#everyones acting like she killed abbey's family

[myrnadalgleish]

my thoughts on downton abbey: a new era in somewhat chronological order, includes spoilers!!!!

kill me but i liked it! it was surprisingly good, though very boring at times but what's new. mixed feelings overall. here's everything i loved and hated!

where's tom's family in that wedding???

good to see mr murray

thomas butlering around, being good at his job ❤

FOOTMAN ALBERT, him and daisy bickering about who gets to serve myrna. they're besties!

also daisy makes the best faces

okay so thomas looks sad in his office, mrs hughes checks up on him, the valet ellis is getting married......i teared up a little while i've been aware of this for two weeks. pros: elsie calling thomas brave, being a mother to him, thomas actually opening up. cons: the typical Life Is So Hard For You Thomas, and unfortunately i love mr ellis

just me or does robert look like roger moore

guy had ONE look at thomas and thought that's my man, appreciate it!

myrna dalgleish: [laughs like an actress]

i love myrna and i need to rewatch singin in the rain

dominic west is good looking what are you all talking about

all the kids are so grown up 😭😭 wish there was more of them though

disappointed to find out daisy is married. andy does nothing in this movie but neither does bates so. husband syndrome i guess

bertie's and edith's son PETER

not to be that person but if mary had married charles blake he wouldnt have chosen cars over her. honestly im just imagining she's single at this point, who cares about henry

love that edith's writing again <3

been looking at lucy's personality and still haven't found it. the moral of the story was that these days you need more than a pretty face to succeed in a movie and yet!

speaking of tom branson....where is he and who is the man that has replaced him

love how they act like sybbie will be practically left in a poorhouse unless she inherits a mansion lmao

like they just took the house and apparently the widow has no right to be angry they're losing it? the son just wants to have a brother. i understand they want the best for sybbie but it's not like she won't have money. she's nine she doesn't need a house!

yeah and why was maud bagshaw here again

"dont call me sir" 😳😳

just barrow! <3

thomas laughing and being out of breath god i have missed you

mr mason and denker!

carson just suffered through the whole thing i dont think he expressed a single positive emotion

".....what?" thomas returns with his iconic line

french man almost calling robert a brother and hearing cora is ill within half an hour. rough times. liked the ugly crying

i loved the singer at the party and bertie dancing though

"it's good that you changed it" or whatever the line was, i love him so much!

DR CLARKSON!!!!!!

daisy's and myrna's moment.

all the ladies look so good in the costumes! curly haired thomas!

thomas' face when myrna touches him lmaoooo

not a huge fan of mr mason and mrs patmore but i liked their little moment

molesley's new career was completely unnecessary. i liked his scene with mary and barber, but he already has a job! and is about to get married! not everyone needs to become rich??

i almost screamed when he proposed!!! phyllis being in that lovely outfit, making him kneel down! as she deserves! 💞

"may i kiss you?" "no"

i love guy dexter, he's funny and charming. they'll be a great couple, but i don't think i necessarily ship them. i liked the open ending

most importantly: thomas is free! he has broken the curse!!! he is finally leaving!!!!!

in my head he would've gone to like york but i'll accept this. grudgingly but i'll accept it. thomas has learned something in his life and i liked that he considered his options instead of jumping right in. i don't think he's blinded by the glamour and is aware of the realities

i always preferred thomas not to run off with a rich guy (Guy) (let's pretend i don't ship crowbarrow here for a moment, it's different) and especially not to work for him. but. Guy is being quite vague about it, it can mean as little as thomas wants to. and it's hollywood, not a dusty country house, i'd expect the working relationship for them to be quite different from if guy was a baron living in sussex or something. like i'm not a huge fan of it, but it's not a huge red flag for me either. thomas isn't a child.

let's admit it, i was very worried and pessimistic about thomas' ending at first (thought this was only through some vague spoilers and before we had any idea what guy dexter is like). i was worried like a mother is worried about her firstborn child, Oh how will he do in the big world all alone (just before the crash!), but after recovering from my first shock ive changed my mind about that. i have faith! i believe in thomas barrow and so should you! he will do AMAZING im sure of it!!!

like im still worried but like many people have pointed out, da3 is quite unlikely atm, so why should we expect the worst when we can expect the best? ANYTHING could happen and i like that, even if this wasn't the ending i had in mind for thomas.

"alright alright let's get back to work!" 💕💖💞💘💕💖 favourite line

myrna kissing albert was one of my favourite moments

if i ever rewatch (i will, thomas is so good in this) this i'll skip all the france parts, soooooo boring, the violet plot lasted way too long

mary honey why would andy become the butler are you out of your mind

bawled my eyes out when violet died, almost as bad as sybil....and the parallel of clarkson checking the pulse.....

isobel alone in that chair outside broke my heart :(

funeral scene was very nice however WHY was it the last thomas scene? we deserved a proper goodbye! even just 15 second long of him walking out of the abbey with a smile on his face!

i hope this is the last film, i know i said this the last time but i think now it's really all tied up and a good place to end the story

final thoughts: mediocore film but i love my son

aaaand about thomas/richard, gotta whine a little

richard is imo a perfect man for thomas in every way, and it was so well established that this is finally a relationship that could last. i dont get it why would you throw that away. i just dont get it, julian!

im a very au person (i mean i ship thomas with edward for heaven's sake) and i can imagine a world where they never see again, a world where this never happens, a world where they get back together again, a world where they meet in 1921 etc etc......some people cant do this and i feel rather sorry for them

and i already have so many scenarios about them, both canon compliant and not. so i'll be fine but i'm still bitter of what we could have had

also i looooove bittersweet, it could have happened kind of romance (sam and diane anyone?)

this certainly changes the way ive viewed richard, not for better or worse necessarily, but it's very interesting, i have many, many thoughts

that about sums it up! im off to write fanfic about this, bye

#hope i didnt forget anything important #downton abbey spoilers #it ought to be haunted

[mermaidsirennikita]

I saw Meryl’s daughter in a play in LA recently and she was MUCH more vibrant than on the show. It was startling. She was still unequivocally a nepotism hire because literally everyone else in the gilded age cast has extensive experience and she’s a total newcomer, but I wonder if it’s the directing/writing that’s stifling her. Ingenues aren’t really supposed to be interesting and I think Marian’s supposed to be the “straight man” type? But even so, some of Louisa’s line readings are just so bad and flat. Maybe her performance in the play was exceptional.

At any rate, the gilded age is so middling which is disappointing because it had a lot of potential. It’s such an fascinating period and is relatively unexplored. I wish it were about Peggy and her family.

The Gilded Age is boring, but people who are good in it can make their moments work. Denee Benton is great. Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector have great chemistry and manage to act like they're on some Real Housewives show even when the material isn't super exciting--whenever they get to lord over someone else you can tell they love it.

Louisa had a pretty big storyline in the first season--she was supposed to fall in love and be like? An It Girl? Somehow? And yet she gave absolutely nothing. Just flat smiles here and there. Maybe she feeds off an audience and does better on stage--a lot of actors are more suited for theater than film, and vice versa. But idk man, I don't think anyone was responsible for how flat she was on the show but her because they obviously wanted us to invest in her character.

The show is disappointing because it's super pretty to look at and has good actors--Audra McDonald!!! is on their payroll!!! And she's like... a sad mom? I find Peggy's plotline to be reeeeeeeeeeeally disappointing. She's from a wealthy Black family in New York and they give her a tragic dead baby but oops not really because her father (a successful Black man in 19th century America) is HORRIBLE AND PREJUDICED LMAO??? Typical Fellowes. Such a dipshit. Why. Denee is so good though. So charismatic and pretty and does what she can with the material she's given.

And the drama should be waaaay higher. Like, you've got Robber Baron Macbeth and Lady Macbeth here and he's not having his enemies killed in the streets? She nEVER found out about the maid trying to get in his pants? She never had the maid kidnapped or some shit? THE DRAMA POTENTIAL IS THERE!!!!

Also, we have the standard issue Closeted Snake stereotype that Fellowes is so fond of (just like the maid was the standard issue Evil Maid, this time with tits out). It's Downton Abbey redux, which is so fucking dull because it's like... America is a different nation... the culture was different... Idk bro, maybe having a dude who sits in the House of Lords write TV about the Gilded Age was a mistake???

Should've just adapted a Joanna Shupe series.

[aprikosengamine]

All My Ships

(with some added context sometimes)

Claire Kincaid x Jack Mccoy (Law and Order), tbh this was the first relationship I saw that made me have butterflies and squealy feelings after something bad happened to me, and made me think about entering another relationship some day. They just had this chemistry and the looks they gave each other, i hate it was never officially confirmed expect maybe in like season 9, but tbh I've never watched past a bit of season 7 cause Claire was my OG, my fashion inspo, my raison d'être.

Sybil Crawley x Tom Branson (Downton Abbey), the way they killed her off, absolutely heartbreaking I've never managed to fully watch that episode again. They deserve to be happy in Ireland with all the babies they want and her career, with the perfect husband who backs her up whenever.

Hermione Granger x Fred Weasley (Harry Potter), I can't even remember why I started liking these two, it was so long ago probably came across a fanedit or a fic by accident. I just love the funny one and serious one matching, and finding that they're actually more similar than you think. But a PSA to everyone interested in this ship, writers sometimes don't say if Fred lives or dies in their fics and getting to the end thinking these sweet characters who love each other are going to get through this with the author being pretty unclear about the final battle only to be hit with "it's been two months since Fred's death" BOOOO!!!

JJ x Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds), specifically in fics where she doesn't get in a relationship with Will, or it doesn't get to the point where they have Henry, not a huge fan of the honorary uncle/aunt then becoming the kid's stepparent trope. I also don't like to watch the show much anymore bc I worked in that field and when it's real on your desk everyday, watching that mixed with the sappy family stuff (also garcia, not a fan) is not enjoyable anymore.

Ellie Bishop x Nick Torres (NCIS), thank god a lot of their episodes were after Abby left, no offense to Abby lovers but dear god she's pushing 50 at the end, act like it??? I think I'm just into hot people bantering with each other.

Keeley Jones x Jamie Tartt or Roy Kent (Ted Lasso), we only saw J&K together at the beginning when he was more of a prick, but the new and improved Jamie I think could be a good match bc they have similar personalities. I liked Roy and Keeley together, they were really different but a lot of what each other needed. I loved pretty much everybody in that show, except Nate. Nate can go fuck himself.

Emily Rhodes x Aaron Shore (Designated Survivor), ok maybe it is just workplace romances, these guys had some banter, on opposite sides of issues, but why did the writers decide nah we're just playing she's going with Seth, no real buildup on that.

In summary: Workplaces romances, or romances that occur when two people are forced to be in the same environment. I've never had an office fling, all the men were way older than me and in much higher positions, the few that weren't yeah no thanks, or like a summer camp forced encounter thing but I live vicariously through these people having to be professional in public and absolutely smitten in private and seeing it melt through. I'm also sucker for the guy loves her more and realizes before she does.

These aren't all the ships I've liked in my life. I was in middle school during this site's most infamous shipping thing, can you guys guess what I was reading on my phone after I was supposed to be asleep? Here's an abridged list of some of the ships I've liked over the past 10ish years doing this: Sherlock/John Watson, Destiel, Doctor(10)/Rose, Dan/Phil, and those are just the really big ones that made it through the preteen fugue state, I do get a mini heart attack every time someone in my day-to-day life mentions any of these expect doctor who.

[outerspace-castaway]

Happiest Season unpopular opinion:

harper made some poor choices to put it mildly but she doesnt deserve the hate she gets.

she was flawed, she was wrong, doesnt mean she didnt deserve a second chance.

#everyones acting like she killed abbey's family #happiest season #harper caldwell #abby holland #abby x harper #i want a sequel btw

[blunderpuff]

listen... Jodie Whittaker Doctor Who is GREAT

#doctor who #it was about PEOPLE again and it was about HOPE again and it was about FIGURING OUT HOW TO SOLVE PROBLEMS again #and it was about HELPING PEOPLE IN NEED again #and they didn't bring back the Cybermen which are hands-down the MOST TERRIFYING WHO VILLAINS EVER pls they make me hyperventilate #and they actually HIRED A BLIND GIRL to PLAY A BLIND GIRL who is STILL BLIND AT THE END OF THE EPISODE and THAT'S AMAZING #there were a LOT of good cries and heartwarming family moments #i LOVE LOVE LOVE that we got to see the companions' families!! and that in this case... 2 of the companions WERE family!!!!!!! #seeing Yaz's grandmother's wedding day on Partition Day in Pakistan was incredible... yes there were aliens but they weren't the focus #although the Doctor's no-kill rule... made me laugh.... remember in Donna's Xmas Wedding ep he was going to kill that Spider Alien Lady??? #sometimes... the Doctor is a hypocrite.... 'If you kill them you'll be just like them!' uhh... #if you kill a mass murderer.... you're stopping them from killing an untold number of other people... and you're probably going to stop @ 1 #but everyone looked like they were having SO MUCH FUN and they all really liked each other #and even though I KNEW!!! that Grace would die in Ep1 bc she's not on the promo materials... she kept coming back thru the season #and that was lovely!!!!!! #you could tell that the cast of Downton Abbey is available for acting gigs bc half of them were on this show lmao #long tags

[whisker-biscuit]

The Birds, The Bees, and The Bottles

Fandom: Psychonauts

Rating: T for mild language and discussions of underage drinking

Summary: Two teens are caught trying to sneak into a bar. Bob finally has a conversation he’s held off for far too long.

