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paintedlight · 4 years

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Supernatural Season 15 & Sufjan Stevens' “The Ascension”

Teaser: there’s a song on this album called "Die Happy” where the lyrics are just “I want to die happy” for 5 minutes and 45 seconds. yeah. yeah.

Disclaimer: yes it’s all a stretch and I’m overthinking it but also… am I? (yes)

long post time! know that reading ahead may hurt you and yes it does get worse the further down the track list you get 💕 have fun kids

So just to start off, I think it’s funny that something Sufjan’s discography & Supernatural have in common is the 15+ years of the internet arguing if it’s gay or not, and the answer ending up being yes. PLUS there’s the obvious connection of American mythos + mythology + calvinist themes (I am hissing) + religious trauma prevalent in both.

If you’re a fan of both like I am, it’s easy to connect them— notable connections being songs like “John My Beloved” and “The Owl and the Tanager” or even “John Wayne Gacy Jr.”, but I’m going to focus on Sufjan's 2020 album, “The Ascension” since even the arc itself seems so connected to season 15 of Supernatural, specifically.

At least in my head it does <3 enjoy

MAKE ME AN OFFER I CANNOT REFUSE

When interviewed about the meaning of this track, Sufjan explains that this song is about asking God, “what do you have to say for humanity?” That it’s about desperation, creation, and devastation. It’s about frustration with divinity. Also the vibes are 10/10. Need I say more

RUN AWAY WITH ME

This song is beautiful, it makes me want to sit in some grass and stare at the sky.

Some lines that make me Dean/Cas crazy are the two lines in verse 1 and verse 2 that mirror each other by being in the same place melodically:

Verse 1: they will terrorize us / with new confusion / with the fear of life that seeks to bring despair within

Verse 2: I will bring you life / a new communion / with a paradise that brings the truth to light within

Yeahhh so the words “Despair” and “The Truth” were mirrored in this song yes it was coincidental yes I’m clinging to it. It fascinates me

But this song is about begging someone to stay with you.

sweet falling remedy / come run away with me / you’re all I ever need

VIDEO GAME

My first thought when I heard this song was about how it was such a song for enneagram 4s. If you don’t know what that means, I think Dean is a 4 and wrote a post about it here.

AND @trapperjohnmcintyre also made the connection between these lyrics and Dean in this post, and honestly I don’t need to say much more than that??

The song is about feeling paranoid and angry that God is controlling your every move and you can’t escape it (aka hating the doctrine of predestination). Of course it’s also about not wanting to follow societal scripts.

You just want to have an easier life instead of the weight of good and evil resting on your back!!!

I don’t want to put the devil on a pedestal / I don’t want put the saints in chains / I just want to make my life a little easier / I don’t want to play your video game

Also these painful lines, as a treat:

I don’t want to love you if you don’t receive it / I don’t want to save the world that way

Oh, I almost forgot, also. At the end, the narrator gives up. He’s like well I guess I can’t escape. Gotta follow the procedure. Gotta be a puppet.

I don’t want it to go down that way / but in a way you gotta follow the procedure / so go ahead and play your video game

LAMENTATIONS

I don’t have much to say about this one but this line always makes my heart ache idk:

I was only thinking of human kindness

TELL ME YOU LOVE ME

Here we gooooooo. Y’all aren’t ready.

Thesis: Tell me you love me despite the primordial darkness about to overtake me. And even if you don’t, I’m going to love you.

15x18 Despair anyone??

I want to just paste the whole song but, here—

DIE HAPPY

Yep, "Die Happy" immediately follows "Tell Me You Love Me." Yes, the lyrics are just “I want to die happy” over and over for almost 6 minutes.

First of all, the repetition mirrors the end of the song Fourth of July, from Sufjan’s previous album Carrie & Lowell, where Sufjan sings “we’re all gonna die” over and over.

Parallels, baby.

But I noticed something else about this recently though— in Die Happy, if you are listening to it in your headphones, there’s this weird sound that sounds like a wasp flying around your head (it made me uncomfortable which is why I noticed it, haha). After I felt unnerved for a moment, I had a realization— that this could be referencing one of Sufjan’s most beloved songs, “The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out To Get Us!!” (yes that’s a real song title lol)

The Predatory Wasp is about how Sufjan fell in love with his best friend at the Bible Camp he went to as a teenager. The wasp is a metaphor for internalized homophobia and also his love and how he fears his love will hurt the boy he’s in love with.

So, Die Happy references an iconic song from Illinois (2005) with these notable lines:

Tl;dr:

I want to die happy vs. I can’t explain the state that I’m in / the state of my heart / he was my best friend

Here’s an Despair photoset with Predatory Wasp lyrics via @toneelspeelster.

ATIVAN

So your best friend has just died happy by being in love with you. You feel like the primordial darkness is on YOU now:

I woke up in stereo—I spent the day in vertigo / I could not get the spirit off my back

You’re once again tossed in the waves of thinking that God is fucking with you. But either way you just want to be tranquilized at this point.

Is it all for something? Is it all part of a plan / tranquilize me, sanitize me, Ativan

Is it all for nothing? Is it all part of a plan? / make my death wish, mind my business / do the best I can with what I am

Ativan asks, was the true leading woman all this time… substance abuse??

Ativan / my leading woman

Long story short, you’re drunk on communion wine, asking the shadows to come back.

fill me with the blood of Jesus / clean my plate 'til he receives us / separate the colors from the black / ... / tell the shadows near us to come back

URSA MAJOR & LANDSLIDE

Not a lot to say about this (even though I love these songs) so I’m gonna skip mostly, but the narrator has decided he wants to love you, he can’t help it <3

GILGAMESH

Oh boy.

I mean you kinda know what’s coming because of the title. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the world’s oldest piece of epic world literature, and Gilgamesh was “the first hero of human history.”

In the world’s oldest story, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh and Enkidu are “very close friends” (their relationship is very homoerotic and this is barely disputed). Gilgamesh calls Enkidu his brother, and they are mutually selfless towards each other but when Enkidu dies, indirectly because of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh has a breakdown and mourns him like that of a spouse and then has to come to terms with his own mortality.

The meta level of this is so obvious I’m not even going to go into it. Anyways… here are lyrics that make me want to scream!

the repetition of “my heart”... the concept of singing a eulogy.... saying your heart is chained to Your Angel............ it hurts

DEATH STAR

Star Wars reference my beloved. Like many of these songs this has Fuck You God energy.

what you call the human race / expedite the judgement day / it’s your own damn head on that plate

vandalize what you create / ... / witness me resist your fate / it’s your own damn head on that plate

GOODBYE TO ALL THAT

This song is a bop honestly

When the lyrics were released a bunch of Sufjan fans contrasted Goodbye To All That’s here I am alone in my car / hopelessly infatuted / and I’m driving to wherever you are to Sufjan & Moses Sumney’s song, “Make Out in My Car”.

Yeah, I know, we’re all thinking of this:

Make Out in My Car is basically where Moses gave Sufjan a horny car guy chorus and told him to write the verses, and Sufjan proceeded to write the most liturgical shit ever (and we love him for it). ANYWAYS… Goodbye To All That also reminds me of Dean’s depression and the weirdness that started in 15x19 and goes into 15x20. For some reason he makes it seem more upbeat and happy than it is...

Despite this song being a bop, the lyrics are depressing. He’s alone in his car. He’s hopeless. He realizes it’s too late to have died a young man.

He’s going to try to move on, even though nothing is left of him, he’s begging someone to turn around and show me his shadow.

He also references substance abuse again—

love me / and leave me / intoxicated

SUGAR

The music video? Iconic. The mom of a family is making a pie, or she’s trying to. She ends up rubbing the filling all over her face, crushing the fruits, the oven catches on fire.

But she does it! She makes the pie.

Meanwhile the other family members are in their rooms, overindulging in sugar in all its forms. And then as she and her family eat around a dining table, occassionally being seemingly marrioetted by some unseen force, she looks angrily over her family, they all seem to kind of lose it, then the house starts to come apart until the chandelier falls on the dinner table.

It’s the making pie + overindulgence in sugar + marionetted family metaphors for me ❤️

Ultimately, the song is about begging for affection, being desperate for domesticity, but you feel doomed, you feel like your defeat is predestined, that you can’t escape it.

You just don’t want to be heartbroken & you don’t want to be angry anymore!!!!

THE ASCENSION

So you may be asking… does this guy get the domesticity he’s longing for?? Does he get his love back??

No. He dies. :/

The Ascension begins with just that. He’s dying.

THEN Sufjan decides to rhyme “confess” with “confess”, in two lines that mean almost opposite things:

When I am dead / and the light leaves my breast / nothing to be told / nothing to confess / let the record show / what I couldn’t quite confess

So does this guy have something to confess or not??? 👀

Moving on…

He goes back to thinking about how his life was predestined all along, and now after all that, he’s dying. So he thinks about all the times he was kind of like this Mythological Icon. That he always had to be the one to show what was right, to lead by example. That that had been his entire identity.

And he realizes he needs to answer for himself.

Then he is frightened— realizing he was always asking what everything meant, what it all was for, but that all along he was just angry and depressed.

But even though he feels a like he should have just resigned himself to meaninglessness, that he only thought he could change the world for the better… it strengthened him to know the truth.

And even through the absolute shit of it all, and even though God & others did things from a place of so-called holiness and hopelessness...

He did everything out of love ❤️

So then he dies 🙃

AMERICA

So, as the end of The Ascension asked, what now?

The album ends on this long track, which Sufjan describes as a protest against all that America has been and has become.

It’s a protest against capitalism, of destroying humanity for the sake of some cold machinery.

I have worshipped / I believed / I have broke your bread / for a splendor of machinery

And in true Sufjan fashion, he makes this song about protesting somehow both horny and religious, god bless

I have loved you / like a dream / I have kissed your lips / like a Judas in heat

I have worshipped / I have cried / I have put my hands in the wounds on your side / I have tasted of your blood / I have choked on the waters / I abated the flood / I am broken / I am beat / but I will find my way / like a Judas in heat

I am fortune / I am free / I’m like a fever of light / in the land of opportunity / don’t do to me / what you did to America / don’t do to me / what you do to yourself

to finish out, here’s a DeanCas post by @eggcessive with lyrics from America ❤️ I HOPE YOU ENJOYED MY WEBWEAVING :)

#sufjannatural #sufjanatural #destiel meta #spn #deancas #sufjan #here it is.... my masterpiece #this didn't take as long as you'd think considering all of this has been on the tip of my tongue for months #<3 I hope others freak out along with me <3 I'm obsessed with the album and his voice #I feel kinda weird posting this bc this album also had like a ton of personal spiritual significance to me.... but it's fine #those things can be connected

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totallypathet · 4 years

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UK Episode Five

UK Hun?

I know I haven't at all talked about Drag Race UK this season, but I have ~opinions~ and my flatmate is getting bored of me so here we are.

First episode back after lockdown! I feel so bad for these queens, started filming, get sent home for seven months, have no idea if/when they're going to start filming again, lose income for 7 months, it must have been so awful. But I'm glad they're all back! Except poor Veronica who got covid - I hope they do a Eureka and invite her back for season 3, I feel like she had so much more to show!

Of course they brought someone back to replace her, typical drag race gag, but nice that someone else got another chance! Having said that, it should have been Astina. She didn't deserve to go home in the first place, imo. I do think it was kind of harsh to throw that at everyone first thing though! Like the eliminated three didn't get to do anything to even fight for it, and for all the remaining queens, like its been seven months! Who remembers things that long?? Not me, that's for damn sure. I think that was kind of harsh, and I think a lot of people did go for Joe maybe as a safe choice, like there's always an argument for the queen who went home first, they didn't really get to show much. You know what I wish, I wish those three had been a group for the Eurovision (I refuse to say Rurovision) challenge, and then everyone got a chance to vote someone back. That would have felt fairer somehow.

Anyway. I was initially really glad we got Joe back, because I really felt like she did have more to show. I was soon to be disappointed, however 😂

I do love the music challenges, and I adore MNEK, I hope he is like the permanent music judge. One of my favourite moments was him, I think it was after Bimini's first take, going "well...its good that we have that..." very like Chrissy Teigen 😬 that was so funny to me, I loved it.

1. A'Whora

Before the covid break I really didn't like A'Whora, but I feel like she's come back a bit more relaxed, a bit more open, and I liked her so much more this episode. I feel like maybe when she came back she was a bit more relaxed because she knew (kind of) what she was walking into, so she felt a but more at home, maybe. Anyway, I think she did really well this week! She's not a singer, but she leaned into this moany sexy thing that some people do do at Eurovision, and hey, sex sells! I think it was a smart choice for her.

Her look as well... amazing. You guys it was a bag of chips! She had wooden forks as her earrings! The font of the newspaper was to scale! She was carrying a salt shaker! It was so sick, I loved it. I loved seeing her be fashion and polished and beautiful, but also whimsy and funny at the same time! Great week for A'Whora.

2. Bimini Bon Boulash

We LOOOOOOOVE Bimini Bon Boulash! For me, she was the absolute stand out this week, I just adored her! Her verse was amazing, her lyrics were great, her very East London attitude was everything, I just loved it. And her outfit! That mad pink cowboy barbie? Incredible! Also, so Eurovision. And the jump off the stool! That lives in my head rent free. "Somebody do a death drop or summing!" Perfect. The whole performance was amazing.

Also her runway looooooook! It was so beautiful, so fashion, I was getting Gautier from that lace and the umbrella... everything about it to me was so perfect. I know it was a team win, but to me Bimini absolutely killed it, and she was my winner 🥰🥰

3. Ellie Diamond

I love Ellie, but honestly I think she's too young for this competition. She's so great, but if you give her just a couple more years, she's going to be absolutely unstoppable. I think she did pretty well this week, her lyrics were fun, she is a dancer, she performed great! I do agree with Michelle, she did look a little bit like she was in her head for a lot of the performance, but that just comes with confidence, and when you've not performed for 7 months and then suddenly you're on the main stage, that's got to be super nerve wracking!

I also think Ellie was a victim of a bad group this week. I think the group as a whole didn't have a lot of direction or focus, the choreography wasn't that great, they didn't really feel like a group. It was unfortunate. I feel like she did the best she could.

I kind of loved her runway, I think the seagull thing was hilarious! She was a human size seagull! That's hysterical. The only thing I kind of wish is that she'd had ridiculous padding on. Like, what's funnier than a giant seagull with huge tits in a bikini. I think that's so funny.

4. Joe Black

Oh Joe. I was excited for Joe to come back, but as soon as she walked out to the Eurovision challenge in that dress with that wig and a belt, I knew it was over.

I'll get into the dress H&M/Primark drama in a second, but first let's talk about the actual challenge. Joe's lyrics were pretty good, but the way she performed them was just so at odds with the track. It's cheesy Euro pop, you know? I just feel like she could have done things differently. And then with the choreo...look I don't expect anyone to walk in being a great dancer and doing flips and splits and all that, but I just felt like she didn't even really try with the moves Ellie and Tia wanted to do. Maybe that was the edit, I don't know. I also feel like, as team leader, she could have found some solutions, like they could've had Tia & Ellie doing these amazing moves, and Sister & Joe could have done something more simple, or they could have found some comedy Joe could lean into while the others were dancing, but it just seemed like they didn't even try and find a way around it? It was just a bit weird to me.

And then she came out for the runway, and it was like chalk and cheese. Joe Black had by far and away the best runway look of the night. That's one of my favourite things that's ever been worn on UK Drag Race, it was amazing. But it was also like girl if you can do that, why were you wearing H&M during the main challenge? And like, I'd get it, if that dress was beautiful, or bold, or she'd used it as a base and done something to it, but it wasn't. It was so basic, and she even said she knew it was basic, and it didn't even fit her right. It was just so disappointing.

Honestly, I understand what Ru was saying about not wanting to see off the rack. I can't believe I'm about to be defending Transphobia Paul, but I actually kind of agree. And it's not about money, I don't think anyone has to spend loads of money to be a good drag queen, I think its just about it being a Look. A Moment. Like this is internationally available TV. And you're going to come out to perform in a dress off the sale rack that you just threw on and belted? I just find that disappointing. And I get what people are saying about Astina in week 1 winning with an off the rack outfit, but at least she did something with it. I mean, first of all it at least was a cool jacket. But then she built this outfit, and sold a character, she gave us an East London Moment, and it didn't matter that the jacket was from ASOS.

Joe didn't give us anything with that dress. She did nothing with it, and she didn't give us a character or a presentation, it was just an ugly dress. But then she came out in that incredible runway look, why such a disconnect? And I know that it was covid, and everyone had a loss of income, but girl the filming started before that. Like Joe should have already had the wardrobe for the season all ready before the lockdown. And if she didn't, she had 7 months to do literally anything with that dress. Stone it, glitter it, paint it, dye it, wreck it with bleach, make it a top, make it a jacket, do SOMETHING! You know? Also, that runway look? Idk if she made it or commissioned it, but baby that was not cheap. That took time, and energy, and effort, and money, so I'm calling bullshit on "maybe she could only afford a sale rack H&M dress 😔". Bullshit, Vivienne.

I was just so disappointed in Joe. I'm glad she went home.

5. Lawrence Chaney

I was worried for Lawrence this week! She's not known for being a singer or a dancer, and she was the only plus size girl in her group. As a big bitch myself I know it can be intimidating to be surrounded by thin people, especially when you're doing things you're not confident in.

But bitch she fucking turned it out this week! She wrote good lyrics, she kept up with the choreography, but most importantly, she performed the song. Like she leaned into not being a good dancer, she didn't look unsure or awkward, she just did it. I love that about Lawrence, she always just gives it her best, and I respect the hell out of it.

Her day at the seaside look was cute. It was a little bit obvious, a little bit literal, but it was well made, it fit her beautifully, and she looked fantastic. She did the assignment, and tbh I'm happy with that. She did a good job, and I'm proud of her!

6. Sister Sister

Honesly, the fact that Tia Kofi was in the bottom two when Sister Sister was right there is a fucking hate crime.

I genuinely forgot Sister Sister even existed. Like the only memorable thing she has done all season is her Morning Talk Show goth, and that was painful to watch. And she spends all her confessionals just bitching and moaning about other people! She spent the whole Talk Show episode complaining about Veronica and saying she didn't wanna work with her, but bitch what did you do?? If you think someone else is boring, you should have no trouble out shining them! And then she didn't!

I'm over it with her. Her performance wasn't that good, her lyrics weren't that good, and then her runway look was like the Wish version of A'Whora's.

I'm not totally certain that I buy that Sister stole it as a concept from A'Whora, but... maybe? Like, if Sister had really seen A'Whora's when they were filming the first time, and Sister had something totally different back then... I can see that maybe she thought "oh, thats a way better idea". All I know is, if you're gonna do the same look as someone else, you better leave them in the dust; and she didn't. She should have been lipsyncing this week.

7. Tayce

Tayce really pulled it out this week! Her rap was one of the best performances in the whole show, she killed it! Her lyrics were great, she really delivered them like a rapper, and them she performed the hell out of the song! Loved it. The only things I had to say about Tayce was that she seemed like the odd one out in the group in terms of outfits? Like everyone else went very Eurovision, cheesy pop pink, and she went with a very cool, edgy, darker look. Like, she looked stunning, and I looooved her hair, but it just didn't quite fit with the rest of the group. But that's a real nitpick, in terms of the actual performance, she was amazing!

Tayce's runway look. It was okay. It was a little bit literal for me, she went for shells and netting. It was cool, she looked beautiful, but it wasn't like a knockout for me.

8. Tia Kofi

Tia got a raw fucking deal this week. She was the best performer in her group by a country fucking mile, she had the best lyrics, she was the best rapper, and I think she looked the best out of the four in that group (during during challenge). I could not believe they put her in the bottom two.

Okay, her runway look was not great. It was a long way from great. But at least she had a unique concept (*cough* Sister), and she gave us some form of presentation. It could have been a lot better, but there was potential! I really wish that she'd had a much more defined look, I wish the skirt had been a high waisted pencil skirt, with some kind of cone-like texture somehow, really fitted and beautiful. And then I wish the top had been really big and over the top ruffles, maybe tulle, just something BIG. And that wouldn't have had to be expensive, you can buy cheap pencil skirts, she could have dyed one brown herself, and then she could have bought that cheap mesh that looks like tulle and made a really big rounded ice cream top out of it - I'm just proving my point about Joe Black and the off the rack thing now btw. But I wish it had just been a bit more considered than it was. And I also wish she'd had a flake head piece instead of a cherry, because when you buy those ice creams at the beach it's always a 99.

One thing I will give Tia's runway this week is that her face was stunning. I think that's the best her face has looked all season, the makeup was beautiful.

There was kind of a lot of drama this week with the whole off the rack thing, and then the A'Whora vs Sister Sister conspiracy, and I kind of loved it! I also really enjoyed this challenge, I feel like they've had much better and more interesting challenges on the UK series than the American one. Also UK Hun is going to be in my head for weeks.

I'm picking my top 2 of the season as Lawrence Chaney and Bimini Bon Boulash. Veronica Green would have been up there for me as well, it's a real shame that she got sick and couldn't finish this season! I really really hope they bring her back for season 3!

