#life goals: be aunt joe

[arrowflier]

Year-End Joy List

Hey guys, has it been a year or what? Tomorrow is for new goals, but tonight is for reflection: I wanted to invite you to take a minute and reflect on things from the last year that you're grateful for or brought you joy. Here's mine:

🎉I got a new job (with better pay AND treatment)

🎉I moved back to my hometown

🎉I found out I'm going to be an aunt

🎉I started knitting again

🎉I met some amazing online friends in real life

🎉I had a fic hit 1K kudos!

🎉I discovered Trader Joe's 😂

🎉I took a lot of walks in the park

🎉My auditory processing has improved and I can listen to audiobooks now--and I've made it through so many I wouldn't have had time for otherwise!

If you'd like to share your own list, tag me so we can be joyful together! And if not, I love you and I'll see you next year.

@sleepyfacetoughguy @energievie @gallawitchxx @howlinchickhowl @heymrspatel @squidyyy23 @gardenerian @metalheadmickey @sickness-health-all-that-shit @deathclassic @creepkinginc @whatthebodygraspsnot @suchagallabitch @thisdivorce @vintagelacerosette @purplemagpie @grumble-fish @depressedstressedlemonzest @y0itsbri @suzy-queued and literally everyone else💖

[luvforemikai]

The price of life

Jamie Reagan x daughter!reader

summary - when you get shot by an ex cop, you feel guilty for the justice that was brought on him

warnings - mentions of murder, blood, shooting, and guns. this is somewhat based of off season 1 episode 15 so you'll most likely understand it better if you watch the episode. Though most factors arent included in the episode and likewise. And if you see me put their names in front of quotes thats so you dont get confused.

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"Whats the next question" your grandpa Frank asks. You and frank are at the park eating hotdogs while you're doing a school presentation on him and his job. "Do you regret some things that have happened on the job?" You say. Pretty hesitant because you might've already known the answer to that, considering what happened to your uncle Joe. Frank takes a deep breath to gather his thoughts while staring off into space. "I have a few. When you sign up to do the things i do. Along with your dad jamie and uncle danny, some things take a toll on you. Mentally. Physically." You look down, trying to avoid the uncomfortable eye contact.. "There are things i regret i admit that. But i dont regret anything that has brought you guys into my life", he says while lifting your chin and smiling. You plaster a sad but meaningful smile on your face. "What else you got for me kid." Frank says while taking a bite out of his fry. You chuckle and look at your paper.

"So, how was i? Too detailed? Not enough details?" Frank asks while walking you to your apartment complex. Jamie had just gotten home. Its nearly dark out when you hear tires screech on the road. "You were percectly fi-" you're cut off by frank taking you to the ground, and sound of gunshots, and a burning feeling in your chest and leg. The dark SUV drifted off before you could process what happened. "Are you okay??" Frank asks while his security team asks the same of him. "Yeah" you faintly whisper with a rasp in your voice. Franks face is plain until he looks at your chest. You look down too and see blood pooling. Frank takes his hands and puts them on your wound making you flinch and groan. "You're gonna be okay y/n, just listen to the sound of my voice", is all you hear while your vision gets blurred and you slowly lose consciousness.

You wake up in the hospital with all the reagans surrounding you. "Y/n". Jamie says your name as he's sitting on a chair beside your hospital bed. You groan as you try to shift positions. "Agh, what happened". Jamie puts a hand on your shoulder "just lay down, relax." "You were shot y/n. In the chest and leg." Danny says. Linda is beside you too, rubbing your arm. She's always been like a mother to you so it was actually quite comforting, which was her initial goal. "We're gonna find who did this to you, i promise" frank says while reaching into his coat pocket to make some calls. He walks out of the room and starts talking to somebody on the phone. "Let me know if you need anything, and i mean anything".."thank you aunt erin" you say while weakly smiling. Your father, Jamie, kisses you on the forehead and leaves the room.

Its been 2 weeks and you're finally getting discharged. Feeling nothing but relief to sleep in your own bed again, eating seasoned foods that aren't bland. You order your dad to stop by the market to get you some jell-o. You've became addicted to it in the hospital and craved more. He agreed after you used your crippled status as a defeating moment. "Take it easy okay?" Jamie says as you make your way on the wheelchair. "I'll be fine I swear.". As you leave the hospital you can sense theres more than your additional family member outside waiting for you, and you were right. Frank ordered officers to 1, take you home and 2, stand gaurd outside of your apartment building. He'd offered you come stay at his home but you just wanted to lay in your bed. Jamie helped you into the back of the car. Your cast on your leg making it extra hard. He hands you your crutches and goes into the driver seat, telling frank we'll be just fine without the escort home.

You arrive home and eddie janko is there. You're crutches are giving you a hard time so she made it easier for you and met you half way. "Hiiii!!!" You say excited. Eddie was like another mother to you so seeing her after what happened instantly made you 1000x better. "Aww i heard about what happened, are you okayy".."yeah i will be. Thank you for coming though I've been wanting to see you" you say while smiling ear to ear, happy your second favorite person in the world is there with you. "Anything for you".."Cmon sweetie lets go inside" jamie says, worried your arms might give out relying on those crutches. You make it up the elevator to your home and head straight for the stairs. You freeze and stare at them in defeat. "Uh dad".."yeah?" He says while closing and locking the door. "Can i get some help". He looks at you and starts to laugh under his breath at the fact that you completely forgot you had stairs. He lifts you up bridal style and takes you up to your room.

Its sunday and you're getting ready for sunday dinner over franks place. You're trying to put on some pants and slide them over your cast but you're having a hell of a hard time. Eddie knocks on your door. "You need help with that?".."yes. Please. Im getting hot and stressed" while you let out a tired chuckle. "Ive had so many casts this is like muscle memory for me." Eddie says while kneeling and smiling. "Thank you for being here. I really appreciate it. Im glad my dad doesnt have to help me all by himself."..."of course. And i want you to know im not just doing this for your dad im doing it for you too. You both need a break it looks like"..."yeah you got that right" you say while laughing and eddie joins in. "Hey you guys ready to go?" Jamie walks in with your shoes and crutches. "Yeah dad lets go".

You arrive at franks place and is greeted like a lost puppy. You dont know how to feel about it but you were just shot twice so you let it slide for now. You guys are sitting at the table eating when your uncle danny mentions the person who shot you. Danny - "well, thank God the person who shot you is no longer in the streets" Y/n - "you guys arrested him? Why did nobody tell me?" You say while smiling. Danny - "well... we didnt exactly arrest him" y/n - "what do you mean?... you killed him?" Danny - "we seen the shot and took it y/n." Y/n - "right but why." Henry - "y/n he shot you. Did you expect them to just let him live" y/n - "no but it was the right thing to do!" You say while your voice shakes and cracks. Danny - "he shot you y/n!! And who knows who else he was thinkin about killing! Mind you, you arent the only one in new york he could've had his eyes on!" Y/n - "Yeah! I know that but you dont go around killing people in my name! I lived! And his life doesnt substitute for mine even if i didnt!!" You yell and grab your crutches to walk out. "Y/n!" Jamie yells after you while you leave to go sit in the living room. "She's right ya know" frank says as he takes a spoonfull of food in his mouth.

You refuse to talk to anyone and tell jamie to take you home. He does as he's asked to prevent any other arguing.

You're sitting in bed, blaming yourself for your shooters death when jamie comes in with the rest of your dinner you left. "Thank you" you smile and take the plate and spoon. Jamie sits next to you and put his arm around you. "Its not your fault you know"..."how"..."your uncle danny made a decision. Maybe that decision wasn't his to make but he made it. And he got a killer off the streets because of it. We didn't tell you this but, that guy, he was a killer. He took people away from their families. Mothers, fathers, daughters. People like that have no humanity. No guilt. No respect. Uncle danny made the decision that one life would save hundreds more. The life of the victims, the life of the cops who work the case, and the life of the families. Maybe it was the right decision maybe it wasn't. Who are we to decide that. But one thing i do know is that this is not your fault and it will never be your fault. Its his for putting a price on life.". You nod and look up at him. "Thank you dad" while he kisses your forehead. He takes a spoon of your food and eats it. "This is really good". You both laugh and look at eachother while he rests his head on the top of yours. "I love you y/n" "i love you too"

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I redid the end 3 times. Hope it was worth it.

[hxroic-wxlls]

"Appy, you're from the future, so that isn't saying much. Besides you and Rose both are the brute force type with none of the finesse. Well in terms of your powers, in terms of fighting style? Sooner or later the present day Rose will be dodging people while leaving behind an afterimage and she's a child. But you two have seen my family, we're beings of chaos and so its a chaotic relationship where being siblings and no one likes falling behind someone else. The exception is Aunt Tia and after Aunt Tia decided mom's fiery temper can get worse by making the fact they're twins come forth, mom."

"Your family literally being made from chaos energy really eliminates anything straight forward with you all huh?"

"No it just differs per person, after all mom can be calmed down by just showing her Nis. Its more a me issue in the long run. One reinforced by the encounter with Rindr as she picks to go by. We're the same person, yet if its a fight, I'd lose every single time."

" Man, your guys' family has such a complicated system... " Well, it's not really all THAT complicated. She's just not very good at understanding it, that's all. Regardless, she kinda gets the idea of hating falling behind your relatives, but she never viewed it as a competition in the first place. At least, in her own family.

" Well, maybe it's because that you came from a world where she specifically dedicated her whole life to fighting, with little in between? I'd assume that one person wouldn't be the exact same in every world. One could be an average joe, the other could be a fighting legend, and the other could be a master of charisma and socialization. Losing to the fighting legend you is nothing to be ashamed of if they came from a world where their sole goal is being #1. "

Although, it IS weird how that Rindr wouldn't even consider the idea of fighting Mare. Maybe it's a pride thing? Either that, or just a blatant power difference, but she knows bringing that up would make this worse.

[idadragonheart]

Not your average Joe, Giovanni (Gio) Giovannangelo-Stellari is a medical school dropout and second generation immigrant known for his somewhat eccentric style and loud personality. Son of an Italian father and unknown mother, he was taken into custody by his aunt after his father, Giorgio, passed away when Giovanni was ten years old. He took over his aunt's surname Stellari, both because he wanted to distance himself from his father's legacy and because he regarded his aunt as his true mother. Bonus points, his aunt's surname was easier for Americans to pronounce.

A bright student, Gio used the inherited money to pay his tuitions and enrolled in medicine school right after graduating from college. He never took school too seriously, but appreciated the knowledge and training he was receiving and knew that in spite of him and his adoptive mother living quite comfortably now with his late father's savings, the money couldn't last forever, so his goal was a well paying, respectable job. He wanted nothing to do with his father's somewhat dodgy history.

Unfortunately, Gio dropped out of school due to an incident that happened about six months ago - he got into a fight on school grounds and ended up expelled as he almost beat the life out of a student hailing from a rich family that made huge donations to the school in the past. The two had history, as the rich student beat Gio to a girl he liked and made a point of dating her in spite of making it obvious behind her back that he actually thought she was just a dumb ugly wench. This enraged Gio but he kept his temper at bay. He put up with this and other attempts at triggering him, but in the end, what got him had to do not with himself, but his best friend. The rich guy's gang would harass less well-off students - childish demeanor at their age - and their favourite target was Gio's friend Will. Will was a dainty, well groomed creature, who despite his lack of funds cared for his appearance and was ridiculed because of this. He was rumored to be gay and often carried bruises that came with that. One day Gio stumbled upon a three-against-one standoff between his nemesis, two other thugs and WIll, the latter already being held at knife point. Gio ended up in a fist fight with the knife wielder, beating him unconscious after breaking his jaw with a brass-knuckle-powered uppercut.

