

And I also don't think NYC is the only one sharing a body with NY. I think Albany and Buffalo are also there.

I will get into each of them individually in a second, but first I have to address the episode that brought me on this train of thought, which is "DC statehood"

This episode, for those who don't know, shows NY and NYC as two different entities, NYC having the classic NY look we all know, and NY wearing Bills merch from head to toe.

You may already see the problem, how could NY and NYC be the same person when we see them separated here? Well, because Ben doesn't have a consistent canon, but that isn't the point here.

The other problem with "DC statehood" is that it is an outlier, it's the only instance that doesn't fit the pattern that the rest of the episode laid out. While being an important piece of this take on a character study for NY it doesn't fit in with the rest of NY canon.

The thing is, this is not the only case where "DC statehood" doesn't fit in with the rest of the table episodes, which is why even tho it disproves this entire theory I will go on with it as the normal episodes give me enough confidence to deem this specific video as an anomaly.

I wanted to address this as its the episode that started all this (note from currents stripes: Its my theorie and I can dismiss whatever I want :P)

Now that that's settled

Every character corresponds to a few outfits that I will list. I will only do a broad overview tho for the sake of both our time.

I will go after how often they appear and the importance they seem to hold, starting off with,

NYC

NYC is the one we see the most throughout the series, he has the most appearances and is the one we associate with the character NY.

The states referred to him as NYC multiple times, but it often seems more like they are poking fun at him and aren't actually aware that he's not the actual state.

He always wears the red beanie, but his shirt often changes, he is also the one wearing the coat in the earlier episodes.

Quickfire

He does not like Chicago

Frenemies with Florida

Is the one that has a bat in his trunk

Insomnia

BIG BROTHER VIBES INTENSIFY

Is the only state we see outside the statehouse (not counting Florida man in SO Cal)

always stressed

the one doing the job interview episode

Quotes

"Good for her/him"

"That's your business"

"I don't (sleep). That's kinda my whole thing" - ´The Hot Dog Hoax´

"Because I said so." - ´The Hot Dog Hoax´

"Go play in traffic." - ´The internet bans the president´

"I'm late because I don't wanna be here" - ´The internet bans the president´

(NY, as in the state, doesnt get a whole lot of rep, but from what I have seen he is much nicer than NYC)

ALBANY

Albany, as the state capital, has the second most appearances, he pops up sporadically when something in Albany specifically happens

Albany is calmer than NYC, still an asshole, but less ready to commit violence and more verbally a dick.

Bills beanie and New York shirts or red beanie and bills jersey, it switches sometimes

Quickfire

The one with the ´don't come here list´

Gets annoyed when meetings derail, he just wants to leave. (its impressive how consistently he just.wants.to.leave.)

Big power saw TWICE

does not like Florida at all

Aroace, I think? (Based on the states walking in on you)

lets gov speak

Quotes

"What we doing here?" - ´Weekly News Recap 7/14 pt.1´

"Wouldnt it be nice if we had a big saw?"

(future stripes again: MY NOTES ARE INCOMPLETE, SORRY ALL FROM HERE IS JUST ME DOING MY BEST WITH THE MESS YOUNGER ME LEFT ME)

Buffalo

buffalo is the one I have the least information on but I thought he would still be worth mentioning

Hes the one jumping through tables tho

like thats the only reason he appears in like 3 episodes (other then one time for football(I think) but in that epsiode breaking folding tables was also mentioned)

[chicaotaku-fanfics]

There's Three of You?! Pt. 5

New chapter (finally!) I'm sorry for the delay, I've been a bit busy doing college student stuff, but! I'll post this and the other 2 chapters I have in my belt ready for you all in a bit, so yeah, thanks for your patience and giving my story a go!

Warnings: foul language, might be some medical inconsistencies.

CHAPTER 5

Apparently Will had come back to Chicago and never said a thing, at least to me, I heard from Jay that he had gone to the District and asked to stay with him and has been doing so ever since, but, I haven’t seen him… until today.

“Newbie, I understand that your brother, Dr. Halstead had an interview with Ms. Goodwin about working here at Med, right?” asked one of the doctors.

“Yes, I heard about it.” I said, she just looked at me, the kind of look that I hate the most: a condescending, ‘I’m-holier-than-thou’ kind of look. This woman was underestimating me, and I was HATING it.

“Well, in that case, if you would be so kind and GO GET HIM we all would appreciate it.” She said… Do I look like a fucking errand girl?!

“Excuse me? My shift just started, I can’t just leave.” I told her, balling my hands into fists inside my coat’s pockets, she looked at me with fire in her eyes Well, fuck me… I screwed up

“You’re just an intern girl, not even a resident yet. I’m an attending soon-to-be trauma fellow. You wanna be someone in here, just do as you’re told. Am I clear?” she asked, I bit down my tongue.

Well, technically I’m already a junior resident, but if I say so, she might just get angrier at me.

“Yes ma’am.” I said, holding back my anger, she look pleased with herself.

“It’s Dr. Zanetti. You’ll do good in remembering that.” she said, I nodded and went to the front desk.

“Dr. Zanetti ordered me to go and get my brother. I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.” I told April, looking at her with the remnants of the anger in my eyes, even the name of the doctor left my mouth as if I was spiting out venom, the nurse just looked at me with understanding.

“Go. I’ll tell Mrs. Goodwin so you don’t get in trouble.” April said, I nodded and smiled at her.

“Thank you April.” I said, grabbed my coat and went on my merry way to Jay’s apartment.

I arrive in a relatively short time, go up the stairs and as soon as I was about to knock on the door, it opens, revealing a girl adjusting her clothes. We both stop in our tracks before we crash into each other.

“Oh. Hi.” she says, surprised to see me, but with a small smile on her face none the less. I give her the same kind of smile.

“Hi.” After that, the girl’s about to leave, I stop her, turn her around, fix the back of her coat and blouse and smile at her as a goodbye, she smiles and nods her thanks, leaving and waving at me before going down the stairs.

“When do you have to be at work?” I hear Jay ask as I make my way inside the apartment.

“Ten minutes ago.” Will and I say at the same time, both of them turn to look at me, Jay is the one to speak again.

“It’s your first day. And when did you get in?” Jay’s statement directed to Will and the question directed at me.

“The second his girlfriend left. And by the way, I wouldn’t be with her… she’s after your bank balance, and it’s not even available.” I said, I mean, she looked nice enough, but girls like her can be tricky… I had my fair share of them -as well as guys- through med school.

“Uh… first and last as it turns out. Almond milk? Don’t you have any regular milk in here?”

“You’re joking.” said Jay, I was honestly thinking the same thing.

“No.” Will paused. “I gotta get back.” he said, referring to New York.

“To what? I thought the partners kicked you out of the practice.” said Jay,  I turn to look at him, he has the same confused expression on his face.

“They did but, now this may come as a shock to you, there are other practices in New York City.” Will said, I was reaching the end of my patience and so was Jay.

“Hey how ‘bout, for once, you see something all the way through?” he says, sass dropping through every syllable.

“Wow! You sound like the old man.” Will says, I’m holding back from slapping him in the back of the head.

“There it is. I mean that is why you’re blowing back out of town, right?” Jay says, now annoyed and still very much a drama king.

“What do you care?” Asks Will, defensive as hell, and with that I had it.

“I’m actually with Jay on this one Will.” I say, said red head turns to look at me.

“Why are you even here?” he asks, sounding annoyed, I, again, do everything in my power to avoid smacking him so hard behind the head.

“I was sent to get your ass to the hospital.” I say, annoyance in my voice too.

“Why?” he asks. This ungrateful bastard.

“Maybe because we share a last name? Why else you ass?! Let’s go, I don’t have all day and I don’t want Zanetti to have my head.” I say, enough command and sass to make even Jay tremble a little.

My brothers look at each other, and then they both answer “Yes ma’am.”

We make it to the hospital and Will tries to talk to Ms. Goodwin ‘bout the whole “I’m not staying in Chicago” thing and, she ignores him, I snort behind my hand. I love that woman. Her “no bullshit” attitude is GOALS!

Sometime passed and the ER wasn’t getting anymore empty, it was a bit concerning. I was about to go downstairs to the pathology lab, but I was asked to help around since we were gonna be slammed with CFD’s victims, I asked April to page pathology and to explain why I wouldn’t be going downstairs anytime soon, she smiled at me and agreed, handing me a new pair of gloves and wishing me good luck.

Just as the firefighters were delivering us a new round of patients, a guy who looked as if he was dead on his feet stood on a chair, started talking nonsense until he pulled out a grenade, took of the safety and yelled.

“Death to all Americans. You’re all dead in two weeks! Allahu akbar!” That got one of the firefighters -I think his name’s Severide- into action, making him jump and make the guy fall and blow up, the next thing I knew, everything went black.

[waitmyturtles]

Alright. I’m all caught up on The Eighth Sense. WHOA. Whoa. WHOA. Good. Lord. 

First off, before all the theories: this is obviously a really fantastic show, by way of the soundtrack; the use of silence; the cinematography and very varied filming styles; the use of LIGHT and lighting; the film editing and smart, sharp editing cuts (more on this in a sec), and the utterly, UTTERLY amazing acting. CHOPS, we are seeing CHOPS in a show that’s just reducing the usual K-drama tropes to DUST. WOW, KOREA. KOREA SHOWED THE HELLLLLLL UP for this one. This is like zeitgeist-level stuff.

And, oh my god. The kissing scene in the waves. The scene in bed. My heart was taken away. The last scenes, the storm coming in, the waves getting higher and higher, Jae Won yelling Ji Hyun’s name. WHOA.

I know from what I’ve reblogged so far that these points are all being discussed, and I have yet to really dig into the tag because I need to process all of this out in writing first, so I’ll do tag and conversation-digging over the rest of today and tomorrow and re-group with the fam. But working in part from my last post after episode 5, I’ll offer a couple thoughts and theories now, because I just need to get them down, whoa. 

I want to set some macro context for myself first, to kind of do a journey map on my understanding of Jae Won. From the start, his friends talk about how Jae Won’s dad is a big shot. Jae Won’s life is supposedly set: if you know about chaebol, you’ll know how controversial it is in Korea (many, MANY K-dramas feature chaebol, including Crash Landing On You and the much more recent Why Her?). It’s controversial because, of course, you always wonder if the "right” people are taking over a business, not by way of merit or talent, but only by way of inheritance (peep the “nutgate” incident with Korean Air as an example) (it’s INSANE) (chaebol is INSANE).

So Jae Won’s friends are, in my view, seething with jealousy that Jae Won has his life set. His dad is prepping Jae Won to take over. Jae Won is rich, good-looking, smart, and the ladies love him. 

That’s a lot of pressure for Jae Won. Putting together that his younger brother died, and he’s seeing a therapist, and that it was his parents that had originally sent him to therapy, and it’s indicated that he’s drug-dependent: I do believe, as many of the fam does, that what we’re watching in many of these scenes are dissociations and/or hallucinations. I do believe that, particularly by way of how the show is edited, with REALLY sharp cuts, scenes ending awkwardly and jumpily, scenes filmed in really fuzzy and weirdly lit ways, and threading pieces of scenes together in inconsistently-told ways. The hand-holding scene on the outdoor steps earlier in the series, and how it’s changed by a quick edit when the guys are shown NOT holding hands while walking on the sidewalk right after. I feel like the editing of the show serves as a correction for the jumps happening in Jae Won’s mind and memory.

I offered a theory in my last post that Jae Won might not have gone to the military at all while he was out of school -- that he was instead institutionalized. I set that theory in part on his therapist referencing a previous hospital stint, and on something he said in episode 4: “I just came back from the army. My sense is not on point.” When I first heard him say that, it didn’t smell right to me, as I thought that acclimating back to society after the military was more common for Korean men as almost all Korean men have to get drafted. But I’ve changed my mind somewhat after convos with the wonderful @emotionallychargedtowel and @stl29tide in the comments of that post, with ECT mentioning in part that it’s very common for returning soldiers to experience difficulties while re-acclimating back to society.

So I’m now caught between two theories here, and I wonder if either can be applicable.

Theory 1) I do still think it’s plausible that Jae Won didn’t go to the military while he was away from school -- I think it’s plausible that he could have been institutionalized, but I’m less sure about that now, after the convos with ECT and S2T (thank you BOTH for your insights!). 

Theory 2) Jae Won DID indeed go to the military, but his difficulties re-acclimating -- VERY MUCH ALONG with his other present issues -- have contributed to a serious dissociation episode in episode 6. This is likely more plausible.

