#what were mark and kate like as a couple?

[emmamountebanks]

being a fan of supermassive games characters is so hard. im never seeing these bitches again

#they get One Night of trauma that they MAY survive and thats it! #give me more #need some backstory series or something fr. like year in between until dawns prologue and ch1. #how the counselors were just vibing at camp #what were mark and kate like as a couple? #give me just the snippets of their normal lives.... give me more of them #give me hypothetical books or whatever of what they feel when they make it through their night of horror

[thecrownnetflixuk]

Fond Farewells Mark the End of an Era for The Crown.

Pt 2 of Season 6 Accedes to the Next Generation – But Reigns Most Triumphant Saluting Its Sovereign.

Review & gifs by L.L @The Crown TV

I wasn't sure what to expect from the final 6 preview episodes of The Crown. Part 1 gifted us with a season-defining performance from Elizabeth Debicki, but such intense focus on the tragedy of Diana and Dodi's deaths was heavy-going. How to move forward?

Not many TV shows stick the landing, but I believe The Crown does, mostly by putting Queen Elizabeth front and centre. In four different ways! But Part 2 takes a while to forge ahead and reign triumphant.

Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy make shy William and swotty Kate believable as a young couple who meet at university – or earlier, as per a flashback with (not Ghost!) Diana. I still found it hard to invest in their will-they-won't-they relationship (we already know they do.) 

Instead, it’s sisters Elizabeth and Margaret who have long been the emotional heart of this show; at every stage of their lives.

Former Oscar-nominee Lesley Manville (alongside Queen Imelda Staunton) is truly magnificent in Ep 8 as Princess Margaret, though it's painful watching this vibrant lady struggle as her health worsens.

Memories of the 1940's are a delight. However, I wish we'd seen more of wide-eyed teen Lilibet let loose (Viola Prettejohn) and carefree Marg (Beau Gadsdon) before older Margaret says her final goodbye.

Staunton saves her best for last, bringing dry humour, vulnerability as well as leadership to Ep 10. The 70+ min epic finale 'Sleep, Dearie Sleep' has its shaky moments, but beautifully completes Queen Elizabeth's story when it counts, bringing near-perfect closure. That alone elevates Season 6 beyond Season 5.

Warning - MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. This is my final *EVER* review (might be extra long!)

S6 is NOW ON NETFLIX - WATCH THE EPISODES before reading.

Images: courtesy of Netflix

Starting with less good news; the first couple of episodes of Part 2 were my least favourite. Ep 5, 'Willsmania', feels transitional, and a little stuck in the past. Following his mother's death, Prince William (Ed McVey; taking over from younger actor Rufus Kampa) turns inward as he struggles to cope with public attention and grief.

It's an understandable reaction to losing a parent, but Part 1 already spent nearly half a season on Dodi and Diana. It felt like we grieved in real time. As a result, whenever the subject of Diana crops up again in Part 2, it tends to weigh down both pace and narrative.

Ep 6 brings a welcome change of topic. This being The Crown, I'm sure there are critics poised to be offended by Queen Elizabeth's nightmare about Prime Minister Tony Blair being crowned king, but to me, his 'coronation' was hilarious, as was the choir boy singing Blair's cheesy Labour pop anthem.

It felt like deliberate tongue-in-cheek humour, an absurd reminder why monarchy might still be better than populist elected leaders.

I really wanted this episode to work, but it didn't go anywhere, and themes like tradition-vs-modernity were covered more effectively in episodes such as 'Marionettes.' Bertie Carvel has Tony Blair's voice down but suffers from comparisons with Michael Sheen, who was uncanny as the Prime Minister in 3 earlier Peter Morgan projects.

^ PM Tony Blair. The Women's Institute weren't fans of his grandstanding.

The Crown: The Next Generation fully arrives during Ep's 7, 9 & 10. Some will love it. Those who prefer more historical episodes with broader scope may be disappointed, as the show follows William and Kate through University life in the early 2000's.

The newcomers do bring fresh energy to the show. It helps that they cast Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy, who make a sweet couple as Will and Kate, even if William sometimes comes across as petulant.

Unlike Ed McVey as William, Luther Ford doesn't bear much physical resemblance to Prince Harry, other than red hair. Ford does however put in a good performance as Harry becomes increasingly reckless.

The Crown doesn't hide either Harry or William's bad behaviour. The brothers seem to get on well at the start, but it later seems like they're more at odds. Underneath a lot – a LOT – of boozing, both boys appear quietly screwed-up over their mother's death. Neither of them seem to enjoy playing happy families with Charles, either.

The show mostly concentrates on William and Kate, but there aren't many episodes left to develop a genuine romance. They have potential, but it feels fairly surface level. Suddenly, they rush to move into a house share together when we've barely seen them kiss. They (and we) needed more screen time to really get to know each other.

There's a bigger issue here with Kate's mother, Carole Middleton (Eve Best.) Pushy parent Carole is keen to play matchmaker between her 'commoner' daughter and the young eligible Prince, keeping tabs on William. Carole isn't as conniving, but ... didn't we just watch a similar storyline with Mohamed Al-Fayed/Dodi/Diana in Part 1?

^ Kate 'n' Will. Her Mum would frame this picture.

Ep 8 'Ritz' plays like a standalone film. Margaret's final story is touching, but upsetting, at times; I was a fan of Diana, yet sobbed as much for Margaret as the credits rolled, even though her eventual death isn't shown. In fact, her final goodbye is sensitively done and stands as a fitting tribute to the princess, as well as to the Queen.

Lesley Manville makes Margaret's predicament so real as her health slowly breaks down. She bounces back from one stroke, then another hits. How awful too for Elizabeth to watch a much-loved sister deteriorate, though it was wonderful to see Lilibet read Margaret a bedtime story. It brought out the warmer side of Staunton's Queen.

The scene where Margaret scalds her feet in the bath is genuinely horrifying. I've suffered from ill health and loss of control myself and this was so much worse. I could feel her pain. That poor woman.

Human moments are where The Crown excels; through this episode, this working-class lass from a council house could somehow relate to a Princess in a palace. Peter Morgan has surely done more to humanise the royal family than any P.R team ever could.

^ Fans of Margaret (and Lesley Manville) prepare yourselves for her sad final journey.

Onto the big reveal: when I mentioned at the start there are FOUR ways Queen Elizabeth appears – this is what I meant:-

^ Newcomer Viola Prettejohn plays teenage Princess Elizabeth.

^ & there's Olivia Colman & Claire Foy alongside older Queen Imelda Staunton.

Satisfyingly, all 3 of The Crown's leading ladies return to close the show. Olivia Colman and Claire Foy each have an additional scene, too (I won't spoil the entire finale, as it covers a lot of ground in over 70 mins, but Olivia and Claire aren't back as 'ghosts.')

As we get older, the ghosts who speak loudest are our own; the former versions of us we berate ourselves with. Not everyone may warm to the Queen (sort of) talking to herself, but personally, I was thrilled to see these talented actors on screen together.

Foy's scene with Staunton is particularly effective, as the younger Queen gives her older self an old-fashioned dutiful talking to. It's somehow also credible that they're aspects of the same person.

It reminded me of Peter Morgan’s 2013 (extraordinary) play, ‘The Audience', which inspired this series, and included scenes where Helen Mirren shared the stage with young Elizabeth. That play is also why this theatre-fan started watching The Crown to begin with, and later went on to create this website.

When Ep 10 finished playing, my Netflix returned itself to Season 1. 60 episodes over 7 years! I will miss the grand scale of The Crown, but appreciate the legacy which remains. Now feels like the right time for this story to end. A full-circle moment in more ways than one.

**Majestic thanks for reading, and to every person who has liked, reblogged, messaged, supported The Crown TV for all these years.

💎♕You each deserve a Crown of your own!♕💎**

N.B: These are my humble opinions at this point in time. No offence is intended. Agreement = lovely; not compulsory. Disagreement = happens; kindly coexist. Ta!

#the crown #queen elizabeth ii #imelda staunton #princess margaret #lesley manville #tony blair #bertie carvel #william and kate #ed mcvey #meg bellamy #viola prettejohn #claire foy #olivia colman #reviews #articles #season 6 #pt 2 #gifs #the crown spoilers

[sea-owl]

Penelope intentionally making yandere colin jealous to try and get him to hurry up with the proposal. The rest of the spouses help out though they all have different ideas of how to make a bridgerton jealous

Penelope trier so hard to make Colin jealous to get that proposal out of him but NOTHING worked.

Simon, Kate, and Sophie all tried to help by giving different suggestions. Some being dancing with different gentlemen at balls, accidentally losing a fake love letter to a fake gentleman, and even pinching herself so hard it looked like a lover placed his mark.

Penelope got nothing for her troubles besides dead bodies. She didn't even want those! If Penelope wanted a dead body she do it herself!

"Stupid man!" Penelope groaned, flopping back onto the couch between Phillip and Michael. Eyes closed, she rested her head against Michael's shoulder.

Over the last couple of years, she had grown closer to the other Bridgerton in-laws and future in-laws. Her closest relationships are probably with Phillip and Michael. Phillip, since they both more on the introverted side, and had a shared desire of learning, even if it was in different subjects. Michael, on the other hand, just seemed to love collecting introverts as his friends.

"Out, out, out!" Penelope heard Kate say, most likely from the doorway. "No, Bridgertons allowed at the Spouses meeting!"

Penelope could hear the eye roll in Anthony's voice. "Half your members aren't even married to a Bridgerton."

He meant herself, Phillip, and Michael. Phillip had just come out of mourning, so that is why he and Eloise have yet to marry. Though they have been corresponding through letters. Michael has also been giving Francesca space after the death of her first husband until she is ready. Penelope herself is working on it.

