#all i want to do is draw tom being vulnerable and emotional

[saintmuses]

❝𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚❞

Pairing:

Tom Buckley x Best Friend!Reader

Summary:

When looking at her standing in her white dress, Tom realized he had to be the one to cut the string that tied him and her together despite not wanting to, but he had to.

Warning(s): Angst. Implied jealousy. Mutual pining, but unrequited love. Implied psychic powers. Implied toxic relationship (Reader/Sal). Minors dni! Note: Sal Owen is the male equivalent of Sally in the movie. Also Tom gives me a vibe that girls break his heart. Margaret Matheson is alive in this fic. Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac especially live version is my Roman Empire!

Word Count: 2k

Tom knocked on the door tentatively, the sounds of his knuckles -the knuckles he had dealt with violence who dared to cross his line that night in the theater- rapping against the wood echoed, drawing the attention of someone in the room.

Y/N turned away from the standing mirror at the corner of the room to face him. He could see that her eyes widened when they laid on him.

"Tom," she said his name in breathless-like quality in her voice as she stared at him. Her hair was curled lightly, and it cascaded down her back, away from her face. His eyes flickered to her hands when she gripped the dress as she looked down.

She was a vision.

He inclined his head towards her, "Y/N." He said her name simply, but it held so much emotion that he held back from her.

"You came," she beamed at him, and the sight of her smile had his heart flutter as he smiled in return.

He then chuckled softly, "how could I not." 

He was seventeen when he met her in the hallway at high school. Her locker was next to his, and they had met when her lock was jammed, and she had roped him into helping her. She went out of her way to bake him his favorite sweets out of gratitude. 

She came and went throughout the years, but they were still best of friends.

He'd remembered the days when she would laugh that slight airy sound that would've warmed his heart, except she was laughing with Sal Owen, her fiancé. He wasn't amused by it, the jokes her fiancé had made in an attempt to make her laugh, wasn't funny at all.

When Y/N left her then-boyfriend the first time after he barely put any efforts in their relationship, she came down to the city to stay with him. It was one of the best and the worst things that could ever happen to him. It was torture, her being nearby all the time and not being able to do anything about it.

She helped him with PowerPoint presentations, put together experiments that debunked supernatural phenomena, and would be a volunteer during Dr. Matheson’s lectures. She loved her like a family.

There was a little animosity from Margaret’s side due to the fact that Y/N was ditzy, but she quickly warmed up to her after learning that she was nothing like she portrayed herself to others who did not know her.

A simple phone call from Sal had Y/N pack up her bags and leave his place.

She came and went, just like that.

Then Y/N and Sal were back together, and he was okay with it because he knew it would end again.

It ended again, a different reason this time. He was caught with another woman, and it broke her.

She had called him one night, with the sounds of sniffling and a shaky voice had him running to the town and take her back to his place like before. 

He was there for her when no one else couldn't. 

She had confessed in a small voice when they were sitting on the couch, saying she missed being here more than where she was at with her ex-boyfriend, and she was considering moving to be closer to him.

It gave him a slither of hope. That he might had a chance, but he wouldn't do anything until she was emotionally feeling better. It wouldn't be good if he took advantage of her in her vulnerable state.

He wished for her to see that Sal wasn't worthy of her affections.

He loved her and he wanted to do this right.

The situation with a world-renowned psychic Simon Silver got out of hand and had taken him away from her.

That was when Sal somehow wormed his way back to her heart, and things were okay again.

With a heavy heart, he knew it wasn't the right time for them.

They talked a few times in few and far between.

When Margaret, his co-worker and a good friend received an invitation to the wedding, she was wide eyed when he entered the lecture. Fortunately for both of them, the classroom was empty. She knew how much he loved Y/N, and dreaded telling him the news.

With a whisper, she told him that his best friend was getting married.

He did nothing but walked out of the room with an unreadable expression.

Tom knew Margaret was somewhat in a foul mood due to his careful stoic persona turned abrasive and irritated which affected the rest of the students.

He tried to keep it together that day, stoic and professional-like, then once the day went by, it was time for him to go home to his empty place.

That was when he’d let go of his façade.

He lashed out in his apartment, turning his room upside down far too many times, and he would be solemnly silent in the dark of nightfall.

A few days before the wedding, Margaret stormed into his office with her arms crossed, staring down at him with hard eyes while he was sitting by his desk, and proceeded to tell him that he needed to get his act together and go to his best friend’s wedding.

She had told him that if he didn’t want his best friend marrying the guy who’d never treated her right then tell her before it was too late, but if he didn’t want to do that then he needed to let her go.

He thought of the memories all those years ago. In his darkest days, she had always been there for him, he hadn't known she wouldn’t make him forget who he was.

Not even his previous relationships were able to make him forget how he felt for the girl he met at the locker. He did love them; but his best friend, with her eyes fierce, and determination that came down onto him like an iron fist, had made his love for them pale in comparison.

He didn't want to fall in love with her; nothing good could come out of it being in love with their best friend, but how could he not when in her eyes, they were the windows to her soul, the one that made her different from the others who wronged him in the past.

Tom gazed at her as she looked out to the window to see the landscape of where she was having the venue at. 

With a sense of heavy heart sitting in his chest, he blinked placing his hands in the pockets of his trousers.

He would have to let her go.

"I came here because Margaret thinks that you shouldn't marry Sal." A tiny white lie slipped from his tongue, as he raked his eyes over her dress as a reminder that she could be making a potential mistake, in his eye that was.

"And I couldn't help but to agree with her," he said slowly, pride nearly rose up to prevent him from speaking any further, but he suppressed it.

Y/N turned away from the window to face him, with a slight disbelief on her face, a taut grimace on her lips. "What?"

He took a step forward, suddenly feeling the courage that he hadn't felt before. "Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?" He murmured.

He was beyond to the point of being exhausted of never getting what he wanted.

Between the time of her spending some time with him to the time of today, he was being driven slowly insane with affection and grief and longing.

A never-ending torment.

He just wanted her, to be loved by her. 

Wholly and irrevocably. 

It was his fault for her to not know how he felt about her, nor could he just expect her to read him, especially since he tried to keep his feelings locked up in the shields of his heart.

It wasn't a coincidence that he kissed her, hovering over her lips back when they were drunk together at a dive bar, excusing for his inebriated behavior. She tried to be someone else that night due to heartbreak she was experiencing again, but he saw right through her within a mile away. 

Y/N didn't dye her hair, it was not something she would do. That night her hair was a different color, she was trying to be different, and he knew that. He could tell the difference in her eyes that night; before when she had the first heartbreak, it was painful to look into her eyes. A third time, her eyes were more guarded and vulnerable all at once.

Since she was playing a game with her liver, he went along for the ride, alcohol running through his bloodstream. She wouldn't know that he was not as drunk as she was, and that was why he took advantage of kissing her.

It was something he had always wanted.

He was truly a selfish man, but he would never tell her so, and he got away with it when her lips caved under his lips. If he could do it again, he would.

When they crossed each other's paths over and over, there was always something in between them. Always. 

He knew he had feelings for her from the beginning, he knew people could see the adoration in his eyes whenever he looked at her, and he didn't care because no one would say anything. 

Even when Sal in the same room as him, he knew that Sal was reminded that there was a serious competition between them due to his position in her life and how long he had been a part of it; the way Sal shifted towards her as if he could protect her from him, hidden threats behind the snide words he tended to throw at him, and most of all, he hated when they spent any second together.

She had always rebelled against her fiancé when it came to him, defended him on her own premise, and trusted him explicitly.

Maybe, he had thought she felt something for him too.

Now, he wasn't so sure, and he hated being unsure of anything, especially something this important. She was supposed to be his. His. Her fiancé didn't appreciate her the way she deserved. Tom would have given her the moon and the stars if she had asked.

He saw her nearly faltered, and he blinked. "I just needed to know if it's something that you truly want, if that is what you desire." He murmured before sauntering over to her.

She didn't say anything other than sadness that flitted in her eyes when she looked at him and he swallowed thickly. With a sense of clarity with the way it was in her eyes when she gazed at him, he knew she loved him too, knowing she made her choice when she said yes to Sal.

Then she closed her eyes when his hand reached out to thread his fingers in her strands. He noticed that she leaned in his touch slightly, and it broke his heart even more.

"I don't want you to marry him, but I know you will.” He chuckled mirthlessly, inhaling slowly then exhaling which sounded shaky. Sadness radiated in his veins. “And when you do, this is it for me after tonight.” The sentence ended in a whisper as his bottom lip slightly trembled at the thought it would be the last time.

She slowly opened her eyes to peer at him under her eyelashes. With glassy eyes, she whispered, “why?"

However, she was always holding him at arm’s length, as if she was afraid of him being the one to truly break her heart, tear it out of her chest, and throw it to the ground for her to never be able to get it back in one piece.

Suddenly his throat began to close on him, and he inhaled sharply before feeling a brim of anguish. The emotion caused his eyes to soften with a bitter smile, he curled his fingers around her ear to brush away a loose strand before confessing.

"I love you, but you would not let me."

Perhaps in another life.

#tom buckley #tom buckley x reader #Tom Buckley x you #cillian murphy x reader #cillian murphy #red lights #Tom Buckley x y/n

[pynkhues]

any time Shiv does comfort Tom (and it's not just trying to offer sex) she always holds his head to her chest like a mother would for her child? as awkward as she still is with them, she comes off more natural with her brothers

Yeah, exactly!

I feel like it's such a testiment to how good Sarah is as Shiv that she showcases Shiv with these different degrees of vulnerability and intimacy and openness depending on the circumstances, the person, the moment. She's never, ever an open door, but sometimes, especially when someone she loves needs it, she lets them have the key for a minute before she changes the locks.

In so many ways she's been trained to divorce herself from her own emotionality and the show never draws a clean line as to the reasons for that, but I've always seen it as a survival mechanism and a form of self-defense, particularly being so frequently made the only woman in a man's world, and having a hypercritical mother who she sees as having abandoned her.

It creates this really interesting parallel, I think, because I tend to view Kendall and Tom as the two most emotional characters on the show. Of course, Tom seems to have a deeper understanding of what those emotions are than Kendall, who's always operating on varying levels of freefall, haha, but I'm fascinated by the show's choice to have Shiv as the one they both seek comfort from the most. I think there's a lot to be said about it being a statement of the emotional labour expected of women, but I also think Kendall and Tom do it for different reasons.

Sure, their relationships to her are different – Tom's married to her, and Kendall's her brother – but I think more than that, Tom, no matter how much he wants to be a part of the family, will always be an outsider.

There's a reason why Kendall could tell Shiv and Roman what he did to the waiter, even when he could tell no one else, and there's a reason they forgave him, a reason it re-forged their bond. Shiv and her brothers have something Tom won't ever have – they have a shared history steeped in trauma – and Shiv can close the door as often as she wants on them and know they'll still be on the other side, kicking at the doorjam or scratching graffiti in the paint.

It means Shiv can publish a letter saying awful things about her brother and he'll still hug her at his birthday party and it means she can crouch beside him in the dirt at their mother's wedding and, intentionally or not, with her other brother, absolve him of the worst thing he's ever done.

I think she really wanted to bring Tom in, in her own way, especially in s1 and s2, but I think she didn't know how then, and after Tom insinuated that he might leave her in the s2 finale, I think she lost the capacity to. He'd broken a fundamental, fragile trust without even realising that's what he'd done. He'd promised to be with her forever, no matter what, on the other side of that door, but then he'd told her maybe he wouldn't be. That, maybe, he'd walk away.

And I think for her, deep down, she knows he can get his comfort elsewhere. Tom has a mother who tried to protect him with the prenup and he has friends outside of the family, and a past like a hearth to return to. Shiv doesn't have that, and she knows Kendall and Roman and Connor don't have that either, and, again, she knows he could leave. She's seen women leave her father, seen Rava leave Kendall, seen love and then the absence of it, and I think she resents Tom for putting her in the position where she still wants his love.

She still feels vulnerable with Tom, even when he doesn't see her vulnerability, and she tries to give him what he wants – gets him more power, gets him closer to her father – because she's been taught love is transactional, love is a hungry mouth and an outstretched hand – and I don't think she understands that Tom wants more. That Tom maybe doesn't even really want her at all, he wants her name, her title, and a woman she isn't, someone who'll be at home when he gets home, someone who'll stand beside him (behind him, really) but never in front of him, someone warm, someone who needs him, and he can't cope with the fact that she's none of those things at all.

#i'm so obsessed at the moment with this idea that love is transactional in the family #because it still sort of was between the golden trio in the car #they were divvying up the company then #but it IS different between the siblings #love is #actually #genuinely #in the act of loving #which is only more apparent when they are absolutely awful to each other #i don't think love is in the act of loving for any other set of characters on this show #shiv roy #shiv x tom #tom wambsgans #kendall roy #kendall + shiv #hbo succession #succession meta #back in all these feelings apparently haha #welcome to my ama

[phantomato]

In your opinion, does “character development” entail a villain-type character becoming more sympathetic and vulnerable? Is there a way to develop and add more layers to a petty and angry character without just making them nicer and more sympathetic? While there is nothing wrong with that, I enjoy characters who retain their vengeful pettiness lmao.

I’m going to answer this in two parts. The first will be my commentary on character development more broadly, as the question literally asks, and the second will be commentary on my specific characterization choices for writing Voldemort.

Character Development

So, the answer to this question is both yes and no, because you need to specify the definition of sympathetic in order to receive a specific answer. If you use the definition of sympathetic that means “nice,” then of course the answer is yes, there are other ways to add character depth. But if you use the definition of sympathetic that assumes that a character is somebody that the audience can relate to, for whom the audience can sympathize with their motivations regardless of whether those motivations are good or kind or nice, then my answer is no.

Character development requires that we learn more about this character. We learn about how they work and how they think. As we learn more about them, we increase the likelihood that a reader will see that information, understand the character, and grow to like them. They might even start to agree with them!

Take the example of one of my favorite unlikable, petty, angry, asshole characters in fiction: Bojack Horseman. Bojack is a terrible person, but he’s the central figure of a five season series on Netflix. Throughout those five seasons, we get to see why he’s such an asshole. He had an abusive upbringing. He is an addict. He has anxiety and depression. This all provides an explanation for his behavior without excusing it, and he continues to do bad things.

But I like him. I like him because I’ve spent so much time inside his head. I’ve seen the moments when he struggles, when he’s self-conscious, when he’s joyful, when he tries so hard to make healthier choices and do right by the people around him. I am constantly hoping he gets better and wanting him to have another chance, because I see the full picture of his character and know that while he is the man who does terrible things, he’s also the man with hopes and dreams and insecurities to which I can relate. He could easily have been the villain on a show about almost any other character in the series, but by drawing him to the center we are forced to see beyond his actions and into his emotions.

Because that’s it: being a bad person doesn’t say anything about what sort of emotions someone can feel. And, fundamentally, I am sympathetic to characters when I have a lens into their emotional processing.

By making a character the protagonist of a story, an author is saying that they are prioritizing the demonstration of this character’s emotions. I don’t think that a story can be successful if the reader gains no sympathy for the central character—one doesn’t have to like how the protagonist behaves, but centering the character comes with the expectation that the reader will have more intimacy with them than with most other characters in the story, and that intimacy is what builds sympathy.

My Voldemort

When I started writing Voldemort, I decided on two things: I would throw out the assumption that he cannot feel love, and I would write any happy endgame relationships as healthy. These are the base assumptions you should take into reading my work.

But… I don’t write a nice Voldemort.

If you want to see Voldemort in an unhealthy romantic relationship:

With Apologies (Harrymort) has Voldemort describing torture as a sex act to upset Harry

Galleons (V/Orion) has a Voldemort in the depths of his self-hatred allowing Orion to degrade him in exchange for money

Waterlogged (Tomione, long) has my nicest Tom being walked over by an older partner until he breaks and lashes out

If you want to see Voldemort being petty:

Clean Slate (gen) contrasts Voldemort’s behavior with friends (Bellatrix and Antonin) with that towards an enemy (Albus). Pettigrew, despite being the central motivator of the story, isn’t referenced by name because Voldemort cares so little for his humanity

Awful at Heart (Tomcest) has Tom going at it with himself (lol) in terms of who can be the most petty

Teaching Statement (gen) has Professor Riddle being a petty jerk towards a student (Andromeda Black) and hoping it will drive her away

If you want to see Voldemort being an asshole:

Beautiful Sleepyhead (Nottmort) has Voldemort waging a war for the sake of personal gain, plus he treats Thoros like shit for most of their romance

Made of Clay (Nottmort, long) sees Tom murdering a couple and stealing their baby with plans to kill it

Vows (Nottmort) has Voldemort scheming to murder a man in order to steal what he owns, and goading Thoros into creating a horcrux along the way

I could go on. This is only about half of what I’ve written for him. I agree that pettiness and assholery are a central part of his character, so I use those traits in my stories. What I don’t do is allow them to dominate his romantic attachments in relationships I intend to read as happy, because, well, a partner who is mostly petty and asshole-ish is abusive. My Voldemort learns to recognize that he cannot act this way with someone he loves and expect them to stay around. Furthermore, he loves them. He wants them to be happy. He puts work into the relationship, into respecting the other person’s boundaries and showing his care. This is depth: it’s conditional behavior, in that Tom demonstrates the capacity to treat individuals differently depending on his relationship with them.

