serenading was really the last thing i ever wanted Kate to do as her grand gesture and i still don’t love it, but the amount of people who keep calling a big, awkward, public gesture hugely ooc for Kate and keep saying they miss the old whistler who wasn't dumb, oh DIA Whistler was so much better. its the show’s first season. i don’t think it’s even possible to be ooc when the writers are just starting to create these characters and we barely know them. we only saw ‘cool, confident, bossy dia whistler’ for about 6 episodes before 1x11 happened and changed everything, and while she’s still all of those things she was changing even before the breakup happened and with all the growth she’s gone through, she’s going to end the season looking pretty different to how she started (fair warning, this is a little unhinged and unorganized, just a little)

her arc has been about her learning to let people in and learning to be more honest with her feelings, to not be afraid of putting herself out there and learning how to stop pushing people away as a result of the impact Lucy and the team have had on her. it’s about making yourself vulnerable and trying to find people who will accept you even if you’re an awkward giraffe. throughout the season the writers have been telling us that she: finds it hard to be open and show her emotions, she puts her orders before her feelings at work causing everyone to view her as the ‘bad cop’ and that sucks, she really wants to make connections with her coworkers, but she doesn’t know how and she’s kinda bad at it, she was afraid of starting something with Lucy (and messing it up) because Lucy’s the most amazing woman she’s ever met and she wanted to keep it on the downlow until she felt she could handle it, is actually very charming and sensitive and goofy underneath that hardened exterior

there’s a reason Ernie describes her as “the tall one acting goofy,” she tries to keep her relationship with Lucy a secret and yet you can see her softening as a result of it and being unable to hide their connection and pull to each other even at work. Jesse notices they’re making googly eyes at each other during the Pearl Harbor tour in 1x09 and remarks that “there’s a certain DIA officer i haven’t seen around your desk recently,” because she couldn’t fight the gravitational pull drawing her to Lucy’s desk everyday, literally the worst kept secret at the office you morons! In 1x12 she’s sprinting after Lucy practically shouting after her (loud enough for all of Pearl Harbor to hear) even when she’s asking if Lucy’s going to throw their relationship away that easily. Kate gets a pass with Jane because how can you pretend you don’t care about Lucy after she could’ve died on an UC mission and as for Kai, well, he has two eyes so he definitely noticed too

the Whistler in 1x01 would definitely not be going over to Tennant’s house after 1x14 and sharing a drink with her (might not have warned her about Glenn Smith either) and maybe she wouldn’t have tried comforting her when Jesse went missing in 1x15 (not because she wouldn’t have wanted to, but maybe it would have been harder without all the stuff that happened in between as a result of the Lucy romance) and that’s growth baby!

as for her acting ‘dumb’ and goofy, whistler’s greatest hits (paraphrased):

1x07: the entire opening scene right in front of Ernie's coffee, like ladies its barely 9 in the morning 

1x09: “i want to be intimate” “here???” 

1x11: "i like this" "the coffee? its fair trade." "so i think i win the dumbass award." "yes...no! NO!"

1x14: “creds... that’s what all the cool agents say :)”

1x17: “the source of the attack was some sort of pineapple” “like the fruit?” (also forgetting she never apologized to Lucy)

1x20: while looking like a beaten bloody piñata “I’m fine just some bruises...and some minor head trauma...” “i did not have Lucy surf quotes on my bingo card today” 

1x21: “about the power of love!” -silence- “...anyway i think that’ll help us get through to David” (we were all raving about this scene and how cute it was, but we don't want to acknowledge all the work it took to get here?)

The writers have been showing it all season, this is just who she is the more you get to know her, not liking it is different than ooc

Kate just sucks at talking and processing her emotions on the spot and can’t always immediately formulate a response right away whether you’re her boss or her colleague or her ex girlfriend (she ghosted a girl for months for god’s sakes which is probably honestly where most of the ‘this feels ooc for Kate’ criticism comes from and it’s hard to blame anyone for that because wth Kate, but it also serves as the biggest indictment of how her lack of social skills has effected her life and now it’s finally catching up to her)

a lot of people call Whistler rushing in without thought or backup to be ooc, and while they’ve shown that she’s smart and good at thinking things through (figuring out a way to help the team in 1x06, with the Clark Lohan thing in 1x10, using David's wife’s fate as leverage to get through to him in 1x21), that’s been behind the scenes we never saw her do field work during her stint at the DIA so there’s nothing really to base the ooc claim on, the first time we see her in the field is in 1x17 (she only transferred to the FBI 3 episodes ago) when she rushes in and Lucy has to stop her so it’s not out of the ordinary for her to do something similar in 1x20 at Agent Jones’s house, Whistler in the office and Whistler out in the field are different because they’re different environments entirely (and she’s new to the field)

i dont think the people calling Whistler ooc for acting goofy and socially inept would call her ooc for turning down a promotion anywhere from 1x06-1x13 to stay close to Lucy after early Whistler was billed as ambitious and career-driven (but i guess it’s different because it’s romantic without being awkward...), if we’re going to throw that term out there we should examine all her actions that way not just the one’s we maybe don’t like 

you can criticize the writing and the show all you want we all have different opinions we’re not all going to agree on how good Whistler’s development has gone, but i don’t think it’s fair to say any public grand gesture or Kate acting ‘dumb’ is completely out of left field, yes she was more cold and distant and mean earlier (and maybe you preferred that way more) but as the show has progressed you get to see a different more shy, uncertain, dorky side of her and that's not ooc that's just how humans are

she’s been slowly stepping out of her comfort zone all season and Lucy’s influence on her has inspired her to finally make a running jump into the deep end to win her back because she loves her and that’s how much she means to her (my favorite post about the grand gesture written before we knew it was a singing gesture LOL) that's the whole point isn't it? the power of love! has changed Whistler! she's never felt this way about anyone before and is clearly woefully inexperienced in love, she misses Lucy and wants to win her back no matter what so she's willing to listen to anything and do anything to show her she's all in and wants to be with her and only her! love makes us do crazy things, but it makes sense after a season of pain and regret

unfortunately for some people, Kate also happens to be less competent socially so that’s going to manifest in truly awkward (and secondhand embarrassing) ways, but she’s always been capable of this because she’s a multifaceted character and the writers have been showing us that

NCIS: Hawai'i: Truly Madly Deeply

Part 2 of 2. What happened after the party at Tennant's home. Extended / Alternate ending to NCIS Hawai'i S01 EP22 Ohana with Kate Whistler and Lucy Tara. Link to Part 1.

When Kate was in her hotel room with Lucy for the very first time it was totally out of character for her. It wasn’t hard for Kate to find women who appreciated her, but it took a long time for Kate to be comfortable enough to invite them back to her place. Most people perceived her to be a bit reserved and others figured she was still somewhat closeted ��� the assessment wasn’t wrong on the surface. Kate had never been at ease with talking about her personal life at work or socializing with coworkers. Kate had definitely never had a one night stand, or what became a multi-night escapade.

With Lucy the whole game was turned on its head. She'd never met someone who made her feel in absolute comfort. Lucy had taken an immediate interest in Kate. She wasn’t shy about expressing what she wanted, and her boldness totally threw Kate off her normal mode of operation. Even though it was clear that Lucy liked what she saw, for the first time Kate felt her inner self really seen. Maybe it was the excitement of being in Hawai’i and meeting someone new totally different from anyone she’d ever dated before or maybe it was the way Lucy looked into her eyes. It was as if she could see through all the layers of Kate and still wanted more. She couldn't quite explain the excitement when she was with Lucy .

Kate knew this was different when she’d invited Lucy back to her hotel room. In her enthusiasm of doing something she had practically never done in her life, she realized that she was in such a hurry to catch the last flight of DC to make it on time for her trip that she’d forgotten to shave. So when they arrived she asked Lucy to chill on the sofa while she took a shower. Lucy wasn’t having it, she pulled Kate in close, took a deep breath, looked Kate in the eyes and told her to stop stalling because she smelled amazing. Kate was taken aback, she made the case that she actually needed to freshen up. But Lucy had already taken off Kate’s blazer and was busy undoing Kate’s shirt buttons. Kate had laughed trying to make light of the situation, insisting on a shower when she blurted out she actually needed to shave. No you don’t, I like you just like this. Kate had never heard anything so brash from a woman in her life. Words that Kate would never forget.

Now that she had Lucy in her bed snuggled up beside her she needed to tell Lucy everything. 

‘I’m not tired at all, in fact I’m so refreshed from that bath that I could go all night,’ Lucy said teasingly, snapping Kate out of her thoughts.

‘Go where?” Kate teased back. Lucy tried to kiss Kate. Kate turned around to face Lucy one hand under her pillow the other on Lucy’s face holding off the kiss. Lucy shifted to mirror her so she could see Kate.

‘Lucy I need you to know that I haven’t been with anyone since our very first night together. I know it’s hard for you to see this, but Cara I were over months before I met you. And yes, now that I look back, Cara did want to patch things up, but it had been over for me for a long time. My interview trip to Hawai’i was a final attempt to close that part of my life. I hadn’t been in contact with Cara for over a year and she’d been dating other people. We were in no way, in any definition of the word, a couple. She was never my girlfriend during the whole time I knew you.’ Kate paused to look at Lucy, ‘You…have never…been my sidepiece.’ she said slowly. 

Lucy looked at Kate, her left leg still wrapped in Kate’s. 

Was she getting through? Kate wondered as she continued.

‘Out of the blue Cara texts me that she’ll be in Hawaii that evening and asks if she could stay with me. Cara and I shared a friendship in the past and I just didn’t want to say no over text, nor could we really talk since she was on a flight all day. So I picked her up from the Airport, ordered pizza, and was about to tell her about you over dinner and suggest driving her to a hotel when you knocked. I had no idea she would introduce herself as my girlfriend. It doesn’t even make sense. It wasn’t like I didn’t tell you on purpose. To me there was nothing to tell. I didn’t want to get you involved in a past relationship that was over, and that didn’t mean anything for you and me.’ 

‘Please Lucy, am I making any sense at all?’

Lucy looked at Kate lovingly, ‘You know when I told you that you broke my heart into a million pieces? I was angry and hurt in a way I can’t describe. I was emotionally tormenting myself every minute. I’m lucky that Ernie pestered me into talking to someone. I was even upset with Ernie for badgering me every day about it till I did. It wasn’t until I actually talked it out that I realized how unfair I had been to you. I was still nursing my feelings even then. Now it’s my turn to listen and I’m listening.’ 

Kate couldn't talk. Tears ran down her face involuntarily. She kissed Lucy. Kate’s tears all over Lucy’s face. They both laughed as they wiped each other’s faces. Kate couldn't recognize this side of herself. It was a totally new revelation. NCIS Special Agent Tara had turned her life upside down and she was about to laugh a lot more than she had ever laughed. 

‘Soo…no fooling around tonight, I take it?’ Lucy asked as if the last ten minutes just didn’t happen.

Kate started to laugh harder. Lucy never failed to surprise her, making her smile when she least expected to. 

‘Lucy, when I said I’ll do it right this time, I meant it. I never meant to hurt you. I never thought I was capable of needing someone so much. And, if you let me, I will put back every single piece of your shattered heart even if it takes the rest of my life.’

‘Well if you’re asking me to be your girlfriend, the answer is yes, but only if I get to use handcuffs on you,’ Lucy looked at Kate with a smirk.

‘What?’ Kate smiled naughtily and then said seemingly sternly, ‘not tonight, but tomorrow morning you’re going to need them if you want to keep my hands off of you’. 

Kate kissed Lucy deeply, long and slow. She didn’t let go and Lucy didn’t either. It was an intimate heart warming kiss that took them to an alternate dimension. They parted only to breathe, their faces still touching each other. 

‘Kate, can you ever forgive me?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I let this all be your fault without ever letting you explain. I’m so sorry.’ 

Kate didn’t need to reply. She pulled Lucy in closer and squeezed her as if she was never letting go. 

When they finally broke their embrace just enough to look at each other Lucy looked at Kate sincerely, her eyes involuntarily welling up. ‘I…., I…never stopped loving you. I fell in love with you the very first time I met you and it’s only grown in ways that I don’t even know how to control. I love you truly madly deeply Kate.’

Blog owner. I have to agree with some of these anons. You claim that this is a place to discuss things, but all you've done is allow anons to bully staff and have done nothing to promote going to staff for genuine concerns(which staff wants you to do). There's a difference between venting frustrations, posting criticism and bullying staff. Criticism comes with suggestions to help the group. Which you have posted only a small amount of. You've done nothing but allow anons to name call staff and expose staff to danger by posting uncensored screenshots and asks with their usernames. This should only be done if they've done something genuinely awful, which they have not yet.

As someone who saw what happened to Whistler Crest staff during their free speech blog days. All you're doing is harming staffs comfort and ability to moderate the community. They're not perfect, but they never will be. At least they're willing to listen and work with us, which is something wyngro has never done.

You all need to remember that Grimsby is not Wyngro. It never has and never will be, Wyngro. Everyone should calm down and give them a chance. The group itself is still young and all staff are new to running a group like this. It will get better.

.

Burn The Witch 2 - First Impressions [Bucky Barnes x Reader]

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful support and feedback to the first chapter my loves ! ❤ Here’s chapter 2, I hope you like it as well and please let me know what you think! ❤ Thank you! ❤❤❤

Word Count: 2500

Warnings: Mentions of blood, sex, violence, death, manipulation, language.

Summary: First impressions can be wrong.

Chapter 1 

Being a spy for years had taught you to be able to tell whether a mission would be dangerous or not before they even sent you there.

For example, the mission they had put you on three years ago where you had to poison the target in a very crowded ballroom while pretending to be an artifacts expert was a dangerous one.

Or five years ago when you had quite literally brought a dagger into a gun fight in a storage unit, that was also quite dangerous.

But something told you that going after Bucky Barnes would be the most dangerous mission you’d ever had so far, and you weren’t even going to be engaged in a fight.

Instead you were expected to make him fall in love with you, which-

To be honest, engaging in a fight would’ve been much easier.

“This is unacceptable.” Your best friend paced in the empty conference room while you nibbled on the chocolate, keeping your eyes on your phone. “You should’ve said no.”

“I can’t say no, it’s a mission.”

“No, it’s my father treating you like a—like a—“ she threw her hands up, “Honey trap!”

You shrugged your shoulders, scrolling down on the screen but then looked up when she snapped her fingers in front of your eyes.

“Y/N!”

“Chloe if I nail this mission, I’ll get the position I want. I could be a handler next year, do you know how big that is?”

“You need to stop pretending like you’re fine with this.”

“You’re sending me the files tonight right?” you asked, ignoring her huff of impatience and she sat down, crossing her arms.

“Yes,” she said, “Everything there is to know about Bucky Barnes is in there, lots of things you could use. I gathered it myself. His past, his interests back then, what he has been doing since he got here, his favorite porn, his favorite musicians—“

“I’m sorry, what was that last one?”

“His favorite musicians?” she played dumb, grinning and you shifted your weight.

“You wouldn’t do that background check on me, would you?”

Her grin widened as she wiggled her brows, “Just so you know, you’re such a cliché.”

“Jesus Christ.” You slipped a little in your seat, your cheeks burning, “I hate you so much.”

“No you don’t,” she sang and you tried to focus on the screen, but the door to the conference room opened, gathering your attention. Your jaw dropped as soon as you saw the figure stepping inside and you jumped on your feet as Chloe gasped.

“Keith?”

Keith was the third member of your small friend group. He was a field agent just like you were, and for years you, Chloe and Keith had always had each other’s backs, in or outside of missions.

Back at the academy you were inseparable and it had been months since you had last seen him.

“Figured I’d find you two here,” he said, “I just followed the scent of despair.”

“I thought you were still in Prague!” You rushed to hug him and he ruffled your hair before you batted his hand away.

“I was but I got called in at 5 in the morning. General’s orders.”

“It was about time my father did something right.” Chloe came to kiss his cheek, making him grin, “Gosh, it’s so good to have you back!”

“Good to be back, gorgeous,” he lifted her up in a hug before setting her down as she squealed, “I missed you.”

Your jaw dropped when you saw the file in his hand, “Hold on. Is that what I think it is?”

“It could be,” he told you, “That is, if you’ll have me in your mission.”

“The best news I got since I landed.” You pumped your fist in the air “Yes! Yes I do want you in the mission!”

“So then,” he said as he sat beside you and put his feet up on the table while you leaned back, “Is what I heard true?”

“Yes and you need to tell her she’s being ridiculous,” Chloe motioned at you and Keith pursed his lips.

“I just thought we put this whole honey trap thing behind us back in 1950s.”

“Exactly!”

“Guys come on, if Accords pass—screw that, even if they don’t pass, think about how we can use Barnes.”

Keith clicked his tongue, tilting his head.

“Will we use him more than we’re using you right now?” he asked and you rolled your eyes, grabbing the file in his hand.

“Your alias is Whistler this time?”

“Yep,” he nodded, “General says yours is Shrike?”

“Mm hm.”

“Considering what this Barnes mission entails, I’m surprised he didn’t call you Swallow.”

You kicked at his boot and he let out a laugh, holding his hands up.

“What? That was the terminology back in the day for agents seducing people for the mission, wasn’t it? Raven for guys, swallow for girls.”

“Hilarious,” you deadpanned and Chloe sat on the table, still pouting.

“You’re both fine with this then?”

“Chloe, the guy was around in World War 2,” you said patiently, “If I don’t want to sleep with him, I’ll just tell him I’m waiting for marriage, it’s probably not a foreign concept for him, old times and all. Happy?”

She arched a brow, “If you say so,” she said, “But you know there are examples of undercover agents falling for their targets, right? Especially in situations like these.”

Keith chuckled, “Yeah, that’d make a great story for your grandchildren.”

“Except that I wouldn’t get to have those grandchildren because I’d be killed.”

“Don’t say that!”

“Just let me know beforehand if the Winter Soldier decides to make an honest woman out of you,” Keith said and you stuck your tongue out at him.

“Look at you, making jokes.”

“I’m a funny guy, thank you very much,” he said, “So what are we doing tonight?”

“Killing some Hydra scum,” you said, “There’s this gallery opening, apparently evil guys love art nowadays. Who knew?”

“You need a spotter?”

“Sure thing.”

“After you guys are done killing that target, can we hang out?” Chloe asked, “We need to catch up.”

“Only if I get to pick the movie,” Keith made a face, “I don’t trust your taste after the last time.”

“10 Things I Hate About You is a classic!”

“Do you want to hear the one thing I hate about you, Chloe? Spoiler, it’s your taste in movies.”

“Play nice, kids,” you said, skimming the lines on the screen and Chloe huffed.

“Fine. And after that, we can work on the seduction mission.”

“You’re in on that as well?” Keith asked and Chloe nodded.

“Duh.”

“Look at us, Charlie’s Angels is back.” Keith said, “Wait, does that mean General is Charlie?”

You supressed a laugh and shook your head fondly, looking at Keith.

“I missed you, asshole.”

“Missed you too, trouble.”

