#lets kick vincent for fun

[spicymancer]

considering that rumble after dark is a fighting game. do the characters have unique reactions to mirror matches?

Oooh this is a fun idea... let me think: Beck P1: Wait... if I kick my own ass, does that make me weak or strong? P2: Wanna find out? P1: Bring it on.

Madison: P1: If you're me, then tell me what number I'm thinking of right now! P2: Three. P1: Damn I'm good. SH0-T0 P1: It seems redundant for a training dummy to spar with another training dummy. P2: Who are you calling a dummy? P1: *sigh* Yuseong P1: Hey! I worked hard on this human disguise! You can't just copy it! P2: What are you gonna do? Sue me? P1: My mom's from hell. She knows enough lawyers.

Gibson P1: Hrm. I don't like this. P2: The feeling's mutual. P1: Then let's get this over with quickly.

Helen: P1: I want you to hit me as hard as you can. P2: Is this what I think it is? P1: If so, we're not supposed to talk about it. Pop cap: P1: ..... P2: .... .... P1: .... Vincent P1: Hey, wanna team up? You seem like a smart fella. P2: Smart enough not to trust a liar. P1: Hey, it takes one to know one.

Locke: P1: So... Robot? Hologram? Or is this a magic thing? P2: Could be a clone, or an alien imposter. P1: The paperwork for this one's gonna be a nightmare.

Bonus... Datamined from future DLC?? Sister Leona: P1: Okay, this booking is messed up. P2: Hell of a plot twist though. P1: Save it for the Pay Per View. Xiaoshing P1: Master always said to overcome thyself. P2: Somehow I'm not sure this is what she had in mind.

[Redacted]: P1: *sigh*, What stupid life choices have led me to this? P2: Heh, don't beat yourself up over it. P1: Oh very funny.

[Redacted]: P1: Did I get the spell wrong? P2: One of us sure did. P1: Ahh fuck.

[augustinewrites]

+ series summary: as marius von hagen’s assistant, it’s your job to accompany him to certain public functions. you’re used to being in the background, but this time? the event is an engagement party, and he doesn’t need an assistant. he needs a date.

as soon as the elevator opens to the penthouse floor, you pull the key card out of your purse and march straight to the door on your right.

six months ago you would have hesitated. six months ago you would have knocked politely, with a cup of coffee, a muffin, and a kind smile. 

now, you slap the key against the scanner aggressively. as soon as it turns green, you push down the handle and lean heavily on the door to let yourself in. 

you scrunch your nose as you step over a pair of sloppily discarded high heels, slipping your own off and pushing both pairs aside with a stocking-clad foot. then you venture into your boss’ apartment, deciding to deal with the blonde scrolling through her phone on the couch first.

“you need to leave,” you tell her dispassionately, picking up what you assume is her clutch and tossing it into her lap. “this isn’t a bed and breakfast. mr. von hagen has business to attend to.”

you wait impatiently as she looks you up and down, taking in your office ensemble along with the identification card hanging from your lanyard. 

relenting, she lets you herd her out the door without protest, but not before handing off all her contact information in case your boss ‘wants to have fun again.’

you take the little slip of paper (noting the lipstick kiss in the corner), then slam the door in her face. 

monday mornings are always the same. 

after kicking out sunday’s trash, you grab some aspirin and a glass of water, heading for the master bedroom.

predictably, marius is still passed out. you find him practically spread-eagled in the bed, with only a thin top sheet protecting his modesty. 

you’ve learned the hard way that marius sleeps nude, but seeing his toned chest and abdomen, along with the neatly trimmed trail of hair leading below the sheet never fails to make you catch your breath…

you squeeze your eyes shut, telling yourself to snap out of it. he’s your boss, the man who signs your paychecks and is the cause of some of your biggest headaches to date. 

“sir,” you whisper harshly from the doorway, reluctant to move closer. when you don’t get a response, you call out to him again, this time at a normal volume. much to your chagrin, his cute sleeping face - mouth slightly parted, brows scrunched - remains unchanged. 

huffing, you step around last night’s clothes and empty liquor bottles to rip the curtains open, letting the morning sunshine stream into the room. this action makes marius stir, groaning tiredly as he lays a hand over his eyes. 

“sir,” you say again, with more force this time. “you have a consult with the legal team in a half hour.”

“the legal team…” he mutters, still refusing to pry his eyes open. 

he continues to grumble uselessly into his pillowcase, clearly intending to make your job as difficult as possible. 

…until you check your watch and decide that you can’t waste anymore time coddling him, so you take the half filled glass of water and dump it over his head. 

he jerks up with a sputter, glaring at you as he swipes the ice water out of his face. 

“there are nicer ways to wake a guy up, you know,” he huffs, shaking the water out of his hair. 

you set the glass down, sighing. “if you want to be babied, sir, you should call vincent.” 

he mumbles something you’re sure is rude under his breath, pushing wet bangs out of his face before asking, “where’s maia?”

“first of all her name is–” you check the note you’d scrunched in your pocket. “–mia and she left her cell number, home number, and the number of the strip club she works at.” you hold it out to him, humming. “very classy, sir.”  

he doesn’t even look at it, so you crumple it back up and stuff it into your pocket. 

“yikes. i don’t know why she bothered. i already gave her the speech.” he shrugs, clearing his throat as he recites, “‘last night was incredible. you’re a great girl, but right now in my career–’” 

“‘i just can’t give you the relationship you want or deserve,’” you finish, having heard him recycle the practiced line to multiple other hookups in the last three months.

“hey, you memorized it!” he exclaims, lifting his hand for a high five. he lowers it when he sees your unimpressed look. “wrong crowd, i see that now.”

rolling your eyes, you turn around and open the door to his closet, grabbing a set of clothes that costs more than your rent and laying them over your arm as you call over your shoulder, “when i took this job, i didn’t expect to deal with the pussy parade. be honest, are you in some kind of competitive sex tournament?”

“i’m young and single!” he reasons, catching the boxers you throw at his head and quickly slipping them on. “i’m allowed to sow a few oats.” 

everyone in the office knows that it’s really about the lawyer from themis getting engaged. 

you’ve seen the way marius used to look at her, seen the plain adoration that used to shine in his gaze. it’s why ever since news of her engagement, you go through this every monday— when she comes in to help him navigate the confusing reports and updates of confusing legalese.

his behaviour these past few weeks was a coping mechanism. an unhealthy one, obviously, but who were you to tell that to the president of a multi-billion dollar company?

“whatever you say, sir,” you shrug, shoving the pants and button down into his arms. “get changed. i’ll call vincent and have him let everyone know we’re on our way.” 

you step out of the bedroom to let him get dressed, deciding to make yourself busy by starting the coffee maker. as the scent of freshly ground beans fills the penthouse, you take a moment to pull out your phone and double-check your boss’ calendar. 

after the meeting with legal, his schedule is relatively clear. only a handful of things you need him to review, along with a spot of press. it’s a relatively easy monday, by all means.

it’s then that berry decides to make an appearance, the adorable russian blue leaping up onto the counter and meowing insistently to get your attention. smiling, you reach out to scratch lightly under his chin.

“what are we going to do with him, huh?” you whisper, scooping him up into your arms. content purrs rumble against your palm as you stroke his fur. 

“traitor,” marius scoffs, entering the kitchen. you glance over your shoulder to see him looking somewhat put together. not only is his shirt still untucked, but his hair is still messy and wet and you’re positive he’s still sweating tequila. 

he ignores the fresh coffee in favour of grabbing a carton of orange juice from the fridge. he unscrews the cap, flicking it onto the counter so he can take a swig. 

“unbelievable,” you mutter under your breath. marius  glances over at you, wiping the corner of his mouth with sleeve before holding the carton out to you. 

“what? you want some?”

you push it away with a fingertip. “no, thank you.”

he shrugs, screwing the cap back on and shoving it back into the fridge. you and berry watch with equally unimpressed looks as he rummages through the oversized pantry, resurfacing with a box of cereal. 

you turn to open a nearby cabinet, grabbing a bowl. 

but in those few seconds, he’d already ripped the box open and was scooping cereal out with his hands, pouring handfuls into his mouth. 

this is it, you think as he gets crumbs all over his nice shirt. this is what marius von hagen looks like when he hits rock bottom. 

_____

you barely make it to the meeting on time. 

the whole team is already seated, ready to begin. marius - with the mcdonald’s iced coffee that’d almost made the two of you late in hand - takes a seat at the head of the conference table. 

your boss is surprisingly alert despite the fact that his brain is currently steeped in alcohol. he takes notes, asks appropriate questions, makes thoughtful suggestions. it’s one of the things you respect about him. he is a professional first and foremost.

“it seems that’s all for today,” he says once the last subject has been covered. “if there are any other questions, please keep them to yourselves.”

with that, he makes his grand exit.

well…he was a professional most of the time.

you're quick to jump in when the room fills with dissatisfied murmurs. “if you have any questions, please direct them to vincent or myself so we may raise them with mr. von hagen at a later time."

with that, everyone carries on with their day. you head back to your desk with an armload of paperwork for marius to look over and sign. you read the first few pages as you walk, already working out a summary in your head.

you make it to your desk just in time to see rosa following marius into his office.

chatting in his office after a meeting is a fairly common occurance. rosa comes by to help review whatever contracts his staff of corporate lawyers had drawn up, or walk him through any topics confused about.

your phone buzzes with a message from marius.

[marius]: come get me in five to say that we’ll be late for lunch.

what isn’t common is for him to do that.

but you do as he says, knocking politely when the five minutes are up.

“come in!”

“sir,” you begin after sending rosa a small wave. “we’ll be late for lunch if we don’t leave now.”

“lunch?” the young lawyer echoes, sounding confused. “it’s hardly 10am.”

marius clicks his tongue, closing the folder on his desk. “well, you know what they say. early worm gets the worm.”

“that’s not at all correct—”

he’s already nudging you out the door, a respectful hand resting on the small of your back as he guides you away from his office. “see you later, miss!”

“what are you doing?” you ask, feeling your face heat up as you become the object of your coworker’s confused stares. “i have work to do—”

marius pulls you into an empty conference room, closing the door behind you.

“rosa invited me to her engagement party this weekend,” he says, tone clipped.

you’re not quite sure where he’s going with this. “shall i pick out a gift?”

“no, i’ll take care of that,” he tells you. then, with a growing smile that almost always means he’s up to something, he asks, “what are you doing this saturday?”

“i—”

“trick question. i’d like you to accompany me as my date.”

[slasherstories123]

Can you do Michael,Jason,art, pennywise where there child get the bite of 83 f(from fnad) :D

Slashers reaction to their child being part of the bite of 83

Paring: Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Art the Clown, and Pennywise the dancing clown x child! Reader

Tags list: @dootys @callmemeelah @mehidktbh @beanbagbitch @mrs-heelshire @vincent-sinclair-deserved-better @sleepypersonblog @alexxavicry @vexeliers-breakroom @l0sercat @naxxsstuff @beel-mcburger @charliedawn @emychan @slasherscrybaby @the-anxious-youth @callsignwidow @endomishy

A/N: as a fnaf fan I had fun writing this one 😭💗

Michael Myers

He should’ve never left you alone. He went to get you a plush toy since you desperately wanted it to go with your collection of the other small stuffed animals. He had his mask off so he wouldn’t just be seen as a scary person or the fact that people would recognize him too quickly.The loud crunch of your head being crushed filled his ears, making him snap his head in the direction where four other teenagers had on their own animal masks. Staring up at what they did to you, in complete shock. Your body laid limp in the animatronics mouth with blood splattering over the metal and on your clothes. Michael shoved the teenagers harshly to where they fell to the ground with loud sounds or even fell against the chairs as their impact. Michael held one with a red fox mask, ripping it off his face.

His cold eyes stared at the teenager and the teenage boy tried to make Michael let him go, he apologized repeatedly with more cries, not being able to handle his gaze and begged to be put down. Michael had a death grip on his shirt before slamming him head first into a corner of the table. Some of them screamed and scattered away. Michale then grabbed one of the teenagers in a yellow chicken mask. His grip was firm and it broke her arm with a loud crack, making her scream and he shoved her into the ground too, the other two with the bunny and bear mask screamed for help, when he was at a far distance they took their friends away from him. Michael didn’t care, the yellow bunny kept moving while the bear stood in a glitch, Michael nearly ripped its mouth off trying to get you down, holding your bloody head against his chest. Your face was too bloody to show him any form of life.. but you were still breathing..slowly. His grip on your body got tighter, his veins showed on his hands, they trembled.

Michael’s fingers clenched onto your clothes, he breathed heavily, looking around for some sort of help, no one was there to help. The teenagers were lucky Michael didn’t kill him..or any of his friends for the matter. He left without a trace…hoping he could get the help you needed, hoping you didn’t take your final breath in his arms.

