#and when he said that he gets will out of jail

[fallingfor-fics]

Can you please do a one shot of like the abbot crew going out to a gay bar. Melissa and Y/N are secretly dating, and a girl from a different group approaches Melissa but doesn’t no how to take no for an answer. Leading to Y/N stepping in and a bar fight breaks out between the two and the groups they came with. Ending the night with Melissa and Barbara bailing Y/N and the rest of the abbot crew out and Melissa falling in even more love with Y/N for defending her. Maybe some smut if your feeling up to it…I had a dream about it…please and thank youuu😋🫶🏽

Sorry this took so long!

I didnt do it exactly how you asked but I hope you like it still!!

Cat Fight - Melissa Schemmenti x Reader

Word count: 5k

Warnings: bar fight, dubcon, all around smut, sex on the kitchen counter without wiping it down first

Summary: basically the ask but no jail time is served lol

Every time you went out with Melissa you always had a blast, you would drink, dance, and talk deep into the night about endless things, and then go home with her. It was one of your favorite weekend activities. This outing was different though because you were being joined by Janine, Jacob, Barbara, and Gregory-- quite the bunch to be tagging along to one of the more popular but casual LGBT bars downtown. You don't even know how it happened but here you were, sitting at the bar squeezed between Jacob and Gregory, sneaking glances at Melissa from two seats down. It's not like you were having a bad time, conversation was fun with the group, and you loved hanging out with them, but weekends were sacred. These short two days were reserved for Melissa since you couldn't express affection all week at school, and rarely spent the night together during the week. But alas, you were cracking jokes to pass the time, and admiring your beautiful girlfriend from afar. 

“I just think its funny that Gregory has been hit on more times tonight by other guys than Jacob has.” Barbara says as she stirs her drink. This causes a laugh from the group but an eye roll from Jacob, and Gregory can be seen shaking his head.

“Well that's what happens when you buy a drink for a guy.” You said smiling and taking a sip. 

“Ok for the last time, I didn't know it was a guy, he had very pretty hair.” he laughed and everyone started to giggle along. You could hear Melissas laugh above all the rest and it warmed your heart. You turned to face the bartender to order a shot, hoping it would keep your mind off her. You had been hiding your relationship for months so you weren't sure why tonight was becoming so difficult and mentally draining. Maybe it was the bar, the place you two always went to and got to be yourselves, or maybe it was just because she wasn't looking at you as much as you were her. Melissa wasn't oblivious to the glances you were sending her way, but she knew better than to allow her eyes to linger a little too long on yours with Barbara and Jacob sitting right there. She was using every ounce of her will power to remain cool and casual.

“I'm getting another. Does anyone want one?” You ask looking around and everyone but Janine and Melissa, who were driving, nodded in agreement. 

“Great. Another round please sweetheart!” you say with a smile to the woman behind the bar and she nods, grabbing the shot glasses. You can feel Melissa's eyes on you and you know it's because of your over-kindness and endearing name you gave to the bartender, but you don't look in her direction and instead try to distract yourself by making conversation with Jacob.

The shots are lined up in front of you and you all say cheers before downing them, you make eye contact with Melissa when you are setting your glass back down and you feel your heart hurt. It's definitely the liquor mixed with general missing her, but you feel another wave of dread come over you. You look to the bartender and tap the shot glass to signal for her to pour another. You can feel Melissa giving you a concerned look but you ignore it. Jacob, Janine, and Gregory get up to go dance and you decide to join them, taking your shot and setting it down, glancing at Melissa and heading to follow them. Melissa watches as you walk to the dance floor with a slight sway in your step and lets out a small sigh. She knows how hard it is for both of you to keep this up sometimes, but it still slightly frustrates her how much you let it affect you on nights like these, when you do things like this in front of her knowing she can't step in to stop you. But she knows you're a grown woman and can handle yourself, so she just watches from the bar, listening to Barb rant about something. 

You are tipsy enough to dance confidently but without embarrassing yourself, you still have a mixed drink in hand so you are conscious of not spilling that, and you don't want to look too trashy with your dancing. You also know Melissa has to be watching you now, so you sway your hips and pull out all the moves that you can do casually but you know will be keeping her eyes glued to you. You make light conversation over the music with the others when suddenly you hear a gasp from Jacob.

“Oh my god guys look, Ms. Schemmenti has a womanly caller.” he snides and everyone looks over with a grin, you turn to look as well and sure enough a skanky looking woman has walked over to Melissa and is standing very close talking to her. 

“I didn't even know she had game like that.” Gregory claims after the woman starts laughing at something Melissa says. You roll your eyes but the group, being nosey as always, casually dances closer to the bar. 

“I mean she's hot but I didn't know she could pull women in a place like this.” Jacob says and they all nod. The group knew you were queer, but Melissa’s previous marriage and overall life confidence kept them from questioning her own sexuality. This fact aided in hiding your relationship and Melissa didn't seem to mind. You can't take your eyes off the scene. The woman is dressed in a body con bright blue dress with cutouts. She should be at a rave in an outfit like that, you think as you take a sip of your drink with a bitter glare. 

“So how about you let me buy you a drink?” the woman says with a smile as she twirls her hair. 

“Thanks, but I'm still working on mine.” Melissa smiles politely as she gestures to her beer in hand. 

“Haha you’re funny! Okay what about shots? On me of course!” the woman tries again and you feel your cheeks grow hot at the way the woman is shamelessly checking Melissa out, taking her in from head to toe. She then reaches up to play with Melissa's hair and you feel yourself stumble a bit as you zone out on her fingers touching Melissa's red hair. Hair that should only have fingers tangled in it if they were your own. You refrained from crushing the cup in your hand as you felt your skin get warm. It was no secret you were an incredibly jealous person, you two had even had this conversation when watching Moulin Rouge one night. You had told Melissa that the representation of love and jealousy in that movie was the perfect example of how you feel in deep relationships. You knew she could feel your gaze burning holes through the blonde that stood next to her

“Look I appreciate the offer, but really I'm okay.” Melissa declined once more and you watched as you finished the rest of your drink and walked back to the bar to get another. Melissa saw you and watched as you talked to the bartender. Barbara stood between you and Melissa and you avoided looking over at her until you had another shot in you at least. You then heard the woman speak up again in her agitating valley accent and rolled your eyes, deciding if you walked away it may have more of an effect on Melissa than if you stood around seething. You walked back to the others and kept dancing but made sure you could still see Melissa. Barbara left the bar to go to the bathroom and you felt a slight instinct to keep a stronger eye on Melissa in case that woman tried anything. You and Melissa made eye contact as you danced and your heart began to race as you couldn't help a small smile form when seeing her sparkling eyes look into yours. She grinned and then looked back over to the woman. 

“How about a dance then?” the woman smirks.

“I don't think my girlfriend will like that very much.” she says and this catches your attention, it was loud enough for you to hear, but the music and singing crowd allowed it to go unheard by the others. You don't stop swaying your hips gently to the music, but you focus in on their conversation again.

“Haha and who is your girlfriend?” the woman says with a cocky tone. 

Melissa gestures to you with a smile, and you look the woman up and down with a glare, looking at Melissa and then back to the other woman.

“Well I don't see much, I can handle her.” she hums and you stop dancing and straighten up as she turns to face you.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you.” Melissa scoffs at the woman.

“Awe, why? Are you worried you might end up enjoying a night with me far more than whatever this loose little girl could ever offer you?” she quips and you feel your fists clench as you make your way over. Melissa straightens up and crosses her arms prepared to defend you when you chime in first. 

“Are you dense? She's clearly not interested.” you mutter to the woman who laughs and Melissa smiles. 

“No, Y/n it's fine she was just leaving.” Melissa says trying to keep the conversation from escalating. 

“Actually, if your girlfriend here really liked you why wouldn't she be out there dancing with you instead of sitting here talking to me?” the woman said with a grin and you shook your head. You knew you couldn't say much and draw the attention of the others but this woman was really getting under your skin for some reason. You saw Barbara coming back from the bathroom and bit your tongue, rolling your eyes and letting out a sigh. 

“Look, just do yourself a favor and walk away.” Melissa said to the woman and she shook her head. 

“No not after an ugly bitch like her called me stupid!” 

The group on the dance floor heard that and all came over to observe, drawing more attention to your friends and now the woman's own friends came to see what was happening. 

“Lex what's going on?” one of her friends asked and she scoffed.

“This whore just called me stupid.” Lex said, clearly very drunk as she slurred her words, and probably under the influence of a little more than alcohol.

“Woah woah woah lets not over react, this isn't the place for this ladies how about you walk away and we all just enjoy our nights.” Gregory spoke up. 

“Nah mind your own business asshole! This is between me and this fucking bitch.” Lex slurred out while doing loud hand gestures. 

You sighed and could feel your face growing flushed and you ran a hand through your hair as you tried to just ignore the woman. It was one thing to call you names, you could be the bigger person and walk away with that, but people being a dick to your friends is not something you care about maintaining decorum for. Still you took a deep breath and turned to get a drink, but you felt a hand shove your shoulder. 

“Yeah walk away like a pussy, leave your girlfriend to a real woman.” Lex mocked and you let out a sigh before realizing you were now drunk enough to use that as an excuse for the following action. Disregarding the comment that left the group slightly confused you turned, grabbing Melissa's beer from her hand, and tossing it on the girls hideous blue dress. 

“Oh shit.” You heard Jacob and Janine remark from behind you. 

“Y/n, hon come on, I think it's time we go guys.” Melissa said, reaching to grab your arm to lead you out but the woman reaches up to slap you but you reach out and grab her hair instead. In a blink of an eye the whole bar is now staring at the both of you as exclamations can be heard from both groups and Melissa is yelling every swear she can conjure up as her and Gregory are trying to get you off the other woman. You had her by the hair still and went to throw another punch until you felt a large pair of arms grab you around the stomach and pull you back, another large man grabs the other woman and you realize it's the bar's security guys. You hear your friends all yell at security to put you down, and he yells back and tells them they all have to leave or they are gonna call the cops. Barbara is the first one to pay off the tab and lead everyone out. 

“Have some decorum and just get outside!” She orders the group and they gather their things and listen. You don't put up a fight, but security still has a firm grip on your arms and is practically dragging you outside. 

“Okay Jesus I dont think this is necessary she's listening!” Melissa yells at the large man who just ignores her. He roughly lets go of you once you're outside and Melissa stabilizes you with gentle hands on your arm and hip. Eventually you are all waiting on the sidewalk as Janine goes to pull up her car. 

“Ok so that was wild.” Jacob mutters after an awkward silence. You lean against the wall of the building and sigh, Melissa looking over at you then back to the others. 

“Yeah what happened exactly? And why did that crazy lady call you her girlfriend?” Gregory asked and you didn't have the energy to say anything, or even look up at any of them. 

“Um. That lady wasn't taking a hint, so Y/n came to tell her to back off, and I guess she got the wrong idea, and things just escalated.” Melissa muttered as a cover. Since you had been so good at hiding things up until this point they all nodded without a doubt. Janine pulled up and Gregory and Jacob got in. You didn't move from your place on the wall and Melissa looked over at you then back to the others. 

“Barb you go ahead with them, I'll drive Y/n home tonight since it’s on my way.” Melissa said with a concerned voice and Barbara smiled. 

“Okay, I will see you ladies at school on Monday.” Barbara said before getting in. the rest of the group waved and Janine drove away. Leaving you and Melissa on the sidewalk. You still hadn't looked up or said a word. Your legs were getting tired from standing against the wall, and your cheeks felt slightly numb from the chilly air. You could feel your lip was bleeding but was pretty sure that was the only damage besides a slightly bruised ego. Melissa came to stand next to you, poking at your arm. 

“Are you ready to go, hon?” she said softly and you didn’t say anything. You finally looked up at her and she saw the blood dripping from your pouted lips and a faint red mark on your face that was slowly disappearing. 

“Baby your lip-” she went to wipe the blood but you cut her off.

“I'm sorry.” you muttered simply.

Taken aback she shook her head with furrowed brows, “For what?” 

