#like when hes talking to Bailey even with how hes talking so worried she would have taken him actually seriously enough to handle the

[suncaptor]

The episode where everyone gaslights Deluca because he's has a few symptoms of mania (that are uhhhh not more severe than many of the nonpathological moods other characters on the show have had at different points) is SO upsetting like he tries so hard to protect this victim of human trafficking and no one believes him so she never gets help and then later on he literally gets killed too because of it 👁👄👁

[smuttyaf]

Mr. Brightside

𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰; 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞

wc: 3.7k

short lil one shot before the adventurous weeks ahead! so happy holidays & enjoy!!

As much as you try to take deep breaths and control your heart from beating through your chest, it was difficult because of the situation in front of you. Head nodding and agreeing to Nora’s story, you avoid the gaze from the man standing in the open kitchen. Small smile tugging on your lips before you’re letting the warm peppermint hot chocolate welcome itself on your tongue.

Eyes trail to the green orbs across the room, they roam amongst the brown knitted sweater that compliments the curls flowing down his neck. You could tell he was faintly listening to the conversation he was having with Niall, just as you were. Part of you wants to go across the section and rest your head on him like yesterday night, but instead you ease into Reid’s arm, tearing your eyes away and humming at the alcohol infuse treat.

“Bailey’s?” You question, lifting the penguin mug up. The beaming smile from Nora drops as she lets shock paint her expression.

“It’s very concerning how good you are at this,” She says in a worried tone. That makes you and Reid break out in laughter from the sudden change of her mood. You had many strange quirks, and one of them was being able to distinguish which alcohol was mixed in drinks; your friends would call you an alcoholic however, you would explain that you have very exquisite taste buds.

“You’re too good for this world,” You smile as she joins in laughing. The feeling of Reid’s fingertips curl around your shoulder, only making the burning gaze of Harry even more prominent. Digits beginning to drum an unfamiliar tune causes you to rise up on your feet, the taste of mint and savoury alcohol of the Bailey’s burns on your tongue. You were half way done and knew you want a second cup —at least that was the excuse you have to leave his side.

“Gonna grab some more,” You say, body turning to your boyfriend and the short blonde sitting with her legs tangled together on the floor.

“Me too babe,” Reid chides, the cute bear mug in his hands welcomes itself in your palm as you nod your head at him. “What was the point of me doing this if I knew she was coming!” Nora groans, only making a giggle elect from you, turning around you make your way into the kitchen where Niall was talking passionately about football.

The annual get together before Christmas was tonight, and this year activity was everyone bringing a different festive drink and having to guess what it was. The choice definitely a blind decision on Nora’s part who brought up the idea but you could careless, it was nice seeing all your friends and doing the infamous Secret Santa gift exchange. It was one of the many reasons why you enjoy this time of the year. Pulling out the milk and brown bottle from the fridge, you fill up the cups and place them in the microwave and then let your hands dig through the shelves of Nora’s cabinet, immediately taking the hot chocolate packs out and placing them on the counter, your hands now trail to find a spoon.

“Putting all my money on CJ, it’s the right choice,” Niall jokes, shoving his phone in Harry’s face displaying football stats.

“Trust me he doesn’t care,” You sarcastically sigh, pulling out the sliver ware with an unfazed look as the Irish brunette groans.

“Oh fuck off Y/N. Harry does care, don’t you?” His head turning between you both as Harry shrugs his shoulders. “You guys suck you know that.” Niall huffs, making you both join in small laughter. The sound of the microwave goes off as you pull out the two mugs filled with warm milk infused liquor.

“If you listen to me and you’ll earn big money Styles,” He brags, shoulders rising as he lefts his hands to his chest, stepping away when he hears the call of his name.

Your heart beat grows rapidly standing next to Harry. It has your ears burning and hairs standing being this close to him. His familiar scent tingles your nose and makes you want to cave in to drape your arms around him but instead you’re ripping open the white packages and pouring the contents into the mugs.

“Did you like your gift?” The english voice next to you ask. It causes your palms to grow with sweat.

“Which one?” You tease, the memories of him making you come effortlessly undone around him to the beautiful black slip gown he left on your bed this morning.

Eyes flick between the brown swirls in the mugs to Harry green ones. A smirk tugs at the corner of his lips, back leaning off the counter as you begin to stir the mixture. The familiar feeling of your stomach quivering with nerves and toes tingling in their cotton confines sends an electric shock of wanting to be press between him and your mattress.

“It’s beautiful, thank you.” You say with a genuine smile, tapping the spoon on your penguin mug and moving it to the other.

If you were being honest, you weren’t expecting a gift from Harry but, when you opened your eyes and was welcome with the sight of the velvet decorative box you could have done cartwheels off the bed. It was weird that you found more happiness in the secretive relationship you have with Harry, then the one of 4 years with your boyfriend. It wasn’t that you weren’t happy with Reid, it was more like you were comfortable. You’ve been stuck in the same routine; him telling you about his work endeavours, the plain mediocre sex, the ignorance towards your feelings, and the possessive claim he has over you. It was tiring, especially since it’s been going on for much longer then you anticipated, though there was history with him, and his friends were also yours, if you broke up everything would change.

You always thought of that. Sure, in the beginning you were both petty and toxic; him breaking up with you because you stared too long at one your classmates or you breaking up with him because you felt smothered. Despite everything though, you always found your way back to each other and have grown since you both met in college, but unfortunately the excitement was gone. The infatuation that was once there died and was now set on your curly friend. The one who listens to everything you say, who lets you rant and express how you feel. He looks at you for who you are, and not what he wants you to be, he lets his touch be gentle on your skin while lips bruise the most vulnerable parts. He was the one on your mind, every time you woke up to when you laid to rest. He was the one who your heart was set on.

You didn’t realize that your thoughts made your movements halt, your fingers immediately tighten around the ingrained spoon to peel it out of the hot liquid and tap it against the ceramic.

“What are you thinking about?” Harry ask, his gaze watching you as he crosses his arms to fit on his chest.

“Whatever you’re thinking about.” You reply, eyes connecting with his once again. This time you let yourself get lost in his features like when it’s three in the morning and the moonlight shines over him.

All you want to do is reach over and let your fingers curl around the ends of his hair, pull him in and press your lips against his. They’re practically begging to go where they will be appreciated, the immediate thought of the way Harry taste makes you run your tongue along your bottom lip. It was irritating you having to pretend that you didn’t want him, that you don’t see him anything more than just a friend.

Warm hands meet the skirt hanging off your hips, lips brushing against your temple as the musky scent of Reid, now mix with Harry’s. Gaze breaking away from green ones and meet with brown, you smile lazily at the feathery hair man as he peers down at the two mugs. The feeling of Harry’s presence leaves making your heart launch itself towards him, craving to follow him but instead you listen to your brain that directs you to stay put.

He lets his hand take back up his mug, pressing his lips against the painted ears of the bear and sipping on the warm liquid. A hum leaving him as his grip now slips to your back and massages there. “Someone’s jealous.” You hush, following his movements and drinking back the hot chocolate.

“Can you blame me,” Reid mutters, his fingers sinking lower down your back and you immediately pull away before they reach their destination. You trail back towards the familiar sofa that Nora occupies with Kelly next to her; Niall was back to bothering Harry in the chairs next to the couch, the chatter of your other friends quakes from the next room. And of course, Harry was there watching you, sitting sluggishly thrown over his seat with foot on one arm and his elbow leaning on the other, head brought up by his hand.

“Should we start exchanging gifts?” You question the small group.

It took everything to not catch Harry’s gaze in the moment, keeping your eyes set on Nora’s short bob as she smiles cheerfully and stands to gather everyone to start Secret Santa. This was going to be long night.

After multiple vodka shots and three beers later, Reid was passed out on the white couch while you were packing the plates and mugs into the washing machine. Faint voices are heard between your three friends in the dining room. The clashing of dishes being dropped in the sink next to you makes your eyes turn and fall on his tattoo hand.

“Another year of Nora leaving her own party,” Harry chides, hand turning the facet to rinse the cutlery.

“She’s always been a bit of a light weight,” You shrug. It didn’t take much sips of five percent alcohol for her to be a giggly mess in the span of a few minutes. “I got these.” You say, reaching over and grabbing the silverware, your fingers glaze over Harry’s hands on the plate. Stepping in closer the warmth he radiates rushes over you and makes you lean your head against his bicep.

He lets you take the dish away, nails seeping into the soapy water before he’s resting them against the edge of the marble counter, he leans over the sink, gaze amongst the gingerbread scented hand soap before his head is turning to look at you.

“Why are you still with him.” Harry ask, voice lace with annoyance that your boyfriend is drunk and passed out behind you. It’s been the same question he’s been repeating since the affair started six months ago. The same question that always got the same answer.

“Not right now H,” You sigh, body turning and stacking the plate into the dish washer.

“I don’t think you understand how I feel when the only thing I see is him all over you.” He vents, fingers curving into the counter as you begin to start the machine.

“I do.” You admit.

The feelings that you have for Harry are genuine, they flood your mind throughout the day and makes your heart skip when you see his name cross your phone. From the very beginning, when both of you were drunk and him promising to drop you home safely after the club, he confessed his feelings about how he always wanted you; bringing up never understanding why you stay with someone so condescending who you knew you were too good for, he ranted to you about wanting to be the one to hold your hand, touch your skin, and make you truly happy. In the moment, all you could do was kiss him. His lips suck onto yours and lit a fire inside you, the burning sensation of excitement flowed through and ever since then it was a never ending feeling whenever you’re with him.

You understand the hurt he was feeling, you felt it when you wanted to be wrapped in his arms inside of Reid’s, but he was all you’ve known. He was familiar, the person you could count on for… superficial things, but does that even mean anything now? It isn’t college anymore. There isn’t anymore football games and frat parties, there are no more late night studies and petty arguments about why you’re following a certain person. This was reality. You graduated, had your own degree and working in your field. You had your own condo and take care of yourself, yet you only held onto him because he was… familiar.

“Meet me in the bathroom upstairs.” Harry says lowly, body tearing away from the counter and moving across the room.

Your teeth bite down on your bottom lip, hands going to dry themselves as you wait a couple minutes before retreating upstairs into the bathroom in the hall. Fingers touch the gold knob, turning it and stepping deeper, the smell of him rushes over you as he presses the door close with your back. Mouths link together and you immediately moan at the taste, his hands fall to your hips pulling you in as your fingers card through his hair.

Tongues merge together to taste the liquor left on your tastebuds, his tone chest brush against your erect nipples in your black long sleeve. You love the way he graces your skin so easily and how it makes your heart pick up in pace, how he lets his lips dance on you and leave teeth marks in their wake, you love every second of it. Harry can have his way with you in just the snap of a finger, his aura was so powerful it had you submitting without questions.

It wasn’t long till your hand was rushing between your moving bodies, palming him over in his trousers and feeling his heavy member beg to be played with against the zipper. You know you didn’t have much time till your friends would start to question your disappearances, so you broke the kiss, letting your mouth press wet kisses down his neck to tear away and sink to your knees. Fingers immediately revealing the erect member that stands in the air.

Hand wrapping around the base, your lips let the crown of his cock slip between them and suckle on the salty skin. You hum at the acquired taste, eyes looking up at him as you move down the shaft coating him with saliva while he drags down your throat. The sound of Harry sucking in a breath is heard above you, his fingers moving with your head while the other holds his sweater.

Clear fluid inches down the expanse of him that doesn’t fit in your mouth when you swallow him, your free hand tugs gently at the space as he begins to rock his hips into you. The wet sounds echo throughout the room as you never tear your eyes away from Harry. His bruise lips tuck between his teeth while he looks down on you hungrily, eyes hooded and wanting more.

Thick mascara lashes bat themselves up at him, cheeks hollowing and tongue going flat as you let him sink deeper into your mouth till he’s touching the back of your throat. Walls relaxing as he rocks out and back in, letting him ruin your voice and lie heavy in the tight space, it makes the wetness you feel between your legs quake with arousal.

Finger tips pull away from the underside of his cock, your nose brushing against his skin as you feel tears swell your waterline. Swallowing him down you couldn’t help but moan, eyes fluttering as he holds himself there, his brows coming together in resistance.

“Fuck.” Harry moans, the hand he has in your hair falls to your neck bringing you to his lips. Now you’re tastebuds where completely devour by him, from his manhood to the scotch that burns on his tongue, he consumes you.

Body overpowering you, your head tilts back while his tongue dances with yours. Fingers curl around his shaft, tugging gently electing a moan from Harry making the kiss break. All you desired for was to be his, without the sneaking around without the lies, you want to be wrapped up in his arms on the couch, and you want him to be the one to pull you away from a conversation so easily, you just want it to be him.

The hands he has on your hips gently turn you around, your head now lying against the wooden door, backside perked up in the air as Harry tugs down your skirt and panties, his head immediately brushing against your soaking core. Even though you want this so badly to be a drawn out session of you exploring each others body on every service of this small area, you both knew you were running out of time and someone was bound to search for their other friends.

Head sinking into your creamy walls, a please sigh releases from your ruin throat, eyes closing as your fingers dig into the soft craving of the door. Harry drags down your walls achingly slow, letting your walls expand and form around him so you remember just how he perfect fits. The thickness of him satisfies the throbbing that’s been craving attention since you’ve stepped foot in your friends house. The delicious feel of his hips press against your backside as he fills you up before drawing his hips back and sinking into you once more.

As the pace picks up and the thundering beat of your heart is pounding against your chest, quiet broken moans tremble through the air as you try to contain the tantalizing thrusts of Harry into you. The position you were in had him sinking in deeply, your stream of arousal was running down your folds and welcoming itself around your inner thighs. He felt so good that your head was nodding off into the door trying to catch your breath.

“So deep baby,” You whimper, eyes opening as one hand leaves the door and run along Harry’s tattoos.

“So perfect, always so perfect,” Harry breathes, his grip on you slipping to your waist and leaning you off the wooden panel. Your head tilts back into his chest, a long drawn out moan tearing through your throat as you feel his twin globes press tightly against your lips.

That makes him take his other hand and cover your mouth, his thrusts now becoming more rush and aggressive as your body bounces with his movements, eyes closing as he relishes every nerve. His breath was hot against your neck, lips press against the skin there as the sound of your clothed bodies accompanies the wetness between your legs.

“You’re mine,” He groans into your ear, heart nearly bursting into flames at the words you love to hear fill your conscience. Yes, you belong to him, he had you wholeheartedly. He was the only one you want, the one who sends warmth through every vein, yes you were all his.

Your teeth sink gently on Harry’s digit covering your mouth, finding it hard to contain the euphoric feeling bubbling in your abdomen to the silky deep voice behind you. It was troubling trying to contain the tension that was starting to take a toll on you. Muscles tensing and fingers curling into the skin of his hands, it begins to course through you, hips stuttering against his movements as you lose composure.

“Gonna send you home with your pussy filled up from me,” Harry mutters in your ear only making your knees knock together. The words causing you lose it, the knot in your stomach unravels. Body going limp as the feeling of sweat mattes against your forehead.

The hand covering your mouth trails to your throat, his thrust now sloppy as you trail yours into his curls. Breath coming out slow as you try to catch yourself, the grip he has tight on your hips releases slower and slower when diving into you. His heart beating aggressively pressed against your back as your body quivers at the currents of pleasure flowing through you.

Harry’s warm seed plants itself in your tight walls, his movements making him stutter as he empty’s himself into your pussy, the feeling of him slipping out of you as the substance he delivers flows out of your folds and down your clit. Whimper leaving your ruined throat as his mouth press small kisses against your burning skin, the pressure he has on you releasing itself as you turn in his hold, eager kisses being shared.

Fuck, you want nothing more then him to be back in you and having him making you fall apart over and over again, but you were on burrow time and the alarm was ringing telling you that it was finally time to part. So with sweaty palms and hazy nerves you manage to pull away from him and gather yourself. Fingers patting down your messy hair and tugging your skirt back over your hips, the mixture of you both meets the lace of your panties that only causes you to suck in a breath.

Curls stick to the nape of Harry’s neck, lips red and glistening as he tucks himself in and adjust his jumper, eyes falling to your loving ones as you lean in one more time to press a soft kiss against his lips before retrieving the door open. Footsteps shuffling into the hallway, he lets you take the lead and make your way back downstairs first, his hand gripping your ass cheekily as you begin to descend down the steps.

You know you couldn’t keep this lie up for much longer but Harry left his mark, and it was dripping down your legs as he sends you home completely spent.

[whorergal]

SHE'S MINE (PART THREE)

summary: you and ethan form a plan but in order for it to work, you need to make it look believable…

warnings: scream vi spoilers, language (cussing), blood, gore. follows the plot loosely. happy ending, i promise.

pairings: ethan landry x fem!reader

authors note: here's the final part! i just wanted to say thank you for all the likes and reblogs!! it's honestly so sweet of everyone and it means a lot to me! i have a bunch of ideas for ethan so look out for more imagines and hopefully a masterlist for easier navigation (i'm still new to this lol) :-) i love u all so much

❗️: u can find part one here and part two here <3

——————————————————————————————

To say that you were surprised when finding out about Ethan and his relation to Richie Kirsch would be an understatement. He had been someone that you had hated and even vented to Ethan about when you two first met. It just seemed very ironic. Although Ethan did love his brother, he knew the things he did weren't right once he realized how much shit he put you through.

The late night calls because of your nightmares, the flashbacks you would get whenever someone touched you too roughly, having to avoid the scars on your body because it brought you back to Woodsboro; it opened his eyes.

You weren't entirely shocked to find out Quinn was the other Ghostface that attacked you. She always had some unsaid vendetta against you and you realized now it was just because of your history. What did shock you was to find out Detective Bailey was the mastermind behind it all—not only that, but he was also Ethan and Quinn's father.

He showed up the moment you and Ethan met your friends outside their apartment. Mindy had stolen you from Ethan, leaving him alone with Chad, who was asking him questions to confirm his whereabouts. Luckily, you made sure to practice what to say with him on the train ride there. It seemed your excuses sufficed because Chad nodded, apologizing for thinking the worst.

While on your trip to the run-down theater, Chad had taken Mindy, thanking you for lifting her mood (you three had always been close since you were kids). You walked in the back alongside Ethan, holding his hand to calm your nerves which ended up in you receiving a look from Bailey. You don't think he knew you noticed but ever since you found out about him, you had been unintentionally tense around him.

The memorabilia that had been collected scared the hell out of you. It increased your worries despite knowing everything would end up being okay.

Tara seemed to notice how your breathing began to increase and stepped closer to you. "Hey, you okay?"

You looked at her, faking a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to get some air."

The group all watched you leave. Chad was going to follow after you but Tara stopped him when they saw that Ethan had already been on your trail. She smirked at him.

"You owe me five bucks," Tara informed him.

"Shut up," Chad replied, shaking his head.

No one found you two suspicious. If anything, your sudden relationship seemed to throw them off your tracks.

Everyone left the theater, finding you two on the steps, you tiredly laying in his arms. Tara smiled at you two, gesturing for you to follow. When you got up, Mindy reclaimed you as her own again, pulling you away from Ethan as she needed your comfort. You talked with her the whole walk to fill her mind with distractions.

They all needed somewhere to recoup and to come up with a reliable plan. You offered your apartment, knowing theirs was most likely still a crime scene. Yours hadn't been messed up in the sense that there was no broken doors and bloody messes all over the floor. Mindy actually agreed, saying she wanted to sit in Anika's room alone for a little bit.

"Don't mind the mess," you joked once entering. Your books were scattered about the place. "And the…blood," you muttered when you saw some it trailing where you had dragged yourself across the kitchen.

None of them cared much, getting right into what to do next. You ended up leaving to your room because your stitches were hurting like hell and you didn't want to cause any alarm to them about it.

You sat there, alone for a few minutes until you heard a quiet knock on the door. Honestly, you were expecting Tara, or maybe Chad because he kept eyeing you frequently, but Ethan peeked his head inside and you sighed of relief. He gave you his awkward smile and entered slowly, shutting the door softly behind him.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" he asked, walking over to take a seat on your bed beside you.

You nodded, holding back a wince at the movement he caused which made you flex your muscles. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Nothing I'm not used to."

"Your stitches," he realized aloud, leaning closer. "Shit, I forgot. Do they hurt?"

"Sort of," you responded, gripping your stomach as if it would make the pain go away.

"Is there anything I can do?" He looked at you softly, as if his eye contact could harm you.

You forced a smile. "Distract me, please."

"Well, I, uh," he stuttered. "I came up with a plan."

"A plan?" You questioned, confused.

"Yeah. I talked to my dad while at the theater and I found out the last steps he and Quinn will be taking," Ethan informed you which wasn't exactly the distraction you wanted but nevertheless, it was useful. "He doesn't know about you, or about us so I have him convinced that the reason I saved you was because I wanted to kill you myself."

You widened your eyes. "Oh."

"Obviously, I'm not going to—"

"I know, E."

He nodded before continuing. "Quinn's going to get Gale next. Then she'll be heading for us. I'm not too sure what she wants to do but I know it'll involve someone in the group in order to keep them all from going to the theater. My guess will be Mindy. When that happens, she'll go for you next so you have to stick with me."

"Go for me next?" you repeated for more clarification.

"I told my dad that I wanted you there for act three. Quinn will knock you out, take you to the theater, dress you up in a robe and frame you as a Ghostface." He paused, scanning your expressions. It wasn't a bad idea, actually, other than the fact that you'll be framed as a psychotic murderer.

"Okay, so I just have to pretend that I don't know?" you questioned, wanting to make sure.

"Yes, exactly," he answered. "They're under the impression that I'm going to kill you so they'll tell Sam and Tara you're the Ghostface to throw them off and when the reveals happen, you'll be given to me."

You nod slowly, taking a second to let all the information sink in before worrying aloud. "What if they don't? What if Quinn ends up hurting me again?"

"I won't let anything happen to you," he declared, grabbing your face in his hands. "She knows better now."

Your eyes softened as you nod again for the last time. Then you fell forward into his arms, just wanting to be held. He did as told, being careful with your injury, and just played with your hair which made you smile.

"You know, when I said distraction, that wasn't really what I meant," you mumbled into his chest.

He furrowed his brows. "What did you—" then he stopped himself when he realized. "Oh."

You laughed until it turned into a wince. He pulled you apart from him to make sure you were okay. You nodded silently, diving right back into his arms again. It gave you comfort.

