#like a mayfly in milk

[jinzouactor]

[kesobun]

[ WIP ] Feature chapter I've been working on so far for @jinzouactor's Like A Mayfly in Milk 🌿👁‍🗨 Happens between Act 2 and 3 as an interlude!

[vashs-turtleneck]

Sharing is Caring.

Rating: EXPLICIT (18+ ONLY) Summary: You, Vash, and Wolfwood have a bit of a wild evening together. Pairing: Vash the Stampede x f!reader x Nicholas D. Wolfwood Content: pwp, threesome, p in v sex, rough sex, voyeurism, hand job. Word count: 3.1k

NSFW BELOW, 18+ ONLY, MDNI

Blue.

Bluer than the sky, even.

It’s all you can see as you cling tightly to the man above you, wrapping your limbs around him and pulling him into your tender embrace like you’re trying to melt into him. Those pretty eyes stare back down at you, so perfectly blue that you’d drown in them if he let you. With how adoringly they drink in the sight of you, they’re the only thing you can focus on. 

Well, that and the feeling of him stretching you out on his cock, completely flooding every one of your senses with nothing but him.

“Mayfly…” He breathes out sweetly, brokenly. “M-Mayfly… I’m not gonna– I can’t–”

“Me too… I’m g-gonna– nngh!”

“God, yes. C-Come. Come all over me, mayfly. Please. I want– I need to feel it.”

Vash holds you tighter, his fingertips deliciously digging into the meat of your thighs as the tip of his cock keeps relentlessly hitting your sweet spot like a goddamn jackhammer. His voice is dripping with agonized pleasure as he chants a quiet ‘please, please, please’ against your shoulder, feeling what must be tears pooling in your collarbone as he pistons his hips over and over. He wants to come so bad it hurts, but he needs to feel you come with him or else he knows he won’t be satisfied.

Your nails press into his toned and scarred back, clutching onto him like he’s the only thing keeping you together, leaving little marks that he hopes won’t fade right away when you let go. Your legs fight against his grip and your entire body tenses with euphoria. The rhythm of his hips carves a deep arch into your back as your cunt pulses, your velvety walls sucking him in and squeezing him so tightly that he comes so hard he thinks he might have blacked out for a moment. He brokenly cries out your name with a sob, spilling himself inside you as your body milks his throbbing cock of everything he has to give you, flooding your insides with so much cum you can feel it already start to drip down your inner thighs.

Vash has to stop himself from collapsing onto you, shifting his weight up on his forearms and trying not to crush you. You can feel him trembling, sweat dripping down his forehead and his back, your fingers delicately tracing up and down his spine. He nuzzles his face against the crook of your neck, his breaths coming heavy, ghosting his lips over your skin as he tries to come back to his senses. 

Once he feels he’s come down somewhat from his mind-shattering climax, he weakly lifts his head from your body, hazy, watery eyes meeting your gaze. God, he was crying.

“Are you okay, angel? How you feeling? You ready for more or do you need a sec?” Vash asks you breathily, his voice still shaking. Despite how blissfully fucked out he looks right now, his mind is immediately focused on you and your comfort. 

Typical Vash.

“I’m okay… Want m-more…” You mutter, realizing that your voice is no stronger than his.

He gives you a smile so soft that you swear you feel yourself die and come back to life, pressing his lips to yours so tenderly that it leaves you burning for more when he separates them as quickly as they came.

“Let’s give you more then, mayfly.”

You feel Vash slowly pull out of you with a quiet whimper and immediately feel the wetness dripping from between your legs, your thighs slick and making a mess of the tangled sheets beneath you. He swiftly switches your positions, flipping you over and holding you on top of him with his half-hard cock pressing against your abdomen and smearing its slick on your skin. His large hands grip your ass, holding your hips up and open, presenting you unabashedly to the other man in the room. Vash presses a soft kiss to your cheek before looking towards Wolfwood with a smirk that’s all too beautiful for how lewd this is.

"All yours, Wolfwood." He chimes out far too casually. 

Your eyes follow Vash’s, your gaze falling to the priest sitting in his chair next to the bed. His cock stands at attention, delicious beads of precum dripping from his tip all the way down the length of him as his own hand slowly trails up and down like he’s teasing himself. He’s covered in a pretty red hue from his cheeks all the way down to his broad chest, undoubtedly having enjoyed the show the two of you just put on, his dark eyes focused on the spot between your spread legs. 

"About damn time." Wolfwood grunts as he rises from his seat and situates himself on his knees behind you, his rough hands gripping your hips as his eyes stay fixated on the view in front of him. “Thought you two would never stop. Shook the bed so hard I thought you’d break it before I got a turn.” He teases, a subtle groan leaving him, watching as Vash's cum drips from your inviting cunt.

"Looks like needle-noggin’ did a good job of getting you all warmed up f’me, sweetheart." He grins, calloused palms massaging your hips. “You ready?”

Still dazed from your previous mind-numbing orgasm, you nod weakly, eyes fluttering as you look back at the dark-haired man. "Yeah... Ready. Want you."

"F-Fuck, sweetheart…" he hisses.

“Atta girl,” He purrs with a hungry smirk. “Keep that ass up nice and high for me, baby.”

You feel one of his hands let go of you, moving to grip his cock and pumping himself languishly from tip to base a few times as he aligns himself with your dripping entrance. He teases you, making you whine as he rubs his tip along your hot flesh, grinding against you and coating himself with a mix of yours and Vash’s juices. A low growl leaves the priest as he finally pushes inside you, splitting you apart on his scorchingly thick cock, finding little resistance as he sheaths himself completely inside your tight heat in one fluid motion.

Vash keeps his hands on your ass, gently squeezing you and steadying you as Wolfwood gets going, carefully moving your body in the other man's rhythm. Your hands instinctively grip Vash's shoulders to ground yourself as your body shudders. It's all so much, but it's so good.

“So pretty. Makes me want to keep her all for myself.” Wolfwood chuckles, greedily wringing your body of every bit of pleasure you have to give him as Vash lays back and watches, just as Nicholas did mere minutes ago.

"Mayfly..." Vash whispers to you, his voice low, a tender whisper against your throat. "You're so beautiful when you're all flushed and sweaty like that." He watches as Wolfwood grips the fat of your ass, your body shaking.

"So damn cute. God, you like her, don't you, Wolfwood?" He observes, still holding you in place, keeping your hips up for the other man. "Look how pretty she is."

“H-Hey! Don't joke like that!” The man beneath you whines, and the priest only responds by squeezing you harder, clawing the plush meat of your thighs and ass rougher, fucking you like you’re his, perfectly aware of your limits to know he won't break you, but that doesn't mean he won't rough you up a bit. He wants to leave a lasting reminder of what he did to you, after all. You can only mewl out wantonly, letting him have his way with you, pistoning his cock so deeply into you that it rips the air from your lungs every time he sinks back inside your inviting sex. 

Vash's eyes glitter with joy, brows upturned with glee. There’s nothing he wants more than your pleasure, even if he's not the one splitting you in half on his cock.

"Shit, look at you. So damn perfect. You want him? You want Wolfwood to use you, huh baby?" He coos, flesh hand gently massaging the plush of your ass. "You're doing so well, mayfly. You're being so good for us."

"V-Vash..." You whine brokenly.

But just as his name leaves your lips, you feel a harsh slap on your ass, squealing out in a mix of pain and pleasure as you look back at the man behind you.

"Blondie's not the one fucking you right now, sweetheart." Wolfwood rumbles, leaning over you so you feel his weight against your back. He grabs a fistful of your hair, tugging it back to look at him, his piercing dark eyes commanding your attention. "You'll cry out my name."

His name leaves your lips as a choked whimper, so fucked out of your mind right now that all you see and feel is the scorching, white-hot pleasure being given to you by the two men sandwiching you. “N-Nico…”

“Mayfly, you doing okay?” Vash whispers to you, his hot breath ghosting over your cheek. You don’t trust yourself to speak right now, your voice a mess of mewls and moans, so you simply nod your head. You are okay, you try to reassure him. In fact, you’re feeling the best you ever have, high on the rapturous feeling of being completely sandwiched between your lovers. 

"That's it. Always been such a fast learner." He praises teasingly. Wolfwood keeps a firm grip on your hair, pulling it harshly and pulling you back onto him.

"Don’t hurt her.” Vash says to his friend. "Make sure you give her back to me the same way you found her, got it?" His flesh hand leaves your ass to lovingly trace the contours of your face.

Wolfwood’s ruthless thrusts push you down with every fluid motion, forcing you to grind your pelvis against Vash’s cock, his shaft teasing your sensitive clit and filling your body with so much mouthwatering pleasure you think you might be drooling. You know it’s not enough friction to satisfy Vash though, so with what little grip of reality you still have, you reach a hand down and start pumping his cock, matching Wolfwood’s rhythm. Vash immediately reacts, feeling a shiver run deliciously all the way up his spine.

“O-Oh, mayfly…” the humanoid typhoon whispers hoarsely, his breath catching, looking down between your bodies and watching as your hand so lovingly glides up and down his dick. You see his eyes focus on the motion of your hand, his mouth falling agape and his brows upturning in grateful euphoria. Soft little whines leave his perfect lips, and you can see his adam's apple bob as he tries to swallow down his noises of pleasure. Yet, to your surprise, you suddenly feel his hand wrap over yours and pull your grip away from his cock, making you release your hold on him and letting his dick fall with a slap against his naval.

Confused but too distracted and dazed by the man pounding into you from behind to form any words, you mutter a barely coherent ‘w-whu–?’ to the handsome blonde. Vash sucks in a shaky breath and places an apologetic kiss to the tip of your nose. 

“Sorry, mayfly. Can’t have you doing that. Gonna come if I let you do that any longer.”

But… isn’t that the point?

Vash must see the look on your face, confusion blending in with love drunk euphoria. He chuckles hoarsely, hand caressing your cheek as his eyes go dark with lust. 

“Saving all that for when it's my turn to fuck you again, angel.” He purrs, his voice dripping with sexual promise. “Don’t want any of it going to waste.”

Vash holds your chin between his thumb and forefinger, pulling your face towards his and catching your bottom lip between his teeth before sliding his tongue in your mouth and tangling it with yours.

“That’s if you get another turn, Blondie.” Wolfwood chimes from behind you, grunting with every powerful pump of his hips, eliciting desperate little whimpers from your lips that Vash drinks in all too eagerly. “Like I said, might keep her all to myself.”

Vash parts his lips from yours, a string of your mixed saliva connecting your mouths before breaking. He licks the taste of you from his lips before he looks up at the other man pumping his precious mayfly full of cock. “You’re hilarious, Wolfwood,” he says sarcastically, to which Wolfwood smirks.

“What can I say? The man upstairs blessed me in more ways than one.” Wolfwood tugs your hair back again, bringing your face closer to his and exposing the curves of your throat as he meets your blissed out gaze. “Ain’t that right, sweetheart? You feelin’ just how blessed I am?”

Your answer is a broken sob of a moan, borderline overstimulated by all the pleasure and attention the two men are pouring into you. Wolfwood’s tongue suddenly invades your mouth and floods your senses with the taste of ash, giving him a turn at swallowing down your moans. Vash, tempted by your supple neck looking oh so vulnerable and begging for his attention, latches his mouth to the column of your throat, sucking and nibbling along it, grazing his sharp canines along your skin, teasing you, but never daring to hurt you– a stark contrast to the man fucking you into oblivion from behind.

“Fuck, squeezing me so damn tight. You gonna be a good girl and come on my cock, sweetheart?” The priest growls. 

“Hm?” Vash hums as he pulls his mouth from your neck, Wolfwood’s words getting his attention. The flesh hand leaves your face, trailing down your body to squeeze your ass again, his prosthetic now making its way to the apex of your sex.

“Oh, you can do it, mayfly. Come on Wolfwood’s cock for him. For both of us.” The fingers of Vash’s cold prosthetic make contact with your clit, circling against your sensitive bud. The initial feeling of cool metal on your hot skin makes you squeal before you’re made a whimpering mess by the two men, groaning out deeply with every breath you exhale, a beautiful crescendo of moans from the three of you filling the otherwise unassuming hotel room.

“Shit, shit, shit!” the priest hisses from behind you when he feels your body tense and pulse around his cock, your inner walls sucking him in like your body is begging for him to fill you until you’re bursting. He lets out a loud and guttural moan at the feeling of your cunt tightening around him, forcing his eyes to roll back, his grip tightening on your hair and hip. His own hips stutter and you feel his cock twitch inside you, the tip kissing your cervix as hot ropes of cum paint your insides even more white.

You yelp when you suddenly feel a sharp sensation on the side of your neck, realizing the dark-haired man balls deep in you has latched his mouth to the divot where your shoulder meets your neck, biting hard enough that he’ll undoubtedly leave a mark. You can already feel the mess of both the men’s cum and your own juices trickle from your pulsing cunt all the way down to your knees, your legs shaking. When Wolfwood releases his tight grip on your hair and unlatches his teeth from your supple skin, your upper body collapses onto Vash, who is all too happy to hold you close and cradle you in his arms, cooing soft praises into your ear as you tremble against him.

