#stop trying to make Brenda/John happen it is not going to happen

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Brenda Meitland is my personal "we need more complex female characters" I, guys, can barely handle her.

[jodilin65]

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1990 I haven’t written in a while which I sometimes don’t. Last thing I see I wrote about was getting my hair trimmed. Linda trimmed my bangs and my top layer. My top layer was and still is pretty much fried with split ends. I have split ends everywhere. She was shocked at the weight I lost and how long my hair’s gotten. I haven’t seen her in 3 years or so. Linda hasn’t seen me at my skinniest though since I’ve gained 8 pounds. Funny thing is that it looks like I gained double, like 16 pounds. Of course, that’s cuz I’m so short. I no longer despise being short as I’ve realized the many advantages of being short as I’ve gotten older.

Andy’s here now asleep. He came over two nights ago, too. We made some calls this time. Last night we played Crazy 8’s which we haven’t done since we were kids at the beach. Also, we played the piano.

I’ll write later as I’m exhausted. For the last two months or so I’ve been sleeping at night, but I was up all night cuz I slept too many hours yesterday.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1990 I am waiting to have my hair trimmed at Hair Performance by Linda. My top layer is incredibly fried. Also, I need my bangs trimmed.

Brenda’s very sick today so I’m going to be going to Martha by bus and it is incredibly freezing out!

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1990 Well, I’m not going to be sleeping for a hell of a long time. I never got up yesterday till 9pm. I had woken up in the early afternoon but felt like shit so I went back to sleep. Not too much has happened since I last wrote. I’ve done some pretty nice drawings, been pissed at Russ cuz he’s got the heat off from 11pm–6am, been a little depressed cooped up at home and wanting to sing. Lastly, been frustrated and scared over my bronchitis.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1990 I fell asleep shortly after 11 PM, after seeing the Tai Babilonia story, then at 1:45, I woke up for no reason at all. At least I didn’t wake up cuz of an asthma attack like I did yesterday morning and several previous mornings. I feel much better now and for the last 5 days, I’ve had 4-6 ciggies.

Soon I’m going to try to go back to sleep so I can join Andy on job-hunting trips. Not a job for me, for him of course, but it’ll get me out of the apt.

I’d like to sleep with Shadow, but he keeps waking me up.

I had a great visit with Tammy and the kids, and also a great day with Brenda. Sarah’s adorable and she’s got so much hair on her head. Everyone in the family was born with lots of hair.

John came over for a half-hour tonight and met Brenda and Bill.

Oh, I wish I knew my test scores! I want so badly to go to the academy. I suppose, though, I won’t be going for whatever reason cuz I want to go badly. Of course, that is until I can get anything going musically.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1990 Yesterday was awful. I was so pissed at Russ. For the last 5 mornings, during the wee hours of the morning, it was freezing. Later on between 7:00-11:00, it would turn into a sauna. I woke up for two reasons. One was the fucking radiator in the kitchen would clank so loud, you could probably hear it downtown. The other is that I’d have major asthma attacks due to it. It would get so hot in here that my windows would be wet. I yelled on Russ’s machine, asking what it’s gonna take for the heat to be evened out and he stopped up to adjust the thermostat. If this happens continuously, I’ll make partial rent payments and if he fights it he’ll wish partial rent problems were the only problems he’s had with me. Otherwise, he’s a nice guy and the best landlord I’ve ever had. He doesn’t do this deliberately, he just has no brains when it comes to heating.

Today, later on, I’m definitely gonna get the fuck outa this apartment. Where to, I do not know, but I’ve got to get out.

[asettledsky]

The Second Chapter Of an Inspector Gadget Fanfic That I May or May Not Actually Bother to Start Writing In Earnest

John was not having a good time. He felt faint, and something else. He’d have called it nausea except he was fairly certain he didn’t have a stomach anymore, so that couldn’t be right. His new innards were heavy and were moving around in ways that just didn’t feel right. That was distressing, but it wasn’t what was worrying him the most about his current… situation. What really worried him was that he couldn’t really… feel anything.

He’d noticed right away when Brenda… Dr. Bradford, grabbed his arm. He could tell he was being touched, but it was almost as if his arm was asleep just without the weird buzzy sensation.

John put that in the mental column of tallies that suggested that this was a bizarre dream. Between the fingers turning into small household tools, the metal snakes in his arms, and Brenda Bradford being in the hospital with him even though he was quite positive that she was not a medical doctor, the number of tallies in that column were accumulating rapidly. The only thing that made him question that theory was the fact that even in his wildest dreams he couldn’t have thought up such a strange scenario.

But if all of this wasn’t a dream, then that meant he really was…. whatever he was now.

“Now that you’re awake and put back together, we wanted to put you through some basic testing before you’re officially released from the hospital,” Dr. Bradford said, bringing his attention back to the present.

“What sort of testing?” John asked.

“Nothing complicated, not yet. Just a basic physical and a test of your coordination and reaction time. That sort of thing. Just to make sure you can get around comfortably and are operating like we expect,” she explained. John blinked at the phrasing she used but decided to ignore it. “Once we determine that and give you any little adjustments you’ll need you can go home.”

“Well, I guess we might as well get started,” John said.

It seemed to be just a normal physical, though a more thorough one than he could ever remember having before. They took a stethoscope and proceeded to put it against his back, chest, and stomach. Immediately after they determined that all of the noises he was making were part of whatever his new normal was he was asked to do several basic movements.

He could finally stand up and walk across the room without wobbling or stumbling. As far as John was concerned that was excellent progress and more than enough to get out of there, but the scientists weren’t satisfied. They wanted him to do all sorts of movements. Raising his arms, touching a finger to his nose, toe touches… All of this seemed pretty normal. John noticed that he was definitely more flexible than he had been, but nothing really weird seemed to be going on.

It wasn’t until he sat on the bed and they asked him to turn his head that something weird happened. He successfully turned his head to the right, so far that his head was at a complete 180 from its starting point. John blinked in surprise at the wall behind him before turning his head back. He rubbed his neck a bit before the scientist in front of him asked him to do the same on the left side. His chin got as far as his shoulder when he felt…. something skip with a loud mechanical click. His head tried to pull back to the front but his neck pulled the other way and the same thing skipped again. He tried to stop the motion but it repeated again, and again, and soon it was clear he was stuck.

“Dr. Bradford?” the scientist conducting the test questioned. She had been sitting in the corner observing. She got up quickly and came over to look at what was going on.

“It looks like something caught and it’s messing with the tension in the neck so he’s stuck trying to complete the motion,” she summarized clinically.

“How–observant-of-you,” John snarked between the loud clicking reverberating in his head.

“But what do we do about it?” the first scientist asked.

“I’m not sure…” Dr. Bradford hedged.

John resisted rolling his eyes (he was already getting dizzy and that wouldn’t help) and sighed in annoyance. He grabbed either side of his head in an effort to stop it. It did, but he could feel it trying to pull to the left against his hands. He took a deep breath and pushed his head to the right as hard as he could.

He instantly regretted that action when his head did a complete 360 and wobbled before settling back down. He kept his eyes closed while his skull stopped spinning.

“That was so reckless! You could have broken something,” Dr. Bradford scolded. She went behind him and unsnapped the neck of his smock. John made a strangled noise and caught the fabric before it fell farther than his shoulders. Dr. Bradford didn’t seem to notice as she was already preoccupied with examining his neck, but the scientist who was conducting the tests raised an eyebrow at him. John coughed and looked away.

“Looks like the blood vessels in the face are nice and healthy,” the scientist remarked lightly, flipping a few pages of the document on their clipboard to make the note. John sighed as they walked around to look at whatever Dr. Bradford was doing.

Their movement cleared John’s line of sight to the two way observation mirror. He rather wished it hadn’t when he caught a glimpse of what was happening on his left shoulder. His skin was opened like a door and a few wires were spilling out while Dr. Bradford had her hands inside it. He could swear he could actually feel what she was tinkering with something inside his neck, but it might have just been his imagination.

He was starting to feel rather faint again.

[xbaebsae]

Rain for the wip game? 👀👀👀

Thank you Brenda!! ♥ It's a Rheese x Jake wip from one of the forced-pre-relationship-bonding-situation chapters I self indulgently really enjoy writing xD

The whole wip is 7 pages long so I just chose a snippet of it here :) The story is basically that Jake forced Rheese along to some really boring patrols (his way of saying i like you i guess, genius) so her mood's in the basement. It's also raining. When she finally thinks the day is over and they sit in his truck on the way back to Stone Ridge it breaks down and they eventually break into an old retired fishing store shack.

If we hadn’t been thoroughly soaked before, we sure were once we arrived at the old abandoned shop he’d had in mind. It was a small building next to the main road and I finally knew where we were. Still in the Henbane region and at least 2 hours of foot march to Stone Ridge. “Been a while since I broke in somewhere”, he said after checking the barred doors and windows. “You used to do it regularly?” Acting like nothing happened felt awkward to me, but I didn't want to cause another argument. For one I was tired, my body exhausted from walking all day, and secondly god knows I couldn't take another tense moment like the one just minutes ago. “Here and there.” An adventurous shimmer in his eyes, he gave me a sincere smile that caught me off guard in the shine of my flashlight. With little effort he tossed a couple of planks aside, kicked in the backdoor and entered. God knows why I hesitated to step inside after him, maybe it was because I never broke in somewhere before and this little fact only added to my already fucked up situation. "Ya lookin like a stray wet cat now, Shorty. Gonna embrace it or are ya gonna come inside?" Rolling my eyes and wondering if he'd ever stop with the damn cat analogies if I ignored them, I stepped through the doorframe into the dry sanctuary which didn't belong to us.

The inside was far from comfy, most of the shelves were empty, only a few leftover bottles sat in the shut down fridge behind the counter. “Got some beer here, if you want? Really over its date though”, I yelled. “I take one, beer doesn’t really turn bad.” He barricaded the door from the inside with one of the shelves, finally muffling the sound of the storm outside. “Doesn’t it lose its taste though?” I could really do with one myself but figured he could try it first, it was the least he could do. “One way to find out.” He opened a bottle with his combat knife, downed a lot of it and crunched his nose as he cleaned his mouth with the back of his hand. “Lacks a bit of carbon but it’ll do.” Still skeptical, I settled on some cola instead and wished there was anything hot to drink here or at least a bottle of whiskey or other strong stuff to warm me up and to make my company more bearable. Unfortunately those were the only leftover drinks. “Shithole’s gotta have heating somewhere. Go check if there’s some dry clothes lying around. Place used to be a fishing supply shack so maybe we’re in luck.” “What’s your size?” He shrugged. “Anything you could wear as a nightgown, I guess.” I didn’t know why that flustered me but the implication that I’d wear his clothes as nightwear had something very intimate about it and I wasn’t sure how to feel. He didn't picture that possibility himself I hoped.

While Jacob checked out the adjacent staff room, I browsed the shelves for clothes. Rubber boots on mass along with baseball caps but nothing that resembled pants. On the far back wall was a aisle full of t-shirts reading all kinds of dumb fishing slogans. A couple of harmless ones were only left in kid sizes and the sparse selection of adult ones were all stupid sex jokes. “I didn’t know fishing was this sexual”, I looked through the rows of shirts searching for larger sizes. “Wha?”, came from the other room and I decided that all of these were too embarrassing to hand to him. I didn't want him to think I implied something when handing him a shirt playing on 'rod' sizes. “Come here and pick one yourself!”

With crossed arms his eyes wandered over the assortment and I could see him having a harder and harder time to supress a dumb smile. “Fishin’ really gets ya the chicks these days, huh?” “Personally, I’d run away from someone wearing a shirt saying ‘Mine’s so big I need to hands’!”, I stated dryly and he finally let out the chuckle he’d tried to avoid so desperately. “Could see John wearin’ that.” “Oh come on, the way you keep looking back at it, you’d love to aswell!” His eyes lit up playfully when I joined in with a sincere smile. “Ya already know it though, so what’s the point?”, the suggestive undertone in his voice embarrassed me and I was thankful we were standing in the dark so he wouldn’t notice my face turning red. “No… I don’t know that! It’s not my fault I end up touching that ...thing when you can’t control your damn boners!”, I rambled uncontrollably, making him laugh out loud and lean over for a second just to push me with his elbow. “You’re too easy, Shorty!” “I’m not!” My protest didn’t even convince me and after a short moment of silence I let out a long sigh. “Think we only get two options here. Rest looks a bit small, not that I’d mind you taking one of those kids shirts-”, he teased while collecting the two biggest shirts. “I think I’ll pass, thanks!”

[440mxs-wife]

The Hunter’s Princess - Chapter 6: Getting Complicated

Pairing: Dean x OFC Kira (eventual), Prince!Dean x OFC Lady Kira. Other Characters: Sam Winchester, Prince!Sam Winchester, Castiel, Rowena, Gabriel, King!John, Queen!Mary, Lucifer and assorted minor characters.

Chapter 6 Word Count: 2800+

Warnings: Feelings. Otherwise, none really.

A/N: This is from some material that’s been rattling around in my head from another project that changed direction. Couldn’t let all this content go to waste, though, so here it is. It’s a work-in-progress, and I will try and update as regularly as I can. If you want to be tagged in this series, send me a message!

A/N2: I would like to thank everyone for your support and your comments so far. I hope you are enjoying this as much as I am having fun writing it.

Thank you and happy reading!

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Kira opened the door to her room in the castle and her bed was the most welcome sight she'd ever seen. She removed her leather gauntlets and her knee-high boots, then crawled under the covers. As the urge to sleep crept through her body, Kira's mind drifted back to her first meeting with Prince Samuel.

When she met him at the pub, he'd seemed a bit stand-offish, detached. Since the incident with Danielle, Prince Samuel's attitude towards her has appeared to have changed. He'd shown more of an interest in her, and she wasn't quite sure what to do about it yet.

All because there was....Prince Dean. Kira had felt the spark with him the moment he asked her for a beer in her pub in that deep, sexy voice of his. Of course, that was no surprise to Kira, given how she felt about the Dean she hopefully still had waiting for her at home.

The Dean Winchester she loved showed her the same playful, cocky attitude as the princely version, at least on the outside. But Kira knew her Dean had a softer side as well, like the one that knew all about her because he listened. How Kira liked her coffee, how thunderstorms sometimes scared her, her favorite flower. Knowing that he paid attention to those things about her made her feel seen, like she mattered to him.

