#though adam should have been in ef

[ad-astra-per-aspera-1389]

Personally I love when bree and chase team up to take adam down a peg. It's always either bree and adam ganging up on chase, or adam and chase annoying bree, but sometimes bree and chase are on the same page and work together against adam, and it's so fun when they do

[poisonouspastels]

I need to talk about Minecraft AU for a sec and how the difference between our world and their world makes for some of the most humorous but also interesting differences in how people act about certain subjects.

Like the trans thing right. Steve and Rana are both trans I've talked about that before. And neither of them are on hormone replacement or anything (there is an in universe explanation as to why Steve has a beard though I promise I can talk about that if anyone wants) but like that's fine bc it literally Doesn't Matter to them or anyone else. Like as spawned players they already don't have any pre-existing gender roles or ideas of what something "should" be so gender and presentation is what they make of it and there's no real solid idea in anyone's mind about how a "boy" or "girl" behaves or looks like. These are labels that exist but they barely mean anything. It also helps that any preexisting culture that WOULD have ideas of this was almost entirely destroyed like 5000 years ago (thanks Groda) so it matters even less than it already did.

And its funny bc the only two people alive from that era, White Eyes and Groda also just don't care. Groda maybe asks why Rana's voice sounds deeper once and nearly gets torn apart by Alex bc of it (Rana isn't offended or anything she just has a defensive girlfriend), bc she doesn't really understand because she never experienced anything like this first hand but very quickly comes to understand it and accept it. And on the other hand White Eyes is just like "I've seen weirder things than this" which yeah. Yeah honestly I think the person who was previously one with the undead would not care about gender in the grand scheme of things.

And then u have Kai which I've joked before that they may as well have been spawned in nonbinary. They rlly just said "I'm not really anything" and everyone was like yeah makes sense I vibe with it. Good for u.

Steve and Rana are both fairly open about having been the opposite genders previously (because that's how they view their experiences and that's valid!) and don't really shy away from the subject but also never really have much reason to talk about it since there's rarely a need to. In the modern day pretty much everyone who met them had met them post-transition. Even Alex had met them just before Steve started growing in his beard. The only people who ever knew them as Adam and Eve were Efe and Sunny but they never really thought it was weird or anything. Like the weirdest part to them was Steve saying he got his epiphany from seeing some guy in the distance on a foggy day who looked vaguely like him but that's its own subject manner that they aren't going to pry on.

Also Steve did DIY top "surgery" previously with a sword but we aren't going to talk about how messy that was for everyone involved.

[oddinary4bts]

This is so effing devastating because i kinda did have the same experience with oc. Well, not exactly the same. The guy that I've been with was nowhere near JK.

We were flings for like 4 months at that time until he wanted it to be really official. I wanted it too. But I was afraid because the guy had a history of not being faithful with the girls that he have been with. But as we got to know each other, I've seen no signs of him being that certain someone that people talks about. Even his friends, told me that he definitely changed. I did believe them. I believed him.

Then he asked me if he can court me. I turned him down because one, I wasn't ready to be in a relationship, yet. Two, I can't really put my guard down and trust him fully to never break my heart. And Finally (the very important one), I have a very very very strict brother that would literally rain fire to those who would dare to, you know, hurt me. Not just my brother, I think my entire family, because you see, I'm a menopausal baby, the youngest, and as they describe them, the frailest. They are overbearing too, like Tae. And I don't really wanna do secret serious committed relationship with him even though i really like him.

I knew he got upset. But he said he would wait until everything is ready. When the coast is clear. He promised the world to me. And I did hold on to that promise. We still communicated even though I turned him down. Showing that he's kinda adamant with his words. And my family still knew nothing about him.

Not until one of my friends told me that he found out that he was entertaining some girls that liked him. Not just one, but THREE. His friends also knew and they told me. You can say that his friends were also disappointed when they found out. They don't tolerate such behavior which I'm super thankful for.

And then I confronted him about it. I was hurt. But then i got over it not that long because i held back myself from trusting him too much to avoid being attached you know. He even said that " we weren't official, you knew i was ready for it all but you turned me down" a total prick, i guess. But I knew I also had a fair of fault for hurting his pride and ego. But that's not an excuse for betraying me. He should've ended things with closure with me before going around entertaining girls while i was still in the frame.

and that was a year ago tho, and i told my brother about it. he was angry at first but then now we would laugh about it. he made me promise though that if ever there would be a guy that would possibly be in my life, may it be a crush or something, i should always tell him from now on. and i did promise him.

hasagdhsagdgahg i'm so sorrryyy for the veryyy long ask, i didn't mean to. i lovee you ella.

Don’t worry about the long ask bby!! I’m sorry that happened to you🥺🥺 I hope you find someone much better for you✨

[lawrenceop]

HOMILY for 18th Sunday after Pentecost (EF)

1 Cor 1:4-8; Matthew 9:1-8

Note again the way in which Christ addresses the paralytic in today’s Gospel. “Take heart, my son, your sins have been forgiven.” (Mt 9:2) A couple of Sundays ago, we heard Our Lord call us “friend”, thus calling sinful humanity to turn from sin, to turn from ways of behaving and thinking that are antithetical to genuine friendship with Christ. And so, as I said two Sundays ago, we have been called to befriend God by loving divine things as he loves, and in the manner that he loves.

But today, Christ calls the sick man, “my son”. Hence, Christ reveals that he has come not just to extend the love of divine friendship to sinners, but, even more astonishingly, God shows us that we have been called to share in the divine Sonship of Jesus Christ. So, through the forgiveness of our sins, through the liberation from sin that comes through grace and the sacraments, we have been set free by Christ so that henceforth we no longer belong to sin; we no longer belong to the world and the Devil, but rather now, by the grace of repentance and the gift of divine forgiveness, we have become God’s: “My beloved is mine, and I am his”, says the Lord to the soul in the Song of Songs. (2:16) Indeed, through the grace of Christ the Son, God has claimed us as his own Son, for we have been baptised into Christ. So St Paul says: “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal 3:26-27)

Hence the Fathers of the Church have seen in this Gospel a defence of the ancient practice of infant Baptism. For, against the somewhat Pelagian idea that Baptism should be of my choosing, as if grace and salvation is something I can claim for myself as an individual, today’s Gospel presents us with the communal and Ecclesial dimensions of the Faith. For as St Thomas says: “this paralytic symbolises the sinner lying in sin. Just as the paralytic cannot move, so the sinner cannot help himself.” This is especially true of the baby born into a state of original sin. Just as infants cannot help themselves, and they need their parents to feed them, clothe them, and clean them, so all the more does this apply to the spiritual realm. The baby, born with the stain of Adam’s sin on his soul, needs to be forgiven and redeemed and freed from original sin through Baptism. Hence, lying there like a baby, a helpless child, the sinner is brought to God. So we can note that in the Greek text of the Gospel, Jesus calls the paralytic ‘teknon’, which literally means ‘child’.

So, the child, the sinner, the one who is lying helpless and paralysed by sin, is brought to Jesus Christ by his friends and family, by those who love him. And, according to the Gospel, Jesus, seeing their faith, forgives the man’s sins and heals him. Thus the Church readily baptises infants who are brought to the font, and through this action man is forgiven, freed from original sin. So the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins”. (CCC 977) Notice though that this gratuitous act of God’s grace operates not through the explicit choice or faith or will of the baby, nor it would seem, the faith of the paralytic in the Gospel. Rather, seeing the faith of those who love him and have brought him to Jesus; seeing the faith of the child’s parents and godparents, Christ acts: the man is forgiven and healed; the child is baptised and thus forgiven; freed from the bondage of original sin, claimed from Satan and the world as God’s own son.

As the Father’s voice had been heard at Christ’s Baptism, saying “This is my beloved Son”, so at our Baptism, God the Father claims us as his beloved Son, and the Church becomes our Mother. “My beloved is mine, and I am his” says the Lord to the soul at his or her Baptism. In St Jerome’s Latin translation of the Gospel that we hear in this Mass, therefore, the Greek word ‘teknon’ is not translated as ‘puer’, child, but rather ‘fili’, son. This, I believe, is a deliberate choice of the Saint, so that we can hear the resonance of God the Father declaring Christ to be his beloved Son, and so that we should immediately be reminded of the grace of divine filiation, the grace of our adoption as God’s son, through the Sacrament of Baptism.

So, hear again today the words of the Lord to you and me, to the baptised: “Take heart, my son, your sins have been forgiven”. In Greek, the word translated as ‘take heart’ is ‘tharsei’, which the Lord says 10 times in the Gospels. It means, ‘Take courage, do not be afraid, cheer up’! Therefore, the Lord says to us who have been raised from sin through baptism into him, who share his divine Sonship: Take heart, that is to say, he calls us to have courage in the face of all the trials of this life, all the oppositions that would assail us, against sickness and ill health, and even against the struggle with our sins. With these words, we have his assurance that God’s grace is always at hand to help us, to strengthen and encourage us. Thus we hear in today’s epistle: “you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

For we are God’s, his sons, his Saints, his beloved, and he is ours! Therefore, let us be confirmed in our faith in God’s gift of divine Sonship given to us through holy Baptism. Hence St Josemaria Escriva declared that “If we are convinced of this marvellous truth, we will never lose our serenity. We will feel secure. And should we ever go astray, even seriously astray, as a result of one of the skirmishes of our daily struggle (since through frailty we can and in fact do go astray), we will [repent and] return to him.”

[byebyeballoon]

So I have like zero followers, but I wanted to vent somewhere, so here we are. I finally found some kdramas I am not a fan of after binging during quarantine these last two years (I’m chronically ill so I have a lot of free time). For the most part I’ve really enjoyed the majority I’ve watched, and have already re-watched a handful bc I enjoyed them so much and it’s digital hangs with my bestie. But I absolutely hated Itaewon Class, You Are My Spring, and Hometown Cha Cha Cha. I’ve been seeing IC and HTCCC on a lot of recommendation posts, and I wanted to see what other people thought about these things I noticed and disliked about the shows.

You Are My Spring, I simply could not finish and did not care to. The trailer was very misleading (I’ve actually gotten used to this with Netflix kdramas), and it ended up being a plot that felt off some how... I stopped after about five episodes since I just wasn’t feeling it. So I guess my gripe with this isn’t the same as the other two which had to do with the relationship dynamics.

I loved Park Seo-Joon in Whats Wrong With Secretary Kim (and I look forward to him being in the next Captain Marvel movie), but the writing for Itaewon Class was frustrating. Yes I liked the lead character and some of the side ones, and it was good to finally see a trans character in a kdrama (though it would have been even better if the character was played by a trans actor. Progress is progress, and I’m glad to see more representation in kdramas.). But I was not okay with how creepy Yi-Seo was towards Sae-royi. If it had been the other way where the dude was adamant and saying “I love you” and forcing physical affection on the woman even after the female character had said no multiple times over multiple years and drawn clear boundaries, people would be screaming how creepy the dude was. So yeah, that made me uncomfortable they ended up together since it was not healthy at all, and he deserved better after having such a hard life (honestly the second female lead was not much better. He should have ended up with someone else altogether. 🤷🏻‍♀️).

Hometown Cha Cha Cha was one where I got really bad second lead syndrome. It broke my heart how the dude loved her so much and the timing just wasn’t in his favor, both in college and again in later adulthood. But he actually seemed to care about Hye Jin unlike Do Sik (in the start anyway). Lastly Hye Jin beating poor Do Sik any time a town person came near them when they were trying to hide their relationship was extremely effed up. Her head butting him and actually making him bleed was not cute at all, and abuse needs to be called out when we see it. That was not a healthy start to a relationship, or healthy in any relationship. But uh yeah. If you prefer shows with healthy romantic relationships… skip this one.

Anyway I definitely will not be watching those three again, and felt like warning people looking for kdrama recs. I guess for reference I should say my top five are: 1) Vincenzo (the writing in this show was so good). 2) Hotel Del Luna (hoo boy the heartbreak in that one hit hard). 3) Sweet Home. 4) Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo. 5) King Eternal Monarch (simply for the fact that it was refreshing to see a fresh science fiction story when so many things in America media are being rehashed and recycled). That list isn’t necessarily in order tho, and I honestly have more favs than just those. Runner ups include: All of Us Are Dead, When the Camelia Blooms, Mystic Popup Bar, and Shopaholic Louis.

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 5x12 Souls of the Departed

Currently reading (well, listening) to The School for Good and Evil Series. It’s so good! It’s basically Wicked the Musical and has a fairy tale element like OUAT. Can’t recommend enough!

I had the weirdest dream last night that Ouat’s Gothel was hiding behind my bed at my old house trying to scare me. She stayed up all night with some blankets, waiting to pounce. Also, she was naked. Jesus Christ, wtf is wrong with my dreams?! I do not see Gothel in that way at all!! I was so freaking disturbed! @fairytalepsuedonym​ this is all your fault for putting that dirty hippie witch bitch on my mind lol xD! /jk

Also guys, we’re getting Disney+ today. I’m so excited! Let me know if anyone has any recommendations.

And you know what I just thought of? It looked like they were implying that Merida and Lord Macintosh were gonna be a thing (possibly? I think it’s up for interpretation) but he outright shot an arrow at one of her brothers and wanted the others dead too. Merida would never! Her brothers mean too much to her to forgive such a thing. Also, she gives me gay vibes. I don’t make the rules. Alistair makes all the rules. 

Back to the rewatch.

Oh yeah! This is the 100th episode! The compilation for 100 episodes was so freaking epic!

Neal! Is that really him though?

She’s staring at his lips lol!

Omg! Emma would have come back for Neal if she could. That means she believes they were true love, and she could have split her heart with him, right?

So, he appeared to her? 

Omg! The way Emma is stroking his face and is staring at him, you’d never know she was working on saving her boyfriend lol.

You know what would have been so much better? If the underworld was perpetually dark and foggy (within reason) like the sims 4 Forgotten Hollow. That would have looked so much cooler!

Here comes the red filter. As a gifmaker and even as a viewer I wanna scream every time I see it but at least it’s not the Dark Swan arc.

I said it before and I’ll say it again: they should have let Regina’s and maybe even Rumple’s victims confront them! That would have been interesting to watch play out. I know we got Regina’s dad and Peter Pan but give me a family of Regina’s slaughtered villagers. What would their reaction be to seeing her?

Eww. I hate the way she dips her finger in that pie.

Guys. It doesn’t matter that you have Regina surrounded, she has pyrokinesis and telekinesis! Y’all are screwed! She blew the flames out? She had the advantage! I’m glad she didn’t hurt them of course, but as someone writing a book that consists of characters with magic abilities, you’ve gotta know when a powerful character has the advantage and when to use it. Where was Snow dodging a fireball as one of her arrows flies at Regina and it pauses in mid air only to sore back at Snowing and their friends, but they manage to outsmart her somehow? 

Woah. This is the boldest Henry Sr. has ever been. He’s really trying to help Regina out here. 

Cora!! My love!! I missed you!!

I love the Blind Witch. Does she have a name? I enjoyed her in ‘Regina Rising.’ I remember she’s quite a bit older than Regina

The Blind Witch: “What can I get you? Do you like gingerbread or children?” Omg Snow’s like “what the actual f**k??”

James, why are you like this?? Get off her, dude.

Those key rings are cool.

Why the hell didn’t Emma just tell Henry she saw his dad? I can think of absolutely no reason why she would keep that from him.

Lately all Robin has done is make random comments pointing out the obvious. “It’s uncanny. It’s so similar yet so off.” Yes, Robin we established that 9 minutes ago. His next line will be, “Goodness, is that a tree over there?” or “Regina, you were the Evil Queen”, mark my words. Where has his personality gone? I was never a big fan but at least he was kinda arrogant and cheeky before, at least in season 2 and 3. Now he’s just a dude that points on the ground and tells you there’s a stone. And they have the chemistry of a banana and a cheese cracker.

“Her puny army of sweaty little child beasts.”

Are those black roses? 

I may be wrong but wasn’t Cora trying to get Regina to stop hunting Snow White and find true love instead in 4x20 or am I making things up? And I wonder if this is before or after she appeared in 4x20. 

I just love Cora so much.

Is that how she got to the EF in 4x20? Through a looking glass?