                                                       ***

Working for the division you did had its advantages, and it never stopped to surprise you how you could always get the newest gadgets before going on missions. Chloe had installed certain features into your “sniper costume” as she put it, and one of them was a ring that would call the nearby agents of your team to your location, and the other one was a ski mask that was both bulletproof and could change your voice.

“Batman does it, why not you?” she had said before making you try it.

“Shrike, ma’am?” Keith’s voice echoed in your ear and you adjusted your earpiece before checking the harness around your waist, just in case you needed to jump off the building. Your team was already in position if you were in any way compromised, and you started setting your sniper rifle.

“Since when do you call me ma’am?” you asked Keith and he chuckled.

“Since they put you in charge of a team.”

“Don’t listen to him, guys,” you said to the rest of the team and took a look at the city lights, taking a deep breath.

Rooftops were always peaceful, even when you were holding a sniper rifle.

“ETA of the target?”

“Two minutes.” Keith said and you pressed your lips together, pointing the rifle at the entrance of the gallery, looking through the scope.

“So I think I found a movie for tonight,” Keith said as you shook your head slightly, trying to focus.

“Later.”

“James Bond?” he asked, “We can take a shot every time the movie gets something wrong about being a spy. We’ll probably be hammered by the end of the night.”

“One minute, Shrike.” One of the agents said and you exhaled through your mouth, your finger on the trigger.

“No seriously, don’t you guys like James Bond? I think it’s because of that movie I chose this line of work, but—“ Keith was cut off when you pulled the earpiece out of your ear to have a moment of silence so that you could concentrate when the target arrived, but as soon as you grabbed the rifle again, you heard the familiar sound of someone racking the slide of a gun, followed by a calm voice.

“Easy there,” he said, “Put the rifle down.”

You cursed at yourself in your head, then withdrew your hands from the rifle. Your earpiece was off, meaning that no one in your team could hear you, and you checked whether you could grab the gun from him, but he wasn’t standing close enough.

Professional.

You held up your hands, then slowly turned to see who was threatening you before your heart dropped to your stomach.

Damn it.

This was definitely not the way you were supposed to meet Bucky Barnes.

Thankfully you were wearing a ski mask, so your identity wouldn’t be compromised and the next time you met him, you could pretend.

And he would be none the wiser.

You pressed on the ring Chloe had given you to alert the others, keeping your eyes on the barrel of the gun.

“I thought I saw a glimpse of a scope.”

“Congratulations,” you deadpanned, trying to stall so that your team could get there, “You want a watch as a prize? A refrigerator?”

He looked almost surprised at your snarky comment and you shrugged your shoulders.

“Listen, it’s my target. So if you want to kill him, too bad. I was here first, early bird and all that, shoo.”

Even you could see his confusion that lasted for a second and a small smile pulled at your lips.

“Ah. You don’t know who my target is.”

“I know I’m not going to let you kill someone in a pretty crowded gallery.”

“Even if it’s some Hydra scum?” you asked and he pulled back.

“What?”

You stole a look at the entrance of the gallery over your shoulder as the limo pulled over.

“Mm hm. You really shouldn’t be stopping me Barnes. We got this, you can go and play the superhero with Wilson.”

“You know who I am.”

“Everyone knows who you are,” you stated, making him pause for a moment.

“I didn’t catch your name.”

You tut tutted, “Don’t be greedy.”

“Well, how do I know you’re not lying about your target if you can’t even give me your name?”

“Why would I lie about my target?”

“So that I would let you shoot him.”

“Aw, you’re cute,” you taunted him, tilting your head, “But I don’t recall asking for your permission.”

He stared at you for a couple of seconds.

“Who are you?” he asked and you grinned as you heard the footsteps coming closer.

“Until next time, soldier.” You said as the team burst through the door, guns blazing. He turned around to point his gun at the agents, immediately taking cover as you picked up the rifle again.

It was time to get back to work.

You looked through the scope, found the target and pulled the trigger, blood splattering over the walls and chaos erupted over the street instantly, people screaming and running everywhere. You looked over your shoulder to see your team managing to keep Barnes busy with the constant gunshots, then you checked the harness around your waist again and jumped over the roof to land on top of the car waiting for you in the street. The rope went up to the roof as you unbuckled it and got into the car, pulling the ski mask off your face.

“You weren’t compromised, right?” Keith asked and you shook your head.

“I’m not an amateur,” you said as he stepped on the gas, the car breezing through the road. 

“You don’t look so happy,” Keith said after taking a look at you and you pursed your lips together, deep in thought.

“He didn’t take me hostage.”

“Hm?”

“When the team burst through the door and I turned around to kill the target. He’s a super soldier, he could’ve grabbed me, use me as a leverage to get out of there. That’s what I’d do but he didn’t attack me or the team, he took cover.”

“So?”

“Keith, it’s the fucking Winter Soldier we’re talking about. He can kill a team of agents in seconds, but I bet he just got out of there. Without hurting anyone.”

“Maybe he’s just a good person.” Keith chuckled and you slipped a little in the seat, biting at your fingernails.

“I guess.”

“Would it be so bad?”

“It would make no difference,” you muttered, keeping your eyes on the city lights, “Good person or not, he’s my mission.”

“Clearly, but aren’t you going to feel just a little guilty if he ends up being a good guy?”

You scoffed a laugh and turned to him.

“I’m no use to anyone if I develop a guilty conscience,” you stated, “Much less to myself. You know that.”

A silence fell upon the car before he heaved a sigh.

“Listen, Chloe has a point as always,” he said, “These kind of missions are hard, okay? The longer you’re playing your part, the easier it will be to believe it. Feelings get involved, there are bunch of agents who ended up hesitating when it was time to bring their target in, so if you—“

“I won’t hesitate.”

“Y/N.”

“I won’t hesitate,” you repeated, “I swear. The minute this mission is over, I’ll bring him in. Orders are orders.”

Keith let out a whistle, “If you say so.”

You bit inside your cheek and leaned your head on the window, fixing your gaze outside.

“Considering the lack of alternatives,” you rasped out, “Yeah. Yeah I do say so.”  

Chapter 3 

The Future

Warnings: none!  A/N: This is the last part! I hope you’ve all enjoyed my mini series with my own character. I’m debating if I should add one last one with a child in the mix, but I want to know what you want! Send me a message or leave me a comment! Requests are open :) Disclaimer: This is a FICITONAL writing piece on Charlie Gillespie. In no way do I claim or declare that Charlie’s portrayal is accurate to real life. I do however, own Teagan Valencia :)

Masterlist *now taking requests ;)

The Teagan Valencia Series: The Meeting  / The Fight / The Proposal / The Present / The Recovery / The Future

The Future

“Teags? Baby you gotta get up now... Teags, come on. I can’t let you sleep in any more. Plus, breakfast is here and you need to eat before things get crazy” 

Teagan snuggled into her pillow a little more, groaning at Charlie’s soft voice that disturbed her slumber. She was never a morning person, but she knew today she had to be. After a solid year of planning, the countless hours she spent at Bridal expos with Savannah and her cousin and all the tedious decisions her and Charlie had to make, their day was here. She rolled over to face his side of the bed and opened her eyes, squinting at the sunlight and the beauty before her. Charlie was smiling, familiar twinkle in his eyes that she often saw when he was excited.

Today was the day!

“What’d you get us for breakfast?” he chuckled, kissing her on the nose, not surprised that she cared more about the food than getting up and getting ready for their big day. 

“Well, you’re going to have to put some clothes on and meet me on the balcony to see. You get five minutes” she groaned at his conditions and pulled the blanket over her head, not wanting to leave the warmth of the bed. Grabbing her phone off the nightstand, she saw that it was 7am and with a big sigh she got up and threw on a hoodie and sweats. She followed the scent of her nose into the living room of their hotel room, shivering a bit as she felt the cool air from the balcony come through. The view of the mountains from their balcony was breathtaking and adding Charlie while he softly played his guitar made it even better. Teagan wished that she could freeze time to just soak in this moment, capturing the image in her memory, but she knew they were on the clock now. She padded softly over to Charlie, kissing his lips quickly before taking a seat at their table for two. He had arranged the table with everything that was previously on the room service trolley, including the small arrangement of flowers in a slim glass vase at the center of their table.

“Well this is sure fancy! Thank god for room service, no?” she smiled lovingly at him as he rested his guitar on the side of the table. He grimaced at his placement and went to move his guitar to a more secure location, eventually deciding to run it into the suite, placing it on the couch. She giggled at his antics and as he hurried over back to her.

“I mean, seeing as we both love food and most people hate us when we’re hangry, I thought a nice, big, but healthy, eggs benny would be the perfect fuel for the start of our day” he smiled brightly, running his hand through his hair as she took a sip of coffee. He offered her both of his hands across the table and she placed her hands in his, both bowing their heads and saying a silent grace before beginning to eat their meals. As they sat and ate their breakfast together, they enjoyed the calmness of their environment briefly discussing what their respective schedules would be like that day. The two had made a point that they wanted to start their big day together. The entire event would be busy, but having a moment together to enjoy their last meal as an engaged couple was probably one of the best decisions they had made for their special occasion. However, this moment couldn’t last forever as Charlie’s phone started ringing and a loud knock at the door signaled the end of their breakfast. Charlie opened the door as he answered his phone, smiling at Savannah and Teagan’s cousin Michelle as his silent hello, continuing his conversation on the phone.

“It’s Wedding Day! Good morning our beautiful bride!” Teagan smiled at the excitement her two maids of honor had as they rushed in to give her big hugs. “You all ready for today?” Savannah asked, her giddiness radiating through her smile.

“Let’s do this!” Teagan smiled, getting up from her seat picking up the plates from their breakfast, the other two girls helping her. Charlie caught her waist after she put the dishes on the trolley and pulled her close as she giggled at the sudden action. He started to tickle and kiss her as she helplessly fought to get out of his grip. “Charlie! Come on! That tickles! No fair!”

“Just one last kiss as your fiancé?” he pouted, turning her around to face him. She shook her head and rolled her eyes, giving him a kiss, but he quickly deepened it. “I’m going to go to Owen’s room to get ready. Everything’s already over there. You gonna be okay getting ready here?”

“Leave her with us Charlie. We’ll take care of everything!” Michelle smiled, reassuring the groom. Charlie opened his mouth before Savannah interrupted him. “Call you if we need anything. We know!” and with one more quick peck and a hug, Charlie slid out the door. “Alright miss, you got 30 minutes to shower before the hairstylist, makeup artist and photographer arrive. The other girls will be over with snacks and sangria in about an hour! Hop to it!”

The next few hours were a blur. After Charlie left, Teagan did shower and get into her bridal robe for the rest of the morning. True to Savannah’s words, she was swept away to get her hair and make up done while the photographer took pictures of her getting ready. Teagan’s sister, Charlie’s sister Megan and Teagan’s childhood friend showed up right on schedule with her bridal gown and the other bridesmaid dresses. In a whirlwind of hairspray, powder and camera flashes, wine glasses were toasted, music played softly in the background and Teagan’s mother showed up to help her put her wedding dress on.

Meanwhile, Charlie was playing rock band in Owen’s suite with Jeremy and Charlie’s brothers, snacking and toasting the occasional alcoholic beverage to one another. Eventually the boys got ready and headed over to the ceremony location making sure everything was fine. Charlie was grateful that Teagan had suggested hiring a wedding planner and coordinator as he had no idea what still needed to get done. However, the planner had everything under control and simply used their muscles to help move a couple things around, eventually shooing them away to a small room as guests started arriving.

Teagan shared soft tears with her mother as she put on the finishing touches on her outfit, buttoning up the last buttons on her dress and placing the veil on her head. They both cried a little harder when her father entered the suit to see his daughter all dressed up. After a few teary moments and a touch up here and there, the group took a few photos and headed down to the lobby of the Fairmont Whistler where their limo awaited.

As the music at the ceremony began, Charlie took his cue, with the help of the planner that is, to head down the aisle with his parents at his side to the altar. As each couple walked down the aisle and lined up on either side of the altar, Charlie eagerly searched for his bride. He smiled and high fived their ring bearer and flower girl as they made it to the end of the aisle and into their seats and as the crowd rose, the music pausing for a moment, Charlie knew it was time. As the music played, his eyes lit up as his bride and soon to be wife appeared at the top of the aisle. Teagan locked eyes with him and held his gaze as she floated down, her parents at either side. For the both of them, it felt like an eternity had passed until Teagan arrived at the altar, the both of them hugging her parents and quickly taking their places in front of the officiant.

Just like that, the ceremony began without a hitch and it went perfectly. They completed wedding Traditions in the Filipino culture for Teagan’s family, with a few clumsy moments with Charlie. Teagan had insisted that if Charlie was uncomfortable with the traditions, they could leave it out of the ceremony no problem, but Charlie always loved learning about her culture and thought it would make the ceremony that much more special to include it. When it came time for the vows, Owen passed Charlie a folded up piece of paper and with a deep breath he prepared to read it. But for a moment he paused, reading over the first few lines and then crumpled it up, shoving it into his pant pocket, the crowd laughing at his actions.

“I wish I had the perfect words to describe how much I love you or how amazing of a person you are, but there simply aren’t. I am eternally grateful for how much you have impacted my life. Before you, I was a chaotic mess that would be running around from thing to thing. I mean, I’m still a chaotic thing that runs around from thing to thing, but I now have someone following me, supporting me, reeling me in when I’ve gone off the deep end and occasionally engaging in the chaos with me. I remember feeling like absolute shit when I spilled coffee on you that day, but you were so kind and forgiving. You’ve never met me with anger and you’ve always shifted your life around for me. I knew what commitment was, but I didn’t understand until what it was until you came into my life. I’d always be off on some adventure, doing whatever it is that I wanted and I never knew that I wanted, needed, someone in my life until I left you in Canada after asking you to be my girlfriend. I know I don’t have the best timing, and I eat weird food that make my breath smell weird, but I vow to love you, cherish you and be with you even after life decides to separate us. There is no one else in this lifetime for me, other than you. Mahal na Mahal Kita” Teagan smiled and used the Kleenex Savannah had given her to blot away the tears, as Michelle passed her a neatly folded paper.

“I wish I was as good at winging it, but I’m not so I’m going to read mine” the crowd chuckled at her comment as she took a deep breath, steadying herself before reading. “Monsieur Gillespie, je t’aime. From the moment you spilled coffee on me, I knew that fate had brought you into my life for a reason. At first, I thought you were put into my life to force me to live a little and take a break from my life, but I was so wrong. It wasn’t until I was going through therapy, that I realized why you were a part of my life. I’ve always loved everything about you, from your adventurous side to your caring gentle side and yes, even your chaotic side that, at times, makes me want to kill you. But I didn’t know how much I needed you until I faced the biggest adversity I had ever faced in my life. Throughout my entire recovery process, and as I still recover from the trauma, time and time again you have shown me that I am worthy of love.” her voice cracked and she had to take a few deep breaths before continuing. “Even though I felt broken, ashamed and disgusted with myself, you continued to do whatever it took to help me feel like me again. Had you not been with me through the whole ordeal, I don’t think I would be standing here today, marrying you, as the happiest woman in the world. I vow to love you with every ounce of my being and I commit an eternity to loving you and supporting you. Il n’y a rien dans le monde qui peut enlever mon amour pour toi. Je t’aimerai aujourd'hui, demain, la semaine prochaine, pendant les mois qui suivent et toutes les années après ça.” As she finished, Charlie wiped away a tear that managed to escape his eyes and held her hand tightly.

In this moment, there was nothing that could take away the peace that befell both of their hearts as they vowed to spend their lives loving one another unconditionally. They exchanged their rings, sealed their commitment to one another with an “I do” and were officially pronounced Husband and Wife. As they walked up the aisle to  the main lobby area of the Nikita Lake Lodge, they giggled and stole a few kisses here and there before being joined by a photographer and starting their two hour photoshoot. Teagan’s parents interrupted their photos briefly to bring the two a snack and coffee from the Tim Hortons down the road, which the newly wed couple were grateful for.

As the reception drew nearer, the couple were ushered into the limo with the rest of their bridal party and were welcomed by Teagan’s hairstylist and make-up artist for touch ups. Everyone was quickly ushered into a small waiting room away from the main reception hall and they indulged in hot hors d’oeuvres and champagne, awaiting for their time to enter the reception. If Charlie and Teagan could have it their way, they would’ve celebrated like this for the rest of the evening, but they knew that there would be cries of outrage without a reception from both family and friends.

As the night drew on, they dined on delicious food supplied by the hotel caterers, occasionally interrupted by the clinking of glasses to steal a kiss from one another. They shared their first dance as a couple and Teagan smashed a mini cupcake in Charlie’s face when they cut their cake, but their favorite part was the toasts. Savannah kept her composure, while Michelle did not as both girls gushed over the newly wed couple and the memories they shared with the both of them. Owen went completely off script but Jeremy was there to help him get back on track for the both of them to deliver a great speech that had everyone doubling over in laughter, but also tearing up at the end. When the couple said their Thank yous, and wrapped up for the night, the part they had been looking forward to the most had finally arrived.

The dance floor, unlike most weddings, was full with people the entire night. Everyone had the time of their lives dancing and the newly weds were occasionally interrupted by their guests who wanted to wish them well and say their goodbyes. Owen did his signature Flash Dance jump with Charlie and Jeremy, while Maddie, Jadah and Savannah killed it when Beyoncé came on. Charlie and Teagan were honestly the happiest they had been in a long time, but the night had to wrap up eventually, and as much as they tried to help and clean up the reception, their bridal party forced them to go back to their suite.

Upon entering their suite, they were shocked to see that the entire place had been cleaned, as a  bottle of champagne on ice and a plate of chocolate dipped strawberries welcomed them on the counter. Teagan munched on the strawberries as Charlie popped the champagne pouring them a small amount in the champagne flutes. The tired, but happy, couple sat on the couch cuddling and sipping champagne in a comfortable silence, hand intertwined. As Teagan gave a big yawn, Charlie couldn’t help but smile before a yawn overcame him as well. 

“I really don’t know how couples have the energy to have sex on their wedding night. Like honeymoon I get, but man this was a long day!” Charlie burst out laughing at Teagan’s tired observation and kissed her on the forehead as he got up from the couch. He extended his hands out to her, offering her to help her up from the couch, knowing that a wedding dress wasn’t always the easiest to move around in. Charlie helped Teagan out of her dress, kissing her back softly as he undid every button sending shivers up her spine. When she was out of her dress, she quickly picked it up and hung it on the hanger it originally came with as Charlie undressed to his boxers and climbed in bed. As he flicked on the light of their bedside table and plugged their phones in, Teagan shut the main bedroom lights off and crawled into bed with her husband.

“So how does it feel to be Mrs. Gillespie?” Charlie wiggled his eyebrows at her, pulling her closer to him. She pondered for a moment, already knowing an answer, but knowing her fake hesitation would catch Charlie off guard. His smile faltered for a second, a little confused.

“Honestly? Pretty fuckin great!” He laughed at her response, kissing her on the lips. “How does it feel to be married to me?” Charlie paused a moment, eyes twinkling and grinning at her.