Jason Voorhees

All four teenagers stood frozen when the animatronic bit down on your head, your screams cut out with a loud crunch. Jason heard the crunch. He dropped the plate of pizza he had got for you, taking slow steps before he speed walked to the teenagers who did it. His blue eyes through the mask held a deadly glare that scent chills down their spine. His eyes flickered to every last one of them, seeing who was the guiltiest which gave him the indication that they came up with the plan. The boy with the red fox mask looked the most guilty, even trembling under Jason’s gaze.

Jason’s strong, large hand wrapped around his neck, immediately cutting off his access to breathe. His breathing was heavy the more he squeezed, his friends tried to pry Jason off, but it made him shove them hard. He was never the one to hurt kids, but they hurt you. And he was livid. The boy kicked and tried to cry but with every sound that came out made him loose more air, Jason’s hand trembled, dropping him and he fell to his knees to painfully gasp for air. Jason rushed over to you. Ripping off the upper jaw of the bear animatronic to get you down with trembling arms.

His cold hands pressed against your pressure points for any sign of life. He didn’t feel anything, he didn’t even see your chest rise and fall. Jason held you close to his chest. He watched his mother get murdered, and now..he saw you get murdered. He couldn’t believe it, he wished he was there sooner. He already lost his mother. Now he has to come to the terms that he lost you too.

Art the clown

The clown’s mouth was left agape at the sight of your bloodied body hanging from the animatronics mouth. His eves kept flickering from the children and to you. His kith then turned into a frown. A deep frown. His eyebrows furred together in a pit of rage but out in a fake smile to try and get the teenagers attention.

He snapped his fingers and they all looked at him. Terrified, shocked, and confused. All three of their emotions were displayed their eyes through the animal masks, Art’s eye twitched as he held up a finger as telling them to watch. He heard one of them step back before the rest followed the others motions, he pulled out a gun. A fire gun. Holding it out as if it was a trophy. The teenagers screamed once he pulled the trigger to let out heavy fire, aiming it in their direction. Every last one of them screamed in agony from the fire. He kept going. He didn’t stop until every last thing was on fire. One of the tanagers cried and tried to crawl away from the fire.

The corners of his mouth turned into a smile. Grabbing gasoline from his trusty trash bag and poured it all over them, they screamed louder and the fire got brighter. Throwing the small gasoline box away. Tilting his head up to you, he opened the bears mouth to drop you in his arms. Your weak arm shakily held onto his costume, your breathing was slow and he took you out to leave the place ablaze along with more screams.

Pennywise the dancing clown

The smell of blood filled Pennywise’s nose. Even in his human form he could smell it. Looking around to try and find the culprit of the smell until he took a second to actually smell it. It was your blood. The scent of you filled his nose. His eyes flashed yellow at the sight of the four teenagers. Their fear smelled intoxicating. Every last one of them trembled at Pennywise’s gaze even as he began to shapeshift into his clown form, they screamed louder. Two of them tired to escape but every last door was closed shut.

They didn’t deserve the deadlights. They deserved death. His jaw opened wide as his he lunged towards one of them, ripping their arm off with one bite. Every last one of them, he attacked, ripping them apart and biting into their flesh with loud roars and their screamed mixed with his growls. With one last bite from the last one standing, he dropped them all with his tongue licking the blood off his lips. Glaring at all of their now dead bodies, the walls splattered with their blood covering the walls, almost like a scene out of a horror movie.

Finally, he went to your body that didn’t have a pulse, he growled again and used his teeth to rip the upper jaw of the animatronic off. Sulking slightly at the sight of you dead. Holding you close to his chest, having a hand on your bloody head. You might be dead.. but he’ll cherish your soul.

Forever.

[ariseur]

sephiroth w/ a little sister!reader !? I don't see many headcanons / fic / anything of Sephiroth with this type of scenario although I consider it something cute & fun x'D, specifically Seph discovering that his little and beloved (?) sister has several guys with a love interest behind her. How would Seph be in the situation, would he be a protective older brother, would he be the type that scares them away with just a deadly look? My, many possibilities! (⁠☆⁠▽⁠☆⁠)

sephiroth’s little sister hcs 𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪

sephiroth (ffvii) x reader (platonic!!)

┊ ˚➶ notes ｡˚ 🎼

THIS REQUEST WAS SOO CUTE I NEVER SEE LITTLE SISTER HCS LIKE THIS EITHERR. thank you for the request anon, hope i did it justice !! 💗

┊ ˚➶ warnings ｡˚ 🎼

intended lowercase, mentions of pre and post nibelheim, mentions of hojo (he’s a warning within itself), possessiveness but like not in a weird way.. seph’s just crazy, lmk if i missed anything!!

. ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄

❥ soooo.. starting off!!

❥ i think that sephiroth with a little sister would definitely be interesting; the war hero now being seen with an ultimately younger girl, it’d be amusing seeing such a difference between the two especially if you’re shorter.

❥ i’m not sure how being sephiroth’s sister would necessarily work considering he was an “experiment” of jenova, and from my knowledge after lucrecia gave birth to him she was crystallized in the crystal caves? but if we’re ignoring that and maybe that didn’t happen or something like that idk, i think it’d be pretty hectic, especially if you were also an experiment of jenova’s cells.

❥ both pre and post sephiroth would love you dearly. pre sephiroth would make it a mission to visit you as much as possible and would try to fit some time in his schedule to go and hang out with you. usually, he’d go take walks with you or if you like food then he’d be insistent on making a trip of trying a bunch of new places.

❥ he is honestly your biggest defender— although i don’t expect a lot of people to disrespect you while a close-to-six-foot first class SOLDIER is looming right behind you. i dont know if he’d let you out of his sight all that often when you’re around him, his instincts just kinda kick in so he’s following you around like a dog.

❥ if you were known by genesis and angeal crisis-core era, and genesis hits on you or even tries to flirt??? ooh sephiroth is right behind you in an instant. he is NOT letting genesis get with you at all, i’m sorry in advance to the self insert x genesis readers that had this idea in mind but i def don’t think that seph would be okay with you dating his friends. even angeal, whom he trusts very dearly and knows that he wouldn’t try anything with you, would have sephiroth feeling iffy.

❥ if you had “suitors” or if you were popular with the boys ( and maybe the ladies too if you’re just THAT suave ), ooh sephiroth would have a heart attack. he’d want you to choose who you want, of course, but be prepared for sephiroth lurking around every corner like a cat. if you bring your partner to meet him? he’s gonna look like the scariest mf regardless if he’s trying to be or not.

❥ he especially doesn’t want you to do anything with his job. if you have jenova cells or if extraordinary strength then he might feel a little better if you were to be involved with the SOLDIER program or shinra, but if you’re a civilian then he’d rather not get you involved with his duties. there’s too much on the line and he can’t risk you getting hurt, also another reason why he prefers to keep you on the down low or for him to only visit you.

❥ also another thought, but i just keep imagining zack flirting with you or meeting you and thinking you’re absolutely GORGEOUS ( because if you’re related to sephiroth.. you gotta be pretty let’s be honest that mans so beautiful ) ( we don’t talk about hojo though, there’s no way he’s related to seph. vincent gotta be the daddy ), but then once he sees that sephiroth is your brother he literally goes WHITE. starts trying to subtly be more friendly and lowkey apologize for his behavior.. spoiler alert; zack is not subtle.

❥ now whatever you do.. don’t imagine sephiroth meeting you the day before heading out to nibelheim. whatever you don’t, think imagine you guys walking at night as he talks about how worried he is for his friends, and how he thinks zack is going to do. and whatever you do, don’t imagine reminiscing after the village burns down, your mind trailing back to the last hug he gave you before he found out what he really was.

❥ if you were to still stay with post nibelheim sephiroth, he wouldn’t let you out of his sight. he can’t lose you at all, not now— not now that he knows you’re the only thing he has left. he’ll go through the motions of being very cold to you sometimes and then being very overprotective

❥ he’d come home one day from only the lord knows where, and wake you up in the middle of the night. and when you finally awake, he wouldn’t let you go. i imagine he’d feel conflicted. sephiroth was dehumanized from birth and ostracized from a normal life as he never met his true mother lucrecia and hojo had no interest in claiming him other than for his own benefit as a scientist. if you were dealt with such things as well, or maybe you were separated because sephiroth was the superior experiment, it wouldn’t matter; sephiroth contained these feelings that he didn’t know how to feel or express himself about.

❥ he wouldn’t understand why he felt this way, especially having no sort of concept of family brought to him within the early years of his life, but all he knows is that he has you

❥ he only has you— and he’s not willing to risk losing you anytime soon.

[bubblergoespop]

My Top Vincent Quotes

save me flirty vampire save me (≧∀≦)

“Fuck!”

“When it feels like it’s too much, just squeeze, okay?”

“Because otherwise you’re gonna be doing your best imitation of a Southern-fried steak under this sun. Move it, cowboy.”

“Oh, I know I’m very close. You’re welcome.”

“My entrepreneurial efforts should not be mocked, Vincent.”

“Should I strip down for easier access, doctor?”

“No one can touch you anymore… No one but me.”

“I’ve only ever met a couple of air elementals in my day, and we, uh… we weren’t doing much talking, if you get my drift.”

“Boo!”

“I’ll never get tired of seeing you come down those stairs like that. Like you know exactly what it does to me. Like you own the room. Like you own my heart. Because you do.”

“This is different. Because it’s with you. And not because of what happened to you but because it’s you. Because of what you mean to me. You’re special to me.”

“I love your neck. And that’s not a vampire thing. That’s a Vincent thing.”

“Hold my hand. Please. Yeah, hold it tight. Feel how strong it is. That’s all for you. It’s your strength. It’s yours.”

“Unlike me, the proverbial golden child.”

“Your scent, even through the skin… It’s torture. But the fun kind.”

“The old man.”

“Knowing you has been like switching my life from black and white to technicolor.”

“When I’m around you all I can think is Ohm my god— That one was so dumb”

“You. I’m looking at you.”

“I assume your lupine-inclined S.O. finds it palatable?”

“I can find them.”

“God, your blood practically sings to me, do you know that?”

“I love you. And I will spend eternity at your side if you’d let me.”

“Don’t tell him I said that though. He already threatens to kick my ass every other day. I’d probably deserve it too, but he’s too much of a softy to actually do it.”

“What? I am looking. All right, maybe I’m not looking out at the view. But I’m definitely looking. And loving what I see.”

“All of you is amazing. I mean that. I couldn’t say it if I didn’t. “

“If you really want someone to act like a mother hen, try pulling anything in front of Sam, you can practically hear his blood pressure rising in real time”

“You were my new beginning.”

“My magic is yours, to be whatever help it can. All of me is. Always.”

“I love you. Yes, even when you eat shit. C’mon, you goof.”

“I know your neck’s sweaty. What’s your point?”

“I need your blood. Please.”

“Yeah. It’s still a Vincent thing. I’ll always love kissing your neck, Lovely.”

“Alexis is… being Alexis about it all.”

“Oh I’m not just any idiot, I’m your idiot. There’s a difference.”

“Mine.”

“It’s nothing. You just… you look so cute cuddled up under the sheets like that.”

“Fuck, you smell good.”

“What? I am being good.”

“I’ll fix the drywall… You’re right, I won’t.”

“If the attendant hears it’ll give him something fun to talk about when he gets home.”

-“Even when we’re apart, just thinking of you gets me hard.”

“Have I mentioned that I love when you really lean into your Vampiric strength? Good. Because it’s so fucking hot.“

“You know I’ve always been a tease. Your tease.”

“Yeah you can bite me. Do it.”

“I said mine.”

“Let’s go see what the cowboy’s thinking.”

“Fuck. I wanted you so bad. You’ve been so close. But I knew it’d be worth the wait. And you’re worth every minute of the wait. ”

“Makes sense when your mate’s halfway to being a lumberjack already.”

“Eat shit, asshole. Is that better?”

“Do you like it? [the cutest relieved chuckle in existence] Good. Good I’m glad.”

“I’m not some animal. I’m Vincent Solaire. I’m not just a vampire. I’m more than that. I have to be more than that.”

“Lex.”

[galacticwarpedlense]

I like the idea of all the bachelors and bachelorettes as parents. What type of parents they would be is an interesting thing to think about (but since I haven’t done all the bachelorettes’ routes, this post will be about the bachelors only)

Sebastian

I think Sebastian would be the very there father if that makes sense. Sebastian grew up without his birth dad and doesn’t have the greatest relationship with his stepdad so he would try his hardest to have a very close relationship with his child.

Elliott

That child will never, NEVER feel neglected. My god. From the fact that Elliott is a very lonely character to how poetic and verbose he is and if you dig into headcanons, he might have had a lonely childhood, he would never let a day go by without letting his child know just how much he loves them. Also male wife. Absolute male wife. So he’s probably a stay at home dad.

