#with nick she's eventually working with all the pieces on the board and not just the few her mom and renard allowed her to see

[piratefalls]

upon whatever number rewatch this is at this point (3? 4?) i just clocked that adalind actually looks uncomfortable when she’s flying to vienna at the end of season 3. like she’s telling herself, on repeat, “it was for my baby” while also not feeling good about the thing she did. she’s trying so hard to justify it to herself but she can’t even make herself fake a smile. she’s not proud. she’s a desperate mother who wants her child back and will do whatever it takes to accomplish it.

[ohtobeleah]

Dot having a baby sister makes me so sad for teenage Dot. If she struggles with her brothers her sister must be worse. She definitely feels replace 🥺 I hope eventually Dot realizes how much Rooster loves her.

Warnings: under age drinking? Terms of Endearment Masterlist

Dot has two siblings. Riley Carole Bradshaw & Nickolas Jacob Bradshaw. But let's get into it, shall we? 

Dots so rebellious in her teenage years. Especially around the time she’s sixteen boarding on twenty one. She’s dealing with an identity crisis, doesn’t know who she is or wants to be and that comes out in the form of her teenage angst. Where she believes everyone in the world is against her and that nobody understands what it’s like to be her. 

“I wanna go see dad—“ Odette is barking at you one morning while you’re getting ready for work, making Nick his sandwich and packing his fruit snacks into his lunchbox. 

“He’s literally out the back in the shed Dot—“ You don’t register what your oldest is saying to you until she metaphorically backhands Bradley Bradshaw so hard you know he feels the sting in his heart from the tool shed. 

“Not Bradley—my real dad? The one in prison?” You’re freezing in your place, the knife covered in peanut butter in your hand nearly breaks the slice of bread in half as you feel every muscle in your body tense. 

“No.” You answer sharply, shaking off the fear you felt radiating under your skin. Even after all these years Jaidyn Dolan still had a power over you. He scared the ever living Christ out of you. “End of story—no.” 

“But why not? I mean, it’s not like you ever talk ab—“ Just as Bradley is making his way into the house via the back door, he hears you raise your voice to an octave he hardly ever hears you reach. 

“I said no Odette!! For once will you just listen to me when I tell you no!!?” The whole house falls silent and Dot is just looking at you like she hardly knew you. “Christ! That man has never been a part of your life and he never will be! Do you hear what I’m telling you?” Bradley can see the pain in your eyes, he knows that even still to this day you can’t talk about it—any of it. He knows you and Odette have been on the rocks the past couple of months, to no fault of your own. It’s just teenage angst: 

“Loud and clear Commander.” Odette sasses you as she grabs her lunch bag, rolls her eyes and walks right past Bradley who’s just standing in the archway that separates the kitchen and living room. “Bye—“ He watches her open and slam the front door with the force of a thousand suns. Flinching as the sound of the door hitting the frame echoes throughout the house. 

“What the hell was that?” Roosters asks as he looks over his shoulder at Riley who’s just standing there bewildered at the way her mother had just yelled at her older sister. Frowning a weird expression at his middle child who shrugs her shoulders back at him. “Fe?” 

“Dot wants to go see Jaidyn in jail—“ Is all you say without looking up at your husband. “She’s not going, end of story—“ 

Bradley doesn’t reply. He simply processes what you just said and sighs. He takes a few strides over to where you’re busy taking out your anger on the piece of white bread that’s now full of holes and covered in peanut butter. Bradley stands behind you, he slowly but surely reaches out to take the butter knife from your hand and kisses your cheek softly. Watching as you whisper out a sob and cup your hand over your mouth. 

“I’m not telling you what to do here honey, but maybe if she knew—“ 

“I can’t tell her Rooster.” You turned around into Bradley’s chest, hiding your face in his shoulder. “I just can't.” Bradley understands, he still has nightmares from time to time about everything that happened. He’s woken up with sweat covering his entire body after tossing and turning, dreaming about what could have been if he didn't get to you. He understands. 

“Alright, well, we’re just gonna have to keep managing this phase she's going through.” 

Which you do. For about two days before you can't take the silent treatment any longer. You can't take the disgruntled looks Dot sends you from across the dinner table, the way she looks at Bradley like he didn't raise her since she was two, like he wasn't her father. Instead a stranger sitting across from her pretending to be someone to her that he wasn't. 

“Odette honey will you come here please?” You call out from the living room, Dot just rolls her eyes when she hears you calling for her. She’d been grabbing a drink from the fridge. 

“Yeah mum?” 

“I want you to look at these two pieces of paper for me.” You don't even look at your daughter as she walks closer to the coffee table that has two pieces of paper sitting side by side on top of it. You're watching old reruns of Gilmore Girls and Dot thinks you're just being a bitch with the whole not being able to look her in the eyes bullshit. But what Odette doesn't know is that if you look at her, you’re gonna break down. So you don't bother. “One of those pieces of paper is termination of parental rights form.” You explain softly. “Signed by Jaidyn Dolan himself.” 

Dot just stared at the document that had her biological dads signature on it, his name in print above it. 

“The one next to it is an adoption form, a legal guardianship form that Bradley signed the day after Jaidyn signed all his rights away.” You tried so hard to hide your tears in the glow of the TV. Tried to silence the voices you heard inside you heard that you couldn't turn off. The screams, the pleading and the begging. “You want to go see the man who signed his rights away so be it sweetheart, but I need you to know he’ll never be your dad and he won't ever be your father and he never was to begin with.” 

“Will you take me?” Is all Dot asks as she barely looks at the paperwork. “To see dad?” It kills you whenever she calls Jaidyn her dad, whatever identity you hope Odette finds you hope it's soon and hope it's quick because you can't take the pain of the knife she's slowly twisting into your heart. 

“No baby I won't.” You finally turn to face your daughter, Dot sees the tears in your eyes and wonders why you're crying, but she doesn't bother to ask. “And don't bother asking your father because he’s not taking you either, and Uncle Jake said he’d rather be arrested again than take you anywhere near him.” Dot frowns at the work again in that sentence, like she missed the story about the first time uncle Jake was arrested. “But your aunt Amilia said she will.” 

“Why won’t uncle Jake take me either?” Dot asked just above a whisper as she watched you wipe your tears away, collecting the documents you needed to keep safe incase of an emergency. Copied twice with one set being kept safely in Jake Seresin personal study as well as your own. 

“Because he knows if he's let anywhere near him he’ll kill him, Dotty.” You explain, leaving it at that before your looking at your oldest daughter, hardly recognising her. “Look, I dont wanna have this conversation again, so if you must go see him, by all means do so, but don't tell me about it when you do, because me and your father dont wanna know about it.” 

So Dot doesn't talk about it again. She never mentions it. She just keeps on keeping on with her bad attitude and her teenage angst. Until you get a message from Jake saying that Dots just left with Amelia to head up to the jail. Jake loved his wife to death but he hated that she’d offered to take Dot. he was seething. 

“This just isn't gonna go well Fe.” 

“I know.” You cried. Completely and utterly distressed while you sat on the floor in the shower in all your clothes, fighting off a full blown panic attack while the kids and Bradley were out. “I know but I can't not stop her from going.” 

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

It's about an hour's drive. And the entire Time Dots’ palms were sweating. She had so many questions that needed answering. She can't remember Jaidyn or what he looked like, but when she sees him being led out in his orange jump suit in handcuffs? Her heart sinks into her stomach. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. It just became glaring obvious that her father was a criminal. 

“Odette Bradshaw.” Jaidyn is smiling ear to ear when he sits down across from his daughter for the first time since she was two. A total of forteen years had passed. “So, your mother did end up marrying him huh.” It made Jaidyn so mad to know he’d lost. 

“Yeah, I guess she did, hi dad.” Dot had dreamed of this day, she’d always wondered what her real dad was like, what he’d done to end up in prison. Braldey always responded with ‘He’s just not a good man Dotty’ which never gave her much to work with. 

“Hi baby, god look how much you've grown hey?” He wore a maniacal smile that for a second, creeped Dot out as she sat across from the man who had helped you create her. “I wish I was around to see you grow up, kid.” It was a lie, Jaidyn wished Odette was dead. But something inside him told him that you would have hated the fact she was here with him right now. “But your mother ran off with you when you were only two, took me ages to find you and when I did she’d already started dating–” Jaidyn pretended to forget Bradley's name. So Dot filled in the blanks. Falling into the trap so easily because she was so utterly desperate to find out who she was. 

“Bradley, she’d already started seeing Bradley.” 

“That's his name!” Jaidyn just smiled, overly ecstatic. “Yeah, wouldn't let me see you at all.” There's a silence between the pair of them as they sit in the monitored room with guards watching Jaidyn like a hawk, because they know what he tried to do to the little girl Dot used to be. But she's none the wiser thanks to you. 

“Dad, why did you sign your rights away?” Odette asked, leaning in as she spoke a little quieter because it felt illegal to question it. “Did you not want me? Or–” 

“I was made to, your mother made me sweetheart, she wanted a life with that Bradley fellow and she forced me to sign those papers. She didn't want me involved with your life and I regret not fighting harder for you.” 

“But why are you in prison?” 

“I was set up for something I didn't do sweetheart, but I think you should ask your mum about that. If you don't know why I'm here then I guess she hasn't told you the whole story.” But as Dot shook her head, Jaidyn knew he had her hook line and sinker–

And he had one final chance to fuck with you. 

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

It's quiet in the car ride back home between Odette and her aunty Amilia. Dots hit her boiling point, she feels so utterly betrayed. She's sitting in the passenger's seat with her arms crossed looking out the window to hide the fact her bottom lip is quivering. 

She always knew you were hiding something but she never thought what you were hiding was that you’d set her dad up and forced him to sign his parental rights away. 

“Can you please keep the car running please?” Dot asked under her breath as she undid her seatbelt. Amilia just puts the car in neutral as she nods silently, sending her niece a soft smile of sympathy. Waiting for her to get out and march up to the house she couldn't stand to be in for a second longer with parents who’d lied to her her entire life. 

“Hey honey–” Amilia is greeting her husband over the phone. “I think Odette is coming back to stay with us tonight.” 

“I'm gonna tear that little pipsqueak a new one if she doesn't pull her bloody head in with all this crap baby.” Jakes pacing up and down the back deck back at home. He’s got a folder in his hand that explains everything. Jaidyns case file. The one that exposed you as the one thing you wanted to keep a secret from your daughter. 

That you were a victim of domestic abuse and attempted murder. 

“I said this wouldn't go well.” Amilia is taken aback when she hears shouting coming from inside the Bradshaw household. It's so loud that even Jake hears it on the other end of the line. “Holy fuck was that Dot?” 

“I think it was–but I can't be sure.” Amilia frowns. Deciding to stay in the car and wait for Odette to make her less than gracious return. 

“Dotty! Hey can you braid my hair for school tomorro–'' Riley is asking as Dot bursts through the front door, Odette just shoves at her younger sister till she's stumbling back. Dropping the brush she held out for Dot. 

“YOU LIED TO ME!! ABOUT EVERYTHING!” Odette is shouting at the top of her lungs. You just stare back at her with wide eyes as Nick, your eight year old, turns around to look at his older sister in complete shock from the spot on the floor in the living room he’d been playing his xbox at. YOU SAID HE DIDN'T WANT ME BUT HE DID!” 

“Honey, let's talk okay?” You try to reason with Odette as you take a step towards her, but all she does is shake her head as tears stream down her cheeks, stepping away from you to keep the distance between you. “Dot–?” 

“He told me that you took me from him, and when he finally found you after you ran away! That you'd already started dating Bradley!” 

“Who'd you take Odette from mum?” Nick is asking as he stood from where he’d been sitting on the ground. Dot just scoffs at you, watching as your eyes begin to fill with tears. You're shaking, so afraid of losing your daughter because you’d been too afraid to just own up and tell her the truth about it all, about everything her father did to you. 

“My real dad!” It's at this point Bradley is racing down the stairs after hearing Dot go off. He’s still putting a shirt over his head as he misses the last step. Slipping and stumbling before catching himself not so gracefully. “Because dad over here–” Dot spits in Bradley's direction as Riley and Nick look his way. “ISN'T MY REAL DAD!” 

It's the first time Nick and Riley ever hear that Bradley isn't Odette's biological dad and in the heavy silence that follows, they both erupt into tears. Not understanding what's happening and it breaks your heart. Your little family is being torn apart by a man you hadnt been in over forteen fucking years. 

“He’s a fake and a phoney and forced my real dad to sign his parental rights away because mum wanted to hurt him.” 

“That's enough young lady–” Bradley is squaring his shoulders and pointing a finger Dot's way. “You don't know a single thing about any of this–” Bradley doesnt want to raise his voice, he doesn't want to scare his children but the way he wanted to storm out the front door right now, grab Jake and storm that prison just to get rid of that son of a bitch once and for all was consuming him entirely. “You don't get to speak to your mother that way, or me.”

“Dad told me what you did to him!” Dots laughing at Bradley and in that moment you swear you see Jaidyn all over her sixteen year old face. “That you almost killed him and yet he’s the one rotting in prison for the rest of his life!” Bradley doesnt know what to say when he looks over at you with panic in his eyes, watching his son hug his mama because you're crying, watching as Riley stands clear away from everyone because she doesn't understand what's going on. “I hate you and I hate mum and I know everything I need to know to understand that you both lied to me for sixteen years–!” Odette steps towards Braldey who's still standing in the way of the stairs. “I'm going to get my stuff, I'm going to Uncle Jakes.” 

“Uncle Jake won’t put up with your attitude Odette.” Bradley hisses, stepping aside to watch his daughter stomp up the stairs. 

“I dont care, at least he won’t fucking lie to me like you two did.” 

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

Jakes irate when his wife, Amilia Fisher-Seresin and his spawn of satan niece Odette Lillian Bradsahw are pulling up in the driveway. But, he's going to be the bigger person in all of this chaos. Jake knew why you didn't want to tell Dot about everything that happened–but he was going to because if he didnt? He was afraid that Dot would never quit this behaviour, this totally unreasonable moody teenage melodrama she’d been living in for the past two years. 

Someone had to tell her to pull her fucking head in, and if she wasn’t about to listen to you or Bradley? like fuck was she about to not about to sit and listen to every word her dear old Uncle Jake had to say. 

Jakes sitting on the front veranda when Dot steps out of his wifes black suzuki swift, Dot catches his gaze the second she's throwing her overnight bag over her slumped shoulders. He's got a six pack of Budweiser next to him, a bowl of salt and vinegar chips and a cream coloured folder that's full of all your deepest darkest secrets. 

Dot trudges her way over to Jake as Amilia stops to give her husband a kiss before leaving him to be the person Odette needed right now. A friend, someone to loop her in on the situation. 

“Before you yell at me for yelling at mum, just know, I don't care.” Dot mumbles as she drops her bag and plops down beside Jake. He doesn't say anything, but the corner of his lip turns upright into a barely there smirk. It vanishes seconds after when he realises what he's about to do. You might end up hating him for this, but then again, what are brothers for? 

“Grab a beer.” Jake reaches down to grab his own, twisting the top off before taking a sip, sighing as his back hits the back of the cushiony lounge that sits perched on the veranda. “Go on–” 

“I’m sixteen–” Dot’s still trying to pass herself off as the goody goody niece. But Jake cuts her off before she can get too far along with it. 

“Shut the fuck up kid, Roosters told me you’ve smoked pot together on the roof, I’m not stupid, I know you drink–” Jakes trusting a sixteen year old girl to not throw his ass under the bus and tell the authorities on him for providing a minor with alcohol. He could lose his job for this if he was found out. But as he takes another sip, he watches as Dot leans forwards–grabs the beer bottle, and cracks the top off on the side of the small table that's holding the bowl of chips like a pro. She’d done this a million times before. 

“Did Rooster also tell you that he almost killed my dad?” Dot mumbles as her lips press against the dark glass of the beer she holds up. That's Jake's cue. He sits up, picks up the cream folder and hands it over to Dot. “What's this?” 

“Everything you’ll ever need to know about that dickhead you've been calling your real dad for the last couple of months when your dad’s been standing right in front of you.” Jake explains with a solemn tone. “You’re pissed because you think your mum hasn’t been telling you the truth, but that's not true–she hasn't been lying to you Dot, but she's too scared to tell you the whole truth because she thinks you’ll think she's weak.” 

“Mums a lot of things but being weak isn’t one of them.” Dot snickers, taking a sip before she's putting her beer down on the table, sitting back and opening the folder. Her eyes scan the photos that fall out into her lap. There's pictures of you, battered and bruised. There's pictures of Bradley, beaten half to death. And there's a photo of Dot, being held in Jake's arms in a towel, soaking wet, it looks like she's screaming in the picture. “What are these?” 

“Jaidyn Dolan is in jail for assault and battery, murder, attempted murder and commision of domestic violence in the presence of a child.” Jake Seresin had memorised those charges ever since he’d first heard them. It was like a lullaby to him nowadays. Those words soothed his soul to repeat, hell he wanted to engrave them on a plaque somewhere just to commemorate the momentous day that was Jaidyns sentencing. “Should be a lot more but that's just the charges they could get him on while he was in North Island, none of that accounts for the fact he used to be your mother black and blue when she was pregnant with you, the daughter he actually asked her to abort.” 

“Why has mum not told me any of this?” Dot asked, completely stunned as she trailed her fingertips over the picture of your younger self, she hardly recognised you. 

“Like I said honey–” Jake sighed, taking a sip of his beer as he pushed his hair from his face. “She didn't want you to feel sorry for her, she didn't want to and still doesn't want to be seen as weak.”

“He said Brad dad tried to kill him? Is that true?” Dot asked as she turned her attention to the report, reading bits and pieces of the faithful night that made her want to throw up.  

“Dadliey did.” Jake confirmed. “But only after Jaidyn tried to kill you.” 

Dot sat with her Uncle for about three hours, reading, listening, crying because she knew she broke your heart by even asking to go see that awful man who’d used her to get to you just one final time. The final twist in the metaphorical knife that would let you know he won. He was always going to win. 

“Holy shit I need to go home and apologise–” Dot sobbed as she whipped her tears, she’d had three beers by the time her deep and meaningful with Uncle Jake was over. “I need to go ho-home.” When Odette went to stand, she stumbled forward, unable to use her legs to support the eight of the world that had come crashing down around her. God she’d been such a dick to you, to Bradley. All you ever did was love her, protect her, and she'd just been throwing all that back in your face. 

