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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 1 year

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Hello! Mom anon here! After playing through Chapter 6, my mom is terrified for Yuu's well-being.

First off, she was scared for life and crying her eyes out when Grim, Vil and Jamil were taken away. She especially felt bad for Kalim and Trey throughout the chapter. She also got deeply concerned because Ramshackle was destroyed.

As each boy was taken away, my mother got more scared and was pissed at Idia. She did understand he didn't want to do this though. She also refused to believe Ortho could do any harm.

When Crowley got taken away, she legit didn't even feel bad for him.

When the boys were being taken away, she thought Leona letting Riddle nap on his lap was kinda cute. She was shook at the reveal that Idia was from a famous family. "Still a capitalist I see" was what she said about Azul.

She was crying about Deuce and Ace. Crewel is now her favorite teacher.

She found it sweet that Epel and Rook wanted to save Vil but pitied Yuu.

She thought the whole gaming part was hilarious as well as her favorite.

Now Rook is her second favorite character.

She was crying for Ortho and Grim the whole chapter.

She felt really bad for Malleus because it reminded her of when she was a teenager. Let's just say my mom used to think she didn't need friends bit it all changed when she started warming up to people.

She was so proud of Epel for getting his unique magic.

Vil kissing Epel, Rook and Yuu was so sweet.

She thought the team ups were interesting especially Jamil and Leona.

Lol she thought the monsters were a fuss.

The Shroud brothers' backstory made her BAWL her eyes out but she was also angrily wondering where the parents were.

She felt bad for Vil turning old and was happy to see him get his young self back.

White haired Riddle is her new favorite thing.

The reunion was sweet to her, especially with ADeuce, Grim and Yuu.

She now calls Malleus "Our Lord and Savior, MalMal"

She's happy that Ramshackle got fixed.

Mama legit bursted into tears of joy when she saw Ortho again. "OH MY GOD!! He's a part of the first years! I'm so happy!"

Overall, she's glad that everything's fine for now.

Now she's worried for Malleus and all of Diasomnia. The trailer for Chapter 7 made her shout "Don't you dare try to put everyone to sleep, Tsunotaro!!"

Crowley is still on her hit list 😂.

[Here’s the other installments for the Mom Anon: Ep 2 / Ep 3 / Ep 4 / Ep 5]

There’s no Ep 1 for Heartslabyul—

Hello again and welcome back!

While I do enjoy chatting about TWST 😅 I ask that you try to cut down on the size of your asks for the future; this one and the episode 5 one have been particularly bulky. I understand that this is likely a function of the main story getting progressively longer, but please try to do your best to summarize the most relevant points.

Making each line is a new point doesn’t leave me with a lot that is meaningful to comment on, so parts of my response may be short or skip over some sections altogether 💦

Thank you for understanding! 🙏 I’m going to spoiler tag this response since 6 is just starting to be released for EN and I don’t want to spoil anyone that wants to go in blind.

I think episode 6 definitely has one of the most bombastic starts of all the main story episodes, and it manages to maintain that momentum for quite a bit. No one was quite expecting the mass raid and kidnapping 😂 we were just joking around about Vil kicking down the door and dragging Idia away from his video games kicking and screaming. 6 is when we get a lot of payoff for all of the OBs that have already transpired earlier in the plot, so the fear really kicks in. It also gives an opportunity for the non-OB boys to step up and do something in the absence of key members of their respective dorms (ie maintain order and keep the mob students from panicking).

There was an initial outcry when the first part of episode 6 released, with the rage being directed at Idia. A lot of people believed that he was the one responsible for the kidnappings and that he would subject the OB boys to unspeakable horrors as test subjects 😔 but it later turns out he’s an unwilling participant (his parents ordered him to), and the experiments mainly consist of simulated battles and playing video games. The test subjects also torment Idia as much as he torments them sooo I guess it’s even?? I just wish people hadn’t jumped to conclusions or had been so reactionary. I understand feeling worried for the safety of the characters, but some of the things being said at the time definitely weren’t warranted and went too far 💦

Something that episode 6 does well is demonstrating the bonds that have been built between the various characters in the core cast. There’s determination in Ace and Deuce rushing in to protect their friends, Pomefiore and Yuu going out of their way to rescue Vil and Grim, the strength of the vices (+ Kalim) and the NRC staff staying behind to keep the school together, and the various OB boys teaming up to venture into S.T.Y.X.’s headquarters. Everyone bands together and tries working things out in their own ways. Yeah, they hit a few (okay, a LOT of) bumps in the road, but they’re able to pull it off in the end. 6 definitely gave me a lot of food for thought, especially on the OB boys and how they have changed since their initial appearances. (I wrote this analysis of the various groupings!) I’m looking forward to rereading the localization of 6 in EN just to experience the magic again 😤

dbjssbkwns It’s good to know that Rook’s getting some appreciation 😂 He’s really the one driving this whole rescue mission with his unique magic/signature spell, so he deserves the praise!

I was in the same boat as Rook, Epel, and Yuu when Vil asked if he could hug and kiss them! I was shocked that he could be so affectionate bfjsbsksns and even funnier, that means Vil’s the first of the TWST cast to canonically kiss the player (most likely on the cheek). The TWST OC/TWSTsona community likes to romantically ship their own Yuus with various boys in the cast (and a lot of us initially got into TWST thinking it was a dating sim), so Vil giving a kiss of thanks is kind of a funny (but probably unintentional) subversion of that.

First it was Deuce in 5, then it’s Epel getting his unique magic/signature spell in 6! (I’m hoping this means Ace discovers his in 7 😭) I really liked that Rook served as a mentor figure to Epel and helped to guide him in stilling his nerves and directing his newly discovered magic! He’s like a proud parent…

Episode 6 is notorious for its time-gating snd restrictive battles (which were not seen in previous episodes). This can be very frustrating so 💦 I hope the EN players are prepared to deal with it! Some of the battles are super tough and will require a diverse card pool to achieve victory. Luckily though, some time can be saved because the JP players have already figured out and posted the answers to some of the puzzles online.

I think the Shroud brothers’ backstory was the only one of the OB boys that made me cry 🥲 It was just so emotionally resonant in a way that the others weren’t. (I also wrote an analysis about Idia, Ortho, and coping with loss, if you’re interested in that!) I believe the commonly accepted theory is that the Shroud parents are absent or hands-off when it comes to child rearing; there’s subtle hints of it throughout 6, such as Idia saying his parents care more about getting results than their son’s feelings and how it is the researchers that check on Idia a few years after Ortho’s passing rather than the Shroud parents.

Vil turning old in his selfless effort to save Idia was a clever way to incorporate the “hag” form of the Evil Queen for whom he is twisted from. It also helps his character arc come full circle 🥺 when he repeats the same words Rook spoke to him at the end of episode 5… “In this moment, I am the fairest of them all”, while looking old and decrepit… It shows that Vil has come to truly love himself in spite of how others may perceive him.

dbksbwjxnsk?vdhw Albino hair goldfishie is cute 🥰

The reunion of everyone at the end was one of the best parts of 6 (though let’s be fair, 6 had a LOT of really bangin’ parts), especially considering that this is happening so close to “the end”. You come to see and appreciate just how far you—and, by extension—all of these characters have come, the genuine friendships they’ve formed… and how that’s all going to go away very, VERY soon (due to Lilia and Malleus’s ominous conversation about the brevity of human life, and how the bonds they form make them stronger). You just KNOW the next episode will tackle mortality, loneliness, and losing the ones you love most (particularly because Yuu finding a way home will become relevant again). It makes 6’s ending super bittersweet.

Ramshackle gets fixed and we get to enjoy that luxury for all of 5 seconds before heading home—

I was so pumped seeing Ortho finally being realized as his own person and a student independent of Idia 😭 He’s the robot that was able to turn into a “real boy”, against all odds. He was able to take that 0.01% and turn that slim possibility into 100%. Ortho has definitely earned his spot at school and in all of our hearts!!

I didn’t really care what happened to Crowley when I was actually playing 6, but now I want 7 to explain what he was up to during that time 🤔 Like, we never know what he was being asked about or if he was actually being interviewed at all??? I just think it’s suspicious that we’re being left in the dark about those details.

On a final note, let’s talk Malleus! I think his general struggle is something many people can relate to. Loneliness is something we’ve all experienced one way or another. Even if we’re surrounded by tons and tons of people, we can still feel isolated and alone because there’s a component of loneliness that comes from doubt, and self-imposed circumstances. In Malleus’s case, he’s so used to loneliness that it has become his status quo, and this isolation is not only perpetuated by others but also unknowingly by himself in the little ways he acts—the arrogance, the standoffishness, etc. It can even difficult to be the one to reach out, because it involves a degree of being vulnerable yourself, of letting others “see” you as you are, rather than as the front you put up for the sake of saving grace or upholding a particular image. I hope that anyone who has ever felt like this is able to overcome it and find good company as your mom has 🙏

Episode 7 ahoy! If part 1 is of any indication, we’re in for a very… exciting ride 😇 in which Malleus may or may not take any means necessary to prevent his friends and family from leaving him—

#Vil Schoenheit #Pomefiore #Rook Hunt #Malleus Draconia #Idia Shroud #Ortho Shroud #Ignihyde #Epel Felmier #spoilers #notes from the writing raven #advice #Deuce Spade #Dire Crowley #Yuu #Grim

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hazelnut-u-out · 2 years

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EPISODE REVIEW TIME:

(spoilers for "juricksic mort" ahead)

SOOOO, not a whole lot to say about this episode. i'm super happy that morty was more involved!! it was kind of a weird plot that felt out-of-place for the season, but i guess that was the point.

a little list of my thoughts:

-RICK DRIVING MORTY TO SCHOOL. RICK DRIVING MORTY TO SCHOOL. so sweet. he's becoming a staple parental figure in the smith household.

-ANYONE ELSE PICKING UP ON THAT TENSION BETWEEN RICK AND CURTIS??? (i was hoping for a BP moment this ep but... when curtis paged him i was thinking "your crush will call you" and... uh... yeah, the shoe kinda fits...). honestly, i feel like their tension has shifted a bit from sexual to romantic, too???

-i thought it was kinda cute that rick was so interested in hosting the oscars.

-MORTY IS SO DAMN CUTE OH MY GOD. when he said "clever girl" i literally said "AWWW" out loud lmao.

-i really really loved the detail of rick drinking wine with beth. i know it's something small and silly, but i've really been waiting for a moment where rick drinks "beth's poison" while they have a drink together (since we know they often go "tie one on" etc.)

-THE BETHS IN THEIR OSCAR GOWNS??? AFLASGAHG

-morty was so cute in his little suit. (it gave me campain manager morty flashbacks to that scene after the debate in "the ricklantis mixup")

-i also loved the part where rick hit the mic with the oscar. that was so cutie.

-RICK THINKING HE'D IMMEDIATELY BE GOOD AT SKATING BC HE PLAYED PRO SKATER 3- i loved that. all of the details that he's essentially a teen boy.

-I LOVE THAT THEY'RE NOT REVERTING BACK TO RICK BEING A DICK TO MORTY. they have such a cutesy, domestic, and sweet type of relationship now. sure, there was the moment where he said calling morty a "genius" was ironic, but he tussled morty's hair and actually offered to take him to boob world. i think it was so fucking sweet for him to be like "figured my guy deserved a vacation!" truly some grandpa and grandson wholesomeness.

-i think that was kind of a cheap way to solve the whole portal travel/rift issue, though.

overall, i liked the episode. it was more of an adventure-type deal, and it brought back some more of the "rick and morty" dynamic the show has been lacking.

i have to say that it did feel sliiiightly more geared towards the "bro" side of the fandom this go around, which is a switch-up from this season so far- BUT, i feel like the teaser after the episode definitely left the door open for MORE serialization. that to build suspense coupled with the month hiatus has me thinking that this was more of a one-off episodic fakeout before they get a little deeper into the heavy stuff, but we'll see. the fact that they mentioned prime again in the season synopsis DEFINITELY had me thinking that he's gonna be relevant again.

i also feel like there wasn't enough of rick being an asshole to morty (quite the opposite, actually) and a little too much homosexual tension between rick and the president for this to be too much of a dudebro-centric episode lol. PLUS the "poor people" commentary in the beginning was definitely shitting on the top 1%.

(i feel like the elon musk mention was kind of confirmation that rick couldn't give two-shits about elon lmao).

decent episode overall!!

super sad about the hiatus :(

#MORTY'S MAKING A COMEBACK GUYS #rick and morty #rick and morty s6 #rick and morty spoilers #rick sanchez #morty smith

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wikiangela · 8 months

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just saw that only murders in the building s3 is out already so giving it a go I guess (ngl, Steve Martin and Paul Rudd are the only reasons 😂)

I enjoyed s1 quite a bit, then s2 a little less but it was still fun, kept me engaged just enough to keep watching but tbh I hope this one's better than s2 😂

and this time I'll try to be less critical istg 😂 (spoiler alert: I'm impressed and invested, loved the episode!)

so some thoughts under the cut

omg is that Meryl Streep?? this season is starting off great - god she's so good, barely a moment and I already got invested and emotional for her character 😂

yeah, Oliver's still far from my fave (to put it nicely), and the jokes about them being old and having to explain shit to Mabel got old in s1

I know it's like very relevant to the plot, and important to set up the story and give us possible suspects etc, but I just don't give a shit about the play (maybe it's bc there's been so much Oliver on my screen already 🙄)

Paul Rudd is hereeeee, I am so excited for this now 😂 (he's always funny and I'm counting on him 🤞pls, I laughed like twice in two seasons, give me something, it says it's a "mystery comedy drama")

he's so pretentious, I love him 😂 (also, he looks so hot omg???)

oooh, there's gonna be some tension with Ben and Loretta? first suspect maybe? 👀😂

okay, I gotta say, I actually am enjoying Selena's performance this season, much more than in previous ones, I'm pleasantly surprised haha

aw, I'm so happy for Charles 🥺

also, I don't know for what reason she'd be here again, but I kinda hope we see Lucy again, I remember that I loved her in s2

omg he's NOT dead??? who's gonna die then?? what's gonna be the mystery??? omg they got me now 😂

why did Ben calling Cliff "boy" the second time made me lol it wasn't even that funny 😂 😂 "no more no-no's for Bobo" this is so stupid why am I laughing 😂 god I love Paul Rudd

omg I was expecting something related to the murder in the elevator since it got so much focus and there's 3 minutes of the episode left - but omg I gasped when I saw blood dripping onto Charles lol

OH MY GOD so he really IS dead!! wow the fake out got me, ngl I was expecting anyone else to die 😂😂

okay, so, first episode got me so intrigued and invested, possibly more than I was in s1 and s2 combined, it was amazing, and it sets my expectations for the rest of the season HIGH

I'm so curious about who killed him (he is such an asshole, there's many possibilities lol), it's all intriguing

the cast is great, Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep got a few chuckles out of me, this is all I wanted lmao

all the things that annoyed me in previous seasons were barely noticeable now, only some small parts that got really pushed to the back once I got invested 😂

and its been a while but in my previous posts about the show I wasn't so nice about Selena and her acting (I really didn't enjoy her, not gonna get into it again lol) but this season she's great, I impressed so far, and for the first time I'm interested in Mabel's storyline

excited for the rest!!

#omitb #only murders in the building #omitb spoilers #omitb s3

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godhoodandgirlhood · 2 years

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I will now spew my shitty opinions on the internet yet again, but this time TOTAL DRAMA (Gen 1 edition :])

these are opinions. don't get mad.

Ezekiel: during his elimination episode, I was pissed at him, but by the time total drama drama drama drama drama island hit I wasn't that upset tbh. He didn't deserve to go feral, and his issue was fixable (unlike some other bitch up for elimination that episode >:^( ) stop the Zeke abuse y'all

EVA! 😍😍😍😍😍: I love her and my whole world revolves around her. I would be nothing without Eva. If you don't stan Eva get off my page (/hj). Live, laugh, love, Eva. Friendly reminder we wouldn't exist without Queen Eva. She is so girlboss she literally ate a goalie net, broke records, and did stunt work on the side. Everyone bow for our queen.

Noah: don't hate me, but he gets too much hype. I still love him and think he has some of the best oneliners but he is so dry other than that. A fucking chicken without seasoning. This sounds hypocritical based off my Eva opinion, but Noah was in three seasons and Eva was in only one. Noah's only plot relevance was being cynical and sarcastic, being sus of Alejandro, and simping for Emma, yet he has a million and one stans.

Justin: I preferred it when he didn't speak.

Katie & Sadie: I also would prefer it if you didn't speak.

Tyler: wasted potential in season 3 and was also eliminated too early in season 1. I wish we could have seen the lyler breakup on screen, probably because of Alejandro or something. Anyways, sign my petition for a Tyler queer storyline.

Izzy: I hope they make the execution legal again for her and only her. Firing squad, stoning, anything just to get rid of this godforsaken MENACE. Worst member of team e-scope and it's literally named after her.

Cody: call the police girl you are in severe danger!! File a restraining order, beat her up, ANYTHING BRO YOU ARE A VICTIM. But also you're a worthless simp who is literally the most accurate depiction of a teenage boy on total drama other than like Noah. Also, this boy is literally abused. Neglected. Someone give this boy a hug (Not you Sierra get tf away).

Beth: don't care, didn't ask.

Courtney: SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP. I have an intense hatred for Courtney. For the majority of her time on the show I wanted to wring her neck and replace her blood with acetone. Btw boyfriend kisser isn't even that much of bop and is one of my least favorite songs.

Harold: fetishists stan Harold. He fetishes Leshawna and doesn't fucking leave her alone. Don't play pirates with him.

Trent: worst rep of ocd I've ever seen in my whole entire being. Also boring as he'll and I hope he gets stepped on.

Bridgette: she lost me after season 1 but before her venture to superhell she was nice I guess.

Lindsay: please give this girl a single brain cell omg. It feels so wrong to applaud her for doing something remotely smart because SHES SO FUCKING STUPID. She probably doesn't even know simple addition dude. Get rid of the dumb blonde stereotype before I bite your skull.

DJ: the second the animal curse started, I took DJ's six feet height and buried myself in it. I passed away. My soul still lingers to haunt the ho who did this to best boy.

Geoff: god, shut up

Leshawna: black stereotype PERIOD. She's good but oh my god she's a racist stereotype

Duncan: eat dirt and die bitch.

Heather: literally is racist and stuff but okay. I'll take a stiletto heel and stab this absolute loser in the throat damn.

Gwen: I hope the cyan hair dye seeps into her skull and she fucking dies.

Owen: if the man doesn't stop burping and farting I will find his home and burn it, cake it in asbestos, and make him inhale the toxic gases. When he's dying on the hospital bed, I'll stuff a baby down his throat and punch him in the face.

Sierra: jail. Now. Criminal. It is illegal for someone this fucked up to exist. Exterminate this pest at your earliest convenience.

Alejandro: you're a fucking donkey. Now eat some shit and die Al.