The fact that she could so easily cross realms suggests that she willingly gave Regina her space. Which is something! But it feels like she’d have ulterior motives for that. Also Jefferson and Rumple would be screaming if they knew it was that easy to cross realms.

Regina: “are you threatening me?” Cora: “No. Of course not, never.” But you literally are though.

Peter Pan! He was under-utilised this season. Come on! They could have done so much with him! I’m glad at least Cora and Cruella got decent screen time.

Imagine watching OUAT for the first time with this episode and you see this full-grown man refer to a teenage boy as is father. I would be so confused lol.

I wonder if Rumple / Rumple’s father hail from Dunbroch originally. You know, with the Scottish accent. I’m kinda thinking about headcanoning that now. At least, I think Malcolm had a Scottish accent?

That got me! I forgot Cora had glamoured into Henry Sr.! I thought Cora had shapeshifted into Snow to trick Henry.

Oh, so Henry Sr. contacting her was the reason Cora could walk through the looking glass. If only someone had contacted Jefferson. And I’ve just remembered that in 4x20, she said a white rabbit brought her to the EF.

Killian looks creepy as hell here!

Lol Cora, you let Henry wrap the heart? What did you expect to happen!

Why did Regina need Snow’s heart to kill her? She could have easily killed her without even touching her. 

What the hell does Snow think is in there? She looks terrified.

Archie, wtf were you doing between Snow’s titties?! And what were you doing with a match? Gonna set some titties on fire xD? I bet she could never look at him the same again. 

He doesn’t want Regina to kill Snow because he thinks it will make her dark forever? What about all the other people she’s killed?! That makes no sense!

Okay, given that Grace didn’t seem to physically age much between the flashbacks in 1x17 and the present day in 1x17, this probably happened after the flashback’s events in 4x20. 

According to wiki, Regina’s birthday is February 1st. I’m only learning this now.

I’ve never seen Henry Sr. so bold and Adam end to help Regina.

Okay, so Regina shrunk Henry with her magic but she needed a mushroom to return him to his normal size?

Don’t lock him in that box omg!!

Cora: “when are you gonna get it in that thick head...” she’s so casually abusive.

Random thought but why is Henry’s surname Mills? It just seems like it’d be Cora’s surname. Maybe he took hers on but that seems strange for a Prince to do.

Cora, don’t!

Henry’s alright!

Aww. Henry got to meet his 3rd Grandpa! He’s so happy she named him after him. 

I’m tearing up.

“Remember who you are, Regina.”

Henry, honey, you need to go home.

Is that Persephone?

Oh my God! I’m so excited for the Cora and Zelena stuff!! By far my favourite thing of the season! To hear Cora say Zelena’s name- the fact she knows her name- I’d waited for so long for this! It left open so many questions!

And Hades infuriated with Cora on the love of his life Zelena’s behalf!! He loved her so much and would do anything for her. I don’t ship it as much as I initially did because of how it ended but that man freaking loved and cherished Zelena. He wanted everything for her. She desperately needed that and it was an emotional experience to see her get it.

That’s like her worst nightmare, being a peasant again. 

I can’t with the flame hair.

I forgot this episode was pretty good. I didn’t remember liking it but Cora saved it for me. I forgot she was in it because I have probably watch season 5 the least as I try to avoid it lol. 

[meetmeatthecoda]

(Part 1) Hi!! ❤️ I would love to pick your brain on this, it’s no secret that a popular idea for how the Lizzie character went wrong was either poor acting on behalf of Megan Boone or a mix of that and poor writing for her character, possibly due to her acting limitations, and that she was very full of herself in relation to Spader and other actors. However, I don’t know where those rumors originate from because I can’t place that behavior with what I know about her from her interviews.

Hi there, dear anon!! ❤️ What an interesting ask!! I definitely understand what you mean re: all the Megan hate... I've always been kind of surprised at the ferocity of the hate for Megan (not Liz, mind you, that's completely understandable lmfao) even starting in the very beginning. Like, yes, she was a relatively unknown actress without any huge, successful projects under her belt & maybe not the most overtly talented actress out there - especially next to James effing Spader - but she brought Liz to life & did a fantastic job doing it!! As far as the more recent rumors in regards to her attitude & personal beliefs about herself in comparison to other actors... well, they're just that - rumors. Despite the other tidbits of information we've gleaned about Megan from being fans of this show for 8 long, long, long years & how these rumors seem to align with said tidbits, we don't actually know anything. Nothing was ever confirmed by a reputable, verified source & nothing likely ever will be. We can speculate all we want but, at the end of the day? It's none of our business. Our business is what Megan brought to Liz in terms of the show we love (to hate) & that's all.

Speaking of, I think people tend to forget, firstly, that a character & the actor that plays them are very separate &, secondly, that the actor has no control over the script & content they are given. Megan can't be blamed for TPTB's poor writing & she even - by some accounts - tried to stick up for Liz & how she should have been written. But, when it comes down to it, Megan did the best she could with what she was given. And the horrendous quality of the absolute shit she was shoveled will forever be incredibly tragic but that's a topic for another time, I suppose.

In regards to the deleted scene you mention, anon, I've never had the pleasure of seeing it!! I've never actually bought a season of the show on DVD bc I was waiting to see if things would pan out in a way that necessitated it &... well... 😑😑😑 But it's okay, as there's plenty of other scenes throughout the series that showcase Megan's acting ability & Liz's potential as a character, both of which were... so, so wasted. Furthermore, I think the question "how many roads did the writers come so close to going down, only to rob Lizzie & by extension the rest of the show in the process?" is an excellent one, anon. Given how many logical & canon-based options & show directions us fans can come up with? TPTB clearly missed out on many, but we'll never know how many, bc they chose to go with the absolute worst one.

Rest assured, anon, that I genuinely don't understand why they did what they did to Liz either. I've never seen a show work so hard to sabotage their protagonist & main character so fully, not to mention snub the most prominent ship of the show so consistently & heartlessly. It's no secret that I'm of the adamant opinion that they could have made Lizzington work - quite beautifully, I may add - if they really wanted to, which makes it all the more painful that they never did. And while I seriously doubt there is any possibility of Megan/Liz ever coming back, I agree that even that wouldn't right all the many wrongs they managed to do with just the finale, let alone the entirety of season 8... though her return would do wonders for Red's & by extension our hearts. Mad props to you, anon, for being understanding enough to still & always love the show & continue to watch it... bc I'm just not that strong 🥲

Anyway, I think I touched on everything you talked about in your ask & I hope there was something here worth reading!! I'm so flattered you wanted to pick my brain on these topics & were interested enough to know my opinion, that's such a compliment, thank you, anon!! 🥰 No worries about the length either - we all know I'm guilty of long... well, everything LOL - they just take a bit of extra time to answer, so I thank you muchly for your patience, I really appreciate it!! Thanks again, anon, & much love to you, my friend!! ❤️

[wigwurq]

WIG REVIEW: HILLBILLY ELEGY

I ACTUALLY WATCHED THIS MOVIE Y’ALL. I promised I would watch some Oscar movies instead of prestige TV shows with bad red wigs so I sorta did that: I watched Oscar bait. Because lordt knows this movie is not winning any Oscars (and if it does, it is truly the asterisk Oscars). THIS YEAR YOU GUYS. There is so much to discuss in this movie. Yes, the wigs too. Also there are lots of spoilers but here’s the thing: THIS MOVIE IS AWFUL AND YOU SHOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT WATCH IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AND INSTEAD JUST READ THIS REVIEW. I WATCHED THIS HORROR SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO! YOU ARE WELCOME! 

We begin in Kentucky 1997. AND EVERYTHING IS JUST SO KENTUCKY 1997. All landscapes/cars/people are beige and broken and depressed. We meet JD who is good at biking and saving turtles and spending the summer with his messed up family. HE IS ALSO A TERRIBLE ACTOR AS IS THE OLDER VERSION OF HIM. Important note: I did not read this book and the real JD is an awful Libertarian asshole and nothing about his story, his book, or this movie should be supported. I AM HERE FOR THE WIGS, Y’ALL. MOVING ON!

As promised, Glenn Close as JD’s grandma MAMAW (YES THAT IS HER CHARACTER NAME) looks exactly like Gene Shalit. A friend of mine made this comparison and I cannot unsee it. Amy Adams, straight off (ok maybe several years off?) deglamming for Sharp Objects is just completely frizzed (and kinda strung) out. These wigs are truly abominable as is this film. Anyway, they leave Kentucky and go back to Ohio where they live and where it is somehow more depressing than Kentucky. 

But ok the wig, y’all. Amy Adams hair is is as shitty and unmanageable as her character which might have been a choice? Still, this wig is a tangled, dried out nightmare that cannot be defended (nor can this character’s child abuse and drug problems). Within moments of returning to Ohio, Amy Adams scolds her child for allowing a gifted dog to pee on her wall to wall carpeting and then the cops have to break up a car slap fight (of her slapping her child!) that spills out into a neighbor’s house. SHE MIGHT BE THE WORST MOM IN HISTORY BUT SHE SHOULD DEFINITELY BE ARRESTED FOR WIG CRIMES.

ONTO GLENN CLOSE - SHE LOOKS LIKE GENE SHALIT. THE END. Whoever approved this wig is a huge fan of American film critic Gene Shalit sans mustache. It is the only possible explanation. AND THIS PATCHY MAKEUP. I CANNOT YOU GUYS. I realize that everyone was aiming for deglam Oscars but they went too far. 

ANYWAY. This film flashes between 1997 and 2011, where older JD (again also a terrible actor) is somehow in law school at Yale (OK?) and dating Freida Pinto who this film claims is normal law school age (FUN FACT: she’s 37). Older JD kind of has his life together other than the fact that all the snobs of law school cannot deal with this hillbilly kid who doesn’t know what a salad fork is. And then JD’s sister (played by Haley Bennett aka offbrand Jennifer Lawrence who I actually prefer more) calls and says that MOM IS IN TROUBLE PLEASE RUIN ANY LAW PROSPECTS AND COME HOME EVEN THOUGH MOM IS ABSOLUTELY THE WORST. AND HE DOES YOU GUYS!

Amy Adams’ 2011 wig/makeup/everything is probably the visualization of 2020? I assume this wig was made from leftover parts from Glenn Close’s Gene Shalit wig grafted onto a Halloween fright wig. It could very easily work for a swamp witch costume if you didn’t care about the quality of your swamp witch wig. IT IS THE WORST AS IS SHE. So she was in trouble because she overdosed on heroin...of course she did. After driving all night to get to Ohio, JD gets a call for a second interview at an important law whatever and just HAS TO GET BACK TO NEW HAVEN in the next like 6 hours which still feel like 600. The whole time he’s dealing with Amy Adams and her fright wig, it is a race against time to see if he’ll make it back and secure his future. I guess this is the plot of the movie? I could honestly not tell you. Basically the whole film (if you can call it that?) is strung together vignettes of strung out Amy Adams and yelling Glenn Close that never really add up to anything? BUT THERE IS SO MUCH YELLING ALWAYS. It’s like the opposite of a slow burn - it’s just constant flames and not the cool gay kind.

In any case, we flash back to the ‘90s where Amy Adams’ wig is basically everything Tonya Harding ever hoped and dreamed for (other than that Olympic medal...also Amy Adams would have been a much better casting choice in I, TONYA which had vastly superior wigs BUT I DIGRESS). We see how this drug habit developed - Amy Adams was a nurse and hoarded pills! This leads to the most truly outrageous film sequence I have seen in a long time where high as hell Amy Adams roller skates through the halls of the hospital where she works in her damn nurses scrubs and obviously immediately gets fired. Also her dad dies! Also she tries to kill herself and ends up screaming bloody murder (also covered in blood) in the middle of street and then goes to rehab (rehab doesn’t work). And then gets married to some rando. And then she gets some new job and needs JD to lend her some pee so she can still be a nurse. This all happens in the course of like 10 minutes.  Like I said, this movie is constant insane vignettes - it’s like 100 plots at once and also no plot at all.

And then JD - definitely out of nowhere - develops a gang of terrible drug addicted teenage friends (sure!) who steal/crash cars and make everyone super pissed at JD. ALSO! For reasons unknown or ever explained, Glenn Close ends up in the hospital herself and then has the realization that only she can save JD from his effed up life AND TEARS ALL THE IVS OUT OF HER ARM AND STORMS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL WITH NO CONSEQUENCES OR EXPLANATIONS AS TO WHY SHE WAS THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE! YOU GUYS. 

Also! JD tries to steal a graphing calculator for school from Radio Shack (this is for sure the most 90s sentence I’ve written in a while!) AND GLENN CLOSE IS PISSED! She lays down the law and also buys the graphic calculator herself even though that means they have to live off meals on wheels. BUT! Then he gets the best grade of the entire class on his math quiz and I DEMAND TO KNOW HOW HE KNEW HE HAD THE BEST GRADE IN THE ENTIRE CLASS AS THIS IS NEVER EXPLAINED OR SHOWN AND I NEED ANSWERS! Regardless, the graphing calculator not only saved JD’s grade point average but maybe set him on the path to Yale??? The concept that consumerism is the only thing that will help you as a “hillbilly” is really troubling and bespeaks the issues with this work of non-fiction as a whole. Anyway this movie really want you to know that GRAPHING CALCULATORS SAVE LIVES!!!

There is also a wig battle royale between Amy Adams and Glenn Close wherein there are absolutely no winners (but we, the viewer, definitely loses most!) It is honestly unclear to me how this fight ends (or how any fights end in this movie) because every interaction turns immediately into a fight and when said fight reaches its zenith, the movie cuts away to another vignette! Regardless, the wigs are complete garbage AS IS THIS MOVIE.

Back in 2011, Amy Adams refuses to be admitted to a rehab facility and older JD drives her back to her druggie boyfriend’s house which looks like this and I was like...hold up where have I seen this house before?

The answer is: 2010′s THE FIGHTER ALSO STARRING AMY ADAMS DEGLAMMING HERSELF FOR AN OSCAR SHE DIDN’T WIN! Ok actually in comparison, these houses aren’t that similar other than they are depressing houses with multitier front porches BUT STILL. 

Anyway, JD leaves Amy Adams and her sad swamp witch wig at some random motel where nothing is resolved between them at all and then he drives all night back to New Haven whilst talking to Freida Pinto on the phone (SHE NEEDS TO SLEEP TOO, DUDE! HOW DO YOU THINK SHE IS PLAYING 14 YEARS HER JUNIOR! SLEEP!) And then...he does get to the interview and....the movie ends!! WHAT!TRULY AND FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART: WHAT DID I JUST WATCH AND WAS IT A MOVIE? I STILL DON’T KNOW!

There is an epilogue of pictures of the real people and you guys: MAMAW LOOKED NOTHING LIKE GENE SHALIT. Also why do I even care about these real people???? Yes the real JD made something of himself....he wrote the book on which this movie is based and became a Libertarian asshole and worked with Peter Theil?!?! OK??? I guess the full story is in the epilogue? But this movie absolutely begins and ends nowhere and in between we are treated to a lot of nonsensical yelling and terrible, awful, no good wigs. I IMPLORE YOU: DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!!!! MAYBE WATCH SOME YOUTUBE CLIPS OF GENE SHALIT INSTEAD! 

VERDICT: DOESN’T WURQ

[virtualreylo]

My review of TROS:

As some of you may know, I went to see TROS on the premier night, and I wanted to give myself a full week to think everything through to see what stil stood out to me. See-the-fuck-below:

I want to first say that TROS was honestly better than I thought it would be, however, IT WAS SO RUSHED.

I felt like we the audience had zero time to actually react to what was happening because this movie literally had two, maybe even three, movies crammed into a single one.

Rush Job / Leia:

We weren’t given the opportunity to actually feel as though Chewie had died, or really get to know Dio, or properly grieve Leia-Effing-Organa-Skywalker-Solo.

Like seriously, what the hell was up with that? This woman had given so much to the Star Wars universe, and the characters along for the ride couldn’t even have a minute to respond and process.

It was always just so “Onto the next thing!”, and I hated it.

Poe/Finn/Rose:

I did like that we were able to kind of get a glimpse of Poe’s background a little more, but when he was given the title of ‘General’, I WISHED they would have also given him just an extra five seconds to process and acknowledge this! That was a huge step for every one around him, and for Leia to do, and it was just glossed over.