You and Ethan stayed close to each other the entire time you were with the group. He didn't want you to be without him, afraid losing you for one second would mean he would lose you forever. His hand was interlocked with yours or settled on top of your thigh—whatever physical touch he could get from you. You even ended up falling asleep on his shoulder inside the van with Kirby, Chad and Mindy.

Then when you guys detected the call was coming from Gale's apartment, kudos to Quinn, that was where you all headed to next. It was where you learned that Gale had actually survived her fatal attack which you wanted to snicker at because Quinn failed again but you held it back to not look weird.

Sam had created a plan with Kirby and Bailey to head to the theater in order to lure Ghostface and lock him in. Apparently that was Bailey's idea which made sense seeing as he was one of the Ghostface's. So you all headed to the train station in order to get a lift to the rundown area.

Someone had ended up shoving you away from the group, elbowing you right in the stomach. You had to pause, grunting in pain until you looked up and couldn't find anyone. You forced yourself to suck up the pain and roughly shove everyone out of your way which helped you catch sight of Ethan's worried expression, searching the crowd presumably for you.

He found you almost immediately, adjusting his backpack and running straight to you.

"I'm sorry," he apologized when he got to you.

"It wasn't your fault," you reassured him.

You two finally reached the train right when it began to ride away from you. You groaned, knowing everyone had caught it together but then you saw Mindy ahead, doing the same thing as you.

"Mindy!" you hollered, causing her to turn and let out a sigh of relief to find out she wasn't alone.

"Thank god," she muttered. But then she saw Ethan and pulled you away from him protectively. "Get your Ghostface ass away from us, Ghostface."

Ethan gave her an offended look, watching as she created a safe distance from him. He kept looking at you two, making sure you were okay but Mindy would gesture for him to stop with arm movements. It caused him to roll his eyes.

When you entered the next train, you tried to convince Mindy to stick close to him in order to eliminate one of you from being attacked. She didn't listen but knew better than to force you to stay with her so she told you to "go to your boyfriend". You scoffed playfully at her childish behavior, finding her stubbornness amusing.

You had to squeeze through people to reach where he stood in the middle. When he saw you, his expression softened as he went forward to help you. Thankfully, there was a seat open right by where he stood so you sat there, mindlessly staring around as the train shook you.

The lights kept flickering and it gave you immense amount of anxiety. Ethan's eyes seemed to be fixed on Mindy, as if making sure she was okay as well. It must have meant Quinn was nearby seeing as she was targeting Mindy next.

Once the train finally came to a stop, Ethan turned to you and helped you up since your wounds were hurting more than usual. You instantly looked for Mindy but couldn't find her, sending you into a panic. You let go of Ethan, pushing people out of the way until you saw her lumped figure against the back of the train, a large stab wound in her gut.

Ethan and you both let out a jumble of curses while helping her up, leading her out of the train while calling for help.

You three were escorted to the nearest hospital where she went under immediate surgery and you even got yourself checked. Your stitches had reopened—which explained why they hurt so much—so they sewed them back together and even wrapped it up which made it feel a lot more secure.

The doctor released you, letting you return to where Mindy's room was. When you reached her floor, it was strangely quiet. Ethan had left you earlier, saying he needed to find Quinn, which you didn't pay much mind to as you assumed it was so he didn't look suspicious.

You scrolled through your phone, having not received any texts from Tara or the rest of the group that wasn't with you which made you nervous. They were probably busy setting up the theater but you couldn't help but assume the worst. In the midst of your distraction, you found yourself stepping into an unknown liquid which caused you to look from your phone to the floor.

It was blood.

Your mind immediately went to Mindy, but before you were able to worry about her, you were smacked across the head which sent you falling to the hard floor. Your vision started to become black when you swore you heard Ethan's voice.

"Ssh. It's okay, I got you."

- -

You awoke by the sound of excessive footsteps happening all around you. The bright lighting in the room caused your head to throb, making you squint your eyes until you felt well enough to open them all the way. You immediately recognized the room and knew you were inside the theater. You had no idea where Ethan was or what the hell was going on but you were positive that answer would come soon.

Slowly, you started to get up from your position, propping yourself up on your elbows. You looked around but your eyes couldn't help focusing on the black robe covering your entire body. Even though Ethan had informed you about this beforehand, you still felt yourself starting to panic.

What if he changed his mind? What if this was the plan all along; make you think he was on your side just to easily lure you into this trap. No, no, Ethan wouldn't do that.

"Look who's awake," the familiar voice that belonged to Detective Bailey spoke.

You searched around the room until his figure came into view, wearing an evil smirk. "What the hell is going on?"

"You don't get it, do you?" Actually you did. "You know the plan. You know why we're here; to stop Ghostface. It was pretty easy to convince Sam that Kirby was mentally unfit and had taken the mantle in her own hands for the best friend she lost…but she couldn't do it alone. That's where you come in."

"What are you talking about?" Your voice was groggy. Your mind was still fuzzy from the hit you received so his voice didn't really sound as close as it was to you. "Are you saying that Kirby's Ghostface?"

"Well, to Sam and Tara she'll be," he told you. Then he crouched to reach your level. "And you'll be to."

"What?"

"Kirby needed someone to do the dirty work for her while she couldn't." He shrugged, his voice becoming more and more angered as he continued talking. "Don't worry, you won't be the only one. My own accomplices will take the fall with you until the time is right. But we have to fuck with Sam somehow. We have to make her feel betrayal to throw us off her radar for the best reveal. Make her feel what she's made us feel for the past year."

"You're Ghostface?" you questioned. Your fogged up mind was really helping you play the part of confused.

He nodded. "And so are you."

You looked at him in disgust. "What the fuck?"

"It has to be this way, Y/N," he tutted in sarcastic sadness. It pissed you off. "You were the easiest pawn in this game. Your betrayal will weaken them the most. It's the perfect fucking idea!"

"Fuck you!" you yelled, kicking him straight in the face.

You were able to throw him back. Your uneasy state didn't help you much in your favor because as you lifted yourself up, your knees gave out. The mix of pain coming from your wounds plus your throbbing head made you nauseous that you didn't even completely register the feeling of Bailey gripping you by the hair until the cold touch of his gun was placed against your temple.

Unable to move in general, you froze.

"Unless you want your brains splattered across this wall, I'd suggest you follow my orders," he threatened. You winced at the rough shake he gave your head in order to emphasize his words. You immediately surrendered to which he noticed and nodded at. "Good."

He let go of your hair forcefully, it caused you to fall forward, catching yourself. You heard shuffling coming from behind you but when you turned to look, his back was the only thing you could make out. "What are you doing?"

"You need this to complete your costume," he responded, walking back over to you. He was enthusiastically holding a mask in the air. "This is Mickey Altieri's mask. I thought he would fit you well, you know, once I paint you to be this psycho who wanted to kill your friends for fun."

You glared at him. "They'll never believe you."

"Oh, I think they just might." He nodded, forcing the mask over your face which you tried to fight against. Then, there were gunshots heard which made you flinch and Bailey chuckle. "It's showtime."

He forced you on your feet by your robe, holding you tightly in his grip as he dragged you out of the room. You had no strength so he was basically holding your entire weight as you struggled to find balance. With your lack of stability, there wasn't much you could do and also because you felt his gun poking your back as if to keep you in your place.

"Get away from the girls!" Bailey announced his presence, pulling you along with him like a rag doll. "It's over, Kirby! I got you and your partner!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Kirby questioned in utter disbelief and you didn't blame her.

"Cut the bullshit!" Bailey hollered. "I saw this one helping you out to stage your attack!"

"What?!" Kirby's voice rose an octave.

"Who is this, Kirby? Huh?" he asked, referring to you as he shook you in his grip.

"I have no idea, okay?! It's not me!"

"Well, I'll just have to see for myself—" he was muttering to himself, using the hand that held his gun to rip the mask off your face. "Oh my god…"

"Y/N?" Sam looked at you in betrayal.

"What the fuck," Tara whispered, backing away from you.

"Stop! It's not me!" you yelled, squirming but he readjusted his grip. "It's not Kirby either! He's lying!"

"Y/N Y/L/N?" Bailey questioned. "How could you? Where the hell are the others?!"

"You're insane!" you yelled at him. You redirected your attention to them, finding it hard to breathe. "I'm not Ghostface! He is! He knocked me out and forced me into this costume! Please, you have to believe me!"

"Did you and Y/N kill Quinn?" Bailey asked in anger, his question targeted at Kirby. "Did you two kill my daughter?!" He shook you, looking at you when he finished his question.

"Jesus Christ!" Kirby let out.

"We didn't do anything!" you answered, feeling your voice beginning to give out. "You know that, you asshole!"

"Whatever he's been saying to you, don't listen to him! Y/N and I are innocent!" Kirby defended you both. "He's probably Ghostface."

"Why would he kill his own daughter?" Sam couldn't help but question, glancing back and forth between you and Kirby.

"Because he's a psycho!" you answered loudly.

"It doesn't make any sense—"

Kirby's voice overpowered Tara's concern as you saw her eyes go wide and gun straighten. "Behind you!"

You heard loud footsteps rushing toward you from behind but everything went silent the moment Bailey shot his gun, landing two bullets in Kirby's stomach. She fell to the ground, causing you to gasp. You let out another shriek when you felt a pair of strong arms grab you from behind, restricting you from movement as they dragged you along with them to stand beside Bailey.

It was Ethan.

"Great job," Bailey complimented. "Both of you."

"What the fuck?" Sam breathed out in confusion until she saw your frightened figure still being held. You saw guilt flash across her face for not trusting you.

"Let her go!" Tara screamed, heading for you but Sam had to hold her back.

It caused Bailey to chuckle. "Oh, you should've seen the look on your faces. To think your only friend would betray you but she's actually innocent; just ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Fuck you!" You let out.

Ethan covered your mouth with his gloved hand and you instinctively relaxed in his grip but forced yourself to fight him in order to make it look believable. You assumed he wanted to make sure your words wouldn't end up pissing Bailey off so he didn't do anything rash to you.

You were fading in and out of reality. You weren't paying attention until Bailey nudged Ethan to take off his mask.

He pulled it off with a smile on his face.

You looked up from where he had you, your mouth dropping into a fake gasp. "E-Ethan?"

"Hi, baby," he whispered in your ear. "Mindy was right. It was easy to juke the roommate lottery. I mean, all I had to do to meet you guys was to room with a conceited, condescending asshole, literally named Chad. Fuck, it felt good to kill him!" His tone made you flinch; he sounded really insane. Then he rose his mask in the air. "This was your grandmother's Sam; Nancy Loomis. Really runs in the fucking family, doesn't it? And speaking of family…my names not Ethan Landry. Isn't it, dad?"

Tara looked lost. "Dad?"

"Had to keep it secret. I mean, I had to get close to you guys somehow," Ethan stated, leaning his cheek to be against yours. He gave you a quick kiss on the cheek which would've made you blush in any other circumstance. "Had to have Y/N for myself."

"You're psychotic," you told him.

Catching him off guard, you managed to shove his arms away from you. Tara and Sam were prepared to pull you away but he gathered you rather easily as you didn't make it much of a battle to. You just needed to look like you weren't comfortable with being in this position.

What startled you was the feeling of his blade being placed against your throat. "Not so fast," he whispered.

You gulped. Now you were really afraid.

"Let her go, you asshole!" Tara shouted.

Ethan pulled the knife away and rose it at her which absentmindedly made her flinch. "Oh, come on. Y/N doesn't mind this. Don't you, baby?"

"Fuck you," you breathed out.

"So vulgar that mouth of yours." His attention was purely on you as his knife was placed back against your throat.

Tara watched in disbelief, shaking her head.

"Ethan was the one who came up with this plan," Bailey said proudly, squeezing his son's shoulder. "He knew how easy it would be to make Y/N fall for him. It kept him from looking suspicious because nobody suspects the caring boyfriend."

They both began to chuckle together. You rolled your eyes at them. It caused Ethan to dig the knife deeper into your skin, on the verge of slicing you.

"Wait," Sam interrupted them. "If it's you two, then that just leaves…"

While they all gawked in betrayal at Quinn's reveal, Ethan leaned his lips close to your hair to cover his words. "You okay?"

You glanced at him and you could see the apologetic look in his eyes for the position he had you in. You nodded very slightly before trying to squirm out of his grip again.

"Hey, roomies. You didn't see that one coming, did you?"

"Yeah, because you died!"

"Kind of didn't." Quinn tilted her head. "I had to get off the suspect list. Stab Gale Weathers, stab Mindy in the train, take Y/N because Ethan couldn't do it himself!"

Ethan rolled his eyes.

"It's funny, isn't it," Quinn continued. "Poor Y/N. She was just trying to help her friends which only led her straight into the trap. Come on, how fucking stupid can you be?!"

"Let her go," Sam stated sternly. "She has nothing to do with this!"

"She has everything to do with this!" Quinn yelled back, walking over to where Ethan still held you. She traced the tip of her knife along your stomach which caused you to shiver as she pressed into your stitches. "She's a killer, just like you, Sam. That's why it'll be easy to frame you both."

"What?" Tara questioned.

"Oh." Quinn jumped from her spot. "You didn't really think we'd take the blame for it. It'll all fall onto Sam, the villain of Woodsboro. She couldn't get enough so she just had to go on another killing spree and she couldn't do it all alone! She needed someone to help her."

"Y/N's not a killer," Sam stated matter-of-factly, watching in disbelief. "Neither am I. We're not killers."

"Oh, shut up!" Quinn snapped.

Bailey walked forward, pulling out a mask from his jacket and raising it for her to see. "You're a killer just like your father."

"No, I'm not!" Sam yelled.

"Yes, you are, you motherfucker! You killed our brother!"

Tara furrowed her brows. "You said your brother died in a car accident?"

"No, no, no, you sweet dumb thing," Ethan jumped into the conversation. "He died in Woodsboro at the hands of your bitch sister with the help of Y/N, here."

Sam's face fell in realization. "You're Richie's family."

"Now she's finally getting it." Ethan smirked.

He gripped your robe, tugging you carelessly to follow him as he and Quinn ventured around the seats in order to get behind Sam and Tara, significantly trapping them. It caused the two to tense and you as well. You weren't sure what was going to happen next.

"Y/N didn't kill him," Sam declared in annoyance. "I'm the one who slit his throat; I'm the one who watched him bleed to death as he cried like a fucking baby."

"Shut your whore fucking mouth!" Quinn lashed out, walking forward to push Sam, catching her off guard.

"Hands off, Quinn!" Bailey demanded loudly which seemed to set his psychotic daughter in place. "Before we get into that, we have something else that needs to be done first." It seemed all their attention fell on you. "Ethan, why don't you go take care of Y/N. Plant her body just where we discussed."

"No!" Tara yelled, attempting to head toward you but was stopped by Quinn, who stepped in front of her with her knife.

Sam pushed Quinn, causing an uproar as they tried to fight her but Bailey put their actions to a pause by facing the gun to their faces. They both shuddered and stopped fighting, having to watch you be dragged away.

"Go, Ethan," Bailey instructed.

"No, no, no," you heard Tara cry out until he pushed you inside the room and the door was shut, silencing all sound.

"God," Ethan groaned, dropping the act, even dropping his knife in the process as he rushed towards you, grabbing your face in his hands as he checked for any injuries. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay? They didn't touch you, right? I didn't mean anything I said; I promise. I hate this so much—"

"Ethan," you interrupted his rambling. "Hey, it's okay. I'm fine, I promise. I've been through worse."

Not wasting another second, he leaned down to pull you into a passionate kiss. Several emotions were coursing through you but once feeling his lips on yours, you felt yourself relax as if you two weren't on the verge of being potentially murdered by his fucked up family.

He couldn't pull away, afraid if he did, he would lose you so you had to be the one to do it—even if it hurt you to. "What's the next step?" you asked him.

"Faking your death," he told you casually. It almost made you want to laugh. "They're too indulged with Sam and Tara to pay attention to us. Besides, they can't hear much but I have to make this look quick."

You nodded, listening as he was about to get into what he wanted you to do next but the sound of footsteps caused you both to go rigid. When you looked past his shoulder, you felt relieved when you saw Kirby, miraculously still standing despite the amount of injuries she had endured, with her gun aimed at Ethan.

"Let her go," she instructed him.

"Kirby, wait," you interrupted, pushing him behind you so now her gun was facing you. "He's innocent."

"What? But I heard him. He killed Chad—"

"I didn't. I didn't hit any major arteries," Ethan defended himself.

"What are you talking about?" Kirby questioned.

"Ethan was Ghostface but he had to be in order to keep me safe so I offered to help him kill Bailey and Quinn for saving my life," you explained very vaguely, your words slurring together. "Please, you have to believe me. He would've done something to me by now if he wasn't."

Kirby took a second to process your words before she began to slowly drop her aim. "Okay. Okay, I believe you."

"Good," you thanked her, turning to Ethan. "What's next?"

"Down the hallway will lead you into the room where the back entrance is located. The plan for them is to make Sam understand what she's done before attempting to kill them both," he told you and Kirby, who had approached you two to watch your backs for any unwanted guests who would pop out. "Our backs will be facing you two and which gives you both the opportunity to get either of them because they won't see you coming."

"Okay." You nodded. "You got that, Kirby?"

"One step ahead of you," she responded.

"And this is for you." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a large hunting knife. "For your protection."

You chuckled breathlessly, taking it from him as you looked up from the knife to him. "We got it from here," you assured him. "Go before they find you suspicious."

Ethan nodded, preparing to leave until he paused, leaning down to pull you back in for another kiss. You sighed into his lips, wanting nothing but to kiss him all day and not have to face the reality that lied outside the room.

"Wrap it up, lovebirds," Kirby said in impatience.

Ethan pulled away, his cheeks flushed red. "Be safe," he demanded more than said.

"You too," you told him, smiling.

He squeezed your hand, as if reassuring you, before he let you go and headed towards the door. He grabbed his knife, taking a second before finally leaving the room.

"Let's go, kid," Kirby demanded, already walking away which gave you no choice but to follow.

She took lead as she was the one with the gun, securing the place before gesturing for you to follow.

While stopped at a corner, her peeking past the wall to make sure it was clear, you couldn't help but question aloud to distract you from your thoughts. "How are you still alive?"

Kirby turned and gave you a look, as if saying 'right now really isn't the time'. You sucked in a breath and nodded, letting her go back to what she was doing.

When you both made it to the room Ethan was talking about, you found Chad propped up against a counter. He looked dazed, on the verge of passing out—or dying. You immediately ran to him, crouching to his level.

"Chad, hey? Can you hear me?" you asked stupidly, grabbing his face.

"…Y-Y/N?" His voice was quiet and weak.

"Yeah, it's me," you answered. "I need you to hold on just a little bit longer, okay? It's almost over with."

"I'm trying," he hissed through his teeth.

"Y/N, when should we make our move?" Kirby asked, making you look to see her peering through the window.

You rubbed Chad's arm reassuringly before getting up to look through the other one right beside her. You could see a video of Richie when he was younger playing on the projector, causing you to scoff.

Kirby glanced at you and back at the scene. "That's the fucker who got you guys last year, isn't it?"

You nodded, feeling angry. All the pent up emotions you forced yourself to swallow over the past year were resurfacing. "Let's get them now."

She nodded, opening the door very quietly. You put your finger to your lips, gesturing for her to stay silent as you crawled forward to the memorabilia. Kirby whispered a bundle of words but you didn't listen as you discreetly reached up at one of the cases, opening it and stealing the knife that was being displayed.

You had no idea who it belonged to previously but you needed to get it just in case Tara or Sam needed one.

When you crawled back to Kirby, she had a surprised mixed with disbelief look on her face. "What the hell?"

"I had to get one for Sam and Tara," you responded.

"Just get behind me," she instructed, which you followed because she was someone you didn't want to piss off.

Kirby took a moment of contemplation, preparing herself before she leaped out, shooting perfectly at Bailey. She had two shots in his stomach but was stopped from continuing as Quinn tackled her to the floor.

You jumped out from your spot, stabbing her straight in the back and throwing her off Kirby.

"Y/N?" Tara questioned, running toward you.

You gasped in surprise when you felt her body being thrown on you, her arms wrapping around your waist. You had pry her arms off of you. "Here, give this to Sam," you said, handing her the knife. "Kill that motherfucker."

"I thought Ethan killed you," she said sadly, tears in her eyes.

Before you could respond, you fell forward into Tara's arms as Quinn stabbed you in the middle of your back. She pulled it out and was prepared to land another one until Ethan shoved her back to the ground, keeping her in place by shoving his knife straight into her chest. At this, Tara looked extremely confused, helping you gain your balance.

You glanced behind your shoulder to see what she was looking at and groaned as you straightened your posture to help yourself stand. "He's on our side," you let out before you pushed her toward Sam. "Just go help Sam—hurry! I'll take care of Quinn."

Tara nodded, making sure you were okay before running back to where Sam was struggling to keep Bailey down.

You turned to help Kirby up from the floor. She dusted herself off and grabbed her gun. "Thanks."

Then you two hovered over Quinn, who was gasping for air as Ethan twisted the knife, causing her to gasp. He pulled it out, blood flying to coat his face as she winced loudly.

Kirby rose her gun, aiming it at her forehead but you stopped her before she could pull the trigger. "Wait."

"What?" Kirby asked, confused.

You didn't answer, leaning down instead to hover above her face as she struggled to move, let alone speak. Blood was spewing out of her mouth as she tried to say something, probably an insult of some kind.

You straddled her waist, gripping her hair as you brought her face close to yours. "Ready to die just like your brother?"

Quinn's eyes widened but she wasn't able to do much as your knife sliced her throat, causing blood to run out. You stood up, returning back to your spot between Ethan and Kirby, watching as she took her last breath. Her eyes fell motionless, staring at the ceiling.

You turned your head to look at Ethan. "You okay?"

Ethan glanced at you, nodding. "Yeah. She was always a terrible sister, anyway."

His response made you smile. Kirby watched the two of you with a smile of her own. "You two did good."

"So did you," you complimented.

She ruffled your hair, earning a smile from you.

A gunshot caused you three to jump, turning around, prepared to attack but became aware that it was from Sam. Tara had the knife in her hand, covered in Bailey's blood as Sam was the cause of the bullet between his eyes.

When you approached them, Sam flinched at the sound of footsteps and rose the gun.

"Hey, it's just us!" Kirby hollered.

Sam nodded until she furrowed her brows, turning her aim at Ethan. He widened his eyes in fear, raising his hands.

