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kiraixi · 5 months

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This is my contribution to the Harringrove Relay Race! 🎄❤️@harringrove-relay-race

Santa Baby ~

Billy wasn’t happy with his predicament but honestly any extra cash would do… even if it meant babysitting your crushes ex’s younger sister.

Holly was a sweet kid. Shy at first, but after becoming a frequent swimmer at his Turtle Tots classes in summer Billy’s come to know what a bubbly yet devious inside she had. Adorable baby blues not even he could say no to along with a pixie laugh when she got her way.

Here he was, standing outside the mall, about to spend his Christmas day with a five year old.

To be fair it was way better than whatever burnt roast Susan would salvage, forced to choke down undercooked potatoes with his father’s threatening glare across. Forced to match Max’s tight smile and fake gratitude as she opens her third present while he gets none. Always. Only to left alone with his asshole dad and mouse of a wife while she runs off to her nerd friends' houses, blissfully ignorant of what waits for him behind closed doors.

Mrs Wheeler stopped him a week ago. Hand on his arm caressing, asking if he could be ‘ever so kind’ and watch her youngest on such a special day. Billy doesn’t care what she deigns so important she can’t look after her own child, but from the amount of cash stuffed into his hand he’s not complaining at all.

Twenty dollars to babysit her and another twenty five to buy her a gift. He can keep the change.

Holly takes him left and right. Kinda embarrassing how this little kid knows her way round more than him. Up the stairs they go to Claire’s, receiving a few warm chuckles from the lady running the till when Holly asks him which stuffed plushie is superior.

Billy personally thinks the reindeer one is cuter. It’s called Antler Claus.

They pick up some hot chocolate and share a gingerbread cookie. Holly called the thing Hermon and then decapitated its head, handing him the torso and legs. She’s darn cute.

Tugging on the arm carrying her teddy, she points down the hall. He turns to her,

“Mm?”

“I wanna see Santa!”

“Santa?” Billy looks where she’s pointing. A Christmas set up. A tree and a couple presents laid out, theres’ a small queue of people waiting to talk to a guy in red lounged on a chair.

“Oh… Santa.”

“Yep!” She tugs him forward with the mighty force of a toddler and they line up behind, Billy squinting at that floppy brown hair under the hat. Even though the boy’s face is hidden under that ridiculous beard, Billy could recognise him anywhere.

Steve Harrington in all his glory, sweating under layers of heavy velvet, trying with all his might to sell a jolly man accent.

He can’t suppress a smirk as they walk up for their turn. Steve tries hard to not make eye contact with Billy, instead listening intently to Holly.

“Hi there little miss! Have you been a good girl for Santa this Christmas?”

She giggles, swaying back and forth on Steve’s knee, “Yes! I spent today with Billy, it was so fun! We got a rei- rain—“ She frowns at Billy.

“Reindeer.”

“Reindeer!” Shining her brilliant three teeth smile at the older boy. They both laugh at her adorable antics.

She pulls Steve’s ear in, whispering in that way only children do, loud yet secretive all the same. “Don’t tell my mummy but this is way more fun than being home.”

Steve sends him a soft smile and Billy tries with all his might to tape down that warm shakiness building in his chest. Steve tells her to grab a gift off the shelf and while she’s away for a few minutes Billy’s curiosity gets the better of him.

“What made you do this instead of..” He waves his hand around lamely, “Festivities at home.”

Steve looks down at his lap a little forlorn, “I don’t think anyone would even realise I’m gone..”

“Ah..”, that sad pout makes Billy regret asking.

The other sighs, “Well why are you not at home? I wouldn’t have pegged you getting along with Holly.”

“Well, she’s a good kid and any extra money is useful,” Billy shrugs, not wanting to get into the details of a shitty house to go back to.

Steve nods in understanding, then snorts “Well haven’t you been a good boy this year,” pats his lap like the jerk he is. “Why don’t you sit on my lap”.

Billy blushes and looks heavenward, cursing god for making his fall for this absolute dork. Holly comes to save the day. Another plushie, a penguin this time, tucked under her arm and pulls him toward the churro stand.

He looks back at Steve, questioning how much he owes for the toy. Steve shakes his head and smiles, “Don’t worry about it, maybe instead you could stop by at four? It’s when I clock off, we could hang if you're free?”

Billy looks away, face warming but not from the temperature. He tickles Holly’s side and taps her nose, “Once I put this bug in her bed I’ll come back” They awkwardly wave goodbye, Holly giggles at him and he smiles back.

This Christmas isn’t turning out to be so bad after all.

Happy holidays everyone! Please look forward to the lovely work from the next person 🎉@thatgirlwithasquid

#billy hargrove #harringrove #steve harrington #christmas #harringrove relay race

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ladyfawkes · 3 years

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A Murder of Snows by LadyFawkes Chapter 2/5 - The Toboggan Incident Current word count: 4278 Story Summary:

Cassandra teases Eugene one too many times about his dislike for snow. Rapunzel’s since been made aware of what the main reason is but she doesn’t know many others that Eugene has yet to divulge. He gives at least 5 examples that include reasons for him to loathe these tiny ice crystals. Each story is successively worse than the previous one.

Chapter Two: The Toboggan Incident

One winter some time after Eugene and his friend Arnie had left the orphanage, the pair were trudging along on a comparably nice-ish day. It had snowed an awful lot the prior weekend, but that day, the sun was shining bright. The air wasn’t frigid and as such, Arnie and Eugene each got a bit stir crazy inside their little warm cave setup in the mountainside. Arnie and Eugene were originally going to head into town when they caught sight of a small child struggling with a toboggan. The little girl had been on the mountain a few times over the past several weeks, ever since she’d received the shiny new toboggan at Christmas.

Eugene and Arnie had originally watched and envied the child because of her family and warm home. But they also knew the other local children made fun of her too. This little girl actually walked with a pronounced limp and all of the others refused to play with her based on that one thing alone. Even her elder brother who was supposed to be watching over her, making sure she wouldn’t fall over or injure herself, would often go off with friends his age rather than minding his younger sister. He typically abandoned her to play alone.

And though he couldn’t explain why, Eugene felt….an obligation to watch over this little brunette whenever her brother would ditch her, so she wouldn’t be left alone on the mountain. Arnie wasn’t so sure….at times young Arnie and Eugene marveled at the cruelty of children, no matter their living circumstances.

After about the third time the girl’s brother ditched her, she had spotted Eugene and Arnie in the trees, watching her. The boys fully expected her to yell at them, to chase them off. Even though they wouldn’t dream of bothering her, she hadn’t known that.

“Hulloooo!!” the girl raised a mittened hand, waving grandly as she could with her feet nearly stuck tight in the fresh powder. “I’m Chelsea! What are your names?” Eugene and Arnie momentarily stared at each other in shock. Townie children were typically encouraged by their parents and others to ignore “street urchins” like Arnie and Eugene. It was a minor miracle that this girl was speaking with them so freely.

“Uh, I’m….Flynn?” said Eugene, giving an alias just in case. “And I’m Lance!” replied Arnie, waving his own arm. The pair continued to watch Chelsea for a few more moments.

“Hey, erm, are you stuck in the snow? Did you need some help climbing out?” asked Eugene as he slowly made his way down the slope. The snow slid easily and sections of it would cascade like shiny bits of frozen sand with each step he took. Chelsea held up her arms and looked down at her lower body, now hip-deep in the white powder.

The girl held up her arms and looked down helplessly at her trapped lower body and shrugged in consternation at her predicament. “Yes, please!!”

“C’mere and hold onto the toboggan, Lance,” said Eugene. At that, Arnie made his way down the mountain in Eugene’s trail. Then Arnie stood off to one side and steadied the sled as Eugene instructed Chelsea to grab the line attached to the toboggan and hold tight so it could help tow her out. Then Eugene reached down in the white powder and unstuck one of Chelsea’s feet and then the other, until the little girl was very sloooowly sliding downhill again, this time on her belly and elbows against the toboggan, with her freshly unstuck feet flailing happily behind her as she laughed.

Arnie and Eugene met the girl at the bottom of the slope and Chelsea stood up to her full still-tiny height and unhesitatingly threw her arms around Eugene.

“Oh, thank you, Lance and Flynn!” she said, her voice wavering. “My big brother Joshua is supposed to be minding me buuuuut he would rather be with his own older friends,” sniffled Chelsea. “I guess I can’t blame him. I am an annoying little tagalong. Mum is busy inside with the babies.” Eugene’s face bunched up in a scowl.

“If you were my little sister, I’d never leave you out here alone,” he vowed. “Yeah,” agreed Arnie, “we know too well what dangers can lay in wait up here on the mountain.”

Unhesitatingly, Chelsea brightened up and invited them to stay and play with her that day, working out a way to exchange towing and other similar services for downhill rides on her new toboggan. After an awkward pause, she could tell they were about to turn her down…..when she instead asked them to wait. She limped across the base of the mountain and into a warm-looking cottage a few hundred yards away.

After a few minutes, a plump sweet-looking woman followed Chelsea out the back door. “Mama, this is Flynn and Lance,” she began, “and they helped me out of the snow after Joshua left me alone. I’m sure I would’ve frozen to death!” she held a hand to her forehead dramatically.

Chelsea’s mother took one look at the boys in their worn-out coats, gloves with holes in the fingers, and ground down shoes. They had much more snow caked on all over in places where there shouldn’t be any….yet they hadn’t the proper gear to keep out the snow. The pair felt a bit embarrassed by her scrutiny.

“Thank you for helping Chelsea,” the girl’s mother said seriously. “Any particular reason why you stopped for her?” she quizzed.

Eugene looked at her in confusion. “We were on the mountain. Saw that she was stuck and clearly needed help. We asked, Chelsea said yes, and so we helped her,” he shrugged and said simply.

“So no thought of reward?” asked Chelsea’s mother.

“‘Reward’, ma’am?” Eugene echoed. “We’re only here at Chelsea’s request.” And the little girl nodded rapidly in confirmation.

“I see,” the woman replied, her countenance suddenly brightening considerably. “I’m Mrs. Thurgood. Do you boys know how to start a fire?”

“Uhh….y-yes? Ma’am?” said Eugene, wondering if this was a trick question.

“Then would you do us the very great honor of starting a fire in the outside stove?” She pointed behind and to their right toward a stand-alone brick hearth with a chimney a ways out from the home. “Everything you need -- flint, kindling -- is out there in that wood chest.” Arnie and Eugene proceeded to get a nice roaring fire started and were thawing out when Chelsea came back out of the cottage and said, “I knew she would like you!” Eugene and Arnie were accustomed to being hated and ran off upon first meeting much of the time.

Mrs. Thurgood returned outside, this time with a rather large bundle of winter clothing. “So long as you boys agree to mindin’ my Chelsea today, she says you may share her toboggan and I’ll let you keep this winter gear. Some of the gloves and mittens are missing their mates but if you both can find any items that fit you, you’re welcome to them. Mittens, gloves, mufflers, coats, and boots!”

Eugene and Arnie stared at one another in shock. “Ma’am, we didn’t do this for any reward.”

“Aye, Flynn, is it?” Eugene nodded. “You didn’t seek any reward so that’s why you’re getting one. Besides, these are castoffs, anyway; thus you’re helping me doubly -- this time by decluttering my home.” And the auburn-haired woman winked at them.

The two boys gaped at one another in awe after Mrs. Thurgood turned around to head back inside and Eugene dove for the pile of winter goods. Eugene and Arnie each found a handsome coat and hat. Although most children complained about wearing mufflers, these boys already appreciated just how warm they could be when properly worn.

