The StoryTinker

Tora wonders what could have triggered the sensor, and pictures a hilarious scenario with a Vogelkop Superb Bird of Paradise. He speeds off towards Poppy's home.    Poppy, in the cab, contemplates their conversation and why it hit her so hard. She worries about handing over too much power to someone else by caring too much.   When she arrives home, she sees a napping Gyu, whom Tora...

Lauren accosts Kieran in the locker room, where she tells him they need to talk. They walk to a nearby alleyway, with Will watching them. Relations between thenm are tense, but business must be attended to. Lauren and Kieran discuss what to do about the leader's directive to find and kill Lune. Kieran is highly uncomfortable at first, but comforted by the fact that Lauren is willing to work with h...

Will expresses his concern for Lauren's tardiness that morning, and Kym chimes in with a flattering comment about Lauren's eyebags. Kym and Will quickly get into an argument, but Will soon returns to his duties and tells Lauren to visit the infirmary and take the day off.    Will and Kym go on patrol, discussing what they think is up with Lauren. They very quickly get distracted by the C...

Season 2!   The APD has a new archivist, and it's... Kieran! Lauren freaks out, especially when she notices that he has what seems to be a gun tucked into his pocket.   She immediately thinks of all of her friends, dead at the APD. She steps forward to shake his hand, remembering all their previous violent interactions.    Kieran steps out to the bathroom, and Lauren accosts hi...

As Charles walks up the stairs to Sam's apartment, he reflects on last night's encounter with Eva. Turns out she gave him a taste of his own medicine, throwing his own move back at him. Which is a good thing, given that he would have slept with Eva otherwise and regretted it.   He walks into Sam's apartment, berating himself to be better behaved, but unfortunately for him and his wishes for s...

We open with Tora on a bridge, overlooking Narin City. He thinks through his charged day trying to track down Gil and shoot him, unsuccessfully.   He begins getting upset at himself, and recalls Joe's voice in his head, telling him to keep a light on.  He begins to panic, hyperventilating and blacking out, his negative thoughts swirling together with his affirmative thoughts and gli...

Poppy relives the past few minutes, trying to control her crying. Amazingly, she can actually get enough of a grip of her feelings to guess it has something to do with work.   When Poppy returns to the office, Erdene and Quincy can tell something's up. Quincy speaks to Poppy and tries to reassure her that Tora can sometimes be curt.   Poppy, alone at the office, tries to push her thought...

Sam is playing World of Warquest with her new pal and our favorite mystery man (person?), Dion. His Shakespearean mod costs the group their lives, and  dejected, he sits and does some grinding at the pond, speaking normally.   Sam shares some important information about what the game means to her, and then engages in some roleplay to make Dion feel better. They end their meaningful conve...

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: This episode deals with heavy issues.   We begin the episode with creepy Gil, who notices the dinosaur toy by his wife's body... but doesn't even register its significance, and kicks it aside.  We return to Poppy and Tora making their way to the coffee shop.  They are conducting a light-hearted conversation, but inside of Tora's head, nervous and agitated thoughts a...

Laurens stands in front of her board, looking at the picture of her parent's car outside the station that fateful day. She looks out the window & imagines her parents about to drive off. She slides down uselessly, & a bloody Kieran tells her that it's not their deaths she could have prevented. A small figure with gray hair comes forward. He tells her he knows she never meant to kill him. W...

Monica and Sam converse at the park after Monica's busy day. Monica asks about Sam's date, noticing her hickey. Sam is embarrassed, but Monica tells her not to worry about what other people think. Sam decides to ask for advice about Charles, and Monica asks her what her intensions are. Sam also, very uncomfortably, asks her about her premature enjoyment. Monica assures her that this is not a probl...

Through a series of flashbacks, we encounter Tim Sake playing cards, casting a baleful glance at a man, Kevin Chow, whom we then encounter on the ground, dead.  Lauren is assigned to the case, and we see her interrogating Tim Sake. We learn that Tim used to work in Kevin's father's mines and that Chow was a big backer of the railways and other royal projects.   When Sake utters lie after...

In the storage closet, Poppy has a hard time reacting to Tora's confession. She finds herself wanting to express herself but unable to. Luckily, Tora is understanding, and their subsequent kiss deepens into some more exploration. Tora respectfully asks to look at her (can't say the same for Poppy's biting  😉), and Poppy holds on for just a moment before succumbing to embarrassment. Neverthel...