“For making a scene, getting us kicked out-- almost having the group find out… all because of my fragile ego.” you scoffed hearing yourself and looked down to play with your fingers.

“Sweetheart, don't be sorry for any of that! I have never had someone, that wasn't family, literally fight a person for me.” She said playfully, using her hand to gently lift your chin. “I mean you did that because you care about me and your friends, not because you're fragile.”

You shook your head in response and opened your mouth to mutter another comment, but she stopped you with a kiss. She cupped your face with her hands gently, and softly kissed your lips with an underlying passion, being cautious of your busted lip, and stroking your cheek with her thumb. She pulled away with sparkling eyes and a grin which you met with a larger smile before reaching for her jacket to pull her into you again. You kissed her deeply ignoring the slight pain it caused, and ran your hand up her body to cup her cheek. Your breathing grew heavy as Melissa pushed you into the wall with her hips and you opened your mouth slightly allowing her to take over. Her tongue ran over your lip, she could taste the blood from your cut and the liquor on your breath, but she still deepened the kiss by letting her tongue enter your mouth and dance around your own. You eventually pulled away to catch your breath and you rested your forehead against hers as you shut your eyes and played with her hair. You had almost forgotten how much you had to drink until you stumbled slightly and she instinctively grabbed your waist. 

“I love you Y/n, and tonight only proved to me just how much I do” she spoke softly in her velvety voice and you smiled innocently with a red stained lip. She brushed over it with her thumb, and then stood up straight. 

“I love you too.” You said simply before feeling your eyes get tired. 

“Cmon, we are getting you home.” She said with a laugh and you nodded, allowing her to take your hand and walk you to her car. 

You knocked out the whole drive back, Melissa's hand placed on your thigh the whole way. She tapped it gently when you arrived and you opened your eyes to see you were at her house and you looked at her with a smile. 

“What? You didn't think I was just going to leave you alone at your place did you?” she mocked you with love and you laughed, getting out of the car and following her inside. 

“I think the nap in the car was exactly what I needed because I feel much better now.” You said smiling at her as you hopped up on the kitchen counter.

“Oh really? Well drink this whole glass of water and then we will see.” She said handing you a cup she filled from the fridge. She kept her eyes on yours as you drank it and she took off your shoes for you, placing them on the floor before kicking off her own. You finished the glass and placed it down as she turned to face you again. You grabbed her by her waist and pulled her to you, running your hands through her hair and admiring her beauty. 

“Don't look at me like that baby.” She said in a deep tone, her eyes full of a serious yet lustful gleam as she moved her hands to rest on the counter on either side of you.

“Like what?” you smiled, not moving your hands from her, tangling in her hair, running over her shoulders and arms, and then back to tuck her hair behind her ears.

“Like you want to fuck me.” she said firmly with a grin. You were surprised she didn't hesitate to call you out and this sent a chill down your spine. 

“Well, what's so wrong with that?” you teased, leaning in closer so you were inches from her face, your eyes darting between her dark green ones.

“The issue is how sexy it is but I'm not one for coercion.” She replies, moving to push herself away, but you grabbed her by the belt loops of her jeans and pulled her closer so her torso was between your legs and against the counter. You draped your arms over her shoulders and hovered your lips over hers, teasing her with a gentle peck to the lips. You pulled back slightly with a grin and she stared at you lovingly.

“Its not coercion if I want it and i'm barely even tipsy.” you say with a smile.

“Please Melissa, I just risked my life for you and I need to feel you.” You said with dramatics and a hint of sarcasm.

“Ha, now who is doing the coercing!” She laughed and you shook your head.

“Not coercion, I’m begging you,” you whined before pushing her away slightly so you could slink off the counter and onto your knees on the cold kitchen tile. “I'm literally on my knees for you… mommy.” You said with a grin, looking up at her with shining eyes. She smiled and let out a scoff. Your hands slid up the side of her legs, slowly over her thighs until you got to the button of her pants, causing her to suck in a breath before looking into your eyes again. You could see the internal battle she had and before you could unbutton her pants, she grabbed your hands and pulled you up to her. She pulled you in by your waist and kissed you deeply, letting out the breath she’d been holding in as she ran her hands down your waist to grab your ass. You moaned into the kiss and pressed your torso against hers. When you pulled away to catch your breath she smirked at you and sucked in her lip. 

“Okay but no taking care of me tonight, it's all about you baby.” She said, finding a compromise for her decision and you grinned, slightly upset you wouldn't be able to make her feel good. 

“Anything you say.” You nodded desperately and she let out a beautiful laugh before backing away and grabbing your hips to push you up against the counter. She kissed you again and your hands found her cheeks as you deepened the kiss with force. She ran her hands down your back and grabbed under your thighs to lift you onto the counter, not breaking the kiss. You groaned from the smooth execution and she smiled into the kiss. She pulled away and looked you in the eyes as she pushed your skirt up to your waist and pulled your panties off. You played with her hair as she did so and then felt your thighs squeeze together at the cold air and the way she was looking you up and down. 

“God you're stunning Melissa.” You said with a shaky breath as her hand pushed between your thighs and brushed your core with slow motions. 

“I could say the same thing about you hon, now be a good girl and lay back.” She said in a deep and sensual tone. You quickly nodded, leaning in for another deep kiss, pushing your chest against hers, cupping her cheek with your hand. You allowed your tongue to enter her mouth and kissed her with passion. She smiled into the kiss at your eagerness and she pulled away, raising her eyebrow at you and you placed another peck to her lips before doing as you were told. You pushed your hair out from under you to be laid out on the counter and allowed yourself to relax slightly. You felt her hands bend your knees and place your feet on the edge of the counter to give her better access.  The cold air caused your skin to prickle with small goosebumps and you felt your heart speed up as you awaited her touch. She traced her hands gently up and down your thighs before placing kisses along the inside of them. Her cold fingers came up to rub your clit and your body twitched, sensitive from being deprived for so long. You slightly leaned into her touch but the limited space on the counter kept you from doing so. 

“Just relax baby, I want you to be able to remember how good I treated you when you wake up tomorrow.” she said with a cocky grin that you could practically feel. She leaned in and licked a stripe up your folds without hesitation. Collecting your slick on her tongue before lightly sucking on your bud. You let out a moan and she gripped your thighs tighter to keep them in place as she continued to suck on your clit, licking circles around it. She moved a hand from your thigh to her mouth, placing two fingers in her mouth before rubbing your clit and then inserting them into you. You let out a hoarse gasp and she gently curled her fingers inside you, moving her head back down to continue torturing your clit. You arched your back off the counter and moaned at the new angle and she hummed into you causing you to moan again. 

“Fuck, Melissa!” You exclaimed, letting your hand come to her hair, brushing it from her face. She felt you clench around her fingers and held back a grin at how ready you were for her already. She thrusted her fingers harder, stroking inside of you and hitting your sensitive spot. Never taking her lips off your core, her tongue running over your clit before she continued to suck on it. You let out another loud moan and your free hand came to your mouth so you could bite on your knuckles, your eyes closing shut tight. 

“No baby move your hand I wanna hear you scream as you cum for me.” she said, not stopping her thrusts.

“Ah, ok- yes mommy.” you gasped out, tugging on her hair slightly, earning a deep groan from Melissa that you could feel. Your juices covered her face and hand now and you felt yourself clenching around her. You arched off the counter again and she brought her other hand off your thigh to rub your clit so she could talk you through your release. 

“That’s it my love, you're doing so good, cum for me hon.” She said, smiling down at you with dark eyes. You felt your release wash over you at the praise and your body shook as your orgasm flooded through you and you clenched around her fingers. Your mind went dark as you moaned loudly, fire spreading through your veins. As you caught your breath you opened your eyes. Melissa pulled her fingers from you and you used the little strength you had to try and sit up. She snaked her hand around your back to pull you up to her and you met her with a smile and flushed cheeks. She lifted her fingers to your mouth and you took them in without hesitation, tasting yourself on her. 

“You did so good for me baby.” She muttered in her deep, raspy voice, pulling her fingers from your mouth and back down to your center to sooth your sensitive clit.

“I love you.” You said with a smile. 

“I love you too.” She said simply and you leaned in to kiss her gently, looking in her eyes as you placed a peck to her lips. She took your lower lip between her teeth and you winced. She pulled away with a sarcastic grin and furrowed brows.

“Oh i'm sorry sweetheart, did I hurt your lip?” she brushed her thumb over the cut that was now bleeding slightly again. 

“A little. But its okay,” you said not taking your eyes from hers as you moved her hand to rub circles on your core slowly. “I liked it.” you added and she raised a brow. Moving to kiss her again she moved her head back slightly and thrusted her fingers back inside you without warning, she watched with a grin as your face contorted in pleasure. Your brows furrowed and your lip pouted. 

“Give me one more.” she ordered and you nodded, leaning to kiss her again but she pulled back, teasing you once more as her fingers moved inside you. The angle allowed her to curl into you deeply and you let out a gasp, her thumb brushed your clit in circles and you felt your second orgasm approaching rapidly. 

“Yes, mommy please don't stop.” you muttered breathlessly and she smirked, moving her fingers faster. You clenched around her and felt heat pool in your core as your orgasm approached. 

“Look at me baby.” She said and you met her gaze, furrowed brows and your mouth open in an ‘o’ shape as you moaned. Your legs shook slightly and you felt your thighs move to clench together and she didn't stop you. You sat up straight which allowed her fingers to reach deeper inside you and you gasped. Her eyes were full of lust and mischief as she looked into your pleading ones. Your eyes shifted to her puffy pink lips and you looked back in her eyes, silently begging. 

“Please kiss me Melissa.” you begged, your release approaching. She gave in and kissed you deeply, watching as your eyes closed and you moaned into the kiss. Her fingers sped up and she deepened the kiss, her tongue roaming around your mouth with passion and control. Your eyes squeezed tight as you felt the wave of relief crash over you and you moaned into the kiss, your hands moving to wrap around her face, cupping her jaw so there wasn't a chance she could pull away. She allowed her fingers to slow and you grinded against them as you rode out you high. Her other hand came to grip your waist, her thumb pushing into your hip. You finally pulled away and your foreheads met as you both caught your breath. 

“I'm so proud of you hon.” she said with a smile and you gently nodded.

“I'm definitely going to remember this.” you quipped and she let out a laugh before pulling you off the counter, your legs wrapping around her and her hands holding you by your thighs as she carried you. 

“Let's get you cleaned up and into bed.” she said sweetly into your ear and you allowed your glorious lover to carry you up the stairs and to her bedroom.

xx

#melissa schemmenti x reader #melissa x reader #abbott elementary #melissa schemmenti #lisa ann walter

[starfxkr]

i so badly would love for some asshole to pull my bikini string at a beach party just so i can watch jj beat the shit out of him

𓇼🐚☾☼🦪𓇼🐚☾☼🦪𓇼🐚☾☼🦪𓇼🐚☾☼🦪𓇼🐚☾☼🦪𓇼🐚☾☼

it took all of three seconds between the tug at your bikini top and your shout of disgust for jj to spring into action. the asshole why tried to disrobe you was currently being beat into a bloody pulp on the sand as people watched in horror, yet nobody moved in to stop him.

times like this felt grateful to have a boyfriend like jj, he didn't care what you wore because said, and you quote 'it don't bother ma mama, i can fight.'

something he was proving very clearly right now.

"yeah i bet you don't like this shit huh? you'd don't wanna be touched? keep your hands to your fuckin self." it took one last punch to the head to knock him out cold, sending the kooks and tourons into a tizzy as they scattered in fear that he'd pull the gun out. again.

the bloody guy's friends finally stepped in to carry his unconscious body away, and the rest of the pogues went back to the party with little murmurs floating around the crowd.

what was dude thinking?

everybody knows not to mess with maybank's girl.

fuckin tourons man.

despite his heaving and his rage, he looked concerned when he turned back towards you, "you okay?"

"yeah, just can't believe he did that shit. you shoulda fuckin shot him." you huff and begin to drag him to the cooler, where pope sits already with two beers waiting for you.

"and get my ass sent to jail? no fuckin way, we're not ready to be prison married yet."

you pause mid sip and look at him with your brows knitted together, "yet?"

