Im glad that Jona’s living his best life now. U go girl <3

home sweet home.

[ read devil in a new suit ]

i just really, really wanted to explore a bit about kook’s family because i think it shines a big light on who this adorable baby is.  i hope you enjoy!  xo

pairing.  jjk x f!reader.  rating.  explicit.  tags.  you’ll get cavities from reading this, honestly.  but also, very light smut in the form of:  inappropriate bullet egg use and tit groping (again, kook is a boob guy).  wc.  1.7k.

You meet his parents on a Sunday afternoon, invited to their palatial home for family brunch. It’s the first one you’ve been invited to, despite the fact you and Jungkook have been dating for what feels like forever (but in reality is only six months).  

Mama Jeon is an intimidating woman with a deceptively sweet face, aging gracefully around her eyes, the barely there lines upon her hands doing little to detract from her beauty.  She holds herself with immeasurable grace, practically dances into her son’s embrace when the two of you step into the modernist’s dream, chicly decorated and swathed in neutral tones.  It reminds you vaguely of Jungkook’s apartment - but decidedly more refined.  Same colour palette, though. 

“Jungkook-ah,”  she hums, patting adoringly at his cheek when he passes a kiss against hers, looking every inch the mama’s boy he is. 

“Eomma,”  he returns, so giddy it makes your heart soar in your chest.  He’s so easy to love - and so easily loving, offering the world to the woman who’d raised and loved him.  Two hands - the picture of respect - pass over the box of pastries you’d picked up on your way, the bag of too-expensive fruit topping the container.  (Apparently, his mother loves grapes, but only green ones.)  “These are for you— from us.”

Now is when he gestures to you - standing just to the side, beyond his shoulder - with a flourish comparable to that of a game show host.  It’s adorable how eager he is, beaming proudly at his eomma as he reaches for your hand, squeezes it tight between his own tattooed one.

When she turns to you, her expression is inscrutable. 

This woman isn’t someone who wears her heart on her sleeve, offers pleasantries for the sake of it.  She’s confident and critical (but soft, somehow, for the people she loves most), forged from steel and refined by experience.  You’re simultaneously awed and afraid, a mixture of emotion you’re not quite used to.

She levels you with a look.  A moment passes, then another.  You wonder if your smile falters, eclipsed by the grey of her stare.  (You feel like that one girl from that one movie about those crazy rich… what was it?)  

Finally, she speaks, drags her eyes from your shoes - red Ferragamo pumps, with the signature bow detailing on the toe - up to your face.  It feels more like a stringent assessment than a casual perusal, stirring heat beneath the colour of your blouse.  You’re not nervous, per se, but you want her to like you.  Right now, you can’t tell if she does - probably have a higher chance of winning the lottery than getting an answer.  “Lovely to meet you, ____.”  Her tone is warm enough, polite and paired with a tiny nod of her sophisticat head.

The patriarch of the family is the opposite of his mother, endlessly genial and full of booming laughter.  It reminds you a little of Jungkook’s own giggle, but somehow more - rounded by years and years of full-belly laughing and further ingrained by the wrinkles around his eyes.  

Just like his mother, Mr. Jeon is slim, good-looking in a way that comes from proper self-care and living an easy life.  (Not that it’d always been this way, you remind yourself.  Jungkook had told you how hard his parents had worked - all the long hours his father had put into getting where he was, able to support his wife and two children.)  He encourages his son’s stories and looks fondly at his daughter - the spitting image of her mother, with the same round stare as Jungkook.  

When your bowl runs empty, he makes sure it’s refilled, nodding in approval when his son is the one to make it happen.  When his wife makes an off-hand comment in response to a story, he’s the one to chide her, however gently.  He’s not nearly as sharp as she is, softly rounded edges like the toe of his slippers, the natural sag of his jaw with time.  

(You get it now. Meeting his parents for the first time, juxtaposed so hilariously against each other, it all makes sense.  Who Jungkook is, how he is equal parts soft and yielding and hesitant and distant.  Why he smiles so freely - with wrinkles you see aged nearly three decades in his father’s face - but loves so tenderly, offering it with whispers of affection that you might miss, should you look away.)

His father asks you questions like he really cares, nodding thoughtfully each time he learns a little bit more about you.

“How did you two meet?”  He’s bright-eyed, curious over the coffee mug he sandwiches in his grip.  You imagine he’s heard the story - must have heard some form of it in passing from Jungkook - but you appreciate his interest nonetheless.  He just wants to see the perspective from someone other than his lovestruck son.

You can’t help but laugh, sucking in your cheeks like you always do when you’re contemplative.  Jungkook shifts at your side, drops his inked palm over your covered knee and squeezes.  You’re not sure whether he’s reassuring you or himself with the gesture.

“He actually kept coming into my store.”  It’s not a lie.  Certainly not as scandalous as the full truth, but a truth nonetheless.  That is how you’d met.  

“Your store?”  It’s Jisoo, curious and pretty from her seat where she’s still picking at the desserts you’d brought over.  (She’s a fan of tart and tangy flavours, unlike her brother.)  “Do you own a shop or something?”

You wonder how much she knows.  You know she’s younger than either you or your partner, a student at Korea National University.  Part of their dance program, if you’re not mistaken.  You’d heard all about it a few weeks ago, when she’d sent a video to Jungkook and he’d raved about it nonstop, so proud of his little sister you couldn’t even make fun of him.

“I work at CELINE.”  

That earns a noise of delight from Jisoo (together with an “oh my god, that’s so cool”) and a polite albeit disinterested nod from Mr. Jeon (if his nondescript but stylish clothes are any indication, luxury fashion isn’t his top priority).  

What you don’t expect - what you just barely not from the corner of your eye - is the surprise written across Mrs. Jeon’s expression.  As if she’s just learned something groundbreaking.  

“You have a job?”  Maybe she doesn’t mean it how it comes out, disbelieving and abrupt.  You don’t let it rub you the wrong way, nodding.  (You know where she’s coming from - you feel the same way about his exes as she does, it seems.)  She’s hardly looking at you now, though, gaze trained on her beloved son.  There’s a silent conversation happening between them - something you’re not privy to, an exchange held only with those matching eyes of theirs.  

He’s upon you the moment he climbs into his car, clumsily knocking against the centre console as he drags your body closer, forces your knees apart with his hand unceremoniously shoved all the way into your silk crepe trousers. 

“She likes you.”  The words are muffled against your lips - already spit slick and swollen by how savagely he attacks them, tugs your bottom between his teeth and nibbles.  

You know he means his mother.  She’d hugged you on your way out, patted gently at your upper arm when she’d sent you both off with some leftovers in pretty ceramic containers.  It’d been a surprising farewell from the woman who had otherwise kept you at arm’s length through most of brunch, offering small smiles and exchanging only the basest of pleasantries.  

You have to admit - it feels a bit like taming a lion.  You’re high on the feeling and it seems Jungkook is too, utterly delighted as he drags his finger through the arousal that’s all but ruined your thong, thin material shoved aside by his deft movements.

“Your sister?”  You laugh - sound bitten off by the edge of your teeth when he teases at your folds, presses the tip of his fingers over your clit and circles back enough times to make you shudder.

He’s sucking into the sensitive spot beneath your ear, catching your earlobe with the wet point of his canines.  “My mom,”  he mumbles, burying himself into your skin as if he’d happily live there, make a home between your bones if you’d let him.  (You would.)  “She hugged you.”  Hilariously enough, he sounds just as surprised as you.

“She did,”  you hum - sigh when the pressure in your abdomen increases, mirroring the same one between your legs.  He’s pulling gently at the cord peeking past your lips, tugging at the smooth pink egg snug within your pussy.  It’s not on now - not like it had been all through brunch - but it still feels absurdly good, perfectly shaped just the right amount of stimulation against your fluttering walls.

Jungkook makes the softest noise, one that sounds like his heart falling into place, his soul settling where it feels most comfortable.  It’s at odds with the way he gropes your chest over the smocked bodice of your blouse, seeking out the hardened bud of your nipple beneath layers of chiffon and macrame.

The tiny vibrator continues fucking into you, muscle walls clenching around it each time he yanks on the cord and then lets it fall back into place.  You wish it were his fingers (wish it were his cock, more than that) but your pants fit too-well, tailored slim around your waist and flaring over your ankles. 

Your 70’s pants, as your silly boyfriend liked to call them.

“I can’t wait to get you home.”  It’s so dreamy, hazy with affection that overwhelms you.  He’s looking at you so sweetly now, forehead resting against yours, entire palm pressed to your cunt.  “K-knew you were always perfect but—”  You lose sight of his lovely doe eyes, your own sliding closed when he stamps a kiss to your mouth, so terribly sweet it’s reminiscent of the cheesecake you’d just had.  

You understand what he means without him having to finish the thought, smile of your own acting as the ending punctuation to your conversation. 

Family means everything to him.  Now, you were one step closer to being part of it.

tag list.  @neverthefirstchoice​ @youwannabelostandnotbefound​ @snackhobi​​ @codeinebelle​​

15.15: The Absent Mother

I’ve had to take a great deal of time to pull my thoughts together on this episode because it was so MUCH. I’ve said in the past that I wasn’t a fan of Davy; he often layered his things very thinly. But today was a masterfully interwoven piece to the point I literally watched another show for an hour while thinking about it, went and took a shower for half an hour to scrub my head clean, and came back to this and STILL sat to write about it.

So if you’re new to my meta, I’m going to break the ice. You need to read my The Generational Family post to dip your toes in. It speaks in plain english things that will be less-plain english in this post.

If you’re less-new to my meta, but often floating in the occult references, I’m going to try to drop links to posts or tag folders of references.

But what a fantastic salute to the Empress this entire episode is.

Now let’s dive in.

It’s no secret my blog bangs on about arcana on the regular. I have spoken of the four colors (represented in the above gif but also frequenting the #hues of involution tag). 

Frankly, I consider it invariable that the brother focused episode will summon forth The Emperor as a key focus. Somewhere in that chaos binder of tags I even predicted that much when I saw the color themes of the episode, but that’s a whole other aside--just something to put a pin in the idea of while I speak of the Empress, and the Generational Family.

(15.16 update: hahahahah)

I’ve gone feral

BACK TO ORIGINAL 15.15 POST

Some time back I had made a post about Castiel’s tie to this path; be that his frequent association with Mary over time (be it storyline parallels in general arc, John and Mary’s meeting, mixtapes or whatever else); that he and Rowena served as mirror and foil from her earliest conception, back when his parental storylines hovered more in regret over Claire; that Amara and her forced bond were associations of the profound bond and many lines directly mirrored while other motions challenged each other (Eg, heart tie, profound bond>mark bond);

I even made a joke at one point that Castiel should wear a pink trenchcoat to match Rowena’s dress.

This, of course, I joked equally was absurd, and that we would probably have to settle for the violet-pink light of Death on both him and Dean in 15.13′s alchemical Marriage of the Minds.

This Marriage of the Minds you’ll find plenty of topic on for my blog, and all in association with the Art arcana, from which the Occultum is drawn to begin with in its concept. This may seem like a long drift aside from the episode itself, but is more a preface of discussion based reminders.

Either way, @meta-mania-spn​ outright trolled in to my trenchcoat joke with this when it was released, saying “here’s your pink trenchcoat.”

And how on point you were!

But I’m going to have to ask fandom to do me a favor before we continue any further in this discussion.

I’m going to need you to stop trying to shove everything in singular boxes applicable to one and only-one storyline. Go back to the Generational Family post. Make sure that’s anchored like, in your subconscious at this point. Know it, feel it. 

Okay, now we can continue.

Hah hah “You’re standing in The Trap zone.” Okay.

So obviously, we have two major story ends going on right now: On the one hand, Sam and Dean go have a discussion to Amara where they plan to lie to her to pull off a stunt against Chuck; on the other hand, we have Castiel and Jack working a case. This seems simple enough in our structure.

Amara’s face of this ends up being entirely reflection. Of her cosmogenic origins (”We are the same.”), We Are Twins (I point to Thoth’s use of the twins in generational storytelling), etc. Of her history with Dean. Of her reasons of bringing Mary back.

Fandom may not like her reasons for bringing Mary back. They may even hate them. And we’ll get back to this later, but this is the sum of this.

On the other hand, Cas and Jack think a demon is involved. They even summon one. Turns out Rowena, in taking over hell, has adopted a new system. No more tricking and damning souls. People end up where they belong. The demon is bored (which has a funny shout out at the end on him trying to find a new purpose--as a cop, which is about six levels of commentary but I digress), but the continued path of Rowena renovating hell from welcome meetings for damned souls to lack of intentionally dragging others down is made clear, while evoked.

I point back to Rowena’s own history: at one point she aspired for power, but after Funeralia, she was stricken with guilt and grief over feeling like she abandoned her son. This is a thread that I have tried to put in videos over time as a still-binding tie; Castiel staring into Belphegor’s husked out eyes at one point, even if it wasn’t really his fault, just as we lost Rowena who went to essentially reclaim her son’s legacy and throne since she couldn’t atone for his loss.

But then we get to the case. It’s a whole long adventure, much of which has some bog-standard casework; we do have Castiel coming to speak that he found new meaning in becoming a parent (rolling back to the parental thread), and there’s a bunch of great imagery we’ll cover below. But before we get to that, let’s focus on the resolution.

It reveals a broken family structure: Mother was sick and felt shoved away, Father Changed Things, and the child ended up on a destructive path about following god.

Now when I talk about not boxing things in on one level, I’m going to break down this family a bit.  We’ll also just totes ignore the Joseph-the-Carpenter tattoo on the pastor that clearly has NOTHING to do with Joseph behind Dean only an episode ago and the entire Emperor theme with the sun behind his head. After the whole Mary behind Cas thing. Nope, nothing to see here. Has NOTHING to do with the generational stuff I’m about to talk below. That’d be silly right?

You also have to think of it this way. If Pastor Joe (yes that’s his FKING name) a parallel, so is his dead wife. There are levels where it was felt she was mocked, and pushed away, which tied into Amara this episode. You have your Chuck and Amara level parallel. However, on the emotional level, the mother figure that Castiel actually ends up representing is also coming due to be absent. And this is about the father's atonement with that just as much as it is with Dean having his dialogue with Amara.

On many levels. Dean and Amara’s dialogue trades of old grudges, old motivations, but also current events and learning to live in the now. 

The child, however, was still stuck in the past--a past the mother who told her to believe in God seemed to want, but the same kind of duty Castiel became aware of needing to change in the past. But she got stuck in it.

While she judged people by their sins, Jack and Castiel end up finding the poor unfortunate man judged by Lust, after an entire aside Castiel had with the pastor about one of the victims struggling as a gay man and what-not; For Reasons(TM). But this is an arcana post, not a “point out the obvious fucking screaming queer text and subtext being put in blinker lights this episode” post, so I’m going to generally show that the misguided and wrathful child thought she was carrying out God’s will.

And then I direct you to my Lust tag.

I have far longer stuff on it, but if you skim, you’ll find the loudest message is about not letting a wrathful god judge or punish you for sins. It involves the Whore of Babylon as a symbol of power riding a beast that represented (Aleister) Crowley; or in this case, Rowena riding Crowley to power, but also birthing and rearranging a new world. I point back to the demon in question, and then I gesture to the stuff about Castiel’s impending storyline overlap.

Did other sins get punished, sure; the one girl got greed, for example. If you check my posts on the Lust topic, there are other forms of debauch actually associated with lust beyond just carnal lovers, but the message about ignoring god’s wrath and making the new world remains in-tact.

This is the kind of wrath enacted by the girl. Who is furious about how the aeon changed. Because you changed everything, dad. They don’t worship God, they worship You.

So here’s the fun question: Is this a child of man furious that man is no longer the true god because Chuck in the corrupted Emperor path has changed the world to his whims, just flipped? That is to say, that they no longer see the Shadow as The One True God? Or is this someone throwing a tantrum on Chuck’s behest that the world of man is being reclaimed? Or is it a generalized moral of all of these things contingent on the choices The Ones -- Sam and Dean -- make moving forward? And what of Jack inevitably feeling like he has to do Dean’s commands, with the task laid out to destroy God as mapped by Death, in the inevitable absence of Castiel?

Now this has drifted a wide-berth from speaking of the Empress herself, which I’ll roll back to. I had mentioned, for example, the pink. So let’s talk about why that is.

The Empress is the Matron. While she goes through many forms, this is sort of the central or individualized one. She represents a fertility in preparing to birth the new world. She holds a blossom, she takes a pose I’m not gonna bother breaking down in this post, and she is crowned in a sphere that is passed to her from the Emperor which she will wear until the next aeon from their union is born.

She is represented by the moon, and though her child will eventually become the new sun it must first be the earth, her emperor is her current sun; the son is the reflection of the father in the eyes of the mother; the Empress Moon lets the Emperor Sun shine on her face and brings life to the earth in their union, and again, I point back to the Marriage of the Minds post.

Now, see that bird in the corner? That’s a pelican. It’s frequently associated in old alchemy as the mother giving her life, as part of the birthing process is also death, for her next generation. I have spoken in the past that Byzantium itself is an ideal example of that. The pelican has intensive alchemical implications, but it was believed she “fed her child from her own heart.”

Okay cool so there’s just a bleeding heart right there while Jack struggles with feeling like he has to deal with this alone, while Castiel tries to insist he doesn’t, with the renegade child taking it upon herself to carry out god’s work and essentially going mad/bad. Castiel not wanting to let that all fall on Jack.

There’s also giant posters about THE WORLD and a mirror shadow Safe Place poster which I’m not even going to talk on much beyond gesturing vaguely at my Shadow tag and Universe tag and move on, but I will take particular note of the hands reaching out to Cas and the world as a vague gesture to once again stick a pin in.

I mean there’s a few other themes I’m going to point out for general notes: hearts everywhere,

Some stuff on Day and Night and hands all over/handholding, which I’ll point to my talk on Absence for false dichotomies

And an admittedly offtopical “lmao fuck this news screen”

But with that, I move forward:

The child here was dressed almost EERILY like Mrs Butters, for the record. And uh-- /wore her cross upside down/

They both kind of represent the same thing of misguided ideals, though Mrs Butters proved able to be reasoned with at the end and went to go return to nature where she belonged, just as man should return to his place some day free of god’s machinations; but she didn’t break her cycle and her fate is to be decided after this by court and what-not, which.. you know, fine.

But that’s a note worth passing re: Mrs Butters, but again, it needs to fall to generational; child vs parent, with Mrs Butters being the lightly lamia-associated elder who lost her sons and went mad trying to protect them according to how she had been commanded, just like this story, too, comes to misguided commands in absence.

Add in of course that Butters pointed out Jack was “too much like his father”. This, of course, was a shot at Lucifer in a way, but the serpent she evoked isn’t truly symbolic of Lucifer in our show, it’s about humanity. And uh, who is synonymous synced to in SPN? Even ignoring the relevance of the serpent to the Emperor? 

Throughout this episode, Jack waltzes around imprinted on habits from Dean, taking on the weight of the world, sacrifice, doing it alone, and inevitably, small bursts of anger.

While... Amara tracks and polka dances sideways across the Mary issue of idealizations vs realities, of the Now being more important than the Then. Fandom gets stuck on how unfair it was to Dean and considers it torture which, human perspective, fair. But Amara isn’t thinking on your human level. In fact she very loudly flags around how Dean (and frankly, the audience) doesn’t properly perceive the scope of what she even is. 

Castiel, driving home, continues to try to be an improved parent. He talks with Jack, and tries to tell him he doesn’t have to do this alone. But Jack is stuck in that rut, and it’s a rut Castiel knows too well. He’s walked these paths and the audience has walked these paths and he can’t let the child handle this alone, though Jack declares it isn’t his choice. Jack has surrendered to what he believes Death commands of him, what the job is.

It’s going to be about choice.

But right now, Jack is too much like his father. And I point back to the Moon, who lets the Sun shine on her face, perceiving the world as a reflection of the Father, of Soul in the eyes of the Mind. This is the path to teach their son to avoid just as much.

Meanwhile, Castiel is punched in the FACE basically by Jack saying not to tell Sam and Dean he’s turning into Soul Bomb Take 2. He doesn’t want to worry them over something he can’t do anything about. Congratulations, Castiel is now living the mirror of Jack knowing the Empty deal and Sam and Dean not being told, and you can SEE the reality of it ALL slam him in the face. Not just because Jack blowing up would negate the point of his sacrifice; I don’t know if that even really plinks his mental armor; but the actual magnitude of that kind of secret.

Burying my clown brain’s fierce desire to talk at length of small details like Cas opting not to wake Dean up in the room, we see a recursion-yet-subversion at the end. 

