#and clever enough to play it up when greg asked

[malpal132]

I've recently been watching Succession and the dark humor element reminded me of your work and you've said before you're a big succession fan. As any completely stable dramione consumer would, I couldn't help but try to fit these two idiots into a succession au but me being me I resigned myself to ask a more talented person about how they would go about making setting up this au? Would Lucius be Logan? Would you give Draco siblings and how would he deal with that? How would Hermione come into this and how would she and Draco scheme for corporate takeover?

anon...what have you done to me? this ask has consumed me. swallowed me whole and spit me back out ass backwards. but listen, i tried. i tried to keep it dramione. the issue is that it wouldn't make the best dramione story, imo, but it would make a decent panville.

this is gonna be a whole thing, so buckle up. i'm walking you through my thought process.

shiv first, for once in her life: my initial thought was ginny (only girl in a family of boys, always fighting for her place, fiery attitude, etc.) but shiv's dynamic with tom is so essential and when it comes to that toxic sort of relationship, i think pansy parkinson fits better. she's cutthroat and not overly sentimental. which brings me to--

tom: who is easy to underestimate and would neeeeever be the dom in the relationship with shiv!pansy? neville longbottom. obviously he's a particularly shitty version of neville who's never quite fit in and takes his power trips where he can find them, but he is genuinely in love with his wife and she's never taken him seriously. you know who does take him seriously?

greg: gregory goyle. and not just because his name is greg already! his cleverness is constantly underestimated but he was sorted into slytherin for a reason. despite being known a bit of an oaf, he's always craved proximity to power and knows how to play the part of a cronie. also the homoerotic undercurrent between him and neville!tom are very important to me.

logan: severus snape. he could be many things in this au, whether it's a uni potions professor (like those exist, lmao) with only one fellowship to offer or it could be a company. he loves a power trip and doesn't care about traumatizing any of his "kids." 1000% doesn't think anybody can do it better than he can, and he might be right.

kendall: draco malfoy, obviously. he's always seen himself as the favorite and, having grown up in the lap of luxury, he's used to getting what he wants. wholeheartedly believes that he's the best option despite being crippled by insecurity and ever so occasionally, by empathy. he wants to trust people even though it keeps getting his ass kicked. would absolutely ask for logan!snape's help to cover up some legal trouble that he gets in and mistake logan!snape's willingness to help for love when it's really leverage.

stuey: blaise zabini. kendall!draco thinks they're allies but blaise is more cutthroat and skeevy than kendall!draco could have predicted. growing up with a mom who regularly marries for money and whose spouses mysteriously die shortly after their nuptials, stuey!blaise knows how to scheme. doesn't have a heart, definitely encourages kendall!draco's coke problem.

roman: theodore nott. hey, daddy issues! rarely taken seriously despite being weirdly earnest and caring deeply about the fellowship/company. will always sacrifice what needs to be sacrificed if it's in the "family's" best interest, including/not limited to some really shady shit. degradation kink.

gerri: narcissa malfoy. a regal woman with a deep understanding of how logan!snape works. she has a soft spot for roman!theo and tries to keep him out of trouble despite kendall!draco's disgust at their bond. knows she's a hot piece of ass with a clever brain to back it up.

connor: percy weasley. this guy is more ego than actual brain cells. street-stupid. dumb enough to still feel empathy for his "siblings" when that kind of weakness automatically disqualifies him from any of the prestige he craves.

willa: lavender brown. younger than connor!percy, lavender is used to being overlooked as a bit of a bimbo and has learned to use it to her advantage. as an artiste, money is her bottom line because her true love is her craft and staying with someone as insufferable as connor!percy is worth it for the funding. for now, at least.

comfry: astoria greengrass. chic, aloof, and eternally out of reach for poor greg!gregory (lmao), she puts up with kendall!draco's attempts to stay relevant because he pays pretty well.

like i said, it would be panville and it would be delightfully toxic. shiv!pansy and roman!theo would be so fucking caustic when they fight, the sexual tension between roman!theo and gerri!narcissa would be palpable, and watching kendall!draco get fucked over in every which way would be 🤌🤌🤌

anon. this was such an amazing ask. i'm sorry i didn't deliver on the dramione. my brain held a knife to my throat and was like don't you fucking dare. pls consider being not anonymous so we can yell at each other back and forth about this.

#anon ask #succession #harry potter #succession x harry potter #panville #somebody pls write this

[dimonds456]

Gem Steven’s gem is flipped upside-down. (Theory/Speculation time!)

SPOILERS FOR @spudinacup’s SU AU “Gone Wrong”!

Also WARNING: long post!

So recently, someone pointed out that Steven has a scar on his torso going across his gem’s location, which I found interesting in and of itself. Makes sense, since he wasn’t able to heal it since he DIED and his gem was shoved out of his body before it got the chance to heal him. That slash mark is there now. Wow, neat! Nice detai-

Wait.

Hold on a sec.

Is his gem... flipped upside-down? Well, it’s been like this for a while, maybe it’s just a creative choi-

...oh.

This is VERY intentional.

So I did some digging, and found much more symbolism and possible foreshadowing, and now I want to throw out my theory about Gem Steven here, including his potential arc and character development. I’ll try to keep everything brief while still blowing your minds, and I’ll try to get across what my jumbled mind has come up with.

Spud please notice me.

I will not be uploading photos to go with everything I say (go reread the comic after this and verify for yourself what all I’ve said), but I’ll show visuals when they’re necessary. I do not claim ANY of this art as mine (I wish my art was this good ;u; ), all of it belongs to Spudinacup and their SU AU, which has all kinds of hidden symbolism, foreshadowing, and visual cues we haven’t picked up on yet, as I’ve just learned while researching this theory. This ain’t your run-of-the-mill AU, everything in here is intentional. Scott Spud doesn’t do coincidences. So I’ll point out that stuff in screenshots.

Okay let’s go.

SO! To begin with, let’s talk about why his gem may have flipped, and to realize that, we have to know when. We don’t see the gem much, but we do see it constantly through Chapter 1, where it is normal. The pentagon is pointed upward. However, in Chapter 2, this is where we see it flipped upside down. When did that happen? We didn’t see it. I believe it happened in that first scene in the bathroom, right after we left. The butterflies were swarming angrily, and Steven was very lost in thought.

Notice whenever those butterflies appear. They seem to show up every time he thinks about who he is. Is he still Steven, or is he someone else now? Steven is dead. Everyone is mourning him, trying to heal him, but Gem is still here. So if Steven is dead, but Gem is still alive, that must mean he isn’t Steven then, right? But then that undoes everything we learned in “Change Your Mind.” He IS Steven. He’s always been Steven. But that’s when they were together...

...And so the butterflies swarm.

Notice how the first one shows up when he looks at himself in the mirror. When you look in a mirror, you should see yourself, right? But who IS he? In the show, butterflies represent thoughts and ideas, mostly dark ones, disturbing ones, or ones you don’t want to think about. Well, he already spent WAY too long proving who he was, so now to do it again sucks.

But he isn’t Steven anymore. He’s on the couch being mourned. But he’s already proved he IS Steven before, and it’s this uncertainty that is making his mind swirl. I believe this is why he flipped his gem. Just upside-down, so it’s a small thing no one will notice, while he tries to figure it out. In doing so, he’s separated himself from “Steven”, as they’re not one and the same anymore, and the flipped gem shows this. He’s someone else right now. Maybe. He’s not sure.

So what do we call you for right now? Steven. He already proved he was Steven, so until he’s proved otherwise, Steven it is. Now he just has to figure out what exactly that name means and wether or not he still fits that quota.

Flipped gem/Pink Diamond imagery is EVERYWHERE, mostly hidden in drastic shadows or in panels. It’s things you don’t notice at first, until they’re staring you in the face. See if you can spot them from the 3 screenshots below.

There’s probably more hidden throughout the comic, these are just the ones I’ve found that I feel confident enough to show as hard evidence.

So, what does it all mean? We’ll talk about the screenshots in order, left to right.

First, the Diamond is hidden as the panel in the center. In it, Human Steven lies upside down while the gem-panel is technically upside right. This can be interpreted in a few ways, but what that means to me is that something isn’t right here. If you flip Steven back around so he’s upside right, the gem is now upside down. Notice Gem Steven looking towards his human half on the bottom panel there, clutching his shirt over his gem. It’s a motion we’ve seen Steven do a TON throughout the show, anytime he’s thinking about Rose/Pink, who he is, or complicated gem stuff as a whole. Because early on, his identity was always shrouded in shadow. THAT is Steven, on the couch, without his gem. So for Gem Steven to call himself Steven is inaccurate, but also not at the same time. It’s all swarming in his head, and thus, the gem is flipped.

Next, he’s just broken the rejuvenator. This was probably the hardest to spot of the three, but if you look at the panel where Bismuth asks “feel better?” you will see, in the background, a white line cut through the soft pink hues. Look closer. It’s the outline of the gem, but it’s flipped correctly this time. This is because Bismuth seems to be the only person NOT saying Steven is dead, and treating his gem half one and the same. Is she unnerved? Yeah, but who WOULDN’T be? This is still Steven we’re talking about, as emotionally blocked as he is. He’s aware of why everyone is being weird around him, so to see Bismuth trying her best to treat him with familiarity instead of a completely different, new, dangerous stranger is really calming and helps to calm the storm a bit.

Notice the gem is flipped correctly. This is because he feels like Steven right now. Bismuth has been constant confirmation that he is still Steven, no matter the circumstances. Notice how his eyes dialate back to a larger size. They do that a lot in the comic, articulating his emotions without changing the rest of his face. It’s a clever detail to keep track of. His eyes grow more relaxed, dialating bigger when she pats his shoulder, asking if he feels better after destroying the weapon that killed him. It’s a huge relief for him to hear. So, the gem is correct.

Finally, we see Bismuth telling Greg that his son is dead, which is very contradictory to what Bis was saying earlier (in Steven’s eyes). Where is the gem on that frame? Look at Steven’s shadow. There it is, facets and all. To us, the gem is correct, but think about it this way: if Steven were actually replaced with the gem in that frame, what would it look like, Pink’s or White’s? That’s right. The point is coming from his feet, meaning it would look more like White’s, meaning it is back to being flipped upside down. Again, Bismuth just said Steven is dead, meaning he’s back to questioning his whole entire identity. So it’s back to being flipped upside-down.

It seems that the orientation of the symbolic gems hidden throughout panels show quite clearly where his head is at in terms of who he is. If it’s upside down, he’s separating himself from the cold meatball on the couch, whereas when it’s normal/upside right, he is associating himself WITH the cold meatball on the couch.

Notice he’s been grabbing at his gem a lot recently, too, all things he does while in turmoil over who- or WHAT- he is. He cannot heal right now. He can’t use his powers. Some powers are new and unfamiliar (see the more recent pages where Lapis struck out with water and he blocked with those hexagonal shields/walls). “Steven HEALS people.” He can’t, so who is he?

This is something he’ll need to have an answer to by the time the comic is done, and this is a mission for Gem Steven and Gem Steven alone. If his human half were alive (and content without his gem), he’d probably call himself “Steven” no questions asked, since he GOT his answer already, two years ago. But Gem can’t do that, not when everyone keeps drawing all these lines between the two. He needs to learn what being “Steven” means, and know that he is a part of a greater whole, but on his own, he is STILL Steven. Everyone else needs to realize this, too, and stop separating the two. It’s gonna be rough, since it may feel like replacing what they lost, but is it really? It’s going to be a tough road to trek, and I don’t know what anyone’s answer is gonna be (that’s the big mystery here, after all), but I’m here for it.

Remember, all of this has been speculation on what may happen based on facts and clues Spud has presented us with. I’m not claiming to know how Gem Steven’s arc will end, but I am throwing my hat into the ring on where I THINK it will go. Either way, the foreshadowing, symbolism, and unspoken characterizations here have been excellent, and I’m looking forward to seeing everything play out. Spud, your mind is incredible, and whatever you’ve got planned over there, I’m confident the answer will be satisfactory.

I’ll shut up now. Thank you for reading this huge meta post, and go read Spud’s comic. You can find it at @suaugonewrong or on Spud’s Tumblr, which was linked above. If you think I’m wrong or have a counter argument, bring it. Let’s talk, cause this is genuinely interesting and fun to dissect. I wanna talk about it OwO

Thank you. You may now continue scrolling.

#LONG POST #I’M SO SORRY #but Spud please notice me #owo #su au gone wrong #su gone wrong #gone wrong su au #meta post #au #theories #speculation #super long post #gem steven #pink steven #human steven #split steven #storpse #trigger warning #theory #idk you don’t find many aus that have this much depth to them #it’s nice #and i love it #so thank you #blood #tw blood

[universallywriting]

Connverse: 58 and 75

https://universallywriting.tumblr.com/post/641505013940846593/fanfiction-trope-mash-up

Accidental Eavesdropping and Bed Sharing. Very clever!

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

If Steven is totally honest with himself, he doesn't know when his powers start. His dad says that there are moments throughout his infancy that might have been magic, or it might have been a tired parent not having the best memory.

There was the occasional toy Greg swore he had put out of reach found back in Steven's hand, the occasional flower patches that seemed to spring up around him. Little things that made Greg wonder just how strong his son really was.

Because of that, Steven could never really be sure when his dreams stopped being his own.

Does he dream about working in the donut shop? Or is that Sadie's mind he's riding along in? Does he have dreams about loneliness, wandering aimlessly in a world of lifeless rocks, or is that Amethyst's memory twisting up in his own when they slept close together?

After fusing with Connie, it's nearly impossible to know if a dream is his or hers.

He's only ever fused with two humans - Connie and his father. The fusion with his father hadn't lasted long - not from any weakness in their relationship but because of his flickering powers. But he and Connie fuse again and again, just for the joy of fusion. They're so in sync it happens by mistake, and his mind gets good at falling into hers.

So how is he supposed to know who dreams of the terrifying ocean overhead, and the comfort of a pink bubble? Who dreams of trying to breathe and finding lungs full of water, or empty of air? Who dreams about books they're reading together, or games they play together, or their favorite shows?

It's rarely easy.

He wakes up one morning with Connie beside him after a sleepover. He's dreamed from her point of view, and he's sure the dream isn't his own, because he has never seen a green paper full of odd little bubbles. He barely understands the dream at all - only vaguely comprehending that the sheet of empty bubbles was a big, important test that he has no chance of passing.

He asks Connie about it, and her cheeks get red as she mumbles, "You shouldn't eavesdrop on people's dreams." It's half a joke, and she had been sweet enough to explain the bubble tests to him, but it sticks with him.

It isn't nice to eavesdrop. He knows that. He's gotten in trouble for it plenty over the years.

So Steven does his best to practice. He practices with all his powers, so it's no trouble to add dreamwalking to the list. He tries to catch his mind whenever its floating off to the humans of Beach City. If a gem needs him, that's fine, but it's rude to sneak around people's brains.

He knows his own face grows hot when he imagines other people seeing his own dreams. His powers have snatched his privacy away more than once. Steven knows it's not a pleasant feeling.

He pulls himself away from dreams of swordfighting and fantastic worlds, and nightmares about school stuff and gem stuff. He rolls back the leash of his magical mind, though it's a strain to keep himself properly out of someone's head when they have the same nightmare again and again, and the need to help makes his gem hum.

But it's rude. He holds back. He lets humans be human without him meddling.

He's gotten really good at it, mostly. It almost never happens. It's only a problem when he and Connie sleep side by side, separated by inches or nothing at all. He doesn't stand a chance then. He's been trying with everything he has, but there's no chance.

When she's this close, he's not sure his gem understands when he ends and she begins.

Any time he and Connie dare to share a bed, his mind tumbles into hers. He asks Garnet, sure it's either a problem of fusion or love, and Garnet is an expert in both. She tells him a little more each time he asks, a little more complicated as he grows, so by seventeen he has a notebook to study from as he tries to solve the impossible problem.

Garnet says that Steven is not good at fusion because he's a Diamond. It's the caring, the empathy, being willing to see things from someone else's point of view. That was the thing that had made fusion come to him so smoothly over time, with so many of his loved ones.

Garnet explains that Connie does the same for him.

Compatibility is a two-way street. If Connie wasn't so good at understanding the world the way he does, Stevonnie wouldn't be such an easy fusion to make. Every year they know each other better, their lives twisting up in one another's no matter how many miles threaten to rip them apart.

The choice is to keep eavesdropping or end being close altogether. Neither of them hesitates.

He falls asleep next to Connie, the two of them snoring in her too-small dorm room bed, and Steven still never has a clue whether he's walked into her dreams or not. Not unless he tried, not unless he meant to.

The only consolation was that Connie didn't either - not unless they talked about it.

He worries over it. "Maybe we could put a pillow between us."

"Why?"

"I don't want you to catch my nightmares."

She looks up at him with deep, brilliant brown eyes and for a little bit it's quiet. he lets it be quiet, because he's gotten good at that over the years. Connie likes to think before she speaks if she isn't angry, so he lets her do that now, carefully picking through her massive vocabulary to phrase her words just right.

"I get more nightmares when I'm alone," she says finally, and her eyes flick away at the confession. "I'd rather go through it with you. It's awful being alone."

They talk about it for a while. It's almost an argument, but not quite, and by the end Connie's laughing and saying, "We're dating, Steven. I don't have a lot of secrets left! What are you gonna see?"

So he eavesdrops. They share dreams of flying and falling, swimming and drowning, success and failure. Sometimes it's a fun game to wonder who the dream comes from, and it's hard to feel embarrassed when they couldn't even tell whose brain it had been cooked up in.

Though when they dream of kissing - when things are suddenly less floaty and wild, and the dreams are nothing but heavy breath, calloused fingers on soft skin, and sweet whispers of adoration. Well. They both wake up blushing, but since it could be either one of them there shouldn't be much to be embarrassed about.

Still, when Steven wakes up from dreams like that, his flaming cheeks make him wish he could get a little better at keeping his mind to himself.

#steven universe #steven universe future #connie maheswaran #connverse #fic

[piratewithvigor]

My first thought in regard to every band that gets played on my radio station

ACDC: Every dad’s favourite band

Adams, Bryan: Every mom’s favourite singer until Michael Buble came along

Aerosmith: haha they thought Vince Neil was a lady

Alice Cooper: he’s a Game Of Thrones fanboy and I have proof

Alice In Chains: my sister doesn’t like them because she decided AC were Alice Cooper’s initials ONLY

Allman Brothers Band: good music for dropping acid to

Allman, Gregg: That’s too many Gs for one name

Animals: House Of The Rising Sun, or who even cares

Argent: Sometimes Hold Your Head Up is really catchy

Asia: Tuesdays

Autograph: one of the members went on to be a pharmacist

Bachman-Turner Overdrive: There are just so many pop culture jokes about Taking Care Of Business that whatever I say won’t be as funny

Bad Company: with their song; Bad Company, off their album; Bad Company

Benatar, Pat: Always getting her confused with Patti Smith

Black Crowes: I like them for Lickin, but it doesn’t seem to exist outside of one shoddy video on youtube and my old CD

Blackfoot: this band name feels kind of racy

Black Sabbath: Dio was not better or worse than Ozzy; just different

Blondie: I like Call Me, but Blondie confuses me stylistically

Blue Oyster Cult: MORE COWBELL

Bon Jovi: Hello, childhood trauma, I missed you

Boston: ONE GUY. ONE GUY DID IT ALL AND NO ONE KNOWS

Bowie, David: Don’t let your children watch The Man Who Fell To Earth, or David Bowie’s will end up being the third penis they see in life

Browne, Jackson: Another musician ruined by Supernatural

Buffalo Springfield: Jack Nicholson was at the riot they sing about

Burdon, Eric: no ideas, brain empty

Bush: ditto

Candlebox: ditto once more. Who are these people?