Both theories are linked by yet another opinion. I believe that when Jae Won woke up after his bender in episode 5, he dissociated after his dad began knocking on his door and yelling. I’m not sure if the camera breaking was in the dissociation or in reality, but I believe the entire beach trip in episode 6 was part of the dissociation triggered by Jae Won’s dad and the pressures that Jae Won’s dad represents. I believe the utterly gorgeous filming style, the lighting, the weird jump to sleeping inside on a bed from the beach, the inconsistent scenes from morning on the beach, to surfing, to sex, to surfing again, to possible drowning -- I believe all of that is meant to be representative of dissociation.

Whew. Okay. Another theory. I do believe that Jae Won’s dad/family sent Jae Won to therapy in high school, possibly after his little brother’s death. I also still believe, as I posited in my last post, that Jae Won’s therapy could be a form of conversion therapy. Why do I think this?

(I just want to say that I keep repeating “I believe” because, y’all -- I totally think this entire series could be one big dissociation. Fight Club-like. So I’m trying to grasp at what I think is real-ish by indicating those factors as such.)

I can’t find it.... damn it, I can’t find it, but someone posted about the bed scene, and how Ji Hyun seemed more comfortable than Jae Won in bed. How Ji Hyun actually seemed/seems more comfortable in his queerness than Jae Won. (If anyone can link me to that post, I would be forever grateful!)

That REALLY got me thinking. I thought that was SO SMART, and I rewatched the scene to confirm that I agree there, which I do. 

Another piece of evidence to this theory, as I mentioned in the comments of that last post, is when the therapist says in episode 5: as Jae Won talks about Ji Hyun (or....at least....we *think* he’s talking about Ji Hyun), the therapist says “I hope you can build a good relationship without crossing the line.”

Now. BEFORE episode 6, where Jae Won talked about his little brother, I wondered why Jae Won was in therapy. It was STATED that he was there because of high school pressures. But the ways in which that therapist has been presented have been so weird. Like in episode 1 -- in only the SECOND scene of the entire series -- we see the therapist joking around, saying “For God’s sake, just tell me what your worries are!” and then giggling. I mean -- um, maybe they have a good rapport, but that’s definitely not how *I* learned how a therapist should act in grad school, ha. (I’d LOVE @emotionallychargedtowel‘s thoughts on the therapist’s bedside manner if you’re up to it -- no pressure at all.)

After putting together the chaebol deal with Jae Won’s dad, and that his family sent him to therapy in high school, and that the therapist talked about him being in a hospital in episode 5, AND that line about “[not] crossing a line” -- all of this screams to me of Jae Won’s family trying to “set him straight,” if you will. I seriously wonder.... if Jae Won became drug dependent vis à vis his therapist because his family needs him to be “normal” to take over the family business. I wonder if Jae Won, with EVERYTHING he might be holding -- from his queerness, to potential guilt related to his little brother, to the PRESSURES of being the family heir -- was either PUSHED to be drug dependent to fall in line, or has fallen into addiction as a result of those pressures.

I... would not put either of these theories past a domineering chaebol family.

Finally. After re-watching the very first scene of the series, and the very last scene of episode 6, and seeing how they’re the same, it all seriously makes me wonder if everything that we’ve seen so far is one big dream sequence. 

IN OTHER WORDS, Y’ALL. HOLY SHIT. Anything and everything is possible in this absolute MASTERPIECE of a show.

Other quick notes before I stop:

1) I stan Joon Pyo and Ae Ri -- MVPs. They care for our boy! (....if Ji Hyun even exists.)

2) Jung Seo In, who plays Ji Hyun’s boss, was also in Where Your Eyes Linger (I knew I recognized her!).

3) I’ve seen so many posts referencing the AMAZZZZINNNGGG music of this show, placed and edited SO WELL, and I just want to say that I am loving all the analyses.

Okay, phew, that’s all I got. I’m on the train with y’all for the rest of this ride. 

(@lurkingshan, tag tag!)

[residentraccoon]

Ok we have all the songs, time to make a top, with comments even 😳

1. Norway - I love love love this one, this eerie, thrilling melody mixed with the medieval theme and old norwegian language just makes this song perfect and no other song of this year can come any closer to it. Very unique, true to their homeland, absolute masterpiece. I'm definitely following more of Gåte's discography from now on!

2. Estonia - Well they're singing about drugs here and this song is exactly like a drug - addictive. What sells it is their awesome, slightly batshit crazy energy (I absolutely love it) and let's not forget the traditional instruments. I can see a Trenulețul scenario with this one tbh.

3. Slovenia - Absolutely magical, the structure of this song is pretty uncommon and the lil RRAH sounds are interesting, love how it takes a while to build-up and I just get chills all over. This one is a piece of art.

4. San Marino - This song is destroying my Spotify wrapped and it's not even funny, there's something about this one that makes it instantly addictive. I've listened to Megara since last year when they were at Spain's NF with Arcadia and all I can say is that I love their style. Sassy pink and punk rock with a touch of Spanish traditional sounds during the bridge, they just mesh together so well. I don't understand why it's so underrated (currently last in the odds lmfao) and I'm looking forward to their live performance.

5. Denmark - Generic pop song my beloved, why is it so catchy though? I've said it in a previous post, I just reminds me of songs I'd hear in 2013 or so and I love the "Oh-Oh" parts. Lovely

6. Lithuania - The beat hits, it's just awesome fr. Lovely staging and colors, Lithuanian sounds so pretty and melodic as well as his voice.

7. Belgium - Wonderful build-up, the song at first sounds very chill and gives me Blanche vibes (I looked it up and they have the same composer so not surprised lmao) but man, the climax is greaaaaat!! Especially with that choir in the backing. My only gripe would be that he keeps repeating the title over and over again, which can become a bit tiring. But just a bit. It's still a great song!

8. Switzerland - I don't know whose idea was to mix opera and drum n bass together but they're a genius, this is really cool, like absolutely nuts. I love how the bridge is very soft and quiet, opposing the loud and dramatic chorus, I feel like the song itself is pretty messy and inconsistent but I really like that, it's very out of the box and innovative. Genius entry.

9. Latvia - Underrated, I can see why it might fail to grab an audience in the fandom but I really like this one, especially his voice. The song flows nicely too, I only wish the staging would be a bit more...dynamic though? I really want Latvia to qualify for once, felt like it might have a chance since it could attract some casual viewers (some of my casual friend watchers really liked it!) but seeing how brutal semifinal 2 is (and one spot will be inevitably taken by...yeah won't elaborate) I'm afraid Latvia's out for this year as well. I hope at least for a surprise or who knows. That's only how I feel at this moment.

10. Spain - My biggest grower of this year and a total banger, I don't understand why it slaps so hard it has no business to, the message is SO real and it's so unapologetically sassy.

11. Czechia - Same story as with Latvia, underrated to hell and back, I know the live version is...a lil terrible but the studio one I really like. Love how you can feel the frustration through her shouty lyrics and how she's blaming herself for not loving herself more instead (also the beginning might or might not remind me of Aijā I mean the intro with the drums makes me think of it-) ANYWAY

12. Croatia - Listen I'm very happy for Croatia being seen as a most likely winner of this year, they deserve it, Baby Lasagna is an amazing man and the message is on point, even if it's not exactly my favorite I definitely root for him!! Please meow back if you agree. Besides this, the glam ethno rock sound is just 👌 chef's kiss

13. Armenia - Love love love that they brought something ethnic!! The girl's energy is infectious and she's such a joy to watch, the music video is very pretty and describes their culture so well, overall I adore this.

14. Netherlands - GREAT I relistened to it so I can rank it and now I have Europapapapapapa stuck in my head how wonderful. This tells me already that this is such an infectious bop that will never leave your head. Possible televote winner, love the quirkiness and Joost is really goofy we stan.

15. Greece - Welcome to Greece, everyone who visits the country is obligated to listen to this the moment they step out of the plane- /j It's so Greek, so fun, so ethnic, geez what's happening with everyone being so diverse and true to their culture this year? This song screams summer vacation in Greece and I'm here for it.

16. France - The raw emotions in this...he sings with his heart and soul, his voice is very deep and gruff which feels a bit unusual to hear such an intimate and emotional ballad from him, but this is what makes the song special.

17. Italy - Love her attitude and how she sells the song, it's very sassy and fun, won't be surprised to see Italy get yet another Top 5 finish with this.

18. Ukraine - Interesting mix of melancholic pop and energetic chanting and rap. Alyona just nails the rap part perfectly. Overall nice song, grew off me but still great.

19. Ireland - This makes me have chills all over my body. It's very haunting and suspenseful, I love the uncommon unique sound and how they recite the lyrics as they are a poem/creating a curse, I simply love how avant-garde Ireland are this year! Finally they're taking a risk and even if the song is unconventional i hope it will have a following that will help them get through the semi! 🤞

20. Poland - Oh look another grower, it's such a cute song for some reason and her voice is so pleasant to the ears.

21. Serbia - At first I thought it's a bit boring but now I find myself mumbling "Lila Ramondaaaa", like it has a hook even if it's a melancholic ballad.

22. Portugal - The emotions in this are immaculate, she conveys all her struggles in life so well into a ballad that's somewhat soft-sounding. Epic.

23. Australia - For some reason this song takes me back to 2015-2016 and I don't get why?? Maybe I heard music that's similar to this in that period, who knows. That chorus slaps immensely, as well as the didgeridoo(I hope that's the instrument), but I'm not extremely head over heels about it. It's enjoyable still!

24. Malta - Contrary to popular belief I enjoyed the revamp, she made it easier to sing live and it just has more oomph, good job, Malta.

25. Finland - The whole 3 minutes are absolutely batshit insane and I love it fr, these dudes are a delight to watch. The song tbh I like it but not that much to rank it higher, but I appreciate the craziness, the message, what sells it is definitely the staging and the guys' stage persona.

26. Austria - Mmmmm I know it's a fan favorite but I'm not a big fan of this, like I've said before in some other posts. The hype at first was highly irritating (especially on twitter, dear god 💀) for such a...just okay/good song? First of all I appreciate the throwback to the late 90s/early 00s eurodance/synthpop music that was popular back then, I think it does a great job imitating the vibes of it, but at the same time is it just me or this song feels so...calculated and has this eurovision-specific formula in its structure/sound? It was definitely made for it being performed live and to pander to the yass queen slay ate and left no crumbs-side of the fandom? Which honestly kinda drags it down a lot for me.

27. Sweden - I can't unhear parts of Air in this, well actually that's their style, neat electro pop tbh, I can bop to this, pretty enjoyable.

28. Moldova - Falls flat but what makes it a bit stronger is the vocalisations in the chorus, as well as the lil ethnic sounds. That drum is also quite catchy. They have to pull out a wonder-staging for this to qualify.

29. Georgia - If Georgia isn't qualifying with this one then that means their only hope is borrowing Loreen at this point. It's a competent girl bop with powerful vocals, that has a dedicated following, but I appreciate that even if it's a girl bop it's not so aggressively in your face like...other examples I've seen before. I'm personally not big on it, but it's nice.

30. Azerbaijan - Oh? Azerbaijan sends something in their language, what is this 2050? And not with a melfest reject? For the 2nd year in a row? I'm very impressed, but even with all these I don't feel that attached to the song, just glad they took a risk instead of renting a swede for safe qualification like they did in the past years. I love the ethnic touches though.

31. Luxembourg - Cute and peppy french bop, although a bit generic and that's about it, no strong feelings.

32. Cyprus - Mmm your regular girlie pop of the year, unsurprisingly from Cyprus as well. Pretty catchy, has a cool vibe but I'm not feeling anything about it.

33. United Kingdom - Just a competent mid-tempo boy bop, honestly nothing much to say since it kinda failed to impress me. Good effort though.

34. Albania - I don't get why they changed it into english, why they turned it more upbeat (I liked the balladier version more) and the rap part feels disjointed. Albania wanted to relive their 2016-2017 era I see.

35. Germany - I'm sorry but this song bores me to death and can't listen to it without zoning out which is a shame because he's a competent singer (his voice is the best thing about Germany this year) and I'm afraid they're again heading for a bottom 3 finish 💀

36. Iceland - Mmm this isn't is, Iceland. Very sorry. Sounds like it would get 13th in 2004, it's a very by-the-letters eurodance.

I will not rank Israel here. It's still mind-boggling that they're still allowed to participate.