Alex

He is giving stereotypical southern dad. Minus the misogyny. Y’Know, the type that would want to play football with his kid. He’s another type that would make a point to be in his kid’s life, maybe in a traditional masculine way but he would be there. Cookouts galore! Maybe they’ll learn philosophy together.

Harvey

Overprotective. 100% overprotective. He’s a doctor and one that works with kids. He probably knows all the ways children can die, he can NOT handle risk when it comes to his child. He probably can barely handle risk when it comes to the farmer. Other than that, my man is smart so that kid is going to have a lot of help with their homework. Though, I can bet the really simple but up for interpretation questions stump Harvey.

Shane

Probably the most “work in progress” dad. Helping with Jas would definitely give him an edge above the others but his mental health kicks him right back down. The child could be a motivator for him not to backslide so he can be the best father he can be. Maybe he could ask Marnie for advice too.

Sam

Surprisingly, I think Sam would be the best dad. He already basically raises Vincent (no offense to Kent) and when it comes to child care, he shows a sort of maturity. He’s already got the makings of a good dad. He would also be a fun dad, very focused on letting kids be kids. It would probably come with the downside of his kid being a lot more childish than kids their age but the pros outweigh the cons.

And that’s my headcanons for the Papa Bachelors.

[alice-after-dark]

Late Night with the Radio Demon - Dance with Me

@hiemaldesirae *finds out you're sick and throws this at your face*

Alastor teaches Vincent how to dance. Vox remembers.

Dammit this is supposed to be a dark au and here I am churning out the RadioStatic fluff lol (with a little bit of angst for the fun of it)

Hope you enjoy :P

"If I'm the one supposed to be learning, shouldn't I be leading?"

"How do you ever expect to learn if you don't have a good example, darling?"

The Radio Demon had shown up in his apartment unannounced again and this time insisted on teaching the TV host how to dance properly.

"You want me to aid you in your career, yes?" the demon had said. "Well, every proper showman knows how to dance."

And that was how they had ended up in the middle of Vincent's living room with all the furniture pushed back against the walls and soft jazz playing curtesy of the demon's cane hovering around them.

Vincent swallowed hard. He'd never been this close to the demon before. Sure, they'd touched when they'd made their deal (and the deer had decided kissing his hand was entirely appropriate), but for the most part they made little contact. Now, he wasn't sure it was possible for them to get any closer. The Radio Demon’s hand rested nonchalantly on the TV host's waist, pulling him right up against him as he gripped his hand. Vincent's own free hand clutched awkwardly at the fabric covering the demon’s shoulder.

"My goodness, don't look so troubled, darling! It's just a dance! I'm sure you'll be fine!"

The steps were easy enough to follow. The Radio Demon really was a surprisingly good teacher, even if he did like to kick it up a notch every now and then just to show off. But by the end of the night, Vincent was following along easily enough, even daring to throw in his own little moves.

"Well done!" the demon laughed when Vincent read his next move and leaned into the dip. An applause played from the microphone and Vincent felt his face color. "See? I told you you would be fine!"

---

"Don't look so troubled, darling! It's just a dance! I'm sure you'll be fine!"

The words left his mouth before he could stop them, but the look on Vox's face told him everything he needed to know. Alastor kept his hand extended. "Is everything alright, Vox?"

The TV headed demon shook himself. "Uh, yeah, sorry. Just some weird ass Deja Vu." He swallowed and placed his hand in Alastor's, letting the deer pull him out onto the bar's dance floor. Vox didn't question him when he took the lead, following easily through each move. Still, he looked distant.

"You know, you're doing quite well for someone not paying attention. "

Vox fumbled his footing, earning a giggle from Alastor. "S-sorry. It's just been a while since I danced like this with someone, I guess. I'm feeling a little nostalgic."

Alastor really shouldn't. He shouldn't. He knows he shouldn't.

"And where did you get you fine skills?"

Vox faltered again. "I...there was...this guy..." Alastor's ears perked up. "This is gonna sound stupid, but I can't really...remember who he was or how we got from Point A to Point B, but he taught me how to dance in the middle of my living room. He definitely knew what he was doing. I probably looked like a fool." Vox tried to laugh off the awkwardness, squeaking when the other demon dipped him.

Alastor's smile was gentle. Stained but gentle.

"I'm sure you were magnificent, darling."

[bigalockwood]

S1 Wille hates the elitism and classism in his life and at Hillerska and tries to avoid it all costs and doesn’t know how to use it for his own benefit either, not really. Actually, it’s less that he doesn’t know, but that he doesn’t want to use it. Most of the time he refuses to pull rank and use his privileges as well as the fact that he can get away with more than your average student, even at such an elite school.

S2 Wille no longer has these qualms and strategically uses his own position and power to maneuver and steer the situation to his own interests. It doesn’t always work (putting Vincent on top destabilized August but let’s be real, he’s also a pain in the ass), yet he’s learned to use others as a means to his own ends. He’s starting to kind of play into the whole spiel the others are always doing, while still doing it very much on his own terms, mostly because he doesn’t actually mean it (“it” being using his position to push others around) when he does it. He definitely gets a kick out of humiliating August, but unlike the other rich kids he doesn’t do it for the sake of having a little bit of fun on the weekend. He does have an actual reason, setting things right and getting revenge for something horrible that was done to him and someone he loves.

It’ll be interesting to see how this continues in S3. What has he learned from everything in S2 and how will he implement it? “Outing himself” like that for all the world to see has given him a lot of power back but there are so many unknown variables (like Sarah going to the police) and the crown’s support, although I’d guess they are forced to back him at least to some degree to keep up their public appearance. How much further will Wille go/ have to go?

[sweetbillwriting]

The Finer Things

His Real World - Part 7

Characters: Vincent De Garmont, The Marquis, From John Wick 4.

Setting: This story is set in my own universe, so not exactly the John Wick universe.

Warnings: 18+, prejudice and stereotypical thinking about nationalities, smut, violence, talk about death and more. This chapter can be triggering!

Ines looked at the Marquis’ violent behavior with a smirk. She hadn't realized what emotions took over watching him transform into a dark force. She bit her lip and wondered what he said to the man. Sexy threats. Showing off his power and maybe leading questions about what he wants to know. While her thoughts drifted away, the victim turned his face toward her. His face was bloody and swollen, but Ines looked at him like she didn't take in the awful sight. The man pleaded something that just made Vincent laugh and stomp him hard in the chest, so the man started to cough in panic for his life.

Vincent let the man cough while turning to Mylan and saying something to him, who gave Pierre a look instead. Ines looked at them interested until Pierre took a grip on her upper arm and started to walk to the door.

“Hello?? I want to stay!” She tried to push him away, but it was impossible. “Vincent? Baby??” Said she upset. The nickname had just slipped; feelings she hadn't felt before swirled around in her whole body and made her think like a worried girlfriend.

“Let me be here with you!!”

She looked back at him but didn't get any response; he had sat down on the lonely chair and looked at his nails with an inspecting face.

Pierre dragged her out of the room while she kicked to get free, but then he pushed her into their suite. Ines couldn't even talk with him; they didn't know each other's language, so she just stood and stomped in the middle of the hallway while Pierre closed the door.

She couldn't understand why Vincent had decided to push her out just when it started to get good. The man had even turned to her, and she felt like a part of the fun instead of just an audience. She had felt power and excitement floating like warm soda in her veins, as well as something that traveled down to her sex. She sat down on the couch and thought everything through, scene for scene. She thought about the man's face and felt another feeling creep up on her. This wasn't normal. This was psychopathic behavior, or even much worse, and she wished to be a part of it. It wasn't about Vincent. It was she who got a kick out of it and wanted to have a bigger one; see the man's eyes get matted and lifeless. She put her hands over her face and bent back on the couch.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” She exclaimed and hit herself in the head. This was just insane. Who had he made her to? She was just a normal Brooklyn girl. Almost. Almost.

When she had calmed down a bit, she took a big glass of Vincent's Jim Beam and then moved to her room to once again put on the Dr. Dre t-shirt. What surprised her also was how fast she actually calmed down. She had felt panicked fifteen minutes ago, but now, when she sat on the bed, a feeling of indifference sneaked up on her. She didn't care about the man. She didn't care about his life. Instead, she started to think about what had slipped out of her mouth. Baby.

She had called Vincent baby. Like he was her boyfriend. The embarrassment took over her body instead, and she shook her head in disbelief. She had really said it to a man like Vincent. He wasn't a baby.

He wasn't anyone's baby, and because of his need to be a hard, elegant man, he wouldn't be pleased. She called him that in front of his security. They probably didn't even know he had let her come a bit too close.

It took time for Vincent to come to the suite, so she ordered up a burger to eat and tried to calm herself down by pouring Jim Beam in her coke. When she had eaten it all except for some fries that were laying dismissed on the plate, the door to the suite opened up. It was Vincent, dressed in a white robe, newly showered. He gave her a long look, and she looked back with interest at him, but he didn't say anything. He walked to his room and closed the door silently. Was he mad? Was he upset with her for the nickname? Her heart was beating hard in her chest, and she sat down on the couch, waiting for him to come out of his room. She didn't even know if he would come out, but she decided to wait there as long as she had energy.

An hour later, he came out to her, and to her surprise, he just sat down next to her. He was dressed in a loose-fit shirt and pants in beige linen, and his hair was still unstyled. He breathed deeply and looked in front of him for a while.

“To see someone die is something else... I didn't think you were ready,” he said, then looked at her. He laid his hand on her underarm, and it made her soften. She would have been angry if he hadn't looked at her so sweetly and dragged his fingers over her skin so softly. Ines nodded a little and licked her lips. It wasn't meant as a seductive move, but it made Vincent move closer to her and kiss her with perfect pressure. She would never push him away, especially after having built up so much energy from seeing him hurt that man. There is so much excitement.

Their kisses became deeper and deeper, like they searched for something inside of each other. Ines could feel his hands slowly move their way up her thighs, but he let her go with one hand to be able to fix his crotch. Ines released his lips with a smack and looked down curiously. It was embarrassingly obvious that he was already fully hard and probably didn't wear any underwear under the loose pants. Vincent tried his best to hide it; he probably didn't feel it suited his elegant ways to get erect by some kisses.

Ines looked fascinated by his stiff cock. She had believed his injury had made it impossible for him to perform sexually, but the impressive hard on that tried to escape his pants told her something else.

“I didn't think...” she said as a reflex and looked at his face. Vincent looked at her with heavy eyes and just shook his head. Ines didn't know what that meant, but the lust took over, and she attacked his mouth again. Vincent answered fast, and when she straddled his lap, he just took a greedy grip on her ass and encouraged her to grind against his crotch. Ines giggled, helped him take off his shirt, and then caressed his flat chest while moving over his cock. Vincent leaned his head back against the couch headrest and enjoyed how her lips traveled down his neck and chest.

“It was...” His voice betrayed him, and he cleared his throat. “It was a long time ago for me... Being with a woman,” he said when he realized Ines’ attention had started to glide down to his erection. “I can't even remember.”

Ines glided down between his legs and dragged teasing fingertips over his shaft, which answered with a light movement inside the pants. She giggled and kissed his head over the fabric of his pants.

“We will remember together, okay?”

Vincent looked down at her and nodded, then he himself unbuttoned his pants slowly. It felt like he wanted to taunt her, but it was because of nerves. His blushing cock slapped up on his stomach. Vincent had seemed nervous earlier, but he smirked proudly when Ines looked at his size.

“Like you haven't seen that I've always had an impressive bulge,” he said cockily, and it made Ines laugh and take his erection in her hand. It was hot and thick, in a lovely blushed color. Vincent made a liking sound and pushed his crotch out like he showed off his most prized possession. Ines dragged her hand over his thickness and let her palm roll over his tip to collect the pre cum. She looked at him with big eyes. The art work. He was completely naked in front of her while she was fully dressed, and in that moment all she did was to admire him—the perfect craftwork he was. If he was beautiful in his luxury suits, he was even more beautiful now, exposed and vulnerable in front of her.

Vincent looked at Ines intensely, but with heavy eyelids still. He breathed deeply and looked calm and pleased.

“Take your clothes off.”

He had lost the accent again and sounded just as American as herself. It was weird how that felt exotic for Ines, but she guessed she liked every surprise he could give her. On her wobbly legs, she stood up and pulled off her clothes with the help of Vincent, who pulled off her pants to her knees and let her do the rest. He looked at her with big, glassy eyes and dragged his thumb in the corner of his mouth, like the vision had gotten him to salivate. He leaned back and let her straddle his thick thighs. He laughed when he dragged her hands from her waist to her breasts, where he, with light fingers, teased her nipples.

“I've forgotten… This feeling...” he said and laughed again. His voice sounded much kinder and softer without the accent, and Ines liked how sensitive and soft he suddenly felt. She took grip of his cock behind her, and with some awkward struggle, they together succeeded in pushing his cock into her.