We cut off, here, abruptly. In context of the episode, we know Castiel has at least learned one lesson and is going to try to tell Dean about his deal. But on some level, this all enmeshes thoroughly to Castiel’s Empty deal. Do I think Cas is going to tell the Empty deal in 16? No, I’m gonna guess on some level Sam gets his hands on it around 17 maybe, or nobody at all finds out--or at least Dean himself doesn’t find out--until 18.

In that time they *still* will not have stopped Chuck, that won’t be until 19. So I really wish this arm flailing about “oh god they’re making it all about Cas saving Jack and then dropping it!” would stop because man guys, I’m tired, I’ve been writing you the roadmap on this for two years and haven’t failed yet, pls listen.

Even after episode 18, Castiel’s role is inevitably going to be to take the burden from Jack. ...And Dean will too, but you won’t really even start to wrap your heads around the how and the why until at *least* 16 covers the Emperor path better in scale of the generational family. That’s going to be a joint thing.

Yes, I’m saying that’s going to be a joint thing after the Empty.

The show has taken a highlighter repeatedly to the fact that Jack was neither ready to rule or remove Chuck and that it was all a bad idea. Like “Then who?!” yes HMMM WHO. 

Who is sitting here following the path of all of these individuals in this very episode? Do I need to gesture people to literal years of Castiel being associated with every one of these women’s central stories in my meta, make everyone read literal compendiums of it to get the where and why, or is it at least enough in the collective subconscious to be recognized?

What is Rowena doing? What is Rowena doing, right now? She unbirthed an entire realm and is restructuring it; where people go only where they deserve to go, where they aren’t as boxed in but certainly aren’t out there being shitheads for the sake of being shitheads. But man, if only there was SOME ONE ELSE lined up on this whole lunar path, somewhere, with these women.

(For more on the blossom, see my Albedo tag)

For the full context and, frankly, mental breakdowns about 15.13 and what all that amounted to, I point you to the tags I linked above in discussion and lead-in to this post, because I’m not going to re-tread that ground right now.

But Castiel’s deal has always been about saving Jack. Castiel has been the Empress all year and before it. He will continue to be the empress, symbolized as feeding her young from her own heart, and--well, like that above gif (and also like 15.09, but with Sam in that generational rotation), receiving the sphere from the Emperor (Dean) and passing it to the new aeon to be reborn. Jack is the new Aeon. the mother will protect this at any cost.

But I don’t know why fandom pole vaults into assuming then that the Emperor suddenly has no place in this fascinatingly interwoven play. They are part of this cooperative birthing process together. Even in and beyond Death. As it is, there’s parts of Jack’s resignation that will inevitably tie to Castiel with Dean in 18.

As always, the case is a warning tale, but just what side of it you take really depends on where the characters choose to step. Is it a warning of man stepping away from god or god changing the rules on man? 

Even Amara’s message is multifaceted: Knowing when to walk away on your own path is not the same as betraying someone. And it’s only going to be by Dean’s manipulation that she would consider it, while he is in fact lying to her; but that’s NOT going to come without a long term price. And frankly, is itself a message for the endgame of this show, with some people thinking taking ones’ own path is tantamount to betrayal. It is not. But what matters it the truth. And the choice. And remembering that we all have a choice.

And what of Cas, after the Empty then?

My soul went to heaven, big surprise.

In order to be in the Occultum, the Occultum must be in you.

To know what he, himself, is also worth, Castiel will have to make that place within himself. And that will also be the place for his child, and his family, and humankind as he has come to adopt as his people.

...But there was a two step phase to that spell and I remind you Rowena wasn’t alone in that image.

The pink of fertile rebirth.

For more on the Empress, click here. 

Anyway

#CASTIELSUTERUS2020

Puppetry Lost Media

In honour of reaching 50 followers last week (now 55 followers, as of writing this) I decided to cover two subjects of great interest to me: puppetry (of course) and lost media.

Everybody online loves a good old bit of lost media. Whether it be being a part of the many searches for the media in question, or watching documentaries about them on sites like YouTube. I’ve been mildly addicted to the latter kind of content for a while. From what I’ve seen, though, there aren’t many videos or articles out there specifically covering lost puppetry. So, in no particular order, here are a couple of pieces of lost puppetry I found while scrolling through the lost media wiki.

銀河少年隊 - Ginga shounen-tai AKA Galaxy Boy Troop (1963 - 1965)

Osamu Tezuka is one of the most pioneering figures in Japanese art and animation. Starting as a manga artist in the 1940s inspired by the animated works of American studios such as Walt Disney and the Fliecer Brothers, he adapted and simplified many of the stylistic techniques of both artists to create his own signature style of big shiny eyes, physics defying hair and limited animation. A style that would go on to heavily influence the world of anime and manga as a whole.

But animation and graphic art were not the only mediums Tezuka would dabble in. Ginga Shounen-Tai, or Galaxy Boy Troop in english, was a television series that aired on the public broadcast channel NHK from April 7th, 1963 to April 1st, 1965. Running for 2 seasons with a total of 92 episodes.

The series was a mixture of marionette characters that utilised the Supermarionation marionette technique, popularised by Jerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds, and limited traditional animation. The story revolves around a child genius named Roy who leads a rag-tag group of heros around the galaxy in a rocket ship in order to revive the earth’s sun and later protect it from alien invaders.

Out of the 92 episodes that aired, only episode 67 still exists in its entirety with French subtitles, and the full episode can be found on YouTube with English subtitles uploaded by user Rare TezukaVids. According to user F-Man on the Tezuka in English forums, footage of episode 28 exists but with no audio, and episode 87’s animated segments exist without the marionette segments. F-Man also claims the reason for Galaxy Boy Troop’s disappearance is due to Tezuka not being proud of the series and having all episodes of it destroyed.

Personally, I think it’s a shame that pretty much all of this series is gone. From what I’ve seen in episode 67, it looks really charming. Tezuka’s signature character design style was adapted suprisingly well to marionettes, and the puppetry itself isn’t that bad either. I love the little face mechanisms like the blinking eyes, flapping mouths and others. It gives the puppets a lot of personality and charm. Like, just look at this old mans eyebrow mechanism and tell me you wouldn’t want to watch 92 episodes of this show;

Tinseltown (2007)

Tinseltown was a 15 minute sitcom pilot created by the Jim Henson company under thier Henson Alternative banner. The pilot was commissioned by the Logo Network and aired as part of the Alien Boot Camp programming block in 2007.

The pilot (and likely the series, had it been picked up by the logo network) features a cast of both puppets and live actors as characters. The premise revolves around Samson Kight, an anthropomorphic bull preformed by Brian Henson and drew Massey, and his partner Bobby Vegan, an anthropomorphic pig prefomed by Bill Barretta and Michelan Sisti, as they attempt to balance thier lives working in Hollywood with life as parents to thier sullen 12-year-old foster son, Foster, played by Paul Butcher. Other human characters included Mia Sara as Samson’s ex-wife Lena and Francesco Quinn as the family’s manservant Arturo.

The Tinseltown pilot used to be available on the Logo Network’s YouTube channel, but was later removed for unknown reason. Since then, the pilot has not been made available online. However the characters Samson and Bobby have made appearances in other Henson related works, such as the improv stage show Stuffed and Unstrung, where they played the role as the shows producers, and in a 2011 video on the Jim Henson Company YouTube channel celebrating Jim Hensons 75th birthday.

I find Tinseltown pretty interesting as I feel like it should be more noateable or known, considering that this is (as far as my knowledge goes) the first Jim Henson Company project featureing openly lgbtq characters as its leads, and would have been the first Henson show to do so had it been picked up. As someone who’s interested in lgbtq+ representation in creative media such as animation, I realised that there’s not many examples of canon lgbt characters in puppetry. The only ones aside from Samson and Bobby I could think off the top of my head would be Deet’s Dads from The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and Rod from Avenue Q. Though, obviously, there could be more I’m not currently aware of. I don’t think the Tinseltown pilot was a masterpiece or anything. After all, there’s probably a couple of good reasons Logo didn’t pick it up for a full series. But I think it be cool if either Henson co. or Logo made this available online again, if just so we could appericate it as an interesting little footnote in the history of lgbtq rep in puppetry.

With that said, considering the pilot’s obscurity and the fact that it’s main couple haven’t been used in any Henson Related projects in almost ten years, as well as the possibility that there may be legalities preventing the Henson company from releasing it such as Logo still owning the rights, it’s unlikely we’ll see the Tinseltown pilot anytime soon.

Sonic Live in Sydney (1997 - 2000)

Sonic the Hedgehog is a fictional character no stranger to multiple interpretations of him and his universe across a diverse range of media. From the more light-hearted and comedic stylings of The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Cartoon Networks Sonic Boom cartoon series, to more serious faire such as the Sonic SatAM cartoon and the Sonic Adventure videogame duology. One of the more obscure and stranger adaptations of the character came in the form of Sonic Live in Sydney, a one an a half hour live show hosted at the former Sega World Sydney amusement park in Darling Harbor, Sydney, Australia. Originally beginning as a live show with actors in meet-and-greet style costumes, the show eventually was replaced with a puppet show during its last two years.

The shows plot was set in an alternate timeline whos continuity was a mix of the SatAM cartoon and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, where Doctor Robotnik’s Death Egg crash lands in Sydney, Australia instead of Angel Island and attempts to take over before being foiled by sonic and friends. According to Phillip Einfeld of Phillip Einfeld Puppetoons, the company that made the puppets, Sega felt the costumed actor version of the show wasn’t dynamic enough, and wished to replace it with a version featuring live puppets with animatronics. Both versions of the shows plot are identical.

While Sonic Live in Sydney’s soundtrack is available on YouTube, and some photos of the show are available on the Lost Media Wiki, no footage of either the costumed actors version or the puppet show version have resurfaced. The show was closed down in 1999, possibly due to cost, shortly before the Sega World park as a whole in 2000. So unless there is someone out there who viseted the show between 1998 or 1999 who recorded the show via a handheld camera, footage of both incarnations of the show are likely forever lost to time.

On a personal note, I don’t have much to say on this one other than how gloriously peek gaudy 90s Sonic the set/puppet design is. I have no doubt finding footage of these puppets in action would truly be a silly delight to behold...

Legend of Mary (year unknown)

This one is a little different from the other entries on this list as while the film itself in its entiraty is available on YouTube for anyone to view, the information surrounding Legend of Mary, specifically its year of release, remains a mystery as of writing this.

I have mentioned the film before on this blog so I’ll keep it brief here: in summary, Legend of Mary is a short film retelling of the Nativity featuring the Rod puppets of Austrian puppeteer Richard Teschner. the video was uploaded to YouTube by user canada 150 archive. I looked up the people credited in the film and was able to find most of them, but didn’t find Legend of Mary listed in thier credits, and was unable to find the film on sites like IMDB, tMDB or Letterboxd. I reached out to Canada 150 archive asking if they had any info regarding the Legend of Mary’s release date, and after a coupe of months, they replied saying they didn’t know.

And that’s as far as I got on my search for answers, if anyone of you guys has any information regarding Legend of Mary, then it be of huge help in finding the release date.

Sam and friends (1955 - 1961)

Sam and friends was the very first puppetry television series created by Jim Henson alongside his colabarator and future wife Jane Nebel. filmed in Washington, D.C. and airing twice daily on WRC-TV and the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C. from May 9, 1955, to December 15, Sam and Friends would mark the first apperence of Kermit (though not yet as a frog) and paved the way for Henson’s iconic and revered legacy in the realm of puppetry on film and television.

With the impact this show had in mind, it may come as a shock to some that almost half of Sam and Friends, specifically, 42 of the 86 episodes, are considered lost. With 16 existing, 8 documented, 9 known from memory, plus 8 existing Esskay commercials and 1 memory-known Esskay commercial. Some taped episodes have been shown at venues such as the museum of the moving image while others have been erased. It’s unknown if copies of these erased episodes still exist.

This post would become far to long if I were too list every episode missing from Sam and Freinds, but if your curious, the lost media wiki article has a comprehensive list of all lost episodes.

Annnd that about it for this post. This type of content is pretty different from the stuff I usually post. So I’m egar to see what you guys think about it. If you enjoyed this article, want to see more like it or have ideas for what puppetry-related topics I should cover in the future. And again, thank you all so much for helping me reach 55 followers. Your support really does mean a lot to me, and I hope you enjoyed this as a follower milestone gift.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this dip into lost puppetry, and have a happy holiday season!

Sonic 06 theory: Understanding Mephiles’s point of view

Warning: This theory may contain spoilers and might be long, clunky, and out of order. Read at own risk and after familiarizing yourself with the story.

Sonic 06 is one of those games that could’ve been great, but not enough time and effort was put into it. Thus, it has been regarded as one of the worst games hated so much by a majority of the video game community. It has given Sonic a bad name. Almost everyone makes fun of how buggy and silly the game and Sonic the Hedgehog franchise are. But there are a few of us who try to look past the glitchy gameplay and awkward cutscenes to the lore and coolness that did come out of it. I, being one of those people saying “Sonic 06 wasn’t that bad!”, shall defend my stance with a bit of perspective.

Part of that reason is because of the main villain, Mephiles the Dark. Now, many people in the Sonic community can agree Mephiles was one of the greatest, darkest villains out there and almost no other Sonic Villain can quite live up to that name. But I’m not here to talk about how awesome or frightening Mephiles is... I’m here to talk about why Mephiles possibly became a villain.

It’s easy to chalk up villains as always evil, but almost every villain has a backstory. Mephiles’s begins a bit before what Sonic 06 refers to as “The Solaris Project”. Basically, the King of Soliana who had lost his wife wanted the power to go back in time to save her from said death and return her to him and his daughter. To do that- he looked to the kingdom’s sun god, Solaris, an eternally lit candle with time eating and traveling powers. However, instead of worshipping or praying to the candle or honoring it (like the people of Soleanna have done for many years)- the King gets a bunch of scientists to separate its consciences from the flames and essentially force it into two separate entities!

After the project blows up in their face, the two entities (Mephiles and Iblis) try to escape. Shadow and Silver (who have come from a different timeline) already know who they are and what they cause to happen in the future, thus try to stop them. HOWEVER-  Mephiles appears to be slightly confused on why someone’s trying to stop him and what the heck is going on. So to briefly recap- a long, honored deity was suddenly ripped in two by humanity and sealed away by a random hedgehog for oh say... 10 years alone with his thoughts and missing the other half of him? 

Mephiles is regarded as the consciousness of Solaris, possibly meaning his distaste for humanity came from the Solaris project. And it would appear this isn’t the first time this potentially traumatic situation happened for Solaris. Mephiles had given himself his own identity separate from Solaris which either he himself came up with after 10 years of unjust, kind of Terminator like punishment, or the King of Solaria came up with. After the Solaris project incident, the King knew how to seal both entities and prevent them from escaping. A little suspicious, don’t you think?

Going back to when we first meet evil Mephiles, he quickly recognizes Shadow and gives him the same fate (or what he calls the same fate) Shadow gave him- “A one way ticket to oblivion”. However, this oblivion is really just Silver and Blaze’s timeline where he appears to tag along to as well, possibly glimpsing into Shadow’s past along the way and trying to avoid the over used line “You’re not so different you and I.” 

Or/and this may tell us that Mephiles is able to see through time and what he may have called oblivion to Shadow may’ve been the future he was dreaded to witness while sealed away in the Scepter of Darkness (the thing Shadow sealed him up in). Mephiles’s goal now is to reunite with Iblis before this terrible future where Iblis is out of control and probably angry too after being sealed away and then suddenly broken free after the seal (Princess Elise of Soliana) was destroyed (on the timeline Sonic can’t save Elise from Eggman’s ship crashing).

Returning to Mephiles and Shadow, Mephiles tries to get Shadow to join him after Shadow refuses to return to his timeline to confront Mephiles (go watch Shadow’s Story on it. I told you too much already!!!)  Mephiles who had originally wanted to punish Shadow for his imprisonment probably took a glimpse into Shadow’s past and future (probably for manipulation purposes like with Silver and Blaze whom he’s already sent back in time at this point).

Shadow asks if he ruined the world and Mephiles’s response is “The answer is yes and no. Perhaps it’s better to show you...” and basically shows Shadow his future. It feels out of place, but what if Mephiles is trying to relate Shadow’s goals to his own. Shadow’s life was destroyed by humanity who had also sealed him away for being too powerful and harming someone close to him (Maria). However, Mephiles might be emphasizing more on the sealed part and wanting to take revenge on humanity being indirectly responsible to all the things that happened to him. He’s mirroring Shadow’s past. He’s not just Shadow’s shadow or some copy of him. He’s a mirror of Shadow.

In fact, the scene where Mephiles basically does what he wanted Silver and Blaze to do, it’s basically retelling Shadow’s story in a way where Maria lives and Shadow dies!

But enough of those correlations. People mention the story revolves more around Shadow, as Mephiles and Sonic only indirectly see each other about 2-3 times (usually without the other’s awareness) while Mephiles literally copied Shadow’s look. But compared to Shadow, Mephiles is still a child in a sense where he hasn’t been able to move on from his past hence his elaborate scheme to change it. Shadow, however, has. So when Mephiles tells him, “Let’s teach this foolish world of humanity a lesson. “You have every right to want justice!” Shadow tells him, “That’s absurd. Whatever it is you want to do, you can do alone.” Shadow has forgiven humanity and moved past how humanity sealed him off and is willing to fight them again if they betray him again (as he later decides when faced with the idea one of his friends might be the one to seal him up) (dang! so much lore to unpack).

Mephiles refuses to forgive humanity for essentially destroying him and torturing the two halves of Solaris, then sealing them away just out of reach of eachother. Mephiles doesn’t want to just destroy the world- he wants to be whole again. He makes that very clear when he tells Iblis, “At last... I’ll be able to join with you.” He couldn’t properly become whole because of what the King of Soleanna did to him. He blames all of humanity for him and Solaris’s pain and suffering, similar to how Shadow blamed the world for taking Maria away. Except Mephiles/ Solaris doesn’t feel it’s his purpose to end all of existence... he wants to because humanity and time essentially hurt him.

It kind of makes Sonic 06 the “what if” situation of Sonic Adventure 2 or Shadow the Hedgehog like “what if Shadow never forgave humanity and destroyed everything?” It was a little unclear why Mephiles did what he did, but I think it all makes sense now. Now whether or not Mephiles/ Solaris got what he deserved in the end depends. Solaris was possibly suffering at the whim of the King who just wanted his wife back, so the only solution to the time period Sonic and Elise were would be to essentially stop her father from ever touching the candle. But then again, Mephiles shares a similar story with Shadow and if people at any point in time were able to talk sense into Mephiles, maybe they could have found a way to help him...? If you made it this far, tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading this far. I hope you give Sonic 06 another chance and understand it a little better! Ciao!

Don’t Hurt Yourself

Steve Rogers x Reader; Stephen Strange x Reader

Warning: Angst, Cheating, Tears

Authors Note: Based on Lemonade by Beyonce. Might add more parts, don’t know. Thanks to @buckysmischief and @thinkoutsidethebex for the listening to me. TWIST. PROTECTIVE STEPHEN AND TONY.

“TMZ got a copy of the divorce settlement between Actor Steve Rogers and filmmaker (Y/N) Stark, and oh boy she really did it,” said one of the anchors on the TV as Tony smirked. 

“And let me tell you it is some drama,” the other reporter says. 

“Not only is the filmmaker not asking for anything of her now ex-husband, she also gave him a five million dollar settlement and let him keep the Beverly Hills’ mansion in which they had live together with their son James. The judge also gave sole custody to (Y/N) Stark. This is a big hit for the actor, under the why (Y/N) Stark gave him five million dollars the filmmaker said “this is to help Steve out, he was an important part of my life and he will always be in it because of our son, but I know that work is gonna be slow for him, so I’m trying to help him settle” she’s a savage. No anger form (Y/N) just that simple statement making it very clear she doesn’t need him.” The anchor says. 

“After rumors of cancelled projects it has been confirmed from a close friend of Rogers’ that he is in fact out of work, specially the project that he was supposed to star in by the end of the year.” The other anchor says and they laugh. 

Tony smirks because yes, Steve was over. 

He looks back at the tv and smiles proudly at how his sister represented the Stark name loud and proud. 

“This is a disaster for Rogers, he got an Oscar thanks to his ex-wife, and they where supposed to do another film this year in which she would have her directorial debut,” the anchor says showing a video of you and Steve at the oscars. 

“According to a source close to the filmmaker, the project is still going on and there is a new face taking over for Rogers, it being cinematographer James Barnes, a close friend to the couple, as he knows the story and is one of the executive producers on the film.” The reporter said as they keep putting videos of (Y/N) and Steve. 

“We also got the statement that Peggy Carter-Sousa released all the way from London where she has been since the scandal broke,” the anchor says now showing the pictures of Steve and Peggy kissing in the balcony of a hotel in Los Angeles. 