"No, wait!" you shouted, jumping in front of him like you had done with Kirby previously. "He's with us."

"What?" Sam questioned.

"It's true," Kirby confirmed, taking a spot next to you in order to shield him as well. "He was the one who told us what to do in order to save you guys."

"But your dad and sister—"

"Are insane," Ethan finished her sentence. "I wanted nothing to do with this. The only reason I helped was because they threatened to kill Y/N," he explained to them, making you reach to hold his hand to comfort him. "I'm sorry for what I've caused and not being able to stop them before we got to this point. I'm really sorry."

"Sorry won't bring back the people we lost," Sam told him.

"I know." He nodded sadly.

"Sam." Tara brought her hand up to force her sister's arm down, making her lower her aim. "He helped us and he saved Y/N. He could've just let us die."

"We don't have time for this," Kirby groaned in annoyance, sticking her gun back into her holster. "You have to get to Chad. I'll call for help."

"Chad?" Tara questioned.

Kirby nodded, leading her into the room where he was situated. She left you, Sam and Ethan alone for any further conversation that needed to be made as she went to go help Tara and call the police.

Sam sighed, dropping the gun. "I can't forgive you, Ethan but I'm sure as time goes by, I can find a way to. You mean a lot to Y/N and she means a lot to me. So, if she's able to trust you and then I am too," she told him, giving a brief smile until she turned serious. "But if you do anything to hurt her, I won't hesitate to—"

"Got it," he interrupted, nodding sternly.

"Good," Sam responded. "I'm glad you two are safe."

"I'm glad you are too," you told her sadly, walking forward to give her hug. "Don't believe anything they said, Sam. You aren't like your father."

"I know, Y/N/N," she whispered, caressing your head.

You heard soft chatter coming from outside the theater room, catching your attention. "It must be the police."

"Let's go," Sam told you both.

You nodded, letting her walk first as you grabbed Ethan's hand in yours. Before you two continued, you paused, turning to face him with a sad expression. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Ethan smiled, genuinely smiled, looking down from where you held his hand back into your eyes. "I will be because I got you and I couldn't be more thankful."

You grinned. As long as I got you.

[ladybugsimblr]

Q: I don’t need the Bailey Kay Superstar Social Media Special. Maybe an assistant, so I don’t miss out on a dope opportunity because my inbox is flooded with enthusiastic butterflies. BK: Aht Aht! This is not about the Hive! This is about the thirsties slipping and sliding into your dms. My butterflies know how to act. Q: Oh really?! BK: Yes really.

Q: That’s funny because… let me see… here… Yeah I definitely got nudes from… wildbutterfly and a sexybfly4liiiife with four i’s. BK: So we’re keeping messages with nudes now, Quinton??? Q: Damn. The government?? Penny, help! Penny: You two are hilarious. This is quality entertainment. Maybe we should reconsider the reality show. BK&Q: NO!

BK: What’s with the face sir? Are we boring you? Khalil: I’m just wondering when we’re gonna talk about the elephant in the room. BK: ( Shit. How does he know?? ) Penny: Khalil, now is not the time. We’re celebrating. Q: No, get it off your chest because you’re definitely killing the vibe.

-

This was wordy so continue reading below…

Khalil: Look, I gave in with the residency decision, but I’m not rolling over on this retirement thing. I think it’s stupid and a huge fucking mistake. BK: Well damn. Khalil: I don’t get it B. You love this. Music is life. Performing is life. Your fans. All of it. Why would you stop now? BK: You’re right. I do love it. And music has been my life, but I’ve done it all. I’ve accomplished every one of my goals when it comes to being an entertainer. I’m ready to move on.

Khalil: This is crazy. You’re at the top of your game. Now is when you cement your legend status. All the greats are still recording and performing into their adult years, some even elders! BK: I hear you, but right now I just want to do things on my terms and time. I want to focus on my family. I want to help other artists make their dreams come true. Maybe even discover something else I love. Khalil: This industry moves fast. You know that. If you quit, there’s no guarantee you’ll get your spot back. Everyone will move on to the next hot thing. BK: I’m not worried about that. If I come back it will be out of love for the music. I don’t need to chase the fame and the top spot anymore.

Khalil: Did you forget about the 2 albums left on your contract? BK: No, I- Q: Are you really bringing up contracts right now?! Khalil: No one is listening to logic so yes I’m talking about legal obligations. Q: Clearly you didn't hear one thing she just said. You’re still only worried about what she can do for you.

Khalil: Q, stay in your lane. I don’t tell you how to do your job. Don’t tell me how to do mine. Q: Maybe you should think about something else other than the job. There is more to life. Khalil: Here you go with your speeches on family life. Focusing on the job got me, your wife and you the success you have now. You conveniently forget that. The family sim thing is for you. That’s great. But let me and B do what we do best and make sure we all stay winning. BK: It doesn’t have to be an either or situation. Both can be possible. Khalil: Retirement is not both. Retirement is quitting and that’s not the Global Superstar BK that I signed. It’s sounding like Bailey being influenced by Quinton.

Q: I don't like your tone. BK: Khalil, you’re about to cross a line and we really don’t have to go there. Khalil: I’m just being real because you two are not thinking straight. I swear you must be pregnant or something because that’s the only time you come at me with the home life work life balance shit. But even you two wouldn’t be that reckless.

*crickets*

Penny: Bailey… Khalil: Are you fucking kidding me?!

BK: We- Khalil: This is bullshit. I’m out. Penny: Khalil!

[no-see-um-incorrect]

Trans Milo Headcanons 🐺🧡

(because I kid you not I thought that it was canon that he was trans when I first started listening until I was told otherwise)

: he came out when he was 13 (a few months before tank came into the pack)

: Man was sweating Bullets when he was coming out to his Ma. She’s the only parent he cared about and was terrified of the thought of losing her like this

: no surprise when he came out to Marie she was perfect. And cemented it in him that there’s nothing he can do that would make her love him any less 

“and don’t worry about your father sweetheart. I’ll handle him. and if he has anything to say about my boy well. He can make his bed on the curb”

(Colm had the fear of God instilled in him that day)

: The next week before school Marie saved up every dime she could even going so far as to ask for a small loan from the alpha (which he happily gave  and accepted no money in return) took Milo to get a few new outfits, cologne and a haircut 

: he specifically took Asher shopping with him and Asher was the best hype man  

: on the first day of school, this man was dressed, like Danny Zuko from grease (he Slayed)

: he was the hottie of the school. we’re talking three ask outs a week| the only person HE went to prom/dances with was Bailey 

(this is following the saying that confidence makes you attractive and boy did he get Hella confident after coming out)

: One time he was left stranded in the bathroom without a tampon/pad and Asher came in at around the same time analyzed the situation Milo was in and then stole tampons from  Amanda‘s locker, leaving a sticky note that says “pay you back later”

: there’s a tradition that every time a new male member enters the pack they get to have a run in wolf form alongside the alpha. And Milo got to run with Gabe after he came out 

: after he got top surgery Marie came by every single day during the first month of postop to help take care of him 

(the next one is a T4T sweetheart And Milo Headcanon)

: The first time they stayed the night together (milo’s first healing video) the next morning they both wake up early and witnessed each other taking their hormones and just kind of…👁️👄👁️

(commence the Spider-Man meme)

: Milo started testosterone when he was 18 (around the time he started working for Shaw security) and you better best believe Marie filmed every single month on how his voice progressed 

————————————————————————

I have more 😈

But for now I hope you enjoyed these 

Keep in mind these are my Headcanons based off of my experiences feel free to disagree with them, or leave your own I love seeing them 

[honeybeeloxs]

SWEATER VEST

Ethan Landry x Male Reader

I wrote this at like 3 AM yesterday night and forgot to post it.

SUMMARY:

SPOILERS FOR SCREAM 6

The first kill you get is an accident, and you call Ethan to help you cover up the crime, only to find Quinn and Detective Bailey there as well.

Y/N didn’t mean to kill him; he attacked and corned you, so you took Ethan's butterfly knife and stabbed him repeatedly. Y/N felt sick; he didn’t know how many times he stabbed him, Fourteen? Twenty-two? Or maybe even Six times, but all he knows is you needed to get the body out of sight; you’re shocked no one heard him. It’s in the middle of an alley Y/N walked through just to get to the Frat Party quicker, panicking he needed to call someone. Y/N couldn’t call Anika, his best friend, because she would freak out and call the police, but he could call his boyfriend, Ethan.

Y/N was dragging the body further into the alley, trying to get it away from the public eye; he was terrified when he saw car headlights making his face glow. He paused, didn't know what to do. Y/N could play it off like his friend passed out drunk, but that wouldn't work; well, the stab wounds on his body, your baby blue sweater stained with crimson, and the car door slammed shut. Y/N saw Ethan; Y/N was happy he was here; however, he didn’t expect him to bring his father, Detective Bailey, and his sister, Quinn.

Y/N sighed, wobbling to Ethan before he hugged him while looking at the body. “Holy shit, I thought you were joking, Ethan.” Quinn snarkily comments. He confesses to Ethan that he didn’t mean to kill him, “It’s okay, Y/N.” he says while wiping tears off his face. “Okay, wrap this body up, and let's get him in the trunk.” Wayne roars; Y/N’s white pants are covered in blood. Y/N got into the backseat of the car and stared off into space while Quinn and her father chatted about their plan to kill off the Carpenters.

“Y/N.” Ethan pulled him out of his thoughts; who's looking at you and brushing your hair out of your bloody face. “Blood really makes you look pretty.” he blurts out, and Quinn cackles. “Get a room.” but she can barely finish the sentence without howling. Ethan scowls and yells at her, resulting in a bicker between them.

Y/N tugged at his sweater, examining the blood stains while Ethan put his arm around Y’N’s shoulder and pulled him in, “Don’t worry, we can wash it, blood probably will stain it, but we can fix it.” he exclaimed as he nuzzled his face into Y/N’s neck. “You did a good job handling the body Y/N.” Ethan communicated with him.

“Yeah, I gotta hand it to you, Y/N; you did a good job killing him,” chuckles Wayne through the rearview mirror; Y/N could only smile at him; Wayne was like a parental figure. He was the only one there for Y/N, and he was so glad when you started dating Ethan, another family member is a good thing. Y/N felt euphoric. It felt like he finally fit in with Ethan’s family, they all loved him, and Ethan was a fantastic lover; he always complimented you after killing someone and always gave you help on homework. Just thinking about it made Y/N blush.

The car ride was long, and they needed to dump the body; Ethan saw he was visibly uncomfortable, so Wayne dropped you two off a block away from the party; you can pass the blood off on your clothes as fake. It’s Halloween; people can believe it. Ethan’s Halloween costume was cute and dorky. No one could suspect him of being a killer. “Y/N, calm down, okay? No one will find out.” Ethan whispers to you, and you nod slowly.

“Hey, Y/N! Over here!” Anika calls out from across the room; as you get closer, she sees the blood. “Are you okay? Do you need us to take you to the hospital?” Anika cries, and you shake your head and say you're fine; you couldn’t find the Halloween costume you wanted, so you just poured ‘fake’ blood on your clothes. Seeing Tara with a frat guy, a well-known date raper, you walk back to Ethan and kiss his cheek as he talks to Chad; distracted, Ethan shoves you and heads upstairs. He is tasered in the balls by Tara's sister, ending the fight. Ethan puts his arm around your bloody sweater, “Wanna return to my dorm?” he smirks, and you roll your eyes. “Sure, Ethan.” Y/N giggled at him, removed his costume hat, and put it on his head.

You really do love him. Once you two get privacy, tell him you will help them kill the Carpenters; he’s happy and chuckles before kissing you. “I love you, Y/N,” Ethan says as he hugs you. “I know,” you said, smiling.

[snootlestheangel]

Hope you’re feeling better today! Also we both know how much I adore this little family!

What are the different parenting styles of Nik versus Price? Does one hover more than the other? Is one more strict?

Does Nik teach Bailey Russian? If so, would he teach her curses?

What is a subject Bailey enjoys the most in school?

If Bailey did something bad, nothing crazy, which if her uncles would she call first to help her hide it? (If she would hide it. If not, would she tell Nik or Price first?)

When Bailey starts celebrating Father’s Day for Nik and Price, what is her go to gifts for each one?

Would Nik keep a secret of Bailey’s from Price and would Price keep a secret of Bailey’s from Nik?

During a zombie apocalypse, what would Bailey’s go to weapon be? And what would be the one personal item she would bring?

Different parenting styles:

Hoo boy, do I have strong opinions about this sort of thing with these two. Like, Price definitely seems to be the more helicopter type parent in their relationship, but it's more of being responsible for ensuring her health. You have to remember, Bailey was not in good physical or mental shape at all when she met Price. After taking her home, he's the one responsible for making sure she's taking her vitamins and her iron, making sure she's taking her anxiety medication, making sure she's eating a balanced diet while also balancing her food sensitivities/aversions, making sure she's showered and brushed her teeth. He's in such a habit of asking her questions like "have you taken your iron yet today?" And "when was the last time you brushed your teeth?" That it's just how their relationship works. She definitely gains independence as she gets older and doesn't really depend on him to help her remember those things, but she will never tell him to stop asking her stuff like that cause it makes her feel loved. It reminds her that he cares so deeply about her. Price can come off as nosy to other people/parents but they have an understanding that him asking questions is him saying "I love you and I want you to be happy and healthy and the best way I can help with that is ask you all these questions about your life and health and school." BUT Price isn't actually all that strict. Like let's be honest, this man does not scream "strict parent". He's definitely protective but nit strict. He trusts Bailey is smart enough to make good decisions, and he trusts they have a good enough relationship that she can come to him with anything.

But NIK on the other hand? He's the one drilling her with questions when she says she's hanging out with some friends. He has to know every detail and even that isn't enough. He's so fucking paranoid that something is going to happen to her, and he can't let that happen. He always anticipated to be someone's Cool Uncle one day, but now he's Papa and it's scary, man. He's now responsible for a whole ass human child and he just wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to her. She means so much to his beloved husband and himself, that Nik will sometimes lie awake at night worrying about them. Nik is constantly worried something is wrong with her. He's just not adjusted to having an autistic child that feels safe enough around them to not need to mask, and he's just so worried she's upset about something but in fact she's just chilling.

Does Nik teach Bailey Russian?

Yes absolutely. She loves learning so much, and she loves language cause to her it's so cool that humans created different ways to talk to each other (read as "to say I love you"). She definitely convinces him to teach her how to say I love you first. To her, learning how to say I love you to the two of them is important, and she learns very fast that saying it in Nik's native tongue makes his eyes all watery and he gives her the biggest bear hug. She's definitely trying to learn Russian seriously. She wants to be able to have conversations in Russian, even if she ends up still not being entirely fluent and using English to fill in the gaps for things she doesn't know. He definitely teaches her curses. She's his kid, she's gonna know how to curse when she's upset.

Bailey's favorite subject is either science or math.

If she did something bad, how is she handling it?

I will say, she grew up in a family that prioritized communication, so she's definitely going to her dads, probably in tears, about what she fucked up.

But if she had to call one of her uncles, she's calling Gaz. She loves Ghost and Soap, don't get her wrong, but she knows they'll start lecturing/mothering her, and she's not in the mood for that if she's made a mistake. Gaz is the least likely to lecture or mother her, so she's calling him.

Go to Father's Day gifts?

Mugs for Price and little random knick knacks for Nik for his many vehicles

Would her dads keep her secret(s) from each other?

Yes. They both work and deal in secrets. She tells them quite a bit, and rarely keeps secrets. They honestly wouldn't do it on purpose, but unless she explicitly tells them it doesn't have to be a secret, they just end up not sharing the information to the other. Part of it is they respect her privacy too much to just share half of what she tells them in private, even if it's just a meaningless little story from school.

Zombie apocalypse?

Go to weapon is a bat. Light enough for her to be able to carry it but can still be an effective weapon. She will also joke she's choosing Nik as her weapon.

She's taking her stuffed zebra with her. It's the one thing she's had for basically her entire life, she's never letting go of it.

[shifterdomain]

Hospital Confessions / Jonah Hauer-King X Actress!Reader, Halle Baily & Cousin!Reader

Summary: You are starring in a big fantasy/action feature, but in doing your own stunt, you get hurt and end up in the hospital. When your cousin Halle visits you, together with Jonah, you end up confessing your love to the latter. Warnings: Some Cringe. Also mentions getting injured pretty badly, followed with fluff and comfort. A bit of angst as well and one cuss word. Word count: 2391

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

”No, I can do this,” you assure the director as you both go over the next scene and he reminds you of the possibility of calling in your stunt double. Even though the stunt wasn’t that dangerous or complicated, he didn’t want to risk you getting hurt, which obviously you understood. But you had always wanted to do your own stunts, especially after hearing the stories of how other actors like Tom Cruise always did them themselves.

You hadn’t been in the business of acting for the longest time, only being fairly young yourself, so you wanted to try everything you could to make a name for yourself. And the stunt wasn’t that big of a deal, so why not?

You were put into a harnes by the crew, wires attached as the backdrop of the soundstage showed the location of your scene, which was the mansion of the big bad. As your co-star got on their mark, the director yelled action.

“You see, Y/C/N, I always win,” your co-star recited their line, a smirk on their face as they pushed their hands forward. As they did so, the wires of your harness swung you back, making you fly across the room with a high speed. But as your back hit the backdrop, you heard a snap before everything turned to black.

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

A soft humming echoed through the sound stage, the angelic voice earning smiles on the faces of the crew as Halle had had the song ‘Part of Your World’ stuck in her head for a few days now. They waited for the crew to be done setting up the last scene for the day, which would be the wedding for prince Eric and Vanessa. Melissa was still in the hair and make-up trailer, getting her wig fixed, Javier talking to the director about his views for the final fight scene, which would be shooting a week from now, and Halle and Joseph sat somewhere in a lonely corner. Halle, ever so gracious, sat patiently in her cast chair. Flipping through the pages of the script to prepare for the scene as she excused her humming as warming her vocal cords. Jonah, on the other hand, sat on the floor across from Halle, immersed on a game of Angry Birds on his phone.

It took them a few takes to get the full scene just as Rob Marshall wanted it to look, and once he was sure that he had the perfect shots, he dismissed the cast and told them they were free to leave.

“You wanna go and grab a bite?” Jonah suggested, quickly catching up with Halle’s steps. “I was thinking of some Nando’s?”

“Sure, that sounds good,” she nodded, looking back at Jonah with a warm smile, sliding her hand into his. But before getting a chance to even get out of their costumes, Halle’s phone begun to buzz in her purse, which still stood on her cast chair.

“Hello?” she answered, holding the phone up to her ear, catching Jonah’s attention.

A deep voice answered, saying: “Good evening, my name is Doctor Sharpe of the St. Thomas’ Hospital. Am I speaking with Miss Halle Bailey?” The voice sounded serious and Halle could feel her heartbeat gradually increasing, worry etched onto her face, causing Jonah to frown as well.

“Yes, this is her.”

“I am calling regarding Miss. Y/N Y/L/N, you have been listed as her emergency contact. I am sorry to inform you that she has been in an accident and is currently going into surgery,” the doctor explained and her heart dropped in her chest with worry and fear.

“I’m on my way,” she stated, hanging up the phone and quickly putting her things back in her purse. She hadn’t even realized the worried looks, mainly coming from Jonah, as she was too wrapped up in wanting to get to you as quickly as possible.

“What’s wrong?” Jonah questioned, concern lacing his voice as he shuffled closer to her to try and comfort her. Her state of panic had drawn Javier’s attention as well as he approached the two, gently placing his hand over Halle’s shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze, hoping that the fatherly gesture would help in calming her down.

In a clear state of panic, she pushed her belongings into her purse with trembling hands. “Y/N/N- Y/N/N has been in an accident and- and she’s- she’s into surgery,” she stammered, her words rambling.

Jonah’s heart dropped at her words, having the same reaction as Halle had upon hearing the news. Not wasting a second, he fished out his car keys. “I’m driving,” he stated, leading Halle back to the car as they drove towards the hospital to get to you.

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

Jonah’s heart broke when he saw you laying in that hospital way. He wanted nothing more than to go over and comfort you. Hug you and never let you go again. The way you lay there with your arm in a cast, a nasotracheal tube taped to your rosy cheeks. But he let Halle be the first to go over to you, waiting by the doorway and ready to offer his support when necessary. After all, you were still asleep and probably needed it.

Halle was pulled away by the doctor to fill in some forms, seeing that she was the one registered as your emergency contact.

You had always valued family, but no one was as close as you and Halle were. Since you were children, you had been unseperable. It took a lot of tears and getting used to when you moved to London, but it was the best option when you had signed for a role in the British hit series of Doctor Who a few years back. But when you heard that Halle got the part of Ariel and that shooting was mostly going to take place nearby, you both were absolutely stoked.

Halle moved in with you for the time being, so naturally you spend a lot of your time together. But in that time, you also got to know Jonah. It only took a day for you to become friends and within a week you knew. You tried to deny it at first, but it became impossible. You had turned to Halle and said ‘one day I’ll marry him’. You just knew. He was the one. The one.

Jonah sat at your bedside. The hospital chair was uncomfortable, but it didn’t bother him. His hand gently held yours, your fingers entwined as he crossed his arms at the edge of your bed, his chin resting on top. His eyes were glued to you, a frown on his lips.

As night came, Halle had finally managed to drift off on the small couch that stood in the corner of the room. But Jonah hadn’t moved, refused to do so. He wanted to be sure to be there when you woke. He wanted him to be the first you’d see, selfishly so. He couldn’t seem to sleep anyway, his mind plagued with thoughts of what could have happened had you not fallen on the mat below you, but on the floor instead. He tried not to think of it, the thought of living without you being an unspeakable thing to him now, but he couldn’t help it. So he remained determined to stay awake until you’d come to.

It felt like an eternity, but was in fact a mere few hours. Your fingers twitching around his, an almost drunken smile on your lips as your eyes slowly fluttered open. “Jo,” you whisper his name, your voice a little rough from not using it.

“Hey there sleepyhead,” he greeted you, a relieved but tired smile tugging at his lips. “You gave us quite the scare.”

“Why?”

Jonah couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at your question, noticing the dilation of your pupils as the pain medication was very clearly still in affect.

“Because of the accident, sweetheart,” he answered. “I was worried about you.”

“You’re so sweet.”

“Well, I’ll wait with scolding you for doing your own stunts until you’ll feel better,” he replied teasingly, giving your hand a gentle squeeze.