There’s tons of fic, usually tagged with things like “possessive” or “manipulative” Tom Riddle or Voldemort, that will fill anyone’s need for a Tom who behaves terribly towards his romantic partner. I admit that much of it is not from his perspective and often doesn’t give him character development, but some is. Certainly, going by numbers, this is the most popular take: compare “Soft Tom Riddle” (41 tagged fics) or “Tom Riddle is a Sweetheart” (88) to “Manipulative Tom Riddle” (407) or “Possessive Tom Riddle” (889). [Numbers as of 2021-12-8.] But even for those ‘harder’ Toms, if we get to see their perspective, they will start seeming more sympathetic for all of the reasons stated in the first section.

So, I guess I’ll end by saying: maybe what you get when reading my Tom or Voldemort isn’t the assholery or the pettiness. Maybe what stands out more are the ways in which he shows affection for his partner, or the fact that he has friends. Maybe it’s the domesticity of Voldemort cleaning his kitchen counters—which is a neutral trait, not indicative of character at all, but it is a deeply relatable one. And that’s the intent! I set out to write a Voldemort that people would find relatable, so that his horrors aren’t his sole defining feature, so that his concerns and fears would have an emotional familiarity to readers. I don’t want him to be untouchable, either as a flat villain or a flat love interest. He’s not nice, but you can sympathize with him. If you don’t notice the murder and selfishness and the whole bundle of other flaws, idk. Maybe try reading it with this perspective in mind.

If you want a Voldemort who will still behave terribly towards his partner by the end of the fic, best look elsewhere.

#ask #tom riddle #voldemort #writing meta

[likehandlingroses]

“Realistic” Tom/Thomas Relationship Timeline

The S3/S4 Tom/Thomas affair is a theory that has been making its way around lately, and it is centered around the contrast in the interactions between Thomas and Tom during the Season 3 Christmas Special and their interactions in the Season 4 Christmas Special. 

This means that usually the start of the relationship is viewed as coinciding with the immediate aftermath of Matthew’s death, which occurs in the Christmas Special of Season 3 (September 1921). Due to the interactions between Tom and Thomas in the Christmas Special of Season 4, the relationship can almost certainly be considered over by that time (May-ish of 1923). But what happened in between, and how long were they actually together? There’s one view that the affair occurs in between Seasons 3 and 4, which means that at the very longest they lasted just under six months (generally I think this view cuts it even shorter than that)...but this leaves some unanswered questions and some peculiarities, so I took another look at the canon to determine when, in fact, Thomas and Tom broke up.

(Note: I definitely know that Julian Fellowes did not intend for them to be having an affair, but also Julian if I’m right just DM me)

Let’s start with what we know about September 1921 and May 1923—the definite before and after points—for reference:

Christmas Special Season 3—September, 1921

In this Christmas special, we see Tom left behind while the rest of the family goes to Duneagle, and we see Thomas still dealing with the Jimmy situation a year after its apparent resolution. On its face, this episode features Tom being challenged in his new role in the house—and being encouraged to step up and face that role—and Thomas finding a way to resolve things with Jimmy.

Except there’s a whole lot of other stuff going on in the periphery of those stories: Tom knows that Jimmy is bothering Thomas and appears to want to intervene at the fair, but he is stopped by Edna, who at one point uses Thomas’s injuries as an excuse to visit Tom and assure him that Thomas is “feeling much better.” And—of course—there’s the fact that Tom and Thomas hug at the fair (and lest you think this was a RJC/Allen Leech moment not caught by editing, it was in multiple takes! Someone—multiple someones actually—included it on purpose). They are friendly, aware of each other, and to be honest it isn’t impossible to argue that maybe the relationship predates Matthew’s death! I’m going to argue otherwise, however, based on how Tom breaks down when Edna kisses him—I think Edna is the first time he’s even really thought of himself in romantic terms for a long time! But Thomas is right there in the wings, and he just finally made some progress on the emotional problem that’s been plaguing him for over a year!

It’s a big difference from what we see in the next Christmas special, big enough to start the theory of the affair in the first place...

Season 4 Christmas Special—Summer 1923

Once again, Tom is left alone at Downton while the rest of the family goes to London...and the difference in how Thomas responds is striking. He’s furious at having to wait on Tom, for reasons both we and the characters cannot quite understand. The excuses don’t add up—at this point, Tom has been living at Downton for three YEARS, and this has never been a problem before. Now all of a sudden Thomas is slamming trays and clenching his fists and provoking Tom into admitting that he sees himself as Above sitting next to him...what?

Then there’s Sarah Bunting, a Miss Sarah Bunting...whose presence infuriates Thomas while also making him eager to use her as a way to embarrass Tom. And Tom knows it, immediately. He’s embarrassed, he’s uncomfortable, but still he’s quick to pull rank with Thomas when challenged. Something has fundamentally altered the way they interact with and perceive each other while sharing the same space.

All of this speaks to a breakup, and a messy one at that...so with the knowledge we have, WHAT exactly happened between September of 1921 and May of 1923? Let’s look at what Season 4 has to say:

4.1/4.2–February, 1922

“That’s right: it’s Valentine’s Day.” 

This is an important piece of the puzzle, because Thomas—Nanny West drama aside—is in a pretty good mood for the Valentine’s Day episode! He engages with Daisy and Jimmy’s Valentine’s card drama with good humor and even some genuine interest...something I do not believe he’d do if he’d only recently been broken up with, and by someone who lived in the house! The big one here, though, is the dialogue Thomas has with Nanny West in which she calls him “Thomas” and he says, “that’s Mr. Barrow to you...”

Now, where did Nanny West hear him referred to as Thomas? The episode makes a point of the fact that nannies do not as a rule spend much time with the downstairs staff—and even if they did, not many of the downstairs crew call Thomas “Thomas” on a regular basis. Nor do the upstairs folks...with one notable exception. Tom, who has to be reminded by Thomas in 4.3 to address him as “Barrow” (more on that later), routinely messes up names and titles.

To me, this suggests that Tom and Thomas are still talking, and it’s pretty clear from Thomas’s attentions to Sybbie in the episode that it would have been easy for Nanny West to overhear it in that context. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re still seeing each romantically, but the “Mr. Barrow TO YOU” element implies that the correction was NOT made to whoever Nanny West heard using the name (we presume it’s Tom)...and the distinction is that Nanny West does not *get* to call him that! It definitely seems like whoever she grabbed the name from has been granted permission to do that, and she Has Not. And if it’s Tom...well.

So does that mean that Thomas and Tom were done by 4.3, when Thomas DOES correct Tom on his title? Not exactly...

4.3/4.4–The House Party (pre July 1922)

(tw on this section for discussions involving sexual assault)

The party features Edna’s schemes and assault on Tom in order to extract a promise of marriage from him. It also features a Tom who is incredibly vulnerable and entirely out of his element with the introduction of the Crawley’s friends. This is somewhat of a contrast from the Tom of the first two episodes, who stands up to Robert several times to intervene on Mary’s behalf, and even ropes Carson into the mission. It feels, for a moment, that despite Matthew’s death Tom has taken up the challenge presented to him at the end of Season 3 and begun seeing himself as a valuable, contributing member of the household and family.

But here, Tom speaks of himself as a fool, as walking a tightrope, and of not being understood. He relies on alcohol to get through the event, which Edna takes advantage of—and which gives us a Tom/Thomas interaction that speaks to, in my opinion, a continuing relationship (although perhaps an altering one):

Now, if I had to guess, I would say that Tom might be less *keen* than usual, given his overall demeanor and the new scrutiny placed on him by Edna coming back to the house (not to mention the house party itself). It’s very possible there’s been a lull between the two of them as of late. I do not believe, however, that there is evidence of a clear break between Tom and Thomas as of the house party.

For one, Tom doesn’t just say the wrong thing when addressing Thomas in the drawing room—he says, “Thomas, would you get me a drink for God’s sake?” That is Not how he talks to him in the Christmas Special, where he is stilted and uncomfortable and concerned about how the words will be taken. He isn’t worried about any of that, and while Thomas corrects him, he doesn’t seem all that bothered by it. Tom’s look of irritation at the correction isn’t overdone either.

“It’s Barrow now,” also has flexible meanings. Of course it literally is what Tom is supposed to call him now...but “now” seems like a weird word to use when it’s been what Thomas is meant to be called for several years. It could be a post-breakup smackdown, but we’ve seen what those look like in the Christmas Special, and this doesn’t feel like that! I believe, rather, that Thomas is making reference to the fact that it is incorrect at that moment, something Tom should know and has been discussed!!!

The house party has both of them overworked and tense (this is also the time where Thomas has to fill in for Jimmy because Jimmy hurt his hand...which is SO ridiculous if you think about it for more than two seconds), but Edna’s transgression still draws Thomas’s attention

And that’s important! Thomas had been friends with Edna until this point, largely for convenience it seems—she is a new lady’s maid, and she can feed him information. Thomas even worked with her to mess with Anna, who had earlier made a comment to Edna about his intentions in befriending her. There’s a bond forming there, and while I don’t believe Thomas would genuinely support the literal details of Edna’s plot, I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that he would be Opposed to Edna taking advantage of what she would frame as an indiscretion on Tom’s part. Not if he disliked Tom or was predisposed to believe Tom was at fault (ie: someone who expects to be “waited on Hand and Foot while he decides what Might Please Him Next”).

But right away, Thomas is suspicious the morning after. We see Thomas spying on Edna as she corners Tom, and he specifically brings it up to her later to catch her out. Already his tone is soured where she’s concerned. He’s sensed she’s up to something and he can probably guess the vague idea if not the particulars...and it turns him against her almost instinctively.

So what’s that about? Could it just be jealousy? The thing is, we know what Thomas would do if he believed that Edna and Tom were simply having an affair—we see what happens in the S4 Christmas Special with Sarah Bunting. This isn’t like that at all. 

Thomas immediately blames Edna for what’s happened, calling her a manipulative little witch and declaring that he’s delighted her plans didn’t work. There’s no question of Thomas’s loyalties, even though Edna assumes he’ll want to “keep in with” her. Not for one second does he appear to consider this, and that seems to distinguish this incident from later ones.

4.5/4.6–What Are These Episodes (pre-July 1922)

There isn’t a lot to remember about these episodes for Tom or Thomas, and so what people may not remember is that these are the episodes Tom starts floating the idea of leaving for America—a full season before he tries starting that conversation again, and over two years before he actually DOES temporarily move to Boston. Now, that kind of decision takes time, but it’s kind of...strange that he begins making it here in the spring of 1922 and will not seriously consider it again until well into 1924!

Whether this has anything at all to do with Thomas can’t be determined, but I do enjoy hearing Tom say it will be impossible for him to marry anyone at Downton because an upper class woman won’t have him, and would an “nice Irish working class girl” make everyone “comfy?”...and Thomas is standing Right There! What does it mean...

Thomas is also getting more paranoid, he’s got Baxter in the house feeding him information...and he’s generally giving off a different vibe than he has all season. 

Here is where I think the connection is starting to see some serious cracks—Tom is realizing he doesn’t belong and is making moves to change that. Meanwhile, Thomas is making moves to ensure Nothing Ever changes without him knowing about it ahead of time! Tension abounds, though we don’t see any evidence of it being directed at each other just yet...

4.7/4.8–Interesting and Modern (July 1922)

Thomas goes to America and Tom meets Miss Bunting...weird how that just happened like that!

Thomas is excited to go to New York, and it seems...pretty clear he fucked while he was there. I think if you’re gay and you go to New York in the 1920s and you come back and all you can tell your coworkers is that it was “interesting and modern” you definitely were not doing anything you can actually talk about

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he and Tom are Done (they may not have ever been exclusive on paper), but the overall feeling from Tom is a dejected man in limbo...he can’t even say he’s a Socialist anymore. It’s not going well. So my inclination is to say that Tom hit pause (maybe not for the first time), and Thomas is dealing with it by getting some in New York (great!) and bullying his coworkers (bad!) So why do I think they weren’t totally done at that time? Because these episodes happen in the summer of 1922...the Christmas Special for S4 takes place in May of 1923. That’s a long time to have passed! A long time for Tom to keep Miss Bunting at arm’s length, a long time for Thomas to be fuming over something...I believe that in the Christmas Special what we are seeing is the last stand of two people who are grappling with finally cutting a fraying thread.

Another Look At The S4 Christmas Special

These scenes are truly some of the most incomprehensible things Downton Abbey ever presented to us with virtually no explanation.  So let’s take another look at what’s happening here.  

First of all, we have the scene with Tom and Thomas entering the house after sending Edith off and leaving Tom offically on his own--they don’t appear openly hostile, though there’s some tense looking when the other person isn’t and looking back down again when they are energy...but nothing egregious. 

Not until we see Thomas slam down a tray, that is. In fact, this whole thing seems to be coming from Thomas’s anger, while Tom appears eager to just smooth it over by not causing trouble and following the rules set forth by the household norms. This seems in line with Tom’s general dispositon--with both Edna and Miss Bunting he tries to ease out rather than break things off. 

 But Thomas interprets this as dismissive, and while he says to Ivy it’s about their positions in the house...as discussed above this really doesn’t logically check out. I do think it irritates him that Tom is essentially avoiding Thomas because it’s what “pleases him,” but it runs deeper than “he used to be the chauffeur.” Because that was always the case. 

And then Tom brings Miss Bunting back without telling anyone, and he takes her upstairs. And this makes Thomas INSANE, and Tom knows IMMEDIATELY that it will! And Tom is eager to assure “Mr. Barrow” that nothing happened (actually, what he’s really eager to do is have Thomas not stand there while he eats, but Thomas is not budging). 

Thomas is furious. He’s said to Ivy that he is SICK of this man, he’s tired of dealing with him...and then he tries to get Tom to sit next to him the car? 

Thomas stole a dog one time, and I still think this might be his wildest attempt at controlling a situation we see on the show. What is going on? If Tom HAD let him sit in the back, would Thomas have still gone to Lord Grantham about Miss Bunting? If Thomas hadn’t been such a jerk about Miss Bunting, would Tom have LET him? What is poor Ivy even processing this as? Am I the only one hearing Taylor Swift’s Better Than Revenge playing? 

Thomas acts immediately on coming to London, dropping the line of “Mr. Branson is stil a young man, and he can’t be expected to stay single forever”...he’s Angry Angry!! If they were on a break before, I don’t think it had fully set in for Thomas that it might be Permanent until now. And I think Tom’s newly avoidant personality we see in other scenarios gave him the wrong impression in this respect.

In Summary

I think that the relationship was relatively “on” from the period of September 1921 through whenever the house party took place. The house party caused some huge issues, mostly for Tom (understandably)—he may have unfairly blamed himself for what happened and drew wrongful parallels to what’s happening with Thomas. I think that after that it was very “off,” but I believe that neither Thomas nor Tom really committed to ending it either...and when we see them in 1923 they are in the peak stages of finally facing the end of things.

So what caused the final shift? Perhaps Thomas came back from New York with expectations, expectations Tom found himself intimidated by. Perhaps Thomas’s increasing paranoia and Tom’s growing agnosticism towards his own beliefs and identity are related and fed off of each other until they both just did not like the person they were seeing! Maybe it’s just that Downton Abbey is a really bad place for both of them, and even though they started off trying to protect each other from that, they got sucked in and turned on each other!

In any case, by Season 5 the romantic relationship appears over for good, though there is some evidence in later episodes that Tom and Thomas settled down a bit over time (Thomas defending Tom in S5 at Brancaster, and Tom saying he hates goodbyes in reference to Thomas). 

We will just have to see what happens when they realize they both are dating someone new, and they work together too :) 

#this is way too long to actually be Fun but to be clear I did it for Fun #anything to avoid actually writing #thomas barrow #tom branson

[katharine-hepburn]

👀 top 5 unpopular hbo succession opinions?

ohhhhhhhh boy.