“And it goes “What happened with Steve and I was never meant to happen. I don’t have the words to describe how I feel about the issue, but I’ve had great support of my lovely husband, who has been working with  me to make our marriage work. I never thought that a slip like that could destroy people like that. I honestly want to apologize to (Y/N) for destroying her life. I never meant to.” As you can see that apology feels,” the anchor says motioning his arms. 

“Fake, the apology feels fake, like she’s trying to save her  career which is not happening, apparently her projects in the UK and the US have been cancelled,” smirks and laughs the other anchor. 

“Man these two really went and destroyed their lives, the only question is what’s gonna happen to the young and talented filmmaker,” the other anchor answers. 

As he is looking at the report the TV gets turned of which makes Tony frown and looks up from the couch to see Pepper looking at him with a smile. 

“Stop looking at that and come say hi to your sister and your nephew,” she smiles and walks out. 

“He’s your nephew too,” Tony yells as he catches up and sees you in the living room with James and Morgan sitting on the floor with you as they giggled, and then he sees Stephen Strange smiling down at you and it hits him like a train. 

Stephen Strange, friend of Tony for the past fifteen years, is staring of you like the light of his life and Tony freezes.

You look up to Tony and smile at him the light finally showing in your eyes. 

“Hey bee, can I talk to you?” Tony says as he help you get up. 

“Yeah of course,” you say and walk towards his office. 

“Hey Stephen,” Tony says and waves. 

“Hey Tony,” he says as James makes grabby hands for Stephen to pick him up. 

And Tony is about to burst, Stephen Strange, Mr. I don’t do kids, is there holding little James in his arms talking to him in a silly voice. 

 “What’s going on?” He whispers to Pepper and she smiles. 

“Talk to her,” she points at the office and goes back to saying something to Stephen. 

As he enters the office he sees you looking at the pictures in the bookshelf your eyes in your wedding picture that Tony forgot to bring down. 

“I forgot to take that down,” Tony chuckled awkwardly as you touch the picture softly. 

“It’s okay whats done is done, he lost his wife.” You said as you go and sit down on the couch and pat for Tony to join you. 

“So what’s going on with Strange?” He asks and he holds your hand like when you where children. 

“Stephen?” you ask with a blush. 

“Yeah,” Tony asks softly.

“Nothing official I guess, it’s just we became close, he saw me at my worst and I don’t know what happened but we kissed and he’s been great with James,” you babble and Tony is shocked. 

“But he lives in New York,” Tony says exasperated. 

“Yeah he’s willing to stay and give this a chance,” you say softly looking deep into your brother’s eyes. 

“I want to try this with him Tony, he makes me happy, an she’s been a great support. Besides we are still taking it slow and figuring it out.” You say and hug him feeling all the love pour though it. 

“Okay bee, I support anything you do, just be careful.” He says and kisses your forehead. 

As you both walk back you see Stephen sitting on the couch Morgan in his back telling something and James on his lap giggling at the sight. 

You smile and Tony loudly interrupts the cuteness earning Pepper to hit him softly and you roll your eyes taking Morgan off his back and sitting next him. 

“Strange my office,” Tony yells and Stephen sighs. 

He stands up and kisses your forehead.

In the office Tony sits behind his desk trying to look intimidating which makes Stephen roll his eyes. 

It had been six months since Stephen arrived in LA and by the looks at it he would be staying here for longer than he thought.

He thinks of that woman who was slowly making her way to his toughened heart. 

Both divorced and heart broken, slowly putting each other together slowly forming a friendship and after that kiss you had shared in your house he couldn’t let you go that easily.

It had been soft and slowly and caring. 

That’s all Stephen needed. 

“So my sister?” Tony asks with a smirk. 

“Is not what you think,” Stephen said smiling at Tony. 

“I know just be careful of her, please,” Tony pleads. 

“Of course,” Stephen smiles. 

With that they shake hands and head back to their happiness Stephen smiling  at the sight of you and James giggling and James looks at him and makes grabby hands. 

Stephen smiles and sits next to you taking James and you kiss him on the cheek and he smiles. 

He thought he hated Steve Rogers, but after hurting you, he hurt himself,  after playing you, he played himself, and after loving you, Stephen would love you like he couldn’t. 

Tag: @starkrobb @stuckonjbbarnes @sebbbystaaan@honeyvbarnes@honeybucks @valkyriesryde@buckysmischief@thinkoutsidethebex @mrwinterr@sleepingspacedragon@babiiface95 @crappyimagines @supraveng​ @also-fangirlinsweden​

Unexpected (Drake x MC)

PART TEN

A/N: Hello from my hiatus! I’m still not active but I thought I’d schedule a new chapter so you dont have to wait so long. I’ll reply to comments to this and previous chapters when I can. Thank you for being patient with me and I hope you’ll like this chapter; I’d love it if you left some feedback for me! Characters belong to Pixelberry (except for my OCs)

Rating: PG

Word count: 2253

Tagging: @gardeningourmet​ @delightfullypinkglitter​ @hopefulmoonobject​ @akrenich​ @blackcatkita​ @desireepow-1986​ @dcbbw​ @kingliam2019​ @the-soot-sprite​ @mskaneko​ @thequeenofcronuts​ @dr-ethanjramsey​ @badchoicesposts​ @burnsoslow​ @annekebbphotography​ @alesana45​ @addictedtodrakefanfic​ @walkerduchess​ @ao719​ @texaskitten30​ @lodberg​ @cordonianroyalty​ @emichelle​ @siriusxxvideos​ @i-bloody-love-drake-walker​ @samihatuli​ @choices-lurker​ @i-miss-trr​ @drxkewalker​ @nikkis1983​ @innerpostmentality​ @msjr0119​ @bascmve01​ @mind-reader1​ @edgiestwinter​ @drakesensworld​ @queenjilian​ @princessleac1​ @saivilo​ @yukinagato2012​ ♥

“Dad, you can’t just punch people like that,” Riley gave Drake a pack of frozen spinach and he held it near his eye. Riley’s father sat on the other side of the room and studied him warily.

“I can do what I want, that man here brainwashed you!”

“Dad! He didn’t brainwash me, what are you talking about?”

“Trent, honey, maybe we should--” a woman sitting next to him, Riley’s mother as Drake guessed, tried to calm her husband down but he didn’t let her finish.

“I spent years and years raising you. Giving you food, money, clothes, home. And you get married without even telling us about it? Your husband didn’t even care to follow our traditions! He never asked me for your hand. None of you contacted me. I did not approve of this marriage and I do not approve of it now.”

“But Daddy,” another woman tried to cut in and Drake thought it must have been Riley’s sister. She looked more like their father while Riley looked more like her mother. They both had dark hair but Riley’s was long and with red ombre while her sister’s were much shorter and almost black. The ladies had also different eye colors, Riley’s bright blue ones contrasted with her sister’s brown eyes.

“Shush. I’m speaking,” the man scolded his daughter and Drake knew he already hated the guy. He hated him from Riley’s stories but after meeting him in person, he hated him even more. “When you said you wanted to go to Europe I thought you wanted to do something valuable, learn something, make money. But instead, you marry the first man you meet. You’re such a disappoitment, Riley. You always were. How silly I was to believe maybe you’d change.”

“Dad!” The sister stood up but one look from her father silenced her for good. Drake looked at Riley; her eyes were fixed on the floor, not willing to make any eye contact.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Drake stood up to face Trent. “I will not let you speak to her like that. This is my home and if you have a problem with us being married you can complain somewhere else. She’s my wife now and you’re not allowed to insult us. She is not, and never has been a disappointment.”

Riley looked up at him, shocked. He was angry. She never saw him that angry. He looked like he was ready to fight and when she glanced at her father, he looked like he was ready to kill Drake. Her mother and sister both looked equally shocked.

“Don’t you dare talking to me like that. You take my daughter away, brainwash her and insult me?”

“Your daughter is not your property, she can do whatever she wants. And now I ask you politely to Get. Out. Before I call the cops,” Drake hissed. Trent looked at him before shaking his head.

“You did this to yourself, Riley! You ruined our family!” He said before storming out. His wife ran right after him.

“Holy--” the sister started before pulling Riley in a hug. “Are you okay? Are you?” She looked at Drake who nodded in response.

“I’m Danielle, Dani for friends,” she extended her hand and Drake shook it.

“Drake. Nice to meet you. I’m going to... I’m gonna make some tea,” he looked at Riley worriedly before leaving the sisters alone.

“I’m sorry, I had no idea we were coming to you, Daddy said it was a business trip,” Dani whispered to Riley, still holding her close.

“It’s okay. I know what he’s like.”

“Sooo... I’m not gonna yell at you, even though I should, but why didn’t you tell me you got married??Drake seems like the best guy for you!!”

“Dani, you’ve known him for like five minutes,” Riley chuckled, sitting on the couch and pulling her sister with her.

“That’s enough, I can read people, you two are so good together. And the way he stood up for you? Don’t tell father but it was ah-mazing!”

“Dani...”

“Okay, so how did you meet? How did he proposed? Ooh, do you have any pictures from the wedding?”

“Dani... I need to tell you something...” Riley started and Dani’s face fell. She needed to tell someone. Someone she could trust. The only person knowing the marriage was fake was Liam, Drake’s friend and Riley felt like she needed somone on her side to know that too. She quickly told her everything, about the restaurant, Bartie, accident, Madeleine, Bianca, weird videos from Karlington. At the end of her story, Dani didn’t seem moved.

“Well, if you ask me, that marriage is totally not fake. No fake husband ever looks at his fake wife like Drake does.”

“Like what?”

“Like he loves you and wants to protect you. Like he doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you. Like he cares, like he--”

“Oookay, that’s enough. You’re too much of a hopeless romantic and see love everywhere,” Riley shoved her playfully.

“Yeah, yeah, lie to yourself more,” Dani answered and Riley bit her lip. She wasn’t lying, was she? Their marriage was fake and they didn’t have any feelings to each other.

Or did they?

~~~~

After four cups of tea and three hours of catching up, Drake drove Dani back to the hotel she was staying in with her parents. Despite hating Riley’s family, he liked her and he was happy that Riley had at least one person in her family who was normal.

When he came back home, Riley was in the kitchen, washing the dishes and cooking something.

“Hey...” he started, entering the kitchen and smelling something good.

“Hey.”

“What’s that? Smells amazing.”

“It’s just some rigatoni with beef. And some spinach on the side,” she motioned to the spinach Drake put near his eye a few hours before. “I wanted to apologize for my father. He’s not aggressive, he just hates when things are not as he wanted them to be.”

“It’s okay,” Drake shrugged. “It’s not your fault, you don’t have to apologize. How are you?”

“But I do have to. I’m sorry he was so harsh and rude and--” she bit her lip as her voice wavered slighly. She tried not to start crying and Drake noticed her efforts.

“Hey, it is not your fault. You’re not responsible for what your father is doing,” he wasn’t sure what to do or say, he just wanted her to feel better. Without thinking too much about it, he wrapped his arms around Riley and pulled her close. He felt her tears on his shirt and he wanted to yell at her parents for upsetting her so much.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have,” Drake whispered, pulling away slighly, worried he crossed the line. They were a fake couple after all.

“No, it’s... I needed that,” she answered and he pulled her closer again. She snuggled against him, allowing herself to be vulnerable at least for a few minutes before having to face the reality again.

At that point she wasn’t sure how fake their fake relationship was. She didn’t know what that strange feeling she felt towards Drake was and where it came from, the only thing she knew was that for the first time in forever, she felt safe in his arms.

~~~~

“Dani, you look okay,” Riley rolled her eyes when she saw her sister was smoothing her dress for the tenth time since they arrived in the palace the next day.

“Maybe you should’ve mentioned it that Drake’s friend who married you two is a flippin’ king!” she hissed and started fixing her hair. ���Do I bow? Is my dress formal enough? Should I cover my shoulders?”

“Dani,” she chuckled, “Liam is not that kind of King. Just be yourself and treat him like a normal person he is.”

Dani sighed and Riley’s eyes met with Drake’s. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

The day before was a weird day for their ‘relationship’ and Riley felt like something broke, as if the barriers were not there anymore. They went to sleep together, without arguing or even teasing. He pulled her close wordlessly and she felt relieved she didn’t have to ask him for it. For some unknown to her reason she found comfort in his closeness.

“Good morning everyone,” Liam greeted them, interrupting Riley’s thoughts.

“Hi, this is my sister, Danielle, I told her everything and she said she wanted to help with the investigation.”

“Nice to meet you, Danielle. I trust you’re enjoying your stay in Cordonia?” Liam smiled as he took Dani’s extended hand and kissed it.

“Dani is fine,” she blushed when Liam finally let go of her hand. “Cordonia is beautiful, your majesty.” She curtsied awkwardly and Liam chuckled.

“Liam is fine.”

“You said there was some news?” Drake asked and Liam reluctantly turned his attention from Dani to his friend.

“Yes, the camera footage from Madeleine came back from the laboratory. The video is legit, no photoshop, no remakes, it’s authentic.”

“Madeleine, you little--”

“That’s not all. The police officially drew back from the case. I still have my investigator and one guard incognito in Karlington though.”

“I can’t believe it,” Drake shook his head and Riley took his hand into hers and gave it a comforting squeeze. Dani smiled noticing that, mentally laughting at her sister’s poor attempts to convince her it was a fake relationship.

“I’m sure sooner or later they’ll make a mistake and we’ll catch it. All we can do right now is wait,” Liam patted his friend’s back and turned to Dani.

“Would you like some apple tea? I know Riley is not a fan and Drake only drinks it if it comes with whiskey.”

“I’d love to,” she answered and curtsied.

“You don’t have to curtsy to me, you know. It’s probably more uncomfortable to me than to you.”

“Oh, oh, I’m sorry! I just never met a King and I’m afraid I never read any Royal protocol so I’m not sure how to act, which is quite annoying to be fair because I was taught to be prepared for every possibility and now I see I failed but it’s fine! I’ll read it tomorrow and I won’t make this mistake ever again, your Majesty.”

“Liam,” he corrected her, chuckling. He didn’t know Riley very well but he could tell how different the two sisters were. Riley would sooner yell at him than curtsy and Danielle just made a two-minute speech apologizing him for curtsying.”

“Right. I’m sorry, sir.”

“Liam.”

“Shoes! I’m sorry Liam,” she corrected herself, trying not to facepalm herself. She was so focused on her mistakes that she missed amused looks that Riley and Drake exchanged.

“Shoes?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah, Nana taught us that. Riley never followed that though. Shoes for shit, duck for fu--” she composed herself. “Can I get that tea, I’m feeling slightly unwell?” She started fanning herself with her hand and Liam quickly went to the back of his office to make tea.

“Well, well, well. I have never seen you so flustered before, Dani,” Riley gave her sister a questioning look.

“He’s the King,” Dani whispered in response. “I don’t know how to act around Kings.”

“Mhmm,” Riley commented as Liam came back with the tea. Dani took the cup gladly and took a sip.

“Good?” Liam asked and she nodded.

“Really good. I like the addition of mint, it makes it taste more fresh.”

“Okay, I gotta go because my mom has an appointment and I’m taking Bartie now,” Drake stood up and opened the door, turning to look at Riley. She gave him a big smile in return and asked, “Dani, you’re coming with us?”

“I can drive you later, if you want to,” Liam offered quickly.

“Yeah, I’ll come with His Maj—Liam.”

“Okay,” Riley shrugged and kissed her sister on the cheek before catching up with Drake. When they left Dani turned to Liam.

“They are so in love. Please tell me you’re seeing it too.”

“I do, actually. And I hope they will see it too one day. I’ve never seen Drake like that, he seems so much happier now, despite everything that is going on.”

“Yeah, same with Riley. But I also know she’s the most stubborn person I know,” Dani sighed and took a few last sips of her tea.

“Drake’s more stubborn.”

“We should get them together. Make them see how in love they are.”

Liam studied her for a moment and Dani felt like she crossed the line. The Royal protocol probably forbid such things. She was just about to apologize when Liam spoke.

“I’m in. Drake deserves the best and Riley seems like she’s the best for him.”

“Riley deserves the best too. We have a deal?” she extended her hand, hesitating slightly when thinking about the protocol.

“Deal.”

They shook each other’s hands and Liam smiled at the thought of spening more time with and getting to know Danielle Brooks.

Betting on the Bullseye (30/30)

Emma Swan loses a drunken bet that means she has to ask her celebrity crush - if you can call him that - to be her date to her office's annual fundraising gala for Boston's Children Shelter. Killian Jones is that celebrity. She expects all kinds of humiliation and for her dignity to be completely lost all because of the ridiculousness of the situation. What she doesn't expect is for him to say yes.

What she truly doesn't expect is to actually like the man.

Rating: Mature

A/N: I get all gooey when I finish a story, and this is no exception. In fact, this might be all the worse. Back in November @wellhellotragic sent me a prompt for a silly little one shot (so you should all go thank her for her ideas), and while it was supposed to stay that way, I’m so glad that it didn’t! Thanks for being the best readers and betting on the bullseye ❤️

Also, happy belated birthday to @lifeinahole27 ! This epilogue goes out to you!

PS: look out for a bonus chapter coming soon!

Found on AO3: Beginning | Current

Tumblr: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30

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-/-

She settles down on the couch in front of the TV in the living room, all of the shutters closed so that she can’t see outside to look at the ocean under the dull glow of the cloud-covered moonlight. She can still hear it a little bit, the subtle crashing of water against sand, but it’s mostly drowned by the sound of rain that beats down on the roof of the house. Obviously it rains in Santa Monica, but it’s rare enough for it to be an odd occurrence. She’s used to the sunshine and pleasant weather, even when it gets a bit chilly.

Her Boston roots would be ashamed of her for thinking that sixty degrees is chilly.

It’s what happens when she’s been living in Santa Monica for a little under two years now, all of her internal temperatures getting messed up with the total change in climate.

Making that decision had been difficult, as are all of their decisions to move or not to move and whether to visit for a weekend or a week (or for months if she’s honest with herself, even if that isn’t a real possibility) when Killian is away filming, but Killian knew that he’d mostly be working in LA for his next few projects as he wrapped up his stint with DC and Superman. He says that he’s outgrown that role, that he’s happy to get to move on to other roles that he enjoys more, but she can tell that he’s upset about having all of it be over. He’s really bonded with his costars, and she knows that he’s not too happy to not be working with Arthur and Ariel again after they’ve been working together for nearly a decade.

So he’s a little sad about it all ending, even if he won’t show it, but she can see the tenseness and emotion in his eyes as he promotes the last movie. He’s on Fallon tonight, and she hopes that he gets to have a good time instead of worrying about saying the wrong thing or giving out spoilers.

Her husband has the ability to give her spoilers to all kinds of movies, but she has to tell him no since she most definitely will not be able to hold her tongue.

There was an incident with the last Justice League movie that may or may not have been her fault.

(It was definitely her fault.)

It’s all much easier when Killian’s doing things where spoilers aren’t as big of a deal, but at the end of the day, all she wants is for him to be happy and to be doing something that makes him proud. That’s kind of been their thing lately. They want each other to be proud of what they do for their work, to be proud of how they spend their days. She had to quit her job when they moved here, and it took awhile for her to find one that she loved. It took awhile for her to find one where they wanted her because of her abilities and not because of who her husband is. But she did eventually find work at the Children’s Lifesaving Foundation, and as much as she loved her last job, she loves this one so much more. She actually gets to interact with kids and families, and she can legitimately feel the difference she’s making as she sets up fun events and field trips for kids who would never get that kind of privilege elsewhere.

It helps that she has good hours too, especially now.

Really, the only downside is that Ruby doesn’t work with her, so she doesn’t have her best friend barging in on her office ten times a day stealing candy off of her desk and begging her to the leave the office to get Tasty Burger a few blocks away even when they really should be working. She misses Ruby just like she misses David and Mary Margaret. It’s hard being away from them, and even though they don’t manage to talk every day, they do still talk most days. She looks forward to her video chats with Leo and Brody. They’re growing up so dang fast, and every time she gets an opportunity to go visit them, she’s on a plane.

Her frequent flyer miles are still constantly adding up, and it’s something she’s learned to accept as a part of her life, even if it’s something that she struggled with for a long time.

Actively choosing to leave people she loves was one of the hardest decisions she’s ever made, and no amount of words will ever be able to express how thankful she is that Killian did that for her when they were dating. That changed absolutely everything for them. He always told her that he wasn’t giving up any more than he was gaining, and he’d do it all again in a second.

She would too.

Besides, sometimes she misses that apartment in Boston, so she and Killian will stay there on occasion. There’s a lot of good memories there. She almost traveled with him to New York so that they could stay in Boston for a weekend, but it didn’t work out this time. Maybe sometime soon.