Turns out that Mrs. Thurgood’s husband was a commissioned officer away at war. Joshua, a teen, could not be disciplined very well without his father around, especially when Mrs. Thurgood had to mind three other children under five years old. She paid the boys in meals and other perks for minding Chelsea and performing simple odd jobs outside while Mr. Thurgood was away. Mrs. Thurgood was such a kind gem, so unlike the other townie women. He and Arnie agreed they would never steal anything from Mrs. Thurgood.

A few weeks after Arnie and Eugene first rescued Chelsea, when the elder boy Joshua had time to stew over the fact that a couple of orphan children were effectively taking his place at home, thereby making him look bad and getting rewarded for it…..

On this clear day, after the weekend of blizzards, Chelsea wasn’t able to go outside with them. But Mrs. Thurgood was just fine with them borrowing and taking turns with the girl’s toboggan for the day, provided they returned it when they were finished. As such, that meant the boys were traipsing further up the mountain that day for longer sled runs. About an hour into their sledding, Eugene and Arnie had set up for another ride down the hill when they heard a whole bunch of shouting above them on the mountain.

Then they heard what seemed like a slipping-whoosh noise, followed by a deep rumbling.

“It sounds like thunder,” Arnie said, while the boys looked up into a crisp blue sky. Not a storm cloud -- nor any cloud, really -- in sight.

Then they heard some super-loud snapping and cracking sounds as the rumbling grew even louder. Finally, they looked upwards of themselves on the slope and they figured out what it was. A thick 10-ft rolling wall of snow came barreling down the mountain and swept away everything in its path. At the last second, in desperation, they turned the toboggan to face up-slope, and turned it upside down while attempting to shield themselves with it against the coming onslaught.

Poor Eugene and Arnie didn’t stand a chance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~((0))~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wait, what?” Cassandra blinked in confusion. “How ever did you and Lance escape the avalanche??”

Again, Eugene nursed his hot cocoa, sipping strategically. “We didn’t,” he answered meaningfully, shrugging off her prying. [Slurrrrp.]

Cass glanced over at Rapunzel; the curly-haired woman threw her hands in the air in exasperation. Rapunzel, who knew that all she had to do was find the correct question, instead asked Eugene, “What happened post-avalanche? Certainly someone dug you out -- you’re sitting here with us now, after all,” the princess reasoned.

“That part I really couldn’t tell you,” Eugene replied. He kissed the back of Rapunzel’s hand. “But let’s see…..I remember cowering under the sled with Lance….and the horrendous thundering noise, the trees snapping like giant matchsticks, being engulfed and tumbling ass-over-teacups in a giant wave of snow.” He wasn’t expecting it, but a chill passed through Eugene as he shuddered at the memory. Briefly, he fell into reverie.

Cassandra wordlessly stood up to take Eugene’s empty mug from him, and surprised everyone by returning it to him with a refill. “Thanks,” he said quietly.

He accepted it from Cassandra gratefully, took a sip….and it helped Eugene far more than he thought it would. “The next thing I knew,” he continued his story, “I woke up in a warm bed with Mrs. Thurgood hovering over me. My left forearm was broken and splinted and I’d been knocked out and unconscious for the previous three days, apparently. The theory was that the toboggan probably smacked me on the arm and maybe side of the head during our tumble. I had a humdinger of a laceration in my scalp that required 20 stitches. Lance’s foot had caught a tree trunk on the way down the mountain and he got laid up too.”

“Whoa,” Rapunzel whispered. “So….do you…..do you have any idea what caused that avalanche?” she inquired timorously.

At that, Eugene’s expression darkened immediately from slightly sullen to downright pissed off. “Oh, we know exactly who caused it and why they did it,” he growled.

Cassandra was still in her rather relentless “poke the bear” mode of curiosity and thus kept egging him on. Though she wasn’t that great with emotions, instinct told her that she was doing the right thing by carefully encouraging Eugene to spill the tea with Rapunzel’s assurances.

“Do tell,” Cass spoke up, “is it anyone I know personally who caused it? If so, whose ass do I need to kick next week when we’re back in Corona?” She punched a fist into her palm.

Eugene’s eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise.

“What?” Cass asked after an awkward pause. “Nobody can mess with you but me,” she simply shrugged, cocking a hip and folding her arms in defiance.

Eugene’s eyes darted downward and he unsuccessfully smothered a grin with a hand that flew up to cover his mouth. He wasn’t accustomed to anyone being actively protective of him except for Rapunzel. Especially not over something that happened to him around 15 years ago…

He sighed, this time without rancor. “Remember Chelsea’s elder brother, Joshua?” Eugene asked as both women nodded. “Turns out he and a few of his best buddies were out to teach Lance and I a lesson for ‘messing with his family’, i.e. actually being responsible, minding Chelsea, and doing odd jobs for Mrs. Thurgood. So ol’ Joshie and his buddies decided that since we’d be flying solo without Chelsea that day, it’d be the perfect opportunity to bury their competition. Literally.”

Rapunzel and Cassandra gaped openly at him, this latest news was what they considered most shocking of all.

“.....what?” Eugene asked quietly, suddenly finding himself massively self-conscious due to their scrutiny. “As a kid on the streets, you get used to unmitigated hate from practically everyone,” he half-shrugged. Cass looked Eugene hard in the eye. On the flip side, Rapunzel’s eyes looked shiny with tears. She beckoned her beloved to switch from his place on the poufy chair and snuggle with her on the poufy loveseat instead.

Otherwise Eugene had just emigrated from the No. 1 Spot to the No. 2 Spot in the place. He was still good…..really, really good, especially with Rapunzel slipping her arm behind his back, somewhere between his shirt and his doublet. Then she leaned right in against him and with both her arms snaked around his waist, Rapunzel smooshed up against him that much closer by hooking her thumbs through the opposite sides of Eugene’s belt loop. Typically, that would be a nookie signal from her...but at this time….as she took turns stroking his arm and hooking her thumb through his belt loop….he could sense that she felt bad for him.

Eugene glanced up again at Cassandra, who by now had raised her booted foot upon an ottoman and was sipping her own hot cocoa, studying him with renewed scrutiny.

And although Eugene usually liked a lot of attention, his goal was to be admired through said attention -- not pitied. If there was even a hint of pity, it made him squirm. His hands subconsciously balled into fists. Rapunzel’s head lifted off his chest and she said, “Your heart sped up. What is it?”

Eugene clamped his jaw tight shut for a few seconds before blurting, “Okay, see this? The way you two are looking at me, right now….” The two girls tried to share a glance without his noticing.

“What way?” asked Rapunzel innocently. “What look?” demanded Cass simultaneously with forced nonchalance.

Eugene groaned and his face fell into his hands. Out of the blue, Cassandra asked, “When was the last time you talked about your past this way?”

“Lessee,” Eugene took his head out of his hands using a finger to tap his lip and pretended to consider. “Uhm, approximately never,” he answered forcefully, his arms folding stoutly in front of himself, as if he were directly challenging her .

“Easy, whoa, Fitzcowboy,” said Cassandra as she cautiously held out her hands in front of herself. “I’m not trying to provoke you. It was an honest question.”

“No wonder this is so hard for you,” Rapunzel said, “if you’ve never told anyone about this stuff before.” She kissed his upper arm and nuzzled into it.

“I...guess I never thought about it before,” Eugene replied softly, his face dropping into his hands. “I just don’t want anybody to pity me. I can’t stand pity.” Cassandra and Rapunzel exchanged a look of incredulity. Cass urged Rapunzel to keep Eugene talking.

Rapunzel reached up and touched Eugene’s cheek. “Is that why you stopped mentioning most of your past? It was after Cass first started mocking you, wasn't it?” Eugene pressed his lips together and stayed silent while further burying his face in his hands; Cassandra swallowed hard, visibly sank ,and looked sideways toward the floor under Rapunzel’s careful gaze.

“I…..I suppose I might have misjudged you, as a person….” glancing back at Rapunzel out of the corner of her eye, the blonde woman egged her on. Cass clenched her jaw and mumbled, “....even more harshly than I originally thought.”

A very stunned Eugene slowly came out from behind his hands to stare at Cassandra. She was studiously trying (and failing) to ignore his own gaze. Again, Rapunzel urged Cass to just….spill the tea already.

“The past few weeks, Fitzherbert, you’ve made it increasingly difficult for me to find reasons to despise you. First, you haul off in the middle of a cursed blizzard to rescue the King and Queen. Second, even though you and the other guys were waiting for Rapunzel’s blessing to go, something tells me that you would’ve found a way to leave anyway, had she refused you. Third….just these past two stories of yours alone let me know you’ve got every reason to loathe snow; yet just weeks ago, you hauled off in a blizzard, were hit by an avalanche, and fell off a mountain, all in one trip. And yet fourth -- here you are with us in the mountains during winter.” Finally, Cassandra paused and said, “I don’t know that I could personally keep subjecting myself to what amounts to my own worst fear at such a level.”

For a few seconds, Eugene studied the dark-haired young woman. The past several minutes, she’d spoken more kindly to him than she had during the prior several months since they’d met combined. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of it all. Good thing Rapunzel knew.

“Would you two just call a truce, already??” Rapunzel demanded impatiently, causing both Eugene and Cassandra to grin warmly, and glance away from each other self-consciously in spite of themselves.

“How can we possibly say no to that?” Eugene shrugged. “Search me,” Cass replied, as she walked across the room. She and Eugene shared the secret truce handshake that Rapunzel had taught them at the beginning of their friendship.

“I suppose that means it’s time for story No. 3,” continued Eugene. “This time, we’re back at the orphanage….”

#tangled fanfiction #my fanfiction #eugene + rapunzel #eugene fitzherbert #eugene appreciation week #eaw #cassandra (tangled)#rta cassandra #queen for a day #post queen for a day #q4ad

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wordsfromthesol · 5 years

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Drunk in Love

“Author: @wordsfromthesol Pairing: Jason Todd x Reader Summary: You have been best friends with Jason Todd for longer than you can remember, he’s back from the dead and things picked right back up where you left them…to afraid to tell him how you feel. Until one drunken night… Warnings: Language, minor violence, alcohol Word Count: 1.7k A/N: Look a miracle occurred! An actual one-shot 😂

You had been best friends with Jason for years now. In fact, he was the first friend you made at Gotham Academy. Probably because you had both been in similar situations, as in you were both adopted by rich people who sent you here. Though you had never lived on the streets, the orphanages were no picnic either. You knew of his life as Robin, and later were forced to mourn him at his death. Years later you had gotten a second chance with him, and you weren’t about to let that go.

“Come on, Jay! It will be fun!”

“I don’t see how a party will be fun. I wouldn’t know anyone except you.” He scoffed back at you.

“Jaybird, that’s how you meet people. Crazy concept, I know.”

“Just come to my apartment at nine and we can go together.” When he didn’t answer you continued, “Come on, Jay, I don’t want to walk around Gotham alone.”

He glared over at you, fully aware of what you were doing, “Fine. But I can’t promise you I will stay.”

Satisfied with his answer you skipped back to your car and went home. It had been nearly two years since Jason had come back into your life and you spent all your possible free time with him. There was no way you could lose him again. Once home, you went on to cook dinner and clean up your apartment a bit. Deciding wine was necessary, you opened a bottle. Finally, it was nearly nine and your wine was gone. You were contemplating opening another bottle when you heard the front door open…since Jay was the only other person with a key to your apartment, you leapt up from your spot on the couch and launched yourself into his arms.

“JAYYYYBIRDDD.”

He glanced over at the empty bottle of wine, “I see someone started the party early.”

“Welll…I had to cook and clean and that just seemed so much easier to do with wine. Now let’s go have fun!”

You pulled him out the door and turned around to lock it.