Because herbaphony is not the only thing that runs in the Zanotto family.

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

Bob’s phone rang at two in the morning. Judging by the jolly ringtone of Helmut singing Strawberry Fields Forever, it was his personal phone instead of his work one, and that was the real tip off to things being very, very wrong.

He woke up and groggily pulled out of his still-slumbering-husband’s arms to answer the little thing going off on his nightstand.

“H’lo?”

“Bob!” Truman’s voice came out far too loud for the time of night, and far too stressed. “Bob, I’m so sorry to wake you, but something happened with Lili. I need you to pick her up for me, please.”

The older man sat up, much more awake as worry and fear immediately rolled in his gut. Helmut finally began to stir beside him, sensing his partner’s agitation.

“Truman, what’s going on? Pick Lili up from where?”

“The city’s police precinct on Abbey Avenue. She – she called me, but I’m out of state and I wouldn’t get there for hours at least even if I left this instant. She’s not in danger!” He added hastily, hearing the concern before Bob could even voice it mentally. “She didn’t get hurt! She’s just…”

The way he tapered off, the way he hesitated, said more than words could.

“She just got herself into some trouble, and she needs someone to go get her.”

Helmut was sitting up now, and Bob felt the question cross their mental link.

 What happened?

 Truman needs me to pick Lili up from the police station.

“I’m up, I’m on my way right now,” He responded to his nephew verbally, heaving himself out of bed. His husband followed suit despite still looking extremely puzzled, bless him.

“Thank you so much, Bob. I’ll make it up to you as soon as I can, I promise.”

“Don’t worry about it.” The older man waved a dismissive hand even though Truman wasn’t there to see it. “Family is s’pposed to do that for each other anyway.”

“Did I hear that right? Our peppy petunia had a run-in with the law?” Helmut asked as soon as his partner hung up. He paused, and in a lower tone – “she didn’t kill anyone, did she?”

“I don’t think it’s that serious,” Bob said, pulling a coat on over his sleep shirt. “But something tells me we still have a few things to worry about. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Ohohoh, no, don’t even think about hoofin’ it without me. We both know I’m the better driver.”

“Neither of us are very good drivers, Helmut.”

“Exactly! That little bit makes all the difference!”

The herbophanist sighed, charmed despite himself and the situation. “Alright, alright. Let’s not keep her waiting.”

The police precinct was nearly dead at this time of night. While it would’ve felt eerie to anyone else, Bob was grateful for the lack of people, and not just because he was still an introvert of the highest degree.

Two teenagers awaited them in the lobby, sitting on a bench together. One was hunched over and burning a hole in the ground with his downcast eyes. The other sat straight up, defiant, holding a glaring contest with the officer standing over them. When Bob entered the room first and met his great-niece’s eyes, her self-assuredness wavered for a brief moment. She hid the slip-up behind a wall of indifference.

“Lili,” he said softly. Then, just as softly but with a gruff tinge of surprise; “Razputin.”

There was no accusation in his voice, but the former scowled harder and the latter looked like he wanted to employ his invisibility. Bob studied them both a moment before his husband appeared and broke the tension with his mere presence.

“We’re here to bust you out, kiddos!” He announced with spread arms, cheerfully ignoring the looks he received from every person in the room.

“Are you Truman Zanotto?” Asked the officer who finally broke his gaze away from Lili to give them a disapproving once-over.

“No, I’m uh, I’m Bob Zanotto, and this is Helmut,” came the awkward reply. “Truman called me to pick Lili up. She’s my great-niece.”

A few seconds of silence passed as the officer made no move to do anything with that information. Bob cleared his throat.

“We’re, uh, listed in her emergency contacts for school?”

“I see. If you can just fill out some paperwork first, we can release her into your custody.”

The herbophanist watched the way Raz seemed to sink further in his seat at the mention of family contacts. The Aquatos were also out of state right now too, if he remembered correctly. Perfect timing for two minors getting up to mischief.

Well, up until they were actually caught.

“And…Razputin, too?” He asked, catching the teen’s startled gaze and giving him the mental equivalent of a thumbs-up.

The officer raised a brow. “Is he related to you, too?”

“Well, uh –”

“Yep!” Helmut interrupted, strolling right up to Raz and giving him a merry clap on the back. The teen had a physique comparable to most adult Olympic athletes, but even he nearly toppled forward from the force of such a big man. “He’s my third cousin, twice removed. Big family. Very close. Holidays are an experience, lemme tell ya!”

“Fine,” the officer pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, okay, I’ll make sure he gets cleared for release too. I’ll be right back.”

He stalked off, muttering something about it ‘being too damn early for this’, and the older couple turned to face Raz and Lili. Helmut steepled his fingers together to rest against his mustache.

“So! Now that Officer Spoil-Sport is gone, are we allowed to know what heinous crime has been committed in the night by my favorite pair of mischief-makers?”

The two glanced at each other. Raz was the one to break their silence.

“We, uh…got caught sneaking into a bar.”

Cold heat rushed through Bob’s core. Helmut blinked once, twice, then let out a boisterous chuckle.

“That’s it? Jesus! From the way you two were acting I thought you’d robbed the First National Bank.”

“…Helmut.” His husband murmured. The psi-king lost his mirth as he caught Bob’s eye.

“Ah…w-well, y’know, while I’m certainly glad we won’t hear about a righteous homicide in the news tomorrow, forgery ain’t exactly a humble hobby either.”

“It was just two IDs,” Lili muttered under her breath. “Not a big deal.”

The ice in her great-uncle’s heart turned frigid, but before he or Helmut could say anything to that, the officer was back. He shoved a handful of forms under Bob’s nose and the herbophanist fumbled to grab them before they all tumbled to the floor.

“Uh, uh, thank you.”

“Alright, we’re putting the pause on this conversation to make you free citizens again, but don’t think that means we’re done with it.” The Psi-King gave the teens the sternest look he could manage. “As soon as we get in the car, you two will have a lot of explaining to do.”

“O-Okay.”

“Uh-huh.”

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

No one spoke a word as they got in the car and started the drive back.

Raz seemed content to continue his efforts to blend in with the background of his seat, still not meeting anyone’s eyes, and Lili stared out the window with her chin in her hand, leaning against the car’s backdoor and letting the lights of the city bathe her in neon sickness.

Helmut, bless his soul, dutifully kept the radio going while he drove, changing the station to something more mellow whenever a song started getting a little too upbeat for the collective mood of the vehicle. Bob sat in the passenger side with his arms folded awkwardly. His brain was buzzing, dreading the inevitable conversation he needed to have with his great-niece and trying to figure out how he was going to go about it.

It surprised them all when Raz spoke over the music.

“It was my idea.”

The two adults glanced at each other, then through the rearview mirror at the fidgeting teen.

“Your idea to go looking for a drink? Or to sneak into a bar to do it?” Helmut asked, turning off the radio.

“Both.”

He still wasn’t meeting their eyes. Bob sighed through his nose.

“I don’t believe you.”

Razputin’s head finally snapped up to stare at him in shock for the fast call on his bluff. “I’m telling the truth!”

“I think you’re only telling part of it, kid.”

“No! I’m telling all of it.”

“Razpu-”

“Oh, come off it, Raz,” Lili snapped a little too loud, making the whole car jump. “Quit trying to take the fall for me. It was my idea to try the stupid fake ID thing, okay? Happy now?”

“Wh – uh, who said anything about being happy about it?” Helmut asked, legitimately confused.

“Look. Neither of us had anything to do tonight, and we were bored, so Raz suggested getting a drink somewhere, but Adam and Lizzie are out of town so we couldn’t ask them.” She crossed her arms and spoke without any inflection. “So, we went out but no one would let us do anything cause we’re minors. I thought that was stupid, because we’re agents same as any of you, so I came up with the sneaking-in part. We only got caught cause one of the bartenders recognized Raz from a show.”

There were a lot of loaded things to parse through from that explanation, but Bob’s mind stalled on one particular detail.

“Adam and Lizzie give you two alcohol?”

“Not…often,” Raz admitted. “Just once or twice, when we asked.”

“Do you mean like, a literal once or twice, or a…an estimated once or twice?”

“Did Dad put you up to this?” Lili shot back. “It was just a few times, like he said. What’s with the inquisition?”

“…Lili –”

 “Raz.”

“Okay!” Helmut proclaimed as he slapped his hand against the steering wheel in boisterous aggression. “Who wants some ice cream?”

Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Cause I’m really feeling some chocolate-vanilla swirl right now. Basic bitch style. Right? Who’s with me?”

Silence.

“Great! Look at that, open Dairy King right there, better take advantage of this opportunity before it slips through our fingers like the melting ice cream we’re all gonna have in about five minutes!”

The psi-king swung into the parking lot in a frenzy and herded the car crew inside before any of them could come out of their shock long enough to protest. It was only as Bob was staring up at fifteen flavors of oversaturated sugary goodness that he realized what had just happened.

He couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief over his husband’s diversion. The tension that had been boiling over was cooled significantly by the sudden non-sequitur, and while the teens were rather half-hearted about picking out their sweet treats, there was no longer a risk of an explosion happening.

Metaphorically and literally.

Helmut caught his spouse’s eye with a meaningful look at Lili the moment all of them had their orders in hand, then slung his arm around Razputin’s shoulders and steered him away. “C’mon my lad! Nothing like the cool night air of three in the morning to keep your Hurricane ™ properly chilled!”

The poor boy had no choice but to let himself be pulled outside, leaving the two Zanottos standing awkwardly in the dingy restaurant. Bob gave a nervous scratch at his chin under his beard.

“How about we, uh, find a seat somewhere?”

Lili couldn’t fully cross her arms while holding ice cream, but she did a good job of making it work anyway. “Sure.”

They sat in a booth in the farthest corner from the front counter. Both great-niece and great-uncle stared at their respective sweet treats as if they could teleport them out of this situation. Bob glanced out the window and saw Helmut and Raz standing outside of the car. The former was on one knee with his hand on the teen’s shoulder, speaking earnestly but inaudibly, and the latter was scuffing the toe of his sneaker against the asphalt.

“Are you going to lecture me?” Lili finally cut through the silence.

Bob turned back to her. “No. Not really.”

“No?” She broke her gaze away from her ice cream just a little bit, eyeing him with surprise. “Then why did Helmut take Raz and leave us alone?”

She was so perceptive, so smart. And yet, still so young.

“Well, I… I still want to talk to you about what happened. I’m just not very, good, at this kind of thing.” He took his spoon and absentmindedly began drawing a flower in his soft-serve. “You already know what you did wasn’t a good idea, right? So I don’t think a lecture would help things any on that front.”

She didn’t respond. He continued.

“It’s less about the fake ID and more…the reasons you made the fake ID. Does that make sense?”

“I guess so, but I know what I’m doing, Uncle Bob. I’m not going to drink irresponsibly.”

The herbophanist shook his head. “But you’ll do irresponsible things to be able to drink in the first place.”

“That’s not –” Lili didn’t have a good rebuttal. She folded her arms and grumpily started eating her cherry chocolate delight. “Whatever. It’s two different things, anyway.”

Against his better judgement, Bob began picking at his own food as he thought about how best to bring the subject back up without making the teen defensive again. Spoons clicking against teeth was the only sound between them for a solid minute.

Finally, an epiphany.

“Did Truman ever…tell you anything, about your great-grandma?”

The girl paused with a bite halfway up to her mouth. She frowned, confused. “Grandma Tia? Not much. Just that she died when he was a baby.”

“Yeah. Yeah, she did.” He ran a tired hand over his face. The ache in his heart might have long-since healed into a scar, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt when pressed. “She passed away when I was nineteen. The doctors told me it was liver failure.”

He didn’t have to say anything else. Lili’s mouth thinned and she put her spoon down, uncomfortable.

“When I…found out the reason behind her death, I was horrified by it. It didn’t make sense to me why she would willingly do something that hurt her so badly, especially when I was right there to love her and help her. It felt like a betrayal that she never got help or made herself stop. I was…disgusted by the mere thought of doing anything like that.”

Bob took a moment to breathe and wipe his eyes. He wasn’t crying, but better safe than sorry.

“It sounds pretty hypocritical when I say it now, doesn’t it?”

His great-niece only gave him a hesitant look.

“Anyway, uh, where was I…” He worried his lip. “Oh, right. I told myself that I’d never touch the stuff after that. I was angry at what she’d done, and I was determined not to have the same ‘weakness’, so to speak. As you know, it, uh, it didn’t last long. I was at a college party barely a year later when I was invited by some friends to drink with them. I didn’t make human friends very easily back then – actually, I still don’t – so I was a little desperate to keep them. It turned out to be pretty hard whiskey, so I got hammered.”

The man leaned back in his seat, staring at the patterns in the booth table.

“Back then, no one really knew how alcoholism could run in a family. Everyone thought it was a personal choice to keep drinking. It wasn’t even classified as an addiction yet. So I didn’t know how susceptible I was, or how careful I had to be. I’d spend months not having a single drink, thinking I was fine and could handle myself, and then I’d get plastered for a week at parties and bars and God knows what else, and it would take me even longer to get myself to stop again. It was like that even when I was with Ford and his gang. It wasn’t until I started dating Helmut that I started trying to change those habits. I’d never met anyone who loved me so unconditionally that I wanted to be a better person for them, until him. And it worked for a while.

“Well, barring our wedding, of course. I got shitfaced at the reception. It was embarrassing afterwards, but Helmut told me it made our cake-eating ceremony a hell of a great time.”