She’s obviously got to go to a Sox game. Of course, they do play in LA sometimes, but it’s just not the same as being in Fenway with her feet propped up on the chair in front of her and with a hot dog in her hand when she and Killian inevitably get singled out to be on the kiss cam.

(There’s a video on the internet of them making out because they got a little too carried away one day, and she tries not to think about that as much as possible. Her husband is hot, okay? Sometimes she likes to stick her tongue down his throat in public like the classy woman that she is.)

She listens as Jimmy Fallon does his opening monologue, the minutes stretching out as she waits for Killian to walk out on stage. It’s most definitely not live and she could just talk to him on the phone, but Killian is currently asleep in a hotel in Manhattan. He’s been so exhausted, the dark bags under his eyes increasing every day, and she can’t wait to have him home tomorrow so that she can kiss that handsome face and sleep next to him in their bed for the first time in two weeks, wrapping her arms around his waist and not letting go.

She misses him. Like crazy.

Even if she’s been stretching out on the bed and taking up most of it by herself. Though, it is a ridiculously large bed, and she can appreciate that the house allows them to have furniture that is far too big for two adults.

But she still misses him.

It’s weird how it somehow never gets easier and then yet it also does. She misses him when he’s gone, and sometimes the ache is overwhelming to the point of tears, but then there are times when it doesn’t have as big of an impact on her and she only misses him a little as she goes to work or spends time with Elsa and Liam. She can never quite explain it. She doesn’t really need to.

It’s her life, their life, and she wouldn’t change it for anything.

Eventually Killian comes out on stage, Jimmy introducing him and the two of them chatting about the movie for a bit, and then they get to the conversation she knew was going to happen. It’s been happening in all of the interviews that she’s watched, and she hasn’t even watched that many. She loves the man, but she doesn’t need to listen to every word that he says.

That doesn’t even happen at home.

Killian talks a lot.

“You and your wife welcomed a little girl a few months ago, right?” “Well, that was supposed to be a secret,” Killian starts, bouncing a little in his seat and curling his lips into the beaming smile that forms on his face every time he talks about McKenzie, “but then a cheeky photographer managed to get a picture of us shopping for a crib with Emma’s rounded belly. But yeah, my wife gave birth five months ago, and I am so in love with my girl. Well, with my little girl and my big girl.”

She scoffs at that, but mostly she laughs at the way that Killian’s ears go red as he drops his face into his hands while Jimmy roars with laugher. “Emma, darling,” he sighs, speaking right to the camera, “you know what I mean if you’re watching. You likely haven’t watched any of my interviews, but this is going to be the one you watch.”

“You might want to bring flowers when you go home,” Jimmy chuckles, trying to contain himself as the audience calms down.

“That might be a good idea.” “What’s it like being a dad?” Jimmy asks as he tries to change the subject. It’s a good subject change. This is one of her favorite things for Killian to talk about. Much more than Killian calling her his ‘big girl.’ “Terrifying,” Killian laughs, and she does the same, moving her legs up underneath her. She needs a blanket, but she doesn’t want to go get one. “I mean, it’s - “ Killian shakes his head back and forth, the disbelief evident on his face. “I’m a pretty private guy, especially over the past few years now that I have a family, but I love my wife and my daughter more than anything in the world. Of course I remember what life was like before them, but it’s been so long since Emma wasn’t the center of my entire world that I honestly don’t want to remember. And she gave me this kid that’s - she’s the greatest kid in the world, no competition even if I know that she is likely up right now grabbing on Emma’s ears.” She chuckles at that too all while her stomach does actual summersaults that are disagreeing with the butterflies that are taking flight inside with her. The man is so damn romantic, and she cannot believe he’s making her swoon thousands of miles away while he’s in New York for work. Dammit it. He’s not supposed to be able to do that, but he can.

It’s not something she’s going to complain about. She might tease him a little though.

“You realize that’s likely going to be all over the internet tomorrow? Right after your other affectionate comments.” Jimmy laughs, leaning forward at his desk.

“Aye, I know, but I’ve found far too many weird things about me online to go looking around. I usually only see most things because Emma’s best friend sends them to me.”

She doesn’t get to hear the rest of the conversation because, almost like clockwork when she has a quiet moment, McKenzie starts crying, her little voice coming through the baby monitor that’s practically attached to her hip at all times. Usually she’ll cry for just a little while and fall back asleep, a lot of the awful late nights with constant wailing having ended a few weeks ago, but she is missing Killian a lot tonight and kind of wants to hold her kid. It’s selfish in a way, but McKenzie isn’t going to complain.

Mostly because she can’t talk and a little bit because Emma holding her will soothe her cries.

“Hi, baby,” she sighs as she walks in the room, leaning over the crib and looking at McKenzie clench her fists, her little pale face all red and bunched up and her green eyes slammed shut. “You’re being overdramatic, kid,” she laughs, picking her up out of the crib so that the cries stop while her iron grip gets a hold on some loose strands that have fallen out of Emma’s braid. That always seems to happen, and it hurts like hell. How she isn’t bald, she has no idea. “There’s no need to cry when I know for a fact that you’re not hungry and that you don’t need to be changed.”

It’s weird talking to someone who can’t talk back, but she’s kind of gotten used to it. She kind of enjoys it. A lot of her problems can be solved at three in the morning when feeding McKenzie and rocking back and forth in the glider. Sure, talking to Killian is great, but he talks back. Sometimes she just doesn’t want that.

That’s life.

The next three hours are spent walking McKenzie back and forth in the house while she tries to straighten up a little bit. It’s not totally a mess, but she and Killian are always going to have different opinions on what constitutes a mess. She’s not tired, though, her sleep schedule all out of whack since giving birth, so she has the energy to clean until she does eventually put McKenzie back to bed, hoping that she sleeps through the night.

She really has no idea, though, because when she wakes up the next morning the sunlight is already filtering through the bedroom window, the rain long gone, and instead of waking to a loud monitor, she wakes to Killian very creepily sitting next to her in bed staring down at her, his hand trailing up and down her arm.

“KJ, what the hell?” she gasps, her heart beating so quickly that her breathing stutters the slightest bit.

“I come home after being away for weeks, and my own darling wife isn’t even happy to see me. Shameful.”

“Oh my God,” she groans, rolling her eyes at the way that he’s got his hand clasped over his chest. “You’re ridiculous. You just scared the shit out of me.”

“Language, darling.”

“She’s not in the room.”

With a bit of an ache she sits up in bed and cups Killian’s cheek, running her thumb under his eyes to look at just how tired he is in person. It’s Saturday, so they’re definitely spending all day in bed. Sleeping or sleeping together. It doesn’t matter. Probably both.

Definitely both.

“Oh but she is,” he promises, his eyes scanning her face likes he’s trying to see if one of her freckles has moved. They haven’t, but he can feel free to check. “I’ve been home for about an hour. You were asleep, she was awake, so I went ahead and had some time with one of my best girls while I waited for you to wake up.”

“Your little girl instead of your big girl?”

“Bloody hell,” he groans, his lashes landing against his cheeks. All of his freckles are still in the same place too. Good. “You watched that?”

“I did, babe. Are there flowers downstairs?”

“There can be.”

She laughs at that, at the way he kind of looks like he might actually go buy her flowers, but she simply smiles and shakes her head. “So she’s on her playmat?”

“Aye.” He leans forward to slide is lips over hers while his hands cup her cheeks, the warm roughness steadying her while she finally feels them be connected again. It’s slow, languid, and just like always, she could get lost in it. “I have missed you, my love.”

“Me too. You’re not allowed to leave for a solid three weeks.”

“Why three?”

“Because that’s when I’ll get sick of you again.”

Killian chuckles, the warmth of his breath tickling her skin, and it doesn’t take him long before he’s peppering kisses against her cheek and jaw, working his way down until he’s moving against the tattoo on her wrist. It’s an actual tattoo now, not just a little dot.

MJ.

Mckenzie Jones.

Or as she’s usually known, Kenzie Jones.

She’s got two KJ’s who she loves more than anything in the world, and it was that alone that made her finally decided to expand her little dot tattoo into something more, into something better than her small rebellion at finally being free when she turned eighteen. That dot always meant something to her, but it means so much more now. When they got married at a courthouse in Los Angeles, just the two of them and Will of all people as their witness, she thought about going and getting the letters of Killian’s initials inked on her skin. But they did have a bit of a party to go to with their friends and their families, so it didn’t happen on that day. It had been a bit of a struggle to get everyone in one place for them to just get married at a courthouse, but it had all been worth it for them to get married only with the people that matter most to them around them.

And she eventually did get that tattoo. It’s just a little different than the originally planned KJ.

Killian’s got a matching MJ inked on his wrist. Now she can kiss his wrist tattoo as well. What’s fair is fair after all.

“And after I spent all day yesterday talking about how I wanted to get back to my wife.”

“That sounds like a personal problem.”

“It was but I – ”

McKenzie lets out what can only be considered as a squawk, and she can practically feel Killian’s groan, the dirty words on the tip of his tongue being swallowed back in exchange for him rolling off of the bed and picking their daughter up, gently plopping her down on the bed in between them.

“Little love, Daddy wants to romance Mummy right now, and here you are making very loud noises that don’t agree with all of this romance.”

“She’s obviously an evil little mastermind trying to keep us from giving her a sibling.”

“Darling, we managed to make her in between me being away for filming and us living next to Liam again. I think we can find some time to do some enjoyable activities with you on your back.”

“Or you.”

“Amen to that,” he laughs, falling back against the bed and picking up Kenzie, walking her across his stomach with her little chubby legs. “Alright, Kenzie girl, Daddy has been gone for two weeks, and I need you to tell me all about the junk food that Mummy is hiding in the kitchen.”

“She came out of my body. She’s not snitching on me.”

“She doesn’t have to. You left a tub of icing in the bathroom.”

Her shoulders shrug. She’s not at all ashamed of the fact that maybe she let herself indulge in a little icing. She doesn’t remember taking it into the bathroom, but weird things happen at night.

“It happens.”

He twists his head to the side, half of his face pressed into the pillow while he flashes her that crooked, boyish, altogether charming smile. She loves him a ridiculous amount. Has she told him that today? She’ll make sure to tell him later.

“It does,” he admits, his eyes crinkling. “Tell you what, later, once we’ve got this one down for her nap, you and I can go to town on that tub of icing.”

A laugh passes through her lips before she leans over and brushes those lips over Killian’s forehead. “It sounds like a plan, Stan.”

Very Slow Thoughts on TRH Book 1 Chapter 8

• This chapter is meh. It's basically a full chapter of the writers taking the Walker ranch portion of the story, and stretching it like chewing gum at this point. I was pretty much sleepwalking through this one tbh.

• The only interesting bit in this was the Drake childhood scene, but because the initial scenes will always be slight buildup to the actual meat of the backstory - rather than the story itself - its placement in a chapter as dull as this one doesn't exactly do it any favours.

• To avoid seeing these posts on your dash, you can block the following tags: #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs, #long post

• Screenshot Credits:

Drake: @thefirstcourtesan and the HIMEME YouTube channel

Hana: The Abhirio YouTube channel

I'm sorry I don't have any Maxwell screenshots this time around, since I couldn't find it on YouTube, and I wasn't able to ask permission for screenshots on time. As soon as a video of his route is up on YouTube, I'll try adding the collages with his screenshots up. But I do have a tiny gist of what happens in certain portions of his playthrough, thanks to Tumblr, so I'll put those up as quotes.

• Title: Ride Like The Wind

Alternate Title: There Are Other Things My MC Could Be Riding...But Okay

• We begin with the sisters (yeah Leona and Bianca are back to being sisters now), worrying over how they'll get their cattle to the upcoming auction on time since every ranch hand they'd reached out for help pretty much declined.

• Not only is stubbornness a family trait, but so is the tendency to judge people at face value (I'm looking at you, Leona).

• There are a bunch of parallels between the Walker Ranch situation and the Beaumont house one in Book 1: both for the Regatta and the Beaumont Bash. Only difference is, the writers won't bother to expand much on Beaumont History but throw around every minute detail they can imagine for Drake's family (IIRC, even the mystery in Beaumont House in Book 1 was mostly Savannah related).

• Even in moments of dire need, Leona HAS to slip in snide remarks about people she barely knows.

Slight variation on the third option, if you're married to Drake. The other two highlight either the fact that the MC spent most of her life as a commoner and could think on her feet, and the second establishes that she has at least some riding experience. Leona pokes fun at you for both, but has the sense to not deliver much of her unwanted opinion for the third (besides stating they don't have much of a choice).

• The MC also highlights the benefit of bringing the others along: Hana and Liam have a lot of riding experience, Drake is 'capable' and 'outdoorsy' and for some reason Maxwell is known only for his enthusiasm (even though Beaumont House HAS horses and a stable and the Brothers Beaumont would have had SOME experience at the very least 🤷🏽‍♀ [Didn't the Beaumont Bash involve letting in a couple horses into the house? I doubt those horses would even be there if those two didn't know how to ride and manage them]).

Hands down my favourite line in this chapter (Liam's king voice one comes a close second). I really love this because in stories like TRR/D&D, there's always that divide between nobility vs commoner, aesthetics vs utility...and in dialogues like these you can really see that difference. It reminds me a little of one of my favourite scenes from D&D Book 1, where Briar looks at the MC's embroidery and wonders aloud how a pretty piece like this would be of any use to anyone.

• The suede is fine but there's too much going on with the rest of the outfit for me to really admire it. Our LIs obviously don't agree with me:

Drake and Liam have the same dialogue, Hana and Maxwell have different ones. (in Maxwell's he tells her he is ready to "serenade my amazingly dressed, darlin' wife").

• Everyone gets their horses (Bianca gives King Liam a gentler horse so she doesn't end up indirectly harming a king, and Leona gives Bertrand a rough horse on purpose. Because Bertrand has to be on his best behaviour he agrees despite his initial fears).

• Hmm. Chuck finds out about the lack of help via a rumour. Hmmmm. Bertrand gets as skittish as his horse until the MC and Bianca remind him that they might as well take all the help they need.

• So the task is to ensure that the group reaches the big fair on time (or before) so that the sisters have enough time to prepare for their auction. Since they're short of staff and have a lot of cattle, every minute counts.

• There are roughly 3 tests that can ensure we get there on time if we pass:

- help move a group of stubborn cows from the six dozen we're taking to the auction (you can either say giddyup or scream out silly idioms that they won't understand). If you don't say giddyup, Drake will say it for you.

- Move the herd of cows away from a mud patch on the way. Drake suggests a move he and Savannah used to do as kids called The Cyclone, where 1-2 people get in the way of the herd and the riders come from another side to steer them away. This ensures that they get the cows away from the mud patch. This one is the most time-sensitive of the three, because if we fail this one a lot of time gets spent in getting the cows that fell into the mud patch out of the muck and onto the path again.

- Get a cow wandering through the stream out of it safely using a lasso. The problem arises when the cow starts fidgeting while you're taking them back. Here is where your suede outfit has an advantage, because if you choose "grip the pommel with your hands" and almost fall off the horse, the sturdy outfit will ensure you're safe.

-

All of this results either in you getting the cattle to the auction way before time with an hour to spare, or so late that they reach after the auction itself has begun. In the second option, Leona is nervous about their chances but Bianca insists that they did better than they could have done alone.

• Some stuff that you learn/that happens on the way:

- Chuck calls Leona Miss Walker, so is Walker really Bianca's surname rather than Jackson's? Jackson is also referred to as Jackson Walker. So whose nickname was it initially?

- Wild West Nicknames:

* Maxwell can either be Mad Maxwell or Maxwell 'Calamity' Beaumont. Both nicknames from the MC speak of his tendency to veer towards chaos, or his boundless energy.

* Liam is simply called King Liam because PB is fucking lazy.

* Drake is called The Lone Ranger by Hana, and Hana is called Lucky Lee by Drake.

* The MC can choose her nickname - Cow Boss, Jewel of the Prairie and Wild [Surname]. The second is a nice callback to both one of Valtoria's House mottos (Jewel of the Earth) and a name that Maxwell gives to a caviar dish for the Beaumont Bash (Jewels of the Sea). Personally I think the second one is a better parallel since the Beaumont House situation was already a precursor to what is going on with the Walker Ranch.

-

Well yes Liam, on people.

That aside...Jesus Christ is this man adorable.

- Alright, so much as I can't stand Leona? At least she has a legitimate ax to grind with Cordonian monarchy. Why the hell is CHUCK being like her and acting all condescending?? The closest thing to a 'noble' he's been around was Savannah and they barely even had anything together if we go by what Savannah says. What is he, the shit stirrer of Walker Ranch?

-

I have two points to make about this:

1. Constantine...is a fucking asshole. Most of us knew that. I think TRH just seems to be expanding more on that.

2. Sooo...exactly what was Constantine like before the Nevrakis ppl did what they did coz at this point he sounds like an utter failure in every way imaginable. His wife seems to have serious issues with him at this point, he's too busy fighting to spend any time with his kids (well. at least the one the writers remember), has neglected his friend Hakim, doesn't have good political relations with anyone, screws over the King Guard who he gave a Guardian of the Realm honour to earlier, for saving his life...after the man has died.

3. Leona pretty much doesn't seem to care about anything else besides the money Bianca could have been bringing in. It's the main thing she mentions when we first meet her, and it's the front and center of what she's telling us now. What Bianca was going through, the fact that her kids were left behind in an environment that was seemingly not a good one for them - she hasn't mentioned this so far in any of her more obvious complaints towards the nobility. I mean, is that the first thing you think about when your sister returns to her maternal home after such a devastating tragedy? Really??

4. The other funny thing is...she complains about not getting compensation from the royalty yet forgets that for a whole year or more when Bianca and Leona were not there for her (not their fault obviously, since she likely never told them)...it was a noble family's money that supported Savannah and Bartie. The money of the same Bertrand Leona is now enjoying lording over. I guess she would only know this if she were actually giving her sister's children the time of day, and I have hardly seen her do so, so far.

• Once we reach the fair and the sisters have moved forward to where the auction is happening, we are allowed to check out the rest of the fair. Cue diamond scene!

• I kinda think of this as a Group-LI kind of diamond scene - one where you spend time with the characters, but not separately. In a usual group scene they interact and do stuff together before you get time alone with them, but here, the group interactions are minimal and you get time with each LI in different situations. If you are married to said LI, the dialogues are obviously more romantic.

Drake: Opts for bull riding. He's shocked at the number of waivers he has to sign before participating, has a tough time atop the bull BUT manages to stay on longer than the rest. The rest of the group cheers him on as he comes out victorious, and the MC can either be baffled at his daring, or try it out herself.

The MC who is Drake's wife can opt to kiss him just before he participates and tell him to be safe.

Maxwell: Asks us to join in a tandem pie eating competition with him. The MC and Maxwell can either easily win, or be disqualified for starting a pie fight. Either way, the experience is a blast.

As Maxwell's wife, you get to kiss him after you've won/gotten disqualified, and tell him how his ability to make you laugh and have fun is exactly why your marriage is so amazing. (as Maxwell puts it: "never a dull day and more pie eating contests than you'd expect").

Hana: Has found a dressage-trained horse, and is happily getting the horse to do a perfect figure-eight. What follows is a heartfelt conversation about what home means to her, all the possibilities she can now freely explore, and the changes she has experienced. You can either tell her about her tendency to be competitive (something she apparently did not know herself...uh, yeah, sure), or her love and loyalty towards her friends.

As Hana's wife, you can kiss her, tell her you're falling more and more in love with her each day, and Hana gets to tell you that for her, home is where you are.

Liam: Has learned how to make a lasso from a local at the fair. He speaks of how places like these make him feel like he perhaps may understand his own people better, even if these activities are not what the court would expect or approve of from a king. He can show a few rope tricks to the MC, like catching a chair with a lasso, or be 'captured' by the MC.

As Liam's wife, there's the opportunity to flirt either by using the lasso on Liam, or asking him to tie you up.

• Savannah gives an update from Bertrand on how the cattle drive has gone, and Drake brings along some Texas barbeque. The group love it, but the MC finds it a little too much on the spicier side (bold of you, team TRH, to think I can't handle the seasoning in Texas when I have numbed my tongue on bird's-eye chilis!).

• Gah. The paps again. But this time, we're prepared and able to put a positive spin on our trip to Texas (this is either a romantic getaway to ensure we conceive a child, supporting a local business, attending the wedding of a noble) and the paparazzo runs with it. Chuck comes to our 'rescue' a minute later and Savannah is very appreciative.

• Tensions continue brewing beneath the surface between Bertrand and Chuck. Chuck tries to bond with Bartie, who is naturally a friendly child, and Bertrand isn't able to hide how he feels about this. You get to either deflect the situation by telling Bertrand to show Bartie how a "Beaumont high-five" works, or by telling Chuck not to cut into Bartie's animal petting time.