Cars: This band feels so gay and so straight at the same time, I can only assume they’re the poster children of bisexual panic

Cheap Trick: I played Dream Police on Guitar Hero so fucking much because it was the only song anyone who played with me could keep up with

Chicago: Chicago 30 exists, but they do not have 30 albums. Fucking riddle me that

Clapton, Eric: 6 discs in one Greatest Hits is too many. That’s called “re releasing your discography”

Cochrane, Tom: For some reason, everyone thinks Rascal Flats did it better

Cocker, Joe: Belushi did it right

Collective Soul: who?

Collins, Phil: If his biggest hits were done by MCR, they would be emo anthems, but because he’s 5′6″ and from the 80s, they’re not

Cream: *Vietnam flashbacks on the hippie side*

CCR: *Vietnam flashbacks on the war side*

CSNY: David Crosby; meh

Deep Purple: THEY’RE SO MUCH MORE THAN SMOKE ON THE WATER

Def Leppard: the only music for when you’re a heartbroken bitch but also a sexy one

Derek And The Dominos: Clapton and ‘Layla’ broke up

Derringer, Rick: Tom Petty if he was from the midwest

Dio: You thought it was an anime reference, but it was me, Dio

Dire Straits: You can tell how bigoted a radio station is based on how much of Money For Nothing they censor

Doobie Brothers: I have yet to smoke weed, but I listen to the Doobies, and I think that’s pretty close

Dylan, Bob: I take back everything I said about him in my youth

Eagles: Hotel California isn’t their best song, but the memes that come from it are second to none

Edgar Winter Group: @the--blackdahlia

Electric Light Orchestra: Actually an orchestra and sound a fuckton like George Harrison

ELO: I really hesitate to ask what happens with the 7 virgins and a mule

Essex, David: no prominent memories of him

Fabulous Thunderbirds: cannot spell

Faces: Who on earth thought that was a good album name?

Faith No More: I got nothing

Fixx: One Thing Leads To Another is a damn bop

Fleetwood Mac: I ain’t straight, but I’m simply not enough of a witch to enjoy them to full potential

Fogerty, John: He got sued cause he sounded like himself

Foghat: Slow Ride slowly becoming less coherent feels like a drug trip

Foo Fighters: He was just excited to buy a grill

Ford, Lita: deserved better

Foreigner: dramatically overplayed

Frampton, Peter: a masterful user of the talk box

Free: dramatically underplayed

Gabriel, Peter: leaving Genesis changed him a lot

Genesis: if someone likes Genesis, clarify the era, because yes, it does matter

Georgia Satellites: sing like you have a cactus in your ass

Golden Earring: Twilight Zone slaps, but it doesn’t slap as hard as this station thinks it does

Grand Funk Railroad: Funk

Grateful Dead: I like their aesthetic more than their music

Great White: there are so many fucking shark jokes

Greenbaum, Norman: makes me think of Subway for some reason

Green Day: the first of the emo revolution

Greg Kihn Band: RocKihnRoll is literally the most clever album name I’ve ever seen

Guns N Roses: They have more than three good songs, but radio stations never recognize that

Hagar, Sammy: I’m still trying to figure out where he lived to take 16 hours to get to LA driving 55 and how fucking fast was he driving beforehand?

Harrison, George: He went from religious to rock, and if he had continued rocking, he would have gotten too cool 

Head East: I respect people who use breakfast foods as album names

Heart: Magic Man and Barracuda are played at least once every goddamn day. They’re not even the best songs!

Hendrix, Jimi: I have both a cousin and a sibling named after Hendrix references

Henley, Don: Dirty Laundry gives me too much inspiration

Hollies: Somehow sound like they’re both from the 60s and the 80s at the same time

Idol, Billy: he’s doing well for himself

INXS: Terminator vibes

Iris, Donnie: knockoff Roy Orbison

James Gang: too many funks

Jane’s Addiction: if TMNT had a grunge band representative

Jefferson Airplane: *assorted cheers*

Jefferson Starship: *assorted boos*

Jethro Tull: The only band to make you feel not cool enough to play the flute

Jett, Joan: icon

J. Geils Band: I requested them on the radio once and it got played

Joel, Billy: he really did just air everybody’s business like that

John Cafferty And The Beaver Brown Band: literally wtf is that name

John, Elton: yarn Elton sits in my basement, unstaring. Please someone take him from me

Joplin, Janis: Queen

Journey: Stop overplaying Don’t Stop Believing. It takes away from the rest of the repetoire

Judas Priest: literally started the gay leather aesthetic

Kansas: another fucking band Supernatural stole

Kenny Wayne Shepherd: the man confuses me to the point where he isn’t in the right place alphabetically

Kiss: Mick Mars and I will simply have to disagree on the subject

Kravitz, Lenny: runaway vibes

Led Zeppelin: Fucking fight me if you don’t think they’re the most talented band (maybe not the most talented individually, but collectively, no one comes close)

Lennon, John: My least favourite Beatle for reasons

Live: I got nothin

Living Colour: slap a decent amount

Loverboy: do you not get TURNT the fuck up to the big Loverboy hits? Who hurt you??

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Sweet Home Alabama is a Neil Young diss track

Marshall Tucker Band: no opinion

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band: VERY STRONG OPINIONS THAT THEY AREN’T GOOD

McCartney, Paul/Wings: Power couple

Meatloaf: I have nothing but respect for a man who willingly named himself Meatloaf

Mellencamp, John: voted cutest lesbian of 1987

Metallica: I liked their appearance on Jimmy Fallon

Midnight Oil: I get them confused for Talking Heads a lot

Modern English: who?

Molly Hatchet: Hollies vibes, but also Georgia Satellites vibes

Money, Eddie: DAN AVIDAN, IF YOU SEE THIS, COVER TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT

Motley Crue: Stan Mick Mars and John Corabi. They’re the only ones who deserve it

Mott The Hoople: no one loves them except for David Bowie

Mountain: props for naming an album ‘Climbing’

Nazareth: I want to make a John Mulaney joke here, but I can never come up with one

Nicks, Stevie: witch queen

Night Ranger: I get them confused with Urge Overkill

Nirvana: Kurt Cobain was the ally grunge needed

Nova, Aldo: he’s Canadian, at least

Nugent, Ted: *serves a ghost as jerky*

Offspring: nothing here

Osbourne, Ozzy: this bitch crazy

Outfield: Your Love is kind of a sketchy song, but it slaps hard

Palmer, Robert: low quality Eddie Money

Pearl Jam: *grunts in Eddie Vedder*

Petty, Tom: I have so many feelings about Tom Petty and they are all good

Pink Floyd: which one is Pink?

Plant, Robert: solo career is a crapshoot, but his voice is unparalleled

Poison: I want them to write a song called ‘Alice Cooper’

Pretenders: I want to say good things, but I have nothing to say

Queen: A doctor of astrophysics, a screaming girl, a disco queen and a diva walk into a bar. It’s Queen; they’re there to play a gig

Queensryche: neutral opinion

Quiet Riot: they got big because of a song they hated. I love that

Rafferty, Gerry: the second-sexiest sax opening in all of music

Rainbow: Ritchie Blackmore created something very magnificent

Ram Jam: one good song and they didn’t even write it

Ratt: I’m sure they have more than Round And Round, but I don’t know it

RHCP: funky, but if you have paid money to hear them, you’re going to The Bad Place (I don’t make the rules)

Red Rider: basically Golden Earring

Reed, Lou: Walk On The Wild Side would be such a cool song if it wasn’t so dull

REM: American Tragically Hip

REO Speedwagon: Props for having a dad joke as an album title

Rolling Stones: Never in my life could I imagine the drummer being named anything but Charlie

Rush: How to make being uncool the coolest fucking shit

Santana: The world needs more Santana

Scandal: There’s something really funny about The Warrior being my brother’s “song” with his girlfriend

Scorpions: Was Wind Of Change written by the CIA? Only the spotify podcast I got an ad for once could say

Seger, Bob: A different variety of Eric Clapton (frankly a better variety, but that’s just me)

Simple Minds: we ALL forgot about you

Skid Row: Sebastian Bach is prettier than all of us

Soundgarden: music that makes you feel like you dunked your head underwater

Springsteen, Bruce: my arch-nemesis. Maybe someday, he’ll find out about it

Squeeze: according to my friends, the stupidest band name ever, but they’re theatre kids, so you know

Squier, Billy: If he can make it through 1984 alive, you can make it through whatever bad day you’re having

Stealers Wheel: Yet another band who I always mistake for George Harrison

Steely Dan: my house’s nickname for the Robber in Settlers Of Catan

Steppenwolf: Either makes me think of Jay & Silent Bob, Jack Nicholson, or that time I had to cut 6lbs of onions

Steve Miller Band: when you’re in the right mood, they slap hard

Stewart, Rod: my soundtrack to summer 2015

Stills, Stephen: Love The One You’re With Is Catchy, but the lyrics are questionable

Stone Temple Pilots: the only band to write a song about goo you smear on yourself

Stray Cats: an obscene amount of merch is available for them

Styx: Supernatural would have ruined them for me too if I hadn’t been into them previously. 

Supertramp: I hunted for Breakfast In America for two years and it was worth every hunt

Sweet: I will never understand my two-month obsession with Ballroom Blitz when I was 15, but it was legit all I listened to

Talking Heads: you may find yourself in a pizza hut. And you may find yourself in a taco bell. And you may find yourself at the combination pizza hut and taco bell. And you may ask yourself; ‘how did I get here?’

Temple Of The Dog: I keep confusing them for Nazareth

Ten Years After: somehow still relevant

Tesla: not the car or the dude

The Beatles: Evokes a lot of opinions from people. Mine is that I love them

The Clash: I showed my sister the ‘Lock The Taskbar’ vine ONCE and it still kills her

The Doors: evokes teenage terror from deep within my soul

The Guess Who: Canada’s answer to confusing question-themed band names

The Kinks: kinky

The Police: wrote the theme of 2020 and everyone somehow forgot it was about a teacher resisting becoming a pedophile

The Ramones: playing all of their songs in a row wouldn’t take more than 2 hours

The Romantics: you don’t think you know them, but if you’ve seen Shrek 2, you have

The Who: If someone can explain Tommy to me, I’d be glad to hear it

The Zombies: I think they happened because of the 60s

Thin Lizzy: Could the boys maybe leave town?

Thorogood, George: blues, but make it modern

Toto: the most memed song behind All Star

Townshend, Pete: just makes me think of the end of Mr. Deeds

T-Rex: Mark Bolan is an icon

Triumph: The no-name brand of Rush

Tubes: like the yogurt

Twisted Sister: they did a christmas album and my mom does NOT hate it

U2: U2 Movers; we move in mysterious ways

Van Halen: RIP Eddie

Van Morrison: honestly, who’s named Van?

Vaughn, Stevie Ray: Steamy Ray Vaughn

Walsh, Joe: The Smoker You Drink The Player You Get

War: Foghat, but even groovier

Whitesnake: the most successful band to be named after a penis

Wright, Gary: the 90s thanks him for writing the song every movie used for the “guy sees cute girl and it’s love at first sight” scene

Yes: To Be Continued

Young, Neil: The best part of CSNY

Zevon, Warren: the album cover of Excitable Boy makes me deeply uncomfortable for reasons I don’t understand

ZZ Top: has been the same three guys since 1969. Lineup unchanged. 

3 Doors Down: They feel a little modern to be on a classic rock station, but whatever

38 Special: Why 38?

#I made this instead of doing homework #Classic Rock #Meme

[simplyshelbs16xoxo]

‘wreck my plans’ chapter 6: your heart was glass...

FFN | Ao3 | Buy Me a Coffee?

.

.

               They took the night train into Sheffield. Tom sat across from her, a science fiction novel open in his hands. It was only a two hour ride, but Molly wished she had brought something to distract her from everything. Instead she sat there, her heart hurting, wishing she had the courage to bring up what she needed to speak to him about. There had been a lack of that lately, courage. The first weekend of the new year, she had a symposium to attend where she’d be giving a talk about her most recent published article.

               Curious, she decided to at least say something. “Did you ever read my paper? The one that was published a few weeks back?”

               Without looking up from his book, Tom furrowed his brows. “What paper?”

               “It was the one about the unusual cases of tandem bullets and how to spot the findings of such an injury,” Molly reminded him.  

               “Uh, no, sorry, Molls, can’t say I have,” he replied, still not looking at her. “You know it’s not my cup of tea.”

               Not his cup of tea, indeed. She rolled her eyes. Of course he hadn’t. But Sherlock had. And without prompting. A small smile bloomed on her face at the memory. He had told her it was brilliant. “My clever Molly,” he called her.

               Molly turned her head toward the window, watching as more stars dotted the sky the further from London they got. She blinked her eyes slowly, fighting the exhaustion she felt. It wasn’t long before everything went black, dreams of Sherlock in her head. This time, she didn’t fight them. They were lovely dreams of Sherlock kissing her, holding her, touching her, making her his. It was more than she could bear. Then they were dancing, the song playing in the background tugging at her heart.

                                     Goodbye, my almost lover

                                   Goodbye, my hopeless dream

               Tears stained her face as she slept. She’d cry an ocean for him, the water’s colour matching his eyes. He was calling out to her, her name like a prayer on his lips. What followed were the words she had longed to hear him say: I love you. And damn it, she could no longer deny that she loved him too.

.

.

               Arrived in Sheffield safe and sound. It probably won’t be long until I’m dead to the world. Happy Christmas to you too, Sherlock. And thanks for thinking of me.

                -Mx

                Sherlock read over her words several times before finally setting his phone down to look over the sheet music in front of him, adding the final notes to his composition for her. Reaching for his violin, he put the bow to the strings, allowing the first sorrowful notes to overcome him. The music coursed through his veins as it poured out from his heart. The tone shifted into something tender, romantic. He thought of her eyes, her laugh, her smile; the way she lingered long enough to drive him crazy when she kissed his cheek.

                Downstairs, Mrs. Hudson listened to the music—she loved it when he played—with tears in her eyes. “You poor dear…” she blubbered, using a tissue to blow her nose. She so wished he would just tell Molly how he felt. There was no doubt in her mind that the girl loved him back. They were both so damn stubborn.

                 As Sherlock brought the music to a close, he let out a ragged breath. Setting the violin back in its case, he thought of how much he wished he could have her here for Christmas. He wasn’t overly fond of the holiday, but it sparked joy in her. They could spend it together—just the two of them by the fire, he in his chair and her, legs curled up on his lap. It was a nice little dream. Sherlock so desperately wanted her to know he loved her. He wasn’t giving up without a fight this time.

.

.

                  Molly looked around at all the once-familiar faces. The house was crowded with Tom’s family—people she met only a small handful of times—but she never felt so alone in her life. When she thought of family, images of John and Mary showed up, Greg, Mycroft, Mrs. Hudson, and, of course, Sherlock. They were the ones she should be spending Christmas with. It wasn’t that Tom’s family was awful—quite the opposite. It had been so long since she had a parent-like figure in her life.

                   “Have you two set a date yet?” his mother asked. She threw a stealthy wink at her son.

                   Tom shook his head, amused by the question. “We discussed April in the beginning, didn’t we, Molls?”

                   “Hmm?” she said sleepily. “Oh, uh, yeah.” They only discussed it, never officially choosing anything yet. Or, at least, she never did. “Sorry, just a bit tired from the ride over. Thomas, do you know if my phone is done charging yet?”

                   He headed over to the small charging table across the room and retrieved it for her. “All charged up,” he smiled, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

                   “Thanks,” she replied, a sad smile on her face. Tom did love her, she had no doubt about that, but it wasn’t the way she had always imagined. Then again, life wasn’t a fairytale. But it could be, Mary’s voice rang clear in her head. Molly unlocked her phone finding another text from Sherlock.

                   Glad you made it safely. Have a good night, Molly. Sleep well and have pleasant dreams.

                   -SHx

.

.

                   She had no idea how long she sat there staring at the little ‘x’ he added beside his initials just for her. Needing to be alone with her thoughts, Molly headed upstairs. A few people—his mum, aunt, and grandmother—bid her goodnight. She acknowledged them briefly, happy when she was able to turn the corner at the top of the steps. It was another hour or so before Tom joined her. He slipped in beneath the duvet, oblivious to the fact she had been crying. Not that she knew what for. She wanted to start a fight with him if only just to feel something other than the pain that had been eating her up for weeks.

                   “I don’t think I’m who you think I am,” she muttered to him.

                   Tom turned toward her. “Where’s this coming from?”

                   Molly sighed. “From a long overdue conversation, and please don’t just shut me down like you always do. It’s getting old. I think when you met me, I was a shell of the person I am. You fell in love with the wrong girl.”

                   “Come, now, Molls, I know who you are,” Tom tried to assure her. “This is just wed—well, engagement jitters. Is that why we haven’t done much of anything to plan? I know it can be overwhelming.”

                   She shook her head. He really didn’t know her at all. “What’s my favourite colour?”

                   “I—what’s that got to do with anything?” he asked. “It’s green.”

                   Molly smiled sadly. “No, it’s not. It’s yellow.”

                   “It’s just a colour, Molls,” he told her, yawning.

                   “It’s your favourite colour,” she told him.

                   “What is?”

                   “Green,” she replied. “That’s the colour you like.”

                   “Actually…it’s not,” he admitted.

                   Molly scrunched her face in confusion. “Then why do you wear green so much?”

                   Tom ran a hand through his hair. “You said you really liked green on me when we were first dating.”

                    She tried so hard, but couldn’t control the laughter that came out. Tom joined in, knowing how ridiculous they’d been. Sharing a laugh helped lessen the tension, but he couldn’t deny she had a point. Like most things though, he let it roll off his shoulders, chalking it up to nerves or pressure. Maybe if he could make things easier on her. Wedding planning was a bit contrived. Perhaps she’d prefer spontaneity? The cogs were turning in his head, though it wasn’t long before they both drifted to sleep, facing away from one another.

.

.

A Little Over a Year Ago

                “Molly! You made it!” Meena shrieked in excitement. The pub was crowded, music from the house band thumping through the speakers around her. She dragged Molly over to the bar. “I’d like you to meet Tom! He’s a friend of my brother’s!”

                “Hi,” Tom greeted her somewhat awkwardly. He held out his hand to her and Molly shook it.

                “Hello,” she replied, forcing a smile, unable to ignore how he dressed similarly to a certain consulting detective. Some days were still difficult since Sherlock had gone. It had been nearly a year since he left. Molly knew he was alive, but she grieved him just the same. She felt his absence in everything she did, searching for him in the lab or expecting him to come sweeping in the morgue like he did before. Mike had caught her once in the lab, heaving sobs wracking her body.

                “It’ll be alright, Molly,” he had told her, silently asking permission to hug her. She nodded and let him comfort her. He knew how much Sherlock meant to her. “We all miss him.”

                Needless to say, it wasn’t difficult for her to convince everyone of her own grief. She prayed for his safety every single night. And, Meena, bless her soul, was trying to help Molly move on.

                “Would you mind if I bought you a drink?” Tom asked.

               Determined to enjoy herself, Molly replied, “Not at all. Thank you.”

               Meena’s brother joined them moments later, and the four of them traded stories from Uni, laughing at all the shit they got into. It was the first time Sherlock hadn’t lingered in her mind since his departure, and Molly felt lighter than she had in months. Tom was lovely, treated her kindly. They bonded over their love of BBC’s Miranda and Doctor Who. She learned that he liked to go to the pub on weekends to watch football with his mates.