Lili snorted, and it was accompanied by a tiny upturn of her lips. Then it dropped as her expression became solemn. “And then…everything with Maligula happened, right?”

“Yeah. I think you know the rest of that story.”

“Uh-huh.”

Great-niece and great-uncle sat together for a while, just thinking about it all.

“I know I have to be more careful drinking than a lot of people, Uncle Bob,” Lili finally said at length. “My dad warned me about it when I was old enough to ask.”

“Truman is a good dad,” he murmured in response.

“The best dad.”

“Definitely the best dad.”

More silence.

“I didn’t mean to worry you and him,” she continued. “Or scare you. I know it was dumb to do what we did tonight.”

Bob looked at her, and she gave a conceding sigh.

“Okay, it was dumb to do a lot of what we’ve been doing with this stuff. That doesn’t mean I’m not being careful.”

“Kid, it’s not always just a matter of being careful. I thought I was being careful. I thought that for years and years, and when I finally realized I wasn’t, I convinced myself I could stop any time I wanted to, and kept up the same patterns anyway. That’s what I’m trying to get you to understand. I just don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did. I’m just worried about you.”

Lili closed her eyes with a grimace. “I know. I’m sorry, Uncle Bob.”

“Hey, kiddo, look at me.” He waited until she did so. “I’m not mad at you. I’m not disappointed, either. That’s your dad’s job. I get it, is what I’m saying. It gives you a buzz, and it’s fun and exciting, and you just wanted to have a good time with your, uh…”

Bob leaned in a bit, and dropped his voice to a stage whisper.

“Is Raz still your boyfriend?”

“Wha –” her cheeks went red. “Yes, he is!”

“Alright, sorry, I’m just always out of the loop. No one ever tells me when these things change or not. Anyway,” he continued before she could get brighter than the cherries in her ice cream. “I’m just saying that you gotta be more than careful with this kind of thing. Everyone should be, really, but especially people like us. Plants aren’t the only thing that runs in the Zanotto family, unfortunately, so we just have to be aware of it and act accordingly.”

The teen turned this over in her mind. He could practically see the gears moving. When she looked at him again, it was with a slow, contemplative nod.

“No more late-night bar-hopping?” Her great-uncle asked.

“No more late-night bar-hopping.” She answered, sincere.

“Good.” He looked outside. Helmut and Raz were both lying on the front of the car, pointing out stars to each other. The sight made him smile. “Come on, we’ll work on that whole thing about Adam and Lizzie giving you alcohol another time, when it’s not three in the morning. For now, let’s rejoin our boys again and go get some rest, okay?”

“Okay.” Lili slid out of the booth and tentatively took her family member’s hand. His fingers squeezed hers in reassurance. “And...thanks, Uncle Bob.”

“Well, what can I say. Us weird Zanotto plant people hafta look out for each other, right?”

“Right.”

They walked out together, hand-in-hand.

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

A/N: I knew from promotional material that we'd be going into the mind of someone struggling with alcoholism, but Bob's Bottles punched me hard in the gut. It's probably my favorite mind in the game, both because it's visually gorgeous and because it hit a little close to home with some of the themes, like generational alcoholism and how the addiction can make someone a shell of themselves.

I wrote half of this three weeks ago and then found myself really struggling to finish it because it brought up a lot of old feelings I thought I'd sorted through a long time ago.

Psychonauts, man.

#psychonauts 2 #psychonauts 2 spoilers #Bob Zanottto #Helmut Fullbear #Lili Zanotto #Razputin Aquato #Bob Zanotto/Helmut Fullbear #psychonauts

[bitletsanddrabbles]

WIP Wednesday: From the Cast of Five Million

The biggest problem I’m having with the Thomas as Heir piece is, no big surprise, pacing and trying to work with the entire cast when I only have one real story arc. I mean, I really feel for JF trying to get everyone plus whatever new characters are needed to pull off the story into a two hour film right now!  Ironically, given that it’s a story about Thomas, getting any downstairs ‘screen’ time started hard and is getting harder.  I’ve managed Mrs. Hughes reasonably enough, and Anna, ironically. Baxter....feels like she should have more, but heck if I can find a place for it, and every one else?

I mean, if I want five million chapters of people rehashing the exact same info, sure! But most people don’t actually want to read through that. So especially as I’m reworking the second half of part one because, ah, the original plans were kinda killed by filling in plot holes (oops!), I’m trying to massage some downstairs opinion in, reshuffle some of what I already had, and there are, unfortunately, some scenes it’s looking like I may have to just give up and replace with something else.

I don’t want to, but we don’t always get what we want.

One such scene is this:

“Utterly preposterous!” Charles Carson’s face was a study of horrified indignation. “Thomas Barrow is not - can not be - His Lordship’s heir!”

“Oh good,” Elsie smiled at her husband, smoothing the front of his jumper and giving him a pointed look. “The two of you finally agree on something.”

Charles was not amused. “It’s not a laughing matter, Elsie,” he insisted. “If Thomas Barrow is thought to be His Lordship’s son, heir to Downton Abbey and current Viscount Downton, he’ll start to act like it’s true. It will upturn the entire social order of the house, mark my words. He’ll start demanding the same rights and privileges as the family and a reign of terror and tyranny will begin downstairs, mark my words!”

Elsie rolled her eyes, scoffing at his predictions of doom. “Don’t be ridiculous, Charlie. It’s been a week since that journal first entered the house, and since then Mr. Barrow’s not been any more tyrannical than before. In fact, he’s been so distracted he gave both hall boys a full day off, and on the same day. Thankfully Albert is too good a lad to take advantage of something like that and brought it to his attention. I admit, I’m a bit surprised at exactly how reluctant he’s being,” she allowed, “But it’s not nineteen twelve. The Titanic sank over a decade ago, Sarah O’Brien’s no longer part of this house, thank the Lord for small favors, and Thomas Barrow’s grown into a very respectable young man. If the lawyers can’t disprove the claims of that journal, then there’s no doubt in my mind that he will try as hard to be a good Viscount as he does to be a good butler.”

Unsurprisingly, Charles didn’t look convinced, but he had the good sense not to argue. Instead he asked, “Has Mr. Murray given any indication of how soon this whole affair might be…settled?”

“I’ve not been privy to those details, but apparently not as quickly as everyone would like.” The truth was, she hadn’t told her husband about the goings on up at the Abbey the second she learned them half out of respect for Thomas, but half because she didn’t want to worry him unduly. The fact that she’d been given permission to tell him point blank, well. That didn’t bode well. “I gather they’d hoped to prove the journal forged and simply moved on to the question of ‘by whom’. Unfortunately it’s going to be more complicated than that, so who can tell? Stands to reason the only people who could tell us for certain are all dead.”

Charles harumphed. “Awfully convenient.”

Elsie gave him a hard look. “Is that what you call it, Charlie? Because if so, you’re the only one, I promise you that. The only one.”

#downton abbey #downton abbey fanfiction #wip wednesday #fan novel in progress #charles carsion #elsie hughes #thomas-as-heir fic #this would be a lot more fun #if i could just read the gloriously finished product #rather than having to write it #oh well #such is life

[survivors-of-barovia]

DM session recaps: Krezk pt.1

Some events from our party's time in Krezk, starting back in November 2020 at 30+ sessions. Possible campaign spoilers (although most of our Krezk content was homebrewed)

After defeating Kiril at the werewolf den, the party had their triumphant return to Krezk, bringing Kiril's head with them and presenting it to Alana Krezkova, the new burgomistress of Krezk (long story short, everyone in the village thought she was dead, but she was actually a werewolf and ran off with her aunt Whiteclaw; when her parents died tragically during some of our previous sessions, they returned and took over Krezk, most of the villagers are NOT happy because werewolves but party wasn't there to stop it and now they decided to ally with her).

They went on to have a nice chat with Alana about her plans, basically she is trying to make an alliance with the werewolves who didn't support Kiril, restore the mountain fane (which she learned about from Whiteclaw) and then use their help to clean out the abbey and make it a new home for werewolves and a potential base of operations against Strahd.

The party promised her their support and told her they arranged a meeting with Zuleika and some other werewolves in the woods at midnight. Then they checked up on Ilya, who is at this point is going crazy and constantly screaming for food. Alana locked him up in the basement and the party doesn't have anything that could help; everyone is super sad and suspect they'll have to mercy kill him eventually, but for now leave him at that. The party proceeds to have an amazingly wholesome evening where they visit a nice Krezkian granny Katherina whose whole family died for various Barovia reasons over the years and who asked them for help with some chores before.

Granny is having tea with Lydia (whom they saved from Vallaki together with Father Lucian and Victor and brought them to Krezk bc they still have family here), Lydia is telling her stories about Vallakian life and the granny gets excited about the festivals, proceeds to tell them about their own traditions and celebrations in Krezk. Then Vincent decides to give a makeover to Lydia and the granny, makes them absolutely gorgeous and then they spend half an hour trying to set up the granny with Father Lucian. Their next plan: find a good man (or woman) for Lydia because this woman deserves some happiness in her life.

***

The party joined werewolf!Alana Krezkova and Whiteclaw on their way to a midnight werewolf peace meeting.

I tried my best to give them a good impression of spooky midnight Barovian woods, with unsettling screams of night birds and a random zombie moose just roaming around paying them no attention. The party agreed to stay away from the meeting and just hang out nearby in case Alana needed their help. Edena sent her invisible imp familiar to keep an eye on the meeting and then they put up Leomund's Tiny Hut, rolled some good survival checks to hide it and started eating home-made cookies to pass some time.

Sure enough, this attracted attention of a random The Hungry who was roaming the woods - he came up to the hut and started begging for food. The party was naturally creeped out and decided to kill him, so they started taking their turns popping out of the hut and blasting him (he still landed a couple of hits due to his readied actions and those really hurt). Then, in the middle of a fight, Edena's familiar showed up and told her that "another wolf" turned up at the meeting, nobody is fighting but the werewolves are acting "really weird" around him. The party was like "hell yeah that's probably Emil" (so far, Emil's whereabouts were a complete mystery to them) and continued blasting The Hungry which took a while, he is pretty thicc and they were low on spells (not the most exciting fight I admit, but this wasn't my goal here).

They waited for a while until werewolves finished their meeting, then came back to Alana totally freaking out, she is shaking and saying she's an idiot for attempting this whole thing. They were like, wait what happened, we thought Emil returned. And Alana told them - he was there, the black wolf was there. He told me that I was a new werewolf leader now that Kiril is dead, and we have much to discuss.

...And then they realized

Tl;dr another round of players screaming FUCKING STRAHD in our group chat, mission accomplished

***

The party prepared to attacked werewolf lair to save the children from Bianca and remaining werewolves (most of them allied with the party by this point, but Bianca still had some loyal followers). They successfully got there without being noticed and sent their familiars to check for Bianca. What they saw was Bianca selling the children to 3 seemingly unfamiliar women. Panic ensues, party prepares to attack, creates a distraction at the cave mouth and initiative is rolled. Thanks to them having a surprise, they successfully incapacitate werewolf guards with bard's Hypnotic Pattern and then proceed to MASSACRE poor Bianca (who had 91 hp and 4-level priest spells) before she even had time to react. So far, so good. Then, 3 women drop their disguises and SURPRISE THEY'RE HAGS

After some fighting the hags do the logical thing and grab the kids, telling them hey, let's make a deal and everyone walks out alive. For some context: the party already fought Morgantha and her daughters twice, and had to run both times after nearly getting TPK'd. Now they are level 7 and could probably take on the hags, but not without kids getting hurt. So, fighting stops. The party has something that Morgantha wants more than a bunch of scrawny Barovian children: Ferret, a halfling child, who happens to be a warlock and an adopted "daughter" of the Seeker of the Forest Fane. Morgantha tells her she serves the Weaver (whose mantle is currently taken by Baba Lysaga) and that she'll let the children go if Ferret makes a pact with Lysaga. Bargaining ensues. Ferret makes a really good speech with good persuasion rolls and they settle on Ferret's tooth, a promise of friendship and a really neat cursed scroll Edena found a couple of days before.

The hags give up the children and bid them farewell, promising not to disturb their dreams anymore. Nothing bad will come from any of these deals, obviously.

Meanwhile, Edena, warlock of Tharizdun/wild magic sorcerer triggers a wild magic surge and starts to smell like rotting meat (which is going to last 5 days). Utterly confused, she tries to fix this by sacrificing Bianca to Tharizdun, but this doesn't help. Everyone else is helping the kids, who are hungry and scared and infected with lycanthropy; Paelias summons some giant owls to get back to Krezk, much to the children's delight. We ended up having a small heartwarming epilogue with the party bringing kids to Krezk, where they can rest, be cured from lycanthropy and then safely returned to their homes (or orphanages). Izek, who is Vincent's brother and basically a party member at this point (he's now called Alexander, his birth name), offhandedly mentions feeling sick recently, but the party decides it's probably bad soup. Victor uses all of his spell slots to cast remove curse on saved children. Krezkians are still terrified of strangers and werewolves, but warm up to the party a bit when they get some of their lost children back. And then everyone went to sleep and had good hagless dreams.

...Except for Edena, who had a dream of her dead fiancee feeding her tasty cookies that turn into black stones that start leaking black goo all over the place. But they are still very tasty and she can't stop eating while her fiancee starts burning alive and screaming that she MUST EAT ALL OF THEM. Another night, another cryptic message from Tharizdun foreshadowing the things to come.

