#and when the 'bury the hatchet or bury a friend' bit came up this just came to me loool

[heytheredeann]

Waverly, trying to mediate after a fight between Illya and Napoleon which resulted in no less than three explosions: "Listen, Kuryakin, sometimes you just have to decide if you'd rather bury the hatchet or bury your partner."

Illya: "Well, that depends."

Waverly: *sigh* "On what?"

Illya: "Is it very good hatchet?"

Napoleon: *outraged screeching*

#napollya #alexander waverly #tmfu incorrect quotes #incorrect tmfu quotes #the man from uncle #tmfu #not spn #ely has shit to say #i was just listening to bury a friend by billie eilish on the bus #and when the 'bury the hatchet or bury a friend' bit came up this just came to me loool #deep down illya is a giant troll your honor

[supernovafics]

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 (𝟐)

PART ONE | PART TWO

pairing: singledad!steve harrington x divorcedmom!fem!reader

word count: 15.9k words

summary: in which you hate him and he hates you— and that mutual disliking is perhaps the only thing you and him manage to agree on. you make it your mission to avoid and ignore steve at all costs, and nothing more or less than withering stares and annoyed eye rolls are shared among you both whenever you have to see each other, which luckily isn’t that often. but when your son and his daughter end up in the same first-grade class and quickly become friends, it forces things to change between you two. it means that you and him also have to be friends, or, at the very least, tolerate each other’s presence. which is something that is much easier said than done

warnings: modern!au, enemies (to friends) to lovers, steve and reader are in their late 20s/early 30s, bestfriend!eddie, mentions of cheating/an affair (reader’s ex was an absolute asshole), mentions of trust/abandonment issues, some angst, platonic fluff (at first), smut (18+)

author's note: the second and final part! not much to say except enjoy enjoy and happy (almost) new year🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

“Do you like Maddie’s dad?”

Hearing that abrupt question fall from Oliver’s lips confused you so much that all you could do was initially answer with a bewildered, “What?”

You were used to Oliver always asking random questions that felt as if they came out of absolutely nowhere; it was especially one of his favorite things to do during any sort of car ride, and this Saturday morning drive to the soccer field for practice was apparently no different. But, you fully did not expect to hear that question from him. 

“Are you guys, like, boyfriend-girlfriend?” He asked, and that follow-up question further confused you, or maybe it more so startled you.

“No… No, we’re not,” You answered and glanced at him sitting in the backseat through the rearview mirror. He was dressed in his dark green soccer uniform, wearing everything except for the cleats because he liked to put them on right before he ran out onto the field with the other kids. “What made you think that?” 

“I don’t know…” You could practically hear him shrug. “But, I think it would be cool if you guys were. Maddie thinks so too.”

You weren’t entirely sure what to say to that. “Oh, okay… But, I don’t think that will happen, bud. We’re friends. Just like you and Maddie.”

“Okay.”

It suddenly felt like perfect timing that you were pulling into the gravelly parking lot next to the soccer field. You helped Olly put on and tie up his cleats before he ran over to Maddie and the other kids already on the field. You grabbed the two coffees that were sitting in the cupholder and then headed to the silver metal bleachers, immediately spotting Steve among the other parents.

He gave you a quick wave and smile and you only nodded and smiled back at him since your hands were full and you couldn’t match his wave. It still felt the tiniest bit insane to you that what you had said to Oliver in the car wasn’t a complete lie; you and Steve were in fact friends, and had been for the past month. 

Just days after you two had the moment in your kitchen where the “enemies” hatchet was finally buried, he and Maddie came to the coffee shop sometime in the afternoon. For the first time ever, you didn’t feel like you needed to pretend to be nice to him. Instead, you found yourself actually wanting to be nice and you were glad about this surprise playdate. And that was when you knew that you two were friends, or at the very least, quickly getting there.

He and Maddie stayed for hours. With Maddie and Oliver sitting and playing games in a two-person booth, and Steve standing with you at the front counter. You two talked about random things— the kinds of things that you had a feeling you both would’ve learned about each other during your first-ever conversation if you two had actually been nice to one another— and then you let him try a new drink recipe that you had been playing around with because he was interested, and that became a sort of routine.

“Hi. Morning. Here.” You handed him one of the cups in your hand before taking your spot next to him in the middle row of the bleachers. “It’s another new thing I’m thinking about adding to the menu for the rest of Fall and maybe Winter too. Tell me your thoughts.”

He took a sip of the drink and then nodded. “This is good. Not as insanely sweet as the last thing you made me try.”

“Okay, I know you hated that latte that I gave you last week, but it’s actually been a big hit so far,” You told him. The sweet drink quickly became popular among the high schoolers that would frequent the coffee shop, and you were glad that you listened to Jude— one of your employees who was also a part of that younger demographic— and put it on the menu. “Oh, also, I think you and I might be getting parent trapped soon.”

“Should I be scared?” Steve asked, looking at you with a confused expression.

You stopped mid-sip of your drink. “Wait, have you not seen The Parent Trap?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Jesus, wow, you need to watch that movie, it’s a classic,” You told him, the shock you felt was evident in your tone. “Anyway, though, what I mean is that I think Olly and Maddie are gonna try to get us together. He mentioned in the car ride over here that they both think it would be cool if we started dating.” 

“Oh.”

“I already told him that that wouldn’t happen and we’re just friends, so hopefully that idea will blow over soon,” You said to Steve and then took a long sip from your drink. 

“Knowing our kids, I kinda doubt that will happen,” He responded, and you actually couldn’t help but agree with him. The way Maddie and Olly had managed to convince you and Steve about the playdate thing after a week’s worth of pestering proved that they wouldn’t let go of anything easily. Thinking about it now, you kinda admired how persistent they had been during then.

“Well, in that case, it’s good that they don’t look alike so they can’t try to switch places. But, we need to make sure that we stay away from boats and camping trips.”

Another confused expression crossed Steve’s face. “I really think I need to watch that movie.” 

“Yes, you do,” You said with a nod as you met his eyes. “As my friend, you need to promise me that you will watch that 1998 classic.”

He laughed a bit. “I promise.”

You turned your attention back to the soccer field and shook your head. “I never thought I’d say that.”

“What?”

“That we’re friends,” You said, looking at him again. “But, it’s nice, though.”

Steve nodded at that and gave you a small smile. “Yeah, it is.”   

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

Over the past year, you’d come to savor anytime after 9pm. It was the only time of the day, well night, that you were able to have complete peace— no worrying about Oliver because he was asleep, and no worrying about the coffee shop because it was closed. 

On this particular night, long after Olly’s soccer practice and time spent at the coffee shop, you were in your bathroom, washing your face and putting on pajamas; which simply consisted of a random oversized t-shirt and shorts. You decided that you’d curl up in bed and spend the rest of your night watching a shitty reality show because it somehow always felt nice watching other people’s drama. 

Right as you were slipping on your t-shirt, your phone started ringing on the counter, which stopped the music that you had been playing from it, and you looked down to see that it was Steve FaceTiming you. 

This had happened a handful of times over the past month— him calling you, you calling him. It was usually to get quick answers to questions that either of you two had, but sometimes it was also just to talk about random things whenever a simple text didn’t feel like it would suffice. 

“Hi,” You said as you turned off the bathroom light and shut the door before heading to your bed. “Great timing. Oliver went to sleep about fifteen minutes ago.”

You noticed that Steve was also sitting in bed. He pushed a quick hand through his hair as he spoke. “I learned that if I’m gonna call, I should only do it after nine now.”

The last time he FaceTimed you, Oliver had been sitting next to you on the couch. When he heard Steve’s voice, he immediately asked him where Maddie was, and then she heard Olly’s voice from where she was playing in the living room. Barely a second later, your phones were immediately taken by the kids and they talked for an hour. 

“Great thinking,” You told him with a small approving nod. “I hope that whatever you called to talk about is good because I was just about to watch a very riveting reality show about these housewives taking a trip around Europe.”

“Wow, that sounds very fun,” Steve said, and you could hear the sarcasm in his voice.

“Mhm, it will be. I can’t wait until they get to Paris. According to the trailer, some huge argument is gonna happen when they’re at the Arc de Triomphe,” You responded, matching his sarcastic tone.

“Now, I’m really intrigued,” He joked. “Anyway, though, I called to tell you that I just finished watching The Parent Trap.”

You smiled at that. “I’m glad you did your homework early. Did you like it?”

“It was actually pretty good. Maddie watched some of it with me too, but she fell asleep not even halfway through.”

“She’s too young to understand the cultural importance of The Parent Trap just yet. She’ll come around soon.”

“Also, right after practice, she mentioned the dating thing to me. She said that she and Olly think it would be nice if you and me got together.” 

You let out a small sigh. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Steve nodded. “She was very persistent too; asked if I thought you were pretty, and said that I should bring you flowers the next time I see you. Apparently, Oliver told her that your favorite ones are daisies, so I should make sure to get those for you.”

Your eyes widened a bit at his words. If you weren’t so shocked, you were almost certain that you would’ve laughed at how much thought your kids were putting into this whole idea. “Oh, wow, they’re relentless.”

“Are daisies actually your favorite?”

“Yeah,” You answered and then sighed again. You weren’t even entirely sure how Oliver knew that. When you two first moved into your house in Hawkins, you would buy fresh daisies every week in an attempt to make the place feel like a home because you barely had any furniture just yet and there weren’t that many decorations up either. But you couldn’t remember the last time you bought any flowers for the place.

Steve let out an amused sound. “Wow, yeah, Maddie and Olly are good.” 

You dating someone was the farthest thing from your mind, but it surprised you that it was the main thing on Oliver’s. You thought that you’d have a longer time before you’d have to worry about that; before you’d have to think about him really wanting some sort of “dad” or “father figure” in his life. Eddie was the closest thing, but Oliver didn’t see him as often anymore since his California move. 

You thought that the little family that you and Olly had, just the two of you, was enough— more than enough, even. 

“I didn’t think that this would happen this soon,” Steve said, pulling you out of your thoughts. “It’s only been a year since her mom left, so I really didn’t think that she’d want me to start dating, get married, whatever, whatever, anytime soon. And I’m too busy to even think about trying to look for someone.”

You agreed with him completely. And then there was also the fact that you simply didn’t want to date anytime soon. You despised the thought of finally having to start over; even though you knew that eventually one day you would. Maybe. 

As cynical and depressing as it sounded, you couldn’t really imagine it happening for you again— falling in love or just simply falling, deeply liking someone. And a part of you would just rather wholly avoid the possibility at all costs. 

You knew that how things ended with Oliver’s dad was not your fault at all, but that didn’t change the fact that you still felt stupid about everything; for being so blind to the affair and for believing his lies for as long as you did. And the thought of all of that potentially happening again— loving and trusting someone just to have them break your heart and fuck you over in one of the worst ways possible— terrified you. 

You could’ve said all of that to Steve, but you felt like that would’ve been way too long-winded and melancholic, so you decided to just simply nod instead. “I don’t know if we should just get used to them trying to get us together, or talk to them and say that us being anything more than friends is never gonna happen.” 

“If it becomes too much we probably should talk to them,” Steve said, and that made sense to you. “But now I’m glad Maddie fell asleep halfway through the movie because it probably would’ve just given her ideas.”

“Have you seen Freaky Friday?”

“No. Is that another movie that can relate to the situation we’re in right now?” 

“No, it’s just a really good movie. Another Lindsay Lohan classic,” You briefly explained. “You should watch it.”

Steve was quiet for a moment, as if he was really thinking about whatever he was about to say. “How about right now?” 

You laughed a bit before mock gasping at his question. “You trying to get me off the phone, Steven?”

He smiled at your fake offended look. “No, I meant that we could watch it right now. Together over the phone.”

“Oh,” You said, trying to hide your surprise at the suggestion. Watching a movie together was technically a friendly thing to do, but it did feel the tiniest bit intimate; like the two of you were crossing into a slightly altered territory of what your friendship was. That still didn’t make the idea necessarily sound bad to you, though. It sounded fun, a better way to spend the rest of your Saturday night than what you had originally planned on doing. “Okay, yeah let’s watch it. I guess I’ll just have to watch the housewives go to Europe at a different time.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

“How’s it going so far?” Was the first thing you heard Eddie say when the call connected, and you couldn’t help but smile into your phone at how excited he sounded. It made you happy that you impulsively decided to call him when you stepped into the back room of your coffee shop; the kitchen area that felt equivalent to a second home for you. “It’s great, right?”

You nodded even though he couldn’t see you. “Yeah, it’s been really good, honestly.”

The “it” that you both were referring to was the open mic night event happening at the coffee shop right then. Eddie had been the one to suggest the idea nearly a year ago, around the time when the shop finally opened.  

“It would make so much sense,” Was the beginning of his spiel. “This place is the perfect size to set up mic stands and speakers in the front by the window. Pretty much any sort of ‘starving artist’ would love to have a space where they can perform, and most people enjoy live music, so doing this will bring in a ton of business.”

You loved the idea and you agreed with Eddie’s points completely, but then he moved to California and it didn’t feel right to do the idea without him. But, he said that he wouldn’t let you not do it. Because no other place in the small town was doing something like this— and that very valid statement was the reason why tonight was already such a success. A part of you wished that you had done the event sooner, instead of continuously putting it off for months and months. 

The setup of it was simple— anyone with any sort of “talent” that they wanted to share was welcome to perform, and after a particularly awkward magician, the majority of the performances were musical, and almost everyone that decided to go up and sing or play something so far were pretty good. You had even teared up at a brother-sister duo that performed a self-written instrumental piece on the guitar and violin. 

“I would say an ‘I told you so,’ but I love you too much to be that much of an asshole right now.”

“Yeah, and another reason why you shouldn’t say any kind of ‘I told you so’ right now is because I’m still slightly mad at you for bailing at the last second and not being here tonight,” You responded, letting out a small sigh. You leaned against the metal table in the middle of the kitchen where a sheet of freshly baked cookies sat next to you. Eddie was also supposed to be sitting next to you at this moment, sneaking a cookie off the sheet, and then you getting playfully annoyed at him for doing so.

“I know, and I’m still really sorry. My publicist decided to set up something early tomorrow that I can’t get out of,” He said, re-explaining what he had already told you earlier that morning. Of course, you weren’t truly upset with him; he was doing what he loved out there in California, and you were doing what you loved right here in Hawkins. “Is Steve there yet?”

“Yeah, he got here like ten minutes ago. I’ve been so busy, though, so I haven’t gotten the chance to say much more than a quick hi to him.” 

Eddie hummed in response. “Has he fully replaced me yet?”

“Oh, shut up. Steve could never replace you, Munson,” You told him, your words a thousand percent true. “You’re more than just my best friend at this point, you’re like my fucking family. You cannot be replaced, and that also means that you can never get rid of me either, so I hope you understand what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“I wouldn’t dream of getting rid of you,” He said, and you could practically hear the smile in his voice; you really missed him being only a ten-minute drive away.

“Thank you. I feel honored. Truly,” You said playfully.

“Oh, also, are Oliver and Madeline still trying to play matchmaker for you guys?” Eddie asked and you rolled your eyes at how amused he sounded. 

Somehow, your attempt in the car that Saturday to shut the dating idea down by telling Oliver that you and Steve were just friends, seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Olly would continuously remind you how much he liked Steve, how cool he was, and how he’d always have the best snacks whenever the kids were having a playdate at his house. Oliver even went as far as to tell you to wear more blue because that was Steve’s favorite color. 

And pretty much the same thing was happening to Steve but with Maddie. According to him, she gushed about you all of the time— perhaps actually convincing Steve to get her a fish only aided in that— and she continued to pester him about buying you flowers. 

But, their antics started calming down over the past few weeks, though, because of every gentle reminder you said to Oliver about how you and Steve were solely friends. It was way too hard to be stern about it because you hated disappointing him and you just really wanted him to be happy. But, before Steve came around, you thought that he was really happy with how things were. 

When you verbalized that thought on the phone to Eddie right then, he simply told you, “Just like you want him to be happy. He wants you to be happy too.”

“Why does he think that happiness comes from Steve?”

“Maybe he and Maddie see something that you two don’t see yet.”

You thought about his words. For a second, you wondered what the kids could possibly see that you and Steve seemed to be oblivious to. 

“Okay, and on that note, I’m gonna go. I’ve probably been gone for far too long. I told Jude that I was just going to grab the cookies that had been cooling for a few minutes and bring them out,” You told him as you took a quick glance at the mix of chocolate chip and sugar cookies again. “I’ll see you in less than a month for Christmas. Oh, and about that, you really didn’t need to buy me and Olly first-class plane tickets.”

You heard his playful scoff. “You guys are my family. Of course, I’m gonna get you first-class tickets.”

“Thank you, and this spoiling treatment is exactly why you’ll never be able to get rid of us,” You said and smiled when you heard Eddie laugh. “Anyway, I’ll talk to you soon.”  

“Bye.”

When he hung up, you slipped your phone back into the back pocket of your jeans. You grabbed the now cooled cookie sheet and exited the kitchen, going back behind the counter with Jude. Since things had somewhat simmered down compared to how lively it had been an hour and a half ago, you told her that she should finally take her break for the night and she happily accepted the offer.

Steve walked up to you as you started placing the cookies in the display case. “Hi.” 

“Hey, thanks for coming.”

“Yeah, of course, I wouldn’t miss it,” He said, and hearing how genuine his words sounded made you smile. 

“It’s probably too late for coffee, so do you want a hot chocolate?” You asked and looked at him once you finished putting the last few cookies in the case. “It’s free. Friend discount for the night.”

“Wow, that’s a really good discount,” Steve said playfully.

“I like to be very generous to the people I care about,” You told him, matching his tone and smiling. “And I don’t have that many friends, so I’m actually not losing out on a lot of money.” 

He smiled back at you. “Now I feel even more honored that I’m one of them.”

You poured some hot chocolate into the blue mug that you would never admit out loud but was pretty much designated as Steve’s at this point. For some reason, you found yourself always making sure to use it for him whenever he wasn’t getting something to-go, and once you learned from Olly that Steve’s favorite color was blue, it felt even more right to use it for him. In your mind, you saw it as a small gesture that didn’t really mean too much, but maybe that wasn’t entirely true. And that was another thing that you’d never admit out loud. 

“Thank you,” He said as you handed the mug over to him. The small smile he gave you let you know that he recognized the gesture and probably had been for the last month and a half. 

Instead of acknowledging the mug or the hot chocolate or anything else, you nodded your head in the direction of the makeshift “stage” area that you had set up earlier with the help of Jude. 

“Any secret talents you want to go up there and share?” You asked, only slightly joking with your question. “There’s a full waiting list, but I can move you to the top, and I promise I won’t tell anyone.” 

“No, it’s okay, I’d rather not cut in front of everyone that was here before me. Next time, though,” He answered and it was easy to hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“I will definitely hold you to that next time,” You said, playing along with him. “So, what’s your talent? Something tells me that you’re killer at the guitar. Ooh, wait, actually the triangle!”

Steve only gave you an unamused look and you tried your hardest to hold back your laughter.

“I’ll take that as a no to the triangle.”

“I’m gonna change the subject now,” He said, and you nodded, deciding to allow it to happen even though you had at least three more triangle jokes ready to go. “Can you please not let me forget to get some cookies for Maddie before I leave? She’s at my parent’s house for the night, but I promised I’d have some for her tomorrow so she can have them right after the soccer game.”

“Of course, I’ll put some to the side for her,” You told him. “I know the chocolate chip ones are her favorite. Same as Oliver.”

“Where is Olly?”

“At home with a babysitter— this super nice eighth grader that lives next door to us. She texted me half an hour ago that he finally fell asleep after watching Finding Nemo two times.”

“Maddie’s current movie obsession is Monsters Inc.,” Steve said with a small laugh. “We’ve been watching it at least once a night for the past week.”

“That’s a great one. She has good taste,” You said and Steve nodded.

You wanted to keep talking to him, but the sound of the music quieting down and soft clapping pulled you out of the conversation. 

“I’ll be right back. Gotta go announce the next person going up. Are you sure you don’t want it to be you?” You asked him teasingly.  

Steve only shook his head and rolled his eyes at you as you started walking away. 

You went up and introduced the next person, a middle-aged guy with a guitar who started playing the acoustic version of a song that you vaguely recognized from the radio. 

Steve was still standing right where you left him, lingering by the front counter and drinking from his mug, and you headed back to your spot behind the counter. He mentioned the PTA meeting last night that heavily talked about the Winter Carnival happening next week and Leslie, the head of the PTA, told everyone what their jobs would be— Steve was assigned to the popcorn station and you were put on the ring toss game. You and Steve already made plans to take the kids Saturday night since the First Grade parents only had to “volunteer” on Friday. He laughed at a joke you made right then about being surprised that you weren’t being forced to “volunteer” Friday and Saturday to make up for the fact that you didn’t help out last year.

Things went like that for the next hour— you two talking and laughing with one another, and some people coming up to order teas and hot chocolates and the occasional latte— until the time hit nine o’clock and the night came to its end. After giving a generous round of applause to the final performer and you announcing the end of this first open mic night, everyone slowly started heading out. 

A few people came up to you, telling you how great the night was and saying that you needed to do this again. You made a mental note to text Eddie later and once again thank him for this idea, and you’d maybe even let him finally say an “I told you so.”

You bagged up three chocolate chip cookies for Madeline and were about to hand them over to Steve, who was now sitting in an empty booth, and say your goodbye to him when Jude came up to you. There was a look on her face that resembled a cross between annoyance and slight worry. 

“I’m so sorry. I just got a call from my brother. He broke his arm while at his friend’s house and he’s at the hospital right now. And my parents are out of town for the weekend, so I’m the only “adult” around who knows all of the insurance stuff and everything, so I have to go. I’m sorry.”

The look on her face immediately made complete sense to you right then. Ever since you hired Jude eight months ago, you became very used to hearing her teenage rambles about her ten-year-old brother who she would constantly describe as the “bane of her existence.” Therefore, the fact that she was annoyed about this incident wasn’t surprising, but it was also a little heartwarming to see that you could tell that she was also, at least, the tiniest bit worried about him. 

“Yes, go. I completely understand. I hope he’s okay.”

“He’s an idiot, but he’ll be fine,” She responded as she joined you behind the counter for a second to grab her jacket that was hanging on one of the hooks and then started heading to the front door. “I’m really sorry again.”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay. I promise. Go, go,” You told her and she nodded. The bell chimed as she opened the door, and chimed again when it fell shut. 

You went over to Steve, sitting down across from him and handing over the bag of chocolate chip cookies. 

“Thanks,” He said, giving you a small smile. “I can stay and help you clean up if you want.” 

“I hope you really mean that because we’re past the point in our friendship where I would politely decline that offer to be nice. I’d actually really love some help right now.”

Steve laughed a bit. “I do mean it. And I owe you for the free hot chocolate and cookies.”

“You don’t owe me at all because that was the friend discount, but I will still accept that reasoning,” You said and smiled at him before slipping out of the booth. 

It was second nature for you to silently go into the routine that you were so used to doing at the end of every night— clearing mugs and small plates off the tables and tossing empty cups into the nearby trash can— and Steve followed suit.

Your mind almost immediately traveled to thinking about tomorrow, already going through and planning out what the day would look like— Oliver’s soccer game was in the morning and then you’d be back here for the rest of the day with Olly taking his spot in his favorite booth and proceeding to work on homework and then playing games, and you’d be at the cash register or in the kitchen working half of the day with Kyle, another one of your employees, and then the other half with Jude. You were then reminded that you would need to check in with her in the morning about her brother and see if she’d even be able to come in tomorrow. 

Your never-ending thoughts should’ve been taking a break for at least an hour or two, it was late and you were exhausted. But, whenever you were here closing up for the night, it was hard not to think about everything that could technically be deemed as “morning problems for tomorrow.” The relief you’d always feel about one day going really well would oh so quickly be replaced with the stressed need to make sure that the next day also went well, which made it completely impossible to not think about it. 

You weren’t sure how long things had been quiet, but when you heard Steve break the silence and softly say, “You okay?” you became aware of how long it had been since either of you had said something. 

“Oh, sorry, yeah, I’m just thinking a lot, I guess. Running through a million things at once,” You told him as you cleared one of the last tables, grabbing the mug full of a half-drunken latte and crumb-filled plate. 

“Okay, yeah, that’s what I thought. You kinda get this certain look on your face when you’re thinking really hard.”

You let out a laugh. “Does it resemble a deer in headlights? Because Eddie’s told me that one before.”

Steve coughed, which you knew was him just trying to hold back his laugh, and you playfully rolled your eyes at him as he spoke. “I feel bad saying yes, but yeah he’s right.”

“Just so you know, you also have a very uncute serious face.”

“I didn’t say yours wasn’t cute.”

You weren’t entirely sure what felt more unexpected; Steve’s words or how immediately affected you felt by them. Any quip or teasing joke you had on the tip of your tongue vanished in a matter of seconds, and your mind effectively became a flustered pile of mush; almost embarrassingly so. 

You were glad that Steve couldn’t see you right then, and you were especially glad that you two were on completely opposite sides of the shop at that moment— you putting the dirty mug and plate in the sink, and him clearing off the final table and tossing a coffee cup and random wrapper in the trash— because that distance meant that there was no way that you could read too heavily into what he just said, and he couldn’t pick up on how awkward and confused you immediately felt because of it.

A forced laugh fell from your lips, and you hoped to God and the universe and whatever else was out there that it didn’t sound completely fake. 

You walked over to the front window, where the makeshift stage area was, and grabbed the mic stand and wooden stool and Steve grabbed the two now unplugged speakers and followed you to the storage closet in the back. Once all of that was put away, you would just need to prep the cookie dough for tomorrow, and then the night would be done. 

“How are your baking skills, Harrington?” You asked him. You met his eyes for the first time in the past few minutes, it felt easier to do so now since your mind was back to only thinking about work.

“I’ve never baked anything before, but I’m good at following instructions.”

You smiled at that answer and it was what led you both to the kitchen. After washing your hands, you grabbed two metal bowls and the ingredients that would be needed for the cookies. And Steve was telling the truth, he was good at following instructions— you did the dough for the chocolate chip cookies, and you told him what to do for the sugar ones since they were a little bit easier, and it was all finished faster than you had expected. You put some plastic wrap over both bowls before placing them in the fridge.

“Thanks for all of the help tonight,” You told him. You both were now washing your hands at the sink that was full of the dishes that were the actual final thing you’d have to do before leaving. “If you’re ever in dire need of a part-time job, you’re hired.”

“Is the employee discount as good as the friend discount?” Steve asked as you turned off the water. He ripped off a paper towel and handed it to you and then grabbed one for himself. 

“It’s twenty percent.”

“I think I’ll just stick to being your friend then.”

That time you did entirely read into his words, as playful as they were. Just friends. That was exactly what you wanted and needed from him. You weren’t in the right headspace to consider being anything else with him, and you weren’t sure you ever would be. 

And besides, you liked being friends with him. It had been completely unexpected, but you liked talking to him, and you liked hanging out with him during Oliver and Madeline’s playdates that now felt like they were playdates for you both too, and you liked watching movies on the phone with him some nights before you went to bed— just last night you’d watched the first Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie, as per Steve’s request. 

You were perfectly okay with being just friends with Steve, and as you continuously told Olly, it was the only thing that you two would ever be.  

You looked at him right then and he almost immediately met your gaze. 

“I don’t know how I’m just now noticing this, but you got some flour on your forehead,” You told him. Before he could say anything, you stepped closer to him and reached up to brush the white substance away with the damp paper towel in your hand. 

He gave you a soft look and there was a small smile on his face. “Thanks.”

It was obvious what sequence of events should’ve happened next— you should’ve told him that you just needed to clean the dishes in the sink and then the night would officially be done, and he didn’t have to stay for that. You should’ve finally said a goodbye and see you tomorrow to him.

However, right then, neither of you moved, and instead this sudden close proximity and the look and smile on his face made you get hit with the abrupt feeling that you wanted something more to happen, something more than just a friendly goodbye that was maybe followed by a simple hug. 

It was an insane idea that contradicted everything you had just told yourself. But, deep down you knew that the reason why you felt the urge to kiss him right here in this moment was the same reason why you always used the same mug for him every time he came here, and why you refused to admit it out loud. And right then, you still refused to dissect exactly what that all meant and what it would come to mean in the long run. 

Just for a second, you didn’t want to think about anything. You wanted to turn your brain off and simply focus on this moment that somehow felt so fucking right.  

And maybe Steve could read how much you wanted this to happen through the enamored look that you were certain was written all over your face, and that was why he let his hand come up to meet your cheek and why he leaned in closer, which made your eyes fall shut in anticipation. 

There was such a huge part of you that wanted this to happen, that felt as if you needed it to because maybe it had always been inevitable.

However, it didn’t take long for the existential dread to creep into your mind and prick right at the forefront of it. The reminders of why you’d been so scared of something like this happening with anyone for the past three years hit you like a freight train. Once you thought about all of that, you couldn’t force yourself to think or not think about anything else. Your mind was now on Oliver’s dad and what that entire situation with him changed for you— how it made you think about and see everything involving love so differently. 

And it was that painful reminder of what you were now terrified of that made you pull away from Steve and turn your head at the last second.

“I… I’m sorry.” 

Your gaze was fixed on the floor because you couldn’t bear to see what look was written across Steve’s face right then. 

“It’s okay.” His voice was soft when he spoke, which somehow made you feel worse.

“It’s just…” You wanted to say something, but you couldn’t pull your thoughts together fast enough. Your mind was moving in a thousand different directions and you still couldn’t even muster up the courage to simply look at Steve right then.

“You don’t have to explain. It’s okay, really,” He assured you again and you felt like he was being way too nice to you when you felt like the shittiest person.

“No, I wanna explain…” You told him, finally meeting his eyes. It was hard to read what he was thinking or feeling right then. “It’s just… I can’t– I don’t know.” You shook your head at yourself for being at such a loss for words at that moment. “I’m really sorry.” 

“No, don’t be sorry. It’s okay. Let’s just pretend this never happened,” He stepped away from you then, and you let him, deciding not to say anything else— you could no longer trust your voice, anyway. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning for the soccer game.”

You nodded quickly because you knew that there was nothing else to do. “Mhm, yup, yeah, see you tomorrow.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

Oliver gave you a look that he knew you wouldn’t be able to deny— there were puppy dog eyes and a pout that actually made your heart hurt. He was good. And you were weak.

“Okay, you can finish this episode, but then you’re starting your homework, bud.” 

He smiled and leaned back into the couch, turning his attention back to the cartoon that was playing on the television in the living room. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” You told him. You were completely okay with giving Olly some time to relax after school before starting his homework, but somehow you were almost always convinced by him to turn the thirty minutes into an hour— and maybe you shouldn’t have been surprised that this Wednesday afternoon was no different. 

It was also, overall, a surprisingly calm afternoon. There weren’t a thousand tasks on your plate right then; the calls you had to make and orders you had to place were already done. You had been at the coffee shop the entire morning and some of the afternoon before you had to pick Olly up from school, and Jude and Kyle would be closing for the night. Essentially, you would be free for the rest of the evening and night.

