#anyways yeah this whole storyline feels pretty personal to me and hits close to home | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

blaithnne · 3 months

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I think my one complaint about Anders is that I wish we’d seen him leave of his own accord at least once. Unfortunately I doubt that would be possible due to time constraints but, I think if we’d gotten to see how Hilda was affected by him actually leaving and not being fairynapped it would have better shown what kind of person he is, and been a really good representation of what a lot of real kids go through. That moment where Hilda finally realised her Father abandoned her is so heartbreaking, raw, and real, and the fact that it’s later revealed he didn’t kind of undermines that.

I’m not against Anders changing for the better - it’s a kids show, and it makes sense they’d want to give him a character arch instead of just introducing him to be a dick lol. It also makes sense for his character to have nearly losing his entire family forever be a wake up call for him. But I wish we’d gotten more time with him, and really seen the effects of him leaving for real. Without that, we can generally assume that it had the same effect as him being kidnapped did in canon, but it’s just not the same.

I’m of the opinion that introducing Hilda’s dad as a concept was a good decision, and I don’t think it undermines the shows found family. It gives Hilda a relatable and realistic aspect to her that I think is important for kids in similar situations to see. I am, however, very biased in that regard.

My biological father was an asshole who fucked off before I was born, but I’ve had no absence of family or fatherly role models - I’m very close with my adoptive dad and my grandad. But that didn’t mean I never had questions, or insecurities.

It’s easy to look at fictional tropes and say that found family is clearly superior and biology doesn’t mean shit, and that’s true! But when you’re living in that reality, when you’re young and coming to terms with it for the first time, it’s hard. Especially when you’re surrounded by people who all have blood relations with their families, and when the person you’re related to is regarded as a dick. it really makes you feel isolated and like there’s something wrong with you, like you’re an outsider — you’re different.

Real life people are messy and have insecurities that defy reason, you might logically know that biology doesn’t matter, but when you’re thirteen and insecure and full of inner turmoil, you can’t help but feel bad.

Personally, as I got older, I met people in similar situations and realised I wasn’t alone, that it was okay to have those feelings but it didn’t make them true. But at that age, having grown up in a rural community, I really was alone.

Hilda’s insecurities in season 3 are a great representation of that, she feels like she’s never had a proper family, this thing with Frida, David, Tontu, Alfur and Johanna and Astrid is all new to her. You can tell her Father’s absence has hurt her, how she’s felt different and alone and like something was missing. Hilda defines her worth through her relationships with others, how she can help them make them happy, it destroyed her when she felt like she failed Frida, imagine how she feels about her father.

What I think season 3 was missing was for Hilda to realise that she doesn’t need Anders, and that her happiness isn’t reliant on him being there, I wish she’d had a tad more agency in the relationship, yk? She wants him to be in her life, and he’s going to make an effort now to do that, but she has a support system in place and will be perfectly fine without him. I wish the show had properly acknowledged that just because this is how things ended up, it wasn’t the only option — with or without Anders, Hilda would still have been happy with her family in the end, the fact that he’s a part of it is a nice bonus, but not an essential one.

In general, I think Anders is the best they could do with the time they were given. Having him be a realistic shitty dad who loves his daughter but is just so bad at it is relatable and realistic, though I wish they’d better emphasised that just because he loves hers that doesn’t make his actions okay (perhaps by slightly altering Johanna’s moment with Hilda at the end of The Job), because it’s clear, I think, as a diehard fan, but might not be for more casual viewers.

Having him be redeemable and stick around to do better is a good conclusion for his arch, it’s a happy ending all around and makes sense for the story - it could’ve been weird if they just had him show up and then immediately leave with zero resolution to his character, unless they made him an all out irredeemable abuser, which I think would’ve been worse than what we got. Portraying abusers as unforgivable and cartoonish villains only makes it harder for real life victims to recognise their situations, so if it couldn’t be portrayed properly (which thanks to time constraints and the overall narrative I don’t believe it could be) I’m glad they went with something else.

What we’ve got is, and I know I’ve said this many times lol, a realistic depiction of a crappy, absentee father, that young viewers can recognise and relate to. On that end, the biggest issues are Hilda’s lack of agency within their storyline, since she has no control in the resolution of their relationship, young people looking to this show for ways to cope with their own situations might be discouraged by the end resolution of “he decided to stick around”, since that resolution rests on his decision, not Hilda’s, if that makes sense.

TLDR; Overall, I think Anders’ was a good character and the best that could’ve been done with what the team was given, but,

A) I wish we’d gotten to see him leave of his own accord at least once, so that Hilda’s final realisation that he left her on purpose has more impact and doesn’t loose its meaning in retrospect, and,

B) That Hilda had more agency in the final resolution of their dynamic, that their happily ever after wasn’t entirely reliant on Anders swearing he won’t leave. An alternative solution, maybe presented earlier on in the season when he first left, that provided her with a coping mechanism/outlet in case he does, so that her happiness and mental health isn’t in his hands, would’ve been pretty neat.

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crowleywasagryffindor · 8 months

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Trope rating game

Thank you for the tag @ladydorian05 <3

Rules: How much do these tropes affect your decision to click on a fic? -10 -> very dissuaded 0 - don’t care either way +10 -> very enticed nope -> if it’s a hard no and you’d never click on a fic with that tag or or you even have the tag blocked or you’d insta click out of the fic if it wasn’t tagged. Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it’s conditional.

Age gap 0

Not really keen on fics that emphasise an age gap, but not bothered if it's not like... huge.

Codependency +1

I mean... Buddie are pretty codependent in canon anyway so I kinda like it when it follows that line.

Obsession/possessiveness, jealousy +4

So long as it doesn't go into toxic stuff I enjoy it.

Opposites (grumpy/sunshine etc) +10

I dunno I love the whole complete opposites thing <3

Enemies to lovers, enemies with benefits +9

Just yes. So much yes.

Friends with benefits +4

Like... If it leads to an actual relationship yes, especially if they're idiots who are like noooo I can't be in love with that person cause we're just FwB.

Sex to feelings +4

I feel like this is kinda the same as the previous one but I have read some that are like sex to friends to feelings and found I loved the dynamic.

Fake dating/relationship +10

Yes the absolute best idiots to lovers thing.

Friends to lovers +0

Yeah I enjoy this though that's literally the Buddie storyline.

Found family +20

This one is always my fave because it hits so close to home and I feel it so much.

Hurt/comfort +10

Yes yes yes give me all the pain then the happy awwwws

Love triangle -2

Not really keen on that kinda pain.

Poly, open relationship 0

Eh. Not something I'd actively seek. But depending on the ship and whether it fits with the characters personality I could enjoy I guess.

Mistaken/hidden identity +9

I always find this one amusing and when well written it drags me in every time.

Monsterfucking 0

Another one I haven't really sought or read so neutral.

Pregnancy +1

Don't go looking for it. Don't mind M!preg fics either if well done but don't really go looking for them. Depends what fandom too, sometimes it fits, sometimes not.

Second chance +5

Not really for infidelity but things like Character A fucked up and Character B makes them work for it to get the trust back... yeah, I love that.

Slowburn +100

Who doesn't love a slow burn?! The best.

Soulmates +8

I've read some really, really freaking good soulmate fics and especially when only one knows and freaks out that the other won't feel the same, love it.

#tag game #tag games #trope rating game

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hufflepuffhollander · 4 years

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off limits: tom holland one-shot

a/n | this is my submission for @chloecreatesfictions’ 1k writing challenge! i’ve never done the “brother’s best friend” trope and i def got a little too excited and carried away! real talk, this might be the cutest thing i’ve ever written

summary | as harrison osterfield’s younger sister, you’d always just seen his best friend tom as an annoying older brother. until, one day, you didn’t.

cw | tom x osterfield!reader. contains language, alcohol, recreational use of weeeed, teenage angst, sexual tension, fluff n’ stuff. 5k words.

For as long as you could remember, Tom Holland had been a stitch in your side that you could never get rid of.

Growing up as your older brother’s best friend, he was always at your house when you were children— and his favorite pastime when Harrison was boring him was to break into your room and mess with you, stealing your toys or running his hands across the piano keys when you were trying to practice in peace. No matter how many locks you put on your door just to keep Tom out, he was always able to pick them.

As you all got older, he grew to annoy you in a different way, blasting loud, grungy music through Harrison’s bedroom walls late at night or eating things out of the fridge that clearly had your name on them. Once he’d started to garner some attention as an actor, his ego skyrocketed, and somehow he became an even bigger nuisance. He dragged Harrison away from you and took him all over the world while you had to sit idly by and love your brother from a distance.

When Tom would come over now, he would talk of nothing but hollywood parties and getting drunk with the biggest a-listers when he knew you were listening. He would ignore you when he breezed past you in the hallway, and even had the audacity to go into your bedroom when you were out and smoke a blunt on your bed so your whole room smelled like a music festival when you got home; and worst of all, it was your weed.

It was sufficient to say you were Tom Holland’s least enthusiastic fan. And it was rather unfortunate, because you were a big stan of the MCU—and secretly loved getting high and watching and re-watching the spider-man movies the most. Okay, don’t make that face. They have a good storyline.

It was a regular Friday night, you were aimlessly scrolling through your phone while Harrison and Tom were getting ready to go pub hopping. Harrison always invited you, but you never took him up on his offer because you knew how flirty you got with alcohol in your system and wouldn’t dare feel that way around Tom. He was notorious for taking anything nice you said about him and rubbing it in your face for at least a week after.

“You know you secretly love me, babe.”

You hated when he called you babe, and he knew it. But since you’d both grown up, time had done you both a favor, and there was always an air of something you couldn’t quite place your finger on whenever you interacted...the pet name just made it more interesting.

“Hey, y/n, are you sure you don’t want to come out with us?” Harrison yelled from outside your bedroom door, and you peeked your head out to respond.

“Nah, it’s fine, Haz, go have fun. I have enough uni work to keep me busy.”

“It’s a Friday night, nerd.”

You stuck your tongue out at him and smiled. “Sorry I’m not a budding alcoholic like you, big bro.”

He laughed, blew you a kiss, and he and Tom were off.

Only about an hour later, you decided to take a break from studying and light up a joint, turning on your go-to movie for background noise- but were snapped out of your vibey trance when you heard the front door swing open, and your brother’s loud, drunk voice.

“W-why are we h-home, you div,” he slurred, as his heavy footsteps start to climb the stairs. After a long moment, you heard him collapse on his bed through your thin walls, still stammering out his words. “Thomas, I promise you, I am fineeee...”

“Mate, you’re sloshed. Go to bed.”

You decided to leave them be. This was a typical occurrence- one of the boys went too hard too early, and the other had to babysit until they made it home to pass out cold, usually on the bed, or the couch, or on a good day, the floor.

A few minutes passed while you hotboxed your room, feeling amazingly relaxed, until you saw your doorknob wriggling out of the corner of your eye. Your door was locked, so you ignored it. But the knob kept twisting and falling back in place, making the whole frame shake. After a long while of witnessing a ghost try to make its way into your room, you watched your lock turn slowly and click out of place, the door creaking opened to reveal Tom, swatting at the air when a cloud of smoke greeted him.

You snapped your laptop closed before he could hear his own voice flowing out of your speakers. “Tom, for the last time, stop picking my fucking lock!” You beamed your nearest pillow at him—which he caught before it struck him—and he threw it back, hitting you square in the face. Of course.

He flashed a cocky smile. “Why? It’s so easy.”

You rolled your eyes. “I’m serious! I could’ve been naked or something!”

He just stood in the doorframe, giving you a once-over in your thin cotton t-shirt and yoga pants, and kept that smug expression locked on his face.

“Ew, Tom, you’re disgusting. Get out.”

He decidedly did not get out, instead closing the door behind him and hopping up next to you on your bed, the divot in your mattress leaving your bodies pressed much too close together. You were met with a strong whiff of his cologne and the gin he must’ve been drinking earlier. “I’ll take that,” he muttered as he lifted your joint out of your fingers and took a puff, sucking his breath in as his lungs filled.

Your stomach filled with a dull fire and you narrowed your eyes. “Do you mind?”

He turned to face you and blew a big puff of smoke directly into your face, the notorious smirk making its reappearance. “Not at all, thanks for asking though.”

You groaned aloud. “What are you doing in here?” he took another draw and handed you back what was rightfully yours, smoke dissipating from his mouth as he spoke.

“Haz is pissed and I’m bored.”

You relit the bud and inhaled for a long while, figuring you’d need to be pretty intoxicated to not smack him in the face if he tried to talk again. “Well, go be bored somewhere else. I was busy.”

He cocked an eyebrow at you and reached across your lap for your computer. “Doing what?”

Oh shit. “Dude, can you not-?!” you yelped, but he had swiped it too quickly out of your grasp, and opened it up to find himself paused on your screen. You laid back on your bed so he couldn’t see your cheeks now flushed with embarrassment and grabbed your lighter from your nightstand. It was going to be a long evening.

He leaned himself over to catch your eye and had the stupidest, most prideful look plastered across his face. “Gotcha.”

You punched him in the arm as he erupted into laughter—but the anger inside you had been dulled by the weed and replaced with a childlike silliness—and you started to giggle, too. You looked up into his eyes, pupils now wildly dilated and tinted red around the edges.

“Shut up, Tom, you’re high,” you said in between chuckles.

“Yeah? Well so are you!”

You poked fun at each other for a while, suddenly in a mutually fantastic mood. You knew in the back of your mind that none of this would be happening if you hadn’t gotten stoned together, but you enjoyed the warm company anyway.

“Well, you gotta finish it, don’t you?” he said, settling back down and fixating the computer on his lap so you could both see it.

“You really want to watch your own movie?”

“Doll, it’s my favorite thing to do.” he smiled at you.

“God, you’re the worst.” you felt some butterflies make an entrance in your chest that had never been there before.

He pressed play and cozied up on your bed, lying back against the wall with his arm lazily draped behind you. You pulled a blanket up onto your lap and had really no choice but to lean on him for support, neither of you admitting out loud that you were full on cuddling and not angry about it.

“Hey, aren’t you gonna share?” he whined, pulling at the corner of your blanket.

“Get your own,” you responded, internally high-fiving yourself for finally getting the chance to sass him back. Sure, you had your head comfortably resting on his shoulder, but that didn’t mean you were suddenly friends.

You let the movie play, the two of you blowing through the joint until it was a dwindling nub. The scene where Peter has his big kiss with MJ started, and you stifled a snigger as their lips met on the screen.

Tom had clear offense laced through his words. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” you shrugged.

He sat up to look at you, eyebrows knit together in an angry pout. “Tell me.”

“I just...feel bad for Zendaya, that’s all.” you covered your mouth to keep from laughing, and his eyes rolled so far back into his head you were sure they’d be stuck that way forever.