5. shiv doesnt have chemistry with any of the women with whom people claim she has chemistry (this doesnt mean i dont think shes bisexual. she was gonna do the threesome w tom and a woman)

4. roman doesnt have chemistry with matsson or the politician etc. he just doesnt! hes capable of charm and is trying to do business deals. he understands how these men work and how best to interact with them to make the deal. i think if roman was gonna go after a guy it would be in different circumstances. hes in too vulnerable a position in those cases

3. tom telling greg about nero and sporus isnt unhinged. tom is very very frequently unhinged! he is barely ever hinged. but i dont think hes in some kind of fugue state where hes out of control in the nero and sporus scene, esp bc he calls back to it in ep nine. it’s very fucked up, but thats different than unhinged. he is genuinely trying to connect with greg and express his devotion, but hes been so warped by roy fuckery that this is how he does it.

2. i feel like something about tomshiv should go here. i do think tom loves shiv and wants to have a hokey sweet midwestern life with her. he also wants to social climb by being a part of her family. but we all contain multitudes! i think shiv is fond of tom, she wouldnt marry someone she isnt fond of, but i just dont think we can really say what she wants because i dont think she herself completely knows. shes been too separated from herself bc she tries not to draw logans ire. idk if im fully explaining this concept and it probably seems wrong bc she positions herself against her dad politically but we can see that shiv doesnt like to take huge risks. i think tom should be w someone who matches his love and shiv should be with someone shes interested in for more than an emotional crutch and a checked box.

1. roman isnt a terrible person. most of what he says is part of an act of being a horrible person as self preservation. he would def need a lot of work to be a good person like i dont think he really cares about the general populace, but this lack of care is much more passive than how people characterize it. going back to the main point, a lot of what he says is not what he actually thinks. if shiv doesnt know what she thinks bc shes tamped down her self for too long to avoid being abused like roman has, roman sort of lives with his mess of thoughts that maybe he hasnt untangled but he sees well enough to know what to hide. it’s so wild bc he acts out and gets hurt even as hes trying to not get hurt? like hurt in a bigger way i suppose: if he makes his evil idiot roman character get hurt, his real self will be somewhat safe.

probably i should edit this more and expand on a lot and do some thinking, but this was a lot of typing! so i will just have to live w the consequences of saying shit :)

anyway ask me my top five anything 💗

#thank u i love being able to talk

[mallowstep]

okay, i got an ask about an alternative to the misty au where leopardstar helps rescue the mistyfoot and featherpaw, so tigerstar ends up punishing her instead, and here's my answer:

cw: sexual assault, parents/children being involved in sexual assault

I had a horrible no good about the Misty AU where Leopardstar helped them escape and....Tigerstar took one of her lives, then...sexually assaulted her while making Mudfur watch until he was sure she was with kits and then he told Mudfur: "Maybe she'll go the same way as her mother." (If this is too dark I apologize immensely.)

hello, anon. let's talk, shall we?

cursory things out of the way, i generally don't mind what people put into my inbox. that said, if you're unsure, you can always ask first. i try to answer "housekeeping" qs as soon as i can.

now, onto the ask itself.

god DAMN is this an idea. poor mudfur. he doesn't deserve going through this. nor does leopardstar.

but like. here's the THING. we were talking about tigerstar's power a while ago and -- he's actually not maximizing his usage of it.

see, he has a thunderclan pov. in thunderclan, leaders and deputies are supposed to be -- a team. that's why they're so often mentors and apprentices. because they're supposed to fight side by side. it's supposed to be a very close relationship.

if you read mtbnsof,

"They will be slaughtered," he said, and really, she should have learned her lesson, because he lunged again, and this time, it wasn't for her shoulders — it hurt, blinding, and her eyes shut — and opened. Squirrelstar was bleeding, but she was still alive. Rosepetal had tackled Bramblestar, before he could complete the blow.

that's like -- the model thunderclan deputy. you're supposed to pick a deputy who you are that close with.

that's (part of) why tigerclaw's betrayal hurts bluestar so much.

but in riverclan -- the leader represents all of riverclan, and the deputy is, their enforcer, perhaps?

they're still a team, and still one of the very close relationships, but you're more likely to see friends and siblings chosen, with the goal of -- balancing each other out.

a thunderclan leader and deputy should not publicly disagree. but a riverclan leader and deputy might.

so -- when tigerstar has stonefur killed, he's trying to prove that he has such power over leopardstar that she wouldn't even intervene to save her own deputy. which does work, but it's not the most effective way to control riverclan.

the most effective way to control riverclan would be to get both leopardstar and stonefur on his side, and then have leopardstar defer to him.

uh. so uh. what's the best way to do that, then? well.

tigerstar just has to threaten mistyfoot and the apprentices to keep stonefur obedient. "just has to" i mean ig what i'm saying is. if your family's lives are on the line, you're pretty damn willing to go along with things.

but -- how does he. win leopardstar.

he has kits with her.

because -- well First of All if riverclan's leader is riverclan, then the leader's kits are -- the future of riverclan. so if leopardstar has kits with tigerstar, then riverclan's future is tigerclan. yeah?

Second of All leopardstar is known to not want kits and not like toms, right? like -- riverclan leaders are under a fair amount of pressure to have kits because that is the future of riverclan.

and she's not leader for long enough for that all to play out, but she was the deputy for a while, and -- riverclan knows her. they know how she feels.

so. no matter how well tigerstar hides it -- riverclan will know that it's not voluntary.

and -- leopardstar is riverclan.

but like i just -- okay so god. this is. fljksd;lal;f; j. back on topic to the actual ask -- it's a very very interesting story. not something i Personally would write i don't think, because. i'm not sure i would do a very good job of it? i don't think i am -- sufficiently visceral, i suppose.

and this feels like something where. you'd want mudfur's realizations.

i think it'd be a punishment for him too, wouldn't it? he must have helped them escape. he must have known.

i think for me. like when i was writing "after the foxes have known our taste," one of the...one of the sections i was most -- invested in? was these two paragraphs.

"To talk." Leopardstar sits next to him, pulling herself in, like if she makes herself smaller, she will absolve herself of the guilt she carries. (And he knows she carries it. He was barely her deputy for a season, but he has known her his whole life. She will never say it — and because she never will, Mistyfoot will never forgive her — but he sees it in her shoulders.) "We used to be friends."

and then

Leopardstar nods, draws herself together. She looks like herself, again. Regal. Not for the first time, Stonefur thinks that Leopardstar would have made a more striking image on the Bonehill.

i think. leopardstar makes the decisions she makes for the good of her clan

(and oh, tigerstar would use that against her.

"Don't you care about the future, Leopardstar? There are no more kits in the nursery.")

and so in that moment with stonefur, she's...turning to who was supposed to be her counterbalance, and trading all of her pride and strength for vulnerability. and when stonefur -- not rejects her, but tells her he's not ready, she returns to Leopardstar of Riverclan.

but mudfur is her father. the moment of vulnerability with him in denouncement is

"Come with us," she says, pleading. She feels like a kit, begging her father to let her leave camp. "There will always be a space for you in RiverClan." "I thought I taught you better than that," he says, and there is warmth in his voice, like sun on water. "There is no point in keeping spent bones." Leopardstar cracks. She presses her muzzle into him, breathing his scent, past the herbs and illness that clings to him. "Please don't leave me," she says, even though she is the one who is leaving.

and -- while that's not misty au canon, there's a reason that at the end of "the blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine," mudfur tells leopardstar she has work to do.

because by the time mistyfoot and featherpaw do escape, leopardstar has already, in mudfur's eyes, transgressed far beyond the forgiveable.

but now -- his daughter is hurt. and she's -- does she want his comfort? or does she try to be leopardstar of riverclan?

yeah. that's. some good emotional stuff to dip into.

i have -- tawnypelt to explore these ideas with. uh. tbisrasacw contains. sufficient implications but -- mistyfoot's treatment is uncomfortably public.

that's gonna come up again later, i think, but in tawnypelt's first fic, which i'm still toying with official titles for, but has the provisional title of "see them starving in the street," but uh there's a few ideas that it tackles.

all of these tackle -- several ideas. "heaven and hell were words to me" is probably the most, singular plot line of the fic. there's a reason i started with featherpaw's fic and not mistyfoot's.

tbisrasacw balances featherpaw and mistyfoot, and atfhkot is sliding between all of these different cats with moments of what stonefur feels peaking through.

i'm still deciding if i'm publishing "i didn't care much how long i lived" (feathertail) or "like this morning reveals to me" (stonefur) tonight, but idcmhlil is about featherpaw's relationships to other cats, so it naturally pulls in a lot of ideas, and ltmrtm is mistyfoot from stonefur's perspective, which means it necessarily pulls in many ideas.

but stsits is -- one character, many threads. tawnypaw's want to be accepted contrasted with her instictive horror contrasted with her belief that there is no going back contrasted with grappling with the fact that her father is -- uh. mistyfoot.

yeah.

and i don't know. i think. if tigerstar were to punish mudfur via leopardstar, that's one thing. but another thing is like -- depending on his precise interpretations, he could -- force mudfur to. be on "his side."

isolate him from leopardstar.

after all, the reason tigerstar fosters mistyfoot and featherpaw together is because it allows him to win mistyfoot's unthinking loyalty. but tigerstar has all of riverclan to threaten.

("You'll have my kits," he says, smirking. "Do you know why, Leopardstar? Because if something happens to this litter -- I'll take your worthless apprentice and kill her.")

he could -- turn mudfur. not actually, but make leopardstar believe he is.

("You deserve this," Mudfur says, and he is going to hell for this.

Tigerstar doesn't respond, and Leopardstar's ears pin back.

"Tell me, Mudfur, was her mother this pathetic?"

I'll take every last life from her, Mudfur, Tigerstar had threatened. Maybe I'll make you take one. Test me. It'll be fun to see her bleed again.

"Yes," he says, and Brightsky won't forgive him. I'm sorry, he thinks, but it's too late for that.)

i think -- in the misty au, tigerstar takes leopardstar's den. but he'd share it with her.

one of my favourite moments in tbirasacw is

She turns her head, meeting his eyes. He leans back, exposing his stomach, and Mistyfoot takes a moment to consider how easy it would be to tear him open. But she won't, and that's the point.

which you know. the forced intimacy and kindness.

(Tigerstar licks Leopardstar's cheek.

"Leopardfur," he purrs, his tail tucking around her.)

and more name shenanigans, because of course he would. if you've learned anything from this, it's that matthew likes contrasting kindness and violence, and matthew likes name shenanigans.

name shenanigans he would definitely pull mudfur in on.

("You'll call her what I tell you to call her," Tigerstar growls. He puts his paw over Mudfur's. "If I tell you to call her Leopardfur, you call her Leopardfur. You should be grateful I'm not telling you to call her a whore.")

i dunno What everyone would do when tigerclan was over. riverclan would have a Hell of a time.

leopardstar would probably appoint mistyfoot deputy and they'd -- grow closer together.

mistyfoot gave everything she had for featherpaw, and leopardstar paid the same price for the both of them. i think that is -- an apology in its own way.

(Mistyfoot sits with her when she gives birth. Mudfur reminds himself Brightsky was sick. That she did not die because of the kitting. Most queens don't.

Stonefur sits outside the den. Mudfur waits in his own, because he thinks he can't bear to know what he has done to his daughter.)

hm. yes. interesting idea to explore. i appreciate this ask.

<3

#ask #anon #misty au #or adjacent #technically not misty au but like #it's related #it's relevant #if you're in the misty au tag you might be interested #leopard au #look it has an au tag now

[raptured-night]

Do you believe Snape was prejudiced against muggleborns in his teens? I want to believe he was but there are just several facts that don't allow it. For example- He called himself the Half Blood Prince indicating that he was proud of his half blood status. But if he hated muggleborns for having muggle parents or having 'dirty' blood, then why was he so proud of his blood status. Shouldn't he have hated it like Voldemort did?

I believe that Snape’s experience with prejudice was decidedly more complicated than someone like Lucius Malfoy’s or Bellatrix Black’s would have been. Importantly, although Ron does tell us that a larger majority of witches and wizards were either half-blood or possessed some degree of blended Muggle and magical heritage due to the sheer fact that the magical community consisted of a significantly smaller population than the non-magical and there was no way around inter-mingling with Muggles if they hoped to preserve their society (in fact, I would theorize that some of the “eccentricities” and emotional instabilities that we saw from some of the pureblood families were the byproducts of too much inbreeding as a result of a small pool of pureblood families marrying into each other again and again), I would argue that Snape would still have entered Slytherin at a distinct disadvantage.

Significantly, we lack sufficient information on the Prince family to definitively argue whether they were even a pureblood family (if so then it would seem they weren’t counted among “The Sacred Twenty-Eight”) or not and while it has become a popular fanon theory that the Princes were a pureblood family, akin to the Malfoys or Lestranges or Blacks, the absence of information does make it impossible to say that canonically the Prince family were a pureblood family and not just a magical family who may have had a more blended heritage (a more mixed-lineage could even go towards explaining how Eileen came to meet and marry Tobias). Unlike Tom Riddle, Snape’s familial background may not have been vague enough for him to be able to claim ties to any ancient or illustrious pureblood family (as we saw Umbridge do when claiming an unverified connection to the Selwyn family) in order to overshadow his Muggle heritage. Thus, where Riddle was able to enter Slytherin as a half-blood orphan and declare himself Salazar Slytherin’s chosen heir courtesy of his connection to the Gaunt family, at most we see that Snape privately claimed his connection to his mother’s family in the guise of “The Half-blood Prince.” 

Arguably, that provides us with an important contrast to Tom Riddle and some insight into adolescent Snape. Where Tom Riddle uses his connection to the Gaunt family as a means of fully rejecting his father’s Muggle heritage and validating his Muggleborn prejudices by declaring himself Salazar Slytherin’s heir, there are different implications to a young Snape writing: “I am the Half-Blood Prince” in his mother’s old Potions textbook. Rather than using his mother’s magical lineage as a means to entirely divest himself of his father’s Muggle heritage, it would seem that at the point when Snape scrawled that statement into his textbook he was far more set on acknowledging both his magical and Muggle status within the wizarding world in a way that I would argue doubled as bitterly sardonic and challenging. Indeed, the very statement: “I am the Half-Blood Prince” connotes defiance on his part; a suggestion that at one point in his life Snape seemed very set on proving his worth on his own terms as a half-blood from an impoverished background who was nonetheless still “half a Prince,” and that he would defy anyone who might have told him that he did not belong. This does seem to conflict with the idea that all of Snape’s adolescent years at Hogwarts were marked by him having the same deeply ingrained prejudices or the exact ideological beliefs that purebloods like Lucius Malfoy might have. 

If we look at the classifications of Muggle-born, half-blood, and pureblood as allegories for certain racial and ethnic statuses (and that purebloods represented the group with the greatest hierarchal advantage and most privilege) then the extent to which various wizards or witches that came from non-pureblood families could nonetheless still claim some vague status as purebloods could be looked at as allegorical to the concept of “passing privilege.” Ergo, Tom Riddle was able to convincingly “pass” as a member of the pureblood elite by claiming his connections to Salazar Slytherin through the Gaunt family. Furthermore, he completely abandons his more obvious Muggle-given name of Tom Riddle and chooses a name (i.e. Voldemort) that allowed him to further obscure his lineage. I would argue that, in contrast to Voldemort, Snape did not have passing privilege coming into Hogwarts. The very nature of the way he claims his connection to his mother’s magical lineage seems to suggest that an adolescent Snape was aware that his half-blood status was not something he could conceal or entirely rid himself of in the way Tom Riddle was able to do (and again, the very nature of the statement “I am the Half-Blood Prince” does seem to suggest he may not have wanted to pass himself off as more of a pureblood). 

Which brings me to the issues of indoctrination and internalized prejudice. Significantly, I believe that a young Snape may have been aware of anti-Muggleborn prejudice even before he arrived at Hogwarts. The pause after Lily asked Snape if her being Muggle-born would make any difference at Hogwarts was poignant and suggested an existing knowledge on Snape’s part. Which begs the question of how he became aware of the existence of such prejudices? The logical answer is that he learned about them the same way he learned about the other aspects of the magical world, from his mother. It is even possible that in some of the arguments between Tobias and Eileen he may have witnessed both anti-magic and anti-Muggle prejudices from them. When asked by Lily if Tobias liked magic a young Snape deflected by observing Tobias “didn’t like anything much,” so there is a basis to argue that magic might have been a point of contention for Tobias. Likewise, one could make the case that Eileen also lashed out and a young Snape might have overheard her criticizing Tobias on the basis of him being a Muggle. Notably, Snape has to catch himself when he almost dismisses Petunia as “just a Muggle” when Lily is upset after arguing with Petunia (who demonstrated her own seeming magical prejudices by calling Lily a freak) shortly before boarding the Hogwarts Express. 