"They're the closest thing we have," Kate argued back. "Now goodbye!"

With that, Kate closed the drawing room door.

What Penelope had not seen was Colin's eye twitch when he had seen her sitting between two unmarried men who were not related to her. Made even worse when she rested her head against Michael's shoulder. Her eyes closed in a way that signified trust in those two men.

Anthony and Benedict dragged him away.

"They are your sisters' soulmates," Anthony warned him. "You can't kill them like the others."

Colin felt himself growl. Fine then, a new strategy was needed.

He followed her after she left. She darted in and out of her own home. This time in a maid outfit and into a hired hack.

Colin fists clinched. Why did she need to wear a disguise?

Was she going to see a lover?

Penelope's hired hack made its way down Flint Street, stopping in front of a church. It was shaped like a wedding cake.

Colin felt his heart swoop. Over his dead body. If he found out his soulmate was having an affair with one of them, well, his sisters would make do with a slightly broken soulmate.

He watched her, waiting for her to notice him. He watched as she took out a letter and placed it in a pew. Was it a lover letter? Colin decided he would burn it.

Colin took a step closer, and he saw Penelope tense up, her hand slowly moving towards a slit in her skirt that would lead to her pockets.

She turned, and their eyes locked.

Penelope froze. "C-C-Co-"

"That would be Colin," Colin said as he came closer. One hand came up to cradle his tricky nymph's face while the other reached behind her for that wretched letter.

#that's all i got for now #polin #yandere bridgertons au #bridgerton #colin bridgerton #penelope featherington

[ivfrankenstein]

— HOW I SEE YOU;

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: Aaron Hotchner x fem!BAU!reader

— a collection of episodes that give us a glimpse of love growing over the years, from its different sides, from beginning to end — 1. 

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: “I cling to you like the tear clings to the eye, like the knife clings to the wound.” [based on 4x15]

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: slowburn, mentions of violence (typical cm stuff).

𝐀/𝐍: that’s maybe chaotic, but I hope u’ll like it <3 gif: @hotch-girl inspirations edit 📠

[2009, february]

Of what happened in those 20 minutes, she could only remember the feeling at the end — a relaxing inexplicable sense of relief; like after a grueling race, when you're at the finish line you don't care if you won or lost or how you did it, you're just grateful that it's over.

He was frightened away, and in his haste he must have thought she was dead. Perhaps, that's because she stared motionless for a while into the dark sky above them. She found it amusing, at the end of the hour — it was 5:20 when she left the station, seven minutes later she was walking here, 20 minutes it lasted, now about 5:47 — the park was beautiful, warm, the grass was a little long; she felt it with her left hand and touched the damp asphalt with her right.

Voices were heard distantly, she saw the red light from the ambulance, and Hotch's face was the first one she recognized among the others.

“Y/N, you’re safe now,” he looked anxious — the way she rarely saw him, “They’ll take you to the hospital, you’ll be all right.”

She knew Hotch needed to hear a word from her, but she could barely move her mouth, just stared at him and blinked. Blood from her nose got on her tongue.

“God,” Hotch wiped the trickle over her lip with his hand, “Don’t..” his own lips moved silently.

Y/N reached up to his forearm, hardly perceptible squeezing it — it wasn't that bad, she wanted to say.

She remembered him praying.

“Did he say why her?” Aaron was focused, keeping his eyes on the board; to keep so much in his head he had to constantly strain himself physically — the body movements served as a defense mechanism for him as much as anything else.

“He didn’t know Y/N’s one of us, he just met her on the street,” Rossi didn't want to tell everything he got from the guy: I have no idea why, I see a guy walking down the street with a stupid look on his face and I want to bush him over the head.

Hotch couldn’t get the river of blood on Y/N’s face out of his mind; he broke away from the photos of the victims and turned to Dave, “Her jaw is dislocated from hitting the ground, she goes with metal plates unable to speak for the next six weeks and will only eat liquid food. There’s a wire mark on her neck and I want to believe it won’t stay with her for the rest of her life.”

He blurted it out in the single breath, but never once called Y/N by name, “I know that, Aaron,” Rossi waited before continuing, “I also know that it might remind you of Kate–”

“She’s not Kate,” he cut him off.

“She is not,” Dave meets his gaze, “It was you who told me not to take this case personally this afternoon,” Rossi read it well — the fact that Hotchner's good friend died in his arms was still fresh, and the possibility of it happening again with Y/N was too much. 

“What did he say?” back again, professional and collected, he wants to know.

“That he liked her, that she looked like his girlfriend, that’s all,” Rossi admitted after all, “Aaron, Y/N’s a strong agent, she hurt him just as much.”

“Could that even be enough?” at times he was overcome with rage toward all the scumbags they were dealing with — he know about that part of himself, but the rage had a tendency to escalate into something more when it affected his team, and felt so personal. 

Hotch let Dave take a couple of steps toward the door before he stopped him, there was one single doubt about what had happened, beyond what he had no control over, there was something he could change. 

“Rossi, Gideon once told me that I was doing wrong by always keeping Y/N out of the field,” Aaron said, “that as a mentor I should have stopped holding her long ago.” His frown didn't translate all the confidence in Gideon's comment, and that's why he needed an outsider's perspective.

Dave exhaled heavily, he really was sorry, at the realization that Hotchners post carries so much responsibility for people you already consider family, “As I remember, when Y/N first joined you, she didn't need to have field agent skills, right?” no answer was required, Rossi already knew about that, “You may not agree, but I think Jason is the one who should have taken care of this issue. If we're talking about a mentor.” Hotch remained in a waiting silence, and Dave went on, “I’ll explain only by asking, because maybe my eyes are failing me, but isn't Y/N your partner whenever we got a case?” 

It wasn't something Aaron would normally think about, but it was true, “I suppose, yes, she is.”

“Then make this decision as her partner. If you think she could do more than she did, then send her to retraining,” he added in the end, “only after you discuss it with her.”

Aaron nodded briefly in response. What else could he say that hadn't been said before? 

His silent panic, which had enveloped him at home, this evening turned into silent despair at the service. Now he was, once again, left alone struggling against himself with the necessity of going to family, and the inability to put all the emotions down. Ultimately, he knew in advance that he ended up staying at the hospital, with Y/N, because of an equally overwhelming need to be there, too.

#Aaron Hotch Hotchner #aaron hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotch imagine #aaron hotch x reader #aaron hotch x you #aaron hotch x y/n #aaron hotch hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner x you #aaron hotchner x y/n #aaron hotchner x female reader #aaron hotchner fluff #aaron hotchner angst #cm imagine #criminal minds imagine

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Please support Cybird by buying their stories. Expect grammatical errors.

(Hm?)

Ellis: "Is something wrong, Kate?"

Kate: "I feel like someone is watching us."

I looked around, but I didn't see anyone particularly suspicious.

Ellis: "Everyone is probably looking at you because you're cute."

Kate: "That's not true..."

Ellis: "It is. You're just not aware of it."

Kate: "Don't tease me like that."

Ellis: "Fufu, I got scolded."

I looked around again, but everything seemed normal, and nothing was out of place.

(Maybe it's just my imagination.)

We went to the hill overlooking the city, where people gathered, and the soft breeze played with our hair.

Ellis: "There's something over there, Kate."

Kate: "Those are padlocks, right?"

There was a crowd around the fence with different colored and shaped love locks attached to it.

Kate: "There's an explanation. Carve a message on the padlock with the person you wish to connect with and hang it here."

Kate: "Then your wish might come true, and you might be able to stay together forever. That's what it says."

(It's like a wish. Harrison would probably scoff at this.)

Harrison: "Believing that your wish will come true with something like this is too ridiculous. Though it seems like something you'd be into."

(Fufu, I can imagine him saying that.)

Ellis: "Hey, who were you thinking about just now?"

Kate: "Huh?"

Ellis: "Is it about Harry?"

Kate: "Um..."

Ellis: "You're so cute and easy to read."

Ellis: "I want to do it with you, but I think you should do it when you're with Harry."

Kate: "But isn't this something that couples do? I won't do it with Harrison either."

Ellis: "Then, how about doing it with me? I actually want to deepen my bond with you."

(If he says that, I have no reason to refuse.)

I nodded, and he got us padlocks, pens, and message cards from the vendor.

Kate: "Huh? You already wrote yours?"

Ellis: "Yeah. I wish for your happiness."

(Did he wish only for my happiness?)

Kate: "Thank you, I'm happy."

He always put his happiness aside and wished for others to be happy.

(Maybe he didn't care much about his own happiness?)

(If that's the case, then I...)

I noticed his gaze as I tried to start writing.

Kate: "It's embarrassing, so don't look."

Ellis: "Really? Okay, got it."

We attached the love lock to the fence after having the engraver carve our messages.

Ellis: "Kate, could you wait here for a while?"

Kate: "Where are you going?"

Ellis: "To the restroom. If you feel lonely, you can come with me."

Kate: "I'll wait here."

Ellis: "Alright. I'll be back soon. Stay here."

I decided to wait for him, surrounded by lively couples in love.

After descending from the hilltop, Ellis entered a dark alleyway alone.

Ellis: "Hey. It's about time you showed up."

Ellis turned around, and the man in the black coat trembled in surprise.

Man in a black coat: "When did you notice?"

Ellis: "I guess since Paddington Station."

Man in a black coat: "Then why did you come this far?"

Ellis: "Kate doesn't like scary things, so I was looking for a safe place with people around. That's all."

Man in Black Coat: "Are you making fun of me? You two must be a police's lapdogs."

Ellis: "A little off the mark."

Man in Black Coat: "I have to kill you here."

The man took out a knife from his pocket and wildly swung it, grazing Ellis' right arm.

Ellis: "..........."

Ellis ran off as though he was flying, then kicked off the wall and jumped high.