[madfoxx]

listen i loved s2 as much as the next guy but some of the plotholes are just hilarious to me because they employ the fanfiction logic of “i want this scenario to happen so it will just happen” and i feel people aren´t talking about it enough, so here are some of the things that made me go “oh, no beta read huh.”:

1) first question: why the fuck did gabriel delete his memory?? seriously though, i havent seen one single post about this, but i just dont understand!? So, heaven threatens to fire gabriel and delete his memory, which, okay, bad news. and then his solution is to....delete his own memory for them, so now he doesnt remember his own name let alone the love of his life, beelzebub, who he planned to run away with?? WHY??? he left heaven immediately afterwards anyways it literally made no sense and just caused major problems for everyone involved. But i guess the answer is: we needed him to have no memory for the story to happen so that makes sense by ao3 standarts

2) on a related note, why was he naked?? he could have just speedwalked outta heaven in his suit with the matchbox in his pocket, so why strip down?? Again, no reason, but arent you glad we got to see john hamms naked butt, so lets pin that on gabriel being an sweet dumb himbo maybe

3) also, how did he find aziraphales shop while not even remembering his own name? Dont know dont care, googlemaps probably.

4) not really a plothole, but that whole Maggie and Nina getting locked in the bookshop thing was the tropiest trope they pulled this season and it didnt even work because we got nothing from that scene, not even one hearfelt deep conversation

5) this one is a bit pedantic, but how is it that a demon with magical powers has to live in his car? i guess its a character thing and we need to see him at his lowest point but he could literally just miracle himself an enormous pot of gold if he wanted to

6) why would beelzebub order an attack on the bookshop and risk gabriels life? why didnt they simply explain the situation to aziraphale & crowley? well you see we didnt want the story to be over after 1 episode and also we needed a finale of some sort.

7)  i mean the whole attack on the bookshop was just....a thing that happened i guess. kinda strange the demons (especially shax who seems to have at least 1 spare braincell) would dare to kidnap an archangel in the first place. isnt he like, insanely powerful? and they didnt even know he lost his memory, so to them he was just an archangel hanging out on earth because he wanted to. how did they think storming the bookshop and taking him prisoner would go down?

8) tbh i dont really understand why heaven wanted gabriel back so much they would threaten to destroy anyone helping him and then....they just let him just go without any problems whatsoever? feels incredibly anticlimactic and illogical to me but i suppose the season needed some kind of threat to make the romantic elements work

9) this might actually get resolved in s3 but i cant believe Upstairs wants aziraphale - an angel who spend years deceiving heaven and overall just sucked at his job because he was too busy trying to fuck a demon - they want him to be the new supreme archangel of heaven. he literally stopped the last apocalypse a couple of days ago and now he´s in charge of armageddon 2.0? that´ll for sure take some explaining!

there´s a lot more stuff, but these are the most obvious things that have been on my mind since s2 aired. i also want to reiterate that i do love many things about this season despite the writing being all over the place. and no, i dont believe that all inconsistencies will be magically explained away by s3. i think it boils down to neil gaiman saying “lets make a big budget 6 chapter fanfic so david tennant and michael sheen can kiss each other on the mouth. also not beta we die like eric the disposable demon” and i can respect that. 

[nobodysdaydreams]

If Pryce and Cutter hate the youths so much, then why don't they move across the universe to get the marriage counseling they clearly need and stop making their BS everyone else's problem?

(Or my reaction to Episodes 59-60 of Wolf359).

I said I would have self control. I said I wouldn’t listen to or react to anymore Wolf359 this whole weekend. But guess what dear readers? As usual, I lied, to you and myself. Sadly, I am weak. Now, with my confession out of the way, let’s get into it!

Tagging the mutuals who got me invested in this, and if you want to be tagged or untagged from these posts, lmk, or you can follow my blog or simply follow the tag "#bods wolf359 reactions". Anyone who has followed me for a while knows my updates are inconsistent, so I apologize in advance for that and for any spelling/grammar mistakes in my posts.

@sophieswundergarten @oflightningandstars @acollectionofcuriousreblogs @herawell @commsroom @lovelyladylavie

Episode 59: Crash and Burn

"Oh how fun. Come on kids, scream if you want to go faster." It's trippy that when I hear Pryce talk for a moment I'm like "Hera?" and then I realize. Also she and Cutter really do act like criticizing and mean disappointed parents.

"But just a small fire, and look it's out now!" good point Doug.

"This time you finally killed us" Congrats Doug!

"It's a fire on a spaceship, you shouldn't need explicit instruction to know it's a bad idea" "You don't know the first thing about commanding Douglas F. Eiffel" LET HIM KNOW DOUG!

"Cyborg De Vil" Eiffel really does have the best nicknames.

"I'm just a poor little old lady" Oh, I've met old ladies like you Pryce. Terribly entertaining, but awful all the same. Hated their own children too. At this point, I'm just waiting for your sad little backstory.

"Nobody says "thank you" anymore. Kids these days..." Pryce, maybe when you do something worthy of thanks, then you will be thanked.

"If it seems like I'm wrong, you don't have all the data" Well geez, I hope that pride doesn't kill you.

"Why are you asking us to read the values for you?" OH GET HER MINKOWSKI.

Okay, Pryce, in fairness to Doug, I think we've well established that most characters in this show are "metaphorically blind" in one way or another.

"Blinded by my own survival manual" it's fitting to be honest. The next edition? No, we don't need another edition Miranda.

"Well this should be easy!" Doug...Doug when is it ever easy?

Well gang, it looks like the gang's not getting out of this one this time. I will miss you all. Minkowski and Doug most of all. Kepler and Pryce less so.

Calling Pryce's husband is unfortunately the only plan. Let's see how he feels about wifey being in danger. This is either gonna go one of...potentially a few ways, and I'm very interested to see his reaction.

Will he leave her to die in space? Will he feel bad about that? Will he give up an advantage for her?

Wait. Is this Hera? Oh it's Marcus and Hera. I love the juxtaposition between Doug and Pryce and Marcus and Hera. I guess they both have a common interest. Nothing brings people together quite like it.

Oh gross Rachel's here too.

Skin alive whoever designed the flight's pod system? But this is so arbitrary...if all their enemies had been the ones to get blasted off, Cutter would give the man a promotion. For a guy who only promotes "the best" a lot of this is really just luck.

Wait. GUESTS???

Oh they got Lovelace and Jacobi. Oh dear. At least they can't kill or control Lovelace.

"I can't do much without her" I see. So she is the brain's behind Cutter's little happy murder business operation.

"Part of my signature look" Jacobi's sarcasm is growing on me the more he uses it against the right people.

"Pretty please with sugar on top" OH SO CUTTER DID HEAR JACOBI SAY THAT AND THREATEN TO SHOOT KEPLER. I think those were the exactly words he used too.

And speaking of that episode, we're back to singing about beer! 🍻Jacobi really is (formerly)evil Doug. 😂 They even sing the same song.

Is Pryce threatening to...EAT Doug? Well this is creepy.

Pryce, shut it. If you're so much of a grownup, stop acting like a pouty child.

Geez all Pryce knows how to do is complain. I guess Cutter is into that. For some weird reason. "Do I have to do everything around here." All you do is make trouble.

"You can't afford to take a chance on this" CALL HIM OUT JACOBI! I love his arc, I love his arc so much, it took way too long, but I'm so happy he's gotten here.

Oh dear. Is Jacobi in the right headspace for this? "Prettiest pumpkin princess at the ball?" Well good for Jacobi. Also very similar to the line Pryce gave to Hera. It's scary how much they sound and speak alike.

That is true. It might need to be a self-sacrifice mission. If Jacobi misses, Cutter kills him, and Eiffel and Minkowski don't survive. It's a tough situation, especially because we're not even sure how many lives are at stake here. But Jacobi, the whole point of self-sacrifice is that the people making the sacrifice agree to it, or there's literally no other way.

Yeah, Doug, Pryce is not gonna be reassuring. That's not in her generation's vocabulary.

Uh oh. Jacobi, I hope you know what you're doing.

Oh dear. Marcus seems testy.

And how much longer do we have with Rachel and Reimann? (Yes, I was corrected on the spelling).

"Just get it right this time Marcus" wow she is demanding.

Ah...there it is.

...or not...

...Jacobi?

...DUCK BOY?

Well they got them. But what happens now?

Oh great Marcus' slow clapping. And let me guess, he kills him anyway?

Business to catch up on? Pryce doesn't sound too happy.

And yeah Minkowski, hold her at gunpoint! (Though in my experience, people like her don't fear death, rather they complain it's not coming fast enough), but whatever gives you the upper hand.

Episode 60: Terms and Conditions

What's with the beeping?

"You are alright?" Strange that Rachel asks that. I guess she'd be the one to notice he's quiet.

Ah. The sunset. Very fitting.

Westerns. Cutter probably saw some of them down at the old timey picture show when he was a wee lad.

Yes, yes, "the bigger picture". But what if there is a bigger picture to even your story, Cutter? One that you're not in control over?

Cutter knows what's about to happen. He knows it's time to choose. Work wifey or scary evil plan? What's it gonna be old man?

"Who is it?" 😂 I love Doug. I love him so much.

"We could have a cup of tea" oh gosh Cutter really is every old person stereotype.

"Reflect on the working conditions. Are you fostering a supportive company culture? One that values the contributions of its employees?" Doug is the best. Doug is the best.

"If you ever want to see your worst half ever again" 👏 Tell him. TELL HIM.

So now Cutter has to a choice. He can go Legend of Korra and kick Pryce to the curb, or he can drop his tragic backstory and try to come to an understanding.

"Can you guarantee the safe recover of Dr. Pryce?" "96%" Hm. Cutter doesn't seem happy with those numbers.

Special Projects? "Similar to you while still not you. You will see what you miss and say what you don't want to" interesting. So that's why Cutter keeps Rachel around.

"How possible would it be to complete the mission without Dr. Pryce?"

DANNGGGGGGG... Rachel asking the real questions.

"I don't know what your partnership with Dr. Pryce means" Interesting...so Cutter kept that even closer to his chest.

"Before I decide, I want the information" Cutter is unraveling.

See this is why you shouldn't talk when Cutter can hear them.

"Handle this personally?" Did he just crack his knuckles? Is he going to try to fight them? 😂

Neat idea? Is Cutter gonna make his own radio show?

Kepler and Lovelace are speaking for them? This is weird. And unnecessary unless some other mischief is a foot.

CUTTER IS MAKING HER DO THE "MM-HM" 😂😂😂

Kepler reading out Eiffel's words too 😂

Cutter's promises are stupid. And taking the collar off Hera doesn't mean that Pryce can't do something else terrible.

"Those are big promises" That's basic human decency.

"That's one thing. I'm giving you three. What else?"

Kepler and Pryce are two people. I love how it clearly shows Cutter views Kepler, who he's having Lovelace talk to, a disposable.

"You wouldn't lift a finger to help anyone if you didn't need them for something." CALL HIM OUT. CALL HIM OUT. 👏👏👏

"With all due respect to you Warren, that Dr. Pryce's return is worth two of your demands" wow, Cutter just went there didn't he?

"We won't annoy you" "I'm not sure you can promise that" "First off this is...this is your boy, Douggie Fresh at the mic" 😂 I knew it was Doug when he said the "won't annoy you" thing, but having him use Kepler like this is amazing. "Gumming up the works" I love Eiffel. I love his whole speech.

Is Cutter making her slow clap? Cutter and Eiffel really are a theatrical duo.

Reject your terms? Taking advantage of you guys? You should be asking for way more. That's very true. They should ask for way more. They really should. But um...what is Cutter doing???

Ugh. It's like Cutter is still trying to teach them a lesson. Like an evil twisted mentorship figure.

I have a bad feeling about it too.

"You two crazy kids still there?" Shut up Cutter (no offense Isabel).

Cutter is gonna destroy the sol when it leaves. He has a plan to do so.

"No catch" THERE IS ALWAYS A CATCH.

"Talk to us baby" Aw, I'm so happy Hera loves it. 💕🥰

"Tell us who you are and what you're doing up here?"

YES! THE TRUTH AT LAST.

Ah, Doug has figured it out. Cutter is just ecstatic.

"Super old, look like you're 28, no need to sleep or eat, know everything, obsessed with aliens..." Oh Doug thinks they are aliens.

Not a bad theory Doug, but I feel like you're not correct.