“You’re such a brat,” he started, his ego finding its old place back in his voice. “I’m an amazing kisser. She told me herself.”

You looked away from him, taking a heavy exhale. “Yeah, whatever, dude.”

He sat even more upright and paused the movie, taking hold of your shoulder to make you turn to him. “What, you don’t believe me?”

You realized then how physically close you had gotten, as you could feel the syllables of his words in his breath hitting your face. He was doing that thing boys do, when they’re thinking about kissing you but don’t- their stares going back and forth between your lips and your eyes in a not so subtle way. It freaked you out to see him that close and personal, and you whispered back exactly what you knew would irk him the most.

“Nope.”

He moved his face impossibly closer to yours, and you felt his soft lips lightly brush over your own. You weren’t sure if this was real, or just a high hallucination, but you didn’t move away. This was entirely uncharted territory.

“Tooommmm!” you heard Harrison yell out from the other side of the wall. “Where are yooouuu?! I’m so thirsty!” Tom immediately jerked his head away from you and shook himself out of the moment. You brought your hand up to your cheek and shuddered at how hot it had become- your own body was betraying you.

“God, he’s gonna be the death of me,” Tom said, shoving himself off the bed and walking out of your room, glancing back at you for a moment and then closing the door behind him. Just like that, he was gone, and you were left trapped in your own psyche wondering what the hell had just happened.

Over the course of the next week, things has become exponentially weirder between you and Tom. He seemed to be spending much more time at your house than he normally did, even sleeping a few nights there instead of driving the five minutes back to be in his own bed. One unsuspecting morning, you knocked on your bathroom door, annoyed that it had been shut for such a long time.

“Haz, if you use up all the hot water again, I’m gonna kill you,” you said in between knocks. You were taken by surprise when it swung open, steam billowing out into the cool air.

“Whoops,” you heard a voice say, immediately realizing it wasn’t your brother. You took a step backward to see Tom emerge, wearing nothing but a towel loosely wrapped around his waist. His hair was damp and clinging to his forehead, and he looked like some glowing magazine model.

“Uh, sorry,” you stammered, accidentally inhaling the yummy smell of his soap and shampoo emanating off of his skin.

He noticed you eyeing him and a sly grin appeared as he rolled his bottom lip under his teeth. “Shower’s all yours, babe,” he said, bumping your shoulder with his own as he walked away. You were stuck in place and didn’t see him glancing back at you as he wandered down the hallway.

Another day after that, Tom and Harrison were looking for a certain record to play, but it was nowhere to be found. “It might be in y/n’s room,” Harrison said, sitting back in his lounge chair. “Wanna go grab it?”

Tom coughed. “Why do I have to get it?”

“Because I’m comfortable.”

Tom felt a mix of annoyance and nerves in his chest as he walked the short distance down the hallway to your room where the door was already cracked open. He invited himself in—excitement faltering a little when he saw you weren’t in your usual spot on your bed—and started to sift through your bookshelves.

You had been in the bathroom getting dressed after your shower, but realized you left your shirt in your closet- and seeing that Harrison’s bedroom door was still shut, you figured it was safe to run across the landing into your room without anyone seeing you. In just a bra and spandex shorts that left little to the imagination, you swiftly made your way across the hall and walked through your door that was still open a crack to see Tom kneeled down as he shuffled through your record collection.

He heard your small gasp when you entered to find him, and swiveled around to you standing only a few feet away from him in the least amount of clothing he’d ever seen on you. He abruptly stood up but didn’t move, eyes sparkling as they rolled down your body.

“What the fuck! Why are you always in my room?!” You were too shocked to think about finding something to cover yourself with, and put your hands over your face, trying not to die of embarrassment. Tom remained glued to his place on your carpet, clearly at a loss for words.

“Tom, can you leave please-”

“Right, yeah, okay, uh, bye-” he hurried out of your room, swinging the door almost shut but leaving just a crack so he could speak into it.

“...I like your shorts.”

“TOM!”

He chuckled and closed the door, and you slumped against the wall, still holding your head in your hands. What was this sudden hold he had over you? And why did you love the way that he was staring at you?

That night, you had a big paper to complete, and you were perched in your bed typing away as it got dark. In between two songs on your playlist, you heard the familiar jiggle of a doorknob. Looking up over your screen, you watched as the metal turned in its socket, and heard a soft “crushed it” as the lock undid itself. Your door opened steadily and slowly, a familiar face peeking in at you.

“Hi.”

“Oh sweet jesus,” you mumbled.

“You busy?”

“Clearly.”

“Cool.” Tom let himself into your room, shutting the door behind him and sauntering over to your bed, sitting down next to you, bouncing like a little kid and singing his words. “Whatcha doooin’?”

“Homework,” you said, continuing to type and trying your best to ignore the way the sound of his voice was waking up something electric inside of you. He leaned into your body to peer at your computer screen, pretending to be interested in whatever you were writing about. His elbow got in the way of your hands, and you had to stop typing.

“Thomas, is there something I can help you with?”

“Haz is asleep,” he said, resting his head on your shoulder like it hadn’t been a week since your almost-kiss and you hadn’t been actively avoiding bringing it up.

You felt jittery. “And?”

He gently pushed your hands away from the keyboard and closed your laptop shut, giving you a sheepish smile. “Wanna get high?”

Honestly, you did.

You turned on your lamp and turned off the overhead light, put on that record he finally found, lighting a candle and then another hand-rolled blunt. This time, Tom sat upright with you perpendicular to him, your legs swung over his lap. When he made a joke, he’d give your leg a little squeeze- and whether it was purposeful or not, you were filled with schoolgirl nerves every time it happened.

All the angsty barriers built up over years of a sibling-like rivalry had come down between the two of you as you smoked together; you suddenly found all of his bad jokes funny, and he couldn’t peel his eyes away from the cute way you scrunched your nose when you laughed. Every time you exchanged the blunt, you couldn’t help but think about how his lips had just been on it a moment before yours. The night came and went, and you ended up falling asleep wrapped in his arms as he dozed off with his chin pressed to your forehead.

You both woke up at the same time in the dead of night, unsure of how late it had gotten. Still nestled into each other, you exchanged sleepy glances and no words, taking a moment to realize the position you had put yourselves in.

Tom grazed your jawline with the back of his hand and lifted up your chin with his thumb. You let your eyes flutter shut and he kissed you in the dark for one long, everlasting moment. He pulled back from you hesitantly, leaving you breathless. Did that really just happen?

“We...we can’t,” he whispered, his words tinged with sadness.

Your heart broke for him just hearing his voice. “Why not?”

“You’re my best friend’s little sister, y/n.”

“And you’re my brother’s best friend. So what?” you were almost upset with yourself for being so vulnerable; so visibly pining after him.

“So, you’re off limits,” he said, resting his forehead against yours.

“Says who?”

That prompted Tom to meet your gaze again, and this time you took initiative, moving your face to his and taking his bottom lip in between yours. He took a sharp inhale as you kissed him and seemed to let all inhibition go as he put his arms around your back and pressed you into him hard, all of his pent up feelings for you suddenly flowing out of him. He kissed you in a needy, desperate kind of way, and you loved every second of it. You ran your fingers through his hair, traced his jawline, using your hands to feel every bit of him that you couldn’t before. The strangest part of it all was how natural it felt- like you had been practicing for this very moment all your lives.

Your record had stopped spinning a while ago, the room now filled with just the breathy noises of your kisses, your contented hums and his tiny mews when you bit his lips. You were both still barely lucid, and after countless minutes of nothing but innocent kisses, you were on the brink of falling asleep again, serotonin whisking you away into dreams. Tom sighed into you, and clasped his hand around yours.

“I have to go.”

“What? Why?” you felt your heart preeminently sink in your chest; like you should’ve known this was too good to last.

“I don’t want him to wake up and find us here,” he trailed off, staring down at your intertwined fingers fiddling together.

“So that’s it?” you tried to swallow back the sudden upwell of feelings inside you.

“No, no...” his eyes filled with some type of emotional strain you’d never seen. “I- I don’t want this to be it. But I don’t want things to get...messy.”

Unfortunately, you couldn’t blame him, because you understood.

“Can you come back tomorrow night?” you whispered, very not ready to let his spot next to you grow cold.

“I don’t know...”

You looked up at him doe-eyed, cooing. “Please?”

He nodded, looking away from you before he completely caved and stayed there forever. “I’ll come back.”

He pressed one last kiss onto your lips and slowly got up, reluctantly letting go of your hand as he left your room. “Goodnight, babe.”

Hearing him call you babe, finally free of demeaning sarcasm, made your heart soar.

“Goodnight, Tom.”

The door shut and you were left alone, the stillness of your room sticking out in sharp contrast with how quickly your heart was racing.

For the next few nights, Tom spent the evenings at your house with Harrison, waiting until he fell asleep to make his way next door to you. You’d smoke together, watch his movies—and in heated moments got a little handsy—but you never went past kissing, though you both desperately wanted to. It was too risky having your brother right next door; and you knew all too well how paper thin your walls were. But in those secretive hours after solar midnight, just being able to exist next to Tom and letting him hold you, you were the happiest you could ever remember being. The second night he left your room to let you sleep, he placed a light kiss on your forehead after he stood up that made the whole thing feel a little too...real.

The next day, you walked into the kitchen and found Harrison at the fridge. You were in a great mood for obvious reasons but couldn’t let it show. “Hey, got any fun plans today?”

He turned around after shoving a handful of grapes in his mouth. “Nope, got some admin stuff to do and gonna turn in early.”

“Oh, Tom isn’t coming over?”

“No, I told him to take a night off. He’s been smothering me, y’know?” he laughed and ate a few more grapes, but then turned to you, confused. “Since when do you care if he’s coming over?”

You swallowed, unsure of what to say. “Just want to know if I need to stay out of the way,” you faked a laugh and blinked hard, hoping he wasn’t paying too much attention to your facial expressions.

“Uh, alright then. You two are always so fuckin’ weird around each other.” He seemed to feel that was a good way to end your exchange and walked out of the kitchen, throwing a grape at you.

You rolled your eyes at your brother, but then felt the sadness bubble up upon registering that you weren’t going to see Tom tonight. But really, how long did you think you could keep this up? The feelings you were developing for him scared you, you didn’t know what to make of them; all you knew was that your days suddenly seemed much grayer without him.

Nighttime came around, and you couldn’t sleep, so you did the unthinkable and sent Tom a text. Your thumb shook as you hit send, knowing that there was now tangible evidence of the connection you’d developed, that it wasn’t just some invention of your mind.

hey, are you awake?

T: yeah, can’t sleep. you?

obviously, i just texted you.

T: shut it.

A minute passed...

T: got room for one more over there?

You smiled like an idiot at your phone.

maybe.

Less than 10 minutes later, you heard the familiar wriggle of your doorknob. You don’t know why you even bothered locking it anymore.

“Hey you,” he whispered, carefully shutting the door behind him.

“Tom, you know you could’ve just knocked and I would’ve let you in- you don’t have to keep picking the lock.”

“Old habits die hard.”

You chuckled and stood up to greet him at your door as he unexpectedly wrapped you in an amazingly tight hug. He rested his chin on top of your head and started to sway your bodies back and forth. You laid your head on his chest and said hello to his heartbeat.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it was almost hard to fall asleep without you,” he murmured, placing another one of those domestic kisses on your scalp.

“Well, now you don’t have to.” you smiled. He waddled you backwards to your bed and you sat down as your legs hit the bedframe, prompting Tom to fall onto you as you giggled into his body that was now covering your face.

“Okay, goodniiight,” he said, refusing to move. You poked at his sides making him jump, and he grabbed your waist and rolled you on top of him. You instinctively leaned down so your lips could clash together in the way you were so used to, trying hard to not confess that you’d completely fallen in love with him when you finally had the breath to speak. He pushed your hair to cascade to one side of his face, and nuzzled your nose with his own, closing his eyes and humming with a smile. “Mmm.”

“Hmm?”

“Just happy.”

You rested your sleepy head on his warm chest, and fell into a deep sleep, letting the steady drumming in his chest be a metronome to breathe to.

“Oh, shit. Shit shit shit.”

You woke up abruptly, the bright light of day blinding you as you tried to open your eyes to the string of expletives you’d just heard come from a familiar voice. Once you’d opened them, though, you wish you had kept them shut so you hadn’t seen who had spoken.

“Harrison?!”

He was standing in your room, peering at you with hands half covering his eyes when you realized that there was a sleeping Tom underneath you.

Your brother paced in a circle and exhaled loudly. “Tell me I’m not seeing what I’m seeing.”

You nudged Tom awake with your elbow and immediately rolled off of him, trying to hide the very obvious fact that you had slept together all night. You never let him stay the full night for this exact reason, but he had been so ridiculously happy holding you in his arms that he forgot to set an alarm to wake him at the crack of dawn and leave. You sat up straight in your bed, twisting your hair in your hands, bracing yourself for the inevitable tirade.

Tom picked his head up to see Harrison standing there with his arms crossed, and flopped his head back on the pillow. “Fuck. Hey, mate.” He tried to play it off like this was the most normal thing that could happen on a Thursday morning.

“Is this why you’re always such bumbling fools around one another? You’ve been, what, fucking each other when I’m not around?” Harrison looked like he wanted to throw up at the thought.

“Haz, no, it’s not like that,” you said, but he didn’t seem convinced. “It’s just been smoking together and cuddling, really, that’s it,” you were torn between wanting to console your brother and admitting to both him and Tom that this was more to you than that. But Tom already knew that, because it was for him, too.

Tom looked like a deer in headlights. “I’m so sorry, dude-”

Harrison walked out of the room, and the two of you were left sitting in your bed, worry filling your eyes. Only a moment later, your brother reappeared in the doorway.

“Look, you idiots, I don’t care that you’re snuggling off the clock—you’re my two favorite people in the world, and to see you together, honestly, it’s about damn time,” he started, making both your and Tom’s jaws fall slightly agape. You exchanged a knowing look. Wait, is he not mad? Wait, about damn time??

“But I wish you would’ve told me so we could all hang out together. I don’t appreciate the sneaking around.”

You cocked your head at him, sending him a loving gaze for always just wanting what’s best for you.

“I’m just mad you aren’t including me in your hotbox sessions, really.” He laughed and ran his hands through his hair, pulling his face back to make a wild expression.

All three of you started to chuckle out of sheer awkwardness and relief.

“Come here.” Harrison held his hands out and you both gave a mutual aww as you ran into your brother’s arms, squeezing him tight.

“I love you, big bro.”