“Pretty. Fuckin. Great” 

J2 tinhat summary

For a while now I’ve been wanting to piece together a more comprehensive version of J2 tinhat facts/observations/thoughts/etc., and although the project is obviously an incredibly lengthy one, I figured I would at least create a kind of summary to post in the meantime. Even the summary however is VERY long, and I don’t have the ability to do cuts, so I apologize for that! But I am going to post the summary in a few parts, so here is the first!

This does not follow a linear timeline by the way, just as a heads up, and I’m not including many examples that I’ve already talked about recently to save space.

1. The Js spending holidays together and also vacationing together, like their skiing trip to Whistler, Canada for example and the Padackles family vacation to the Turks and Caicos among others. Recently the Js traveled to Europe, Dubai, and Australia.

2. Of course Jensen’s public move from Malibu to Austin (conveniently near Jared’s house) is a strong piece of evidence. Jensen’s comments about being closer to friends and family don’t make much sense as most of his friends live hours away, and he has also stated several times in the past that he loved living in Malibu and being on the beach, yet he still relocated (to be closer to Jared, we know).

3. This Js have used the word “we” instead of “I” on quite a few occasions while talking about things that should not involve the other J (again, as far as the general public is aware). They have also done the same thing with the word “our” instead of “my” and “us” instead of “me.”

4. Both Danneel and her brother Gino were nearly bankrupt when Danneel began her ‘relationship’ with Jensen. Jensen 100% supported (even way back then) both Danneel and her brother financially, which is often one of the main benefits a faux-spouse receives in the bearding arrangement (financial security and/or the recognition that comes with marrying a celebrity/someone who lives in the public eye).

5. We know for a fact that the Js share clothes and belongings very frequently (and have for many years). Not only do we have photographic evidence of this, but they’ve also both admitted that it’s true.

6. There is now a vast amount of evidence that Jared and Jensen spend a great deal of time with each other’s children, together and by themselves, and keep in mind that even the evidence we do have is likely only a small fraction of the actual reality. They really do seem to function in a lot of ways as one family, which of course makes sense from a tinhat’s perspective.

A few examples that I haven’t posted recently:

Jensen talking about how he used to wear a sherif’s belt and nothing else as a child and then when Jared makes fun of him, reminding Jared that Shep also likes to go nude and that Jensen has to remind him to put clothes on at the breakfast table.

Jensen: “[Jared] was out, so I was watching the kids.”

^ the above blurb by Fangasm

In 2015, Jensen said during a convention panel that he has “kids now,” realizing the error and correcting it to “kid” (he only had one at the time according to public knowledge).

Along the same vein, we can look at things that Genevieve and Danneel have said as well, such as Genevieve stating that one thing she loves about Jared is that “he shows up as a co-parent to our kids.” The definition of co-parenting is “the experience of raising children together as single parents like when a divorce or separation occurs,” or in this case, an agreement to parent together alongside the guise of marriage.

7. At this point the Js have accidentally mentioned so many things that relate to sleeping with each other/being with each other late at night or first thing in the morning etc. that I won’t even try to list them all. But just know that there are many of these examples (I’m happy to specify if anyone wants to send me a message about it).

8. The Js have been spotted dining together (or out at bars/other venues together) on many occasions, less in recent years, some of which have even been described as quite romantic/intimate settings. And of course, again, these are just the ones noticed by the public, not the likely many times the Js have booked private dining arrangements or something else of that nature. I just posted a few of these examples separately if you want to check them out.

9. Jared has forgotten the specifics of his ‘dating’ timeline actually a few times, probably the most well-known of those times being during his Live With Kelly interview where he claimed to have been single at the start of Supernatural when in reality (according to the information given to the general public), he and Sandra McCoy were very much together at that point. He also told an interviewer that he was single and then later on claimed to have been dating Genevieve two full months before that interview took place.

10. I already posted a fantastic humorous account of the many different stories told concerning the period of time Jensen publicly lived with Jared (again, message me if you’d like me to send it to you), but suffice to say…the lies became quite immense and tangled up in each other and the whole thing made many people wonder about what might really be going on between the Js.

11. Jared posed in front of a mural by himself (without Gen) that said “Love will win” in response to Jensen posing in front of a mural earlier that same day that said “Love is love,” a well known LGBT slogan.

12. Jensen has rotated between several different wedding rings, which I have yet to see anyone come up with a believable-enough reason for, but whatever the reason, it certainly is something that makes you wonder.

13. When asked about “finding the one,” Jensen gave a very long, beautiful, thoughtful response during which he never once used the word “she,” “her,” “wife,” etc. (or Danneel’s name). His reply also contained several things that he had previously said (and would say again) to describe Jared and/or his relationship with Jared:

Another similar example is when Jensen was asked about his favorite memory of SPN and he responded with his journey from single-hood to marriage, again not using female pronouns or “Danneel,” who hadn’t had anything to do with the show at that point anyway.

14. This one I remember having to hunt down and verify back when I first started “hardcore hatting,” and yes it is true. Sandy, Jared’s ‘girlfriend’ from years ago, favorited a tweet once in which she was referred to as Jared’s “ex-beard.” I mean, it’s pretty hard to misinterpret that…

15. Gossip columnist Ted Casablanca once pretty much accused Danneel of her relationship with Jensen being fake. Previously to that spat, he had also written an article in response to double engagement rumors saying that “Jensen and Jared would sooner marry each other than who they’re currently rumored to be getting hitched to. If I’m wrong I’ll get Taryn Ryder a date with Ryan Gosling.”

16. Speaking of the engagements, nearly everything about them was highly suspicious. Both occurred on the same weekend under the guise that each J had no idea the other was proposing, despite having said multiple times that they tell each other everything and showing that to be true through their actions as well. When asked on the spot what his proposal story was, Jensen retold the exact proposal story that had taken place a year earlier with Jared and Sandy, changing only the location.

17. Another well-known mishap was the ‘dinner in Italy’ story, told first by Jared in which he claimed to have been with his wife at the time and told second by Jensen at a different convention in which JENSEN was in fact the one who had been with Jared. Of course ironically, nothing would have even seemed strange about the whole thing if the story had been told truthfully from the get-go, but keeping up with lies is far from easy.

18. This one I think we all know. Joanna Krupa, known for her role in The Real Housewives of Miami, has admitted to bearding for someone in the past, and the only real celebrity she’s ever dated was Jensen. Which of course, like many of these observations, is not proof as much as it’s, well…an observation. Albeit quite an interesting one.

19. It was revealed by Ryan Seacrest (who has been at the center of many “gay or straight or other?” whispers for a long time now) that he used to live with Jensen, which wouldn’t be odd if Jensen had ever mentioned it while talking pretty extensively about his past roommates/living situations.

Like, for example, we HAD known that Jensen and Ty Vaughn lived together for a stretch, and some hats believe (due to the seemingly very intimate nature of their relationship at the time) that Ty may be an ex of Jensen’s.

20. I saw someone point out the fact that Jensen’s oldest daughter’s middle name is Jay (a nickname Jensen has for Jared and actually something they’ve each said they call each other). On its own, this could just look like either a coincidence or a testament to the strong friendship between the Js, but it’s an interesting bit of information alongside everything else.

21. Richard Speight Junior has flubbed pretty famously a few times and nearly given away sensitive information about the Js being together. I’ve posted a few of these examples recently so I’ll hold off on including them here, but-, you know by now, just ask me if you’d like them!

And he’s not the only one who’s said some interesting things!

Drusilla's Soul Chapter 9

Flashback Los Angeles 1997

That night the city was lively. The woman was walking on a street walk, wearing old tattered clothes, she was dirty. Drusilla was homeless. She had lost her job and her home a few months ago. Then she became a beggar. Those kind people gave her money. She entered the meat market and ordered blood sausage and a half-pint of pig blood. She paid the cashier and exited the meat market. She went to the alley and started cooking a blood sausage with a hobo stove. She began to eat her food. After she ate her dinner, she went to her dirty, old mattress on the ground and began to drift to sleep. Drusilla heard something. Sounds like someone was crying and begging them to leave him alone. She hid and witnessed two men threatening this poor, old man.

“Please leave me alone. I don’t have anything on me.” said the old man.

The thug punched him right in the face. “Shut up! We don’t want anything from you.”

“Heh, this old coot is so defenseless. How delicious would that be, an old man with eyes as wet and deep as crimson ichor.” The second thug caught the old man’s throat and held him up against the wall, he held up a pocket knife to his face as he whimpered. Dru gasped in horror as he was about to get killed.

The thug chuckled, “Well, I guess it’s time to feast.”

“Hey, leave him alone!” Dru stepped in to save the old man’s life from those attackers.

“Eh? Who are you?” sneered the thug that she interrupted their dinner.

“It’s none of your business. Now let him go, or I’ll start a fight.” demanded Drusilla.

“This chick wants to fight,” he whispered to his friend. “She thinks she’s tough.”

The thug grunted in agreement. He released the old man’s throat as he scrambled away.

“All right, toot, if that’s what you want. But you defy interrupting our dinner. It’s one against two. We’ll beat you once and for all.” said the thug.

Drusilla smirked, “With pleasure.” Then she charged two thugs preparing to attack, she uppercut under his chin and kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying to the brick wall. The other thug tried to punch her, but she dodged his every strike then kicked him to the face as he landed on the ground.

“Heh. Serve them right. That’ll teach ‘em a lesson.” Drusilla thought.

Drusilla walked to the old man and asked him if he was okay.

“You all right?” she asked him as the old man’s eyes widened with terror.

“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.” She said.

“No. Look out!” he cried as Dru turned around something smacked her head and fell to the ground. She raised her head a bit, her visions were blurry as she adjusted her visions, and when her visions were clear that the thug carried a crowbar. She could see those fangs. The thug was a vampire! But he didn’t have any ridge nor yellow eyes, just sharp fangs.

“Go! Get out of here!” Dru shouted to the old man to tell him to get away from this dangerous place. And he ran as fast as he could.

Drusilla stood up and changed her vampiric visage with ridge marred her eyebrows, blazing yellow eyes, and sharp fangs.

“You’re both different. What kind of vampires are you? You don’t have a ridge nor do you have yellow eyes but you have fangs.” said Drusilla.

“We are Hominus Nocturna. And we don’t have twisted faces like you vampires.” The vampire charged at her, when the shuriken flew past through mid stop the attack.

Drusilla heard a rev of a motorcycle approaching the alley. There was a black man riding a motorcycle. He halted and got off his motorcycle. He wore a leather trench coat, bulletproof vest, gloves, cargo pants, combat boots, a utility belt, and sunglasses. He also bears various straps intended for the carrying of those stakes that are so essential to killing any vampire.

His hairstyle was a high fade with tribal tattoos partially side of back of his head extending down to the neck and shoulders.

“Who is this guy?” Drusilla thought.

“Shit, it’s him.” the thug said. “It’s the Daywalker!”

Drusilla glanced at the thug as he was talking about. “Daywalker?” Drusilla thought.

The first vampire charged at the man with the black leather who saw him coming toward him, as he tried to punch him, however, the daywalker caught his fist with a great reflex and kicked him in the rib. And he throws the first guy against the brick wall. The second vampire charged at him with a crowbar. The man in the black clad drew his sword and clashed with each other, then he roundhouse kicked to the vampire’s gut flying back to the trash bin.

Dru stayed hidden as she watched them fight. She was astounded.

The vampire tried to punch him, but he ducked his blow and stabbed him with a silver stake. His body began to charred with flame and burned to ashes.

“Holy crap!” thought Drusilla.

The second vampire charged at with rage on his face as he began to strike. He dodged his blow and counterattacked the vampire. And he stabbed to the heart with a silver stake as his body began to smoulder.

Drusilla stood up with a shocked and astounded on her face.

“Who is this man? He’s amazing!” Drusilla thought as she approached him slowly.

The Daywalker turned his head to see the woman approaching him and pulled out his gun and pointed at her. But Drusilla then quickly raised hands in defensively.

“Whoa, wait, wait, wait! I’m not the enemy. I’m not even one of them.” Drusilla said as she was telling him the truth.

The man looked at the woman wearing a blue wool cloak, old fashioned gray dress, and tan boots. She even got a vampiric face with blazing yellow eyes, ridge to her eyebrows and sharp fang.

"You’re not one of them? Who are you?” he asked.

“Drusilla. What I saw you killed those vampires. You were amazing.” said Drusilla.

"Heh. I've never heard that name. The name is Blade.” said Blade.

“Blade, eh? That’s an unusual name.” said Drusilla.

Blade put his gun away to his holster.

“You’re different from a vampire. What are you?” he asked.

“I can’t tell you what I am, but Angelus made me insane before I turned into a vampire. And I was cursed by a gypsy to have a soul. I held the grudge for everything I had done. I don’t want to kill people anymore. I want to help the helpless.” said Drusilla, reverted back to her human face.

“You have a soul?” asked Blade.

“Yes. I saved the old man’s life and you were amazing back there,” she said. “I can tell you learned martial arts and weapons. Are you a Vampire Slayer?”

“Yeah. I’m hunting these vampires down and find out who killed my mother.” said Blade.

“Wait, your mother? Was your mother a human? Does that mean you’re a dhampir?” asked Drusilla.

Blade glared at her which Drusilla flinched.

“Uh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.” said Drusilla, sadly.

“No. I’m the one who's sorry.” said Blade.

Blade mounted on his motorcycle and started an engine.

“You should go home.”said Blade.

“Wait, I’m coming with you.” Drusilla said, mounted on Blade’s motorcycle he grew. “I don’t have a home because I lost my job. So… Will you train me? I promise I won’t slow you down.”

“Alright. I’ll take you to Whistler. He’ll help you train.” said Blade.

And they began to leave the alley and headed to Whistler’s hideout.

Drusilla’s voiceover: This is when I met Blade. He taught me how to fight, he started to train me to hunt vampires. And he told me to use a serum twice a week to control my thirst for blood, I needed it.

I am a vampire with a soul and I will help the helpless.

The hypnotist - Jervis Tetch

Summary: Headquarters? Check. Plan? Check. Xander Wilde? Working on it.

Chapter 14 - Legion of horribles

First priority after escaping was finding somewhere to stay. You told Jerome you knew just the place, smiling as you explained it to him. Jerome laughed when you told him your plan. Literally just before you had all made your escape Oswald escaped with the help of the Riddler, and though he would probably never want to see you again, you were sure with Jerome there he would be left without much of a choice.

Before heading to the mansion, Jerome had the wonderful idea of picking up a few extra people. Your 'good' friends Firefly and Dr. Freeze.

With your group complete you all headed to Oswald's mansion. He was less than pleased to find you on his doorstep. You smiled at him when he realised who you were with.

"It's good to see you, Oswald." You put on a happy persona. "I didn't get a chance to say bye to you when you left. That was clever by the way, contacting Nygma like that." You gave a chuckle. "You certainly know how to get through to him."

"Yes." Oswald was feeling really awkward. He looked at everyone, his gaze lingering on the ginger psychopath next to you. "What are you doing here?" He put on a smile, but he clearly looked uncomfortable.

"We need a headquarters. I thought of you. Isn't that an honour?" You were looking him in the eye, silently daring him to say no. Your smile only got bigger when you saw his expression fall slightly. "Your place is perfect for what we want."

Jerome was chuckling beside you.

"Come on, Pengy."

Oswald took a deep breath, but realised he wasn't going to get away with turning you all down. He opened up the door and gestured for you to come in. He closed his eyes as you entered, trying to find the will within him to not do something he will later regret. He had hoped he would never cross paths with you again, but so much for that.

Everyone entered the building and went off to explore. Victor and Bridget glared at each other as they made sure to go in completely differently directions. You grabbed Jervis' hand and went upstairs. You wanted to get a good room before everyone else took them all. You heard Jerome laughing from downstairs.

"We just got here." Jervis was grinning at you.

"Oh hush, I'm looking for a good room before they get taken." You chuckled. "We're sharing. I've been apart from you for too long."

Jervis chuckled as you went into the nearest room. He followed you in.

The room was nice. A big bed with fresh sheets. A bathroom was off to the side. The wardrobe and dresser sat on the far end of the room and a couple of armchairs sat neatly by the window. This was the perfect guest room. You sat on the bed and took a deep breath, relaxing for the first time since your breakout. Jervis smiled at you as he sat next to you.

"Jervis?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I love you." You smiled sweetly at him.

"I love you too." He leaned in for a kiss. The room was silent and you were both content. That is until Jerome came bursting through the door. You both pulled apart to look at him.

"Tetch!" He was grinning at the man beside you. "I have a job for ya."

"Of course. What is it?"

"I need you to go to get me a name. Scarecrow can fill you in on the details on the way out." He cackled as he turned on his heel and left the room, but you heard him yell for you before he left entirely. "Meet me downstairs in an hour, Y/N. We got some things to discuss." His footsteps disappeared down the hall.

You turned to Jervis and gave him a soft smile.

"Back to work then."

He chuckled softly and caressed your cheek.

"Not to worry. I won't be long." Jervis checked his pocket watch and smiled. "In perfect working order. Wait for me, my love."

"I'll be here." The pair of you kissed and you adjusted his hat ever so slightly before making your way downstairs. Jervis met up with Crane who explained everything, you smiled at him once more before going into the dining room. Oswald was standing by glaring softly at Jerome who was looking around the room. He appeared to be thinking about something.

"What's all this?" You watched as one of the prisoners who had escaped with you, dressed as a butler, set the table. You're pretty sure his name is Carl.

"Brunch. In approximately-" He checked his wrist, still bare of a watch. "-45 minutes, let's say, we'll have brunch!" He turned around and smiled at you. "Make sure everyone knows."

You glanced at Oswald. He was gritting his teeth. You would have laughed, but decided to let him boil in anger a little while longer. You went to find the others and tell them what Jerome wanted.

Everyone, apart from Jervis who had yet to return, gathered around the table exactly when Jerome had asked them too. You sat next to an empty chair where a name plaque with Jervis Tetch was written. Yeah, there was a seating plan to this brunch meeting.

The food was being served as everyone looked at one another in silence, waiting for Jerome to speak.

He clinked his glass with a 'Hear ye, hear ye!' Everyone turned their attention to him, done with looking at one another.

"I'd like to officially welcome you all to our first ever Mandatory Brunch Meeting." He grinned. "Now, I know what you're all thinking. Why have I gathered this legion of horribles?" He then looked around as if just realising something. "That has a nice ring to it. Write that down, will ya?" He turned to the chef off to the side. "Well, back when I was in Arkham, I came up with a plan to turn this city into a madhouse." He glanced at you.

You grinned back at him.

"Now I am on the cusp of making that happen, but I need help from all of... Put all questions on ice until the end." He gestured to Victor who then lowered his hand. "Mr. Oswald. Thank you for doing your part in hosting us today."

"Anything for an old friend." Oswald put on a smile, but it most defiantly did not reach his eyes.

"Hmm. Crane. Where we at with the.... You know what."

"It's coming along dreadfully." He said in his deep spooky voice.

"Oh. Pun-worthy. Excellent. Freeze, Ice Man, you're our science guy. We're gonna need a lab. A big one."

