#why does no one care for Carson. why

[carsonfatboobs]

I’m making myself feel sick by getting sad about Carson

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

Something I've noticed about Carson, which is fundamental to his character, is that he can handle being threatened and facing consequences on himself for his own defiance and actions, but as soon as others will or do pay for his resistance, he will fold to guarantee their safety

[honeypiehotchner]

The Gambit (Hotch x Fem!Reader) -- part sixteen

Y'all. I swore this fic wasn't going to be novel-length, but *gestures to the current WC in progress* I fear I've done it again. There's still so much to happen, so it's likely that this will be another 30ish chapter fic😭 That being said, we've reached our turning point for these two...maybe things will start looking up soon 👀

Warnings: angst :( the truth comes out :(

You wake to a missed call from Penelope and an ache in your bones. The day comes back to you in fits and starts: speaking to Richard Monroe again, arguing with Hotch again, the car chase, the hospital— Hotch knows the truth.

A wave of nausea overtakes you when you remember. Hotch knows. Hotch knows and not because you told him, but because he went behind your back.

God, and he probably told the entire team, so now they all know, and they probably hate you for keeping it a secret from them.

Your phone buzzes again with a text and you pick it up, seeing that it’s just Pen asking if you’d like some company for dinner. Just you, her, and some Chinese takeout.

You tell her Of course because you’ll never turn down time with Pen, especially not including food. And because…maybe this will be good. Hotch said he looked at your file, and there’s only one person capable of pulling it and unsealing it for him.

You can’t be mad at Pen, though. Not ever. Because Hotch is her superior just like he is yours, so you can’t blame her for doing what she was told. You just wonder if she read it and kept it a secret, or if she didn’t glance at it at all.

Pen answers that question for you the second she gets to your apartment with the food. As soon as everything is set out on the coffee table in your living room, she blurts it all out.

“I didn’t read your file,” she starts to ramble. “And for the record, I told Hotch that what he was doing was stupid and a betrayal of your trust and that I didn’t agree with it at all. I gave him your file because he asked and he’s my boss, but I made sure to give him a piece of my mind when I did. You don’t just go around digging into people’s pasts like that! He should’ve just asked you! And now he’s got the whole team on high alert being all cryptic and—”

“Pen. Pen, slow down.”

She does, pausing to suck in a deep breath. She takes both of your hands in hers. “I just wanted you to know I’d never do that to you.”

You smile softly, squeezing her hands. “I know.”

“And that if you need anything, anything at all, I don’t care what it is, I’m here,” she continues. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you assure her. “A little sore, but I’m okay.”

“No, I mean,” she pauses, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “Are you in any kind of trouble?”

Your eyebrows furrow. “What makes you say that?” Did Hotch seriously spill your secret?

“Hotch had me bring out everything from the last few cases, and dig up everything on Richard Monroe. I know you were speaking to him because he kept asking for you, and Hotch sounded really worried, but he wouldn’t tell any of us what this is all about, so I’m just…I’m scared.”

You frown. “Don’t be scared, Pen, I’m okay.” You pause, wondering if you should let her in. It seems like Hotch hasn’t told anyone, so only he and Rossi are in the know on why he’d want Garcia to dig all of this stuff up. And if he asked for everything from the last few cases, his suspicions might be the same as yours. “You really didn’t look at my file when you unsealed it?”

She shakes her head vigorously. “I didn’t. Shut my eyes and everything. You should’ve seen the sticky note I put on it— I don’t even remember what I wrote but I know it was scathing. I kind of hoped it would make Hotch have second thoughts about digging through your past like that.”

Oh, Penelope. “Well,” you let out a strained laugh, “I appreciate that. He— Pen, what I had sealed was about my biological father.”

She stares at you, eyes wide and expectant.

“My father is The Strangler,” you say, searching her eyes for any recognition. “Carson Adkins. My mom had her and my last name changed back to her maiden name when I was fourteen, and she moved us all the way to Washington to escape from all that he had done. We started over then, and I thought I’d never have to deal with any of it again, but working at the FBI, obviously I had to disclose any other names I had for a background check, and, well…”

“Oh,” Pen breathes. “Oh my god.”

You nod. “Strauss agreed to let me seal that portion of my file since it was twenty years ago now, and my father is dead, so it’s not like any of it is truly relevant — or so I thought, I guess.”

“Wait, but if he’s dead, then…”

You know what she’s asking, and you don’t have an answer. “I know. And I have no idea. I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Okay,” she exhales, squeezing your hands again. “We’ll figure it out. I’ll…I’ll turn over every piece of information that I have to, I’ll hack into anything, I’ll—”

“Pen,” you laugh, pulling her toward you to wrap your arms around her in a hug. “Thank you.”

She holds you tight. “Thank you for telling me.”

You shrug as you pull away. “Figured it was time, I guess.”

She shakes her head. “It’s yours to tell, so whenever you were ready would’ve been the perfect time.”

You smile sadly. “I was getting ready, I was going to talk to Hotch about it soon. But then Richard brought it up, and…” You sigh. “It all went downhill from there.”

Pen frowns. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine,” you deflect, starting to feel that you’ve had enough of talking about this. “What should we watch while we eat?”

Pen takes the bait with ease, immediately launching into an eager retelling of some movie she just heard of that she has to show you. It’s a welcome distraction.

+++

You return to the BAU the next day with your head held high, arriving much earlier than usual on purpose. You’d rather be settled in when the rest of the team arrives than walking in with their eyes all glued to you.

It works in your favor, except for the fact that Rossi is already there and stirring his coffee when you walk through the doors.

“Back already?” he muses, but you can see the concern in his face.

“Yep,” you nod, setting your stuff down on your desk. “Why are you here so early?”

He raises an eyebrow. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“Well, don’t,” you huff. “Move over.”

You grab a mug from the cabinet, pouring the coffee nearly to the brim. You can feel Rossi watching you, but he doesn’t say anything.

You decide to beat him to it. “Yes, I’m fine, no broken bones, no concussion, just badly bruised and got some scrapes everywhere,” you gesture to your arms and your forehead. “I’m fine.”

“Glad to hear it,” Rossi replies, still watching you with a certain look you can’t place.

You sip the coffee, watching him just as intensely. “So,” you pause. “How much did Hotch spill yesterday while I wasn’t here?”

“He didn’t say anything.”

“Sure,” you scoff. “Did he tell you what he did? How long he’s known?”

Rossi looks down at his own coffee. Guilty. 

“Of course he did,” you roll your eyes, turning to head back to your desk. You pause halfway, spinning back around. “Why didn’t you tell me he knew?”

“I wanted him to tell you that himself,” Rossi replies. “Because he was out of line doing what he did, and I’ve told him that. He should’ve asked you, and believe me, I’ve told him what he should’ve done.”

You pause, gripping your mug. “Right.”

“I knew you would be upset,” Rossi says. “And you have every right to be.”

“Thank you,” you say, startled by his validation. “He didn’t tell the team?”

“No,” Rossi shakes his head. “He told everyone to go home early.”

You furrow your eyebrows. “But—” The words die in your throat when you see Hotch come through the glass doors, pausing just inside when he spots you here so early, coffee already in hand.

“Agent L/N,” Hotch says, shock all over his face.

“Hotch,” you reply with a curt nod. 

He doesn’t bother with anything else, walking past you to head up to his office in silence. You watch him go.

You hate this. The silence between you two, the clipped words, the averted eyes. You’re used to the heat, the arguing, the glares. You don’t know why, but you want that back. 

But you’re tired. You’re so tired of this. Keeping this secret from the team, hiding behind a new name, pretending like there’s nothing deeper underneath the anger you and Hotch share.

Your feet move before you know what they’re doing, and you’re standing in Hotch’s office before you realize it.

Hotch freezes where he’s standing behind his desk, unpacking his briefcase. He stands up straight, waiting for you to break the silence.

“I’m going to tell the team the truth today,” you say firmly. “Garcia and I had dinner last night, and she told me you had her bring up everything from the last few cases. Do you think they’re connected?”

Hotch hesitates, choosing his words carefully. “Do you?”

Your fingers tighten around the mug as you nod slowly. “Yes.”

“For how long?”

“Since we found the body outside the elementary school,” you murmur, focusing on the spine of a random book on Hotch’s shelf. “That’s where my dad— where Adkins usually dumped bodies.” You pause, swallowing thickly and dragging your eyes back to Hotch’s. “I thought I was just on edge from Richard somehow recognizing me, and that I was forcing connections that weren’t there, so I pushed it down. But after yesterday…” I’m scared. Don’t make me say it. But I’m terrified.

Hotch nods slowly, looking down at his desk for a moment. “Alright. When everyone gets here, we can meet in the conference room.”

“Okay,” you reply. You turn to leave, pausing in the doorway when Hotch calls out your name. You don’t turn to look at him.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “I should’ve let you come to me.”

You shake your head as you leave, heading back down to your desk.

Slowly, the team begins to trickle in. Reid first, nose shoved in a book like always. JJ and Prentiss next, coffees in hand. Garcia and Morgan next, coffees also in hand, except there’s a third one with your name on it that Derek hands off to you. You take it easily, having already finished the mug you filled earlier.

Once you take stock of everyone being here, you nod toward the conference room. “Let’s head up. I’ve got something I need to talk to you guys about.”

Morgan’s eyebrows furrow immediately. “Oh…‘kay.”

You head up the stairs, passing by Hotch’s office to knock softly. He’s on the phone. “Everyone’s here.”

Hotch nods once. “I’ll call you back.” He hangs up and follows you. 

Rossi peers out of his office, following behind Hotch as you all file into the conference room. 

You don’t bother sitting down, standing up front by the screen, though nothing is on it, and there won’t be. At least not for now. Everyone sits around the table, eyes expectantly watching you, Derek most of all. So Hotch must’ve hinted at something, but not given anything away.

This feels like a reverse intervention. You push past that feeling.

You purposefully don’t look at Hotch as you begin speaking, though you do glance at Rossi.

“Well,” you pause, adjusting your grip on the takeaway coffee cup. “I haven’t been exactly honest with you all, but not out of any malicious intent. I didn’t think this was relevant, but the past few weeks have started to convince me otherwise. So.” You take a deep breath. “My real surname is Adkins. My father was Carson Adkins, The Strangler.”