“I know. Now I’m gonna get out of here before you start kissing in front of me, or worse,” he moaned, swiftly exiting your room. “This is gonna be the grossest thing I’ve ever seen...” you heard him say to himself as he left.

You turned to Tom, still shocked at how well that had gone considering what he was assuming would happen. You swallowed the butterflies that you’d welcomed as friends and stepped back to him still sitting on the bed, putting your arms around his neck.

“And you,” you started, swinging your legs over his lap to straddle him. “I have to confess something.”

Tom placed his hands back on your hips where they rightfully belonged and smiled at you. “I’m listening.”

“I don’t mind you calling me babe anymore.” you grinned at his face drop, obviously assuming that you were going to say something else.

“Oh, and why’s that?” he prodded.

You looked up and off to the side as you squeezed his shoulders. “Maybe because I’m just a tad bit in love with you,” you trailed off, stiff as a board at what he could possibly say next.

“Well, babe,” he put emphasis on the pet name, “That’s a relief, because I was worried I might be the only one falling here.”

You grabbed his face and kissed him, kneading his soft cheeks under your thumbs, whispering exactly what you knew would get him the most.

“Nope.”

#chloe1kwritingchallenge #tom holland #tom holland one shot #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland imagine #tom holland blurb #tom holland fluff #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #best friend's brother #enemies to lovers #osterfield!reader

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lovely-v · 3 years

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LOTR (films) Review

So I finally watched the LOTR films (20 years later). I’m super excited to review these because I read the books very recently so I feel at least a little prepared to voice some opinions. Overall I loved the films, here’s a very long (but by no means exhaustive) compilation of my thoughts, which are of course, totally subjective:

(Warning: a lot of me saying “well, actually, in the book...”)

THINGS I LIKED

- Casting! not much to say here, I thought the casting was great. One of my favorite actors that I didn’t think i’d have a huge opinion on was David Wenham as Faramir. I was kinda ambivalent on him when I saw pictures but i thought he did a great job. he showed his quality.

- Music. so much has been said about the films on the music front. I can’t offer too much original insight but when a bit of the Shire theme started to play as Frodo tries to make his way up Mount Doom I cried a little.

- Boromir and Aragorn. I liked the scene where they interact a little in Rivendell. I also like how Aragorn saves Boromir in the Moria battle and gives him this little nod of friendship. I think the films did a great job portraying the dynamic they have where Aragorn is clearly suspicious of Boromir’s motivations but grows to respect him to the point where he doesn’t even blame Boromir for being corrupted by the ring because he understands that, at heart, Boromir is a good person.

- Sam and Frodo in Osgiliath. I expected to be kind of annoyed with the way this plot point played out (I knew ahead of time that it strayed from the book), but I actually liked it a lot. As I’ll say later, there’s some gripes I have with the way the films extremely play up the disagreements between Frodo and Sam, but I loved the scene where Frodo pulls the sword on Sam and then seems so defeated when he realizes what he’s done. I was pleasantly surprised by how emotional this scene made me. It’s admittedly A Lot, but it was done nicely, especially in conjunction with Sam’s “there’s good in this world” speech.

- Treatment of the ending. I almost think I should dislike the ending as it is in the movies, but my heart is soft and I like that they sugarcoated it a bit. I know the whole point of the Scouring of the Shire and Frodo’s depression conveys a lot about war and trauma and I think that is important, but after watching these things for twelve hours I just wanted Frodo & co. to be happy and I was kinda relieved that they cut the Scouring. Does that make me weak and perhaps bad at film analysis? yes. do I care? no. I was also very glad that the movies didn’t portray how depressed Sam was about losing Frodo in the end. Yes, he cries, but when he walks home to his family he seems happy and in the books that scene came off so much bleaker. I definitely liked the lighter tone.

THINGS I WAS NEUTRAL ON/DIDN’T LIKE

- Arwen. (Neutral) I don’t hate her, I don’t love her. I think the story she and Aragorn have is compelling and I 100% get why the filmmakers decided to add it to give her character more depth, but it felt misplaced at times. maybe it’s just because it was the only storyline I didn’t know in depth, but the scenes with the Arwen/Aragorn flashbacks felt a bit confusing and disorienting. Don’t have anything against Arwen as a character though, I think she’s pretty alright.

- Gimli. (Complicated thoughts) I want to start off by saying I don’t dislike Gimli. I like him a lot! I just think the movies did him a bit dirty. He had some good movie-exclusive moments, but I think his character really fell into this place of being the butt of too many jokes. Would have liked to see some more serious Gimli development, especially with his relationship to Legolas. Their friendship felt too much like subtext here, whereas it’s explored far more in the books.

- Two Towers Pacing. (Didn’t really like). The pacing of TTT was...weird. maybe I’m going into this with a closed mind because of the books, but it was odd to have the movie begin with Frodo and Sam and then have them only appear for a few rapid scenes after that. I think the fact that a WHOLE LOT of what happens to Frodo and Sam in TTT is moved to RotK is what makes it feel that way? In the books, Two Towers ends with Sam discovering that Frodo isn’t dead from Shelob’s sting, and I was surprised by how long it took the movies to get to that part. However, I will give the films a little leeway because I think they needed Frodo & Sam content for RotK, since most of what happens in that book is them walking through Mordor basically starving and dying. Doesn’t make for great cinema I guess, so they had to put the whole Shelob/Cirith Ungol saga into the final film. Still, I think there’s a weird lack of Frodo and Sam’s presence in TTT.

- The go home/missing bread arc. (Full of rage abt this one) yeah. so. my criticism of this is gonna sound pretty tired because people complain and complain about this part of RotK. but I’m gonna complain some more!! I don’t think the split between Frodo and Sam does anything for the plot. I really don’t. I guess it emphasizes the fact that Sam doesn’t understand how much Frodo is projecting onto Gollum, but it’s just. unnecessary angst? They had enough angst in the Osgiliath scene! Which I actually liked! And it simply doesn’t make a lot of sense for Frodo to suspect Sam of eating the bread when Sam had already offered Frodo his own food and made it clear that he would very much starve if it meant making sure Frodo could eat. But what I hate most about this scene is not that Frodo gets mad and tells Sam to go home. No. It’s that Sam actually... thinks about doing that? he actually? goes down the staircase? emotionally this is bad because Sam clearly cared enough about Frodo to follow him this far, to nearly drown for him, so why would he leave now. Practically this is bad because 1. how would Sam get out of Mordor alone and 2. where would he go. He turns around almost immediately, yes, but what was his plan. where was he going. why.

THINGS I LOVED

- For Frodo! This line, and every other shoutout to Frodo. In the books, they didn’t really actively talk about/worry about Frodo (and Sam) as much as they do in the movies. I like that they talk about Frodo more in the movies! I like that they’re thinking about him! I know it was implied that they were in the books, but I really like how it’s shown here. I think it gave a more complete picture of how much they all care about him on a personal level in addition to just needing him to succeed from a pragmatic standpoint.

- Merry and Pippin! I feel like Merry and Pippin were so well rounded in the films. I’ve heard criticism about them being turned into comic relief characters (which they always were a little bit) but it honestly didn’t feel that way to me. They had a bit of a rough start because the films didn’t make their motives for going with Frodo as deep as the books did, but I think that by TTT they were absolutely amazing characters in every scene. In RotK their respective arcs hit really well and the scene where Pippin is singing to Denethor? *chef’s kiss* poetic. beautiful. sad. idk man I just feel like I have such a newfound appreciation for Merry and Pippin.

- Parallels! people have pointed out the parallel of Frodo and Sam’s hands before (drowning scene/mount doom scene) and I love how the movie did that. Just stunning. Also! The moving of the Smeagol & Deagol scene to RotK surprised me because in the books it was like,,,at the beginning of Fellowship, but I think the placement of it in the movies really helped emphasize the similarities between Smeagol & Deagol and Frodo & Sam (and how much Frodo fears this similarity.) There were a lot of other well done parallels between storylines and a few bits of dialogue that were repeated with great timing, but I can’t remember all of them at the moment.

Edit: here’s one I remembered! when Frodo wakes up after being rescued and sees Gandalf, he says Gandalf’s name in a very similar tone to the one he used at the very beginning of Fellowship. It was a nice little subtle connection.

- I can’t carry it for you...alright this is self-indulgent. everyone knows I love this line. I’m just so glad it made it into the movie intact. Sean Astin’s delivery was amazing. I cheered. My mom cheered. It’s a raw line and it makes me feel secret emotions...like if shrimp colors were feelings. that line makes me feel shrimp feelings. idk i’m so tired i just watched twelve hours of movies this review is decreasing in quality by the minute but i’m about done for now anyway

Various silly afterthoughts

- I would have liked to see Sam kiss Frodo’s hands at least once. This happens 50 thousand times in the books, they could have given me one scene. one little extended edition scene. Please Peter Jackson I’m dyin’ out here

- They literally made Gollum so hateable. kinda the point yes, but I was so on board with Sam’s murderous rage. I know why Gollum’s a profoundly complex character, I know why Frodo pities him, I know why murder is bad, but I too would throw hands with that creature. also he literally body shamed Sam so much what was that skdjksdjksd. Sam is lovely. let him commit a small homicide.

- the scene where merry and pippin drink the tall boy juice (as someone once referred to it in the tags of one of my posts)... not accurate to the books (since they don’t ever drink it with the end goal of getting tall) but so accurate to life. if I found some water that made me taller than my friends? let me at it

- Frodo panicking when he falls into the spider webs. so real bestie. i felt just as panicked watching that. i am terrified of spiders and Elijah Wood did an amazing job doing exactly what i’d do in the situation. yelping a lot and falling down.

- I feel like it’s never stated that Sam’s a gardener (or at least that he’s specifically Frodo’s gardener) until he tells Faramir he is. Did I miss this. Or do they really never say. are you just meant to know. are you just meant to pick up gardener vibes from him.

This has been a very chaotic lotr movie review. Thanks for reading.

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dripkingpetey · 4 years

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love-e.pettersson

ive been working on this for a few days and im kinda proud of it! would love some feedback from you or requests for other story lines, i promise i’ll stop doing the friends to lovers storylines haha. i also accidentally deleted this and i was so sacred i couldnt get it back but here it is! i hope you enjoy.

*lowercase intended!*

2.2k words

he loves you, you know that right?

“why did you drag me here, i really don’t like hockey and you know that.” you said as you sighed to your bestfriend lucie while she pulls you down to your seats in rogers arena.

“i know you don’t.” lucie said with a bright smile on her face. “but, you’re gonna learn to like it.” you look at her in confusion. “so, this is your way of torturing me as if you don’t already torture me enough by bringing me to parties.” you said while sitting down and looking at the players who are starting to get on the ice. “maybe.” lucie said with a wide grin and a mischievous look on her face before puck drop starts.

you’ve never been big on hockey, which is surprising considering you have lived in vancouver your whole life and your family is super big hockey fans. you also aren't the most extroverted person. sure, you’d go out to bars sometimes but mostly just with your close friends.

“what part of this sport do you even like?” you said as the game is going into the third period the canucks are now up 4-1 against the opposing team which you don’t even really know who they are. “well, if I’m being honest some of them are really hot but mostly cause of the sport.” you scoffed at her response. “none of them are hot from where i can see.” lucie looked at you with a shocked look. “oh you’ll get it once you get to know the players more.” you give her a confused look and put your full attention back to the game.

canucks ended up winning the game 5-2, lucie was very happy about it and you could tell cause she wanted to go out for a couple drinks and you didn’t want to say no so you agreed to go.

you had been at the bar for about twenty minutes and lucie was already gone which isn’t surprising, she was probably sleeping with some guy right now.

you started to panic a little when a creepy old dude came up to you and started hitting on you. “hey pretty girl, want to come home with me?” he started putting his hand on your arm which was resting on the table. you look around for lucie in panic but she’s no where to be found.

you then feel a pair of arms sneak around your waist and you get even more freaked out.

“hey babe, sorry i was gone for so long.” elias says to you with a smile but then proceeds to give the creepy dude the alien death stare which worked. after the dude leaves elias faces you and starts speaking. “sorry i touched you like that, it looked like you were alone and that guy was creeping you out so i thought you could use some help.” he shoots an apologetic smile at you.

“its okay,” you give him a smile back. “thank you a lot actually, i have no idea where my friend went.” you take another look around the bar before looking back and him.

“i’m elias by the way.” he smiles at you while holding his hand out for you to shake it. “y/n.” you say before shaking his hand.

“so elias, what are you doing in this bar on a thursday night?” you gesture for him to sit down next to you. “if i told you, you wouldn’t believe me.” elias lets out a soft laugh while sitting down across from you. “tell me, i wanna know.” elias sighs lightly before he starts speaking again. “i’m with them,” he gestures over to brock, jake, quinn, thatcher and troy. you look over to see them all waving at you and laughing at elias, you laugh softly and wave back at the before turning your attention back to elias. “ah, so i’m guessing you’re on the canucks?”

elias lets out a nervous laugh. “yeah, why don’t we go somewhere else where the boys aren’t up my ass?” you take another sip out of your drink. “i would love to.” he holds out his hand for you and as you guys walk out you can hear the guys chirping, but when you look over to elias you can see him giving the death stare to the boys and it makes you laugh. “you have a scary death stare jeez.” elias leads you to his car. “that’s surprisingly what the fans love me for.” he smiles at you before opening the car

door for you.

“…and that’s all what led me to being on the canucks.” elias said to you while eating a chip out of the chip bowl you had prepared. it had been a couple hours since you guys left the bar and went back to your apartment, you don’t know why but it felt like you and elias had such a strong bond already that you both felt like you can talk for hours and hours and never get tired of each other, he felt the same way too. “jeez, i kinda sound like a douche. i’ve been talking about myself all night, please tell me more about you.” elias said to you while you laughed at his words.

“it’s all good, i’ve been the one asking questions anyways.” you smiled while responding to him. “no seriously, tell me something about you before i have to go which i really don’t want to by the way.”

you look at the time and realize its almost twelve am so you proceed to give him a quick response. “well, i’ve lived in vancouver my whole life. and i’m currently going to ubc as a nursing student.” you smiled at his now very amused face.

“see, that’s something i wouldn’t have known if you didn’t say it,” he laughs a little before he finishes his sentence. “can i get your number? i have practice early tomorrow morning but i’m free for the rest of the day if you want to hang out.”

you smile at his words and take his phone from him. “of course you can, i’m free tomorrow too just give me a call.” you said while handing his phone back to him after you’ve entered your number. elias gives you a wide grin and you both get up so you could walk him to the door. “goodnight elias.” you look up at him with a smile as he’s standing in the doorway. “goodnight y/n, sweet dreams.” he said and then started to walk down the hallway towards the elevator. “pettersson!” you called out at him and he turns around confused. “text me when you get home.” he gives you the thumbs up and you close your door and head to bed.

no ones ever shown this much attention to elias before, at least no one he’s truly cared about.

he smiled to himself on his drive home cause he was excited to text you again.