"Easy enough." Victor said with no emotion.

"Now, all we need is Mr. Tetch to return with some very important information and..." Jerome banged his hand on the table and looked up at the 'butler.' "Use the tongs, Carl." He yelled.

"You still haven't told us how you're going to take over the underworld." Firefly spoke up.

"Ah. Who says I wanna do that?" Jerome chuckled. "I'm an artist. I just wanna paint the town crazy. Once that happens, I could care less how you horribles rip the city apart."

"I'm in. Let's do this." She smiled, happy with that answer.

"Well... Not yet. Nothing can happen until we have our one last essential ingredient."

A door opened behind you, you turned around and smiled at the man who you were missing. Jervis comes to stand behind your chair and smiles down at you before smiling at Jerome. He got what Jerome asked for.

"The one thing that'll tie it all together." Jerome looked at him with a huge smile on his face. Jerome gestured to the empty chair beside you. Jervis sat down and reached for your hand.

Oswald was looking worried at the other end of the table.

"Y/N." You turned to Jerome. "You're coming with me. We have something we need to do."

Within the next hour you find yourself armed and heading towards one of Wayne's many towers. Jervis had told Jerome everything he had found out on his little mission and Jerome set plan into motion. All you knew was that you were looking for someone. He didn't say who.

You both stand in the lift, either side of an innocent woman, acting as normal as you could. Though you were holding a shotgun, which she kept glancing at. Talk about awkward rides in a lift. Jerome was whistling away, but not all that well.

"I used to be a great whistler." He then gestured to his face.

The woman nodded silently. You resisted giggling.

The lift reaches it's floor and you both step out, making your way to the front desk. Jerome does the talking.

"Um, yeah, hi. I'm here to see Xander Wilde. And, no...." You shift the gun so it's slung over your shoulder. "I don't have an appointment."

The receptionist points in the opposite direction and quickly gets up out of her chair, running round the back screaming.

"Don't bother going to security. They're all..." You hear a scream. "Headless."

You follow Jerome up the staircase and into the meeting room. Clearly they are all in deep conversation as none of them see you through the glass walls. You both manage to slip in without any of them noticing. That is until Jerome gives you a nod and you cock the gun. The sound grabbing their attention.

"Oh. Don't get up." You say, looking as innocent as you could.... with a gun in your hand.

"I won't waste too much of your time." Jerome says knocking over a small model of a building. "I've got a business proposition. Tell me what I want to know and you don't get turned inside out." He gestures to you.

"Please, don't... Don't hurt anyone." A man pleads.

"Where is...." Jerome chuckled. "Xander Wilde?"

"He's... He's not here." The man answers.

"Yeah. I'm not blind. Maybe you are." He looks across the table. "You know?"

"No one does." The man spoke up again. "He's never set foot in this office."

"Okay." Jerome looks at you and nods towards the man across he table.

You lift the gun, aim, and fire. The man goes flying backwards as he bleeds out on the floor. You cock the fun again.

"We... We've never met." The man sweats. "I've only ever communicated with him... through a proxy." He stutters.

"Proxy?"

"Yeah."

"That slippery little sucker thinks he can get away from me." Jerome cackled. He pulls the man's tie and lifts him out of his seat. "Where can I find this proxy, pray tell?"

"I... I.... I'll tell you. I'll tell you." The man panics.

Jerome grins at you as he gets his answer. The man tells him everything.

"Thank you. You've been very helpful!" You smile at the man, shooting him. Jerome laughed loudly and manically as everyone else began to flee. Valeska took the gun from you and made his way out of the conference room, you following behind. There was no doubt good ol' Jim Gordon will be here by now.

You both made your way downstairs, unfazed by the hysteric crowds.

"Jimbo!" Jerome sounded pleased to see the cop. You both hurried down and took cover as Harvey and Jim got into position. "Old buddy, old pal, it's great to see ya!"

"Drop the gun." Jim ordered.

"Oh, you are such a stick in the mud." Jerome peered around the pillar he was hiding behind.

"Give it up, clown boy!" That was Harvey.

"Hey. Knock, knock." Jerome revealed himself, holding his hands up. Firefly came up behind the two cops and set off her flamethrower. You chuckled as you ducked down after Jerome and followed his lead. "You're supposed to say, "who's there?"" He holds up the fun at the cops as you both run past them, using Firefly's fire wall as an advantage.

Once outside Jerome, Firefly and yourself took cover to discuss the plan from there.

"You two head back and meet up with the others. I'll go meet this proxy. Be at the bunker tonight." He grinned. You both nodded and parted ways with him. You both managed to get back with little trouble.

Jervis was waiting eagerly for your return. He was right there when you got back to the house. You smiled, hugged and kissed before you gathered everyone in the living room. Oswald was looking around wondering where the ginger had gone.

A few members were off working on their jobs.

"Jerome got what he wanted and is going after the guy he's looking for. I take it Jonathan and Victor are at the lab working on the toxin. We need to sit tight until he gets back, unless he gave anyone any more jobs." You looked around. The rest of the group shook their heads. "Right. Then you guys do you until I say. He has a plan." You smiled and dismissed them all. You joined Jervis at his side again and headed upstairs.

"Do you know who this person is?" Jervis asked you, the door closing behind you both.

"No idea, but he seems important to Jerome. This is the best thing we have going for us for now. Let's just stick to the plan. Aren't you having fun hypnotising people left and right?" You chuckled.

"Very much so, my love. I also get to spend a lot of time with you." He smiled sweetly.

"Oh hush." You chuckled. "This is quite fun."

You sat down on the bed and looked up at Jervis.

"We have a few hours before we need to meet Jerome at the bunker." You smiled suggestively. "We're completely alone now. We don't have anything else to do." You drew shapes on the bed sheet with your finger.

Jervis grinned and sat down next to you, leaning in close.

"I can't think of anything else to do right now." He spoke quietly, his breath brushing your lips gently as he leaned in close as possible. You wrapped your arms around him and lay down, pulling him along with you.

Your afternoon was sorted. You would still be there when Jerome needed you all.

Tags:

@mistressoftorture @fandombeehive @awyr @queenofmonstersanddemons @they-shot-me-with-a-knife @shokihomin @phantomofhogwarts  @procrastinatingmurder​

I rewatched Eternal Diva and this time I took notes as I went through

Dive under the cut if you dare to experience my mad in-the-moment ramblings (warning for spoilers for pretty much the entire prequel trilogy)

-          Don Paolo’s voice sounds like what Papyrus’s voice probably should

-          Winter Layton is precious in that giant coat

-          Janice is so pretty omg an angel

-          Layton geeking out over the Detrogan is goddamn adorable

-          I love how everything is greyed out in Janice’s flashback

-          Suuuuuuuuper subtle indication that maybe “Janice” seeing how young this little girl was is what prompted her to find a way to put an end to this whole thing

-          Whether it’s a moped or the Laytonmobile, Emmy drives like crazy XD

-          Bitch you ain’t on Top Gear

-          God her big sister relationship with Luke is adorable tho

-          Aaaaaaaaaaaah Layton smiling at their banter dad’s so happy for his son

-          They did such a good job reusing the game’s music for this movie

-          The opera house looks so cool but so precarious – my first thought upon seeing it was “when is this thing going to sink”

-          I MEAN IT’S ON A CLIFF

-          Janice’s voice is so pretty TToTT

-          I like that they kept the Japanese vocals for her singing

-          SONG OF THE SEA-SHADOWING

-          I hate that Layton and Luke were the ONLY people to honestly applaud the performance. Everyone else is a DICK

-          First time I saw this dude, I thought “that’s a puppet, no ordinary person moves like that even in animation”

-          Once again, Layton putting a polite and gentlemanly spin on “fucked if I know, my dude”

-          Lol I love that even the people who didn’t applaud and thus apparently knew what they were in for weren’t down for dying

-          Fuking cowards

-          Layton is always DTF (down to fight)

-          GROSKY OF THE YARD

-          FUCK YES

-          This dude’s manliness is infectious

-          “Gee, I wonder who’s behind this-“ *Descole’s theme starts playing* “-oh well never mind”

-          Honestly who else but Descole would be this fucking extra tho

-          Gotta admit I love the twist of the opera house being a ship, I was totally expecting it to just go plunging into the ocean at a moment’s notice

-          Aaaaah the CG in this movie is really well done

-          Layton’s angry face is kinda ridiculous but I love it

-          I love that it’s pointed out like “where tf did all these sharks come from”

-          I prefer Cartoon Saloon’s Song of the Sea, but this one’s pretty too

-          Lol as if a MAN-EATING SHARK could keep down GROSKY OF THE YARD

-          I’m surprised he can see over the top of his chest hair

-          God, the detrogan is such a cool instrument and I really wish something like it existed irl

-          Ah, it’s only like fifteen sharks, Grosky will be fine

-          I love the air of mystery surrounding Oswald Whistler

-          Layton’s hat is made of 100% pure uncut husband material

-          AAAAAAAAAAAAAH I LOVE HOW PUZZLES ARE USED IN THIS MOVIE IT’S SO GOOOOOOOD

-          I’m so glad they didn’t scrap it entirely coz I mean they’re so integral not only to the Layton games, but Layton himself

-          This music box tune kinda gives me Gravity Falls vibes tbh

-          I think the backing melody sounds pretty identical to the tune’s intro

-          I love that this movie actually lets us see inside Layton’s head and his thought process, it’s so much better than just having him put everything together seemingly offscreen

-          Tbh any puzzle where “the night sky” is the solution is bound to be a good puzzle

-          I just fucking love the implied MASSACRES in this movie

-          God Luke is so goddamn precious

-          Pffft pumpkin dude is so subtly duplicitous

-          Okay I have ot pause for a bit to rant about layton’s design because it’s SO GOOD. Warm colours make him seem welcoming and kinda comfy and the simple facial features, while a bit Ditto-esque, do combine nicely with his overall shape to scream “friend”. Professor Layton is friend shaped. And of course there’s the popped collar to show that he’s cool, the high collared shirt gives a scholarly vibe, his shoes which I stg are plimsolls show a practical side and of course the quintessential top hat shows that he’s a Gentleman first and foremost. Add the amazing voice to that and BOI I DIE

-          Although I can’t help imagining that gif with the teddy bear slapping eyebrows onto its face to look angry whenever he gets mad

-          Luke is not friend shaped. Luke is son shaped.

-          Precious bab shaped

-          Wpw a sea captain I would never have guessed other than the “sailor” accent and the fact that you’re wearing a sailor’s uniform

-          Ugh I love these quiet moments where things can sink in and characters can just talk to each other, I really wish more movieswould do this

-          I love that even if you don’t have a literal look at his thought processes, you can still see Layton THINKINg

-          Agh Amelia is SO CUTe this series is so good at designing beautiful women and cute girls while also making them look DISTINCT

-          I like that they hinted at her intelligence by having her solve the puzzles by herself

-          One advantage a film has over the games is that the visual novel format kinda limits the dialogue, coz it’s hard to convey one charafter talking over another

-          I really like the side characters. They’re simple, yes, but they don’t really need to be complex

-          I will admit that the limits of Layton’s simple facial features means it can be hard to tell who/what he’s looking at sometimes…

-          “that man” asked me to write an opera, huh

-          WHY DOES NOBODY ASK WHO

-          Fuck descole’s theme is SO GOOD

-          WHERE DOES HE GET THE FUNDING FOR ALL OF THIS THOUGH

-          And Grosky boards the ship just in time for it to blow up XD I love this dude

-          I can only imagine his gigantic pecs act as a flotation device

-          Layton preventing Luke from looking at the exploding ship THIS MAN IS SUCH A DAD HE’S SO GOOD

-          I love this scene with Emmy investigating because these parent’s appearances are just enough to make it ambiguous whether they’re Nina or Amelia’s parents

-          Seeing them all wrapped up in blankets is kinda cute tbh

-          LET. THEM. SLEEP.

-          I wonder what Layton uses to keep his hat on?

-          Lol Emmy pushing a fossil aside to look at the map

-          I can only assume, given that they set off from the White Cliffs of Dover, that this island is SOMEWHERE off the coast of mainland Europe in about the same region as Spain

-          Ugh I LOVE Emmy’s uppercrust accent, the fact that she sounds like such a refined lady is such a fun contrast to her literal arse-kicking

-          Also this is totally BBC news lol

-          I love the detail of the historian’s scrapbook being kinda hodgepodge with bits falling out

-          And I love the Ambrosia Seal being super detailed but the subtle incorporation of a sheet music design

-          Gotta admit I totally thought this little banquet was poisoned on my first watch

-          Lol I love that pumpkin guy just KEEPS POURING THE WINE

-          Ugh that beach looks SO PRETTY, I want to go there

-          Janice is totally crushing on Layton, pass it on

-          D’awwwwww luke trying to befriend ‘melina’ is SO CUTE this boy must be protected at all costs

-          Layton how did you hear what she was humming from all the way over there

-          Why do so many anime characters have inexplicable super senses

-          Those wolves’ eyeliner is on point lol

-          “I’m not built for running” lol mood

-          FUCKING HELL DESCOLE WHO IS FUNDING ALL YOUR SHIT

-          HOW MUCH DISPOSABLE INCOME DO YOU FUCKING HAVE

-          Admittedly on my first watch I wasn’t as familiar with descole’s theme, but I saw that castle and I just thought “it’s descole, only he can be that extra”

-          The twist of using the cages for personal protection rather than to trap the walls is simple, but so clever

-          I love that Mr Whistler was one of those accidentally trapped outside. Keeps suspicion off

-          And I love Layton saying “well that solved PART of our problem”

-          YOU SHUT UP LADY THE PROFESSOR IS AMAZING

-          And then he trips and falls lol that’s what you get for wearing old man shoes

-          “Even a good gentleman needs to get some exercise!” pfft

-          Oh hey, they found the starter house that Descole was using while he was building that castle. I wonder what texture pack he’s using?

-          And here Layton puts MacGuyver to shame in the most Ghibli way possible

-          I’d love to see someone try to build this thing XD someone call the Mythbusters

-          Bjut I adore how even LAYTON isn’t sure how this fucking thing works

-          Fucking NERD

-          Yeah, these filmmakers were TOTALLY influenced by Ghibli

-          This is so Castle In The Sky, it hurts

-          “Hang on tight! NOT TO THE PILOT!” – best line in the movie

-          You can’t escape it, Layton. You is a dad

-          DID YOU GUYS NOT SEE LAYTON LAPUTA-ING HIS WAY IN

-          It’s great how all those puzzles seem like they could be ripped straight out of the Layton games, complete with outside-the-box bizarre thinking required to solve em

-          I’m so proud of Luke for solving it!!!!! Such a good boy

-          RUDE

-          Yeah, just stand in the middle of the suspiciously empty room, I’m sure nothing will go wrong

-          That’s what you get for shoving Layton aside, bitches

-          Lol I guess luke could just step through the bars if his head was a bit smaller

-          DESCOLE HOLY FUCK YOU ARE THE KING OF EXTRA

-          “humble scientist” GOOD GRIEF WHAT A LOAD OF SHIT YOU DRAMA QUEEN

-          I love that Emmy can FLY A PLANE

-          Holy shit grosky there are better ways to signal for help

-          And LESS GROSS WAYS TO DRY YOURSELF OFF IN A PLANE

-          Yeah, see, you lost your knickers

-          Ugh, god. I adore this scene with Layton in Melina’s room. It’s so quiet, the soft evening lighting… aaaaaaaaaaah so peaceful, but you can still feel the tension in the air, especially after Melina comes in

-          Oh my god, Layton plays like an angel *swoon*

-          The lack of background music in this scene is what makes it so perfect, the tension is so REAL

-          Lol I love the historian just standing there like ‘welp there they go’

-          NOOOOOOOOO LUKE DON’T CRY

-          BIG SIS IS HERE

-          Oh fuck yes

-          EMMY I LOVE YOU

-          God she and grosky are so fantastic XD

-          WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO FIGHT LIKE THAT EMMY

-          Somehow emmy gives me Michelle of the Resistance vibes

-          God, I kinda love it when you can tell Layton’s already put it all together and is just biding his time

-          AAAAAAAAAAH I love the subtle resemblance between Layton and what you can see of Descole’s face

-          In hindsight, that… stole? Is that what it is? The fur thing isprobably to hide his face shape because it most likely ups his resemblance to Layton

-          But he’s totally wearing black converse like the extra hipster nerd he is

-          God, I can’t even imagine the nightmare of having your memories overridden and personality suppressed

-          Aaaaaaaaaaaand here’s the summation. I love this part in pretty much every Layton thing

-          “Assisting you was the scientist, Jean Descole!” Descole: lol hi

-          LAYTON YOU ARE SUCH A DAD I LOVE YOU

-          Him being gentle with kids is so sweet

-          Also damn this backstory is a lot. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a loved one, but I’m not surprised a father would do anything he could to keep his daughter alive

-          “When did you realise I was involved” “ur an extra bitch who lives for drama, who else could it be”

-          That brief bit of Luke without his hat just makes him look even more BABY BOI MUST PROTECC

-          Okay real talk when did Janice get hold of the key

-          I’m guessing it was in the commotion when Mr Whistler grabbed Luke

-          SUCH A GOOD TWIST I LOVE IT

-          My heeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaart goddammit

-          In hindsight, the hint of Janice wearing Melina’s pendant was really subtle and clever

-          GODDAMMIT DESCOLE CAN YOU STOP BEING EXTRA FOR LIKE TEN SECONDS

-          It’s kinda cool that he’s an archaeologist too though. It really does run in the family.

-          The way Descole and Whistler’s schemes intertwined was really cool

-          Yeah, it just wouldn’t be Descole if there wasn’t some over-the-top machinery

-          YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS MAGIC MUSIC THIS IS MY SHIT

-          When escaping from a crumbling castle, do be sure to grab your boy.

-          AAAAAAAAAGH THE SCENERY IN THIS MOVIE IS SO FUCKING GOOD

-          Good lord, there it is. Descole just can’t function unless he has some ridiculous Humongous Mecha at his command

-          This thing looks especially monstrous and I love it

-          I don’t think I’ve seen ANY faults in this movie’s animation, jesus Christ

-          Descole, did you learn nothing from the attempted excavation of Troy? It’s very possible that your efforts to unearth Ambrosia will be what destroys it!