***

The conclusion of the werewolf arc was followed by some downtime and rp sessions. Some highlights:

Paelias trying to convince 8 children they saved from the werewolf den that 1 goodberry per child is totally enough food for the day (while the rest of the party is making a full breakfast for themselves)

Ferret polymorphing into a smol wolf cub and playing with her new werewolf friends in the backyard, scaring all the chickens (and making some of the children sad that they don't get to become werewolves)

Edena locking herself in the attic because a wild magic surge made her smell of rotting meat; she is absolutely convinced Kavan did this because she never got wild magic surges before taking Kavan's spear

Vincent continues to be too pure for this world, has another heartfelt conversation with his brother Alex (formerly Izek) and they play skipping stones at the pool of the white sun

Party is training Victor to use shield by throwing pine cones at him

Lady Arisa promises to take Victor on a boar hunt, nearly causing him to have a panic attack

Vincent talks to Victor about magic, asks Victor to teach him how to fireball (he's going to learn fireball from his magical secrets feature, but getting it from Victor will be a nice in-game explanation). Victor is SUPER ENTHUSIASTIC about it, talks about his plans to learn new spells, Vincent tries to convince him that he needs to get consent from people before raising them as undead. Victor is like - but ghouls can talk, so I can raise one and ask him if he's okay with being a ghoul?? and if not we just put him back right? Vincent rolls insight 21 to realize Victor is actually feeling bad about Stella (in my game she is like that bc he gave her a cursed book); they bond over the whole having a cursed girlfriend thing and decide that from now on they'll burn all the cursed books with their fireballs.

Vincent tries to contact Rictavio via sending and fails, spawning a new wave of Tinfoil Hat Van Richten memes

He does manage to contact Ireena and give her some words of encouragement, but we fail to record this part of the session on video because Ireena is cursed apparently

Paelias (who happens to have a serious weakness for dominant older women) tries to get some alone time with Illyria "Whiteclaw" Krezkova and asks her to train him, carves her a wooden statuette of the Huntress as a present; Illyria is still grumpy but starts to warm up to him

Party attempts to get some "relaxing teas" from a local herbalist and finds them indeead very relaxing

Lady Arisa, who was flirting with Sasha at Strahd's dinner and then totally forgot about it because an oblex ate some of her memories, got a letter from Sasha and is now very confused about why is this vampire woman writing to her; also, the letter included an expensive black pearl brooch that was a gift from Sasha but the party is now 100% convinced that it's from Strahd and cursed

Male half of the party takes a steam bath together and has some guy talk, with Vincent and Paelias sharing stories about their past romantic exploits and Alex just sitting there uncomfortably

The party goes boar hunting with some werewolves, Paelias turns into a giant goat and rams down a charging boar, earning more approval from Illyria

Paelias spends 8 hours casting Plant Growth over Krezk, single-handedly solving its food problem

After 5 days of downtime, Edena FINALLY stops smelling of rotting meat and gets reunited with Vincent

...And for more usual depressing stuff, party contacts the ravens asking for recent news from the Village of Barovia, and confirms that yes, those bandits that Lady Arisa in her lawful stupidness sent there "to find work and help Ismark" decided to take their chances against a single unpopular burgomaster, gathered some unhappy villagers and tried to assault and rob Ismark and Ireena (who was graciously allowed by Strahd to return to her brother) in their house; Ismark was badly wounded and then Strahd appeared, killing all the troublemakers and taking Ireena back to the castle. Ismark is reportedly alive, but very unhappy, and his position as a burgomaster is now backed up by some of the Strahd's enforcers. Villagers are now convinced that Ismark and his sister have been Strahd's allies all along, but are too scared to take any further action. Lady Arisa, predictably, now blames herself and so does Strahd.

***

Party wanted to visit Yester Hill to make sure the druids aren't planning any new rituals, pay respects to the dead and plant new trees and flowers. They arrive and find out the druids started building a statue of Sangzor (because during Yester Hill fight, Paelias turned into Sangzor and everyone was impressed). Paelias uses Skywrite in Druidic asking for someone to talk to; after some time, an old druid woman arrives, he explains that he was sent by Strahd and her tribe must do as he says, and gives her some directions on maintaining the hill.

Meanwhile, Edena tries to commune with Kavan's spirit, because she is mad at him for messing with her magic and making her smell of rotting meat. Meanwhile, he is mad at her for taking his spear and getting corrupted yet again by reading cursed evil books and talking to Tharizdun, after Kavan went out of his way to cleanse her from it (by piercing her heart with his spear. yes he did NOT communicate this very well).

Screaming ensues. Kavan calls her a lying evil witch, she calls him useless. After some bickering, Kavan admits that he wasn't strong enough to fight against the darkness in him, but if she accepts his help, together they might stand a chance. He tells her that she must rely on her own magic, but he can give her the power of his spear and shield her soul from corruption. She accepts him, and his spirit merges with her. Thus, she gains some of Kavan's memories, unlocked powers of Kavan's Spear (modified for more cool powers) and dm's approval to change her character build from Great Old One Warlock/Wild Magic Sorcerer to Hexblade Warlock/Aberrant Mind Sorcerer.

...I have to say, I'm very excited about this development because I did not expect this to happen AT ALL but this turned out to be such a great character arc!

Meanwhile, the rest of the party finishes planting flowers and then they decide to find some hallucinogenic mushrooms and have a little trip (yes, even a 10-year old halfling child). Hijinks ensue, I do my best to describe all the visions they see, players rp their heart out. Alex (whom they brought with them for some reason) declines mushrooms so Paelias brews him some Relaxing Tea. At some point during the evening he strays away from the party and then returns, stating that he "puked out some shit and now feels a lot better". Party freaks out, goes to look at the puke, founds a Suspicious Black Stone in a puddle of weird black liquid. Paelias starts crying. Vincent tries to fireball it. Kavan tells the warlock not to look. After some heated discussion, they dig out a deep hole and bury it there.

On the plus side, Alex is now 100% corruption-free and does indeed feel a lot better.

The party proceeds to spend their night on the hill, and for the first time in forever, Ferret sees a dream of her archfey adopted mother, the Seeker. Seeker begs her to come home and says that she never intended to let her go. They proceed to have an extremely touching and somewhat tearful conversation, with Ferret refusing to come back and promising to save her, and archfey mom being all sad because all she ever wanted was to have a quiet life with this cute child before slowly passing away into nothingness, but now the child is all grown up and she can't stop her from leaving. In the end, she tells her how to cleanse the fanes, and Ferret spends the remaining night telling her everything about their adventures.

***

And our last session in 2020, 1 year since we started the campaign, was marked by holiday special episode! Taking a break from the usual Barovian gloom and doom, we had a SUPER WHOLESOME rp session that was basically one huge love letter to this campaign, our characters and each other. Some highlights:

Skennis teaching his wolf songs to Vincent and them playing music together in the forest (with Skennis' wolf pack howling for back vocals)

Paelias finally mustering the courage to show Illyria his wolf wildshape, much to her delight; they spend all night hunting in the mountains and then go to sleep together cuddling by the fire (as wolves) in Krezkov's house

Party spends the following day preparing for the First Snow celebration; in Krezk, it usually involves family dinners and gift-giving, but they decided to go all out and throw an actual festival

Party exchanges some hand-made gifts and heartfelt well-wishing, then proceeds to bring huge gift baskets full of food and other useful stuff to every family in Krezk

The remaining day is spent on making holiday decorations; Paelias uses Shape Water to make an ice slide for the kids, and then summons a bunch of beautiful white horses with Conjure Animals, making Krezkian children go wild

As it starts to get darker, they illuminate this whole thing with Dancing Lights and invite the villagers to celebrate, giving them mulled wine and meat pies (no children were harmed in the making)

Vincent reads an epic poem about their victory over Kiril; with a lower than average performance roll, the intricacies of his high poetry confuse the village folk a little, but they still cheer for him and then a newly appointed burgomistress Alana Krezkova saves the day by making a big inspiring speech

Illyria finally puts some fancy clothes on (she usually prefers not wearing them at all, but living among the people requires some adjustments) and asks Paelias to accompany her at the festival; they attempt some awkward dancing and then he summons a large white horse just for her and teaches her how to ride

Father Lucian is also here, dancing with granny Katherina; he admits he wants to lay off his priestly duties, and maybe start teaching local kids instead

Party realizes they still haven't seen Victor; they immediately cast See Invisibility and sure enough, he is right there, invisible and drinking wine

The wholesomeness ended with villagers getting back home to their families and Edena (who just casted See Invisibility) noticing that some ghostly shadows are starting to gather around the Krezkov's house; at the same time, guards arrive and tell them that Lady Wachter has arrived to Krezk and wants to meet with the new burgomistress. That's it, the downtime has ended - next session we'll go back to action, drama and suffering.

#curse of strahd #curse of strahd spoilers #d&d #by: arrenkae #recaps

[shirtlesssammy]

9x17: Mother's Little Helper

Welcome to the other side and welcome to the Misha-directed episode! Yay! 

Then:

Crowley’s got what Dean wants

Now:

A woman comes home to an ungrateful husband asking what’s for dinner. He then complains when she tells him it’s meatloaf. She then complains back with a candlestick and a severe beating. Ngl, I was rooting for the wife there. 

Sam invites an overstressed Dean to help with the case. Dean wants to stay and search for anything on Abaddon. 

Sam heads out alone. He gets to the sheriff’s office and starts with the routine questions. The sheriff really didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Also, they find the wife has hung herself in jail. There’s bloody writing all over the jail cell walls. 

Sam checks in with Dean. He’s not very chatty. He’s also reliving a highlight reel of the Mark in his mind. 

A young man accepts a ride from a passing van. 

The kid knows the driver though, so it’s all good. Well, until the van lights up and we hear screams. 

The kid, Bill, later wanders into a diner that Sam’s enjoying dinner at, and starts devouring leftover food on the counter. Billy snaps at the waitress, and Sam defends her. He then knocks over a glass, and stabs the poor waitress through the hand. Sam knocks him out. 

The boy ends up in the jail, where there are plenty of other normal people, enjoying a little downtime. 

Sam splashes holy water on Billy, and asks what he is. “Clear,” he responds. “Of everything.” 

Sam calls Dean and during their conversation, realizes the people in this town are acting like he did when he was soulless (well, Sam, not quite. You didn’t randomly kill people that pissed you off. Note to future me: Write a comparison post about how Sam at his core is different from others without a soul.) Sam asks for Dean help, but Dean’s got to keep researching. 

Dean ends their call and Crowley pops up to say hi. 

Sm hears a woman arguing with the local law enforcement about demons. (I love that Jenny O’Hara is in Supernatural. She’s in EVERYTHING so I guess it only makes sense.) Sam sits down to talk with Julia, and learns more about her experience with demons. 

She’s confused why he’s willing to listen. He tells her that he’s more open minded than most. She guesses that he’s a Men of Letters. They came to her town in 1958. 

Flashback Alert

Julia, a nun in 1958, answers the door of her convent. Henry Winchester and Josie Sands are there to greet her with a letter. 

Dean meanwhile, plays a game of pool alone while Crowley picks his brain about the blade, and what it was like to kill Magnus. 

For Excellent Directing Science:

Crowley thinks Dean is scared. Dean doesn’t refute him. 

Julia continues her story. Henry and Josie were there investigating a murder-suicide of sorts. One of the nuns killed two people before jumping from the church bell tower. They speak with the Mother Superior, and they are allowed to roam the abbey in their investigation. Julia is their guide and takes them to the nun’s quarters. 

While walking, Josie and Henry talk and complain about the tasks they have to do before being fully initiated into the Men of Letters. 

They find the nun’s room covered in washed away blood and an etched in symbol that Josie recognizes as knights of hell. 

Julia hears a noise later that night and finds a man with black eyes in a habit dragging someone up the stairs. She turns to run and gets punched by another fake nun.

She wakes up tied to a chair, along with other victims. As other victims are removed from the room one by one, Julia weeps. Suddenly, Josie and Henry burst in with exorcism spells and holy water blazing. The demons inhabiting the nuns smoke out, but Mother Superior walks in. She’s impervious to Henry’s exorcism and intrigued to learn that they’re Men of Letters. She decides to possess Henry in order to infiltrate the Men of Letters. Josie begs her to stop, and offers up herself instead. She loves Henry in a terrible, unrequited fashion. The demon introduces herself as Abaddon, the Knight of Hell. She possesses Josie.

While Abaddon decides to head off to infiltrate and destroy the Men of Letters, she leaves the other demon nun behind to continue their evil work. 

Sam’s intrigued by this Abandon connection, and tries to figure out what she was up to. He looks at a security camera shot of the nunnery van, and decides to investigate. Julia tells him that it’s been closed for years. Perfect for a shadowy demon enterprise, then!

Dean, meanwhile, sidles up to the bar with Crowley. He’s firmly in denial about the Mark, but Crowley has a clear idea of who he thinks Dean is - “a chip off the old Mark of Cain.”

Crowley insists that they’re in the fight against Abandon together, and the sooner that Dean embraces his true Cain-adjacent nature, the better. He leaves Dean to brood at the bar, clasp the Mark of Cain through his jacket, and enjoy bitter flashbacks.

Dean spots another flanneled individual at the bar. He’s fondling a rosary and sporting a large hunting knife. As Crowley heads to the powder room, the guy follows. Dean manages to stop him just before he heads into the men’s room. “You’re packing a knife to a demon fight and you don’t stand a chance,” Dean tells him.