Jake just sighed, watching as Odette cried her heart out on his veranda, crouching down beside her to rub small circles against her back. 

“I think you should give your parents some space for the night Dot, post up in the spare room, think about how much crap you've given them over the last few months, and when you do go home tomorrow, you can hash it out with them with a clear head.” 

“They’re gonna hate me forever.” Dot cried as she fell into her Uncle's chest. Jake just held her in his arms as she did, letting her let it all out in a safe environment. “Oh my god poor mum–!” 

“Please for the love of god dont say poor mum to your mother kid she’ll have me castrated on site.” Jake chuckles as he kissed his niece's forehead. “And no darlin, they could never ever hate you.” 

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

When Dot does arrive home the next day, Jake is dropping her off with a hangover that makes him question his own morals. Odettes almost as bad as Jake, she's wearing sunglasses because the suns far too bright and her head is pounding like crazy. 

“Hey Dot?” Jake's groaning, letting his head rest against the steering wheel of his wifes swift. 

“Yeah?” 

“Start pulling your head in before I shove my foot so far up your ass you’ll taste my shoe.” 

“On it–” Dots groaning back, she feels like death. But the self pity drinking she’d done with her Uncle late into the night wasn't going to help her now when she had to face her parents. So, she's fronting a brave face, dragging her feet through the threshold of the front door and into an eerily silent home she wasn't used to. She spots Riley at the dining table doing her homework. “Where is everyone?” 

“Nicks at soccer practice, it's Monday.” Riley doesn't even look up from what she's doing. “Not that you'd care anywhere, dad and I just got back from the beach because the swell was up.” 

“What about mum?” Dot mumbles as she drops her stuff, heading in the direction of the stairs. Riley just sighs, she's still mad at her older sister for making you cry. 

“Mums been in bed all day.” Guess Uncle Jake wasn't the only one who called in for a sick day. “Dad said she just needed a day to be by herself.” 

“Seems fair enough—“ Is all Dot manages to mumble as Riley looks at her like she doesn’t know who her sister is anymore. 

“Hey Odette?” 

“Hmm?” Dot looked over her shoulder. 

“Dad told me and Nick last night you have a different dad than us.” Riley confessed as she stood up from her spot at the dining table, collecting her work before she made her way over to the staircase that Dot had already started walking up. “And if you’re gonna keep treating him like he hasn’t been the best dad ever then I’m glad you aren’t really his.” Dot’s stunned to hear her twelve year old sister say something so confronting, but she knows she deserves it. 

“Thanks Rils, I’m sorry—“ 

“Don’t say you're sorry to me.” Riley sighs, stomping up the stairs with her homework. “Say you’re sorry to mum and dad.” 

Which is what Odette does. But it’s not an easy feat. She knocks on your bedroom door and there’s no answer. When she pushed the door open slowly? Odette is met with a darkness she’s never really seen your room shrouded in before. You and Bradley always seemed to have the curtains drawn—but right now? Dots stepping into your depression pit. Finding you still in your pyjamas, in the middle of the bed laying on your side, still teary eyed and full of sadness because this all could have been avoided if you’d just stuck to your guns and told her no. Or told her the truth for that matter. 

“Mum?” Bradley’s in the bathroom trimming his moustache, he can hear Dot talking apprehensively before she shuts the door behind her. “Mum, can I talk to you for a minute?” 

Bradley’s heart breaks a little more inside his chest when he doesn’t hear you answer, he hadn’t seen you like this since right after everything happened. The version of you who laid in the middle of the bed without speaking a peep all day was the same version of you Bradley Bradshaw first met when he came face to face with you in the threshold of Jake Seresin home when he’d come to check on him. The broken version. 

“I spoke with Uncle Jake—“ Oh fuck this can’t be good. Bradley thought to himself as Dot crawled up the bed into your arms. Nuzzling into you as Bradley stepped out of the bathroom with a towel slung low on his hips and a half shaved moustache. “He told me everything, about what happened—“ 

And with that you're bursting into tears, Bradley dips a knee on the bed as he leans in to hold you, but all you do is hold onto Odette a little tight as she cries with you too, hiding her head in your chest. 

“I’m so sorry—“ You sob, kissing her forehead. “I never wanted you to have to know.”

“No I’m glad I know, I’m so fucking sorry mum, dad—“ 

“You’re so grounded—“ You chuckle out through a whimper, still kissing Dot's cheek. “Like forever.” All Odette does is hug you tighter, accepting her punishment without a single complaint. 

“I expected that.”

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

Tags: @a-serene-place-to-be  @lilyevanswhore @thescarletknight2014  @blindedbythelightt  @averyhotchner @emma8895eb @blairfox04 @caitsymichelle13 @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo @teacupsandtopgun @aemondssiut @feltonswifesworld87 @akalei349 @notjustsomeblonde  @americaarse @avaleineandafryingpan @phoenix1388 @xoxabs88xox @je-suis-prest-rachel @pono-pura-vida @rosiahills22 @starset21 @anarchyrising

[idolsgf]

WIP Wednesday

Hi, I was tagged by @melisusthewee for WIP Wednesday, thank you <33

So, I haven’t really been working on much except small snippets here or there (work has been very hectic). However, I wrote this awhile ago late one drunken night and I do eventually want to go back to it and expand on it whenever I get the chance. I didn’t know if I would ever post it or not, but here it is :)

It was inspired by a song song that came up in a playlist I was listening to.

Song here 🎶 ( I do suggest listening while reading )

Everything undercut. The tense is kind of a mess so I do apologize for that

It’s the battlefield.

Dark fire swirling all around, the scorched earth warming her bloody face.

Breathless, not as spry as she used to be. The smoke is seeping into her lungs, every breath labored and aching.

One good hand and a crossbow. Four bolts left.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots him. He’s weaving seamlessly through the chaos, almost like a dance. A spark here, a barrier there. She’s mesmerized. The Dread Wolf.

Her breathing stops, heart in her throat. Memories come rushing back, memories she had pushed deep down. It was so hard to forget, why was it so easy to suddenly remember?

The scenes rush back, melding together in a hectic, melancholy blur. A first glance, laughter at stories, a stolen kiss. Sunlight streaming through the window, dust catching in the light. A soft stare over the pages of a report, a blush rising after being caught. A rainstorm, hiding a tear streaked face. only having to be there to comfort. A wound, feeling no pain while being healed, can’t keep her eyes off his. A secret dance. more battles, more stolen kisses, more laughter, more pain. A waterfall, a promise, only staring at his back as he rushed to leave.

Years pass.

Rushing through the mirror bloody and bruised, only to get the chance to see him one last time. She’s dying, hand burning, the foreign yet all too familiar magic spreading. An explanation, a final kiss, a promise. a mirror. Once again only being able to watch as he leaves. Arm fading. Magic seared into her heart.

var lath vir suledin

“Solas” the name doesn’t fully come out, catching in her throat. Solas. Louder and louder until she’s shouting it across the battlefield. He’s walking away, she doesn’t know if he can hear her. No. I will not watch again.

var lath vir suledin

It’s slow at first, her feet aching, the burn on her leg searing. She pushes it down, and starts running, dodging all that comes at her. nothing will keep her. An arrow whizzes past her ear, nicking the top. She keeps going.

She can see him now, bounding down the hill out of sight. She makes it to the edge.

“Solas!” she bellows, giving pause to some of the battle around her before starting back up into a frenzied scene. He stops, a pause. Shoulders tense, hand clenched around the worn wood, knuckles white.

Is it just for show, the staff? It must be. He’s the Dread Wolf. A wild beast that does not need the silly inventions of mortals to make an impact.

He’s still Solas.

He turns, eyes to the ground before his head snaps up. That look almost knocks her back, catching her off guard. Those sad blue eyes, they’re not the eyes of an all powerful deity, hell bent on tearing the world down. Not the eyes of an evil mastermind, carefully moving the chess pieces across the board. Not a god giggling madly in glee at the edge of the fade after betraying the people. Not even the eyes of one who wants to free them.

They’re pleading. Eyes of someone who only wants to tell the truth. A flash of a waterfall. Tears prickling at the edge of her vision, taking all of her strength to hold them back. She has cried enough. It’s not his right to bring them back out.

He looks up at her, no indication of movement, the only one being a slight twitch of his hand. Almost as if he wants to reach for her. Time freezes still.

Crossbow raised, arrow notched.

[residentdormouse]

Valentines Day Game

I didnt want to go crazy in a reply, especially when it was already getting long, so I made a new post.

@asirensrage tagged me in a Valentine's Day game post. A 'find the last fictional character in your camera roll' type deal. You're going on a date, use x, y, z to say where, what activity, and what note it ends on.

(Original Post Here - if you'd like to play - '@' me)

So I pull up the camera roll, and I guess I'm in a creative lag because my first one is still the banner I did for my fanfic series:

So, I either pick one of the bunch, or say it's a big old group date. Ok, options. And then I look at what were're working with.

Place: Athens - alright, that's pretty awesome. I'm on board.

Activity: Laser Tag. Oh. oh...

End of the Night Surprise: Chocolate. Irrelevant - I'm still hung up on the activity.

So alright, laser tag. Group date it is. And holy hell is it insanity. In the spirit of desperately needing something to write, I let this play out in my head. Maybe somebody here may get some amusement from all this:

Steph and Nick are taking this very seriously. Sure she is usually behind a controller with this type of thing, but dammit, she's got a gamer reputation to uphold. Her world. You came to her world and started shit. Nick is also tuned into the slightest movement. Other stimulus cut out, he is focused, and proximity to Steph and her gaming habits have heavily rubbed off on him. For having no real magic between them, it's a formidable team.

Lloyd, somebody send help to this poor bastard. Flagg is just messing with him. Constantly. He is spazing out, and is just one jump scare away from pummeling somebody with this damn piece of shit plastic bullshit. We're on a team goddamn it! You think this is fucking helping?!

Flagg isn't just messing with Lloyd though, he's messing with all. Did you think you were safe. Nope. That fucker is leaning against the wall, pushing off casually with one foot as he shoots on his target. Blink and he's gone. Thankfully, Gwen can see what is happening and is not above using her abilities to challenge Flagg when she's around. Somebody needs to teach his ass to play fair.

Hayden and Glen, well, they're playing hookie. Their vests are hanging from the corner of one of the back walls, and guns are setting on the floor by the emergency exit. No time was wasted finding a wedge and blocking the door open so they could smoke outside. At first, they'd pop in to fire a few bullshit shots to stay active, but eventually they called it. Why stay here when they can be strolling about looking for some new paint spots? It's Athens for Fuck's sake. Nobody will see them again until their game time slot is over, but goddamn is that chocolate going to hit the spot when they get back.

Harold and Max are also ditching, but they have not left the building. With an deadpan 'oops', Max will commit a laser murder/suicide before slamming Harold against the nearby wall. Vests are thrown to the floor, guns tossed away. Somebody lost a shirt. Is that a shoe? They're lucky they made it to the employees only bathroom in time.

[heroesandlovers]

Nancy Drew 2x17 “The Judgement of the Perilous Captive”

Nancy, Gil, and Ryan The episode opens with a tied up Everett with his mouth duck-taped shut. The audience is supposed to wonder, "Has Nancy truly given into her Hudson genes to do something so malicious?"

Nancy and Gil are trying to get a confession out of Everett about Celia. But Everett seems genuinely surprised (although not particularly upset) to hear that Celia is dead.

They took him to Lucy Sable’s house!? Def not something I caught first time.

Everett knows just how to play in to Nancy’s (and Gil’s too) vulnerabilities. Since the confession isn’t working, Nancy looks for some other proof to implicate him. What she finds instead is that Celia and Everett’s prenup indicates Everett would forfeit Celia’s fortune if Celia was ever murdered, casting doubt on Everett’s guilt.

Queue Ryan storming in who violently attacks Everett. Nancy eventually pieces together that The Road Back may have been involved. And this may have all been because Celia helped Nancy keep the list out of their hands.

“Your grandmother was brutally murdered…to send a message…to you”.

Ryan tries to help Nancy cope by reminding her that Celia was far more culpable in this than she was.

Nancy, Ryan, and Gil put on a show by pretending they are going to kill Everett so that he can make a deal with Gil to let him go….only to use it to follow Everett to where the Black Crown tape is. The tape revealed footage of a younger Everett killing his own brother Josiah in the woods.

Nick is trying to move forward with his youth center but has hit a snag with one of the local business owners who think the youth center will attract the wrong sort of attention to the town. But Nick is determined. He figures out a zoning work around and also gets Tamura on board. This storyline is really a slow burn for Nick's character arc huh.

Bess and Carson are looking for Nancy once they hear the news about Celia. Carson also shows Bess the picture he took of Nancy.

“You kids. You see things like this quite often” - Carson may be the only one who remembers they are teenagers.

They go to Hannah for help and after examining some old photos, they put together a progressive timeline. She delivers the news that Nancy has only days to live.

Episode cliffhanger- Going into the finale episode. We see a flashback of events throughout the entire season where the wraith had been influencing Nancy. Once again. Well done writers. I don’t even think the wraith has been MENTIONED! Since episode 1. I had certainly forgotten about it and would never have thought of it. Also, weaving this into Nancy’s own identity crises. And mentioning how the wraith has been playing on her own vulnerabilities. I already just want to give Nancy a hug.

Random observation- They’ve really been sidelining Ace these past few eps. Is it all a misdirect? Don’t want to play their hand too much before the finale?

I’m imagining the conversation” OK since you guys can’t dial back the chemistry we’re just gonna keep you two out of scenes together until the finale”

[goodneighborxfallout]

Reaction: Trying to get back together with the companions

(This is the “sequel” to ‘breaking up with the companions’, a reaction you can find here.

Btw I’m confused with what tense to use. What do you guys think? Future, present, past or “would”?)

------------------------------------------------------------

Cait

Oh boy, would she be pissed! You broke her heart and more importantly, her trust, and now you had the audacity to tell her it was all a mistake?? Cait would not hesitate to give you a piece of her mind and if you two stayed friends after the break-up this confession of yours probably ruined that as well. She couldn’t believe she fell for someone so indecisive and selfish.

Cait might forgive you and give you a second chance if you try for a really long time to get her back and show her how big of a mistake breaking up with her was, but she wouldn’t trust you for a long time and be wary of your actual feelings, so much so it might end your relationship for the second time… 

Curie

Curie would be so happy you wanted to get back together that she didn’t even think before taking you back. Only after a few days did she start to doubt her decision. Your feelings were so… feeble. One day you’re both in a happy relationship, next day you break it off, now you want her again. How can she know you won’t break up with her again in a few days or weeks? Or even months! Curie was in it for the long run, but she wasn’t so sure you were. She’d let you know about her doubts and if you reassured her of your feelings towards her, she would honestly give your relationship a second chance. 

Danse

Danse would want to say no to you so badly, he’d want to let you know that he wasn’t to be toyed with, but he’d missed you so much and he really needed you, so before he fully realized it, he had gone against his pride and voice of reason and taken you back into his arms before you could even finish telling him how big of a mistake it had been to break up with him. Much like Curie, only after the initial bliss of having you back had worn off, would he start to doubt and wonder. At first, he would try to be away from you as much as possible to think things over, but when he realized his own thoughts only made things worse, he’d finally let you in on how he felt. Fortunately for you, Danse really wouldn’t need that much convincing to believe you really just had made a mistake breaking up with him and wanted things to go back to the way they were before. After everything, Danse still respected you, and he had no reason to believe you’d be dishonest with him. 

Deacon

Unlike Danse, Deacon lost a lot of respect for you the moment you told him you wanted him back, so much so that he just pretended he didn’t hear you. After all, he didn’t want to lose respect for you, but he had dealt with your break-up, he had dealt with how your feelings changed and he had respected that. It felt like a sick joke that you were now in front of him saying it had all been a mistake. He had lost you, he had his heart broken, and for what? It hadn’t been easy for Deacon to open up to someone and let them in, he had waited until he was 100% sure that he trusted and loved you, but apparently, you didn’t put that much weight into your decision towards your relationship with him and that disgusted him slightly. The moment Deacon brushed off your confession, you knew you were back to square 1 with him, and though that disappointed you, it didn’t not surprise you, and if you were serious about wanting him back you’d put in the effort to gain back his trust, no matter how long that might take. 

Hancock

Hancock was just chilling with some chems in the Old State House when all of a sudden you stormed into his room, clearly drunk and with tears streaming down your face. Hancock would be absolutely shocked, but he’d hide that and be his usual, calm and collected self. “Woah there, sister/man, you doing alright there?” Hancock only got more concerned when you threw yourself in his arms, but being the good friend that he was, he’d comfort you. But only when he heard you cry “I hate it when you call me that, I wanna be your sunshine again”, did he understand what was truly going on. He wouldn’t respond to it, because he figured you were too emotional to be making any decisions right now, so instead, he dragged you over to the bed and let you sleep, snuggled against his chest. The next morning he’d have a long talk with you about your sudden change of heart and if you were still certain that you wanted him back, he’d take you back in a heartbeat. Hancock would warn you there wouldn’t be a third time, though deep inside he knew he could never say no to you. 

MacCready

If you and MacCready hadn’t really spoken since your break-up and had each gone your separate ways, he’d be mostly just confused when you all of a sudden visited him in the backroom of the Third Rail. He didn’t understand why you were there and when you told him you wanted him back, he’d just be scratching the back of his head, not knowing how to respond to that. But it wouldn’t take long for him to take you back. He understood you, more than most other people did. He knew what you were going through and he also felt like running from everything sometimes. Ironically, if you two stayed close after the break-up, Mac would have more reservations about getting back together. He was glad you two were able to remain friends, but he wasn’t sure you two could go through another possible break-up and still be friends, so he’d want to take more time for you both to deal with things and figure out what it is exactly that you both want. 

Nick

Completely, utterly flabbergasted. Yes, he was hurt when you broke up with him, but he was also relieved to know that you were normal! And somehow living a normal life without a prototype synth boyfriend, wasn’t making you as happy as being with him? Though Nick had trouble wrapping his head around it, he knew you’d never be dishonest with him, so he believed you and he did not hesitate to take you back. Your relationship actually became stronger because he no longer had any doubts that he wasn’t good enough for you. He would sit you down often and talk about your relationship, your feelings and everything you were going through, because from everything you had told him when apologizing, he deduced that it was an overload of those three things that had caused you to suddenly break things up in the first place and he wanted to create a safe space for you where you could just let that all out and let him in on it in at the same time. 