Silence echoes all around you in the conference room.

You clear your throat, moving forward, because unfortunately, that isn’t the biggest bomb you have to drop on them. “I believe the last few cases we’ve gone on have been connected somehow. Lila’s kidnapping mirrored mine almost exactly, down to her father turning himself in to help find her. Richard Monroe somehow recognized me — that I still don’t understand, but after what happened yesterday when we finished speaking to him, I believe he’s connected to the unsub we’re looking for.”

“Um, what unsub are we looking for?” Reid pipes up.

“The one who left us the note,” you answer. “Gambit. I’d find it hard to believe if it wasn’t him who chased Hotch and I in the car yesterday, given that the car he drove was a victim’s from the last case. He had to know somehow that we were leaving the prison, he had to get her car somehow. The way he disposed of the bodies was almost exactly the same as my father, not to mention strangling them.”

“So this guy’s a copycat?” Morgan asks.

“Not exactly,” Reid says.

“It’s almost like he’s doing a Greatest Hits tour,” Prentiss says.

“But why?” JJ asks.

“He’s playing a game,” Hotch says. “He’s taunting us.”

“Or taunting me,” you add. “And I don’t know why. Maybe he knew my dad, I don’t know. But it’s getting out of hand, and…” You pause, looking around at everyone, even daring to glance at Hotch. “I need your help.”

“Whatever you need,” Prentiss says.

“We’ve got you,” Morgan says firmly. “What do you need?”

“That’s the problem,” you laugh shakily. “I don’t know. I don’t know who we’re looking for, I don’t know why he’s coming after me twenty years later, I don’t know anything.” 

“Then we’ll figure it out together,” Morgan says. “Where do we start?”

You’re at a loss for words again.

Thankfully, Garcia fills the silence for you. “I’ve pulled everything from the other cases, and everything on Richard Monroe. I’ll send it to all of you.” She starts gathering her things.

“Dig up anything you can on Carson Adkins,” you add. “Nothing is too small. And I’ll fill in the blanks with what I can remember.”

Garcia nods slowly, squeezing your shoulder as she passes by you.

Rossi pulls the empty chair next to him out for you, gesturing for you to sit. You take it, your legs shaking, and not from the coffee.

“I’m proud of you, kiddo,” Rossi murmurs, giving you a fond look. 

“Thanks,” you sigh. You look up at everyone around the table, their eyes all watching you with mixes of sympathy, sadness, pity, and whatever else. “Alright guys. I’m an open book, so. What do you wanna know?”

JJ leans forward onto her elbows. “Are you okay?”

You nod, though you’re not so sure of your answer. “Yeah, I just— I really wanna find this guy.”

“We will,” Rossi says quietly. “Why don’t we start with the conversation with Richard? What did he say to you?”

You see Hotch tense, just barely. Probably imperceptibly to the rest of the team, but you see the change — the clench of his jaw, the way he goes as still as a statue.

“Nothing important, seriously,” you say. “He wasted our time for most of it, but then he said I know who’s doing this, just that I don’t want to admit it to myself.” You pause, looking around the table. “But I don’t know who’s doing this. Richard thinks it’s someone who was close with my dad, but I don’t know anyone who was.”

You’re careful not to mention Richard’s taunting about Hotch being your guard dog and all the implications that comes with. Or that the car chase involved you sitting in Hotch’s lap. Which you still haven’t forgotten about, and will be bringing up to him one day — in private at least.

“Is there someone we can ask?” JJ asks tentatively. “Someone who knew your dad?”

You shake your head. “My mom passed away last year,” you answer. “And I don’t have contact with any of his family. They didn’t like that my mom moved us away and changed our name.”

Silence coats the room.

“If he had friends, I didn’t know about them,” you continue. “Mom and I never really talked about him once we moved away.”

“I’ll have Garcia look into it,” Hotch says. Then, almost regretfully, he adds, “Unfortunately, this won’t be the only thing on our plate today. Use of Force Reports are due again soon, and Strauss doesn’t want any delays this time. So, while we wait for some information to come in, I need you all to work on those, please.”

Everyone nods, standing from their chairs to return to their desks to tackle the paperwork. The sooner those reports get done, the sooner all their attention can be devoted to figuring this gambit out.

As you’re about to walk around Hotch to leave, he stops you with the briefest of touches on your arm. Barely there, you’re almost unsure of if he actually touched you.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he says quietly. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to make this easier for you.”

You nod slowly, despite knowing there is absolutely nothing he can do — or anyone, for that matter — to make this any easier. “Thank you,” you say anyway. “I appreciate it.”

He nods once and leaves you alone, returning to his office. As you pass by, you hear him returning the phone call he was on earlier.

He leaves his door and blinds open, clearly sending the same message in his actions as he did with his words. If there’s anything I can do.

You’re not sure what to do with that.

[artemlegere]

Sappho Playing the Lyre

Artist: Léopold Burthe (French, 1823–1860)

Date: 1849

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Carcassonne, Carcassonne, France

Sappho

Called the Tenth Muse by Plato, Sappho was a prolific poet of ancient Greece. She innovated the form of poetry through her first-person narration (instead of writing from the vantage point of the gods) and by refining the lyric meter. The details of Sappho’s life have been obscured by legend and mythology, and the best source of information is the Suidas, a Greek lexicon compiled in the 10th century.

Sappho was born on Lesbos to a noble family. She lived most of her life in the city of Mytilene, with the exception of her family’s brief exile in Sicily shortly after 600 B.C.E. She married a wealthy man in Mytilene, and they had a daughter names Cleis. Sappho also headed a thiasos, or an academy of unmarried women. As was the custom at the time, wealthy families sent their daughters to live at these schools where they were taught proper social graces, composition, singing, and poetry recitation. Much of Sappho’s poetry was composed in this community, and she used many of her students as subjects.

Perhaps Sappho’s most famous work is her “Ode to Aphrodite”:

Deathless Aphrodite of the spangled mind, child of Zeus, who twists lures, I beg you do not break with hard pains, O lady, my heart

but come here if ever before you caught my voice far off and listening left your father’s golden house and came,

yoking your car. And fine birds brought you, quick sparrows over the black earth whipping their wings down the sky through midair -

they arrive. But you, O blessed one, smiled in your deathless face and asked what (now again) I have suffered and why (now again) I am calling out

and what I want to happen most of all in my crazy heart. Whom should I persuade (now again) to lead you back into her love? Who, O Sappho, is wronging you?

For if she flees, soon she will pursue. If she refuses gifts, rather will she give them. If she does not love, soon she will love even unwilling.

Come to me now: loose me from hard care and all my heart longs to accomplish, accomplish. You be my ally.

(Carson, If Not, Winter, 2–5)

[alltimecharlo]

Requesting protective Mack when a new teammate treats Will poorly/is mean to Will. I'm a sucker for the protective dynamics!

writing this made me so 🥺🥺 thank you for the prompt anon!! fic under the cut :)

The first time Mack hears it, he thinks he’s misheard.

It’s after morning skate, a regular day at the rink, except there’s a new guy. Trades happen. Roster spots shuffle. No one bats an eye anymore. The new guy’s name is Carson, just up from another team’s AHL affiliate, and he’s all eager eyes and a jawline sharp enough to cut glass. Will’s been kind to him from the jump, introducing him around, looping him into drills, offering little notes and praise when he picks something up quickly.

It’s just what Will does. He makes people feel welcome. Makes the team feel like home.

Which is why it jars so badly when Mack overhears Carson’s low voice across the locker room, biting and clipped and smug.

“Yeah, I get it,” Carson says, towel slung loose around his shoulders. “Celebrini’s the captain, the golden boy. And Smith’s like—his plus-one or something? Feels like he’s been riding that line his whole career.”

There’s a laugh from one of the rookies who doesn’t know any better. It grates.

Mack stills in place.

Will’s back is turned, shoving his gear into his bag, but Mack can see the subtle hitch in his shoulders. Just a second’s pause. Enough to know he heard it too.

Mack doesn’t say anything right away. Doesn’t blow up. He just walks over, calm as anything, and claps a heavy hand on Carson’s shoulder.

“Walk with me,” he says. It’s not a request.

Carson stares for a beat too long. Then gets up.

Mack doesn’t say a word until they’re out of the locker room, down the hall toward the trainers’ corridor. Then he turns.

“Do you know who got the OT winner in Game 6 last year?” he asks.

Carson blinks. “Uh—Smith, I think?”

“You think,” Mack echoes, nodding slowly. “You know who’s top five in points this season? Who logs more minutes than half our D core? Who keeps the locker room from chewing each other’s heads off after every loss?”

Carson looks increasingly wary. “…Smith?”

Mack steps in, just close enough that Carson gets the message.

“You ever say something like that again, and I won’t be this polite. Will’s my partner. On the ice and off it. If you’ve got a problem with him, then you’ve got a problem with me.”

There’s a pause.

Mack crosses his arms. “You understand?”

Carson’s mouth opens. Then shuts. He nods, quick. “Yeah. Yes. Sorry.”

“Good.”

Mack turns and walks back down the hall, blood still thrumming in his ears.

He finds Will outside the locker room, leaning against the wall, arms folded. There’s a furrow between his brows.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Will says.

“I did.”

Will sighs, pushes off the wall. “He’s just some kid. Doesn’t know the dynamic.”

Mack rolls his eyes. “Then he can learn real quick.”

Will bites back a smile. “You’re such a caveman.”

“Yeah? You like it.”

“I do,” Will admits, and curls a hand into the front of Mack’s hoodie. “I really do.”

Mack leans in, presses a kiss to Will’s temple, lets it linger.

“Let ‘em talk,” Will says, quieter. “As long as you’ve got my back, I don’t care.”

Mack smiles. “Always. You’re not second to anyone. Especially not to me.”

Will’s eyes crinkle. “Even though I can’t win a faceoff to save my life?”

“You’ve got other talents,” Mack says.

“Like what?”

Mack just grins. “I’ll let you show me when we get home.”

♡

[cantstoptheimagines]

Their Reaction to You Losing an Eye

Summary — Preferences for Atreus, Kratos, and Thor from God of War!