With Finn, I hated how he interacted with Rose. Those few seconds reminded me of how we deal with an annoying little cousin. Those two characters literally spent an entire movie together, at least show they’re more than strangers.

I do like how it’s more obvious that he’s force sensitive, but I HATE that JJ made it seem as if he was trying to tell Rey that he had feelings for her or some shit. I mean, if you were paying close enough attention, Finn was telling everyone else around him about it, so it made sense that that was what he was also trying to tell Rey (John Boyega has also confirmed via Instagram that Finn was not trying to tell Rey he loved her). It just could’ve been handled differently, and I don’t think Finn’s story had to be based around Rey, of course, until he met Jannah...

Rose - My, my, my. It was such a shame to see her character pushed to the sidelines in such a harsh way. I understand she may not have needed to be such a big character in TROS, however TLJ made me feel like she was part of the gang.

If JJ wanted to exercise his creativity, he could have included her and formed it in a way where it wasn’t so in your face. Instead, after alllll the backlash and harassment Kelly had dealt with, her character was pretty much trashed, and at a time when female friendship was needed in the Star Wars films.

C3PO/Chewie:

I actually loved C3PO’s humor in this one - But part of me did feel a little betrayed about how easy it was for the gang to decide to just destroy his mind (Its rediculous when you think about it lmao). I am not saying it didn’t make sense, I just wish they would have taken only an extra 5 seconds to be like “Mmm... Are we sure?” - But no, it was always “On to the next thing!”

Chewie - Yall already know that I wanted a bigger reaction to the almost-death. Again, literally 5 seconds more could have made the difference.

In addition, it would have been amazing to see Chewie and Ben interact...

Lando:

Okay.

What the actual fuck?

I seriously felt as though I blinked and Lando just popped up with no acknowledgment.

AGAIN.

I was soooo frustrated, because Lando was a big character that I think a lot of people were looking forward to seeing, and the only one excited to be there, was Lando himself.

Everyone just kinda had the reaction of: “Oh, hey.” on screen. WTF!!!

Hux:

The spy, eh? Full on caps-lock-pissy-mode activated.

HOW FUCKING RANDOM AND THROWN IN WAS THAT?! WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING IN TFA AND TLJ? WHERE WAS THE HELP THEN?? WHY DID HE ALL OF A SUDDEN CARE NOW?!

ALSO, SMALL FUCKING REMINDER, HE STILL WASN’T ON THE RESISTANCE’S SIDE!!!

HE HELPED THEM ONLY TO TAKE KYLO REN DOWN, HE SAID HE DIDN’T GIVE A DAMN WHO WON.

Sorry. The end.

Also, he looked hot af in this movie.

Rey:

Now, let’s get into the heavy.

I, again, hated how rushed this movie was, and that included how they dealt with Rey’s character and growth.

Only one year had passed, you’re telling me she learned all of these powers and moves by Leia? Let’s say that was the case, JUST SHOW US HOW. Even a 10 second clip of just their various training methods or sessions! Anything.

Don’t get me wrong: I know Rey is a Palpatine (Rolling my mf eyes) - so she would obviously be very powerful. But the last we saw of Rey, she was lost and struggling how to move on.

Her saber was broken, she had the Jedi textbooks, and she was lost.

What happened??

Along side this, I was extremely disappointed to find out that she was indeed a Palpatine. I had my theories when TFA came out, but I, along with so many others, loved the fact that she didn’t have to be part of any big name in order to be a strong, self sufficient lead, and I think Rian Johnson did a great job at letting us know and feel that during the mirror/cave scene in TLJ.

Rey’s overall attitude this movie really left a sour taste in my mouth. I get that she was hurt, and angry, and panicking... But, she acted like an ass quite honestly.

But, to me, it kind of played into the dark side of herself, though I wished that was explained a bit more for people that don’t really get into Star Wars as much as we do.

With that said: I wished Rey was still a nobody from Jakku, and that she kept a little bit of her curious/sweet side. And I wished her growth was shown a bit more - Not in just the powers she used against Kylo Ren.

Ben Solo / Kylo Ren:

Can we seriously just take a minute to thank Adam Driver? This isn’t me being up his ass. As an aspiring director, his acting was amazing in this movie, and I feel he really out did himself.

With that said: I, again, hate how everyone’s characters and growth were glossed over in TROS, as if TLJ never happened and it’s really so childish and disheartening. If Abrams wanted to literally skip TLJ, he should have manned up and taken on TLJ himself.

I feel like Kylo Ren was back in his TFA ways; Demanding, with a little charm now. I liked it, but I would have liked it a little more if he actually talked to Rey like a normal human being like he did in TLJ.

(But, Kylo Ren with an attiude? FuCk YeS pLeAsE.)

Ben Solo: Can we all just marry you now? That fucking switch was everything, his ‘Ow’ was everything, his lightsaber throw-age was everything, his interaction with Han was life, and kicking ass and forgetting names was the best fucking time.

I wished he had more lines in the end, literally, how does he barely have any lines as BEN SOLO!!!!

But jesus, the way he literally crawled out of the dark to save Rey was everything.

And that kiss? I could stare at it for hours.

Amazing acting with these characters, brav-fucking-o.

The end (+THAT “death”):

Ben Solo is not dead.

That is not denial.

I think that is the “hope” that JJ kept referring to. There are so many big points that show he isn’t, and I think down the line, we will get another movie with his comeback.

With the end, I hated how Rey didn’t seem to react to his death either, but I think it leads to something bigger: She feels him out there somewhere, in the in-between.

I do not like how she adopted the Skywalker name... I wished she stuck with the “Just Rey.” shit. I lived for that.It’s great, she has some sense of belonging, if that’s what you want to call it... But again, it was thrown together and it isn’t real.

The ending itself was left open: Yellow lightsaber, and walking around on Tattooine? I really doubt she stayed there.

Overall:

I hated how rushed it was, and how JJ tried to erase TLJ (Seriously, if you aim to do that shit to a movie, JUST DON’T TAKE THE JOB, YOU SCARED/POSSESSIVE POS!! Let’s say the movie was split up in two, with the same outcome, but at least TLJ still existed in his world - I would be 100% okay with that!

But, that’s not how it was handled, and we the fandom, were provided a “close” to a saga that we rode with for many, many years just to have it all thrown down the drain without a second thought.

 I do believe a LOT of last minute decisions were made, especially with editing. But I sincerely hope that we get a glimpse into the shit that was left out, at least on the DVD extras, or an extended version of the movie (GOD, PLEASE).

When all is said and done:

- Ben Solo will come back.

- Rey’s story will continue.

- Hopefully we have a director that actually cares about the characters and story.

- I am looking forward to the novelization, the Kylo Ren comics, those DVD extras, and once the dust settles I really want to see what JJ and the cast have to say for this shit.

[bugaboosandbees]

Rally to the Queen

Okay. I know that I shouldn’t be starting anything else new, and I definitely won’t start actually writing this until I finish with my Reine Ruse AU, but I ended up getting so attached to my Bee!Kagami design (and so salty about Onichan!Kagami) that I ended up with a whole slew of headcanons about a post-Riposte Bee!Kagami Kagaminette AU.

I call it Rally to the Queen.

Here’s what goes down.

This takes place immediately after Riposte.

Marinette still feels really bad about judging the point wrong. She talks to Adrien to ask how Kagami is doing. He says that he thinks that she’s okay now, but Kagami was totally exhibiting some behaviors that he recognized as the son of a largely absent parent with absurd standards. He doesn’t have the time he’d like to have to check in on Kagami, so he also tells Marinette that it sounded like Kagami was under a lot of pressure at home and was afraid of her mother judging her for losing the fight.

Marinette, of course, feels terrible and her patented Dupain-Cheng-family we-must-adopt-everyone genes kick in, so she decides to track down Kagami’s home address to apologize formally and to make sure that Kagami’s mom knows what really went down.

When she gets there, she’s flustered and awkward as usual but good-hearted and although Kagami’s mom initially is not thrilled about the weird intrusion, she doesn’t hate Marinette.

Since she’s there, she and Kagami end up chatting either that day or some other time. Marinette mentions that she’s looking forward to trying out for the fencing team again the following year to learn aside Adrien and Kagami.

Kagami realizes that she took the only spot on the team. She’s not the sort to feel bad about this and wouldn’t normally, but Marinette was being so kind and she’d actually tried to stand up to her mother for her, so she offers to give her fencing lessons. (Maybe she covers it up as extra practice for her as she’s not really much of a touchy-feely person.)

Anyway, Marinette starts going to Kagami’s house once a week for fencing practice. She always brings fresh baked goods. I don’t think Kagami has many friends, especially with how intense we’ve seen her family to be and being so new to Paris, so she might not really know how to deal with Marinette’s brand of friendship at first.

They become really good friends. I actually think they really would if they spent any sort of time together in canon without misunderstandings and Adrien and sometimes somewhat suspect writing in the way. They are both determined, powerful young women with hearts of steel and an unstoppable drive towards something that they’re very passionate about. They’re both straightforward and value honesty and dislike liars. They would be an UNSTOPPABLE team.

I don’t think Sapotis happens in this AU. There’s no salt against Alya here, but I think it would be reasonable for Marinette avoid giving a miraculous to her best friend no matter how much she’d like to share being superheroes with her. This is because Alya is shown in season one especially to be very adamant about revealing Ladybug’s identity. This was even the main goal of her akumatized form, Lady Wifi. Marinette loves Alya deeply, but I think that there would be reasonable doubt there about whether or not Alya would be able to keep her own secret or if she would use her position as a sometimes-superhero to discover more about Ladybug. We’ve seen in canon that Marinette obviously hates lying to her best friend, so I think it’s reasonable to think that she wouldn’t manufacture a situation where she had to do so even more.

Also, even though Anasai technically took place before Queen’s Battle, just go with me here and assume it didn’t and that Style Queen was the first akuma that Ladybug needed help with. We know that she picked the Bee miraculous in Style Queen and, as Marinette is good friends with Kagami already in this AU, she definitely sees how much this miraculous would play to her friend’s strengths. They also fence together all the time, so Marinette knows how Kagami fights and wouldn’t have to learn a new teammate’s style in the middle of an already complicated fight. Since Kagami isn’t Alya, she wouldn’t already be at the Effiel tower and wouldn’t be turned to glitter by Style Queen, so Marinette would be able to safely get the Bee miraculous to her.

Ladybug and Mitsubachi are a deadly combination. Style Queen never stood a chance. Everything goes pretty smoothly and Ladybug is able to get the Bee miraculous back from Kagami without incident. (That being said, Marinette is a flustered bi mess and totally fumbled once or twice in the fight because damn, Kagami makes a deadly and attractive superhero.)

And because I’m a sucker for redeeming Chloe I am physically incapable of leaving her out of this AU. Oops, lol. Without Queen Bee, the Queen’s Battle arc would definitely have some pretty substantial changes. Chloe’s mom would still be being pretty awful and Chloe wouldn’t have gotten her hands on the Bee miraculous. She’d still have to be upset enough to get akumatized over her mom (so Gabe wouldn’t give up being Hawkmoth (also, he’d have only just learned that the Guardian was in Paris so that might be another incentive)) but she wouldn’t become Queen Wasp because she was never Queen Bee in the first place.

Instead, she becomes a different sort of version of @imthepunchlord ‘s Princess Amour akumanette concept. She just really wants to be loved. Maybe instead of having a Chat Noir “knight” as the akumanette had, some ladybug merch of her���s would hold the akuma and turn into a version of Ladybug that would help and protect and validate Chloe as her knight. After LB beats this akuma, she has an honest talk with Chloe that night because she could see that Chloe was really struggling and, despite their very checkered past couldn’t help but wanting to help.

Ladybug gives Chloe some advice and Chloe does her level best to live up to it in her day to day life. It’s a long hard road and it doesn’t come easily, but every once in awhile Ladybug will drop by and knowing that her heroine is proud of her gives Chloe the push she needs to change for the better.

I should also mention that I’m switching the places of the fox and peacock miraculouses in this AU. If we’re still working with the headcanon that Mr. and Mrs. Agreste used the miraculouses that Gabe has, it makes sense that they’d have the butterfly because everything we’ve been lead to believe indicates that it was a good fit for Mrs. Agreste. That being said, what we know of the Peacock makes no effing sense for Gabe. He’s creative, crafty, and not above playing dirty. That man is a fox through and through, you can’t change my mind. Therefore, Fu has the peacock and the fox is the damaged miraculous sitting in the Agreste safe.

This is relevant, I promise.

So, Ladybug and Chat Noir have worked with Mitsubachi quite a few times. She fits pretty effortlessly into the team dynamic but is definitely with Ladybug in taking the job super seriously and not always being down with Chat’s attitude.

Kagami and Marinette are still hanging out. Kagami is falling for Marinette and Marinette is falling for Kagami, but Marinette had confided in Kagami earlier about her crush on Adrien, so Kagami thinks that Mari is still in love with Adrien and Marinette doesn’t think Kagami would be interested in her, so there’s an awful lot of mutual pining going on.

Hawkmoth is escalating and Fu approves of Kagami after testing her himself, so she gets the Bee miraculous on a permanent basis.

With the extra help, it’s a while before Ladybug’s lucky charm calls for another hero, but, when it does, she needs the peacock. Maybe she was going for Alya with this one, but, being the Ladyblogger, Alya has already gotten herself into the conflict and trapped by the akuma. As she’s looking around, Ladybug spots (lol, get it?) Chloe trying to get Sabrina and some other people to safety, consequently getting trapped or something. She goes to save Chloe, and when Chloe thanks her, she starts to wonder. Chloe has taken a good, hard look at herself and really improved in the past few months. She’s not perfect yet, but no one is. And, you know what? Getting the Ladybug miraculous went a long way towards making her a better Marinette. Mind made up, she offers the Peacock to Chloe and a new hero appears. (I’m thinking of naming Chloe’s peacock form Tirisi or Vindex -- Greek or Latin for (roughly) defender/protector/champion. See my rant on why the peacock miraculous’ powers make sense for my reasoning.)

Chloe gives the miraculous back when Ladybug asks and keeps working to improve herself so that her heroine might someday trust her again. (She loved being able to have the power and agency to connect with and help others -- she really loved feeling strong enough to save others and is starting to feel more confident that she can save herself.) She doesn’t spill her identity and becomes a reliable second-string hero when Ladybug’s lucky charm demands her presence.

Eventually turtle!Sabrina will also come into this AU because she really, really deserves her own character development. (And @mystery-vixen ‘ s design and art and @pyrepyro ‘s art for Turtle!Sabrina is the cutest shit I’ve ever seen in my life.) Maybe it’s some sort of Anasasi situation where Chloe’s in trouble and Sabrina is doing her level best to rescue her as a civilian, idk. (For turtle!Sabrina I was thinking Bouclier or Jadeite, unless you guys have ideas?)

Anyway, eventually, everyone has their miraculouses permanently. (This probably happens after Gabe and Natalie break out the fox.) Endgame is Kagaminette and Chlobrina, two sets of deadly wlw protecting Paris along with the bi disaster Chat Noir who is 100% willing to THROW THE FUCK DOWN with anyone who doesn’t respect the ladies of the superhero team. Chat Noir totally gets along with the whole squad, by the way. Between the four of them, the ladies are great friends and life coaches to our cat boi and help him work through what unhealthy attitudes he has in a respectful and caring way. They adopt him and are always hugging Chat or even just lightly resting a hand on his shoulder since they discovered he was touch-starved. (Especially Ladybug and Tirisi. All four would cut a bitch for that boy, but they’re the most touchy-feely.)

(Eventually snake!Luka joins the squad and he and Chat Noir get together and it’s just a giant group of badass queer superheroes kicking ass and protecting Paris.)

They eventually beat Hawkmoth and Adrien and Luka become the next Guardians (They’d do a great job, fight me). Marinette and Kagami are too busy for that anyway. They got married and Marinette started the world’s most successful fashion line while Kagami set some sort of ridiculous record for the number of gold medals a single person can win in fencing. Chloe and Sabrina get married and (because of Chloe) end up adopting a ridiculous amount of kids that they care for and love unconditionally.

Happily Ever After and The End. :)

Thanks for listening to my rant!