#drag race uk #uk drag race #rpdruk #a'whora #bimini bon boulash #bimini #ellie diamond #joe black #lawrence Chaney #sister sister #tayce #tia kofi #rupaul #michelle visage #graham norton

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just-a-fangirl13 · 4 years

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MacGyver s5 theories..Time jump? MacRiley? Trust issues and more

OKAY! So we finally got our first (3) SNEAK-PEEKS at 5x01 and I have soo many thoughts.

Here are the links incase you missed it: https://just-a-fangirl13.tumblr.com/post/636474561109639168/the-new-sneak-peeks-for-macgyver-5-01-are-out

Firstly let’s talk about the elephant in the room...The TIME JUMP....?

MacGyver writers really like their time jumps. From season 3 to season 4 we lost about 18 months, and in that span of time the Phoenix shut down, Mac and Desi dated, lived together, had a pet? and a “nuclear breakup” and then proceeded to live their lives, Riley also started seeing someone then moved in and had been living with him (Aubrey) for about 6 months and of course Bozer directed his own movie. So clearly a lot happened.

This 10 month jump might not be as eventful (or can it be?!) since it seems that the writers have included the pandemic into the storyline. Now if the characters were quarantined like we were I have tons of questions..

IS THE PANDEMIC OVER IN THEIR WORLD? WAS IT A DIFFERENT KIND OF PANDEMIC OR COVID? WHAT ARE THE REPERCUSSIONS?

DID THEY STILL GO ON MISSIONS? or were they literally just doing nothing like the rest of us? *I wonder if Mac burnt down the house....hehhehe*

DID RILEY MOVE OUT? or was she stuck quarantining with Mac and Desi?

DID MAC AND DESI BREAK UP? I cannot imagine them quarantining together for 10 months and maintaining their sanity. 10 months is a long time for MacDesi and if they survived it... It is possible them breaking up this second time around (for MacRiley to happen) just got a whole lot more complicated.

So there are 2 possibilities because we know Mac and Riley have to happen at some point RIGHT?!! *I WILL LOSE IT IF THEY DONT*

1. Mac and Desi broke up a few months in and this press release photo has more going on then meets the eye. At face value it seems like Mac and Desi might still be dating but I doubt that very much. Why? ill talk about that in a minute. Also if they broke up a few months (into the 10) that would leave sufficient time for Mac to get his head back in the game and if he and Riley happened then she wouldn't look like a rebound. (OH GOD PLEASE BE THIS!!)

2. Mac and Desi haven't broken up but knowing their track record they haven't exactly had a smooth 10 months. Now this would mean that when they do break up eventually, (there is a certain chance they may not at all and MacDesi might be endgame...NOOO) we will actually see it happen but I dont know why the writers would want to risk pulling the show down by anchoring Mac and Desi in this chaotic relationship not a lot of us are even fans of and slowing down the whole timeline of things. This is the theory I am not a big fan of but I guess we will know in the next 48 hours.

Okay now that we have the relationships out of the way lets talk about the plot.

We know Codex isn't done yet. LeLand is still out there and they seem to be the main focus this season. Again we dont know much about this and only time will tell.

The team does seem to be back and going on their usual missions but you have to remember there are around 4-6 episode from the original season 4 that never aired (due to covid). Plus the show runner changed so it will now be an alternation between the old s4 episodes that are definitely more Codex focused and the usual missions that might somehow tie into the big picture (even if they dont im not complaining!) This will give them time to develop the other plot lines and hopefully give us some happy moments too! (can we not kill anymore of Mac’s blood relatives? oh wait THEY ARE ALL ALREADY DEAD!!)

Another HUGE THING that I am very happy that the writers decided to tackle in terms of inter personal drama is trust issues.

As we all know when Mac kinda-sort-of went rogue towards the end of season 4, Riley was the only one who had complete faith in him while Matty and Bozer knew there was clearly more going on....BUT Russ and Desi didn't stop for even a second to consider that Mac might be doing the right thing.

Now you have to know this. Russ and Desi are not only new to the team but the world is very black and white for them. (Desi more than Russ actually) While Russ did some very gray area things he always thinks like a soldier just like Desi. For them people are mostly good or bad. You cant do (kinda) bad things for good reasons.

As we saw in the sneak peek where Russ doubts Mac and Mac gives Russ a piece of his mind about not trusting him, there is definitely a lot of conflict going on. (I expect Mac to have the same issue with Desi because if I remember clearly unlike Russ, Desi never apologised to Mac about holding him at gunpoint. How pronounced that issue is and if Mac and Desi break up because of it..only time will tell.)

I have to say though Mac telling Russ off was pretty amazing. It seems like he’s finally talking his mind and not taking shit from people. I cant wait to see more of sassy Mac!!! (wonder what brought that out...hmmmmmmmhmmm)

The events of season 4 are definitely going to influence a lot of what happens in season 5 and I cant wait!! Less than 48 hours to go!!!!!!

P.S. One more quick thing. Everyone has been saying that since MacGyver now has a LA unit Jack might be back since George Eads wanted to be closer to LA but all the shooting for MacGyver happened in Atlanta so that problem might have been resolved (I dont know how likely or unlikely that is its just something that came to my attention).

Also our favourite psychopath aka Murdoc could show up in S5 too since David Dastmalchian the actor who portrays Murdoc is also in LA right now (or at least he was till the 29th of Nov) along with Meredith Eaton for whom travelling to Atlanta is dangerous because she has several health issues. (I am happy they haven't written her out completely just because of COVID) We shall just have to wait and watch!

#macgyver #cbs #cbs macgyver #angus macgyver #riley davis #macriley #macdesi #desi nguyen #wilt bozer #russ taylor #matildawebber #lucas till #tristan mays #macgyver fandom #one day to goo #macisback #macisthebest #macgyverstills #macgyverseason5

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myheartrevealedocs · 4 years

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Untouchable - Ch 7: The Fisher King: Part 2 (S2E1)

Summary: A Spencer Reid x OC fanfic that retells select episodes, starting in season 1, from the point of view of Lydia Ambers, a forensic scientist.

Warnings: mentions of death, swearing, death threats, graphic injuries

Ch 6 | Ch 8

~ ~ ~

When Lydia got back to the conference room, Spencer was the only one there. He stood directly in front of the whiteboard, murmuring to himself. He’d written ‘Possible Book Titles’ across the top, but so far had nothing listed.

“The rest of the team leave you to figure this out on your own?” she asked.

He startled slightly, not having heard her walk in. “Um, JJ and Morgan are going to interview Rebecca Bryant’s parents… and Hotch and Gideon are interviewing the guy who brought the numbers to Haley.”

“Someone found him?”

“He turned himself in,” Spencer explained. “So, now it’s just me and the evidence boards.”

“Now it’s us and the evidence boards,” she corrected. She sat down and picked up the medication bottle from the table. “Sorry I stormed out.”

“Sorry you were so stressed,” he mumbled. “We didn’t mean to push you.”

“You didn’t. It was important for you to know. I’m just… so done with this, you know?” She stopped herself. “Sorry, of course you do. You were on vacation when you got these weird messages. I was just home doing my schoolwork.”

“Lydia, stop apologizing,” he argued. “This is very stressful, we’ve all been here a long time, and you got a package delivered to your door. I can easily understand why that’d freak you out.”

She shrugged. “I just feel like I should be able to piece together these clues the unsub’s giving us and I can’t.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” he agreed, indicating to his empty list.

She looked over the label on the bottle in her hands. There was a patient name, a doctor’s name, drug, and an RX number. Prescription bottles always had more than that. They had instructions, pharmacies, manufacturers, fill dates, expiration dates.

“This number must mean something,” she wondered out loud. “He didn’t put any unnecessary information on it, but there’s a long RX number.”

“Read the number out loud,” Spencer told her.

He wrote it across the board as she went. “3-1-5-1-2-1-2-5-3-2-0-1-5-1-8”

“Okay,” he stepped back. “We can start with the basics. A equals 1, Z equals 26.” He got to work, writing the corresponding letter underneath the number.

C-A-E-A-B-A-B-E-C-B-

He stopped at the zero. “That’s definitely not a word. But some of the letters have double digits, so… let’s see if we combine everything we can combine…’C’ stays the same. The 1 and 5 could be fifteen, which is ‘O’...” He began again.

C-O-L-L-E-C-T-O-R

“Collector?” He stepped away. “That mean anything to you?”

Lydia shook her head.

“Alright. Collector. Collecting things. He’s collecting things.” He snapped his fingers so sharply Lydia almost jumped. “Collector! Baseball cards, music boxes, butterflies, skeleton keys. These are all things people collect!”

“That can’t be a coincidence, can it?”

He shrugged. It was basically impossible at this point to rule anything out.

“Medieval,” she rambled. “Collectable things. Numerical codes. What else have we got?”

“We’ve got this note from the music box?” he offered. “I think I’ve heard it somewhere, but I can’t place it… And I think the book was published in 1963.”

“Why’s that?”

“That’s the year on the baseball card, but it’s not the year Gideon went to all those games. If the unsub knows Gideon likes Nellie Fox because he went to almost all the White Sox games in 1959, why give him a ‘63 card?”

“Okay,” Lydia agreed. “So, the type of butterfly JJ got, that probably means something too, because she collected butterflies, not pale clouded yellow butterflies.

He nodded. “Let’s get Garcia to look up some of these things and see if we find anything.”

She followed him out as he dashed towards Garcia’s office. He was very stiff and awkward when he was in a rush, she noticed, but he refused to run through the office. She was glad for it at the moment, seeing as with her foot, she probably couldn’t keep up with him, but it was almost comical, the way his feet skipped underneath him with repressed anticipation.

Garcia looked up when they walked in, then turned back to her computers. “This guy is infuriatingly good. He routed his IP through major corporations, crisscrossed it through countries, bounced it off satellites-”

“I thought you already tracked the hacker,” Spencer said, pausing behind her and glancing over her shoulder.

“No, I only found what he wanted me to find,” she huffed. “Apartment where Giles was dead. Reid, a hacker capable of getting into my systems is going to have amazingly sophisticated equipment. Did Giles’s apartment have that?”

“He didn’t have a couch,” he responded.

“Exactly. Giles was a smokescreen I should have seen through. But now I have this glorious program I wrote, tracking the hacker through his other identity: Sir Kneighf.”

“Sir Kneighf?” he cried.

Lydia’s eyes widened. “The doctor on the prescription bottle!”

“The what?” Garcia flipped her chair around and Reid leaned over to see the name on her screen

“K-N-E-I-G-H-F. That’s an odd spelling.”

She waved him away. “Do you need something?”

“Yeah, is there a database, which lists all the books published in a given year?”

“Individual publishers have lists, but I don’t think there’s anything like a master one. Plus it would depend upon the year, because the further back you go, the less likely there’ll be any database at all.”

“1963.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, ok, that would be an example of extremely less likely.”

He hummed in contemplation. “Could you do me a favor? Type something into a search engine for me?” She pulled herself back up to the keyboard. “‘Never would it be night, but always clear day to any man’s sight’.”

“Okay, that’s from a poem, ‘The Parliament of-’”

“Fowls!” He jumped in recognition. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! Chaucer! My-” He hesitated. “My mom used to read me that. It’s widely considered as the first Valentine’s poem.”

Garcia chuckled. “Your mom read you Valentine’s poems? Hello, therapy.”

Lydia smacked her over the shoulder.

“Chaucer. Chaucer. ‘Parliament of Fowls’.” He began mumbling to himself again, trying to fit pieces together. “It has to be at least 283 pages long. Something published in 1963… A butterfly indigenous to Great Britain. Why? Something born. Something from Great Britain… Medieval. Chaucer. Chaucer was Middle English. Middle English spelling of the word Fowls… F-O-W-L-E-S…”

Lydia thought he was losing it, but somehow, this rambling was productive, because he blinked and ran back over to Garcia’s side.

“There- There was a contemporary british author-- Fowles. John Fowles. Will you type it into a search engine?”

“Uh… He wrote The Magus, he wrote The French Lieutenant’s Woman-”

“Anything in 1963 published in Great Britain?”

She narrowed her search and her computer started beeping. “Yeah. The Collector.”

Lydia wanted to scream. Finally, they were on the right path. “Are you serious? The code on the bottle was the book title.”

Garcia clicked on the book and the cover photo showed up, which ruled out any chances of the book being a coincidence. Three objects were displayed underneath the title of the book: a butterfly, a skeleton key, and a blonde lock of hair.

“I’m gonna start calling libraries. We need a copy of that book immediately,” Lydia said, leaving abruptly.

~ ~ ~

“Hello, my name is Lydia Ambers, I work for the FBI. We’re in desperate need of a very specific book to help us on a recent case. We’re looking for a copy of The Collector by John Fowles, but it has to be a copy that was published by Jonathon Cape. Would you have any of those?”

Lydia followed Reid and Garcia to one of the interrogation rooms, to talk to Hotch and Gideon about their findings, but she was thoroughly distracted by her call and ended up stepping on their heels a few times accidentally.

“According to our database, we should have two copies, but it’s going to take me a while to search for them. Can I call you back once I’ve found a copy?”

“Yes, thank you.” She hung up and promptly tripped, falling between Reid and Garcia’s shoulders. She would have run directly into Gideon if Reid hadn’t grabbed her by the arm and held her up steady. “Sorry!”

She shuffled back behind her two friends and let them talk to Hotch and Gideon.

“We know what the book is,” Spencer explained. “The Collector by John Fowles.”

“You sure?” Gideon demanded. They were both clearly on edge. Hotch had his arms crossed which didn’t look comfortable in his suit and Gideon was punchy. She didn’t fail to notice the way he and Garcia avoided each other's gazes, Garcia more than him. He was still pissed at her and she was probably thoroughly embarrassed. And hopefully, a little pissed too, because Lydia believed he’d been way too harsh on her.

“Not absolutely. Not until we see if the code works, but Lydia’s called four separate libraries to search for the 1963 edition published in Great Britain.”

“Well done,” Hotch complimented the group, tiredly.

“Agent Gideon,” a woman called, approaching the group of them, “there’s a call for you on line two. Says it’s extremely urgent.”

“Is there a name?” he asked.

“Sort of. He calls himself the Fisher King.”

Lydia groaned before she could stop herself. Everyone raised an eyebrow at her.

“Sorry. The Fisher King is the one who guards the Grail. You know, the one that ‘Sir Percival’, over there is supposed to find.” She pointed at Reid, who was grabbing the notepad the woman had in her hands.

“This could be the unsub, guys,” he confirmed. “‘Sir Kneighf’ is an anagram for Fisher King.”

“The Fisher King is at the end of all Grail quests,” Gideon agreed.

They rushed to the bullpen, all crowding around a nearby phone.

“Line two trapped and traced,” Hotch demanded of one of the nearby agents and Gideon put it on speaker.

“Gideon.”

“What I had to do was not my fault,” the unsub replied, his harsh voice unmistakable.

“Excuse me?”

“It was distasteful and barbaric.”

“Who is this?”

“No one else had to be hurt.”

“Call yourself ‘The Fisher King’?” He was trying to throw the unsub off his rhythm. Gideon had been training her to speak to hostile people and profile what responses to give them, so she followed along his game.

This guy had clearly planned what he wanted to say and expected them to shut up and listen. If Gideon made him interrupt the strict script in his mind, he might slip up and give information he didn’t want to or forget his point.

“I told you there were rules.”

“I’m actually more interested in exactly how you got all those burns.” Different tactic. Make the unsub think we’re closer to catching him than he thinks.

“Remember this next time you decide to step outside my instructions,” he warned. “Agent Greenaway did not have to die like that.”

The phone buzzed as he hung up the call.

~ ~ ~

After many attempts at calling Elle, Hotch got ahold of Agent Anderson, who was in charge of taking her home. Anderson explained that Elle had been shot and the ambulance was on its way to a nearby hospital. And then, he and Gideon were off, leaving Lydia, Spencer, and Garcia to work on piecing together this mystery.

“Mrs. Valez, are you there?” Reid asked, putting the librarian who’d just called them back on speaker phone.

“Yes, Dr. Reid. I am. I have a first edition of The Collector, published in Great Britain in 1963.”

“Wonderful.” As they spoke Garcia cleared off room on the whiteboard to copy down the code. “Mrs. Valez, I’m going to read you a set of three numbers. The first is going to be a page number, the second a line number on that page, and the third, a word number in that line. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“All right, the first is page 222.”

“Page 222, got it.”

“Line 23.”

“Line 23. Got it.”

“What is the 16th work on that line, Ms. Valez?”

“The.”

“The,” he repeated. “Great.”

Garcia wrote it up on the board and Lydia suddenly very much regretted not going along with Gideon and Hotch. But just in time to save the day, her phone started going off with a call from the unit chief.

She dismissed herself quickly and stepped outside to answer.

“How’s Elle?” she asked, figuring greetings could be dismissed for the time being.

“She’s in surgery. Ambers, I need you to go to her house and look for any evidence you can find. And if you can, I need you to tell me what exactly happened when she got home. Anderson will meet you there.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll get back to you when I have something.”

She quietly signalled to Reid that she was leaving before grabbing her FBI windbreaker and latex gloves and running off to the elevator. She hadn’t taken a company SUV since her first case (after which she learned she wasn’t supposed to be driving them on her own because she wasn’t supposed to be unsupervised while working), but she figured that, if caught, she would be forgiven, given the circumstances.

The street was littered with cop cars by the time she got there and it took a minute for them to recognize the car and jacket she was wearing and let her through. Once she had parked, she ran across the front lawn and inside, looking for Anderson. Right now, the only reason she hadn’t been thrown off the scene was her jacket and until Anderson arrived with his badge and the orders to clear the place, she was at the local PD’s mercy.

“Excuse me, miss,” a man called to her as she walked into the living room. She shut her eyes tightly. Damn it.

“Hi. My name’s Lydia-”

“Ambers,” Anderson greeted her, stepping past the cops to speak to her. “CSU’s on the way, but Hotch wanted you to survey the scene before they processed it.” He turned back to the officer she was just speaking to. “Hello again, Detective Markes. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask your team to leave, as you’re currently on a crime scene under federal jurisdiction.”

As he went on to argue with the detective, Lydia flipped around to make her initial determinations. Elle had lost a lot of blood. Lydia could assume she’d been shot in the abdomen, because it was the only area of the body where she could survive long enough to get to the hospital and into surgery while she was losing blood at that rate. Elle had a comforted seat built into an indent in the wall where the blood trail started.

The coffee table was awkwardly placed in the center of the room, so the paramedics probably moved it to get to her. And from the marks on the carpet, it looks like they had to drag her body onto its back in order to perform CPR. Then, there was the looming note on her wall in blood: RULES.

“Can I do anything to help?” Anderson asked. When Lydia looked up at him, it was clear to her that he’d been crying. His eyes were rimmed with red and his voice was shaky.

“Did the police tell you what happened?”

He nodded, rubbing his forehead tiredly. “There is evidence of forced entry on the back door. The unsub probably broke in and waited for her to get home before he shot her. She dialed 911 herself before she passed out. And her badge and gun are nowhere to be found.”

“She dialed 911 before she passed out?!” Lydia exclaimed. “Unless the unsub let her… but no, he thought she was dead. He was in the room with her and wrote in her-” Lydia took in a deep breath and started to put her gloves on. “Try something with me, Anderson.”

~ ~ ~

“What did you find?”

“CSU lifted a partial print from the unsub’s message,” Lydia told Hotch, driving back to Quantico.

“What message?”

“Rules,” she responded. “This is about the press conference.”

He sighed. “Did they get anything from the print?”

“They aren’t sure if it will be enough, but they’re running it through their systems now.”

“Good. And what did you find?”

Lydia’s breath hitched. “Me?”

“I asked you if you could figure out what happened. How did the unsub get the upper hand and shoot Elle?”

Lydia glanced at her phone, which was on speaker beside her, as if Hotch would be there looking sternly back.

“Here’s my theory,” she began. “We know he broke in through the back door and waited in the house. If he was in the dining room, he would have been able to hear her set her stuff down and lie on the couch. Now with her eyes closed, he’s able to walk into the room and aim a gun at her before she can react. At some point, Elle makes a move off the couch and he shoots her. The blood pattern indicates she was falling when she got hit. That makes me think her gun was on the table across from her. But anyway, she’s shot and is lying on her side, between the seat and the table. Elle has got to have an insanely high pain tolerance, because she was still conscious when he wrote on the walls in her blood. But somehow, she had him convinced she had died when he left. Then, she calls 911 and passes out.”

“Good work, Lydia. When all this is over, we need to talk.”

Her phone beeped to indicate he had hung up and it took everything in her not to pull over and call him back immediately.

A talk? What the hell did that mean?

~ ~ ~

When Lydia finally made her way back to the bullpen, she was exhausted. So, it was a bit of a relief to see Spencer there at his desk, simply toying with a pencil between his fingers.

“Did you go to Elle’s house?” he asked, softly, as she took off her jacket and placed it on her desk.

“Yeah… It’s a crime scene.”

He nodded, understanding what she meant. It was bloody.

“How did the book code go? Did it work?” she inquired.