Instead of attempting to find anything to stress about at that moment, you were sitting on the small loveseat in the living room with your laptop balancing on the arm of the chair as you scrolled through the pictures taken during the open mic night.

Having a photographer for the night had been Steve’s suggestion, and it made sense coming from him given that he was in marketing, and he said that posting some on social media would be a good way to promote the event if and when you decided to do it again. You also thought it could be a nice idea to frame some and hang them up in the coffee shop. 

For most of the night, you’d forgotten that there had been a photographer there because of how discreet Shelby had been the entire time. But now you were looking at the edited pictures she emailed you earlier that morning of everything she’d taken barely a week ago, and you were already blown away even though you’d only looked at the first ten so far. 

There were a bunch of shots of people sitting at tables and booths happily enjoying their drinks and food, and there were also some of the people who decided to go up and perform. As you clicked through each of the photos and made mental notes of which ones you’d maybe want to post or hang up, you abruptly stopped at one of you and Steve. 

It shouldn’t have been that surprising to see a photo of you and him, you had been with each other during most of the night, but it still genuinely startled you to see such a candid moment of the two of you.

You were standing on one side of the counter and Steve was on the other— that was the only part of the photo that didn’t surprise you. You couldn’t tell just from that single shot what you two had been talking about in that moment, but it looked like whatever the conversation was about was a good one. There was a wide and elated smile on your face that reached your eyes, which were staring right into Steve’s, and an adoring look was written so clearly across his face along with a small smile. 

It looked like you two were dating; like you were newlyweds, even— if it were strangers in this photo, you would’ve easily thought either of those things. It looked like a picture of two people in love, so completely and utterly in love with each other. 

And it especially looked so goddamn obvious. 

Before even seeing this picture, it was clear to you that you felt something for him— what other reason would have made you almost kiss him that night? But, you didn’t realize just how deeply you felt, and you had forced yourself not to think about any of that over the last few days. You hoped that if you avoided and didn’t think about it, it would all just eventually go away. However, now that it was staring you right in the face, it suddenly became way too hard to deny everything or push it away or even pretend that you hadn’t just seen that picture. 

You were hit so abruptly with the truth that you couldn’t not finally admit it to yourself. You always gave him the same mug when he came to the coffee shop because you liked him. You wanted so badly to kiss him that night because you liked him. Fuck.

You quickly realized that what you saw in that photo was what Oliver and Madeline saw all of the time, and now it made complete sense why they were trying to push you and Steve into each other’s arms. Although you and him were apparently oblivious, they saw how happy you two were with each other. 

Eddie was right.

Your once calmed mind was now back to running a million miles a minute, and it became fully submerged with thoughts of Steve and how you felt about him and the almost kiss that you tried your hardest to forget ever even happened. You felt the overwhelming urge to cry the longer you looked at the photo, but you still couldn’t help but keep staring at it. 

You stood up from the loveseat and took a brief look at Olly before you walked out of the living room, he was laughing at the show on the TV. You went into the kitchen, setting your laptop down on the table and pulling your phone out of where it was in the pocket of the sweatpants you were wearing. You called the only person that you wanted to talk to at that moment, and you hoped that he wasn’t busy even though it was barely noon in California right then. 

When Eddie answered with a happy “Hello” on the fourth ring, you immediately said, “You were right.”

“Right about what?”

You bypassed his question for the moment. “I’m gonna send you a picture and just tell me what you… See in it. What you notice about it.” 

“That sounds very cryptic, but I’m intrigued,” He said and if it were any other moment, you probably would’ve cracked a smile at Eddie’s comment, but you felt way too stressed to do so.  

You texted him the photo of you and Steve through your laptop and when it said “Delivered” after a few seconds, you waited for whatever Eddie had to say about it. He’d be the one to tell you if you were crazy and overthinking things with the picture or not. 

It was quiet for barely thirty seconds before he said something. “Woah. Shit.”

You were mindlessly pacing back and forth from the table to the sink as you held the phone to your ear. “Can I get a full sentence, please?”

“I knew that you liked him, but I didn’t know you were in love with him.”

That was not at all the response you were expecting to hear from him. 

“What? You didn’t— I don’t—” You shook your head and took a breath. “Before seeing that picture, what could’ve possibly made you think that I liked him?”

“From the moment you told me that you and him were finally friends, there was just something about the way you talked about him. And then as you guys got closer and you talked about him more, it just seemed pretty obvious.”

Once again, Eddie said something that was entirely unexpected. It was hard to imagine it— you walking around with a crush that was apparently obvious to everyone but you— but you now knew it was true. “Why didn’t you ever say anything? You never called me out about it.”

“I figured you’d just tell me when you wanted to or when you decided to do something about the crush,” He answered, and that was such a nonchalant and Eddie kind of response that it didn’t surprise you in the slightest bit. “Is this your way of finally telling me?”

“No,” Was your immediate answer. In a way, it felt like a reflex or second nature to deny how you were feeling. “I’m not even sure if I actually have feelings for him.”

Your life would’ve been so much easier if that wasn’t a complete lie. 

Eddie immediately laughed at your words and when you didn’t join in, he stopped. “Oh, you’re being serious. I thought you were joking.”

“It’s just…” You had absolutely no idea how to finish your statement. You sighed and finally sat down at the kitchen table. “I’m really, really confused and scared, Eddie.”

Before he could say anything in response to that, you closed your eyes and said your next words. “Me and him almost kissed.” 

“Woah, what the hell? When?”

“It was last week at the open mic night. He stayed and helped me clean up because Jude had to leave early. We were washing our hands after making cookie dough and somehow we were about to kiss, but I pulled away at the last second and then he left. And we’ve been pretending like none of that happened ever since.”

It actually hadn’t been so hard to force things to be normal and completely okay between you two. Neither you nor Steve brought up what happened, just like you both agreed on, and in a way, it was easy to pretend as if the moment never happened in the first place— technically, nothing actually did happen, anyway. 

“Why did you pull away?”

“It was because of a mix of a bunch of things that are all basically the same thing,” You said and then let out a sigh. “I never thought that I’d want to be with someone again; like them or love them or whatever else. And I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to feel anything even remotely equivalent to love ever again because of the shitstorm my marriage became. And I do like Steve and I do feel all of those things that I didn’t think I ever would again, but I still don’t know if I'll ever be ready for something… More. Something real again because of everything that happened with…” You trailed off; you didn’t have to say his name for Eddie to know exactly who you were talking about. 

“Fuck that guy,” Eddie said with a huff. “I swear if I ever meet him, I’m gonna beat his ass.”

The conviction in his tone made you smile. “Thank you.”

“I do think that you can trust Steve, though. He’s one of the good ones. If this fucking picture says anything, it’s that he definitely feels the same way as you. And if it says anything else, it’s that he wouldn’t even think about fucking things up.”

It was hard not to smile at Eddie’s words. “You can see all of that in this photo?”

“You know the saying. A picture’s worth a thousand words or some shit,” He told you, and you could practically hear the shrug in his voice, which made you laugh for a second before you thought about something. 

“What if I’m the one that’ll mess everything up?” You asked him and then your mind traveled back to that night— you basically running away from everything, and Steve accepting that and walking away from it all too. Why would he want to try again with you? “Actually, never mind, I think I already did.”

“No, you didn’t,” Eddie reassured you, and for once it was hard to believe his words. “When are you gonna see him again?”

You thought for a second. “A little bit on Friday because we both have to volunteer at the Winter Carnival thing, but I doubt I’ll be able to have an actual conversation with him there. But, I’ll see him Saturday for the last soccer game and then later that night because we’re gonna take the kids to the carnival.”

“Okay, be honest with him there.”

“You make doing that sound so easy, Munson.”

“I just want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy— especially after all of the shit you went through with Olly’s dad. And it’s pretty clear that a lot of that happiness does come from Steve,” Eddie told you and for the first time, you didn’t have the urge to deny those words. “If you’re honest with him and he’s understanding and likes you too much to let you go, then everything works out and that’s great. Or, if you’re honest and it turns out that he thinks you did mess everything up too much and doesn’t wanna be with you, then fuck Harrington too and I’ll also beat his ass.” 

“For once, I actually believe that you did have a “bad boy” phase.”

“I told you. I used to be such a badass,” He said and you could hear the smile in his voice. “But, seriously, just know that I’ll be there for you no matter what scenario happens, so don’t worry about which one does. Also, just know that if, when I see you next week for Christmas, you haven’t said anything to him and there’s been no resolution to this situation yet, I will only let Oliver stay with me. You can find a hotel somewhere.”

“I promise I’ll say something,” You told him, and it truly didn’t feel like you were lying, and Eddie could tell that too.

When the call ended moments later and you placed your phone down next to your laptop, you looked at the picture again. 

You no longer felt startled seeing you and Steve like this— so smitten and happy. It made you feel content, at ease even. You felt yourself smile a little, and it was like you were a little kid with a crush all over again; which, technically, had been the case for the last month, but now you were aware of it and it felt weirdly good.

You realized then that it was a mistake pulling away from Steve that night. A big mistake that you sincerely hoped you could recover from because you no longer wanted to run away. And you hoped Eddie was right in saying that it actually wasn’t too late and you didn’t completely mess everything up. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

There hadn’t been a right moment all night. Or maybe you were just getting too into your head about everything. 

In the handful of days leading up to the Winter Carnival, it was hard to keep your mind off of Steve. Instead of beginning to second guess yourself and becoming unsure of everything— like you expected to happen since feeling like this again was so foreign to you— it all only became more and more certain. Your mind was the clearest it had been in such a long time; it was almost as if once you decided to no longer avoid how you felt, the rest just seemed to fall into place.

However, when Saturday night finally came around and you met up with Steve in the grassy parking lot of the large field where the carnival was happening, your focus was solely on Oliver and Madeline. Seeing how happy and content they were going on the few rides that were set up and playing the games, made it easy to forget what you needed to do. And it also made a part of you not want to do it— not want to change things; potentially for the worse if Steve actually didn’t feel the same way or no longer wanted anything to happen. But then you’d think about that picture and what Eddie said, and you knew that you had to find that moment to finally be honest, no matter what the outcome would be.

But still, no moment had been the right one. Not the moment where there was a brief lull of silence between you and Steve when Olly and Maddie were intensely focused on playing whack-a-mole, and not the moment where you and Steve quietly watched from the sidelines as they went on the train ride that just went round and round in a wide circle for a few minutes. And not even now when the night had finally come to its end and you both were about to drive away and leave.

The kids were fast asleep in their car seats and you and Steve lingered by the front of your cars. He had already said his goodnight to you and you reluctantly said the same, and you knew that he was about to turn and step inside his car— you could tell by the small smile he gave you— so you had to finally say something 

“Wait, um, before you go. I wanted to say…” You trailed off for a second and then you were speaking before you even realized what you were saying. “Do you want to go on a date sometime?”

Right as the question left your lips, you felt like an idiot. That was not what you were supposed to say; at least, not first. For a moment, Steve only looked at you, confused. Your question lingered harshly in the cold Winter air and you were about to take it back and start from the beginning, the actual beginning, but Steve finally said something.

“A date? Like, a real date?” He asked after what felt like the longest stretch of silence that you thought you’d ever experienced, and when you only nodded in response, because you were too nervous to say anything more right then, he said, “What’s changed since the open mic night? After that, I was pretty sure that you didn’t feel anything for me.” 

“I’m sorry. I know this sounds like it’s coming entirely out of nowhere. I had this whole long thing planned to say, and I messed up and started at the end instead of the beginning because I’m an idiot,” You sighed and then pulled your phone out of your coat pocket. “Can I send you something? It’s one of the pictures from that night that the photographer took.”

If Steve didn’t already think that this entire moment was insane, he probably did now, but he still said, “Okay.”

You sent him the picture that had now been sitting in your camera roll since Wednesday and then tucked your phone back into your pocket, eyes back on Steve and waiting for his reaction. 

“Oh,” Was the first thing that came out of his mouth. Other than the clear surprise, it was hard to read his expression right then. “Oh, wow.”

“That was probably my exact reaction when I saw it too,” You said, letting out a small laugh that felt entirely too awkward, but you pushed past it. “Okay, now here’s the very long-winded speech that I’ve been kinda rehearsing in my head for the past few days and I hope I don’t mess it up this time.” You took a breath and didn’t let your gaze break from his. “I like you, Steve. A lot. That picture kind of says it all, and it gave me the much-needed push to stop being so oblivious toward everything. The reason that I pulled away that night wasn’t because I don’t feel anything for you, it was because I do feel everything for you— and that’s terrifying as hell. Because you already know about everything that happened between me and Oliver’s dad, and it was one of the hardest things I ever had to go through. I loved him and he hurt me and pretty much ruined the entire way I viewed love and relationships. I never thought that I would want to date again, and I honestly wanted to just avoid it entirely, but now here you are.”

You took a breath, probably your first one in the past minute and a half. “And although doing this right now still does kinda scare the crap out of me, it’s an okay kind of scary— if that makes sense. The thought of finally starting over and starting something with you doesn’t feel as terrifying as I thought it would. Instead, it feels really exciting. And I hope that me running away that night didn’t completely mess things up between us before they really even got the chance to start.”

As your final words left your lips, you finally pulled your eyes away from Steve’s. 

He was quiet for what felt like forever, but you knew that he was just processing everything you said, which was a lot, and the overall length felt equivalent to a speech that you had to give in high school during your History class. That had been such a nerve-wracking moment, and you remembered nearly throwing up once you were finished speaking and sitting back at your desk— this time also felt sort of similar to that. But, in this moment, it also felt like the biggest weight was lifted off of your shoulders, so you didn’t regret your words at all. 

The longer you waited for Steve to say something, anything, the more you got the urge to tell him that it was okay if he wanted to reject you— the prolonging silence made you feel like that would be the inevitable thing to happen right then. It wouldn’t be the outcome you wanted, and you’d leave this makeshift parking lot partially devastated, but also with your head held high, at least, because you had been honest and you tried.

The words were about to leave your lips— the same ones he said to you that night; “It’s okay”— but then he smiled at you, a soft smile that managed to too easily warm you up from the inside out, and then he shook his head. “You didn’t ruin everything.”

“Really?” 

“Really,” He said, and it was that reassurance that made you inwardly let out a breath. “I completely understand why you’ve been scared— a part of me is really scared too because of everything that happened last year. There was barely any sort of a relationship left between me and Maddie’s mom before she left, but that didn’t really make going through that any easier. I trusted her and a part of me loved her, and in the beginning, I hoped that she would come back— maybe more for Maddie’s sake than mine. Once I fully accepted that she wasn’t, and deep down I think I always knew that, I never thought that I’d fall for someone else so soon. But, it was almost too easy to fall for you— and I think it started happening before I could even realize it was happening. And like you said, that picture pretty much says it all. So, yes to the date. Definitely yes.”

It was hard not to smile at his final words. It made you want to kiss him, but that felt like it was something that should be saved for a different moment entirely. 

You stepped closer to him and pushed yourself up on your toes, letting your arms loop around his neck and hugging him instead. It seemed almost instinctual how quickly Steve’s arms came up to circle your waist. 

You two had hugged a few times before, usually they were quick and in lieu of a “Goodbye” or “See you later,” and they were typically never anything more or less than a side hug. But, this one was completely different, it definitely didn’t say goodbye or see you later. Instead, it somehow managed to say a thousand other things. 

How tightly Steve held you, told you that he wouldn’t even think about hurting you or breaking your heart, and it also let you know that Eddie was right about you being able to trust Steve completely. 

And how your face was buried in Steve’s neck, fully taking in his scent, told him that he didn’t need to be scared of how quickly he was falling for you, the past wouldn’t repeat itself. 

Both of you had your shitty pasts, that in some ways you both were still recovering from, but it didn’t mean that you had to disregard or push aside what this was— these strong feelings you two had. Neither of you would say it out loud just yet, but it was clear that you loved each other. 

It was way too soon to put those three words out there, but they didn’t have to be said for both of you to know that they already existed so prominently between you two. The long embrace managed to say it all.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

Things were left fairly open-ended that Saturday night because it was quickly discovered that your schedules were way too busy with work and holiday plans to do something as soon as you both wanted to. And then, after a few texts and a late-night FaceTime call, it was decided that you’d see each other and plan things out when you and Oliver got back on the twenty-seventh from spending Christmas in California. 

You wanted so badly to kiss him when you saw him for the first time after a week of nothing but texts and sporadic phone calls— and that feeling only increased tenfold when you noticed the bouquet of daisies in his hand. But you couldn’t kiss him in a coffee shop full of people, so you settled for a hug instead, where he very subtly whispered in your ear how badly he also wanted to kiss you at that moment.

He and Madeline stayed for most of that afternoon. She played board games in a booth with Oliver, and Steve helped you out with little tasks you had to do since, on that day, it was just you working in the coffee shop. It was hours full of lingering touches— his hand brushing against your waist or hip at the most random of moments, and you standing almost flush next to him and your hands continuously grazing his as you showed him how to work the coffee machine— and long looks that made your brain feel fuzzy.

Both of you were standing in the back kitchen area when one of his hands found yours after you finished putting a sheet of cookies in the oven. “I already have an idea for what I want us to do for our date.”

You stepped a little closer to him and found his other hand to intertwine it with yours. “Since I asked you on the date, I think that I should be the one to plan it.”

“You can plan the second one,” He told you and it was hard not to smile at that. “So, when’s the next night you’re free?”

“New Year’s Eve, actually. We’re gonna be closed here then, and New Year’s Day too.”

Steve nodded. “Okay, perfect.”

Now that night had finally rolled around, and in comparison to the anticipation you’d been feeling for the last few days about it, a good kind of nervousness was coursing through your body as you hurried down the stairs when the doorbell rang at seven o’clock.

Oliver was already in the living room playing Connect Four with your next door neighbor, Natalie, who was almost always willing to babysit him for you. And she didn’t even seem to mind doing it tonight, even though it was New Year’s Eve, because she said that it would get her out of going to this party with her parents at her dad’s job. You still promised to pay her double the amount you usually gave her. 

“I left some money to order a pizza,” You told Natalie as you quickly put your shoes on, a pair of boots that stopped just below your knee and nicely complimented the short length of the dress you were wearing, and then you grabbed your coat and purse. “Call or text me if anything happens or you need something, you know the usual.”

“Got it,” She responded with a quick nod as she made her next move in the game. 

“I’ll see you later, Olly. Are you still gonna try and stay up until midnight?”

Oliver smiled up at you and nodded. “Yup.” 

“Good luck,” You said, smiling back at him.

You opened the front door and were immediately met with the sight of Steve standing at your doorstep, wearing a nice pair of black jeans and a coat over his long-sleeved white button-up shirt. 

You closed and locked the door behind you before turning to look at him again, a small smile on your face. “Hi.”

“Hi,” He told you and then his gaze traveled down your body for a brief second before meeting your eyes again. “You look really great.”  

His words let you know that you definitely made the right decision about pulling out the red strapless dress that had been sitting in your closet for the past year. It had no real reason to come out until now; for a date with someone that you really liked. And even after a year, it still looked great on you, hugged your body in all the right places, and made you feel really good. This was the first time in a long time that you were out of your typical “mom attire,” simple jeans and a plain t-shirt that was typically covered by an apron, and you wanted to look extra nice tonight; even if you and Steve wouldn’t be doing something fancy or extravagant.  

“Thank you,” You responded, smiling wider at him. “I don’t know what we’re doing, but as long as it’s not a hike or paintball, I think I should be fine.”

“Don’t worry, I think high-intensity things like that are usually saved for third dates,” He said playfully. 

“Oh, yeah, that’s so true,” You said, matching his tone and nodding. “But, if you force me to go on a hike for our third date, I’ll never go out with you again.”

“Okay, got it. Is paintball still on the table, though?”

“Sure.”  

“Great, so I won’t have to cancel our reservation in three weeks,” He responded, and the over-dramatic sigh in relief he let out made you laugh a bit.

It was almost embarrassing how easily Steve made you feel like you were back in middle school and crushing on the boy in your Math class. You hoped Josh Miller was doing well wherever he currently was because right then, as Steve reached out his hand and you slipped yours into his open palm, you knew for a fact that you were.

“Do I finally get to find out what we’re doing tonight?” You asked once you were settled in the passenger seat of his car.

Steve shook his head. “You’ll see once we get there.”

You sighed but still nodded. “The anticipation is killing me, just so you know.”

“Please don’t die before I get to show you everything.” 

That got a smile from you. “I’ll try my hardest not to.”

The drive was only about fifteen minutes— with you controlling the radio the entire time, and Steve’s hand that wasn’t on the steering wheel resting on your exposed thigh, and his thumb lightly stroking the bare skin throughout most of the ride. It was an action that essentially made your brain short circuit and was the reason why you had accidentally stopped on a station playing country music for longer than you intended. Your brain only started working again when the car was parked and you noticed that you were in his driveway.  

You looked at him, a small smile playing on your lips. “Usually, you bring the person back to your house at the end of the date, not the beginning, Harrington. How long has it been since the last time you did this?”

“Ha ha,” He said with a playful roll of his eyes at your sarcastic question. “The date is actually happening here, so that rule doesn’t really apply to this situation.”

“Okay, fair,” You responded, nodding. Your mind was already starting to run through the possibilities of what he had set up for you in his house.

“I’ll be right back, I just need to check something really quick first,” He told you and you only nodded again. 

Steve was barely gone for five minutes before he was opening the passenger door for you and helping you step out of the car. 

“Can I cover your eyes?”

“You’re actually making me really nervous now, but I’ll allow it,” You answered and he stepped behind you, covering your eyes with his hands.

“I think I might be more nervous than you,” He whispered, lips brushing your ear, which sent something equivalent to a shiver down your spine and you were glad that you had your coat on because it hid your goosebumps.

“Impossible,” You told him. “Is this a bad time to tell you that I hate surprises?”

“Yes, because now I don’t believe you.”

He was right to not believe you because that was technically a lie, but that didn’t mean that you weren’t still nervous about what this surprise would be. 

You expected him to guide you up the front steps of his house, but instead, you were led a different way, to the backyard. At some point, Steve stopped you both, but he still kept covering your eyes as he began talking. 

“Okay, so the initial idea I had was that we go to a drive-in movie theater because I feel like movies are kind of our thing at this point, and going to just a normal theater would be boring. But, the closest drive-in is over an hour away, and there was one specific movie I wanted us to watch anyway, so I decided to just set something up here.”

He pulled his hands away then and you opened your eyes. The first thing you saw was 

the large blanket set up in the middle of the backyard, there were a bunch of pillows on it along with a few folded up blankets and you noticed the plastic bowl full of candy and bucket of popcorn too. You then saw the projector screen that was set up a few feet in front of the blanket and the movie that was already queued up on it. Since it was currently paused, you could see the name in the top left corner— The Parent Trap. Everything was perfect, and you were about to tell Steve exactly that, but he started talking again before you could. 

“And I know you’re dressed up really nice right now, which means that you were probably expecting us to do something fancy, so I’m sorry if this is kind of a disappointment. But, I promise next time I’ll take you to the fanciest restaurant ever and—”

You cut off his rambling by turning to him and kissing his cheek. “This is the most thoughtful thing I think anyone has ever done for me. I love this.”

He smiled and you could see the happy relief washing over his face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” You nodded, smiling back at him.

You pulled off your coat and slipped off your shoes and then grabbed one of the folded blankets to wrap around yourself before sitting down. 

“Maddie helped with a lot of the setup. She told me to add more pillows and blankets so that everything could feel really cozy,” Steve told you and you nodded at that, saying a quick, “She was very right.” “Also, I wasn’t sure what type of candy was your favorite, so I got a little bit of everything.” 

You grabbed the first stray bag of Skittles that you were able to find in the plastic bowl. “These are probably my favorite, but I do kinda like everything.”

“Okay, good to know for next time,” He said and there was something about the mention of “next time” that made your heart happily feel as if it was about to burst in your chest. 

Steve walked over to where the projector and his laptop were set up on his patio table so that he could start the movie. When he sat down right next to you, you gave him some of your blanket and he didn’t hesitate to wrap an arm around you as the opening credits and song started playing. 

The cold got to you quicker than you expected it to. You shifted a bit so that your legs were draped over Steve’s lap, you were almost sitting in his lap with how close you were. He wrapped his arms around you and pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, letting his warmth and the blanket that was draped over you both engulf you completely. But when the blanket and his own body heat still weren’t enough to keep you warm, he went inside and grabbed a hoodie for you to wear. 

Not even halfway through the movie, you could feel his gaze solely on you; maybe it was to make sure that you were comfortable, which you were, or maybe it was to make sure that you were enjoying everything, which you also were. 

You looked at him, an amused smile on your face. “You should be watching the movie, not me.”

For a moment, he didn’t say anything— just simply kept looking at you, admiring you— until he finally did say something. “I know that this is completely breaking first date etiquette and another one of the “rules,” but I really wanna kiss you right now.”

You were nodding before the final words even managed to leave his lips. “Do it.” 

One of his hands came up to cup your cheek and he simply stared at you for a second before tilting your head up a bit and leaning in to softly slot his lips against yours. It was slow at first, like you both really wanted to savor this moment since it was the first time this was ever happening. 

Pushing yourself impossibly closer to him, your mouths moved against each other so seamlessly, almost as if this wasn’t the first time this was happening between you two— there was absolutely no confusion or uncertainty laced within this intimate moment. 

Steve pulled away slowly too, which elicited a soft and quiet whine from you. A sound that managed to oh so easily flip the switch for the both of you. From there, things became much more desperate and needy, as if you were two teenagers who just discovered what making out was. Your mouth hungrily found his that second time and his hand moved from your face and went down to grip your hip. 

For the most part, the movie became long forgotten, but there were some moments where you would abruptly pull away from Steve and claim that you two were “missing the good part of the movie,” and you’d force your attention back to that. It would always only be for a moment though, because before you knew it, you were back to looking at Steve and smiling at him and kissing his cheek or jaw or nose before eagerly finding his lips. 

Neither of you noticed when the credits started rolling. Your heads were against one of the pillows and legs were tangled beneath the two blankets that were over you both. One of your hands found home in the hair at the nape of Steve’s neck, and one of his hands had snaked underneath the hoodie and was squeezing your waist. 

You pulled back from the kiss, mainly to catch your breath, and Steve’s mouth immediately began attacking your jaw and then neck. You had to bite your lip for a second to keep from letting out any noise. “We’re probably giving your neighbors a very good show right now.” 

You felt Steve let out a laugh against your skin. “It’s a good thing that there are old married couples on both sides, so they’re all probably in bed asleep by now.”

You hummed in response. “Mm, that’s very good to know.”

You were about to pull back a bit so that you could then lean in and kiss him again, but then you managed to realize something and you turned your head toward the projector screen. “The movie’s over.”

“Oh,” Steve looked at the final credit screen that the movie ended on. “Good thing we’ve seen it before because I don’t think we watched any of it tonight.” 

You smiled at him. “Your face made it really hard to pay attention to the movie. I think we’ll need to go back to watching stuff on the phone in order for us to actually watch a movie.” 

“Never gonna happen,” He said before pressing a kiss to your lips. “I don’t have my phone on me, but I think it’s probably almost ten. What time do I need to get you home?”

“Oliver luckily didn’t give me a curfew,” You jokingly answered, which made a soft laugh fall from Steve’s lips. “But, seriously, Natalie told me that she’s fine with staying at the house as long as I need. For some reason, she really likes sleeping in the guest room once Oliver’s in bed. Even though tonight he wants to try and stay up until midnight to watch the ball drop, so I don’t know when he’ll actually end up in bed.”

“Maddie’s trying to do the same thing at my parent’s house, but she’ll probably fall asleep before eleven, if she’s not already,” He said and that made you smile because you were pretty sure the same thing would happen with Oliver. Steve’s hand then found yours beneath the blanket and gave it a light squeeze. “So, we should…” 

“We should go inside,” You finished for him and quickly pressed a kiss to his nose before detangling yourself from him and standing up. “I can help you clean up all of this first if you want.”

“I’ll do it in the morning,” He said and you nodded at that as he stood up too.  

You didn’t mind leaving your shoes and coat outside for the time being, but you grabbed your phone from your purse so that you could check it and make sure that everything was going okay with Oliver. You immediately saw that Natalie texted you almost thirty minutes ago telling you that he fell asleep, which made you laugh a bit. You quickly texted something back to her and then placed your phone down on Steve’s kitchen island when you walked through the sliding doors that led from the backyard to the kitchen. 

Steve walked over to where you were leaning against the island. He slipped his hands underneath the hoodie of his that you were still wearing so that he could grab your hips, and your arms came up to lazily circle his neck. He was the one who initiated the kiss that time around.

How comfortable and okay you were right then and how completely comfortable you had been the entire night was something that slightly surprised you as much as it made you feel so fucking happy. It was hard not to recognize that this was the first time in a long time that you felt this way— and that should’ve made things feel at least a little scary; like they would’ve felt just a few weeks ago— but instead that realization gave you a small burst of confidence in that moment.

You pulled back a bit, eyes still shut and lips lightly brushing his. “Y’know, I really love that we’re already at your house.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Mhm,” You nodded, eyes opening and then you stepped away from him and slipped your hand into his. You started leading him toward the stairs and you wondered if it was entirely obvious that you were heading to his bedroom. You already knew where it was because you had accidentally found it the first time you and Oliver came over for a playdate— you had been looking for the bathroom and mistakenly chose the door on the left instead of the right. “It makes this part a lot easier.” 

“What’s this part?” He asked and you could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

You turned to him when you were in front of his closed door. You gave him a look that said everything— everything you wanted from him right then and everything you wanted to give him— before reaching up and softly kissing his cheek. 

It was dark when you both walked into his bedroom and Steve flicked on the small lamp that was sitting on his nightstand. You were lingering by the foot of the bed and he once again closed all of the space between you two, his hands found the hem of the hoodie and immediately pushed it up and off of you. He slowed down when his fingers found the zipper on the back of your dress. A questioning look that asked “Is this okay?” crossed his face, and you quickly nodded. Somehow the minor action sent an inadvertent shiver down your spine— Steve letting the red material fall to the floor and leaving you in just your strapless bra and underwear before softly pushing you down so that you were sitting on the bed. You started helping him unbutton his shirt so that he could push it off of his shoulders and let it hit the floor as well. 

Your hands then found his belt buckle, fumbling around with it and then proceeding to unbutton his pants and snake your right hand within them. Steve’s groan was loud and it sent a chill through your body as you touched him and felt him grow stiffer in his boxers due to all of your soft, teasing strokes. 

After just a moment, he reached for your hand, halting your movements, and then leaned down to kiss you, removing his pants in the process. Once he was left in just his navy blue boxers you maneuvered upward so that your head was hitting one of his pillows at the top of the bed and he settled on top of you between your now spread legs.

Steve’s lips brushed against your forehead and then cheek before he pulled back and simply looked at you. “You’re so fucking pretty.” 

You didn’t feel an ounce of nervousness under his gaze, which said and told you so much, and it actually felt like your heart was about to burst out of your chest. 

“You’re not too bad yourself,” You whispered, tilting your head upward a bit so that your lips could meet his in a quick kiss. 