• Savannah complains. Only improvement is that at least this time she mentions that she's spoken to Bertrand and even then he feels he has something to prove (gee, Savannah, I wonder why. It's not like your AUNT has anything to do with that, for sure!)

• "Whatever's going on with Bertrand, I hope he figures it out before our wedding". 'Because I sure as hell don't care', Savannah forgot to add. Like...the root of his current insecurities is right in front of her. Right in her family. Leona has been rubbing it in that he is a 'useless noble' ever since he's been here (even giving him a skittish horse on purpose) and not once has Savannah ever said a thing - either in front of Bertrand, or secretly to us in all the times she's been complaining about him. That's a...surprisingly cavalier attitude for someone getting married to this guy in a couple days.

• Seeing Bertrand, Savannah and Bartie as a family leads the MC and LI to talk about their own search for a family. Nowadays I generally tap over a scene like this because I personally find the MC having the option to be upset and sorry for herself about not being pregnant, a little annoying. I wouldn't under normal circumstances, considering what this book is about (in fact I would be quite happy) - but I think I'm allowed to feel sore over the fact that the MC unfairly gets the space to feel about this the way others can't. So yeah, for me scenes like these are not worth talking about.

• We're back at the ranch, where the group laughs and reminisces over the last trip some of them (Liam, Drake, Savannah) took to the ranch, and the strongest memory we here about is of Jackson, Drake's father who was once Constantine and Eleanor's security detail.

• In our second childhood diamond scene, we are taken back to their last visit to the ranch, where a rather unwell Eleanor is protected by Jackson, and where the children witness a fight between the king and queen. Drake and Jackson have a conversation in the stables later, where the father evades questions about Constantine and Eleanor from a very worried son, and instead chooses to ask him questions about his future. Here are the things I could glean from the scenes:

- Bianca doesn't get a younger sprite here even though she is present in the scene, and there's a chance that they're maybe saving that for a flashback scene for her (?)

- Eleanor's meant to appear unwell, tired and very unlike herself in this sequence - and even if we've just met her it's quite clear that something is off with her. She is shown looking weary a couple of times, and Jackson says "easy does it" at one point. She shows a lot more frustration towards Constantine than in the last scene, calling him out for his paranoia and asking him if his questions (about her wanting an alliance with Auvernal) are an order from the king rather than a request from her husband. Even Constantine points out that she is not herself.

- Other than Auvernal being her maternal home, what else do we know about her connections there? (besides that telling quote by Bradshaw about Eleanor always graciously welcoming them - which interestingly seems to leave out Constantine). I feel like the upcoming trip there next chapter is going to give us an insight into that.

- There is a heavy emphasis on Liam and Drake's friendship, and Drake's feeling of 'responsibility' towards Liam...which I think is kind of a pointer to the whole question of him returning to court after the assassination and staying with Liam when they're older. Even his conversation with Jackson has the latter mentioning that he would be of the most help if he keeps Liam and his parents happy during their time in the ranch.

- The ending itself shows a significant shift from Drake's attitude towards Liam in the first half (playful, friendly, wants Liam to be safe around his mother's home) to the last (protective, determined to cheer Liam up and more reflective). This scene is clearly a Drake scene through and through and the approach is very different from the first set of childhood scenes. This might be how childhood solo scenes will be dealt with from now on.

- Jackson also mentions not being able to speak openly about the problems between Constantine and Eleanor, and Liam tells us later on that he was kind of a confidant to both of them. Jackson also mentions in the stable scenes that he is responsible for keeping them alive but not for their personal problems. The perfect King Guard. Constantine is an ass for denying his family compensation (but also I wonder if there is more to that story the way they frame it. I hope they don't try to force another of those "it was for the good of Cordoniaaaaa" excuses the writers always keep ready for Constantine.

- If Olivia was so suspicious, why were they leaving her behind?

- There are significant differences between the Drake playthrough and other playthroughs in terms of certain scenes. One lies in the options little Drake can make with regards to his future. The third options in both playthroughs show indicators of his future. If present-day Drake is single in your playthrough, it will focus on his desire for a simpler life. If he is married now, then the flashback will include this:

The other two options are Drake speaking about wanting to be a King Guard like his dad, and wanting to stay Liam's best friend. The King Guard thing obviously doesn't happen, the second one happens because Liam almost died. The third one is more clearly a pointer to Drake's future.

- Another significant variation if you are married to Drake is that you have a conversation with him after the scene is over, about his thoughts on his child becoming an heir to the throne:

Reminds me of the conversation we had at the American bar. On the one hand, I like this because as an outsider in the court and someone close to the security detail at the time, he would think of Liam's life very differently. Kids are impressionable, and ostentatious shows of wealth in front of a kid who cannot afford that much can definitely sting.

- Hmm. Hmm. So Liam's sacrifices only become important to Drake when his own kid might face the same challenges? Until then he will yap about how much luckier Liam is and how everything revolves around Liam? How girls were after Liam and not him (yet the one girl who did like him, he eventually treated like trash)? How he thought of Liam as "leading the MC on" by spending time with her when they first met/during the social season? (that's an actual dialogue he says, in Book 3 Chapter 16). Added to this is the fact that Drake stayed in the palace for free, as Liam's friend, and hardly had to do much (he freely roams around the cities Liam has to visit for diplomatic reasons, he can opt out of court events when he wants, he doesn't even have to dress the way others do - even the MC that doesn't buy outfits has to wear a gown that represents her sponsors/duchy for official events). Now when it's convenient for Drake he chooses to think about the flip side? When that flip side should have been the most obvious to him, the Prince/King's best friend??

• The setup for the next chapter comes in the form of a letter from Auvernal, asking the MC to meet them. Well. It's not Texas, so I'll take it.

General Thoughts:

- I don't have a lot to say about this chapter. There's not much really. It's boring and bland and even the nice Drake childhood scene at the end can't save it.

- Bianca's little line about not wanting to harm a King on her ranch...I feel like part of it may be concern because Liam was after all her son's best friend, and part of it may be wariness because of Constantine? But a lot of this is definitely me reading too much into this one little line 😅

- It does have some decent callbacks though:

* Team TRH FINALLY remembers that Hana has done dressage, which was shown to us as far back as TRR Book 1 Chapter 13. Brava!

* The whole premise of a family struggling with money problems and us offering help and getting the job done, is very reminiscent of the pre-Beaumont Bash sequences where we were scrambling together appetizers, helping with cleaning and setting up the ballroom for the big event. It's kind of ironic because the Beaumonts were in this position once, and now at least 3 books later they are involved in helping the sisters get the cattle drive going.

* The pie fight in Maxwell's section of the diamond scene has some similarities to the food fight in the fondue party scene in Book 2.

* Hana's response to eating barbeque strongly resembles how she approaches eating sloppy joes in Book 1, at the beach party. Back there, she is nervous about sampling the food because it is messy, and here she initially asks about utensils to eat it with, to which Maxwell says "you have ten of them!" referring to her fingers.

* The Jewel nickname for the MC, which we've seen versions of before in Book 1 and Book 3.

* A lighter version of the MC-Drake conversation in the Drake x MC playthrough can be found in the American bar scene in Book 1, where he speaks about how his parents always tried to get him things for his birthday but Liam's parents always went many steps ahead simply because they could afford it.

* Drake being called the Lone Wolf by Hana, which was something the MC could opt to dub herself in her interview at the Derby in Book 1? (a bit of a stretch I know but I'm having fun with this okay 😂)

- Could a kind anon (or not-anon) tell me if there is a reference behind 'Lucky Lee'? In fact behind all the names except maybe the Lone Wolf one for Drake. I couldn't find any hehehe.

- Now that we're going to Auvernal, I think we'll find (paywalled) clues there that might tell us more about Eleanor. Those clues about her changed behaviour and physical condition must have been placed exactly here for a reason.

- Usually Chapters 9 or 10 have been chapters that dealt with some aspect of Constantine and his family (his abdication + news of his impending death in Book 1, discovery of his involvement in the conspiracy in Book 2, and his death in Book 3). So now would be the perfect time to discover the truth about Eleanor and her relationship with Constantine, and what was troubling her.

- One theory I have is that Eleanor's being slow-poisoned, and these may be symptoms of what she is having. @thefirstcourtesan mentioned that pregnancy could be a reason too, and it would be another connecting factor with the MC. One thing that I do feel a little certain about is that this trip to Texas may have been a little while before she died.

- How is it that the narrative has absolutely no memory of the fact that Leo was once heir to the throne? I can imagine him not being very close to Liam-Drake-Maxwell or being a teenager who didn't want to be around his father (esp if that father is acting the way Constantine does in these scenes)...but not even a reference? A mention? You have the time to draw an entire sprite of little Savannah who pretty much has very little to do with this part of the story (or any part of the overall story) but Leo isn't even mentioned? Sounds a little fishy to me.

- I possibly wouldn't have minded Savannah's complaining and lack of proactiveness with the Bertrand situation, if their entire storyline didn't revolve around her being this "perfect angel" Bertrand has to be worthy of, and Bertrand's mistakes repeatedly being pulled up while Savannah doesn't have to answer much for the occasions where she is irrational or hasn't made good decisions. What we're seeing now is just an extension of this particular storyline.

- You can tell that the original epilogue series was meant to revolve around the Walker Ranch coz whatever we're seeing here is probably way way more than we have seen of Cordonia so far. There are frantic attempts to tie this to the overall plotline, but within the larger picture it makes very little sense.

Like I hate the paparazzi in the series and even then I found myself agreeing when he pointed out that it was weird that half the Royal Council was roaming around Texas.

- Speaking of the Council I wonder what the other court ladies were doing while we were at the fair. Sleeping off those hangovers?

- There could be other childhood/flashback scenes coming up. We will need an adult perspective, so Bianca might get one. Olivia needs to be seen as important and relevant to the plot (plus Constantine was shitty to her too), so she will get one.

- I wonder why Bastien had such a loyalty and attachment to Queen Eleanor (as stated in Book 2 by Regina) if he actually wasn't that close to the royal couple then (Jackson seems to fulfill that role here). I'm pretty sure they're probably going to ignore/forget that little detail.

- Will Hana and Maxwell get flashback scenes? They should, and there are ways you could incorporate that even if they weren't involved as much. Maxwell's could (FINALLY) focus on what happened to his family fortunes and you could slip in a little something about the palace there. Hana's could focus on her family and also have Lorelai catch up on Cordonian news/talk to her Cordonian relatives. Liam needs a solo scene of his own too, because after this I'm pretty sure his life takes a turn for the worse. If Hana and Maxwell (but esp Hana) don't get one...that's going to be extremely disheartening because they deserve way more attention than what they're getting now. I'm sincerely hoping we see more of their childhood memories too.

- You know what I'm REALLY looking forward to? Writing TRR 1's Chapter 8 QT. I'm very fond of that chapter and have a whole bunch of points to make about it 😀

- Until the next chapter, everyone!

Finding You Always

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 206: The Brightest Star in the Sky

The young man sighed, as he trekked after his determined cousin. They were about the same age, but decidedly had very different interests. As always though, he tagged along to make sure she didn't get into too much trouble at these conventions.

His cousin Nora loved anything considered weird, paranormal, or of a conspiracy nature. So seven years ago, when that crazy storm had happened in Seattle, his cousin had been enthralled from that moment and ever since she had been exploring every single aspect of that day.

She did have a point. Even he, like most, suspected that the official story the Feds fed the public about that day was garbage. But he, like most, didn't really know what to do about it so they moved on with their lives. But not Nora and she had gotten into some trouble early on in her days of spelunking in the woods of Maine and into fights at the conventions. So here he was again, tagging along to another conspiracy convention in Misty Falls, Maine and bored out of his mind.

"If you don't want to be here, JJ...then you can leave. I'll be fine," Nora told him. He rolled his eyes.

"It's just...some of these guys are in this for the cash grab now. I mean...what new or real information have they come up with in the last seven years?" JJ questioned. She sighed.

"You don't get it...there are no definitive answers, because the government is hiding the whole thing. But you've heard the stories. Weird things happen in these woods," Nora said.

"Maybe that's because this convention brings the weirdos out of the woodwork," he quipped.

"So...are you still on the fairy tale kick or do you think it's aliens?" he asked.

"If you're going to make fun of me, you can take a hike," she answered. He sighed.

"I'm sorry...but you have to admit, most of the theories are pretty insane," he mentioned.

"You saw the videos...how do you explain all that?" she asked.

"I don't know...but fairy tales? Really?" he questioned.

"Whatever...you just wait until I prove you wrong," she insisted, as they arrived at the convention tables, where they were conducting a live podcast.

"And if you're just joining us, I have made contact with a source that has a possible lead on the man known as David Nolan. Now, if you remember, David Nolan is the detective from Seattle that curiously had his wife and son stolen from him by a man, who was known on the dark web as the Collector. His wife had amnesia and was diagnosed by a shady doctor with dissociative identity disorder. The woman had an alter and yes, you're remembering correctly. Her alter was none other than Snow White," the podcaster said.

"This couple was splashed all over the tabloids for weeks and their romance became an obsession; an obsession that the Internet still hasn't let go of. Especially when this same couple showed up on that fateful day in Seattle and things happened around them that can only be described as magic, no matter what the official government story tries to tell us," he continued.

"But then they disappeared, without a trace, like they never existed. But if the rumors on the dark web are anything to go by...then they are somewhere hidden in these very back woods of Maine, possibly in a hidden realm or maybe even beneath the surface of the earth if you believe the hallow earth theorists," he added.

"But no matter how much they try to dissuade us from seeking the truth, we will not stop until we expose what really happened that day and just who these mysterious people really are. Join us again tomorrow, as we make our annual hike into the woods of Maine in search for answers," he said, concluding his podcast. JJ rolled his eyes, as Nora got in line to get an autograph from the man who had made a living with podcasts and books on this subject.

"I'm gonna go check us in at the Inn and if it's booked again like last year, we're leaving, cause I'm not sleeping in a tent again," he complained, as he started off that way when screams from the diner nearby attracted all the attention. And if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have never believed it.

The diner exploded in flames, with any of the poor people inside, obviously perishing instantly. He stood, fear stricken, as two flaming figures strode toward them.

"You…" one said, as the flames faded mostly.

"You will drive us to a place called Boston," Arthur demanded.

"Uh...here, take the car," JJ said, but Gawain growled and grabbed Nora by the arm.

"The King has requested that you drive us and you will do so unless you'd like me to melt the skin off her body," Gawain threatened. JJ nodded, as he led them back to his car. Suddenly, all the conspiracy had just gotten very real…

~*~

David stood behind his boss with a few other agents, as she made a statement to the press and delivered the profile, stating that they believed their perpetrator to be a highly educated professor with access to multiple Universities campuses.

"Major Donovan...are you really accusing someone in the educational community of perpetuating these crimes?" one reporter questioned.

"As uncomfortable as it is...I'm afraid so. The chemical compound alone suggests that this person is at least a scientist and someone highly intelligent. But the location of the crimes is very suspicious as well. Only an educator would have the kind of access that to the multiple institutions that these crimes occurred," Patricia answered.

"They're cannot be that many that fit your profile. Does that mean you've narrowed the suspect pool?" another asked.

"Yes...we are getting close and we are doing everything in our power to make sure the last victim is this person's final victim," the Major answered, as she stepped away, effectively ending the impromptu press conference. But one person, without a press pass, slipped through and ran up behind them.

"Agent Nolan is it?" he asked. David sighed and turned to him. He hated reporters.

"Make it quick...I really do want to catch this guy," he said impatiently.

"No one else has seemed to put it together, but rumors in the alternative community have suggested that you are the same person as the Detective Nolan from strange events that occurred seven years ago in Seattle," the man interjected.

"I'm sorry...what media outlet are you with?" Patricia asked.

"I'm an independent researcher for the people, Major," he answered.

"Ah...so one of those nuts on the Internet. Got it...if you'll excuse us, we have work to do," she said, dismissing him.

"I've done some digging. Your wife, Margaret Nolan, she's a teacher, right?" he called and David stopped in his tracks.

"Look...I don't know who you are, but I've never lived in Seattle and I'll let you go right now if you go without another word. But you mention my wife again or even think about going near her...then we'll arrest you for harassment," David warned. The man smirked.

"Fine...but pictures don't lie, detective. Oh, I'm sorry...it's agent now," he said, as he tossed the newspaper to him and walked away. David sighed and followed his boss back into their workplace. He was about to look at the paper out of curiosity, but tossed it on his desk when Agent Harding called them into the conference room.

"Hey...I think I might have narrowed it down now," she said, as they both went into the conference room.

"Really?" David asked.

"Well...we caught a break. Our perp has been careful up until now, but after the last student death at Boston University, they put even more cameras," Danielle replied.

"Wait...are you saying you got something on camera?" David asked.

"Well, nothing incriminating, but I went through and cross referenced everyone that was signed into the lab at Boston University on both nights of each murder that occurred there," she replied.

"Nice work...how many are we down to?" Patricia asked.

"Eight...so still not great, but way better than the thirty-two suspects we had it down to this morning," she replied.

"Okay...well eight is workable. Let's see them one by one," Patricia said, as she nodded to Trevor and he put the slide show up on the screen. And David's heart nearly stopped, as he recognized the photo of the sixth man on the screen. As the slide flipped to the seventh one, he called out.

"Hold it...go back!" he said, as he stared a the image of Dr. Ian Jenkins.

"David? Do you know him?" Patricia asked, as his mind was racing a mile a minute and he remembered what, at the time, had been a fairly innocuous conversation with his wife.

~*~

They had taken the kids out for pizza after the game so Bobby could eat with his teammates. They were so glad he finally seemed to be fitting in. Middle school had been an awkward time for him and he had always said he felt different than other kids and had trouble relating to them, but he was never really sure why. Snow and David were fond of telling him that it was because he was special, but they weren't sure that helped much. At his age, being special was definitely not easy. It wasn't easy to be normal at his age, so being extraordinary or special came with its own struggles. But his teammates really seemed to take to him. They both just hoped there was more to it than the fact that Bobby was winning games for them.

After pizza, they had stopped for ice cream and she was currently sharing a pint with her husband on the couch. In his lap no less, but that was nothing out of the ordinary for them.

"You're a little quiet...lost in the chocolate goodness?" he teased, as she looked him.

"No...it's kind of silly I think," she replied.

"Your feelings are never silly to me," he reminded, as she put her spoon in the ice cream and set it aside on the table.

"Well...my new boss, Dr. Jenkins...he's nice and all and I kind of feel bad for him. He's socially awkward...but I kind of got a weird vibe from him today," she said.

"Did he come onto you?" he asked.

"No...why would you think that?" she asked. He rolled his eyes.

"Because you're beautiful and I saw the way he was looking at you. I may have acted like I was absorbed in the game, but trust me, I always notice everything when it comes to you, especially when other men look at you," he replied. She caressed his face.

"You're the only man I want," she reminded him.

"I know...that's why I don't gouge their eyes out when I see one looking at you. That's serious self control...you should be proud," he joked, as she nudged him playfully.

"But seriously...was he making you uncomfortable?" he asked.

"No...not really. He just was weirdly insistent that I should enroll in his night classes and get my doctorate," she replied.

"Do you want to get your doctorate?" he asked.

"No...I'm happy where I am. Besides, spending my evenings away from you and the kids would only make me miserable," she replied.

"Then he should accept that and if he gets out of hand, I want you to let me know right away," he stressed. She shrugged.

"I don't think it's like that. I think he's just lonely and is trying to be a friend," she said.

"Maybe...but remember, I'm a cop. I see this kind of thing go bad way too often and it scares the hell out of me that you could be on the receiving end of someone that doesn't like to hear the word no," he lamented. But she stroked his face.

"I'll be fine. Like I said, he's just awkward and hasn't crossed any lines. I'll be friendly, but keep a professional distance," she promised, as she kissed him.

"Good...because I don't think I have to tell you what it would do to me if something happened to you," he said, as she caressed his face again.

"I know...it's the same for me when it comes to you. I love you," she said.

"I love you too," he replied, as their lips met again.

~*~

"David?" Patricia questioned, as she noticed his fear stricken face.

"I know him…" he uttered.

"How?" Danielle asked.

"He works at the same school Margaret and Bobby are at. He's the head of the science department," David answered, as Trevor pulled up his information.

"Dr. Ian Jenkins, five PHD's and moved to the United States from Great Britain a few years ago," Danielle said, as dread knotted in David's stomach and he ran out of the room and to the stairwell.

"Pull up everything you can get on him, from his time here and his home country. I have a feeling this is our guy," she said, as she followed him.

~*~

Mount Olympus practically shook apart to rubble, as Seth unleashed his rage at what was going on in the United Realms at the moment. There was a heavy ice storm plaguing several Kingdoms and a lightning storm over Storybrooke. If that wasn't enough, there were also several cyclones raging in the waterways, creating violent hurricane-like winds. He had told Mephisto not to bother returning unless it was with the Charmings in chains.