Repercussions were severe - Will had fallen unconscious just the fight and was thus overridden by the two other witnesses who claimed that Gio attacked them with no apparent reason and with little warning. In spite of some teachers believing Will and Gio's story, most harbored a dislike for gays and sided with the son of their beloved patron. Gio ended up expelled just a couple of months before graduation.

This event exposes his rashness and also his sense of justice; he is compassionate and will go out of his way to protect those in need. He often uses medical skills to heal stray animals and sometimes to help those who cannot afford a doctor - he keeps his trusty bag well supplied. A scholar at heart, he tries to find a scientific explaination in everything and dismisses the paranormal as merely unresearched phenomena.

Aside from his medicine bag and brass knuckle dusters, which inspired his nickname, "Knuckle",  he is most recognizable by his jet black hair coiffed into a glorious pompadour. He claims this hairstyle will take the world by storm one day. He dresses in a long black coat, white shirt, black vest and trousers and fancy leather shoes - an old-fashioned look, most of his garments being passed down by his father, who was and still is Gio's role model. This is why he will not tolerate smartassing about his look - disrespecting his outfit means disrespecting his father. An even worse idea is making fun of his hairstyle - he's prone to fly into a rage if anyone mocks his pompadour and has used his signature knuckles to settle such disputes before. Nobody really knows why he is so defensive about his hair and he keeps his reasons a secret - just don't talk about it, okay? Endearingly enough, Gio will pop his coat's collar when trying to look cooler.

[jdgo51]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR APRIL 29, 2023

Always There

By Carlos D. Ortiz (Puerto Rico)

READ ISAIAH 43:1-7

The Lord says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

ISAIAH 43:1 (NIV)

"One of my aunts routinely mailed copies of El Aposento Alto — the Spanish language edition of The Upper Room — to her nieces, nephews, and friends. Through the daily devotional, I learned about Jesus and loving God. I kept every copy she sent.

At age 15, I declared my independence from my parents because they did not believe in me. I stopped studying the arts so I could pursue a career where I could support myself. Around this time, I also started attending church. But eventually, while trying to achieve my goals, I left the church and began to live a life of excess.

After seven years, I completed my doctorate, but I still wasn’t happy. I began to experience an existential crisis, so once again I read my old copies of El Aposento Alto. The stories were as relevant as when they were first published. During this time I realized that God has always been there for me.

I have since returned to my faith community, and my joy is complete. God dwells in my heart and guides my life and faith. I remain grateful that despite my failings, God stood by me. God’s love was manifested through my family, my church, and the stories in the daily devotional." God is always there for you. We often stray away or turn our heads and try to do our own things, yet each time we look back God is there. We should strive to stay close to Him and follow the guidance that is given, Our way can work for a while, but inevitably we will need God's help. Stay near Him in prayer and conversation. Catch the message given to us through the Bible verses we read. All will be well.

TODAY'S PRAYER

"Almighty God, thank you for remaining faithful to us even when we turn from you. Fill us with your wisdom, and give us the courage to trust in your saving grace." Amen.

Isaiah 43:1-7

New International Version

Israel’s Only Savior

"'43 But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush[a] and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

God remains with you, steadfast and always present. You can count on it. Share this knowledge with others so that they , too, can know it is true. Be blessed with God surrounding your life. Joe

[alana-iacovissi]

A life goal:

I want to succeed in having a family. 

I want to be sitting under the Christmas tree with my husband watching my kids unwrap their presents. I want to recreate the magic my parents made for me as a kid and pass it down to them. I want to teach them the importance of tradition and family. Then after opening up presents go to my parent's house for breakfast. 

I am alone in space watching a Christmas movie. I never got married or had kids. I am scrolling through a magazine and eating room service. I am a strong, independent, and powerful businesswoman. 

I am at my sister's house in Hawaii helping her cook dinner for her family. I am the cool aunt visiting from my job in the circus. 

I will continue to keep my family/ my sister as an essential part of my life. I will balance work and family by visiting my sister regularly. I will train to become the best acrobat I can be by doing intense training with a great coach to get into a good circus. 

My friend Lilly would achieve this goal by going to a reputable clown university to gain the most experience and knowledge in clowning. She would join a circus and work her way up to become the head clown. She would then make sure when her traveling circus went to Hawaii where her sister lives she would stop by and visit.

Billy Bob Joe is a hard-working boy who worked in his family corner shop since he was five years old. Billy Bob joe has always longed for the spotlight of the circus. He worked at the corner shop until he was 14 years old, at this point he had saved enough money to travel to New York City to audition for circus Olay. Billy Bob Joe is self-taught and and a big dreamer. He uses all his saved-up money to audition for the circus and he makes it. 

When I was in 9th grade I broke my leg and needed surgery. When I finally recovered covid hit so I had no lacrosse season. Then Junior year I tore my quad and couldn’t run. My lacrosse team needed a goalie and so I stepped in ( I couldn't play on the field anyway). My coach trained with me all winter so I would be ready for the spring season. All my training paid off I did well as a goalie and even committed to being a goalie at Suny Oswego. This is not a sob story at all everything happened for a reason.

I do completely understand of my story relates to my goal but lacrosse has always been a big part of my life and I currently have an athletic coaching minor. In the future, I hope to be a lacrosse coach. Also, things I live by are hard work pays off and everything happens for a reason. I plan on keeping these thoughts close to my heart in the rest of my life. 

[readermagnifique]

Aunt Josephine is Life Goals.

The sassy old lesbian who comes in, hugs her faves, sorts out the shenanigans of those around her, and leaves again.

Has a big house, amazing world renowned parties and tons of cash.

Occasionally takes baby gay artists under her wing and away from abusive family.

Iconic.

[knoepfchen]

12, 14, 19

Hey you <3

12. favourite character to write about this year

if i go by POV wordcount, i'm sure it's yusuf al-kaysani (or his AU equivalent), but in terms of characters i've discovered i really love writing about or in the POV of, it's nile freeman for sure

14. a fic you didn’t expect to write

all of the ones that happened as a direct result of reading @raedear's tags and getting carried away, which happened no less than three times this year:

a different kind of tension (the fake couples counselling one)

fellows of (in)finite tongue (the language barriers one)

and most recently, i want to wear you sweater (the one where joe accidentally steals nicky's hoodie and booker live tweets everything)

it's a true testament to the brainworms rae is capable of bestowing that all these fics are over 7k and were written in, like, a week respectively

would love to say it's the last time this has happened, but let's not kid ourselves 😅

19. any new fics to start next year

speaking of which: ever since yesterday my brain has not shut up about an identity porn concoction in the form of joe, a dolly alderton style agony aunt who helps people with their relationship questions on the radio despite being a confirmed disaster himself. his favourite caller is a man called N, who seems to face much of the same issues (always feeling like his love is somehow too much) as joe, who he feels increasingly drawn to.

joe's only distraction? the weird radio dj named nicky who has joe's early morning radio slot on the days joe is off, and who seems to have made it his life's goal to infuriate his listeners by pretending to get the most simple facts about classic rock bands wrong, and playing songs based on the "vibe" his callers give off, rather than the songs they actually request. joe calls in a few times, initially because he can't sleep and wants to complain, but all the songs nicky chooses for him are actually... weirdly good. but he's not falling in love with a voice on the radio! that would be absurd, right?

like, even more absurd than the prospect that nicky and N could be the same person, after all...

cue a bunch of near misses and the fact that both of them have been gravitating around the same social circle for months. i haven't got a plot yet beyond this premise and i actually don't know anything about music, but if i'm going to write long fic next, it's gonna be this one. (the title would from regina spektor's on the radio, of course)

(End of Year fanfic asks)

[ainosk8]

EP 8 ADAM WATCH

i cannot believe i am being emotionally ravaged by an anime about skater boys........but here we are! let’s relive the trauma so we’re ready to be ruined again on saturday 

I wanna start with the show’s religious symbolism. I had originally taken the whole Adam/Eve thing to be just part of Adam’s schtick, but with this episode it feels like something the show is trying to lean into thematically. 

So in flashback we see Adam skating dangerously with someone (unnamed). He expresses wanting to escape the real world and go to a world just for the two of them, a Garden of Eden with himself as Adam and this skater as his would-be Eve. Unfortunately, in pursuit of Adam this skater falls and is injured.

This shot even kind of looks like Adam standing alone in a garden. 

From this scene we gather that when Adam says “Eve”, he’s talking about someone who can match his abilities in skating and I guess propel the two of them into a higher plane of existence? Maybe just inhabiting that feeling of skating with someone at his level is what “Eden” means to him. Skating is his escape from the trauma of his actual life and Eden from the bible is a perfect place, without pain. Interestingly, some of the lyrics from the theme song “Paradise” relate to this idea:

“Let’s risk our lives”, “Before we get killed by the world” and “The destination is Zion” in particular stand out to me. Even though we haven’t seen Adam injured yet, he is risking his own life just as much as his partner’s when he pulls the stunts he does. It’s worth the danger if it gets him closer to “Zion”, AKA (i had to google it) “the heavenly city or kingdom of heaven”. Maybe he sincerely has a death wish, but doesn’t want to go alone. Dark!

A big question I had watching this was, if Tadashi is this amazing skater whose skills rival Adam’s, why is he not his Eve? Well, bc in this metaphor, he has been labelled the Snake, or the deceptive serpent that facilitated Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. If Adam blames Tadashi for having skating taken away from him when he was a teenager (since he didn’t intervene in front of Adam’s father), I can see why Adam would view him that way. But Adam didn’t choose this name, Tadashi did.

Tadashi’s goal in entering the tournament is to defeat Adam and force him to quit skating, which would mean giving up on the “Eden” he’s pursued since his teen years. I’m not certain of his motivation here. 

Is it retaliation for asking Tadashi to take the fall for his political career? If that’s what he’s upset about, why not force Adam to take responsibility for his part in the collusion and plead guilty to perjury? Even after this interaction, Adam seems sure that Tadashi will take the heat for him.

It’s clear Tadashi knows that taking skating away from Adam is the thing that will hurt him the most. He wants to hurt him. But he also cares about him, or at least the person he used to be. He gently touches the intertwined hearts at the bottom of the pool he and Adam use to practice skating. It’s probably the same place he first taught Adam to skate.

I love the light behind Tadashi in this flashback. It really makes him look like an angel appearing to baby Adam to give him some reprieve from his hellish existence.

And now he’s going to rip it away from him.

His face here SCREAMS betrayal. Even if Tadashi does accept the perjury charge in Adam’s place, just telling Adam he plans to take skating away from him, the one Good Thing he’s ever had in his life, that Tadashi gave him in the first place...it’s the cruelest thing he could do. Losing his political career would cause trouble for him, but losing skating would leave him with nothing.

It’s possible that Tadashi isn’t being petty, and that he thinks hurting him this way is for Adam’s own good. Which is a pretty upsetting parallel to his aunts’ abuse.

Tying it back to religion, I wonder if there is something about this trio of aunties that is symbolic. The holy trinity comes to mind, as does the Mother, Maiden, Crone Triple Goddess of pagan worship. I’m not enough of a biblical scholar to say for sure, but maybe something about God punishing the beings he created... God let his son die for humanity’s sins...The Flood from Genesis (the police lady does mention the shady diet member’s collusion is related to a dam, and if that wasn’t up to code there could be a flood)..?? idk

If the big honking angel painting is any indication, religion clearly has a place in the Shindo household. Someone who knows more about the bible please weigh in cuz I wanna know 

SPEAKING OF BIBLE

Fun fact: The name of Joe’s Italian restaurant “Sia la luce” google translates to “Let there be light”. Shoutout to the friend I was watching this with for pausing on this frame, or I wouldn’t have noticed it.

