#anyway i will talk about nora ALL DAY i love her

[leavingautumn13]

💥👪🥞🍁🌏🎭⚙️🌠💘for Nora

Thank you so much for the ask! For sole survivor Nora Navarre:

💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

Before the vault, guilt and self loathing are her biggest struggles. After the vault, it's anger all the way down. Not that guilt and self loathing went anywhere, of course.

👪 FAMILY - what is their family like? what is your ocs relationship to them? does your oc have any siblings?

Her father left when she was seven and she hasn't had contact with him since, and for a long time her relationship with her mother was strained, but polite. It's nonexistent by the time she moves to Boston. She still speaks with her maternal grandmother and aunt a few times a year over the phone--they often call with updates on her mother and youngest sister. She's the eldest of three sisters (the other two are named Grace and Gene). They were close as children, but Grace's death and Nora's decision to leave for Boston put a strain on her relationship with Genie.

She's happily married; her husband Dana is supportive, even if he doesn't or can't understand where she's coming from sometimes.

🥞 PANCAKE - what is their comfort breakfast?

Black coffee and an omelet with mushrooms, green onions, and peppers. Bonus: comfort dinner is homemade tamales and unsweet iced tea. She doesn't have a sweet tooth.

🍁 MAPLE LEAF - what is their favourite season? why?

Spring. Nora's from Arizona, and the rain and new growth of spring are enchanting to her.

🌏 EARTH - will they give up the world for someone they love? is this decision easy for them?

Yes, definitely--her world, at least. It's not an easy decision, and something she may regret making, or go back and forth on. (I'm... gonna hold my full thoughts on this until I've got my fic published, because like, spoilers.)

🎭 MASKS - do they act differently around certain people? what's different between the way they act around friends, family, strangers, etc.?

Yes, definitely different depending on who's around/who she's speaking to. She's straight-faced around everyone, and has a dry, deadpan sense of humor. Friends and family see the humorous side much more than any stranger does; she typically doesn't make jokes unless she's comfortable with people (though for a real zinger, she'll make an exception. Sarcasm has its uses, after all).

She's definitely been described as a stick in the mud, or as having resting bitch face. The latter is not entirely inaccurate.

⚙️ GEAR - what are your ocs thoughts on science & art? which do they give more importance to? how much value do they place on each?

Her biggest hobby is gardening, which is science and art rolled into one. For Nora, they're two sides of the same coin, each as important as the other.

🌠 SHOOTING STAR - if they could make any wish with no repercussions, what wish would they make?

Oh, easy. She wants to go back in time and do things differently, with the benefit of hindsight.

💘 HEART W/ ARROW - what traits do they look for in a relationship? do they believe in love at first sight?

She looks for honesty and affirmation. She needs to feel trusted by her partner, and able to trust in turn.

She doesn't believe in love at first sight, but she's a demiromantic ace, so she'll acknowledge it may be a thing for other people and not for her.

#oc: nora navarre #thank you so much for the ask!! #wow i wasn't expecting this many but this was so much fun! #sole survivor #fallout 4 #autumn.oc #oc: dana #he's mentioned i guess #navarre is actually her maiden name. she didn't change it when she married #breaking my no caps no punctuation bit for the sake of readability. nobody tell me i'm not using my degree for anything #autumn.fic #fic: until dawn #title is tentative bc i'm still running everything past my darling beta #my fic blog is new-eyes-extra-colors #empty for the same reason i can't pick a title but i'll be updating once i start posting chapters. should be by the summer...? #anyway fic will be over there bc it turned out kind of gore and body-horror heavy and i try to keep this blog sfw #anyway i will talk about nora ALL DAY i love her

[midnightsnyx]

girl at home | mat barzal | part 8

pairing: mat barzal x fem!reader

warnings: angst, mentions of alcohol and pregnancy word count: 1.7k authors note: so marlee, stella & evan are some oc's!! i mentioned that i was gonna add a new character so that mama would have a friend. as always, HUGE thank you to @barzysbaby for her support and help on this story 💙 enjoy and thank you all for the love and support <3 we still have lots coming!

masterlist masterpost askbox requests are open🫶🏻

After graduation, you didn’t have many friends. Most of them moved away for university and the few that did stay, you quickly learned, were only friends with you because of your relationship with Mat. Once he was gone, they acted like they didn’t know you. 

The whole teen pregnancy didn’t help either.

Your mom was the only one you had in the delivery room and when visiting hours were over, and you were in your room with Nora alone, that was when the loneliness kicked in. It was when you realized that you were alone, that you were responsible for an actual human being and that realization scared the crap out of you. Things only got worse throughout the night when Nora wouldn’t stop crying and you had no idea what to do. You’d been to all the classes, read the books and watched unrealistic movies but nothing could compare to what being a mom actually felt like. You were sure you would lose your mind but then shift change happened, and you met Marlee. 

Marlee was your nurse for 12 hours, and in those 12 hours, she became a new friend. She was a mom to a one-year-old named Stella so she had just been through the difficult infant stage and she spent every single of her breaks that day with you, giving you advice and helping you. When her shift was over, she gave you her number and told you that if you ever needed anything, to call her. You didn’t plan on calling her, not wanting to impose but on a bad night, when your mom was working a night shift and Nora just wouldn’t stop crying, you caved and called her. She didn’t hesitate to come over and help you, assuring you that her husband was home with Stella. She spent the entire night helping you with a crying Nora who turned out to have colic. 

After that, a beautiful friendship was born. Nora and Stella grew up together like two peas in a pod, and you made a great friend. 

A great enough friend that when she got home from vacation and learned what was going on with Mat and Calista, you had to talk her down from going and “taking that bitch out”. 

You weren’t sure if she was kidding or not. 

“I need a drink,” she mumbles after you manage to talk her down. You’ve never seen her so angry so you follow her to her kitchen, politely declining a glass of wine.

“It’s three o’clock in the afternoon,” you explain when she raises an eyebrow at you. 

“Honey, it’s five o’clock somewhere.”

“True,” you agree. “I’ll still pass though.”

She shrugs and walks back to the living room, flopping on the couch and groaning. 

“I do not want to go back to work tomorrow.”

You sit next to her, knocking your shoulder against hers and smiling. “You get to go help a bunch of new mama’s,” you remind her and she smiles sheepishly.

“Yeah,” she agrees. 

The two of you watch a couple episodes of Yellowstone before the door opens and you hear giggles and a man trying to wrangle two kids inside. You tilt your head back and see Marlee’s husband Evan, helping Nora and Stella take their shoes off before they run into the living room and jump on the couch with you and Marlee. 

“Mama!” Nora shrieks, bouncing up and down on the seat next to you. “Can I please have a sleepover with Stella?” 

You pretend to think about it, even though you and Marlee had planned for Nora to stay the night anyway. She was supposed to spend the day with Mat tomorrow, but she’s refusing to see him. You tried talking to her about it, but she threw a fit and you decided not to push her. Besides, you haven’t heard from Mat since you talked the other day so you’re not even sure if he would want to see her. 

“Well, I guess you can stay the night,” you finally say and she squeals and hugs you before running off with Stella. You smile at them and then turn back to Marlee who’s doing the same. 

“Evan will drop them off at camp tomorrow,” she says and you nod. 

“I’ll head out,” you tell her, standing up and grabbing your keys off the table. “Liana wants to see me tomorrow. Wouldn’t say why.”

Marlee frowns. “Do you think she knows?” 

You hesitate, not having considered that. It’s possible Liana wants to see you in person if she knows about Calista. The thought makes your stomach go in knots. You don’t want to lie to her that you knew, but you don’t want her to be mad that you didn’t tell her. 

“Maybe,” you say. “I’ll let you know.”

“Alright, have a good night.” 

“You too,” you reply before going to say goodbye to Nora. She’s distracted but hugs you and smiles when you tell her you’ll see her tomorrow.

“Bye mama,” she waves as you leave and you can’t help but think about how quickly she’s growing. It feels like yesterday you were sitting on your bathroom floor, staring at a positive pregnancy test and now she’s becoming her own little person. You shed a few tears on the way home, but they’re happy tears which is a change considering lately the only time you’ve cried is when Mat does something stupid, like brush off Nora’s feelings because of his girlfriend. 

You’re still waiting for a call or text from him, not wanting to crack first and reach out to him. When you were dating, he would always come to you after an argument. You both hated fighting, and it was something that wasn’t common in your relationship. 

But six years and a life changing secret changes a lot. 

. . .

Liana insists that you meet up at your apartment, not wanting to be at the Barzal household. It makes you feel like she probably does know about Calista’s pregnancy. 

She shows up at ten o’clock on the dot, bulldozing into your apartment the minute you open the door. 

“Um, hey?” you say, closing the door and turning to see her standing a few feet away from you, arms crossed and scowling. 

“Did you know?”

When you don’t say anything, she starts pacing. 

“Why didn’t you tell me? You knew I was worried!” she cries, stopping to look at you. There are tears in her eyes and your heart breaks. You feel like all you’ve done since Mat got home and you brought Nora into their lives, is cause pain. It wasn’t right of you to keep her away, you know that but you’re only starting to realize just how hard it must have been on them. 

“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” you say but she shakes her head.

“No, you owe me this. I didn’t get mad about Nora but you knew that Calista is pregnant and you didn’t tell me! I was worried sick about Mat but you knew the entire time.” 

It was rare that Liana yelled, but you’re sure your neighbors can hear her. 

“Liana-”

“No,” she snaps, cutting you off. “You should have told me.” 

“Does Nadia know?” you ask quietly and Liana pauses, as if she’s considering not telling you. 

Eventually, her shoulders drop. “No. Mat wants to keep it that way so don’t say anything,” she says. “Not like you have trouble keeping secrets.”

She leaves before you can reply, leaving you standing in the middle of your apartment. It was a low blow, but you know you deserved it. Liana didn’t necessarily have a right to know about Mat’s situation, but she was right about Nora. 

You should have given them a chance.

. . .

“It’s not too late, you know,” your mom said. She was holding a copy of your sonogram, smiling softly. You were lucky how well your mom took the news when you went to her and told her you were pregnant. She promised to support you no matter your decision and when you told her you wanted to keep the baby, she was there every step of the way.

The only thing she didn’t agree with was your decision to keep Nora out of the Barzal’s lives. She tried to say that maybe they would be able to keep Mat from finding out, but you couldn’t take the chance. You knew that Mat would eventually find out somehow and that was exactly what you didn’t want. 

“I’ve made up my mind,” you told her and looked at your own copy of the sonogram. “He can’t know.”

. . .

When you go to Marlee’s the next day, you’re surprised to find her home early. She was supposed to work until eight but it’s four in the afternoon when you go to pick Nora up and she’s sitting at the kitchen table, reading something. 

“Hey,” you say and her head snaps up so quickly you hear a crack that makes you wince.

Her face is white as a ghost, and she’s gripping the papers in her hand tight enough that they’re starting to buckle. 

“Where are the kids?” you ask, walking over and sitting down. She shoves the papers to the side and attempts to smile at you but it’s forced. 

“Evan took them for ice cream,” she says.

“That’s nice,” you reply, trying to figure out what’s going on. “Was Nora good? Didn’t give you any trouble?” 

“Of course not,” she reassures you. “Angel as always.”

You watch her shift in her chair and glance at the papers. You’re tempted to just take them so you can figure out why Marlee’s so nervous but obviously it’s private so you don’t push. You’re opening your mouth to ask her when Evan will be back so you can take Nora to see your mom when words start tumbling out of her mouth.

“She lied,” she says quickly. “She lied, and I took her file and I’m probably going to get fired but I couldn’t just let her get away with lying about something so important when it can affect-”

“Who?” you cut her off. “Who lied about what?”

Her face pales more if it’s even possible. 

“Calista. She lied about being pregnant.”

tag list: @literatureluster @dasiysthings @barzyblogbabe @diary-of-jj @heatherawoowoo @fallinallincurls @lovinbarzal @whatthepuckisgoingon @teapartydreams @alilstressyandlotdepressy @keiva1000 @hischiershoe @cavill83 @bellstwd @alwaysclassyeagle @brrbrina @nonsensical-nonsence

if you want to be added or taken of this list please let me know!! also if you asked to be added and you're not tagged it's because i couldn't find your @

#allies writing #hockey imagines #nhl fanfiction #hockey fanfiction #nhl imagines #hockey imagine #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal x you #mat barzal fanfiction #mat barzal x y/n

[rachetmath]

Jaune was working as usual until he heard his scroll. He looks to see Blake calling him. He answers.

Blake: Jaune we need to talk.

Jaune: *putting a baby to sleep while controlling kids* Blake I am a little busy at the moment.

Blake: Jaune we need to discuss why you quit your position.

Jaune: I don’t know maybe because I’m not needed and might as well use my time to get stronger and probably be more useful.

Yang: Jaune come on you were plenty useful in the nursing.

Jaune: Yang they have medical professionals. They were fine without me. Plus I go back there every morning. I never left. I even have them on my scroll. They call me too. So what’s the problem?

Robyn: Look we just need you to start pulling your weight and do your job.

Jaune: *triggered*

Kid #1: Ooo you messed up lady.

Jaune”s teacher 1: Honey you felt that, right?

Jaune’s teacher 2: Mm-hm someone about to get their ass beat. And my son is about to do it.

Jaune’s teacher 1: Honey we already got ten kids.

Jaune’s teacher 2: And I love them but their still children. They don’t know how bad adulthood is yet.

Jaune: Little bi- *remembers the children* You know what how about we have a meeting about this okay?

Robyn: Fine.

The next day everyone gathered around for the meeting with Jaune being in the room first. After everyone finished what they had to say, Jaune presented himself and replied.

Jaune: So, everyone good? Okay, I’ll make this quick. I have been doing my job better than almost all of you. Almost.

Qrow: Jaune what do you mean you have been messing up-

Jaune: I know the man who can change into a bird and is a legend yet still can’t watch over a maiden and his nieces for shit is talking to me.

Qrow: Now hold up son I’ll beat-

Jaune: Bro you are the reason Clover is dead. And the reason Tyrian escaped along with Robinhood over there.

Robyn: Hey.

Jaune: And speaking of you, Ms. Hill, how the hell was Penny defending your city better than you or any of your Happy Huntresses considering the amount of citizens who got hurt? 

May: Hey we had to evacuate our citizens cause your team deserted us. 

Jaune: Well sorry, it is not like one of my friends wasn’t kidnapped and was about to die at any given moment. 

Yang: You could have helped.

Jaune: Bitch you told me not to fight. Hell we almost got him back too. Oh. And we were planning to come back. However, we were captured because I was trying to warn someone of an upcoming attack. Which happened and yet some stubborn mother fuckers wouldn’t listen. Cause they were fixated on looking for Penny. 

Winter: Mm he did. But you

Jaune: Yeah-yeah I know, the Ironwood and Ruby bs. And speaking of that wouldn’t James have killed everyone anyway if we hadn’t stopped him?

Qrow: Not to mention Harriet almost dropped a whole bomb on Mantle to kill everyone.

Harriet: Okay rude.

Yang: Okay Jaune-

Jaune: Bitch don’t get me- don’t get me started on you. You have been getting your ass beat as of late. Like in Atlas and Mantle, I don't know how that’s possible, but me and my men, have been carrying you throughout the whole ordeal. All you have been doing was not knowing how to shut the hell up.  

Yang: um…

Jaune: Like you was talking about the Ace-ops and Winter following orders yet you were following Ozpin’s,Ruby’s, Ironwood's and better yet, you were following my orders. At least I was coming up with a plan. I was helping Ren. Being a leader. What were you doing other than Blake?

Blake: Alright Jaune, calm down, You have made your point.

Jaune: Oh no the fuck I haven't. Are you Ruby's sister?

Blake: No.

Jaune: Mm I wonder what drew me to that conclusion considering you have been acting like her sister more than a blond brawler over here? Both moms left her too, yet she looked for the one who never raised her.  

Yang: *tears dropping from her eyes*

Nora: Wow Jaune, that's cold.

Jaune: Nora. Ren. My supposedly two remaining teammates. 

Ren: Come on not again. Jaune, Ruby already told us everything. What can you possibly say that she hasn't told us yet?

Jaune: For someone who was on James's dick you never once tried to snitch on us. In fact you been kinda rude half the time.Then you decided to speak out against Harriet like you and Yang didn't argue before we got caught.

Ren: That was because she was insulting Pyrrha.

Jaune: Which I understand but I thought we were past that already.

Ren: Well I was the reason Winter agreed to your plan. And I was the reason we survived the whale to find Oscar.

Jaune: Emerald and Hazel saved Oscar before we had a chance. We basically went in there for nothing. And you almost started a fight with Harriet. 

Winter: Also I was a little hesitant but I agreed to the plan. Mainly more hostages. You wouldn’t be alive if I hadn’t jumped in.

Jaune: More importantly if I were to have thrown the relic into the mix, which had one question left by the way,  you're telling me Harriet wouldn't agree to let us go. Mainly because they were looking for Penny regardless.

Nora: Wow Jaune you would thrown Penny under the bus that easily?

Jaune: If it meant a negotiation with James, probably, yes. And Nora, weren't you unconscious throughout half that experience? 

Nora: I saved team RWBY.

Jaune: Who hasn't? Cause I recall, Qrow, Oobleck, Gylanda, us, CVFY, Ace-ops, James, and Ozpin. You ain’t special.

Oscar: Damn.

Jaune: Oscar you decided to meet James and try to talk. After he made us wanted criminals. What were you thinking?

Oscar: At least I tried to reassure him. 

Jaune: And you got shot. Mother fucker you were wasting time and our efforts. Next time no one might not be able to help you. And Ozpin? It took a whole pile of shit to happen for you to finally came out and help? 

Oscar(Ozpin): Mr. Arc it was not that bad.

Jaune: He got shot. Manhandled by a Grimm. And beat up by an old man. Come on.

Ozpin: … …

Jaune: Don’t get me started on how you fucked up years before.

Pietro: Jaune. You killed my-

Jaune: I killed Penny and saved Winter. Winter was Ironwood's second in command and was in charge of a whole army during a full-scale invasion. The fact Penny had Weiss, Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Nora to choose from proves she knew all of them weren't up to the task. Plus I was trying to help her but my options were limited. I did what I had to. I’m sorry.