Dean warns the guy that when Crowley’s done killing him, then he’ll go after his family, friends, and entire life. Adequately warned, the guy sheaths his knife and heads out of the bar. Dean orders Crowley to clear out of the bathroom, and they reconvene outside. Crowley tells Dean he was enjoying a shot of sweet, sweet human blood (and emotions) in the bathroom…but that he recognizes the signs of addiction in Dean as well. Specifically, Crowley recognizes the itch of longing for the First Blade in Dean. Dean insists that he’s ready to take down Abaddon no matter what, and then he takes off. Once Dean leaves, the “hunter” in the bar emerges to talk to Crowley. It turns out he was a test to see if Dean would save Crowley’s life. “He’s ready,” Crowley says, and smiles.

Sam pulls up outside of the old convent. It’s run down and cluttered, but the van is parked outside. He finds sparkling jars lined up on a shelf. 

The van driver from earlier tries to accost Sam, but Sam makes quick work of him. Unfortunately for Sam, the old nun from earlier hurls him across the room. She looks at the sparkling jars and calls them souls - if the jars break those souls are going to fly right back to their bodies. Sam recognizes her from Julia’s story - she’s still a minion of Abaddon after all these years. 

Agnes villain-speeches Abaddon’s big plan to Sam: they’re harvesting souls and turning them into demons so they can win Hell’s crown. Abaddon has soul harvesters everywhere. She tries to harvest Sam, but Sam pulls out his cell phone and starts playing a recording of an exorcism. She drags herself to the phone and smashes it before she smokes out, only to be stabbed moments later by the demon-killing knife. 

Sam frees the souls.

The souls zip out like Tinkerbell, and head for the people locked up in prison. Remorse and horror overtake them. I continue to insist that we need a team of trained, dedicated counselors for victims of supernatural trauma. 

Sam and Julia catch up after the case. He asks her why she didn’t warn Henry about Abaddon. Julia flashes back to Abaddon personally threatening her and warning her to stay quiet. She left the order, overwhelmed with shame. Sam tells her that all she told him has saved people. 

We flash back one more time to Henry and Abaddon back in the car and ready to head home. Henry remains passionate about the Men of Letters cause. And Josie? Josie feels like “a whole new person.” Dun dun DUN

When Sam arrives back at the bunker, Dean’s back to research. 

They exchange short updates before Sam tells Dean that he’s re-evaluated his position. Abaddon IS priority number one. She’s creating an army, and must be stopped.

These Quotes Sparkle Like Souls:

Maybe everyone has a different reaction to losing their soul

Unless Abaddon likes 10-cent wings, stale beer, and the clap, I doubt that she's here

I prayed and prayed, but God didn't answer my prayers. Henry and Josie did

Nothing like Cain? What's in that bottle? Delusion? 

I’m going to go water the lily. Care to cross streams?

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

#spn recap #dean winchester #sam winchester #spn 9x17 #mother's little helper #crowley #abaddon #henry winchester #josie sands #supernatural season 9 #spn rewatch

[inky-duchess]

Things Writers can Learn from Belgravia

I caught the tail end of Downton Abbey so it was not going to be a great lure that Julian Fellowes wrote this drama. But the costumes lured me so I gave it a chance. The entire plot rests on the son of Sophia Trenchard, a daughter of a nouveau riche developer and Edmund Brockenhurst, the son of an Earl. The parents of Sophia, Mrs Trenchard and Mr Trenchard believe that the son born to the pair after Waterloo was illegitimate, which would cast a shadow on their daughter's honour. They have the boy, Charles raised by a reverend Mr Pope. Mrs. Trenchard decides to tell Countess Brockenhurst, Charles's paternal grandmother about Charles. Countess Brockenhurst delights at the news for finally there is a better heir to the Earldom, over her ghastly nephew. Thus begins the ensuing battle between the grandmothers over whether or not acknowledge him. Confusion ensues. Here are the lessons we can learn from Belgravia.

One character is literally a device

Charles Pope is not a character in this drama. We get vague details about him. He runs a cotton mill, he has been raised by a reverend, he was educated, he likes Maria Grey, he wants to trade in India but mostly, that is the extent of him. In six episodes, he has no arc or development. He is an actual device of plot, pushed from pillar to post, there for characters to bounce off of. The audience gets sick of his name being said over and over and so do the characters. It becomes an actual running joke. Characters should not be sentient. They should be people, act and feel like people. They should not be devices but a catalyst.

No Conflict

There are so many points in the story where there should be conflict... but there isn't. Mrs Oliver has been a bitch throughout the episodes, shagging the antagonist John. She gets pregnant and tells John that she's willing to help him cover up the revelation about Charles and marry him to boot. John laughs at her and we get a little treat to watch her evil plans crumple. She goes running back to the Trenchards who accept her without even a raised voice. She even accepts her de facto exile to the country without much of a fight. Would it not have been more interesting to have the Trenchards first reject her and then accept her? Charles just accepts his new family and role. He never asks why his grandparents sent him away. He never has any questions or conflict about who he feels he is and who he has to be now. Would it not have been more interesting if they threw in doubt for Charles or have him reject his new future? Lady Brockenhurst doesn't even question Lady Trenchard. I mean a stranger comes to your home and says that your dead son banged their daughter and got her preggers? I would throw hands or at least ask her if she had proof. But Lady Brockenhurst never says a word against it. Would there not have been more interesting if she did throw hands? You have to provide characters with bumps in the road. They can't just sail smooth. You have to put bumps in the road.

Happy Endings all around

Everyone gets a happy ending in the story. John Bellasis escapes to France, alive and with the last of his parents's wealth. The Brockenhursts get an heir. Maria and Charles get married. High Society accepts the Trenchards. Mrs Oliver provides the Trenchards with a grandchild and finally gets accepted into their family fold. Maria even says how unbelievable it is that everyone has gotten a happy ending. Forking out happy endings for everybody in the audience just seems like a cheat. Almost nobody gets their just deserts nor does anybody earn anything. It doesn't exactly ring realistic nor justifiable for the audience for spending so much time with it.

Oh well... That's that

One thing that got me about the whole series is how quickly people just get to conclusions. Were revelations arise, they just accept it without a fight. Lady Brockenhurst just believes that her son fathered a child and never questions it. Lord Brockenhurst just accepts it without even asking for evidence. Maria Grey just falls in love with this guy she met. Mrs Bellasis just shrugs her shoulders at the fact her son has stolen her silver, her last means of wealth. John Bellasis just escapes after trying to kill somebody. Lady Templemore doesn't even ask to see the proof of Charles's legitimacy before allowing him to wed her daughter. Everyone just acts passively.

#what writers can learn from #Belgravia #itv Belgravia #Charles pope #maria grey #lady trenchard #lady brockenhurst #Mrs Oliver #john bellasis #writing #writing resources #writing reference #writing advice #writeblr #writer #writer's problems #spilled words #writer's life #characters

[claudiasjeancregg]

CJ and Toby 24, 26, 30

hi!! thank you for this ask, sorry it’s so late!

any doubts about the relationship?

yes, definitely! i think CJ worries about her career, about not being taken seriously, and about the relationship itself sometimes. she never worries about toby not loving her, or vice versa- they’ve been each other’s soulmates for too long to worry about that. but it kills her to see the ways the white house ruins every relationship it touches, and she tries to stop that from happening by not letting their thing, whatever it is, ever get too heavy. she fails, of course- it’s impossible to separate your best friend from your lover when they’re the same person, and time and time again cj finds herself slipping into the comfortable companionship of toby’s arms. she knows it won’t work when they’re in the white house, though, and she’s right- they’re only able to truly give their relationship a chance after they leave, after they sort out the mess that was the last year of the second term. 

toby’s doubts are never about cj, and always about him- him being too sad for her, like he was for andy, and him not being enough to satisfy the beautiful, wonderful women he’d been in love with for years. once they settle into a real relationship, she quickly catches on to his absurd fears and makes it her mission tp get rid of them. she loves him just the way he is- brooding and serious, at times, but always an idealist at heart. 

(IM SO SORRY THAT WAS INSANELY LONG I LOVE THESE TWO SO MUCH)

how do their friends feel about their relationship? their families?

oh boy, i have so many feelings about this. 

toby and cj are very much part of a family in the white house, and their steady devotion to each other is extremely obvious, so their friends figure out that something’s up very quickly.

 josh loves the two of them together, more than anything- he thinks of toby like a brother, though he hates to admit it, and cj’s slipped into the role of his big sister since they first became friends on the campaign. so he quickly realizes something is going on between them, and finds himself giving purposefully vague (and usually unsolicited) advice to both of them on many occasions. 

donna and cj get pretty close on the campaign, so she worms it out of her one night at the bar. donna tries to act cool about it, but is PRETTY DAMN EXCITED, so she immediately goes back to josh and they freak out and gossip together (josh in a very manly way, obviously). 

sam can be pretty oblivious at times, but once josh and donna both point it out to him, he picks up on the subtle looks and obvious flirting. sam absolutely tries to bring it up with toby a few times and is immediately shut down. 

ok, who else am i missing.... 

leo doesn’t care as long as it doesn’t get in the way of their work, but he’s secretly pretty happy for the two of them. when he names cj as his successor, he calls toby from the hospital and says he has to take care of her, no matter what. COS is a hard job, and leo knows everyone will be leaving soon- the two of them will need each other more than ever. (please don’t think about what this means in s7 with the leak, and how toby did the exact OPPOSITE of this. because it HURTS.) 

the bartlets love cj like a daughter, and abbey gets cj drunk- for the sole reason of finding out info about her and toby- multiple times. it barely ever works, because of the abbey/first lady divide, but sometimes cj will rant vaguely about someone and she will smile to herself because she knows exactly how cj feels. it’s how abbey felt about jed, all of those years ago. 

and… the president!! loves the two of them to death! he often tries to nudge toby into making it official, which makes toby… very uncomfortable lmao. but he just wants his kids to be HAPPY, okay?? (honestly, same, mr. president)

could they manage a long distance relationship?

okay these two basically started as a long distance couple- they met, and became super close immediately, but then toby left and cj stayed and they kept in touch for the next two years until they found jobs in the same place again. and then next time it was cj who was leaving, because she swore to never give up any opportunities for a man, no matter how much she loved him. 

so, yeah, they can handle it- as long as they WANT to. it’s very important to these two to be each other’s home base, and to actually communicate when they aren’t together. if they had a huge fight, and then split up to go different places, the relationship wouldn’t work, because they wouldn’t be making the effort. 

but they absolutely could do it- it gets easier as they get older and realize that they both want to come home to each other at the end of the day, even if it’s through a phone screen, or a laptop, or a skype call. as long as they get to talk, it’s worth it.

WOW THAT WAS SO. LONG. i hope you liked it though! it’s super late, sorry- i hope that the length kind of makes up for that? thank you so much for these wonderful questions, i love these two more than anything. 

#aleena answers #tww ideas #cj x toby #toby x cj #tww #the west wing #aleena rambles

[branwyn-says]

i just want to tell you that while i haven't read new sherlock fic in literal years and have no interest going back to that fandom or browsing the ao3 tag ever again, compatible damage is so important to me that i reread it regularly and if i ever got an e-mail notification saying you updated it, i'd drop everything immediately and check it out. this isn't meant to be a shitty please update ask though, i just want to say that i have a lot of feelings about that au and i appreciate your writing!!

You’re wonderful. I feel the same way about Sherlock fandom but sometimes I wish I could get back into that headspace just so I could finish The Silences, Here is how that story was going to go, if anyone cares: --The premise of the story was that it would mash up the basic plot of the Arthur Conan Doyle story The Abbey Grange (Holmes decides to let a naval officer off the hook for killing his friend’s abusive husband) and the Holmes backstory from The Adventure of the Gloria Scott (Holmes’ bff at college was a guy named Victor Trevor whose dog bit him on the ankle). --The same early 20th Sherlock Holmes pro fic (the Baring Gould book) that gave us William Sherlock Scott Holmes as his full name speculates that Mrs Hudson came into Holmes’s life via the Australian criminal named Hudson who blackmailed Victor Trevor’s father. --In my fic, “The Silences”, Victor Trevor and Mrs. Hudson have a close bond, because she was around his family when Victor was a kid and when her husband died it was good for both of them. He was abusive and Victor saw the ugliness and pain of all of that first hand. 