               Molly was hesitant to share anything about her. She certainly didn’t want to tell him she was still grieving the loss of her closest friend, though it would eventually come out later thanks to Meena. She listened to him talk about his family, growing up in Sheffield. When he asked about hers, all she could muster was, “There’s no one left. Just me.” The emptiness left inside her made itself known once more at the reminder that she really had next to no one left in her life. She had Meena, and of course that should be enough, but somehow it wasn’t.

               “Hey…you okay?” Tom asked, breaking her free from the depressing thoughts in her head.

                “Hmm? Sorry.” She laughed nervously. “I tend to get lost in my head sometimes—it’s been happening a lot more often lately.”

                “Nice to see you joining the land of the living,” Meena joked.    

                Molly rolled her eyes playfully. The rest of the night eased her troubled mind. They had gone and played darts, girls against guys. Only by two points, the girls had lost, but it was because of Tom’s insanely accurate throws. She felt flirty with the alcohol in her system, and decided to present a proposition to Tom. “Take one more shot, and if you hit the bullseye—“

                “And what?” he asked, teasing her, his eyes practically undressing her. “Do I get a snog out of this?”

                Meena’s brother whistled loudly.

               Feeling bold, she nodded. “You better not miss.” Surprising her, Tom took a moment to line up the shot and hit it right in the center. Meena and her brother cheered and started shouting in excitement when Molly pulled Tom in for a searing kiss. From that alone, she could feel the void that had been left in her life from Sherlock’s absence start to close up bit by bit. And it left her wanting more.

 Nine Months Ago

               It had been a bit of whirlwind. Molly had dated Tom for a month before they made it official. Now, two months in an actual relationship, she felt content. His gentle demeanor was exactly what she needed in her life at the moment, and she was thankful for it. They were to have dinner tonight over at his place. She was excited mostly to see his dog, Milo, who always looked put out every time he took a whiff of her, smelling her cat’s scent on her clothes.

               “Molly,” he smiled brightly when he opened his door to his flat. “Come on in. Milo’s missed you.” He shut the door behind her after she stepped inside, and kissed her lips firmly. “I’ve missed you too.”

               She laughed, feeling her face flush. “You know I’m only with you for your dog, right?” she joked, bending down to scratch beneath Milo’s chin. He sniffed her, letting out a disapproving growl. “You’ll have to just get used to it, Milo.”

               “I knew you were too good to be true,” Tom joked back from the kitchen. “Milo gets all the love.”

               They eventually sat down to eat the delicious dinner Tom had cooked up for them. There wasn’t a lot he was good at making, but Molly didn’t care much, for she wasn’t one for cooking, herself. “There was this tumor I found during my autopsy today; it was so small, but intricately woven throughout the tissue. So sad for the poor man, of course, but it was fascinating!”

               Tom blanched, fighting the urge to vomit. “Is that so?”

               “Oh! Sorry, I forget I can’t just talk about that stuff with anyone.” Molly wanted to slink beneath the table, embarrassed of her enthusiasm.

               He smiled weakly. “No worries, just maybe no autopsy talk tonight?”

               “Right, of course, sorry.” It was the fifth or sixth time she felt she had to apologise for her more…odd interests.

               They finished up dinner and settled on the sofa for a movie that, about halfway in, was ignored in favor of a little snogging. Molly tried to get herself to relax, matching his enthusiasm in an effort to clear her head.

               “I think I love you,” Tom had spoken against her lips.

               Molly paused, unsure at first, and then spoke slowly, “I think I do too.”

#sherlolly #wreck my plans #my fanfiction

[cheuwing]

First of all: Thank you very much for your metas! I have a question about the role of Greg in tjlc. What exactly is he doing? Is he a good one or a baddy? Any space for Mystrade in tjlc?

Hello dear,

Thank you so much for your message! I was surprised to receive a question after such a long absence (a very nice surprise!). I don’t know if you’ll read my answer; hopefully it will find you well. :)

It is a very interesting question... I haven’t rewatched every single episode with a focus on Greg (I might do it later!), so feel free to take my view with a pinch of salt.

First of all: I adore Gavin Greg Lestrade! He is such an amazing, complex character in the series. I believe it is clear that Greg is on the good side. Actually, I think each character mentioned on the rooftop scene as targeted by Moriarty is explicitly good: John Watson, Mrs Hudson, Greg Lestrade. (Every other speculation is fair game, but these three are unquestionably good) The show never questions their loyalty either. Greg might be disgrunted sometimes, but he’s always there to help and support Sherlock (the “maximum back up” scene at the beginning of TSOT comes to mind). Furthermore, he is the very first one who talks about Sherlock’s side: “Sherlock Holmes is a great man, and I think one day, if we're very, very lucky, he might even be a good one.” To me, these elements prove without the shadow of a doubt that Greg is, in fact, good.

Also, according to Sherlock:

That’s all the proof I need! x)

Now, regarding Greg’s role in TJLC... My personal opinion is that he serves as a mirror. Typically, a mirror for Sherlock:

detective, keen on solving cases,

clever,

good coat, and similar clothes in general,

quits cigarettes at the same time as Sherlock (showing their matching patches in ASIP), both are seen with - unlit - cigarettes in their mouth in s3,

willing to bend the rules a little bit to solve his cases - namely by calling a “consulting detective”,

blunt and a bit ruthless (his introduction scene in which he is uncomfortable, possibly annoyed, in front of the media and deadpans “Don’t commit suicide” while Sally plays Watson’s role as social facilitator)

solving a case or saving a friend is more important than taking credit,

a bit of a drama queen (... that “maximum back up” scene comes to mind again xD),

lovely interactions with John in which they tend to be very honest and a bit arseholy (”NOT REALLY”)... (also: taking care of him and bringing Sherlock memorabilia in Many Happy Returns), a few moments of them working perfectly in sync (that action walk shot in HLV)

... among other things!

Interestingly, I think it’s fair to say that Greg is associated to John in some aspects (public servants, caring arseholes, both of them striving to guide Sherlock on the side of the angels, mindful of Sherlock’s emotions & thoughts process... Betrayed by their wives. Even on a visual level: action walk in HLV, shooting scene in THOB, in which, hilariously, even though John shoots second, he manages to catch his target => metaphors!!!)

I personally believe that Greg serves to show how a real, uncomplicated friendship with Sherlock (or John, for that matter) would work. He has no problem hugging him when he comes back (something John is unable to do, because he is overwhelmed with too many conflicting emotions... also, they’re not alone). Talking about emotions and such is easier between them too (Greg doesn’t hesitate to ask about John when Sherlock brings Molly for the case). They still bicker, argue and even play jokes on one another like John & Sherlock do (Lestrade never hesitates to film Sherlock on his phone, or to force him to wear a security blanket). Same goes between John & Lestrade: the friendship is much smoother/more wholesome than with Sherlock, because no one has to rein desire/unspoken emotions in. I mean, as @just-sort-of-happened highlighted it in this post: Greg provides a contrast to John's attraction to Sherlock.

So there you go: to me, Greg is a mirror for Sherlock and his interactions with both John & Sherlock serve as a contrast between the wholesome friendship that could be and the complicated relationship with lots of hidden desires, unspoken things and general sense of constrinct that these two have.

I also believe that Greg is a sort of mentor to them? He is the one who guides onto the right path, the one who is concerned, who is proud (his proud daddy expressions give me life), and I guess, who experiences things first (he has already worked on the cases before he presents them to Sherlock - and usually has failed -, he shoots the hound first - and fails -, he was married before John - and... you get the jist). I feel like Greg will start his grand relationship before Johnlock and in a sense, will show them the way.

As for the grand relationship in question... I love Mystrade. I really do. If it becomes canon, I’d be very happy. (Also, I could totally see Mark Gatiss thrilled to pose with Rupert Graves, his crush from Maurice, as his fictional lover ^^). Greg has been associated with John enough that I could see their relationship as a mirror for Johnlock. (and I certainly love this trope in fanfics!) I would be more than satisfied with Mystrade (also... if it happened after years of queerbaiting issues? two gay couples? with Gatiss, creator of the show, playing a character in a homosexual relationship? That could be pretty cool).

However, I have to say that I’m not really convinced it will happen in the show? It seems to me Mycroft is very much presented as an asexual character, or, at the very least, someone who doesn’t understand sex at all (the allusions with Lady Smallwood show how uncomprehending he is on the subject, and not just in a ‘gay man approached by a woman’ kind of way. Contrast with Sherlock in ASIP, being able to say ‘women are not my area’, ‘I know it’s fine’ and ‘while I’m flattered by your interest....’). In Sherlock’s mind palace, Mycroft serves as “the mind”, cold, logical, rational, in contrast to John “the heart”, emotion-focused, soft. In the Mayfly Man deduction, Mycroft insists on intricate planning, intent... whereas John focuses on sex right away. Thus, I personally see Mycroft as very remote from the concept of sexuality.

I personally see another likelier (in the context of the show) love interest for Greg: Molly Hooper. If Greg is an obvious mirror for Sherlock, Molly is an obvious mirror for John (I mean, very explicitly... And also at the wedding). There is already a history of interest between the two, at least from Greg’s part. Remember the gaping mouth at Molly’s dress at Christmas? How the camera framed them as a couple at the wedding, while Tom was obviously discarded as a serious lasting boyfriend for her? To be fully honest, I would probably be slightly annoyed at Molly’s character development if she goes out with another Sherlock mirror, but... It would make sense. She said it herself: she has a type. And I’d argue that Greg is a much more wholesome mirror for Sherlock, and he’s obviously interested in her. I think the writers already paved the road for this romance, so it seems likelier to me. I guess we will wait and see :)

To sum up => I ADORE Greg Lestrade. I hadn’t explored my thoughts on him for a long time before I received your message and had the perfect opportunity to do so. It is a joy to study his character and role in the story. To me, he is unquestionably good (like Mrs H & John). He is a fascinating mirror for Sherlock, and a great friend who shows what an uncomplicated friendship with John & Sherlock would look like. I’d definitely be happy to see Mystrade on screen (and these versions of Mycroft and Greg would certainly work well together! I think Greg would love to tease Mycroft like John does sometimes -> cue to hilarious expressions). I personally don’t think the writers would go there, but who knows? That could be very satisfying. I think a likelier mirror for Johnlock will be provided with Molly/Lestrade. Either way, Lestrade might very well be the one to show John & Sherlock the way to love. I’m curious to see how they will show it :)

Hopefully this will be a satisfying answer. Take care, dear! (And feel free to share your thoughts with me on the matter :) )

#TJLC #tjlc meta #greg lestrade #molly as a mirror #johnlock #my meta #mycroft and sex #Mycroft Holmes #greg as a mirror

[metamorphosesrp]

THE ROTH FAMILY

Based on the series Succession, this is a request for THE ROTHS, the family behind the shadowy MORPHOS CORP. If the Impact of 1999 is the blood in the water, then the Roth family are the sharks that followed. Arriving from Washington D.C. for the feast, they established the Genesis research facility in 2000 and have been using it for the last 21 years to explore the depths of the Novum Stretch as well as to conduct top secret experiments on how the Stretch affects plants, animals, and people.

Their company, Morphos Corp, was originally established in 1971 by family patriarch Charles Roth. Since its inception, Morphos has had a diverse portfolio dealing in government contracting (military, weapons, security) and pharmaceuticals. Their research on the Stretch is their latest power grab, as they secretly seek to monetize/weaponize their findings. Click here for more on the Morphos subplot.

The TL;DR of them is this: they’re rich, they’re ruthless, and they won’t leave until they get what they’ve come for. Even as the Backburns’ and town hall’s disdain for them grows, Arkney and Bellmore have become severely dependent on the money, jobs, and prestige Morphos and the Roths have brought to the area, and the Roths know and leverage this. The patriarch has dictated that each of his children fan out and insinuate themselves in different parts of Arkney and Bellmore society to increase the family’s presence and hold on the area.

If you’re interested in playing any of the available roles in this request, please reach out to any of the admins on Discord, once our server is open! Note that it is not necessary to have seen the show to participate, though it’s highly recommended for the vibes! See the group pin board for even more vibes.

Full blurbs for the roles can be found below!

THE LOGAN Charles Roth, 80 Written by Mady

THE LOGAN is no other than the founder and CEO of Morphos, Charles Roth. Charles may have come from some relative privilege but he has taken whatever wealth he was born with and tripped it, then did it again and again. After joining the military, he started his own business, Morphos.. The Morphos corporation has grown and with it his own, and the Roths at large, prominence. He is a ruthless man, cruel when necessary, manipulative, clever and driven above all else. He puts his business and family name above all else and is willing to kill for what he wants. Not the forgiving type, he's a formidable father, boss and possessive leader of the Roth family.

FC: Donald Sutherland

THE MARCIA 50-70 Reserved for Hobie

Third wife of Charles Roth, THE MARCIA is not to be underestimated. Having gained her own wealth in pharmaceuticals, she and Charles met through business and they were attracted to one another's power, wealth, and intelligence. MARCIA is unsympathetic, and at times antagonist, with Charles' children. Appreciating a man that has worked for what he has, she thinks of his adult children as spoiled, ungrateful, leeches on their father's hard earned legacy. The two have been married for ten years and she's fiercely loyal but more than capable of looking out for herself in this nest of vipers.

FC: Charlotte Rampling

THE CONNOR 42-50 Open

While the oldest of the four Roth siblings, THE CONNER doesn’t exactly act like it. He’s prone to frequent flights of fancy and, though he thinks himself highly effective, he mostly is anything but. He has the least influence on family and company dealings and occasionally has to be asked to cease and desist for the sake of preserving the Roth’s and Morphos’ reputation. THE CONNER is also Charles’ son from his first marriage and, as such, does not share a mother with his younger brothers and sister. What he’s doing now (read: his next big likely-to-be-doomed venture) is up to the player.

Suggested FCs: Alexander Skarsgård (pictured), Michael Shannon, Jon Hamm, Hugh Dancy, Bill Hader, Matt Bomer

THE KENDALL Jasper Roth, 40 Written by Vive

As THE KENDALL, Jasper is the hapless, over-achieving, by-the-books second son who once had Big Dreams™ of taking over as Morphos’ CEO upon his father’s retirement. However, that all went out the window five months ago when he found his then-lover was using him to get kompromat on the company and Jasper went to his dad for “help” (read: because of this, his then-lover was killed). His guilt, shame, heartbreak, and captivity to Charles’ whims has turned him into an increasingly run-down version of his former golden boy self, and he has been coping with a return to drug use.

FC: Daniel Brühl

THE ROMAN Remy Roth, 35 Written by Grim

As THE ROMAN, Remy has had a nice life coasting off of his family's name and their overall success. Spending a lot of his time partying, schmoozing, and generally just testing people's nerves with his sass, the time has come for him to pull his weight for once. Remy's easy-going nature is nothing when compared to his work ethic, a hidden gem that has driven him to impressive social heights. So now he's learning he's much more than just the family name and is working on 'coolifying' the town, in his eldest brother's words. A entrepreneur and restaurateur, he's already established a local brunch eatery and is working on starting a nightclub to breathe some real fun into an otherwise dismal town.

FC: Daniel Radcliffe

THE SHIV Anthea Roth, 33 Written by Lina

The youngest of the four siblings but, arguably, the most put-together and capable one. THE SHIV has always had a hand grasping her father's sleeve, seeking his approval and admiration at the cost of her own independence. She's swallowed down dreams of travel and creative exploration in favor of being the Good Girl, and she's chiseled down her softness to a sharp point; twisting her empathy into a tool for finding weak spots in her opposition. Engaged to THE TOM but she chose him with her family in mind rather than her own heart. Commitment is hard without real attachment and she's seeing someone else, someone local, on the side.

She once worked for Morphos but has recently carved out a piece of the Town Hall, working as a Communications Advisor for the Mayor's Office. She handles their optics and engagements with the towns – all behind-the-scenes, of course. THE LOGAN expects her to report back and keep him apprised of the inner workings of local politics, and she's happy to do so.

FC: Elizabeth Debicki

THE TOM 30-35 Open

Appearances have always mattered to THE TOM — how he feels about himself is refracted in how others perceive him. He's caught up in the heights of wealth and status, believing that it's the secret to a good life. He comes from an upper class background, not anywhere close to Roth-level affluence but enough to be disconnected from the “real world”. Engaged to THE SHIV and while he loves her, that love is compounded with greed, insecurity and desperation. Often lashes out at those “under” him, like COUSIN GREG, to assert himself and take back control. He has secured a position on the Morphos PR & Legal team, some would say through special treatment and they certainly aren’t wrong. Up to you if he’s fit for the job, or if he’s coasting by on his fiancées name.

Suggested FCs: Trevante Rhodes (pictured), Jon Kortajarena, Alfonso Herrera, Ben Barnes, Aldis Hodge, Manny Montana

THE COUSIN GREG 21-27 Open

The COUSIN GREG is the son of Charles Roth’s estranged sister. Very much green in all regards, they have (clumsily) insinuated themselves in the family’s business to secure a job and have been #trying to do what they must to keep that job. At first glance, COUSIN GREG isn’t much—they are naive, overly optimistic, and do not share the family’s ruthless instincts. However, they are not to be underestimated, as they are in fact listening, learning, and biding their time to make their own moves. Is basically the glorified assistant to THE TOM.

Gender is open and character can be biracial.

Suggested FCs: Charles Melton (pictured), Zazie Beetz, Jordan Fisher, Sasha Lane, Sean Teale, Laura Harrier, Xavier Dolan, Noami Scott, Gavin Leatherwood, Ashley Moore

THE GERRI 55-65 Open

THE GERRI has been working for the Roths for several decades and is currently serving as Morphos’ Director of PR & Legal. They are very much loyal to Charles Roth and the company, and work as his general counsel on all matters of decision-making. Loyalty aside, however, THE GERRI has been around the block and knows how the game works. They are not above making their own allegiances with those that suit their purposes and are astute in hedging their bets to ensure they land on the winning side no matter what. Vaguely a warped parent-ish figure to the Roth children, with some wine aunt vibes.

Suggested FCs: Viola Davis (pictured), Carla Gugino, Angela Bassett, Salma Hayek, Marisa Tomei, Monica Bellucci, Demi Moore

THE RAVA 34-40 Open

THE RAVA is married to THE KENDALL and has been around the family for several years. Though she loves and cares about Jasper and vice versa, their marriage has largely become one of convenience. Beyond this, the details of her life are open and discussable with Jasper’s player (vive). They could be separated or approaching divorce, she could be cool with his affair or not or not know, they could have kids that she mostly raises or not, etc.

Suggested FCs: Oona Chaplin (pictured), Sofia Boutella, Hannah John-Kamen, Alexa Davalos

#morphosrp #dev

[c-is-for-circinate]

Who wants a little Cinderbrush AU on this quarantine evening?

A while ago, @brightandshinynewstories and I were chatting about what would happen if the Cinderbrush four lived in Exandria (and also relatedly, if the M9 were Monsterhearts characters, but that is a digression y’all should take up with her).  We figured it would start, at least, a little like this:

There’s a phrase Sasha's history tutor used once, when she was thirteen or fourteen and didn’t have a way to stop her parents hiring all her tutors and arranging her schedule for her.  Her history tutor was a stuttery little halfling man fresh out of Vasselheim, and half of what he said was deadly boring, but he was less brutally awful than her etiquette and protocol tutor, which was probably why he got fired before she turned fifteen.  That one conversation, though, has stuck with her for all these years.