*contact name changed to “y/n<3”*

text message to y/n<3:i just got home, thank you for the awesome night :).

it’s been a couple weeks since you and elias had met at the bar, you basically hung out with each other anytime you could.

you were each others best friends at this point, sure the guys would make fun of elias for being in love with you but you couldn’t see it, elias knows he has some feelings for you but he wasn’t sure about it yet. he also didn’t want to risk the amazing friendship you guys had started.

“hey, are you coming to the game tonight?” elias asked over the phone to you.

you let out a sigh before you start speaking. “i’ll try, schools been really hard lately but i should be able to finish studying tonight.” elias could hear the tiredness in you voice and it hurt him to see you like this. “y/n, its okay. you don’t have to try and make it, focus on school its way important. you have many more games of mine that you can watch.” he left out a soft chuckle at the end of his sentence.

“i’ll still try though, i’ll give you a text if i can make it.” you said to him as you looked at the last large text book you had to read through and look at the giant pile of coffee cups surrounding your desk.

“okay, love you, i gotta go.” “love you too e, good luck.” you both quickly exchanged goodbyes as you started reading your last text book. you knew there was no way you were going to be able to make it to his game tonight and you felt really bad, you sighed it off as you put your attention back to studying and occasionally looking at the canucks game that was now playing on your tv.

the game had ended, canucks lost by one but petey is a sore loser so obviously he was sad, which made him show up at your apartment, he brought pizza from your favourite place downtown.

you were passed out on the couch though, which resulted in elias having to pull out his spare key and sneaking into your apartment.

“elias?” you mumbled out as you felt him sit next to where you were laying on the couch, he motioned for you to lay you head on his lap and you did.

“hey sleepy girl, i brought our favourite pizza.” he said to you with a smile. no matter how bad of a day elias was having, you could always make him smile.

you positioned your head so you’re now facing up at him and you give him a big smile. “thank you, can we snuggle and watch a movie?” elias starts rubbing your cheek softly. “of course we can y/n.”

the night ended with you and elias falling asleep on the couch together while watching a movie he had picked out, you both forgot about all the stress from today and just enjoyed the moment.

“he loves you, you know that right?” brock said to you as he came by and sat next to you.

it was the start of summer, tanev decided to host a little barbecue for the whole team before everyone left vancouver and went back to their home towns for the summer.

you were sitting in the backyard watching elias talk to huggy. “what?” you said to brock with confusion. “no he doesn’t.”

brock scoffed at your response. “dude, you can’t be serious. how do you not see it.”

you thought about what brock said for awhile before you gave him a response. “does he talk about me?” you looked at brock while taking a sip of your drink.

“does he talk about you? of course he fucking does y/n, all the time. especially when you don’t show up to our games, it’s worse when we’re on the road.”

you smile to yourself at what brock said.

you were quite tipsy by the end of the night and elias didn’t want to let you go home alone, so you spent the night at his place.

“elias?” you said in your sweet drunken tone as you both settled into his bed, and you faced your body in his direction.

“yes?” he said while playing with your hair softly.

“brock said something to me earlier,” you said while pulling your body close to his.

“of course he did,” he said with a sigh. “what’d he say this time?”

“apparently you talk about me a lot?” you said with a soft laugh and your fingers now tracing up and down his back.

“yeah, yeah i do. i talk shit about you all the time.” he says sarcastically knowing where this conversation was going.

“hey!” you said as you playfully punched him. “i was going to do something but i guess not anymore.” you said with a huff.

he lifts your chin up to face him. before you knew it you guys were kissing each other, it was a soft, long and sweet kiss.

elias pulled away with a big grin on his face and you did too. you talked to each other for the rest of the night, you ended up falling asleep before elias did but he did too shortly after.

you woke up to the smell of elias making waffles, you hugged him from behind and he didn’t even notice you were awake until you did that.

“it smells really good,” you said to elias before kissing his cheek and begging for him to hug you.

he pulls you into his grip and whispers in your ear. “do you wanna go to sweden with me for the summer?”

you look up at him with slight shock. “yeah, why not.” you said to him with a smile and he gets very excited and spins you around, you kiss for awhile until you smell something burning and you pull away.

“shit.” elias mumbles as he deals with the burnt waffles and you’re both laughing your asses off.

#elias pettersson #elias pettersson x reader #elias pettersson imagine #petey #pettersson #nhl canucks #vancouver canucks #canucks hockey #canucks #vancouver canucks x reader #nhl #nhl imagine #nhl hockey

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machine-gun-casie · 4 years

Text

Radio Interview

you just love talking about your boyfriend, machine gun kelly, and zach sang is not complaining.

a/n: if yall havent seen zach sang’s stuff on youtube i definitely recommend you do so, he is so lovely and such a good interviewer.

also thankyou so much to @harringtonstudios for reading it for me and @fandom-central27 deserves some credit for helping me brainstorm and make this fic sooo much longer than it was going to be in the first place

wc: 4.6k

“Hello! Welcome to the Zach Sang show! Today I have with me the oh so lovely y/n l/n. Thank you for coming.” Zach introduced you, officially starting the radio broadcast.

You smiled and leaned back on the couch. “Thank you for having me. You’ve got such a comfy studio, man. It’s so great. A bit chilly though, wish I brought a blanket.” You laughed, shivering a little. The place was so comfy, bean bags everywhere. They had you and your mic set up on a really nice gray couch.

“Yeah, the ac’s been going crazy. We’ll get you a blanket though.” Zach motioned to someone outside of the studio.

"No it’s alright.” As soon as the words left your mouth, an assistant entered with a fluffy white blanket. “You know what, I can’t really say no to that.” You laughed.

“Alright, now that we’re all wrapped up and cozy. Hey, how are you?” Zach smiled warmly, his bubbly personality shining through instantly.

“I’m really really good, thank you for asking. I’ve been in a really good place recently. How about you?”

Zach sighed and rolled his eyes. “You know, going through some stuff. But it’s all good. If things aren’t meant to be, they aren’t meant to be.”

“Oh no.” You frowned. “You got some relationship trouble, huh? Yeah, my philosophy is the same, to be honest. Can’t force something that isn’t in the cards for you.”

“I agree one hundred percent. But you gotta have some good relationship advice for me. I mean, your relationship seems to be flourishing.” Zach smiled. You felt the blood rushing to your cheeks. Everyone knew it was going to come to this. You wouldn’t even be surprised if the whole interview was going to be about this.

“Maybe.” You smiled, hands coming up to hide your blushing face.

“Oh come on now, you’re definitely not this shy on your socials.” Zach teased.

“Yeah, but that’s different, man. That’s not like, face to face. Do we really gotta talk about this?” Your nervous laughter made your comment light, letting the radio show host know you were kidding.

“You know we have to. You and Machine Gun Kelly. Who knew? Like, the biggest shock of the year so far.” Zach laughed. “You and him are so different. You’re like America’s pop sensation sweetheart right now. And he’s a rockstar!”

“I know! I thought no way would he even give me the time of the day!” You giggled.

“But I read that you were a big fan before even meeting him. Is that true?”

“Oh definitely! Most people look at me and my career and they immediately label me a pop fan, but it’s not true. I mean, I obviously love pop, but I can like other things too. I’ve been part of the EST family for a while now.” You clarified.

“And EST, that’s Kelly’s fan base, is that correct?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Now, how the hell did y’all meet? It was so sudden for the rest of us. How could your paths have crossed?” Zach laughed.

“It’s kind of a long story...” You trailed off.

“And I am so very willing to listen.” Zach smiled. It wasn’t even like he was interviewing you, it was like he was your best friend and he wanted all the details.

“Well, a while ago, I was the musical guest on SNL.” You explained.

Zach’s eyes lit up. “Yes! I remember that, you were great. That was almost a year ago! Has this been going on for that long?”

“Kind of.” You shrugged, giggling. Zach rolled his eyes and continued.

“Anyways, you did uhh two songs at SNL, right? You did ‘Hold Me’ and what was the other one?”

“I did ‘Hold me’ and I did ‘PDA’. It was so much fun. I even got to be in one of the sketches, but like only in the background. Honestly a dream come true.” You gleamed. Having been a fan of SNL since your childhood, the statement was definitely true. But you might have been trying to steer the subject away a little and Zach caught on.

“Yes, and I don’t doubt that. But I wanna hear more about the love story.”

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” You laughed. “So, the week before the live show, as a guest star, you have to go to the writers. You only really go if you’re in the sketches, and I wasn’t really, but I begged them to go. I wanted to see the whole process. And I knew of Pete Davidson working there obviously.”

“And Pete is friends with Kelly, right?” Zach asks, clarifying the storyline in his head and for the listeners.

“Yeah, they’re insanely close. So I go into Pete’s office, right? And I know he’s friends with him obviously. So I try to casually mention that I’m a fan, not only of Colson, but also of Pete himself.” You laugh and Zach knows where it's going.

“Did the casual approach work out for you?” He laughs.

“I’m not quite sure.” You giggle. “I was super nervous and sweaty. I’m pretty sure I stuttered throughout the whole thing. But Pete is the coolest person ever and such a good friend that he was just excited I was a fan of Colson’s. So we started planning. He says he can try to put me in the back of a sketch wearing some merch for the new album.”

“And Hotel Diablo had just come out back then, right?”

“Yes, and I was super into it, but I didn’t have any merch. So Pete said he would hook me up.”

“Did you expect to be able to meet Kelly after this whole plan?”

“I honestly expected to leave with some new merch and that’s it.” You laughed. “But to my surprise, Colson came on the Saturday of. Pete had told him about me being a fan and he wanted to surprise me.”

“How surprised were you, on a scale of one to ten?”

“Like, one billion.” You gushed. “I don’t remember much of the encounter, but I remember him hugging me and I was definitely crying.”

“Oh yeah, I saw the video. Full on blubbering.” Zach laughed.

You gasped. “There’s a video? You have to send it to me. Anyways, his daughter was there too and she asked for a picture. I said okay, but I’m sure I looked so bad in it. Like, mascara all down my red cheeks. So I go home and Colson follows me back on Instagram the next day.”

“Did you slide into the dm’s?” Zach smirked.

“You know I did. I had to! But I was fully expecting to be ignored.”

“As one does.”

“Exactly. But he replied and we started chatting. It didn’t really feel real. Like texting him and stuff, I was chill. Because it felt so fake. At that point, I used to live in New York, so it was only really texting. We face-timed a few times, which also felt surreal. Then he came to New York to surprise me and I freaked. Seeing him in the flesh again brought back the same excitement.”

“At this point, was it official?”

“Not really, like we kept telling everyone we were just friends. And it hadn’t gotten to the press yet, and we wanted to keep it like that, so only close friends knew. But I was smitten. We both knew it was going somewhere, but we were being gentle with it.”

“Yeah, the concept of new relationships is so fragile. Sometimes you both want to dive in but you don’t know if you should.” Zach rationed, voicing his thoughts.

“That’s what it felt like, to be honest. But after that first stage, it just became so incredibly easy for us.”

“Not surprisingly, because you are known to be a complete romantic. I mean, all your songs and your whole aesthetic. Your album is literally called ‘Love Love’.” Zach chuckled. “Tell me about that, the process of naming the album and writing the songs and all that. How did you know it was going to focus directly on love?”

You let out a breath and tried to organize your thoughts to form proper words. “I’ve always been so in love with love, so I knew it just had to be centered around that. Like not just romantic love, even platonic love. Some of the songs, well most of the songs on the album, are about platonic love. I had never had a serious relationship until Colson really, so my understanding of romantic love was very minimal.”

“Really? I would have never guessed. The way you write about love seems like it comes from vast experience.”

“Yeah, it was experience in platonic love. In all of my friendships, I always put my all into it, which isn’t always right. But it’s just the way I am. So when a friendship ends, it truly feels like a heart break.”

“So your song ‘No Longer’ isn’t about a relationship?”

“No, it’s about a friend I had. A best friend, actually. We were so close, people actually thought we were dating. But something happened between us and it was so painful. I have so many songs written about that, but some are so specific that the person and what they did would no longer be secret. It wouldn’t be right, you know?”

“I completely understand, sometimes things are just for yourself.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“The song that most resonated with fans was ‘I’m (Not) Crying For You’. Did you know it was going to be this well loved?”

“Yeah, they went crazy over that one. I didn’t think it would be this popular at all. Since ‘PDA’ and ‘Hold Me’ were like the singles with the music videos, I thought those would be the hits if there were any. But yeah, people really loved ‘I’m (Not) Crying For You’.”

“Can you explain the song and what it means to you?”

“I would love to. As a teenager, whenever I would lose a friend, I would always turn to break up songs. I always felt like the lyrics depicting the end of a relationship worked with friendships as well, but it was annoying to me.”

“Why annoying?”

“Because they aren’t about friendships. They’re about relationships. And I did relate, but not to every line. Cause some lyrics would mention like marriage and sex and those things aren’t related to friendships. I didn’t like the fact that I had to pick and choose the lyrics that spoke to me.”

“So this song is for everyone. I love that.”

“Yeah, I tried to keep it as vague as possible so that anyone going through the end of something could relate. And with the end of anything, you always want to seem like you’re doing fine to the other person. Like, make them think that them leaving hasn’t affected you. So you know, I don’t want them to see me cry. But if they do, they should know that the tears aren’t for them, when in reality they are.”

“Yeah, I noticed that. It’s a great hype song, though. Like it has sad lyrics, but the beat and everything really makes it feel like it’s meant to get over someone.”

“Yeah, it is! I love hype songs where it’s like ‘Fuck you, I don’t need you anymore!’ I drew a lot of inspiration from songs like that.”

“What’s your hype song? Everyone has that one song after someone screws them over.”

“Mine is actually ‘The Break Up’ by Kells. I have every lyric to that song seared into my brain.” You laughed.

“Really?” Zach asked, raising his eyebrows and letting out a laugh.

“Yeah, I play it when I’m getting my makeup done before performances. Colson thought it was hilarious.”

“I think it’s adorable. Literally relationship goals.” Zach exclaimed. “Alright, another one of your songs that I love is ‘Tattoo’. That one just speaks to me.” Zach smiled, looking so incredibly genuine.

“Really?” You gleamed. “That’s one of my favorites. I just love tattoos, the idea of having something on your body forever is just so romantic to me. Not even matching tattoos or anything. Just the ink itself.”

“Me too! But you don’t have any, right?”

“I just got my first one!” You smiled. You got your first tattoo with Colson about a week prior. “Well, I actually got 2. Very small, though. Not really noticeable. I love those small one needle tattoos, I find them to be so pretty.”