I feel like they're about to say something like "no silly Doug. We're not aliens. Don't be an idiot. That would be over the top and ridiculous. We're obviously cyborgs from the past and future who have travels here to enslave all of humanity and rewrite the course of human history. Which is SO much more reasonable."

Also given that Lovelace WAS an alien, it's not that crazy of a guess. They're being a little unfairly mean to him right now.

Modified???? Wait, no, no deal, what does modified mean? Explain that first please, explain it now.

Send Kepler first. Cutter doesn't care about him.

"You want to stay with us" "No Boy" oh dear. Looks like they're in the middle of a little marriage spat. "You'll never be rid of me 214" I knew it, Pryce has a thing for keeping Hera under control.

Yeah, what did Jacobi do? Hopefully that alien blood works quick.

OH WHAT IS THE TEA THE BOOMERS ARE FIGHTINGGGGG!!!!

"Better to be lucky than good" something tells me you won't be for long, Miranda.

Rachel is going with them? Um. It doesn't sound like either of them like that. "Fill you in on the details" that's obviously code for something. I don't like how fast Rachel agreed to that.

Oh dear. Trouble in paradise it would seem. Worried about wifey, Marcus? "Be quiet. I was worried." "For me?" "I was." "You're not immortal" "yet" "of course, I was worried for you."

"Your only task is to back my play" wow. They really ARE a toxic married couple from the early 1900s. I guess Cutter couldn't stand the thought of losing his precious cold detached mean evil science early 1900's house/work wife.

"Friends?" "Partners." Hm.

This relationship fascinates me. Miranda shows him hardly any respect or gratitude. Yet Cutter seems to care about her in a...weirdly toxic way. Though I do wonder if Miranda feels the same.

Very true something has to be wrong here. Cutter wouldn't let them leave unless...

Wait. Unless it was irrelevant to his plans. Unless them getting back to Earth didn't matter.

"That's not why you're not gonna leave" ...um Rachel. What are you talking about? Please fill us in on the plan.

Oh Kepler's here too.

THE END OF THE WORLD?????

Wait...oh my gosh...

So...there will be no Earth to return to? And all the people on it?

ARE PRYCE AND CUTTER TRYING TO MAKE A DEAL WITH THE ALIENS???

Well I did say in a private discord chat that it was odd that they mentioned Minkowski’s husband and Doug’s daughter only to never bring up threatening their lives again. I guess they really saved that one in their back pockets for the grand finale.

Kepler, how much longer are you going to go along with this? If they destroy the Earth, everything on it goes too, including your beloved Whiskey.

Rachel, idk how much longer you think Cutter is gonna keep you around, but he clearly only cares about his evil science arm candy, and that's not you or Reimann. He'll toss you both under the bus when he's done.

Cutter, wifey seems a bit unstable, and Pryce, your man seems to not be valuing you as an equal, and as much as I dislike you, I'm still not cool with that on principle. Perhaps the two of you ought to see to some marriage counseling, somewhere...oh I don't know...far far far far far away on the other side of the universe? Where you two can finally stop having to deal with those pesky youths you claim to hate so much?

Well at least the thing about Cutter naming the AI and putting on a charming appearance and Pryce hating it and acting so cold towards them makes so much sense now. Cutter wants to play house. House where he casts himself in the role of a toxic, stereotypical, controlling, abusive, and terrible father, with a flimsy "I care so deeply" facade and horrible taste in women, but house all the same. I guess it makes sense given when he was born. Pryce views the AI and their employees as things, Cutter views them as their children or rather their "creations" but at the end of the day, their views amount to the same thing: tools from which they demand unquestioning obedience that they can cast aside if and when they chose to do so. Absolutely disgusting.

Wait. 2 hours?

THE LAST EPISODE IS TWO FULL HOURS.

And Volte Face is one hour. But then...when will I have the time to...

oh boy. Stay tuned everyone. Hopefully I'll get my answers soon. Thanks for reading!

[mittensmorgul]

Hello spn georg! I have a question requiring your deep knowledge. As much as I swooned over Carlos's holy water hair commercial, I was confused because I thought damage by holy water was just a demon thing in the spn universe. It burns vampires too?

Hello! I have to start this off by sobbing, because I had written out a VERY long and detailed response to this, lost track of time, had to run an errand with a split second notice, and left this open and unsaved. And then returned home to find my laptop had rebooted itself and ate the entire post. So. I have to recreate an hour's work that was VERY THOROUGH, and therefore this will never feel like a good enough answer to me... hopefully it'll suffice for you :'D

(honestly this is what i get for writing directly in tumblr. you'd think i would've learned this lesson by now, but nope... i'm back writing this response in tumblr too lololol... hopefully it goes better this time >.>)

I mentioned at the top of my original post that I had another anon venting about folks review-bombing the Winchesters ratings on imdb and other ratings sites, and agree with the anon that these are awful people with nothing better to do with their time, because THE SHOW HAS BEEN TELLING US FROM THE BEGINNING THAT IT WILL EXPLAIN WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON IF WE JUST WAIT UNTIL THEY'RE READY TO REVEAL THAT IN THE NARRATIVE. They've been telling us they are dropping CLUES as to what the "trick" of this story is-- like how Dean is exploring the past, how directly this affects the canon of the original show, and what is actually happening-- and I see all of these head-scratchers like holy water suddenly affecting vampires as exactly those sorts of clues. Let me explain.

What did established canon have to say about vampires and holy water? NOTHING! ZIP! ZERO! Established canon has never mentioned holy water in conjunction with vampires in any context-- either as being effective at repelling or slowing them down, or as being useless against them. For all we know, Sam and Dean could've had another weapon in their anti-vamp arsenal all these years, and just never thought to give it a try. They had dead man's blood and beheading as their go to weapons, maybe they felt they didn't need anything else? Either way, they never even TRIED it.

So established canon never DISPROVED holy water as an effective vamp repellent. Introducing it in such a gloriously fabulous way now doesn't break anything.

Oh, and we've often learned that unexpected things are effective weapons against various monsters over the years... i mean, wood chippers trump everything, right? LOL!

And can we just pause for a moment to discuss that? Because this is the sort of thing fandom has been clamoring for more of in canon for years. There have been many posts over the years that are basically lists of Awesome Hunting Tools that canon never even considered, like filling hula hoops with salt to play demon ring toss with, stuff like that. Because that hair flip? Have I mentioned how much I love Carlos? Okay, now I have. I honestly don't care if it broke canon even a little if it gave us that scene :'D

BUT! Even if holy water always could've been an effective weapon against vampires in original canon, it's easy to handwave with "Sam and Dean couldn't have learned it from John because John was too busy being dead inside (LOL sorry not sorry) while Carlos was busy being amazing with that little trick outside." Maybe John just never even knew holy water would do anything.

And if none of that is enough to handwave it for you, I'll jump back to the top of this essay and vehemently point at what should be incredibly obvious based on everything we know about how this show is being constructed. WE ARE *SUPPOSED* TO NOTICE THE INCONSISTENCIES. THEY ARE THE CLUES AS TO WHAT IS HAPPENING.

There are SO MANY wtf head scratch moments for me in The Winchesters. So many things are are just ~ever so slightly off~ based on everything we know. And that's not even mentioning the Big Obvious WTF of John supposedly knowing all about hunting, the MoL, monsters-- all of it, that doesn't line up at all with what we have SEEN of John and Mary's life in original SPN canon.

I mean... Samuel has hair now? LOL!

There is SOMETHING going on that will hopefully provide an AHA! SO THAT'S WHAT'S GOING ON! moment for us. There is a twist, a turn, a peek behind the big curtain that will show us what's been going on. WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT WILL HAPPEN IN EPISODE 13!

So saying at episode 9 that it's all crap and invalid because it doesn't line up with established facts is just... such a boring stance to me. Like, enjoy the mystery! Piece together the clues!

For my other anon again, I can see how it would be fun for folks who have no idea about original canon, who don't even know they're even looking at clues because they haven't memorized every last detail about original canon, you know? But for those of us who know enough to pause and scratch our heads over this stuff, golly isn't it fun wondering how it all fits together? Because I'm having fun with it. :D

But hopefully that at least covers your question about holy water and vampires.

even if I'd typed up a much better reply before tumblr ate it...

[angstyaches]

i’ve been thinking about a halloween prompt for donnacha because i’m so incredibly obsessed with his and henry’s relationship dynamic.

i know you’re not big into overeating, so you know how when you don’t eat, you eventually start to get a little woozy and gross feeling? donnacha hasn’t eaten in hours cause he’s been busy running last minute halloween errands (can you get more candy? we have to have this very specific sweet! that place was out? oh no! can you try here?!) for everyone and he’s starving by the time he gets home.

he’s staying in with henry this year because he doesn’t like going out and hen doesn’t really go out anymore either. plus, donnacha doesn’t want to see a repeat of last year where he walked in on henry anxiety puking on the bathroom floor after snapping at lucy. so he beats a hasty retreat to henry’s room to get away from the mayhem happening in the shared space after he gives everyone their stuff, and he’s got a bag of his favourite junk food with him that he starts to munch on while he jabbers on to henry about his day. everything is going great!

only… his belly isn’t really liking all the sugar and it isn’t really helping his headache go away and he’s getting quieter and quieter until henry finally asks him what’s wrong.

-🐭

Yes, it's December 2nd, and yes, I know this is late.

Thank you so much for this lovely, detailed, thoughtful request, anony 🐭, I appreciate you so much and I hope you're well.

I've had this draft for so long and I'm a bit tipsy right now as I'm posting it, so I'm sorry if there are typos/inconsistencies, or if it just straight up isn't good 👍

CW: overthinking, stomach pain, mention of cheating, mention of breakup, overindulgence (sugar), mention of chronic pain, platonic caretaking.

Word Count: 4,200+

___

Donnacha barely had a second to breathe as he stepped through the door, before he was being beckoned through to the living area by someone who didn’t even live here. 

Autumn was dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast; her outfit was casual, nothing extravagant like the yellow ball gown from the movie, but he could tell that was who she was. He felt a pang of recognition at the lace detail on the collar of her yellow blouse. Had she worn that on a date once? Had he been with her when she’d bought it? A second pang, this one tinged with loss. 

It still sent him reeling, sometimes, that she wasn’t his, and he wasn’t hers. 

“What is it?” 

“Get in here.” 

Donnacha sighed. He’d been running on empty all afternoon, actively ignoring the rumbling in his stomach and the tension in his brain for hours now. Now that he was home, he felt like wilting. 

He blinked in bewilderment as he stepped into the living area. Lucy had been stringing up Halloween decorations since halfway through September, but she’d really doubled down at some point since he’d left this morning. He could barely see the mouldings for the amount of fake cobweb and crepe paper streamers filling the corners and tapering off across the ceiling. 

But it was the unfamiliar faces that really threw him. 

“Donnacha, this is Dixon,” Autumn said, gesturing towards the Asian guy dressed as Legolas from Lord of the Rings, and then to the dark-skinned girl in the ladybird costume. They were both sitting on the couch, flanked by a seated Claudette on one side and by Autumn standing at the other. “And this is Leigh. We’re in the musical together. Guys, this is Donnacha, my –” 

She didn’t falter as she spoke, but in between her words, Donnacha’s heart did a sickening flip. Was she about to bring up the fact that they were exes? He wasn’t sure he was comfortable advertising that with these people he didn’t know – 

“Oldest friend,” Autumn finished. 

Donnacha let go of a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. “I mean, I’m not that old.” He smiled; both Dixon and Leigh had beautiful smiles, so it would have been a little difficult not to. “Great to meet you both.” 

“You, too,” they practically said in unison, which led to Leigh curling her lip and softly backhanding Dixon’s leg. Next to Dixon’s knee, there was a glossy pride pin that caught Donnacha’s attention. It was attached to the strap of a side bag that he was holding firmly in his lap. 

Donnacha breath caught in his throat as he thought about the flat cardboard packet that was currently sitting in the top drawer of his bedside table. Inside, still wrapped in plastic, was a bisexual flag pin. He’d been a little drunk and dizzy when he’d ordered on Etsy, and it’d seemed like a great idea at the time. He’d even smiled proudly to himself when it had arrived, but as soon as he’d started opening the package, as soon as he’d started thinking about actually wearing the pin, a pain had bloomed in the pit of his stomach. It just seemed as though advertising his identity was unnecessary. Maybe dangerous. Undoubtedly more trouble than it was worth. 

He understood it now, though; he felt himself wanting to be seen, to be recognised, like Dixon. 