“The club is just a few blocks from here!”

“Club? Y/N/N, you said it was just a party…”

You smiled coyly at him, “Well, it’s a party at the club?”

“That sounded more like a question than a statement.”

“Hmph…well I knew if I asked you to go dancing with me, you would say no. Buttt if I asked you to go to a party, I had a chance” you winked at him as you looped your arm in his and continued down the street.

Once the two of you got inside, you saw your friend Julyana standing at the bar waiting for a drink. You ran up behind her, leaving Jason standing near the door, and wrapped her in a hug.

“JULESSS! I want whatever you’re getting.” You said as you pecked her on the cheek. She held up two fingers to the bartender, indicating your request.

“Y/N/N, have you already started drinking?” You held up your thumb and pointer finger less than an inch a part, “Oh good, I’ll have to catch up then. Where’s your brooding man?”

“He’s not MY man Jules.”

“Sure, Y/N/N, sure.”

Your drinks came just as Jason had finally located you, though how he could miss you in that outfit was beyond him.

“JAYYY, lookie who I found.”

“Hey Julie”

“Hey mopey, I’m gunna go dance Y/N/N!”

“Okay, I’ll be right there!” you waved her off and turned towards Jason. “Come on Jay, I need a partner.”

“I’m pretty sure most of the guys in here would be happy to fill that spot.” He looked down at you, realizing immediately that the was the wrong thing to say. He watched your cheerful face turn into a grumpy frown.

“Jason Peter Todd, I do not want one of them. I want to dance with you.”

“I’ll be at the bar.” He said as he stalked off in the opposite direction of the dance floor but couldn’t help to stare at you once he found a seat at the bar.

You met Julyana in the middle of the dance floor.

“Oh shocking, couldn’t get tall, dark, and broody to dance?”

“No,” you huffed out, “I need shots, and I need him,” you waved your finger towards Jason, “not to monitor my drink intake.” Jason watched you as your finger shot in his direction, he knew he would be in trouble later.

“Girl, I got you.” She exclaimed as she waved down some unsuspecting men. Within minutes you both had a shot in hand.

An hour had passed, and you had lost count of how many you had. Jason, however, realized you were sneaking drinks and came to take you home. You were dancing the night away, when you turned around to find Jason behind you.

“Jayyy, did you finally come to dance with me?” You wrapped your arms around his neck and continued to move your hips back and forth. Jason, however, stood there stoically. “Would you loosen up Jay”, you grabbed his hips and tried to force them to move, when you were unsuccessful you grabbed his hands and turned around placing them on your hips as you continued to dance. Julyana held back a laugh, as she watched her best friend try and get Jason to dance with her.

Jason was entranced as he watched you in front of him. He soon snapped out of it, “Y/N/N, I think it’s time to go home.”

“We can’t leave Jules!”

Jason glanced over at Julyana, who gave him the go-ahead nod. “Y/N/N, it’s just past 10, Ericka and Sam are on their way here now. Have funnn.” She waved as Jason led you out of the club.

“You just have to spoil my fun, don’t you? Mr. Moody.”

The truth was, Jason couldn’t handle all the guys staring at you, not that you were paying them any attention.

“I mean, if you had just danced with me –” your words were cut off as you felt the barrel of a gun press against your back, “Jay…” you mumbled. He turned to see your predicament just as the assailant spoke.

“Well come on, you know the drill. Gimme the wallets and purses.”

Jason nodded at you, and you dropped to the ground…soon followed by the assailant’s unconscious body.

“Argh!” You screamed as you got up from the ground and nearly ran back to your apartment. You immediately went to your liquor cabinet and pulled out the whiskey, just as Jason walked in the door.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea? You’re safe now, it’s over.” He said, trying to calm you down.

“What? You think that idiot scared me? God you are so thick sometimes!” You screamed as you shot back the whiskey and poured another. He came over and grabbed the glass from your hand.

“Would you quit that!”

“Would you quit being a jerk?!” you screamed as you instead drank right from the whiskey bottle.

“That’s it!” Jason threw you over his shoulder and walked into the bedroom setting you down on the bed.

“Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N, what is wrong with you?”

“I love this moody cynical asshole and it’s tearing me apart. THAT’S WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME.” You collapsed back onto the bed, half from exhaustion, half trying to get everything to stop spinning.

Jason couldn’t believe his ears, there’s no way you were talking about him right? You did not just drunkenly confess your love for him, right?

“Y/N/N…” he began as he climbed onto the bed next to you. He looked down, only to realize you were already asleep. “Of course…” He pulled you completely onto the bed, took off your shoes, even brushed your hair and took off your makeup. He then grabbed one of his t-shirts he kept there and threw it over your head, as he unzipped your dress. Lifting you up, he pulled back the blankets and placed you underneath.

He went into the bathroom to get ready for bed himself, when he heard you roll over and mumble, “Jay, don’t leave me.”

“Doll, I’ll be right there,” he responded, though he was pretty sure you didn’t comprehend his words. Jason climbed in the bed next to you, after all you guys had shared a bed all the time. He heard you mumble again, “Jay, come closer, my love.” That didn’t mean anything, he thought, you called him that all the time. There’s no way you meant him earlier tonight, he was a complete mess, how could you love him? Once his thoughts cleared he moved closer to you, as you threw your arm over his stomach, laid your head on his chest, and moved one of your legs between his. It’s just the alcohol making you all cuddly right? Not that he had ever seen you want to cuddle while you slept, even when you were drunk. In fact you often complained that he was too hot, and for him not to touch you at all when you slept together.

Morning came, and Jason awoke before you, though he was still trapped underneath your body. Eventually his thoughts were getting the better of him and he needed to get up, you awoke as he began to try and maneuver you off of him.

“Jay…?” you said groggily.

“Yeah, doll, it’s me.”

“I meant what I said.” And with that, you rolled over freeing him from your clutches.

Did he hear you right? He rolled over to the side and pulled you back towards him, “What do you mean you meant what you said?”

You opened your eyes and gazed into his steel blue ones. “I love you. Always have, Jaybird, and always will.” You lips grazed his and you began to turn to sleep once more, but before you could he grabbed your shoulder to kept you from turning away.

“Y/N, I love you too.”

#jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #jason todd #red hood x reader #red hood imagine #red hood #jason todd x you #red hood x you #dc imagines #dc x reader #fanfic #batboys fanfic #batboys

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eldri-sv · 3 years

Text

20 - Shinsou

Kaori Shinsou has always been fascinated by people’s minds. She is one of the best students in her Criminal Psychology course at U.A. and - being the lucky girl she is - her professor is not only one handsome dude, but is also working on the case of the serial killer Stain - a case that has been going on for years. As she is about to become Professor Aizawa’s TA during the next term, a lot of other interesting cases start popping up all over the country…

With a whisper, I'm there, over your shoulder

(Dave Not Dave - Cold Blood)

Kaori Shinsou was sitting in the office, trying to pass the time. She had been hoping to be sent on patrol, but Iida - from his hospital bed - had ordered her to only get involved if she absolutely needed to. So now she was sitting in the office, opposite Hirota who was having a power nap, sipping on her coffee. The whole situation sucked ass. She had been restless since the beginning of the week.

But Stain was taking his sweet time, not killing anyone. And even if he did, chances were she wouldn't get called out. Hirota was pretty happy about this development. Since he was always partnered up with Kaori, it meant he got to stay in the office to do some random paperwork and didn't have to do overtime. Which in turn meant his girlfriend wouldn't be mad at him.

Kaori hated it. She kept monitoring all the requests from the dispatcher, ready to pick up anything that seemed interesting or exciting to her and get going at a moment's notice. But there was nothing. It was like the whole criminal underbelly of Hosu City had decided to take a break.

She took another sip from her coffee mug when she heard a knock at the door. It was a strange, unfamiliar knock - Kaori had been spending so much time in night shifts she knew everyone's knock, but this was a new one. Shit. Who the fuck could that be? And Hirota was fast asleep.

"Hey, Hirota." she said quietly. Another knock. Fuck. She needed to wake him up before whoever that was came in. She grabbed a pencil from her table and threw it at him. Hirota woke up startled and looked around him in confusion.

"Shinsou, what the fuck?" he said, as she gestured for him to be quiet. There was another, excessively loud knock at the door. Hirota seemed to understand the predicament and quickly made himself look busy.

"Come in!" Shinsou said, as the door opened with a creak just seconds later. Someone was eager to get inside.

"Night, Hirota, Shinsou." said a figure of moderate height in a trench coat. Tsukauchi. What the hell was Tsukauchi doing out here?

"Oh, Detective. We weren't really expecting an official visit, we'd have tidied the place a little otherwise." Kaori replied with a forced smile. Tsukauchi laughed and walked into the room. There was another figure behind him. Dark clothes, face buried in a thick scarf. Shouta Aizawa. Kaori's smile was about to turn into a genuine one.

"No need for that, we're just checking in. You know we've been expecting Stain to attempt another kill in Hosu soon, right? It's been awfully quiet, hasn't it?" Tsukauchi commented. Hirota nodded, leaning back in his chair.

"It has been. Well, I'm not complaining, our last run in with him was quite a lot of paperwork." he commented. Tsukauchi seemed to be smelling something. He took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders.

"What's brewing in here? Smells amazing." he wanted to know. Kaori smiled and glanced back at the coffee machine.

"Colombian Arabica. The cheap one from the convenience store. It's really good, though." Kaori answered. She was the police station's specialist on anything coffee related. At first, it was kind of a patronising thing - hey, you're the new girl, right? Why don't you go and make some coffee, sweetheart?

But Kaori had been so annoyed by this attitude that she had made it her goal to make the best fucking coffee in the entire police force, so people would actually fucking appreciate her for something, at least.

"Really? I usually make a large bend around those, but it does smell great. Would you mind if I had a cup?" Tsukauchi asked.

"Not at all, Sir." Kaori said and got up to pour the detective a cup of her coffee. She saw Mr. Aizawa smiling into his scarf.

"I have the same coffee at home. Really earthy." he commented quietly.

"What brings the two of you here?" Hirota asked. Kaori took the chance to check her phone for new messages. She saw that Hitoshi had texted her some pictures, probably of the kittens he had gotten two days ago. Their parents had finally given them permission to go and get a new kitten and Hitoshi had been incredibly happy when he saw the one he wanted and could take her home.

"Just checking in around all the stations to see if there has been any suspicious activity lately." Tsukauchi said as Kaori handed him the cup of piping hot coffee. Tsukauchi held it up to his face, took a deep breath and smiled. Kaori could sympathize with him - that coffee smelt really aromatic.

"Well, the only unusual thing is how quiet it's been. I don't like it." Kaori replied. She was itching for something to do, but nothing was happening and it really bothered her. There was also a nagging feeling in the back of her head that something should be happening, but maybe that was just her mind getting nervous due to the insomnia.

"The calm before the storm?" Aizawa commented. Hirota almost choked on his coffee. Kaori was surprised that he could still drink that. He had been asleep for a good while and it was probably cold by now.

"It better not be, I was enjoying getting a bit of a break, if I'm honest." Hirota said and laughed nervously. Kaori knew that Aizawa was making him nervous, she could literally feel it in the way he shot him paranoid glances over the two desks. Why did everyone think Aizawa was such a scary guy? To Kaori he wasn't scary, he was just really, really tired. And she could relate to that.

"Hey, Shinsou, that potted plant looks like it's not gonna survive for much longer." Aizawa all of a sudden pointed out and nodded towards the small succulent on her desk. Kaori sighed and rubbed her temples.

"I know. I tried everything, but nothing helps. I'm afraid he'll die soon." she told him. He raised an eyebrow.

"He?"