Piper

Her initial emotion is anger, but when she finally opens her mouth to say something, she just sounds disappointed. “What do you expect me to say to that, Blue?” Piper doesn’t want to be messed with so if you’d honestly want her back, you’re gonna have to work hard for it. But once she realizes that you really mean it, she’d forgive you and after some time she'd take you back.

Preston

Stares at you speechless for a few minutes and eventually just says “damn…”. (I mean really what did you expect?). If you don’t respond or if you encourage him to speak his mind, he’d scratch the back of his head and say: “I don’t know, general, I think we have a good thing going on right now. I don’t want to ruin this.” Preston is always thinking about what’s best for the Minutemen and he doesn’t want anything to come in between that, definitely not some love quarrel with the general. He was glad your first break-up ended so well, but he thought a second time was too risky. It would take convincing to get him on board with a relationship again, and the best way to do that would be to show him how serious you were about making it work this time. 

X6-88

As if X6-88 wasn’t confused enough already when you first broke up with him, now you want to get back together?? You might as well have said his recall code, because for a moment there it looked like he had shut down. After trying to understand why you once again had had a change of heart, X6 will just become annoyed with you. Clearly, you don’t know what you want or what you’re doing, and for a courser whose sole purpose was to follow orders, this was not only hard to comprehend, but also a sign of weakness in his eyes. It had always taken time for X6 to understand everything going on in your head, but to him this particular thing was just disappointing. It was you who had confessed your feelings towards him, who had explained to him the entire concept of love and relationships, it was you who had been able to convince him to give it a try, and then it had been you with the sudden change of heart and now this? X6 will express his disappointment in you and then just walk off, not knowing how badly his words had hurt you.

[impalas-r-important]

Love of my Life - (5) Don't play games with me

Summary: Game night ends with a surprise

Warnings: N/A. Let me know if you find any that I should be listing!

A/N: I know Jody isn't a big player at this point in the show, and that Donna hasn't even been introduced. But I love them and we're just going to pretend for the sake of the story!

Series Masterlist

It was your turn to make treats for game night, so after you had showered and dressed, you pulled together ingredients for cookies and preheated the oven. Sam, Bobby and Nick were in the living room and Dean had just joined.

“Of course, you show up after we’ve cleaned the place.” Bobby remarked as Dean sat down. The boys all talked and laughed for a while, and you were glad to see that Dean was finally warming up to Nick. Once you put the cookies in the oven, you began to clean up.

“I’ll wash if you dry.” A deep voice offered. You looked up to find Nick holding out a dish towel to you, which you accepted.

“I’m glad to see Dean is finally speaking to you.” You gave Nick a side glance.

“Yeah, me too. He’s a really cool guy, I’d love to pick his brain sometime.”

The two of you worked like a well-oiled machine and were done with the dishes in no time. Dean couldn’t help but watch from the living room.

“Dean, are you even listening?” Sam snapped his fingers and frowned. He knew exactly what Dean was watching.

“Yeah, sorry. What’d you ask?” Dean blinked a few times, bringing himself back to reality.

“What games should we play tonight?” Sam opened up an old cupboard full of card and board games.

“I’m always down for a little poker.” Dean said as he grabbed a few decks of playing cards.

Jody filed in soon after and brought Donna with them, who had been visiting. You yelled hello from the kitchen and pulled the cookies from the oven.

“Smells amazing.” Nick leaned over the tray and inhaled, then reached for a cookie. You quickly slapped his hand.

“You gotta wait until the games start.” Nick gave you an exaggerated puppy dog look. “Sorry, not buying it. Sam’s been giving me that look for years. I’m immune to it.” Nick huffed in defeat and gave you a quick kiss on the forehead.

Jody couldn’t help but notice the new hunter who was strangely close to you. She approached Sam with a headful of questions. “Sam, did I just see some guy give Y/N a kiss on the forehead?”

“Yeah, that’s Nick. He’s been hanging around here for a few weeks while he heals up from saving Bobby’s bacon. He’s a decent guy, and he’s got it real bad for Y/N.”

“Uh huh…” Jody paused to think. “I guess what I’m really wondering is why hasn’t Dean ripped Nick’s throat out for even standing 5 feet from Y/N?”

“I’m sure he wants to. But Dean made his choice, and I reminded him that. I hated seeing Dean lead Y/N on like he might eventually get back with her someday.”

“But we all know Lisa’s just a temporary thing, right?” Jody looked to Sam for assurance, but he stayed silent. “Right?!” She emphasized.

“I don’t know anymore. I don’t think she’s right for Dean, but he hasn’t given any signs of leaving her. Maybe it’s permanent.” Sam took a drink of his beer.

“Oh.” Jody looked back over into the kitchen to see Nick leaning against the counter watching you with adoring eyes as you moved the cookies from the baking sheet to the cooling rack. “She does seem happy with him, and hell she deserves to be happy. But I gotta admit, Dean and Y/N seemed like they were perfect for each other. Like a match made in heaven.” She scanned the room to find Dean sitting on a chair in the corner next to Donna, trying his best to look invested in their conversation, but stealing occasional glances into the kitchen. Jody excused herself from her conversation with Sam and placed her hand on Dean’s arm, interrupting Donna mid-sentence. “Can I steal Dean for a sec?” Donna nodded and smiled, and Jody signaled for Dean to follow her out of the room. She sat down on the bottom step of the staircase. Dean followed suit.

“Everything ok, Jody?” Dean asked with concern in his eyes.

“I should be asking you that.”

Dean looked taken aback by her question and simply responded, “Well I’m just peachy,” before finishing off his beer.

“Dean, you don’t seem happy. Maybe it’s none of my business, but I think you and I know each other well enough that I can ask… What the hell are you doing?”

“What?” A confused Dean looked at Jody with questioning eyes.

“I’ll say it once and then drop it, because I’m not one to nag.” Jody took a deep breath and exhaled. “You belong with Y/N, Dean. I know it, you know it, everyone knows it. You were literally made for each other. The first time that I saw you with Y/N, I knew that she was the one for you. I saw it in your eyes, and how you spoke with her, how you touched her. It was straight out of a crappy romance novel.” Jody looked at Dean, who was avoiding eye contact. “So, I don’t know what’s going on between you two, or between Y/N and Nick, or between you and Lisa. But I know what I know, and I know that Y/N is the girl for you. You’re not really you when you’re not with her.”

Dean played with the label on his beer bottle and remained silent for a few moments, as did Jody. She wanted to give him the chance to talk if he wanted to.

“I’m still in love with her.” Jody could feel the pain dripping from his words. “I wake up every morning wishing that she and Sam had just rang the stupid doorbell instead of leaving for a year the night they came back. I would have left with them and I’m know I would still be with Y/N now. But I made a commitment that I can’t bring myself to break.”

“To Lisa?” Jody placed her hand on Dean’s back. He shook his head and closed his eyes, trying to contain his emotions.

“To Ben.” He answered and clenched his jaw. “I don’t love Lisa and I would have left the second I knew Y/N was back. But when Ben looked me in the eyes and told me that he thinks of me as his Dad, his real Dad, I knew I had to stick around for the long haul. I know firsthand how an absentee father can screw you up, and I can’t do that to him. But I can’t keep pretending that everything is all right.”

“I see.” Jody nodded. “Have you told anyone else about this? Sam or Bobby?” Dean shook his head. “Well, I can’t tell you what you do in this situation, but I do know that you’re a good man, Dean Winchester, and I’m here if you ever need to talk through things.” Dean nodded and Jody stood up, pulling him up by the arm. “Let’s go play some games.” She smiled and led him into the living room where the furniture had been pushed to the sides of the room to make room for the poker table.

“There you are!” You greeted as Dean and Jody joined your group. You could tell Dean was off as he sat down across from you. His eyes met yours and you immediately recognized the pain in his expression. Dean took a deep breath, picked up the cards he had been dealt, and put on a fake smile. At this point in his life, he was an expert at putting on a happy face, but you knew him too well and saw right through it. You were pulled back to reality by Nick putting his hand on your knee, signaling it was your turn. You gave him a sheepish smile and played your cards.

Your felt your heart being torn in 2 ways. For a long time, you thought Dean would be your forever, and you knew a part of you would always love him no matter what. But he was with someone else and showed no signs of wanting you anymore. Nick, on the other hand, was caring and had opened his heart to you quickly. He was handsome and funny and sweet, and any girl would be lucky to have him. You felt in the wrong because you knew that even if you pursued a relationship with Nick, you wouldn’t be able to give him all of you. Dean Winchester would always own a piece of your heart, a big one at that, and you were reminded of that every time you looked at him.

Hours had passed and it was getting late. You had all had fun, but people were filing out the door. You organized the cards into their proper decks and put them away. Sam helped you fold the table up and Nick and Bobby were picking up bottles and cans and clearing plates. You didn’t see Dean and assumed he must have left with the group but thought it was odd that he didn’t say goodbye. You said goodnight to the boys and headed up to your room. Dean had been off all night and you were worried. Your hand reached into your pocket and pulled out your phone. You scrolled down to Dean’s name and debated whether or not to call him. As you pushed your door open, you were startled to find someone sitting on your bed. You immediately went into defense mode, grabbing a knife from the top of your dresser.

“Dean?” You asked softly, putting down the knife and joining him on the edge of the bed. He was looking through an old photo album that you kept in the drawer of your nightstand.

“I remember when we took this. Sam was so mad that we stopped in the middle of the desert for one stupid picture.” Dean held up a picture of you sitting on top of his shoulders, pointing to the “Welcome to New Mexico” state sign. Dean was wearing a grey t-shirt and sunglasses and you had your hair pulled up in a messy ponytail. This was one of your favorite pictures. You made the boys stop so you could take a picture anytime you passed one of those state signs and were determined to get a picture with all 50 of them. Dean thought it was stupid at first, but he saw how happy it made you. Eventually he joined in, and the two of you would make silly poses next to each sign, leaving Sam to be the photographer.

“There’s still a few states that I need pictures of.” You took the book from Dean and slowly flipped through the pages. This album was one of your most cherished belongings, but you hadn’t looked through it for almost a year and a half. The memories that these pictures brought back were always happy at first but following closely behind was the pain of knowing that you and Dean would never be that close again.

“How many? Maybe we can take a few road trips and hit the ones you don’t have. Could be fun.” Dean suggested, raising his eyebrows.

You wanted to say yes, pack a bag, and leave right that minute. That’s the kind of thing the two of you used to do. But things were different now. Your smile faded, and instead of accepting his invitation, all you managed to say was, “Are you sure Lisa would be okay with that?”

Dean pursed his lips and nodded, silently agreeing that you had a point. He turned to look at you with desperation in his eyes and opened his mouth to say something before Sam walked in, breaking the tension.

“Hey, man, I thought you left. Thanks for helping clean up.” Sam said sarcastically as he flopped down on your bed. “Oh, man, I remember these pictures.” He took the book from your hands and scanned the pictures. “I miss these times. The three of us out on the road.”

“Me too.” You and Dean agreed in unison.

It was already late, but you and the brothers stayed up for at least another hour remembering stories about your past. You could hear Nick’s boot heavy on the stairs as he walked towards your room.

“Nick!” Sam yelled to get his attention.

Nick stopped and peaked his head in the door. “This must be the afterparty.” He smiled and you signaled for him to come in.

“Alright, you gotta tell us your craziest hunting story.” Sam demanded.

“Hmm…” Nick pondered and scratched his head. “Twin falls, Idaho, 2010. Four vamps, two werewolves, one ghoul, and two idiot hunters who thought they could handle it by themselves.”

“Sounds like the start of a crappy joke.” Dean chimed in.

Nick laughed and continued with his story. You all exchanged hunting tales until you grew tired and gave a big yawn.

“You know, my buddy found a case in Virginia. We could head out in the morning and help him if you guys feel up to it?” Nick suggested. “I’m dying to get back out there, even if I am limited.” He lifted his leg with the boot on it.

“I’m game!” Sam hopped off the bed. “I’ll go pack. Night guys.”

“Y/N?” Nick looked for your answer.

“Hell yes. I’m itching for a good fight.” You said sleepily.

“Sweet. See you in the morning.” Nick winked at you as he left.

“I’d offer for you to come, but…” You trailed off; your words directed at Dean.

“I know.” Dean nodded in acceptance. He readjusted himself to lay back on your bed, hands behind his head. “I miss hunting.”

“Hunting misses you.” You laid down next to him. “I mean, you’re Dean freaking Winchester. I’ve been told by a reliable source that some people call you The Ultimate Hunter.” You exaggerated your words and chuckled to yourself.

“More like the ultimate retiree now.”

You studied the ceiling and looked over to Dean, who had his eyes closed. It was at least 2 AM and you figured he was tired. “So, what were you doing in here tonight, anyway?” You figured you deserved an answer since he almost gave you a heart attack.

Dean’s breathing was slow and steady. “I don’t know. I just started walking and this is where I ended up.”

“Going through my stuff? You’re lucky I didn’t throw my knife at you. You scared the crap out of me when I first walked in.”

Dean smiled. “That’s what you get for beating me in poker tonight.”

“You mean kicking your ass in poker tonight?”

“Same difference.” He pushed you with his elbow a bit. The two of you lay in silence for a few minutes.

“You seemed off tonight.” You glanced at him.

“Just tired. Bobby’s couch wasn’t the most comfortable last night.”

“No, that’s not it. Are you feeling okay lately? You’ve been over here more in the past few weeks than you have in the past few months.”

Dean shrugged. “I guess it just sucks knowing that I’m being replaced.”

“Replaced?”

“Yeah. With Nick.”

“Uh, Nick isn’t replacing you.” Dean sat up and swung his feet over the edge of the bed.

“Sure feels like it. Sam has become fast friends with him, Bobby trusts the guy, and now the gang is going out on a hunt without me.”

“Dean, you know we’d love it if you came hunting with us, but you got out of the life and Sam and I are just trying to respect that.”

Dean rubbed his hands over his face. “But worst of all, I see the way he looks at you. I know that look because that’s how I used to look at you.” You looked down at the floor, searching for the right words. “Hell, I still do, Y/N/N.”

Chapter 6

Tags:

@vicmc624

[mason-knight-retired]

this is so self-indulgent I want to crawl out of my own skin with second hand embarassment rn (happy father’s day, mase)

+++

It’s only by virtue of his phoenix reflexes that Mason manages to snatch the potato flying at his head out of the air a split second before it connects with this face.

He stares down at it in his hand in the middle of the Morrisini villa’s sprawling kitchen. “What the hell do you want me to do with this, Zeus?”

Nico shoves a small contraption at him, as well as a large bowl and a bulging hessian bag. “Peel it.”

“Peel…? What?”

“Peel it,” Nico repeats. He gestures to the bag. “And all those too.”

“Uh, no. These hands were not made for manual labour.”

“Mase,” Marie huffs, her hands on hips on the other side of the sprawling island bench. “I expect that from Sinclair, but not from you.”

“He’s become too accustomed to the good life. Too pampered,” Maddox says from his perch on a stool nearby. He pops something into his mouth and crunches loudly as he smirks in Mason’s direction.

Mason snorts. “Like you can talk, Ajax.”

Outside, the sun shines across the villa’s grounds and the wind carries in the excited squeals of the children as they race over the lawn and splash in the villa’s pool. It was another one of Nico’s family gatherings, one of the many he insisted on each year and that everyone knew better than to argue about. One year, before they had the twins, Mason and Ethan had been off world and the earful they’d copped had them immediately hightailing it back to Earth from Citadel space to make it in the nick of time.

They all know better than to argue when Nico puts the call out now.

Mason peers through the large windows overlooking the vineyards. It was beautiful here, he couldn’t deny it, and the twins loved catching up with the Morrisini brood but being put to work by Nico in the kitchen was more than what Mason was prepared to take.

“Actually, you know what, I’m just going to go see if Ethan needs any help with the ki-“

“Sit your ass down and start peeling, Huntsman.”

“Better do as he says,” Archer says. He rests on a stool, one leg out in front of him and a lethal looking blade in one hand. There are slabs of red meat on the chopping board in front of him. “Or you might end up having to do something worse.” “Is that what you’re doing?”

“Just putting some long dormant skills to good use.”

“Well, we didn’t all marry celebrity chefs in our youth, Rose,” Mason chuckles just as Luca comes tumbling through the doorway.

“Nic! Marie! I need potassium hydroxide and ethanoic acid and um, like a really big stick.”

Marie frowns. “Well, I can give you two out of those things but what do you need them for?”

“No time to explain, have you got it- never mind, this will do!” he’s gone again in a flurry of wild curls.

Silence drags around the room and there’s a distant squeal and a pop that has them all tensing suddenly. Mason waits with bated breath for inevitable wail of tears that will send them all rushing outside but it doesn’t eventuate.

“What is he doing out there?”

Marie takes a calming breath and pinches her nose. “I… I don’t want to know.”

Nico slides his arm around her and kisses her temple, whispering something into her ear Mason can’t (and probably doesn’t want) to hear. She seems more tired than usual and it’s not lost on Mason that her glass is only sparkling water and not wine. He wonders if baby number five might be on their way for them.

Five. Mason shudders inwardly at the thought. The twins were a handful on their own and that was with help. There had been a long, long period there that Mason wondered if his and Ethan’s sex life would ever recover.

“You’re still not peeling, Huntsman,” Nico warns, turning his attention back to him.

“Make Rose do it,” Mason grumbles, only for Archer to swirl that lethal looking knife over the chopping board in front of him.

“He’s already put me to work, as you can see.”

“Seriously, Mase,” Marie huffs as she busies herself with slicing up the fresh bread. The spread of food was insane, much of it grown on the villa grounds, more of it transported from Cerillo’s farm on Nova Terra. “Who does the cooking in your household if you won’t even peel a potato then?”

“The... Ah… Help…”

Marie’s knife pauses as she looks up at him suspiciously. Maddox goes to swipe an olive from the tray but she swats him away without taking her eyes off him. “How many do you have now?”

Mason doesn’t like where this is going. “Three?”