“‘The path to the end began at his start to find her first calm her long broken heart’,” he recited. “‘She sits in a window with secrets from her knight. Is it adventure that keeps him out of her sight?’”

“Any clue what it means?”

Reid opened his mouth to explain, but Garcia approached and started talking to him. “She’s okay,” she said, sitting on the edge of his desk. “Your mom. Agents picked her up.”

“Your mom?” Lydia startled. “What happened?”

The panic in Garcia’s eyes was evident. “Lydia! Sorry, I didn’t even realize you were back yet.” Her eyes darted between the two of them. “I’ll… I’m gonna go now.”

“No, no, no!” she assured her. “It’s fine. If this is private, I can leave.”

“It’s not private.” Spencer looked slightly amused by the anxiety both girls felt, but it didn’t last long. “It’s… pertinent to the case.”

“Is everything okay?” Lydia asked him, standing up next to Garcia at his desk, so that the conversation didn’t drift around the room.

“She’s flying here right now,” Garcia explained, and Reid nodded, looking down at an evidence bag.

It was the poem they’d found in the music box. The valentine’s one that he’d said his mom read him.

“I forgot she used to always read me this poem.” He sighed. “It’s funny, huh?”

“Funny?” Garcia asked.

“I should have realized this sooner,” he admitted. “I mean, nobody knows things like the fact that JJ collects butterflies except for me. People tell me their secrets all the time. I think it’s ‘cause they know I don’t have anyone to betray them to… except my mother. I- I tell her pretty much everything.”

“I don’t think anyone would mind,” she grinned.

“Do you know that I write her a letter everyday?” he continued.

Garcia’s eyes watered slightly, but her smile didn’t let up. “That’s nice.”

“It depends on why I write her.” His eyebrow furrowed. His demeanor had changed considerably and Lydia started to piece together what she had missed.

This unsub had gotten all this info on them from his mom. Maybe he’d been stealing her letters or just talking to her, but he knew her and that’s why Reid was bringing her to Quantico.

“What do you mean?” Garcia asked.

“I write her letters so I won’t feel so guilty about not visiting her.”

The girls exchanged a look. Reid had just been in Las Vegas. He said he was going home. So, why was he claiming he didn’t visit her?

“Did you know that schizophrenia is genetically passed?” he asked, randomly.

At least, she thought it was random. Until Garcia gasped under her breath. She excused herself quickly, leaving Lydia with the fidgeting doctor.

“Spencer, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” she spoke up. She kept her voice low and her town concerned, undemanding.

He was clearly on edge. He wouldn’t look up at her, eyes focused on the poem in his hands. “‘The path to the end begins at his start’... I’m the ‘him’. And my start is my mom. So, she’s the key to lead us to the Grail. ‘She sits in a window with secrets from her knight’. The doctors tell me my mother loves to sit by the window and read my letters.” He dropped the bag suddenly and clasped his hands together. “Lydia, my mom is a paranoid schizophrenic who lives in a mental hospital.”

His knuckles started turning white and the muscles in his arms shifted under pressure. He was getting tense. Lydia knew exactly what he was doing. Normally, when she felt her anger manifest itself physically, she would excuse herself to blow off steam, but something told her Reid wasn’t about to find an empty hallway and start punching the walls.

But even with that knowledge, she never would have consciously done what she did to calm him. Her impulses took over and one of her hands reached out and settled itself on top of his fists. She bent down slightly, not forcing herself into his line of sight, but making it easier for him to turn to her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “That must be hard on you… does the rest of the team know?”

He shook his head, turning one of his palms over to hold onto her fingers. Lydia’s heart sped up, but she swallowed down her feelings. He was looking for comfort, not a relationship. Besides, they weren’t even holding hands, really. He was just grazing his thumbs over her knuckles.

“Lydia,” he began, finally meeting her gaze. “Earlier you left because Hotch brought up your mom…”

Here it comes. She braced herself for the inevitable question.

“...and when you came back, you had bruised knuckles.”

She almost choked on her own saliva. He wasn’t going to ask about her mom? And how had he even noticed that?

Awkwardly, she slipped her fingers out of his grasp. “I wasn’t hitting anything alive, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she informed him, suddenly closing off again. “I just had to let off some steam.”

“Lydia, I wasn’t insinuating anything-”

“It’s fine, Spencer,” she replied, far too quickly. “If you need any help with anything before your mom gets here, let me know. And if I get any updates from Hotch or Gideon, I’ll tell you.”

He spun his chair around in an attempt to stop her, but she was already leaving, trying to look dignified as she walked into the conference room. She didn’t want to make him feel guilty when he was already dreading his mom’s arrival, but she couldn’t have that conversation when there was work to do.

It wasn’t until she was staring at the evidence boards that she realized, there really wasn’t any work to do.

What was she running from?

~ ~ ~

After hours of pacing and repeating the clues the unsub had given them outloud, Lydia had ended up back at her desk, absolutely drained. She pushed everything aside and lay her head down. She’d just been… off today.

She felt so guilty about abandoning Spencer. He needed more help than she did. His mother was involved in a murder case and probably wasn’t stable enough to look out for herself. And Lydia was just wallowing in her past.

She had no right to do that to him.

So, what was it? As far as she knew, Spencer didn’t even know her mom was dead. He had no idea what the mention of her mother could do to her. He wasn’t pressuring her to tell him about it. And even more so, she’d never struggled to tell anyone her mother was dead before. Her first day in Quantico, she told Gideon and Garcia.

Lydia rarely talked about the cause of her mom’s death. If that’s what the team needed to know, then she could forgive herself for being on edge, but they didn’t. No one had asked her to say out loud how her mother had died. And if they did need to know, Hotch, Gideon, or Garcia could probably tell them. Her mother’s death was definitely in Garcia’s files.

What is it? She asked herself. What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you just-?

“Lydia!” Garcia cried. Her head shot up to watch the blonde woman running by, making a beeline for the conference room.

She ran after her, just catching up as she opened the door and grabbed the attention of Spencer and an older woman with a pixie cut.

“Reid, I got to the end of the IP string,” Garcia started, barely even noticing the other presence in the room. “Sir Kneighf? The Fisher King? His name is Randal Garner. He’s Rebecca Bryant’s biological father.”

~ ~ ~

Once the air in the room had settled, Spencer introduced the other woman as his mother, Diana Reid, before quickly distracting them with work. Lydia sensed that he didn’t want his mother to be a part of the conversation.

Lydia stepped aside to call Hotch, listening to their conversation as she explained to him what they’d found.

“Our file says that Rebecca’s father’s name is Joseph Bryant,” Spencer argued. “Who’s Randal Garner?”

“Rebecca’s mother and brothers died in a fire when she was four and her father was so badly burned that he couldn’t take care of her, so he gave up parental rights and she was adopted by the Bryants,” Garcia informed them.

“Okay,” Hotch responded over the phone, pulling her back to the conversation she was having. “I’ll tell Gideon and be there soon. Find out everything you can on this guy.”

“Doing that as we speak,” she replied, putting her phone back into her pocket.

“I can’t believe she’s real,” Diana mumbled.

The three of them trained their eyes on her.

“What do you mean?” Garcia asked.

“Whenever he talked about Rebecca, he never said she was his daughter.” She said all this directly to her son, her stance nervous, almost defensive. “He said all his children died in the fire. He spoke of a Rebecca, more in the abstract. I really thought she was a metaphor and not an actual human being. An ideal.”

“A grail,” Reid said, confirming her thoughts. This man honestly didn’t see her as his daughter anymore. His daughter had died. And this girl was a prize to be won. “He thinks he’s the Fisher King.”

“Who does?” Morgan asked, entering with JJ.

“Randal Garner, our unsub,” Spencer responded.

“He believes you’re all modern-day knights of the round table,” Diana explained, gesturing around the room.

Derek raised a hand and they could see his question about who this woman was coming a mile away.

“Uh, Derek Morgan, this is my mother, Diana Reid.” Spencer ran around the table to step between his colleague and his mom.

“This is your mother?” He pointed at the woman almost accusingly, but seeing Spencer’s tight smile, pulled back and said, “Ma’am it’s a… it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Finally, the last of their group stormed in, Hotch’s footsteps audible from across the bullpen. “So, where are we on finding this son of a bitch?” he demanded.

“Gideon?” Lydia inquired.

“Hospital.”

Everyone sat down around the table in time with one another.

“I rechecked all the clues,” Spencer began. “There’s nothing that points to an address.”

“The adoption records for Rebecca listed an address of the fire, so I made a call to Nevada, and it’s vacant. No one ever rebuilt,” JJ continued.

“Nevada?” Hotch scoffed. “So we don’t even know what state he’s in?”

“I’ll search the tax records,” Garcia offered. “See if he owns any property.”

“Excuse me,” Diana said, catching the attention of the team. She was leaning forward in her seat in the corner of the room.

“Mom, do you want to wait out-” Spencer started, trying to usher her out of the room, but She was already making a move towards Hotch.

“Just before the agents got me from the hospital,” she fumbled for something in her purse, “a man delivered this to me. It’s a photo of a house with an address on the back.”

She held it up for them to see the scrawl on the back of the card: 1024 Winston Dr., Shiloh, VA. 22485.

“Shiloh, Virginia?” Morgan muttered. “That’s only ten miles from here.”

She flipped over the photo. The house looked more like a castle, with multiple stories and barred windows. It was made with gray bricks and black roof tiles with a circular extension that looked like a tower.

The team filed out quickly, with the exception of Spencer, who was telling his mom to stay put until he got back.

Garcia ran back to her office and Lydia sat at her desk, still unable to go on raids with them.

Almost over, she told herself. This whole thing is almost over.

~ ~ ~

“We’re sending Rebecca to the hospital now and then we’ll be back,” Hotch informed her. “Any news from Gideon?”

“Elle just got out of surgery. Doctors say she’s gonna be fine.” It was already the next morning and Lydia couldn’t wait to go back to her apartment and sleep for the rest of the day. “Randal Garner?”

“Dead,” he responded and Lydia didn’t bother to ask how or why. “Why don’t you start clearing off those evidence boards?”

“Yes, sir.” She put her phone down and walked up to the round table room.

When she got inside, she startled to see someone else there. Spencer’s mom sat on the sofa underneath the window and was writing something in one of the journals she brought with her. She hadn’t seemed to notice Lydia walk in.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Reid,” Lydia started, politely, walking over to the evidence boards. “I forgot you were still here.”

After a second of silence, Lydia got to work, making piles of evidence, pictures, and all the pins they had used. She didn’t take the woman’s silence personally, knowing that schizophrenia could cause dissociation. She figured she’d leave her to her journaling for now.

As she was finishing up, however, the woman looked up at her, an eyebrow raised. “Is it time for lunch yet?” she inquired.

“What?” Lydia asked softly.

“I’m lecturing everyone on Tristan and Iseult,” she explained, scanning her journal suddenly like an analysis paper. “They’re all gathering in my room after lunch.”

Lydia was intrigued. Clearly, Diana was not in touch with reality and Lydia wasn’t sure how best to deal with it, but her curiosity won over her common sense.

She wanted to know who Tristan and Iseult were.

“I’m here to attend the lecture, ma’am.” She smiled and sat down on the floor, like a kindergartener.

“Let’s get started, then.” She went on to talk about the basis of the myth: Tristan was sent to bring Iseult back to his uncle, King Mark of Cornwell, with whom she was to marry. On their journey however, they consumed a love potion (whether or not they were aware had varied throughout history) and fell for one another. They were forced to have an affair behind Mark’s back, despite them both holding a lot of respect for the king, because the effects of the potion were too strong for them to ignore. When the king caught them, he sentenced them both to death, but Tristan escaped and saved Iseult and they ran off together. When King Mark finally found them again, Tristan agreed to give Iseult back to the king and flee Cornwell so long as neither of them would be harmed. And eventually, he found another young woman named Iseult and married her instead.

Diana was just beginning to explain how this compared the Arthurian legend and the love triangle between King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, and Guinevere, when Spencer walked in.

“Mom, we found her. Rebecca’s safe.” The two women turned their heads to the newcomer and Spencer flushed, seeing Lydia sitting quietly on the floor across from his mother. “Lydia! I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“Young man, we are in the middle of a lecture,” she reprimanded. “May I ask why you’ve so rudely interrupted us?”

Lydia covered her mouth to suppress a laugh and Spencer looked shocked by his mother’s scolding. “What?”

“I am giving a lecture on Tristan and Iseult,” she repeated, impatiently. “Are you here to attend or do you want to just keep standing there and gawking?”

He seemed to understand his mother’s headspace, but his confusion returned when he remembered Lydia. She gestured for him to sit with her, smugly, and turned back to Diana. “You can continue Mrs. Reid, he was just late.”

“Has he read any of the material?” she asked, suspiciously.

Lydia raised an eyebrow at Spencer, teasing him despite the fact that she definitely had not read whatever it was that Diana would have previously assigned.

His face was gentle, almost unsure, and slowly he sat down besides Lydia. “I’ve had them read to me.”

Lydia knew he was talking about his mother. He’d grown up listening to her read valentine’s poems and old mythology. It was honestly really touching and she wondered if she should leave them to have a moment together but couldn’t bring herself to get up.

“Wonderful,” Diana sighed. “That’s the best way, isn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am. By far.”

They sat there for a few more minutes, listening to her thoughts and analysis of different versions of the story. Lydia would glance over at him at times, checking to see if he was still smiling, which he always was. Sometimes he’d catch her in the act and they’d share a look of amusement before turning their focus back to their temporary teacher.

Unfortunately, it had to come to a sudden end when Hotch walked in.

“Ambers.” His tone was serious. “I was worried you’d left. I need to speak with you.”

Lydia could see Diana’s frustration at yet another interruption, so she quickly stood up.

“You’ll have to excuse me, Mrs. Reid,” she apologized, shuffling out behind her boss.

He nodded for her to follow him to his office. Was this about what he said earlier? They needed to have a talk?

She wondered if it was possibly the fact she took out an SUV again despite being informed not to after the last time. Or it could be about her harsh comments that morning towards Gideon and around Haley. Or even worse, about her mom and how she stormed away.

She sat across from him, waiting for his exasperated voice to come through, but it didn’t.

“Lydia, I think we need to have a discussion about your future,” he started, unexpectedly. “I created an internship into the team for you because we’ve never had the need for a forensics expert before, but for these past several months, you’ve been an incredible help. You’re knowledgeable in crime scene analysis, lab work, and, as you proved today, profiling. So, I’ve brought you here to tell you that I’ve discussed with Chief Strauss the possibility of giving you a full-time job in the BAU and she has agreed to speak with you and myself about creating you a position as a government contractor. You can’t apply to be an agent until you’re 23, but I want to be able to lift the restrictions on you and have your help on the cases I see as necessary. If Strauss likes you, you’ll be allowed to make calls for yourself, carry a badge, take the gun qualifications tests, and work without agent supervision, which if she asks, you haven’t been doing already. Would you be interested in such a position?”

She blinked, completely floored by the offer. “Agent Hotchner, I… wait, ‘proved today’?”

It was not what she wanted to say in the moment, but it had thrown her off slightly.

“Today, you walked onto a crime scene and told me an hour later exactly what had happened. You could identify when and from where the unsub entered the room, how Elle was positioned when she got shot, and what happened between then and her call to 911. Yes, I asked you to go there as a scientist and to look for evidence, but when I asked what you thought had happened, you became a profiler and you’re clearly fit to join the team. Again, you becoming a profiler is something we can discuss but not act on for another year, so hopefully contracted work is okay with you.”

“Okay with me?” she laughed. “That sounds amazing. So, just like I’ve been doing in the past, I’ll only be called in when you want me on a case and not for any office work?”

He nodded. “This is dependent on Strauss’s approval, but yes, that’s what we discussed.”

Lydia grinned. “So, how does one get Strauss’s approval?”

~ ~ ~

Lydia didn’t get back to her apartment until around 6 AM and promptly slept for most of the day. She was startled awake by her ringtone in the early afternoon and prepared herself for Hotch to ask her to come back in, but it wasn’t him. Interestingly enough, it was Spencer whose name popped up on her screen.

“Hello?” she answered, sitting back against her headboard.

“Hey, Lydia. Sorry, I’m sure you’re still exhausted after everything. I would have waited a few days to call you, but if I don’t do this now, I’m not sure I ever will.”

Her eyebrows knit together. “Is everything alright, Spencer? Did you make it to Las Vegas okay?”

By the time she’d finished talking with Hotch, Spencer had left with his mom and she’d heard that he was planning to fly with her back to the sanitarium, because she had a fear of planes. After everything, she expected him to stay with his mother for a few days, so she hadn’t thought she’d be hearing from him anytime soon.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’ll be back in DC tomorrow. But I have something to admit to you. I didn’t realize this earlier, but I know why Randal Garner sent you what he did.”

Lydia’s breath hitched. “What do you mean? Have you… did Garcia tell you?”

How did he know? Maybe he’d just guessed with the whole scene she made about the bupropion. Garcia had told her that she wouldn’t spill any of her secrets. But would Hotch or Gideon tell him what happened to her mom?

“What? Garcia didn’t tell me anything. I think you should wait for me to explain, so that you don’t accidentally tell me something you don’t want me to know.” His tone was joking, but there was a wavering nervousness that she could hear over the line. “Lydia, when you worked that poisoning case… on the jet back the whole rest of the team was asleep and you had a conversation with Hotch. You said that seeing an orange prescription bottle made you angry because it reminded you of your mother… I overheard that.”

She waited a minute for him to go on. She thought for certain he was going to say he’d figured her whole past out. He was going to tell her that he’d profiled her fidgets and glances and found out every last detail of her mom’s death, but he didn’t. That was all.

“That’s okay, Spencer,” she reassured him. “It wasn’t… I’m not keeping secrets from the team, I just don’t really like to talk about it.”

She faintly heard him huff, frustratedly. “No, I mean, the unsub got all this information on us from my mom. From all the stuff I’d tell her about my team… I told her about you,” he admitted. “I told her about how I’d overheard that conversation and I’m so sorry that you had to go through all this because of me.”

Lydia’s fingers ghosted lightly over her face as she processed this and shut her eyes tightly. It didn’t bother her as much as she’d thought it would, in fact, she didn’t seem to mind at all. The only thing on her mind when he said that was her stupid crush and the fact that he’d been writing to his mom about her.

She shook it aside. He talked about the whole team. It wasn’t a big thing. But… the unsub had, in his fantasy, assigned them two characters who were in love…

“I really appreciate the thought Spencer, but this isn’t your fault. I never said anything to Hotch about the bupropion, so you couldn’t have known about that. The unsub probably just did some research on me or looked through my files. Even if he chose the bottle because of your letters, he had everything else to torment me. Please don’t put this on yourself or your mom.”

He hesitated. “Are you sure you don’t hate me?”

“I can change my mind if you’d prefer,” she laughed.

He joined her for a moment, but fell silent far too fast. Lydia suddenly racked her brain for whatever she’d done to cause him to freeze, but hadn’t come up with anything before he spoke up again.

“Hey, Lydia? When I get back to DC, do you, uh… want to get something to eat?”

Lydia’s heart stopped. She wasn’t a profiler and definitely not an expert on asking people out, but she wasn’t about to let this crush rot in her brain. These past few days were torture enough. “You mean, like a date?” she prompted.

Bad move on her part. He flipped suddenly trying to deny it and she had to interrupt him before he hung up on her in mortification. He was so flustered she wasn’t even sure he was speaking English.

“Spencer. Spencer!”

He tried to mumble a quick apology, but she wasn’t about to let him close off just like that.

“Spencer, I’m not going to get food with you unless it’s a date. I don’t play mind games like that.”

“You wha- So, you’d like to- I’m sorry, it’s just… Mind games?” he finally spit out.

He was a funny one. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen so quickly for some dork. When she was a kid and all the other girls would ask her ‘What do you want your future boyfriend to be like?’ she never recalled saying, ‘A real mess. Just a true goof.’

“Yes, Spencer,” she responded. “Mind games. Getting food together could easily be misinterpreted as a date and I want to go on a date with you. But if we’re going to do that, we need to both be on the same page about it. If we go get something to eat, will it be a date or are you just suggesting it to be nice?”

“I would like that. I mean, yeah… it’d be a date. If you want! I don’t wanna pressure you or- are you sure that a date is-”

“I’m still fairly new to the Virginia-DC area,” Lydia interrupted, knowing that if he wasn’t able to form a complete sentence, he’d just keep starting new ones. “Is there anywhere in particular you want to go?”

“Um… well, what do you like?”

A grin graced her face, glad to hear him finally calming down. “I’m sure whatever you like I’ll enjoy as well.”

This was it. She’d scored herself a date with the bumbling boy genius.

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peterstanslizzie · 4 years

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Reacting To: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Season 2 Episode 10)

Episode Title: Heroes on Fire

Spoiler Warning: Kindly proceed if you’ve already seen the episode or are able to handle spoilers.