“Shh, mayfly. I’ve got you. You were so good. Such a good girl for us, baby.”

Your hips remain up and held in Wolfwood’s hands, now tenderly massaging the soft skin, unabashedly admiring the mess he’s helped make of you. “So damn good.” Wolfwood whispers out, his own voice trembling, leaning forward to press soft kisses along your spine and between your shoulder blades, the gentleness a stark contrast to how harshly he was fucking you mere seconds ago. 

Two pairs of strong hands hold you, gently maneuvering you off your knees and off of Vash, carefully laying you on your back against the soft and messy sheets. 

“Catch your breath, baby. Do you need anything?” Wolfwood breathes, peppering soft kisses all over your cheek and jaw. 

You feel hands caress you, massage you, and trace the gentle curves of your body. Both of them are still hard, Vash achingly so, but they still focus themselves on your wellbeing over the tension they each feel between their legs. Blue eyes fall to the deep bite you now have at the base of your neck, a mark that will undoubtedly take days to heal. His warm thumb traces the harsh red mark, dark brows furrowing. 

“Thought I told you to give her back the way you found her.” Vash chastises, a subtle hint of jealousy painting his voice.

“I wish I could say I was sorry, Blondie.” Wolfwood retorts, words trembling, still having barely recovered himself, yet still using what little breath he has to taunt the other man, and you can see the stern glare Vash is already giving him. 

You can’t just lay back and let your lovers fight now, can you?

Just as Vash’s mouth opens to scold the priest, any words he was about to form are interrupted with a surprised moan from both men, feeling the sudden warmth of your tender hands wrap around their cocks, liberally stroking them each from their dripping tips down to the base.

“F-Fuck! T-Take it easy, sweetheart. You’re still shaking.” Wolfwood blurts out, yet his hips are already following the delicious motion of your soft hand. 

Oh how sweet of them to be so concerned about your wellbeing, but the precious looks on their faces as they try to hold back from fucking themselves into your palms like a couple of dogs in heat is so much sweeter.

Vash’s eyes shut tightly, biting down on his bottom lip to try to stifle his moans, only to finally give in and start rutting his hips against you, letting you squeeze a hot glob of precum from the outlaw’s dick. You and Wolfwood gave him such an incredible show, how could he possibly hold back when you’re so eager to make him feel good?

“These sheets are gonna be unsalvageable.” The blonde groans, his eyes opening just enough to let you see them rolling back already. 

“S’ fine, Blondie. Cleaning fee will be worth it.”

divider.

[oldsweater]

Our Mayfly Is Gone

Deep into backwoods Ohio, sits a town with its back to the mountains and its nose pointed towards the hills. The gritty bleak crime ridden town is called Lager , Ohio, it used to be best known for its wheat liquor but known it’s taken more towards hog butchering and meat packing since 1923 and its now 1977. It’s only a backdrop for our two main characters who are besties and neighbors.

Our Mayfly is Gone(1977)

-unedited cut

Tw: Alchohol Abuse, Violence

The one in the pink jaguar print skirt, is Amity (Lorraine) Kilgore. She was named after her mother who was a semi famous ballet dancer in the tri state area but her career ended after she got pregnant with her oldest daughter.

Her mom put her in dancing competitions from when she was 7 to 12 and exploits the fame her daughter gets until Lorraine threatens to do something awful in order to get her to stop.

Her Mom quits , and altogether stops paying attention to her, and only ever being emotionally present in the lives of her four younger siblings. Now why is this relevant, because the e lack of attention pushes her towards looking for any type of attention through her creepy interests. She likes to hunt, prep game, and knows how to shoot a shotgun.

And has severe behavioral issues possibly caused by the drinks her mom had when she was pregnant. When Lorraine is having another manic induced episode (because of her type 1 bipolar disorder ) she is finally told she was never meant to be born and runs away the same night. No one looks for her, or asks after her, she just disappears out of her bedroom window of their two bedroom apartment and catches the first greyhound bus off to someplace called Deerstalk, Michigan.

While here , she meets a boy who tries to kill her in the cottage they both squatted in together, what happened to him is a secret. along with letting a “retired” gangster who takes pity that no one’s looking after this poor young girl and gets her a safe place and unsuspectedly, she dies after getting hit by a car , and is left in a ditch. She wakes up three days later, confused, hungry and with sharper teeth and new streaks of silver in her hair.

Lorraine, goes back to the cottage of the boy, (his fate won’t be told anytime soon) and returns to Lager, Ohio where nothing has changed and no one cares her face was on Winn Dixie milk carton for nearly a year. Six weeks later, the girl in the tank top moves into room thirteen of the Sheffield Apartments where, she lives. The person who lived there hasn’t been seen in ages and now Beatriz Nguyen, who ran away from her adopted family in northern Ohio , is now hiding herself up in there for hours on end.

She’s always pale, there’s a cross shaped scar on the left side of her face and her breathing is so faint, it’s almost likes she’s dead. She also has the same streak of silver in her hair and cannot feel pain like others can.

Lorraine befriends her , and they become inseparable for the next three years, like twins almost except they aren’t they’re just neighbors and act like they’ve been conjoined at the hip. And end up becoming the reason people have been going missing in Lager, all rumored to have been partially consumed after they died.

[therainroguebts]

Kingdom: Legendary War ep.7, no thoughts, just chan screaming Felix’s name like a concerned parent

- oh no I'm not looking forward to the global rankings bro

- I'm like 90% sure stray kids fans are all powerful and are gonna bump them up in the global ranking

- I FUCKING KNEW IT AHHHH

- well at least ateez is second!!

- please let ikon be one rank higher please I'm begging you

- ateez third place... the global viewers are stupid as fuck this is driving me crazy

- I'm happy for sk but I also hate it lmao poor ateez

- ahhhh shindong!! 17 years bro, wow Donghae too!

- Bobby is the only rapper in ikon? Oh God the pressure lol

- seeing rappers be so charismatic on the stage to being shy little beans when they meet each other is the most precious thing in the world

- look at Bobby making friends omg this is adorable

- bobby: wants to meet / them: cancels their schedule before he can finish his sentence

- Bobby the bunny 🐰🐇

- lmao never let Bobby set up the camera omg he totally broke that bitch

- I think the auto tune was a bad choice but I think it will still be dope

- they did so well!! 👏

- they haven't even fucking started yet but the rap unit of mayfly is off the charts they're gonna kill it

- MINKYUK TEASING CHAN IS MY NEW AESTHETIC

- and then minhyuk forgetting his own lyrics lol how is this man so relatable

- HONGJOON TAKING THE TEAM TO THE GRAMMYS WHETHER THEY WANT IT OR NOT LETS GOOOOO I'll get the car

- "We're going to eat now. Jealous?" GET THAT SHITTY LOOK OFF YOUR FACE CHANGBIN 😤 I am jealous bc I'm soooo hungry rn

- can we have a variety show where idols just go around to other agencies tasting their food? Lol

- dude their song is so lit 🔥 there's no way they're not gonna win!

- I WANT THAT SONG GIVE IT TO ME I will sell my first born for this fucking song please kingdom put your feckin shit on Spotify you bastards

- If they don't win.... I'm quitting

- YES I fucking knew they were gonna win it was just way too hype not to ahhhh I'm so proud

- I love how it just spoils the fucking dance unit members 🤣

- bro it's so awkward oh this is gonna be painful but DK is here and he's gorgeous so it's worth it 👌

- also they do not seem the same age at all lol

- I feel like I'm about to watch a period drama 👀 I wonder how it'll turn out. DK fighting!!

- bro I never thought I'd see the day where I was so captivated by a dance performance. I was silent the whole time and you know my loud ass never shuts up. Ahhh I'm worried for mayfly that performance was really feckin good

- as someone from the states where honorifics isn't a thing, I always feel strange when they make a big deal out of calling someone by their name. I understand that politeness is super important in Korea but my American side just doesn't understand. It's cute watching them lose their minds over it tho, unable to drop the formalities haha

- lol poor peniel, forced to be leader and everyone is looking up to him like toddlers asking their papa for milk

- I have high expectations for my boys, and they better bring it if they want to beat that drama performance

- duuude how is team mayfly so perfect 🥰 I am literally in love I want these boys as one group lol

- I just want to take a moment to complain. Idk if it's the site I'm using, my internet, or if the universe hates me but the video plays smoothly until I get to the feckin important part - THE PERFORMANCE and then it buffers every few seconds it's driving me insane and only does it during the performances UGH

- THE WAY BANG CHAN SAID FELIXS NAME AS IF HE WERE HIS DAD WARNING HIM NOT TO DO SOMETHING STUPID I CANT FUCKING BREATHE CALL 911

- THAT WAS AMAZING

- bro team mayfly might just get a triple crown omg 👑👑👑

- "mayflys journey ends here" "Who are you to decide when it ends?" FUCK HER UP PENIEL SHE DONT KNOW SHIT once a team, always a team 👊🏻 brothers (wolves) for life!💯

- (mayfly will live on it our hearts) yes it fucking will 😭💙

- oh fuck you for the cliffhanger kingdom you bastards 😤 you know it leaves me emotionally drained and i have to take a break! Ahhhhh

[lightningbugqueen]

johnlock- asexual lovers, a new mystery perhaps? (is it a ghost or is it a serial killer?) (BANTER PLZ) hope these notes make sense,,,

I hope this was what you were asking for. I had fun writing this, thanks for the prompt!

“Nonsense!”

“Sherlock, is it really so hard to believe?”

“That a ghost of all things killed those men? Yes, I’d say it is. You know very well my feelings on the Supernatural John, and you’d do well to remember them,”

John sighed and rested his forehead in the palm of his hand. It had been twenty hours since Lestrade had called to inform them of the case, and neither had slept since. Needless to say, they were both a little snippy. 

“And why is it, again, that you don’t believe in ghosts? If people can be as smart as you and Mycroft, and the universe can be as infinite as it is, then why do you rule out ghosts, of all things?”

“I believe in things I can see, John,” Sherlock said haughtily, “and as of yet, I have not seen a ghost in my line of work.”

“Yeah, well, you also didn’t think the Earth revolved around the sun and nearly shot me, your boyfriend, when you lost at Cluedo, so we both know your knowledge isn’t impenetrable.” The doctor leaned back in his chair, seemingly pleased with his argument. Sherlock sniffed. 

“That’s besides the point. What I’m saying is that it makes far more sense for it to be a serial killer whose very good at getting into places undetected than a ghost. Remember the Mayfly Man? Perhaps it’s something similar to that.” 

John remembered the case well. It was one of their first after Sherlock has returned from the “grave.” John had taken his reappearance well enough. First he had punched him. 

Then he had kissed him. 

And thus began their relationship. It was rocky, like everything in their lives, but it worked out well enough. There had been the problem of John having to break off his courtship with Mary, which had only been going on for about a month, but they had really hit it off. No matter, Sherlock was back, and she was really just an attempt to get over the previously deceased detective. 

Then there had been the mocking from Anderson and Donavan, which had been silenced with a few well placed punches, curtesy of John. He wasn’t above hurting assholes. 

Their biggest problem had arose after their fourth date, when John had mentioned... well, you know, to Sherlock. The poor man had broken down in tears, only the second time John had ever seen Sherlock cry. 

He eventually explained that he was asexual, and if John wished to leave him, that was okay. In John’s opinion, it most certainly was not. 

John explained rather firmly to the detective that he loved him more than anything in the world, and if a little thing like sex were enough to come between them, then he didn’t deserve Sherlock. 

And it really didn’t matter. John would have enjoyed sex, sure, but he would’ve hated it if he knew Sherlock didn’t want to. Their relationship was perfect as is. They slept in the same bed, kissed, and cuddled, but other than that, nothing had really changed since the fall. They still argued, John still had to get the milk, and there was still the occasional head in the fridge. Their evolved relationship just made all of that somehow more pleasant. Perhaps it was the fact that after every argument, he could gather Sherlock in his arms and remind himself that it would all work out fine. 

Sherlock snapped in his face. 

“John?”

“Huh?”

“You were in a daze. Are you sure you aren’t coming down with something?” Sherlock’s eyebrows pinched together.

“Aw, are you worried about me?” John teasingly asked. 

“Er... no! You would just be a hindrance on the case if you were sick!” 

“Sure, Sherlock,” John said with a smile, “And no, I feel perfectly fine. I was just remembering some things is all. I suppose it could be like the Mayfly Man. Maybe a Dragonfly Man? Beetle Bro? Caterpillar Killer?”

“Shut up John,” Sherlock scoffed, but a smile betrayed his face. 

His phone dinged, and once he read it he shot to his feet. 

“Yes!” the detective exclaimed, “Another victim!” John joined him at the door, and they both grabbed their coats. As they stepped out onto the street, Sherlock pulled on that ridiculous had and turned to John. 

“The game,” he said, “is on.” 