Overall, I would argue that if an adolescent Snape came to Hogwarts with any overt prejudices they were more likely anti-Muggle prejudices than they were anti-Muggleborn prejudices. Indeed, while a young Snape does hesitate before reassuring Lily that her Muggleborn heritage would make no difference, he does seem rather (naively) convinced that her magical talent would be enough for her to avoid experiencing any anti-Muggleborn prejudice while at Hogwarts. Alternatively, he frequently disparaged Petunia --who in turn targeted him for his class status-- for being a Muggle. I would theorize that a young Snape who might have been disillusioned by a father who is strongly implied to have been potentially abusive to his mother (and quite possibly him) and antagonistic towards magic and who would have potentially overheard any anti-Muggle sentiments spoken by his mother would have arrived at Hogwarts with an existing prejudice against Muggles if not yet Muggleborns.

From there any progression of anti-Muggle to anti-Muggleborn would have been the result a few complicated factors ranging from: his frequency of exposure to a culture of prejudice within Slytherin house by a certain number of vocal and influential peers, the issue of the existing stigma surrounding Slytherin house and how the culture of Hogwarts seems to reward disenfranchisement of Slytherin by the other houses and teachers, Snape’s own growing sense of alienation and disenfranchisement as his bullying by the Marauders escalated and Dumbledore and other figures of authority failed to adequately respond which would have made him more vulnerable to grooming and radicalization, Snape’s own lack of privilege (i.e. his lack of passing privilege, his half-blood status, and his class status) in Slytherin house making it more necessary for Snape to conform with to avoid drawing a target onto himself by members of his house (particularly when he would already feel a lack of security outside of his house due to the Marauders and seeming institutional biases against Slytherin house at Hogwarts), and any internalized prejudices Snape carried as a result of any resentment he may have felt towards his Muggle father, Tobias. 

I’ve written about this before but I believe the road to Snape becoming a Death Eater was a complex one. In contrast to the Malfoys, the Lestranges, or the Black family Snape was not born into wealth and privilege. He had no claims to “The Sacred Twenty-Eight,” and no real social standing. In terms of hierarchy, and to borrow from Slughorn, Snape “did not have much to recommend him.” These aspects of Snape are imperative to understanding what might have led to him becoming a Death Eater and not just in the context of fictional analysis, either. In a very real-world sense, Snape provides us some insight into the ways that adolescents can become radicalized or groomed into extremists groups, gangs, and cults. It is a gross oversight to lump Snape into the same category as Lucius Malfoy because Snape’s reasons for becoming a Death Eater and the outlook of any prejudices he held would have been very different due in large part to his blood status, class status, and social standing. 

Lucius Malfoy supported Voldemort and became a Death Eater because he regarded Muggle-borns as a threat to the privilege he already held in wizarding society; he became a Death Eater because he was motivated to hold onto his privilege, which is why both he and Narcissa Malfoy were willing to set aside their blood purity ideologies and turn away from Voldemort when it became clear that Voldemort was an even greater immediate threat to them than Muggle-borns. In contrast, Snape held no significant privilege in wizarding society; he was not a pureblood, he seemingly could not pass as belonging to one of the “Sacred Twenty-Eight,” and he came from poverty and of a low-class standing. Rationally speaking, Snape did not become a Death Eater because he had reason to believe Muggle-borns were threatening his privilege in the wizarding world because Snape did not enter into the wizarding world with significant advantages or privileges (indeed, as a half-blood his position in a world dominated by Voldemort’s ideology would be far more precarious which is why I suspect that the alternate future we saw in Cursed Child where Voldemort won saw a post-war Snape relegated back to a mostly invisible role as potion’s professor at Hogwarts again while someone like Umbridge with more passing privilege was upgraded to the role of Headmistress). I would argue that prejudice against Muggle-borns was not even a driving factor in why he became a Death Eater (although he might have had what he felt were valid reasons to believe that inter-marriages between Muggles and magical people didn’t need to continue and that Muggles like Tobias were only a danger to them and their world) so much as the promise of power, protection, and belonging. 

Which brings me back to the driving force behind a lot of the radicalization of adolescents we encounter in a very real sense. A common factor, the one which renders them most vulnerable, is their feelings of disenfranchisement and their disillusionment with a society that not only seems to not work for them but is unfairly designed to work against them. In a fictional context, Snape manages to encapsulate the idea of the angry young person whose outlook and future prospects seem hopeless (regardless of any innate talents, ambition, or hard work on their part) and who feels unfairly attacked by institutions and systems beyond their control. More than any prejudice as a motivating factor, I would argue that a young Snape would have been very vulnerable to grooming from peers like Lucius Malfoy who could build off any existing anti-Muggle prejudices he might have carried while also promising him a chance for greater social standing and influencing power. 

It is important to keep in mind that even in his own house he was dismissed by Slughorn, who famously cultivated a social networking system of carefully selected students he felt had the most potential. Thus, one can imagine an ambitious young Snape who once looked to Hogwarts as an escape from his circumstances on Spinner’s End and who seemed to defiantly insist upon making a name for himself on his own terms (i.e. “I am the Half-Blood Prince”) having all his childhood ambitions gradually disappointed; over the course of the seven years he would spend as a student at Hogwarts he would be confronted by the cruel reality that life in the magical world was no less fair to him than life in the Muggle world had been. Enter the likes of Lucius Malfoy (who also is symbolically the first person to extend Snape a hand of welcome at Hogwarts after running up against James and Sirius on the train) and other impressive peers from pureblood families and one can begin to see what some of the allure of the Death Eaters might have been (that’s not even getting into the fact that the Marauders had so staunchly aligned themselves on the opposite side so it would also have felt like a natural extension of the lines that had been drawn at Hogwarts in choosing the side in opposition of his school-hood enemies). 

The extent to which Snape carried any significant anti-Muggleborn prejudices (that is not to say that he didn’t carry Muggle-born prejudices to some degree but that those prejudices were not so significant in his consciousness that we could argue they were the main motivating factor in his decision to become a Death Eater) is, I believe, debatable. Certainly, he called Lily a Mudblood in a moment where he had been rendered powerless and emasculated and Lily later claimed that Snape “called everyone” like her Mudbloods (which I suspect was supposition and hyperbole on her part; otherwise, it paints Lily’s character in a less sympathetic light wherein we discover she was willing to overlook Snape’s use of slurs up to the point she was no longer the exception when it came to him using them) but even that instance could stand as an example of assimilation. Whether Snape was remaining silent while his peers used derogatory slurs around him or he chose to use them in his company, the instance where Snape was put under pressure and the language asserted itself is a testament to the way existing in an environment of prejudice and allowing it to go unchallenged can lead to us internalizing those prejudices. Indeed, when Snape later refuses to allow Phineas Nigellus to use the slur in his company can be looked at as an example of Snape having learned from the mistakes of his youth and taken the initiative to proactively challenge prejudice whenever possible as an adult. 

Ultimately, I believe Snape did internalize ideas of anti-Muggle prejudice but I also would argue that that was not the primary reason or driving force for his becoming a Death Eater. I believe there were a number of factors that led to that choice and it was primarily the allure of power and security that proved the most appealing to him. There is also a strong case of naivete to be argued on Snape’s part, in that he --like Draco-- seemed not to fully recognize what he had signed up for until the reality of it hit home. That Voldemort would target someone he knew, a formerly treasured childhood friend, appeared to bring home to Snape the reality of what he had become a part of and who he had pledged his allegiance to. I would also argue that early on, Voldemort appeared to have been willing to recruit gifted Muggle-borns into his ranks, so it is also quite possible that during the first war Voldemort’s rhetoric might have been slanted more firmly against the idea of Muggle incursions in their world or the way the Secrecy Act disenfranchised their people rather than a blatant call-to-arms against members of their community that, while Muggle-born, were still magical and ran the risk of alienating people away from public support. 

That is often the case with extremist organizations; they test the waters and start with more palatable or deceptive “populist” messages with a broader mass appeal before they introduce their more extreme views by degrees. We have seen some of this with the Trump administration, who began under more innocuous slogans like “Make America Great Again” and have only become more emboldened since in their dog-whistles to white supremacy and ideas of nationalism (e.g. Trump has even openly come out and declared himself a nationalist in past interviews following the Charlottesville attack on protestors and his refusal to condemn those actions). Significantly, in the first war, we know that Voldemort had enough popular support his followers were able to outnumber Dumbledore and his Order by twenty-to-one. I would argue that was achievable only if Voldemort first entered the scene under a more flexible message that allowed him to draw in members of the wizarding world with more casual prejudices towards Muggle and build up his inner circle of the more extreme Death Eaters like Bellatrix and Lucius who held the strongest anti-Muggleborn prejudices. 

Finally, I believe that the likelihood of internalized prejudice cannot be underscored. Someone who may have grown up with an abusive Muggle father, like Snape, could have internalized prejudice about his half-blood status as something with the potential to mark him as inferior. His resentment of his father becoming a resentment of Muggles, in general, is the very sort of toxic cocktail that could lead a young Snape to align himself with a Voldemort who his peers assure him can understand him and his hatred of his Muggle father. In that scenario, Voldemort is merely someone sympathetic to his situation; someone who validates his belief that Muggles are a danger to the magical community; that they are to blame for keeping their kind oppressed and forced to remain in the shadows; they are a poison to their society, etc. Additionally, being at Hogwarts and feeling as if the majority of the school were rooting for him --and his house by extension-- to fail would have only strengthened a culture of peer pressure, allowing house-mates from the most influential families to set the tone within the house, decide house politics, and enforce a group-think where the consequences of going against the popular narrative are complete ostracization within one’s house and no protection from the ostracization Slytherin students can expect to face in general. Thus we have Snape, a half-blood from poverty and a preexisting internalized prejudice against his potentially abusive Muggle father coming to Hogwarts and being sorted into a house where his options are to choose between his house being his only respite from the institutional biases of the school at large or a place where he’s further alienated from everyone else except the people out to get him can also get him where he sleeps. Indeed, the very fact that up to SWM, Harry observes that Snape was “clearly unpopular” might suggest that Snape had been reluctant up to that point to fully assimilate into the ideologies of his house and his friendship with Lily led to some friction (it might go towards explaining how Sirius and James could publically humiliate him to onlookers and not a single member of his house come to his defense). 

All this to say that I suspect that Snape’s path towards becoming a Death Eater happened by degrees. I would argue that he might have arrived at Hogwarts with some internalized prejudice against Muggles but an ambition to prove himself on his own terms (i.e. as “the Half-Blood Prince”) and a belief that raw talent and hard work would be enough for him to distinguish himself. When those ambitions proved faulty and when faced with seemingly insurmountable institutional biases within Hogwarts and slim prospects outside of Hogwarts that was when he became disillusioned and more susceptible to the ideological grooming within his house. That is why these contradictions in Snape may not be contradictions at all but rather more insight into the way a small boy who managed to seem impressive talking about his future would become a Death Eater. He may have started off with a certain degree of faith in the idea that gifted people like him and Lily could take the world by storm; that he could succeed as the Half-Blood Prince and she as a Muggle-born and no one would question their right to be there or their place in the world. Sadly, by the time he left Hogwarts, both he and Lily had had that innocence stripped from them and the choices he made would take him far from whatever ideas he once had as a boy for their future. 

#severus snape #snape meta #snape discourse #snape community #snapedom #prejudice

[thatskepticalbitchcara]

do you believe that taylor writes songs explicitly about people? such as 1989 being about dianna and not inspired by her? because the part in miss americana when she and jack were working on getaway car it seemed like they just put words where they fit, without so much thoughts and scheming into them, at least for pop/more upbeat tracks

i think it’s absolutely a mix of things. i think when most people write, they are drawing on multiple sources of inspiration so they can be inspired by moments, people, stories, memories, feelings, etc. with taylor, i’d venture to guess that a lot of the radio curated pop hits are not really about anyone and are made to... be hits. you know? like getaway car i do think is inspired by the tom/calvin mess but it’s not that deep or emotional or vulnerable of a song. something like endgame or bad blood are just written to be consumed imo. but i think when taylor writes, sometimes it’s for herself and other times it is because she... markets her personal life a LOT. it’s what got her famous and i cant think of another artist who has done that as much as her. so sometimes you write because you need to express something and other times you write while knowing how sometimes will be perceived. if i’m allowed to gaylor for a moment, i would say a song like this love or wonderland or clean are probably explicitly about dianna.. while songs like style and out of the woods are more about how she wanted to help market 1989 around haylor. she is a story teller and the songwriter of a generation imo so she does it all. i do feel as if evermore and some of folklore are deeply fictional where shes genuinely writing stories and are those stories inspired by real people, events, and emotions? yeah i’m sure a LOT of them are. but are they literal play by plays of specific situations? probably not. especially since i do think a lot of it was inspired by novels and movies etc too!!

[lonelyghosts-stuff]

Loki Tumblr Posts Masterlist

I have made so many Loki posts I figured I might as well make a masterlist because making organized things like this is fun for me.

This Masterlist includes some reblogs

There's no real point to this

Analyses/Rants/General Comments

(MCU) Loki Laufeyson/Odinson Character History and Analysis

Ugh Thanks a Lot "Gagnarok"

TVA Stripping Loki-Good? Bad? (Maybe a little of both?)

Loki Show Expectation Anxiety

Coping With Expectation Anxiety

Look at this shmuck calling me a fake Loki fan for not liking Ragnarok

Loki-Character Analysis (and Rant lol)

Why ppl say Loki smash dumb or toxic ppl???

Loki is so caring of Thor's love, Jane Foster

Loki | Behind the Scenes (2021)

Loki Show Promos

OfficialLoki Instagram Promo for Loki on Disney+

Loki Series TikTok Promo

OMG HE HAS A TURTLENECK

LOOK AT HIS TURTLENECK!!!

Good? Bad? Bit of both!

You Still Need to See Loki in a Turtleneck

"Loki - you're in a lot of trouble."

"COME AND GET ME!" Loki on Disney+ Hotspot clip

Marvel Infinite Disney+ Reel

Tom Hiddleston Breaks Down a Decade of Loki's Most Memorable Scenes in Preparation for 'Loki'

Tom Hiddleston: Loki in 30 Seconds

Miss Minutes 'Loki' TV Spot Clip-SHIRTLESS LOKI

Marvel Studios' Loki | Official Trailer | Disney+

Loki Art Posters

Behind the Scenes and Other Content

Thor (2011) Deleted Scenes

Loki VS Valkyries Fight Scene

Loki | Behind the Scenes (2021)

Memes and Fan Content

Loki Turned Into a Piece of Paper?

Tom Hiddleston is Given Executive Producer and the First thing he does is...

Loki Trailer Screenshot Memes

My Little Baby, Off to Destroy People

Considering Using My College Fund to Buy Loki Costume Pieces

You hurted Loki!? Oh. Oh! Jail for Mobius! Jail for Mobius for for One Thousand Years!!

Loki is played by a 40 year old man but he's baby

Distracted Boyfriend Meme but it's Tom Hiddleston/Loki With the Tesseract

Shirtless Loki is EVERYWHERE

It is Wednesdays my Loki Lovers-Wednesdays are the new Fridays

Loki's Just Vacuuming Stark Tower

What SHOULD Have Happened After Infinity War

Thor May be the God of Thunder, but Thunder Always Comes After Lightning--KACHOW!

Thor and Loki: Remember Me

Loki Has Kidnapped Tom Hiddleston Confirmed

Amazing Thor Ragnarok Reimagined Comic!

Loki Through the Movies

I'll Obey You Any Day, Loki

Loki Being Chill While Chaos Ensues Around Him

Introducing Thor and Loki to the Class in a Presentation About Norse Mythology

Loki Just Really Needs a Hug

Loki Gets Blamed for Everything When He's Just Getting Dragged Along

Loki in 'Avengers Assemble'

My Tumblr Officially Became a 'Loki Stan Account'

Desperate Attempt at Drawing Loki-Not so good

Loki has the same knife in the trailer as he used to try and stab purple grape man

Steve Roger is at fault for Loki going to space jail

Tom Hiddleston as Loki for 10 Years

Loki 1st Trailer Music

@sserpente fixed the MCU

Loki's "funeral"

Loki deserved comfort after learning of his true parentage

Loki and Wanda causing chaos while Stephen Strange knows he has to clean it up after

Thor and Loki are "smart"

Loki GIFs

Jotunn Loki is Tiny Giant

Look at his emotion; my poor baby

"COME AND GET ME!"

Loki is scared cuz a man just got melted in front of him for not showing his ticket

Mean Lady Takes Loki's Knives

Loki's Got a Point About Thor...