Pietro: You could have-

Jaune: Healed her? I TRIED!!! However let's discuss how I have been carrying every damn body on my back. I had to help Ren multiple times when using his semblance. I had to heal Oscar. Heal Nora. Amplify Weiss and Penny when it came to her virus. Hell fourth wall breaking did anyone think for a second I amplified Ren ahead of time so he can mask those same thousands of people.

RWBY fan: …. ….

Jaune: All that while running, fighting and surviving while having barely enough sleep or energy. Hell, my aura kept breaking multiple times. I am surprised I haven't passed out yet.

Winter: Mm he made his point.

Weiss: Winter, why are you siding with him so quickly?

Winter: First off I am alive because of him. Second, Weiss, you lied to my face. Like I was open with you and you never once came to me with the truth. I'm your sister. You're lucky I was willing to side with you at all.

Jaune: Facts. And for someone who lived in Atlas, you barely did shit to save it. 

Weiss: I sent ships to help Mantle.

Winter: That's the thing though Mantle. You did nothing for Atlas at all. And how did you send those ships?

Weiss: Well it was mainly Whitley.

Winter: I rest my case.

Jaune: Also aren't you Ruby’s partner? Why are Oscar, Blake, and myself filling in those shoes more than you? 

Yang: Well in the Ever After you-

Jaune: I was trying to find a way home by learning the story. But as the saying goes, “Don’t trust everything you read.”  And sorry for protecting a civilization from killing itself even though that was the only thing keeping me sane.

Yang: *silent*  

Blake: They came back though.

Jaune: They don’t remember me or their past lives. They died and came back only to die again. Not to mention I had to leave my second and long-time companion and place her in the care of a rat. Not only that I had a whole map of the Ever After. I wasn't playing around. I was seriously trying to find a way home. Yet you called me crazy.

Blake: *silent* 

Jaune: Here is what I am saying, true enough I can't fight for anything but I at least help in areas none of you can seem to grasp. I have to sacrifice my mental and physical well-being to support ya’ll. I have been doing my job as a huntsman, teammate and a friend than almost any of you. 

Nora: But Jaune you’re our leader we need you.

Jaune: I recall the majority of times you two barely follow my orders. Ruby is your leader. I don’t recall having a team move with either of you. Not just that you have Oscar and Emerald so fuck both of you. 

Ren: Are we that bad of a team?

Jaune: Yeah, and what’s crazier is I have a family I haven’t seen in years yet I’m still prioritizing a city full of savages, and you all as my friends when I can just pull a Raven and leave you be.

Yang: DUDE!!

Jaune: I’m just saying I could leave and nothing would change. Now I’m leaving cause I got a job to do!*leave*

Qrow: Well damn.

Nora: I guess we all made mistakes.

Ren: Yes.

Weiss: I’m going to call Ruby and see if we can hang out.

Yang: Can we make that a double?

Oscar: Um Nora do you think-

Nora: Calm down Oscar. Jaune may be upset but he’ll be fine. He wouldn’t leave us like that.

A few weeks later.

Ruby: Hey everyone we’re back.

Team RWBY saw a crying Nora in Ren’s arms and defeated Qrow comforted by Oscar. Ruby looks to see a letter and picks it up. Ruby and her team read the letter. Afterward, Yang is shocked, and Weiss is sad as Blake comforts them. Ruby on the other hand steps out and then stares at the sky. A tear flows down her eye.

Ruby:  Well, at least you have the common decency to tell me what you’re up to. But still…*sigh* Hope you find what you're looking for my friend. And… … Please… come back safely.

Jaune was flying on a Nevermore along with Emerald who snuck aboard to his surprise. Jaune, though irritated, continued flying as she held onto him.

Emerald: I can’t believe you tamed a Nevermore. 

Jaune: Yeah-yeah anyways why did you follow me here?

Emerald: Hey someone has to watch your back.

Jaune: You are the last person I want to cover my back.

Emerald: Well don’t be rude. But also…

Jaune: What?

Emerald: Jaune… Salem is after you.

Jaune: Really? Why? I don’t recall being a silver-eyed warrior or Ozpin’s vessel. So why me? Also, how do you know?

Emerald: Mercury told me and even he doesn’t know. He just overheard Tyrian about you.

Jaune: I fought with him a week ago. (Should’ve killed him too.) Still doesn’t make sense though. Did he hear anything from Cinder?

Emerald: No. 

Jaune: Look I already left the kingdom. Cinder mainly wants Ruby dead. And Salem will be too preoccupied to do anything about me. We’re under clear.  

Somewhere in Vacuo, Tyrian and Mercury were speaking to Salem and Cinder through one of her sphere Grimm. Salem hears Jaune has left the kingdom of Vacuo and is enraged.

Salem: WHAT?!

Tyrian: I’m sorry mistress. Please calm down.

Salem: *breaths* Very well. Cinder will meet you both in Vacuo. Therefore we will split our efforts into two. You three along with our allies will search and kill the Summer Maiden along with team RWBY and their annoying friends. I will send a request to half of them to assist me in finding him. I may even need them.

Tyrian: Them ma’am?

Salem: Yes, them.

Tyrian: Very well my queen. We will not fail you.

Salem ends the call while Cinder stands before her with an angered look in her eye.

Salem: What is it, my dear?

Cinder: Why are you after Jaune?

Salem: Why do you ask?

Cinder Ma’am, I don’t mean to be rude but that boy isn’t worth our efforts at all.

Salem: Hm… really? So how come he’s alive?

Cinder: By sheer luck of course.

Salem: True. However, there is no doubt he has gotten in the way of our plans. Like with killing the Schnee girl. Or getting the winter maiden’s power. 

Cinder: *nervous* Those were my failures, ma’am.

Salem: Regardless I need him alive.

Cinder: But why though.

Salem: His semblance and aura. With his semblance along with Gillian's, I might be able to push our army further to evolution. But I need his power to do it. 

Cinder: Then allow me to-

Salem: *snaps* 

Cinder was shut off as she could feel pain from her Grimm arm. Salem turns around and looks to Cinder and say as she closes in on her.

Salem: I recall sending you to handle said children and what happened? Oh. You costed me knowledge. You lost the maiden powers to another huntress. Hazel and Emerald betrayed us. And worse of all you lost two useful people. 

Cinder: But I gave you creation. Surly that makes up- *feels greater pain*

Salem; Ever since you came back you have been getting cocky and more foolish by the day. Draining my resources. Right now, all I want from you to do is simply play nice and follow orders. Like a good little doll. 

Cinder was terrified as she stared at Salem’s as she leaned down to look closer at Cinder’s frightened gaze.

Salem: Understand this Cinder. I was the reason you managed to obtain and control that power you have in your possession. However, you so far have continued to prove how undeserving you are of said power and responsibility that comes with it. So let me break this down for you. If you so much as make a mistake, further disrupt my plans, or worse fail me…

Cinder: … …. 

Salem: I will take everything from you. Do you understand child?

Cinder: Yes m- *screams* Yes… my queen.

Salem: Good. Now leave. 

Cinder gets up and leaves for Vacuo. Salem on the other hand walks around her castle until she reaches her destination. There she opens a huge door. She walks through the door only to be greeted by multiple eyes.

Salem: Hello my children.

???: Greetings Mother.

Salem: Mother is sorry. I wish I didn’t have to send you to do this. But there is no one but you that I trust to do this task

???: Anything Mother.

Salem uses her Grimm to present an image of the target.

Salem: Find this boy. Do however you feel it takes to bring him back alive. 

???: May we have fun hunting him Mother.

Salem: *smile* Of course, my children. You may torture him and do as you see fit.

???: Yes mother. It shall be done.

Salem: Then go. 

#rwby #jaune arc #ruby rose #weiss schnee #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #nora valkyrie #lie ren #qrow branwen #penny polendina #raven branwen #pietro polendina #winter schnee #james ironwood #ace ops

[sirazaroff]

I have an idea that involves Velvet and i wanted to ask you what you thought of it! :3

A few days after RWBY and Jaune return from the Ever After, Velvet notices that Jaune is keeping his distance from her, and she has no idea why. She asks all of Team RWBY and even Nora, Ren, and Oscar, but they don’t know why he’s doing it either.

She tells Coco about it and she immediately wants to figure it out and the two basically corner Jaune to get him to talk. He relents pretty quickly and says he’s doing it to make sure he doesn’t make Velvet uncomfortable.

Velvet has no idea why he’d make her feel that way, he’s her friend after all, so Jaune explains that soon after returning from Ever After he caught himself reaching to touch her ears out of Habit because he did it with Juniper whenever he was stressed or needed something to ground himself, but he knows that touching a Faunus Trait is a very serious and intimate thing and felt horrible for nearly intruding on her personal space.

Velvet is touched by his thoughtfulness and says she appreciates it immensely, but he doesn’t have to distance himself from his friends, all he had to do was explain from the start and she would understand, and now she does :3

Coco’s still hung up on the fact that Jaune was friends with an honest-to-gods Jackalope LANSKXSBJS

And after Coco and Vel confront him

Sorry I just! I love this scene you’ve set up so much that I wanted to see come to life. Jaune’s always treated so strangely in this fandom. He’s really not that bad if you just focus for a sec.

————

I totally see this scenario being believable. All that trauma from his time in the Everafter. And Juniper was his only stability for so so so long…you don’t forget someone like that. See their ghost in familiar places, in familiar people.

I think it’ll do him good to start being made to process his issues. I haven’t made it to V9 yet but my take on Jaune is he’s just having a bad day constantly. Underdog healer. Being around new company will do him good. Help him process. I think when the trio are alone together they’ll make a lot of progress with that. Unload a lot of that baggage he’s been carrying.

Anyways, boy’s gonna be fine. He’s in good hands and even better company~

Thank you for sending the ask! Here have this for me taking so long.

Now. Time to play catch up with my inbox.

#fooze #rwby #rwby fanart #velvet scarlatina #rwby velvet #jaune arc #rwby jaune #ruby rose #rwby ruby #yang xiao long #rwby yang #coco adel #rwby coco #sorry that this took 20 lifetimes to answer like…I don’t even know how to explain myself #but it’s here! it exists! I hope I captured the vision decently #I enjoy moments like these. when there’s no fighting and it’s life resuming. how things play out in the background #idk if he still has his hoodie anymore but if he does. think he should give it antlers in honor of jun #hopefully this is some refreshing content in the jaune tags lol #the only harem I stand behind is bun harem jkjk haha unless 👀 #also coco is def questioning jaune’s sanity befriending a jackalope

[lwde-encrusted-sideblog]

One person in the group has been writing smutty fics about the rest of the gang who is it and whose more upset about how they are written than anything else?

Blake: Hello Team- What's going on?

Ruby: Well, Blake ... This is an Intervention.

Blake: For what? The fish sticks? 'Cause I can stop any time i want!

Ruby: What? No. This is about the Smut Fics we found.

Blake: What?

Yang: There's nothing to be ashamed of. We all have desire we want to explore through fiction, we just ask that you don't include us.

Blake: I have NO clue what you're talking about.

Weiss: Really? Even the one where I'm the bicycle between everyone?

Blake: Yeah, no, I legitimately don't know what you mean.

Ruby: Blake, We're just asking that you be honest with us.

Jaune: Yeah, Pyrrha was nearly in tears when she found out.

Pyrrha: *Sniffles*

Jaune: Plus you make me this "Giga-Chad Harem King" where I get with anyone and everyone! I don't like it. I'm not like that. I mean! You even Wrote me with My own Sisters!

Nora: You Vile Cur!

Ren: *Tranquility* Nora, Jaune, We're here to have a discussion.

Blake: I never wrote Smut about you guys! Do you think I'm so dumb as to Use your real names!

Blake: ...

Blake: In the event I did Write Smut about you guys!

Ruby: Look, Blake, We'll leave you to Talk to Pyrrha alone, since what you've done has affected her the most. RPF is the lowest form of fiction anyway.

*RW_YJN_R Leave, Pyrrha and Blake sit alone in the room*

Pyrrha: *Sniffles* Blake ...

Blake: I swear I never-

Pyrrha: Thank you!

Blake: What?

Pyrrha: Thank you for taking the fall for this!

Blake: ... What?

Pyrrha: I mean, do you know how irritated Jaune was when he learned he was written as the Lovely hunk he is? How could anyone resist him!

Blake: You're blaming ME for this!

Pyrrha: I mean ... Yes. Yes I am. Of course I'll need to find a better place to hide my writings, But No one would ever~believe that Me, Pure, Sweet, Innocent Pyrrha Nikos, the poor girl on the pedestal, could ever think about people in that way! My reputation would Crumble! everyone would lose respect for me!

Pyrrha: But no one knows You. Besides, you're an open pervert. No one would doubt you would do this.

Blake: ... You're evil.

Pyrrha: All is fair in love and War~ If only Jaune could Realize He oh-so deserves ALL the love in the world!

Blake: Is that your plan? To Convince Jaune to have a harem?

Pyrrha: And isn't it the perfect plan? Once everyone loves him the way I do, then He'll never hate himself again~

Blake: *Horrified*You're MAD! Depraved! A Foul-Minded harlot!

Pyrrha: And who would ever believe you about that~ One day All will bow to Jaune and I~ You're Reigning Champions of love and lust~

Pyrrha: Jaune Simply needs to learn his proper place!

Pyrrha: AS do you and the rest of our underlings~ Ehehehe~

Blake: You'll never get away with it! This is Madness! Insanity!

Pyrrha: Of course it is~ Why do you think it's called falling madly in love~ *Giggle~*

Blake: ... Oh my God, you're really trying this.

Pyrrha: Of Course I am. *Opens Door, Wiping tears* Blake, I'm so glad we could reach an Understanding!

#RPF is the lowest form of Fanfiction #Jsut don't so that to people #rwby #jaune arc #rwby shitpost #ruby rose #yang xiao long #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #lancaster #nora valkyrie #pyrrha nikos #lie ren #asks and answers #anonymous

[piratefalls]

hi, yes, i'm still very behind on reading, but in my defense i picked up an actual book and did read that, so.

anyway, here's some fic.

masterlist.

(Secret) Santa Baby by indomitablelove

"When it comes to Secret Santa, Alex really does have a reputation to uphold. Everybody wants Alex to get them. Nobody actually wants to get Alex, which is why he usually ends up with novelty socks or a political biography, but he doesn’t care. Ultimately, everybody wants Alex to get their name. And right now, Alex is seconds away from finding out who his new mark is. The person that he’s going to spend the next few weeks learning inside and out to ensure that he gets them the perfect gift." --- Alex gets his work nemesis, Henry, in the office Secret Santa and realises that he doesn't know nearly as much about him as he thought...

Creative Differences by @sparklepocalypse

Zahra tilts her head at him, a contemplative expression on her face. “How attached are you to the notion of being a solo artist?” (AU; Alex is a failed solo musician and Henry's band needs a lead singer.)

just a figure of speech by congee4lunch

“Like I said: Alphas really don’t know how to fuck.” “And like I said,” Alex sets down his mug and steps closer to Henry. “I can fuck and I know how to fuck you so well, you’ll see stars, baby.” henry, an omega, hasn’t had good sex in a long time. as his alpha roommate and friend, alex can help with that. in a totally platonic bro way, of course.

Oxford Days by @myheartalivewrites

"Alex’s new roommate is kind of a slut. No. Strike that. Not kind of. Definitely. Definitely a slut." -- An ode to slutty Henry.

we play all day (and spread holiday cheer) by headabovethewater

Nora guffaws. “You fucked Santa’s Elf?!” “I mean,” Alex pauses and shrugs, “not with the costume on, obviously.” “I can’t fucking believe you,” Nora exclaims, her hands cupping her own face in disbelief. She looks over Alex’s shoulder and cocks an eyebrow, before she lowers her hands and her tone, and asks, “Since when do you have a thing for blondes?”

miles to go, but we're almost home by anincompletelist

Texas is a bit of a last minute decision. As in, at the actual last minute, Henry had begged them at the station for whatever ticket they had left to get out of the city, shoved his credit card at them expeditiously, and promptly boarded the vessel just as the doors slid closed behind him. Turns out it’s the best decision he’s ever made.

If at first you don't succeed by clottedcreamfudge

"Probably straight," Alex says, holding his hand out to Henry, "but you're extremely hot, so like - well done." "Well done?" Henry asks incredulously, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smile as he takes Alex's hand in a firm handshake. "Well done on... being extremely hot?" "Hey, man," Alex says easily, taking his hand away after the briefest of shakes. "Take it or leave it." "In that case, I shall update my profile," Henry says as he gets to his feet. "Unsuccessful date with a heterosexual man who, nonetheless, had to admit I was 'extremely hot'."

his soft touch by viciouslyqueer

Alex comes homes and Henry immediately knows something is wrong.

Nocturnal Guilt by somuchworse

Henry hums, and Alex feels the vibration of it more than actually hearing the delicate sound. “What did you do, love?” “I stole Liam’s medication,” he grumbles. The room is still for a moment. “Tonight?” Henry asks, voice sliding into a slightly higher pitch, a memorable indication of his most genuine confusion. Alex groans. Talking is hard. “No,” he says, when Henry applies a little more pressure on the back of his head, like it’s a reward. “When we were kids. I stole a few so I could work on school shit, and he had a total meltdown when a few were missing, and I didn’t even tell him. I’m literally the fucking worst.”

Bukkake Breaky Heart by @kiwiana-writes

Six men surround Alex in a semicircle: blindfolded, tested, NDA’ed to within an inch of their lives even without any idea of who is in the room with them. Alex has a fantasy. Henry makes it happen.

Going Once, Going Twice by allmylovesatonce

“I was supposed to go to this Christmas fundraiser for the NYU symphony,” she explains, “but there’s this event at work that as an intern I really can’t miss.” “What’s the favour?” June grimaces. “I need you to go to the symphony fundraiser for me.” Alex stills. There’s one reason June would be going to something for the symphony. Henry fucking Fox. He’s going to hope that her favour doesn’t involve him, but Alex figures he can’t really be that lucky. -------- Alex wins a date with Henry, but in order to even slightly enjoy it, he'll have to get over his hatred for him.

it's all me (just don't go) by weather_stained

Alex has been trying all summer to manage his grueling internship and other commitments without impacting his relationship with Henry. When he misses a date night, he worries it could be the last straw.

if evil, why so cute? by everwitch

Alex’s cat hates Alex, but loves Henry, the Bookstagram influencer who’s on vacation in Alex’s quiet seaside town. And while Alex is pretty salty about his grumpy cat’s inexplicable affection for a complete stranger, he must admit he can see the appeal; Henry is fucking gorgeous. It’s why Alex follows him on Instagram in the first place. It's just, Alex had never thought he’d be officially introduced to Henry by his own goddamn cat. Or: Henry takes a two-week vacation to a seaside cabin with the intent to read a lot of books. Instead, he has a lot of sex.