"I'm going to torture you all...and burn everything and everyone you love!" Seth raged, as his eyes bled yellow with evil and he glared down at the United Realms. In his mighty rage, he blasted Snow and David's castle in Misthaven and then Winter and Charming's near the toll bridge, torching them both. He knew they were likely empty by now, as these storms were clearly a distraction. He glared at the reserve and then the mysterious area near Bald Mountain. Even in all his immense power, he was unable to get through the shields protecting these areas and it made him livid in a way he had never been.

"I must find a way through…" he growled, as he disappeared and reappeared in Nephilim. He needed to consult Madam Mim's oldest spell books. There had to be something in one of them to combat the power of these truest loves. He had little faith in Mephisto's new charges and thus, he knew it was very likely that Winter and Charming's good halves would soon return. Which meant he needed a way to obliterate them and their entire bloodline…

~*~

Thanks to their abundance of beans, multiple portals opened with people pouring through them. Due to the nature of the barrier, created by the combined light and dark powers of Winter, Charming, and Rumpelstiltskin, it made the barrier around the Bald Mountain area nearly impenetrable, even by the mighty Seth. Another perk of the magic woven into the barrier was that anyone that walked into the refuge of the mountain through a portal had their real memories returned. Emotions were running high, especially, as many people were reunited with loved ones thought to be dead, including Abigail with her father.

"That should be mostly everyone that we could get," Leo said, as he arrived with Frankie and Joe, having retrieved them and most of the people of Storybrooke.

"Yes and it shouldn't be too crowded, thanks to the magical extensions," Regina agreed, as they arrived back from the Maritime Kingdom.

"Where is Eva...this is taking too long…" Charming said, as he paced a hole in the floor. Thankfully, a portal opened, as she and Paul arrived back from the Land Without Color and its people.

"I'm here Daddy…" she called, as he hugged her tightly and cradled her head.

"I'm okay, Daddy," she assured and then pulled back.

"I hope everyone is mostly here though. He destroyed your castle in Misthaven and the one by the Toll Bridge," she reported.

"We're safe...that's what matters most, sweetie," Winter said. He nodded.

"She's right, angel...we can rebuild when all this is over," Charming assured.

"So what now? As usual, you've built a resistance and led us all here. But Seth is worse than I ever was...so you two better have a plan," the Evil Queen asked said, as she stood beside her other half.

"Emma will bring our other halves back, along with Summer and Bobby. Until then...we ready ourselves for the battle to come," Winter declared.

"She's right...because this one is going to make the Final Battle look like a casual afternoon sparring match," Charming said.

"We've lost Fandral too...that was not a blow we needed," Elsa mentioned.

"We must hope that his friends got our message and were able to rescue them," Hermes implored and they could only hope she was right.

"Let's hope the barrier holds long enough, because Seth will do everything he can to get through that barrier," Winter whispered to her husband and he pulled her into his arms.

"It will...and Emma will be back soon," he promised.

~*~

"...and that was how we ended up in the All World River," Fandral said, as he got choked up again.

"And I almost lost the best thing that ever happened to me," he said, as he clutched her hand and Rose rested her head on his shoulder. She was cuddled against him in a large chair, as they had opted to share and no one bothered to tell them they could have their own. At the moment, he could bare to let her out of his sight or even let go of her. He was too afraid that she would disappear.

"By Odin's beard...there is really a serum that can separate a person from their good half and their bad half?" Lady Sif asked. They nodded.

"There is...it was originally created by Dr. Jekyll to separate himself from Hyde," Fandral asked.

"They are the ones in the story when you were cursed to be bear? This Jekyll is the one that tried to keep you apart, yes?" Thor asked. Rose nodded.

"He did...he separated from Hyde, but it turned out that he was the real monster all along and Hyde, though he has done some terrible things, he retained a goodness in him. He helped reunite us...despite his feelings for me," she explained.

"And your friends? Their dark halves...they don't seem all that dark," Valkyrie observed.

"They're not...they have done dark things in the name of revenge, but ultimately, like Snow and David, they still love each other and their family. They're just a little more willing to go to dark places to protect them, whereas Snow and David do so from a place of light," Fandral tried to explain.

"And your friends good halves are cursed again?" Sif asked, trying to understand.

"Yes...to protect their youngest. Seth fears his powers, which I have feeling he hasn't even begun to come into. But their eldest has gone after them in hopes of waking them up and bringing them home. The final battle with Seth draws near," Fandral answered.

"And I thought our lives were insane," Valkyrie quipped. Fandral sighed.

"We must get back to the children…" Fandral said.

"They are safe...I know our friends would make sure of that," Rose assured him. He nodded.

"If you are sure of that, perhaps it is wise to remain here until the right time to make your entrance," Thor suggested.

"That is a good idea. We just have no idea how to know when the right time will be," Fandral said. Thor exchanged a glance with Valkyrie and she rolled her eyes.

"If anyone has any kind of tech that can see across realms, it's probably one of them. It's one hell of a long shot though," she mentioned.

"We should try...I'll make the call," he said, as he stood up.

"So...he doesn't look so good. I feel badly for asking for his help," Fandral said, but Sif shook her head.

"No...this is exactly what he needs. It's been two years here too since the snap and he's been drowning himself in his own sorrows," Sif replied.

"She's right...you seem to be someone that's able to do what none of us can and that's pull him out of his misery. He feels he has no purpose now so do not feel bad about giving him one," Valkyrie admonished. Fandral nodded and Rose kissed his cheek.

"So...who is he calling?" Fandral asked curiously.

"Someone with a really big brain," Valkyrie answered.

~*~

Margaret arrived back in her classroom and started gathering her things to go home for the day. As she put things away in her bag, she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and jumped when she saw Dr. Jenkins standing in the doorway.

"Oh...Dr. Jenkins, you startled me," she said, with a quiver in her voice. The way he was looking at her made her very uncomfortable and warning bells started going off in her head.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry...I don't mean to. I just wanted to thank you again for all your help. Today was quite successful, thanks to you. We made quite a team," he mentioned. She swallowed thickly and grabbed her bag in order to make a quick escape. Unfortunately, the contents of the bag went spilling to the floor instead.

"Oh dear...let me help you," he said, as he started picking her things up.

"That's okay…" she said, as she quickly stuffed things into her bag and stood up.

"I...I need to go. Bobby's waiting for me," she said, as she walked past him and fear seized her when he grabbed her arm.

"Margaret please...I think it is important that we talk," he said.

"Doctor…" she started to say.

"Margaret...please hear me out," he pleaded. He wasn't giving her much choice though, as he did not let go of her arm.

"I've never met anyone like you. Brilliant and beautiful, with a kind soul. I don't connect with many people, but I felt an instant connection with you. Can you not see that we belong together?" he asked.

"Doctor...I'm married. Happily married and very much in love with my husband. Please...let go," she pleaded, as she was now on the verge of tears. But that only made him squeeze her arm harder.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that...and you'll soon see that you belong with me," Jenkins he said in a matter of fact tone. She tore away from him, but he grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Help me!" she cried out, as he put a hand over her mouth. She bit his hand and he cried out. He backhanded her across the face and she went spilling to the floor.

"This is not how I wanted to do this, Margaret...but you leave me no choice," he said, as he pinned her on her back. She cried and screamed, but the school was mostly empty by now and those that were still around were in the gym.

"Shh...stop your struggle," he chided, as he put the scarf she was wearing around her neck between her teeth, as tears streamed down her face. She couldn't believe his strength. He didn't look all that strong, but his grip was like a vice and her struggling didn't faze him at all. She winced away in disgust, as he caressed her face.

"The moment I met you...I knew I had to have you," he leered and she tried kneeing him, but he held her knees down.

"You are so fiery...it's exhilarating, but this will help calm you," he said, as he pulled a syringe out of his jacket pocket.

"A simple muscle relaxer. You'll remain awake...but unable to fight me," he said. Her eyes widened and she continued to struggle. Just as she thought the worst was about to happen, she saw the doctor be literally peeled off her and thrown...across the room. Her son stood there, looking at his arm in surprise, wondering how he had even done such a thing, but decided that was a question for later, as he helped his mother up and into a chair.

"Mom…" he said, as he helped her pull the scarf away from her mouth and her arms flew around him.

"It's okay Mom…" he soothed, as he looked back at the doctor and put his hand up.

"You stay away...you stay the hell away from my mom!" Bobby hissed, as Jenkins started toward them.

"You won't stand in my way once I make a guinea pig out of you for my new drug. You're strong...maybe you'll be the first one to survive it. Either way, you won't be able to stop me from taking what I want," he said.

"Drug?" Margaret asked, as she saw the syringe with a red liquid in it.

"You're...you're the one my husband is looking for. You...you killed all those students and homeless people," she realized. He smirked at her with admiration.

"As usual...you are stunningly brilliant, Margaret. Such is wasted on your muscle brained husband. He's supposed to be an FBI agent and you figured it out before he did," he said smugly.

"Don't be so sure...I know my dad and he's probably already onto you," Bobby warned, as he guarded his mother.

"You don't want to tangle with me, brat. I don't mean to harm your lovely mother...I just need to show her why she belongs with me," he said.

"You're really are psycho if you think I'll let you touch her or that she belongs with you, because trust me, she belongs with my dad," Bobby growled.

"We shall see…" Jenkins said, as he kept walking toward them, causing Bobby to charge the man and they went tumbling to the floor.

"BOBBY!" Margaret cried, as she looked for something to use as a weapon.

Jenkins managed to get his hands around the boy's throat and started choking him, until he felt the incredible pain of being beamed with a chair across his back and rolled off, howling in pain. Margaret quickly helped her son up and looked him over.

"How dare you try to hurt my son!" she growled, all traces of her usual kindness gone.

"You are making this very difficult on yourself, Margaret. I do not want to hurt your boy...but I will if you do not come with me right now," Jenkins said.

"Go to hell," Bobby growled.

"I'm already there, young one...I'm already there without her to complete me," he claimed.

"You are sick…" Margaret spat, as he got up and she had no idea how. She had hit him with a metal chair, after all. He started toward them and Bobby punched him, before taking his mother's hand and leading her to the door. They were startled when they opened it and found a blonde woman there with a few other people. The woman smiled at them, like she was relieved, and put her hands up.

"It's okay...I'm a cop," she assured and they sighed in relief. But Margaret cried out, as Jekyll grabbed her and put his arm around her neck in a headlock, before dragging her back.

"Don't move...or I strangle her," he warned, as she gasped for air.

"Stop it!" Bobby cried.

"If I cannot have you, sweet Margaret...then no one will…" he hissed in her ear, before sniffing her hair.

"Let us leave...and she'll keep breathing," he said.

"You have four guns aimed at you four-eyed psycho so you're not going anywhere with her," Emma growled. But he smirked and pulled her tightly against him.

"But none of you will risk firing on me as long as I have her...she too precious…" he hissed, as he looked at her with a lustful stare. Suddenly, one of the windows in the classroom shattered in surprise and Jenkind looked that way, only in time to see a fist connect with his face, busting his glasses. He stumbled to the floor and Margaret sighed in relief, as her husband caught her before she went crashing to the floor with him.

"Oh David…" she cried, as her arms flew around his neck.

"It's okay now, my darling…" he promised, as he held her tightly. Emma smiled at them. Thankfully, some things never changed and that one thing was the love between her parents. It still shined as passionately and brightly like the brightest star in the sky.

"Hands up where we can see them," Nick warned, as he leveled his gun at the doctor. Jenkins smirked and jabbed the needle into Bobby's leg.

"Oww…" he cried out, as time seemed to stop.

"What...what did you just do?" David cried. The evil doctor looked at him with a smug smile.

"You know what I have done, agent Nolan...the same that I have done to all my other test subjects. I doubt the boy has but a few moments to live," Jenkins said.

"You son of a bitch!" Emma cried, as she felt tears fill her eyes and she tackled him to the ground, before cuffing him.

"Bobby…" Margaret said, as their son began to convulse.

"Oh God...no...no...no...I can't lose our baby," she cried, as she fell apart and they held their son.

"This is agent Martinez, I need an ambulance at North Star High School immediately. We have a student that was injected unwillingly with a dangerous substance!" Angela said into her phone. Bobby convulsed, as his parents held him and cried over him. Suddenly, the ground beneath them all began to shake.

"An earthquake? In Massachusetts?" Nick asked in confusion. But Emma and Killian exchanged a glance.

"Yeah...not an earthquake," she told them and their eyes widened.

"Are you saying the kid is doing this?" Nick hissed.

"That drug...it might have just awakened his powers," Emma said.

"But there is no magic," Killian reminded her.

"Yes there is...my parents have half the chalice hidden in their rings," she reminded him.

"Then...he might survive this," Killian said hopefully.

"It's possible…" she said, as the rest of the windows shattered and wind whipped around all of them.

"If my brother doesn't kill us all with the elements first," Emma said, as the paramedics arrived and were unsure as to what they were seeing. Her brother's magic was fighting the drug and he had a better chance than anyone else of surviving. But if he destroyed everything around him in the process, it was going to be something they would have a hard time explaining…

~*~

Summer arrived home that evening and was surprised to find the house seemingly empty.

"Mom?" she called.

"Hmm...they must still be at school," she muttered, as she dropped her bag in her room and went to the kitchen for a bottle of water. It was strange that her mother hadn't texted her that they would be this late though and she opened the fridge to grab an apple. She heard the doorbell ring at that time and went to answer it, finding a package on the doorstep. It was a little strange since there didn't seem to be a delivery truck. She shrugged and took it inside, surprised that it was addressed to her and her brother.

"That's weird...we didn't order anything," she said, but shrugged again and opened the box. Inside was a large, leather bound book with the title emblazoned in gold.

"Once Upon a Time," she read.

"Fairy tales?" she wondered, as she opened the book and was suddenly seized with a river of memories running through her.

"Oh my God!" she cried out, as it all came back to her. She put the book down and dug through the box, extracting the Dark One dagger from it.

"I need to find Mom, Dad, and Bobby," she uttered, as she grabbed her bag. She stuffed the book into it, as she heard a noise.

"Hello?" she called, but received silence. A chill ran down her spine and she clutched the dagger.

"Daddy?" she called, but somehow knew he wasn't there.

"Afraid not, young one…" a voice said and she turned to find a man that she recognized as King Arthur.

"My my...you have grown up. You were so very small the last time I saw you," Arthur said.

"As fair as your mother," Gawain said.

"You stay away from me, jerk face," she growled.

"And with the same mouth too," he quipped.

"Believe it or not...I do not want to hurt you, little one. Just give me the dagger and we will be on our way," Arthur said, as she clutched it and backed away. She ran from them, as their arms became alive with fiery chains. She screamed, as Gawain sliced through the kitchen table and she ran out the backdoor, before colliding with a young man she didn't recognize.

"I'm sorry…" he said, as he helped her up.

"Who are you?" she asked, as Arthur and Gawain tore their way through the house.

"Uh...later," he said, as he led her back to his car. Just a few moments ago, he had the opportunity to run away, but something had told him not to and now he knew why.

~*~

A Few Moments Ago

"You're welcome crazies!" he called, as the two weirdos that had forced them to drive them four hours to Boston got out in front of a nice house in a very nice suburb.

"JJ...what are you waiting for? Floor it!" Nora urged. He snorted.

"So everything you've been going on about for seven years is probably true and now you want to run?" he asked.

"Away from those psychos...yeah!" she answered. But he heard a scream from inside the house and got out of the car.

"Someone is in trouble...stay here!" he told her, as he ran around the back of the house. He may have been dragged into this conspiracy stuff unwillingly, but now that the danger was real and people needed help, that's where he shined. He wanted to help real people from real danger and he wasn't about to run away from that, even if what the danger he was facing seemed wildly unreal.

JJ took the girl's hand and they ran to his car. Nora was still in the back seat and he opened the passenger door for her.

"Get in," he said, but Summer hesitated and looked back at the house.

"I need to find my parents," she replied.

"Fine, but it's not safe here and I assure you that we're better than those freaks," he said. She nodded and got in. He ran to the driver's side.

"Where to?" he asked.

"North Star High...I'll tell you how to get there, just go," she urged, as he peeled away, leaving Arthur and Gawain behind…

~*~

Training was in full swing at the refuge, as Leo sparred his Uncle James and his wife was firing icicles at Regina, who was using fire to extinguish them, just as Eva ran into the training room.

"Honey...what is it?" Winter asked.

"Something is happening in Boston...it's all over the news," she said, as Rumple magicked a television into the room and they turned to one of the national news stations.

"And if you're just joining us, Boston is experiencing a strange series of weather events. No one is sure how or why, but the source of the earthquake appears to be a local school, North Star High," the reporter droned on.

"North Star High?" Leo asked.

"We looked it up. Your Mom teaches there under the name Margaret Nolan and Bobby is a freshman there," Paul replied.

"But...that doesn't make any sense. Why would Bobby unleash his powers?" Elsa asked.

"And how even? They're in the Land Without Magic," Leo added.

"Mom and Dad have their half of chalice, even if they don't know it," she reminded him.

"Which means something must be happening and Bobby might not be able to control his powers. It's the only way he'd ever use them out there," Regina surmised.

"Exactly...but this could be the catalyst we need. Emma should be there by now and she'll bring them home," Rumple stated.

"Except that we know Seth sent Arthur and Gawain after them and if people see those two and what they can do? There is no putting this one back in the bottle," James said. Aphrodite nodded.

"Snow and David will know what to do...we have to have faith. I'm assuming that package has been delivered?" the Goddess asked the Dark One.

"Young Summer should have it by now and with any luck she's awake so it's only a matter of time until the rest are," he replied.

"Let's hope you're right, because Seth has access to every magic book in Rose Red's library and if he finds a way through our barrier prematurely...then it's over," the Evil Queen warned.

"Then I guess it's time for you to take a page from the Charming manual as I have, Your Majesty. We must have hope," he said. She looked at him in disgust.

"Hope...that damn word. It always comes down to hope and that insipid princess and her idiot husband," the Queen complained, receiving many glares, most notably from the twins.

"I'm sorry...I love you both, but your mother and father are a menace," she complained.

"No...they're heroes and they'll be back soon to help us fight. With the United Realms joining together, all our armies, all our magic...Seth will go down and we need to be ready," Regina said. Robin smiled at her and put his arms around her.

"And we will be, because we're all heroes, especially you now," he said, as she smiled back at him.

"And if we can't put this back in the bottle? Even if we do defeat Seth...what if the whole world becomes aware of our existence?" Leo asked.

"Yeah...because something tells me that Seth might decide he wants to rule more than just the United Realms," Eva added.

"I'm afraid you're right...Seth may decide he wants to conquer the world. But we'll save it and then we may have to face an entirely new world where we are no longer hidden," Aphrodite told them.

"As hard as it may be, it can be done. There was a time on the Earth in the realm where Fandral comes from that believed magic, Gods, and heroes were mere fantasy, very recently, in fact. But that is no longer the case there and may no longer be the case here much longer. But I am certain of one thing," Hermes said.

"What's that?" Leo asked. She and Aphrodite smiled.

"Your parents will lead us through it all. Your family is a beacon of hope to everyone in the United Realms and I know that the same will be true for the whole world if such comes to be," Aphrodite declared. The twins exchanged a glance and nodded. They weren't sure they liked the idea of their family being so exposed to the world, but they knew she was right. Their parents would somehow lead them through it all with their love shining like the brightest guiding star in the sky...

Into the Future PartII

#Fictober19 @fictober-event

————————————————————————

for fanfiction:

Prompt number: 4 “I know you didn’t ask for this.”

Fandom (AU if applicable): #arrow fanfiction #olicity 

John Constantine and Felicity Smoak

Rating:G

Warnings/Tags: Weird scifi convo.

—

Title: Into the Future PartII

Summary: This take is with John Constantine/Felicity Smoak. It was supposed to be more serious but I lost some work when it didn’t save properly so going back to redo it. I got this… More silly weird conversation between the two but I think it is fitting because demons, out of this word books, and scifi should be a little strange. 

Playing with her red pen as an English guy whom seems to be a few good years on her is trying to explain something. He is kind of cute and she’d probably have a thing for him if he wasn’t so into chain smoking. His take on her is that she’s connected to Death. That would be freaky and all if she didn’t read up on it. Some of those old dusty books are like comic-books the volumes are huge and the stories are reverted over and over. No true set timeline. For a beginner like her it makes for a whopper of a headache.

“I know you didn’t ask for this.”

“What gave you that idea?”

“Darling, you haven’t been paying attention to a word I’m saying.”

“Yea, call me darling again you’ll feel my boot where the sun doesn’t shine.”

He rolls his eyes at her. She’s already a something in the realm as a pain in the ass. “It is just like the powers that be that always throw responsibility to those who don’t want it.”

