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#NO BUT HOW IS GUILLERMO GONNA INTRODUCE HIM??? IS HE GONNA FULLY GO 'THIS IS MY BF' LOOKING VERY POINTEDLY AWAY FROM NANDOR??
p4nishers · 2 years
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ok but imagine nandor kinda insulting guillermo like he usually does, meaning it as a joke and laughing at it bc he finds himself funny and guillermo doesn't get angry, he doesn't look at the camera long–sufferingly, he doesn't look at the camera at all. instead he just looks at nandor sadly, simply staring at him with his lips tipped down then just walks past him calmly. and he doesn't ignore nandor after or anything, but his disappointment is obvious and nandor frantically realizes that. oh. he's losing him.
im so very normal about this
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cookinguptales · 9 months
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The power is still out so I guess I’ll get started on that meta now.
One thing that I think is really fascinating about this season as a whole is that it’s really, really emphasizing the power Nandor and Guillermo have to accidentally hurt each other. It’s kind of fascinating, tbh, because this whole show it’s been Nandor purposefully but also accidentally hurting Guillermo — but this season, it’s been very much the other way around.
Let me start with Nandor’s history of this. It happens in almost every episode, being honest with you, but two of the clearest instances were in 1.01 and 4.09.
In the very first episode, we’re introduced to the relationship that Nandor and Guillermo have by how they behave on their 10th anniversary as a master-familiar partnership. Guillermo is practically giddy at the idea that his beloved master is finally going to make him a vampire, and he’s hurt deeply when he not only does not do so, he appears to have forgotten altogether how long Guillermo has been there.
We feel bad for Guillermo here, but… well, let’s look at it from Nandor’s perspective. Yes, he forgot how long Guillermo’s been there, but… being real with you, the vampires seem to have a very shaky grasp on time at the best of times. They don’t understand human lifespans at all, they have very fuzzy memories for when things happen, and almost every time they make time estimates they’re off by a hilarious amount. I don’t know that we can fully blame Nandor for not realizing that an entire decade has gone by — he, like the other vampires, tends to live simultaneously in the Long Time Ago and the Right Now and any time in between those periods is ?????
So to him, he’s remembered when their anniversary is (already a success) and has put hours into making a handmade art project for his very endearing familiar. He is sure that Guillermo is gonna love this. He thinks he is absolutely acing this being-a-vampiric-master thing.
But we know that his gift depicting the two of them as vampires together is really just rubbing salt in the wound, because we’re approaching this thing as humans — like Guillermo.
Then again in 4.09, Nandor straight-up steals Guillermo’s boyfriend and inadvertently puts the events in motion that will lead to Guillermo’s boyfriend leaving him for his own clone. Terrible behavior! This hurts Guillermo deeply! His very first boyfriend cheating on him (sort of) with the man he’s been in love with for over a decade and then leaving him altogether for another man he is cheating with (definitely) who also happens to be his own clone.
That’s traumatizing!
But… again, let’s look at it from Nandor’s (very stupid) POV. He knows that Guillermo losing his boyfriend will hurt him, but he also wants to have said boyfriend. So he comes up with a solution that, to his mind, will make everyone happy: let Guillermo keep his boyfriend but also make a clone of him so he can have him, too.
I think it’s very important to note here that, catty as it was to say, Nandor was right. He definitely could have stolen Guillermo’s Freddie without too much work. The guy’s a philanderer. But instead of doing that, he used up one of his last three wishes to make his own Freddie specifically to avoid hurting Guillermo. And then he seemed genuinely confused when Guillermo was hurt anyway. He then tried to do whatever he could to make Guillermo stop hurting, including offering him his own Freddie, until he ultimately gave up a toy that he truly loved so Guillermo would hurt less.
Again, from Nandor's POV he has made a significant sacrifice for Guillermo’s well-being. He has given up a man that he really, really liked so Guillermo would stop being so heartbroken. Moreover, this is a man that, to his mind, he got the hard way instead of the easy way that would have hurt Guillermo more.
So he still thinks he’s doing great at this relationship, even if we know he is ultimately breaking Guillermo’s heart.
(And as an aside here, I think it’s fascinating that Guillermo really did seem to understand exactly what was going on, too. He knew that Nandor’s decision to clone Freddie wasn’t about Nandor wanting Freddie, it was about Nandor wanting all of Guillermo’s attention on him at all times, and that’s why he was angry.)
Anyway… that’s all a really long way to get to my point, which is this. We’ve seen Nandor play this out a hundred times, doing something he thought was fine only for it to devastate Guillermo. We understand human lifetimes, relationships, and emotions, so we understand why Guillermo is upset. But, and this is key, Nandor doesn’t.