Jumped the Gun by lovelythething

"Well,” Henry says, measuring his voice carefully, “there’s a first time for everything.” Alex, in reply, screams into a pillow.

secret moments in a crowded room by HypnosTherapy

Henry smiles, something settling in his expression when he sees Alex. “Hello, darling-” “I felt up your employee,” Alex says, the words rushing out of his mouth. Henry blinks. “I thought Angus was you, and I grabbed him by the hips, and it was weird as shit, I’m sorry.” Henry has the nerve to smirk, rolling his eyes. “He really is an excellent double,” he says, reaching out to pat Alex consolingly on the shoulder. __ After getting a concerned call from the man's PPO, Henry makes an effort to ensure his body double Angus is getting properly socialized. Alex is hesitant to spend time with the Henry-shaped clone, but he quickly finds himself getting charmed by the man. Angus gracefully slides from strange phenomenon to friend. And then something more.

it's you (it's always been you) by coffeecatsme

“You mean to tell me you named your vibrator after another man because you thought the pun would be funny?” Alex names his vibrator after Han Solo and Henry gets jealous.

come pick me up by smc_27

‘I’m here for you’ He can tell that the person will receive that as a text message as well as in the app, which is a relief because sometimes people like, order rides then absolutely pay no fucking attention to the app. It’s really annoying to have to wait forever for folks. ’Thank you. I’m going through a difficult time currently, so this means a lot.’ Alex stares at the message he received, frowning, and then another comes through. ‘Apologies. I’ve lost all my contacts. Who is this?’ Oh, Christ. This is going to be awkward as fuck. ’This is your Uber driver. I’m outside.’ OR, Alex is an Uber driver. Henry needs a ride the airport.

titles are the worst, we refuse by athousandrooms, clottedcreamfudge, everwitch, indomitablelove, railmedaddy

The paparazzi, a friend, their classmates, a true enemy. Alex is no stranger to telling people to fuck off, it’s a daily occurrence; but when it’s Henry who does it? Alex couldn’t be prouder. — 5 times Alex tells someone to fuck off and one time Henry does.

Gym Buddies by cmere

"I'm Henry," the guy offers. Alex pushes up one rep, then another. The blood is rushing to his face as he powers through more, and seems to be rushing elsewhere as well, because there's undeniable arousal pooling in his groin from the exertion. He struggles slightly for a moment, then, and instead of taking over like Alex expects, his new best friend Henry starts—talking. "That's good, so good. Perfect, can you give me another?" Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Sweat pours down Alex's forehead as he pushes the bar back up off his chest. "Beautiful, just beautiful. So good for me. There you are, love." Henry helps Alex settle the bar back on the rack, and Alex exhales in a rush, his heart thudding almost painfully against his chest. Fuck. PUMP Gym is notorious for gay guys cruising, and Alex wants to hook up.

To Show Our Love by bleedingballroomfloor

With Henry and Alex in the midst of moving into their new home together, Henry reflects on Valentine's Day and what the holiday meant to him growing up closeted in the palace, and more so, the new meaning that Alex brings to it.

Cosmos in His Palms by AnchoredArchangel

“I’ve been thinking,” Henry says quietly, “almost constantly, about your list.” Alex blinks because, well, his list hasn’t had this kind of traction in years. The Google trend must be spiking off the charts. Henry bites at his own lower lip, turning the blush pink a tortured white, admits, “About the things you want to do-” Oh. That list. Or: Alex discovers that talking to Henry is just as nice as having sex with him, or at least, pretty close. A perfectly timed revelation when he finds himself in desperate need of a heart-to-heart.

Fox. Henry Fox. by Pondermoniums

Alex had seen the guy around campus, sure. He was hard to miss, but Alex never said out loud why. For everyone else, being the son of the famous James Bond actor made him a celebrity enough. But for Alex, Henry Fox just…stood out.

wanting by rizcriz

It slammed into him with the force of a semi truck out of the blue on a random Tuesday in July. the AC was out; they were sprawled out in the living room in nothing but their boxers, complaining about the heat and threatening to off their landlord in a million different ways. Alex was on the floor, Henry was on the couch, one leg draped over the back, his arms thrown up over his head. Henry had said something; something absurd and hilarious and Alex can’t for the life of him remember what it was, because all he remembers is lifting his head off the floor, and catching sight of that shining head of golden hair caught in a sunbeam and thinking— And thinking. God, I love him.

you all over me by stutteringpeach

When Henry organises an evening of group sex, he never expects to meet a gorgeous man he wants to marry and have children with. Or, a meet-cute at a sex club.

tripped and fell into this bed by @priincebutt

“What, hate sex with my ex who chose his duty to his country over me? I’m not interested.” “Are you sure about that?” Henry’s voice is curious, genuine and raw, because he can hear the hesitation behind Alex’s words, the way his sentence structure is crumbling with wanting to say yes. It hasn’t been long enough for Alex to be moved on, and Henry doesn’t know if he wants Alex back, or if he just wants to have some really fucking good sex, which he’s not had since the last time he’d been with Alex. It had been a bold move, but he doesn’t regret it. And he internally cheers when Alex lets out another dramatic sigh. “Fine. Where are you staying and when should I meet you?” Or, Henry broke up with Alex when he stormed the castle, then booty calls him months later at Paris Fashion Week.

if you want me to tag you in future lists for whatever reason, just let me know, and i'll see you next week!

@starkfridays @stilesgivesmefeels

#rwrb rec list #rwrb #rwrb fic #rwrb fanfiction #firstprince #firstprince fanfic #red white and royal blue #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor

[stick-ball]

pspspspsp Kevin's trauma and his choice to stay with Thea, why her why not someone else? How does it work considering his characters as whole books/ec , does it make sense or just feel "random"

<Picks you up like a little cat and smooches your head.>

This responce has been sped up by the people who asked Nora on twitter to break Kevin and Thea up, making me see red KillBill style, so:

For me, Kevin's and Thea's relationship makes perfect sense. Maybe it's the realist in me, maybe its the idealist in me, I don't care. When it comes to Kevin's traumas, I think that since most people can't really relate to a majority of them, they get all hung up on the one they most definately can, as in, his mommy issues. When we relate to something, it becomes a really big deal. And here we go! Thea/Kevin suddenly is feared to be toxic instead of being seen for what I think it is: finding love in a hopeless place.

The main issue i see discussed is the disproportion of power at the beginning of the relationship. The main concern is the age difference. I personally don't really get the hate about the age gap between them, because if you read the extra content you will know that while they met when Kevin was 14 and Thea 18, it's not like anything happened between them at that age? First, Kevin saw her as an impressive player, when he did actually see her. That wasn't all that often bcs from what I understand from the EC, Kevin and Riko trained with the Ravens sometimes before they joined the team but a big part of their training happened without them, as well as their life growing up was more detached from the Uni students than people seem to think. And honestly, do you think Tetsuji would just let all the freshmen know they signed into the Yakuza sportsTM? Methinks not, but be delulu if you want I guess. 💋

So anyway, from the EC, it seems like Kevin had a crush slowly build up for Thea over the years, growing from his appreciation of her skill and athletism. Considering how cold that guy is, it probably took him some time to realise, after his irritation at her romances (yeah hello she was dating people her age when Kevin was mooning for here as a pathetic teenage boy, bye bye Thea haters) with other teammates started having nothing to do with the fact it could result in the teams distraction during the game, bcs of their hormones and feelings, and turned to conscious jelousy. And here I have to applaud young Kevin because he did not even realise he was distracted from the game by being jealous. Knowing how oblivious Kevin can be about non exy issues, it likely took quite a while.

So what's next? The "getting together"? Kevin and Thea only started having a sort of physical relationship when Kevin and Riko were already freshmen for Edgar Allan, at 18/19.

Whoever wants to fight me on this being a toxic age gap, what exactly is your angle?

Anyway, Kevin was the one to initiate their relationship, after Riko was done with his distraction from the game and his focus on picking fights with Thea, and told him to sleep with her and get it out of his system. (And that's how i met your mother.) It wasn't much more than that for a long time, because having a relationship on a 12 hrs day/night full of training and uni and juggling two other teams on top of that as well as celebrity status literally sounds like the most insane schedule ever, so it's insane they even managed to talk privately at all.

Now, we circle back to the question, why Thea? Why not someone else? Well, first and fucking foremost, because Nora Sakavic said so. Second of all, because Jung and Freud weren't as stupid as imternet memes would have you believe. (Read their books, read all the books please, i can rec you like a 100 psychology texts, dont be shy)

To keep it short, we do base our attraction on the role models we have, one way or another. I saw enough of my friends pick partners that have the exact character quirks that make them just slightly like an after image of their guardians. Kevin doesn't really have a father model, but his mother? She's always going to be a huge part of his life, is it really so weird and dangerous, that he got infautated with a strong, driven, 4 years older woman, who's incredibly talented and just as determined as him? I don't think so. Is it unhealthy? Is it unsafe? As much as life is, I guess, no one is perfect, but I think he could've done much much worse for himself.

Why did Kevin decide to stay with Thea? I would find it pretty obvious, because she doesn't actually need him. She built herself, but she wants him. Even if she will never have the same fame and recognition in her career that he does. Being wanted this way must be really new for Kevin, who was always a trophy to show off because of his legacy, always a property. But Thea is not competing with him, she doesnt want to own him either. I believe his mother is as much of a role model to her, as to him. So, they have sex, when they want to, they talk - when they feel like it. They don't, well fucking fine, so they don't, they fall in love anyway. It's okay if exy comes first in the beginning, considering both spent a lot of time in cult mentality, I think neither is all that bothered as long as its not obsessive (we could discuss how reasonable it was of Kevin to ghost her for over a year and not tell her about how he broke his hand but thats a whole other essay).

What's really wild to me, is that I think the power imbalance in this relationship is the opposite of what many may think.

Kevin holds all the cards. Thea joined the Ravens as a 18 years old talented athlete, she was one of the only girls on the team, and the Nest was not a place to make friends, on top of that it was a mafia cult. She had everything to prove there, and no way of being prepared for all the grooming. On top of that, she knew nothing of the Moriyamas or even of what actually went down with the whole Perfect Court thing. Kevin knew everything, on top of that, up until he left, he had nothing to prove. He ghosted her, is it so hard to believe she accepted his cold shoulder in this dynamic, in which she obviously is not at the top of the foodchain? He kept secrets from her, is it really so hard to believe she was angry? I think neither of them was ready for neither what life at the nest was like, or for a relationship when it happened, but I also think they are incredibly lucky that they have eachother, their shared passion for exy, their daughter, their dog and friends from the dog park who can't talk about exy to save their lives.

I think Kevin was incredibly lucky for finding Thea, because maybe she did not know everything, maybe it wasn't easy for them, but they understood that Rikos death wasn't a one dimensional victory, that it was just as much of a tragedy for them, for Kevin. I'm happy with the canon and I wish more people appreciated this ship, as its very soothing.

As an ending fun fact, did you know I am the only person to make a playlist for Thea Muldani in all of spotify? Pretty insane if you ask me.

#i hope this is okay #i dont have the brainpower for big words left #but this essay is like a thrid of what i have to say about them xd #i refrained from adding citations to ec bcs this is just a fandom thesis #phenomental #aftg #all for the game #tfc #the foxhole court #kevin day #thea muldani #kevin and thea meta #thea muldani meta #kevin day meta #nora sakavic #best ask ever

[thespineoftherighteous]

aftg headcanon: dan and andrew actually become friends in dans senior year

so idr if this is in the ec or not but i think the upperclassmen had a great time at edens twilight on halloween and they end up going out with the monsters on a semi-regular basis. nora never mentions it but i reckon edens has a really nice smoking area where neil and andrew will go out for a cig. this is nothing groundbreaking so far BUT my hc is that dan used to smoke in high school (like on break at the club with her sisters), and still occasionally will crash a cig off someone when shes drunk. so please join me in picturing a Very trashed dan wilds pleading with a bemused andrew to give her a cigarette

also i love the idea of when andrew actually starts caring abt exy he seeks dan out to talk to her abt the team, like things hes noticed abt the backline or whatever. the first time dan about jumps out her skin when andrew is waiting for her after class but then he just wants to tell her about a new backline strategy hes thought of

OOH GOOD STUFF

I'm such a slut for the foxes becoming closer, especially inter-upperclassmen/monsters relationships so this is right up my lane. I think the upperclassmen DO start going out with the monsters and while Andrew probably has no interest in becoming close with the upperclassmen, Dan is the one most desperate for closer connection so I think she'd make a point of trying to learn what needs to be done and how to approach Andrew in the way that he'll accept. and I think it takes some time and a lot of being played with by Andrew before it becomes not unusual for them to be comfortable spending time with each other.

anyway I keep going back and forth on whether dan would be a smoker because I feel like she'd be the type of athlete to hate smoking/drugs (maybe?) but honestly for sake of this hc, fuck it. I think it'd also amuse Andrew to see the lengths she'd go to to get into his good books.

obsessedddd with the last point specifically because I see that happening even more clearly. I think he'd even prefer going to dan over Kevin or Neil because I think there's still that piece that wants to fight exy, that still doesn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing him enjoy it. but Dan will never be that important to him and she wouldn't see it as a big enough deal to draw attention to it.

maybe one time Andrew goes over to coach's place to annoy him and finds coach and dan drinking coffee and talking exy and Andrew makes a point of being uninvolved with the conversation, instead just walking around poking through coach's shit or making himself a shake with the ice cream that only he eats or pulling out all the books on coach's shelves. and then he settles himself on the floor with his shake still characteristically mute and looking bored until the conversation changes. but then the next day he meets Dan at her class or corners her after practice and says "here's why your strategy sucks: " and she's very startled that he was even paying attention enough to understand it, let alone to think about it for a whole day afterwards but she collects herself and goes back and forth with him and next time she's ready for it.

#I always feel like I don't know how to readtically do upperclassmen/monsters relationships (especially with the twins) because I feel #like they're hard to do in character even though I don't think that it's ooc for them to get closer #ajsjsjdj #aftg #🦊✉️

[youboredright]

Fate Cannot Be Changed

What happens if the strongest mafia known to be the coldest man alive gets arranged married with a sweet hearted woman? Can the innocent Yn change Gojo Satoru, biggest mafia in Yakuta? Maybe or maybe not..-

Mafia Gojo Saturo x Yn

(Part - 3)

Yn's POV

I did not realise when I feel asleep, but waking up I met a quiet house. Gojo left. Grabbing my phone the first thing I realised was that I got the first ever message from Gojo.

Gojo : get ready by 7 we will go to my parents house.

My head was filled with who the people was and who was Nora. My head was filled with thousands of thoughts so the day passed away quickly. I could just do the house chores and nothing else. Soon as I sat to have my evening tea the clock caught my attention. It was 6:30. Shit. I have 30 minutes to bath and get ready. By the time I was done with bathing and touching up my makeup, I was left with 5 minutes. I hastily wore the first dress that was in my closet. It was from my mother. It was a long black silk dress. It had a lot of memories. Before I could get all nostalgic I heard the a knock on my bedroom door. When did Gojo come. Opening it I saw Gojo, in his tuxedo. He looks extra tall. Oh gosh his legs and his biceps. Snap out if it Yn. I reminded myself that I am just a tool for Gojo. I simply nodded and approached him. "Let's go". The drive was mostly silent. And it was me who always spoke. "We are staying there tonight" Gojo announced. Shit. I wore this dress which is.. well nice but for sleeping I don't think is the best.

It was deadly quite, so as a good wife I tried to break. "You look nice" I said looking at him for a clue that he liked my compliment. He did look nice but specifically hot. Those veins popping out while one of his hand resting on the steering wheel . God I am falling it has not been even a month of our marriage. But Gojo did not say anything or even look at me. Did I make it more awkward ? " Sorry I didn't mean to make yo-" "We are not going to a party why did you wear a dress like that." Our voices overlapped. "I didn't know that." Oh that hurts. This black dress was nice. I got a lot of compliments. Was it that hard for him to just say I looked nice? "You are wearing a tuxedo?" And he ignored me. "Um Gojo? About last night. Were they your friends?" I said. "Look Yn I told you it's none of your business. Why can't you get a simple shit in your mind, huh?" He almost yelled. I hate loud sound. He knew a lot about my life. But is it wrong for me to be curious about his? About my life long partner. I just deeply sighed . "Yn" he said in a firm voice. It was the first time in the car he spoke. I flinched as I quickly looked at him. "Y-Yes?" I stuttered. " I wanted to talk about our-" he was interrupted by my phone ringtone. I quickly tired to silent it but Jake called me. I got the same chills running through my body. I started getting flashbacks of my old days. It has been almost 2 months now. I should feel happy he called but no. I felt sad and also a bit angry. I wanted to hear what Gojo was saying. But I just answered the call anyway. Throughout my call I felt Gojo's dark auroma filling the car. Reaching home, Gojo slammed his hand on the steering wheel even without looking at me and got out. As I rushed to him, I saw him standing outside. Oh was he waiting for me? He grasped my wrist tightly and leaned forward. "Yn don't dare to make my parents suspicious or worried."

Gojo's POV

Last night I was sober enough to remember what happened. Even after treating her the worst treatments, she still cares. I told her about Nora. Did I hurt her? She looks so fragile as if I might break her any moment. In my life I only cared about Nora, my mom, Geto and probably Shoko. But there's is something about Yn I feel I need to protect her. A feeling I never got before. Yesterday I stumbled myself and told her about Nora. I do still love her. And yesterday and also today when Yn asked about Geto and Shoko I was, well very tired to answer. Last night I saw Yn's eyes filled with concern and care, like actual feeling. Nora was the last person I saw the concern and care in her eyes. It makes me want to melt. Her touch is so warm, makes me crave her touch more. But I will not fall in love with someone I am forced married with. I had and have to remind myself not to fall for her. Because if my plan works then this marriage will end within the next 4 months.

...