Shit, he thought. Maybe he should have mentioned his pronouns after Autumn had introduced him – 

It was too late now, because Lucy was scampering up to him, hands outstretched. “Thanks, hon.” 

She relieved him of the shopping bags that had been testing the limits of his shoulder sockets for the past hour. He smiled at her tiredly and looked at her skinny denim jeans and plaid shirt, wondering if she hadn’t gotten changed yet, or had poured so much Halloween spirit into decorating the flat that she had none left to fuel a costume. 

“You kept the receipts, right? I’ll pay you back tomorrow afternoon,” Lucy said. 

“What are you dressing up as tonight?” Claudette asked from the other end of the sofa. Donnacha realised she was addressing him. Their eyes were pinned on Donnacha’s face over the rim of their cup. Autumn had promised – of her own volition – that she would never tell anybody that Donnacha had kissed someone else during their relationship, but he could never quite shake the feeling that Claudette knew something more than they let on. 

“Eh, nothing.” Donnacha shook his head. “I’m… I’m actually not coming out tonight.” 

“Oh, you’re not?” Autumn looked genuinely crestfallen, which gave Donnacha yet another strange pang in the centre of his chest. He didn’t know what to do with it, so he boxed it up, tucked it away in the back of his mind, and tried to stop thinking about it. 

“Jesus, Donnacha!” Lucy called out from behind him. She’d propped the bags on the edge of the coffee table and was fishing things out, one by one. “You let us boss you around on the phone all day, and you’re not even partying with us? Why didn’t you say something!” 

“Lu, it’s grand, seriously,” Donnacha smiled. He edged a little closer to her as some familiar packaging caught his eye. He’d almost forgotten that he’d grabbed something just for himself amidst all of the bossing around. “These are for me,” he chuckled sheepishly, reaching for the packets. 

Lucy just nodded and shrugged. “Yeah, fair enough.” 

“Anyway, I’d already promised I’d drive to the shops before this other plan came up…” 

“Ooh-ooh, other plan?” Lucy lowered her voice, though everybody could still hear her, clear as day. “A hot date?” 

“Oh, yeah.” Donnacha smirked. “I’ve got a date with this floppy-haired lad who works in web design and never leaves his bedroom.” 

As soon as he made the joke, he wanted to snatch it out of the air and swallow it back down. It had somehow sounded like an unnecessary dig at his friend, and implied that it really was a date. How the hell had that happened? 

“No – I just… Me and Henry, we’re just gonna watch a movie and hang out. You know, after what happened last year, I didn’t think it’d be good for him to be, you know, overwhelmed…” Donnacha couldn’t believe it was his own mouth that was saying these things. Nobody needed him throwing about reminders of Henry’s meltdown last Halloween, least of all Henry himself. 

Autumn gave one of her politest smiles and turned to say something off-topic to Leigh. Claudette was still eyeing Donnacha with a curiosity that bordered on disgust. Even Lucy didn’t seem to know what to say, which was never a good sign. 

Donnacha frowned, irritated. He’d spent all afternoon hunting down everybody’s requests for the Halloween party, edging through traffic jams, bothering staff members about their stock. He hadn’t expected to be hoisted up onto anyone’s shoulders like he’d scored a winning try, but shouldn’t he at least be allowed to be himself? 

He pushed that feeling aside, packing it up alongside his confusing feelings about Autumn, and his reluctance about his identity, and his nervousness about Claudette, and his guilt about Henry. 

He cleared his throat and rubbed at his stomach, which delivered to him a nasty twinge to remind him that the last thing he’d eaten had been a pathetically small, dry article that had barely passed for a blueberry muffin at 10am. The packaging of his chocolate bars crinkled in his other hand, and he couldn’t help eyeing the half-empty plates that were scattered throughout the room, holding mini spring rolls and spicy wedges and breaded cheese sticks. 

“There any food left?” he asked, feeling oddly grateful for the opportunity to change the subject. 

“Yeah, lots.” Payton. 

Donnacha turned around. 

They were sitting at the dining table, and had been quiet and staring at their phone since Donnacha had come in. They were wearing a navy jacket and had curled the front of their hair, but Donnacha didn’t care to contemplate their appearance any further. 

They half-smiled at him and nodded towards the kitchen. “Help yourself.” 

Help yourself. Of course, Payton would know all about helping themself, since they’d helped themself to Autumn less than a fortnight after the break-up – 

“Thanks,” Donnacha said, making a beeline for the kitchen. 

Everything edible was spread out on baking trays and was dried out from the oven and cold from sitting out too long. It was hardly an appetising site, especially while Donnacha was already thinking about tearing into his Macaroon bars. He’d been hit with a wave of nostalgia when he’d spotted them on his hunt for Lucy’s obscure requests, and he’d bought them thinking they would be his desserts for the next few weeks, but who was going to stop him from making them into his dinner tonight? 

His stomach gurgled quietly beneath his hoodie. On top of the sharp hunger pains, it felt knotted with tension. He couldn’t believe how easily he forgot how skipping meals affected him, making him shaky and emotional. It’d been a mistake to let it get this bad. 

After tossing a small handful of wedges and some ketchup onto a plate, Donnacha tucked his chocolates under his arm and swept through the living area one more time. 

“Happy Halloween, have a good night,” he smiled, and he didn’t stop to let anyone’s expression or response sink in. 

___ 

“Oh,” Donnacha deadpanned, “you’re working?” 

Henry didn’t turn around at first, and Donnacha realised it was because he had his noise-cancelling headphones on. He must have seen the light from the hallway reflected in the computer screen though, because the further Donnacha pushed the door open, the more Henry’s attention seemed to twitch away from his work. 

He took off the headphones and swung his chair into a half-turn. “You’re late.” 

That face was a relief to lay eyes upon. Henry had washed his hair, there was some colour in his cheeks, and the circles under his eyes were barely a smudge. His eyebrows were scrunched up in a frown, but that was hardly unusual, and Donnacha knew that Henry could be frowning himself into a knot and still be genuinely content. 

He didn’t understand it, but he knew it. 

“Did you say something, by the way?” 

“Yeah.” Donnacha tossed his Macaroon bars onto Henry’s bed. He sat down on the mattress, his plate of wedges on his lap. “I was trying to ask what you’re playing at. Working? I thought we were watching a film.” 

Henry’s mouth slid into a thin, stretched line, his expression taut with unvoiced laughter. 

“What?” Donnacha asked. He thought for a second about what he’d just said, popping a mini spring roll in his mouth and crunching down on it. Then he sighed, replaying in his head what he’d previously said, hearing it through Henry’s ears. “Seriously? Fil-um?” 

Henry cracked a smirk. 

Donnacha pointed at Henry’s computer screen. “Switch that off.” 

“I want to finish what I’m working on.” Henry held up his hands, pre-emptively stopping Donnacha from protesting. “This is on you. I had to start something to occupy myself, and now I have to finish it. You were very late.” 

“Yeah, I’m extremely aware. Bloody starving as well,” Donnacha said over a grumble in his stomach, dipping a cold potato wedge into the little pool of ketchup on the side of his plate. “So, are we not actually watching this movie anymore?” 

“Of course.” There was no little amount of judgement in Henry’s gaze as he adjusted the bridge of his glasses. “I still can’t believe you’ve never seen The Nightmare Before Christmas.” 

Donnacha chewed without much relish. He took in, for the first time since entering, what Henry was wearing. “I still can’t believe you own a... baby-grow.” 

Henry glanced down at his orange one-piece pyjama set. “It’s a onesie.” 

“Same thing.” 

Henry held eye contact with him for a few seconds as he pulled the hood of the onesie up over the top of his head. A Jack O’Lantern face was stitched into the hood, and a little green stalk sat at the crown of Henry’s head. “It was a birthday gift from Lucy.” 

“Was it? All she gave me for my birthday was scratch cards.” 

“Try being her friend for ten years.” 

Eyeing the pumpkin pyjamas one last time, Donnacha shook his head. “You know, I think I’m good.” 

“Mmhmm,” Henry grunted. Hood still pulled up, his attention had already been drawn back to his computer screen. 

Donnacha let him work in silence for a couple of minutes, slowly chewing his way through his pile of wedges, but eyeing his chocolate bars with much more enthusiasm. He hadn’t had a lot to eat yet, but having calories inside of him had improved his mood drastically. 

Licking a smear of ketchup from his thumb, he glanced up at Henry. “Did you get some food?” 

Without tearing his eyes away from his work, Henry pulled his hunched shoulders further back into his chair, unblocking Donnacha’s view of a paper bag that sat next to his keyboard. “I secretly ordered Thai noodles while I was waiting for you. You were very –” 

“Very, very, very, extremely late,” Donnacha finished for him. It brought a smile to his face, to picture Henry in his pumpkin onesie, creeping down the hallway to collect his food at the front door without alerting anybody else in the apartment. 

“I have some leftovers, if you’d like to warm them up.” 

“Nah. Thanks.” Donnacha reached over to put his half-full plate on Henry’s nightstand. The scratching sound of ceramic on wood made Henry’s gaze jerk to the side. 

“Hmm. Thought you were starving?” 

“I am.” Donnacha rubbed his palms together. 

“Then, what are you going to… What are those?” 

Donnacha grinned broadly as he tore open the first packet, and the wrapped chocolate bars fell onto the bedspread. He felt a spark of pride upon seeing Henry half-turn his chair again. “Come on. Don’t tell me you don’t know what these are.” 

Henry’s head bobbed from side to side. 

“They’re Macaroons!” Donnacha exclaimed. “They’re a classic. Don’t tell me you never had these as a child?” 

“My mother didn’t care much for sweets.” Henry touched the bridge of his glasses again. 

“Want to try one?” 

Henry shook his head. “I’m full.” 

“Alright, but you’re missing out.” Donnacha picked up one of the bars and laid it to the side. “Know what, I’ll save you one.” 

“Save me one?” Henry’s voice rose. “How many are you planning to eat?” 

“Never you mind!” Donnacha waved a hand towards Henry’s computer before his fingers began wrestling open the wrapper on the bar. “Don’t you have graphics to design, or something?” 

“I do.” 

The first mouthful of the bar seemed to melt away on his tongue, but after the second, Donnacha began to feel the warm, giddy sensation of sugar settling in his belly. Mentally, he was right back in his hometown – or rather, the closest village to the remote area where his father’s farm was located – surrounded by crumbling stone walls and single-lane roads and the smell of vegetation. 

Donnacha happily burned his way through three more of the bars, and was fishing the next one out of the packet when he let out an involuntary sound that Henry clearly found distracting. “Mmm.” 

“Enjoying yourself,” Henry observed. Maybe it had been intended as a question, but there was no doubt in his voice. 

Donnacha shook his head in a way that meant yes. “You have your cartoons and your old films, Hen –” 

“Fil-ums,” Henry repeated incredulously under his breath. Every time, he acted as though it was his first time hearing Donnacha pronouncing that specific word in that specific way. 

“But this – this right here –” Donnacha flattened the empty wrapper between his thumbs and stretched it tight, so that the words lay flat and the pattern unrumpled. “This is pure childhood joy for me.” 

Henry’s desk chair creaked as Henry shifted his weight, bracing his hands on the armrests. He looked vaguely uncomfortable, and Donnacha was about to ask him if something hurt, but was cut off. 

“You had those a lot,” Henry asked, “as a kid?” 

“Every weekend, after mass,” Donnacha nodded, chewing quickly so he could swallow. “Da’d stay at the church because he’d be talking to the priest, and Mammy had this group of friends who would stand and smoke just down the road, and they’d – they’d give me and Aoife some pocket money, and…” 

He took a break to swallow again, saliva filling his mouth as the sweet aftertaste lingered. 

“And the two of us, we’d hightail it down the road, to the corner shop,” he said. “The shop owner was called Mrs. Breathnach, and she always took her time coming down to open up after mass, but me and Aoife were always the first ones waiting for her, and she used to know our favourites off by heart, so she’d be unlocking the shop and rattling off, ‘a Dip Dab for Aoife Ní Mhurchú, a Macaroon for Donnacha Ó Murchú, and one carton of milk’. Mammy always got us to pick up the milk as well, so there’d be milk for Sunday tea…” 

He was quickly realising that there was no satisfying end to this story, no way for him to whip up the words to properly convey why these were such important memories. 

Henry had stopped working altogether and was looking at him from the desk chair. His dull green eyes were unreadable as always behind his glasses, especially in the low lighting and with the computer screen glare reflected in the lenses. 