“I mean it. You are sweet! And- and handsome,” you start to compliment him, your words slurring slightly from both the medication and the sleepiness. “And really funny. And handsome. And- and why am I saying this?” you cut yourself off with a chuckle, pulling his hand a little closer as you begin to play with his fingers. “You’re sweet.”

“You said that already,” he commented with a grin, his free hand moving to push the hair from your forehead. “But you’re just very, very high.”

“I wanna get high more often.”

Jonah let out a laugh, leaning over to press a soft kiss to your forehead, your heart leaping in excitement as your cheeks flushed a deep red. “Don’t let the press hear,” he teased, pulling away again.

“Fuck ‘em.”

“Shhh,” Jonah hushed you with a laugh, moving your hand up to press another kiss to the back of it. “Sober you might want to keep your career,” he added, pressing the back of your hand against his cheek.

Your hand reached up, the tip of your index finger poking his dimpled cheek. “These are very cute,” you note, your voice hushed as you look at him intently. “You are very cute.”

“And you’re adorable,” he grinned cheekily, giving you a playful wink. “Adorably not in your right mind.”

“No, high me equals brave me.” You keep your eyes on him, your finger moving from his cheek to trace the seam of his lips. “You are cute. And funny. And kind. And caring.”

“You’re making me blush,” he replied jokingly, trying to hide the effect your words were having on him. He wanted nothing more right now than to lean in and kiss you. He had wanted nothing more for a while now, but he had always denied Halle’s claims of him liking her. He was afraid that if he’d admit just what he felt, you would reject him and realize you could do better. He didn’t know that you feared the exact same.

“Jonah-”

“You should get some sleep,” he interrupted you, fearing that if he didn’t end the moment right now, he actually might give in to the undeniable desire to kiss you. Finally be able to feel your lips on his as he’d imagined doing since the day you met.

But you were on pain medication. You weren’t in your right mind, and he didn’t want to take adventage of the vulnareble state you were in. He would hate himself for it, never forgive himself if he ever did anything to hurt you in the slightest.

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

You were still asleep when Jonah awoke the next morning. After your pleas, he had given in and crawled on top of the bed, slipping under the thin covers beside you. His arm wrapped protectively around your shoulder, careful not to hurt you, as his other hand rested on your hip.

Listening to his heartbeat under your ear, you slept better than you had in days, not even really minding the injuries. They felt impeccably small when Jonah was at your side.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Jonah murmured when he felt you begin to stir.

“Morning,” you reply, your voice still hoarse from sleep. Your eyes opening and looking back up into his, only now realizing that he was still in his prince Eric costume, a handsome suit that made him look more dreamy than ever. Well, apart from his plaid pajama pants and dark blue pajama shirt that is.

“How are you feeling today?”

“Alright.”

“Really?” he inquires, the worry still etched onto his features. “Because if you need anything, I’ll get it for you.”

“You really are sweet.”

“Yeah, you mentioned something like that.”

“And I mean it,” you reply, your eyes locked on his. Your heart was pounding anxiously, causing you to blush slightly in embarressment when you heard the beeping of the machine that tracked your heartbeat. Gathering all the courage you could master, you decided that now was as good a time as any and added: “I meant all of it.”

He didn’t know what to say, you’re words catching him off guard but working wonders in waking him up. “Are- are you sure? ‘Cause, you kinda said a lot,” he chuckled nervously, not daring to hold the hope that maybe she indeed felt the same way as he did.

“Not enough,” you reply, sitting up slightly as Jonah follows your movements, his hand instinctively coming to rest on the small of your back. “I don’t want to ruin our friendship, but there’s something I just have to say and if I don’t do it know, I probably never will. Jonah, I- come on, Y/N/N, Jonah, I have feelings for you. Feelings beyond friendship. And I don’t know if I can call it love, but it’s strong and undeniable and I- I care for you. Perhaps more than I should. But if this isn’t love, I don’t know what is.”

Jonah remained silent for the longest minute of your life. His eyes glossed over, a breathy laugh falling from his lips as a smile tugged at his lips. “Y/N fucking Y/L/N, I love you.”

You had never expected those words to fall from his lips. Even as you confessed your feelings, you had thought he’d find you crazy and never talk to you again. How could you possibly be lucky enough to receive the love of a man as kind-hearted and beautiful as Jonah.

As he leaned in closer, his hand moved to cup your cheek, his thumb caressing your cheekbone as you saw nothing but love and adoration in his eyes. They were the perfect mirror of how you felt for him and your joy could never be put to words as you knew that he felt the same way, as you felt the softness of his lips brushing timidly over yours.

Jonah counted himself the luckiest man alive, smiling into the kiss before whispering against your lips: “I love you, Y/N.”

And maybe he had been right all those months ago. Because, a week after you met, he had turned to Halle and said: “One day I’ll marry her.”

[wafflesinthe504]

The Rookie 5x22 Thoughts

Spoilers for The Rookie 5x22 below. If you've watched the episode or don't care about spoilers, please enjoy!

^ Me during this entire episode.

This was easily one of the best finales that I've seen. The only other shows that I've watched have managed to make feel this worried and anxious for the characters during a finale were Agents of Shield and Criminal Minds.

I've been excited for this episode ever since last week when they showed the promo and they exceeded my expectations for this episode. I was on the edge my seat the entire time.

Can I just say how heartbreaking the cold open was. Seeing Celina and Aaron just bonding and talking about DnD was cute and wholesome. Even though I sort of knew what was going to happen I wasn't prepared for how much it would hurt to actually see it. Seeing Celina cover Aaron's body with her own in an attempt to stop the bleeding was so emotional. Lisseth honestly did a great job in the scenes she was in and just portraying the grief and the guilt over what happened.

Everything from Celina fighting to give Nolan the riddle and then staying by Aaron's side as soon as he got out of surgery and trying to encourage him to wake by using DnD metaphors was extremely compelling to watch. Celina was desperate to help in any way possible and I felt like I was just right there next to her during those scenes.

Aaron flatlining at the end leaving him in limbo until the next season will probably be something that just continuously reruns in my head for the next few months until I know he's okay.

______________________________________________________________

When Leah was taken from Nyla and James my heart dropped. I couldn't breathe for a moment, when they found Leah by the tree I was so relieved. For a moment I thought that the Rookie was about go down a really dark path, but I'm glad that they didn't. I don't think my heart would have been able to take it.

_____________________________________________________________

I really enjoyed seeing the Luna, Wesley, and Angela team up tonight. It was a lot of fun and interesting to see the three characters together. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that we've ever seen three of them interact with each other at the same time and it was really great to see them all working with each other.

Angela really doesn't know what a break or vacation is does she? She's really over here trying to postpone giving birth in order to solve a case. Can't blame her though considering she managed to succeed with some help. Once everything calms down I would really like to see a chill episode where Angela, Nyla, and Luna all hang out together, enjoy some wine, (and maybe end up solving a case together.)

______________________________________________________________

The fights in this episode were amazing. John and Bailey's fight at their house was so freaking good. At first I was worried that they would make it so that they would just breeze right through the fight and not take any damage, but man I was wrong. I actually felt like John and Bailey were in real danger and that for once they might not make it out alright. It was a really solid fight scene.

And then of course Tim and Lucy's fight scene. Yeah, I will absolutely be going back to watch that over and over again. I for sure thought one of them was going to end being out for the count. They really fought like a dozen people and managed to make it out alive without getting any major injuries. There are just so many things that I can talk about in this scene. Lucy grabbing the shield and pushing the man down the stairs. Tim with the two batons and beating the crap out of people. Lucy throwing someone over the stairs. Tim ushering Lucy to safety.

Everything was just so good, I can't wait to see season 6 and how everything ends up playing out.

______________________________________________________________

Side notes: The Rookie writers are really good with call backs and there were quite a few of them tonight. Aaron getting shot in the back just like Jackson. And us being able to see Wade's reaction to Aaron being shot and how Jackson's death and Aaron's life hanging in the balance are effecting him.

Tim and Lucy's hug was probably a call back to the first time they hugged at Tim's place after Jackson's death. And then Tim saying 'you know me so well.'

(Also can we talk about that hug and the little kiss that Tim placed on Lucy's head. It was so cute and short reprieve from the rest of the insanity going on.)

Overall, I really enjoyed the more thriller/horror vibes of this episode. I wonder if the Rookie will end up doing more episodes like this in the future or if this is just a one-off. With how dark and serious this episode was I wouldn't be surprised that if the storyline ends up being one that lasts for a significant portion of the next season that The Rookie will end up leaning more towards its drama side than its comedy side for next season. At least for a couple of episodes where this storyline is at the forefront. But we'll just have to wait and see.

______________________________________________________________

Anyways that's it for now hope you enjoyed. If you want come chat with me in the comments about anything The Rookie related.

Until next time have a good day or night!✌🏾

[cianmarstoo]

How do you think MerDer would react to Alex being bi and sneaking out to meet a guy or someone from the hospital catches him and MerDer find out (I know he doesn't experience any attraction due to being little but if he were Big or in another AU)

(sorry this took so long!)

I think Alex would be so sneaky about it and would start to set up lies for alibis (managing to pay Jackson in coffee or something to say they're going out together somewhere while also telling Jackson nothing about who he was going out with) and sneaks out at night, or claims to be working nightshifts (that one rarely though as he knows he'll be found out fast) While MerDer try not to be overbearing when he's big they do worry a lot about him, and Alex is often grounded anyway, and he does have a curfew for when he's not working as even when Big as a Little he needs more sleep than Neutrals or Caregivers

He ends up being seen by Bailey who is at the same bar with some friends, but Alex and the guy, who also works at the hospital, leaves before she can go over, after he leaves she does see that there were two empty beers on his table. Alex gets caught sneaking back in, he claims he just went for a run, and MerDer are already so tired from working that they ground him for being out past curfew and tell him that they're going to have a long conversation after work the next day

It's only when at work that they find out - with Bailey bumping into Derek (cause the two of them are friends lbr) and stopping the elevator like they do, and being like 'I'm not telling you how to parent, but I'm surprised you and Grey let Alex out on a date at a bar at night, especially without you guys around." She quickly realises by the look on Derek's face that he had no idea and is like "... ah... I'm guessing you definitely didn't know about the whole beer thing then?"

Derek literally goes storming off and reluctantly forces himself to see Mer instead of going straight to Alex and grounding him forever , because he knows (after several fights in the past) that parenting is them having to talk first.

Meredith hears about it and like Derek wants to find out who this guy is and kill him, but they need to find out who is first, they page Alex claiming its an emergency and he thinks it going to be a cool surgery.... nope, its them and they force him to go to Derek's office which is when he knows he's in trouble they force themselves to not yell or say anything until they get to the office, and when they do they demand the name of whoever it was he was on a date with

Alex internally spirals, Jimmy Evans was probably every type of phobic, and Alex didn't think that MerDer would be but he worries now.

MerDer on the other hand aren't even thinking about the sex or gender of whoever it was, they just care that Alex has been hiding it from them, sneaking around, and drinking when he definitely shouldn't.

Meredith is like "Alex I mean it, tell me his name now. I'm going to kick his ass."

"So am I!"

"Wait... what, his ass? It's not like he turned me bi, the fuck?"

thats when MerDer get confused and realise Alex is looking panicked.

"Yeah, you were drinking, Alex, and sneaking around, hiding things from us? He's clearly an asshole-"

"-he didn't make me drink!"

"Don't care, he should have made sure you didn't, you're not meant to, you're a Little, you know that, so why didn't he stop you?"

"... because he doesn't know my classification, we've only been on a few dates...?"

its then that they realise that they probably can't kill this guy, even if they feel protective of Alex.

They assure him that they know someone can't just turn him bi. That they're not homophobic or anything, and love him no matter what.

Then they get him to tell them absolutely everything, because they need to be able to trust him, so he does... and totally ends up grounded for a month...

They also find out about the guy, like who it is, how they met, what he knows about Alex or doesn't know.

They all leave to head back to work and MerDer privately admit to each other that they still want to kill the guy, and are like "Who doesn't ask about their classification in the first few dates?" then realise that they only promised not to kill him... they didn't promise not to threaten him....... so of course they do threaten him, because at the end of the day they know what they are, and that's protective parents

they also give Alex a very indepth sex talk, he points out that he's both a doctor and completed high school, they tell him they don't care, they know him, and they heard him and Jackson saying that they thought the morning after pill is 100% effective, and they're like 'nope, you're gonna be safe, whether you do or not, and you're getting regular checks'

'and someones going to be in the same place as you are on dates until we know him better, us, or one of your uncles'

Alex would never agree to them that it's nice getting to have essentially the teen experience which he never had, even if they're overprotective and embarrassing

(Alex when being made to listen to their safe sex talk - it doesn't work they still give him the lecture)

[centralperkchenford]

Have we done this yet?

Chenford + double date with Wopez! And it goes similarly to the DD from 4x12 lol Lucy takes food off Tim’s plate, inside jokes. And Angela teases them for being well… them lol

We need more Angela and Tim content in this world. They’re bffs and we don’t see them together enough anyway 😭😭

This one was fun! I love married Chenford 🥹🫶🏻

Chenford + double date with Wopez! And it goes similarly to the DD from 4x12 lol Lucy takes food off Tim’s plate, inside jokes. And Angela teases them for being well… them lol

Didn't know I could ever love you more than I did But, baby, I do

“Tim!” Calls a voice from behind him. Tim turns to see Lucy and Angela hurrying towards him. He stops just short of his truck as both women catch up to him, Lucy is first and she stands on her toes to kiss him softly on the cheek before standing at his side her fingers brushing his leg.

Angela stands in front of them and grins. “Lucy and I were just talking.” Angela starts and Tim looks over at Lucy who is wearing the same shit eating grin as Angela and he groans. “We need to do a double date now that you guys are married.” Angela says and Tim furrows his brows at his friend.

“Why?” He asks. “Why do we need—ow!” He says as Lucy pinches his thigh.

“Because Wesley and I have done them with James and Nyla. And even Bailey and Nolan. Now it’s your turn!” Angela replies. “And would it really be that bad?”

Tim looks down at Lucy who is still smiling. And he feels his mouth twitch despite his protests. “No I suppose not.” He admits and Lucy loops her arm in his and grins at Angela. “When is this double date?”

“Tonight!” Both women say. He looks between the both of them realizing they had this all planned out before.

“Don’t worry I will get him there.” Lucy reassures Angela and Tim blows out a breath knowing he doesn’t have much choice in this matter.

Angela nods and then she turns on her heels and heads back into the station. Tim turns to Lucy and gives her an unamused look. “Really you ambush me with Angela knowing I can’t say no?” He asks. Lucy isn’t deterred and he’s not surprised she’s pretty much immune to all his moods.

Lucy laughs and reaches up to kiss him. “I love you for doing this. I know it’s not your favorite thing in the world but you are such a good sport.” She says. Tim shakes his head at her, knowing he would do anything if she was by his side.

“Of course.” Tim says kissing her lightly. “But you owe me for this.” Lucy laughs and untangles herself from skipping over to passenger side of his truck.

“We only have a few hours before the date.” She says climbing. He groans this was going to be a long night.

***

The restaurant Angela and Lucy had chosen was on the water and when Tim and Lucy arrived, Angela and Wesley were already sitting at the table. Tim walks over dressed in the pants and teases shirt Lucy had laid out for him. She was in a wine colored dress, that had an open back and a low cut top. Her hair cascaded down her back and she was glowing in the low light of the restaurant.

Angela smiles as they approach and Tim moves out the chair so Lucy could sit. He sits next to her, his hand find it’s way to her knee.

Lucy looks around the restaurant and then at the menu in front of her. “This looks so good!” She says excitedly and then nudges Tim to get him to look at the menu. He does and the food doesn’t look as horrible as it did when they went on that awkward double date with Chris and Ashley.

“So how is married life?” Wesley asks them. Tim looks over at Lucy who is chewing on her lip, she catches his eyes and grins.

“It’s amazing. Honestly though it feels like nothing has changed. It’s just on a paper now.” She says and Tim nods. It really does feel amazing being married to Lucy, it had only been 3 months but he couldn’t be happier.

“Right.” Says Angela looking between them. “Because really you have been married for years.” Tim rolls his eyes at her.

“We have not—” He begins.

“You were married before you two even got together.” Wesley says shrugging. Tim stares at him a little dumbfounded. He knows that him and Lucy were close…

Tim looks over at his wife who is smiling. She sees his face and hits his arm a little. “Oh come on babe.” She says. “We were more into each other on that awful double date with Chris and Ashley. ”

Tim nods a little reluctantly. That was true. “Okay fine. But weren’t acting married before we got together.”

Lucy laughs a little before turning back to the menu. Tim sighs and looks at the menu too. He decides on a simple burger, everything else looking too complicated for him to even pronounce. They settle into easy conversation after they order, Lucy looking over at him like he hung the moon whenever he compliments her.

“Hey.” Says Lucy turning to face him. He looks at her curiously and she reaches out to cup his face. “Are you having fun?” Tim smiles and puts his hand on her hand and brings it down to kiss it.

“Yes. Lucy, you are here and there isn’t a weird mushroom thing. So it’s a lot better.” He says and Lucy looks at him fondly, her eyes sparkling as he leans in to kiss him. He kisses her back, and then there’s a loud cough from across the table and he looks over to see Angela looking at them.

“You do know you aren’t the only ones at the table right?” She asks a amused lilt in her voice. Tim rolls his eyes at her and moves away from Lucy, she protests and scoots her chair closer so their legs are touching.

Wesley is looking at them too and he pats his wife on the shoulder. “Come on Ange. They are in love.”

“We are in love and we don’t act like we are the only people in the room.” Angel says but she’s smiling looking between Tim and Lucy.

“I am glad you two finally pulled your heads out of your asses. I was getting tired of watch Tim pout whenever Lucy walked by.”

“I didn’t pout.” Tim protests. “It was complicated okay?” Angela hums and takes a drink of her wine.

“So when I asked if you had feelings for Lucy. That was lie?” She asks. Tim looks over at Lucy who is watching him curiously.

“Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. Look…” He begins but Lucy cuts him off laying a hand on his arm. A comforting, grounding touch.

“I messed up too. We both did. But if Tim hadn’t pushed me on my feelings for him we wouldn’t be sitting here right now. We wouldn’t be married and I don’t know we might both be in dead end relationships. I owe Tim everything for pushing me because saying yes to him was the best decision I have ever made. And I would do it again and again.” She says her eyes on him. He smiles at her and leans into kiss her again this time just a light peck but she still smiles at him as he does it.

Angela just smiles at them. “Well good job Tim.” She says. “I’m glad you are happy.” Tim wraps an arm around Lucy’s chair and pulls her into him. He is very happy.

***

The food comes and like last time, Lucy picks stuff off of Tim’s plate knowing he doesn’t like certain things. The salad he ordered, came with mushrooms on top. He gives her a grateful look as she does it.

“Our kids better not be as picky as you.” Lucy teases him as he takes a bite of his burger which is actually quite good. Angela looks between them.

“Your kids?” She asks. “Is there something we don’t know?” Tim nearly chokes on his burger as Lucy pats him on the back.

“No. But we have been talking about our kids and grandkids since our second date.” She says a smile lighting up her face as he remembers sitting at the small table under the lights and hearing the noise around him but only seeing her.

“Really?” Angela says. “So when is this going to happen.” Lucy stops him from taking another bite so he doesn’t choke again.

“I mean not for awhile.” She says shrugging. They had talked about starting a family, after they had gotten married but agreed to wait at least a year. Just so Lucy could get her detective career started.

They both wanted to be secure and comfortable in the respective jobs but honestly he couldn’t wait to start a family with Lucy. He wants it more than anything because it will be with her.

“We have only been married for 3 months.” Tim points out. His fingers rubbing circles on Lucy’s back. He takes a drink of the beer that Lucy had ordered for him.

“It’s not like your sex life is in the dumps.” Angela says just as Tim takes another drink making him sputter and choke again.

Lucy bursts out laughing and covers her mouth. “Excuse me?” Tim says through his teeth. Angela just shrugs. “I’m just saying. If something happens it happens.” She says.

Tim glares at her. “Do you know how annoying you are?” He snaps. Lucy rubs his arm with her hand and leans over giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. And then leans in to whisper in his, her lips ghosting it. “She’s not wrong you know.” Tim swallows as she sits back in her chair and shoots him a smirk.

Tim just shakes his head trying not to smile, if it happens it happens. And weirdly enough he’s okay with that.

***

The dinner ends with dessert, some chocolate cake thing that was actually delicious and Tim taking Lucy’s hand as he leads her to his truck with Angela and Wesley just behind them. Lucy tugs his hand to stop and she turns around to face their friends who are smiling at them.

“This was fun.” Angela says giving Lucy a hug. “We should do it again.” Lucy looks up at Tim who nods. Despite his earlier protests this was fun. And it was nice having friends who knew the stress and happiness of marriage and the job.

“Yeah it was.” Tim agrees bringing Lucy closer to him. Angela smiles and gives him a small hug.

She looks at him a sincere look on her face. “I’m really am glad you are happy you deserve it.” She steps back into Wesley’s arms. He smiles at her and pulls Lucy into his chest and kisses the top of her head. And nods at Angela, extremely grateful for his friends.

“See you tomorrow?” He says to her. She nods and Wesley turns around and they head to their car.

Tim backs Lucy into his truck and steps between her legs, a smile on his face as he leans in to kiss her.

“I love you.” He says nuzzling his nose into her neck. “And no matter how long it took us to get our heads out of our asses.”

Lucy snorts at that but she smiles softly at him knowing where he was going with this. “It was worth it.” She finishes for him reaching out to put her hands on his chest.

“I agree. Now let’s go home, I owe you remember?” She says a sly smile on her face. He backs up quickly and let’s her get in before he’s hurrying to the drivers side.

This was going to be a great night.

[empressofthelibrary]

Tell me about Jamie and Rachel

......Okay, I've been trying to keep my mouth shut about them because I'm worried I'll lose the motivation to write if I spill the beans, but... When I look at the pace I'm actually writing at, I might not get there until I literally retire. So... Here we go. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

Long story short, they're Bailey and Dick's daughters. I'm not sure how obvious that was, but I'd be shocked if nobody had put that together yet, honestly. And they might be from another dimension. They hatched from eggs that grew from a plant Bailey got as a wedding gift from the girls' fairy godmother.

...I'm gonna explain everything, but it's a helluva ride, so buckle up. Time travel is heavily involved, so be warned. It gets confusing.