--Years later, after going into Ambiguous Spy Work following a naval career, Victor finds out that an old friend, Mary Foster, is now trying to escape an abusive marriage. He tries to help Mary get out, but when her husband finds out, Victor kills him, and the case is unsolvable by the police because Victor is MI6 and just that good. --...Yeah I am just now realizing that the plot of this story is basically John Reese’s back story from Person of Interest which explains a whole lot now I think about it. --Anyway, in the period between “I have to get Mary to safety” and “oops never mind, the abusive jackass is dead”, Victor writes to Mrs Hudson: “Do you happen to know if Sherlock is still alive because I would like to discuss A Situation with him.” Mrs Hudson gives Sherlock that letter, prompting Sherlock to reach out to Victor. --Victor has already committed the murder he wanted Sherlock’s help to avoid having to commit, so...he acts real cagey. But he’s a spy so, that tracks, and Sherlock is not that suspicious at first. --But Lestrade has been tasked to solve the murder of Sir Eustace Brackenstall because blah blah important dude unsolvable case, so he attempts to get Sherlock and Joanna in on it. Joanna is down. Sherlock is, “No, my one purpose in life is to tend to Joanna’s medical needs until she is fully recovered.” Joanna: Getting you out of the flat is a medical need that I have. On account of, you are suffocating me. Sherlock: That’s just the opiates I drugged you with talking. --This story was always meant to be the culmination of the <a href=“https://archiveofourown.org/series/13134”>Compatible Damage series</a> theme of “Joanna Watson has expert knowledge of how trauma and domestic violence cause people to behave in irrational ways that baffle Sherlock’s deductive logic” --Because Joanna is recovering from the serious injuries sustained in <a href=“https://archiveofourown.org/works/294574”>Let Sense Be Dumb</a>, she spends a lot of time chatting with Mrs. Hudson while Sherlock is investigating for Lestrade and getting reacquainted with Victor. Mrs. Hudson talks a little about her awful marriage (this was all plotted out long before there was any Mrs. Hudson back story in BBC canon) and thus, Joanna is very In That Headspace where she’s having trouble with the concept that healthy relationships can exist, especially heterosexual ones. (I am not sure if I ever made it clear but Sherlock and Joanna are both biromantic and slightly ace spectrum in my stories.) --Things are very tentative between Sherlock and Joanna. They’re both aware that they want intimacy with each other, of some kind, that they love each other, to the extent they understand what that means, but how the hell do they proceed? Joanna’s in bad shape, Sherlock is constantly anxious and overprotective and slightly smothering in his nursing duties, and is also terrible at nursing. Joanna is just tired of Other People and sometimes, Sherlock Specifically. --Mrs Hudson offers to cook a big dinner so they can have a small party and invite Victor and his new fiancee Mary over! This will end well. Actually, it goes great, and Victor is over the moon to meet Joanna and they bond over Sherlock’s baby pictures so to speak, and then Sherlock takes Victor aside for...idk, something, and Joanna and Mrs. Hudson and Mary all have an after dinner tipple and a chat... --...and by the time Victor and Mary are getting into a cab, Joanna knows for A Damn Fact that Mary’s previous relationship was abusive, and that Victor was trying way too hard to charm everyone. She doesn’t say anything to Sherlock because...it’s a friend! A Sherlock friend! She isn’t going to fuck that up! Please get Sherlock out of the flat, Victor, Joanna needs some space! But boy that was some suspicious body language and protective behavior she saw. --Lestrade is coming over a bunch, because he and Joanna are bros, and Sherlock is Unavailable For Detective Work Because Joanna is Hurt, so Lestrade gets Joanna to help him think shit over. So that’s how Joanna finds out that Mary Foster was Lady Brackenstall, until recently. 

--From the outside, there is no evidence of abuse in the Brackenstall’s marriage. Lestrade isn’t even looking at the wife as a suspect or a motive. The “gang of thieves in the area” thing from ACD canon is still his best lead.  --In the ACD story, Holmes stages a mock trial where he exonerates the naval officer, acting as judge, with Watson as the jury. He’s cleared and sent on his way to marry Mary and start a new life. Watson is not thrilled that Holmes is “taking the law into his own hands”, but as Holmes says, furiously, “I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies.”  --In this story, that decision is going to fall on Joanna. She is the only one who has figured out, or can figure out, that a) the murdered dude was beating his wife and that b) his wife had a close friend who was dangerous as hell and would do anything to keep her safe. Unless she makes that link for Lestrade, the case will just go unsolved. --And the thing is, she doesn’t even feel completely certain that Victor did the killing. The timing of the murder is off, for one. He would have had to show up at the Abbey Grange house and shoot Sir Eustace more less within an hour of getting back to England. It’s a really narrow time window, and it only creates a bare sliver of possibility, and she really wants to ignore it. --Except, then she and Sherlock have a moment. Joanna tells him that Mary’s husband was abusive, without drawing the connection to Lestrade’s murder investigation. Sherlock doesn’t put the pieces together until the next time he’s with Victor and Mary together. He thinks about what Joanna told him, and he sees how tender and protective Victor is toward Mary. It gives Sherlock a nasty turn, because 1) That is how he looks at Joanna, so does that mean that he and Joanna are supposed to be a couple like Victor and Mary are? and 2) He knows how he feels about the various people who have hurt Joanna, which is to say he wants very much to Kill Them All, and if Joanna got married to another person, and that person trapped her in the house and hurt her on a regular basis, then Sherlock would... well Sherlock would do what Victor undoubtedly did, and kill the fucker. --The resolution, as far as I had it planned out, was that Joanna confronts Mary (instead of Holmes confronting Captain Croker, as in the ACD story), Mary admits it, Joanna feels satisfied that the actual killing really was unavoidable self defense. She feels bad keeping it from Lestrade, but Mary and Victor are planning to leave the country and not return. So Joanna lets them go. --And then she tells Sherlock what happened, and what she did, and is prepared for it to be a Thing, except then Sherlock admits he made the same deduction at practically the same moment, and explains how he came to the conclusion, and they agree that after Victor gives them an all clear, they’ll give Lestrade enough information to close the case.

--And then Sherlock and Joanna awkwardly face down their big big emotions and it’s painful and weird but they smooch, and are a couple, and that is the end of the series.

[btssmutficslovingfan01]

Late Night Confessions...With Father Jimin (Chapter One)

𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺: 𝘈 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩. 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘈 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘯𝘶𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

𝒢𝑒𝓃𝓇𝑒: Romance, Smut, Forbidden Relationship

𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔(𝓈): Priest! Yoongi, Fake Priest Jimin, Nun! Reader, Accidental Murder

𝒲𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈: 2k+

𝒫𝒶𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔: Jimin x Reader

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Next →

 _____________________________________________

“It was an accident!” The man yells towards the fallen priest.

“Of course it was. An accident that you hit me with your car just as we were crossing the road.”

“But the horse came out of nowher-”

“Bishop Francis?” The distraught priest shakes the other man, and just as he reveals his lifeless body to the younger, thunder strikes. The man’s eyes are wide open, the sockets having a yellowish tint around them. The corpse is fresh but already rotting, enough to make anyone want to empty the contents of their stomach.

“It’s going to rain, get up.” The younger male helps him to his car, offering to drive him to where he needs to go.

“You did this. You killed the bishop, and now you must pay.” He coughs wretchedly, his stomach churning as he eyes the shorter male. He noticed he has a similar build as the previous bishop, and a similar face, if he didn’t know any better, he might have mistaken him for the head of the church. An idea begins forming in his mind.

“I know what I did was wrong, but forgive me, I was in a rush, running away from people who aren’t particularly fond of me…”

“Why might that be?” It is in the priest’s nature to listen to others and tell them how to repent.

“I stole his watch.” The priest turns to him in disappointment. “Don’t look at me like that, we’re close in age, I can tell. I was born in the year of the pig, when were you born?” He asks the distraught priest.

“Rooster.”

“Ah, only 2 years older than me?! Can I call you hyung?” The older man glares back at the younger one as he quickly focuses back on driving.

“Sorry father.” He murmurs to the priest. If it only went a different way, he wouldn’t have killed someone. He wasn’t a natural killer, it wasn’t in his blood. Heck, he’d never even hurt a fly. It was an unfortunate accident.

“Listen, I have an idea that may allow you some grace from murdering the most important person in the church.” 

“What might that be?” The priest begins digging through his large brown bag, and surprises the younger man by pulling out a robe and belt. The type that only priests wear.

“We’re gonna make you into half the man he was.”

“Half?” The thief steps on the break.

“No one will know, you guys are practically identical, physically. Now how good are your acting skills?” Oh dear, was this priest really gonna help him get away with murder?

                                       ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

“Reverend Mother, are we really going to send this...imposter to the church of St. Paul?” A nun wearing white goes cribbing to the head nun again.

“Sister Gertrude, now is not the time to argue. My decision is final. We will help that poor girl keep her cover, in case those bad men come to find her again. This is all to protect a child of God.” 

“But she isn’t even a real nun, we would be lying to the Catholic Church, and fooling everyone!” The reverend lights a candle and hands it to her student.

“No dear, we are helping a fellow nun. Go find Sister Rosemary and bring her to me. I will personally help her get...adjusted.” The nun coughs before sending the woman to fetch the other girl. 

“Hey, you fake nun, Reverend Mother Flora is calling you. Go to her, and don’t whine this time.” Sister Greta tidies her corner of the room, making sure there is nothing messy in sight. She turns her head and her smile fades when she sees Sister Rosemary’s pig-sty of a bed. Right in the middle is the woman herself, covered head to toe in her own clothes, wearing an uncomfortably tight nun’s uniform. The real nun is offended that such a person could fool the others in the convent so easily and even get a prestigious honor of moving to the Church and serving God through mass and other important things that nuns do. In the short time that she’s been here, she’s accomplished more than Greta, and that infuriates the nun. Sister Greta knows that envy is a disgusting thing, but she can’t help it, she wanted to go to the church to complete her special nun duties and appease everyone. Instead, it’s this mongrel that has reserved her spot in the church and stolen the spotlight for being the “best.” 

“I don’t wanna. But I guess I will, since I’m bored as hell—heck.” She catches herself before leaving Sister Rosemary to attend her meeting with the reverend.

“Sister Rosemary, so nice to see you again. Pray tell, are you ready to move to the Church of St. Paul?”

“Don’t call me that.” The girl hisses at her senior, anger boiling up in her veins. It was bad enough she had a bunch of bad guys chasing her on the orders of her dear brother. She just didn’t understand why he would condemn her like this, she just wanted to get away from her evil stepfather and his awful family. Not to mention away from the grips of her emotionally abusive brother–step-brother.

“Okay, Y/N.” The nun lets out a chuckle at her indifferent behavior. It had been a week but she was still the same girl she found hiding in the alley behind the convent. “You know your name is a dead giveaway, we need to keep your identity concealed.” 

“I really don’t wanna be anywhere near a church right now but I guess I have no choice, huh?” The Reverend mother nods, giving her a basket of flowers, and clasps her hands together. 

“It’s temporary, dear. But it’s hard to say how long you will be staying there, until the police get their hands on those people and you’re completely safe again.” 

“I may not seem like it, but I really wanted to thank you reverend mother. You’ve treated me the best, even better than my real mother ever did. Thank you, so much.” Y/N sinks into her arms, hugging her and burying her tear-stained face in the nun’s shoulder.

“It’s alright, dear. It is our job, after all.” The Reverend Mother strokes her back until she stops sobbing, and she sends her off to help prepare a meal in the kitchen.

“When will you be leaving, Sister Rosemary?” Asks another nun as Y/N walks into the room.

“Evening. When the sun sets, I will get in a car and be driven to the church.”

“It’s nice there, I wish I could stay there forever but they only accept a couple sisters there every year, and I heard you have to attend four masses each day.” The said girl groans and makes her way to the table, setting down a plate of fruits.

“It sounds exhausting.” Another girl says, much to Y/N’s dismay.

“Let’s just ignore the negatives, Sister Hilda always said to keep your chin up, and always be happy!” 

“Sounds like a depressed nun to me.” Y/N mutters under her breath. 

“Mmhmm! I always hear good things from the nuns there, but they are very strict.” Sister Riya warns.

“Sisters, time for lunch!”

Second Person POV

After supper, you find yourself packing and getting ready to leave the place that you found comfort in. Strangely enough, you found yourself growing attached to the abbey and the sisters in it. 

                                         ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

“Father Yoongi, do you think we’re gonna pull this off?” The thief asks with sweat droplets trailing down his chin.

“Yes, Jimin. As far as God lets us. You can act well, right?” Jimin nods, running his fingers through his fluffy hair.

“I even look like a priest now, what the hell?” To his dismay, Jimin looked like a real priest. He would’ve never imagined ever being part of a church, at least before his parents passed away. He needed a better job anyway, being a thief wasn’t a choice, he had to make money somehow. He doesn’t know how it’s going to go anyways, he could be really good or bad depending on whether he gets caught or not. He knows some people in the church are super observant.

“Priests don’t curse.” Yoongi grits his teeth, making Jimin stand up straight.

“R-right.”

“Come with me, I’ll introduce you to the others. Except the archbishop, he’s too busy.”

“But aren’t I the bishop?” Jimin remembers when the priest told him he had murdered an important figure in the church, something starting with a “B.”

“Yes. I’m surprised you remember.” He takes him into another room, which looks to be a chapel. Inside, three priests stand at the altar, fixing the decor.

“Father Jin, have you replaced the flowers?” A tall priest stands at attention when he sees Yoongi.

“Yes, father Yoongi. I’ve replaced all the flowers in the church.”

“Is the clergy house clean?”

“Spotless.” Jimin looks back and forth, a bit confused as the other priests bow to him in greeting. He puts his hand up, like he’s seen bishops on the tv do when he was five. 

“Father Taehyung, have you marked the readings for today?” 

“Yes.” Jimin is left in awe as he discovers new things he didn’t know about the church before. Everyone has a job to help it work, together.

“Ahem, Father Joseph?” Another tall priest picks himself up, looking to have fallen asleep.

“Yes?”

“Do you take this job to be a joke?” Father Yoongi’s tone frightens Jimin. So far, he’s been calm but seeing him angry is kind of offputting.

“N-no sir.”

“Dismissed.” All of the other priests in the room gasp, as the other priest makes his away out of the room, removing his belt and holy robes. It looks as if he has been stripped of his rights as a priest.

“Did you just fire him?” Jimin whispers to Yoongi.