“Three?!” Marie splutters but he’s pretty sure that might be jealousy in her eyes. He shrugs, nonchalant. “Oh my god, well, aren’t you living the good life.”

“What do you expect? Pampered wardog over here,” Maddox comments, pilfering another olive. Nico snatches his wrist.

“Next time you go for another one, I’m gonna stab you.”

Maddox growls. “Fine. Hurry up already then. I’m going to go check on Mini in the nursery then check on the kids. Who knows what Sinclair has got them up to.”

He exchanges a filthy kiss with Archer before he leaves that has Mason rolling his eyes.

“It’s not Ethan you should be worried about,” he mutters as Archer snorts.

“Huntsman!” Nico barks. “Potatoes!”

--

The evening is balmy with summer and it’s well into the twilight by the time they all come to eat at the long trestle table piled high with food under the trees of the Morrisni villa. Fairy lights drape overhead, shedding a sparkle over glasses and kids squeal and thread among the adults as they enjoy the meal.

Mason does his best to balance Max on his knee they eat and the entire affair is noisy and chaotic, full of laughter and warmth and old friendships forged in blood and fire. Nico reigns supreme at the head of the table like some kind of benevolent god and he might as well be. It’s Nico that has been the one to draw them all together, year after year, no matter how far they spread across the galaxy. Familiar faces they’ve fought alongside of, faces they love now gone their separate ways now that the war was over. Their time on the Berlin felt like another life, a long ago memory that might have happened to someone else.

Mason never thought he’d miss it, but it’s long been regulated to a portion of his past alongside his early childhood in Sydney and Phoenix One.

He juggles his wine glass over Max’s head and listens in to the conversation around him. He presses his leg against Ethan’s under the table, needing the contact suddenly. Ethan catches his eye and wordless smile graces his lips as he leans in to brush a kiss to Mason’s cheek and lightly ruffles Max’s hair.

“Want me to take him for a bit?”

“No, he’s fine, as long as he stops squirm-“ Mason rescues his wine glass just before it goes flying. Max was almost getting too big for this, but Mason didn’t like to think about that. “Whoa, easy there.”

“Sorry, Dad.”

“You’re okay, mate. Where’s your sister anyway?”

Max shrugs, leaning back against Mason and chewing on a piece of bread but Ethan motions with his head to look down the table. He spies Ben at the other end with Lexi’s arms tight around his neck and she’s giggling as Luca attempts to juggle spoons beside them. Mason smiles then stabs the gnocchi on his plate and lifts it up to show his husband proudly.

“Hey so while you were outside with the kids, I made these.”

Marie pauses her conversation with Isaac and Archer on the other side of the table to laugh. “Mase, you peeled one potato.”

He waves his fork dismissively. “Still counts.”

They all chuckle, Archer’s more muted on account of the small bundle on his chest. It doesn’t feel that long ago that Lexi and Max were that tiny and Mason is about to mention as much to Archer before their conversation is interrupted by Ciara crashing into her mother’s side. Her gold eyes wide as she gushes excitedly about fireflies.

Mason glances back at his own daughter. She’s on Ben’s lap now, trying to feel him with all the grace of a five year old’s giggling and over exuberant enthusiasm. “Does Lex need anything?” he says to his husband.

Ethan smirks as they watch on. Ben has a smear of sauce down one side of his mouth and across his chin. “It looks like Uncle Scoots has it covered.”

Max scrambles off Mason’s lap and latches himself straight to Ciara’s side. Mason protests softly. “Hey, where are you going?”

“Ci says she knows where the fireflies are!”

“Oh, no you don’t. Finish eating first. Then fireflies.”

“Aw, dad!” Max’s whine is joined by Marcello and Enzo’s as they materialize out of the dark and they all groan dramatically. “But fireflies!”

“You’re not allowed to go running around in the dark by yourselves. Someone might get hurt.”

There are more protests before Eva climbs to her feet. “I can take them, if you like?”

Mason looks up at the Fury. If they’re safe with anyone, they’ll be safe with her but he slides a questioning glance at Ethan anyway. “Are you sure?”

Eva shrugs, a small smile on her lips. “Sure. Luca and Ben will want to come too.”

“We’ll all go,” Marie announces. She stands up and motions for everyone else to as well. “It’s about time for the bonfire anyway.”

“Bonfire?!” The kids squeal and take off running into the darkness.

“Wait, kids-“

There’s a wink of blue in the distance when Eva appears in front of them, sending the kids all shrieking in excitement. Mason downs the rest of his wine for fortitude then pulls his husband in for a kiss in case he can’t steal any later.

“Come on, Sabre, let’s go.”

--

If they find fireflies, Mason doesn’t see them.

The excitement of time spent with their adoptive family and the bonfire have both kids melting down from too much over stimulation and it’s touch and go for a while until they both crash in his arms. Mason watches the flames dance and listens to Luca’s voice as he strums his guitar, Lexi’s head tucked under his chin while Ethan sits beside him with Max asleep against his chest.

They should probably get the kids back to the villa, tuck them into their beds, but he’s reluctant to move and spoil the moment.

Luca sings, his voice carrying clearly over the crackle of the fire, first upbeat songs with words half substituted thanks to the buzz of Nico’s homemade grappa he insisted they all sample. Ciara twirls barefoot, hair streaming out behind her as Maddox takes her on a makeshift waltz around the bonfire and Nico hands out mugs of mulled wine as Isaac and Eva sit with heads bent together roasting marshmallows in the flames. On their other side, Marie is flanked by each one of her sons, both slumped against her, not quite asleep but dangerously close. And Archer, cane discarded by his chair and a baby on his chest, sits quietly beside Ben, staring thoughtfully into the fire.

“You know, if anyone had told me on P1 this is how our life would end up, I’m pretty sure I would have laughed myself out an airlock,” Mason says to Ethan. “Sometimes I can’t believe it.”

“We’re the lucky ones,” Ethan agrees quietly. The firelight catches the line of his jaw and sends his hair shining gold. He’s still the most beautiful man Mason has ever met and he’s all Mason’s.

After ten years, it still hasn’t got old.

“Any regrets?”

Ethan turns to him and leans in. Mason meets him halfway, pressing a kiss to his mouth, mindful of the dual weights on their chests and careful not to wake them. Then Ethan draws back. “Not a single one.”

“Me neither,” Mason murmurs but then the moment is interrupted when Nico shows up. 

“Here,” he grunts, handing them each a metallic mug. Something spicy Mason doesn’t recognize wafts up.

Mason takes the mug hesitantly and looks up at Nico with a silent lift of his eyebrow. “Am I going to have to peel anymore potatoes if I take this?”

“No,” Nico rumbles. “Tomorrow we’re going to slaughter a pig and make sausages.”

“We’re gonna what?”

“You heard me. And you can do the honors. Time to earn your keep, Huntsman.”

Nico moves away and Mason stares into his mug. “This is payback, isn’t it?” he says miserably to Ethan. “For giving him all those shitty ops back in the day?”

Ethan’s lips twitch. Mason thinks he might be laughing. “It might be, babe.”

“Well, Fu… Fudge.. me,” he slumps against Ethan’s shoulder as Luca plays his songs and the stars continue to wheel overhead.

[amythecinnabunny]

Space AU and Time Travel for Juke 👀 <33

Holy shit holy shit holy shit ok ok ok ok first of all AKDBJSJSJJEJE YES

Okay okay so let me try to iron out the mess in my head skxbjsjjd I hereby apologize if things get out of order or whatever but I am literally vibrating with excitement someone please write this I'll love you forever

Ok so I'm thinking also an aged up au for ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* reasons *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ sjsnnsn

Also, I've done this before and I'm gonna do it again, but Bobby and Trevor are two different people for the sake of the timeline here.

Time frame for this would be WAY into the future. Humanity has gone galactic. We also had our asses handed to us by several alien planets but we probably deserved it. Anyway, after we got rid of Elon Musk, we eventually made peace with the aliens and now roam the galaxy freely. 20-30yo generally try to get into a different fleet, just to learn about other races. Think all those alien ships adopts a human posts.

Julie, Carrie and Flynn are my three girl geniuses. They're like,,, the smartest people in every room. They've been like this since freshman year of college. Julie, Carrie and Flynn also all want to get into the student exchange program, which is exactly what you think it is. Alien races (and this now includes humanity) swaps out older students with each other so they get a feel of what the other race is like. It's fun, educational, and! You get to make super long distance pen pals!

I'd also have so much fun making up new memes???? It would be so fucking stupid tho but I love it.

Anyway, so after a few years of jumping through the exchange programme, hoping from planet to planet, unfortunately, without their bestfriends :<, the three of them qualify to board research ships!!!

So at like 23-25, my girls come back together on the same ship!! Its a massive thing and so they've hired so many interns from so many different races. It's like a landing hub for several smaller ships. They have like 10 interns per species and that's only because there are laws against having too many of one kind after they put 50 humans on a space station and the humans tried to take over. Also, humans multiply faster than the others. This terrifies some races.

Anyway, the ship's really just a bunch of college kids from different planets trying to avoid exam season by submitting research papers from their ship. They all bond over deadlines, breakups and coffee (or the alien equivalent thereof)

Flynn dated an alien girl for a while. They were cute. Flynn: as a lesbian, it's my duty to date all the women in space

This is also where they run into Willie!!! Yay, Willie!!!

Nick Danforth-Evans and Kayla Evans-McKessie are around ... somewhere ... in bunk beds like the little toddlers they wish they were, crying about the 15 page essay on why Xjsbsjdjd is a very intelligent race that we could learn a lot from (yes, that is a keysmash I'm too buzzed to be creating alien species names sjdjjdjd)

Carrie and Nick do date for a while but then Carrie hooked up with Kayla. Bisexual queen who?

Julie met Willie that time she didn't sleep for over 48 hours because she had a research paper due within a week and she hadn't started yet and it was 10 000 words on her experiences with the Psjxjjdkeiwj race. Luckily for her, the kid she bumped into and spilled an energy drink all over had the same paper and helped her finish it. Willie sometimes goes by the nickname Lifesaver, thanks to Julie. This confuses the metaphor-less people because Willie's never saved anyone's life?? So why is he a lifesaver??

ANYWAY ON TO THE TIME TRAVEL BIT

On their own, Julie, Carrie and Flynn are professional smart people who know what they're saying and are clever enough not to do things with too many risks. In the same room, however, they turn into dumb geniuses who can and possibly may blow up the entire ship. It's a good thing they have Willie, Nick and Kayla to babysit them, right? WRONG. Willie Kayla and Nick egg them on.

They decide there going to gather all the information there is on time travel and they're going to decipher it and make it work! Yay!

When they find stuff in alien languages they start calling up their alien pen pals "hello what's this word mean in this context? What, haha oh no, it's a research paper on why time travel projects were abandoned before completion. Okay, thank you!"

Before long, they have a working time machine. I mean,, they hope so. And so they enter a random date from the past and prepare to pop their heads through just to see what the world looked like approximately 200ish years ago

2020s, post covid because that exists for joke reasons later, Sunset Curve is performing live for one of their biggest audiences yet when mid-song, the floor just opens them up and swallows them whole before vanishing. The crowd things it's a stunt but Sunset Curve's managers are flipping their shit

Back on the ship, the machine starts sparking and with a soft boom and a hiss, the power in that quadrant goes out -- not before Willie's is pelted in the face with a pair of drumsticks and then a whole person.

It's a miracle the drums survived the trip, pet alone everything else.

So now these sleep deprived geniuses and co. have to hide three people and several musical artifacts, plus the smoking remains of a time machine, from their Supervising Officer, who is regrettably, a human too.

And none of them are very good at lying.

Luke and Bobby are though, and after piecing together bits and pieces from the frenzied rambling around them, Luke and Bobby save the group.

Shenanigans ensue as they try to rebuild the time machine under the watchful eye of the SO, while trying to mantainbfake credentials for the boys and trying to explain their very dated clothing. (Yes, Sunset Curve STILL rocks the 90s vibe. In the 2020s. It's their thing.)

Willex happens in the background -- and I mean that very literally. (Jukebox having a tension moment, Willex making out in the background.)

Honestly I'm not sure yet how theyd solve the problems, whether they'd send the boys back or not or what, but I do know that they will all cause a BUNCH of problems in between.

Sometimes they play music just because they still can. Sunset Curve becomes a house band for the ship. They get broadcasted to neighbouring or passing ships like "hey, losers, we have live music, SUCK IT!"

Focusing on the jukebox aspect of this whole fic, that's gonna be a fucking hilarious slow burn.

It will definitely contain the lines "Oh my god, I have a crush on Julie." "Congratulations, you're officially the last to know." "What? Even [SO's Name] knows??" "Dude. The ship's navigation crew knows." "Does ... Julie know?" "No, you're both morons."

Julie is having the exact same conversation four hallways away.

They'd talk a lot about sending the boys back home and it'd be really quiet conversations when everyone else is asleep.

Julie and Luke write music together and after a while, Julie performs a few of them too. Thanks to the concerts, they meet the other human interns that were on the other end of the ship and Carrie and Kayla form Dirty Candy.

The ship becomes known as the party bus.

A thing that will happen: Luke helps Julie write one of her history papers that she gets an A+ for and a comment about how dedicated she was to have delved so far back in the history records to get authentic insight.

Julie and Luke speak in memes but they don't speak the same memes and it drives them both up the wall.

Luke says yeet one day and Julie's soul leaves her body because she hasn't heard anyone say yeet since she was a toddler back on Earth.

Julie: odd display, but acceptable.

Luke, physically experiencing a record scratch: what the fuck did you just say

That is all I have to offer because I'm afraid of plotting further and causing angst somehow.

oh one more thing, someone gets to bang an alien and it's probably Flynn.

Oh oh oh another one more thing. Reggie says "this is just like in Star Wars" for literally anything. The band goes along with it for shits and giggles. The rest of them are very interested in this ancient tale called Star Wars. Reggie sees a picture of Flynn and her green gf and says "hey, you dated photoshopped Yoda" and Bobby just loses his shit.

[jancydroogs]

A little free write...

George and Nick break up. Ned sells The Claw back to George and opens a vintage auto restoration and “specialty repairs” shop. He buys a craftsman mansion near downtown and turns it into a boy's home.  

With seed money from Nick and Ryan, George opens a cafe, a pizza parlor and buys Johnny Mac's bar (re-naming it Buddy's) in addition to the Claw. Her sister’s help run what will become their family’s burgeoning hospitality empire. There is tension between George and Jesse who isn't interested in business and wants to go to the JC in hopes of becoming a marine biologist. George buys the Breaker Hotel later in her life. All of her establishments are notoriously (and conveniently) "haunted". Trip advisor stickers on the door and mentions on lonely planet-all the things. George becomes a rags to riches business marketing wonderkind about town. George struggles to be taken seriously by the old money investors and conservative business owners she must rub elbows with now. In the end she'll expand to Boston and NY and get into real estate and have enough money to throw in all their faces for the rest of time just like Nick whom she may reconnect with at some point.

Ryan struggles with alcoholism again, gets a DUI and enters rehab where he becomes interested in art. He gets involved in collecting and patronizing and when he falls in love with an artist he is inspired to become the Cathrine the Great of Horseshoe Bay: investing in culture, the arts and championing the environment and the education of young women in particular.  He gets his pilots license and flying in his vintage plane (restored by Nick of course) becomes a favorite hobby of his. He turns the Lilac Inn into the local girl's home.  He opens what becomes a renowned museum in honor of the the forgotten historical figures of New England in Boston. With the help of Carson he lobbies NYU to create a journalism scholarship in Lucy’s name.  He dies before he turns 60 in a landing accident while returning from a half hour flight he took to observe the bay on a particularly nice day.  

Bess acquires a student visa by becoming a cosmetology student at the local JC but doesn’t fit in and becomes an “illegal” resident again when she drops out of beauty school.  She’s a part time secretary for Nick and waitress at the claw again. She bungles Nick’s flow and he has to let her go at which point she finds a job in a bookshop after bonding with the manager over a mutual love of AJ Crane novels. She hones an affinity and strong sales numbers for the antique/rare book section and she uses her Newley sharpened expert eye to forge her papers all while angling for an apprenticeship with the mysterious owner which will allow her to begin building clientele amongst the wealthy collectors of Horseshoe Bay and get out of the counterfeit game she's been running on the side to get by. She fully embraces the dark-intellectual trope and pursues her PHD. at a historic, prestigious and secretive private school in Horseshoe Bay. She buys a dope ass queen-anne with a turret that she restores and lives in. She eventually becomes an art dealer (specializing in "rare objects" of course), chief buyer for the Hudson family trust and patron of the historical society.  After her eventual death at a ripe old age she gets a statue in her likeness, her house becomes a historic landmark and she becomes a legend in horseshoe bay for being it’s favorite Rich Auntie Supreme. Rumor has it her spirit still walks the town. Local legend says if you happen to see her ghost it’s an omen of good luck to come.

Nancy and Ace briefly open their own PI detective agency in Nick's building downtown. They begin to build a respectable reputation despite their youth. They assist Horseshoe Bay PD on "strange" cases, accept work from the town’s folk, and PI work from Carson. Nancy gets into Columbia and makes the tough choice to leave town for her education.  Grant moves in to fill her place at the agency. Things go well for a while but end up sideways when Ace suffers from an opioid addiction. Grant does his best to cover his brother’s tracks for a while but Nancy briefly must return from Columbia at his panicked behest to help him track down Ace when he goes missing on New Years Eve.  After a short stint in a detox center Ace decides to join the army on a whim without consulting anybody. He becomes a field medic first and an Army Ranger after that.

With the PI agency dissolved Grant joins the NYPD police academy (like his father *winkwinkwink*) after Ace goes to bootcamp and begins pursuing an advanced degree studying criminal psychology at NYU in hopes of someday working for the FBI as a profiler.  He naturally joins the nypd and becomes a rising star in his precinct. He and Nancy develop a close friendship while both living as students in the city and bond over their concern for Ace. Frant often lends her an assist, a quote, a clue or feeds her information for her stories.