Requested by @nickeverdeen — Hey there! Can I please ask for hcs with either God Of War or Horizon Zero Dawn characters with a reader who lost their eye and is insecure about it? If for God Of War then pls hcs with: Kratos, Atreus (older or young is up to you) If Horizon Zero Dawn then pls hcs with: Aloy, Talanah (you don’t have to do Talanah if you don’t wanna) Also pls let me know if you’re uncomfortable with the request Take time and care about yourself ❤️

Warnings & Other Tags ➳ Depictions, discussions, and mentions of severe injuries (losing an eye, fainting as a result of pain); canon-typical violence; envisioned Ragnarök!Atreus for this work; I tossed Thor into this request because he’s my husband.

Notes ➳ Word Count is 433. ➳ Reader is gender neutral (they/them). ➳ I recently met T.C. Carson, who was the original voice for Kratos in the God of War series, after which I ran to write this request (even though it’s intended for Christopher Judge’s version)!

FAQ | Masterlist | Fandoms | Requests | Coming Soon | Schedule 

atreus

in all honesty, he wouldn’t quite know how to act. his emotions would be all over the place, tears streaming down his face as his father and freya tried to help you. the coverings on your face are soaked in your own blood. “don’t leave,” muttered atreus. he finds himself kneeling by your side as he pleads with you, one of your weak hands held tightly in both of his, “please don’t go.” but his newly discovered godly abilities are still out of sorts. his sadness quickly shifts to anger at those who caused you harm. his wrath is unlike anything the world has ever seen. he won’t stop until you, his dearest companion, is properly avenged, so don’t be surprised if he returns with your attacker’s head.

kratos

this man does not hesitate. in mere seconds, kratos is lifting you into his arms and calling out for someone, anyone, who can help. he avoids looking at the blood that decorates the place where your eye should be. “i lost faye,” he mutters. “i won’t let you go as well. stay awake!” everything is a blur. whatever vision you have left is slowly turning to gray as a sudden wave of tiredness overtakes your body. the pain of it all is settling deep into your bones. as kratos’s muffled voice calls out for you in a panicked tone, you allow unconsciousness to take over, and the world finally fades into darkness.

thor

he breathes heavily, staring down at heimdall with such rage that the golden-eyed god realized he was experiencing fear for possibly the first time in his life. a gentle touch on his arm, however, tears thor’s focus away from his father’s devotee. his eyes drop to the deep scar on your face — a new habit he’d developed recently — before they drifted to meet your lone eye. heimdall scurries away at the same time thor’s fingertips graze your cheek.  “why do you keep me from tearing him apart?” whispered thor. “he needs to be punished for what he’s done to you.” a sharp inhale came from him when your touch caressed his strong chest, exactly where his heart lay beneath his skin. he was quick to let his rough palm overlap your gentle hand. “heimdall is a fool,” you replied in the same quiet tone he had been using. “why waste your days threatening him when you could be with me instead? his punishment will come when the time is right.” he was only convinced when you pressed a kiss to the back of his hand. perhaps, for now, he could set revenge aside.

[madridnoora]

౨ৎ ⋆｡˚ Forbidden - A Quick Glance - part two

Third instalment of Forbidden au.

part one here ౨ৎ ⋆｡˚

Summary: A restless Joe can't help but take a quick glance at Daisy's instagram

everything’s better in texas - Austin, Texas Liked by jjettas2 and 385 others.

@.cassdaviess: not true.

@.carsonford: represent!

-> @.daisyymoore: always n forever tx.

May 27th 2019

Joe looks at the comment. The one that stands out like a saw thumb. who the fuck was carson ford? He clicks on the profile but it's private. The profile image is blurry and hard to make out. Maybe he was just a friend from back home. Joe didn't care, it was the curiosity which was killing him.

He dives deeper into Daisy's profile.

lol.

219 likes

@.cassdaviess: boys suck.

→ @.daisyymoore: so much.

April 27th 2019

One picture, and she looked rough. Somehow still good, but like she had been crying for hours and hours on end. From the photo, the caption and Cassie's comment, it doesn't take Joe long to realise that this was the break up. Justin had mentioned it briefly when he further explained how he had got to know Cassie and Daisy after they met for the first time. That eliminated Carson from Joe's list of suspects, if he was commenting after this post there was no way he was her ex.

Once more he scrolled.

A new year full of some things new and some things old. - Baton Rouge, Louisiana 412 likes

@.cassdaviess: am i new or old?

-> @.daisyymoore: lightly used

@.mileslucasford: new year, same old us!

-> @.daisyymoore: always us <3

@.carsonford: happy new year!

-> @.daisyymoore: happy new year sonny!

@.kayleighrivers: we miss you in tx dukes.

load more comments

January 1st 2019

Joe stops in his tracks when he reaches the last photo of her new year dump. There is a guy. There in a cramped photo booth together. His eyes dart to the comments as tries to piece together the information in front of him. Miles Lucas Ford. That's her ex. He assumes the other ford is his brother or his cousin or some relation. He clicks on Miles' @, again private account and the profile picture is of him in a ski mask, a vape cloud puffing from his mouth. classic frat boy. He slides to the last picture once again. The guy was nothing special. Tall with dark hair. Daisy really got heartbroken by this guy huh.

The name Miles sticks with Joe as he scrolls to the last post on her page. He doesn't know why it sticks but it does, like he's heard it somewhere before. A strange familiarity that he can't quite shake.

hook em’

778 likes

@.mileslucasford: atta girl. 

November 9th 2018

Joe sits up in his bed.

'hook em?' he says audibly with a horrified disgust.

Miss 'I hate football' at a Texas longhorns game, in a Texas longhorns jersey. The same girl who forced him to turn off the game the other night because she couldn't stand to watch it. That's the girl in the picture.

He couldn't understand it. and her ex commenting.

There was this weird feeling in his gut. This all meant something but he didn't know what. It was like he had found some random pieces to a puzzle but couldn't make out what it was. He couldn't make them fit together.

Joe's 'quick glance' at Daisy's instagram had left him with more questions than answers. and he was now more awake than he had been before.

He clicked follow. If they were going to be acquaintances with benefits the least he could do was follow her, and that way he would just DM her when he needed to.

Speaking of DM's, Joe's phone buzzed with a notification.

@.aliciaharrolds: you want me to come round ;)

A blonde sorority girl he lad slept with once before. One he had been messaging before he looked through Daisy's instagram.

fuck it. Joe needed to tire himself out if he had any chance of getting to sleep tonight and Alicia was the perfect late night workout.

a/n - heyyy! working on the next big instalment for this au and hoping to get it out by the end of the week! in the meantime feel free to send me any asks about joe and daisy or this au in general ౨ৎ ⋆｡˚

[too-pretty-for-this-mess]

☆ Kayden X Gareth—

The classroom was draped in gold, the late afternoon sun spilling through the tall windows, gilding the wooden desks and the faint dust in the air. The sound of scribbling pens and the occasional rustle of pages was the only thing filling the silence—except for the weight of Kayden’s gaze.

His students were working. He was meant to be grading papers, returning them, carrying out his duties with the practiced ease of an instructor who demanded excellence.

But his eyes were elsewhere.

Gareth.

Seated by the window, bathed in light, hair golden and unruly, the tips catching the sun’s fire. His green eyes flickered over the pages of a book, a worn copy of Kahlil Gibran’s collected poems, thumb absently stroking the paper’s edge. His brows were drawn together in thought, and his lips—parted slightly, lost in quiet contemplation—seemed to murmur the words before they settled in his mind.

Kayden knew those annotations well. He had traced them before, let his fingers skim over Gareth’s thoughts as if they were scripture.

"For love is sufficient unto love."

Gareth’s familiar script lined the margin beside it, half neat, half hurried:

Then why does it ache?

"And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."

A faint mark beside this one—one Kayden had seen before but never addressed. Gareth’s pen had pressed harder here, as if etching meaning into the page.

Next to it, smaller writing:

So what happens when love is known too soon?

His notes lined the margins—some written in hurried strokes, others delicate and careful, like they held pieces of him within them.

Gareth was oblivious to the world around him, lost in ink and poetry, unbothered by the silent war waging across the room.

But Kayden noticed the shift immediately.

A presence.

A gaze that did not belong.

His expression did not change, but his spine straightened. He turned his attention slightly, following the pull of his instincts, and found the culprit.

Elliot Wade.

The boy was staring.

Not glancing. Not observing.

Watching.

Kayden’s grip on the stack of papers tightened—just slightly, just enough to crinkle the edges. His fingers pressed against the pages, anchoring them in place.

Elliot’s gaze dragged over Gareth’s form—lingering like a thief’s hand over locked treasure, greedy and far too bold.

Kayden smiled.

It was slow, patient, and meant nothing good.

Gareth remained unaware. Still annotating. Still utterly lost in his own world.

But Kayden moved.

When Elliot finally stood, walking toward the front of the class to retrieve his graded paper, Kayden was already there, waiting behind his desk like a predator waiting for its prey to make a mistake.

Elliot reached out.

Kayden’s fingers remained firm, unmoving.

The air between them shifted, silent and heavy.

Elliot hesitated, eyes flicking up in confusion—only to meet Kayden’s gaze.

The moment their eyes locked, something cold, absolute, and terrifying settled into the silence.

Kayden smiled again—smaller this time, sharper.

And then, in a voice too soft to be overheard, he murmured,

"Eyes. Fucking. Off of Carson."

Elliot froze.

A beat of silence.

"You think I wouldn’t notice?" Kayden murmured, voice smooth—almost amused, almost deadly. "Do you think I don’t know every single time someone so much as breathes in his direction?"

Elliot swallowed.

"You are mistaken, Wade." Kayden’s voice dipped into something lower, something dangerous. "If I ever catch your gaze where it does not belong again, I will personally ensure you never have the ability to look at anyone properly again."

A heartbeat.

Another.

Kayden let go of the paper.

Elliot snatched it up with shaking hands, stepping back, his face pale, his pulse visible in his throat. He gave a sharp, jerking nod before turning too quickly, nearly stumbling in his rush to return to his seat.

Kayden exhaled, rolling his shoulders once, letting the tension bleed out of him.

And then—

Green eyes.

He turned his head just in time to meet Gareth’s gaze.

Gareth was looking at him now, head tilted slightly, brows raised in curiosity.

Unlike Elliot, he wasn’t afraid.

No, Gareth was intrigued.