“Yes. Bishop Francis, you might want to go into the back and start blessing the water. We must change it.” Father Yoongi gives him his first orders. “I can’t come back with you since I’m busy but here is the prayer of blessing.” He gives him a small paper with the prayer and Jimin makes his way into the place where they prepare everything before the mass. He sighs, holding his right hand up and trying to sell it to the others. He knows he isn’t worthy to bless something because he is cursed, in his own ways. Just a day ago he was robbing houses and now, he’s dressed in holy attire and reciting prayers. He doesn’t even know what he’s doing here.

“Father Francis, there’s a new nun who says she was sent by the convent.” 

“No, you’re supposed to call me for that, I’ll take care of it, sorry Bishop Francis.” Yoongi glares at the other priest before dashing to the entrance to meet with the woman. Father Yoongi had been exchanging phone calls with the Reverend Mother, since the girl first assumed her identity as a nun. He didn’t know exactly what happened but just that she was in grave danger and the church of St. Paul was to aid her, until she was completely safe. And he was to let no one else know, just like how the Bishop’s identity is concealed from the rest of the priests. Yoongi is a little exhausted from keeping so many secrets, afraid that he might accidentally let it slip. 

“Hello dear, you must be Sister Rosemary?” You nod, a little bit uneasy.

“I’m the only one who knows who you are, so feel free to be comfortable around me. I promise I won’t hurt you.” While Father Yoongi speaks to you, Jimin watches you from the glass-stained windows as you stroll through the garden.

“I’m really thankful for this, but I’m still scared of getting my cover blown.” 

“Don’t be, our church will make sure you feel at home.”

“Please don’t do that. My “home” is scary enough, if anything I’d rather be here.” You explain,

“I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do to make you feel a bit safer, let me know.” You giggle at Father Yoongi’s efforts to help you fit in. You hate the feeling of butterflies in your stomach, and catching yourself as you stare at him a bit too long. He’s handsome, more handsome than your step brother, or the boy you liked in middle school. 

“Is there something on my face?” You shake your head as Yoongi points at his face.

“Sorry, I was just thinking.”

“Anyways, as I was saying, there are fewer nuns here so instead of going to a separate building, you will be staying in the clergy house, but you will have your privacy and your room will be off-limits to anyone else.”

“How many other nuns are here?” You ask, out of curiosity.

“About 3 others,” You nod, accepting that you might be doomed after all. Your brother will find you here and you will be torn from limb to limb, probably being chained up and beaten black and blue after. Probably. “Y/N?” He breaks your train of thought, snapping you back to reality.

“I’m sorry, Yoon-Father.” You look away, ashamed.

“You poor thing, just what did you go through?” You find yourself crying profusely, tears rolling down your cheeks. Hot tears, too.

“I kn-know we just met, but can I h-hug you?” You ask, feeling vulnerable again. As an 18 year old, this kind of trauma is something that cannot be healed. You’ve been suffering for seven years, since your mother married that man.

“Of course.” The priest opens his arms to you, and you gratefully accept, your heart beat increasing, your cheeks become red, and your eyes even redder. Jimin watches intently, his gaze burning holes into your back. You don’t see him at first, but you notice the movement in the window, and you break the hug first.

“Thank you.” You whisper meekly to him. 

“Would you like to see the room you’re staying in?” You nod, as Father Yoongi leads you into the church through the back door. “Ah, Bishop Francis, you were here?” He forgot all about his new problem, the man posing as the Bishop. The murderer.

“Who’s this?” Jimin peers down at you with an unreadable expression. You gulp, feeling a familiar heat in your stomach that you feel when your brother is near. He gives off the same vibes.

“This is Sister Rosemary, she will be helping with the services.” Father Yoongi leads her into the chapel, and ignores Jimin’s burning gaze. Did Jimin imagine it or did he see a priest hugging a nun in an intimate manner? Wasn’t physical contact forbidden in the church? If not, he has a lot to learn.

Later that evening, all the priests and nuns gather for the last prayer of the day, which is supposed to act like a sendoff of sorts, relieving them of their extraneous duties for the day. You found yourself liking it a lot more than you thought you would, and praying was actually making you feel better. Maybe it was the subtle glances of pity from Father Yoongi, or the calm gentle humming from Father Taehyung, or even the voice of Father Jin as he read the last gospel, but you felt a lot better, and at ease. Of course, the Bishop was looking at you the entire time, not even hiding his doubt one bit. He suspects you, and the only thing you can do is to evade it. Make him believe that you are a nun as well.

Jimin, however was not suspecting you of anything. His thoughts were fixated on when he was getting out of the church, before they found the body of the actual Bishop. Him and Yoongi had buried him, after all, but it was only a matter of time, before they condemned him.

After the prayer, Jimin remains in the chapel, his eyes closed as his mind wandered. It wasn’t just him, but you who decided to stay as well, praying for your wellbeing, and all the others who had helped you thus far. You look towards the Bishop, confused as to why he wasn’t the first to leave. Isn’t he the head of the church? After praying for awhile, you blow out the candles in the chapel, from the back to the front, finally reaching the dimly lit alter.

“Don’t blow those out, please,” You nod, as Jimin keeps his eyes shut. You take that as a sign to leave. “I hope you won’t make any of us stray away from God, we’re all men of the church, you know?” His comment makes you freeze in your tracks. What did he just say to you? And then you remember the incident in the garden. He must’ve seen.

“I know.” You simply reply, running to your private room and locking the door. You just wanted to sleep, but your mind wouldn’t let you. You’re in too deep. The Bishop doubts you, but you’ve barely said a couple words.

#jimin #jimin x reader #bts #jimin priest #priest yoongi #nun reader

[edhaneyyy]

Hope Because Humanity Is Within Us

“Being human is given.But keeping our humanity is a choice.” – Ida Protuger

This quote simply showsor tells us that humanity is a choice.Meaning wenare human ourselves but living here in this world, humanity is hard to keep for some of us.

When we get asked, what is humanity? Answering this question is just as easy as a pie. Humanity is the good qualities a human could have. Humanity is our ability to have compassion, care, empathy and love others. Humanity is helping other wherever and whenever, it is being selfless. If humanity is a person, the best example is Mother Teresa. But, the real question is, is there any hope for humanity when some of the human beings keeps on ruining humanity in our world? Our deepest humanity, however, is rooted within the fragility of all of our lives. Unless we work together we are going to be unable to save lots of the earth. If we cannot see that our vulnerabilities, and not our masks of perfection are what bind us to one another, we are going to be left wondering what's wrong with us.

There is such a common scene in human history when the media community says that men have lost their trust in humanity. That's because most people these days are starting to be cruel to themselves and others. They hurt themselves and the people around them. A common problem was the many facts that made this "virus" bigger and affected the whole world. When we talk about humanity, we should think of it only about human life, not because humanity is about humanity, including all humanity on earth. It is also a terminology of the qualities that make us human. For example, the ability to love, be considerate, be creative, and not be a robot or an alien.

We have to keep humanity within us. Why? Because that is our only key to prevent chaos in our modern world. Without a little bit of humanity do you think we can live, sleep peacefully and have friends around us? No. I listed some acts that show humanity from the website Good Housekeeping . ( https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/inspirational-stories/news/gmp5124/random-acts-of-kindness/)

1. Florence Rescue Force - After Hurricane Florence caused devastating flooding in North Carolina this fall, kindhearted citizens like Amber Hersel jumped into action. The volunteer from the Civilian Crisis Response Team helped rescue 7-year-old Keiyana Cromartie and her family from their flooded home on September 14, 2018 in James City.

2. Donor Network - The decision made by Patricia Almonte (right) to donate the organs of her late 3-year-old daughter Veronica Garcia helped save three lives: Essence Walls (left), an 8-month-old baby, received her heart; a 2-year-old received her liver; and a 68-year-old woman received her kidneys.

3. Canine Heroes - A lucky dog got a ride from some unnamed helpers in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew two years ago. Photographer Sean Rayford caught these two men pushing a makeshift boat through the floodwaters in Lumberton, North Carolina.

4. Earthquake Heroes - Frida the rescue dog and her trainer Israel Arauz Salinas went viral for their life-saving efforts during the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that shook Mexico City in 2017. The 9-year-old Labrador has detected the bodies of 52 people during her career, and the duo recently received their own statue for their service to the Mexican navy.

5. Helping Hand - American Abbey D'Agostino and New Zealander Nikki Hamblin won a special Olympic commendation for their sportsmanship at the 2016 Rio Games. After Hamblin tripped in a 5,000-meter heat, and brought D'Agostino down with her, the American helped her competitor to her feet. Later on in the race, D'Agostino fell again as a result of her twisted leg, but Hamblin stayed by her side until the finish line.

6. Moments after posing for a fun photograph at a local beauty spot, brave teenager Cheng Changjiang was dead. Despite being unable to swim, Cheng, 18, waded into the lake to save the lives of three young children who had got into trouble in the water. But the brave act cost the teenager – branded a ‘hero’ by onlookers – his life. Cheng was enjoying the public holiday at the rural spot in Xinyang, at Henan province in central China, when tragedy struck.

7. ryclectic’ wrote: “My Buddy Witnessed an Act of Utter Kindness Today…While he was standing on the corner waiting for the crosswalk he saw this woman buy two meals at a street vender and go sit down beside this man and give him one of the meals. She proceeded to introduce herself and talk to him about his life and just shot the [breeze] with him. She wasn’t acting superior, she was his equal, she just wanted to talk to and express inclusion to a fellow human being.”

8. This is a picture of a chap called Tully holding a 46 year old, wheelchair bound man with severe mental handicaps. Tully picked him up so he could go on the hay ride with everyone else. 5 minutes into the ride the man got so excited that he peed all over himself and Tully. Tully sat there soaked in pee for the remainder of the 40 minute hay ride. As soon as it was over he changed the mans clothes before his own. If that doesn’t show character we don’t know what does.

9. I will not let you go. This woman spent 3 hours holding the horse’s head above the tide after it got stuck in the mud on a beach in Australia. The horse was later rescued, unharmed.

10. Strangers Leave her Money While She Gently Sleeps. “alexthegreat90″ wrote: “I took this picture this morning. Ever been somewhere and seen something that amazed you? I’m at the east side McDonald’s and this lady was sitting in front of me sleeping. She has everything she owns in a small backpack. Curled up with her blanket she sleeps not knowing what is going on around her. While she is sleeping everyone is getting their money out and putting it on the table so it’s there when she wakes up.”

These are only few of the acts that restored humanity. These acts showed us that no matter how cruel the world is. There are still people out there who shows kindness and selfless love without any hesitation despite any situation. So what are those things that could destroy our humanity? Stephen Hawking who is known for his work on black holes and gravitational singularities thinks that there are three things that ruin our humanity, but I will only cite two. He have this outspoken ideas about human civilization. Hawking suffers from a nerve cell disease just like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which left him paralyzed and unable to talk without a voice synthesizer. But that hasn't stopped the University of Cambridge professor from making proclamations about the wide selection of dangers humanity faces -- including ourselves. He is part of a small group who voiced out their concerns about artificial intelligence.

First, according to Stephen Hawking, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race," "The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression. It may have had survival advantage in caveman days, to get more food, territory or partner with whom to reproduce, but now it threatens to destroy us all," The Independent reported. I believe that Hawking here is telling us that AI could destroy us just like in the movie entitled Wall-e, we could see there that the AI are already controlling every move of the humans in the ship. They are dependent to the robot around them and don’t seem to care to anyone. There would be no care, love and empathy left.

Second, if AI won’t kill us, our own self might kill us. For example, a major nuclear war would likely end civilization, and could wipe out the human race, Hawking added. When asked which human quality he would most like to chose, he chose empathy , because "it brings us together in a peaceful, loving state.” Chaos would be everywhere without humanity.

In the current time, we ask ourselves sometimes, where is humanity? There are certain issues in our modern world that made us question ourselves. Despite those, we should look at the brighter side. There are still good people who we have mentioned above.

This year, our humanity is being tested. During this pandemic time we should remember our humanity. On the occasion of taking care of the elderly, and those who are sick and needy. This is what's happening in countless hospitals, clinics and medical aid units round the world, where truth heroes of this ordeal – the doctors, nurses and physicians – are risking their lives to avoid wasting others. This deeper humanity must spread to each street, every neighbourhood, every city and each country if we are to defeat the virus with our science and technology but also showing wisdom, compassion and humanity.

In the event that food and fun are what we were destined to be, there is one thing we should remember. Indeed, even creatures can do such exercises. In the event that God made us human, there must be an explanation behind it. No one but people can comprehend the importance of mankind, and it is humankind because of insight that truly gives the center substance to human presence. You needn't bother with a solid financial balance to add to helpful exercises. Paying your family help reasonably is humankind as well. You're prepared to pay a large number of dollars for your clinical test, yet with regards to paying your collaborator; You need to spare each penny. Compassionate exercises ought to never be embraced to pick up distinction or get a superficial point of interest. You can without much of a stretch accomplish popularity through the work you do. Lifting the weighty sack of an elderly person is humankind, helping an incapacitated individual to go across the road is mankind, helping your mom at work is humankind; truth be told, it is humankind to help whoever needs it. How would we express or show mankind? One approach to show our mankind helping poor people and the individuals who crippled. Additionally utilizing indicating counterfeit mankind to pick up distinction ought to never be one your choice. Did you experience finding a major measure of cash and when you return it, there's the incredible inclination that we can't clarify? Since on the event of indicating our humankind to other people, we have that believing that we can not get.