The earliest seeds of this start not in Bailey's relationship with Dick, exactly, but with a cryptic warning from a random blonde girl with a very strong grip and intense orange eyes. She tells Bailey to "stay away from the peacock man" and... Vanishes back into the crowd.

Bailey brushes it off as a prank from some weird kid.

Fast forward a little bit, and Bailey gets called in to body-double for Princess Lydia of Valdania. The country is in political turmoil, Lyd is announcing a marriage of state, the risk of assassination attempts is high. There's a masquerade ball involved, because what's the point of fanfic if not self-indulgence, and Bailey encounters a man dressed as a peacock. She has completely forgotten the warning from the weird kid, but her "bodyguard" steps in before she can accept this wierdo's request for a dance. That becomes important later, I promise.

At some point, through some kind of Star Trek Bullshit, I'm sending Bailey into the 30th century. Someone else needs to be with her; it can't be Wally, for obvious reasons. She gets back with the help of Cary Wren, the GL of the time, but... Cary misses the target by about a decade. Bailey lands about ten-to-fifteen years ahead of when she left, practically in the lap of a twenty-something Lian. (Lian is growing up normal, fuck canon, this whole "Shoes" thing is stupid.) Bailey panics once she realizes she's not when she's supposed to be, and who she's looking at. She's familiar enough with the scifi genre to know that finding out your own future is bad. Lian is trying to do damage control, making sure Bailey learns as little as possible, while still getting her home. But she can't keep a perfect lid on things, and Bailey comes face to face with a very curious child -- One with red-gold curls framing her freckled face, a gaptoothed grin, and giant, almond-shaped eyes, blue as cornflowers.

Everyone freezes. Chris -- now also an adult -- scoops the child away as fast as he can. Bailey does not understand the tension in the room. She has a niece, clearly. That kid looked exactly like her nephew Aiden did at her age. Obviously Phoebe had another kid. Why a civilian child is here is a mystery, but she's trying really hard not to think about that.

The other person on the adventure with her points out the obvious. Bailey laughs it off -- It's pretty much physically impossible for her to have kids. And who would the dad even be? She'd be an awful mother besides. Nah, no way. That cycle ends here. (The thought had crossed her mind, but it scared the shit out of her, so she shoved it down deep.)

Fast forward a bit. Bailey freaks out and runs away from an actual relationship beginning with Dick, because change is hard and scary and good things never stay and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah commitment. I've talked about this a little.

To be more specific, she runs away to space with Kyle. While in space with Kyle, the party runs afoul of a Black Mercy. Bailey gets sucked into a dream. She's married to Dick, and has been for fourteen years. They're both going gray, getting old. Together. They have a little yellow house with a porch swing and a picket fence. There's a shelter cat, a cranky old-as-hell ginger tabby with one good eye. The sidewalk is covered in chalk drawings.

And they have two fantastic, adorable, smartmouthed daughters. Jamie's older, eleven, and already almost as tall as her father. Rachel is six, and steals the chocolate chips from the pancakes Dick makes on Sundays. They're both bright, compassionate, opinionated girls, so full of light and life and joy. Jamie has Bailey's righteous anger and outspoken nature. Rachel has Dick's quick mind and mischievous tendencies. Bailey loves them, loves this life, so much. It's everything she's ever wanted. Everything she didn't realize she wanted. Everything she was afraid to let herself want.

But she does. She wants it so, so much.

And then Zyzzanyx, the imp she'd... encountered... previously (that's another post) pops in. Explains that she's gonna die if she doesn't make herself wake up -- that Kyle and Laney and the others are gonna get hurt if she doesn't help them. And Bailey has to let it all go.

(The Man Who Has Everything did not do enough exploration of the long-term psychological ramifications of this concept to suit me, okay?)

Bailey is deeply shaken by this dream. She starts to realize that she does want to be a parent, but the idea of stability and putting down roots still scares the hell out of her. It takes someone else pointing out that she's already basically adopted Lanos, the amnesiac navcom AI who is from another Earth, for her to really start to come around to the idea.

...This is what leads to her freakout that has her knocking on Ollie's door at four in the morning, unleashing a wall of text, and recounting the whole tale so far over several bowls of chili.

Unfortunately, Laney leaves. Bailey doesn't really have a stable place to share with a teenager, and... Lanos has a big sister to get to know, and a whole new universe to explore. They stay in contact, but it's a bit like sending your kid off to boarding school.

Shortly after that, she leaves for Los Angeles. She doesn't really have anywhere to stay, having lost her apartment while in space, and she's been couch surfing. Bette offers her a proper room in her penthouse apartment in LA, and a chance to rebuild the Titans West. Bailey takes her up on it. Staying in the Gotham/Metropolis/NYC area was too close to Bludhaven and Dick anyway; the further away she could get from him, the better.

From there, the next big chapter we get in this saga is what I refer to as the Little Mercies Arc. And this one I need to do a lot of research before I write, I know. But essentially, someone is making designer drugs derived from a Black Mercy they got ahold of and embiggified to a truly dangerous degree. You know those century-old rhododendron bushes that are the size of a small car? It's like that. But Bailey and Jason take this person down, and burn the stash.

...Or. Most of the stash, anyway. Bailey picks up a single sleeve of the Little Mercies. She tells herself it's for research. Study. Finding out how it was made. But it's not. She knows it's not.

She misses her daughters. She misses the life she could have lived, if she hadn't fucked things up with Dick. She's only human, after all.

You can see where that's going.

Bailey stabilizes, gets some help, starts getting better. She gets more involved with the local community, doing volunteer work and stuff; that was Ollie's idea, and it's a good one. She forms connections with people, even starting a new relationship with an old acquaintance, Jonah Pavoni -- a nurse, formerly from Central, who helped her decide to take up being a superhero.

...Cut ahead about... Twentyish years or so. Metropolis. Four teenagers in spandex are in hot pursuit of a man in a peacock-themed outfit. They are:

A speedster in green -- Kickstart, also known as Trenton Swift; currently the second-youngest ward of the West-Allen clan, until his parents can be found.

An acrobat in blue-and-black -- Madcap, Blythe Phillips; daughter of forcibly-retired minor-league supervillains Punch and Jewlee, seeking to redeem her family name through vigilantism.

A blonde Kryptonian girl with orange eyes -- Liora of Kandor, once Liora Tyr-Van; an escapee of the bottled city, hoping to find a way to unshrink her people before their resources run out. I'm leaning towards Spitfire for a name.

And at the front of this quartet, a young archer, black-haired, blue-eyed, and both enraged and terrified. Rachel Marion Grayson-Adler, Fledgling, third-generation superhero. She's eager to prove herself, and desperate to stop the man ahead of them.

He's headed for the Jules Verne Museum, after the time-bubble Clark donated, the one he used to visit the 30th Century growing up. If he gets ahold of it, if he jumps back to when he wants... It could literally wipe her family out of existence.

Unfortunately, they don't make it. The guy gets away with the time-bubble. So what do a bunch of 15-17yos do to solve this problem?

Steal the other time-bubble from the Flash Museum, obviously.

They leap into the timestream after him, but none of them know how to pilot the dang thing. Ray and Liora are trying to shoot the other bubble down. Blythe is hitting random buttons because one of these things has to help, right? Trent is just trying to steer while the three girls move around the tiny, cramped ship.

...Both bubbles crash. All five time-travellers are now scattered along the timeline. And this is where it gets confusing, so stay with me.

Blythe lands on a random rooftop in Gotham, just before the whole thing with the dragon-wizard from another dimension. That is also its own post. But that happens after Bailey gets back from space but before Laney heads out.

Liora tumbles into the middle of Bailey's team-up with Kara, Bette, and Shayera. She helps, but she also has to gtfo because the giant robot dinosaur they're fighting is kryptonite-powered.

Trent... Actually snaps back to the time they left, and goes for help in the form of the Team's Designated Older Siblings, Jamie and Wade.

Rachel crashes into the middle of the West-Park dining table, appearing out of thin air, at roughly the same time Bailey is getting her head back on straight.

And the other guy, the one they were chasing? His bubble lands in the wrong time, but not too far off the mark. He's outside a small volunteer clinic in Keystone City. It doesn't take much use of his touch-telepathy to steal the knowledge, training, and clothes of an unlucky nurse, a witness to the crash, and he slides in seamlessly. He's now Jonah Pavoni, RN.

Jonah's plan all along was to steal the time-bubble and go back to before the love of his life -- the woman who saved him, the brilliant, shining angel, the ethereal wonder he's loved since childhood -- before she married some asshole who didn't deserve her. When he crashed in the wrong place and time, he didn't know if he'd ever find her again. But three days later, the Pied Piper drags her in. She's injured, but the wounds are more mental than physical. Of course -- his goddess couldn't be brought down so easily. She just needs... A little encouragement. A nudge or two. He can help with that.

It's like fate brought him exactly when and where he needed to be, placed him in an even better position to convince Bailey of his devotion. Now nothing could keep them apart -- not the misalignment of their ages, not distance, not that stupid neglectful jackass. No, now he could be here for Bailey, from the very beginning, building her up, adoring her, showing her the worship she deserves. Finally, he could be hers, and she could be his. As it was always meant to be.

...Man's a little bit not right in the head.

Blythe and Liora are trying to find their friends, and worrying about Jonah later. Liora crosses paths with Bailey once, and in the interest of still having her best friend to find, tries to warn Bailey to be careful. It doesn't work that well.

Rachel, however, needs to find Jonah right now immediately. While also keeping her identity secret from her extended family and avoiding the hell out of anyone who might recognize her, so she doesn't Marty McFly herself out of existence. She's a walking ball of anxiety, my poor lanky dorito girl.

Wally would like to help, but she keeps saying she isn't allowed to talk to him about it and there are time-travel rules and he has no fucking clue who this sassy lost child is but she called him Uncle Wally so clearly she's family of some kind. But his family is really damn big, and he doesn't know who he's supposed to help her avoid. She's an archer with super strength, she might be Roy and Donna's kid? Somehow? But she also used the phrase "Uncle Clark," and her eyes are really blue, and she has that dorky little forehead curl -- Kon has weird time-travelling clone daughters, right? And... He and Bart are close...?

While all that is going on, Trent, Jamie, and Wade arrive in the present day. They're in Gotham. It's a full moon. On Friday night. Naturally, things are going sideways all over the city. The addition of two speedsters and an acrobat are easy enough to hide. ... For a bit. Eventually they get spotted by the local nosy busybodies. Wade is completely unfazed by the arrival of the bat, Trent is mildly shocked to see Mr. Wayne still in the suit, and Jamie is dying because that's her grandpa how could this go any wronger.

More bats show up, that's how. Including Dick.

They eventually nab Blythe -- who has been having fun stopping criminals, harassing the local vigilantes, and bonding with Steph in the few months she's been stranded -- and as they're trying to leave, Dick puts it all together. He has a daughter. From a future that, after Bailey literally left the planet to avoid putting a name on whatever was happening between them, seems unreachable.

Things get emotional, obviously, and moreso when they part. Jamie can't stick around, she has to find the others. No, Dick can't help, he's already figured out too much and putting the fabric of spacetime at risk. Or something.

Dick, reluctantly, lets them leave to go find Liora. I'm not totally sure where she's been during all this, but I'm batting a few ideas around. They grab her and set to finding Rachel.

While all this is happening, Jonah reveals the full truth to Bailey. He's the kid she saved in her latest adventure. He's been in love with her for two decades, since that fateful moment. He's crossed time and space and warped the laws of reality just to be with her. He'd planned to just come back to this point, but what he'd gotten -- this chance to get to know her, to watch her become the hero he always admired -- it was more than he ever could have dreamed.

And now, now they could be together. He's finally repaired the time bubble. They can sweep away to the time he left, have a life together. He's waited for her for so long, can't she see how much he adores her? Won't she be his?

...Bailey, on her end, has had a series of bombs dropped on her. By a guy she's not even sure she can call her boyfriend yet. Ending in what sure as hell sounds like a proposal? And he... Might be a kid?? She says no, like any sane person would, with a few expletives thrown in.

Jonah does not like this answer. He didn't want it to go like this, but... He reaches for Bailey. If she won't love him willingly, he'll just make it happen.

THWIP!

Suddenly there's an arrow sticking through Jonah's palm.

"STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HER," Rachel screams, barely clinging to her vantage point.

A fight naturally ensues. I don't have it choreographed well, but we wind up with all three parties -- Bailey and Jonah; Rachel and Wally; Jamie, Wade, Trent, Liora, and Blythe -- all in the same space. During the chaos, Rachel falls from some great height, while injured. Bailey dives after her.

It's too great a fall for her to survive, if she can't recover. And with her wounded -- maybe Jonah has, like, feather-shaped daggers and he stuck one in her side? -- she can't do much. Bailey is trying, but she can't quite reach --

-- and then two feathered wings, shining a brilliant gold, like flame and sunrise, unfurl from Rachel's back.

Ray scrambles to pull up, flapping awkwardly, moving on instinct alone. She pulls up, rising into the air, crowing and laughing and on one hell of an adrenaline high. Bailey helps her get back to the others. Ray gets patched up. There's celebration and relief and joy. Someone makes a "Literal Flying Grayson" joke. Wally still wants an explanation, please and thank you?

Once all that gets shook out, Bailey turns to Jonah. He tried to kill her daughter. He is a threat to her girls, and he won't stop until he's stopped permanently. Clearly, there's only one thing to do.

Wally steps in, trying to plead for mercy. Bailey laughs, and agrees. She'll show him mercy, alright.

...Remember that giant mega Black Mercy? It went into the care of one Dr. Pamela Isley, retired since her wedding to Harley, and considered mostly rehabilitated. Her indoor garden has a real nice skylight.

So yeah. Bailey can show him a little mercy, alright.

There's a whole lotta crying as the time-travellers make their goodbyes. Bailey tries to put on a brave face, because you gotta for your kids, but she doubts she'll ever see their future. But she's so, so proud of them, and she loves them so much.

Fast-forward a bit again. Throughout Bailey and Dick patching things up and figuring out a relationship for real, there's a whole lot of dramatic tension as they both try to keep their mouths shut about the possible future they've both seen, but don't know the other one knows about. Bailey is scared to death that Dick would be with her for that future -- only a possibility she doesn't even know how to reach -- and not for anything inherent to her, and Dick doesn't want to put any pressure on Bailey and make her run away again. It's a whole thing! But they do work it out, and... Well, wedding bells do ring.

And Bailey gets a very unusual wedding gift from Zyzzanyx, her old ally. A small chest, containing what sure looks like two tulip bulbs. Zazz explains that these'll grow into the girls, so... She and Dick can plant 'em when they're ready. It's old magic, and it'll take a drop of blood from each parent, but, well. She's fond of the little rugrats too, she guesses. And watching Bailey be miserable about not having them is, y'know, depressing or whatever.

Bailey thanks Zazz for this, and releases the imp from her life-debt. (Like I said, that's it's own post; this is already a mile long.)

The girls eventually happen. Jamie is roughly of an age with Wade, less than a year younger. Ray is born about five years after that, I think. They grow up safe and happy and loved, with a phenomenally huge number of aunts and uncles and grandparents.

There are many arguments and discussions regarding youthful vigilantism and sidekickery, but once again, Bailey cannot stop the future. It's allowed, but under very strict conditions regarding school and social lives. Jamie begins training at age fifteen, taking on the name Dawnbird, and patrolling with her dad.

Rachel learns archery from Aunt Cissie, and then from Uncle Roy and Grandpa Ollie, when she won't be deterred from masking up once she turns fifteen. She uses Fledgeling as her moniker, one of her mother's nicknames for her, as something of an olive branch. Bailey relents and lets Ray be her partner.

I could go on, but I think this post is long enough as is. Most of the rest of what I have is bits and pieces and fun facts anyway. If there's anything anyone's curious about or wants me to elaborate on -- or if you need a diagram, 'cause I got a little Charlie Day here -- my askbox is open!

[thisnightissparkling089]

But isn't this Lucy *being* alone, tho?

What kind of support is this that only happens behind your back?

How is Bailey being supportive if she says Lucy is a badass to Nolan, and not to Lucy herself?

Also, Harper and Lopez looking worried/relieved when Lucy is under fire/safe is not support, is just basic human decency.

The two instances that Lucy needed support from her friends was the Primm situation (before and after the exam) and the shooting, and in both cases she only got Tim truly by her side. So I believe this is more than just her feeling alone, this is a true lack of a support system.

Hi Anon,

Thanks for the opportunity for discussion, I can definitely see where you're coming from!

And you're right, it's hard to only be receiving support behind your back and not get the support you so desparely need in the moment. IE a hug, a word of encouragement, someone holding your hand and sitting with you.

Bailey, fron where I'm seeing, didn't have the chance to go back and sit with Lucy and talk to her. But she can tell Nolan, and she can tell Lucy when she does get the chance to see her.

I personally didn't see a chance for Angela and Nyla to support Lucy before or after the shooting.

With regard to Primm, what could they have done? Nyla warned Lucy long before she concocted the 5 player trade that it was a risky move and could lead to serious consequences that Lucy couldn't forsee at the moment.

She and Angela do not have the authority to make that situation right or bump Lucy up in the detective's spot. So unfortunately, there's not much they can do.

Do I wish we got a scene where they came together and talked and they commiserated with her? Of course. But honestly, I think that scene would have also included Nyla saying something along the lines of "Lucy I hate to say I told you so, but..."

Again, Lucy couldn't have known what she was risking when she put the five player trade in motion, but she can't say she wasn't warned.

In the shooting aftermath, Harper and Lopez were witnesses. They would have to be cleared and processed before they would be allowed to sit with Lucy. Honestly, I'd like to think that Tim got to her before they had a chance to themselves.

In regard to Lucy talking to Nolan, he really can't do much as a TO, and honestly, would we even want him to? He'd likely put Chen or Bradford's lives in danger and yet still somehow come out on top.

Angela is the one better suited for this and we do see her talking to Tim.

Do I wish she had sympathized more with Lucy, yes. And in fact I wrote an entire one shot about people rallying behind her.

But in this instance, I think she doesn't want to upset/freak out Lucy anymore than she already is, which is why she's more calm and trying to keep the peace until she can talk to Tim and get all the facts.

All just my opinion, of course, and we are certainly welcome to agree to disagree.

[kujo1597]

Hey remember how I said I was writing a few verses for a song in Unbreakable? Yeah I changed my mind. Nothing’s coming to my mind so instead of delaying the update for a couple months I’m just going to describe the song and let the readers imagine their own version. Sometimes the best thing you can do as a writer is know when to cut things out.

Anyway, time for another episode of Jem!

When we last left off the TV set was on fire and Jem was caught in the middle of the blaze.

I’m glad Pizzazz slapping Lindsey was part of the episode recap.

Jem manages to dodge all the flying equipment and Rio rides on a... camera thing and picks Jem up and brings her to safety. But Jem is shaken up, as anyone would be, and Lindsey tells Rio to take Jem to Lindsey’s dressing room. (You’d think all the femslash I write would make me better at being clear which girl’s is the “she” in the sentence.)

Lindsey tell the Holograms to get up on stage with her to finish the interview. I wonder how Jem suddenly being missing got explained. Did Lindsey tell the viewers that Pizzazz started a fire on the set? If she didn’t I’m sure Kimber did.

And this is when we get our episode’s title.

Frame Up

We see Jem delirious in the dressing room mumbling about The Misfits and Rio’s being attentive, telling Jem that she’s in no shape to get up.

We get a spinning pan of both Jem, and Rio before they start to kiss.

And Aja and Shana come into the room in the middle of it and sees. Rio immediately gets up and runs out. Then Aja has a bit of a chuckle about how Rio’s going to be steamed when he finds out that Jem is actually Jerrica.

And then Jem says, “It isn’t funny. Rio’s very proud. How can I tell him the truth without him feeling like I made a fool out of him?”

Shana holds Jem’s shoulders and tells her that she’s dealing with a very delicate situation.

And now to talk about Rio and how Jerrica is nervous about hurting his pride. The “Rio’s very proud” line is a pretty clear indication of why Jerrica doesn’t tell him. We see later in the series that Rio’s “pride” can get bruised easily and that leads to yelling and kicking things over. We don’t see this side of Rio yet but they have sown the seeds of future problems in this relationship.

But let’s deal with that later. Mrs. Bailey tells Jerrica that she’s worries about Ashley who’s barely been at home lately. Time to see what Ashley is up to.

She’s in her room imagining how she’ll look in a Misfits t-shirt at their next concert.

I forgot to talk about this last time when I was talking about why Ashley’s behaviour is understandable. One of the biggest reasons why she’s hanging out with The Misfits a lot is because they made her feel welcome. Pizzazz scares her a little with how loud and pushy she is. But overall Ashley doesn’t feel like she has to live up to an impossible standard to earn their approval. They immediately invited her into the bar, showed her the ropes, and started hanging out with her. What has Lela done to make Ashley feel welcome? Not much. Maybe in moments we don’t see Lela has been a lot nicer to Ashley but even if that is the case those moments where Lela’s making Ashley feel like she’s not good enough probably stand out far more in Ashley’s mind than those moments where Lela’s being nice.

Like it’s no wonder Ashley has been spending so much time with the Misfits.

I appreciate Jerrica’s respect for Ashley’s privacy, she knocks on the door and waits to be invited in. Jerrica mentions to Ashley that she’s heard that she’s been away from home a lot and Ashley immediately gets defensive. But before Jerrica can talk to Ashley some more Kimber catches up to Jerrica to tell her that an a concert promoter from Vegas has arrived. So Jerrica tells Ashley that they’ll finish their conversation later.

But Ashley won’t be around. She takes the t-shirt and runs off.

Now we cut to the promoter, Dirk Hayes and he asks where Jem is during the contract signing. Jerrica explains it by saying that she handles all of Jem’s business. And Hayes accepts that answer pretty quickly. No fussing from him. Kimber asks who the opening act is and Hayes says that it’s The Misfits. All of the women in the room get worked up about that because the Misfits hate them.

Hayes laughs and says that he knows they hate each other, he just likes to watch sparks fly. With a chuckle he walks out of the room.

While everybody else is still steamed Shana points out a bright side. Being Jem’s warm-up act with drive Pizzazz berserk.

Everybody has a laugh at that one.

As Pizzazz is signing the contract Stormer asks who the main act is and Hayes tells her it’s Jem and The Holograms. Which gets exactly the reaction you’d expect. Roxy even pulls a framed poster off the wall and charges toward Hayes with it. But he laughs and leaves the room before Roxy can hit him over the head with it.