Man in Black Coat: "W-What the hell is this!? My hand! My hand!"

Ellis touched the man's head and used the curse's power to restrain his hand.

Ellis: "You can try to kill me if you want."

Man in a black coat: "E-Eeek..."

Pulling out a pitch-black knife, Ellis gently placed it against the man's neck.

Ellis: "I'll help you if you answer two questions. First, what is your goal?"

Man in Black Coat: "If I bring your heads, I might become a high-ranking member."

Ellis: "Jude often says that people driven by ambition for promotion are a pain in the ass."

Ellis: "Second. Your hideout must be one of these three. Which one is it?"

The man looked at the paper Ellis presented with the three locations written on it, and his face turned pale.

The blade sank into the man's neck as he struggled to speak.

Ellis: "Tell me."

Man in Black Coat: "The third one, the cargo warehouse! That's our hideout!"

Ellis: "I see. Thanks."

Ellis: "Well then, goodbye."

Man in Black Coat: "Ha? Ah...ugh..."

Ellis: "People who easily spill information are likely to betray us and become snitches."

Ellis: "I don't want to scare Kate, so sorry for lying."

(Ellis is taking a while to come back.)

(Maybe something happened.)

Ellis: "Kate."

Kate: "Ellis!"

Kate: "I was worried that something might have happened."

Ellis: "Sorry for being late. I promise I won't ever leave you again."

(He doesn't seem injured, so I guess nothing happened.)

Kate: "It's okay. I'm just glad nothing happened."

Ellis: "I went to gather information."

Kate: "Huh?"

Ellis took out a piece of paper with the location of the smuggling organization's hideout on it.

Ellis: "I asked someone who knows a lot about the city. These two places are dead ends, but this one is the real deal."

Identifying the location of the smuggling organization was our mission.

Kate: "So that means..."

Ellis: "Yes, our mission is complete now."

It was surprisingly brief, but I felt relieved.

(Good thing he didn't get involved in anything weird.)

Kate: "I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help. Thank you, Ellis."

Ellis: "No problem. Shall we take a look at some souvenirs on our way back?"

Kate: "Yeah, sure. Huh?"

Ellis: "---?"

Kate: "It looks like it's going to rain."

In no time, the weather took a turn for the worse.

Thunder roared, and heavy rain soaked our bodies.

Ellis: "You stay under the eaves. I'll go buy the tickets."

Kate: "Okay."

He quickly returned, looking very troubled.

Kate: "Is something wrong?"

Ellis: "There was a landslide due to the rain, and they are inspecting the tracks. They say it might take until morning."

Kate: "So that means the trains won't run until morning."

Ellis: "Yeah."

(Then...)

Ellis: "Kate."

Ellis: "Spend the night with me."

Part 1 ╎ Part 2╎ Premium End ╎ Epilogue

#ikemen villains #ikemen villain #ikevil ellis #ellis twilight #ikevil #ikevil translations #cybird

[downthe-f4ndom-rabbith0le]

The Way Back Home (Spencer Reid x Reader) - Chapter Three

The Way Back Home (Spencer Reid x Reader) - Chapter Three Reader Insert: she/her pronouns Word Count: 3173 Warnings: major angst, major fluff, mentions of murder, graphic descriptions of dead bodies, crime scenes, near-death experiences, slow-burnish romance, death, canon violence, rape, swearing, guns, knives, prostitution, canon cuteness of the team. Spoilers: Maeve's death, mentions of previous cases or canon events from seasons 1-10.

Spencer and you have an unspoken connection with one another. Nothing has ever happened between you two, especially since everything went down with Maeve, but your love has grown and overcome and is now clear as day to everyone. However, just when Spencer builds up enough courage to ask you out officially, you're requested on an undercover mission that halts your budding relationship in its tracks.

Months go by without a word from you until bodies of prostitutes start showing up in New York and the BAU is brought in to help. Spencer and you finally reunite as both your cases collide, but your lives and your love are both on the line now.

Will you and Spencer be able to find the way back home this time?

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Epilogue

~~~

Spencer stared hard at the map of Manhattan that was pinned to the board, eyes flickering between each location the bodies were found at. He'd circled them, hoping to visualise some sort of map or pattern between the kill spots, but nothing emerged to his despair.

He sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. The team had gone to their hotel soon after his outburst at Holt, but he'd been back in since around six o'clock. He checked his wristwatch. Quarter-to-eight it read.

'You're in early.'

Spencer swivelled around at the sound of Hotch entering the room, the rest of team following closely behind. JJ held two coffees in hand, walking around the big table in the middle of the room to hand one to him. He didnt know how JJ knew he needed the caffeine, but he smiled gratefully nonetheless and took the hot brew from her hands.

'Yeah,' he said after a deep sip, scrunching his nose slightly at the slight bitter taste he detected. It was sweet, but not sweet enough. 'I... couldn't sleep.'

How could he, when his whole world had been turned upside down in the span of a couple of hours? You were risking your life - had been for eleven months already. He wanted this case to be over, and sleeping in his uncomfortable hotel bed while you were constantly looking over your shoulder was not going to help make that happen.

The way his friends looked at him now only confirmed that he looked a little worse for wear. But before anyone could comment, Hotch intervened.

'Where are we on the unsub's comfort zone, Reid?' Hotch asked, looking at the map over Spencer's shoulder.

Spencer was grateful for the change in topic, and turned around to point at the map with one hand, the other still cradling his coffee. 'I marked out where each body was found in relation to their establishment,' he explained, pointing at each marked spot for emphasis. 'Unfortunately, they range from up to downtown, even the Upper Eastside to SoHo. Geography doesn't seem to be a factor in the killings. What does seem to be a factor, however, is that all the other girls, like Roxy, were killed either outside or not far from where they worked.'

'That could speak to the unsub wanting to deliver a message,' JJ suggested. 'If the unsub is someone who has been double-crossed by these girls or the establishments, maybe their deaths are a warning.'

'Penelope said she couldn't find anything on these girls prior to their employment,' Kate said, reading a text off her phone no doubt from the technical analyst herself. 'Y/N's intel was correct. These girls were like ghosts, but like, before they had a life.'

'They had to have come from somewhere,' Rossi said. 'They couldn't have just... invented these girls.'

'No...' Derek trailed off, hand reaching for his jean pocket. '...but they can be reinvented.'

'What do you mean?' JJ asked, but Spencer's brain worked faster than Derek's mouth.

'From the initial notes from each body find, we know all girls were quite loyal and involved with the establishment's business,' Spencer answered, feeling reinvigorated suddenly. Or maybe that was just the coffee. 'They would've had to have been isolated for a few years prior to their re-emergence back into society to be that conditioned to their owner's orders.'

'Most of these girls were around seventeen and eighteen when they started working,' Kate said. 'That's when girls usually establish their independence from families.'

'But these girls have stayed as they've entered their twenties,' Hotch noted.

'Which means they would've been taken away from society before they could figure out how to be independent.' Derek's finger pressed a speed dial button - the first person on Derek Morgan's list for all things knowledgeable.

'Greetings my love,' Penelope greeted, her perkiness like another shot of espresso in Spencer's system. 'Did you see my good morning text with all my notes - and by all of them, I mean nothing - on the girls' history? Sent with love.'

'We did, baby girl,' he answered. 'But we might have a new lead to go on and we need your help.'

'You've rubbed the lamp, and as the genie I am now at your command. What do you need to know?'

'See if you can find any missing child records from over the last decade, particularly girls,' Derek said.

'They might not be made by parents, per say,' Spencer quickly added. 'The seller is choosing girls he knows people won't look too hard for. They'll be low-risk victims, so look up any mysterious disappearances from homeless communities and even unofficial orphanages and shelters in the New York state.'

'Boy Wonder, you certainly live up to your name,' Penelope quipped, the soft pattering of her frantic typing filling the room for a moment before she stopped. 'Aha! There have been over fifty girls who've gone missing over the past decade that fit those perimeters. I almost missed some of them because they weren't officially reported, but they popped up in local newspaper adverts noting certain kids in their community had been missing for a while. I've just sent a list of places they all went missing from to your phones.'

Another flurry of fingers flying over her keyboard and she spoke again. 'And if you look at your tablets, you will find the picture a young girl, aged twelve, gone missing from a trip to an aquarium with her orphanage. A Missy Wright. She had a record for running away and hiding, so when she wasn't found after twenty four hours, police disbanded the search party and declared her a runaway. But does she look familiar at all to you?'

Spencer looked over JJ's shoulder as she looked at her own tablet, seeing the similarities before anyone else did. 'That's Roxy Vega,' he said.

'I'm running out of gold stars to give you, Boy Wonder,' Penelope quipped. 'I'll try and find more pictures of the dead girls and match them with any of the missing girls on my list.'

'Thank you mama, you're best,' Derek said.

'I know, sugar,' Penelope replied before ending the call promptly.

'Let's go talk to those establishments, particularly Roxy's old orphanage,' Hotch announced. 'Let's cover as many as we can by splitting up. Spencer and JJ, Derek and Kate, and Dave you're with me.'

Kate squinted at her phone, eyebrows furrowing in distress. 'There are over thirty addresses here. And they're spread all over the New York state. This could take days.'

'I'll get local police as well as Holt's team to help,' Hotch replied. 'We find out who these girls were before they were abducted, we find out how the unsub finds them.'

'Then we can find him,' Rossi added with an assertive nod. 'All right then, let's get going. We're burning daylight.'

Spencer downed the rest of his coffee then grabbed his satchel and suit jacket and scrambled after his team. Before he left, he turned back to the board, to the marked map and the pictures of the managers and the mutilated girls. Girls who died as different people to who they were born as.

We will find you, he silently vowed, and followed his team out the door.