Humanity is significant in our daily lives. It teaches us to understand the problem and gives us ideas. It helps us understand others. Humanities students specialize in writing and critical reading. Humanity encourages us to think creatively. They teach us to explain why we are human and to ask questions about our world. Humanity produces informed and critical citizens. Democracy cannot flourish without humanity. We all need to assist one another. We humans are like that. We need to live by each other’s bliss – not by each other’s hopelessness. We don’t need to despise and loathe one another. Because that's not what humanity is.

Some may say, we are losing our humanity. No, we are not losing it. We could see it everywhere. It is within us. Humanity is lively and the light is sparkling profoundly within the hearts and souls of numerous individuals from all works of life. They are of all races, societies, social status and religions. It is individuals who see their commitments to the world as their employments and they continuously inquire what can l do to contribute to distant better;a much better; a higher;a stronger; an improved" a stronger world. It’s just that, humanity is covered by our selfishness, our hatred, all negative traits that prevents us from helping and doing good for someone. Never lose hope for we still have humanity stored in us.

https://www.humanitystyle.com/new-page-5

https://kindnessblog.com/2014/11/03/34-examples-of-heart-warming-humanity/

[elliebartlets]

6.14 The Wake Up Call

Episode:

• all I remember is CJ wakes up Bartlet early for something and Abbey gets pissed at her

• ah the first mention of Ellie and the fruit fly guy

• oh nooo this is the episode that ends with Bartlet and Abbey fighting in the Oval because she cancels their Valentine’s Day plans

and CJ closes the door to drown out the noise, like a child hearing her parents argue

• nooo now I’m not looking forward to this episode 😣

• “You’re taking her to the opera?”

“Verdi’s Otello, romantic huh?”

“Isn’t that the one where the guy kills his wife?”

• oh yeah Bartlet stays up to talk to Lawrence Lessig and doesn’t get enough sleep

• wait isn’t that Doc from back to the future?

• I was like why does the timestamp say 12:15 am but CJs clock says 12:24am? and then I realized she probably set it ahead like some people do

• lmao CJs like “I’m sending miss world over to Toby because dude needs a break.”

• Abbey just sitting there aksksjs I’m scared

• like ok, I understand where Abbey’s coming from. She cares about her husband, his health is important to her, and he’s not taking proper care of himself, basically acting like he doesn’t have this disease that affects him. So she needs to

But what is CJ supposed to do? Call secret service on him? physically pick him up and put him to bed herself? also he like...needs to be woken up for emergencies. He’s the President. (Again I totally see Abbey’s side but I’m also annoyed at her a little bit.)

•why is Toby so obsessed with helping out with the belarus constitution?

• oh Lord John

• lmao Kate’s like what the hell

• oof I never really noticed the look on Bartlet’s face after Abbey asks to talk to Kate. It’s like he knows what she’s gonna say.

• “Gerald! It’s been too long!”

“I don’t think it has.”

Lmaooo

• ugh the whole miss world thing is so annoying and not just cause all the guys are ogling at her. it just feels like a small, stupid plot that wasn’t executed well.

• although Margaret coming in really puts into perspective why she was kinda upset CJ was handing miss world off to someone else.

• and while unrealistic that he would forget his Very Important Question for Toby, I like that the journalist guy is at least talking to her about their mutual liking for human genomes and not just drooling over her.

• why is Abbey calling Toby?

• oh damn she wants to cancel Bartlet’s speech

• ah this is when Bartlet gets mad at CJ for talking to “chet” without him. God it’s always so hard for me to watch the scenes when Bartlet’s angry and yelling at the staff

• Abbey: you’re not a doctor my husband needs to sleep and take care of himself he can’t be waking up at random hours of the night to-

CJ: Ma’am this is the White House.

• CJ’s like “I’m not gonna think about your MS when I wake you up... but take care of yourself tho 🥺♥️”

• “Is that what you were doing when decided to stay up gossiping with the children last night?!”

damn they really are a family

Podcast:

• they didn’t like this episode (I can see why, but there were some parts I liked). pretty much everyone pissed them off

• CJ should be been harder on Bartlet not talking to Lawrence Lessig. Even when he resisted, she should’ve put her foot down and said “You have to end this meeting. You don’t have room in your schedule.”

“Right. “You go get in your jammies.”

Lmao first of all I’ve been laughing at the way Josh Malina delivered that line for like 5 minutes. Second of all, again, what was CJ supposed to do if he still refused? Pick him up???

• Bartlet either needs to be a grown up or resign. Either he’s going to be the President or you’re not up to the job.

I could say that about our current “president”, but y’know.

• CJ didn’t really get the moment she deserves of putting her foot down and standing up for herself and the decisions she has to make regarding Bartlet.

• wow the Chet thing really pissed Hrishi off.

CJ: Do you find it odd, calling a high-ranking Iranian official “Chet?”

KATE: Well, it’s easier to say than Asefi Hossein Kamal Bin Hamid.

He thinks it’s racist they didn’t even bother to say his name or learn how to pronounce it and decided to call him something random.

I mean that could be the case, but I always thought it was a code name or something. Like...I don’t think they’re that racist to not call him by his actual name. They’re just using a code name so people don’t know who they’re in communication with the Iranians. And Kate maybe just made a bad tongue in cheek joke? Idk

• One of the worst characters on the show is Lord John Marbury. Hrishi has never liked him.

He has his moments, but he’s never been my favorite either.

• Josh didn’t like when CJ said “I want updates every half hour.”

“And I thought, how about, “I want updates every time there’s something new to tell me?”

Uh no? Getting updates even when nothing has happened is necessary. No news is good news.

• “I think my favorite outcome of this episode is the possibility that Margaret is pansexual.”

See here’s the thing. I never thought that. I know a lot of people on here are like “Margaret is bi confirmed”, but I always thought it was just for laughs. Like “oh this woman’s so attractive even Margaret’s dying to get a look.” It just feels like something an old sitcom would do. Obviously people can think Margaret’s bi/pansexual/whatever, I just never saw it that way.

• “Do you know what I think is the most unbelievable, continuously unbelievable part of The West Wing is? The real fantasy at the heart of the show? Is how no one actually looks underslept. C.J. gets three hours of sleep, and then comes in and she’s the beautiful Allison Janney.”

• It’s not explicitly stated, but there’s a difference in how Leo and CJ run the Chief of Staff’s office.

“I think there was also this sense that like if the president weren’t available, Leo would just step in, and act on his behalf, in a way that C.J. is not willing or comfortable doing yet. And so when the First Lady is like “You need to leave him alone, you need to give him space to recover and get back to 100%,” C.J.’s like “I can’t. I just always need him.” And I think Leo didn’t have that same issue, because he’d just go into the Sit Room without him, and he’d make the call – he’d say “Go ahead and do this” you know, for better or for worse in terms of who’s actually in charge.”

#the west wing #the wake up call #tww #the west wing weekly #tww weekly #rewatching tww

[seasaltmemories]

Tales of Berseria Review/Analysis

So Berseria is my first Tales game I’ve played, but despite all the praise I’ve heard for many of its titles, I knew I wanted to start here first and foremost.  Having not only having the first solo female protagonist and a darker story of revenge kept me glued to the story.

But to go more into the summary:

Many hundreds of years before the events of Zestiria, the continent of Midgand suffered under a terrible curse called "Daemonblight". Ordinary humans and animals became possessed by evil spirits and were transformed into bloodthirsty monsters that preyed upon the living. That was until the day a saviour named Artorius Colbrande appeared and united the world against the bestial hordes that threatened to destroy it. Wielding a holy sword and a philosophy of "reason over emotion", Artorius causes the Advent of angelic malakhim into the world, and leads the Exorcists of "The Abbey" in a crusade to eradicate Daemonblight once and for all.

Yet in a dark prison cell far from human contact lies a woman named Velvet Crowe, whose peaceful life was shattered three years ago in one of the "Scarlet Nights" that used to inspire terror the world over - the same night the rest of the world knows as the Advent. Velvet knows the terrible truth of how Artorius gained his divine strength during that Scarlet Night, an incident that twisted her left arm with daemonic power, left dark scars upon her former kindness... and left her bereaved of her little brother. One night, a mysterious woman, who Velvet suspects she knows, visits her cell. The woman has a proposal: if Velvet can escape from the prison, the woman will help her take revenge upon Artorius. With burning hatred in her heart, Velvet embarks on a quest that threatens to uproot and revolutionize the world order.

If you can’t tell, this game is a prequel to Tales of Zestiria, which I never played, but as I was more interested in this and had absorbed a lot of plot points from mutuals who loved Zestiria I thought I would be fine.

And starting off I was really endured by the cast.  As you can see, you kick off the main story breaking out of prison and most of the rest of your party are other outlaws, criminals, and morally ambiguous figures.  At first they mainly work together out of mutual self-interest, but after accidentally kidnapping a young Malek, corrupting/raising him begins to bring the party together

I gotta say Act 1 was my favorite part of the game, Velvet is a sharpened sword brought to life living nothing more for her revenge.  And her quest brings an actual moral dilemma, Artorius is bring peace to a world on the verge of chaos, yet what is that peace worth if it came at the price of an innocent life?  Is it worth burning down the rest of civilization to get vengeance for her little brother?

Aside from this, her growing her growing relationship with Laphicet, the young Malek is also interesting, in a fit of trauma she named him after her younger dead brother and the sibling-like bond they develop make it seem as if she is taking out a lot of her grief through projecting onto him, it’s all fascinating stuff

However I found things started to drag for me during Act 2, plot-wise we have to take some time from directly pursuing the revenge plot bc Artorius is too strong atm, and i understand that out of universe we need to give time to explore the rest of the cast, still this really hurts the momentum of Velvet’s arc

And while I enjoyed the rest of the cast, none of the stuff we got focused on them ever felt like it reached its full potential whether individually or game-wide, part of this might be my fault as it seems there might have been some side quests i missed (although I tried to stay on top of most of them and what I got never seemed to be very necessary for getting the main plot) still i feel like if you’re going to make me run all across the world it shouldn’t be that hard to weave more in, there’s just a lot of focus on past backstory rather than active story moments which is frustrating on top of what I previously mentioned

Going into Act 3 spoilers, things did pick up, until then I had tried to construct a consistent morality of the game and came up with the idea that, “sacrificing for the greater good isn’t inherently wrong, but often those who are asked to sacrifice had no choice in the matter” the plot twist of Laphi having been in on the sacrifice and now acting as Innomenant really was great, shaking both the narrative and Velvet, making almost all the pain and hurt she had inflicted on the world for nothing.

The moral ambiguity gets a little simplified when the stakes escalate to world-ending levels, while it fits in with the other themes of independence and free will, it does make our group that gleefully dragged small children with them on assassination attempts into undeniable good guys, not a bad choice but it does leave most of the rest of the narrative pretty straight-forward

I also feel like i never got a good grasp on the lore, like part of this is also me looking stuff up, but Melchior and Artorius seemed to be not human or very old and apparently followed that Claudin guy, but i don’t know if Innomenant was always their main goal or what

As for the actual ending, this is when I really felt like it would be more emotional if I had played Zestiria before bc a lot of stuff felt as if it should have been more meaningful

Ranking the Cast:

1) Phi: the beating heart of the narrative, bringing everyone together and growing into such a strong person, like i said the highlights of the narrative was both his slow “corruption” and then how he matured and began to stand up for himself, his speech to Velvet in the Earthpulse was 10/10

2) Velvet: what can I say, give me a morally ambiguous lead girl and I am hooked, i feel like they did a good job of balancing out her closed off new nature by giving the audience just enough information to know how she must really be feeling, which made her more than just “angry and revenge” focused, but I feel like bc of the break in the 2nd act a lot of the immediacy of her trauma and desperation was kinda lost

3) Magilou: a fun character that worked as comic relief a lot of the time, but the teases about her backstory/true nature were great, and I especially love her scene where she single-handedly holds back Melchior to save the rest of the party, still this is where some of the “only getting to hear backstory” stuff really began to drag on me

4) Eleanor: a good foil for Velvet and solid member of the party, adds good world-building, however I was less invested in her development bc a lot of it was centered around Kamoana who just irked me, after getting such a good kid character with Phi, she was just so baby-ish and ended up dragging Eleanor down

5) Eizen: Nothing wrong with his character, but i feel like he definitely would have meant more to me if i was more familiar with Zesteria, contributed to the themes and had a nice relationship with Phi, but I again a lot of his more personal character moments just weren’t delivered

6) Rokurou: As a character I like him, especially in Act 1 his relaxed personality is good for the party’s chemistry, I just could not get into his arc at all, there’s just a lot of generic ‘I need to get stronger vibes’ and what pathos surrounding it isn’t really utilized the most effectively, like in a game all about family and people going to insane means for them, the fact he just really wants to kill his brother should be a big deal, but while you can read between the lines about likely having a pretty shitty childhood but again I wish we had seen more of that on-screen stuff, for a guy defined by his anger, we don’t actually get a lot of it explicitly which makes it hard to connect,

Also with the ending, I knew Velvet had a tragic fate and I feel like her sacrificing herself was fitting, I guess just the way the last cut-scene was shot gave everything a happy and triumph tone which didn’t really fit, Velvet’s fate seems pretty shitty and so at least getting to mourn that/a more tragic but necessary tone would have made it slide down easier

Overall I may seem so critical was bc I really wanted to love this game, and while it didn’t deliver everything I want and fall into that adoration camp, the fact it left with so much to talk about is definitely worth something

#seasalt talks #my reviews #tales of berseria #i'm really interested in seeing where my takes fall in with the rest of the fandom