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homestuckexamination · 2 years

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do you know/or played Elden Ring? The Greater Will is giving me demiurge vibes. i'm curious what aspects you'd associate with certain areas/characters.

Oh boy this got long. X3

Oh the Greater Will is... Very possibly Light? It's almost too on-the-nose with the Gold and Grace and Order and imposing itself as the One True Ruling Force and those cast away from Grace being left in the fringes or exposing the inherent flaws of an Order supposed to be Perfect.

I suppose by this logic, the Three Fingers and the Flame of Frenzy may be Void? Returning everything to nothing. The idea of Chaos and Madness fits Rage, too, but... Thematically it'd fit as Void as well, and there's the tie between the Frenzied Flame and Blindness, too, and how it 'takes over the eyes' in a way.

In that same vein, Rot is proooobably Doom? Which makes Malenia also proooobably Doom. A Witch? The tug-of-war between her and the Rot God? Her eventual, fated transformation and blooming into a Goddess of Rot herself? The familiars, Kindred of Rot, that she wants nothing to do with, but that still do spawn from the scars she left on the land after the fight with Radhan? Hmm...

In that vein, Miquella feels like a Seer or Mage? Probably a Seer. Seeker of knowledge, knowledge of how to help Malenia, to break the bond between her and the Outer God, leading to his research into Unalloyed Gold. In that sense, Blood may work well- Family and Bonds, and it also becomes some extremely creepy foreshadowing, considering it's Mogh who'd eventually take him from his cocoon and try to make him the core of a Dynasty of Blood, alongside him.

And similarly, I don't think I could give Radhan anything other than the Space Aspect? He's the Starscourge. Between his immense power, his huge size, him holding back the Stars, and the eventual isolation brought from his fight with Malenia as he's slowly being consumed, left a husk of his former self... There may be other ways to read him for sure and other Aspects that may fit, but. Space's good. Unsure about his Class, though that may also be because at this point he's just a rotted-away zombie essentially.

I'm thinking of Melina as Doom? I considered Time for a bit, but... Burnt and bodiless, taking a road of self-sacrifice, literally burning herself up for your sake, and her dubious, potential connections to Destined Death, she feels... Doomy enough.

Ranni, my wife, probably needs to be a Heart Aspect. Literally a disembodied soul, her whole arc is about asserting herself over the Greater Will, reject the imposition of being an Empyrean... Though Void also works well, specially if you associate the Sun with Light, and as such, the Moon with Void. 'Cold', Frost, and Glinstone in general being tied to the Abyss and the deep, dark Universe, as well as the kinda mirror of Void, dark, Moon, and the Stars that'd usually be more associated with Light in that Void... ... Actually maybe she's Void. But it's kind of a pretty solid 50-50 for me I'd say. I'm UNSURE of the Class? I want to say a Witch for obvious reasons, or perhaps a Heir, but I'm thinking maybe a Maid could work well enough too...

Marika and Radagon though are probably a Muse and Lord respectively though? They almost sorta have to be, thematically, with their narrative relevance and how the entire plot revolves around them and what happened to the Elden Ring. Marika is literally depicted as a crucified Martyr pretty much everywhere, so that's just more points for Muse. Radagon could NOT be a Lord, however, and just be in the ballpark due to the association with Marika. But what WOULD their Aspects be? Light and Void again representing that duality? Maybe Rage and Hope. Radagon is devoted to Golden Order Fundamentalism and the faith in the Greater Will, while Marika obviously ended up harboring doubts and worries that led her to quite literally shatter the order. ... Thinking about that, maybe the Golden Order and the Greater Will DO fit better in Hope, leaving the thematic tie of the Frenzied Flame as Rage, rather than Light-Void, even if the Light Imagery of the Golden Order is kind of ever-present.

There's so much to Elden Ring and it gets so convoluted I'm not sure any of this is like, good analysis. X3 That being said, one final Classpect...

Patches is a Thief of Rage. 🤔

#Elden Ring #Classpecting #Class #Aspect #Homestuck #Longpost #Long Post #Spoilers #Elden Ring Spoilers #rage #hope #light #void #witch #blood #seer #heir #lord #muse #doom #space #maid

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alienside · 2 years

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hiiiiii ok for both sky sea and starless hour if they were being adapted into a movie/tv show/etc what would the soundtrack be like??? any songs you would specifically have to include??? general vibe and type of instrumentation etc??? (this is also me saying if you have playlists i would like to see them and hear you explain them bc 👀)

okay SO for sky sea im just gonna hit some key points (since i've been using the same playlist since it was a space odyssey and haven't cleaned it up yet, some songs are no longer relevant) but tsh. oh boy. none of these are in a particular order sorry <3

(because i've committed the high crime of knowing more than one language. sorry some of these songs are not in english but im including translations to the best of my ability. also sorry this post is LONG long)

sky sea:

all time low - a love like war

keldan/aderyn anthem. literally just every line

"is this the end of us or just the means to start again"

i would say most of the song is referencing their past relationship except the last line (and maybe the repetition of "we go together or we don't go down at all") which is like. present day learning to fuckin deal with each other

muse - won't stand down

another keldan song sorry but like. come on

specifically when his revenge arc begins. somewhere in there he's gonna try to ruin the nation and then have to decide whether it's worth it to follow through :)

sleeping at last - neptune

literally NO idea where this one fits in bc it literally suits every one of the main four and lowkey every possible dynamic

"i'm only honest when it rains" etc etc

"i want to love you but i don't know how"

florence + the machine - king

melati my beloved <3

this is her theme song after she ascends to girlboss mode

5sos - lover of mine

keldan/seia

i think this one pretty much sums up their dedication to each other even tho they truly don't actually label that relationship it's just like. they're so absorbed in each other that they're like one single entity at this point. creepy but effective

side note this is really just a reflection of my 12 y.o. self's music taste idk why

for starless hour i actually have two playlists, one for like. instrumentals and the other for vibe inspiration. again trying to hit key points only but i don't know how to shut up

the ready set - the witching hour

"heard that energy is a constant state / nothing ever ends, it will only change"

"and then I fall into a hurricane of empty thoughts / where I become all my own problems when I swore I'd not"

"there's something telling me that I still have a lot to give / maybe there's beauty in uncertainty, I hope there is"

this one's literally 60% for the vibes because how can i not include a song called "the witching hour" on this playlist

but also i really like the feeling of sort of. cautious optimism in the song that feels really central to. maybe not the overall plot of tsh but definitely where i want the resolution to end up

monsta x - destroyer

"however many times it takes, rewind / i'll go to you, rewind / the ending is up to me anyway"

"i believe in destiny, i believe in us / ... / all of the memories in this vicious cycle"

"then the ending is complete / our string is already connected"

ignoring the time-travel themes of the song. god the idea of writing your own destiny. or like even though tsh doesn't have time travel i like the idea of trying over and over again to get it right. like i'm not giving them the chance to try but i like the idea.

also UGH red string of fate theory my beloved

lea - ende der welt

"this isn't the end of the world ... / just the end of us / this isn't the end of the world, even if it feels like it / it doesn't kill us"

"and when the sun goes down, is it just the earth that turns with us?"

i know the song is intended as a breakup song but again. come ON how can i not include it. it's literally called end of the world.

all time low - old scars / future hearts

"i don't wanna be the one that's left behind / don't blame me, don't hate me"

"i am lost inside this endless haze of life / but this life is mine to live"

again sort of in line with the idea of making your own decisions/writing your own future. i think it also fits neatly with delwyn's belief that only he is in control of his own choices? he's the one who picks his destiny. even tho in the end he chooses wrong, it's still his choice etc.

bastille - get home

again. literally the whole song but:

"we are the last people standing / at the end of the night / we are the greatest pretenders / in the cold morning light"

"how am i gonna get myself back home?"

this song goes along with the end of the story, once all the worst has come to pass and there's nothing left to change/prevent

and it's getting home in a literal sense because the story i think will take them pretty far from home. but also in the figurative sense of the journey changes them so much and how can they possibly go back to who/where they were?

jo sung mo - do you know (youtube link to my preferred cover)

"if you ask me why i didn't say anything / my heart aches, i can't answer"

"no matter how many times i'm born again and leave again / there's no world like this one where i met you"

"maybe this world is beautiful because of the traces of you"

"do you know today is the last day you and i will be under the same sky?"

another breakup song but GOD.

also sorry my translations are rough but i literally could not find an eng translation of the lyrics that i liked enough to use so i just made my own

anyway. haven't figured out how to word all of my feelings about this song so i'm hoping u will just Understand. thanks <3

stray kids - chronosaurus

not really an exact lyric to point to actually but i think this song captures the desperation and the "oh god i'm running out of time" vibe that i LOVE for tsh

the theme for instrumentals is yearning baby! loneliness and hope and "the light will come again" and "everything is so different than it was". extremely unquantifiable emotions with no lyrics to guide me. good luck bestie (this playlist is shorter tho because it's newer)

gone in a flash (spider-man: no way home)

the quiet loneliness.. the fade out... ugh i literally have no words

you're going to notice a lot of these instrumentals follow the same theme lmao

exit through the lobby (spider-man: no way home)

obsessed with the way this builds slowly and then fades out to the lone piano

on the nature of daylight (max richter)

this song would be included on the basis of title alone but it's also perfect. one of my long-time fave instrumental pieces out there

a knight of the seven kingdoms (got s8 soundtrack)

yes this is from game of thrones. yes it's a masterpiece. next question

a different idea of love (luke howard)

again. strings. there's something about string instrumentals that makes me sob every time.

manhattan sunrise (ola gjeilo)

PIANO. i really love this song and also the title and the vibe fit equally perfectly with tsh. the light dawning over the city. despite everything that's happened there is still hope.

maybe you can guess that this piece corresponds to the end of the plot

at dawn (hania rami)

once again. slow sad piano. what more do i need to say.

one day you finally knew (slowed remix) [chad lawson]

no comment. just vibes

(translation: this is the song that would play during the end credits of the movie. if it were a tv show it would only play during the last ep's credits tho)

#ben im obsessed with you and this question #u know i LOVE music but also i have adhd and thus zero organizational skills #someday i'll clean up the playlists and put them in order and import (export?) to spotify #today is not that day tho sorry <3 #i can find links to any of the songs if u wanna listen tho just dm me or something #i thought about including them anyway but decided i was too lazy lmao #the starless hour #ttotss #rabbit-rays #also im posting this without editing or rereading ANYTHING so i'm sorry if it's an incoherent mess. just know that i love you #and i loved this even tho i had no idea what to say half the time and im pretty sure i didn't even address ur actual question #.txt

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renegadesfics · 2 years

Note

Omg so sorry for falling asleep on ya last night 😂 But now I'm up and I'm having my coffee and trying to remember all my questions. Okay so

1- how do the adults feel about all this? I feel like Wayne is either completely disinterested or like mad as hell at the reader.

2- What about the Hellfire kids? In that lil snippet Mike seems annoyed but he's also a like 14 year old boy and puberty could just be hitting him like a brick so idk

3- why is reader driving around with no heat in their car????? It's about to be winter in Indiana it's gets below 0° easily get that shit fixed omfg

4- what has Eddie been doing for the months they've been apart? Just sitting in the house being a sad boy? Kissing other girls? Kissing other boys? Or is he like completely love sick and writing the worlds greatest emo anthems on his guitar.

5- ARE THEY GONNA GET BACK TOGETHER????? THEY LOVE EACH OTHER 😭😭😭

6- even if they do get back together what happens after the holiday when reader goes back to school???????

I'm just honestly so invested in this storyyyyyy. It's so well written and genuinely interesting. You're such a good writer. The way you say so much with so little dialogue. I am in awe at your skills, truly.

Oh god! No reason to apologize at all, I'm so glad you got sleep, that shit's like... super important!! Thank you for coming back and continuing the conversation, that's so sweet!! Okay, but onto your questions:

This definitely gets addressed in either part 3 (edit: posted just recently!). In part 4 or after, we may also get reader's parents' take on the whole scenario. Can't keep your personal life very secret in a small town, it seems.

That part's already done, actually, and while I feel like I struggled a bit to capture the kids in fully robust 3D, I also recognize that this is reader's first time interacting with them and First Impressions are a thing. They may pop up more in later parts, I haven't totally settled that one yet. (I’ll give you this much, reader definitely likes at least some of them.)

The heating was just a funny little quirk that I added in the beginning when it was all only going to be one part. It was a like, a throwaway one-liner I had tossed in just to add some depth to the character? But now I'm thinking it's probably something they should get looked at before they leave Hawkins.

I will just go ahead and put out there that I fully 100% invest in the concept of queer Eddie Munson. The personal interpretation of that queerness is up to any one person and how they see it, and I'm not here to police anyone else's perspectives on that. I, however, do interpret him as somewhere on the Bi/Pan side of things. (As a bisexual woman, this could just be me projecting.) Strictly speaking, this isn't relevant to the plot, but you kind of hinted at it with your question and I just wanted to take a second to talk about it. Anyway, my plan is definitely to get a little bit more into how Eddie spent the months reader was gone, but I'm not totally certain when that'll happen.

That's the big question, isn't it? Can't provide much by way of specifics here without big spoilers.

Unfortunately, I also can't give a whole lot away on this one because... I mean, y'know. Have to keep you hooked somehow. But I do plan on at least kind of answering this before I wrap the entirety of TtDS up!

Thank you again for your interest in the series and engaging the way you have!! It means so much and I'm so grateful to have people enjoying reading the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Maybe in a slightly selfish way, I love talking about it. So. Anyway, hope I answered your questions as best as I'm able to at the moment and hope you enjoy what's coming!!

#answered.#tis the damn season #thruheavenandhighwater

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guqin-and-flute · 3 years

Text

The Most Public Private Meet-Cute [Episode 4]

NHS: hello everyone my name is nie huaisang

Background Person: hiii huaisaaang

NHS: and fun fact about me is that i grew up around lan xichen and i know exactly what his type is

NHS: ON A COMPLETELY UNRELATED NOTE here is my dear and very single friend who desperately needs love and affection and probably a hug meng yao

MY: oh hey that’s me

NHS: say hi meng yao

MY: uh ok how weirdly specific sure thing

NHS: the stage is set i give it 2 minutes

MY: hello my name is meng yao and i’ve brought you a box hope u like it there’s a pot in it

MY: uhhh ok some things about me i’m adorable i get bullied frequently i eat dry bread and my dimples are deep enough to hold all my war crimes see? *ping*

Asshole 1: did someone order some loud and publicly cruel narration about your tragic and slightly damning backstory??

MY: no?? ?

Asshole 1: too late

MY: ugh do you allow returns

Asshole 1: WOW THIS DUDE SUCKS

Asshole 2: yeah totally and his dad fuckin hates him rolled him down the steps of jinlintai like a fuckin slinky

MY: well this feels a bit unwarranted

Asshole 1: naaah his dad would have to actually CARE to hate him

WWX: damn this is brutal hope this doesn’t foreshadow any major plot component that might outline the problem with the idea of reputation vs honor in our society and the place hearsay and gossip plays in the perception of the value of a person that would suck

Random Background person: sure would especially if it greatly impacted you as a person

Asshole 1: i love shitting on people with u bro

Asshole 2: awww bro

JYL: rude

JC: wow

WWX: jfc

MY: this is fun so glad i came

LXC: .......hm.

NHS: 10...9...8...

LWJ: xichen n o

Asshole 1: ANYWAY FUCK THIS DUDE

LWJ: u need to stop and not for the reason u think

LQR: CAN U READ THE ROOM PLEASE AND SHUT THE ACTUAL HELL UP what do you think this is? some kind of high school?? who do you think you are?? children? ? nONSENSE

Asshole 1: oh shit i thought talking at regular volume in plain sight of a silent room gave me anonymity

Asshole 2: oh no me too what an unforeseen outcome

LQR: anyway, now for-- oh god oh no what are u doing r e s i s t, boy

LXC: [i_need_a_hero.mp3]

Random Lan: love this song

LWJ: jfc here we go

JC: is this a kissing book?

MY: sure could use a hug

WWX: ur gonna get more than that dude

JYL: aww good for him

LXC: why hello.

MY: ho- (where is the saxaphone music coming from)

MY: -ly- am i in slow motion ur very tall did u know ur very tall

MY: shit hey.

LXC: hey :)

LXC: o h .

LXC: good god i have gravely miscalculated my investment in the situation what did i come down here for again

MY: hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh u have a mouth i have a mouth what a strange coincidence

MY: i humbly present my body BOX my box this box right here it’s really cool it has a red thing in it it’s for u or maybe the grandmaster i can’t really remember anymore or feel my legs fuck

LXC: oh yeah the reason i came down here theoretically i should at least pretend to care about what’s in the box

Ambience: [Careless_Whisper_on_Flute.mp3]

WWX: HOLD THE PHONE that’s allowed?? i don’t have to sword fight the gay feelings? he’s beating me at public homoerotic subtext chicken this cannot stand i have to up my game

Pot: I’m a metaphor or something it’s not really relevant at this point is it?

LXC: nope so anyway i could probably fit you into my pocket and cherish you forever thoughts? i’m thinking gentians for the wedding

MY: i can’t feel my face currently but yes to all

MY: ur touching my hands again

LXC: oh trust me i am VERY aware

NHS: :)))

LWJ: can i go?

Random Lan: probably not

LWJ: ugh i have my own gay shit to deal with

Random background Guy: taking notes for my fanfic

MY: message very fucking received

MY: we are bowing now because we are very polite and definitely not experiencing a life changing sexual awakening in a crowded room

Random Background Person: u guys know people can hear u, right?

LXC: yes very polite definitely nothing gay and certainly no lifelong connection that could potentially end in horrific tragedy for the both of us thank goodness

NHS: guys i didn’t mean elope right fucking now

MY: did u like my box?

LXC: it’s the best box the most adorable box I’ll keep this box forever in my heart

NHS: dude it’s not for u it’s for ur uncle

WWX: i cannot BELILEVE i’m losing public gay chicken i’m gonna get lan zhan a box

BONUS:

Random Asshole 2:

yeah technically he’s zixuan’s brother but jgs treated him like shit what’s ur raction to that zixuan?

JZX: think i’m gonna stick with haughty silence, if i’m honest

Random Asshole 2: that seems on brand

[more brief summaries because yeah]

#tadaaaa. Several people asked for this I shall try to find names? But I have horrible organization #Trying the transcript in a different way! Is it more legible? Is it obnoxious? Is the different negligible? I don't know anymore!#This one is OLD but I needed to not look at it for a while so I guess I don't hate it anymore??#ANYWAY #brief summary #xiyao #my stuff #my edit #Huaisang later when Xichen disarms the Wen: WOW HE'S SO COMPETENT AND GREAT ISN'T HE MENG YAO?#Meng Yao: STOP STOP I'M ALREADY DEAD

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sepublic · 3 years

Text

Through the Looking Glass Ruins!!!!!