"Yeah, Shinsou here gave that plant a name and all. She talks to it when she's frustrated." Hirota chimed in, an amused expression on his face. Kaori rolled her eyes. Hirota was always making fun of her for talking to her plants, but at the end of the day he was the more stressed out one.

"What's his name?" Tsukauchi wanted to know. Kaori gave him a surprised look, although thinking about it, he seemed like the type to name his plants, too. There was only a slight problem with telling him the name.

"Uh... his name is Haruto." Kaori answered, trying not to blush. The truth was that she had named the plant Shouta. After her professor, Aizawa Shouta, who was currently leaning against the wall of the office she shared with Hirota. There was no way she could tell Tsukauchi that.

Thankfully Hirota was on board with that one and only glanced at her with a slightly raised eyebrow, instead of protesting. She wouldn't have put it beyond him. Hirota was the nicest guy, but sometimes he had his moments where he could be incredibly dense. Fortunately for her, this was not one of them.

"That's really sweet, I have one, too. My sister always makes fun of me for that." Tsukauchi replied with an innocent laugh.

"Anyway, back to the topic, there's nothing weird going on and there hasn't really been anything all week so far, so..." Hirota said, obviously trying to get them out of the office so he could resume his nap. While he was talking Kaori saw something blinking on her monitor. A dispatch had popped up. There was movement from the office next door. Someone else had already gotten it.

Just when she was about to lean back, there was another one popping up, not too far from the first one. Without even thinking, she got that one. She was sick of sitting around in the office and doing nothing.

"Hirota, we're moving out, they need a patrol close to the train station. Looks like a massive brawl, possibly a hostage situation... shit, it looks pretty weird... and there is another one coming in... we better get ready and get going." Kaori interrupted their talking. She grabbed her phone and her keys from her desk and took her brand new uniform jacket that was hanging over her chair.

"Ah, shit, there goes my quiet night shift." Hirota mumbled and grabbed a few of his things. Tsukauchi and Aizawa exchanged a glance.

"I'm going with Shinsou and Aizawa's going with Hirota. All of those popping up at the same time is really weird. Any of you have gun licenses?" Tsukauchi asked, as the four of them moved out of the office to get some equipment. Kaori got a taser and a bulletproof vest which she quickly put on on the way to the car.

"I was going to get mine next term." she replied.

"I don't have one, I'm still waiting on getting accepted into the programme." Hirota told them. Tsukauchi nodded.

"Good, Aizawa and I are licensed to carry guns, so we have one gun per team. Let's go." Tsukauchi said.

"You left it this late to get your license? Have you done any training in marksmanship?" Aizawa asked Kaori under his breath. Kaori sighed. She knew she should have signed up for training in marksmanship much earlier than this and she knew it was incredibly difficult to get the license with just one term of training. But holding an actual gun had always made her feel a little scared. It felt like too much power.

"I know, I know. I just... never got around to it." she answered quietly. Aizawa shook his head.

"You can't go around chasing serial killers without a gun license. And getting it with just one term of training is extremely difficult. From next week on we'll be doing something about that." he replied in a strict tone. It was weird, but Aizawa using his teacher voice just did something to her.

"Of course, Sir." she said. There was something in his eyes that moment that made her wonder whether he actually genuinely cared for her. More than a professor cared for any student.

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almaasi · 6 years

Text

reaction post typed while watching SPN 14x02 “Gods and Monsters”

Cas gives the softest, most loving advice, full of character growth, and hello yes where’s the petition for me to adopt him as my angel dad

03:13pm

the title reminds me of Lana Del Rey’s song of the same name, and/or the cover of the song from American Horror Story, and by extension, that song has reminded me of Cas in purgatory ever since purgatory became a thing. i used to sing that song to my rat Barty, definitely up there in my favourite songs of all time

oh no this is a deadly duo episode

immediate dread

hrhrhhhhhhh

please don’t make me hate the song

03:15pm

here we go

03:18

michael!dean: “yyeeesss... good boy”

on the one hand, yes dean please do praise other men like that while giving them something to drink, please do that a lot

but on the other hand NOT THEIR OWN BLOOD PLEASE and it would be great if you had their consent and you weren’t possessed while doing it

in other words: yes but NO but yes

file thing under sexy things i would rather came with a different context

03:22

bobby: "voracity”

mmm good word

03:24

sam: “cas you know why you can’t come with us, right?”

cas: “my angelic presence will be sensed by michael, thereby nullifying your hopes of a sneak attack”

okay while that’s probably true, WHAT a buLLSHIT REASON TO KEEP CAS AWAY FROM DEAN BECAUSE IT’LL END UP BEING ANOTHER “I LOVE YOU PLEASE FIGHT THIS AND COME BACK TO ME” SCENE

like i know people were complaining cas was kind of useless last episode but THIS TAKES IT TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

YEAH LET’S JUST DO A SNEAK ATTACK AGAINST A SUPER-POWERED ANGEL MANIAC WITHOUT THE MOST POWERFUL ALLY WE HAVE

great idea

last episode’s uselessness was kind of explainable and excusable but this one was just like “hey let’s point out exactly what we’re doing under the guise of a real reason”

03:28

cas: “nick is *chuckles* just a mess”

sam: “it’s not his fault”

WHAT

HOW DOES CAS NOT ALREADY KNOW IT’S NOT NICK’S FAULT

CAS IS MADE OF EMPATHY

WHAT

unless the squint is cas’ surprise that sam understands nick’s predicament

03:32

nick: “i don’t get how i could let lucifer possess me”

um.... victim blaming much

cas: “you were in a lot of pain, and lucifer saw a vulnerability, and he exploited it”

this is probably destiel tbh, given lucifer possessed cas for half a season and basically used that time to mess with dean’s feelings

03:35

bobby: “if they were doa, do you have an eta on tod?”

i probably watch too many murder mysteries if i knew what that meant before i even realised he was using acronyms

LIVER TEMP

03:38

aww but isn’t this cute?? sam gets to run a case with his mom and his kind-of-dad <3 <3 <3

FAMILY BONDING OVER DEAD BODIES

...i.e. my family yesterday

03:40

you know, i just realised what bothered me about sam saying “you know why you need to stay behind, right cas?”

it’s not the fact cas stays behind, because he’s clearly needed here in the bunker, and he gets his story, and he gets to do stuff, and we get to see soft caring cas. so i’m not mad.

but what bothers me is the... i guess condescension from sam? not in his voice, since jared acted just right, but in the script. the fact sam had to give a reason, and ask if cas knew why. and it could’ve just been cas saying “hey you know what, i don’t wanna screw up your mission, i’ll stay”

and maybe sam could’ve argued a little and then cas puts his foot down and say no (and maybe cas doesn’t want to see dean possessed because it’ll hurt too much)

that would’ve read better to me

03:45

how the hell do they have old books on angels in the bunker library??? before angels showed up in season 4 nobody saw them for years???? and i thought there were no books on them

how does jack come up with figures like “a month” to replenish archangel grace

03:47

jack: “what did you have left?”

cas: “well - i had sam and dean”

the way he says that makes me smile

and i love that this season they seem to be going for a “cas knows he’s loved” thing

cas: “just basic me.... as dean would say, without all the bells and whistles”

<3 <3 <3

03:49

“the past... is important, but it’s not as important as where you’re going”

can cas be my dad pls

03:51

oh nick has muscle memory defence mechanisms leftover from lucifer

03:52

cas: “even though he’s departed, there may still be some of his influence within you”

i snorted... “influence”

spn conventions ruined that word

i can’t imaging misha got through that line without making dirty jokes at least 5 times

03:57

*crosses fingers* pLEASE LET THIS ELEGANT BROWN LADY IN THE RED DRESS NOT DIE HORRIBLY and/or be raped or something

i don’t trust a red dress, too close to a red shirt

04:00

micheal: “now... summon your master”

oh no is this gonna be another one of those familiar-is-a-brown-person-and-the-white-master-has-sex-with-them things

(sidenote edit after watching this episode: i feel like the deadly duo has been sliiiiightly less racist and sexist in recent episodes they’ve written? i mean a woman died this episode and a background black dude, but i wonder if they’re Trying Hard and i’m (we’re?) ignoring progress because of past mistakes. still not a fan, but... i sense something a little different here. just a bit??? mayhaps. could be wrong. time will tell.)

04:04

cas: “in all my thousands of years... what happened to jimmy novak.. is my greatest regret”

for reasons unknown this became my favourite cas moment this season so far

04:06

there’s a lot of jensen in michael’s expressions, it’s weird

04:08

also feeling weird about the fact michael seduced a woman to get to her male boss??

if he could track down that lady, why wouldn’t he just straight-up track down the dude instead? i mean, besides heteronormativity and establishing michael as Straight

but then again, maybe it’s a bisexual subtext

he acts like he wants the woman but actually wants the man

okay, that makes more sense, way less weird now

04:11

jack: “mrs kline?”

HE JUST MET HIS GRANDMOTHER

I IMMEDIATELY WANT GRANDMA & GRANDSON ADVENTURES AND BOSS BATTLES

04:18

i love this shot

thank u richard speight jr

04:21

NO DON’T TELL CAS THINGS ABOUT DEAN DYING IT WILL HURT HIM A LOT

you know what, at some point this season i wanna see cas bawling his eyes out and ugly crying because of dean

but then being happily reunited with him and everything is fine

(and then they kiss)

04:24

oooooh boy maybe nick’s friend was the murderer, that flicker in his face gave it away.........

nick’s gonna murder him isn’t he

and then trigger something and have some kind of ex-lucifer power

which is gonna cause a huge fuss but at some point is gonna be directed at michael

04:32

oop no, nick was maybe the murderer, and his friend saw him coming out and was trying to protect him.

fffffffffffffffffffascinating

well it’s over~

not a bad episode? favourite bit was cas imparting good advice, and jack being jack, and then dean talking to sam at the end

probably not an episode i’ll remember a single thing about in 2 months, besides gifsets of cas from this episode showing up in character growth compilations on my dash for the next 5 years

but a decent bridging episode between the last part of the story and the next, i think

i guess this season’s starting slow and working up to something, and it’s clearly going somewhere. i await more lady characters having episodes of their own, and fun monster of the week episodes with team free will ?? please and thank. in general they’re the best ones imo

also... i thought of this while jack was talking to his grandparents: i kind of feel like they’re trying to wrap some loose ends up, just a bit. the season-4-onwards story seems to be coming full circle with michael and lucifer, i think sam will probably end up being some sort of vessel for lucifer (?) at some point, again

but that’s a theory and there’s no telling what direction anything is gonna go in, given the track record of setting up plots and then not following through

not as bad as merlin though, nothing will ever top the lack of follow-through like merlin did. still salty so many years later

but ?? i am not disappointed by this episode so that’s good right

8.5/10 maybe

OKAY COOL

#14x02 #gods and monsters #spn spoilers #season 14 #Elmie watches things #post of postiness

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shameninja · 6 years

Text

Precure Retrospective- Futari Wa Episode 2

So I assume that I’m going to run out of interesting things to say about Futari wa when we reach the halfway point or so, and this commentaries will become shells of their former selves.

But! That day is not today! I have quite a few things to say about this episode; not as much as about Episode 1... (Future Me: SHE WAS HORRIBLY WRONG)

Before we dive into it, one thing I think I should note here that I forgot to last time, is that the first three episodes of the show are scripted by Ryo Kawasaki himself! So not only is he responsible for how the story looks at the end of the day-By and part- but also how the show starts out. We’ll reflect on the quality of his attempts overall later on.

That said, let’s just dive into this one.