“When did you get them done?” Zach asked. “Because I remember you once said in an interview that you had none.”

“Yeah, I got them a week ago with Colson.” You rolled your eyes as you could almost see the headlines. “Now everyone’s gonna be like ‘Machine Gun Kelly ruined me’ or something.”

“Obviously not, but yeah I know what you mean. Headlines and tabloids are just awful. But he has to have influenced you somehow, right. Two incredibly different personalities coming together. Are your personalities super different or is it just superficial?”

“Yes and no. Outwardly, we both have very different personalities. But when it comes down to it, I feel like we aren’t the same but we work well together. He makes me laugh and he helps me heal. Overall, he just makes me a better person. And he’s so impulsive at times and I feel like I need that.”

“How-how is he impulsive in ways that you need? How can impulsivity help a relationship?” Zach asked.

You hummed, looking at your hands. “I second guess a lot and then I regret it. Last week we were talking at like 3 in the morning about my song ‘Tattoo’, actually.” You motioned your hands to Zach because you were previously discussing the same thing. “He asked me why I didn’t have any if I loved them so much, and I didn’t have an answer. So he called over his artist the next day, and I definitely don’t regret what I got so far.”

Zach looked over at you, as if he was trying to find them and you laughed. “No, you can’t see them. I mean, I can show you?”

“Yes, please do.”

“I got one on my ribs, like on the side. I’ll show you a picture of that. And I got one on my head.” You explained as you took out your phone and looked through your camera roll.

“Woah, you went hard for your first tattoos!” Zach exclaimed. “Isn’t the pain worse the closer you are to the bone?”

“Yeah, yeah it is. It’s what I’ve read anyways. But they were quick, because like I said, they're very small. No shading or anything.” You found the picture and turned your phone to Zach. “I got ‘Love Love’ on my ribs, in the same font as the album cover, but super small. And the other one is under my hair. I had to shave a square off.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t show unless I pull my hair up at a specific place.” You turned and lifted your hair. “It’s ‘Hotel Diablo’ surrounded by a little border in Colson’s handwriting. He got the same one back when the album came out, in the same place too.”

“So they’re matching?”

“Yeah, he got ‘Love Love’, too. A lot of people online always say to never get matching tattoos, but I don’t really care. Even if it doesn’t work out, which I hope isn’t the case, ‘Hotel Diablo’ is one of my favorite albums and has helped me grow as a person. I just hope he doesn’t regret the one he got for me.” You laughed.

“Does he like your album? He doesn’t seem to be much of a pop guy.”

"He used to tease me when we first started talking about how he would never listen to it and all that. But he was actually like analyzing the songs.”

“No way! That is cute, relationship goals again! Man, you guys are unbelievable.”

“Yeah, he surprised me. But as a fellow artist and songwriter, he knew that he could probably find out a lot about me just through my songs.”

“And did he? Do you see him do something for you and you think ‘he did that because of this song or that song’?”

“Sometimes.” You ponder. “But he and I are just on the same wavelength, I feel. He takes one look at me and he knows what to do. It’s insane.” You chuckled.

“On the topic of songs, have you written any about him? Has he written anything about you?”

“Oh, I’ve definitely written about him. I’ve got like dozens. Shit, he doesn’t know that.” You realized. “Fuck, I hope he’s not listening. Anyways, I don’t think he’s written anything about me. When he’s high as fuck though, he freestyles about everything. He’s written a song about asking me to do some... things that I will not say on camera. He’s just always spittin’ fire. The talent that that man possesses is mind blowing.”

“Watching him come up with it must be incredible.”

You nodded your head vigorously. “One hundred percent. He’s got a home studio, and some days we just never leave that place. I don’t even need to be writing or recording anything, I just sit and watch him. I’ve been around many a songwriter in my time on this earth, but I’ve never seen one work like this man does.”

“Let me just say, you are absolutely glowing when you talk about him and your album.” Zach smiled.

“Thank you! Like I said, I’m in a really good place right now. This album really made me feel like I took a lot off my shoulders. Like I put all those emotions out there and they’re no longer weighing on me. And Colson… Well, Colson’s just Colson.” You smiled.

“Speaking of your boyfriend, I’m getting a message that he’s coming into the studio.” Zach said as he looked at his phone.

“What?” You asked, sitting up on the couch and looking towards the door. A few seconds later, your tall, lanky boyfriend walked in.

“Hey! Hope I’m not crashing or anything.” Colson smiled, jumping over the back of the couch to sit next to you.

“Well you kind of are. This is my interview. You said you’d pick me up when I was done.” You pouted.

“Don’t give me that cute ass pout. Thought I’d come a little earlier, besides you’ve been mainly talking about me.” He smirked, sending you a wink.

“That is very true.” Zach said. “She can’t stop, but I am not complaining.”

“Ugh, don’t encourage him.” You groaned playfully. “I’m never gonna hear the end of this.”

“Nope.” Colson agreed, excited to tease you about it later. “I’m sorry, Zach, for just crashing like this.”

“No, it’s alright! Make yourself at home. I’m sure everyone who’s tuned in is incredibly surprised. How are you, Machine Gun Kelly?”

“Kells is fine. I know the whole thing can be a mouthful.” Colson chuckled. “I’m doing great. Got a really inflated ego after hearing you guys praising me all morning.”

“We have been, haven’t we? But I would say that’s mostly y/n’s fault, to be honest.” Zach pointed at you, throwing you under the bus.

“Hey, don’t put it all on me! You asked the questions!” You exclaimed, laughing along. You turned to Colson and pulled him in closer. “Don’t listen to him, he just wants to get on your good side.”

Colson laughed and draped his arm around your shoulders, tucking you into his side. You reached out and placed the blanket over his legs as you cuddled into him. “It’s alright, if you were interviewing me, I would’ve done the same thing.”

“Now you guys are just making me jealous.” Zach scoffed. “So Kells, please tell us your side of the story of how you two met.”

“Alright, only two people know about this story. So this is incredibly valuable information.” Colson started out. You expected to be one of the two people, so you were shocked when he didn’t say your name. “Pete and my daughter.”

“What?” You exclaimed. “I’m in the story, how do I not know?”

“It’s before the SNL show, like when Pete told me about you. I never told you how that went down.”

“Oh my God, I’m all ears. Go ahead.” You said, turning to face Colson as he told the story.

“Alright, so I was in New York with my daughter that weekend. I had some business and I was going back home on Sunday, so I brought her along. We were already going to the SNL show before Pete told me about y/n. I knew she was performing, though.”

“You did?” You asked, eyes wide. He kept up with you before meeting you? “Sorry, sorry, continue.”

“Yeah, I did. Casie is a big fan of y/n and her music, so she was really excited about going. I had heard y/n’s songs before, you know on the radio and whenever I would drive with my daughter and she would put on her own music. So I knew the name, but I had never seen a picture of her. When Pete told me he wanted me to come and meet her, I looked her up.”

“Oh no.” You gasped, knowing that your general aesthetic would have probably deterred him from meeting you.

Colson looked back at you when he said his next sentence. “I was like ‘How can this adorable Disney princess looking chick be into my music?’ I couldn’t believe it.”

“Oh my God.” You groaned, bringing your hand up to cover your blushing face.

“No, I’m serious. But I couldn’t stop looking at pictures of her. I wanted to follow her, but I didn’t wanna ruin the surprise. My daughter was teasing me, telling me that I had to get her number during the show. I didn’t of course, like the idiot that I am. But I did follow her on Instagram the next day. Pete was smug the whole time, though.”

“Of course he would be.” You rolled your eyes and snorted. “But I mean, we have to thank him for all of this. Without him, we probably wouldn’t have met.”

“No, we would have. I was still going to go to the show. We would have seen each other and Casie would have still asked for a picture.” Colson said.

“True, but you and I both know we wouldn’t have talked beyond that. I would’ve been too nervous to say anything.” You replied.

“Oh yeah, definitely. I would have been too taken aback by your beauty to say anything either.” Colson nodded.

“Oh shut up!” You laughed, hitting his chest.

“And how did your daughter react to the blooming relationship?” Zach asked Colson.

“She’s usually like, indifferent about my relationships. But this time, she wanted all the updates. When I told her I would be flying back to New York a few weeks later to surprise y/n, she begged me to come with. But I had to leave her, you know?”

“Yeah, of course. Quality time with your S/O is rare when you have a kid.” Zach replied.

“Tell me about it! And then this crazy busy job, too. You’ve got no free time. I finally had a free week and I knew I had to go see this one or it wouldn’t have gone anywhere.” Colson said, pulling you closer when mentioning you.

“And did you, Colson, think you two were gonna end up together?” Zach asked.

“I was hoping so!” Colson laughed. “I was gonna hit her up, but she beat me to it. I was gonna try to get with her, but I didn’t think she would like me. But I’m so glad she did. Don’t know how I lived without her.” Colson looked into your eyes as he spoke, smiling like the love sick doofus that he is.

“Aw, now how long have you been together for? The world’s only known for about a month now, right?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, we posted on Instagram on the 29th of last month. So a little less than a month.” You said, looking at Colson for confirmation.

“Yeah, we waited for a long time. But we’ve been together going on 9 months now.” Colson said and you nodded.

“Woah, that’s crazy! How did you manage to keep it a secret for so long?” Zach wondered, as the length of the relationship was surprising.

“It was hard, I can tell you that.” You chuckled. “ Colson would always post about his ‘secret girlfriend’ and all that. Like, pictures of us holding hands and stuff. It was easy for him, he could just crop my face out. But for me, it was much harder.” You sighed.

“Oh my God, it would have been so hard with all his tattoos!” Zach exclaimed when he understood your struggle.

“Yeah, I got so many tattoos. Anyone could just look it up and find out. But she would post sometimes like, really strategic pictures. I was amazed at how she could do it. But it made it easier that people knew we were in a relationship to keep it a secret. Like, they knew I had a girl, but they didn’t know who it was.”

“Yeah, exactly. Like I just had to keep his name a secret, not the fact that I had a boyfriend. It wouldn’t have been a secret for too long if it was like that ‘cause I never shut up about him.” You laughed.

“Yes, I remember those cryptic tweets all the time. All the tabloids were about y/n l/n’s secret boyfriend.” Zach laughed.

“It was so funny watching everyone scramble trying to find out who he was. But I’m so glad we’re done with that now.” You sighed, placing your hand on Colson’s chest.

“So am I, we wouldn’t have had this interview if you guys didn’t go public. That was truly a fairytale kind of love story.” Zach sighed. “I loved talking to you guys so much.”

“Aw, thank you Zach. I can’t believe our time together has come to an end. I hope I didn’t bore you, we barely talked about the album.” You laughed. “This interview was more about Machine Gun Kelly than it was about me.”

“No, definitely not. I learned so much about you guys today. And about love as a whole.” Zach laughed. “Now I know what a loving and healthy relationship looks like. I hope we can have you here another time, y/n. And maybe have Kells come for an interview of his own?”

“Definitely, man. We can sort that out, I’ll tell my manager.” Colson nodded at Zach.

“I would love crashing that interview.” You joked, causing everyone to laugh. “But in all seriousness, you are so good at interviewing people, Zach. Just felt like a conversation with a lifelong friend.”

“Oh yeah, for sure.” Colson agreed. “Some interviewers feel too pushy and just overall fake. Not you, though.”

“Aww, you’re too nice. You guys were just really easy to talk to. Thank you for coming, y/n. And thank you for joining us, Kells.”

“Thank you for having us, it’s been so fun.” You answered.

“It definitely was, but unfortunately, we only have so much time. Thank you to our wonderful audience for tuning in. This has been an interview with y/n l/n and Machine Gun Kelly, and here’s a word from our sponsor.”

@bakerkells

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mrs-nate-humphrey · 3 years

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you’ve talked a little bit about this wrt dan, but i’m curious: what are your favorite seasons/arcs for the main gg characters? (serena, blair, dan, nate, jenny, vanessa) cause everyone’s personalities tended to uh, shift a bit from season to season and storyline to storyline, and i’m wondering which eras of those characters were your favorite?

oh, so i sat on this question for a very long time, and spent a ton of time thinking over it. here we go!

i loved the way serena was written in s1 and s2. she was so full of joy despite all the difficult things she’d endured, so bubbly and warm and... lively is ALWAYS the adjective that comes to mind for serena, despite how it’s a terrible pun. but yeah! she had an energy to her that was very childlike & genuine, and i loved that about her - despite the things she’d endured, she was so full of light (?? how do i describe this.) i know that serena’s arc gets notably more tragic s3 onwards, but i feel like the way she was written lost a bit of depth s3 onwards as well. she had a sharp wit, and a good sense of humour, she was playful and... most notably, she had this little giggle? that she literally NEVER does in the later seasons, which makes me sad?? she stopped laughing like a child at the age of, what, 19?? idk. in s1 & s2 serena had so many layers, and i feel like as the seasons went on they tried to, uh. keep only the surface layers? they didn’t really do justice to the character they started out with.

my answer for vanessa is actually the exact same, with slight modifications. vanessa’s energy in s1 and s2 was unparalleled. literally the best. i loved her and the way she was critical of everything and YET so ready to learn. compared to all these rich, privileged, white people... her presence was just SO good and so important to me, because the way she was so critical of the uber rich was something nobody else really was, and i think that perspective WAS valuable and should’ve remained, haha. idk what it was about s3, but i feel like they didn’t keep the crux of who vanessa was? it wasn’t a BAD vanessa season as much as an incomplete one. i felt they could’ve done so much more with a character like vanessa.... she’s so vibrant and full of life! and the way s3 was for her was very surface. and then in s4 they just demolished her character entirely. i’ve said it before, i’ll say it again: what jenny, juliet and vanessa did in 4x09 was TOTALLY out of character for vanessa. she would never, ever do that. and by the time s4 came around... someone else said this, i don’t remember who. but they said that vanessa was basically being used as a plot device more than as a character. notice how she’s always in the right place at the right time to overhear the right thing? it’s a travesty, because vanessa was just..... so significant to me. like her being there added so much value & even changed the tone of the show imo.

my blair feelings are very complicated. i think she’s fascinating, and i love leighton & her performance. i love book blair so much more than show blair, and idk why or how to explain it. i mentioned this in that post where i ranked the characters, but while watching blair in high school specifically i can’t EVER forget that she would probably hatecrime me, and even when she’s out of school she is still supremely racist at times. i actually liked blair best in s5 - and i know she was going thru ~tragic~ stuff (i think they dialled the tragedy too high actually, like, blair had TOO MUCH on her plate and from a storytelling point of view it was... ambitious, to say the least, to hope to bring all out of that out on tv) but like, keeping her tragedy aside. her capacity for kindness and care really shone thru while she was with dan, and i liked how the d/b relationship took her out of her comfort zone and her “but im a Waldorf!” bubble and let her, idk, be a person. i liked her in s4, too. i feel like blair is a really good, nuanced, fleshed out character as blair, and the way she clung to being a waldorf combined with her rich-white-girl privilege got kind of boring after a while because like. she’s not like louis? her character has so much depth. her character doesn’t need to be reduced to a title, because she’s SO much more than that.