…

SO! Onto other things first…

WRATH IS BRAXAS’ FATHER!??!!? HOLY SHIT, Wrath is a canonical dad, I’d always expressed my… OH MY GOD WRATH IS DAD! And of BRAXAS, that sweetie… How is Braxas such a sweetie with a father like HIM, also-

Wrath was in casual wear? Either he has a day off, or he got fired by Belos/Kikimora after drawing Luz a map to Eda in Young Blood, Old Souls! Either way this guy has a sudden new level of NUANCE that I am reeling from, and yes I checked, that really is Wrath according to the credits! Dang this puts everything in a WHOLE new light…!

AMITY HAIR OHMIGOD IT LOOKS SO ADORABLE SHE’S SELF-ACTUALIZING I AM FUCKING SCREAMING HOLY SHIT OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD, it’s PINK and not green… They acknowledged it, Emira did! And they CHANGED IT I AM LOSING MY FUCKING MIND OVER THIS-

She looks so BEAUTIFUL and I love the kind of foreshadowing with the bookends of our first shot of Amity having her hair down, and now it’s changed! And she looks adorable and EMIRA AND EDRIC BEING GREAT SIBLINGS I LOVE IT SO MUCH! This… THIS is everything I wanted! I was resigned to not much of them but HELL YEAH they’re being good siblings and we get a look at their rooms, we see them doing MAKEOVERS together this is everything from my favorite fanon content and MORE,

Also Edric has a date?! Emira says ‘their’ mom… Unless the Golden Guard has a mom, DARN! Not gonna lie, I half-expected a big twist at the end that Edric was dating the Golden Guard, who was doing some sort of reconnaissance as his unrecognized normal self and/or screwing around with the Blights even further, but in a GENUINE sense… But then who knows Kikimora could be posing as GG’s ‘mom’, this is a stretch anyhow-

JUST HELL YEAH Blight Twins! Blight Twins being sweet and mischievous and supportive of each other, Blight SIBLINGS being siblings, Emira being an older sister and giving advice! And AMITY, Amity mentioning how much Luz has changed stuff, I love that they acknowledge it openly how her life has completely shifted, and now… NOW…!

No necklace! Red leggings! PINK HAIR?! Is this why Amity in the intro hasn’t been updated yet… She was getting TWO updates, so the animators decided to only animate a change after this final update?!

King and Gus are also friends it seems, and they even recorded some fun together! I’m surprised at how much Bria and the others mock Gus’ illusion skills… Obviously Belos is kinda terrible but like; I don’t think he’d set aside an entire subset of magic into Illusions without reason! Also that nightmare trip… I LOVE IT, I love Gus applying the creativity of illusions in their ability to completely warp and distort someone’s sense of reality! And I called that dragon-thing being an illusion!

A graveyard… I wonder if the Gallderstones (is that how it’s spelled) have any relevance or if they’re just neat? I hope Mattholomule and Gus help hide the Looking Glass Graveyard… Damn, that’s another Death reference with Gus, huh! Is it culminating in his respect for the dead, or will it continue further with Gus being a necromancer, or an Oracle who can commune with the deceased, and he has their respect as someone who treats them properly?!

Also not to get dark but… What if all those Illusionists are dead because of Belos? I’m JUST SAYING…! And not gonna lie, every time someone insulted Illusions, I kept imagining the Illusion Head just suddenly waking up and feeling like there’s a disturbance in the force, as well as a weird compulsion to beat up some Glandus kids. It’d be even funnier if he had beef with the Construction, Plant, and Abomination Heads as well!

Speaking of which, more confirmation on Construction Magic being related to earth! Glad to see Bria give us a look into that, which furthers my idea of Belos using construction magic… Also dang, Bria and the Glandus Kids really are the parallels/foils to the Detention kids! You’ve got the short ‘nice’ girl, the tall lanky kid, the furry… But the Glandus Kids start off looking nice and cool, but turn out to be rather nasty!

Meanwhile the Detention Kids seem like bad news and delinquents, but no! They’re just demonized and actually very kind and chill! The Detention Kids are looked down upon, the Glandus Kids are appraised… The Detention Kids are dual-track, the Glandus Kids are singular; Glandus Kids from, well, GLANDUS, Detention Kids from Hexside… One’s ‘mischief’ is actually very neat and cool, the other’s is literal grave robbing.

I guess that’s how the bleeding statues got past the censors- It’s technically just an illusion! Also more insight into how Glandus works with its Survival of the Fittest mentality, I wonder if we’ll get confirmation on which coven heads came from there, how that might influence them as adults…

What is Glandus like, is it more whole-heartedly accepting of Belos’ rule, hence its harsh ideals? Was it made after Hexside? Does Bump hate it for being so cruel like that, or is it just school bias? And dang poor Mattholomule, I always had a feeling he sort of felt and knew that he wasn’t much, so he accepted and compensated by deliberately doing whatever he can for power…

They confirmed he’s from Glandus, and I appreciate this new look at him! This new leaf turned… Hot take but he’s honestly not as bad as Boscha, his stint with Gus was a one-time thing that Gus was able to live with! And that seems pretty good to set them up as friends! Speaking of Boscha, Willow was injured by pixies? And the last time we heard of pixies, they belonged to Boscha and caused the school to get shut down… Did BOSCHA DO THIS I SWEAR SHE IS DEAD TO ME-

(Also she’s mentioned in the credits for this episode but I don’t remember hearing her? I might’ve gotten distracted with so much other things.)

Gus! I like the insight into his relationship with Illusions, and I appreciate how he’s considering other forms of magic… But this hesitation might just serve to reaffirm his believe in Illusions, which is okay! It’s all about choice… And yeah, it seems Gus also has a case of impostor syndrome like King, no wonder they get along so well! I love the glimpses into Gus’ house and the confirmation that he has a library card, no Perry though alas…!

I appreciate how Gus feels overlooked, like he has no real substance, which is how his Illusions reflect a desire to draw attention, but also the idea that there’s nothing real beneath them… Again, very much like King! And Gus, he’s not a powerhouse like the rest, he’s SKILLED and smart, but strength isn’t his forte, it’s not brute force he operates on, but cleverness! Trickery, I like it…! It’s a nice callback to his last A-plot episode, SVSF, where instead of fighting Mattholomule physically, Gus’ solution is to think outside the box and pull the alarm!

You go kid, not relying on brute strength but showing that some clever tricks and thinking are just as valid! Kinda wonder if this episode is lowkey a discussion on masculinity for young boys, especially with Gus growing older with puberty, though the latter is mostly because his actual VA grew… But maybe the writers rolled with that and incorporated it, or it’s just a very neat coincidence! Also, it is me or did Mattholomule’s voice change? And the gag that Gavin’s dad looks identical to him, even moreso because he’s NOT supposed to have a moustache… That’s great!

Malphas! Love this reference to a classic demon, I wasn’t sure if Malphas was the librarian with glasses whom I’ve always headcanoned as a father figure to Amity… But maybe it’s actually this bird dude! He seems adept in Bard magic, and I love the reveal of his true crow appearance… Guess those theorists were right that the one-eyed figure is from the Forbidden Stacks! Also Malphas NOT COOL with Amity, but I’m glad Luz changed his mind, and I wonder how that adventure looked…

Which- DAMN, the RSD with Luz! She looks so UTTERLY BROKEN when Amity mentions doing stupid things, and she didn’t mean it like that, but Luz just looks so completely shattered and you can tell she wants to cry but instead she bottles it up and tries to take it in stride, and that plays into her trying to overcompensate for her mistakes AGAIN… SOMEONE GET IT TO HER HEAD that she doesn’t need to! I’m scared for Luz, and I was SO scared this episode would end on a bad note…

BUT DOAHLDdFAEONDKFHN LUMITY KISS LUMITY KISS! ONE-SIDED BUT THEY FINALLY FUCKING KNOW AND AMITY IS LIKE WHAAAAT AND I WAS WAITING FOR IT AND I COULD FEEL IT HAPPEN AND GAY KISS! GAY KISS ON-SCREEN!!! And the way Luz just FLOPS to the ground on her knees AAHJJFFKHGGK and no Alador nor Odalia to ruin this, UTTERLY PERFECT and the twins WATCHING OOOHHHHGGGG YYYEEAAAAHHH-

This is EVERYTHING I ever wanted!

What an AMAZING episode with wonderful characer beats and reveals! Again, Amity’s growth as a character, that brief insight into how Luz as a person is very chaotic and sometimes frustrating for Amity and forces her to reevaluate, but ultimately it’s good and Luz DOES try her best, and Amity clearly wanted to make things up for Luz and apologize, they’re BOTH doing things, just the little moments!

Also, Alex Lawther voices Philip Wittebane! He has long hair and a vaguely british accent, he’s… He’s Belos isn’t he? And they got a new VA because having him voiced by Matthew Rhys would be really spoiler-y right? He’s got the long hair and he’s a nerd… And with how he talks of finding a way back home, maybe Belos really DOES just want to return home, after all? He talks of making a way back home…

And we see a glimpse of the Portal, so it might’ve brought him there? Or did Philip succeed in making it, and that was his blueprint designs? Did he arrive by Titan’s Blood? What happened to the portal if it brought him there, or if he made it? Why the scar, why near Eda’s house, partially buried?

Was it lost before he could finish his work, and Philip got side-tracked into something else… Perhaps going on a crusade, on behalf of a curse/demon that possessed him? A demon that killed King’s father…? Was the portal broken and he had to discard it, but then it naturally healed- Or did it just need to recharge, maybe Philip DID make it back home, WHAT IS THE ANSWER?! Is there some sort of doppelganger for Philip, is BELOS his doppelganger?! What is THIS WHAT-

WHAT AN EPISODE!

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blackspoon99 · 3 years

Text

The Sign of Three Pt. 3

Sherlock x Female! Reader

TW: Drinking, Language, Potential Emetophobia (If you’ve seen this episode, you know), Spoilers to Season 3

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

Part 5

“Of course, there’s hours of material here, but I’ve cut it down to the really good bits.”

Oh god, the stag night. You almost laughed just thinking about it. It was unbelievable that Sherlock was willingly telling this story to an audience. You were fortunate enough to witness some of the events of the night firsthand.

The story began the morning of in Baker Street, 11 am:

It was a Saturday morning, and you were over having tea with Sherlock. For the two of you, “having tea” consisted of you both reading in complete silence while you happened to be drinking tea. It was a common occurrence, and for you, it was a treasured tradition. You were curled up in John’s chair opposite Sherlock. Today, you were reading Emma by Jane Austen. You peeked over at Sherlock to see what he was reading. Sherlock was reading a book titled “Atlas of Forensic Pathology”. Riveting. The book looked so heavy; it would probably go straight through the floor if he dropped it.

You returned to your book. This was probably your third time reading the Jane Austen classic. You were inexplicably drawn to the plot, the message, the love story, all of it. You finally were at your favorite part. When Mr. Knightly said to Emma, “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” You looked at Sherlock over the pages of your book. You couldn’t help but consider the relevance of the quote in your own life.

When you first came to terms with the fact that you were in love with Sherlock, the feeling had burned through you. You couldn’t focus and constantly fought the urge to tell him. Possibly because of the several near-death experiences you'd had. After you made up with Sherlock at the engagement party, the feeling persisted but it was almost duller, easier to live with. You’d slowly regained security in Sherlock’s role in your life and you no longer constantly worried he’d leave again. You returned to your version of mundane and your unrequited feelings for Sherlock became the new normal. It had become more of a consistent ache than a burn.

Sherlock interrupted your thoughts: “Shouldn’t it be relatively easy to find a new book to read if you work in a bookstore?”

“True, but I like this one,” you said without looking up from your book.

“Why? What do you gain from reading a convoluted story of questionable morals that provides no useful information?”

You finally put your book down. “Because, I like to read for fun. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

Sherlock smiled and scoffed at you then returned to his book.

You shook your head and downed the rest of your tea. “Okay, I’ve got to go to work.” You got up and took your mug to the kitchen. On your way back to gather your things, you noticed an open file on the kitchen table that looked like a John Watson scrapbook. You pulled the first paper off the stack to see a cutout of John’s head pasted onto the Vitruvian Man. “Sherlock?” you called over your shoulder, “What’s this file for?”

“What file?” He asked.

You picked up the file and carried it back to the living room. You returned to your seat and started thumbing through it.

“Oh. That’s for the stag night,” said Sherlock.

“Stag night? I didn’t think you would want to do that sort of thing”

“Why not?” He swiftly closed his book. If you didn’t know better, you’d take the action as a sign of offense.

“Uh, no reason,” you said hastily. The file was full of peer-reviewed studies on alcohol consumption, detailed chemistry notes, and copies of John’s medical records. The last page was a detailed schedule of where they were going and how much they were going to drink every hour. “This is awfully thorough.”

“I needed to ensure the maximum amount of enjoyment for the both of us for the duration of the night.”

“How considerate of you.” You put the file down and leaned forward. “So, what do you have planned?”

“John and I will be drinking at a pub on every street we ever found a corpse.”

“That is oddly perfect for the both of you.”

“I thought so,” Sherlock said with a grin.

You looked at the time. If you didn’t leave now, you’d be late. “Well, I’m off. See you later, Sherlock.”

“Yes, yes, goodbye,” he mumbled and returned to reading. You left the file on the table, gathered your belongings, and left for your shift.

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

Later that evening:

You closed the bookshop at 8 pm and headed to the tube station. As you made your way through the crowded streets, you heard your phone ringing. You dug through your bag to find it as you walked. You saw Sherlock’s name on the caller ID and answered it. Your ears were immediately assaulted by electronic dance music.

You heard Sherlock’s voice first “Shut up John, I’m calling her.” He shouted over the music

“Who?” you then recognized John’s voice.

“Her John, I’m calling her!”

You struggled to hear the call over the booming music “Hello?? Sherlock? Why are you calling me?”

“Oh! It’s y/n! Hello!” John shouted into the phone. You winced at the volume.

“John? Where are you? Are you drunk?”

“Stag night! Sherlock tried to measure my piss. Then he got into a fight.”

“Give me that back” Sherlock’s voice “Y/n meet us back at Baker Street. It’s an ‘mergency”

“What did you say? Sherlock? It’s really hard to hear,”

“Baker Street. Now!” He shouted then hung up.

For a moment, you stood in the street, dumbfounded. It was only 8 pm and both Sherlock and John were piss drunk at some club. You couldn’t even begin to process the rest of the information. So much for Sherlock’s plan, although it did seem like they had “maximized their enjoyment”. You weren’t about to miss this.

——————————

You arrived at Baker Street by 8:30 pm. You opened the door to find Sherlock and John laying across the bottom of the stairs. “Hello boys, I’m here.” You announced.

At the sound of your voice, Sherlock and John scrambled to sit upright. Sherlock fell down a step in the process. You tried your best to suppress your laughter. “So, I’m here. What’s the emergency, Sherlock?”

“Right, you,” He said, raising his arm to point at you. “Upstairs.”

You watched Sherlock and John slowly stand up. John lifted one foot to climb the stairs, then stumbled backward.

“Do you need help, John?” You asked.

“Nah,” he said, “‘s alright, I’m fine. I can do it myself.”

You slowly helped Sherlock and John up and into the flat. Sherlock tried to take off his coat, but his arms got stuck behind him. You giggled and gently pulled his coat off him and hung it on the coat rack. You lead Sherlock over to his chair and he flopped down into it.

You went into the kitchen to get some water for him and John. You figured they’d need it. You searched the cabinets, but there wasn’t a clean glass in sight. You resorted to the clean beakers on the countertops instead. You poured two 250mL beakers most of the way with water and walked them back into the living room. When you returned, Sherlock was sitting in his chair. He was drinking from a glass of scotch.

“Sherlock,” you groaned. “Where did you get that?” You attempted to reach for the glass, but he pulled his hand away, spilling it all over himself.

“It’s okay, this is fine,” he said, staring at his scotch-soaked shirt. “Oh,” he started. “I almost forgot,” Sherlock leaned over the side of his chair to grab something off the floor “You left this,” Sherlock said and handed you your copy of Emma. You hadn’t even realized it was gone.

“That was the emergency?”

“I still don’t understand how you could read this 3 times,” Sherlock slurred. “It’s so- what’s the word? Incorrect? ‘There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.’ What an absurd thing to say” He contorted his face into an expression of disgust and took a sip of scotch from the glass in his hand.

“You read it? Today?” The fact that Sherlock had gone out of his way to read your favorite book made you unnaturally happy. You knew not to read into the things with Sherlock, but sometimes you couldn’t help yourself.

“You left it behind and I was so bored. Besides, I had to understand why you liked it so much. I still don’t know.”

You leaned over and snatched the glass of scotch from him. “I don’t think that’s the best idea, do you?” You handed him the beaker of water.

“Thank you,” he said with a goofy grin. In all the years you’d known Sherlock, you had never seen him like this. It was odd to say the least yet decidedly hilarious.

“Where’s John?”

Sherlock didn’t answer but pointed in the general direction of the bathroom. You decided to take the seat opposite Sherlock. As you sat down, Sherlock put his water on the floor. He then leaned forward and put his head in his hands, staring at you.

“What are you doing, Sherlock?” you asked.

“You,” he said, pointing at your face “are so hard to figure out sometimes, you know that?”

“Me?”

“It’s soooooo annoying. I can tell what almost everyone is thinking all the time, but not always you.”

“You think I’m hard to read?”

“Yes, you. Y/n L/n.” He waved his hands around while he slightly slurred his words.

“Okay then, how about this: I tell you what I’m thinking right now, and you do the same. Then, for one moment, we can understand each other completely.”

Sherlock furrowed his brow “You first.”

“I’m thinking… that I’m glad you called me.” Sherlock smiled and nodded. You giggled, “Now it’s your turn, and don’t lie to me. What are you thinking in this moment?”

Sherlock paused. “I’m thinking that my shirt’s all wet,” he said with a slight frown.

“That’s your own fault,” you said, putting one hand over your mouth to contain your laughter.

John re-entered the room holding post-it notes and a sharpie. “I’ve just had the best idea,” he said with a sloppy grin.

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

The three of you all had post-its stuck to your foreheads, each with names written down. John sat in the client’s seat with the name MADONNA scribbled on the piece of paper stuck to his forehead. Sherlock, much to your enjoyment, had SHERLOCK HOLMES sloppily written on his forehead. As per the game, you had no idea what was written on yours. Sherlock was lounging back in his chair, resting his head on his hand.

“Am I a vegetable?” asked John

“You? Or the thing?” Sherlock asked smiling. The two of them snickered.

“Funny!” said John.

Sherlock looked down and smiled. “Thank you,” he choked out.

“To answer your question, John, no,” you said.

“Your go, Sherlock,” said John.

“Erm…. am I human?” he asked, turning to you.

“Sometimes,” you said with a smirk.

“No, no, it can’t be sometimes, can’t have that…”

“Fine. Yes, you’re human” you confirmed. “My turn. Am I a man?”

“Yeeep” answered John. “Sherlock, you again,” John said, forgetting it was his turn.

“Am I a man?”

John nodded. Sherlock kept going. “Am I a tall man?”