-          Aaaaaaaagh this flying scene is intense as FUCK

-          Layton and Luke are SUCH A GOOD TEAM

-          WHAT IS THIS MUSIC I LOVE IT

-          Luke you are SUCH A GOOD BOY

-          Sorry but you’ll never be mob tho

-          Mob is perfection

-          JESUS CHRIST DESCOLE ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL A CHILD

-          I was about to ask where that explosion came from but then I realised it was probably a petrol-powered chainsaw

-          Layton who told you that you could look this goddamn epic

-          But I love that he’s taking on the sword-armed Descole with a PIPE

-          That footwork tho

-          Layton must be an amazing dancer

-          So cool that he’s patiently explaining why Descole was wrong

-          Sun, stars and sea. I feel like that’s a Dothraki term of endearment meant for oceanfairing

-          MORE MAGIC MUSIC I AM BLESSED

-          AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I LOVE THIS SO MUCH THIS IS THE FUCKING COOLEST

-          I’M SUCH A SLUT FOR MAGIC MUSIC GODDAMMIT AND THIS IS DOUBLE TEAMING ME WITH SINGING AND PIANO

-          I do enjoy that despite its emergence, Ambrosia is still partially submerged. Some movies would’ve had it rise from the sea completely

-          Lol at Descole losing his shit because SOMEONE ELSE found the answer

-          Yeah, bad idea attacking someone right on top of your humongous mecha’s control panel

-          “DESCOLE!” dude he’s fine you really think he’d die

-          I was going to ask why Emmy didn’t use her plane but she probably couldn’t get to it in time

-          Yeah, this is SO Ghibli. The gigantic industrialised machine self-destructing on the ruins of an ancient civilisation lost to nature

-          Noooooooooo don’t do this to me movie, nothing kills me like sad flashbacks

-          Ow my heart

-          This hurts

-          “I’m sorry, Father. I’ve only ever brought you grief and sadness, haven’t I” as someone who’s struggled with depression this is a whole-ass mood

-          NO THIS HURTS STOP IT

-          Also the lil detail of Whistler’s waistcoat being the same shade of purple as Melina/Janice’s dress

-          NOOO DON’T MAKE LUKE SAD

-          “I’m so glad all of you were my very last memory.” Damn that line hits hard

-          GIVE THE GIRL A HUG, LAYTON

-          I said a hug, not a hand on the shoulder, she needs a HUG

-          Seeing the destroyed detrogan really hammers it home, huh

-          It’s very kind of Grosky to let Whistler play one last time in memory of his daughter

-          When I got into the Layton series, I was no expecting to be hit so hard with the FEELS

-          “Do you know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?”

-          GNU Ambrosia, I guess

-          Ugh it’s so PRETTY tho

-          Fucking sparkles and shit

-          D’awwwww, I love the image of Luke patching up the wolves, he’s so sweet

-          Knowing the truth about Emmy and seeing her being so happy with Layton and Luke makes it really painful :’(

-          The world needs more of Layton with a big, happy smile

-          Awww, Author Lady and Pumpkin Dude kept in touch

-          GROSKY GOT HIS UNDIES BACK

-          Ugh seeing Layton and Luke peacefully listening to that music is SO CUTE and SOFT

Interview with Hippo Campus @ Black Cat

NOVEMBER 15, 2015

On  November 11th the members of Hippo Campus scooted into a back room of the Black Cat for an interview before their show. They are a new indie-rock band out of St. Paul Minnesota, in the midst of their South EP Tour. With black X’s on their hands, the band is composed of Jake Luppen, lead vocalist and guitarist, Nathan Stocker on lead guitar, Zach Sutton on bass, and Whistler Allen on drums. The band members attended a Performing Arts High School in the twin cities, where they found their love of music and founded their up and coming band. Since then, they’ve released two EPs: The first -“Bashful Creatures”- came out in February of this year, and the second, called “South”, followed in October. After the sound check, a few brief introductions and a side conversation about scooters and glasses frames the conversation got going.

Michael: Was there a point where you guys knew that you were done with the album or was it just like “we’re going to work on this forever if we don’t put it out”?

Jake: Um… we had three days to record this last one

Whistler: (whispers) 4

Jake: Right, we had four days to do it so we didn’t really have the luxury of spending any time on it besides those four days. So really it wasn’t stressful, I mean it was stressful in those four days and then after that we didn’t fret too much about it… and we’ve had it since like March or February?

Whistler: We’ve had it since January and it was supposed to be released before South… but then it didn’t…. too bad…

Pasha: Just getting started, you guys are like our age so what did you do? What did you do differently that got you here because there are so many people who are trying to figure this out and you’re playing these sold out shows and that is something that so many people only dream of doing. We saw you open for Realestate, which is crazy for a band so new to do so, what did you do?

Jake: We uhhh.. We pray to Satan. Every evening.

Zach: We fit as many seances as we can into a day

Jake: “Satanances”

Whistler: Some people say you can’t pray to Satan at Church, but we do.

Nathan: I couldn’t tell ya…

Zach: We went to a Performing Arts High School, so that’s probably the first thing that’s different

Jake: We’re good friends, which is a good thing as well. We just love hanging out with each other all the time and the other part of the time we’re just not hanging out with anybody.

Whistler: I think a big thing was that we didn’t plan on this being what it is, from my knowledge. We started at the ending of high school and then our first show was about a month after we gradated high school and it was just kinda like “let’s have a big hurrah before everything kinda falls apart after high school” and I think, and i’m not trying to toot our own horn, but having that kind of mentality about it allowed us to not worry and just write whatever we want to write and allowed us to not have any pressure of “we have write something good otherwise we’re not going to be a successful band, Lets just write whatever we feel is best”

Michael: So could you guys tell us a little bit about your name? Was it always the same? How did you come up with it?

Zach: Originally for about a day or two or maybe an hour. The first incarnation was “Tarzan Reject.” It was super sick. (Laughter) and then Hippo Campus. Both have very shallow backstories. There’s really no reason to them. We were walking around one day and someone called Nathan a “tarzan reject” and we said that’s a good band name. And then he was reading a psychology book.

Nathan: So I was in psychology class one day and I was reading about the brain and was like “yo, that’s a cool word” and split it up into two words and that’s a band name.

Pasha: If could play alongside any other band, who would you pick? Dead or Alive?

Jake: If the Beatles opened for us

Pasha: Opened for you!

Nathan: Rupert Holmes… ahh… we could co-headline a tour

Whistler: If we convinced Michael Bolton and Celine Dion to do shows together and then they open for us, that’d be pretty fun

Jake: Guns and Roses

Zach: Yeah, they could be first of three

Whistler: Them, Michael Bolton and Celine Dion, and then us

Jake: Bill Clinton, play some sax (makes saxophone sounds)

Sophia: So you guys have put out some really cool music videos lately. What was your inspiration for them? I know your Violet video doesn’t feature violet once, is there a backstory on that?

Whistler: Color-wise you mean?

Sophia: Yeah

Whistler: Oh, I don’t even think that was our choice. We just showed up and they said “these are the colors we’ve got.” For “Little Grace” and “Souls,” those, well.. “Little Grace” was like our first music video and one of Zach’s friends at his school was doing this project where he did one free music video a day throughout the entire month, and so we went and shot a music video with him. It wasn’t any real super intense thought process.

Jake: Well I mean there was some thought as to the fact that we wanted to create a series of images, I guess. And we wanted to continue to write and do all that stuff and we didn’t want to create a basic music video.

Whistler: And then we made another video for “Souls” and that was definitely more thought out a little more tied to the meaning of the song than “Little Grace” was and the other music videos we’ve made. “Suicide Saturday” was the next one we did and that was not really uh… That one was more of a creative process on the outside for us. It wasn’t as much of our creative minds on it as much as it was the director who shot it.

Zach: We actually had a full treatment that we came up with for it, and then we showed it to our people and they were like “no, let’s not do that.” And then we went to the UK and they had a guy who worked with us to figure out how we could through balloons full of paint at each other. It turned out pretty fun. A long day, and a decent video. And “Violet” was after that.

Whistler: Violet was like the same situation kind of where we didn’t really… I don’t know, we were kind of in a strange mood about doing music videos after doing “Suicide” because it was a situation where we were asked to come up with an idea and then we did and then it wasn’t allowed because “it’s going to take to long to shoot, it’s a music video.” Anyway, we did the “Violet” one and it was definitely a huge step up in terms of production and quality and everything, which was nice. That was probably the nicest thing about it. You can tell there’s a difference.

Sophia: There’s definitely a professionalism.

Whistler: Yeah. The only thing about that video that kinda rubs us the wrong was is the fact that we’re playing our instruments in it, which we were for a while, at least up until that video and still adamant about, but it’s just something that we’re not comfortable with doing and it wasn’t something that we wanted to do, but again… That’s what coming to a live show is for, coming to see us play our instruments then. If you’re just going to watch a video of us playing our instruments then … I don’t know, to us it just feels very cliche and so many music videos have that and we always wanted to stray from that. So it was a weird balance of a cool production, and we aren’t doing what we’d like in the video. Then finally with “South” we were able to get it the way we liked it. Someone that we like a lot came out with a great treatment and really nailed the little idea that we had, the feeling that we had and the vibe. They made it look like a high production than it was, with a drone camera and everything. It was geared less towards the meaning of the song and more of creating a series of images that fit the vibe of the song instead of dealing with the words and the meaning.

Jake: I feel like the best music videos are art pieces within themselves that accompany the song as opposed to being directly informed by the song’s meaning. Videos are a way of collaboration, so you should let the person who you’re collaborating with have a meaning as well as the audience will have their own version of what the song means. I think it works out best when both people are really creatively doing their own thing and trying to make it look as beautiful as possible. I feel like “South” and the first two videos we accomplished best. The others I feel like we accomplished decently, there’s meaning in Violet. “Suicide” I mean sometimes you win sometimes you don’t. We’re learning. We’re a young band, we have a lot to figure out.

Sophia: Where do you see yourselves going as band? It seems like this has all happened very quickly for you, what have been some of the successes and challenge of that?

Jake: I think everything in an of itself is a challenge. I mean the fact that we’re touring and playing these sold out shows is a success, but a challenge is that it negatively impacts your health and your mental state. I mean you’re literally killing yourself some times, but you know, all for the love of what you’re doing. But that goes for just about everything. I mean it’s cool that you get to make videos, but it sucks sometimes that you don’t get to make the videos you want to make. Everything has its ups and its downs, but we’re really fortunate to be doing what we’re doing and as far as the distant future goes, we just try and take it one step at a time, day by day.

Sophia: I saw your video from KEXP with Kevin Cole. I’m an avid fan of the station as it’s from my hometown. What was your experience like with that? How do you think that influenced your audience? It reaches a lot of people, so how do you think that’s affected things?

Zach: Well, that’s a legendary radio station. We were super stoked to do it. Once you get in the room its a lot smaller than it looks.

Whitney: It’s probably the size of this little room.

Zach: A lot the bands we love have done sessions in there so it was pretty humbling to be in the same room. So it was pretty sick. It went well, I think for what we were expecting, they’re getting a new room so

Sophia: Ya! There will be a glass wall so if you guys play there again people can come and see you play. It’ll be way more open to the public.

Jake: That’s awesome.

Michael: In the same vain, we were at the pier show. How was that?

Jake: Yeah, actually pretty crazy story in terms of that. I mean the show was awesome, but this part was really incredible. Do you guys watch the YouTube channel “Good Neighbors” at all? You know Kyle? Well, we’re all monster good neighbor fans. I mean our sense of humor is almost directly informed by those kinds of videos. So hanging out backstage after the show and everything was done and we look over and see Kyle. We’re all freaking out and so Zach and I go over and talk and say like “hey man can we get a picture?” We talk to him and stuff and he was completely different than his character, which completely shocked us. We were just expecting him to flip into Kyle mode, but I guess not. That was my favorite part. The show was great and the view was beautiful, but meeting Kyle was something else.

Pasha: What’s the worst thing that has happened on tour?

Jake: Oh! One time we were in a parking garage and a disclosed person of the band, tore the side of the van off. That was pretty bad.

Whistler: It was the foot step on the side.

Jake: It was a total mistake. It could have happened to any of us.

Zach: That person has apologized and feels no regret.

Whistler: Maybe that one time we got stuck in the McDonalds’s drive through with the van. That was the worst idea.

Zach: I think we’ve had it relatively easy.

Pasha: So imagine you meet your soul mate. The person is perfect for you in every single way and there’s an issue. A person comes up to you and says either someone is going to come  to them every year, totally randomly and break their collarbones with a wrench. You can stop this by taking a pill that will make any music you listen to sound like it’s being played by Alice in Chains.

Jake: Well I like that one Alice in Chains song…

Pasha: So do you like take the pill or let everything sound like Alice and Chain?

Whistler: I’d let their collarbones be broken. and I’d probably not see them.

Nathan: That’s really hard, I don’t want that to happen to the person that I love the most in this worth. THAT’S AWFUL! oh man….

Whistler: I couldn’t give up music for that.

Jake: (plays a song by Alice in Chains on his phone and sings along)

Jake: I’d do it anyways man. Alice in Chains all the way.

Nathan: That’s selfish…

Jake: Headline – ‘Hippo Campus is selfish’

Sophia: Who are you’re favorite all time artists, actors, performers?

Whistler: Brad Pitt is my favorite singer. Johnny Depp is my favorite dancer. What about you guys?

Nathan: Favorite singer? Gregory Alan Isakov. He’s just…

Jake: Alanis Morissette is my favorite singer. I like her album “Havoc and Bright Lights.” My favorite actor is Ricky Gervais… What else?

Sophia: Who are you inspired by? That’s really the root of the question.

Jake: I’m inspired by my three best friends. This guy, this guy and this special guy.

Zach: well… I was going to say that too…. Yeah, I’m inspired by the friends. Not really you guys because you’re all so disappointing

Whistler: What other friends are you taking about then?

Zach: Gabe, Rick, Taylor, Johny Depp is great. Angelina Jolie. I don’t know….

Sophia: Are you guys planning on or looking into doing any shows this summer shows or festivals?

Nathan: Hopefully. We’re hoping to. Our team of awesome people are helping us out with those things.

(source: WRGW District Radio)

Two Sides of a Coin: An Angel Character Study

As many times as I’ve seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series, I’ve never quite wrapped my head around Angel. But, rewatching season two of Buffy, I think I’m onto something…

This may be an unpopular theory, particularly for my Bangel shipper friends. You’ve been warned.

Buffy and Angel as a couple were powerful, but at times uncomfortable to watch. While the romance was full of passion and butterflies, there were also a few controversial elements to the relationship even before the Angelus switch. There was always something off about Angel.

Here it is.

Angel and Angelus are indeed the same guy.

The fact that Angel the character considers himself a separate person from Angelus creates some murkiness when it comes to the psychology of vampires in general. When Spike is ensouled later in the series he displays a degree of instability, but it’s not dissociative in nature as it is with Angel. Therefore, not all vampires are a separate consciousness from their human selves. This is something unique to Angel, perhaps as a coping mechanism to deal with the trauma of his re-ensoulment. It makes more sense that he himself merely views Angelus as a separate entity because it makes it easier for him to deal with the horrible things he did without a soul.

In the first three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel is somewhat set apart from the rest of the group. He has limited contact with them due to his aversion to sunlight and the fact that Buffy’s mother, Joyce, doesn’t approve of him dating her daughter due to their apparent age difference (Oh, season two Joyce, if you only knew). He also deliberately keeps a great deal of information from Buffy. She has no idea he’s a vampire when she first gets to know him, leading her to invite him into her home (something a slayer likely wouldn’t have done otherwise). She only finds out because he goes all vamp-face while they’re kissing. Angel never tells Buffy anything about his past unless she digs it up and confronts him with it.

When Buffy finds Angel in her kitchen, a bloody Joyce unconscious in his arms, she naturally assumes Angel fed on her mother. It’s only when Buffy goes after him armed with a crossbow that he tells her who he was before: that he killed his family, their friends, he killed children. Then he tells her about the curse - how he got his soul. This gives Buffy enough pause for him to tell her it wasn’t him that attacked her mother. This pause is likely the reason he told her at all.

Also, it would have been super helpful if Angel had given the gang a heads-up about Darla, particularly when she was masquerading as a schoolgirl. He even asked her what the deal was with the schoolgirl look, but didn’t think to maybe tell Buffy and her friends how she operated? He did tell them bits and pieces, but he couldn’t tell them too much about Darla without also telling them about himself, which he wasn’t willing to do.

When Spike came around Angel used Xander as bait, putting him at risk when he offered to feed on him with Spike like they were drinking buddies. Not something Xander agreed to, by the way. Again, Angel neglected to mention quite a bit about Spike’s past that would have been helpful to know (though he was more forthcoming than he had been previously, likely because he’d become a more trusted member of the group by this point).

Angel didn’t tell Buffy about Drusilla’s past until she saw them together and asked him about it. He did tell Buffy most of the details, as far as we know.

Here’s where things get uncomfortable and foreshadowy.

Angel tells Buffy Drusilla was sweet and chaste and, therefore, became an obsession for him. He doesn’t say why, but based on what we learn about Angelus later, it could be because she represents everything he isn’t. She’s also troubled, plagued with visions she believes are evil. He stalked her, tormented her, killed everyone she loved, drove her insane, and then turned her into a demon - the last thing in the world she would have wanted as someone about to become a nun.

After Angel loses his soul and reverts back to Angelus, he begins to repeat this pattern with Buffy. When Spike becomes frustrated Angel won’t just kill Buffy, Drusilla observes Angel doesn’t want to kill her - he wants to do the same thing he did to Drusilla. Angel confirms this. He starts sending Buffy gifts, going after her friends, her mother. This all makes sense and it fits right in with what we know about pre-soul-toting Angel.

At the end of season two, we get some flashbacks of Angel post-soul when he’s guided to Buffy by Whistler. Angel watches Buffy without her knowledge when she’s in Los Angeles. He sees her when she’s called by her watcher, watches her fight some of her first vampires, and observes a very private moment as Buffy overhears her parents fighting. Then, Angel follows her to Sunnydale and continues to stalk her until she catches him at it. He gives her cryptic clues and gifts (remember the cross and the jacket?), he teases her and toys with her.

All of that fits Angelus, too.

These two personas aren’t as different as he’d like people to believe.

Buffy views Angel as a great love, someone she’s willing to sacrifice certain aspects of her life for, to risk friends and family for. As the show is focused largely on Buffy, this is the picture of their relationship that’s most prominent. However, this relationship is much more a cautionary tale than it is a great romance.

Perhaps the overall point of Angel and Buffy as a couple is to illustrate how dangerous vampires truly are, even the “good” ones.

Xander is the most vocal about his dislike of Angel. Part of this is due to his feelings for Buffy, but he also has genuine concerns about the fact that Angel is a vampire. This is due to his severe dislike of vampires in general after the events of The Harvest that led to the death of his friend, Jesse. Giles voices some concern about Buffy becoming involved with a vampire, mainly due to the confusion it’ll cause with her duties as slayer. But, once Angel proves to Giles he truly cares for Buffy, Giles supports Buffy’s decision. Joyce, however, is another vocal disapprover. From very early on, Joyce tells Buffy Angel is too old for her and Buffy hides her involvement with him from her mother.

It’s no coincidence that Buffy has sex with Angel and is almost immediately introduced to the other side to him, Angelus. Part of Angel’s curse that never really tracked was the fact that if he experienced even one moment of happiness he’d lose his soul. Why would something like this be a part of this particular curse? Even Jenny Calendar points out this makes no sense when her uncle tells her about it.