After Hayes leaves Pizzazz declares that she’s the brains of the operation and hatches a scheme to make Jem unable to perform. And to do that she’s going to need some help from Ashley.

And right on cue Ashley sneaks into the building and knocks on the door to whatever room the Misfits are in.

Pizzazz uses her “sweet voice” and asks Ashley if she’d like to come to Vegas with them. And Ashley is touched by this, she asks Pizzazz if she means it and is reassured that yeah, they’ll be taking Ashley with them. And Ashley says that the Misfits are the best friends she’s ever had.

In the background Roxy and Stormer are laughing. Menacing music is playing during this scene.

We’ll find out the plan later. Now it’s time to catch up with Jem and The Holograms in Las Vegas. They rented a jeep I guess. I do like that they aren’t driving around in the Rockin’ Roadster.

While in a casino Shana is sitting at a table with Jem and asks if she’s decided what she’s gonna do about the Rio situation. Jem says, “I’d like to tell him but…” and Shana finishes the sentence with a slightly disapproving sounding, “You don’t know what he’ll do if he knows the truth.” and then she walks away.

And finally our first song of the episode.

I like Deception a lot. I like the song, I like the music video quite a bit. Give it a listen some time.

The song is about how Jerrica feels torn. She didn’t intend for things to turn out like this, and she truly didn’t, and now that this love triangle has started to take shape she doesn’t know what’ll happen if she comes clean. What would happen if she tells Rio that is was kind of a game for her at first but it went too far. She’s afraid that their relationship will go up in flames. And all of this is true. Jerrica is very in love with Rio and as we saw in previous episodes they do start off as a pretty darn cute and functional couple. However, Rio’s pride and anger issues didn’t suddenly become a thing. This is just when they start becoming a problem in the relationship. Or at least have the potential to. None of Jerrica’s fears have been realized yet. But she still has these fears.

I can’t wait to really dig into this relationship becoming as dysfunctional as it does. I’m just going to say that I am a big Jerrica defender but she’s definitely not blameless. But let’s move onto the next scene. Me breaking down this relationship will be a continuing thing throughout these recaps.

The Misfits are talking to Ashley in their dressing room in Las Vegas and filling her in on the scheme. Ashley’s hesitant, Stormer assures her that it’s just a joke, but Roxy gets Ashley onboard by egging her on. Something tells me that Roxy wasn’t much different from Ashley when she was a young teen.

The plan is simple, Ashley lures one of the Holograms, ends up being Aja, into the luggage compartment on a bus. Aja is surprised to see Ashley in the casino and chases after her. And my god, what a breakdown in communication. How did Ashley get here without anybody knowing? Did she just tell Mrs. Bailey that Jerrica invited her? But even if she did, Mrs. Bailey probably would have checked with Jerrica. *does a quick Google* Well I suppose it is only an hour long flight and Ashley has already been missing for much of the day anyway.

Anyway, Aja follows Ashley into the compartment and Roxy closes the doors after Ashley climbs out. Then we learn that this bus is on its way to New York. Hey fun fact, I have to specify that I want a labelled map of the US when I Google it. If I don’t specify I get unlabelled ones which are less than useful to me. There’s 50 States! FIFTY! Anyway, I looked up a map because fuck if I know where Las Vegas is compared to New York and wow that is on the other side of the country. Look man, I’m Canadian. I can barely label my own map.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, Ashley being in school currently and growing up in the US does know how far away New York is and is feeling really guilty about this scheme.

We cut to Pizzazz telling Hayes that one of the Holograms just ran off and tells him that The Misfits are ready to perform. And Hayes says that if Aja doesn’t show up in time then the Misfits will be the opening act. Jem tries to assure Hayes that Aja would never abandon a commitment.

Then we see Aja in the compartment banging on the door and shouting “help” over and over again as the bus is driving away to New York.

A couple passengers hear the banging but not the yelling and the husband figures it’s a flat tire. The wife tells the driver that she thinks he has a flat. The bus driver gets out to check the tires and hears Aja banging on the door. He opens it up and Aja just bolts. The driver’s reaction is so well acted. I love it.

Back to Jem and the remaining Holograms, they decide to split up and search for Aja.

We go back to Aja who asks a couple guys for directions and they get into an argument so Aja tries to find somebody else. She’s then picked up by a guy in a cowboy hat riding a motorcycle. I thought Texas was where the cowboys live, Hayes wears a cowboy hat too. Anyway, the cowboy gets stuck in traffic but he’s only a block away from the casino and point Aja to where she needs to go.

We keep moving locations. Rio asks if she can look in the Misfits’ dressing room. Roxy immediately opposes to it but Pizzazz lets Rio in. And then she flirts with him and promises Rio the world. But Rio tells Pizzazz that she isn’t fit to breathe the same air as Jem.

And then pushes Pizzazz. Yeah she’s not a great person but wow, what a shove. She went flying.

Welp, Aja is still missing and Hayes is sick of waiting. He tells Jem that it’s too late and that there’s a penalty clause for failing to perform.

But wait! Aja calls out that they always perform and runs up to her family and gets a hug from Jem. She says she’ll explain what happened later.

Hayes tells the Misfits to go up and warm up the audience. Pizzazz is mad and says that she wouldn’t even warm up leftovers for Jem. But they do still walk towards the stage. And I assume perform. But we don’t see them play anything because it’s time for the next music video.

Too Close for Comfort, I like this song. Britta Phillips has such a nice singing voice. Man. She’s great. The editing in the music video is a little strange. But eh.

Let’s see what Pizzazz is doing. Oh, complaining. She’s blaming Ashley for Aja getting back to the casino and Stormer points out that Ashley did exactly what she was told to. Ashley was about to come into the room but overhears Pizzazz and ducks out. Stormer also leaves.

Then Eric phones and tells Pizzazz that there’s going to be a commotion in the casino. And that the police are going to search it. Pizzazz’s job is to make sure they look in Jem’s room.

We cut to Ashley hiding behind a standee, she’s scared. Stormer spots Ashley who is terrified and Stormer assure her that she’d never hurt her. And joins Ashley behind the standee. Ashley says that Pizzazz and Roxy scare her sometimes, and Stormer confesses that they scare her a little too. Stormer has her sweet side and I wish we found out why she’s even in this band. How did she get involved with them?

While hiding behind the standee Stormer and Ashley witness Zipper and a couple of his goons stealing money from the casino. Then they hide the sack of cash in Jem’s dressing room.

Stormer asks Ashley what they should do. And Ashley being like, thirteen tells Stormer, “You tell me.” Because yeah, there’s one adult in this situation and it’s definitely not Ashley.

Meanwhile Jem and The Holograms are done their performance and apparently they gave three encores. Hayes is very pleased with them.

But not for long! Hayes is informed that the concert money has been stolen. Pizzazz immediately tells the cops to look in Jem’s dressing room.

And we get our first moment of Kimber wanting to throw hands! :D That’s my girl! I always forget about this one because it goes so fast. You can tell this is a semi-regular occurrence because Jem already has her arm blocking Kimber off. She didn’t even have to look.

I should make a “Kimber About to Throw Hands” folder to go with my crying folder.

One of the cops tells the detective that he found money in Jem’s room. And the detective promptly handcuffs Jem without hearing her out.

After the commercial break we see Pizzazz being bitter about Rio turning her down so she tells the detective to arrest him as well. Jem keeps arguing and makes a good point, she was on stage, how could she have possibly stolen the money.

The detective says that the thieves were men (How did he know this? The smell of cologne?) and that Jem is only suspected of being an accomplice.

Then Ashley shouts from off the screen that Jem didn’t do it. Pizzazz and Roxy try to stop her but fail. And Pizzazz tells the detective that Ashley is friends with Jem. And Jem being Jerrica and therefore being a mom stands up for Ashley saying that she would never lie about such a thing.

The detective says that what he thinks doesn’t matter. And then gasp! A raspy new voice enters the conversation! Who could it be? Definitely not anybody voiced by Sue Blu.

Nope, definitely not.

Well, the mysterious woman tells the detective that she also saw the crime and that she can prove that Jem didn’t commit it. The detective invites the mystery lady and Ashley into Jem’s dressing room to get their account of what happened.

What I wanna know is, what proof did Stormer have?

Outside of the dressing room Jem’s trying to figure out why Pizzazz wanted to get Rio arrested too. He laughs and says that Pizzazz doesn’t take rejection well.

Not too long after that the detective comes out and announces that Jem is free to go. Everybody who likes Jem cheers while Pizzazz tells Roxy that they need to find Stormer.

Who of course was the mystery lady. She promises Ashley that they’re going to keep this moment a secret.

I love Stormer so much. You have no idea.

With that all resolved we have a time skip. Pizzazz is in Eric’s office complaining to him that Jem’s more popular than ever. And Eric says that they need to take another approach to the problem. He figures that Jem is a stage name and that maybe if he can find out her real name he could blackmail her or something. So Eric hired a private detective named Malone to find out who Jem is. (I always want to spell it Malogne for some reason.)

And then to help our transition to the next scene Eric tells Pizzazz that Jem is at a fashion show being hosted by our good friend Danielle.

Why yes I am trying to avoid having to look up how to spell her title.

Naturally the Misfits are here to sabotage things. Stormer questions the wisdom of this. And she really should be.

Danielle announces Jem and The Holograms and how they’re wearing her designs. And we get our last music video of the episode.

Oh! This is when Truly Outrageous plays! It’s a nifty song.

Heeeey. Kimber’s been wearing that outfit in the last two episodes. Danielle met her in that jacket! In fact all these outfits are repeats!

After the song we see Roxy point out the lights shining onto the stage and Pizzazz knows exactly what she’s thinking. They shine the light onto the sprinkler because those things do get darn hot and the sprinklers go off soaking everybody. By the way, Jem and The Holograms did a quick outfit change and now they’re all in new clothes. I forgot a couple of them debuted here. They become wardrobe staples. (I ran out of screenshot room. I could have deleted Kimber wanting to throw hands but no. I will always include those moments.)

None of the Holograms would be surprised to find out that the Misfits were behind the sprinklering. But Jem points out that there’d be no way to prove it was their fault. While they’re driving we see Malone following behind them in his car.

He turns off at the drive-in theatre where Synergy is located and hides his car. He watches the rest on foot and see the Rockin’ Roadster go through a wall.

Inside the base everybody changes while talking about the fact that the battle of the bands was in only two days.

They all leave and Malone follows soon afterwards.

Synergy’s security system is shouting “intruder” over and over again. It’s not very effective.

Malone takes a picture of this weird yelling machine. And then he gets annoyed and smashes Synergy with a chair.

She explodes.

And that’s it for Jem. It’s too bad we won’t see her performing in the battle of the bands. Unless Jerrica decides to wear a pink wig.

[the-musical-cc]

FRANKELDA AND HER GHOSTS 1. (Part 2)

Seeing how more and more english-speaking audience is apparently watched Frankelda now, I feel like it's a good moment to post the translation transcript I did of the first live event with the Ambriz brothers, 'Frankelda y sus Fantasmas'. Posting on parts for easy reading because it's over 20 pages long. These are basically Q&A of making-of aspects of the series, going from concepting and design to even edition and post-production, going through Voice-acting and even trivia. They do sometimes comment some lore, but are restricted in how much they can talk about it as it would apparently spoil upcoming things. Latter episodes have some guests, including Mireya Mendoza herself (Frankelda's VA both in english and spanish) Kevin Smithers, who composed the score and songs in the series and even the edition team in the most recent one! (It honestly gives me life to see how much Cinema Fantasma values the whole team.)

It's fair to warn you that it's probably better to have watched the entire first season before checking it out, as it contains commentary on things that might spoil you if you haven't. It's also worth noting that this one was recorded on November the 26th in 2021, back when we had no word of the film being made or the new dub and USA release. Some additional notes:

-El Coco and the Boogeyman are both used for the same character in this one because it's how they do it in the dub. -Something happens in there that I cannot describe with the screencaps alone and the transcript would feel naked without, so description is provided. It's magical, you'll see.

Arturo Ambriz: Good, let’s move to this question which is also really nice- well, we already replied to Val Guerrera’s question, which is: ‘Are you thinking about publishing a book for the show?’. Well, that one’s already settled. Let’s do… let’s move to the next one, which is: ‘Is there one puppet per character and a lot of changes, for instance, mouth, eyes, etc.? Or are there multiples and a lot of changes?’

Roy Ambriz: They’re one-of-a-kind.

Arturo Ambriz: Ah, wait. The question is by Bailey Val… Bailey Valquion.

Roy Ambriz: All the characters are unique, they’re priceless, they have a personality and that’s why there’s only one for each… no, but seriously, yes, there’s only one, because…when you watch the ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ making-of and you see there’s ten Jacks or something like that, I don’t know when- sorry, how many. We… I reiterate, being a Mexican production, new, and the such, we obviously didn’t have the budget to make a thousand copies of each character. So, what we did was make them the smart way in the puppet wing, so that we could fix them, and we had a very talented and… arrrgh! Super strong and buff puppet hospital team, just constantly fixing them again and again. Frankelda… yeah, there’s two Frankeldas, which is… something we hadn’t mentioned up ‘til now. There’s two Frankeldas because she was the character who had the most animated minutes on-screen, and the cool part is, if you look really closely, you can actually tell which is which, and that’s something we love.

If you watch the original ‘King Kong’ movie, the one from the 30s, there’s like three… the King Kong puppets were hand-made, they didn’t even cast them, Ray Harryhousen made them with wet cotton on latex and built them over… over skeletons he made…

Arturo Ambriz: Willis O’Brien.

Roy Ambriz: Ah, my bad, Willis O’Brien. I said Harryhousen but it’s Willis O’Brien. And he made them by hand. So, they’re not identical and there’s like three King Kongs, but it doesn’t matter because the illusion of life is there and, and you know it’s real. But, yeah, the hardcore ones, which I think is all of you, can figure out which one’s Frankelda mark one or mark two. But really, she’s one and the same, don’t worry, she sometimes just… likes to do her hair a little bit different, or arrange her dress some other way, because Frankelda never sits still and her… her spirit can take any shape she wishes to.

Arturo Ambriz: Next question… and it’s from Noemi Juárez… I wanted this one to show up. ‘¿Did you use the same figurine for Frankelda’s grandma and Magali’s hen witch?’ Let’s see, we can answer this one very plainly.  It’s not that it’s the same figurine, it’s not that it’s the same puppet. Could it be that perhaps, perhaps, it’s the same character…? Anything you’d like to add?

Roy Ambriz: Well… Frankel- I mean. Frankelda, her stories, to write them she has to base them off her own life because, and this is a tip I’m giving you, we’re giving you, if you want to tell your own stories, write about what you know. Write about what… what you’ve learned, what you like…

Arturo Ambriz: What you’ve lived, what hurts you.

Roy Ambriz: But this doesn’t mean it has to be hyper-realistic and like… a copy, an exact replica of what is. You can tackle it from fiction, fiction can help to make-up and transform, because you can transform yourself. So you can create characters from an aunt you knew or your friend’s mom who is really interesting, and you can create… and that’s what she does, and so, ask yourselves why Frankelda drew inspiration on her grandma, right? To… to make the witch- who, by the way, her name’s Totolina.

Arturo Ambriz: Good. Next question… ‘What was the production process for the songs? Did you guys make the concepts for the lyrics?’ Alex Rosas asks.

This question is really interesting, we’re definitely inviting Kevin Smithers to one of these, he’s the composer of our songs and our orchestral pieces, and we’ll be able to talk more about this. But look, here’s a really fun little history tidbit… originally, we’d only planned for one song in the whole series, and it was El Coco's.

It was the very first one we wrote, it was the very first one that got recorded. Actually, that one… the Boogeyman’s story only exists because when we… I think it was literally the day we got greenlit to produce this, Roy and I were talking about what we wanted to see on-screen and we said: ‘Ooooff… this hobo monster, El Coco. All scruffy and ragged… in an alley in Coyoacán… playing a thousand instruments and flying ghost kids out of his hat and forming a dead kids orchestra.’  We were like: ‘Yes! That’s what we want to do for this season of ’Frankelda’’. And we started working on the story, we started creating everything and that’s when we made the lyrics for what at the time we still called ‘The Boogeyman’s Waltz’ …

...and here’s El Coco dropping by, and- hang on, let me get this out of the way… we started to work on the Boogeyman’s song. Sergio Carranza sang it, it turned out amazing, it turned out absolutely breath-taking, and, well, we realized...

[Here Hernevalito hilariously falls off Herneval's arms and Roy tries to silently non-react to it...]

...maybe it was worth it for the whole series to be a musical and have one song per episode. Why? Because we love musicals, because at the end of the day… think about this, I mean, each song… and here’s a little tip in case you like to write songs… each song is a poem.

[Roy then discreetly sits Hernevalito on El Coco's horn.]

Each song is actually a poem, that’s why Herneval tells Francisca ‘Hey, why don’t you read me that poem you just wrote?’

[Success! No one saw that, right?]

and it’s a sung poem. Well, songs are poems, right? I don’t know if it’s our way to put in a little bit of… creative, poetic and philosophical writing into the show, on top of it making it a lot flashier, making it more memorable. You listen to the song and it reaches faster. So what we worked on with Kevin was, while we worked on the lyrics…

Roy Ambriz: Specially him.

Arturo Ambriz: We kept working them, writing them, and like… turning them over, looking for… concepts, which, come entirely from the scripts, because the scripts were there first, and once we were clear on which ones they were- what it was we wanted to say and how it could have a nice ring to it- it was then that Kevin Smithers got involved and he helped us to, well, create the music proper, and there’s some… some texts that got edited, and some got longer or got shorter, and it was a very organic process where we included parts of the script, the poetry part, the conceptual and musical part, and everything got combined. And, believe us, we’re really glad to see you liked the songs, you’ve sang them, you’ve posted videos, you know the lyrics. That’s a dream come true for us.

Roy Ambriz: Besides, soon you’ll be able to sing with Frankelda or Herneval. So stay tuned to our Tik Tok channel on the next weeks.

Arturo Ambriz: Yes. Yeah, that’s right.

Next question… ah, this is a good one. ‘Will new kids inspired on your crew show up for the next episodes?’ Danitza Rivas asks us.

Roy Ambriz: Yes! We’re really excited, we have a lot if ideas, we want to see them already. I really like how… I want to clarify, just because they’re based off… as a fun little nod, from- the characters, it doesn’t mean they’re, like… exact copies, right? Of… I mean, they’re fictional characters, that should always be clear.

But yeah, we’re really, really excited about getting to include more kids. Tormenting even more characters; because a writers job is always to torment their characters, that’s how you put them to the test and depending on how they face the challenges you make for them, that’s how you discover what their nature is like. In this case, we like how… they don’t make it, and it’s something really fun to do because there’s a nice little reflection in there. But yeah, there will be many other children- but also expect to catch a glimpse of old acquaintances, of old friends in there, for sure.

Arturo Ambriz: And… I was precisely trying to look for the question to see who made it a while ago… the truth is I lost it, hope someone can help me over here…

Roy Ambriz: Tinta Invisible.

Arturo Ambriz: Someone… no. Someone was asking how we got the idea to use members of the Cinema Fantasma team to be the inspiration for the kids. And yeah, that’s the reality, not everyone may know this but, all the kids that app-

Female background voice: Daniela Herrera.

Arturo Ambriz: What? Daniela Herrera? Daniela Herrera was asking this just a while ago. And we realized  we needed a bunch of kids and we didn’t want them to be generic. We wanted each one, even the ones in the background, just walking by, to have something unique to them that took a step away from cartoon stereotypes, where you always have… the chubby one, the red-haired one, the goth one. I mean, those stereotypes get on your nerves, right? So, we wanted everyone to be a combination of very particular elements, and we were like: ‘Well, people who work in Cinema Fantasma are visually fascinating, it’s like a whole new range of personalities, of shapes, of colors, of voices, everything.’

So, that was the best inspiration because it really is also an homage for our team, they do so much. I mean, this, the stop-motion, the series, the movies, it’s teamwork! And for the next seasons, we’ll keep using people from the team and new people too, people who’ve joined this crew to create more and more characters. I mean, this is part of ‘Frankelda’s DNA and will always be.

Roy Ambriz: Mm-hm.

Arturo Ambriz: OK. Let’s see… ah, this one. Go on and answer this one, Roy. It’s a question from Valeria Palacios: ‘Do people turn unto Spooks when they die or are Spooks born some other way?’

Roy Ambriz: No, a normal person doesn’t necessarily turn into a Spook when they die. It’s actually quite strange but, there’s Spooks who want to be human, like the Gnome- the Gnomes. They want to be human because they don’t like the… the place they were assigned to as Spooks. There’s Spooks who are fascinated by humans, like, from an anthropologic point of view. Like the Boogeyman, who loves to study them and has been doing it since he was… his dad used to bring him to watch him work when he was a kid.

Arturo Ambriz: Don Coco!

Roy Ambriz: Don Coco would bring him to watch him work, and he’d be gawking at them, and he loved them, and he’d say: ‘I just don’t get them. They’re so fragile and so… so stupid…’

Arturo Ambriz: ‘So temperamental!’

Roy Ambriz: So, they loved that. There’s Spooks that absolutely loathe humans, like the Mermaid, who used to have control over the territory and was worshiped as a goddess and now she hates that no one is even aware she’s there, and on top of it they polluted her world, and her pyramid lays forgotten. It’s undiscovered, it’s in Xochimilco but no one’s discovered it yet, it’s underwater.

And then there’s humans who want to be Spooks because they aren’t happy with their lives. Like Tamazola, Tochina and… which one am I missing?

Arturo Ambriz: Totolina.

Roy Ambriz: Totolina! Who are the three witches. In order to become Spooks, they had to figure out a lot of things, I can’t really give away too much because it’s a spoiler. And they had to perform a ritual which they’d been constructing for a long time before they could actually do it, and they hadn’t accomplished it until Magali came along… but there’s a reason they have so many caged animals in their kitchen, y’know?

Arturo Ambriz: You touched upon one of the questions someone… someone else made. This one’s by Alexa Casas: ‘Will we be seeing Don Coco in the next seasons?’

Roy Ambriz: Don Coco! Who can say?

Arturo Ambriz: What do you guys think? A bit of homework for you, you’ll see.