Sometimes when she was alone with him, she'd turn just in time to see something in his face. A look that, if she didn't know any better, could easily be mistaken for fondness, adoration or even love? Why not? she asked herself. She definitely felt it for him, why was it so hard for her to believe that he would feel it for her?

Prince Dean also seemed to have found a way into her heart as well, going out of his way to spend time with her. For example, he offered to finish the marketplace tour Kira had started with Castiel. He introduced Danielle to his mother instead of brushing the child aside. He even asked the king to postpone the first event of the Princes' Challenge for a couple of days while Kira recuperated.

The situation was starting to get more than a little complicated. It was becoming clear to Kira that wherever or whenever a Winchester is involved, complications are bound to arise.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dressed comfortably in the sweatpants and sweatshirt she found in her room, Lady Kira wandered into the library. Sam was at one of the tables, making notes from the book he was reading, but Dean was nowhere to be seen.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw Lady Kira approach him, so he rose from his seat and gave a quick bow. "Lady Kira, is everything all right?" he asked.

She chuckled a bit at his formality, and motioned for him to sit back down in his chair. "Please relax, Sam. You don't have to do that," she informed him.

"Okay, I'll try to remember. Are you settling in all right? Finding everything you need?" Sam inquired.

"Yes, everything is fine. The clothes I found fit perfectly, no surprise there. The tub was heavenly, especially with the lavender bath salts, thank you," Lady Kira remarked. "Although, I think the scent triggered a memory. It wasn't mine, but I think it was from the Kira that belongs in this timeline," she said.

"Really? What did you see?" Sam asked.

"People mostly. You, an older gentleman with a beard, two ladies, one with dark hair and one with blond hair. And something with just Dean and future-Kira," she replied tentatively. "It brought to mind a question. What exactly is the relationship between her and Dean?" she asked.

Sam took a deep breath and exhaled before answering. "The answer to that question is more complicated than explaining how she got sent there and you got sent here," Sam answered.

"Please, I need to know, Sam. Every time Dean looks at me, I see a flicker of sadness in his eyes. He looks at me, but he sees her. I can't imagine how much that hurts him," Lady Kira murmured.

"That would most assuredly cause our Kira concern, and she’d want to get to the bottom of it, if she were here," Sam grinned. "That's one of the many ways you are definitely alike, and that's in how much you care about others," he remarked. Sam went on to explain about how he and Dean grew up with Kira and had parents who hunted. Then he talked about how devastated Dean was when their dad made them leave town and Kira behind.

"Did Dean know then how much he loved her?" Lady Kira asked.

Sam shrugged. "I think Dean's known it for a long time. For him, though, knowing it and doing something about it are two different things. Actually, that goes for both of them, because she's loved him for as long as I can remember, but won't say anything to him," he remarked.

"Hmm. And they've been friends for so long, they think that if feelings are declared and something happens, there goes the friendship," Lady Kira surmised.

"Exactly. And let me tell you, it's extremely frustrating seeing two people you love going through so much pain for so long. Especially when it doesn’t have to be that way. Just because they're both too stubborn to accept that they deserve something good, or they're too afraid to take the risk," Sam replied.

She nodded in agreement. "I should tell you that there's a Sam, Dean and Castiel in my world as well. Not to inflate your ego, but you and Dean are the crown princes of the land," Lady Kira giggled. "And Castiel is your best friend as well as head of security for the royal family," she added.

"Huh. Crown princes? Really?" Sam gaped. "Well, I guess you could say that's how it should be," he teased.

"Ha ha Sam, very funny. Did you by chance find out when the next lunar eclipse is? The sooner it is, the sooner I can be restored to my native dimension," Lady Kira said.

"Next one is in five days, which why I'm researching like crazy to try and see what we need to make it happen," Sam responded.

Lady Kira picked up one of the books from the pile in front of Sam. "Five days? Then we haven't a moment to lose," she remarked.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Excuse me, Miss? Beggin' yer pardon, but it's time to rise," Sarah said as she nudged Kira's shoulder.

"Go away, Sarah, I just went to sleep. It can't possibly be time to get up," Kira grumbled.

"Please, Miss!" she urged. "It's time to get cleaned up and dressed for dinner! It would not look good to the king and queen if you were late," she added.

"All right, all right, Sarah. I'll get up," Kira promised. She maneuvered to a sitting position and swung her legs over the side so her feet touched the floor. Her head was pounding and it felt like the room was spinning. Kira suddenly felt a wave of nausea crash over her, so she grabbed the nearest receptacle and emptied the contents of her stomach.

Rowena came through the door in time to see Kira sitting on the side of her bed, shaking and holding her head. "Och, what's the matter, Kira dear? Not feeling well?" she asked.

"No, Rowena, I'm not. But, I need to make an appearance at dinner, because I don't want anyone to think there's anything wrong," Kira explained.

"You stay here and rest. Sarah will wait outside your door and make sure you're not disturbed. I shall send your regrets to the royal family. I will inform them that you will not be attending dinner, that you are under the weather. Not to worry, dear, I shall make sure to convey your deepest apologies," Rowena declared.

Kira didn't have the heart to disagree with Rowena, so she turned back around and got back under the blankets. "Thank you, Rowena," she mumbled as she fell back to sleep. Sarah took a chair out into the hallway to make sure Kira was not disturbed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sometime after midnight, Kira woke up feeling much better. She no longer felt nauseous and her headache had all but disappeared. Kira also couldn't get back to sleep, so she pulled her boots on again, then tiptoed to the door. She eased it open to see that Sarah had fallen asleep in her chair. Kira slipped past her on the way down the stairs.

The next event in the Princes' Challenge was an equestrian event, so Kira thought she'd wander down to visit the horses. Collins said the stables were at her disposal, and that she could stop by at any time.

Kira walked quietly among the horse stalls, carefully peeking in each one. Most of the horses were sleeping, but there were a few awake. Those not sleeping nuzzled her shoulder as she walked by. Kira chuckled lightly and lovingly patted each one on the head, making soothing noises. She made a mental note to bring some apples or sugar cubes with her the next time she decided to visit.

She walked to the last stall and there was a black Arabian stallion that she recognized at once. It was her faithful horse, Midnight. He seemed to recognize Kira as well, because he came right to the half-door and laid his head on her shoulder, just like he used to do.

"Hey, Midnight," Kira whispered. "It's so good to see you, boy. I can't believe you're here. It's been a long time, my friend," Kira said. She closed her eyes as she stroked down the front of his face, lost in memories of her Aunt Brenda's farm.

"Good evening, Lady Kira. I hope you're feeling better," a husky voice said, interrupting her thoughts. Kira gasped and her eyes flew open, but she wasn't startled enough to spook Midnight. Prince Dean. Her hand flew to her chest to calm her hammering heart.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized, holding up his hands. "I just wasn't expecting anyone to be around here this time of night," he explained. "We missed you at dinner. Well, I missed you at dinner," he remarked softly.

Kira could feel the blush rise in her cheeks as she gave a quick curtsy. "I'm sorry that I could not attend the evening meal, Your Highness. I think I got a bit overwhelmed after the competition," she explained.

"I recall thinking that you did not look well, surrounded by so many people," Prince Dean remarked.

"Afterwards, I went up to my room for some rest. I woke up to get dressed for dinner, but I had a massive headache. The room was also spinning, which I think caused me to get sick in the nearest wastecan. When Lady Rowena left for dinner, I crawled back into bed and fell asleep again. I should probably head back to my room," Kira replied.

As she walked past Prince Dean, he gently caught her hand. "Wait. Please don't go just yet. I've been having trouble sleeping these past few nights. Usually I find myself here, alone, but it would be nice to have some company," Prince Dean pleaded.

"As you wish, Your Highness," Kira responded.

"And how about we drop the titles, hmm? Tonight, right here and right now, just between us we're Dean and Kira, having a lovely chat, getting to know each other," he suggested.

"I can live with that, Your--Dean," she said with a giggle. They walked from the stables and wandered into the garden. They sat down to rest on the stone bench where Kira had first met Castiel.

"So, how do you know Midnight, or I should ask how does he know you? The reason I'm wondering, is because he's a recent acquisition. He didn't arrive here until after you did," Prince Dean asked.

Kira looked down at her hands in her lap. "It may be a simple question, but it's a rather complicated answer," she started, gazing into his vibrant green eyes. When he didn't say anything, she continued. "I am from a world where on your calendar it would be the year 2020. I first met Midnight on my Aunt Brenda's farm, where we used to go riding together all the time. I'm here because my mother's locket--" she held it up for him to see--"transported me here."

"It's a lovely locket. A family heirloom?" he asked.

Kira gaped at Dean's nonchalant reaction after she'd just told him she's from the future. "Um, yes, it is. It belonged to my mother, Ava. In my world, I am from a long line of hunters, including both of my parents. Werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts, ghouls, you name it, we hunt it," she explained. "This locket and its secrets have been passed down through generations from mother to daughter. Unfortunately, my mother was killed on a hunt before she could tell me anything about it," Kira finished, tears threatening.

Dean reached over and took her hands in his. "I'm so sorry, Kira," he murmured.

She gave Dean a watery smile in return before she continued. "My hunting partners are two brothers named--wait for it--Sam and Dean Winchester," she finished, lowering her gaze. Kira waited for him to either burst into laughter or call the guards to lock her up for being insane.

Prince Dean's index finger tilted Kira's head up so he could look into her eyes. "For the record, I don't think you're crazy. That night my brother and I walked into your pub? We had just finished taking out a vampire nest in another part of the Eastern province. Us being hunters is something we keep within the family. Collins and Castiel know, but we've known them so long, it's like they're family," he grinned.

Kira grinned as well. "Castiel is an important part of the family in my world as well, only he's an Angel of the Lord," she replied.

Prince Dean threw his head back and laughed at that. "Really? Oh, wait until I tell him that," he remarked. "So....do you have a husband in your world?" he asked.

"No, I'm not married. I'm the best of friends with Sam and Dean and have been since we were children, but....it's complicated as well. Even though they both mean the world to me, I have to admit that Dean has always had my heart. I just don't know how he feels about me, if he feels the same," Kira answered.

"Hmm. I can see what you mean by complicated," he began as he put a hand to her cheek. "But speaking for myself, the one in this dimension? I would consider myself the luckiest man in the world to call you my own. I would be sure to tell you every day what an amazing, kind, strong and beautiful woman you are," he declared.

Dean's eyes flitted up to Kira's hazel orbs down to her plump, pink lips. He slid his hand to Kira's neck, pulled her closer and moved to capture her mouth with his. At the last second, Kira turned her head and cast her eyes downward.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. Dean, I cannot deny how attracted to you I am, but you've only known me for a few days. Besides, there's still the matter of my not belonging here. At some point, we'll figure out how to bring back the Lady Kira that belongs here. I'll go home to my own dimension, to the Dean that I love. If our love is meant to be, it will be, regardless of time and space," Kira explained.

A soft smile graced Dean's face. "I understand, sweetheart. If you want, I'll walk you back to your room so you can get some sleep," he offered.

Kira nodded. "That would be lovely, thank you," she replied.

Once the pair had reached the door to Kira's room, Dean took her in his arms again. He brushed his knuckles on her cheek with one hand as he pulled her close to his body with the other. "Just promise me that at the ball, if you're still here, you will save every dance for me," he said huskily. Prince Dean lowered his head and pressed his lips to Kira's forehead in a lingering kiss.

"For as long as I'm here, I promise. Every dance is yours," she repeated. Kira opened the door and stepped inside, but before she closed the door, she whispered, "Goodnight". Kira leaned her back against the closed door and she heard Prince Dean softly say, "Goodnight" in return.

She closed her eyes as she thought back on the events that occurred after sneaking out of her room. A smile slowly spread across her face as Kira turned on the light so that she could find her sleeping attire.

Part 7 here!

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Tags: @janicho88 @akshi8278 @magssteenkamp @swiftlymoniquesblog @lyarr24 @miss-nerd95 @distefano123 @hobby27 @deanwanddamons @jessica-noel94 @wayward-mikaelson @jawritter @gabrielslittleangel @jensengirl83 @deangirl93 @ellewritesfix05 @supernatural-jackles @babygurltt @flamencodiva

The Hunter’s Princess Series Tags: @supernatural-love14

[agentmarymargaretskitz]

Constangreen + Cassie: “She’s at the hospital. I—I don’t know what happened.”

(Enjoy! Set in a future where the Bureau gets brought back. AO3)

The call from Cassie’s school came in just as Gary was about to head off to lunch. At first he was expecting a disciplinary issue, but then the secretary started talking about the hospital and that they had to send Cassie there immediately. Gary felt his brain slow down from the information before it went into overdrive again. He managed to get out the words ‘Cassie’ and ‘hospital’ to Ava when she asked why he was hyperventilating, to which she told him to just go. On his way out, he mad a call to John, hoping that his phone was on right now.

“Hello, sunshine,” came smoothly over the line, making Gary sigh in relief. “How’s work?”

“Cassie hospital,” he all but yelled into the phone, still in a panic.

John didn’t respond immediately. When he finally asked what, Gary could hear the panic in his voice.

“She’s at the hospital. I-I don’t know what happened.”

More silence on the other end.

“John? Are you there?”

“I’m here, love,” John replied. “I’m on my way to the hospital right now. Did they say why they sent her?”

“I stopped listening after they said she collapsed outside the bathroom,” Gary told him, punching the coordinates into his time courier. “I’ll call them back and see if they can tell me anything else.”

“You do that. I’ll meet you there. And Gary?”

“Yeah?”

“Whatever it is, she’s going to be okay. We’ll do anything we can.”

Gary nodded. “I know. See you soon.”

Five minutes later, Gary was waiting outside the hospital as John climbed out of a moving car. Watching that happen made Gary forget how to breath for a moment. The last thing he needed was the love of his life in the hospital too. And Chas knew John enough to slow down if he was going to do something like that.

“I’ll call you later,” John promised his friend before running over to Gary. “Have you seen her yet?”

Gary shook his head as they entered the hospital. “I’ve been waiting for you. The school told me she had been asking to go to the bathroom a lot. When they were going to lunch, Cassie just dropped to the ground. The nurse said she’d been in pain for quite a while.”