i feel like i need to do a lot more rewatching when it comes to dan because i CANNOT be objective about him. he reminds me far too much of myself!!! down to his flaws and his mistakes and his issues – i was a precocious little shit in high school at times in very similar ways to dan, i like to think i’ve grown out of that (& am perpetually making an effort TO grow out of falling into those patterns) & that’s what i want for dan, too. dan’s arc feels real to me, because a lot of it is my arc, too. feeling lonely, out of place & unaccepted in high school --> being a popular kid in college… that hits really close to home. s1 & s2 are important seasons to me because i’m extremely protective of awkward, trying-his-best high school dan (he can be awful at times, but he can be earnest and sincere, too!) i feel like s4 is actually the best dan season – took me a while to get here, but halfway thru my s2 rewatch that’s how i’m leaning. but dan’s arc was very interesting to me, and i wish they’d kept his heart. trying to retcon him as evil fell absolutely flat to me, like. who are you convincing! one of my friends and i were joking about how georgie blackmailed dan into pretending to be gossip girl (she obviously has dirt on him that nobody else does.) anyway. dan’s arc felt pretty true until the end of s4. i wasn’t a big fan of how he was written in s5, i felt like something had been taken away from his character, but i don’t know how to say it better. you’re right though, i have gone over this a lot! so i’m not going to break my head over it, ‘cause we’re already a thousand words in and i still have nate and jenny to go.

speaking of jenny, though: i think dan’s storylines REALLY needed more of a big brother arc. the way he was characterised, especially in s1, was very “i would kill a man for my baby sister” and i have NO idea where that went or why they got rid of it. (actually, i do have some idea. fucking chip wiskers apologism & elevation of chair over literally anything else. sigh)

okay, now speaking of jenny in terms of jenny. i liked her s1 arc, like, her trying to make friends with these people & trying to keep her morals and realising she can’t do both was interesting. i think that should’ve been that with her clashes with girls in constance, though. and afterwards, either nothing happens, or she transfers out of constance, etc. jenny’s s2 arc makes me sad – she was exploited and treated like dirt in so many ways :( the jenny/agnes was interesting in s2, though, and there’s no way to interpret it that ISN’T lesbian. i’ve always felt like jenny’s feelings for nate in s2 are very comphet. jenny’s s3 arc made me even sadder than her s2 arc- she was alienating all her friends one by one, making everyone hate her, and just…… spiralling. she really needed a better support system. her s4 arc made no sense. like. why did she come back in the city to fuck with serena like that? it didn’t feel right.

yeah, all that said… i feel like there are many super intriguing elements of jenny’s storylines and arcs, like, even within canon events if things had been executed differently, it could’ve been actually good/empowering. but the writers hated jenny. and this show was never a feminist show.

ah, so… nate. he started out as a flake in s1 & s2. that’s his whole thing. he doesn’t know who he wants to be / how to get what he wants / how to get where he wants. he takes people for granted. he isn’t dependable or reliable, he lets people down (most notably, blair & vanessa.) and he means well, sure! but his life is like amber and he’s trapped in it. he doesn’t follow his heart, he’s too busy trying to please the wrong people, etc etc. in s3 he’s suddenly so ready for commitment, which always breaks my heart because vanessa!!! but anyway. s3 has a shift in his character, possibly him getting dumped at prom and realising that high school is over and one thing that tethered him to his family (being a kid, being a high schooler, being a minor, whatever) – one big thing that held him there is gone. so it makes sense that he starts trying to be his own person. i like s3 nate, and s4 nate. we see nate sort of gradually try and be a moral compass, and it’s interesting to me. when i write d/n fic something i really focus on is dan finding nate dependable, and i think that’s a value that builds in nate over time. nate of season 1 is not dependable, nope, no way. but nate of s4 seems like a decent friend to have. in s5 and s6 they more or less threw his entire arc to the wind and gave him so many shitty storylines (sage spence, wtf? nate would not do this. he’s been on the opposite end of this before, he would not carry the pattern forward, ffs.)

idk. this almost hit 1.7k, LMAO. i hope it made some amount of sense!

#anon #this is long enough to be a fanfic LMAOO #meta

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viastro · 4 years

Text

stay with me | wen junhui

ミ★ synopsis: in which you open your front door to reveal your favorite manga character who wants to change the ending of your story. [requested by @shoshishua]

ミ★ genre: alternate universes, fluff, humor

ミ★ warnings: none!

ミ★ word count: 4,970

ミ★ pairings: jun x female reader [mentions of woozi x female reader and seungcheol x female reader]

ミ★ notes: hi! long time no see since my last oneshot! this one took me like a week to write? idk why i guess i’m just dumb HAHAHAH anyways, this was requested by my dear friend, @shoshishua so i hope you guys like this !

Now, you wouldn’t say that you’re a weeb. You just enjoy reading manga and watching anime in your free time. You aren’t like an intense weeb that does those hand gestures and cosplays on tiktok. You’re just… a lowkey weeb.

yeah. that sounds better.

No it doesn’t.

However, there is this one manga that you can read over and over. It’s titled from winter to spring, in which a boy falls in love with a girl over the span of three seasons. It’s literally the most cliche manga of your life but the art and storyline is so beautiful that it has you crying each time you read it. NOT TO MENTION… the main character Jun is the prettiest 2D character you’ve ever seen in your life. You find yourself resonating with him easily as well, considering he’s also a lowkey weeb but also just very sweet in the manga. You love him so much, he has such a soft spot in your heart because of how overall wonderful his character is.

And that’s why you’re spending the entirety of your three-day weekend re-reading from winter to spring. It’s going great so far, you’ve only cried once, a new record on your part. You’re about to sit back down on the couch after taking a quick shower, only for there to be a knock on your door. You raise an eyebrow, walking over confused as you had not expected any company.

You hear another knock before opening the door, only to lay eyes on the most handsome 4D guy you’ve ever seen in your life. His hair is brown with a hint of red, a sliver of his forehead showing which reveals his nice eyebrows. His nose is strong, matching his overall powerful aura. You can’t help but feel as if you’ve seen him before though.

“You’re yn.” He states and you nod your head slowly, feeling confused as to how he possibly knows. Knowing for a fact that you’ve never seen him before in your life because you’d make sure to remember such a pretty guy.

“Yes, who are you-”

“Okay I’m glad I found you.” He interrupts, stepping into your apartment and you watch him with wide eyes as he heads over to your living room.

“Wait, excuse me-”

“Wow, this is so cool! It’s literally the same except real.” He says in awe and you rub the back of your neck in confusion, unable to tell him to get out because you’re so confused.

“Oh my God! I can’t believe this. WAIT!” He turns around and points in your direction, and you turn your head to see if there’s someone else behind you. “Me?”

“Yes! Yn, my name is Jun. I come from an alternate universe and I have to SAVE YOU.” You stare at him with wide eyes, realizing why he looked so familiar.

It’s Jun from “from winter to spring.”

“Y-you’re Jun from ‘from winter to spring.’” He cocks his head to the side, resembling a confused puppy.

“From winter to spring? You know what - that’s not important right now I’ll ask later. You’re my favorite character in my manga and I know how it ends but I want to change it. You’re gonna meet this guy named Jihoon, right? And you’re going to end up with him! BUT I can’t have that happen because Seungcheol is so much sweeter and you deserve better!” Jun rants as he paces around your living room. He stops and turns to you, walking forward and placing his hands on your shoulders. Your eyes widen even more at the close proximity between you two, giving you a chance to analyze your favorite manga character that is apparently a real person up close.

“So please. Choose Seungcheol, not Jihoon.” He stresses, giving your shoulders a squeeze before letting go. You stare at him for a moment, and he raises an eyebrow, “What?”

You pass out before you’re able to respond.

“Yn? Oh thank god you’re awake! I was so worried about you.” You groan, blinking a few times before turning your head to find Jun’s face a few inches away from yours.

Oh my god it wasn’t a dream.

“Oh good God, I’m gonna pass out again.” You mutter, closing your eyes again in an attempt to sleep away your problems.

“Wait! You’re gonna choose Seungcheol right?” He asks, poking your cheek and you frown. You open your eyes to turn and look at him, still wondering how the FUCK this isn’t a dream.

“I’m having a hard time trying to process the fact that you’re actually real and in my apartment at this very moment.” You tell Jun instead of answering his question, and he cocks his head to the side.

“You know me?” You sit up from the couch, rubbing your head and staring directly at him.

“Of course I do! You’re my favorite character from my manga from winter to spring!” His eyes widen as his mouth drops open, letting out the loudest gasp of his life.

“No way! I’m a manga character too?!” You nod your head, reaching over to your coffee table and grabbing the manga. You hand it to Jun and he opens it, his eyes widening even more once he sees himself.

“I’m so handsome in this!” He exclaims and you giggle at his reaction. He turns his head to look at you, expression turning into a soft grin.

“Your smile is a lot prettier in person rather than in the manga.” Jun tells you, a look of awe on his face as your cheeks turn red from the compliment. You look away, staring down at your hands as your face warms up even more.

“Why aren’t we both more concerned at the fact that we both come from mangas?” Jun asks after a moment of quiet, and you find yourself rather stumped at the question.

“You know what? I’m not sure. I don’t know why I kind of just accepted it right away? Maybe it’s because I believe half of the conspiracy theories I read.” You respond honestly and he nods his head slowly.

“You know… that makes sense. I think I’m not that surprised because I was able to come to an alternate universe, so finding out that I’m also a main character in a manga is not that surprising.” Jun explains and now it’s your turn to nod your head slowly. You both sit in silence, soaking in the fact that you’re both each other’s favorite character in a manga.

Oh god we’re each other’s favorite character in a manga.

“Oh my GOD!”

“OH MY GOD!”

“Jun! How are you supposed to get back to your universe?! What season is it there?!” You ask, turning to Jun with wide eyes.

“I just need to walk back through this one door in the city! It’s the same season as yours, spring!”

“ThAt OnE DOoR in ThE CItY! What if that door closes?!”

“The lady said it’ll close in like two days! It’s FINE!”

“Is it?! Why would you jeopardize your safety just to tell me to choose Seungcheol! I don’t EVEN KNOW a Seungcheol!”

“Because he’s so much nicer! Jihoon is such a tsundere! I don’t know why people like that! Wait- YOU DON’T KNOW SEUNGCHEOL?!”

“No!!! HELLO??!!”

“You haven’t met Seungcheol yet?! Damn maybe I came too early. How old are you right now?”

“I’m 20.”

“Ah shit, I came a year early.”

“What the fuck!!! Jun, you shouldn’t have risked your safety just to come and tell me to choose a guy I haven’t even met yet-”

“It was for the BEST!” Jun states with finality, and you glare at him.

“You better get back to that door soon, I don’t want you to ruin your chances with Hyoon.” You threaten and he raises an eyebrow at the unfamiliar name.

“Hyoon? Is that the female lead in the manga?” Now it’s your turn to stare at him with wide eyes.

“You haven’t met Hyoon yet?!”

“No?”

“How old are you?”

“I’m 21.”

“Ah shit, you won’t meet her until you’re 23.” You mutter and Jun pinches his nose, muttering about how stressed he is and how that whole conversation was deja vu.

“Listen, I don’t wanna leave yet.” You turn to him with wide eyes, an expression on your face that basically means, what the fuck did you just say?

“Now why not?”

“I’ve always admired your world through drawings, I wanna be able to go and experience it for at least one day.” Jun tells you, looking around your apartment with sparkling eyes. You bite the inside of your cheek, now feeling conflicted. After a moment of thinking, you finally let out a sigh.

“Fine, we can spend tomorrow exploring my city. You HAVE to go home by the end of the day though, I don’t want you getting stuck here Jun.” Jun’s eyes light up after the words leave your mouth, and he turns to you with a big smile on his face. You notice how the rays of the sunset hit his face, putting a nice glow on his melanin. His eyes turn into pools of honey, and his hair turns a slight brown. You feel your own face warm up at how handsome he is, turning away to look down at the floor instead.

“Really?” You nod your head, still refusing to look at him in fear of shitting yourself from his beauty. Jun stands up from the couch, beginning to jump around the room in celebration and you let out a small laugh.

“We’ll wake up early tomorrow so that we can make the most of your time.” You tell him, standing up from the couch.

“Okay, can I shower?” He asks, and you nod your head slowly. He gives you a smile, “Epic.”

“I’ll go get you a towel.” You mutter, walking into your room and grabbing a blue towel out of your closet. You walk back out to see him taking off his shirt and you let out a small squeak, covering your eyes as your face burns with warmth from the sight of his muscular back. Jun turns around at the sound of your squeak, seeing you with your hand covering your eyes as you blindly hold out the towel to him. He lets out a grin, taking the towel from your grasp, making you let out another small squeal.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, I’ll be, uh, in my room. You can sleep on the couch,” You say as you take careful steps back into your room. Jun watches you with an amused smile on his face as you continue to back up slowly. “I’ll bring out a blanket and some pillows to make it comfier. If you’re hungry you can eat the leftovers in the fridge- EEK!” You screech when you back up into something, which you presume to be the door frame of your bedroom. Jun lets out a laugh and you feel your face burn even more.

“You know you can look, right?”

“No! Nope, I will be keeping my eyes closed until you’re in the bathroom and I’m in my room. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Goodnight!” You let out another squeak as your hip slams into your door handle as you thought you were safe enough to just take a leap into your room. Jun smiles as you close the door after patting around to make sure you weren’t in the way anymore.

“Goodnight yn.” Jun mumbles, turning around and walking into the bathroom, a little joy in his step. You let out a sigh as you sit down on your bed, deciding to fling yourself backwards after a moment so that you’re now laying down. You let out a sigh,

“What the fuck have I gotten myself into.”

“Good morning Jun.” You mumble sleepily as you step out of your room the next morning. Jun lets out a snore in response, and you chuckle slightly. One of the pillows is now on the floor beside him, his leg also hanging off the couch as well. His mouth is open, a dribble of drool pooling at the corner of his mouth.

“Ah, cute.” You walk into the kitchen to start making breakfast, deciding to wake him up once the food is ready. Turning on the stove, you take out the frying pan and spray it with cooking spray. You stretch your arms over your head as you let out a little yawn.