Nancy shows up in the city at Columbia quickly becomes the darling of the journalism school and lands an internship at the school paper but after a promising freshman year is kicked out for breaking the school’s code of ethics whilst pursuing evidence that a cult is running a human trafficking ring fronting as a powerful and infamous secret society on campus that has been laundering it's profits through a fraternity's alumni donations by blackmailing a member of their executive board. After her expulsion she continues to pursue the story with encouragement from her friends and family  (in particular from Ace whom she maintains regular contact with via WRITTEN letters before he joins RRC. It’s romantic af but everything remains plutonic on the surface as is cannon, of course)  She publishes the story online. It goes viral and she's able to enter the workforce as a freelancer without her degree. She takes all kinds of assignments and has become celebrated for her thought pieces on buzzfeed, bellingcat, jezebel etc... but her bread and butter is working the crime beat in NYC.

Her sudden notoriety and reputation for being young, talented, and tenacious mean her colleagues are intimidated by her brilliance and they make her work especially hard for their respect. Despite her commercial success she's a loner and mostly isolated in the field.  She's thrilled when Bess shows up to the city looking to lay low for a while after the death of her mentor and burning some bridges in order to get out of the forgery game. She finds that she fits into city life and likes being close with Nancy and Grant after Ace's departure and George and Nick's breakup. She decides to move and she and Nancy become roommates. Bess gets a job as a bartender at Nancy’s favorite spot (a real dime store detective novel dive bar that's open in the middle of the day with low light and brick walls; maybe live music on the weekends but no marble countertops and tapas and shit) while attending Hunter college for her degree in cultural anthropology. Nancy eventually writes a true crime novel that becomes an infamous cult classic based on her experience uncovering her mother's murder and another based on her experiences with Gomber.

Bess’ graduation coincides with Ace’s homecoming and Ryan’s wedding to a renowned local artist. The crew returns to Horseshoe Bay for a couple of weeks before the ceremony for the subsequent reunions/celebrations.  While in town, the disappearance of a local girl proves to be the work of a serial killer when her body along with another girl's are found stuffed in a tree in the Gorham Woods. Nancy is hesitant to run down the story even at the behest of her editor’s pleas but decides to stay and investigate at George’s request when an arsonist burns down The Claw the night of Ryan’s reception. 

[saiilorstars]

Hearts’ Limit

Ch. 2: Real Intentions

Current Masterlist // Masterlist of all OCs

Fandom: SVU // Pairing: Sonny Carisi x OFC

Summary: As the case keeps unfolding, the squad realizes the actual target after Emilia makes a hesitant call to Sonny.

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog ​ @maaaaarveeeeel ​ @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles ​ @averyhotchner​ [If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s edits/works, let me know!]

Warnings: Due to the nature of the series’ plots, I do have to rate this as ‘mature’ for constant mentions of rape.

Rachel Quinn turned out to be yet another person who had nothing good to say about the victim, Evelyn.

"According to Rachel," Amanda Rollins cleared her throat to better address the rest of the team, "Evelyn made an enemy out of everyone in the school. She doesn't think a parent did this."

"Maybe we should stop thinking about this as a two-person job," Fin said. "We thought that the accomplice lured Evelyn—it's why we assumed it was a woman in the first place."

Olivia nodded. "So far, all the female suspects were cleared."

"Exactly, so maybe this was always a one-man job."

"Should we go back and look at the male employees in the school?" asked Nick.

"Even if we did, it's not likely that their backgrounds are going to be flagged," Sonny said. "It's a school. Everyone gets background checks."

"Either way, it would be a good idea to start again," Olivia decided. "If we're going to look at this as a one-man job, we need to go back to the very beginning."

~ 0 ~

Emilia searched through her classroom cubby over and over until Alice came by. "What are you looking for?" she asked with bemusement.

Emilia wasn't so happy. She was puzzled. "I can't find my scrunchie."

Alice snorted. "Seriously?"

Emilia turned around to the woman, her lips curving into a frown. "We're doing art today and I really don't feel like getting red highlights too."

Alice laughed and headed for the tables. "Serves you right for not getting a haircut."

Emilia patted her long curls. "I like my hair." She groaned. The children would be arriving soon and they needed to be ready. "Whatever, I'm going to use a rubber band, I guess." She reached inside the cubby for her bag.

"You carry rubber-bands in your bag?" Alice snorted again after catching Emilia digging through her bag.

"You never know when you'll need one." Emilia's hands slipped and dropped the bag, letting out a few things in the process. "Dammit!"

"Don't let the kids hear that," Alice returned to help pick up what was on the ground.

"Ha, ha, so funny," Emilia playfully rolled her eyes.

"Oh, what's this?" Alice picked up her wallet that had fallen too. A white slip of paper was sticking out from one of the outside pockets.

"Give me that!" Emilia tried snatching it from her but Alice stuck her hand in the air.

"Isn't this the card that detective gave you?" Alice's eyes twinkled with mischief. "The cute one with the accent?"

Emilia shook her head. She focused on putting her stuff back into her purse so she could then battle for the wallet if necessary.

"Have you called him?" Alice asked, bringing a corner of the card to her chin.

"Of course not," Emilia stood back up. "He gave that to me in case of an emergency. Thankfully, I haven't had a need for it." Everything had been relatively calm in these few days and she wanted to keep it that way. She already had plenty of parents pestering her with questions about Evelyn's case anyways.

"Well, I think you should call," Alice handed the wallet back to Emilia. "Even if it's just to say 'hello'."

"Yeah, I'll think about it," Emilia said before throwing her wallet into her cubby.

"Something tells me you're not going to think about it," Alice watched Emilia shut the cubby.

"Noo, what would give you that impression?" Emilia smiled on her way past Alice. She stretched the rubber-band then picked up her hair into a high ponytail.

~ 0 ~

By the end of the school day, both teachers were ready to go home. They gathered their belongings and headed for the parking lot.

"I'm telling you, I'm going to need a double espresso shot tomorrow," Alice was joking on their way for the cars. "These kids are extra energetic lately."

Emilia agreed with a laugh. "Yeah, I know. Did you see the mess that Adrien made? I shouldn't even be surprised. He's all in for arts."

Alice nodded. "Oh yeah."

Their shared laugh was cut short when Emilia stopped in front of her car. She blinked several times before coming to the conclusion that she was seeing right.

"Is that…?" Alice started asking when Emilia headed for the car. "Emilia, wait!" The brunette stopped abruptly and glanced back at Alice. "I think...I think maybe you should make that call now."

Emilia was reluctant even when the sign was right in front of her. "I don't…"

"Emilia," Alice said again, her tone harder than before, "Make the call."

Emilia bit her lip and took another look at her windshield.

~ 0 ~

"There's only ten male workers in the school," Nick said as he placed the last potential suspect's picture on the evidence board. "You have the principal, four teachers, two playground supervisors, one maintenance and two janitors."

"Anyone standing out so far?" Olivia asked.

Amanda bobbed her head. "Nothing in the initial search."

"Let's make that search go deeper, then. Let's start with the men who had any disagreement with Evelyn."

"I bet we can start with the principal then," Fin smiled. "If he was the head then he definitely had incidents with Evelyn."

"Countless," Sonny added, earning an agreeing point from Fin. "I bet the supervisors had to have something too. If the daughter fell a couple times, Evelyn might have had a word with them."

"Get that going," Olivia gestured.

The timing was perfect because on his way to his desk, his phone started ringing. "Detective Carisi?"

"Detective, it's Emilia?"

Sonny stiffened before he even knew it. "Emilia, hi. Are you—"

"I don't know if it's important—"

"It's important!" Sonny was sure that the second voice in the background belonged to Alice.

"Emilia, are you in trouble?" He asked quickly.

"I-I don't...I'm not sure?" Emilia sounded nervous which only made Sonny feel the same way. "There's um...there's something on my car."

"Wh-what? What's...what's on your car? Emilia?"

"It might be nothing but, um...I think maybe you should come?"

"Where are you?" Sonny practically demanded from her; he would apologize later for his tone but right now he just needed to get to her and make sure she was okay.

"At the school in the parking lot. Alice is here with me."

"Okay, listen carefully, who's in the school right now?"

"I don't know. Lots of us?"

"Go back to the school and find a female employee—any female employee, alright? If possible a teacher so you can stay in that classroom."

"O-okay, I'll...I'll do that. Could you hurry? I'm, um, I don't really know what to do," Emilia swallowed hard. It was stupid and childish yet considering she was a grown adult who took care of children. She should know what to do!

"Of course, just do what I told you, okay? Do it!" Sonny ended the call quickly and turned to the others. They'd already gotten the just something was going on. "We have to go back to the school—Emilia might be in trouble." For some reason, it struck him more than it should've.

~ 0 ~

'You'll be safe now' was proudly written in a cardboard piece that now laid on the windshield of Emilia's car.

"Can we have the cameras from the lot?" Olivia was asking the principal of the school, ironically.

"They're not working right now," the principal, Jones, shook his head. "After the incident with Evelyn Korami, we decided to upgrade our security."

"Ah," Olivia pursed her lips. That clearly had not worked out so well.

"Hey," Amanda came by, "No one saw anything, as usual. The cardboard and the markers are all from the school. Anybody could've taken them."

"Are you sure this is even linked?" Jones asked. "It could be some prank."

"For now, we're going to treat it like it is," Olivia nodded. "And so I need to ask where were you in the last hour?"

"What?" Jones blinked. "Are you serious?"

"Very," Olivia put her hands together in front of her, making a show that was indeed waiting for his response.

Jones mumbled something under his breath but eventually answered. "I was on a phone conference. Feel free to verify that with the district."

"We will be," Olivia promised him then walked off with Amanda.

~ 0 ~

Emilia hadn't left the classroom she and Alice took refuge in after talking to Sonny. Now that a whole hour had passed by, it was starting to get a little harder to remain calm.

"I feel like I just made a big thing out of nothing," she told Sonny. "I have Alice locked inside this classroom when she had plans."

"I'm fine with it," Alice called from her spot. She was watching the cops from the window. Emilia rolled her eyes. "And stop rolling your eyes, Emilia." Alice glanced over to Sonny. "She didn't want to call you. She did the right thing, right?"

"Alice—" Emilia was about to scold when Sonny cut her off.

"Yes, she did," he met her gaze when her head flipped in his direction. "You did."

Emilia still wasn't quite convinced. "It's a trick or something. C'mon, this is a school, you can't possibly think somebody here did it and much more killed Evelyn too." Sonny didn't say anything but the face he made told her it was quite possible. "Oh no," she decided, "No, no, no! You're mad!" She turned on her heels and headed for her bag she left on one of the tables. "I thought maybe—just maybe—you might actually have a real lead but to say that someone here did it?"

"Emilia, you need to calm down," Sonny warned her, but he suspected it would do no good. She was too anxious and very much in denial. It all stemmed from the fear she had to have been feeling when she called him. "We need to talk—"

"No!" she said decidedly. "Because if we do, then you're going to start asking me who I think could've done it! Well, I'm not going to do it!"

"Emilia, maybe you should listen to him," Alice started but, like Sonny, Emilia shut her down.

"No! I shouldn't have called anyone! I should've just thrown that cardboard away and gone home!" Emilia walked, almost sprinted, towards the doors when Sonny caught her by the arm.

"Then you might not be here anymore!" he snapped. "I doubt that's what you want, right?"

Emilia faced him with a frown, though it resembled more of a child's expression when they were evidently wrong but didn't want to admit it. It was another reminder for Sonny that she was afraid. Everybody had different ways of showing they were afraid. Emilia's happened to be outbursts.

She tugged on her arm, prompting him to let go. "Of course not," she muttered. "But I just don't see anybody harming me, alright?"

"We don't know exactly what this guy wants…"

"But you do have an idea," Emilia said, eyes searching his. "I can tell from your face."

Suddenly, Sonny wished someone else had come talk to her because he was having a harder time with this case for some reason. He looked away from Emilia, hoping that a few seconds would be enough to reset his expressions.

"What do you think he wants from me?" Emilia asked in a much more calm way. She may be in a first graders' classroom but it didn't mean she had to be one. "Detective, you're telling me that it's possible someone in the school is responsible for all this stuff...so tell me why."

"It's...it's very preliminary," Sonny said, and that was probably already too much. He needed to wait for Olivia to confer on their next steps. He caught sight of Emilia's eyes—a warm green shade—intently looking at him. They urged him to tell the truth, even if it was bad or wrong, but the power to tell him was there.

"That's not enough, detective," Emilia spat and moved for the doors again.

"Emilia!" Sonny called for her.

Thankfully, she didn't make it out since Olivia came in. "Miss Hartley," she said, blinking a bit quickly from almost crashing into Emilia. "I'm Sergeant Benson, we need to have a word."

Emilia pursed her lips together. "I just told your detective I was on my way home."

Olivia briefly crossed gazes with Sonny. He shook his head at her, indicating Emilia wasn't willing to cooperate again. "I understand you're feeling a little confused right now, scared, but it's very important that we speak."

"Emilia," called Alice again, "Please listen to them. They're here to help you. Quit acting like a child."

Emilia looked over her shoulder. "I'm not," she mumbled.

"Then show it."

"We can take you to the precinct if you'd be more comfortable there," Olivia offered.

Emilia barely had a clue of what she wanted but the one thing that she was sure about is that she did not want to see a precinct. "No, I'd rather stay here."

Olivia nodded. "Alright, you and Miss…?" She waited for Alice to fill in the blank.

"O'Shire," she eventually said. "But please, just Alice."

"Okay, so you and Alice were in the classroom doing what?"

"Cleaning," Emilia said, gesturing to the chairs sitting on top of the tables. "We like to do a quick disinfect before the janitors come in."

"Did anyone come in today? Maybe to ask when you were leaving?"

"No," Emilia shook her head with a sigh. "Alice and I did our routine just like any other day."

"Wait, so that means you leave at the same time every day, then...right?" Sonny's question made Emilia turn back.

"I...I guess…" she said quietly, realizing what he was trying to say.

"If they know your routine, then it means they knew exactly when to leave that message on your windshield."

Emilia brought a hand to her forehead. "Oh my God, this has never happened to me. I'm...I'm so confused. What did I do?"

"Nothing," Olivia said sternly. "None of this is your fault."

"But…" Emilia dropped her hand to her side, "That message...what does that message mean?" She looked between Olivia and Sonny for an answer. "Because it means something, right? I'm just not seeing it."

"Let's...I'd much rather know about your day," Olivia said, "Like if there were any male co-workers that may have come up to you today?"

"They're my co-workers, of course they would."

"Any strange interaction?"

"No…"

"How about anything strange that happened today? Anything."

"No and no, nothing happened," Emilia sighed.

"Em, what about the scrunchie?" Alice suddenly asked.

Emilia turned to her friend in annoyance. "Alice, seriously?"

"They said anything and you never lose your stuff!"

"What happened?" Sonny looked between the two women. "Did something go missing today?"

Emilia rolled her eyes at Alice. "It's stupid, I...I lost my scrunchie. My hair tie?" she pointed to the rubberband currently holding her hair in its ponytail. "I thought I left it in my cubby but it's not there. But I'm pretty sure it's at home or something."

"Now hold on," Olivia motioned her not to jump to conclusions, "Your friend says you don't lose stuff very often."

"She doesn't," Alice confirmed. "She's a neat freak. And a good organizer."

"Alice," Emilia scolded wearily. "No one steals hair ties, not even a murderer and rapist."

Olivia pursed her lips. She didn't want to outright say what she was thinking and burst Emilia's bubble of denial. It was what was keeping her together for the moment. "Carisi?" she made a motion for him to follow her to the door. Emilia then scurried to Alice's side.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sonny quietly spoke.

Olivia nodded. "It's a possibility. Evelyn Korami had an argument with Emilia last week. It may not have been so random as we thought. This guy's real target could be Emilia."

And here was Emilia who didn't believe a thing.

"How do you want to do this, Sarge?" Sonny felt like whatever plan Olivia came up with, it would be met with hostility from Emilia. "She doesn't want to answer questions anymore."

"The more we push, the less cooperative she'll be," Olivia agreed. She took in a breath and called for Emilia and Alice. "Miss Hartley, we're going to place you under protective custody."

Emilia stared at the pair with wide, incredulous eyes—the initial reaction they both expected—until she laughed. "Right…" Alice wasn't laughing. Olivia and Sonny were both staring at her until it donned on her. "Oh! Oh no!" She shook her head. "No way!"

"I know it's hard to believe—"

"No!" Emilia waved Olivia off. "I'm not—this has gone long enough! I'm not doing this! Nope!"

"It's for your own safety," Sonny tried to say but Emilia aggressively pointed at him to be quiet.

"I don't want to hear anything from you! I should've never called you!" That being said, she then directed her finger to Alice. "And I should've never listened to you!" She stormed out of the classroom without hearing anyone anymore.

"I swear she's a lot better than this," Alice said afterwards. "I think she's just pretty freaked out."

"We get it, trust us," Olivia assured her. She and Sonny went after Emilia.

Emilia was fast on her feet and was out of the school in mere seconds. "You need to leave me alone!" she told the pair.

"Emilia, you need to stop and you know it," Sonny barely got to say before she spun around to show her glare.

"I am not responsible for Evelyn's death—"

"No one is saying that—"

"But that's what they're going to think!" Emilia stomped her foot when the frustration managed to seep through her features. "If this is real, if it's actually real then everyone is going to blame me because this guy wants me!"

"But it's not the truth," Olivia gently said. "You are not responsible for the actions of others."

Emilia shook her head. "No," she wagged her finger then headed for her car again. "It's not real."

"Just because you say it, doesn't make true," Sonny said.

"No!" she snapped. "Now I know why you're single—you keep disagreeing with women!"

Sonny's eyebrows raised together. "Uh, okay…"

Emilia hurried for her car. The scene was clear but the cardboard was still on her windshield. She reached for it and chucked it to the side. She was about to move for the driver's side when she caught sight of something purple behind it.

Her scrunchie. Her flower-patterned, purple scrunchie was neatly tucked on the windshield.

The air left Emilia's lungs for a moment when she realized what must have happened. She swallowed hard. Olivia and Sonny came up behind her and saw what she was staring at.

"Emilia," Olivia started, "Let us help you."

"That was...that was in my cubby," Emilia gulped. "It was in the back, behind my bag. I don't lose my things and I certainly don't put them on my windshield." She brought her hand to her bag's strap and gripped it for dear life. "This is real, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately, yes, but it doesn't have to end badly," Olivia said. "We can help you. Why don't you come back with us to the precinct? We can set everything up over there."