So season five finally shows this happening in reverse. I’m not going to say that Guillermo hasn’t hurt Nandor before, purposefully or otherwise, because he has. But boy did he really fuck things up this time.
Like Nandor, Guillermo didn’t do any of it on purpose. He was never trying to hurt Nandor or upset social norms when he paid Derek to bite him. But vampiric priorities are as foreign to Guillermo as human priorities are to Nandor. He did something he thought was totally fine and value-free only to find that he didn’t just transgress a social norm, he transgressed the big one. He didn’t just do something that would hurt Nandor, he did something that will destroy him.
He didn’t mean to. His misunderstanding was understandable to us, fellow humans. But that doesn’t make it okay. Just like it wasn’t okay when Nandor stole his fucking boyfriend.
It's almost like this was tailor-made to force the audience to think about how the vampires have been interacting with Guillermo for years. This time Guillermo didn't know something about their culture, and obviously we didn't either. So we felt that same dawning horror when we understood how big the accidental fuck-up was — and we had to come to terms with the fact that this is how Nandor feels about Guillermo all the time.
Anyway... Guillermo’s big angst trigger seems to be being undervalued by the people he loves. It’s when someone who he loves with everything he has does not love him back. We see that devastation hit him both of the times that Nandor accidentally hurt him in this post, along with a thousand other times. I think, in fact, it is his main drive as a character: doing everything he can to be valued. It’s why he wants to be a vampire. It’s why he serves the vampires. It’s why he lies to his family. It’s depressing and it’s codependent and it’s unhealthy, but that’s Guillermo.
Nandor’s big angst trigger, on the other hand, seems to be abandonment. He is so fucking terrified of the people that he loves leaving him, and that seems to be rooted pretty firmly in his experiences when he was still alive. (Jehan, his wives running away, etc.) He’s so scared of Gail leaving him that he just tries harder to win her back when he discovers she’s cheating on him. He’s so scared of Laszlo leaving him that he gets angry when Laszlo makes new friends. He’s so scared of Guillermo leaving him in 2.08 that he’s willing to humiliate himself to bring him home. His primary drive really seems to be hoarding the people he loves close — too close for comfort sometimes. He tries so hard to force a connection that he ironically tends to sever it. Just look at his poor descendent Madeleine. :’)
And just as Nandor constantly sets off Guillermo’s devaluation trigger, Guillermo constantly sets off Nandor’s abandonment trigger. Every time he leaves or even just threatens to do so, Nandor goes ballistic. But it seems like the only thing that sets him off more than Guillermo leaving is Guillermo staying where he is but being emotionally absent. He doesn’t know how to handle a Guillermo who has replaced him while they’re still living in the same home. Right now he thinks that Guillermo has replaced him with Laszlo as a hang-out buddy, and that’s bad enough — how will he respond when he finds out that Guillermo has replaced him with Derek in a much more intimate way?
Guillermo’s doing everything he can to spare Nandor’s feelings in this season, but it seems like every decision he makes just upsets Nandor more. Nandor feels replaced, abandoned, and neglected, and he’s going to feel that way a hell of a lot more when he sees the truth.
Guillermo has always been shown to be capable of hurting Nandor in intimate ways that no one else can. From the very first episode, we’re made abundantly aware that Guillermo chooses to take Nandor’s shit. He twitches that curtain to the side and we realize that no matter how strong Nandor is, Guillermo has the ultimate power in this relationship. Guillermo can hurt Nandor like no one else can because Nandor trusts him to protect him while he’s asleep.
Then Guillermo becomes this legendary slayer and he can actually physically hurt Nandor like no one else can just because he’s stronger than even the most powerful and respected vampires in the Tri-State Area.
But we’re seeing now that Guillermo can also hurt Nandor emotionally like no one else can. Nandor gave him that power, too, didn’t he? This whole series, Nandor has been the one hurting Guillermo over and over, but this season is making it so fucking clear that Guillermo has the power to do it right back. Even if he doesn’t mean to.
Especially if he doesn’t mean to, maybe.
The two of them are so terrible at communicating with one another. Just. So fucking terrible. And that’s a lot of how Nandor accidentally hurt Guillermo over and over throughout the years. And it’s how Guillermo has just straight-up gutted him now.
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queeniewritesce · 5 years
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Shall We Dance 1/?
Chris Evans rolled out of his bed and ran a hand down his face, scrubbing the last remaining traces of sleep. It was good to be home even if his break was coming to an end after forty-five days. Having wrapped up filming for Captain America: Civil War in late August, he had been happy to get some rest and visit his friends and family in Boston before heading down south to work on his next project, Gifted. He was looking forward to working with Octavia Spencer again and the script was solid, a good departure from the explosions and green screens this last few years provided.