“Oh fuck, you're so wet... God,” he said, groggily. Ines moved rhythmically up and down his cock and rolled her hips extra skillfully when Vincent looked down at their connection. When Vincent noticed her rhythm started to fall, he flipped her down on the couch in one swift motion. She could feel his back tense in an alarming way but didn't say anything because Vincent pushed into her hard while kissing her in a way that made her wonder if maybe he had other feelings for her. She was sure she was in love with him, even if he was such a mystery.

×××

“Vincent Beaumont," he said with a raspy voice. He was calm and soft after their lovemaking, and maybe he spilled his real name because of post-sex hormones. Ines laid on his chest and looked up at him when he finally answered her question. He was pink in the cheeks, and his hair was messy with sweat.

“I lived in New Orleans as a kid. But I am French.”

Ines couldn't stop herself from looking at him skeptically. He had lied quite a bit.

“Like, because you want to be it?”

Vincent looked offended and furrowed his brows.

“No. Both my parents were French. They were just stupid enough to leave France and move to my dad's family. Cheap fucking Americans.”

Ines sat up, and now she looked offended.

“Is that what you think about me too?”

“No. If you had met them, you would have understood me. They were trash. My aunt's husband smoked some cheap cigarettes, and he needed to spit often because they were... cheap, but he spit in the same glass jar that stood on the table. Jar with his brown, fucking cancer spit.”

Ines made a disgusted face. She understood him. It didn't sound at all like his life now. He had really turned his life around.

“I moved here when I was fifteen, after my parents' deaths.” He gave Ines a pointed look and pushed away his sweaty hair from his forehead. She swallowed hard and looked away. She understood what he was saying without words, and it made her sit up awkwardly and look around in the room. Vincent dragged a hand over her naked back. Long fingers dragged over her waist and searched for her breast. He didn't seem to think much about what he had insinuated.

“I won't make a thing of this, so you shouldn't either,” he said, taking a soft grip around her upper arm and trying to drag her down over him again. Ines followed his movement and laid down on his hairless chest again. She could hear his heartbeat and smell his scent close. It was everything she had wanted for the last few weeks. Be close to him and get treated like she was worthy of his attention. It felt different now when she lay there. She was still as happy being close to him and still as attracted to him, but other emotions had also blossomed.

Her own heart beat heavily in her chest. There was something else there that she couldn't say she had ever felt before. There was potential. He wasn't like her ex-boyfriends—boring and wanting to hold her back. Vincent was menacing to society and didn't expect her to be a good girl; he probably didn't even really know what a good girl was; for him, it meant just manicured nails and good table manners. There was something there. It was something special. Ines kissed his cheek, buried her nose behind his ear, and breathed him in. Vincent made a little sound; maybe it tickled, but he stayed as close as possible anyway. Ines smiled and closed her eyes. This was special; maybe it was love.

They connected one more time before falling asleep. The first time hadn't she come, but that time she did to Vincent's luck. It was obvious he had covered up his bruised ego when she said she hadn't come, but he let it glow even more when he noticed her come over his dick. She wondered how he had taken it if she hadn't come at all and could picture him being childishly pouty and maybe even being a bit upset at her, like she could control it. She was happy she had come, not just to feel the ecstasy from an orgasm but also to escape from seeing Vincent in a sour mood. He was a kid when he was in a bad mood, and while she looked at him sleeping, she wondered if it was maybe because he had never really been a child when he was young. Just like herself. Both of them wanted to act out now, even if they were grown up and now play violently and messy.

×××

Maybe it was weird that Ines didn't ask him any questions about what had happened in the conference hall after she had left, but other things took all her attention. The relationship with Vincent. Their relationship actually looked more and more like a couple's relationship. It went much slower than she was used to; he was much more stoic than other guys she had been with, but he let her sleep in his bed. They kissed in the morning and had sex a few times more. They did things together; he had taken her to the ballet, the opera, and luxury restaurants. He never kissed her in front of people, but he always acted like a gentleman, treating her like a lady. The lady she obviously wasn't. She fantasized about making out at the opera, playing with his cock at the ballet, and getting fucked on the restaurants’ toilets. She knew it would never happen; he didn't even let her touch his hair in public. She had tried once, and he had ducked so fast, like her hand was filthy. She invited him into her world of hip-hop and Brooklyn art. He wasn't amused and didn't seem to listen to music at all when he wasn't at the opera to show off in front of rich people. After a while, he let her into his world. His real world. His glossy fashion magazines and violent movies. They weren't any expensive Hollywood productions; instead, they were cheap darknet productions of masked men torturing crying men, speaking in languages she had never heard before. Vincent could even laugh while looking at it. Ines didn't feel much; the blood was sometimes gross; otherwise, it didn't give her much. She wanted it for real.

Their relationship was probably strange, but when she laid in his arms at night, talking about cute cats they had met or stupid people they had seen that day, it was so normally safe and sweet. Ines liked it all. The darkness and mystery, but also his boyish charm and pouty mood.

×××

“I have a new speculator tomorrow," he said while they sat at the minimalistic restaurant with a view of the whole of Paris. Ines chewed her venison slowly and looked up at Vincent. He was dressed in a burgundy suit that made his eyes pop.

“Oh? I… I haven't thought about the painting in so long.” Ines laughed, embarrassed. “Almost forgotten it?”

Vincent looked at her. She was dressed in a silky black dress that ended under the knees. She had started to find her own classy style, much black and different textures. He liked it. It was sexy and fit her personality.

“This is a really important person. A really important person. I wonder if you want to see it all this time.”

Ines looked at him with big eyes and then smiled big. She took his hand that was lying on the table and hugged it into hers. Vincent answered by braiding their fingers together and smirking, pleased.

“Oh my god! Yes!” She giggled with heated cheeks and a beating heart. There were many emotions in her chest. She still felt a sense of shame for how much she liked the violence, but the excitement took over. She had dreamed about that day in the conference room and woke up with a broad smile on her lips.

“Maybe you even want to be a part of it?” Vincent said this and leaned back in his chair, twirling his red wine glass.

Ines swallowed hard. She didn't know if she dared to do that and looked out of the window. Vincent played with her fingers and exhaled.

“It would be special for me.”

Ines turned her gaze toward him with furrowed brows. She didn't really understand why he wanted her to hurt someone so much.

“Hm?”

Vincent licked his lips and looked at their hands.

“That man… He hurt me really badly, and it would just be amazing to see you kick his teeth in,” he said with a low voice, so no one would hear him. Ines gave him a small smile. It was warming how she was important for him that way, and she played with the necklace around her neck.

“God, I just want to kiss you. You're so sweet,” she said, looking at him warmly. Vincent gave her a similar look, and she wondered in silence what this was for him. They did really romantic things together; for three weeks, they acted like a couple.

“I want to suck that big cock when we come home,” she said, giving him a teasing smile. Vincent lowered his eyes, and she could see a blush on his pale cheeks.

“Not that sort of talk in a restaurant,” he said, shaking his head. He didn't give her the sort of scolding she had done before, but he still corrected her. Now she liked it, she liked to tease him.

“You just said you want me to kick someone's teeth in, but I can't talk about your third leg.” She continued to tease and made him close his eyes hard. It was always difficult if he got that way of feeling shame, hornyness, or a bit of both. He cleared his throat and continued to eat in silence. Ines giggled to herself and continued to eat too, but even then she thought about the suffocating feeling of his cock in her throat.

“How did he hurt you? Was it your back?” She spoke carefully when the hornyness had slowed down and she thought more about what he had said. Vincent looked up at her, but was silent. He turned instead to a waiter and ordered something. He didn't talk again until the chocolate fondants stood in front of them. He took a big spoon of it and chewed slowly.

“He's my ex.”

×

[the-words-we-sung]

Thoughts and pictures - S3E2

Here we go for the rewatch of S3E2 (sorry in advance, it might get long ^^')

The new rules at Hillerska are pretty dumb and way too severe. And this phone policy is so stupid: how are these 2 horny boys supposed to survive? :p

So on one hand, online hate is about Simon not being good enough for Wilhelm, and on the other hand, it's about Wilhelm who should not have said anything in his speech because he's betraying the school. Though Wilhelm is not reading the online comments like Simon, and the attacks are less personal and vicious. Seeing Simon read through everything was so painful, I just wanted to go kick the ass of everyone who dared be a bully so this lil' muffin.

Gosh the third years are over the top: "three years here and we get nothing", just because they can't have a proper graduation and all the parties and stupid stuff they wanted to do before graduating? I guess that it's frustrating but compared to the real issues that are being raised about the school, it sounds very very superficial... August is way more reasonable than Vincent about it: the issue is not that they won't have a graduation (even if they don't have the party, they will still graduate high school) but that the school might close, thus sending them all to other schools before the end of the term. Vincent is an idiot.

"Why can't she call me?". Episode 2 and Wilhelm is already heartbroken because of his mother.

Farima doesn't believe Wilhelm about his initiation, look at her face! But it strikes me that her main concern if he did go through this awful initiation is that it would look bad for the Royal Court to keep him here, and not at all about his well being and how traumatizing it would have been!! The adults in this show are the worst... And nobody cares about Wilhelm (except Simon) 💔

"He's such an attention whore". Another ass that needs to be kicked!! How dare they talk about him like that?

Simon keeps being bullied and Wilhelm pressured: if they close the school, it'll be his fault. Why is everyone so mean and terrible to them?

The Felice interview makes me so mad!! And it reminds me of the interaction between August, Simon and Wilhelm back in season 1 when August tells them how nice it is that rowing bring students together, with no regard for their ethnicity, background, etc. Which made Simon super mad too. I love the switch from Felice in the office with her strained smile to her angrily throwing punches during gym class. Excellent cinematic!

Micke and Sara: I'm still so surprised to see him act so well.

This freaking blonde girl from the choir: I hate her 😡 She was the one slut shaming Felice in season 2. Now she's complaining about the point of training for a song if they're not sure they'll be performing. You're annoying and mean. I don't like you 😤

But Simon's face when Wilhelm joins the choir 💜💜

I love this little scene so much: they are just so cute and in love. Like you can feel how much they love each other: they're literally glued together, kissing and then just keeping their faces so so close to each other while talking. It just feels so true to life, when you love someone so much that you just want to stay as close as you can, just touching each other in any way you can, never letting go. Also I just love how Simon loves Wilhelm. How clingy he can be.

So the scene between Nils and August: we know that they were victims of this awful initiation but I'm realizing now that we don't know if they ended up being beaten up and made fun of because they got an erection? I've seen several posts of people discussing that August could be queer because he had a reaction to the porno (which I don't agree with, I don't think that it can be taken as an indicator of someone's sexual orientation). But we don't know if he had a reaction, do we? Or am I misunderstanding/missing something?

Wilhelm is so angry with August. Yeah his reaction in the library can be seen as a little over the top ("don't talk to him!") but I understand his anger. And okay, the way we go from the fight to both of them sitting silently in Boris' office is comedy gold :p I'm almost frustrated that the fight was so short though, I wanted Wilhelm to get some good punches in!! These mediation talks: I'm not sure how I feel about them. On one hand I get that the Court wants them to get along, but on the other, August did something truly awful and traumatizing to Wilhelm. So if he doesn't want to talk to him, to see him or to have anything to do with him anymore, well, it's his right! He shouldn't be forced to interact with him like that. Also I was a bit disappointed by Boris this season: he was so good during season 2 but I find him a bit underwhelming this season...

"I can be your revolution". Please can we get the song again in the last episode? The full version for a happy Wilmon who are a revolution together? Pretty please?

Simon giggling while reading the messages about his video is the cutest thing ever. And it's a tragedy that it was one of the only giggle we got from him this season 😫

Wilhelm is wearing a purple jumper when he listens to Simon's song. It's rare to see him wear purple, isn't it?

Linda still annoys me a bit this season. Like in this scene: no, don't ask your son, who's been betrayed so hard by his sister, to still care about her right now. He's angry at her, and rightfully so (I love love love that they let him be truly angry at her). She should understand that.