“Everyone thinks they live at the end of history,” he’d said.  They’d been talking about the end of the reign of Uriel Tal’dorei at the time, how his decision to abdicate five minutes before he unexpectedly died in a massive dragon attack hadn’t accomplished much of anything except for making life massively difficult for his son fifteen years later.  “This is it, the final form of the world.  All the aeons of existence have led up to this moment right now, and finally we’re living in the future.”

“Isn’t everybody always living at the end of history, then?” Sasha had asked.  “If you look at it that way?”

“Not...not quite,” Kempler had stammered, a little off-balance the way he always was when she asked questions she actually wanted to know the answers to.  “Usually it means more like..the idea that everything, societal structures, social mores, everything has fallen into place in such a way that it doesn’t need to change any more.  Does that make sense?”

“Of course,” Sasha had said, and let him go on talking about dragons and heroes and the politics of non-existent emperors and kings.  She’d thought about it all afternoon.

This isn’t quite the end of history, Sasha figures now, half a dozen years later.  If it were, there’d be a better way to work her way up in the government of Emon besides playing personal aide to Arbiter Ethna for the next ten years in hopes of getting appointed to a magistrate’s position someday.  Some kind of school for barristers and politicians, at least, instead of everything coming down to her parents’ names and polite tolerance for her existence.  Her advancement wouldn’t depend so much on this awkward noble apprenticeship system where she’s more tied to Ethna’s reputation than her own skills.

It’s got to be getting pretty close, though.  It’s 853 PD.  Emon’s a miracle of government and engineering.  Uriel Tal’dorei’s been dead for forty years, there haven’t been dragons around to ravage anything since Sasha’s parents were children, and every day law, order, and the modern age prove a little more how they triumph over chaos.

It’s good to live at this end of history, Sasha tends to think.  There’s just enough still to do in the world to give her a chance to do something really special about it.  Just enough wiggle room left to let her...bend the rules.  Just a little.

Nobody says arbiters and politicians can’t have a little magic on their side to...smooth things along, just a little.  Nobody says aides like Sasha can’t spend their free time however they like.  Nobody tells Sir Murasaki’s daughter she can’t go where she wants, besides Sir Murasaki himself.  If she likes to sit auditing classes in the back of the room at the Alabaster Lyceum--if she happens to enjoy practicing classical violin or running vocal exercises in her tiny little office behind Arbiter Ethna’s courtroom--well.  The bardic arts might be a relic of the past, when people had to go out slaying monsters and dealing with dragons every other day, but history hasn’t quite left them useless yet.  Anything can be a tool if you’re clever and charming enough to use it right.

Living at very-nearly-the-end of history might be the best tool there is.  The best thing about it, Sasha thinks, is the chance to make sure she’s the one who decides how it ends.

.

Sasha told Cam about her end-of-history theory once, some starlit evening on the rooftop balcony of his parents’ townhouse, looking out over the sparkling lights of the Cloudtop District and enjoying the quiet.  He’s not sure he’s smart enough to really understand it, but that’s Sasha for you.  There’s a reason she’s going to be on the Tal’Dorei Council someday, while Cam’s going to be...whatever Cam’s going to be, by then.

Probably running the family business, one way or another, if his dad hasn’t actually killed him instead of letting him inherit.  It’s basically fine, as life plans go.  Parts of it don’t suck.  That’s something.

It’s why everyone was so in favor of him courting around with Sasha in the first place, anyway.  The Murasakis are nobility and all, but they’re from some island in the middle of the Lucidian Ocean on the other side of Exandria.  The Solomons were nobodies, until they just happened to own the only still-operating stone quarry in a hundred miles in the wake of the destruction of Emon forty years ago.  Sasha’s parents have influence, Cam’s have money.  Even Cam knows putting that combination together is a recipe for power.

Real power, probably, not the magic kind.  Fewer rules.  Fewer restrictions.  Fewer demons, whispering in the back of your ear when you’re trying to sleep.

If this is really the perfect future that everything’s always been trying to lead to, then shouldn’t they have wizard magic or some shit that would just get the stone out of the ground without needing miners and overseers and crap like that?  And then, like, nobody would send some stupid human kid with no darkvision into the back end of the quarry just because he’s the boss’s son and some fucker thinks he needs to be hazed for “company morale” or whatever.  Just for example.

So maybe the world’s not getting better, it’s just that the bullshit that piles up a little deeper every year has just about reached a critical maximum.  That’s fine.  No wonder Sasha’s looking forward to the future so much, gets along with the world so well.  He used to watch her weave her own web of total crap every time she worked a room, catching eyes and shaking hands and making everybody fall in love with her as soon as they met.  It’s kind of the most impressive thing Cam’s ever seen.  He kind of hates her for it, right at this moment.

Cam’s just not built for that much shit.  He's charming, sure, people trust him, people like him, but he can’t talk his way out of any- and everything like Sasha can.  Probably that’s a nobility thing.  The Solomons aren’t nobility, everybody knows that, especially Cam’s dad, and he’s never let Cam forget it for two seconds in a row his whole life, so right, no wonder Cam’s useless in Sasha’s kind of world.  No wonder he lets himself get into such shitty situations sometimes.  No wonder he can’t get Anukirai to leave him--to leave Sasha--alone.

If that’s what he wants.  Which--it is, of course, it should be, it has to be, it’s just.  Hard, sometimes, when Cam’s father decides if he can’t be the normal born kind of nobility, he’d better just prove he’s the High Lord of All Assholes.  When Cam’s trying not to be the kind of guy who just up and punches his problems in the face.  When Anukirai starts making promises, and Cam--when Cam can feel the power behind them, the weight of thousands of years of lurking underground, lying in wait, full of so much more patience than Cam’s ever had himself.

He’s pretty sure he could Command his dad to do just about anything, once.  Just once.  So far he hasn’t tried.

The worst thing about living this close to the end of history, Cam knows for damn sure, is feeling the weight of all of it crushing down on top of you all the time.

.

Jamie’s heard about it, too, somewhere along the way.  Lunch with Sasha at the Lyceum is always interesting, one way or another.

It’s bullshit, of course, but it’s the sort of bullshit that always appeals to people like Sasha.  As though there are other people in the world like Sasha Murasaki.  Things don’t end, they just die occasionally, and leave stinking corpses of whatever they used to be there to entertain passers-by.  Witness the inside of poor Cameron Solomon’s head these days after that particular breakup, case in point.

But of course it’s enticing to picture the world as just half a step short of perfection, all the for pretty, perfect people who think they might just be that last piece of perfection Exandria’s waiting for.  That, at least, isn’t exactly an uncommon attitude around the Alabaster Lyceum.  Everybody thinks they’re going to be the next Allura Vysoren, or whoever it is they’re all idolizing these days.  Everybody thinks they need just that little bit of extra edge to get there.

Jamie’s done with that particular race, which doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy spectating it.  There’s a lot of benefits that come from staying enrolled as a student of the arcane arts at the Alabaster Lyceum of Emon.  Greg Wrenly keeps paying tuition, room, and board, for one.  There’s a handful of cantrips and a couple of halfway decent wizard spells in Jamie’s back pocket now, too, which is never a bad thing.  It’s always good to have options.

For instance: now the desperate, overachieving would-be wizards of the Lyceum don’t have to fight their way through years of arduous study and spend enormous reserves of magical energy to cast True Seeing.  A little bit of druidcraft, a couple of exactly the right mushrooms, and for a handful of gold coins Jamie can provide a direct line of sight to the Ethereal Plane with negligible side effects to follow.  Options.  They’re practically a public service.

Jamie prefers to keep as many options open as possible; gods know nobody in this fucking city seem to realize they have any.  That’s what needing to be the best will do to you.  If a quarter of their classmates realized how much power the average archdruid has at their command, there’d be a mass exodus of ex-arcanists desperate to be the next fucking Voice of the Tempest, every one of them desperate to live up to thousands of years of legends and heroes and complete fairytales.  Every single one of them would miss the entire point.

Jamie doesn’t need to be the best.  They just need to maintain their own, extremely specific skill set, market it in the right way to the right people, and not get caught up in everyone else’s everything.  Stay a minimum safe distance away from Sasha.  Enjoy Cam’s company without getting too invested in the pretty and the trauma.  Enough wizardry to mess with peoples’ heads and not be too bound to the whims of nature, enough druidry to keep in good supply and not be too bound to some fucking hand-scribed spellbook.  Enough alchemy to keep in business.  Enough business to make sure they don’t completely lose touch with reality, the way so many mages tend to do.

Of course it’s not exactly traditional, or historical, or Respectful of the Great Arts, or whatever the fucking line is.  What the hell would be the point of that?

The best thing about living on this end of history, whatever the fuck that means to anyone, is getting to pick and choose exactly which parts of it you want to keep.

.

Aff gets the whole history thing in pieces, in passing at first, but it makes more sense the more they think about it.  You can learn a lot slinging pints of ale in your dad’s tavern on a regular old Grissen weeknight.

It’s not like they’re friends with Sasha Murasaki of all people.  Aff hadn’t even known who she was until Amanda from the livery stable down the street explained it, and apparently there’s an actual member of a titled noble family on her way up the ranks in the Watchful Hall who comes out to Aff’s dad’s tavern, like, a lot, which is just crazy.  It’s just that sometimes when Sasha’s waiting for somebody, or she and her trio of Emon’s Who’s Who are bored or whatever, they invite Aff to sit down and talk for a while.  Cameron Solomon’s... whatever, he’s cool, Aff’s mom doesn’t live too far from his dad’s mine these days, so maybe they’d helped him out while he was puking in an alleyway once or twice before even moving to Emon, out in the countryside where being a super-rich merchant prince didn’t matter that much.  And Jamie...Aff doesn’t really get Jamie, but they’re in here a lot, alone at a table where a whole rotation of people sit down to join them and then leave ten minutes later.  You learn a lot about someone when they drink by themselves while they’re doing some kind of weird shady business in your bar at least once a week.  That’s all.

Aff doesn’t even really think any of them are friends with each other, either, anyway.  Sasha and Cameron used to come in on dates, a couple of kids from the Cloudtop slumming it in Diamond Liquor out in the Central District, but they don’t really do that any more.  The one time Sasha showed up when Cam was already here, he got up and left.  Sometimes Sasha goes and sits at Jamie’s table in the corner, and she’s usually there for a lot longer than ten minutes when she does, but she still always goes back to the rest of her crew and Jamie goes back to drinking alone.  Jamie and Cam have come in together a couple of times, and it seems like Jamie doesn’t even do business on those nights, but like, who even knows what’s up with that, right?

Not that Aff’s being creepy or anything.  They’re the bar...not-maid.  Bartender?  No, that’s their dad, ruling over the land of kegs behind the actual physical bar.  Bar...server?  Is that a thing?  Whatever, it is now.  Aff’s the bar-server, they hear things.  They notice things.  That’s all.

Like Sasha talking about the end of history, which, it took Aff a couple of different conversations to realize she didn’t mean the end of the world, which is probably good.  Aff’s pretty sure she means the fact that they live now, in modern times, which don’t really have dragon attacks or cool heroes or crazy adventures any more, because all the cool heroes already went on all the crazy adventures and killed the dragons so that modern times could happen in the first place.  Which is great!  Right, that’s totally for the best, dragons are definitely bad news.  Aff’s seen a couple of places where Emon got rebuilt forty or fifty years ago after half the city...melted, they guess?  So like, it’s good that that’s not happening nowadays.  That’s a good thing.

It’s just...

Look, Aff’s a good bar-server, or whatever you want to call it, and they like living here with their dad, and Emon’s not a bad place to be, it’s just.  Hard, sometimes.  It’s hard, when they get so angry they just want to hit something, again.  Like, a lot.  Again.

If there were still adventurers and dragons and shit, then maybe Aff would have a use for all that pent-up aggression or whatever.  Maybe they could, y’know, kill monsters or whatever, and it would make them a hero instead of a fuckup.  If it were still the old days like that, maybe Aff would be good for something.

If this really is the end of history or whatever, Aff thinks that maybe the hardest part is feeling like they got smacked down in the wrong part of it.

.

The trouble, of course, is that history is nowhere near through with them.  Or with its own twists and turns, which is how history tends to work, really, even when you think it’s all just about settled down.

The third week of Fessuran is...confusing, more than anything.  Everything happens so fucking fast, in a blur of blood and fear and sleep-deprivation, washed over with a little extra haze from Jamie’s very good berries, and a couple of days go by in either about two hours or two weeks, and this is never going to make a good story to tell any kids they ever have, if they ever survive long enough to have kids.

Half a dozen people are very dead, that’s very clear, well beyond the help of any cleric or reasonably-ethical necromancer.  Amanda from the livery stable down the street from Diamond Liquor was pale and streaked in blood, breathing shallowly and barely alive, last time they saw her.  That might be worth something, if they could figure out or agree on what.

The four of them are not dead.  They are not under arrest.  They’re not in Emon any more, either, but since staying away might be the only chance they have to keep being not-dead and not-arrested, that’s probably a win, too.

They look at each other, hollow-eyed and dazed, across the table at the only inn in the tiny nowhere town of Cinder Hills, where they didn’t dare sleep last night and had better leave the minute they finish breakfast and also decide what the hell comes next.

“What,” Cam says, speaking for them all, “the fuck?”

.

“Look,” Sasha says.  “It’s fine.  We just…go to another city, and wait for things to die down.  Come back when it’s all over and pretend none of it ever happened.  Nothing to do with us at all.”

It’s fine.  It has to be fine, because if it’s not then Sasha’s lost everything.  Jail isn’t the only way to be trapped.  Freedom costs so much.

“You cannot possibly think that’s going to work,” Jamie says scathingly.  “You think there’s anybody in Emon who doesn’t know who the great Sasha Murasaki is?  We run, and we do not come back.”

Fuck Jamie, fuck them, just…fuck.

She’s spent years building herself a future in Emon.  Years, fighting to make herself a place in history.  Scrounging for every fucking scrap her parents would let her have, every fraction of respect or freedom that couldn’t just be taken away on a whim because she didn’t lower her eyes enough on any random night.  And now she’s going to lose it to this?

“Um,” Aff says.  “I have family in Emon?  I’m not just going to disappear on my dad.  And like, what about Cam’s dad, or Sasha’s family, or–”

“I can’t see my dad right now,” Cam interrupts quickly.  “Leaving actually maybe sounds good.”

“Oh, and leaving where, Jamie?” Sasha demands, because she’s ignoring Cameron right now until she can handle looking at him.  “Are we all going to stay with your little forest friends?  Sleep on leaf mattresses and learn to be druids, then?”

Jamie snorts.  “I’m not taking any of you within ten fucking miles of any druid circle I’ve ever met.  You, they’d eat alive,” and he gestures dismissively at Aff, “and you, they’d never forgive me for.  Luckily the world’s pretty fucking big.”

“So, what, you just want to–what, get on a ship and go to Wildemount?” Cam asks, interrupting Sasha again before she can get started on what even she knows is going to come out sharp and bitter and useless.  “Never come home?”

“You can do whatever the fuck you want.  I’m going to Kymal as soon as I can get on the fucking road, to see if I can rebuild even a third of what I just left behind.” Jamie says, like it’s just…that easy.  “Maybe Westruun, eventually, depending on how that goes.”

Sasha cannot start over in fucking Kymal.  She can’t.  She’s going home.  She’ll get this straightened out.

Everybody knows who her parents are.  They could smooth the whole thing over, probably, if she went down on her knees and begged hard enough.  If she agreed to let them ship her off to whatever cloister or rich husband they chose, and lost everything to spending the rest of her life under her mother’s thumb and her father’s commands anyway.

Fuck.  Fuck.  It feels like the walls of this tiny shitty tavern room are closing in on her already.  Sasha is so fucked.

It was supposed to be perfect.  She was almost done.  She was on her way.  It was going to be perfect.

“We should probably stay together,” Cameron says worriedly, looking between Sasha and his precious Aff and Jamie fucking Wrenly.

“Westruun,” Sasha says.  It’s too small to build anything worth having and it’s too far away from everything she’s ever built so far and it’s too big for her to matter at all and it’s too close for her to really be safe.  Westruun’s nothing.  But at least it’s better than fucking Kymal.  “We can go to Westruun.”

Or Vasselheim.  Or Rexxentrum.  Or Ank’harel.  Or Port Damali.  Sasha’s a little afraid to start running.  She’s a little afraid that once she gets going, she won’t be able to stop.

.

Notes on Level 2:

Sasha, human bard 2 Cantrips: Message, Prestidigitation L1 spells (3/day): Charm Person, Sense Emotions, Disguise Self, Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic

Cameron, human warlock 2 Patron: Fiend Cantrips: Mage Hand, Friends L1 spells (2/day): Command, Charm Person, Hex Invocations: Beguiling Influence, Devil’s Sight

Jamie, human wizard 1 druid 1 Cantrips: Friends, Mind Sliver, Minor Illusion, Druidcraft, Infestation L1 spells (3/day) : Cause Fear, Color Spray, Silent Image, Charm Person, Sleep, Identify, plus any druid spells prepared that day

Aff, human barbarian 2 Rage (2/day): +2 damage

#C writes stuff #cinderbrush #critical role #yes I know what happens next #look y'all #I ALWAYS know what happens next #but this is as much as I had written and good #and I wanted to share something today

[ao3porcelainstorm]

poison ivy & stinging needles 27

On Ao3

Masterlist

Pairing: Sherlock/OFC

Rated: M

Warnings: eventual violence, torture, swears, adult themes (no explicit smut)

Chapter 26 - Chapter 28

Chapter 27 - Unwell

I might be okay, but I’m not fine at all.

(—)

A month after Sherlock’s death and Amelia found herself standing at the front of his grave with a single pink carnation dangling between her fingers. 

“It looks nice,” she commented to John, studying the newly erected grave marker. “Very... him, I guess.”

The friends stood in silence, staring down at the ground, each juggling their own complex emotions about the whole situation.

“I’ll let you-,” John cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his coat pockets, shuffling away to give her some privacy. 

Others had clearly come to pay their respects since the funeral. Notes of gratitude and blooming bouquets covered the sleek obsidian stone. 

“This one means ‘I’ll never forget you’,” she mumbled, feeling a little foolish talking to a rock. “I thought it was a little more appropriate than bringing a sprig of aloe to symbolize ‘grief’. Granted, I ended up digging through an old farmers almanac for reference since I left my books at Baker Street and well-.” 

 She stepped up to the grave and draped the carnation over the top. Stepping back to her spot, she tugged at the sleeves of her coat anxiously. 

“I dropped out of therapy,” she confessed quietly. “I think John knows, because he’s been asking about my appointments. She just kept bringing you up and I just couldn’t- it still really hurts, you know?” 

The stone didn’t reply, though a small sparrow did hop near the carnation and poke around its petals. 

“I swear I saw one of the nurses who was there the other day,” she continued, biting her bottom lip and staring up at a nearby tree to try and blink back some tears. “John swore it was just some lady from your homeless network, but she was wearing this bracelet that I swear-.”

“Maybe I should go back to therapy,” she muttered under her breath. “I just have this overwhelming feeling that this isn’t... it’s never this simple with you. It just doesn’t add up. I can’t talk to anyone about it because they think I’m this crazy grieving mess- which is true but- come on. We both know I’m right.”

The sparrow pooped on the stone and fluttered away.

“Right,” she nodded to herself, laughing at how ridiculous she felt venting to a grave. 

(—) 

Amelia found herself at the grave again the next day. 

It was raining, so she’d bundled herself in one of John’s old rain coats and huddled under an umbrella. She was alone this time, but brought another flower. 