[sanstropfremir]

Okay so for the rap stages I can’t really comment on the quality of rapping because none of their stuff was my preference and I’m not really a hip hop fan but I definitely have opinions on the stages so this going to be long (apologies in advance). First Mayfly team gets an immediate deduction for that one part where Chan says “spell color with a u” we don’t need that Anglo propaganda in this house. I will say they immediately get points back for Minhyuk just being there because I love that man. I thought he had a baseball bat at first and I got excited cause I thought he was going to smash something which would have been fun. Also his outfit was the best. Loved that coat and whatever was going on with his hair (it was too classy compared to the others but it makes him seem like the leader). Basically all I’m saying is I’m a simp for Minhyuk and everyone else can go home. Besides that, I think the stage had too much going on. Changbin’s painting part was weak and maybe the lyrics gave context but why has he being so rude! Was he trying to be badass by spilling milk on someone? My reaction was the same as that one girl from Weeekly who looked OFFENDED. Hongjoon’s part was good and I like that it was more simple. I think I heard him say “idol” at one point which I’m going to assume is him making some jab at the haters who belittle idol rappers but considering he was rapping so slowly and in that usual idol rapper talk/rap style I don’t really think he made his point well lol. Loved the ending though where it goes dark and then explodes with color-the screens were used really well. I think the choruses where the best part of the song but the verses fell a bit flat. I’m also glad they wore white and had their stage be more colorful. If I’m not mistaken, they had a message about like unity and how we’re all the same which I appreciated. Final thought: They should have toned it down and gone for impact over quantity. Okay so for the other team, I loved the opening with Sunwoo on the bike high-fiving Hwiyoung. That was cool. What I appreciate more about this stage is that it’s more about the rapping, the charisma, and the interaction between the members. The song was less impactful but the members carried themselves better. I think if actual rappers were evaluating this stage they’d prefer this performance over the first. You know how rappers have that thing about not being mainstream and how they don’t like wannabe idol rappers well the first performance basically epitomizes everything they hate. And like do I agree with edgy rappers-no they can get their heads out of their asses but do I think they have a point when it comes to idol rappers usually being waterdowned and more marketable, absolutely. Like their stage presence, in my opinion, made this way more interesting and immersive. I mean fucking Bobby was smiling the entire time. And props to Sunwoo-he really held his own compared to the others. Also Hwiyoung having more than one line-absolutely unheard of. I don’t know why they went black and white for the last part with the paint. It was cool but it would have stood out more if it was in color (the first time I watched it I didn’t even notice the paint but also I watched it on my phone first thing after waking up so I wasn’t fully conscious). Now for things I really disliked: the autotune was absolutely atrocious, Hwiyoung I love you but whyyyy?!? Like his rapping was pretty good but it was absolutely ruined by the autotune. And I have an intense gripe with autotune so this is totally just a me thing. Personally this stage was more fun even if I didn’t like the song as much and I prefer it to the other but neither are very high on my rewatch list. Also I should add I am absolutely biased towards iKON and SF9 so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

firstly, i am canadian AND i live in the uk how dare you come into this house and spread your incorrect spelling opinions everywhere. how dare you

this is just a general observation, but what on earth did they put in these stages to get everyone so heated... every response ive seen so far has been ‘i dont listen to rap but....(has very strong opinion on the rap stage)’ which i find DELIGHTFUL. i have no skin in this game and i love that its riling people up.

I was going to put a rather accusatory deconstruction of authenticity and our cultural biases around the myth of the auteur here, but i decided against that because ive clearly been at grad school for too long and no one needs my postulating. i found both these stages to be lackluster over all and im very much not the audience for rap so i like hearing what others have to say, it gives me more perspective. 

[reconstructionbaby]

i want to speak humble and polite japanese. like a woman in an old movie whispering a poem under her breath. i want people to ask me how my day was and i mutter something and the only discernible word is mayfly and theyre like what but im just looking at the moon. i want to order coffee which i spell 珈琲 at a starbucks which i spell 巣多獏巣 and when i humbly place my order i ask the cashier to pardon my unforgiveable burden and shes like what but im already remarking on how foamed milk in a coffee cup looks like the moon

[jinzouactor]

Mayfly 3.4

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links to all chapters

[theangrypokemaniac]

I'll state from the beginning that the images below display the sort of sweet synchronicity to which only love can give life:

MaAndPaShipping is the best ship, and here are five reasons why:

1. It Made James

Like the boy do yer? Ever felt the slightest tingle of warmth at the mention of his name?

Well get down on yer knees and give thanks to his mother and father for gifting him to the world!

Where would we be without their remarkable commitment? Could James have grown into the dandified dream boat of your desires if deprived of the safety provided by his parents?

Had they not brought him up, he'd be dead, The Dog of Flanders fantasy made reality. If miraculously he survived, foraging in the wild is not conducive to a foppish personality.

Is that to yer fancy? No? Then let's have a little respect. The luxury Ma and Pa gave enabled his macaroni tendencies to reach such heights.

Their love created him! How can it not be celebrated?

You lot would ship Jessie's parents but you can't, because she has no dad, and I don't suppose you'll ever assent to his obvious identity of Windy Miller, although 'Jessie Miller' has a wonderful ring to it, so what can be done?

Should a Pa Jess be conjured for the purpose, he still buggered off, didn't he? Where's the allure in a faithless git?

I can't comprehend the obsession with Ma Jess. As soon as here she's stiff, and what is there to remember but coercing her daughter into eating snow?

Hey, I named her. What more do you want from me?

I'd rather have the living, visible ancestors, if you don't mind.

Yeah, says the history fanatic.

Why not make the most of the chances offered, and follow a devoted couple whose love made a difference to your existence?

2. Canon!

There are many ships which I find repulsive for involving depravity, or absurd as the subjects haven't met, or don't inhabit the same fictional universe.

Video et taceo: I see and I say nothing.

Neither does anyone. Forcing decent folk in to incest, bestiality etc. is quite alright.

Perverted ideas are left alone, but woe betide a Rocketshipper, because that's offensive.

It may be the only original ship left standing, with proper evidence and sanctioned by Nintendo, but no, it's fair game for undermining. People pick at your arguments, quibble constantly and NEED to register their objections NOW. You MUST be made aware of opposition. You're not to be permitted your views the way those with twisted tastes are indulged.

Why, out of tens of thousands of combinations, does making Jessie and James an item provoke hostility?

The strength of negativity actually serves as validation, for why be so concerned if it's an impossible relationship?

However sick they are, I'm not anti any ship. I can't muster sufficient interest to do it, and if I scroll on, I forget. I certainly don't attack those responsible.

Anti-Shipping is inherently nihilistic for promoting loneliness. They aren't against Rocketshipping through wanting Jessie and James to be with someone else, as an alternative is not readily available, so the outcome of it is neither finding a companion.

MaAndPaShipping attracts no sourpuss silliness, for 'tis canon beyond question. There's nothing about being 'just friends' when married with a son.

How's the state of your O.T.P.? Not looking too clever I expect, and what's your contribution: wishing, and hoping, and thinking, and praying?

Cast it off! None of that longing is necessary in these quarters, as MaAndPaShipping is a fait accompli.

Hallelujah! Wallow in that Love!

Don't you yearn for at least one ship that all of us accept by default, to the extent these aristocrats are spoken of as a single unit?

Across the internet, Ma and Pa are bracketed as 'James's parents', never 'he' and 'she', always 'they', barely counting as distinct characters. That's how undeniable the love is between them. Sheer indifference has awarded it a blessing from everyone.

MWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!

Of course, now I've drawn attention to it the moaning will start, but we all know a spoilsport when we see one.

If they had any legitimate complaints they ought to have mentioned 'em before this piece highlighted the marriage!

Except it won't have occurred to 'em previously, proving the eternal, indissoluble quality of MaAndPaShipping.

You get good value with this one.

Find a post referring to Ma and Pa as individuals and I'll have written it, for that's what you call ironic.

3. It's a Fine Rocketshipping Proxy

I was at primary school when Pokémon hit the West like the bright, bearded meteor it is, atomizing all competition for a child's attention.

I have shipped Jessie and James before I knew anyone else did it, unaware shipping was even a thing.

There are other pairs where I think: 'That seems to fit', but it's incomparable to what I feel for them.

It is part of me. I bleed it.

I have shipped it longer than most Tumblerries have dwelt upon the earth.

I used to believe, what with the hints and manga finale, that this resolution was  inevitable, and all I had to do was wait.

Well I've been patient for two decades now, thus when I look at the modern incarnation, and realise it's no nearer to that goal, and instead is further away, waiting starts to wear a bit thin.

I resent the lack of appreciation shown to the fans by the cretins in charge, how any meagre shippy inclusion is done not with an interest in deepening bonds, but with the blatant cynicism of moulding us into performing monkeys dancing to their manipulative tune.

I dislike being treated like a sea lion, expected to clap me flippers at the wave of a fish, or as a panting dog begging at top table, where, because they're desperate to maintain the status quo, every scrap flung down from above now comes with an Anti-Ship kick in the teeth, just to be sure nothing progresses. Not whilst the franchise can still be milked for all it's worth.

I have lost faith Rocketshipping will happen. What passes for Pokémon today carries not the remotest indication of any intention on the so-called writers' part to finish it that way.

Even if it did, it's not my Team Rocket, it's those skeletal, gargoyle bastardisations. My Jessie and James never got the reward they deserved.

I'm somewhat in the market for a replacement. Beneath this loathsome carapace of acid and ice beats the tender heart of a true romantic, and it must have an outlet!

Shipping Ma and Pa provides a certain spurious relief, because it's as close as you can get to Jessie and James without it being them, both biologically as his parents, but they're so similar to the duo it counts as proof in itself.

Holy Matrimony! is prime Rocketshipping territory, not merely the balloon lift, but many slight additions are as important, like the haircuts matching.

Ma and Pa are therefore Jessie and James in the past, present and future:

The past for representing Jess 'n' Jamie gone Victorian, and we've all wondered how that'd turn out.

The present as it's there right now, absent of suffering the shameless whims of morons to get what you want. 'Tis yours to savour.

The future as a glimpse of Jessie and James once married with children, and they agree:

That's how they play it given the opportunity!

What, James in blue, for his and Pa's hair, and Jessie wearing purple, like Ma's, with a red shawl for her own, and Ma Jess's orange earrings to copy the beads?

• Money!

• Bun!

• 'Tache!

• Classy pad!

• Fancy gear!

• Pampered pet!

• Identical cups of Earl Grey!

4. Original Blend

Ma and Pa have only got two fans! We care more than the entire fandom has in twenty years!

Rocketshipping art is ten a penny, so why not display a pioneering spirit, sharpen up those pencils and be inspired?

Let your mind expand and marvel at the possibilities of these unchartered territories, and I'll reblog it if it's nice.

Pay attention to the condition of it being nice. I'm not putting up with any old toss.

Real Ma and Pa is what I want too, not those Sinnoh coffin-dodgers.

It's never been done! Every drawing breaks new ground!

I don't like fan fiction, but I wouldn't say 'no' to that either. Recall the 'nice' stipulation again.

Come on, be the first amongst your friends and get ship shape!

5. It Gives Us All Hope

Suppose your favourite amour one day became canon: you imagine that's the end of the matter?

Well it ain't.

Between Ash, Misty, Brock, Jessie, James, Gary and Tracey, there are three-and-a-half out of fourteen parents (Flint doesn't count as a complete man) and one out of twenty-eight grandparents, and that's not enough!

If the series drew to a close with your beloved couple apparently walking into the happily-ever-after, there's no guarantee it'll endure. In fact, the odds are they'll split up within a few years and leave another generation to fend for themselves or starve.

That's right, so don't presume the final episode is all you need to worry about. Can you rest easy knowing it'll go pear-shaped once the camera stops rolling?

It's futile soothing one's worries with:

Oh, but they know what it's like to be alone. They'd never inflict such stress on their children.

Oh really?

Look at that poor showing of grandparents. Either Pokémon has a system reminiscent of the sci-fi film Logan's Run, where everyone over thirty is vapourized, or these disappearing maters and paters were themselves victims of abandonment.

I bet when they settled down, they thought it'd be different for their kids, they'd make sure of it, but no, off they went down that same route of feckless self-indulgence, and that's being kind assuming they intended not to repeat history.

Depressing eh? What's the good in any of us surrendering to romance, real or otherwise, if love is but a mayfly of emotion, and all dreams are doomed to die?

Then Ma and Pa arrive, and suddenly the storm clouds part for a ray of heavenly light.

It's not only that they made the effort in what was probably an arranged marriage and have stayed together from youth, it's that they've stayed together when no one else has, which augments its value.

When separation is commonplace, sticking it out becomes rarer and rarer as any belief in the sanctity of wedlock erodes with every failure.

If they didn't bother, why should I? What's the use when it won't work?

Once that idea enters your head, it's over, and your gloom-laden attitude fulfils itself.

Society is collapsing about Ma and Pa's ears, but they persevere nevertheless, refusing to buckle under the turgid malaise engulfing the arrogant and weak.

It's bloody beautiful, man!

You may suggest an environment of supreme wealth erases normality, and to their class and time period divorce is still taboo, so they don't really have much of choice but to remain wedded.