This episode opens with a neat spotlight effect, as while girls are taking ballots out of a box, Nagisa does some necessary exposition regarding what happened last time. Yeah, yeah, we just saw this stuff a week ago, but it’s a kid’s show. Gotta run with it.

I will say that it at least makes sense for Nagisa to still be ruminating over all that happened; this doesn’t necessarily feel forced, even if it is necessary. Anyway, while Nagisa is zoning out Honoka became the representative of their class, likely surprising no one. Were there any competitors, truly?

And it’s worth correcting something that wasn’t really worded well in the subs last episode, Honoka was in a different class last year. This year, they are in the same class together. It was also a bit unclear that they were at the start of the school year in Episode 1, while the class representative election and such does make that much clearer.

Anyway, Nagisa is startled to attention as everyone begins to applaud Honoka, and gives a few polite claps to her pseudo-teammate. As you might expect, she’s a team player.

Time passes, as time is wont to do, and we’re now in English, I’d assume. Nagisa has been entrusted to read a particular passage, and it’s actually a little interesting- she didn’t fall asleep in this class, and from the reaction of the rest of the class she’s doing an okay job. Whether she’s good at school remains to be seen, but math is probably her worst subject, I’d hypothesize.

Regardless, Nagisa’s fairy starts desperately trying to get her attention in the middle of class, and as they love to do, starts fucking things up. Her concentration completely thrown off, Nagisa turns to Honoka for aid, but the poor girl is completely oblivious to what is going on.

I wonder what’s happening? Surely Mepple isn’t doing something stupid in the middle of class, is he? No, even he can’t be that annoying.

Like, I get that the show is trying to use the fairies as, kind of, comedic relief, but they are just so irritating and petty and the scenes unfunny that it just drags them down and makes you wonder why Nagisa and Honoka would care about them at all.

After a bit more embarrassment, Nagisa turns to the camera and laments her situation. How will Nagisa get out of this wacky predicament!? Turn it after the OP to find out! (SPOILERS: we never find out.)

The OP rolls on, and then it’s time for Something Completely Different! We suddenly shift to Pisard’s perspective and see him talk to the Dark King at their hidden lair, known as, rather appropriatelyl, the Dark Zone.

Looks homely.

I like the aesthetic of the Dark Zone quite a bit. It’s effectively foreboding, the lack of other characters there merely emphasizing that fact. You don’t get that as much in a lot of the follow-up seasons, though I think being able to quickly learn about the villains and helping them build up a rapport manages to be a bigger advantage. I also kind of like the chains too- they’re a little creepy, especially how they almost look like they’re attached to nothing and are stylized a little differently, but show, rather than tell, that the Dark King (yes that is his name) is probably contained in some manner, and that involves the Prism Stones somehow.

Milord interrogates Pisard on why exactly if he found the Prism Stones (whatever they are) he does not appear to have them to give to him. Pisard tries to quickly explain that Team Futari Wa got in his way, but his liege is having none of it. The King quickly explains some things I’d honestly expect Pisard to know- there’s 7 Prism Stones, they currently have 5. The fairies managed to escape with the other two, and thus Pisard must get the stones from them, alive or dead. After he does so, the King will be able to rule the entire universe with their power. Pisard seems weirdly surprised at this, but also seems to be full of determination again, and goes to prepare a plan.

The whole scene is a little clunky, but at least the stakes are a lot clearer now (the very Universe itself is in Nagisa’s hands!), we get a broad sense of why the fairies came to Earth, and why Nagisa and Honoka can’t (sadly) feed them to the wolves now that the two are Pretty Cure.

Give them a break, give them a break, just give a Pisard a piece of a Kit-Kat bar?

Presumably after-class, Nagisa quickly goes outside school and interrogates Mepple. Well Mepple had the very good reason that Pisard is attacking!!! Nah I’m just fucking with you he just did it because he’s hungry and has no self-control.

Nagisa doesn’t take well to this, and when she demands that Mepple actually address her with respect, Nagisa gets even more frustrated by Mepple seeming to mock her. This kind of joke would work at least a little better if we had any real reason to care about Mepple the way we do Nagisa. But we don’t at all. We do know some things about them now, but very broad things, and their personality has been being brattish and constantly demanding. It’d also help if this was playful repartee, and not just Mepple being a dick.

Anyway, Nagisa eventually gives in and tries to figure out how she’s supposed to feed him. Mepple explains that the cards they have, aside from the one-a-piece they use to transform, help take care of the fairies. And there is a certain card that will give Mepple food. After enough pestering and Nagisa struggling to find the right card, she correctly selects Door Card #3, and, well... this happens.

This begs so many questions.

This whole idea of having things to take care of the fairies is a... kind of interesting concept that tends to pop up in seasons a lot. It’s a reasonable conceit- I mean fairies and whatnot need to be able to eat and drink, don’t they?

It’s best when it plays into the narrative (as in Princess, Fresh, Smile, etc.), and it does do so in this series in a few episodes, but honestly my main complaint is that with all the cards the two are given only a handful ever get used. It feels like wasted potential- given the quality of filler in this season, they could have replaced a few and maybe use those episodes to really flesh out Mepple and Mipple’s characters? (The joke is they barely have them.)

Well, tangent aside. Pisard appears above a street with a fuckload of pedestrians, and then says foreshadowy things about energy and a “gift” for Mr. Dark King, and then... prepares.

The story marches on, with Honoka and Nagisa having a little together-time; Nagisa comes into the Science Club, and Honoka tries to impress her with the hard candy machine she made with SCIENCE. Sadly, not all goes as planned, the machine breaks, and she will have to work on Candymaker Version 3.0. One has to wonder if she keeps trying to make this thing for SCIENCE’S SAKE or she just likes hard candy. (It’s totally both.)

Nagisa complains about how they keep talking during class, and Honoka is like “sis don’t you know ‘bout the sleep card?” and Nagisa is like “what?” and basically it turns about to be a different card that can be used to make them go night-night. Nagisa uses the card and puts the little demon to rest. They resolve to use it more in the future. (Though not often enough.)

This just raises even more questions!

Moving forward, Nagisa had come by to talk about Precure matters. She is heavily against ever doing Precure stuff again. Surpisingly, she proves to be the practical one, whereas Honoka is less grounded, talking about how she both believes that it’ll be “interesting”, and an opportunity that Fate had given them. While she could mean interesting in something more akin to a scientific endeavor, it kind of comes across as her thinking it would be really fun.

It’s just a bit of a role-reversal, I think- not necessarily in the content (though that too), but how they argue. Nagisa makes solid rather practical arguments, whereas instead of even really engaging much with them, Honoka doesn’t actually try and engage Nagisa’s practical concerns, and goes for more emotion-based arguments- arguing that it’s fun and exciting and that she believes it’s an opportunity given by Fate. It was kind of implied last episode in their conversation about the shooting stars, but Honoka does have a bit of a romantic side, and that really comes through here and gives the discussion a spin you might not expect just from surface-knowledge of the two characters.

As Nagisa comments on how they were attacked and nearly killed, a soccer ball crashes through a window and enters the room. In a nice touch the two instantly panic, before realizing that it was just the soccer club missing the mark by miles. Nagisa grabs the ball, pretty pissed off, and charges down to give them a piece of her mind. And she encounters... Fuji-p. Fuck.

If there was a character I hated more than Mepple and Mipple...

We’ll get more into why I hate him when he is more relevant (so basically we’ll never get into it.) Regardless, Fuji-p apologizes, Nagisa gives a flustered response and then slowly walks off, and Honoka, watching, is simply rather confused.

Pisard, meanwhile, is looking for a machine to corrupt and turn to evil, as you do. He then sees what appears to be a Japanese version of a Hoover and decides this is the one. So he shows the audience how to buy items well outside your price range in this economy- just hypnotize the clerk and steal it.

Nagisa ponders her reaction to Fuji-p for a moment, but after Mepple barges into the conversation we get to the far better topic of Nagisa needing to be a Pretty Cure, with her insisting that it isn’t Mepple’s choice to make for her, which is completely true. Mepple suddenly wants to talk about his home world, and while Nagisa first claims disinterest, she basically immediately caves when Mepple breaks out the puppy dog eyes, as is typical.

Basically, Mepple is from a place called the Field of Light, where everything was great. And then it all changed when the Dark Zone attacked. They basically wrecked the place and fearing that all would be lost, the King and Queen entrusted Mepple (the Guardian of the Field of Light) and Mipple (The Princess of Hope) with the Prism Stones and helped them escape. I don’t recall if those titles end up meaning much, but I don’t believe they do.

We then cut to Honoka and Mipple helps fill in the gaps. She explains that the stones are super important and valuable, but when Honoka starts to ask what the Prism Stones actually do, her grandmother interrupts the conversation, opening the screen door to her room and asks who Honoka is talking to. Honoka badly bluffs, and Grandma clearly thinks she’s full of shit but doesn’t press the matter. She then asks if Honoka has been in the storeroom recently for some reason; Honoka clearly lies again, and again, Grandma doesn’t press the issue and just leaves. Somehow I think something is up with her.

Sadly, if Honoka then asks for Mipple to explain what the Prism Stones do again, we don’t get to see it, because ENTER PISARD. He uses the vacuum he got at that handy Zakennas ‘R Us, and makes his next FEROCIOUS ABOMINATION. BEHOLD

idk I think this one is kinda cute too.

Like, I’m not sure if these things are supposed to genuinely be threatening, or if it’s intentional that honestly the Zakenna thus far are kinda adorable, in my opinion. I might buy plushies of them I don’t know. But maybe it is I who is weird.

Anyway, Pisard demands that the Zakenna suck up all the “energy” in the nearby area. Which actually appears to be electrical power; the streetlights go out, there’s power outages, etc.

As he did last time, Mepple senses Dark Zone Bad Times, but Nagisa shuts him down. She’s being consistent: she risked her life for this shit, someone else can handle it.

It’s not the Precure way to just abandon duties, but Nagisa doesn’t even want to be one right now. She just wants to be a girl with friends who lives a happy life and isn’t tasked with saving the world, and that’s totally reasonable; Nagisa’s reaction makes total sense and I’d be curious how they’re going to develop their character as a result of it.

On the other hand, you could also argue that Nagisa doesn’t think that she’s up to the task, that this is all too much for her- she has a line that explicitly states that they shouldn’t have “chosen an ordinary girl like her to do something so important”. I think this maybe fits Nagisa’s outward and perceived character a little less, but I think that the underlying fear that plays into my preferred take works here too- she’s scared and she didn’t sign up for this and she just can’t do it.

The way that the writing actually opens up a couple interpretations of what’s going on in Nagisa’s head is actually pretty well done. I think both these takes are really interesting, and one (or neither) may be more better supported by the rest of the series, but if it’s either it gives you some interesting launching pads for development.

Back to the show. Mepple pleads with Nagisa, and our heroine looks out the window and sees some rather strange electrical developments on her end of the woods too. A reporter on TV describes how the city is now in a panic, and then her television too becomes a victim of the Dark Zone and nefariously shuts off.

Mepple pushes her a little more and notes that Mipple (and thus Honoka) is likely to already be there, and Nagisa appears to, when told that on top of everything else, finally cave and runs out of her house to SAVE THE DAY... but is intercepted by her little brother.

I kind of like how, for the moment, her little brother is an actual character in the show? That does things???

It’s a short appearance, however, as she manages to her brother to concede, and then heads off to fulfill her duty. We then get a shot of a really huge fucking mall.

Like does that look unreasonably tall to anyone else?

However the Zakenna is fulfilling its DARK MISSION and sapping the mall of its electricity, and thus... an elevator being rode by several people is stopped mid-climb. And when Nagisa arrives she notices, to her dismay, that the people on it include Shiho and Rina!