This is a reference to God’s creation of Heaven and Earth, but perhaps also symbolic of Joe’s desire to bring Adam back “into the light” and away from his destructive behavior. Cherry seems more spiteful towards Adam than Joe does, but they both seem to want to reach out and snap Adam out of his current mindset rather than just looking to punish/get revenge. There are hurt feelings, sure, but also concern.

“And God saw the light, and it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.” As someone who cares for Adam (or the person he once was), Joe wants to show him right from wrong, show him the error of his ways.

Cherry says this in episode five:

Even though Cherry and Joe were against Adam’s actions, they never wanted to stop being friends with him. When Adam left for America right after high school, they lost their chance to get through to him. They still want mend that relationship, or at least reconcile how it ended seven years later, or else they wouldn’t bother to keep approaching him. 

Based on the title for the next ep “We Were Special Back Then” I’m betting we’ll see even more of their perspective this weekend. 

I hope Cherry and Joe will be able to help him 🥺 It’s hard for me to imagine a happy ending for my guy at this point, but......I continue to hope 

[inkandpen22]

Shared Minds and Shared Souls (2/?)

Pairing: Spike x Female!Reader

Warnings: Angst, swearing, fighting, mentions of violence

Word Count: ~2.6k

Part Summary: Y/N is starting to get used to her role in the Summers’ house and with the Scoobies in the days following her arrival in Sunnydale. Much to her surprise, she enjoys predictability of her new routine and the normalcy of it. That is until a troublesome figure in Sunnydale makes his acquaintance and knocks Y/N through an unforeseen loop.

Masterlist

Aunt Joyce being surprised to see me is an understatement. It took Buffy and I both pressing her back down on the hospital bed to keep her from leaping up. Then, she thanked me up and down for coming. Which lead to her insisting she’s fine. She’s been covering at the hospital the last few days, but now she’s finally home. Her surgery went well, thank God! With everything going on, Joyce needs to be well. I don’t think Buffy could take another blow and poor Dawnie needs her mom. I know what it’s like to lose a mother, not fun. It’s Buffy and I’s goal to keep life as normal as possible for Dawn. The routine is I drop Dawnie off at school while Buffy plays Slayer. Then, I come back here and take care of Joyce. From there, I pick up Dawnie and prep dinner. In truth, I’m liking the predictable schedule. It’s odd, I thought I’d hate it here. I’ve never been the sort for the mundane lifestyle, but I haven’t been around family in years and it’s nice. 

While I prepare lunch for Joyce, I listen to the rock station through the boombox they keep on the counter. The house has been rather quiet since Buffy and the other Scoobies have been out doing researching Glory. Giles’s Magic-Box shop is their headquarters. Well, here and there, sort of double at meeting spots. Whenever the house is this quiet, I have to have music or the tv playing in the background. Otherwise, everything gets all noisy. Sunnydale has so much pent up energy, both good and evil, that it messes with my head. All I hear are the voices in the silence, so many voices that it starts to sound like static. I have mentioned this Buffy, I wouldn’t want to stress her anymore. 

My peace is abruptly disturbed as the kitchen door swings open and someone flies in hiding under a blanket. I jump, dropping my knife on Joyce’s sandwich. Smoke radiates from the figure like they’re a walking fire pit. Tilting my head, I watch in awe as a bleached haired man struggles to shut the door, knocking around the blinds. Who the hell is he? He dramatically flails his arms around to get the blanket off with a huff. Instantly, I see the green aura glowing around him. His eyes meet mine with a tilt of the head like a confused puppy dog, granted I did it too. 

“Who in the bloody hell are you?” He curses sassily. 

His accent is enough information to tell me who he is, Spike. So, this is the pain in the ass, psychotic vampy who is tangled up in a love-hate relationship with my cousin. She’s all caught up on Riley, Mr. G.I. Joe, when she has this dude pining after her? Boy, Buffy needs my guidance in more than one department. 

“Good afternoon to you too, Spike,” I greet him by name, much to his surprise.

Cautiously, he moves into the kitchen as I continue about my business. “How do you know my name? Where’s Buffy?” He asks, peaking around the house for her. 

“Don’t worry,” I assure him calmly. “Army Barbie is with her team of misfit toys working on Glory stuff.” 

Before I have the chance to blink, Spike is across the room has me pinned against the fridge. His face scrunched and his fangs daunting. While gripping my neck until I can hardly breathe, he leans forward and presses his body to mine to keep in place. I struggle in his grip, clawing as his hands. “You’re Glory, aren’t you?! Hm?! Messing with me?! What did you do to Buffy?!” He shouts. 

“Spike,” I choke. “You have to-” I gasp for air as he squeezes tighter. 

As a psychic, every time I have skin to skin contact with someone I can enter their mind and memories. It’s like watching a montage of someone’s entire existence. The recipient relives the memories too at the same pace as me. This allows them to kick me out if they so wish, all they have to do is realize what’s going on. However, like being in a dream, it’s rare that they do. I have little control when it comes to entering, it’s like falling. If I wish to leave, it takes a kick, like waking up from a dream. I have to be terrified by a memory or experience immense pain, those are the usual triggers. 

The moment Spike touched me, he opened the gate for me to see, feel, and hear everything he ever has in the form of visions. I can feel my mind slipping and images begin to flash before my eyes like bursts of light. Then, my vision goes black... 

A woman in 19th century clothing stands before with big eyes and brown hair. She’s so beautiful.... Suddenly, a pain pierces my neck.

Next thing I know, I’m sat on an old blood soaked sofa with a dead woman in my lap, bleeding from the neck. I feel hungry for more. 

“My wicked, wicked, Willy,” Dru purrs, peering up at me from her position on the floor with longing eyes. I shove the body off of me and crawl to her. God, I love her. 

I jump through time, landing in the middle of a fight with a young Chinese woman who I recognize as the Slayer. I manage to grab her and bite her viciously. She mutters something in Chinese to me. 

“Sorry Love, I don’t speak Chinese,” I state, tossing her to the side. 

Then, on a subway trained with a later slayer. I’m on top of her, gripping her neck as I twist it, killing her. For good measure, I steal her leather coat. I’m quite fond of it. 

I hover over the most recent Slayer, and perhaps the most annoying one, Buffy Summers. I raise the plank of wood in my hands to kill her. Suddenly, I’m hit over the head and fall to the floor. 

With a jolt, I’m back in the present moment. “Jesus and Mary!” I yelp, the back of my head throbbing. What the hell did Joyce wack me with? Or should I say Spike. 

The vampire stands before me wide-eyed, confused by what just happened. Having had enough reminiscing, I press my hands around his that grip my neck and send a powerful shock, causing him to drop me to the floor. I cough as I catch my breath. God, I can see why Buffy doesn’t like him! Spike recovers quickly and picks me up by my hair. I scream at the surge of pain and dig my nails in his hands. Soon, I’m against the wall and I bump my head. 

“Where are they?!” He barks in my face. “Tell me or I’ll kill you!” 

“If I were Glory and I had taken Buffy, how would killing me help you find her?” I question his logic amongst the fighting. For being over a hundred years old, he’s not exactly wise. 

Spike growls, not finding humor in my mockery. I’m not exactly threatened by the big-bad-bleach-crazy ole chap with the winkley-vampy face. I could have him on his undead ass in two seconds if I wanted. 

“Spike!” Joyce’s voice interrupts our altercation. Both of us turn our attention to the archway to see my aunt standing there in horror. She wraps her robe around herself tightly. “Let Y/N down! She’s my niece!” 

“Oh bollocks!” Spike swears, releasing me instantly. 

I fall to the floor on my knees again. Well, this fun- what’s wrong with people in this town?! 

“I… uh…” Spike stumbles over his words as he helps me up by the bicep. He brushes down my shirt and hair nervously. “Sorry about that. I thought-” 

“You thought I was Glory,” I finish for him, slapping his hands off of me. 

“Are you okay, Y/N?!” Joyce checks worriedly, staying cautiously in the archway between here and the living room. 

I hum, reaching up and running my fingers through the back of my head for any bumps or bleeding. Whatever she hit Spike with it fucking hurt! 

“Did I hurt you?” Spike asks, sounding genuinely concerned. 

“Not really,” I admit quietly and look to my aunt who’s the real reason my head is pounding. “If you ever hearing banging like that, never come downstairs! You hide!” I command of her. “Even if it did sound like I was getting murdered,” I grumble, glaring at Spike. 

“Well, as long as you’re alright. I’ll head back up,” she complies quietly. “But only if you’re sure!” She checks. 

“I’m fine, really!” I try to ease her nerves. It’s not good for her to worry. I shove Spike out of the way to approach her. “I’ll bring your food up soon. I might have to remake it,” I tell her as I spot her sandwich on the floor behind Spike. 

“You don’t have to do that,” she insists. 

“It’s okay! If you can wait one moment, I’ll just use some magic,” I announce, holding out my hand toward the counter. I conjure up a turkey sandwich just like I created before. I could’ve whipped one up this way earlier, but I was enjoying the task. “There you go!” I hand the plate over to my aunt. 

Spike blinks rapidly, stepping forward to stand beside my aunt. He stares at me in astonishment, “you’re a witch?!” 

“No, that shock you felt earlier was all in your head,” I sass, looking at him like an idiot. 

“You didn’t tell me there were witches in your family,” he says to Joyce, sounding offended. 

“We didn’t know ourselves until Y/N arrived a few days ago. She’s here to help out until I’m all better and… well…” Joyce shifts on her feet uncomfortably. “That Glory girl is gone.”

On that note, Joyce thanks me one last time and heads back upstairs. I relax once I hear her shuffling upstairs in her room. Taking a scan around the kitchen, there are broken plates and food scattered across the floor. I was so far into Spike’s head that I missed the reality and all the ruckus. Of course, I felt his hands around my neck, but my vision was impaired with his memories. 

“Let me clean up,” Spike requests, already squatting to pick up the bits of broken porcelain on the tile. 

“No need,” I state with a flick of the wrist. Within seconds, all the broken plates and scattered food is gone. The boombox that we’d knocked on the floor and caused to skip is now all fixed neatly on the counter. Soon, Nirvana is coming out of it without a problem. 

Spike rises from his position quietly starring at the perfectly spotless kitchen. I move around him toward the living room, already thinking of the next item on my agenda. I still have a few loads of laundry to go through and there’s cleaning that needs to be done. If I set those going with some magic before I head out everything will be done before Buffy’s birthday party tonight. Except, one issue, in this town, I don’t feel comfortable dividing up my power in case of an emergency. I could be attacked on the way to Dawnie’s school with the track record of this town. Plus, I’m Joyce’s sole bodyguard during the day, I need all my energy. 

“Hey wait,” Spike calls as he jogs to block my path. He holds up his hands as if that’s going to keeping me from walking away.

 With raised brows, I wait for the important reason he must have to be interrupting my to-do list. 

Wait... ew, I hate that! I have a to-do list! What am I, a 1950’s housewife? 

“Are you honestly Buffy and Dawn’s cousin?” He asks, still not convinced that it’s possible for the Summers’ to have family other than each other. 

“No,” I answer calmly, causing him to perk up. “I’m really Dolly Parton in a disguise!” He rolls his eyes, muttering curses under his breath. “You know, the rumor is the blonde hair is a wig,” I ramble to add more spice to the sarcasm. “And she just walks around Tennessee without anyone noticing her!” 

“Yep, you’re definitely related,” he determines unenthused, stepping aside. 

“I’m glad I’ve convinced you. Now if you don’t mind, I have stuff I need to do!” I step around him to head out and pick up Dawn. 

“I’m coming too,” he declares, following on my heels. 

I snicker, stopping in my tracks. “You’re coming with me to pick up Dawn from school? In the daylight... ” I add. 

“Yeah uh… just meet me at the crypt,” he decides, already heading back to the kitchen. 