Perhaps this is because it has nothing to do with the curse and everything to do with Angel’s psychology. All the curse did was give Angelus back his soul - his conscience - to make him regret everything he’s done and live forever with his guilt. Angel’s the one who keeps the curse intact out of remorse and fear. He’s horrified by his own actions as Angelus and he doesn’t want to do those things again. He knows if he loses his soul he’ll lose his conscience and go back to his old ways, which he doesn’t want. It’s Angel that keeps that aspect of himself separate as much as he can. So, it stands to reason that the second he stops doing that - if he doesn’t make an active effort to keep himself in check - that it would all go to Hell in a handbasket. It’s Angel that keeps the curse intact and it’s Angel who breaks it. Buffy just happens to be the catalyst. She makes him feel human and worthy of love, which is something he may have never felt even as a mortal man.

The fact is, Buffy didn’t truly know Angel. She knew what he wanted her to know, the parts of him he chose to share with her. While the person Buffy fell for does exist, it’s not the whole picture. Angelus is also part of the package, even though it’s a part of him he chooses to repress as much as possible. But, Angelus comes out in other ways, in certain aspects of his personality. He is still quite fond of violence. He doesn’t just fight demons to help people. There’s a part of him that enjoys it. He toys with people, engages in a little interrogation and torture when the occasion calls for it. His soul - his conscience - generally keeps him from overstepping into the realm of psychopathy, but that doesn’t mean Angelus is entirely gone.

So, what does this mean for the character of Angel, and how does it affect his relationships with other characters?

Angel and Angelus

The tough part about Angel for the audience is that he’s a very introspective character. It’s a running gag throughout both series that Angel’s a brooder: he sits alone in the dark with his thoughts. There’s a lot of truth to this, as Angel rarely delves into what he’s thinking or feeling, particularly in seasons one and two of Buffy. It stands to reason he’s a very conflicted person. There’s a duality to him he doesn’t quite know how to deal with. He’s a man tainted by a demon with a human soul. That’s a complicated individual right there with a lot going on. He’s constantly battling between his urges and his conscience. This tug and pull is most prominent as he goes through is relationship with Buffy.

Angel and Buffy

Angel keeps Buffy at a distance to some degree. She often comments she doesn’t know as much as she’d like to about him, from the types of women he used to date as a mortal to the extent of his involvement with Drusilla and Spike. This gives her a false impression of him and it’s always a rude awakening for her when she gets a new piece of this puzzle. Angel is well aware of this. He knows what he is and while he hopes she’d still love him if she knew the whole story, he’s fearful she won’t. So, he keeps her in the dark as long as possible as much as possible, which causes a lot of tension in the relationship. While part of this is self-preservation on his part, it’s also for her protection. The last person we know of Angel pursued with the same amount of passion as he shows for Buffy was Drusilla… and he destroyed her, condemning her to a fate worse than death. He’s terrified of what he’ll do to Buffy if she stays with him. So, he keeps a safe distance until he gives into his desires and has sex with her. Because, for him, his urges are linked to Angelus, it makes sense that he’d revert back to his old self.

Angel and Darla

Angel was in a sorry state when he came upon Darla. He was a drunk with a low self-image. Darla promised him a new life and he saw her as an escape, salvation. Perhaps this is also why he was drawn to Buffy. She was another woman he came across at a pivotal part of his life, when he was low and depressed, without direction. When Darla showed up in Sunnydale, apparently looking to get him back into the fold (perhaps to get him back altogether), this caused a conflict for Angel. He was faced with his previous life while making a new one for himself and he had to choose between the two, which he did when he killed Darla.

Angel and Spike and Drusilla

When Spike and Drusilla arrive in Sunnydale, once again Angel has to choose between his two identities. It’s important that these two come along as his relationship with Buffy is progressing. It puts his two selves - his two lives - directly in opposition. Spike appears to both look up to Angel and to compete with him. He says himself he learned a lot from Angel (calling him his “Yoda”). Angel, in turn, knows a great deal about Spike and Drusilla. He knows how they think, how they operate - intimate details - and he frequently uses this to manipulate them, both as Angel and as Angelus. This is another trait that seems to be at the core of Angel’s character, regardless of the state of his soul.

Angel and Xander

Xander is one of two non-vampiric characters who seem to truly “get” who Angel is. Xander never fully trusts Angel, both because he doesn’t trust vampires as a whole and because he’s very protective of Buffy. Throughout the first three seasons of Buffy there’s a quiet rivalry between Angel and Xander, with Angel trying to convince Buffy that he’s good and Xander trying to convince her otherwise. It’s important to note that Angel with a soul takes a jab at Xander when he gets an opportunity to do so, when he’s able to use the excuse of acting a part. This happens when Angel confronts Spike at Sunnydale High, trying to convince him he’s still Angelus. It also happens when Angel pretends to have joined Faith and the Mayor. This doesn’t seem to be by accident on Angel’s part.

Angel and Faith

Faith also sees a broader picture of Angel. This becomes particularly evident when she goes to him for help, having no other options. Faith also has a duality about her and a great deal of self-loathing regarding the bad things she’s done. The two of them understand each other in a way that’s unique to them.

The reason Angel and Angelus create a problem with the vampire lore is that the separation has nothing to do with the lore. It’s Angel’s own distinction. But, on close observation, shades of Angelus can be seen in Angel and vice-versa.

I’m still rewatching, so I may write more on Angel later.

Chapter 27: Searching for Answers

Trey

"Okay, just save face until we get this shit under control" I said. She shook her head and folded her arms looking at me. "Trey I can't do this" She said shaking her head.

"Yes you can I know you can" I started "If you don't show up the media will get suspicious and start snooping they business in places it don't need to be. This is gon be hard but I need you to forget about the situation with Mia until the interview is over. Can you do that for me?" I asked looking her in the eyes before she sighed.

"Okay" she said

"Come back and wait here until I come back then I can fill you in everything " I said reassuring her. She nodded adjusting her bandanna on her head. She then stood up from the bed. I kissed her forehead then her lips which she didn't mind returning— before she exited with two body guards.

Flashback

January 16th 2 years ago, Whistler, Canada.

It's Aaliyah birthday and I really wanna make it special for her. We flew out to Canada since she missed seeing snow. I decided to take her to a cabin out here with snow and shit. I'm not to fond of the cold weather but whatever she wants. I came back inside with some fire wood. I then placed it next to the fire place.

"Baby where you at?!" I yelled taking my coat off. I hung my coat up on the rack.The things I do for this woman it's fuckin cold out here. I heard her foot steps coming behind me before she jumped on my back. I caught her making us both laugh— I felt her kiss my cheek. She ran her hands down my chest as I wrapped her legs around me.

"Where was you hiding at?" I asked walking us towards the kitchen.

"Upstairs I needed my charger" she said before I placed her on the kitchen counter before turning to face her. I pulled her closer by her legs making her giggle causing a smile to come on my face. "Happy birthday beautiful" I said looking her in the eyes.

"Thank you" she said before kissing my lips. I wanted to throw Aaliyah this big ass party but she wasn't into it. She told me she wanted me all to herself since she shares me with the world. Her friends were doing something with her when we come back. I broke the kiss before I spoke again.

"Aight baby you got me out here in the middle of nowhere and it's cold as fuck why do you miss this shit?" I asked making her laugh.

"You don't like it?" She asked.

"You like it I love it baby, I'm just cold we couldn't go to a beach or something? Damn" I said.

"We live next to the beach technically so I wanted something different" she said with a grin.

"You lucky I love you anybody else I would've said fuck this and dipped" I said shaking my head as she laughed.

"Awww you love me baby?" She said sweetly wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Yeah I do a little too much but I got something for you " I said.

"Oh really,How much?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup" I said popping the p.

"How much though?" She asked again.

"I love you a lot" I said to her looking at her and she gave me a look.

"Mhmm" she said.

"Come on" I said taking her off the counter guiding her to the living room. Aaliyah followed as a wide smile came across her face seeing a bunch of presents on the floor. "Baaabbe" She said with a grin making me smile. "When did you get all this up here?!" She screeched.

"I know people there's something I wanna give you first" I said giving her a small box.

"What is it?" She said smiling.

"Open it baby" I said as she opened it before a gasp released from her lips. She revealed the 40 karat diamond necklace I bought her.

"Trey you didn't" she said looking at me.

"I did" I said with a smile before speaking again. "You like it?"

"I love it thank you!" She said giving me a hug.

"You're welcome beautiful" I said before kissing her cheek. Liyah looked over at the other presents. "Baby, you didn't have to buy me all this just being with you this weekend was enough for me" she said looking at me.

"You been wit me for two years you know it's go big or go home. It's your birthday whatever you want you got it and then some. Just wanna give you the best birthday you ever had, but you should never ask me how much I love you. You know how much I do love is infinite" I said making her blush. She pulled me closer to her before I rubbed my hands against her sides.

"I ask because I love messing with you but sometimes I just wanna hear you say it. Can I make a request ? " she asked before biting her lip.

"Anything" I said.

"Make love to me" she said looking me in the eyes. I looked down seeing the sweat pants she was wearing, I smirked knowing they were easy to pull off.

"I can do that" I said tugging on in the brim as she helped me to take her pants and panties off. Once I threw them on the floor, I gently put her close on the couch, going down on her to get a taste of her cake.

End of Flashback.

"Where we meeting this nigga at ?" I asked DC.

"On 25 and Washington it's a warehouse there" he replied. I nodded and stood up adjusting my chain. I then made sure I had everything I needed. I waited a few minutes before heading downstairs to the lobby. A group of paparazzi was waiting for me as soon as I stepped out of the elevator. They threw every dumb question they could think of at me and I chose to ignore them. I'm really not in the mood to be bothered with these vultures. I got in my car and drove off. I looked in my rear view mirror checking to see if DC and the rest of the crew weren't too far behind me.

I swear this nigga better know some something. We drove for about 20 minutes before we arrived I turned my headlights off so I wouldn't be detected by an outsider. I pulled up to a good spot before turning off my car. I got out and heading towards the entrance I gave the nigga the code word before walking in. I saw him and the moment he saw me he froze.

"Trigga..." He said clearing his throat.

"Cut the bullshit tell me what you know about where my daughter is and who has her" I demanded.

"I get it man but it's a little complicated than you think because there's two possibilities as to where she is they could put her on the black market to sell her overseas or they abandoning her somewhere to die. But the guy running the whole thing his name is Ace he meets up wit his crew in a couple hours at a restaurant a few blocks from here" he said

"Ace huh?" I said looking at him. "And you know this because?" I asked.

"I-I just make deliveries I ain't have to do wit that I swear" he said causing me to look deep in his eyes to make sure he wasn't lying.

"Aight I believe you what's the name of the restaurant?" I asked.

"Julio's on Fifth and Calvert" he said and I nodded before walking off.

I guess I'm gettin dinner.

..........

I watched Aaliyah's interview on my phone as I waited outside restaurant waiting for this nigga to pull up. Aaliyah looked beautiful but her eyes told a whole different story. Someone tapped my shoulders as a man entered the building with an entourage. "You think that's him?" DC asked. I looked at the man and locked my phone.

"We gon find out" I said getting out the car. "You Ace?" I yelled catching the mans attention. He turned to face me and smirked once he recognized who I was. "The last person I'd thought I see is Trey Songz what can I do for you?" He asked.

"Word on the street is you know who got my daughter and where they taking her thought I'd come to the source" I said before clenching my jaw.

"I'm the source to a lot of things," he said pissing me off. I pulled my gun out and his boys came from behind putting guns at me. He laughed and looked me in the eyes "If I knew where your daughter was why would I tell you?"

"You must wanna die don't you?" I asked cocking the gun back.

"Aight I see how it is look I don't pick up no fuckin kids but I know a lot of niggas that's after yo ass. You might wanna check the state lines we pay niggas to smuggle some things so check the that" he said before walking away. I put my gun down and put the safety back on my gun. "What you want us to do man? It's your call" Mijo said to me.

"I want everybody spread out to drive to the state lines from here to Atlanta ask questions about what they know. We ain't got much time" I said slightly frustrated. I got back in the car and put my head back and sighed. I heard the passenger door open. "We heading back to the hotel or you wanna drive around for a bit" he asked. I stayed quiet trying to think who the fuck wants my bloodline. That's a lot of people that want me dead or whoever's affiliated with me want me dead.

I didn't answer right away my phone vibrated seeing Aaliyah's interview was done. "Head back to the hotel y'all get started in what I just told y'all " I said before he closed the door. I pulled off heading back to the hotel to get Liyah up to speed on everything. I'm staving and I'm pretty she hasn't eaten either. It didn't take me long to get to the hotel I parked the car nearly in the garage and headed back up to our room. Once she came into view, she looked at me with hope in her eyes.

"Anything?" She asked.

"She could be anywhere from here to Atlanta so we checking state lines where they smuggle things. Hopefully, she's somewhere where we can find her and fast then I'm about to get people to search every abandoned building they can in California and up and down the east coast" I said and she nodded.

"So she can be anywhere is what you're telling me?" She asked.

"Yeah basically" I said sitting on the bed as she sighed.

"Trey I think we need to get the police involved. This is getting out of hand we can't handle this on our own" she said making give her a look.

"No" I simply stated.

"Trey-" she started.

"No Aaliyah I mean it" I said sternly. "I got this Imma find our daughter!" I yelled.

"Trey I didn't say that you're not capable of doing this-" she said before I cut off.

"Then what the fuck are you saying Liyah?!" I said standing up as my chest was heaving. She looked like she was going to argue back but she took a deep breath.

"I don't know Trey I don't know anything apparently," she said moving past me to lie on the bed. I clenched my jaw before sitting on the end of the bed. We sat in silence for a bit. Getting the police involved will cause an investigation and publicity that neither of us need. I know Aaliyah just wants Mia home but I can handle this. We both just gotta be patient even though it's killing me...

I looked over at her before going over to her to hold her. She embraced me "I don't want the police involved because I don't want to put you through more than I already have" I started. She didn't say anything but she intertwined her hand in mine. "If they investigate they'll start investigating me and I'll go to jail. They'll put me away you won't have me or Mia if we don't find her. Or Mia will grow up without me and neither one of us want that" I said moving pieces of her hair.

"I didn't even think about that..." Aaliyah admitted. "I just want this nightmare to be over" she said.

"I know and it will be soon just bare with me" I said .........................

I order Aaliyah and I food while the boys did their search. Aaliyah and i took the time to catch up on each other. I missed having these conversations with her— I feel like everyone we talk I learn something new about her. She was telling me about her make up line and her plans to shoot in the Bahamas for her video. Also on of her goals to open Rec centers for kids in central LA. I smiled listening to her.

"I think I talked a lot about myself I wanna know about you" she said looking at me.

"What about me?" I asked before taking a sip of my soda.

"I can ask anything?" She asked.

"Anything you want baby" I responded as she shifted on the bed to sit Indian style.

"You've never talked to me about your dad what was he like?" She asked and I cleared my throat. I never realized I never told Liyah about my childhood that much.

"I wish I knew I never met him he left my mom before I got here. I guess the coward didn't have the balls to stick around. I uh always wondered what he was like, where he was. I always told myself when I had kids that they would never have to question where they came from. They were gonna know who I am even if me and the mom didn't get along" I admitted.

"You might be lucky at least your dad isn't a psycho" she said making us both laugh. "But that's a beautiful way to think, even though you and Jasmine's mom didn't get along you were always there for her most men can't separate relationships and co-parenting"

"Yeah that's true" I chuckled. "What else you wanna know about me?"

"Who introduced you to this drug thing?" She asked.

"I met Bishop when I was 15 or 16 and my mom was in between jobs Forrest was little. I hated seeing my mom struggle so he was on the corner wit his boys and I just asked him how can make some money. He made me do some little stuff like being a runner then I was selling it then he saw something more in me and helped me turn into what I am now" I said. I didn't get into too much detail because that's just too much and I don't wanna scare her. (Plus that'll be in the other book so I don't wanna spoil anything but let me continue sis)

She was about to say something and my phone rings.

"Hello?" I answered.

"We got a hit we gotta head there now I'll text the information to you" DC said.

"Aight bet lets go we got a hit" I said grabbing out stuff before heading out.

Unknown

Norfolk, VA

"So we're dropping the kid off here?" He asked.

"Yeah" I said getting out the car to get the baby out the back. She squirmed a little as I picked her up. She began to cry as the cold air hit her face. I ignored her as I knocked on the door and rang the doorbell once I saw the light come on I put her on the doorstep before getting back in the car and pulled off.

Luna Jarvis

I heard a knock on the door I got off the couch to see who it was. When I looked out the window I saw no one. I opened the door and heard small cries I looked down to see a baby wrapped in blankets. I picked the child up and hurriedly got her inside so she wouldn't get sick. "David!" I yelled out to my husband. "Hi sweetheart," I said softly to her. I heard his footsteps come up behind me.

"What's wrong?" He asked but his eyes became wide when he saw the baby in my arms.

"We've been blessed honey somebody just left her on our doorstep. Why would somebody just leave this baby here" I said holding back tears. We have been trying to conceive for two years now and this is a blessing in disguise.

"A baby just popped up on our doorstep?" He asked looking confused.

"Yes David," I said smiling.

#Emergence

Written by: @DemonHunterDW , @SaladAndBullets & @DeanWinchester_

Whistler, British Columbia 50.1163° N, 122.9574° W

Homer: Then............ "Devon!!" -Standing at the bottom of the staircase she yells again.- "Devon, turn the tv off and go to bed you have school tomorrow! Don't make me come up there!" -Eyes glued to his tv as the machete comes down and blood goes everywhere. Scared shitless until he hears his mother yelling at him.- "Okay Mom!" -Scrambles off his bed and turned the television off and gets into bed so scared by what he saw turns the lights on in his bedroom and falls asleep.- Now........... -Dean walked into the headquarters office and immediately felt out of place. So... this was how the other half hunted. Jo sang their praises but he'd never had any dealings with anyone much. Oddly people started waving and saying good morning. He deduced they thought he was someone else because he knew none of these people. Going to the front desk he spoke to the guy behind the counter.- "Hey man I'm looking for the briefing room, meeting Sam Winchester..." -The guy stopped him by holding up his hand and Dean frowned not knowing what to make of this shit. He'd been called saying they had a situation that he might be able to help with. A couple of big dudes came up and all he got was a "I'll show you to the debriefing room." Dean went along but he didn't like it and he felt out of control which wasn't a feeling he relished. Riding up the elevator he tried to joke with the guys but they acted like they had a stick up their asses. Shaking his head he gave up and the doors opened.- "First room on your right Sir. Sam Winchester should be waiting for you." -Dean walked out of the elevator and looked back at them.- "You two need a night off and some fun." -That pulled a laugh from the younger one and he grinned back at Dean as the doors shut. Walking down the to the room he opened the door and walked in.- "Well hey there Sammy. I'd say let's get a beer but I'm figuring this isn't a drinking call."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sam: -Sam had gotten a phone call from someone he didn’t know, requesting his presence and assistance. He was going to say no, but they had said Dean would be joining them. He was more curious than anything so he went. Imagine his surprise when he was greeted at the airport by a limo and driver. Well, at least whoever wanted to speak with him had some money. Maybe he could get a few bucks out of the deal. Funds were running low. He felt like he’d been sitting in a big ass conference room for hours when his brother finally walked in. Standing, he walks a few steps towards him, a smile on his face.- Hi, Dean. Yes, I get the same feeling. I could use a beer now more than ever though. -reaches to hug his older brother- You know what these people want with us?