John sighed. “And here I thought a demon had found her.”

“I don’t think it was, she always wears that charm you made her,” Gary reminded him as they started walked towards the emergency room (a route they knew too well from John, Cassie, and Gary on one occasion). “The number of mornings that we’ve been late to school because she was searching for it.”

John smiled as a nurse approached them. “You wouldn’t happen to be Cassandra’s parents, would you?”

“Yes, we’re Cassie’s fathers,” Gary nodded. “Gary Green, John Constantine. We got a call from the school that she was here?”

“She just told me that you were coming in,” the nurse chuckled as she checked their IDs. “Then you two walked in. Heck of a coincidence. She’s just down on that last bed over there.”

“Can you tell us what’s wrong with her?” John asked nervously. “The school wouldn’t tell us anything.”

“We’re still working that out. It could be appendicitis, but we need the doctor to confirm it.”

John relaxed a little. Gary reached over and rubbed his shoulder. “No demons.”

“No demons. But her appendix.”

“If it is, they’ll get it out. It’s a good thing that they caught it. Remember, she’ll be okay.”

“Right.”

“Hey, Cassie,” the nurse smiled as she pulled back a curtain. “Look who’s here.”

Their daughter was curled up on the bed wearing a hospital gown. Her backpack was on the floor along with a bag of her clothes. The fifth Harry Potter was in her hands. As soon as she saw them, Cassie put down the book and sat upright. The movement looked painful even though she still managed a smile at them.

“Dad, Dad,” she greeted. “Good news. You don’t have to pick me up from school today and fight the pick-up line.”

John beat Gary over to the hospital bed. “I’d rather fight that line and Brenda’s oversixed minivan.”

“How are you feeling?” Gary asked as Cassie leaned against John.

Her face scrunched up. “It hurts.”

“I’ll bet,” Gary gave her hand a squeeze. “But the doctor’s on the way. The nurse says it might be appendicitis.”

“Yay,” was their daughter’s sarcastic reply as she sank down onto the bed, gripping her book.

“They’ll take care of you,” John promised. “And if they don’t, then your dad and I will. Right, Gary?”

“Right.”

John tapped his finger against the cover. “What part did you get to?”

“Mr. Weasley’s taking Harry to the Ministry for his trial. I was trying to read to distract from the pain. It didn’t work.”

“How about your dad gives it a shot until the doc comes?” John suggested.

Cassie looked over to Gary. “Please, Dad?”

“I think I can do that,” Gary pulled up one of the chairs in the room and sat down. “And your father hasn’t read it, so now we can make sure he hears it.”

“I’ve seen the movies, sunshine.”

“Doesn’t count,” Cassie and Gary said at the same time before Gary started to read aloud.

As he did, she started to relax a little more. The doctor arrived a few minuyes later, confirmed she had appendicitis and needed surgery right away, and started getting her prepared. John and Gary sat by her until she had to go in. They each gave her a hug and kiss before the nurse rolled her away.

“She’s going to be okay,” John said aloud as they watched her go.

Gary nodded. “She will. She always will.”

[aliensnipe]

Tagged by: @soysaucevictim

Rules: Write the first 10 songs that come up on shuffle and quote your favorite lyrics from each. Then tag 10 people.

(I do not tag. I am tag-agnostic. But I want YOU to do this. Yes, YOU. Pleaz. =3)

I had to skip instrumentals, natch. They’re in italics below, if you’re curious.

Kenzo - “Sora ni Hikaru” (Neo-Progressive)

1. They Might Be Giants - “Fingertips” (Comedy / Alternative Rock)

I heard a sound

I turned around

I turned around to find the thing that made the sound

(...John and John, you utter trolls. X3 The ONE song (or series of songs... or series of three- to four-second musical phrases) that makes this meme break down. I could infodump about “Fingertips” all day, but we’re short on time, so just message me or something if you wanna know what I’m rambling about.)

2. Angelique Kidjo - “Try Everything” (Afropop)

Birds don’t just fly

They fall down and get up

Nobody learns

Without getting it wrong

(I’m really beginning to like Angelique Kidjo, but I need to track down more of her original work, because most of what I’ve heard from her is covers. Like, say, the above.)

Toby Fox - “Reunited” (Chiptune)

3. Serenity - “Wings of Madness” (Symphonic Power Metal)

Out on the silent battlefield

While the killing work is done

And the crimson haze is gone

Still lies the deadly sword I wield

And I’m dreaming of your face

Have begun to count the days

4. Eskaton - “Automute” (Zeuhl)

Je mate et puis j'imite

Ceux qui creent, ca m'epate

Moi je sais pas j'imite 

Je copie, j'automate

(...this is less “my favorite lyric” than “the one thing I can find a reference for with my utter ignorance of French”)

5. Rush - “Halo Effect” (Hard Rock)

What did I see, fool that I was

A goddess with wings on her heels

All my illusions projected on her

The ideal that I wanted to see

6. The Psychedelic Furs - “Pretty in Pink” (New Wave)

The one who insists he was first in her line is the last to remember her name

He’s walking around in this dress that she wore

She’s gone, but the joke’s the same

7. Joe Dolce - “Shaddap You Face” (Comic)

What’samatta you, HEY! Gotta no respect

Whaddaya think you do, why you looka so sad

It’s a not so bad, it’s a nice-a place

Ah, shaddap a-you face!

(...cut me some slack. It can’t be multi-layered prog rock and death metal alla time)

8. Yes - “Parallels” (Art Rock)

It's the beginning of a new love in sight You've got the way to make it all happen Set it spinning turning roundabout Create a new dimension When we are winning we can stop and shout Making love towards perfection

9. Elvis Costello - “She” (Singer-songwriter)

She may be the reason I survive The why and wherefore I'm alive The one I'll care for through the rough and ready years

Me, I'll take her laughter and her tears 

And make them all my souvenirs And where she goes I've got to be The meaning of my life is she

10. The Smashing Pumpkins - “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” (Alternative Rock)

The world is a vampire

Sent to drain

Secret destroyers

Hold you up to the flames

And what do I get 

For my pain

Betrayed desires 

And a piece of the game

11. Spock’s Beard - “Afterthoughts” (Progressive Rock)

To keep them out, I keep me in

‘cause they don’t get to hear the things I know

The bats up in this belfry 

Fly in circles ‘cause they don’t know where to go

12. Opeth - “The Drapery Falls” (Progressive Metal)

Pull me down again

And guide me into 

ah ah ah, ah-ah ah ah, ah-ahhh...

The Seventy Sound - “Bluephoria” (Library Music)

13. Premiata Forneria Marconi - “Geranio” (Progressive Rock)

Balla piano nella via Balla il vento della notte Balla un sogno che non c'è più Balla l'ombra della luna Sfiora il tempo la fortuna Balla piano, balla laggiù

(I don’t speak Italian, either, so this is the same situation as the Eskaton lyrics. Though I will say that these refrains are quite pretty in translation.)

Brand X - “Red” (Jazz Fusion)

14. The Psychedelic Furs - “India” (New Wave)

All the women form a line

Put your face upon a line

This is for the discotheque

This is stupid, I object

15. Alabama Shakes - “Gimme All Your Love” (Funk)

So much is goin’ on

But you can always come around

Why don’t you sit with me just a little while

Tell me what’s wrong

If you just gimme all your love

Gimme all you got, baby

Gimme all your love

15. Golden Earring - “Radar Love” (Classic Rock)

Radio playin’ that forgotten song

Brenda Lee comin’ on strong

And the newsman sang his same song

One more radar lover gone

16. Wolfmother - “Joker and the Thief” (Garage Rock)

Can you see the joker flying over

As she’s standing in a field of clover

Watching out every day

Wonder what would happen if he took her away

(...and they NEVER TELL US ALL THE STORY ‘BOUT THE JOKER AND THE THIEF IN THE NIGHT. NO, I’M NOT LETTING THIS GO.)

Gryphon - “Second Spasm” (Symphonic Rock)

17. Sonata Arctica - “My Land” (Power Metal)

My own land has closed its gates on me

All alone, in world that’s scaring me

I am here to prove you wrong

I’m accused of something, I live on

(...having been kicked out of home at a relatively young age, this song gives me Feelings)

Yes - “Mood for a Day” (Art Rock)

18. Yes - “Heart of the Sunrise” (Art Rock)

Love comes to you, then after

Dream on, on to the heart of the sunrise

Lost on a wave that you’re dreaming

Dream on, on to the heart of the sunrise

Sharp distance

How can the wind with its arms around me...

Sharp distance

How can the wind with so many around me...

(damn! Spotify shuffle really hittin’ the Yes tonight!)

19. Barclay James Harvest - “Who Do We Think We Are” (Progressive Rock)

All around we're travelling the universe Do we believe there's someone watching over us Can we be sure? Who do we think we are?

20. Rush - “Heresy” (Hard Rock)

The counter-revolution

People smiling through their tears

Who can give them back their lives

And all those wasted years?

All those wasted years

All those precious, wasted years

Who will pay?

[fangirlbase]

The Howl of the Moon - Remus Lupin

Summary:

After a terrible accident in the battle at the Ministry in 1995, Hermione Granger wins a one-way ticket to the past. Unable to go back to his time, his only chance for survival is to adapt to the late 70s and get on with his life, interfering as little as possible so that the future does not fall apart.

However, everything goes downhill when Remus John Lupine starts to notice too much the new girl who clearly wanted to go unnoticed by Hogwarts.

Chapters: Prolog | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven

Warnings: mature

                                           2.The one with the haircut

The December twenty-first had finally arrived, and as most of the castle boarded the carriages for the express, Hermione finished packing her bag with what few belongings she had. Minerva had informed the previous day that they would not spend the holiday at the castle that year.

- Finally I have someone to take to my sister-in-law's party, I won't miss this chance for anything!

It had been the excuse the teacher had given when Hermione said she didn't want to bother, but she suspected that all that teacher's insistence had more to do with her getting used to her now tutor's house and mainly to get out of the environment a little bit. of familiar was not that of her memories, her friends wouldn't be there to celebrate the holidays with her… They hadn't even been born yet.

Although the express left at 11am from Hogsmeade, they didn't go home until around 5pm. As a householder, Minerva had to extend her hours, accommodating the few Gryffindor students who had stayed that holiday, finishing correcting some jobs before summoning Hermione to her office to leave.

Though they hadn't left the castle, the older Witch had noticed the sad way the student had watched her housemates leaving through the school gates - the same sad way she'd been looking at the common room at that moment. She knew she couldn't ask questions about the future, but the intensity in the teenager's gaze told her that she had left much-loved companions in the future.

- Let's go dear? - Minerva spoke calmly, wanting to dispel the sadness that had taken over the girl.

Hermione just confirmed, taking her small suitcase as she would leave her trunk and most of her materials and belongings in the dormitory, so she followed the tutor to her office, entering the fireplace and feeling the heat take over her body while the teacher holding her a strong hand threw the flu powder and the emerald green flames surrounded them. Holding a sneeze, the teenager cleaned herself and left the dark environment, gasping when she noticed the room they were in: there were no walls, just bookcases and more bookcases! A coffee table was surrounded by two sofas and an armchair that, despite being slightly dusty, could be cleaned in a matter of seconds with the correct spell.

- I knew you'd like it. - Minerva decreed with a little smile on her face. - Your room is upstairs, third door on the left. Then I'll introduce you to the rest of the house, it's modest but comfortable. I hope you are happy here.

The young woman nodded, still a little embarrassed to be in the house of the teacher she most admired at school, and thus holding her curiosity to explore the titles that Minerva had in her personal collection, she went in the direction that the tutor indicated. The room really wasn't very big, but it wasn't small either, in the girl's opinion it was the ideal size for her to feel good. As she had brought few things, not even bothering to empty her suitcase, but she knew that the reluctance was more in the fact that she didn't want to be there, even with all the hospitality of the teacher, the idea of spending Christmas away from her family and friend was disheartening.

Hermione overcame the anguish of never knowing how the battle in the ministry ended after the first few months she woke up at that time, but at times like this she couldn't help wondering: How were Harry and Ron? If they Neville, Luna and Gina were safe celebrating Christmas at the Burrow… "Stop!" He scolded himself, after all, it's no use getting caught up in questions that she would never have answers to. She was a practical witch and knew she had no talent for guessing the future.

Minerva gave a little tour of the house showing Hermione where were all the things she would need and said she was free to read whatever she wanted in the library, so the teacher left the youngest alone to explore the new environment until the time of dinner, when he revealed that the next day the two would go shopping - that even after the teenager's several refusals, she did not listen. As her tutor, she needed to provide the best for her, meaning clothes and a proper life. And besides that, the teacher needed to finish her Christmas shopping, after all she still needed some presents for her nephews.

Even uncomfortable, Hermione couldn't have been more grateful for the witch's zeal. Even though she had to carry countless bags the next afternoon, she couldn't hold back her tears as she confessed that Minerva had always been her favorite teacher - getting a pinch and a comforting hug in return.

However, it was during Christmas dinner that Hermione revealed to her tutor her true intentions for the year. The two were sitting at a long table in the rectory in the Caithness suburb that had been the late Reverend Presbyterian Robert McGonagall and his wife Isobel, Minerva's country and his two younger brothers Malcom and Robert Junior. With the death of their father, Malcon and his wife Brenda - a Hufflepuff witch - who was pregnant with their second child and the couple's little eldest Isla came to live with Isobel who, finally being surrounded by magic, found herself completely happy.

- But your hair, dear? - Questioned Minerva.

- Women usually cut their hair after important decisions in their life, right? It wasn't just a milestone that I came back here, but if I need to camouflage myself, I need to change my look. I've always been known for the size of my teeth and voluminous hair, I can't let them recognize me until the moment of disappearance.

- But your teeth aren't big! My friend Timothy's they are, but Mom said I can't say they look like a rabbit because that will make him sad and then he won't want to play Quidditch with me anymore. - Commented the little Max, nickname of Maxwell son of Robert Junior and of the wife Aileen who tried uselessly to wipe the son's chubby cheeks that were smeared with the turkey sauce with a napkin.

- I've fixed this before. Hermione smiled. - But my hair is a problem. There are people in that dangerous school, who unfortunately knew me….

- You don't need to say anything else, I understand.