Emilia said nothing for a minute, making the others worry she still wasn't going to let them help her. "Can...can the detective bring me there?" she asked very quietly, so quietly that it was almost inaudible.

"Uh…" Olivia glanced at Sonny who was just as surprised as she was. Emilia had been yelling at him a minute ago. "Sure, yeah...Carisi?"

"Of course," he stepped up beside Emilia who had yet to move since she found the scrunchie. "Emilia?"

The brunette slowly turned to him. "Yeah, I'm listening now. Promise."

"That's good, really. You're making a good choice." He really didn't like the expression on her face right now. "Are you ready?"

"Aha," she nodded. He motioned the way and without protesting, she walked with him.

[nicknellie]

I hope that this didn’t take too much time to do so that you were able to get your schoolwork!! This is definitely after the fact but I wish you the best of luck with your work.

(Accidentally forgot to answer about Reggie having a box similar to Rose’s so I’m going to do that briefly)

1. Unlike Rose’s box which was going to be used by someone else Reggie’s was just going to be used by himself also probably only looked at by the rest of Sunset Curve so he probably didn’t think/care about what it was going to look like.

2. The fact that Reggie would go to Luke’s parents and ask for baby pictures is perfection. Also the fact that he just casually stole a box of baby photos and or has pictures of a random baby (if it’s not Bobby) is hilarious and I was laughing so hard at that.

3. Yes, and that would explain that why Reggie didn’t recognize the box at first just because it was a mindless one he made, maybe not even one of his boxes that he put thought into it (what photos/items should I use ect) but just random stuff

Now onto this post (just starting at 2 so the numbers line up)

2. Yes, maybe the guys don’t even get a chance to ask him what’s wrong but Reggie randomly blurts this out and then about five minutes later they’re all crying. Bobby forces all of them to talk, even Alex.

3. Yes that’s exactly what I mean! Just because although he does have his moments of indecisiveness he’s mostly not really an indecisive person so once he believes in some thing he stands with it 100%. For sure, if someone (usually Alex) points out why/how he was wrong Luke will admit that he was wrong (depending on the reasoning it’s mostly begrudgingly)

4. You took the words right out of my mouth and I also love the fact that you said that it’s usually when he’s writing and not in general, because I feel like outside of writing Luke tries to be as conscious as he can about his bandmates well-being and stuff. (‘Luke, once again you are not a solo artist if that was the case then Reggie would already have a country album out and me and Bobby would make our own little band of ourselves just to spite you’ Alex at some point)

5. Alex definitely has quick wit, however a lot of time he just doesn’t say it (unless it’s the boys)

6. Oh, that’s just hurtful thinking about that. After they passed Bobby was never the same, especially since everything that he loved and did had so many memories of the boys that for the longest time he couldn’t do some of them without thinking of them. Also when he went to the garage he was so overwhelmed with memories and the fact that they would never be anymore Sunset Curve memories.

8. Yes, I love that so much. Also I think part of the reason why the police alerted Emily and Mitch was because Luke was supposed to be a missing person so once Bobby confirmed that the body was Luke’s that’s when they were reached out too (long shot but just thinking)

The Rubik’s cube aw, maybe that’s the one thing that Bobby took just to remember them (a drawing of Reggie’s and a small jigsaw of Alex’s)

10. The theme park idea is genius, and I love the detail of Reggie feeling like a proud parent although the boys would gladly go onto a ride that Reggie is comfortable with (for some reason he loves roller coasters as long as they up closer to the ground, with being afraid of heights definitely not not something that goes up high). However Reggie doesn’t want to be a problem and has no issue watching them for a ride or two, hence the feeling of being like a parent.

Yes, and although Alex can tell that it’s a lie, Reggie gets rather emotional about it. (Reggie might have been the one who gave him the drink with the 6 shots of toffee nut and burst out into tears upon realizing)

11. That’s exactly what they are like, I feel like people may be able to tell that Reggie is lying however that’s a normal thing that he does so he easily could not be. (He is)

Luke “where is your kitchen by the way?” Patterson is the great thing I’ve seen. (yes Bobby is so causal to a point that it’s very obvious that it’s not causal hence for it being easy to tell that he’s lying)

13. Phew, wasn’t sure if I would be able to get the link to work or not so I’m glad that it was! (They are so talented, and that is such a great drawing of Reggie in my opinion)

Line dancing, yes also they random break out into square dancing. (Also the boys in cowboy hats and cowboy boots, all the fashion, is an image that I never thought I would need in my life)

14. I’m glad that you liked it! Also yess, also I just want to see one of the boys kind of make fun of Caleb with the devil point of view (bonus points if ‘nick’ is there and has to see everything)

Also I completely forgot to comment this last time, but Reggie is a huge Johnny Cash fan and those three songs are his favorite from the artist. (They are the most played songs and whenever the other boys hear them they are so done but eventually start singing along)

15. Also just randomly has Star Wars characters in the drawing, for the longest time a small Han-solo is what he used instead of a signature.

16. Wait yes I love that. I wasn’t thinking along those lines but that’s exact what happens. Reggie would also be the one who always tried to eat the batter (as does Luke and technically they are both banned from the kitchen)

17. Oh my goodness young Alex. I completely agree with what you said, also picturing a baby Alex with frosting all over his face from baking gone wrong

19. Yes, also Reggie randomly has the boys join him for dancing in the rain (thought of that due to the fact that you said rain is relaxing so Reggie would just always want to be out in the rain but not when it’s storming)

20. This is literally it’s the mindset of anyone who meets Alex

Even Willie gets on board, especially when he fell off his board (worst line I’ve ever said but Willie would be the pun making type of person)

Also if it was for anyone else then Emily and Mitch wouldn’t let them however since it’s Alex exactly as you said ‘boys let’s get in the car’

21. Yes, Alex always randomly shows up. Even has his own key for whenever he needs to stay there but no one is around, honestly Mitch doesn’t have a lot of characteristics (I mean the song is mostly focused on Luke’s mom and stuff) so him being a supportive father figure is everything

23. Agreed, I want all of this. Honestly anything and everything Rose is needed

24. I just want more performances from both actors because they are fantastic. Also the fact that Flying Solo didn’t have Flynn singing at all was a lost opportunity to be honest. Not sure if you’ve seen lemonade mouth however with Flynn as their rapper they would be that band

Willie and Alex singing together is everything I need, just a duet needs to be in season 2. Also we were robbed of them dancing and I blame Caleb, so them dancing is also needed in season two.

Exactly, Flynn is so loyal and we need more of her (also her and Carrie moments)

25. I agree I think it took him sometime to go to therapy. (Possibly when he had Carrie just because he didn’t want to fail as a father and thought it would help him stress less about being a father, also raising a kid with no support from his friends that would’ve definitely helped out)

26. Wait yes, I want to see all of this as well. Especially him explaining his actions and apologizing, and that idea of him being their manger is brilliant. Going on with that, just like with Sunset Curve he books the gigs and stuff and Flynn is their social media manger (just because she can not be apart of the band somehow)

27. I didn’t think about that fully but yes, the fact that Julie is getting older and he’s not would definitely hurt him

28. I love those songs titles, we also have ‘if you wake me up at 4AM again it will not be nice’ ‘Bobby I don’t care how much I love your pieces if you keep leaving your yarn in random places I will scream’

30. Yes, yes, that is precisely what happens and the only way Ray should find out that the boys are ghosts. Tia Victoria does react that and her and Alex bonding is everything (also her and Willie bonding because)

31. There are so many ruined photos and Reggie being so upset about it which is exactly what causes Bobby to master the skill.

32. Alex always has about five stickers, some that are for Reggie and a handful that fans also give to Alex because they can. Legitimately Sunset curves fan base is so supportive and one of the best boy band fan base ever. Luke was once given a portrait of the bandmembers as animals and it is probably framed somewhere, also Bobby has one that someone painted of the band. Honestly the reason why Alex was probably given a jigsaw is because Reggie randomly said that he liked them to a fan and they just had to give one to Alex.

34. Yes, Luke also got stuck in a fridge once much to everyone’s confusion. Him randomly being in a suit of armour is the greatest thing I have ever heard

35. Willie is extremely photogenic, yes. Legitimately Reggie has so many pictures of Willie and Alex and Willie being photogenic has just cause Reggie to take even more. And once this discovery is made, on the photography account there’s a lot more photos of someone skateboarding (also just in general photos of Willie). Just photo shoots with Reggie, like everyone has had one at some point (even Carlos)

37. Alex just gives Julie a massive hug, all of the time and especially when she is sad. Also she definitely takes that hoodie, all of them take his hoodies. Legitimately by this point it’s not just Alex‘s clothes it is the bands (also Flynn has a hoodie) (Willie has takes hoodies)

39. Wait yes, (possibly could’ve been Trevor who gave Carrie that idea for costumes because he remembers when Sunset Curve did). All of those colours fit so well, also I can kind of see Bobby is yellow. They definitely have matching onesies, like two or three pairs to be honest.

Best photo ever, that is exactly what they look like

40. Alex teaching Willie how to dance is adorable and I’m just thinking about how cute that would be. Due to seeing Willie dance during ‘the other side of Hollywood’ Alex thinks that he would be able to waltz pretty well (at least be a better beginner than the rest of the band who can’t dance) and then is mistaken very quickly

This is just me saying the boys about 100 times because I can’t say three names together apparently 😂😂

You know the drill, under the keep reading 😂

I did manage to do my school work thankfully! We won’t mention the fact that I handed in every single piece late, but I don’t really think that’s my fault, it’s theirs for not explaining how all this was going to work. Anyway! Not the point! I keep getting so excited to respond to these lmao let’s gooo!

1. Yeah exactly, he was probably more concerned with just finding something to hold all his random bits and pieces. Or I just thought right now it could be like not just a “normal box” but maybe like an old case for his bass? Like he got a nice newer one and needed something to do with the older one, and it had locks so that was handy, so he just uses it for that. Or another type of less boring box maybe idk

2. Lmao yeah I laughed so hard when I came up with it and I like I totally think he would! Like if he couldn’t find real Bobby photos (I reckon there weren’t many anyway) then he just got those and Bobby was like “Reggie that baby looks nothing like me” and Reggie just shrugs like “close enough”

3. Yeah exactly! As if he’s only just starting to make the box and is putting whatever in it, not just the things that mean something

Ok now non-box-related stuff lol

2. Yesss omg I love that. They’re just in the middle of playing through a song and Alex notices that Reggie is slowly dropping out and turning distant and he stops drumming (which makes the other two stop playing as well) but before any of them can ask Reggie what’s up he just kind of explodes. Tears all round, mostly Luke because he’s so guiltily relieved it’s not just him feeling like this

3. Totally! Alex points out all the logical stuff and Luke is just frowning the whole time like a furious puppy, and when Alex is finished he just says “right Luke?” and Luke just keeps scowling but nods at him. Doesn’t work if Reggie or Bobby try it, it does work when Julie does it, and surprisingly also works when Willie does it (because Willie is really good at reading people, as seen with Alex, so he knows how to approach any situation like that)

4. Yes exactly Luke is so caring (like in ep 7 when Alex is practically attacking his drums and he just gives a quick “hey Alex you alright?”) it’s just sometimes he lets his passion get in the way, that’s usually where music comes in! And omg that’s so perfect lmaooo I live for Alex kindly telling Luke off to get him back on track I love it

5. Yeah he knows the boys won’t take him seriously but he’s more careful around other people - the first time he says something sarcastic to Julie that he meant as a joke he worries for like a split second but then she immediately comes back with something terrible (because we all know Julie is terrible at comebacks and does not have Alex’s quick wit) and from then on they have this friendly-mean banter going back and forth between them

6. Yes exactlyyy 🥺😭 I feel like he went back to the garage once and then either he couldn’t make himself go back there ever again OR he couldn’t make himself leave for a long time and stayed there alone for days on end - either way he suffered a lot, being alone with his thoughts and his guilt. He started trying to talk to the boys - like Julie talking to her mum when she runs out of the Orpheum in ep 9. “I don’t know if you can hear me guys, but I am so sorry. I’m sorry I let you down, that I wasn’t there, that I can’t make this right. I miss you so much and... I don’t know what I’m ever going to do without you.”

8. Ohhh yes that makes way more sense actually, I like that a lot! They probably just passed Bobby as he was leaving the morgue and they were coming in to see Luke and that hurts to think about actually oh god. And yesss he so took the Rubik’s Cube and for a long time he would fiddle with it when nervous; he never managed to solve it though, not even once

10. Yes definitely!! He loves rides like the Spinning Teacups (or whatever variation they have at the theme park of that ride) and it’s Luke who will sit out on that one because the spinning makes him feel ill. He’s less happy to sit out than Reggie is because he worries he’ll miss out on the fun, but he’d rather not vomit everywhere. Now it looks like I’m going off on a theme park tangent so I’m just gonna let it happen - Alex adores rides, there’s nothing he won’t go on. Like he’s unafraid even though people would expect them to hate it but he knows they’ve been tested and they’re safe so he’s more than happy to spend all day on the biggest rides. Bobby likes water-based rides and logflumes and stuff like that - they always make sure they go on those at the end of the day because they have to do it for Bobby but they don’t want to walk around soaking wet all day. Reggie likes getting/taking photos with all the dressed up mascots wandering around, Luke is thrilled by any interactive rides (except ghost trains because we’ve already established he hates horror movies and he thinks it’s like being in a horror movie), Alex also really enjoys just wandering around the big park and seeing people have a good time, and Bobby actually likes co-ordinating their day and making sure everyone gets to do what they want to

Yes I can totally see that! Like Reggie somehow didn’t know what one of his best friends was allergic to and felt so guilty afterwards. It’s a sore spot, they can’t bring it up or he’ll just start crying and hugging Alex for hours on end. Reggie will say “I’m so sorry Alex I could have killed you that day!” and Alex just goes “dude we all died anyway”

11. With Reggie it always turns into a game of “is he lying or is this actually some totally messed up thing he really did?” The most difficult time anyone’s ever had to figure it out was when he said he’d met Queen Elizabeth - like yeah it’s unlikely but it’s definitely the sort of thing Reggie would somehow accidentally do so??? (It was a lie, but not on purpose - he thought he had met her but it was just some random old lady at a store)

13. Omg yes!!! I feel like they just get bored during the day and Luke would just go “hey Reggie, come and Dosey Doe with me” and it would turn into all four of them dancing around the studio. And yes I think out of all the unlikely things I want in season 2 full cowboy outfits is very high up on my list

14. Ahskfldo YES Nick witnessing the entire thing!! Assuming lifers still can’t see the boys next season it’ll be so funny if Nick can see them because obviously he’s actually Caleb so he has to mentally restrain himself from reacting at all to them mocking him because he can’t reveal himself. So it’s just Nick shaking with anger and Julie saying “Nick? You okay?” and how biting back something mean about the boys and growling “fine” instead. And yes 100% Reggie plays those songs on repeat and the guys pretend to hate them but they can’t deny good music when they hear it so they do join in

15. THAT IS THE CUTEST THING EVER OMG THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT! A tiny Han Solo in the corner of every piece, no matter if it’s Star Wars or not omg I love it I will never get over this

16. Yes lmao both of them are trying to sneak around Alex and duck under his arms to get at the batter and he’s just like “GUYS I am literally using an electric whisk, are you trying to get your fingers chopped off? Don’t even answer that, you’re banished from the kitchen, goodbye. Go annoy Bobby instead”

17. That is so cute omfg and like all over his clothes and in his hair. He just looks an utter mess but he’s smiling so wide and is the cutest baby ever (he was easily the cutest baby out of Sunset Curve, Reggie as a close second)

19. Wait yes I love that! Reggie’s just like “y’know it’s a lovely day outside d’you want to go dance with me” and Alex just goes “Reg it’s tipping it down. Of course” and it takes a while but Luke and Bobby eventually join them. Lots of splashing in puddles because the four of them are literal children and think it’s funny

20. That is the greatest thing ever andkdllf and I love how that was literally my reaction after episode 1 of the show too like wow Alex really is just that lovable. That pun as well I literally laughed out loud - I’ve reblogged/added to a post a while ago where I said Reggie and Willie communicate with each other only in ghost puns so I wholeheartedly support that. And exactly! If Luke suggested throwing eggs at anyone else’s house he would be sent to his room but he mentions it’s the Mercers’ and Emily just goes “I think we’re out of eggs, I’ll need to go shopping first, come on”

21. Yes omg idk why but the image of Alex having his own key is the sweetest thing ever - maybe because it symbolises him finally having a place to call home?? And yes I totally agree, Mitch doesn’t have a lot of characteristics (I wrote a massive list before where I made a load of headcanons about him because he didn’t have enough screen time lol) and he would develop so much if he took Alex under his wing

24. Omg yes you read my mind! She so should have had a verse in Flying Solo! Like thinking about it it’s totally plausible that Julie read her the poem before and Flynn, being Flynn, wanted to add her own verse about how much she loves Julie and how she’ll always be there for her! Or she could have at least like added harmonies or something?? Idk it’s just that Flynn is in the music program too and frankly I’d like to see her do a little more music. And I haven’t seen Lemonade Mouth but I did see a commentary video about it on YouTube (I think it was I’M LEMONADE MOUTH by Danny Gonzalez if you’re interested (but that might not be the title idk)) and if I’m remembering it right then YES absolutely! And yes exactly Willie would have danced with him if Caleb hadn’t made him leave! I’m still really angry about that because just think about how much fun they would have had together!!!!

25. Omg yes! I love that, I agree that it was because of Carrie being born that made him finally go. He wanted to be strong for her now that he finally had a second (third I guess?) chance at getting family life right and he knew he wasn’t in the right state of mind for it. And omg that mental image 🥺 if the boys had lived they would have been Uncle Luke, Uncle Alex, and Uncle Reggie to Carrie (and possibly even to Julie if they stayed friends with Rose too) and they would have raised her and maybe she would have grown up to be a little nicer and she and Julie and Flynn would have all stayed friends 🥺😭

26. Yes yes yes!! He gets back into his role of managing the band and even though the boys haven’t totally forgiven him he still finds himself able to write good music again and make jewellery again and he steps foot in the garage for the first time in decades because he has his band back and he feels so much happier and freer and he’s just ecstatic to have another chance!