*Apologies for the tardiness. I meant to post this a few days ago but I was busy sorting out other things. Hope you understand 😊

1. 2 days earlier? I didn’t think we’d get another flashback lol. We go back to the moment where Kipo managed to find her mom (Song, the Mega Monkey) tied to a giant tree. We already saw this but what we didn’t see was the fact that Mulholland was inside the water she fed to her mom. I’m guessing Mulholland will try to reach into Song’s inner thoughts?

2. Mulholland gets inside her brain and creates a vision for Song, where he introduces himself to her. He then tells her that he freed her from her mind control and will continue to help her stay that way. That’s a really smart plan; I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Song asks Mulholland to tell Kipo that she loves her. OMG, why am I about to cry this early on? Also, it’s a nice little touch for the writers to make it so that Song is struggling to speak since she hasn’t done that in 13 years.

3. Back to the present and the predicament at hand; Scarlemagne has already started to spray the humans with his pheromones all throughout the stadium. We also see the Timbercats plus Troy, Asher (who is just confirmed to be non-binary btw) and Dahlia hiding themselves in their oh so fluffy tails. Troy spots his dad, Roberto in the crowd. Wait, why is Roberto there? Shouldn’t he be back at Dr. Emilia’s hideout? Am I missing something?

4. Oh! It’s been a trick all along. DUH! It makes sense because Kipo had poured Mulholland into Scarlemagne’s vat of pheromone and that’s the reason why all the humans aren’t being mind-controlled at the moment. Song proceeds to flick Scarlemagne away (literally) and she then breaks off a dome so that everyone can get on it to escape.

5. Kipo asks Mulholland to get inside Lio to snap him out of his mind-control but before he goes in, he tells Kipo that he doesn’t think he’s able to get her out of her Mega Monkey form since she’s been that way for a long time. I think Song needs her own anchor. Eventually, Scarlemagne gets up and orders his primate nobles to attack Song and stop the humans from escaping.

6. Benson, Wolf and Dave are fighting off Lemieux, Gerard and another noble that looks like Lemieux (what’s his/her name anyways?). Wolf is handicapped since she doesn’t have Stalky with her and Dave isn’t fairing well either. Where’s Benson? Oh right, he’s grabbed by Lemieux’s flamingo. Lucky for him; Dave molts into his super strong form and defeats both Lemieux 2.0 and Gerard.

7. As Benson is about to be dropped into the gold fountain, Dave rescues him by delivering a solid punch to Lemieux’s face. Unfortunately, at the same time, Benson’s backpack was dropped into the fountain. He thinks that Song’s journal was inside the backpack but I swear I thought he left it back at Dr. Emilia’s HQ? Now they’re worried for Kipo since her anchor is gone supposedly.

8. We switch things over to Kipo and she’s fighting off Scarlemagne with her two jaguar paws. She was about to fully transform until Benson stops her and tells her he lost the journal. Am I crazy for thinking he didn’t put it in his backpack? Back to Song; she puts down the dome and all the humans exit from it. Mandu then shows them an entrance that would take them underground.

9. I find it strange how Kipo is having a hard time beating Scarlemagne. Is he that strong? I kinda figured she would be able to beat him even without fully transforming into a jaguar. Well, at least she won’t have to do it alone because Wolf, Benson and Dave arrive to help. But still, that isn’t enough because he’s still whipping their butts, even combined! Wow, he is really strong.

10. Troy, Asher and Dalia and the Timbercats notice the fight and they decide to help Kipo out. Well, that should help. But isn’t that like 30 against 1 lol? Wolf takes Scarlemagne’s crown and drops it into the fountain, angering him as a result. He then accuses Kipo of pretending to care about him and proceeds to break the lever that controls the gold fountain. Next thing we see is a huge rush of liquid gold flowing into the stadium. The Timbercats rush to help them.

11. Scarlemagne is flying away to make his escape but his flamingo’s wings get caught by a stream of the liquid gold and they both fall into the audience section of the stadium, causing Scarlemagne to hit his head and become unconscious.

12. Oh and our boy, Benson gets reunited with Troy again. Yayy! And the same song that was played when they first met last season is playing here once again. Benson is definitely a disaster gay; He couldn’t form proper sentences around him; How cute is that?!

13. Lio notices that Scarlemagne is lying on the staircase and he makes the decision to save him. It’s a good call in my opinion. However, the others mutes (that can’t fly) are stuck in the audience and they can’t escape the rising liquid gold. Kipo tells everyone that she has to fully transform so that she will be strong enough to knock a tree down to stop the liquid gold from rising further. Therefore, she is willing to risk losing herself to her Mega Jaguar form to save the mutes. I now have a feeling that the anchor is with Dr. Emilia. Let’s see if I’m right.

14. Despite everyone’s objection, Kipo proceeds to quickly transform and with the help of her mom, Song, both of them combine forces to try to push down the tree. However, the tree isn’t budging over. As she’s seeing the gold rising closer and closer to her friends and family, she somehow gathers enough willpower to uncover a new transformation and becomes an even stronger jaguar with 3 tails and 6 legs. Dang, that was sooo cool. And so, the both of them are able to push over the tree to stop the liquid gold in its tracks.

15. Kipo is trying to turn back into a human but she isn’t able too. Meanwhile, the humans bump into Dr. Emilia in the tunnel and she gives a speech about humans needing to rise up and mutes needing to be cured and be turned back into animals. I would be so disappointed if they decide to join her.

16. Lio assures Kipo that their relationship with her isn’t going to change despite her being a Mega Jaguar. Wolf then tries to remind Kipo of all the good things that she has done and how much she means to her. I’m getting teary y’all. And on top of that, Wolf starts to sing “Heroes on Fire” to Kipo and she’s then accompanied by Benson and Dave.

17. It does manage to get through to her somehow and we then see Kipo’s inner head-space, where she comes face to face with her own jaguar form but it starts to chase her. She then suddenly hears her friends singing and it reminds her of all the amazing moments they shared together in the past two seasons. And Wolf’s idea is a success because Kipo manages to transform back into human Kipo. OMG I’m crying so bad right now. What about Song though? *sniffs. Well, Kipo reassures her mom that if she can turn back, so will she.

18. We’re approaching the end! Yumyan happily agrees to let EVERYONE stay with the Timbercats back at his village and we also see Scarlemagne being taken away by them. Is he going to be imprisoned at the village? He seems like he was impressed by Kipo’s brave act to sacrifice herself for the mutes. I really hope he joins their side in season 3 (if there is one).

19. Troy reunites with his dad but Roberto tells everyone what went down with Dr. Emilia just now and I was right! She has the journal and she plans to use it to reverse all the mutations in the mutes. The season ends with Kipo announcing that she and everyone else are going to stop her.

20. Well, that’s the end of my episode to episode review of Season 2 of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. I must say; this season trumps the first season in my opinion. I absolutely love all the backstory we had gotten, especially regarding Kipo, Lio, Song and Scarlemagne. I also plan to make a couple of video essays about this particular season that will be posted to my YouTube channel (peterstanslizzie). So please check that out for when I have them ready for you to watch. Thank you all so much for reading my reviews. I absolutely can’t wait for a Season 3 to be announced. *Fingers crossed. I’m pretty confident it will get greenlit. Till next time; Bye!

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happymeishappylife · 4 years

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DC CW Shows

I finally caught up on all the DC Universe shows. Quite an accomplishment for me considering I was 2 seasons behind. It feels good to finally get caught up to speed, but some of them are starting to feel like chores getting through them, rather than fun entertainment. A concern that gets amplified by the fact that the producers want to add on 2 more shows to the line up. So I felt like it was a good idea to breakdown my thoughts on each of the shows and what I liked/didn’t like. Plus then I will break down my thoughts on Crisis, because I have a lot of them. I’ll also rank these as I go as far as which ones I liked best, beginning with least to best. So let’s begin:

#7 - The Flash

I used to love this show so much. The first two seasons were a lot of fun and I loved all the characters so much. Thanks to the writing though, I can’t honestly say I don’t like this show much at all anymore and that’s kinda sad. Part of the reason is it became soooo angsty. Like the reason The Flash was great, was it was the antithesis to the angst on Arrow which made it so refreshing to watch. Now it’s like everyone must suffer some sort of pain over the tiniest things or worse, they become entrapped in characters and situations like its been haunting them for years when it only got introduced a couple episodes ago. At this point the only characters I care about are Caitlyn/Frost, Joe and Cecile West, Wally (when he’s on, which is like never), and Ralph. And that’s painful that Hartley won’t be returning to fill that role anymore because he was the only one who still could joke and laugh around like old Team Flash.

Season 5: Overall season 5 had a pretty solid storyline despite some of the angsty writing. After a while though I got pretty sick of fighting Chicada over and over again, especially Grace’s version. My one big pet peeve with it though was the relationship of Nora to Barry and Iris. I’m sorry. I can’t honestly picture any 20-30 something meeting their adult daughter and automatically assuming the role of an actual parent and treating her like a preteen. That always felt super weird and uncomfortable. Not to mention it happened almost automatically with little to no hang ups on ‘is this really our kid? Should we trust her?’ Plus then it created angst between Barry and Iris which I’m really over at this point in the series because their relationship was never my favorite to begin with.

Season 6: A hot mess. Granted, because of Crisis and Covid-19, the season probably didn’t get a fair chance to play out to it’s full potential. But cutting the season into two arcs didn’t do it any justice. Especially because instead of having character growth, I felt like a lot of the characters regressed. Take Barry for instance. The whole first part of the season is him prepping/training the team to take over for him after Crisis since he believes he is going to die. Only when he doesn’t, he assumes the role of leader still without actually leading. He stops telling his team members key details and putting aside the fact he killed the speed force, he stopped being a hero. The whole fight scene with Mirror-Iris, was so bizarre to watch. Yes, Barry would never hurt the real Iris, but she’s not and instead he just stands there and gets stabbed over and over, crying at the end that she’s not there. It’s really hard to watch.

#6 - Arrow

Arrow used to be in my top 3 slots as last I left it. The storylines were still on point. But leading up to Crisis and the show ending, there were some things that worked for me and some that didn’t. Still, kudos to the team for standing their ground and saying that we’ve told all we can tell, let’s put this show to bed and give it a close it deserves. It made the ending super emotional, but at the same time satisfying despite, Oliver’s death in the universe. My only complaint is the fact that the producers can’t put it fully to bed and now want to reboot Arrow all over again with Mia and the canaries. Don’t get me wrong watching strong women take more of the leading roles is awesome, but not to tell and retell the same storylines.

Season 7: The first half of the season when Oliver was in Iron Heights was not my favorite. Mainly because as it continues to develop it was like all the reasons he got put in Iron Heights to begin with no longer mattered. Diaz is still on the lose, he’s still playing his games in prison, and really what was the point? Now the second half of the season where we focus on his rehabilitation into society and working with the SCPD to track and take down his sister Emiko, was actually good. Too bad it got horribly overshadowed by a time travel flash-forward storyline to introduce and make us care about Mia.

Season 8: Obviously this season was the closeout season and the season leading up to Crisis. But I liked the way they treated it. They gave cameo spots and guest starring spots to former faces like Thea (she’s still freaking awesome), Tommy, Moira, and even Merlyn came back. My only complaint was that all of sudden we did have another time travel situation on our hands to meet our future kids. Thankfully I felt Arrow overall took that development better than the Flash, which since that was only a couple episodes and not a season, says something about the writing. Plus the post-Crisis pilot for the Green Arrow and Canaries felt a little out of place given everything that happened and a little insulting.

#5 - Supergirl

There’s parts of Supergirl I still absolutely love to pieces and the writing that are still doing it the justice that started the show by telling storylines of not only heroism, but commentary on today’s events to help push for progress. I love the whole cast of characters and think the acting has been great. My only complaint is with Season 5 and the fact that the show is beginning to find its tipping point of being less than stellar. I mean, I still enjoy it, but it’s beginning to show its where and tear so I’m worried what’s going to happen as it continues forward. Especially as it gets hyperfixated on Lex Luthor, who don’t get me wrong is a fabulous villain, but isn’t that Superman’s arch nemesis, not Supergirl’s?

Season 4: What a great commentary to tell throughout the season that parallels the feelings and conversations being had about immigration in our own world. I thought the idea of the Alien Amnesty Act squaring off against Ben Lockwood and his Agents of Liberty was not only great commentary but great story telling. I also loved that we got to introduce Nia Nall into the series because she’s fantastic and has become one of my favorite characters. I even love the twist reveal of how Ben Lockwood isn’t the enemy, it’s really Lex Luthor and his communist Supergirl clone. Plus Jon Crier plays an amazing Lex Luthor.

Season 5: Don’t get me wrong, the stakes and the storylines with Leviathan and Obsidian North, I do think are important and worth telling, but they detracted from the main storyline that developed at the end of last season which was Lena and Kara’s new relationship. Yes, it was still hit on and explored, but by far that was the storyline I was interested in seeing the most, not Ramah Khan or Virtual Reality horror stories. Also, while I like Lex, thanks to his antics during Crisis, the second half of the season felt hijacked and became this witch hunt. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to see what he and Lillian are doing, but I wish it played out more in the shadows and less of the actual screen time. I’m also glad Lena is back on Kara’s side again. But Brainy better not be dead! He’s one of my favorites even if his motives during this season were hard to watch.

#4 - Batwoman

I actually really, really, really liked Batwoman’s first season. Getting to know the badass that is Kate Kane and watch the horror’s of Gotham play out week to week was such a refreshing change of pace. After all, The Flash and Supergirl are undeniably heroes and must carry those burdens(?) as they fight for truth and justice. And Oliver was a vigilante, but while he took down drug lords, weapons dealers, etc. the stakes of being a vigilante in Star City is nothing compared to wearing the cape in Gotham. I loved the cast and seeing the stories play out of their past and how they connect to each other and also how some of them discover who Batwoman is, was fantastic. Even as creepy as Alice is, I enjoyed seeing the performance of the completely unhinged and psychotic villain take the stage to play out her twisted fantasies. I also appreciate the openness that Kate brought to being an out and proud lesbian, even revealing her super identity to a teenager to prove that it does get better and lesbians can be awesome is super freaking powerful. I even like that with the shortened season, it didn’t feel like we got robbed of an awesome storyline, but now we get to why this ranks fourth on my list instead of higher: Ruby Rose left the show and we get a whole new Batwoman. I get that this is out of the hands of the producers and the writers and I am super sad to see her go. But its hard not to feel like we lost a whole season of introduction and development to just reset and begin again. I’m not sure how they will handle it, but I do hope that a lot of the cast stays and stays in their roles. Especially Luke and Mary who are a great team. Mary is also like my all time, instant-favorite character because not only is she super wicked smart, but she has so much humanity in her so I hope she still continues on the show.

#3 - Stargirl

Yes, yes, this show is still airing which is why I can’t speak to the overall season arc in finality yet, but I absolutely have been loving this first season. Again, what a refreshing new reality to step into and what a great new storyline to pursue. This rag-tag group of teenagers becoming the new Justice Society of America is a fun telling and already, the stakes of the Injustice Society are so high! Like I was expecting that it was going to be like the other shows where slowly by slowly we meet all the bad guys in different seasons, but instead it feels a little flipped since we don’t have all our new heroes on the stage yet. Still I love Courtney and her relationship with Pat as she discovers these secrets of his past and their new home of Blue Valley. I love her recruiting reasoning to bring Yolanda and Rick into this crazy plan and even her acceptance of Beth becoming the new Doctor Midnight. Plus, the show keeps surprising me because on one hand, giving these teenagers these powers to help them redeem their self esteem is a great storyline, which is why I was expecting them to force us to like Cindy since the beginning of that episode was leading up to maybe becoming friends with her, but no. Turns out she is the super bitch and super villain of the show and that’s kinda awesome. Also I like how because their teenagers, their secret identities aren’t really that secret, which makes it’s kinda fun, but also dangerous. We’ll see how the last 3 episodes play out, but I can’t wait.

#2 - Black Lightening

Talk about real gritty, dark, and powerful storytelling. I enjoyed the first season, but these last two have been a real punch in the gut in good ways and the writers have been outdoing themselves to provide heartfelt, real, honest emotions and discussions to the world of superheroes, compared to the other shows. And it’s hard, but the gruesome nature of the show also highlights some of the real struggles going on in the Freeland Community which of course highlights the issues in our own world around the Black Community. The whole spinal chord ripping scene will haunt me forever and not only because they keep replaying it, but because of how insane that was. The cast is also great and I love that at the end of Season 3, it’s not just a family of super heroes, but a group of powerful metas squaring off against the government and the most dangerous threat of all so far: Gravedigger. Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.

Season 2: Now that the whole family knows the stakes of what they have gotten themselves into with Tobias and revealing the girls have power, I love the way we got introduced to the ASA and the pod kids as a menial threat while still struggling to take down the perceived ‘bigger threat’ that is Tobias. Jennifer also having trouble coming to terms with her powers and how to use them I think was a great way to explore that not everyone wants to be a superhero, especially in antithesis to Nyssa who is a full on badass as Thunder and Blackbird. Watching Khalil’s story in this go from obedient lap dog to a runaway and finally a victim of Tobias’ violence was hard, but I felt was justified throughout and made him that character you want to root for, even when not everything he’s done has been great.

Season 3: What a harsh turn of direction. A full on occupation of Freeland, house arrest, killings on the street, and an underground railroad of metas or suspected metas completely changed the tune of this show. Watching each of the Peirces struggle to find out who the ASA is, what their doing, if their actions are justified and if the Marcovian threat was real was really fascinating to watch. The showdown with the Marcovians too with a whole team behind them was also a nice change of pace, even if their mission didn’t end the way they expected. I think the amplified stakes though of what happened and what’s to come will continue to develop into an incredible show, minus one now big problem I have, but I will detail that out below when we talk about Crisis.

#1 - Legends of Tomorrow

You can fight me, but Legends of Tomorrow is the best goddamn shown on this network for one simple fact: They don’t take themselves seriously. There is no real angst and because of that it makes the adventures so fun and so hilarious that its such a great break from all of the other shows. Plus, because they keep swapping new and old cast members into the show, it always feels new. Kinda that Doctor Who spirit, which I love. That and because there are hardly any rules to a time travelling group of heroes who don’t really want to be heroes, you get ridiculously themed episodes like Bollywood Musical or TV Crossovers. It is what makes the show a total blast.

Season 4: As the team gears up to track down magical creatures throughout history, you get the introduction of permanent team member, John Constantine who I freaking love for his cool, aloof character and yet sarcastic and sassy contrast to the sunshine and bro-squad that is Ray and Nate. I also love that the season not only was about capturing these magical creatures, but fully rehabilitating Norah Dhark into a good guy now accidentally turned fairy godmother. To be honest, I definitely did not see that one coming. I like that fighting the demon lord also helped transition the show from Season 4 to 5 to fight hell spawn creatures. Quite a leap from the original Legends concept, but again that’s what makes this show so fresh.

Season 5: Part of the other fun of Legends is getting to see old characters get reinvented. I loved the storyline with Charlie and her reveal to be Clothos, one of the 3 fate sisters and the reason the ancient loom got destroyed. I also loved Tala Ashe’s portrayal of Zari in a different timeline because the difference between tech-geek, super smart Zari and social influencer extraordinaire Zari were well done. Plus we got another awesome bro-squad member in Behrad who I hope sticks around for a while. The only bummer was saying goodbye to Ray Palmer. Ray has been one of my favorite characters in the Arrow-verse and seeing his exit was sad and partly because I think it could have been handled better. Like don’t get me wrong, seeing him have to get approval from Damian Dhark to marry Nora was entertaining and I’m glad he isn’t dead like Dr. Stein or Leonard Snart, but I just feel like the exit was a bit rushed. The good news is, it opens the door for Ray to return and I hope we get to seem in the future.

Alright...... To end this long spiel, let’s talk about Crisis on Infinite Earths and what that now means for all these shows. Because unfortunately.... it can’t be ignored. And I’m sorry to sound pessimistic, but to be honest, Crisis wasn’t my favorite story and was too hyped for the end result.

The only show who came out better for Crisis, in my opinion, was Arrow. Mainly because the story of Oliver’s last sacrifice to reboot the universe was the only one that made complete sense and doesn’t complicate the show after it happens. Granted it could be because it was used as the show’s exit, but still. I used to love crossover episodes and getting the whole team together, but now because there is soooo much going on in each show and such a large cast, these big multi-night and multi-universe shows just feel scattered because you are constantly hopping around and between each of the characters and all the individual storylines don’t matter. Like remember when Barry and Oliver would actually talk about what they were up against? Miss that. That and Oliver, Barry, and Kara stole the show even when it was other shows turn to shine. Like Kate was hardly in it, even in her own episode and the Legends weren’t in it at all. It was just Sara and Ray which was disappointing because as Crisis was their season opener, you missed a real chance to have the Legends save the day. Don’t get my wrong, there were some great moments during crisis and I liked the nod to past versions of the DC characters, including Brandon Routh getting to play Superman again, but overall it just made chaos for things that don’t make sense post-crisis.