“Wait, what?” I blurt out as I grab his wrist. “Why would I do that?” 

He glances over his shoulder, “I came to show Buffy something, but you’ll do I guess.” 

“I’m not Buffy though, I’m no Slayer,” I laugh lightly. “If it’s important I’d show it to her.” 

“You’re a witch, aren’t you?” He asks the obvious. 

“Well yeah,” I shrug. 

“Can you fight?” He continues, clearly leading somewhere. 

I stutter, “I mean I know spells and-” 

“Then you’ll do,” he declares. “We can tell Buffy about it later,” he adds, walking away. 

Buffy is made for this, literally! Unsure of myself, I shake my head. “Spike, I-” 

The vampire rolls his head back with a huff of annoyance. “All you God-forsaken women!” He groans under his breath. “I swear, one of these days I’m just going to lose my patience and kill all of you,” he sasses, facing me. “Except Joyce... and maybe Nibblet,” he determines as if that’s generous of him. “But definitely Harmony and that bloody annoying Cordelia if she ever comes back from LA!” He points at me sharply. “And you missy are testing me too!” 

Um, excuse him! He didn’t not just say that to me! “Oh buddy, you’re testing me!” I laugh mockingly. Little vampy here has another thing coming if he thinks he can threaten me. 

Spike chuckles wickedly and his face changes back to vampy style. He growls to reveal his fangs. I step back cautiously. I didn’t mean for him to take me literally! Abruptly, he comes charging at me. Oh great, not again!

_____________________________________________

Masterlist

Tags: @it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream 

[anotheronechicagobog]

My One Chicago Headcannons Part 1

Cornelius Rhodes either killed his wife or orchestrated it somehow, and Connor found out or saw and knows his dad covered it up and he can't do anything about it

Connor gives 90% ofhis income away to charity cause after he was exposed to the injustices of the world he felt like he really had to do something and is well aware that money actually does have a lot of effect on social justice and change

Helen Manning (Natalie's MIL) showed up to her son's wedding in a white dress and had some weird attachment to her son

Natalie is fluent in Italian and has been teaching Owen

Maggie was blocked from her family group chat after she sent her 1,000 meme and her aunts and uncles got tired of feeling old so her cousins and nieces and nephews created a group chat called Maggie’s memes cause they think she’s hilarious

Will Halstead violated people's DNRs because he wasn't there for his mother when she was sick/dying and he feels really guilty and needs therapy

Sharon loves heavy metal, she listen to one song like 30 years ago by accident and fell in love with the genre and when Maggie one day walks in and sees her bobbing along to Black Sabbath she looks really surprised but then Sharon shrugs, pauses the music, and asks whats up, and Maggie just kinda tucks the info away and is just happy that she knows Sharon even better now

Dr. Charles has a therapist, but isn't completely honest with her I don't think because he did some seriously bad shit to Reese that was obviously connected to his failures as a father to his daughters

Reese would have been better suited in literally any other practice of medicine but psychiatry but she made a rash decision after a bad day, encouraged by her manipulative bf, and just accepted psychiatry cause it was the best thing that came along after she dropped pathology

Joey was a POS who purposefully dated med students cause they were so naive

April Sexton wanted to be a doctor but was bullied into being a nurse by her family because they thought that her make brother deserved a better job than her because of their genders

April is so holier than thou because she found some power in social standing at her job and holds onto it for dear life to deal with the failure of her personal goals

Kevin gets invited to all of Kim's family functions (so did his siblings when they lived with him) and the entire family has basically adopted him as an older brother

Kim and Adam (separately) mail presents to Vinessa and Jordan for their bdays and holidays

Jay was totally a mommas boy and was taught to cook and bake by her (Will burns water somehow and it's shocking that he's a functional adult) he also knows how to sew and knit and made baby blankets for Owen Manning when he was born, Louie when Gabby started fostering him, Terrance Boden when he was born, and Makayla when Kim decided to foster her

Hailey can also cook and bake but it's almost strictly Greek food and the basics (she tried making bouef bourguignon once and it tasted like pigeon farts, don't ask) she;s also an amazing singer and Jay swears that she’s part siren

Platt has a vacation house in Southern France that she tells no one about, but it’s where she and Mouch went for their honeymoon, and she let’s the Hermann’s and Boden’s use it for vacations every once in a while but they’re sworn to secrecy

Voight is bi and secretly had a crush on Al almost the entire time they knew each other and he’s been taking care of Michelle since he died and Olivia (his DIL) got remarried and he hates her new husband but won’t say anything cause he knows it’s just because Justin’s dead

Voight likes some people in the world, like Platt and intelligence, but Daniel (his grandson) is the only person he actually loves and lives for at this point (if Olivia asked him to retire and move close to them for Daniel he would at the drop of a hat but he knows she wants space after what happened to Justin)

Severide’s favourite drinks are the fancy fruity ones but doesn’t drink them cause he doesn’t want to get teased about it (one of the only things Benny instilled in him, internalized toxic masculinity) so Sylvie orders them and gives them to him sometimes as a sign of friendship after he divorced the blonde he married in Vegas cause she didn’t go with him

Matt was in the foster system after his mom shot his dad not becasue he didn’t have any other family, but because no one in his family wanted him, so he actually has a massive family with lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins that he hasn’t seen since he was fifteen

Matt keeps in contact with Louie and his dad (Gabby just couldn’t and everyone understood) and gets invited over for Sunday dinner sometimes, and Louie’s grandma makes him call her ‘mom’ and treats him like a son and Matt is so grateful

Stella LOVES cars, she’s super into them and Top Gear is one of her all time favourite shows

Sylvie would be okay with getting pregnant and having a biological child but she really wants to foster and adopt kids cause even though she was six she remembers just how bad the foster system was

Sylvie has a green thumb and knows carpentry cause her grandparents taught her

Mackey loves country music and knows how to play guitar cause she likes to play along

Joe is really good at painting, some of Chloe’s favs are his acrylics but he prefers watercolours

Mouch actually became fluent in Japanese and does part-time work as a translator for the CPD

Hermann hates silence. He works in a firehouse and then goes home to a house filled with his wife and five kids, if he ever actually gets a moment of peace and quiet he blasts music, sometimes he dances too and it turns into dance parties whenever his kids catch him

Boden carves and paints wooden birds after his dad died and asked Casey to make a mobile for Terrance out of the ones he’d made and makes a special carving for everyone he loves on their birthday they’re Donna’s favourite gifts and she literally has a specific shelf for them

Gallo only likes cheese on pizza and quesadillas and the real reason he and Violet broke up was because cheese was her favourite food and she’d put it on everything (even though he gave an impromptu marriage proposal after the green eyed monster made an appearnce, she actually liked him and wanted to work on the relationship after she obviously said no, but cheese was a deal breaker for him)

Ritter is 100% a Dog Dad, Tuesday has five different beds, far too many toys to count, and he buys her gourmet dog food and treats, but it;s okay becasue Eric spoils her too

[thejudgingtrash]

[ID: A dark camping side with a fire pit in the foreground. A white frame highlights the logs and the fire. Orange sparks ascend into the sky. Underneath the white frame stands the title ‘A Warm Place at the Fire’. End of ID.]

As promised, @goldendaysareahead​ a little fanfic about my Camp Hestia AU!

I hope you enjoy it and thank you for @the-real-annabeth-chase​ for being yet again an amazing beta!

A Warm Place at the Fire (3,8k) 

“There! We’ve almost made it!” yelled Bode. His hooves would have brought him much faster near his goal if it weren’t for the mortal legs next to him that trampled to keep up with his speed. Thunder crackled in the distance which made Bode’s brown skin glow in an unusual pale blue.

The satyr looked over his shoulder. His enhanced hearing made him filter out the noise much better. It also helped him focus on the danger behind him. The growls, the hissing and the mass that the animal carried as it surged ahead to kill its prey. “Don’t look behind you!” panted Bode as his friend was about to turn his head.

“Are you kidding me?” coughed the young boy. His legs were burning, and his lungs felt like they were set on fire. “Look who’s talking!”

“Parker, now’s not the time!”

Thunder.

Everything today fell apart. Everything today was nothing but a major disaster. Everything… was simply strange. Parker was used to strange things. He had a vivid fantasy as a kid and always talked about the plants singing for him before he started elementary school. But today really took the cake.

It started with Parker failing three reports at school and slowly peaked to Parker’s father getting robbed in his shop, to said father calling Bode to tell him to put Parker far away in a summer camp for gifted kids out of all places and now after running through the busy streets of New York City, a hell of a ride in a taxi cab that three blind ladies who fought over one single eyeball drove, some weird animal hybrid had sensed them and decided to hunt them the minute they arrived in Long Island.

Oh, and Bode Underwood, Parker’s newfound best friend and neighbor who had just transferred to his middle school, was apparently a satyr with the hairiest goat legs Parker had ever seen and he even had tiny horns hidden in his tight black curls.

The earth shook. It was an earthquake. It had to be an earthquake. But the way the ruptures of the earth had shifted it was clear that it could not be an earthquake. The massive body of an animal still wanted its prey. Tearing two children apart was what he desired.

“There! We’ve almost made it, hold on, Parker!” hissed Bode.

Parker was trying to not land on his face as the path became muddier. It had rained the previous days in New York. “Look! The sign!”

Parker’s eyes followed Bode’s arm. It was true. Deep into the forest there was an archway. It was made out of marble and a wooden sign said New Athens. Behind the archway were… buildings? Houses? Didn’t Parker’s dad tell him that he would be brought into a summer camp? As the two boys came closer Parker could even read the small insignia underneath: formerly known as Camp Half-Blood.

A roar made both nearly jump. The animal. The monster. It also hissed?

Parker jumped over a fallen tree branch and Bode bleated. Oh, he’s really a goat, Parker thought.

A roar. Parker felt the heat in his back. Was he imagining acid tearing his jeans jacket apart or was it truly happening? He had no time to care about it.

The two boys nearly reached the archway. “JUMP!” yelled Bode and Parker did. The both of them slid through the archway and were greeted with silence. Parker vowed to himself to never slide on mud again. The taste of grass and dirt was truly displeasing. No wind was howling and only the echoing songs of the cicadas kept them company.

This so-called camp looked strange. It was a clash of cultures. It was a fight between new and old. To Parkers right it did look like the old grounds of a camp. They looked like they had sporting events, a dinner area and a large area for all kinds of other activities. It would have been fairly normal if it weren’t for deadly ancient weapons lying around in front of a cabin and the dozens of cabins themselves. Each cabin had a different character to it as if they were dedicated to someone. They radiated a strange force. Parker instinctively knew that it was old and ancient, that it was powerful.

The left of the campgrounds were the polar opposite. It wasn’t just buildings and houses. It was an entire city. It was a huge construction side with many finished and unfinished buildings. A city so big yet so hidden deep in the woods of Long Island. The architecture was astounding, and the design was precise and heavily inspired by the world of Ancient Greece.

Was that a CVS out of all things placed into something that looked like the pantheon? And it had a Trader Joe’s next to it in something that looked like another temple? An entire Ancient Greek Taco Bell with a crunch wrap supreme advertisement that had a lightning bolt pressed into its side?! And in the middle of the city was an old market place like in Hollywood movies?

What’s going on? asked Parker himself.

A big blue house seemed to draw the line between old and new. The old ways and the new life. The yesterday and the new beginning at dawn. The old life that Parker had and the new one that rose like a phoenix from its ashes.

Yes, Bode and he made it. The boys had truly made it. They were alive and safe! For now. They gave each other a high five as they rested on the ground and thanked the shining stars above them for their guidance.

A clash disrupted their celebratory mood. The beast. Parker finally saw it in its entire glory. The head of a lion. The back of a reptile? Was that a dragon? And its tale was a snake out of all things?