The silence stretched between them, a private conversation spoken through the weight of a stare. Kayden could see the unspoken words flickering behind those green eyes, the slow realization that whatever just happened was because of him.

But Gareth, clever, intuitive Gareth, said nothing.

Instead, his lips curved—just slightly, just enough that his dimples made the faintest of appearances before he returned to his book.

Kayden chuckled under his breath.

Little Monster .

He should leave it at that. Should let Gareth focus, should continue the lesson, should pretend as though his world didn’t orbit one person in this entire room.

But instead, he reached for a blank paper.

Wrote something.

Folded it.

And walked straight to Gareth’s desk.

He set the paper down over Kahlil Gibran’s pages, tapping it once with his index finger.

Gareth blinked, a flicker of amusement in those green eyes now.

"Professor?" he murmured, voice light with mischief.

Kayden smirked. "Read it later."

And then he was gone, returning to his desk as though nothing had happened.

Gareth waited a full ten seconds before unfolding the note.

Kayden’s handwriting, elegant and deliberate, stared back at him.

"If love finds you lost in ink and poetry, let it know that I am jealous of every word that graces your fingertips.

For I would rather be the pages you mark, the verses you underline, the book you hold against your chest in sleep."

Gareth’s breath caught. His fingers curled around the edges of the note, his pulse suddenly so loud in his ears.

Slowly—carefully—he lifted his gaze again.

And from across the room, Kayden was already watching—waiting, knowing, owning that moment before Gareth could even process it.

♡♡♡

I’ve been working on this for days—sweating, crying, and probably losing brain cells in the process. But you know what? Worth it. Because I live for soft, fluffy moments, and if you don’t—congratulations, you have no heart.

And as for Kayden and Gareth? Oh, please. They’re my entire personality, my lifeline, my reason for breathing. If they don’t make it, I don’t make it. Simple math.

So, until March 20th, I’m going full unhinged mode with more batshit crazy posts. Buckle up, besties—it’s about to get wild. (Pray for my sanity. Or don’t. Too late anyway.)

[murmiss]

Headcanons about Yandere Simulator!COD.

Simon "Ghost" Riley

Warning: mention of suicide, mention of alcohol, drugs, mental problems, possibly traumatic moments, etc. My personal vision of the character. OOC?

I think he's perfect for the role of Yandere.

His childhood was disgustingly shitty, and you can't blame him for that.

Born into a dysfunctional family, Simon was doomed to a hard life from childhood. His father was a drunk, a bloody alcoholic who prided himself on being able to drink for weeks and stay on his feet. A dirty man, with filthy and sadistic tendencies taken out on those closest to him. A freak who broke everyone he knew, trampling on his own son, turning the poor child into an unwilling broken doll.

Simon remembered those lonely nights in the old shed next to the house, cluttered with trash and rusty tools, like it was yesterday. The cold wind blew through the cracks between the boards, leaving goosebumps on Simon's skin and forcing him to pull his legs tighter together, curling up in a ball to keep warm. A night in the old barn was Mr. Riley's favorite punishment, a man crashing home after another rave binge to find out his son had gotten an F in school? Late for first period? Or maybe spent his pocket money on some silly comic book? - no matter what, Simon will fly instantly to the Locked Shed. No matter what happened, Simon was always drawn to his older brother, who, unfortunately, wasn't as good as his younger brother would have liked. Tommy was a jerk, that bad boy in high school who publicly cursed the teacher, broke the toilet faucet, and did stupid things. But the dumbest thing in Tommy's life was drugs - this jerk decided to prove once again to everyone that he was cool, not realizing that very soon this addiction would consume him, like everyone else who once got addicted. And Simon hovered between two fires, like a child dreaming of a normal family, like a son who had never seen his father smile and never heard praise. And the mother? Mrs. Riley-a dandelion of God, withering rapidly in her husband's dirty hands. She was a beautiful woman, the only person in that family who cared about Simon, and he loved her immensely, and still does. Mrs. Riley died when Simon was 14. It was a cold Sunday morning when a loud gunshot rang out, waking Simon from his sleep. Feeling an animal fear, he rushed to the sound, recognizing a sight that forever shattered his poor mind. On September 6, Mrs. Riley shot herself in the temple.Haunted by her husband's nightmares and torture, she couldn't take any more of this abusive behavior, couldn't watch her firstborn wither under drugs, couldn't see Simon hurt.But her act didn't make it better, hell, that kind of thing never makes anything better. After that day, Simon withdrew more than ever. Hitting his father was nothing, hunger was nothing, being forced to kiss a poisonous snake was a challenge.

Simon grew up, and with it grew his hatred and repressed aggression towards his father.One day in a club Simon watched his father attack a poor girl. She simply refused to spend the night with him and the drunkard, not confused, began to beat her as if he were a wrestler in the ring Simon could not do anything, just as he could not save his mother, stop his father's beatings or convince Tommy that drugs are evil. And he didn't understand why his father wasn't in jail. They'd find the girl, but when they did, no one would really care what happened. The freak always gets away with it.

After the death of his mother, Simon was forced to work part-time at the local machine shop. Old man Carson was happy to help the neighbor boy, so he took him into his shop as an assistant without any questions or demands. Yes, and Simon was a handy and understanding guy.

Simon started out washing cars, and after working like that for half a year, he was promoted to Carson's apprentice: the old man explained and taught the boy mechanics, letting him stay up late reading books about cars.

The old man was able to replace Simon's father, teaching the teenager simple things necessary for basic survival. For example, Simon, at 16, learned how to fix some appliances and how to use tools. But Mrs. Carson had already taught Simon cooking, laundry, and household chores, and he, as a bright boy, grasped everything on the fly. Simon noticed Mr. and Mrs. Carson had a son, which they never had, for unfortunately Paula Carson was barren.

Simon lived as a two-family household, mostly spending his days at his mentor's house, but when his father began to rage and throw himself at the neighbor's door, Simon would return, falling asleep again in his little room.

The work in the workshop brought quite a good income and Simon, having entered the desired college, was even able to rent a small apartment on the outskirts of the city, and finally moved out of his home, so as not to see this den, and not to put, in Simon's opinion, the family of his mentor in danger.

The old man Carson told him fatherly: "Simon, you'll be happy when you find love. Simon thought so, but he couldn't imagine what that love looked like. He couldn't believe it would happen someday, not just pass him by like it always did.

But one day that day has come. First day of college, Simon is walking toward the auditorium when a stranger suddenly sweeps him off his feet like a small tornado. It was just a moment when he looked into your eyes-- He felt like he was going to drown in them. The way your eyelashes fluttered as you stood there, rubbing your forehead after the blow and babbling something, was in his head. From that day on, he couldn't imagine his life if you weren't there for him.

"Finally, I'll be happy."

But is this how it's going to be? Simon can't contain his anger at seeing you talking sweetly to some cocky kid in the back of the class. And the voice in Simon's head whispered sweetly: "eliminate."

[theiaphage]

also, I don't want to turn around and declare everything Mia has ever done to be faulty and horrible because of where she ended up, but the ending (as it stands) also absolutely has me rethinking past events, especially Gio's words about "possessions."

Because yeah, in a lot of ways, Mia did try to lead "healthy" lives for her kids. She gave them choices, respected them and paid extreme care to their needs without actively smothering them in too many ways, and generally just tried to be a good parent from what it seems -

,,, but ,,,

-looking back, I can see what Gio was talking about. Even putting aside the inherent danger she put everyone in through her double life and especially trying to save Gio, so much of her behavior really does seem to reflect the idea of treating others well with a goal.

I don't think it's completely conscious, but it seems like a lot of it is ultimately self-serving. She treats people well, gives them choices and defends those choices and their rights to make them when those people are a part of the "in" group, but often still tries to steer those options themselves towards her ends. Like, sure Ripley can dress and play and live the way she wants, but the idea of respecting Natalie is one Mia only respects *out of not wanting to scare away Ripley.* So many of the options given are things that end up cradling people closer, giving them two choices and both of them have a big ole "Mia" in the middle.

And I don't mean to say she's some horrific, inherently awful person as a result. It's a character flaw, she's possessive in subtle ways that even she might not be aware of, and it tends to define her relationships because ultimately she has those needs baked in, by trauma and habit. ,,, But ,,, it absolutely explains why Gio acts the way they do. How Carson was able to catch onto this so quickly. Why she ends up where she does, and why the realization of all this eludes her for so long.

God, I could write so much more on the ways that our perspective as readers is warped, how I (and many others from what I've seen) might have expected some of the smaller things to lie where they may rather than coming back in this way, but I generally just want to say that this is such a good chapter at recontextualizing *everything.*

[beermencjs]

three carolers

summary: madison asks syd and amelia to join her and the volunteers go caroling

three carolers | main characters ; syd drew, madison rocca, amelia jones, bridge carson, xander bly, javi garcia | notes ; i super enjoyed writing this, it's been awhile since i wrote something pr related...also, i'm a little happy with how it turned out, a little | ships ; bridge carson x syd drew, xander bly x madison rocca, javi garcia x amelia jones | genre ; fluff | word count ; 1,562 | rating ; g | edited ; as usual, thrice only so ,mistakes here and there most probably

*gifs not mine

TWO DAYS BEFORE

“We should go caroling.”

Both Syd and Amelia looked up at Madison with surprised faces. “What?” they asked in unison. They were both sitting on Madison’s couch, Syd with a magazine and Amelia with a book discussing UFOs.

“We should go caroling,” Madison repeated. That was probably the reason why she called her friends to her apartment that day. “Not just us, we’ll be with Caring Hands. They want to raise extra for the children, hoping they could give twice as much. We’ve all caroled before when we were younger, it would be nice to go again, this time to help out.”

“Since when did you want to go out singing in public?” Amellia asked.

Madison lowered her head and muttered, “Well, I’m not actually caroling…I’m there as the videographer.”

“Typical,” Syd said with a roll of her eyes. Then, she sighed and looked over at Amelia. “What do you think?”

“I’ll have to practice but it might be fun.”

Syd nodded her head. “Alright, we’ll do it. We’ll go caroling, but you have to promise that we’re all going to sing in tune.”

“They’re sending out the choir,” Madison said.

“Just the choir?” Amelia questioned.

“The dance troupe has their own concert.” Madison could not help but smile. “They’re getting really good.”