John looked at you and started laughing before he even spoke “Mm, not as tall as people think.” John’s head flopped to the side as he let out a hiccup

“Nice?”

“Ishh,” John said skeptically.

“Clever?”

“I’d say so,” you interjected.

“Do people…” he made air quotes as he spoke the word ‘people’ “... like me?”

“Not really,” you said, chuckling “You tend to rub them the wrong way.” If you had to babysit your adult drunk friends, you might as well have some fun.

“Hm,” Sherlock nodded intently. “Am I the current King of England?”

You and John immediately burst into laughter. “Good guess, Sherlock. But you do know England doesn’t have a king?”

“Don’t we?”

“No,” John said. “Y/n, you go now”

“Right, okay. Am I a friend of ours?”

“Ehh, yes?” Sherlock said.

“Yes, yes they are Sherlock,” said John “Jesus.”

“Well, that narrows it down significantly. Am I Greg?”

“Who’s Greg?” Sherlock asked.

You rolled your eyes and took the post-it off your forehead. The name “Gavin” was written on it in Sherlock’s handwriting. Of course.

“Hey!” Sherlock yelled, “Cheater, that’s cheating. John, did you see that? Y/n’s cheating.” Sherlock got up and took the post-it from your hand. He leaned forward and stuck it back on your forehead. “There. Now it’s John’s turn.”

“Am I a woman?” asked John. He slumped in his seat. Sherlock immediately started giggling. “What?” John asked.

“Yes,” confirmed Sherlock

“Am I a pretty woman?”

“Er, beauty is a construct based entirely on childhood impressions, influences, and role models.”

“But am I pretty?” John asked again.

“Yeah, Sherlock? Is John a pretty woman?”

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know who you’re supposed to be.”

“What?! You picked the name,” John said.

“Ah, but I picked it at random from the papers,” Sherlock said, flailing his arm over to the stack of newspapers in the corner.

“I don’t think you understand the point of this game, Sherlock,” you added.

“So, I am human, I’m not as tall as people think I am ... I’m-I’m nice-ish ... clever, but I tend to rub them up the wrong way.”

“That’s correct,” said John.

“I’m you, aren’t I?” Sherlock asked, pointing to John.

“Ooh-ooh!” Mrs. Hudson chirped as she knocked on the door. “Client!” Behind Mrs. Hudson was a woman wearing a nurse’s outfit with a cardigan over it. You scrambled to take the post-it off your forehead as you stood up.

“Hello, I’m sorry, but this really isn’t a good time—”

Sherlock immediately stood up and interrupted you. “It’s not a bad time, no, no Y/n. We always help a person in need.”

“Do we?” you said with a forced smile and looked over at John for help. John just stared back blankly at you with a goofy drunken smile.

The woman beamed “Thank you,” she said. “Which one of you is Sherlock Holmes?”

John imitated a slide whistle, and pointed to Sherlock’s post-it on his forehead. Sherlock flashed a wide toothy grin. You put your head in your hands in defeat.

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

A few moments later, you’d made the woman, Tessa, some tea, and you John and Sherlock were sitting on the couch. Sherlock was sat in between you and John. Tessa sat in a chair opposite the three of you.

“I don’t ... a lot ... I mean, I don’t ... date all that much ... and ... he seemed ... nice, you know?”

You looked over at Sherlock and John hoping they could keep it together. John was blinking slowly and heavily while trying to stay awake. Sherlock was listening to Tessa’s story intently.

She continued. “We seemed to automatically connect. We had one night – dinner, such interesting conversation. It was ... lovely. To be honest, I’d love to have gone further ...”

Beside you, Sherlock closed his eyes and began to lean into your shoulder, dozing off. You subtly elbowed him, and he straightened up abruptly.

“But I thought, no, this is special. Let’s take it slowly, exchange numbers. He said he’d get in touch and then ... Maybe he wasn’t quite as keen as I was ...”

You looked over at John who was practically asleep with his eyes open. He had a blank stare and his mouth hung slightly open.

“But I – I just thought ... at least he’d call to say that we were finished,” Tessa concluded, tearing up slightly and looking at the floor. Immediately, Sherlock’s face contorted into an expression of sympathy as he dramatically brought his hand to his mouth. You stared in disbelief and handed Tessa a tissue. “Thank you,” she said to you. “I went round there, to his flat. No trace of him. Mr. Holmes…”

Sherlock leaned forward and rested his head on his hands.

“I honestly think I had dinner ... with a ghost.”

You and Tessa waited to hear what Sherlock had to say. You leaned forward to look at Sherlock and John’s faces only to discover they had both fallen asleep.

“With a ghost, Mr. Holmes!” Tessa repeated, louder.

You sharply elbowed Sherlock in the ribs much harder than before, and he sprung awake. “Boring, boring, boring,” he mumbled, then turned to you and put his hands on either side of your head. “No! fascinating!” He exclaimed, his face right up close to yours. Sherlock then turned to John “John – John! Wake up!” John finally stirred awake.

“I’m up,” he mumbled.

“Apologies about my ... you know ... thing,” Sherlock said, pointing at John. “Rude. Rude!” he yelled straight into your ear. You grimaced at the loud noise and put your hand on Sherlock’s forearm to settle him.

“Yes, that’s enough, Sherlock,” you whispered. “Uhm, go on, Tessa.”

“I checked with the landlord, and the man who lived there died. Heart attack. And there we are, having dinner one week on.” She turned and began to rummage through her purse. She pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper and handed it to Sherlock. You grabbed it before he could take it. It was a print-out of an online chatroom. “And I found this thing online, sort of chatroom thing for girls who think they’re dating men from the spirit world.”

You nodded. This actually seemed like a decent case. Too bad Sherlock and John probably wouldn’t remember one word of it tomorrow. Sherlock tried to stand up next to you, wobbled, and then put one hand on the top of your head to steady himself. You groaned and struggled to untangle his hand from your hair.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find him in ten minutes,” Sherlock said confidently. Tessa smiled in relief. “What’s your dog’s name?”

You facepalmed and stood up next to Sherlock. He leaned over to wake up John. “John! Wake up! We’re meant to ... The game’s ... something” he said, waving his hand around.

“On!” yelled John.

“Yes, that,” Sherlock said, walking out the door. “Come on, Y/n.”

“Wait, Sherlock. Where are you going?” You protested, following him down the stairs.

“That’s a good question. Where are we going?” he asked Tessa in the foyer.

“Oh! Well, I suppose we ought to go to his flat,” Tessa said.

“Sherlock, no,” you said, “You can’t leave...” you looked off the the side awkwardly “…like this.” He ignored you and dragged John out to the sidewalk by his sweater sleeve. He stepped out into the street and hailed down a cab.

“40a, Jasmine Grove,” interjected Tessa as the cab pulled up.

“Are you coming Y/n?” Sherlock slurred.

“No!” you yelled. “And neither are you.” Before you could reach him, Sherlock climbed into the cab after John and Tessa and slammed the cab door in your face. The car drove off.

“Come on, really?!” you yelled in frustration. Now you had to follow them. You ran to the edge of the sidewalk and decided to call a cab for yourself.

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

You finally made it to the apartment to see Tessa and a man you presumed to be the landlord standing by the door. It was a rather modern apartment with exposed brick and abstract furniture. John was standing in the corner with his hands crossed over his chest and his lips pursed. He was swaying slightly, trying to keep his balance. You pushed past the landlord to see Sherlock kneeling on a shag carpet holding his pocket magnifier. As soon as you walked in, he face-planted into the carpet and passed out.

“He’s clueing for looks” John announced, proudly.

“Oh god,” you said, scrambling over to Sherlock. You grabbed his upper arm and tried to pull him up. God, he was heavy.

“That’s it, I’m calling the police.” The landlord pulled out his cell phone.

“No, no, please, that won’t be necessary,” you protested.

“This is a famous detective. It’s Sherlock Holmes and his partner, John Hamish Watson,” Tessa clarified.

You finally managed to get Sherlock to straighten up. “When did you get here?” Sherlock asked, looking up at you. Then, he bent over and immediately threw up on the carpet.

“Ugh why?” you groaned and plugged your nose. Sherlock wiped his mouth on his sleeve and then clicked his magnifier shut.

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

The next morning…

The landlord had called the police and the night ended with you watching Sherlock and John being driven away in the back of a police car. You’d immediately called Greg hoping he’d let them go. Greg had said the best he could do was try and let them off with a warning if they spent the night in the drunk tank. When the station opened, Greg sent you a photo of Sherlock and John asleep in a cell with the caption “Come and get ‘em!”

You walked into Scotland Yard and Greg was there to meet you. “Thank you, Greg,” you said, handing him one of the 4 coffees you’d brought.

“God, what on earth happened to them?” Greg asked, taking a sip from the coffee you gave him.

“Stag night got a bit out of hand,” you said. “Afraid I lost control of the situation.”

“You can say that again,” agreed Greg as the two of you walked through the station to the drunk tank.

“Rise and Shine!” Greg bellowed as he swung open the door. John was awake and sitting on the floor. He had his hands on his head while Sherlock was still fast asleep on the bench.

“Oh my god,” John said, grimacing in pain. “Is that Greg?”

“Get up,” he said “Y/n’s come to collect you. Managed to square things with the desk sergeant.” John painfully and slowly got up. “What a couple of lightweights! Y/n said you couldn’t even make it to closing time!”

“Yeah, could you whisper?” John asked.

“NOT REALLY!” Greg shouted straight into his ear. Across the cell, Sherlock jolted awake, mouth wide open in shock. He tried to stand up, then fell backward back onto the bench. You walked over and helped him up.

“There you go, Sherlock. Nice and easy,” you said quietly and handed him one of the coffees. He took it and stumbled out of the cell, head down. He looked like hell, not to mention the way he smelled. You caught up to John and handed him one of the remaining coffees, leaving the last for yourself. You took a sip of your coffee and continued down the hall.

“Well, thanks for a ... you know ... an evening,” John said to Sherlock.

“Oh, it was awful,” Sherlock said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I was gonna pretend, but it was, truly,” said John. He then turned to you. “Y/n, I am so sorry, that was—”

“It’s okay, I had fun,” you said with a smile.

“At least someone did,” said Sherlock. “That woman, Tessa, dated a ghost. The most interesting case for months. What a wasted opportunity.”

“Really? That’s your takeaway from this?” you asked. He shrugged. “Come on, boys, let’s get you home.”

A/N: Stag night! I love this part of the episode, so I hope I did it justice. Funny story. When I was writing this, I was trying to find real book titles for Sherlock to read and I came across a real book titled “Surrounded by Idiots” I wanted to use it in the story SO BAD but it was so perfect, that it sounded cheesy and made up lmao. I’m 100% certain Sherlock would have it in his bookcase though.

Taglist: @the-chaotic-cow @amoeebaa @scorpios-echos @sad-bitch-h0ur @drifting-away-in-space @that-thing-in-the-graveyard

#bbc sherlock #bbc sherlock x reader #bbc sherlock x you #Sherlock #Sherlock Holmes #sherlock imagine #sherlockxreader #sherlock x reader #sherlock x y/n #sherlock x you #Sherlock Holmes x Reader #sherlock holmes x you #the sign of three

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taki118 · 4 years

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Go Watch the Venture Brothers

So just heard the complete and utter Bullshit news that Adult Swim has cancelled one of (if not the best shows) they have the Venture Bros. This series is one of those shows that for WHATEVER reason never got to the level of fandom Rick and Morty has even though they’ve been at the genre parody game longer and in my opinion better.

The series is about Rusty Venture former boy adventurer and failing super scientist who in an attempt to keep his head above water in debt goes around with his two boys Hank and Dean, and bodyguard Brock on misadventues while various legal archnemisis go after him, such as the Monarch.

So if you never watched or never heard of this 7 season series let me give you a break down on why you should,

1) Art Style & Animation

Venture bros is one of those rare Adult aimed animated series that that really truly tries to utilize their medium to the best of their abilities. Season 1 had like such a small budget and corners had to be cut so it can be a little hard to watch at times.

But with each passing season they get a little better, a little more fluid, go just a little harder and it truly feels rewarding to watch. Like seeing an artist you follow online improve over the years. Like they COULD have stayed with the choppy and stiff animation from season 1 it fit right in with its fellow adult animated shows but it didn’t. They strove for quality to have something that matched the story they were telling.

2) The Writing

Venture Bros has some of the tightest and consistently great writing of ANY serialized show I’ve seen, adult, animated or other wise. Wanna know why? Cause it’s all done by TWO people (save for like one ep each season where one other person is allowed to touch their baby). Yeah TWO people and they work their asses off every season to interject, humor, refrences, parody, plot and character development in equal measure.

3) Character Development

Um yes in case you were wondering that’s right an adult animated show has CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT that holds as the series goes on. Not to give spoilers but characters will go through changes in alignment, relationships will develop and change, some characters will go through negative arcs where they are straight up unbareable for a season before coming out the other side even better than they were before. There is no end of epsiode or even end of season reset. Characters, settings, and dynamics all change over the course of the show and it feels just so god damn good.

4) Story Development

Just like the characters the story of the Venture Bros grows and changes each season. Things that are set up even as early as season one are paid off as the series goes on. Like not to be that bitch but you know how RIck and Morty teases an overarching plot ALL THE TIME but like will often just spit in the face of fans hoping for more than like one episode a season addressing it? Yeahhhhhhh that doesnt happen here, fans are consistently rewarded for putting the time in to rewatch and really think about what happened in the series. Characters that are seen in the background or are just referenced by other characters will be brought in to be recurring characters, things that start off as a small detail or gag will be given larger relevance and each time they do this you get that “OH I remember that from last season! So thats what it was!” The writers WANT you to rewatch, they WANT you to analyze and they WANT you to theorize, and they give you a show that gives back the time you put in.

5) Parody & Reference

This series does a great thing with parody. They make real characters who are just as enjoyable as the characters they parody, they make story lines that both poke fun at the absurdity of the media but shows the writers love for it. So often parody and references are just used to mock the thing but with Venture Bros you feel the love and care so when you know the thing being parodied you can laugh but feel good about laughing cause they are never laughing at a thing maybe you cared for in your youth but rather laughing with it.

And it’s never just one thing. When they parody a thing its often layered with other things to make it even more unique. Scooby-Doo is overlayed with famous criminals, Laura Croft is mixed Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, GI Joe is given the look of the Village People and so on. They never go for the easy joke or reference. Hell theres an episode that starts with them reciting the lyrics to David Bowies Space Oddity for really no reason other than they could. They weave these things in naturally with their setting and characters so nothing feels out of place. Like if you dont catch a reference or parody you dont feel like “I think this isa reference to something?” like a LOT of things do not just adult animated shows. You arent taken out of the moment cause it all feels so natural.

6) The Characters

God damn these characters, I could go on for hours about these characters. From main to one off these are some of the most likeable characters you can find. I mean it when I say I can’t think of a single character I wish they had cut cause they are all so well created. Even the ones I hate i have fun hating cause they were made to be that way. I’ll be good though I’ll only talk about my absolute top faves.

- The Monarchs

You ever sit and wish villain couples could have functional healthy relationships? Well look no further than Malcom Fitzcarraldo aka The Monarch and Dr. Shelia Girlfriend (yes that is her last name). The Monarch is a high strung impulsive saturday morning cartoon villain whos tendency to over react is only matched by his unspecified hatred of Dr. Venture. And Dr. G is his nonsense partner in crime who will cut a bitch if they don’t play by their admittedly weird rules. Both characters are great on their own but are better together. Though that doesnt mean they always get along. Like a real couple they have their ups and downs they fight, break up, make-up and grow stronger in their relationship with each season.

- Shore Leave

Ok ok so I want you to imagine James Bond, mixed with GI Joe simmering in a cocktail of the most flamboyant gay men you have ever seen and you have one of my favorite gay characters/characters in general. Shore Leave is a member of OSI (the shows SHEILD/GI Joe parody organization) he’s loud, brash, flippant, sassy and highly competent at his job loving every second of getting to beat bad guys down within an inch of their life. I love seeing him play off the stoic Brock and the two have this great brotherly dynamic that’s never called into question. He also gets to have a very cute romance with Al the Alchemist (who is also great). I could talk about this man all day.

- Dr. Rusty Venture

They did such a good job with this man. He’s a self serving, sexist, perverted, whinny, self important asshole and yet you feel pity and genuine sympathy for him and want him to succeed. You can see how Dr. V was given a raw deal by his father who seemed to care more about his adventures than his sons well being and how this molded him into the bitter man he is today, but on the flip side you can see where he chose to use that as a crutch for his worst behaviors and impulses. Seeing him slowly grow and change and be an actual good father to his boys while all the while still be a giant dick is actually really great.

- Dr. Byron Orpheus

Ahhhhh Dr. Orpheus part Dr. Strange Parody part busybody stay at home dad, he’s just such a delight. Dr. Orpheus is a divorcee, with an unfulfilling job of maintaining order to the cosmos (which isnt as hard as one might think), and uses his magical ablities in ways most of us would (ie menial tasks and home chores). Overly dramatic and affectionate Dr. O is a delight whenever he appears, but he’s at his best around his daughter and old friends The Order of the Triad.

Again I can go on but all these characters ranging from main to recurring are crafted with the utmost care for you to want to see them succeed or fail, to see them again even if you know it’ll never happen, and want them to cross paths with other characters.

The Venture Bros is one of those series that I will ALWAYS recommend even to the pickiest of humor tastes. But if you don’t believe its as good as I said or don’t think the concept is to your tastes I’ll recommend a few eps that I think best show off the base idea of the series without giving much away. In terms of plot and spoilers, though somethings wont make a lot of sense.

- S1 ep10 "Tag Sale – You're It!" - Dr. V is having a yard sale so of course all manner of costumed weirdos show up. - S2 ep5 "Twenty Years to Midnight" - basically a fetch quest around the world to save the planet with daddy issues - S3 ep2 "The Doctor Is Sin" - Again daddy issues but with one of the best recurring characters and a great showcase of the series deeper emotional plots - S4 ep6 "Self-Medication" - Really embraces the parody as Rusty goes to a former boy adventurer support group. Anyway the show is 7 seasons with 80 episodes, please go watch it. I will never forgive @adultswim for cancelling what was to be their final season. And in closing GO TEAM VENTURE!

#venture bros #the venture bros #venture brothers #adultswim #adult animated shows #animated shows #animation #go watch this show #go watch #adult animation

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rev3rb · 3 years

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Hi!! It’s me again asking about the new chapter. Literally every other page had me like 😳 from either the gayness or just the plot points like wtf. I complained last time about being confused from lack of info and now I’m confused from too much info but very excited to see where this goes lmaoo

I think the illusion part was a fun lil twist. Sometimes it can be annoying when a high stakes situation turns out to be fake all along, but the way it was done sorta short kept things interesting and added to Rigr’s sly behavior. Also just Rigr bantering with Urd by being oddly sweet and saying how he was planning to come back and work together was such an intriguing 180 flip. Urd already considering the offer & being on the same page with the hostages was kinda gold. I feel like he’s already sorta accepting his fate, I’d honestly be surprised if he doesn’t decide to team up with Rigr next chp.