#✨.txt #jj maybank prompt

[jessicas-pi]

Bo and the Blueberry AU incorrect quotes

Bo-Katan: How’s school going? Ezra: Terrible. I want to stab everybody there. Bo-Katan: Okay, just don’t get any blood on your clothes. Ezra: …you shouldn’t be condoning this.

---

Ezra: If history repeats, I'm so getting a Mythosaur.

---

Sabine: I'm not mean. Name one mean thing I’ve ever done. Ezra: When we were kids, you convinced me eggs weren't real. Sabine: They're not. Ezra: Haha, very funny. Sabine: I'm serious. Didn't you hear? Ezra: No… what happened? Sabine: …Why would you fall for this again-

---

Din (after Ezra becomes Mand'alor): I think I mostly want to see what happens when this whole place breaks apart.

---

Sabine: You know what’s funny about Ezra? He’s my best friend, and anyone who’d hurt him is someone I’d murder, probably.

---

Bo-Katan: We'll talk about this later. Ezra: Ok, I won’t be listening.

---

Tristan: I found an old note that said Note to self: Get revenge on Ezra. Tristan: Except I couldn't remember what I was supposed to get revenge for. Tristan: But I trusted my own judgment, so I went with it. Ezra: Hmm… I don't know what you were supposed to get revenge for, either. Tristan: I can only assume you got what was coming to you. Not 100 percent sure, though. Ezra: Well, whatever I did, I guess I deserved it. Tristan: Let that possibly be a lesson to you.

---

Bo-Katan: Come on, Ursa. Nobody actually believes that Din is in love with me. Ursa, to the other Mandalorians: Raise your hand if you think that Din is helplessly in love with Bo-Katan. *Everyone raises their hand* Bo-Katan: Din, put your hand down.

---

Korkie, looking at his friends: I need to become a therapist faster.

---

Ezra: I’m not being weird. Am I being weird? Tristan: Yes, and that’s coming from me.

---

Ezra, to Sabine: You drink too much, swear too much, and your morals are highly questionable. Sabine: … Ezra: You are everything I’ve ever wanted in a best friend.

---

Ezra: Your smile? It makes my day. Sabine: Your happiness? I live for that. Korkie: A room? Get one. Tristan: Hotel? Trivago.

---

Ezra, texting Bo-Katan: *sends a voice message* Bo-Katan, texting back: I’m a little busy, is it urgent? Ezra: No, don’t worry, just listen later. *later* Bo-Katan: *presses play* Ezra's voice message: THERE’S A FIRE-

---

Sabine: Relationships should be 50/50. Ezra tries to be Mand'alor while I sit on the armrest of his throne looking intimidating.

---

Ezra: I need life advice. Korkie, sipping Space Gatorade and eating cookie dough: You came to the right person.

---

Sabine: Okay, I’m going to make sure the flower decorations have arrived. Ezra: Perfect, while you do that I’ll check on the ring bear. Sabine: … Sabine: You mean ring bearER, right? Ezra: … Sabine: Look me in the eyes and tell me you are not going to bring a dangerous wild animal to our wedding.

---

Bo-Katan: I left instructions for everyone while I'm gone. Ezra: Mine just says "Ezra no." Bo-Katan: I want you to apply it to every possible situation.

---

Tristan: Why is Ezra making me do the dishes again? You haven’t washed them in a week, Sabine! Sabine: It’s because I’m Ezra’s favorite. Tristan: I hate you.

---

Korkie: I have a bad feeling about this, guys. Sabine: Oh don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Ezra: Yeah, what’s the worst that could happen? Korkie, being bailed out of jail the next morning: I hate you all.

#bo and the blueberry au #sabezra #dinbo #incorrect quotes

[my-darling-boy]

Have you had any ✨Ghost Experiences✨ in Scotland yet? Meet any new ghosts???

Ohhhh plenty, but far too many to list without going off on a ramble haha

We’ve done many overnights in castles and old buildings up and down the UK with a team of investigators which has led to really neat experiences, some of them absolutely poignant. I think my favourite interaction has been with a sweetheart of a young seaman called William aboard the RRS Discovery docked in Dundee, also the best K2 session I’ve ever had was there. But yeah, various castles, historic buildings, manors, prisons, etc with some really fascinating results.

I do like how it’s also putting the mediumship to the test which is something I still don’t really like bringing up in general to people but I have apparently shocked investigators/employees at these places with describing events, people, and other things with detail that is not even public or only known privately by people who frequent that location. Nearly all locations I’ve never been to and make a point not to read up on them before I go, which makes these instances more compelling? I often don’t even know the significance of what I’m (sheepishly) describing only to be told I just described a specific thing that happened in a room when there’s no way I could know about said thing. One of the best instances of this was on the RRS Discovery when trailing behind the group in the lower decks, I stopped suddenly. It felt as though something SMACKED very hard and very sudden right where I was standing, someone had lost their life in this very spot. I thought with the boilers around perhaps someone had been hit somehow and died or maybe fallen from the above platform and hit their head on the metal below but was told there were no known records of someone dying in that room and that the platforms didn’t exist at the time. I was perplexed by this as I was 100% sure something had happened there but I just ignored it, maybe I was wrong. We get up to the top deck finally and are told about a boy who, in 1901, tragically fell from the crows nest and died. The investigator and I suddenly realised I had been standing directly below the spot he would have hit on the upper deck when he fell. Another would be a nice young man I’d encountered at a private castle who seemed to be wearing some sort of chainmail and white tunic, followed me around for most of the night, and at one point I picked up on a story about a strange looking gold disc with all these markings on it on the alter in the chapel which he immediately told me not to ask about and refused to elaborate more, I had no idea why he was so adamant about this. I later learned after enquiry the castle historians have documented the place being used by the Templars and it’s a private fact at this location that the Templars have buried artefacts beneath the castle they are working to recover… most notably, beneath the chapel. I’d be talking for ages if I described the other occurrences, but that’s one I’ll always remember!

All and all, I do actually recommend doing it, even if you don’t believe in the stuff, because you get entire historic locations basically all to yourself, at night, which is cooler. I once sat for nearly an hour in a 200 year old jail on the floor, in the dark, at 2 AM, just chilling. On free roam while everyone is usually at base, I’ve been able to explore places by myself, in the dark, opening doors to rooms not even shown to us, panning my torch to old paintings and artefacts in basements to attics and bedrooms and so much more. I’ve sat alone in century old ships and played sea shanties which echoed hauntingly down the passageways. Sprawled out in the pews of medieval chapels in the pitch dark, wandered dark castle corridors alone, sometimes I’ll sing out old songs and just listen to it drift out through the halls and rooms. You feel like some character in a novel, it’s quite a liminal space! Like all these places where so many other people came before you, where people lived and died, sometimes even right where you’re sitting, and you’re able to lay out on the stones in the dark with it all and just feel connected to it yk?

Anyway that still ended up being a ramble HAHA so yeah! I recommend it for both believers and those less inclined because at the end of the day, you’ve basically got several hours of private access to historical locations, at night, no tourists, and sometimes to places the public isn’t allowed at all, and hey maybe something Strange will happen while you’re alone in the darkness.

#can I just say too there is something so hauntingly beautiful about the alone time on my free roams #like usually these places get locked up at night or you’re limited by opening hours and tight your schedules and roped off areas #but when I’m alone on these things you get near unrestricted access in some of these places #and you’re just alone in the quiet where some people used to laugh or lost their lives #like I cannot explain how—even in a non paranormal way—you feel a new connection to the past #without the distractions of the day and ropes and time and tourists and noise #it’s just you and everything that has come before you #and you’re like wow we are all humans in this together huh #asks #paranormal #long post

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 伪装者/The Disguiser.

The Disguiser is a 2015 spy drama set in Shanghai, 1940. It follows the adventures of four wealthy siblings, all of whom are to some degree engaging in coordinated espionage, subterfuge, and other general acts of sabotage against the brutal occupying Japanese force.

I need to mention the Nirvana in Fire connection up front, because yeah, if you've seen that, you've probably noticed some familiar faces already. And the comparison isn't unwarranted! The stories are completely different, but they're both character-driven, complex, subtly cheeky adventures that manage to keep that tense intrigue going throughout the narrative. Like Nirvana in Fire, the Disguiser's on the heftier side -- 48 episodes -- but they go by at an incredible clip, so that it never feels long.

I have done a rec post for this before, and I stand by everything I said there. However, I figured it deserved its own for-real rec post, so here we go with five specific reasons I think you should give it a try.

1. We're all comrades in horny jail

This is an intensely horny show, starting from -- but absolutely not stopping with -- the main quartet.

These are the four Ming siblings. Only the elder pair of them, Ming Jing and Ming Lou (both on the passenger side of the car), are blood-related to one another. Ming Tai (also in the back seat) got adopted into the family when he was young enough that Ming Jing's relationship to him is very maternal.

Meanwhile, Ah Cheng (driving) was somewhat less thoroughly adopted when he was around ten, meaning that he's always weirdly marginal when it comes to who actually counts as part of the Ming family. He's a brother, but also he's a servant. Sometimes he's in the family photos, and sometimes he's left out of them. His name is legally "Ming Cheng," but basically no one ever calls him that.

What this means is that you've got four incredibly attractive people who are all legally but mostly not genetically related to one another, keeping secrets both with and from one another, yelling at one another, running headlong into danger for one another, sleeping in one another's beds, and occasionally demanding some members of the family spank the others. Is it hot in here, or is it just them?

And it's not just that these are pretty people up in each other's business. Nearly every interpersonal interaction among all the main characters is at least background levels of horny, because of how high the stakes are. The tension running throughout the show is intense -- and of course it is, because these are spies in life-or-death situations, trying to keep their cool so they don't get killed. So many of the relationships are built on lies meant to charm and seduce their targets, which is of course going to be sexy. But when they're built on honesty, they're all the more intimate for that disclosure, because being open with someone about your real identity and allegiances is putting your entire life into their hands.

To be clear: When I say the show is horny, I don't mean that it's erotic or salacious, or that you're going to get a peep of anyone's naughty little comrade, or anything like that. This is the horniness of lingering glances and shouting matches and power imbalances and guns pointed at chests. It's a combo platter of smouldering Victorian yearning mixed with action-movie adrenaline. It's the delicious, redirected horniness you get when sex isn't on the (canonical) table, so all that fraught energy has to go somewhere.

Get to the part in Episode 6 where Ming Jing gets out the short whip. You'll be glad you did.

2. Bad, bad bitches

Some of the baddest bad guys in the show are ladies. In fact, I can't even tell you about all of them here because of spoiler reasons. There are two, however, who deserve special mention.

The first and most prominent is Wang Manchun, member of the Japanese-controlled government's intelligence service, who is one of the best antagonists I've seen in anything. Perfectly coiffed and devastatingly intelligent, she's a member of a powerful Chinese family who has chosen to work for the Japanese-controlled intelligence bureau. She can be genuinely warm and sweet, almost girlish even, when she's around someone she likes. She can also torture a dude to death without smudging her eyeliner.

Her fatal flaw is that she's so in love with Ming Lou -- and so mistakenly convinced that Ming Lou is in love with her -- that it makes her make some extremely bad decisions. When was the last time you saw the handsome gentleman be a honeypot?

I feel okay spoiling you about the fact that these two do not end up together. Ming Lou does not see the error of his ways and start returning her feelings -- which is what I was damn near certain was going to happen for almost two-thirds of the show. I was braced for the show to come in singing the praises of the redeeming power of heteronormativity! NOPE. She's crazy and she needs to go down.

(I do have some issues with how she goes down, but ... well, you'll understand when you get there.)

The other baddie, Nantian/Minamida, is a stark contrast to Wang Manchun. There is nothing delicate or femme about her. She gets given the worst hairstyle and the most unflattering outfits. The actor's features are already strong, and the way the show makes her up doesn't allow a single inch of softness to slip out. There is one point where she gets to dance with Ah Cheng, and she's painfully wooden. It'd be funny if she weren't so dangerous.