- Oh dear, it will be a shame to cut, your hair is beautiful! - Brenda stated that she had complimented the teen's curls as soon as they were introduced.

- Honey, the girl is right. - Defended Malcon while finishing cutting the vegetables for the daughter who was sitting between her parents. - These are dangerous times, dark wizards have grown a lot, going unnoticed is always better than attracting unwanted attention.

- And how do you want to do it? - Asked the teacher.

- I need to look as different as possible, but I don't want to mess with the color.

- The solution then would be a pixie cut! - Aileen suggested excited, both for having managed to clean her son with a spell and mainly because she loved fashion. - I saw in "The American Charmer" that the cut is the latest trend among American witches!

- Do you help me?

And so Christmas Eve had ended at the McGonagalls' house: with Minerva, the two sisters-in-law, and Hermione having fun with the arduous task of a haircut, while Isobel dozed in the armchair near the fireplace and the lighted Christmas tree, she I should keep an eye on the children Isla and Max who play with the gifts they had won since the men had decided it was worth it to face the winter cold to smoke a cigar on the porch.

***

It was amazing how even after a long and tiring seven-hour journey Sirius didn't stop still. After trying to flirt with six girls on the way between the carriages and the Great Hall, he still had the strength to try one more time in the Gryffindor Hall! With all five friends nicely settled on the rug in front of the fireplace - forgetting for the time being the position of monitors - they saw from a box when a girl of medium height, head high and nose upturned, walked past the Fat Lady painting. With her hair short to her ears, tight pants and a sweater that outlined her body beautifully, she carried a book to her breasts, in a body language that maybe hiding was a good idea where she tried to be brave.

As she passed them, Sirius couldn't help himself.

- Pretty girl…. Well done girl! Beautiful girl…. - He exclaimed his compliments out loud, in an attempt to get her attention.

Instead of flushed cheeks, he only received a questioning look, along with contempt. I mean, at least hers, since her pickup line had hit another girl who came through the frame right behind.

- Sirius! Marlene McKinnon threw herself into her lap, believing it was for her.

Engrossed in his friends' jokes with Marlene and Sirius who had a true love-hate relationship since one hour they were flirting and the next they were cursing, Remus was more shocked by what he saw in front of him. That was the newbie! What would have happened to that change? What had she done? What she….

- What did she do with her hair? Remus asked indignantly, still watching the girl climb the dorm stairs.

- Who she? - James found his friend's focus strange, turning his body to look in the direction his friend indicated.

- The new one!

- That was Granger?! - James turned even more, losing sight of her.

- Did you do something, Lilly? Remus asked, trying to figure out the reason for the sudden change.

- Absolutely nothing! I haven't talked to her yet.

- Excellent! Even the newcomer rejected me! Is it not possible to be with anyone else in this school?! Sirius complained indignantly.

- McKinnon doesn't seem to agree with that, Padfoot…. - Peter laughed at his friend, who had just managed to get rid of the brunette.

Did I mention that they had a strange love-hate relationship? Well they did! She had already made her feelings for him more than clear, but he didn't reciprocate in the same way - resulting in awkward moments like this.

- What did she do with her hair…? Remus asked quietly, drawing Sirius' attention.

- Dude, it's just a haircut!

- But it had to be so radical?! I didn't even recognize her!

- Why? Have you been watching the newcomer?

- Of course not!

"But that's true, Sirius had never tried anything with her."

- Her luck ran out, unfortunately…. Lilly teased the brunette, receiving an ugly finger.

"Did you have to start seeing her, Potter?" Sirius implied.

- My luck was that you didn't try anything with her either.

- Hey! I respect my friends' girls!

If Sirius had sung the fledgling once without even knowing it was her, would he do it again on purpose? Remus didn't like to think about that possibility for some time, a fact that was proven two days later, when Padfoot did just that.

- Want help loading your books? - Sirius asked in a wooden face, intercepting her on the way to the second greenhouse where the sixth year students would have a herbology class and the seventh year students would leave.

He didn't even have the pleasure of an answer, only receiving a freezing look as he passed him and turned his eyes to the notepaper in his hand.

"Hard woman…" Sirius snorted, laughing at the situation.

- Do you really want to insist on that, Padfoot? She seems to have made it very clear that she doesn't want to be disturbed. James hugged his friend by the shoulder as they walked back to the castle for their next class.

- I don't know, I think it would be an excellent pastime for the end of the school year, and maybe I can get a kiss?

- I think a kick in your balls is more likely! - Peter exclaimed with a laugh.

- And you, Remus? What do you think? Sirius asked his friend who was frowning, following the girl with his eyes.

- Why did she cut her hair….?

- What is this fixation for hair that you developed, huh?!

That would go on for the rest of the day, to the point where Sirius lost his temper right after dinner.

- Still thinking about her hair? James nudged his friend, who was looking at the girl curled up in the same chair as before, reading a book of advanced potions.

- Couldn't she have decreased just a little bit? Did I need all this change?

- ENOUGH! Sirius got annoyed. - Let's end this now! THIS IS THE TENTH TIME YOU HAVE GROUNDED ABOUT THAT IDIOT HAIR!

- THERE WASN'T IDIOT!

Sirius didn't give a damn about his friend, marching over to the fledgling.

- This is going to be a good one. James barked, settling himself better to watch the show.

Hermione so far hadn't noticed the altered voices in the hall, only taking her attention from her book when she saw a pair of legs stop right in front of her. When he realized it was Sirius, he rolled his eyes internally because he thought it was another line from the boy. She made a mental note of one day making a point of complaining to Harry about how his godfather was a pain in the ass.

- Can I help you with anything? - She tried to be polite at least once.

- He can. A friend asked me to ask you….

- Is it serious? I would like to be alone if you don't impose….

- REALLY! James asked me to ask you why Remus just STOP TALKING ABOUT it, but….

- Can't you summarize?

- Why did you cut your hair?

Hermione was silent, shock consuming her existence. Was this serious? In the midst of all that fuss (which she had already done in fourth year when Harry and Ron were fighting), was the subject of her hair? And why on earth would that be Professor Lupin's concern?

With a frown of confusion she simply stated:

- This only concerns me.

- No, no, no…. You may have no appreciation for anyone else at this school, but I care a lot about my sanity and my ears! One reason is all I need!

Hermione glanced sideways at the fireplace, raising her eyebrow as she noticed Lupin, Potter and Pettigrew staring at them expectantly.

- Well, if your friend wants to know so much, he should come and ask himself, and not send a homing pigeon.

And ignoring Sirius, Hermione turned her attention back to her book, hoping to find out if that crazy hair was true. Sirius huffed in annoyance, returning to the couch and dropping to the floor, rubbing his temples.

- And then?! Remus asked boldly, forgetting to show disinterest.

- If you want to know, you will have to go there and ask yourself!

- Hey, did you stop asking? - James was surprised.

- No, that was her answer. But she didn't seem very able to answer you, to be honest. What animal bit her?

- Probably a dog. - Peter joked, receiving a pillow in the face.

_***_

It was the next morning that Minerva McGonagall had intercepted Remus on his way out of the transfiguration class, asking for a moment to talk alone. Already preparing to hear some lecture about his friends who had been caught last night for trying to smuggle sweet pies from the kitchen to the dorm, Remus thought of the best possible excuse for what they had done, but he had no idea, they actually they weren't even supposed to be caught since they were wearing the Marauder's Map and James' Invisibility Cloak, but it was true that the cloak was already getting small for three so Remus had stayed behind.

- Sorry, Professor, but I'm sure it wasn't James and Sirius' intention!

Minerva shook her head first, then laughed at her student's lost expression.

- It's nothing related to them, Mr. Lupin, but it's good to know that something is coming, the last event with the theft of sweet pies was a bit comical. I asked you to stay a little longer because I need to talk to you about a very important subject, regarding the transfiguration classes.

- Did something happen?

- Yes and no. I've noticed that several fifth and sixth graders have had various difficulties with crucial elements of the transfiguration, and I don't know why they're afraid to come and ask me for help. I thought about it and talked to Headmaster Dumbledore and we decided to open tutoring hours for students to ask questions with other students selected by me. There will be three groups: from the first to the third, fourth and fifth, and sixth and seventh. As I know of your tribulations with NEWTs, I would like you to help me with the sixth and seventh grades.

- I… Wow. I would love! But… I'm afraid of not being efficient or being able to help during that period….

- You will not be alone, you will have another person monitoring with you. Can we schedule twice a week then? Twice in an hour or once in two hours?

- I prefer twice, if it's not bothersome for the other monitor. By the way, who will it be?

- Jean Granger.

Remus blinked a few times in confusion. Who the hell was Jean? He only knew one Granger, but that wasn't her name.

- Jean, teacher? - He took a chance.

Minerva glanced at the door, to make sure they were alone before asking him to secrecy.

- I believe you remember what you heard that day in my office, before Christmas. I cannot give too many details, that concerns her, but it was necessary to change her name.

Remus blinked his eyes hastily. Was she in that much danger?

"Just ask, idiot" - Moony showed his point, being ignored.

- I see… Have you talked to her about monitoring?

- We talked about it over Christmas and she is more than willing to help with tutoring. You will be amazed at the potential of that young woman. - Minerva hid a smile, suspecting that an approach between the two would be beneficial for both.

***

As agreed, every Tuesday and Thursday, from 5 pm to 6 pm, Remus and Jean were to appear in the transfiguration room to offer tutoring to their sixth and seventh year classmates. It would certainly take some time for a living soul to appear, so it was more than crucial that they did not remain in an awkward silence in the meantime. Not wanting to be late on the first day, Remus dropped out of arithmancy class as soon as it ended, not paying much attention to what Lilly had come to ask him. Even after trying not to be late, as soon as he opened the living room door he found Jean sitting on top of her desk, her legs bent like a lotus flower, reading a book.

He walked over and cleared his throat, but the girl was immersed in her own bubble. Risking a good afternoon, he at least managed to get her to respond to the greeting more automatically than consciously. Ashamed of his existence in a place where he clearly wasn't welcome, Remus sat at his usual table - which surprisingly was right next to the one she was at - pulling out his Arithmancy notebook and doing some calculations to pass the time. It must have been at least half an hour before he noticed a male voice in the room.

Your own voice.

- I also like Hogwarts, a story.

Hermione stopped her reading and straightened up, wondering if Lupine had really spoken to her. She risked turning to him and when she saw that he was looking at her, she deduced that she was.

- Not everyone agrees with you.

- I thought you were homeschooled...

- And I was, but knowledge is never too much.

- Is this your first time reading the book?

"Idiot, isn't it kind of obvious that she's read it before?" Moony rolled his eyes at Remus' lack of social skills.

- Actually, seventy-third.

Remus widened his eyes at that.

- You're kidding, aren't you?

- No. Reading it has always been kind of soothing to me since I was eleven. Whenever I needed to be alone or for company, he was the one I turned to. Hermione didn't see any harm in telling him that, she loved talking about books.

Besides, he seemed to be more baffled than she was.

- This gives an average reading of 10,428 times a year. What happened for you to spend more time reading it than…

- Did you manage to do that in your head?! Hermione deviated from the main topic.

- You do not?

- 10.42857142857143 would be the exact average. ” She replied with a smug smile.

"Is she a human counting machine?"

- Do you also do arithmancy?

- I tried to advance the advanced class, but the teacher did not trust my skills even with my NOMS grades, she said that it would be better for me to follow the normal flow and only do it when I was in seventh grade. Is this today's duty? - She asked craning her neck, not holding back with curiosity.

Remus just held out his notebook, being shocked at how sharp the gears in the witch's brain were at work. It was obvious he didn't complain when she pulled out a quill and fixed some numbers, verifying that she had found the errors. If she was so happy doing seventh grade exercises, he wouldn't be the one to complain and stop her from doing so.

I mean, he had already done a lot of that for his friends, someone could once do their duty for him, right?

He couldn't say exactly when, but at some point he approached her table, starting to resolve issues together for hours explaining why her resolution would not be possible with reality, but she insisted on hypothetical arguments for them to be used that he did not understand. The more he explained she replied, going so far as to create calculations and scribbles in her notebook explaining her point. She had been distracted by tracing the trajectory of an alternate spell, allowing him to just watch her.

"The long hair was more beautiful" - Moony complained, making Remus agree.

- Can I ask you something? - He asked embarrassed.

- You just asked.

Remus rolled his eyes, not believing that she really had made that old joke.

- Why did you cut your hair?

He didn't like the disbelieving laugh he got, along with a shocked look.

- I thought Black was making fun of me when he asked me that and blamed you, but…. You are really asking me this!

- I admit that I went a little overboard with my reflections on your motives, but it's only because I don't like extreme, sudden or sudden changes!

He hated being a man one second and being a wolf the next.

"HEY!"

   Hermione was silent for a while just staring at him, to the point that Remus wished he were an ostrich to stick his head into the ground in shame. Why did he have to worry so much about a damn hair?!

- Do you know the witness protection program?

- I think I've heard about it somewhere ... - Remus remembered the several times he was forced to move so that the neighbors wouldn't realize that he was always sick near the full moon because of his transformations.

- I decided since the ministry forced me to change so many things, changing my hair would be the least and well, it would help with everything to go unnoticed. Until the last half semester they were trying to solve my… case, but with no result they decided that it was best to give me a new identity and since I don't think I was noticed here, the name won't make much difference. Professor McGonagall already warned you that my name is now Jean, and well… I think you already know that I live with the professor because she is my nice Tutor and now that I've cut my hair. End.

- I preferred it long… - He blurted out, blushing then.

"Long hair is good to play with"

- Me either. Hermione agreed with him, returning to her wistful bubble.

Nervous that he had done something stupid, Remus despaired, but was saved by the bell. In the next minute the alarm that sounded at 6 pm rang out, summoning everyone to dinner.

- Since no one showed up…. Want company to the Salon? - He let go, trying to redeem himself.

   Hermione thought for a while, packing her bag and accepting the offer. They walked in silence to the Gryffindor table, nodding their heads off. Remus had barely sat down on the bench when he was bombarded by questions from his home's redheaded monitor.

- Did she just greet you, Remus?

- Yea…?

- Why? They were talking?

- Remus said he had someone else on prefect with him. Was her? - James interjected.

- Yes.

- And did you talk anything or just coexist in silence because she still refuses to interact with anyone?