Like yay, all our favorite heroes are in one place and created the justice league to help each other, but once Crisis is over, nope sorry, no one can be bothered to borrow a hero friend. Like that makes sense for some shows, Batwoman for instance isn’t that close to everyone and her storyline is so rooted in her own family drama, that ignoring the other supers made sense. The Flash’s stakes weren’t high enough to involve anyone else, so fine. And Legends of course travel through time and so aren’t around, fine. But Supergirl’s takedown of a longstanding secret group of people capable of bending Earth’s elements to create catastrophic events, isn’t enough to at least reach out to Cisco or Luke for help tracking them? That seems underwhelming. Plus where are the aliens in all the other cities now? Or the metas in National City? That’s a pet peeve, but more so because of the biggest twist in Crisis:

Pulling Black Lightening into the Arrowverse. Like the shows writers and producers, I think Black Lightening works better outside the Arrowverse which was the intent and goal from the get go. Pulling Jefferson Pierce’s family and world into the same Earth as all the other shows, no longer makes the shows storytelling as strong and maybe it was because this was a last minute decision, but there is just no justification post Crisis as to why they had to come in. I mean, The Flash and Black Lightening have metas related issues, you would think that alone would be a prime source of teaming up. Especially when Cisco goes out on a worldwide quest to document metas, you’re telling me skipped over Freeland? And where’s our favorite Kyrptonian to fight for truth, justice, and the American way as Freeland is being occupied by the ASA? Oh, what too busy going after Lex Luthor? Sorry, I’m not buying that Kara Danvers ignores racial injustice. Like I get that maybe it was a way to be able to use Black Lightening later in cross-over events, but the fallout from bringing them in this season with everything going on is a huge mistake in my opinion. And heck, having shows exist outside each other is probably a good thing. Too many and these crossover events don’t feel fun anymore, they just feel chaotic. I think I’m with the Legends on this one: the crossovers aren’t worth it anymore.

#cw dc universe #thoughts #reactions #legends of tomorrow #black lightening #stargirl #batwoman #supergirl #arrow #the flash #crisis on infinite earths

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evisamora · 5 years

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Since the trailer of She-Ra season 4 came out, I have a lot of questions and predictions about what will happen next.

1. I want to starts with Entrapta.

In the end of season 3, Catra send her on beast island. We don’t see her in the trailer, but she is still the in opening intro. so Entrapta is ALIVE. This is not a surprise for everyone, but I wanted to say it.

Entrapta will be on beast island and who do you think is on this island? Micah. I am at 210% Micah is there, and who send him there? Shadow Weaver. I wouldn’t be surprise that Shadow Weaver saved Michah’s life.

Anyway, we will learn about Entrapta and Micah during the mid-season and they will make a comeback at the end of the season.

I am so excited for this story because don’t get me wrong, but if there’s someone who can escape Beast Island it’s Entrapta, and she will have help of Micah. Plus Shadow Weaver said it, Entrapta is the only one who can combine Magic and Technology.

2. Mara

So, there’s a lot of theory about Mara and I think the one we all agree is that she is still alive.

The first theory is that she is in a dimension, like Angella, and she is stuck there.

Actually, I have difficulties with this one, since she has recorded the message after crashing and we heard people coming for her. Except is she opened the last portal where Hordak get Adora.

The other theory is that she is on beast island, which it can be interesting too and make a nice story with Entrapta and Micah.

Another theory is that Madam Razz is Mara in a costume, and she try in her best to train Adora and guide Adora. Which it could be really nice too.

One theory is that Mara is actually dead, and it was really a perfect world where Adora was not She-Ra. Since she struggles a lot being She-Ra and wish, in a way, to have control in her destiny.

Last theory about Mara is that she is kept by Light Hope in a prison, in the temple where Adora train.

I am pretty sure we will have more keys about Mara, but I wouldn’t be surprise that she will show herself only at the end of the season or at the beginning of the last season.

3. Glimmer

I think Glimmer will be one of the character the most interesting this season and everyone is excited to see it.

Glimmer will leave big change in her life and I the "dead" of Angella. She will feel alone and will push people away, mostly Adora and Bow.

The only person she will allow will be Shadow Weaver, and god no one wants to be close to her. *except me, spank me mama* Shadow Weaver will bring the idea of vengence in Glimmer’s head. I mean, she doesn’t need Shadow Weaver for that, but she won’t help either.

I think Glimmer will be in a depression, that we will call the "Dark side" and at some pount she will cross a line and bring her back in track.

The line she will cross?

I won’t be surprise she will try to hurt Catra and Adora will protect Catra, and Glimmer and Adora will have a huge fight about that. And this could happen mid-season or the end of season 4.

I won’t be surprise either that she will try to banish Entrapta and Bow will protect Entrapta and boom bug fight between these two.

Don’t get me wrong, but if glimmer is going to the dark side will learn the hard way and she will need to cross a line to know what she is doing it’s not ok.

I am really excited to see what will happen. Btw, her new design is so sexy.

4. Catra

Catra is sexier than never. Top me, top me, top me.

Catra will take over Hordak and we already saw it in the sneak peek. Which many of us preddicted.

Catra will love to be in control, but don’t get me wrong I feel she will hit the rock bottom soon more than never.

I feel like Scorpia will play a huge part in this, plus Double Trouble and Horde Prime.

We all know that the redemption arc is closer than never. Is it at the end of season 4? Is it at the beginning of season 5? Is she going to change camp at the end of the last season during the final battle?

Catra has so many possibilities and this is awesome. I really wish it will be end of season 4, where she will start to see what she is doing is bad, but I feel it won’t be.

Is Catra a princess? We know that now she has the same hair that we saw in season 1 episode 12 with Light Hope. BUT is she a magicat princess or it’s because she will be at the head of the Horde and being considered as a princess to fight against Horde Prime? That is really more and more interesting.

I would like to see Catra being captured by the Rebellion and seeing Scorpia with them and going crazy. Anyway, Catra will need a good kick in the ass, but more she gain power more we are close to see her fall and get her redemption fam.

5. Double Trouble

Our new nonbinary character is finally here and god I already love them.

Are they going to be a brat? Yes they will. Are they good or villain? That is an interesting question, since in the old She-Ra they are Glimmer’s cousin and work has a double agent. I wouldn’t be surprise that they are a double agent again but for Horde Prime this time. But we saw them in the Prom episode and I don’t think it was an accident. So they might be a double agent again, but Glimmer doesn’t even know they are.

Maybe they are a new Scorpia love interest? I would love to see that happen. Im sorry for Scortra fan, but in my opinion Scorpia deserves better and deserves someone who will love her as much as she loves.

This character will be really interesting, and I can’t wait to see them.

6. Scorpia

We already know that Scorpia will have an episode about her and I can’t wait to see her stand for herself and kick Catra’s ass.

God, I’ll be honest with you everyone, I am waiting for this moment since season 1. I love Scorpia and I think she will be a great leader. At the end, I want to see her at the head of the Horde and bring peace in this place.

I don’t know what will happen with Scorpia tbh. I feel like she will leave the Horde because Etheria will be more important than Catra happiness. I feel she will bring people with her too, like Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio and maybe Double Trouble will be the reason of it.

I think it will be a difficult journey for Scorpia but she will finaly find herself and being stronger than never.

If Scortra has to happen, I guess it will be at the very end, because a little like catradora, they need to separe themselve because Catra is in a toxic mode.

7. Bow

Tbh, I have no clue about Bow this season, but I am a little worried about him.

I would like to see him being less a people pleaser and stabd for himself too. NO ONE CARES BOW! BE YOURSELF, WE LOVE YOU THE WAY YOU ARE.

I feel that Glimmer and him will be really difficult this season, but they will find a way. I know they will.

But I feel like the fight about Glimmer wanting to hurt someone and Bow trying to convince her that they are the "good guys" will come back during the season.

I think he will be really important and I can’t wait to see the direction his character will take.

8. Adora

My favorite dumb lesbian.

Since the story turns around her, again she will be the key elements.

I feel Adora will struggle to see Glimmer being bad, Catra being bad and the story with Mara and Etheria.

Adora has to live with the idea that Angella sacrifice her life to save everyone when it was her job. Does it can create a cold between Glimmer and her? Probably.

She will go through a lot of pressure and won’t know what is good and what is bad anymore.

I feel Adora will learn, and she already seeing it, that there’s no balck and white, but more greys areas.

I would like to see Scorpia join the Rebellion and Adora and Scorpia becoming friend. I would like to see them struggle together about seeing their friends becoming more and more villains. Adora will have difficulties to let Glimmer go more than Catra because I feel she doesn’t want to make the same mistake she did with Catra. Or it could awake new feelings about Catra, and see what her mistake was.

Is infected She-Ra will be here again? I hope so.

9. The Rebellion

I really feel that Glimmer going crazy will create problem in the Princess Alliance.

I think it will struggle to get stick together, but Adora and Bow will do their best to keep them together.

I could see Glimmer canceling the Alliance too tbh.

I know at the end they will be back together.

I hope we will see more about Sea Hawk this season because I really missed my boy.

10. Hordak

Hordak lost his queen, and now will lose his position at the head of the Horde.

I feel Catra will keep him around until she doesn’t need him anymore.

He will be lost in his head and I feel he will have like an existencial crisis.

I could see him going back at the head when Horde Prime arrives.

I can see him leaving and going after Entrapta.

I can see him going feral after learning that Catra lied and take back his place to the Horde.

One thing is sure, it’s that he still wants to prove himself to Horde Prime, so I won’t be surprise that he will fight his place until he will be able to.

I wish, my boi will get his anti heros redemption and join the rebellion to fight Horde Prime.

I want to see him and Entrapta reunited, but I won’t be surprise that Entrapta will try to come back to him and he will push her away thinking she betrayed him.

ANYWAYS,

I feel like Shadow Weaver will be important in Glimmer’s dark side.

I wish that Shadow Weaver and Catra will find peace between each other, not for Shadow Weaver, but more for Catra to be in peace with herself and love herself better.

Plus, this season seems really huge and I am really excited because everything can change and alot might change too.

I am not ready, and we are going close to the end and I hate that. I wish they will give us more episodes than 50, because I really need more. I love this show so much and The Crew is doing a great job and continue to slap us in the face so many times.

We all thought that season 3 was our mental breakdowns, I feel that we are going to cry a lot in season 4.

Don’t forget november 5th.

I will tag she ra spoilers and season 4 on my tags.

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sinsbymanka · 4 years

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50 Questions You Have Never Been Asked

Tagged by @lostinfantasies38! Tagging - @tuffypelly, @corylion, @eranehn, @silvanils, @fandomn00blr, @odekiax, and whoever else wants in!

1. What is the color of your hairbrush?

And immediately I have to reveal how high maintenance I am. I have four. They’re red, teal, and black and they’re all different no matter what my husband says.

2. A food you never eat?

Tapioca - I’m allergic (which is a shame because BUBBLE TEA. It looks so fun!!)

3. Are you typically too warm or too cold?

Always cold - I struggle with pretty chronic iron deficiency so I’m an icicle.

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?

I think I was eating Chinese food?

5. What is your favorite candy bar?

Twix. Either side.

6. Have you ever been to a professional sporting event?

I have been to far too many. The only ones I like are hockey (yay!) but I’ve been to Basketball and Baseball games. The last time I went to a basketball game, I read a novel on my phone. Husband was not amused.

7. What was the last thing you said out loud?

"Why are you like this?” - To the infamous watermelon head puppers as he put his whole damn noggin on my shoulder.

8. What is your favorite ice cream?

Mint chocolate chip.

9. What was the last thing you had to drink?

Cream top tea from the Chinese restaurant

10. Do you like your wallet?

It’s the best wallet I’ve ever owned and I’ve had it for like four years. I refuse to get another one.

11. What was the last thing you ate?

Cold sesame noodles and dumplings

12. Did you buy any new clothes last weekend?

I don’t think so but I’ve done a lot of online shopping, it’s all a blur. I just wait to see what shows up in the mail.

13. The last sporting event you watched?

Does watching my husband play NBA 2K20 count? If no - then I think we went to a minor league hockey game in January or February?

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?

ALRIGHT. Bear with me. Pop your popcorn and then dump some hidden valley ranch dressing mix seasoning packets on it. BEST. THING. EVER. (I’ve been told you can buy ranch seasoning shakers for popcorn, but I’ve never tried them, I just use the seasoning packets)

15. Who was the last person you sent a text message to?

My Husband: “I love you too babe.” cause we’re sweet like that.

16. Ever go camping?

Yes, I’m not a fan. I’m like a houseplant - I like the idea of outside but if you put me out there I will die.

17. Do you take vitamins?

So many.

18. Do you go to church every Sunday?

Nope and I never will again.

19. Do you have a tan?

Not currently, but I do tan! God bless whoever the swarthy skin tone came from.

20. Do you prefer Chinese food or pizza?

Chinese food.

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw?

No? What kind of monster does this on the regular? Don’t use straws unless you have to - it’s bad for the turtles.

22. What color socks do you usually wear?

I dislike socks - I usually wear tights because I’m wearing skirts and dresses.

23. Ever drive above the speed limit?

The better question: Do you ever drive below the speed limit?

24. What terrifies you?

Many things. The biggest thing, lately, is that I’m not doing enough to get this world back on track and that I should be doing more. The time for discussion, negotiation, and bargaining for basic human rights is over. I want to smash windows, tear down institutions, and torch mansions.

25. Look to your left what do you see?

Watermelon head, just where he always is.

26. What chore do you hate?

I hate the sound of the vacuum cleaner. Absolutely hate it.

27. What do you think of when you hear an Australian accent?

Immediately of Steve Irwin. I watched a shit ton of animal planet as a child.

28. What is your favorite soda?

I can’t drink soda very often because it makes be a bit ill - but I love coke.

29. Do you go into a fast food place or just hit the drive through?

I also can’t have fast food often because it me very ill. So when I do stop - it’s usually to satisfy my ever present french fry craving and I feel silly going in and ordering one thing.

30. Who was the last person you talked to?

The chinese food delivery guy or watermelon head if he counts.

31. Favorite cut of beef?

The other thing that makes me sick! I rarely eat beef, even when I cook it for my husband. The only thing I usually can’t resist is a mean sloppy joe or taco - so that would be ground beef done extra lean which probably doesn’t count.

32. Last song you listened to?

This is Me - Kesha from The Greatest Showman soundtrack

33. Last book you read?

Also fanfiction. I have no spoons for new fiction at this time. I’m making my way through some nonfiction books slowly - “Michael and Natasha” by Rosemary and Donald Crawford is my current choice.

34. Favorite day of the week?

Fridays?

35. Can you say the alphabet backwards?

Possibly?

36. How do you like your coffee?

Flavored creamer if possible - if not just cream. I never seem to get the sugar ratio right on my own.

37. Favorite pair of shoes?

My utterly impractical, goes with one outfit, red high heeled mary jane’s. God I love those shoes.

38. At what time do you usually go to bed?

Between 10 and 11p - I take medicine that knocks me out pretty quick at night.

39. At what time do you normally get up?

Between 5 and 7a? I don’t know when I turned into my father - but I’m up with the fucking sun no matter what.

40. What do you prefer - sunrises or sunsets?

Sunrises - especially over the ocean.

41. How many blankets are on your bed?

On the bed? Two. Beside my side of the bed? Four more. Plus the dog has a blanket. Don’t judge me.

42. Describe your kitchen plates?

Vintage find - white with yellow and orange daffodils.

43. Do you have a favorite alcoholic beverage?

Wine to get started, but I almost always end up switching to whiskey if I’m out.

44. Do you play cards?

I learned to play poker very young and I’m surprisingly good at it.

45. What color is your car?

It’s called Seafoam, which is a pretty pearlescent green <-- same?! @lostinfantasies38 do you drive a Subaru too?

46. Can you change a tire?

YES. My father, when he was losing his eyesight and I was sixteen, wanted me to know how to change my own oil and my own tires cause “he wouldn’t be able to see to do it.” Before that makes you too sad - he 100% still sat in the driveway and listened to me do these things while offering “advice.” Bonus: I was one of the only people of either gender I knew in college who could do these things.

Do I actually do them any longer? fuck no. I don’t want to get dirty and I got myself a husband.

47. What is your favorite province?

I’ve only ever been to Toronto, so whatever province that’s in.

48. Favorite job you ever had?

I don’t know if I have a favorite? I’ve gotten to travel a lot in my current job, and I’ve done a lot of presentations and met a lot of people I wouldn’t have otherwise, plus it’s less hazardous to my mental health. So. Grantwriter/Researcher it is.

49. How did you get your biggest scar?

In November 2019 (which seems like forever ago but I know it wasn’t) I was rear-ended by an 18 wheeler on the highway. It was a nasty crash and I still can’t quite drive on the highway. I was actually nearly completely unscathed despite rolling my car and it being totaled. I emerged with a concussion and two cuts - one on the back of my left hand which is small. I had another shallow cut which is mostly hidden under my hair, but I can feel the scar. It does creep out under my hair onto my forehead about a half-inch.

50. What did you do today that made someone happy?

On my morning walk with watermelon head, we stopped outside our neighbors house to wave through the window so their kiddos could see puppers. Judging from their faces - they were pretty happy (but who wouldn’t be to be greeted with watermelon head?)

#long ask meme #so many questions

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goldenhemmings · 5 years

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For The Win | Basketball!Shawn

Me? Posting two pieces in one night?? Shawnblr’s resident sports whore is back with 1.6k words of shitty impulse writing because she loses her fucking mind when Shawn does anything remotely close to sporty. Enjoy.

Raptors have the firepower to reach NBA Finals. Raptors build momentum one defining moment at a time. Raptors become Eastern Conference Champions, will play in first-ever NBA Finals. And, most recently, Warriors defeat Raptors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. They were all articles she was proud of publishing, but none of them carried the headline Y/N so desperately wished to write: Toronto Raptors become NBA champions.

She was fresh out of college and just finishing her second year as a sports reporter for the Toronto Star, exclusively covering the Raptors. Going to basketball games and interviewing some of the greatest players in the NBA was a part of her official job description; every aspiring sports journalist’s dream. Additionally, she felt luckier than could be explained for the opportunity to cover a championship roster, especially one that was up 3-2 on Golden State, of all teams. It was a feat not many people had expected the Raptors to be able to accomplish, and Y/N was right there alongside it all, reporting on arguably the biggest Cinderella story of the 2018-19 season.

Today was her last chance to get commentary from the players before Game 6, as they traveled to Oakland first thing the next morning. Her editor expected an article to be on his desk by eight p.m. that night to be blasted to the entire city of Toronto the next morning, and time was of the essence.

Y/N rounded the corner towards the front entrance of the OVO Athletic Centre, the Raptors’ primary training facility. She flashed her press badge to the security guard standing outside the doors of the building; team protocol anytime there were members of the squad using the gym. The guard, whom she recognized from her many ventures to this particular practice facility, gave a curt nod before scanning the doors open for her.

She stepped inside, the cool air conditioning of the building overwhelming her and causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. She locked eyes with the receptionist, Jim, who sat in his usual spot at the front desk just on the other side of the doors. Dutifully wearing a red We The North t-shirt, he smiled at her and brushed a hand back over his graying hair as he stood to greet her.

“How’re you doing today, Miss Y/L/N?”

“I’m covering a first-time Eastern Conference champion,” she grinned, not missing a beat, and Jim let out a hearty laugh. “So I’d say I’m doing pretty well.”

“I’d say so, too,” he answered. “Who’re you here for today?”

She smiled. She never knew the players’ individual schedules; all she could do was hope that she could catch them at the right moment. Jim, however, had always been on her side, doing all he could to help her track down the athletes she needed when she needed them. “Ideally Leonard. I’m looking to get a statement for the feature I’m writing.”

“Believe he’s still in the main gym practicing. You might need to wait until he’s done.”

She checked the delicate rose-gold watch that adorned her wrist. “I’ve got time,” she replied, already fishing inside her purse for the tape recorder she’d brought to document the interview. “Just glad he’s actually here. Thanks, Jim.”

She stepped past the desk and followed the path to Gymnasium One; a trail that she knew like the back of her hand. She could hear the echo of a basketball bouncing on the lacquered wooden court before she could see the entrance to the gym, which she took as a good sign; at least someone was in there.

She stepped through the entryway and was met with an empty gymnasium save for the tall, familiar man shooting layups on the far-left hoop, his curly brown hair pushed off of his face with a thin black headband. She took note of the Mendes 98 stitched onto the back of his black practice jersey; he wasn’t who she was looking for, but hopefully he could get her one step closer to finding the player she needed. As soon as he spotted Y/N he began making his way over to her, the basketball now tucked between his arm and the side of his torso.

“Here to interview me?” he asked, flashing his trademark, brilliant smile. His deep voice had a slight echo in the nearly-vacant gymnasium. Shawn Mendes was a first-year player for the Toronto Raptors after the team acquired him from the Phoenix Suns, where he’d been drafted and previously spent two seasons. He wasn’t quite ready to be a main-rotation player, but he did see a few minutes of playing time most games. He was young and he was talented, and the Raptors were doing a great job at developing his skills. In a few years, he’d undeniably be of starting-five calibre.