~~~

The pounding music of the Pit replicated the consistent thuds in your head as you walked your way around the floor.

Three glasses of single malt whiskey balanced precariously on your tray as you made your way through the crowd of gentlemen and girls enjoying themselves. It was a fine art, one you had perfected over the eleven months you'd been undercover.

You tried not to crinkle your nose in disgust as you passed by a certain lecherous man getting handsy with one of the girls, Lavender.

She was younger than you, a pretty little thing who started around the same time as you did. You'd come to the assumption she was also one of the girls who'd been taken as a a child and reinvented, as she always dodged any questions you asked about her life before... working.

And maybe she just didn't know the answers or she just really valued her privacy as a girl in her late teens did. But the way she would always always redirect the subject or blatantly not answer didn't sit right with you.

Lavender's eyes met yours briefly, and you saw the defeat and disgust she felt as she let the man's hands grip her curvaceous hips. It was a silent cry for help - you'd seen the same look in the other girls' eyes before. Not just at the Chateau, either. At all the establishments you'd wheedled your way into.

You wanted nothing more than to slug the bastard who had to be forty years Lavender's senior, and shame him for defacing an innocent like her. For going behind his wife's back because God forbid she age like human beings do. You saw the ring tan wrapping his ring finger. That was an easy spot after being in the workplace as you long as you had. Or maybe that was just your profiler background giving you an upper hand.

Before you could do anything, however, Lavender was dragged back into a conversation with the lech, forcing a fake smile to crinkle her beautiful features. And you still had three drinks to deliver.

'There you go, boys,' you drawled out, slapping on a flirtatious smile as you placed the three glasses onto the small round table between the three occupied chairs.

'Why thank you, sweetheart,' one said, flashing your smile back at you in return. 'I've been looking forward to this all night.'

'Why don't you sit down with us,' another one said, patting his lap as he took a sip from his glass, never losing eye contact with you.

You repressed the shudder that instinctively rattled your bones, and instead you waved a hand carelessly. 'No, no. I can't. I'm on bar shift tonight, boys. I mean, who else is going to get you your drinks?'

'I'm sure someone else could cover for ya, sweetheart,' the third man suggested, hand reaching out to graze your hips. 'Come on, just ten minutes won't hurt anyone.'

Bile rose up in your throat at his touch, how it sent an uncomfortable chill through you despite the heat inside the Pit. But you were Serena Vanderguff, and this was not your first rodeo.

You gracefully yet pointedly slapped his hand away from you, laughing boisterously like you hadn't purposefully done that. 'Oh, you boys have such a wild sense of humour. But be honest... you couldn't afford ten minutes of this.'

You swayed your hips as you walked away, knowing full well they were staring after you. Wolf whistles followed your movements but none of them came after you thankfully, no doubt because they set their sights on some other poor victims.

You approached the bar and placed your tray on it, leaning on it with a sigh.

'Tell me about it,' a velvety voice said. The voice belonged to a gorgeous woman with charcoal skin, chocolate eyes, and multicoloured braids who was wiping glasses before putting them back behind the bar to use for another round of drinks. 'But I'm sad to say, but the night is still young.'

'You got that right, Ajani,' you murmured, rubbing around your eyes to avoid messing up your eye makeup. It was a little bright and bold for your taste, but it didn't matter what you liked.

It hadn't mattered for a while now.

'Hey,' Ajani said, grabbing your attention. 'Madame was looking for you in her office.'

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 'For me? What for?'

Ajani shrugged, throwing the hand towel she'd been using over her shoulder. 'She didn't say what exactly, just that she wanted to see you now. Don't worry, I'll get Becky to cover for ten.'

You nodded, then cautiously turned over my shoulder to the door to the side of the stage that read OFFICE. It wasn't unusual for you to be called in to her office as of late. It was exactly what you wanted. But it didn't mean you weren't any less terrified whenever you entered, the endless possibilities of why you were in there driving you crazy.

The door opened to reveal Madame Lacroix sitting at her desk, a drink in hand, and two other men sitting in the two chairs on the other side of it. Two men, you were terrified to notice, you recognised as managers of your previous workplaces: Alfred Royalton of the Charming Times brothel, and Melton Jones from Guilty Pleasure. Their quiet murmurings silenced as soon as you came into view, their piercing gazes freezing you in the doorway.

'You wanted to see me, Madame?' you said as perkily as you could, hoping to cover your fear up slightly.

Madame Lacroix's red lips split in an award-winning smile as she waved you inside with her free hand. 'Yes, Serena. I was! How lovely of you to join us. Come in, come in!'

You quickly scurried in and closed the door behind you, happy to find reprieve in the much quieter room compared to the Pit. But that reprieve didn't last long, as you met your old bosses' curious gazes.

'You remember Alfred and Melton, Serena?' Madame Lacroix prompted after an awkward moment of silence.

'Yes,' you answered. 'It's great to see you both. You're looking well.'

'And so are you, dear Serena,' Alfred said, walking over and embracing you in an awkward hug as he tried to not spill his drink. As an older gentlemen, he seemed more like a fatherly figure to the girls in his employment. But from what you knew about the business he and the others in the room were involved in, he came off as a creepy pedophile. 'I'm so glad to see Madame Lacroix treating you so well. You know you are always welcome back at the old haunt.'

'If she's going back to anyone, it's me,' Melton said, the certainty in his words matching the intensity of his eyes. They raked you up and down, and again you repressed a shiver from the disgusting feeling it gave you to be watched like a piece of meat. Melton Jones couldn't be older than thirty-five, and was the son of one of the biggest CEO's in Eco-energy products and research.

You could only imagine what his big-time mother would think if she knew what her son was really into.

'Tough luck, boys. She's mine now,' Madame Lacroix interrupted the fight, getting up from her seat to walk around her desk and sling an arm around your shoulders. 'But why don't we get into what we really want to talk about? Have a seat, my dear.'

You didn't have much of a choice as Madame Lacroix guided you to sit in her own desk chair before joining the men on the other side. They all looked at you expectantly, but their smiles were more alarming than reassuring.

'Um... what did you want to see me for, Madame?' you asked after a moment of silence.

Madame didn't respond right away, placing her glass of wine down first on the desk. 'You are a special girl, Serena. Very special indeed.'

You raised a quizzical brow. 'How so?'

'You've impressed us,' Alfred answered, looking around at his peers. 'Your ability to keep secrets and do things without being asked has attributed to this. It's one of the reasons we've had to share you around so much and in such little time. If I had any say, you would've never left Charming Times!'

'You've done our stocktake,' Melton continued, those snake eyes of his never leaving yours. 'Kept certain... shipments under wraps. Picked up exclusive clientele that has done wonders for our business. You're like our own little personal lucky charm.'

You recounted all the times you'd hidden the secret load of drugs that were snuck into customer's drinks and food to get them so delirious they didn't realise how much money they were spending. All the times you sat in on meetings with the managers about who to target the next night, and all the shady receipts of shipments with unknown contents in them you hadn't be told about yet.

All the the illegal and dangerous deals that you'd told your Organised Crime unit about behind your managers' backs.

'That is why we would like to reward you, my dear,' Madame Lacroix said, a smile you figured to be proud gracing her lips. 'And we're not the only ones who think so too. We think you're ready to learn our... business, and so does the Boss.'

'The Boss?' you asked tentatively, not bothering to mask your slight fear. Was this the seller? Was this the guy you'd been trying to take down for almost a year now?

'Oh don't look so terrified, honey,' Madame Lacroix doted, walking around the desk to pat at your head. She leaned in close to you, and you restrained from gagging at the smell of too much wine tainting her breath. 'The Boss is impressed by your work and commitment to the trade. So much so, he wants to meet you. Soon.'

The men looked at you expectantly, and that's when you realised how you should be reacting. 'R-Really?' you mustered out an excited response, widening your eyes to appear more innocent. 'The Boss wants to see me?'

'Yes, Serena,' Alfred said. 'All the arrangements will be made when you meet, but soon you'll be seeing him a lot.'

'Arrangements?'

Melton surprisingly was the one to answer you. 'Each establishment in the Business, as we like to call it, has their hierarchy. The Boss is above us all, and he helps keep our establishments running smoothly. From there, it goes us, then our employees. That's you right now, Serena. But there is a status in between us and the employees that is trusted more than the others, kind of like our right hand woman.'

'And that woman acts as our mediator between us and the Boss,' Madame Lacroix continued, still stroking your hair. 'Kind of like a peace offering for how generous and kind he is to us.'

'What has this got to do with me?' you asked, but you already knew what the answer would be.

Madame Lacroix let out a dramatic sigh as she stood to make her way around the desk again, rejoining the men. 'Well, our mediator at the Chateau was Roxy, but, well, you know what happened to her. So what I'm offering is a chance to become the next Roxy, Serena. Be my most trusted employee, to learn the Business, and to appease the Boss- I mean, thank him.'

She stopped mid-walk to turn and look you dead in the eye, and despite her drunken breath, you saw clarity and evil flash in those emerald eyes of hers.

'So, what do you say, Serena? Do you want to be one of us?'

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid x you #spencer reid imagine #spencer x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #romance #angst #david rossi #derek morgan #jason gideon #jennifer jareau #slowburn #aaron hotch hotchner #emily prentiss #alex blake #kate callahan #penelope garcia #criminal minds fandom #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds imagines #criminals minds imagine #criminal minds #criminal minds x reader #fbi #fbi investigation #friends to lovers #friends to more

[sunnyrealist]

Chapter 34: A Hidden Cave

The Sun, the Moon, and All Our Stars

Summary and Details…

Chapter Background and Summary: Sebastian and Kate are on an adventurous camping trip in the Scottish Highlands. Their first two days were leisurely, but now that their third day has begun, they're getting higher into the mountains and closer to the places they want to explore. In this chapter, the two lovers discover a cave hidden behind a large waterfall that does not appear on any map.