And then on top of all ~that~ the stuff about all versions of Yu being made for Mika?! We get it, they’ve been destined to each other for thousands of years, they’re soulmates, it’s gay 🙄 I haven’t been super onboard with Mika becoming Yu’s demon bc I want him to stay himself & have a role on his own, but now I’m more excited for how that works/messes with the First’s plan.

Oh, and I enjoyed seeing Byakkomaru + Raimeiki despite being worried for Shinya + Kureto. I feel like all the demons/progenitors relationships to the First get more complicated each chapter and I would really like a better breakdown on where loyalties lie at this point lol

Hello once again anon! I was wondering if you'd crop up!

Ho boy. This chapter. A lot happened. I can see why you're confused. While this chapter did give us quite a bit of information, we can still only speculate as to how everything fits together. There's really no right or wrong right now. I have a feeling that starting next chapter, we'll finally be able to start fitting things together. If not then we'll at least be getting back into some action I imagine. It'll be nice after the last handful of chapters.

In that same vein, I agree with what you said about the illusion. It was fun to get some action even if it did end up being fake, but not only did this serve as some fun, it developed Ky Luc and Lest Karr as well as what you said about Rigr. While we've seen Ky Luc fight before, we didn't really see him with his back against the wall. As Guren and Shinya put it:

(They tied as Guren said shortly before this but this is funnier)

It was nice to see how Ky Luc fights in a tough situation. It speaks to his character quite a bit. On top of that, there's Rigr's comment about Ky Luc being strong enough to kill a 3rd Progenitor. I'm sure that will be relevant later, possibly even explained, but likely not for a while. Not only that, but, and correct me if I'm wrong, we haven't seen Lest Karr fight before. This was a cool insight into what his battle presence is like. I imagine that both of these things will come into play sometime later. Plus! It's like Rigr said:

At the very least it tells us Ky and Lest will side with whoever Urd does.

I ish made a post addressing Urd and Rigr, but god, yeah. These bitches gay, Rigr especially. Good for them. It makes me think that Rigr always intended to return to Urd's side (in a gay way or not). After all, as he said, this is all according to plan apparently.

It's interesting to think about, but I think Urd is as much a pawn in this game as the likes of Guren. He has his own view/side to things, but he's going to get swept up in other people's messes/plans whether he wants to or not. Given his history with Rigr and it being unlikely (at the moment) that Rigr will betray him again, I imagine Urd and Rigr will be on the same side going forward? Allegiances change like the weather though so who knows. This is just the feeling I get at this point in time, and you alluded to it too.

I'm left a little unsure about how to feel about the whole Yu and Mika situation. None of what was shown really comes as a surprise. The eye being a doorway to the past was something I didn't expect, neither was The First being able to affect that vision, but pretty much everything else was. We'd already been basically told that Yus were somehow grown/created, so now we just finally get to see what the exact method is. Can't say I understand how that works, but there you go. It wasn't much of an explanation, but it's something I guess.

Mika becoming Yu's demon/weapon also doesn't come as a large surprise. Ever since he "died" back in chapter 90 (91?), this is pretty much what I expected. I'm not even that surprised that it was something that Mika ultimately chose. It's not quite something I would have speculated back when Mika first died, but after we started getting chapters that showed off demon Mika, it was something I suspected might happen. And maybe it's just me, but I don't think Mika will become any less important now that he's Yu's weapon. I wouldn't be surprised if he took a role similar to Mahiru going forward. Mahiru is one of Guren's demons, but she's still her own character and can sorta do her own thing. I don't see why Mika couldn't be the same, even if their situations are a bit different.

SHINYA!!! I, like many others, have been waiting for this moment. Never would have guessed that he ended up getting captured, but what surprises me more is that Kureto was also captured. Last we saw he was directing troops. It seemed like things were going well for him. I wonder what happened that resulted in both of them getting captured. Is the rest of Guren squad okay? Who's running the Imperial Demon army now? I hope it's not Seishiro. Hey, maybe that's what happened to Narumi. He's running the army now :) In all seriousness though, if Guren squad is okay, I could actually see them running the army, but again I digress.

I made a post talking about what I think will happen to Shinya and Kureto (and by extension, Byakkomaru and Reimeiki) here. While I too am worried about them, I think that they'll be okay. If Rigr or Urd wanted to kill them, they probably would have done it by now. That's not to say that they couldn't be harmed though. I'm just hopeful that being hostages means that they'll stay alive.

Maybe it's a weird thing to say, but because of Guren's attachment to Shinya, I'd actually say that it's likely that Shinya has some thick plot armor in this instance. I'm confident that Shinya will remain alive at least until Guren is around him again. As for Kureto... well. I don't think there's as much plot armor for him. Again I think he'll be okay? He's the representative of normal humanity in all this and there's no good replacement for him (there's lit no other character that cares about humanity as a whole), so I think he'll stay alive for at least a little while longer.

And that pretty much sums up my thoughts! Sorry this got long, but as I said at the start, a lot happened. There was a lot to analyze and process. Thanks again for the ask! I hope you enjoyed hearing my thoughts.

#Owari no Seraph #Owari no Seraph spoilers #OnS 106 spoilers #Rigr Stafford #Lest Karr #Ky Luc #Urd Geales #Yuichiro Hyakuya #Mikaela Hyakuya #Shinya Hiragi #Kureto Hiragi #My posts #Asks #anonymous asks #Anonysis asks

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srxkf · 2 years

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NWH SPOILERS ALERT!

Really don't continue. Bunch of spoilers.

Omg omggggg it just happened A LOT of things on this movie. Okay first at all can we appreciate more Matt Murdock? Like God im glad Marvel is really taking consideration of the Netflix series that HONESTLY? ARE THE BEST ONES. ALSO idk if I'm crazy but they also mentioned Punisher on here, like not exactly the name.

OKAY WHEN DOC OCK APPEARED MY HEART WENT 📈📈📈📈 AAAAAA ALSO GREEN GOBLIN it's so nice to see them again 😭 ALSO SANDMAN!!! At the beginning i was like "oh it's only gonna be cgi? :(" Since he didn't appeared with his human body.... But glad at the end wasn't whole cgi!

NOW WITH ELECTRO AND LIZARD, BLESS THEY MADE JUSTICE ON THEM! I think they deserved a better: design and plot. And glad they did it here!!! I think they're amazing actors and their characters are just so cool to see. Also the cgi for lizard was more pleasant to see (seggcy)

AS ALWAYS NED AND MJ THEY DESERVE ONLY GOOD THINGS! 😭 Even tho they knew was fucking dangerous and they could have died.... They still helped Peter with all of this 💔💔💔 god these are real friends 🥺 and im also glad that everyone on real life are besties (and ofc the fact that Zendaya and Tom are dating you can feel the real connection between these two characters). Im so happy

Okay but the way Stephen gets tired of dealing with kids mess 😭 NDDBDNDNDB Give him a good vacations.... Sadly he can't for the moment he must save the multiverse (we're gonna talk abt that later). But aaaaaaaa also makes me feel kinda sad, but it's mostly bc Peter also see Stephen as some parental figure (and also admire him like he did with Tony). Idk that whole thing was like heartbreaking, remembering all of that 😭 I think i would have cried harder if.... If... Tony was still alive...... Like damn he forgetting his son (Peter) and all the things he did for Peter 💔💔💔💔 at some point (hurts me to say this) im glad Tony is not there..... God hurts saying it bc I'm still sad that he......... Yeah 😞

Another funny scene for me was Peter and May taking all the villains to Happy's apartment 😭 Like "Mom im taking some friends..... They're lil dangerous but friendly"

Okay continue with that, THE FIGHT OF STEPHEN AND PETER WAS COOL!!! But having tiny headache after the amount of camera rotations everything too fast 😹 my brain tiny BUT WAS SO COOL!!! also funny thay Peter found math and those stuff and using it as his secret weapon shdhdhdbdb

Another funny scene was Peter and May taking all the villains to Happy's apartment 😭 Like "mom... Im taking some friends to the house. They're dangerous but friendly". Like who the fucking hell take dangerous people TO A PLACE THAT IS NOT EVEN YOUR HOUSE DJFHFJFJFJFJFJF PLS IT'S SO FUNNY 😭

Nmmmmmmmmmmmmgh should i go to the sad part already? God okay I'll mention first that I'm happy that Doc Ock changed his mind 🥺 and really helping Peter with all his heart 💛💛💛 i love him so much. Such a dilf. Aaaaaaa okay let's go ahead, I knew there was gonna be a tiny plot twist with Osborn.... I'm glad there was tho!!! He's such an excellent villain and god Green Goblin's mind it's unpredictable, so I'm glad we could see both sides!!!! Nmmmmmmgh okay now going with the sad part.....

My heart broken so hard to see May dying....... Even tho normally Aunt May is not that relevant in Spidey movies.... (As my point-of-view) This time since we saw her a lot of times and been really near with Peter's activities as a hero... Hits different. And the way she talked with him for the last time... God god god crying punching the way. ALSO HAPPY SEEING AT THE VERY FAR THAT SCENE...... SEEING THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE.... DEAD.......... GOD THAT HITS HARDER 😭

OKAY CONTINUE WITH SAPPY FEELINGS. A BIG BIG SHOUT-OUT TO NED PLS IM SO PROUD OF MY BOI DOING MAGIC. HE DESERVES MORE ATTENTION. GOD THE WAY HE JUST DID THE PORTALS.... GOD BLESS GOD NED.

NOW THE BIG FUCKING MOMENT!!!! SPIDER FUCKING VERSE IT'S REAL AAAAAAAAAAA SCREAMING. My heart jumped when I saw first Andrew's Spidey 😭 I'm ngl at very very time ago I didn't like him at first 💔 but im glad that i could change my mind on time and see him different. He's such an amazing actor and person. And it hurts a lot when he's referring himself as the worst spiderman.... God i was like "bITCH YOU'RE AMAZING, SO COOL, SO GORGEOUS". I hope Sony consider for making another movie of him!! HE DESERVES MORE!!!!!!!!! NOW FOR THE SECOND BIGGEST MY DUDE TOBEY 😭 the teacher, the god, the big bro, THE LEGEND ON THERE! He hasn't changed AND IM GLAD!!! I felt like I time travel on time when i was just a kid watching Tobey's movies... I even had a lot of shivers when the three spideys talked.

Big big big shout-out too (again) for Andrew and Tobey they really acted like big bros for Tom (I'll use their real names bc... Yeah so everyone can understand xd )

OKay THE AMOUNT OF MEME REFERENCES DKDJDJDJDJ THANKS BC HELPS TO MY WEAK AND SAD HEART 😭😭😭😭 smiling through the pain.

THE FINAL BATTLE WAS EPIC TRULY WONDERFUL. THANKS SONY AND MARVEL TO LET US BE WITNESSES OF THE SPIDERVERSE AND TO SEE THE BIG-THREE FIGHTING TOGETHER AND TRYING TO WORK AS A TEAM.

Now talking abt that topic 😭😹 pls the way Tobey and Andrew were like "team? What's that? You can eat it?" My dudes really saying "eww teamwork" JDJDJDJDJD BUT GLAD THEY COULD DO IT NOW. OKAY ALSO THE REFERENCE OF EDDIE AND VENOM FROM TOBEY'S UNIVERSE 😭😭😭😭 MAN THE WAY I SCREAMED. Let Andrew fight with Tom Hardy's Venom and after that they can be friends 🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝 and adopting Tom Holland's spidey to the team.

THE FINAL SCENE THERES NO WORDS. ONLY PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN. I hope they can be friends again at some point 💔💔💔 and that MJ and Peter can be together again 🥺 Also that Happy can remember Peter pls 💔💔💔💔💔

OKAY NOW POST-CREDITS

IM ANGRY AND HAPPY FOR THE SYMBROCK SCENE. First, I'm excited that Eddie knows what happened on the mcu universe fkfjdjdjdj hope can means something big for the future. Second, okay, I'm like mmmmmm bc the drunk lines even tho was like "GAY GAY HOMOSEXUAL GAY" AND MY HEART WENT AAAAA but! I must say this, I found weird the fact that Venom out of nowhere he said "EDDIE WE'RE DRUNK" (Sorry if some lines are written different, i watched it on Spanish so im not sure how they say it originally on the English ver.) And was exactly when Eddie say "[...] Then i should talk with this spiderman" mmmm gives me the feeling that Venom was scared that Eddie also dies if he met Peter, and trying a way to distract him for saying and doing that 🤔. This makes stronger the theory that definitely Venom knows that Tobey's spidey killed Eddie and Venom from his universe. Like i think he don't hate Peter... He's only scared that the love of his life also die and he doesn't want that for Eddie, like, now saying this as a fan of Symbrock im so fucking sure that at this point Venom just want to have a happy and alone life with Eddie, just saving the people and staying together and... That Venom wouldn't be stronger if something happens to Eddie. Maybe that's why Venom said the "drunk" lines and cutting Eddie's conversation.

Okay now with MoM teaser OMGGGGG okay I didn't have the enough brain at that very end tbh NDBDNDBDBD EVERYTHING HAPPENED SO FAST AAAAAAAA WANDA AS ALWAYS SO GORGEOUS MY QUEEN. BUT OKAY MONICA ALSO APPEARED OR IM CRAZY???? KDDBDJJD and AND AAAAAAAAA THE SORCERER SUPREME????????? MY BOI FROM WHAT IF IS THERE??? I HOPE IT'S HIM!!! AAAA looks nice. I hope they upload it later with better quality so I can analyze it deeper and see the details.

OKAY THAT'S THE ENDING OF THIS TED TALK. I JUST WANTED TO LET OUT MY THOUGHTS AAAAAAAAA SO GOOD THIS MOVIE. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IT ON HD ON DISNEY OR WHATEVER PLATFORM.

#spiderverse #no way home #spoilers #no way home spoilers #venom #doctor strange #PLS NO READ IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE MOVIE #im crying this movie is a masterpiece #spiderman #marvel

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alovesongshewrote · 3 years

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Almost A Thousand Years - Killahead, Part 2 | Hisirdoux Casperan

Plot: You’ve known Hisirdoux Casperan for almost a thousand years. You’ve hated him for almost a thousand years. And for almost a thousand years, you’ve been cursed to feel each others pain. But somewhere in that time, things changed. [Hisirdoux Casperan x Mostly Gender Neutral but Probably Female Presenting Based on How Historical Men Treat Them!Reader]

Word Count: 5,258

Warnings: B A T T L E

A/N: HAPPY HOLIDAYS KIDS!!!!! also, i swear to god this was written a month ago, before aaron confirmed the skulls and wizards thing

Taglist: @furblrwurblr @rainningdoom @fluffydmonkey @blondie0458 @sitherin-mxschief @jinxedleo @lawlesshedgehog @einahpetsyarcip @dolphincommander @sorrels-scribbling @anxious-stitcher @alive-and-afraid @animedweeb333 @douxiesdamsel @saroski05 @justarandomhoman @tales-of-hisirdoux @blixeon @yagirlcheesely

It was about as surreal as you thought it would be.

As a child you were trained to fight; to stab, to slice, to claw, and to bleed. You were taught that humans were the root of all evil and that the Gumm-Gumms would one day take what was theirs. Now you were fighting with the humans, the evil, the oppressors, against what had been your home, your people.

And it was going surprisingly well. It turns out having insider knowledge is very helpful on the battlefield. You were able to block everything they threw at you, to dodge and weave through their attacks and land some pretty good hits of your own. Douxie had your back, of course, blue light striking down as many opponents as it could take. In return, you took out anything that even threatened to get too close.

It was going well. But it didn’t last.

“WHERE IS THE WITCH SPY?”

“Oh no.”

“(Y/N), stay behind me,” Douxie’s voice was a dull hum against the roar around you, and of course, the screaming troll in front of you.

“JOIN YOUR BROTHERS AGAINST THIS PATHETIC ARMY!!”

“Oh god.”

Douxie noticed the fact that you weren’t even close to listening to him and took action, moving in front of you, striking any Gumm-Gumm soldier who even looked your way.

“RETURN HOME (Y/N) (L/N)!”

So, that was it. That was what had kept you in the dark as a traitor for at least a hundred years. The very sentence that made you avoid Britain with all your strength. The thing that drove a wedge between you and the man you now loved.

Four words were all it took.

“(Y/N)?? (Y/N), love, please, answer me!”

You jerked your head, snapping back to reality. No matter what events were relevant to your personal history, there was still a battle going on. You had to keep fighting. You struck down another few Gumm-Gumms just as Douxie used some of Archie’s fire to dispose of another, another few.

“Ha, I've always hated those twits!”

“Valid!” you cried as you ducked under an opponent’s strike. You took out their knees, rising again, just in time to see Morgana descend from a sky wormhole. Just what you needed.

“Night has already fallen.”

“Oh, really? Couldn’t tell.”

Douxie rolled his eyes at your sarcasm, but you could see the grin on his face. That boy loved you and all of your shenanigans. You were shaken from your thoughts, however, when Morgana started firing spells into the crowd, yeeting her magic around with reckless abandon.

“Morgana’s returned! She’s enemy number one!”

“Go!” Jim yelled, “We’ll hold the bridge!”

“Hisirdoux, with me! I-You!” oh no, he was talking to you, “I take you in as my apprentice, spare your life from the sword, and this is how you-”

“Master, they didn’t have a choice!” Douxie grabbed your hand, pulling you behind him as if to shield you from Merlin’s wrath, “It was a matter of survival!”

“Survival! What-”

“Please, Master, let them help. If we leave them here, any of the nights might try to attack them!”

“And why should that matter! They are a traitor, are they not? Death on the battlefield is more merciful than anything they might receive after the battle is won.”

“I won’t let anything happen to them,” Douxie’s voice was calm, but you could hear the anger behind it, “(Y/N) has proved their loyalty to me hundreds of times. They’re more than capable and I trust them with my life.”

You broke from your reverie, eyes painted with concern. How could he trust you so easily? Why did he, even after everything that had happened? This shouldn’t have come as such a shock to you. He did love you, after all, and yet, you still found yourself surprised by this revelation. You couldn’t help the hesitant smile that crept onto your face as you squeezed his hand slightly. He really did love you, didn’t he?

Merlin grumbled something, probably regretting that binding spell right about now, before motioning for you to follow him.

You cast a wave back to the kids, a silent wish for their luck, before you ran after Merlin, your hand still entwined with Douxie’s. He didn’t let go until you reached a small group of ruins, at which point you, your wizard and the old man stood, backs facing each other, all of you peered out into the darkness. Archie flew above you, dragon eyes finding nothing out of the ordinary. Not yet, anyway. You kept your sword out in front of you, and you could tell that Douxie was doing the same with his brace. You had no idea what Merlin was doing, but you never did, so that wasn’t a big deal.

“I feel dark magic.”

“It means she’s close.”

You and the familiar both gasped as something ran through the trees. A chill made its way into the woods, surrounding you and raising goosebumps on your skin. You felt your heart begin to race as strange echoes continued to ring out through the air. They soon morphed from a collection of noises into a laugh- Morgana’s.