I can feel her soft breathing. Her warmth is radiating and I could feel that as she looked outside filled with thoughts. She looked so good in her silk black dress. Her breasts were pumped and I could see them. I wish I was the only one who could look at those. She had the perfect body. Big but not huge breasts and ass. And my favourite thick thighs. She is so pretty and innocent. It almost makes me want to ruin her. Make her dirty and show her what is my kind of love. This woman, only if she knew what she did to me within a few days of our marriage. But I will not fall for her. I learnt a very good lesson from my past. And I will make sure I divorce her as soon as possible, when I will be done with her parents. "Yn" I said in a firm voice. She flinched as she quickly looked at me. "Y-Yes?" She stuttered. Am I that scary? " I wanted to talk about our-" I was interrupted by Yn's phone. I nodded as she answers. "Jake? Hey? How have you been?" Yn spoke in a soft yet confused voice. I don't normally eavesdrop but who the fuck was Jake? I felt weird and agitated. Why would MY wife, who wore MY ring, lived in MY house talk to someone specifically a boy? But then again I had no right to be. What was worst is Yn let out a soft chuckle hearing something 'Jake' said. It felt worst. I looked at her as I realised that I got a sudden urge to stop the car roughly pull her by the neck and kiss her. And then make a lot of dark hickeys and show the fucker the hickeys specifically the ones on her boobs and nec-. What the hell did I just imagine, making out with my arranged wife? The one I hated the most? Shit, what was happening to me. But I got a feeling that I had to remove Jake from my wife. Probably murder him. He got some nerve to talk to wife and make her chuckle. As I stopped the car in front of my parents house I slammed my hand on the steering wheel out of frustration, causing Yn to flinch. Great. Why am I getting annoyed just by remembering 'Jake' ? Why do I even care? I couldn't answer as I got out of my car.

><><><><><><><><><><><

To be continued

#anime #anime fandom #anime fanfic #gojo satoru #jjk #gojo saturo #gojo x reader #gojou satoru x reader #jjk satoru #jjk gojo #mafia au #arranged marriage

[arc-misadventures]

Arc-Swapped Au: how is Jaune feeling after getting back and getting hear everyone talk about how amazing Jeanne was?

Well that was fast. The first prompt was barely five minutes old, and here someone is already asking for a sequel.

And, I’m answering it…

///

The Return

Jaune: Hey guys!

Pyrrha: Jaune! You’re back!

Nora: Jaune-Jaune!

Ren: Its a relief to see you again.

Jaune: Naww… Thanks guys.

Nora: Where were you?

Pyrrha: Yeah, we went to bed, and we wake up, and it’s your highly attractive female version of you!

Ren: Quite attractive.

Nora: She was really hot!

Jaune: Of course you’d say that…

Ren: Were the two of you swapped; She came here to your world, and you went to hers?

Jaune: Yeah pretty much; Everyone on Team RWBY were guys, as well as you, Pyrrha.

Pyrrha: R-Really?

Jaune: You were a girl, Ren.

Ren: I was?

Jaune: And, you were still a girl, Nora.

Nora: I am a multiversal constant. There will only be one, Nora. And, I will be a girl!

JPR: …

Jaune: So yeah… W-What was it like to have, Jeanne here?

Pyrrha: Oh she was wonderful to have around! She was always so bright, and cheerful to have around! And, she looked absolutely beautiful!

Ren: I found her presence very relaxing to be around.

Nora: And, her smile was stunning! But, the bright light hurt my eyes.

Jaune: Beg pardon?

Ren: Yeah, he smile was like the perfect summers day~!

Pyrrha: Jeanne was wonderful to be around~!

Jaune: …

Yang: I heard someone say: Jeanne! Is Jeanne back?! Ohh… it’s you…

Jaune: Ow…

Ruby: Is big sis back?! Oh, hi, Jaune.

Jaune: Hi…

Blake: Is the angel back! Oh, it’s just, Jaune…

Jaune: Nice to see you too, Blake…

Weiss: Where is she?! Where is my future wife?!! Oh… It’s just you, Arc…

Jaune: …

Jaune: I see, Jeanne made quite the impression…

Yang: Oh she was a riot to be around!

Blake: She was the most wonderful person I ever met~!

Ruby: She was the big sister I never new I wanted!

Weiss: She will be my future wife.

Jaune: …

Jaune: So anyway, as I said I met the gender swapped version of you guys, as well as team, RWBY.

Ruby: Really? What was I like?

Yang: I best I was really cool!

Blake: Probably wasn’t much of a difference with me was there?

Weiss: No doubt I was perfect as always.

Jaune: Hell if I know. As soon as I got there, her Team RWBY, and Pyrrha tried to kill me.

Pyrrha: They what?!

Jaune: Yep, as soon as I showed up, Pyrros, male you, Pyrrha. Threw me against a wall with his semblance, and threatened to gut me if I didn’t say where, Jeanne was.

Pyrrha: Oh my…

Jaune: Yeah, luckily, Rin, female Ren…

Nora: Bet she’s pretty hot~!

Jaune: And, Nora were there to stop him. I then explained I had no idea what happened, then boy team, RWBY came in, and threatened to kill me. They wanted their, ‘Angel’ back. After I said, I didn’t know, Blake, male, Blake bound me up with his weapon. William, male, Weiss, used his semblance to pin me to the wall. Ruben, male, Ruby pointed his gun at me, and Yin, male, Yang socked me in the stomach when I couldn’t answer his questions…

Yang: Ouch!

Ruby: That’s mean!

Blake: Why would I do that?

Weiss: Seems like something I would do…

Jaune: Yeah, they were going to gut me if I didn’t tell them what happened to, Jeanne. Luckily the teachers saved me from that…

Ren: Did they?

Jaune: No, not really. They interrogated me, and threw me in a cell while they worked all of this out… Jeanne told me you were having a lot of fun though. Seemingly she awoke some stuff in you as well.

Yang: Well… I always had a feeling was into girls…

Blake: Same, but only for the right girl.

Ruby: I loved my Onee-Chan!

Weiss: I was going to marry her!

Jaune: Nice! Well… Now I hate her even more than I did before! Peachy…

RWBY: WHAT?!

Pyrrha: How could you say that?!

Nora: What did she do to deserve that?!

Jaune: Sorry, I just so happen to be, Jaune Arc, the ‘loveable’ goofball stuck in the tree, who barely anyone likes, and is willing to put a spec of trust in! Compare to the, Angel of Beacon, Jeanne Arc! A person with her own fan club, who everyone loved! Who was properly trained to be a Huntress, who everyone put their faith in her! How can I not love the better version of me?!

Weiss: Well what did you expect? She is perfection incarnate, and you’re trash incarnate.

Ruby: Weiss that’s mean!

Blake: But, true.

Ruby: Blake?!

Yang: What, Vomit Boy just isn’t anywhere close as fantastic as, Jeanne is.

Ruby: You too, Yang?!

Yang: You were thinking something similar too, Rubes.

Ruby: But, I wasn’t going to say it!

Jaune: …

Ruby: Oops… He-hehe… S-Sorry…

Jaune: I fucking hate my life, twice over now…

Pyrrha: Uhh… Do you perhaps want a hug, Jaune?

Jaune: I want to kill myself…

Yang: …

Weiss: …

Nora: …

Ruby: …

Ren: …

Blake: …

Pyrrha: Oh… Oh no…

#rwby #jaune arc #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #weiss schnee #nora valkyrie #pyrrha nikos #ruby rose #lie ren #fem jaune

[foibles-fables]

   Something about the Horizon games that feels like it should be a major theme, and almost it but isn't quite "reached" is the concept of indigeneity as an antithesis to the ideology that ended the world (over and over) & created the villain of all 3 games: Faro/Far Zenith/all the silicon valley Musk-esque colonizer tech billionaire corpos who only see the Earth/the land as as a rock to vampirically leech for resources for their own gain.

   The antithesis for this, and the reason why the "primitive tribals" will win over that "advanced" ideology & Nemesis is because they are indigenous and view the Earth as a home, their home worth fighting for, not something to extract for resources before ditching it and living it to die.

   And it feels like the end of the 2nd game moves a bit towards that theme, with the protagonist and other major characters developing slowly towards that ideal as a (tribal) group, so the third game, with all of the world's tribes banding together, should really hammer this theme in as the final thesis. At least it should, it really should.

   Also, on a related note, I'd love to see at least 2 things/missions happen in the 3rd game:

   Since the an early version of the  APOLLO database was obtained, I hope that GAIA has read through much of it and learning about the Old World, specifically how many tribal indigenous people existed and how they fought to keep the Earth safe as colonization ravaged the climate and caused the crises. How, even though datapoints in the metropole praised tech billionaires & trillionaire Ted Faro for the "Claw Back", they only "saved" the climate (for only a few decades) to profit off of it, and in the end this same thing led to  Zero Day/the Apocalypse since their voracious hunger & disrespect of the earth & worship of money continued.

   GAIA reading through these bits if history, and especially pondering on the fact that so much indigenous knowledge was destroyed before it could ever be stored in the APOLLO archive, and gaining a newfound appreciation for tribal cultures would be great to see. Sylens' reaction would be funny too, since his character development has only just barely started and seeing the super intelligent AI praising the "superstitious primitives" he looks down would irk him and his Zenith/Faro-like superiority complex at first.

    Anyways, imagine if one of the early missions is based off of this, and GAIA acts a bit like a mom and subtly pushes Aloy to return to the Sacred Lands and reconnect with the Nora tribe. GAIA can use the pretext of wanting to Aloy repair the Cradle facility enough to communicate directly with the Nora, and Aloy can go with Zo can go talk to Varl's mother Sona.

   As a protag, Aloy is disconnected from her tribe and without Varl there's like no Nora rep, and even though the second game hints towards some development, Aloy ironically has some of Sylens' tribal superiority attitude, so it'd be a great opportunity for some character development and the theme of indigeneity being touched on as she retreads old ground.

   Even though GAIA Prime and its data blew up and all, but it'd be cool if in GAIA's last transmission to the Nora Cradle facility she instinctively stored some memories that Aloy can restore of GAIA watching over the Nora over the centuries leaving the Cradle and building their civilization, and also some recordings of GAIA's later conversations with Elisabet that did not make it into the root kernel copy Aloy rebooted her from.

    And after going through the archives and memory, GAIA looking at the Nora ideology and how they kept close to respecting of the land that they worshipped could be used to nor how the Nora's tribal culture is analogous to real world tribal cultures. GAIA should recognize that ideology as valuable in the fight to protect Mother Earth, after all, themes and all that. She could, speaking through the Cradle door, ask the High Matriarchs and the rest of the tribe to help her rebuild her facilities in the area in the absence of machines that initially built it, like a Nora maintenance crew.

   The 2nd main mission I'd love to see would probably play off the 1st, but while Aloy is reconnecting with her tribe, GAIA has a task for her to head further up north, out of range of the signal towers of Regional Command Center, into the Cut so she could make contact with CYAN.

   It'd be the first time since rebooting GAIA that Aloy and Zo wouldn't be able to talk to her, and Sona could offer to petition for a Seeker's mark to join their crew, and add some non-Aloy Nora rep on the team, while they head north, which GAIA thinks is a good idea.

   Besides just wanting to contact CYAN, even though the command center that MINERVA bunkered in has pretty decent range, it's not infinite, so GAIA wants to ask CYAN to connect her telecoms network to hers to increase her reach, which would probably be a long-term goal of Horizon 3 if we're going global to all the tribes to fight Nemesis.

   Obviously, Aloy would have to appear in person & give CYAN an encryption key & assure them that it's really GAIA trying to communicate & not HEPHAESTUS trying to hack them again. But after that it'd be cool to have CYAN on the team.

   Just those 2 missions would already take the player into so many different places, and there's so many more people would love to see, like actually seeing Ban-Ur, the Banjo homeland instead of just the Cut leading to it (we gotta check back in the Banuk, their culture is so cool), and also the Claim (Oseyan homeland) west of Ban-Ur, and the Savage East because apparently there's a bunch of tribes out East of the Sacred Lands that we hear little about. And that's not even mention going to the Quen territory, and also possibly going to South America & Africa and see what the tribes there are like, since if Aloy's mission is to gather all the tribes in the world to fight Nemesis, it should really feel global.

   They should probably do it like how Burning Shores was added, with most of the in-between area left blank and a flying/riding cutscene to connect the chunks of playable territory, or else the game size would get so fucking gigantic lmao. As long as we get to explore whole new areas and travel with our companions, I'm good.

You've pretty much said it all here re: the core conflict of the series! You've nailed both the thesis and antithesis--and also how it hasn't quite DUG INTO that theme yet.

This is one of the reasons why I lament the Zeniths being brought in as a game two baddie instead of the series culmination baddie. I just...still don't jive with the concept of Nemesis and I think being faced with the Zeniths themselves would've been a more thematic way to approach the colonizer vs. indegeneity concept. I also thought we'd be getting a LOT more about the Clawback in HFW, so...maybe we can hope for more in H3?

I absolutely believe that we'll be going to the Sacred Land in H3! However, I'm not so confident it'll have anything to do with GAIA or ELEUTHIA-9--I think we'll be going that way to (re)visit Metallurgic, as it's one of the companies named in Londra's data in BS. Plus to see Sona, as you said! We already know Zo is heading there herself. But your quest ideas sound AWESOME, and I'm truly hoping we do see Ban-Ur and The Claim this time around. It'll be interesting to see if/how they handle CYAN, since, well, DLC content. Plus she already rejected GAIA's friend request in HFW, so. Lol. I miss her too.

I don't think the rest of the world will be part of H3's narrative scope--but I do think it's prime for some rich spin-off material, which I truly hope we get!!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, nonny!!! Keep 'em coming!!!

#horizon speculation #have the best day!!!

[midnightsnyx]

girl at home | mat barzal | part 5

pairing: mat barzal x fem!reader summary: you’re eighteen when you find yourself pregnant after Mat leaves for hockey. nearly eight years later, Mat finds out about your daughter and you have to deal with the consequences of not telling him about her.

warnings: swearing, angst, food, fluff, not edited word count: 2.3k authors note: it's my bday tmw and i am going out of town for the weekend so i wanted to get this posted!! also, i have no idea how pr management works so i def got everything wrong so pls don't yell at me lol i feel like this chapter is just like a roller-coaster that went off the tracks and blew up and someones trying to put it back together with tape from the dollar store so im sorry but i hope yall like it anyway and don't hate me pls <3 send your thoughts or come yell at me about this story bc I LOVE hearing from you guys!! It feeds my writing soul. thank u all for the love on this story so far and lmk if you wanna be added to my taglist. also thinking about doing some smau for this fic and wondering if you guys have any ideas or suggestions?

if you asked to be added to the taglist and didn't get tagged it's cause you didn't show up when i searched for you! so shoot me a msg and we can figure it out. also if you want to be added or taken off the taglist please let me know <3

requests are open. masterpost masterlist taglist form ask box

You didn’t think the situation with Mat’s statement could get any worse. You were already being pestered by your mom, your friends and even other parents at the day camps Nora attended. Mostly everyone knew that it was true that Mat was her father at that point so the statement caused questions to rise. Ignoring everybody’s opinions about it was easy but six simple words from Nora were what broke you. 

“I thought Mat was my daddy,” she said softly while eating breakfast one morning. She had been quiet since the day before but it continued when she woke up the next morning. You thought maybe she was just moody and tired but it ended up being much more than that.

It took you a minute to answer, trying to figure out where she might have heard or been told that. It wasn’t that surprising that she might have gotten the impression that he was her dad considering how much time Mat had been spending with the two of you or she overheard a conversation. Kids are very perceptive but you couldn’t see how anyone would directly tell her about the public statement and you had been very careful about what you said around Nora and told everyone else to do the same. 

Apparently someone didn’t get the memo. 

You had two options. You could lie to Nora about what was going on or you could explain it in the best way you could to her. Lying to your daughter was the last thing you wanted to do but figuring out the easiest way to explain it so she would understand was hard. How were you supposed to explain that yes, Mat is her daddy but he was a fucking idiot and told the world that she’s not even though he said he wanted to be in her life. It would have been so simple to take the easy way out but it wouldn’t have been fair to Nora so after she finished her breakfast, you sat her down. 

“You’re feeling a little confused, huh?” you asked, watching her fiddle with a loose string on her sweater. 

She nodded, still not looking up at you and not offering her thoughts. It was a bit alarming because she was usually a chatterbox, even when she was upset about something. She would let you know exactly what was wrong. 

“Who told you Mat was your daddy?” 

She finally looked up at you, and the tears threatening to spill from her eyes made you both angry and upset. You were ready to find whoever told her and scream at them but her answer stunned you.

“I heard you talking to Jaxy,” she whispered. “I wasn’t trying to listen but I was coming out to get some water and you said that you were mad at Mat.” 

She didn’t elaborate on what else she may have heard which was unnerving because you probably said a lot of things about Mat that night when Jax came over to talk to you about it. You hoped she didn’t stay long enough for your breakdown where you had cried for thirty straight minutes. 

She sniffled, wiping a couple tears away. “I don’t understand.”

Your heart broke but you still struggled with how to explain everything to her. Telling her in the beginning was probably a better idea but you were so caught up in your own thoughts and feelings, you ignored the person who should have been your number one priority the entire time. 

“Mat is your daddy, baby,” you said. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

I’m sorry I kept you a secret.

“How come everyone is saying he’s not?” 

Mat should have been the one to answer this question because it was his doing, but you hadn’t spoken to him since the night he was at your apartment and the two of you argued. He had texted you the day after but you ignored it because you didn’t know what you would say when given the chance.

“Well, sometimes people make mistakes and Mat said something he shouldn’t have,” you explained, hoping it was enough and it seemed to be enough at first but then she hugged you tightly.

“I love you mama,” she said and before you could reply, she quietly asked, “Do you think Mat loves me?” 

“I’m sure he does,” you told her and it took everything in you not to cry. 

. . .

Liana: dinner at our place @ 6. bring nora and don’t be late!!!

You’re tempted to decline the request and just stay home but you’ve been promising Liana and Nadia that you would actually visit instead of dropping Nora off and leaving like you’ve been doing. Avoiding Mat is becoming increasingly difficult. It’s been two weeks since he released the statement and a week since your conversion with Nora. She’s been asking a lot of questions, ones that you didn’t plan on having to answer so soon. You expected her to be angry with you for not telling her but she took your confirmation that Mat’s her dad with ease. 