“Sorry.” Donnacha swallowed again, realising his cheeks were burning and his stomach was doing flips. He took a bite of chocolate. “I’m rambling like my Uncle Seán at Christmas dinner.” 

“It’s okay –” 

Donnacha gestured towards the computer screen. “Do you not need to get your work done, so we can watch this movie?” 

Henry was silent for a couple of seconds. Donnacha genuinely didn’t feel like chatting anymore, and he was really hoping that Henry wouldn’t push the subject. But he thankfully turned his chair back towards the desk and took the computer mouse in his hand. 

After a little while, Henry reached for the chocolate bar that Donnacha had placed aside for him. He undid the wrapping so that there were no tears down the side, no damage done to the text or the design. His careful precision brought a private smile to Donnacha’s face. 

“Want to finish it?” Henry asked after eating the quarter that he’d broken off. 

“Aw. Do you not like it?” 

“It’s nice,” Henry said, “but I’m still full from dinner.” 

Donnacha pressed his lips together as he eyed the chocolate in Henry’s hand. His throat was dry, and his stomach was now pulsing with pain. “Wrap it back up. Have it later.” 

Once again, he expected Henry to refuse, especially since he didn’t seem overly enamoured with the bar in the first place, but thankfully he nodded and folded the wrapper down over the open side. He went back to tapping away with his computer mouse. 

Donnacha sank back a little on the bed, trying to find a comfier position that didn’t place too much pressure on his stomach. He started to reach for another chocolate bar but stopped himself.  

“You’ve gone quiet,” Henry remarked after a notable amount of time had passed. “What’s wrong?” 

“What d’you mean? You asked me to be quiet.” 

“Never usually stops you.” Henry sat back in his chair, reaching up under his pumpkin hood to scratch his scalp. “Can I ask you a question?” 

“’Course you –” 

“Why did you stop telling the story about these bars?” 

“Because – because it wasn’t really a story,” Donnacha frowned. “There wasn’t anything else to tell, and I didn’t want to just keep… you know, rambling on.” 

“That word again.” Henry’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Do I ramble on when I talk to you about work, or movies, or my life, or whatever?” 

Donnacha frowned. “No?” 

“But that’s what it felt like you were saying. Do I tell you too much? Because it feels as though you never tell me anything about yourself.” 

“There’s… not much to know –” 

Henry scoffed loudly, a sound Donnacha had not expected to hear from him. It set his teeth on edge, and the sensation was uncomfortably similar to the hurt that flared up when he thought about Payton and Autumn. 

“You don’t tell me shit either,” he said. He was trying for a calm, measured tone, but somehow managed to sound like a sulking child. Like he’d gone into the corner shop and they were all sold out of Macaroons – 

“What?” Henry choked out. 

You – you never told me why you stopped going out, why you stopped being Lavender, why you stopped bringing dates here… Donnacha’s stomach turned over, and he was hit with the sudden realisation that he might be sick. The back of his hand hovered towards his mouth. How the hell could he even have considered saying that? How could he compare the details of his silly little life story with... whatever it was that had kept Henry locked up at home for so long? 

He was just grateful he’d managed to bite his tongue before speaking. 

“I’ve upset you.” A dry hitch in Henry’s voice. “I’m sorry.” 

“No, no, Hen, it’s not – it’s not about that.” 

His breath caught in his throat, heat swelling in his cheeks, as his insides gave an uneasy shift. It mightn’t have been so bad – in fact, it relieved a little pocket of pressure in his belly – if it hadn’t sounded like a lawnmower engine trying to take off. No denying it now. 

“Pain in my stomach,” Donnacha admitted, massaging his side. “Right here.” 

Henry turned his head, just slightly, and Donnacha caught sight of the look on his face. Something more than a sneer, something less than an eye roll. And his eyes were trailing close to the packets of chocolate bars that sat next to Donnacha on the bed. 

“What?” Donnacha demanded. 

“No comment.” 

“You think I did this to myself.” 

Henry turned back to his screen. “No comment.” 

“And no sympathy either, I take it.” Donnacha sighed and pressed a little harder into his belly as he rubbed. The pain was warm, tight, tucked right up under his ribs. It felt a little like bloating, without feeling overly full. Like all of the chocolate had clumped together in his stomach and was sitting like a dead weight. 

“I never said that, now, did I?” 

Donnacha looked up to see that Henry was actually shutting his computer down. “Oh... you’re done?” 

“Mmm. Yeah. Let’s go with that,” Henry said, which suggested to Donnacha that he wasn’t actually finished, but Donnacha was too relieved to make an argument. He hadn’t really acknowledged it, but the main thing getting him through the day had been this – time with Henry, time in which neither of them had to pretend that they were something they weren’t, or less than they were. 

Henry spun his hair to the side and eased himself to his feet, wincing as he unfurled his legs. It suddenly felt silly – insensitive, even – for Donnacha to be complaining about something as fleeting and, yes, self-inflicted, as a belly ache. 

“Are you okay?” Donnacha asked, half-rising from his position on the bed. “Is – is your hip...?” 

“My hip’s fine,” Henry said as he sat down heavily on the edge of the mattress, one arm extended in Donnacha’s direction. “Come here.” 

Donnacha exhaled and allowed himself to sink into Henry’s embrace, to enjoy the feeling of soft waves of hair brushing against his own. His own was short, aerodynamic, clipped and primed for always being on the move, while Henry’s had an air of messiness, of softness, of a way of living that involved no urgency.  

Good, Donnacha thought with an odd flare of protectiveness. With all the pain and hardship that he’d been through, Henry deserved that kind of life. 

A hand pressing against his belly made Donnacha groan and cuddle in closer, but shame pushed against the warmth in his chest. 

I was supposed to be taking care of you. 

Donnacha heard himself let out a whine, and his cheeks flushed. In an almost instantaneous response, Henry wrapped his arm tighter around Donnacha’s waist, tucking his face into Donnacha’s hair. 

“How about you just try to get some sleep.” Another question that wasn’t a question. An offer that Donnacha wanted to sink into. Henry’s arm trembled against his ribcage, but he kept the hug going. 

Donnacha shook his head, hair bristling against Henry’s stubbled chin. “Let’s watch The Nightmare Before Christmas.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah.” Donnacha rubbed at his eyes and tried to sit up a little, resisting the urge to let his body curl around the sickly pain beneath his abs. “I might need a few more belly rubs, though, if you’re up for the job.” 

Henry clicked his tongue in the back of his throat and pressed a quick, passing kiss to the side of Donnacha’s forehead. “Of course you do.” 

[predoom]

ohoneohone

Saturday, January 14th, 2006 4:14 pm "noones ever been this good for this long" this is everything i am thinking right now with out transition. i apologize for my brains lack of linear thought processing: i hate the way it gets dark so early here this time of year. i guess "seasonal depression" kind of falls under "ADD" and "post tramatic whatever disorder" for me. i feel like its science from the madhatter down the rabbit hole. not too real. but lately i just wake up blue - my only thought is- how soon will the day be over so i can get back into bed. i open my eyes just a tiny bit and blur the numbers on the clock with my eyelashes. every word you say rolls off of my back - the praises and the barbs. i don't hear either, ever. sometimes the tips of my fingers itch from the back of my head- just to get the chance to tear someone to pieces and just barely let them off the hook. i swear to god, i was asleep alone. quick text me an alibi and oh god please don't dust the keyboard for prints. sometimes i stare out of the frosted window and make up stories as people walk by. the bottled blonde, park ave. princess walking whichever dog matches her coat. you know how i could turn your world upsidedown. its not love if a day goes by when you don't think about dropping it. its not the world keeping you on the outside, its you not wanting to be on the inside. everyone wants to be the first. buts its okay to be the second if you understand it better, if you make it look prettier. worn down doesn't even touch this. and theres nothing worse than when someone acts like they have you figured out, when you haven't even figured yourself out. nice boys don't write good stories or sing good songs. and his songs are boring. and his stories are just personal ads set to background music. i found the skeleton key for wedlock but i am holding off on telling her. on telling anyone for that matter. consistent inconsistency. thats all you ever have to remember and you'll do okay with me. dancers are always strippers. and paying their way through college is the BE VE. oh and hey pete do you remember the way the world used to trick you with fifty degrees in january and orange leaves in june? button your jacket tight, don't believe everything you read... don't even believe everything you wrote. i'm tired of always leaving. i'm tired of the way things always/never change. swim upstream until your gills bleed just because thats what genetic encoding commands. there aren't any trophies that are really worth it in the end. they can put you in a box when you are very young, so you'll be a pretty corpse but there are too many pages filled with too many words to lie beside you forever. intelligent design is the last great joke i heard. but honestly, no one will ever stay where i tell them, least of all the years. they keep moving. worlds greatest liar and how do you know i'm not lying when i tell you this right now? and thats coming from the king of one-liners. copy and pasted - long live the away message. kiss the monitor. fast asleep baby. Friday, January 6th, 2006 8:11 pm i am just a hot mess. i woke up to the feeling of myself throwing up today. pretty much put a damper on the entire day. i ate about 50 stomach pills and then threw them all up- it was a pretty color in the toilet. my toungue is black on the top right now. i am pretty sure thats a bad thing. i watched way too much gastinaeu (however you spell it) girls today. i think it made me sicker. it took me awhile to realize that they were mother and daughter and not sisters- but the mom is kinda hot in pissy kind of way. my mom is out of town so there was noone here to take care of me- my brother was around but hes pretty much always bongzilla'd. so i waited for back-up caretakers to arrive- one of them was busy cutting hair and the other has like a "real" job besides being dad.

the best part about vomitting alone in the morning is the way the bathroom tiles feel kinda cool in a pleasant way so i took a nap there for a bit. i want to see hostel tonight but the problem is all the vomitting- see its not that i mind so much its just what if i run into someone in my sicky gear and puke on them?

wow. i am glad i did this update. arent you?

im gonna leave the comments open cause i never do- just write down the first thing that comes into your mind when you see that reply button- heres mine:

i am just a hot mess. (989 Comments |Comment on this) Saturday, December 24th, 2005 9:57 pm blue christmas so i was sitting around this christmas. just kinda getting bummed out looking at the lights outside of shiny houses in my neighborhood and decided that it was time fall out boy gave somethng back. we decided to pick a cause that we feel is often overlooked- education of poor people in africa (specifically ethiopia). we feel like education is one of the most important building blocks in change- so after doing some research we found and organization that we felt really was doing it right: www.a-cet.org - this isn't some glossy amazing press piece it is doing something quietly to make a change- and we loved that. so we decided to put a couple of old and rare FOB and clandestine items up on ebay. here's the deal- if you dont see the link off of a fall out boy site than don't trust that it is us doing it- part two- keep bidding the more we can help the better. and three we will keep adding more items up here for a bit so keep checking back. they are all legitimate and endorsed by FOB and all items will come signed. happy bidding:

a clandestine shirt sample that was never made: http://cgi.ebay.com/never-produced-clandestine-shirt-sample-fall-out-boy_W0QQitemZ4812617551QQcategoryZ52473QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

breakdance not hearts shirt worn on big in 05 awards: http://cgi.ebay.com/clandestine-breakdance-not-hearts-shirt-fall-out-boy_W0QQitemZ4812615104QQcategoryZ52473QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

giant moonman pez dispenser given to nominees at the VMAs http://cgi.ebay.com/giant-VMA-moonman-pez-dispenser_W0QQitemZ4812612435QQcategoryZ52473QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

complete set of take this to your grave trading cards. including rare card: http://cgi.ebay.com/fall-out-boy-trading-card-lot-takethistoyourgrave_W0QQitemZ4812607828QQcategoryZ52473QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

new:

original bleach "i am the dream" shirt clandestine: http://cgi.ebay.com/original-bleach-clandestine-shirt-i-am-the-dream_W0QQitemZ4812798220QQcategoryZ52473QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

original secret order shirt http://cgi.ebay.com/secret-order-of-FOB-shirt-hyper-limited_W0QQitemZ4812800208QQcategoryZ52473QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

alternative press poster signed by entire band http://cgi.ebay.com/alternative-press-poster-fall-out-boy-limited_W0QQitemZ4812796786QQcategoryZ52473QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

spend your xmas cash... Thursday, December 8th, 2005 3:34 am last week i got to hold a baby orangatan (spelled completely wrong).

that was the best moment of my life.

ill try to find a picture.

try to imagine a regular baby, mixed with a puppy, mixed with the song "dont stop believin" by journey. Tuesday, November 22nd, 2005 12:59 am sometimes my own words dont suffice. "i hope that our few remaining friends give up on trying to save us i hope we come up witha fail-safe plot to piss off the dumb few that forgave us i hope the fences we mended fall down beneath their own weight and i hope we hang on past the last exit, i hope its already too late and i hope that the junkyard a few blocks from here someday burns down and i hope the rising black smoke carries me far away and i never come back to this town again. in my life i hope i lie and tell everyone you were a good wife and i hope you die. i hope we both die" Sunday, November 20th, 2005 1:36 pm sometimes its like never started sometimes it like its never gonna end

[churro-lord]

so what are your gripes with erivris?