Tony Stark and Loki: "We have a Hulk."

"He's doing great!"-'Loki' Series

"Wednesdays are the new Fridays"

"HE'S NOT MY FATHER!"---"I, Loki, prince of Asgard... Odinson..."

Loki and Nebula Parallels

Thor and Loki Being a Duo in Thor Ragnarok

Loki Using Magic

Tom Hiddleston as Loki in the MCU

"We protect the proper flow of time. I want you to help us fix it." 'Loki' (2021)

Loki kicking all the booty in the 'Loki' trailers

Loki tryna help Thor in Ragnarok

"Come on... what'd you expect?"

Sylvie(?) and Loki

More 'Loki' Trailer GIFs

Loki Chillin' While Mount Vesuvius is Erupting

"I'm terribly sorry. Must be a very painful memory."

Thor: The Dark World | Loki's Coronation (Deleted Scene)

Thor and Loki transformation | Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok | Loki Flipping Knives

Thor: Ragnarok | Loki's Fabulous Hari Flip

Loki is a polite "evil" god

Loki Has Telekinesis!!!

Tom Hiddleston Very Animatedly Summarizes the Past Ten Years of Loki in 30 Seconds

Speculation/Headcanons/Interviews/Articles

Loki and Thor Headcanon

Wants for the Loki Series

Loki Showing Vulnerability in the Trailers

My Sweet Baby Boy Needs a Hug

Michael Waldron Interview and Comments

The Warriors 3 and Loki in Thor (2011)

Tom Hiddleston Gushing Over Owen Wilson and His Role in 'Loki'

Teletubbies Listed as Inspiration for 'Loki'???

Tom Hiddleston aka Loki Watches Marvel Movies as a Fan in Theaters

Fanfic

Specter Fanfic Synopsis/Idea

Specter Fanfic Masterlist

#this took over an hour and it shouldn't have #Loki #Loki Laufeyson #Loki Odinson #Marvel #Marvel Cinematic Universe #MCU #Disney #Disney Plus #Disney+ #Loki Series #Loki Show #Loki on Disney+ #Loki Disney+ #Tom Hiddleston #Memes #Marvel Memes #MCU Memes

[peakyxtommy]

The Proposal - Wedding Series AU

Summary: Tommy Asking You To Marry Him  | 1.6K Words | All Fluff (Modern AU) | *Photo Credit Pinterest*

The sunlight filters through the curtains on an early Saturday morning. Tommy laid wide awake, while your head rested on the center of his chest. The silk sheets covering your bare bodies from the evening before. While he laid awake, listening to your soft snores, he couldn’t help but smile to himself. Today was the day. The day he was finally going to ask you to be his wife. 

It’s been a month since he’s talked to your father. Polly wouldn’t stop pestering him for the whole month. He took yet another weekend off, earning harassment from his brothers of him becoming whipped. Telling them to “Fuck off”, hold down the fort, and not to call unless it was an absolute emergency. He struggled with taking long weekends because it was what he found his identity and success in. It would always be worth it when he would watch the joy wash over your face when he told you he had a weekend or anytime off really. He would always expect you to fill the day with endless activities which would make him enjoy the time more making memories with you. 

Sometimes it would be lazy as well enjoying time doing activities around the home. 

Domesticated things of gardening, riding and feeding the horses in the stable, or cuddling on the couch watching various shows and movies. Him being suckered into watching your few favorite romantic dramas for the uptenth time, no matter how much he would tease and protest against it, putting up an act, just to give in because he loved the way you would act everytime going through the same emotions, repeating various quotes, and asking his opinion, just like it was the first time you both watched it together. He would end up having those ridiculous songs and quotes stuck in his head for days after, annoying him, but also reminding him of you which brought a smile to his face. 

As he lay awake enjoying the quietness of you both in bed, fingers stroking gently through your hair, he couldn’t wait for the evening he had planned. 

-

“Darlin,  are you almost ready?” He opens the door, smoke in hand, leaning up against the frame. His eyes scanning the semi-chaotic mess of the bedroom. A few different dresses are strewn over the bed, makeup products scattered across your vanity, and you humming away to James Bay playing in the record player. 

As you put the strap of the heel on your left foot in place, your head shoots up to meet his gaze upon you. Taking in his usual dressed up attire, noticing the haircut you gave him this afternoon, bringing out his flawless perfection even more, and the laid back nature of his stance.

“Yes, Tom. Just gotta get me purse together. Five more minutes, yeah.” You respond standing up, fingers gliding down your dress to straighten it out. Going to the walk-in closet to grab your white purse before adding your essentials to the bag. Then moving to quickly clean up your vanity, which made Tom chuckle as this was a habit you had. To tell him so many more minutes before trying to quickly tidy. Once things were to your liking, he clasped his warm fingers through yours before walking you both down the stairwell. 

He grabs your black winter peacoat, helping you button it up, as you leave out the door. The crisp winter air causes a shiver down your spine as you make your way to the passenger side, Tommy opening the door for you. Once he’s strapped in you begin the drive to London. All you knew about the evening planned was that he was taking you to dinner but the rest was a surprise, as he wouldn’t give any hints. 

-

He helps you out the car, as you take in the busy city atmosphere you missed but were glad you lived relatively close to. Everything was decorated for the holiday season which you loved since you were a little girl. A season that was slowly growing on Tommy since you’ve been a part of the picture. As you both cross the busy street, your eyes scan the tall building with lighten up igloos on top, reading the sign that says Coppa Club. You couldn’t help the excitement that was building within you.

“You got us reservations here Tommy!” You squeal as you both enter the warm building and the host finds your reservation. She leads to the elevator that takes you up the two flights to the rooftop dining. The strings of warm fairy lights hang above the igloo dining. She seats you at one closest to the corner and more private with the perfect view of Tower Bridge. 

“Thank you so much for bringing us here for dinner. I really appreciate it, you didn’t have to.” You feel the heat in your cheeks, as his cool blue eyes gleam at you. You’ve been telling him about this place for weeks, happy you were finally able to enjoy it for the first time together. 

“Anything for you. I did it because I love you and if I had to hear you mention this place to me one more time, I would’ve driven myself up the wall.” He chuckles teasingly toward you squeezing your hand. 

-

“Here you go Mr. Shelby, enjoy your ride.” The ride attendance ushers you on to the huge pod of the London Eye. It wasn’t the first time you two have spent an evening together on the ride alone finding it peaceful, finding solace in one another, even though it was a tourist attraction. You loved watching the lights that lit up the city, the other city landmarks, people watching, and listening to Tommy’s laughter as he would find ways to crack jokes or laugh endearing at your reactions during the ride as he held you close to him. 

“You really outdid yourself tonight Mr.Shelby. Should I be worried about you buttering me up for something?” Your hand comes to caress the softness of his cheek, seeing the mischievous glint in his eyes. 

“You think I’d have to do all this, just for me to get what I want. Pretty sure, I have you wrapped around my finger darlin.” He chuckles as his arms wrap around your waist, pulling you closer to him. 

“I’m pretty sure that may be true, but don’t forget I’m pretty good at getting what I want as well.” You whisper hotly into his mouth, taking in the smirk on the corner of his lips. He brings his soft lips to connect to yours slow and passionately. His hand holds the back of your head as your fingers come to the nape of his neck. The kiss lasts for a while, the both you in your own little world as the ride continues to move until it comes to a stop at the top. 

When he pulls away he can feel his heart racing and body aching with desire but also the nerves settling in the pit of his stomach as he knows its’ time. 

“Do you remember the day at the cafe by the river?” He blurts out as his lower lip draws between his teeth. 

“Yes, I do. Why?” Your voice laced with concern wondering where he was going with this conversation. 

“That’s the second day, I almost lost you for good. What I knew then and what I still know to be true is, that I don’t want to spend another day without you by my side.” He gets down on one knee and pulls the velvet box from his coat pocket, taking his other hand in yours.

 “The day I got the call you were taken, it felt like a hole in my chest was breaking. I knew I had to get to you. I couldn’t stop thinking about all the little moments we had and how you told me you loved me in the middle of a quiet afternoon of tea because that’s you. Simple and easy going but so much more. 

You love adventure and helping others. You’re a hard worker and too smart for us all. You’re so damn stubborn but I love these things about you. I knew even five months into our relationship that I loved you but was too afraid to say so. I knew in the morning of us moving forward, that you are the woman that I want to marry, because who gets a second chance these days, especially someone like me. 

I promise I will always take care of you, keep you safe, and make you happy for all the days we shall be together.” 

“(Y/N) will you marry me?” Tommy opens the velvet box, revealing the stunning ring. Thomas Shelby was not a man that was super vulnerable and filled with long declarations of love. When he was it was always with purpose. In this moment you knew everything he said to be true, how much he really soaked in all your time together and spent in the good and bad moments. Neither of you regretted anything that came after that day on the river, knowing this moment was worth it as the tears rolled down your eyes and you could see the heat setting in on his cheeks as he waited for your response. 

“Oh my gosh, Yes! Yes, Tommy I will marry you!” He sides the diamond ring onto your ring finger and you help stand him back to his feet. 

“I love you so much (Y/N).” His hand finds its way to the back of your head again, as your faces come close together. Foreheads pressed together, noses touching. 

“I love you more Tommy. I can’t wait to spend forever with you.” 

Masterlist

#tommy shelby x reader #peaky blinders one shot #peaky blinders imagine #thomas shelby imagine #thomas shelby #peaky blinders au #peaky blinder fanfic #modern peaky blinders #modern au #modern thomas shelby #soft!thomasshelby #soft!tommyshelby #wedding series #proposal

[cerberus253]

Hello. What kind of girl do you think Drago would like, what would he find attractive in her to draw his attention? And under what circumstances can this happen? Ie ... within the framework of the series it is rather difficult to imagine, Drago seems to be interested only in his "destiny" to conquer, but this beautiful boy needs love and he is so young.

Oh this is a question! Okay so, there is a bit of a difference between what attracts Drago’s attention, and what he unconsciously desires and truly needs.

What I think would catch Drago’s attention and maybe heart is a girl who speaks her mind, knows what she wants, ambitious, dark-humored, athletic, cruel, snarky, has a dominating personality, doesn’t take no for an answer, and will do anything to get what she wants. So, basically a stereotypical evil tom-boy female villain in a cartoon show. The first character that comes to mind is Shego from Kim Possible. I’m not sure if she’s exact, but she’s a good starting point for what Drago might like.

It’d start off as a basic master and sidekick, all business and whatnot and maybe Drago finding them a bit annoying and sees them as more of a rival, but then he starts getting feelings through common interests and yadda yadda yadda... Here’s the problem, though. Although it is cute to think about two evil individuals being a couple because oh boy they’re so alike, that’s the problem, they are too alike. Yeah, they may enjoy torturing people and committing domestic terrorism, making snarky remarks and enjoying their evilness, but get over that superficial level and you’ll cross loads of problems.

This is definitely destroying the playful “shipping fantasy“ and taking things too seriously, but ya know what, I’m still going to do it.

Anyway, that said character may catch his eye at first, maybe he’ll attempt going somewhere, but eventually personal problems would arise on Drago’s end. Assuming you’ve read my other Drago QnAs, Drago has mental and emotional issues, having a low self-esteem, anxiety, maybe depression, and constantly needing reassurance from others, all on top of having a different culture compared to humans, which causes issues on it’s own. So, although Drago would like the evil female stereotype, what he needs is someone he can fully trust, is patient and understanding with him, is connected with their emotions, sympathetic, observant, not minding the drastic changes between wanting affection and avoiding it from him (having depression will do that to people, but mostly it tends to make the person want to isolate themselves. Know this, though, if you are dating someone with chronic depression, and they constantly do that, do NOT let that be an indicator of if they love you or not, for more often than not their love for you is at its greatest point. Why don’t they just stay by you instead of isolating? I cannot explain, but their world and their battles are far different than a normal person’s; all I can say is trust them. What stereotypical villain knows that and practices it?).

All the evil female stereotypes I see are always annoyed by emotions, bring others down just to make themselves feel better or just out of cruelty and think it’s funny, and their sympathy and compassion was lost years ago and they do not care anymore; they be real bitches. HOWEVER, I’m saying that is a STEREOTYPE. I’m sure there are more complicated female villains out there with a roller coaster of emotions, but what it comes down to they all have emotional trauma/trouble on their end and would not be too fitting with a partner who is just as damaged. Whether you want to or not, you cannot fix someone if you have not fixed yourself; it will only end in ruin. Now, if the female villain has the same trauma as Drago does, and they somehow communicate it with one other (that requires throwing out their pride and exposing their vulnerability, and who is going to do that first and admit they aren’t perfect instead of just getting angry and taking that anger out on the other, which damages the relationship past repairment if not treated soon enough, is beyond me), things could work out; neither of them would worry about proving themselves to the other, they can potentially empathize with each other (ya know, if that characteristic is taught in the first place, because we know neither of them initially have it), and they won’t have to worry about being abandoned because of what they cannot do for the other.

Basically, Drago needs a combination of the two. He’ll like a girl who is confident, speaks her mind, can argue and debate with him, has a bit of a sadistic side (sadistic towards others, NOT towards Drago), courageous, and a sprinkle of territorialness, but he needs someone who is patient and understanding with him and his issues, kind and loving (at least towards him), smart and open minded, and maybe having similar mental disorders that they have at least a decent grasp on, at least enough to help Drago through his. Mixing all this together with a broad sense of humor, not being a sensitive snowflake but respectful enough if something really upsets and hurts him they will halt whatever it is, being brave enough to speak against him if something is really upsetting and hurting them, and being by his side through thick and thin. At least, this is what I think. He would like a badass fighter (metaphorically), but needs a truly loving partner.

This is a little weird, but I legit believe that a relationship between Drago and I could work for a while and fill in that “emotion teaching“ slot, but lasting forever I highly doubt it because I don’t fill in all those “badassery“ characteristics; at least not in public. We’d totes be friends, though, even if he just contacts me very little and out of the blue with some random personal question XD The close friends I have tend to tell me they absolutely appreciate how they can just talk to me about anything and not have the fear of being misunderstood and judged. I take that as my number one good quality :V

#ask #jackie chan adventures #jca #drago #girlfriend #love

[pynkhues]

I got so excited seeing you post about Succession, I am absolutely obsessed with everything about that show from the writing, to the performances, to Kendall fucking Roy. Would love to hear any of your takes or analysis on the Roy siblings.

Oh my gosh, me too, anon. I'd been watching the eps a few at a time and when I got halfway through s2, I started watching them one at a time just because I didn't want it to end! It's been a crazy long time since I've done that, and it was such an invigorating feeling to enjoy a show that much to want to draw it out again. I finished s2 a few days ago and am halfway through a rewatch already, haha, and I am SO. HYPED. for s3.

It's so well written and like you said, the performances are top-notch (Jeremy Strong ridiculously deserved his Emmy last year, oh my god), and just the pay off with plotlines and character arcs is unreal, even if that pay off often hurts. I think it does such a great job of showing how filthy rich they are too, but making no part of their life aspirational? Which is a hard line to walk. They're all so miserable and traumatised and disconnected and lonely and they're destined to stay that way because they have no emotional tools to do or be otherwise. It hurts, but it's so frequently what they deserve too, and that gets so tangled up and twisted. I love it.

And man, the Roy kids!! Putting some broadstrokes analysis / opinions under the cut, because omg, I feel like I'll be talking for 1,200 years otherwise, haha.

Connor Roy

Legit obsessed tbh. When I was growing up, my mum was a huge Spin City fan, so she used to park me and my sister on the floor in front of it with toys while she watched, and as a result I think I have this really warm response to Alan Ruck, haha. He's fantastic in this, and lends the right amount of vulnerability to Connor.

I love that there's this push-pull with him as kind of an outsider, but also not? Like he's there at the table, to borrow the phrase from Tom, but there's very much this feeling that it's a courtesy or formality to Logan's previous family (and god, I'm dying to know more about his mum / Logan's first wife), but that doesn't stop this deep rooted need that Connor shares with his siblings for their father's validation.

I think a lot about what Connor says to Kendall in the s1 finale about how anyone can have a million dollars, but right now, with Logan's empire, they're somebody. It's this sort of tangled disconnect from reality (anyone can have a million dollars??) but also his desire to be seen broadly, but more specifically seen as Logan's son, that I feel really grounds Connor's arc, and I feel like he's just going to get louder and louder about it, especially with his presidential run getting closer.

Kendall Roy

Okay, okay, okay, I know that he's an absolute nightmare and a terrible human, but oh my goooooddddd, I love him as a character. I saw it in somebody's tags on a gifset, but I love this set-up where Logan keeps Kendall on the shortest leash, but it's a leash all of his siblings, despite themselves, want to be on. That's awful, but so indicative of the toxic way that Logan's raised his children.