When your bra was discarded on the floor somewhere along with your underwear, you found yourself begging for him. Soft “pleases” fell from your lips as he teased you— softly rubbing your nipple in small circles and only stroking your inner thighs with the most featherlight of touches, getting so close to where you wanted him most. And feeling his hard length, which was still covered by his boxers, pressing against you only made your want grow more. You knew for a fact that you were making the worst mess against his comforter because of how much you were dripping for him.  

“Steve,” You let out a soft sigh, eyes screwed shut. “I need you. Please.”

“Mhm, yeah, anything for you,” He said, moving away from you for a second. Your eyes opened and you immediately missed his warmth enveloping you completely. He was ridding himself of his boxers and then began rummaging around in his nightstand drawer for a condom. 

You were smiling at him when he settled back on top of you and he gave you a small smile back. 

“You sure this is okay?” He asked, and you could hear the sudden shyness take over his voice. 

“Yes, I promise. I want this. I want you,” You told him, nodding profusely. He needed that reassurance and you completely understood why. Your voice was soft as you said your next words. “You sure this is okay?”

He pressed the softest kiss against your forehead. “So much better than okay.” 

For some reason, those simple words made your heart flutter wildly in your chest. He looked down for a second, lining his cock up with your soaked entrance, and then his eyes met yours again as he slowly pushed himself inside of you. 

“Fuck,” You wanted so badly to shut your eyes, but you also didn’t want to break his gaze. 

There was so much shared in the dreamy and lust-filled look you two were holding. You were hit with the sudden need to never have this to end. Not just the sex, but simply being with Steve— talking, laughing, playfully arguing as you debated random shit that didn’t matter. You wanted all of that with him for as long as you could have it. 

It was too early to even truly entertain the potential of a forever with him, but it was something that could happen and it was hard not to let your mind wander for a bit. 

You could see it all, and so easily too— your lives blending and becoming so deeply intertwined. You didn’t expect yourself to fall so goddamn hard for him so quickly, but it felt nice feeling so entirely certain about it all. 

“What are you thinking about, honey?” Steve whispered, breaking through your thoughts and eyes still looking so deeply into yours. He was still moving slowly but was also hitting so deeply inside of you with every languid thrust that it elicited the softest whines and mewls from you. 

“Everything,” You told him honestly, but didn’t explain further because you were then shutting your eyes and letting your mind turn to mush. A particularly hard thrust had your back arching off the bed and a gasp falling from your lips. “Shit, yes, right there.”

“I think about everything with you all the time,” Steve said, lips finding yours and swallowing the loud moans you let out upon hearing his words— right then, that was the only way that you could verbalize how much you loved hearing him say that. He started moving quicker, losing control inside of you, which you didn’t mind in the slightest because it only made you wetter. “I want it all so badly.”

You could feel yourself nodding at him, it still felt way too hard to open your eyes. “Me too.”

Your walls squeezed harshly around his cock when one of his hands snaked down to find your clit, rubbing it in tight circles with his thumb and almost immediately pushing you so close to the edge. 

“You gonna come for me, honey?” Steve asked with a groan and when you only mumbled out a barely coherent “yes” and “please,” he started circling your clit quicker before saying, “Do it. Come for me.”

It hit you so fucking hard. You were moaning loudly, practically screaming, as stars flooded your vision and your body almost immediately felt as if it was floating. How tightly you were squeezing Steve’s cock as you came only spurred on his own release, forehead dropping against yours as he pushed as deep as he could inside of you and spilled into the condom. 

Your lips haphazardly found his in a slow kiss as you both came down from your highs and your breathing returned mostly to normal.  His weight crushed you in the most peaceful way possible before he was slipping out of you and then pulling your back flush against his chest. You didn’t mean to fall asleep, but with Steve’s arms around you in the most comforting way, you did almost immediately. 

When you woke up, it had barely been an hour and the only reason you knew that was because the TV was now on and the live New Year’s Eve special was playing. You got up to go to the bathroom and then slipped on Steve’s white button-up shirt, only buttoning a few of the buttons, before getting back in bed. 

“Hi,” You whispered, head settling against his chest and his arms immediately came up to circle around you. 

“Hey,” He whispered back and pressed a kiss to the top of your head. You draped your leg over his hips to push yourself even closer to him. “Ten minutes to midnight. Should I take you home after?”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” You answered softly. “I wish I could stay.”

“Me too,” Steve said as one of his hands started lightly rubbing up and down against the curve of your hip. “One day, though.”

You smiled at that, tilting your head up a bit and kissing his jaw. “I can’t wait for that.”

Years down the road you’d both think back to this moment. 

When you’re laying in bed together in the house that you two moved into just weeks earlier, something bigger that would better fit your growing family. Oliver and Madeline would be fast asleep in their rooms down the hall from yours and their newborn sister would only be a few feet away from you and Steve, finally asleep in her bassinet. 

You’d be the one to bring up this night— how it was both the start of something and the end of something else— and he’d smile at you immediately and start absentmindedly playing with the ring on your finger. How it had been the start of a relationship that neither of you truly saw coming and how it brought a slow but steady end to the fears that both of you had. 

Steve would softly say that even though he’d been a little scared to tell you that night, he had known then— as he was dropping you off at your house close to one in the morning and softly kissing you goodnight on your doorstep— that he wanted to be with you forever. And you’d tell him that you had felt the exact same way, that you even ended up dreaming about it all that night like a lovesick teenager. 

That would make him kiss you, slowly and tenderly; something that never failed to make your head feel dizzy. 

Before you and him fell asleep too, just for a few hours before Luna woke both of you up, you would tell Steve that you were glad that Oliver and Madeline asked to have a playdate during that oddly warm day in September four years ago because that simple thing changed everything between you two. Your eyes would already be shut as you sleepily whispered how much you loved him and he’d smile while telling you that he loved you too. He’d then laugh a bit and say that it was the sleep deprivation making you extra sentimental right then but he was completely okay with that. His soft and sweet words of, “I’m also so glad that those playdates changed everything,” would be the last thing you remember hearing before you fully fell asleep, and it put the softest smile on your face.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

let me know ur thoughts<333

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[eclipsecrowned]

karin lindholm ; burying the hatchet.

4200 words, second person POV ; tw for disassociation, mental health, gaslighting, allusions to child abuse ; long post, consider viewing on blog rather than dash.

Your name is Karin Lindholm, and it’s as good a fresh start as any.

Your life starts in Miami, at the house in Coral Gables. Maybe there was something before that, but you prefer to live as if there wasn't. Your life, such as it is, begins with moving boxes, and fresh paint, and the safety of whatever came before being almost 4 hours away. You know that very well. You counted the hours piled into the moving truck with your mother, feeling like such a big girl for riding with her rather than in the car with your father and four siblings. It’s only a little scary, waking up in the night not knowing where you are, but you’re comforted knowing you’re not the only one that piled into your parent’s bed that first night.

It’s only a first night, though, and while it remains sweet, it’s a rare feeling. Coral Gables became familiar in a matter of weeks, more a home than anywhere else. Your days are spent playing the dutiful oldest daughter, the angel of your house, always well-behaved and quiet even when your sisters whine for attention. Kris can be forgiven for it, since she’s so little. Kaja is a bit harder to defend. You do so anyway, trying hard to stop problems before they begin. Old for your age, the neighbors say, though you shy back from affectionate hands. Your youth is a held breath, watching, waiting for someone else to prove the world isn’t so insurmountable.

Some might laugh at the sentiment. Your mother the successful surgeon, your father the lawyer, every door is opened to you and your siblings. Wealth can get you anywhere in this country. Your parents ensure you know an education is the gateway to such privilege, and that with such privilege comes a set of responsibilities towards your fellow man. That’s why your schoolmates come to mock you for your father’s law practice, you come to realize with age. Your father puts justice above payment, running a defense firm that doesn’t concern itself with the corporate bigwigs and snowbirds that get into trouble so far south.

Even so, you’re proud of him. Your parents have always been the kind of people to do right in every aspect of their life. It’s a model you work to emulate – The Perfect Daughter. Good grades, well-groomed, taking part in all the right extracurricular activities and still having time to pick up and escort your little siblings homeward after school, you are a wonder to the adults in your life. Sure, it’s not winning you a lot of popularity contests, but you have just enough friends that not even high school can dim your shine.

Sixteen is a time of rebellion, people laugh. Even your parents nudge you towards a little deviance, a little more than being the pretty Lindholm girl who is always home before dark and faints at the first blush of wildness. You laugh it off, saying you have no interest in blacking out at some homecoming party or wandering too far from your own prom.

You never, ever speak the truth. You never want to meet what lurks in the dark, to stray to far from your mother that loves you and keeps the world past and present at bay.

Your name is Karin Lindholm, and you must leave the nest eventually.

Everyone does it. Even you, that first autumn day after senior year. You trade away five hours of your life and the safety net of family for a full ride in Gainesville. The first night is always hardest, but you pull through on your own this time. The world becomes less of a question as you settle into campus life. In many ways, you come into your own.

You meant to follow your father into law. Really, you did, meaning to help the people of Florida in their times of need, fighting against a corrupt system. It’s just that words came hemorrhaging out of you, once you were lonely enough, and even new companionship couldn’t dam their flow. There was a poet in you, or at least the bones of a better than average author. Your major shifts towards English, with the ultimate goal of creative writing. Every new essay or exercise helps you feel like yourself again – for the first time in a very, very long time. New friends certainly encourage you, as you move from a player to the forever Storyteller of the bi-weekly The Interviewers Chronicles meet-ups.

That’s not all they encourage, either. Whether the words, the independence, or the support of friends, you begin to change. Confidence knits your self-doubt shut. You live for yourself a little bit more in this place. The night no longer seems so terrible. With the right drug cocktail, you feel the sun settle warm in your bones again. Van Gogh attested to yellow being a color of happiness. You cannot disagree.

That paradise comes to a close, as it must. A brief four year stint, but it’s enough for a lifetime, you hope. With the portfolio you’ve built in those years, you hope that your post-graduation situation will be as bright as your mood. Moving back home to Coral Gables, you’re content to pass one last summer in your parents home, waiting for the opportunities you are sure will come.

Your name is Karin Lindholm, and for once, you are too optimistic.

Besides a published OpEd and the odd invitation to post on a wider blog, your opportunities dry up fast. So does your optimism, it turns out, despite the reassurances of most of your family. You need a change, but you’re not sure where to start.

You tell yourself that in the future, you’ll attest your success to the importance of location, location, location.

Miami isn’t that far from your first home. Distinctly, you remember running wild through the streets with your brothers from time to time, public nuisances from the richer side of the tracks. Here, however, that history seems to be forgotten by the people. In so many ways, the streets and city welcome you into its arts community. You find brief success in counterculture and queer circles, writing of your experiences loving women and your hunger for a better world. Hilarious as the appeals might be coming from your throne, the words are just skillful enough that a readership embraces you.

The next Molloy, your peers tease you. It’s a name you knew even in Coral Gables, largely through the complaining of elderly neighbors. Molloy was the man who founded the biggest boost to Florida’s economy in over a century, the Night Island that glimmered off of Miami’s coast. Every night, the lights went up, and the mecca of capitalism was opened to the exceptionally wealthy. To your people, however, the old man was better known as a champion of change in his own right. He was one of those old guard, a gay man that could speak and write like an old Roman orator. He got to the heart of struggles and threw his words – and money – into the struggle. Molloy was, others touted, the Miami Robin Hood, stealing the rich blind in his shops and developments and turning that revenue towards leveling out the playing field in the real world.

He is also, Kris and her friends contend, the man who wrote at least one of the books on which your beloved The Interviewers Chronicles was built. You have no reason to contest this. He’s a character in The Vampire Chronicles themselves, after all. The Storyteller is mean to be a pastiche of Molloy’s appearance in the first book, and the idea tickles you deeply every time your shared living space turns into an impromptu mass towards the man’s virtues and latest publication in the papers.

It’s a scene you might never see again, if you don’t stat putting your rent on the table. Miami is rough, and expensive, and your works only draw in so much revenue at a time. Most of it is hand to mouth. There’s always the possibility of taking money from your parents, but the idea comes across distasteful now. You’re an adult. You can make your own way.

You find the offer in the most unlikely place. Scanning through the local paper on your phone, you find an advertisement for an open position. Help Wanted. Secretarial and Sundry position sought upon the Night Island. Contact Mr. Molloy for details. It follows that a man of his age would not know how to use a job posting board, but you’re still frozen to the spot by the old fashioned classified. Hesitantly, you log the number.

Your name is Karin Lindholm, and you have an interview.

Molloy is young. Problematically young, in fact, given the Island’s establishment and the length of his rule. He carries himself just right, however, for an older man. This idiosyncrasy can be easily chalked up to a good plastic surgeon, since no genes would stay so intact so late into one’s life. Besides, he puts you at ease almost from the word go, erasing that first confusion beautifully. This is a man it is dangerously easy to like, as he walks through your work history, your degree, your goals. You feel like you’re talking to an old, intimate friend, even as he cuts the occasional wry joke. He’s especially intrigued by your degree, and where you intend to go with it.

From hindsight, you’re sure that none of this won you your position. No, it’s when a young man walks in, only slightly older than your youngest sister. He’s lugging around a large canvas, babbling animatedly to ‘Daniel’ as he intrudes on this scene, pausing only once his dark eyes catch you. He sets the canvas down against the floor, leaning casually against it. Is this the new Gertrude, he asks. In an instant, you know the name of your predecessor. Maybe, Molloy answers with a boyish grin, if she wants to be. Your desires seem secondary to the auburn-haired boy, who unceremoniously dumps the canvas upon you. I need this scanned and put on the computer, he says, before gliding gracefully out of the room. He doesn’t even close the door behind him.

There’s apologies on Molloy’s tongue, embarrassment over whoever that was. Still, you look down at your newfound responsibility, and know immediately you want to stay. Did he paint this himself, you ask. Molloy gives a hesitant affirmation that the beautiful piece in your hand is an ‘Armand original.’ When you ask what file type he needs the scan to be, you realize you have lost the older man, but won the job in his office.

The Night Island is always busy. At the eponymous time of day, it’s practically a country in its own right. Calls must be made, messages relayed, order kept in at least this one office, and this is where you step in. Mr. Molloy – Daniel, he insists, though you never bite – is much too busy to hold down the place as he once did. His business partner – the Armand that you were so interestingly introduced to – is a host unto himself. Sometimes, the two make it easier on you. What a rare occurrence that is.

Regardless, you ferry red wine between the two offices, keep everything organized, greet guests. You are to send all calls from a Marius to the redhead’s office, and alert security to any golden-haired Frenchman that might make it into the building. Most vitally, you are the one who modernizes the business of Molloy and di Venezia. This floor had been perfectly preserved ever since your predecessor took the position in the 80s, and it falls to you to right that wrong. The first moment your boss asks you to fax something to Berlin, you stare at him, dumbstruck, and set about getting the personal information of his contact and sending a much more appropriate email. The work demands long hours, and is so much effort for one woman, but you have a good employer, despite his long absences and the strangeness of his partners demands. The pay, too, is fantastic. Really, you should be proud of where you’ve ended up. It’s not that you’re ungrateful...

Your name is Karin Lindholm, and something is wrong.

...It’s that your every night is given to this place. Days are for sleeping. You’re like a vampire, your mother sighs, and you try not to flinch. Even in such a crowded place, there’s a solitude to your station on the Island. More often than not, you’re alone in that glass-lined coffin, holding your breath for something to happen. Sometimes your employers are so strange. You ask yourself, why is it always wine, so red, warm in the glass? Why does the younger of the two seem so still, so pale? You swear sometimes you blink, and one of them has cleared the hall. Your mind is playing tricks on you again. You start to hurry towards the ferry faster and faster with each passing month.

You, alone, are alive among relics, ancient canvas and obsolete office tech. The nights are so long on the Island. It’s getting harder to ignore the odd stains on the wrists and lapels of the pair’s coats, when you take them on the coldest nights. The first thing you consciously register is how little your boss stirs the air, when he walks you to the docks on a winter evening. Your own breath turns to vapor in the chill, and yet you can’t say the same for him. Something is wrong here. His eyes are visible for too long as the boat pulls away, twin pinpricks of hazy light in the dark. You feel insane just admitting that.

But you’ve always been a little crazy. Sane people born of normal childhoods don’t take the pills you do. You’re ashamed to admit you’ve screamed once or twice, alone on that top floor, when the phone’s rung. You deny what you were doing, why it so upset you as you inched away from your desk, down the dark corridor. The other end was silent. You matched its volume. Then, a woman’s voice, perfect, whispering ‘Angel?’ Somehow, you don’t think that’s what either of those men are.

Therapists do their best, really they do. Your doctor never entertains your delusions, the fact you’re dancing around that your new job is dangerous and something is wrong with the people you share your evenings with. She only acknowledges the errant thoughts, and says she sees nothing wrong. This isn’t the support it once was, when she said she couldn’t see bruises on your shoulders, no gashes on your back. This isn’t your past. This is an ongoing nightmare, and you feel adrift, alone, in its current.

It hasn’t been like this since before you moved, a little girl shrieking at shadows and any hand that moved too close to you.

Your name is Karin Lindholm, and you have made a mistake.

You no longer recognize your diary entries as your own. Something hot and sticky wells up in your chest. Pen to paper spins out a horror story every time. Your mother is only a half hour away, and your father, but this is so different from the last time they saved you. What do you intend to do, walk into your childhood home and declare Miami’s golden boy some kind of monster? You’re not even sure what kind, if you could speak this apparent fact into existence.

Take a break, your therapist urges. Something about the brain, and living nocturnal. It changes something in your brain. Molloy and the other one never seem changed by it. Do you ever go out with friends these days? How’s your first draft going? No, you aren’t, and it’s not your own book you’re worried about. You’re wondering if Molloy wasn’t just making up whatever he published before you were ever born.

He looks so young. His voice is sweet though, and sincere, whenever he thanks you for your work. It’s been what, a year, he asks in that sweet Californian patter. It’s started to warm up out there, yes, but there’s a coldness to this place that never dissipates. Perhaps it’s that you live in Armand’s shadow, the young man always appearing just when you need him, or anticipating the stray thoughts you have towards need or desire. He smiles like a saint after every such moment, as if it were coincidence. Those dark eyes are blazing in spite of it. He’s making sport, you realize that in some deep, primal part of yourself meant to anticipate the predator.

There is no more yellow in the world. Even the dawn that creeps along the floor of your room is a hazy, sickly peach. The world has gone so dark, and you are nothing more than another timid creature trying to avoid the eyes and talons of your betters. You think you’ve done so well, keeping away from the teeth and hands of your masters. That’s just it, though. You’re so focused on those terrible beasts you can see, you forget about the ones you can’t.

Another late night, another ferry ride, and that sneaking suspicion you are not alone. Nerves frayed, you’re so terrified to turn around and see a ghost that you power through the crowd, hailing a taxi so nothing can catch you, hurrying into your home. The door clicks shut behind you, and you slam the bolt into place. It’s alright now. You fight to convince yourself that you are safe now. Molloy, or whatever dead man has haunted you on your way home, is gone. You lock your bedroom door anyway, as you step back into the safety of a familiar shadow. Still, there’s a weight settling on the roof above.

Your third floor window creaks. Then, inch by inch, a marble hand slides into place beneath the lift. Glassy nails softly scream against the panes, the lock breaking with a metallic whisper. The moonlight comes spilling in, haloing a beast you do not know.

Your name is Karin Lindholm, and you blink.

You blink, and the world comes back into focus. It’s just the sort of nice, featureless room that signals a liminal space. This is a hospital, that much holds true no matter the country. Sweden looks a lot like Florida from the right ward. The nurses are kind to you, the doctors full of good advice and compassion, even if the police are less than enthused with your place here. You’ve woken up, or so it seems, with dirt under your nails and a few months of mania running wild in your head. Only the drugs bring everything back into focus, without anything like coherence.

The last months are not completely erased. Your mind has only given you a thin layer of wallpaper between the now and the then. One tug and you’ll start reclaiming that time. Helpfully, others fill in a few of the blanks at first. You came to Europe by plane, into a Parisian airport. After that, you have dropped completely off the radar, moving across borders and certifiably alive only by the dubious state of your bank account. Just before the fever broke, you were found wrist-deep in a graveyard, pulling up dirt and unable to speak the local language.

That strikes you the most, once all is said and done. You’ve always spoken your father’s tongue.

It’s your father that comes to fetch you, after all. From behind thin walls, you hear those kindly doctors explain your case. A mental breakdown, they think, a total break from reality. You haven’t yet peeled back the paste and paper from your mind to say what really happened. Trying to remember on your own accord feels like a migraine. You wonder what your therapist will have to say about all of this, and will your insurance still cover a session?

In spite of it all, Sweden is safe. Whatever you were digging for, your hands only came up dirty. Now your father holds them, so clean and small in his grasp, and says everyone will be so happy to see you again. With a smile, you feign joy at the thought of returning home, getting onto the plane in a new dress and steady hands.

The home you return to will be thirty minutes away from whatever you were outrunning, after all. Whatever they are, you’re sure their knowing smiles and probing minds cannot reach you that far. You start ripping the wallpaper down piece by piece after your homecoming, a travel journal of paranoia and shifted reality. You remember the shadow at your window, and the knife, and something about the dawn. You walked away. You’re always walking away from this truth.

It has to be done on your mother’s card. You’re not sure that your employers are tracking your spending, but you like to be sure. Still, you’re going back to where it all began, and you have to be prepared, loading the bag into your passenger seat.

You’ve brought a hatchet into the elevator. Only the next few minutes will determine whether you mean to bury it to new beginnings, or into Molloy’s skull.

Your name is Karin Lindholm, and someone understands.

He isn’t surprised to see you. Oh, your sudden appearance is a shock, but he knew you were coming somehow, someday. For all the Hell you’ve endured, for how it’s thinned your body and darkened your eyes, Daniel Molloy is the one thing in your life that has stayed the same. The same, you imagine, as he’s been since 1985.

You can’t believe he’s apologizing. Somehow, he compels you to sit, not by supernatural means, but a soft voice and knit brow. It’s always like this, he tells you. The truth always does something to the mortals that stumble upon it. But people like you, people like him, people who are already on the edge of the cliff, it takes more than you ever intended to give. He’s sorry.

Every wound the last two years have inflicted are reflected back at you, as the night drags on. He never meant to inflict them, he says. Your position is a necessity, given what he and his partner are. He got careless, and you paid for it. No matter what found you that night, he takes the blame onto his own shoulders. There’s no making it right, no happy ending that suddenly fixes all that twisted and snapped inside of you. All he can hope to do is give you some peace with it.

You don’t have to return. He’s willing to give you whatever you need to stay in comfort, to leave this place to pursue your dreams, to call in whatever favor you need to rise above this. It tempts you, admittedly. You have the beast by the throat, and he’s pleading for your peace. What a pity, then, that his kind have already stripped whatever peace you had out of you, bloody and screaming.

If you leave, you murmur, there’s still others out there. People that aren’t like him, that make his partner seem civilized. Molloy does not disagree. He can’t promise a world without night, or the things that stalk through it. He can only promise your days will be safe, rounded out by the wealth only a man of his station can provide. Every way he means to make this right turns to ash in your mouth.

If you stay, you say, and he seems to startle. You press on. If you stay, will he let you learn? You can’t go blind into the night again, and you feel safer among one of his kind that has made his guilt clear than in the wilds with those things you can only see in silhouette. Is that allowed? Can a mortal stumble into this world and find protection on her own? Is their history a thing that can be shared among outsiders? That, at least, gives Molloy pause.

No, he says. This doesn’t mean what you think it will. There’s an experience in what he says, snippets of an old novel dancing across your head. This truth ruined him, a lifetime ago. Yet you don’t flinch, and you don’t beg for another way. He has to understand it isn’t envy that makes you speak. I can serve you better if I know what I’m facing, you admit without shame. It’s what you’re saying beneath it all that shifts your boss’ expression. It’s not what he can do for you. It’s what you can become. Not fangs and pallid skin like him, but knowledge, strength, cunning enough that you will never be the victim again.

If you can survive the wolves, then there should be no threats left from humanity.

Your name is Karin Lindholm, and you have found your place.

You awaken mid-morning, in your suite on the Night Island. You feed your dog. You check your messages, for anything that might have been forwarded to you in the night. Out the door you go, stopping for some breakfast and coffee from one of the few eateries that stays open past dawn.

Then it’s into the office, adjusting the latest of Mr. di Venezia’s artistic collection on the wall on your way in. There are calls to make, emails to answer, and schedules to get in order. After that, it’s a matter of dealing with the right businesses, delegating the right work. By night, devils might rule, but by day, you are the final word in this place.

You don’t speak of the hatchet that rests beneath your desk. Mercifully, neither do your employers.

#karintbt #long post //

[carewyncromwell]

Carewyn & Diego for the ask ?

How Carewyn Feels About Diego:

Carewyn didn't interact with Diego much until fifth year, when Merula introduced her to him. Her first impression was a bit bewildered, considering Diego's suave, charmer affect -- rather than seeing it as anything dashing or charming, Carewyn honestly saw it as kind of over-the-top and comical, mentally comparing it to Lando Calrissian lowering his voice while trying to charm Princess Leia in Star Wars. Fortunately Diego didn't seem disheartened by Carewyn's lack of "heart eyes" in response to his behavior and instead came across as very amiable -- and once Carewyn saw him in action on the dueling field, she really admired his talent. Whenever Carewyn's looking for a capable dueling partner or opponent, Bill, Ben, and Diego quickly become her top choices, and while working together as part of the Circle of Khanna, Carewyn relies on Diego to get everyone up-to-shape on the dueling field, especially their youngest members, Beatrice, Cedric, and the Weasley twins. Diego's respect for Carewyn is most obvious when he refers to her by the affectionate nickname "General," upon the formation of the Circle of Khanna. Post-Hogwarts Diego even ends up becoming a dueling instructor for young magic users and voluntarily teaches Carewyn's ward Erik how to duel, which helps him greatly in becoming an Auror when he gets older.

How Diego Feels About Carewyn:

Diego knew Carewyn from afar for the longest time, mostly just as "Cursebreaker Cromwell." Once he became friends with Merula in their fifth year, though, and started training her in dueling, he learned a bit more about Carewyn through her -- and no, interestingly enough, Merula didn't just have universally nasty things to say about Carewyn, either. As much as Merula resented Carewyn, it was clear to Diego that she did see her dormmate as a worthy opponent and even admired a few things about Carewyn despite herself, like her talents for dueling, flying, and singing and her overall fearlessness. Diego got the sense that Carewyn and Merula really could learn a lot from each other if they were even able to bury the hatchet, and since he enjoyed dueling with Merula, he was itching to get a crack at Carewyn, since Merula had spoken of her talent in wizard dueling. When Diego did finally duel Carewyn later that year, she actually managed to beat him -- but rather than being discouraged by this, Diego was thrilled, loving the prospect of having an opponent on his level. Whenever he duels Carewyn, whether he wins or loses, he always has a blast...and if he can make his eternally serious "General" crack a smile or even laugh now again with his compliments, he loves that too!

How does Carewyn feel about these HPHM characters?

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #hphm ask #carewyn cromwell #diego caplan #analysis

[1whimsicalgal]

👄 Pam, The O'riginal Chainsaw Gal 

Flower Child

March 1971 - when I was a free-spirited little hippie gal, all of 19. My boyfriend of 8 months, George Richard Wright Bush Jr., was taking my picture in front of the house he shared with Gunnar Hansen. It was on Avenue G in Central Austin, near the UT campus. Gunnar and I were sworn enemies. He was relentless in making sure I was left out while he and George went out to hunt chicks, drink beer, and smoke pot. George was quite easily encouraged in all three cases. After 13 months with philandering George, the incessant liar, I’d had my fill. I got out the back, Jack didn’t look in the rearview and happily lost track of both of them. George would try to talk to me on campus, but I was done. I’d taken the cure. Ah, love. Good riddance I said. I hoped.

This was two years and four months before Gunnar’s and my paths would cross again. It was on July 18, 1973, the first day on the set where we were beginning filming what would become the cult horror classic, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," 1974. The TCM cast, crew, producers, et all were gathered in Quick Hill, just outside Austin, Texas, at what would be called, “The Sawyer house”. It was located across a dirt road from what we came to think of as “the old Hardesty house”.

I was in for a big surprise that morning. Unbeknownst to either Gunnar, or myself, we'd both been cast in this little non-union (aka ’scab’) local horror film, "HEADCHEESE”, a working title. I was standing outside the Sawyer house on that muggy, hot Texas morning, chit-chatting with my acting colleagues, ‘Sally’, ‘Kirk’, ‘Jerry’, and ‘Franklin’ (you know them). We were getting to know one another. We were all dressed in our costumes, all our own clothes that they’d picked out from different outfits we’d brought from home for them to choose from, for us to wear in the film, a strictly low-budget affair. Nearby, parked in the yard of the Sawyer house, was the Vortex RV/trailer/office, a no frills, no AC job, where we were soon to sign our first contracts. Everyone was pretty excited and a bit lost.

Producer-writer, Kim Henkel, stuck his head out the open RV door and excitedly called over to me, “Hey, Teri!! Come over here! I want to introduce you to 'Leatherface!” OK, I’m ready. Kim seemed thrilled, proud as punch for us to meet. As I stepped inside, I made my way down the narrow aisle, walking toward a very large figure, a man with a head full of brown curly hair, who was sitting with his back to me. He took up one of the two banquette seats. Someone was seated across from him, but I can’t remember who. As I got even with him, I noted he was almost as tall sitting down as I was standing up. This guy was big. I was feeling an eery sense of deja vu. Kim said, “Leatherface, meet Pam!” Ta-da! He turned toward me and cocked his head to look at me, both of us prepared to say, “Hey, nice to meet ya!!” Instead, we both looked at one another in sheer horror. We each jerked back with our mouths wide open. Simultaneously, we both blurted out, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE??!!!” They call them "excited utterances."

Well, we got through the moment, gathered our wits, quickly cooled our heels, and shared little with those around us. (Ai-yi-yi!! What have I gotten myself into? ) Toward the end of the day, on a break, we had coffee together. Turns out, George and Gunner had had a falling out. George had parted the G-Avenue house owing Gunner money, just as good ol’ George had also owed me money when we’d parted. Gunn and I buried the proverbial hatchet and the rest, my friends, is history.

Rest In Peace

Gunnar Hansen 1947-2015

George R.W. Bush Jr. 1945-2017

**Thanks to my friend Eric Goode for the cleanup and colorization on these 50-year-old B&W photos.

Teeny-Tiny Addendum - It would be grossly unfair to posterity not to list GRWB’s many good qualities. Gunn would want me to do that. Over the years, they managed to reconcile. In 2012 Gunn invited me to meet him at El Mercado in S Austin, to interview me for his book. At the end, he asked if I ever talked to George, and had a few choice tidbits to tell me… but that’s a whole other story!