So it didn’t come as a surprise when her first question was whether Mat would be at the Barzal household for this dinner. You hadn’t bothered to ask Liana, mainly because you knew it would definitely impact your decision to agree to go. 

“Did you know that Zoe’s mom and dad aren’t together either?” She says during the drive to the Barzal’s. 

You do know this but you humor her. “Really?”

“Yup. Zoe said she spends weekends with her dad and stays with her mommy during the week,” she explains and then moves on to a different topic. You’re a little curious why she would talk about her friends’ living arrangements but when you finally pull into the driveway, your question is answered. 

“Do I have to stay at Mat’s on the weekend?” She asks and if you hadn’t already parked the car, you would have hit the brakes. 

“No,” you say a little too quickly and sharply because she frowns. 

“How come?”

You don’t answer her question right away, getting out of the car and walking around to the other side. She’s already unbuckling her seatbelt by the time you open the door and she’s still frowning. 

“Just no, Nora.”

“But Zoe does!”

You can’t explain custody agreements to a seven-year-old so you say the first excuse you can think of. 

“He doesn’t live here,” you say, taking her hand and begin walking towards the house. She’s dragging her feet, clearly not happy with your response. 

“Do I have to call him dad?” 

“No.”

“Why?”

“Just ‘cause,” you say, stopping at the door and turning to her. Her arms are crossed and she’s giving you the look that says she won’t let up until you give her an answer she wants.

“Do you want to call him dad?” 

She pauses, looking down at the ground and frowning. After a moment she shakes her head. 

“No, but Miss. Jones says you’re not supposed to call your mommy and daddy by their first names ‘cause it’s disrespectful.” 

“It’s not up to Miss. Jones,” you say gently. “This is new, and you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

After a moment, she mutters a quiet “okay,” and then: “do you think Nadia has ice-cream for dessert?”

“Guess we’ll have to go inside and ask,” you reply and raise your fist to knock on the door but it swings open before you can. Liana is waiting on the other side with a big smile on her face. Nora runs straight to her and giggles when the older girl picks her up and swings her around. 

“C’mon in,” Liana says, ushering you inside. So far there’s no sign of Mat so some of the tension leaves your body. After putting both yours and Nora’s shoes aside, you make your way to the kitchen. Nadia is puttering around, juggling a million things but she still smiles softly when she sees you. 

“Can I help with anything?” 

“You can keep me company,” she says and points to a chair. “Sit down and update me on what you’ve been up to.”

You know that you can’t argue with her so you sit and chat idly with her. She doesn’t bring up anything to do with Mat and you’re not sure what to think about it. You almost slip up and ask if he’s going to be here for dinner but decide not to. You haven’t seen him around since you arrived, so he’s probably out. Maybe with a girl. 

Not that you care, obviously. 

Mike eventually pokes his head in the kitchen to greet you and ask how you’ve been. He offers to set the table but Nadia shoos him out of the kitchen, rolling her eyes fondly. 

“Don’t get married, they’re nothing but trouble,” she jokes but there’s a smile on her face that lingers even after her husband leaves. You always admired their relationship, and were certain that you and Mat would be like it some day but it wasn’t in the cards. 

Soon, Nadia calls everyone to dinner. Nora immediately asks why Mat isn’t here and there’s an awkward silence until Liana breaks it.

“He’s busy,” she tells Nora and that must be enough because she just nods and starts eating dinner. Nothing else is said about Mat but just as you’re all finishing dessert, you hear the door open and close and there’s only one person you figure it will be.  

Mat walks into the dining room, clearly caught off guard by your presence. Nora hops off her chair and darts over to him, wrapping her arms around his legs and starts chatting excitedly. He’s trying to give her all his attention but his eyes keep flickering to you. 

When Nadia and Mike get up to start clearing the table and Liana asks Nora if she wants to go watch a movie, you realize that the three of them planned this. It’s almost like you’re kids again, fighting about something stupid and needing his parents to help fix the problem. 

Mat looks at you a little helplessly when the room clears and it’s just the two of you. There’s no way you can yell at him with his family and Nora in the next room and you realize that was also probably planned. 

“Can we talk?” he asks and you really don’t want to, but you realize that eventually you’re going to have to talk to him so you nod. You follow him out the back door and the two of you sit on the porch steps in silence until you finally break it.

“Why didn’t you come to me about what PR wanted to do? We could have figured out something together.”

He shrugs, looking at the ground. “I didn’t think to ask you about it. I just wanted to fix everything before it got complicated. I wasn’t thinking.” 

“Yeah, no shit,” you mutter. “That’s something you’re great at. You don’t think before you do anything.” 

You jump when he stands up suddenly and turns to face you. He’s angry but so are you.

“No, fuck that. You can’t just expect me to do everything right, when a month ago, all I had to worry about was hockey. I can’t be number one dad overnight! You didn’t even tell me about her for six years!” 

You’re a bit taken off guard by his sudden outburst but you can do anger too.

“That is the exact reason I didn’t tell you about her, Mat. Hockey is always going to come first in your life,” you snap. “And I didn’t ask you to be a number one dad, all I asked was that you be sure you wanted to be in her life before you committed to anything because this is exactly what I was worried about.” 

He falters a little, probably not expecting you to return the anger. 

“I didn’t want to post what they asked me to,” he says, sounding defeated. “But I didn’t know how to say no. When PR tells you to jump, you jump.”

You’ve no idea how public relations in hockey works, it’s possible that they would have posted the statement without asking Mat but you’re so damn angry. You’re angry but you don’t know who you’re even supposed to be mad at now. 

“You should have come to me,” you say again. “That’s how co-parenting works, you know.”

His mouth twitches. “That’s what we were doing?”

You can feel the anger slowly dissipating. Mat’s shoulders aren’t as tense and he plops back down on the steps so you sit next to him, letting your shoulders and knees knock against his.

“Well, you are her dad,” you admit. “And she is very concerned about her future living arrangements.”

He looks at you a little confused but there’s a small smile spreading across his face. 

“Does she know?”

“Yeah,” you tell him. “She’s smarter than you expect sometimes.”

“She gets that from you,” he says, poking your arm.

You roll your eyes fondly. “Well she had to get her brains from someone.”

He huffs but it sounds more like a laugh. You watch him look at the ground, brows furrowed and deep in thought.

“I fucked up, didn’t I?”

Here’s the thing that a lot of people don’t know about Mat: he doesn’t forgive himself easily. It’s something you learned the hard way when you were younger and dating. 

So you know he will beat himself up over this until you forgive him. 

“Yeah, but we both did.” You bump your knee against his until he looks up at you. “We can fix it, but we have to do it together.”

He holds out his pinky finger. ”Co-parenting, right?”  

You hook your finger around his and nod, letting yourself relax for the first time in weeks. It’s going to take time, hard work, and you’re both going to have to learn how to trust and communicate better again but you're sure you’ll get there.

“Together,” you agree.

tag list: @literatureluster @dasiysthings @barzyblogbabe @diary-of-jj @heatherawoowoo @fallinallincurls @topguncultleader @shadowsndaisies @lovinbarzal @whatthepuckisgoingon @alilstressyandlotdepressy @teapartydreams @keiva1000

#hockey imagines #allies writing #nhl fanfiction #hockey fanfiction #nhl imagines #hockey imagine #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal fic #mat barzal fanfiction #mathew barzal imagine #mathew barzal x reader

[bizantineempire]

So I have some thoughts on RWRB

If you divorce it from it's adaptation, it's a perfectly servicable film.

IDK how to say it but it was too polished? I guess? (Maybe that's book nerd for it doesn't look like how I imagined it IDK) it feels like an adaptation of a short film that got a bigger budget but it lost some of the heart of the original you know?

I should have expected it but it was a lot simpler than the book. other people have mentioned the things, June, Nora, Pez, Leo etc.

I did enjoy the way they did the texting at the beginning and I wished they carried that through with the emails later (although maybe they did and I wasn't paying enough attention?)

In this day and age of streaming there is no excuse for book adaptations to be simplified movies. Here's my reasoning: streaming platforms don't need to have time slots, so they can literally release a 3 episode miniseries or a 2 episode miniseries, or 2 movie length mini series or whatever. Black mirror does a bit of this where the different eps are different lengths and honestly, there should be more of it.

I liked some of the references to the book like the powerpoint presentation reference but it just made me want to see that.

I missed seeing Alexs drive and enthusiasm for politics. Look, I'm Australian, I couldn't give a rat's bum about american politics, but reading Alex give a shit about it was interesting and to see him kinda do a politics thing but also not really made me miss Book!Alex more.

I feel like the King being all "this could be fake" would have been a lot better if ALEX HADN'T JUST RELEASED A STATEMENT SAYING THEY WERE IN LOVE!

Stephen (Steven? Stephen.) Fry saying Homoseksual

Stephen Fry BEING a homophobe was funny A+ casting

The lake scene being in the day was weird. So Henry just turns away and is silent. And then he swims away and what, doesn't say a word to Alex for the rest of the evening? Does Alex ask him what's wrong? Why don't they talk about it? it makes more sense being in the middle of the night because he cracks a joke, changes the subject and goes to sleep. Alex is a little offput but he figures he can talk about it later if it's still a thing and then Henry's gone. Makes so much more sense.

Also (this also happens in the books) So Henry's "The Spare" but what about Bea? I'm p sure she's older than Henry, but younger than Philip. Doesn't that make HER the spare? He's just overkill at that point.

If they were going to cut out a sister imho they should have cut out Bea since they did her dirty anyway. Like if she's not going to have character anyway. June would be far more utilised.

One of the things I love about the book is that by the end Alex has a great friend group. I missed that in the movie.

Zahra was perfect.

I miss chaotic brains Nora

I have very few thoughts on the actual romance part. It was fine.

TF is Miguel

As a bisexual myself, I missed the bi panic.

Also Liam. He was great.

This has nothing to do with the movie but my cat is kneading right next to me.

Why was it rated R? It was sanitised the hell????

If you like the movie, if you love it that's great. I'm glad for you. For me I might have to sit and think about it for a bit before I rewatch it.

#red white and royal blue #rwrb #rwrb film #red white and royal blue film #spoilers #agcd #alex claremont diaz #firstprince

[ohwynne]

TIMING: Current. PARTIES: Wynne & Mealla (NPB) LOCATION: Saol eile SUMMARY: A banshee invites a wandering Wynne over to tea and speaks of their impending sacrifice. It brings up memories. WARNINGS: Hints at abuse (cult), medical blood (vein mentions)

"You know, I have seen many people die. Have you ever? Seen the light leave their eyes, I mean. I have seen it often. Sometimes it’s almost peaceful, like our sisters in our pit who are giving themselves over to a slow death — but most often there’s something sharp in their eyes. Emotion! Oh, I cannot help but wonder what your eyes will portray. Fear or anger? Relief? Peace? I so love it when they look peaceful."

Every day Wynne woke from nightmares. The improvised beds were not comfortable, nor was the stench of death in the air but at the end of the day it was the lack of Ariadne that made them sleep most fitfully. It seemed they had grown too dependent on her ability to siphon away bad dreams and now they were left to play catch up on all the ones they’d evaded over the past months. 

So every day they woke from nightmares.

Most of the time they dreamed of home. The estate on the shore of Moosehead lake would merge with the estate the banshees called home merged with the barn. Irish lilts came from the mouths of their former loved ones. Their parents lived in white cottages and showed their fangs, ready to sink them in their neck. Nora’s head was ripped off clean. Wynne could not stop screaming. Regan rose in the air with inky eyes and an echoing, berating voice. Siors held his ceremonial knife and brought it down. Iwan pleaded, begging them to stay as he was bled out on the altar. 

Every day they woke from nightmares in an attic that seemed smaller every day and so every day Wynne got out. They walked the streets of saol eile hoping that an answer would come to them, that somehow they would find a solution to the situation they had gotten themself into. That they’d have an eureka moment and finally realize how to get Nora to want to leave. The right combination of words and facial expressions, the exact way to make her fold without doing some irreparable damage. 

They were supposed to leave in one day, but it was hard to feel optimistic. Nora was angry. Elias still was a tall man with a beard destined to die. Regan was nowhere to be found. Wynne was desperate.

So they kept walking and they kept hoping for a metaphorical hole in the fence. It was good to scope the perimeter — they had known exactly where and how to run when they’d left home because they knew the place like the back of their hand. It would be good if they knew the way. It would be good —

It would be good if they succeeded. But how much luck was one person allowed? How often was someone allowed to evade fate? Wynne should have died on an altar, but didn’t. Wynne should have died in the barn, but didn’t. Wynne should die here, but didn’t want to. Was want enough? Was determination? Was bravery? They were surrounded by a people that revered death and saw human sacrifice not as a necessary evil but more like a past time. How could it be enough?

But they kept walking anyway. 

That was until someone stopped them. 

Sometimes the banshees talked to them. Wynne regressed into a former version of themself when they did, cowering and gentle and submissive. Most of the banshees looked down on them, pushed them aside after a comment or two. They weren’t nice comments, but they also weren’t particularly mean — they just were aligned with the doctrine, odd and confusing but something Wynne was trying not to think about too much. They weren’t here to investigate the banshees. They were here for the hole in the fence and to find a way to convince people to leave.

But this banshee looked at them with wide eyes that went from inky to a dark brown, taking them in. “You are perfect.” They were ready to stammer something in response. They didn’t want to know how or why they were, nor did they want to argue. The banshee took their face in their hands before they could, though. “I will make you tea.” 

They were guided into the banshee’s house where a kettle whistled merrily and the walls were lined with mounted animals and bones. The banshee sat them down on a chair (Wynne was not sure where the control of their body had gone as they let themself be guided and pushed onto the seat, but they figured it might be best to remain pliable) and ran around to gather the things needed for tea.

It took a short three minutes and then there were two steaming mugs between the pair of them, a scent of a herbal mix filling the room. A small animal bone laid at the bottom of their mug of tea. Wynne knew better than to thank the banshee, so they just nodded.

“I heard — oh, you — yes, I heard about the arrival. We get so few of you that just arrive, that are this — this perfect.” The banshee was speaking in a tone that was euphoric, hands folded around her mug. “You know, I have seen many people die. Have you ever? Seen the light leave their eyes, I mean. I have seen it often. Sometimes it’s almost peaceful, like our sisters in our pit who are giving themselves over to a slow death — but most often there’s something sharp in their eyes. Emotion! Oh, I cannot help but wonder what your eyes will portray. Fear or anger? Relief? Peace? I so love it when they look peaceful. Oh!” She moved her hand and some of the tea sloshed on the table. Wynne noted a moment too late that she was extending it. “I’m Mealla.” 

With a bit of hesitation they shook it. “Alys.” Mealla was blinking at them and they realized that she was waiting for an answer. They didn’t know what their eyes would show when they were going to die. They didn’t want to know because they weren’t going to die.

Once, they had sat like this with the real Alys. She had been one of the elders back at home, one of the people closest to Siors and one of the people that Wynne sometimes got to spend one on one time with. When they did, it was special. It was special when an elder took time out of their day for you, to dedicate their energy to you. Whenever the real Alys had spoken, Wynne had listened with such intent and concentration that it sometimes gave them a headache. 

She had spoken of how their position was an unique gift. That dying in serenity was their gift to the commune. “Wynne,” she’d said as they walked the shores of the lake, “I need you to think about that moment. About every single second of it. You need to paint it in your mind’s eye. To imagine it in detail.” She’d made Wynne hold the jute rope that would tie their hands on that inevitable day, make them feel every fiber with their fingers. One time she’d wrapped the rope around their wrists, not too tight and mostly for show. Just to make them familiar with the sensation. “I need you to try and feel it already so that when it happens, you know how to respond. A prepared person cannot be afraid. You need to be calm. You need to give yourself over to it. You can do that, can’t you?” She’d halted and turn to Wynne then. “For me? For us? I know you can.”

Mealla was still waiting for an answer. “Peaceful,” they said. “I’m ...” Your death means more than all of ours ever will. You are so special. “Honored.” 

The banshee let go of their hand and returned to her tea, seemingly not minding that she’d spilled hot water over her table. “Yes! Ah — you did well to come here. You understand, do you? You — not so short sighted as other humans, thinking death the very sad end.” She mocked a human expression of sadness. It would be comical if Wynne wasn’t so scared. “Honor! Oh,” Mealla reached for Wynne’s face again, “You will bleed so beautifully. We can make it slow so you can feel the honor all the way through. Not many get such a death! Most die in boring ways. Old bones or weak hearts or someone driving a car badly or disease. You will get to feel it!” She pinched the meat of their cheek. “Do you have any preferences on where you are punctured? I hold some sway. I can arrange this for you. I personally enjoy the thigh, it’s so supple yet so very effective. It bleeds beautifully there. And the chest! It’s a canvas for carving. My si—” Mealla forgot herself as she nearly spoke of ancient family traditions not reserved for human ears. “You will make a very beautiful corpse, Alys.”

Wynne blinked. It seemed to go in slow motion, the way their eyelids made the world go smaller until it was nothing but a strip of light and then darkness. Then light again. The banshee was still sitting there. The hand was still on their cheek. They would make a beautiful corpse. They would be bled out. Not even on an altar, this time. Not even to save their community or spare their brother. Just because.

Once, at home, Siors had sat with them. This was even more rare than sitting with Alys. Siors was their patriarch — he was elusive and when he was present, he took center stage. He had a voice you wanted to listen to and when he turned all his attention to you, it felt like you were chosen. And though Wynne knew they were chosen, it was still different when it was just Siors across from them. It was exhilarating to have his presence be purely dedicated to them and so they’d sat upright and with all their emotions carefully wound up and put away. They’d breathed serenely. Alys and Padrig had taught them well.

On that day, Siors had shown them the ceremonial knife. They had seen it before, of course. Every ritualistic sacrifice was done by this knife. It had sunk into the necks of some thirty youths before them and hundreds of animals. It was something from back in Wales. Engraved and sturdy and sharp. Sometimes they’d catch him sharpening it as he watched his community. The day he’d shown them had been about a week before their sacrifice. Every day had been filled with preparation. 