“I like my eggs over medium.” A deep voice says behind you as you crack the egg into the pan. You let out a squeak, dropping a whole egg shell into the pan. You turn to see Jun snickering at your shock, and you glare at him.

“You were snoring on the couch like two minutes ago! How’d you get up so quickly?” Jun shrugs, and that’s when you take notice of the fact that his shoulders are bare and he has really nice collarbones holy fucking SHIT he’s not wearing a shirt.

“Oh my god!” You cover your eyes immediately, and Jun giggles at your cute action. He takes a step forward, grasping your wrists and slowly removing your hands from your eyes. You try to look at everything but him but he’s too close to your face and his defined chest and abs are RIGHT there.

“Like what you see?” Jun asks cockily, and you look up into his eyes, squinting at him.

“You’ve been here for a day and one night and I’ve seen you practically naked for all of that time.” You tease and he rolls his eyes, leaning back to give you a big smile.

“You left the egg shell in the pan by the way, so maybe I should cook?” You stick your tongue out at him, and he grins. You try to will away the warmth flooding your cheeks as Jun lets go of your wrists to take over the breakfast making.

“I forgot you’re a top tier man.” You mutter under your breath as you remember the qualities of Jun’s character that made you love him. He somehow hears you, and lets out a small chuckle.

“Am I really your favorite manga character? Why isn’t it Haruhi?”

“Her name is Hyoon.”

“Hyoon, Haruhi, potato tomato.”

“No?!?”

“Yes!!”

“Haruhi is from Ouran High School Host Club, Hyoon is the girl you’re going to meet in a couple years and fall completely in love with.” You clarify and Jun shrugs, turning back to the egg and flipping it.

“I’m already falling for someone though.” Jun mutters and your eyes practically bulge out of their sockets. You grasp his arm, causing him to turn around and look at you.

“Who! Hyoon and you are literally like, soulmates! There can’t be someone else!”

“Pft.” Jun turns back to the egg and places it onto the plate, cracking another egg into the pan afterwards.

“Don’t pft me!” You exclaim and Jun shrugs again, quickly cooking his egg as the stove is rather hot. He places his egg onto his plate, before turning to the rice cooker and placing rice onto both of your guys’ plates.

“Let’s eat and get ready, hm?” Jun says with a smile, handing you your plate and walking out of the kitchen. Clearly not wanting to continue talking about it. You let out a sigh, respecting his wishes as you follow him towards the dining table.

“Well, where’s the first place you’d like to go to later?” You ask, and Jun gives you a big, excited smile.

“You… wanted to go to Mcdonalds…” You mutter and Jun nods happily, reaching down and intertwining your fingers with his, pulling you both towards the counter. You stare down at your intertwined hands with wide eyes.

“In my universe we don’t have a Mcdonalds, we have a… Burger King...” You raise an eyebrow at the strange fast food name.

“Is it… good?”

“...”

Jun’s silence is enough of an answer for you.

You order twenty piece nuggets and two large fries, as Jun insisted on trying the nuggets you always seemed to order in your manga with Seungcheol. You both sit down at a booth after claiming your order, and you dig into the grease filled food.

“God… I wish I had this in my universe.” Jun groans as he shoves another nugget into his mouth. You let out a giggle, causing him to look at you like a deer caught in headlights with a nugget in each cheek.

“You look like a chipmunk.” You state and Jun quickly chews the nuggets before swallowing and giving you a smirk.

“A cute chipmunk?”

“If I answered that I feel like that would make me a furry.”

“Aren’t you? You always mention how Jihoon looks like a cute cat in the manga…” Jun trails off, a frown taking over his features at the reminder that you’ll soon be meeting Seungcheol and Jihoon once he goes back to his universe. You raise an eyebrow at his frown, reaching out and shoving a fry into his open mouth. Jun looks at you with wide eyes and you smile.

“You were frowning, what’s up?” You ask and Jun shrugs, “No biggie, let’s hurry up and finish this so that we can go to the next place.”

“Are you sure? You can talk to me Jun-”

“Nope! Can’t hear you, the sound of my chewing is too loud hahahahahahaha let’s finish eating.”

“This is just like that one scene where you and Seungcheol- ah shit I shouldn’t spoil the future.” Jun covers his mouth after the sentence leaves him, and you roll your eyes. You watch as the cherry blossom petals fall from the trees, floating around you and Jun.

“Is Seungcheol cute?” You ask, and Jun’s jaw tenses as you both walk slowly beside each other.

It’s nearing the end of the day, the sunset will begin in an hour or so. You and Jun spent the day going to different cafes you go to often, so mainly eating. However, he brought you to an arcade you haven’t even gone to yet, but Jun mentions how important it becomes to you later on in your life. He even got you a pikachu from the claw machine, saying it’s something to remember him by once he leaves. The last place he wanted to see was the city center, where the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.

“Yes.” Jun answers curtly, and you nod your head slowly.

“Is Jihoon cute too?”

“Yup.”

“Do they both dress well?”

“Yup…”

“Where will I meet them-”

“Yn, I’m only going to be here for like another hour. Can we talk about something other than the mangas?” Jun interrupts, turning to you with a small smile. You nod your head, muttering a small apology and he reaches down, intertwining your fingers once again and giving them a squeeze.

You both walk in a comfortable silence, soaking in the atmosphere. However, you’re having an internal conflict because Jun hasn’t let go of your hand and you also kind of don’t want him to let go.

You don’t want him to leave.

“You know, even though meeting you was incredibly confusing and terrifying at first, I’m glad you came.” You say, and Jun turns to look down at you. He takes notice of the fact that you’re literally glowing under the sunlight. Your short black hair is slightly curled at the ends, accentuating your cute cheeks. Your eyes look like they could drip honey at the way they’re shining under the sun.

You turn to Jun to catch him staring at you with an affectionate smile on his face, and you find yourself fighting back a grin. “What?”

“I’m glad I came too.” Jun mutters softly, before pulling you towards a bench underneath the largest cherry blossom tree in the square. You both sit down, and Jun turns to you.

“You’re a lot better in person than in the manga.” You raise an eyebrow.

“In what way?”

“In every way. The art doesn’t do your appearance justice, but it’s not just that. Your personality is so wonderful, you’re like a breath of fresh air.” Jun tells you and you bite the inside of your cheek.

“Don’t make me get attached to you right before you leave Junnie.” You say and he lets out a small laugh, squeezing your hand.

“I’ll stay if you want me to.” You look at him with wide eyes and immediately shake your head no.

“I had a really fun day with you yn, and I don’t want it to end. I want to stay here with you.” Jun admits nervously, and you kinda just… gawk at him.

“But, you have to meet Hyoon, and Minghao is still in your universe! You can’t leave your friends like that just for me Jun.” You argue and Jun looks away, disappointed. You notice the sun beginning to set and you feel your heart pound against your chest.

“It’s time to go back Jun, the sun is setting.” Jun doesn’t respond, he just lets go of your hand and begins to walk in the direction of the restroom.

“Jun? Why are you going to the bathroom-”

“That’s where the door is.” He answers bluntly, still refusing to look at you. You pick up the pace and grab his hand, causing him to stop.

“You’re not gonna say goodbye?” Jun lets out a sigh, turning around so that he’s facing you. He rests his hands on your shoulders, bending down so that you’re both at the same eye-level.

“I’m not gonna lie, I think I love you even though I’ve only known you in person for a short time. I want to stay, but I know it’s not our time yet.” He stares into your brown eyes, holding a lot of warmth.

“You think you what.”

“You heard me.”

“You love me?” Jun gives you a smile, leaning back so that he’s now standing at his full height. He shrugs his shoulders and you give him the best, bruh what the FUCK! expression you can muster.

“Thank you for showing me around, and thank you for making me your favorite manga character. I’ll see you soon yn.” Jun says, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to your cheek. You stand there speechless as he turns around and walks away, leaving you to lift your hand up to your cheek.

“B-bye Junnie.” You mutter weakly as he turns around one last time to wave goodbye at you. You analyze his features one last time, the way the sun hits his brown hair making the red shine softly. The blue sweater that compliments his melanin, his strong side profile. You stare at his smile, and the way his eyes soften when he looks at you.

He disappears behind the door, and soon you see the cracks of the door glow a bright gold before it goes back to normal. You bite the inside of your cheek, suddenly full of regret at how shitty your goodbye was.

So you run in the direction of the restroom, opening the door in hopes that maybe Jun is still there. You’re disappointed when you see that it’s just a normal male restroom, with gross urinals and poor lighting. You let out a small sigh when you take notice of its emptiness, no sign of Jun having even been in there.

“I’m gonna regret that for the rest of my life.” You mutter sadly, before turning around and heading in the direction of your home.

one year later…

“Where are you Irene? I’ve been waiting at the arcade for ten minutes.” You say into your phone, pacing around as you wait for her response. You’ve been standing by the entrance of the arcade Jun took you to a year ago. You and your friend Irene were supposed to meet here ten minutes ago and she still hasn’t come.

“I’m so sorry yn! Seulgi really needed my help on making this meal for her mom and we aren’t done yet! I don’t think I can make it, I’m so sorry.” Irene apologizes profusely through the phone and you let out a small sigh.

“It’s okay Irene, you help her out okay? We can go next week or something.”

“Yes! I’ll pay for everything to make up for it next week. Thank you for being so understanding yn.” Irene says and you hang up the phone after bidding goodbye. Letting out a sigh, you turn to look inside the arcade.

“I guess I should play at least one game before I leave.” You mutter to yourself as you head inside, walking subconsciously in the direction of the claw machines. You get lost in your thoughts when you bump into a hard chest, making you take a few steps back.

“Watch where you’re going.” The guy says, and you look up to see a guy with black hair that falls softly onto his forehead. His eyes are small, similar to that of a cat. He’s shorter than other guys you’ve met, but he’s still taller than you.

“Be nice Jihoon. Sorry for my friend. He’s a bit of a tsundere I guess you could say.” Your eyes widen at the familiar name, turning to look up at the male beside him. As Jihoon turns to argue with the man at the name he called him, you take the time to look over his features. He has blonde hair that makes his soft eyes pop. You can tell he also accompanies Jihoon to the gym since they’re both rather muscular. You stare in silence as your mind processes the fact that you just met Jihoon, the man Jun told you not to choose.

“I’m uh, I’m Seungcheol. I hope you’re okay.” The man beside Jihoon introduces and your eyes widen even more at the familiar name.

oh my god oh my god oh my god.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry about that.” You say, giving them a smile before immediately walking away. Seungcheol and Jihoon watch you turn the corner before you’re out of sight. Seungcheol grins softly, finding himself intrigued by you.

“She left cause you scared her. I don’t get why you’re so antisocial.” Seungcheol teases Jihoon, causing him to get elbowed in the stomach as they leave the arcade.

You blindly speed walk towards the claw machines when you bump into another hard chest, you’re about to fall backwards when strong arms wrap around your waist, balancing you. You look up at the person you bumped into, only for you to just about pass out.

“Jun?” You whisper, and he gives you a smile. His hair is now black and fluffy, resting comfortably on his forehead. His eyes are bright as he looks down at you with a big smile on his face. You try to take a step back so that his arms will fall from your waist but he tightens his hold around you.

“How? Why? WAIT! What about Hyoon?! What are you doing here! You have to go back to your universe!” You basically screech, causing a few people passing by to give you and Jun a strange look.

“Well, I came back to my universe, but it just didn’t feel right anymore. Minghao and Mingyu could tell I was going through it and that I wanted to come back, so I basically got their blessing.” Jun explains, letting go of your waist to instead hold your hands.

“I knew today you were gonna meet Seungcheol and Jihoon, so I thought I’d intervene before you met them. I was too late though.” Jun shrugs, and you just stare at him in awe.

“But-”

“I told you I’d see you soon when I left, didn’t I?” He teases, and you look away, choosing to stare at your intertwined hands instead.

“I can’t believe you came back, you were supposed to be with Hyoon not me.” You mumble and Jun chuckles, letting go of your hand to tap your chin, making you look up at him. He leans in so that your faces are inches away from each other.

“I think we can change our destiny, and I’m making you mine.” You let out a little scoff, muttering about how cheesy he is, making Jun grin before pulling you into a kiss. Your stomach does a flip at the feeling, as does Jun’s except his is more like a tingle. Your arms tentatively wrap around the back of his neck as his arms find solace around your waist once again.

“You know how I told you that I think I love you when I left last year?” Jun asks, pulling away from your lips, causing you to slightly chase after him, causing him to giggle. You feel your cheeks burn and he squishes your face with his hands.

“I love you.” He states and you smile softly. Jun thinks he can remember the way you look at this exact moment for the rest of his life. From the way the neon lights from the arcade games reflect against your skin, to the way your eyes seem to hold stars in them.

she’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, Jun thinks to himself as you smile at him. You reach up and squish his cheeks too, making his eyes widen in surprise.

“I love you too.” You breathe out. Jun lets out the biggest smile you’ve ever seen as he lets go of your face to pull you into a hug. He holds you tightly, and you nuzzle your face into the crook of his neck, haven’t felt this content in a long time.

Unbeknownst to you, the plot of from winter to spring has changed into the story of Jun. The man who took charge and changed his destiny to be with you.

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sheerbeautyreigns · 3 years

Text

DESIRE

Part 45

Joe was glad to be home for the weekend. His sister and mother came to visit and he felt a bit more at ease compared to how he’d left Paul at the hotel. He hated that he’d have to work with Colby. Vince always loved to use real life scenarios and somehow make a storyline out of them. Joe loved his job and the WWE but sometimes, honestly he just would feel like he’d have enough.

He didn’t want things to be awkward when he got to the arena tomorrow and contemplated calling Colby to make amends. Anytime he came close to doing it, he immediately thought of Paul. He hadn’t been in touch with him since New York.

“Hey baby, I was going to call you. Check in. You OK?” He sounded like he was in a good mood.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just saw some family earlier and just packing. What are you up to?” Joe asked pacing around his bedroom.

“I just had dinner and just doing some admin for NXT. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”

“About that…I was thinking of calling Colby-” Joe started. “Why would you do that?” The tone in Paul’s voice changed. “I just don’t want things to be awkward. I don’t know if Colby even knows about this yet but you know I can have anxiety about these things.”

“Don’t call him. That’s an order. Just wait until you get to the arena. Vince wants this to be as natural as possible.” Joe sighed heavily raising his hand to his head. “This really sucks, you know that.” Paul had never heard Joe speak in this tone before. “It’s not my problem babe. You brought this on yourself.”

“I don’t understand why you won’t at least try to speak to Vince. Just stop it. You know how this is affecting me.” Joe argued.

“Don’t get pissed off with me. I already told you. It’s outta my hands.” Paul shot back. Joe didn’t respond. “Joe?”