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time 2x02 “We Are Both” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01

Lots of new information and growth happening in this episode. The inhabitants of Storybrooke can’t leave without losing their real memories. Young Regina banished Cora to Wonderland. David became the prince everyone knew he could be. Regina finally realized that magic was not the answer to her problems.

Summary: In the Enchanted Forest young Regina contacts Rumplestiltskin to help her with Cora. In Storybrooke the town is looking to David to help them move past the curse and the dwarfs discover that no one can cross the town line without losing their true memories.

Opening: Enchanted Branches

Character Observations:

Young Regina/Regina: It is two days before young Regina is to wed Leopold and she is trying to escape. Why doesn’t she just go to Leopold and tell him she doesn’t want to marry him? Or have her father tell him? Is she that afraid of Cora? She’s certainly not afraid enough to try and run away. She just about makes it when enchanted branches pull her off her horse. Cora created a barrier spell so couldn’t leave the kingdom without Leopold. Young Regina goes off again about how she doesn’t want this life and Cora says she’s just afraid of the power. Young Regina is adamant that she does not want power and just wants to be free. Cora tells her power is freedom. Young Regina is with Snow putting a flower crown into her hair and acting like the wonderful stepmother she should be. Snow discovers Daniel’s ring and young Regina has a daydream of telling Snow that it was from Daniel and that he’s now dead because Snow couldn’t keep a secret and strangles her with the ring. Whoa! Young Regina actually does look distraught at this when she’s awakened from this by Snow asking where she got the ring on a chain. Young Regina says she doesn’t remember. Young Regina is crying to Henry, Sr. about how Cora is trying to turn her into her. She wants to leave. Henry, Sr. says it’s just cold feet, but young Regina is upset because she doesn’t want to marry the king. She is angry all the time and Cora is making her crazy. She just wants her own life, not Cora’s. She asks her father how Cora got like this. Henry, Sr, says it was a man who wasn’t quite a man, that brought magic to Cora and gave her a book of spells. Which then prompts young Regina to steal the book from under a sleeping Cora’s pillow. Young Regina summons Rumplestiltskin (while hilariously mispronouncing his name), and he arrives being all uber creepy telling her he’s been waiting for them to be together for a long time. He knows who she is and young Regina figures it’s because he knew Cora. She says she’s been told she looks like her mother when she was younger and seems pretty proud of this (despite how much she says she doesn’t want to be like her mother), but Rumplestiltskin says he doesn’t see it, which disappoints her. He knew her as a baby and wants to know what she wants. He guesses power, death of enemies, and death of friends. Young Regina claims she doesn’t want to hurt anyone. Rumplestiltskin senses much power in her and that she could do so much if she let herself. I’ll give young Regina credit, she is not at all creeped out by this gold, sparkly creature, who may not be entirely human touching her. Maybe it’s because he sees her for who she is, or maybe she knows it’s the only way to get Cora out of her life, but kudos to her for not shivering when he touched her face like I wanted to. Rumplestiltskin gives young Regina a gift and offers to teach her magic. Regina refuses, that’s what Cora does. Rumplestiltskin says the beauty of his gift is that it does the magic for her. It’s a portal and young Regina just needs to give Cora a little push. Young Regina isn’t sure if she can do it. It is now the wedding day and Regina is looking lovely in her wedding gown (and her hair looks much better than it did during her dress fitting in The Stable Boy). Cora sees the gift that Rumplestiltskin left and what’s to know what it is. Young Regina says she doesn’t know. Cora unwraps it and sees it’s a looking glass and comments to young Regina that it’s very impersonal and wonders if the people actually love her. Young Regina is offended at this comment and tells Cora she is doing her best. Cora does apologize, then brings her over to the looking glass. She tells her that the king isn’t strong. She needs to raise the tributes, form a person queen’s guard, and let everyone know where the new power lies. Young Regina will hold the hearts of her people in her hand (well, she’s not wrong). Young Regina asks Cora if that’s what she would do. Cora says yes and young Regina says she doesn’t want to be Cora. She turns around to push Cora but Cora stops her with magic. Cora is rambling on about how she’ll be stuck with her forever when young Regina sees Rumplestiltskin appear in the looking glass and he prompts her to push her. Young Regina rebels against the magic and pushes Cora through the looking glass. Once through, the glass shatters. Young Regina looks at her hands wondering what she’s done. Young Regina is leaving the kingdom again (did she tell anyone she was leaving this time?) but Rumplestiltskin stops her. She gives him back the book. He wants to know how she felt using the magic. She starts to tell him she loved her mother, but that isn’t what she asked. Young Regina says she’ll never use magic again because she loved using it. She looks like someone who has tried drugs for the first time and loved the feeling of it, but knows it’s bad and doesn’t want to use it again. But Rumplestiltskin is a pusher if we’ve ever seen one. He says he’ll teach her magic. Young Regina wants to know what he gets out of it. He says someday she’ll do something for him. Young Regina doesn’t want to become Cora. Rumplestiltskin says that’s entirely up to her.

And as we have learned, Regina did become exactly like her mother. We see exactly what extent she will go to, to keep Henry in her life. David goes to see Regina to learn about the hat. Regina thinks he’s pretty brave after their last encounter, but David thinks her magic was an anomaly and that if it was really back, the town would be charcoal. He tells her the only thing keeping her alive right now is Henry. Regina is all bluster and fury until David mentions Henry, then her soft side comes out. And then it immediately goes right back to anger when David asks about the hat. She lies to him about not remembering where she got the hat and then turns on David asking him why he’s not taking care of Henry. David gets snarky about how she took such great care of him and Regina says she can’t listen to someone who shipped their daughter to Maine (Regina, that was your fault!). David takes the high road and refuses to keep the snarkfest going and asks how he can get to his family. Regina reminds him that they were sent to nothing and that if she does get her magic to work to help him, everyone would be charcoal as he said. David calls her out on being frustrated and that she earned every bit of this. Go David! She says right now she doesn’t have magic and she doesn’t have her son but when she gets one she’ll get the other. David says if she needs magic to keep Henry then she doesn’t really have him. That resonates deeply within Regina. God, the look on her face! It’s so subtle. It’s barely and eye and lip twitch that shows just how much that statement hurts her, but, god it’s brilliant! Regina tries to work her magic but the candle she’s trying to light will not stay lit. She goes to leave her house, heeding David’s warning to be careful. She encounters Archie on the way to her car. He wants to talk to find out who she truly is but she knows who she is. Regina goes to Gold’s shop to find her mother’s book. Gold tells her this isn’t a library. He knows what book she’s looking for and taunts her with needing her mommy’s help. Regina needs the books to get Henry back. He tells her that maybe if she relaxed it would just happen. Regina doesn’t have time. She’s like a strung out addict right here. She wants the shortcut instead of waiting around for her magic to return. Gold asks her to leave, please, but now that the curse is broken, his pleases don’t work anymore. And Regina is thrilled about that. He tells her giving her the book isn’t in his best interest and she says it’s not in his best interests for everyone else to know the EF still exists! WHAT! So she knowingly sent the wraith to the EF knowing it still exists! Damn, Regina, you cold. She knows he’s up to something and fingers the suitcase he has laid out.  Gold stops her from opening it and produces the book out of thin air. She follows it with her eyes, a moth to a flame. Gold warns her that the book can be a shock to her system. Regina doesn’t care. She heads out the door and Gold tells her that she looks like Cora. She is not happy about that remark. Regina is holding the book by her apple tree. The apples are all black, just like in the dream she had in An Apple Red as Blood. She blows the spell off the page and inhales it to get the magic (very drug-like visual here). Her eyes flash purple and the apples become their vibrant red color again. The townspeople are gathered at the town hall for David’s speech, but he is not there. Regina is though. She walks in all sassy. Archie and Leroy attempt to stop her, but she flings them away with magic as if they weren’t anything. Granny sends an arrow at her, but Regina catches it, sets it on fire and sends it back towards the crowd before it sets the seal behind her on fire. The bitch is back! Ruby is the only person brave enough to ask Regina what she wants, but Henry already knows that it’s him. He agrees to go with her if she’ll leave everyone else alone. And once again, her facial expressions are just amazing. She has this wistful, yet prideful look on her face when Henry says he’ll come home with her, and then it immediately changes to an ‘I won’ face as she walks out with Henry, along with a snide look at Granny for trying to shoot her with an arrow. And then we see delusional Regina. She’s so happy that Henry came home with her and starts prattling on about how things won’t be going back to the way they used to be. I hope not, she previously made him think he was crazy. Henry immediately starts trying to escape and Regina stops him by enchanting the branches to catch him. Like mother, like daughter. Regina says she’s keeping him a prisoner because she loves him. Henry tells it like it is. Thank goodness he doesn’t have a filter. She’s ruined lives, she sent Emma and Mary Margaret away. Regina makes sure he knows that was an accident (was it?). Henry says the way she treated him wasn’t an accident, that he made her feel crazy. Regina is trying to justify everything. It will be different now. She can teach him magic. Invite his friends over and show them his book. Henry says no one will come over here because they’re all afraid of her. This gives Regina slight pause and then she says he can make them not be afraid and love him. Henry says he doesn’t want to be like Regina. Her happiness falters. Regina is finally beginning to realize that karma is a bitch. David comes (with a sword) to see Henry. Regina decides that Henry can go home with David. She doesn’t know how to love very well and that if you hold onto someone too hard it doesn’t make them love you. She apologizes to Henry. She wants him to be there because he wants to be there. She wants to redeem herself. She’s showing real growth and emotion here. David wants her to prove it. Does the EF still exist. She tells him the truth, it does, but she doesn’t know how to get there. She asks David to please take care of Henry while he’s figuring out how to get to the EF. David and Henry leave and Regina is left alone. Regina goes to throw the book into the fire, but decides to keep it instead, locking it in her safe.

David: Well, David is learning that he is not the leader that the people need him to be. He comments that Snow was the one who made speeches and he was basically the muscle. The town is in shambles and everyone is looking to David, as their prince, for what to do. David is at Regina’s trying to find out about the hat. She’s angry so she doesn’t tell him much. They snark at each other and she tells him she will get her magic back and then she’ll get Henry back. David tells her that she doesn’t really have Henry if she has to use magic to keep him. David goes to the middle of town to look for Mother Superior. Everyone is asking him questions (Whale is hilarious asking if the nuns are still nuns or if they can date). He asks Mother Superior if there is another magic tree on this side that could get him to the EF.  She has no fairy dust so she has no way of knowing. Leroy comes in yelling ‘terrible news’ (does he ever yell about good news?). If you cross the town line you become your cursed identity with no memory of your EF self. David is completely overwhelmed. Everyone is talking at once and expecting him to fix things. He tells everyone to meet at the town hall in two hours and he’ll tell them his plan. David is just buying time to think of a plan. Maybe you should have asked them to come the next day if you didn’t have a plan, David. He is practicing his speech in front of the mirror but it’s not going well. He pulls out the hat and Henry looks it up in the book. Figures out it belongs to the Mad Hatter. Henry thinks David knew him in the EF but he says cursed David read “Alice in Wonderland”. David leaves to go find him, leaving Henry home alone. He goes to Gold to get some sort of spell to find someone. Gold wants to know who he’s looking for and what the object is but David’s playing the same game Gold was previously and won’t tell him. Gold gives him a locator potion in exchange for non-interference from David, more specifically, from Charming. David wants the same guarantee. David pours the potion on the hat and at first he thinks it didn’t work. His phone starts buzzing and he’s just about to answer it when the hat starts flying. It leads him to an overturned car and Jefferson just happens to be stuck inside. David asks Jefferson if he can get the portal to work. Jefferson says no. He’s a portal jumper and there is no more portal. David is getting desperate. He threatens to lock up Jefferson until he figures out a way. Jefferson says they’ll be waiting forever. He does say that the EF is still there, which gives David some hope. Jefferson waxes poetic about living two lives and David thinks about this and Jefferson upends the table and runs. David goes after him but is stopped by Ruby. She lets him know that Regina has Henry. At first David doesn’t seem to care. He just wants to go after Jefferson and find Emma and Mary Margaret. He finally realizes what Ruby is saying to him; that Regina has her magic back and she took Henry. She also tells him that the townspeople are planning on leaving town and losing their memories on purpose. Somehow, David manages to get ahead of the line of cars heading to the town border. He gives a great speech about losing themselves if they leave and they are now both and they need to be both to continue. They are the strengths and weaknesses of their real and cursed identities and they need to embrace it. He also says he’ll protect them from Regina. Everyone is happy with this. David goes to Regina’s with a sword (because a sword will protect him from magic?) and demands to see Henry. She tells Henry he’ll be going home with David. She sends Henry upstairs to get his stuff after saying she wants to redeem herself, and David wants her to prove it. He asks if the EF still exists and she tells him the truth. She also says she doesn’t know how to get there and to please take care of Henry while he figures it out. David takes Henry to Granny’s and he tells Henry the EF still exists and he can just feel that Emma and Mary Margaret survived.

Rumplestiltskin/Gold: Rumplestiltskin is a real creeper in this episode. He comes to young Regina after she summons him. He tells her he’s been waiting for them to be together for awhile. Eww. He wants to know who he can hurt or kill for her. Young Regina doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He finds it hard to believe she’s from the same family as Cora. He does have an almost orgasmic look when he senses her power. So creepy! He offers to teach her magic and tells her magic can set her free. Young Regina doesn’t want to use magic. The gift he gives her will do the magic for her. She just needs to give Cora a little push. Rumplestiltskin appears in the looking glass when young Regina is arguing with Cora. He prompts her to push Cora in. He disappears when young Regina breaks from Cora’s magic and manages to do just that. He stops Regina when she tries to leave. She gives him Cora’s book as a gift but he says you can’t gift something that was his to start with. He asks young Regina how she felt using it. She deflects the questions but then admits, quite heartily, that she enjoyed the magic. He wants to teach her magic because she could do so much more. Young Regina wants to know what he gets out of it. Someday she’ll do something for him. Young Regina doesn’t want to become like Cora. Rumplestiltskin says that’s entirely up to her.

Gold is trying to leave Storybrooke and not having an easy time of it. First Regina comes in looking for Cora’s book. He makes her feel inferior for needing her mommy’s help. He says that maybe she just needs to relax and it will happen. I got some real sexual predator vibes when he said this. Yuck. He tries to get her to leave by saying please, but the curse is broken so the please clause doesn’t work anymore. He’s getting annoyed. Gold tells Regina that helping her get her magic back isn’t in his best interests. She threatens to tell people that he knows the EF still exists (wouldn’t that incriminate herself too?), so he conjures up the book. He tells her she finally looks like Cora. David comes by the shop. Gold attempts to make small talk and ask what the commotion was outside. David says there was a stir at the border, a problem crossing the line. Gold wants to know what that is but David wants some magic. Gold gets to see how frustrating it is when he won’t offer info to others when David does a dead on impression of Gold when getting the potion he needs to track down Jefferson. His payment is non-interference. They both stay out of each other’s way. As David leave, Gold asks what is the problem with the border. David tells him they’re stuck in Storybrooke, because if they leave they lose their EF identity. Gold is pissed and smashes some of his display cases with his cane. It ends with Gold at the border looking pissed off. We know he is wanting to look for his son, and now he’s trapped. I’m sure Regina will be the one paying for this.

Emma and Mary Margaret: They are prisoners of Mulan and Aurora. They are tied to Mulan’s horse and walking behind it. They are taken to the safe haven. Mary Margaret takes an opportunity to knee Aurora in the gut and she and Emma take off running. Mulan throws a boleadora (yes, I had to look that up) and knocks Snow out. They are taken to the pit. And wow! It is so convenient that Snow is knocked out, because who else happens to be down there with them but Cora. 

Questions:

Why would Marco put up a poster of Pinocchio as a boy? Surely he realizes that Pinocchio would be grown up now since he left before the curse.

Does Cora’s magic not work beyond the borders of the kingdom? Why does she think she’ll be free once out of the kingdom?

Why did Regina close the library? When was it ever open?

How long was Jefferson stuck in his car? The wraith came at night and it’s at least mid-afternoon the next day.

Wasn’t Jefferson’s curse that he didn’t have a cursed persona? He knew everything and just had to watch from his mansion above? Why is he going on about two lives?