GB and I moved back in together after he moved from Ave G, however he never told me why he left Ave G and Gunn, or even that they’d had a falling out. He could be sneaky! All I knew was that I didn’t have to ever see my sworn mortal enemy, Gunnar Dang Hansen, ever again! Pretty sure GB moved out at the end of the spring semester of ’71, (after that picture above taken of me at their house). Then, we moved back in together (again!) to a cool house in Tarrytown in Austin.

GRWB was exceptionally charming, imaginative, smart, witty, spontaneous, creative, LOVED good music, laughing, good fabric, cashmere sweaters, had style, panach, exquisite taste, was thoughtful, kind, crazy/wild, very sweet, positive, complimentary, expert at apologizing, remorseful, loving, adventurous, and a true dreamer. We had tremendous chemistry and loads and loads of fun times together. We went everywhere together, went to Willie’s first picnic together in ’71. I believe we broke up 13 times in 12 months, usually getting back together within 48 hours. Incredibly talented, and, he had an absolute genius for finding new places for us to live.(~_*).

Thanks for reading.

Sending love to all. Posted on Pam's FB page: Saturday, 6 PM, January 22, 2022. Fair to Midland, partly cloudy, clear skies ahead.

#thecircuitousrouteissometimesbest  #lifeislong 

#lifeisshort



[theheadlessgroom]

"And despite saying looks aren't everything, you always fixate over mine." Constance haughtily remarked, "Hmph! For one who claims there's more to love than good looks, you can't seem to understand how my husbands ever fell for me. There are plenty of ways to make someone fall for you. Why Ms. Emily barely had to do anything to make you fall for her." She snickered with a wry smile, "Part of me thinks you might just be jealous." "And besides, for as 'terrifying' as she may be, you still don't see her around, do you? I don't believe either of us have any control over that whatsoever." Constance twirled a lock of hair around her fingers, staring off dismissively, "Who knows? I may even come to replicate her 'talents' someday." The Black Widow smirked, next interlocking her fingers. "After all, your bride exists in memory, surely, but who here has merchandise with her name and face on it, hmm? And who here has blood on their hands? Emily may have disturbed, but she's no killer." Though her grin quickly became more malicious as she added, "I'm sure you and the man she was meant to marry can attest to that." Constance outstretched her arms, tilting her head back slightly as she sighed, "Perhaps I could've loved him, from what you've said of him, he sounds like my type. Though, perhaps if he were richer." She twisted her arms around again to hold her shoulders, "After all, if he were marrying Emily for her money, that means he probably didn't have much himself, did he? Sorry, but even if I can respect his mentality, I could never be with such a pathetic man. What's there to gain?" She smiled serenely, "...Well, apart from a wedding of course. Those are always lovely to attend. My weddings were always the talk of the town in my life, you know?" She chuckled a bit from behind the back of her hand, fondly reminiscing, "And I'll have you know I don't JUST think of murder and money. How blasé. My husbands can attest that our marriages are perfect and that I am a wonderful bride, they're all perfectly happy and content in our relationship, even if they don't have much of a choice otherwise." She paused for a moment, before continuing, looking off, "...And yes, yes, it was a figure of speech. Honestly, as if her going on about that wasn't bad enough as it is. That girl never shuts up about it." She rolled her eyes, clearly thinking about the other stretching portrait ghosts.

"Oh, please," Randall rolled his eyes at the "jealous" comment-pretty bold claim in his book. "I just don't understand what any of your husbands would see in you: You're not particularly attractive, and your personality isn't much better. I suppose the only answer is that either you were that good an actress (which I doubt...), and your husbands were all blind as bats. Either way, poor bastards.

"And believe me, Constance, the chances of you becoming anywhere nearly as frightening as my Emily are the same as the chance of pigs sprouting wings," he snorted. "And she's a far better woman than you could ever be-you're pathetic, making your money by burying a hatchet in the necks of love-hungry men. You're not better than her just because you have the willingness to kill. You're nothing but a monster-you say you love your husbands, but what you really love is their money, and the attention you probably got after you killed them. You probably kicked up some big ol' crocodile tears for the press, didn't'cha? Tragic widow, oh, everyone come gather 'round the poor, heartbroken young bride! And all their wealthy friends did come along to comfort you, and you had a whole lotta new prey...

You're nothing but a soulless witch, Constance, and I wish when you kicked the bucket that Ol' Scratch came along to take you down to Hell as his bride. Though that might be too cruel to do to even him, honestly."

#Anonymous

[honey-snap]

HIHIII!!! Its time for a real post this tiiime!!1! THis time ITS!!!

*DrumRoll.wav*

writing i wrote a 1,831 word roleplay solo between my two characters burying the person i was roleplaying with and ending up fighting eachother

actual footage of me after writing it all down:

NOW FOR POSSIBLETRIGGERS!!! Because it cAn get a bit heavy!!

THIS MINI WORK DEPICTS: burial, dissociation, flashbacks (reliving in the past), and being pinned down (which i dont know how to summarize, physical altercation?)

ANYWHO IF YOU ARE OKAY WITH THIS, ENJOY!!!

Even though Jaakob had stopped yelling, Claus continued to bash his face. Over, and over, and over. He just wouldn't stop. He was about to swing down again, only to feel the hatchet leaving his hands. Jaakob had taken it. The ginger boy just dropped his hands in front of him, staring down at the now mutilated face of what once was his old caretaker. He weakly stood up, gazing down at the android's body. His heart's pounding began to slow down to a regular rate along with his breathing.

"It's over," was all he could muster up to say.

"Yes," responded the older man. "This part is over." He kneeled in front of the husk, bowing his head, before getting up. "I'll get the shovel."

As Jaakob walked away, Claus kept his gaze fixated on what he just destroyed. Though he was the one who won, he couldn't help but feel a bit of loss. Doctor was the first friend he made. The one who he first saw when waking up. The one who cared for him the most, and sadly the one who hurt him in the first place. His caretaker, and his killer. A preserver of life, and the bringer of death. He had it coming, Claus thought. But it didn't have to be me.

Jaakob came back with a shovel in hand, sticking it into the ground next to the campfire.

"Can you put out the fire?" he asked Claus, looking up at him.

Claus was still a bit shaken from everything, flinching at the question. He nodded and picked up some snow, throwing it on top of the little bit of flame that remained, putting it out. Jaakob was digging a large hole in the ground to bury the doctor in.

"You know," he started, "you did the right thing. He was a threat. You saw how he tried to hit me. Imagine how bad it would've been if I fell in the fire!"

"Yeah..." Claus moved over to stand beside Jaakob, watching the spade break the ground and be lifted. The process seemed laboring, and he couldn't imagine doing it himself. It was hard enough fighting. To instead be doing labor seems impossible. "...Though, I will say I feel a bit bad."

"Bad...? For him?" The man scoffed, pausing his digging to look down at the younger boy. "He killed you. I believe you got what you deserved. Vengeance." He would continue digging.

"Yeah...I think, though..." The ginger locked some of his fingers together. "...Do you think he might have actually loved me...?"

"Really? I'm pretty sure it's obvious," Jaakob sneered. "He doesn't. You told him to stay away from you, and well...he didn't listen."

"But you told me to. If not demanded me t-"

"Demanded?" Claus' body shuddered at the sound of the shovel stabbing into the ground. He could feel a cold stare gazing at him. "Is that what he said?" The man clicked his tongue and shook his head, continuing to dig. "He doesn't understand us. I never demand anything of you, correct?"

"...No, you never demanded anything of me." Claus dipped his head more, as Jaakob softly clapped his hands together.

"Good. I want you to remember that." He dug up the last bit of dirt and tossed the spade aside. "Alrighty." He pointed a finger at the head of the android. "You take the head, and I'll take the legs. Okay?"

The ginger boy nodded and they both made their way to pick up the body. Jaakob grabbed him by the feet and lifted him up, while Claus grabbed by the back of his head and tried to lift him, only being able to pick him up a few centimeters off the ground. The two worked together to bring the husk over to the hole, though most of the work was being done on the older man's part. They managed to get it in the hole. Claus stood up exasperated, while Jaakob only wiped off a bit of sweat.

"Would you like to do the honor of burying him?" he offered as he grabbed the shovel and handed it over to Claus. "I think you should do it."

The boy nodded and started to coat the hole with the dug up dirt. His technique was clearly amateurish, overflowing some areas. The man did his best to help even out the distribution of the dirt, until the hole was covered. Jaakob patted out the dirt flat.

The two just stared down at the covered up hole, unsure of what to say. Claus looked up to the man, who seemed proud. He seemed really...happy. The boy couldn't really say the same. He gazed back down at the ground, feeling himself slowly lose ground of reality. He...killed someone. Sure, not a human, but he killed his...killer. And even then he had a consciousness, probably a life before death. He was a doctor. He probably helped others out, and he could've been very important to someone. Sure, not so much to Claus, but...he seemed to have a good heart. A very muffled whistling sound came from his left side, but he couldn't move just yet. So lost in the thought, in the moment...

...Then the tune became much more clear. It wasn't whistling, but rather humming. A very low, soft hum. Of a tune he had heard before. It had a soft swing to it, an exotic vibe. He tried to put his finger on what it was, where it was from...Then different instruments filled into his mind. A backing stringed instrument, like it was being plucked, a guitar. Or was it a bass? One two, and, a, three, one two, and a, three...Yes, swing. The humming turned into a cello in his mind, crisp, and aged sounding. A crackling sound filled into his mind, like that of a...vinyl.

Claus' body froze up, everything suddenly coming back together. A vinyl, a vinyl...there was a vinyl player. He pictured a dimly lit room, walls lined with metal. Cold dirt, no, concrete. He could feel his arms and legs growing cold as he continued to think about it. The music in his head began to reverb to match the environment he was imagining. No, living in. He had been here before. His face started to feel cold, wet. Tears? It was warm on the other side. Blood. Tears, and blood. The humming kicked up again, following the violins now. He could hear some sweeping where the humming came from, and some boots on the ground...sideways. He had his head on the ground, he realized. He felt a stinging in his...left...eye...

...His left eye. He weakly wavered a hand over it. He couldn't physically feel himself do it, but he could see it in his vision. In his mind, he was waving in front of it. As he expected, he couldn't see anything out of that area, but when he moved to feel the actual torn flesh, it was...fresh. Wet, and fresh. He looked at his fingers, all bloody now.

"Goodnight, Vienna," two voices sang. One came from the vinyl player, and the other from the once hummer. The one from the player was a very clean, soft-spoken young man with an English accent. The English sounded very bold, yet soft, probably from the early 1900's era. He was very familiar with it. And the other voice was also that of a man, albeit in a lower octave, somehow both clear and broken. Broken being more like he yelled too much and now have a hurt throat. And clear, being...strong, and passionate. The voice was familiar to him as well. It sounded like...

The memory in his mind seemed to pause, and he half-tuned back into where he was. It couldn't be. And yet, it was.

"You city of a million melodies," Jaakob sang.

Claus' heart dropped, and his right ear started to ring softly. For the first time since forever, he felt the chill of the snowy environment he was in. He was...cold. Frozen. His hands twitched a bit, and he stepped a foot back, to which the older man elegantly held his hand out in front of Claus' face, causing him to flinch. The ginger boy stumbled in his steps and felt himself falling backwards, only to suddenly be gripped by his wrist and pulled back up. When he was grabbed, it felt like his wrist was going to crumble right in that grip. His vision started to dim, almost like he was in a dream. And his instinct right now was to run.

So he bit at Jaakob's hand, hard enough to draw blood. He could hear him hiss in pain, letting him go and making Claus fall again. He flipped himself and struggled to pick himself up. He finally managed and was ready to make a run for it.

"Enough!"

Claus felt his legs slip on the ground beneath, and he was only supported by yet another grip, this time by the upper arm. He was hanging from just this, and it hurt enough for him to let out a small scream. Then another grip at the top of his head, on his hair, and he felt his eyes roll back as he let out another yell of pain. And next thing he knows, hes back on the ground, a sharp pain in the middle of his back where a knee was placed. The hand that was gripping his hair loosened into a flat hand burying his head into the ground and laying his chin mostly flat on the snow. The hand that grabbed his upper arm also moved closer to his elbow and pinned his arm down.

"Easy, easy..." The man's voice was very soft in comparison to the sharper tone from before, almost like it was trying to soothe the boy. It didn't work. He continued to struggle under the pressure, his free arm flailing to try and bat at the man's face, but to no avail. The man applied even more pressure to him, wrangling him like some animal. Claus slightly choked and his motions began to slow down. As he settled down, the weight on him was slightly relieved. Eventually, the boy fell completely limp, unmoving. His body grew numb, and he could only barely feel a hand patting at his head.

"See...?" the calm voice picked up again. He couldn't even associate it with anyone anymore. "You'll be fully forgiven soon, I promise you." The voice was condescending, almost belittling. It was a clear facade, and it didn't seem like he wanted to hide it anymore. "All you need to do, is stick by me, okay...?" Claus still felt dizzy, and unreal. Nothing about this felt real. He felt himself being lifted from the ground, but it felt like nobody was picking him up. Eventually, he fully spaced out. Nothing to think about, nothing to feel, nothing to live in.

Just a very loud silence in his mind.

oh also word count caUSE IM NOT FUCKING AROUND I WROTE 1,831 WORDS ABOUT TWO BITCHES FIGHTING AND BURYING EACH OTHER THERE WAS DEFINITELY NO DEEPER SHIT

#writing #oc #oc writing #psilocybic hare

[oh-katsuki]

Golden Boy (Izuku x Reader)

Masterlist 

Pairing: Izuku x Reader

Summary: Izuku was a nice boy, except when it came to you. Yup, UA’s golden boy really knew how to treat a slut like you. 

Content Warnings: Dubcon, slight noncon, dacryphilia, size kink, face fucking, overstimulation, creampie, degradation, humiliation, spit kink, choking, finger choking, pet names, ooc izuku

Word Count: 5.6k 

A/N: I got SCARY h-word over this man and decided that I literally wanted him to hurt me and spit in my mouth. He’s too nice to not be a fucking freak, goodbye. 

Anyway, thank you to @eremiie , @mikaberries , and @veroyktv for beta-reading this!! I appreciate y’all !

Izuku tormented you all through high school. It was almost shameful to admit the way that his gentle teases melted into something far more sinister as the weeks bled into months and years. What started as subtle comments turned into  outright taunts and then the contactless threats no longer remained empty. 

No one believed you. And who would? 

Izuku was a model student and a good friend, someone with a kind disposition who wanted nothing more than to become the greatest hero. What reason could he possibly have to bully you? You’d never done anything to him. 

But he did. For three years he mercilessly taunted you and it only got worse your final year. 

Izuku would pinch at your thighs, sneering at you in the hallways when no one was looking. He’d snake his hand up your skirt and squeeze the supple flesh hard enough to leave bruises that eventually littered the entire inside of your thigh. They looked incredibly vulgar and Izuku would torment you about it endlessly, despite knowing that he’s the one who left them. 

He’d crowd you against the lockers after most people had gone home, knowing you’d be there late after your tutoring sessions. 

“Tsk. Quite some marks you’ve got there.” He’d say, stepping up to you, his broad shoulders squared, a half smile creeping onto his face as his eyes studied the inside of your thighs. The marks littered the otherwise smooth skin, visible when looking at you from the front. 

“You get them from slutting yourself out?” Izuku would ask, stepping toward you again. “Y’look like a bit of a whore, don’t you?” 

He’d lean in close to your ear, venom seeping into each of his words as he cornered you. His hand crept up your skirt, eyes trained on yours which widened with fear as he pinched down, relishing in the yelp of pain that escaped you.

You wondered how someone like Izuku could make you feel so small and so insignificant.You couldn’t even bat his hand away as he made a fool of you, pinching at the inside of your leg with thick, calloused, and scarred fingers. It didn’t matter how tall or strong you were because it always seemed that Izuku was bigger, domineering in attitude and words. He really did know how to reduce you to a helpless thing. 

It seemed Izuku was growing more desperate by the day as graduation gradually crept closer. It was like he made less of an effort to hide it, blowing into your ear and whispering vile shit to you while in class, things that would make anyone squirm in their seat. He’d start bumping into you, singling you out, making an effort to get you noticed by his friends so he could have you as a little plaything whenever they hung out. 

And you let him. You let him make a toy out of you, tagging along with Iida, Uraraka, and Asui on Saturday outings, letting Izuku pinch and prod at you from across a restaurant table.

The truth was, Izuku Midoriya fucking terrified you. 

So you couldn’t say no to him. To everyone else you looked like nothing more or less than one of his many admirable friends. Promising quirk and a promising future, what a match for UA’s golden boy. 

You were at your wits end and by the time graduation rolled around. No one listened to you. Hell, people often brushed off Izuku’s very genuine threats as classic childhood teasing. “You’re such a good sport!” they’d say as Izuku patted your back, laughing an all too cheery “just kidding!”

How were you supposed to focus on graduation day, all dolled up in your cap and gown, unwilling to admit to yourself that maybe it was for him? Still, you found yourself automatically flinching whenever Izuku came around, eyes following him across the lawn as he ignored you in favor of photos. Izuku had a promising job offer waiting for him, and his many awards won during the ceremony earned him several congratulatory handshakes as well as pictures for the school’s newsletter. 

Still, he’d catch your eye when smiling for the camera, an all to familiar glint in them. His smile made you sick to your stomach, made it churn in the worst of ways. It was doing back flips as he stalked across the lawn towards you until his sturdy frame was against yours. He leaned down, lips brushing beside your ear to whisper one final taunt. 

“It’s a shame you’re not wearing that little skirt of yours,” Izuku breathed, eyes flitting over the cap and gown. “Would have liked to pinch those skank thighs of yours one last time. S’what you deserve.”  

And then he stood there, watching the way tears began to crowd your waterline, threatening to spill over as three years of tormentation came to what felt like an underwhelming head. Izuku tilted his head, watching the way water stained your made-up cheeks, before taking his thumb and wiping the tears from your eyes. 

“Don’t cry, doll.” He taunted, voice far too sweet for the words that fell from his lips. “I’m not near done with you yet.” 

Why was his tone so comforting? So confusing that you weren’t sure if it was dread or relief that filled your senses, ears suddenly feeling clogged with water. Your eyes darted from his to anyone on the lawn who could see you, who might be watching as Izuku pushed you to tears with only a few words, until you caught Bakugou’s gaze. 

Ah, Bakugou Katsuki, someone who’s done to Izuku what he does to you. It’s a bit of a fucked up little triangle because while Izuku was bullied by him and you are bullied by Izuku, you couldn’t help but hope that Bakugou would be the one taunting you, the one pinching your thighs. At least that’s what you told yourself. Maybe he’d help you, after all, he was probably the only person who’d believe you in the first place. 

So once Izuku had wiped your tears with a condescending thumb and left to go partake of other party activities, you pulled Katsuki aside by the shoulder, fingers digging into the meat of his bicep. 

“What in th- you?! The fuck are you doing?” Bakugou asked, eyebrows furrowed in the permanent scowl that he wore so frequently. 

“Sh, look please just, hear me out.” You spoke, voice hushed as your eyes shifted around. You had the feeling that if Izu saw you with him, you’d be in for it. “I just- I really need help.” 

Bakugou was about to scoff, was about to roll his eyes and walk away until he saw the redness under your eyes that the makeup couldn’t hide. The way you sniffled slightly as you asked and the way you looked to the floor. He’d never seen you like this, almost broken. It was something he’d seen often in Izuku, but something about seeing you like this made him ache. 

“What?” He responded, trying not to seem too invested. 

“It’s Midoriya.” Your voice grew quiet, almost in shame as you spoke the formal version of his name. 

“And?” Bakugou was impatient. He cared about you but not enough to sit here for five minutes while you stuttered. “Spit it out.” 

“He- he won’t leave me alone.” The words tumble from your lips so fast and before you know it, your hands are balled into fists on his chest, the material of his gown scrunched inside them in a plea. “He’s a nightmare, he pinches me and says the most awful shit to me. I- I mean, the inside of my legs and thighs are littered with bruises and n-no one believes me.” 

“Midoriya? As in, ‘shitty deku’ Midoriya?” Bakugou takes a step back in slight shock. 

“Yes!” You shout, far louder than you intended, pulling him closer slightly as you hush your tone in a whisper. “What the fuck am I supposed to do?” 

He nudged you off of him, brushing off his gown. Bakugou would be lying if he said it didn’t make his blood boil. Sure, him and Midoriya had buried the hatchet a long time ago but he still wanted dirt on the guy, plus he thought it was a coward move for him to bully someone as pretty as you. Though after seeing the way your eyes get wide in fear, he can’t say that it wasn’t incredibly tempting. There was something enticing about how you looked when you begged, no doubt Izuku saw it too. 

“You’re too sensitive.” He scoffed, meeting you gaze and watching the way your expression fell. “What you do is graduate and forget about that shitty extra. There’s really nothing else to it.”

You reached for him again out of habit this time, like if he turned around now you’d really be thrown to the wolves. 

“N-no, Bakugou, please.” You plead again, tears once again gathering in the corners of your eyes. “I-I can’t. I just need help.” 

Oh, he gets it now. 

He sees what makes you so appealing, what makes it so easy to walk all over you. You looked pretty when you cried. So he leaned in, his scowl turning into a smirk before speaking again. 

“No.” Bakugou’s smirk turned into an outright grin, eyes crinkling at the corners before he stood back up. “I graduated. Shitty Deku is your problem, not mine. Deal with it yourself. Just stop talking to him or whatever.” 

And with a wave of his hand he was off, walking towards his group of friends. Well, there goes your life line, the one person who actually believed that Izuku was tormenting you wouldn’t even lend you a helping hand. You supposed it was too much to hope though, and he was right, you could forget… stop talking to him. Why did the idea of that suck almost as much as staying under this thumb? 

“____!” Bunette locks bounced as your friend came towards you, hand outstretched in a wave before she pulled you into a hug. “We’re all going to Midoriya’s place to celebrate graduating, come with?” 

You liked Uraraka. Well, you actually liked all of Izuku’s friends. They were sweet and honestly none-the-wiser to Izuku’s torments and taunts. She wore the kindest smile, eyes bright with the excitement of finally starting her adult life. 

You glanced at the rest of them, eyes flitting around friendly faces until your gaze met Izuku’s. He looked upset, eyebrows furrowed slightly and eyes cold as he stood there. They all agreed, urging you to go before Izuku spoke up, smiling gently at you over the top of Uraraka’s head. 

“You should come. We’ll miss you if you don’t.” The rest of the group nods their agreement, but it wasn’t them that pulled the small okay from your lips. It was Izuku, the way his eyes had a threatening glint to them as he spoke, a smile creeping into them in the most unsettling of ways. Your stomach was turning again, twisting over and over because something about the way Izuku looked at you made you squirm. 

“Yay! Okay, we’re all gonna meet there after!” She smiled, taking your hands in hers and giving a small squeal. “It’s gonna be so fun!” 

And with that she was bouncing off with Asui in the direction of Kaminari and Kirishima. 

Izuku stayed behind, walking slower than his friends so he could bend down to speak to you. You could feel his breath against your neck as he spoke, words sending shivers down your spine. Despite the way your heart hammered against your rib cage, you tilted your head to hear him better. 

“You better be there, doll.” He muttered. “It’ll be worse for you if you’re not. Be a good girl for once, yeah?” 

He sounded more upset than usual, hand coming up to squeeze your shoulder hard enough to make you flinch, and when you looked up to meet his eyes, he didn’t wear his standard grin. Izuku looked angry, furious even. It made your skin crawl, made heat creep up your neck and onto your cheeks so furiously that you found it hard to see through. 

All you could do was nod, fighting the pout that tried so hard to paint your face. You squeezed your thighs together instinctively at the phrase. He never praised you, not even once. Hearing the words “good girl” drip from his lips so angrily made them fly shamefully south. He gave a small laugh before walking off. It was almost like he knew, leaving you to rub at your sore shoulder. 

---

Why were you here? You could have just not come and then you never would have had to see Izuku again, never would have had to deal with him until one day in the future when you’re too successful a hero to pinch. Still, you wouldn’t admit it to yourself or anyone else, but you might miss him. The teasing was a nightmare but it was attention, something that reminded you that at least Izuku still saw you. 

He couldn’t be ignoring you if he was calling you a slut. 

You arrived after everyone and Izuku opened the door for you with a jeering grin before stepping aside to let you in, pinching at your thigh again. He noticed immediately that you wore a skirt and he didn’t have to wonder why. It was an invitation for him, of course. 

You’d actually never been to Izuku’s house, so sitting in his living room eating snacks and drinking was unusual to say the least. It was surprising because beyond pinching you in the doorway, Izuku was being oddly kind. 

He sat next to you, his thigh pressed against yours, but he didn’t try anything. Didn’t whisper in your ear or grab at the fat on your side. You couldn’t help but ask yourself why. Even as the latter half of the day droned on, you were on edge despite being treated, finally, like one of the group. What did you do wrong? Was he no longer interested in you? Most importantly though, why were you upset that he wasn’t pushing your buttons? 

The end of the day came quickly, dark settling over the house while everyone gathered their things to leave. You’d all walk home together, leaving Izuku alone in his house. He smiled as everyone waved goodbye, bittersweet tears in his eyes as his final high school hang out came to a close. He cried at the ceremony while delivering his speech and then again at his house while Uraraka babbled on about her appreciation of UA. You can’t say you felt the same. 

“Not ____.” He said as you slipped on your shoes, placing a hand on your shoulder. “I’ll walk her home since she lives in the opposite direction. Plus, I gotta give her something.” 

Izuku smiles at his friends, who all nod their understanding. They wouldn’t suspect that he’d do anything wrong, that he’d be keeping you behind to maybe, finally, torment you. What a fucked up way of thinking. The door to his house clicked shut and your blood ran far colder than you thought it would as he approached you. 

“What’s wrong, doll?” He taunted, a fake pout adorning his features. “Thought I’d let you off easy? After today?” 

Izuku raised an eyebrow before rolling his eyes at the realization that you don’t know what he’s talking about. 

“Wow, you really are a slut aren’t you? Clinging to Bakugou so shamelessly today?” He scowled looked over you. 

Your eyes widened, lips parting as you remembered grabbing at Bakugou’s shirt, pulling him towards you earlier that day in a plea for help. 

“Did you think he would help you?” He sneered. “Bakugou’s just like me. He doesn’t care about a whore like you. Did you think that if you pushed against him like that he’d cave? Fold because your perfect body was flush on him?”

Izuku took your face between his pointer and thumb, spitting venom at you, waiting for you to respond. His compliment flew over your head. 

“N-no.” Yes. “I swear Izuku… I- I didn’t-” 

“You- you- you didn’t what?” Izuku responded, mocking your miserable stutter. “You’re my toy. Pisses me off when you let other people play with you.” 

And then he’s dragging you towards his room, pulling you into the cramped space and closing the door behind him. He’s muttering like he usually does, pushing you onto his bed so you’re sitting on the edge. 

Why were you so relieved right now? Why was your cunt already sticky with arousal? Why did every single word he was saying to you go straight south? You take your bottom lip between your teeth trying to find a way to shake your head in protest— to get up and leave— but the movement just wouldn’t come. Instead, you hang your head, eyebrows pulled up and cheeks flushed with heat as he stares you down. 

“Why are you doing this?” Your voice is barely a whisper, hardly audible over the sound of his frustrated breathing and your own rampant heart beat. “I’ve never done anything to you.” 

Izuku scoffed this time, stepping forward and taking your face in his hands again. 

“Haven’t done anything?” His words are venomous and his face is inches from yours, hot breath fanning across your cheeks. Were his hands always this big? “Dressing like that and saying you ‘haven’t done anything’?” 

His eyes flit down to the fat of your thighs, free hand groping the flesh hungrily, hard enough that it had you sucking in a sharp breath. Izuku couldn’t take it anymore, squeezing your cheeks and pressing his lips to yours in an aggressive kiss. 

Truth was, you drove Izuku batshit crazy. Right from the moment he saw you he could hardly contain himself, prancing around in that tiny fucking skirt with an ass like that. Daring to act so innocent when he was gripping the edge of his desk to keep from pouncing on you as you introduced yourself to him, as you hung all over his middle school bully, or as you flashed your hot pink panties while in class. 

To him, you were asking for it and the way you played dumb only made his blood boil further. Izuku was a nice boy, always had been, but the day that he made you cry, telling you that you kind of looked like a slut in your skirt, was the day he knew that he’d have way too much fun with you. 

Your eyes got so big, welled up so quickly with tears that he knew were caused by him. It made him proud, made his chest swell at how quickly he could completely ruin your day. This must be how Bakugou felt, to some degree, except chances are that he wasn’t thinking about what your puffy, swollen lips might look like when you’re choking on his cock. 

He’d been thinking about it since he met you. Pushing you further and further because you were just so fucking cute when you cried and if he couldn’t consume your thoughts because you like him, then he’d have to settle for consuming them because you’re afraid of him. 

You grunted against him, eyes going wide as his lips crashed into yours. You were spinning, heart pounding as his tongue dipped into your mouth hungrily. He pulled away from you quickly. 

“Drive me fuckin’ crazy, looking like that.” Izuku seethed. “If you’re gonna play clueless, y’might as well make use of yourself. S’what you deserve.” 

And without asking he pushed you from the bed and onto your knees in front of him. You knew where it was going, knew that Izuku wasn’t going to let up because this boundary was being crossed. Still, you shamefully rubbed your thighs together, blinking up at him in confusion and arousal. 

“Such a whore.” He said, freeing his cock from his pants and letting it slap against his stomach. Izuku relished in the way your eyes widened, in the way you unconsciously licked your lips. And then he’s tapping the side of your mouth with his cock, head tilted back in a taunt as he watches the way your eyes brim with premature tears. He’d show you real crying. 

“Suck it.” A simple command, but one that had you shivering. He kept his hand on your shoulder while his fingers dug into it with a force that was all too familiar. is cock throbbed in his hands as you sniffled and parted those pretty, glossed lips. 

Izuku didn’t wait, no, he couldn’t wait, pushing his full length to the back of your throat and beyond, groaning when it entered the tight, wet space beyond your mouth. His head fell back and his mouth fell open at the way you choked on him. Tears forced their way out of your eyes and down your cheeks as he began fucking your mouth. 

“Y-you’re a real crybaby, huh?” He cooed, a lazy half-smirk gracing his face. “You did this to yourself. Such– a fucking– tease.” 

He accentuated his words with harsh thrusts into your throat, drool pooling in your mouth and dribbling down his cock to his balls. It ran down your chin, mingling with tears as he continued to fuck your throat. 

Izuku was big, far bigger than you expected him to be. He completely filled your throat, stretching your unprepared mouth open. You could feel the sides of your mouth pulling at his size, lips cracking as you struggled to take all of him with each of his thrusts. Still, when you looked up at him through big teary eyes, knees growing sore from the way his fist held you to the floor, other hand pulling you against his cock, your cunt grew wet with arousal. 

He pulled you off him by your hair, watching the way you gasped and sputtered and sobbed. He loved the scratch in your throat as you coughed and he picked you up by the arm and crawled between your legs. 

“Wearing such a tiny skirt to my house.” He spit. “You knew what you were doing, lookin’ like that with your ass out and shit.” 

