#unsolved baby john doe

[signalwatch]

Tarzan Watch: Greystoke - the Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)

this is the most pretentious possible Tarzan poster

Watched:  04/10/2023

Format:  HBOmax

Viewing:  First

Director:  Hugh Hudson

I can only imagine what the pitch meeting was for this movie, and I can totally see how it happened.  

In 1981, Hugh Hudson had directed Chariots of Fire, a movie that was a smash hit about pasty British guys running foot races and worrying about religion.  Like, you couldn't escape the movie, which I watched on TV once when I was sick as a kid and immediately erased from my memory.  But it was a big @#$%ing deal when adults went to the cinema.  

I'm sure it's great.  But it was an unlikely hit, and won Best Picture.  Career made for somebody.

So when the director of the footrace movie comes to you and says "we're gonna do Tarzan.  But now it's a prestige costume drama about how Tarzan is, in fact, a very sad ape man.  He is not a super-human living among men, continually pursued by hot women and fighting weird alien threats and large animals.  Instead, he's a kind of skinny French guy who does stuff you've seen apes do at the zoo.  But, you know, it's quite sad" I guess you trust and give that guy a sack of cash to give it a go.

A bunch of other people had seen this movie, and had more or less ape-blocked me from seeing it over the years as every time I said "I've not seen this, but I'd like to" I'd be told "No.  It is not good."  And I was like "okay, fair enough."  But tonight that didn't work, and I settled in for 2 hours and 15 minutes of sad Tarzan.

Look, at the end of the day, someone needed to realize a grown man imitating an ape is not what Tarzan is, exactly.  Or that this would be a good thing to see on screen when it did happen.  I don't know if they thought they were getting the magic on camera by having Christopher Lambert oop every time he felt an emotion, or basically having him play an ape who occasionally mutters short sentences.  Frankly, this Tarzan seems positively ready for an institution, and so it makes for an utterly unbuyable love story between John Greystoke and Jane Porter, but it's the sexy 80's, so you know they're gonna bang.  And, indeed, they do.

I've read the first Tarzan book, seen a few other Tarzan movies and read (and re-read) a Marvel comics adaptation of the first part of the first novel a fair bit, and you kind of realize the quick pitch version of the Greystokes winding up in Africa and their time there before things go sideways is more crucial than this movie thought.  Add in that this movie really, really struggles with whether Tarzan is a feral person or has the astonishing intellect of the Tarzan of the novel in order to hew closer to a very 1980's story about man and nature, man's nature and nurture, and lacking basic reasoning skills in early 20th Century Scotland.

I can maybe get with a "but what if Tarzan really happened?" angle, but you're in a constant state of "yes, but..." regression that more or less flatlines at baby John Clayton dead in the jungle two days after his discovery by Kala.  So you have to maybe accept even more, but more nuanced, absurdities than even the original novel doles out in order to buy the film.  The casting of Lambert is odd, in part because he's not exactly Johnny Weismuller, and it's difficult to believe this guy survived in the jungle against apes and leopards. But it's the fact that when Tarzan is home, he's both utterly alien to himself and the world around him, but no one seems to notice?  As he's all but flinging poo, people are just jabbering away at him.  

What's oddest is that because Lambert is fairly successful at becoming an ape(mentally), it feels as if there's no inner world to Tarzan in some ways.  We have no idea if he understands anything said to him, or the complexity of his predicament.  He self soothes by ooping and rolling around.  It's incredibly weird that the movie doesn't seem to think this is a problem.  Or maybe it's an unsolvable problem?  There's just a peculiar distance between the characters and the viewer, all of them - not just Clayton, that it's a bit odd.  

All of that is, in it's way... kind of passable.  But the movie is also morbidly predictable.  Maybe it's the era, or maybe it's that they treat Tarzan more like a cub in Born Free than a human character, but you know this shit ends with Tarzan seeing his kindly grandfather/ benefactor croaking and the demands of the world becoming too much so he wanders back into the jungle to sweeping orchestral music before our ape man ever leaves the jungle.  You know Jane will stand there impassiveley while Tarzan chooses a swift death in the jungle over endless food, luxury and sex with an actual human.  You know the noble Belgian will try to get him back to the jungle when, frankly, he's probably gonna get killed after living soft for a year.

I am sure this felt mind-blowingly clever as they were making it, but the end result is a sad man making monkey noises for 90 minutes, and then running away.  And that's maybe not what people were thinking of when they showed up to see a Tarzan flick with a budget.   

Jamie mentioned the movie felt weirdly disjointed, and upon review...  yeah.  It kinda was.  The movie can feel like it's borrowing from movies you already know, but doesn't do much with those storylines, so it's like these barely realized vignettes.  Like - the entire storyline of Jane having a suitor goes nowhere and doesn't really do what it's intended to do - ie: show Jane how Tarzan is more noble than the nobleman.  She doesn't see him beat the young helper guy.  She doesn't see Tarzan save the day.  She just dumps the guy for reasons that are vague (I mean, except wanting to live in a sweet mansion).  That's just an example.  The movie kind of does a lot of this.

It's a shame, because there's maybe a path for a Tarzan movie that tries to ground itself a bit more.  But the 1980's was probably the last decade to tell a story about Tarzan without culture's need to navigate and acknowledge Europe's fuckery in colonial Africa.  I think now you'd need to set the story post WWII or something and be careful.  ERB's original prose isn't quite as racist as you'd expect, but it's certainly a product of its time (ie: it's still racist, just not as nut punchingly straightforwardly racist as other things you'll stumble over).  

I kinda liked the 2016 Tarzan, because (a) the casting was rock solid (b) 3rd reel animal rampage and (c) making Lord Greystoke here anti-Colonial and giving a convincing argument for his desire to return home.  It's got issues, and I wanted more monkey-business, but it was all right.  That said - it was still mostly a reminder:  oh my god.  This is really hard now.

Anyway, I'm glad I finally watched it.  It made excellent use of Andie McDowall's frankly stunning hair.  Rick Baker's ape suits were everything I'd read about.  The set and locations look phenomenal.  There were genuine moments of hope for me that this might be better than expected.    

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[chillingcinemachronicles]

Get ready for a cinematic rollercoaster! 🕵️‍♂️🍿 Uncover the top 5 murder mystery movies that promise suspense, twists, and an unforgettable thrill.

5. Gone Baby Gone

Director: Ben Affleck Year: 2007 Runtime: 114 minutes Rating: R

People already knew Ben Affleck as an actor and writer, but with “Gone Baby Gone,” he proved himself to be a masterful director as well. In his feature-length debut, Affleck tells a story set in his native Boston, where P.I. Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) is hired to find a missing girl. Everyone thinks he’s wasting his time, as the girl’s already been missing for 76 hours. But Kenzie knows the city’s streets better than most — a fact he might come to regret.

4. Zodiac

Director: David Fincher Year: 2007 Runtime: 157 minutes Rating: R

Fictional mysteries are scary enough, but “Zodiac” ups the ante by exploring a real-world case. The Zodiac Killer terrified the Bay Area for years, sending letters, ciphers, and bloody clothing to local newspapers as he murdered innocents. It remains one of the most infamous unsolved crimes in American history. With the help of an all-star cast, this powerful movie focuses on the officers and reporters who sacrificed so much in their efforts to bring this maniac to justice.

3. Chinatown

Director: Roman Polanski Year: 1974 Runtime: 131 minutes Rating: R

This neo-noir classic follows Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson), a private eye who’s hired by a woman to investigate her husband’s misdeeds. It seems like a routine case … until he realizes the woman who hired him isn’t actually the man’s wife. Things only grow more complex from there as Jake delves into a world of corruption and dark family secrets. This twisty masterpiece is widely regarded as one of the best mystery films of all time, and it’s easy to see why. Despite the movie’s most famous line, you won’t soon forget “Chinatown.”

2. Vertigo

Director: Alfred Hitchcock Year: 1958 Runtime: 128 minutes Rating: PG

“Vertigo” is widely considered to be one of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest films, and indeed, one of the greatest film ever made (via BBC). It tells the story of Scottie Ferguson, a retired detective who left the force due to his intense acrophobia and vertigo. These fears come to the fore when an old acquaintance hires Scottie to follow his wife, who’s been acting strangely. Nothing is as it seems, however, as Scottie and the audience unforgettably discover.

1. The Maltese Falcon

Director: John Huston Year: 1941 Runtime: 101 minutes Rating: Not Rated

“The Maltese Falcon” is the film noir. Many genre tropes were first codified by this film: Smoke permeates the air, the shadows are dark and deep, and the hard-boiled P.I. doesn’t mind bending the rules to find the truth. Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) and Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan) take on a case offered by a beautiful woman. However, when Miles goes searching for clues, he winds up dead. Not only does this film paint a fantastic portrait of a classic detective, it also has one of the best MacGuffins ever utilized in film.

[myaimistrue]

written for @spnwomenweek day one! the prompt was favorite character/skills. this is technically both, though my favorite spn women rotates on an hourly basis.

you can also read this on ao3!

Mary’s pregnant again. 

The baby isn’t an accident. She has reminded herself of this over and over again, that babies are never accidents when the mother is still so young and the family is still so small, when the parents are so obviously in love. In her circumstances, an unplanned child is just that—unplanned, but still welcome. An unexpected gift.

That knowledge doesn’t stop the uneasiness Mary’s felt within her since she saw those two little lines on the pregnancy test.

At the very least, John and Dean are happy about it. John, in fact, was over the moon when Mary told him that very day she found out, right when he came home from work. She isn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it wasn’t the way he laughed warmly, gathering her up in his arms and pulling her close.

“Another son,” he’d whispered in her ear. “God, Mary, we could have another son.”

Irritation had prickled along her skin. “It could be a girl.”

And instead of snapping back, instead of allowing that comment to devolve into an argument, John ignored it. Maybe hadn’t heard her, or maybe he was just too happy to be angry with his wife. He’d only squeezed her tighter, like she was some precious, gentle thing, and Mary had stood there in his arms, trying to relax into his touch.

They’d waited until she was further along to tell Dean. He’d looked at them both so solemnly, so seriously, as they explained that he would have a little brother or sister one day very soon. That Dean would get to be a big brother.

“You’ll have a new friend to play with,” John had said. Mary had loved him with a sudden fierceness at that moment, the way he looked at their son like he was the center of his entire world. Like he’d never doubted this decision they’d made to become parents. “Are you excited?”

Dean’s little face had split into the most wonderful smile, then. He’d had a million questions, half of them making almost no sense, and Mary had pulled him up into her lap. The three of them had sat there on the couch together for a long time, chatting and laughing and playing. It had been perfect. It had been so perfect.

Now, Mary’s standing in the kitchen. Idly, she wonders what to make for dinner tonight. She could do chicken, but they just had chicken a few days ago. Spaghetti, maybe? But John always makes little needling comments about how her sauce never tastes right, and she’s not interested in picking a fight today, not after the blow-out they’d had last night. 

Their arguments have always been explosive, but in the past year, they’ve gotten worse. John spends at least one night a month at a friend’s house, and sometimes, Mary thinks he won’t come back. But he always does. She’s never sure if she’s relieved or disappointed about that.

Last night, the fight was loud enough that it had woken Dean up. He stood in the doorway of their bedroom, tears in his eyes and blanket dragging behind him, and that sight had sucked all of their anger right out of the room. John and Mary put him back to bed together, and afterward, it had been quiet. There were no apologies, but there were kisses, there were soft hands and warm mouths. Mary’s alright with that—at this point, it’s the best she can hope for.

So, no to the spaghetti. She digs around the kitchen for ideas, but comes up with nothing but a pre-made lasagna in the freezer. John doesn’t like things that aren’t home-cooked, but he can never tell the difference between what she made and what Stouffer’s made. She’s not angry with him at the moment, but there’s still a feeling of satisfaction as she takes the lasagna out to defrost. A twisted sense of victory that he doesn’t even know he just lost a fight.

The baby kicks, because Mary is far enough along now that she can feel the child growing inside her. It fills her with a strange kind of dull panic, almost like claustrophobia. She loves this baby already, of course she does, loves it as intensely and whole-heartedly as she loves Dean. But when she lets herself think forward into the future, another four years ahead when her new child will be Dean’s age and Dean will be eight years old, when Mary thinks about how John will still be working at the shop and she will still be at home all day, when she thinks about her life unfolding in four year chunks ahead of her, she wants nothing more than escape it.

It’s sick, Mary knows that, to miss what she so desperately left behind. She hates the part of herself that yearns for her old life. But that part of her lingers anyway, when she sees a knife glint a certain way as she washes dishes, when she chases Dean around in the backyard, when she reads a story about a suspicious and unsolved murder. Those skills she has, the knowledge in her mind—it makes her think, sometimes, that there is no future where she doesn’t return to hunting.

There are just some things you can’t escape. Some habits are so ground-in they never leave you, and some skills are so innate you don’t realize you have them until you use them. And the person you really are, that true self, she waits you out and strikes when you least expect her to.

Something’s lurking, Mary thinks suddenly, and it grips tight at her throat. Something is lurking inside of her, something she can’t control.

The baby kicks again, a grounding force, and abruptly she turns to the oven, pushing the buttons to pre-heat it with shaking hands. Unbidden, a memory rises to the surface in her mind. A night by the side of the road, a yellow-eyed thing in her father. Without meaning to, she settles one hand on the bump of her stomach. Mary closes her eyes.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

hi!! i recently got into johnlock and the universe has somehow directed me to your blog (which is an absolute godsend omfg). have you got any good possessive!john fics?

Hi Lovely!!!

AHHHH!! I’m so glad you enjoy my blog!!! <3 Thank you so much! <3

AHHH you know what??? I don’t get asked this all that much at all! I think mostly because it’s easier to find Possessive Sherlock fics and people then just... forget LOL

So guess what?? You’re the prompter for any fics I actually tagged or filed with Possessive John! <3 A pioneer you are! LOL I’m combining it with a few of the Obsessive fics as well, since I don’t have many new ones.