- We talked a few things.

- Did you by any chance ask about her hair? James took it off with his face, while Sirius and Peter sat at the table.

- That hair thing again? Sirius whimpered.

- I asked, but I won't tell.

Everyone else opened their mouths in shock. Had he really asked something so personal to someone who didn't even know of his existence?!

- You didn't disturb us for three days to just be quiet!

Remus just shrugged, indicating that no more words would come out of his mouth as he smirked and went back to drinking his pumpkin juice.

[holdontohopelove]

Well, that was...

Anti-fucking-climatic.

Let me explain (lots of spoilers and not one bit of brevity):

- Okay, so the funeral was beautiful. And brief. Which is almost just as well because I could not have handled much more than that even though Sharon deserved whole episodes dedicated to mourning her. I wanted to see more familiar faces in the crowd. Pope. Brenda. Fritz. Morales. Jack. Gavin. Judge Grove. I know, I know, schedules and guest stars are hard, but it lost something without them.

- Emma Rios bit the dust. I’m not surprised. The foreshadowing was on point. Mostly, I’m glad it wasn’t Brenda. Sorry, Emma. ALSO, off topic, but homegirl is 35 and has that kind of house with a pool in LA? Man, I love subtle reminders about how underpaid my profession is. Also, this means she was prosecuting the Stroh case at 30 so damn.

- Andrea Hobbs losing her shit was all of us. That was the one moment that I nearly lost it. I wanted to hug that woman so badly.

- I did have a moment when I envisioned Taylor and Sharon greeting Emma in heaven and I had to start reciting multiplication tables to not cry.

- The wedding photos. God. Just make it stop. I want to be free of this pain. I think I said motherfucker about 50 times during these episodes and at least 10 of them were that scene. More on when I said the other 40 coming up...

- Was I the only one who disliked Sharon’s videos? I mean, I loved seeing Sharon, but...I was just like meh about them. I feel like those things are good in theory and bad in practice. It never sounds as heartfelt or genuine as an actual conversation and then that’s all you have left of your loved one. For me, it seemed very rehearsed and un-Sharon. Her last words to everyone just seemed so weird and not her. I also was a bit disappointed that Rusty got his own and no one else did. I almost feel like a letter to each person would have been more Sharon’s style (but of course not dramatic enough for TV or Duff).

- I’m glad Andy had a moment of actually showing minor anger towards Sharon.  I still think she put herself in harm’s way - #sorrynotsorry. To quote Brenda, “you didn’t have time to call it in, but you had time to take pictures?!” Sharon, you were too busy to go home even though you were sick but you had time to make videos in case you died? (And also, we later found out that Gus got the call about Sharon being in the hospital between 8pm - 9:30pm. So Sharon was working that late for that confession after being told to calm the fuck down?Great).

- I literally wanted to punch someone when Sharon called Ricky her firstborn. THEY COULDN’T EVEN GET HER POST-DEATH LEGACY VIDEO RIGHT? God, Duff, what the fuck. Do you even watch your own show?

- Okay - the Stroh case. I was almost glad to have something else to focus on instead of the grief, but what a fucking anti-climatic shit show. 

- I don’t give a damn about the hacking accomplice. I’m mostly mad no one’s caught onto him yet and the scenes where we had to watch him watch the squad annoyed the shit out of me. Are we supposed to feel bad if he dies? Because I won’t. 

- I really don’t give a good golly fuck about Stroh’s backstory. I would have, perhaps, if we’d gotten one on Sharon or Andy or even Amy or Tao or ANYONE or even Sharon AND Andy as a couple, but since we didn’t, then I don’t want nearly two hours of TV devoted to Stroh’s sociopathic past. Probably 20 of the roughly 40 remaining motherfuckers I said were directed at various parts of this storyline.

- Phillip Stroh became the “Red John” of this show (heyyy Mentalist people!), but instead of devoting seasons to developing the story line, we get it pelted at us in four episodes, on top of grief and wrapping up the series and the minor fucking relationship story lines. Joy. 

- Thank God they caught onto the whole “Gus saw Stroh at his restaurant.” That was perhaps the only redeeming thing in the case that happened.

- Chief Mason is a fucking idiot. It’s like literally everyone else in the free world is aware of the threat of Stroh BUT him. Half of the time tonight was spent with basically everyone trying to convince Mason to give out protective details. ARE YOU SERIOUS? The rest of the motherfuckers I said were devoted to Chief Mason...what an honor.

- I swear to God, the promos that ran during 24 Hours of A Christmas Story for tonight’s episodes had a part where it showed “Rusty is next” scrawled on a wall in what looked like Sharon’s condo. Or somewhere. And that did not appear once in tonight’s episodes so WTF.

- I’m over Rusty and Gus and Cami and Wes. I don’t care. DON’T CARE.

- Is Wes the guy on the motorcycle? Because Provenza clearly sent him uncover to do whatever the fuck needed to be done and I’m pretty sure that’s him and not Stroh on the bike in the episode and in the elevator with the helmet on in the promo. I don’t want Wes to be the hero of this story. I barely want Rusty to be the hero of this story and he’s been around since Day 1.

- Can we talk about how Tony Denison got fucked over? He said himself in his Facebook live that he doesn’t do much in the final 3 episodes except look in Sharon’s office and look sad and damn if that isn’t the truth. He said in the vid that most of his role lately had been about being with Sharon and since she’s gone, he has nothing to do. That’s fucking sad. Andy was a prominent figure on TC and MC and Duff reduces him to this? This is EXACTLY what we complain about with female characters. Tony Denison also deserves better. And I don’t think, from the looks of it, he’ll be a major figure to take down Stroh and that sucks. I’d love to see Andy take him out for Sharon and to protect Rusty for her dying wish.

- ALSO, Duff said we would know what Sanchez wanted to ask her AND IT WASN’T SAID TONIGHT. More lies. I can’t.

- And, finally, it KILLED me when they ran the opening credits for 6.10 and Mary’s name had been removed. Ugh.

So, in closing, I did not find tonight nearly as traumatizing as I did annoying and somewhat offensive. I want these next two episodes to be over. I need closure and good fanfiction in which Sharon does not die. And please, I need Brenda not to die so that I have something left to cling to when the final curtain falls. #PrayersforBrenda #YouCanNeverHaveTooManyAngels

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 05/12/2020

Earlier this week, I finished and released by end-of-year list of the Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2020, which, for once, was on time, being released on the 1st – or 2nd – of December, depending on your time zone. That means I’ve already spent hours discussing music, and to be honest, I have a pretty bad headache in addition to this, so you know, I’m not really in that chart-reviewing spirit. Thankfully, we have very few songs to review here, and a lot of it should be pretty inoffensive. Now, before that, let’s talk about the actual state of the charts because it is looking ridiculous. Ariana Grande’s “positions” spend its sixth week at #1, and welcome to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

Much like last week, it was an absolute bloodbath for any non-Christmas song this week, and this especially affects the hip hop and R&B on the chart. In the UK Top 75, which I cover every week, there’s a drastic difference to the US Billboard Hot 100, and that is the lack of radio. Radio impressions or plays have never been counted on the UK Singles Chart, and whilst in the States, I understand that a lot of Christmas songs rely on the radio, this is not true at all across the pond, because, for whatever reason, Christmas songs are streamed and bought a lot here even 60 years after the song’s original release. This is likely due to a smaller, arguably less diverse population and the immense amount of streaming service-curated playlists, which serve the same purpose as radio and often have the exact same label gimmickry and payola. Regardless, there is a stupid amount of drop-outs and fallers this week, for pretty big tracks as well. Now as I said I only cover the top 75 of the UK Singles Chart because it’s just easier and really, who cares about those last 25 songs? On the UK Singles Chart proper, Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved”, one of the biggest hits of 2019 and 2020, just spent its 100th week on the chart, which is insane, especially for a modern song. I think the song is dreadful but it is one of the biggest songs of all time here on the Isles, and since we’re going by my measures, it just dropped out (after spending seven weeks at #1, mind you). Of course, that’s not the only notable drop-out – and to be notable, you have to have spent five weeks on the chart or peaked in the top 40 – this week. Let’s list them, shall we? We have “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles, which spent 40 weeks on the chart, as well as #1 hit “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” by Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo, “Giants” by Dermot Kennedy, “Mood Swings” by the late Pop Smoke featuring Lil Tjay, “Lighter” by Nathan Dawe and KSI, “Take You Dancing” by Jason Derulo, “Holiday” by Little Mix, “Tick Tock” by Clean Bandit featuring Mabel and 24kGoldn, “Come Over” by Rudimental featuring Anne-Marie and Tion Wayne, “Lasting Lover” by Sigala and James Arthur, “Holy” by Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper, “One Too Many” by Keith Urban and P!nk, “Papi Chulo” by Octavian and Skepta, “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals, “Deluded” by Tion Wayne and MIST, “Confetti” by Little Mix, “pov” by Ariana Grande (to make way for another one of her songs we’ll get to – also probably the only actually good song that dropped out this week) and finally, “Life Goes On” by BTS off of the debut at #10. On the chart proper, this is one of the biggest free-fall drops of all time, and honestly, who wasn’t expecting this? Speaking of falls, we have a lot of those too. Whilst these are fallers, you should consider how impressive they are for even trying to survive the holiday season, which just can’t be done for a lot of these songs, even the biggest hits of the year, some of which we just mentioned. One of the funniest parts of this to me is that KSI of all people survived the overload of Christmas songs through his Craig David chorus on “Really Love” with Digital Farm Animals down to #17. For a former YouTuber, he has an immense amount of star-power and it’s kind of worrying. Otherwise, our notable fallers include “Paradise” by MEDUZA and Dermot Kennedy at #24, “Train Wreck” by James Arthur at #25 (not a good week for either of these guys – or anyone), “Monster” by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber at #26 off of the top 10 debut, “Mood” by 24kGoldn featuring iann dior at #27, “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK at #29, “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd stripped of all of its gains at #31 (seriously, whilst most of these songs were fading naturally prior, this is worrying), “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring NAV and Don Toliver at #34, “Lonely” by Justin Bieber and benny blanco at #42 (giving him four songs as a lead artist on the chart – OCC, that’s not how your dumb rules work; be consistent), “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio really having the most intense combination of streaming cuts and Christmas music at #44, “Wonder” by Shawn Mendes flailing at #45 (it will probably rebound next week), “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd at #46 (same here), “Golden” by Harry Styles at #47, “Loading” by Central Cee at #48, “What You Know Bout Love” by the late Pop Smoke at #49, “i miss u” by Jax Jones and Au/Ra at #50, “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” by Post Malone and Swae Lee at #52, “UFO” by D-Block Europe and Aitch at #55, “Plugged in Freestyle” by A92 and Fumez the Engineer at #56, “Princess Cuts” by Headie One featuring Young T & Bugsey at #60 (which happened to play as I was writing this), “Looking for Me” by Paul Woodford, Diplo and Kareen Lomax at #61, “WAP” by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion at #62, “Diamonds” by Sam Smith having the biggest fall to #63, “Ain’t it Different” by Headie One featuring AJ Tracey and Stormzy at #65, “Chingy (It’s Whatever)” by Digga D at #69, “Come Over” by Jorja Smith and Popcaan at #70, “SO DONE” by The Kid LAROI at #71 and finally, “Flavour” by Loski and Stormzy at #74. A YouTube comment on the video version of this chart read, “RIP to hip hop and R&B in the UK, 2020-2020”, and, I mean, it’s a fair assessment. That’s not all though, folks, as we have the returning entries, most of which are very explicitly Christmas songs. Let’s start with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Sam Smith at #75, and continue up the chart with “Cozy Little Christmas” by Katy Perry at #73, “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay at #72 (always the best song on the entire chart whenever it returns), “A Little Love” by Celeste from the John Lewis advert at #64, “Feliz Navidad” by José Feliciano at #54, “Santa Baby” by Kylie Minogue at #57, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” by the late Dean Martin at #54, “Sleigh Ride” by the Ronettes at #52, “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber at #43, “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” by the late John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band featuring the Harlem Community Choir at #40 (always the worst song on the chart whenever it returns), “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney at #39 (this is an accurate ranking of the Beatles), “Jingle Bell Rock” by the late Bobby Helms at #38, “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #37 and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by the late Andy Williams at #36. Yes, that’s five consecutive Christmas songs returning to the top 40, made all the more ridiculous when you realise it’s topped off by “HOLIDAY” by Lil Nas X... at #41 – and it actually gained this week! Oh, and we don’t stop there either as not only do we have “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande returning to #16 as well, but we also have all of the gains this week. All of our notable gains are in the top 40 and all but one are Christmas songs, so let’s start with “One More Sleep” by Leona Lewis up to #33 (our greatest gain this week) and continue up the chart with “Merry Xmas Everybody” by Slade at #32, “This Christmas” by Jess Glynne at #28, “I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday” by Wizzard at #23, “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea at #22, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Justin Bieber and Brenda Lee at #21 and #19 respectively, “Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson at #20, “Step into Christmas” by Elton John at #18, “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid at #15 (looking at this chart, I think we ALL know exactly what time it is), “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens at #14, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #13, “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring the late Kirsty MacColl at #9, “Last Christmas” by Wham! at #3, and finally, “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey at #2. I don’t know if I’ll be happier if a 1994 classic hits #1 for the first time this Christmas, or an Ariana Grande song about sex positions takes the Christmas #1, given, of course, that LadBaby doesn’t pull something out of his ass last minute. Christmas also actually lands on a Friday this week, so there’s potentially two Christmas #1s: the #1 on Christmas Day and the #1 that includes Christmas Day. I mean, there’s this issue every year but since the chart week literally starts and ends on the day this year, I guess we’ll just have to see what the Official Charts Company decides. For now, after not-so-swiftly covering all of that garbage – and there’s three weeks more of it to come, folks – let’s discuss some of our new arrivals, none of which I imagine will be all that interesting but, hey, at least they’re not Christmas songs. In fact...