I kind of like their inclusion in this subplot. Not only does it keep them relevant, but it kind of forces Nagisa’s hand. Nagisa cares about people and is a team player already, but these are her friends. People she cares deeply about, and that’s going to massively override her reservations. She has no choice but to put them completely aside for now and go give Pisard and the Zakenna a hardy “FUCK YOU!”

The two attempt to dash in and help everyone, but immediately bump into Pisard, who says he was expecting them. The Cures try to ignore him and continue forth, but Pisard blocks their attempt through having the Adorable Vacuum of Death strike at them; a blow that appears to miss but ALSO knocks both Cures off their feet and rolling into a nearby wall... so I don’t know what they were trying to depict there. A burst of air maybe?

At this point Nagisa is simply infuriated, and quickly teams up with Honoka to transform. Pisard simply watches, and confirms to himself that these two are the “legendary duo” from the Field of Light touched on earlier. I do like how so far, we kind of have a more-or-less stated excuse for him not attacking during the transformation sequence for both episodes.

He then orders Zakenna to essentially go all-out against them, and a battle commences. Both magical girls initially put all their efforts into dodging the attacks (which as you might guess, involve sucking in or blowing out air/wind) but when White is falling after getting caught in the Zakenna’s pull, she moves her hands in a circle for... unclear reasons. Honestly I feel the choreography for this fight isn’t really that great.

Black saves her and then storms into action, but the vacuum is ready for her, and through manipulating the direction of air flow, makes it so she ends up barely avoiding being thrown into Cute Vacuum Zakenna’s maw.

Clearly it’s just grumpy because it’s hungry. The true villain here is undernourishment. Feed your Zakenna at least twice a day, kids.

So anyway, Black is kind of in a seriously bad spot. Pisard says to destroy her and to do so the Zakenna... doesn’t try to eat her but instead flings Black forward, through a door, and out of the fight? Like I get why they DID this, but as I’ll get into later, it’s a bit of a plothole.

It’s also annoying because the first good moment of the fight is the genuinely tense situation Black is in here, and it feels like instead of having Black or White come up with a creative way to get her out of the situation she gets through it via writer fiat.

Regardless, the Zakenna then pulls White toward it, ties her up with cords, and then flings her through the same door- or the hole where the door was, rather. You would think the Zakenna would have done that earlier, since it’s such a nifty trick. But anyway.

The two end up tumbling down an elevator shaft, and they end up looking up at an incredibly amused Pisard. He then decides to teach them an important lesson about gravity by cutting the elevator cables with his magic and... send them falling to their deaths, as well as everyone in the elevator? ..Holy shit? Things just got really real?

As the elevator rapidly falls downward, the people in the elevator scream hysterically, as is appropriate. Black also begins panicking, not sure how to handle this situation, but White quickly composes herself and improvises, tying the two to the elevator with a ribbon, and having Nagisa hold her hands to connect the two of them, and then using the friction from their boots to attempt to slow the speed of the fall. It’s a good plan and though it almost looks like it isn’t going to work... the plan proves fruitful at the final hour, as the elevator touches the ground floor, and they all live!

Okay it’s Doctor Who but you can’t deny it’s appropriate.

It’s actually a really effective and tense sequence, both because you initially don’t have any idea how they’re going to get out of the situation, and even after protagonist comes up with a creative and potentially workable idea, it could easily fail, and seems to fail until the elevator hits the bottom. It’s a genuinely inspired scene.

It’s also worth noting that this is another bit where the two help one of them by working together. It’s Nagisa’s friends that are in danger specifically, but it’s through both of them combining their efforts that they’re saved, just as it saves the lives of the Cures. I think this is another example really showing that they can work fantastically as a team, whether Nagisa wants to or not.

Black and White are hardly amused by this attempt at mass murder, and move back up the elevator shaft to get some sweet revenge. Pisard, seeing that his attempt failed, tries to sic his Zakenna on them in a last ditch effort. Zakenna shoots... something from it’s mouth (I’m not sure what it is help), but the two unconsciously grip hands, and suddenly a shield surrounds the two, protecting them from this (probably?) very dangerous attack. The two then use Marble Screw, and after a kick from Black... that’s all she wrote for Adorable Vacuum-kun.

Now, to back up a second because I consider this important. The shield may feel like a deus ex machina, and it kinda is, but assuming that the Pretty Cure are strengthened by friendship and personal bonds, and this is something that gets established (And is fundamental to seasons like Suite), it totally makes sense that the Pretty Cure would get a boost when they get in danger.

The falling elevator was a situation where Nagisa had to rely on Honoka to survive and save her friends, and she did. She put her trust in Honoka, voicing no doubts, and through working together they saved the lives of several people, including Nagisa’s own friends. When all the chips were down she believed Honoka could come through. I think there clearly is starting to be growth in their relationship there, and the fact that the two held their hands together instinctively at the next moment of crisis really supports that imo.

To wrap things up, Pisard admits he underestimated them, and ponders if their power is the ‘”Power of Light”, whatever that means. We then bid him adieu for the episode.

The next day Nagisa’s friends are telling her about their experience on the elevator, and Nagisa rather understandably feels a little awkward. Things get a little more awkward when Shiho and Rini say they heard a voice above the elevator, aaaand Nagisa decides this is a good time to divert attention as quickly as possible, noting that they’ll probably be late to school- and all goes as Nagisa planned, as the other two immediately begin to panic and dash to school together, Nagisa pushing them along. The gang passes Honoka, but she just looks on, seemingly amused.

We suddenly shift perspectives for our final scene, which takes place at the shopping district where Pisard engaged in Grand Theft Vacuum. And we see that one of the vacuums being sold appears to have Cure Black’s bootprint! Dun.. dun... dun? (They also talk about the authorities looking into what happened yesterday, but I don’t remember anything coming of that so let’s just ignore it.)

So one thing I really liked about this episode is that between Pisard wanting to do something extra to help the bossman, heavily suspecting that the Pretty Cure were legendary heroes, creating a Zakenna who immediately is ordered to do something that is certain to get the Cures attention but does little to accomplish their primary goal, which also happens to be a hard counter to most of the Cures attacks, and which also can throw them through a door that leads to an elevator shaft that Pisard can easily drop and create a certain death they can’t Marble Screw out of, most of the plot of this episode was Pisard’s plan to murder the Pretty Cure in cold blood.

Which is really neat! You rarely see villains in this sort of anime jump to taking the heroes as a serious threat right off the bat, and it is genuinely a pretty good plan, really only foiled by Honoka’s amazing improv skills, and quite a bit of luck. It’s a great, intense sequence that works so well. I’m actually genuinely curious what Pisard’s next move will be.

The whole thing is slightly spoiled by the fact that I have no idea how he got Zakenna in on this plan, since otherwise Zakenna would have no reason to throw them through that door. So that hurts the whole deal for me, but far from ruins it.

And like... I feel like the first 10 minutes or so of the episode is pretty weak. I get we needed the exposition, but it largely feels like it drags since it’s mostly sitting and listening to people talk, with some tedious fairy bullshit thrown in. The story really picks up in the second half, but even then the battle choreography is weak, and the Zakenna fight is rather dull, largely one-sided, and does end in a deus ex machina. And between Mepple being terrible (when is Mipple going to get any character?) and the introduction of Fuji-P, a lot of it all adds up to irritation.

But the character stuff in this episode is so good. There is just so much going on in this episode with Honoka and Nagisa and their relationship and Nagisa’s reticence to be a Pretty Cure. So much of it is cute and charming and fun and thoughtfully crafted. The way the minor characters play into the narrative is really interesting and well done too; it really felt like everyone got included and I like that. And so much of the second half, despite its short-comings, is really well done.

The episode has its weaknesses, but it has so many strengths to balance those out. It outshines Episode 1 by a long-shot, and if far more of the episodes were like this than I recall, I’ll end up thinking the season is far better than I thought.

God that was a lot of words. But anyway, I’m done here at Episode 2 Land, Episode 3 coming to a Tumblr Account Near You soon.

But for now, good night my friends, and may any elevators you ride in be in proper working order.

#futari wa precure #pretty cure #precure #retrospective #this is too long #I'm still doing this help

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snickletastic · 6 years

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Bowling {Batfamily + Reader}

warnings~ extreme puns

summary~ the reader takes the batfam bowling to get them all to spend time with eachother

a/n~ sorry i’ve been gone for so long! school has been super duper busy lately, and i haven’t had much time to write. thanks for being patient though, i hope you enjoy this! :)

“A size 9 please,” you said to the employee over the counter. Hearing a loud huff behind you, you turned and crossed your arms.

“Stop being a dickhead, Jason. You’ll have fun!”

“Define ‘fun.’“ Jason mimcied your crossed arms.

“Don’t bring down the rest of the family, okay? We all really need a family fun night, and what’s better than bowling? We’re all not spending enough time together, this is good for us,” You said in a low voice, careful not to let the boys hear you. A few feet away, Dick had Tim in a noogie while Damian was reading a book called, “How to Kick Ass at Bowling.” Bruce was talking on the phone, probably to some lame businessman. You sighed at the sight of him too distracted to help Tim out of the noogie. “Now instead of complaining, why don’t you go help your brother?” You pointed to the predicament.

Jason turned and saw the tussling and rubbed his forehead, “Fine. But if Dick tries to give me a noogie then I’m gonna give him the worst purple nurple he’ll ever have,” he said as he walked towards them. You laughed then turned back to the counter.

“Your shoes, ma’am,” The worker said, “Your group will be in lane 12, have fun!”

“Thank you,” you turned and saw Jason arguing with Dick over who’s a better bowler. You rolled your eyes as you walked towards them.

“Will you two stop arguing for two damn seconds?” You said over their voices, “We’re in lane 12, let’s go.”

The group followed, but Bruce was still on his phone.

“I’m going to go first,” Damian put his book down next to the score-tracker and entered his name as the ‘Ball Master.’ A dirty snicker came from Jason, “You shoulda named yourself the ‘Majestical Ball Buster.’” You elbowed him and then did the same to Dick when he laughed.

“Hey guys, which bowler floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee?” Tim grinned, “Muhammad Alley.”

You snorted and Jason scoffed. Damian selected a bowling ball and started to walk towards the lane. “Did you ever learn to bowl in the League of Asses?” Jason asked loudly.

“Shut up, Todd. I happen to be naturally good at things like this, especially something so easy.” Damian yelled back. He awkwardly shuffled his feet then whipped the ball forward. The ball went about 3 feet before it rolled into the gutter. Jason started laughing hysterically and Dick tried to hold in his snickers. “I-I wasn’t prepared!” Damian excused.

“My turn!” You said as you stood up from the seat. You grabbed a bright green and pink bowling ball and walked across the crazily patterned carpet. You stepped onto the lane and gently rolled the ball across the wooden isle. 9 pins fell over and you turned and bowed towards the family, “Thank you, thank you,” you jokingly said as Tim, Jason, and Dick golf clapped. You sat back down and Dick went up next.

Bruce was still talking on the phone, “Bruce,” you interrupted, “Can’t you do this later? We’re all supposed to be spending time together.”

“Yes. Wait. Hang on a moment. No. Give me a minute,” Bruce said over the phone, halting the call. “This is important, Y/N.”

“More important than being with your family?”

Bruce sighed and put the phone back to his ear, “I have to go. We will deal with this later. I don’t- No I- I’m going now. Goodbye,” he annoyedly hung up.

“Thank you,” you smiled and patted him in the shoulder, "It’s your turn to go.”

“I don’t think so. I just want to watch you guys play,” Bruce rubbed his neck.

“Please?” You pleaded.

“Not right now.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“If you don’t, I’ll cry,” you said sadly.