Fearsome snarls and growls were drowned out behind the invisible layer that prevented the beast from entering campgrounds. The piercing yellow eyes shifted and tried to find the mortal flesh it desired only to be disappointed. The barrier was too strong to be penetrated. The massive beast turned around and was lost from Parker’s sight as it became one with the forest’s darkness. Parker’s adrenaline rush slowly faded away and his heart rate returned to normal.

What he felt rushing over him was a wave of fatigue. He felt the aching pain of his burning lungs that demanded more oxygen, the pain in his bones and muscles that wanted some rest. The young boy sank into the soft grass and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Bode only patted his shoulder as he sat down next to him. The satyr was tired but not as exhausted as the camp’s newest family member.

“You’ve made it,” Bode whispered.

“You’ve made it here, safely! Everything will be alright once the moon chariot sets and the one of the sun rises, we’ll take the entire day to truly process what happens and make a plan about what your father had said, alright?” Parker was too tired to realize the true meanings behind Bode’s words. He only mumbled a “yeah,” and tried to breathe with a steady rhythm.

“Hey Parker,” Bode started, “You just survived the chimera which is something I’m incredibly thankful as that beast has killed other kids prior.”

Chimera? For some odd reason that weird Hercules movie from Disney came to Parker’s mind. “It did what now?”

Bode raised his hands in defense. “Woah hold your horses! No one was seriously injured – this time.” he said.

“What’s important is that you’ll catch your breath and meet the new camp director. Right there at the fireplace.” Bode pointed into the distance and Parker’s gaze followed. “I know all of this is new and weird to you, especially since this place isn’t the most organized, but trust me.”

It was true what Bode said. The juxtaposition between the two worlds that clashed at Camp Half-Blood were simply weird to Parker’s unaccustomed eyes. But there! At the old camp site, right at the edge of old and new, there she was. A woman poking a log with what looked like a golden hook. She wore a brown gown and held a hand to the flames. The flames rose and Parker was worried that the strange lady might have singed her eyebrows accidentally. But no. It was the opposite. It was as if the fire were dancing for her. As if it’s flaring was a beautiful melody for her eyes and only her eyes.

The orange and yellow and golden streaks of the flames were hypnotizing. Parker didn’t even realize how he was already standing up on his two feet and walking towards the pit. Bode followed him. The pit looked small in the distance but only enlarged close up. Parker didn’t feel fear – it was the polar opposite. He felt as calm as he had never been before. The young boy stopped.

“Parker Mbata,” the woman smiled and turned her head to him. The reflection of the flames danced in her eyes and Parker knew that the orange highlighted his beautiful black skin. Beautiful dark skin that she had as well.

“How do you know my name?” he asked her and raised an eyebrow. His voice cracked; he didn’t want to appear impolite as that was what most people thought wrongfully about him. The woman only smiled and pointed to a seat next to her. She was middle-aged and her black braids would probably reach her knees if she had been standing upright. She was pretty. A round face that loved to smile. It wasn’t the movie star look, but she had the calm and grace of someone who had seen much of the world and was able to see the wonderful side of things.

For Parker, she had the aura of a friendly aunt that would help out with homework, try to play on a console with you and would bake here and there from time to time with you. Rib crushing hugs, hands that drove through hair, a pat on the shoulder that said: “No matter how far you’ll go, remember that I’ll always be proud of you.”

If it hadn’t been merely the surface level of her being. She was no ordinary woman like his math teacher – of that Parker was certain. Her eyes. The gleam of the orange nourished her skin and highlighted her beauty. The warmth in her eyes radiated the power of a thousand hugs.

She reeked of power that should never be underestimated.

“I know the names of all new campers,” she simply answered with an honest smile on her face.

“Thank you, Bode.” The woman said and shifted her gaze to the young satyr next to him. Parker could have sworn that he saw his best friend blush at the compliment. That or it was a simple illusion from the fire. “You may now go to your parents’ house. I’m sure Juniper is still waiting on the porch, and Grover will be over the moon with your first search that was a successful one at that.”

The corner of Bode’s mouth threatened to tear his face apart from grinning so big. “See you tomorrow, Parker!” he said before he bowed to the weird lady.

Parker waved goodbye and saw how lights of lanterns turned on in the modern part of the camp as Bode crossed the streets. They turned off again automatically as he turned to the left.

“You may call me Hestia. I’m the new camp director of Camp Half-Blood.”

“Hestia,” Parker repeated, and he saw how she nodded.

“This is a camp for very special people,” Hestia continued and poked the fire. A flame erupted and rose to the sky. “You are safe in here. No monsters or other meddlers will interfere within camp boarders or in the wider city of New Athens. You will train like other half-bloods, find your strength and weaknesses so that you may survive into adulthood and now how to protect yourself and those that you love.”

Half-blood? Monsters? Survive into adulthood? The questions stood bright on Parker’s face as his dark brown eyes widened.

Hestia laughed and patted his back. The warm feeling of being comforted flooded Parker’s body.

“You look an awful lot like my sister,” Hestia said after a few seconds of comfortable silence.

“People just say that I look like my dad only with a better fade on the sides of my head,” Parker denied. “Also, how can I look like your sister?”

Hestia grinned yet again and shook her head. The golden jewelry on her braids clanged. “That is not what I mean, Parker,” Hestia stated.

“Her personality. Her abilities. Her capabilities. All of that and more I see in you. After all, she is your mother.”

Parker’s jaw dropped. Hestia was actually his aunt? She knew his mother? How?! His father had always told him that his mother was a busy person and big in the botanic scene, chasing new discovery after new discovery and that that was the reason why she was never around. Also, Parker had the suspicion that she had fled the country so that she didn’t have to pay child support.

“But I see more in you. Further down your line.” Hestia placed her index finger underneath his chin and lifted it up slightly.

“I can see Morpheus as your great-grandfather. I can see Hermes even further down there.”

“Hermes like the Greek god?”

“Yes, my nephew is a funny albeit sometimes exhausting one.”

“So you want to say that I’m a descendant of Greek gods?”

Hestia nodded. “That I do.”

Parker coughed. Hestia was worried. She waved her hand in the air and Parker had to suppress the scream that was bubbling inside of him as a bottle with a clear liquid appeared. Now he definitely believed her. It wasn’t for the fact that a terrible monster had hunted him for nearly two hours earlier.

“Here drink this slowly. Do not haste, I’d rather not clean up the burnt remains of my newest nephew,” she winked. Parker took the bottle and a first sip.

“Nectar. The drink of the gods. It heals you demigods but too much and it’ll set you on fire.”

The drink tasted like good times. Like the fondest memories that had been deeply buried inside of Parker. The fudgy chocolate brownies with a hint of peanut butter that his father used to make for him whenever he had a good mood. And now his father had sent him away.

The disappointment hit Parker harder than the strenuous activity that had been fleeing the chimera earlier. Hestia sensed his mood and decided to distract him.

“Normally I start camp tours and initiations in the mornings, but I see that I should start out early. You aren’t the only new camper but who would mind a little head start?”, she winked again. “Let me do it differently as well. We used to show a terrible introduction movie around to introduce you into the new world but the reception has been mostly negative.”

Okay thought Parker and nodded slowly.

“How do you feel about your classmates? The Jackson twins?”

Parker narrowed his eyebrows. The twins were weird in a way that most twins were. They were definitely the sort of twins that could read each other’s minds and answer for one another if it weren’t for the fact that they seemed to annoy each other. Apart from that, they were also very friendly and sat down at lunch with him at school despite their constant bickering going on Parker’s nerves.

Ari was the more out-going and bold one and her twin Theo was quieter and more reserved. And he wore glasses that he always readjusted. Parker was definitely not fond of him. No, he was absolutely not. And the swoon in the pit of his stomach that he felt was something he would ignore for the time being.

The more important question: what did the twins have to do with all of this? Hestia grinned as if she had read all of his thoughts and emotions. “As much as I adore Ariadne and Theodoros, we need to begin a generation earlier with their parents. I have much to thank them for.”

Hestia’s immortal memory brought her pictures back that happened decades ago. As her brother threatened to smite Perseus Jackson for daring to stand up to him and ask him for another wish instead of the gift of immortality.

“From now on, I want you to properly recognize the children of the gods. All the children . . . of all the gods,” young Perseus Jackson wished. “I want you to promise to claim your children—all your demigod children—by the time they turn thirteen. They won't be left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters. I want them claimed and brought to camp so they can be trained right and survive.”

Oh, how her youngest brother had been furious. “And the minor gods,” Perseus exclaimed. “Nemesis, Hecate, Morpheus, Janus, Hebe—they all deserve a general amnesty and a place at Camp Half-Blood. Their children shouldn't be ignored. Calypso and the other peaceful Titan-kind should be pardoned too. And Hades as well. As for Hestia and him, I have another wish for them. Give them their seats in the Olympian council back.”

That demand made the eyebrows of Poseidon and Athena rise as Zeus’ mouth grew into an even thinner line.

And then Perseus Jackson had turned around to her and had given her the biggest gift she had ever received in her immortal life. “And aunt Hestia, you are the heart and soul of Mount Olympus. You are the guidance and comfort we seek, the hope that remains in our very core. With your permission—the permission from all gods—I’d ask Hestia if she would like to lead Camp Half-Blood as a new co-camp director alongside Chiron and Dionysus until he is done with his punishment?”

Then Hestia did only two things. Hug the savior of Olympus and accept his gracious gift to her as Zeus was legally bound to make his nephews wishes come true.

“Mr. Jackson did all of these things when he was a teenager? With his—uhhh—future wife? And Bode’s dad?” The tales of him having that much influence seemed too great and big and so… unrealistic? Parker couldn’t believe that Percy Jackson was that sort of man. He was a pastry baker and started crying whenever his wife butchered the name of one of his fancy creations according to Ari. That and he was supposedly very busy with his bakery Blue Jackson’s in Downtown Manhattan and another subsidiary in Los Angeles. And that person persuaded Olympian gods as a teenager? Saved the world as a child?

“I mean Mr. Jackson is just a baker,” Parker shrugged. “And Mrs. Chase is this crazy busy architect that also plays mom taxi somehow and drives her kids around while she’s running from meeting to meeting?” At least that was what Theo had texted him ages ago.

Hestia pointed to the beautiful city of New Athens. Not the majestic buildings that stood proudly there surrounding the market place but beyond that where the façade began to crack as the largest construction side he had ever seen. “Yes, Annabeth is incredibly busy with her occupation. As it was she that bore the grounds of New Athens as a safe haven for your kind. Do you see that house on the hill?”

It was pompous, enormous and combined the modern and ancient style beautifully. A light on the second floor was on. “The residence of the Jackson-Chase’s.”

Parker’s jaw dropped. These people must have been filthy rich. No wonder that Mr. Jackson ordered flower arrangements on the regular from his dad. Those pieces were expensive. Parker’s eyes shifted slightly to the left. A few feet away was a Blue Jackson’s bakery right next to the house. Easy commute for Mr. Jackson.

“The illuminated room is Annabeth’s office. It seems like she is still working on her designs.”

The light was suddenly switched off. “Oh!” Hestia sounded surprised. “It looks like Perseus was for once successful in telling his wife she ought to sleep. Oh well.”

Parker snickered.

“After all it is way past two in the morning. You should also rest so soon.”

But Parker didn’t want to. He was wrapped up in the tales that Hestia told him. The middle schooler reassured Hestia that he was yet not entirely worn out. The goddess sighed like a tired mother.

“And it was she, Annabeth, that restored the honor of the gods and built a cabin for every one of us gods—even the ones without half-bloods—so that we have places for our children, visitors and prayers. Until you are claimed, you will stay at Cabin Zero—my cabin,” Hestia smiled.