Izuku’s eyes scanned over you hungrily, like he’s been waiting to get you here for so long. Fuck, he still looked big, hovering over you and supporting his entire weight on one of his arms as his other hand wandered down. He flipped up the fabric of your skirt, admiring the way you flinched as his hand ran up your inner thigh. 

His hands ran over your figure, squeezing at the fat of your stomach, thighs, and chest. Izuku has been dying to get a piece of you since you met, since he first laid eyes on that frustratingly sexy figure of yours that led him to spiral to this moment. His hands dipped back to your inner thigh, ensuring that your skirt was out of the way, though it was so small already that it proved no obstacle at all. 

His breathing grew heavy, hand gently gliding along the supple flesh that he’s pinched so many times, marks from your final day of classes still fading. Izuku’s eyebrows were furrowed together as his hands found your panties, touching you over the fabric that was now soaked through. His eyes snapped to you so fast as he pulled the fabric aside with calloused fingers, wasting no time dipping his fingers into your soaking folds. 

“You fucking pervert.” He sneered, glancing down to show you just how wet you’d gotten, all for him. “You like it when I’m mean to you? So fucking dirty.” 

Izuku rubbed a swift circle around your clit and you brought your arm up to hide your face, biting into your forearm to muffle the sounds. You shook your head, squeaking out a no as his fingers curled up into you. 

“You sure about that? You’re dripping.” Izuku grunted, curling his fingers with his entire forearm and hearing a moan from you. “See? Fucking slut, giving me those eyes, like a lost puppy.” 

It was undeniable how you clenched around him and he let out a curt laugh of disbelief. 

“Oh… you like that name, don’t you, puppy?” He dipped down to bite at your neck, humming into the skin. 

You squirm beneath him but he has you caged in under, your legs unable to move around. Your stomach still turned in fear of him, but that fear was mixing with the intense pleasure building in your core. Even his fingers were a stretch and you could feel his thick cock hitting your abdomen with each aggressive curl, your mind consumed with just how good it would feel for him to break you open. After all, he’s chipped away at almost every ounce of self respect you had. In fact, he practically already owned you mentally, now he was just claiming what he should rightfully own physically. 

“I hate girls like you.” He spat, fingers picking up their pace as you were sent barrelling towards your high. “Acting like you don’t know what you’re doing to me. So fucking stupid. But look at you now— Your cunt is practically drooling on me— pathetic.” 

You were close, hot with arousal as he lifted your arm from your face. 

“Getting close huh? I can feel your whore cunt clenching. Y’wanna cum?” He grinned widely through furrowed brows. 

Your eyes were glossed over, tears spilling onto your cheeks and for a moment Izuku almost felt bad for you. Still though, you were just too fun to fuck with, too fun to absolutely ruin. You looked prettier than he could have imagined right now; face sticky with tears of arousal, embarrassment, and fear. Izuku was a nice boy, he really was, except when it came to you because now he just couldn’t stop himself from ruining your cunt. 

You were close, impossibly close as you bit your lip in an attempt to muffle the whiney yes that breached your lips. It was involuntarily, almost a survival response as his fingers continued making that delicious squelching sound. Those years of torment were beginning to twist. You were beginning to convince yourself that no, it wasn’t so bad, it’s okay to want to cream on his fingers and be his good girl. 

So you nodded, dew-filled eyes stricken with fear meeting his predatory ones in a confirmation. He was building you up so well, your stomach turning over and over, the knot tightening and set to break. And then he pulled his fingers from you as you clenched around nothing, a blinding orgasm ripped from you all by his fingers. Your back arched up off the bed and pathetic whines left your lips. 

“You’ll have to beg for it.” He smirked, sitting back on his knees, discarding your panties with a hard tug and running the head of his cock through your slick while you whimper. “Tell me you like it. C’mon. I’ll let you cum on my cock if you do.” 

Right now you were certain you’d do anything if it meant you were allowed to cream over him, so you parted your lips, hiccuping through broken sobs. 

“P-please Izu, need to cum.” Your voice was low and quiet. 

Izuku pushed the head of his cock against your entrance, glowering down at you as he pushed the fabric of your shirt up over those perfect tits that he couldn’t get enough of. He sucked in a sharp breath, facade falling for a moment until he brought his eyes back to yours. 

“You like it when I’m mean, huh? Lemme hear you say it.” Izuku gave a cruel smile, eyes darkened with lust. 

“Yes! Yes, I like it.” You shout, hand coming up to grab his arm, speaking through desperate tears. “Please fuck me, please Izu.” 

Izuku bottomed out in one fell swoop, hearing all he needed as he throws his head back, a groan of fucking pathetic falling lazily from his lips. He rolled his head across his shoulders, starting to move in and out of you, stretching your cunt open with each push and pull. 

“So fucking tight. You a virgin?” His tongue swiped at his teeth as he relished in the stretch and the way pain wet your cheeks. 

God, he fucking hated you. Hated every part of you. He hated the way your lips looked so good around him, the way your thighs squeezed so nicely around his waist, the way your tears only egged him on. It all made him want to hurt you. You brought out the worst in him. You were too fucking tempting, too easy. 

You weren’t a virgin but the stretch of his cock made you feel like one. God, you could feel him in your throat as you gripped pathetically at his biceps, a plea to get him to slow down. Izuku wouldn’t listen though, pounding into your gummy walls mercilessly. 

“Not gonna answer?” He laughed, low and threatening before folding your knees to your chest. “Tells me all I need to know. How many men have fucked this cunt of yours, huh? Bet it’s more than I can count on one hand.” 

Izuku brought his hand up to your face once more, squeezing your plump cheeks together. 

“Don’t worry, puppy. Gonna make it so you can’t take anyone else.” He spits in your mouth, forcing it closed. “Fuckin’ mine now, yeah? My little whore, always have been, right?”

You screw your eyes shut, swallowing sloppily as spit drips down your chin and tears streak from your eyes. Where did he learn to speak like this? 

“Say it.” 

You’re close again, so full of him, so desperate for him to give you what you want. You can’t resist him, so you might as well submit. Maybe it will make everything easier because you were finding it harder to pretend that you didn’t like it now. 

“Yours, m’yours.” You choke out, hand flying to his large one to move it over your throat. “Belong only to you.” 

Izuku squeezed the sides of your neck with startling force. It’s almost hateful in how strong it was but it made you whine out against him, voice raking against vocal chords that he forced closed. 

“Slut. S-such a slut.” He stuttered as you clenched around him, hitting your high with a roll of your hips and a pathetic whimper. “C’mon, gimme it, puppy.” 

Oh god, the pay off was unbelievable. The way you whined his name was better than any sob he pulled from you to date.You were so helpless,your body wracking with waves of pleasure and your pussy clamping down around him. This is what he saw in you the first time he made you cry— this expression. He knew you could make it, eyes big and wide, filled with tears and your mouth open in a deep moan. Fuck, he loved it. 

“God, so tight. Good puppy, good fucking puppy.” He fucked into you faster, chasing his own high now as he assaulted your overstimulated cunt. 

Your head spun, no longer preoccupied with the taunting or the tormenting. You were stupid on his cock, his good little puppy, like you were meant to be. You should have given in earlier, should have let him shove his dick down your throat sooner because even though you were struggling to get off his fat cock, you couldn’t, and you loved every single second of it. Izuku was only mean to you, only mean to his puppy. 

You’re so overstimulated, barreling towards another orgasm and now all you can think about is how bad you want him to fill you up. 

“C-cum inside.” You managed to choke out between pathetic sobs and whimpers. You’re crying for it, begging. “Please cum inside of me.” 

Izuku let out a low chuckle before bottoming out one final time, shoving his thick fingers down your throat and filling you up. When Izuku came, he came a lot. It flooded your cunt before leaking out the sides where he had you split open. Izuku couldn’t hide his true nature for long, his thighs beginning to quiver and a low groan becoming a high pitched whine as he emptied his balls inside of you like he’d been wanting to for so long. 

He stayed there for a moment before pulling out of you and crouching down to watch the way he spilled out of you, admiring your ruined pussy and body. You’re stretched out from him, tears staining your cheeks and cunt gaping from his cock.

And then he’s biting at your thighs, marking up the inside of your leg as you can barely manage to push out a squeal. He’s leaving the marks he’s always wanted to. Those pinches on the inside of your leg were a stand in for the ones he’d create with his teeth. He nipped at the sensitive skin before dipping his tongue into your folds to collect the mixture of him and you in his mouth. 

Izuku watched the way you twitched as he cleaned you up, admiring the way your legs flinched whenever he ran his tongue over your sensitive clit. He’s much gentler now but his eyes still frightened you when he came up from between your legs to spit the mixture of cum and arousal back into your slightly parted mouth, ordering you to swallow puppy. 

When you finally do— too tired and fucked out to think about protesting, he smiles— standing up off the bed and buttoning his pants with a heaving sigh.

Izuku turned back to your form on the bed, watching the way your chest heaved and the way your pleated skirt crowded at your hips, ruined cunt on display and shirt pushed up over your bitten up breasts. He made a mental note to remember to take your clothes off next time.

tags: @namrekcaivel , @mikaberries , @cleardamage , @veroyktv , @honeyzawa , @erenstellar , @female-titan , @kiyoobi , @pancakesv , @jean-prettyboy-kirschtein , @lazyezstudy , @jeanbabygirl , @peachysimp , @kirsteiiins , @babybottlepop96 , @ayannamika , @fiaficsxo , @chittaphon96​ 

let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from my taglist!

#izuku x reader #midoriya x reader #deku x reader #izuku x reader smut #deku x reader smut #midoriya x reader smut #izuku smut #izuku midoriya smut #izuku midoriya #deku smut #deku #mha #bnha #mha smut #bnha smut #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #my hero academia smut #bully!izuku x reader #mha x reader #bnha x reader #tw: dubcon #tw: noncon #tw: dacryphilia #tw: size kink #tw: degradation #tw: choking #tw: humiliation #tw: cre*mpie

[stray-kids-react]

Their friends don't like you

Masterlist

...

Bang Chan

° Would want to keep his relationships and friendships separate for this reason alone, he knew you and Bam Bam wouldn't see eye to eye and didn't want to choose either of you over the other.

° You kept your mouth shut about your dislike for Chan's friend for his own sake. You didn't want to ruin a close friendship he had, but Bam Bam on the other hand would constantly ask why Chan likes you.

° Chan got a bit annoyed with his friend due to how petty it was coming off after a while. You could say hi to him and Bam Bam would find something off about it, which made Chan more and more frustrated.

° You didn't say anything bad about Bam Bam, and Chan saw how much of the bigger person you were being. He didn't want to see you being picked on constantly, even if it was by his close friend.

° The last straw was when Bam Bam tried to hook him up with someone else behind your back, all of his frustrations built up inside him and his temper went through the roof. He officially had enough.

"Chan I want you to meet-"

"Stop! I'm sorry to whoever you are you seem very nice. But I'm in love with Y/n and they never say a bad thing about you, yet you hate on them constantly. If you don't apologize for everything, we're done."

Lee Know

° In all honesty, it took a while for you and Minho to like each other. You had a Tom and Jerry relationship for years, until you finally let him see past the wall you always build up. He's the only one who ever saw the true you.

° This is why the members didn't get what Minho saw in you, and everytime he said 'you don't see who they truly are.' they thought it was just an excuse to make you seem more likeable.

° Most of the members gave you a chance, but one was very hesitant to. Jisung didn't trust you, and did not want to see Minho get hurt at all. This is why he refused to give you one more chance after an incident.

° You opened up to the other members, apologizing for your behavior. You explained you had a terrible day that day and became very crusty, they accepted it and welcomed you with open arms. Except for Jisung.

° This awkward relationship with Jisung went on for months, even when you tried to reach out to him. Other members would even comment on how nice you truly were, but he just couldn't trust you.

"Maybe I should try talking to Jisung once more."

"No it's useless, he apparently just doesn't want me to be happy."

Changbin

° Thought your double date with Wooyoung and r/n went great, that is until Wooyoung texted him at midnight telling him how much of a let down you were. Even if it was in a joking manner, it genuinely hurt.

° He saw how happy you were to make a new 'friend', and couldn't dissolve that beautiful smile just because the reality of it was false. Wooyoung thought you were a bore, while you thought he was amazing.

° Changbin would distance himself slowly from Wooyoung, not appreciating the way he describes you. He didn't want him to come over and say those terrible words in your presence, it would break your heart.

° But Wooyoung noticed his friends absence, and decided to head over to your shared apartment where you two were cuddling while watching spirited away. Changbin's heart immediately sank.

° Wooyoung took Changbin aside to talk, and you could hear every words thanks to thin walls and their loud voices. You truly saw Wooyoung as a friend, and it hurt to hear how he felt about you.

"How can you date someone who is so boring, you can do so much better."

"I'm starting to think I could get some much better friends instead."

Hyunjin

° His best friend has a humongous crush on him for years, and thought she could finally get him. Until you came along and stole his heart, this caused fury to infect her bloodstream and needs of destroying you.

° Hyunjin was friends with her, but never saw her as a best friend and had much closer friendships. All of the closer friends adored you, you even became best friends with Seungmin after one hang out.

° This is why it came off much more suspicious to Hyunjin when she all of a sudden accused you of beating her up the day prior. Hyunjin knew you wouldn't hurt a fly, so why was she lying to him?

° He was about to ask why, when you opened the door to the Stray Kids dorms. She noticed your entrance and launched herself onto Hyunjin. He pushed her off and wiped his lips profusely.

° Now knowing the reason behind her lies, he demanded her to leave. Not giving a single care about their now ruined friendship. His tone was harsh and furious, clearly unimpressed with her actions.

"But Jinnie, you know you love me more. Y/n doesn't deserve you."

"I never liked you like that, now leave before I make you."

Han

° You didn't know how loyal Jisung was to his friends until you hung around them, he'd sometimes completely ditch you just to hang out with them. This made you feel irritated naturally.

° When you snapped at Felix, all of them looked at you with an unimpressed face. Your own boyfriend clueless as to why you snapped at his friend who kept stealing him from you.

° The drive home with Jisung was silent, tension filling the empty car. You had a suspicion that your relationship was on its last string and you just ran at it with scissors, this terrified you.

° Once you walked into your apartment and sat on the couch, you braced yourself for the words that were about to leave Jisung's lips. Knowing they were going to be the last ones from his that you'll ever hear.

° He stood at the door way with a sad look in his eyes, explaining to you that it isn't your fault it is his. Before expressing many apologies, just to end with 'we're over'. Just like that, he gave up on your relationship.

"Just say it Jisung, just get it over with."

"I'm sorry y/n, but I'm breaking up with you."

Felix

° You were visiting Felix's family for the holidays, getting to know his friends and family. One of his childhood friends gave you bad vibes, constantly catching his eyes on you even though you were Felix's.

° You tried to ignore his antics for a couple days, but then he tried to get physical. He pinched your hum while waiting in line. Causing you to yelp and jump away from the creepy man claiming to be Felix's friend.

° The same night you asked Felix about the man, finding out Felix didn't even consider him a friend. Only ever sharing a couple of classes with him, he soon followed up with the question you dreaded "why?".

° The moment you explained the events, you were embraced into your boyfriend's safe arms. Sighing in discomfort as he scowled at nothing, wishing that nothing was the man who made you uncomfortable.

° the next day the man tried to visit you at your hotel room, only to be answered by Felix who immediately turned sour the moment he saw him. Before the man could speak, Felix flipped him off and shut the door.

"Babe who was it?"

"No one important, just some weirdo."

Seungmin

° You shared the same classes with Jeongin all throughout your school years. And both of you despised each other, a competition always brewing between the two of you no matter the subject.

° You hoped to never see his face again after you graduated, but your hopes were crushed when your boyfriend Seungmin introduced you to his best friend... Yang Jeongin. Both of you just stood there in complete shock.

° Seungmin thought their was a history with you two, assuming it was romantically since neither of you ever mentioned each other to him. You could cut the tension with a butter knife, which made Seungmin feel hurt.

° He pulled you aside and asked you if you and Jeongin dated in the past, making you silently gag in your mouth at the thought. Sure you had a crush on him in middle school, but it ended quickly after.

° Jeongin overheard the conversation, jumping out from the corner with a very disgusted face. Letting out small ew noises at the thought of you two dating. Seungmin was half ways relieved at the truth.

"Ew Ew Ew, why would you think that? *shivers*."

"I thought the tension was romantically not from high school feuding."

Jeongin

° Your ex Hyunjin was Jeongin's best friend, which made for a very awkward meeting when Jeongin had no clue about your dating history. Both you and Hyunjin cheated on each other, and never really buried the hatchet.

° Both you and Hyunjin tired to stay calm and act normal for Jeongin's sake. But it was clear just how awkward and uncomfortable the two of you seemed to be, especially since neither of you talked to each other.

° Hyunjin was worried you'd break his friend's heart while you were worried Hyunjin would just drag Jeongin into trouble and cause some serious trust issues. Neither of you trusting each other one bit.

° Jeongin say both of you down after an hour of awkward silence, demanding one of you to tell the truth on why you are acting so odd around one another. Slightly concerned for the possibility of a blossoming crush.

° both you and Hyunjin revealed your sides of the story to Jeongin, your heart cracking slightly at the hurt look in his eyes. He wasn't going to leave either of you, but it did hurt knowing you both hid this from him.

#stray kids #kpop #skz scenarios #stray kids reactions #changbin #han jisung #hyunjin #jeongin #lee know #skz x reader #skz fluff #bang chan #skz felix #skz seungmin #skz requests #skz reactions

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (August 4/2021) - Unhealthy Competition

Ranboo and Wilbur visit Las Nevadas to talk with Quackity about their new business. They discover that Quackity’s hired a new employee for the competing restaurant.

---

VOD LINKS:

Wilbur Soot

Tubbo

Captain Puffy

Michaelmcchill

Foolish

---

- Wilbur and Ranboo are in the Ranvan making burgers. They try them, and Wilbur says it’s the best burger he’s ever had, but they have to do even better

Wilbur: “We’re taking down an entire nation just out of this burger van, you know -- sorry, competing! Peacefully, with an entire nation, just out of this burger van.”

- Wilbur notices that Ranboo’s taken a side. Ranboo looked back after Wilbur’s talks about L’manburg, and he realized that he’s been involved in things, but he hasn’t really done anything

- Wilbur tells Ranboo he doesn’t have to build something to matter. It’s cool that he’s taking this direction, but he shouldn’t have to blow up walls just to make something

- Wilbur notices that Quackity is online and wants to see the fruits of their labor

- The two go into Las Nevadas with Quackity’s horse and Wilbur tries to get Quackity’s attention, spamming so much he gets kicked from the server. Quackity is nowhere to be seen

- Wilbur asks Ranboo a bit about the cookie outpost

- Quackity finally comes walking down the road to see them. Quackity tells them that’s not his horse

- Wilbur announces he’s been building a burger van. Quackity is amused that this is what he’s been doing all this time

- They give Quackity a burger to try. He’s not hungry

- Wilbur brings up Quackity’s restaurant and Quackity leads them over to show them. Wilbur and Ranboo left Quackity a bit of a gift. Quackity thanks them for the destruction, because he realized the non-tinted glass wasn’t as good. He even installed a fishtank full of salmon!

- Quackity even hired some new help!

Tubbo!

- This is his new job. Quackity and Tubbo had a little talk, and he found that Tubbo has aspirations in life and wanted to offer him a good job in Las Nevadas. He’s not just an employee -- he’s managing the restaurant, also making NFT Tubburgers!

- Tubbo sees it as healthy competition, good for the consumer. This is like L’manburg all over again, with Tubbo and Quackity leading together

May the best burgers win.

- Wilbur is allowed in Las Nevadas to try the burgers anytime he likes. After all, what kind of person would Quackity be if he didn’t allow someone into his country?

- Wilbur and Ranboo return to the van to talk with each other

Wilbur: “I feel alive, Ranboo! I feel alive! Someone’s looking at me and -- and talking to me! I’m alive, I’m alive! This is great!”

- Ranboo is still getting used to the competition. Wilbur doesn’t get why Ranboo would mind going up against Quackity and Tubbo

- Ranboo shows him over to the strip club with his secret hole in the floor. Wilbur suggests they build a tunnel underground, do some espionage

Wilbur: “We’re the good guys here, you know, we’re--”

Ranboo: “You sure?”

Wilbur: “Yeah, I mean, we haven’t done anything wrong, you know. We’re the good guys, and Quackity’s done a few things wrong.”

- They go back outside. In case of an emergency, when they’re head-to-head with Tubbo and Quackity, Wilbur needs to know they can save the innocent people in the city like Tubbo and Fundy

- Wilbur discusses a plan with Ranboo to rig the underground of the city with TNT connected up to a button. In most cases, it would never see the light of day

- Wilbur leaves Ranboo to the TNT

- Tubbo and Quackity talk in the restaurant. Quackity thinks Tubbo is the best choice of employee for the place, and Tubbo needed a new purpose

- Quackity doesn’t want to ruin the moment, but they have to discuss their brief conflict. They go over to the outpost

- Quackity asks what it was really for. Tubbo just wanted to see what everyone was up to. Quackity feels a little uneasy about it still

- Quackity suggests they integrate this land as a part of Las Nevadas. Tubbo is onboard with the idea, and Quackity wants to make it official with a document

- They go up to the top of the Needle to review the contract: 

---

TUBBO COOKIE OUTPOST PROPERTY IS NOW PART OF LAS NEVADAS LAND AND IS UNDER ITS RULES AND CONSTITUION.

COORDS:

[TO BE INSERTED]

Signed: - Tubbo_

---

- Tubbo’s been missing L’manburg now that it’s the time of its anniversary, and he admires what Quackity’s done here

- Tubbo wants to scope out Wilbur and Ranboo’s burger shop alone. He leaves Quackity at the Needle

- Tubbo arrives at the Ranvan and Ranboo is there. Tubbo asks him why he trusts Wilbur. Ranboo doesn’t trust trust him yet

- Ranboo thinks that in thirteen years, Wilbur must have changed, and if he can redeem himself, Ranboo can be there to see it

- Tubbo understands, but he doesn’t want to put his life in Wilbur’s hands again. Ranboo asks if he’s okay with all this, and he says he is

- Foolish logs on

- Tubbo noticed that Ranboo hasn’t told Wilbur about the marriage. Ranboo heard enough about Wilbur of thirteen years ago using things against people, and so he doesn’t trust him enough yet to tell him. Ranboo avoids eye contact while they talk

- Ranboo asks how Tubbo managed to bury the hatchet with Quackity over the Festival. Tubbo thinks he was going to die that day no matter what happened anyway

- They talked a lot about L’manburg. L’manburg was amazing, and Ranboo’s only heard about the bad bits. They came to an agreement about the cookie outpost

- Ranboo learns that Tubbo gave up the cookie outpost to become property of Las Nevadas. Tubbo insists it’s not like that and he still owns it

- Ranboo changes the subject and goes to throw stale bread into the river. He tells Tubbo he’ll talk to him later and says goodbye

- Tubbo walks away on his own. Now he’ll come up with some good burger recipes

- He runs right into Quackity. Tubbo is late for work at the burger shop

- Quackity starts ranting

Quackity: “When Wilbur sees this, because I know he’s gonna be fuckin’ like, spying around, when Wilbur sees this shit? He’s gonna freak out, he’s gonna finally realize--”

Tubbo: “--Why do you care so much about what Wilbur's doing?”

Quackity: “--He’s an idiot, he’s an idiot for doing whatever it is he decided to do!”

- Quackity builds a Tubburger sign out front for the restaurant

- They go inside and Quackity wants Tubbo to try Wilbur’s burgers

- They do need competition at the end of the day. Tubbo meets Quackity in the kitchen to discuss his three-step program. They can use smokers to make smoked burgers. They need better grain supplies

- Quackity shows Tubbo the farms. They also need to clean the kitchen of gunk. Quackity had a friend living there for a while

- They return to the kitchen to come up with more burger names

- One of the salmon dies. They go silent for a moment, then Quackity eats it raw

- Tubbo shows Quackity the book on the lectern. Quackity is annoyed by it, assuming that it was written by Wilbur

- They mention the explosion. They’re going to be bigger and better, and they won’t resort to sabotage

- Quackity’s going to go up to his office for his lunch break, count his money, and then he’ll come back down and tell everyone to help with the farms

- Quackity leaves with stomach issues from the fish as Sam logs on

- Tubbo goes back to the kitchen to come up with recipes, happy to have a job

- Puffy goes back to the main area to work on the Pokemon center and discovers Foolish’s bamboo prank, cleaning it up

- She then works on building the Pokemon center

- Michael logs on for a birthday stream! 

- Foolish logs on as well, aiming to expand the Las Nevadas highways some more

- Foolish meets up with Michael and drops him some Netherite ingots as a birthday present

- Foolish returns to Las Nevadas. He’s been thinking about how Quackity told him not to break Dream out, but he’s pondering coming up with something prepared as a backup anyways, as it’s always good to have other plans

- He keeps working on the highways

---

Upcoming Events:

- Wilbur’s 9 planned streams

- Egg Finale Stream [maybe soon...maybe...]

- Tales From the SMP: “Space Race”

- Ponk’s prequel stream

- Ponk’s current-day lore with Sam

- Puffy’s Lore Cast

- Sapnap’s lore

- Dream’s lore video

- Quackity’s casino opening

- Captain Puffy’s lore stream

#dream smp #dream smp recaps #long post #long posts

[positivexcellence]

‘We Hit the Ground Running!’ Jared Padalecki Hypes Us Up for ‘Walker’ Season 2

I was going to say, you’re finally coming back, but the show has actually not been gone that long. This is the weirdest window of hiatus for any season.

Jared Padelecki: No shit. [Laughs] I mean, no kidding. I think when we all showed up back on set, we’d all had our own little two-month hiatuses or whatever. Hiati? I don’t know…

Hiati? Yeah, sure.

OK then. [Laughs] But it was like, OK, “It feels like it’s been forever, and also it’s been no time whatsoever.” But it was great.

You are all literally back in the saddle. So, we’re coming back, Micki’s undercover and Cordell has no idea what she’s doing, right?

Correct. So, all we know at the end of Season 1 is that Micki is being asked to go undercover down in San Antonio and the Del Rio area to look into whomever it was who shot Stan Morrison…and also shot Cordell Walker. And so, it’s sort of a need-to-know situation and Captain James [Coby Bell] feels that Cordell doesn’t need to know, so he doesn’t tell him. He just says Micki’s going on a work trip. And so, Cordell, being the professional that he is goes, “OK, well, all right, let me know what I can do and how I can help, and when I can hear from her.”

And so, a few months have passed and in that time, Micki’s been hard at work down in San Antonio and trying to get the bottom of who in the Northside Nation might have been behind this double-assassination attempt. Meanwhile, he hasn’t heard from her, he hasn’t talked to her. Trey [Jeff Pierre] hasn’t heard from her or talked to her.

Oh, that’s not good.

Yeah. And also the Walkers have kind of taken Trey under their wing. They loved him already, but now that their mutual friend is away, Trey’s coming over, and he’s having dinner, and they’re working out together and checking up on each other. Trey obviously already had a relationship with the kids as well, so he’s fitting in like a glove. But there still is that underlying bit where Trey is kind of thinking that Walker might know something that he’d like to know. And Walker has to say like, “Hey man, I don’t know.” Then a couple of episodes in, Walker does find out what Micki was up to and what’s been going on, and that puts Walker in a pretty uncomfortable situation. He’s between a rock and a hard place with his friend Trey, his partner, Micki, and what she’s been dealing with.

Just what he needs is a little bit more drama. Especially with this new family coming in…

The Hatfields to our McCoys. The Davidsons have moved back into the ranch next door. And when we were kids, the first 12 to 15 years of Cordell’s life, his friend Denise, who is the same age, lived right next door. And we have Amara Zaragoza, a wonderful actress who’s playing Denise Davidson, but long story short, there was a tragedy that happened in the Davidson family on their ranch right next door to the Walkers and they had to leave Austin.

As kids, Cordell had a little crush on Denise. They would play and they were closer in age than he was with his brother, so with Liam, I think there was a little bit of underlying like, “Oh, well, Denise is here, so great, you’re going to go play with her and not me? I’m your brother.” And she’s also coming in to take over the role of district attorney from a prior DA…

The job Liam wanted. Oh no!

[Laughs] Yeah, I know. So Liam has to deal with the fact that not only is she back in town and probably going to take his brother’s time, energy, and focus away, but also she took away the job that he was trying to get elected for. And so that doesn’t make things easy.

In addition, Cordell is feeling a little bit of guilt, which we’ll get into as the season progresses. He is trying to bury the hatchet with the Davidsons and the Walkers. Trying to say, “Hey, let’s give them a chance. It’s been a long time. It’s been 30 years. They just came back. They’re trying to get their life started over again.” And Denise is sweet, they have a kid, her husband is…fine. He’s a little rough around the edges. [Laughs]

Okay. Is this Odette‘s real-life husband, Dave Annable?

Yep. Dave Annable plays Dan Miller, Denise’s husband. Dave is awesome. Dan is kind of one of these guys, he’s written like a very classic kind of Texan. You know, “I heard that you messed with my family before I even knew you, so I don’t like you.” [Laughs]

Hence the tense bar scene we’ve seen in the promos.

That’s right. There’s a volcano brewing with Dave’s character Dan because all Dan knows is that there’s some drama between the Walkers and the Davidsons, and as far as he knows, it was the Walkers’ fault. They are the linchpin behind a lot of the problems that the Davidsons have had and he’s part of the Davidsons. He has a spouse that’s a Davidson, and they share a child, Colton, who goes to school with August [Kale Culley] and Stella [Violet Brinson], which causes more drama. But as far as he knows the Walkers are a crap family who caused a lot of drama for his spouse’s family many decades ago.

Abilene (Molly Hagan) is somehow tied to all of this, too. I feel like they’ve hinted that her affair may have been with a Davidson?

So what happened is that Abeline was, her affair was with “Gary from the shop.” But what happened is with the Davidsons is that Abeline used to be engaged to Marv Davidson. The patriarch of the family, Denise’s father, and Gail’s late husband.

And so when Abeline broke off her engagement, she started dating Bonham Walker, our beloved patriarch, Mitch Pileggi, and so that’s an additional kind of source of contention and strife.

I just spoke to Keegan about expanding the Walker world in Season 2 and getting to play the nuances of your characters now. You’ve got to be having the best time.

I was having a great time until I just found out that you [bleep]-ing talked to Keegan before you talked to me? What the [bleep], man!? [Laughs]

Yeah, this is really fun. Obviously, as you know in TV, so much of the first season is spent setting up who the characters are, what they want, what they do, what their relations are with each other. But with Season 2, we hit the ground running. I can’t help but think back to Supernatural, it also seemed like — especially when we got into the later years, obviously — “Oh, this just feels like an extension of last season.” Not like we were trying to introduce a brand new TV show, with brand new characters and trying to get the audience to learn them, fall in love with them…orhate them, if they need to. So we walked into day one of Season 2 a couple of months ago, just like, “Alright, we’re back. This isn’t Season 1, Episode 1. This is Walker, Episode 19.”