The next day, Lauren is getting dressed, using makeup to hide the marks left by Kieran. She descends the stairs to find an elaborate breakfast with Tristan eating.    They engage in some banter, but then Tristan reveals his worry about Lauren.   He asks if he can interfere in her restoration, but Lauren refuses, acknowledging her error and wanting no special treatment. She then leav...

Kym and Will are in the office. Kym remembers their argument and makes a show of huffing and puffing. Lukas, enjoying the silence, offers to make coffee for everyone, shocking Will and Kym.    Some time passes, and Will decides to approach Kym and put his hand on her shoulder. Wrong move. She does a one arm shoulder throw and then makes things even worse by slapping his cheeks. Out of co...

Sam is at the dog park, contemplating her recent interaction with Charles, in which, in short order, she thanked him for driving her home, noticed his hand was out of his pocket, rebuffed his offer to cancel the fencing lessons, laced her hand through his, pulled him close, AND..... slammed the door in his face. Thanks, Sam. Blue balls for everyone. She wonders whether she did the right thing whil...

We open with Kieran standing in the cave, alone and stiff, finally expressing his emotion by screaming and punching the cave wall with such strength that pieces of it dislodge. He and Lauren have very similar reactions. He goes to the river to peer at his hands, recollecting all of Lauren's accusations and an early kill, Chandelier Man. His memory of his choking Lauren is now tainted with blood, a...

We see the aftermath of Lauren and Kieran's explosive encounter.   Lauren crashes her way through the forest, reliving Kieran's words and actions, pausing at his last statement, a lie.    She walks through the streets of Ardhalis, oblivious to the concerned stares she is getting by walking through the rain, soaked and scratched in her uniform. She is about to knock on Kym's door, wi...

This is THE episode. The darkest episode of them all, the one that must not be named. Be warned. Lauren barges into Kieran's cave, looking murderous. Kieran, of course, prepared, deflects and blurts out some nonsense designed to be as flippant as possible, even referencing his late night and passing it off as lighthearted.  Lauren, never one to beat around the bush, yells at him and accuses h...

Poppy recounts her VERY busy weekend to Erdene. It's hard to believe it all happened in one weekend! Erdene asks about Tora contacting her, but like the good friend she is, doesn't push it when Poppy doesn't have the energy to talk about it. They look at Erdene's new makeup stash, while Poppy thinks about Gil being away for two days. SUS. Turns out Poppy has been feeling the susness too, and that...

Meg and I got together to talk about a Webtoon we love.   A Webtoons version of a rom-com, Act Like You Love Me is about a hard working girl, Ji-eon and the childish actor she meets, Doyun... who she can control with a stuffed doll. Turns out, Ji-eon is not the only one with struggles, and she and Doyun may be able to both help each other.   There are other side characters along the way,...

We begin the episode with Sam confidently saying she would talk to Charles about a work lunch, and equally confidently refusing Umed's persuasions to join his Underwatch team.   She walks in on Charles having a very frustrating conversation with a very entitled an infuriating customer. Sam gets enraged, plucks the phone out of Charles' hand, and proceeds to give the customer a proper dressing...

Tora and Damien decide to chuck it all and go sleep in the car.   Unsurprisingly, they have dark eye bags when they decide to wait at a cafe in Moonbright for Poppy.   Poppy tries not to laugh at the matching tiger t-shirts, which she also has. We note their physical familiarity, and are impressed by Poppy affirming that she accepts Tora as he is, with no need to cover up.   In shor...

Link and Angela are playing at the gym. Dee has wisely dispatched Link away from the shop during Dallas' training.   Competition is fierce until Angela plays dirty and tickles Link. Link protests that this is unfair, and Angela apologizes while getting flustered by Link exposing his well-developed muscles.  She admits her admiration of Link's body, and takes it a step further by grinding...

After all our fear, turns out.... it's a false alarm. Literally. Gyu was just checking the motion sensor.   We flashback to Tora and Quincy's conversation, where Quincy surprisingly admits he never thought Tora and Poppy would get off the ground. We discuss possible reasons for this.   Quincy chooses this time to bring up Cordy, and we discuss potential theories with her as well.  &...