“Oh is there a story there?” Felicity has enjoyed his story telling and figuring he has one now she tilts her head as she looks at him. He shakes his head in response.

“I got to keep my eye on you. You’re a temptress.”

“A what now? Did I not tell you I’m unavailable and married to some dude I’m looking to meet!”

“You’ve never actually met him.”

“Well technically no but I also met his future self. I’m his soon-to-be wife.”

That makes John cackle. His journey with this girl has been a riot. She’s using her summer vacation to go across the world with him and tackle some demonic possessions. “So what makes you think 2007 holds a beginning? That is a huge step in all this?”

Felicity shrugs but grabs a book that holds three charm like illustrations and she pats the book. “This book is like a living diary. Not so much mine or Oliver’s but it shows things we both have lived through.”

“That video you showed me of him peeing on a cop. Is it in there?”

“That’s the important thing you take away from this? What is it with men and their ding dongs?” She sees he’s about to answer. Her hand shots up stopping him before he begins and she lets out, “Rhetorical question. I really am too scared to find out.”

“I heard your assumptions and I think you may be onto something but don’t you think your forgetting something?”

Felicity takes a breath as she knows John Constantine the man she met a few weeks ago and basically begged him to allow her to hang with him. It was her access to the book shop that got him to take her serious. He’s about to tell her again about the cost of magic. His story about his once best friend and that man’s family. The ultimate price of saving a family broke them all apart.

Is she ready to pay the price? She doesn’t know what the cost is because she’s never really had it to begin with. To her at this point in her life she doesn’t know love. Doesn’t know what having a child with a future lover represents so she’ll forsake all that if it means the dire future she wants to stop happens. She just has no idea what it is and if it is worth the sacrifice.

“I can’t forget something if you keep reminding me of it.”

“I think your too young and have no concept of what you’re getting yourself into.”

“I think you keep trying to derail me of my ambitions. I know you know something that you’re keeping to yourself and it annoys me that I know that you know.”

“I guess that’s a paradox you’ll never solve.”

Her eyes narrow. “Why do you have to be difficult?”

“Why do you need to find rays of sunshine on a cloudy day?”

“That makes no sense!”

“Nor does this conversation and yet we are in it.”

“But we are still going after this demon you have your sights on?”

“Of course. You’ve read up on him?”

“What? I need to doodle a picture of that thing?”

“No. I just need you to be conscience and super aware that not all things seem as they are.”

“If I didn’t like solving mysteries I’d hightail it out of here.”

“Felicity!”

“Yea, yea I get it. Not everything is as it seems. I’m not a blonde.”

John gives her a look. “There is nothing wrong with blonds. You’d be cute as one if I may say so? Instead of this edgy girl you’d be this cutesy doll.”

“Pfft!”

“What you disagree? No, I’m hurt. You don’t like me?”

“I like you fine enough. It’s just you’re like a Halloween party trick on a scorching summer day.”

“Hell is a very hot place.”

“I’m losing brain cells in this conversation.”

“Fine. What have you figured out about this one we are going up against?”

“I like to say the basics. Offers a to good deal to pass up the sucker takes it and bam! They have given away their precious commodity of a soul.”

“And?”

“Well this one was done for love so it’ll be messy.”

“Love. Fragile as it is beautiful.”

“If you say so. Never been in love so can’t say.”

“Yes, you’ve mentioned it a few times. Are you going to be one of those?”

“Huh? One of what?”

“Those who fall head over heals but deny it is happening?”

“That sounds counterproductive. I hope not. When I fall in love and it may be a when not an if question because, like I stated I met my husband.”

John just gives her a ‘can you give that a rest’ look.

“No seriously, I don’t know. Okay. I’m turning eighteen soon and haven’t even met someone I like.”

“And the boy… you marry, has had more than a share of…”

“Yea, don’t remind me of how casual he is as an STD poster boy.”

“Okay then, Let’s just go over the procedure that I’ll like you to handle.”

They spend a few minutes going over what to expect and then they head out to the hot spot. Felicity tagging along learning to decipher things so it makes the journey of reading the books easier. Soon she’ll be having to come back to Boston for a new school year at M.I.T. until then her business of learning and appreciating the new prospects of the world that has come knocking at her doorstep. Well more like laid onto her palm by a brass key by entering a bookshop last fall.

on A03

Yeah, Axel was so much better in CoM, in KH2 he practically wasn't the same character. But I have a question, did you ever obsess over a teen? I doubt it.

Idk i saw the same char. Smart, cunning, ruthless, sarcastic af, working for the org but against them at the same time. But you have to remember he’d known Roxas for like a week before the events of CoM. By the time we see him in KH2 he’s grown a heart or most of one. Despite this he’s still straight up ready to kidnap one teen and “kill” another to get Roxas back. That’s not badass? Kairi got away from him because she’s Kairi, dude. KH2 is one of the only bits of agency she’s been given. She fought Saix with fists then poofed her own keyblade too. Axel losing a determined girl, who he wasn’t planning to hurt or kill, with the power of Pure Light on her side speaks to her strength rather than Axel’s weakness. (Another person brought up the EU manga/novel story that Axel went two rounds with Saix to get Kairi back. The Org didn’t care about getting Roxas back, so Axel said fuck you to the Org.) Axel giving up everything so at least some part of Roxas will live is another badass play in my book. Axel doesn’t just save our main protagonist, he saves WORLDS with this move. You see exactly how much of his heart grew since CoM in the extra Final Mix scene (never played it; saw vid) where he cries after saying goodbye to Roxas.

And idk why you’re still coming at this like it’s real life. You’re playing a fantasy game, so think in fantasy terms. Picture a guy who hasn’t had a heart or feelings in, at most, a decade. He’s around people he either hates, fears or tolerates. His past friend isn’t even a friend anymore and barely acknowledges they ever were. He’s sent on jobs to kill and spy and sabotage while trying not to get punished so hard he gets turned into a mindless drone. Suddenly another guy, Roxas comes along who, even acting like a zombie due to memory wipes, makes Axel fond of him. They hang out nearly every day, Rox develops a personality and is a badass fighter too, they have fun, they grow hearts. Roxas leaves because he’s sick of the lies and Org secrets, and for the first time you see Axel emotionally broken. He’d miss this one person when he never once missed anyone in Castle Oblivion.

The next time he sees Roxas is in a digital cage with zero memory of who Axel is. The one person who Axel cares about can no longer care about him. Dude, i’d be devastated. Not being devastated doesn’t make you stronger or admirable. Imagine not feeling empty for months after (for Axel) an entire existence of emptiness, then that fullness is ripped away from you. When Roxas finally does remember, anger and frustration has already built so much it’s “too late”. But the strongest character against keyblades is still gonna lose to keyblades. The next time Axel sees Roxas he’s not Roxas. The guy who gave him a heart is now stuck in another person’s heart or gone completely for all Axel knows. (After Axel dies, Roxas goes ballistic in Sora’s heart, so we know he cared about Axel just as much.) Everyone in this game is allowed to obsess because they love. Riku doesn’t seem to have a life outside Sora. Sora’s entire goal started with finding his friends and he keeps that goal in KH2. Axel is allowed to obsess over someone he loves too. I’m lost as to what you miss about CoM Axel you can’t find ramped up to 11 in KH2.

Man, i was 17 when KH1 came out and 21 when KH2 did. You think i didn’t obsess over these fictional teenagers? Including Axel who we all thought was anywhere from 17-19. (Srsly, Nomura has said nothing, Flynn no care, we don’t know what age he turned and “Nobody’s don’t age” but retcons, and wtf is going on.) I still obsess over fictional teenagers. Korra is my wife and she was a teenager to start. I tag Moana posts calling her Pa'ipunahele. Real teens? No, not since i was a teen. I mean, i obsessed over 30/40/50yr olds as a teen too. There’s no age limit backwards or forwards. Then again, we’re not discussing real teens, we’re discussing fake fantasy anime-lookin video game teens with adult heroic world changing responsibilities fighting monsters for a living. Axel and Roxas weren’t even fictional HUMANS to begin with until later. Comparing KH with real world parallels is silly.

be in my eyes, be in my heart

*title from flowers in your hair by the lumineers, this sucks im sorry bye

She was perfect. From her little auburn curls that sprung up on her head, down to her ten tiny toes that wiggled around when she laughed. With a big, gummy smile on her face, Fiona Elizabeth Harries reached a chubby baby arm and made grabby hands at her two uncles.

Jack and Dan had just entered the restaurant where they were supposed to meet up with Finn and his wife Emma, and their precious one year old daughter. As soon as Jack caught a glimpse of his niece, he grabbed Dan’s hand and yanked him behind him, trailing through the restaurant and over to where they were sitting in the booth. 

“There my favorite girl in the whole world! Look at how big you are!” Jack cooed at Fiona, lifting her out of Finn’s arms and peppering kisses all over her chubby cheeks, causing her to shriek with laughter. “I’m sorry Uncle Jack and Uncle Dan missed your birthday last month”

The two men had spent the last month in South Africa. Jack had been shooting a documentary about the Cape of Good Hope, and how it’s coastline is receding further and further back due to the melting of the polar ice caps near Antarctica. Dan had tagged along, not wanting to be without his fiance for the extended period of time he would be away(they’d done long distance before, and vowed to never do it again if they could help it), and the two had ended up missing Fiona’s birthday back in August.

“Nice to see you too, little brother.” Finn chuckled, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Jack bounced Fiona up and down in his arms as he greeted his brother and sister-in-law. Dan ran a big hand through Fiona’s curls and kissed her on the forehead quickly. 

“Happy late birthday Fi-- I know you don’t know what I’m saying, but you sure are cute” Dan chuckled, before turning and giving Finn a quick side hug, and then to Emma as well. Jack rolled his eyes at Dan. “How was the first birthday party?”

“It was quite lovely, to be honest” Emma smiled, taking a sip of her water. “I feel like I was so stressed out trying to plan for it, but I mean, it’s a baby’s birthday party. All she really cared about was getting to smash her hands into the birthday cake and play with the bits of paper streamers.”

“Aw, I’m still bummed we missed it though.” Dan smiled. He looked over at his fiance and niece, and his heart swelled. Jack was bouncing Fiona on his lap and making funny faces at her, making her giggle loudly and shove her tiny hands in his face. Seeing him with her always made Dan think of how good a dad Jack would be. He was always so good with kids. Dan, not so much, but then again it’s not like they’d be having a child any time soon, what with all the traveling they did. Plus the fact that they were both dudes.

The waitress came over and took everyone drink orders, then returned and took their lunch orders. The two couples chatted more about Fiona’s birthday party, like who came, what kinds of gifts she got, and also just reminisced about the last year since Fiona had been born.

Like how when Emma’s water broke and Finn had texted Jack to tell him, Jack hauled Dan out of bed at five in the morning so that the two of them could be at the hospital. Dan didn’t even change out of his pajamas, and the two men had ransacked a twentyfour hour Asda for all the cutest stuffed animals for their brand new niece. 

And how when Fiona was three months old, Jack had volunteered himself and Dan to stay over Finn and Emma’s apartment for a few nights to take care of the baby while the two new parents got some much needed shut eye. 

“It was kind of fun to play house those few days” Dan laughed, knocking his knees into Jack’s underneath the table. Glancing down at his plate, he felt a heat rise up his neck and a blush fill his cheeks at the idea of being a daddy to a little baby of their own. 

He imagined Jack in the kitchen making little pancakes for their child, dancing around and making silly faces to make their baby laugh like he did to Fiona. He imagined him and Jack reading bedtime stories, and decorating their child’s nursery or bedroom. It was never really something that Dan put much thought into before--the idea of starting up their own little family, but it all of a sudden was niggling at the back of his mind.

Towards the end of the meal, Finn excused himself to go to the restroom, and Emma stepped outside to make a phone call to her mum, leaving Dan and Jack with Fiona, who was starting to look a little tired and quite ready for a nap after all the excitement of seeing her uncles.

“Aw, Dan, babe she looks so cute all sleepy! Hold her, I want to take a little video!” Jack grinned, lifting her up gently over the table and handing her to Dan, who put her down on his lap and cradled her to him. She looked up at Dan with her large hazel eyes, which were the exact same color as Jack and Finn’s, and let out the biggest little yawn. Dan’s heart just about melted, and he leant down to plop another kiss onto the top of her head.

“You’re so good with her” Jack smiled, pointing his video camera at the two of them. “You’d make such a good dad.”

“What? Me?” Dan popped his head up, chuckling in disbelief. “What about you, Mr. Uncle of the Year? I swear when you see her you act like she’s your own daughter.” 

They both had to admit, with Finn and Jack being identical twins, and Emma having long dark brown hair and deep brown eyes, Fiona could pass as being a good mix of Jack and Dan, if that were even possible. Dan gazed down at the now dozing one year old in his arms, and sighed contentedly. 

“D-do you think, I mean, is that something you’d want?” Dan stumbled over his words, unsure of how to phrase them. “Like, having a child? Someday?” 

He chanced a glance up to meet his fiance’s eyes, big and green and staring deeply into his own dark brown ones. The look on his face was so loving and earnest, it made Dan’s heart skip a beat. 

“Of course, babe. With you.”

dear yuletide author (2018)

hello and welcome to my letter!

i am so happy to have you reading this letter and going to be writing a fic for me! why? because you dear writer are an amazing and wonderful person, deserving of all the kudos in the world!

please remember as you look at these prompts, that if something in my likes inspires you more than any of my specific prompts, totally feel free and run with that, and know that i will enjoy any fic that is gifted to me!!

ao3/lj handle: plinys

now lets get down to business:

the fandoms i’ve requested this year are: Babe - Sugarland ft. Taylor Swift (Music Video) , Dramarama - Monsta X (Music Video) , The Gifted (TV 2017) ,  Partners (TV 2012) , A Simple Favor (2018), and Superman Returns (2006)

but before that, my likes/kinks/dislikes/triggers:

likes: alternate universes, characters that are in character, lady-centric fics, angst, fandom cliches, dysfunctional relationships, friendships, friends/enemies to lovers, soul mates, road trips,  hanukkah fics, jewish characters, bisexual characters, poly relationships, character studies, origin stories, ambiguous endings, meta fic, slow build, fics that incorporate social media, crack treated seriously, drunk confessions, miscommunication,

kinks: threesomes, competence kink, phone sex, masturbation, crying during sex, hate sex, shower sex, praise kink, guys going down on girls, rough sex, first time, spanking, daddy kink, sex in front of mirrors, voyeurism, make up sex

dislikes: pwp, main character death (unless it really makes sense/happens in canon), character bashing, non-con, mpreg, a/b/o, 1st person, 2nd person 

my triggers (please no matter what do not include these): school shootings, cancer, terminal illness, riots, child abuse.

and now to the fun stuff -

Babe - Sugarland ft. Taylor Swift (Music Video) 

characters: Cheating Husband (Babe), Mistress (Babe), Wife (Babe)

where to watch: the music video is up on youtube

prompts: 

right after watching this video, my first thought was that i was disappointed that the cheating husband didn’t die in the end. like he should have died they set it all up for him to die. so do me a favor and write a fic where he gets exactly what he deserved

bonus points if we get something where the ladies team up to do him in, maybe it’s all a big long con, maybe they were actually working together to kill him for the insurance money or something. (make them gay if you want, or make them bonded as friends because the same man screwed them over either way im chill)

alternatively - if someone wants to write smut between the cheating husband and the mistress that’s totally fine by me because imagining brandon routh and taylor swift together is something that i could get behind so uh feel free

honestly if you can make anything come out of this music video it would make me very happy because its one of my favorites and literally any fic about it will be good 

Dramarama - Monsta X (Music Video)

characters: Chae Hyungwon (Dramarama MV)

where to watch: the music video is here on youtube

prompts: 

so a good place to start would probably be with some sort of explanation for what is going on in the music video and there is a lot of theories but honestly ive got like only 80% of a clue after reading them all so good luck. basically if you don’t know anything about who the boys are (i don’t even go here technically, my roommate just showed me the video a while back and when  saw it in the tag set i got super interested in requesting fic about it)

 i nominated hyungwon, he’s the one in the video who is in the suit and sort of giving out all of the watches that enable the other to travel through time. im mainly looking for backstory on his character, what is his role in all of this? what is his motivation? why did he choose this set of people to give the watches too

also related just expanding on the concept of time travel presented in the video. in this case you don’t have to focus on hyungwon, you can focus on the other sort of “men in black” showed or any of the other duo’s presented

honestly whatever you could pull out of this video would be really interesting to me! if something inspires you after watching the video consider total freedom when it comes to this prompt

The Gifted (TV 2017)

characters: Lorna Dane (The Gifted (TV 2017)), Marcos Diaz (The Gifted (TV 2017))

where to watch: all of season one is on hulu, and it’s current airing weekly

prompts:

so i realize that by time reveals are the show will have finished season two so who knows how we will all feel about them by then and what will have happened but right now in canon i am very much emotionally compromised by everything going on with lorna/marcos and so i am asking for 100% shippy prompts for them

there was a lot of missing moments in season one that could be expanded on. when they were together in the underground. fluffy little things with them having discussions about their baby, soft bed sharing stuff, making promises to protect each other, just anything soft with them expecting the baby is right up my alley

and then of course now were in season two and things arent so easy, depending on how things go in canon i would love some sort of fic of them getting back together and getting to be a big happy family. if that means marcos joining the inner circle or lorna leaving, ether way works for me

at nycc sean (who plays marcos) said that “there isn’t a man who loves his daughter more, and he hasn’t even met her” obviously now he has met her. but i would love just some character study of marcos inner turmoil over all of this 

seriously though anything lorna/marcos will make me happy

Partners (TV 2012)

characters: Louis McManus, Wyatt Plank

where to watch: i’ve only found it on less than legal streaming sites

prompts:

if you havent seen this, which you probably have not, it is a very quick watch, it’s like ten episodes of a sitcom, very easy to consume quickly. and im 90% certain that someone has made a cut of just the louis/wyatt scenes on youtube. it got cancelled before its first season ever finished. 

louis/wyatt are an established relationship on the show, very cute and domestic, and just silly sitcom vibes. this is sort of my easy request, because im not really looking for anything dramatic with this one. do you like writing curtain fic? easy fluff? whatever is light and easy and suits your fancy

if youre in a smutty mood you could totally work with this one because i mean established relationship and there was definitely a few fade to black scenes in the sitcom so feel free

before the series ended there was like a discussion of them making their relationship even more serious, obviously that was sort of a cliffhanger to end the series on. but if you would like to expand on that and write where you think their lives would have gone next i would love to read that!

A Simple Favor (2018)

characters: Emily Nelson (A Simple Favor (2018)),  Stephanie Smothers (A Simple Favor (2018))

where to watch: at a theater near you!

prompts: 

okay so i know their relationship dynamic was a little fucked up (or well, a lot) but that is exactly what is so perfect about them. i want dysfunctional relationships, power imbalances, codependency, all the bad wrong dirty tropes that you can fit in with these two

i would LOVE some smut with them. you see my kinks list back up there at the top, use some of those. the more sinful the better, because how could you watch this movie and not think about these two ladies fucking in that fancy house? drinks turns into emily teaching stephanie how to go down on another woman like? these are just things that i greatly need in my life

i am very much interested in reading alternate endings where stephanie took emily up on her offer and ran away with her. where would they go? how do they start over? how do they fall for each other? tell that story (and of course bonus points if its smutty)

or maybe ones where things still go on the canon route but stephanie still cannot stop thinking about emily, and the inevitably of two people always meant to be drawn back together even if its against all logical reasoning

if youre in an au mix mood, these two would be perfect for some sort of slightly fucked up soulmate au. i would love to see something like that

Superman Returns (2006)

characters:  Clark Kent (Superman Returns (2006)), Lois Lane (Superman Returns (2006))

where to watch: i rented it off amazon? not sure if there’s anywhere legally to see it for free

prompts: 

so at the end of the movie lois and clark arent actually together and we never got another movie so i find myself desperately in need of fic in which they do get back together, properly this time, and obviously with some revealing of identities and all that other important stuff

also theyve got a kid together and i am literally always weak for kidfics so i would love something to do with that. clark realizing that he has a son but that he can’t come out as clark and reveal that he’s aware of this and the dilemma that comes from that

or honestly just cute domestic family stuff, feel free to skip right past the getting together and give some nice super family fluff. i just want everyone to be happy 

ANYWAYS I HOPE SOME OF THOSE PROMPTS SUIT YOUR FANCY! no matter what i know i will love whatever you write, thank you!