And that’s great because it really is like you left us with something to pick up from and a family we do care about. I talked to [showrunner] Anna Fricke over the summer…

Oh, you [bleep]-ing talked to Anna, too?! You’re just rubbing it in now. First Keegan, now Anna. [Laughs]

Well, you were busy running around Europe!

Alright. Fair enough. I accept that. [Laughs]

Anna said that the Davidsons have this kid, Colton (Jalen Thomas Brooks) who is a peer of August and Stella. And I was like, “Wait a minute, Stella’s already been through the heartache. Leave her alone!”

Amen! [Laughs] Yeah, that poor girl. Stella’s now a senior in high school. She obviously had a pretty colorful junior year with everything that happened at her ranch, with her uncle being shot, her father coming back. And Violet, who plays Stella, is such a wonderful actor to be able to capture all that. But yeah, Stella has certainly been put through the wringer. And it doesn’t slow down this year.

And Kale is getting a storyline that is probably very close to you about dealing with August’s mental-health issues. How has that been?

It’s been wonderful. I’m consistently impressed with the way our writers, Anna and Seamus Fahey and the gang, are portraying these very real and very pertinent issues that we’re dealing with in society right now. One is the effects of mental health on our youth, on our high schoolers, on our teenagers. And so we see Kale’s character, August, dealing with some signs of PTSD because he’s dealt with some really intense things and he doesn’t really know how to elaborate on it, or how to ask for help. And he’s got this hard-assed Texas Ranger father who doesn’t admit that it’s good to ask for help.

He’s in a situation that a lot of children find themselves in, actually that a lot of children and adults all over the world find themselves in. And part of what Cordell’s doing is, he’s trying to go like, “No kid, everything’s OK.” Like, “Listen, it’s all going to be all right. Just take it easy.” And then Cordell’s going to his room and having himself a cry or having a moment. But August doesn’t see that and he doesn’t want his dad to be scared. He was without his father for so long after he lost his mother and so his thinking is, “No, I’ve got to be tough. I’ve got to be the man of the house.” Liam has his own place now since Cordell is back, so even Uncle Liam isn’t here and August is like, “I’ve got to take care of my sister and my dad’s going through stuff.”

That’s a lot of pressure for a teenager.

Yeah. And hopefully, as the season progresses, August realizes that the best way to get through those times you need help is to say, “Hey, I need help.”

Now, what’s up with Geri? You have Annable as a series regular, but Cordi’s childhood crush has come to town! And she’s someone you already knew, as well.

Yeah. Amara’s awesome. And yeah, it’s funny, I met Amara, who plays Denise, back in like Season 2 of Supernatural. She was in Vancouver and she was in one of the episodes Kim Manners directed. So it’s funny to see her after 15 years. She’s an absolute sweetheart and a wonderful actress.

We kind of teed up that Geri and Cordell were there for each other for years and years…as friends. And then for a while, as well, after Emily was murdered. And so we know that they share a deep, deep connection. But now there’s someone else in town from Cordell’s childhood and we have to figure out what’s going on with Cordell and Geri. Like, “Hey, is this something where we’re just going to be each other’s confidants and best friends forever and ever? Or is there more here?”

Oh, there is.

We’ll see! [Laughs]

tv insider

#walker #Jared Padalecki

[dykefoosh]

Healthy Competition Transcript: 7/25/21

It's the entire thing so I hope this helps!

W: Hey.. Phil

P: Oh.. Hey

W: Hey, hey Phil how’s it going? How's It going man?

P: Oh, it's going, it's going alright.

W:I just thought I'd visit, Phil. I just thought you knew I would come and visit you. I haven’t seen you in awhile.

W: Phil I must confess I have come to you with a bit of a proposition. You into propositions Phil? Are you a proposition kind of guy?

P: Oh it depends depends, oh you, you’ve had some pretty lets just say not a great track record of propositions you’ve had in the past

W: I mean I’m trying to move past that. Listen Phil, I met Quackity after you kindly lent me your house, I went and met him, I met up with him, and I hadn't seen him in ages and it was nice, it felt good. He didn't seem afraid of me. Which is cool, not many people do. Phil, you don’t seem afraid of me?

P: No. No not at all

W: Good. Good because I’m not afraid of you. Uh.. Listen I met quackity and I hung out with him and I came to one conclusion about him and MY GOD the pricks resourceful aint he.

P: Yes.. he’s very.. he's one of the richest on the server at the minute. He's one of the richest people

W: What happened? What? You, you are telling me Quackity, the guy who made SWAG party, would be the richest man, geez I wouldn’t have believed you for a second but here we are.

But look, Phil, I am a bit of a propagator of the idea that capitalism shouldn’t be unchecked. You know the free market, maybe isn’t ever really that free you know. I am a bit into my interjection, you know the government interjection but there’s isn't a government anymore phi its anarchy it's pretty much what ah I see his name I see his name. (Ran boo)

P: Ha, Ha you see it

W: As much as I disagree with your opinions on anarchy. It's pretty harmless. I can’t hate you for it. I can’t hate you for literally living in a peaceful little village in the snow, I mean the server, it's never been this peaceful since the countries and nations and cities… So Phil I came to you with one question. Do you think quackity should be allowed to be left unchecked?

P: Uh no.

W: Do you think he should be allowed to grow? Oh you answered already. I agree with you Phil, I also don’t think quackity should be allowed to be left unchecked.

But you know what the problem is, there’s no Interpol, there’s no government, there’s no police force.. Technoblade spent this entire time taking down the establishment and what he's left with as predicted a POWER VACUUM for a new establishment to come in and this establishment is ahh ahh pretty unethical Phil its gambling, you a fan of gambling

P: Oh gods

W: This servers like 50% children Phil..

P: oh gods that's terrible.. yeah no that's awful.

W: ahh haha don’t sound too..

P: Gambling ruins peoples lives dude.

W: TRUE TRUE! And you know what He's getting away with , Phil. I have a proposition for you, I am glad you’re on my side and glad you agree with this Phil. I want to make a burger van.

P: Oh….

W I know when you heard of the burger van, you walked away. I get it. It's a bit of deja vu, but the difference is the burger van isnt gonna sell drugs. We are against toxic money making schemes now. We GENUINELY, genuinely selling burgers, I want to make burgers, I want to make every stake so it has a name. And. And uh (Wilbur re reads the book “Project Nevadas” Quackity left for him)

P: It definitely sounds better than the drug van,

W: yeah yeah yeah that's what I’m going to do Phil, but you see you need to understand I need someone to help me, because I’m not doing this for any reason outside of “I have an aspiration.. a goal in life to be a culinary expert” I want to be chef now Phil. I’m done now with being a President, being a government, being an authority, I want to be a burger man. I wanna sell burgers. That's my calling. That's been my calling all along. There's no ulterior motive behind this plan. I’ve got the real-estate, I’ve got the know-how and I’ve got the chutzpah (it's a yiddish word for guts basically woooo). Phil are you in?

P:I mean, ahh. You know I don’t know much about making burgers and burger vans, but I want to know who does?

W: Who?

P: Ranboo. He could help out.

W: what the fuck does he know about burgers?

P: he's literally the richest most knowledgeable person on the server besides me -

W: Phil you called - that's literally the second person you called the richest on the server. How does being rich climate him know about burgers?

P: Well you said you needed bread, you said you needed resources.. he has everything you could need.

W: What do you mean?

P: And also, he kinda knows… Right i'll be honest i'll be honest will, he's a little bit lonely, um there’s not much going on out here we are in a wilderness, a snowy blizzard wilderness right? Nothing goes on, nothing really happens here.

W: ha haha, sorry sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh at him being lonely. That shouldn’t of tickled me.

P: He needs something to keep him busy, to keep him occupied. He's done everything on the server, he's literally done everything. Give him, give him something else to do. Have fun.

W: I don’t want to. I genuinely don't want to. He's weird Phil. he's the weird neighbor kid.

P: oh STOP no stop!

W: Look at him he's that weird neighbor kid who's got something going on, you know maybe in the basement or something there’s something going on right.

P: he's harmless he's harmless

W: he's harmless now, give him a burger van and he might spatula me. Phil looks at me. Can you imagine a spatula through my skull? Huh?

P: That's not gonna happen. He’s very nice. Go make friends. Alright

W: All I need is a fire aspect sword, a bunch of cows, an anvil and some levels and we can do this Phil.

P: And he (ranboo) can give you all of those.

W: Oh my gosh stop making me play with the neighbor kids.

P: Alright stop I’m putting my foot down. If you don’t go play with them right now, I’m kicking you out of the house.

W: What the fuck?! What do you mean? Kicking? You can’t just kick- ohhhhh

P: I can and will.

W: Phil I’m ah…

P: Be nice. Go say hi, he's great. He's a great guy

W: Look Phil I trust you, I'll trust you this much, and I'll trust you that he's fine and he can help me, BUT if he's shit, you gotta come help. You gotta be burger boy with me.

P: I’ll be around, I'll be around, he's fine, you'll be fine, you guys will get along so well.

W: Thanks Phil…

P: You got this Wil, bye mate.

W: I don’t really want… What is this, why is he treating me like a kid? Like a little baby? Oh shit he's got cows…. Ah aH oh god I wasn’t built for this (gets attacked by a spider which he then crits the spider) There we go.. My man got cows. This bread as well?? No,it's not that he can farm apparently. Wait, that is bread. Wait… was that fire aspect? Is this a set up? I guess I'll befriend him… Knock knock - oh

R: woah oh

W: Hi Ranboo

R: Woah hello

W: You remember me?

R: Yeah I remember you. How are you? Its been awhile

W: It's been a little while, I mean we only met once, I mean I was just coming through visiting me pa, in his little cottage in the snow, very cute in the snow isn't it?

R: Yeah it is very nice

W: I just happened to notice you have a lot of cows.

R: Yeah! yeah I have a nice little cow farm, it's been pretty good for food recently so its been kind of yeah.

W: Can you hit one of them with your sword again please?

R: You want me to kill one?

W: Yeah quickly

R: yeah okay

W: Ranboo, I have a proposition for you

R: Yeah what’s that?

W: I know we have not got off on the best of terms but I'd like to think bygones be bygones let's bury the hatchet, let's be..

R: Yeah

W: Ranboo I’m gonna go out on a limb here, do you want to be friends?

R: S- Sure. I don’t see why not. You seem alright.

W: Cool cool. Thank you, thank you, you seem alright too. Can I come inside?

R: Oh yeah sure sure

W: I have a proposition for you.

R: Do you like my live laugh love sign?

W: Why is life capitalized?

R: it's the most important one

W: Ha, living is the most important one, living Is above laughing and loving?

R: Yeah it's priority number one honestly I just look at it when I wanna know what to do.

W: ha, okay, look look my proposition to you, um (looking at the ranboo rug)

R: Yeah its um it's my nice little rug here

W: We, we will talk in the hallway, my promotion to you ranboo was, as I have a dream of being a culinary chef.

R: Oh really! Thats nice

W: I’ve been doing a lot of things on this server. You know? President, terrorist, dead.

R: yeah that's one of them

W: I feel like the next progression is chef. Every, you know the saying….

R: okay…

W: All musicians wanna be comedians, and all dead terrorist presidents wanna be chefs. So I decided I wanna be a chef.

R: Okay! Okay.

W: I want to be a chef for no other reason than I like cooking okay?

R: Cool!

W: All I need though, is I don’t have much to my name. I have a lot of stones, I have some TnT, I have some stone tools, and a rabbit's foot.

R: Oh okay.

W: But I don’t have the cows, I don’t have the fire aspect sword, and I thought if you wanted to we could um you could we could be business partners. I’ve got the real-estate. I’ve got a great location. It’s gonna be bustling, with people eventually, there’s gonna be people coming and going, hungry too! They’re gonna be coming and going, in and out and in and out and we’ll be here

R: Yeah…

W: And get the money! We will get the money Ranboo.

R: I mean yeah sure I’ve been needing something to do, I’m down for that. That would be cool.

W: Cool, cool come with me. I gotta show you the real-estate.

R: I’m actually really glad

W: I see this as the blooming of a brilliant business relationship or a business partnership. Have you heard of Las Nevadas?

R: ohhh… yeah, yeah I remember I had an old, old cookie stand there awhile back that we just decided to abandon because it was just.. it was more just trouble.

W: A cookie stand?

R: It was more trouble than it was honestly worth.

W: Wait, you tried? You had a cookie stand?

R: I mean yeah….

W: Outside of Las Nevadas? So you did the cooking?

R: Yeah it was a little, yeah

W: Outside of Las Nevadas?

R: Yeah but then, but then, he the guy Quackity, he got all up in arms about it and everything because we decided to expand a little bit and then we just decided it was, it was too much troubles so then we kinda just, we kinda just left it so

W: So he didn't like it? He didn't like your selling of a cookie stand?

R: Yeah he didn't like it all too much. I don’t, I don’t know what it was but like it was just eh it was just more dumb conflict but eh ti was whwatever.

W: Well that's fine, that's fine because we’re Ranboo we’re not gonna annoy quackity… we can’t annoy him because we are simply put, gonna be making, I got the real-estate and he gave me the area and we are going to be making a competing business.

R: okay…

W: Because competition makes business flourish, the consumer.. Do you like the consumer? You’re a bit- a big fan of the consumer ranboo?

R: Yeah yeah, I consume things from time to time

W: Look Ranboo the consumer, the consumer is the one who does well when there is um conflict and competition right?

R: Yeah that makes sense

W: So what I want to do is make competition right? So I want to make competition so when Las Nevadas fully opens up and you can go gambling and stuff I want to make it so that people have options so people don't just have to eat at las Nevadas grills and such. So if they want they can come to our grill,

R: Yeah that's good

W: and the difference is that is that we will make our grill better than theirs and we will make lots of money and then quackity will be able to you know maybe have to make a deal with us and to maybe be our friend and and

R: But we are gonna do this respectfully right? We are gonna do something smaller and everything right?

W: Yeah I have the land and we can make it small and honestly there’s no reason for us to go further out then we need to because you know we got the location. So have you ever been in Las Nevadas or gambling Ranboo?

R: Well no, no one has actually been there when I’ve been there.

W: It’s very fun, gambling is very fun.

R: Ah

W: Gambling is what I would argue like the only reason to go to this Las Nevadas place, I mean there’s nothing else to do there

R: Okay…

W: Its like its ll that happens you know

R: Yeah just gambling

W: There's a strip club there Ranboo

R: OH yeah! For logs

W: You- you into strippers?

R: Um I mean all it just does is make the wood look different so it doesn’t really do much

W: It does make the wood look different. You’re right, you’re right Ranboo. Would you say you like Quackity? Sorry I’m really bombing you with questions right now - eh I just wanna, I want to pick your brain. I wanna know how Ranboo works.

R: Hmm no its okay its okay. I’m completely okay with it, yeah. Um I think that I, hes, I mean the thing is I just haven't seen him in so like long you know the last interaction with him I had was before the stuff that happened with everything else it's just kind of been I don't know, we were part of the same cabinet with New Lmanburg or whatever it was.

W: Cabniet…

R: Yeah Canbiet it was like…

W: A canbiet? Was this with Tubbo…?

R: Yeah yeah he had like me, Fundy, I was the minutes man and I wrote stuff down well they never checked my notes so I don’t know how useful my job was honestly. I don't know if they actually needed me but I was there.

W: Yeah yeah I know that. I know that feeling.

R: Yeah

W: So you were part of the old Lmaburg government? I didn’t know that actually.

R: Yeah, yeah

W: I thought you were a bit of an independent. I thought you were you know… so you would say you are friends with Quackity?

R: I mean yeah.. I mean I’m not really TOO much against him, but I mean yeah

W: Do you dislike anyone Ranboo?

R: Not.. too much I dont think. I mean there are other people I don't agree with of course but I think everyones just a product of what they have gone through and everything so if you understand that then you understand that, then you understand the person.

W: But don’t you think there’s sometimes allying yourself with everyone you know, it can actually make your life more complicated, more complex, more difficult…. more…

R: Yeah….. which is why I’ve kinda just went to live with Techno and Phil kind of away from everything. And try not to involve myself in that much. But then I just have a terrible radar of what is involving myself and what isn't so.

W: Right..

R: It's difficult sometimes.

W: It sounds like you set yourself up for a bit of a stressful, stressful life… So you don’t dislike anyone?

R: Yeah…

W: What about Dream?

R: Ummm yeah Well that's that. With Dream it's kind of like, all I’ve, all I’ve heard about Dream, all I’ve seen about Dream is just been the really bad things that he's done and everything so I would say I- I yeah I don’t really like Dream, but I mean he's also not really someone that it matters whether or not I like him because he's away in that prison for a very long time, so I mean, yeah.

W: With no trail.

R: Well I mean.. he… its

W: This is our competition Ranboo!

R: Oh!

W: Here's the competition

R: Okay. No ones really been here I dont think…

W: Can you even buy anything?

R: I don’t think they have half, half doors… they have

W: Smokers, Furnaces, they don't, it's just nothing

R: Huh.

W: It doesn't benefit the consumer Ranboo does it? Imagine you come here gambling.. First off the fucking door is shut

R: Mhm

W: Wait there’s a hole…

R: ohh… uh? that's interesting. I haven't been here in awhile, I just haven't been outside in awhile honestly.

W: Are we allowed… in?

R: I dont… I dont know.

W: It looks like crap Ranboo. Don't bother, it looks awful.

R: Oh, oh okay. Okay.

W: The point is this does not benefit the consumer right? This building does not benefit the consumer, it's just made to look pretty and make the consumer feel like.. lee do a test. I can promise you me ol, or should I say new pal, that this sign, I guarantee will not go. That will be here forever and that will never leave. (Signs that say “closed forever” “Quackity burger place is crap” “Go behind this building to better burgers'')

R: It's.. I don't know if abandoned is the right word, I don't know what you call it.

W: There we go, I guarantee these signs will stay there because they don’t care about the customer. They only care about looking cool and ooh ooh we got a restaurant, no they dont.

R: Yeah no one is really keeping it up.

W: Let me show you the real-estate. This is the best part, so come with me. Bah bum ba bum bum bum bum ba Oh ranboo, do you see the cock ranboo?

R: Oh that's what that is? I thought it was a clock actually

W: See that cock?

R: Yeah I see it.

W: That's our border. Well, technically, this wood is our border. This area.

R: Okay.

W: This area is ours. I’ve been trying to think of a name for it.

R: Hmm

W: I’m thinking about Paradise.

R: Paradice…

W: How’d you think about Paradise Ranboo?

R: Well I mean it could be good word play with the whole gambling thing.. pair of dice.

W: That is good.. you, you really are a smart cookie, a smart kind of guy.

R: Thank you!

W: Well, this is where I’ve been sort of working. So this is sort of where Tommy and I have been working. Tommy sadly couldn’t be here to help me, and um let me show you where I think we should make the burger van.

R: okay

W: Well I think it should be, it's to be close to the border so that people can access it and then get straight back to gambling. The customer, the customer, is happy, the customer gets their burgers and then goes straight back to gambling. How about we build it here, right here.

R: Right here? Okay that works. So what do you have in mind, you seem to have a vision.

W: 1950s… burger, retro. Red and white stripes.

R: Red and White okay, I have Blue?

W:Blue…

R: I have blue.

W: I’m not a big fan of Blue.

R: oh okay well I don’t really know where to get a lot of red.

W: Flowers… I can get you red. Ranboo you seem to be proficient, you can start building the van I’ll be back.

R: Alright..

W: Also, also give me your fire aspect, I’ll get the beef and then we can begin and we can get the bread.

R: okay uh here

W: Ran-orad, Ranaord? Ranord.

R: I name all my things with different puns. It's just Ran and sword

W: That's good, that's a good one, new friend, I like it. This isn't drawing any parallels to your cookie shop right? This is a completely different feeling?

R: yeah no the cookie shop I’m pretty sure, I don't even know if it was a cookie shop to begin with… because it was a little fortified if i'm entirely honest…

W: Fortified?

R: yeah did you not see like oh! That giant stone structure as you came in here and walked around

W: oH wait, that's a cookie shop?

R: Yeah

W: I thought it was like a, I thought it was like a palisade

R: no I mean tubbo told me it was for cookies but I’m thinking about it now..

W: oh tubbo.. tubbo.

R: I don’t think it was

W: See I like tubbo man, he's strong headed and he doesn't let people push him around.

R: Yeah yeah

W: Did you learn a lot? Did you learn a lot from him?

R: Maybe yeah, I also just, if people aren't willing to change their views or anything I find it unnecessary to mindlessly argue so.

W: So Ranboo you say this yet you show up in all the conflict. I’m not I’m not coming at you like judging you, I'm not one to talk about conflict.

R: Mhm mhm

W: But when I think of Ranboo I don't think of what a calm guy who’s neutral and stays out of everything, I don't think of Switzerland when I think of you ranboo, I think I think you're a bit more dynamic than that, why do you claim that you’re so peaceful and neutral and yet you appear in almost every conflict the server has had since I died.

R: I mean ah, that's because I’m bad at avoiding the thing that I don't like, which is, I don’t know it's it's weird. It's a weird situation that it's mostly my fault but I’ve been doing alright with it recently. I haven't been doing too much to anger people I don't think but I think it's just because I really want to help sometimes and sometimes I let my desire to help people get in the way of what I have previously said or previously claimed about myself.

W: Ranboo? Why did you come to help me?

R: Well because I think, well I need one I kind of need something to do and this is pretty fun, I like building little things and everything although they may not look too good and also I just think you can I think you are an alright person you know? So I kind of wanted to get off on a better foot from what happened before.

W: Why?

R: Just because I don't really like having the thought that people don't really like me.

W: No no not the bit about the right foot, why don’t you think I’m a bad person?

R: Well I mean I think you did bad things but you also went through things that made you that way and then I also think that you’re changed now. I mean if you ask me to talk to the older Wilbur before you died, for a little bit then yeah I would think you’re kind of not a good person.

But I think now you’ve apparently been away long enough, that I think if anyone goes away long enough for that long of a time that eventually they’ll have a thought of their morality, and everything and become a better person because of it. So, I'm hopeful. I’m hopeful. I like having a good amount of optimism.

W: Cool.. ah cool that's nice, thank you.

R: Yeah!

W: Uh, I think I needed to hear that, I’ve um, can I be real with you? Sorry Ranboo, you really got me. Fucking hell can I be real with you man?

R: Yeah sure.

W: I think I scare people.

R: I mean, yeah I do the same thing

W: No no, I mean I don't think I, I think a lot of people share your idea in trying to try… to keep me from hurting you know? They have seen what I can do and they don’t want me to do it again, so they adopt your emotion in order to do it.

Do you know I demolished his house and brutally ignored him? He fought for my country! And I ignored him. I didn't look at him. I didn't give him so much a medal, I didn't give him so much a rank, I gave him the lowest rank in the cabinet, and do you know what it took? Do you know what it took for him to forgive me? A “sorry” And I’ve, I’ve spoken to Tommy about Jack Manifold, and Jack Manifold is NOT the sort of person to forgive with a sorry.

Can you imagine if Dream said sorry to Jack Manifold? What has Dream done to Jack Manifold huh? Barely anything. I imagine if Dream said sorry to Jack Manifold, Jack Manifold would ignore him. Do you wanna know why? It’s because Dream is in prison, and I’m not. Dream! He's had his comeuppance and I’ve not! My comeuppance was apparently not good enough for these people, they are just waiting for the next thing, the next slip up and Ranboo I’m not gonna fucking slip up Ranboo. I’m different.

I’m not Dream, god I wish I was. Sometimes I wish I was. I wish I had that comeuppance. But Ranboo I’m not Dream and I’m not gonna be Dream and that's ahhh. I am living in eternal limbo again. I’ve been through limbo. I'm out of limbo and socially I’m still in limbo and man hearing you say those words that you said to me, do you remember what you said?

R: Yeah… I do?

W: You said “I think people can change” that's number one

R: Mhm

W: And number two you’re “scared if people don’t like you”

R: Yeah

W: I’ve been investing, I’ve been investing into the wrong areas Ranboo. I’ve been investing in the wrong people. Were kindred man, we get each other

R: Yeah, Yeah I’d say so.

W: We have SO much difference, but you know what the one thing we got incommon? Our strongest point? And you mustn't take offense to this, okay?

R:Okay..?

W: Neuroticism. Me and you are just as neurotic as each other. Just as nervous but the thing is it’s not our downfall you know? Anxiety isn't necessarily an evil trait to have. Anxiety is what kept our ancestors alive Ranboo.

R: Yeah

W: You? Me? Your Parents, whoever they may be, my parents, do you know how they’re alive? Because they were anxious. They didn't let another thing kill them, they didn't let another thing take them down. Our ancestors, the cavemen in the woods or the cave enderman, were anxious when they heard the lion roar; they were anxious when the wolf howled. And you know what they did? They went inside and they hid and that's what they did and that's why we are here today. Ranboo me and you are neurotic, and that's why we are alive..right now talking to each other and doing this.

R: Okay…… I really, I really do hope that's um a good thing.

W: Sorry, ha, that's uh that might have come across- I’m really sorry I meant um, I’ll go get you some more red.

R: No no I understand what you mean I think, we both are kind of thinkers I think well yeah, we tend to think about a lot of things. Think about a lot of situations and how people are affected by said situations. How we can make things better and although we may think in different ways the fact we both, I think we both think at the same level just in different ways sometimes.

W: I think you might be a bit braver than me and showing your true colors. I feel like, I feel like with you Ranboo I never have to guess your next move. I never have to guess your hand, you know?

R: Yeah

W: I feel like, I feel like life dealt us the same cards and the difference is you, you build your trust by showing people your cards whilst, I keep them close to my chest and I feel like that may be the difference. But I’m gonna stop psychoanalysing you so

R: heh

W: And let's… let's, Ranboo how’d you feel about thievery?

R: Oh uh ooh, what types? What do you-

W: I’m going to steal Las Nevadas cows to cook our burgers.

R: Oh oh okay?

W: And I’m not going to re-breed them. I am going to simply kill them.

R: Alright I mean, so you are? Are you gonna steal all of them? Or just

W: Nahh just enough so it's annoying ya know?

R: Okay um

W: Unless, how about this if this makes you feel a bit less uncomfortable about it how about if I steal all the cows unless they have a sign on them that says “these cows are property of las Nevadas” then I’ll leave them alone so unless they have an expressed sign that says “do not steal please” I’ll leave them alone. But if not… it seems like a good idea

R: Okay yeah

W: You’re really good a building vans

R: Oh thank you

W: I’m pretty good at building vans too.

R: Okay.

W: Okay I’ve got the steak.

R: Oh, nice

W: Pretty good, is that enough red for you?

R: I just need something to put the red on

W: Oh cool yeah, I can go find you some wool.

R: There could be some chests around. You know I found a full netherite block in one the other day?

W: Wait what?

R: There was just another netherite block in one of the chests, it was very interesting.

W: I’ve just restocked for us.

R: Ohh, nice I’ll put some of our building materials here. Oh wow, wait did you get, did you get all of them?

W: Yeah heh, pretty good yeah?

R: Oh geez.

….. [Talk about Minecraft mechanics]

W: So this is your cookie factory, your cookie shop, your giant fortress

R: Yeah you realize a lot now that it’s a giant fortress. Sometimes, sometimes I don’t realize things until they’re an afterthought.

W: How is Tubbo?

R: He's um, alright. I think he's doing pretty well.

W: What is he up to right now?

R: He's um he's just building around Snowchester you know? Not really doing-

W: Snowchester?

R: Oh you- don't know about snowchester? It’s basically just like this little- it used to have some people but then everyone just kind of went off on their own ways. It’s just like this little arctic area, a village he created.

W: A town?

R: Yeah basically!

W: So, Las Nevadas, Snowchester, - I thought Techno and Phil told me they were successful? Well just Phil I haven't spoken to Techno since, since, it happened.

R: Mhm Well it

W: Phil told me they were successful and there's no more nations and that there’s anarchy here.

R: Well it's not a nation it's literally just- it's literally just him.

W: What about this Kinoko Kingdom I keep reading about?

R: I have no idea. All they put down there was just signs and I havent heard anything about that honestly.

W: So there’s, there’s a lot going on Ranboo. What part do you play? Go on, You can't be THAT neutral, if you’re not a part of Kinoko Kingdom, then you must be a part of something.

R: I mean I guess you could say I’m a part of.. Snowchester a little bit? I think I’m mainly just um with Phil and Techno I’m pretty sure. It’s mainly, it's mainly just them and everything. Because that's pretty much where I’ve been living for awhile and all so.

W: And now the Paradise Burger Van.

R: And now the Burger Van I guess yeah.

W: Good, good! I’m coming back. Do you need more red or?

R: No, we got enough.

W: Then the final step is to name the burger and name the beef!

R: Name, name the beef?

W: Oh so another thing I wanted to do is to legitimize our burgers so it's not just stake right is to make a uh name for all our stakes so when they've had it you know our stake shop that they know this is our stake shop, and only the high grade beef. So we are all gonna name the burgers with an anvil and I wanted, I wanted to give them like versions and wanted to use an alt code so that no one could copy it. So it's like “hey you’ve got a volume one steak, burger steak” so people would come and it's sort of an NFT value to it. A bit of a you know, once you’ve had volume one of burgers then that's gone forever like versions, is this making sense? Are you following?

R: Yeah this is making sense, I’m following I think

W: Cool cool

R: Yeah

W: What do you think of calling the burger shop?

R: Hmm

W: I’m thinking of either Paradise or Wilburger?

R: Well Wilburger is funny

W: Wilburger is funny but it doesn't take into account the work you put in.

R: Hmm maybe paradise burgers might be good

W: What about Wilbooger?

R: Will- Wait a minute but then that means we have booger in it, and then they will make fun of it.

W: Yeah yeah, paradise burger has a meaning behind it. So like, you know paradise next to Las Nevadas. Have a think

R: Paradise…

W: Weeeeeeeeeeee, ding dong we got everything we need. Right, let me go to an anvil and think of a name. This has been good, this has been chill.

R: This has been nice

W: I feel like we are good business partners. I’m excited to show Tommy. What's your opinion on Tommy?

R: Oh he's great. Tommys awesome.

W: Agreed

R: Yeah. Definitely gone through a lot but I definitely think that has made him a good person.

W: Mmm yeah well you seem to think everyone going through something at least gives them some merit you said

R: Well I mean yeah. I mean if- if no one, the only really bad people are the ones who are just evil because, just because then they don't really have any reason why you know? Those are in my opinion the bad people.

W: Right

R: I don’t really think there’s that many bad people like that so yeah.

W: Let me find an alt code, I want to find a cool alt code for the Wilburger, let's go for a sunbeam

R: ooooh

W: This is sexy, what I've done. Here we go here we go The beef! The bread doesn't have to be named

R: yeah

W: It’s gonna be good. Here we go, here we go. Look at this!

R: Oooohhh thats cool

W: No ones copying that

R: Yeah especially the thing in the eye as well.