Bruce thought for a moment, “Fine.” He got up and picked up a bowling ball.

“Nice form, Brucie!” Jason yelled.

Bruce vehemently groaned and rolled the ball, knocking down all of the pins. The television screen above him flashed STRIKE. “Aw…come on, that’s not fair. He’s good at everything,” Dick whined while sinking into his seat.

“Please, you’re about to see a real pro,” Jason stood up and cracked his knuckles.

“This’ll be good,” you said quietly to Dick.

Jason grabbed a ball and turned to the group, “Hey guys! I officially have a blue ball!” He joked. Then, he turned and tossed the ball into the lane, hitting a single pin. “Oh, shit.”

Tim laughed so hard he turned red and Damian chuckled while hiding behind his book. Jason walked back to his seat with false confidence, “That’s just how I roll, I’ll be here all night, folks.”

After a couple hours of bowling and arguing, Bruce won with a score of 296. Damian wouldn’t stop complaining about his score.

“That was extremely rigged. The balls were off balance!” Damian complained as everyone walked towards the food bar.

“If they were rigged, how did I do so well?” Jason asked smugly.

“You just suck, Mr. 62 out of 300,” Dick laughed.

“Where did you learn to bowl?” You asked Bruce.

“Nowhere, really. I just..know how to do it,” Bruce shrugged.

“I guess you could say that bowling is….right up your alley,” Tim said.

Everyone groaned and rolled their eyes.

masterlist

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artificialqueens · 7 years

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Pride and Prejudice, Queens and Zombies - Emma

Hey! So, I am a bit nervous to post this, but hopefully you’ll like it. It’s a Trixya girl AU, set in the ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’-world (just like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, but with zombies). If you haven’t watched the film or read the book, I’m sure it’s fine. As promised, there will be established Rajila and some Pearlet. Maaybe some more ships, we’ll have to see. Either way, this chapter is a bit short but they will get longer. Happy readings, my doves!

A long time ago, instead of the Napoleonic wars, a different plague terrorized London. The undead walked the streets, a hellfire unlike anything that had ever been seen before. They are feared by all, but can be killed by few. The few that can are exceptionally brave, and herein lies the tale of some of those chosen ones:

” Katya, come now my darling, we are heading out soon.”

Katya rolled her bright blue eyes at one of her guardians. Manila was lovely, she was, but the young Russian woman had no desire to be babied any more – and that just happened to be what Manila did best, that and worry constantly about her brood and their prospects of marriage. The state that London was in, all issues of sexuality had gone out the window. Katya had no reason to feel ashamed about the fact that she liked other women, but that was about the only thing she had going for her.

She had no idea as to why she had been left in England, all she knew was what Raja and Manila had told her. They had been saving children abandoned either by choice, or worse, by the demise of their real parents. They had found the then five-year-old girl in an orphanage, scared and lonely without knowing even a smidgeon of English. She still spoke with an accent, but Raja and Manila had been forced to teach her quickly so she could start her training. ‘God knows I’ve needed it’ Katya thought to herself as she wandered back to their cottage. Her curly blonde hair danced around her head as she marched down, hoping that Manila would change her mind and allow her to stay home from the Bingley’s dance.

As she opened the wooden door to their house and stepped in, Katya suddenly fell to the floor. A low growl emitted from her throat. “You son of a…” she muttered and got up, noticing the thin wire that had been stretched across the doorframe. Her sisters were getting on her last nerves these days; Violet in particular had been exceptionally irritating the last couple of days. Katya was aware of her affection towards Manila’s friend Pearl, but the young blonde had not paid her sister any attention so far – and that was the reason as to why Katya had suddenly become her favourite training object. “Violet, I swear to all that is holy I will murder you, you идиот!” she shouted, not caring whether her adoptive sister heard her or not.

“Katya please, we did not direct your language studies towards Russian so you could spout curses at your sisters!” Manila complained as she strutted into the hall Katya stood in, a hamper in her arms. “She already knows this about herself, I am simply confirming it.” Katya retorted and waggled her arched brows at the other woman. “Regardless, you need to get dressed immediately. We’re leaving in an hour.” Manila pointed towards the stairs, an impatient look on her fair features.

“I can go in this.” Katya looked down on her light dress, knowing before her adoptive mother had even answered that it was going to be an ‘absolutely not’. The dress had dirt stains on it, and something that looked like blood, but was from all the blueberries she had been munching on. Without sticking around to hear anything else from the older woman, Katya headed up the stairs and to her own room that she shared with her sister Max.

Her sister was already in there on the edge of her bed, a book so far up in her face that Katya started to wonder if she could even breathe back there. “Manila wants us to head out soon, want to skip it and go to the in-between?” Katya joked, only eliciting a mutter from her sister.

“You’re no fun.” Katya muttered as she got her dirty dress over her head and tossed it to the floor. On her bed, that was next to Max’s, was a deep burgundy gown. Katya was stunned, her guardians rarely indulged her bold fashion choices, but they were apparently starting to come around after all. She put the dress on and gazed down on it with a smile, the puffy arms ended just below her thin shoulders and it was cinched in just below her breasts; making the rest of the gown flow freely down to the floor. Her cleavage was given a lift in the plunging neckline, but it was slightly covered by some black lace that frilled across the rim. She felt like a million dollars.

After having put her long hair up into a messy bun, a red diadem placed over the do to please her sisters that always complained about her sloppy hairstyles, Katya headed downstairs with Max in tow. Violet, her other sister Fame and Raja were already waiting for them in the hallway, each of them with slightly nervous expressions splayed across their faces. “What?” Katya asked, uncertain if she wanted to know the answer.

“It’s a big day for us all. Young Mr. Donigan is supposedly looking for a companion. Manila is very excited, so I don’t want any of you to spoil this for her.” Raja announced, ending her sentiment with a grim tone in her otherwise easy going voice. Raja rarely indulged her wife’s ramblings, and often rolled her eyes at the tom-foolery that shrieked in and out of their estate; yet, Katya had never seen love like the one Raja had for Manila. They were constantly in a state of symbiosis, like magnets gravitating towards one another. Deep down, hidden underneath layers of entitlement and insecurities, Katya craved the sort of affection her guardians had for each other. “As long as you leave me out of it, mother.” Katya demanded, earning herself yet another stern look from Raja.

“Pfft, you act as if Mr. Donigan would even go for you. He’s got one too many bones, doesn’t he?” Violet retorted, earning herself a rough shove by her Russian sister. Soon enough, they were at each other’s throats yet again, forcing the rest of their sisters and both Raja and Manila to forcibly remove them from the house. As they arrived to the Donigan estate, Katya cursed her sister for scratching her dress and mussing up her hair, if she did spend time on her appearance, she would have preferred that it stayed neat for the remainder of this dreadful evening. “Unless you’re going to give me a massage that will take me to the heavens and past this miserable abyss, you can bugger off Fame.” Katya groaned as she felt her fashion forward sister fussing with her hair. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Fame mumbled and fixated one final curl on Katya’s head before she laid off.

—————————-

As grand as the estate was on the outside, it was nothing compared to the inside. Of course, given their current predicament, it was dark and gloomy – but Katya preferred it that way. She felt around her thin legs for the knives that were secured in harnesses, making sure that they were still in their place. She needed to be prepared, Raja always told her that the minute she let her guard down was when they would take you. Katya couldn’t let that happen.

“Please behave yourselves girls, or I’m going to make sure that you – oh look! It’s Mr. Donigan!” Manila interrupted herself, cheerfully waving at someone. Katya rolled her eyes, but stayed by her sisters’ sides. She felt anxious, hoping that something would happen so that she would at the very least not be so incredibly bored. Katya was deep in thought when she felt Max’s sharp elbow in her ribs, which brought her out of her self-induced trans and peered up underneath her brows. There stood a man that she instantly recognized as Dan Donigan, he was famous around their part of London – mostly for coming from such a rich family. Katya greeted him with a polite curtsy, and then gazed to his right.

A blonde woman stood there, a light pink dress covering her curvy physique. She had the most interesting bone structure that Katya had ever seen, her cheekbones were so carved that she nearly looked unreal. Her sharp, blue eyes met Katya’s with an unwavering glance. Katya couldn’t stop herself from staring at the woman, wondering what sort of mystery that befell her. There was something in the other blonde’s harsh eyes that made the Russian girl intrigued beyond belief. “Uh,” Dan cleared his throat, making Katya break their staring contest to look at the famous bachelor once more. “This is my cousin, Trixie Mattel. She decided to finally appease me and join our household.”

Trixie grunted in response, obviously not the slightest bit amused at being there. “Well, I am so pleased to meet you, dear. I am Manila, this is Raja and our adoptive daughters. We have Fame, Violet, Max and Katya.” Manila introduced all of them, pointing her quick fingers at each of them respectively. Katya smiled slightly at Trixie, unsure of what to say. “I hope you’ll enjoy the dance, you all look good and ready.” Trixie smiled at them, her polite demeanour not quite reaching her voice.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Katya asked, cocking one of her arched brows at the other woman. “I prefer more intellectual settings; it seems like the world is in enough peril so I could avoid these types of events.” Trixie quickly snapped back, making Katya cross her arms over her small chest in pure protest. She was never one to back down from anyone, and this bitchy blonde was not about to be her first.

“Well, there’s one at every party; the elitist thinking he or she is somehow better than everybody else.” She mused, making Trixie scrunch her face up at her. Dan, who had been staring at Fame, now sensed the tense situation and cleared his throat in order to draw attention away from the squabble between his cousin and the strange, Russian girl. “I think we have some more guests to find, have a nice evening!”

Just like that, Dan had dragged Trixie off, leaving Katya with an annoyance that proved hard to shake.

Their evening flew by uneventfully; Max had found herself a piano and was practicing a number by Bach. Fame spent her evening looking off into the crowd, hoping to catch just one glimpse of Mr. Donigan. Violet complained about Pearl to Manila, who seemed very uncomfortable with the conversation. Katya spent hers strolling around the side lines of the dance floor with Raja, both simply enjoying the company of one another. Now and again Katya would see the annoying blonde she had a spat with earlier, and sometimes the doll-like woman would look back. If it wasn’t for the fact that Trixie seemed like an absolute twat, Katya would humour the thoughts in her traitorous head that told her Trixie was an attractive woman.

Katya tensed up as she and Raja neared Trixie and Dan across the dance floor, the young woman was fairly certain that Raja had consciously led them there. “Why don’t you chat with Katya? She seems like someone that could actually keep up with you.” Katya heard Dan say, and then tried to fight off the warm sensation she felt in her stomach.

“Katya? Please. Any woman I’m with would have to look at least somewhat polished. Her dress is scratched up and her hair is a mess – who do you take me for, Dan?” Trixie huffed, prompting a deep pink blush to attach to Katya’s cheeks. She was utterly embarrassed, and it was not made any easier for her when both Dan and Trixie turned around to look directly at them. Dan looked exasperated, and Trixie had an unreadable expression on her face.

She didn’t feel like there was anything left to say. Katya simply mumbled something incoherently before swiftly turning around and storming off. She headed outside, knowing that some fresh air would do the trick. Honestly, who would even talk like that? Katya might not be the most pleasant person to be around at all times, but she certainly wouldn’t tear down at someone due to the way that they were dressed. ‘That woman is an absolute idiot, Yekaterina. Don’t let her get to you.’ Katya thought to herself, smiling as she saw one of her old neighbours near a carriage.

The old woman’s name was unfamiliar to Katya, but she did remember receiving a sweet from her once. The lady beckoned her to come closer, a fragile finger lifted in a stiff hook; as she drew it towards her own body, it seemed to Katya that the finger itself might be broken. That must be why it made such snappy movements. In a blink of an eye, it all made sense to her; this ought to have made Katya more nervous, but for some reason, it made the entire scenario even more intriguing.