Pairing: 25-year-old, post-Azkaban Sebastian Sallow x Kate Mayflower (my OC)

Content warnings: In general, this story is rated 18+, so MNDI. For this particular chapter, there are no content warnings.

The full chapter is available below the cut; it can also be found on AO3 (link is posted below). Please leave some feedback. A comment, like, or Kudos would be quite motivational. 🥰

Chapter 34: A Hidden Cave

Sitting on a large rock, Sebastian unfolds his map. As she patiently waits, Kate observes her boyfriend silently studying the route. 

Being dressed for action and adventure feels so foreign to her. She had to pay a visit to Augustus Hill at Gladrags prior to the trip to acquire outfits suited to hiking and exploration per Sebastian’s strong suggestion. She could still hear his words in her head: “Dresses are completely unsuitable for the trip.” Trousers are not Kate’s favorite clothing item by any means, but she had to admit, now that they were truly trekking up mountains over rocky terrain, that they are the most sensible. Accompanied by boots, a sweater with two additional layers, gloves, and a cape, Kate wears a darker color palette than usual - browns with varying degrees of gray. 

Sebastian appears dashing and completely in his element, clad in a jacket and trousers in off-white, with a vest and cape in dark green, and boots, a necktie, and belt in shades of brown. His chocolate eyes are trained on the map, then glance at their current surroundings.

“We should still have a couple more hours until we reach the first cave,” he explains, perplexed. “There is nothing like this marked on the map. It’s strange.”

Kate, though surprised, can’t help but marvel at the gorgeous waterfall along their path. “Then it’s a lovely surprise, wouldn’t you say?” 

Sebastian’s eyes narrow as he stands up, examining the waterfall. “It is rather pretty, but this map should account for almost everything we should see along the way. The thing is - we are going in the right direction… I just can’t make sense of it.”

Kate reaches out, smiling and putting her hands over his, forcing him to fold up the map. “Do we need an explanation for something so beautiful? Perhaps we should simply enjoy it as it is.”

Sebastian sighs, the tension visibly disappearing from his posture. “I suppose you’re right.” 

He pockets the map, then puts an arm around Kate’s waist as they both admire the sight. She leans her head between his arm and chest, taking in every little detail.

A moment later, she gasps. “Sebastian… look! Look behind the waterfall! Do you see it?”

Sebastian focuses, staring. There is a tiny path leading towards the waterfall, which doesn’t seem all that interesting until he notices an opening - a cave entrance - behind it. “Was that there the entire time? I swear, I didn’t notice it until just now. How odd.”

“I don’t know,” Kate replies honestly. “Likewise. I only just saw it…”

They turn to look at each other, rather intrigued. 

“Sebastian, if this was not on the map, it could mean that no one knows this is here,” she deduces. 

“Yes, you’re right,” Sebastian agrees, intrigued. “Who knows what could be inside? Perhaps we are the first to find it in centuries…”

Kate raises her eyebrows. “There would only be one way to find out… Should we go inside?”

Sebastian pauses, running through hypothetical situations they might find themselves in. “Unmarked destinations can pose danger. If no one has been here for years and years, there could be a high reward if someone used it as a hiding place for treasure. But, I’ll admit - situations like this are high-risk.”

Kate nods. “I know nothing about this, but I trust your judgment, Bash.”

“High risk, high reward…” he muses, then puts his hands on Kate’s shoulders, making certain that she is listening to him carefully. “There could be traps. Curses. Spiders. I mean, truly, who knows.” He studies her face. “My love, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but I’m not sure you’re ready for something like this. This is only your first time exploring…”

She cuts him off. “But you said that the castle we’ll explore has been abandoned for centuries, too. Why is that any different?”

Sebastian considers her reasoning. “I… I understand what you’re thinking. It’s just that caves have a more… wild and untamed nature than something man-made like a castle. Anything could be waiting in the dark for us.”

Kate smiles, pulling out her wand. “Then let’s use Lumos.” She pokes him with the wand. “My moon, this is why we’re out here, isn’t it? To have an adventure together? Come on, let’s check it out. If you’re with me, I know I’m safe.”

The worry on his face begins to fade. “Yes, that’s true… Well, if you’re this enthusiastic, I suppose we could have a look around.” He takes her hand, kissing it, then speaks in a serious tone. “Just promise me… if I tell you to do something, you’ll do it.”

“You’re not the boss of me, Sebastian Sallow,” she playfully retorts, already beginning to wander onto the narrow path that leads to the cave.

“Kate - wait! You need to be more careful. It’ll be slippery,” he warns.

Just as he finishes speaking, she loses her footing with a little shriek. She almost topples over but catches herself in time. It all happens so quickly that Sebastian can do little more than reach out. She flattens herself against the rocky wall, her eyes wide as she stares at the steep drop leading to a pool of water far, far below. Her heartbeat drums in her ears.

“Are you okay?!” Sebastian asks, gingerly making his way towards her.

“Yes,” she responds breathlessly.

“This is exactly what I meant when I said you need to listen to me,” he continued, his own heart rate speeding. “Merlin, you scared me.”

“I’m sorry.” She observes him carefully. “I know you have more experience. I guess I was just excited to try something new.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine,” Sebastian repeats. “Come here.”

Kate shuffles back towards him, much more cautious now. Her boyfriend opens his arms and takes her into his embrace.

“I don’t want to have any chance of losing you,” he whispers, kissing the top of her head. 

“You won’t. I promise - you won’t.”

“I’ll protect you as best I can,” he murmurs against her hair. “My sun.”

“And I’ll do the same,” Kate tells him. “I’ll protect you, too, my moon.”

Sebastian laughs heartily. “Oh, Kate, my love. I don’t think I’m in any need of that. Remember, I’m the experienced one here.”

She smiles. “Yes, you are. But even so…” Glancing back towards the cave, she asks, “Are you sure we should do this? I’m having some doubts now.”

“It will be fine,” he answers after a moment. “We will be fine.”

As the light slowly disappears behind them, Kate holds on to Sebastian’s arm. His eyes dart around, trying to get a sense of what the cave might be like. She can’t explain it, but she feels a sense of exhilaration along with a sense of dread. Every step forward, the sensation increases. Neither of them speak. The two listen intently for any sounds that might indicate danger, but it is eerily silent and has been since they entered the cave, despite the rushing waterfall outside.

Without warning, both of them fall over, tripping over something that feels like overgrown tree roots. Kate squeaks in surprise and then becomes more alarmed as she feels tendrils moving around her, wrapping around her legs and torso. She is separated from Sebastian, who is dragged in the opposite direction.

“Bash!” Kate shrieks, terrified as she is carried towards a wall, the tendrils growing tighter as she squirms.

“Lumos!” Sebastian bellows with his wand outstretched, bathing the area in light.

Kate gasps in realization the moment she sees the source. “Devil’s snare!”

“Lumos maxima!” he calls out. 

The plant drops him immediately, shrinking away from the illumination. Sebastian stands up quickly, rushing over to Kate with his wand held out towards the Devil’s Snare. It relaxes its grip around her until she is able to stand on her own two feet. 

She reaches out for him, trying to feel secure with a hug, but he shakes his head. “We need to move past this area - it’s not safe.”

Sebastian pulls her forward with haste, turning back to see the Devil’s Snare stretching back out across the cave floor as the light from his wand gets further and further away. 

“I should have known it was Devil’s Snare,” Kate whispers, shaking her head in remorse. “My papa would have been so disappointed to see me scrambling like that. I… I didn’t have a clear head.”

“It’s alright. Just keep your wits about you,” Sebastian requests. “We may run into more surprises soon enough.” 

After walking about ten more minutes, Sebastian affirms Kate’s feelings by sharing his own. “Something about this cave is strange. I don’t like it. I have half a mind to turn back. It just doesn’t feel right.”

“I have an odd feeling, too. It’s like I feel… thrilled… but also terrified.”

“Maybe we should leave-”

“Sebastian!” Kate shouts, cutting him off. “Wow! Do you see?!”

He squints and then his eyes land upon what his girlfriend has spotted. From right where they stand, the cave walls are suddenly growing with life - and glowing. Lined with green vines and leaves along with huge, exotic flowers, it seems like a little paradise within the darkness. The area is lit up by bioluminescent mushrooms. Common blue butterflies flit about, not at all afraid of the humans walking amongst them.

“I don’t understand… I didn’t think anything like this could grow without sunlight,” Kate muses, astonished. She reaches out to touch a yellow and pink hibiscus flower, her fingertips caressing the silky, soft petals. Her eyebrows raise when she realizes that all of the plant life feels as cold as ice, yet unfrozen. “My papa would be fascinated.”

“No, none of it could grow without light,” Sebastian replies. “This makes no sense.”

“But it is real, Bash,” Kate tells him, astonished. “Touch something. You’ll see. It isn’t an illusion…”

He reaches out to touch leaves on the vines, sharply inhaling when he feels how freezing cold they are. His eyes are wide as he contemplates how the cave could defy nature. He takes a moment to think.

“Something’s wrong here,” Sebastian finally concludes in a serious and urgent tone. “We need to leave. It isn’t right. It isn’t natural.”

A group of butterflies rushes in front of Kate. She gasps. “Sebastian, even more butterflies!” 

They fly further into the cave with Kate eagerly following. Sebastian trails after her. “Kate…” he warns.

She completely ignores him, transfixed by the display. Deeper and deeper she travels, driven by the instinct to follow the butterflies to beautiful treasure, just like she had in the forest. As nervous as Sebastian feels, his feet move forward. Something within him is bidding him to continue on, to follow his lover…

The path within the cave eventually ends, circling around a lowered pit. The butterflies flutter down below, where Kate and Sebastian cannot follow. 