Isn’t one of the rules of magic that you can’t make someone love you? 

It’s been, what, a month maybe since Daniel died? Why would the people love young Regina yet? Has Cora been campaigning on her behalf? Do the people of the kingdom know anything about her besides the fact that she’s marrying the king?

Was Cora planning on offing Leopold at some point? The advice she gives young Regina makes it sound like the king wouldn’t be around for long.

Why does Regina ask Cora if the advice she gives her would be what Cora would do? Why else would Cora suggest it if it’s not something she would do herself?

Why did Cora feel the need to stop Regina with magic when she turned around? What was she expecting Regina to do? Did she realize the looking glass was a portal, or did she think Regina was going to do something else?

Why did everyone walk back to town after David’s speech instead of getting back in their cars which are now blocking the road out of town?

Where did David get a sword from?

Where did Pinocchio go?

Are the members of the safe haven in shock because Mulan is back? Because Aurora is with her? Because they recognize Snow White? Because Mulan has prisoners with her?

Does Cora not have magic anymore? How was she captured?

Observations:

I find it hard to believe that Cora did not lock that book of spells in a magic safe.

Jefferson had a stuffed bunny and a tea set in his car.

Henry keeps a sheet rope under his bed.

Cora is the queen of underhanded compliments.

Henry tells Marco where Pinocchio is, but he’s gone by the time Marco gets there.

Well, things seem to be calming down in Storybrooke now that David has found his voice. Regina is learning that being her mother feels just as bad as when she was under her mother’s thumb. Gold can’t get out of town to find his son and is pissed off. We finally learned what happened between Regina and Cora, but now she’s in the safe haven and imprisoned, so what’s happening there?

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

@searchingwardrobes​​​ @thisonesatellite​​​ @justbecauseyoubelievesomething​​​ @laschatzi​​​ @profdanglaisstuff​​​ @mariakov81​

[coldalbion]

Troll Tuesday

"The implication here is that in the beginning Ögmundr was human, but under-went some kind of ritual or at least procedure, referred to as trolling (“trylla”) but never more clearly explained, that seems to have shifted him from one state of being to another.

There is no mention of him dying in the process, but some such transformation seems nevertheless to have taken place since the saga indicates that he cannot be consid-ered a human any longer, and also that he cannot die. Ög-mundr himself later admits that he has become inhuman,“nú em ek eigi síðr andi en maðr” (now I am no less a spirit than a man), and also states “ek væra dauðr ef ek hefði øðlitil þess” (I would be dead if it were in my nature). Ögmundr is said to be “svartr ok blár” (black and blue), a description used of many Icelandic ghosts, but he is never directly described using the words scholars commonly associate with ghosts in the sagas, although there is mention of “jǫtnar,” “fjandr,” and “troll” (giants, devils, and trolls) inthe different versions of this saga. Even though Ögmundris referred to as a spirit (“andi”) but not a ghost, there is strong evidence which suggests he should be counted amongst the undead. Something of a medieval Frankenstein creature, having been re-animated like a revenant,it is stated that Ögmundr can no longer die — perhaps precisely because he can no longer be counted among the living. It is left up to the audience of Örvar-Odds saga to choose how they would like to refer to Ögmundr: as a devil,demon, troll, spirit, or ghost or perhaps all of the above in chorus. Providing evidence of the common indeterminacy of medieval terminology, this example also demonstrates that, when it comes to the paranormal, the more difficult it becomes to classify or name a monster, the greater is the power that it might wield." - The Troll Inside You: Paranormal Activity in the Medieval North, by Ármann Jakobsson.

Compare:

The Old Man

What difference is there ’twixt trolls and men?

Peer

No difference at all, as it seems to me. Big trolls would roast you and small trolls would claw you; — with us it were likewise, if only they dared.

The Old Man

True enough; in that and in more we’re alike. Yet morning is morning, and even is even, and there is a difference all the same. — Now let me tell you wherein it lies: Out yonder, under the shining vault, among men the saying goes: “Man, be thyself!” At home here with us, ’mid the tribe of the trolls, the saying goes: “Troll, to thyself be — enough!”

The Troll-courtier[to PEER GYNT]

Can you fathom the depth?

Peer

It strikes me as misty.

The Old Man

My son, that “Enough,” that most potent and sundering word, must be graven upon your escutcheon.

[...]

The Old Man

This same human nature’s a singular thing; it sticks to people so strangely long. If it gets a gash in the fight with us, it heals up at once, though a scar may remain. My son-in-law, now, is as pliant as any; he’s willingly thrown off his Christian-man’s garb, he’s willingly drunk from our chalice of mead, he’s willingly tied on the tail to his back — so willing, in short, did we find him in all things, I thought to myself the old Adam, for certain, had for good and all been kicked out of doors; but lo! in two shakes he’s atop again! Ay ay, my son, we must treat you, I see, to cure this pestilent human nature.

Peer

What will you do?

The Old Man

In your left eye, first, I’ll scratch you a bit, till you see awry; but all that you see will seem fine and brave. And then I’ll just cut your right window-pane out —

Peer

Are you drunk?

The Old Man[lays a number of sharp instruments on the table]

See, here are the glazier’s tools. Blinkers you’ll wear, like a raging bull. Then you’ll recognise that your bride is lovely — and ne’er will your vision be troubled, as now, with bell-cows harping and sows that dance.

Peer

This is madman’s talk!

The Oldest Courtier

It’s the Dovre–King speaking; it’s he that is wise, and it’s you that are crazy!

The Old Man

Just think how much worry and mortification you’ll thus escape from, year out, year in. You must remember, your eyes are the fountain of the bitter and searing lye of tears.

Peer

That’s true; and it says in our sermon-book: If thine eye offend thee, then pluck it out. But tell me, when will my sight heal up into human sight?

The Old Man

Nevermore, my friend.” - PEER GYNT, Henrik Ibsen

[disposedserenity]

BTS in Singapore #LoveYourselfSG

I don’t know who would even wanna read about a concert that happened A MONTH AGO. But if you are still keen, hey ho.

*I’m gonna recount the entire day in great detail, so please feel free to skip any details if you don’t care about it.*

disclaimer: all pics & videos are not mine unless stated, credit goes to bts/bighit/fansites/fans

For reference, I was at yellow 1 (left side of the extended stage)

On the night before the concert, it still felt unreal. I was surprisingly calm and I was even watching 聲林之王 with glenn (who stayed over) 😂 I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep but I ended up falling asleep at around 3 am.

19 January, 6.00am: My eyes opened and I was sooooo effing tired LOL. I swear I was in a daze all the way till the actual concert. We got ready and proceeded to leave the house at 8 am. Once I arrived at the stadium, there were fans everywhere. The group of us (carol, mingyou, glenn and I) decided to grab a cup of tea/coffee to wake ourselves up and I don’t know how, but it was already past 9 am by the time we bought our drinks. Glenn and I went to collect the various fansupport items (a cool thing about kpop concerts is the amount of free stuff given out by fans) and we went to find glenn’s roommate who had been queuing for merch since 6am.

At 10.30 am, glenn and I went to register for soundcheck. The place we were at (outdoor area outside astons) had various dance cover groups, which was actually a pretty good form of entertainment to pass the time. After we were done with registration, glenn had to pick up an item she had ordered from a fansite, which we had a hell of a difficult time trying to find because the stadium is so freaking big. We had to speed walk to queue for soundcheck right after, as we were already late (queueing started at 12.30pm and it was almost 1pm)

SOUNDCHECK:

That was basically my reaction when BTS walked out.

Even though they were in casual clothes and had no makeup on, (Jhope even tweeted about it!!!), in my mind they looked like this as they were walking over to us HAHAHA:

They performed three songs in total: mic drop, dna and run. I went in assuming they would each be rehearsing their solos, so I wasn’t expecting those three songs to be chosen. But, it makes total sense because these are the more hype songs. My memory is slowly fading so I’ll let drake illustrate how I felt during the soundcheck.

When they all stood in one line right in front of me:

When I heard the opening note of mic drop:

KIM NAMJOON, KIM SEOKJIN, MIN YOONGI, JUNG HOSEOK, PARK JIMIN, KIM TAEHYUNG, JEON JUNGKOOK, BTS!!!!!!!

**when I heard the whistling in DNA**

*run plays* me: YAAAAAAAAS BICTH

me realising midway that bts is real and I’m actually seeing them like wtaf-

armys after the soundcheck:

I don’t know how I ever got so lucky winning soundcheck passes, but I wanna thank all the lords and the universe for awarding BOTH glenn and I this opportunity. Soundcheck is truly such an intimate experience because you get to experience bts in all their natural glory. Even though this was just a rehearsal, it felt like a mini concert and I even told glenn that I’d be fine if I didn’t go for their concert and I can die happy lmaoooo.

Brief soundcheck tidbits (you can read the rest here):

1) Jin looks THE best without makeup, he has such good skin and I swear this man is really really handsome in person. I’ll admit I never bought into the worldwide handsome hype before, but I’m a convert now.

2) Jin kept looking at glenn and I several times and he was FULL ON staring. It wasn’t even a brief glance, it was as if I owed him money and he was waiting for me to return it to him (yes jin i owe u my money and life). I kept wondering if I was delusional (aren’t we all, tbh). To be fair, I think jin was also looking at the barricades behind us and/or staring into space, but this man definitely looked me straight in the eye. How did I survive? I didn’t, I’m typing from my grave

3) hobi glows in person, and he’s really not called the sun for nothing. He was the first one to walk out on stage and he had the biggest smile plastered on his face the entire time. Sunshine radiates from this man with every move he makes. Alongside joon, he was the one speaking the most and leading the members.

Ok, so storytime. There were supposed to be 1000 soundcheck winners but when we entered, there was NO way that there were 1000 of us. Our area had probably around 100 - 150 people max and the same goes for the other side. During the concert ment time,  jungkook mentioned that there were only 200++ fans at soundcheck. The moment he said that, glenn and I turned to each other and went “HUH?” and we clowned him because we thought he couldn’t math... (sorry jk bro for doubting you oops). As it turns out, about 800 soundcheck passes were cancelled because they were obtained through special means and connections. AND, the reason they looked really tired/sad at soundcheck was because they were expecting 1000 fans and they probably thought they couldn’t even fill up that amount. :( fuck you scalpers, fuck you snakes staff, but I’m glad bighit decided to cancel all those tickets because those fools dont deserve it and also more space for us soundcheck winners muahahaha.

Before I delve into the concert experience, I need to vent about my stupidity and anger at myself. **CAUTION: RANT AHEAD** So, the standing ticket holders were let in to the venue from 4 pm onwards, and we happily found a spot to settle in and chill. (it was definitely NOT chill in our pit, but that’s another story) At around 6.30pm, everyone decided to stand up officially. Fast forward 15 minutes, I went into full panic mode because I needed to pee. Usually, I’ll just hold it in but my stomach was feeling quite queasy (I’ve been having a lot of stomach issues since november). I also didn’t wanna watch the entire concert with the constant urge to pee because that’s so fun, right? It just SO happened that mingyou and carol were talking about going to the back to watch the concert so I said fuck it, I’ll just go to the toilet and stand at the back too. Went to the toilet to pee and ta-da, ONLY TWO FREAKING DROPS OF PEE CAME OUT. I was so pissed at myself (my body really) because it made me leave my front spot for nothing. But, what’s done was done. I told myself that hey, at least you can finally breathe now (while internally cursing). **RANT OVER**

CONCERT:

Even though I’ve watched so many fancams from their concert, NOTHING will ever beat the experience of watching it in person. I got GOOSEBUMPS when the first note of idol played and they all rose from the platform. Till this day, I STILL get goosebumps rewatching any idol fancams because of that exact moment.

me watching the IDOL opening stage for the 94919994th time:

I was watching IDOL from the back with carol and mingyou, and I was truly thankful that I had the space to dance and go wild. But, that feeling lasted briefly because I realised I was so damn far from the stage. BTS was performing most of their choreographed songs at the purple main stage so even if I was at my original spot, I still wouldn’t be able to see them. The huge led screens existed for that very reason, but my stubborn ass was adamant on watching them on the stage instead of seeing them through a screen.

me deciding to squeeze my way back in again:

After IDOL, it was time for their intro ment (introducing themselves, saying a few comments the usual stuff). Immediately after, they performed save me/I’m fine. I don’t know why my idiotic ass thought this was a good time to squeeze my way in when I should have been FOCUSED on my boys. I was basically half watching them, half saying sorry excuse me to strangers. *bows head deeply and slaps self*

Ok moving on.... I really freaking love how they created the transition from save me to I’m fine. The part where tae gets up into a bridge position was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. For some reason, he looked particularly breathtaking doing this move at this very concert. The beauty of live performances, indeed.

Personally, tae stood out in save me/I’m fine the most.

Magic Shop was next, which surprised me because I forgot that it was so early in the setlist. Hence, I was NOT ready for the incoming wave of emotions.

“so show me, I’ll show you” will forever remain one of the most iconic lines in the fandom 😭😭😭 I think I would have cried if this song was played towards the end of the concert. 

As per tradition, a subunit vcr is played before each members solos. So the order goes hopekook, minjoon, tae and yoonjin (yoonjin was too!! much!! to handle because it was 2 separate screens and I didn’t know where to look at???)

Jungkook: Euphoria

(aiyooo look at them cheeks *pinch*)

I love how this has now become our official fanchant (for context). Euphoria is one of my fave intros after seesaw and my ears were in for a treat that night. (It was also at this point I decided to just stay in my current spot instead of trying to find glenn). Jungkook sounds amazing live and this made me realise that wow, he really deserves the main vocalist title.

As most fans would have known, Jungkook was so exhausted at the seoul music awards, which was a mere few days before the concert. Naturally, I was worried that kook would push himself too much in sg. I could tell he was definitely a little worn out, but he still gave it his all (bcos its jungkook) and delivered an impressive performance. I’m truly happy I’ve witnessed euphoria live 😍

J-Hope: Just Dance

JUNG HO SEOK, YOU GOOD??? J-hope showed me what the term bias wrecker really meant that night. I think EVERYONE left the stadium that night rethinking their bias list (if you didn’t, you’re lying). His stage presence and charisma is out of this world. Everyone knows he’s a good dancer, but seeing him executing those moves in person is REALLY something else. 

my face during the entire performance

when he walked over to the extended stage, I was like

WHO IS HE? HE’S J-HOOOOOOOOPE! LOUDER!

I Need U + Run

I honestly don’t remember much from this except for THE vmon moment because they were kinda all over the place. They started at the main stage, then came over to the extended stage and were just dancing their hearts out freely. The members were all splashing water (Idk how they do it so nicely, I’ll probably just hit someone’s head with the bottle) and there was a water cannon. The water cannon was SOOOO strong, I and the people around me were caught off guard (rip my hair & makeup). Bighit probably knew mosh pit fans were sweaty as hell so they wanted us to take a bath. How nice of them.

I loooooveee the outfits they wore here. I’m not a fan of all white ensembles but on bts, I’ll make an exception. They look like ethereal angels who've descended down to earth for one day to grace us with their presence. I’M HERE FOR IT.

look at all da sparkles (and jimin’s messy hair uwu)

Jimin: Serendipity

Till this day, jimin remains my favourite performer in bts. Whenever I watch a bts performance, my eyes automatically go straight to jimin. As a contemp dancer trained in ballet, you can see how that has shaped his performances. Fluidity is the term I would use to describe his style, because he moves like he’s gliding through water. I often find myself rewatching his fancams the most because he has so much adaptibility, its crazy. He knows when to go hard and when to reel it back in. Jimin has such pretty dance lines as well. He stands out because he really pays attention to the little details (the turn of a foot, the hand placement, arch of a back)

Out of all the solos, serendipity is really the prettiest. The combination of jimin’s glitter shirt + pastel hair + bubbles really was a feast for the eyes 😍

See what I mean? Jimin looks so picturesque even in motion.

Trivia: Love

As glenn pointed out, Joon looks so much softer in person (he’s a real life koya 😭). In person, his features are much softer and ‘rounder’. While he may have soft features (how many times can I use the word soft), his stage presence is a huge contrast. I’ve often noticed that out of everyone, joon is the most focused member during performances. While the others will interact with fans/try to incorporate some kind of fan service, rm concentrates solely on carrying out what he’s supposed to do. I can respect that.