There's also a great quote from Jeremy Strong somewhere, and I can't find it now, but to paraphrase, he said that the whole family is raised on this idea of strength and power, and Kendall's sort of a case study in strength not being his native language. It's so true, and I think Kendall's smart and resourceful and quick on his feet, but he's also so often desperately trying to wear a costume of who he thinks he should be.

I don't think he's weak (in fact, I think he's really resiliant), but he's definitely a fragile character and an addict, who nakedly needs nurturing that no one is willing to give him, least of all his mother (which, god, that scene when he tries to talk to her in the UK destroyed me) so instead he pretends to mould himself into the perceived image of his father and fails every time.

It's brutal to watch, especially when you see other characters know that and use it to manipulate him. Hell, his own father pretends to nurture and protect him (and I think kind of genuinely does too? But it's so warped?) the whole of s2, and it brings Kendall closer than ever before. It's painful, and affecting, and it's just this manifestation of trauma in a hopeless, cringe-inducing package, haha.

Roman Roy

Another nightmare baby I tragically love, hahaha. I actually think Roman's had one of the most interesting arcs on the show and one of the few that seems to be positive? Like his tendency to not take anything seriously so that he never truly fails was pretty fun in the first season, but to see that evolve into someone who's green but has great gut instincts, and is good when he lets himself be and when he lets himself try, is really invigorating narratively, especially as the other characters all slip further down morally and/or stagnate.

I'm loving the way that it's sort of cannibalising itself though too with him and Geri's relationship suddenly, um, pivoting, hahaha, and especially the way she's honed in on him getting off on being demeaned. There's something really fun about the one character clawing his way up masturbating to being told exactly how low he is.

Plus Kieran Culkin is a gem.

Shiv Roy

Sarah!! Snook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've had a huge crush on her since Not Suitable for Children so was already totally delighted to see her in this, but oh my god, she's so good, and Shiv is so awful in so many wonderful ways. I love that she's kind of like Kendall in the way she pendulums between extreme competence and the most mortifying self-sabotage, and the way she's a very specific sort of insecure. Logan never asked her, y'know? Not really, and the way she knows she's his favourite, but knows that being his favourite without the validation of succession doesn't mean anything.

In a lot of ways, she encapsulates the show's themes and Logan's abuse in the best way, because she has what her brothers want. Her father loves her more openly than he does any of them, but that love isn't enough, because Logan's made sure it never will be. It's not a true love after all, because Logan loves them, but he loves none of them more than himself and his legacy, and being given the latter is what they've all been convinced will make them happy when it never will.

Nothing will.

It's just so good and so painful, and I'm in love with it all.

#i hope this makes an ounce of sense anon #i am still extremely in my feelings haha #hbo succession #connor roy #kendall roy #roman roy #shiv roy #welcome to my ama

[likehandlingroses]

wait what is the mary/sybil/thomas thing, i am very interested lol

Okay so: I think the fandom recognizes Mary and Thomas’s overlap as characters--their interest in men, their personalities, their arcs generally. Sybil’s role isn’t as immediately obvious, but from the beginning her place in the dynamic starts to take shape. 

Take the Duke’s entrance in Episode 1--we all remember Mary’s anticipation, we all know, ‘surely a footman...’ 

but there’s another beat in there, another moment: when the Duke meets Sybil and Mary is visibly like...Uh-Oh. This is a scripted moment as well--Fellowes notes that Sybil is “really charming,” and the original script has Mary cut the moment short by pushing the Duke inside (Cora gets the line in the episode). 

But it’s a misdirect on their relationship, isn’t it? Because something similar happens later on in the season--the first time Mary and Matthew kiss is when Mary tells Matthew that she thinks Sybil has a crush on him. 

This is characterized very differently from her encounters with Edith over men. The conflict is really about Mary and her own feelings...Sybil’s crush (if it even really existed) is fleeting and innocent, and it serves as a way for Mary to see and acknowledge her own feelings for Matthew. 

Season 2, Episode 2 was initially conceived with Courtenay having an interest in Sybil--all of those scenes were cut, but in that cut we lost some of the nuances of what was happening there. 

And then there’s Tom, who people ship with Mary and Thomas (usually post-Sybil, and there are compelling ties you can draw on for either ship because of Sybil’s existence)

IMO, Mary and Thomas are both aware of Sybil as someone who is fundamentally more daring than they are--they would also say she is kinder, but I think what they truly envy is her freedom to express everything she feels, to be who she is without apology. 

Mary says that she can’t be like Sybil because she cares too much what others think of her (we see an echo of this scene when Thomas says he “minds what people say”)

Thomas, who in S2 struts around like he’s “grander than Lady Mary,” perceives the difference between them in his own way, in his own words, during a deleted scene between himself and Courtenay: when Courtenay asks if ‘Lady’ Sybil is “very grand, then?” Thomas decides that “no [she isn’t]. Not in herself.” 

This scene--though it is cut from the final episode--is really effective as a prelude to the first time we see Thomas commit to being emotionally vulnerable with another person. He sees it, sees the attraction in it, before choosing it for himself.

It is deeper than all three characters simply being attracted to the same men, or jealousy or love triangles or anything like that--because Mary and Thomas are both so fond of Sybil, and so encouraged by her rather than put off by her energy and charm. She runs ahead of them, and they don’t resent her for it. I think they both want to be her, in a way. They certainly respect her, and are grateful that she thinks well of them when they don’t know if they deserve it. 

Sybil is the one who gets away...except she doesn’t. Except she gets pulled back in by the very man who was supposed to take her away. And when she dies, Mary and Thomas lose so much of what her aspirations gave them. The rest of the show happens in the fall-out of that moment--when the woman who aspired to the most, and deserved it entirely, dies. 

Where do emotional honesty and sensitivity fit into that world? That’s what Mary and Thomas have to deal with, especially after their own massive traumatic events in S3.  

“I’ve said and done things...I don’t know why” / “I could say the same” -- the aliveness that Sybil brought into the house, the awareness, the recognition of Feeling...Thomas and Mary need that and when we reach the end of the show, they are struck with just how much of it has passed through their fingers without them even quite knowing where it went or how they lost it.

 I think where canon stands, they are still hoping to find that spark again. 

#anon #ask #(also) #persephonerights #you sent a similar ask! #Thomas barrow #Mary Crawley #sybil crawley

[the-ice-sculpture]

How do you feel about the new trailer?

My honest answer is that I don’t feel great about it, anon. I don’t hate it, but it doesn’t fill me with joy either, which makes me sad because I want to love this show so much.

Firstly, it’s worth pointing out that I’m a pessimist at heart and tend to expect the worst in any given situation. And a trailer takes everything out of context and only gives small relatively spoiler-free snippets, so my opinion of the actual show may end up different to my opinion of the trailer.

(This is going to be a little long because I have a lot of thoughts about it, some positive, some more negative, and someone’s given me an excuse to ramble so I'm taking it)

I like continuity and I miss Avengers-Loki so I was really looking forward to getting to spend more time with that Loki. But the way the trailer presents him with the different look, different speech patterns, less anger/bitterness/sinisterness etc makes it feel much more like Ragnarok-Loki rather than Avengers-Loki, despite how the show seems to take place right after Avengers 1.

Unpopular opinion but I also like Loki’s magic to be more limited, otherwise it raises questions like ‘why didn’t he ever use this power before?’. I prefer characters to not need to power up so much as learn to utilise their own abilities better, and with illusions as his primary magic there’s still loads of fun/clever/tricksy things he could do with illusions that we’ve not seen yet.

I don’t know if it was just the editing of the trailer – and I hate that I’m saying this – but I found the humour... uncomfortable. As in it felt very close to giving me second-hand embarrassment. That’s not to say that Loki and humour can’t work – I love the humour with Loki in Thor 2 for example, but... I don’t know, I like him to be more eloquent and witty, even if he can still lose arguments sometimes, which might be why the ‘I am smart’ line didn’t sit right with me. It came across as petulant. Loki can definitely be petulant, but if he is, I prefer him to do it more intelligently, somehow? I’m not sure how to put my exact thoughts into words on that, but that’s the general gist.

To be honest, I think I might just end up not vibing with the overall tone of the show. I like Loki on the darker/angstier/edgier side with a more serious and emotional storyline, but that’s not what this seems to be. To me, the Loki characterisation we saw in the trailer felt more reminiscent of that interview with Tom Hiddleston sort of playing his hybrid self mixed with Loki on the set of Ragnarok than anything else. I really hope this is just how it comes across with the trailer and not the whole show because I am ridiculously attached to the Loki from Thor 1, Avengers 1, and Thor 2 in particular, and it’d feel like wasted opportunities if they were just brushed to one side.

The show seems to be going for the comedy angle more than anything else. In terms of Marvel drawing in viewing numbers, it’s probably going to work.

I also think major opportunities have been missed with the aesthetics. Why so much brown and muted colours?!? And Loki showing skin with his arms out?? I can’t wrap my head around it. I hope Loki eventually manages to burn the fuck ugly outfits they got him anyway.

On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised by the shot of Thor-1 Loki on Asgard’s throne. I never thought we’d get to see him and the vulnerability of that Loki does things to my heart. I would love it if we got present-Loki interacting with that Loki (or any Lokis we know from MCU canon, really), but I’m preparing for the possibility of it just being a TVA thing of them just showing present-Loki snippets from his past/other timelines.

I would love the show to have lots of impactful emotional moments. I didn’t see much evidence of it (but that kind of thing is often not included in trailers), but the moment with Loki sat with a woman could have been one. I’m all for Loki making friends, but I’m not keen on the idea of love-interests at this point. Who knows what their dynamic is though, it could be entirely platonic.

I still stand by what I said in a different ask with how I’m going to try giving the show a fair go and not discount that it could be a good show in its own right even if it doesn’t tell the story I want it to. If I don’t end up liking it, I’m not going to endlessly rage-blog about it. I’ve already gone through having to unfollow a lot of people since Ragnarok came out due to not wanting to consume that amount of negativity, so I don’t want to go and repeat the same behaviour myself. The most there might end up being at max is a handful of posts to get any gripes out of my system, and they’d be tagged as ‘#loki show critical’ so people can block them if they want.

In the worse case scenario, I’ll probably just get quiet or carry on doing my own thing fanfic-wise. In any case, I hope to enjoy a bit of revival of the Loki fandom.

#anon #ask #loki show critical #well... sort of #but people who are excited would probably find my thoughts a bit of a downer so I'm tagging it as such #my posts

[sally-mun]

Why the Sonic movie is so great (SPOILERIFFIC)

AT LAST, I SHALL NOW LIST MY FAVORITE THINGS (and just a couple critiques) ABOUT THE SONIC MOVIE!! Do NOT proceed if you don’t want spoilers!!!

ECHIDNAS AT THE BEGINNING

and those echidnas are clearly from the Knuckles clan (or are at least designed as an homage to them)

using rings as warp rings a la Archie

Sonic playing with an inflatable guitar a la SatAM (even though there he can actually play one)

Sonic eventually getting a car bed a la Archie

Sonic yelling “GOTTA GO FAST” when abruptly waking up

Sonic getting to experience ACTUAL EMOTIONS in spite of all the Sega mandates (granted he didn’t cry, which I know they’re anal about, but still he has such a RANGE in this)

TAILS AT THE END

Sonic struggling to do yoga while copying Maddie

Sonic utilizing chaos energy basically the way Knuckles is known to (even though it isn’t specifically identified as chaos) (yet)

GREEN HILL ZONE IS SO GORGEOUS HOLY SHIT

and they even took the time to have one of the GHZ arches crumble!

also on that note, Green Hill Zone’s theme song turning up, even if it was only for like 30 seconds

getting to hear that oh-so-familiar chime when Sonic drops his rings at the end

Sonic not being able to hit the dart board with the darts a la the cowboy episode of AoStH

Sonic confirming he ate a chili dog, even if it’s not shown (EDIT: Now that I’ve gotten to see the movie a second time I realized that we DID see him eat it; in fact, he ate like 10. I just didn’t remember that detail after the first time!)

the fact that Sonic not doing what he’s told is specifically characterized as him having poor impulse control instead of just being a jerk

and, on that note, that he’s shown TRYING really hard to control himself (even if he still fails)

THE FRIGGIN ‘SANIC’ DRAWING SHOWING UP OH MY GOD

Sonic’s mismatched shoes until he gets the iconic ones

Jim Carry’s take on Robotnik containing individual elements of various other portrayals while still being his own version

being proven ABSOLUTELY RIGHT when I said years ago that this scene in X-Men Apocalypse is “what Sonic would be like if he were human” since the Sonic movie has scenes EXACTLY LIKE THIS

Sonic using a backpack a la SatAM

oh my gOD the elevator scene AND THE AMAZING DIALOGUE that shit was bananas

Sonic having moments of vulnerability! I hate it when he’s depicted as just completely confident ALL THE TIME

that said, Sonic still has his charming level of arrogance a la SatAM, ie referring to himself as “an incredibly handsome hedgehog”

the chase at the end referencing MULTIPLE game environments and scenes, especially the City Escape chase from SA2

and, on that note, that they DO canonically go to San Francisco to kind of back up that reference from the game??

Robotnik having controls for his robots built straight into his gloves, that shit is tight

Robotnik actually explaining WHY he prefers robots over people for once

establishing from the beginning that Sonic gives people nicknames, which easily sets up for calling Robotnik “Eggman” and, presumably, Tails’ nickname if/when we get a sequel (and who knows, maybe even “Knuckles” will turn out to be a nickname too!)

on that note, the reason why the nickname “Eggman” was eventually introduced (I can’t believe I didn’t see it coming)

Tom suckerpunching Eggman not once, but TWICE

Maddie just kind of rolling with it when Tom asks her to examine Sonic

Sonic unintentionally traumatizing a turtle

SONIC FACEPLANTING (and the fact that I called it way before the movie was even finished)

the fact that Tom and Sonic actually had good chemistry!! it would’ve been really easy for the movie to have Tom constantly irritated by Sonic to try to play up the humor of the mismatch, but I appreciate SO much that instead Tom really is kind of charmed by him and also just rolls with it

Sonic’s soul-crushingly intense loneliness acting as a tangible motivation to protect the friends he finally makes!! I mean yeah, we always admire that Sonic places a lot of value on his friendships, but making that the culmination of his character arc instead of the starting point is just SO SATISFYING

the SHEER JOY Sonic gets from being able to give a high-five for the first time

when Tom carries Sonic in his arms, the CG communicates that Sonic has WEIGHT (which I feel like a lot of IRL/CG interactions forget)

Sonic rolling up into a ball, and more than once

how much Sonic genuinely and deeply cares about the residents of Green Hills and kind of lives vicariously through them

Robotnik being, let’s face it, straight-up abusive and occasionally threatening to his assistant, a la SatAM, while also demonstrating that he favors him above all others (tho that’s really not saying that much because anyone that’s not a robot is still a waste of space to him)

Sonic running repeatedly in front of Tom’s radar gun to check his speed

SONIC DOING THE FLOSS I CAN’T HANDLE IT

Sonic’s innocence. It seems like in a lot of media lately he’s been the one teaching lessons or providing others with those little simple joys they’ve been deprived of. It’s really gratifying to see HIM in that position and being so grateful to finally have those experiences.

Sonic saying his legs “feel like spaghetti” due to Tom shooting him with a tranq dart (and the fact that this actually makes him physically vulnerable, which is so damn rare)

Sonic using level 100 smarm to demonstrate to Tom that he doesn’t know how to get to San Francisco by himself

Sonic’s map containing even more game references, including (if I remember correctly) the Blue Sphere ‘planet’

And just a couple things I wish were changed:

In the bar, when the server asks if Sonic is “a kid in a mask” and Tom tells her he’s “43 and has a condition” that makes him look like that, why 43?! He should’ve said 28!! SONIC IS CURRENTLY 28 IT’D HAVE BEEN PERFECT~

The fact that Robotnik only really starts looking like Robotnik as we know him in the couple minutes of the epilogue. I wish his appearance had changed -- or at least started to change -- in time for the final showdown. Like, maybe there could’ve been an explosion that burned off some of his hair (which would explain WHY he decides to shave his head, since the hair’s half-gone anyway) and bushed up his mustache, and then the impact of the chaos-charged spin dash is still when the mustache got all orange

The movie makes a point a few times about how Sonic’s just kind of throwing whatever he can find on his feet, and just before act 3 Maddie even comments on “his poor feet” while examining him. The movie even specifically shows that his shoes and socks have holes in them because of how much stress he puts on them (and it’s not like he can just go get new ones when he needs them). Since he spends most of the movie with inadequate footwear, and the health of his feet is kind of majorly important to his character, I wish Sonic had intermittently complained about them hurting to corroborate that. Or maybe even never verbally complaining about them, maybe just now and then when they have a moment to pause he could be seen rubbing or squeezing them.