Oh buddy what isn't there to have gripes with?

For starters, there's the elephant in the room that 1. Their ancestors were in a relationship and at least to ME that makes me prefer them in a sibling context [esp in humanstuck] and 2. In canon, they are exes so there's already a basis to them not being together. BUT that doesn't automatically mean that they aren't viable to get together, it's just something I felt is important to mention.

For the sake of everything though, I'll be shelving the first elephant simply because of how technically incest isn't a thing or whatever in troll society [even though this just feels like an excuse to make things weird in some respects due to Hussie having a tendency to focus on incest stuff BUT I DIGRESS, this isn't the time or place for that it's just something to be mentioned] and how not everyone sees this stuff as the same as me. We're going to be looking at this from a purely "these two have no relation to each other" type of way

My first and biggest argument is just....how Vriska is to people. ESPECIALLY in terms of the pitched quadrant. Look at how she treats Tavros, she bullied and abused the hell out of him to the point she PARALYZED him and continued to berate him for not being able bodied all just to "toughen him up" [I put this in quotes as this is what she believes she's doing, when this is just making shit worse.]

Vriska picks and prods at someone's weak points, berating them under the impression this would make them stronger. She's a horrible pitched partner in general if the person she's trying to help were to have self esteem issues. Which, we clearly see Eridan DOES as we see him going to Feferi and fretting about how he worries he's not a good enough partner for Vriska because she got BORED OF HIM.

This brings me to my next point: Vriska stops talking to Eridan WHEN THEY ALREADY HAD PLANS out of BOREDOM. Now this could be seen as Eridan's nerves, which is fair, but the fact still stands that she ignored and didn't tell him anything and just blocked him while they still had plans going.

Another point of contention: the fact that the whole thing they had going on was a business arrangement, and a way to emulate their ancestors. We know their flarp characters were EXPLICITLY named after their ancestors as well, Mindfang and Dualscar. Their ancestors were in a pitched arrangement, which the duo learned from Vriska's ancestor's journal, so it was more so they were emulating their ancestors instead of well...actually being in a stable relationship.

Of course, that doesn't mean they didn't get emotionally invested, clearly Eridan still cared a lot about it since he would later try and prod Sollux and Rose to be his new rivals to piss her off. Also the self esteem stuff mentioned above.

But the point still stand that it's built off the idea that they have to be like their ancestors, which we can clearly see is unhealthy for BOTH of them, and I mean in general not just with their relationship.

And again, the fact that it was also specifically an arrangement that was meant to feed Feferi's lusus and Vriska's lusus.

There's also confirmation in the author's commentary as well. Although I should say that author commentary should always be taken with a grain of salt given the fact that Hussie's author commentary can be inconsistent, blatantly false or just downright awful and unnecessary. So take it as you will:

I think though that this does line up enough with what we're seeing in canon.

Now, there is a case to be made that they could be in a different quad. Which I mean, fair enough you do you. There's canon evidence that Vriska did at least care about Eridan or DID like being around him on some level.

Firstly, when pre-retcon Vriska on the pirate ship says she wishes that Eridan wasn't prototyped as Erisolsprite bc he would have loved being on the expedition. Along with how she defended Eridan's worthiness of living to Terezi in post-retcon.

Although, we never actually get a chance to hear what Eridan would potentially feel about her like...post dead and stuff. So it's hard to exactly say if he'd feel the same.

So at the very least to me, I feel they could at least be friends, but just because Vriska still seems to be ok with the idea of being around Eridan, doesn't automatically mean I'd wanna throw them in a quad.

But yeah, those are kinda my bigger reasons as to why I don't like Erivris. I can tolerate it at least I suppose, as it's not one that I consider to be the 3 ships I will internally go hater mode at haha. I'd just side eye it and go =.= ok I suppose haha. Again, at the very least I like them as friends[or siblings in humanstuck], albeit with some distance.

[whiskeybeforesunset]

Homecoming Part 4 | Steve Harrington

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Male!Reader

Word Count: 3.6k

Synopsis: According to Steve Harrington “only losers don’t go to Homecoming.” This multi-part fic followed the reader through different experiences of the night. After parties are supposed to be fun right?

Warnings: Underage drinking, insecurity, internalized homophobia, reader bonks his head, making out, people in bathing suits?, unrequited love but not with Steve I promise I was nice this time guys, happy ending

Author’s note: Can you tell I didn’t go to a lot of parties in high school? I know this final part took forever to get out. Also I know there’s some inconsistencies in the story, hopefully they aren’t too jaring lol. I don’t know if I like the ending, but I think that’s mostly just due to me not being used to writing happy endings so it feels off.

Previous Chapter

___

You’re once again sitting in the back of Steve’s car. Words cannot describe just how little you want to attend this party. Jesus, why did you agree to do this whole night in the first place? Your eyes flick up to Steve in the driver's seat. His suit is still on, but he certainly has the whole ‘post dance’ look down. His tie is loosened and the top buttons of his dress shirt are undone. His hair is messier than the last time you saw it, and his lips are tinted with Tina’s lipstick. 

You take a deep breath before looking out the window. It’s only a few more hours, you tell yourself. Plus, there’ll be beer, that should help. Yes, alcohol is something you need right now. 

…

“You good?” Steve asked while handing you your swim trunks. You were hesitant about a pool party at first, but the way in which your dress shirt has stiffly dried makes you grateful for the opportunity to change.

“Yeah, why?” Liar. Steve looks at your face, trying to read your expression.

“Uh, you kinda ran out of the gym real quick at the dance. And when you got in the car… I just thought I’d check in on you.” You feel your face flush as he speaks.

“Oh, that?” You say quietly. He responds with a short nod.

“Well,” you pause, struggling to think of an explanation.

“Look, don’t worry about it man,” he cuts you off. “Whatever it was, it’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place. I’ll just head down so you can change.” He turns to leave the room. 

“Steve, wait I-” you're not even sure what you were going to say, but when he turns around the words fall flat on your tongue. 

“I... was wondering where the bathroom was?” Wow, nice save. Your rate of speech slows throughout your lame excuse like a robot shutting down.

“Down the hall, to the left… where it always is.” He says. You give an awkward laugh.

“Right, ok thanks.” He gives you a confused look before closing the door behind him. 

…

There’s a lot more people than you expected. While you had been changing at least 20 more arrived. You can see groups of teens scattered around Steve’s backyard, mostly in the pool, but there were clusters conversing or trying to get a game of beer pong started up. 

The pavement below felt abrasive. The dampness created by people coming in and out of the pool felt clammy against your dry feet. In that moment you became hyper-aware of your state of dress, the simple shorts leaving you feeling exposed. Are people making side glances at you? Wondering how on Earth you manage to get invited to this party? Or maybe they thought you snuck in like some kind of creepy, why would Steve Harrington want to hang out wi-

“Here, drink.” Tommy pulls you out of your thoughts by handing you a red solo cup filled with what you can only assume is beer. 

“I uh-” you go to reject his offer, but upon examining your surroundings you notice almost everyone has a cup in hand. Plus, it’s not as though you're opposed to numbing yourself for the rest of this night. Instead of finishing your sentence, you take the cup and give a nod of acknowledgement.

“Come on, it’s a party.” Tommy says gesturing to the space around him. “Get in the pool, loosen up a little.” As always, you can’t help but find something off about his… friendly expression. Regardless you make your way over and hope for the best. 

…

It’s just a bunch of drunk teenagers in a swimming pool, what’s the worst that could happen? Well, chicken fighting, apparently. 

You’re not sure what started it, and you're not sure how you were convinced to join in, but regardless there you stood with Nicole on your shoulders. It was actually kind of fun, you were doing pretty well and making your way up the ranks, now facing… Tommy and Carol. 

If you were a little more sober, you may have realized how screwed you were in this battle, but Nicole’s cheers of joy at your triumphant win last round spurred you on. 

Tommy took out your legs pretty quickly, and your drunken state left you in no shape to remain upright. Unfortunately, Nicole pushed down on your shoulder in an attempt to keep herself above water, leading you to bump your head on the bottom of the pool.

You can hear loud cheers through the dimly lit water. The only thing hinting your disoriented figure as to which direction you were facing was the colosseum-like barrier of legs surrounding the chicken fighting ring. It’s peaceful down here. The crowd seems much less intimidating when all you can see is their meandering bottom halves. Maybe you’ll just stay here for a bit, enjoy the peace. 

Or maybe not.

A flurry of bubbles appears around you and you feel two arms wrap around your torso pulling you to the surface. Steve’s arms tighten when you try to push him away, not letting go till he had dragged you to the less populated shallow end of the pool. Thankfully people were distracted and didn’t notice the incredibly embarrassing rescue.

“Let me go ‘m fine.” You say sharply, finally separating from him.

“You were sitting under water and not moving for nearly two minutes.” Steve responds flatly.

“I wasn’t drowning Steve, I was just…” You pause, not really sure how to describe what happened.

“Yeah, you seem totally fine.” Steve said sarcastically. His eyebrows were drawn together.

“Whatever.” You scoff. He goes to reach for you but you have already made your way out of the pool.

“I need another drink.” You tell yourself.

…

This is fun. You're fun.

This is going great. You repeat in your head as you make your way to an unoccupied room in the basement. It was dark, the only light coming in through a small window near the ceiling. Plopping down on a couch you giggle when you bounce a bit.

“Hey.” You look up to see Nicole standing in the doorway. She’s in her swimsuit and her hair is still wet.

“Nicooooleeee.” You extend the latter vowels of her name far longer than necessary. She laughs and makes her way over to you.

“I’m glad to see you’re having some fun. I was kind of worried. Earlier tonight, I mean.” You frown slightly as she says this. 

“Yeah, I guess I just had to loosen up a bit.” You say wiggling shoulders. She laughs and moves closer so that your knees are touching. You tense slightly but she doesn’t seem to notice.

“Y’know I’m really glad you asked me to the dance.” Nicole said, looking at you through her eyelashes. 

“Oh?” You respond nervously.

“Yeah, I know we don’t really talk all that much but I’ve always thought you were really cute.” She blushes looking down.

“Oh, thanks.” You say, she looks up at you expectantly. “Your hair is, um, really pretty.” What? Is that even something guys are supposed to notice? 

“Thanks, that’s really sweet.” Nicole laughs. You two sit there looking at each other for a while before she leans in and kisses you. You don’t move or kiss her back. 

After realizing your lack of reciprocation, she quickly turns her back towards you. The calming dimness of the room suddenly feels all consuming, and the once sought after quiet allows Nicole's cries to be fully heard.. Your stomach is in knots. You can see her pale shoulders shake with her sobs in the moonlight coming through the window.

“Nicole I-” You start to say.

“No.” She says shortly. “I don’t understand I- I spend all night trying my best to be pretty, and act how girls are supposed to. I just wanted tonight to go right. I just wanted you to like me.” Tears continue to flow down her face and she speaks. “Why… why would you ask me to the dance if you knew you…” She takes a deep breath in a failed attempt to calm herself down and level her speech, causing a series of sobs to come out instead.

She knows. Fuck she knows. You should have just kissed her back. Hell, you should have just married her if she wanted. Anything would be better than her knowing, than anyone knowing. 

“Why would you ask me if you knew you liked another girl?” She finishes her sentence, looking up at you with a very similar complexion to the one you had in the bathroom earlier in the night.

“Nicole, I-” You go to deny her claim, but realize that this is probably your best way out of this. 

“You’re right. I’m still not over my ex. It was selfish of me to ask you out tonight, I’m sorry.” She sniffs and turns to face the wall opposite of the couch, nodding while processing the information. She wipes her tears before standing up and leaving the room.

Shit. Once Nicole leaves you lean back and fully lay down. You’ll give her a better apology on Monday, you tell yourself. But who are you kidding? You never talked to Nicole before, and you doubt she will ever want to speak to you again after tonight. You feel goosebumps form on your arms, the warm buzz of the alcohol was wearing off. Maybe getting into dry clothes and heading home is the best move right now. 