Ugh!!! This man!!! Honestly, I was a little worried joon wouldn’t get the hype and cheers he rightfully deserves but Singapore impressed me. Well done, my fellow countrymen (and foreign fans). There was a girl beside me who screamed super loud and kept yelling “KIM NAMJOON!!!!!” so I was like HELLLL YEAH OKAY FINALLY SOMEONE AS HYPED AS ME LEGGO. Jungkook making a heart at the end with namjoon was so cute uwu. Everyone collectively lost their shit when joon slid his jacket off over one shoulder. King of giving the people what they want, I see you.

**another thing to note is how he always looks SOOO happy performing love. You can see the genuine happiness radiating off this man. It makes me happy too 🤗

DNA

The main talking point of this performance was that jimin fell. I actually missed it, because I could only see their side view and jimin was blocked from my pov. By the time I looked at the screen, jimin was already on the floor (still smiling bcos he’s jimin) and I was like oh nooooooo. Apparently after that, they coordinated among themselves mid song to tell each other not to do the ending choreo. A PLUS TEAMWORK, RIGHT THERE! tae even went to wipe the floor after the performance, bless his precious soul.

sidenote: I love love their dna outfits, especially the jackets!! They had different ones for the america and europe concerts, but I do love the asia tour ones just a little more.

Medley

The other highlight of the concert happened here because I was reunited with glenn!!!!!!! I found her just when they launched into fire and we were like OOOOOMMMMGGGG YAS. I actually gave up on ever finding her, but I suddenly saw her blouse from the corner of my eye (THANK YOU GLENN FOR WEARING A PINK DAISY TOP). During the medley, everyone kept following wherever the boys went because the boys were on the moving stage. I felt like I was at a wave pool getting pushed without even moving. They were right at the back at the small diamond stage, so I couldn’t really see much. I had no choice but to watch from the screen. 

funny moments: tae doing pubg dances LOOOL , rm’s legendary hip thrust (you’re welcome)

Airplane Pt. 2

I.. actually forgot that this song was on the setlist. It felt really anti climatic and I wish they would have arranged this to be after DNA or something. 

*airplane pt 2 comes on me:

Jokes aside, I do love this song. It was even one of my top songs in 2018 according to spotify.

V: Singularity

For the first and only time during the concert, this made me speechless. Normally, I’d be cheering and singing along to all of the songs. BUT man oh man, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from tae. While jimin is my favourite performer to watch, I believe that tae is the most expressive performer in bts. Whenever I watch him, I realise that wow that’s really a celebrity right there. Its easy to dress up and put on a show, but not everyone can really perform. What separates a regular person from a star is the x factor, and taehyung is the perfect embodiment of that.

Look

at

that

duality

Fake Love

First off, how did I not notice jhope was wearing leather gloves???? Fake love is still that bitch, no matter what anyone says. It gave us goth bangtan and that’s all I could ever ask for.

I wasn’t expecting them to perform the rock version, and I LOVE IT. I’ve probably watched all of their fake love performances, but seeing it live just solidified it as my fave title track from the love yourself series. Funny anecdote: jungkook didn’t lift his shirt up like he usually does and I swear the people around me were disappointed. They didn’t outrightly say anything, but I could feel the sadness 😂

Suga: Seesaw

ALRIGHT, SHE DROPPED THE CHEESECAKE TIME. Seesaw is my fave solo so you bet your sweet ass this bitch was excited AF!

Singapore did good for the seesaw fanchants, I’m so proud of us *wipes away tear* yoongi definitely noticed our efforts and smiled so freaking wide when he heard us (he absolutely has THE cutest gummy smile).

I remember the entire fandom (me included) got shookt to the core when yoongi first debuted the seesaw performance. We were like ‘suga dancing??’ Seesaw as a song itself was already a pretty unconventional fit for yoongi. We were all used to his hard hitting rap songs (agust d says hi) so we were really surprised. But, you can see how much fun yoongi always has whenever he’s performing seesaw and I’m thankful that he reversed our expectations with this song.

Jin: Epiphany

THIS MAN, yes I am suing. His name is Kim Seok Jin. How dare he make me feel all of the feels when I specifically told him not to? Hearing 50,000 people singing “I’m the one I should love in this world” together was truly a historical moment (just hear how it sounds from OUTSIDE the stadium). Seeing Jin channel all of his emotions into this song was heartbreaking, yet cathartic at the same itme. I would have full on ugly cried but all the screaming probably killed the mood.

the gaze of a man who knows the power he holds, ugh I stan

Epiphany is such a perfect song, 10/10. I don’t know what else to say because nothing I ever say will compare to the experience of actually watching it live. I love you, jin (no hetero)

The Truth Untold

v, jimin, jungkook, jin are the nation’s vocalists thank you for coming to my ted talk

I could barely hear tae at the start because of his mic, which was a shame :( Aside from that, everyone sounded really great. TTU is a song that can strain your voice if not done properly. There were definitely some concerts where some of them struggled to reach the high notes or the correct key. One thing’s for sure though - Jin has CONSISTENTLY been singing in perfect pitch and ALWAYS delivers a fantastic performance. Jin’s singing is so stable, it deserves more recognition. I love tae’s ad lib here and how he made everyone lose their marbles after.

Outro: Tear

HANDS DOWN, FAVE PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT!!!!! I walked out of the concert still thinking about tear, because it was THAT powerful. I’m glad glenn was beside me for this because she’s the only other tear enthusiast I know (TEAM SENN ✊🏼). BTS individually have amazing stage charisma, but put the three rappers together and you get AN UNDENIABLE FORCE. I’ll always stan rap line till the day I die. The three of them have such different rapping styles, yet nothing sounds out of place when they work together.

yoongi in headbands is so hot, no one fight me on this

Mic Drop

Second fave performance of the night! (okay I might be slightly biased, since it was right after tear) Even though this was nearing the end of the concert, I was actually way more energetic than I was at the start. It was like I was saving all my energy stores for this very moment. When joon mentioned it was their last song, I was like NOOOOOOOOO WAIT WHAT YOU CAN’T LEAVE YET. Then, I remembered that there was an encore segment and the world was all right again.

I see you stylists with the second white ensemble of the night, and I raise you one. Mic drop is the song that can get anyone hyped up anywhere. I feel like this is the song that you can play at clubs / festivals and it wont feel out of place. Fun story: the dj at dpr live’s show played mic drop and everyone was lowkey jamming to it (also shout out to all the armys there)

Please watch jhope’s fancam!!! I’ve always felt that mic drop is one of the few songs that allows him to really shine as a dancer. As a hip hop dancer, he doesn’t get many opportunities to showcase it because he has to ‘tone down’ for bts choreos. If you have the time, do check out all of his hopeonthestreet videos to really see dancer hoseok in his element!

mandatory iconic yoongi mic drop

Encore Stage (So What & Anpanman)

All of the cutest and funniest interactions took place right here!!! Before the concert, I was going back and forth between getting purple or yellow tickets but I definitely do NOT regret getting yellow tickets! The extended stage is where you can see their goofy selves come out to play.

joon + jimin’s cheeks: an untold love story

p.s. joon was casually applying lip balm before this moment, lol

me whenever minjoon minjoons

this is peak joon at his final form

jimin got to start anpanman this time!!

cosmo and wanda (I mean vmin) being the absolute cutest

chaotic duo taejin back at it again

vmon was being very very cute during anpanman & so what!! There were so many vmon moments throughout the concert, THANK YOU UNIVERSE for blessing me with the most underrated ship.

noteworthy moments during the encore stage:

-sope freaking looked at glenn and I, and we almost combusted right there. Both of them came over to our side at one point, and stepped down onto this black box platform just below (no wonder they felt so close). Almost everyone else were on their phones, so naturally they noticed us because we were the only two crazy bitches cheering by ourselves. I MADE EYE CONTACT AND THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS. suga smiled so hard when he saw us going all out, and that’s when I knew: I was yoongi’s bitch for life. jhope was looking at us with a sort of approval *stands at attention* YES SIR ARMY REPORTING FOR DUTY

-jungkook came over to our side of the stage and was just in right front of me. I took this time to really look at his face (HAHA) because I felt like I didn’t see him enough during the concert. He was doing body rolls (looked a little something like this) and everyone around me was busy trying to get his attention. Upon closer ‘inspection’ of jungkook, I have concluded that he is a 5 year old trapped in a 20 year old ripped body. His body proportions are reeeealllyy crazily good - with his tiny waist and long legs (and veiny arms). I can see why people lose their mind over him, but he’ll always remain an adorable bunny to me.

-I got blessed by yoongi’s holy water during so what. I didn’t think I was gonna be close enough to get the water but I GUESS NOT! I’ve never been happier getting splashed with water in my life. I swear, yoongi was so cute bouncing around and just smiling the whole time (I can’t stop talking about yoongi, SO SUE ME)

this is what jungkook looks like in person, can you believe? Fansite pictures are always heavily edited (especially jungkook’s for some reason) so sometimes they can come across as quite ‘fake looking’ when you look at images. Lemme tell you, they look a thousand times better in person. The melanin, the glow, the messy hair, their natural skin - can we get a hallelujah

Final Ment

Their final ment before we parted ways :((( I do enjoy hearing them speak even if its in korean, because you get to listen to their thoughts and feelings. I also really appreciate their attempt in speaking english, because it shows that they care. They might have memorised what to say, but effort goes a long way!

- tae saying we are part of his story, memory and scenery 😭😭😭 who knew it would be a teaser for his song! that sly kid. give it a listen over here, you won’t regret it.

- jungkook saying that the fans at soundcheck (*raises hands* YES IT ME) cheered crazily good. yasss thank you kook for acknowledging us and trust me, you could have just ten armys and we’ll still cheer like 10,000 people!

yoongi was being so freaking cute and for what?? that little pout before he launched into his speech.... HERE TAKE MY HEART

the best part was yoongi correcting the translator (not good night, GREAT night) man’s fluent in english but never shows it off, I approve of this slytherin move. yoongi even mentioned that he thought there was a day 2 concert. live nation, what are you doing??? I was so looking forward to a day 2 concert too. Is minstradamus predicting a 2 day concert in Singapore in the future??  👀

jin is a sagittarius in every sense of the word. the way he waited for his close up before slowly removing his shades.....I’m honestly not surprised anymore. I’m too used to having so many sagittarius in my life LOL. he even attempted to speak singlish not once, but twice. I sincerely applaud the effort, though my greedy self wished every member tried too (I’m still waiting for jimin to say ‘ zuo mo ni jiang bad de’)

speaking of jimin, he sang promise!! for the first time!! live!! singapore was truly blessed :)))))

thank you God for spending a little more time on this fine specimen, jung hoseok. hoseok is fine, but with his forehead exposed? FINE FINE. *cue me singing I’m fine* everyone was chanting “J Hope! J Hope! J Hope!’ even before he spoke and he was like oooooh, me? while pointing at himself like pls hobi ITS ALL FOR YOU BBY.

yes, you have stolen my heart jung hoseok

I can’t believe this man even bothered to count the days and meals for his speech..... (I like how bts pretends music bank didnt exist LMAO) this man can honestly sell you a trash bag with how eloquent he is. english is his second/third language yet he can construct better sentences in english than I ever will. in Jeon Jungkook’s words “Kim Namjoon, you dangerous man”

Answer: Love Myself (aka THE END CRIES)

At last, the final song dawned upon us. This is it, the moment reality hits you. That we’re all gonna return to our sad little lives after the concert. I was expecting myself to cry, but I actually felt... at peace? Hearing them sing “I should love myself” also served as a final reminder that that is also the title of their world tour, and the key message to take away from the love yourself series. At the end of the day, bts are also 7 young men in their 20s struggling alongside the rest of us. They have their own battles to fight too, but at least we’re all in this together. BTS may be there to provide us with happiness and love, but we must never forget to look inward first. 💜

Welcome, first time experiencing singapore’s humidity?

Singapore air’s just that powerful huh

I got chills, they’re multiplying!

Ngl, Singapore really impressed me. Every member’s solo got the same deserving amount of screams and we even got seesaw’s part down! (yoongi was really happy huhu) I don’t think they nor us fans expected such an enthusiastic response, but I hope this lifted their spirits up. Touring non stop for months is no easy feat, and I hope our passion made them less weary for one night. I still feel extremely blessed that I got to see them so quickly after I became a full-fledged fan. Hope to see you boys real soon! 😁😁😁

p.s. I recommend reading glenn’s experience here, because it is MUCH more detailed and well articulated

p.p.s link to jimin fancams, link to j-hope fancams, link to rm tear fancam

To end off, here are some random/cute pics for your enjoyment ~

me shaking off all the sweat, filth and water out of my hair after the concert

grandpa over flowers

hello glenn, this is for you

LOOK at jungkook’s forearms.... he can literally kill us all

The cameraman was WHIPPED for tae that night, it kept focusing on tae for a good chunk of time (I can’t blame him/her, we were all in awe too)

Singapore is officially J-hope land now. Can he run for president next?

Thank you for giving me a night I will never forget 190119 will forever be etched in my memory 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

[beaubcxton]

Unexpected problems. Part 3

Lily Evans stared at herself happily in the mirror. The grin on her face nearly blinded her but she continued the act, sometimes letting a giggle burst through.

How very insane, how maddening, how palpitating.

She was getting married.

Married.

Would you believe it?

She, Lily Evans, was getting married to James Potter at exactly seven thirty today and was three seconds close to screaming.

It wasn’t so much that she never thought she would get married. Well, it was partly that if she was being honest. Petunia’s constant cheers of encouragement-note the sarcasm- helped her self-esteem. In a very negative way.

Moreover, she was a romantic at heart. Late at night, she had read dozens of cliché romances by the flicker of the torch and to the sound of crickets while her parents snored upstairs, blissfully unaware that their perfect daughter heart swooped when Mr. Darcy held his lover’s gaze.

And it wasn’t like she held a pillow behind her head and pretended it was a veil- she did do this, for the record but she likes to imagine technicalities could go to hell-  but it was more the fact that she had found the man of her dreams.

James Potter was technically a boy since he was only nineteen as she merrily liked to rub it into his face. He was her bloody nightmare just a few springs ago but now, she couldn’t stop blushing every time his hazel eyes grinned at her and his smirk kissed her lips as he murmured, “Alright, Evans?”

She shivered at the memory and willed the butterflies to settle down. Most brides got cold feet on their wedding day and many of them climbed out of the window, perhaps, slid down the pipe she was looking at now after they wrote a note, stained with tears and consisting of either only two words, I’m sorry or some heartfelt speech that would most definitely not translate into a vow.

But Lily?

If cold feet were the phrase, she thought she might have warm feet. Paradox, indeed. The only way she would ever jump out of the window and ruin her beautiful dress would be to marry James sooner. She was scared, of course, of the war. Of what it might entail and what she might lose. Several of her friends got married, recently and quite a few of them had lost their spouses rather soon. Lily was adamant that they’d both survive this war together.

And Merlin, she wanted to marry him. She really bloody wanted to marry him.

Memories flood her mind but a one sticks out. The first time they said, ‘I love you,’ funnily enough.

They were on rounds and Lily was frustrated with school and how it hardly allowed her to spend time eating. James kept pestering her about it and eventually, he decided to take matters into his own hands. That night, they snuck to the kitchen and he forced her to eat a satisfying burger. (It was her mother’s specialty and she was feeling homesick with all the terrible news going around.) While they were eating dessert, a sizzling brownie with ice cream on its top, he just took one look at her, chewing happily and blurted it out. ‘I-Merlin, Lily, I love you.’

Not very poetic, sadly but so James. She nodded and resumed her consumption. He stopped though and slid his pink (not that she noticed how his tongue looked like because that would be ridiculous) tongue over is front teeth.

“What?” She had said, finally. “Are you waiting for a response?”

His eyes rolled. “If you’d be willing, yeah.”

“I effing kissed you in front of the whole tower, Potter. If that doesn’t say I love you, I don’t know what will.”

He grinned so hard, she worried his cheeks would hurt. They didn’t say anything else but before they went to sleep, they kissed for a few seconds longer.