Next… ah, this one’s great: ‘Why did Herneval’s attitude change so much when he became a book?’ Picture this. You guys are maybe, I don’t know…

Roy Ambriz: No spoilers!

Arturo Ambriz: Yeah, no spoilers. You guys are… I don’t know if in middle school, high school, college or already graduates. What were you like five years ago? Picture yourselves ten years ago, the kind of personality you had, the way you spoke, OK? It’s been a hundred and fifty years. That’s all I’m saying.

Roy Ambriz: But, Herneval aged, didn’t he-? ahhh.

Arturo Ambriz: Spoiler! Spoiler, spoiler, spoiler… soc! OK, next question. Ooff, no, I’m not answering this question because it would be a huge, huge, huge spoiler…

Roy Ambriz: Let me see, what is it?

Arturo Ambriz: I’m gonna skip it.

Roy Ambriz: Read it and I won’t… they’ll just see my expression.

Arturo Ambriz: You sure?

Roy Ambriz: Yeah.

Arturo Ambriz: They’re asking, and there’s actually more than one person asking: ‘Whatever happened to Francisca’s body?’

…next question…

Roy Ambriz: Tinta Invisible.

Arturo Ambriz: Yes, yes, next question: ‘What’s Herneval’s biggest fear?’ by Meru Chan. Look how- this is a really nice question, it’s true, Spooks have fears too, right?  I mean… specially Herneval, Herneval shows himself as… fragile, vulnerable despite… he’s such a good… I was going to say ‘Good person’, but, let’s say he’s such a good Spook, and…

Roy Ambriz: A handsome lad.

Arturo Ambriz: And a handsome lad.

Roy Ambriz: The fussy book.

Arturo Ambriz: He’s gentlemanly, he’s kind, he’s passionate… but I definitely think that… not to give away to much: Herneval is very scared of loss. He’s afraid of having- people he loves and…

Roy Ambriz: Ah-ah! Erm…

Arturo Ambriz: OK. Yes. Yeah, that would have been a spoiler.

Let’s see, this question has no, no, no spoilers at all, and it’s… they’re asking… ‘What can I do if I want to learn animation but I’m already studying for a different career?’ Paulina Cortés is asking.

Roy Ambriz: I think this question might also be exemplified better along the next sessions as we get more of our friends parading here, who also created ‘Frankelda’. But in order to animate, to make an animated production, you’ll need lots and lots of different talents and abilities. It’s really funny because sometimes we get called ‘Animators’. The two of us. It’s like- that’s not true, we don’t animate. Well, I animated… a couple of things, but we’re not animators per se, we’re directors, were writers, we’re sculptors. So, an actual animator and with a big range too… I think that might be… too much, and it might be- what’s that word again? Like, overwhelming. Right? Like… too much. It’s… when, really, when you shred animation into tiny pieces, you realize you need someone who knows how to write, someone who knows how to administer a project, someone who can paint, someone who can draw well, and design. Someone…

Arturo Ambriz: Book-keeping.

Roy Ambriz: Book-keeping! You need a musician, or someone who knows about music, you need actors and voice actors. It’s endless, right? Someone who knows about tech, someone who knows about IT, someone who knows computer programming, who can do motion-controls. Who can do post-production-

Arturo Ambriz: Social-media.

Roy Ambriz: So… college is always a starting point, and this is something we always say, from experience. We graduated more or less, ten years ago, give or take. College is a starting point, it’s not that you have to stay there just because you got your degree in that area, it’s a starting point you chose for… a project. But from then on, it’s up to you and your guts, and your continued studies of many other things you didn’t really see in school, and to living, it’s up to you where you lead your life to and where you want to go, and whether you achieve that your calling is… aligning what you want to do for work, with earning money, and on top all of this, with your reason to live, because it’s your life project; and this is how you feel accomplished, and this is how you know you can do some good in the world, and if you manage to align all of that, it’s beautiful. We’re very happy we’re able to do this for a living, but it implies a lot of work and for you to move to where you want to be.

Arturo Ambriz: Next, it’s a question by Bets Chan Ching, and it’s: ‘What is the Spooks’ life cycle and is it the same as humans?’

Roy Ambriz: Hmmm…

Arturo Ambriz: This question is a really good one, such a good one, it’s something that will be gradually answered as the next seasons roll by. What we can say is, it’s definitely not exactly like a human being’s. But I think you can reflect on, I don’t know… have you realized there’s times you don’t want to do a specific homework, you’re scared of doing it because you’re convinced that you’re going to mess it up? And maybe if you’d done it immediately you would have spent half an hour doing it and then you’d be done, but because you didn’t do it during the week, well, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger in your mind, and it’s gigantic by Saturday and it’s even bigger by Sunday? And by Monday at four AM this homework, this fear of doing homework is just massively huge and it’s crushing you? And now something you could have gotten done in half an hour ruined your entire week? I think if we understand, like… fears, we can get a better idea of what the life cycle of Spooks is.

Roy Ambriz: ‘Anything? Heeheehee…’

Arturo Ambriz: Yes, exactly. It’s a very, very interesting question, but… actually, if we tried to completely explain it right now, it wouldn’t make any sense to you, you have to see it, you have to watch it happen little by little in the next seasons.

Ah, this question is really nice, Mansand Saga asks: ‘Did you have any problems with friends or family when you picked your career and to pursue your passion?’ …no. We happened to be in luck…

Roy Ambriz: In our specific case.

Arturo Ambriz: The two of us, specially, were lucky to have our parents, our friends, our family always supporting us. We specially got a lot of artistic stimulation- and corporate as well, from our parents, that’s how it’s always been. Our mom always made us draw, made us sculpt, made us get our hands dirty… I’m even exposing her a little bit here, but my mom would sometimes even let us skip school so we could go to an amusement park, or to the movies, or because- I don’t know, maybe even something like the weekend’s game got a bit too long and we wanted to finish it properly, like, we had those kinds of permissions.

So, it did help us big time to have that kind of help. In conclusion, if you see one of your friends wants to do this for a living, support them, cheer for them, because yes, there is a professional life for arts. Now, obviously, we’re aware that not everyone has this kind of family support, we have a lot of friends who experienced rejection in their homes in order to be able to make a living with this. But what we’re saying, the best message we can send about it is episode four of ‘Frankelda’s Book of Spooks’. That’s why we created the El Coco, that’s why we created Tere, that’s why we created these ghostly children who dance and make music, it’s because we’ve watched a lot of our friends and acquaintances get their passion stolen by the Boogeyman…

Roy Ambriz: And they just settled…

Arturo Ambriz: They settled, they dedicated themselves to something they didn’t even want to do, and suddenly it’s been ten, fifteen years, and they’re like: ‘Oh, my God, I wish I could turn back time and give myself unto the things I’m passionate about.’. So to keep that from happening to you guys, we made the Boogeyman and Tere.

Roy Ambriz: Play it for your aunts and uncles, the Boogeyman episode, when they get on your case.

Arturo Ambriz: Oooh, this one’s really, really good, only detail’s that the username of the asker is JICJ2442. They’re asking in Tik Tok, and it’s… ‘Will we see…?’ ah, we’re mixing our sources for the questions from all the social media, eh? They’re asking if we will ever see the Spooks’ world.

Roy Ambriz: Tsss… it’s what we want to show you the most!

Arturo Ambriz: It’s not so much the world, it’s the Kingdom of Spooks.

Roy Ambriz: Herneval’s Kingdom, y’know? And that of his parents, hm? So… that’s what we want to show the most. That’s where Francisca’s headed to right now, Frankelda, and, well, we hope we get to show it to you.

Arturo Ambriz: Alright, Camicatura is also asking when they’ll get to watch the series if they’re in Spain. This is a very, very good question. Look, there’s no precedent for this kind of series made in México or Latin-America, like… a stop-motion, horror musical, and one of such a high quality. I mean, it’s like a very odd mixture of elements, and there’s definitely plans for the international launch, so it can be watched all over the world, but that’s something we’re going to achieve little by little.

For us, the ideal scenario would be to get to a point where… where season two can launch simultaneously in every country that has HBOMax. But it’s a matter that’s not really in our hands, rather, they’re completely strategic on the part of HBOMax and Warner Bros.

Roy Ambriz: Now, if you want to watch it, you can write to HBOMax’s social media about wanting it to also arrive on Europe, and that would be great help, y’know? If more people around the world start requesting it, there are more chances that it’ll be authorized for more countries.

Arturo Ambriz: Great. Herneval’s little wing is covering your face quite a bit. Let’s see, you’re going to love answering this one, Roy, I’m sure. It’s: ‘Do Spooks only haunt kids or adults too?’

Roy Ambriz: They haunt everyone. Really, I think… children can get a better grasp of what a Spook is, and humans… they look for another explanation…

Arturo Ambriz: Adults.

Roy Ambriz: Adults. Like, children will see them as Spooks, and adults will too, but the Spooks won’t… won’t allow themselves to be seen quite as easily, because Spooks live anywhere you look, but you can’t see them for lack of knowing to look.

Arturo Ambriz: Great. This question is very nice, asked by Axel Imanol and it’s: ‘What was your inspiration for making ‘Tinta Invisible’? Honestly, I love that song a lot.’ Look, the lyrics to ‘Tinta Invisible’, like we said just a while ago, are a poem. It’s literally a poem, its inspiration comes from what writing implies, what making fiction implies. For instance, this line about… it’s one of the lines we like the most, it’s: ‘Reading, you inhabit the hidden.’ Picture it, right? If I have my ‘Harry Potter’ book here, well, it’s just an object, it’s like some sort of brick, right? A paper brick, my ‘Harry Potter’ book. But within those pages lies in hiding all of Hogwarts, and all of Diagon Alley, and it conceals… I don’t know, Azkaban Prison within. And it hides… the Weasleys with all of their kids.

So, within a paper brick, there’s this whole world, hidden. So, when you read it, when you read a book, when you read a story, you inhabit the hidden. Because, I swear to you, I’ve been in Hogwarts- because when I read Harry Potter, I picture myself walking around and climbing the magic stairs, and getting into one of the rooms… I don’t know, the classroom for Potions Class with Professor Snape. I mean, I’ve lived in Hogwarts by reading fiction. That’s what ‘Frankelda’ is about, that’s what ‘Tinta Invisible’ is about. ‘Tinta Invisible’ is a song that pays homage to the art of writing and fiction. If you analyze each line, it becomes very clear… well, not all that clear but all of the… the symbolism of what writing and creating something that doesn’t exist is hidden there.

Roy Ambriz: Here’s Frankelda’s ‘Harry Potter’ collection.

Arturo Ambriz: Oh, that’s so cool!

Roy Ambriz: The books.

Arturo Ambriz: Where did that come from?

Roy Ambriz: Walmart.

Arturo Ambriz: I’d never seen it. It’s really cool! Ahh, goody. Well, let’s see… ‘Frankelda and Herneval’s personality, did you plan it in advance or did you base it off someone?’

Roy Ambriz: Yes… our task as writers is to plan out the personality of each character, it’s… when you write a character, it’s like you’re living it, it’s like you’re placing yourself in their shoes and seeing the… I mean, you’re within their perspective and looking at the world from their eyes. Counterweights start emerging, right? And Dramatic Orchestrations, as they’re known, start emerging, like… Herneval, you’ve seen it yourselves. Young Herneval with Francisca isn’t the same as…Herneval-libro with Frankelda, and it’s not the same as Herneval-libro with Procustes, right? I mean, he changes, depending on who he’s with. Why? Because that’s life, you’re not the same when you’re alone with your friends to when you’re in a Christmas dinner with like family members you rarely see, you only meet them once a year, or when you’re in class. It changes.

So yeah, each personality and each character has to be written, has to be pondered, has to be rewritten, has to be erased and… and raised again, and gradually discovered. And, obviously that process starts with writing but is run by character design, art design, animation, run by voice actors, who also permeate it, and the character is uncovered throughout all of these processes.

Arturo Ambriz: Very good. Also… that’s the thing, I mean, you guys can see that so many of the characters we’ve seen in TV or movies are opposites, aren’t they? And Frankelda and Herneval-libro, spending so much time together on-screen, well they had to be opposites, right? One of them is red and the other is blue, it’s that simple, I mean, it’s a visual-psicological-narrative codification. Frankelda is an optimist, Herneval’s a pessimist. Frankelda’s cheerful, Herneval’s a grump. Frankelda always moves in circles, her hair has circular curls, her hand movements are circular; and the book is a small square, and everything about him is a square, right? So, this is a good tip for writing characters, thinking about opposites, thinking about complements, thinking about the Ying and the Yang.

Next question… this question is Meru Chan’s: ‘What made you change Herneval’s appearance from the Pilot?’

Roy Ambriz: It was a… that’s a rather interesting question. As we’ve said, when we made the season as opposed to the Pilot, we agreed that we had to improve everything. And the Pilot- we didn’t really wonder about that many things because it’s a Pilot, y’know? Obviously, we’d gotten less time, and the top priority was to show that the series could be great, so what we did when they greenlit the season was to think better about the characters. At some point, as you’ve seen in the concept art, Herneval was thought up as more of a demon, but it was way too obvious, and it could also have religious connotations we really don’t want there to be, so, we decided to ponder it. He’s not the Demon Prince, he’s the Prince of Spooks, I mean, he has to be a Spook. What’s a Spook? It’s something new.

So, we started to ponder and around this time, Ana Coronilla, who is the art director, had the idea- she was like: ‘I kind of see him as an owl.’ Because with Herneval, in order to make him princely, we kept thinking and got- we were creating with the Awesombrosos, trying to make him more reptilian, or some other thing, and when we said ‘Owl’, it was like ‘Wow, he looks amazing!’ and on top of that, he has to… like, the personality we want, and that’s when we said ‘It’s just, if this were a live-action, he’d be played by someone along the lines of Timothé Chalamet-‘ not sure I’m saying that right.

Arturo Ambriz: Timothee.

Roy Ambriz: Timothee Chalamet, so… well, we said ‘Him, plus owl, plus some other elements.’ And, well, we got hunk Herneval, and then we saw the book and the character progression made no sense anymore, the one from the Pilot, because he’s more snakelike. So it was like ‘OK, how are we going to rebuild the character so he still has Herneval’s essence that we’ve already gotten to know from the Pilot, but make it make sense that this character turned into the book?’. And that was the ruling on which we decided to make… to change the Hernevals.

Arturo Ambriz: Well, next question, by AB_8A_7: ‘If Herneval used to be the Prince of Spooks, does that mean the King will show up in a flashback?’

Roy Ambriz: Oooh…

Arturo Ambriz: You’re getting close to the… the heart of the matter. Definitely, obviously, we’re going to meet the King of Spooks, we don’t want to disclose anything else about him, but… but props to you guys for realizing it, right? If there’s a Prince, then who’s the King?

Roy Ambriz: Besides, somewhere… well. Nope. I was just about to spoil it!

Arturo Ambriz: No spoilers.

Roy Ambriz: But that’s the thing, it’s… how cool is it to think, who is Herneval’s dad? Why… why does Herneval have to go to the human realm? Why wasn’t he in the prologue? That is, why was he with Procustes and not his father? So you start to… to develop and sprout a lot of fun things…

Arturo Ambriz: Why is there an hourglass that’s close to the limit?

Roy Ambriz: No one’s talked about the hourglass, have they?

Arturo Ambriz: I haven’t really seen that much…

Roy Ambriz: Hmmm… go figure.

Arturo Ambriz: Anyway… well. This one was by La Reina Cuervo, who we’re already familiar with because we had an interview with her this week, real fun. She’s asking how much time Frankelda spent with Herneval before they got trapped. And that question, well, can’t be answered because it’s something we’re going to see in the next seasons, what happens during this process. That is, once they cross that threshold at the crypt, at the graveyard, what Herneval and Francisca had to do, how they got to where they are right now. For sure, it’s in there, this story that’s still going to develop further.

Next question… ah, well, this one’s really simple. 199501 asks: ‘I don’t know whether you already answered this one, but what are the three witches’ names?’ And, the witch who speaks the most, the one that turns into a hen, the one that sings, her name is Totolina. We just barely realized we never had them mention their names, but in production her name was always Totolina. Then, the witch that turns into a toad, her name is Tamazola, and the witch that turns into a rabbit, a hare, her name is Tochina. Yeah?

Next question… ‘Does Herneval have some sort of power?’ question by Blackroses.

Roy Ambriz: Well, you saw that already, he does, right? And… his power is used three times along the first season. We can’t say more, but he definitely has. Well, he’s the Prince of Spooks, he has to have something special to him.

Arturo Ambriz: OK, next question… ‘Why does Tere play the theremin?’. Question by Lagunas X. Look, we realized long ago that… the theremin is like, the musical instrument of ghosts. The theremin, in every B-movie in Hollywood where there’s ghosts or aliens, zombies, it’s like… a sound that doesn’t seem to belong to this world, because it’s really similar to a human voice. But at the same time it sounds like the mix between a robot and a… a howl. So, it’s like, hard to decipher. So, the theremin has this whole symbolic weight which we love, ever since we created this studio ten years ago, the bumper of the intro we had, which was the Cinema Fantasma bumper, you can hear a theremin. So, for us it’s always been like the theremin is the Cinema Fantasma musical instrument. Personally, it’s my favorite musical instrument.

So, when we started to unravel this episode which I’ve told you about a while ago, that we wanted to get to this big moment of the orchestra in the alley with the dead children and the Boogeyman dancing, we start to realize we needed, like… a character who wanted to make music in order to get to this moment, and we realized it would be very original to have her play the theremin, because we’ve seen a million boys and girls who play the violin or the guitar, even Coco and Book of Life have this, right? You can always look for something different to… to give the show a unique flavor.

Moving on, Yara Edith asks: ‘Why is Frankelda from Hidalgo?’ And, get this, originally, this was only going to last one hour and we’re at, I think, an hour and a quarter. Let’s… let’s answer a few more questions and we’ll call it a day, also so you guys can have a nice Friday and not just sit there listening to us. Right, so let’s go back to Yara Edith’s question. Why is Frankelda from Hidalgo?

Roy Ambriz: Because, well, something both of us really wanted to do is… make something that felt… a series that felt Mexican but by someone who actually lives in México, y’know? Like, for there to be these little elements no one else who didn’t live in México could have, and it’s mixed in with experience. One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to is the Panteón Inglés. I love it. One of my best friends hails from there, from Pachuca, but she’d take us… back in college we went a lot of times, to- Hi, Rosa, if you’re watching.

Arturo Ambriz: I don’t think she is.

Roy Ambriz: I don’t think so because I didn’t even give her a heads-up, but OK. But we traveled a lot, and we made a lot of- she’s a photographer. And we did a lot of photography exercises at Panteon Inglés, and it’s just gorgeous. And… truth is that when we were framing this series, we said: ‘It just would be so cool that she was a Victorian ghost, right? In this big house.’ And back at the Pilot we couldn’t really get into it, show it, how we want to break away from that cliché, I mean, she is Victorian, and she is from that period, but it’s not in Europe, it’s in México. Because mixing in with history -which is something we also love, like, mixing in bits of truth- it’s around this time that the British arrived in there to, well… care for and extract from the silver mines, they brought in a lot of things, right? Soccer, the pasties, which turned into pastes, and whatnot. We figured it’d be really nice if Frankelda’s house is European because his dad is British, but he’s a British man who fell in love with a Mexican woman, and Frankelda’s born from that union.  Why? Because Frankelda- as you know, well, in México we’re a mixture of the European and the Mexican-origin, and, and we’re not- it doesn’t matter anymore, to us, origin doesn’t matter anymore, just that we’re Mexican, and that’s very Mexican.

And so, Frankelda is Mexican. She makes her stories up with the mixture of things, of elements within her head, and what better place than… I mean, if this beautiful place that actually exists in real life inspires us, well, we wanted to also pay homage to that place, and even though it’s not exactly identical, it is a rather latent inspiration for us.

Arturo Ambriz: Alright. Now, Emily Delgado asks us whether we’re giving some kind of courses or bachelor, and, yeah, actually yes, we’ve given several of them. Next year, we’ll reactivate our section called ‘Cinema Fantasma EDU’ which is where we give our courses, bachelor degrees, workshops, conferences on stop-motion. That’s a great way to learn. Stay tuned to our social media, cause that’s where we’re giving notice. Thing is, between COVID and all the work we had with ‘Frankelda’, we had to put this project on hold, well, this whole year. But we’re eager to get back into it and get it done. This is something we love, and we’re exploring other options, really cool ones too, with a certain… how do I put this, brand that makes online courses to make a very specific kind of thing. Really cool, we’re working really hard, I don’t want to spoil that either, because it will be announced in due time, but we’ve got more options coming up so we can talk and we can try to impart some of the knowledge we’ve been saving up all these years by making these productions.

Roy Ambriz: Good.

Arturo Ambriz: Very good. And… I think this will be our last question.

Roy Ambriz: Last question!

Arturo Ambriz: Let’s see… I’m looking for one that’s real good.

Roy Ambriz: Yeah, close it up with some meat, go on.

Arturo Ambriz: Something that makes fans speculate?

Roy Ambriz: Yeah.

Arturo Ambriz: …there’s just so many good ones. Let’s see, for instance… ah, look, this one’s nice because it additionally comes all the way from Chile. Sent by Gabriel Beltrán, and it’s: ‘Are the Spooks’ stories told on the show based on real legends or inspired on something of the sort?’

Roy Ambriz: And, well… it’s a mix of everything, right? We aren’t basing them on anything specific per se. I feel like we’ve already seen so much in México, in Mexican adaptations about Mexican legends. Which is really cool, but it’s already been done, even in animation. So, we wanted to do new ones. There’s characters like, for instance- in the… originally in the pitch, back when we hadn’t thought so much about it, the witches… the original concept art is somewhere around, they were more… European, more classic, or United States-like, with the hat and the broom and the stockings. And we were like: ‘No, we want it to be…to feel more like… witches who have somehow been living around a lot of places in México or Latin-America for a while, and who, as luck would have it, right now are living around Colonia Roma maybe, or La Condesa, something to that effect. How do we make it feel specific?’

So… it obviously comes from, well, people- we can’t say ‘We invented witches, we invented mermaids.’ Or anything. But they’re more like… characters and archetypes we take and resignify to things we’ve lived through, things within our imagination, and things we want to see. Maybe the one that’s more inspired in an existing character which we felt had barely even gotten representation in Latin-America is El Coco. The Boogeyman, always-he comes from… our mom always tells us this story, we’d mentioned it a couple of times, but my grandpa used to say to her, because we collected toys, and back in the nineties they were all monsters and stuff like that, really cool stuff. And my grandpa used to tell my mom: ‘Why would they ever be afraid of the El Coco if they have that kind of toy and aren’t scared by it?’. So, this Boogeyman character, like… a bum, or, just something that’s not exactly what we have in the collective imagination, but we had that idea floating around, and, well… we decided to capture it. And I hope we can see more of the El Coco in the future.