“An old man, a foolish boy, and a traitor; lost as always.”

Your small group moved slightly, scanning the forest for any sign of the sorceress. You could feel her presence, but there was nothing there.

“Do you dare run… or face my vengeance?”

Oh. There she was.

“Um, is there a third option?” Archie asked, sounding much too calm for the situation at hand. You couldn’t blame him though, you would have done the same. But you weren’t doing the same. You were looking over your shoulder just as a collection of roots shot out at you. Thanks to your little turn, you had an advantage, cutting the offending plant parts before they could get to you. Douxie and Merlin, however, were not so lucky. The latter was pulled to the ground and stabbed through the shoulder with a particularly sharp root. He barked out an order for Hisirdoux to run, which he could not do because of the roots clinging to his shoulders. You used your sword on what you could, and a blast of green energy from Merlin took out the rest. A little anticlimactic if you ask me.

Despite your escape, Morgana cackled, even as Douxie fired spell after spell at her with little success. While he made his attempt, you helped Merlin to a standing position, a task that became easier when Douxie rejoined you at the old wizard’s other side.

“Merlin, you’re injured! Badly… (Y/N), is there anything-”

“Hisirdoux, if I should fall this day…”

Merlin handed his former apprentice a scroll, one which was covered with notes and instructions about building a tomb, and the heart of Avalon. Your brows furrowed as you read over Douxie’s shoulder. That wasn’t ominous at all.

“Why are you giving us this?”

“Foreseeing the future means preparing for the worst of it,” he glared at you for a moment, and you wondered what exactly he could see. He clearly hadn’t seen your act of treason coming, but there were other things that made you wonder. Your thoughts were interrupted by more ominous Merlin content, “That includes your wounded friend.”

“Jim? What about him?”

“The corruption in his heart has no cure. When he returns to the future, it will overtake him.”

Oh. Oh.

Oh no.

You’d had your suspicions, but hearing it from the master wizard himself brought it to another level of reality. There was no cure. There was no solution. You were going to go home, and you were going to kill Douxie. Or you’d try to, at the very least. Maybe, now that Douxie was a master wizard himself, he could do you both a kindness and kill you where you stood.

…

Yeah, no. He wouldn’t be doing that anytime soon, but a witch could dream! You feel his hand on your back, a gesture meant to comfort you that only made you sick. How he still cared about you, even after all of this would confuse you for years to come. For now, though, you just accepted it. There wasn’t time for much else with an evil sorceress on the prowl.

“No, no there must be some other way! I made a promise to them, to Claire, to get them home alive, all of them!”

“Yet, to save time itself, you all must return home, even if it means James Lake will be no more.”

That wasn’t exactly a pleasant thought. While a distance stemming from your past had momentarily sprung up between you and the kids, the gap between you had since closed. You loved those little monsters like they were your siblings, and you’d do anything for them. The thought that Jim would have to die, to make another sacrifice when he’d already given up so much, was just another thing that killed you inside.

“And there’s no other solution?” you tried to keep quiet despite the rage that boiled inside you, not at anyone in particular, but at the situation as a whole, “There’s no way to fix this that doesn’t get Jim killed?”

Merlin shook his head, but you didn’t need that confirmation. You already knew the answer.

“Such is the burden of a wizard,” the old one spoke as your small group made its way deeper into the night, “To make the hard choices mortals cannot,” he grunted, slouching forward slightly, reminding you that you should really take a look at that stab wound at some point. Merlin, however, paid no real mind to this, instead, continuing his little monologue, “Now it is yours to bear.”

You looked away from your wizard companions to see a giant skull, lodged between a rock and… well, another rock. Some may call it a canyon, you called it fucking ominous and terrifying. The skull was lit from within, orange light seeping through the space where eyes had once stared out into the world. You wondered, for a moment, how these old bones had ended up here, and how they had stayed. What was the last thing this being saw? Was it the sky above, or the ground below? What could kill something as large as this? You didn’t ask your questions. It didn’t seem like the right time.

And really, it wasn’t time for anything other than nerves and anxiety. Without a word, you followed Merlin across the rocks until he stood in front of the skull, on top of an odd sort of contraption. You stood a few steps behind, safely off the weird cage thing.

“Morgana, reveal thyself!”

Before you could question the logistics of giving yourselves away, a portal, ringed with gold and made of shadows appeared, releasing the queen of the apocalypse onto another rock. Yep, that sure was an evil sorceress. Just what you needed at this time of night.

“Look what has wandered into my web,” nice starting point. Threatening, but not over the top. You cast your sarcastic thoughts aside for the moment, as valid as they were, preparing yourself instead, for a fight.

“These are dark powers you medal with, Morgana. Who granted them? Who resurrected you from death?”

“Wizards beyond your ken,” ah shit. Just as you suspected. ‘Wizards beyond your ken,’ was mysterious witch for ‘The Arcane Order.’

And then she was gone again. Dope.

“So, uh… we should head into the big skull of doom?” you asked, eyebrows knit together in a mix of concern and confusion.

“Yep, let’s go.” You and Douxie nodded at each other before helping Merlin scale the rocks and get into the skull, asking Archie to stand watch for a moment, just to secure his safety. He agreed only once you’d promised to call him if things got rough.

Inside of the first skull, you found a second, slightly smaller skull. What the hell was it with magic dudes and skulls, huh? Morgana had this as her lair, the Arcane Order’s ship was a skull, Douxie had his whole vibe and Merlin kept skulls in his office. Shit, even you kept bones around, though you were a doctor and arguably had the best excuse. Your thoughts ran wild as you examined the space around you, but they were interrupted by the reappearance of your least favourite murder-witch.

“Morgana!”

The two wizards prepared for battle, but you hesitated. Something was wrong here. Morgana was crying, no-sobbing. You recognized this, whatever this was. You’d seen it in yourself back in the 1300s. Yep, something was wrong alright, and judging by this, someone was probably dead.

“It’s your fault!” She cried, “You’re the reason Arthur is gone!”

Oh, so you were right. That didn’t really explain how Arthur’s blood was on your hands though.

“What?”

“Gone?”

“Uh, guys? It kinda sounds like the King is dead.”

Your companions had no time to respond as Morgana rose through the air, seeking misplaced revenge instead of proper justice. She fired a spell at the three of you, which Douxie ran to shield you from. Merlin joined him a second later, limping towards the younger wizard with your help. The second he stood on his own, your magic joined theirs.

“She’s too powerful! We have no choice but to seal her away!”

“I know. I’ll try to buy some ti-”

Douxie was cut off when Merlin knocked you both clear across the room and out of the way of another spell, one which left the old wizard in chains.

You felt the impact that Douxie suffered and you were sure he felt yours. Nevertheless, the two of you pulled yourselves up just as Morgana started on another speech.

“Oh, shame! Little Douxie finally gets his staff, just in time to die with it!”

She aimed her next attack at him, but you interfered, knocking her away with a shield made of your magic.

“And you! Traitorous little wretch!” you weren’t exactly sure which treason she was talking about or who she learned it from. You’d betrayed a lot of people over the years, she’d have to be more specific, “Why do you still fight alongside them?!”

You knocked away another attack before answering, “The shorter one is cute!” With that, you went on the offensive, landing a kick to Morgana’s stomach and striking her again with the butt of your sword. Your small victory didn’t last long though, as she struck back, the impact slamming you into the opposite wall and probably cracking a few of your ribs. You’d have to apologize to Douxie for that one.

Morgana scoffed at you, looking down at your crumpled figure as you struggled to stand, “Only a fool would fight for love!”

Her voice may have contained a little more rage than was necessary, and she may have been projecting a little bit, but she didn’t have time to say anything else. Douxie handed a few hits with his staff, using surprise to his advantage, and holding up surprisingly well despite the pain you both were in. Morgana turned her taunting onto Douxie, mocking him as they fought.

“You can’t even wield it!” you winced as she landed a hit, “You should stick to your usual tricks.”

You bit your lip as she struck him in the face- twice. This really wasn’t a great day for either of you, was it?

“Use the power of your staff! Make it your own!”

“Please, Douxie.” Your voice was quiet, and there was almost no way he heard it. Hell, you weren’t even sure what you were asking for, but in the next second, his staff turned into a fucking guitar so that was probably it if you had to guess. Or maybe it was the next second when he avenged you by smacking Morgana in the face with said guitar, sending her flying across the room. You knew that as a doctor you shouldn’t hope for someone to crack a rib, but this was an exception you were willing to make.

“What?!”

“BABE! THAT WAS HOT!!” you yelled, too shocked to say much else.

“Bleeding balroths! This is nuclear!” your wizard said, spinning the staff around.

You couldn’t help but laugh at that as you pulled yourself up from the ground. Of all the things Douxie had ever said and done in his life, that had to be the Douxie-est.

“Did you just strike me with a-a lute?!”

“Uh-uh-uh-uh. No, uh-uh. Spellcaster guitar, darling.”

You weren’t exactly sure what the fuck he just said, but you were 110% there for it. He played a lil’ riff on his staff, and you had a very brief mental debate on whether or not that took the throne for the Douxie-est thing he’d ever done.

“Needs tuning though.” He continued to play the riff for a solid minute, and you weren’t sure what was funnier. The fact that this was, in fact, something that was happening, or how Done Merlin looked with literally everything at that moment. It was both. Both was good.

“I meant make it your own weapon!”

Douxie finished playing just in time to shield himself from another of Morgana’s attacks, “Well, this is technically an “axe!”

“You are a huge geek!”

“And you love it!” your wizard yelled, playing again while running from Morgana, looking for an opening while avoiding a volley of spells. He was right. You did love it. That’s why you were going to help at the next opportunity, your (and technically his) poor ribs be damned.

“Hisirdoux! This is no time for dreadful music!”

“Dreadful?”

“Absolutely infernal.”

“I mean, I thought it was good!” you yelled, launching your own round of spells at Morgana, making it harder for her to land a hit on Douxie.

“No worries, this is just the opening track!”

“What do you hope to do? Blow out our eardrums?”

“Well, pardon me if this rock is too freakin’ awesome for your medieval sensibilities!” You had no idea how he did it, but he managed to land on one of the light fixtures (of all things) while you weren’t looking. You couldn’t really see him from where you were, but you were almost certain that he was doing the sign of horns and sticking out his tongue.

“Enough of your noise!” Morgana cried, blasting you to the side quickly before returning to her real fight. You were lucky that this blast was not as strong as her first. You were able to roll out of it without causing any real damage, a benefit to both you and Douxie. Speaking of, your wizard found himself locked in a Harry Potter-style duel, two magics facing off against one another in a single stream. It was not looking too good for your boi though. He seemed to notice this, and jumped from the light and returned to physical combat on the ground. Unfortunately, that did not end well either, and you bit back a cry as Douxie was thrown through the room. Yeah, things were looking rough. Time to call in the cat calvary.

You swore you were only gone for a moment, but in that time, Douxie managed to get himself pinned against a wall.

“Do not fret, Merlin. You’ll find a new apprentice to replace him. Are people not dispensable, after all?”

“Ok, go, go now!” you whispered to Archie, your tone intense, which was fair considering the situation. The familiar did as told and flew at the witch, sending her fling off balance and keeping her away from Douxie. Arch did a quick loop near Merlin, tossing the wizard his staff before circling around to land on Douxie’s shoulder. Merlin and Morgana began their fight as you ran to your wizard and his familiar.

“Nice work my dudes, you think you can keep it up?”

“Probably! Arch, light me!” you liked the sound of that. You liked the sight of it even more as blue flames encircled Morgana, trapping her, and allowing Douxie and Archie to make their final attack, keeping the sorceress in place.

“Hurry, I can’t hold her that long!”

“Don’t worry, we’ve got this,” you said, voice quiet as you threw your own spell at the witch from below. Hopefully, that would make things a little easier. It did. Douxie was grateful.

“You have lost yourself, Morgana! Bound to dark magic. I have no choice but to seal you away! Sigilia infractum!”

It seemed to work for a second, but then, for like, the third (?) time in that battle you were blasted back, Douxie fell with you and hit the ground harder.

“Man, this sucks,” you whispered as you pulled yourselves up, going to Merlin’s aid.

“Master!”

“She’s too powerful,” he groaned, “You have to finish this, together.”

“We can do that… we can do that! Let’s go!”

You and Douxie moved in sync, matching each other’s movements exactly. Using his staff, Douxie’s blue magic replaced Merlin’s green while yours froze the witch again, keeping her from attacking you.

“Sigilia infractum causera!”

Finally, the blast from the spell did not hurt you, instead, it did as it was supposed to, trapping Morgana. You let your own spell ease up, instead, lending whatever strength you could to Douxie, God knows he would need it.

“I will destroy you all! No matter what it takes, no matter where you go, I will end all that you love until you feel my agony!”

“Yeah, you aren’t the first person to threaten that! Come up with something original, then we’ll talk.”

The witch roared and threw a spell in your direction, but it disappeared into a shadow edged with purple.

“Hey! Hands off my teachers!”

Oh, Claire! Claire had found you somehow, that was good.

“I swear on all your lives, I shall rise again!”

“Already seen it,” the girl cried, throwing some much-deserved sass Morgana's way, “You don’t win. See you in 900 years!”

And with that, the spell was complete. Claire opened another portal, dragging Morgana into it. With that big historical event over, your adrenaline failed you and you staggered forward. That was pretty convenient considering it let you catch Douxie, who was doing much worse than you were. You noticed his eyes rolling back slightly, which was a cause for some alarm.

“Hey, heyheyheyheyhey, stay with us, you nerd, don’t pass out on me,” you weren’t sure you could handle the stress if he did.

“Douxie! Are you okay?!” Archie and Claire moved in, the former knocking Douxie back and licking his face relentlessly.

“Ugh! That’s-that’s disgusting!”

You and Claire both laughed at this, glad that at least this part of the fight was finally over. Douxie stole a glance at you and wondered if he had somehow died during the battle. How else could there be an angel before him?

“Well,” he turned his gaze from your smile to Claire with only minor difficulties, “I think we just saved history.”

You sat back, all fears forgotten for now in a moment of relief and elation as you watched your boyfriend give the girl a high-five.

“And you took down a ninth-level sorceress.”

“Damn right,” you giggled, which was new, but not unwelcome. You turned to Douxie, “Sharp work, samurai.” Your friends rolled their eyes at your antics, though they did it out of love.

The excitement calmed for a moment, allowing Archie to speak, “Merlin would be proud.”

“Yeah, if he wasn’t out cold.”

“I mean, it’s not a great look for him, but full transparency? I could probably take a three-hundred-year nap right now.”

Douxie laughed, but he wrapped a hand around yours and whispered, “Please don’t.”

You squeezed his hand, a silent promise that you would not answer your problems with sleep. Not today, anyway. To be completely honest, the problem immediately at hand could be solved rather quickly, by you, at least.

“Anyway, Merlin’s still been stabbed, so I’ll just-”

Fortunately, this was just a stab wound. No magic, no tricks, no possession, just medicine. That was what you knew, it was what you could deal with. It was over too quickly. Was that a thing you could say? Could you wish for medical treatment to last longer? Was that something you could do? Not to mention that he was your boyfriend’s surrogate dad, which just made things complicated. Either way, it was over too fast. You returned to Camelot, mourned the dead, said your goodbyes, and that was it. Time was up. You had to go home.

Home. What even was home now? You knew the answer. Home was Douxie. Wherever he was, you wanted to be. He made you feel safe, feel loved, feel every good thing that humans are supposed to feel, but- To save the world, to save his life, you would have to leave him. There was no other choice, either you stayed in the past and everyone died, or you went back to the future and risked his life by staying with him. You had to go. As soon as you got back, you’d have to run. You didn’t know where, to-to Spain, or Japan, or Cuba, Vietnam, Egypt, France, somewhere, anywhere, just to keep him safe. You didn’t want to do it. You just wanted to stay by his side, forever, if possible. But that was the thing. It wasn’t possible. And that broke your heart.

And if possible, these gosh darn kids were going to break you even more.

“Everybody, ready yourselves. We don’t have much time. I’ll dial us in for when we left.”

“But what’s gonna happen when we get there? The danger we escaped, it’ll be waiting for us. And Jim’s still hurt.”

You bit your lip as you and Douxie approached Jim and Claire. You really didn’t want to be the one who had to say this. You didn’t want to be around when she heard the news. Shit, you didn’t even want it to be news. You just wanted your kids to be happy, and to not kill your boyfriend, and to live for once. Maybe fate just didn’t like you.

“Claire, about that… Jim is-”

“Ready to face the inevitable,” Jim held out a hand to stop you.

“Jim, are you sure?” Douxie asked while you maintained your silence. You were pretty sure if you said anything you’d lose your composure.

“Jim?” Oh God, and now Claire was going to find out how screwed you still were. This was gonna suck.

“Claire, the shard in- There is no cure. That’s what Merlin told me earlier.”

You winced at the horror on the young girl’s face. She didn’t deserve this. Neither of them did.

“That’s crazy! We can find something! I’ll learn a spell, we can stay here!”

“If we don’t all go back right now, the future won’t exist. What kind of hero would I be if I sacrificed everyone else? Not to be ironic, but we’re out of time.”

“No! Douxie, (Y/N), tell him! We can fix this! You can fix this!”

You brought your hand up to hide your eyes from the sorceress. She was right, you should have been able to fix this, and tears wouldn’t solve anything. Your only solution was running away, and Jim- oh God, Jim. See, it was things like this that made you start drinking in the twenties.

“I’m sorry, Claire. He’s right. We must go back now, but when we do, we’ll find a way to reverse this,” he stole a glance back at you, and your distraught state only drove him further. He had to do this, to fix things when you got home. He owed all of you that much, “I promised I would return you home, and I am, but the portal can only stay open for a few moments. This is our one shot. Trust me.”

A moment later, he joined you at the base of the ship before taking your hand and leading you onto it.

“We’ll fix this,” he promised, his voice low so only you could hear, “Together. We’ll go home to the future, and we’ll fix this, and then-” your eyes met his as he paused, “And then, maybe, we could start our future.”

Despite the tears that threatened to fall, you smiled ever so slightly, “We’ll build a new one if we have to.”

It wasn’t until his lips met yours that you started crying. It wasn’t his fault it was just- fuck you would miss this. You smiled again as you pulled apart, though the tears hadn’t stopped. It was for his sake, really. Under normal circumstances, you might pretend that everything was fine, but for just one second, you wanted to believe it.

“I love you,” your voice shook, and you hated it.

“I love you, too,” his voice was strong, yet tired. And you loved it.

You pushed a small smile onto your face, trying to cast the illusion that you were okay, and that everything was okay, and that no one would die when you returned. Your attempts were quickly halted by a sting on your cheek. That came from him, you realized, as you noticed a thin cut that ran across his cheekbone. You ran your thumb over it, his skin patching together and healing under your hand. At least you could still do that one thing. Sure, you were a traitorous assassin, but by god could you heal a small cut.