I really, really wish Tom’s dog’s name was Muttski! (But hey, given that Sonic is prone to assigning nicknames, maybe that could be a nickname for the dog in a later movie!)

#Sonic Movie #SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS #PROCEED WITH CAUTION

[mrs-hollandstan]

Inheritance || Rich Kid! Tom Holland

Warnings: brief sexual content (fingering, handjob, oral- male and female recieving-), one very brief joke of prostitution, language, suggestive comments throughout, jetlag, emotional messsssss at the end, nudity mentioned, alcohol mention

Word Count: 7,205

Author's Note: I did NOT expect 7,000 words but here part two is to Filthy Rich which is still super popular on my page and my most popular fic I've written. I hope this second part gets just as much requisition and lemme know what ya think!

My Masterlist || Read Filthy Rich (part one) || Add yourself to one of my taglists

You'd met Tom's father a number of times. Sometimes when Tom was chasing you through one of their many mansions, you'd nearly run into him, stopping with a gasp before Tom came to a skidding halt behind you, bumping you the smallest bit towards a man in a crisp, Canali, Prince of Wales Siena suit, wearing a smirk before his son introduces him to the new blood standing before him like a deer caught in headlights. There were other times Tom had brought you to a family dinner where you ate a number of foods you could never buy in your lifetime, served by women in their thirties and forties that, despite the sweatshop Cinderella vibe, still probably made WAY more than you, even on a good day at the country club. Each time you'd come into contact with Tom's family, he loved hearing you talk about how... Addam's family they all were as he finished up his nightly routine. Cold, but welcoming stares. Seemingly forced smiles. Computer generated questions. But then again, who could blame them? Each time they met you, the way you dressed, the perfumes and jewelry you wore SCREAMED broke college student. All while each of them, even the youngest, at fourteen, was practically a hedge fund manager and had their own continent.

But Tom's father seemed most invested in your experiences in the short twenty two years you'd been alive. It was in part, as Tom had explained, that his father had also been born into wealth, Dom's own father a very rich man selling aged alcohol to other wealthy men. Tom claimed that his father was interested in what it was like to not be spoiled, as he put it. He wondered what it'd be like to come from a time where you didn't have money, which he believed, in the most respectful way, to be your life. And of course he was right. You knew what it was like to not have the money to pay the electric bill. You knew what it was like to have to sit in the dark and eat cup noodle in the cold. But Tom would never let that happen again.

Dom insisted on Tom giving you all the privileges he and his son were raised on while you were involved with the family so you could see for yourself what it was like. He loved watching you waltz into his front door with a fresh manicure and possible new hair color along with any dress, perfume, or jewelry Tom might have spoiled you with. He knew that in the beginning of your relationship, you didn't enjoy anything being bought for you. But the longer it went on, the more Tom bought and the less you wasted your breath scolding him.

And as far as Dom could tell, when the three of you walked onto a plane the afternoon you left for Seychelles, Tom was still showering you in expensive gifts. You'd wondered as you wandered amongst the tourists and locals coming in and leaving the crowded airport why you weren't being boarded, just the three of you on one of Dom's private jets. Not that you minded, but the looks you got made you feel vulnerable. The looks of the people that passed made your heart pound in your ears. Like you were part of a circus. Like you were a leper.

"Tommy?" His hand meets your back over the black sleeveless midi sweetheart neckline party dress that clings to your hips and has Tom hanging behind you to stare at your ass just like he likes, completely unaware to everyone's stares or distasteful looks, or the unwavering, nagging feeling you have,

"Yeah babe?" You swallow, glancing over at him,

"W-why didn't we take a private jet? These people... they see us together and they surely think-"

"You're a prostitute? Yeah... I get those vibes too." He shrugs playfully, chuckling when you reach back to swat his chest. Rubbing his thumb along the hollow of your back, he sighs,

"Dad assumed that with all the riches we've invested on you, you might want to take a commercial plane. So its a... a sort of pity thing if you will. He doesn't mind it really. It's like a people watching experience for him." Glancing over his shoulder, you follow his eyes to Dom's face, neck bent to look down at his phone,

"Emails, ya know?" You nod, glancing around at the other people,

"If I'd known I'd get these looks... I would've allowed you to drag me kicking and screaming onto a private jet." He chuckled,

"Now you know what it feels like. That first time you met me and that first time you screamed at me that I was a stupid ass little rich kid... this is what it feels like." Slipping his hand down to just before the shelf of your bottom, he clears his throat, looking around you as if someone would be listening,

"Side note... I love when you kick and scream." You click your tongue,

"Quit it. We're in a public place." He huffs,

"When has that ever stopped us? We're willing and able to join the mile high club once we're on board." You glance over your shoulder at his father again who, taking a break from his phone, gives an unknowing, innocent smile. You return it before finding Tom's dark chocolate colored eyes, your cheeks burning like smoldering embers,

"Don't do this to me now." He chuckles,

"When you look this amazing darling...  I can't keep my thoughts off of you. If you were in my shoes, the throbbing in my jeans right now would be disgustingly uncomfortable given you don't know how to harness it." You giggle before his shoulder nudges yours and you focus on getting to the correct gate to board your flight.

Once you board and are waltzing through the first class seats, Tom can't keep his eyes off your bottom. The way it looks as you twist and turn to find the right seat number is driving him wild and the way images of you on your back with the splashes of his cum on your thighs and stomach you allowed him to take a few days ago, the same night as the country club experience has his heart skipping a beat. He's pulled from his thoughts when you turn,

"Here we are. How do we uhh... how do we wanna sit." Tom opens his mouth to speak,

"You two can take the window seats, seeing the sight for the umpteenth time might make me sick." Dom replies through a chuckle. Tom's mouth closes when your eyes flick to his and then down to his lips. He swallows and nods,

"Yeah... what he said." Giving a curt nod, you opt for the window seat, watching Tom stow your bags away with guilt ridden eyes. He smiles as he sits in the window seat opposite you, Dom slumping into the seat a few inches from your own, as far from a window as he can be. When he pulls his phone from his pocket again, Tom licks his lips,

"I feel so far from you." You smile when he hides his hand besides him and moves it to the side, gesturing for you to spread your legs to give him SOMETHING. You give a sly smirk before uncrossing your legs and spreading them just the smallest bit until you know your underwear are showing. He quietly squeaks, his eyes cutting to his father when he spots the black silk stuck to your skin,

"I know, but even if you were sitting in your dad's spot, it wouldn't help. We'd still be apart." Tom nodded, glancing up again when his father raised his head for a brief moment at the mention of his title, eyes unmoving from small screen in his hand. He gives a smile before his head returns to it's original place. Tom swallows, closing his eyes when you cross your legs as more people board the plane. He shakes his head of naughty thoughts, staring out the window until the pilot announces takeoff. Your eyes wander his body, lingering too long on the bulge in his jeans that only you know is there. And its inflicted by you. Nearly twenty minutes in, Tom glances up when you stand,

"Show me the bathroom babe? You can get a drink." When you wink, he nods and takes your welcoming, outstretched hand. Turning to Dom, he smiles and Tom swears he knows the real reason you're asking him off,

"I'll bring you a beer." He mumbles, allowing himself to be drug off to the much larger bathroom than towards the back of the plane. He dips inside with you, his arms encircling your waist and his hands placed over your bottom as you hold his face and kiss him softly. He hums into you,

"Fuck... God you're perfect. I'll never, not love you in this dress baby." You clutch his shirt when he leans in to kiss and nip at your neck,

"No hickies just yet... not yet love." You murmur, feeling him attempt to bruise the underside of your jaw. You whimper and moan, his lips making your nipples harden beneath the polyester of your dress. He draws the thin strap of your dress from your shoulder,

"I didn't... I didn't bring a condom. My wallet's in my backpack." You shake your head,

"Let's just... I'll give you a handjob. You can finger me." He practically whines,

"But baby..."

"Fine, I'll blow you." Shrugging your dress off, Tom hums at the look of your bare breasts, reaching for them, his fingers following as you crouch to free him from his pants. When his cock springs free and you lick your lips, he hums, leaning down to press his lips to your own almost too gently,

"I don't think... I've ever loved someone like I love you." Gasping, you take hold of his length,

"Is THE Tom Holland... self-centered rich kid telling me he loves me more than himself?" He bites his lip, watching you stroke him,

"Ha ha, very funny." Licking at his tip, he licks his lips,

"Fine... you wanna be like that... no blow. Handjob is fine. I'll finger you. Make you scream my name so you know how much I love you." When you stand, stumbling in your heels, he kicks your legs apart gently. Sliding his hand between your thighs, he strokes your folds over the luxurious panties, watching you take your bottom lip between your teeth. Your eyes dart up when he leans in for another kiss. Swatting his hand away, you push your g-string down, letting it fall around your feet,

"We can't be here long. We gotta hurry." Wrapping your hand back around him, you stroke him a few rough times, moans slipping from his thin lips. He reaches out again, hand resuming its place between your thighs where two of his fingers slip into your soaked center, his thumb pressing and rubbing at your clit. The two of you moan together, eyes locking every so often. The more focused, the harder and faster you tug him, the more he speeds up. He can feel his orgasm building as you can yours. He presses down on your clit when you whimper, leaning in to press your lips to his clothed shoulder,

"Cum for me my pretty girl." He coaxes, fingers curling to stroke your g-spot. Your knees nearly give out, Tom rubbing your clit a little rougher. He glances down at you hand, bound tight around him,

"Baby... fuck that feels good." Laying your head against his shoulder, his fingers speed up just the little bit that you need, thumb stroking your clit as your body convulses. Your brain goes fuzzy, hand faltering as your orgasm tries to consume you. Tom crouches, cheeks squishing between your thighs as he sucks at your clit. Your head falls back, fingers threading through his unruly hair,

"Oh fuck... oh God Tom, that feels so good." You squeal, gripping the counter in one hand, your foot pressing into his thigh. He hums when you cover your mouth, moaning loudly into your palm as you cum. His eyes are locked on your face, loving the way your eyes are gently closed in pure bliss. He stands, licking his lips of your slick,

"So... fucking... gorgeous." You hum, glancing down at his throbbing cock. Reaching forward again, you give rough, quick strokes, watching his jaw clench. Pushing forward, he presses you to the counter, his cock trapped between you as you try to get him to his high. When he tips his head back again, you lean in, nipping at his neck,

"Baby..." He pants. You suck at his neck,

"Same goes for you..." he mutters, "you're not gonna let me leave marks on you, you're not allowed to leave marks on me." Taking hold of your hair, he gives a gentle tug, drawing you back to face him,

"Gonna cum for me handsome?" He nods, licking his lips again. Watching you crouch before him again, he grunts when you take him into your mouth. He gathers your hair, guiding you along until you're gagging,

"That's it baby... gonna let me cum in that pretty little mouth?" You make a noise, letting him know you'll allow him to. He cocks his head, reaching up to raise his t-shirt over his stomach before you feel his cum coat your tongue,

"Fuckkkkk that's good." He quietly speaks through a shaky voice. Swallowing all he offers, you draw back, pulling his boxers back up to cover him. Pulling his jeans up next, you zip and button them, picking your dress up from the floor. He smiles, leaning down to pick your underwear up,

"That was good. That was uh... you're amazing." Smiling back you slide the straps of your dress up over your shoulders,

"Yeah? Satisfied?" He nods,

"More or less." You click your tongue, snatching the thong back from him,

"You loved it. Don't think I've ever gotten you to cum that fast." He leans in, pressing a kiss to your rosey cheek as you slip back into the material,

"You're amazing darling. Absolutely amazing." Reaching up to stroke his own cheek, you smile warmly,

"Thank you baby. Can't be amazing without you by my side." He smiles back, leaving down to kiss the tip of your nose,

"Let's get back out there... get some drinks." You nod and follow him, the bartender eyeing the both of you as you order two beers and a margarita, eyes cutting to you as he verifies both of your ID's. Tom grumbles, scowling as you walk back,

"What are you suddenly pissy about?" You quiz, cherry at the drink in your hand. He shakes his head,

"He was eye fucking you. You're wearin all this stuff I've bought you, I'm standing right beside you and he wants to do is put you behind the bar on your knees for him."

"Tom-"

"No, I know, keep my voice down. Heaven forbid someone hear me talk about how good your mouth is." He gives a playful smile, handing a beer to his father as you approach your seats again. He helps you sit, sitting across from you with a sigh and sipping from his beer. He eyes you, his heart fluttering at the intrigued look in your eye as you watch the ocean crash beneath the plane.

You really were a sight whether you wore these types of outfits he spoiled you with or just in sweatpants and your university sweatshirt. You were stunning and you were his. No matter what. He loved that fact and you reminded him of it every time you were laying in his bed or on the rare occasion he was in yours. You'd play with each other's hair and you'd reassure him you were thankful for him and in love with him over and over again. And he did the same to you. He wanted you to know how much he appreciated you giving him the chance he knew he didn't deserve. He'd toyed with so many girls around him that he was practically waving a red flag above his head. You'd been cautious in the beginning, but now here you were, his and he wasn't willing to give that up in any way, shape, or form. Not for the rest of his life if things went his way.

                                                          ---

The eighteen hour flight from New York to Seychelles killed all three of you, you more than the men you accompanied. You were practically dragging your feet to baggage claim, and Tom was holding you up as you leaned against him, waiting for all three of your bags to make their way round.

"Almost done love. Then I'll get you up to the room and you can sleep it off." He cooed, kissing your forehead. You hummed, letting him hold you stable. He kissed your forehead, rubbing your back when your bag made its appearance, leading you out to a courtesy car and helping you into the backseat behind his father. When he climbs in beside you, he kisses the top of your head again as you lean in, head against his arm,

"I want to take you to dinner later. There's a really nice place I think you'll love." You nod sleepily, sighing in his expensive soap and cologne smell. He runs his fingers through your hair, glancing up when you pull to the curb of your hotel. He leads you through the lobby and up to the elevator after his father fetches the keys with a tug on your hand. Once in the room, he points you to the bedroom, letting you go and lay down while Dom runs Tom through the plans for the next few days in the doorway. When Tom returns, he sits beside you on the bed, running his hands across your bare shoulders. He sighs through his nose before leaning in to kiss your temple,

"Get some sleep love. I'll take you out when you wake up." When he goes to stand, you whine and reach back, taking hold of his forearm. He leans in,

"S'matter angel?" You open your eyes just slightly, staring up at him,

"I want out of this dress." His lips pull up in a smile, a chuckle ringing through the room,

"Aren't you too tired for it?" You groan,

"Not sex. I want your shirt." He hums, sliding the zipper of your dress down to expose your bare back. He helps you wrestle from it, licking his lips when he catches a glimpse of your breasts. He pulls his up over shoulders buttoning it swiftly and drawing the comforter back for you to lay under. He kisses your forehead, watching your lashes flutter,

"Goodnight love."

"Goodnight Tommy." You mumble, already half asleep.