“I’m looking for Leonard, actually,” Y/N answered matter-of-factly. She ran into Shawn quite frequently due to the fact that he wasn’t a hard-to-reach, top player in the same category as Kawhi Leonard or Kyle Lowry, and she’d had plenty of time to get to know Shawn with all the time she’d spent diligently waiting around the Raptors’ clubhouse to catch one of the team’s stars for a quick statement she could write into an article. In fact, she was the one who’d written the story that broke the news of his trade from Phoenix to Toronto; she had the article, her first-ever breaking news story, in a frame sitting on her desk at work. Shawn, on the other hand, had quickly taken a liking to the young reporter and began to look forward to seeing her before and after games, but it had never surpassed his innocent--but very obvious--attempts at flirting.

“Well when do I get an interview?” he pressed, his eyes sparkling under the bright, fluorescent lights of the gym.

“Singlehandedly put up 36 points in a championship game and then we’ll talk.”

He laughed, looking down at his basketball shoes. “So never, then.”

“I wouldn’t say never,” she teased. “You’d just better get practicing.”

“Fair,” he replied with a smirk. He was slightly sweaty from what Y/N assumed to be an intense practice session, but she’d be lying if she didn’t admit to herself how endearing she found the fact that his cheeks always flushed when he played. “36 points for an interview, but how many do I have to score to get you to go to dinner with me?”

Y/N raised a brow at him, suddenly amused; he’d never been this forward before. “Equally as many,” she fired back, challenging him, and relishing in the way his lips pulled into a smile. “Plus the championship.”

His eyes widened. “You do know who we’re playing, right?”

“Are you saying you don’t believe in your team? That’d make a great headline.”

“Am I on or off the record here?” he laughed, and just as Y/N was ready to bite back with a witty remark she noticed a door on the opposite side of the gym open, and in walked Kawhi Leonard in his typical practice uniform. Y/N gasped and turned to dash towards him, already turning her tape recorder on, hoping to grab him before he left for the day.

She could feel Shawn watching her as she spoke to the Raptors’ star forward, occasionally turning away to take a few shots from behind the arc. Show off. Once satisfied with the questions she’d had Leonard answer, she said a polite thank you and good luck before turning to tuck her tape recorder back into her purse. Shawn was approaching her in an instant, the basketball bouncing off in the opposite direction, disregarded after the last shot he’d taken.

“You never answered my question, you know,” he began, still smiling, though his tone was less joking than it was before she’d gone to do her interview. “About what it’ll take for you to go to dinner with me.”

“Yes, I did,” she retorted, a sly smile crossing her mouth. “You put up 36 points in a game and the Raptors win the championship. That’s your answer.”

“That’s a lot to ask, Y/N,” he replied, laughing lightly. “I don’t exactly have a large influence over whether or not we win the championship.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, enjoying their banter more than she’d ever admit. “You’d better make the most of your three minutes of playing time, then.”

He sucked a breath of air in through his teeth, feigning offense. “Ouch.”

She giggled, but was interrupted by her phone sounding its familiar ringtone that signified a text message. She pulled it out of her bag to reveal a text from her boss: How’s the article coming?

She sighed, which Shawn picked up on right away. “Everything alright?”

“Duty calls,” she shrugged, tucking the phone away and readjusting how the strap of her purse rested on her shoulder. “I’ve gotta get back to the office and put this story together.”

Shawn nodded in understanding, his soft eyes fixated on hers. “I guess I’ll see you, then. Hopefully we can get the win in Oakland, but if we do come back to Toronto for a Game 7 I look forward to seeing you there.”

Her cheeks got hot. Why was he looking at her like that all of a sudden? “Tell your teammates I’m rooting for them,” she replied, beginning to move back towards the door.

He laughed, reaching to grab another basketball and not fully understanding what she was getting at. “Half of North America is rooting for them.”

“Then half of North America wants you to take me to dinner,” she called back with a smug grin, turning around to leave the gym before she could see his expression, but she didn’t miss the perfect swoosh sound that accompanied a basketball falling perfectly through the net.

#i literally don't even know what this is other than me acting on impulse because im crazy #shawn mendes one shot #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes writing #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes one shots #shawn mendes imagines #shawn mendes blurbs #shawn mendes #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes au #shawn mendes fluff #shawn mendes aus #basketball!shawn

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mashitandsmashit · 4 years

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America’s Got Talent: Season 15 - Auditions 7

Okay, so there were a LOT of acts to talk about tonight, due to the overall format...

I've been wondering how I would cover the online auditions I watched before the season even started...It is a completely different stage, and therefore it's hard to compare the acts to the ones that actually appeared on the AGT stage...What's more, they didn't show the entirety of the acts they showed on Youtube...Plus, they have taken down the videos I've watched before and replaced them with the more heavily edited ones...

Right now, I still don't know what I should do...So I'm gonna be a little weird (since tonight's show was REALLY weird), and not talk about the online auditions this week...Next week will be the “Best Of” compilation, so I think that will be a good time to talk about the online auditions, and in fact see if I can find copies of all of those videos I saw before...

Until then, while they're still fresh in my mind, I CAN briefly talk about the ones they showed that WEREN'T in the old videos...Not much to say about them overall; I don't remember the guy who caught the arrow...

But I WILL point out Bello and Annaliese Nock returning as a duo (which is interesting since I remember when I pointed out earlier this season that the Bello Sisters sounded like Annaliese teaming up with two sisters I didn't know about to try the show again). They show a lot of promise, but seeing that they only showed a brief clip of them, it looks like their bad luck on this show is likely to continue...

And speaking of returning contestants: I'm not sure, but the leader of Dance Town Family appeared to be that dude from Miami All Stars who keeps coming back with multiple variations of the same act...It's been some years since those three straight seasons of the guy, but it looks like this attempt isn't going to work quite as well as those other ones...

Onto the part of the show I'll be focusing on this week...I'll start by saying that Voce Nova might have been a bit obnoxious, but they really were no worse than some of the other “acts” that passed tonight...They're in the same boat as Anthem and Aria the other week, in that they are incredibly cheesy and campy, but they were talented enough singers and were at least a LITTLE entertaining...

Whatever, let's get on to the passing acts already...

10: Chicken Scratch Sam. Oh, good, the guy from “Toy Story 2” found work after Woody and Buzz ruined his business...

9: The Ninja Twins. I actually REALLY wanted to like these two...Maybe if they weren't constantly talking over each other and everyone else, they wouldn't have given me such a headache...But I guess their silly song was catchy enough...Still less annoying than Mirror Image...

8: Kameron Ross. I was bored...He did little for me with the track, and he was only slightly better a capella...I hope he doesn't make the live shows, because I'd rather not root against the Heartlanders who will inevitably flock to the voting lines for him...Then again, maybe the homophobes in the Heartland will counter it...Nah, there will be plenty of LGBT people and other “sympathetic” voters who would make up for it...

7: Siena Uremovic. Would be filler on a better night...Moving on...

6: Alex Hooper. Maybe it was the lack of an audience to spread negativity through boos, but this guy's jokes seemed to land a lot better this time! If his whole act is gonna be roasting the judges, then I'm all for it!

5: John Hastings. I guess we still have our TRADITIONAL stand-up comedian quota to fill for this week...(Seriously, this has gotta be a record for most comedian auditions in a season!) I'm kinda losing track of which ones stood out the most, but this guy might be one of my favorites so far! As usual, nothing gut-busting, but there were some memorable bits, like the farting homeless guy...I guess we'll have to wait and see how the comedians all compete against each other in Judge Cuts...Usama Siddiquee is still my favorite so far...

4: John Sevier Austin. (Shrug) It was pretty cool! I don't know how he pulled that off!

3: Lightwave Theatre Company. I guess we WERE missing our obligatory multimedia act of the season...I can't say this impressed me to the same degree as most others of their type; The puppets were creepy-looking (not helped by the black backdrop, which also made it difficult to see them), some of the movements were awkward (the girl puppet's legs were bending in a weird angle much of the time), and it was the typical “heartfelt” schmaltz we're used to seeing on this show, specifically from “storytelling” acts like this one. But I'll give them this: They were pretty memorable! ...Which is a LOT more than can be said for most of the other acts tonight...I'm still a sucker for multimedia acts, which is the main reason why this places as high as it does...

2: The JD Marching Band. I suppose this works better for a football stadium or the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but I still enjoyed the hell out of these kids! A nice little wake-me-up during such a sleepy night...Also interesting how they seem to push their token white kid to the front much of the time...

1: Sheldon Riley. I guess this goes to show that image can mean everything when you compete on this show...Without the crazy getup, I probably would have waved him off as another very impressive but relatively unremarkable singer (at least compared to some of the others). But he really does have a solid voice, and that coupled with his presentation made him by FAR the most memorable act of the night! I actually really like him! Not quite my favorite singer, but nonetheless, he has my support!

I guess the last auditions tend to be pretty lackluster, as it's usually just a bunch of last-minute afterthoughts that they didn't feel like airing before...But since this was clearly the last audition chronologically (not counting the last stretch of the show that I'm saving until next week), there does seem to be less of an excuse...

Whatever, I'm just about done with these auditions anyway...Tune in next week as I go over the online auditions, and maybe talk a little about the “Best Of” show, if there's anything worth talking about...

Until then, stay safe and stay sane!

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ruffiorocks · 5 years

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LONG post in regards to whats being said about Lena.

Man, every time the CW post something about Supergirl on Instagram or Twitter people really lose their s**t for literally no reason.

People saying that Lena is awful, they wouldn't watch a show with Lena in it, someone went as far to say they would rather die that watch a show with Lena in it??? OK.... Dramatic much? Yet here you are following the Supergirl page and knowing exactly what has been going on in the show because you use it for your arguments. Seriously sort your s**t out!

Also, I may get hate for this and I DO NOT CARE but im totally fine with Lena punching Kara in the face. Personally i think she’s asked for it. You can argue until the end of time that she doesn't deserve the punch for keeping her identity a secret, debatable BUT she absolutely deserves a punch in the face for being an arsehole to Lena and calling her a Luthor and then going to her best friends boyfriend and talking him into betraying her trust! Oh and then letting Lena vent to her about how this meant she would never trust Supergirl again, that was disturbing behavior, played off as an ‘oopsie’ moment. Personally Kara’s Jeckell and Hyde act with Lena has always been a bit disturbing to me, its not always funny. Just like in season 2 when she landed at L Corp with Superman and basically looked her nose down at Lena (re watch it). But a punch in the face is warranted. Punching someone in the face isnt akin to becoming evil!

Also why are people saying ‘I knew she would turn Evil!’ ‘Look what Lena is doing!’ erm... Lena hasnt actually done anything yet. A punch doesn't mean full on evil. Lena said she wants to inflict the same pain on Supergirl that she has caused her, now that’s interesting to me, because Kara hasn't actually inflicted any ‘physical’ pain on Lena and Lena even said she doesn't want to kill Supergirl. Now save for a much deserved punch in the face which looks like it takes place in a virtual world anyway, perhaps Lena is going to go down another route and inflict emotional pain on Kara just like Kara has inflicted it on her. Maybe this is why we saw BTS of Alex and Kara fighting, maybe this world is set up so Kara can experience everyone she loves betraying her in some way? The same way Lena feels she’s been betrayed? Im not saying that’s a healthy way to deal with things but the show would be boring if Lena was like ‘nah its cool’.Plus this is how Lena will see it, something she wouldn't be thinking if Kara had taken the time to explain things to her from the off set. to late now.

Now i know what people will say ‘Kara has suffered so much and doesn't deserve more pain’ yeah... well Kara should have thought about that before inflicting pain on Lena who has also suffered enough pain in her life to. Kara having suffered doesn't mean she has a free pass to treat others poorly, who haven't actually done anything to hurt her or intended to hurt her at all. If Lena had been a nob and out to get her from day one then fair enough, but Lena has saved Kara’s ass/life many times and has never intended to hurt her, but s3 kara (who i wish i could forget) decided being an ass to Lena was OK. Yes Kara thought she was protecting Lena, but that excuse became null and void the moment she started revealing her identity to every Tom, Dick and Nia that she met! Kara is NOT a space puppy! Sure she has her cute adorkable moments but dont mix fan fic with reality. Kara is actually a very serious person who doesnt have all the answers, and doesn't always have a clear view of things. Remember it was Kara who basically told Jonn that there was no more alien hate anymore because SHE didnt receive it, the blonde haired, blue eyed hero of the city who looks human didnt receive hate so therefore it no longer existed. Now this isnt having a go at Kara, its to show that Kara isnt always right and doesn't always have a clear view of things.

Now, people are saying that Kara’s other friends didnt have a bad reaction to Kara admitting she was Supergirl so how dare Lena? OK, you guys are reaching pretty far now and you’re conveniently forgetting what has happened on the show because you’re too busy hating on Lena, so:

1. Winn didnt hate Kara the moment he learned she was Supergirl. OK, well first off, she wasnt really Supergirl yet, just an alien. Winn thought it was cool and wasnt upset she had lied to him? Well Kara keeping her identity from Winn didnt effect Winn in any way at all. There was no Luthor/Super history involved in Winn and Kara’s friendship.

2. James already knew, Clark took that decision away from Kara because he felt she needed a man to keep an eye on her. But this aside, James already knew Superman and was his best friend, he didnt ‘already’ know Kara. He knew who she was before she knew who he was! Again, him knowing her secret had no Luthor/Super implications.

3. Alex already knew and grew up with her. There was no ‘secret’ identity, she came to the Danvers as an alien and anyway Alex was NOT cool with her to begin with.

4. Mon El was also an alien, he wasnt a massive fan of Kara anymore than she was a fan of him. In fact Kara was the ass to Mon El rather than the other way around. It was Kara who referred to him as a ‘Daxamite’ more than once. Now, you could say they did have a history like the Luthor/Super one. Only it was Kryptonian/Daxamite, but the difference is Kara immediately told Mon El who she was, there was no pretending to be an alien from somewhere else or someone entirely different like she did with Lena. Kara knew Mon El was a Daxamite because of the beacon he sent, he didnt deny being one either. No his lie was being the Prince because he knew Kara would NOT have been OK with that. So he got involved with Kara whilst pretending to be something he wasn't. I seem to remember Kara being pretty miffed when she found out he was actually the Prince, only the end of the world was happening and she didnt really get a chance to deal with those feelings because she had to send him away. But later when he came back Kara had had time to process her thoughts on him, but she still told him EXACTLY what she thought of him. Mon El deceived Kara so he could pursue a relationship with her, Kara deceived Lena so she could pursue a friendship with her. Kara and Lena should have a choice in these scenarios because the respective ‘secret identities’ would have made them take pause.

5. Jonn. already knew, nothing to argue here.

6. Nia, Kara told Nia in a moment of solidarity because she to had ‘lost’ her sister, and apparently this was an OK reason to tell the girl you knew for 5 minutes who you are. Do you know who else had ‘lost’ a sibling and Kara has had many a solidarity moment with and who has saved her ass more than once and who she has known for longer than five minutes??? oh yeah LENA!! Anyway.... again, Nia had no reason to be miffed at Kara, she hasnt spent 3 years lying to her or pretending to be someone she wasnt and not fully trusting her. No Luthor/Super family drama or anything.

7. The Legion already knew

8. Cat, Cat was Kara’s mentor and although Kara absolutely lied and deceived Cat, she NEVER treated her crap (save for the red K thing) like Kara did to Lena. Plus once again no Luthor/Super drama. Plus she wasnt Kara's best friend.

Lena is completely different, have a think about what would be going through Lena’s head. ‘Supergirl’ suddenly turns up at her office the moment she arrives in National City in disguise? Supergirl using this secret identity keeps coming back to Lena, using Lena to track down Roulette, to try and get info from her about her mother. Lena mean while keeps saving the lives of the aliens of National City (including Supergirl). Mon El leaves and Kara suddenly cuts Lena from her life until she once again needs her for something? Come season 3 and ‘Supergirl’ suddenly turns on her? All for having a substance she wasn't using to hurt her but to protect her friend Sam? Supergirl calls her a ‘Luthor’ and gets pissed at her for GIVING her the Kryptonite? Supergirl starts telling Lena what to do as though she can? Supergirl then uses Lena’s boyfriend to spy on her? Then suddenly Kara is back and being her best friend again listening to all her vent about Supergirl? Lena goes out of her way to make sure Argo City survives and Supergirl is still later an ass to her because she decided to work with the substance SHE created because Supergirl doesn't approve? Supergirl is an ass to her when they are with Alex and its Alex who puts her in place, but Kara is still coming back to her as her bestie? Kara Joins her in trying to track down Lex and even lets Lena think that she’s been blown up? Lena then has the pleasure of being told by Lex of all people that Kara has been lying since day one and he even has footage?? Lena’s new ‘family’ all knew except for her, doesn't say much for Kara’s trust in Lena. If she hadnt already dumped James’ ass i hope she would now! She would probably be thinking ‘why did James pursue me? Was he sent told to keep an eye on me? Was Kara just sent by Superman to watch me? Did the gang befriend me for the same reason? Keep the Luthor close? This woman has been betrayed and deceived her whole life, not second guessing any of this would be the bizarre thing.

But anyway, i agree that both Kara and Lena are right to feel the way they do. But i am more on Lena’s side. I get Kara’s reasoning up to a point, to begin with she wanted to protect Lena., but then she should never have become so involved with her if she truly wanted to keep her safe. Her reasons become null and void when she tells people she’s known for 5 minutes who she is without thought to their safety (Nia). She made the decision to be an arsehole to Lena and then use Lena’s relationships against her and called her the only thing she knew would hurt Lena the most. She then kept saying she wanted to tell Lena but allowed others (Mon El, Alex) to keep her from doing so to the point where it was to late. Kara’s reasons started out noble, but they went beyond to far. Especially since Lex and Lillian knew and Kara STILL didnt see a point in telling Lena, Lex got the opportunity to tell Lena because Kara couldn't step up. The moment she knew Lillian knew she should have had Jonn erase her mind or tell Lena herself. Kara doesnt ‘owe’ her identity to anyone, but she should think twice about how much she gets involved with or treats the people close to her that dont know.

Also, it is a betrayal, the writers have said so and even Melissa has agreed she totally understands it. Not telling Lena her secret isnt the betrayal, its everything that came along with it, everything Kara did along the way. (though she could be talking to Eve)

They say the season is a ‘fight for Lena’s soul’ , personally i think being betrayed by Kara is a poor reason for Lena’s soul to be in danger, it doesn't say much for her. But that very statement implies that Lena hasnt gone full Luthor, Otherwise it would be ‘Lena’s soul is lost’.

It will be interesting to see how Lena reacts to the rest of the super friends since back in season 3 she understood secrets that weren't hers to tell and to keep people safe. She knew Alex was DEO but kept it to herself and wasnt arsed abut it and she didnt on Sam to keep her safe. But knowing the writers they’ll forget this part of Lena’s personality and make her miffed at everyone.

Lastly Kara may be the main character but that doesnt mean everything she does is right and she DOESNT have to be your favorite character.

Anyway thats enough. Dont send hate as always will go unanswered and deleted.

#supergirl #lena luthor #kara danvers #anti james olsen #anti mon el #nia nal #alex danvers #jonn jonzz #cat grant #winn schott #brainy #lex luthor #lillian luthor

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peterstanslizzie · 4 years

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Reacting To: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Season 3 Episode 9)

Emilia is such a monster...

Episode Title: Prahmises

Spoiler Warning: Kindly proceed if you’ve already seen the episode or are able to handle spoilers

1. Dr. Emilia backstory? This should be interesting! We are taken back in time to when Emilia was a young woman, living with her dad and brother, Liam in a burrow (probably the same burrow Lio and Song lived in). Their dad puts immense pressure on his kids to be part of the generation that will solve the Great Mute Outbreak.

2. He is especially concerned about Liam, whom he tells Emilia to make sure he stays focused on their mission to bring humans back on top. So this is why Emilia is so determined to cure the mutes; It’s because of her dad and how he doesn’t want his kids to live underground anymore. Despite seeming like a hard-ass, I get why he’s so tough like that.

3. Back in the present day, we see Wolf stopping Scarlemagne in his tracks to inform him that she’s going to help him kill Emilia. She also sprayed some lavender air freshener to make sure Kipo won’t be able to track their scent. They reach Skyscraper Ridge where they notice that Emilia isn’t there with Hoag and Greta and assume that she’s back on her boat.

Kipo looks beautiful and Benson looks mighty dapper in his suit

4. Prahm is coming together quite nicely; Everyone is putting the finishing touches on the venue and its decorations. Some of them (including Kipo, Benson and Troy) are already dressed-up. Oooo fancy! However, Kipo is still upset that Wolf and Scarlemagne have ran off to do their thing. She wants to give Emilia a chance but everyone else feels like she isn’t capable of change.

5. Can’t they just meet somewhere in the middle? Instead of killing her, why not imprison her like I suggested in my last review? I’m sure the humans will be able to understand; They don’t seem to be that pro-Emilia anymore.

6. Song then tells Kipo of some of the things she heard Dr. Emilia say when she was a Mega Monkey. We then get a flashback of Emilia being awarded with what I’m guessing is a lead position in their burrow’s anti-mute/find-a-cure research movement. She tells Liam that she wants to get a sample from one of the mutes to develop the cure and they proceed to head to the surface.