They had been so childish then and hid their feelings, their joy from the other. Lily didn’t know that James had whooped and woken up his friends. None of the Marauders were happy to be woken up at an ‘ungodly hour’ and shoved James with many pillows.

And something James didn’t know? Lily had screamed into her pillow for five minutes straight.

Almost nostalgic, she searches for a mirror and once located, stares at it for a second before she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

Clearing her throat, she calls out, “James?”

The mirror shimmers for a second, almost like a ripple in a lake and for a second, she takes note of the silence in her room and then, a flurry of noise clangs through her ears.

“You’re not supposed to see her, James!” Sirius is saying loudly. Lily rolls her eyes at the so und.

“It’s bad luck!” Remus agrees, somewhere behind.                                                                  

James protests. “It-but you guys, she called me. What if she needs something?”

The trio collectively scoffs. Lily can almost hear the scowl in Sirius’s face when he draws out his words, “Lily only wants to see your pretty face, don’t you, flower?”

“Hey! I resent that! I do not have a pretty face. More like, a handsome-“

“I do!” She calls out ironically. She hears James’s warm laughs and a fond smile overcomes her face. Could it be possible that she was marrying this man? “Give me the mirror, Padfoot.”

“I shall not! Superstations be ringing true.”

She nearly misses the familiar ebony messy hair flashing into view when Sirius pushes her fiancé behind and raises the mirror.

James curses. “-you for being taller.” Directing his words to Lily, he calls out, “You’re not thinking about backing out, are you Lily?”

Lily mocks a sigh. “It’s rather late for that.”

“Wait-Lils,”

“Merlin, James. I’m kidding.”

Lily almost smirks at the breath of relief James emitted.

“You’ll see her soon, James. Say goodbye like a good boy. Can’t tempt fate, now can we?”

She knows James is rolling his eyes. Neither of them were superstitious. That title belonged to the eldest Potter. “I love you, Lils.”

“Love you too, sweetheart. Hey1” Lily abruptly cuts off her sentence. “Reckon we should get married, yeah?”

“Took you long enough. Hey, say we elope right now?”

“I find the idea brilliant.”

“Well, I rather am brilliant.”

“Don’t forget arrogant!” And before he can continue with some protest or worse, a self-compliment, she continues, “Oh! Our ship name is Jily, by the way.”

“Wait, what?”

“What’s a ship name?” Peter articulates.

“It’s basically when someone ships- “Moony, the all knower, begins.

“Ships? You mean, they’re pirates?”

“Well, not exactly.”

“Disconnecting in three, two- “Sirius cries. “Also, Red, I need to know more about this later but your ship name is Lames but it doesn’t include me so we’ll have to change it later. Two-one”

They both call out a quick I love you before the light and noises fade away.

The wedding was a warm one and quite magical, if things went to plan. She’d walk under an arch coated with pressed flowers and petite birds would fly down and hand them their rings. James and she had wanted some muggle aspect to their otherwise wizarding wedding and the symbolism for rings was one way to achieve that.

Lily plucks a chocolate dressed strawberry from the plate and chews it thoughtfully. She’d invited Petunia but highly doubted that her sister would show up. After her sister sent back a letter in the post saying, ‘I’ve got other plans.’ Just the five words, Lily thought about it in great length (thought being sobbing on James’s shoulder miserably for several nights and him convincing her that she was not a freak, she really wasn’t and pressing a million kisses on her hair) She decided that she wouldn’t invite her parents.

“It wouldn’t be safe for them. You know, how it’s like with Death Eaters.” James had reasoned multiple times when she started to bite her nails in worry. “-they killed Andrew’s, you remember him, right? Big blue eyes and curly blonde hair? Yes-that guy who charmed McGonagall to puff up cats. Still can’t believe he had the guts to do that. They killed his parents, Lily solely for the reason he’s a muggleborn. I-Merlin, their house looked like a bloody murder sight. It was but you get the point. Bloody nightmare.”

“Poor guy,” she only murmured. And she didn’t-not even for the love of Merlin- want to be regarded as a ‘poor guy.’

Still, her guilt remained. It was hard not to invite her parents, the two people who had seen her bloom into the woman she was today. Her mother was immediately in tears when Lily told them about the wedding. And now? She wasn’t even inviting them. It would have been good too for them, some celebration. Times were dark and rough, not only in the wizarding world but in the Evans household too. Had been ever since Mr. Evans coughed up blood before he fainted last winter.

Decisions were set in stone, however and it was too late to do anything. (Did she really want to?) James had been wonderful to ease her plight.

If asked, Lily wouldn’t tell you the first time she realized she loved James Potter. She’ll say, “I reckon I always did, now don’t give me that cynical look. It’s a funny thing, I realize since it’s known fact I hated Potter. Believe me, that wasn’t a lie but when we did become friends and he brought me hot chocolate when I was sick, made me laugh like a loon while we did rounds, it wasn’t surprising that I loved Potter. He was my friend and obviously, it was a platonic love but then, he’d ask this girl out and my stomach just burned, you know? So, when he asked me out, I just-I had to say yes to understand why. Guess the love I felt for James Potter wasn’t platonic, after all.”

A rather long speech for an introvert but love makes you a poet or in Lily’s case, a bloody satisfactory rambler.

Someone knocks at the door and she’s interrupted from her musings of conjuring up how her fiancé would look like a suit. (Scoff you might but Lily had never seen James in a muggle suit and it send shivers down her spine, imagining it. How the rays of light would fall on his messed-up hair and the way his abs would be seen with the light sheen of sweat. Merlin, he’d make a fantastic and hot Olympian.)

Marlene enters, her rustic brown dress twinkling in the room. She was a fine beauty and Lily’s best friend. They’d been stuck to the hip ever since Lily introduced the former to ‘nail polish.’ Being a pureblood, Marlene had been awestruck. “It makes your nails looked all dolled up, ain’t it?”

With a beautiful brown bob that bounced with each step and star kissed eyes, Marlene had no problem finding a suitor if need be. Adding to her appearance, she had an eccentric personality. She was constantly so kind to her friends, so warm to strangers and so bloody callous to assholes. Honestly, she was one of the few people who didn’t find all Slytherins wicked and it was refreshing to be friends with someone who wasn’t predisposed. It wasn’t shocking when Lily appointed her maid of honor.

She blubbers at the sight of her best friend and Lily beckons her over and they sit on the cozy and luxurious bed.

“You look stunning.”

“Look who’s talking. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were the bride with the way you’re glowing.” Lily teases and bumps her best friend’s shoulder playfully.

Marlene shakes her head but she’s grinning. “You know I shipped you and Potter since day one. It was like some bloody romance that you found in books and movies, you know. Tags: Sexual tension, mutual stupid pining, enemies to friends to lover’s trope.”

Lily snorts and Marlene scrunches up her brow. “Ratings: Some teenage fluff.”

“Oh hush, Marls. You’re ruining my makeup with your hilarious rubbish.”

“I can’t believe you’re getting married.”

Lily smiles fondly and hugs her friend as she rubs her nose.

“Me neither. I don’t reckon I’ve told you but do you know the groom is Potter?”

Marlene gasps.

“You’re kidding me!”

Frowning, Lily nods as she sighs wearily. “I can’t imagine it either.”

Mirth bubbles from the duo. Abruptly, Marlene seizes her friend in a hug. “I love you, alright?”

“I love you the most.”

“You’ve got the wedding we’ve dreamed of as children. A posh wedding, albeit cheap which I do not approve of in an art bleeding history museum.”

“The wedding band looks strange, though.”

Marlene makes a noise of agreement. “True. Someday, The Weird Cauldron will get famous.” (Spoiler Alert: It didn’t.)

“Maybe.”

“Potter’s going to pale when he says you. I’ll bet a galleon on it.”

Lily really did look beautiful. A blushing and glowing bride, sentimental ones would tearfully sniffle. While she did look the role, several of her friends would praise her on owning a badass gown. Certainly, not very easy to pull off. Her hair was in ringlets, all ruby embers twirled down and her eyes were coated with a thin black mascara. Her v- neck dress was ankle length and hugged her curves in all the right places as she spun around. Lace decorated the borders of her cleavage and concluded at her toes.

Someone’s fingers dance on a piano, playing some long and forgotten melody that made people hum and ponder their own weddings or wonder at the posterity.

“Ready?”

With a smile biting at her lips, Lily says, “Marauder Ready.”

And her maid of honor rolls her eyes and murmurs about a perfect pair.

   A FEW METRES AWAY:

The trio huddle around James like he’s a rugby player about to be mauled. (Well, he envisages it so. He never understood the damned game. A frustration that Mr. Evans shared. Lily’s dad had tried to make him understand the rules and other shits ‘bout the game but judging by his skill and intelligence, you can assume it did not end well.)

“-so typical of James to dream about something else than his wedding day. “Sirius is saying as he shakes off his reverie of things he can’t do. (James assures you that it is the only thing he cannot do, if you know what he means.)

The lot of them were rather attractive in their own sense and they looked identical. A muggle might have looked at them and assumed them to be in a boy band. Despite his heritage, James finds himself wanting to hum a muggle tune. (Tell me why, ohh)

“Shut up, Padfoot. I was thinking about Lily.”

“Mate,” Remus says as he adjusts James’s Gryffindor tie, “-we know you better than that and the face you were sporting was most definitely not your, uh Lily face.”

“I have a Lily face?”

Peter pipes, “You have a lot of faces.” and shuts up promptly, almost like he can’t believe he had the gall to speak.

“Like what?!”

“Well,” Sirius says lazily as he sips his complimentary champagne, “Your Lily face is soft eyes, like a doe, mate. And you have this weird grin on your face like you don’t know whether you want to laugh or cry and your nose gets pink.”

Testing it out, James thinks about the last time he had seen Lily. They were in bed together and she was reading a book. Just the sight of her, emerald orbs completely hooked on the poetic words, her plump and pink lips as she murmured, “Oh, Nasuda” and the crease on her forehead and the blush on her cheek as she pronounced, “Murtgah.” (James had kissed her then, overcome with adoration for his fiancée. How happy he was that they adored each other and partly jealous of a fictional character.)

Laughter cuts his out of his thoughts. Remus barely restraining his chuckles says, “That’s your Lily face.”

Only Peter seemed to fake his laughter. James squints his eyes at him and studies his friend. The boy is looking rather pale, almost clammy with sweat beading on his ears. A telltale that something is not alright.

“Mate,” James says, “You good?”

The three of them all stare at Peter who is furiously biting his nails. With a jerk, he looks up when the room falls silent as if he’s forgotten there’s a crowd. “Oh-um, yeah.”

James knows not to push it but he can’t seem to help himself as Peter’s eyes look downcast. “You know you can tell us everything, right? I know you’re not- “

“I’m fine.”

Sirius cocks his head at the boy. “Well, if you’re su- “

“I have a girlfriend!” Peter blurts out, seeming it out of his non- volition as his hands tremble soon afterwards and he shuts his eyes in a remarkable display of acting. His friends are speechless but before they can interrupt, he continues, almost whispering the words like he’s afraid his ex is going to apparate, “I-well, I had one. I’m sorry I never told you guys. I really did want to but Samantha, that was her name said it was too much of a big deal and stuff.” Peter stops his monologue to groan. “And-And I know it’s wrong but you and Lily are getting married and you guys are so happy and I don’t know if I’ll ever get that again.”

The room is enveloped by silence like fire being iced by a thick blanket, so very heavy and you feel like choking.

“I-Merlin, Peter.” Sirius begins, standing up quickly and lending a hug to Wormtail who now has tears running down his face.

Moony doesn’t say anything but instead, stares at Peter with confusion. James blinks and he misses the look Peter sends to Remus. Please, the rat seemed to implore.

“Peter, I wish-no, that doesn’t matter. Look Pete, you of all people should know that it was terribly hard for Evans to like me. Wait, that came out wrong. She’s not obligated to like me or anything but urgh. I never thought I had a chance with her, remember? It might take years but have hope! Everyone deserves love, Pete and you deserve it more than others.”

Orator, he is not. It’s not really a great speech but the topic was sprung up on him and half of his thoughts are Lily related, but it’ll have to do and gathering by the wince Peter barely manages to hide, his immediate thought was to start again but with better vocabulary and more depth. Peter nods and then, James nods. And then, Remus and Sirius nods. That’s how it goes amongst them. If one does something, the others follow immediately.

“We need to go.” Remus says, glancing at his watch. Peter looks relieved. They can’t really blame him. They’ve had conversations with Peter like this. He was always the helper; the motivator and it threw them off course when the intelligent boy came to them with a problem.

The trio stampede over to the door and Remus calls out a good luck before the door shuts. A second later, Sirius throws it open and launches himself onto his brother.

“Merlin left saggy- “Sirius mumbles onto James’s shoulder. “I can’t bloody believe you’re leaving me.”

Prongs rolls his eyes and reciprocates the hug and they clutch each other tightly like men that have just won the bloody war.  “I can’t bloody believe Lily is marrying me.”

Sirius laughs through his tears. “Yeah, me neither.”

“Oh, shove off.” James admonishes but the tone is soft as he punches his brother’s arm.

Sirius raises a hand and for a moment, James has a weird premonition that Sirius is about to lean in but then he ruffles up James’s hair and runs out a moment before the poor groom can even groan.

The bespectacled boy stares at himself in the mirror.

It’d be alright, he told himself, Lily would show up and they’d go off in the sunset wide grins. Merlin, the woman of his dreams would be saying I do to him in a few minutes. They’d have the rest of their lives together and it would be jovial with their dogs, cats and children. Hardly human and more angel-like, Lily Evans would soon become Lily Potter and he’d wake up to her scarlet lips and emerald jewels of eyes every day.

He groans.

Now was not the time to be fantasizing.

It was hard not to when your fiancée looked like she belonged in the bloody museum.

He was wearing a fine suit which looked almost crisp against his skin. The white shirt was almost transparent because of the thin layer of sweat but it contrasted well with his tanned, lean and muscular body.  Against his will, he smirked as he thought of Lily. (When does he not, really?)

“I knew you were vain, Potter but I never guessed how much.”

James spins around at the voice and a grimace forms as he locates Severus Snape sitting idly on the sofa, wand rolling around his palm. Although annoyance surged through him, he was hardly to see the man. He was bound to make an entrance on his ex-best-friend’s wedding.

Despite the anger, some intelligent subconscious urged to call Sirius but he decided that it wouldn’t bode well with his character and instead retorts, “Here to stop the wedding, Snivellus or lost your way to the dumps?”

The man grits his teeth at the nickname but makes a great show of rolling his eyes. “Now, why would I want that?”

James shrugs and plucks out his wand, almost casually and points it at the Death Eater. “I can think of many reasons why. None of which I want to bother myself with but I’m afraid, oh wait, I’m not afraid but actually happy you’re too late.”

“I wouldn’t bet my money on it.”

“Well,” James smirks. “You don’t have any money in the first place to begin with so I recommend not betting anything.”

Almost growling, Snape makes a noise of dissatisfaction. “You’ve always been a fool, Potter.”

It was strange that there was no retort but James let it slide and mocks. “I suppose you hope to stop the wedding with your greasy hair. I hardly think the priest would consider that as an objection but we all know Lily would prefer mine.”

James is stalling. They both know it. Despite him being a Gryffindor, he knew not to underestimate Snape. Coming here was a huge risk after all and surely, the man had some sense not to break up a light wedding. So, why did he come?

The man winces at the mention of the bride.

“It’s not just me, Potter, this once.”

James curses internally. “Look Snape, it’s my wedding day and I really really don’t want to hex you today. Contrary to popular belief, I’m actually a pacifist.”

“Lily was right when she called you an arrogant toe rag.”

“Funny,” James bites out. “That’s not the only nickname y ’all used that day. At least toe rag sounds better than Extraordinary Death Eater.”

Scoffing, Snape shakes his head as if he’s almost reproaching James. “I, fortunately, do not have time for this insolence, Potter. I hope you rot.”

“Well, you had time for yourself.”

“CRUCIO!”

He’s expecting it. “PROTEGO!”

Time for pleasantries were over, James guesses. The room is immediately basked in a blue glow and both men are blasted with jet beams of light and are thrown feet backward, neither spell marring their skin. James rolls over to a chair and arching his neck, calls out a body binding spell.

Snape roars. “Sectumsempra! You shall pay, Potter!”