Ah, but it's not as if they simply tolerate one another for appearances, or carried on for the sake of their son (which is more than anyone else did besides), not when he walked out on them.

They've been married longer than James has lived, so at least eighteen years (don't all squeal at once), and they're still blissfully contented!

They hold hands!

They use terms of endearment like 'dear' and 'my precious'!

They were made for one another!

They work as a team!

They want the same thing for James!

It could bring a stone angel to tears it's so beautiful!

See what success can be achieved when you try? When you endeavour to love the one you're with and make yourself worth loving in return?

Better that than chucking 'em at the first sign of trouble.

Ma and Pa is such an irrevocable union even the despair of losing their only child failed to tear 'em asunder, and that'd defeat many, but not this husband and wife.

Be grateful, for it means all is not in vain.

It doesn't have to be misery and pain: love can last despite the pressure of a wretched, hollow culture bent on self-destruction. Your ship might just succeed too.

God bless 'em for keeping the magic alive!

...

Why do I have the presentiment that I'm going to regret encouraging support?

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Cherry Blossoms and Like Someone in Love

The theme of Japan Society’s latest cinematic retrospective is a bit unorthodox: movies set in Tokyo... but shot by non-native directors. Being a gaijin myself, I find the idea of exploring and celebrating such unique and diverse cultural perspectives (the featured filmmakers hail from a variety of countries, united only by their status as outsiders) extremely appealing, and therefore leapt at the opportunity to attend two of tonight’s screenings:

Cherry Blossoms: In this German reinterpretation of Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story, an elderly couple is in the midst of visiting their now grown (and thoroughly self-absorbed) children when the matriarch suddenly succumbs to the terminal illness that she’s been keeping secret from her family. Her husband is devastated by her unexpected death: he’s a creature of habit, and without her to set his daily routine, he feels lost, adrift, and rudderless. On a whim, he decides to take a trip to Japan, belatedly fulfilling one of his wife’s lifelong dreams. What begins as a sightseeing tour of Tokyo (which is neither romanticized nor sensationalized, even as we delve into some of the city’s seedier districts) quickly evolves into a poignant meditation on memory, transience, and impermanence (replete with such stock symbols as mayflies and cherry blossoms) as an eccentric butoh performer teaches our protagonist how to let go of his grief while still honoring the legacy of his departed loved one.

Like Someone in Love: Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami’s final narrative feature (which is just as structurally unconventional as the rest of his notoriously idiosyncratic filmography, to the extent that it strains the definition of the word “narrative”) hardly feels like a foreigner’s point-of-view of Japan; indeed, in terms of its tone and subject matter, it’s highly evocative of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s work. Cinematographer Katsumi Yanagijima paints a breathtakingly beautiful portrait of Tokyo, from cozy domestic spaces to foreboding, neon-drenched alleyways, but Kiarostami is far more fascinated with the landscape of the human face; he keeps his camera close to the actors, milking both suspense and dark comedy from simple shot/reverse shot compositions. I need more time to digest the subtleties and ambiguities of the film’s unapologetically minimalistic (and borderline nihilistic) story, but its style is absolutely sublime.

[yespoetry]

Helga Floros: I Keep Promising to Do Better

loving someone is the most embarrassing thing i’ve ever done

 i bake you a cake. i buy knives.

i cut my fingers off one by one.

 you ask what made me do that.

i shrug. nothing. everything.

 does it matter? do i? the blood

makes a real mess on the floor.

 i want to lick it all up like a dog.

i want to eat your shitty heart.

 would you let me do that? dig

my teeth into the muscle and

 rip it apart like flimsy gossamer.

i think i’d like to go real animal.

 we’re out of bandages. i’m crying

now. i bleed all over your carpet.

 neither of us knows what to do,

so neither of us do anything.

eden

 god and all his skinny angels

lock the gates to heaven

& leave me to rot right here.

 an ant under his magnifying glass,

my skin catches fire like a house

i never asked to live in.

 a girl by any other name

would be just as easy to chew

& spit back up as a llama’s vomit.

 it’s not that i want u to love me again.

i just wish we’d never met.

or at least, you’d forget me.

i keep promising to do better and then i do worse

 siri, is it still called relapse

if it happens twice every day?

 i want to be so clean i scald you but

my motivation to change is a mayfly.

 like a comatose landslide,

a drugged-up marionette, an

old dog too dumb for its own good—

 loving how sick i get, i drink

my milk curdled thick.

 siri, how do i stop being a knife?

 i want to be gorgeously 

bright & happy & empty

 of sin. i read the average human body

replaces most of its parts

every 7th to 15th year.

 siri, what if i’m the missing link?

that thing between animal and human?

 i don’t want to hurt myself,

but if i don’t, who will?

helga floros likes being asleep. they have work in occulum, peach mag, witchcraft magazine, & elsewhere. they tweet @helgafloros

[elizabethrobertajones]

14x06 watching notes

Bugs 2.0

this is more like a sleepy note to self from last night (hi future me in the morning, you better have coffee) but I can't believe Yockey is sending Jack, who is consumptive, caught in a crisis of personal identity, and sworn to kill his AUncle who is blurred dangerously with one of his fathers, WITH said father on a hunt, while Dean is so messed up about Michael and guilt and all he's coming at the angsty nonsense from the complete other side... And that's still like half the story because also Sam and AUCharlie and a giant fly monster or something...

Anyway last time a Yockey episode showed up I wrote 100k words of watching notes, broke down crying over the elevated Shakespearean drama, and astral projected into watching the final five-ten minutes in the Globe Theatre.

What we know so far about this episode has me legitimately terrified to the point I'm writing preemptive episode notes the night before so maybe I will fall asleep and dream in such a way I sort this all out and can come to it with Secret Dream Knowledge.

-

Mittens had the audacity to remind me that Speight directed as soon as I rolled out of bed as well

-

Oh no the recap is awful in moments. Please leave Jack alone. He is small and young and doesn't deserve anything bad that has ever happened to him.

The ticking and chiming of this all coming due is a great way to raise blood pressure, and as I was saying last night, we get both Dean blurring with Jack in his issues as well as Dean blurring with Michael

I remain eternally optimistic that seeing Christian Keyes in the recap means he might get smuggled back into the show.

I WILL say this every time it happens and refuse to back down on that :P

Anyway, tying the two main points of plot stress together - what is wrong with Jack, and what is wrong with Dean. We KNOW what is wrong with Dean - he said yes to Michael, and got taken for a ride and sorely used. Don’t know if there’s a ticking time bomb about Dean and something Michael did to him. We can guess a few avenues of where the awful comes from for Jack, but I suspect it's going to be at least another full episode of Rowena poking him next time to figure it out, if not an ongoing mystery so his consumptiveness can be dragged out as a point of tension.

His is so obvious that equating Dean's tick tock clock with it is considerably more alarming on Dean's behalf, since we have a much better visual of what's up with Jack, and just "djinn didn't like the inside of Dean's head despite dealing in nightmares" to wonder about Dean.

We get the recap that Jack's being given his hunter go ahead, but then Dean's dismal "it's all on me, it's my fault" over a dark screen and even the "Now" which is a very over dramatic way to press home the sense of ongoing trauma and how that line is going to be affecting him.

Not that we haven't seen him very visibly affected already, behaviourally, but this seems like a clock reaches the end of its countdown episode now >.>

-

ANYWAY HAVE SOME UPBEAT MUSIC AND THE KOOKY STATUE GUY

Ooh dear, here's bandanna girl from the promo pics, but wearing......... would you fukkin believe it............................................. a long tan coat with large dark buttons up the front. Hilariously, I nearly mentioned when chatting about ascots yesterday morning, that ties made of ribbons were a modern equivalent you see in the same professions so maybe she is just visually connected to these sort of neck ties. Her floofy shirt and that ribbon tie has both shades of people's fem!Cas cosplay and also the sort of faux puritan modern witch look from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, so. I'm gonna assume whether they know it or not she's a witch.

-

Aww she is the librarian :')

-

I love her already because she said good morning to the old person sitting by the statue, but also because she did that and therefore is emotionally completely at odds with the show and her personal theme music means she's in for it and I already feel protective that her jaunty tune is going to get interrupted.

-

Why do I feel like at least 4 of the library rules are going to be broken

-

Aww the floofy frills go all around her shoulders. She's so upbeat! Shelving books like it is the most thrilling and wonderful thing to be doing on this sunny morning after rain :')

-

She looks so much like Bela when she talks... good grief... I wonder if she's related. Anyway first jump scare is her library boyfriend because she was just so caught up in shelving.

Listen I get names wrong or ignore them constantly but for some reason I do not understand them at all so it sounded like Ambraubry to me and probably isn't Amber or Aubrey and also how comes I understand all the other dialogue but not this??? To the point that in multiple past episodes despite my slow and steady approach to understanding an episode, I've completely and utterly mangled understanding or missed entirely the name introductions D:

I really am going to try and do better this episode, because it's so awkward.

-

"Harper, are you okay?"

Adsjfhdkjsfhskjfds

-

She's an angel. Wings, trenchcoat, tie, harp -

-

Anyway she appears to have the affections of at least two dudes, one of whom will defend her with a stapler, and we're lucky the detective pikachu trailer came out like 2 days ago because the kid in that does it but it's too late to be an homage.

Obviously Harper's knight in dark plaid is brooding, gingery, and armed with a projectile weapon. *fires staples at sweater nice!guy*

"Put the stapler down"

*Dean Winchester's it back into the safety setting*

-

"That guy's always been creepy" See that was hilarious but now I like sweater guy better.

"He's just overreacting because nothing ever happens here" Is this Cas defending Dean to the bitter end, even when it might literally involve watching him murder the world for his own personal angst?

-

Harper is very clearly setting boundaries while being a total sweetie about being sad no one goes to libraries or reading time. She's almost too frighteningly well put together. No one is this well-adjusted :P

-

Aaand sweater!guy loses points for nice!guying his way into assuming he has a date

dear lord the music

-

RIP Sweater Guy.

We hardly knew ye.

-

Dear lord I love Yockey characters

And Speight directing

this is truly as unholy fun as I was fearing D:

-

Also re: something from 14x04... nice guy characters again being portrayed in this way where the old school "geek" coding (or at least, beta male who is small and wearing a sweater and such in this very old-school way which honestly I think is fashionable again or was recently... It's a coding which comes with not just the appearance but also the attitude, and if he'd been cool and charismatic, the same costume could have done something very different). It isn't so much the problem as the attitude... Nerds are beloved on this show, but people with gross toxic attitudes such as insisting dinner is a date and not taking no for an answer on that are going to be summarily murdered round back for hubris.

I mean the title is "optimism" and he was WILDLY over-optimistic about his chance of getting with Harper, so. I mean. If that's the magnetism that pulls the monster in...

-

On the other side of the title card, Jack is stayin alive, and curiously pouring way too much sugar in his coffee as the title comes up - there's an immediate irony that he may be optimistic that he is doing better and on his way to hunting with all his dads and being part of the team again and also optimistic that this much sugar will not ruin the coffee... It's also a little worrying though I doubt he thinks this far ahead, in the sense that too much sugar is bad for you and like Dean being thrilled at the thought of bacon killing him, Jack risking the health damage from drinking sugar-coffee-sludge is an endgame beyond his current consumptive state.

See also: tragic or byronic heroes who are gonna self-destruct because they have mayfly lives in the age of consumption. Jack again being at genre odds with himself as part of an internal conflict...

"What's with the sugar?"

"without my powers, everything tastes different, and I can't get this how I like it"

Maybe you aren't meant to be drinking coffee if it's too bitter for you. I mean in your current state what is chugging red bull gonna do to kill you faster.

It's very Cas in 9x11, commenting on being an angel again after being human. But we know Jack's still in that state. It's interesting because we know he has a sweet tooth because literally the first thing he ever eats is nougat and now we all call him nougat child, but I feel like with powers he was probably rather less discerning because nothing would kill him and everything was digestible... Coffee tastes bitter because it's technically a bitter poison warning, telling us not to consume because caffeine bad... Er, yeah, sorry, coffee plants. But bitterness to humans is supposed to repel us on a “is this food safe?” level, and kids have trouble with bitter foods, and prefer sweetness and uncomplicated flavours because they're instinctively safer.

Jack's struggling to consume the bitter adult juice that makes the hunters run, and is dealing with it by a Sisyphean task of just adding more and more sugar to taste. It reminds me of when I was smol and wanted to drink cranberry juice because I thought it would make me more sophisticated, but it was too bitter, so I kept adding more and more water until it went from even remotely resembling juice to sort of pinkish tart water that still tasted gross and made my mouth dry and didn't even taste like juice any more. At no point did I hit the sweet spot where it was drinkable, because I wasn't even putting the right stuff in to make it taste better. In that case, a spoonful of sugar. In Jack's case... dude. A splash of milk. You don't have to drink it angsty black-like-his-soul like Dean does.