7. They split up and eventually, Emilia manages to get a sample from a spider mute. On the other hand, we see Liam hitching a ride from Brad and Amy! He’s really friendly towards them and vice versa. After the rats drove off, Emilia confronts her brother for making friends with the mutes. He mentions after talking to Brad and Amy, they are going to build an amusement park that is a safe haven for mutes and humans. Ahhh, right! So, that’s how Ratland came to be! Too bad it’s destroyed now.

8. Liam tries to reason with Emilia by telling her that mutes and humans can co-exist on the surface together because what they were taught about mutes was wrong. Emilia then does a complete BITCH move by killing her brother in clear daylight because she doesn’t want him to get in the way of everything they’ve worked for. What the heck Emilia?! I can’t believe she killed her own brother just because he disagrees with her. And it didn’t take long for her to do that. She is messed up!

9. Not only is she a killer, she’s a liar because she goes back to the lab faking hysteria by saying that the mutes killed her brother. Girl, bye. I hope Scarlemagne/Wolf ends you.

10. Basically, what Song heard from Emilia as the Mega Monkey was that she has been lying to everyone this whole time about the mutes killing her brother when it was actually Emilia herself. What a heartless monster. Back to the present; Who the hell died and make Kipo queen? Even after this story, she’s still willing to give her a chance. WAKE UP KIPO! People are capable of changing, just not those who are willing to kill their siblings without much hesitation. Kipo literally went from wanting to drown at least 50 humans on a boat to not wanting to kill the most evil person in Las Vistas. Like can you please be more consistent?

Troy and Benson in these suits is a vision

Aww, a reunion between Label and Zane. I still remember him saving her from getting cured. That was a great moment.

Aww x2, Amy and now normal rat, Brad. Side note: she called him her best friend. I had to point this out because all this while I thought they were a couple.

11. The mutes have arrived and it’s almost time for Prahm to start. Meanwhile, Wolf and Greta are fighting each other and at first, it seems like they are evenly matched but Greta ends up kicking her butt. Ouch! Scarlemagne is working up a sweat so that he can use his pheromones to mind-control Greta. After some struggle, he manages to splatter his sweat directly onto her face. Unfortunately, Wolf knocked her out unconscious before he could ask her where Emilia is lol.

12. The other humans plus Hoag arrive at Prahm with Hoag demanding for his daughter to leave the party. She’s definitely not going to listen to him. I hope Hoag will just drop it and join Kipo.

13. Okay, is anyone else getting middle school mixer vibes here when watching the humans and mutes trying to have friendly conversations with one another? It’s sooo awkward. Kipo entrusts Dave and Benson to be like the middle-men between the two groups. Troy and Jamack are also forming a team to do the same thing. It’s going to be a competition on who can make more friendships. That sounds weird but okay.

14. Greta wakes up and instead of using pheromones, they manage to get her to reveal Emilia’s location by bribing her with pancakes. Interestingly, Greta brings up a great point by asking Wolf why she’s wearing wolf skin if she and everyone else is so positive that mutes and humans can be friends. That’s true but every individual group has its own bad apples. Humans can kill other humans too as proven by Emilia. But you don’t see humans trying to segregate from their own race lol.

15. After listening to Greta, Wolf thinks that if they kill Emilia, this might cause the humans to lose trust towards the mutes. Yes but like I said, why don’t y’all just capture her and put her in jail, just like you did with Scarlemagne? I don’t think doing that would upset the humans. Scarlemagne is actually agreeing with Wolf’s reasoning and they set Greta loose. Ugh, why? Just keep her restrained.

16. We get back to the socializing between the humans and mutes and things are going too well lol. Like I’ve said earlier, it’s super awkward. Maybe they should play a game together or something instead of trying to force conversations.

We also get a reprise of Hyun Soo and his groupmates’ catchy Kpop song feat. Doag.

17. And finally, Hoag is able to see that his daughter is happy dancing with the Korean Narwhal mutes. He then proceeds to join his daughter and dance with her. Thank goodness he changed his mind about the mutes.

Aww he turned his old blanket into a tie. Cute!

18. Wolf and Scarlemagne are now at Scarlemagne’s Court to look for some Prahm outfits left by some of his old Nobles. He is also reflecting on his past decisions and expresses to Wolf about how he regrets not going after Emilia and not trying to free Song and have a life with her, Lio and Kipo. That’s true but look at what you have now Scarlemagne! I swear, if Scarlemagne dies...I will be so pissed.

19. It’s now night-time and it looks like the mutes and humans are getting along much better. We even see Jamack dancing with the old lady, Mrs. Graham? Troy and Benson are having a cute dance of their own too. Kipo is feeling down because Wolf isn’t around to enjoy Prahm with her, especially since their song, “Heroes on Fire” is now playing.

20. But look who decided to show up at the right moment. Kipo is thrilled! Scarlemagne then gives his own speech to the mutes and humans to ask for their forgiveness. This in turn, makes the humans apologize to the mutes for the bad things they’ve done to them too:

Such a tender moment

21. Hoag then feels guilty and tells everyone that he and Emilia had sabotaged the fireworks that were just about to go off so that it will shower everyone with the cure. Phew, that was close!

So Emilia still has followers! Okay, that makes things even more complicated. I thought this whole issue can be solved simply by locking up Emilia but she’s clearly got the loyalty of some of the humans no matter what.

22. After making this revelation, Emilia and her remaining army decide to make their grand entrance. She’s even dressed for the occasion. The episode ends with Emilia setting up the fireworks to go off and they did. But the episode stops here.

23. 1 more episode left! Ughhh, I’m so sad that it’s all coming to an end. But I’m looking forward to see how this whole show is going to end. I hope I’ll be satisfied with the ending. We shall see tomorrow for when I will post my review of the SERIES FINALE episode! Thanks for reading! Bye!

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storytime-hoe · 5 years

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Tough Love Ch.14

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x O/C

Summary: Story picks up during season three as the group goes into Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie from the Governor. However, they pick up another prisoner of Woodbury, Emma (O/C). She is a thief who fears friendships after her hard losses. She stays on the move, studying communities from afar and then robbing them blind. She has stayed alive this way for a while until the Governor catches her in the act. Now she finds herself with the group from the prison in a mission to kill the Governor for what he has done to her. She plans on stealing supplies from the prison group after the Governor is killed, but she might be growing a little too close to the groups members, especially one man in particular: Daryl Dixon.

Warnings: Slow burn, language, usual twd violence, mentions of abuse/rape

Authors Note: So I just decided to add that first part last minute and this is super long now but oh well at least it’s something. I also did not even spell check the first part so sorry but I don’t have time and I do not want to keep people waiting since I promised I would be on track from now on.

Previously: Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Ch.4 Ch.5 Ch.6 Ch.7 Ch.8 Ch.9 Ch.10 Ch.11 Ch.12 Ch.13

Returning from the run in a car with Sasha and Glenn made me anxious. I looked ahead for Daryl’s motorcycle every ten seconds, just to make sure that he was still with us.

I was shaken to the core after the scare he had given me. I knew he could tell something was off with me the entire time he was struggling to save me. Thankfully, however, after I got off of his damn bike, he was much more gentler with me. There was no more giving me shit about how I did things like he had done the rest of the trip. I think maybe his anger about me running off on my own the day before had finally worn away. Or for the most part at least.

He didn’t say much else to me as we jumped back on our vehicles and made way fro the prison before it got dark. We had planned on bringing home much more than we had, but we still all had our backpacks stuffed with food items and supplies. And we were all alive still, so that was a plus.

As I stumbled into my cell room, pulling the thin drape that was the door closed behind me, I couldn’t help the shaking in my hands which was growing worse with every breath I took.

Daryl was all I could think of. He filled every inch of my mind. It was like I needed to make sure he was okay all the fucking time now. Like when I did try to lay down and get some sleep, I stirred with images of him being ripped apart by the dead the same way that my little brother had been. It was haunting me.

I had just about had enough as I jumped from my bed in a fury, the sweat that coated me made my clothes stick to my skin. I had to do something or else I was going to drive my head into a fucking wall.

I needed to see him.

I needed to make sure he was still breathing just one more time tonight, then I could go to sleep. Yeah, that was it. If I could stroll by his cell and peer in and see him all fine in his bed, then everything would be good. I would rest well knowing he was safe. Right?

I calmed my racing heart slightly and threw open the drape in the doorway with a violent swish. But I froze in place at who faced me.

Daryl was staring at me wide-eyed with a shocked look on his face. What the hell was he doing here? I was supposed to be the one coming after him. Actually, I liked this much better.

Daryl regained composure before I did, rubbing a hand down his face and preparing himself to explain why he was lurking in front of my room.

“Sorry,” he grumbled, not meeting my eyes. “I- I was just checking on ya. Ya seemed pretty out of it after- ya know...”

He trailed off, the tips of his ears turning an adorable shade of pink.

I blinked a few times, struggling to find my voice at first. My mind was still trying to comprehend that he was checking up on me. Me, the girl who he talks shit about all the fucking time.

“I- yeah- I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine? Done this shit a million times.”

And it was all true. I had run into herds and had more close calls and run ins with death than I could count. But then again, I didn’t almost lose someone I though so strongly about back then. This was different than anything I’d ever gone through. And of course Daryl knew that. He seemed to always know fucking everything about me. What a prick.

He chewed on the skin by his thumb at my response. “Sorry ta bother ya then.” He started to take hesitant steps away from my door and back towards his own room. “Jus worried ‘bout ya I guess.”

I swallowed thickly and eyed him. He looked so fucking cute standing there all bashful. He was trying to show a nice gesture, something I could have been jumping at after the way he had been treating me, but I couldn’t get my big fat fucking ego to calm the fuck down.

“Well,” I said, hating the dullness in my voice. “Don’t.”

Usually, Daryl keeps a neutral look on his face, so I can never read what the fuck he is thinking, but this time I saw a flicker of something. A flicker of hurt. Hurt that I was causing again.

He nodded once and went away, leaving me standing in my room alone. Alone was never a good thing for me at a time like this.

What the actual fuck was wrong with me? I had just admitted to myself that I had feelings for the son of a bitch and here I was pushing him as far away from me as possible, and when he was trying to be there for me too. I was shutting down. I almost lost him and the fear of being hurt at losing someone like him was making me do things I would regret. I wish to God I could just drop the tough guy act and fucking behave like a normal human being in these types of situations. No, normal wasn’t a thing anymore.

The tremor in my hands was back as I closed the drape once more. I couldn’t do this. I had to fucking stop acting like I was strong enough to take on the world. Because I sure as hell am not. I am not and never will be. So what was I supposed to do if I couldn’t be strong for myself?

I’ll tell you what, right all I fucking needed was Daryl God damn Dixon.

I ran out of my room again down a few rooms until I was staring at the closed duration of Daryl’s room. I knew he was in there; Rick wouldn’t let him keep watch after coming back from a run like that, even if he wasn’t happy about being forced to sleep, he would obey Rick.

My heart was in my throat as I looked straight ahead to the curtain. Just do it. Open the door and talk to him. Talk about what? What was I supposed to say to him? I would probably start crying when I saw his face, especially if it had that hurt look on it still. Oh fuck, this was a bad idea. But all my ideas are bad ideas.

I held my breath as I yanked back the curtain and stumbled into his room.

He was already laying down on the bunk, staring blankly into the air above him with his hands under his head.

When I barged in he sat up not an elbow, scanning me up and down with wild eyes. He probably thought there was an emergency, that someone was hurt and that Rick and the others needed him. But when his eyes finally fucking rested on mine, his expression softness and it made me melt. He understood. I didn’t have to fucking say anything for him to see that i was crumbling to pieces after that run. But Daryl would never judge me for that, I don’t know how I could have though he would before. He was someone I could let my walls down with and vice versa. He was always fucking there for me, no matter how I treated him or how we fought. We would come back to each other in the end. Always.

We just stared for a minute, my chest tight and heaving with the pressure of emotion weighing me down.

“C’mere,” was all he said with a small nod of his head. He knew I couldn’t be alone tonight. I needed to be right next to him to make sure he was real and alive and that nothing would happen to him.

His simple mumble was all it fucking took for me to unglue myself from the floor and crawl up next to him in the bed. I laid down on the very fucking edge of the bed, not letting myself touch him. We were both tense beyond belief for a solid minute or two, but when he let his arm fall over my stomach, I felt us both relax more with each breath, and I eventually pressed up against his chest, my hand over his beating heart.

I wanted to say something to him, to tell him how it made me shit myself to think about him being out of my life forever, and that if he did die on that run that I would’ve lost my fucking mind. I opened my mouth to speak a few times, but I always chickened out. I didn’t know how to tell him how much he actually meant to me, and of course there was that fear that he would take it wrong and reject me.

So, I kept my mouth fucking closed for once in my life and let him hold me that night. I let myself feel peaceful in his arms. But that was not exactly where I woke up.

When I did open my eyes again I had forgotten that I was sharing a bed with Daryl. That was until I became aware of the added weight on top of me. Daryl’s head was on my chest and shoulder, his face turned away from me into my hair. His arm was strewn across my body with his leg tangle around mine.

I smiled to myself, thinking back to the night we had stayed outside together after my panic attack. I had woken up all onto of him, but now our positions were switched. I decided to tangle my hand in his hair, enjoying how it felt woven around my fingers. Hey, if he was allowed to lay on me like this, then he couldn’t give me shit for wanting to feel his hair.

After a few more quiet snores from Daryl I pushed myself out from under him. He stirred and woke up, but I was out of his room before he could say anything to me.

I got dressed in a hurry and went out of the gate to start my morning search. Yes, alone. Rick had said I could do whatever the fuck I wanted, and even if I was starting out the journey by myself, I had a strong feeling that someone would be following me out. And another strong feeling that that someone would be Daryl. Because everyone knew we couldn't leave each other alone anymore.

But, I started the day not thinking about anything but the Governor. I needed to find him and make sure he was dead. He ruined me, made me feel things I could ever recover from. I wasn't about to let him do that to anyone else.

Even if a trip like this in the early mornings was useless, it made me feel better. It was a chance to get back out in the world. It was a chance for me to kill as many Walkers as I wanted and be as dirty and careless and wild as I pleased with no judgment.

It wasn't until I was about an hour out that I got the feeling that I wasn't alone; Daryl sure took his time following me out. I didn't have time to act on that hunch, however, before I was grabbed from behind. A Walker had ahold of my hair, trying his best to sink his teeth into me. I sliced through him with a machete just before turning to cut down his friend.

Before I knew it, there were dozens of them coming at me from all directions. I really thought that if it was Daryl that was following me, that he would have come to my aid by now. I never thought he would let me get so close to danger with all the Walkers swarming me. Then again, we hadn't really talked about the last argument we had had. He said he was worried about me last night, but maybe he was giving me space and letting me handle myself. He would step in if I really needed him. Right?

I cut down the last of the group of Walkers with much effort and an exhausted grunt. I felt the Walker blood dripping down my neck and soaking into my clothes. I turned to look into the trees behind me in the direction that I knew Daryl was hidden, watching me.

Knowing he was found out, Daryl stepped towards me out from behind his place in a shrub.

"Enjoying the show," I breathed out with the pile of bodies laying lifeless around me. He took a few more steps towards me before stopping to look a the Walkers with his crossbow in hand. "What are you doing here?" I asked him at his silence, trying to keep my voice light and welcoming, not wanting to sound like I was complaining about the company.

He finally met my eyes and the answer that I wanted to here was silently confirmed. He was watching over me. Despite everything, we were back to our old ways of being friends. My heart skipped a beat at the thought that I hadn’t pushed him too far away. I was like a nervous teenager on the inside, but being the stubborn ass that I am I scowled down at him slightly, not letting him see how excited I was that he was here.

"I can take care of myself," I let him know for the hundredth time.

He shrugged, a hint of a smile playing at his lips. "I know."

Pleased with his answer I had to surprise my own lips from turning up at the corners. I faced away from him to hide my failed attempts and walked deeper out into the woods.

"So why ya out 'ere?" He questioned as I started back on my path, this time he followed close behind me, not bothering to stay out of my sight anymore.

"You know why," I said darkly, only for him to nod.

He knew I couldn't rest with the Governor still out there. A part of me knew that he couldn't either.

"Michonne's out ‘ere too," he grumbled to me, letting me know that I wasn't alone in wanting the Governor gone for good.

"Why don't you go bother her then?"

He never answered. I had a feeling that he enjoyed my company better than he did Michonne's. We needed this time too. Not to talk anything out or get into another fight, but we needed that silence with each other. Where we could walk around for hours and just soak in the company of the other without a word. The silence mending what I thought I had broken. The silence also helped us forget how awkward we might have felt after having shared a bed. But that was besides the point.

Getting up with the sun to look for the Governor everyday became routine for me, as did making my way to his bed every night. I sort of just followed him in when it was time, and he was always expecting me to also. And it wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable after that first night, we got used to needing to hold onto someone and to helping each other through the restless nights.

I never asked Daryl to come with me when I got up to look for the Governor every morning, and I never told him when I was going out after I had disappeared into my room to get ready, but he was always there waiting for me.

Every day I woke up, not getting the amount of sleep I should've been getting, and got dressed and usually grabbed some sort of breakfast bar, if anything at all, before I bounced outside to see him already leaning against the fence with his crossbow propped on the ground next to him.

I do have to say, turning the corner every morning to see him leaned against a wall with a lit smoke between his lips, and the sun rising behind him giving off a magical gold color to the air, was what fucking kept me going. He took my breath away sometimes and the saddest part was that he didn't even fucking realize he was doing it.

Days and weeks went by like this. We would follow the Governor's trail right where we had left off the previous day, coming back in the evenings only to go up and keep watch together then retiring to bed in his room.

We spent every second together almost, and sometimes it got to us. We snapped at each other a lot for pointless shit. We both possessed strong personalities and they clashed more often than not. Pushing the others buttons was something we had become masters at. It was a fun little game to piss Daryl off. He would shit talk back at me and we would go on and on. It usually either ended with him screaming at me before storming off, or with him giving me the silent treatment.

But just like always, the silence fixed everything. It let us cool down and forgive without having to say anything. Before we knew it we were back to chatting like friendly people again as if nothing had ever happened. When we weren't fighting we could find peace in the silence of each others company. I reveled in simply him being around with me. Neither of us needed to talk and that was another thing that made him close to perfect, he didn’t expect anything from me.

***

Taglist:

@daryldixonandfrogs @jodiereedus22 @xchrisxevansx @bvbwestfall

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magicalwastelandbasement · 4 years

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Cheap Homes and Tips For Buying a House in Sale

A home is a financial asset and more: it's a place to live and raise children; it's a plan for the future; it's an investment in your community. That's why all Americans should have an opportunity to enjoy the benefits of owning a home. And here are some tips for first-time home buyers.

Knowledge is said to open doors. This is literally true when it comes to buying a home. To become a first-time home buyer, you need to know where and how to begin the home buying process. The following questions and answers have been carefully selected to give you a foundation of basic knowledge of home purchasing. In addition to helping you begin, these steps will give you the tools necessary to navigate the entire home buying process - from deciding whether you're ready to buy house, all the way to that final proud step of owning a home, getting the keys to your new home.

1. HOW DO I KNOW IF I'M READY TO BUY A HOME?

You can find out by asking yourself some questions:

Do I have a steady source of income (usually a job)? Have I been employed on a regular basis for the last 2-3 years? Is my current income reliable? Do I have a good record of paying my bills? Do I have few outstanding long-term debts, like car payments? Do I have money saved for a down payment? Do I have the ability to pay a mortgage every month, plus additional costs?

If you can answer "yes" to these questions, you are probably ready to buy your own home.

2. HOW DO I BEGIN THE PROCESS OF BUYING A HOME?

Start by thinking about your situation. Are you ready to buy a home? How much can you afford in a monthly mortgage payment? How much space do you need? What areas of town do you like? After you answer these questions, make a "To Do" list and start doing casual research about property. Talk to friends and family, drive through neighborhoods, and look in the "Homes" section of the newspaper, Foreclosure Listings, and internet search.

3. HOW DOES PURCHASING A HOME COMPARE WITH RENTING?

The two don't really compare at all. The one advantage of renting is being generally free of most maintenance responsibilities. But by renting, you lose the chance to build equity, take advantage of tax benefits, and protect yourself against rent increases. Also, you may not be free to decorate without permission and may be at the mercy of the landlord for housing.

Owning a home has many benefits. When you make a mortgage payment, you are building equity. And that's an investment. Owning a home also qualifies you for tax breaks that assist you in dealing with your new financial responsibilities- like insurance, real estate taxes, and upkeep- which can be substantial. But given the freedom, stability, and security of owning your own home, they are worth it.

4. HOW DOES THE LENDER DECIDE THE MAXIMUM LOAN AMOUNT THAT CAN AFFORD?

The lender considers your debt-to-income ratio, which is a comparison of your gross (pre-tax) income to housing and non-housing expenses. Non-housing expenses include such long-term debts as car or student loan payments, alimony, or child support. Monthly mortgage payments should be no more than 29% of gross income, while the mortgage payment, combined with non-housing expenses, 4 should total no more than 41% of income. The lender also considers cash available for down payment and closing costs, credit history, etc. when determining your maximum loan amount.