As usual, gang, feel free to add your own!! <3

POSSESSIVE / OBSESSIVE JOHN

See also: 

Specifically Jealous John b/c of Other People

Jealous John

Jealous John Pt. 2 and Jealous Sherlock Pt 2

Jealous John Pt 3 and Jealous Sherlock Pt 3

Jealous John and Sherlock Pt. 4

Jealous John and Sherlock Pt. 5

Hell or High water by bluefire301175 (E, 2,250 w., 1 Ch. || PWP, Frottage, Alley Sex, First Person POV John, Case-ish Fic, Mutual Pining, Bed Sharing) – John wants. Sherlock wants. Plain and simple.

Display by 221b_hound (E, 2,377 w., 1 Ch. || Post-HLV, Tattoos, Public Hand Jobs, Exhibitionism, Possessive Sex, Possessive Sherlock, Possessive John) – A new client has been flirting with Sherlock and, finding no joy there, with John. John seems annoyed to be second-best, Sherlock thinks, so Sherlock decides to give the departing woman (and maybe also John) a demonstration of who, exactly, John belongs to. But there's more than one level of sexual jealousy and more than one display of possession going on here, outlined in the window of 221b Baker Street. Part 2 of Lock and Key

Apodyopsis by QuinnAnderson (E, 3,347 w.,1 Ch. || PWP, Rough Sex, Table Sex, Anal, Sexual Tension) – Apodyopsis: (æpəʊdaɪˈɒpsɪs) noun. the act of mentally undressing someone. Part 2 of Undressed

Overture by Kate_Lear (M, 4,435 w., 1 Ch. || First Kiss / Time, Friends to Lovers, Angry John, Introspection, Dev. Rel., Embarrassed / Insecure Sherlock, Morning After, Bed Sharing, Cuddles / Limpet Sherlock) – A short snippet on how John and Sherlock might have got together.

Sherlock and John Go Clubbing by wendymarlowe (E, 4,716 w., 3 Ch. || Clubbing, Dirty Talk, Dancing, Coming Untouched, Coming in Pants, Bi John, For a Case, Friends to Lovers, Flirting, Sherlock is Lost for Words, Sexy John, Mutual Pining, Possessive John, Floor Sex/Hand Job/Frottage) – John pinched the bridge of his nose - even for Sherlock, this was a new level of no bloody boundaries. “You want me to go with you to a gay club, wait around twiddling my thumbs while I let you get pawed by a criminal, then out-flirt him and talk you into coming home with me instead?” Part 32 of John and Sherlock's Kinky First Times

Caves in the Mountains Are Seldom Unoccupied by starrysummernights & TheMadKatter13 (E, 7,925 w., 1 Ch. || Were-Creatures ||  Werebear John, Pseudo Bestiality, Rimming, Heavy Dub Con, Rough Sex, Come Inflation / Eating, Size Kink, PWP, Bratty Sherlock, Rutting) – “This isn’t something to play at, Sherlock,” he snapped. “If it doesn’t work out- what you’re asking of me- we can’t shrug and say 'oh well, at least we tried'. If we do this… I could seriously hurt you. Do you understand? I could lose control. I could… I could kill you.”

My Life for His by QuinnAnderson (E, 8,816 w., 1 Ch. || Guardian/Protector, Greek Mythology || Growing Up, Sex, Religious Themes, Suicide, Minor Character Death) – It began when Sherlock was eight, and he attempted to climb all the way up to the highest branch in the old willow tree in his back garden. He'd thought he was still small enough that it could support him, but the second he'd grabbed hold of it to pull himself up, the branch snapped, and down he went, plummeting a solid twenty metres. The odd thing was, he never actually hit the ground.

Of Course I Forgive You by allonsys_girl (E, 10,735 w., 1 Ch. || Love Confessions, Canon Divergence, First Time, Frottage, Wall Sex, Infidelity) – What if things had gone differently on that train car?

The Invocation of Saint Margaret by Ewebie (E, 15,831 w., 1 Ch. || POV John,  Crossing Timelines, Light Angst, Fluff, Series 3 John / Series 1 Sherlock, The Matchbox, Mushy Romance, First Time, Bisexual John, Pining John, Bottomlock, Love Confessions, Sensuality, Emotional Love Making, Snippets of Time) – When Sherlock Holmes opens the matchbox from The Sign of Three and John finds himself years in the past, back to that first dinner at Angelo's with a much younger Sherlock Holmes. Is he dreaming?

Out of the Woods by SilentAuror (E, 20,471 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Romance, Slow Burn, Flirting, Drunk Sex, Practical Jokes, POV Sherlock, Bottomlock, Possessive John, Pining Sherlock, Frustrated Wanking, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, First Kiss/Time, Virgin Sherlock, Love Confessions, Soft Sherlock, Dancing, Bum Appreciation, Hanging out with the Yard) – Sherlock is fairly certain that John has taken to flirting with him of late, but can't be entirely certain of it. At least, not until a case takes them into a forest, along with Lestrade's team and something happens that will change everything about their lives...

The Kepler Problem by kinklock (E, 24,270 w., 1 Ch. || Sci-Fi AU, Alien Sherlock, Space Repairman John, Alien Biology, Horny John) – Working in uncharted space exploration was not as exciting as John had hoped, especially when it turned out to be mostly bot maintenance on uninhabited planets. However, the mystery of the repeated, unexplained malfunctions on planet BAK 2212 might turn out to be exactly the kind of adventure he'd been craving.

Inscrutable to the Last by DiscordantWords (M, 48,842 w., 6 Ch. || Post-TRF, Alternate S3, John’s Blog/S3 is a Story By John, Divorce, Marital Difficulties, John is a Mess, Emotional Reunion, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Grief / Mourning, Pining John, First Kiss, Adorably Clueless Sherlock, Nostalgia, Love Confessions, Eventual Happy Ending, Obsessive John) – He wasn't Sherlock, he couldn't work miracles. All he'd ever been able to do was write about them.

The Hollow Woman by ScopesMonkey (M, 51,335 w., 22 Ch. || Post-TRF, Major Character Death, Mystery, Romance, Friendship, Family, Angst, Crime, Reunion, First Kiss / Time, Nightmares, Doctor John, Jealous Sherlock, Jealous John, BAMF John, Angry John, Dub-Con, Rough Sex, Bottomlock, Possessive John, Villain Mary, Open Ending) – Forced to return to London sooner than expected, Sherlock falls into a case too close to home. Part 1 of the Hollowverse series

Points by lifeonmars (E, 53,791 w., 42 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || HLV Rewrite / Canon Divergence, Married Life, Pregnancy / Baby Watson, Drinking to Cope, Boxing / Fisticuffs, Clueless John, Angst, Minor Medical Drama, Tattoos, Christmas, First Kiss/Time, Eventual Happy Ending, Love Confessions, Doctor John, Sexuality Crisis, Slow Burn, Case Fic, Drugging, Blow/Hand Job, Emotional Love Making, Parenthood, Passage of Time, Obsessive John) – What if His Last Vow never happened? This fic picks up a few months after John and Mary's wedding, in an alternate universe where Magnussen doesn't exist, but Mary is still pregnant. Life continues -- just in a different direction. And slowly, Sherlock and John find their way to each other.

The Bells of King's College by SilentAuror (E, 64,019 w., 5 Ch. || Post-S4, Missed Opportunities, Angst with Happy Ending, Fake Relationship, Case Fic, John POV, Jealous John, John in Denial, Travelling / Holidays, Virgin Sherlock, Wedding Proposals) – It's only been two weeks since Eurus Holmes disrupted their lives when Mycroft sends John and Sherlock to Cambridge to pose as an engaged couple at a wedding show in the hopes of solving six unsolved deaths...

Gimme Shelter by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (E, 159,368 w., 21 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || 70′s Surfer AU || Period Typical Homophobia, Hawaii, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Professional Surfers, Gay John / Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, John was a Sailor, Misunderstandings) – All John Watson wants is the feeling of a freshly waxed surfboard under his feet and the hot California sun baking down onto his back. To finally go pro in the newly formed world of professional surfing and leave the dark memories of his past behind him as he rips across the face of a towering blue barrel. To lounge beside the beach bonfire every evening with an ice cold beer tucked into the cool sand beside him and listen to Pink Floyd and the Doors while the saltwater dries in his sun bleached hair. That's all he wants, that is, until the hot young phenom taking Oahu and the Hawaiian shores by storm steps up next to him in the sand in the second round of the 1976 International Surf Competition. (PUBLISHED AS ‘The Sea Ain’t Mine Alone’)

Proving A Point by elldotsee & J_Baillier (E, 186,270 w., 28 Ch. || Me Before You Fusion || Medical Realism, Insecure John, Depression, Romance, Angst, POV John, Sherlock Whump, Serious Illness, Doctor John, Injury Recovery, Assisted Suicide, Sherlock’s Violin, Awkward Sexual Situations, Alcoholism, Drugs, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, Body Image, Friends to Lovers, Hurt / Comfort, Pain, Big Brother Mycroft, Intimacy, Anxiety, PTSD, Family Issues, Psychological Trauma, John Whump, Case Fics, Loneliness, Pain) – Invalided home from Afghanistan, running out of funds and convinced that his surgical career is over, John Watson accepts a mysterious job offer to provide care and companionship for a disabled person. Little does he know how much hangs in the balance of his performance as he settles into his new life at Musgrave Court.

Free Falling by twistedthicket1 (M, 203,574 w., 38 Ch. || Guardian Angels AU || Guardian Angel John, Fluff and Angst, Humour, Kidlock / Teenlock, Light Mystrade, Passage of Time, Possessive John, Drug Use / Overdose, Victor Trevor, Graphic Bullying, Big Brother Mycroft, Hard Drug Use, Depression, Possessive Sherlock, Possessive John, Panic Attacks, Nightmares/PTSD, Pining, Healing Abilities, Kidnapping, Violence, Torture, Blow Jobs, Virgin John, Emotional Development / Attachment, Mortality, Happy Ending) – All Guardian angels are born with a Chosen human. When this child is born, the angel comes into being to protect and care for them during their life on Earth. For John Watson, all he cares about in the world revolves around his Chosen, Sherlock Holmes. Watching him grow up though, the angel soon learns that God must have had a sense of humour the day he decided to make Sherlock, as trouble seems to follow him like a magnet wherever he goes. John can't decide what's worse, the idea of losing his Chosen one, or the fact that he may be breaking the most taboo law of heaven as he disguises himself as a human to better protect and befriend the beloved detective he's always watched from afar. He was meant to care for him. But what happens when caring evolves into something more? What happens when an emotion an angel is supposed to be incapable of possessing comes to life suddenly and viciously inside John's chest?

[thatgoblin]

Small Town Affairs Chapter 2

Summary: Hazel is an Omega in the small town of Tin Springs, Midwest America. She's trying to live her life after breaking up with the local sheriff, John Walker, and his mate, Brock Rumlow. New people aren't something that happens often, but when a new pack comes to town her whole life goes from a small mess to a complete disaster in the best way.

Warnings: Domestic Violence, Assault, Sexual abuse, Himbo Bucky, Misogyny, will update as story goes.

Chapter 2

The rest of the day went by smoothly. The lunch and evening rush came and went, making time pass by quickly.

At a half hour till close, Clint came back in.

“Hey,” I said, waving to him with a smile. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going. Got our stuff unpacked and put up so that’s a relief. I was on my way to pick up dinner from the restaurant and decided to stop in and say hey, also thanks again for helping out our first night,” he said, moving the lean against the counter as he talked to me.

“It’s not a problem. Like I told one of your packmates, Helmut, we’re a pretty friendly bunch here,” I said, tidying up my area before shutting down for the day.

“Oh, he came by?” Clint asked, his brows raising.

“Yeah, him and I think his name was Bucky. They came by to get some groceries and Helmut asked about a plant nursery. I pointed him to the one on the west side of town,” I said. “Why do you look surprised?”

“Well, Bucky and Helmut usually keep to themselves. Especially Bucky. I guess it’s the small town just bringing it out,” he said with a chuckle as he began to fold a piece of trash paper into something.

“They were nice. Well, Helmut did most of the talking, but Bucky was courteous. It’s not often we get Alphas that aren’t forceful or dominating. Even if they don’t mean to, it happens a lot around here,” I said, printing out my end of day numbers.

“Yeah, I got that sense the other night,” he said with a cringe. “Does the sheriff always greet new people like that?”

I paused a moment, chewing on my lip as I thought of my answer carefully.

“It differs. Like I said, Alphas around here tend to be more old school and domineering,” I said softly, my smile gone. Any time John and Brock were brought up directly to me I couldn’t help but go quiet and submissive. It took me so long to start breaking out of my old shell and still I’d slip right back into it at the mention of their names. “I’d be careful of him. Just don’t get on his bad side.”

“Is he that scary?” Clint asked, his fingers pausing in their movements to lean forward as if we were sharing a secret.

“Hazel, why don’t you head home early today?” Peggy said as she stood in the office doorway, stopping the conversation. Whether it was to protect me or put a barrier up for Clint, I wasn’t sure and I wasn’t going to argue. “I’m sure you need to get cleaned up for your other job before heading over. I’ll finish up your register for you.”

“Alright, thanks,” I said, not wanting to argue. “Uh, I’ll see you around Clint.” Handing the sheets and keys to Peggy, I grabbed my thermos and purse before heading out the back door. Peggy was my boss and felt like family, but there were times that she was different. Mostly when it felt like she was trying to hide something, a switch flipped and she turned into almost a commanding officer. I liked my job and knew there was a limit with her if I tried to push back, so I didn’t bother trying to figure anything out. Some mysteries were better left unsolved.