From the corner of Kate’s eye, something dark flies, almost hovering up above. Not able to see much in the darkness, she ignores it, figuring it must be a bat. It certainly isn’t the butterflies; now at the bottom of the pit, they all fly in a wild circle, stuck in an endless loop, until they disappear into thin air.

The pit dimly lights up. They are no longer observing a dark and empty pit but a bookstore within the cave. 

#hogwarts legacy fanfic #hogwarts legacy sebastian #sebastian sallow x oc #post azkaban sebastian #hufflepuff x slytherin #aged up sebastian sallow #hogwarts legacy oc #hl oc #hl sebastian #hogwarts legacy romance

[cinematicct]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

This science fiction romantic drama film stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as modest introvert Joel Barish and vivacious extrovert Clementine Kruczynski, respectively, who undergo a medical procedure to erase each other from their memories following the end of their relationship.

The supporting cast includes: Kirsten Dunst as receptionist Mary Svevo, Mark Ruffalo as top technician Stan Fink, Elijah Wood (post-Lord of the Rings) as fellow technician Patrick Wertz, Tom Wilkinson as Dr. Howard Mierzwiak and David Cross and Jane Adams as supporting couple/colleagues Rob and Carrie Eakin.

Jim Carrey, after years of over-the-top slapstick fame (and success in a few freakish dramatics), has found the perfect opportunity to showcase a side of him we’ve hardly ever seen: an everyman with a profound sense of nuanced sentiment. Kate Winslet, in contrast to her work in period pieces (Titanic, anyone?), turns her raw energy into an exotic piece of contemporary pleasure. Together, Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet turn an unlikely pairing into a pairing of unmatched talent. Kirsten Dunst’s minor but pivotal performance is equally laudable given that her character symbolizes blissful ignorance (despite a dark secret behind it).

The script (which won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay) is intelligently written in a way that pushes the boundaries of a clichéd rom-com by juxtaposing mind-bending sci-fi with the mundane relationship realism, creating a unique twist in the genre. In screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s case, he has created an oddly yet beautifully crafted story that revolves around the inner workings of relationships and breakups.

In terms of analyzing the main aspect of the film, Joel and Clementine each have different mental health issues that often clash with one another. Joel is an emotionally complex person burdened with the one thing (given the cultural context) that sometimes comes with being in a relationship: invasion of privacy. Hence, his insecurities have taken a major toll on his love life. Clementine on the other hand is a human streak of zest and intensity (as hinted by her changing hair color), though her impulsive tendencies cause her to develop hasty idealizations and devaluations of Joel.

In an effort to move on, Joel and Clementine proceed to eradicate the unbearable pain of their tumultuous relationship via advanced technology from a company called Lacuna (another word for “gap”). However, as the memory-erasing process gets underway, an unexpected disintegration of the entire subconscious occurs, thereby creating a gradual emptiness in Joel’s mind. As such, he resists the procedure and tries to keep his mental projection of Clementine from disappearing completely. Meanwhile, one of the technicians (Elijah Wood’s character) steals Joel’s memorabilia of Clementine, the latter of whom got the procedure done first, in an attempt to use as a guide to seduce her.

This particular film creatively opts for a surrealistic visual style that maps out the off-kilter impression of what a nonlinear reminiscence might look like in the process of starting over with a clean slate (which, as it turns out, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be). What’s more, the movie distinguishes the freshly ingrained negative experiences of a relationship from the seemingly hazy yet cherished ones. In other words, referring to the title of the film, a lasting bliss of a painless mind might seem like the perfect solution to forgetting the losses, suffering and mistakes of the past. But the truth of the matter is that we would have nothing to learn or grow from if painful memories were wiped out entirely.

The soundtrack contains a couple tracks that represent a wave of whimsical nostalgia since this story examines the nature of love and memory. Such songs include: a cover version of “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometimes” by Beck and “Light & Day” by The Polyphonic Spree.

Lastly, the film as a whole speaks to the insuppressible power of memory in extensive detail: no matter how much we may try to clear our minds, we need to remember that mental pain is essential in helping us change for the better. All in all, I firmly recommend this bizarrely insightful, deeply aesthetic masterpiece to every fan of Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet and sci-fi fantasy.

“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d.”

-Alexander Pope

#eternal sunshine of the spotless mind 2004 #focus features #science fiction #romantic drama #charlie kaufman #Jim Carrey #joel barish #kate winslet #clementine kruczynski #kirsten dunst #Mary Svevo #mark ruffalo #elijah wood #tom wilkinson #dr howard mierzwiak #Lacuna Inc #memory erasure #nonlinear narrative

[transitofmercury]

Pulitzer Family Fact Post (Katherine's Siblings Edition)

I'm finally doing it, after threeish years, I'm finally making posts about my acquired knowledge of the Pulitzer family. I'm starting with what I know about his kids because I think that's what people would find most interesting. I'd quite like to go on about Pulitzer's siblings and what people have managed to figure out about his childhood but I'll do that another day. It's been a while so I might forget stuff or get things slightly wrong but I'm doing my best to be accurate. Information is mostly from James McGrath Morris' book, 'Pulitzer: A life in Politics, Print and Power' and records I looked at on Ancestry (I got really weird about this).

Pulitzer and his wife, Kate Davis, had 7 children: Ralph, Lucille, Katherine, Joseph, Edith, Constance and Herbert. I'm just going to go through kid-by-kid and reel off everything I remember that is actually semi-interesting.

Ralph Pulitzer: Born June 11th, 1879. Died June 14th, 1939. He was born in St. Louis because Pulitzer hadn't bought The New York World and moved the family to New York at this point.

All the kids seem to have been sickly (like their father) but Ralph was asthmatic and small for his age, his health was always a concern. The family would spend a lot of time in Europe but he and Lucille were the ones who usually joined their parents while the younger ones were left in America. He didn't like learning Latin (From a letter to Lucille: "I never imagined a language capable of such filthy, beastly rules and contradictions") and preferred Greek. He was educated at St. Mark's School and would've been at Harvard by the time that Newsies happened.

All the sons were a bit detached from the realities of how newspapers worked because they were raised in mansions and boarding schools but Pulitzer was surprised and very upset about them having limited journalistic skills. He really wanted them to be prepared to run the paper after him and they really weren't. He started to become president of The World around 1907. When Pulitzer died, he got 20% of the newspaper stock in the will. He was the main person running The World before they sold it in 1931. Ralph preferred high society life to newspapers. He married Frederica Webb who was vaguely a Vanderbilt in 1905. They had two sons, I think, and eventually divorced. He remarried and had two daughters but one died very young. He died in New York following complications to do with abdominal surgery.

Lucille Irma Pulitzer: Born September 30th, 1880. Died December 31st, 1897. She was probably also born in St. Louis but I haven't been able to find the record. Her middle name seems to come from one of Pulitzer's sisters.

She was Pulitzer's favourite, that's the key thing about her. He had very high expectations of his children and a lot of rules, and she managed to meet those expectations and didn't break those rules. She was focused on her studies, she could speak multiple languages and play multiple instruments. In Pulitzer's code-book, she's referred to as 'Lulu' instead of Lucille. Seems to have spent a lot of her younger years in Europe. When she was 14 she had a minor throat surgery and Pulitzer got upset that everyone was paying her more attention than they were him (his wife got really mad at him and he sent Lucille flowers to apologise).

I think I read about her graduating from Miss Brown's School for Young Ladies in May 1897 when she would've been 16. Summer of that year they held a party at the Chatwold (their place in Bar Harbour) to basically debut her. A couple days later, she became ill. She had Typhoid and despite the family's efforts, she died months later at the Chatwold on New Years Eve. After her death, Pulitzer established the Lucille Pulitzer Scholarship at Barnard College, which makes me think she wanted to go to college and that he would have supported this.

Katherine Ethel Pulitzer: Born January 30th, 1882. Died May 9th, 1884. Same as Lucille, probably born in St. Louis but I've never seen the records. She's the one daughter whose middle name I can't link to one of Pulitzer's family members but her first name comes from her mother. There's not much to say because she died so young. She died of Pneumonia in New York almost a year exactly (one day off) after Pulitzer purchased The World.

This is quite sad (it's already sad) but she is either omitted or forgotten in the 1900 census. They asked for the number of children born and the number of children living, at this point all 7 had been born and 5 were alive but the Pulitzers responded that 6 had been born instead. They weren't forgetting Lucille after three years, so it seems like Katherine was not counted.

Joseph Pulitzer II: Born March 21st, 1885. Died March 30th, 1955. One of the few children born in New York.

Less sickly than the others but Pulitzer was constantly disappointed by him. He was also sent to St. Mark's School. As a teenager he didn't do what his father told him to and didn't pay enough attention to his studies. He got thrown out of St. Mark's in 1901 after he and some friends snuck out to buy beer and then ended up climbing into the headmaster and his wife's bedroom when they were sneaking back in. Pulitzer was really angry about that. Pulitzer managed to get him into Harvard but he just kept being the same as he was before so Pulitzer pulled him out of Harvard.

He got sent to St. Louis to be trained by the people Pulitzer had at the Post-Dispatch and actually developed journalistic talent. His father could not see this talent and was still disappointed in him. He only got 10% of the newspaper stock when his dad died. He ran the Post-Dispatch far better than his brothers ran The World. He tried to punch Hearst which is just really funny to me. He married Elinor Wickham in 1910, she died in 1925 and a year later he married Elizabeth Edgar. He had similar health problems to his father towards the end of his life and after he died, the Post-Dispatch passed to his son, Joseph Pulitzer III, it stayed in the family's hands until very recently (either the 90s or the 00s) but there was a legal battle about whether to sell it in the 80s.