“Purple hyacinth,” she held up the small flower to the stone. “It’s means ‘sorrow’. Pretty apt, don’t you think?” 

She moved to place it next to the carnation from the day before, but found the flower was missing. A quick glance confirmed the weather hadn’t knocked it astray, so she assumed it was snatched up by a bird or passing mourner. 

“Maybe they needed it more than you do,” she reasoned before telling him a funny story John had told her the day before. 

(—)

Amelia wanted to visit a third day in a row, but before she left for the graveyard, she wanted to pick up another flower at the small flower shop near the site. 

It was while she was debating between a violet and a blue salvia when she noticed a familiar face parting the graveyard. 

Replacing the flowers into their displays, she darted after the person. Against her best judgement, she called out and flagged her down, throwing on a smile when she greeted her. 

“Uh, hi,” she started, catching her breath. Amelia knew she needed to play this subtly. She thought back to the ways Sherlock had explained how to pull information out of people. “We’ve met before, haven’t we?” 

The woman blinked at her in confusion a few moments before her expression lit up with a brief recollection. 

“You’re Holmes’ lady,” she noted with a nod. Her expression immediately fell somber. “I was just paying my respects. You know, before he died, he helped land me a job over at the DVLA? Just said he owed me for all my help over the years.”

So John had been right, Amelia noted, giving the woman a once over. She must have been part of his homeless network. Though not that she was face to face with her, Amelia was even more convinced she was the same nurse she’d seen that day. 

Amelia continued idle chatter a moment, more formally introducing herself and inviting her to a late lunch at a diner up the street. 

Sarah, Amelia later learned, was quite clever. 

She’d shared a bit of her sad tale, of addiction and a string of abusive partners that landed her locked outside her flat one day with no where to go. 

“Holmes helped cover some basic living expenses,” she explained, sipping at a mug of tea. “He knew I’d made some connections in the streets and the work was easy to come by. Even once I’d found a flat, I helped him. Nothing easier than dressing in a mess and watching all day.”

“You said he helped you get a job at the driver’s licensing agency?” Amelia inquired casually. 

“He mentioned his brother could pull a few strings,” she shrugged. “I’d been trying to find more stable employment for a while now. Go back to school. That sort of thing and he offered to help.”

“Just out of the blue?” Amelia chuckled in disbelief. “That hardly sounds like him.”

Sarah laughed, her lips smiling in an unspoken agreement. 

“You know him best,” she hummed. “He needed a little help with a case. Just some eyes and ears. I found a few people I trusted and I had an interview the next week. Just a shame what happened, the poor man. I don’t believe a lick of it.”

“It’s a bit sad the jurors came clean after the fact,” Amelia agreed bitterly, the sweetened tea she’d sipped going sour in her mouth. “I’m glad I ran into you, Sarah, truly. I haven’t had the best time talking to anyone about this and well... thank you.”

Sarah seemed moved by the confession and took Amelia’s hand tenderly. 

“Oh it’s no problem, you seem like a sweet girl,” she sighed before reaching in her purse and pulling out a piece of paper and pen. “Text or call me anything. We can do lunch again or I’d be happy to visit the grave with you.” 

She scribbled down her details, passing the note to Amelia with another genuine smile. Before long after that, she had to leave, citing a meeting with a cable installer. 

“I lived under an overpass,” she stated, sighing. “Now I’m scheduling services like a real adult. It’s something, isn’t it?” 

“You never mentioned what Sherlock needed help with?” Amelia chuckled, helping her toward the exit and holding the door open. “Was it a recent case?” 

Sarah paused, hesitating slightly before that disarming smile flashed back on her features. 

“Kind of,” she answers cryptically. “Got to play a little dress up, which was a nice change of pace.”

“Huh,” Amelia shrugged. “Sounds like Sherlock. Be safe.”

They parted and Amelia fished the small paper out of her coat pocket to enter in Sarah’s information into her phone. She was almost confident her suspicions were right, though almost switched to definitely when she flipped the paper over and realized with was a business card. 

A business card with Inspector Greg Lestrade’s name and contact information printed on the other side. 

(—)

Later that night, Amelia brought the subject up to John who chalked it up to coincidence.

“But how could it be a coincidence? She had to have been there,” she insisted. “Maybe I mistook her clothes for scrubs. We both know Greg hands out his cards to witnesses in case they remember something.”

“You said she was homeless, right?” he asked tersely, glaring up from his newspaper. “Maybe she was offered some help? Or witnessed some other crime? Greg is a very busy man, his world doesn’t revolve around the great Sherlock Holmes.”

“You have to admit it’s weird,” she challenged. “I knew I recognized her face and sure enough, she said she’d been visiting Sherlock’s grave!”

John tensed and folded his paper under his arm, standing abruptly. 

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you, or why you’re so preoccupied with all of this, but it’s not like you’re going to find any answers,” he snapped at her, retreating toward his room. “It’s just going to lead to more hurt. Sherlock is gone, Amelia, it’s time we move forward with our lives.”

He closed the door to his bedroom on that note, leaving Amelia standing in the middle of the apartment with her mouth agape. 

He’d called her Amelia. 

John never called her Amelia.

She wasn’t sure what to do. Deep down, she knew John was hurting as much as she was, perhaps even more. They’d been as close as brothers, and she could imagine the betrayal he felt at his friends final decision. Maybe even guilt. 

She certainly felt it. Everyday she felt it. 

Moving toward the door to his room, she knocked lightly and listened for a response. 

When none came, she decided to just apologize and let him know she was going out for the night. 

“Don’t wait up,” she added with a mumble, grabbing her things and leaving the apartment. 

She wandered through the neighborhood a while, collecting her thoughts as nighttime began to fall over the city. London had such a unique air to it that varied so much from her home in New York. 

Her home. 

She supposed London was her home now, or at least Baker Street. Now she wants so sure. Amelia had put her home in a person, rather than a place, and now she felt unbearable lost. 

Hands stuffed in her pockets for warmth, her fingers touched Lestrade’s business card. She pulled it out and frowned at the office number listed. 

It wasn’t too late. Maybe he was still on duty?

But what could she ask him? That some random woman named Sarah was at the scene of Sherlock’s death? 

It was probably like John said, a big coincidence. It wasn’t like Sarah had shoved the detective off the rooftop. Amelia had seen enough to know he leapt of his own physical will- his emotional notwithstanding. 

The was no way Lestrade would even let her access the files either. Thatd be ridiculous. A total breach in protocol-

“Looks like a Sarah Patterson was interview the day of the suicide,” Lestrade bit into the sandwich Amelia had brought and plucked the file out from one of the boxes stacked next to his desk. 

Tossing it toward her, he focused on the meal, thanking her again for offering to pick something up on her way over.

“You’re just going to let me read this?” she asked, eyeing the folder suspiciously. 

“I think yoI forget I’m used to dealing with your dead boyfriend,” he replied bluntly, cringing when she frowned at his words. “Sorry. Still fresh. I know. I get short when I’m dealing with- it’s why my wife- just open the damn thing, get what you need and let me know if you’re going to do something stupid. Least I can do is make sure you don’t get yourself killed.”

Amelia snorted back a laugh in response, flipping through the file and skimming through the details. 

“It says you interviewed her,” she noted in surprise. “Do you remember what she looked like?” 

Lestrade huffed out a sigh, leaning back in his chair. 

“You’re aware I talk to a lot of people, every day,” he explained. “Just give me her ID number and I’ll pull her up in the system. I’m sure there’s a driver’s license on record with a picture.”

Amelia listed off the numbers in the corner of the file and after typing in the sequence, Greg turned his computer monitor around to show her the woman’s face. 

Sure enough, Sarah, the woman she’d met earlier, was staring back at her. 

Amelia looked back down at the file and noted the details. 

Sarah was apparently a nurse who’d witnessed the fall and responded immediately. She’d taken the pulse of the subject and was able to describe the state of the body with somewhat harrowing medical detail. 

“Get what you need?” he asked, turning the computer back toward him. 

“I think so,” she closed the folder and passed it back to him. “Any chance I can get a copy of that license?” 

“It’s on the printer on your way out,” he nodded toward the photocopier outside the office. 

“You’re a gem, Greg,” she smiled up at him appreciatively. 

“Let’s do dinner with everyone or something soon,” he called after her. “You look terrible and I know Molly misses you.”

“Right,” Amelia answered absently, snatching up the paper and typing the ID’s address into her phone. 

(—)

Amelia stirred to someone nudging her foot. 

“Dr. Brenner, this isn’t exactly the best neighborhood to take a nap in,” Mycroft’s voice stated dryly. 

Eyes snapping open, she jolted awake, disoriented from her dazed state. 

“What are you doing here?” she yawned, double checking her wallet was still safely tucked away in her coat. 

“I could ask you the same thing,” he replied, gesturing to a waiting car. “It’s nearly 4 in the morning.”

“I was waiting for a friend,” she lied, and Mycroft quirked a brow. “Why are you on this side of town?”

“Your phone’s GPS went offline,” he answered. “This was its last location.”

“Why are you tracking my phone?” she asked, trudging toward the car and sliding inside when he opened the door. 

“Because I had an inkling that you would go off and do something irrational like sleep on a bench in an unsafe area in the middle of the night,” he stated. “There is still an ongoing investigation into Moriaty’s holdings and you are a prime target now that my brother has... passed.”

“Aw-,” she hummed, leaning back into the comfortable interior and closing her eyes. “You’re like my guardian bureaucrat. Did you volunteer for the job? Or does someone in your office have a twisted sense of humor?”

“Would you believe me if I said both?”

“And here I thought you hated me.”

“Hates a strong word.”

“Dislike then.”

“I was under the impression that was how you regarded me.”

“I’m a little ambivalent given the fact you traded your brother’s life for some ill gotten victory on a maniac.”

“His death prevented thousands more down the line.”

“Thanks Spock, cool motive, still killed him.”

“Are you still living above the flower shop?” he asked, changing the subject.

“It’s not really a flower shop. Burnt down remember?” she replied, opening an eye to peek at him. She supposed if he was tracking her phone, he probably knew all about her and John’s move to the new flat. 

“Have you considered reopening? It might be a nice distraction from your internalized rage,” he suggested, crossing his arms.

“Is that your interpretation or John’s?” she challenged, opening her other eye and glaring at him.

“Mrs. Hudson’s,” he answered with the smallest smirk. Amelia could have smacked him for finding any sort of amusement from this, but god if the Holmes’ brothers didn’t share that identical grin. “She’s concerned. John hasn’t been answering my calls, but apparently he’s been sharing quite the stories with her.”

“Internalized rage is a bit of a stretch.”

“Grief is a complex emotion, we all handle it in different ways,” he continued. “I know my brother was… special to you.”

Amelia let out a dry laugh at his words. Special. As if Mycroft wasn’t well aware of the relationship between the two of them. As if he hadn’t found her shaking on the roof, meters aware from where the detective had leapt to his death. 

“And let me guess,” she saw they were approaching the street of her apartment. “You handle it by being a total jackass? Or is that just how you normally deal with the deaths of siblings?”

“In my position, you have to take the positives in even the most devastating of circumstances,” he murmured and Amelia caught him glance down at his lap. Was that a little emotion she spied? “I regret the loss, but he was my brother and I have to respect the decision he made to protect others. Certainly that hasn’t been lost on you?”

The car came to a stop at the curb and Amelia reached for the door, pausing as she considered his words.

“It wasn’t,” she answered. “But I firmly believe the world would have been a better place is he were still in it.”

“I think we can both agree on that.”

(---)

Chapter 28

#Sherlock Holmes fanfiction #sherlock BBC #sherlock fanfiction #Sherlock #Sherlock Holmes #sherlock/original female character #Sherlock/OFC #sherlock/reader #Sherlock/OC #original female character #sherlock original female character #sherlock ofc

[goingoverthegardenwall]

Chapter 3: Schooltown Follies

Since there have been stories, there have been stories that anthropomorphize animals. Folks have imagined creatures behaving as humans in every corner of the world, in myths and fables and fairy tales from ancient cultures to today. So by the turn of the 20th century, when a mycologist known for painting incredibly detailed images of fungus decided to instead write and illustrate stories about animals in contemporary clothes, it wasn’t exactly a new idea. But perhaps that makes it more impressive: despite the multitude of animal books for children that have been published in the last hundred and fifty years, the work of Beatrix Potter still stands out.

She’s not alone, of course: no good conversation about humanized animals in Western kid lit can last long without mentioning Richard Scarry or Margaret Wise Brown or Arnold Lobel. And Peter Rabbit’s extended family is quite British, which puts it at odds with the nostalgic Americana of Over the Garden Wall: it’s not for nothing that our assortment of animals in Schooltown Follies includes a raccoon and an opossum. But the timeless quality of Potter’s work is still felt in this episode in two ways. First, while the show has a cartoony lens, the school animals are far more anatomically accurate than Beatrice or the frogs of Lullaby in Frogland, evoking Potter’s signature field guide style. And second, there’s a mischief to Potter’s animals that makes them feel more like real children than the cute but bland residents of Scarry’s Busytown, and mischief is the name of the game when Greg comes to schooltown.

Schooltown Follies is full of clever tricks, but perhaps its most clever is introducing animals with human qualities (they wear clothes, play instruments, and walk on their hind legs) but not giving them voices. It’s generally great comedy fuel, showing the inherent ridiculousness of a school for sorta normal animals, but it more importantly allows the episode a silent movie feel, with plenty of physical humor enhanced by characters without dialogue. That style completes the episode’s subversion of Beatrix Potter’s oeuvre: she wrote stories about naughty animals learning that they should behave, but in this vaudeville version, the only way to save the day is by misbehaving.

“Then I’ll do what I need to do, I guess.”

Despite being one of our three main characters, Greg trades a full character arc for a comic relief role. At the beginning of Over the Garden Wall he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun, and at the end he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun. This doesn’t mean he’s fully static, as he matures enough to accept some responsibility to others instead of seeking entertainment for himself: he abandons a potential happy ending to try to save Wirt with the Beast, and returns his stolen Rock Facts Rock in the last shot of the series. But even this obligation to help out is present early on: Schooltown Follies is the first of his two focus episodes, and the foundation of his eventual heroism is established right here.

And frankly? I think it’s okay if he’s not that dynamic. Greg doesn’t change as much as Wirt or Beatrice because he doesn’t have nearly as much to overcome, and he still contributes to the show without forcing the crew to juggle three distinct arcs. Our older kids are on a shorter timer to grow up, and have clearer negative traits (Wirt’s got no confidence, Beatrice is a jerk), and while we can accuse Greg of lacking social cues, he’s so young that it’s not indicative of a larger problem. He’s just acting his age, albeit in a heightened way for entertainment, and to lose that innocence this early in his life would make this show a serious downer.

“Heightened” is the general mood of Schooltown Follies, where Greg’s less realistic behavior fits much better than The Old Grist Mill’s bottom-of-the-barrel aside. This is an episode where Two Old Cat, an old-timey bat-and-ball game that evokes a similar old-school era as our old school, involves searching for actual old cats, somehow finding them immediately, then realizing one is too old to play and must instead be taken care of by a raccoon in a newsboy cap and overalls.

While there’s plenty of humor to go around in Over the Garden Wall, this is the only fully silly episode. Our other lighthearted outings come with dark twists: Songs of the Dark Lantern introduces the Beast, Lullaby in Frogland reveals Adelaide, and Babes in the Wood turns out to be the most somber episode of the series with context. Here we almost get a parody of such a twist, with characters repeatedly mentioning a wild gorilla on the loose apropos of nothing, then revealing that the gorilla is Miss Langtree’s paramour trapped in a suit. It’s a ridiculous setup to a ridiculous punchline, aided by casting Thomas Lennon for a few lines of dialogue (his read for “I. Was. The gorilla” was worth every penny), so there’s never any sense of danger. Jimmy Brown and Enoch are equally harmless in the end, but I doubt any little kids watching are gonna get nightmares about the ape suit.

This mood is enhanced with song, but among the many musical moments in the series—Mad Love is the only episode without singing in some form—Schooltown Follies stands out by not letting any of the numbers finish. We begin and end the episode in song, but Greg doesn’t have the last lines for Adelaide Parade figured out, Langtree’s Lament faces numerous interruptions before being cut short by the bell (they actually did a full version though!), and Potatoes and Molasses gets stopped first by Mr. Langtree, then by the end credits. Even Miss Langtree’s piano rendition of last episode’s Patient is the Night halts when Greg mashes the keys. It’s the perfect atmosphere for an episode about a kid who loves fun, but is easily distracted and hasn’t developed good planning skills.

Which isn’t to say that Greg is dumb, but that he’s prone to winging it in a way that sets him apart from Wirt. While Wirt rambles his thoughts aloud, Greg takes action without telling anyone why, making his decisions appear random in a medium that often explains motives concretely to young viewers. Wandering in his own direction has become a running gag by now, and while he sets off to make the world a better place, he instead plays outside with animal truants. He’s jolted back to his quest by the bland food and dull atmosphere of lunch hour, and his irrepressible energy lightens everybody’s day without much effort. When Mr. Langtree steps in as an antagonist, Greg decides once again to do something about it, this time saying explicitly that he has no plan, but everything works out again. We get an excellent joke from his decision to rob Langtree right after he becomes sympathetic, but as usual, Greg has bigger ideas behind the humor that he just hasn’t articulated. 

While Greg is busy delightfully saving the day, Wirt and Beatrice ease into a sniping side story that establishes their relationship for the next few episodes. They got off on the wrong foot in The Old Grist Mill and twisted that ankle in Hard Times at the Huskin’ Bee, so by now Beatrice doesn’t even try to hide her disdain and Wirt gets fed up with it. This is the perfect type of subplot, one that develops our characters and fits into the theme of the episode—Wirt’s rebellious obedience bounces off Greg’s rebellious call to disobey—but doesn’t distract from the main story.

Beatrice is helpful in opening up Wirt’s snotty side in a way that allows us to cheer for him. Until now his biggest conversation partner has been Greg, and it’s tough to side with Wirt when he’s mean to Greg, but Beatrice is an equal in terms of sparring, and her rudeness is a more understandable motive for Wirt to be obstinate than Greg’s playfulness. Our last episode had him aimlessly suggest staying in Pottsfield, and he’s similarly bound to this new location, but his different attitude changes the entire story. After two episodes of dithering, it’s nice that they let Elijah Wood play a character who’s funny on purpose for a spell, reveling in annoying Beatrice.

And even though he doesn’t know what to do, we actually get our first heroic moment from Wirt here. Greg saved the day in Grist Mill, and the situation resolves without much issue in Hard Times, but Jimmy is saved from the gorilla costume because of Wirt. True, he only interferes after being commanded to by Mr. Langtree, and he clearly has no idea what to do, and he trips over his shoelaces rather than contribute in an intentional way, but it sets the stage for his rescue of Beatrice in our next episode. Deep down, when he’s not overthinking it, the kid is capable of bravery when it’s asked of him. And it’s wonderful that for all his differences from Greg, both share an impulsive approach to heroism when they decide to help others. It’s almost like they’re related.

Beyond getting a few good digs in at Wirt, Beatrice extends her meanness to Miss Langtree, which makes her pestering of the boys feel less personal: it’s not that she hates them, she’s irritable with everyone. But we also get the first hint of her warming to our heroes, letting Greg have his fun at the concert and telling Wirt to finally tie his shoes with just a tiny speckle of fondness. While she gets a bigger friendship moment in Mad Love, when she’s essentially forced to get to know Wirt better, it’s neat to see Beatrice gradually come around instead of flipping a switch after a major story event.