“We all start at Zero. We all start from nothing only to learn and to grow into something. You will find new friends, a new life, a new home. Just like your parents intended and. I am sure that Mr. Mbata will arrive soon safely at camp. I have given him instructions to hide in a secret place due to the monsters starting to sense you.”

That made Parker smile and relief spread throughout him. He would be reunited with his father very soon.

“You remind me very much of Perseus Jackson, Parker Mbata. Since the introduction movie left a sour taste in many campers and inhabitants of New Athens and you do not appear to be so sleepy, let me retell the tale of Perseus Jackson from the beginning. The most famous demigod of them all. Greater than any other hero the Greek pantheon had ever seen.”

The flames seemed to dance around goddess and demigod. “He was just like you. Small, a little bit on the scrawny side…”

Parker frowned a little bit, but Hestia giggled at her backhanded compliment.

“A half-blood. A child of man and god… Perseus gets quite frequently asked to retell his story. At first, he did so begrudgingly. He wrote his memories down. For his and anyone else’s sake. Had an entire folder with papers in his hand as he sat down. But now he grew confident and into an incredible speaker. He speaks from his heart and not from paper.”

Hestia inhaled sharply. The eldest child of Kronos turned her face to the red of the flames to recount the events that happened nearly twenty years ago.

“Perseus always starts his stories with ‘look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood’…”

The End

I’m not really an OC person but I hope you enjoyed this little thought experiment regardless ;>

If anyone is interested in my other fanfics, I can offer you How Could You (Percabeth, sad, finished) and The Fool (Percabeth, mystery, on-going) :3

[oh-theres-a-woman]

Flowers in a Peaked Cap; Part One

A/N: Heres to attempt two at writing this author’s note… Let’s just say, I haven’t perfected the art of saving drafts. Note to self to actually find out how to make the draft before losing three solid paragraphs of rambling about the story… Sophie Points; Nil. Laptop/Internet Points; One. Welp, honestly internet and laptop have won a hell of a lot more than that. Just don’t remember how many times I’ve lost work because of not quite understanding how to post on here…. Safe to say I’m still a noob. 

Any hoot! Enough rambling about that stuff. 

After posting the first piece to this story; in the very very early hours of this morning. I couldn’t help but feel the massive urge to continue and work on the more of Tillie’s little adventure. It made me want to think about her as a person outside the relatives that we already know. What this girl’s goals are and ambitions. Unlike the rest of her family, I think she has a relatable amount of vulnerability and anxieties that are more from society’s working in the 1920s compared to her brothers; Arthur, Thomas and John that all suffer war-related mental illness and scars.   

Actively she’s a romantic escapist that wants to make her brothers and aunt proud. Making a name for herself in the means of writing and exploring the tales that are brewed from the memories of old days. 

In the progression of this story, I want to be able to explore the growth in Tillie as a young woman. The stepping out of her brothers’ shadows and coming into her own. Growing into a more confident young woman that could be from meeting new people like in this chapter and moving away from her fears. 

I do see romance in this story, something like and full of all the trend first experience one faces at one stage or another. In terms of smut, I’d think it’s lighter and would be something that is worked towards. Tillie to me doesn’t seem rather lust-driven. So, it’ll happen if it does, and if not; its simply because Tillie Shelby isn’t interested in that sort of thing. 

Important note; I’ll be working on organising the Taglist a little more throughout my next few posts. Please notify me if you’re interested in anything specifically and want tags there or if you mind just being on the general tag list and included in every story I post. Thank you!!!  

Requested By; @csigeoblue​

Parts; [ Prologue ] 

Taglist; @zodiyack​, @itsfrancisneptun​, @amys-small-world​, @fandom-fucking-shit​, @hesagod-notyet​, @hinagiku0​, @dylanlover24​, @amirahiddleston​, @a-dorky-book-keeper​, @theamuz​, @csigeoblue​, @smallheathgangsters​, @beautycinders 

Word Count; 1400

Watery Lane wasn’t the play that supported the wild fantasy’s of Tillie Shelby, but the little bookshop that was filled with many hopefuls or lads that were born a little more well off collectively grouped together. Reading the stories they wrote. This gathering was apparently one that caught the attention of the paper since the known publishers and well-off lads from another book club around England had found themselves doing a sort of travel for their source material. 

Since the profile of this club of prolific writers had taken interest in the area of Small Heath and its inhabitants. Inviting upstart writers or aspiring tellers to come and meet them. So, onward the youngest Shelby strolled until she pulled open the door of the quaint little bookshop. The signal of her arrival was the sound of her kitten heels and the ringing of the bell on the door. Doe-like blue eyes that were like the crystal-clarity of the purest of water found themselves settling on a group of well-dressed gentlemen.  Her eyes flicker between some faces she knew of Small Heath, most of them being the arseholes she went to school with and thought themselves privy to a better life. 

It wasn’t that Tillie didn’t believe they weren’t welcome to it. Mostly, it was the way they treated people in order to get there the young woman didn’t quite agree with. She was rather foolish coming to her though since her brother’s had a very vision about how the Shelby family should be seen. Their measures to getting things done with it were also less than admirable. Perhaps, it was the fact that Billy Bronson, James Fitz and Joe Gilbert made hers and Finn’s school life a living hell one way or another. But, it also made it seem extremely unfair to talk to their older brothers about what happened. Since most knew better than to fuck with the kin of the Peaky Blinders. 

Plooms of cigarette smoke clouded in the air, filling the bookstore with a spiced herbal infusion and rippled tailored sticks of tobacco. Moving her gaze from the lads she knew; to the new arrivals. The youngest of the Shelby mob offered a little smile. “Is there room for one more?” Tillie finally spoke up, pulling her book that contained the novel she had poured hours and hours over. Smiling hopefully. Arms hugging the expensive leather made book that her brothers banded together in the hopes for a lovely birthday present in the days before the war. 

Hoping that she’d fill in with various things she enjoyed to draw, but instead, Tillie hadn’t touched it until she was old enough to respect things. Asking Aunt Pol to help her keep in a safe place until then. Scraps of paper were best for sketches in any case. 

Eyes ever hopeful looked at the posher sort, some seemed wary until a certain collared lad smiled and offered a little nod then the place he’d been sitting. Away from the boys that seemed to make life a little more bothersome. “Thank you,” she whispered, settling down in the seat. Resting the book down on her lap before looking to the other lads who straightened their composure.

“We were all about to introduce ourselves since we’ve never travelled outside of London for such a meeting before. Yet, it seemed like a brilliant idea when bought up. Birmingham seemed like the best place, so raw and thrilling. Small Heath alone.” Spoke finally a lad in a handsome waist-coat, the colouring of coal, stiff collar and matching suit made her think of it being something her brother; Tom would wear. Only on the best occasions, or when he was dressing-to-impress. Unlike Thomas, this lad had handsome hazel eyes, the slightest tan to his skin like he enjoyed the frolicking on the beach. His name was Walter, but everyone called him, Walt. 

“Even the presence of criminal activity and organisations like the Peaky Blinders, it does make the area a prize for writing. Wouldn’t you agree, lads,” spoke up for eccentric Norman, who took delight in the thing that only made Tillie smile in a measure of great awkwardness. The name seemed to follow her everywhere she went, and there was a measure of awkwardness for that.  “Sorry, miss, I didn’t quite mean to be so rude, it’s just you don’t seem the sort to know much on that end, too kind and pretty, huh?” Norm covered himself for any form of rudeness that could have been interpreted. 

Only causing a polite little lowering of her head, as her hands wrapped anxiously around her book’s spine. Before relaxing at the conversation drifting off elsewhere. Sobering to the notion that the following cough from Joe Gilbert had goosebumps appearing on her arms. Causing a vast amount of discomfort in the young woman. Tillie traded glances with the nicer of the Londoner’s; Robert. Whom quickly coughed to get things back on track. 

“In any case, back to the introductions. We shouldn’t dwell too long on the story topics if we’ve lacked the proper course of introduction. Shall I start?” Robert spoke up, settled against set up for the purpose of meetings. “My name is Robert Augustine, myself and these other gentlemen,” he said, gesturing to the others in the group of London lads. 

“Are from a collective of young men that wish to write and publish arts. Never before have we had a lady join us, but surely in this modern world we’d be able to welcome the bright minds of femininity amongst us. After all, lady authors are blooming into the publishing world more and more with each generation.” His words seemed to still the anxiousness within her soul at the agreement of his other companions. Looking forward to seeing a hand extended to her, Robert allowed her to stand. The mix of coarseness and softness met between the two palms meet. 

Holding her book, Tillie looked down smiling a little at her feet. Hugging her book to her chest, like it was the most precious thing to her. That was… Because it truly was the thing that held so much value to her heart. Her right hand still gently in the hold of the Londoner, cheeks lightly warming. “I’m Tillie Shelby, and I like to write about my brothers, their stories before the war. When we were kids,” she lit up sweetly talking of her brothers. Her hand and Robert’s naturally finding it parting, before he settled in his spot by the desk. Arms folding at his chest with a little smile. 

“Would you be willing to share any of those stories?” Robert asked in a light voice. Tillie could only think of one response. 

“Would I ever,” she beamed with a presence that seemed to warm the room and the quiet little shop around them. Settling down into her seat once more, she didn’t think about when the others were introducing themselves. Instead, she found herself lost within stories. The more whimsical tales of lads that laughed and partied. Or the ones that filled with a warmth that made her think of the family that suppressed or lost who they were before the war. Among them, none had known those woes and horrors. 

They’d seen things happen on the outside. Felt the absence of a brother, father, uncle or grandfather that either died or lost what kept to their memory that their younger-selves recalled. Tillie was young then. Merely a baby in some regard. But she couldn’t ever forget the days of laughter, wherein night terrors; her heroes would just come up and curl into the undersized cot she called a bed. Soothing their fingers along with the softness of infant or child hairs–that had yet to understand dryness or damage. 

When business didn’t entirely rule the Shelby family but happened in the background. Those were her tales. The tales of rawness and loss from a different scene. Where her brothers; the men who took over the role of an absent father, became; fathers, uncles, older brothers and best friends. And… Pol became the only mother she ever knew and remembered. Her voice spoke of the volumes to family values and how terrible things broke people. Yet, she never uttered their names aloud. 

Only recording them within her mind when she read the tales that meant something to one of her brothers. Art. Tom. John.

[sevynspeakstothesky]

In rebuttal to Buckbreaking(2021) By Sevyn Sky Selby Wednesday June 9, 2021

If you have not seen Buckbreaking, a document by Tariq Nasheed, here is a breakdown: Black men, including Rizza Islam and Joe Brown, sitting around giving what they preserve to be a historical take on the history of homosexuality in the black community. They bestow not only brutality but genius on the white race as being the source of all alt sexuality and identity. They are in fact ignorant and forgetting that many of us, like myself are native to the Americas where Two Spirit people were and are to this day revered. The term Two Spirit is the Native American all-encompassing term for LGBTQ individuals where white Americans coined the term bisexuality from. White people are not the creator of non cis identities or non-straight sexuality. The men in this documentary give them way too much credit. However, the film makes some points like black people, especially black men where on the receiving end of anal rape and degradation for centuries.

Very violently, the disdain for the LGBT community is spit out in this docuseries. To that I ask, were the commentors sons or daughters either feminine or masculine presenting and self-proclaimed as gay or trans what would you do? I think I know the answer. They would beat and mentally, emotionally abuse their children into submission. If that did not work, would they kick them out in the street. A tale too many of us are familiar with. How are we as black LGBT people being punished for what they claim as a white created problem? Homo same relationships and gender role reversals were well documented before slavery and often as black people we equate the beginning of our history as slavery forgetting the richness of our rule and ancestry. In the documentary same sex relations and trans people are linked to pedophilia but people failed to realize the pedophiles are in everyday life, in parents, in men, women, pasters, uncles, aunts, strangers, friends and more times than often not committed acts by trusted authority figures. But calling Two Spirt people abusers because we choose not to acknowledge their sexualities and identities as valid is an easy scapegoat for ignoring these facts. We also forget that for every child failed in anyway the culprit is 9.9/10 times the fault of a cisgender and proclaimed straight parent.