“This isn’t something to flinch at,” he’d said, turning the blade in his hand. “It is part of us.” He hadn’t asked them where they’d like to be cut, slit or punctured. There had been tradition to honor. The demon had liked his sacrifices a certain way. Siors had guided Wynne’s hand to their throat which had bobbed nervously. “Calm yourself.” It was a demand that they had listened to reflexively. He’d pressed their fingers against their pulsing artery. “There.” He made them tilt their head so the artery was more accessible. “Alys has explained it, right? How it needs to be calm. You cannot squirm, Wynne, nor cry. You remember how quiet Jac was? How good? How dutiful?” He had tilted their head towards them, thumb and index finger holding their chin softly. “I believe you can do that too. I’ll be gentle.” He had looked so sure of it that any doubt washed away. “I will be so proud.” They would make a good corpse for him. For all of them. 

And now Wynne was staring at a woman who might have made them feel certain and special and chosen, had they not ran from that duty. Had they not come here with the intention to run again. But a lot had changed since they’d looked at Siors and Alys for guidance. They stared at her and felt her hand on their cheek and did not cry. They could not squirm nor cry — they had to press their feelings into a corner of their stomach and remain calm. They could not panic. If they panicked, they’d all know something was wrong.

“The thighs. I’d prefer that. It’s better than the neck.” Their voice sounded hollow. Their ears were ringing and it wasn’t because of all the screaming they’d heard. It was the overwhelming urge to run. The even more overwhelming urge to live, despite the threats that hung over their head like an ax. But they could not give the banshee an inch of fear or reluctance. To panic was to make them aware something was wrong. Nothing was wrong. They could only know something was wrong when they were gone along with Nora, Elias and Regan. So for now they remained seated. "Anything but the neck."

Mealla smiled. “You are right. the neck lacks creativity.” She pet their cheek. “Drink your tea.” Demonstratively she took a sip of her own. The tiny clavicle she'd dropped in it made music in her mug as it hit its corners. Wynne sipped their own. It was nice. At least the tea was nice. They wanted to drink more nice tea for years and years to come, but in stead Mealla continued to speak, “Do remember to enjoy the last of your days, Alys. It is beautiful that you are so open to death, but you must also remember that there is no death without life. The weather is nice.” It was raining. The weather had been very much misty and dark, as if spring was reluctant to come around. It would be better to die on a grey day — but they didn't want to die yet. Wynne was quiet, unsure of how to form words that weren't no and please and so filled their mouth with more tea. “Enjoy the last of them. Do this for me, and I will ensure it is your thighs we cut first.” 

#solo. #ireland. #threads. #a good corpse.

[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls: S3/EP4/One's Got Class The Other One Dyes

Episode titles with 6 or more words (the first four seasons): Season 1: The Lorelais First Day At Chilton, Star Crossed Lovers And Other Strangers Season 2: Red Light on The Wedding NIght, Nick And Nora And Sid And Nancy

Season 3: One's Got Class The Other One Dyes Season 4: The Lorelais First Day At Yale, The Hobbit The Sofa and Digger Stiles, In The Clamor and The Clanger, Girls In Bikinis Boys Doing The Twist, Last Week Fights This Week Tights, Nag Hammadi Is Where They Found the Gnostic Gospel (come on AmyShermanPalladino. Come on. She's just fucking with us with that one. She didn't envision a future where people like me would have to type that shit out). Anyway. This episode is a classic.

Let's have a look at what Jesstopher is reading...

That tracks. Lorelai: I think I'm in touch with the other side. Rory: Republicans? Ba dum tsssh.

What are we doing, naming things we see in the room? Dead cow, dead cow, non paying customer, non paying customer, old timey scale, the only business proprietor in America who purposely tries to drive away his own customers by insulting their selections from his own menu... Lorelai has been having premonitions about her own death. How does she know about the script for my Gilmore Girls horror movie trilogy titled "Blood In The Hollow"?

No, Lorelai will get a much more dignified slaughtering in BITH (at the hands of Rory? Luke? Jess? Her mother? Crusty? Possibly even DEAN, her jilted lover? The script is still in progress).

Now you're just naming all the hilarious ways I've imagined Dean's demise. TWWGG is chock full of "Dean Forrester should get eaten by a ____" , Most recently, it was a pair of T-Rexes. I may have suggested Death by Turtle before, I can’t recall. I do know that when he wore this sweater I said he looked like a turtle anus.

Stars Hollow has never once rocked and or rolled. Lane's got dreams of rock superstadorm. Not if AmyShermanPalladino has anything to do with it. Rory wraps her half eaten burger (The fakest fake burger I've ever seen) in a napkin (this is not a thing) and R&R leave Luke's without paying. INCOMING!

Lorelai's face. Lorelai mutters that Shane is a freak. Because why...? Sure, she doesn't have the best manners with all this barging through the door stuff, but you wanna talk about ettiquite, Miss Dine and Dash? So what makes her a freak? The girl has (horny, horny) needs and she knows how to get what she wants. Shane doesn't play silly games. On a random Tuesday at 6:17 pm, Shane thinks, "I want Jess Mariano's tongue in my mouth" And then she goes to the diner and gets that tongue in her mouth. That doesn't make her a freak, that makes her an example R&R should take after. Shane is a role model. Shane is Rock and Roll. Shane is a modern woman. Shane is a GOD DAMN HERO. SHANE IS SWAN FOOD (soon).

Nobody in the diner even blinks while this is happening.

There may not be any rock and roll in Stars Hollow, but there's certainly free porn, and Rory's going to grab a popcorn and watch the show.

"That was my intention, Uncle Luke"

Introducing for the first time, Zack Van Gerbig and Brian Fuller. I don't have any dog in this fight of "Which boyfriend was better for Lane". Well, maybe I do have a dog, but she's a sleepy bassett hound who can't be bothered to choose because anything that happens after season 4 (aka Lane's life trajectory after high school) doesn't affect me in the grand scheme of things. Alright let's briefly rate the members of Hep Alien: Zack: Lane's first sexual experience with Zack is a complete disaster. Zack enters into a teenage marriage with Lane, buys cheap off brand condoms and knocks her up with twins on their honeymoon, derailing her entire life and destroying her rock and roll dreams. (People on this show need to stop getting married right out of high school, for the love of all that is holy. And stop sleeping through Sex Ed! You live in a blue state where sex ed in school might actually be adequate and available! CHERISH IT). Zack is cuter than Dave. Zack is the lead singer, but I tend to crush on band members that are not the lead singers. Lead singers are trouble. That blond floppy hair is trouble. He looks like he might not shower that often. Dave: Dave didn't do any of those things. Dave definitely takes showers. Maybe too many showers + Impeccably clean, geeky clothes. Did you know Dave read the entire Bible in one night to impress Lane's mother? What a guy. He has curly hair which means he's a good guy. Got sucked up by the Male Gilmore Girls Character California Wormhole but unlike Jess and Max, She liked him so much she never spat him back out. Brian:

Lane gets a taste of the rampant sexism inherent in Rock and Roll when her suggestions for improving the band's sound are totally ignored by the men. Lane's paranoia about her mother is incredibly annoying and stifling to the other members of the band, and they almost walk out, and I'm not saying it's right to ignore her...I'm just saying, I understand.

In my gritty unrated Gilmore Girls spinoff with cursing and nudity and realism titled the Hollow no one would be shielded from perversion. At one point, Kirk apparently had a rock band called "The Kirk Gleason 5" who played covers of Queen songs and Mrs Kim put the kibosh on them.

The people of Hartford to the people of Stars Hollow: Please stop coming over here. There are other cities in Connecticut you can visit if you want to escape The Bubble. What about Stamford? We're full. Lane has to find a way to make it to band practice in Hartford 3 nights a week while still under the watchful eye of Mrs Kim. Rory and Lane try to brainstorm how she might get away with this Super Secret Band Thing, even though Lane has no money, no car, and no instrument.

A circa 2002 Karen (real name: Debbie), calling the Gilmores. Lorelai doesn't remember Debbie-Karen because Rory can only describe Karen-Debbie, the mother of a former classmate, as blond haired and average height. We find out Rory actually had another childhood friend of sorts besides Lane, Debbie-Karen's daughter Kathy. Rory would frequently go swimming at her house. Lorelai claims she can't remember any Stars Hollow Moms because they all look the same, except for Mrs.Kim and a woman with a glass eye. I guess that's Lorelai's way of saying Mrs Kim and Mrs Glass Eye are the only two minorities in Stars Hollow. That tracks. Lorelai doesn't even know Dean's mom? Things might get awkward when Lorelai and Dean have to write out their wedding invitations. Karen-Debbie: The PTA likes to ask prominent locals in business to talk to the students, you know, someone who knows about how much hard work it takes to run a business, and we thought of you. Bahahahaha. Lorelai, a hard worker. Don't make me laugh. Oh wait, I already did. I will laugh some more. Bahahahaha.

The Gilmore Girls California Wormhole is about to claim it's first female snack, Kathy. Things Googled While Watching GIlmore Girls We Owe You Nothing (first tried I Owe You Something because I couldn't see the cover), major cities in Connecticut, Brian's last name (it's Fuller)

#gilmore girls #lorelai gilmore #rory gilmore #luke danes #denise rewatches gilmore girls #Gilmore Girls Season 3 #OGCTOOD #wormhole #zack van gerbig #hep alien #lane kim #dave ryglaski #Shane

[wardenparker]

You’re So Vain - Chapter 4

Dieter Bravo x female reader  Co-written with @absurdthirst​

Oscar winning star Dieter Bravo’s reputation is suffering after the debacle of “Cliff Beasts 6″ and “Beasts of the Bubble”, so his management team has signed him on to a publicity stunt to find his soulmate and show the world a softer side of the erratic and unpredictable star. The plan quickly go awry, though, when Dieter’s soulmate wants nothing to do with him.  

Rating: Teen. But this blog is *always* 18+ Word Count: 10k Warnings: *Blanket warning for chronic illness, cursing, and deceased family members. This is a Dieter fic, folks, so there absolutely will be discussions of drugs, drug use, and addiction.* Enemies to lovers, fake dating, arguments, money talk, references to past drug use, angst, literally SO much guilt, Carol Cobb gets her own warning. Summary: Steph carefully breeches the topic of her conversation with Dieter, the man himself drops by with an unexpected surprise, and date number two goes awry despite Libby’s best attempt.  Notes: A little more backstory comes out in this chapter, folx! Sincerely hope you enjoy 💗

Ch 1 ~ Ch 2 ~ Ch 3

The only reason Steph didn’t wake up with a hangover was because of the bottle of water and aspirin that - what was his name? - Rico insisted that she take while waiting for the car. Handing her the San Pelligrino and the tablets with a smile that had made her stomach twist pleasantly and a wink that had heated her cheeks. “Sparkling water is the key to no hangover the next morning.” He informed her, asking her for her keys in the next breath so her car could be returned to her. That’s the only reason she’s awake before you, feeling slightly guilty about her conversation with Dieter the night before and how she can convince you to just talk to him.

“Morning.” The way you walk downstairs this morning can only be described as a trudge, and you practically throw yourself at the coffee pot, mumbling something about “glorious bean of life” before starting to pull things out of the refrigerator to make breakfast.

“How are you feeling?” Steph asks softly, walking up behind you and rubbing your back slightly. She hadn’t been able to comfort Dieter but she damn well could comfort you.

You huff, holding up your cell phone to show her the long, professionally-worded but highly unprofessional text message you had woken up to from the manager of the restaurant that had just hired you for the summer - firing you. “Apparently my manager is a Dieter Bravo fan,” you hiccup, willing yourself not to cry all over again. “Well, my former manager.”

“Shit.” Steph sighs and shakes her head. “I’m so sorry.” She sympathizes with you, it’s going to be different, having it known that Dieter is your soulmate. Libby had put out a comment from Dieter’s IG this morning, apparently having control over it. It was something about how like all couple, all soulmates, there are good days and bad days. Insinuating that it was just a bad day.

“It’s fine.” That’s a goddamn lie and you both know it, but you just shrug your shoulders. “Their food sucks anyway. And I still have more applications out, so I’m sure something else will come along.”

“You shouldn’t work this summer.” Steph decides, brightening up dramatically and grinning at you. “You don’t need the money, not with the debt paid off. Your normal salary from teaching will cover your summer. Take it off. Spend it painting.” The more she thinks about it, the more she loves it. “You haven’t gotten to paint just because you want to in soooooo long.” And the fact that Dieter made it happen doesn’t hurt, in her opinion.

“I guess it would help with other expenses.” If you were home, Nora wouldn’t have to go to daycare for the rest of the summer. You’d never be too tired to cook, and you would always have time to do the errands instead of paying for deliveries. You’d use a lot less expensive gas and avoid putting more miles on your junker of a car. “I guess…I never considered being a stay-at-home Gigi.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Steph shakes her head quickly. “I was talking about taking time for you, not watching Nora.”

“I can’t do both?” You pose, knowing childcare is her primary expense now that there is no more mortgage and no more hospital debt. The regular bills for Nora’s care are plenty high enough but not having to pay childcare would help extraordinarily. “I could get Nora some finger paints and just take her with me if I want to go somewhere pretty for the day.”

“How about we keep the option open?” Steph asks. “We keep her registered for the drop-in daycare for the summer. You shouldn’t have to spend all summer watching your niece.”

“I love my niece.” Leaning back against the kitchen counter with your mug in your hand is a soothing, normal act that gives you an extra moment to breathe. She’s right. You don’t need extra work this summer. You can make it through by being smart with what you have. Just as long as your car doesn’t break down or something, everything will be fine. “Alright. Drop-in daycare.” You acquiesce after thinking it over a little longer. “Now, what do you want for breakfast?”

“Whatever you want to make.” Steph has given up trying to protest that you don’t have to cook all the time, knowing you will pout at her. You enjoy it and so she lets you. “You know me.” She picks up her own mug and wonders how to broach the slightly forbidden subject. “Will eat anything.”

The sounds of Elena of Avalor are obvious from the living room as Nora watches her favourite cartoon, and you actually smile for the first time since last night. As long as you have these two, everything will turn out okay somehow. “How about some banana chocolate chip French toast and scrambled eggs?” Banana chocolate chip anything was Nora and Steph’s favourite, and you still had supplies left from the batch of muffins you made about a week ago. “And we can do go out something to do today, maybe? Since I don’t have to serve brunch to bloggers and tourists now?”

“Sure.” Steph checks the clock and wonders when her car will be dropped off. Pretty damn sure she needs to say something before you are surprised by it. “So…you passed out last night…” she ventures softly.

“Tequila and crying does that.” Heavy drinking on an empty stomach always made you sleepy right after it made you giggly. “I’ll replace that bottle, by the way…sorry.”

“Don’t worry about that.” She rolls her eyes that that is what you are worried about. “So, I did something. After you fell asleep.” She confesses softly. “You might be mad at me.”

“Why?” You narrow your eyes at her suspiciously, knowing exactly what kind of chicanery she’s capable of. “Did you put itching powder in my clothes again? Because it wasn’t funny at camp and it wouldn’t be funny now.”

“No, nothing like that.” She sets her mug down on the table and sighs, turning to you. “I went to Dieter’s house last night to kick his ass.” She’s not lying. That had been her reason for showing up. It’s just hadn’t ended up that way.

“You what?!” The sip of scalding coffee you had just taken is spit out immediately, barely missing her arm as you turn your head. “Steph!”

“What?!” She crosses her arms over her chest and stands firm. “He hurt my best friend and I was going to hurt him for it.”

“Was going to meaning you didn’t?” It’s not so much that she had the intention. That’s noble of her and you love her for her noble tendencies. It’s that she promised she wouldn’t meddle anymore and here she is meddling. “Did the Emperor of Douchebaggery turn you away at the gate or something?”

She sighs heavily, her stomach twisting, and she knows she needs to be very careful how she approaches this. “No, I yelled at him.” She admits. “Babe…you need to talk to him. Not snark, not insult, talk to him.”

“Why in god’s name would I do that?” All thoughts of breakfast have been abandoned at this revelation and you don’t even feel bad about it. Half-stale bread and bananas will still be there when you’re done being appalled with your best friend. “He’s insufferable and I’ll be glad when this whole thing is over.”

“Because you were both wrong.” Steph tells you. “If you talk to him, you’ll realize just how sideways things got.” She should have known you would be stubborn about this. “He had a very good reason for ignoring me that day. The day that started all your hatred towards him.”

“Then you tell me, and I won’t have to talk to him.” That isn’t really the day that started it - it’s the day that cemented it - but you’re not about to argue semantics with her with Nora in the next room.

“It’s not my place to tell you.” Steph shakes her head, barely refraining from rolling her eyes at how petulant you sound. “You need to talk to him.”

“You’re going to be noble about this when you literally went back on your word and continued to meddle less than twelve hours ago?” The fucking audacity. The unbelievable presumptuousness. “You know what?” Setting your coffee mug down in the sink, all you can do is shake your head at her. “You’re always telling me I work too hard at home. Go ahead and make your own breakfast and you can do the yard work yourself, too. I’ll be in my room.” There is no possible way you can move fast enough to get away from her right now, and you don’t even stop for the ring of the doorbell. It’s all complete bullshit and you just need time away from everyone right now. Away from the entire world.

Steph deflates, not sure how it went that bad. She hadn’t expected you to just completely shut down. Shuffling to the door, she opens it, finding the person you loathe most on the doorstep. “Dieter!” Honestly, as drunk as he was, she had expected him to be later than eleven.

“Are you kidding me?” Hearing that he’s at the door makes you spin around at the top of the stairs and stamp your way down them again like a petulant child - or an angry elephant. Maybe both. “What did you do? Invite him over to force us to talk?”

Dieter scoffs, barely sparing you a glance and looks pointedly back at Stephanie. “I wanted to bring your car back, but honestly? How the fuck are you driving that? It’s a shitbox.” He asks her, having been horrified when he got in it and turned it on to find lights flashing at him. Rico had looked at it and said it was toast. “It was on its last leg.”

“It’s okay.” Steph shakes her head and shrugs a little as she steps aside to let him in. “I can afford to take it to a mechanic now.”

“Nope.” Shaking his head, he gives her the bad news. “Mechanic I know said it will never pass its next inspection and it’ll cost more than it’s worth to fix.”

“Shoot.” Aware of her child in the next room, Steph’s head hangs a little and she pinches her eyes shut.

“Use mine.” You tell her immediately, knowing that even though your car isn’t in the best shape, it’s better than having none. Being upset with her has evaporated in the face of more hardship. “We just said I’m not taking extra work this summer, so I won’t need it. Stay-at-home Gigi is on duty.”