I drove home to get ready for my other job. I told people I was a bartender at a hole in the wall in the next town over, but if they knew the truth, they didn’t say a word. Probably because they weren’t supposed to be there themselves. I packed my small bag before grabbing a quick nap and snack. It was dark when I left the house and twenty minutes later I was backstage at the Pink Pony strip club. The other girls and guys were all in various stages of getting ready as I stepped into a smaller, private dressing room.

First things first was, well, to strip. I put my comfy, warm clothes in the small bag before pulling out my costume for the evening. It was a black mesh and bedazzled number that left little to the imagination. The mesh kept it together and on me as well as double sided tape, lots of tape. I quickly ran a baby wipe over my arms and legs to dry my skin a bit which would allow for the smaller crystals and stones on sticky strips that were for decoration to stick better.

Well, for decoration and hiding blemishes and marks I didn’t want others to see. I had a lot of those that would identify me, but the sparkle helped cover them nicely with some make up as well. I moved on to fix my hair into a wig cap then pinned it down with almost a thousand bobby pins and nearly a whole can of hairspray to help keep everything in place. I would glue the front of my wig down before doing my makeup to blend everything together. Lately I've been using a dark ruby colored wig with lots of curls, I got a lot more tips with that one than my other neon yellow wig. Coming out of the dressing room, I spotted a work friend Kira who was just finishing her own costume.

“Hey, Kira, can you get my back spots please?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure,” the other woman said with a smile. Her own costume of chains and feathers jingled like tiny bells as she walked over to me. Almost all the dancers got along well enough to help each other out as much as possible. There were a few dancers that didn’t get along very well, but they were at least able to either avoid each other or were at least courteous. It made the job 100 times easier if things were hunky dory backstage. A few minutes later, Kira had finished and I was set. I thanked her as she went to go do her own show. I pulled my knee high boots on, double checked my makeup, then went to work.

The seating areas at the front of the house as well as the other four smaller stages for one person were filled and still there were people standing at the bar. It was busy for a Friday night, but I wasn’t about to get mad about it. The drunker people got, the more money they’d spend.

“Hey, Carrie,” my manager said, waving me over to the bar. All the people that worked there had a stage name, some for safety and some because it was fun. I wanted to fly under the radar and be left alone when I wasn’t on the job. I walked over to him, waving and smiling to everyone that paid me any mind.

“Hey, Nick, what’s up?” I asked, leaning against the bar next to him.

“I know you’re my girl when I need extra sessions, especially private sessions. You wanna take this group coming in later? There’s supposed to be six or so. Includes lap dances and pole work, maybe a few body shots. They’re paying extra for my best girl. You want it?” He asked as looked around the floor of the club with his one eye.

“Sure. I never say no to extra tips,” I said with a shrug.

“I knew I could count on you,” he said. “They’ll be here in about an hour. They called ahead for some reason. No one calls ahead.”

“Great, hopefully they’re out of towners and get drunk easily,” I said, looking over the floor as well.

“Let’s hope so, go ahead and let Holly know that you’re not on the main stage tonight so she can have it,” he said, motioning to a brunette who was chatting up a table.

“Yes Sir,” I said, giving him a mock salute and getting an eye roll in return.

I let Holly know of the update and made myself useful by helping with serving drinks, making sure to give the tips to the servers I was helping, did a few lap dances, and mingled on the floor to pass the time till my party got there. My shifts were shorter, just five hours, compared to others because I only worked the weekends and was lower on the pecking order, but I still made a good amount on the weekends.

A little bit before my group got there, I headed to the room I was told we were using to double check that everything was clean and in order before getting on stage. I was swaying on the pole when the group came in. I nearly tripped over my platform heels when I saw who it was. It was the new pack in town, including the Alphas I had met at the store.

Fuck me.

Thankfully I was able to grab the pole and make it look like I meant to swing further, spinning myself around.

“Hi ya, fellas,” I called, making my accent thicker and my voice higher to hide my real voice. “Glad to see ya’ll made it. I’m Carrie, what’re your names?”

Taking seats around my stage, they all ordered drinks when a server came in. At first no one said anything, looking at one another almost nervously before I stepped down the stairs towards them.

“Oh come on, don’t be shy. I don’t bite,” I said, giving the dark haired man with a salt and pepper mustache a wink. He was dressed in a wine red button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black slacks. It was all tailored to him instead of the usual baggy church clothes most men around the area wore. The material didn’t look like something from Walmart either. As I slid my hands over his shoulders and straddled him, getting a feel for his disposition, the shirt had to be a mixture of expensive fabrics. There was no other explanation for how soft it was without looking cheap.

“That’s disappointing,” he said with a chuckle, leaning back in the leather seat. “I’m Howard, that’s Thor, Bucky, and Helmut.” Howard pointed to each in turn from the blond with a beard and shoulder length hair that was pinned back in a half ponytail to Bucky and Helmut. “We’re new in town and figured we’d see what this place has to offer.”

“And what do you think so far, Sug’?” I asked.

“I think we found a good place,” he said, smirking looking me up and down.

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said, standing from leaning over Howard. “Now, who wants a lap dance?”

“Bucky, why don’t you go first?” Howard said.

“Me?” Bucky choked as the drinks were brought in, set on the small side tables between the seats.

“You shy, Sug?” I asked, moving to pull an armless leather clad chair to the front of the stage. “I promise, I’ll be nice.”

“Go on, live a little,” Thor chuckled as he picked up his drink. Even in the dim, colored lighting, I could still see a bit of blush across Bucky’s cheeks as he begrudgingly stood up. The men cheered as he moved to the chair in front of everyone.

“Now, some small ground rules, boys,” I said, sliding my hand along Bucky’s shoulders as I walked behind him. “No touching unless I say so, ask like good little boys and you’ll get body shots, AND the bigger you tip, the more you get.”

“I like her,” Helmut said as he watched. The music started for me, something with a good beat that allowed me to tease and taunt. Bucky’s clothes were different for tonight, more like Howard’s really. It was a dark navy blue button up with the sleeves buttoned around his wrists. What was odd was that he had leather clothes on. They were tight around his hands and while I usually wasn’t one to question someone’s fashion choices, I also wasn’t complaining as I took his hands to slide down the sides of my body as I faced away from him. My ass was inches from his face, letting me lean over to twerk for him.

It was common to smell arousal, the need from Alphas and Betas and Omegas alike when I gave performances, but Bucky was different. His scent was coming off in wafts, no hindrance at all. It was intoxicating and easy to get lost in. Especially being so close to him. All the dancers used neutralizing spray to keep our scents to a minimum, adding manufactured floral or fruity scents. I was so glad that I had put on an extra layer that night. When it came time for the tips from Bucky, it took a bit of prompting to put the bills in fun places.

“Put the bills down your shirt or the waist of your pants,” Howard said with a laugh. Usually I hated when customers did that, but with this group I didn’t mind. With slightly shaky hands, Bucky slid a few bills under the belt of his slacks as well as down the front of his shirt to peek out.

“Jesus, Howard, you’re going to get us kicked out,” Bucky huffed at his friend, shooting him a glare before looking down when I had squatted in front of him. Slowly, I slid up his body, making sure to grab the bills with my teeth to end with the tips of our noses touching. His steely blue eyes were wide open, his small gasp letting me smell his breath that had traces of mint and whiskey. Had it been just us, I would have been even dirtier, but with an audience most customers didn’t want to get too turned on.

“You did good, Sug,” I said with a grin, moving to sit directly in his lap as I plucked the rest of the bills from him to shove down my top. I gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning to the group.

“Who’s next?”

Thor took his turn, much happier to have a scantily clad person in his lap. He was fun too. Apparently he was from Scandinavia or something and was new to this type of club. I figured they had strip clubs abroad, but he seemed to be tickled to be in one now. Howard had his, showing off exactly how much he knew about dancing with how he knew where he could touch without getting in trouble. Then there were body shots between the dances that all the men took part in. After a couple, they were all pretty loose and goofy, even Bucky who was laughing and smiling wider.

The last dance of the night was for Helmut and that man was the one I was most worried about. Despite being the smallest Alpha there, the man had something about him that was alluring and almost dark. It was the same with Bucky and when both of them were together it felt like I was in one of those cartoons where the scent of fresh baked treats floated through the forest to beckon the lost ingenue to it. While Bucky had been nervous though, Helmut was not.

He wasn’t cocky like Howard or playful like Thor, no the man was steady and was moving with me almost. I would go to one side and his nose would follow, barely touching my neck and shoulder. His beard would tickle my chest as I peeled off a layer of mesh to let him motorboat me. The dance was intense and when I was done, I was sure that the neutralizer wasn’t working. Just like the others, he got a kiss on the cheek before letting him up.

Despite my fear of being recognized, no one said a thing. Overall the group had a good time, tipping generously as I finished on the stage.

“Now, I hate to say it boys, but that’s all the time there is for us. Make sure to come back and see me Sug’s,” I said, winking at them. They had paid for almost 4 hours and my shift was nearly up, but I would have rather kept servicing them the rest of the night. Especially Helmut and Bucky.

I waved to them as they all got up and left, Howard leaving more tips under his empty glass as he held back. “How about one last lap dance? Hmm? I’ll make it worth your while,” he said. The man had been leaving hundreds all over the place in my room, Nick would understand if I spent an extra fifteen minutes getting the house tips that way.

“Sure, have a seat, darlin’,” I said with a smile, sliding from the stage to the floor. I pushed him back into the chair when he hadn’t sat just yet, earning a surprised look.

“So, out of curiosity, do you do parties?” He asked, looking up at me as I straddled him, holding onto the back of the chair as I moved my body to the music.

“Never been hired to do one out of the club. Usually we keep them in house,” I said, rolling my hips over his thighs.

“I see. So, if I wanted to book you specifically for an event, would I just ask the manager then?” He asked, his eyes roaming over my body. It wasn’t out of the norm for customers to do that as they talked with us, but it felt off with Howard. Like he was acting the part of a customer instead of being one.

“Yup, his name’s Nick. He’s at the bar right now probably, he’ll be the guy with the eye patch,” I said with a hum. “Why are you so curious how things work here? I heard you new people were from New York. You must have fancier clubs there than this nowhere town.”

“True, but there’s a certain charm to this place,” he said. “My mate seems to have taken a liking to the town, especially a certain Omega at a grocery store he’s been seeing.”

“Oh yeah? Good for your mate, though if you’re here and not at home, I’m not sure how good that is,” I said, feeling my heart pick up pace. What the hell was he doing? How did he figure it out without even seeing me at the store?

“Clint, my mate, says the sheriff here is kind of odd. I haven’t met him yet myself, but small towns always have those sort of secrets don���t they?”

“You’re in the middle of the midwest in a small town, Sug’. There’s secrets everywhere. Everyone wants to save face despite hating the people they wanna impress,” I said. This was Clint’s Howard? Did Clint know then? He added me on Facebook, but I rarely posted more than work stuff for the store and even then I had nothing to say that I worked at the club.

“What about you? Do you have any skeletons in your closet, Hazel?” He asked, whispering my name. I stiffened, standing up to glare down at him.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, but leave the money and go,” I said firmly.

“Look, I’m not trying to cause any trouble,” he said, holding up his hands.

“Uh huh,” I said. “I don’t care what you were thinking or doing, but your time is up and you should go. Now.”

“Look, Clint said some weird stuff about the sheriff and said you acted funny around him and when pressed about it. Why?” Howard asked, standing up as he pulled out a wad of bills.

“It’s entirely none of your business and honestly, stay away from the sheriff if you know what’s good for you,” I said, reaching out to snatch the money from him as he held it out.

“Well, I would, but he likes to make house calls and greet everyone,” he said. “I wouldn’t make a big deal out of it if it didn’t worry Clint and my pack, okay?”

“What do you mean, house calls?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

“The sheriff came by to see us, going almost door to door to introduce himself. Usually people don’t do that unless they’re trying to prove something or if they have something they want to stay hidden,” Howard said. “I was out when he came by, but enough of the pack was put off by it that it became a concern.”

“Just don’t put your nose in other people's business and you’ll be fine. Sheriff Walker just likes to make sure everyone knows he’s the one in charge,” I said.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Howard said with a sigh.

“How’d you know it was me anyways?” I asked as he turned to leave.

“Clint said you had a weird birthmark under your left ear, that it looked like a crescent moon. Also when I pulled up the website, he recognized you from a promotional picture,” he said, his eyes trailing over my face. “But it’s not a birthmark is it?”

“You better go before security thinks you’re holding me hostage,” I said, gathering all the money as well as the glasses onto a server’s plater. If Clint figured it out, did Bucky and Helmut? Fucking hell.

“I’ll see you around, Carrie,” he said, giving a small wave before leaving the room.

I watched him leave the room before exiting myself, going right to the dancers room. There I sorted the bills before giving the house mom a tip and paying the house a cut. Sitting down, I took a bit to catch my breath and grab a snack. Things that had been simple were suddenly getting so very complicated. I had my second job for nearly six months now and was doing fine with keeping that part of me a secret. Things were steady, kinda boring, but steady. I needed that to get on with my life. Maybe it was time to start saving up to move to a new place. Somewhere far from the small town that was eating me alive.

“Hey, Carrie,” Kira said, coming into the room. “Your weekly visitor is here.”

Another thing to just make the night crap.

“Thanks. Tell him I’ll be out in a minute, I’m just changing,” I said, giving up on the last half hour of my shift. Usually I would have worked the floor more, but he was early this week. As quickly as I could, I took off my costume and accessories before wiping myself down then changing into my usual clothes.

Walking out the door for the night, I had made sure to get the money ready beforehand, wanting to hand it off then leave.