Douxie smiled, his grin seeming more natural than yours. He kissed you one last time before letting you go and taking the time map. You watched him, not saying a word as he said something under his breath and activated the map and the heart. A beam of light lit the night sky green, going on for a moment until it formed a portal. You could almost see your time on the other side. That was it. That was how you would get back to the future. Yay.

It was weird. You’d known Douxie for so long, and hated him for most of that time, but now? Now you were dreading going back to your time, going back to general safety because it meant that he would die. It was just odd to think that there was a time where you would have wished for this, for a chance to kill him and avoid the blame. If you wished for anything now, it would be another way out.

You followed Douxie onto Merlin’s airship and walked past him, standing as far away as you could. You didn’t know what would happen when you crossed that barrier. You might try to murder him instantly, you might be able to control yourself, you might be able to fight off your curse entirely. The point is, you didn’t know, and distance was the best solution. So, you stood alone and stared off into the night as the ship moved off towards the portal until Steve’s ramblings returned your attention to your friends.

“Man, Camelot was crazy! Why don’t they ever talk about that in the history books?”

Douxie gave the blond kid a pat on the shoulder, and you watched as Steve headed towards the front of the ship where Jim and Claire stood. The girl was looking back towards you, but you couldn’t meet her eyes. Her boyfriend was doomed, and there was nothing you could do about it. And you would have done anything. For those kids, you’d give your own life in a heartbeat, but that wasn’t an option. Not now, not yet. Douxie, however, met her eyes, though only for a moment. You didn’t have to hear him to know what he was thinking.

“My burden to bear.”

And with those final words, the world turned green, and you were gone.

#hisirdoux x reader #hisirdoux casperan x reader #douxie x reader #douxie imagine #hisirdoux imagine #almost a thousand years #aaty #angst #hisirdoux #hisirdoux casperan #douxie #toa douxie #toa hisirdoux

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cryinginthebackseat · 4 years

Text

initials t.c.

Fandom: Open Heart

Pairing: Tobias Carrick x MC

Words: 7.299 (I’M SO SORRY)

Summary: Tobias Carrick makes Claire an offer she can’t refuse.

Warnings: 50% plot, 50% smut, swear-a-thon, blasphemy

Author’s Note: when the book first introduced us to tobias carrick, the first thing that hit my mind was “okay, but that dude is like the carbon copy of jesse williams and that’s hot” but then, once it reveals who he is and what’s his role in the book i went “interestinggggggg” cause you know, i’m a sucker for morally grey characters and all, and i’m not even ashamed to admit it. also, carrick is shaping up to be such an interesting character with each chapter and maybe one day- okay, maybe this sounds like a pipe dream- but one day, i hope he can be a li (let a girl dream plz) lmao

also if anyone’s interested, i made a PLAYLIST to accompany reading the fic.

the title is inspired by serge gainsbourg’s initials bb

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Cast down off heaven Cast down on my knees I’ve lain with the devil Cursed god above Forsaken heaven

To Bring You My Love - PJ Harvey

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Whenever Claire thinks about Tobias Carrick, admittedly, unfortunately, tragically, she always thinks about his eyes first before remembering what a colossal pain in the ass he is.

It always comes in that order. Like the number 3 always comes before 4, like the seawater dragging back from the shoreline before a tsunami occurs, like pouring milk before the cereal (she honestly didn’t get what the fuss is about until one day Elijah cried ‘oh, hell no you don’t, satan!‘ one morning and proceeded to give her bullet points why pouring the milk before the cereal is considered a sin and more of an abomination than Nephilims’ existence and that there’s a higher probability that she’s a psycho for being a ‘milk first’ kind of person). So apparently, Claire’s a psycho now which explains so many aspects- but she digresses and the point is, the reaction is uncontrollable and she high-key hates how she can’t control her goddamn mind most of the time.

The point is, she needs to stop thinking about him to begin with.

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Claire Castelnuovo was born in the summer, under the sign of Gemini. Marilyn Monroe once said that stands for intellect, being a Gemini, but she was too blissfully unaware of this guerdon that she devoted her adolescent years to being outdoors instead. Too many days she spent trampling along the cornfields with her cousins until the skies faded out with brilliant purple-tinged amber and she was carrying a piece of the sun in her skin and smelled like one, stuffing wildflowers inside her boots as she walked around the neighborhood with her dad’s old stethoscope, napping in a hammock with Oasis’ All Around the World on repeat. By the time she hit 15, her black strands had turned brown from repeated sun exposure. She loved it.

But it was a different time, a different place. Somewhere that only exists on the margins of her memories, lost and hidden.

Now, Claire prefers the night.

It’s 9:30 pm when she arrives at a hotel bar in downtown Boston. A newly christened establishment which has somehow become a regular spot for Hemingway’s enthusiasts once the Boston Globe wrote an article about their Hemingway Daiquiri and how, as they wrote it, ‘probably the only place that’s brave and crazy enough to adhere to the 1930s original recipe’ and bourgeois party birds at wee hours during the weekend.

Her eyes are gritty, dry and strange. Her mind’s much worse for the wear- she feels like shit, like in the middle of watching that scene from The Green Mile shit when all is hopeless and you feel like walking out of the theater, but you’ve spent your last savings just to buy the ticket, so you decide to stick through it.

Claire makes a beeline for the bar, tries to flag down the bartender. She orders an Old Fashioned, making sure to specify to double it because she’s not a regular here and he’s not Reggie and that’s how she’s been taking her drink for years.

She knows well deep in her bones that she should be somewhere else. Somewhere more familiar, somewhere where Tim Mcgraw often plays from the subpar speakers, and the rustic wooden bar countertop is gouging and discoloring from the cheap household cleaners and alcohol stains, and her friends are cramming together in the same booth in the back, reveling and laughing until they close the bar down and make a mess all over. Perhaps it’s a mistake coming here, where no one’s a familiar face and the drinks are a tad overpriced for her budget.

But then, perhaps this is exactly what she needs; the unfamiliarity, the visceral feeling knowing that she doesn’t belong here, where no one knows her name and the huge deal of weight she’s currently carrying on her shoulders. Perhaps, she can’t face her friends after what happened, after what Esme has done. Shit, how could any of this happen? Claire knows this all on Esme’s, but her guilt has grown hopelessly tangled with her anxiety. She’s her intern, for fuck’s sake, Claire’s supposed to prevent this from happening in the first place.

Man, where’s Declan Nash when she feels like punching someone in the face?

Claire makes the mistake of drinking her drink too quickly, because it hasn’t been ten minutes and she’s drained half of the content. Then she reaches for her phone in her bag, fiddles with it, absent-minded, equal parts bored before then settles on watching the band performing Art Pepper’s You Go To My Head and immediately thinks of that time she accidentally dropped her brother’s saxophone in a moment of her rather graceless, wine-soaked self with the whole family present.

Someone plops down on the empty stool next to her. Claire’s now scrolling through her phone- again, bored. Sienna commented on the post Elijah shared to the group chat with a few unnecessary-yet-totally-necessary emojis to the already convoluted series of texts and Claire only reads them in silence, not only because her friends’ texting behaviors are too chaotic for her to follow sometimes but she’s not really feeling like talking to anyone right now.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in.”

Famous last words.

Claire freezes in her seat. Her phone’s still glowing in her hand, alighting her features. She recognizes that voice- too well, that is and it’s enough to set off her flight-or-fight response.

She glances up from her phone, preparing for the worst.

Well, what’s presented before her is literally the worst.

“Of all the gin joints…” she says once her eyes find Tobias Carrick sitting next to her, still in his work shirt, sleeves rolled-up, a few buttons undone, reeking of smoke, soap and antiseptic with a shit-eating grin plastered over his face.

She should have gone to Donahue’s instead.

“Evening to you too, Castelnuovo. Drinking your dinner tonight, I see?”

“What, this? No, this is breakfast. 100% daily value of alcohol and pretty much nothing else. I mean, it’s not the weekend without a bad case of hangover and an aspirin snowglobe in the morning, am I right? You know, like a glass of aspirin? Not a literal snowglobe?” she blabbers, realizing just so by the time she hears him snort. Claire chokes down another sip to shut her mouth up. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m about to commit first-degree murder and burn this whole place to the ground,” he drawls, the ever goddamn sarcastic. “What do you think? I’m trying to get dru-”

“No, I mean what are you doing here, of all places? Can’t you get drunk somewhere else?” she interrupts, her midwest accent does funny things to the vowels and consonants- something that only happens whenever she’s in distress, or at least according to Jackie.

“Last time I heard, this joint’s still owned by the Hilton, not a certain junior member of the Diagnostics Team at Edenbrook hospital.”

“Dude, what do you think of the H in Claire H. Castelnuovo stands for?” Deadpan, trying to keep up with the rolling sarcasm, she retorts. He smirks.

“Horatio?”

“Get the fuck out of here,” she mutters, mid-eye-roll, mid-snickering.

He chuckles, his voice rich and smoky amidst the late-night swing and distant chatters. Carrick doesn’t leave, of course, typically him- if those anecdotes Ethan told her has taught her anything about his character, that is- defying everything, scheming his way to the top, the embodiment of ‘those devilish boys with their heavenly eyes’ type your mother warns you about.

Not that the latter is relevant.

“Or what?” His mouth twitches but there’s a hard, challenging light in his eyes that she knows too well by now.

“Or I’m leaving.“ She shoots him a glare. He’s testing her patience- again, like it’s his finesse. Some things never change, it seems.

“Come on, Castelnuovo, don’t be a sourpuss. The night is young and I can promise you, the last thing I am is a horrible drinking buddy.”

With a touch of irony, she replies: “I’m sure. I bet you asked your friends to fill out a questionnaire every time you went out with them, did you?”

Carrick hums.

“You’re funny.” But he says it in the same tone that someone might say Jesus fuck, you’re probably one of the most frustrating creatures I’ve ever laid eyes on. Also, because the next thing he says is: “A little rough around the edges, but funny nonetheless.”

“That makes one of us then.”

Carrick frowns, which is kind of a surprise because she’s half expected him to flash her that signature cheeky grin of his.

“Listen, I’m just trying to make a friendly conversation here. I know we haven’t really seen eye-to-eye with each othe-”

Claire snorts and crosses her arms over her chest. “That, doctor, is an understatement of the fucking century.”

“Okay so, we’re like Tom and Jerry but sans the background music and a naive little duckling running around calling one of us his momma, but I feel like now’s the time to call out a temporary truce between us.” A beat, then: “I heard about what happened with the intern.”

Something flashes across her face- and Carrick must have noticed it, because his face does this odd thing- it softens, even for a moment. She hates it. He’s not supposed to be looking at her like that, not supposed to see her at her weakest state or saved her ass- And Jesus, why does she have to be indebted to Tobias Carrick, of all people- But god forbid, the last thing she’ll ever do is crying in front of him.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she mutters, barely audible, trying to temper her fluctuated emotions.

“Then don’t. We can talk about anything else or fall into some sort of endless, meaningless platitudes. Whichever will work.” As if sensing Claire’s lingering hesitation, he adds. “Tell you what, to sweeten the offer, your next drinks are on me.”

She assesses him for a long minute, eyes narrowing. She’s shaking her head, but her mouth, as if against her will, instead says: “Careful, Carrick, there’s a chance I’ll be abusing that offer and run you dry.”

"Hey, if you want to butcher your liver so bad, don’t stop on my account,” he says. “Don’t worry, though, I’ll make sure to save your ass again this time around. Pro bono.”

Claire looks as if she’s just swallowed a dead rat. “Thanks, but no thanks. Death seems more like an appealing choice.”

“Well, I stopped death from interfering then, I’ll stop it again.” Carrick winks, she pretends to gag again yet remains still in her seat, so Carrick waves at the bartender for their order- she orders for a refill and he, a martini and Claire is this close from asking 'shaken or stirred?’ but then remembers who he is and immediately washes the question down with her drink.

“You know, if anyone told me weeks ago that I’d be having a drink with you tonight, I probably would have socked them.“

Carrick is in the middle of lighting his cigarette, but laughs instead. “The Times They Are a-Changin’, as Bob Dylan said.” A puff of smoke escapes his mouth, curling around his fingers. Claire instinctively looks away. “Which reminds me of that one time your mentor sang Ballad of A Thin Man on the fucking subway when we were 20.”

She swivels her head to his direction, on the verge of choking on her drink. “Hold on, hold on, Ethan Jonah Ramsey sings?”

“Give him a dare he couldn’t refuse and a few shots of whiskey, and I promise you he’ll sing like Sinatra on crack.” He grins, his eyes are all crinkled and bright; she thinks that means he’s genuinely amused. “Ah, good times. We were like- wait, who was it he’d like to say we’re like again?”

A small smile pulls at her lips. “Bert and Ernie.”

“Jesus, he really fucking compares us to some Sesame Street characters, huh?” She laughs at that, loud and bright. He does the same. “Personally, I’d always say we were like Butch and Sundance back then- rebels with a cause, a band of misfits, trying to leave our marks on the world. You know those types. We were young, we wanted so much- I still do. I mean, let’s be real, whoever’s wanted to be defeated at their own game?”

A crease forms between her eyebrows, not quite a frown.

“Nobody,” Claire concurs, hating herself for it. “But was it worth it? Betraying the closest thing you had to a brother or a lover…” Carrick coughs on his smoke from the latter. “or whatever in the process just to get what you wanted?” Claire was obviously aiming for that brash, hard-hitting jab, but it lands gloriously too soft.

The bartender finally places their ordered drinks down on the bar. Carrick reaches for it, taking a careful swig, then sets his glass down. He takes a deep breath.

"It’s nothing personal. It never was. I never considered him as my rival.”

“Yeah, but by doing whatever you did, you’ve made an enemy out of him,” she counters. “Look, Carrick, I know we live in a dog-eat-dog world and I know being good sometimes doesn’t get the job done. Perhaps Machiavelli was right. Perhaps, when necessary, you have to be ruthless, dissembling and manoeuvring- what did he say again? ‘The end justifies the means’? But if any worthwhile end can justify the means to attain it, if everyone outright surrenders to their darker side, then what’s left of our humanity?”

For an interminable moment, there is only silence. He simply stares at her, as if she’s a walking, talking Rubik’s cube he can’t solve or a book that he has opened and now he’s got to know so much more and she feels pinned under those warm irises, uneasy.

Suddenly, his mouth begins to take shape; the corners hike up, stretch and then he does the unexpected.

The bastard fucking laughs.

“Excuse me?!” she spits, white-hot anger lacing each word. Carrick laughs harder- the audacity- despite Claire’s growing razor’s edge stare. “Did you just laugh at me? I was being fucking seriou-”

“Sorry, sorry.” Wiping an imaginary tear from his left eye. “I was just remembering Harper’s words. She’s right, you really are on the side of the angels, aren’t you?”

She points at him with her glass, snarling. “And you, mister, are the devil himself with a medical degree and an egg head- and I don’t mean the slang for a highly academic person.”

“Ouch,” Carrick says out loud, still kind of laughing, borderline frowning. “Okay, I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”

“Damn straight. Though you have a lot to apologize for.”

He groans. “Don’t tell me you’re still pissed about that one patient I stole under your nose?”

“The North remembers, ser,” she says, mean-spirited.

“Then does the North remembers that I saved her life?”

“Oh, so you’re discrediting the efforts of the other doctors that helped you make the cure?”

“Alright, alright. You win.” Carrick holds up his hands, the universal gesture of defeat and takes one final drag of his cigarette. He stubs it out, all the while keeping his gaze on her.

“So, how exactly can I make it up to you?“

Claire blinks- once, twice, thrice, realizing his intent. His voice drops an octave and he’s leaning in, close enough for her to notice the constellations of freckles splaying across his face and the way his brown eyes glinted like two shots of whiskey under a stream of light, intense and all-consuming. She feels her mind races, her brains feel as if they underwent a short-circuit and get caught on fire, and the fact that her mind’s on the precipice of exploring the idea is not helping.

A burst of laughter erupts from her throat, not that it’s funny- there’s nothing funny about the situation, but someone ought to diffuse this shift of tension between them, or that was her aim, at least.

“What, you wanna pay me back?” she asks, trying to keep her voice from cracking but failing miserably. Fingers trembling against her glass as she chugs nearly a quarter of her drink in one go.

He notices that.

"A Lannister always pays his debts, does he? If you think that I owe you one, then I’ll gladly pay.” His eyes flick back to her face, searing into her. The air crackles between them. The band is playing a different song now, a sound that only exists on the margin of her attention. If they’re in, say a mid 2000s rom-com movie, someone would probably interrupt this moment and save her from this. But this isn’t a movie.

Claire licks her lips, a candid reaction which encourages him to inch closer- or is it her? She can’t tell anymore. Tracing odd patterns on the palm of her hand with his finger and oh god, this is Carrick, the bane of her fucking existence, she’d shoot him first before she kisses him. But something about the prospect of fucking this bastard twists her insides deliciously into a confused mess.

“How? By fucking me?” she inquires, feigning scandalized- all that Catholic guilt bullshit.

He grins, all-teeth and wolfish and shrugs as if they’re talking about his life insurance policy or shit. “Well, that’s the idea.”

“But you don’t even like me.” It should come out as I don’t even like you, but even she knows that’ll be just another lie she tells.

“On the contrary, I enjoy our rivalry far more than I should, Castelnuovo,” he purrs and places a hand on her knee. Her throat bobs. She’s wearing a skirt, it didn’t seem important then, but now his hand feels warm against her skin, dangling on the edge of impropriety. Like gravity, all it takes is a little push for him to cross that line.

“I should be disliking the way you talk to me, challenging me and putting me on the back foot every goddamn time. I should be focusing on taking you down a peg, but the more I see you, the more I realize you have an attractive kind of power. And I’m just one man. And if there’s anything I learned, the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”

But then his movement suddenly ceases. Claire almost asks why.

"However…”

“What?” she stares up at him, eyes wide, breath hitching.

“However if you only accept alcohol as the currency for transactions, then I’ll tell the bartender to get us another round instead,“ he tells her, offering her one last chance to back out from this, from making this mistake with him.

Claire stares into her drink, actually mulling this over. Her mind tells her no, but the other part- the alcohol-infused part of her mind- whispers otherwise. She imagines if Ethan or any of her friends are here, they would probably grab her shoulder and shake the living hell out of her for even reconsidering his offer.

But then again, intelligence, alcohol and desperation have always had a bad history of getting along together.

“What about June?” Claire asks against her better judgement, after a long, considerable pause. Carrick raises a confused brow.

“What about her?”

“I thought you guys…” she trails off, makes a face, feeling all-kind of flustered and aroused and wow, she’s really doing this, huh? “I mean, I don’t know- I don’t wanna get in between you guys.”

“Nah. It was only a three time thing, but there’s never been anything between us.” He chuckles at Claire’s askance look. “If you don’t believe me, you can fact-check it with the woman herself,” Carrick adds, looking at her dead-on with his eyes like he wants to get the message across.