When you wake again, it's the middle of the next day. You open your eyes and you swear you've died and gone to heaven. The view from the window wall before you is breathtaking. Few buildings are spread across the area, much shorter than the hotel you're staying in, before a beautiful, sandy beach with the most gorgeous blue water crashing against it is in sight. Standing on somewhat wobbly legs, you walk towards the window, staring out at the beautiful city below you. Your mind is blown and you wonder how you got so lucky to be able to see one of the most beautiful places ever, in person. The sky is clear and the water is just as clear and blue and the people that you can see down on the street, that look like ants, you know are beautiful. Your eyes water and your heartbeat is erratic as you stare down at the ocean, wondering how you were so blessed with the opportunities thrown your way. The door gently creaks open behind you before Tom makes a noise in his throat, opening it fully and stepping inside. He closes it behind him, walking towards you,

"Good... you're up." You make no moves, no noises, you don't say anything to him and the motion has Tom frowning. He stands right behind you, hand placed at your lower back. He moves his head to see your face,

"You okay?" You nod, blinking at the feel of him there. Peeling your eyes from the sight, you look to him,

"Tom its beautiful." He hums in his throat, glancing out at the scene before you,

"It really is huh? I think... I think you're more stunning than anything though. Even in my clothes with your hair a mess." Looking at him, he runs his thumb under your eye,

"My pretty girl." Leaning in, his lips cover yours in a heart stopping kiss and you've never been more happy than in this moment. The way Tom takes your breath away, the way he simultaneously stops and starts your heart, the way he makes your skin burn and tingle is intoxicating. When you reach up and hold his face, he swoops down, holding your thighs tight in his hands and lifting you off your feet. You bind your arms around his neck, his shirt bunched taunt around your hips. Carrying you through the door of the bedroom and out into the middle of the large sitting room, he sets you on your feet before rummaging through the both of your bags and finding the smaller navy blue one,

"Confiscated this because... with my luck, you'd get dressed yourself and I wouldn't get to watch." Clicking your tongue, you sit on his knee, watching him unzip your suitcase. He sorts through the number of dresses you've chosen to bring for the countless expensive dates Tom has planned. After all, your anniversary is coming up and you're on vacation. Why not use that time to celebrate when Tom is free of his father's business. Opting for an Alice and Olivia blue and white tiered high low dress, he draws it from the leather suitcase,

"The... restaurant I've chosen is quite formal and this is perfect. With those strappy heels you love." Smiling, you run your fingers through his unruly hair, leaning in to kiss his cheek, his eyes fluttering shut at the feeling. He sighs, glancing over, eyes lingering on where your breasts are hidden beneath the crisp button up you're wearing. He reaches up, swiftly undoing a button with one hand. Cocking his head when he can see your skin, he swallows,

"I wonder how I got so lucky with you. Everyday that I wake up beside you, or I come to your work to see you or take you out shopping I wonder how I can buy the whole world, yet I can't buy the love you give." His dark colored eyes find yours and he looks almost sad. Like he's losing you when you're right there. You lean in, kissing him,

"And I wonder what cruel god saddled me with you." His lips turn up, eyes fluttering again as you stroke his beautiful, soft curls from his face,

"Y'know... I can always tell when you use that gold flake conditioner stuff. You're always fluffy." He chuckles in his nose,

"Amber gel too. Run your fingers through and it keeps the shine all day." Threading your fingers through for just a moment, you draw back, standing from his lap and starting to unbutton the shirt. Tom licks his lips, leaning back against the velvet of the couch,

"I like where this is goin." Pulling the last button free of its hole, you smile, hair falling to shadow your face as you pull the two sides apart. Tom's eyes wander your body, ghosting past your underwear, before you drop the cotton on the floor. Climbing into his lap, his hand rests on your hip, Adam's apple bobbing as he swallows,

"You are... so beautiful." Threading your fingers in his hair again, you give a gentle tug to guide his lips to yours. He kisses you soundly, hands sliding up your skin to press to your breasts. He hums, holding the skin in his hands as your lips dance together. Soon he's drawing back, hands still over your chest,

"I hate to cut this short but... our reservation is at five. You gotta get ready." You nod and kiss him one last time before standing and picking the dress up. Slipping it on, you reach under to draw your underwear down,

"No panties... or a new pair?" Tom licks his lips, slouching on the couch below him and watching the silk leave your skin,

"I uhh... I prefer the none... option but yeah, sure, whatever." He shrugs, watching you search through your bags to find where your underwear are stashed. And when you do, you slip into a black thong flashing Tom for just a moment. He licks his lips as you grab your makeup bag and glance over your shoulder,

"Just a little touch up." He nods and sighs, looking around himself,

"I'll be here." When you disappear into the bedroom, Tom swallows before finding the slacks and button up he planned for tonight, smoothing the dress pants down. By the time he's checking himself in the mirror and taking a deep breath, you're stepping back into the overly large living room, finding your heels and earrings. You slide into the heels before walking towards him, pushing your earrings through your earlobes,

"Now how is that fair? You confiscate my things to see me naked, but you get redressed while I'm gone." Tom chuckles, turning to you and smiling wider as you grab the collar of his deep v button up. Smoothing it down, you sigh and wrap your arms around his waist,

"Trust me, you'll see my dick later. Like I said... we can't get distracted. Our reservation's at five." Leaning in, he drags your hands in his own behind his back, lips falling over yours in a soft, mesmerizing kiss. When you pull back, you hum,

"You look amazing my love." He hums in return, pecking your lips once more  before you tug your hands free, heels clicking as you strut away from him, Tom entranced in the way your hips involuntarily sway. You sigh, picking your phone up from the marble side table Tom plugged your phone in at. Glancing back at him, he fishes a suit jacket from the mess of suitcases on the floor, shrugging it on and walking towards you. When he's standing before you, he tucks his hands in his pockets and sighs,

"Ready?" You nod and tuck your phone in his pocket. He smiles, glancing down at your hand which he takes, giving it a squeeze. The smile you flash him is brighter than the sun, and he craves it for the rest of his life. You drag him behind you, turning to him in the elevator,

"I'm glad I came here with you. You're the most important person in my life and as... unnecessary as all of this," you gesture around to the gold plated elevator you ride in, "is, I'm just glad to be here. You feel like home." He clicks his tongue and pulls you in, an arm wrapped around your shoulders. You bind both arms around his torso, closing your eyes when he kisses your forehead. He let's his lips linger, smelling the strawberry shampoo he insisted on buying despite it being somewhat cheap, the few days leading up to you leaving for your trip. He swallows,

"You're home to me. I'm so in love with you and I just... I want you to be happy always."

"Wherever you are, I'm happiest." You quickly impose, looking up into those soft chocolate colored eyes. He smiles before his lips seal over yours, fingers gently stroking your cheek. He pulls back, the air having been sucked out of your lungs when the elevator dings and the doors glissade open. Tom takes your hand again, leading you out into the lobby you vaguely remember being sleepily drug through hours before. This time, you look around, finding all kinds of intricate portraits and paintings lining the large, open room.

"Oh Tom, this is amazing. It is so beautiful in here." He smiles, looking over your turned up face, eyes glistening in the chandelier light glowing  above you. He chuckles in his throat,

"You think everything is so beautiful but you fail to realize that you're the most beautiful piece of artwork the world has to offer." Glancing up at him, his hand slips from yours and instead rounds your shoulder, arm draped around your neck. You smile, letting it turn into a giggle,

"Thomas Stanley Holland, king of the cheesiest pick up lines. And you know what... it's not even like the expensive cheese from like, France or Italy, its like sliced Kraft cheese from America." The cute little giggle he retains slips from his perfect, thin lips,

"Oh really?" You nod,

"The cheesiest." His smile widens, eyes cutting down to your lips for just a moment before he fishes the rental car keys from his pocket. Flashing you the key fob, your eyes make out the Chiron signature before he flips it in his palm to show you the Bugatti emblem you know so well per the long garage back home filled with cars that collect dust rather than being driven. When he'd explained to you the price of each car, you swore you swallowed your tongue, wondering how long it would've taken you to conjure up the 3.2 million he'd managed for just one supercar without even putting a dent in his inheritance from his father.

"Just got the new La Voiture Noire Bugatti but... I didn't get it in time from the Geneva Motor Show." He shrugs as if he dirtied something rather than bought a brand new car that were all sold before they were even pieced together in the factory. Tugging the handle on the sleek, black sportscar in front of you, you duck into the leather smelling vehicle, looking around yourself. The red and black interior is beautiful and rough, a brash contrast to your delicate blue and white dress you wear. But when Tom climbs in beside you, his slack nearly blend with the seat below him. He sighs, shifting to make himself comfortable before he clicks a button on the side of the fob, the branch of a key springing free. He sticks it in a slot in the dash before reaching to the steering wheel to press the button labeled 'engine'. He hums when the car purrs to life, reaching down to the shift paddle and putting it into drive. Running your hands across the leather center console, your hand lands in Tom's lap, him looking down at if after pulling from the curb,

"What do you think you would do for work if you had to?" He glances at you for just a moment before his eyes are back on the road as he drives through the road splitting the skyscrapers. He shrugs,

"Probably act. I dunno. I haven't thought about it much." Reaching down, he takes your hand in his, kissing the back of it, eyes averted to the road.  You smile, watching him silently as he maneuvers the streets, pulling up in front of a restaurant on the beach before too long. After clambering from the car, he rushed around to your side, opening the door and holding his hand out. He helps you from the car, closing the door behind you and lacing your fingers,

"I figured we could walk on the beach after. The sun will be setting." You nod silently before he leads you inside. The staff is friendly and Tom sits across from you in the booth, your feet wrapping around his calves which he reacts to with a warm, happy smile. Once you've both looked over the menus and ordered, the conversation turns back to cheesy where Tom gushes about how perfect you are and how much he loves you. He takes both of your hands and rubs his thumbs over your knuckles, eyes averted to the table, only glancing up into yours every so often until your food arrives. After that, until you've finished and the waiter is inquiring about dessert, the communication between the both of you is minimal, nearly nonexistence. When the coconut and banana tart arrives, you and Tom share it, Tom telling you of when he first came to Seychelles at six and had the same dessert with his family. The smile on his face shows you it's a genuine memory full of love. Despite his parents handing him and his brothers everything, there is a lot of love that courses through the family and he loves not only his parents, but his brothers more than anything.

By the time dessert is over and Tom is paying for the meal, hiding the total beneath his palm and giggling along with you as you fight to see it, the restaurant is picking up and outside, the sky has turned from a bright blue to calm, pastel hues of purple, pink and orange as the sun sets beyond the horizon. Tom leads you out into the warm night, turning to you as you stand beside his rental car,

"Figured we'd just ditch our shoes. Rather than sinking into the sand and getting it everywhere." You nod, slipping your heels off as he undoes his own, sliding them and his socks off and setting them on the passenger side floorboard, he watches you do the same as he shrugs out of his jacket. Standing again, he closes up the car and takes your hand, both of your bare feet padding along the asphalt as you walk towards the beach. Once the sand meets you feet, you sigh and Tom chuckles, pulling you out towards water. You stand at the edge, mud slipping between your toes as the water crashes in, bubbling over your feet. You squeal and Tom cackles,

"Its cold!" You squawk, squeezing his hand. Tom chuckles, staring at you as water washed over you and your face sparkles as the remaining sunlight strikes the crystalline water. He swallows,

"Let's walk a little further down. There's a place down the beach where you can see in the valley." You nod and follow, binding your arm around Tom's waist, his own arm around your shoulders. He sighs as you stroll along,

"Are you enjoying your visit so far?" You nod, laying your head against his shoulder,

"Its gorgeous here. I've seen the sights ya know? London is beautiful and New York I'll always love and... those trips to Australia and Fiji were fantastic. It's a dream to be here... with you." When you look up at him, you both stop walking, Tom looking in your eyes and then down at your lips before he leans in, softly kissing you. His hand slips down to your chin, holding you to him for just a moment longer. When you pull back, a puff of warm breath fans out across Tom's own lips and he sighs,

"You're so perfect."

"You've said that a lot today." He chuckles once more and shrugs,

"It can only get annoying and repetitive if it isn't true. Which it isn't." Cocking an eyebrow at you, you click your tongue,

"But it is. I've got my issues and that makes me imperfect."

"Wrong. It makes you unique, which is perfect." Rubbing the middle of your back, he walks you along, stopping just where the thin neck of hills around the small bay connects it to the ocean. He turns you, hands rested on your arms. He sighs, resting his chin on your shoulder,

"Here's your sight. You think all of those other views are so stunning but here's the one that I've grown up on. My family and I ate at that restaurant, walked down this same beach, sat in this same spot time and time again. Its remained one of my favorite places, and that's why I wanted you to come with me. I wanted you, the most important person in my life, in one of the most beautiful places I remember from my childhood." Looking over at him, he gives a soft smile. You smile back, leaning in to kiss his nose,

"You're adorable." His hands disappear from your arms, head gone from your shoulder momentarily. You stare out at the crashing waves, watching them change color in the sun,

"It is beautiful. Living in New York most my life, the water is always cold and because it's so cloudy you don't see these sort of colors on the water. But you're more beautiful. I-" Turning, you find that your normally perky, tall and lanky boyfriend has crumbled to one knee. A ring that sparkles in all the colors on the ocean's currents sits in his fingers, his eyes looking between your own that hold tears already. He swallows,

"I brought you here because... I wanted to have you in one of my favorite places. I wanted to propose to you in the same spot I sat in as a kid with my family. I want to know that the woman that keeps me most grounded, the woman that I want to spend the rest of my spoiled life with, agreed to marry me in the most nostalgic memory I have. Y/N Y/L/N... will you make me the happiest man alive, give me that last part of my world, and marry me?" The tears are free flowing down your cheeks, the makeup he's bought you over the months and years holds true to waterproof and doesn't smudge as the tears roll down your cheeks. Your lungs constrict and you fight for air as you nod,

"Yes. Yes I'll marry you Tom." He doesn't waste a moment, sliding the Tiffany Novo, Pavé diamond, platinum band engagement ring on your finger before swooping you up, lifting you off your feet in a hug that takes your breath away. Your fingers thread through his hair as you sob, his arms tight around you. He let's out a breath, truly relieved you said yes. He loves you more than anything and the idea of you not saying yes scared him. But here you are, about to celebrate your three year anniversary as an engaged couple, in one of the most beautiful cities ever.

Tom never told his dad of his plan, never indulged on the secret of the ring that was hidden amongst his luggage. He desperately wanted to be cheesy and flash it in the Tiffany blue box, but it was too bulky and you'd notice. But the occasion was perfect. You had no idea and Tom  was immensely proud of himself for not popping the question the number of times the urge came about. He was glad that it worked out perfectly and that he had you to stand by his side for the rest of his life now. As his wife. He leans in and kisses you cheek, setting you back on your feet. When he draws back, you lean further in to kiss him softly,

"Who knew?" You look around you, clearing the tears and Tom chuckles,

"Harrison. He isn't here. There aren't any pictures, no commemorative videos, it's just us. Just you and me to remember this moment. That's the way I wanted it." He reaches up to caress your cheek before you step forward to hug him properly,

"I love you so much Tom." He kisses the top of your head, wrapping his arms around you,

"I love you more angel. Forever now." Sighing. you listen to his erratic heartbeat, his fingers in your hair. A thought suddenly hits you and you stand straight with a gasp,

"Are you telling me I get to have my Pinterest dream wedding? Is that was this proposal means?" Tom's eyebrows furrow,

"I-I guess. I didn't know you had a wedding Pinterest board."

"What woman doesn't?" He smiles at the look on your face. When your eyes lock again, he sighs through his nose,

"You have no idea how relieved I am you said yes. Now I can sleep at night knowing that all that uncertainty, all the hate you have for me being spoiled isn't a worry. You're mine and nothing makes me happier." Tsking, you reach up and stroke his cheek,

"If there was any dislike of anything on my part, I wouldn't have stayed for almost four years. You're my life now and I can't imagine anything else. I want to sleep in the same bed as you and wear your shirts and walk around our house naked and make you breakfast and cuddle. I want to marry you, surrounded by our families and dance the fucking night away and have the most amazing honeymoon and someday, I wanna have your kids and have OUR family. There is no one... absolutely NO ONE I want to do this with more than you." Tears are running down both of your cheeks now, the sight of you in Tom's eyes clouded through the warm diamond like tears. You hold his cheeks, clearing his tears, his hands placed on your hips and his forehead rested against yours. He sniffles, opening his eyes again,

"I've known I wanted you since I picked you up for the day in the boutique. When you walked out of your front door and you looked so... normal. You felt like home. You were everything I craved. The normality, the pure, unpaid for love, the respect for just the small things in life. You're all I've ever needed and I just... I'm do glad that you're in my life. That you're mine." You stand in silence for a few moments longer, just holding each other. The only sound is the other person breathing, and the crash of the waves against the shore and the rocks not too far from you. Tom stands back, sniffling and pulling his phone from his pocket. You watch him, swallowing as he takes the hand that is weighed down with the fifty four thousand dollar engagement ring from Russia,

"What're you doing?" He sniffles once more,

"Calling my mum. She's been asking me when I'm going to do it and it's been eating at me because I haven't told her. Now I can." Holding the phone up to his ear after dialing his mother's number there's a pause as he holds your hand out, smoothing over the soft surface of the diamond decorating your hand,

"Hey mum." He speaks low, almost inaudible to you over the waves,

"Yeah, I have something to tell you." He sniffles and there's just one more pause before he spills everything,

"I proposed to Y/N... we're engaged." And your heart couldn't be happier watching his jaw tremble and more tears glisten in his eyes as he looks up, locking eyes with you for just a moment before he looks up at the sky. You'd officially gotten through to the spoiled rich kid's stone cold heart.

Permanent Taglist: @embrace-themagic @delicioustommy @spiderman-n @winters-beauty @smexylemony @lolabean1998 @musiclover1263

Tags of people I that showed the last part love & I feel would wanna read the second part: @thollandz @clairesrainbow @r0ger-tayl0r @marvelsperalta @empressdreams @cartiertom

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