Both Syd and Amelia smirked. “Are you sure it’s only the carolers we’ll be with?” Syd inquired. “Because now we’re pretty sure why you really want to go caroling with them.”

“It’s not that.” Madison blushed and shook her head. “I’ve been working with Caring Hands long before Xander became a volunteer. You guys know that.”

Amelia raised her hands, as if in surrender. “We never said anything about Xander.”

Madion rolled her eyes. “But clearly you were both implying it so might as well have said it out loud.”

The two girls sitting in front of her giggled.

“I’ll bring Bridge along,” Syd declared. “Just for support. You know he can’t really sing.”

Amelia smiled as Madison nodded and thanked Syd.

ONE DAY BEFORE

Syd

Bridge was over at Syd’s house—mansion—eating buttery toast while she flipped through the same magazine she was reading with the girls just the day before.

“Syd, want some toast? It’s buttery.”

“No, but thanks.” She threw the magazine on the coffee table in front of her and looked at her boyfriend, propping one arm up and laying her chin on her palm. “We’re going caroling. You’re coming with.”

“You want me to go caroling with you? A singer?”

“Just for moral support,” she added.

“Who’s we?”

“Who else?”

“Who thought of it?”

“Madison did.”

“Madison? Really?”

“It’s for Caring Hands, and she’s just the videographer.”

“I’m not surprised.”

She raised her eyebrows. “It’s very typical of her isn’t it?”

“But you’ve got to give her some credit. She’s very good at what she does.”

She smiled. “That’s true. She really is.” Then she cocked her head. “So, are you going?”

“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” He chuckled. “You already said I’d come with.” He smiled. “And even if you didn’t say so, you know I’d go with you.”

She smiled and scooted closer to him. “Thanks, Bridgey.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Anything for you.”

Amelia

Amelia was off key. She had been practicing in her car in the parking lot of a mall. She was going to purchase another book when she heard a Christmas tune from outside, it made her want to try out her voice.

‘I can’t carry a tune,’ she thought. ‘And I know they know that. Why did I even agree?’ She sighed. “Madison, I hope you know how much I love you.”

She tried to sing again but she kept failing and failing and failing.

As she tried to hit a note, she jumped in surprise when someone knocked on her window. “Oh!” She looked out and found a man holding a strange instrument. She rolled down the window and said, “May I help you?”

“Hi. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been trying to sing Christmas songs…um…not in tune.”

“You can hear me!?” she gasped, fear and embarrassment filled her, and she looked away from the man. “Oh my God.”

“But it’s alright, I’m…I’m a musician and I wanna help.”

“What? Why?” she wondered. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch. I just want to help.”

Amelia studied the man, narrowing her eyes at him and looking from head to toe. The instrument hanging on his body looked like one she had never seen before. “Fine,” she agreed. “But can we go up to the fourth floor parking, no one really goes there.”

“Sure.”

She rolled up the window and exited her, then locked it. “We can use the mall elevators, I don’t really feel like going up the stairs right now.”

“Alright.”

The two began to walk towards the mall when she stopped in her tracks. “I’m Amelia,” she introduced herself. She held up her hand.

“I’m Javi,” he said and shook her hand. Then he held up his instrument. “And this is my keytar!”

Madison

It was a warmer day, Madison observed. She hoped that tomorrow evening, the night of the caroling, would be a little colder. After all, the Christmas spirit is better with the weather associated with it.

She was fixing her camera and began taking some pictures and videos, just to be sure her gear was alright and working well. She would be doing this again tomorrow, but there was nothing wrong with going at it earlier.

She was carefully rotating the camera, trying to see how many angles she could get. When she reached a certain point Xander appeared with a huge grin on his face.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hi,” she replied.

“That’s a really nice camera. I haven’t seen that one before.”

“You have,” she said with a giggle. “I just replaced the stand.”

“Oh. Maybe that’s why I didn’t recognize it.”

“Maybe.” She smiled. “What are you doing here?”

“Ah, question.” He held up a finger. “Are you covering the dance concert?”

“No,” she answered. “Just the caroling.”

He nodded. “Alright. Just wondering.”

“What are you doing here?” she repeated.

He shrugged and placed his hands in his pockets. “Nothing. Just walking around. Well, I’ll see you later, Madison.”

“See you later, Xander.”

When he turned around she could not help but grin as she watched him walk away.

CAROLING DAY

“Are you guys ready for tonight?” Madison asked cheerfully. She was in front of a small crowd. The small crowd being the choir of Caring Hands. “Let’s all put our happy faces on.”

The group was in front of the building that held he office of Caring Hands.

Amelia and Syd and Bridge stood next to each other just a few feet away from the choir.

“No wonder she asked if we could join,” Syd murmured. “There’s pretty much no one.”

“Seven people isn’t no one,” Bridge said. “At least, not when they’ve got you two.”

Amelia laughed. “Nice save.”

Sometime later, Amelia spotted a familiar dark-haired man walking towards them. She excused herself from her friends and then strode towards him.

“Javi,” she greeted. “What are you doing here?”

“My sister asked if I could play for the choir. I’ve already practiced the songs so I didn’t need to be with the choir while they practiced. And besides, my dad was still calling me because of the keytar. He said that it was a waste.” He shrugged. “I don’t think it is, my sister doesn’t think it is. And besides, I worked my butt off for this.”

“I think it’s pretty cool.” She smiled “And who’s your sister?”

“Izzy Garcia.”

“Oh!” Caring Hands’ Vice-President. “I don’t see…”

“Step-siblings.”

“Oh, okay.”

Back at the front of the building, Madison was still taking some pictures, and when she finally called out for Amelia and Syd to join, she was surprised to see Xander make his way to the middle of the huddle.

“Xander! What are you doing here?”

“I asked to be a part of this group.” He smiled.

“I didn’t know you could sing.”

“I’m a man of surprises.”

Syd and Amelia looked at each other before smiling, happy that their friend and her crush might finally be going somewhere.

“I’m happy for her,” Syd said. “As for you, who's that guy?”

Javi was talking to Bridge and they seemed to be getting along.

“Javi,” Amelia answered. “He’ll be playing with us, with his keytar.”

“Keytar?” Syd echoed.

Amelia shrugged. “He’s cool.”

“I’m sure she is,” Syd gave a sly smile.

Amelia laughed. “Syd!”

Then they heard Madison call for the two men they had just seen talking to one another. “Get in the picture, Bridge and…friend!”

The two men walked beside the two women.

Bridge brought Syd closer to him and kissed her temple. “You ready?”

She nodded. “You ready to cheer?”

“For you? Always.”

“Okay guys. Get ready.” She placed the camera’s timer on and then rushed to be with the group. The camera snapped and they all began to murmur.

“Let’s go, everyone!” Xander yelled, pumping his fist in the air.

There were claps and whistles, no matter how small the group was, they seemed really excited now. The three girls hoped that this night of caroling would be a success.

[changingplumbob]

New Goth: Chapter 4, Part 12

The week wraps up!

James: How did it go

Ariadne: *sighs* not great. The principal made me feel small, the teacher sprung exams on me and some girl made fun of my hair

Milton: I think your hair is pretty

James: I taught a lot of teens. Often they will pick something random to make fun of, something that isn’t actually bad, they just make you think it is. Did you do your hair yourself

Ariadne: *quietly* Just the colour. I went to a proper place to get it cut

James: We can get you a salon appointment to maintain the colour if you like but do it for you, not because some girl had an issue. If you like to dye it yourself, keep doing it

Ariadne: Thanks James. Oh and I met Carson, he seemed nice

James: Harvey’s youngest? I haven’t met him myself but I’ve met the next oldest. The brothers don’t get along from what I hear but the family are nature loving so he could be a good friend option

Ariadne: I hope you don’t mind but I invited some kids over after dinner. Hopefully they can be friend options to

James: This is your home, invite over all the friend options you want

Milton: Good thing you didn’t invite them before dinner

Ariadne: Why

Alexander: I’m home! Did you tell her?

James: Ah. Well we want to properly welcome you so Alexander’s sister and her family will be coming for dinner

Ariadne: For me?

Alexander: Of course, you’re important

After a quick small family photo the Chopra’s arrive and Ariadne has a chance to meet them all.

Cassandra: And my youngest is Viola, she’s still learning to talk

Ariadne: Hi there

Viola: *shyly* hi

Alexander: Care to help me cook Rahul

Rahul: Of course, I brought some herbs I think would be good in the pasta

Viola: Ari… up?

Cassandra: Don’t feel like you have to play with her, she’s a bit wild

Ariadne: I don’t mind. Come on Viola, let’s have fun

Savannah: See Milton, you’re meant to treat us like that

Milton: You’re meant to treat Viola like that

Mercedes: *sighs* shut up

James: Do you think it’s twins again

Cassandra: I don’t know, I’m definitely getting stronger symptoms than the last pregnancy

Ariadne: Are you excited for another sibling Viola

Viola: Ye ye

Cassandra: She’s always- ohhhh

Alexander: Are you okay sis? Is it the pregnancy

Cassandra: Kind of…

Rahul: *chuckles* I know that kind of

Alexander: What does it mean

Rahul: Do you feel too nauseous to have the pasta sauce darling?

Cassandra: *sighs* Sorry

Rahul assures her it's fine and talk turns to an alternative dinner plan.

Ariadne: The spice festival is on, do you think you could eat something from there

James: Good idea. How about we go out instead?

Twins: YES

Everyone manages to find something they can swallow at the festival even if the lighting is being stupid! Looks like Devin is gracing us with her presence and a performance!!! No one tell her my lighting is this bad. The lack of proper light does send us home pretty quickly though. Ariadne has invited some kids from school after all and Joey is going to come for a game or two.

Scarlett: Damn girl your house is massive

Ariadne: What can I say? Rich parent perks

Rodger: My household is the same size as yours, cats included, and we live in a relative shoebox

Ariadne: Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come across as-

Rodger: It’s fine. Everywhere is a shoebox compared to this place

Ariadne: You’re not utterly disappointed in me?

Scarlett: *laughs* Nope. Girl I'd brag about it to

Rodger: What can I say? You give us something to aspire to

The trio burst out laughing and Ariadne feels like she could finally be making some friends.

Joey: Zooming by on your left

Alexander: Hey that was an illegal driving move

Milton: Alexander, there’s no illegal driving moves in this game

James: Hurry up love, I’m going to lap you soon

Alexander: I don’t get how you’re all so good at this

Joey: Practice and technical know how. Hey, who threw that banana?