Rosh and Stella: yes please, I ship it! (Yeah I don't like Frederika so I'm all for a new potential love interest for Stella :p)

Also after 2 seasons where we regularly saw guys peeing outside, it's the girls' turn!! I don't know why but it made me laugh ^^

The conversation about their summer plans: this scene is so awkward!! And the tent scene that follows is just terrible 😭 Also hear me out: maybe unpopular opinion but I think Simon overreacted. Maybe from his point of view what Wilhelm is gonna do during summer is not working (because it's not the kind of job that him, Ayub and Rosh will have) but it's still working. Taking classes to become Prince/King is not gonna be a walk in the park, it's gonna be work for Wilhelm. It's terrible because I understand where Simon is coming from during their fight: telling Wilhelm that he never had to work to afford anything, that he's so incredibly privileged, it's so hard to be with someone who's from such a higher social status and be easily pissed off when they don't seem to realize it (what do you mean it sounds like I'm talking from experience.. 😅). Side eyeing Wilhelm hard with the shushing though. Don't talk to Simon like that >< (I would have stormed out if I had been Simon!) And yeah throwing the line about the settlement money was not nice (I've seen people being angry about it) but he's mad and got yelled at while he thought he was just trying to relate to and hang out with Simon's friends. So I understand throwing a mean comment there (I would have done the same 😣)

The "is it my fault?" breaks my heart. And so again: the crushing weight on Wilhelm's shoulders... His mother is unwell so he has to be strong, to be ready to take over, and on top of it, he has to keep it to himself.

Gosh season 3 is just things piling up on Wilhelm and Simon. Different things but still crushing them, slowly but surely...

[nuttytani]

Hold my chai, aunty has arrived in the Mansion

(adventures of aunty in the ikemen vampire universe. into the ike-verse!)

It was just a normal day of work for aunty. You know, the usual, kicking her husband and children out for work and school with their tiffin and bags in tow.

Finishing cleaning the house like a sonic with extra energy drinks and taking the rubbish out,

Then finally! A hot shower

She was only left with making her sweet and relaxing lunchtime tea when her doorbell rang.

She opened the door and.....everything turned white and aunty's life turned upside down. Or did it?

Actually it turned up. I mean her life was already up but now it's better-ish?

She's basically on a month-long vacation! Away from her husband and children (I mean sure she's worried about the state of the house but they can manage by themselves right? They won't miss her.....right? Ok fine maybe she's kind of sort of worried about them and missing them but she KNOWS she can go back so haha!)

The mansion people were quite warm and welcoming towards her so it didn't take much time for her to adjust.

Except for the food and... tea.

YOU CALL THIS FOOD? DEAR SEBASTION, WHERE ARE YOUR MASALAS? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE SALT AND PEPPER-- THAT'S NOT MASALA

And the tea! How…. she won’t even describe how she feels except for pure disappointment. These people had no ingredients for chai

Comte had no choice but to order some.....groceries for dear aunty. He couldn't say no to her. Especially with how disappointed she looked while eating food or having her tea.

He also had to turn the wine cellar into a grocery store room. But he sure had great company with aunty! Joining her outside in his garden. 

Smoking who? Comte got rid of his cigar and now constantly has a cup of chai in his hand (mostly because aunty would yell nonstop for him and leonardo to stop smoking. Because 1) she doesnt want to be a chain smoker 2) smoking is bad for your health and makes you look like a gangster…. Aunty’s words, not mine!)

(Psssst she also taught Sebastian how to make chai 101 until he got the recipe right till perfection.)

The other mansion residents weren't having that much....fun tho. It felt like having a mom after many years. Which is funny because technically, they’re wayyyyy older than her, and they’ve told her so many times, and each time she replies with a: but you all act like children, that’s not my fault is it? Now my dears, would you please pass me that newspaper? 

One day, Arthur was walking around half naked around the mansion only to receive the MOST judgemental stare in his entire life

“Put some goddamn clothes on, child! You’ll catch a cold at this rate.”

“Aunty, that's not possible for vampires….”

“Do I look like I care? Put some clothes on.”

Or the first week in the mansion, practically staring daggers at everyone 

“Shoes inside the house? Who’s going to clean this… Sebastian? Mitsuki? Your mom? Me? Well definitely not any of us.”

House slippers became a thing ever since and now NO ONE dares to wear shoes inside the house. 

Vincent had to learn cooking as well, like proper cooking.

Aunty found it shocking that even her daughter's terrible cooking wasn't as bad as his. So that was saying something.

Dazai stopped using the windows as a way to enter the house 

Actually there were a lot of positive changes in the house, at least for Sebastian and Mitsuki 

They had SO much help in the kitchen. They wouldn’t let aunty do the cleaning and laundry though, that’d be rude and she’s basically on a vacation. She needs to relax! 

Her favourite weapon of choice to discipline the mansion boys is her handy dandy jharu (broom).

She'd pass it to Mitsuki or Sebastian when they'd go wake up Napoleon. If he tried to do his sleep-kissing thing- he'd get one smack on his face with the broom.

Idk how she got it but she somehow has it so we roll with it okay? 

random thoughts that had to be written down. they don't really make much sense but heyyy who cares?

I've brought back my taglist, fill it in if you're interested!!!

here's the link

[riddles-n-games]

So we all know the Hawthorne brothers are all fine as heck Texan born-and-raised gentlemen which means other than the fancy schmancy stuff they do throughout the series, they probably know how to ride. And I don’t mean English riding, I mean down and dirty in the dusty sand, bucking bronco Western riding. Given that ole Tobias Hawthorne was loaded, not only did he make riding lessons an essential for his grandsons but he also owned a big-ass stable on his property. I know it’s never mentioned in the books, only that Vincent Blake owns a ranch, but you can’t convince me otherwise that this Texan billionaire didn’t have his own stable on the property. No chance, no way; I think he’d be considered a fraud if he didn’t. Anyways, when the boys were comfortable in the saddle and more skilled with controlling their horses and riding, only then did their grandfather start making them choose specialties. As they got older, they took part in rodeos and competitions, producing another bout of trophies for the old man to put up in his office. Like always, the boys proved Hawthornes came and conquered, being the best of the best.

Nash-Of course, this man’s the best of the bunch. He is the most experienced and rather well rounded in all disciplines. It’s part of what lets him live his cowboy fantasies but he does have practical use for what he learned. His grandfather has many prized cattle breeds, mostly the famous Texas Longhorns along with Ankole-Watusi, American  Brahman, and even water buffalo (Hawthorne cheese is where it’s at) so he often leads the cattle roundups and if he ain’t a sight to see when he’s  roping up stray calves (those muscles though; I see you Nash). As said earlier, he’s pretty good at everything in this style of riding but competitively, he’s mostly into western pleasure yet also enjoys reining just about as much. His Appaloosa-Quarter Horse mare, Chili Pepper (yes, named by the one and only Xander and no, it’s not because of Horseland; if you know,  you know) excels at these and is a bit of a showoff (Nash is pretty sure the feisty thing is self-aware whenever she prances sassily around the ring after a win). But, for them, that’s easy stuff, light work, and Nash likes a bit of an adrenaline rush now and then so on the more energetic side of things, his favorite event is  cowboy mounted shooting. In practice, he’d sometimes sneak out one of his grandfather’s Winchester rifles to get a kick out of it (lowkey this boy always tried finding small ways of rebelling against his grandfather’s wishes). However, when he was 19, he quit the rodeo shows and big competitions in another effort to show the old man he didn’t have control over him and that actions spoke louder than words. Nowadays, Nash does mostly local events for the fun of it but has attended some major ones  in the last few years, twice at the State Fair and once at the Calgary Stampede; Xander and Jameson even went with him in a show of support.

Grayson-Though he prefers English riding and excels in classic dressage, his Western specialty is cutting and his Arabian stallion, Onyx (known as Bandit Noir in the show ring) is a nightmare for the calves when he starts switching sides at lightning speed with his front legs. Sometimes he gets so excited after Gray has singled out a calf that he starts zipping towards it in a zigzag motion that Grayson has to restrain him a bit so that he doesn’t go overboard. When he was younger, he trained him to do this move after he watched  a documentary showing gazelles use this technique as an evasive maneuver to escape cheetahs and thought it was a cool trick. He perfected it in two months flat. His Shagya Arabian mare, Moonlight, is more calm but  her focus is unmatched when she’s cutting and she’s also his chosen horse for working equitation. Grayson was the one who inspired  Xander to also  learn this discipline and they would do training sessions together; he also let his youngest brother ride Moonlight in competition at times. Surprisingly, he also did barrel racing alongside Jameson and of course, these two got very competitive over this sport. They set several records at competitions and even a few national records at rodeo events but Jameson had more in the end.

Jameson-Barrel racing, need I say more? It’s his favorite event and discipline of choice. The faster his horse goes, the better the thrill and the dizziness to go along with it. His Nokota stallion, Rhubarb, is the speediest barrel racer of the Hawthorne horses and proudly bred by his grandfather. For fun,  he would get more barrels and see how fast he could go bareback and one time the crazy boy decided it would be a good idea to ride backwards while his steed ran the course. Of all the brothers, Jamie’s the one who loves the riskier events (because of course, not that that’s surprising) including saddle and  bareback bronc riding, calf-roping, steer wrestling, even bull riding (steer riding until he was 14). But he’s also the one who has the most bruises and scars from Western events. He was banned from doing bull riding after Nan attended two of his competitions and both times the rider before him had a nasty fall, ending up in hospital. Jameson may have never fallen in the most major competitions but he did have some close calls with being almost run over and even suffered a bad kick to the ribs during one of his practice runs. Although the old woman is weathered from her rough years and is still a badass, she still cares for her great grandsons very much and hates to see them get hurt. So as reluctant as he was to leave the sport, for his Nan, he did. Occasionally he also participated in team roping with Nash, always taking up the heeler position while his brother handled the horns because Nash didn’t want him to get hurt until he got older and insisted on trying the header part for himself. He got used to it quickly from all the times he watched Nash during practice seshes but his oldest brother always watched off to the side with pursed lips knowing his risky behavior. They were three time champions in a row from 2016-2018 with one time him being header. Being the adrenaline junkie he is, it’s no shock that he loves doing stuff at breakneck speeds and other than barrel racing, he is amazing at pole bending. Jameson enjoys a good test of agility and has a great Mustang-American Paint mixed mare named Misty who whizzes by the poles so quickly that everyone in the stands is always quoted saying they blinked and missed the entire round.

Xander-He was a bit more reluctant to even start out any events but Nash and Grayson coaxed him into them and eventually he got settled quite quickly into trail class, working cow horse, mounted drill with Jameson and Grayson, and versatility ranch riding. He dabbled in western dressage but got annoyed with it because he never felt synchronized enough with his horse and his trainer got frustrated with him many times. Trail class ended up being his major and he trained with two Quarter Horses that were bred by his grandfather, Rona and Rolo (nicknamed Roly Poly). He would switch between the two and both were extremely good at delivering but Rona, his mare was ultimately better equipped and motivated while his gelding, the mare’s full blooded younger brother served better in mounted drill. Xander conducted experiments to see as to why but it seemed like the gelding thought the routines were simpler to learn and always finished with a happy buck when they finished. But as he got older and hit his growth spurt, Xan felt like his height was becoming a negative factor to riding anymore of his horses in competitions so he stopped. His grandfather offered to buy him a ready, trained horse better suited to his stature so he could continue but Xander declined since he didn’t want to restart with training and he was awfully attached to Rona and Rolo. Instead, he continued competing but in halter and western showmanship classes where his horses shined just as brightly with shiny ribbons often being pinned to his horses’ halters as a prize.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this! This has been sitting in my drafts way too long but @hathorneheiress has given me the push I needed to get it out here for you guys to read. It's only part one of my horse headcanons. There will be more about the Hawthorne family's current horses and their equine history in the next one.

[4letteraroace]

Soft

‘Soft’ was not a word that was often used to describe Tank. Mainly because anyone who used it would get their ass beat, but also because Tank kept their guard up for so long. How could anyone describe the shifter with a fierce bark and a fiercer bite as soft?

Then there was Sam.Tank found they could open up to him. One look at their mate would change Tank’s expression from pure steel to open, gentle adoration. A shift from Tank to Darlin’. 

Darlin’ found themselves becoming soft. They let their hair grow out. Something they hadn’t done for years because long hair was a liability and a hassle. They started wearing looser jewelry. Hoops instead of studs in their ears and a charm bracelet they hadn’t worn since they were little. But the biggest change was that Darlin’ started to dance again. 

— —

Sam was out with Vincent for the night. Something about closing on a new property for William. And Darlin’ had the house to themselves. A night without Sam. He’d be back before dawn, but there were so many hours between now and then. So, Darlin’ went to theirs and Sam’s shared bedroom and pulled out a box from underneath the bed. Inside were a pair of pointe shoes and a pair of technique ballet shoes. Darlin’ pulled out the technique shoes, whispering a quiet “not tonight” to their pointe shoes. The technique shoes were slightly worn, stained with dirt and sweat and memories. Darlin’ slipped them onto their feet, pointed and flexed their toes to make sure the shoes fit, then padded lightly to the kitchen. 

Gentle piano music started playing from Darlin’s phone as they placed their hand on the back of a chair as if it were a ballet barre. 

Feet turned out in first position. Posture perfect. Close your ribs, tuck the tail. Gently bring your right arm from low fifth, through first, to second position. 

Demi plié. Arm moves to low fifth. Demi plié. Arm moves through first position to second position. Breathe. And grande plié. Bend until your heels barely lift from the floor before straightening. 