We’re about to get our next big Plot Episode, introducing the Beast and adding new doubts about the Woodsman, so a silly episode is just what we need. It’s our third in a row where something sinister turns out to be okay: obviously the gorilla is an example of this, but Mr. Langtree is similarly an intimidating presence who ends up being a regular man. Even the creepy squirrels from the opening shots of the Unknown’s dangers in The Old Grist Mill return as comic relief. We’re fully primed to look for goodness where we see wickedness. Just in time for us to learn to fear merry opera echoing from the woods.

Rock Factsheet

Greg’s spiel on hot dogs might not summon the Rock Fact Rock, but it certainly evokes the stone’s spirit.

Where have we come, and where shall we end?

Adelaide Parade and Potatoes and Molasses will both get dark reprises, and the former also gets the rare jolly reprise as well. But we unfortunately don’t get a harrowing future scene featuring Langtree’s Lament.

Two Old Cat is part of a list of bat-and-ball games mentioned by a rambling background teen in The Unknown.

#schooltown follies #over the garden wall #otgw #steven universally #beatrix potter

[finderskeepersff]

Epilogue. Part 1

“What about the kids, I can’t do this Sofia. I can’t, you are not thinking right” Cassius said in a panicked tone, he is scared and I understand why “the kids will thank you more, I am taking this into my hands, I am telling you now. I want you gone. Leave, go Cassius. If you don’t go now then you can kiss your life goodbye, I am telling you now Cassius, go!” my voice broke “I don’t want to leave you here, I will wait” I was breaking “no, you need to go! You go and take this opening where you can leave, Kalia has done this so you can go, please just go!” I shouted, I am angry at myself for breaking as the tears escaped, Cassius grabbed my arms and pulled me into him. “This is a nice ass house, don’t you think?” Gio said behind me, he broke my train of thoughts of that night, turning around to him “it is huge but he said freestyle, we know that doesn’t really go well and they always want something else besides what I assume” I ain’t going to do anything, my phone started ringing in my hand “ignore him, I will contact the client and ask again. But I think because he liked the bedroom you did, he said you got taste” looking down at my phone “god” I breathed out “hello” answering the call “hi, is this Mrs Warren?” the lady said down the phone “yes it is” walking away from Gio slowly “this is Mrs Greg from Brandon Hall, Cartier is not well. He wants to go home, he is in reception waiting for you. He is upset” that boy, he was so moody in the morning when I dropped him off, closing my eyes breathing out and I know he ain’t causing me shit right now “ok, I will be coming” I have no choice “bye Mrs Warren” he knew I was working far out today, I told him and I said Cartier don’t think about making me come back because you’re not well, you are well. Locking my phone “Gio, I am so sorry. I wanted to finish off with you, with being your partner in the company, I wanted to do this with you. I will work from home. Cartier is not well, I had feeling he would do this” Gio waved me off “do not say sorry, please don’t! It’s fine, kids come first. Just email me, and enjoy your time away ok” hugging Gio “thank you and take pictures for me of this room, send it me so I can runs some ideas by him, see you soon boo” grabbing my bag from the snooker table to walk out, I am so damn busy with everything, working mother life I guess.

Locking my Bentley door as I made way to the school, a whole hour it has taken me to come back here for this child of mine. All of my kids are in private school, I wanted to make sure they got the best, I didn’t want them to go to regular schools, I wanted the best for them and it does cost but it is so worth it, they get better education and I know they do enjoy it, I know Cartier does but he is playing up, he is doing it on purpose, I know him. Pressing the buzzer and stepping back, I should just teach his ass a lesson and say no and make Josiah pick him up, Josiah would really drill into his mind about being good, maybe I let him off too much “hello Brandon Hall Elementary” the lady said in the intercom “hi, I am here for Cartier Warren, I am his mother” I will judge Cartier once I see him, I need to see his persona “come on in” she unlocked the door, dragging it open and stepping into the school “hello, hi. Cartier’ mother” the receptionist said, where is she saying this from. Looking around me and she came from around the wall “follow me” I hope he hasn’t been naughty instead, following behind the lady, now I am nervous. I get scared to think I am not a good enough mother, or I am just letting them off. I don’t want that either “mommy, mommy, mommy. This is my mommy” the sound of my daughter’ voice screaming “don’t run! Sienna!” looking behind me, her arms attached to my legs “hey baby” looking down at her “mommy, you here!” she looked up at me, Cassius whole face on this girl, Cassius is just staring at me “I am here for your brother baby, what are you doing?” her teacher came rushing over “Sienna, you can’t run away like that. Hi Mrs Warren, we was just going to do story time in the story room, come let’s go to class now” her teacher held her hand out, crouching down “I will be back to pick you up baby, ok” hugging Sienna “I miss you” she gives the best hugs “I miss you too, you go now. Be good” she is so adorable in her uniform, my favourite child “bye mommy!” getting up from my position, the receptionist smiled at me “I guess when you have both kids in the same school it happens” rushing to her.

Do they have my son in a holding cell, what is this “we put him here, he said he was unwell and we thought he could lay down” she opened the door “I will get Mrs Greg for you” she opened the door, side eyeing her as she moved out of the way, walking into the room. Cartier turned in the seat and looked at me with his puppy dog eyes “I will be back” she walked off “Cartier” closing the door behind me “I want to go” he got up from the seat, he is ready to leave “no, you sit there. You’re unwell, what is wrong?” he is a liar, he ain’t ill “I feel sick” he mumbled “where is the sick? If you sick then then there would be actual sick around, I don’t see it? Cartier, look at me” he is lying to me and I don’t want that from him “what?” he dragged his eyes up to me “are you ill?” I asked him “yeah” so he is going to carry on with it “if I ask you again and you lie to me then we going to have problems, are you ill?” he sighed out, he sighed out like he got real problems in life “no” I knew that “why? Cartier you knew this, I said I am busy today, I got a big day today. And then we going away tonight, I am busy but you make it worse for me, because you can’t be bothered to be here. You’re not stupid, you know this” the door opened behind me “Mrs Warren, hello. Cartier how are you feeling?” she asked, I would like to whoop his ass “what has happened to your shoes?” I just seen the mess of them now “yes Mrs Warren, before Cartier said he was not well. We was doing some painting and a student by accident dropped paint on his shoes” I just seen the fucking mess of his shoes and pants “is that child going to buy him new ones, look at the mess of that!” let me calm my ass down “I understand Mrs Warren, can I just speak to you outside” there is more to this story “just wait there” I said to Cartier, walking behind Mrs Greg outside the room, she closed the door “Cartier when he came in, he was sombre. He has been sombre when we started, we started off fine though, I picked up on his mood. We did some arts, he wanted to sit on his own, his friends wanted to be close, Cartier refused and then that happened and Cartier to then tell the boy he would kill them you don’t know me, before it escalated I broke them up and helped Cartier clean his things, then he said he is not well, is everything ok at home?” I had a feeling there was more to this “he misses his dad” I admitted “and I will deal with him” walking around her, I just want to go.

Placing my bag on the back seat before slamming the car door shut, I am very annoyed still. The boy is not even ill and he is sat in my front seat acting butt hurt about his dad. I don’t smoke but recently I started, I am stressed out of my mind and I am trying my best to be good for these kids. I am trying to live a normal life and work, it’s hard to juggle it all. I was going to light one but I just want to go home, dragging open the door to get inside “that paint on your pants better not mark the seats” getting inside the drivers seat “I want to go home” he said, he is so grumpy and he reminds me of Cassius. Sienna got Cassius face but this child got Cassius personality “mhmmm” putting my car engine on “you want to get some frozen yoghurt?” I try and be strict with him “do you want it?” he asked me, I smiled a little “if that means you speak to me?” he nodded his head “then we will go for you” I had to laugh, that is such a Cassius thing to do “ok boss” shaking my head laughing.

Sitting down across from Cartier, a lot as happened and I wish he wasn’t so clever with shit. I married Cassius knowing the life I was getting myself into but it’s still so hard, the life he lived would catch up on him and I have always been so scared of it but it happened and I had to make that decision. Cartier has been struggling with the thought that his dad just walked out on us but I told Cassius to go, either he would have got locked up or killed and I told Cassius to go, I told him to escape so he went. I didn’t ever explain that to any of these kids because the next day the police were at the house, they wanted him and they had the proof, there was no way any of them getting away from this and I didn’t want to test that out either, it was awful. Seeing my husband a wanted man, it hurt me. They knew I was lying but Cassius and I had to split, no speaking, no connection because till this day they still monitor us and I can’t risk losing him to be locked up or even me now, I need to be here for my kids. I don’t know where Cassius is, Kyle also ran with him, and Amira because of the club she had to go. It’s a mess, I never told any of the kids why just because if they get questioned they could say anything but it’s hard on me, he did send a letter to me. Cassius didn’t want to go, it was hard to make him go but I didn’t want him locked up for life, that was it “you look upset” Cartier said while playing with his frozen yoghurt “I am just thinking Cartier, I don’t like to see you upset, you know this” he shrugged, with his stubborn self as always.

That poking the lips out sad face he is doing right now “talk to me, we have” looking down at my rolex “an hour, then we need to go and pick up your little siblings. Talk to me” Cartier slid off the seat, he dragged the chair close to me “what are you doing?” he placed the chair right next to me “before dad left us, he said to always look after you” he climbed onto the seat “you know I don’t need that, I will look after you, not the other way around” I chuckled “but mom, why did dad go? It’s his birthday today, I heard you telling Auntie Mia, that is why I am sad. Why did he leave us, did I make him sad? What is it?” shaking my head “it’s nothing to do with you Cartier, all I want for you is to be good in school, you got football to do. Coach said you are lacking, just because dad is not here that does not mean you do this. You’re nine and you acting like you’re grown, be a child and what you said in school, listen to me” I pointed at him, he was about to speak “you do not ever say that to anybody, I will not have it” Cartier is mean mugging me “I know what dad did mom, kill everybody. They call me young don!” gripping his face “you are not that! Me and Cassius did not put you into private school for you to think that! Your father did not go to your football games every morning for you to be like this, he did not want that! You know that, you listen to me Cartier, you stop it. You are hurting me, those people were stupid” he is hurting me, I don’t want that for my son. Not that life “I just want dad, why did he go mom?” Cartier sobbed, moving my hand away from his face and hugged my son “baby, it’s for the best trust me. It’s me” it breaks my heart to even hear the sound of his cries.

I don’t want to cry but his little face, for him to think it is him when it is not him “it’s his birthday and I want to see him, tell him I will be good” my lower lip quivered, wiping Cartier’ tears with my thumb “he knows” I strained out, moving my hands back from Cartier looking away from him. I did this, I made this decision for Cassius to go and at times I think I did wrong but I didn’t, I would be visiting him in jail or his grave. He had everyone after him, you get too big that is what happens “I love you mom, you’re strong” taking in a deep breath “thank you, we need to go and get your siblings now. Please trust me ok? And when we get home, get your things together, we are going on a family holiday” Cartier moved from the chair and walked to me, hugging him as he held me “it’s ok to cry Cartier, sometimes we all need to cry but I need you to trust me. And trust me when I say your dad loves you, he loves his little dada boy. And if you want to ever cry again, you cry. I am always here for you, just like you are here for me” when I told Cartier and Sienna Cassius left, they was heartbroken but Cartier was angry at first, but then it turned into hurt, now he misses him but Sienna she gets on with it.

Getting out of the car “come on you, I am not leaving you in the car alone” he wants me to go inside and leave him in the car, he is funny “fine” he sighed out, I just love that my kids are in private schooling, I just want the best for them “come on” holding my hand out to Cartier “mom, I’m big now” I laughed “so what, you are my baby. Even though I have your little brother too, but you are my first baby” Cartier held my hand “when are we going to Barbados again? It’s fun there” I chuckled “how do you know we going there?” he is cute “really!?” he spat “yes I am not joking, we going away there. Now you ruined it” walking towards Cassiel preschool class before I get Sienna, Cassius named Cassiel him damn self, I left him to it and this is the name we get but I am happy with it actually, it is different. He just turned four three weeks ago, I seem to have my kids near Cassius birthday which is funny to me but I am done with kids now. All of them under ten is a pain but I love them all so much “are we staying there for long?” Cartier asked “erm, about two weeks, we will back before you go back to school” smiling at some of the parents walking by me, I don’t ever speak to these people.

Cartier ran inside Cassiel’ preschool class “hey! Cartier leave him” these boys, Cartier grabbed Cassiel “mommy!” poking my lips out at him, he just so adorable “Cartier, leave him. Let him come to me” I can tell he is about to cry, Cartier let him go so he can run to me “awww you had a good day baby” catching him as I picked him up “mommy missed you too, big boy” he is heavy “you show mommy the picture you drew” his teacher came over to me “oh wow, Cassiel, you did this” grabbing the picture from the teacher “for me?” I asked, he nodded his head and then he kicked his foot right on my thigh “ouch” moving the paper back seeing Cartier trying to take his shoe off “leave him!” these kids are a pain, Cartier still held onto his foot “mommy! He mean” Cassiel whined out “I know, Cartier will stop it! Seriously” Cartier pouted letting his shoe go “go and get your bag baby” placing Cassiel on the floor “you stay here with me!” I pointed at Cartier, he is being a brat now Cassiel is here “here!” Cassiel ran at me with his bag.

Sienna and Cartier ran ahead but Cassiel held my hand as walked slowly towards the car “you two! Calm down, Cartier. Let Sienna sit in the front, it is her turn now” this is why they are running, for the damn front seat. Sienna and Cartier are like twins to me, they are so damn close and Cartier adores her so much but they do fight a lot “what did I say? I am not going to unlock the door until you let her sit in the front, it is her turn” my poor girl, she has no chance with Cartier “mommy, tell him!” she yelped “I am first born! I am older!” he shouted “and you don’t raise your voice!” I spat “now you listen to me, when I unlock this door, you sit in the back” Cartier didn’t move back, he is adamant in doing this. Moving my hand away from Cassiel “right move” pulling them both away from the door, unlocking the door and opening the door, pushing the seat forward “get in now” grabbing his arm and yanked him forward “don’t piss me off, get in now!” I spat, these kids are so annoying “and you too!” grabbing Sienna “why mom!” she spat “I saw you laughing so that is why, Cassiel will sit in front. None of you kids listen to me, and Cartier. You’re working my last nerve!” pushing the seat back “come here baby” Cassiel is such a good boy “kids huh” looking up at this random guy just smiling with his daughter “hi Cass!” the little girl waved at Cassiel, a small smile played on my lips, the name Cass “hi” Cassiel said to her “I know, just don’t have anymore” I said to him “you got your hands full, anyways Amerie say bye” she waved at Cassiel, look at my baby boy pulling a girl.

Helping Cassiel out of the car “ok kids, we need to get ready and we need to leave to go Barbados” Cartier ran out of the car from the drivers side “Cartier, I am serious. If I see you playing in the games room I will be very angry!” glaring at him but Cartier never listens, Cassiel also ran and then Sienna, they are all going to do the same thing. These kids never listen and then leave all of their bags in the car, reaching into the back seat and grabbing the backpacks “Sofia” moving back away from the car and seeing Omen stood outside the gate “hey” he waved at me lightly, Cassius has some real loyal people and he still remained around for me and the kids, he didn’t get caught up in it all. Closing the car door and walking towards the gate “what are you doing here?” I asked as I got closer “you know me, I am always checking on you and the kids, I sold the diamonds for you. It was hard, I rode all the way to Hollywood and got a good price, where would you like me to put the cash?” when Mitch gave me the diamonds I didn’t know what to do with them and I gave them to Omen, clearly he is better than me “I am going away, keep it with you. Take your cut” Omen but his hand up “no, I did it for you. I am not that, Cassius has helped me a lot, so yeah. I will save it. Hey” Omen waved, looking behind me “mom” Cartier slowly walking over to me “go and get the bags out of the car” Cartier is staring at Omen “have you seen my dad?” frowning at Cartier “what I say? Go and get the bags out of the car” Cartier’ eyes didn’t leave Omen “now!” I spat, Cartier looked at me before he turned away “he’s questioning still?” nodding my head “he is, I stay with my decision. He is only god knows but I stick with it, I didn’t want him dead, I didn’t want him locked up either and soon. We will meet” Omen smiled at me “there is more people in Brooklyn, shit ain’t the same anymore. He was the president of Brooklyn, shit was deep. But I live here now pretty much, last I heard was he gone and then your home got raided and they took you in for questioning” I sighed out heavily “if they find out I have anything to do with him, I will be locked up too. I lied, I don’t regret it though. I helped him, it’s hard and Cartier is taking it bad. He worries me but thanks yeah. I haven’t moved yet soon though” I can’t wait to be with Cassius one day, I hope.

I tell Cartier to bring things inside and he leaves it on the floor “kids!” closing the door behind me “who was that guy? I don’t want another dad mom, I am leaving if you do that” who is this child even mean mugging “Cartier if you are asking me to beat you then keep talking, you and I both know that has already happened. You fix your fucking face too, I am not asking him to be your dad. Go to your room, pack your shit” Cartier turned on the step and stomped back up them “Cassiel, all I need you to do is sit and be good, take your coat off too” I don’t need him under my feet “mom! Tell him, go away!” Sienna shouted, walking up the steps “get off! It’s mine!” I just want a break from these kids and I can’t wait to get this in Barbados, my grandparents take over so I can just relax.

#Chrianna #Chrianna FF #Fanfic #Fanfiction

[stevenuniversallyreviews]

Episode 127: Are You My Dad?

“This might be serious.”

Those of y’all that check out my episode rankings at the end of every post know that my favorite “normal” episode of Steven Universe (so not Steven and the Stevens or Hit the Diamond, which are in their own category of perfect character studies) isn’t Lion 3 or Alone Together or Jailbreak or The Answer or Mr. Greg or Mindful Education. And, spoiler alert, it won’t be Jungle Moon or A Single Pale Rose or Reunited or Change Your Mind. It’s Mirror Gem. 

So it’s not a shocker that I’m drawn to another episode that’s the beginning of a two-parter closing out the first half of a fifty-odd episode chunk, which starts out goofy but grows increasingly ominous and ends in a confrontation with a new blue Gem. In terms of tone, Are You My Dad? is an incredible exercise in tension, albeit one that benefits from two prior episodes’ cliffhangers in a way Mirror Gem manages without (but to be fair, Mirror Gem arrives when we still don’t know there are other Gems, which gives its mystery a major advantage).

The silly beginning here is strengthened by the return of all three original Crystal Gems, who haven’t been in a room together since Rocknaldo. They’re increasingly out of focus as we get into more Steven-centric storytelling, and I’ve heard this lobbed as a criticism of latter-day Steven Universe; while I agree that these characters are terrific and am always down to see more of them, I can appreciate that their big moment is Act II (Seasons 2/3), and Steven’s is Act III (Seasons 4/5). If Act I is about creating Steven’s universe, and Act II is about developing Steven’s family, it’s because Act III, which the other two have been building towards this whole time, is about Steven.

Episodes like Storm in the Room and Lion 4 fundamentally don’t work with the Crystal Gems around, and our last two episodes place Steven among Beach City citizens to prime us for a finale about Beach City paying for Steven’s past. So I get why we haven’t seen the trio as a whole for a while. But I sure am glad to see them again.

Amethyst’s offer of beans and suggestion to barter them for donuts is great, but come on, nothing beats Garnet and Pearl’s sand castle. I love glimpses into the Crystal Gems’ leisure time independent of Steven (he’s around, but clearly wasn’t involved with the construction): because the Gems are so often characterized in relation to Steven and/or in big personal ways, it’s a pleasant change of pace to just see them reading the paper in Watermelon Steven or assembling furniture in Shirt Club. Doug Out and The Good Lars are celebrations of the mundane tainted by the supernatural in their last moments, so it’s perfect to ease us into this new story with more slice-of-life lazing.