“Hey Sweetheart,” a gravelly voice called from a picnic bench next to the back door. I looked over to see Brock sitting there with a stupid smile on his face as he smoke a cigarette. He was lit up by a lamppost that was supposed to give us a good range of vision. Most of the time it just made everything orange and looked like it was from a horror movie. With Brock waiting for me, it felt like one. “I didn’t cut your night short, did I?” He asked, standing up to his full 6 foot four height, to throw the butt of his smoke on the ground and grind it out with his boot. I put my shoulders back as I marched over to him, pushing the envelope of money into his stomach. With Brock I couldn’t show hesitation or weakness, the man was a predator that would go for the throat the moment it was shown.

“There’s your cut,” I said, turning to leave.

“Uh-uh, you know the rules,” Brock said, grabbing my elbow tightly. Growling, I moved back over to him as he counted the money.

“Can you hurry up?” I hissed, pulling my hoodie sleeves down over my hands as I shifted my feet in wait.

“Calm your ass. I’m just making sure,” he said, not even looking away from the bills. “Ah, see, this is why you wait. You’re $300 short.”

“That’s because John decided to stop by the grocery store this week and bother me,” I said. “Per our deal, if either of you interact with me beyond necessary needs, you get less money.”

“Not $300 worth,” he said, looking up at me.

“He was an ass and I’m in a mood, so just take it and go,” I sighed, adjusting my bag strap on my shoulder.

“Not how this works, Sweetheart,” he said, holding out his hand. “Fork over the other $300 and we’ll call it even. I’ll talk to John and remind him of our agreement. After that, if he still decides to be an idiot, then you can give less money, but not till then.”

“That’s not what you said,” I snarled. “I’m not paying you to sometimes stay away. So that’s what you’re getting and nothing more till next week.”

“I don’t know who you think you’re dealing with, but I can assure you that it’s not nice guy John who you can just sweet talk,” Brock said, grabbing my arm hard to jerk me close. “Now, either give me the money or I make things really hard for you at your regular job. You know, the one where everyone likes you enough to pity you instead of whispering about what you really are.”

“Let me go, Brock,” I growled, trying to pull away from him.

“See, this is making the price go up. Now we’re at $400 that you owe me. Wanna fight me some more and make it higher?” He asked, tightening his grip on me.

“Fine.” Pulling out my wallet from my bag, I grabbed the extra money for him. Waiting as he counted it out, he slipped it into the envelope with a smirk.

“See, was that so hard?” He asked with a chuckle.

“Fuck you, Brock,” I said, wanting to just go.

“Oh no, no, no,” he growled, his hand shooting out to grab my face and force me to look at him. “We are not going to start that attitude. Understand? I can remind you why you hate me so much if you really want me to. It’s no skin off my back to take you home and fuck that look off your face.”

“Let go,” I grunted, struggling as his grip tightened.

“Not until you promise to be a good girl,” he sneered. The music to the club was loud, making it impossible for anyone to hear me scream for help or even know there was something happening. The music also covered the sounds of footsteps approaching us as Brock easily lifted me onto the picnic table to pin me down, making me lose my bag as I held onto his arm to try and pry it off with a cry.

“Hey! Get off her!”

Brock’s tight grip on my face kept me facing him, hiding the people who were coming over to us. It didn’t stop me from struggling though.

“This isn’t your business, fuck off,” Brock snarled, making my hair stand on in. John was a bully, someone who could only get so rough before feeling bad. Brock was a fucking monster. Something I’d wished I’d known before being with him. Just the sound of his voice raised and angry had me trembling.

“That’s not how this works,” another voice said as they got closer. “Let her go now.”

“Or what? You’ll call the cops?” Brock scoffed.

“No, we’ll just kick the shit out of you.” That voice I knew, making my stomach roll. They should have all left by now, what were they doing still there?

“Brock just go,” I managed, hoping he wouldn’t do anything. “Just take the money and go. I’ll pay extra next time.”

“Damn right you will,” he grumbled as he let go of my face before backing up. “She’s all yours. A heads up though, she likes it when you bite her.” Brock chuckled as he walked away, probably planning something for next week. My stomach rolled at the thought.

Sitting up, I swallowed hard as I hopped up on shaky legs to grab my bag. I kept my face down as shame threatened to set it on fire with how hot it was. I was near tears as I picked up my bag, my hands so unsteady I almost had to drop my stuff.

“Are you okay?”

My hair only covered so much of my face, but the people had seen everything already. I wasn’t hidden anymore.

“Look, uh, just. . . It’s fine, okay? It was just a misunderstanding,” I said, seeing Helmut recognize me. “You guys should go.” There was a confusion of sorts as his brows furrowed together, but he didn’t say anything. Before anyone else could say anything, I started off towards my truck, hoping that I would be able to make it without tripping over my own feet.

“Wait,” Helmut called as he followed. “Please.”

“I’m leaving for the night. It’s fine, I promise,” I said, putting on a nice smile as I stopped. Everyone loved my smile at the club. They said it was warm and friendly with a little spice. “It was just a mix up, that’s it. Thank you for checking on me though.”

“At least let me walk you to your car. You look shaky,” he said, trying to be a gentleman. I wanted so badly to let him, to have someone who wanted to help me instead of use me, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do that to him when there was so much more that could hurt him and the others.

“I think your friends are waiting for you actually, but thanks,” I said, my eyes watering as I kept forcing my smile. The last thing I needed was anyone getting involved between me and my exes That would just make the mess even bigger. Worse, I liked Helmut and his friends. Him and Bucky specifically. I didn’t want them to get in trouble or tangled up in my stuff. They didn’t deserve that.

On the way home, I had to pull over to keep from driving off the road. My vision was cloudy from tears and I couldn’t breathe. Things had been so good for me and now shit was hitting that fan. Why me? I didn’t do anything wrong! I played by the rules and got nearly killed only to escape and think I can leave it all behind. Why can’t I just be free of this!? I screamed as I hit the steering wheel, so mad and hopeless that nothing else had work. About ten minutes later I had calmed down to a sniffle and was able to see properly. I put my truck into gear and drove home.

I pulled into my short driveway to see everything was still the same there at least. I trudged in to put things up before bed, almost not caring enough but knowing I would be pissed in the morning. As I flopped onto my mattress after changing into my pajamas, I got a text.

[Brock SMS:] You owe double next time for the trouble.

Fuck.

[bidean-byedean]

freedom is a length of rope and God wants you to hang yourself with it

you know what, I almost see it

the ouroboros 

it didn’t matter that they stopped Chuck, they could never get off script, it doesn’t work like that. Chuck is a lesser deity of creation, the real cosmic force behind it all is far too powerful to show its hand, to be caught out by the book it wrote. 

So, let’s set the scene:

Dean Winchester a traumatised kid blindly serving as a weapon in his Dad’s crusade at the expense of his own health and happiness and trying to be at peace with that. 

Sam Winchester the main character - so desperately wanting more but haunted by the things he cannot unknow, by the fact he can only have freedom by isolating himself from his family and his past. 

Castiel a piece on the celestial chessboard, created solely as a tactician in a meaningless, never-ending war, devoted to the cause no matter the cost.

For over a decade we watched them grapple with these identities, watched them suffer tragedy after tragedy as they tried to fit themselves into the bigger story. We watched them grow and learn and spill off the pages. It was fascinating and hopeful and heartbreaking.

It was ultimately pointless.

Castiel was the first to go: his sacrifice was calculated, it was a suicide bomb tucked up his sleeve for the crucial moment. Always happy to bleed for the Winchesters. He got to experience love, but it was never reciprocated (out loud) - because no matter what he does, God will not reciprocate. That’s how faith works. He had to be happy knowing that he felt love (for God, humanity, Dean), but it will not validate him back. It’s not in the having, it’s in the saying. He dies for the cause one last time. 

Dean is next. He knows his death to the letter: that he’ll die during a hunt, gun in hand, there’s nothing more for him, nothing better expected of him.  Dean’s arc is epic. He is a torturer in Hell, marked by Cain, a knight of Hell, Michael’s vessel... a weapon in every. single. instance. Giving himself up (literally) in every. single. instance. for the mission. But Dean is loving, he does all of it for love. Then Cas confesses. He uses his words to mobilise Dean one last time, a Captain until the end, to give Dean a reason to stay strong after Cas is gone because Cas knows it destroys Dean to lose him over and over. And it works! Dean Winchester is saved! He is not a killer. Until he is again. Dean dies trying to finish John’s unsolved case. Dean dies a quiet, meaningless death - scared and in pain - in the arms of his only remaining family: his baby brother. The traumatised child resurfaces in his final moments. Dean found love, he found purpose, he found value in his individual life, but it didn’t matter. He was written to be a weapon. Eventually he would blunt, as even the best knives do, and be no longer fit for purpose. He accepts his death. He accepts his empty Heaven. He accepts that he will never get to love the person he wants to. Because there was never anything more for him. 

Sam is last. The black sheep. The optimist. The cerebral one. He tried so many times to have more than the lonely hunter life, trapped in tragedy and self-destruction, but he was always doomed. Always doomed to be alone if he wanted peace. He knew too much. He’d seen too much. His entire found family had to die before he could escape the hunter’s life, and the grief marked every single second of his life. His sacrifice is the story (Swan Song anyone?) and he can never be separate from it; he is haunted until his dying breath. 

The Winchesters reunite in Heaven to complete the circle. They are the same people were saw in the pilot. After everything, we are presented with Sam and Dean reuniting after a separation that was necessary to establish their roles, and resume their storyline of not finding themselves together.

If you read the show as a soul-wrenching tragedy then 15x20 is the perfect ending. If you come to terms with the ouroboros finally catching it’s own tail and trapping Team Free Will in their pre-destined fates, doomed to desperately try to find the weak link and break free. But they don’t. They can't. 

I saw a post saying that you could just watch S1E1 and S15E20 and that would be the whole story. Nothing that  happened in-between made the damnest bit of difference. And if you think about the whole Chuck/Meta arc and S15 in particular, it’s almost genius. The writers came so close to Unfortunate Events-ing us. 

It could've been the greatest tragedy ever framed like this. 

It was the greatest tragedy ever told because it wasn't framed like this. 

[startwithbrooklyn]

THE GREAT ND REWATCH OF 2021 / SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 // the seancé

watched this while drinking and working my second job after my full time job (hence the drinking) when my supe called to tell me i didnt do enough work for them and could i start doing more because being tired after working an 8 hour day was just. unacceptable. (while i'm drinking during this ENTIRE call) anyway 🍸 i use nance/nancy interchangeably like luce/lucy

-"denial: smalltown USA's favorite pastime" 👌🏻👀

-the begrudging kiss + george w the coffee = lmfaooooooo awkss nance

-wonder who this FBI agent friend of owen's is since they never get to meet 😕

-"we just opened!" / "work ethic" how nancy views the claw/work is manifested in her constant lateness and skipping out. like she says "i never thought i'd be wearing this" its clear she has some of that upper middle class/white suburban bias against restaurant working that only becomes okay in the pretext of saving up for college. this is made ironic by ryan who jokes in s2 about having no money and working at a coffee shop, sharing nancy's opinion. also ironic is how a group of her coworkers "not my friends" at this same place she puts little appreciation into turn out to be her biggest support group

-carson & family dinners: seeing john sanders' texts w nancy and trying to keep up with what shes doing / makes you wonder how ryan would approach as a dad. judging by s2 he's less subtle than carson but possibly more effective for it (i have so many nancy&ryanthoughts but i'll wait till the reveal ep)

-steaks lmaooooooo what a white suburban dad thing to say

-"we are on the same side" / "why does it feel like we're on different teams" : laura/ace and nancy/nick mirrors (almost like some kinda men vs women showdown but these women do NOT trust these men...)

-why is the precinct "the least haunted building in horseshoe bay"? does lucy not haunt the police bc she knew karen was trying to get revenge/"justice" for her? or bc she doesnt want to haunt karen at all? and what of other ghosts? a police station seems like prime ghost material for officers of unsolved cases. is it chief mcginnis with his link to the supernatural keeping everything under control? if so, what happens when he leaves and tamura shows up? (based on the dress ep i cant remember if hes woke to the supernatural or not)

-"you would need an object lucy touched the night she died" nancy like -->😌it me

-okay. anybody who hugged lucy would HAVE to know she was pregnant?? like wtf

-LAURAAAA lmfaoooo

-UNPOPULAR OPINION: laura/nick - hatefuck - hes strong enough to top her with words AND hands - bringing out something tougher created by prison (like it rough/lose control) nick is presented to be so kind and almost always on top of his emotions but laura is def a canvas that can take a few hits. i can definitely see her being attracted to how much he doesnt really like her and wants to stop her from always getting her way. her pretentious ass motormouth is practically begging you to grab her by the arms and shake her to shut her up (and she would be begging you to shut her up too)(ik s2 nick/race talks/his mom ep would never ever do this to anyone but its a choice "what if" to me)

-this casting for teen candace to adult is on point

-so two days after lucy's death they pay him 50 grand from a shell company? he says it's for services rendered but then for what services? does everett know or suspect that the drews took lucys baby and pay them for taking care of an impertinence, including lucy, not really caring what really happened to her as long as shes no longer a threat to him? honestly could see a cover up. nance only does the reveal in her balmain tazer glory and we dont really get an honest reaction out of him iirc (the new actor they switched to shows wayyyyy less emotion than s1 guy) and he could easily fake surprise. obvs celia doesnt know bc s2 but whos surprised at that. i wonder what tipped her off that nancy could be ryans baby and prompted her to test. hmm. and payroll vs shell account. why would it have been paid differently. sus. 🤔🤔

-the irony of nancy picking at nick's story at the inn for karens deal + nancy straight up ignoring nicks proof w this transfer... like ep 1 "i'll tell you about my past if you tell me about yours" except...no, actually. "i'm just trying to solve this / it feels more like you're trying to solve me" its so true. and nancy really badgered nick into telling about his conviction but it was kinda payback for showing up at the claw and making her admit their "relationship" -like when george says "you need to be just as relentless", it was equal but nasty. like. nick never asked george for details about ryan that way. he even admits he doesnt wanna push her to ace after learning what not to do with nancy.