Darlin’s mother had put them in ballet classes at a young age. “Dancing will teach you how to direct your energy in a healthy way,” she had said, pinning Tank’s hair into a bun at the crown of their head. “It will teach you discipline. Respect for authority. A sense of community. An appreciation for accomplishment through hard work.” Tank had always loved to dance. It always felt slightly more satisfying to complete a series of fouettés, than to punch someone off their feet. 

Tendu to second position, then fourth, then fifth. Begin the next sets of demi and grande pliés. 

Ballet was a sense of strength for Tank. From a young age they had lean and strong muscles that moved gracefully and efficiently. No one expected the dancer to be a good fighter. This underestimation from their peers let Tank win a great deal of physical fights in school. Tank’s mother disapproved of the fighting, but was proud of how her child handled themselves. There was a beautiful agility in Tank’s movements and attacks. Because of that grace, Tank got off relatively easy with their mother. Hard to get in trouble when mom’s proud of you. 

Tendu combination. Feet in fifth position. Arm in high fifth. Four tendus to the front, side, back, and side again. Arm moves from on high to second, to arabesque, to second again. 

And then there was high school. The move to Dahlia had been rough on Tank. New house, new school, new pack. The members of the Shaw Pack that were Tank’s age seemed to be an exclusive clique. Tank was fine with that. Being alone had never bothered them. Tank was a soloist and a soloist didn’t need validation from their peers. A soloist, however, was more than willing to execute a perfect grande battement devant straight into Asher’s nose when he made fun of Tank for spending all afternoon at ballet rehearsal. Enough power in one kick to give him a nosebleed and to give Tank their first lecture from Gabe. 

Darlin’ wondered if that pair of pointe shoes still had the blood on them. Maybe their parents had thrown that pair away. It had been several years since Darlin’ wore through that pair. 

Focus. Ronde de jambe combination. Then fondue and developpe. Breathe. Don’t get distracted Tank. Close your ribs, tuck the tail, engage your abs. 

As high school went on, Tank grew closer to their packmates. Definitely still a lone wolf but not totally alone. Tank had a small and shaky friendship with David, Asher, and Milo. That bond was formed out of necessity. Tank’s closest friend was an unempowered girl that was in their ballet class. The two had become close when their studio’s production of The Nutcracker had double cast all the roles and both of them were to dance as the Sugar Plum Fairy. The two dancers rehearsed often together and soon became closer than Tank was with any of their packmates. 

No. Don’t think about her. If you think about her, then you’ll think about Him. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe Tank. Fix your posture. Sous-sus and draw your foot up your leg to passé retiré. Balance. Breathe. 

That beautiful dancer was the friend that Quinn attacked. She had finally gotten through to Tank that they didn’t deserve Quinn’s abuse. And he destroyed her for it. 

Don’t think about that. Just breathe, Tank. Let’s skip the adagio combination tonight. Do something more fun. Petite allegro. 

She loved petite allegro. She loved racing Tank through the combo to see who could do it the fastest. Tank always won but the both of them would be laughing together as they missed steps by the end. 

And now you’re crying. Quinn should have his fangs ripped out for what he did to her. And to you. 

— —

By the time Sam walked through the door, Darlin’ was sobbing while forcing their way through a difficult turn combination. 

“Shit. Sam. You’re back early. How did things go with Vincent?” Darlin’ sniffed and wiped away their tears. 

“Things went relatively smoothly. Are you all right, Darlin’? What’s got you cryin’?”

What did Darlin’ ever do to deserve Sam? His worried gaze slid up and down his mate, trying to find the source of the tears and Darlin’s pain. 

“Just some bad memories. I’ll be fine.” Darlin’ tried to brush off Sam’s concern. The walls don’t come down easily. 

“None of that now. Come ‘ere.” Sam pulled Darlin’ into his arms before asking, “do you want to talk about it?”

Darlin’ shook their head. “Just hold me?”

“I can do that,” Sam said softly. 

The memories wouldn’t ever truly go away, but Darlin’ would dance again tomorrow night. For now though, Darlin’ rested in the arms of their mate. Safe. And soft.

[cursed-elements-blog]

Hey whats your opinion on: The side characters?

Hrmmmmmm okay lets see

Kudzu - 10/10 no notes. Kudzu haters DNI!! He treats Chase right and Chase NEEDS to be treated right.

Raven - fucking dufus (affectionate). deserves a raise probably

Daxton - perfect. genuinely perfect. great bud to Carl, great humor, solid design. probably my favorite side character overall. I kinda wish we saw a bit of him in other routes just chilling GOD i hope he got out okay

Julian - .....eh

Micha - I. Think. Micha. Is. Cool. dude's a little rat but I like that about him. didn't deserve the Br*an shit. I need to reread Jenna's route just to figure out how i feel about Micha

Br*an - Die.

Duke - in Echo kinda sucks in Arches kinda hot?

Clint - I like to call him Clit. PFFF but other than that I think that his shit with Leo is both kinda deserved but also he gets a bit TOO fucked up ya know? getting involved with Br*an alongside Jeremy + the shit with everything about Echo is unfortunate. I like the idea that he and Kudzu become buds and Kudzu helps him out.

Jeremy - already touched on him in a different post

Mr. Bronson - ough god. yikes. what a messy dude. fun fact i saw fan art of him when i only read Carl's route so i fully thought that he was alive and kicking until I read Flynn's and then realized that oh no he's SUPER dead.

Janice - initially thought was cool! now im kinda creeped out by her especially after TJ's route. i wonder if the Sam ghost ever fucked with her the way it did Mr. Bronson

god who else is in this vn?

INJY - there for three minutes, had a cute design. and uh sorry TJ broke into your house

Heather - what did TJ see in her. but her role in Jenna's route was neat! also her design fucks.

Ryan - full disclosure? smash. well he's probably gay so that wouldn't happen but he is hot.

Keith - god im so fucking sorry Keith you deserved so much better. learning how he died was fucking heartbreaking

Flynn's aunt - she was cool and then i didn't like her anymore when the hysteria started

Vincent - WE NEED A DESIGN FOR HIM!!! i was always so curious as to what he looked like.

[loveandmurders]

Hi I love your daughter angst story so much. Could you make a angst to comfort daughter story where the Sinclair brothers finally give in and let their teen daughter kill tourists with them but a tourist seriously injured their kid and they’re scared she’s going to die, but she wakes up after a day or two and they have a loving family moment? Thank you! (Ik this one is dark and depressing but I love reading stories that make me cry)

Hello love, thank you so much for this request! I'm always happy to write some angst for you all :)

Hope you'll enjoy this <3

I WANT TO KILL TOO

Warnings: no proof reading, angst/comfort, murders, reader is a killer, violence, fight, blood, a lot of pain.

Lately, you had trained even harder than usual with Bo and Vincent to show them that you were ready to kill people. None of them really enjoyed those training because they didn’t want to hurt you and because they were worried of what you were going to ask them next. It was true you had gotten very good. You could be even quicker than Bo in your movement sometimes and you were almost as good as Vincent with your knives. Bo also taught you how to aim and shoot and you had practised quite a lot lately as well, on your own.

Lester was always a little bit uneasy when he was spotting you fighting with one of his brothers, especially now you had become good at it. At first, it was all fun and cute. You were often falling in your parents arms and giggling. But now, you were deadly serious about this all and your parents were always the ones to tell you it was enough for the day. You would have been able to keep going forever otherwise.

The twins couldn’t deny that you almost kicked their asses this week. Almost. They were still a lot more experienced than you, and a lot stronger. But you learnt how to fight people bigger and stronger than you that way. You felt powerful and you felt ready. You wanted to help your parents with the family business, it was your duty as their heir and only daughter.

You helped dress the table as Bo was finishing to cook the food. You were in a good mood, softly humming to yourself. You had planned everything you were going to tell your parents and you were certain they were going to accept this time.

You finally all sat down at the kitchen table and started to eat in silence because everyone was a little bit tired today. The tourists had been very hard to kill the past few days.

“Wanna help ya” you started.

“With what?” Bo asked, even though he already knew the answer.

“With the tourists! I’ve trained well, haven't I? And I’m good at findin’ people when they’re hiddin'. I’m sure I could’ve been useful last night. And I was worried for ya…” you continued.

Your parents exchanged a look.

“Not sure ’s a good idea, baby” Lester started

“I’m a big girl now, I can do it” you replied with determination “And it’s unfair of y’all to keep me away from the family business! I’m a Sinclair, and I’m workin’ hard to be allowed on a hunt” you pouted.

The twins groaned at that. They could only agree with that kind of reasoning but they weren’t too sure about it still. Vincent was the one who wanted to allow you the most though, because he perfectly understood your will to kill and shed blood.

“The three of us’ll talk 'bout it, and we’ll tell ya tomorrow mornin'. Give us some time to think 'bout it” Bo finally said and you smiled and nodded. 

You let the subject go, like a good girl. It was the first time your parents talked that way, so you knew you had a chance to win this.

And you did.

At breakfast, the twins greeted you with a serious look on their expression. Lester wasn’t there. He was the one who voted against it. You were positively shivering in excitement when the twins told you they agreed to let you kill with them next time tourists would come by. But they needed you to obey some rules so they could be certain nothing bad would happen to you.

Rule 1: you had to obey whatever Bo and Vincent were going to tell you, even in the middle of a fight.

Rule 2: you needed to stay with Bo or Vincent pretty much all the time, so they could intervene if something bad was happening.

Rule 3: you were forbidden to play with the tourists. You killed them as quickly as possible and that was it.

You agreed with everything. You were so happy. You ate and rested well that day. The twins really hoped they didn’t make a mistake.

You were with Bo when the tourists arrived. You had been impatient all day, almost thinking no one would come today. And Lester almost didn’t show them the way to Ambrose. He really didn’t like that plan, but the family business needed to keep going and he knew you really wanted to be part of it. 

You were in the garage, chatting with your father when you heard voices. You stood up, so excited once again. You stretched to get ready for a fight. You could tell how tense Bo was, more than usual. He brought you closer before the newcomers could hear him, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

“Ya’re careful, baby, 'kay? It’s a not a game and if someone has to get hurt it’s me, not ya.” he whispered to you and you hugged him.

“Don’t worry, father. I’ll do good” you promised but it didn’t really reassure him. 

He felt like it was a mistake.

It had been a mistake.

You respected all the rules they gave you, but they didn’t think about one thing: that you would do anything to protect your family.

Anything.

Maybe the twins should have thought about starting with a small and defenceless group of tourists. Those ones were angry and ready to do anything to survive.

Anything.

You managed to kill one girl by slicing her throat open next to the garage. You turned around to look for Bo, hoping he saw you being so good at killing. But Bo was struggling with a man who seemed a lot stronger than him. And another one came from behind and violently hurt his head, making him collapse on the ground. You were so afraid. Not for yourself, but for your father. When the man grabbed the gun and aimed at Bo, you didn’t even think. You put yourself in front of Bo and you stabbed the man as he shot you. You both fell. 

You fell on top of the big man and you sliced his throat open to finish him off as you clung at your chest. You wanted to make sure he died before you did. You had never been in so much pain in your life before, it felt like a fire was consuming your chest. You were pretty certain you were going to die, especially when you noticed how quickly you were losing blood. At least, you would die doing what you had wanted the most, you thought, before losing consciousness. 

The other man panicked and ran away from the garage. He didn’t want to kill a teen, and he thought you were dead so he forgot about Bo. He ran away. Vincent found him on his path and finished him off too, without a care in the world.

Bo woke up after a few instants. But you didn’t. Blood was all over your clothes, spreading even more with the time passing by. You had cough that red liquid too, tainting your lips in a worrisome way. Your heart beat was so slow when Bo grabbed you.

“No, no, no, don’t do this to me” he whispered to you as he carried you back home. 

He didn’t know if there were any tourists left, but he needed to take care of you before it was too late. He cut off your shirt and was terrified. The bullet was so close to your heart. He wasn’t sure how to remove it. Vincent. He needed Vincent’s hands. They were a lot more assured than his, especially for a job like this. Fuck, where was he?

Vincent arrived soon after. He had heard Bo running back home, so he was worried something happened. But he didn’t imagine it would have been that serious. The twins instantly went to work on you. Bo called Lester and asked him to check Ambrose to make sure there was no one else in town. It was rare for Lester to be directly involved in the murders but they had no other choice at the moment. Lester agreed without asking questions, he had heard in Bo’s voice anything he needed to know. He knew things went badly for you.

You were still alive when they finished removing the bullet and sewing the deep wound. You were still breathing when they washed you the best they could. Your heart was still beating when they brought you to your bed.

But they didn’t know for how long.

“It was a mistake. We shouldn’t’ve agreed with that plan” Bo was the first one to say it, because it happened under his watch.