Still, this beach day is a backdrop for Steven wondering where his mail is (in the first of many callbacks, we get his Mr. Postman song from all the way back in Cheeseburger Backpack). On its own this might not be a big deal, but we know that Onion and Sadie were being stalked by new Gems and that Lars didn’t show up at the potluck (which, for now, we can lump in with other disappearances), so even though Steven doesn’t know anything sinister is afoot, Jamie’s absence sets off warning bells for us. 

The scenes that follow build dread with masterful efficiency. First we get an uncharacteristically worried Sour Cream, which stands out even more than normal because we just saw him behaving as usual in The Good Lars. His concern is tempered by fun visuals: our MISSING poster is a repurposed WANTED poster, and we get a neat flashback aesthetic as Onion’s haunts are seen as if through an old-school View-Master (calling back to Onion Gang, Arcade Mania, and Onion Friend). While the audience knows new Gems are to blame, Steven is able to write this off as another weird Onion thing, and is more disappointed than concerned when he hears the Big Donut is closed.

Even now, Steven thinks things are probably fine, assuming Lars and Sadie are blowing off work to watch scary movies (calling back to Horror Club and The New Lars). It’s here where we’re introduced to the most clever element of this first act: Barb Miller. She’s connected to Sadie, so she can reveal that her daughter never came home after the potluck, but is also connected to Jamie, who she sent out that morning with Steven’s package. And she’s overprotective enough that she doesn’t make rationalizations like Sour Cream and Steven did for Onion (although she does reference Island Adventure, finally acknowledging how weird it is that three kids went missing for days and nobody seemed to care). In one fell stroke, Steven realizes that this is an alarming pattern, and starts looking for answers at last.

But he still hasn’t caught up to us. Sure, he knows his friends are missing, but he hasn’t seen the looming shadows from the end of Doug Out and The Good Lars, so when he comes across Aquamarine he has no reason to suspect her of kidnapping. A lesser show might build suspense making its characters too thick to put obvious hints together, but Steven Universe makes it clear that none of these threads are obvious to Steven. A more cynical version of the character might deduce earlier that this new Gem is bad news, but despite everything he’s been through in Season 4 he’s still empathetic to his core. After all, the pivotal event of this season was his own dad’s disappearance, so he’s primed to help a kid in a similar situation.

But finally, after knowing more than Steven from the beginning of the episode, Aquamarine asks the titular question and brings us back into the unknown with him. “Are you my dad?” is a brilliantly weird question: of course it’s odd for anyone to ask this of Steven when the answer is so self-evident, but it’s even odder for a Gem to do so. As Steven later tells Connie when she suggests the stranger might be a hybrid, this is a full Gem, and Gems don’t have dads.

Steven’s council of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Connie shows that his instinct isn’t to go it alone, lending weight to his solo sacrifice at the end of this two-parter. But for now, it offers a moment of respite by reveling in the artistic differences of these characters; on the one hand, it makes little sense for Steven to not just draw Aquamarine himself, considering he’s the one who saw her and we know he likes drawing from Shirt Club and Open Book and Barn Mates, but on the other hand, this scene is a delight. Connie draws a manga-influenced figure using an amateur ball and plane method, Amethyst goes abstract, Pearl undersells her dramatic flourish, and Garnet just draws herself; I actually think Pearl’s is closest, but we go with Connie’s and set off.

This is the second time since Lion 4 where we’ve explored the potential for other half-humans like Steven, and in my first viewing of Are You My Dad I saw it as foreshadowing for fellow hybrid. The trend never really continued, and while it seems like a red herring in retrospect, the close proximity of two stories about Steven maybe not being alone shows just how alone he really is. There’s nobody else like Steven, and while this makes him special, it adds to his burden as a bridge between worlds, a burden that’s partially thrust upon him and partially created by his own sense of outsized responsibility. 

Connie lightens the mood as they search by inventing exciting new scenarios to explain this new Gem, contrasting her further with Pearl. Connie’s art is cutesy while Pearl’s is dramatic, and where Connie sees hope for a new friend, Pearl is the only member of the team who advocates preparing for a fight. We don’t go very far down the “optimism is wrong and cynicism is right” road, because that isn’t at all what this show is about, but I love that youthful innocence from both Steven and Connie isn’t championed as an absolute positive in this story.

The light mood of two friends hoping for the best leads to Steven making a game of looking through Onion’s woods, and his facetious search of an empty log ends up getting him trapped. Again, this show isn’t here to build suspense by dumbing down the characters: Steven needs to be out of commission for Connie’s kidnapping to work the way it does, but getting stuck comes from realistic playing around rather than stupidity or ineptitude. And it continues the thread of others getting punished for Steven’s perceived mistakes, which of course adds to his guilt complex (and is furthered by Connie getting kidnapped because Steven shouted her name). These are small moments of getting us from Point A to Point B, but it’s so important that this crew pays attention to such details for the story and themes to flow smoothly.

Aquamarine’s questioning becomes even more confusing when she corrects Connie, saying she’s not looking for “your dad” but “my dad.” Connie’s condescending Tarzan speak is a bit out of character, but it at least makes sense that she wants to simplify her language for someone who doesn’t seem to understand the meanings of words. Aquamarine’s hidden nastiness emerges, with a wicked snicker at Connie’s “Me Connie” routine before she calls for Topaz.

While I prefer Mirror Gem to Are You My Dad? in most regards, the reveal of Topaz takes the cake in the horror department. She’s announced by thundering footsteps that clear birds from the surrounding trees, and emerges first as a shadow before we see our missing friends trapped inside her body. None of the captives’ mouths are free except Onion’s, and he's nonverbal, so their struggles are joined by muffled and incoherent screams while their captor lurks in silence. The soundtrack lurches into unnerving strings as Connie panics at the sight, substitutes more typical digital music as a moment as Topaz splits up, and returns to even tenser strings as Connie is viscerally absorbed into the giant Gem. As with the Ruby Squad’s giant fusion, it’s a brutally practical application of something the Crystal Gems have made beautiful, and Steven is as helpless as Connie to stop it.

A key element of Steven’s martyr complex is that his sense of ownership over everything bad that happens around him is unwarranted, and this sequence is a perfect example. Yes, he’s stuck in a log when Connie is taken, allowing him to blame himself for the kidnapping, but once he’s free he doesn’t stand a chance against Aquamarine’s magic wand. In the best-case scenario, where he and Connie manage to fuse and fight off Topaz, Stevonnie would still lose: as we see in I Am My Mom, even four Crystal Gems working together are beaten with ease by the wand’s ridiculous power. If anything, getting stuck in a log was the only reason Steven was able to regroup and fight back later in the first place. But in the moment, it seems like he made an avoidable mistake that cost Connie her freedom, which is certainly on his mind when he makes his sacrifice.

Aquamarine follows the Holly Blue Agate mold of brief but memorable villains, and while both are petty monsters, Holly Blue Agate’s Professor Umbridge has nothing on Aquamarine’s Eric Cartman. It’s one thing to let middle management power go to your head, but Aquamarine is cruel for the simple joy of being cruel, an attitude captured magnificently by Della Saba’s refined British accent. She taunts Topaz as readily as her enemies, and unlike the fiercely loyal Homeworld villains we’ve seen before, she sees her duty as a waste of time that she begrudgingly fulfills because she’s the best. Like Kevin, this is a troll who’s just mean to her core, but she unfortunately has a lot more power than your everyday toxic douche. 

As is standard for two-parters by now, we end with a cliffhanger, this time evoking Steven’s Dream (another first-parter that ends with a new blue Gem). A loved one has been taken, Steven blames himself because he put this person in harm’s way and couldn’t stop it, so now it’s time for a rescue mission. An unprecedented streak of consecutive serialized episodes already began with Doug Out, but now we get a proper two-parter, then a four-parter, then a six-parter, then another two-parter all in a row. It’s a special time in the series, highlighted by Earth plots and Homeworld plots colliding in ways that backdrop Steven’s role as a child of two worlds, and Are You My Dad excellently escalates the plot.

In closing, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this is the final episode from the amazing Raven Molisee. Other veterans like Joe Johnston and Kat Morris ended their roles as lead-credit writer/storyboarders to fulfill other roles for the show, but this is it for Molisee’s tenure as an active member of the Crewniverse. Her work speaks for itself: she helped introduce Lapis in Mirror Gem, Peridot in Warp Tour, Jasper in The Return, Yellow Diamond in Message Received, and now Aquamarine and Topaz in Are You My Dad?. She helped bring to life the comedy of Kindergarten Kid and The New Crystal Gems, the tragedy of Rose’s Scabbard and Monster Reunion, the horror of Frybo and Keeping It Together, the wonder of An Indirect Kiss, the catharsis of Earthlings, and so much more. We were lucky to have her, and I really hope she didn’t leave because she was abducted by aliens.

Future Vision!

Steven is down to watch a movie about an orphaned Gem whose parent figure left for Beach City and never came home. So were the fans, apparently.

If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn’t have inconsistencies…

The ages of Lars and Sadie were nebulous at first, but it’s more or less been established that they’re teens of sorts by now, which makes Barb’s declaration that Sadie’s an adult confusing in a way that I find surprisingly annoying. It’s really not a big deal, but it bothers me way more than your average nitpick.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

It’s not unheard of for first-parters to make my greatest hits list: Mirror Gem is certainly one of them, and we’ve also got The Return and Steven’s Dream. But it’s hard to put an episode without a proper ending up with the best, and despite its wonderful tone, meeting Aquamarine lacks the conclusive impact of meeting Lapis, we don’t get a huge moment of Steven summoning his shield and protecting his team, and Aquamarine isn’t a Big Deal like Blue Diamond. I still love Are You My Dad a lot, but this is a hard list to crack and it does feel like half an episode when viewed alone.

Top Twenty-Five

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

Last One Out of Beach City

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Mindful Education

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Earthlings

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Bismuth

Steven’s Dream

When It Rains

The Good Lars

Catch and Release

Chille Tid

Lion 4: Alternate Ending

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Monster Reunion

Alone at Sea

Crack the Whip

Beta

Back to the Moon

Kindergarten Kid

Buddy’s Book

Gem Harvest

Three Gems and a Baby

That Will Be All

The New Crystal Gems

Storm in the Room

Room for Ruby

Doug Out

Are You My Dad?

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

Greg the Babysitter

Gem Hunt

Steven vs. Amethyst

Bubbled

Adventures in Light Distortion

Gem Heist

The Zoo

Rocknaldo

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

Know Your Fusion

Future Boy Zoltron

Tiger Philanthropist

No Thanks!

     6. Horror Club      5. Fusion Cuisine      4. House Guest      3. Onion Gang      2. Sadie’s Song      1. Island Adventure

(It took some serious sleuthing, because the amazing Are You My Mother parody image is unsourced on Google Images and comes from a TeeSpring shirt that is no longer available, but I tracked down the artist as Zaccrim.)

#are you my dad #steven universe #su #steven universally #review

[morganeuk]

The Doctor & the Librarian. (Sherlock AU)

Part 4: Want to meet?

(Read Part 3: The British Government interferes on Tumblr)

(Read Part 2: Brainy is the new sexy on Tumblr)

(Read Part 1: Kissing is not required on Tumblr)

Summary: After talking online with a flirty doctor from London, Sherlock - librarian at Oxford University - can't stop thinking about him! It won't do! Fortunately, Lestrade asked his help on a case. But poor Sherlock can't work with Anderson... don't worry, he knows the perfect substitute!

In his brother's private sedan, Sherlock remained silent for the hour-long drive back to London. His brother, content that he was back to a somewhat 'normal' version of himself whatever the reason, respected the privacy of his thoughts. He was overall satisfied with his younger brother's relationship with DI Lestrade. The NSY officer was now asking for Sherlock's assistance on a more regular basis, forcing the librarian to skip work on occasion.  Of course, as Mycroft was a schoolmate with the dean of the university, Sherlock's job would never be in jeopardy as long as he wanted it. The older Holmes' end goal was of course that Sherlock ceases playing at being a librarian! The thing with Doctor Watson may also become a positive influence in his life, possibly even bring him back to a more active role against our enemies...  

Once in front of Lauriston Garden, the crime scene where Lestrade is expecting him, Sherlock leaps out of Mycroft's car as soon as he can. Even though he wasn't expecting any thanks from his younger brother, the government man was irritated by his sibling's attitude. But, as usual, he brushed it off and instructs his chauffeur to continue to his club and let the DI deal with him.

A vast police perimeter was surrounding a disaffected building. Once beautiful flats, the edifice was now abandoned and surrounded by junk.  Passing under the yellow tape, Lestrade's assistant Donovan spots him at once.  "What are you doing here, Freak? Shouldn't you been sorting books in a basement somewhere?" Sally Donovan despised Sherlock to a fault. His condescending attitude towards NSY and the fact that he was nearly always bloody right, was a personal affront to her.

The hostility was cut short by the arrival of Lestrade who motioned the young man to follow him inside. "Hi Sherlock, thanks for getting here so quick... How's village life?" The DI, still wanting to convince Sherlock to return to the city, was always teasing the detective about Oxford.

"It's as charming as always, Geof, how's your adoring wife?" the amateur detective replied with an innocent smile.  He knew perfectly well that Lestrade's wife was having affair after affair, despite Lestrade's wish to save their marriage. Sherlock knew he was treading on dangerous territory, but the teasing about Oxford and his 'desk job' was getting old so... Fair game. Lestrade, not mentioning that he effectively found his wife with one of her co-workers a few days before and that his bloody name is Greg, turns on his heel and strides toward the entrance of the building. "Who's on forensic?" Sherlock asks before moving a step further.

"... Anderson." The DI sighs heavily "Could you please just this once try to ignore his shortcomings and work together!"  He knows that Anderson and Holmes are far from being friends, but he had hoped... But it was too late, Sherlock was already on the defensive, not wanting to deal with the man.

"He won't work with me, and you know it!"

"Stop nagging him about everything and he will!" An exasperated Lestrade retorted, finally losing his temper.

"He's useless, I can't use any of the photographs he takes, not a single one of his ridiculous analyses... His 'work' is utter garbage!" Of course, Anderson chose that moment to walk out of the building and overheard everything.  The loathing between them was mutual and obvious to everyone around them.

It won't do... Sherlock sighs internally.

"Do as you want, but you'll have to deal with Anderson, I have no one else." and the DI went inside, leaving Holmes outside.

Argggg! GOD! This is a good one, a serial killer I'm certain of it... But Anderson... I can't do it... But I have no other option, I need a medical opinion... A flash of a blond doctor, not remotely annoying, and cleverer than most passes in front of his eyes. Taking out his phone, he texts without even thinking.

I'm in London. Want to meet? - SH

The reply comes quickly.

Sherlock? - JW

Know anyone else with this phone number? - SH

Sorry, stupid question. ;-) - JW

When? - JW

Now. 3 Lauriston Garden. Ask for Lestrade. - SH

Lauriston Garden? Is this a restaurant? Who's Lestrade? - JW

Sherlock? - JW

But it was too late, Sherlock was already inside, following the DI up a circular staircase. A bickering Anderson tried to block the way and slow them down, not wanting Sherlock anywhere his corpse. After a few long minutes, they were finally able to access the third floor where an apartment was highly illuminated by huge spotlights. Before entering the room, Lestrade slowly and carefully puts on a coverall and gloves before asking Sherlock to do the same.  With an exasperated look, the young man advanced towards the corpse, being careful to not touch anything.

"I can give you two minutes," Lestrade explains, knowing that bringing an amateur consultant on a crime scene can cause him problems.

Ignoring the DI, the young man murmurs dismissively "May need longer..."

"Her name’s Jennifer Wilson according to her credit cards. We’re running them now for contact details. Hasn’t been here long. Some kids found her."

In the middle of the room, Sherlock's focus turns to the woman in pink. Everything in pink. What an awful gaudy shade of pink, Sherlock mused, followed by I wonder if John, Dr. Watson, is coming... Distracted by the idea of John being there with him, he can't restrain his instinct to snap at the policemen around him."Shut up!"

An offended Lestrade protested, "I didn’t say anything!"

"You were thinking. It’s annoying." Sherlock, closing himself to anything outside the body in front of him, stays silent for many minutes while Lestrade checked his watch anxiously.

From the bottom of the stairs, they heard Donovan below. "Boss! Someone here, he said he's looking for you! It's about the Freak!"

Sherlock's heart somersaults... John!

Less than half an hour before, John was relaxing in his flat. Drinking tea and eating biscuits Mrs. Hudson made earlier. He was trying to focus on his book but it was at no avail. Last night conversation with William, no Sherlock!, was still fresh in his mind.  Oh My God... I can't believe it... He was actually there, at the end of whatever connects computer together! He texted with me and let me flirt with him without evaporating in the night. Sherlock... More precisely Sherlock Holmes. An unusual name, for an unusual man... He discovers little on the Internet, but enough to convince him that the name was real. He was listed as a librarian in the university directory. There he is, in black and white, 'Sherlock Holmes, BChem MLIS' . He found two blogs under the name, one about data mining - the concept of being able to program a computer to actually read and analyze a text if he understands it correctly! - and one about the science of deduction.  That was different... but he reminds himself how quickly the librarian deduced he was an ICU doctor.  John was wondering what else the man would be able to find if they meet. Curiously, he was unable to find an image of him, there was nothing that could tell him what the man looked like.

As he puts down his mug, his phone chimes with an elegant group of violin notes. Taken by surprise, his mug misses the table and crashes to the floor. It was Sherlock's ringtone! Putting away the thought of how pathetic to have a special ringtone for a man you never meet... He opens his phone.

I'm in London. Want to meet? - SH

His positive reply was instantaneous as a brilliant YES crossed his mind! He took five minutes to brush his teeth and refresh is after-shave, changed his t-shirt for a nicer shirt and flew down the stairs to find a cab.  The less than 5 miles trip to Lauriston Garden (Where the hell am I going?) was done in record time as John offered a generous bonus to the cabbie. Less than 25 minutes after Sherlock's mysterious text, he was in front of... an old decrepit building with half a dozen police cars and yellow tape everywhere.  He walks up to a woman who was managing the scene, phone in hand. "Excuse me, officer, I'm looking for..." John reads the text again, "Lestrade?"

"Who are you? Why do you want to talk to the DI? Are you a bloody journalist? We have nothing to declare for now!" She turns her back to John and starts to talk on her phone.

"I am Doctor John Watson. This was the instruction that I received, to ask for Lestrade. Maybe it would help you if I told you that I am here to see Sherlock Holmes?" John was unsure of what was happening, but he was certain that he would fight for the chance to meet the man he has dreamed of for the last three days!

"Holmes? What do you want with the 'Freak'?" Donovan was now surveying John with a curious gaze. "Do you know him? Are you a... friend?" The mere idea of Holmes having a friend brings a laughing tone to Donovan's voice.

Without knowing the woman, the doctor instantly hates her with a passion. What's her problem?  He decided to omit the fact that he has never seen the man and simply reply "Yes, I am a friend and he texted me to join him here. If you are unable to help me, I can talk with your superior, DI Lestrade?." He used what he called his captain voice to snap the woman out of her sarcastic attitude.

Donovan, out of arguments and under the influence of John's commanding voice, lifted the yellow tape and leads Watson to the base of the stairs, then yells for Lestrade. She shows Watson the stairs and simply muttered "third floor," before leaving him alone.  