Last night had been his last full night at home and Chris and some of his friends went to Mccreedy’s Pub for beers and pool. He arrived home around four A.M, his pockets lighter and highly drunk.
He groggily made his way to the bathroom of his en-suite, bending down to grab his checkered boxers from the floor. After relieving himself he looked himself in the mirror while washing his hands and face. Yes, it was good to be home, no fake fights to learn, no need for a daily shave and no places he had to b...
“SHIT!” His voice was loud, and it echoed in the empty bathroom. “Shit, shit, shit...”
He raced back to his bedroom and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. The black and white Patriots logo blinked to life and right above it the clock read eleven fifty-two A.M. Groaning, he sat back on the edge of the bed and pulled his contacts app, quickly dialing finding and dialing the number he was looking for.
The call connected after three rings and before he was able to say anything the sound of giggling and laughter reached his ears. He was missing a great time with his friends judging by the background noise.
“…and you’re a crazy woman! Your danger Will Robson button must’ve broken when you’re born!” came Garret’s voice on the phone followed by more laughter. “Chris my man you’re fucking late!” Chris heard a feminine voice saying ‘Fuck you Gar’ on the background followed by “Silence woman, I’m on the phone!” from Garret.
“Yeah, ‘bout that…” Chris could hear the stadium music playing, welcoming everyone to the Gillet Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. “I’ll probably won’t make it today bro, I just woke up and I feel like someone drove a tank over my head.”
“You sound like crap as well bro…” Garret sighed on the phone. “Listen, you want us to leave? It’s not fair that we’re using your suite and you won’t even be here.”
Chris felt like a jackass, Garret had come up to him a few days after he had been home and asked if Chris would be okay with him borrowing his suite at Gillet Stadium and taking a few friends to watch the Pats play. It would be Garret’s girlfriend’s birthday on the 31st and the game was the start of one long birthday weekend culminating with a special Halloween party.
“NO, no, come on man, I’d never make you leave!” He groaned when he got up, pacing the room. “We’ve made these plans like a month ago, it’s part of Penny’s birthday celebration and you shouldn’t have to halt your plans because I fucked up. I’ll let the suits known I won’t be in but you’ll stay put and enjoy the game, ok?”
He leaned on the window pane with his right arm, soaking up the sun and watching life go by on the streets below his old townhouse. He had purchased the house in late March and there was still so much to do to restore the house to his former 1900 glory. It excited and terrified him, but Chris was adamant he would do the renovations himself.
“You sure you can’t swing by halftime? We’re gonna kill some Delphinus ass and you’re root to watch the game with.”
Chris could hear Guillermo in the background screaming ‘kill the fish, kill the fish’ while the same woman's voice from before laughed and corrected him saying dolphins were mammals and calling him a dumbass. She had a hearty laugh, loud enough to be heard through the phone call but not high-pitched and he could’ve sworn he heard her snort during his conversation with Garret. Adorable... the thought crossed his mind for a second.
“Nah, I don’t think I will. I’ll just take some Advil and go back to bed, commiserate over my own drunk ass. My flight is at nine P.M. and I really don’t want to flight while hangover and football is only football when there’s beer involved. Put Penny on the phone though, I wanna wish my future wife a Happy Birthday.” Chris laughed knowing he’d get a rise out of his friend.
“Fuck you, Evans, she’d never leave my ass for yours, you’re too pretty for a man, she likes them rough and…“ Garret was interrupted by what Chris deduced was an elbow to his side.
“I actually like my man without a potty mouth, Mr. Haywood… Hey Chris! Thank you so much for the surprise!” Penny sweet voice came through the speaker.
“Well babygirl, then I’m definitely not the man for you, am I?” Chris laughed with Penny. “Listen, I’m sorry I can’t make it today, I have no excuses but I’m a drunken fool.”
“Yes, yes you are!” she laughed before getting serious, her nurse voice on “Are you drinking plenty of water? Have you taken some ibuprofen? Order some greasy food and try not to stay on your bed all day, alright?”
“Yes Nurse Seabrook, no Nurse Seabrook.” He chuckled and made the way to the kitchen to find the Advil bottle. Penny was a nurse at Christopher’s Haven and had met Garret when both Chris and his friend had gone for a visit. Garret left saying she would be his girl one day and true to his world he had won her over not a month later. That was two years ago and Chris was sure a proposal wasn’t far off in the distance. She made his best friend happy and for that he loved her.
“Oh, shut up with the Nurse Seabrook nonsense would ya? I’m just sad you won’t get to meet my sister, she flew in last night and I was looking forward to introducing you two.” Penny said while he opened the bottle and got two pills.
“Are you trying to set me up with your sister, Penny?” he opened a cabinet door and got a glass.