Anyway, "I can't get it how I like it" is very telling of Jack's current overall mindset and sense of place and all. Now he's human but despite having chosen his family and even declared himself human before his powers were stolen, he now has no powers and is consumptive to boot, so the balance has swung way too far over from super powerful cosmic entity to sick kid who can't keep up with the adults. No amount of sugar can change that to something he WANTS to drink when there's still a fundamentally fatal problem with his situation. Sure the dangers of being cosmic lil nephilim on everyone's radar is over, but as this show always does, it swings over to an ironic flip of the first problem, and he's too weak to help.

I suppose the optimism is that he can change this scenario by pouring sugar into it - hunting with the dads - when he needs a different drink.

-

Whoops already with the dramatic irony - Jack's excited and admiring of heroes Sam and AUCharlie (ChAUrlie?) and just assumes they're having the time of their lives. He's yet to solo hunt with either Sam or Dean, but he'll tick Dean off the list today. For now, what No.1 Dad gets up to (no offence to other dads, this one just tackled Lucifer for him that one time) is mythically amazing, so probably why it's the last on the list... if we'll ever see it. After all, Sam and Jack had their whole season structured around their dynamic from open to close, while actual conflict and confusion remains between his dynamics with both Cas and Dean, as much more complicated, less ideal dads.

Meanwhile: Sam is discovering that it's SUPER AWKWARD to go on a stake out with an AU version hardened by war and with like at least 5-10 years less pop culture than the Charlie you knew, loved, and got murdered by accident that one time.

Which I am totally sure is not on Yockey's mind at all now he's caught the Charlie ball that Buckleming threw recklessly out there.

-

Anyway. Dean not sugarcoating (haha) "he just left you here" "yeeeep." Obviously Jack's spent a LOT of time in the Bunker recovering and training (he's back in his tracksuit top at least here) but Cas declared him fit for service and they even seem to have survived that hunt together. Somehow. (No slight on their competency, but it's Cas and Jack. Come on, that was a TRIP and I'm so bitter we didn't see it :P) So now Dean can say this in a way that makes it sound like Jack's being left out and get his bitterness immediately on the surface, as he doesn't really have filters.

More bitterness you can't pour sugar over.

-

The fact that Jack is sitting with his back to Kevin's coffee machine is the worst thing ever.

-

LOL, poor Dean. Sam deputised Jack to wait for Dean to get back from his supply run to the love cabin, because he was worried about him, which means that Dean now has his own kick from Sam which I am assuming is the spite motivator to take the boy out hunting with him, that he thinks that *Jack* now has to look after *Dean* at least emotionally.

Obviously, like. Yeah. They're good for each other especially if they can bond some more. But like. Try telling Dean that while insisting it's mandatory father son bonding time out of CONCERN.

*cat falling in a bathtub and freaking out and reaching supersonic speeds out the door gif*

-

Nougat Son attempts a pep talk anyway because he is good and pure of heart and adores his pop pop, even if by sheer lack of interaction or early interest he technically does rank at no.3 in the charts. Listen, Dean WOULD tackle Lucifer for you if he had to, but the story wasn't framed in such a way that he COULD over Sam's narrative need to tackle Lucifer for you.

-

Dean rebuffs it not out of harshness to Jack but to himself - Jack repeats the line that no one blames Dean, but Dean is like "i do"... Honestly I'm curious for the Dean n Cas version of this because Cas was there in the room and he so far hasn't given Dean the pep talk. Mostly out of them not spending any time together, and I'm sure Dean has a lot of shame that Cas saw him do it, but for as much as Cas blatantly loves Dean still and all on first sight, does he have a more complicated view on it, given he was in the room and tried to argue Dean down?

Anyway Dean and Jack share a very knowing silence of mutual self-loathing and wow this is hilaaaaarious that that's their mutual relationship bedrock but yeah. Last season the most bonding they did was in 13x23 when Dean was like yeah we all get horrifying nightmares kiddo.

-

*consumptive noises* *Dean's eyes immediately shoot over to the kid*

-

"Maybe I'm allergic to sitting around doing nothing"

THERE HE IS. THERE'S MY SARCASTIC LIL NOUGAT

-

We do not get enough of him. I mean, like, maybe since 13x04? He had a rough childhood but now he is a Teen, with all the door slamming and threatening to kill dad no.3 that entails.

-

"What do you want to do?" We really are getting Dean coming towards Jack from arms' length even now, so he sits down with him and NOW and only now he stops the pretence of being a somewhat disinterested grumpy adult talking to another angst ball adult - very 13x02 last scene kinda wary understanding but without the threat of murder - to sitting at the table with Jack (who of course is in Sam's place) and reaches out to him with a very clear opening up of father son bonding time. I think obviously Jack has grown on him and he cares but he's resisted overt responsibility and their connection has been tentative and weird, and as paternal as Dean can be and has been since the start of the show, with Jack only he's been very careful about opening himself up, specifically for reasons of not wanting to get lumped with another baby to care for right when he was truly setting Sam down at last, and also for like, the whole getting Cas killed thing, and even a year and a half later, he may actually HAVE tentative paternal feelings towards Jack, but he's very much intent on keeping himself Dad no.3, and to only open himself up when it's necessary or else he's emotionally ready for it.

(The description of next episode makes me pretty sure Dean is the worst person of them all to have to discover Consumptive Nougat Son issues which is why I’m assuming he’ll figure it out)

In this case, this appears to be a mutual distraction from their angst - "HUNT" Jack says, with the kind of horrifying enthusiasm of one who still doesn't see it as nightmarish as Dean does.

-

"Cas is an insurance policy on those hunts" Awww Dean loves his hubby and thinks he's still the biggest BAMF ever, even when Cas has, er, a patchy record lately. Though perhaps low-level monster nonsense is still within his scope...

Anyway, after the Sam n Cas nurturing Jack conspiracy (how dare they love and care for him!!!) Dean straight-talks the kid that he's still very much on hunter probation and has been tagging along with Cas specifically for his own protection. Again, Dean never sugarcoats for Jack, but that honesty has always been a core part of their relationship, even when things were really, really, really bad. Jack still cared what Dean thought and Dean, eternally bitter from his own childhood, gave it to Jack straight, even if it would hurt. No fairytales for Jack.

Even though he has fanciful notions of sleeping beauty from his more whimsical fathers and whatever Kelly left in there :P

-

Why does Sam have a fidget spinner except that Charlie may be about to declare HIM the monster of the week and kill him.

I mean, dramatic irony and making him look goofy. And Sam is very very very hard to make look goofy because he had all his funny bones replaced with serious bones.

It is very embarrassing to watch him be a goof for this exact reason.

I suppose it is a way to make us start to sympathise with AUCharlie and start to get into HER headspace. We're seeing Sam from an outside perspective - Jack and Dean saying admiring things about him, while looping over to Sam to show us what CHARLIE is experiencing of this. Especially as she's spent a lot of time on the road being an independent agent, rather than sticking with the AU Peeps all the time, she's very much a strong personality of her own as a former rebel leader, and yet knowing OUR Charlie it's less the leading and more the rebellion that would have drawn her. Though she makes a great Queen of Moondoor, that's her softer, nerdy side, and she very clearly had a hunter!Charlie persona of a rebel that struck out on her own, and even when she was a civilian whistleblower/hacker from within RRE, she was acting on her own initiative against the corporate enemy. With her trip to Oz she also had a similar role as AUCharlie of being perhaps a general to a higher leader such as AUBobby in Dorothy.

-

The adverts on the McCook Sentinel are for TRAVEL, retirement funds, eating healthy and a local student initiative cleaning up the park - the next generation doing their bit to make the world better.

-

Oh dear, Winston "sweater guy" Mathers - the same name as Dave Mathers in 13x06 - was bitten all over and it was probably bath salts. Case closed.

-

Now the negotiations and loopholes: Sam said we all need partners now "so we can be hunting buddies!!" Oh Jack. Alex really is good at sounding innocently purely enthusiastic with total childish glee.

-

"A: don't call it that."

-

Dean snarks at Jack that HE is going to back ME up? Nah kid. Mistake - this is the key to the angst floodgates. Honestly pausing just after the "I could have killed Michael when i was strong enough!!" declaration is enough info for me to accept a smash cut to Dean and Jack kitted out and on the case, guilt trip accomplished.

It's also very familiar to Dean to have the guilt of having not done enough, to find someone else also specifically feels responsible for what Michael is off doing. And Jack's claim to guilt lies like a whole FIVE MINUTES earlier than DEAN'S claim to guilt. If Jack had killed Michael, Dean wouldn't have had him there to say yes to.

Check and mate.

-

Sorry, Jack is saying he was distracted and stupid so now Dean is legally obligated to take him hunting to cheer him up.

-

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"AND NEITHER DID YOU, BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY EASIER, DOES IT?"

Okay, what is the one that comes after check mate but even more vicious because Jack's running loops around his old man.

-

Dean is making.... left over noodle... taco.....

Jack, knock him out, drag him to the impala, and start driving before he can eat it

-

He also sharply identifies hunting as the coping mechanism and how they don't just sit around in the Bunker feeling sorry for themselves, and Dean not only can relate but he is being wildly called out by someone who has no filters and also will tell him the absolute truth about it. More than Cas, these days, who carries so much of his guilt and shame secretly so as not to burden Dean, that Jack is now the refreshing voice who cuts through all their crap and shows it for what it is.

-

Dean is like, man, I never wanted kids. Because they do this to you.

-

Thank god Jack won that argument with the final emotional appeal and we shifted over to Sam and AUCharlie's adventure.

-

They really are not getting along.

-

Charlie just has a jar of sloppy goo. What did she get it from? How did she get so much in the jar when it's so runny? Why does she still have it? Why did Sam put it on the dash? How comes they have Bobby's truck?

Or do the AU Peeps have a whole collection of identical beaten up blue trucks as part of their uniform shabby hunter look?

-

It's super weird having Charlie pull out an old book instead of a laptop. How do you do product placement????

-

Dick's Red Rooster diner!

-

There's a massive photo of a barn at sunset behind them. Putting them out to pasture??

-

"Yeah, when a young guy dies they never know what to put in those things." Ouch, Dean. Spent a lifetime reading obits, he has a deep insider knowledge of the writing style of them.

The line itself in a more meta way is really sad to think about contemplating anyone having that thought to write it in the first place :( It's deep enough that it doesn't seem an obvious thing to occur to you unless you're super morbid or have first hand experience with this.

Let's just go with these writers all have to write fake obits all the time for their show(s) so they know the struggle of trying to pass off the obit as legit sounding while also contemplating what to even say about their fake people who of course they have just imagined up so don't even know anything about them to start with.

-

Cocks, everywhere.

-

(Man, I really hope there aren't people who read these notes before/instead of the episode also hi if you do, you weird wonderful people) (the diner has a heavy red rooster theme and there's metal cockerels all over the place)

(I assume they're for Dick Speight)

-

Oh dear, Dean is indeed going to have to be the parent who gives Jack the birds and the bees talk, because they've left their kid to learn what he can from TV while creating a perfect circle of Cas assuming Sam will do it, Sam assuming Dean will do it, Dean assuming it's not his problem but it would be hilarious if Cas did it...

So of course Dean ends up being the one on the hunt with Jack where he goes down the sudden horrifying rabbit hole from explaining courting to hearing Jack say "the sex" like he's freakin swap-meated Sam...

-

Worst case scenario: Cas has ALREADY given Jack the talk but Dean's now going to have to fix that damage :P

-

Oh teenagers. You want them to stay disturbingly 1 day old naked manchildren forever.

-

Of course the waitress leans in like "sometimes you just have 'the sex'"

Dean shifts uncomfortably and rotates the cock that had been staring right at his midsection away, like he'd not only clocked it earlier, thought about what it innuendoed, but now in the moment where they're thinking about all this stuff surface text, he's too uncomfortable to deal with cocks right now.

-

Thank god Dean is as uncomfortable as I am dealing with the concept of Jack being adult bodied and now emotionally teenaged, because he puts the conversation back on track before I actually expire of horror.

Me and Dean are mutually uncomfortable at the realisation that Jack is catching up fast with his outward age. More than halfway there, probably. Only just started bonding with the kid and now we have to let him fly the nest :P

-

Awww we're getting the everyone loves Harper montage of townsfolk. I love one of these things.

We're spending a LOT of time on the Dean n Jack side of things, which is making me wonder if Sam and Charlie will play catch up later, or if they really are a comic cutaway case to the real angst. That Yockey really really wanted to get our two tragic main dorks into one room alone to work through their issues of guilt and murder and stuff and Sam is too emotionally well-balanced currently to be around that.

-

I'm pretty sure one set of the townsfolk are two married women

-

Oh Harper. She's so bubbly and she keeps losing people D: Is there a Nice Guy latched onto you?

(Is it stapler!guy? Nooo I was rooting for him. Maybe he's innocent but will be the next victim... Or maybe not. He DID just see Winston trying to pick her up moments before he died)

-

"She's bad luck" "real shame."

Yeah, something wants her for itself >.>

-

Maybe Harper is the one doing the murdering and eating

Probably not.