W: It's a watermark no one, no one can copy it now so we can sell those with one slice of bread on either side and that's our thing. That's our shtick.

R: Yeah I think thats good thats good

W: I think we are getting to the point Ranboo where we are almost done I mean I do have a question to ask you though

R: Yeah of course ask away.

W: Just gonna put the bread back. This is gonna be a make or break

R: Okay.

W: Come with me

R: Yeah

W: This really could be, could be a make or break. And what about the Wilburger Ran Van?

R: Oh thats good thats good

W: Cool cool, then we’ll have your name on as the co creator I won’t be ceo, I will be vice chairman of the wilburger ran-van corporation

R: Cool, awesome.

W: So here’s our completion ranboo you remember the signs?

R: Yeah? They are still there.

W: Yeah it's good innit? Ranboo I want you to smash the windows.

R: Smash the windows? Like how? How do you want me to do it?

W: Take this (gave ranboo a cobblestone block) hold it in your hand

R: Okay

W: Now break the window.

R: okay

W: More

R: Do more? Okay

W: A lot more

R: keep going? Oh uh oh

[Wilbur places down TNT in a corner of the competition restaurant]

R: Are you sure about that one?

W: Come here

R: Oh? Okay

W: You trust me alright?

R: Yeah?

W: Detonate that, its only in the corner to prove we are not fucking around

R: I mean it's just in the corner right and then it will, it will drop all the blocks

W: Yep

R: And then we can put it somewhere

W: We can put it in a chest next to it.

R: Okay.. ohh Careful! [Wilbur stood really close to the TNT so he took damage]

W: It’s alright

R: That was a little bit more than I thought

W: Picking up those blocks

R: Yep, I think we can just put them in the chests here I think.

W: Okay I’ll fill this in, you passed the test, good job man. You can go back to the van, I’ll be back there soon. Ranboo

R: Yeah?

W: I’m proud of you man. You, you’ve taken a side, you’ve proven you can choose a side and I’m proud of you.

R: Thank- Thank, thank you. I haven't-

W: You’ve got something to work for.

R: Yeah, yeah

W: I’ll see you around. I’m gonna head off after I fix this but you get to work on the Ranvan. See you soon.

R: Yeah I’ll get to work, see you soon, buh bye

W: see you soon man.

[Wilbur breaks one of the signs placed down from earlier then goes to the explosion site and writes a sign with the NFT symbol saying Wilbur + Ranboo Did this together and places a chest to put the exploded materials in a chest along with two diamonds]

W: ahh, I love that guy.

#wilbur soot #ranboo #ranvan #wilburger #philza #c!wilbur #dsmp transcript #transcript #dsmp #las nevadas #quackity #c!ranboo #c!philza #tubbo #this was fun #I also have this in a google doc just ask in my asks and ill post it

[renegadewangs]

Van Zieks - the Examination, part 9

Warnings: SPOILERS for The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles. Additional warning for racist sentiments uttered by fictional characters (and screencaps to show these sentiments).

Disclaimer: (see Part 1 for the more detailed disclaimer.) - These posts are not meant to be taken as fact. Everything I’m outlining stems from my own views and experiences. If you believe that I’ve missed or misinterpreted something, please let me know so I can edit the post accordingly. -The purpose of these posts is an analysis, nothing more. Please do not come into these posts expecting me to either defend Barok van Zieks from haters, nor expecting me to encourage the hatred. - I’m using the Western release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles for these posts, but may refer to the original Japanese dialogue of Dai Gyakuten Saiban if needed to compare what’s said. This also means I’m using the localized names and localized romanization of the names to stay consistent. -It doesn’t matter one bit to me whether you like Barok van Zieks or dislike him. However, I will ask that everyone who comments refrains from attacking real, actual people.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

How the turnabouts have turned! It's time for Twisted Karma and His Last Bow!

Episode 2-4: Twisted Karma and His Last Bow

With Van Zieks's tragic backstory (…) exposed, it's time to head on into waters we've charted before, waaay back in the very first Ace Attorney game: The Prosecutor becomes the Defendant. It all starts off with some shenanigans which appear to have very little to do with Van Zieks (the arrival of Mikotoba and Jigoku, the Red-headed League, a missing prison warder, etc.).. Ryu does still run into Van Zieks very briefly in Stronghart's office, with Susato noting that there appears to be an awful lot of tension in the air. I expect Van Zieks is questioning that decision to leave Genshin Asogi's son in his care, but even so, he's very civil towards Stronghart. Susato also notes that Van Zieks gives Ryu a cold stare as he leaves, with Ryu wondering what he's done to earn that. This may also be a result of him being besties with Kazuma, since Van Zieks had already buried the hatchet towards Ryu for the most part. When Ryu asks about the decision to leave Kazuma in Van Zieks's care, Stronghart explains it was to best keep an eye on this 'mysterious amnesiac with no identifying papers'. Well OK then. Stronghart also explains he made Kazuma wear a mask because he didn't want to “burden Van Zieks with tiresome explanations about why he had an Eastern appearance.” … I would assume the very simple explanation is that it's because he's of Eastern descent, Stronghart. Regardless, the Lord Chief Justice has high hopes for Kazuma's future and isn't at all bothered by the fact that the guy has gone missing for a little bit.

Things take a turn later when Gina Lestrade comes barging into 221B with some pretty shocking news. Inspector Gregson was murdered. Yes, THAT Inspector Gregson. The suspect has already been arrested:

It's true that to the average civilian like Gina, Van Zieks's name is pretty much synonymous to the Reaper (of the Old Bailey). Even so, to have her outright calling him by that title adds a sort of emotional distance that's really striking. Gina explains they caught him at the scene and there were several witnesses, but Ryu thinks to himself that there's no way Van Zieks would have taken Gregson's life. So naturally, we owe it to our good pal Gregson (who actually was just coming around and being nicer to Ryu) to find the truth. Time to go have a talk with Van Zieks in prison!

… Okay that's funny. Don't worry, Barok, one day we'll all look back on this and laugh. Anyway, Van Zieks says he's in the last place on earth he'd want to be, with the last person on earth he'd want to see. And this line can easily be misinterpreted as Van Zieks saying he hates Ryu more than anyone else in the world, but what he's actually saying is that Ryu is the last person he wishes would see him in this troublesome situation. Ryu says he couldn't very well not come, but Van Zieks tells him to go home since it has nothing to do with him. Susato interjects, pointing out that Gregson has helped them out on numerous occasions and so, they're indebted to him. She pleads for Van Zieks's help with the investigation and he's silent for a moment, only to say: “There's really nothing I can tell you.” Which I suppose means he doesn't think he has anything helpful to say. Ryu asks about what Van Zieks was reading when they came in and assumes it to be a case report. Van Zieks says the Yard wouldn't share case details with a suspect (keep that one in mind) and explains it's a letter from Albert. Dear Professor Harebrayne has arrived in Germany safely! Ryu notes that Van Zieks usually never minces his words, but they seem to have less bite than usual now. No wonder, really, since he's in prison for the murder of an old friend. Van Zieks asks how much they already know about the case, so the two of them go through the facts and Van Zieks says they're well-informed. He's got nothing to add, because... Well.

Oh, this is going to be another one of those cases, huh. Susato asks what Van Zieks was doing at the crime scene in the first place, but Van Zieks points out he doesn't need to answer that, as they aren't representing him. When asked who is representing him in court, he says it'd be anyone other than Ryu. That said, he doesn't actually have any representation because of his reputation as the Reaper. Sixteen people he's prosecuted have mysteriously died and now that he's actually been apprehended for a murder, that whole Reaper ordeal is sure to be thoroughly examined.

BOY, have we got news for you! When it's pointed out that Van Zieks didn't actually have anything to do with those mysterious deaths (right???), he replies that no one wants to know the true identity of that killer more than he does, but it seems things may come to a head before he can uncover the truth. Van Zieks basically tells Ryu to leave, but being the kind-hearted gentleman that he is, Ryu offers to advocate for him in court. Van Zieks asks whether Ryu trusts him, which is a pretty fair question to ask. He's built up so many racist scumbag points and has such a bad reputation in town, it would be weird for Ryu to trust him unconditionally. Luckily, Ryu has been paying attention just as much as I have; he's heard Van Zieks speak in court and seen the way he treats people (uhh, English citizens, anyway), so he doesn't believe this 'Reaper' has it in him to take a life. Unfortunately, Ryu also has to acknowledge that feelings can't be used as evidence in court. Van Zieks considers the offer gracious, but...

“Not the police, not the judiciary... And not you Nipponese.”

One more scumbag point for putting “you Nipponese” in its own category for no reason. Either way, this man has built up such high defensive walls, you could see them from three galaxies away. Trusting no one is a pretty drastic way of living. Ryu thinks to himself that there's a chasm between the two of them that's 'just too wide and too deep'.

As a sidenote, presenting the attorney armband doesn't lead to any interesting conversation this time, but we can also present the Red-headed League advertisement! Van Zieks surmises that if it were a Black-headed League, Ryu would join without delay, which Ryu then confirms. Van Zieks says that sadly, his hair is neither black nor red. He goes into a most curious identity crisis of sorts, where he looks quite anguished as he wonders which coloured league he should join instead. There have been several debates over his hair color, actually, from lavender to purple to grey. Regardless, Susato points out that “people are troubled by the most unexpected problems at times.” It is unexpected, since Van Zieks needs neither the money nor the company that he would get from joining any such league. It's just the principle of the matter, I suppose.

Over by the crime scene in Fresno Street, Gina gets a little razzled when she suspects Ryu is thinking of defending “that Reaper bloke”. Susato points out that if “Lord van Zieks” really is responsible for the crime, he'll be judged fairly in court. This gets Gina to calm down again, because she really wants to know the truth of what happened and much like Van Zieks, she must know that getting the truth is what Ryu does best. A bit of conversation later, Gina points out one more interesting thing; Gregson apparently held a lot of respect for 'the Reaper'. “I take my hat off to that fella,” were his exact words, apparently. Ryu is skeptical, as am I, because I've seen the way Gregson talks about Van Zieks behind his back.

Gina explains that's exactly why he respected Van Zieks. That's... a little weird and ambiguous. So either he respected Van Zieks's ability to stand tall despite all the public scorn, or he respected the fear he struck into people's hearts. There's one more option; Gina keeps talking about the Reaper instead of Van Zieks, so it's possible that Gregson was talking about the actual Reaper. This seems unlikely, though, since he didn't seem to enjoy being part of the Reaper organization.

And now that we know Van Zieks is the defendant, one might be wondering: Who is the prosecutor? Who is the antagonistic force who will try to stop Ryu from uncovering the truth? Well, we find him over in Stronghart's office. Apparently he took an express train back to London from wherever it was he's been these past few days.

YOOOOUUUU!!! Though before we can address his presence properly, we need to discuss the new case. Stronghart wastes no time asking Ryu and Susato whether they've heard “the sickening news about the Reaper's latest devilry.” Which stands out, to say the least, since Stronghart has always been a strong supporter of Van Zieks up until this point. When Susato points out that surely he doesn't believe it, Stronghart says he believes only in facts, which all point to the unavoidable accusal of Lord van Zieks. Someone sure had a quick turnaround when it comes to his number one prosecutor, geez... Stronghart points out the irony that there's no salvation for anyone prosecuted by the Reaper of the Bailey, and now the Reaper himself must stand in the dock. Just as Van Zieks had already alluded to, Stronghart now claims the public will want answers about those mysterious deaths. Ryu and Susato both point out that which had been rubbed into our faces several times already; Van Zieks denies any involvement, and also there have been several investigations into whether he had anything to do with it. Stronghart kind of brushes this off, though. Turns out, Van Zieks is being traded in for a newer model number one prosecutor: Kazuma Asogi! Which seems weird at first glance, since Kazuma is a defense attorney, but Stronghart considers that a bonus:

“A devastation combination, wouldn't you agree?”

I do agree. Granted, it seems Van Zieks had already figured out the defense's strategies too, he just never actively used them to his own advantage. It also turns out that Kazuma personally requested the prosecutor position for this trial. Susato thinks it's pretty unprecedented to grant a newcomer exchange student such a request, but Stronghart offers some petty excuse about how this way, it won't look like the judiciary are closing ranks. Kazuma, who assumes his friend will take on the defense, says he'll see how Ryu's skills have been honed after practicing law in England for so many months. (Uhh. Actually, bestie, it was only about two months of being a defense attorney and six months of disbarment.) Ryu notes that Kazuma is being hostile towards him and wonders why. On a final note, when asking Stronghart about the gun found at the crime scene, we're told that it's issued to all members of law enforcement, including prosecutors. Van Zieks claims to have lost his. That's a troubling claim indeed, because it's difficult to prove or disprove. GOSH, if only fingerprints were allowed in court.

As Ryu and Susato turn to leave, Kazuma stops them. He once again states he wants Ryu to witness this trial as the defense counsel, to “see how it ends”. Since Kazuma has a very distinct vision for how he wants it to end, I guess this means he intends to confront Ryu with Van Zieks's guilt and have his bestie see that a man like him is unworthy of his trust. Either that, or he expects Ryu to use this trial to find the truth of what really happened with the Professor ten years ago, just as he used Albert's trial to dig into that incident. Still though, this reads as pretty scummy to me, because it means he wants Ryu to lose a trial and lose some of his belief in his clients. In the trial itself, it seems to me that Kazuma desperately believes Van Zieks to be a horrible person deserving of the guilty verdict. Therefore, he in no way can hold hope that Ryu will prove him wrong (unlike what went down in case 2-3 with Albert). Anyway, Ryu says that Van Zieks would never put his fate in his hands.

“... It's not easy to see behind the facade sometimes.”

Case 2-3 already told us this, but it's nice to have it confirmed by someone who was closer to Van Zieks. Because remember, Kazuma spent three months by Van Zieks's side (and even fighting by his side), so of course he would know more about his personality than we do. Kazuma hands over a photograph of Barok when he was younger and

GOOD LORD, HE CAN SMILE. Or he could when he was younger, anyway. Kazuma states the picture was displayed in Gregson's office. What he's 'trying to say' is that if Ryu really thinks he can trust “the Reaper” (distancing choice of words again), he might find that some straight talking will change his view. I got the impression we've been straight talking Van Zieks ever since we first met him, but okay. Let's take the picture and back to the gaol we go! Van Zieks is once again reading from some paper and Ryu points out that either he's an incredibly slow reader or it's an incredibly long letter, but either way, Ryu might even be able to read English faster than him. Naturally, this was said loud enough for Van Zieks to overhear.

Scumbag point for hypocrisy, but also a scumbag point for “Nipponese”. When Ryu asks whether it's still Albert's letter he's reading, Van Zieks says he had the case report brought to him in secret. So wait, the Yard does share case details with its suspect? Hilarious. Once again, Van Zieks insists the situation has nothing to do with Ryu, up until the prosecutor's name is revealed to him. And so, the masked cardboard cutout student has become the master! Ryu notes that all the color drained from Van Zieks's face, which is pretty impressive when there's barely any color there to begin with. Ryu has the opportunity now to thrust the photograph into his face, so let's do that. He's immediately alarmed, since he assumed it to be lost and would never have expected Gregson to have it. When Ryu says that Gregson had a deep respect for him, he dismisses that as nonsense, only to correct himself. “There was a time things were like that.”

Van Zieks thanks Ryu for that nice glimpse into the past, and Ryu thinks to himself that there was a glimmer in Van Zieks's eyes- a brief twinkle. He considers that “an insight into the true nature of this man known to all as the stone-cold Reaper of the Bailey”, with “the true nature” being highlighted as orange. So this right here is undeniable; this is what the narrative is illustrating to us now. The true nature of Barok van Zieks is that of someone who was hopeful and jovial; kind-hearted, as Albert knew him. What we see now, that harsh exterior full of harsh words, is not his nature at all.

Van Zieks is more willing to talk now. He once again speaks of Klint, rehashing the same story we've heard several times already. Van Zieks claims there's not a single day where he doesn't curse the name Asogi. He considers it a cruel twist of fate that the man's son intends to crucify him in 'some kangaroo court'. Clearly, he doesn't think highly of the upcoming trial if he refers to it as a kangaroo court, but that's likely because he knows he isn't the real killer. When Ryu points out that he still doesn't understand why Stronghart apprenticed Kazuma to Van Zieks, the explanation is that “it's what he does”. Van Zieks believes that Stronghart knew Kazuma's true identity from the outset, but still provides no real explanation as to why Stronghart 'did what he did' and even assigned Kazuma as the prosecutor this time. Van Zieks goes on to contemplate the name Asogi some more and calls it 'the epitome of his bane'.

I've talked before about how utterly flawed it is that Van Zieks attributes Genshin's crime to his race and/or cultural upbringing and proceeds to tar every single Japanese person with the same brush. There's no need to go into this again; we all know it's wrong. Turns out, even Van Zieks knows it's wrong, but we'll get back to that momentarily. First, Van Zieks needs to talk about Klint even more. (good lord...) He explains that Klint van Zieks was hunting down a mass murderer and “assigned to the investigation as his partner was a certain visiting student dispatched by the Yard.” This was Genshin, of course, and I believe this is the first time it's said that he too was looking into the Professor case. So Van Zieks already mentioned in the previous case that the Japanese students had left a deep impact on him, and also that he once toasted friendship with a Japanese person, but now we have this:

“But none of us saw the true nature of the man.”

True nature is once again in orange here, but this time as a red herring. Van Zieks believes that the Professor murders were Genshin's true nature, when it isn't quite true at all. Regardless, since Van Zieks was still in university at the time the exchange students were in the country, I don't think he would've had that much contact with Genshin. I expect he encountered the man on rare occasion while Klint associated most with him. Every meeting was enough to foster this respect and friendship, though, so it's clear that young Van Zieks was easily influenced and had a very open mind towards a foreign exchange student. But then, that's what makes the next portion of the story all the more damaging.

“My esteemed brother... The people I believed in... And any semblance of right prevailing over wrong!”

As Van Zieks also already alluded to in the previous case, he found himself in a very dark place. That isn't surprising. Every positive thing Van Zieks knew in his life, from his family to his closest friends, was ripped away from him in extremely close succession. What must've been the final nail in the coffin was Genshin outright admitting to his crimes. It erased all doubt that perhaps there was some sort of misunderstanding or a frame job. Going over everything Van Zieks has said so far, it seems he didn't just blame Genshin for the tremendous loss he suffered; he blamed himself. He must believe that his trust in Genshin blinded him to this supposed 'true nature', just as it must've also blinded Klint, and that the whole tragedy could've been prevented if only he'd been more cautious. So now, in present day, he no longer trusts anyone. He outright says so.

Van Zieks goes on to talk about how he was the one who prosecuted the Professor. Since he'd only just graduated, such a thing usually wouldn't be allowed, but he “beleaguered the ascribed prosecutor until he consented.” This person was Mael Stronghart, who back then was apparently still no more than a prosecutor. A highly accomplished one, but a prosecutor nonetheless. Since Klint was the Director of Prosecutions (or Chief Prosecutor???) at the time, that means he actually ranked above Stronghart. Interesting. Regardless, since Stronghart agreed to let Van Zieks lead the prosecution and instead only acted as an advisor, Van Zieks now feels indebted to him. That certainly explains why he's usually so good about following Stronghart's orders and not asking questions.

“And, of all things, as a lawyer.”

Ahhh, this is the part where Ryu enters the chronology. Our protagonist points out that he's felt Van Zieks's animosity since the first time he faced him in the courtroom; his obvious deep loathing of Japanese people. And here comes perhaps one of the most important, yet most overlooked lines Van Zieks will ever utter in these games:

“But for so many years, that hatred had festered inside me, I could no longer control it.”

So here, Van Zieks admits to two things. First of all, he admits that he was wrong to hold such deep loathing and by extension, to give that loathing a voice. He's a man of logic, after all. To cling to something which he refers to as illogical is about as wrong as one could get. Not only that, he admits that this was an unstoppable force he should have controlled, but was too weak to do so. The hatred overpowered him and did away with common sense. He behaved stupidly and irrationally because for ten years, hatred and negativity was all he knew. But what's even more striking here is Ryu's answer, which is also often overlooked:

Ryu, bless his heart, doesn't blame Van Zieks for succumbing to this weakness. Bear in mind, he's the victim here. Van Zieks wouldn't have encountered many other Japanese people in those ten years, if at all. This means the first person he lashed out against was Ryu. Naturally, Ryu can't speak for Susato or Soseki, who received their own verbal assaults and might have different opinions on the matter. Ryu is just one man, but in our narrative, he's the main protagonist and the main target of these outbursts. Is it misleading and perhaps even problematic in the grand scheme of things to have the protagonist sympathize with such motivation? Well, that depends on many different factors. There's no easy answer for this because it's a nuanced, cultural sort of thing. Personally, I was a bit bothered by it, but not to the point that it ruined the experience for me.

Van Zieks admits that just as the Japanese were the bane of his life, Kazuma Asogi must believe Van Zieks to be the bane of his. He is, after all, the Reaper who sent his father to the gallows. Van Zieks thinks that Kazuma intends to take revenge in court and... Really, this is true.

There's a quick bit of conversation about Gregson now. Turns out, the only reason the Professor was caught at all was because Gregson forced an autopsy on Klint despite it being considered the highest taboo at the time. Van Zieks says that as a result of Gregson's powerful conviction, he could avenge his brother's death. He looks quite torn, a bit pained. He must believe he owes Gregson something for this. The conversation then moves on to Van Zieks's revolver, which he claims to have misplaced an undetermined amount of time ago. “I must have stowed it somewhere, I suppose. Or left it somewhere, perhaps.” Van Zieks clearly doesn't think highly of firearms as a weapon, since he's constantly carrying a sword around instead. Susato points out that Ryu has a talent for misplacing things in common with Van Zieks, which leads to one more scumbag outburst.

… Dude. Come on. You just admitted it was illogical. You came so far! Scumbag point for you. Still, as the conversation rounds to a close, Van Zieks utters the words “Mister... Naruhodo”, much to Ryu's surprise. This is the first time he's actually said Ryu's name! Van Zieks once again reiterates that he's lost all confidence in England's judiciary system. He doesn't trust the police, the judiciary or lawyers. Even so, there's still one thing he's willing to believe in.

“That which you see in the eyes of another across the courtroom: a simple determination to know the truth. From the very first time we clashed in the Bailey almost a year ago now... I couldn't deny it, even though I dearly wished I could. 'Here is a loathsome Japanese... who has absolute integrity as a lawyer.' There are only two other men I've known with that same look in their eyes: my brother, Klint. … And Genshin Asogi.”

This is interesting. So at first when he saw that look in Ryu's eyes, he must've been reminded of Genshin. And again, this is why he directed such hatred towards Ryu; he saw someone who wasn't alive anymore. But now he recalls that Klint also had that same gaze, and so he wants to believe that Ryu is not similar to a deceitful murderer, he's instead similar to his beloved brother. (Boy is he going to have to reevaluate how he judges people when he finds out that his beloved brother was the deceitful murderer.) Van Zieks says that when he saw the photograph, he was reminded of a time when he could laugh, free of the shackles of mistrust which plague him now. This is very relevant since Van Zieks indeed can't laugh anymore. We never see him do it. He can't even smile.

“But at times the mire into which I've sunk makes it almost impossible to breathe.”

Someone please get this man to a professional therapist. If he means that in a more literal sense and he does occasionally feel like he can't breathe, that's telltale signs of panic attacks. It could just be, of course, that he's being overdramatic and the “impossible to breathe” bit is just fanciful wordplay to go with the mire analogy. Still though, considering he's also mentioned being in a dark place and that he's willing to die so long as it serves a useful purpose, and that he drinks his wine to stave off tedium... He's clearly depressed. But then, he seems to know it. He acknowledges that the way he is now is not the way things should be, and that he needs to fight to overcome it. And so:

“... In tomorrow's trial... Will you advocate for me?”

Boom. Swallowed his pride and turned to Ryu for help because he knows it's what's best for him. He no longer trusts anyone, but he's willing to trust Ryu because once he starts opening up again and has that trust repaid, then perhaps things can gradually go back to the way things were when he was younger. Mind, he still hasn't apologized for his actions, but that doesn't change that Ryu at least is willing to extend a hand to Van Zieks. It's a little sad that Susato doesn't properly form her own opinion on this and instead just goes along with whatever Ryu says. I would've liked to know just how she feels about Van Zieks's attitude and whether or not he deserves to be helped. She doesn't object to it, at least, and since Susato usually always speaks her mind, I can only assume she genuinely agrees with Ryu's sentiments.

The next day, in the defendant's lobby, it's remarked there's a 'menacing tension' in the air and Ryu surmises out loud it's the result of the menacing appearance of the defendant. Well-deserved, that remark. Touché. Van Zieks asks him for a little more courtesy in a polite enough manner, but considering the lack of courtesy he's shown Ryu over the past 8 months, that's hypocritical. He informs Ryu that this is a closed trial without a jury, which bums me out because it means no more Summation Examination. I would've liked to see Asogi react to that. (S)Holmes comes in and has the weirdest little banter with Van Zieks that I honestly can't... really decipher. There's several things about it that really strike me as being off:

- “And I you. I see London's celebrated great detective is as active as ever.”

- “Oh, you exaggerate, my dear fellow. Compared to my paltry engagements with a few trivial cases... The Reaper's overbearing presence is a far greater deterrent to the black roots of crime in our capital. And whilst I may not agree with your methods... There is at least one point on which I would readily commend you.”

- “What an honour. And that would be...?”

- “Your eye for a good lawyer, sir. […] Behind this lawyer there is a very great mind. My own.”

Alright, so... First of all, we know (S)Holmes is super arrogant and would never refer to his past cases as “trivial” in all sincerity. Plus, it's established that he's very weird with compliments, such as referring to Gregson as “the best of those blunderers of the Yard”, so complimenting Van Zieks directly on the effect he has on crime feels off. Aside from that, (S)Holmes addresses Van Zieks as the Reaper and continues to talk about 'his methods', when it's already been established (S)Holmes doesn't believe Van Zieks has anything to do with the Reaper killings. Taking all that into account, I can only really assume that the first half of this above conversation is (S)Holmes being weirdly passive aggressive towards Van Zieks, with Van Zieks being passive aggressive in turn. It really, truly feels as if there was some sort of backstory between these two that they had to scrap at the last second. Regardless, the exchange ends with (S)Holmes warning Van Zieks that this will be “quite a trial”.

Gina Lestrade shows up with Yujin Mikotoba (….. when did they meet???), saying they intend to watch the trial, and I am very impressed with how (S)Holmes manages to disappear from the scene and not say a word when his old partner arrives. Anyway, Gina looks Ryu square in the eye and asks him why he agreed to take Van Zieks on. Everyone's saying it was him who killed Gregson. Considering everyone was saying it was her who killed Pop Windibank six months ago, you'd think she might want to tone down her attitude, but she's clearly in mourning and lashing out. See? People who are hurting can say insensitive things. Ryu insists he doesn't believe it to be true, but Gina demands to know that if it wasn't him, then who?

“An' if it turns out it was 'im wot killed the boss... Then God 'elp 'im!”

It's interesting to remember that during The Unspeakable Story, Gina wasn't afraid of Van Zieks for his Reaper reputation. She didn't believe in the curse and didn't think she would end up like the other defendants. Now, she absolutely no longer gives a damn whether Van Zieks is the mysterious Reaper or not. She only thinks he might be a murderer who took away her mentor and that's what has her judge him so fiercely. Van Zieks remarks on her fiery eyes and tells her that the culprit does indeed deserve every inch of her loathing. “At least that may be some solace to the deceased.” So here, in a roundabout way, it rather looks as if Van Zieks is sympathizing with Gina's anger. At the very least, he's condoning it, just not towards himself.

Entering the courtroom, it becomes clear very fast just how serious this trial will become. Just as was alluded to before, the judge confirms that the 'Reaper of the Old Bailey' has been undermining Her Majesty's justice system and therefore, the people will demand answers on this matter. Ryu thinks to himself the trial will be a lot more far-reaching than just Gregson's murder. Sure enough, Kazuma is at the prosecutor's bench and ready to get that vengeance Van Zieks referred to in jail. Shockingly, the first witness he summons is actually Van Zieks himself. The judge is surprised, but Kazuma explains that as a prosecutor, Van Zieks believes in the oath of office he's taken; he'll be compelled to tell the truth. Because contrary to what happened in Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro, Van Zieks is against perjury! (I WILL NEVER GET OVER WHAT HAPPENED WITH SHAMSPEARE!) Sure enough, he takes the stand and Kazuma says the court would like to hear him explain some things away.

He really is just brutally honest, isn't he? Both in his courtroom methods and in how he shows his emotions. He doesn't sugarcoat, he doesn't beat around the bush, he definitely doesn't lie... At most, he may withhold some information. Unfortunately, his testimony is mostly useless. The judge remarks that he didn't want to imagine this day would come, but ever since Van Zieks became known as the Reaper, he's been dreading it. The judge, our neutral ground, seems to be convinced that Van Zieks may have actually done the deed. That's not good. Kazuma acts all smug, saying that Van Zieks indeed hasn't explained anything away and that his testimony barely qualifies as an excuse. Van Zieks notes that his 'mute apprentice' has a way with words. Meanwhile, Ryu thinks to himself that Kazuma isn't behaving like himself, which is a sentiment they'll keep repeating throughout the case. … I gotta be honest here, I didn't notice all that much of a difference between this Kazuma and the one from the very first case of the game. I mean, come on, he sliced a man's hair off and cursed his descendants just for insulting Ryu. He's slightly more arrogant here, maybe, but since he was only the assistant there and is a leading counsel here, it makes sense for him to be more proactive and confident in his methods. Then again, I'm not a Kazuma expert; maybe there's something I'm missing.

In his testimony, Van Zieks revealed that he was investigating Gregson, but when pressed on it he won't admit the exact reason for it. He only says he'd identified a distinct possibility Gregson was involved in a case he was investigating. When asked how he even knew where Gregson would be, he openly admits to having stolen into his office and consulted his diary. (“Dear Diary, today I dropped my fish 'n chips on the way to Fresno Street-”) When told that illegally entering Gregson's office would warrant serious consequences, Van Zieks says he was aware of that risk.

The rest of the testimony is pressed without further hitches, though what did strike me as interesting is that at one point, Ryu suggests the gunshot might've originated from outside the room, but Van Zieks immediately says it's out of the question. He shoots the possibility down with evidence only he could have experienced (the bang sounded inside the room and he could smell gunpowder), and in doing so, only implicates himself further. Detrimentally honest, this one. Not only that, but he picked the gun up.

NO KIDDING that was carelessness. Is he related to Miles Edgeworth after all? Kazuma talks about how three street peddlers overheard the bang and burst through the door with some force. Van Zieks states they almost gave him a heart attack in the process (omg) and Ryu thinks to himself: “(But you're supposed to be the Reaper...)” C'mon Ryu, haven't you seen enough of this man by now to know he gets jarred easily?