What the documentary gets right is that white people are depraved and that conjunction with Christianity and so-called organized religion, a once great two spirited community became demonized. What I see is a group of black men oppressing a subgroup of black people by comparing them to their white counterparts. How can a divide be inclusive? If they had done their studies, they might find that the racial divide is just as big amongst gays. Or that black LGBT folks suffer from homelessness and poverty at way more alarming rates than their Caucasian counter parts. In black and brown communities, sexually fluid and gender non-conforming youth are thrown out as soon as they are no longer controllable in the worst-case scenario. This leaves them subject to real predators and pedophiles on the streets and often forced into prostitution rather than being abused and not being able to live their truth under a roof by their own parents. This is what the youth are experiencing. It is not fair to hold black people to a higher and harsher standard than the actual culprit of crimes against humanity, the white male and by extension the white woman.

If black and brown gay men and transwomen are the victims of mental manipulation, feminization and ritual abuse as the film suggest, how does the attack on us make the situation better? Why do we have to further stand the abuse from our own community by what was done and is still being done today. Why is so easy for us to oppress our own and not see ourselves in ourselves or our youth?

A whole community is suffering mentally and emotionally because they are not being able to express themselves or believed when they tell you who they are and their stance. And when we believe them, they are demonized. We are contributing to this detrimental atmosphere of systemic and mental slavery where our children cannot grow. This is the remanent of slavery we should be worried about and what these men could have used their platform to bring awareness to. Again, let’s not forget, the conditions we find ourselves in today stem from the failures of cisgender, straight parents. The foster system is filled by them, the gay community is thrown out by them and mental abuse is perpetuated by them. While there are historic points made, we have more important things to worry about, like better ways of parenting and letting our children express themselves.

An important conversation being had today is Dwayne wade and his daughter Zaya Wade who is accepted and thriving. I commend Wade and Gabrielle Unions parenting. I’m interested to see the growth of a young trans person who is allowed to flourish. We need more voices like Dwayne Wade and less like rapper Boosie who has been labeled as transphobic and homophobic in his career. In light of the Zaya Wade news, Boosie proclaiming to Zaya’s father in a social media video, “don’t cut off his parts man,’ misgendering and referring to the genitals of a 13-year-old Zaya. Boosie has also been called out for not only referencing a minors private but also suspected homo same comments and an obsession with the male phallus on serial occasions. Boosie is a voice of a generation of ignorant misinformed melaninated people who choose to subjugate those under the umbrella of LGBTQ+. His and other voices like his are the ones people want to flock to instead of the Wades of the world because we have been so indoctrinated with a sense of self oppression. Think of all the children and adults who have suffered mentally anguish due to these views and religion. A great example being Donnie McClurkin who just this year has said how unhappy he is and proclaimed himself as asexual because of conflicting feeling within himself.

We cannot continue to allow hate pieces like Buckbreaking to be made where a whole community is likened to child abusers when people like Boosie are praised. We cannot allow people like Rizza Islam, who loves and idolizes Prince and Michael Jackson, both men who were on the extreme feminine side of the spectrum, then turn around a exclaim how much of a sin gay people are. This documentary stunk of gender inferiority, patriarchy, and perpetuated slave mindset. The melanated Two Spirit and LGBT community is here, always has been and always will be. A goal of ours as melanated people must be to remember who the real divider and manipulator is and unifying to fight that energy and not creating schisms and oppressing parts of our own body.

[fillingthescrapbook]

Rewriting The CW's Kung Fu, Part 4: The Story Map

We've written character sketches, a quick skeleton of the mythology, and the pilot episode. Now we break the first season into three acts--a story map to keep us from getting lost.

These will just be broad-stroke storylines that will act as goal posts for what needs to happen to get us from the pilot to where the first season ends; which, ideally, would help us develop the character better in conjunction with the plot points we need to hit to tell a full story.

So before we dive in, a quick recap: Nicky ran away when she felt like her parents were controlling her too much. She ended up in a monastery where Pei-Ling took Nicky under her wing. Three years later, Pei-Ling is pushing Nicky to reconnect with her family--just as invaders attacked the monastery. A sword was stolen, Nicky was scarred, and Pei-Ling was killed. Now, Nicky is back in San Francisco--but while she has reconnected with her family, she still doesn't know where she stands with them. But thankfully, she still has her ex-boyfriend Evan and her new friend Henry.

And now we start with Act 1--

In the rewritten pilot, we made Evan tell Nicky that the name Zhang Zhi-Lan was a dead end. This is so completely unmoor Nicky from the mythology so we could get to know her first. Which we'll get to in the next four episodes.

First we fix her relationship with her family--specifically her brother Ryan, and their dad Jin. The former, because that was something we teased in the pilot but didn't push through with yet. Ryan wants to come out but he is afraid. And to tell his story, we need him to be true to himself. The latter, because it's impossible for a family to just move on from a missing person's case without a member of the family giving up. And we need to know what made them give up.

And because we have two love interests, we're breaking up those continuing stories by also giving focus episodes to Evan and Henry. With Evan, we have to conclude their original love story--the one that was interrupted by Mei-Li's meddling and Nicky's running away, and complicated by Evan actually choosing to move on since then.

As for Henry, we need to know why he's not the perfect guy. He can't just be the guy who is always there to help Nicky--but to be his own character too. The show actually gave us great insights into who he is as a character--but they keep dropping the ball on him. So we want to fix that.

Throughout the first act, we're keeping Mei-Li as a guarded mother. One, because we can't solve all of Nicky's problems right away. And two, because Mei-Li actually has a secret that would blow open the mythology of the show. So we keep their story simmering for now.

Meanwhile, Althea (our last remaining main character) will remain a supporting player for now so we can balance the drama with a little light-heartedness. Which is also perfect to start Althea's character off, because our goal is to make her so lovable that viewers' hearts will break when they find out what her backstory is.

And as I said earlier, we're keeping this arc mythology-lite. We'll have a follow-up on why Henry took the painting with an imprint of Nicky's burn scars--but our main plot point for when this arc ends is Nicky finding out that Zhi-Lan is actually Pei-Ling's sister. And that Zhi-Lan is now in San Francisco about to find another weapon.

Then we take a break, as network shows are wont to do, before we begin the second act.

In the second act, we're multi-tasking three stories: our main story will always be Nicky helping people--but this time, in relation to the mystical weapons that have somehow found their way to San Francisco (and nearby areas). And the other two stories will take turns being the b-plots: Mei-Li's family background, which will reveal that Nicky is a descendant of Liang Dai-Yu; and Althea's secret that we'd have been teasing in the first act.

This batch of episodes will be heavy on the recurring characters; Zhi-Lan becomes a more complex character, no longer just a villain now that we know she's related to Nicky's mentor. We introduce Kerwin Tan, a Lothario who we think will become Nicky's ally only for him to side with Zhi-Lan instead. We will also meet Chloe Soong, Althea's soon-to-be sister-in-law who looks up to Nicky. While Dennis, Althea's fiancé, and Joe, Ryan's new boyfriend, become more present as well.

By the end of this arc, we will have found out more about the mythology of the weapons--via their guardians, via Zhi-Lan, and via Henry and Evan.

In terms of Nicky's personal growth, making her help people and connecting her with Chloe will help her realize that she does have a calling in life. And by the end of the tenth episode, Nicky will have to make a decision between what she is told is her destiny, and the destiny she wants to make for herself.

Which now brings us to the final act.

We're gonna use up the last three or four episodes of the season to wrap up Nicky's first season story. She ran away from home not wanting her future controlled by her family--only to go on a collision course with an even bigger destiny. So it's only right that by season's end, Nicky finally makes her own choice with regards to where her life is going to go.

To be able to do so, Nicky is going to have to get to know the facts. So we put her on a journey to follow in the footsteps of Mei-Li's family; they are descendants of the great Liang Dai-Yu--so what happened to the bloodline? This takes her all the way to Canada, where she finds out that her long-thought-dead aunt really did pass away, before she finally takes a plane back to China. For the ultimate choice: which is to do what is right for the greater good.

Within these last group of episodes, Nicky's also gonna make a choice between Henry and Evan. And while the show already did make a choice, I don't want to say that's where this rewrite is going as well. This is just a story map. Things could still change.

Alongside Nicky's journeys, the rest of her family will be taking up the b-plots for the finale. Ryan and Althea take steps forward in their relationships, while Mei-Li and Jin learn that there's a difference in how families stay together in the US compared to how they do in China.

And, of course, at the end of it all, Nicky will face off with Zhi-Lan again. And while she will win--there will be consequences to her actions that would open up a new world of stories for a second season.

Now that we have our story map, we're gonna do an episode-by-episode breakdown of the first act--in the next Kung Fu post I make.

[disneyat34]

Lady and the Tramp at 34

A review by Adam D. Jaspering

Lady and the Tramp begins with a quote by Josh Billings. “In the whole history of the world there is but one thing that money can not buy… to wit — the wag of a dog’s tail.”

The pithy observance frames the movie: dogs are good. It’s a simple premise. It’s a universal premise. It’s a beloved premise. It’s a marketable premise. People will want to pay money to see a movie about cartoon dogs that fall in love.

For such a simple story, Lady and the Tramp had a lengthy production history. Disney employee Joe Grant drew a springer spaniel named “Lady” in 1937. Walt Disney asked Grant to produce a storyboard for potential projects. Grant obliged, but after several false starts, nothing came to fruition. Lady was a character in search of a project.

Grant left Disney Animation Studios in 1949. His abandoned creation remained behind, unused, somewhat forgotten. In 1953, production began on a new movie featuring dogs. Disney Studios scraped together various, unrelated dog-related material in preparation for the film. Lady finally found her purpose. 

“Lady” was pulled from the archives; her species changed to a cocker spaniel. “Tramp” was inspired by a 1945 short story called “Happy Dan, The Cynical Dog,“ written by Ward Greene. Disney even drew inspiration from his own life. After once standing up his wife on a date, he gifted her a puppy in a hat box as an apology. Lady is introduced this way in the film’s opening scene.

It’s easy to consider Lady and the Tramp a simple story, and there’s no shame in that. Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan were all spectacles in design and delivery. Disney was well within their rights to slow things down. Lady and the Tramp is both conventional and approachable subject matter. It focuses on the world around us, making the ordinary seem every bit as fanciful and majestic as a far-off land.

Lady and the Tramp is set in the 1910s, forty years before the film’s release. While the period is arbitrary to the story, it’s essential to the film’s appeal. Setting the film in the near past gives it a unique feeling of nostalgic charm. It’s familiar, but also slightly foreign. Enough to pique interest, not so much it alienates. It makes adults think of their glory days, and children think of their grandparents’ house.

Choosing the proper era is a delicate tightrope. Too recent, and it seems old-fashioned but unseasoned. Too far back, it seems ancient and unapproachable. The science behind choosing the right era may be nuanced, but the solution was a foregone conclusion. Disney himself chose the 1910s specifically to recreate his own childhood. A fringe benefit of owning your own film studio.

Lady and the Tramp sets the entire movie from a dog’s perspective. Physically, and dynamically. The movie focuses on dogs and their diminutive vantage point. They spend more time with human ankles than with human faces. Dogs are the main characters, but the world is still decidedly human. 

Human buildings, human society, human owners, and human dominance. The dogs relate to each other as neighbors, but they still respect and acknowledge their roles as house pets. The dogs have their own understanding of the world around them, and are powerless to affect it.