-

Sam sits there picking his teeth and AUCharlie finally snaps and tries reaching out to him if it will make him a less annoying stakeout partner. She also does not come under the bracket of Sam's hunter army in the sense of being inexperienced and over grateful of the rescue - that fierce Charlie spark clearly sets her aside not to treat him like the Chief in the same way of needing to be coached and looked after and she was immediately free last season to head off with main named characters like Rowena for side adventures. 

It's interesting just because WE know better that she's interesting and Charlie-like so obviously worth a main side character promotion, but in-universe in a practical way, on the surface there might not initially be anything to set her aside from why she gets special treatment except that she had a former leadership role and clearly more experience and innate feeling towards hunting and rebellion than the rest, compared with Maggie who clearly comes across as a refugee wanting to make a new life and learn the ropes of this world with skills she didn't even develop growing to adulthood in the AU.

Anyway, AUCharlie's attempts to shore Sam up end up with Sam throwing the awkwardness back on her and finally opening up the emotional heart of their story - telling her that Charlie was Dean's old wingman and that she'd been a best friend of his (see also: they'd been going to Moondoor meets off-screen)

-

This is also hilarious that they're using the term wingman when Cas is blatantly the "wing man" in Dean's life and yet Sam is of course focused on Charlie when it comes to dealing with the awkwards of being in a car with AUCharlie but also this skips over Cas's place in the order of best friendyness, because Cas is so much beyond that with his family status.

-

Anyway Sam uses "you" to refer to Charlie to AUCharlie, which is a direct comment on how they find it weird to have her around and she recoils also from the weirdness that they'd been so close to her in their universe. Their mutual discomfort with each other probably also being why she's been happy to go off on extended adventures on her own getting to grips with this world.

"I'm just saying, I'm not surprised you survived the apocalypse" "Well, I am!"

Sam and AUCharlie going back and forth on his uncomfortable admiration of the other Charlie, while AUCharlie is of course having to fill the shoes of the dear departed first Charlie, a harsh copy of her to Sam's eyes and she can feel that because of course of the weird hug when they first met, it's clear that he, like Dean, struggles to separate her - even in a way where she's AU Charlie but Bobby is "new bobby" which is a distinction which shows more awareness of Bobby as a clean replacement while Charlie is a murky zone where should she be treated like just having another Charlie dropped in their laps, or should she be seen clearly as a completely different person from the one she's replacing for them?

-

Oh nooo this Charlie worked for RRE but she had a love of her life unlike our singleton Charlie. Just like AUBobby had managed to have Daniel with Karen so things were clearly easier between them than our version... It seems like Mary's sacrifice to not have John somehow boosted the relationships of all the AU people except maybe poor old Kevin :P

-

Oh noooo what if AUCharlie goes to find this universe Cara??

-

Oh goodness actual details of the "angel wars" - a massive EMP that put Charlie out of a job just for starters.

"We banded together, thought, someone will save us! No one ever did." Probably not a commentary on the effectiveness of the current government/world leadership at protecting us from disaster >.>

-

You made AUCharlie cry, you asshole. D:

It's mass grief vs personal grief - the AU peeps lost their world, Sam and Dean saved their world at great personal loss. They took on every one of these deaths into their own personal angst machine, so no wonder it's still rolling on :P

Because in the AU everyone has a Karen or a Cara - everyone who was left lost everything and everyone who was gone.

In Sam n Dean's world, paradise world, the heroes had their own grief, but it's a mythologised version, the great mytharc of losing Mary, Jess, etc that powered the intense personal angst of the apocalypse. But that angst which was so intensely forged in Sam and Dean for taking on the entire burden of everyone's angst that made them the heroes who stopped the apocalypse.

And literally one episode later I'm back to Dean's 2x20 speech about why does it have to be us who saves the world and sacrifices happy normal lives - throw "Carmen" into the Karen, Cara collection.

-

"One day the water gets shut off. The next day, people are on fire."

-

Anyway, AUCharlie is intensely hardened to the point of "it all falls apart" because of course she's seen their world crumble.

And again, the outside view point where she's not got the perspective that Sam is the hero that saved the world - it's for us to remember that Sam is the reason this world hasn't crumbled, that hunters are the secret glue holding this world together and we can correct Charlie about their world.

Going too deep is quite uncomfortable to end up comparing 2 worlds, one with a set of destined heroes who are just about holding this one together from at least supernatural threats, and one which immediately fell to pieces when the damage came. In 13x14 AUBobby said that their world just had him, again leaving that empty space that Sam and Dean fixed. But implies the everyday heroism of the AU peeps who managed to hold it together enough to rebuild communities and organise fighting back in their spaces, even heroic-minded people like Bobby and Charlie... AUBobby reckoned he didn't have it together as much as Sam, but in our world, Bobby was a pillar who held the boys and hunting community together much of the time. And Charlie helped save the world once, yet this one felt it crumble around her.

There's something vaguely divine right of kings going on with Sam and Dean at this point, that whole Chuck getting personally involved and calling Dean the firewall between light and dark, that puts their role in a much stranger and more cosmic position. The same thing that made Billie angrily stop pursuing the Winchesters and sit back to read Dean's books in bafflement about how he doesn't die every other day of the week, but is so important on the grand scheme.

To go another step beyond that into meta realms, they have a main character narrative purpose in their own world, so embedded that in the world building of a similar universe, there's no one remotely fit for purpose to step up because no one else was narratively placed to do what they did. And that's their tragedy that they were the people singled out by the narrative, that it's character fights god, directly and on a meta level at times, yelling "why me" and getting "because you're the main character, dumbass, now get back to work" as the answer.

Sam has CONSIDERABLY less interaction across the entire show with being the more meta character, as Dean has genre savvy and was the onlooker to Sam being the one in the crosshairs, that the choice was on Lucifer's vessel to say no or yes, or crack him out of the cage or put him back in. Michael's only purpose was to kill Lucifer, and the rest was free character development space for Dean to yell about how unfair it was that he was there and Sam was being forced this way and that to fulfill his destiny. Even in some meta episodes Sam stayed within the lines or played a role while Dean was the one critiquing and going to speak to the manager, as per the metaphor of Swan Song - 4x18 is the best example of that.

So I think Sam having to confront this here and now is really interesting that he seems considerably less challenged over time to think of himself as the centre of this narrative and what causes and effects this has caused, and to see himself from outside eyes rather than being the one trapped in the middle of it. Lucifer showed him a clip of Swan Song from outside eyes, but it's just not been enough for Sam to really conceptualise himself in this way. Perhaps it'll help him appreciate more what he's done for the universe. I think 6x15 might be the only time he showed more interest than Dean, and that also was about an alternate universe and working out their effect or lack of on it. Of course it was a branch AU from OUR world, while Apocalypse AU is a branch AU from THEIR world.

"not here"

"not yet"

-

More sugar for Jack. Dean rewards him for finding a case with PIE. Not cake though there was a lot in the displays.

There's still cocks in the background. In the old season 10 pie vs cake thing (10x12 and 10x13 and 10x15 working HARD on it) cake was the forbidden option and pie was the sexy thing that literally was used as a yonic symbol. I'm beginning to dread that Jack's going to get the talk, if for no other reason that Dabb's pre-episode tweets of Jack as Fabio on romance novel covers, but the previous conversation sure didn't help. We're visually and show-language primed for Some Nonsense.

-

Oh Christ Jack starts asking about courting, and he says he's never experienced it "unless what you said about Rowena and Gabriel counts"

This dumb lump of nougat has witnessed one of the most ridiculous chapters of Dean n Cas angst and hasn't got a clue.

"No, definitely doesn't count."

He never saw them together, but he would have been there when they broke the news to Rowena I guess. Maybe had some innocent questions then too.

Maybe was advised not to touch the books on that side of the library until someone hosed them down with holy oil.

-

I've been avoiding watching more for like. 2-3 hours. I mean I've been dipping in and out but the mere prospect of this conversation has had me noping out for extended chunks of time to knit and stare into the void and I just realised it's 9am and I started at 5 and only some of that was typing.

My second hand embarrassment squick is barely able to cope with this concept. Now I'm IN this scene I've watched all of Rachel Maddow and nearly checked my dash before I remembered I'm avoiding watching the new episode because Dean has to give Jack the talk so I still have an unwatched episode and spoilers to avoid.

I'm ranking this episode right up there with my conceptual horror at 11x04 just for the prospect of Jack and sex in the same sentence.

-

Oh thank GOD "when we get back I promise I'll give you the Talk" I should have pressed play so much sooner.

(No, you're fooling yourself Lizzy. This concept doesn't just come up in the first quarter of an episode and then go away)

-

Oh. Oh Dear. Yeah, trying to do a trust fall with the rest of the scene just meant I walked right in to Dean proposing, I think, using this strapping young lad he has with him as bait to investigate Harper, by sending him to meet cute with her. You know, Jack, dressed in his tan coat, Harper now dressed with her red bandanna ascoting around her throat and a black shirt so she's more Dean-like.

Bless, Jack's all grown up, he's in a Destiel parallel :')

-

A Ploy! Father Son roleplay! Dean plays the horrible looming FBI man who is threatening a smol lady with only a book for protection to interview her aggressively... And in steps the hero, in his red shirt and still tan coat of course, primed for young love and a hunger for local history books! :P

Well at least maybe stapler!guy might be protected by this if he's not the monster :P

-

Dean has watched enough rom coms/read enough romance novels to know how to set this up even if Jack doesn't. Canon.

-

Put that nasty FBI man in his place! Bam! Jack's getting another one in over Dean in the roleplay which mirrors their starting conversation of him emotionally triple-checkmating Dean over letting him come.

It is also a position of trust to let him do the work to chat up Harper.

-

Gosh I am curious about the endgame of where the Jack vs Dean conflict goes. Jack was literally yelling at Cas that they might have to murder Dean to get Michael a few weeks ago. There's shit going on here and the self-aware staged conflict really makes a curious sort of play within a play aspect, where it mirrors the dynamic. Set a play to catch the conscience of the king.

In this case, Dean being overbearing and threatening to a young woman mirrors Kaia and his treatment of both versions of her, but this time someone is here to step in and stop him, when Jack has been a bystander in the past. And in 13x09 of course, when they first met Kaia, Jack was being really grabby and possessive of her, and she had to beat him off and when Sam and Dean caught up with Jack, Dean immediately said "Good!" about Kaia hitting him, because Jack really was overstepping lines and was wavering one way and the other about being a Joffrey.

Jack is again playing the hero - he's been the prince to sleeping beauty and now he's the Fabio to this love-challenged cursed town darling. This is about perceptions and surface levels - playing the games of being the hero while still working out his own place in the world and discovering that heroism can sometimes mean a murderous revenge quest against the AUncle and the high collateral damage of achieving that. Despite Jack's full on tragic narrative he's battling it hard to dabble in other more light-hearted genres, and join his dads who have all survived by travelling between genre lines and becoming action heroes instead of tragic heroes.

And why is Dean now the possessive and grabby one when he was possessed and grabbed? Or is he still the one who did the grabbing? He CAN'T be Just Michael for all this time, but what's the secret Michael has set up? We can't know it yet but there must be clues, and more we'll work out when we know and can look back on these episodes with hindsight...

But Dean also was presumably the one to come up with the ploy so is it HIS play, and we're getting the boy king (v.2) conscience caught here?

"Why don't you back off kid?"

"You back off... Old man" Jack suddenly sounds threatening enough that Dean recoils, having never been on that end of Jack's terrifying switch Alex can make to being a truly frightening presence, at least not when Jack wasn't naked and lashing out dumbly because he was literally hours old. Jack's never threatened Dean with intent because why would he.

Dean's caught off guard and makes a genuinely "uh" noise in his throat while recovering from the threat, but it impresses Harper so I suppose that's what matters.

Dean vs Jack is very much the Dean and John version of this whole thing, except Dean tried to launch himself to Mars rather than parent Jack and give him the same experience... While accidentally doing stuff like handing Jack a shovel and dismissively telling him to dig which had the exact same effect of being raised as he was. Because like it or not, by 13x02, Jack was mimicking Dean and idolised him a little all along. And now of course, with Daniel laying into Bobby and probably a bunch of other stuff I can't recall mid sentence, we're deep into confronting father figure territory, with John's ghost looming over them all.  

-

"This isn't over" after a moment of comical blustering, the squint Dean gives Jack is almost imperceptible but there's a bit of confusion/curiosity there about just where Jack's assertiveness came from, because DEAN didn't teach him to disrespect authority like that (he totally got it from you Dean). The warning is of course nice and meta in the sense that this staged conflict probably is over, but the Dean vs Jack stuff is only just kicking off.

-

Jack... Smith.

Aw hon.

Still no surname then? Not Kline or Winchester or... whatever Cas's surname is.

-

"Dean what do you mean you don't know Jack's surname? It's the same as mine!" Dean stares blankly at Cas. Cas squints at Dean. Dean slowly, slowly, sinks to the floor and crab-walks backwards out of the room.

-

Anyway awwwwwww romance hero Jack! You play those genres! Find the one where you don't have to be consumptive and murderous!