:::::::::::::::::::

Homer: -Jo had told him there were multiples of the whole family coming in through the rifts but to see a guy who for all purposes looked and talked just like his Sammy. He hugged him kinda stunned.- I figure it's a case but my dealings with Blackwater haven't been much. Jo usually handles things dealing with the actual office I just show up and hunt. -Can't help but stare at Sam.- Damn, did you come through a rift too? I'm a little lost on who's who around here. My nickname is Homer. -Laughs- Little joke with Jo one day and it stuck.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sam: -Sam stood there almost lost in his own world for a second trying to piece it all together.- Yeah, about a year ago. First time I’ve seen anyone who…you know, looked like my brother. Sorry, just I miss him. -He looks away for a moment taking his previous seat, not wanting him to see how it affected him.- Homer? Yeah, I don’t know if I can do that. -chuckles a bit, before he eases back in his seat- Did you say, Jo? She’s alive and here? I didn’t see that one coming. -Sam had done his due diligence and had googled and researched this Blackwater, and he had come up with several business and holdings the company had. Seemed like a front to him.-

::::::::::::::::::::::::

Homer: Ohh she's alive and well for damn sure. -Laughs.- Handful, never piss her off, tiny or not she's got one hell of a right hook. I'm not sure I'm the one to explain things but -Hearing voices he turns and motions his head towards the golden boy coming down the hall wearing a suit.- But that guy wearing the monkey suit can explain.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sam: Yeah, hope I see her. Are you…married? -Sam never though he’d ever ask that of Dean. Most likely he never would of with his true brother. Damn, this isn’t easy for him. He’s keeping an open mind. He watches a blurry image of a man in a suit approach the conference room door. The glass has a frost over it for privacy and suddenly he feels overwhelmed. He reaches for a pitcher of water and a glass on the table in front of him filling it up.-

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Homer: -Watching Sammy he could feel the drop in mood from him and wondered what had him sad all a sudden.- Not yet, we're dating. -Looks over at the door as @DeanWinchester_

walked in.-

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Colt: -Colt didn't like the office much but every now and then he had to show up kinda like proof of life. But what had him here today was Homer and the new Sam. He whispered to his secretary to order some food just in case and since Dean was standing he walked over to him first, the the resemblance was like a mirror image except that Colt was a little bulkier from weight lifting. Wearing a black suit he looked pretty sharp today. His hazel eyes moved from one to other as he shook Homer's hand.- It's good to finally meet you, I apologize for not reaching out sooner but I've kinda had a full plate. Surprised I know my own name. -Walking over to Sammy he smiled.- You didn't have the normal welcome wagon show up. For that I'm sorry, the rifts are unpredictable, by the time we got there you were gone. Took some work to find you but here you are. -Offers his hand to Sammy.- Obviously, I'm one of many Dean Winchester's to now reside in this world. I got here around twenty years ago. I brought you guys here because I wanted to explain what we do and what we are really about and then I want to bring you in on it.

::::::::::::::::::::::::

Homer: -Shakes Colt's hand and keeps standing as he watched the polished Winchester move over to Sammy. Relaxed his armed crossed over his chest. This guy was Jo's "best friend" which being a guy he'd be jealous but turns out the golden boy was gay or supposed to be. That much he knew from gossip but regardless he'd made a name for himself being one badass mutherfucker. So Dean was a little curious to see what made this one tick since it was an alter of himself.-

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sam: -Standing, Sam does his best to keep his jaw off the floor as yet another image of his brother walked in. Shaking his hand, he looks a split second between the two. Twenty years? No way was he finding his way back home.- I’m all ears. -Truth is he’s more full of questions than than patience, but after shaking hands he takes his seat again.- Now I see why you go by Homer. -laughs lightly-

:::::::::::::::::::::

Homer: -Shrugs with a smile.-

:::::::::::::::::::

Colt: I go by Colt. So... probably have a lot of questions. I know I would. -Firm shake after letting go he takes off his suit jacket and tosses it on the table walking over to the mini frig and grabs three beers coming back he hands them each one and sits loosening his tie.- So I'll make this quick as I can. We aren't certain what's causing the rifts or who's doing it. Rumors are Lucifer and Michael are out to hurt Daddy and killing worlds to do it, maybe even found a way to harness some of that power. We haven't found a way to create one and of course that means we got no solid way to send you guys home. -Twists the cap off his beer.- You guys have every right to walk out the door and go live out your lives and I'll respect that if that's what you choose, but all I ask is for you to hear me out before you make a choice.

On to Gemtree

Monday, 17 May

I did say today would be a biggish day – and it was. We were up before 7am and did all the final things ready to move on and we were on the way to the repair shop by 7.50am – almost a record for us.

We arrived and received a short sermon about how we should be treating our van to avoid the ravages that the poor thing had suffered. I tried not to react too strongly so explained what needed to be done and we left him to it. He said it would take about an hour so we bought a couple of things we needed from Woollies and sat in the car to warm up in the sun beside the dry Todd River. A couple of hours later, they rang to say the van was ready – but they deal ONLY in cash – no cards of any sort that require mechanical or electronic contraptions to clutter up workshop. Fortunately, we had enough because we got cash out at the supermarket so off we went to collect the van. On arrival, another tirade started. The mess under the van was the ‘worst botched job’ he had ever seen and the entire caravan below the floor ‘should be ripped out and rebuilt from scratch’ – his words! No hint of customer-friendly relations there. He had replaced the broken tap and installed a new hose where the fitting was broken – but he didn’t know if it would work because he had run some new hosing to connect the tanks but didn’t know if it was correct or not – ‘if not, just pull it all out myself and start again!’ I had drawn his attention to some bent protective shielding when I dropped it off and he said he had removed some of it and ‘smashed it out and refitted it’ – his words again. (But he didn’t install the new protective shield around the hose and tap as he said he would as part of the job!) Then his wife started in with the 15/25 rule again and told us not to ‘smash up’ anything else on the van on the way to Gemtree (all of which is on good, sealed roads). She took our $295 in cash and then we realised that he hadn’t fixed the trailer hitch so we couldn’t reconnect the van. It needed 2 small plates to be fitted where I had replaced the bolts a week ago – so he replaced them with second-hand items and charged us another $50 for 5 minutes work. And to top it all off, when we got to Gemtree and connected water to the van, his new length of hose leaked badly in 3 of the 4 places where leaks could have occurred. (We subsequently taped it us as well as we could to make it usable in the short term.) Wherever we go, people ask where we were taking the van, or where we had the work done, and when we say JC caravans (the ONLY caravan place in Alice), the eye-rolls start and the tears of sympathy start to flow – obviously, they are widely known for their utter incompetence and gross offensiveness to customers and suppliers alike – but there is nowhere else to go so people just have to suck it up. We eventually got on our way with his wife still haranguing us as we drove off – back to the G’Day Caravan Park to fill all our tanks – by agreement with the managers there after staying for a couple of weeks.

Gemtree is great! It is very rustic, no bells or whistles, but a fascinating place. There is a small shop, not much stock, but you could survive if you had to, any sort of fuel at $2 a litre, and a huge area (hundreds of acres!) only partly cleared for caravans. There is a gem-shop and display and a heritage-listed museum – a historic house (the Old Mt Riddock Homestead) from the relatively near vicinity - 45 kilometres east.

The powered sites are fairly close to the amenities – our van is 30-40 metres away, but all of the powered sites are within maybe 150 metres or a shade more – but I went for a walk in the bush and saw unpowered sites (obviously unused for at least a couple of years) with running water and fire pits half a kilometre or more away. Someone had even dug their own firepit about a kilometre from the ablutions. There are signs for the golf course, with at least a few tees, and it seems that they had regular golf tournaments here about 20 years ago. There is a strange open structure (the Club House?) with a leader board in it from the ‘2001 Gemtree Open Bush Golf Classic’ but the course itself is completely overgrown now.

There is a bush area that I walked to that was at least 500 by 500 metres littered with every imaginable item of junk, old vehicles, brand new boults of wire and equipment, dumped fridges, washing machines, etc., a defunct caravan or two, a massive bulldozer rusting away, parts of buildings (doors, windows, stairs, you name it) – it is an incredible area, with everything just laying around higgledy-piggledy with no attempt to create a dump – just things left where they were tossed off the truck 50 metres from the nearest other collection of rural detritus.

But we are comfortable. The artesian water is pretty hard, lots of calcium, but quite palatable enough to drink and without any restrictions on usage. The ablution block is a bit old and tired, but clean enough, there are plenty of mulga trees to offer some sparce shade – and every site has its own firepit. It was wonderful to have our first fire for about 3 years a couple of nights ago. There is something quite primaeval about sitting and watching a cosy fire – yes, it gets pretty cold at night and early in the morning – and we burned all our accumulated rubbish. There is plenty of wood around if you want to go scavenging, but we have carted wood, pinecones and other inflammables for tens of thousands of kilometres so it is good to relieve the car of some of that. And there seems to be a breeze each morning and evening that whistles through the mulga with almost the romance of the sound of the wind through sheoaks (highly evocative of wonderful times in my youth) – absolutely magical. I love it.

Tuesday, 18 May

We spent a good deal of Tuesday, rearranging the car and van. We took everything off the roof-rack and put some things from the van-boot up there – and rearranged everything in the back of the car and the caravan to make it all much more compact; but easier to access and use. It was a big job, but we were very satisfied when it was finished. A side issue of doing anything in the desert is that our hands are constantly dry, no matter how much moisturiser we use. Our fingers are so dry, the skin catches on everything, our clothes, the bedsheet, anything that is not entirely smooth – and constant washing doesn’t do anything to help. But it is a tiny cost for being here in such wonderful surroundings.

Note the comparatively empty roof-rack compared with earlier photos. Some of gear we removed is stacked at the rear of the van.

There is virtually no phone or internet access here. There is a little near the shop, but almost nothing and only very occasional at best near the caravan – so we go up to the shop each day with our phones and PC and hope to download anything that might be waiting for us. There is a tower somewhere relatively nearby (we saw one about 30 clicks away), but it is for some commercial business and often gets turned off randomly for hours at a time.

There are lots of birds here – literally thousands of Zebra Finches in clouds, hundreds of Galahs, but quite a few Black and Whistling Kites (mainly Blacks), Torresian Crows, Crested Pigeons, Willie Wagtails, and Budgerigars – as well as occasional Red Goshawks, Rufous Whistlers, Red-capped Robins, Singing Honeyeaters, Magpies and probably others I can’t recall at present. We still see plenty of flocks of budgies – maybe about 6 to 20 in each flock, but the zebras come in their hundreds, flocking around every leaking tap and descending from the nearby shrubbery like a cloud for a quick drink and back again – again and again and again. And as soon as one flock migrates to another tap, they are replaced with a couple of hundred more. One interesting bit of animal behaviour I have noticed is that the crows systematically visit all the firepits each morning to check for leftovers once the visitors leave, either to move on or just for the day.

And on the subject of birds, the Red Goshawk I saw a few minutes ago was the 101st species I have identified since leaving home. I added 6 to the list yesterday, including 2 new lifers for us – subspecies of the Hooded Robin and Horsfield’s Bushlark that we haven’t seen before.

My Lovely Assistant- Chapter 6 (Junkenstein Meihem)

Dr. Junkenstein was hard at work, soldering in the guts of yet another of his zomnic toys. Far from his usual grumbling and muttering, he whistled to himself as he worked, one of his favorite classical pieces. He’d always been a good whistler, though it tended to be done only when he was happy…and it had been a long time since he’d been this happy. In The Hall of the Mountain King whistled and tootled from his pursed lips, uncaring of the blue sparks flying near his face and goggles. “Doctor!” Mei’s voice called from behind him. He whirled around on his stool, dropping his soldering irons and immediately sat straight to attention. “Yes? What is it, love?” The soft shuffle of her cloth slippers hurried across the room, hop-hop-hop, coming to a stop beside him and waving a wax-sealed envelope. “A raven just dropped this off at the window. A letter!” “Give!” He snatched the paper from her claws, ripping it open as she crowded in beside him, listening to him muttering under his breath before lowering it to his lap in a baffled manner. “Uh…Well, that’s new? The Lord of the Castle is erm, inviting me to a party?” “A party?” she echoed, brow furrowing. “But…you said your Lord wasn’t fond of you.” “He’s not!” Junkenstein spat, turning on her with more vehemence than he meant, both hands gesturing rapidly. “He hates me, he hates everything I do! He’s never appreciated all the work I’ve done for this crumbling empire. I could have turned this fetid hole into the center of a scientific and magical Renaissance, and instead he turned me away, time and time again. Well he may be content to sit there and rot in these ruins…so that’s exactly what he’ll do, when we’re done with him! Him and his Engineer and all the villagers who mocked me, and his whole decayed kingdom! And now that I know the secrets of life, I’ll bring him back. I’ll bring him back just so I can destroy him again! And again! And again! It’ll never end!” Mei was silent for a long moment, watching his hands shaking and nearly tearing the paper in two. Hesitantly, she reached out to rest a gloved claw upon his shoulder. “Doctor? What about the invitation?” “Oh, right, the invite…” He focused, adjusting his goggles as he stared down at the paper with disgust. “Much as I’d love to throw this in the privy hole where it belongs, one can’t just ignore a missive from their Lord, eh? Especially don’t need them poking around at a time like this. Not when we’re so close. I’ll show my pretty face for a moment, just long enough to show I’m there, then come right back. Can you get my formals out of the closet, sweetness? Might need some cobwebs cleaned off them too. Tch…Asking me to a party now, of all times. After what they’ve done to me?!” The jiangshi’s arms encircled him abruptly, pulling him in against the crane sigil on her chest and holding him to the top of her bosom. His enraged trembling halted, burrowing his face against the dark cloth of her robe as she placed cool lips to his always-fevered brow. “Do you want us to keep a watch here while you handle them in the castle?” He uttered a muffled “Mmmhmm,” against her breasts before pulling his face out with a sigh. “Keep a lockdown until I’m back, sweetness. Anyone besides me tries to get in…well, feel free to eat them.” “You’re very kind, Doctor,” she said with a fanged smile. “Heh, aren’t I just the best? At least you see me for what I am, darl. And when all this is done, everyone else will see my greatness too!”

*** Dr. Junkenstein had never liked his formal wear. The coat and ruffles around the throat had been inherited from some dead relative or other and were decades out of style, but he’d never much bothered to update his wardrobe. Mei had done a bang-up job with what they had, though. He was clean, primmed, and pressed, and she’d even managed to slick his hair back…a little. It was starting to spring up in places it shouldn’t, but that was hardly a thing to worry about now, as he limped his way across the courtyards, to the castle proper. The castle was as dark and dilapidated as the rest of the grounds, but cheerful yellow lights flickered in the window as the doctor invited himself inside. It wasn’t much of a party, even by his standards. He saw a handful of local villagers, a handful of others from the next village over; and there was Lord Balderich himself, standing head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the party, and his ‘royal’ Engineer, who had grown in the other direction and stood head and shoulders shorter than anyone else as well. A single cello, being played rather badly, had been set up in the corner, and Dr. Junkenstein saw nothing of interest save for a table full of food and steins of beer. If he was going to be forced to this wretched gathering with these wretched people, he could at least get some decent grub and a drink out of it. He loaded up a platter with finger foods, snorting a bit when he took a bite. It didn’t taste anywhere near as good as the meals made for him by his lovely jiangshi. But what else could he expect from these dirty commoners? He shoved a handful of biscuits into his jaws, his cheeks almost overflowing, when he felt a gigantic hand clap around his shoulder. He nearly leapt right out of his coat and ruffles, turning wide-eyed and wide-cheeked to the form of Lord Balderich looming over him, casting him in his enormous shadow, big enough to even give his own Monster a run for his proverbial money. The doctor choked a bit, trying to swallow. “Mmmfmm?!” “Just the man I was wanting to see,” the giant boomed, smiling with large white teeth. “Our very own Dr. Junkenstein.” Dr. Junkenstein managed a leery smile and coughed a mouthful of crumbs up out of his throat, voice dry. “Y-you wanted to see me, sir?” Lord Balderich brushed the debris from the front of his shirt, his Engineer standing nearby and watching in disapproval as his Lord wrapped one bulky arm around the scrawny doctor and started to lead him through the gathering. “We haven’t seen you in a while, Dr. Junkenstein. Where have you been?” “Oh, uh! You know, doing this and that. Busy, busy.” The badly-played cello was getting fainter and they were getting further away from the party, off into the side rooms, and Junkenstein swallowed a bit nervously. “I mean, after all, Lord Balderich, you didn’t seem to very interested in my last creations…” Lord Balderich opened up one of the doors, to a room holding little more than a few flickering candles and an enormous keg. Junkenstein found himself abruptly sat down on one of the chairs, and a mug seemingly appeared from nowhere in front of him, sloshing with brew. Lord Balderich and the Engineer sat across from him, each with their own drinks, and his Lord smiled at him again in a rather unnerving way. “Sit with us, doctor, have a drink. Allay our…concerns.” “Concerns?” “Have a drink, doctor? A gift from some of the brewers to the north, much better than the ones up at the main event. Have a drink.” Lord Balderich seemed to be waiting, and at a loss, Junkenstein tilted back his drink. He sputtered a bit, not used to whatever brew was inside, some kind of strong beer that he’d never tasted before. With a cough, he offered a polite, “Uh, thanks. S’good?” The Engineer smiled. “Damn right. Now, why don’t we all sit down and have a good, hearty man-to-man chat…” ***