NEW ARRIVALS

#68 – “Body” – Megan Thee Stallion

Produced by LilJuMadeThatBeat

...It’s the antithesis of what it means to be wholesome, commercial and festive. You all know and love Megan Thee Stallion by now, and whilst I didn’t listen to that debut record yet – it is 17 songs after all – I have heard pretty positive reception so I will check out Good News at some point. Rico Nasty did release a record that’s only one less track and 13 full minutes shorter, so to be honest, I’m a lot more excited to check out that album, even if it won’t have any impact here. I did laugh at the track list when I saw “Intercourse (feat. Popcaan & Mustard)” though, which is one of the few times I have genuinely laughed at just a track list. “Shots Fired” is a pretty great Tory Lanez diss track though, so I’ll say that. “Body” is relatively deep into the track listing, yet seems to be the biggest hit, mostly because of that polarising earworm hook and the music video. Oh, yeah, and it straight-up samples a woman having an orgasm, so don’t expect this to stick around. In fact, that’s the only melody behind this dirty South bounce-adjacent track, and even with that, it only comes in on that chorus, which is less annoying to me as it is just catchy. It’s not like men haven’t done the same thing, though, I mean, Dr. Dre famously – or infamously – “paused 4 porno” on his album 2001, and just in 2018, Kanye released “XTCY”, a song that is hilariously lacking in any kind of moral compass, let alone born-again Christianity. It did the same thing that “Body” does with the moaning yet it also covers it in this really eerie sample, as well as spare 808s and a drum beat that doesn’t feel like it gets in the way of whatever the hell Kanye’s doing on this track. It also helps that the moaning doesn’t just come in on the chorus, instead we have a string swell to distinguish it, and that Kanye has more of a comical lyrical nature on “XTCY”. This comparison is only fair when looking at the production, though, as whilst Kanye has “sick thoughts”, Megan is just bragging about her own body-ody-ody-ody-ody, etc. over a pretty mainstream, accessible beat, even if it has really ugly, loud 808s that kind of do get in the way of the rapping here. Thankfully, Megan rides this beat forcefully – no pun intended – and with some really great wordplay, even if there are a few immediately dated references here and there. That third verse is also pretty funny, and whilst I don’t want to focus too much on this song – it’s a family show after all – this is pretty lively and whilst I’m not a fan of this beat, Megan makes it worth sitting through and honestly, the song sounds a lot shorter than it is. Check it out.

#67 – “Love is a Compass” – Griff

Produced by PARKWILD

I didn’t say the word “compass” on purpose knowing this song would be next, although perhaps I subconsciously snuck the word in. Maybe I should have made it seem like I foreshadowed this song, but honestly what about this warrants foreshadowing? I don’t mind Disney music at all. In fact, a lot of the films are full of really classic compositions that have aged incredibly, including the Renaissance era of their films, especially. In fact, “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan – the original – is one of the few soundtrack songs that is directly related to and featured in the film yet I can still listen to outside of that context. I’ve not even watched either Mulan – or have Disney+ - so it’s not like I’m a big fan, but I can appreciate the music when I find it, even if I mostly despise everything Disney stands for as a company. The issue with this is that it cannot apply to “Love is a Compass”. I’m sure Griff and her producer PARKWILD are talented musicians, but this is purely a product. This wasn’t even made for an original animated feature, or a painfully weak adaptation of one of their original animated features starring Will Smith as the Genie. This is a generic piano ballad made for an advert, because just like literal shops and manufacturing companies like John Lewis, Disney has a Christmas advert. There’s nothing artistic about this. This “emotional” piano ballad is layered in reverb and egregious Auto-Tune that drains Griff of whatever emotion her delivery could have had. It doesn’t sound good in this context at all and it is so obvious, which is unfortunate because her voice, Auto-Tuned in a similar way, could easily work over more lo-fi and interesting production. As it is, this is repulsive, sonically and on every other level beyond that.

#66 – “Angels Like You” – Miley Cyrus

Produced by Louis Bell and watt

So, Miley Cyrus dropped her album, Plastic Hearts, last week and I expected more impact on the chart but the two singles are really THAT big that not any of the album cuts had much of a chance, even if “Prisoner” dropped a few spaces. Other than that, “Midnight Sky” is still in the top five and near the end of the chart, we have a debut: “Angels Like You”. It’s clear why this charted because this isn’t just a highlight from the album or a personal favourite of mine, but it’s a fan favourite honestly, a career highlight – which may not be hard to make, I mean, it’s Miley Cyrus we’re talking about – but it still impresses me with how much I really love this song. This is more of a mellow ballad than many of the tracks surrounding it on the record, with Cyrus’ raspy country twang finally met with a fitting blend of acoustic guitars and a genuine orchestral swell in the chorus, even if at times it decides to start clipping. The shift in guitar tone to a dirtier, aggressive one after the first chorus is a genius touch, and even the pretty stiff drum machine here feels like it adds a lot to the power of this song, especially when it starts kicking behind the screeching guitar solo, leading into an admittedly anti-climactic final chorus... that might even be fitting for the content, which is a break-up song but not one that decides to deflect blame or even focus entirely on the break-up, rather being an acknowledgement of what both parties here did wrong, and why they ended up in the relationship to begin with. Both Cyrus and her ex-girlfriend Kaitlynn Carter were in rough spots coming off of previous relationships in late 2019 and those dark spots are what Cyrus understands lead to the collapse of this relationship. She discusses the lack of connection between the two in the first verse, leading to a literally nameless relationship where it was full of romantic gestures but not any depth. The chorus is a complex look at how Cyrus knew she would look back on the relationship as little more than a fling, but how she regrets that this is her only view of the relationship. She didn’t want anything more and split after things started getting too serious, and feels genuine guilt for using Carter to heal her own depression, because “misery needs company”. She uses the biblical metaphor to demonstrate how she feels she tugged down her girlfriend, described here as an “angel”, to the hell Cyrus thinks she resides in, which may be melodramatic, sure, but I’d be lying if I said Cyrus doesn’t completely sell it here, with some of her best vocals to date, backed up by gorgeous production and really well-written lyrics. This is a genuinely brilliant ballad, give it a listen.

#58 – “Naughty List” – Liam Payne and Dixie D’Amelio

Produced by TMS

I’ve been writing these producers as “TM5” for so long without realising it’s an abbreviation for “The Music Shed”. Anyway, I hope we can all agree that Liam Payne is probably the worst off when comparing the One Direction boys and their solo careers so far. Harry Styles is one of the biggest stars in the world, making a twist on 70s classic rock that I don’t like at all but he IS making headlines and having massive chart success. Niall Horan is having mild success making rock and folk albums that are honestly alright, ZAYN has two albums under his belt that may not be listenable but at least the first one was a success and he did go into a more mature R&B direction, and Louis Tomlinson might not have been met with any success from his album earlier this year but at least there’s some quality there. Liam Payne, however, has been releasing straight garbage to no fanfare for the past three years, dating back to “Strip that Down” with Quavo, and continuing down the path of feigning maturity and development with music clearly not backing it up, demonstrated by the bisexual fetishism on his delayed debut album and how his collaborations went from relying on Zedd to relying on J Balvin to relying on TikTok stars on a sexually-charged Christmas single that couldn’t even crack the top 50. I have no idea who Dixie D’Amelio is other than seeing her sister’s controversies on Twitter in passing, but it is depressing that a major-label pop star needs D’Amelio to chart this high – and no, given his most recent singles with bigger features like A Boogie wit da Hoodie and Cheat Codes, as well as the shoddy performance of his last Christmas song, I’m not even considering that it’s the other way around. This immediately, in its first 15 seconds, makes sure you know this will be awful, with its tedious acoustic guitar strumming fused with cheap sounding sleigh bells and dated trap percussion, even with little “hey!” gang vocals straight out of 2014 that make this sound a lot less new and fresh than I think Payne thought it did. Also, something about these lyrics sounds really odd when you consider the age gap between the two vocalists. I mean, D’Amelio’s 19 years old, so it’s not like this is illegal in any way (and they didn’t have any chemistry to begin with), but the childlike imagery in the chorus just makes this gross. “Santa saw the things we did and put us on the naughty list”? This has less subtlety than 3OH!3’s Christmas song they released this year. Yes, that happened, and somehow the two washed-up early 2010s pop stars made a “dirty” Christmas song that is miles better than Liam Payne’s, probably because of the more interesting lyrical detail, and that, you know, it isn’t a duet. Check out “KISSELTOE” if you’re interested, it’s really good. I liked their comeback single with 100 gecs too so I’m pretty excited for whatever comes out of 3OH!3’s recent productivity. This song, on the other hand, as well as the upcoming joke, is just Payne-full.

#53 – “No Time for Tears” – Nathan Dawe and Little Mix

Produced by Tré Jean-Marie and Nathan Dawe

Okay, so, I understand the marketing of releasing a single after a long time of not releasing a single and after your singles have all dropped out of the chart, but Little Mix are just being managed horribly here. Why would you release a single in the Christmas season that you want to be big? This isn’t a holiday song in any way and doesn’t even sound like one, so releasing it this early into the Christmas season is just begging for it to be forgotten and eventually flop. Nathan Dawe is an EDM DJ so he doesn’t need this type of promotion as long as he can tour next year and he’s got big features, and Little Mix don’t need any extra singles because they’re still in the top 10 and they’ve branched out to reality television. Just let the girls breathe for a second and enjoy their success. Oh, and this song isn’t just logistically unnecessary, it’s sonically unnecessary, acting as a house-pop club banger with that standard piano sound reminiscent of 90s house that has been adopted recently by DJs, with any of the infectious melodies and genuine drive sucked out of it, especially if Dawe is going to add a Goddamn trap breakdown in the second verse with the most pathetic set of percussion I’ve heard in years on a house track. It’s not like Little Mix are saving this either because the lyrical content is re-tread and their performances are largely unrecognisable from each other and songs they’ve made before. Yeah, this isn’t offensive, but it isn’t interesting, outside of that bridge, but even then it builds up perfectly to a chorus that’s interrupted by a pointless, repetitious interlude. This song isn’t just uninteresting, it’s inherently unnecessary on all fronts, which if anything, is just kind of sad.

#35 – “All You’re Dreaming Of” – Liam Gallagher

Produced by Simon Aldred and Andrew Wyatt

Surely out of all of these songs, I’d have the most to say about our top 40 debut, with Liam Gallagher, former frontman of legendary rock band Oasis,  and his new lead single, right? Well, no, because here are some unfortunate truths: Oasis made two good albums, and they’re not as good as you remember. Liam Gallagher is an awful person who continued to rip off his own band with his new one, without the songwriting ability his brother Noel had. Liam continues to be persistent in his making of enemies for no other reason than publicity. Noel’s reaching out to Liam for the sake of at least reconciliation goes completely unnoticed, ignored or criticised by Liam for no discernable reason other than an on-and-off again facade that’s been going on for more than a decade. Noel wasn’t even that great of a songwriter, relying mostly on musicianship and other people’s melodies he liked to co-opt for his own tracks. None of their solo work has been listenable yet still gathers attention that I imagine is to the dismay of those other band members in Oasis who, ultimately, made those classic albums as much as the Gallaghers. Where’s the praise for Bonehead, Guigsy or even Gem Archer, who stuck it out despite decreasing popularity, utter lack of musical quality and increasing tensions between the people who kept the band afloat until they decided to break up? Both Noel and Liam look at Oasis with regret or admiration depending on how they feel that day but when you look at who REALLY won that Britpop battle tabloids liked to hype up in the 1990s, you realise how far away Oasis was from Blur or even Pulp in terms of not only their songs but having their stuff together. This new song is complete garbage as well, with a pretty awful mixing job, Liam being as distinctively nasal and infuriating as he is with any of his songs let alone his uninteresting ballads, and the COVID-19 charity pandering that comes off as really false, especially since even after Noel released an Oasis track this year as a result of the lockdown – and Liam whining about how he wants to bring the band together to help the NHS – he criticised the honest release of the demo, which Noel wrote and sang himself. It’s also especially telling how the proceeds are only going to benefit charity for its first month of release. Afterwards, Liam and the label can scrape up whatever leftover streams they get from diehard fans. I don’t like Band Aid at all, in fact the song is pretty damn rancid, but at least they keep on recording updated versions to give to modern charities. Liam, you’ve got a bank account the average Manchurian would dream of. This charity single is a fraud, and a pretty hypocritical, immoral one at that.

Conclusion

I think on principle on how fake it is and how awful the song is, I have to give Worst of the Week to Gallagher... but I have a rule against crowning any kind of charity single with that title. At the end of the day, at least something at some point is going to the people who need it. Worst of the Week in that case goes to “Naughty List” by Liam Payne and Dixie D’Amelio, with a Dishonourable Mention to the product that is Griff’s “Love is a Compass”. Best of the Week should be obvious as it’s going to Miley Cyrus for “Angels Like You”, with an Honourable Mention to Megan Thee Stallion’s “Body”. Here’s this week’s top 10:

May I remind you this is the first week of December? Anyway, I doubt Shawn Mendes will make anything through the barrage of holiday tracks, but if he does, that’s next week. Thank you for reading and follow me at @cactusinthebank for more ramblings of this sort, I suppose. See you next week!

[ramajmedia]

10 Jokes From Family Guy That Have Already Aged Poorly

As other shows airing right now are changing with the times, Family Guy struggles to shake off the shackles it's worn since 1999. After all, the series was founded on shock value satire and intentionally offensive jokes, and a whole generation was raised on this humor.

Just earlier this year, the showrunners claimed they would "phase out" homophobic jokes. It remains to be seen whether or not that's true. While the show's tried to rectify past errors, it's only after accumulating twenty years worth of objectionable jokes. We can't discuss every single one, but here are ten that have aged poorly.

RELATED: Family Guy: 10 Storylines That Have Aged Poorly

10 Anything Herbert Says

Quahog is full of eccentric, recurring characters, and one of the most notable is someone who has overstayed his welcome. Not living too far from the Griffins' house is John Herbert, an elderly man Chris interacts with regularly.

What's so strange about him? Well, he's a pedophile, to put it bluntly. The show makes no qualms about addressing that either. One joke even in context—"You know, Chris, all my life, I've wanted to see you locked in a basement. But now that it's happened, all I want to do is get you out!"—will make anyone cringe.

9 Bill Cosby

Family Guy has never been too kind to Bill Cosby, even before the world learned of the comedian's history of drugging and taking women against their will was made public. And, after it became common knowledge a few years ago, Family Guy continued to go in on Cosby with no remorse.