Edith Louise Pulitzer: Born June 19th, 1886. Died April 6th, 1975. She was born in Lenox, Massachusetts. Her middle name seems to come from Pulitzer's mother.

Pulitzer was not that interested in his younger daughters but he still had high expectations for them. When she was younger and her parents travelled to Europe, she seems to have been left in America more than her older siblings but later on she seems to have been just following her mother around to wherever she went. She was 13 when the Pulitzer house fire happened in January 1900. Morris mentions an incident where she got upset at her father for constantly criticising her and the two of them had a bit of an argument. She was sent to Miss Vinton’s School for Girls in Connecticut.

She married William Scoville Moore a couple weeks after her father died, I think I read that they had to have a pretty boring, scaled back wedding because, officially, she and her mother were still in mourning. They had five sons. William died in 1944 and then two of their sons died in 1944 and 1945 fighting in the war. Another son died in 1957. She lived the longest out of all of the children, and 1975 feels so strangely recent for a child of Joseph Pulitzer to have been alive then. She and Constance both got the same amount in the will and it was obviously a lot of stuff but I think she might've tried to claim that it wasn't enough and that her father wasn't in his right mind when he made the will.

Constance Helen Pulitzer: Born December 13th, 1888. Died July 14th, 1938. She was born in France, probably Paris, because the family (Joseph, his wife and the eldest two children) were in Europe looking for advice on his worsening health when she was born. According to census responses from the early 20th century, her first language was French while all her siblings' had been English. Her middle name seems to come from another one of Pulitzer's sisters.

Pulitzer did not see her for very extended periods of time in her early childhood. She was also at home when the Pulitzer house fire happened, she was 11 at the time. Once, when Pulitzer was away from home, he only received a letter from Constance and told his wife to tell the other children he didn't love them (that's a quote, "To all the rest of the children you can say I do not love them"). She also followed her mother around Europe a bit when she got older. She debuted in 1907.

In 1913 she married William Grey Elmslie who had been her younger brother's tutor. The family expressed their support for the marriage but I think only Edith was actually present. Oh, this is Newsies relevant: she and Edith shared a property in Santa Fe. She died at 49 which is young even by Pulitzer family standards and makes her the first child to die in adulthood but I can't find a cause of death so I don't know what went on there.

Herbert Pulitzer: Born November 20th, 1896. Died September 4th, 1957. He was born in New York. I see him get called Tony a lot, he might've had a middle name that gets forgotten.

This is a twist you're not expecting: he may have not actually been Pulitzer's son. There's (significant) evidence that Kate was having an affair with Arthur Brisbane when she got pregnant with Herbert and it's definitely possible that Arthur was Herbert's father. He was born a long time after Constance considering that the first 6 children were born within 10 years of each other. And if you look at pictures of Pulitzer and his older sons at around the same age, they look very similar - I don't think Herbert looked that much like him but he does kinda look like Arthur. We can't really know but I do think it's very, very possible. Pulitzer never doubted that Herbert was his, and he seems to have been the favourite of his sons since he got 60% of the newspaper stock. He briefly ran The World in the years before it was sold but apparently people who worked there didn't like him. He was very young when the Pulitzer house fire happened and Kate had to go back inside to save him.

I'm less certain about details in Herbert's life than the other children, I'm not sure why I know less about him but I do. He was the only child at his father's deathbed, when he was only a teenager. He learnt to fly and fought at the end of WW1. Married Gladys Munn in 1926 and they had two children together. Their son, also called Herbert, led a messy life (highly publicised divorce). Herbert died of uremic poisoning, which is described "urine in the blood" and, yeah, that's the note this post is going out on.

Again, it's possible I've made mistakes or forgotten stuff here. I also can't stress enough how much information James McGrath Morris' book has provided this post.

#while factchecking this post i found a new funfact #pulitzer sent ralph for an examination at a hospital in my home city (birmingam uk) thats so cool for me and no one else #katherine plumber pulitzer my beloved #katherine plumber #katherine pulitzer #joseph pulitzer #newsies #mercury posting

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

Plant, I’m disappointed that you decided to join the Cult of Kate. It’s just as extreme as the Cult of Meghan, and just as wide of the mark. You have been a royal watcher a lot longer than most of these Johnny-come-latelies, and you know just as well as I do that there is no respect for Kate in palace circles (and you also know the many reasons why). It’s your blog and your right to pander to that audience if you so choose; I’m just saying I miss the days when you were truly neutral and impartial.

Oh Plant do tell…. Why she won’t be respected (according to the anon)? Or why she isn’t respected?

Pd. For what I have seen or read, you aren’t from the cult, you are very wise in your PR opinions (I love them), specially because it has been very entertaining to see how your past opinions have became truth, when I see through your ‘archive’, I’m like: ‘ oh boy she predicted this shenanigans way before the Harkles did it’

I’m not sure what incident the anon is thinking of, but when the Cambridges first got married there was some frustration within the palace (at least according to some leaks and articles). The Cambridges weren’t doing many engagements, Kate was spending tons of money, and there were some unfortunate pictures with floaty skirts, twirling hair, etc… Even before the engagement there were leaks that the Queen wanted Kate to get a job.

The stories died down a couple of years ago, when some high ranking courtiers left. So I think it may have been an “old guard vs new guard” phenomenon.

The Baroness Bruck Twitter account is now trying to revive those old stories. I thought that was just a sugar gone wild, but she’s now tweeting obviously planted articles from small publications so it seems she’s working with a pr firm.

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday to the bubbly bonnie Ashley Jensen born in Annan on August 11th 1969.

Raised single handedly by her mother Margaret, Ashley knew from an early age she wanted to be an actress. She grew up glued to British sitcoms, especially Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em with Michael Crawford as Frank Spencer. And after her mum saved up for her to attend the National Youth Theatre in London, the 16-year-old returned home determined to pursue a career on the stage.

Ashley went on to study drama at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh before fulfilling her dream by landing roles treading the boards in London. From theatre she moved into TV, ealy roles included wee parts in City Lights and Rab C Nesbit , and a 1991 film called Tickets for the Zoo, which was set in my hometown Edinburgh, she the started racking up credits in popular dramas such as The Bill, Casualty, Clocking Off and EastEnders. Other Scottsih roles were in Taggart and Rebus.

It was her part as Ricky Gervais’ hapless sidekick in the popular Extras that was to be Ashley’s breakthrough role, though. As well as making her a household name in Britain it also gave her the opportunity to appear alongside Hollywood heavyweights such as Kate Winslet, Samuel L Jackson and Orlando Bloom, all of whom made guest appearances. The part also brought official recognition when she was named both best actress and best newcomer at the 2005 British Comedy awards - accolades which she celebrated in typical low-key fashion with a cod sandwich from a roadside chip van.

Ashley saw fame in the US follow playing the straight-talking Christina in the sitcom Ugly Betty, leading her to relocate to LA and renting a house in the Hollywood Hills. While the role was originally meant to be American, the casting agents fell in love with her Scottish accent and it stayed.

Ashley may be a star in the US now but her feet are firmly on the ground I found this quote from her “Even now I think I might never work again. I’m still a bit like that. I probably always will be, “This from one of her best friends who has a chippy in Annan speaks volumes "She has her head screwed on and won’t be changed by the star treatment.” Recalling a visit to her LA home soon after Ashley relocated, he says: “We were holding hands and jumping up and down. She was shouting, 'Can you believe it? What am I doing here?’.” Ashley’s acting career has seen in her in many shows, my faves include, Catastrophe with fellow Scot Mark Bonnar, Trust Me, with Jodie Whittaker, which was set in Edinburgh, and again with Ricky Gervais in Afterlife, as well as the comedy drama Agatha Raisin, where she plays the title role, a cotswolds-based PR guru turned amateur sleuth.

Tragedy struck for Ashley in 2017 when she discovered her husband, Terence Beesley body at the wheel of his car in the garage at their Somerset home. The couple, who met in 1999 while they were both involved in a London theatre production of King Lear, were married for ten years. A verdict of suicide was later ruled on at the coroners court.

As well as her work as an actress Ashley has narrated a couple of shows recently, Inside The Balmoral: Scotland's Finest Hotel, about the hotel that takes pride of place at number I Princes Street and The Airport: Back in the Skies about London Heathrow.

Ashley was last on our screens in the fantastic two part drama Mayflies, I am looking forward to seeing how she is in the new series of Shetland, taking over as the lead role after Dougie Henshall left.

#scotland #scottish #history #actress #Shetland #television #cinema #theatre #happy birthday

[sea-owl]

One AU I really want to do is where first skin to skin contact, specifically the hands, reveals your soulmate. Especially in the Bridgerton world, you're supposed to be wearing gloves while out in public. Like I can see a step in courting like the step right before a proposal step is the couple takes off their gloves and touch hands to see if they're soulmates. Sometimes, it makes or breaks a courtship.

Kathony -

For this one, they are both very meticulous about wearing their gloves. Anthony does not want to leave a wife the way his mother was after his father's death, and he can't see himself living past 38 and outliving Edmund, so he decides better to marry for duty. Kate is focused on Edwina. They need to make sure Edwina marries well. Then comes the bee sting. Kate had previously taken off her gloves, and when she got stung, Anthony ripped his off. In his panic state, he had to see, hear, and feel that Kate was not going to die. Anthony grabs Kate's hand to pull her closer so he can, in his mind suck the posion out. Not only did the mothers see the boob sucking but they also saw the mark on their hands. There was no way they were getting out of this marriage.

Benophie-

I know what you're thinking, but it didn't happen at the ball. It was close, but when Benedict slipped off Sophie's silver glove, he still had his on. Didn't happen at My Cottage either. That one was also close, and Benedict almost grabbed her hand when she was walking away from the lake, but he couldn't reach high enough, so he grabbed her ankle instead. Their's happened in jail, and Araminta was pissed when Benedict pulled Sophie close to him and had it revealed they were soulmates.