28. Lmfao yes those are perfect! “Bobby I don’t care how much I love your pieces if you keep leaving your yarn in random places I will scream” was written after Reggie tripped over a bit of yarn that was somehow stretched all the way across the garage like a trap and when he fell he somehow managed to get totally tangled up in in

30. Omg yeah I can totally see her and Willie bonding!! I feel like Willie is kind of like an old soul and can just get along with everyone but he takes a special liking to Victoria for whatever reason and loves finding ways to talk to her

32. Yes! Sunset Curve just have the nicest, friendliest fan base and everyone is kind and respectful and all they want to do is give them stickers and fanart! Luke absolutely adores that portrait omg so Reggie and Luke would be puppies, I feel like Bobby could be a cat, and Alex would be something like an owl or something idk but they just are all captured as whatever the perfect animal for them and it’s adorable. Yeah you’re right I think Reggie just likes talking to fans and casually mentions it one day and the fans show up to the next gig with a 1000-piece puzzle for Alex

34. In a fridge omg I love it that’s brilliant. The boys laughed at him for a solid hour before helping him get out

35. Yes to all of that I love it!!! I also thought about Ray helping out - like he can’t see Reggie, but he goes along to all these photoshoots (and mostly can’t see who they’re taking pictures of either) and helps with angles and lighting and says well done to Reggie whenever he does a good job - Ray can’t see but Reggie smiles so wide at that

37. Ahsklfskdlfl yeah Alex has no hoodies left because they’ve all gone to a different band member or Flynn or Willie

39. YES OH MY GOD. When Carrie was just starting Dirty Candi she was saying about how she needed something to make them stand out and Trevor just immediately said “matching outfits, colour co-ordinated” without even thinking about it

40. Oh absolutely - but at some point Alex has to wonder if Willie is tripping so often because he can’t dance or so that Alex is forced to catch him. Willie is very eager to learn how to do lifts and stuff like that (even though it’s been years since even Alex did them) and he thinks it’ll be romantic. It is, but not because the lift is like this perfect moment, because it’s them messing up and being silly and just enjoying each other’s company 🥺

Not gonna lie this whole post might be my favourite we’ve made so far 😂

[just-horrible-things]

What if... Riven kept all the power, and Ariadne never got her promotion

Characters: Ariadne, Riven Setting: real-world-adjacent

Content warnings include: negative self-talk, workplace abuse (with torture), self blame, bystander effect

----

Ariadne drops her keycard on the side as her door clicks closed behind her. Useless bit of plastic. Riven got the IT guys to do something back in the summer, and now this is one of the few doors that open for her. She braces her palms against the wall and lets herself be still for the first time since she climbed out of bed 14 hours ago. Lets her composure crumble.

For the thousandth time, she thinks about tailgating someone through the front door and out into the streets. She doesn't know where the hell she'd go. She'd have nothing. But she'll do it, sometime soon. When she's healed.

But not until then. If she gets an infection, she'll need help. And she'll be on her own once she runs. Any hospital, the police... they might hand her back to Riven. And she can't let that happen. She can't. It was bad enough after she tried to report him. (Stupid girl, why did she ever imagine that would work?) If she got away from him, only to be reeled back in like a fish on a line... She can't do it. She'd shatter into pieces. So she'll wait.

But some day soon.

Her feet ache, almost as badly as her skin. Too much time standing too still. Trying not to shift and reopen any more gashes. She just wants to flop into bed. Lying down is its own kind of pain, but she's so tired.

But she needs to wash before she sleeps. Infection would be a hundred times worse.

She doesn't move for another minute, or five, or ten. Being still is the closest she can get to comfortable. Nothing tugging, or pressing on the wounds. No hand on her shoulder to make her flinch. Just her, and the quiet, and the ache.

Eventually she makes herself move again. Shrugging carefully out of her jacket is a practised motion. She allows herself a soft whimper at the pain. Her boots are laced loosely enough to kick off without needing to bend down. She empties her pockets, picks up pajamas, the neosporin, and a towel, then pauses to take a few deep breaths. Probably she won't bump into anyone in the corridor. But she might.

Useless bit of plastic, she thinks as she picks up the keycard on the way out.

Technically the shower is shared, but most people only rarely use the on-site rooms, so really it may as well be hers. She leaves her shampoo here, and a comb, and a tube of deodorant. No one has complained.

The door locks with a simple bolt. More reassuring than the card-lock on her room.

She turns the water on, and leaves it to come up to body temperature.

Her top sticks in a dozen places as she peels it carefully up her torso. Bending her elbows makes the scabs there crack open. And when she gets to the shoulders, she finds that they've been bleeding badly again, and the fabric is firmly stuck to the lacerations. It's such a small thing, but Ariadne could cry. It wasn't this bad yesterday, she thought it was healing. The frustration is almost worse than the pain. She just wants to sleep.

Fine, okay. She's dealt with this before... She takes off her belt, and her socks, and gets into the shower.

The warm water is soothing. It runs rivers through her clothes and leaves them heavy, warm and clinging. She tips her face up, wishing the water could wash away more than grime. It's nice. A small pleasure. She can feel the fabric slowly unsticking at her thighs, and her calves, and the outside of her arms. She doesn't look down. She doesn't want to see the red in the water.

She could stand under the warmth forever.

But she can't.

Her trousers are easy enough to slip out of. They puddle wetly round her feet. The top takes more effort. But the water has done its work, and it comes away from her shoulders with only a little pain. She gets it to her elbows, and the weight of the wet fabric does the rest of the work. It falls with a wet slap to join her trousers. And then she just has to reach - wincing - behind her back to unclip her bra.

She can't avoid looking at her body. She looks like a fucking zebra. The weals are bright where the skin isn't quite broken - and where they have reopened today - and pale where the scabs are still in place. Ankles to collarbones, neck to wrists. Like she's a fucking canvas - "you look good in stripes" - or a target board for Riven to practice his aim.

He is good, she has to give him that. The angles are consistent, the spacing even. And the depth is pretty even too, she supposes she should be glad of that. The bullwhip can cut badly, but her stripes are only skin deep.

She can't stop herself wondering how many will scar this time.

She was proud of her bullet scar. Proud of the knife wounds taken fighting for her duty and her life. Proud of the many nicks and scrapes she gave herself as a child learning to be stronger, better, quicker.

She can't be proud of the marks Riven gives her. Proof of how he toys with her. How she isn't strong enough or brave enough to stop him.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. She should have run before now. Even starving on the street would be better than this. Why did she go and lash out and get herself whipped again? She should have swallowed her anger and run instead.

She should have run a long time ago.

But at least moving is a little less painful with the scabs all softened by water. She washes her hair first, then the rest. Her hands move gently over the welts and the skin between, wiping away the sweat and the grime. It's not as bad as it could be. But washing her back is still bad, and her feet and legs are worse. Bending double makes her burn from shoulders to ass.

By the time she is done, she's sitting on the shower floor and shuddering, feet braced against one side of the cubicle, back pressed against the cold tiles for relief. She lets her head tip back, and tries not to think.

She'll need to go through the whole rigmarole again when she gets out, putting the neosporin on the welts. It's worth it for the lasting relief, but it still means moving. And before that she has to get dry - dabbing at her skin as carefully as she can with the towel. And then she'll have to pull pajamas on. And she'll probably leave blood on her sheets again anyway...

The staff who do the laundry must know. They wash blood out of a lot of clothes, she supposes - and thank god for modern stain removal - but not many people turn in bloodied clothes and bloodied sheets and bloodied pajamas every day for a week straight.

But what does it matter. Everyone knows. They see the way she flinches, and the way Riven talks to her. They know how often he "disciplines" her, they've all seen --

No.

Don't think about it.

She just needs to worry about tonight. She just needs to get out of the shower, get dry, put the cream on the cuts, put her pajamas on, get back to her room, get into bed, and pass out. Just that.

"Just" that.

... she can't do it.

It's too much.

Every inch of her aches.

She should pull herself together, stop being such a baby, they're only shallow cuts, she's had worse.

But it burns every time she moves. The pain scratches at the back of her mind every second she's awake, and it keeps her from sleeping. It's too much. She's exhausted.

Maybe she can just fall asleep here, under the warm water.

But she can't, she knows she can't, it's too uncomfortable. And she's already getting cold, leaning back against the wall with only her legs under the shower.

Maybe she can think about bed. Bed is good. Morning will come too soon, but at least she'll be a day closer to healed.

Bed is too far away.

Or maybe she can break it up into the smallest steps. Just get out of the shower. That's not too much. Just do that, and deal with the next task when she gets to it.

She can do it. She might be weak but she's not that weak. She will do it.

But maybe she'll just sit here a little longer.

Tears form hot in her eyes. She has words for the welts on her skin, but she has no words for the hurt in her heart. She used to think she was worth something. She used to think the system was fair. But Riven treats her like a toy.

And everyone knows, and no one cares.

[authenticcadence18]

30 Questions About Me

THANKS FOR THE TAG @bugaboo-n-bananoir ILY!!!!

(Nick)name: Cadence

gender: cis female

Star sign: Pisces

Height: uhhhhh I am not sure, it’s taller than 5ft at least

Time: night! (Well I wrote most of this last night, but now it’s the evening of the next day!)

Birthday: well I’m a Pisces, so my birthday is between Feb 19th and march 20th!

Fave band/group: Pentatonix! Or For King and Country. Or the piano guys, the vitamin string quartet, Voctave.....also Phineas and the Ferbtones👌

Fave solo artists: I really like Lauren Daigle, and Jackie Evancho used to be my FAVE. Aaand idk if this counts but Michael Giacchino! love his scores, especially the score for Inside Out. There’s also this guy called Clay Kramer on YouTube who makes KK Slider covers of popular music, his stuff gives me so much seratonin😅

Song Stuck in my Head: Well I’m listening to music rn and “I’m Me” from Phineas and Ferb is on so I’ll say that! (I’ll revisit this one when I finish the list and update it with whatever song i’m listening to/is stuck in my head then) (ok the music has since been turned off and now I have “Status Quo” from High School Musical stuck in my head so! There ya go!) (now it is the next day, and I’ve got “when the party’s over” stuck in my head...i think these three songs are an accurate reflection of my taste in music🤣)

Last Movie: uhhhhh oh yeah, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice! It was SO GREAT because Jay Baruchel plays the main character (and the main character is super awkward), so I felt like I was watching Hiccup from the How To Train Your Dragon franchise learn magic and it was GLORIOUS. And also Nicholas Cage is great. And I liked the love interest in the movie as well!! She had a role to play in the story and felt authentic and genuine, which I appreciated!

Last Show: ok well the last show I watched by myself was Phineas and Ferb! Specifically, the episode with the Mardi Gras block party and then the one where Candace and Stacy compete in an obstacle course against Isabella and Ginger (omg wAIT ginger and Stacy are sisters and Isabella and Candace are GOING to be sisters mY HEART I—AH🥺). I hadn’t watched those episodes in forever, so they were really fun to revisit! I think the last actual show I watched was Kids Baking Championship or something, lol. (Those kids are AMAZING. So skilled!)

When i created this blog: November 2019! It was riiiight after the season 3 finale of miraculous aired and absolutely wrecked my emotions. I had some fanfic written that I’d never posted and had been thinking about making a tumblr/ao3 for awhile, and seeing the finale made me finally go, “.....you know what, yeah. The finale is aired, no more spoilers.....it’s time to make a blog.” So I did! And I posted my first fic! And I’m so happy i did :)

What Do I Post: a bunch of multi fandom stuff XD. This blog started off as 90% Miraculous, 10% other fandoms I like...but now it’s just kind of a hodgepoge of my favorite fandoms (with a focus on Phineas and Ferb, lol). I reblog a lot of posts, and then I post original stuff too! I write fanfic, nowadays for Phineas and Ferb but for Miraculous in the past (and probably in the future!), I draw art (mostly Phinabella art because I’ve been drawing them since i was 11 and it feels good to return to my roots), and OCCASIONALLY I will write an analysis post (I’ve got one in the works rn actually 👀), attempt to make a meme, or dip my toe into salt just SLIGHTLY before quickly backing away, lol. If I were to list the fandoms I post about in the order of how frequently I post about them, I’d probably say: Phineas and Ferb, Miraculous....and thennnnn everything else is pretty random and depends on the day, lol.

Last thing i googled: Jay Baruchel 😂. Couldn’t remember how to spell his last name!

Other blogs: this is my only blog! Sometimes I think about making a separate blog for my art and writing, but I am not sure if I should or not....maybe I will someday, but idk. I also have an AO3 for fanfic and an Instagram for art! All are under the name “authenticcadence18.”

Do I get asks: sometimes, yeah!! Sometimes I reblog ask games/prompts and get some asks for those (I’ve got so many prompts in my inbox I want to write/draw things for...ah it’s fine, I’ll get to it eventually😅), and sometimes lovely people will leave thoughts or nice messages in my inbox🥺💕. I’ve got a specific tag for all those nice messages so I can read back over them whenever I need a boost!

Why this url: it’s a music pun! When a song/section of a piece of music ends with a dominant chord resolving to a tonic chord (if you’ve read a certain fic of mine you should know allll about dominant and tonic chords👀🤣), it’s called an authentic cadence! There are different kinds of cadences, and authentic ones are my favorite. One example of this is “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” I also use this blog to be my authentic, fandom-loving self! So I like authentic cadences, and also, I’m Cadence and using this blog to be authentic! Woo! (And 18 is just my favorite number, lol) I’m glad I ended up choosing a name that doesn’t tie to a specific fandom becaaaaaause this ended up being a multi fandom blog!

Following: 232!!

Followers: 292!!! (THANKS SO MUCH Y’ALL ILY 💕)

Average amount of sleep: wellllll for the past week and a half I was sick so I was probably getting 9ish hours a night (because I would sleep in really late, lol). but NOW? In my immediate future? I suspect my average amount of sleep is going to go down because I’m really bad about staying up late even when I have to get up early😅. Hoping to be good about getting at least 7ish hours a night!

Lucky number: 18! But y’all probably already guessed that, lol.

Instruments: my voice, piano, ukulele, viola (but it’s been a HOT minute), aaaand i used to be able to play guitar but then I got a ukulele and forgot all the guitar chords. (I also dabble in songwriting! I primarily use voice and piano when writing music.)

What I’m wearing: my favorite sweatshirt (that was last night, rn I have on a tanktop), some leggings, and socks!

Dream job: I’m currently learning to be a teacher, and I LOVE teaching and working with kids so that is definitely a job I’m really excited about!!! I would also love to portray characters at Disney or something (well, maybe not at Disney because I hear they’re strict, but like....I want to be Rapunzel or Anna or something, that would be so fun). OR, I would LOVE to work in tv animation somehow, be it voice acting, writing scripts/music, and/or story boarding. basically if I could do what Dan and Swampy did for Phineas and Ferb/Milo Murphy’s Law, I would LOVE THAT. (Especially the writing music part. Getting to write music for established characters and get PAID for it would be SO COOL.!.!.!) Also I think it would be so fun to write Disney storybooks! Like, those books that are about Cinderella baking a cake or Ariel befriending a seahorse, stuff like that. Those brought me a ton of joy as a child!

Dream trip: I want to visit alllll the Disney parks someday😅. (Not right now because, ya know, Covid...but someday!)

Fave food: uhhh i really like pizza. And popcorn. Also hummus and guacamole!

nationality: American

Fave songs: “Times” by Tenth Avenue North; “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (I made an entire playlist of just this song when I first started writing my fic of the same name, so I like the original and a ton of covers of it!), “Show Yourself” from Frozen II, “What Might Have Been” from Phineas and Ferb (and lots of other songs from that show, i made a whole post about that once but I can’t find it, oof); “Rescue” by Lauren Daigle; “Thank You” by Pentatonix; “I See the Light” from Tangled; “Your Hands” by JJ Heller; “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran.....i like a loooot of songs so this is just the tip of the iceberg, but I think that’s good for now, LOL! (As soon as I post this I’m going to remember another song I love, lol)

last book: I got the book Unbirthday for Christmas! It’s basically Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, but if she’d never gone to wonderland and things went horribly wrong there. (I think, I’m not that far into it yet, lol)

Top 3 fictional universes I’d love to live in: 1. DANVILLE, PLS. Especially as a kid, I SO would’ve loved to hang out with Isabella and Phineas and the rest of the gang! Danville is so vibrant and unique and people are always randomly breaking into song there, that’s my kind of place! 2. Fairytopia (from the Barbie movies!) because I could be a fairy OR a mermaid OR BOTH and eat seeweed to breathe underwater even if I wasn’t a mermaid. Like, that’s the dream right there. (I’ve always loved mermaids and fairies, lol!) 3. Maybe San Fransokyo from Big Hero 6? All of the technology in that universe is really cool! And I would love to eat a noodle burger, lol .

Oh! That’s the last one! Wow! This was so FUN!!!!!!! Thanks again for the tag, Maddy!!!! :)

I’ll taaaag @sketchy-panda @macaronsforchat @simplynewyorkbound @inkjackets and anyone else who’d like to do this! (And pls don’t feel pressured to play at all, or answer all of the questions! I was definitely vague with a few of my answers, lol)

[doomedandstoned]

Colin MacGregor: A Portrait

The cover artist for Doomed & Stoned in Scotland shares his craft and journey.

Last month, Doomed & Stoned revealed its latest survey of the heavy underground by zeroing in on the Scotland rock and metal underground, with our usual anchor to doom metal and stoner rock, but showcasing several genre blenders to boot.

We assembled an enthusiastic team of musicians, artists, and local media types to help us vet each of the submissions so we had the most authentic picture of the Scottish scene's character, as well as a listening experience of the utmost excellence.

Doomed & Stoned in Scotland by Doomed & Stoned

We're thankful to each of the bands who participated, and especially grateful for the enthusiastic participation of Colin MacGregor, whose striking dark, rich colors on canvas of an ancient druid captured the spirit of the project so succinctly, and inspired many a casual peruser to give the 40-band compilation a good and thorough hearing.

Following is a virtual gallery of his work, with commentary by Mr. MacGregor himself, from Colin MacGregor Maker Art.   (Editor)

SELF PORTRAIT IN RED (2009)

9x6” acrylic on board

This is pretty much how it all began.

I was living in a flat in the centre of Edinburgh with next to no furniture, no television, no internet connection (no landline!) or working radio, I had to think of a way to keep myself occupied in the evening when I wasn’t working. This is when I found a box of 20 small acrylic paint tubes I’d bought years before and never really used, along with about 5 paintbrushes of dubious quality.