5. HOW DO I SELECT THE RIGHT REAL ESTATE AGENT?

Start by asking family and friends if they can recommend an agent. Compile a list of several agents and talk to each before choosing one. Look for an agent who listens well and understands your needs, and whose judgment you trust. The ideal agent knows the local area well and has resources and contacts to help you in your search. Overall, you want to choose an agent that makes you feel comfortable and can provide all the knowledge and real estate services you need. But make sure you check the prices for homes in the area on internet before you visit any real estate agent.

6. HOW CAN I DETERMINE MY HOUSING NEEDS BEFORE I BEGIN THE SEARCH?

Your home should fit way you live, with spaces and features that appeal to the whole family. Before you begin looking at homes, make a list of your priorities - things like location and size. Should the house be close to certain schools? your job? to public transportation? How large should the house be? What type of lot do you prefer? What kinds of amenities are you looking for? Establish a set of minimum requirements and a 'wish list." Minimum requirements are things that a house must have for you to consider it, while a "wish list" covers things that you'd like to have but aren't essential.

7. WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR WHEN DECIDING ON A COMMUNITY?

Select a community that will allow you to best live your daily life. Many people choose communities based on schools. Do you want access to shopping and public transportation? Is access to local facilities like libraries and museums important to you? Or do you prefer the peace and quiet of a rural community? When you find places that you like, talk to people that live there. They know the most about the area and will be your future neighbors. More than anything, you want a neighborhood where you feel comfortable in.

8. HOW CAN I FIND OUT ABOUT LOCAL SCHOOLS?

You can get information about school systems by contacting the city or county school board or the local schools. Your real estate agent may also be knowledgeable about schools in the area.

9. HOW CAN I FIND OUT HOW MUCH HOMES ARE SELLING FOR IN CERTAIN COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS?

Your real estate agent can give you a ballpark figure by showing you comparable listings. If you are working with a real estate professional, they may have access to comparable sales.

10. HOW CAN I FIND INFORMATION ON THE PROPERTY TAX LIABILITY?

The total amount of the previous year's property taxes is usually included in the listing information. If it's not, ask the seller for a tax receipt or contact the local assessor's off ice. Tax rates can change from year to year, so these figures may be approximate.

11. WHAT OTHER TAX ISSUES SHOULD I TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION?

Keep in mind that your mortgage interest and real estate taxes will be deductible. A qualified real estate professional can give you more details on other tax benefits and liabilities,

12. IS AN OLDER HOME A BETTER VALUE THAN A NEW ONE?

There isn't a definitive answer to this question. You should look at each home for its individual characteristics. Generally, older homes may be in more established neighborhoods, offer more ambiance, and have lower property tax rates. People who buy older homes, however, shouldn't mind maintaining their home and making some repairs. Newer homes tend to use more modern architecture and systems, are usually easier to maintain, and may be more energy-efficient. People who buy new homes often don't want to worry initially about upkeep and repairs.

13. WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR WHEN WALKING THROUGH A HOME? In addition to comparing the home to your minimum requirement and wish lists, use the Home Scorecard and consider the following:

Is there enough room for both the present and the future? Are there enough bedrooms and bathrooms? Is the house structurally sound? Do the mechanical systems and appliances work? Is the yard big enough? Do you like the floor plan? Will your furniture fit in the space? Is there enough storage space? (Bring a tape measure to better answer these questions.) Does anything need to repaired or replaced? Will the seller repair or replace the items?

Imagine the house in good weather and bad, and in each season. Will you be happy with it year-round?

Take your time and think carefully about each house you see. Ask your real estate agent to point out the pros and cons of each home from a professional standpoint.

14. WHAT QUESTIONS SHOULD I ASK WHEN LOOKING AT HOMES?

Many of your questions should focus on potential problems and maintenance issues. Does anything need to be replaced? What things require ongoing maintenance (e.g., paint, roof, HVAC, appliances, carpet)? Also ask about the house and neighborhood, focusing on quality of life issues. Be sure the seller's or real estate agent's answers are clear and complete. Ask questions until you understand all of the information they've given. Making a list of questions ahead of time will help you organize your thoughts and arrange all of the information you receive. Prepare your own Home question list before you visit property. Find out about monthly utility bills for entire home.

15. HOW CAN I KEEP TRACK OF ALL THE HOMES I SEE?

If possible, take photographs of each house: the outside, the major rooms, the yard, and extra features that you like or ones you see as potential problems. And don't hesitate to return for a second look. Organize your photos and notes for each house.

16. HOW MANY HOMES SHOULD I CONSIDER BEFORE CHOOSING ONE?

There isn't a set number of houses you should see before you decide. Visit as many as it takes to find the one you want. On average, home buyers see 15 houses before choosing one. Just be sure to communicate often with your real estate agent about everything you're looking for. It will help avoid wasting your time.

YOU'VE FOUND THE DREAM HOME

17. WHAT DOES A HOME INSPECTOR DO, AND HOW DOES AN INSPECTION FIGURE IN THE PURCHASE OF A HOME?

An inspector checks the safety of your potential new home. Home Inspectors focus especially on the structure, construction, and mechanical systems of the house and will make you aware of only repairs,that are needed.

The Inspector does not evaluate whether or not you're getting good value for your money. Generally, an inspector checks (and gives prices for repairs on): the electrical system, plumbing and waste disposal, the water heater, insulation and Ventilation, the HVAC system, water source and quality, the potential presence of pests, the foundation, doors, windows, ceilings, walls, floors, and roof. Be sure to hire a home inspector that is qualified and experienced.

It's a good idea to have an inspection before you sign a written offer since, once the deal is closed, you've bought the house as is." Or, you may want to include an inspection clause in the offer when negotiating for a home. An inspection t clause gives you an 'out" on buying the house if serious problems are found,or gives you the ability to renegotiate the purchase price if repairs are needed. An inspection clause can also specify that the seller must fix the problem(s) before you purchase the house.

18. DO I NEED TO BE THERE FOR THE INSPECTION?

It's not required, but it's a good idea. Following the inspection, the home inspector will be able to answer questions about the report and any problem areas. This is also an opportunity to hear an objective opinion on the home you'd I like to purchase and it is a good time to ask general, maintenance questions.

19. ARE OTHER TYPES OF INSPECTIONS REQUIRED?

If your home inspector discovers a serious problem a more specific Inspection may be recommended. It's a good idea to consider having your home inspected for the presence of a variety of health-related risks like radon gas asbestos, or possible problems with the water or waste disposal system.

20. HOW CAN I PROTECT MY FAMILY FROM LEAD IN THE HOME?

If the house you're considering was built before 1978 and you have children under the age of seven, you will want to have an inspection for lead-based point. It's important to know that lead flakes from paint can be present in both the home and in the soil surrounding the house. The problem can be fixed by repairing damaged paint surfaces or planting grass over effected soil. Hiring a lead abatement contractor to remove paint chips.

21. DO I NEED A LAWYER TO BUY A HOME?

Laws vary by state. Some states require a lawyer to assist in several aspects of the home buying process while other states do not, as long as a qualified real estate professional is involved. Even if your state doesn't require one, you may want to hire a lawyer to help with the complex paperwork and legal contracts. A lawyer can review contracts, make you aware of special considerations, and assist you with the closing process. Your real estate agent may be able to recommend a lawyer. If not, shop around. Find out what services are provided for what fee, and whether the attorney is experienced at representing home buyers.

22. DO I REALLY NEED HOME OWNER'S INSURANCE?

Yes. A paid home owner's insurance policy (or a paid receipt for one) is required at closing, so arrangements will have to be made prior to that day. Plus, involving the insurance agent early in the home buying process can save you money. Insurance agents are a great resource for information on home safety and they can give tips on how to keep insurance premiums low.

23. WHAT STEPS COULD I TAKE TO LOWER MY HOME OWNER'S INSURANCE COSTS?

Be sure to shop around among several insurance companies. Also, consider the cost of insurance when you look at homes. Newer homes and homes constructed with materials like brick tend to have lower premiums. Think about avoiding areas prone to natural disasters, like flooding. Choose a home with a fire hydrant or a fire department nearby.

24. IS THE HOME LOCATED IN A FLOOD PLAIN?

Your real estate agent or lender can help you answer this question. If you live in a flood plain, the lender will require that you have flood insurance before lending any money to you. But if you live near a flood plain, you may choose whether or not to get flood insurance coverage for your home. Work with an insurance agent to construct a policy that fits your needs.

25. WHAT OTHER ISSUES SHOULD I CONSIDER BEFORE I BUY MY HOME?

Always check to see if the house is in a low-lying area, in a high-risk area for natural disasters (like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.), or in a hazardous materials area. Be sure the house meets building codes. Also consider local zoning laws, which could affect remodeling or making an addition in the future. Your real estate agent should be able to help you with these questions.

26. HOW DO I MAKE AN OFFER?

Your real estate agent will assist you in making an offer, which will include the following information:

Complete legal description of the property Amount of earnest money own payment and financing details Proposed move-in date Price you are offering Proposed closing date Length of time the offer is valid Details of the deal

Remember that a sale commitment depends on negotiating a satisfactory contract with the seller, not just Making an offer.

Other ways to lower ins-insurance costs include insuring your home and car(s) with the same company, increasing home security, and seeking group coverage through alumni or business associations. Insurance costs are always lowered by raising your deductibles, but this exposes you to a higher out-of-pocket cost if you have to file a claim.

27. HOW DO I DETERMINE THE INITIAL OFFER?

Unless you have a buyer's agent, remember that the agent works for the seller. Make a point of asking him or her to keep your discussions and information confidential. Listen to your real estate agent's advice, but follow your own instincts on deciding a fair price. Calculating your offer should involve several factors: what homes sell for in the area, the home's condition, how long it's been on the market, financing terms, and the seller's situation. By the time you're ready to make an offer, you should have a good idea of what the home is worth and what you can afford. And, be prepared for give-and-take negotiation, which is very common when buying a home. The buyer and seller may often go back and forth until they can agree on a price. Check Home price in that area on websites.

28. WHAT IS EARNEST MONEY? HOW MUCH SHOULD I SET ASIDE?

Earnest money is money put down to demonstrate your seriousness about buying a home. It must be substantial enough to demonstrate good faith and is usually between 1-5% of the purchase price (though the amount can vary with local customs and conditions). If your offer is accepted, the earnest money becomes part of your down payment or closing costs. If the offer is rejected, your money is returned to you. If you back out of a deal, you may forfeit the entire amount.

29. WHAT ARE "HOME WARRANTIES", AND SHOULD I CONSIDER THEM?

Home warranties offer you protection for a specific period of time (e.g., one year) against potentially costly problems, like unexpected repairs on appliances or home systems, which are not covered by home owner's insurance. Warranties are becoming more popular because they offer protection during the time immediately following the purchase of a home, a time when many people find themselves cash-strapped.

GENERAL FINANCING QUESTIONS:THE BASICS

30. WHAT IS A MORTGAGE?

Generally speaking, a mortgage is a loan obtained to purchase real estate. The "mortgage" itself is a lien (a legal claim) on the home or property that secures the promise to pay the debt. All mortgages have two features in common: principal and interest.

31. WHAT IS A LOAN TO VALUE (LTV) HOW DOES IT DETERMINE THE SIZE OF MY LOAN?

The loan to value ratio is the amount of money you borrow compared with the price or appraised value of the home you are purchasing. Each loan has a specific LTV limit. For example: With a 95% LTV loan on a home priced at $50,000, you could borrow up to $47,500 (95% of $50,000), and would have to pay,$2,500 as a down payment.

The LTV ratio reflects the amount of equity borrowers have in their homes. The higher the LTV the less cash home buyers are required to pay out of their own funds. So, to protect lenders against potential loss in case of default, higher LTV loans (80% or more) usually require mortgage insurance policy.

32. WHAT TYPES OF LOANS ARE AVAILABLE AND WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF EACH?

Fixed Rate Mortgages: Payments remain the same for the the life of the loan

Types

15-year 30-year

Advantages

Predictable Housing cost remains unaffected by interest rate changes and inflation.

Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMS): Payments increase or decrease on a regular schedule with changes in interest rates; increases subject to limits

Types

Balloon Mortgage- Offers very low rates for an Initial period of time (usually 5, 7, or 10 years); when time has elapsed, the balance is clue or refinanced (though not automatically) Two-Step Mortgage- Interest rate adjusts only once and remains the same for the life of the loan ARMS linked to a specific index or margin

Advantages

Generally offer lower initial interest rates Monthly payments can be lower May allow borrower to qualify for a larger loan amount

33. WHEN DO ARMS MAKE SENSE?

An ARM may make sense If you are confident that your income will increase steadily over the years or if you anticipate a move in the near future and aren't concerned about potential increases in interest rates.

34. WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF 15- AND 30-YEAR LOAN TERMS?

30-Year:

In the first 23 years of the loan, more interest is paid off than principal, meaning larger tax deductions. As inflation and costs of living increase, mortgage payments become a smaller part of overall expenses.

15-year:

Loan is usually made at a lower interest rate. Equity is built faster because early payments pay more principal.

35. CAN I PAY OFF MY LOAN AHEAD OF SCHEDULE?

Yes. By sending in extra money each month or making an extra payment at the end of the year, you can accelerate the process of paying off the loan. When you send extra money, be sure to indicate that the excess payment is to be applied to the principal. Most lenders allow loan prepayment, though you may have to pay a prepayment penalty to do so. Ask your lender for details.

36. ARE THERE SPECIAL MORTGAGES FOR FIRST-TIME HOME BUYERS?

Yes. Lenders now offer several affordable mortgage options which can help first-time home buyers overcome obstacles that made purchasing a home difficult in the past. Lenders may now be able to help borrowers who don't have a lot of money saved for the down payment and closing costs, have no or a poor credit history, have quite a bit of long-term debt, or have experienced income irregularities.

37. HOW LARGE OF A DOWN PAYMENT DO I NEED?

There are mortgage options now available that only require a down payment of 5% or less of the purchase price. But the larger the down payment, the less you have to borrow, and the more equity you'll have. Mortgages with less than a 20% down payment generally require a mortgage insurance policy to secure the loan. When considering the size of your down payment, consider that you'll also need money for closing costs, moving expenses, and - possibly -repairs and decorating.

38. WHAT IS INCLUDED IN A MONTHLY MORTGAGE PAYMENT?

The monthly mortgage payment mainly pays off principal and interest. But most lenders also include local real estate taxes, home owner's insurance, and mortgage insurance (if applicable).

39. WHAT FACTORS AFFECT MORTGAGE PAYMENTS?

The amount of the down payment, the size of the mortgage loan, the interest rate, the length of the repayment term and payment schedule will all affect the size of your mortgage payment.

40. HOW DOES THE INTEREST RATE FACTOR IN SECURING A MORTGAGE LOAN?

A lower interest rate allows you to borrow more money than a high rate with the some monthly payment. Interest rates can fluctuate as you shop for a loan, so ask-lenders if they offer a rate "lock-in"which guarantees a specific interest rate for a certain period of time. Remember that a lender must disclose the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of a loan to you. The APR shows the cost of a mortgage loan by expressing it in terms of a yearly interest rate. It is generally higher than the interest rate because it also includes the cost of points, mortgage insurance, and other fees included in the loan.

41. WHAT HAPPENS IF INTEREST RATES DECREASE AND I HAVE A FIXED RATE LOAN?

If interest rates drop significantly, you may want to investigate refinancing. Most experts agree that if you plan to be in your house for at least 18 months and you can get a rate 2% less than your current one, refinancing is smart. Refinancing may, however, involve paying many of the same fees paid at the original closing, plus origination and application fees.

42. WHAT ARE DISCOUNT POINTS?

Discount points allow you to lower your interest rate. They are essentially prepaid interest, With each point equaling 1% of the total loan amount. Generally, for each point paid on a 30-year mortgage, the interest rate is reduced by 1/8 (or.125) of a percentage point. When shopping for loans, ask lenders for an interest rate with 0 points and then see how much the rate decreases With each point paid. Discount points are smart if you plan to stay in a home for some time since they can lower the monthly loan payment. Points are tax deductible when you purchase a home and you may be able to negotiate for the seller to pay for some of them.

43. WHAT IS AN ESCROW ACCOUNT? DO I NEED ONE?

Established by your lender, an escrow account is a place to set aside a portion of your monthly mortgage payment to cover annual charges for home owner's insurance, mortgage insurance (if applicable), and property taxes. Escrow accounts are a good idea because they assure money will always be available for these payments. If you use an escrow account to pay property tax or home owner's insurance, make sure you are not penalized for late payments since it is the lender's responsibility to make those payments.

44. WHAT STEPS NEED TO BE TAKEN TO SECURE A LOAN?

The first step in securing a loan is to complete a loan application. To do so, you'll need the following information.

Pay stubs for the past 2-3 months W-2 forms for the past 2 years Information on long-term debts Recent bank statements tax returns for the past 2 years Proof of any other income Address and description of the property you wish to buy Sales contract

During the application process, the lender will order a report on your credit history and a professional appraisal of the property you want to purchase. The application process typically takes between 1-6 weeks.

45. HOW DO I CHOOSE THE RIGHT LENDER FOR ME?

Choose your lender carefully. Look for financial stability and a reputation for customer satisfaction. Be sure to choose a company that gives helpful advice and that makes you feel comfortable. A lender that has the authority to approve and process your loan locally is preferable, since it will be easier for you to monitor the status of your application and ask questions. Plus, it's beneficial when the lender knows home values and conditions in the local area. Do research and ask family, friends, and your real estate agent for recommendations. Once again internet research can help you in home financing too.

46. HOW ARE PRE-QUALIFYING AND PRE-APPROVAL DIFFERENT?

Pre-qualification is an informal way to see how much you maybe able to borrow. You can be 'pre-qualified' over the phone with no paperwork by telling a lender your income, your long-term debts, and how large a down payment you can afford. Without any obligation, this helps you arrive at a ballpark figure of the amount you may have available to spend on a house.

Pre-approval is a lender's actual commitment to lend to you. It involves assembling the financial records mentioned in Question 47 (Without the property description and sales contract) and going through a preliminary approval process. Pre-approval gives you a definite idea of what you can afford and shows sellers that you are serious about buying.

47. WHAT IS A CREDIT BUREAU SCORE AND HOW DO LENDERS USE THEM?

A credit bureau score is a number, based upon your credit history, that represents the possibility that you will be unable to repay a loan. Lenders use it to determine your ability to qualify for a mortgage loan. The better the score, the better your chances are of getting a loan. Ask your lender for details.

CLOSING

48. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I'VE APPLIED FOR MY LOAN?

It usually takes a lender between 1-6 weeks to complete the evaluation of your application. Its not unusual for the lender to ask for more information once the application has been submitted. The sooner you can provide the information, the faster your application will be processed. Once all the information has been verified the lender will call you to let you know the outcome of your application. If the loan is approved, a closing date is set up and the lender will review the closing with you. And after closing, you'll be able to move into your new home.

49. WHAT SHOULD I LOOK OUT FOR DURING THE FINAL WALK-THROUGH?

This will likely be the first opportunity to examine the house without furniture, giving you a clear view of everything. Check the walls and ceilings carefully, as well as any work the seller agreed to do in response to the inspection. Any problems discovered previously that you find uncorrected should be brought up prior to closing. It is the seller's responsibility to fix them.

50. WHAT MAKES UP CLOSING COST OF HOME?

There may be closing cost customary or unique to a certain locality, but closing cost are usually made up of the following:

Attorney's or escrow fees (Yours and your lender's if applicable) Property taxes (to cover tax period to date) Interest (paid from date of closing to 30 days before first monthly payment) Loan Origination fee (covers lenders administrative cost) Recording fees Survey fee First premium of mortgage Insurance (if applicable) Title Insurance (yours and lender's) Loan discount points First payment to escrow account for future real estate taxes and insurance Paid receipt for home owner's insurance policy (and fire and flood insurance if applicable). Any documentation preparation fees

51. WHAT CAN I EXPECT TO HAPPEN ON CLOSING DAY?

You'll present your paid home owner's insurance policy or a binder and receipt showing that the premium has been paid. The closing agent will then list the money you owe the seller (remainder of down payment, prepaid taxes, etc.) and then the money the seller owes you (unpaid taxes and prepaid rent, if applicable). The seller will provide proofs of any inspection, warranties, etc.

Once you're sure you understand all the documentation, you'll sign the mortgage, agreeing that if you don't make payments the lender is entitled to sell your property and apply the sale price against the amount you owe plus expenses. You'll also sign a mortgage note, promising to repay the loan. The seller will give you the title to the house in the form of a signed deed.

You'll pay the lender's agent all closing costs and, in turn,he or she will provide you with a settlement statement of all the items for which you have paid. The deed and mortgage will then be recorded in the state Registry of Deeds, and you will be a homeowner.

52. WHAT DO I GET AT CLOSING?

Settlement Statement (itemizes services provided and the fees charged; it is filled out by the closing agent and must be given to you at or before closing)

Truth-in-Lending Statement

Mortgage Note

Mortgage or Deed of Trust

Binding Sales Contract (prepared by the seller; your lawyer should review it)

Keys to your new home

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