Jake Paul Promised Them Fame. Was It Worth the Price? In the vast world of YouTube villains, there may be none as famous as Jake Paul. The 24-year-old Vine star turned vlogger has polarized viewers with videos of dangerous pranks and stunts (though he continues to bring in millions of views). He is a serial entrepreneur linked to several dubious and misleading business ventures (though that hasn’t deterred investors). He has repeatedly offended and alienated his collaborators (though he keeps finding new ones). In 2020, he declared the coronavirus a “hoax.” It can often seem that he lives to provoke outrage. Now, Mr. Paul is facing allegations of sexual misconduct from other influencers. Yet he remains the blueprint for many social media stars today. Without him, it’s hard to imagine the current land rush of so-called “collab houses,” where young content creators film videos, throw parties and spur drama. Or the proliferation of prank videos on YouTube. Or the bad-boy archetype embodied by so many influencer-entrepreneurs born on TikTok. At the center of these comparisons is the Team 10 house, an influencer collective and talent management agency founded by Mr. Paul in 2016. The vision: He and six other creators, aged 14 to 19, would live together and leverage their collective followings for views and cash. Everyone would benefit, but no one more than Mr. Paul. “I know it’s a cliché, but, like, literally, I want to create an empire of dozens of talent under me, to take my power and multiply it so that I become bigger than myself,” Mr. Paul told The New York Times in 2017. Back then, the arrangement was uncommon; sure, influencers lived together (the O2L house and The Station had already come and gone), but the houses weren’t all businesses in their own right. Now, such setups are increasingly common — and highly lucrative. “People look to Team 10 house as the inspiration for collab houses today,” said Brendan Gahan, the chief social officer at Mekanism, an advertising agency. “The Beatles didn’t invent rock ’n’ roll, but they’re the most famous rock ’n’ roll band. Team 10 didn’t invent the collab house, but they became the most famous collab house and really defined it. They created the culture.” But that culture is now being re-evaluated, as stories mount from creators who say they were exploited for views. No Rent, No Parents … No Problems? When AJ Mitchell received a direct message from Jake Paul in early 2016 about an opportunity in Los Angeles, he was intrigued. An aspiring musician in small-town Illinois, Mr. Mitchell had earned more than 80,000 followers on Instagram. Mr. Paul, who was raising capital to start a media company focused on influencers, said he could help him become much bigger. Aaron Mitchell, AJ’s father, said he “was not very impressed with Jake” and that he didn’t want his son, who was 14 at the time, involved with Team 10. However, after extensive conversations with Mr. Paul’s parents, Greg Paul and Pam Stepnick; Mr. Paul’s assistant, Erica Costell, who was in her mid-20s; and Neels Visser, another member of Team 10, he and his wife, Allison, decided to allow AJ to join the group. The arrangement worked like this: Each of the influencers could live in the Team 10 house (a rented mansion in the upscale Beverly Grove neighborhood of Los Angeles) for free if they agreed to produce regular content for social media (which Mr. Paul would monetize) and participate in brand deals. (Mr. Paul declined to comment on the financial arrangement he had with house residents.) According to several former house members, Mr. Paul could also take 10 to 20 percent of Team 10 members’ YouTube ad revenue for up to five years, even if they left the group. At the time, it sounded like a good deal; Mr. Paul would help them become stars in their own right. On May 24, 2016, Mr. Mitchell arrived at the Team 10 house with a single suitcase. For several weeks he didn’t have a bedroom, so he slept on a leather couch in the living room. Mr. Mitchell was given a room to share with Alissa Violet, who was 19 at the time and publicly dating Mr. Paul. “It kind of felt unreal,” Mr. Mitchell, who is now 19, said. “I’d seen those people on social media before, growing up. I’d see all these funny videos so when I went out there I was like, ‘Whoa, this is real.’ It was like I was living in a dream.” Ms. Mitchell, AJ’s mother, would regularly fly in and stay at a nearby hotel. On some occasions, she even spent the night at the Team 10 house, sleeping in the room her son shared with Ms. Violet. “For me, as a mom, I’m very protective of my kid,” Ms. Mitchell said. She said that when she called older members of the group to check on her son, they assured her that things were going well; AJ, she said, never let on otherwise. “All I know is they were doing a bunch of silly stupid videos, being kids,” Ms. Mitchell said. “Sometimes being reckless, but doing silly videos.” The Prank Economy To get views, many YouTubers, including Mr. Paul and David Dobrik’s Vlog Squad, relied on pranks and practical jokes, drawing from a lineage of entertainment franchises like “Jackass” and “Punk’d” as well as the work of creators like Mr. Paul’s older brother, Logan. The people living and working in the Team 10 house served as subjects for all kinds of antics. Mr. Paul’s YouTube channel offers an incomplete record — many of his videos have been removed — but it includes footage of members of Team 10 being electrically shocked without warning and facing pressure to jump from the mansion’s roof into a pool. The videos give the impression of a rollicking frat house during rush season rather than a collaborative work environment. Former Team 10 members told The Times that Mr. Paul once chain-sawed through a bedroom door to wake up two people in the house. One of Mr. Paul’s former assistants recalled arriving for work to find her desk had been smashed for a video. The Times sought comment from Mr. Paul on the material of the YouTube videos and the accounts of former Team 10 associates, and he declined. It wasn’t just people in the house who were affected by Mr. Paul’s pranks: In 2017, a man sued Mr. Paul for hearing loss after the influencer blared a car horn at him; the case was later dismissed. “When it comes down to someone having to do something to get attention, every single day you have to do crazy stuff,” Mr. Mitchell said. “If you go back and look at those videos, you see a lot of crazy stuff and you’ll see why kids are drawn into it, because it was a house full of kids doing whatever they want. Every day it was a new crazy thing, but people wanted to watch it.” In his downtime, Mr. Mitchell would write songs in a notebook and play them on his keyboard. One day, he came home to discover his keyboard broken. Mr. Paul told him it had been thrown in the pool for a video. ‘He Was the Boss’ Followers were the primary currency of the Team 10 house. “If you got tagged in one of Jake’s YouTube videos, you could get 50,000 followers,” Mr. Mitchell said. “Jake would use that to manipulate everyone. If anyone didn’t do what Jake wanted, he’d tell everyone else in the house not to tag them. Jake had a monopoly, and he decided who got famous.” But there was money coming in, too, and members of the group had questions about where it was going. When Team 10 formed, Mr. Paul set up and controlled a business email accounts for each member to solicit opportunities. Mr. Mitchell said he was not aware of the opportunities that he was being pitched for or what was coming in. In the 14 months he spent as part of the group, he said he was paid directly for two brand deals but never received payment from Team 10. Mr. Mitchell relied on small amounts of money he received from his parents to cover expenses like meals out with the group. Mr. Paul had convinced Mr. Mitchell’s parents that their son would be taken care of, but no meals or structure were provided for him or the other teenage residents. Most of them had never been expected to shop or cook for themselves, and didn’t have the means to do so. “People see these mansions and they see people living like royalty, but no one knew I was sleeping on the floor or I didn’t have food,” said Mr. Mitchell. Veena Dubal, a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings, said: “We have all these laws in place that have been around for a century to protect child performers, but they have not been extended to safeguard the health, welfare and safety of children influencers.” Because these young creators make money through a variety of revenue streams, and are not employed by a single entity, they can be vulnerable to exploitation. “If there’s not some entity taking responsibility as an employer, then we’re going to see the kind of exploitative and unsafe practices that we have been seeing,” she said. The allure of living independently and building a following had worn off. “At first I was like there’s no parents here and we get to be free and do what we want,” Mr. Mitchell said. “I felt, like, free in a way. But having Jake be the adult was weird because we all listened to Jake. He was the boss.” During parties, marijuana and alcohol were available in the Team 10 house. Mr. Mitchell said he once drank so much that he blacked out. The group often attended parties where guests in their 20s and 30s would mingle with teenagers. Mr. Mitchell said he began a sexual relationship with a woman nearly a decade older than him whom he had met at an influencer party. He understands now that the relationship could not have been consensual given his age. “I was a baby. I had a baby face,” he said. “I feel like that’s just weird now.” Behind the Scenes By late 2016, Mr. Mitchell had left the Team 10 house, though he remained part of the group for several months after. His mother, who was staying at a hotel nearby, had found out about a party at the house and drove over to pick up her son. It wasn’t until recently that Mr. Mitchell told his parents the full extent of what took place in the house. Ms. Mitchell said she is horrified and angry. “I’ll tell you right now, had I known anything about any relationship with a girl 10 years older than him I would have had the law involved,” she said. Several months after Mr. Mitchell’s departure, the rest of Team 10 was forced to move; neighbors said Mr. Paul had created “living hell” for them and turned their sleepy neighborhood into “war zone.” The following year, Ivan and Emilio Martinez, two YouTubers from Spain who had lived in the Team 10 house, spoke about their decision to leave. In a YouTube video, they said Mr. Paul bullied them, terrorized them with pranks and made racist comments mocking their background and language skills. (The two speak English as a second language.) In a 2018 interview with the YouTuber Shane Dawson, Ms. Violet described what it was like to date and work with Mr. Paul. “He’s not a physical abuser, but mentally and emotionally, 100 percent, every day, 2,000 times a day,” she says in the video. “I can’t even remember a conversation where it was me walking away feeling good about myself.” “If we filmed a video, and he had to push me into a bush, normally, you’d nudge someone or pretend to push someone. He would actually shove me,” she says, as she shows scars to the camera. “He would just do it way too hard.” In a YouTube video posted on April 9, Justine Paradise, a 24-year-old TikTok influencer, accused Mr. Paul of sexual assault. The incident, she said, involved forced oral sex and took place at the Team 10 house in 2019. “In a situation like that, there was nothing I could do,” Ms. Paradise said. “I was physically restricted, and I felt emotionally restricted afterwards to even say anything about it.” Three friends whom she told directly afterward about the incident corroborated her account. Ms. Paradise said she plans to file charges. In a public statement posted to Twitter, Mr. Paul denied Ms. Paradise’s allegations, calling them “100% false.” Mr. Paul’s lawyer Daniel E. Gardenswartz, said in a statement to The New York Times: “Our client categorically denies the allegation.” Railey Lollie, 21, a model and actress who began working with Mr. Paul when she was 17, said he often called her “jailbait” and commented on her appearance. She said that one evening in late 2017, after filming a video, Mr. Paul groped her. She forcefully told him to stop, and he ran out of the room. Ms. Lollie quit shortly after the incident. “I was with Jake for months, and I saw what kind of person he was behind the scenes and what kind of person he put out to the rest of the world,” she said. Meanwhile, in Businessland In the business and entertainment worlds, the name Jake Paul continues to have cachet. In March, Mr. Paul announced he was starting a new venture fund; already, powerful figures in Silicon Valley have agreed to contribute to the fund. “These older investors come in who have no idea about social media and they see he’s got a lot of followers. From their perspective, it’s success,” Mr. Mitchell said. “The real story is, Jake should not be getting any money from investors from the things he’s done in the past.” Mr. Paul, who was an athlete in high school, began a boxing career in 2020. “It brought back the competitive, athletic Jake Paul,” he told Rolling Stone recently. Fighting has helped Mr. Paul expand his audience. It has also made him richer: In an interview with ESPN last year, Mr. Paul said he earned “eight figures” for a fight against Nate Robinson, a former N.B.A. star. For his most recent fight, against Ben Askren, a former mixed martial arts champion, Mr. Paul’s disclosed pay was $690,000. (After the fight, Mr. Paul wrote in an Instagram post that the fight had drawn 1.5 million pay-per-view customers.) Where other YouTubers, like David Dobrik and James Charles, have faced financial fallout after accusations of misconduct, Mr. Paul has yet to see such consequences. “If Jake’s sponsors and investors don’t hold him accountable, then why would he change any of his actions?” Ms. Paradise said. Source link Orbem News #Fame #Jake #Paul #price #promised #worth

How Markiplier Saved Me

I’m sure everyone’s seen his late night video by now, and I’ve seen a few people in the tag posting their stories.

And I feel like now is the right time to share mine. It’s not the typical life saving story, but it definately got me out of a life where I was so terribly unhappy. And considering I’m an extremely naïve 25 year old who is now stumbling about life in such an ungodly awful manner, I feel I owe a lot of who I am now to @markiplier

This will be long. Very long. Brace yourself, I’m a story teller. - TW: Abuse mention

I met him when I was 19. He was 29, turning 30 in a few months; and a month after I met him, he was due to get married, to his girlfriend of 10 years. I was at uni, out on my own with my anxiety in full swing for the first time in my life and I wasn’t coping. I’d stopped eating entirely, I was geting every bug that went around campus and I’d lock myself away in my room for hours on end.

I forced myself to go to a convention that was near the university. Anxiety attack ensued, and I was in a very vulnerable state, which is where I met him. Subsequently, it turned out, just about every male that was remotely plesant to me that weekend, had ulterior motives. Unfortunately, his didn’t start until after the convention.

Bit of context. I’m one of those “growing up ugly” kids. The “popular” kids at school would fake crushes on me to get a laugh and ridicule me at every oppertunity. As such, I’m oblivious to any actual interest anyone may show in me. I can’t pick up on those social queues at all, because I just don’t believe they’re genuine.

He got married, we stopped talking. The next convention, 4 months after his wedding, he kissed me and made me super uncomfortable for the rest of the weekend. Apparently, married life wasn’t going too well, so his attention had moved from his wife, to me. This started the manipulation, feeding me stories about his wife, apologising endlessly for making me uncomfortable and showering me in gifts.

Against my parent’s wishes, I ended up in a relationship with him. For 3 years. and his control over me continued for an additional year before I finally managed to cut him out completely. Leaving me a rather broken 23 year old.

Now, where does Mark come in?

He is what opened my eyes to the mental and emotional abuse and blackmail I was being subjected to, and eventually pushed me to leave.

Part two of the story starts here.

I was browsing Tumblr, seeing a lot of this stuff poping up on my timeline relating to something called “Five Nights at Freddy’s” and of course, Markiplier’s name was popping up as well. I was curious. So, Hallowe’en 2014, I was visiting my bestie who I only see once a year due to distance and money, and we decided we’d watch some spooky stuff. I suggested a FNAF playthrough, to which Bestie’s sister insisted that we watch Mark’s because it was definately the best out there. So we did.

My bestie wasn’t particularly taken with FNAF so we only watched the first part, but I was hooked, I wanted to see more. So I got home and binge watched the rest of Mark’s FNAF playthrough. Of course, I wanted someone to share this new found enjoyment with (good god I loved theorising with FNAF Lore, still do), so I showed it to him. Who then proceeded to take it and use it against me, my pathetic ass wussy self that I am. I’m very easily scared as I have an extremely overactive imagination. Have since I was tiny.

He bought FNAF, would hook it up to his TV, turn out all the lights, start the night... then decide he needed a cigerette, and leave me alone whilst he went outside to smoke. Of course, I was curled up in the corner, bracing myself for the jumpscares. One night, I was at his place, I got up to go to the toilet. I’d gone to bed early because I was tired, he was still awake, drinking beer and watching crap telly. He heard me and hid on the stairs which were directly outside the door to his bedroom, where he knew I would be passing to go back to bed. Thankfully I saw him sprawled out on the stairs before he could execute his plan. He was going to play Foxy’s jumpscare sound on his phone (He had the video ready and everything) and grab my ankle as I walked past.

I won’t go in to some of the other things he did, but the manipulation was there. The sexual abuse and emotional blackmail was there. I just didn’t start to see it until I watched more of Mark.

One week when I was off work because I felt unwell and there weren’t new Markiplier videos because he’d gone into hospital (turns out I was unwell because my appendix went fucky, I went in to hospital the day Mark came out) I binge watched his old videos. I really enjoyed his Vlogs, just him talking to the camera made it feel more personal. I watched his Draw my Life, Live-action skits he’d done, Videos of him on other people’s channels too.

Even just the silly little things he’d do like calling “us” beautiful. The milestone videos where he’d say how much we mean to him, and how thankful he was for letting him have the life he has. It all got me thinking. Never had I seen emotion from my boyfriend. He had never called me beautiful, or pretty, or expressed any sort of happiness for me being around, unless it was to manipulate me. He’d cry and self harm and spout all this stuff he thought I wanted to hear when I tried to leave in the past, how he didn’t want a life without me in it, how he loved me... All when I was trying to get out. Of course I stayed because he was threatening to kill himself.

At another convention, two weeks after my appendix surgery, we wore matching FNAF Pirate Cove tops (because matching tops were his way of showing he owned me, turns out.) I got talking to some guys about FNAF, ignoring him. It was when one of the guys mentioned that he was watching a youtuber play Five nights at Fuckboys at the moment, I instantly interjected with “Markiplier?”, who of course it was. At the mention of Mark, more people perked up and joined in the conversation, isolating my then-boyfriend more because he didn’t watch Mark.

I was in a lot of pain after the first night, I spent most of the convention in my hotel room in pain, which annoyed him because he wanted to party, and I wasn’t with him. I ended up calling my dad who came to take me home two days early, which my new Markiplier-friends came to see me off and say goodbye. Of course that annoyed him too.

I’m pretty sure this was the point that he realised that it wasn’t FNAF that he had to try and take from me. It wasn’t FNAF that was helping me make the friends that he wanted to keep away. It was Mark.

From then on, he’d do everything in his power to ruin Mark for me, to make him seem like an asshole, to make me stop watching his videos. Combining this with other things that I cared about, he was starting to get desperate. His control over me was slipping. I was starting to stand up for myself and he didn’t like it.

He’d get annoyed when I started watching Prison Break with my mum because I didn’t tell him what I was doing. He got annoyed that I wouldn’t text him back, whilst I was at work, in 2 minutes. He resorted to trying to buy me, buying me gifts and food, taking me places, surprising me with things in an attempt to buy me back.

He lashed out at me for not wanting to go swimming, because he wanted to see me in a swimsuit and ignored my anxiety and low self esteem making me freak out. He got extremely angry with me for going to bed without giving him a hug, because he’d insulted me and I didn’t want to be near him. He fed me lies about how all the new friends I was making were only trying to get into my pants, how none of them really liked my company and that if Mark were here, he’d be doing the same. It’s “all they wanted”, to get into my pants, he was “protecting” me. One of my favourite singers thought I was stupid because of one line in one song.

The final straw - for him - was when, on my birthday, I didn’t facetime him when opening my presents. When I did. This is when he stopped talking to me. In six weeks he’d moved on to another girl, one he worked with. He was being rude and cruel to me, so I finally deleted him from my facebook. I didn’t want to see it. I wasn’t coping well as it was. Everything I had known for the last four years had gone, and I was left alone because he kept stopping friendships before they formed. A barrage of insults came in the form of texts. As soon as he realised I’d deleted him and his friends, and that he couldn’t monitor me anymore, he flew off the handle. I crumbled completely. I was signed off work. I was a mess. Sadly, all this happened around the time of Daniel’s passing, so Mark wasn’t uploading. That’s when I turned to Jack’s videos. He wasn’t Mark, but he was funny, and he gave me a welcome distraction from all the pain and distress I was feeling.

Since then, Mark and his videos have been my go-to before-bed entertainment, time zones and all that fun stuff. He’s what’s making me strive to better myself, to move past the barriers and fears that the abuse has left me with. To push myself, to do that cosplay, to post that drawing. Dye my hair, buy the thing, put myself out there. I’m still trying. I’m still pushing myself. I’ll get there with attempting youtube myself one day, It’s just getting the software to do it, and then i’ll have to put my face out there, which is something I hate doing. But I’ll do it. I left work because, despite it being a terrifying thing to commit to doing, I deserved to be treated better. I am capable of so much more, I just need to believe in myself and know that I can do it if I put my mind to it.

And I believe all of this because of Mark. He believes in us as a community, and us as an individual. No one has told me that as often as Mark tells us all. All I have ever wanted is to make people happy, but now I don’t feel like I have to sacrifice my own happiness for others. I can make them happy, without demeaning myself, or decreasing my value and self worth. I’m funny, I make people laugh, I’m smart and creative, and that’s not a bad thing to say. I’m not blowing my own trumpet by saying that. I’m giving myself the value and credit I deserve because It’s far too easy to say that I’m not smart, that I’m not creative and I only make people laugh by fluke.

I have talents and abilities. I shouldn’t belittle them because they make me who I am, I need to embrace them, not push them aside.

I know this may seem like I’m putting Mark on a pedestal, but I assure you I am not. I feel indebted to him, yes, because I credit him as the catalyst that gave me the strength needed to save myself. Something that no one else had done in the four years I was in that relationship.

Genuinely and Honestly Mark, If you read this, Thank you. I owe you so much. I don’t know where I would be now had I not been introduced to you and your videos. Your sense of humour matches mine so well that I can’t help but laugh with you, even when I don’t feel like smiling. You have inspired me to do more with my life, to take a leap of faith, to push myself and try new things.

It sounds stupid and fan girly, but I honestly love you, so much. You have changed my life for the better, and I someday hope that I can repay you for saving me