-this seance has nick so irritated w nancy lmfaooooo

-"half sister" so josh and patrices' last name is dodd- his grandpa must be a dodd also for the name of the shop. wonder why lucy's last name is sable, and where her dad is, and where josh's dad is as well- there's no mention of dads or stepdads anywhere for these two

-mcginnis knows theyre innocent / "work together" he knows they arent really suspects but he just wants to fuck with nancy. could be playful or just nancy's naivete. maybe he actually kinda missed her fucking around in his work and is trying to make up for the lost time when she withdrew from mysteries d/t her depression after kate

-nancy + knowing everybody else's secrets - nick's conviction, bess's family, george's affair, ace's deal w mcginnis and confronts them all in turn like nick and the secret phone, george from the meeting in the woods, bess from the passport/ring and acs's phone calls (they all somehow end up knowing all each other's secrets after a bit anyway)

-fuckin love Ted 😌🙏🏻💙

-when lucy grabs nancys hand i was just like "MOM!"

-if nancy had asked lucy if carson did it, she would have been spared the trial 👀🙃

-"even if you did, nothing was gonna stop you" true truuuuueeeee like. nick needs to be needed. nancy doesnt need him starting in episode 1. nick thinks that sex = relationship but nancy never saw it that way until she realized thats what nick wanted her to admit. "i wanna be with you / im trying" she is literally forcing herself to try and date him normally when thats honestly never what she wanted. and its nicks own fault here bc she never even wanted to be "official" but he forced that out of her too in front of coworkers no less. he set himself up to be disappointed

and lastly

-so carson stole the evidence, but what did he do with it? burn it like the dress?

[ardenttheories]

thank you so much for your davekat post 😭 I honestly have a lot of the same feelings about rosemary (pre-hs^2 bullshit). it feels like they just threw in the lgbt relationships and were like "!! everyone's okay and happy now! :D don't think too hard about it though ;)"

Honestly? I think that’s exactly it. You see it a lot in how Dave and Karkat are in the Epilogues, but they’re almost there, together, just for the benefit of other people? As if they no longer exist as individuals but as a unit - which isn’t inherently bad, of course, but you could swap Dave and Karkat around in dialogue and you’d have basically the same conversations.

They’re not their own people with their own thoughts and opinions. Even when you love someone, you often have something different to them. My boyfriend and I both love Buzzfeed Unsolved, but for different reasons (he loves learning how they did it and freaking himself out over the murder aspect, and I love trying to figure out how they got to the theories and what tools they used to try and catch the killer, if any). With Dave and Karkat, their writing comes down a lot to “well they like the same thing because they’re dating :)” with... no actual development on that. 

A lot of them being together also ruins their prior relationship in the dumbest way. Like, with the retcon? We lost so much of their personalities. Instead of Dave and Karkat being dicks to each other, Dave supplexing Karkat and them fighting over drawing dicks on a book, all we do is see them... sitting on a sofa. A lot. 

Which, again, isn’t inherently bad, but the first set of actions has more of their personality in them! You can still do that stuff when you’re in a relationship!! 

My boyfriend once accidentally made me cry because I freaked myself out over a video and it was so late at night that when he played the audio I Lost it. And you know what he did? He laughed! He couldn’t stop laughing even as he said, “oh, baby, I’m so sorry!” 

My boyfriend used to accidentally call me mom sometimes. You know what I did? I started yelling “excuse me??? Excuse me??? Do I LOOK that old to you???” through my laughter as he tried to embarrasedly shut me up. 

He calls my dad “daddy” because he thinks it’s funny. I tell his grandma that I love her more than him whenever she’s on the phone. We laugh at each other’s antics and we joke around a lot more because of it. Like, I can’t tell you the amount of times “oh, your dad’s on the phone? HEY DADDY! HEY!!! HEY DADDY I LOVE YOU!” has lead to the wildest conversations with my family, or how often “MEEMA!!! MEEMA I LOVE YOU MOST!!!!” has led to me and her poking fun at my boyfriend as he bemoans that everyone hates him. 

Like, you can love someone and still be dicks together. You can still love someone and muck about, have fun, make each other laugh. That’s actually an incredibly important part of being in love, I think - you have to enjoy their company and enjoy being yourself and having fun around them. You don’t just lose that when you’re in love. You don’t suddenly settle down, become demure, lose all of your individual personalities to be a unit that does... almost nothing together. 

And that’s what I see a lot in canon DaveKat. All of the scenes that made them unique, that made them feel like a real-life, three dimensional couple, is erased during their canonisation. They stand next to each other, yeah, and they talk, sure, but they don’t have a lot of the same antics as they used to - the things that make them who they were, especially together. 

We don’t always see them talk about the things that really matter, either, which you do with your partner. We don’t see them talk about anything that’s really bothering them at all - to the point that they break up in Candy, and just end up so fucking bland in Meat. Like. Yes, they kiss - that’s great! But aside from the “man they really want to kiss, huh?” tension that they have going on, they don’t actually feel like a couple. They don’t feel like people who have been in love for several years.

It’s, again, just really bad writing of a MLM couple. It’s like they didn’t know how to write them, so they just went the most bland and basic way they possibly could with it. Which is frustrating, because they wrote John and Terezi’s interactions perfectly fine in both Candy and Meat, with both of them still dicking around with each other and having fun, and having actual conversations together, so... why couldn’t they have done the same to Dave and Karkat?

You’re right, too. They did the same thing to RoseMary. How much of their initial interactions were based solely on them having fun together? Poking and prodding and showing care and affection as they slowly fell in love? It was beautiful to watch them over the duration of their conversations, as antagonisation became fun, as fun became care, as care became love. 

But then a lot of that silliness goes. They’re hit by the same demure flaw that Dave and Karkat are, but it’s objectively worse because Rose and Kanaya are canonically confirmed to be together for a significant amount of time prior to them actually seeing each other on the Meteor. So when they’re together and it sort of... fizzles on the romantic side? It’s so strange. 

I can honestly remember more of Rose’s exposition on random bullshit than I can on her feelings towards and conversations with or about Kanaya. Likewise with Kanaya about Rose. Which might just be a straight man underestimating how much gay people will talk about their partners, but I also think it’s the Heterosexual Writing that’s coming to the fore in a lot of places. Maybe Hussie did his best, but Hussie isn’t MLM or WLW, and it really shows. 

I personally prefer RoseMary a lot over DaveKat, because there’s genuinely more there to enjoy and to see your representation in, and it’s also one of the best early ‘10s LGBT+ relationships ever written - especially to be popularised on the scale it was. There’s a lot more that could have been done - in both ships - and I think seeing canonical representation done even better more recently (such as Rupphire) makes the hindsight on RoseMary a little bittersweet. 

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: The Little Things

It has truly been a long time since we've had a good old fashioned detective thriller. Films like Prisoners, Wind River and even Knives Out were among some of the best murder mystery and crime dramas of the past decade, even though they had their own special quirks. All of them were great, but none of them really scratched the same itch of the genre they were in. This film does that with a respect for the genre and takes us back to a time where the revelations of a clue or the payoff of finding the suspect wasn't as quick or satisfying. It took time and patience to nail the culprit and I loved that about this film. This film takes the classic atmospheric approach to the storytelling, but also goes a different route in the execution. Instead of having the killer have the spotlight and making it all about the chase, the story actually delves into the psychological stress and pain of the detectives. The haunting of cases going unsolved over a number of days or years and how you have your suspect, but you have to prove it while under a deadline. It's all there and it was refreshing to watch as not only a suspect is being sought after, but you find yourself searching for the answers behind the main detective. The main problem with this story is that there too many holes left open and it leads to a questionable and an unforeseen end.

Denzel Washington is nothing short of amazing and fascinating as Joe Deacon. Denzel does his best to bring to life the many quirks and pain behind Joe's eyes. Joe's anguish towards the unsolved case that has plagued him for years is truly realized and interesting to see as he revisits his old stomping grounds. Even though he had been away for so long, his detective brain never stopped working and it was fun to watch him work. His interactions with old colleagues slowly peels back the layers of his past and Denzel's excellent body language defines if they brought him joy or sorrow. His interactions with Flo Dunigan played by the wonderful Michael Hyatt, were probably my favorite moments. They were friends, but Michael’s excellent performance shows there is such a deeper connection. Rami Malek delivers a fantastic performance as Detective Jim Baxter and he nailed the character’s confidence and arrogance. He carries himself so well and in some moments, he is on the same level of intimidating as Denzel. You see his determination to solve the case take precedence, but it starts to become his downfall. Jared Leto is so good at playing the weird, creepy and unsettling characters but as Albert Sparma, he delivers a smarter and interesting performance. From the moment he arrives on screen, you are fascinated by him as he gives off a vibe similar to Kevin Spacey's Seven character John Doe. He always is one step ahead of everyone and you get the feeling that this isn't the first time the police have been interested in him. He was absolutely brilliant and the "cat and mouse" game between him and the two leads was great.

The score by Thomas Newman was outstanding and sometimes dreamlike. There is a particular interrogation scene that is punctuated by his score, but the sound design in the scene makes the tension palpable. The cinematography of the film was gorgeous and I loved that there weren't any flashy tricks being done. The subtle and sometimes blatant clues are spread throughout each shot and make you do a double take. Where I think the film will frustrate the audience is not only its divisive ending, but the shift of focus throughout the film. I won't spoil anything here, but upon reflection I realized the main focus of the film and how bold it was to go that direction. Overall, this was fantastic throwback to classic detective stories that don't pan out the way you think. Like another great crime drama, Gone Baby Gone, this film will be up for many debates. Let me know in the comments below if you liked the film or share the same thoughts. Thanks for reading!

[branwyn-says]

i just want to tell you that while i haven't read new sherlock fic in literal years and have no interest going back to that fandom or browsing the ao3 tag ever again, compatible damage is so important to me that i reread it regularly and if i ever got an e-mail notification saying you updated it, i'd drop everything immediately and check it out. this isn't meant to be a shitty please update ask though, i just want to say that i have a lot of feelings about that au and i appreciate your writing!!

You’re wonderful. I feel the same way about Sherlock fandom but sometimes I wish I could get back into that headspace just so I could finish The Silences, Here is how that story was going to go, if anyone cares: --The premise of the story was that it would mash up the basic plot of the Arthur Conan Doyle story The Abbey Grange (Holmes decides to let a naval officer off the hook for killing his friend’s abusive husband) and the Holmes backstory from The Adventure of the Gloria Scott (Holmes’ bff at college was a guy named Victor Trevor whose dog bit him on the ankle). --The same early 20th Sherlock Holmes pro fic (the Baring Gould book) that gave us William Sherlock Scott Holmes as his full name speculates that Mrs Hudson came into Holmes’s life via the Australian criminal named Hudson who blackmailed Victor Trevor’s father. --In my fic, “The Silences”, Victor Trevor and Mrs. Hudson have a close bond, because she was around his family when Victor was a kid and when her husband died it was good for both of them. He was abusive and Victor saw the ugliness and pain of all of that first hand. 

--Years later, after going into Ambiguous Spy Work following a naval career, Victor finds out that an old friend, Mary Foster, is now trying to escape an abusive marriage. He tries to help Mary get out, but when her husband finds out, Victor kills him, and the case is unsolvable by the police because Victor is MI6 and just that good. --...Yeah I am just now realizing that the plot of this story is basically John Reese’s back story from Person of Interest which explains a whole lot now I think about it. --Anyway, in the period between “I have to get Mary to safety” and “oops never mind, the abusive jackass is dead”, Victor writes to Mrs Hudson: “Do you happen to know if Sherlock is still alive because I would like to discuss A Situation with him.” Mrs Hudson gives Sherlock that letter, prompting Sherlock to reach out to Victor. --Victor has already committed the murder he wanted Sherlock’s help to avoid having to commit, so...he acts real cagey. But he’s a spy so, that tracks, and Sherlock is not that suspicious at first. --But Lestrade has been tasked to solve the murder of Sir Eustace Brackenstall because blah blah important dude unsolvable case, so he attempts to get Sherlock and Joanna in on it. Joanna is down. Sherlock is, “No, my one purpose in life is to tend to Joanna’s medical needs until she is fully recovered.” Joanna: Getting you out of the flat is a medical need that I have. On account of, you are suffocating me. Sherlock: That’s just the opiates I drugged you with talking. --This story was always meant to be the culmination of the <a href=“https://archiveofourown.org/series/13134”>Compatible Damage series</a> theme of “Joanna Watson has expert knowledge of how trauma and domestic violence cause people to behave in irrational ways that baffle Sherlock’s deductive logic” --Because Joanna is recovering from the serious injuries sustained in <a href=“https://archiveofourown.org/works/294574”>Let Sense Be Dumb</a>, she spends a lot of time chatting with Mrs. Hudson while Sherlock is investigating for Lestrade and getting reacquainted with Victor. Mrs. Hudson talks a little about her awful marriage (this was all plotted out long before there was any Mrs. Hudson back story in BBC canon) and thus, Joanna is very In That Headspace where she’s having trouble with the concept that healthy relationships can exist, especially heterosexual ones. (I am not sure if I ever made it clear but Sherlock and Joanna are both biromantic and slightly ace spectrum in my stories.) --Things are very tentative between Sherlock and Joanna. They’re both aware that they want intimacy with each other, of some kind, that they love each other, to the extent they understand what that means, but how the hell do they proceed? Joanna’s in bad shape, Sherlock is constantly anxious and overprotective and slightly smothering in his nursing duties, and is also terrible at nursing. Joanna is just tired of Other People and sometimes, Sherlock Specifically. --Mrs Hudson offers to cook a big dinner so they can have a small party and invite Victor and his new fiancee Mary over! This will end well. Actually, it goes great, and Victor is over the moon to meet Joanna and they bond over Sherlock’s baby pictures so to speak, and then Sherlock takes Victor aside for...idk, something, and Joanna and Mrs. Hudson and Mary all have an after dinner tipple and a chat... --...and by the time Victor and Mary are getting into a cab, Joanna knows for A Damn Fact that Mary’s previous relationship was abusive, and that Victor was trying way too hard to charm everyone. She doesn’t say anything to Sherlock because...it’s a friend! A Sherlock friend! She isn’t going to fuck that up! Please get Sherlock out of the flat, Victor, Joanna needs some space! But boy that was some suspicious body language and protective behavior she saw. --Lestrade is coming over a bunch, because he and Joanna are bros, and Sherlock is Unavailable For Detective Work Because Joanna is Hurt, so Lestrade gets Joanna to help him think shit over. So that’s how Joanna finds out that Mary Foster was Lady Brackenstall, until recently. 