James: It was Milton

Milton: It was not me, Uncle James is lying

Joey: It’s okay Milton, I believe you

James and Milton leave once the game is over and Alexander takes the opportunity to talk to Joey.

Alexander: You know how James and I have adopted Ariadne?

Joey: I haven’t got a proper introduction but yeah

Alexander: I need to know you won’t sleep with her

Joey: Dude! She’s a teenager. I like to screw but I don’t have a screw loose

Alexander: I know but she won’t always be 13 and I don’t need you laying on your charm and breaking her heart, ever. No matter how hot she may grow up to be, don’t sleep with my daughter

Joey: What if she makes a move on me once she ages up? You know boobs distract me

Alexander: You drag your eyes up and say, no thank you, your dad is one of my best friends and I will not cross that line

Joey: Agreed, I’m never going to sleep with any kid of yours... I did want to woohoo your mum though

Alexander: *laughs* I knew it!

With Joey heading home Alexander goes and makes sure Milton is heading to bed. Milton is actually busy talking to his friends online though…

Alexander: Come on, bedtime. How are you getting on with Mum’s journals

Milton: *sighs* fine. I wish she was here to tell me abut her life instead of me needing to read it

Alexander: I miss her to Milton, every day

Milton: You don’t think she’d be mad I’m reading them do you?

Alexander does his best to assure Milton it’s fine and get the boy to sleep. In her room Ariadne has said goodbye to her visitors and is trying her luck at the flower arranging table. She planted some but has quite a few left over to play around with.

Alexander: So Mr Dad how are you doing

James: *chuckling* I’m good, really good. Ariadne seems to be settling in although she had a rough day at school

Alexander: She told you that? That's not great but I guess that’s better than lying to our faces. We should do something this weekend to cheer her up

James: Did you have something in mind

Alexander: She’s a teen girl so… shopping?

James: Do you just want to go shopping

Alexander: *laughs* Maybe, but her being honest with us should be rewarded right?

James: You are going to be a much better dad than you think love

The household falls into slumber and we leave them for now.

Previous ... Next (Villareal)

[sga-owns-my-soul]

Fic Idea Adoption!

i have way too many ideas for fics and i know i won't ever get around to writing them all so i'm putting some ideas up for adoption!! i may or may not write these eventually, but they're too good of ideas to leave sitting in my notes app forever, so i'm releasing them to the void! anyone and everyone is welcome to use them, and feel free to be as ambiguous with the prompts as you want! no particular order but nsfw ideas are at the bottom for anyone who wants to avoid them!

(if you do use any of these, i would love to read the fic!! you definitely do not have to but please feel free to send me anything you write off this list!!)

-john takes rodney to earths moon

-john and rodney find the ancient equivalent of speed. they do Everything

-au where ronon gets earth to repeal dadt bc john tells him it's why he can't be with rodney and ronon goes I Must Fix This (he enlists teyla and lorne and maybe cadman)

-rodney asks ronon to go with john to earth (outcast coda)

-rodney goes on bill nye saves the world after stargate declassification

-evans biggest fear is having to shoot john (and maybe getting a promotion bc of it?) and john finds out

-rodney’s ‘torture too hideous and intimate to recount’ is him being tortured, just for them to realize that torturing his team is a better way to break him

-teyla living out ‘the chosen one’ trope

-what happens to sora after the eye

-au where meredith(female!rodney) comes to atlantis instead of rod and not only is rodney horribly disturbed, he’s furious (and strangely confused) as to why everyone apparently likes him more as a woman

-todd is weirdly obsessed with this strange human he meets, and is determined to get closer to him

-the team is most excited about catching up with todd when they get the confirmation atlantis is going back to pegasus

-everyone complains about rodney’s moods bc no one can complain about the infinitely worse in every way sheppard bad moods, that make everyone on the base wish they were on a hive ship being eaten by two wraith at once

-au where ronon ends up on athos at the same time the wraith come and he sneaks through the gate with the intention of just sneaking away on the next planet but whoops it’s atlantis (ronon pov)

-rodney keeps a memorial for every single scientist lost in his lab and radek shows it to new scientists who start complaining about rodney not caring and risking their lives

-reaper au where’s he’s fed the fuck up with these two stupid men who never actually die when they’re supposed to and it’s more annoying than anything now bc he still needs to show up

-au carson comes to atlantis and is HORRIFIED by becketts retrovirus research and the hoffan drug bc “does the hippocratic oath mean NOTHING here???”

-au where rodney can’t admit to himself what john means to him, until something happens that brings all the alternate rodney’s that have lost their johns to atlantis, and they all fall apart when they see john alive, and john and rodney have to have a Conversation (mcshep? maybe ambiguous? idk yet)

-rodney sees john as three separate entities: the Colonel, who is Professional Important Official Man; sheppard, who is his friend/team lead that he hangs out with and goes on missions with; and john, who he’s always seeming to have very intimate moments with that make him question a lot of how he feels

-early days in the city, elizabeth is sick of the marines shitting on the scientists for not being tough and the scientists for shitting on the marines for not being smart so she makes them try to solve a fake crisis from the other side and everyone is like aww shit this is harder than it looks

-that thing where tough men pretend they don’t care much about someone but then the person gets hurt and Tough Guy go a little feral and then holds them close and whisper pet names (sweetheart, baby, darling, etc) but it’s john and/or ronon after rodney gets injured

-the more important something is to john, the harder it is for him to talk about it, and rodney starts to realize how hard it is for john to talk about what rodney means to him

-a bunch of au sheppards get brought to atlantis and one on them is terrified of flying

-rodney has always said biology was beneath him, but then ford almost died, and was… different, from the wraith. and rodney knew he had to find a way to help ford, maybe find a way to fix his mental problems while keeping the physical benefits. rodney and carson find a way to save ford and sheppard is so thankful he kisses them both

nsfw ideas:

-ronon suggests some planets for trading when they get low on supplies that have an interesting trade system. it seems too good to be true and they wonder why telya hasn't taken them until they find out that they trade goods for sex

-au where john is hired as a spy for atlantis and he seduces people in pegasus to get intel for the city

-sometimes rodney just grabs john (by the hair, throat, back of the neck, chin, etc) and asks who he belongs to and john instantly melts

-rodney decides to be a tease on a mission and teyla and ronon think mckay is just really pissing sheppard off when he pulls mckay away for “privacy” but really he’s just super horny and wants to fuck (or, teyla and ronon don’t realize that their fighting is foreplay)

[dedkake]

SGA Fanworks Only Holiday Gift Exchange 2023

A day you won’t forget by scifi_dancer | g, 2.4k, rodney / john

The prompt I used describes it well: "Nothing goes right - until it does."

A Little Christmas Chaos by WonkyElk | t, 3k, rodney / john

The Cheer Committee nodded in solemn and united agreement. In principle, of course, they agreed that ‘absolutely hosed’ was not the ideal state for a large proportion of the expedition to be in, at any one time, Christmas or not; but that didn’t stop them feeling that the punch could do with being just a smidgen merrier. For morale purposes. Which was why each of them, separately, decided to add just the tiniest amount of extra cheer to the punch.

Big enough to miss by Mas_Pebbles_Sharp | t, 3.9k, rodney / john

Missing scenes/coda to The Daedalus Variations: Rodney's injury from alien weapon fire is worse than they at first realised

Elizabeth’s Pet Demon by Tazmy | g, 2.8k, gen

A mini demon ransacks Elizabeth’s quarters. Somehow, it’s cute. It shouldn’t be. It should be wrong, maybe even disturbing.

Finding Limits by halestrom | g, 3.6k, gen

The only thing John could focus on was getting back to Atlantis, getting a team and finding Rodney before Ford's men did anything. Getting back to Atlantis and finding out that Rodney had rescued himself wasn't a surprise, but sitting and watching his still body as Carson tried to figure out what to do was hard. Not just for John, but for all of AR-1.

First Embrace by Cyber_Witch85 | m, 2.8k, carson / evan, rodney / john, evan / john

John Sheppard and Evan Lorne rescue Rodney and Carson from a wraith lair. Carson and Evan explore the beginnings of their relationship as John and Rodney sleep.

Golden Slumbers by cassiope25 | g, 3.8k, rodney / john, team

“You should put more trust in me,” Ronon told her gently. "There's nothing a former runner can't take on.” Ronon is there to care for his team, and they care for him in turn.

Hand in Hand by mific | e, 4.7k, rodney / john

"Yes, yes, we're the talk of the town," Rodney said, eyeing them narrowly. "Run along now and if you're ever on Cambara don't agree to do the damn welcome ritual." "And if you do," Sheppard panted, "don't come last."

His Rodney by Jade | g, 1.5k, gen

It’s not always easy to remember who he is.

I Can Do Anything Better Than You! by Goddess47 | t, 3k, rodney / john

John, the traitor, had lured him to this so-called 'social event' organized by some self-appointed group of Expedition members. There had been a promise of chocolate cake and John had hinted at the possibility of mutual orgasms at the end of the night.

i waited ‘til i saw the sun by LogicGunn | t, 1k, steven / elizabeth

Elizabeth remembers.

I’ll keep you warm by puddlejumperpilot | g, 2k, rodney / john

The sky was darkening and fluffy snowflakes were falling from the sky as Teyla gave her speech, but John was distracted by Rodney shivering violently next to him. John swore under his breath and took off the outer layer of his jacket, wrapping it around Rodney’s shoulders. “You’re from Canada, aren’t you supposed to be immune to the cold?” He hissed under his breath. Rodney shot him a glare. “You know I get cold easily!” He replied in a whisper. “I also know that you do this every year. I’m beginning to think you just like wearing my jacket. You’re lucky I expected this, otherwise I’d just let you freeze!”

Just Peachy by melagan | t, 1.7k, rodney / john

John and Rodney are married and living on Atlantis. They have a rare day off together, but things aren't working out the way Rodney planned.

Lighter Than Air by spurious | g, 2.6k, rodney / john

Visiting a trading partner, the team participate in a winter solstice ritual that's more effective than it might seem.

Like A Shot To The Shoulder (And Other Adventures on MXR-338) by audioletter | g, 2.8k, gen

As far as welcomes go, being shot in the shoulder was not what John considered polite.