As the section chief of the Japanese forces in Shanghai, Minamida is a formidable foe. She's smart. She's mean. She's incredibly suspicious of all these smiling Chinese people who surround her, because she doesn't know which ones are legitimately sucking up to her and which are just waiting to drive a knife into her back. Just plain killing her would be easy. Killing her and getting away with it? That's what's going to need a plan.

The actor is also Japanese! In fact, they've gotten a fair number of Japanese actors to play the Japanese characters, but she's the only one who also speaks Mandarin competently and doesn't need to be overdubbed by a native speaker. She's scary and intense and kinda makes your skin crawl. It's great. She's great.

And while we're talking about bad girls, I'm also going to shout out Yu Manli in here, because while she's not a villain, she's absolutely a morally grey character -- and I love her to itty bitty bits. She's about three inches high and weighs about five pounds soaking wet, and she will murder the heck out of you. Baby girl.

3. It's queer in here

The original novel is not danmei. No boy-kissing has been censored, because there wasn't any in the first place. The author/screenwriter is a lady, but not one who dabbles in BL. This does not merit the "Censored Adaptation of a Same-Sex Work" tag on MyDramaList. Censorship didn't do anything to this one. It was never gay.

That said, the show is massively queer, in that it lauds textually the normative experience of getting married relatively young and having lots of children -- and then gives you so many characters, both heroes and villains, who don't do that.

I mean, we've got:

Adult unmarried siblings living together

A grown woman who has intentionally remained unmarried in order to manage her business and family interests

Two adult brothers, both bachelors, who basically live in one another's back pockets

In fact, plenty of people who seem to have forsaken marriage and children in favor of their various active patriotisms

"Life and death partners" who have to fake-date their way through a couple spy missions

A teenage girl sold into sex work who offers to marry the man who saves her and is politely turned down for her own good

The same teenage girl pulling a black-widow routine and using multiple other marriages as a pretense to murder dudes

A couple whose marriage is forbidden by their families, except they do not end up together

A guy who has to break up with his real girlfriend so he can pretend to be with the spy colleague he lives with

A single woman who adopts a child

Two orphaned young adult siblings who adopt two children not that much younger than they are

A heterosexual relationship between people who are functionally equals in their various underground organizations (which don't want their members having romantic relationships with anyone)

A note on that last one: There is a cishet normie love story that runs the length of the show. A lot of people dislike it; I think it's cute and fine! But no matter what you think of it, you have to note the sharp contrast between this prescriptive tale of young love and everything else that's going on around them. There's a lot of lip service paid to how their marriage and the children they will presumably have someday are the ideal, but it's certainly not the only way people live, or even live well. In fact, everybody else treats their romance a little bit like oh, thank goodness he's doing this so we don't have to.

Other aspects of heterosexuality are similarly praised in concept, but not really shown in the best light. There is a lot of filial devotion involved here, but overwhelmingly toward parents who are dead. Living parents, by and large, either are absentee or just plain fucking suck. The show even has very few married characters anywhere in its principal cast, and most marriages that even get so much as mentioned either are portrayed as scummy (because the husband sucks ass) or ended because one of the partners died. Even the very idea of marriage, while praised in theory, doesn't thrill most of the characters. At one point, when Ming Jing brings up the idea of Ah Cheng's getting married, Ah Cheng cannot extract himself from that conversation fast enough.

What this really does mean is, when it comes to heteronormative ideals, the show frequently says one thing and does another.

Do I think the show is queering things on purpose? Absolutely not. This is instead one of those situations where there's such an underlying assumption that heterosexual desire and family unit construction are universal constants ... that the show barely actually gets around to portraying those things as good.

What you get instead, then, are a lot of powerful interpersonal ties that cannot be satisfied by marriage. The most intense loyalties in the show are between people for whom heterosexual pair bonding is not a social or narrative option. Therefore, those intimacies form along different pathways, many of which fall way outside the socially acceptable parameters of marital respectability and reproductive obligation. People love one another fiercely in sometimes unconventional ways. It doesn't get much queerer than that.

I'm also going to put the phrase "the inherent eroticism of letting someone who loves you shoot you with a sniper rifle" right here and walk away. Perhaps it will intrigue you. Perhaps it will intrigue you extra to know this happens more than once.

4. Jin Dong in menswear

That's it, that's the selling point.

Okay, wait, I do have something to add: In a sea of strong performances, his is arguably the best. He absolutely nails this tone of quiet, competent exhaustion the whole way through, making his Ming Lou this perfect gentleman on the verge of collapse.

You learn (somewhat confusingly) in the very first episode that Ming Lou is an important minister for the economy under the new (Japanese-controlled) government in Shanghai -- except, no! He's actually secretly the captain (codename Viper) of the local KMT division, working to undermine the occupying Japanese forces -- except, no again! He's actually -- and this is the real one this time -- head of intel (codename Cobra) for the Shanghai CCP underground.

(I bring up the codenames because my first time through, I didn't fully realize that they were attached to his different identities, and I just thought the occasionally spotty translation couldn't agree on which English word to use for the same snake.)

Living this three-identities-deep life is taking its toll on Ming Lou, but you know what? He's also a damn professional. He comports himself in exactly the manner he's supposed to behave at all times. And Jin Dong sells it beautifully, this carefully restrained exterior that houses a passionate heart.

This to me is the reason his relationship with Ah Cheng is so precious: Ah Cheng is the only one who understands, because Ah Cheng is living the same life of nesting-doll secrets. It's easier on Ah Cheng, though, because he doesn't have to be the face of it all; he just gets to smile and do whatever his da ge tells him to. They are each tasked with taking care of the other in ways great and small. I'm not going to spoil its context, but one of the most powerful moments in the show is when Ah Cheng says matter-of-factly that he knows his life is worth less to Ming Lou than other people's are, and Ming Lou, to put it mildly, pointedly disagrees.

So yeah, this is The Ship.

If you consider their relationship entirely fraternal, theirs is an incredible dynamic of trust, dependence, vulnerability, and sacrifice. If you consider it fraternal and spicy, well, it's still all that, but also enjoy picturing them tenderly removing each other's really nice suits piece by expensive piece.

5. You gotta spy hard!

Imagine the spy media spectrum where at one end you've got James Bond and Mission: Impossible movies (sexy, glamorous, high-tech), and at the other end you've got the Rebel and John LeCarre novels (grueling, well-reserched, realistic). The Disguiser is well toward the latter end of that continuum. It's got a bit of a Hollywood gloss on the whole mechanics of spywork, but man, not much of one.

Despite what the title suggests, most of the spies in this show are exactly who they say they are. Ming Tai is the only one of the siblings who assumes temporary false identities as part of his spycraft, and even he really can't do that anymore once he's back in his native Shanghai, where he's the recognizable youngest son of a prominent family. They all have to be spies in plain sight, which is equal parts a hindrance and an asset. You've got to see Ming Jing do-you-know-who-I-am her way out of some shit. It's great.

There are some legitimately tense scenes and escapes, and I like that most of the threats are overcome by quick thinking and very good acting. The schemes that our heroes pull off work because our heroes understand what makes certain people tick, and other people can't pull that shit on our heroes because our heroes have one another. It's smart spywork that stops short of being grandiose. Even the big plans that involve several steps rely less on supernatural feats of timing, and more on just trusting human nature.

The show is definitely spinning a propaganda yarn about how the noble Communists saved the day during the '40s, and in doing so it takes some pretty entertaining liberties with history. Even so, the particulars of the political philosophies are absolutely secondary to the conflict. You're never going to get a scene where two guys excitedly detail just how much Mao rules. At best there's some blah-blah about freedom and love of country that could be transposed onto any nationalist ideology without a lot of work. If you asked me, based only on information provided by this show, to explain the difference between the KMT and the CCP, my main answer would be, one group uses a code name that's one kind of snake, while the other uses a code name that's a different kind of snake.

And honestly, it's kind of nice. All you really need to know is that the Communists are cool, the KMT are okay but definitely less cool, and the Japanese and anyone who works with them fucking suck. I can do that! I grew up in a sports-watching family. I'm used to being sat down in front of the television and told, we want the guys in the blue uniforms to beat the guys in the white uniforms. No sweat.

The plot does fall down more than a little bit in the final act, due to a combination of intentional obfuscation on the drama's part, a couple things that probably should have happened onscreen instead of off, and a sudden rash of stupid-ass decisions made by one character in particular. But by that point, you're invested enough that you might as well see it through to the end, right? The dismount's a bit shaky but ultimately satisfying, as the genre goes.

I'm going to say the same thing here I said in the Nirvana in Fire rec post: This show is not for everybody, but if this is the kind of thing you like, it is a fantastic example of that thing.

bonus: And speaking of Nirvana in Fire...

Here's the full set.

Basically, if you watched Nirvana in Fire, you owe it to yourself to see the Disguiser. It’s another smart, character-driven drama, and you get to see a lot of your favorite actors in radically different roles, costumes, and relationships. (And speaking of costumes, both shows apparently have the same costume designer? That's range.)

Going to give this one a shot?

It's unfortunately a little hard to find. In my region (i.e., the US), KissAsian and YouTube are as good as it gets, both of which have their drawbacks. Some others among you may be lucky enough to be in a region where Viki will show it to you (which is where the KissAsian subs come from in the first place). There's a horrible set of machine translations running around out there, so beware of those; you'll know immediately you've tripped over those when they don't translate any of the onscreen text crawl at the start.

And speaking of the subtitles: Both extant sets, to put it politely, leave something to be desired. You can generally tell what's going on, but there are times you'll have to work for it. This is definitely more annoying when you're trying to follow a smart spy drama than it is when you're breezing through a low-intensity fuzzy xianxia mess. You actually have to pay attention to this one.

As a bonus, pretty much the whole thing was filmed in Shanghai Film Park, so if you're missing Dragon City, well, here it is! This was in fact the first Republican-era show I saw after watching Guardian, and I spent a lot of time going, hey, I know that street! ...like a nerd.

You can feel the brotherly love.

#the disguiser #伪装者 #i made this #rec post

[sleekervae]

The Bride [0.3]

Masterlist

Pairing: billy the kid x fem!reader

Summary: Eleanor Gets Fired

Warnings: foul language, violence on animals, black eye, mentions of murder

Word Count: 4,452

Tag List: @poppyflower-22 @ponyslayer

"Kid Antrim Escapes Silver City Jail"

"Jail Guard Loses Armed Robber"

"Armed Robber, Billy Antrim, In the Wind"

The headlines were splashed across the newspaper the next day, with chatter and gossip taking Silver City by storm. People were baffled, curious, and terrified with that they'd read; a "dangerous man" was on the loose, who wouldn't be terrified? When Eleanor read that headline, she said a silent prayer that Billy wouldn't return to Silver City.

Life continued on for her. She's work days the ranch and nights at the saloon, keeping her head down and working hard to scrape up as much money as she could. Jesse would still come around for information on Billy Matthews' cattle, they didn't talk about Billy. No matter how much Eleanor wanted to ask if he'd heard anything, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction to comfort her. Sure, she was indebted to him, but she still didn't trust him.

It was a regular Wednesday morning on the Matthews ranch. The cowboys were herding and taking care of the livestock, bringing eggs and milk to Eleanor in the kitchen as she whipped up lunch for everybody. The sun was pouring in from the open window, the heat just bordering bearable between the oven and the stove, and Eleanor continued to knead her bread dough in silence. Jesse and his gang wanted a new map for the cattle, and she had to wait until Matthews was far from his office before she could snoop around.

"Miss Aubert?" she looked up at the call of her surname. One of the ranch hands were standing in the doorway, sweat-stained with callous hands folded, "Mr. Matthews wants a word with you,"

Eleanor cocked her head, curiosity and apprehension forming in her gut. Matthews had never called for her before.

"I'm in the middle of making his lunch," she said matter-of-factly.

"He said he wants you on the porch. Now," the ranch hand shrugged back, "He don't sound too happy,"

In the back of her mind, Eleanor had a feeling what was about to happen. So, she wiped her hands free of dough, cleaned up her station, and followed the ranch hand outside. Matthews was sitting in his usual porch chair, watching the rest of his cowboys rustle up and saddle his horses and cows. Matthews was an old man, but intimidating all the same with his dark, heavy under eyes, stiff upper lip, and a cigar clenched between his fingers.