“I do not set people up Christopher, I find pieces of a puzzle that are supposed to go together and let destiny take its course.” She giggled. Yeah, she was totally trying to set them up.
“You’re something else Penny!” he sighed after drinking a full glass of water. “Listen I gotta try and get some more sleep, but happy birthday you little cupid, I hope it’s a great one. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, and I promise to make it up to you somehow.”
“There’s no need to make it up to me, dear. You’re a great friend and a busy man. We’ll see you when you’re back ok?”
“I love you both very much, I’ll call you when I have a chance.” Chris made his way back to his bedroom, closing the blackout curtains and sliding into his bed before disconnecting the call.
His dreams were discombobulated images of football, his friends and a laugh that he couldn’t place a face to, but warmed him whenever he heard it.
__...__...__
Chris looked back to the stadium and he could see people filling the seats around the suites. A soundproof glass kept the noise at a normal level inside his, but the excitement was palpable. Families donned Patriots jerseys and Santa hats, the jumbotron showed a man dressing head to toe like a giant Christmas’ tree and then the image changed to a couple of girls dressed like sexy elves. Man, they must be freezing in this weather… It was December 20th and the temperature had dropped dramatically the night before, right now it was 26° but the weatherman talked about it getting as low as 15° during the game.
He was glad he had purchased a season suite. It wasn’t cheap but it was heated, had leather seats in the inside area, four HD TVs playing the other games of the day as well as the one being played on the field below and it came with their personal bar down the hall, tucked away from the crowd. Chris wasn’t against meeting fans and taking pictures, but sometimes he just wanted to have fun with his friends, let his guard down and enjoy himself.
Some of his drinking buddies were already there, a beer bottle on their hands and talking shit about a lot of things.
“Chris, thanks again for the invite brother, it’s not every day you get to watch the Pats kick some Titan’ ass from the 50-yard line,” Samuel said while raising his beer bottle in a salut.
“Here, here, let’s hope they freeze on their socks. Tennessee might be cold, but this Foxborough man! It’s our territory.” Another man, Dix, clinked his bottle to the first ones and they drank, Chris, following with their own salut and drink.
He turned his attention to the door when it opened, revealing Guillermo and his girlfriend Dora, Garret, and Penny. She had her head turned back and was speaking with someone just outside the door.
“I know right, she looked like you pissed on her Cheerios, she was so mad!” Penny laughed while fully entering the room.
And then he heard it, the laugh that had accompanied his dreams those past two months got louder when it entered the room.
“It’s not my fault she’s wearing stilettos in this weather. It’s fucking freezing and she had on fifteen-inch hills, a dress, and no tights! Who does that for Pete’s sake? Anyway, if she had moved when I said excuse me she wouldn’t have gone down like a sack of potatoes. My ass needs space to move around, you know that!” the girl finished and closed the door behind her, already unbuttoning her jacket. “Gosh, so warm, I love this place, I really do.”
“Yeah, like your ass is really that big Lucy.” Penny also removed her jacket, taking both and handing them over to Garret. “CHRIS!”
Penny sauntered to Chris with open arms, her small frame easily being engulfed by his.
“Welcome back big shot, how’s my favorite Captain?” she said hugging him with all her might. Penny really gave the best hugs he thought while hugging her back.
“I’m the only Captain you know Pen, of course I’m your favorite!”
“Actually, you’re not, our brother JP is also a captain”, she shrugged and moved her eyes to Penny, a smirk on her lips “and I’m telling him you said that!”
“Lucy, don’t you dare!” Penny was smiling while hugging Chris sideways. “Ok, so you’re my favorite fake Captain, JP is my favorite real Captain. How’s that?” she showed her tongue to Lucy before remembering that introductions were in other. “Chris this is my big sister and an even bigger pain in the ass, Lucy Seabrook. BabyBoo, this is the dorkiest man on earth, Chris Evans.”
In the few seconds that it took for Lucy to walk the three steps between them, Chris finally took a good look at the girl. Around 5’4”, she had a full hourglass figure, bigger than what usually attracted him but something about her called to him. A round face with amazing green eyes stared back at him, her full, kissable lips on display sporting a reddish-pink hue. Her red hair had shades going from strawberry blond to mahogany, but the main portion was a deep burnt orange, reaching past her waist and brushing the top of her ass cheeks. While her breasts looked gorgeous on that sweater, he had always been an ass man. And what a great ass that was, all round and perky. His cock twitched at the thoughts running through his mind.
She had dimples when she smiled and he caught himself smiling back with the same intensity, before enveloping her small hands with his.
‘I guess when people talk about feeling a shock going thru them when they meet someone they click with, this is the feeling they’re talking about.’ Chris laughed to cover the shiver that ran through his body.
“Hi.”
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