They had kept refilling his beer and asking him questions. Where had he been? Busy. In the tower. With what? New projects, probably nothing His Lordship would be interested in, as usual. What had those strange noises been, coming from his lab at night? Rats. Probably rats. Big ones. What of the omnic slaves he’d been working? Oh, all those got decommissioned aged ago, just like they’d wanted. Who was the shadowy figure stealing ducks out of the pond that one night? No idea, mate. The Engineer poured yet more beer into his mug, even as the doctor tried to shake his head, swaying slightly. “And we’ve had reports of  figures, not yours, moving about your tower. More of your little machines playing at people, or do you have…visitors?” “Visitors?! S-sure I dunno what you mean by that!” Junkenstein sputtered, bubbles popping in the foam of his beer as they watched him drink more. “I know you have a tendency to talk to yourself, doctor. But I hear that you’ve been talking to…someone else,” The Engineer growled. “What are you up to, in there?” “Work! S’called work, not like you would know anything about that!” “Then you wouldn’t mind opening up that tower and showing us your work?” The Engineer stood, as if meaning to head to the tower right that moment. “Like hell! That’s my personal property, and you’re not gonna disturb us!” “Technically, Dr. Junkenstein,” Lord Balderich rumbled, “That is my personal property. And if you’re doing unscrupulous things, I have every right-” Sweat rolled down the doctor’s forehead. “You stay out of it, old man! S-sorry! Sorry, I meant, Your Lordship! But I won’t let you, you leave us alone.” “Us? Who is ‘us’ and what have you been doing?” “I’ve been busy, arright?!” He shouted petulantly, stomping his peg against the stone. “I’ve had a lot on my mind! I’ve got more things going on than anyone here could understand. No-body! Nobody except her!” “…her?” The Engineer said. “Yeah, I got a her now, and you better stay out of it!” “Who is ‘her’?” The short bearded man grilled him further. Junkenstein swayed on his foot and peg, his eyes unfocused behind his goggles. Some part of him knew that telling them about having a ravenous undead Chinese vampire as an assistant was not the best idea, but his being able to brag was an even bigger concern. “I told you I got a ‘her’ now. Ya wanna know why I been busy, mates? Because I got a lovely lady and I needed to put things right with her!” Both Lord Balderich and his Engineer looked surprised, shooting glances to one another before the shorter man asked doubtfully. “You? With a woman?” Balderich shushed him with a wave of his hand, smiling slightly and looking on to the mad doctor in slight approval. “Well that is…unexpected news. No wonder your behavior’s been stranger than normal. I had thought that you had more nefarious purposes, not simply problems with women-” “Well they aren’t exactly problems. And don’t act so surprised! Because I’m a man, with manly concerns, now. Had it with a woman, I did.” The doctor’s scrawny chest puffed, the lace around his neck even seeming to flare like a peacock’s feathers. “Then congratulations to you, my boy!” Balderich seemed strangely pleased to hear the news, his relief obvious. The doctor gave him a suspicious look, but Balderich merely continued, eyes growing nostalgic. “I suppose I need to apologize for assuming the worst. So you’ve been sneaking about with a woman? Hah! I wouldn’t have guessed it. But I’m sure we all remember our firsts. Or well, perhaps my Engineer is starting to forget after how many children?” The Engineer smirked and plucked at his beard, “I plan to remember again with her tonight, actually! Ha ha haaa!” Junkenstein blinked groggily, but smiled along with them. It had been such a long time since either of them had shown the slightest interest in him, and even if they weren’t bowing before him or praising his scientific advancements, he felt a little glow in his chest at even their minute approval. “She’s ace, mates. Dark eyes. Red cheeks. Grabbed right onto those nice plump hips, I did. Right down on the ground like beasts, we did! It was wild!” He took another drink of beer and it made his head spin. Balderich’s giant palm slammed into his bony back, nearly spilling his drink all over as he laughed heartily. “Now that sounds like the kind of woman we all need!” The doctor gave them a watery grin. “Couldn’t walk right for the whole night, then had to wash my trousers and everything…Like a man! I mean, that still counts, right?” “Hmm?” “Like kind of going all over the inside of your trousers because of all the grindin’ and movin’ and suckin’…” He rested his bony chin in his hands. The Engineer’s grin slowly faded and he gave a cough, and even Lord Balderich seemed unsure of what to say, giving the young man a look of half pity. “Well that’s…grrhmm…progress? You might not have reached your, er, full destination, but the journey is half the fun, they say! It’s good for a young hot-blooded man like you to live a little, sow your wild oats, do…normal…things. Just be decent to the girl, yes? Who is she? Not someone from the village, I suspect?” Junkenstein sighed dreamily, downing more beer. “No, she’s from…real far away. Ordered her out of a catalog…” Lord Balderich slowly put one hand over his face and the Engineer shook his head, muttering something about ‘other shoes always dropping’. “She’s not like anyone here, no. She’s real pretty but in a different sort of way. Real sweet, too. I don’t care that she can get somewhat strange or if she feels a bit cold or that she smells a little like mothballs! Sometimes you gotta…you gotta overlook little things in the name of love, eh?” His head was starting to hurt and his gut was definitely roiling, and he decided that the best thing to do was drink more beer to quiet it all down again. “Well, son, that’s a real noble way of looking at love. Good for you. Sometimes you have to overlook the little flaws in each other!” “Yeah! Yeah, mate!” he slurred into the woodgrain of the table. “Like…if she can overlook all my flaws, although not like there’s many, I can overlook hers.” “Hear, hear!” Junkenstein waved his arms, spilling more beer. “I’ll still love her the way she is!” “That’s the spirit!” “Yeah! It don’t even really matter to me that she’s dead! I brought her back! I love ‘er!” The others stopped and stared at the doctor took yet another deep drink, their smiles fading. Even through the haze of alcohol over his senses, Junkenstein could feel the mood in the room change. He looked at them over the rim of his cup, a dribble of amber liquid oozing from the corner of his chapped lips. “Uh?” And then Balderich launched out of his chair, roughly snatched onto the front of Junkenstein’s coat, ripping the lapels of it and starting go drag him away through the doors with a series of loud bangs. Dr. Junkenstein flailed, gripping at his arm, squirming wildly with cries of ‘What gives?!’ and ‘What’s the big idea?!’ but the massive man ignored him. His boot and metal peg leg scraped occasionally at the ground, even his massive height held aloft as he was carried towards the entrance of the castle, trailed by the scowling face of the Engineer close behind. Then there came the creaking of larger doors, and the cool night air on his face, and Junkenstein felt himself spinning end over end until he landed face first into the black mud and sewage of the overflowing ditch outside the castle gate. He peeled himself up out of the sickly mess with a groan, nearly retching, trying to wipe the muck from his goggles. Curious faces started to appear in the yellow windows and around Lord Balderich and the Engineer, peering around them at the crumpled form of the scorned doctor. “I told you before, Junkenstein! I will not have my subjects graverobbing, consorting with the dead, or you continuing your obsession with…with unnatural things!” Balderich’s huge finger pointed down at him. “I gave you a chance after we caught you digging up the cemetery…twice! But whatever wretched dead woman or whatever poor creatures you are keeping in that tower, I will not allow it.” He looked down to his grinning Engineer. “Get your men and unlock that tower. Break it down if you have to. And you-” He narrowed his eyes at the figure in the mud below him. “Get out.” Even with his senses reeling and his gut churning, Junkenstein knew that things had gone extremely poorly at this party. He tried to stagger upward, slipping in the stinking sludge as he saw the Engineer vanish back inside. Baring his teeth, he spat out a mouthful of black and faced down the Lord of the Castle. “Don’t you goddamn dare, you overgrown homonculus! You so much as lay one finger on that door, I’ll…I’ll call down the storms on you! You aren’t gonna get her, aren’t gonna get any of them! They’re mine! They’re all mine!” Something pelted him across the face. One of the villagers had purloined a sandwich from the party, hurtling it through the open door and hitting him on the forehead. Roast beef and tomato slid down his already filthy features, and as he went to wipe it away, a much more solid apple hit him square in the gut, almost making him keel over as he found himself beset by a storm of hors d’oeuvres. The villagers always had enjoyed a good show, after all, especially if the lunatic doctor was on the receiving end. And as usual, the Lord of the Castle stood by and watched, disgust written on his features as the man was humiliated further. Dr. Junkenstein turned and sloppily retaliated, throwing a chunk of bread that missed its target by a mile, staggering back towards the relative safety of his courtyard and his tower. A pastry smacked him in the back of the head for his troubles, the villagers booing and jeering at him as he went. He hobbled as quick as he could, his drunken state making it harder than usual to steer himself towards home. And it made it even easier for the Engineer and his band of followers to catch up to him, even trying to move past him to intercept his path to his own tower. Judging by the tools in their hands, they intended to break their way in sooner than later. “Don’t you dare! Don’t you fuckin’ dare!” The doctor shrieked, grabbing at the handle of the bolt cutters one of them carried and pulling back, trying to wrench it from his grasp. “You aren’t getting in!” They shrugged him off and he tried again, until he was roughly thrown back by the bulky arm of the Engineer. “Step aside, boy. You can pack up your things after we’ve made sure the Lord’s holdings are secure.” Torches were starting to appear amongst the gathering crowd, and Junkenstein knew it was only a matter of time before the pitchforks came out as well. He grasped onto the Engineer’s arm, uselessly trying to throw him back, spattering them both with more stinking mud. “I said no! It’s mine, she’s mine, they’re all mine! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you! Worthless, stinking, wretched cretins! I’ll kill-” A fist landed upside his nose and he spun like a ballet performer, red droplets flying to speckle over the sludge as he fell back. A cold breeze swept through the courtyard like a living thing, the flames of the torches flickering and guttering to one side all at the same time. As the crowd’s eyes turned to look, a purple and black blur hurtled across the dark expanse of mud and stone, moving so fast that the wind whistled behind it. It hit the Engineer like a well-aimed thunderbolt, the impact making a loud cracking sound as the stocky man was suddenly sent flying backwards. His back hit the stone wall, limbs splaying outward in almost a silly manner as he groaned loudly, peeling slowly off the vertical surface and landing face-down in the muck as well. Mei landed noiselessly beside the doctor, leaning down to wrap both arms under him and gently lift him upward. Caring nothing for his filthy state, she teetered him into a standing position before turning to the shocked sea of faces before her, irritably adjusting her glasses and placing her hands on her hips, lips screwing up around her fangs with an expression like a very, very displeased schoolmarm. “So mean! Honestly!”

boy, oh boy have I neglected posting this concert experience story (3 ½ months overdue yike) for the people who probably could care less about it, but it is finally here, & it is v v v extensive as it includes basically every detail I can recall accurately.

Here ya go, curious cats:

I went to the show in Santa Ana, CA on March 5th. I got to the venue maybe 20 or 30 minutes after doors opened, so the openers were already in the middle of their set. I dragged my older guy cousin w/ me (since my sister was doing a photoshoot in San Diego that night + the next day), & during the opener’s set, he pushed me to the front of the crowd since he knew how long I had been waiting to see hippo. Then they came out & did their thing, & holy shit. Okay, it was so worth waiting almost 2 years. Their set was so fucking surreal; I may or may not have almost cried.. Also in the middle of their set, some guy pushed to the front to let Jake take a hit off a joint, & it was p iconic lol.

After the show, the crowd waited like 5-10 minutes to disperse due to the hope of a possible encore. I then got merch & waited inside the venue for maybe 15 minutes since the last time I was at the Observatory, the band I saw met fans inside the venue, but after seeing most of the fans walking outside, I followed.. Also b/c they kicked everyone out lol.

There were maybe 60-70 (possibly even more) fans outside waiting in the parking lot for the guys, but hippo had chosen to wait everyone out until there were 30 fans max which was 1 - 1 ½ hours later. During that time, I made a few new friends since my cousin decided to just wait inside of his car for me to do my thing.

(Whistler left right after the show to spend time w/ his family, sooo y'know.. I didn’t get to meet him.)

The first boy to come out was Nathan, but he stopped to smoke a cigarette w/ security lol. We were on our way to meet him half way, but we stopped when we saw he was busy (DON’T BOTHER THEM IF THEY SEEM BUSY OKAY). We then just waited for another one of them to come out or until he was finished.

Jake:

Jake came out next, so we went over to him to take pictures & whatnot. I’ve been promising him a lame dad shirt for the past two years, & I still have yet to provide. I apologized for that as we were about to take our picture, & he simply replied, “aww, next time!” whilst rubbing my arm. Not to be dramatic, but Jake is pure sunshine. I wish I had more time to chat w/ him, but so many others were trying to speak to him as well, so after the pictures, the girls & I were off to the next boy.

Nathan:

We went to Zach since Nathan was still smoking, but everything w/ Zach will be addressed last since that was most of it.. SO after seeing Zach the first time around in the night, we went to Nathan, & my conversation w/ him is kind of a blur, but basically the gist & a few specifics: he called himself a whore (I briefly explain here for those wanting further explanation), he told me to get out of California, & I called him a hippie which he asked me to explain myself, but he was literally rolling a joint as he was giving his “stop being on your phones, go outside, & interact w/ your friends” spiel. (One of the girls took a snap video of him, & in it he says “like at the same I want the ability to be able to be here now, so.. that’s what cigarettes are all about.” C’mon hippie sticker boy, admit it.) I also brought up his twitter & how this one time late at night, & he was the only one of the boys awake, so he was bored & asked to be sent poetry. I sent a realist suggestive poem about me “doing homework when it should be you” (my recent works are definitely more tasteful & not that trashy.. but sticker boy told me the other night (in direct reference to my previous statement) that “trash is & will always be better than we think.” sooo maybe he enjoyed it? I don’t know about that cryptic boy), & he told me he didn’t remember. Then he asked me what year this happened, & I told him it happened in 2015 to which he said, “I was a different man then” lol okay, child. Little something about sticker: he comes off as a very serious person when you speak to him, but he isn’t at all. Although, he is very formal. When I first went up to him, he went in for a handshake, but I had been waiting too long for this to be a handshake; I needed it to be a hug. We then introduced ourselves.. Ooooh. I also talked to Nathan about his sister, Madeline, b/c she’s been following me on Instagram for a couple years (I didn’t even follow her first lol), & oml the look on his face when I told him that. He rolled his eyes & said, “ohhh, Madeline.” It was hilarious (love you, Maddie). Overall, we just had a 5-10(??) minute conversation about life (in the midst of the conversation, someone was pulling out of the parking lot blasting one of their songs (can’t remember which one.. violet maybe?), & Nathan yelled, “turn that shit off.” It was iconic).. Then I went back over to Zach.

Zach:

Background info:

About a week before the show, I was tweeting this boy so much? Within a week probably 30 of my tweets were liked by him; it was so excessive, & soz to anyone who was following me during that time b/c yikes. Anyway, basically the main part of it was that we were finally going to fight, & the whole Zach only liking tweets & fighting has been a running joke since 2015 okay, so this isn’t new. He also agreed to “match” outfits w/ me, hence the denim shirt over his sweatshirt.

(You can peep the embarrassing twitter thread here. Some tweets contain their own threads too js lol.)

At the actual show:

When Z finally came out, the girls I was w/ & I booked it over there, & he was chatting w/ some people, & he talks for a long time which is really nice, but also time consuming y’know. (Also oml okay as we were waiting for them to finish their conversation, this bih smiled, & I kid you not, my weak ass squealed a bit. Like those dimples? Are you fucking kidding me?) Anyway, when our turn finally came to, I went first since we had a whole plan going. It was a thing where I was going to greet him by saying something vaguely rude, so he’d be aware of the whole fighting thing b/c if I greeted him like I actually would have w/ the whole “hey, how are you,” bringing up the fight would’ve been a tad awkward, thus “Zach, you ass” was born.

(You can watch that on my twitter here. It’s also part of the thread, but eh y’know.)

Subsequently after the denim shirt talk (the video cuts right before this, but he actually apologized for not bringing his other denim shirt, & I told him that I was just happy he even brought/wore one b/c I asked, & he said, “yeah, well thanks.” what an awkward angel), I called him out about some twitter things such as why he doesn’t reply, & he said, “I just like b/c it’s like a binary sort of thing.” Then I told him that I actually would have brought him candy in which this bitch smugly replied, “maybe I don’t like candy.” Uhm this boy liked the tweet, & if it is actually a binary thing, he is indicating that he does like candy smh. Anyway, I asked, “what about donuts or something?” This bih then decided to sass me aGAIN by saying, “Whistler likes donuts,” & I was so done. BOY, NO SHIT. EVERYONE & THEIR MOTHER KNOWS WHISTLER LOVES DONUTS HOLY FUCK. I WAS USING THAT AS AN EXAMPLE FOR A SUGGESTION. Ugh then he said that I should bring him fruit, so I asked which is his favorite, & I thought to myself, “he better not say mango,” & HE DID. I was disgusted, everyone else was disgusted b/c of my reaction, & it was a mess. Then we continued to talk about fruit for a few more minutes (it was a long fruit convo) such as the correct way to eat grapefruit (peel the skin & put sugar on it), pomegranate being bomb, & yet another opposing opinion which was on putting tajín on fruit (Z hasn’t had it, so he believes that “salty things don’t belong on fruit.. that’s for pretzels” ..tajín is chili powder that tastes like candy, & it is amazing, especially on watermelon). Then I said bye to him after we took our pictures, helped the girls I was w/ take their pictures, & we went over to Nathan (which I already went over).

Second time around talking to my mango bitch: So after talking to Nathan, I went back over to Zach alone since the girls I was w/ decided to leave (it was maybe 12:15 AM at this point, & it was Sunday night, soooo y’know). My phone had also died when I was waiting to talk to Zach the first time, but then it came back on by itself when I was waiting to talk to him the second time. It was living on the edge, so I ran back to my cousin’s car to get my portable charger (we had parked right by the bus in the very front of the venue, so it was very convenient), but tHAT WAS ALSO ON THE EDGE. I went back in line, & I was the last person to talk to Zach, so it was a long time spent. We said hi again, & we took so. many. pictures. These were all snap filter ones, & we did that for a few minutes. Okay, so my bitch ass oml I made him retake a few, & at one point, I actually said, “ew, I don’t like this; we have to retake it,” & hE LAUGHED AT ME, & THEN HE MIMICKED ME. I can’t believe. Ugh okay, but a part of this was that we were going to do the infamous face swap filter, but it was unavailable, & we realized it was on the picture face swap instead right as it was finishing loading, & we both said, “wait, this is the picture one” & almost switched w/ the picture I had just taken w/ Jake. Then I asked him how tall he was, & he said, “I don’t know, 6′1?” I told him that I think he’s def 6′2. I also asked him if he was sick since I noticed he had been coughing a bit throughout the night, & he said he was, & I just kNEW he would probably get me sick too, & wow what a surprise, he did. Afterwards, I had him record a video for my best friend who couldn’t come (she started liking hippo when I did, but she is not as present in the “fandom” anymore), & I asked him if I should use the flash or not b/c I did not want to blind him w/o warning, he said whatever I want is fine, so I chose to do it w/o the flash, but ahh okay, I kept having to wave him around to try to be in better lighting, & I felt so bad. Then finally we said our goodbyes after he noticed that I was actually shivering, & he said, “well, it’s cold. I gotta go get warm; you gotta go get warm. It was so nice to see you,” & we hugged, but then we ended up walking in the same direction. As we finally broke away & I was almost to the car, he calls over & says, “I’m still only going to like your tweets,” & I deadass call back over & say, “you are annoying as fuck.” 

Post related events:

So when I got home from the show, I took to twitter to express my love & annoyance for such mango boy to acknowledge which included me tweeting him less than an hour after I left saying that he’s cute, & t’was a good fight. Also the next day (the day they had their second Conan performance), I tagged him in the comments of the first post I made of one of our pictures calling him out for not liking it & that we actually have to fight again if he doesn’t like it, & this child decided to like my cOMMENT INSTEAD. Then I commented again explaining that I was meaning the picture & not the comment, & he liked that one too. About a week later, I had told my mom & her boyfriend about the whole Zach thing, & I tweeted something my mom’s boyfriend said about me fucking up by not kissing Z (which would’ve been highly inappropriate wtf why would I??), & he liked that tweet too lmao. I was mortified. He’s liked some more stuff within that same period to now, but I cannot recall if they’d actually add anything to this?

Okay also disclaimer: I do not hate Zach, & he know this. It’s just how we are (which are two v extra people).. but he is def the bitch in our relationship thanks.