Eleanor approached him cautiously, putting on a friendly smile, "You wanted to see me, Mr. Matthews?"

Matthews glanced up at her, his stiff glare softening into a smile of his own, "Yes. Yes I did, Miss Aubert,"

"Eleanor is just fine, sir,"

"Right," he put his cigar between his teeth, turning his gaze back to his ranch, "You see the mare over there, Eleanor?" he pointed out to the fencing. Eleanor looked out, and sure enough there was a mare amongst the other horses, just a bit smaller than the others, but majestic and strong nevertheless.

"Yes, sir,"

"I bought that mare last spring, she was supposed to mate with my horses, give me some babies to raise, make my stock stronger," he drawled, "I just found out last week that this particular is barren. She's no good. Just another dumb fucking animal on a farm,"

Eleanor nodded, confused as to where he was taking this, but she stayed empathetic, "That's terrible," she muttered.

"Yeah, yeah it is," Matthews nodded, "But that's life, you get disappointed. And when you get disappointed, you can either do something about it, or sit there and continue to be a doormat," he ten turned to her, "So now... I have to put that mare down,"

Eleanor glanced at him in disbelief, "Sir... she's a perfectly good horse, isn't she?" she asked.

"Well, yes. But she's not doing what I needed her to do. And therefore, I have no use for her," he kept his gaze fixed on Eleanor, whatever friendly demeanour he had at the beginning was quickly melting away into something more sinister, "Just like I have no use for you,"

Eleanor swallowed back the growing lump in her throat, "I beg your pardon?"

"I know what you've been up to. You think you're pretty damn smart, don't 'cha'? Hm?" his lips pressed together in a thin line, his greying eyes darkening, "What were you doing in my office the other day? Don't deny it, you were seen,"

Eleanor shook her head, trying to grasp at threads, "I'm sorry Mr. Matthews, I don't know what you're talking about,"

Matthews' grin returned, he glanced back at the cowboys who were none the wiser, "You don't know what I'm talking about..."

Eleanor stood stiff as a board, waiting, anticipating just what he'd say next. However, she didn't anticipate he'd shoot up from his seat and back hand her across her face, her hard brass of his ring indenting just under her eye.

Eleanor stumbled and fell backwards, her butt landing hard on the porch wood. Matthews stood over her, seething with rage.

"You don't know what the fuck I'm talking about!?" he screamed, hands fisted tight, veins bulging in his forehead and his face going red. The commotion grabbed the attention of the cowboys.

Eleanor turned back over, the sting from his knuckle nothing compared to the fear swelling in her chest. He continued to shout down at her, his teeth gnashing and spit flying.

"You think I haven't noticed how my cattle have disappeared since I dun' hired you? You think you're smarter than me, don't you? I've got more thoughts in my little finger then you do in your whole body!" he held up his hand and Eleanor feared her may hit her again, "Say something!"

"I'm sorry!" Eleanor shouted back, though she knew no apologies would soften him none, "I'm very sorry!"

Matthews scoffed, lowering his hand and relaxing his shoulders, "You sorry you let rustlers steal my herd? Or are you sorry you got caught?" his hand then went to his belt holster, and a renewed sense of fear filled her. He wouldn't actually shoot her in front of all these people... would he?

"Benjamin!" he suddenly roared, "Bring me that dull mare!" no, she feared he was going to do something much worse.

Eleanor watched, her heart in her throat as Benjamin lassoed the mare and lead her over to the porch. She was absolutely beautiful, dappled grey with big, soulful eyes and a pristine white face. She met Eleanor's gaze, and from how she shifted from hoof to hoof, it was clear she could sense the rising tension, the fear in the air.

Matthews pulled out his gun and cocked it, checking the barrel for his ammunition.

"Mr. Matthews... please, don't do it," Eleanor begged, tears beginning to well in her eyes.

Matthews hummed to himself, looking back down at the young girl, "You know what I do to people who betray me, Miss Aubert?" he asked.

Eleanor didn't even have time to close her eyes before he raised his gun, and with perfect precision he shot the mare between her eyes. Eleanor couldn't even scream, couldn't bare to look at the blood that splattered on the porch wood, nor the frozen stare on Benjamin's face as the mare fell to the ground, dead.

Matthews stood unfazed, watching Eleanor pitifully. His gun stayed clasped tightly in his hand, "Now you have a choice, young lady," he grumbled, "Either you can get the fuck off my property and I won't call the sheriff, or you can be next, and your body will be weighed down in the lake,"

Eleanor had to compose herself. On shaky legs, she pushed herself back to her feet, stumbling a few times as she walked off the porch. She looked back only at the poor horse, her heart breaking all over again at the sight of the lifeless mare. Taking a deep breath, she turned her back on the scene and started walking, each step feeling heavier than the last.

The air was eerily silent now, the brutal act hanging in the air like a suffocating fog. Matthews stood behind her, unfazed, his gun still in hand. Eleanor walked fast, fearing he may have second thoughts about using that gun on her. And fuck -- her eye hurt really bad.

She didn't know what she would say to Jesse, could just imagine how pissed off he would be when he'd learn she'd been fired. Maybe he wouldn't have any use for her, maybe he'd kick her out to fend for herself. As much of a bitch she knew he was, Eleanor knew that she still needed Jesse as much as he needed her.

While Eleanor grappled with her own struggles, Billy was trying to start anew. He had no family, no friends to rely on—just a horse he’d stolen, some meager provisions, and the hope that strangers might show him some kindness. But those strangers often proved to be more detrimental than helpful.

Billy fell in with a career felon and con man. Sure, the man helped him get an honest job as a rancher, but trusting him only led to more trouble. Billy lost his job when the felon fatally shot the rancher. Then, accused of stealing horses by a blacksmith (which, to be fair, he did, but no one else needed to know), Billy found himself in deeper trouble. In the chaos, he fatally shot the blacksmith.

Billy had never killed anyone before, never thought he’d have the guts. The closest he came was with his own stepfather, but that was different—he only wanted to scare him. The gun just… went off. Now, as he sat by a dwindling fire, the weight of his actions pressed down on him. He was in too deep, too far gone to find an easy way out. The life he’d hoped to build seemed more distant with each passing day, leaving him to wonder if he’d ever escape the shadows of his past.

He knew what his mother would say. As much as he wanted to forget it all and move on, he was still a good person. And as a good person, he knew he had to do the right thing.

He showed up in the aforementioned town, ready to face the court and plead his case for self-defense. But just like in Silver City, he quickly learned that the court system here wasn't interested in his side of the story, in how he tried to save himself. The wanted posters with his face plastered all over them certainly didn’t help his case.

But if there was one good thing Billy had going for him, it was his charm, and his brain. And sure enough he was able to escape jail again, disappearing just like before.

He was without a horse, having him and his belongings stolen by the Apache. So Billy was left to wander the frontier, a ghost, a nobody that one would blink and miss in the distance. He missed his old life, his mom, his brother, the friends he'd made and had to leave behind. He wondered if those friends thought about him, if Jesse or Eleanor cared to think about him.

Eleanor, so headstrong, sharp-tongued, beautiful in every way, shape, and form. She was a constant presence in his mind as he wandered the vast terrain. The heat and dehydration often played tricks on him—he’d see her in the weeds, in the wind, thought he caught her oaky hair fluttering in the breeze, could hear the lilt of her accent echoing in his ears. He missed her, missed her more than he could comprehend. He swore if he found his way out of this desert, he'd go out and find her, swore to himself he'd take good care of her. Better than any care Jesse could offer.

Billy’s exhaustion finally overtook him, and he collapsed onto the dry, cracked earth. The world blurred around him as his consciousness flickered. He drifted in and out, each time catching glimpses of rough hands lifting him, concerned eyes peering down over bandanas. He felt the cool touch of water on his parched lips, the gentle jostle of being hoisted onto a horse. Between bouts of darkness, he heard snippets of a soothing voice, the soft drawl of reassurance, promising that he was safe. As he slipped back into unconsciousness, Billy clung to the faint hope that rescue had come at last.

He dreamed a lot—or at least he thought so. He couldn't distinguish between dreams and memories: his mother's suffering, Carlos' murder, arrest after arrest, all swirling together. Amidst the chaos, there was a distant voice calling for him, so kind, so familiar, drawing him up under an ocean of limbo.

"Billy? Billy, can you hear me?" he could feel a blanket on him, a pillow under his head, his lungs begging for water.

"What?" and when he cracked his eyes open he was blinded by sunlight, only relieved by Eleanor's concerned face.

He thought he was still dreaming, but as he looked around, his vision hazy and his head pounding, he saw he wasn't in the desert anymore. He was in a bed, a water pitcher on the table next to him, and Eleanor standing over him.

"Oh, thank God," he heard her sigh, "You had me worried something terrible for a spell," her voice was a tone just above a whisper, her choppy bangs hanging over her eyes, Billy could swear one was a darker color than the other. Or maybe his eyes were still just playing tricks on him.

"E-Eleanor," he coughed and sputtered, his chest burning with every jolt. Eleanor moved fast to pour him some water, cradling his head so he could sit up.

"It's alright, drink," he brought the glass to his lips and he drank gratefully. The cool water filled his mouth, overwhelmed his throat, it was a sweet and crisp relief.

He breathed heavily as he settled back in bed, his lips felt dry and crackled, he felt dusty and dirty all over, but he had so many questions.

"Where am I?" he gasped, "How did I get here? Why are you here?"

"You're in New Mexico, the boys found you out in the desert. I'm gonna' get you better, though," she took a cloth and dabbed the sweat from his forehead, hoping her face didn't give way to how scared she was for him. He looked so weak, like he'd blow away in grains of sand at the slightest gust of wind.

Billy had so many questions, but despite them all his eyes felt heavy, his body felt limp. He could barely string out enough words.

"Eleanor... I'm tired," he mumbled.

A small smile graced her lips, "Then sleep," she told him, "Just holler for anything,"

She watched his eyes fall closed, readjusting under the blanket and falling back asleep. Relief flooded over her, there was a period where she feared he was too far gone to be alive. God only knew how long he'd been out in the elements, anything could have happened to him out there.

Billy had slept more in the last two days than he had in months, and when he wasn't sleeping Eleanor took care of him. He was grateful to her, a part of him still thought he might have been dreaming but she was really here, giving him water, making him food, keeping him company when he was conscious enough to make some conversation. He still had so many questions, one in particular was how Eleanor wound up with a black eye.

It was the first day Billy felt strong enough to get out of bed and walk around. He sat on the back porch, a blanket over his shoulders and a warm mug of tea in his hands, looking out to the vast farmland before him. Eleanor came out to join him, her hair pulled up in a ponytail and flour stains on her trousers. Her wound was fading too, but she still didn't feel comfortable enough going out in public like this lest someone ask her questions.

"So, this is Lincoln County," Billy said, watching her from the corner of his eye. She was leaning against the post, arms folded over her chest and looking out.

"Yep, home sweet home," she replied.

"And this is where you've been living outside the hotel?" he asked.

"Pretty much," she turned to face him, "It don't belong to anybody, we just found it abandoned. Figured -- why not?"

"... And 'we' would be... Jesse?" he asked.

"And the Seven Rivers Gang," Eleanor confirmed, throwing her hands to her sides, "Welcome to our secret lair,"

Billy nodded, "Thank you," he simpered, "I don't remember much. The trail, the coyotes, then my horse got stolen,"

Eleanor pulled up a chair beside him, "When the boys found you, you were laid out and left to die. Scavengers would'a been on you by night, prolly'. Jesse brung ya' here, and I swear I thought you were dead for sure," she explained, "You been busy, though,"

"How do you mean?" he asked.

"There are wanted posters for ya all over the state," she replied, "They don't do you justice, in my opinion,"

"Oh, why thank you," he said.

"There's something different about you, though," she noted, cocking her head at him, "You look... stressed. And not just from the sun. Something happened while you were gone, didn't it?"

Billy inhaled deeply, a pit of dismay forming in his gut. He wasn’t sure how Eleanor would react, if she’d ever look at him the same way after he told her about the blacksmith. But she was all he had right now. Surely, if she knew the whole story, she would understand.