The blonde edged closer until she was facing that red-haired woman, smiling nervously. “Hello, how are you tonight?” Katya asked, waiting patiently for a response. The woman just leaned in until her dark lips nearly touched Katya’s cheek before she replied in a hoarse voice:

“They’re coming.”

Katya backed up slightly, and was about to ask who was coming when…

‘BANG!’

A shot rang through the dark, and suddenly, the woman’s brains were splattered across Katya’s dress and the grass beneath them. She gasped, and looked around to spot the assailant. A woman in a pink dress lowered her gun, revealing a stern looking Trixie Mattel.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Katya exclaimed, throwing her arms down her sides in exasperation. Trixie strode up to her and spent all but one glance at the corpse that laid beneath them, before she turned her strong gaze towards Katya. “She was undead.”

“Of course, but she was hardly dangerous you idiot!” Katya continued, shaking her head profusely at what had just transpired. Trixie simply shrugged, making the Russian blonde even more irritated. She was about to snarl something malicious back at the taller blonde before a shriek was heard from inside the estate. “Seems like more of them came to join the party.” Trixie stated, her tone unjustly calm.

“You should stay here; things could get hairy in there.” Trixie continued as a matter-of-factly. Katya simply smirked at her before scrunching her dress up. Underneath many layers of chiffon laid several knives and a small pistol wrapped around her pale legs. Deciding to grab the machete she had tied on the back of her right thigh, she let go of her dress and fixed the layers before striding up to the estate once more.

——————–

Trixie looked at the older blonde in awe, not knowing what to make of her new acquaintance. She was, however, pulled out of her thoughts as their current predicament dawned on her. In a near distance, Katya’s sisters had pooled by her side – Trixie knew right then and there that she had misjudged her. Never underestimate a young woman on a mission.

#trixya #trixie mattel #katya zamolodchikova #au #lesbian au #pearlet #rajila #zombies #cisgirl au #rpdr fanfiction #zombie au #emma #pride and prejudice queens and zombies #jane austen au

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Home Again, Rose: Parts 1-2 (TGG, Season 7, Episodes 23-24)

Today Eli is forced to watch and recap Home Again, Rose: Parts 1 and 2, the penultimate story arc of the final season of The Golden Girls. When a fun evening out lands Rose in the hospital, the girls are forced to pull together and demonstrate the true meaning of family. As the series prepares to wrap up its run, will we be saying goodbye to a pal and a confidant? Keep reading to find out…

Drew, despite the fact that I have neglected my recapping duties here for far too long, let me assure you that you did an amazing job with your take on For Your Eyes Only! This has never really been one of my favorites, but you made me feel some genuine emotions regarding Melina Havelock. Octopussy is next on your list, though you still have to wait for another recap from yours truly first, and while I’m not sure it will be an All Time High, I hope you have a good time. I’m not even going to share an update right now on Drew’s current favorites in the Bond franchise, I’m just going to get down to business. Once again, let’s head to Miami!

Buttocks tight!

Episodes written by Gail Parent and Jim Vallely, directed by Peter D. Beyt

We open with Dorothy complaining about her mother leaving the toilet seat up for some reason, while Blanche is excited that her daughter, Janet, and her granddaughter, Sarah, are coming to visit. She asks for help coming up with ideas for bonding experiences that don’t involve a visit to the docks, but Sophia doesn’t care enough to contribute, and Blanche doesn’t actually want any input from Dorothy. Rose eventually enters the scene with a letter she received, and is depressed to learn that she missed her 40th high school reunion. Dorothy reminds her that she wasn’t feeling well at the time, but refused to see a doctor, and we then learn that the residents of St. Olaf are basically anti-vaxxers who refuse to seek medical treatment. The girls point out that she’s looking pale and even call her crazy for refusing help, and it turns out Rose is part of the anti-psychiatry movement as well.

Blanche has been scanning the personal ads, and has stumbled across an announcement for a 40th reunion at a nearby high school. She thinks it would be a good idea for the gals to crash the party to make up for Rose’s lost opportunity. Rose agrees that it sounds fun, and Dorothy gets on board with the wacky plan as well. Heck, they even agree to take Sophia along on their adventure (though it may have something to do with the fact that she can no longer be trusted with a sitter, or most members of polite society). It’s time for some pre-reunion research to get ready for the big night!

We soon find the squad all dressed up for their evening of shenanigans, and Dorothy is hungry to live this fantasy. Blanche is still drilling Rose on facts about the school they’re pretending to be from, but Rose is having second thoughts about the whole idea. After all, it almost seems like they’ll be lying, and Rose is committed to total honesty. The girls then ask her about her natural hair color, and this gives Rose the push she needs to assume a false identity.

At the reunion, Rose quickly snags some nametags from the no-show table, and there is some disagreement as to whether these alternate personas are going to work. Rose (now a former Korean exchange student) begins to feel a little faint, but Dorothy quickly bonds with a random tar salesman, and Sophia poses as Spanish teacher Mrs. Gonzalez to seduce an old student. Blanche, inhabiting the role of Susan Armstrong, gets called out by a man Susan once publicly shamed for being gay, and then by the father of a lovechild she abandoned. Susan sounds like a real winner! Eventually, the Senior Class President announces that the class Prom King and Queen should take the stage, and Dorothy just happens to be posing as Prom Queen Cindy Lou. Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this! She seizes the opportunity, but is recognized as a fraud and the whole group is quickly exposed. In all the commotion, Rose collapses in a heap on the floor while Dorothy/Cindy Lou screams for medical assistance.

We next cut to the hospital, where Blanche is pacing nervously, worried that her friend has died, or perhaps has suffered a stroke. Dorothy assures her that if Rose has suffered a stroke, they will simply bring her home and take care of her; after all, they’re family! Sophia shoots some icy daggers at her daughter, forcing Dorothy to at least entertain the option of sticking a post-stroke Rose in a Shady Pines-like facility. Blanche blames herself for making Rose crash the reunion, and is urged by Sophia to pray. Blanche isn’t so sure that God will listen to her, but she gives it a try anyway. In exchange for Rose’s well-being, Blanche promises to be a better person, and not to continue having casual sex (unless the dude really, reeeally needs it). A doctor enters to announce that Rose is doing fine after a minor cardiac episode, and the girls go to see her. But first, the doctor tries to pick up Blanche, and she is forced to turn him down considering her recent commitment. In the distance, a vengeful God takes delight.

The gals all talk to Rose about her scare, and begin evaluating their own lives. Rose mentions that she isn’t afraid to die because she is planning to use the power of cryogenics to freeze her head for future recovery (despite the aforementioned St. Olaf science denial). She gives the girls a good laugh at the mention of preserving her brain, but eventually forces her friends to promise to be cryogenically frozen as well. I can’t wait for Golden Girls 2049!

While Rose is spending some additional time in the hospital for observation, Janet and Sarah show up at the house. Blanche is in a great mood, and suggests they take a trip to church. Janet isn’t crazy about this new interest in religion, but Blanche is committed to spreading the Good News, and even has some Bibles to distribute. Sarah misses her “sexy grandma.”

Back at the hospital, we find Sophia pursuing her hobby of petty theft when a nurse enters to tell the girls that apparently Rose has gone into cardiac arrest and is being prepped for major surgery.

Gasp! To be continued…

We can’t leave Rose hanging, we have to continue this recap STAT! After a summary of events thus far, the girls are desperate to see their friend, but they are not allowed as they aren’t family members. Dorothy makes an impassioned plea to the nurse, Sophia tries out another false identity, and Blanche employs “scripture,” but no dice. Blanche begins another group prayer instead.

Hours pass, and the gals receive no news. Sophia shares a story about the time that Dorothy’s father way dying in the hospital, and somehow the trio ends up singing a beer jingle to raise their spirits. Unfortunately, Rose’s daughter Kirsten shows up at this moment and thinks the gals are having a great time instead of feeling sorry for their friend. She goes off alone to get some answers. The girls share some fond memories of Rose, including a musical she wrote, and Dorothy is in the midst of another song when Kirsten returns. Kirsten tells the girls that she is confused about their lives with her mother, and thinks that all the wild escapades they are constantly having might be killing Rose. Despite what they might feel, they are not her family. A doctor finally arrives to tell everyone that Rose has to have triple bypass heart surgery, but Kirsten points out that the girls aren’t family members so that only she can see Rose. It’s a total dick move, but I’m not sure it was premeditated.

Kirsten talks to her mother, and Rose is happy to see her but really wants to see the girls…”her” girls. Rose says that if anything happens to her, she wants Kirsten to take care of Dorothy, Blanche, and Sophia. She also performs an SNL intro, visits the Tonight Show, and mentions her cryogenic schemes. Eventually she says goodbye as she is wheeled into surgery.

The girls continue to wait, and Blanche says that she is envious of Dorothy and Sophia’s relationship as she didn’t get to say goodbye to her own mother. Janet and Sarah show up at the hospital as well, because we’re supposed to remember that they’re in the episode for some reason. More time passes, and Kirsten emerges to tell everyone that Rose is out of surgery but doesn’t look so good. The next few hours will be very crucial, and Rose will likely need lots of care that the insurance just won’t cover. The girls point out that they have already made a pact to care for one another no matter what the personal or financial cost, and Kirsten finally realizes how special their relationship is. She goes to talk to the doctor so that Rose can see her “family.” The trio eventually sees their friend, but Rose is in midst of a dream…

In this strange vision, Rose, Dorothy, and Blanche all have their heads severed and resting in ice on the kitchen table. All perfectly normal so far, but they are also all perfectly aware of their predicament. Sophia happens to be living her #BestLife with the body of a much younger woman, and we learn that Blanche died at age 92 in yet another sexual adventure, while Dorothy suffered death by gorilla. Realizing the cryogenic approach might not have been the best strategy, Rose begins to apologize…

Rose finally wakes up in the hospital with her friends surrounding her. It is clear that their bond is stronger than ever, and she asks them all to stay by her side.

We end with the gals throwing a “Welcome Home” party for Rose, even if they simply whisper the “Surprise!” moment for obvious safety reasons. Rose goes to the kitchen to see Sophia, who is crouched on the floor after dropping a knife (or perhaps disposing of a murder weapon…that’s right, I’ve still got my eye on the old broad), giving the impression that her severed head is resting on the table just as in Rose’s dream. Surprise indeed! The entire squad embraces as the episode concludes, and we draw just a bit closer to the end of the series.

The End.

This was a pretty good episode, and I like that they raised the stakes as the series was coming to an end. I knew that Rose would survive, but I can imagine viewers at the time having just a shred of doubt (assuming they knew the show was in its final season, but I’m not sure about that). I think that Janet and Sarah were completely wasted here, and I’m not sure what purpose they served apart from briefly commenting on Blanche’s religious transformation. Speaking of which, I enjoyed the subplot with Blanche finding faith, however clumsily it was practiced. I also really enjoyed seeing the gang crash the reunion, and there were some genuinely touching moments as they worried for their friend. The frozen head dream sequence was kind of lame in my opinion, but overall I came away with a favorable reaction to this two-part tale of the true meaning of family. I would give Home Again, Rose a rating of 3.5 poofy hairdos out of 5!

Drew still has a bit more time before he has to recap Octopussy, but I will be back as soon as I can with my VERY LAST Golden Girls episode recap, this time of the series finale, One Flew Out of the Cuckoo’s Nest! What a long, strange trip it has been. Until then, as always, thank you for being a friend, and for being One of Us!

#golden girls #the golden girls #one of us

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