--From the outside, there is no evidence of abuse in the Brackenstall’s marriage. Lestrade isn’t even looking at the wife as a suspect or a motive. The “gang of thieves in the area” thing from ACD canon is still his best lead.  --In the ACD story, Holmes stages a mock trial where he exonerates the naval officer, acting as judge, with Watson as the jury. He’s cleared and sent on his way to marry Mary and start a new life. Watson is not thrilled that Holmes is “taking the law into his own hands”, but as Holmes says, furiously, “I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies.”  --In this story, that decision is going to fall on Joanna. She is the only one who has figured out, or can figure out, that a) the murdered dude was beating his wife and that b) his wife had a close friend who was dangerous as hell and would do anything to keep her safe. Unless she makes that link for Lestrade, the case will just go unsolved. --And the thing is, she doesn’t even feel completely certain that Victor did the killing. The timing of the murder is off, for one. He would have had to show up at the Abbey Grange house and shoot Sir Eustace more less within an hour of getting back to England. It’s a really narrow time window, and it only creates a bare sliver of possibility, and she really wants to ignore it. --Except, then she and Sherlock have a moment. Joanna tells him that Mary’s husband was abusive, without drawing the connection to Lestrade’s murder investigation. Sherlock doesn’t put the pieces together until the next time he’s with Victor and Mary together. He thinks about what Joanna told him, and he sees how tender and protective Victor is toward Mary. It gives Sherlock a nasty turn, because 1) That is how he looks at Joanna, so does that mean that he and Joanna are supposed to be a couple like Victor and Mary are? and 2) He knows how he feels about the various people who have hurt Joanna, which is to say he wants very much to Kill Them All, and if Joanna got married to another person, and that person trapped her in the house and hurt her on a regular basis, then Sherlock would... well Sherlock would do what Victor undoubtedly did, and kill the fucker. --The resolution, as far as I had it planned out, was that Joanna confronts Mary (instead of Holmes confronting Captain Croker, as in the ACD story), Mary admits it, Joanna feels satisfied that the actual killing really was unavoidable self defense. She feels bad keeping it from Lestrade, but Mary and Victor are planning to leave the country and not return. So Joanna lets them go. --And then she tells Sherlock what happened, and what she did, and is prepared for it to be a Thing, except then Sherlock admits he made the same deduction at practically the same moment, and explains how he came to the conclusion, and they agree that after Victor gives them an all clear, they’ll give Lestrade enough information to close the case.

--And then Sherlock and Joanna awkwardly face down their big big emotions and it’s painful and weird but they smooch, and are a couple, and that is the end of the series.

[allhailthewicked]

Hi...How Y’all Doing...? It’s Time For Another Watcher Weekly Commentary

So I got a super nice message from an anon (i love you anon) saying that they enjoy this series thing so... I’m going to continue it just for them and for me. Anyway here’s the rundown for this shit show I watch a Watcher Weekly episode and write down my stream of consciousness commentary then I rate the episode (All the episodes deserve at least a 10 though). I include quotes and timestamps and most importantly ~my opinions~. It’s not that deep so let's get it started!!!

Previous Episode: WW #03            First Episode

WW #04: Weird Wonderful World Q+A

Right off the bat, we have Shane going “It’s January 29th and it’s time for Watcher Weekly” before he strikes a pose

GROUP POSE @0:07

@0:14- 0:20 we have a little Steven and Shane dual kick/ bonding moment that I guarantee no one has noticed (I just did and I LOVE IT)

*Goat Steven*- that’s all that’s the tweet

“facebook.com/watcherentertainment you can be our 60th like”-Steven Lim

OH! IT’S THE FIRST TIME WE SAW STEVEN BLUE HAIR

Blueberry Boy! 🥺

Baby-Faced Bergara!!!

Also, love that Mari doesn’t know that he shaved. Also, may I just go on a tangent about how much I absolutely love Mari. I feel like I have never specifically said it but I love her so so much. Anyway back to your regularly scheduled programming

@2:15 remember that time Shane forgot that there was a pen in his hair. me too

“This is the closest I have ever been to Steven”- Ryan Bergara 2020

I love how Shane skips over weird wonderful world talk to talk about Ryan and Steven playing b-ball together

I never thought I would hear Shane say the phrase “Run D on each other”

Then Ryan immediately going don’t say that 🤦‍♂️

I just want people to appreciate the little Steven spin @3:05

Ryan’s fall at @3:18 scared the shit out of me. He went down so fast. Like scary fast

Steven Dance = Salmon

I MISS HOMEMADE!!!!! 🥺🥺🥺 It was so sweet and wholesome and I love food

Which Would You Rather Have? Steven Lim tap-dancing selling cars or Steven Lim with a Nike logo tattooed on his head

This is so unrelated but have you guys seen that show How Far Is Tattoo Far on MTV. It is ridiculous. Sorry that was off-topic

Okay, so something that I want to say about this episode is that there is so many microexperssions and little jokes between Steven and Shane and Ryan and Shane, and like rewatching this episode really makes me appreciate the chemistry these boys have with each other. Like you can feel like it’s a genuine friendship. IDK I’m getting self-conscious about how much I’m commenting on this episode

@7:10 i- I- umm I- Steven just pulled out one of Ryan chin hairs and Shane is shouting in the background i-i’m just going to move on

TIL Steven’s hair is ~crunchy~ and Shane’s little yelp when he felt it

@7:36 a little Steven nuzzle

~HOMEMADE~: The only Watcher show that can bring laugh, cheers, and fears

@8:36-8:54 a little Ryan and Shane car bit

Also, Shane shouting “keep your eyes on the road” is triggering my fight or flight senses

“Swaggy Jagger I see you” sounds sooooo much like a John Mulaney bit

Oh, Ryan just said that okay I’m not going crazy

you know who I would want to meet *long dramatic pause* 

-Go watch the episode to find out who Steven would want to talk to at a séance- (Mainly because I can’t give Steven’s answer the justice it deserves)

Does Ryan eat human bone marrow? The history will remain UnSoLvEd

Me: What part of the human body tastes the best?

Steven & Ryan: The bone marrow 

Shane: The ASS

“Just to clarify we do not support eating human meat”- Steven Lim 2020

@12:34 We have not only a Steven Sting but also a sassy Steven sip, Shane having to get out of his seat and Ryan whispering un-fucking-believable 

Now onto ~✨PLANT TIME✨~  then the Watcher Boys almost killing their plant

Ryan is a PLANT MURDER!! Yo I cannot stan this type of behavior 😂😂

This is also the first time Shane has heard Ryan say that he’s sorry

I love petty arguments I live for spite

THE DIPLOCOCCUS is back and he has Lenny held hostage

oh... Lenny has betrayed Ryan

THEY’VE REACHED A 1000 PATRONS🎉🎉🎉

“Well I believe that when I’m dead I will cease to exist and become a mere echo of a human”- another inspiring quote from Mr. Shane Madej

also loved the echo on the word echo

Bazinga said, Steven

Ryan Logic: a guest host=ghost

you know I’m not even a little surprised at this point

STEVEN SNAPS!!!! *snap* *snap* *snap* *snip* *snap*

#SUBSCRIBETOWATCHER

Shane talking about Ryan mercilessly killing his plant “ I’m telling you he cackled like a witch”

AWW Ryan and Steven are two little peas in a pod!!!

“your arm is still on my shoulder” “BECAUSE YOU’RE FRIENDS!! why do you always have to point that out!”

@19:50-20:00 Ryan’s impression of Steven

Steven stopped Shane and Ryan’s secret handshake?!?! Yo I cannot stan this type of behavior 😂

Oh Shane designed the Watcher Launch Tee

@20:39-20:46 “Hi I’m Ryan Bergara and I’m going to the moon”

And finally @20:57 to basically the end we have a little Steven dance

So this was a long commentary. Great episode though! As I said before there were a lot of little microexpressions I had a hard time explaining. Then again I did unstan both Ryan and Steven in this episode, so I do have to take that into account. I’ll give this episode 34.78 dead plants out of 5 Swaggy Jaggers.

Next Episode: WW #05

[britishchick09]

sherlock s2 ep 1 livewatch

welcome to a new (cumber)batch of eps! i’m excited to see all the iconic moments in this one :D

i haven’t even played the dvd yet and it’s glorious :’)

ooh it starts with a ‘previously’!!!

JIM MOIARTY HIIII!!!! :D

moiarty is amazing (and this recap is so dramatic!)

OMG SHERLOCK NECK FRECKLE! :o

also seeing the old channel 8 logo in the corner is so cool! :D

HOLD UP why is bee gees playing

IS MOIARTY A BEE GEES FAN???

‘staying alive’ lol funny since he’s about to get shot :D

moiarty: “SAY THAT AGAIN!!!!!” say that again QUIETER MOIARTY GEEZ

and he just walks away!!!

shoe sherlock cool

sherlock 2 NOW

oh no it’s irene alder...

masterpiece INTRO YAAAASSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

me watching sherlock be like:

the masterpiece trust is just rich people cool

omg the viking river cruises spon is the same as today! :D

woah they’re playing a movie trailer! :o

it’s a british movie obviously and i’ve never heard of it OBVIOUSLY

the scottish host guy is talking and i love it :D

host: “his mind has more apps than an iphone” lol

“a series of his three most famous cases begins! are you ready?” HECK YEAH LET’S GOOOO!!!!!!

YAS the blog scene!

sherlock: “what are you typing?” john: “a blog... about us”

lady: “i think my husband is having an affair.” sherlock: “yes”

sherlock thinks cases are boring except

sherlock ‘cases don’t need titles’ holmes

WOAH SHERLOCK JUST TOLD A LITTLE GIRL THAT DEAD PEOPLE BURN :o

lestrade: “any ideas?” john: “eight so far” wowza :o

sherlock ‘don’t mention the unsolved cases’ holmes

glasseslock!!!!! :D

eyyyyyyyy ;D

people want pics of sherlock and john do johnlockers exist in this universe? :o

lol :D

irene is seductively putting her hand on lockie’s newspaper pic ewww :(

mrs. hudson hates the fridge

THUMBS IN THE FRIDGE FRIDGE THUMBS

mrs. hudson: “BOYS YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER ONE!!!’ *insert meme here*

ooh it spins into a flashback!

OMG JOHNLOCK VID CHAT!!!!

sherlock’s in the sheet! :o

*phone rings* sherlock: SHUT. UP!!!!” lol :D

john’s holding his laptop around lol :D

john: ‘there’s a mute button and i will use it” aka the 2020 president debates

woah some random guys are in lockie’s house and john needs a helicopter what’s up with that????

BUCKINGHAM PALACE YAAAASSS!!!!!!!

john looks under...

giggly!!!!!

♥

mycroft is the queen now

BOI LOCKIE’S LIKE ‘what for?’ TO PUT PANTS ON OMMGGGGGGG

john smol be like :o

guy: “mr holmes the younger”

LOCK BUTT LOCK BUTT NOOOOOOO

john be like o///o ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

o lockie’s’s in clothes again :/

mycroft doesn’t trust the secret service welcome to america

:(

i don’t like irene not because there’s apparently a thing between her and sherlock but because she’s a bit creepy!

THERE LIKE THAT!

sherlock: “photographs of whom?” ooh how fancy

sherlock: “laters!!” lol! :D

irene’s friend is named kate like channel 8 being called ‘kaet’! :D

fashionista! :o

yes this is ‘the right armor’ lockie

john: “you didn’t even change your clothes!” lol :D

sherlock: “go on punch me in the face” lol :D

watson: “i always hear ‘punch me in the face’ when you’re speaking in subtext” ...wut o_O

WORST BATTLE DRESS EVER NNNOPE IMMA HEAD OUT

are sherlock and irene being shipped because they were naked in the same up

irene: “i could cut myself slapping your face” louise belcher wants your number

bi john when he sees irene: o///o “...i’ve missed something haven’t i?”

sherlock isn’t affected by naked irene thus i headcanon him as aro/ace (or even demi/ace in john’s case like my own holmes character) thank you and good night

irene just sits her bare butt on the chair why

JOHN SISTER NANI???? :o

also this font is so basic WHY LOCKIE

irene: “somebody loves you” *glances at john* ok i like her a tad she gets it ;)

john: “put something on, please. like.. a napkin?” lol :D

irene’s like ‘why’ JUS LIKE SHERLOCK BUT I SHALL NOT SHIP THIS SHIP THE SHOW IS TRYING TO SHIP

also john giggles at naked sherlock and is like ‘plz no’ with naked irene (although i would be too that lady is OUT THERE)

ooh antiques roadshow! :D

also she’s dressed like lockie NO

irene: “brainy is the new sexy” plz no :(

she took her clothes off ‘to make an impression’ yep

WAIT  they were just outside now they’re back in wut???

irene was born in the 80s cool :D

WOAH why are there more guy with guns?

and *le gasp* AN AMERICAN????