Though, at some point, it became unclear if jokes targeting Bill Cosby were actually helping the conversation that needed to be had—sexual assault was not funny. One shocking moment was when the series reimagined the Bill Cosby Show opening. In it, Cosby drugs his costars and then some.

8 Tricia Takanawa

Race has always been a free-for-all opportunity for the show. The number of times the series was offensive about race can't even be counted on one hand much less twenty.

For example, Reporter Tricia Takanawa is a racist caricature. Not only is she voiced by Alex Borstein—an actress with a history of playing Miss Swan on MADtv—Tricia is an embodier of stereotypes about East Asian people's sexuality and culture. When Tricia interviews David Bowie, she succumbs to her carnal urges and proclaims, "I'll take you home; I'll make you fish ball soup." It gets only worse from there.

RELATED: Family Guy: 10 Funniest Running Gags, Ranked

7 The Death of Daniel Karven-Veres

The writers revel in their edgy sense of humor that often earns more gasps than genuine laughs. But at what point is the line crossed? In "Stewie Loves Lois," Stewie unleashes a brutal throwaway joke whose origin people might not be aware of.

First, some background information on why it's messy. In 2000, Ursula Karven's four-year-old son Daniel was attending musician Tommy Lee's son's pool party. Daniel then drowned, and Tommy was accused of negligence. Lee was eventually cleared of wrongdoing. When Lois is ignoring Stewie's suicide attempt, he says, "What is this, a Tommy Lee pool party?" Yikes.

6 Why Peter Only Has Two White Shirts

When Family Guy's writers land its sight on a target, they shoot to kill. Meaning they will obsess over the subject matter or person ad nauseam.

In later seasons, the show was invested in reminding viewers actor Michael J. Fox has Parkinson's disease. One joke that is more awkward now than before is from the episode "Tiegs for Two." In the cutaway, Peter explains why he only has two white shirts. It's a protracted monologue where it seems like the show is trying to feign humanity towards Fox. Then they go ahead and show the offensive clip anyway. Quelle surprise.

5 Quagmire's Abused Sister

The show was slowly shifting in the right direction with "Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q." Previously, Quagmire's sister's abusive relationship was introduced as a gag to shame Brian. The sister, Brenda, later returned in season 10 for a very special episode. She was still being abused by her boyfriend Jeff, and, after she accepted his proposal, Quagmire planned on killing Jeff.

The episode almost works, but there are jokes about the victim. Even ones more or less criticizing Brenda for not leaving Jeff. The story's heart was in the right place, but the execution is still amiss.

RELATED: Family Guy: 10 Funniest Star Wars Gags, Ranked

4 Child Harm

As we learned in season 7's "The Juice Is Loose," the Griffins apparently had another son named Peter, Jr. At the aforesaid infant's grave, Peter says, "I'm sorry, Lois. I thought if I shook him enough he'd stop crying. I was kinda right."

This attempt at gallows humor is similar to Stewie's demand of "Shake me like a British nanny" in "Mind Over Murder." The latter is a direct reference to British au pair Louise Woodward, who was convicted for shaking an 8-month old to death. The only thing shocking about these jokes is anyone would laugh at them nowadays.

3 Quagmire's Predatory Habits

Something definitely isn't right with your show if there once a petition asking you to stop writing jokes about sexual assault. And, in light of the important #MeToo movement, the show said they would address Quagmire.

Well, historically, Quagmire was prone to taking women without their consent. He drugged them, and he even held a number of them captive against their will. In "Quagmire's Mom," he almost experienced the consequences of his actions after unknowingly hooking up with an underage female character. Instead, he got off without serving any time. Nevertheless, jokes revolving around Quagmire's heinous behavior simply aren't funny.

RELATED: All The Times The Simpsons Called Family Guy Out For Plagiarism/Copying

2 Antisemitism

The original seasons of Family Guy had the pleasure of skirting by without too much flack—mainly because the audience was comparatively small. That didn't stop them from getting into trouble for the season 3 episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein." Or rather, they could have gotten into trouble had Fox actually aired it.

The network opted to not show the episode out of fear of it being antisemitic. With lines like "I'm sorry, Lois. I just wanted our son to be Jewish so he'd be smarter," Fox's concerns were valid. Nonetheless, it was instead aired on Adult Swim.

1 Transphobia

We first met Glenn Quagmire's father Dan in the aptly titled season 8 episode "Quagmire's Dad." The audience was led to believe Dan was gay. The truth was Dan, now Ida, had come to Quahog to have sex reassignment surgery. The operation is a success, but Quagmire is having difficulty accepting Ida.

Meanwhile, Ida has a one-night stand with Brian. When Stewie informs the unaware Brian that Ida was transgender and was Quagmire's parent, Brian vomits non-stop for half a minute. By today's standards, the episode is hard to watch. The more recent "Trans-Fat" episode handled the topic better, though.

NEXT: The 10 Worst Family Guy Episodes Ever According To IMDb

source https://screenrant.com/family-guy-jokes-aged-poorly/

[440mxs-wife]

The Hunter’s Princess - Chapter 5: Arrows, Knives and Pistols

Pairing: Dean x OFC Kira (eventual), Prince!Dean x OFC Lady Kira. Other Characters: Sam Winchester, Prince!Sam Winchester, Castiel, Rowena, Gabriel, King!John, Queen!Mary, Lucifer and assorted minor characters.

Chapter 5 Word Count: 2490+

Warnings: None really. Each chapter will have individual warnings as needed.

A/N: This is from some material that’s been rattling around in my head from another project that changed direction. Couldn’t let all this content go to waste, though, so here it is. It’s a work-in-progress, and I will try and update as regularly as I can. If you want to be tagged in this series, send me a message!

Thank you and happy reading!

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On the morning of the first day of competition the air was crisp, but not cold enough to warrant an overcoat. Not a cloud in the sky, and the sun was out in full force, bathing the field of competition in its warmth.

Today, Kira would be demonstrating her skill with weaponry. First, the bow and arrow, then throwing knives and lastly, the flintlock pistol. She'd had plenty of practice over the years with these items, so she was not at all concerned about her performance.

Tomorrow's competition was an equestrian event, which involved a course of jumps and turns to prove her skill on horseback. Again, no worries, because she was perfectly comfortable on the back of a horse. Kira used to ride horses on her Aunt Brenda's farm, her favorite being an Arabian stallion named Midnight.

The part that scared Kira the most was the interview with the king and queen. Kira knew she had made an impression on the queen, but she had yet to  cross paths with the king. She could tell that the princes held a healthy respect for their parents. Kira had also heard stories that the king was not a man to accept disobedience lightly.

For anyone who had met Kira, it was well known that she has always had trouble following instructions. She had a tendency to follow her heart and leave her head to either catch up or be left behind. That alone was enough to make Kira a little anxious about meeting the king.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sarah entered Kira's room and opened the heavy window curtains, which allowed the abundant sunshine to flood the room with light. Kira was excited for the day's events, so she didn't need much coaxing. But as soon as Kira sat up, she felt a little dizzy so she stopped. She tried again to sit up, albeit a little more slowly and the feeling disappeared.

Kira reviewed her wardrobe and considered her fashion choices for  the day. She decided that a day dress would not be practical for the day's events. She   pulled on a pair of black leggings, a long rust-colored tunic and her black knee-high boots. She added the leather gauntlets for her wrists. Of course, Kira also made sure she had the locket, which she tucked under the collar of her tunic.

Sufficiently clothed, Kira wandered into the dining hall for the  morning meal. Serena and Christina were already seated at one corner of  the table, whispering with heads bowed together. As soon as Kira entered the room, Serena and Christina stopped talking. Adriana sat alone in the corner opposite the other two ladies, so Kira walked over to her.

Adriana had long, curly blond hair gathered in a low ponytail in back. Her coffee-colored eyes took in Kira's appearance, almost as if she were sizing up the competition. Adriana's attitude this morning seemed to be a complete   turnaround from their conversation at last night's dinner.

Kira wished Adriana good morning, and she politely responded. "Is it all right if I sit with you?" Kira asked.

"I'd rather have the time to myself, to prepare for today's competition if you don't mind," Adriana replied icily.

Kira could feel her cheeks growing warm. "I'm sorry if I have offended you in any way Adriana. If I've said something--" she cut Kira off.

"I'm not really interested in making friends or alliances. I'm here to compete for myself and for my homeland. So, you stay on your eastern side of the kingdom and I'll stay on my southern side of the kingdom. That way, we'll get along just peachy with each other," Adriana retorted as she got up to leave.

"Wow, making lots of friends, aren't we?" Serena sneered. "You've been doing a lot of running around with Castiel and the princes. You probably think that makes you better than the rest of us, but it doesn't. I'd watch your back if I were you, Lady Kira. Accidents can happen," Serena added darkly as she and Christina left the dining hall.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kira made her way to the field for the targeting event, where the other competitors were already waiting. While she walked, she thought about the conversation at breakfast, and each lady's reaction to her. She knew that she wasn't Serena's or Christina's favorite person. However, she thought she at least had a chance at friendship with Adriana. Guess I'm on my own here, she thought.

The firing lanes were spread ten feet apart between each of the competitors. Points were to be scored as follows: Bull's eye was worth 25 points. Moving farther away from the center ring, the point values were reduced to 10, 7, 5 and 3. Each competitor was given ten arrows. The one with the most points at the end of the day wins the event.

First up were Christina and Adriana. They each shot their ten arrows, with Christina earning a total of 75 points. Adriana did almost as well, turning in a good performance with 72 points, while Serena shot extremely well for 87   points.

Finally, it was time for Kira to compete. She stepped up to the firing line and shot her ten arrows. All that practice at the firing range in the bunker must have paid off, because Kira pulled in 89 points. That put her in the lead after the bow and arrow event. She looked over at the royal viewing box, and locked eyes with Prince Dean. He gave Kira a somewhat subtle wink and a smile, causing her to blush slightly.

The next event involved the use of throwing knives. Kira had definitely had plenty of practice at this when fighting shapeshifters and werewolves. She again came away with the highest number of points. By the time the first two events were finished, it was time for the midday meal. The royal family left first to be seated in the dining hall, followed by the competitors.

After everyone was fed, they all trudged back out to the competition field. Each lady's personal flintlock pistols were waiting on a table inside each firing booth. This time, competitors would only have five shots instead of ten. This made the margin for error much smaller, so all shots had to count. Kira only hoped that the lead she had built up from the first two events would be enough to distinguish herself.

Christina and Adriana fared a bit better in this task, while Serena continued to turn in a superior performance. Kira knew she had her work cut out for her. She currently held the lead, but the gap had narrowed to less than what she was comfortable with.

Kira stepped up to the firing line and waited for her cue to begin her performance. As soon as she picked up her pistol, she knew something was wrong with it. Kira examined her firearm, and did not see any immediate evidence of tampering, so she decided to move on.

She lined up the target in her sights and fired the first round, but it went wide of the center. At that moment, Kira figured someone had messed with her sights so they were completely off. Fortunately, she had enough firearms experience to be able to compensate for this occurrence. Kira adjusted her aim and fired her next round, which pierced the target in the center area. The three remaining rounds joined it and the crowd applauded in  appreciation.

Kira and the other   competitors were called over to the royal box to receive the results of today's events. As they waited, she happened to again lock eyes with Prince Dean, who smiled and nodded in Kira's direction, causing her to blush  again.

A page handed Queen Mary a piece of paper with the day's results. She cleared her throat before reading aloud the information. "There are a total of six points separating the top performers. Here are the rankings: in fourth place, Adriana of the Southern territory and third place is Christina, our competitor from the Western territory."

The queen paused at this time, because she had yet to mention two competitors, Kira and Serena. "In second place but only three points off the leader, we have Serena from the Northern territory, leaving Kira from the Eastern territory as today's winner!" The crowd jumped to its feet and broke into a thunderous applause.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After the announcement that Kira was the points leader in the Princes' Challenge, she received no end of congratulatory hugs and well wishes. She began to get a little uncomfortable with all the attention, so she excused herself to her room for some rest. Prince Samuel caught up to Kira as she walked back to her quarters. "Is everything all right, Lady Kira?" he asked.

Kira gave a quick curtsy. "Yes, Your Highness, everything is fine. I just need a small break for now, but I'll see you at dinner," she answered.

Prince Samuel took her hand and kissed the back of it. "I look forward to seeing you, Lady Kira. Absolutely magnificent performance, by the way. Can't wait to see you on horseback tomorrow," he grinned. "Until dinner, Lady Kira," he said softly, kissing her hand again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Prince Dean saw Lady Kira try and gracefully remove herself from the crowd of well-wishers. His heart went out to her because she looked a little overwhelmed from all the attention. The prince walked around the corner from the competition field, and saw Lady Kira in conversation with his brother. Only it looked like he was letting his lips on the back of her hand do more of the talking.

Dean didn't blame Lady Kira, she was only being polite, but he was angry with his brother. Sam saw how Dean reacted when he saw Castiel and Lady Kira together that first day in the marketplace. On that day, Prince Dean admitted that he was a little jealous. Castiel assured him many times that he had no intentions towards Lady Kira other than friendship. Prince Dean, however, had other ideas.

Lady Kira, he thought. She's....amazing. She's smart, determined and beautiful, with a generous spirit. She certainly proved her weapons skills today, he acknowledged. The prince could see that the lady cares so deeply about others. It made him wonder if she's ever given a thought about what she wants from life.

It was clear to Prince Dean that Lady Kira genuinely wants to help people, not for the fame or recognition, but because it's the right thing to do. It sounded to him like the makings of a good queen. Collins told the princes and Castiel that her people absolutely adore her and are fiercely loyal to her. Prince Dean thought that it was easy to see why.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dean and Lady Kira arrived in the Tub Room, where Dean showed her where the shampoo, soaps and towels were located. She had brought some clothes from her room to change into after her bath.

"There's hot and cold running water in here, 'hot' is on the left and 'cold' is on the right. I'll get it started, then you can adjust the temperature to however you like. When you're done, just pull the plug at the bottom and all the water will drain away," Dean explained. "Any questions?" he asked. Lady Kira shook her head. "Welp, then I guess I'll leave you to it. Enjoy," he remarked.

"Thank you," Lady Kira murmured. She marveled at the convenience of not having to heat up the water before bathing. She wondered how she was ever going to go back to the way things were when she returned to her home dimension. Nevertheless, she was determined to do whatever it would take to restore balance in the universe.