-

Aha, Stapler Guy is probably called Miles, since Dean is getting perfect audio on this conversation from the car.

Jack is the politest nougat ever, and wants to shake hands with everyone. SOMEONE raised him right. Probably Kelly. I can't even begin to imagine where else he gets it so it must be an instinct she hammered into him from the womb.

Anyway as soon as another guy leaves to get coffee with Harper, Miles comes shooting out of the library to ask what's up, so he's looking more and more like the monster. Grabbiness as the motw!

-

Oooh she's taking Jack to her apartment to get him a book. Oh dear, Jack, this is what Dean did in 9x08.

Be careful, sweetie. No one's given you the Talk yet D:

-

"You don't even know this guy!" "Miles, stop it!"

Yeah, staples guy is definitely my no.1 suspect.

-

Oh.

Is staples guy about to be eaten?

-

Whoops, me and Dean both made the wrong call there. And I was just about to tell Dean he should have been following him in case he was the monster, which would have at least saved him.

-

Apparently just crushing on Harper is dangerous enough. Though Staples Guy crushed hard enough to be a threat. Which means, I would guess, that the MotW feeds on toxic masculinity.

-

Oh my GOD Sam is still stuck in the truck with AUCharlie.

-

"Who wants to be a hunter? Just a lot of tears and death." Yeah, our Charlie got into it with only personal sacrifice of broken arms in exchange for a bunch of thrill-seeking adventure. Until she died, of course. AUCharlie is what you get when Charlie has a tragic backstory involving monsters. I think she must still be hunting for the same principle Charlie had on our first meeting, of what sort of douchebag doesn't help when monsters are eating people in your very building you work... But at the same time, AUCharlie has none of the sunshine, because it was already all taken from her, and she never started hunting to save people, only to fight angels and survive. I suppose the only difference in this world is that now there's no angels to fight, she's outcast from society by default and  has ended up with the same asocial vigilante skills from guerrilla warfare as hunters use day by day for their less world ends stakes job.

-

Sam says "you" and then corrects to "our Charlie" - I can't remember exactly when this was but I think it was 10x18, after Charlie had been through enough that she was starting to lose the shine and Robbie knew he was writing a Charlie who was about to be chewed up and devoured by the story. By Sam's man pain in the story.

This is a baton that Yockey is having to take very seriously and carefully, because of course AUCharlie is so different but the meta perspective on bringing her back is very much about replacement and loss of a fave and facing what the story did to Charlie and for what stakes, vs what was she brought back for and can just shoving a new different Charlie into the story actually make up for doing what they did to her.

-

"So glad this is my last case" aw no she's retiring to the beach. Has she just been working with them while she gets enough resources to start over?

She's going "away" - from monsters and people. Go live on a mountaintop or something. Again, this is more about the trauma she's been through and how she copes, and what she needs to do to settle herself.

(PS: I will weep openly if the last shot of this is Charlie outside a cupcake shop)

I don't think this means she's necessarily out of the story or that through this van conversation bottle episode, Sam might not convince her to at least just take a break like Mobby are doing, but she's clearly there in the collection with them and Dean of people who have been so badly hurt that they need to retreat from the hunting frontlines. Dean NEEDED to watch 2 weeks worth of horror movies and take it easy. He's not exactly describing himself as really ready for action now either. Charlie may end up a mirror that's a fair bit darker, because while AUBobby is full of grief and self-destruction, it's open and explosive, while she's cold and retreating and surrounded by people who see the wrong person when they look at her - the bubbly fun Charlie we used to know. In the same way, if Dean has changed, people look at him and see the Dean THEY used to know and expect things of him he's sometimes not ready to offer. He made a big step in letting Sam take charge of the operation, in the sense of acknowledging himself under Sam's direction.

It's interesting now that both AUBobby and Charlie lost romantic loved ones, when we saw Dean change so dramatically in season 13 without Cas and that being the beginning of Sam's tentative need to take control and start to be right about his hunches like nurturing Jack. The swap in the roles and Sam struggling to understand Dean, and in 13x05 - the Yockey episode - failing so desperately to help Dean on his chosen cheer up hunt compared to acing it the same time next year.

-

LOL Harper's house has "AMOUR" and a huge love heart on the wall. This poor romantic sap. I'm so sorry a monster is eating all your prospective boyfriends.

She has stuffed toys on her bed and so many shelves of books. I love her. She's the best. Protect her, please, Jack.

-

His "??" over the "moves" also is a great way to make her way more the flustered one, because Jack could be way more awkward with inexperience except he's literally transcended it, as Cas often does, back out the other side of obliviousness :')

-

He leaps into action to prepare to test her for monstery things :') He's been trained well!!

-

On the other hand it does look like he now has REALLLLLLLY sweaty hands after covering them in holy water.

-

Oh christ, Jack, this is why we don't do Christo any more. Also. You shouldn't be aggravating your cough. You could really set yourself off.

-

"I'm just nervous"

Harper goes through the correct range of emotions for how adorable Jack is.

Charlie's "I got something" is layered over Jack being invited to sit with her - both of them just got a break on the case, though for Jack it is being prey for the boyfriend eater, and Charlie has read enough books.

-

Muscas look horrifying. I love the 17th century illustration of one.

-

Awww AUCharlie calling him a nerd. Those awful flashes of her being the Charlie they once knew.

-

LOLLLLL the Musca has a "bad egg" who FAILS TO FIND A MATE and goes bad, and starts killing people to nest. So we're really roasting beta males who fall into the woe is me victimisation trap of incels and would rather kill people (literally, unfortunately, in some cases) than address their own issues, get help, and find some peace and probably, honestly, a girlfriend as soon as they stop behaving like that and learn to see women as people, not mating-prey >.>

Why do I feel like whatever has latched onto Harper is going to have a suspiciously similar motivation where it's picking off men in order to leave her single...

-

Not that I have the best judgement on her case, but it's B L A T A N T L Y about courting.

-

And these guys are courting her - lots of innocent courtly gestures like dinner dates, protecting her nobly with a stapler, fighting off the nasty FBI man... She's their damsel.

-

"Our perp might just be a giant fly with low self-esteem" Don't sugar coat it Sam.

-

Is this episode "wow look at this hetero bullshit by Steve Yockey"

-

AHAHAH THE GIANT FLY IS MANSPREADING AT THE BUS SHELTER

It also has ribbons at the front of its cloak. The design is both modern with the suit and boots, but with enough of that old 17th century twist to give it a nice spooky old fashioned uncanniness. it's not of this time, place, world, etc...

-

Awww Harper has a halo with the lamp!

-

Oh Jack no, I told you not to aggravate the cough.

-

Vance... probable monster. (I say that a lot but we’re past the elimination round)

She didn't want to leave town... we could see the world in books!

You are also adorable and not quite of this town or modern world. Her "sappiness" does make her a weirdly good match for Jack, though, just because of the pure-heartedness they exude.

-

Jack can not IMAGINE someone leaving Harper behind.

-

"That was the beginning of my bad luck" Fancy that.

Also you still keep a photo of your ex in your apartment.

That’s weird, hon.

-

Oh dear, now Jack's opening up. "I try to stay optimistic." "Me too."

Awww sweetie. for all the bad that's happened he keeps on powering through, because sometimes that can be powered by optimism for a happy ending

Unfortunately, we're in irony town where the grimmer you are about your fate the more chance you have of surviving just to spite that. And, you know, vice versa, it gives you consumption just to make it harder... like, how much can we throw at this kid before he stops?

-

"Do you believe in love in first sight?" "Harper..... do you mind if I use your bathroom?"

Unlike 9x08, Jack is rather less distracted by being adorably hit on by the sweetest romantic. Time to flee.

-

Dean has been standing awkwardly at the corpse this entire time.

-

The bathroom has dragonflies all over it which I assume are interesting symbolically in a way which relates to her love struggles. Also the other side of the story's bug struggles.

-

"Harper is not a monster. And i'm 99% sure she's in love with me."

-

"She was looking at me with these googly eyes"

This is like, warning for next time Cas and Dean are in the same room because you SAW them last time

Next time, you will be prepared.

-

Dean is convinced she couldn't be in love with him so instantly. What do YOU know about love, Dean?

-

"But if she is I need to know everything about sex. Go:"

Kid, there isn't time in the world to tell you everything Dean knows about sex. Also, are you really going to pull a Dean and hook up despite all the deaths in town? ALSO dude, courting. Court her first. You know NOTHING about this or what you're feeling.

-

Teenagers are the worst.

-

Ooops Dean just stood around talking and now he's been eaten.

Guess it's time for Jack to SAVE HIM

-

"You're fine. I'm fine." No you aren't Jack, stop kidding yourself.

-

Oh good, she's scaling back to saying they should get coffee.

This is sensible and take notes, Jack, but also disregard this offer of a date entirely and go save your dad, you're not in a romance novel.

-

"I... don't know" this was Jack's stock response when he was younger to encountering new things about himself and deep philosophical questions which he just had not had time to ponder but in the world he had been thrust into, he was being asked to immediately have an opinion on.

I think we ought to file courting and sex under those headings for now :P He will figure it out but not at this breakneck speed, no matter how fast he grew up.

-

Bam, Dean bursts in on them - is there remotely time for him to have done this fast enough? Is this really Dean? Are we supposed to be doubting who Dean is?

-

Vance has literally come back from the dead to bother her about having new boyfriends. Great.

-

Oh, okay, this looks pretty cut and dry that it's a zombie now he's in the room :P

-

he looks like Archie Andrews. Is this the crossover we've been waiting for?

-

"Archie! Hey!"

oops.

*puts another penny in the "quoted Dean before he said the line" jar*

-

I can't believe Dean watches Riverdale.

-

I mean, yeah he grew up reading the comics, but you know it's on his netflix queue.

-

Stop smashing up Harper's bookshelves! Dean's all "let's dance," still looking waaay too excited to get to wrestle monsters to take his mind off of all his angst.

-

Why are Sam and Charlie still sitting in the truck instead of following their weirdo fly? 

-

"You can't just quit and go live on a mountain somewhere"

Somehow when he sits in cars with female characters in Yockey episodes he ends up saying a lot of things like this. Bless your heart, you just described my whole life.

-

"People need people." "We're social animals" Sam is finally starting to realise that maaaybe that bit in 8x10 where he and Dean removed everyone they cared about from their lives and sat gloomily in silence anger-eating chilli in a dank cabin in the backwoods was PERHAPS not the best way to be people.

He's really starting to like having a squad around him... Maybe this is awakening a bit of Sam that he never had except in college when he got to have people around him without too much fear about having to leave them behind because he was so determined to stick to his new life there.

-

Sam pulls that not only he tried and failed to quit hunting, but our Charlie did too.

"She ain't me!" but you are still cut from the same cloth whether you like it or not.

"It's my life, Sam! not hers and not yours" basically no one else can tell me whether I should be here or not, and it's on my terms if i am or not. Which is very healthy but kind of sad about the commentary on having a Charlie on the show if she's so insistent to escape hunting. Because it killed our Charlie so we should want AUCharlie to be safe. But at the same time, bringing her back then sending her off to a mountain... it's a cold comfort that a version of her survived, that they saw her face again before she left in slightly better terms. But what does it bring to the show to have had her back but then to let her go again?

And, on a character level, can Boss Sam wrangle a great asset and potential amazing friend to stay and work with them and be a key part of his hunter squad, or will he have to let her go and fail to achieve some networking people skills.

-

They have a funny friend potential moment as sam says we don't want to tackle him in case it’s a guy into weird fashion and she's all, don't we?

-

This hesitation was enough for that poor guy to get grabbed under cover of the bus.

Though perhaps the hesitation was also timed to stop Sam and AUCharlie getting mowed down by a bus and very disappointingly ending both their careers.

-

Harper stops and demands to know what's happening. Jack throws aside the book that was the ruse, and holds out his hand for trust with open honesty now and she takes it, and he continues to pull her away to protect her. Awwwww.

-

Has Dean been wrestling in her apartment since it got dark?

How has no one called the cops.

-

Vance gets a spidey sense tingle that someone is holding Harper's hand, and marches out of the apartment, to Dean's disappointment that he didn't get to smash a chair over his head. Because that was a totally normal amount of enthusiasm for a fight.

-

Jack is clever, Harper is snarky... aw :P

-

I can't believe Sam and Charlie can walk after sitting all day.

-

"Brass nail dipped in sugar water" lol flies are drawn to sugar. More flies with honey than vinegar.

If you creatively mock that up using American beverages I will be horrified that corn syrup counts as sugar. Charlie literally just reminded us of Dick Roman taking advantage of your industry's corn fetish

-

BUGS

-

Those who don't learn from history etc

-

I don't think that's enough fly papers

-

Sam just sniffed a chloroform rag. Er.

-

Oh that is disgusting. Why weren't you wearing the orange jacket so we could ritually burn it.