Arturo Ambriz: Totally… well, I think we’ve reached the limit with this session. We’re obviously absolutely thankful to you, this is why we want to keep creating these opportunities to chat. We know there was a lot more questions but, think about it, we’d be here for five hours. We’d be happy to, but we also don’t want to ruin your Friday, so I think the good stuff has to be, like… like, in moderation.

We’ll also take this chance to tell you that we seriously are on the constant lookout for everything you’ve posted on social media- look, for example, I have a physical fanart right here, and it’s so cool! But trust me when I say all the digital ones, all the ones I’ve found, I’ve shared them on my Instagram account and I’ve been saving them. I feel like it’s like I’m filling up my Panini album, I’m logging in all the time to see what I can find and save it. And something we would love to do here in Cinema Fantasma, we’d just have to rearrange the space, is to print all the fanart you’ve made, print out all the fanart you’ve made and post it over a wall in Cinema Fantasma even just a small print. Because, trust me that, for both of us as well as the whole crew it’s mind-blowing to see you liked what we worked so hard on, what we toiled so much to make. Right now, we’re seeing some of the fanarts we love on screen…

Roy Ambriz: Just not Tik Tok because…

Arturo Ambriz: Uh-huh, not Tik Tok.

Roy Ambriz: Because we’re… on a different one.

Arturo Ambriz: But it’s not that…

Roy Ambriz: Look how gorgeous! Wow!

Arturo Ambriz: It’s not that we’re only seeing the ones we like the most, y’know? We like all of them, it’s just that we did a quick search right now and these are the ones we had close-at-hand to show, but really, we love all of them, and all of them have their charm.

Roy Ambriz: Yes, and they’re beautiful, thank you so much. We’re very, very, very grateful with all the Fankeldos and Fankeldas…

Arturo Ambriz: Or Spooks.

Roy Ambriz: Or Spooks, or…

Arturo Ambriz: The Owls.

Roy Ambriz: The Owls and the Writers.

Arturo Ambriz: The Quills.

Roy Ambriz: Anything you like, thank you so much because Frankelda is alive thanks to you. Something we can say is… ‘Frankelda’ is a celebration of fiction. So although there’s a… an official storyline which comes from us and Cinema Fantasma, Frankelda, the thing she likes the most is to be alive. So, consider the stories you make for her, when they’re in your minds, in your hearts, to be canon as well. To you, to the one reading right now, it’s real, because Frankelda is alive. So… draw her, write her, think about her. It's so nice to see it, really, we’re super thankful. It’s… this is the best possible present for us after… for the whole team, after… such difficult years in order to keep it afloat, where we had to, well… work so much, sacrifice some things in order to get it out there. So, this is super gorgeous, and we’re sending hugs to absolutely all of you guys and… an announcement. A fun one.

I think it should be up by now, a new filter that you can find, called ‘Frankeldízate’. If you want to turn into Frankelda or in… if you want to be real Fankeldos and Fankeldas, you can use that. Please, use it, it’s really fun. You can use it to sing, you can use it to write, for anything you want, it’s up. Start using it. Tag us, please, we love to see everything you make.

Arturo Ambriz: Something very important we nearly forgot is… we have a little surprise giveaway, OK? We have 5 posters, signed by the whole team. By the team who made ‘Frankelda’s Book of Spooks’, the Cinema Fantasma team. And we’re going to give it to the first five people who answer the following question and sent it to our mail, frankeldafanart@gmail.com.  Repeating the address, frankeldafanart@gmail.com, OK? First five people to send the answer to this question, we’ll get in touch with you through the mail to see about sending it. If it’s within México City, it will be through our messenger boy, our dear Arturo, but if you’re not in México City, well, we’ll look for a way to get it to you through national or international mail. OK? So, the mail is frankeldafanart@gmail.com and here’s the question, OK? And it’s: How… where does-? We mentioned it a while ago. Where does Herneval’s name come from?

Roy Ambriz: Go!

Arturo Ambriz: There it is, we went into it in detail a while ago, so if you paid attention, you can answer that question. And we’ll look for a way to make… make some other dynamic so we can give away this kind of things. Is there anything else you want to add, Roy?

Roy Ambriz: Well… please use the #Frankelda. You can use the other ones, they’re really cool. The ‘Que Listo Sos, Herneval’ one, all the ones you’re making up, but also use the #Frankelda on its own, because that way we can get everything thrown together and it’s like evidence for us to show the producers of you wanting a second season. Be insistent. If you wish, insist at the Cartoon Network LA and HBOMax LA social media accounts in your different kinds of posts, but use… flood them with requests for ‘Frankelda’s second season because that’s the only way we’re getting it. So, if there’s a massive second season bombing, it’s way easier, I hope no one kills me for saying that, but it’s the truth and I have to ask. So, well, I think that’s all for this session. If you liked it, expect more. We’ll be announcing the date for the next one along with our guest star soon.

Arturo Ambriz: Also, believe us when we say, as Roy did a while ago, if we can talk for a bit about what ‘Frankelda’ represents, well, we highly, highly, highly recommend for you to read. It’s never too late to get close to literature. We already made it easy for you, why not start with ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley? I’d be very surprised if you didn’t love it, truly, it’s fascinating. It’s a beautiful, philosophical, horror, science fiction book, it’s got everything, y’know? It has family drama, it has traditions, it has murder, it’s an incredible book. Read. Write. That’s something I struggle with a lot regarding my students, as we’ve mentioned, we teach in a handful of classes, and I do see sometimes how they lack… reading, and this is also why we were so insistent on the main character of the show being a writer.

So, well, we’re finishing up and, I just read a great suggestion and it’s that we should leave but first we should put Herneval and Frankelda together, and we should leave them like that for a minute, leave them like this for a minute… and leave. Thanks, goodbye.

Roy Ambriz: Goodbye!

Arturo Ambriz: It’s been great.

[elisysd]

33. You're scared of love, well, aren't we all?

Masterlist - Previously - Next

Chapter soundtrack: Vertigo - Griff

It had been a while since she had taken a flight home alone. She had tried calling Ethan, she had tried texting, had even resorted to calling Ludwig but nothing had worked when it came to reach Ethan. So she dragged her suitcases to the airport on her own and flew back home.

She arrived at her mom’s house, earlier than what Lyanna expected and when she welcomed her, completely exhausted, she didn’t hesitate to take her daughter in her arms. Julia didn’t need to explain anything and she was grateful for it. Her mom always knew when something was wrong but never had been one to rush her to talk. She made her late lunch and tried to divert her attention by talking about the wedding.

“I thought you would choose the red dress. You’ll look beautiful in gold, but red is your color.” said her mom, serving her a glass of orange juice.

“I gave it a second thought and I’ll go with the red… I don’t know why I chose gold in the first place.” she mumbled, feeling her eyes water.

“I also called the vinery in Tuscany to know if we could go there to visit and have a better idea of everything. Are you still coming with me?”

“Sure. It will do me some good, being away from the tracks.”

“Julia, I didn’t want to ask but… you look pale, darling. You know that you can tell me everything.”

“I know… It’s nothing, don’t worry. Just a bigger wave in a sea that is usually calm.”

Lyanna frowned and bit her lip, knowing full well that her daughter wasn’t telling her even half of the truth but didn’t insist. Instead, she opened her inspiration board on her laptop to show Julia her ideas for activities they could do. From hiking to karting and even wine tasting, Julia understood quickly that their parents wanted to have fun and that it would be the main mood of the wedding. After browsing websites after websites and scribbled down phone numbers and addresses, it was close to the late afternoon. The weather was warm and it was the perfect time for a run. Julia went back to her room to put her gym clothes on and decided to take Bailey to run with her. She kissed her mother’s cheek, promising her that she would be back for dinner, right on time as her dad would be back soon.

Bailey was excited to spend time with Julia and started to wiggle her tail while turning around the young woman as she was tying her shoes. Finally, she was ready to go. Running down the streets, Bailey right beside her, she let her bad thoughts and bad feelings wash away. Ethan and his controlling behavior. Ethan and that no matter how much she wanted to try she didn’t know how to talk to him. She naively thought that after their first kiss and after the night they had spent together, when she felt a real connection with him like never before, everything would get better. That they would be happy and it would be easy. For the first time in her life, she was understanding what her mom and dad were meaning by ‘a relationship doesn't only require love, it needs work’. But was she in a relationship with Ethan? They never really took the time to talk about it. She assumed so. After all, they were kissing even when there were no cameras, they were intimate, they were not pretending anymore. But she still didn’t know if he felt more for her than desire or if he was ready to be in a relationship. She wanted it to work out but she knew that she couldn’t be the only one putting work in it. It would be too much energy and she was not ready to throw her everything if she was not one hundred percent sure he would do so, as well. There were too many unknown parameters, too many variables. And she didn’t want for her heart to be broken, she wouldn’t risk it. Maybe, just maybe after all, Ethan was right when he had told her that making it real would only make everything complicated. It was a mess. A beautiful one, sure, but a mess still. And it had only been a week since their first kiss.

Her burning legs brought her near Ethan’s flat and she wondered for a moment if she shouldn’t try to ring. Maybe he was already back. He hadn’t replied to her text asking him to tell her when he would be back even if she knew he had read it. She looked up to his window before shaking her head and going back from where she was.

When she finally made it home, sweating and out of breath with a Bailey that was still as excited as when they left, her dad’s Ferrari was in a driveway. When she opened the door, she could hear her family’s laughs in the kitchen and her dad showing Louis pictures he had taken from the plane. He quickly noticed his daughter but instead of his usual smile and soft look he always had when it came to her, it was a frown and a surprised face he had on him.

“Julia? I thought you would be back tomorrow. Ethan is still in London.”

She didn’t react straight away. She didn’t know how, she wasn’t aware of this change of plans.

“I wanted to take an early flight. I missed home.” she simply said and left the room before even more questions were raised.

Still, it didn’t prevent her from hearing her dad asking her mom if something had happened with Ethan and Julia tried her best to not let out a scream that would inevitably turn into a cry. When she came back, fresh out of the shower, the table outside was dressed and a salad was ready while her dad was grilling meats on the barbecue. As she was taking place next to Louis,  she noticed how quickly he was typing on his phone with a smile on his face.

“Who are you texting?”

“Ethan.” he shrugged as if it was obvious.

“Oh.. so he is alive.” she commented, more to herself than to Louis.

“Well, if he can answer me, it means that he is breathing. So, yeah he is alive. Why wouldn’t he be?”

“Nevermind.” she said, serving herself some salad and did the same for her brother as her dad was coming back with the grilled sausages and her mom with an apple pie.

“He is asking if you are okay. Should I tell him that you look sad or should I lie?”

“Tell him to ask me that himself.”

Louis didn’t sense the annoyance in her words and obeyed as her mom looked at her weirdly before shooting a glance to her husband.

“He says that he will talk to you when you have made up your mind.”

“Made up my mind about what? Not coming with him to the next races? He can go fuck himself, gosh. He knows why I’m not coming!”

“Julia, language.” her mom reprimanded her. “And Louis, don’t text Ethan. We are eating and Julia and him have obviously issues to solve, as adults, that you don’t and shouldn’t be involved with.”

There was a little silence during which Julia angrily cut her meat, mumbling profanities about Ethan.

“He said that if you are up for it, the fucking part can be organised quickly.”

Julia let her fork fall on the floor as her dad was coughing loudly after his wine went down the wrong way and her mom had a shocked face as she watched Louis who was totally unbothered by the chaos he created.

“What does he mean?”

“Nothing, Louis. Don’t worry about it.” Julia added quickly, avoiding her parents' gaze on her and trying to not think about how she was feeling herself shamingly blushing.

“So, the next upgrades for the Ferrari are still on for Buenos Aires?” she asked her dad, as if Louis’ comment never existed and her dad, happy to find a way out of the situation, ended up explaining in detail what her work would bring and their hopes to move forward next.

She woke up the next day with an unexpected text from Kyle telling her that Ethan had been insufferable lately and that they both needed to sort things out. They needed to talk and their plane would land in the late morning, meaning Ethan would be home around noon. Kyle was right, of course. But she wasn’t sure it had to be her that should make the first step. It had always been her lately and a part of her was hoping he would show her that he was as much in this as her. But she also knew how stubborn they both were and if she was waiting for him, it most probably would never happen.

Her dad was in the living room, on a call with some important people in Maranello that was updating him on the results the datas showed with the simulator work from both Martin and Elijah. They tested the new upgrades and it was promising. It made Julia smile and the knot in her stomach a little less tight. When her dad dropped off the call, he seemed relaxed.

“Good news from what I gathered.”

“Reassuring ones, yeah. All thanks to you.”

“Wait before saying that, you know that sometimes the data on the sim and the data on the tracks are different. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“I trust you. I know how hard you worked on them and with the precision the team brought on your ideas, I’m sure we have nothing to worry about.”

“Would it be enough to secure you the P2 in the constructor's standings before the summer break?” she asked, worried and unable to shake out of her mind the threats Carlos had made on his dad.

“One thing at the time, okay?” He was trying to reassure her but she could see that he was worrying as much as her.

“If you need anything just let me know…”

“If you have time today, maybe we could go over the data the factory will send me?”

“I was about to leave to go to see Ethan but when I’ll be back, sure, we can do that.”

She saw the back of her dad stiffen as soon as she mentioned him.

“I don’t want to overstep, Ju… But I just want to make sure he treats you right and that he makes you happy.”

“It’s just a rough patch, dad.”

“Is it, really? Because it looks like you had more rough patches than good ones. Tell me, is it worth it?”

She looked down at her feet, trying to come out with a good answer but she couldn’t seem to find one. Her dad was right and she didn’t want to lie to him. Not anymore.

“I thought it would be but… I’m not sure. We don’t know how to communicate and it seems that every time I try to reach for him he pulls away. One day he is the nicest guy and he makes me happy and then the next, if I do something that displeases him, he shuts me off. He says he doesn’t want me to be perfect but I still feel like I have to be. I don’t know what to do. Am I the problem? Is it me?”

“No, Ju. Any guy would be lucky to be with you. You’re smart, driven, you care about your friends and your family, you are ambitious and hard-working. You are not afraid to speak up your mind, you have the compassion of your mom and when you love, you love fiercely just like her. So, no, you are not a problem and there is nothing wrong with you.”

“You made me sound perfect…”

“You are not. You are stubborn, you never want to admit when you are wrong and you have the tendency to flee when you are scared of your feelings. You definitely got that from your mom. But it doesn’t make you less lovable. Ethan is lucky and he should start to realize it soon. And if he doesn’t, then someone else will.”

She nodded as she felt tears prickling behind her eyelids. Her dad took her in his arms, kissing her temple before letting her go.

She didn’t know if it was a good idea. Standing there, in front of his door, she was hesitating. What if he wasn’t there? What if he didn’t want to talk to her? She briefly contemplated the idea of going back home before reproving herself. Taking a deep breath she knocked on the door that opened a few seconds later to reveal Ethan. He was dressed casually, in a white t-shirt and gray sweatpants. He looked at her up and down before leaning against the door frame, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Is that the text I sent to Louis that made you run to me this fast? I thought you would need a few more days. “

“I’m not here for that. And about that text, don’t put Louis in the middle of our arguments. That’s not fair.”

“That made you come to me, I’d say it is fair.” he insisted.

“I’m not here to argue…” she sighed.

“What are you here for, then?”

“To talk.”

He straightened up to let her in before grabbing her waist by behind to pull her against his chest as his lips found their rightful place on her neck.

“Ethan… I said I wanted to talk.”

“Too bad, because I’m not in the mood for that.” he whispered against her ear.

She knew it was a bad idea, that it would only make things worse but sue her for being weak when it came to Ethan Verstappen.

Lying naked in his white bed sheets, she couldn’t help the nagging feeling of shame from crippling in the back of her mind. Even more when she saw Ethan getting out of the bed without giving her a glance making her feel used.

“Ethan…”

“I have somewhere to go, Julia. I don’t have time.” he shrugged.

It was enough for her to let the angry feelings she had kept bottled inside to explode.

“So you have time to fuck me, but not to talk? Are you kidding me?”

“I didn’t see you put much resistance to it.”

She threw the sheet around her shoulders, following him in the living room as he picked up his keys.

“What am I to you? A booty call? Someone you can use and discard when it’s convenient to you?”

“You are making the choice to leave me. You are the one abandoning me.”

“For four weeks! For my family! It’s not as if I was going away on a solo trip in the Caribbean!”

“Still. You make your decisions alone. Without talking to me. And now you want to talk? Spoiler Julia, I’m not available to talk when it’s convenient to you. So be nice, put your clothes back on so I can go meet my friends.”

Julia looked at him in disbelief. She wasn’t recognizing him. Where was the charming, funny and caring Ethan she grew to love? Instead, it was as if he had gone back to the insufferable and arrogant man that she couldn’t stand. She batted her eyes to prevent the tears from forming. She put her clothes back on, took her bag and with one last disappointed look, left him.

He knew he was acting like a dick and even more than that but for a reason he couldn’t explain, he couldn’t help it. It was as if every word that was coming out of his mouth had one goal, hurting her the way he was hurting. He knew he shouldn’t, he had no right to get mad at her for wanting to spend time with her family but he would have loved for her to come to him first, so they could talk about it and not be thrown under the bus like he had been. Sometimes, he felt like despite his efforts, he still had no place in her life. And it was coming at the worst time. The press was not the kindest with him lately, doubting his abilities, saying he would never be as good as his dad, that he had no place in the sport. If it had always been more or less bearable in the past because of the fans and the support he was receiving, now even them were saying that Julia had made him weaker. That he was more interested in what was outside the sport, that his passion wasn’t there. And that was hurting him more than he liked to admit. He could handle the nasty comments about his performance, but not that people and even names well respected in the field were doubting his commitment, that was the last straw.

And when Julia told him that she wouldn’t be there, next to him for the next races, he thought that he had just lost another one of his landmarks. If even Julia was letting him down, what did he have, still? Kyle had Romy now, Ludwig was Ludwig, he had never been one to care if he had people around him or not. Who would want to stay with him?

So when Leroy, an old friend from school, asked him if he wanted to meet up with their old acquaintances to reminisce about the past, he thought it would be a good opportunity to forget about how his life was not that great at the moment, and about how he didn’t help making it better.  When he entered the bar, he was quickly welcomed by them, asking him how he was and when he would finally be a World Champion. He felt nice, at ease with them. They joked about where they were in their lives, the girls they had dated, joked about it and Ethan definitely felt like he belonged with them. The drinks were flowing and the atmosphere was relaxed until Leroy pronounced Julia’s name and it shifted.

“So the rumors were true, I guess. You are dating Little Miss Perfect.”

“Julia? Yes. It was unexpected but it’s true.”

“I’m just wondering how you managed to do it? Like, I’ve been with her and gosh she was so stuck up by then.”Leroy joked, making his friends laugh as well.

“You’ve dated her?” asked Ethan. He didn’t remember and Julia had never mentioned anything about ex boyfriends.

“It was more out of a bet than anything. She had never been really interesting or worthy to be dated. I mean, she was cute but who seriously wants to be with someone like her? Do you remember when we used to laugh about her Ferrari stupid dreams? Or the way she was always the first one raising her hands when teachers were asking questions? She was such a teacher's pet.”

Ethan clenched his fist, he didn’t like the look on Leroy’s face when he was talking about Julia.

“Well, she made it. She works in F1 now. So, after all, she was right to hold onto her dreams.”

“Maybe but, tell me… we are between men, now. How is she? Is she still stuck up or did you manage to turn her into a whore? She had always had a nice body. How does it feel?”

“Don’t talk about her like that, it’s disrespectful.”

“Oh no, I see, she turned you into her little whore, that’s why you don’t answer? Is she wearing pants in your relationship?”

“Fuck off, Leroy. I’m serious.”

“Come on Ethan, don’t take it that way. We all know it here, she is a bitch. Remember how she lied to her parents and they managed to fire me from school. She made my life like hell. She is a bitch, always has been, you can’t defend her. And you know what we do to bitches like her? We train them to make them obedient and docile.” he added with a snarky smile.

He didn’t expect Ethan to react this fast, standing up, making his chair fall on the floor and in a swift move he was grabbing Leroy by the collar, approaching his face with a threatening glare.

“Listen to me, little fucker. You are going to keep Julia’s name out of you mouth or I swear I’m going to make you learn every single definition of the word respect in every single language that exists, and I'm not scared to use force if I have to. If I hear you saying another thing about Julia, I’m going to make sure you will never be able to make a sound. Are we clear?”

“Ethan…bro…come on, I was joking.”

“These are not jokes and it’s because little boys like you with a fragile ego that women are scared to be around men. So I won’t repeat myself. Fuck off.”

He could see Leroy getting paler by seconds and when finally he nodded quickly, eyes filled with fear in front of Ethan cold anger, the blond released his grip. He gave his so-called friends one last disgusted look before heading out, thinking that he definitely needed to clean his friends list. As he was about to step outside, he heard Leroy mumbling.

“Told you that bitch was holding him with a leash, he is not fun anymore.”

Ethan turned around faster than expected and Leroy didn’t have the time to register what was happening to him that his face was violently thrown against the table,earning the gasps of the people around them. He heard him whining of pain as he breathed in his ear.

“Don’t play with me Leroy or I swear I’m going to destroy you. And I’ll take my sweet time so you won’t forget your lesson.”

“Fucking asshole, my nose. That hurts.”

“Be happy it’s your nose and not your legs.”

And just like that he headed out with a proud smile on his face.

Author's note: I love to write fuckboy Ethan, it is so fun. Maye not for you to read, but to write I can assure you that I absolutely love it! What do you think will happen next? Let me know your theories, I love to read them.

Don't hesitate to leave a comment or an ask, as well as reblogging and leaving a like. Besides the fact that I absolutely love to read you, it helps a lot for the story to find its audience. I also have a taglist for this story, so if you want to be added so you never miss a chapter, let me know.

Taglist:

@herondalism @aundercover @musingsbyshreya @karmabyfernando @reengard @mycenterfold @smoooothoperator