"I killed a man, Eleanor," he admitted, taking his gaze away from her, "I didn't mean to, it just kinda... happened,"

Eleanor was waiting for a punch line, thinking that maybe he was just pulling her leg. But no, his worn expression, the lowering pitch in his tone, he had been through a lot in the months he'd been gone. Despite his guilt and sorrow, Eleanor knew Billy. She knew he wasn't a murderer.

"Did he have it coming?" she asked.

Billy shrugged listlessly, "He wouldn't leave me alone. Attacked me in front of everybody. He got my gun, we wrestled for it, but... I didn't want him to die,"

Eleanor nodded slowly. She reached out, gently touching him on his shoulder, "That sounds like self-defence to me. Was it?"

"Of course it was,"

"Then don't beat yourself up over it. Good people do bad things Billy, but that don't mean they're bad," she told him, "We all gotta' do what we gotta' do,"

Billy nodded, and while he was still remorseful, he was grateful that Eleanor didn't judge him. He was grateful for her all around.

"Suppose you're right," he mumbled, he then raised his finger up to his eye, "What happened here?"

She simpered sheepishly, pulling some of her hair over the left side of her face, trying to hide the yellowy-purple bruise, "Oh. Well, long story short is I no longer work for Matthews," she replied.

Billy's concern grew, "Did Jesse do that?" he asked.

"No. Matthews. He found out I was selling out his cattle, aaaaand... he didn't like that. Just to drive the point home, he killed a horse in front of me. A barren mare. I swore for a moment he was gonna' do me in the same," she explained, keeping her eyes averted to the wooden planks beneath them.

"Jesus," Billy sat up in his chair, taking a better look at her face. The bruise was a couple weeks healed up, the indent of Matthews' ring was still present on her cheek bone. He couldn't help but reach over and stroke the bruise, her skin so soft and smooth under his calloused thumb, "How'd Jesse take it?"

"He was angry that Matthews hit me more than anything," she replied, "We agreed I should stay here for a while until we pick up again, better to keep out of town,"

Billy's heart broke for her. Eleanor had always been the fiercest, most resilient person he knew. She worked too damn hard to be thanked with a black eye, to end up in an old, decrepit house in the middle of nowhere. Anger surged through him, mixing with his sadness, as he thought of Billy Matthews laying a hand on her. She deserved so much more—more than this desolate existence, more than the pain and struggle she faced every day.

He shook his head, "Swear to God, if I ever see that man --"

"You're not gonna' do shit," she told him, "Not until you're healed at least," her lips pulled up in a smirk, that same mischievous, sharp smirk Eleanor had that accentuated her personality. It was a small gesture, but it made Billy feel a little better.

Billy too began to smile, "I missed you, ya know?"

Eleanor relaxed in her seat, her smile growing, "I missed you, too. I'm... I'm really glad to see you,"

Billy knew it would be a while before he was back to a hundred percent. His lips were still cracked, and his throat felt raw. He realized he'd be spending quite some time here, recovering. The only question at the forefront of his mind was how long he'd have Eleanor all to himself during this stretch of time.

"How long as the boys gone for?" he asked.

"About a week," she replied, "You're stuck with me until then,"

Eleanor and Billy fell into an easy rhythm over the next few days, their interactions flowing with a natural comfort that belied the short time they'd known each other. Despite Eleanor's insistence that he should take it easy, Billy, still on the mend from his bout of heatstroke, was eager to lend a hand around the farm.

One morning, Eleanor found Billy in the kitchen, fumbling with a frying pan and a carton of eggs. His brow was furrowed in concentration, and she couldn't help but laugh at his earnestness. His limited culinary skills were evident, but there was something undeniably charming about his determination. As they cooked breakfast together, their laughter filled the room, mingling with the aroma of fresh coffee and sizzling bacon.

After breakfast, they wandered through the fields, the farm bathed in the golden light of late spring. Eleanor led Billy to her favorite hidden corners, where wildflowers painted the landscape and the old oak tree offered a sanctuary from the heat. As they walked, their conversation flowed effortlessly, their stories weaving a tapestry of shared experiences. Billy's voice softened as he spoke about less sinister things he'd been up to, exploring towns, the people he'd met along the way. Eleanor listened, captivated not just by his words but by the way his eyes sparkled with passion.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the sky in hues of pink and orange, they sat on a hill overlooking the farm. The air was thick with the scent of earth and blooming flowers. Billy glanced at Eleanor, his eyes lingering a moment longer than usual. She felt a flutter in her chest, a warmth spreading through her as his gaze traveled over her face, settling on her lips for a heartbeat before looking away.

That evening, they found themselves by the fire, the flames casting a soft glow on their faces. Eleanor couldn't shake the feeling that something between them had shifted. The space between them felt charged, the air thick with unspoken words and budding attraction. She was drawn to Billy in a way she hadn't expected, her feelings teetering on the edge of friendship and something undeniably more.

With each passing day, Eleanor and Billy grew closer, their bond deepening in ways that felt both thrilling and terrifying. As they sat under the starlit sky, the world around them fading into the background, Billy couldn't help but wonder if this was the beginning of something new, something beautiful. Eleanor's hand brushed against him, and the spark that ignited was impossible to ignore. He looked at her, and in that moment, he knew—this was more than friendship. This was the start of something that could change everything for them.

Billy and Eleanor were sitting by the fire as night fell over them. Billy's eyes wandered around the cozy farmhouse, finally landing on an old guitar propped up in the corner of the living room, dusty, worn down, but it still looked to be in good condition.

"Whose guitar is that?" Billy asked, nodding towards it.

Eleanor followed his gaze, a soft smile curling her lips, "It belongs to John, one of Jesse's guys. He plays it sometimes, but mostly it just sits there collecting dust,"

Billy's eyes sparkled with interest, "Do you play?"

"Sometimes," she admitted, a hint of nostalgia in her voice, "I don't know many songs,"

Billy leaned forward, his gaze intense but gentle, "Will you play something for me?"

Eleanor hesitated, her fingers instinctively twitching. She hadn't played for anyone in a long time, but there was something in Billy's eyes that made her want to share that part of herself with him.

"Okay," she said softly, standing up and fetching the guitar. She settled back down next to Billy, her fingers caressed the worn strings, a reverent touch as she tuned it.

"What do you want to hear?" she asked, glancing up at him.

"Anything," Billy said, "Anything you feel like,"

Eleanor took a deep breath, the cool evening air filling her lungs. She began to strum, her fingers moving with a familiarity that brought the guitar to life. The melody was simple, an old song her mother used to sing for her about a woman who was wrongly accused of murder. Not the most appropriate song for a child, but it resonated with Eleanor. As she played, she started to sing, her voice soft and haunting in the twilight.

Billy watched her, mesmerized. The world around them seemed to fade away, leaving only the music and the gentle cadence of Eleanor's voice. He couldn't help but feel a deep sense of connection, the story she was telling so beautiful, so tragic.

When the last note faded, Eleanor looked up, her eyes meeting Billy's. There was a silence that spoke volumes, a shared understanding that words could never capture.

"Thank you," Billy said quietly, his voice full of emotion. "That was beautiful,"

Eleanor smiled, her cheeks flushing slightly, "I'm glad you liked it,"

#billy the kid #billy the kid x reader #billy the kid smut #billy the kid imagine #billy the kid x you #billy the kid 2022 #billy the kid x female!reader #william h bonney #william h bonney x reader #william h bonney smut #william h bonney x you #william bonney #william bonney x reader #william bonney smut #tom blyth #tom blyth x reader #original story #original female character #imagine blog

[seiya234]

*hits fantasy blunt* what if Henry grew up with Mabel and Dipper, that would be weird, right, anyway thank you to @soulsinshadow who inspired this and @marypsue who i'm pretty sure i texted about this once or thrice.

---------

The year after the Transcendence, Wendy’s dad got a call. Tyler had picked up the phone, gone pale, then turned to Wendy and said “Go get your Dad- now.”

Dad had never gotten in the habit of carrying a cell- the service in the forest was too spotty, even after all these years- so this meant Wendy had to get in the golf cart and start looking for him.

Tyler was still on the phone when they got back an hour later. He handed the phone to Dad without even a peck on the cheek.

Her father listened. Two minutes in he said, “Yes, of course, bring him here.” He looked at Tyler, who nodded. “Talk to my husband. He can handle the logistics.” Dad practically threw the phone at Tyler, then rushed outside. Wendy went to go follow, but Tyler gently grabbed her arm. “Honey, not right now.”

Outside, her father screamed out load, a roar that shook the windows of the house. Wendy turned to look outside the kitchen window just in time to watch her father uproot a twelve foot pine tree, throw it to  the side, before collapsing to the ground, deflated.

From behind her, finally off the phone, Tyler said. “I’ll take care of him Wendy.”

(left unspoken was ‘That isn’t your job anymore.’ Wendy appreciated it more than she ever could say.)

“Why don’t you get the spare room ready, if you please?”

“For how long?”

Tyler looked outside, at his heartbroken husband. “For good, I think.”

Two days later, Wendy’s cousin Henry came from the hospital to live with them.

It was a weird time, a limbo time.

There were two Stans now. Soos decided to leave town for a bit, to see the world and move in with Melody (though Wendy had a feeling they’d both be back). She figured out that while boys were fun to play with, really though, she liked girls. Tambry and Robbie were still going strong which she was pleasantly surprised about. She still worked at the Shack but the wind had gone out of Stan’s sails which meant the wind had gone out of the Shack’s sails and it all felt sad and diminished.

Above all, there was a Mabel and Dipper shaped hole in town. They should be in Gravity Falls- hell, even as someone as insensitive to all this weird magic shit as Wendy could feel the ache of the town, the loss sucking like a black hole.

But they would be back. She knew it.

And then there was Henry.

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

No one told her how Henry had ended up in the hospital, and Dad had actually pulled her aside to tell her not to ask. As someone who had been the deputy adult in the house for many years, Wendy was a little miffed at first to not know, but that died the day she met her cousin for the first time, all long limbs far too skinny, and hollow eyes and little round burns still healing.

(Years later, Wendy finally found out what Rita and Arnold had done, to send Henry to the hospital and them to jail.

She gave Dipper a snickers bar each, to make it look natural.)

----------

Henry was a Corduroy all right: red hair, freakishly tall, looked good in plaid.

He read. A lot. He was at the library every other day practically. It was summer vacation, but Wendy had a feeling Henry would do okay in school. He probably wouldn’t have a lot of friends, but neither would he get teased. He was surprisingly good at the house chores, slipping into dish and living room rotation seamlessly. Thankfully he wasn’t a weird fundie like Aunt Rita and Uncle Arnold- Kevin asked the first week if they needed to say grace, for Henry.

Very quietly, but very firmly, Henry said, “No.”

It was the first thing that he had said since he moved int. He proceeded to not say another word for the next eight days.

It was okay. Wendy could be patient, when she wanted to. As a child she would wait for hours, hands outstretched, until birds would finally land on her fingers and eat the seed cupped in her palms.

This was just basically a larger bird.

--------

He read. He helped Dad with the trees, even though it left him pale and shaking with exhaustion when he got back to the house. He took long walks in the woods by himself- sometimes as the mood took him because he would occasionally forget to put on his shoes before leaving. He began to speak, though still only a sentence or two- simple, polite, phrases, nothing more.

But she waited, and she waited, and final, one day as they were cleaning up after dinner, Wendy casually said, “You don’t have to go out with Dad, you know?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Out in the woods. I mean, Dad won’t say no to the help and you get a cut of the score but-“

“Wendy, I apologize for interrupting, but did you say that I get… a portion of your dad’s pay?”

She couldn’t help but start a bit. “Uh yeah? You’re out there helping, of course dad will throw you a bone. He doesn’t get paid until next week but I’m pretty sure you’ve earned at least a hundo-“

“Hundo?”

“… hundred or two hundred dollars.”

“Oh.” It was odd, for someone as big and tall as Henry, to have a voice so soft and quiet. “But… I don’t have to?”