When the testimony rounds to a close, things get interesting. Kazuma uses his defense attorney skills, as promised. He uses evidence from the Court Record to point out contradictions in Van Zieks's testimony, thereby 'proving he's lying'. Hey, what happened to Van Zieks believing in the oath of office and being compelled to tell the truth? Did Kazuma call Van Zieks to the stand just to expose him as a liar? He wins the judge over quite easily by illustrating these contradictions and casting doubt on Van Zieks's integrity. Tragic, because as Van Zieks says:

Van Zieks steps down from the stand and disappears for the remainder of the trial day. He doesn't even show up during intermission in the defendant's lobby. Characters do still talk about him, though!

I mean... He ain't lyin'. At one point, Kazuma utters the words “the defence is fated to lose. And the prosecution to win,” which once again confirms that Kazuma basically asked Ryu to take part in an 'unwinnable' trial. Which, y'know, is technically fine. Losing a trial isn't the end of the world, especially when the defendant (in Kazuma's eyes) is actually guilty. Still though, personally asking Ryu to take on Van Zieks just so he can watch the man be exposed as a killer is kind of... Kazuma, sir, are you also unable to control your hatred and having it lash out in illogical ways? Is that a parallel with Van Zieks I spy?

The rest of the trial isn't directly related to Van Zieks. It's just a whole bunch of roundabout arguing with street peddlers, red-headed scammers and the revelation that one of those peddlers is actually Daley Vigil, the missing former prison warder. Despite knowing of the dangers, Kazuma asks Ryu to help him forcefully break some of the man's black psyche-locks (c'mon, we all know that's what's impeding his memories) and they send the man to the hospital as a result. Welp. Unveiling the truth is becoming increasingly dangerous in this game and that's really upping the stakes for us.

Into the next investigation day we go! Ryu surmises that it's clear now “Van Zieks definitely didn't do it.” Even so, there are some unanswered questions about the man. What was he even doing at the crime scene and what's with that investigation into Gregson he didn't want to talk about in court? Heading on over to the Chief Justice's office, we overhear him pressuring Kazuma into 'continuing the trial as instructed'. Once he takes note of Ryu and the others, he tells them that he wanted Van Zieks's trial concluded that day and blames 'Asogi's unwelcome inquiries' for it taking longer than necessary. Stronghart's becoming increasingly ominous, here... I don't know for certain why he doesn't just go the extra mile to have Van Zieks proven innocent so he can keep using his Reaper tool to intimidate the masses. I suppose it's because with Gregson dead, he's lost his most important strategist in the killings and the tool of the Reaper's curse can't be used as easily anymore. Assassins probably come a dime a dozen, so Shinn can be replaced, but Gregson... Not so much. Ryu asks Stronghart whether Kazuma truly believes Van Zieks to be the Reaper, but Stronghart says he wouldn't know. He once again talks about the history of the Reaper with its very long run of coincidental deaths and tells us nothing new or interesting.

To prison we go, to visit Van Zieks himself! He's reading a book now, but we're never told what it is. He tries to ignore the visitors, but just as always, eventually comes up to the bars to talk.

YOU FREAKIN- I CAN'T- WHY- How many more times must we teach you this lesson, old man?!!! Thankfully, even Ryu is fed up at this point.

Finally. He spoke up. I've seen a lot of people criticize the fact that Ryu never properly confronts Van Zieks with the damage he's been doing, and on the one hand I would agree. Calling people out on their bullshit is a very useful step in having them notice their mistakes. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that is also a very Western view. It's very easy for us to think that Ryu should stand up for himself and call Van Zieks a prejudiced little tosser who needs to think before he speaks, but that simply isn't part of his character. There may be several reasons to explain why he doesn't confront Van Zieks more firmly, but I'd like to focus on just two. The first is that Ryu is an exchange student who came to England as a 'guest' and is facing not just one racist. Not even five or ten. Everywhere he goes, he's surrounded by people just like Van Zieks. We've seen it in the judge, we've seen it in the jurors, we've seen it in Gregson and in witnesses... Ryu is a minority in a very literal sense, since there's only one other Japanese person (two if we count Soseki) we know of in this entire city. There's a very natural, very understandable defense mechanism which may kick in when surrounded by potentially dangerous individuals, and that is to withdraw; to be as quiet as possible and to attract as little trouble as possible, since 'they outnumber you'. Bonus points for the extreme difference in social standing between Ryu and Van Zieks.

There's one other thing which adds to the above. Ryu was written to be your everyday Japanese person, and their view on confrontation is quite different from our own. I remembered this from a job interview I once had with a Japanese company and looked into it again to refresh my memory: Japanese people are non-confrontational. It's very important for them to maintain a sort of harmony during conversation and therefore, they'll rarely utter negative sentiments, such as criticism, in a way that will cause embarrassment to the person they're addressing. Instead, they employ something often referred to as indirect communication. “The pattern of Japanese indirect communication uses far less words to convey intent in a more subtle manner. Indirect communication uses expression, posture, and tone of voice of the speaker to draw meaning from the actual conversation.” This is very deeply ingrained into the Japanese culture and, if the sources I reviewed are correct, it goes all the way back to the feudal days. Mind, this attitude isn't even limited to Japan. I've been told there's several other countries who adopt that very same attitude and if you cause someone else to lose face, it can have some very severe repercussions for you. Kazuma is a bit more outspoken than Ryu, for example when they face Jezail, but this makes sense also, since Asogi was written to be more progressive. It seems to me that Ryu has been using indirect communication quite often already and, since Van Zieks is woefully unequipped to read this type of communication, Ryu has now finally resorted to something more direct. It's still not a sharp call-out, but rather, the above line reads to me as something in-between direct and indirect communication. And it works.

HELL FROZE OVER! We've done it, lads! Or, as Iris puts it:

So even the rest of the cast is acknowledging this is a big deal and we've made tremendous progress. Could someone else have confronted Van Zieks in a more direct, more Western way before this point? Sure. But would he have listened? The judge has already snarked at him several times during trials and it's always been brushed off as nothing. The only person he might've listened to would've been Albert, but what is the narrative significance of having a side character confront Van Zieks? There isn't one. This was a very impactful moment where Ryu himself resorted to a more Western tactic to get his point across and Van Zieks, in turn, finally uttered an apology. So now we get to have an earnest conversation with the man at last. Van Zieks says he was impressed; not by Ryu but by Kazuma. On first glance, this seems like a mean thing to say, but... Van Zieks is already intimately familiar with Ryu's performance in the courtroom. Why would he still be impressed by that? Kazuma, however, he's never seen in action before. Van Zieks thinks it's all rather “sardonic”.

It's called a cruel irony, Barok. A common tool in storytelling. He himself considers it “retribution for having played the part of the Reaper all these years”. So once again it's discussed how the Reaper minimizes the amount of crime in the capital and since that's a goal Van Zieks is committed to, he never said anything to disprove the rumors. Ryu insists that someone else is profiting off Van Zieks's silence on the matter and is basically using him as a scapegoat. As it turns out, Van Zieks wasn't quite as passive about the matter as he's led us to believe.

Hm. Alright, so he thinks it's good the Reaper's curse is reducing crime in London, but clearly he wants the Reaper organization brought to justice. In a way, he's profiting off these 'accidental deaths' since the fear that comes from them aligns with his goal of crime reduction, but he doesn't actively condone the Reaper murders and wants them halted. Since there's so much accurate information about the accused used in the killings, Van Zieks surmised a while ago that someone from Scotland Yard must've been involved in the killings. It's taken him “many years” to identify the central figure in the organization: Tobias Gregson. Naturally, everyone is shocked. We knew Gregson! And sure, he wasn't exactly a kind person, but he certainly didn't appear to be a killer. He was very rough around the edges, but from what we'd been led to believe, he had a good heart. … A decent heart. Mediocre, one might say. Ryu asks whether the reason Van Zieks was investigating Gregson was to expose him as the Reaper, but Van Zieks repeats the notion that the Reaper is not a single person. He doesn't have a doubt, though, that Gregson was a key member of the organization who did all of the planning. Believe it or not, Gregson was the brains behind the killings; the tactician who investigated and plotted, then left the dirty work to an assassin by the name of Asa Shinn. (LOCALIZATION WHY)

So now that we have this information, we can come to a very interesting conclusion. Both Gregson and Shinn are dead now, so by Van Zieks's reasoning, the Reaper is dead. You'd think this is good, but it does in fact make it very difficult to find the truth. Rather, Van Zieks believes that the truth died with Gregson (he hinted as much twice already) and while the seasoned Ace Attorney player knows it won't be impossible to expose a dead person as a killer, it'd be a hectic ordeal. The seasoned Great Ace Attorney player will know the Reaper hierarchy extends just a bit higher and the two who died are only pawns, but... Y'know. Approaching this from a first-time-player point of view, you'll know things will get troublesome.

There's another topic of conversation where Van Zieks once again addresses how sharp Kazuma is in court. He didn't miss a thing.

OUCH. So when Ryu first arrived, Van Zieks saw Genshin whenever he looked at him, not only due to his roots but due to 'the look in his eyes when searching for the truth'. Now, he sees Genshin in Kazuma, which surely makes a lot more sense. Van Zieks goes on to say that it's true some of the aristocracy from 10 years ago were problematic and abusing their power. “In a way, Asogi was carving out a canker from society that we British couldn't deal with ourselves.” So here, he sounds almost complimentary of the Professor's actions- specifically Asogi's actions. As if it would've all been well and good, were it not for the Professor's final victim. “But that's precisely why it makes no sense. Klint van Zieks was a noble and upstanding man. He wasn't corrupt.”

Remember way back in The Unspeakable Story when I surmised that Van Zieks boiled Genshin's actions down to his race in order to avoid the belief that there might've been a reason his brother was killed? We see it here again. Van Zieks is in doubt. He may say vocally that “it makes no sense”, but that line in itself is already telling. The fact that he acknowledges it and draws it into question implies to us that he's skeptical of the story. Deep down, he knows something is amiss. He knows there's some sort of explanation he's missing, but if he were to dig too deeply into it, he'd have to acknowledge that perhaps his brother was corrupt. And this still isn't all of it. There's one more thing Van Zieks has to discuss before we can round this conversation to a close. Ten years ago, shortly after Klint died, Genshin saved his life.

There's that phrasing again. “True nature”. It's not in orange this time, but it's there all the same. Van Zieks is convinced that Genshin is the one who had a hidden true nature. In this story, we learn that 'the scum of London' had already targeted him several times even before he became known as the Reaper, simply because of who he was and who his brother was. JEESH. Harsh. So on the night in question, a couple of thugs also tried to kill him (allegedly) but Genshin stepped in to protect him. Genshin became lightly wounded as a result. This is the part where I would have expected them to explain Van Zieks's scars, but he never mentions being wounded himself, so we can't be sure this is when it happened. Curious. This was the perfect opportunity and they let it slide. So anyway, two days after that incident, Genshin was arrested.

Some more telling lines here. Van Zieks thinks he'd never recount the story to anyone; not because there's no need to tell it. It's because it must be difficult to talk about. On its own, that might be a farfetched conclusion I wouldn't make, but Ryu confirms it with his follow-up line: “Thank you... for confiding in me.” We can take this line to mean exactly what it says; Van Zieks confided something painful. He let down some more walls. Growth!

So with all this out of the way, there's a whole load more investigation to do before this case is over. Most of it has to do with Genshin's will, a mysterious trunk belonging to Gregson, the missing time of death on the autopsy report... Nothing too relevant to Van Zieks's character. However, if we go into the prosecutor's office and examine things while Kazuma is there, we do get some fun tidbits about how Van Zieks wouldn't trust anyone else to touch his things and would rearrange it all himself whenever needed. From the sound of it, Van Zieks is very meticulous and a loner, which aligns with what we know about him. Some more conversation later, we reach the topic of the Reaper with Kazuma. He agrees that Gregson was definitely involved in the Reaper organization, but there's one thing that's more important. “Who's been giving orders to the Inspector?” In my eyes, it's a bit of a stretch to assume with certainty anyone was giving orders; Gregson might've just taken up the vigilante justice by himself and found some way to pay Shinn enough money to get in on it. Kazuma insists, though, that Van Zieks is 'the real Reaper'. We as the audience already know that's nonsense, we know Kazuma is wrong. Or perhaps we might think that if somehow Van Zieks pulled the wool over our eyes and Kazuma is correct, that'd be one heck of a wild twist. Kazuma gives no real reason why he believes this, he only goes on to say that ten years ago, it was Van Zieks who 'decided his father must be a mass murderer'. Shockingly, Susato is the one to jump in here and outright say to Kazuma that he's wrong; that Van Zieks only saw that 'justice was done as the law dictates' and he wasn't to blame for Genshin's execution. Kazuma insists that people condemn people and the law is just a tool they use for it. So I suppose that's exactly what he's doing right now. He's condemning Van Zieks, just as Van Zieks once condemned Genshin. We're cycling! And my main question now is this: If Stronghart had been the prosecutor in the Professor's trial instead, would Kazuma be just as vengeful towards him? Because remember, it's people who condemn people. This implies that anyone who had taken on the job of prosecutor at that time is the one who 'decided that Genshin must've been a murderer' and would need to take responsibility in Kazuma's eyes. Kazuma's beef isn't with Van Zieks personally, it's with the prosecutor who used that tool of the law and also evidence.

HAHAHAAA! HAH! If you align this screenshot next to the “Klint van Zieks was a noble and upstanding man” line, you get a wonderful parallel. These two prosecutors are both dead wrong about their beloved family, and they're about to find out in the worst way possible.

One murder mystery spread out over two episodes? You bet! Stay tuned for the last case, The Resolve of Ryunosuke Naruhodo!

#dgs #dgs spoilers #tgaa #tgaa spoilers #barok van zieks #I can't believe I managed to cram it all into one post #phew #but this was a big one

[she-who-the-river-could-not-hold]

Crackling Fires 2021 | October Fic Challenge

"Something in the Water"

hosted by: @crackling-fires | prompt(s): day 04 – chilly, day 05 – cabin on the lake | ship(s): Bellarke, Linctavia (minor) | wc: 974 Getting away to nature can be good for repairing friendships as well as crossing new bridges in current ones.

The damp cold of the morning cut through even the heavy sweater that Clarke had pulled tight across her body. Thankfully, the coffee that she was currently holding was scalding hot––too hot to drink even––which made it an excellent way to warm up her hands. Taking a long, deep inhale of the coffee’s aroma and allowing the steam to warm up her face, Clarke leaned against the porch’s wooden railing to look out over the lake.

Everything was still this early. A heavy fog was slowly burning off, but kept the tree-line hazy and shrouded. Outside of the occasional caw in the distance, the birds were even still asleep.

Which is very much what she would have preferred to be doing instead if she was honest with herself.

But the reason she was up this early was because the others who had woken up even earlier than her were pulling into the dock down below.

Clarke waved her mug of coffee in greeting as Lincoln appeared first on the steps leading up to the cabin. His smile flashed bright against the misty morning and he hoisted his fishing gear up over his shoulder as he began the climb back up. Next was Octavia, her hair pulled back in a wet braid and her stand up paddle board in hand. And then next came Bellamy, holding his own fishing gear and looking extremely happy to be back on solid ground.

“Welcome back,” Clarke called over the railing once they were all in earshot. “Any success?”

“You won’t believe the size of the bass they caught!” Octavia crowed.

Once they got up, Clarke gave an air hug to the young woman, still wet from an apparent fall into the water, who promised to immediately go take a hot shower to ward off the chill from being soaked. Lincoln showed her that they indeed caught a couple impressively large fish and Clarke’s stomach rumbled at the promise of that night’s dinner.

“And how was your quiet morning?” Bellamy planted a quick kiss on her head as they lingered out on the porch, the other two stepping inside the cabin.

“Good! I finished the promotional piece for Indra and got it sent over. With the time change it should be the first thing she sees when she checks her email.”

“And you got to be warm,” he tacked on with a groan. “Plus an extra two hours of sleep.”

“So you aren’t going to turn into a fisherman overnight?” Clarke teased, nudging him gently in the side.

Bellamy laughed, shaking out his curls. “Nah, I don’t think I’m going to be keeping this up.” His eyes trailed back up to the cabin though and his smile turned softer. “I think it meant a lot to O though, so I’m glad I did it.”

Clarke wrapped her arm around his waist and he cradled her into a one-armed hug.

“She’s definitely happy that you did. I’m glad you and Lincoln are getting closer,” she murmured into his chest. “Seemed worth the early wake up.”

She felt him nod above her. He and Octavia’s fiance had been friends then fell apart once he started dating his younger sister. While their friendship had been on the mend for a bit, this fall retreat was in an effort to cement the growth before Octavia dove headfirst into wedding planning. She’d told him that she wouldn’t be able to focus otherwise and the last thing Bellamy had wanted to do was distract her anymore than he already had. And luckily, they’d already almost buried the hatchet as it was and now it was hard to remember the bickering. So Clarke had offered up her family’s old cabin up in Maine for them to all get away to for a long weekend and just focus on the four of them.

“We should come up here more often though, fishing or not,” Bellamy piped up from above her.

Clarke hummed pleasantly at the idea. “It’s really amazing. I’m so much more focused and it’s cool to make new memories here. My grandparents would be thrilled if they were still around to see it being used more. I loved coming here as a kid.”

“I can see that,” he remarked warmly. “I mean, I can also see…”

He paused with a flush and Clarke carefully pulled away from him.

Her heart pounding and a sly, but giddy grin slowly quirked at her lips. “You want to finish that sentence Mr. Blake?”

Laughing, Bellamy ducked his head before looking back at her, eyes sparkling.

“Well… Mrs. Blake…” he drew out teasingly, though still blushing, “I guess I can also see our kids here too. Lincoln was a good teacher, we both love hiking and it’s healthy to get away sometimes. It would just be nice to add to those memories.”

Clarke felt like her heart was floating and she smiled widely.

“Is that your way of saying you’re ready to start trying?”

When Bellamy nodded, Clarke pushed herself up on her toes and pulled him for a kiss. He chuckled against her lips as she nearly spilled her coffee on them before enthusiastically returning it. They’d hinted at the next step for a bit now but neither had felt like they were ready to commit to the idea. She’d even been nervous about how to tell him that she was ready now, that her freelance was in a good enough place that she could set aside time depending on how quick it all came together, but not sure how to do it without pressuring him.

But he was, as usual, on her same wavelength and being at the cabin had not only rejuvenated his friendship with Lincoln, but brought them to the conclusion together.

Or maybe he just really liked the look of her in his sweaters.

#crackling fires 2021 #cracklingfires #my creations #kathryn writes: the 100 #kathryn writes #kathryn writes: cracklingfires #bellarke #clarke griffin #bellamy blake #technically linctavia too but it's minor #the 100 #the 100 au #the 100 fic

[onewithnomightypowers]

clandestine (chapter 4)

PAIRING: Tom Holland x fem!Reader

SUMMARY: Y/N is an up and coming actress, married to a once hotshot actor, Harrison (Haz). What happens when her co-star, Tom, makes her realise that she is stuck in a loveless marriage. A marriage starts crumbling and a new romance stars brewing.

chapter 4: darling can’t you hear me?

A/N: i do not encourage cheating. this chapter is musically driven so i would recommend listening to ‘hit me baby one more time’ by britney spears, ‘sos’ by abba and ‘end game’ by taylor swift, while reading the chapter. also there is slight smut in here. i hope you guys like this chapter!! feedback is always appreciated.

warnings: smoking, drinking, slight smut, cursing

word count: 1.6k

important: bold and italic are character thoughts

main masterlist   series masterlist   chapter 3   chapter 5

Tom and Y/N had been individually invited to their common friend Lily’s house warming party. They, however, decided to go together as friends.

Most of the people Y/N knew in London were all in the same circle and were all present at Lily’s. Lily was a smart woman and a social butterfly, but she was not the smartest when it came to befriending real and trustworthy people.

The house was packed with people. Everyone was taking a swing at the karaoke machine attached to the TV in the living room.

Y/N and Tom made their way to the kitchen where all the drinks were.

“Remember, you’re driving us home.” Y/N said, snatching the beer from Tom’s hand.

“Why can’t you drive?” Y/N chugged the whole beer at once.

“Oops”, she said, wiping her mouth from the back of her palm.

They both diverted to their separate ways, trying not to confirm the obvious. They were the talk of the town, or the party in this case. They were knee deep in rumours. Everyone had been gossiping about something they had heard from a friend of a friend.

Rumours spread like wildfire and in their case, most of the rumours were true. But the biggest red herring of the town was that Haz and Y/N were separated and were on the verge of filing divorce, and Y/N was getting the heat of it.

Those who were sober enough to sustain a conversation, came up to her and asked her the exact same question.

“So what is up with Haz? How is he? Haven’t seen him around in such a long time”, asked a girl, whose name Y/N couldn’t remember.

She was clearly out for ‘the scoop’ everyone else was.

“Oh he’s nice, he’s actually coming to London next week”, this was the thirteenth time Y/N had repeated that sentence tonight.

“So will he be accompanying you to the premier?”

What is she, a tabloid journalist?

“I don’t know actually, we haven’t talked about that”

---

Tom hated parties, he preferred intimate gatherings, where people would have meaningful conversations instead of the shallow small talk. He was an ‘intellectual’ in that sense, as Y/N had pointed out. He was insufferable since he couldn’t drink as he had to drive Y/N home, and she was nowhere to be found. He found himself entering the bathroom in Lily’s room to escape. Little did he know, Y/N felt the same way. He entered the bathroom to a modern masterpiece.

Y/N was sitting inside the bathtub with her legs hanging out of it. Her white wine glass was to her left, next to a Marlboro box with a lighter poking out it. The shower curtains were pushed to the right side of the tub.

She had a cigarette in her left hand and her phone in her right. He could only assume that she was playing candy crush like the middle aged woman she was. He couldn’t help but take a picture.

Y/N didn’t notice him until she heard the sound of the phone camera.

“I see you lasted an hour out there”, she said, ashing her cigarette on the box.

“Which is more than you”, he sat on the edge of the tub.

“Ugh, I couldn’t take their questions about Haz anymore, like seriously why do they all need to ask me the exact same question individually, I should literally just announce my life’s status with a fucking lou-“, Y/N was interrupted by Tom’s sloppy kiss.

She tastes like wine

He found himself on Y/N's lap and started kissing down her neck. She smelled like her Gucci Bloom perfume mixed with alcohol and smoke. Tom made it to her breasts and started sucking them, in an attempt to leave his mark on her.

There was a knock on the door. “Go away”, Y/N screamed, between small, light moans. “Um, okay”, the person said from behind the door. Y/N moved her hand to the rim of Tom’s shirt and started to pull it up, accidently toppling the wine glass next to her, spilling wine in the bathtub.

Tom broke away to see what had happened. “You’re a mess, darling”, he continued kissing her. “But I’m the mess you love”. Both of them were so intoxicated at the moment, they ignored the use of the word ‘love’. It was something which neither of them had said out loud before, but felt deeply.

“We should go, they will think we are canoodling together”, Tom said.

“But we are canoodling together”

“Yeah but still”

“Fine, but you owe me one”, Y/N said in frustration.

Tom got up from her lap, Y/N stuffed her phone and the cigarette box in her pocket.

“What are we going to do about that?” Tom pointed at the wine glass on the bed of the tub.

“Its white wine so it wouldn’t stain and we were never here”

Y/N opened the door and merged into the sea of people, leaving Tom behind.

---

She found herself in an utterly boring conversation with Lily and her ‘girl squad’. They were talking about the latest Dior makeup line.

How can someone talk about makeup while drunk?

She noticed that Alan was done with his powerful performance of ‘hit me baby one more time’. “Who is next?” he asked the crowd, raising the microphone. Y/N found an opening to escape the conversation. “Me!” she got up, grabbed the mic and climbed the wooden coffee table.

“Who wants to recreate the ‘SOS’ scene with me from ‘Mamma Mia’? Of course I’ll be Pierce Brosnan” she screamed into the mic.

“I’ll be your Meryl Streep”, Tom walked over to the karaoke machine to take the spare mic.

Y/N turned on the music, “I want everyone to sing the chorus with us”

“Where are those happy days, they seem so hard to find, I try to reach for you but you have closed your mind”, Y/N stepped off the table and started to walk towards Tom, never losing eye contact with him.

“Whatever happened to our love? I wish I understood, it used to be so nice, it used to be so good”, Tom turned his back to her just like Meryl Streep in the movie.

“So when you're near me, darling can't you hear me, S.O.S. The love you gave me, nothing else can save me, S.O.S”, everyone sang this part excluding Tom.

“When you're gone, how can I even try to go on? When you're gone, though I try, how can I carry on?” Y/N sang this part alone. Tom turned slightly to look at Y/N, he could see it in her eyes that she meant every bit of what she was singing.

“You seemed so far away, though you were standing near. You made me feel alive but something died, I fear”. It was Tom’s time to shine. He noticed that almost everyone in their audience had pulled out their phones to record it.

“I really tried to make it up, I wish I understood. What happened to our love, it used to be so good”, Tom tried his best to overact.

“So when you're near me, darling can't you hear me, S.O.S. The love you gave me, nothing else can save me, S.O.S.” they all sang it, together, on top of their lungs.

Tom and Y/N were, now, standing back to back.

“When you're gone, how can I even try to go on?” Y/N repeated the lines after Tom.

“When you're gone, though I try, how can I carry on?” they held each other’s free hand in a way no one could see it.

The music stopped playing, they turned to look at each other. “Now don’t expect me to do the dirty dancing lift with you, I don’t want to break my back”, Y/N spoke into the mic. The whole room burst into laughter.

---

They were on their way to Y/N’s Camden apartment, their home for the time being. Tom was driving and the local radio was playing at a low volume. Y/N was looking out the window, it was past midnight, and the streets were stranded.

“And now, ‘End Game’ by Taylor Swift”, the radio jockey said.

Y/N was not paying attention to whatever was playing but Tom was. He turned up the volume for her, knowing her, he knew that she wouldn’t want to miss it. Y/N finally noticed the chorus and got excited. She looked over at Tom, giving him a glance that said ‘you know me so well’. He noted the glance, grabbed her right hand delicately and pulled it up to his mouth to give it a kiss.

She took her hand back to increase the volume even more. They had stopped at a red light.

“I hit you like bang”, Y/N sang along, making a ‘bomb blasting’ gesture.

“We tried to forget it but we just couldn’t, and I buried deep hatchets but I keep maps to where I put ‘em”

“Reputation precedes me, they told you I’m crazy” Tom also sang with her.

“I swear I don’t love the drama”, he let her sing this part alone.

“It loves me” she bopped Tom’s nose, scrunching her face.

I love her so much

“I love you so much”, he said.

She looked up, grinning like a devil, saying nothing.

Shit did I say it too soon? Yeah it’s too soon, she’s going to fucking leave me now

“Is it cool that I said that?” he was confused by her silence. The light had turned green and the cars behind them were honking, but his eyes were stuck on her beautiful devilish face.

Just before he turned his wild eyes on the road, she said it.

“I love you too, Tom.”

@mysticapples17​

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland imagine #tom holland x actress!reader #tom holland smut #tom holland self insert #tom holland fluff #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #spiderman #spiderman x reader #spiderman x you #marvel #marvel fanfiction #taylor swift #abba #harrison osterfeild x reader #harrison osterfield #fan fiction

[what-do-1000-swords-look-like]

The Halloween episode was great. But I just cannot get this out of my head:

Buck and Eddie resolve things between them; Eddie wants Buck to think about who his decisions affect and about the team, being part of it and what it means

Maddie and Chim resolve things by the end of the episode

Chim and Hen welcome Buck back, but Eddie is not as welcoming at first

Bobby and Buck resolve things between them while Bobby has been talking to Athena and Hen about how worried he is about Buck and how he wants him to learn

Maddie had a somewhat shady secret that got outed this episode, causing some conflict between her and Chim for a minute

Eddie has a secret that isn’t necessarily shady but obviously one he doesn’t want anyone to know about if his response to Buck’s questioning is anything to go by

The main person Maddie and Eddie have in common: Buck

Bobby is like a dad to Buck, a mentor, friend, and a bit of a father figure which Athena heavily implies when speaking to Bobby while setting up for the party

This episode while not solely consisting of this theme, revolved around parents and their children: Bobby with the party conversation; the family eating that saw the guy through the windshield; the kids at the Halloween maze (though there were no parents around then, but Hen definitely came across as the tough mama here imho); Bobby having Buck back and trying to work through it; Buck asking Hen about how the pregnancy process is going with Karen; Buck handing out candy to the kids and dealing with that one little snot-nosed bully; those horrible parents (who don’t even deserve to be called parents) locking up their kids and starving them

Buck asks Eddie if he wants to give him a hand doling out candy to the kids and Eddie says “No, I think you’ve got it” basically

Not only are the parallels strong as hell here (as well as the ChimxMaddie and Buddie paralleling each other) but this obviously was about Eddie punishing Buck for putting himself first, and Bobby trying to teach his son/firefighter to do better. And then I remembered those lines from last episode: “I couldn’t even call you to come bail me out of jail” “Do you know much Christopher misses you?” “I can’t even talk to you” “Why can’t you see my side of this?” “Because it’s all you ever see!” & then this one: “When you decided to sue the city and make Cap the bad guy, did you ever think about what that would do to us?” “Your actions, your choices, they affect us. That’s what it means to be part of a team.” -- Eddie was starting to depend on Buck and he got thrown for a loop when Buck had tunnel vision on getting his job back, so easily sweeping him, Christopher, and the team aside, even going so far as to tell the lawyer their personal and confidential information which he ended up using. Eddie is hurt and disappointed. I think this is why we saw his anger last episode, and why he makes Buck work for it in this one, but also quickly forgives him after saying his piece. He’s able to put himself in Buck’s shoes for a second when Buck mentions how angry he was, realizes he’s felt the same and still kind of is (since he’s still fighting) and that’s how they’re both coping, and buries the hatchet. 

This is just my take, but that scene felt very emotionally involved to me. I know I’ve been saying it but damn, each episode they just keep going for it. Had the Chim x Maddie parallels not been present, I still would be looking at this going “hmm...” but now I’m pulling out a magnifying glass and inspecting every single piece of these scenes. Eddie pretty much told Buck ‘you need to do better if you’re going to be in my kid’s life, he and I have been through enough’. At least, that’s how it felt to me. 

Due to the relationship and secret parallel that’s going on, I have a feeling Buck and Eddie will be ending up in the same place as Chim and Maddie, on the other side of the secret, just maybe not arriving there in the same fashion. The show literally chose to have Buck notice Eddie’s injuries not once, but twice. Not only to give the feeling of distance, Buck hasn’t been around, he has no idea what’s going on in Eddie’s life, but also because I have a feeling that Buck will be the one to find out, some way or somehow, and he’ll be confronting Eddie about it. I could be wrong but that’s just where I believe it’s headed.

And the fact that Buck just wants Eddie to talk to him, even if it’s just to tell him that he’s mad at him. That Buck cares that much about having Eddie back in his life and about what he thinks...well...

Should I set my this-bitch-is-going-canon-soon watch now or wait for more evidence?

#these two are killing me #and i love every second of it #buddie #buck x eddie #buddie parallels #otp: there's nobody in this world I trust with my son more than you #911posts