-

Oooh gross. (pt.2 - Yockey was only warming us up with bug juice)

Harper let the zombie in and now she's kissing him? She better be mind controlled or this is a whole level of weird Jack should not have had to deal with because no one should start the Talk at necrophilia and work backwards from there D:

-

Oh NO this is going to be the Talk Dean has to give Jack, and to top it off they have a jealous boyfriend stalking roleplay kink, AND she threw in a bunch of other things for Jack to ask questions about >.>

-

Told you she was a witch. It was the Sabrina-like collar that gave it away.

Who knew my dorkiest joke about my suspicions was the most accurate.

She's even wearing a red jacket, just like Sabrina has her signature red coats.

-

This is a CW cross-promotion episode.

-

"It's first love, Jack. The best kind. Without baggage or compromise. I mean. I did have to kill him to keep him here after college..."

She's a Mary mirror. This is Mary and young!John. Oh god. Azazel's deal is her raising the dead, and sharing a gross kiss to boot... And Harper is from a long line of necromancers and Mary was from a long line of hunters, the last of them...

Of course, Mary has all that baggage from her first love but has moved on and is now having a happy vacation with Bobby but I don't think it's symbolically unimportant that that was literally last episode and now we're seeing first loves with an undead boyfriend, that Harper couldn't let slip out of her hands so she did the most toxic thing to bring him back. It's very much like the Plum sisters being the zombie-raising parallels to Sam and Dean and their need to bring Mary back come what may - which of course after Jack's vision in 13x09 made Dean threaten Kaia in the first place

-

Can't spell Necromancer without "Romance"

-

I love the hiding from the zombie chase going on here. Vance is dumb as a box of rocks and we’re getting lots of new gifs of Jack being “sneaky”

-

Ahaha she has a romance novel called "Lances and Laces" (i think?)

-

Awww Jack is doing a Ruse again, playing dumb for her. "I thought we fell in love at first sight!"

-

Awwwwww he's proposing to her. The allure of un-undead love.

-

"But I tried to kill you!" "Every relationship has its stuff, right?"

pffffffffffffffft

You aren't officially in love on this show UNTIL you try and kill each other

-

Ow, Jack. That's going to shake some bloody phlegm loose.

-

FATHER SON TEAMWORK SAVES THE DAY

-

Lol, Vance got ditched as soon as it was awkward to have a zombie boyfriend

-

Sam is seriously using the fly as a parallel to Charlie being a loner. I wonder what you could put in front of him that he WOULDN'T be able to twist into a moral. He really is the camp leader :P

-

Awww the gross bug thing's people came for it

-

Sam I can not hear a word of your motivating speech over these terrifying things and their nightmare aesthetic taking home one of their own who strayed from the swarm to swooping music.

-

AUCharlie relents enough to have a door open... Yeah, she did also get knocked out when trying to hunt on her own and though she wanted to retire, well...

-

I can't believe Yockey metaphorically compared the hunter community to the fly swarm. Like, Charlie was all blurr the metaphor has holes but they had no idea the bugs looked after their own like that D: Dramatic irony again - this time against Charlie to make her more right than she knew that she has people who would care for her.

-

Oh NO, Jack has left an impression on Harper... Oh dear oh dear oh dear. You can NOT have a necromancer long distance girlfriend.

-

Even though she's in a different diner there's still a cock in the window.

-

"I'm sorry I have to kill you!" heee she's so cute. In a very twisted way, I still like her even though the necromancy thing is gross, and Jack should steer WAY clear.

But awwwwwwwww.

-

"And that's love."

Dean saying it can get crazier than that... Dude, just give him the talk, I'll turn off the last 2 minutes of the episode. You clearly need to. Or at the very least start the ball rolling on suggesting Sam do it, Sam asks Cas if he’d want to, Cas comes and asks you for help to do it and you end up being the one to try after all.

-

I LOVE Jack hanging with Dean, with his too-sweet coffee, angling to make Dean let him come on hunts more because he was right.

-

I think Dean just pointed out neither of them are ready to be hunters if they can't cope with the mistakes they make without feeling super guilty, since they had the guilt Olympics at the beginning.

-

Oh Jack, no.

-

OH NO HIS NOSE IS BLEEDING

-

Down he goes!

-

This is what happens when you meddle in genres you don't belong.

Tragedy comes back and kicks you in the face.

-

Dean on his knees by Jack yelling his name: same. D:

[panfishonthefly]

Rigging the Jackson Mayfly - Storage

Last March I did a review of the Jackson Mayfly. The Mayfly is Jackson Kayak's idea of a kayak designed exclusively for the fly angler. In addition to that review, I wrote several additional posts on how I rigged the kayak. I never got around to posting those articles, and they got lost in the shuffle. A recent email from a reader of the blog reminded me that I had promised a write up on how I rigged my boat. So I reached into my drafts folder and blew the dust off of this post that has been sitting around for over a year. Without further delay here is the article in its entirety

In a (not so) recent post, I did a review of the Jackson Mayfly Kayak. The Mayfly is a kayak that was designed from the ground up as a fly fishing platform. The boat ships from the factory very nicely equipped, but l found that adding a few extras enhanced the fishing abilities of this boat. I have decided to produce a series of blog posts on the additional rigging I have done on this kayak to make it the ultimate warm water fly fishing platform, at least for my needs. If you want to read the original review which goes over all of the features of this great kayak you can find it by clicking on the button below.

Onboard Storage

One of the great features of this boat is that it comes equipped with a ton of storage space. In addition to the two cavernous storage areas under the bow and stern hatches, there are molded-in storage compartments for fly boxes, a seat with built-in storage for tackle boxes and tools and large waterproof seat back pouch. You can also store two fully rigged nine foot fly rods, with their tips protected, onboard. With all this available storage do you need more? Probably not, but if you're looking to organize your gear for easy access, then you can always make improvements.

Under The Seat

For 2018 Jackson Kayak announced a sliding storage tray that mounts under the seat. I often store items under the seat, especially when it is the seat is in it’s highest position. The 2018 models that are compatible with this new storage tray have an additional rail mounted under the seat to accept this sliding tray. Unfortunately, my kayak being a previous model is not equipped with the gear track, but I picked up the tray all the same. It fits under the seat perfectly and allows me to keep items off the deck where they sometimes get wet. If I need to, I can always install a track to permanently mount the tray, but for now, it just sits under the seat and works just fine.

The seat itself also has built in storage. Each boat shipped with a waterproof storage bag that mounts to the back of the seat. The seat has three storage areas on its underside for storing tackle boxes or other flat items. There is one large compartment on each side and a small one in the front of the seat.

The Crate

The first addition to kayak to increase storage, was a crate system for behind the seat. Crates make it easy to store tackle, fishing accessories, tools water, food, and other supplies such as bug dope and sunscreen. While you could put all of these items in one of the covered hatches, having them in a crate makes them easy to access. Just reach behind you while seated and grab what you need out of the box. For the first season, I just threw my Plano Guide bag behind the seat and loose items were stored where ever I could stash them. Next I upgraded to your basic milk crate. It was easy to fasten down, and it held everything I needed. The milk crate is a simple, economical solution to storage but it is not without its problems. The open design of a milk crate does not protect its contents from environmental conditions such as sun, wind, and rain. On more than one occasion the contents of the box were drenched when I found my self caught out in a shower. While out on a particularly windy day I once had to paddle clear across a lake to retrieve a Tiley hat that had blown out of the open crate. After a season of being exposed to the effects of the sun, I noticed some of my flies that were stored in clear Plano tackle boxes were starting to bleach out a little, so it was time to make a change. Also, I have always been concerned about the safety of the items stored in the crate in the unlikely event I manage to flip this kayak. If the boat flipped everything stored in the open container would be lost.

The BlackPak

I researched many different crate systems and was immediately taken back by the prices being asked for what is essentially a plastic box! I was looking for something that provided some protection from the elements (but need not be totally waterproof), had a lid that could be secured thus protecting the contents from the elements, and in the event things went south, could be easily secured to the storage well of the boat and remain closed during a capsize. I was also looking for the ability for the box to be easily customized as my needs change. The YakAttack BlackPak addressed all these concerns. The single issue with this product was the cost. Retailing for $130.00 the price seemed extreme to say the least! We are talking about a plastic box here! Other manufacturers offered storage options at comparable prices, in some cases even more expensive, but none had all the features of the BlackPak. Because of the cost, I initially decided to stick with my milk crate, but I stumbled upon a great deal on a 2018 (yes, it is a plastic box with a model year!) tan colored BlackPak. It was a great price, but it was still more than I wanted to pay for a plastic box. However, I took a chance and purchased it. I have to admit that I love this product! It is exceptionally well made, it feels very sturdy, and is more than capable of standing up to any abuse I will give it. It answered all of my storage needs and can be customized far beyond anything I will ever ask of it.

Customizing the BlackPak

What puts this box at the top of my list is the customization features. The box comes with a myriad of pre-drilled holes that allow for the mounting of a whole host of accessories. The BlackPak ships with three standard rod holders, but being a fly fisherman, they will not see much use. However, I am considering using at least one of them as a net holder. These pre-drilled holes will allow me to mount holders for pliers, fish grips, a flashlight and other items that need to be kept out of the way but readily accessible. The top of the box is equipped with holes that will accept standard gear rails for even more customization. One complaint I have heard about this box is the use of bungee cords to act as hinges and a method to secure the lid. I for one like this feature. In many box systems hinges are a point of potential failure. They are all destined to fail at some point, and then you left with an unusable product. In the unlikely event, I wear out one of these cords, they can cheaply and easily be replaced. Except for the overall cost, I only have one other issue with this product. I have a hard time referring to this box as a BlackPak, but TanPak just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Additional Odds And Ends

I rounded out my storage needs by adding retractors to the gear tracks along side the seat to hold items like forceps, pliers and fish grips. The bar at the base of the seat is a handy place to hold spools of tippet and my nippers mounted to a retractor. This makes all these items instantly accessible but out of the way and secure. I have also added a few adhesive backed fly patches to the hull near the seat area to dry off and store flies so I don’t have to keep opening and closing hatches. I like to be as stealthy as possible on the water and this eliminates the noise made by fumbling around with the compartments and hatches. After all this there is even room left over for a small cooler!

Wrapping It Up

You may not need to go to all this trouble as the Jackson Mayfly is ready to fish right out of the box. I, like many anglers, probably carry too much gear on the water. I like to be prepared for what ever comes my way and still have room for lunch and a few drinks.

Next up will be a review of the anchor systems I have installed on the kayak. Yes I said “systems”, there are more than one. Hopefully you will not have to wait a year to read that one!

.

[fumblebeefae]

Bug asks: fruit fly and mayfly! -tT

Fruit fly- tea or coffee?

Tea for sure, though I’m boring and I only really like plain black tea with honey + milk. (I do love a good ice coffee but tea man). 

Mayfly- favourite weather?

Rain for sure. A good rain storm tapping against the windows while you’re rugged up inside is literally the best.

Bug-Themed Ask Here! 

[aethermade]

history books can only tell you so much about the life you were robbed of but you start at the beginning. 

CORONA     :     1790 - 1800

they called it the sundrop flower, believing it fell from the heavens for the purpose of blessing their kingdom. you know that wasn’t the case. it had been quite certainly an accident. a trollhunter messing with the power of daylight, littering failed attempts across the plushness of a country side that they were likely to never see again. but use came out of it; it saved a queen, birthed a princess, forged a fairy tale that suckled off the barest scraps of a world infinitely more fantastic than the story they, i.e humans, made. 

you were born to a farmer and his wife and before you were even weened from the milk of her breasts you were replaced. stolen away like a single missing note in a grand orchestra     :     over looked, of no consequence, but ever so subtly changing the song.  

THE DARKLANDS     :     1800 - 20XX

if ever there was love in void, you had found it. green monsters ushered around you as nursemaids, cool fingers calming baby smooth skin. there is not much to say about this part of your life. somewhere in the world above wars were being fought, darkness was rising. you did not care, as infants are not swayed by political leanings. you lived a happy life of sedated humanity. and then you died.

PRESENT     :     2018

one day maybe when the light doesn’t blind you and warm air doesn’t make you feel like fire is feasting upon your skin, you will go to the surface. you were brought to the trolls for protection. maybe it was luck that you were able to find love as well. for a month you aged at the rate of a mayfly and then stopped at 15 or 16. you assumed this was because you died at this age     -     the changeling who had been you decided to glamour himself at this age. you are naive but not ignorant which came to a surprise to everyone but yourself. why should you be? you live’d for hundreds of years, connected to a body in another plane of existence. 

his memories are not your own, his thoughts are not your own. but you know how to speak, how to write, how to fix things and do a cartwheel. you know that you love ham but hate turkey without such sensations having ever passed your lips. you were thrown into the life you were supposed to have without warning; knowing all that you would’ve know had you stayed but with none of the memories. it frightens you. 

you call him brother, or perhaps more accurately you will call him that. he is the son of the troll who took you in and you know that already your heart beats for both of them.

you call him brother, also, because he can be a pain in the ass.

❛ if you say one more thing about safety so help me goddess i will kick you in the shins. ❜

you know the act, were you to go through with it, would hurt you more than him and for some reason that made it an even more effective threat. 

@oldcoronas.