“I researched cars.” Dieter is a little proud of that, checking safety ratings and shit before he decided on one. “I, uh, come look.” He insists, holding out a brand-new key fob. “If you don’t like it, we can switch it for something else.”

“What the heck…?” Steph blindly reaches for Dieter’s hand instead of the key fob, going out the door with him to find a brand new, navy blue SUV in the driveway. She’s read about this particular one, she realizes, as he rambles slightly about why he chose it. The VW Atlas Cross is supposed to be one of the best family cars out there. “Dieter, you didn’t need to do this.” This time, propriety be damned, she flings her arms around his neck and squeezes. There’s never going to be any way in the world she can repay him, but fuck if she won’t tell everyone she ever meets for the rest of her life what an amazing guy Dieter Bravo is.

Dieter grunts, wrapping his arms around Steph and squeezing slightly before he lets go. In some ways, she reminds him of Danica. Not in physicality, but her spirit. She’s been through so much, but she still has compassion and kindness in her. He’s aware that you have followed but he doesn’t pay attention to you. “For those national park trips.” He tells her. “Although there’s somewhere else you’re going first.”

“What are you—” Steph wipes the tears from her eyes and hesitates to take a closer look at the car, like it’s too good to be true. Because honestly it is. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I just so happened to have been given a couple of passes to Disneyland.” He pulls the VIP lanyards that are Star Wars themed out of his pocket and hands them to her. Two of them. Only two of them, even though he had more. “My friend got a shit ton of them when they opened something that had to do with his show.”

“Oh my…” If she ever stops crying it will be too soon, the heartbreaking gratitude of a young mother who wants to be able to give her child the world and has barely been able to manage to give her a semblance of normality. She hugs Dieter again fiercely before looking back at you with a pleasing expression. Please talk to him, it says loud and clear, and you roll your eyes so hard they nearly fall out of your head but ultimately nod. He may be able to buy Steph’s forgiveness, but not yours.

“Go tell Nora,” you urge her, nodding back into the house.

When Stephanie rushes into the house, Dieter shoves his hands in his pockets. Jeans today, faded and old, but more respectable than the lounge pants he normally wore. Classic rock t-shirt and a cardigan thrown over it that didn’t match anything but his own tastes. Looking around the yard, down to where Rico was waiting in his own car at the street. He has nothing really to say to you, especially since that fucking attitude of yours hasn’t seemed to change at all.

“Thank you.” The words are quiet. Barely audible, really, as you stand in the front step in your own jeans and t-shirt that you barely had the will to throw on after being fired this morning. “You…um…it’s nice to see her happy. She deserves the whole world.”

“She’s nice.” Dieter tells you, surprised you even said anything to him. “I like nice people.”

“So do I.” Two words in and he already has you exasperated, and you shake your head. “She thinks we should talk.” It’s not exactly high on your list of priorities or good things in any way, shape, or form, but Steph has an annoying habit of finding the good in people. If anyone could find the good in Dieter fucking Bravo, it would be her. “But I see you have someone waiting for you.” The urge to ask if it’s a new boy toy in the car is nearly overwhelming, but you somehow manage to swallow it down.

“Rico can wait.” He faces you, arching a brow and wondering if this talk would include some kind of apology. “What do you want to talk about?”

“All Stephy said was that we should talk.” You shove your hands in your jeans on the front step facing him and shrug. “She said we were both wrong and that if I talked to you, I would realize how sideways I have it. Whatever it is.”

Snorting, Dieter narrows his eyes at you, annoyed that you don’t think you’ve don’t anything wrong. The urge to slap you down into place - verbally, not physically, of course - is immense. “She seems to think you would change your mind about me if you knew that the reason I ignored her when she asked for my autograph ten years ago is because I had just found out my twin sister died in a car crash. But I doubt that would make any difference to you. God forbid someone be in shock, right? Just an asshole actor.” He practically spits the words at you, still angry that you insulted his sister, even if you didn’t know you did.

Everything stops - not in that glorious way you’ve heard so many people talk about where their hearts swell with love and joy at encountering their soulmate, but with the frozen horror of realizing you’ve been very, very wrong about something for a very long time. “I—” Shame isn’t typically something you feel, from your daily and worldly interactions. It isn’t very high up on the list of everyday emotions for most people, you would guess. But right now, it’s hot under your skin and drying your mouth out until there’s nothing left to swallow. “I’m—I’m sorry.” There are a lot of things you’re not sorry for, but you can definitely feel the pain of losing a beloved sibling and your shoulders shrink in like you’re about to roll up into a ball and disappear. Or at least try. “I didn’t even know you had a sister.”

Dieter can be petty, and an asshole, so he’s not done raking you over to coals yet. “That ‘meaningless, edgy drivel’ on my arm? That was my sister’s tattoo. She was into symbolic shit. Past, present, future. Three sides of a triangle.” He yanks up his sleeve. “The empty triangle was my tribute to her. For how fucking gutted I was by her death.” He shoves it back down and steps closer to you, poking a finger into your chest lightly. “So now you know why you can go fuck yourself.” Dieter turns around and starts walking down the drive to his car and Rico, the image of your horrified face burning into his mind more than he wants to admit.

“Hey Steph?” Despite barely being able to process anything, you manage to turn and walk back into the house, letting the door click gently shut behind you. “I—um…” The joyful way she’s standing with Nora on her hip as the little girl just explodes with excitement makes you stop, not wanting to ruin their fun. “C-can I talk to you for a sec?”

Steph looks up and she knows, she knows that Dieter has told you. You look stricken, like you’ve been slapped across the face and Steph immediately turns to Nora. “Okay baby, I need you to go upstairs and start finding all your Toy Story toys you want to bring with you tomorrow.”

Nora is off like a shot, too excited to notice anything else that’s going on, and all you can manage is to slump down on the corner of the couch like a collapsing box. “Fuck…” It’s saved for as soon as your niece is out of earshot, but the word is so quiet that you doubt she would have heard you anyway.

“I’m sorry.” Steph hums, sitting down beside you. “It wasn’t my place to tell you that. I hope you can see why now.” She murmurs softly, reaching over and pulling you towards her for a hug.

“I have never gotten so irrationally angry with another person the way I do with him.” The fact is, you are still upset. With how he handled it last night and how he left it just a minute ago. You’re still mad, and yet there’s now this sliver of shame and regret wedged in beside it.

“Apparently she was his twin and he loved her more than anyone.” She murmurs sadly. “He— he learned about it over the phone and then walked out where I asked him for an autograph.”

“So, what…have I just made it all up? Is he actually attentive and sweet and noble and I’ve just missed it somehow?” That doesn’t seem right, but at this point you have to be willing to admit that you don’t know everything there is to know about the situation and yes - that bothers the hell out of you. “I mean, he’s not Prince Charming, right? He’s aggravating and uncommunicative. I didn’t just make that up.”

“Since he already told you the worst, I’ll tell you the rest.” Steph sighs, wishing you two would have sat down and talked like adults. “The guy he was with? Soon after you decided he wasn���t your soulmate?” She waits until you nod. “Apparently the guy conned him. Convinced him he was his soulmate so he could steal from him.”

“Fucking hell…” You groan shrinking back against Steph’s smaller body and burying your face in your hands. “I can’t even imagine what I would have done if somebody showed up like that after Shawn died.”

“I don’t think he’s perfect.” Steph assures you. “But maybe some of the ways he acts is like his armor, protecting himself from being hurt. It’s easier if people don’t expect things from you.”

“An armour that happens to be full of things that drive me completely insane.” Her hand rubbing soothing circles on your back is calming in that very mom way that has come so naturally to your best friend, and you let out another muffled groan of frustration. “He’s been really nice to you…”

“He has been.” Steph can’t help but grin, unable to believe that he has been so generous. “He asked about Nora last night, seemed genuinely interested in her.”

“He…he likes miniature humans.” Quoting him is an odd feeling halfway in between making your skin crawl with latent frustration and…somehow sort of nice. “Thinks they’re uncomplicated. Which I guess isn’t wrong, per se.”

Chuckling, Steph shakes her head. “No, it’s not.” She agrees, continuing to rub your back. “Honestly? Last night he seemed hurt that you hated him from the moment you met him. He was really drunk.”

“It’s not like I’ve suddenly decided I’m in love with him,” you clarify immediately. There is absolutely no fucking chance of that happening. “He still makes me irrationally upset and I still don’t think we’re a good match. I just…I don’t understand what the fudge the universe was thinking.”

“Why does he make you so upset?” Steph has always wondered, but you would never talk about it before. “Why do you think he’s not a good match for you? Because you decided it?”

“Everyone like him I’ve ever known has turned out to be the worst, most selfish, most careless kind of person in the world.” There’s no chance that she doesn’t remember what happened to you that summer after high school - she had been out on a date with Shawn when he got the call from the hospital. “I think…I-I’d rather hate him then let him hurt me.”

“Right…” Stephanie hums, not wanting to invalidate your experience by rolling her eyes, but she thinks you are generalizing and unfairly judging him. Again. “Because buying a total stranger a car because hers is a complete junker and a safety hazard is the definition of careless and selfish.” She pauses for a moment and then sighs. “He paid off my debt to help his soulmate. Even after you insulted him.”

“Maybe he likes you.” The concept of Dieter Bravo being a good man is something you’ve pushed so far from your mind’s realm of reality that you don’t really even know how to grasp at it. And you’re not even sure you want to, since you’re still up in the air about the whole soulmate thing to begin with.

“No.” Steph is sure of that. She didn’t feel anything between her and Dieter and there was one more thing that he had said that stuck with her last night. “He didn’t want me to tell you about everything.” She reveals. “Afraid that he would learn that his soulmate really did hate him.”

“So I’m the villain for wanting to protect myself?” Turning your head, you look up at your best friend - your sister - with a pleading that you didn’t even know you were capable of. “Is this really just me? Please tell me I didn’t just make it all up.” There are times you wonder about that day in Haight Ashbury, trying in vain to fill in the blanks of everything you’ll never be able to remember. Times you wonder if it was all your fault like the cops had claimed. Is this all your fault too and you just couldn’t see it?

Steph reaches for your hand, squeezing it gently. “I think…” she murmurs softly. “That your past is not as far behind you as you think that it might be.” She states kindly. “You also have a right to protect yourself, but you’ve never heard of Dieter being violent or reckless, have you? Driving while intoxicated? Or anything beyond his own self-destructive tendencies?”

“You’ve read more about him than I have.” She’s never made a secret of the fact that she was still a fan during the years that you would riot if someone so much as said his name around you. “You…you would know better than me, I guess.”

“I’m not going to tell you what to do, or how to feel.” She tells you. “I’m just going to ask if you feel good about what happened. Or if you would like someone making the same assumptions about you if the roles were reversed.”

“You should take Nora to Disneyland today.” You tell her, sitting up again. Whatever else happens today, you have a lot to think about and a lot to reconsider. “Or at least take her for a drive in the new car. She’d like that.” More than anything else, you’re pretty sure you just need to be alone right now. “Or I can just go hide in my room like I was going to. Except…less angry. Or just…just mad at someone else. Not you.”

“I think I’ll take her for a drive.” Steph decides. “I think we will get up early and go tomorrow. Make sure we have plenty of time to see everything.” She bites her lip. “Do you want to come with us tomorrow?” You would have to pay, but it’s a lot easier than it was a few days ago.

“No.” Despite the answer actually being an empathic yes because of your boundless love for Disney escapism, you shake your head. “People might recognize me. I don’t want Nora’s first Disney trip to be ruined because Aunt Gigi is a raging bitch.”

Steph sighs, slightly annoyed with the fact that you refuse to see that you might actually deserve a little bit of the way Dieter treated you. No doubt you haven’t been a ray of sunshine towards him. Instead of battling that out, she pats your hand and shifts to stand up. “Nora! Come downstairs, sweetie! Let’s go for a ride in mommy’s new car!”

“Have fun, guys.” Pulling yourself up from the couch, it’s pretty clear to you that today is going to be spent berating yourself in bed. You just wonder if Steph sees that. She seems annoyed all over again. “Go get some good salt air.”

******

“I’m not going.” Dieter huffs, even as he’s putting on his clothes. He hasn’t spoken to you since the day he dropped off the car for Stephanie and he would prefer to keep it that way. Even if Libby had used the invites to the Adele concert Dieter had as leverage. Which was un-fucking-fair of her.

“Yes, you are.” These conversations with him usually precede red carpet or press events, both of which he hates, so Libby is reasonably used to them. “There are no dinner reservations, no planned after party to go to, and the only time you’ll have to make conversation will be in the very short time before and after the concert. You’re not even picking her up.” She tries for a smile as she holds out his jacket to him. “But if you could see fit to not scowl at her all night and maybe even hold her hand? I’ll book you a solo spa day in gratitude.”

He sighs. Rolling his eyes and pouting, he feels like he’s going to fucking claw his eyes out. “Let me do a line?” He begs. “Then I’ll be able to handle her.”

“Not a chance.” She shakes her head and holds out the jacket again. “You’ve been doing so well, Dee, and I know you can keep it up.”

“If this is a disaster again, I’m just going to fucking retire.” He mutters, unwilling to do anything more with you if you are hateful again. He takes the jacket and puts it on, grumbling under his breath.

“It won’t be.” There is not, of course, any way that Libby can be sure of that, but she had a long conversation with you this week and feels secure in the idea that even though it might not be the best date in history, you’re not going to scream at him unprompted this time.

“Meet her there, smile, hold her hand, leave separately and then shower.” He ticks off the list of things to do and checks his reflection, fiddling with his earring and wondering how something he had been looking forward to was now something he dreads.

“Just enjoy the concert.” She reminds him, knowing that getting lost in the music will help him forget being annoyed with you should it happen again tonight. “You’ll be home before you know it.”

“Yeah.” Dieter isn’t nearly as optimistic as Libby is. Grabbing his keys, he looks at himself one more time. This will be a filmed event, again. “She probably hates Adele.” He huffs to himself as he walks out the door.

******

“He probably hates Adele,” you shake your head at your reflection and at the reflection of Steph sitting on your bed just like she did before the last date. The dress they sent this time is glittery - the colour of champagne - with sheer sleeves that will definitely show off the tattoos you’ve spent extra time staring at this week and a neckline meant to show off your — er — assets. “Libby asked me my favourite singer and that was the end of that part of the conversation.”

“You don’t know that.” Steph argues and raises a brow. “Look at it this way, you are going to see the concert everyone else is dying to see!” She tells you excitedly. “Nora and I will have to watch it at home like the commoners we are.” She teases. “I’m gonna record it in case we see you onscreen!”

“Maybe you can see my humiliation live this time.” Though you’ve promised yourself you’ll be on good behaviour, and even hashed out the legal consequences on not fulfilling the contract with Libby, you’re still sure something will go haywire tonight. With a long, measured breath, you put in the earrings you picked out to go with the dress and heels and turn to face Steph. “Acceptable?”

“You look beautiful.” She murmurs, meaning every word of it before she looks at the clock. “Your car should be here any minute.”

“Keep your finger crossed that nothing catastrophic happens.” You huff, trying for a joke but genuinely worrying that it is a possibility. “I’m gonna kiss Nora goodnight and go wait for the car. I think a little fresh air will do me good.”

“Okay.” Steph sighs as you walk out, praying that one of you would just give a little. That’s all it would take. Having spent time with Dieter, she honestly thinks the universe didn’t make a mistake at all.

The car that pulls up five minutes later is driven by a man a few years younger than you, and you vaguely think you recognize him but can’t place from what, so you shake it off and thank him when he opens the back door for you. If nothing else, the concert will be nice - you just have to keep telling yourself that.

There’s no little amount of disappointment that the other woman, Steph, didn’t come outside. Rico’s disappointed, had been hoping to catch a glimpse of her again, although now he’s given a firsthand look at the woman who had his boss tied up in knots. At least a look that isn’t from the street and where you aren’t both furious and horrified. “We will be there in about forty minutes, miss.” He informs you after he slides back behind the wheel. “Mr. Bravo will meet you there.”

“What’s your name?” The fact that there is a whole legion of people who work for Dieter is something you’ve been having trouble wrapping your head around, and you’re trying to be good about making sure you talk to everyone you cross paths with. Dieter may hate you - but you don’t want the people who work for him to hate you, too.

“Rico, ma’am.” Rico answers you, pulling away and his eyes look up at the rear-view mirror to watch you for a moment before he looks at the road again.

“You don’t need to call me ma’am, or miss, or anything like that. Just my name is fine.” The streets move by with increasing speed as he heads out to the highway, and you settle back for the drive. “So. What’s your story, Rico?”

“Same as nearly everyone in this town.” Rico laughs. “Came to LA to be the next star and it didn’t work out.” He gives a shrug, honestly finding the work wasn’t what he imagined it would be, so he’s not disappointed. “Found work with Mr. Bravo when I was waiting on him and had to muscle out the paps from harassing him.” He continues on. “Hired me on as security and keeps me close because of my grandma’s secret vodka sauce and homemade noodles.”

“God, I love vodka sauce.” You laugh a little in response, thinking of all those times you and Steph had tried to make the dish in college but ended up just drinking the vodka instead. “So you’re security, driver, and super-secret private chef?”

"Something like that." Rico smiles, looking back at you, finding it hard to imagine that you and his boss mix like oil and water. Maybe more like oil and vinegar, just needing a few spices to make it perfect to soak up.

“Do you like it?” The way people treat their employees - or any kind of subordinate - speaks volumes about them and you’re curious to know what his employees think of him. “Working for him, I mean?”

"Absolutely!" Rico grins, nodding his head even as he navigates the streets towards your destination. "Mr. Bravo is a pretty cool employer. He lets me fix him whatever I'm in the mood for, unless he's really got a craving for something. Even insisted I take off when my ma fell and broke her hip. My parents own a restaurant back in Jersey and they needed help while she healed. Told me to go and that I would continue getting paid while I was gone."

“That’s nice of him. Putting family first.” From what you know of him now, that makes sense to you. Dieter’s sister is the only family of his you know of, but he clearly loved her.

“It’s cuz he doesn’t have any.” Rico murmurs, slowing down at the light and putting on his signal.

“Right.” You nod vaguely in the backseat and pick nervously at a loose thread in the purse you were sent to use tonight. “Well, I’m glad you like what you do, Rico. That’s a lot more than most people can say.”