DON’T SHOOT JOHN AMERICAN!!!

ooh what was the code? :o

EPIC SLOW MO FIGHT YOOOOOO

DANNNNG IRENE JUS GUN SMACKED A GUY

sherlock just flipped a phone LIKE A FLIP PHONE OHHHH

irene is number 1 sherlock fan besides john confirmed

at first i thought it was a fandom phrase but it’s not! :o

WHY DID IRENE JUST PUNCH SHERLOCK

SHE’S WHIPPING HIM????

this reminds me of a certain sw ship... :(

yeah i don’t ship them AT ALLLLLL NOW

the key code is irene’s measurements DOES SHE MEAN...

the camera’s spinning FLASHBACK???

woah are they in the case?? this could be sherlock’s mind palace!

irene: “you got that just from one look? definitely the new sexy” NONONONONOO

outside bed

awww sweet bby ;)

did john tuck him in?

CRAP it was ireneeeeee >:(

the way she says ‘hush now it’s ok...’ is like count olaf in the hostile hospital when he drugs violet :o

LOCKIE’S FIRST WORDS WHEN WAKING UP WHERE JOHN awwww :D

OMG DID JOHN REALLY TUCK HIM IN awwww!!!!!!! ♥

lestrade filmed loopy sherlock lol :D

john: “ahhh back to bed!” awww :)

sherlock: “iiii’m fine i’m absolutely fine!!!’ drugged sherlock is a treasure ♥

sherlock: ”why would i need you?” john: “no reason at all” :)

ew was that an irene phone moan gross

DID SHERLOCK CHANGE HIS TEXT NOTIF TO THAT???

mrs. hudson: “family is all we have in the end, mycroft holmes!” mycroft: “oh shut up, mrs. hudson!” john: “my-“ sherlock: “MYCROFT!!!!” lol :D

mrs. hudson: “it’s a bit rude that noise isn’t it?” indeed!!

sherlock: “you can follow her on twitter” TWITTER IN THE HOLMESVERSE????

sherlock: “there’s more! much more” but wait... THERE’S MORE!

LOCKIE VIOLIN!!!!! :D

THE CHRISTMAS THING WASN’T A FAN MANIP HOLY YAS!!!!!!!! :D

cool sweater john!!! :D

:D

molly: ‘having christmas drinkies then?” wallace wants walkies thank you very much

john: “she’s off the booze!” sherlock: “nnnope” john: “shut up sherlock” lol

john to sherlock: ‘take a day off” lockie doesn’t know the concept mr doc

DID SHERLOCK NAME MOLLY CRY???? :o

HE KISSED HER????

sherlock still has the irene moan after all this time WHY

finding irene on christmas coolio :D

molly: “how did sherlock recognize her by... without her face?” ;)

sherlock smoking bad >:(

WOAH IS IRENE DEAD?????

VIOLIN YAS!!!! :D

smiley smiley :)

awww sherlock plucked a bit :)

OH CRAP IRENE’S BACC

john: “you flirted with sherlock holmes? “someone jellyyyy ;)

OOHH THIS IS THE IRENE JOHNLOCK SCEEENE!!!!!!! :D

irene: “you jealous?” john: “we’re not a couple!” irene: “yes you are.” ;)

john: “i’m not actually gay” irene: “well i am” IRENE LESBIAN GOOD!!!!

irene: “look at us both” (or perhaps bi like john could be...?)

biiiiiig door creak

UGH american... >:(

someone comfort mrs. hudson!! :(

sherlock: “take away your boys. it makes up for too much stupid in the room” he’s surrounded by idiots...

OMG SHERLOCK PEPPER SPRAYYY

awww he’s comforting mrs. hudson :)

john comfort! ♥

the guy’s tied up like the foody moody in bob’s burgers cool :D

awww mrs. hudson’s in shock :(

sherlock: “mrs. hudson leaving baker street? england would fall!” awww! :D

john says ‘alive’ like an irish guy :D

OMG IT’S NEW YEAR!!!!

happy violin new year! :D

sherlock’s xraying a phone lol

john said ‘in your bedroom’ BUT IT’S HIS AND SHERLOCK’S

and irene’s! :o

sherlock: “who wants to kill you?” irene: “killers” lol :D

sherlock said ‘the strand’!!!! :D

irene looks better without lipstick :)

the code is ‘i am SHERlocked’ HOW DO THEY NOT KNOW???

random john middle name reveal lol :D

FOR BABY NAMES NOOOO

john’s is hamish and eugene’s (from tangled) is hoarace... it’s the weird h middle name club! :D

sesame street time :D

...what in the world did sherlock just spout

john said ‘flight double o 7′ JAMES BOND REFERENCE????

MYCROFT IS SAYING ‘BOND ERE IS GO’ yep that’s bond!!!

sherlock didn’t notice john was gone for 2 hours lol :D

ooh sherlock says ‘second world war’ instead of ‘world war two’ :o

NONONONONNONONONONNOOOOOOOOO

sherlock: “that’s not the end of the world, that’s mrs. hudson” lol :D

mycroft: “that’s the deceased, always late” hey yeah :o

WOAH HE JUST CALLED SHERLOCK NAIVE AND IRENE A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS :o

oh hey irene

irene: “jim moiarty sends his love” ha ha funny love :D

WAIT MOIARTY CALLS SHERLOCK A VIRGIN??? :o

THEY’RE HOLDING HANDS NOOOOO

bada bing BADA BOOM!!!!!!!!!

wowza it’s been 6 months since they met???

sherlock: “sorry about dinner” *leaves* yesss :)

i’m glad they didn’t kiss and just held hands that was nice to make johnlock dreams fly :)

OMG IRENE LEGIT DIED THIS TIME BY BEHEADING!!!!! :o

john told sherlock she was in amurica good :)

lockie wants her camera phone aww :(

way better than any hand holding irene and sherlock did! ♥

awww irene texted sherlock goodbye :(

ew the irene moan one last time...

sherlock laughed and called her ‘a woman... the woman’ awww :)

that was a bittersweet ending! :)

aaaand it’s over!

next time... ;)

that was a great season premiere!!! irene was kind of cool (i like how she and sherlock were just friends) and the mystery was engaging as always. and of course... it was nice finally hearing lockie’s violin!! here’s to next time! :D

[haledamage]

OC Questionnaire

I was tagged by @actualanxiousswampwitch and not so much tagged as challenged by @queen-scribbles​ :P 

I am tagging/challenging you both back if you have more OCs you want to talk about, plus anyone else who has an OC you want to talk about! really, I want to know about your muses, please share them with me <3

I decided to go with Lexi from Mind Blind because she’s currently my most vocal muse, as well as Ari because I realized I’ve never done one of these for her? not sure how that happened

Lexi Wiseman

GENERAL

name: Alexandria Jane Wiseman

alias(es): Lexi, Lex, Button, Cadet Wiseman

gender: cis female

age: 20

place of birth: Chicago, Illinois

spoken languages: English, sarcasm, probably some coding language? took Spanish and German in high school, but really only remembers how to count to ten and ask where the library is

sexual orientation: bi bi bi

occupation: student at Unity’s Aeon Academy

APPEARANCE

eye colour: hazel

hair colour: brown

height: 5′8”

scars: not any major ones? She scars really easy, so even little things like paper cuts leave a scar, but except for things like that and old scars from scraped knees and elbows as a kid, Lexi doesn’t really have any scars worth mentioning. (or as Lex would say, “my scars are all mental ;)”)

burns: not really many burn scars either. a small and perfectly circular one on the inside of her right ring finger (accidentally bumped into the lit end of a cigarette), a faded line on her right calf from grazing the exhaust pipe of a motorcycle, but that’s really it

overweight: No

underweight: No

FAVOURITE

colour: green, especially darker ones like hunter green or forest green

music genre: loves music, all kinds. most of the covers she does are older pop songs, the songs that have made it into the collective consciousness, but she will listen to or sing anything :)

movie genre: action. loves a superhero movie and not afraid to admit it.

tv show: don’t think she’s much of a tv person. more likely listens to podcasts or watches twitch streams/youtube shows. I feel like she’d be a big Buzzfeed Unsolved fan. occasionally enjoys a cooking competition show like Chopped or Iron Chef, something you can enjoy without having to commit to it. Watches them with Nick because his commentary is the best part.

pastime: music (plays guitar and piano/keyboard, and knows her way around a sampler/MIDI controller), video games (especially fps, co-op or team-based online games preferred)

food: anything Nick cooks, but especially cinnamon pumpkin cookies

drink: cherry coke, sweet iced tea, iced white mocha

book: she’s not a really big reader (not that she doesn’t enjoy it, she just has other ways she’d rather spend her time), but she’ll read just about anything on the occasion she has time to. adventure, romance, mystery, poetry, whatever. really enjoys sci-fi especially, and comic books!

HAVE THEY

passed university: she didn’t go to college per se, since Aeon isn’t technically a college so much as a very particular and multi-year job training course, but she took a few courses at the local community college. Computer programming, music theory, whatever struck her fancy. Probably found something weird that she’ll never need in real life just for the hell of it.

had sex: no

had sex in public: no

gotten pregnant: no

kissed a boy: yes

kissed a girl: yes

gotten tattoos: no, but she wants one. eventually. once she settles on a design

had a broken heart: sure, in lots of different ways. the situation with her mom could certainly be considered heart-breaking...

been in love: she would deny it if you asked her, but yes. Very yes.

stayed up for longer than 24 hours: sure, yeah, why not? sleep is overrated anyway

ARE THEY

a virgin: yes. look, when you live with your brother who is a mind-reader and you have literally no way to stop loudly projecting your thoughts, sex is a tricky and awkward situation. better to just avoid it until someone comes along that’s worth it.

a cuddler: yes, very much so. Maybe a little touch-starved, despite Nick and Sally’s efforts. Someone please give her a hug.

a kisser: sometimes

scared easily: startles easily, but doesn’t actually frighten easily

jealous easily: not really. envy, on the other hand...

trustworthy: yes, but she’ll be the first to tell you not to tell her any secrets. She can’t promise what people can hear from her thoughts

dominant: not really. Can be assertive, but prefers to kind of go with the flow

submissive: not really submissive either, though maybe leans more toward it than toward dominant

in love: with her brother’s best friend. Has been for years now, expects she will be for the foreseeable future. She accepts that she will spend her life pining from afar. It’s not like Gray could ever feel the same, right?

single: yep

RANDOM QUESTIONS

have they harmed themselves: nope

thought of suicide: I don’t think so

attempted suicide: no

Wanted to kill someone: no

rode a horse: nope

have / had a job: her situation makes it a little difficult to work normal jobs. I would imagine she makes money through patreon with her music, and she will eventually have a job at Unity as a MIV, once she finishes at Aeon

have any fears: loss of control (again), not being good enough, abandonment, rejection (specifically being rejected for things she can’t change; she’s fine if people don’t like her for her personality, some people just have bad taste)

FAMILY

sibling(s): older brother Nick, relationship status: besties against all odds

Parents: John and Hope Wiseman, relationship status: fucking complicated

children: none, she is baby

pets: none

---

Aurienne the Sparrow

GENERAL

name: Aurienne the Sparrow. She had a last name once, but she doesn’t remember it.

alias(es): Ari, Little Bird, The Sparrow Queen

gender: nonbinary female/demigirl

age: 23

place of birth: Andoran, she assumes. It’s the first place she remembers living, at the very least.

spoken languages: Common, Elvish, a little Celestial thanks to her sister

sexual orientation: bisexual

occupation: Queen of the Stolen Lands, somehow

APPEARANCE

eye colour: light gray

hair colour: black

height: 5′10”

scars: a thin but deep and ragged scar across her throat that she normally keeps covered by a scarf or choker or high collar; arrow puncture in her left shoulder; long line on her inner right thigh from a greatsword that almost cut her leg off entirely; a few other minor ones

burns: a few on her fingertips from accidents with her flaming crossbow

overweight: No

underweight: No

FAVOURITE

colour: gold

music genre: punk and all its subgenres :)

movie genre: she loves a musical, all musicals

tv show: dramas and monster of the week shows. wants a tv show that’ll make her cry

pastime: music (when she’s feeling confident enough to give it a try again, which is… a work in progress), reading, silly but harmless pranks. Loves to meditate a surprising amount, just sit in silent contemplation.

food: samosas, lemon macarons

drink: matcha latte with white chocolate syrup

book: has a deep and unending love of poetry

HAVE THEY

passed university: nope, didn’t go to school

had sex: yes

had sex in public: …...perhaps

gotten pregnant: nope

kissed a boy: yes

kissed a girl: yes

gotten tattoos: yes, seven sparrows down her spine. recently, the one on the back of her neck got a tiny little crown over its head :)

had a broken heart: yes

been in love: yes

stayed up for longer than 24 hours: yes, but rarely

ARE THEY

a virgin: nope

a cuddler: sort of? I think she wants to be, but is scared to let herself be vulnerable like that. Will happily cuddle with anyone who initiates, though

a kisser: not really, unless she’s in a mood

scared easily: yes, but hides it well

jealous easily: nope

trustworthy: very

dominant: not really. Prefers to let others take the reins (probably not the best trait for a queen, but as she is quick to tell people, being in charge was never her idea)

submissive: most of the time. Probably a big part of why she and Tristian took so long to get together...

in love: yes, with a literal angel

single: she’s not sure??? like, they haven’t really made anything official yet, but no one would ever look at the two of them together and not think they’re a couple. they should probably have a talk about that soon

RANDOM QUESTIONS

have they harmed themselves: no

thought of suicide: yes

attempted suicide: no

Wanted to kill someone: yes

rode a horse: yes

have / had a job: former mercenary/adventurer, former baroness, currently queen of the Stolen Lands? She’s still not entirely sure how that happened

have any fears: helplessness, losing those she loves, being silenced (again)

FAMILY

sibling(s): twin sister, Auriel the Dove

parents: both deceased (I should probably name them at some point…)

children: none. Maybe someday...

pets: an owlcat named Headchomper, a red panda named Ember, an orange tabby cat named Tiger, a giant black wolf named Baron who is technically her sister’s animal companion and also technically her nephew

[sansaurora9904]

Chapter II

Seonghwa has experienced so many things through 11 centuries of his life, or simply if you want 1130 years.