You miraculously make your way up two sets of stairs and back into Steve’s bedroom. You silently thank the universe that it’s unoccupied and begin changing back into your clothes. You were able to get your pants on and most of the buttons done up on your shirt before Steve came in.

“Ah there you are, I’ve been looking everywhere for you and- wait are you leaving?” Steve asks, stepping in and closing the door behind him,

“Yeah.” You say quietly, not bothering to look up at him. If you had, you would have seen the concerned look on his face. He felt bad, he shouldn’t have pressured you into doing all this tonight.

“What happened? Tommy said he saw you at the keg earlier and you were having fun?” Steve said. You grimace at the mention of Tommy’s name.

“I-” You pause. Dramatically groaning you lie down sideways on Steve’s bed. 

“Wow. That bad huh?” Steve makes his way over to his bed too, lying down next to you. Albeit a bit less dramatically.

“No, well yes? God, I’m such a dick.” You relay the events that occured while remaining on your back, Steve was on his side turned to you intently listening. 

“Yeah, that is bad.” He said plainly.

“Thanks, I feel so much better.” You respond sarcastically, you finally turn to him. It’s not as though it’s the first time you two had laid in his bed at the same time. There was just usually daylight and text books involved. 

“I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have made you come tonight.” Steve said quietly. When you look at him from across the bed, you know you can’t go on like this. You wish you could just ignore your feelings and be able to keep Steve in your life as a friend, but after tonight you know that’s not possible.

“It's okay, I know you were just trying to include me. I just-” you pause to make sure the words come across right. “I like tutoring you but-”

“Aha! So you admit it!” Steve interrupts.

“I’m being serious,” you frown. “I think it might be better if we don’t hang out outside of that.” Steve’s face falls at your words. 

“Okay, I guess I can respect that if that’s what you really want.” He looks at you with those damn puppy dog eyes. 

“I don’t know what I want.” You say, although Steve had no idea the deeper meaning behind your words. 

“How about this, right now we get that shirt buttoned up properly. You can go home, sober up, get some rest, and then we can talk about it.” You looked down and noticed you were two buttons off. Damn.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” You sigh sitting up. 

Steve turns to you and starts unbuttoning your shirt. You try your best to keep your thoughts at bay but can’t help but blush. Once he moves back up to refasten them you laugh.

“What?” he says asmmused.

“In all the fantasies I’ve had about you taking my shirt off, none of them have involved you putting it back on immediately after.” You laugh again before looking up at him. He is not laughing, in fact he has a very serious look on his face. Your face falls as you realize what you just said. Steve’s hands still rest at the collar of your shirt, unmoving. 

“Steve, I-” You go to explain yourself but before you can, his lips find yours. His hands move from your shirt collar and onto your face as he tilts his head for a better angle. 

Unlike with Nicole, you quickly respond to Steve’s actions. Your own hands finding his sides as he turns your bodies so he’s on top of you. You move your hands up his back and onto his shoulders, pressing his body further into yours. His bare chest touches yours, dress shirt now loosely hanging on your body. 

“Stevie, where are you?” Tina’s muffled voice calls from the stairwell. Immediately you separate, looking at each other with panicked eyes.

“I’ll be down in a sec Tina.” Steve calls out unmoving. She seems satisfied at this and makes her way back down the stairs. Fuck, Tina. Steve likes Tina. Steve kissed Tina, but Steve also kissed you. Oh my god you just kissed Steve. No, this wasn’t supposed to happen, you were supposed to keep it a secret. Steve seemed to notice your brains working in overdrive as he said:

“So… we should talk about… that…” He said. He held both his hands out as if to give a peaceful gesture, but you had already begun buttoning your shirt back up.

“No, no. This didn’t happen. This can’t have happened.” You say, slipping your shoes on and grabbing your jacket. You leave his bedroom and Steve quickly follows.

“Hey, come on.” Steve calls as he chases you through the house. You exit through the back door, hoping to lose him in the crowd surrounding the pool. However, he grabs your wrist before you can make it to the gate.

“Stop.” Steve pleads as he says your name. Unlike the last time you two were arguing, you had caught the attention of the party and all eyes were on you.

“No, Steve. I’m going home.” You say, stepping back in an attempt to distance yourself. Your feet however do not find solid ground behind you, but instead step off the ledge leading into the pool.

After plunging to the bottom you make your way to the surface of the pool, wadding in your now waterlogged clothes. You look up to see Steve with a very distressed look on his face. He holds his hand out to you, eyes silently pleading for you to accept it. You may have been drunk, but you weren’t willing to embarrass yourself any further by failing to get out of a pool by yourself in wet clothes.

As soon as you get out you continue your path toward the gate. Steve doesn’t follow this time.

…

Crickets chirp as you make your way back home. It’s pitch black out, around 3 AM if you had to guess. Your soaked shirt clings to your skin like gum on a shoe; it isn’t doing you any favors in the late September weather. Your mind wanders to tonight's events. ‘Photos, dinner, the dance, and then the after party’ was what Steve told you. Oh god Steve. You realize one of your only friendships just got significantly more complicated, if not completely destroyed. God your head hurts.

“How did things turn out like this?” You mumble to yourself, running a hand lazily across your face. 

The drinking, you conclude. Probably the drinking. 

You’re thankful your parents are out of town as your now ruined dress shoes squeak your way through the front door. Abandoning your clothes in the entryway to be dealt with tomorrow, you take a hot shower before collapsing into bed. Sleep comes quickly.

…

You groan and move your hand to block the rays of sunlight entering through your window. As you sit up a pulsing headache brings back memories of the night before. Fuck. Glancing at your alarm clock you can see it’s already past noon. You slowly make your way out of bed and into the kitchen. Digging through a drawer you manage to find some tylenol and down it with a glass of water. You lay your head down on the cold granite countertops, begging for the ground to open and swallow you whole. 

A loud knocking causes you to open your eyes again. It’s probably just Mr. Davis, your neighbor, asking if you can mow his lawn again. You wait for it to go away, but it doesn't stop. You begrudgingly make your way over to the front door, doing your best to straighten the lounge wear you have on so it’s somewhat presentable. To your surprise Steve is standing on the other side of the door when you open it. 

“Can I, uh, come in?” He asks. You stand there for a minute, mouth agape and eyes wide staring at him.

“I’ll take that as a yes…” He says, carefully stepping around you and into your home. Closing the door behind him, you both idle awkwardly in the entryway. 

“So I’m here to talk about… it.” Steve says.

“Which it?” You respond, trying your best to make light out of the situation.

“I guess whichever one you're willing to talk about?” He says apprehensively, hand moving behind his neck. You sigh before making your way into your living room, this felt like a ‘you should sit down for this’ kind of conversation. Steve follows and sits on your couch next to you. 

The two of you sit in silence, staring at an abstract painting that hung on the opposite wall.

““I’m sorry, I know I crossed a line last night and I made you uncomfortable. If you don’t want to hang out with me, or even tutor me I understand. It was stupid and I was drunk and-” Steve finally says.

“Wait, what?” You respond. Turning your head to look at him. “Steve, I want us to keep hanging out, and us… kissing last night isn’t the problem. I mean it is, but it isn’t? Look, this,” you motion between the two of you “whatever it is, can’t be healthy if I have to ignore… things for it to function. If it’s like you said, and it was just a stupid drunk thing for you, then I don’t really see a way that us hanging out makes sense.” 

“Was it… not a stupid drunk thing for you?” Steve asks quietly. Looking up at him, you realize how surreal this conversation feels. After last night, you just assumed you wouldn’t be talking to anyone who attended the party ever again. Yet here you are, on your living room couch with Steve Harrington asking you a very loaded question.

“No, it wasn’t.” You say, studying his face for a reaction.

“I am incredibly confused right now.” Steve states plainly. “But… I know that what I feel for you wasn’t just a last night thing. I’ve actually felt this way for a while now.”

“You have?” You ask shocked.

“Yeah,” Steve responds sheepishly. “I mean it was hard to recognize it at first, you're a guy obviously so that was… new. I tried to just ignore it and focus on the girls I was seeing but there was always this little part of my brain that said there was a chance you liked me too since you never really date anyone. I thought if I got you a girlfriend, then maybe that part of my brain would shut up.”

“Hence the insistence of me going to the dance.” You say.

“Yeah,” he laughs. “I guess it all sounds pretty stupid now.”

“You’re right.” You say taking his hands in your own. “I think we’ve both been pretty stupid.”

The future of your relationship may be unclear, but as you lean in to kiss him, hands intertwined making silent promises to each other, you feel safe knowing that Steve is navigating it with you.

[ourladyofmaplemurder]

So I watched The Beguiled...

As a professional Blossom Scholar, I took it upon myself to view The Beguiled. Cheryl references it in Season 2 prior to her sleepover with the inner circle Vixens and cousin Betty. (Season 2. Episode 16 - Chapter Twenty-Nine: Primary Colors)

Mad ramblings under the cut. <3

Judging by their faces, I'm going to say that they probably have NOT seen this film. Or, if they have, they do not have the appropriate dressing gowns to evoke its image.

Now, I debated whether or not to watch the original 1971 version starring Clint Eastwood or the 2017 version starring Nicole Kidman and directed by Sofia Coppola.

Which version, I wondered, would Cheryl be referring to? Likely the latter, I concluded. After all, I can totally see Cheryl being into Marie Antionette and probably the Virgin Suicides. (I could write a whole post on Cheryl and her possible feelings about the Virgin Suicides, but let's move on.) Not to mention there's something just a little pretentious about being into Sofia Coppola, but I digress.

The point is that Cheryl being Sofia Coppola fan seems likely.

Thus, I watched the 2017 version first.

Now, let's break down the plot of The Beguiled as quickly as possible.

Basically, it's the Civil War and Martha Farnsworth has a small school for girls in the South amidst the fighting. Amy, one of the girls, finds a union solider while hunting for mushrooms. She brings him back to the house and they decide to nurse him back to health. (Oh boy.)

And thus begins a slow and torturous unraveling of the relative peace these women have enjoyed. Each of them vie for the soldier's affections until he tries to make a pass at Alicia, one of the students at the school. Distraught because the soldier had previously declared his love for her (and also Alicia is 17), Edwina fights him off. He falls down the stairs and worsens his leg. (Oh dear.)

Martha decides to amputate because the wound is too severe for her to fix. However, when the soldier wakes up, he is convinced they took his leg in revenge and he becomes violent. Thus, the women of the house (minus Edwina who was too busy courting the soldier despite everything) decide to poison him with mushrooms. They do. He dies. (Oh boy!)

I'm not gonna pick apart this movie, but I will say that that the inconsistency in their dialect work was genuinely distracting. Anyway.

So, why are we talking about this?

Well, there are a couple of interesting details about this movie that do, indeed, apply to Cheryl's sleepover. Namely a poisoning and someone falling down the stairs. Obviously Nana Rose is not a wounded soldier making a pass at one of the girls, but one of the topics that Cheryl & Co. discuss is the matter of Uncle Claudius. Now, Cheryl is convinced that he is out to kill her, and he probably is, but he does try to break into her room a few nights prior, so, there's a creepy parallel for you. Not only that, but he is a solider who mysteriously arrives to the estate and thus, causes problems.

Additionally, when reviewing the 1971 version of the film, we get the additional detail of Martha Farnsworth having an incestuous relationship with her brother so. There's also that. (This show cannot go too long without a nod to the Blossoms and incest. It's like they have a quota.)

I find it fascinating that Cheryl references this film and then her sleepover has echoes of it within. There really is something to be said about how fiction and reference bleed into reality with Riverdale all the time. Even in the smallest throwaway lines.

Additionally, I think this may have been Cheryl attempting to relate to her peers. Per the screenshot above, she failed.

My poor gothic heroine.

Also, shout-out to Cheryl dissociating in the midst of the hair brushing train. (Is this one of the parlor games she mentioned?)

ALSO. This scene features one of my all time favorite Cheryl lines:

"There's a stranger in this house. My Uncle Claudius. He's as mad as the sea and ever since he blew in, I feel like I'm in mortal peril."

And finally, we all know Tannis Root is not a real herb, but a reference Rosemary's baby. I will speak on that another day, but APPARENTLY Penelope is cultivating Datura in the greenhouse? Hello????

That needs its own post.

Anyway. These were my findings. Happy trails. <3