The three men were in your bedroom, watching over you. They couldn’t think about anything else at the moment. They didn’t know what to do to help you. The situation was making them feel sick.

“What happened?” Lester asked

“Ain’t really know. A fucker hit my head and when I came back to reality, two tourists were dead and she'd been shot” he told his brothers

Vincent didn’t comment on the fact you had been able to kill more tourists than Bo. He knew it wasn’t the moment and that he shouldn’t be proud, especially when you were in between life and death. But he was certain that if you survived this, you would be the best killer of all of them.

One of them stayed always with you. They very often checked on the wound. They worried even more when you started to get a fever. If the wound was getting infected, they weren’t too sure what they could do. And they couldn't bring you to the hospital because of… everything. But Lester was eager to rot in prison or even to be sentenced to death by the justice if it meant saving you; the twins were still hoping your body would be strong enough. You had always been in good physical condition, and you were their little fighter. Lester convinced them though and they all agreed that on the third day, they would bring you to hospital. They would lose everything, but at least, there would be a chance to save you, and it was all that mattered.

They spend two awful days, filled with concerns, guilt and fear.

Until you opened your eyes.

Lester was holding your hand, softly stroking it. He was silently praying for you to wake up. This morning, your fever broke so the men had hoped you were doing better. You moved a little which instantly caught Lester’s attention and he came closer to you. You struggled to open your eyes, it felt like your lids were too heavy. At least, the darkness of the night didn’t upset you, like the sun would have. 

“Hey, darl” Lester whispered and you turned your head toward his voice.

Your eyes were still blurry so you moved one hand to rub them. You winced in pain, and suddenly you remembered what happened. You almost sat up, if Lester hadn’t prevented you from doing so. You looked up at him with wide open eyes now.

“Father’s ok?” you asked with fear and Lester shushed you and nodded.

“Let me get everyone” he added “Calm down” he softly ordered and you did so. 

You felt weak and covered in sweat. You couldn’t wait to get a shower. And to get a bunch of painkillers. And more than anything, to feel better so you could get back on killing people.

Bo and Vincent were cleaning up Ambrose when Lester screamed at them to come over, because you were awake. They ran to your bedroom and Bo was the first one to hug you. He was careful of your wound and quickly checked on you. Vincent hugged you as well and removed his mask to kiss your cheek. Bo and Lester’s eyes held relief and joy. Lester was glad you opened your eyes. Bo was so happy he didn’t fail you and that you were still alive. But you could read something different in Vincent’s eye. He was proud of you. He gently stroked your hair and you leaned into his touch.

They made you drink water and have a little bit of food, before asking you what happened. You told them and Vincent kissed the top of your head at the end of your little story.

“Told ya to not worry 'bout me” Bo told you, even if he was grateful you saved him, a thing he would never admit to anyone.

“I can’t do that” you shook your head as Lester smiled down at you. You had always been such a good daughter to them all. His smile flattered at your next words. “How long do ya think before I can get back on a hunt?” Vincent hid his smirk as Bo facepalmed.

“Ya almost died, wasn’t it enough for ya?” he asked you and Lester nodded at that.

“But I didn’t die. And I killed two tourists. I’m sure I can do better next time, right, dad?” you turned toward Vincent because you felt he was on your side and he nodded, to his brothers’ dismay.

You already did very well, daughter. He signed to you and your eyes lit up.

You had always known Vincent was the most dangerous of them all, and being praised by him meant a lot to you. You hugged him even more.

Because you refused to rest, the men agreed to help you go downstairs and watch a movie with the three of them. You picked a slasher horror film, obviously. Bo brought popcorn and you laid down on the couch, as it was the best position for your wound. As the killer was threatening his victims, you fell asleep like it was a lullaby to your ears. Vincent smiled down at your peaceful face. Lester put a blanket over you and kissed your forehead. Bo watched you with the feeling that maybe it hadn’t been such a mistake.

[ravenya003]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Out of Mind, Out of Sight; E01E11

I dig this episode! In the grand scheme of things it’s fairly negligible, with a Monster of the Week who never reappears (even though she should have) and a fairly oddball premise (once again “mystical Hellmouth energy” is the real villain) but which also happens to be our first Cordelia-centric episode (demonstrating she has more depth than we’ve so far given her credit for) and guest stars none other than Clea DuVall.

It becomes even more bemusing when you take into account the fact that this is season one’s penultimate episode, for aside from a tiny subplot that sets up the finale and introduces Angel to the Scoobies for the first time, Buffy spends most of it trying to hunt down an invisible girl.

The more I think about this episode, the quirkier it becomes.

To start with, there’s some debate about what this episode is actually called. In some regions it’s referred to as “Invisible Girl,” and in others “Out of Mind, Out of Sight.” I'm not sure why, but I don’t think anyone could disagree that the latter is an infinitely better title than the former – not only is “Invisible Girl” a massive spoiler, but it also clashes with the next episode title: “Prophecy Girl.” Two girls in a row? That doesn’t flow very well.

On the other hand, “out of mind, out of sight” is not only a famous idiom, but also a very literate description of what happens to Marcie Ross in this episode. Everyone ignores her, and so she disappears. Plus, this is the title that appears on my DVD menu, so as far as I’m concerned, that’s the official name of the episode.

The episode kicks off, and Harmony is back! The first of the Cordettes to make a return appearance. She and Cordelia are jabbering in the hallway about the upcoming school dance, and Buffy overhears wistfully, no doubt recalling her days when she was popular. Now she’s a clumsy weirdo, scorned by the girls who would have otherwise been her friends.

It’s a rather heavy-handed scene, though an important component is that Harmony points out that: “she’s always hanging out with that creepy librarian in that creepy library.” Again, the other students might be spurning Buffy, but they are noticing what she’s getting up to. It all contributes to the subtle lead-up to the events of the Prom in season three.

In English class they’re discussing The Merchant of Venice, which is funny because I just watched the 2004 version last month. Amusingly, Cordelia has no sympathy whatsoever for Shylock, but it’s worth noting that she has an argument to make and demonstrates that she understands the material. Cordelia might be awful, but she’s clearly not unintelligent.

Also, we’re introduced to another member of the Sunnydale High faculty: Ms Miller, who is also the show’s third (?) featured Black person. I really should have been keeping count of these rare sightings of melanin skin in what is meant to be a Southern Californian town.

We cut to Mitch in the locker room, who is making a lewd comment to his friends about Cordelia. We actually met him a couple of scenes ago as Cordelia’s latest squeeze, and a fun fact is that he’s played by Ryan Bittle, who was the original Todd Wilkins in the Sweet Valley High series. Why is this relevant? Because the second actor to play Todd Wilkins was Jeremy Vincent Garrett, who also features on this show, in season two’s “Go Fish.” I enjoy these little coincidences.

He’s getting dressed after his shower when a levitating baseball, swiftly following on the heels of a malicious giggle, starts to beat the shit out of him. I can’t say it’s not a little satisfying (let’s be real – that gross comment he made about Cordy was to give us permission to enjoy this beatdown).

Just to really drive home the fact that Buffy is feeling lonely and left out, Xander and Willow start laughing about an in-joke that remains incomprehensible – something about a field trip, some antlers, and a hat. It never gets explained and it never gets brought up again. And to further hammer home the point, just in case you’re not getting it, Buffy divulges that she was once the May Queen at her old school. (Cordelia is campaigning and refuses to give her a cupcake).

The news breaks that Mitch has been attacked in the locker room and Snyder appears out of nowhere to announce that: “no one’s dead... this week.” Heh. Mitch is wheeled out on a gurney and manages to tell the assorted crowd what happened, and when Buffy goes to investigate, the Slayerettes very handily distract Snyder with talk about how the school is going to be sued. That’s teamwork.

There’s not much to see in the changing room, only the word “look” graffitied on the lockers. I’m also compelled to point out that there are no cops on the scene. I mean, they call an ambulance but not the police? (And yes, I do understand why the writers were loathe to involve the police force on a regular basis; it’s a discussion point I’m working my way up to).

In the cafeteria, the Scoobies and Giles are discussing their options and draw the obvious conclusion that it’s poltergeist activity. Buffy doesn’t think the attack was random, and Giles promises to draw up a list of students that’ve gone missing recently. In a slightly weird moment, Giles tries to recruit Xander into do some research, though in hindsight it’s just setup for a joke in which Buffy suggests he interview Cordelia instead, and he leaps at the chance to hit the books.

Harmony is commiserating with Cordelia about Mitch, though she’s mostly concerned about how awful he’s going to look in the Prom pictures. This segues into an interesting creative decision: we suddenly switch to a black-and-white flashback that depicts Cordelia and Harmony being approached by an unseen girl (it’s shot from her point-of-view) who is scornfully dismissed.

I’m not entirely sure if this was the best way to reveal Marcie (though technically, we don’t actually see her at this point) but this is nothing if not an oddball episode.

Back in the present day, Harmony is abruptly yanked off her feet and thrown down a flight of stairs. Yikes, it’s actually very wince-inducing, so well done to the stunt double. Buffy is on hand to help, and Snyder pops up to say: “don’t sue.” Heh heh.

Someone brushes past Buffy that she can’t see, though she hears a malevolent little giggle. She follows it into the band room, but fails to notice a hatch opening in the roof.

As the students leave at the end of the day, there’s a quick panning shot away from two distinctive-looking men in black suits and sunglasses (don’t worry, we’ll get back to them) and Buffy tells Giles that their ghost theory no longer holds water: she felt someone bump into her, which isn’t a typical trait of ghosts.

Their next option is simply a girl who is invisible, though Willow gets a cute moment when she says: “is she a witch? Because we can fight a witch.” (Continuity!) And yet whoever this girl is, her motive is clear, since the common denominator in both attacks was each victim’s proximity to Cordelia. Man, I really miss these detective-based episodes in later seasons.

There’s also a rather sad moment when Willow and Xander depart, and you can hear him ask: “do you wanna come to our place tonight for dinner? Mom's making her famous phone call to the Chinese place.” We learn so little about Xander and Willow’s families, and yet every glimpse we get is pretty dire. It’s a shame in a way that the show never delved into their backgrounds, because it would make sense on a psychological level that their absolute commitment to Buffy and her cause is based on not getting any love or validation at home.

Buffy decides to keep a watch on Cordelia, who for some reason is preparing her May Queen dress with her friends in a classroom after school hours (is there a reason she’s not doing this at home??) But I’m taking a moment to express my fondness for the fuzzy aesthetic of season one: the grainy quality of the footage, the slightly sluggish pacing, the rather unwieldy blocking – it’s such a far cry from the snappy editing and glossy visuals we get these days, and I love it.

Also, I feel that none of the girls in this classroom scene were given much direction, as there are some very awkward ad-libs (“how does the, um, hem go?”) and blocking (what on earth is the girl with the paper decorations doing?) going on. It’s charming in a very excruciating way.

Buffy peers at them through the window in the door, looking wistful, and are you getting it? I’m worried it’s too subtle. Buffy feels isolated and ignored, people! This might be thematically relevant later on!

Buffy draws away from the door when she hears flute music, but cannot find its source. In a nice segue, Giles looks up from his research in the library, also hearing the flute. He starts to investigate, and... okay, I love this scene. Giles meets Angel for the first time, and it’s nothing like I would have expected. (I actually started watching Buffy at the start of season three, and so season one always felt a bit like a prequel – and like I said, this meeting was not what I had anticipated for these two).

First of all, Giles gets a fright because he sees his reflection in a glass bookcase which demonstrates he’s alone – only to turn and realize Angel is standing right beside him. He looks back, and sure enough, vampires cast no reflection. That part is nicely done, and is solid setup for later in the episode when Angel’s vampiric abilities allows him to enter the gas-filled boiler room (heck, it even creates a neat comparison to Marcie’s invisibility, even though those two characters have nothing whatsoever to do with each other).

Giles recognizes him instantly, and Angel reassures him that he’s in no danger. Also, that he’s been trying to stay away since it hurts to be around Buffy. Um, sure. You’ve interacted with her, like what – seven times? And you’re in excruciating emotional pain when she’s around? I get that vampires score high on the melodrama scale, but honestly. Maybe he’s talking about literal pain since the last time we saw him Buffy accidentally seared a crucifix into his chest.

It doesn’t matter, because the most fascinating thing about this scene is that Giles doesn’t automatically enter Dad Mode. In fact, he seems a little awestruck with the idea of a vampire being in love with a Slayer, calling it “poetic.” I love that they made this choice for him; that you’d fully expect him to be disapproving of what Angel is doing, and instead finding it romantic.

We then get to the plot-relevant part of the scene, which plays out like a sneaky little alleyway thoroughfare to the events of the finale. Angel has approached Giles because he knows he’s researching the Master, and Giles laments the fact that so many texts of prophecy have gone missing.