Looking at the flights of stairs, John screams inside. Of course, it's on the third floor.  His leg was doing better and he had left his walking stick at home, but fifty-ish steps... that was a challenge. Putting his hand on the rail, he starts the ascension that will bring him to, he hopes, Sherlock Holmes.

At Donovan's announcement, Sherlock, to Lestrade's astonishment, was having difficulty containing himself. He jumped up from the floor where he was nearly sprawled on, removed any lint on his already spotless coat, passed a nervous hand in his curly hair, and withdrew further in the room. Not knowing what to do... What's happening? Is this the man Mycroft mentioned? If so, this is going to be funny!  

John, now on the landing of the third floor, inhaled and exhaled profoundly, trying to relax and compose himself. He walks in the room and, seeing Lestrade first, he was impressed by the stature of the man, his silver fox look, his smart and cocky smile but... he was also disappointed.  The man, disregarding the protective kit he was wearing, didn't have the elegant and posh demeanour he imagined. He was a nice looking man and seemed friendly but John's gut didn't react at all. He was a regular bloke with whom he can go to the pub for a beer or two, but nothing more... no 'sparkles'. Kind of sad, his expectations were maybe too high, he extends his hand to the man. "Hi, I'm John Watson, nice to meet you...".

Lestrade politely takes John's hand before putting the poor man out of his misery. "Hi, John, nice to meet you, too.  I'm DI Greg Lestrade... You're here to meet Sherlock if I'm right?" and he turns towards Sherlock who had frozen in a corner of the room where the doctor can't see him. John, following Lestrade's gaze, understands his mistake and finds Sherlock's eyes that were gazing at him reverently. Hypnotized by the grey and blue eyes that were watching him, he registered unconsciously the tall elegant frame, the soft curly hair...

Oh God, I'm in deep trouble.

Read the rest of the story here! http://archiveofourown.org/series/770607

#johnlock #playing with old stuff instead of writing my WIP

[panelshowsource]

of course! i love susie! here is the susie tag! i made a susie set last week!

all the submissions i’ve ever received in the past were just pictures alongside someone’s opinions/questions... i can’t privately respond to those like i can with an ask, and they never felt quite appropriate to post. what would you want to submit? you can always tag your own content with #panelshowsource and i will see it!

nope! we do have something called "comedians of the world" which features joel dommett, mae martin, nish kumar, ellie taylor, and quite a lot of standup specials like james acaster, jimmy carr, greg davies, daniel sloss, jack whitehall etc. but with a basic internet proxy, anyone can easily swap their country’s netflix account to british netflix to stream these (x) :)

hello! wow i watched that last year bc in the film miles jupp is married to james wilby (of maurice fame, you may well know), so of course i had to see it. miles is genuinely a talented actor, i recommend watching him in the new howards end and also journey’s end. as for chicklit, i just googled “watch chicklit” and it came right up for me x

where is the proof

sure! twink!john is ultimate john... the new special was a bit bleak though wasn’t it? and i can do that anon, i’m trying to make more drunk history gifs anyway :)

can u believe??

god made her incredible at street fighter to make up for her shit dancing. and good job, god, if i may say so

i certainly have — the new eps are always posted to /r/panelshow, so it’s easy to keep up. it’s a pleasant enough show if you’re liberal scum like me :)

hahahaha oh anon, how i wish i knew the exact reason. i live for frankie’s apparent disdain for james corden (which did not in fact end in 2014, because he did a joke about it in the first series of new world order)...

...which is apparently not reciprocated...

i’m sure there’s no real contempt on a personal level, and james, as a comedian, understands how and why he is a punchline to some people (and can take it). that said, i think his generally appearing “fake” in his personality and penchant for laughing a lot as well as not being a particularly clever or original comedic writer brings the groans from other comedians. after he started winning major awards is when it became particularly trendy not to like him *shrug*

yes, yes, and it depends...some comics are good presenters, some are good roasters, some are good at standup, some are good at podcasts. so ! i like john mulaney, maria bamford, bo burnham, robin williams, sam morril, and i love roast battles so a lot of the greats on jeff ross presents roast battle (mike lawrence, matthew broussard, etc). but apart from mulaney i can’t think of any i religiously keep up with!

hello everyone! yes i certainly watched it, i thought it was nice :) it was a good selection of guests and it was nice to see so many new gen panelists on one programme; i think it helped josh & james and tom & rob are such old friends, and obviously jess & james know each other at least mildly well. dynamics make panel shows. i think the format is decent but really dependent on the guests...i could tell so many of the answers were pre-planned with elaborate set ups (props) and i generally find the less obvious that is, the better, so i hope that improves as they move forward. james is also a little less weird and a little more talk show host-y, which is an odd look for him and i’m not sure how i feel about it, bc i assumed josh would be taking that role so james could fuck about a bit — but it certainly feels like the james acaster show 😂 i’ll be interested to see how it continues with different guests. i love the “how much money to do xyz” round, because i play that all the time irl and it’s hilarious making people explain themselves. but i’ll say this: like you guys i obviously really like james, but if we’re being real this is not the funniest panel show of all time aljskfhg or whatever. sometimes i think being consistently pleasant (looking at you, insert name here) can be even better than that. so that’s what i’m hoping for it!

i don’t i’m sorry to say anon. i can see select episodes are on dailymotion but it looks to me like you’ll have to go here and politely make a request. but in the meantime, never forget.........

is that a james acaster fan i detect? ;) x

haha i don’t know what kind of magical powers you think i have as a lil american with 400gb on google drive and no other materials other than the interwebz to watch panel shows, but let me introduce you to a well-known resource around these parts...

vlc is king queen! enjoy! x

right here boo! thank you for your patience!

of course not! imo you’re not asking enough! check out this tag, i’ve been working on it...;)

HMM LET’S CONSIDER...

im right here silly

f.a.q. // tags

ps. thanks to everyone for sending in your feedback on double-giffing, meeting celebs, and more! i got all of your messages and i really enjoyed reading all of your perspectives. to keep the blog (mostly) free of drama and debate, i won’t be publishing most of them, but you can always privately message me if you want to talk more :) and sorry i couldnt do original women weds this week; i had a quick surgery yesterday and i was really tired last night. next week will be really good, promise! x sarah

#a

[userdokja]

Baby Steps { Sherlock x Reader}

Summary:Every since y/n L/n worked with Sherlock Holmes on a case They’ve gotten closer until They lose to something they fear most.

Warning: Fluff, my sister (Timber) wanted angst again. but nah. Cringe ahead, save yourselves, did not edit, English is not my first language 

You and the famous detective worked on a case, You asked him to help you since the case was very hard, but you were a proper genius too, but not as clever as The consulting detective.

he had invited you to his flat which surprised john at first.

“be there at five pm.” you didn’t understand why but you accepted anyways.

“okay.”

 The rain hit hard and you knocked on the door, an old woman opened the door and smiled sweetly at you.

“Hello, deary.” she greeted “You must be here for Sherlock? he’s right upstairs.” You thanked her and walked up the stairs.

there, you heard a violin softly playing, the door was slightly opened and you looked at the small crack, the sound suddenly stopped and the door opened.

“Y/n, Just in time, John’s preparing tea.” he opened the door wider for you to enter.

“So, Sherlock why did you invite me here?” you asked as you stepped inside the room, unknowingly you sat on his favorite chair.

“Sherlock,We ran out of milk.” John said as he walked to Sherlock, Then suddenly his eyes fell on you.

“You’re sitting on his chair.” he said flatly with wide eyes.

“Yes.. Is there a problem..?” Sherlock changed the subject, “ So, I brought you here because Of the case, And.. Think I might need your help so we can finish it faster.” 

“okay...” John was still confused, standing between them.

“Uhm.. I uh--” Sherlock stammered his gaze fixed on you.

“uhmm..” you were confused, but whilst at it, you were also examining The shorter man.

“Afghanistan?” you turned at the doctor.

“yes, how did you know?” 

“I observed, Doctor.”You smiled at him. Sherlock cleared his throat and continued.

“so, What do you think about the case? was it Suicide?” 

“Definitely murder, There’s bruises on the woman’s body,It was covered by the sleeves, the killer probably changed the clothes and though it won’t be visible and disappear, I also learned that the woman’s family was rich, that probably means the killer was after her money, There’s also candle wax on the table but lights can be turned on, The woman has a wedding ring and it was the fiance that reported not too long after her death but his house was two hours away,The woman’s invitation was sent to him at 1;09 and was replied to, at 1:14, Their dinner was set at 6:00, that would give him enough time to prepare and drive to her house..” She gave him an explanation but he interrupted.

“the murder was reported at 6:30. but he was supposed to be there at 6:00, they probably talked about the money, And had..problems..”

“so.. I guess you know who the murderer is then, The woman was also Right handed at the gun was placed on her left, but fun fact, her fiance is the left handed one.” She sighed, it was an easy case.

“Brilliant.” John mumbled beside her.

“Thank you john.” You and Sherlock said in the same time.

“I was talking to her..and You need to buy milk, Tell Lestrade about the case on the way.” John rolled his eyes and pushed Sherlock out of the door.

“so, y/n do you like Sherlock?” John asked as soon as he closed the door.

“No. I believe I am married to my work, and Sentiment will only block my way, Though i may appear friendly.. I only do that to people I think would be proper to be my friend.” You explained, John was a good man and thought you may  consider him as a friend one day.

It was almost a year later when that case happened and ended, and in those years you hanged out with John and Sherlock, and soon it was Christmas, you were celebrating at 221B, with Sherlock, Lestrade, John, Molly and Mrs. Hudson, your connection with them grew stronger, Even Mycroft who adored you more than he adores his brother, you always help Mrs. Hudson make some tea and clean around. Soon you spent more time on Sherlock’s flat more than yours.

“So! gifts!” John clapped his hands together, and everyone gathered around.

“molly to john.” you said giving him a box

“John to molly” he laughed and gave you a wrapped gift, it was like a circle, Greg to Mrs. Hudson, all of you planned this months ago, Though Sherlock didn’t like it, he was forced to play along.

and soon it was yours and Sherlock’s turn..

“Sherlock to Y/n.”

“Y/n to Sherlock.” You both gave each other warm smiled and open your gifts, you both didn’t notice, everyone leaving quietly giving you both space, You let Sherlock Open his first, it was a Big box, and you made sure everything he liked was in it.

A Violin, Scarf, etc.

“Thank you, Y/n.” He gave you a rarely warm smile, you opened yours and found a familiar trench coat.

“I thought you’d like it since I caught you wearing mine a few days ago.” you gave him a big smile and hugged him. “Thank you so much.” He returned the hug and said.

“You know I always thought Love means loosing.” He mumbled against your shoulder.

“I thought it was too, I was focused on my job, It was my life--

“And you, Y/n changed all of that.” He didn’t let go of the hug and neither did you, Because he didn’t want to look at your face when he gets rejected.

“what do you mean?” you asked.

“I’m loosing, y/n, I’m loosing to you.” 

“I lost a long time ago, Sherlock Holmes.” he finally lets go and pressed his lips to yours, your kiss broke when the door opened.

You took Baby steps, since this was new for the both of you, but of course, your dates were crime scenes since you both love those, Each steps you took slowly, but your love never stopped to grow.

Slowly but surely, You both used to say, But together you keep on loosing. 

And only the both of you knows it’s a good thing.

Bonus from my five years old sister who typed this while i was in the bathroom:

jojo is sleepy and john is  confused  because  jojo  poop in da bed and john  is happy  because jojo pooped john said yay poop i like poop 

ew, I’m living with this disgusting gorl.

#sherlock x reader #sherlock holmes #sherlock bbc #sherlock benedict cumberbatch #x reader #bbc sherlock #john watson x reader #baby steps

[bookdragonlibrary]

First YJ Friday appreciation

I will talk here of the episode 1 to 3. If you didn’t see them yet, do not read the text following as it’s full of heavy spoilers but have my theories and comments too :)

1-3 ; 4-6 ; 7-9 ; 10-13 ; 14-16 ; 17 ; 18 ; 19 ; 20 ; 21 ; 22 ; 23 ; 24-26

Princes all

- the big bald bad guy with Ana is the same one from S1 who works with Count Vertigo to kill Perdita. 

- So here the collar 2.0 who can control people in addition of shoking them... Do you think they have a bomb in them like in Suicide Squad?

- The girl scream voice when Ana dies :( But BL that wasn’t your fault :( Don’t bet yourself up. The Light are the true responsible ones for her death! 

- The music from the generic looks like a scary movie one! 

- So Gamma Squad are the 8 heros from the ad picture? And who is on Alpha and Beta Squads? 

- I love M’gann new look! After 50 years, she finally accepted herself as a white Martian <3 That’s a character development!

- Steel: new hero in the superfamily? 

- From Virgil’s vince, we can figure he knows already that BL is about to quit the JL :/ He shoud have tell him before and off screen.

- Bart, I missed your comments and that smile of yours! <3

- As announced Kaldur is Aquaman, the Leader of the JL by democratic vote and his coach is Wonder Woman. Such a development! And I love the symbol of Atlantis and Amazon heros working together! (Do you remember Flashpoint where they’re at war?) Arthur is now king of Atlantis full time (according to Greg), with his wife and his child.

- Batman, don’t talk about the mission above the symbol when you dress like a bat as a symbol of fear... --’ But Olly has a little moment of silent before saying “So do I.” Hesitation?

- Batman Incorp! With Katana, PlasticMan, Batwoman and Hardware (is he Luke Thomas or someone else?)

- Tim holding Cassie’s hand, like he wants to say he wants to stay, is so cute (and so short!) I think Batman and GA ordered their mentees to not say anything to their teammates :(

- So Barbara/Batgirl is now Oracle. 

- Tara Markov/Terra was abducted the 28th July in Team year 8

- Bialya has invaded Qurac, teasing form S1.

- Artemis has move to Star City to leave with Will (clone Roy) and her niece Lian (maybe Jade as well?) I think Artemis and Will are roommates. “Who are you to recruit this time?” says Will. So it’s not the first time Dick asks for help on a mission one of these two. So the second one has to babysitt Lian (assuming Jade could work for herself)

- Halo works in Markovian palace and looks like a Quraci refugiee. Maybe she was stealing that silver plate to make some money? But she ends to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

- A speester assassin is really frightening! And “LIMBO TIME”! And he looks like he was betrayed when he get shocked. 

- Did you notice the twins both cry when they see their parents but not their uncle? And their parents holding hands in death TT.TT

- M’gann and SB leaves with Wolf in Happy Harbo, the island where Mount Justice was.

- And Trump... I mean Gordon is here again. Can the Team can find out quickly he works for the Light so he can receive a deserved punch please? I hate that character but I love the work of the actor!

- So the twin brothers are only 17? Why not 20 with a majority at 21?

- I fear so much for Anissa and Jenifer with that children trafficking... And Anissa looks to young to be Traci’s girlfriend :( (but we don’t know their age yet!)

- Lynn has a GL for brother and BL as ex-husband. Do not mess with her of her family!

- BL has a power block due to his guilt... 

- YJ! How dare you! Bruce Lee’s picture is so cute and heartbreaking in the same time! TT.TT

------------------------------ Royal We

- So now Gar has is own TV show just like he wanted in S2. Is he still leaving with SB and M’gann? Is that thanks to him they could buy this huge house?

- Catherine Cobert, the JL liason, is back! Wait, is Hardware blind? Donna Troy/Troia and Garth/Tempest are now ambassadors in UN for Atlantis and Themyscira! :o And Donna is another queen of sass! Rhelasia is finally reunited since S1 and I’m sure it’s a rogue nation like Bialya and works for/with the Light too. So does Zviad Baazovi, ambassador of Markovia, or for the person who ordered the murder of the royal couple.

- 2 days after this murder, Gregor’s pre-coronation! Some traught shippers here? They fake it but still :) And Artemis is so beautiful in this dress. 

- So no one except Dick knows Barbara is now Orale? 

- “Do you want to hold my hand” Is there a dirty joke or it’s just me?

- poor mother box! :( 

- Plasmus looks like Ana, instead we see his brain instead of his heart. Otto? And how Count Vertigo manages to get out of jail?  

- Halo :’( Wait! Did they experiment of those kids? Because there was just Halo who get caught no one else :/ And Halo talks to Sphere? or at least understands what she says.

- And SB looses his shit shirt. Again.

- It’s a tiny beetle? Wait, can Blue do the same thing? Is it from Blue? Was there where Dick got the inspiration? Is that a hint for the flawless shippers? (That’s the name of this ship right?)

- Wait! Was she the justice liaison in the pod? She has a mole in the same place! :o

- Brion is shirtless too! Like his mentor! ^^ (What? they train together in the trailer.) Believe Helga! She knows what she is doing! She seems to have played all of you :) 

- “One of the girls” So they did experiment on all of those dead girl :( So the attack was run by Vertigo? Does he want to annexe Markovia? Or to have a political/royal power to take back his own kingdom? “the Superboy and his escaped companion”. Does he think Lightning is an escaped metaslave?

- “My child”? I don’t know if it’s creepy or if it implies that Helga is on the prince’s side.

- Now Sphere for the generic. Are these pictures clues for the future episodes? Knowing Greg and Brandon, I think it is! 

------------------------------ Eminent threat

- Star Girl! So Gar is also a teen actor in Space Trek 3036. Does he start his career thanks to his mission in the last comic since he met an actress who worked with his mom on Hello Megan! ? He’s dating Perdita (who sould be around 17 yo). They met at Wally’s funeral (I read few fanfic where Perdita comes to his funeral and they were right!) I think he’s still a hero since we saw him in costume in the trailer and the picture with the whole team (well the ones who was revealed to be in this season).

- “Kill” Halo, sweetie, are you okay? What do you mean? That the place where you were killed?

- Dick who was tricked by his bug xD And Barb’s comment xD 

- Helga used to work for Bedlam but now she’s on the prince’s side! :D So Vertigo does want to make a coup d’Etat to Vlatava?

- Maneuver 7! 

- Bedlam = Delamb. It was under our nose from the beginning!

- “Cost you more-” than what? career? life? than you think? Helga has no time for your consideration, Dick :( She said “my child” Could she be the prince true mother? They’re both brown hair and Brion and Gregor aren’t homozygote twins. 

- The children was boom tube away to be sold off planet or to other countries :( Sounds like the Runaways in the episode in Bialya right?

- Perdita’s talking with Gregor!

- Helga knows exactly was Brion’s powers are in seconds. Was she also there when they activated Tara’s ones?

- Vertigo’s minions have a lot of New Genesis technology. Is it thanks to the deal between Salvage and Darkseid?

- So Dr Ekcs is also a meta.

- Does Delamb wants to take this occasion to murder Gregor too? And this prince is clever! :)

- BL has recovered his powers thanks to another child’s death. The irony. It’s me or Sphere shows Halo how to heal?

- Gregor is indeed clever and sees right into Delamb’s game! I like him :) I’m even more sure the markovian ambassador works for the Light and he’s going to manipulate Gregor instead of Delamb. His decision for Brion was the only way to protect him from jail and maybe he hopes he will find their sister like Brion does.

- And now BL knows the metaslaves are controlled! “Not again. Again” I love this scene! ^^ And the farmer takes Otto’s victory scream for a threat to the heroes :( I knew Otto was going to die since his powers is too close to Brion’s ones.

- The picture from the generic of the third episode could be the Kent’s farm? (Or SB’s house, I’m not sure) However i’m sure this is the place we saw in the trailer (The one where Brion ends naked).

One week to wait now! And I thought 3 episodes per week were going to be enough ><

#Young Justice #YJ reviews #watch young justice outsiders #watch young justice