“Yes ma’am.” He senses that you don’t really have much more to say, so he doesn’t say anything else and when the light turns green, in standard LA fashion, he gets honked at before he can make the turn even though he started going right away.

******

The venue is swarming with people as Rico pulls the car carefully through the crowd, and people are peering through the tinted windows trying to see who is sitting in the back. Whoever they’re expecting, it definitely isn’t you - and you distinctly hear someone from the sidewalk ‘Boo’ your appearance as one of the venue employees helps you out of the car. There’s sort of a miniature red carpet set up and all you can do is desperately hope that Dieter is around here somewhere, because you have no idea what to do in a situation like this one.

‘At least you clean up nicely.’ That’s what’s floating through his head as Dieter spots you, sighing to himself, thankful that at least you haven’t shown up in a burlap sack to protest him being your soulmate. He sets down the water bottle and moves over towards you, trying not to glare as he walks up.

“Hey, there you are.” Don’t sound accusatory, you remind yourself, and even manage to smile. He cleaned up for tonight too - dress pants and a button-down shirt and a leather jacket. Deliberately not saying a word about the sunglasses he’s still wearing; you fold in on yourself a little and wish for the quiet security of the car with all the shouting voices and cameras around. “Um…Steph says hi. Nora had an amazing time at Disney, and she drew you a picture.” You pat your purse gently. “I’ll give it to you inside?”

“Good.” Dieter actually smiles at that, imagining how thrilled the little girl must have been to experience Disney. Rolling his eyes, he takes off his sunglasses before you can bitch and shoves them into his pocket. Squinting at the sun that is still bright and blinking a few times before he motions towards the security line. “Ready to go in?”

“Yeah.” Libby’s voice is in your head reminding you of what’s at stake tonight and you step a little closer to him as he turns toward the building. You’re going to be on your best behaviour tonight if it kills you.

Well aware that cameras are focusing on the two of you – given the last two meetings that have ended up on social media. He needs to play nice. Despite his feelings. Dieter reaches for your hand, lacing his fingers with yours and gives you a small smile when you look over at him.

The pictures, when you see them later, will clearly betray the look of surprise on your face, and a few will even capture the small smile on your lips as the two of you walk inside together. It seems like maybe Libby had given both of you a talking to and it’s showing tonight. “So, do you…um…do you like Adele?” If you were any more awkward about it there should be a dunce cap for one of you to wear.

"She's honestly one of my favorites." Dieter admits, although he feels like he shouldn't. It seems so personal to share that with you. Especially given how you feel about him, more ammunition for you to judge the jackass that you thought him to be. Although, he was a jackass, he wasn't quite the monster that you think him. "I've been looking forward to this." His lips turn down in a slight frown at how Libby used this to get him to be seen with you again. "It's why I'm here."

There is absolutely no world in which he came here tonight with any sort of positive attitude toward seeing you again, and you can’t exactly be mad about that. But it’s reassuring to know that all both of you will have to do tonight is keep your mouths shut and you might actually enjoy yourselves. Hopefully you can keep your mouths shut. “She’s my favourite.” You tell him quietly, watching as he ducks as many cameras as he acknowledges and how many people are trying to get his attention.

Dieter doesn't say anything, but he does give your hand the slightest amount of extra pressure on it. Just for a moment while he lifts his other hand and greeting towards the cameras and smiles. Trying to turn on the Bravo charm and give Libby exactly what she wants for this event. A smiling, happy couple that are excited to be seen together and attend this concert. He ignores the shouted questions, tugging you closer and letting go of your hand to wrap his arm around your waist and bring you to his side while the cameras click away.

It’s blinding and unpleasant, all these cameras going off and people shouting in your direction, but your rule for tonight is just smile and get through it. Despite his gait being a little unpredictable, Dieter is solid beside you and his arm at your waist has that same tingling feeling in under your skin that you’ve had whenever he’s touched you so far. Which is extremely annoying.

He's surprised you haven't already pulled away, but you haven't. Warm and honestly slightly comforting beside him. There's a reason he would show up with whoever was in his orbit at the time to shit like this. The red carpet is short and the two of you manage to make it inside the venue, the large open aired arena one that the photogs weren't allowed into. Only the camera crews that are for the special are allowed. Giving all the celebrities a moment to breath, including Dieter. "We survived." He murmurs, dropping his arm from around your waist, knowing you don't want him touching you any more than he wants to.

“We did.” And though you will never, ever admit it to anyone - you kind of get the sunglasses now. At least in a situation like that. Having so many cameras flash at you on the way in has given you spots in your vision that you now have to blink away and hope that does the trick. “Oh, uh — here.” From the brand-new, Libby-approved, designer purse you’re carrying, you pull a carefully folded piece of paper in an envelope. Dieter’s name is written across it in crayon, with Nora’s halting handwriting on full display. “I don’t want to forget.” You don’t want to miss giving it to him in case things go to hell in a hand basket.

“Thank you.” Dieter opens it up, seeing two stick figures that are obviously supposed to be her and her mom next to a castle. He grins and nods to himself before he carefully folds it back up into the envelope and puts it in his jacket pocket to keep safe.

The silence between you is loaded, but it’s better than shouting. The search for your seats is easy considering they’re in the second row, and you cringe to think that this awkward second date of yours will be immortalized on a recording but that is literally what you signed up for. The only thing you can do now is - as you keep reminding yourself - be on your best behavior. You can handle tonight being tense and awkward as long as it’s not horrible again.

Dieter does all the right things, motioning for you to sit down before he does, unbuttoning his jacket and settling beside you. He is hoping you don’t start anything; Libby had warned him about it. What he potentially could lose. There is role he wants, that he’s the lead choice and he just has to make nice with you and get through this.

People around you are in predictably good moods, and some of them chat around or at you but for the most part you're just a curiosity. Some questions about what you do or where you're from are inevitable though most people seem aware and there was definitely one 'knowing' wink that insinuated that you are paid companionship that you did not enjoy. It's a mercy when the concert starts because it brings all conversation to a full halt, and you realize Dieter hasn't spoken a single word to you since you gave him the picture that Nora drew for him.

Honestly, it’s not going to badly. Dieter hadn’t heard a snarky, insulting comment from you yet and he wonders when it will come. He’s sure it will, you can’t help yourself. Instead of obsessing over it as the lights dim, he puts his fingers in his mouth and whistles loudly as the first cords of the intro song plays.

The cameras that sweep the audience from time to time are definitely catching sight of the front rows, and you start to understand why Libby sent over such an eye-catching dress for this night. Tonight, you are a well-behaved couple that will be caught on camera to last for as long as digital media exists.

There’s a moment of hesitation for you, right before you do it, where the question of whether or not the gesture is too large definitely comes to your mind. But when the camera sweeps by during Set Fire to the Rain, you slip your hand over to sit casually in Dieter’s, just like a couple enjoying a love song. It’s deeply uncomfortable that you don’t know how he’ll react, but you’re going to hold up your end of this fucking deal if it kills you.

Your hand is soft. Very soft. It's the first thing he thinks of when your hand slips into his. The words of the song pour through him and he closes his eyes, trying to imagine what it would be like to be in love like that. For one brief moment after Libby told him that his soulmate had been found, he had wondered if you would be that for him. Pushing it away for fear of being hurt, being used again. Everything since then has convinced that he will not find that with you. However, this is to polish his tarnished image and he will play his role.

When he doesn't immediately snatch his hand away or somehow make it uncomfortable for you to keep your hand in his, you let it sit. The biggest mistake you could make right now would be to think that this is anything but an act - but in the back of your head there's a little part of you that has to wonder. What would it be like if you didn't drive each other completely insane?

Dieter knows he is a lot of things. Childish, argumentative, often selfish, and used to getting his way. He is someone that has been catered to as his fame had grown. But he also remembered not to step on people. His destruction was mainly self-directed and never meant to hurt others. He did what he wanted when he wanted. He was free to do that. Whether it was roles he wanted to play or turn down, drugs he wanted to snort, or people he wanted to fuck - he wasn't beholden to anyone. Right now, he feels like he is beholden to you, and he's not sure if he hates it or is curious about it.

The last time you held hands with someone besides Steph or Nora was probably before your little niece was even born. It goes on after the song is over, almost like you're both too stubborn to be the first one to 'give up' on pretending to be fond of each other. Competitiveness on a whole new level, and you would almost laugh about it if it weren't so in character for you.

Dieter lets go of your hand, clapping finally when you don't seem to want to let go. Unable to take the moist buildup on his palm from the warm California night. He slaps his hands together a few times before he discreetly slides his hands, both of them, along his thighs to dry them.

It's a careless gesture - wiping away any moment of actual companionship between you the same way he disregards something disgusting on his hands. Of course, in this instance, you are the disgusting thing on his hand, and it's possible you've never been more frustrated for going out on a limb before.

Looking over at you before the next song, he sees that your jaw is hinged in that angry set. Making him snort that you can't even come to an exclusive event without finding something to be unhappy about. "Fucking fantastic." He grumbles under his breath and turns back to the woman on stage.

“Did you say something?” Your tone is more accusatory than you mean it to be, but he gets on your nerves so fucking easily that you can’t help it. Your own hands are back in your lap, wishing you had pockets in this godforsaken dress that you could shove them into to keep away from him.

“Nope.” He pops the end of the word and gives a small shake of his head. The last thing he wants is another incident and he promised he would be on his best behavior.

“Awesome.” All you can do is shake your head, refocusing on the concert. Nora and Steph will want to hear every detail later and you’re not about to let them down.

Dieter feels the cameras on him. He knows that despite the fact that this Adele’s concert, the story of him and you will be hot, and they won’t resist giving the two of you air time. He bites his lip and gives a quiet sigh, slipping his arm around your waist and leaning into your ear. “Try not to ruin this for us please?” He murmurs quietly. “You can hate me when the cameras stop rolling.”

There is a contract. And there are consequences. And as much as you do hate it, you agreed to this. So instead of griping or grousing, you take a deep breath and turn on a coy smile - aimed at him with batting eyelashes and a fully dreamy look in your eyes. If the cameras get a close up of you, you’ll look nothing less than smitten. “How’s this?” You mumble through the smile, looking right into his eyes. It might be the first time you’ve ever done that. They’re…actually kind of pretty. Nope. Not going there.

Dieter short circuits for a moment, falling into your adoring expression and soft eyes. For a split second he believes that you don’t hate him. His breath catches and he licks his lips self-consciously. “I— perfect.” He murmurs breathlessly and then blinks, remembering who you are and what you think about him. “Oscar worthy.” He hums with a tight smile.

“Good.” For second there’s softness in him, and honesty, and while the bitter part of you counts it as a victory because he’s clearly underestimated you, Steph’s voice in the back of your mind wonders loudly if that how he might look at you - and you at him - if this had all gone very differently. Too bad you’ll never know. “Good,” you repeat at a whisper. “We don’t want Libby pissed at us again.”

“Right.” At the end of the day, that’s all this is to you. A contract. You had never wanted to get to know him and he wishes he hadn’t met you. After this is over and his reputation is back on track, he’ll forget your name. Frowning slightly at that thought, he smothers it with a look that would tell anyone watching that Dieter Bravo was wrapped around someone he cared for very much.

It’s artificial, and it’s false, and it’s all the things you hate about Hollywood - but the concert is nice. By the time it’s over you’ve shifted, tilting so your head is nearly on his shoulder and the unfortunate fact that you actually like his cologne has been discovered. There isn’t any other commitment tonight because of how dinner went earlier in the week, and soon enough you’ll be on your way home again. Soon. Hopefully. But for the small trickle of his friends that have paused to say hello and goodbye on their way out of the venue.

“Oh shit.” Dieter hands had captured yours again and he gives it a warning squeeze, never sure what is going to come out of the mouth of the woman walking up to you. Outrageous as it might seem, she manages to make Dieter look tame with her judgmental attitude and bad press lately.

“Dieter!” Carol Cobb is the sort of person to pretend to be someone’s friend when it’s convenient to her, and right now her former costar is getting some interesting press. “So, this is her, huh? Your long-searched for soulmate?”

He can only hope that you don’t say anything that will have Carol racing off to the gossip columns. As much as she loved pretending she was some beacon of virtue, she was a snake in the grass. “This is her.” He tells her brightly, bringing your joined hands up and showing them off.

“You must be so thrilled...” Carol comments, putting out her hand for a flimsy shake and waiting for your introduction.

You supply your first name, barely taking her hand for a second with your free one. “It’s nice to meet you…” You use the same pregnant pause she did to let her introduce herself. She seems like the kind of person who would hate not being recognized.

“Carol.” She says, in the most aghast voice she can possibly summon. “Carol Cobb? I was in a movie with Dieter? Two if you count that horrible documentary?”

“Oh!” You nod and laugh with genuine amusement. “Right. Sorry. I don't think I remember you.”

“Horrible, yeah.” Dieter murmurs, not really wanting to point out that it was literally just a behind the scenes look. An honest one. “So, Carol, what have you been up to?” If there’s anything he can count on, is that she will want to talk about herself.

“You don't…?” She looks completely stricken by that but is placated by being asked any kind of personal question. “Starting in on a new project soon.” She lights up to bubbling. “A really beautiful drama. Yeah. Filming in Norway. The sun won’t set on us again until the end of August. Just beautiful.” She looks between you and Dieter with interest. “Do you have a project coming up? I heard things were a little slow for you still.”

Dieter hum, titling his head. “I’ve got a few things coming up. Filming in Switzerland.” He tells her, smiling slightly. “Plus of course the Mate Marks endorsement is in full swing.”

“Right.” She wrinkles her nose at you condescendingly. With an air of mother knows best that you’ve seen from senior teachers and students’ parents a million times. “You know, you and I should have a chat sometime. Soulmate or otherwise, you should really know what you’re…ya know… getting yourself into here.” Her eyes drift over to Dieter without subtlety. “You deserve to know what you’re getting yourself into, sweetie.”

“Oh, Dee’s told me everything.” You lie smoothly, giving his hand a squeeze and tossing him another adoring smile. “He took a little extra break from things so we could get to know each other, and his past is his past.” You can feel your skin crawl with the lie - you know practically nothing about him - but this woman is so self-righteous that it flips you completely in the other direction. You would pretend for almost anyone to get this kind of woman off their back.

His brows shoot up in surprise, but he covers it quickly. “She’s seen the documentary.” He loves pointing out how bad that particular piece also made Carol look. “What else could she possibly need to know?” He jokes, chuckling quietly.

"He spent the entire production trying to get somebody - anybody - to sleep with him." Carol tells you, as if it were some kind of secret and not right there in the documentary for everyone to see. "He tried to get us all to do drugs with him!" She knows very well that she did all that coke of her own free will, but it is not the first time she's used a scapegoat and it will not be the last.

"Well," you shrug, pretending it doesn't mean a thing to you at all. "He's been clean since before we met and I'm really proud of him for that. Addiction is a really serious thing that too many people trivialize."

Dieter huffs, pursing his lips at Carol. “Didn’t you sleep with a married man?” He asks flippantly, pretending to think about it. “‘Cause I swear you did. See, me? Well, I was single, I could fuck whoever I wanted to. But I seem to remember you had a boyfriend living in your house when you got to the set.” He won’t deny the drugs. Fuck, he’d snort some coke right now if he had some. But the condescension in her tone irks him. Reminds him of you.

"I was victimized!" She insists, lowering her voice when the conversation clearly doesn't take the turn she wants. Carol throws you a near-glare, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning heavily. "Good luck with him," she tells you, as though she has some stake in it. "You're going to need it."

“Hey!” Dieter grins, his face lighting up. “Maybe we could have a threesome?” He suggests, smirking as he looks over at you and squeezes your hand harshly. “Since I love them, right? It’d be great.” He chuckles and looks at Carol. “Did you know my tattoo was because I love threesomes?” It’s mean, probably, to throw this in your face, but you act just like this bitch and he’s too fucking sober to handle it maturely.

For as hard as you've worked tonight to be nice and play nice and not let him get to you, this is just a slap in the face. It's rude to the point of stealing your fake sunny smile, making you frown immediately and turn in on yourself. "It was nice to meet you, Carol." You tell her flatly, a lie of manners that you don't care about because nothing is actually nice right now. Letting go of Dieter's hand long enough to stand and grab your purse, you barely glance at him as Carol Cobb walks away bewildered. "Do you want to walk me to the car for the sake of appearances, or do you want that to be the last thing you say to me tonight?"

Regret, remorse, whatever you want to call it - isn’t something that he feels very often. Dieter prides himself on living authentically and saying what he means. But the way that your shoulders rounded and your face fell has him trying to swallow the bitterness his words left. “I’ll walk you.” He stands and when you stiffen when he puts his hand on your back, he doesn’t get irritated. He deserves that, instead he just sighs quietly and guides you towards the exit.

“I apologized.” You remind him under your breath, trying to get your composure back for anyone you might pass. “I said I was sorry and I meant it.”

“When?” Dieter looks around like you are talking to someone else. “Because you damn sure didn’t apologize to me. Unless you think tolerating my presence is an apology?” He mutters all of this under his breath to you as he keeps his face friendly. Not wanting another bad press moment as the two of you exit the stadium and quickly walk to the line of cars. “You might want to rethink our conversation tonight.” He opens the door to the SUV that is waiting for you and makes a show of kissing your hand for anyone who might be watching.

“The car. When you came to the house with the car, I said I was sorry.” With a flutter of your eyelashes, you slide backward into the car and turn away from him. “Good night.” You add firmly, when he doesn’t shut the door right away. A voice in the back of your head - Steph’s again, annoyingly - asks if you really apologized or if you just said the words and figured the rest would be inferred. You can’t remember, but it hardly matters now. Whatever you enjoyed about tonight has been ruined, so none of it matters.

“Yeah. That’s right.” Dieter gives an ugly chuckle. “Your excuse was you didn’t know I had a sister.” Instead of telling you how much bullshit that was, he just closes the door. You won’t even look at him anyway. Too much of a bitch to see how badly you hurt him. One shitty little apology was supposed to make it all better. He can’t fucking wait for the next four dates to be over with.

______

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My Masterlist!

#Pedro Pascal #Pedro Pascal character fanfiction #Pedro Pascal fanfic #Dieter Bravo #Dieter Bravo x reader #Dieter Bravo x you #Dieter Bravo x female reader #The Bubble #Soulmate AU #enemies to lovers #fake dating #Trash Can Man