I am POWERFULLY interested in the fact that there are apparently volumes of Slayer prophecies that detail what her role is in the “end years.” So many questions. Who wrote these books? That Aurelius guy? Are they just about the Master or do they involve all the other apocalypses that Buffy has to face? How does Angel know how to get hold of them? Who are his contacts?

Sorry, I just love the whole concept of prophecies, even though in this case, it’s clearly just basic table-setting for the unfolding plot. We’re not meant to be interested in anything beyond the fact that they exist, even though I would TOTALLY sit down to read an ancient tome that detailed prophecies concerning the Slayer line. That would actually be a total delight. Damn, I’m excited just thinking about it...

Okay, so the POINT of this entire exchange is that Angel promises to bring Giles something called the Pergamum Codex, which the latter believed had been lost in the fifteenth century. It has the most complete prophecies about what to expect from Buffy’s upcoming conflict with the Master, and it’s cute how Giles geeks out a little about getting his hands on it.

We are prepping for the next episode here, but the scene ends on an even more overt parallel between Angel and Marcie when Giles informs Angel they’re researching an invisible girl. It’s kinda funny actually, since he’s essentially saying “I know the end of the world is imminent, but first we gotta take care of this invisible teenager.” He remarks that being invisible would be a heady experience, and Angel advocates for the enjoyment of seeing one’s reflection in the mirror each morning.

Which segues us into... another flashback, this time one that shows us Marcie’s face as she’s – sure enough – looking at her reflection in a restroom mirror. Again, it’s a somewhat interesting way to reveal the identity and visage of this character, as all this context is still very much a mystery to Buffy and her cohorts (it’s rare that the audience gets clued-in before the protagonists) but it depicts her once again getting the brush-off by Cordelia and Harmony.

Back in the present day, Principal Snyder announces Cordelia as the May Queen, and promptly disappears from the rest of the episode (Snyder, not Cordelia). She begins her acceptance speech, while Buffy looks on from the walkway.

The suit-and-sunglasses men are noticeably loitering nearby, and Willow mistakes them for Cordy’s bodyguards before presenting Buffy with a list of missing students. The latest is a girl called Marcie Ross, who went missing six months ago. Hmm, if these episodes are evenly spaced over the course of a school year, that means she went missing sometime during the events of “The Pack” or “Angel.”

Willow and Xander claims they’ve never heard of her, but according to the list, Marcie’s only extra-curricular activity was playing the flute. The flute!

Buffy investigates the band room, and this time notices the hatch in the ceiling. She climbs up into the crawlspace and discovers where Marcie has been living – it’s a bit sad, since there’s a teddy and her flute, as well as a yearbook that confirms it’s indeed Marcie Ross who has been terrorizing the school.

Unbeknownst to Buffy, Marcie is in the room with her, and a knife starts levitating in midair as she searches her belongings. However, for whatever reason Marcie opts to not attack, and Buffy climbs back down into the classroom with her yearbook in hand, none the wiser.

In a quick scene, Ms Miller is alone in her classroom when Marcie whips a plastic bag over her head and leaves her for dead. Luckily, Cordelia arrives just in time to save her, and the pair of them turn to see a bit of chalk write “listen” on the blackboard behind them.

Buffy has brought her evidence to Willow and Xander in the library, and they’re perturbed when they realize they signed her yearbook (and attended classes with her) without ever registering her existence.

Giles comes up with the theory that this phenomenon isn’t magical in nature at all, but rather scientific – that because nobody noticed Marcie’s presence, she literally became invisible. Nah dude, it’s not physics, it’s just funky Hellmouth energy doing its thing.

We’re treated to one last flashback in which Marcie is sitting in Ms Miller’s class, being completely ignored by students and teacher alike. As she raises her hand in vain, she watches as it disappears before her very eyes.

Back in the present, Cordelia marches into the library in search of help. Again, this is a nice bit of lead-up to the Prom, since a. she knows where to find Buffy, and b. feels like she can call upon her for assistance when things get weird. It’s becoming public knowledge on campus that this is what Buffy does. Cordelia has also realized she’s the common element in these attacks – confirmed by the photo of her in Marcie’s yearbook that’s been rather viciously scribbled on.

Cordelia refuses to skip the May Queen celebrations that night, and Buffy backs her up: using Cordelia as bait could be a perfect way to draw Marcie out of hiding. Giles aims to work on a cure for her invisibility, while Willow and Xander will keep researching.

But the problem with invisible assailants is that they could be anywhere – like say, in the library stacks, listening to everything being said.

Buffy escorts Cordelia to a janitor’s closest where she can change into her dress, and the two exchange some nice dialogue about the nature of popularity. Cordelia expresses empathy for what Marcie’s going through, and divulges that she too knows what it feels like to be lonely. According to her, you can be surrounded by other people and still feel alone, and Buffy presumably realizes what the viewer has known this whole time – that she has the better deal when it comes to her friends. She might not be as popular as she was in L.A., but Willow and Xander are worth a thousand vapid Cordettes. And deep down, Cordelia knows this too.

Speaking of Willow and Xander (and Giles), they overhear the sound of a flute in the hall and start following it... naturally it’s a trap, and the three of them are locked in the boiler room with a tape recording and an open gas valve while Marcie drags Cordelia out of the janitor’s closet through a hatch in the ceiling. God knows where she got the upper body strength to pull THAT off.

Not realizing her friends are in danger, Buffy goes after Cordelia. The rest of the Scoobies try to escape the boiler room, but the door is locked and trying to break it open might cause a spark that could trigger an explosion (hey, I wonder if this episode is what inspired the idea of eventually blowing up the entire school at the end of season three).

Buffy reaches the crawlspace in the ceiling, only to fall back through the roof and get injected with something contained in a floating syringe – next to her is Cordelia, already unconscious.

When she wakes up, she’s at the Bronze. Again, how did Marcie manage to pull this off? She and Cordelia are tied to fancy chairs, and the word “learn” is written in glitter on a nearby curtain. Marcie makes herself known, waving a scalpel around and declaring that she’s going to pull a To The Pain on Cordelia’s face. Clearly she’s a fan of The Princess Bride.

Buffy tries to talk her out of her vengeance, while the Scoobies desperately try to escape the boiler room before succumbing to the gas. Luckily for them, Angel turns up with the promised Codex for Giles and drags them to safety, while Buffy yanks herself free of her bonds, closes her eyes, and uses her super-hearing (another Slayer ability?) to pinpoint Marcie’s location.

At just the right moment, she tackles Marcie into the curtain, exposing her whereabouts. It’s at that moment the FBI agents burst through the door and take Marcie into custody. It’s played for laughs a little, what with Buffy calling them creepy and the agents wishing her a nice day, but she does manage to establish that this sort of thing has happened before, and that Marcie will be “rehabilitated.” She’s taken away by the agents, while Buffy unties Cordelia.

So another episode ends with no deaths! For some bizarre reason, the Scoobies keep the fact that Angel rescued them from her (it really annoys me when they do this, and it’s not even clear why they do so) and Cordelia approaches in order to give them heartfelt thanks... at least until Mitch turns up and asks why she’s talking to these losers.

She snaps back to her usual self – though there’s been some progress there, and we the audience know that there are hidden depths at work.

Finally, Marcie is ushered into a seemingly classroom where nobody but the teacher can be seen. Still, the place is clearly filled with people, as a chorus of voices greet her as she takes her seat (but how’d she know what desk to sit down at if everyone is invisible?) She opens her textbook to a chapter called “Assassination and Infiltration” and laughs to herself.

A classic mid-tier episode, but also an oddball one in several respects. I guess I’m chuffed over the fact that the second-to-last episode of this season is a fairly throwaway story about an invisible girl, which also includes a tiny narrative thread that involves things like Angel meeting Giles and delivering an important Plot Coupon for the finale.

At a time where television shows are essentially big movies split into eight or so episodes, it’s an amusing reminder that writers once had to give consideration to the way their stories were structured. And that could lead to some quirky creative decisions. So yes, it bemuses me that this episode gives Angel a little sliver of a subplot that sets up the finale while Buffy is fighting an invisible girl who will never be seen again.

That said, Marcie is referenced again – though not by name, if I recall. Xander asks Buffy if she’s been felling ignored when she gets turned invisible in season six, and there’s a throwaway gag in season seven in which Buffy spots a girl turning invisible at the rebuilt Sunnydale High and tries to assure her that she’s “seen.”

But Marcie was perfectly primed to return at some point – more so than (for example) the Mantis eggs at the end of “Teachers Pet.” Hindsight is 20/20, and yet it’s impossible not to feel a little disappointed that the show didn’t take the opportunity to seed the existence of the Initiative with this episode. How easy would it have been to recon the agents of this episode into Initiative recruits in season four, and for Marcie to return in some capacity during that season? That final scene demanded a Sequel Episode.

But having deliberately drawn a connection between Buffy and Marcie and setting them up as foils, what with both of them feeling ignored and out of place, it was odd that the episode ends with Buffy simply dismissing Marcie out of hand. That she went from “we did this to her” to “you’re a raging looney” just didn’t feel right. That Buffy is empathetic is a pretty crucial component to her character.

So it’s a bit different to discern the final message here. Perhaps it was “there but for the grace of my friends go I,” since Buffy is grounded by her friendship with Willow and Xander, and clearly isn’t going down a bitter or resentful path when it comes to the way Cordelia treats her. That's the most crucial difference between herself and Marcie, and ironically, this episode marks the beginning of a friendship with Cordelia.

Miscellaneous Observations:

I’d like to think that Marcie’s “lesson” stayed with Cordelia. She shrugs it off by the end of the episode, but she does improve from here on out, and I’d like to think that she’s realized that the way she treats people matters.

I like the little detail that Angel offers to go back into the boiler room to turn off the gas since “it’s not like I need the air.” It demonstrates that vampirism does have some specific advantages (which will also turn up in the very last Angel episode) and kind of feels like foreshadowing for the next episode, in which he’s unable to perform CPR on Buffy.

During my high school years, I recall having to study a play called “After All We’ve Done” in which a boy is constantly discussed by his family and peers, but never actually seen on-stage. They’re constantly talking over him, micro-managing his life, making unreasonable demands of him, and eventually crying “after all we’ve done!” when he snaps and destroys an art exhibition at school. But like I said – he’s never actually seen on-stage. The point of the story is that he’s entirely acted upon, and I think of it every time I watch this episode.

Also, this YouTube prank of a guy convincing his younger brother that he’s become invisible.

Speaking of high school, among my friend-group the phrase “have a nice summer” became something of an in-joke thanks to this episode. We all wrote it in each other’s yearbook just to wind each other up.

After all that talk of ghosts, I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t one. But technically, isn’t Sunnydale High already haunted by the spirits of that student and teacher who were having a love affair back in the fifties? It’s amusing to think they’re haunting a completely different part of the school while Buffy was trying to hunt down Marcie.

I still think it’s weird that Angel appears in this episode and not “Nightmares,” which could have showcased his character in an interesting way. Still, there’s got to be a fun story about how exactly he got his hands on the Codex.

It was fun to see Clea DuVall, and yes, this was one of her earliest projects. I know her best from The Faculty and the first season of Heroes, but she’s been working regularly over the years, most recently in The Handmaid’s Tale and American Horror Story.

As fond as I am of this episode, there are some lingering questions. Like where on earth were Marcie’s parents? Did they ignore her too? Is there a reason she chose to hunker down in a nest at the school instead of just being invisible at home?

I mentioned in the summary that perhaps the threat of the boiler room blowing up was the inspiration for the entire school going kaboom at the end of season three. On a similar note, the fact that Buffy blames the student body for Marcie’s invisibility complex also reminded me of Jonathan. Like Marcie, he’s aggressively ignored by everyone – though in his case, it’s also the audience who partakes in the “not noticing” his presence. I wouldn't be surprised if the idea of his character stemmed from this episode.

All that in mind, I’m deeming this one an Innocuously Important Episode. It’s very indicative of season one, in which the writers were still playing around with the rules of the premise, and not for the first time building their plot around a metaphor (much like “Nightmares,” the real villain is the way perception can affect reality – this angle largely disappeared after season one).

Best Line: Giles: “The loneliness, the constant exile, she's gone quite mad!” Xander: “Yah think?” Okay, it’s not that clever, but Nicholas Brendan slathers it in so much sarcasm that I have to give it props.

Best Scene: When Cordelia reveals some hidden depths and bonds with Buffy through the door of the janitor’s closest. It’s been eleven episodes, and she’s finally humanized a little.

Biggest Unanswered Question: How did the FBI know that Marcie had turned invisible? It suggests some sort of inside man who can report on the strange goings-on at the school, but this thread is never picked up on. Again, it’s a shame that the show never tied them in with the Initiative.

Death Toll: For the second episode in a row, no fatalities! That leaves us with:

Grand Total: Fifteen civilians, fifteen villains, one ally.