He lived through so many wars it's impossible to count them all.

But he never changed. He stayed the same.

Born in 900, during Parhae Dynasty, Seonghwa was the first born son of Park Jiyeon and Park Hyunwoo.

The next heir if you will.

5 years later, in 905, his younger sister, Park Soomin, was born.

The difference between the two is quite obvious. You wouldn't didn't they're related.

Seonghwa is tall, standing 178 cm with broad shoulders, very well built body, blond hair, blue eyes and pale skin.

His sister, however, stands at 170 cm with slim body, tiny waist, long straight white hair, blue eyes and pale skin.

You could easily mistaken them as twins as they do have similar features.

Over the years they have seen people they cherished die, disappear even.

But the two always stuck together no matter what.

Though the centuries they've built their own clan, or coven if you will, and a family.

On November 1st 1210, during the time king John of England began imprisoning Jews, Seonghwa and Soomin met San.

San was 3 months, 3 weeks and 1 day old at that time, the poor boy left out on the open with his parents no where in sight. Despite being a human, and a baby too, Soomin took him in and raised him with Seonghwa.

As San grew older, the boy began to realize that the Parks weren't his biologically parents so a 18 year old San sat them down and told them to explain everything.

Seonghwa and Soomin decided that day that San will know everything, from their birth to them being vampires. They excepted the younger to be afraid, to yell or scream at them for being monsters but San surprised them.

He was calm and patient, letting them explain everything. He sat in front of them quietly, legs crossed as he thought of what he should do. Eventually after a few minutes San made his decision. He was going to stay, with the people who raised him and opened his eyes to the world.

During August 31 and November 9 1888, the time serial killer Jack The Ripper murdered five victims — Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddows and Mary Jane Kelly — Choi Jongho was born on October 12 1888.

The boy was taken in custody by San, who claimed he and his wife (who didn't exist) wanted to have children but couldn't because she was infertile. San took him to the Parks where the young boy was placed in a safe place and heavy protection. While Soomin and San took care of Jongho, Seonghwa was helping inspectors Frederick Abberline, Henry Moore and Walter Answers and Scotland Yard to solve the murders of Jack The Ripper.

They were however unsuccessfull. The murder was never found and the murders were left unsolved.

When Jongho grew into a adult the three sat him down and explained everything to him. The younger was a bit terrified but accepted anyway because these people were the ones who took care of him and raised him.

During August 1915 the Battle of Chunuk Bair happened, it was a World War I battle fought between the Ottoman defenders and troops of the British Empire. During that time Song Mingi was born on August 9. The newborn was saved by Jongho who fled through the battle to keep him out of the war. Jongho took him to Soomin, who made sure he was healthy and had no scratches for wounds.

When Mingi was 2 years old, Jongho lost control. He bit the poor boy, sucking venom into his blood as he drank from him but he was soon removed from the 2 year old. San held him back in his arms as Soomin checked over Mingi, the boy terrified as his parental figure bit him.

Jongho's (undead) heart sank that day, guilt suffocating him as the boy he saved avoided him. Seonghwa told him it's okay, that Mingi doesn't hate him, that he's just confused and terrified. Jongho accepted the oldest vampires words and stayed away from Mingi, however he still kept a eye on the boy just in case.

As Mingi grew older it was time for him to accept what happened and fully turn into a vampire. Seonghwa sat him down and explained everything to him. It took him a while but he accepted and was eventually turned into one. Once he was stable and had more control the first thing he did was confront Jongho.

The older vampire was surprised as the youngest of 5 of them hugged him tightly in a bear hug. Jongho accepted the hug, fully smiling as Mingi forgave him.

"I understand how you felt back then. You weren't a newborn back than but I know you had your reasons." Was what Mingi said.

"I know and I'm sorry." Jongho apologized. Mingi just smiled and patted his head gently, flicking his forehead and walking away with a "See you later shortie."

The 5 of them eventually expanded their clan/coven all over the world, each one of them holding power on 5 continents (Antarctica wasn't counted for obvious reasons).

Seonghwa held high power in Eurasia (Europe and Asia), Soomin in North and South America, San in Australia and Jongho and Mingi in Africa.

In the main cities; Seoul (South Korea), Paris (France), Washington, D.C. (United States), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Sydney (Australia) and Algiers (Algeria) rules are set for the relationships between vampires and humans.

As the years and centuries passed by the technology increased rapidly. In the current year — 2030 — technology developed so much that humans extinct with androids existing in rich countries only.

As vampires have been discovered so have been werewolfs. These werewolfs however are able to shift between a animal large like a four legged dog or a two legged human. The moon does not affect them.

The only thing that has not been discovered is their ranks, something both species are thankful for.

In the early morning of Monday Seonghwa and Soomin head out to meet the Alpha of the Moonlight Pack Kim Namjoon and his Omega mate Kim Seokjin with their pups Hoseok and Jungkook.

"Well today's gonna be a great day." Soomin says, dressed in a black outfit that exposed her skin rather greatly, the clans symbol — a white rose with a red spot right in the middle — fully shown on her beautiful and perfect pale, doll-like skin. Her pure white hair was left down, completely covering the right side of her perfectly sculpted face.

Her older brother, Seonghwa, was dressed in black as well. His elegant and classy grey jacket was placed over a black button up with some of his chest exposed, his black and white tie with different patterns was tied in a knot and placed over the black button up. His black pants were with a loose material and matched with shiny black shoes. His neatly combined ash-blond hair was swept on his right side of his face covering half of his almond-shaped, hooded, mesmerizing crystal blue eyes.

"It appears so dear sister."

"You won't quit being formal will you?"

"No."

Soomin chuckles and shakes her head. After a few minutes of silence the younger female reaches out and holds her older brothers hand, the male giving her hand a light but gentle squeeze.

Soomin lets him and follows him inside the spacious mansion owned by the Kims. She and Seonghwa walked into the living room where the Kims were waiting. Once inside they shake hands with the Alpha, his Luna and their sons. As they sat down on separate couches Soomin observes the family of four.

Kim Namjoon was a tall, short blue haired Alpha male with broad shoulders and body shaped like a true Alpha. His Omega, Seokjin, looked like a true beauty that everywhere wanted with a soft feminine look and purple hair.

Their sons, Hoseok and Jungkook looked like twins. Hoseok was smaller with a small soft feminine look with brownish hair, kind eyes and heart shaped lips. Jungkook was taller and broader with a more masculine look, with bright red hair and bunny like appearance.

Soomin snaps out of her trance and looks at Seonghwa, the older male looking at her in concern. She knew what he was thinking so she lifts her hand up and gently places it on his cheek, tracing a small 'o' on the skin. Seonghwa understood her message and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, his lips resting there as he hugs his younger sister.

"Namjoon expressed that the treaty will be completed tomorrow morning." Seonghwa says quietly knowing enough that she heard him. Soomin nods a little and Seonghwa barely lets her go, grabbing her hand and leading her back to their home.

Within a minute the two vampires arrive and walk in comfortably, immediately knowing where to go. Once in the living room the two give forehead kisses to the three pouty vampires.

Soomin chuckles and sits down on San's lap, the black/white-haired male comfortably wrapping his arms around her waist and letting her snuggle into his chest.

Soomin yawns a few times and snuggles closer, eyes closing as sleep takes over her. San gently lifts her up and carries her upstairs to her room, he walks in and closes the door with his foot. He lays down on the bed pulling her on top and keeping her close.

The older female snuggled closer into his chest, snoring a little. San knew that vampires like Seonghwa and Soomin didn't need sleep but they slept anyway because their mind wanted to.

A knock on the door makes San open his eyes, he raises his head up and looks towards the door."Come in." Seonghwa's ash-blond hair pops in the doorway, the older male smiling gently.

"Everything alright?"

San looks at him and nods."Mhm, she's just sleeping." Seonghwa nods, exiting out of the room and closing the door.

San rests his head on the fluffy white pillow and closes his eyes, sleep overtaking him. He doesn't need sleep either but a few hours of napping wouldn't hurt.

Within the next few days the five vampires set out to help a neighboring pack from Namjoon's pack. The five wear their regular black outfits with black cloaks.

Soomin looks around the pack. Alphas, Betas, Deltas, Gammas and Omegas are everywhere, talking, laughing, running around with no care.

"Well this pack is quite lovely." Jongho comments.

Soomin snorts."Makes me wonder how the Alpha and Luna look like."

Seonghwa chuckles at their antics and ruffles his hair a little."Soomin and I will head inside to speak with the Alpha and his mate, the rest of you can walk around and talk to some of them."

"Yeah and learn something while you're at it." Soomin adds. The trio nod and walk away from the Park siblings.

Seonghwa walks inside the pack house, Soomin following behind him as they look around  the pack.

A tall male approaches them, his necklace indicating that he's an Beta.

"Madame Park, Sir Park, the Alpha is waiting for you in his study room."

With a nod from the two siblings the tall Beta leads them to the study room where his Alpha is waiting. The male knocks on the door, waits a few seconds and walks in.

"Alpha, Madame Park and Sir Park have arrived."

"Let them in." A new voice speaks.

The Beta nods and turns around, walking out and bowing. He moves aside and lets them walk in. Once in the door behind them is closed.

"Ah, the famous Park siblings."

Seonghwa chuckles and shakes his head."You are underestimating us Hongjoong."

Soomin raises her eyebrows in confusion. They know each other? How?

A beat later another person walks in, this time a female, her  resemblance similar to Hongjoong's.

"Where were you?"

"Outside." She replies.

"Seonghwa, Soomin," Hongjoong gets up from his chair and walks around to the front of his desk, lips twisting into a soft smile."This is my younger sister Byeol."

The red-head smiles at them and waves shyly at them."Hello, I'm Byeol."

"I didn't know you had a sister." Seonghwa says.

"She was on other continent, doing her duties. Plus it never crossed my mind." Hongjoong replies.

While the two converse the two females stare at each other. Soomin notices how Byeol's eyes flickered, her body tensing a little.

"Byeol, would you mind showing Soomin around? I have to speak with Seonghwa." The younger Kim nods and walks out, the older Park following her and closing the door behind her.

"So a sister huh?"

Hongjoong shrugs his shoulders."You never asked and I didn't bother to say it." Seonghwa walks over to him and hovers over him, his face inches from Hongjoong's.

"Stubborn aren't you, Love?" Hongjoong twitches a little from the vampires mesmerizing gaze and nods.

"I think we can change that." Seonghwa pulls him closer and lays him down on his desk, standing in between his legs as Hongjoong wraps them around his waist. Seonghwa leaves soft kisses over his neck, tongue licking the skin between each kiss.

The younger male squirms under him, desperate for friction so he lifts his hips up and presses them against Seonghwa's, the older lets our a quiet moan in his ears and grips his hips tightly."We don't have enough time Joong."

"I know you can make it. Plus I know your clan enough to know they can take care of themselves."

"That is where you are correct Love." Seonghwa picks him up in his arms and speed walks to Hongjoong's room which was connected to the study room. He locks all of the doors and gets back on the bed where the younger is waiting for him.

Hongjoong moves his hips against nothing, moans escaping his pretty pink lips. Seonghwa gets on the bed and begins to take off their clothes, leaving kisses on Hongjoong's skin. Once the clothes are off Hongjoong pulls Seonghwa on top of him, capturing his lips into a heated kiss. Seonghwa lets him and moans softly, kissing back fiercely as he makes love to the male under him.

"Seonghwa-!"

Seonghwa moans as the male under him squeezes around his length, the warm and tight walls of Hongjoong sending him into bliss. Said male bares his neck for him in submission, pretty neck decorated in purples and blues.

"Hongjoong I-"

"You can — agh fuck baby — come in me."

A few more thrusts into the younger male under him and Seonghwa comes, leaning down and sinking his fangs in his pretty neck, he pulls him impossibly closer and sinks his fangs in deeper, drinking his lover's blood and officially transferring his Royal blood in him and marking him as his.

When a Royal blood marks his fated the clans symbol will appear on their neck next to bite mark.

"Seonghwa,"

"Hongjoong."

Seonghwa pulls away and leans down again, capturing Hongjoong's lips into a sweet kiss. The younger returns the kiss and licks his bottom lip slowly pulling out a soft moan from Seonghwa who playfully glares at him.

Hongjoong laughs softly and lets the male tickle him, giggles escaping his lips as his lover tickles him.

"Okay, okay." Seonghwa chuckles and stops tickling him, gently rubbing his sides and kissing his forehead softly."All good my Love?" Hongjoong nods and Seonghwa smiles, laying down on his side and pulling his lover close to his chest, gently kissing the top of his head.

Hongjoong snuggles closer and rests his head on his chest, softly tracing random patterns on the pale, doll-like skin. Despite Seonghwa's body being colder than his Hongjoong finds comfort in it.

He lets out a small yawn and snuggles impossibly closer, eyes closing and falling asleep.  Seonghwa smiles softly at his lover and pulls the blanket over them, the black-haired almost purring at the sudden warmness surrounding him.

Seonghwa rests his head on the pillow and closes his eyes, gently running his fingers through Hongjoong's black locks.

He's really the luckiest man on planet.

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