As the water filled the tub, Lady Kira selected some lavender bath salts, which she knew would smell nice and help her to sleep. She grabbed the pitcher from the cabinet shelf and the shampoo so she could wash her hair as well. She sprinkled in the bath salts and let the water run for a few more minutes before turning off the faucet and stepping into the tub.

After Lady Kira finished washing her hair, she nestled into the tub and let her mind drift to the three men in charge of her return home. For a situation that ought to be scaring the daylights out of her, she was surprisingly calm. It was like she'd met them before, but how could she have done that?

Castiel....an Angel of the Lord here, but there was a Castiel who was best friends with the crown princes....Samuel and Dean! Of course, that's why these men looked familiar, why she felt so at ease around them.

She wondered if the princes and Castiel in her world were also hunters. If they were, it wasn't something that was well-known. Lady Kira imagined the circumstances were the same in this world, that these men saved people. They just didn't want the recognition for it.

When the water started to lose its warmth, Lady Kira exited the tub and reached down to pull the stopper, as Dean instructed. These men were certainly attractive, but she was drawn to Dean in particular. The way he carried himself gave off an air of protectiveness, determination and strength.

However, his moss-colored eyes held a hint of sadness in them each time he looked at her. His look reminded Lady Kira of a man who clearly longed to be with the woman he loved. She wondered if there was some sort of attraction between Dean and the woman whose place she had taken. Lady Kira made a mental note to ask Sam about the nature of their relationship, if any.

She caught a whiff of the scent from the lavender bath salts and inhaled deeply. As she stood up, she felt a jolt of dizziness in her head. She braced herself on the edge of the tub as a slide show of images flashed through her mind.

At first, she saw Dean standing next to an older man with a beard and a kind face. She recognized Sam, but this was a much younger version. In the next flash, there were two women, one with short dark hair and one with long blond hair, taking turns hugging Sam and Dean. Another flash featured a short man in an all-black suit with a dark beard and mustache, standing next to a woman with long and wavy red hair.

These must be her memories, Lady Kira thought. That lavender smell must have triggered it, she reasoned. Another dizzying jolt brought an image of Dean and Kira, sitting on a couch, his arms wrapped snugly around her. She reaches for Dean's hands and intertwines their fingers. Although they are not looking at each other, Lady Kira can see it in their eyes.

They are most definitely in love with each other.

Part 6 here!

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Tags: @janicho88 @akshi8278 @magssteenkamp @swiftlymoniquesblog @lyarr24 @miss-nerd95 @distefano123 @hobby27 @deanwanddamons @jessica-noel94 @wayward-mikaelson @jawritter @gabrielslittleangel @jensengirl83 @deangirl93 @ellewritesfix05 @supernatural-jackles @babygurltt

The Hunter’s Princess Series tags: @flamencodiva

[marlaluster]

emptying clipboard w items numbered

1. My comments are removed. 2. I was putting a comment on this post on a page of someone i went to college w n the devil kept dropping the type pad as i wrote. Then suddenly I was trying to post another comment n the page went to an error message page w a red message that seemed to indicate the link wasn't working now, the link to the post but then I went away from the page n back n the post was still there but my comments were missing that I had put, two comments. "I'm not sure what to do but i have to stop doing that," the devil said. Just above there I was reading what I wrote n the devil did something to move my eyes to a totally different spot. It was really psycho. I don't remember anything like that happening before. "I did that. I gotta go," the devil said. Here are my two comments I put on the post n the devil removed them after making an error message come up. .... You mean the beach in winter or something. Got it backwards. And it doesn't look pretty. But the mountain tops do from afar. Pr ------ .....pretty. And scary. I was trying to write that there. The devil dropped the type pad. It said that was what you were trying to say. It said it was doing bad, the devil. It is very annoying, the devil is. "Oh my god. I cannot go on that you 3. But the last thing i was trying to write there was a quote by the devil. I think thats what happened was i tried to start another comment to finish writing the quote n then the error page came up. Here's the rest of the quote as i can recall. The devil said it cannot go on that I figured out what the picture was. Next here I'll paste a link to the picture/post I was trying to make the comments on, the devil kept dropping the type pad. .... https://m.facebook.com/groups/691720790945057?view=permalink&id=1379960195454443&fs=2&ref=m_notif&notif_t=group_activity 4. The devil is moving the page as I'm trying to hit the edit button for the above post to fix the link. "Oh my god! I cannot do that," the devil said. Here's I guess the link to the post I'm referring to in this post. ..... https://m.facebook.com/FeaturePresentation1 5. I had to refresh the page to get the comment box to work to post my comment for the previous comment here. 6. https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154920963524786&id=511324785&set=a.10150414374559786.359167.511324785&source=44 7. Clarence Tillman III Friends Following Message More There's a huge 🌎 out there get out and see that motherfucker Studied History at North Carolina Central University Details Went to John McDonogh Senior High Details Lives in Auckland, New Zealand Details From New Orleans, Louisiana Details 8. https://m.facebook.com/FeaturePresentation1 9. Here's another attempt to post the link to the post I'm referring to. It seemed i copied in the attempt above. "You did. I did something right," the devil said. It may have done something, i don't know. I thought i copied the link to the post. The devil is tormenting me over that, trying to press I am to think I'm less than, i don't know what really happened w the link. It's trying to press I'm supposed to rush to n obsessed that I made a mistake somehow. People are saying in my mind that that was the link to the post I was intending. Someone said the person related to this post n who posted the post w the difficulties the devil made me have w it, he can see the post. The devil blocks stuff from people a lot so this is not so common people can see stuff on my page. But here finally is the link to the post. ..... https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154920963524786&id=511324785&set=a.10150414374559786.359167.511324785&source=44 10. Clarence Tillman occurred to say in my mind that the mountain top isn't a pretty place to be, ie to be yourself, he said. "It's bad here to be yourself because that thing is making it. Something knows, it did this," someone said, it seemed it was Brenda Hill ,she may be telling for Clarence. 11. Something knows the devil will make it bad for someone to be themselves here, it did that to mountain tops here, some mountaintops. Made them have snow on them n be apparently ugly up close. And cold, i assume also. "Cold year round. It's never okay w this thing here," BBre Occurred to say. Brenda Hill. The devil messed up the type there. "I did. Bye," the devil said. 12. Heres the link to the post im referring to here. ...... https://m.facebook.com/groups/691720790945057?view=permalink&id=1379960195454443&fs=2&ref=m_notif&notif_t=group_activity 13. The devil reloaded the page w one photo i took n then deleted it from the browser photos on the phone. It used to not disappear, the browser photo even if the devil does something to stop it loading to Facebook. 14. Weirdo? I don't have this religion here where are so many things to seek to punish n make poor as fuck. 15. https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=342731349484681&id=100012434566027&comment_id=342732396151243&ref=m_notif&notif_t=feed_comment&notif_id=1501983092700640&notif_ref=m_beeper 16. 9+ The page you requested cannot be displayed right now. It may be temporarily unavailable, the link you clicked on may be broken or expired, or you may not have permission to view this page. Back to previous page 17. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10214217561902087&id=1505990146&notif_t=live_video&notif_id=1501978987610025&ref=m_notif 18. The devil blocked me some moments ago from the page -- "I'm not sure what to do. She was linking her photos. I can't do this. Please don't do this," the devil said. "You are not okay here. I cannot go on though w this. I must go. Please don't talk to people in your mind. I cannot go on," the devil said. It keeps putting a feeling on it that it feels bad to hear some things people are trying to say. -- "Oh god I don't know what to do. I can't have said the things here. I would have to change them," the devil said. ".... Something isn't okay that they are this here," the devil said. The devil was trying to make some darting apparently it was what was doing it, someone said, some farting just now. Some asides. "I cannot tell you I'm okay right now for something that is happening further w the attacks on Facebook," the devil said. Some asides further. It is said that the devil can't go forth w The making of these bully nigger lynching mob figures for the society coming forth to protect the way of life here n it's beliefs n practices such as estrangement because it is not something that could occur later as the people as anything fathomable or okay, they're saying there cannot be a law to stop the people or anything. They would be like I guess devil worshipers, something. "Can they be the Kkk. She would be one. I must go. I cannot go on," the devil said. "Please don't tell what is happening but I cannot go on. I made someone act hostilely. And I had to block the page because I can't go on," the devil said. Some asides. "I cannot tell you what is happening but something is happening I cannot go on w this now," the devil said. "Something happens that I look very less now as people who are doing this," the devil said. "...She can see something happening as people are not okay w things happening here," someone said or the devil said, I'm not sure. "No. Please stop, please stop," the devil is saying as I'm writing here. Someone is saying people do not do okay as who the devil is pretending is doing the attack comments n things like this. "I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. She's saying it is bad for the person here as what is the weight of it. ...Please stop. Please stop," the devil said at the end of the quote, i don't know if it said the rest or someone. Some asides. "Shit. I can't do that without doing a nigger lynching mob," the devil said after I said it is known the actual people would not act how it is pretending people act here. "Oh my god I can't go on. She keeps saying it is not herself. Oh my god. Very bad attacks have been done to people. Please no more. When i have done these things I don't wish to. Oh god. I cannot add them up for how bad it is. She did something," the devil said. I had thought about a lady working at a library the devil made do an attack of the society when i was homeless, she acted like I dirtiest the bathroom, it was totally not anything that happened. "I don't know what to do. I cannot do what i am doing," the devil said. "...I have to go but that person can't keep playing the music right now," someone said about the neighbor the devil is making music come from presently n it has been going a while. It stopped when he left out at a point but it started when he returned n is going now. But I started writing here to try to tell the devil made someone i shared a video of, the devil made it seem the person wrote that i was a weirdo n why was I sharing her video. "She's a nerd, a old lady but nit. I said something. Isn't she less as a molester," the devil said. Some asides. But the devil had this attack comment by the girl. People are saying it says something on the page that says things are very grave n bad for this person, a nigger lynched here. The devil keeps saying it cannot go on, it tries to keep going though . It was just said that it is very not allowed that I say there is a rule of some opinion other than my own that is over my life. It is very bad. But it is not allowed, this alternate rule the devil is doing that is not a person's. But that girl, she has had several live videos. At least three. I've shared a couple here. I shared the one I'm referring to now moments ago n the devil made the attack comment on it. But the person, she isa self of someone other people, a self who is able to be here hypothetically, something of what the person says, something n it does mean something that there is a person meaning me who says people should be able to be who they are n be okay as who they are, bot shrouded in this false characterizations that is this way of doing things here, seeing people. The devil keeps threatening the social security pay, really it is something forced through because it couldn't be possible people could be okay here. The devil was just admitting to threatening the -- "I was. I have to stop. Something is happening w what I'm not able to do," the devil said. But the person w the video I tried sharing earlier, her page is blocked from me now, as the devil -- got distracted here. But the person, her page is blocked. Lots of pages are blocked from me. "You are --, but not. I can't go on," the devil said. A very hostile place n environment. A very nasty environment. Forget about the ozone layer, it is very sick. Not by my doing. 19. https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/fr/cp0/e15/q65/20507358_1954632877883821_3211257253693007958_o.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=3a1c30530c85245d923db55fd7fe9a36&oe=5A2BD674 20. https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1954632877883821&id=100000113832304&set=a.1646419625371816.1073741866.100000113832304&source=48

[scryptology]

Clarissa Howard was leaving. It had been three days since an AVON lady had found Mr. Howard leaving Brenda’s house suspiciously. Two days since the neighborhood decided they wouldn’t shut up about it. And one hour since Mrs. Howard in a cursing rage threw Mr. Howard’s clothes out into the middle of the complex and set them on fire. The neighborhood gossip, Erva Klatch, sat by her flowerbox angrily pulling up weeds. No doubt infuriated that such a scandalous story evaded her. For years she’d been gnawing at the ear of everyone on our street but somehow, she missed this; the biggest scoop to hit the cul-de-sac since sliced bread. Now she could hear Gladys Reefer, who was saying she could swear on God that Ms. Klatch would only make up all her rumors for attention, as she was husband-less. Therefore, if Klatch didn’t spread the rumor then that must mean that there was no doubt whatsoever that the affair really did happen. A muffled swear was set free as Erva tore out a cluster of mangled dandelions from her apartment window box. I like dandelions. Always thought yellow was a pretty color. The Simmons were arguing louder than usual. Mrs. Simmons testified as if she were the pastor at the Littlest Angel’s Sunday School that Mr. Simmons had known all along, and how dare he not tell her or Mrs. Howard! What kind of monster would let a woman go through that? A despicable man! A cowardly man with no conscience; a man without a job. Which, since they were on the subject, how were they supposed to pay the mortgage with her two-hundred a month? Mr. Simmons sipped his beer and turned the knob on the television set. Clarissa sat in her room with John, crying into his shoulder. He stroked her hair and told her everything was going to be alright. She looked up and kissed him and within minutes her new white bra lay discarded on the floor. Tears worked so easily on him. I’d have to remember that lesson. I didn’t mind that John was sleeping with Clarissa Howard any more than she cared that her father was beating her mother downstairs the for the fire. She was leaving for college anyway, which meant that sooner than later I’d have less competition and he would be mine. Clarissa had taught me more than she would ever know. In my head there was a mental image of her body: her breasts, her figure, her hair—all things I aspired to have and would eventually use to get him to grant my wish. To get him to make me a woman. Edward Howard was a man of medium-height with short black hair and glasses. He was spindly like a loose thread or an old needle, yet somehow possessed the strength and volume of a man who worked solely in lumber. The red jacket he always wore lay sprawled and charred on the ground as he screamed at his wife to stop crying, bringing everyone in the complex out of their homes, screaming more “My father’s Jacket! My father’s jacket, you bitch!” Well, almost everyone. Sometime later a police car drove up and arrested a bloody-knuckled Mr. Howard and Brenda shifted on the couch in her sleep. “Close that damn window boy, I’m trying to get my beauty sleep.” The last thing I heard before closing the window was Erva telling Sharon Fachtiers that Mrs. Howard might be dead and that meant that Clarissa would have to stay with her aunt in Denver until school started. I knew God didn’t want me to smile at the thought of her being gone. I closed the curtains so that he couldn’t see.

The Changeling by A. W. Ortiz