“EXPELLIARMUS! Need a loan?”

“Imperio!”

James almost gets hit with the spell in shock. This wasn’t some retribution. Snivellus-and perhaps the Death Eaters- were out for something. Oh bugger, Lily. She wouldn’t be safe here. He had to warn her somehow.

“Imperio!”

Where was that blasted two-way mirror?

Answer: Sirius had taken it. James had thought it’d be sensible, in case there were any wedding fiascos.

He was a fool. A stupid-stupid- fool.

Crying out a jinx almost instinctively, he jumps out of the way as a table hurls at him. (Couldn’t furniture be at his side, at least? Really bloody unfair.)

The spell hits his target and James is rewarded by the sight of blood dripping down the shins of Snape’s knee. Amazingly, it doesn’t seem to bother him. The only sign he showed of pain was a slight wince.

Where was everybody? Dead and deaf? The question has an answer.

“You cast a silence charm.” He thinks out loud.

Really ass-effing unfair.

The room was in ruins but James was positive that it he was captured; the room would return to being spotless. He supposes they want him to join the Death Eaters. The very thought makes him barks a laugh. As if he’d ever agree to that. He’d rather die. Rather live and marry but he thinks he might have to cut his losses.

It’s like he appears in thin air for Snape stands in front of him, arm poised for attack. James kicks his leg in a defense that Lily and Mr. Evans had taught him and pushes away. (Muggle techniques were brilliant, weren’t they?) Severus-the bugger-is also fast though James did not know how. (You’d think his grease would weigh him down, right?) The positions are awkward enough for James to suddenly lose control of his wand as the expelliarmus is called out.

Satisfaction or regret flashes on Snape’s face for a second but James’s doesn’t bother deciphering it. If he can’t get away, he needs to save Lily at least. Jumping up, he runs like his life is dependent on it, ducking behind furniture when the need calls for it.

Suddenly, the cold dims a little as the door opens. “Got him?” A voice calls out from the doorway and he’s so surprised to see Pettigrew that he stumbles. “Wormtail?” The boy looks at him and shifts his glance away.

Got him? Got whom? Oh. Oh no. No, no, no.

“You’re-you’re with him-them?” He manages to splutter. It had to be impossible, surely. Maybe he was imperio-d. Or maybe, they wanted to take him out for another stag party and got Snape involved?

He dismisses either of his suspicions. They boy’s eyes are clear. James almost slaps himself. Of course, Peter wouldn’t have a girlfriend. He didn’t even have one in Hogwarts.

“IMPERIO!” Snivellus calls again, almost booming the curse.

James falls on the ground and stares at his friend in shock who’s standing up casually. “Peter?” He calls out in a pained voice. His sadness evolves into anger.

“I hope both of you rot in hell.” He knows he’s lost but he tries to take on Peter and both brawl. James tucks his shoulder into Peter’s armpit and jabs and the boy falls and his escape is right there and so clear. He’d see Lily again. And he’s running and he’s hollering. Then:

“This has gone on for far too long.” Snape bites. “Imperio!”

There’s nowhere to duck and he goes down but Snape’s anticipated that and he’s full on hit by the incantation. And James is submerged. It’s like his thoughts are befuddled and time stands still or the seconds tick past in honey. He’s in his own bubble. It’s like being in the ocean, he manages to tell his friends later, but when someone wants you to drown, you can’t push up, you’re sinking instead.

“Go somewhere no one will find you.” Snape murmurs, velvety and caressing.

Several steps forward, James hacks onto their plan. They’re monsters, worse than that. At least, monsters are born cruel. These, these people want to be terrible. He tries to wrangle his way out of the spell, tries to make a move for his wand but it’s so painful that he’s desperately tired and run out of energy after the first time he tries to break free.

They overpower him in no time and then he seemingly walks out the door out of his own will and he walks on the empty corridor in silence except for a steady ticking voice at the back of his mind saying, Leave.

James listens.

[sunsetcurve]

Just What Best Friends Do

Request: ooh can I request a bree/skylar fic? maybe they're trying to keep them dating a secret from the EF and hilarity ensues? > by @its-tuscan-bean

Summary: Keeping a relationship a secret is hard. Especially when three of your friends live in the same apartment. Especially when your brother seems to notice everything. Bree and Skylar do their best.

Relationships: Bree/Skylar, Minor Chase/Kaz

Rating: Teen for minor swearing

Word Count: 1,623

A/N: I love this request! I don’t write fluff or humor all that much, so it’s a little out of my comfort zone, but I think I did alright. I think you’d be a better judge of that, though, lol. I took advantage of the fact that everyone in a Disney show is a terrible liar, and somehow no one ever questions it...anyway, I also threw a bit of Chase/Kaz in there too, so I hope that’s okay. Enjoy!

***

It all happens so fast, almost too quickly for her to comprehend, and that's ironic, because--hello, superspeed. But one minute they're sitting on the couch, watching Titanic together because Skylar has somehow never seen it before, and Jack's hands are around Rose's waist and she's flying and there's this great crescendo in the music--and then Skylar is kissing her.

It catches Bree by surprise, so much so that she almost jumps back, because holy shit, Skylar is kissing her and what is she supposed to do?

Kiss her back, stupid, the little voice in her head nags, and so she does. She kisses Skylar, softly, and still with everything inside of her that's been pent up forever now. She brings her hand up to cup Skylar's cheek, run through her hair, and everything seems to slow down for just a moment, like in the cheesy romance films Adam pretends he doesn't watch. When they finally pull apart, she takes a breath, inhales Skylar's scent, Skylar's everything.

"Is that my mango shampoo?" is the first thing her brain figures out how to say, catching the fruity aroma that lingers on the superhero's dark curls.

"Maybe...?" Skylar shrugs, drawing out the word. When Bree raises an eyebrow, she says, "Oh c'mon, it smelled so good, I couldn't help myself."

Bree can't help herself; she breaks into laughter. It's half out of joy, and half out of relief because they've just kissed, but nothing's changed, and maybe that's what she's been afraid of this whole time. Well, that, and--

"So, how do you want to tell the others about this?" she asks Skylar after a moment. "I mean, assuming there's--something to tell, if you want there to be..." she trails, her voice lifting hopefully.

"Of course I want this to be something," Skylar says, taking Bree's hands in hers over the pile of blankets on the couch. "But...I don't know if we should tell the others just yet. With everything that's going on, Roman and Riker, the other superheroes..."

" And Oliver," Bree finishes for her.

Skylar nods slowly. "He's a good guy, Bree, and he's been through a lot recently. I don't want to do that to him right now. Besides, it'll mess up the whole team's dynamic..."

"Okay, I get it," she says finally. "If you don't feel comfortable telling them, we don't have to. It'll just be...our little secret."

"Our little secret," Skylar repeats, and then she beams, and in all honesty, that smile is worth hiding the world.

***

At first, it's not all that difficult. The boys are wrapped in a world of their own, and Skylar and Bree are already constantly with one another, so no one bats an eye if they disappear once in a while.

The trouble is keeping the little things hidden. More than once, Bree curses her brother's uncanny perceptiveness, because he just seems to notice everything.

Like, they're in the elevator, fingers intertwined, and the doors open very suddenly and they don't even have time to realize that the rest of the team is there before Chase says, "Why are you guys holding hands?"

Skylar blinks, but Bree holds their locked hands up and says quickly--maybe too quickly, "We're best friends, Chase. Best friends hold hands all the time. Don't you ever hold hands with your friends?"

Chase scoffs. "No. Dudes don't hold hands."

"Then...why were you and Kaz holding hands during the Star Wars marathon?"

Her brother goes red to the tips of his ears and exchanges a quick, furtive look with Kaz, whose eyes have gone very, very wide. "Because, uh--" he gapes like a fish for a moment, and then grabs Kaz's hand. "Because best friends hold hands all the time!" He gives his angelic-innocence grin and jerks a thumb behind him, "We're gonna take the stairs." With that, he darts off so fast that his sneakers skid on the floor, yanking Kaz behind him.

Bree and Skylar exchange looks and dissolve into laughter, and then Oliver steps into the elevator with them, his brow furrowed. "You guys don't think there's something going on between them, do you?" he asks, eyes still focused on where they'd just run away. "I mean, they'd tell us, right? They have no reason not to tell us. That would just be dumb."

Bree drops Skylar's hand quickly and gives a short, very convincing laugh. "Yeah, totally. So...dumb."

Oliver looks at her funny, and she purses her lips together. "Uh, we're just gonna get off here," she says, plastering an innocent smile over her face. "Bye!" And then she grabs Skylar's hand and tugs her out of the elevator just as the doors begin to close.

"Sometimes I think you and Chase are more alike than you think," Skylar teases when Oliver disappears and Bree exhales a sigh of relief.

"Shut up," she replies simply, punching Skylar's shoulder and leading her towards the stairs.

***

All in all, Bree thinks she's done a fairly good job at keeping their secret. She successfully manages to avoid Chase's prying questions and to keep herself from hitting Oliver every time he (desperately, almost creepily) tries flirting with Skylar, and it's not easy, but she'd slay dragons for her girlfriend. So this is nothing.

But all it takes is one slip-up, and their plan, much like what seems to be most things in Bree's life, goes south very quickly.

In retrospect, she probably should pay more attention to what she's doing, but over the past couple weeks, there are a few things that have just become natural around Skylar.

So it's just reflexive that day after a successful mission, when she approaches her girlfriend. "Good job, babe," she says, and, without even registering that she's doing it, brushes her lips swiftly against Skylar's.

Oliver's jaw drops.

"Babe?" Chase demands.

"Babe?" Skylar echoes, eyes wide with shock.

"Shit," is all Bree can find the words to say.

And then Kaz starts laughing, and Chase says, "Language!" in an affronted manner that makes Bree roll her eyes.

"Oh, don't pretend you never curse, Captain America," she fires back, and Oliver holds up his hands in a wait gesture.

"Can we get back to the 'babe', please? And the--kissing?" He sounds distraught.

Chase nods his agreement. "Uh, yeah. Explain. And if you say, that's just what best friends do, I'm going to lose it," he warns.

Bree locks eyes with Skylar, who presses her lips together and sighs slowly. "Okay, fine. Bree and I are...kind of...dating?"

Kaz's eyes narrow just a little. "Kind of?"

"We're dating," Bree says, with a little more conviction, and her eyes sweep over Chase's raised eyebrows, the mixture of bewilderment and hurt on Oliver's face, and Kaz's squint and titlted head, as though he's trying hard to see something.

There's a beat of tense silence in which Bree's stomach does backflips, and then Chase says at last, "Finally."

This catches her by surprise. "Finally?" she repeats.

He huffs a laugh, dropping onto their couch. "Uh, yeah. Look, I'm no master of romance, but even I could tell," he says, rolling his eyes with the hint of a fond smile curving his lips upward.

"Hold on, you knew?" Oliver demands, like he's been betrayed, and Chase shrugs his shoulders.

"I had a hunch."

The superhero turns back to Bree and Skylar, his nose wrinkled slightly as though he's trying to wrap his head around this. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"We didn't want this to change anything with the team," Skylar says gently, putting a hand on his arm. "We were worried it would make things tense, or awkward--"

"More awkward than this?" Kaz grins from his seat next to Chase on the couch. Skylar, Bree, and Oliver give him matching glares, and he ducks his head and coughs. "Sorry. Continue."

"With everything that's going on," Bree makes a vague sort of gesture with her hand, "we were worried it would mess up the team's dynamic."

Oliver nods slowly. "I guess...I guess that makes sense," he exhales.

Skylar slips her hand into Bree's and squeezes it gently. Chase looks at them, his expression thoughtful, and says, "You guys know you don't have to keep secrets from us, right? We're better as a team--and as friends--if everyone's honest with each other."

Bree looks at Skylar, who nods her head. "Okay. No more secrets."

Kaz claps his hands together and stands up. "Well, I'm happy for you guys," he smiles. "You make a good couple."

"Agreed," Chase nods, following him up to their room.

Oliver lingers for a moment, opening his mouth and then shutting it again, as though he's trying to decide what to say.

"Oliver, I'm so-"

He shakes his head immediately. "You don't have to apologize, Skylar. It's okay. I mean, yeah, it hurts, but..." he locks eyes with Bree for a second, and then his gaze returns to the alien girl, "as long as you're happy, so am I. I'm glad you guys found each other."

Skylar smiles. "Thank you, Oliver. That means a lot," she says, and Oliver nods before going to join the boys upstairs.

That leaves the two girls to collapse onto the couch, Bree curling against Skylar's side, her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. "That went better than expected," she comments with a soft, content sigh.

She feels Skylar nod. "Yeah. They actually seemed really cool with it. And Oliver didn't take it too hard." Bree can hear the relief in her voice as she looks up at the superhero.

"I'm glad we don't have to hide anymore," she smiles.

Skylar works her fingers into Bree's hair. "Me too." There's a brief pause. "So what happens next?"

"We..." Bree humms in thought, and then a grin spreads across her face, "we could figure out a way to get Chase and Kaz to realize they're in love with each other?"

The alien's eyes glint mischeivously. "I bet I can get them to admit it first."

"Oh you are so on."

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 4x21 Operation Mongoose Part I

It’s cool seeing the heroes as villains and vice versa but why did the villains have to become heroes to have their happy endings. Why did they have to change their whole personalities and everything about themselves? 

Walt Disney must have supposedly been the Author before Isaac.

 I’m surprised Rumple didn’t write Killian out of existence.

I think it’s a bit excessive to keep the Author trapped forever. I’ve said it before but just let him write his happy ending, then there’ll be a new Author. Who was even recording the stories after he was trapped. We ok now someone did because there was the page with Charming putting Emma through the wardrobe. I guess he could write things without witnessing them, considering that’s what Henry did with Ruby and Dorathy’s kids. 

How is he writing a whole ass novel so quickly? Where can I get these powers?

Rumplesaac is brotp!

It’s actually so sad that Rumple feels like he let down his son to the point where he doesn’t want those memories. 

I want Author powers ngl, just to write my own happy ending.

Poor Henry’s all alone. That must be scary. Imagine if he couldn’t find a way to get them back. What would he do? Where would he have gone? Would he have stayed in Storybrooke? That could actually make a really cool and heartbreaking fic.

Holy bananas! Kid’s driving! That is so freaking dangerous! Did David give him extra lessons?

But he made the villains into heroes so aren’t heroes technically winning? 

In which Isaac is Adam and Eddy. “No spoilers.”

I kinda love Isaac ngl.

I love that Henry gets a chance to be a hero in these episodes and gets to see what the EF is like.

Holy crap! Who hits a kid over the head with a heavy ass shield?! What the hell?!

Oh snap!

That spikey log is no freaking joke! 

What does he mean “Henry, please be dead, please be dead.”? That’s awful!

Jeseus Christ, Henry! Do not put your hand in that fire! Although, who am I to talk, I burnt my fingers on a lit match twice yesterday, trying to cook something. Would not recommend.

Evil dwarfs.

Should have thrown away that badge. Would never put a badge in my pocket anyway. That can seriously prick you!

Evil Snow is actually terrifying. Her creepily soft voice that’s almost a whisper at times. She’s unpredictable and cruel for the sake of being cruel.

Okay, but Evil Charming with that eyeliner is freaking hot as hell!!

Snow took Charming’s heart and forced him to be hers??? Holy hell, that is so messed up. I forgot about that. Oh my God, why?? And David still has years’ worth of memories of that. I hate this. Don’t do that to Snowing!

Do not make Snowing kill there grandson!

Did bandit Regina just kill that coachman??

Okay but the way that charming just rotated that sword. Damn.

Jesus, Snow is scary. 

Snow, you are giving me nightmares!

How comes Robin’s a hero in this realm too? Are we meant to see him as a villain in his own reality? Or just so morally grey that it doesn’t matter, I guess.

Bride Zelena is so sweet though. Yes, she’s a bit demanding but she’s still a sweetie. Look at her smile.

That’s interesting that Henry sees Emma as the most powerful sorceress there is. 

I’ve just realised the Author gave Snow White magic. He’s powerful to be able to do that. He should have given himself advanced magic.

Bahahahahaha!! Emma screaming at the end is the funniest thing ever!! Tears are coming out my eyes!!

How did she go to the toilet??!