Polin -

It truly is a wonder how they didn't know they were soulmates before it happened. Colin has a habit of taking Penelope's hand with no care in the world as he leads her somewhere. Some speculated that they already had touched hands and either have their marks or they didn't care about them. Their hand touch came after Colin followed Penelope to St Bride's discovering her secret of being Lady Whistledown. Colin, in his haste to follow Penelope, forgot his gloves. You know how sometimes you get so frustrated you have to throw something? That was Penelope with her gloves on the step of the church when she realized her hack was gone. Then incomes that little habit of Colin just grabbing Penelope's hand, and now they got two things to (not) talk about in his carriage.

Saphne -

Anthony was the spectator for when this hand touched happened, and he was pissed. Not only did his best friend publicly defile his little sister, but they're also soulmates, AND he still refuses to marry her! Hell yeah, Anthony is demanding satisfaction. The rakes duel at dawn!

#bridgerton #kathony #benophie #polin #saphne #soulmates #soulmate hand touch

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Ikemen Villains - Elbert Greetia

These translations are not intended as a replacement for the game. Please support Cybird by buying their stories. Expect grammatical errors. Not 100% accurate.

He responded with a smile that was so captivating that I almost forgot how to breathe.

But then一

???: “Is that you, Kate?”

(Huh? This voice...)

Kate: “Danny?”

I turned to look at the familiar voice and saw a colleague from the post office waving his hand with a surprised look.

Danny: “Long time no see! I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Elbert: “And you are?”

Danny: “Hi, I’m Danny. Kate’s coworker, well, former coworker. And this is my girlfriend, Loretta.”

Elbert: “Elbert Greetia.”

The woman introduced as Loretta was staring at Elbert with a starstruck expression.

(I hope she snaps out of it before Danny notices her.)

Danny: “I see you snag a handsome boyfriend. Where did you two meet?”

Kate: “Huh!? Um, while working at the palace?”

Danny: “Why the question mark? Also, didn’t you just start working at the palace a few weeks ago? And now you’re getting married?”

Kate: “I-It does seem quite fast. Ahahaha!”

(I didn’t consider coming up with a plausible explanation that wouldn’t raise suspicions for acquaintances.)

As I forced a smile and broke into a cold sweat, someone suddenly wrapped their arm around my waist and hugged me.

There was only one person here who would do such a thing.

Kate: “Elbert?”

Elbert: "You, too, should only look at me."

(!?)

I couldn't help but blush as he sweetly whispered over my shoulder.

Kate: "Ah. S-Sorry."

I could only squeeze out those words as my voice trembled.

Danny: "He really loves you."

Danny: "Tell me more about it next time, okay? Sorry for interrupting you guys. Best wishes!"

Danny took his girlfriend with him and smiled as they walked away.

(How will I explain this next time I see him?)

Elbert: "Sorry."

Kate: "It's okay! I was struggling, and you helped me out."

Elbert: "That's true, but as I stared at you, I couldn't help but want you to turn around.” **

Kate: "Huh?"

Elbert: "What's wrong?"

Kate: "Nothing!"

He doesn't seem to have any intention of teasing or flirting with me.

(It seems like he simply expressed what he was thinking.)

He removed his arm from my waist, but I couldn't move from the spot, and my cheeks were taking their time to cool down.

(He probably didn't have any deep intention. I should quit reading too much into it.)

Wanting to shake off my restlessness, I turned my gaze to my surroundings.

(Thank god. Everyone stared at us when we arrived earlier, but now, most of them are absorbed in their partners.)

I felt happy and frustrated as I saw Danny and Loretta laughing together in the distance.

(I can't believe these happy couples could disappear.)

Elbert: "I bet none of them ever thought that their current happiness would be destroyed."

He seemed to be looking at the lovers with the same feelings as I was, and I could sense the sadness in his mumbled words.

(What's happening here must be stopped.)

Kate: "Let's do our best not to let their happiness be destroyed."

Elbert: "Yeah."

Elbert: "They can still make it."

("Can still make it?")

The words stuck with me, but the sadness in his profile as he gazed at the happy scene made the question stuck in the back of my throat disappear.

After the party, the cultist stopped us and told us we had passed.

He also told us that the wedding would take place tomorrow and assigned us a room to stay at the church.

That night, we sneaked out of our room and found multiple coffins in the basement, confirming that the lovers had been stabbed to death after examining their bodies.

(They were probably killed during the ceremony since they were still wearing their dresses.)

Elbert: "Are you okay?"

Kate: "I'm fine. Let's complete the mission to save more unfortunate lovers from suffering."

(I used the word "complete," but now that we know Amour is guilty, he has to take the killer's life tomorrow.)

I wanted to stop this whole thing, but just thinking about his hands getting dirty hurt me so badly.

(Elbert was considerate and concerned about the possibility that I might get hurt.)

(He's kind and grieves for the misfortunes of the couples, and yet...)

Elbert: "You don't have to look so sad."

Elbert: "I guarantee your safety. I won't let the couples die anymore, so一"

???: "What are you doing here?"

(----!)

I turned around to see a sharp-eyed cultist staring at us from across the hallway, holding a lantern.

Elbert then covered me with his back to hide me.

Elbert: "We were just taking a night stroll. What about you? What are you doing here at this hour?"

Sharp-eyed cultist: "It's none of your business. Please go back to your rooms. It's not safe to go out here at night."

(That's an unusual choice of words for a cultist.)

Elbert also seemed to sense this, and after a few seconds of contemplation, he spoke up.

Elbert: "You don't seem to be a member of this group."

Sharp-eyed cultist: "----!"

Elbert: "Does what we saw in the basement have anything to do with this?"

Sharp-eyed cultist: "You've seen it. Well, then, to make the story short. I'm一"

The guy revealed an unexpected truth, and we made a certain promise before parting ways.

Female cultist: "Then, I'll call the groom for you."

Kate: "Yes. Thank you for everything."

Wearing the jet-black dress from the black box that Elbert had brought, I saw off the female cultist who helped me get ready and do my makeup.

(I've never seen such a gorgeous, beautiful dress before. I'm a little uneasy.)

As I grew restless, I turned my head to the door after hearing it open.

Kate: "Elbert, thank you for the dress."

Elbert: "..........."

Kate: "Elbert? Something wrong?"

Elbert: "No. It's nothing."

Kate: "Can I really wear this dress? It's yours, right?"

Elbert: "I found it after accepting the mission. I thought it would look good on you, so I got it."

Elbert: "Does wearing the dress bother you?"

Kate: "----!"

Elbert: "Does it?"

Kate: "No! I'm happy. Thank you."

Elbert: "As I thought, it looks good on you."

Elbert: "Maybe I should just lock you up like this."

(What?)

I felt a hint of darkness in the way he stared at me.

It was similar to the heavy, intense gaze he had when he was contemplating whether or not to cut the roses blooming in the garden.

I felt my entire body entangled in the beautiful dress he had given me and his gaze, and a shiver ran down my spine.

Kate: "You're good at giving compliments! I almost took you seriously there for a moment."

I couldn't help but avert my gaze.

Kate: "Come on, let's go, Elbert. Let's go get married."

Elbert: "Yeah, sure."

Elbert: "I pledge my undying love to you, my pretend bride."

Part 1┆Part 2┆Premium End┆Epilogue

#ikemen villains #ikemen villain #elbert greetia #ikevil elbert #ikevil #ikevil translations

[bookworm105616]

This is the rough timeline from the Renfield Fic I’m working on!

1899 - Robert Montague Renfield is born to a somewhat poor couple in a time where parents were encouraged to ignore their children as much as possible to keep them from growing spoiled, advise his parents take very seriously.

1906 - Robert suffers from “nervousness”, “breathing fits”, and what is described as “sensitivity better suited to a woman than a young man.”

1909 - Robert’s father loses his job and his parents, who have never been particularly fond of each other, begin to fight more viciously than ever. He looks for solace in religion but finds none, and instead he focuses on his studies—correctly assuming they are his only way out. His nervousness grows worse.

1912 - Robert displays an “unhealthy interest” in a boy in his class, who appears to reciprocate his affections. His parents discover this, and they are not pleased. He also begins to suffer from night terrors, hysteria, delirium, delusions, frequent fevers, and bouts of melancholy that leave him bedridden for days at a time.

1914 - The Great War begins and, at the ripe age of fifteen, Robert is pressured into enlisting to provide for the family. His parents hope this will cure him of his “sickness”, or that he’ll die.

1918 - Robert returns home from the war and resumes his studies as though nothing is amiss. He is barely aware of his surroundings and seems to exist in a perpetual state of nervousness.

1919 - Robert’s mother dies, and soon after he suffers a complete nervous breakdown and is sent to the Carfax Abbey-adjacent Sanatorium to recover.

1920 - Robert asks for a cat. He is denied.

1922 - After being prescribed Lithium, he begins to show marked improvements in mood and he is released. Once again, he resumes his studies.

1923 - Robert begins an apprenticeship of sorts under a man named Jonathan Harker, who is a kind, mild-mannered man in his early fifties. He likes Robert quite a bit, often saying he reminds him of himself.

1925 - Robert’s father sets him up with a woman named Kate. Though neither of them particularly want to go through with the arrangement, neither of them feels as though they have a choice. So they have a small, quiet wedding and move into a small house just a few doors down from her mother.

1926 - Lilian, their one and only daughter, is born. Robert is terrified. He also passes the bar exam, officially becoming a real estate lawyer. His night terrors return with a vengeance.

1931 - Robert is invited to the Count Dracula estate to help him sell a piece of property.

#renfield 2023 #renfield movie #renfield #my Fic