“Nah.” Wendy was going to go on a bit more, but then she looked at Henry, looked at how pale he was.

Realized that he wasn’t shaking and sweating when he got home from lumberjacking because he was tired.

“No one is going to force you to do something you don’t want to do here, Henry,” she finally managed to say.

“The Bible says to honor thy mother and father.” Henry paused. “The brother of thy father I guess but the point still stands.”

“But do you still believe that? Like, really?”

He was deadly quiet. But finally he said, “No.”

Without warning, Henry got up and went outside- again without shoes.

But he began to talk more after that.

#transcendence au #seiya writes! #gravity falls #wendy corduroy

[puppydoggraham]

Mads saying “Hello Will” in 2024 saved me

#hannibal #c2e2 #Mads Mikkelsen #and when he said that he gets will out of jail #HEHEKWKWJSJDJD

[phosphophylight-of-my-life]

oshi no ko aqua is such a fun character bc by most counts he's a more than decent guy.

in his first life he regularly visited hospital inpatients who had no visitors. he was genuinely happy and excited to help Ai deliver her babies, because he wants her to be happy on her own terms. he saves Akane simply because he can, and gets angry at the staff on her behalf. he doesn't stop at saving her life and spends sleepless nights turning around her public image. at that point there was nothing in it for him to keep akane around, she was just a person he was able to help and wanted to help.

by most counts he's a pretty decent guy who steps up when people need him most, except. except he's also a guy who really wants to kill his dad and that makes him manipulate people somewhat often and this is somehow not entirely at odds with his instinct to help others

#oshi no ko #like he's a doctor i can rly respect yknow #except for the patricide thing #gorou said do no harm unless it's my dad #also the way that gorou regularly visit patients is something SARINA has to tell the audience and not gorou #bc to gorou is nothing worth mentioning #for quite a while i was like man gorou is kind of sleazy for only visiting sarina esp when she's so young and vulnerable #but he visits the others also... sarina was just the most special patient to him because she introduced him to ai and also #because she was a kid whose parents never showed up #also SPOILERS FOR LIKE CH90+ OR SMTHING BELOW #the way aqua doesnt let akane dirty her hands like ok aqua we get it you want the best for everyone who isnt your dad #wipes tear someone get him therapy hes a decent guy who's ruining his life #also the way he is conscious of how he's playing w akane's feelings and tries very hard to be honest with her and to do her right #like sigh okay aqua i GUESS i cant hate you #and that one ghosting kana arc where i wanted to beat him up and then he was like i dont want to drag kana into this & he looked terrified #like SIGH. OKAY. FINE AQUA i cant hate you after all #like apart from the patricide (which is big know) the biggest downside to his personality is how cold he is #he pushes ppl away all the time and is just borderline rude #but like idk i feel like thats a byproduct of his 'i plan to go to jail for patricide and dont want to drag others down' mindset #which is like... well. you can't hate him for that.. he's looking out for others in his own way

[enhanced-operatives-division]

Junicrane/Starstruck Ramble

I will not be brief, all under the cut

To clear some things right off the bat:

No corpse, no proof with Juniper. Obligatory this is set in a canon where he's alive and adjacent to the agency in some way.

Reggie & Juniper are just gay to me, but I don't mind any interpretation of their sexuality

The games are set in 1967/68 to me (based on a couple bits in game) which is before it was legal to be gay in America at least (1971), which is relevant to how I interpret canon as being somewhat grounded in reality, despite unrealistic elements.

This is just an insane amount of headcanons/elements of and AU all culminated into one post. I will talk about some headcanons like they're just facts because they are established in my head, and it saves me over explaining literally everything, however I will explain some parts a little bit for clarity.

Alright. Actual beginning of the ramble:

Juniper is a character to me who had gotten so lost in his job as an actor and a social presence that in the end his whole life revolved around that 'role'. Because of this, by the time he's put into the situation where he's around the Agency, he basically knows nothing about himself, though he doesn't realise at first. Furthermore, what little identity he had has changed in so many ways. He's no longer a beloved famous actor in the prominence of public light, he's legally dead and he tarnished his career just before he was supposed to die, with the bonus of that making him lose the majority of his estate. From that, he also has horrific facial scarring from the electrical burns from literally having his face fried. I believe a friend of mine made a post about this a while ago (I also think they were the first to think it up also), but, to me, Juniper has a permanent trimmer in his right arm (aka his dominant hand) from the electrical current and it is messing with his nervous system.

All in all, he's not doing great, but he's too proud to admit that he's not doing great, because if anything, what's left of his ego is all he has as a defense since he's deep in unfamiliar water.

Before ending up around the agency (I have multiple interpretations of this, so I'm just going to bring it up generally), he'd never actually seen Reggie, and his only impression of him is a single voicemail, which was his only reference he had to later impersonate him. Juniper probably has very little feelings other than the ones he projects onto him because of Phoenix and that, at the very least, he's physically attracted to Reggie to some degree (that's like the beginning of how everything else would tumble into place in this sort of interpretation at least).

And on Crane's side? His feelings towards Juniper are probably very intense and muddled. On the one hand, he adores musical theatre, and that's his now ex-favourite actor. The thought of just casually being around him blows the bit of fanboy in him away at first because THAT'S the GUY, plus the inklings of a celebrity crush which still poke at him. And then there's the rational side of him, which knows Juniper has committed absolute atrocities on the side of Zoraxis, and hates him for that. Then there's how much Juniper comes off as an asshole at first because he refuses to cooperate with anything the Agency tried to put in place. He finds Juniper endlessly frustrating, and yet he's stuck working with him since, afterall, he's the one who knows the Agency's history with Juniper the best. I imagine him acting a lot like how he does IEYTD 1 around Juniper.

At this point, I'm just describing the pitch for a romcom.

I think the start of their relationship with one another largely started with Juniper trying to wind Crane up. It was a way of getting his attention, and I don't think Juniper knows why he's so dead set on that at first, because I don't think he realises he has a crush on 'this grump' at first. (I think that's actually the fun part about these two, because it's almost like a role reversal of the celebrity crush dynamic. This ex-big name actor has a TERRIBLE crush on an average joe and it is KILLING HIM.) But of course the Agency keeps them together because Juniper is at least conversing with Crane, so it's a start.

Through one way or another, they actually get talking casually, at least mildly at first. It takes Juniper a long time to fully deconstruct the wall he's built, and the thing is, Crane isn't the one trying to deconstruct it, at least at first, because yeah, Juniper realises if he wants Reggie to actually like him in any way, he can't keep winding him up. So they talk. Small talk at first, something rhythmic and almost easy to keep to a script. And over time that turns into actual conversations. Genuine ones in which Reggie rips out the occasional one of his jokes which Juniper is endlessly endeared about. The way he smiles just before he makes them, like he wants to chuckle at what he's about to say before he says it. That's probably when Juniper realised that he does have some vague crush on him, and that it wasn't going away.

This is what kickstarts John I can't-buy-you-things-to-impress-you-so-acts-of-service-it-is Juniper to do little things for him. It mostly starts off as him trying to make Reggie his tea how he likes it. However, the nerve damage in his arm makes that hard, as the weight of the kettle and trying to pour is hard all of a sudden. And he refuses to accept that, so he tries for a very long while. Long enough that Crane would go to investigate what was going on. And when he does see Juniper leaning over a cup with the kettle as he uneasily tries to pour it, and when Crane asks Juniper responds so matter-of-fact that his intention is nothing but genuine. And it catches Reggie off guard because Juniper hadn't done anything like that up to that point, and his very apparent vulnerability is so clearly on show.

It shifts something between them.

From that point on, conversations are longer, more familiar. Both of their attitudes soften, and Reggie makes more jokes. Juniper learns how to better use his left hand while strengthening his right back to a point where it could be used again. Slowly, they're both spending time with one another not because they have to, but just because they can. Little bits at first, not too far outside what they already were doing, but those little bits turned into long bits to a point where the other person's company was genuinely desirable.

As time passes, Juniper probably realises that he doesn't genuinely know much about himself or what hobbies he's into, because he never really had the time when he got big, and his home life in his youth wasn't bad, but it wasn't picturesque. I think Reggie would pick up on it, and absolutely try to introduce him to some things he's into. Some things stick, other things don't (corn husking very much stays Reggie's passion, and John will go with him sometimes because it's him, but it's not something he strongly cares for). Crane introduces him to a lot of music, and it's something that becomes a staple between them, with tracks they listen to more than others (tragically, I know relatively little about 60s music so I couldn't really say what). Occasionally they dance, never anything intense, think slow dancing, but the closeness is nice.

Through all of it, Juniper is battling the worst crush of his life, and he can't stand it, because I think he struggles to read people since he doesn't have anything like a script or a director to refer back to, so he has no idea if Reggie likes him back or if he's just desperate for that to be true. I think because of that any sort of confession between them would be incredibly raw, not only because of the time they live in making it hard for them to be truthful about how they love, but because it's a complete show of Juniper who's worked to be this better person. I don't exactly know how that would go, mainly because I don't have one set version of their dynamic, this post is just a generalisation of main consistent points.

Reggie does like him back, because he's gotten used to Juniper being just this guy, not a figure in the public eye, not a Zoraxis lackey, and not any sort of Agency operative (despite being under their care to some degree). He's someone he genuinely cares for, because they've given one another the time of day to learn one another, and I think because Reggie was a field agent, he was a lot better at reading Juniper than Juniper was at reading him. Eventually Juniper's company becomes something he could see around him for the rest of his life, and I think he accepts that he likes Juniper a lot more gracefully.

I think any affection directed at Juniper would at first be met with him feeling a little muddled. Reggie was a very physically affectionate person when he could be, and sure the initial flirting with one another came with the occasional little touches, but everything now was so deeply intentional. I also don't think Juniper would almost ever get over the novelty of being able to kiss him, or many other gestures, because it made the fact that they were together so very real, and it was great. I do think it comes easier to Reggie, and it's a big way of showing how much he cares, so it's important for Juniper to try and show it back because he knows how much it means to the other.

I like the idea of them eventually living with one another, too. I think Juniper would have always had a quiet little daydream of sorts where he does just live a domestic quiet life, and he can with Reggie (well, as close as they can get between the Agency and Zoraxis always being at odds), and he loves that, and he loves him, and it's immense.

I think they cook for one another a lot, it helps Juniper work on his dexterity in a controlled environment, which means a lot because it's a huge point of insecurity (that and his scars). He does improve, and Crane is proud of that and shows it and it's great. I also think they'd probably cook together too, because they can deal with being in the kitchen together and they work well with one another. It's probably a good way for them to unwind because over time they can do it in relative silence.

As I said before, I also think music is a staple in their household, and that Reggie listens to things on vinyl almost all of the time because he likes the background noise. Sometimes Juniper will catch him chuntering along to the music which he finds endlessly endearing. I wouldn't put it past his dramatic ass to also join in to fluster Reggie, but I also don't think Reggie would mind that terribly because Juniper has listened to the music enough to know the lyrics, and that's huge to him.

I don't think they are without rough patches, no relationship is, but I think the good part about them is that they're willing to talk about it (... eventually). They're used to long conversations, and while they're often less fun conversations, they're needed and they know that, and it works out.