She regards him silently for a long second, and maybe she’s a touch drunk now, maybe the bartender put something in her drink, or maybe she just needs to blow off some steam after what’s been happening in these past few weeks and Carrick happens to be a decent warm body for the occasion, but Claire finds herself shifting closer.

"Then I want you to pay me back.”

“You sure about that?”

“Yeah,” she answers, more sure this time, more determined.

Her nose bumps his, his breath fanning across her face all the while Carrick’s slightly pushing her skirt up, letting his fingertips travel higher. His eyes keep darting back and forth from her eyes and lips, checking for her reaction. There is no inhibition here, not anymore. People might be watching- heck, they could be already watching and it terrifies her that she doesn’t give a damn about it.

“But if you tell anyone about this, I swear to god… ” she warns and a shadow of mirth passes across his eyes, making her almost regretting this. Almost.

“Claire, darling.” It’s the first time he’s ever said her name and her stomach does a tango. “Your secret is safe with me.“ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He gets them a room in the hotel, it’s on the twentieth floor. Carrick handles the accommodation- he can afford it, apparently, which is not really surprising and the nuisating check-in procedure while Claire only waits in the lobby like a beautiful, agitated china doll amidst the turbulent sea the whole time until he comes back, flashes the room key at her and beckons her to follow.

She goes ahead of him, but he catches up. His body heat sends her anxiety rocketing sky-high through the roof as they walk next to each other, hands briefly brushing against one another but she ignores that (or at least she tries).

They are silent in the elevator, they are silent even once they reach the designated floor and walk down the hall to their room where the dim and shadowed lights follow their steps like vultures.

Carrick holds open the door for her and she enters, taking in the windows and the striking view of Boston skyline peeking behind the curtains, the TV and the queen-sized bed. The latter does nothing to assuage the anticipation that’s bubbling in the pit of her stomach, by the way.

Claire hears him shut the door, locking both bolts. She peers at him over her shoulder, half-turned, one eye on him. Their eyes meet, neither speaks. He’s taking off his black peacoat, back against the door, he’s looking at her as if wanting her is his full-time occupation and the realizations comes in like a mule kick, how that tiny voice inside her head, the one that tells her that this is a bad idea and she’s better off leaving never comes.

The room is not considerably huge (with $110 per night, you would have expected you’d get a bigger room), he could easily have her in six large steps, yet he stands there. Sizing her up, smirking rather devilishly, handsomely as if challenging her to make the first move. It’s another fucking game with him. A display of power, waiting who would fall first.

Claire finally turns around to face him. With a renowned determination, she removes her coat, letting it fall unceremoniously onto the carpeted floor. Her blouse follows next and her skirt, which she tugs it oh so slowly down her legs.

Carrick’s eyes widen, if she doesn’t know better, she thinks he’s speechless. He takes a deep breath, his gaze religiously following every movement as she twirls around once more to unhook her bra. His jaw clenches and unclenches. He’s having a hard time keeping himself in check which she takes an immense pleasure in. Claire just wants to see the man squirm for a change, even if she has to shed every article of clothing she wears.

By the time she slips off of her underwear, she is breathing raggedly. He hasn’t yet approached her so she crawls onto the bed, lying on her back with one elbow props her up, legs crossed. She kicks off her heels, rolls down her stockings with a bit of that noir come-hither, Lauren Bacall-esque heavy bedroom eyes.

Finally, Carrick steps closer until he’s only a hair’s breadth away, like a target, filling her line of sight. The tension in the room is hot enough to send the thermometer reaching its maximum limit and she’s burning, burning, burning right through the core.

Claire cranes her head up to meet his gaze, noticing the way he’s drinking in her body like a pirate ogling a bottle of rum. High-strung, tense, Carrick lowers his head to her, his fingers carding through her long hair. Dimness consumes him raw, his silhouette is starting to find its place amongst the shadows except for his eyes. Never does the fire in his eyes falter, merely alight.

They are already nose-to-nose when Claire suddenly raises her hand over his lips. He withdraws from her, looking confused and hot and bothered.

“Take a seat over there, will you?” She motions to the settee near the bed, her tone leaving no room for argument.

He smirks, but she can see his bravado if faltering. “Ordering me around in the bed now, are we?”

“Didn’t you say tonight is about you making it up to me?”

“Touche, touche.” Carrick straightens his posture and makes his way to the settee across from her, shifting uncomfortably in his seat given the growing issue in his pants.

With eyes still trained to his, Claire cups her own breast, fingers pinching her pebbled nipple before the same hand travels lower down her stomach, her thighs. Carrick leans forward in his seat, obviously liking where this is going before Claire slowly and teasingly part her legs for him to see.

A surprised groan escapes him.

“Jesus, Claire,” Carrick hisses. “Fuck, I didn’t know you’re a goddamn tease.”

She doesn’t bother replying to him, but a winning grin finds its way across her face as she lays on her back, her shame and modesty are distant, knees pulled up so he can have a clear view of her. With two fingers, she runs them along her folds, dragging them slowly up to her clit. Claire imagines they are his fingers- which once upon a time would have horrified her, but tonight, as she repeats the motion over and over, knowing that he’s sitting there, watching her without being able to get his hands on her, she decides to submit to this newfound fantasy.

A rustle pulls her back to reality. He’s undoing his own pants, palming his cock, runs his fingers over the leaking head.

A low moan catches in her throat at that, her gaze snapping up from his erection to his face where his irises have darkened and pupils dilated. He wants to show her, that’s he’s as depraved as her when it comes to wanting, that he fucking wants her and in spades and she fails to think like a normal human being anymore.

Claire uses that image to work on herself harder, faster, feeling the intense pressure beginning to build beneath her fingers. She’s so wet now, despite him being able to see that, she wants him to hear it as well as she uses her idle hand to tap against herself. Carrick growls, his pace matching the rhythm she’s setting.

She slips her fingers inside her, drops her head back against the mattress and bites a loud moan that threatens to escape her lips. Flushing scarlet all over her abdomen, her breasts and up to her neck. Her blood thumping louder than bombs in her ears, her breaths begin to come in gasps.

Another fast and hard thrust from fingers, and Claire finds herself sighing his name.

“Tobias…”

And every last bit of his self-restraint snaps.

In just a blink of an eye, Carrick is already on his feet, grabs her waist, harshly, and tugs her down onto the edge of the bed where he’s now kneeling before her. He doesn’t bother with the teasings or soft kisses or caresses, and even before Claire has the time to register what’s happening, he crushes his face between her parted legs and eats her out.

She gasps, high and fleeting, twisting the bed sheet between her fists while his tongue flicks over her, moving back up, back down, lapping along her folds in the same motions she showed him with her hand, how she likes it. Claire forgets how to breathe. It just occurs to her just how arousing the sight of him on his knees like this, sending her mind hitchhiking into outer space.

“Oh, fuck.” She breathes, back arching on the bed with a drawn-out moan. “Fuck, Tobias!” Her hips gyrate over his mouth and she presses her heels against his shoulder blades. She’s so close. All she needs is a little push to send her careening into oblivion and it seems that Carrick can sense it because he brings two digits to her entrance and slides easily inside her, setting a ruthless pace.

With her hands reaching out to the back of his head, Claire cries out his name and trembles violently. Encouraged, Carrick curves his fingers inside her, hitting that exact spot that finally undoes her as she comes, long and hard, around his mouth and fingers- the kind of orgasm that you can feel deep in your bones- and watches as fireworks dance behind her lids.

When she finally comes down from her high, everything is hazy. It’s like waking up from a deep slumber after a decadent soak in a scented bath and she loses all orientation, until she feels him nipping the inside of her thighs. She hisses, glances down, heavy-lidded eyes finding Carrick is leaving bruises after bruises all over her skin like some kind of a lewd memento of his work, like he wants her to remember this the next time she wakes up in her own bed and he’s not there.

"Are you trying to turn me into a Na'vi, doctor?” She asks, still kinda breathless, feeling surprisingly conversational despite having just experienced, if not, one of the best orgasms in her life. He smiles against her thigh and withdraws from her, only after her thighs are sufficiently bruised enough, licks his fingers clean and stands up at the end of the bed.

“Maybe. You’d make a cute blue extraterrestrial creature, though,” he replies cheekily, then undoes the button of his shirt, showcasing his naked torso.

Claire feels her cheeks heating up again, but forces herself to stare; eyes following his pectoral muscles, down to the toned lines of his abdomen while he slides off of his pants. The man is one fine specimen, alright, and he knows- smug bastard- and she thinks it’s such a shame that Carrick is… well, Carrick. If the man learns how to shut up for one minute or avoid trying to sabotage everyone’s career at Edenbrook altogether, maybe, just maybe, she’d consider him.

“But honestly, I just wanted to hear you say my name again,” Carrick continues, crawling his way up to her, pulling her out of her musings. He settles between her thighs. His lips finding her ear and nibbling at the lobe while his fingers pinching and pulling at her nipple. Claire shivers. Nails scraping along his skin, raising angry marks that would certainly be there tomorrow.

When they kiss, it’s so good that she can’t help but curl her toes. He kisses her like he’s trying to steal her breath or her name. She can taste herself in his mouth, which sparks so many feelings inside her. Her mind’s foggy, sweat pooling on her forehead. Carrick is but shoves his tongue into her mouth, lapping at her, biting, sucking and she leans hard into the kiss, retaliates by scraping her teeth against his bottom lip. It spurs him on. Making his cock twitch against her thigh and Claire decides she can’t wait anymore.

Claire rolls her hips at him. He takes the hint and rolls over to grab a condom from his pants. Then he’s back on top of her, his weight and heat crushing her most deliciously and brings her body further up the bed with him; she drapes her legs around his hips, hands gripping his arms. Her lust and anticipation collaborate to the point of near madness.

Carrick nips the taut line of her jaw and drives himself into her.

They both groan in unison.

“Oh, fuck.” Carrick mumbles between shaky breaths, his face pressed against her throat. “Fucking hell, Claire, you feel so warm.”

Claire, on the other hand, goes rigid under him. Her mouth hangs open and her world narrows down to the feeling of his cock inside her and the pleasure that builds up again in her abdomen.

This is happening, she thinks, he’s inside her and it feels so amazing. She might as well be crazy for agreeing to do this with him in the first place, but the promise of the thrill beats the doubts.

He starts slow, just the smallest fraction of hips, gently thrusting back and forth in shallow motions. She whines, frustrated and impatient, raising her own hips to meet his, but Carrick’s weight pins her onto the mattress and she can’t fucking move.

“F-faster,” Claire stammers, her molars grinding like toothache.

The bastard smirks, like he’s been anticipating the word coming out of her mouth.

“Beg for it.” His words are punctuated with every unhurried stroke he’s giving her, teasing her and if she’s not in the middle of being fucked right now, she would have kicked him in the balls.

Growling, she swallows her plea by pulling Carrick down for another kiss. This time, she’s the one who does the biting and the sucking, making sure he’s distracted enough and then just like with all the things she does in her life, she takes the matter into her own hands.

With all her strength, she scrambles up, pushes him off of her and knocks him onto his back flat on the bed. When she swings her legs to straddle him, his eyes pop.

“Holy shit, you are feisty.”

“Only cause I’m angry and horny,” she bites off. Angling herself above him and with one hand, guides his shaft back to her opening. “And you- you weren’t doing a proper job fucking me.”

He smirks. “I was trying to wind you up.”

“Fuck you.”

She lowers herself and sinks back onto his cock, relishing in his moans and growls.

“Baby, you’re doing it.” His hands curling around her waist, his head falls back onto the bed, exposing his throat and Claire is so hard-pressed not to bite him there.

Claire ignores his smartassness, naturally, and lifts herself, drops back down. Slamming her hips into his until she’s bouncing on him. Nails clawing at his chest. Finally be able to set a pace she desperately craves for, finally wiping that smirk off of his face.

Under her, Carrick is biting his lip in an effort to not to lose control. His hands are everywhere now; her stomach, her breasts, her neck, her cheeks. Leaving fire on its wake. She might still hate him after this is strange, little arrangement is over but at this juncture, he’s exactly the remedy she needs after everything.

Then Carrick wraps his arms around her and picks up the pace, thrusting into her hard and fast. Claire shakes. She can’t catch her breath, her forehead pressed on his shoulder, her teeth latching onto his skin. Breathing a string of 'fuckfuckfuck’ while he squeezes her ass and continues to fuck her with careless abandon.

"Tobias.” Her moans amplify. She’s close to climaxing again, her legs quivering. Eyes wide shut. “Please, please.” So much for not begging.

He pulls her to him so their foreheads meet. Their lips brush against each other, but they aren’t kissing, merely trading breaths. A hand touches her cheek and her lids flutter open, finding his eyes- those depthless, amber eyes that pretty much lead her to this point, are watching her, pulling her in.

“Say it again,” he encourages darkly, face twists in pleasure. “My name. Say it again.”

She does it again, it comes out as a groaned whisper, repeating it over and over again like a sacred mantra.

Her second orgasm sweeps through her, making her spine arches, it tears a winded moan from her throat and it’s more than enough to trigger Carrick’s own release; fingers digging into the soft flesh of her hips, groaning gutturally.

Panting, sore but sated, Claire collapses on top of his chest, his arm still drapes around her. The rise and fall of his breath lull her to sleep. Before she knows it, he gently rolls her to his side, pulling the covers for them and kisses her on the shoulder, which comes out as… odd for her.

The bed moves and she feels him leaving.

He’s leaving.

She doesn’t know why it stings, but it does. But also Claire opts not to pay no mind to it and forces her mind to surrender to sleep that once again tries to take hold.

Claire wishes she doesn’t dream of him that night, but she does.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

It’s way past midnight when she wakes up. The room is dark. The curtains are closed. She’s still naked and sore under the covers, mind reeling in from what has just transpired.

One might ask in which universe does Claire Castelnuovo agree to sleep with Tobias Carrick? Well, apparently they did it in this one and oddly still, she doesn’t regret it. Though she’s still low-key sad that he left her straight after sex, but hey, what can she do about it? This arrangement itself is nothing but a means to an end, anyway, a perverse alternative for him to pay back what he allegedly owes her, she shouldn’t be surprised if he left after the ‘debt’ is paid.

Feeling her mood somehow takes an unexpected dip, she gets us from the bed and gathers her clothes on the floor.

She’s in the middle of zipping up her skirt when the bedside lamp flickers and comes on.

Claire turns around. Carrick, rousing from sleep, looks at her, rubbing his eyes and stifles a yawn. His lips still tinged from her kisses and bites.

“Leaving so soon?” he asks, voice still raspy from sleep and Claire thinks her mouth is hanging open, standing rooted to the spot like a spider on an icicle; frozen in time.

For a moment, she does nothing but stares at him, being rendered speechless. For many times, Tobias Carrick never fails to surprise her. Just when she thinks she has him all figured out, he comes sneaking in through her windows like a thief in the night and it just strikes her, how he really is an uncharted territory for her. Despite her having him pinned under her, exploring the hard planes of his body under the touches just a few hours ago.

The man is like a fucking myth, at this point. She knows him only from stories and her limited time around him, but who is exactly Tobias Carrick? Is he the competitive doctor at Mass Kenmore, the Machiavellian asshole that severed his friendship/relationship with Ethan for the sake of his greed and ambition? Or is he, Tobias Carrick, the man who saves her life, makes her laugh and kisses her shoulder in the afterglow?

She’ll probably never know.

“Yeah, my roommates will probably deploy a search party if I don’t come home tonight,” she replies, distracted, finally finding her own voice back. He nods, feigning disappointment- or is he not? She clears her throat and continues putting on her clothes. “I thought you left.”

He chuckles at the absurdity of her deduction. “And without saying goodbye?” Carrick rolls off of the bed and rises to his feet. He’s already wearing his pants- thank fuck for that- and approaches her. “I may be an asshole, Castelnuovo, but just so you know, my mother raised me better than that.”

So they’re back to their usual last name basis perimeter. That’s good, right? After all of this, she thinks a little familiarity would be nice for her sanity.

“Good to know, then.”

Silence encompasses the room. It’s awkward and overwhelming and it throws her a little off-balance. At the bar, they seemed to know exactly what to say to each other- especially him; but now, even she can sense the hesitation in his gait, at the way he’s looking at her and a faint alarm is trilling her head. Because if he’s making this awkward, she can do a whole lot of worse.

"Oh, before you ask, that makes up for pretty much everything, yeah. I mean, it’s alright.” You fucking dumbass, she thinks to herself, averting his gaze while a smile blooms on his face.

“Good to know, then.” He parrots her words and she huffs a laugh, freely and sweetly, like she’s currently not knee-deep in her problems or she’s just fucked the most incorrigible man that ever exists. He does too, but his gaze lands on her mouth before going back to her eyes.

Another silence passes. It’s time to go.

“I have to go now.”

He nods mutely and moves away so Claire can step past him.

She wears her coat. In the mirror, she still looks thoroughly fucked; her hair’s dishevelled, she smells like him now, but she really needs to go. She promises herself that this will be a one time thing because, Jesus fuck, she’s supposed to be smarter than this. She’s not fifteen anymore, and this is not the summer where she can watch the sunset from the cornfields with her cousins even though his eyes possess the same color.

Yet she walks toward the door in a daze, like she’s forgetting something but can’t pinpoint what it is.

“Can I-”

“Hey, do you-”

She stops, mid-turning, and closes her mouth. She doesn’t realize she’s interrupting him.

“Oh, sorry,” Claire says, embarrassed. “You go first, it’s alright.”

“Can I have your number?” he asks, uncharacteristically hesitant.

She thinks he’s joking or maybe he’s just feigning interest, but one look at his eyes and she can tell that this isn’t smoke and mirrors.

The eyes, chico. They never lie. It’s dumb, but that line from Scarface is the first thing that comes to her mind. That’s why when she hands him her phone, her hand is shaking slightly. She has to bite her lip to stop herself from grinning like a maniac.

Claire takes a cursory glance at her phone once he returns it. He saved his number solely as t.c. with the water drop, the syringe, the ghost, the eggplant, the firework emoji and she chuckles endearingly, questioning the universe how he can easily get both a rise and a laugh out of her.

“I’ll text you?” Carrick asks again and she nods a little too enthusiastically at it, but what the hell?

“Sure.”

“Alright.” He takes one look at her, steps closer and for a moment, she thinks he might be going to kiss her.

“Goodnight, Claire,” Carrick says instead and she nods, admitting the fact that he’s not going to do it.

“Goodnight to you too, Tobias.” Then pauses at the doorway, feeling surprisingly bold. “I gotta give it to you, though, for someone who’s become the bane of my existence for months, you’re a damn good lay.”

He barks out a laugh, obviously, that Claire can hear all the way down the hall. And she thinks she can get used to the sound.

fin.

Tag list: @villain-fuckarooni @beckaroo @arfeiniel @this-person-is-busy @colossalpainintheass @drethanramslay @hatescapsicum @theeccentricbibliophile

#playchoices #open heart #tobias carrick #tobias carrick x mc #open heart mc #oh mc #pixelberry #choices stories you play

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