The first fifteen minutes introduces us to Lady and her day-to-day life. She’s a dog, and as such she has no real responsibilities. She has no goals, no ambitions, no wants, no desires. She eats, she sleeps, she gets head pats from her masters. She has a pair of friends who stop by occasionally to say hello, but beyond that, she’s very dependent on her owners.

As time moves on, we the viewer learn Lady’s owners are expecting their first child. Lady, having no context for this, is left clueless as to what is happening. All Lady can comprehend is the construction of a nursery, and uncharacteristic exhaustion from the mother-to-be. To the animator’s credit, Lady making inquisitive faces for ten minutes straight never seems forced or repetitive.

It would seem the movie is trying to make a parallel to sibling rivalry, the animosity between children for the attention of their parents. The only difference being, instead of an older and younger child, there’s a dog and a baby. Assuming this was intentional and not subtext, it simply doesn’t work. 

Sibling rivalry begins after the birth of a newborn; the eldest child acts out for attention, rebelling against the redefined roles in the family dynamic. They resent they must share attention. This doesn’t happen when one of the participants is not a child, but a household pet. The most beloved of pets mandate less affection than a biological child. 

Even Lady, a dog with human attributes, can’t fault her masters for focusing more attention on the baby. Regardless that she is substantially humanized, a dog like Lady is still just a dog. There is an argument that Lady could hypothetically resent the shift attention. She is depicted wanting more facetime and interaction with her owners. She does clearly understand she has lost something.

She could resent the shift, but she doesn’t. Despite being a cartoon, Lady has no autonomy beyond being somebody’s pet. She’s not being neglected, and she’s not being mistreated, so she has no leg to stand on. The baby takes precedent over the dog. Any more than acceptance of the fact would paint Lady as selfish. This film is a romance, and Lady is supposed to be an upright, worthy heroine. She can’t have such a negative trait.

One shouldn’t fret over Lady’s circumstances anyways. The quasi-sibling rivalry concept is abandoned early. Lady doesn’t need to fight, strive, or earn attention from her owners. She doesn’t need to understand how she and the baby each fit into the family. She doesn’t have to revaluate her life of privilege now that elements have been upended. Because Lady’s masters up and leave and won’t return until the film’s conclusion.

What prompts a couple in 1911 to abandon their newborn child for several days is never explained. Is it medical? Is it business? Is it a vacation? Why do both need to leave and why can’t the baby come with them? It’s never addressed or explained. It’s questionable, uncharacteristic, and happens for no reason than to fulfill plot requirements. Lady can’t fall in love with Tramp until Lady flees her home, and Lady won’t flee her home unless Lady’s owners are gone. So Lady’s owners just... leave for some reason.

The nameless infant is left in the charge of Aunt Sarah, an apparent spinster relative to one of the parents. Throughout the Disney catalog, villains are hateful, greedy, angry, and callous. There is no other villain like Aunt Sarah, though. She’s not evil in intent, but so blindingly ignorant to what’s happening around her, the ignorance becomes a form of malice.

Aunt Sarah, embodying a key tenet of old maids, has an affinity for cats. Not only does this mean she has inherent disdain for Lady and all dogs, she brings her two pet cats into a decidedly un-catproofed house. The pair knock over vases, rip up the curtains, and torment a goldfish. Aunt Sarah, in her deliberate ignorance, blames these obvious feline crimes on Lady.

The two Siamese cats are as subtle in design as they are in deed. They are yet another racist caricature that make trawling through the classic Disney films of the 40s and 50s awkward. The animators were flat out deliberate in their disrespect. All they had to do was draw cats. The cats didn’t need to have human attributes at all, especially not Asian characteristics. The animators did not have to give the cats oversized, slanted eyes or buck teeth. They did anyways.

The main offender is their speech. While not a flattering representation of East Asia, it’s also not accurate even in a mocking way. Whatever accent these Siamese cats are speaking in, nobody on planet Earth has ever spoke that way, ever. It’s not Chinese, it’s not Japanese, it’s not Thai, it’s not anything. It’s just generically foreign. The ignorant stereotypical voice is so detached, it forgets what it’s trying to misrepresent. The cats are somehow too racist to actually be racist.

Lady goes through quite a lot in the first half of the film, but where is Tramp? As his name suggests, Tramp is a vagrant mutt (mostly schnauzer). He lives in a railyard and subsists on the handouts of kind restauranteurs. Like Lady, he also has no goals, no dreams and no ambitions. The two were destined to find each other.

Tramp’s life on the street is a stark contrast with Lady’s life of comfortable privilege. Based on this disparity, it’s easy to assume Lady and the Tramp is a film about class differences. When Lady first meets Tramp, Tramp halfheartedly alludes to the restrictions and illusions of security in the upper class, but he mostly shares this opinion to mock Lady’s discomfort. It’s not further explored.

Lady is not an upper class citizen. She doesn’t live in a society at all. She’s a pet. Her owners are affluent, but Lady’s world ends with the fence. She has no idea how the other half lives because the other half never made themselves known to her. It’s difficult to have a story of class consciousness when one character has only met five people in their entire life.

Again, another false start for the movie. Lady and the Tramp isn’t a movie about sibling rivalry, or classism, or the protection of a home from intruding racist cats. The movie sets up different plot threads, and all are a means to nothing. The film is about Lady and Tramp: two cartoon dogs falling in love. It’s what we were sold on. Why does the film try so hard to avoid delivery?

After being muzzled by Aunt Sarah, Lady flees, bumping into Tramp in her panic. Here, finally, Lady and the Tramp begins in earnest. Tramp suggests looking for ideas at the zoo. It’s an impractical solution, perhaps appropriate for a dog’s dexterity and resources. A dog can’t exactly walk into a hardware store and buy wire snips.

The zoo scene is filled with pleasant gags. Incidents with alligators, hyenas, and an extended scene with a beaver are delightful. What became a trip designed for practicality slowly blossoms into a date. The animosity and distaste that previously defined their relationship has disappeared. Finally, our promise of romance has been fulfilled.

The issue is, now the movie is half over. A normal romance story would have the two leads courting before the first act ends. Lady and the Tramp has been meandering, wasting time, establishing too much scenery that’s going underused. If there were payoffs to all these loose threads at the film’s climax, that would be one thing. But very little receives any sort of callback.

Lady and the Tramp is a movie of fluff and filler, and all of it is in service of one scene. The one scene that rescues Lady and the Tramp from obscurity and irrelevance. The scene that immortalizes its place in film history. The scene where Lady and Tramp share a plate of spaghetti. 

Lady and Tramp share a plate of spaghetti while being serenaded by an Italian love song. They’re enamored by the music and the candlelit setting. They take up the two ends of the same spaghetti strand, moving closer to each other in the middle. When they finally meet, they have their first kiss. Inadvertent, but welcome all the same. Anyone waiting patiently has had their romantic thirst sufficiently satisfied. 

The spaghetti scene has entered the cultural pantheon of romantic moments. It’s been alluded to, referenced, and parodied countless times. It’s more famous than the movie itself. It took a long time to get to, but Disney Studios didn’t blow the opportunity.

There is a distinct lack of purpose and urgency in the film. For long stretches of time, nothing of significance happens. The dogs walk around, the dogs see things, the dogs go places, the dogs talk. Sometimes its to the story’s benefit. Sometimes its to fill silence. Sometimes its to justify the detours. The movie is about two dogs falling in love. It’s paced so poorly, Lady goes on her first date with Tramp, then is ready to break up with him in less than twenty minutes.

This is the issue with Lady and the Tramp. As it turns out, the premise is not whether you would enjoy a movie about two cartoon dogs falling in love. Some viewers would readily accept, while others would require something more substantial. That’s not the premise. The premise is, if you were fully willing to watch a movie about two cartoon dogs falling in love, how much are you willing to endure before it happens?

The conflict, of what little there is, is the standard boilerplate romantic miscommunication. The type of problem that could easily be solved if one party could vocally explain the circumstances, were they were not obstructed by separation or one party’s stubborn refusal to listen. In the case of Lady and the Tramp, Lady is picked up by a dogcatcher and interred in a dog pound. She has her tags, so she’s only being detained for several hours. It’s just long enough to meet one of Tramp’s jilted exes, who regales Lady with a song about how much of a womanizer Tramp is. Or whatever the equivalent of “womanizer” is for dogs.

Regardless of the plot development, this jazzy song and dance number is occurring inside a dog pound. A pound that is very blatantly a stand-in for prison. The inhabitants are incredibly woeful and resigned. Some are actively trying to escape. Some have accepted their fate, singing melancholy dirges about their situation. One dog is literally executed off-camera. This is an incredibly downbeat, sullen, depressing environment. Doubly so that it occurs in what was until now a very uplifting and idyllic picture. 

Prior to Lady’s apprehension, Lady and Tramp had a brief but heavy discussion about their future. Sure, they love each other. The night was wonderful, and they’d love more. But Tramp enjoys his freedom. Lady enjoys being a pet. Tramp quickly changes the subject before either is forced to face the consequences. All of this is now compounded.

We arrive at the climax; Lady is scorned by Tramp’s playboy disposition. Tramp is trying to re-evaluate his life ad hoc before the girl he loves escapes him forever, but can’t. Lady tells him off from her doghouse. Concurrently, a rat sneaks into the nursery, terrorizing the baby. Just an ordinary rat. He’s not giant, he’s not rabid, he’s not frenzied. He has evil-looking red eyes, but he’s just a rat.

Despite the argument, Tramp helps Lady and saves the baby. Aunt Sarah, useless babysitter that she is, witnesses none of this. She comes in too late, finding the screaming infant and the stray dog. Aunt Sarah calls the dogcatcher, who immediately apprehends Tramp. Lady realizes how much Tramp was willing to sacrifice for her. Tramp really had changed, and Lady really did love him. With a series of well-placed barks, Lady is able to communicate to her human owners the exact situation.

We’ll ignore how Lady’s owners return from their contrived absence at the exact moment Tramp is being carted off. We’ll ignore how Lady’s owners understand precisely what is happening from a series of barks. We’ll ignore the humans’ staked interest in Tramp despite never seeing Tramp before, ever. We’ll also ignore how much more invested the parents are in the dogcatcher fiasco than their baby being attacked moments ago.

Tramp sacrificed everything to assist Lady. And in a turnabout, Lady sacrifices nothing. The dogcatcher’s truck is stopped by one of Lady’s friends, a geriatric coonhound named Trusty. Trusty almost dies in the process (suffering only a broken leg thanks to Disney magic). Lady’s owners adopt Tramp, taking on the extra burden of another pet. Tramp forfeits his rambling vagabond lifestyle. Lady has given up nothing at all. It’s not that she doesn’t deserve a happy ending, but couldn’t she at least muss up her coat?

Lady has four puppies in the film’s epilogue. Her owners previously had trouble dividing attention between a baby and one dog. Now they have a baby and six dogs. The dogcatcher is a very prolific figure in Lady and the Tramp. He’s clearly overworked due to the town’s overpopulation problem. One would think both Lady and Tramp would be fixed promptly.

Lady and the Tramp is a movie that is self-conscious about its simple premise. It tries to mask its inferiority complex by dressing it up in weightier ideas and concepts. Very few of these additions are explored to any sort of fruition. As such, the most core romance is denied proper focus. 

The romantic element is unfulfilling except for a few scenes, which entirely save the film. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Lady and the Tramp (excusing a few questionable cats), but there’s also little good to say in its favor. Unless you really, really like seeing cartoon dogs fall in love.

Fantasia Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Cinderella Alice in Wonderland Pinocchio Bambi The Three Caballeros Lady and the Tramp Peter Pan Dumbo Melody Time Saludos Amigos The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad Fun and Fancy Free Make Mine Music