Solace by A_Storm_of_Roses | e, 7.2k, teyla / elizabeth

Elizabeth wakes with the hangover of the century and a throbbing elbow. She can’t remember how she got here, or where here even is, though it feels hard and rocky and smells like burning metal. Elizabeth and Teyla take a very long walk, and discover each other.

the snow has drifted high by dedkake | t, 1.7k, rodney / john

Rodney and John watch the New Year's fireworks together, just like they always do.

Wraith Rodney by carsonsweebabyturtles (Erindors) | fanart

This is my Holiday gift for Cassiope25. I kind of gambled at making him a Wraith but I hope you like it anyways 💜

You can’t pin joy like a moth by QueenIshtar | t, 3.7k, john / elizabeth, carson / rodney

Elizabeth knows that you can't pin joy like a moth. It's too fleeting. Joy is the soft fluttering of wings you notice only in the still, silent moments. It's your heartbeat rushing, racing when you laugh; when you feel alive. Joy is not a complete, tangible thing.

[timeagainreviews]

Mining Gold

In his 2012 stand-up special “New In Town,” John Mulaney quipped that he “always thought quicksand was going to be a much bigger problem than it turned out to be.” This sentiment seems to have rung true with people online. Quicksand was such a big deal in media in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Who could forget Westley jumping headlong into quicksand to save Buttercup in “The Princess Bride?” Remember the first time you saved Mario from sinking deep into golden sands? Yet in real life, very little quicksand. While I am sure there are parts of the world that grapple with quicksand, it’s more of a trope than anything. Trapping our heroes allows storytellers to show who these characters are under pressure. While Doctor Who has its share of great escapes, it’s also prone to using capture to pad time. But isn’t that a cynical view? Can’t trapping our heroes also give the narrative a moment to breathe?

Quicksand is the perfect type of trap because it’s a ticking clock that must be treated with attention and care. Characters must slow down and assess their situation. It’s odd then that Doctor Who has never used quicksand in the show proper. But it’s just a placeholder. You could throw someone into the Timelash. The Fourth Doctor had to shoot a rope while standing over a pit of horda. Or again with the Fourth Doctor when he stepped on a landmine. But that last one is different, isn’t it? The horda and Timelash are as real as the Swamp of Sandness and the Bog of Eternal Stench. But landmines are very real. And in some parts of the world, a horrific day-to-day reality.

Returning after a seven-year absence, Steven Moffat brings the Doctor back into the minefield with “Boom.” But unlike Doctor Who’s last episode named after an explosive onomatopoeia, “Kerblam!”, this episode aims to chastise capitalism’s role in atrocity, not give it a free pass. Also making a comeback are a few Moffat staples- Villengard, the Anglican Marines, and stupid children. Each does their part to build a narrative mirroring the current political climate. But have any of Moffat’s less celebrated qualities returned along with him? Will he fall into his own trappings as a writer? Is this trope just padding out time? Or can a bottle episode become an instant classic?

Coming off the heels of last week’s manic “The Devil’s Chord,” the show was due a bit of a breather. While I’m all for bombast it’s nice to know this thing has an off switch. I already saw someone on Instagram who disagrees wholeheartedly. In their words “Boom? More like BORING,” so I imagine this one won’t be popular among dullards and the chronically contrarian crowd. But as an old, I appreciated the slower pacing and the emphasis on emotion. If you need a constant source of laser swords and loud noises, allow me to quote the Third Doctor- “Don't worry, Brigadier. People will be shooting at you soon.” Luckily, Billy No-Mates and his five Instagram followers appear to be in the minority. Most everyone I’ve talked to absolutely loved this episode.

The one issue I’ve seen fans bring up that holds any kind of water has been the conversation around faith. The inclusion of the Anglican Marines introduces a religious angle that some have criticised as preachy and offensive. In the past Moffat has used the Anglicans to various ends. Spanning across two centuries, the Anglicans we’ve met so far have come in numerous forms. Sometimes they’re allies of the Doctor, and at other times, they’re a fanatic organisation hellbent on stopping the Doctor at every turn. This time, however, the Doctor and they cross paths presumably by happenstance. (More on why I say presumably later.) This group of Marines are already in a deep conflict with an elusive enemy, which they appear to be losing. Despite these losses, they keep their faith. But it’s hard to keep faith when your enemy is as invisible as your god.

The two soldiers we’re introduced to are Carson and John Francis Vater. Not as in they’re married like the Fat One and the Thin One couple from “A Good Man Goes To War,” but rather that Carson only gets the one name. As names go, John Francis Vater is akin to purple hair in an anime- total protagonist vibes. Vater even has a daughter named Splice living back on base. He has a cute “save the cat,” moment when he tells Splice to brush her manky teeth. Which is why when he dies, it feels like there’s still more to his story. Unfortunately for Carson, he exists to illustrate the way the Villengard smartmines on Kastarion 3 operate. As it turns out, it’s pretty quick, rather violent, and kind of pretty. Even more unfortunately for Vader, he is now essentially lost as Carson was acting as his eyes due to temporary blindness.

It’s never really explained why the Doctor and Ruby are parked on the planet. Presumably, it’s the Doctor doing his usual “land wherever and explore,” approach. But it’s the death of Vater that draws the Doctor and Ruby into the action. After lifting the veil from his injured eyes, Vater’s injury draws the attention of a Villengard Automated Ambulance Unit with the video face of Susan Twist. Having assessed that Vater’s recovery time would be too big of a drain on resources the ambulance terminates him. The Doctor comes running at the sound of Vater’s scream but finds nothing but an empty crater and a smartmine under his right foot. It’s the inclusion of Susan Twist here that makes me wonder if this isn’t part of some greater plan. Pretty obvious, really. Also, didn’t a big portion of Moffat’s last episode also take place in a crater?

The Doctor’s voice carries out along the horizon with a mournful rendition of “The Skye Boat Song.” It tells of the journey Bonnie Prince Charles took from Benbecula to Skye after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden, thus spelling the end for the Jacobites. This worked for me on several fronts. As a fan of the Second Doctor, I admired the nod to his past. I also enjoyed the reference to Ncuti Gatwa’s Scottish identity. The forlorn quality of his singing reminded me of the Master playing the Skye Boat Song in “The Power of the Doctor,” which was one of the better parts of that story. I was also grateful that they didn’t undercut the tension with a pop song, or something truly cringe, like quoting from Harry Potter.

The Doctor is singing to calm himself and hopefully delay the bomb until he can come up with a new plan. But it’s this singing that draws Ruby to his location. Together the two of them must move their bodies in sync to a rhythm so the Doctor can rest his leg. In yet another contrast to “The Devil’s Chord,” music is being used in an entirely different manner. But this time, the Doctor’s dance partner, Ruby Sunday, is less complimentary and more complicated. The Doctor faces death all the time, but seeing Ruby put in harm’s way raises the Doctor’s blood pressure. The adrenaline becomes harder to control. And his bio-signs become easier for the smartmine to detect. Because of this, the Doctor’s emotions are raw and prickly, another stark contrast from last week. He chastises Ruby for not doing as he tells her, but she ignores him because she’s got her own ideas about what she is and isn’t allowed to do. I was getting shades of Amy Pond from Ruby in this one, and considering the author, that makes sense.

If you’ve ever heard me say that I wanted the chance for Jodie Whittaker to get mean, or show anger, this is precisely the kind of depiction of the Doctor I meant. In many ways, Ncuti is the same brand of golden retriever adorable as Whittaker, only here they’ve allowed him to show that he’s capable of a depth of emotion. The Doctor has an authoritarian streak that he hides well, but in times of stress, the walls begin to fall away and you see the complicated Time Lord underneath the fish fingers and custard, the floppy hair, and the eccentric fit. This is exactly the kind of episode I wanted to see Ncuti get to do. I’ve seen him deal with heavy subjects in “Sex Education,” I’m glad they didn’t just hire him because he’s hot and dripping charisma. He’s also incredibly capable of going into dark places.

While looking for a rock to help the Doctor balance his dangling left leg, Ruby happens upon the “smelted,” remains of Vater. The Ambulance sort of formed and condensed Vater’s body into a tube shape topped with a nameplate and a hologram projector containing an AI facsimile of Vater’s consciousness. And I’ll say it because everyone’s waiting for me to say it- it’s an actual fleshlight. There, I said the thing. Are you happy? Is this what you wanted from me? Are you not entertained? I’d like to pretend I was so wrapped up in the episode that I didn’t think it, but I absolutely did. It’s VOR all over again. I got over it pretty fast.

That’s the way good Doctor Who goes, really. The little hang-ups are more like snags when you’re moving along. It’s easier to look past the nitpicks and grievances when there’s so much more at play. When Doctor Who is bad, all it has are its nitpicks and grievances and that’s a real sadness when that happens because we’re no longer watching Doctor Who, we’re watching the background go by. We’re admiring the wallpaper because just because the writers phoned it in, doesn’t mean the set designers did. But this is Doctor Who firing on all cylinders.

We are however getting into the realm of one of my nitpicks about this episode and that’s Splice. Because she lost her mother, her dad, Vater, has special permission to let her live on base. The issue I have is that I wasn’t joking earlier when I said she’s stupid. I don’t say this to badmouth the little girl playing her, as she was good. I also don’t mean to denigrate the script. What I don’t understand is why is she so old? That may seem like a weird question because kids come in all sorts of ages, but this one is little kids stupid. I found it hard to believe that a girl of her age would confuse a hologram for her father. I get that she might be fooled by the voice and I can even believe that she would be foolish enough to wander into a battlefield to find him, but I’ve never once seen my dad looking like a translucent blue hologram. This is why I say she’s too old. An older kid would have figured it out. They should have either changed her dialogue or cast someone younger. Otherwise, she’s a perfectly fine character.