Alright. I think I'm done for now. I haven't mentioned everything, but this definitely got the worst of it out of my system. If you ever want to hear any specific thoughts my ask box is open but other than that, behold my general dynamic for these two which has been festering in my head for years. I think they're great

#ty right-agent for explicitly telling me that this would be welcomed you a real one #i had a massive babble to my friend abt what if they all feed me to the hounds for speaking #and he said “girl that fandom is like 12 people big they need you to speak” and yeah that also helped #i have a hard time talking if I'm not asked/prompted to that's why i adding tags is great for me. that and i like the format #anyways. #THESE TWO.............dear lord can you tell I have been unwell abt them forever.. #this is propeganda (/j) for them. btw. please you have to understand the potential here. it's so good. #it's slowburn <- my (probably) demiromantic ass cannot handle romance without a build up and this set up is perfect (it will never happen) #also i find it easier to write ANYTHING between these two from Juniper's perspective because i find it easier to get into his head #idk reggie is like the gay version of the: what is he thinking of? i could take a bear in a fight. audio ive heard. #whereas with juniper i have him trapped under a microscope #im going to tag this now so i can use the remaining tags to RANT #ieytd #john juniper #reginald crane #junicrane #starstruck #i expect you to die #<- being BRAVE!!! #when I get really excited i start getting like this internal shaking feeling and uh. yeah this rant started that #the worst part abt that is it also triggers my tourettes so like. double whammy. excited about blorbos? jail :( #but. yeah I uh. yeah. sorry this IS so long..I did warn but . AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHHHHAUUUUUUAHHHHHHHHHHHHH #also i did this rant in 2 parts. last night and this morning so yeah uh. yeah. #god im so messed up about these two #make me a boat by the family crest came on while wroting this and while it's mainly a roxanix song to me......AUUUUUG..... #i struggle to find music for these sillies because they have such a specific vibe to me amd I've not quite managed to find something which - #- genuinely feels correct for them and it drives me up the WALL #GOD NIGHT SHIFT JUST CAME OF SHUFFL.....all my ieytd songs are coming out to drive me up the wall....... #FINISHED I've been adding tags as I've gone alonga #thank you for reading hope you enoyed and if you didn't im sorry

[artemispanthar]

I thought my opinion on the episode where Monk meets his dad might have softened after all these years, but nope it is still absolutely infuriating. Like this guy ditches his family basically because he was tired of them (and the show makes it clear this abandonment had a profound effect on Adrian [who was 8 at the time] and his mother and brother) and then calls up his son for the first time like 40 years later solely to get out of jail, proceeds to act like a dismissive jerk the whole episode talking about his other son from his second family the whole time, gets angry and blames Adrian and his brother's mental disorders for why he ditched them when they were kids, and then just barely apologizes for anything and we're supposed to be okay with all that because he teaches Adrian to ride a bike at the end. Like it is just as frustrating as I remembered it. Like I cannot believe Greg Universe co-wrote this.

#artie thoughts #monk #monk tv #monk series #literally what is the best tag for this show? #the 'monk' tag is mostly just dnd monks lol #Adrian is a better man than me becauae I would have killed Jack immediately when it was clear he just wanted to get out of jail #it is wild to me that my favorite tv dad co-wrote my most loathed tv dad like what are the odds #that said I do get the impression there were mixed feelings on how sympathetically they wanted to portray his dad #most episodes are not sympathetic at all but this one was just ugh #i get that episodes like this are often fix-it fics for the writer's own messed up parents and i understand that #but it is still maddening to watch lol #i'm glad they never really brought his dad back after that

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

You know, when I think about Arcane I can't help but think about the fact that I'm not a huge fan of how Vander handled things.

I mean his heart was definitely in the right place, he wanted to protect his children and his people, but to be honest there were moments where I felt like he was very confidently doing the wrong thing.

Specially in a child rearing sense. Now I just want to put it out there, that we the audience are shown a biased depiction of Vander.

Just about every scene he's in he's surrounded by his people who (mostly) look to him for protection, his children who adore him, or his enemies who are literal drug lord gang leader bad guys and corrupt policemen. Who are not humanized by the story until after his death.

For one there's Vi's pretty obvious eldest daughter syndrome, which Vander does nothing to try and curb. In fact I feel like in most of their scenes together Vander is treating this unhealthy dynamic as Vi being her sibling's leader and that she therefor needs to take more responsibility for them.

Even though I feel like Vander teaching Vi that way of thinking caused a lot of problems for all of the kids.

Sure it's great when your kids can work together, but there shouldn't be a pecking order among them, and if there is you shouldn't encourage it.

Vander fully expects Vi to take responsibility for Powder(which makes some level of sense considering she's 4-ish years younger than Vi), but also Mylo and Claggor, who are both the same age as her.

Meaning that if Vander trusts Vi to look after herself (and Powder) I feel like he should be able to trust Mylo and Claggor to look after themselves.

Vi should not be saddled with the responsibility of being in charge of her siblings, who are literally the same age as her.

If Vander is going to be reprimanding Vi for getting into trouble, he should be getting on to Mylo and Claggor just as much.

Sure Mylo and Claggor mention that Vander is going to be upset, but it's very obvious that the majority of the responsibility rests on Vi's shoulders.

Which, sure they look up to Vi and listen to what she has to say and what she thinks they should be doing.

But if it's to the point where Vander thinks it's gotten to the point that they will literally blindly follow Vi into dangerous situations because she said so. Then I feel like it's time for Vander to have a sit down with the rest of his kids and have the very important "Thinking for yourself" talk.

It's- You can't raise your children to just blindly follow their oldest sibling their entire life, and raise the oldest child to be the caretaker of the rest of their siblings their entire life.

Yeah, Vi needs to think things through a bit more, because the other kids look up to her a lot, and will go along with whatever her plans are, because they think she knows what she's doing and they trust her.

But also the other kids need to know how to assess things for themselves, rather than just blindly follow whatever it is Vi says, no matter how much they look up to her.

Like this man fully thinks that his 15 year old daughter, who clearly has problems with her temper and being impulsive herself, should also be responsible for her two adoptive brothers who are functionally the same age as her [one with a pretty obvious superiority/inferiority complex], alongside her younger sister who already has problems of some kind of anxiety.

Mylo and Claggor are just fully not held to the same standard as Vi in spite of being the same age, and literally getting into the exact same trouble. Their choice to go along with what Vi planned, is put onto Vi's shoulders when it shouldn't be, because if Vi is old enough to know better in Vander's mind, so are Mylo and Claggor.

If it was just Powder I could somewhat understand. She's younger, more impressionable, she idolizes Vi, she's not as strong or fast as the other three and if Vi forgot that at some point Powder could have gotten left behind or hurt.

You know the general "You need to be a good role model for your younger sibling because they look to you for guidance" stuff.

Like the fact that Vi feels the need to fight Piltover in order to secure a better life for Powder in Act 1 tells me so much just how parentified Vi is when it comes to Powder's care.

Which I do think originated from before Vander adopted the girls, to be fair to Vander. Vi gives off the vibe of looking after Powder having always been her responsibility.

To be unfair to Vander, I don't think he did anything to try and undo Vi's over responsible and over protective mindset when it came to Powder after adopting them.

#arcane #thoughts about Vander's parenting style #I know he probably did spend more time with Claggor Mylo and Powder that we're just not shown #but the show didn't show us that #so in the actual show it kind of feels like Vander is trying to parent his children via the trickle down economics way of things #like if he's just Super Good at parenting Vi and he leaves her in a role of responsibility over the others #that said good parenting will just trickle down the sibling totem pole to his other three children #and I just gotta be like mmmm doesn't work with economics and it sure as hell doesn't work with parenting #he wonders why they all go along with Vi's dumb ideas that go against the rules he's made #while he makes Vi responsible/in charge of them and the other 3 all know this #Like the man really put what seems to be his most rebellious (literally) kid in charge of the rest of his children #and then wonders why they're out breaking laws and getting into street fights #Sometimes I gotta grasp the thought that Vander very suddenly became a dad of 4 after never having had children very tightly when watching #because sometimes he'll say something that sounds really wise but it's actually genuinely unhelpful #like the talk he had with Vi is literally what gave her the idea to hand herself over to enforcers and act as the fall guy #the man gave paternal advice worded so poorly his kid almost gets sent to jail over it

[the-travelling-witch]

getting albedo instead of arle is such a bad idea, since i have so good weapon for him whatsoever, but why is it so tempting

#┊glimpse into the crystal ball ೃ༄ #i know one of them will rerun soon #the other… we’re lucky if we see him again at all /lh #but i missed both events for festering desire and cinnabar spindle #i don’t have the battle pass weapon #and no 5* sword that fits him #guess that leaves… harbinger of dawn #as i said… bad decision but tempting nonetheless #(read: idk what to do) #on the other hand what if i blow my entire funds here #i need to get shenhe or furina or i’ll die #but i have no idea whatsoever when hoyo will release them from their jail #i think hoyo is really damaging a super interesting character they have by #a) only digging bedo out for events #and b) making him not very f2p friendly except if you played the events #if i had a better weapon i might have pulled already #but as things are he is a want not a need yk

[odysseys-blood]

have u ever seen how mad teenage boys get if u say smthn isnt funny the switch up is like instantaneous

#cliffnotes/.txt #unfortunately my brother was trying to show me one of those tiktok drake x kendrick memes #and calmly i was like bro dont show me that #and when he asked why and i started to explain just a bit (nothing long) #the way he started getting all defensive like 'you cant take a joke youre gonna piss me tf off' like what r u upset for #ur 16 u can listen to what i said and understand exactly why i say its wrong #u just wanna plug ur ears instead tho bc u think smthn being a joke is a get out of jail free card on criticism #you'll learn tho. just better hope u learn before it bites you in the ass is all ill say

[grymmdark]

eaaughhhhh siblings are so hard to have sometimes.....

#grymms spectacular fucking posts #my sister is an incredibly frustrating person to live with #she spends all day either at her computer playing games or in her bed #she has back and knee pain that makes it so she cant bend over plus general chronic pain so she doesn't do a whole lotta chores. which i get #but she also complains about our parents not doing enough to take care of the house. like they both have fulltime jobs and have to take care #of 2 disabled kids. it's not fair to expect that they can also regularly do chores ontop of that #and if she spent her time putting in a bit more of her fair share of housework then I'd be a bitmore understanding but she doesn't do that #much. like i have chronic pain and i go to school 5 days a week and i do more chores than her #and she's an incredibly stubborn and emotional person who will flip out at anything and so i feel like im walking in eggshells talking to he #r #one time i was upset and said that if our parents went to jail for me skipping school I'd just dumpstedive for food and she said she didnt #wanna do that and i said she didnt have to. and she took me saying that as saying i wanted her to starve and didnt talk to me for a month #like if i cant even say something small and stupid when im upset and she's the one whose egging me on by saying stuff while im upset then #what can i even say around her aughhhh #anyways i know that shit like this is why i have a therapist but there's genuinely nothing i can do about this because she is the problem #and she's the one who isn't doing anything and aughhhhhh she makes my life so much harder just by being around #and i love her i want her to get better and move out for her own good but it's so hard to love someone who is nothing but a burden who #refuses to be responsible

[godblooded]

i just gotta say peoples' obsessions with writing toxic relationships just concerns the shit outta me on this hellsite.

#ooc. your local bodega kat. #[everyone: i love complex relationships! what everyone means: couples fighting is normal! so if they're horrendous to each other #sometimes it's normal!! #couples fight like... of course. it's unhealthy NOT to fight. but there's a level where it's....uhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHH and some of what's said #or done that people condone on here is wild. if i had a nickel for every time i saw someone say their character was a wonderful spouse and #then display like 10 reasons why they're covertly emotionally or verbally abusive. the rpc has such a tendency to refer to dv in one #specific term when it comes to ic ships and it's always physical but everything else is 'complex' and man that's worrying. see also: why #i was taught in grad school never to teach streetcar with marlon brando because students excuse him immediately due to his looks and his #bullshit angst. it's alarming as fuck. coming from parents who were sometimes physically abusive (to me and each other) like... this also #needs to be recognized in self-critical media. there's so much shit that needs evaluating. and it's not like i've never written a toxic #ship. i wrote the fucking WORST on at one point because i was too chickenshit to get alana out of it. and it ended in her being DESTROYED. #you know. like those kind of relationships tend to end in. like. my ex-father beat the fuck out of a dude in a bar who hit on my mom and #then when he found out the guy died a day later it was military or jail and he went military. and then my mom took him BACK. this is REAL #LIFE SHIT. writing it is virtually incredibly depressing and writing it without making clear it's fucked up is worse. whether you've been #through it or not. in that case: why even. shit hurts enough when you go through it. why would you want to vicariously go through it #being a fake person if there was no way to turn the outcome through healing and positive growth. sorry for being an optimist basically.] #domestic violence mention / #domestic abuse mention / #abuse mention / #murder mention / #[i'm just thinking back on the most toxic fucking verse i ever had and how glad i am said person and i no longer speak.]