Using a photo from my rather poor mobile phone at the time, I set about creating this painting on a piece of board that I had.

The colour comes basically through how I see people I meet, depending on circumstances. This is how most of my early paintings were executed.

THOMAS BLACKLOCK “THE BLIND POET” (2013)

20x16” acrylic on canvas

This one was painted for the then bar manager of a long-gone Edinburgh pub called The Blind Poet, and the portrait is of Thomas Blacklock, of the aforementioned moniker, who lived in Pear Tree House for most of his life and was an influence on both Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns, despite losing his sight as a child through smallpox.

The painting itself I don’t have much recollection of as I’d had extensive knee surgery at the time and was on quite a number of strong painkillers, but safe to say this painting led me to my first paid commission, where I produced two more paintings for Pear Tree House, one of which is still on display in their basement bar.

This one and the largest of the three, of Andrew Usher II, are currently in storage, I believe, in the south side of Edinburgh.

MAGGIE (2014)

12x9” acrylic on canvas

This was painted for my friend who was moving from Edinburgh to Bremen. She wanted something to put in her new home and also something to mark our friendship so I painted this in about 3 days.

It’s also quite rare in my canon as it actually has a bit of background in it, usually my backgrounds are just solid black.

This colour was actually quite difficult to get right, and it was applied in very thin layers and built up gradually, which is why I think it has quite a diffused, soft image overall.

ARANCHA (2017)

12x9” acrylic on canvas

This one is of my girlfriend and is based on a photo I took of her whilst walking through a park in Amsterdam. The photo itself was quite blurry as I took it on the fly whilst walking, but her face ended up on the whole in focus so I thought I could get something out of it.

There is a second version of this painting which is done in very pale pink and white paint, which was a bit of an experiment, but I kind of liked the challenge of doing something different

DAVID BOWIE (2016)

12x9” acrylic on canvas

This was painted within two weeks of the announcement of his death. I’d painted a few musicians before this one but they were all plain black and white, whereas this one actually had colour in the eyes, something a bit different to my usual stuff.

It was also the first painting I’d done by painting the canvas black first and drawing the basic shape on in chalk, something I’ve only done again once, and that was the recent Druid painting.

FRANK ZAPPA (2019)

12x9” acrylic on canvas

As mentioned above, this was actually started in 2016 and sat in various states of… started-ness, for around 3 years.

The painting actually spent most of its life as a scribbly mess of marker pen and gun-metal grey paint, and was almost scrapped entirely until I reassessed it in October 2019 and decided to attempt to salvage it, which I’m glad I did really as it’s been used on my business cards and as the “face” of the exhibition it was included in!

LEMMY (2019)

12x9” acrylic on canvas

I actually started this one, along with Frank Zappa, back in 2016 but the pair of them languished in various states of unfinishedness for a long, long time due to a variety of circumstances.

I eventually got them both back out of storage and managed to find the focus to finish them both in time for a week-long exhibition in Bannerman’s Bar, Edinburgh, which also featured Wraith, Cronos, Ozzy Osbourne, Chris Cornell, Nick Cave, David Bowie, Mark E. Smith, the aforementioned Frank Zappa and a rendition of the Xenomorph from the Alien movie franchise. This exhibition coincided with a Bismuth gig which had been organised by Bailey Junior, who was instrumental in dragging me out my block and getting these completed.

CRONOS (2019)

15x11” acrylic on canvas

Bailey Junior approached me with the idea of producing a poster for an upcoming gig he’d organised with a heavy doom band from England called Bismuth, expecting a fairly quick Photoshop effort.

I hadn’t painted in a while maybe a year or two, having suffered a drop in confidence and not being able to find the time or motivation, but I’d long wanted to create a poster which was almost entirely in paint, rather than digital text over the top, so this proved to be the spark needed to push myself into painting again.

Loosely based on the Ancient Greek myth of Cronos and partially based on “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan'' by Ilya Repin (1885) it took two or three evenings to complete. The text for the poster was hand painted on separate canvases and then put together using Photoshop to give the impression it was a completely painted poster. The only thing not painted was the Scapegoat.tv logo which was added later, just before the gig took place.

OZZY OSBOURNE (2019)

12x9” acrylic on canvas

This one was really, really quick. Probably about 2 ½ hours from start to finish, maybe 3 at a push. Painted roughly about 7 days before I was due to open my first exhibition at Bannerman’s Bar, it was a last-minute decision, but turned out really great.

The acrylics were almost used like watercolors here, being as there were large light areas and deep, deep blacks.

I’m especially proud of the mouth area, it really has an almost 3D effect, something I rarely managed to get right.

WRAITH (2019)

16x12” acrylic on canvas

This was the second collaboration with Bailly and Scapegoat.tv after the Bismuth gig. This was designed for Japanese band Friendship but sadly due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 the gig was eventually cancelled.

The painting itself was based on a number of different sources for reference for cloth, lighting and the hand gesture. I’m not actually that much of a fan of painting hands to be perfectly honest.

The painting itself is currently still in Bannerman’s Bar. We were planning to hold another exhibition for all the paintings in the Bismuth gig exhibition again, but the day after putting them all up Lockdown began and the pub had to close, so I’ve not seen any of the exhibition paintings in person in about a year now.

Hopefully things will change soon.

MIKEY LAWLESS (2020)

12x9” acrylic on canvas

This one was painted in the first week of January 2020 for Mikey’s mother after Mikey himself sadly passed away from cancer just days after the new year began.

I think it took me roughly about 11-12 hours from start to finish and ended up being the only painting I completed that year, despite the coronavirus lockdown and other things happening.

DRUID (2021)

16x16” acrylic on canvas

And so it brings us to this one, again it took a nudge from Bailey to get me kick-started enough to unbox the paints again, and it took a bit of time to get started.

I’m not going to lie, after over a year of being nowhere near a paintbrush and canvas I was nervous and unsure if I could even do it, but once the canvas was primed and the blue paint started drawing out the shapes it started to come together.

It took about 4-5 days, give or take, spaced over a number of evenings, to complete and use references from a number of different sources.

The blue colour was chosen as a representation of Scotland in general, trying to capture the colour of the Saltire, but also evoke moonlight.

Follow Colin MacGregor

Get Colin MacGregor's Art

[abigailnussbaum]

Legends of Tomorrow, Season 5

I was going to write weekly reviews of this season, and then with one thing and another ended up dropping it in the spring (hey, remember when there was so much weekly TV that you couldn’t keep up with all your shows? Wonder how long it’ll be before that happens again). I caught up with the entire season this weekend, and honestly, that feels like a better standpoint from which to write about it - I think if I’d stuck with weekly reviews, I would have ended up saying the same thing week after week.

A couple of years ago, Emily VanDerWerff suggested that there is a standard lifecycle for high-concept, large ensemble, off-the-wall genre shows: 

Season 1: still figuring this whole thing out 

Season 2: now we’re cooking with oil 

Season 3: we can do anything! 

Season 4: whoops, no, we’ve gotten a bit over our skis here 

Season 5: ??? 

Legends, I think, encapsulates this progression to a T. The show’s second and third seasons were some of the best and most exciting genre storytelling on television, but last year was a bit of a mess. That’s not entirely the writers’ fault - Nick Zano’s limited availability due to family obligations forced them to beef up the Time Bureau’s role in the season, and their desire to keep Maisie Richardson-Sellers on board even after Amaya’s story had wrapped up led them to create a character, Charlie, who had no real reason for being on the Waverider. But a lot of it was self-inflicted. The cast was too unwieldy, the Time Bureau story seemed designed to expose the thin spots in the show’s self-presentation as irreverent but fundamentally compassionate (it certainly didn’t help that the decision to rewrite Nate Sr. into a good guy was made almost at the last minute, requiring the entirely unconvincing argument that forcing magical creatures to perform in a circus act is somehow morally superior to forcing them to be secret agents), and some of the character choices felt entirely parachuted in (Zari/Nate, anyone?).

Season five, therefore, had a lot of clean up work to do, while also demonstrating that the Legends formula had more life in it than just those two transcendent early seasons. And while this is undeniably a more successful, more enjoyable season than the one preceding it (which also does a great deal to address some of the show’s structural issues, chiefly the overlarge cast), I also can’t help but notice that instead of finding new places for the show to go, what the fifth season delivers instead is a hodgepodge of story elements from seasons two and three. So we’ve got a mystical object that can rewrite reality (The Loom of Fate vs. season two′s The Spear of Destiny); a token hunt across time and space in which the Legends face off against the estranged relatives of one of their members (the totems in season three vs. the search for the pieces of the loom, Amaya’s evil granddaughter vs. Charlie’s evil sisters); a late season loss that forces our characters into a nightmarish alternate reality in which they don’t even remember who they are (the Legion of Evil rewriting the Legends’ lives to make them ordinary and unsatisfying vs. being stuck in TV shows in a world run by the Fates); which comes about because of a betrayal by a member of the team (Charlie in season five, Mick in season two) whose eventual return to the fold enables to Legends to win in the end. There’s even an abandoned, abused girl who has turned evil, and has to be won back to the side of good through the offer of true companionship and understanding (Nora Darhk vs. Astra Logue).

This isn’t exactly a bad thing - a lot of these storytelling beats cut to the very core of what Legends is and what makes it work, so it’s not necessarily wrong for the show to repeat them. And even if the basic structure is the same, Legends just keeps getting more adventurous in how it delivers that structure. I’ve already written about how well done the season’s mockumentary episode was, and the same can be said for the 80s slasher movie riff, the Mr. Rogers parody, and of course, “The One Where We’re Trapped on TV”. Like the multiple universe episode in season four, these are things the show couldn’t have done when it was just a few seasons old, and they’re proof that whatever other issues it has, Legends is constantly pushing the envelope in terms of the kind of tropes and genres it can graft onto a superhero template. That said, there’s a very real possibility that this is all the show will ever be - a standard story template, enlivened by increasingly gonzo riffs on existing tropes.

Some more thoughts on where the season worked and where it didn’t below.

THE GOOD:

I really hated the decision to make Nora a fairy godmother in season four, not least because it felt like yet another way of infantilizing her (it certainly didn’t help that it was a choice she was forced into, and that she spent the remainder of the season catering to the every whim of Gary, a character I still have very mixed feelings towards). But season five really reclaims that choice. Having Nora embrace the fairy godmother life as a way of both helping children and working through her own issues makes a lot of sense, and the character feels happier and more confident than we’ve ever seen her (certainly a step up from how gloomy she was last season). I even like the wardrobe change - once the fairy godmother dress was ditched except for specific occasions, having Nora dress all in teal is a nice touch, and certainly an improvement over her rather boring season four wardrobe. I still think Legends missed a lot in how it handled Nora last season (I will never stop being annoyed that she and Sara didn’t develop a deeper friendship, given how similar their life trajectories have been), but this was a good way of righting the ship, even in a very limited timeframe.

I already mentioned this in the episode review, but watching the rest of the season really cemented my admiration for how quickly the show embeds Behrad into the crew, and makes it feel as if he’s always been there. That’s all the more impressive given that Behrad doesn’t really get an arc in season five. Most of that storytelling energy goes to establish Zari 2.0, and Behrad is, of course, absent for much of the latter half of the season. And yet he feels almost instantly like a fully-rounded character who is integral to the show, so much so that you’re heartbroken by his death (and convinced that it will be rolled back, even though Zari could easily take over his superpower). That’s really excellent work by both the writers and Shayan Sobhian.

I was a bit nervous when Zari 2.0 was introduced, because replacing a heroic, cool-girl-coded, nobly self-sacrificing character with a version of herself who is extremely femme-coded and obsessed with things like fashion and social media is the sort of move that is ripe for easy misogynistic point-scoring in the guise of feminism - of course the Zari who is good with machines and eats donuts is superior to the one who has a perfume line and spends hours in the bathroom every morning! But the show very quickly established that Zari, though certainly not without her flaws, is awesome in any guise, and it did so without trying to change her into “our” Zari, eventually even establishing that they are two completely different people, each with a right to exist (though not simultaneously, unfortunately). I get why the show didn’t keep both Zaris around - it would be asking a lot of Tala Ashe to play two characters, much of the time against herself, not to mention a production nightmare - but I appreciate that it didn’t decide that Zari 2.0 was the lesser version. (Also a nice touch: Behrad, though obviously fond of Zari 1.0, doesn’t think of her as “his” sister, even though to us she’s the “real” version of the character.)

Similarly, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when Ava moved to the Waverider full time - obviously, it would be an improvement on her playing a tinpot fascist at the Time Bureau while the show pretended that this wouldn’t really bother Sara, but at the same time Sara and Ava are both so similar in their functions and abilities that I worried they’d step on each other’s shoes. Instead, the show leaned into their differences and made the season about Ava finding her place as captain of the Waverider, a role she fills in very different ways than Sara while still doing a good job at it. It also allowed her to expand her point of view a little - bonding with Zari 2.0, or reaching out to Astra, both things that would have been outside of her comfort zone in the past. Obviously, this is setup for Ava taking over as captain in season six now that Sara has been abducted (though I hope not for very long - Legends isn’t Legends without Sara), but good on the show for taking the time to bring Ava to a point where she’s ready for this, and in a different way from Sara.

And speaking of looking ahead, the show takes the wise step of thinning out its cast. Personally, I would have kept Ray, Nora, and Mona and written off Constantine and Nate (and possibly also Gary), but either way, it’s good that the writers realized their cast was getting unwieldy. I was concerned, for example, that the show figuring out what to do with Charlie and giving her an elaborate backstory was a sign that she would stay on, but instead she leaves once that story is resolved. And I think that in an earlier season, Astra would have been positioned to stay on the Waverider after the end of the season, but instead she’s clearly a one-off character, who goes off to live her own life once the show has brought her story to a satisfying conclusion. (This also, however, means that Legends has written off two black women in a single season, not to mention Mona, and in fact has only one WOC main character remaining; I hope that’s something season six addresses.)

THE BAD:

I realize that I am very much in the minority on this, but I’m sorry: John Constantine does not belong on Legends of Tomorrow, and certainly not as a main character. Season five feels, in fact, like a perfect demonstration of this simple truth. The early parts of the season feel like two different shows, the Legends show and the Constantine show, that happen to have some points of intersection and shared characters. And even once those storylines converge, it’s notable how John’s quest for the Loom of Fate very quickly becomes Astra’s quest for it, and then Charlie’s, and how they both feel more grounded in that story and more affected by it than he was. What it comes down to, once again, is that John Constantine is a character who can’t change, and putting him on a show that is all about change and growth can’t help but feel unsatisfying for both the character and the show. Season five tries to suggest that change is possible for him - he finally comes clean with Astra and make a real apology to her; he admits that his pursuit of magic has cost him relationships and a chance at happiness; he reaches out to his friends when he thinks his life is about to end; he even quits smoking. But the character just doesn’t have that much give in it. To be John Constantine, he has to be the cynical, arrogant, self-destructive fuck-up we’ve always known. On a show like Legends of Tomorrow, that can work in small doses, but not as the main character that Constantine has been positioned as.

Though I’m glad that the show figured out something to do with Charlie before writing her off, the similarities between her story and Mick’s can’t help but shed a light on how poorly thought out this character has been, and how much her season five story is parachuted in. When Mick betrays the team at the end of season two, it’s barely a season after they’d put him off the ship for being perennially untrustworthy, leading to him becoming their nemesis. They only take him back out of pity for the decades of torture he suffered, and sympathy for the loss of his only friend, Captain Cold. His betrayal is a direct outcome of those cracks in the relationship - he does it because he wants to live in a world where he hasn’t been hurt or hurt others, and where his friend is still alive. When he changes his mind at the end of the season, it’s a culmination of two seasons of character growth, the realization that holding on to the pain in his life is worth it if it means he gets to keep the friendships he formed on the Waverider, and to continue to grow as a person - as expressed by his choice to put Snart back in his timeline, where he will become a better person (and eventually inspire Mick to do the same) but will also die. Charlie’s very similar storyline just doesn’t have this kind of depth. Neither her heel turn nor her face turn feel particularly earned, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that it took the writers so long to figure out who this character even was.

For a season of Legends, this was an awfully heteronormative stretch of episodes. Sure, Sara and Ava are still center stage, and that’s fantastic. But every other romantic relationship in the season, and there are quite a few of them, is a straight one. You might blame this on the fact that season five is a housecleaning season, wrapping up dangling storylines like Ray/Nora or Nate/Zari. But even the new characters like Behrad or Lita express only opposite-sex attraction (I guess Astra never demonstrates a preference). I mean, if you give John Constantine two different love interests in a single season and they’re both women, surely something has gone terribly wrong?

And speaking of John Constantine’s love interests, is putting him together with Zari meant to make the old her’s romance with Nate look organic and true to the characters in comparison? Because I can’t think of another reason for it. Do not want.

THE UGLY:

Words cannot express how much I hate the Damien Darhk episode. Not all of it, obviously - the Mr. Rogers riff, as I said, is pretty good (and pays off handsomely later in the season), and pretty much all the Ray/Nora stuff, especially the moment where she realizes she’s not going to lie to her father about the man she loves and the life she’s chosen, are golden. But it is simply mind-boggling that after two seasons in which Nora was firmly established as the survivor of a lifetime of abuse, Legends takes an entire hour to not only rehabilitate Damien, but pretend that he was always a loving father who just made some mistakes. For crying out loud, the man fed his daughter to a demon in order to gain power for himself. It was always an interesting wrinkle in his character that he clearly saw himself as a loving, protective parent, and was even capable of some level of self-sacrifice on Nora’s behalf, but I had assumed that the show realized this was at least partly a self-serving lie. To discover that we’re actually meant to think that one act of sacrifice cancels out a lifetime of abuse is nauseating. I wanted Nora to stand up to her father, but as a victim calling out her abuser, not a loving daughter trying to renegotiate a relationship with an overprotective parent. It certainly doesn’t help that the episode features inexplicably popular wedding story tropes, such as the groom asking the bride’s father for permission to marry her, or the father trying to keep the couple from physical intimacy before the wedding, which are gross in any context but especially so here. I suppose in the end it’s all worth it to be rid of Damien once and for all, but I was squirming with discomfort and rage throughout the entire episode.