Splice’s emotional reaction draws the attention of another Anglican Marine named Mundy Flynn. Immediately my Whovian brain was doing backflips at the sudden appearance of Varada Sethu. For those of you not in the know, Sethu is planned to be a companion in season 2 next year. Seeing her this early was very exciting. Was this an Oswin Oswald scenario or a Martha’s cousin dying at Canary Warf scenario? Did they enjoy working with Varada so much that they created a character for her in the next season or is this some wibbly wobbly sort of thing? Well, as it turns out, it’s a wibbly wobbly thing. I didn’t learn this from the show, however. I learned it from Doctor Who’s social media. And honestly, I really wish they’d have just left us to wonder on this one. Would it have killed them to leave an air of mystery around her character? There’s still a bit of mystery, but I feel like they’re holding people’s hands a bit too much. I guess they’re afraid people’s imaginations will run too wild and we’ll set ourselves up for disappointment. They know who their audience is. But still, I like the not knowing part. I like the speculation.

Mundy sees the Doctor holding the remains of Vater and commands him to drop them. But if the Doctor drops the remains, he risks setting off the mine. But even worse, if the mine goes off, it will turn him into the explosion. The Doctor refers to himself as a ”complex spacetime event,” indicating that if he were to explode, it could take out half of the planet. But Mundy isn’t convinced and tries to shoot the Doctor’s arm to make him drop the tube. Sensing combat, the Ambulance bots start looking for the injured to either heal or put out of their misery. Releasing her mistake, Mundy commands Ruby to shoot her in the arm in order to draw the ambulance away from the Doctor, but in her hesitation, Ruby is mistaken for an enemy and shot by Mundy’s comrade Canto who arrives late on the scene.

While we’re on the subject of Ruby, I wanted to point out that I found it a bit odd that Kastarion 3 was her first experience on an alien planet. Sure this is only her fourth adventure onscreen, but we were told in The Devil’s Chord that six months had passed. Granted, Rose Tyler spent an entire season having earthbound adventures with the Ninth Doctor, so there’s an explanation. I have to tip my hat to their attention to detail here as not even the Doctor Who Magazine comics have taken her off-world. I guess “Space Babies,” kind of counts. Just something I felt worth mentioning.

Not only has Ruby now died, but the Doctor learns that even if he does dupe the smartmine into thinking he’s not a living person, it will eventually detonate by default. The only way to stop this is now outside of the Doctor’s control, sort of. He must convince Mundy to surrender. Since the mine belongs to the Anglican Marines, only their surrender will disarm the device. Otherwise- boom. The Doctor explains to Mundy that the war they’re fighting is with themselves. The Villengard algorithm has been tricking the Marines into attacking themselves to keep them buying their product. It’s a war being waged against nothing all in the pursuit of profit.

Mundy asks the Doctor for proof which is where the Doctor’s stance on faith comes into play. But I feel like the actual conversation the Doctor is having in that moment is that faith is both a good and a bad thing. It’s not that he’s saying it’s bad for someone to have faith in God, but that it’s bad to let faith do your thinking for you. Splice has faith in her daddy. The Doctor and Ruby have faith in one another. Faith can strengthen us as people. But when it’s used to justify not considering deeper truths, it’s a hindrance. I feel like this is very in line with things we’ve heard the Fourth and Tenth Doctor’s say about religion in the past. I will admit though, I am an atheist, so I can’t speak from the perspective of a person with faith.

When Mundy tries to send evidence back to command, it’s intercepted by the algorithm and overruled. The machine has taken over and the smirking face of Susan Twist shows no signs of compassion leaking through. But with the Doctor connected to the machine and his hand connected to the remains of Vater, he’s able to send Vater into the algorithm. As Vater battles the ghost in the machine, I was reminded of “The Doctor’s Wife,” when the TARDIS re-enters her body and destroys House from the inside. In fact, lots of this episode reminded me of previous Doctor Who. The short war fought on the basis of a lie reminded me of “The Doctor’s Daughter.” The message about unchecked capitalism reminded me of “Oxygen.”  And of course there’s the mine calling back to Tom Baker in “Genesis of the Daleks.” Lots of what Ncuti was doing this week reminded me of Tom Baker and I mean that as the utmost compliment. He was doing stellar work here.

This episode had me grinning from ear to ear for the entirety of its runtime. But it wasn’t until after that I realised what it was that had me so happy. Sure, the episode was good, but I realised that it was the first time in the last 5 or 6 years that I had enjoyed a new Doctor Who episode without a giant asterisk hanging overhead. I cried tears of joy during “The Woman Who Fell to Earth,” but that was excitement for Jodie. My opinion of the episode itself was quite low. I enjoyed “The Witchfinders,” (also how cool was that reference to it in this episode?) and I enjoyed “It Takes You Away,” but I loved “Boom.” Without any hesitation, I absolutely loved it.

While the RTD2 era has been a marked improvement, I have had a few reservations. Mostly that it has so far felt like they’ve been trying way too hard. Trying too hard to have fun. Trying too hard to be funny. Trying too hard to be action-packed. I hope that the people in charge have seen the fan reaction to Boom for what it is. You don’t need massive budgets. You can do smaller stories with simple sets. The fans will respond well when you nail the tone and writing. Even Ncuti Gatwa said that while he was confused the entire time shotting the episode, it ended up being his favourite of the season. This felt like the most Doctor Who episode of Doctor Who that I’ve watched since Moffat left, and I’m including the new Davies stuff in there. This is what I meant when I said I wish Davies would chill the fuck out. Stop trying so hard.

Where this falls short for me is it highlights how insular the show has been since it returned. Eight episodes, six by the same writer, one by a former showrunner, and the remaining one is shared by two new authors. Why? I’ll be honest, Davies has never been my favourite Doctor Who writer. He’s a strong producer who writes people well. But when it comes to his episodes, other than “Midnight,” he’s never written one I would call a favourite. This is just a personal preference. When they announced his return, I was more excited for a return to competence than a return to classic writing. We could use new blood in the writer’s room. Even Chris Chibnall could see that, and he did hire some pretty good talent. My two favourite episodes from his era are written by people new to the show. More of that, please.

In truth, bringing Moffat back was a good choice. Unlike Davies, Moffat has written some of my favourite Doctor Who. And as with most anyone who has written the shear volume of Doctor Who as he has, he’s also written some of my least favourite Doctor Who. It’s bound to happen at that level of output. He’s not a writer without problems. His writing of female characters leaves something to be desired. But Moffat writing under a different showrunner, with an editor? Total Chad material. Some of the best. If they kept bringing him back like this every year or so, I would absolutely love it. Especially because it would continue to leave room for new talent.

With Vater in the machine, the ambulance revives Ruby. Sadly, Mundy’s love, Canto, dies just as he proclaims his love for her. This part was a bit shallow in that it was barely set up and felt like loss for the sake of loss. As Jean Cocteau once said “Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not obtained by sentimental blackmail.” So it’s a bit difficult to feel sorry for Mundy here, but it’s not completely void of an emotional core. It’s nice that Splice has a new caretaker in Mundy, and that’s as happy an ending as we need. What’s more important is the emotional depths we’ve experienced with the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby. This was the moment when they were solidified for me as characters. I needed this episode. Not so much to show me that the Ncuti and Millie could do it, I knew they could. But rather to show me that the show could still do it. That RTD was still up to the task of delivering us something more than progressive happy fun. We’re not beyond the realm of complexity. And with that, I can relax a little. What else ya got, Davies?

[daylilifiedsundrewdrops]

There was one time back when you were young, you were maybe 10 at the time. You didn't quite understand it in the past. You sat in the car with your parents and sister, driving home from the school. It was just a little after Recognition, and your hand mindlessly fidgeted with your seatbelt. You didn't know why you felt nervous. ''Ravi, darling, I heard you got commended.'' You froze. Your sister wasn't awake to respond, having fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of the long car ride. And even if it wasn't you that your mother was talking to, ''Yeah, uh, Vivi got praised in the ceremony.'' You replied in her stead, and for some selfish reason it made you feel better to take her place for even a moment. Even from the back seat, you could already see your mother's proud smile. ''She's really amazing, isn't she? Your sister.'' You swallowed a lump in your throat. ''Yeah...'' ''You should try and be more like her, sweetheart.'' ''I try my best, mom...'' ''You may think that, but I know you can do better. Just try harder next time, okay?'' You didn't respond, and your mother didn't say anything more. You could feel your father listening in, but he didn't say anything either, focusing on the road instead. And the whole car drive after that conversation, you stared in your sister's direction. At the certificates she had poking out from her unzipped bag. At the medals hanging from her neck. You never felt a weight like that on your own neck. You wondered if it'd felt heavy or light, if you could maybe try harder and get one, like how your sister had several. If your sister was able to get something like that, then you can too, right? Doubt crossed your eyes. Your gaze remained on her for the rest of the ride. You got the one thing that I want.

Her demeanor slowly changed as you two grew up. It was clear you two were getting more distant from each other, so different from how you two were when you were younger, when you stuck together like blades of scissors. But that's just what happens to siblings. They may be close when they were young but as they grow, they find things to do with their lives. It doesn't mean they don't care for each other. Your grip tightened, eyes staring down at the test paper you got. 60/100. The class had already ended. Your classmates were already flooding out the doors, and yet you hadn't moved an inch from your seat. You didn't look up when your classmates flashed you curious glances. ''Edel, are you alright?'' Her voice snapped you out of your thoughts. Your sister stood by your side, leaning against your table with her hand on your desk. She just looked at you with a raised brow, and instinctively you try to hide your test paper. It was too late, and she unfortunately saw it. Her expression didn't change much and neither did her stance. And for a moment it was silent. Ravi sighed and pushed herself back on her feet. She placed her hand on her hip, eyes mirroring her disappointment. ''You should study harder, Ed.'' You swallowed and tried to find the words to tell her that you did try to study harder, stayed up all night trying to study for the test even when you found yourself losing focus on your notes.

But you couldn't find your voice. It's like you're out to get me. You didn't have to, because once your sister already left your table when you looked up. She was standing near the doorway. ''Sit with me at lunch this time. Remember, don't be like Carson and forget to eat just to study.''

You nod. At the mention of your classmate, your eyes subconsciously wandered to where he was sitting previously. The sight makes you feel worse. You never understood Carson. He gets better grades than you, nigh perfect. So why does he stay behind to study? Why does he try harder on every project? Shouldn't it be you doing that? You need to be better. Your eyes snapped back to the now empty doorway, the few seconds that passed before you went and quietly tucked your paper back in your folders felt like eternity. You should eat lunch, like she said. Though you tried not to think, you found your thoughts drifting towards her as you walked. Did I ever tell you I'm not doing well?

---- Oh yeah btw here's the link to the first part.