“I’ve gotta go.” He simply said before hanging up. A horrible feeling filled the pit of his stomach right after he pressed the button. He knew he shouldn’t have hung up on Paul. This wasn’t entirely his fault. His phone lit up. Paul was calling him back. He hesitated in answering. “Don’t you ever do that again.” Paul started. He sounded so pissed off. “Look I’m sorry. This whole thing is pissing me off.” Joe defended. “Well don’t take it out on me. Its not my fault someone ratted you out!”

“I know!” Joe responded. “I don’t want us to fight about this. I made this mess and I’m just gonna have to deal with it. Anyway, I have to finish packing my things. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Joe ended the call. He shut his eyes and laid back on the bed. He had never spoken to Paul like that before and knew there would be consequences.

Joe arrived at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio the next day. Joe had just left his bags into the locker room when a crew member knocked on the door.

“Joe, Paul wants to see you.” His stomach dropped. “OK, I’ll be right there.”

He was surprised to see Colby there too when he arrived in the room. Paul was sat behind a desk with his laptop and Colby occupied one of two seats in front of him. Joe passed both men a glance as he took a seat and the door was closed. Colby’s cheek was slightly bruised. Paul moved his laptop aside and clasped his hands together on the table.

“We all know why we’re here. Vince has asked me to deal with this.” Colby sat with his arms folded while Joe clasped his hands across his stomach. “Fortunately for us, he doesn’t actually care about what you two were fighting about the last night but when he sees an opportunity…you guys know the rest. I’ve drafted you both the programme for tonight so go over it and don’t screw it up.”

Colby rolled his eyes. “This is bullshit. We know how to do our jobs Paul.”

“You clearly don’t if you’re brawling in the locker room.” Paul answered sarcastically. Colby looked at Joe. “Don’t you have anything to say about this?”

“What is there to say? We fucked up and now we’ve gotta deal with it.” Joe answered. “Passive as always-” Colby interjected. “I wasn’t so passive when I hit you in the face last week!” Joe shot back.

“Enough!” Paul raised his voice. “Fuck this-” Colby said, getting up. “You sit your ass down!” Paul stood up, staring at him angrily. Joe hadn’t seen him this angry in a while. Colby folded his arms again like a spoilt child.

“You both don’t want this feud, I don’t want this feud but you’re stuck with it so just do what’s asked of you both and you can move on with your lives. Do you both understand?” Paul said setting his palms on the desk.

“Yes Sir.” Joe said immediately causing Colby to look at him and mock “Yes Sir? Sir?”

“You’re an Asshole.” Joe said narrowing his eyes at him. “Colby, I swear to God!” Paul interjected. “OK I got it. Are we done now?”

“You can go.” Paul told him. Colby left, slamming the door behind him. “He’s such an asshole.” Paul fumed moving towards the door and locking it. Joe relaxed himself in the seat. “You see what he’s like? It’s even worse now.” He said raising his hand to his temple. Paul gently massaged the back of his neck.

“Don’t let him get to you. He’s always been a little shit.” Paul moved around, crouching down. “Look babe, I know this isn’t what you want. I’ve feuded with people in the past that I didn’t get along with. I just put that negative energy into the storyline. Look at it this way. At least you won’t have to act this time around.” A small smile crossed Joe face before he let out a sigh. “You’re right. I can’t let this affect me.”

And he didn’t, both men did as scripted and avoided each other in the locker room. Paul had a car waiting to take Joe to Hotel LeVeque where he was waiting.

“You did good tonight babe. Vince is happy.” Paul said pulling him into a kiss. “Then again, you’re always good at doing what you’re told.”

“I’m just glad it’s over, until next week anyway.” Joe kissed him back, “I need to shower.” Paul tapped him on the ass “You do that, just relax. I’ve got some emails to respond to.” Joe put his phone on charge by the dresser. He kicked off his Nikes and peeled off his tank top and bottoms and went into the bathroom.

A good hot shower was just what he needed right now. It had been a long day full of anxiety and a physical evening thanks to this new feud with Colby. He tried to wipe the thoughts from his head and hummed a tune instead.

Paul was deep in thought when Joe's phone went off nearby. He walked over to take a look, only to see that it was Colby calling. Paul was a little puzzled. Why would he be calling him if they’d just been at the arena? It eventually stopped ringing just as Joe appeared. “That my phone?” Paul was startled. He didn’t expect Joe to be finished so soon. “Yeah, Colby was calling…for some reason.” Joe didn’t like that Paul was checking his phone. A look of annoyance crossed his handsome features. He knew Paul would want to know why but he didn’t humour him and ignored it. Paul went back to his emails, occasionally eyeing Joe as he went through his case to retrieve his toiletry bag. Paul noticed something was up with Joe. He heard him brushing his teeth in the bathroom and waited for him to return.

“Something the matter babe?” Paul asked from the desk. “I’m sorry. I just feel a bit out of it at the moment with everything that’s going on.” Joe said perching on the edge of the nearby sofa. “It’s just been really getting to me.” Paul got up and came to him “Come here.” He said leaning in to the corner of the sofa where he settled down with Joe, wrapping his arms around him. “I know I said earlier I was just gonna get on with it but it’s hard. We were best friends and I know you don’t wanna hear it…” Joe sounded like he was getting choked up “Shhh baby…” Paul said stroking his hair as the young man started sobbing. Paul pulled him into a proper hug, comforting him “I’m sorry baby. I didn’t realise you felt this bad.” Joe awkwardly wiped away his tears and looked up at Paul. “I’m sorry, I’m always so sensitive.”

“Don’t apologise. It’s good that you’re in touch with your emotions. Better than hiding them.” The older man reasoned. “Why don’t you call Colby back? See what he wants?” Joe shook his head “I can’t .”

“Don’t be silly babe-” Paul started. “No, I can’t .” Joe told him again. “OK, OK don’t call him then.” Why was he so agitated? Paul got up and went to the minibar. He took out a bottle of Jameson whiskey and poured two glasses, adding some ice. “Have this.” Paul handed the glass to Joe. “Thanks,” Joe said before taking a mouthful. The burn hit the back of his throat. Paul finished his much quicker. Joe sat eyeing his glass as Paul disappeared out to the balcony, closing the door behind him.

He had to take matters into his own hands. Colby sounded a bit confused when he answered the phone. “Hey. Look I know I’m the last person to expect to hear from right now. I saw that you called Joe.”

“I know I shouldn’t but I wanted to check on him to be honest. I have a feeling he’s struggling with everything at the moment.”

“One thing we can finally agree on.” Paul tried to make light of the situation.

“Is he…bad?” Colby asked hesitantly. “He’s very upset. I just poured him a drink. He doesn’t know I’m calling you.”

“I see…Look I don’t wanna fight with him. Sure you and I have our past but I don’t want this affecting him. I know he can be pretty sensitive sometimes.”

“Where are you staying?” Paul asked, out if the blue. “I’m at the Hilton.”

“Well we’re just over at the LeVeque. I think it’d really help if you came to see him.” Paul suggested. Colby was hesitant. “I dunno man-”

“Please?” Paul asked “I’m worried about him-”

“OK, OK what’s your room number?” Colby asked “227.”

“OK I’ll be there in like twenty minutes.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” Paul ended the call and took a moment to himself on the balcony.

Joe was watching some wildlife programme on TV when he returned. He had finished his drink. Paul settled down next to him. He put his arm around him and watched the TV with him. Like clockwork, there was a knock at the door about 15 minutes later.

“Who’s that?” Joe asked looking at the door. “It’s OK baby.” Paul went to answer. “Hey,” Colby stepped in. Joe recognised his voice immediately. “What are you doing here?” he asked standing, looking at both Paul and Colby in confusion as Paul closed the door. “I wanted to see if you’re OK? I tried to call.” Colby explained. Joe looked at Paul as they occupied the sofa and Colby took a seat in the nearby armchair. “You’re not in a good place babe. I figured it’d be good for you guys to sort this thing out before it gets any worse.”

“So you guys are on the same page now?” Joe asked, eyeing them both. “Well, until this evening, I didn’t realise how much this was affecting you. Look, I’ve been thinking and I know we don’t see eye to eye Colby.” The young man nodded in agreement. “We all have a history with each other, it’s no lie but for the sake of working together, I’d like us to wipe the slate clean and start afresh.” Joe couldn’t believe what Paul was saying. As far as things were concerned previously, Paul would have kept them apart by any means possible. He was clearly concerned about Joe’s mental health if he was willing to do this for him.

“I can’t believe I’m agreeing with you on something Paul but…yeah. I’m down with that.”

“Wait, after all the drama, the animosity between you two, you’re just suddenly wiping the slate clean?” Joe asked. These two strongly disliked each other. “Look man, we’ve known each other for years. We were best friends. I’m sick of fighting.” Colby explained. “If that’s what it takes to make things better, I’m all for it. I don’t want you feeling this way.”

“Me either.” Paul chimed in, putting his hand on Joe’s leg. “You really mean it?” Joe asked looking between both men. Paul and Colby exchanged looks “Yeah.”

Joe exhaled, a smile finally appearing on his face. “Thank you. Thank you both. You don’t know what this means.”

“We do babe.” Paul chimed in. “What do you say we have a drink to toast this?” Joe and Colby agreed. Paul poured a few glasses of Jameson to which they toasted to “A fresh start.” They sat in conversation for the next while until Colby excused himself. “Shit, I didn’t realise it was so late. I need to get back to my hotel guys. Got a flight home at nine.”

They said their good nights and bid Colby farewell. “I can’t believe you did that.” Joe said looking up at Paul as the older man returned to the sofa. “I had to do something.” Paul lowered next to him. “I love you. So much.” Joe said before kissing him passionately and resting his head on the older man’s chest. Paul stroked the back of his head until he could hear him lightly snoring. A faint smile crossed his face. “Baby,” Paul gently nudged him “Let’s go to bed.” Joe dragged himself off the sofa and walked to the bedroom, shedding his robe. He crawled into the bed naked next to Paul who spooned him from behind. He reached over and put some lube on his fingers and lightly massaged Joe’s opening. Low, sleepy groans escaped his throat. They got louder as Paul’s cock penetrated him. “Aww baby…” Paul breathed into his ear as he slowly started to fuck him. He was so hard thanks to some of the noises coming from Joe. Late night, sleepy sex was always something they both enjoyed. “Fuck me…” Joe told Paul. Paul forced him onto his stomach and picked up the pace, fucking him faster, grasping Joe pelvis. “Christ,” He moaned into Joe ear as he came, pulling Joe into him. “…feels so good.” Joe shuddered as Paul filled him, kissing and nuzzling the back of his neck. Joe sank into the bed as Paul pulled out and flipped him over. He brushed the matted hair away from his lovers face and kissed him passionately.

#roman reigns #wwe #tribal chief #roman reigns fic #fanfiction #smut #d/s #seth rollins #triple h

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Close Enough Reviews: First Date and Snailin’ It

We’re in the home stretch thank god! Seriously while I do love this show, doing 13 reviews in one day, even as most are easy to bang out, has been exausting. But the thank god is also because we’ve arrived at my faviorite episode so far and.. er another one but at least it has Noel Fielding! That’s really awesome! This time around Josh and Emily try to recapture the magic of their first date only to end up in one of the good Blumhouse movies, while Bridgette brings Josh along on an awkward first date. Then Emily gets the help of a snail’s magical hat to juggle work and life. Snail yeah under hte cut.

First Date:

A fourtune teller is at the fourplex, another review of the series I recently read revealed that’s what their buildings called and I like the sound of it so i’m using that, predicting a weird romance for bridget, who belivies it’s a guy she’s been texing, and sometimes sexting in her words not mine, who she has a date with tonight while said psychic also reveals to Emily that things with her and josh have gotten bland, something emily realizes via a hilarous flashback of them making out while falling asleep repeadtly before both just conk out. Also randy has thunder pants, aka pants tha tmake thunde rnoises and have a giant lighting bolt cod piece. Your the second best randy. Andt hat’s only because Alex is still a character.

So we have our two plots and unlike previous episodes and one future one the plots.. don’t dovetail. Which I like and I like a show being able to do two seperate plots in eleven minutes. We frankly need more of that. Bridgette has her date and Josh and Emily end up having theres. As such i’ll cover both seperatley. And since their plots a bit simplier let’s start with Josh and Emily. Emily tries flirting with Josh before explaning it’s because she wants to bring the spice back. After josh bungles his response trying to say what she wants but just.. you know asking emily what she wants him to say which is never a good move in any conversation, Josh does near instantly rebound, texting emily to come to the close tfor a suprise. Granted since Josh, self admittley right after, admits he has no game, it come across as weird and creepy, but Emily appricates him trying and is touched when he reveals his real bring the sparks back romantic plan: a recreation of their first date, which was at a haunted house. Also for some reason Josh thought mr magoriums wonder emporium was a best picture contender. Never change josh, never change. But I genuinely like this: having a couple that while relaistically having a dry spell still lvoes each other: instead of worrying the relationship is dead as these plots tend to do they simply want to bring back the magic that’s sometimes lost when you work two jobs, raise a kid full time and live with two weirdos with little sense of personal space. So they go and the reason it’s pretty simple is their subplot is the two having a mind screw being chased by various horrors in the house. As i’ve said I feel the series has more of a horror bent at times with some episodes leaning more into that than just goofy madness like regular show did. Regular Show really saved most of its straight up horror content for terror tales, here horror bits can crop up as much as fucking wacky bits. I mean a logan’s run parody where a man dies is paired up with a low speed train chase with a con arist that ends with her driving into a thermortor factory while choking her fake son. The show can ping pong on tone, but it does work. But yeah that’s why there’s less to talk about: it’s not bad stuff, it’s super spooky including the end bit where their told they died, it’s just mostly the two of them running around a nightmare, that unsuprisngly turns out not to be real and was just the attraction, before a really touching climax when the two finally find each other run towards each other and realize just how horrifed they were at the thought of loosing one another. it’s really damn touching and romantic, and leads to another climax when the two start kissing before getting it on despite the horror house working telling them they have others coming. I’ts a good plot, I just don’t have a ton to anlyaize about it. it’s just really good and really good horror stuff with a satsifying and sweet ending. On to our main event, Bridgette heads out to her date and TRIES lying to alex for his own sake.. but Alex not only easily guessed she was on a date in the first place but... isn’t bothered at all. He even offers to wing man while sining the firends theme song and clapping at the wrong time. Because he’s alex even when he’s being sweet and a good friend and ex, he can’t help but be just a BIT off. Bridget goes to meet Ron.. and finds he’s sewn to his ex Joy... like literally sewn or conjoined as they put it. Bridgette freaks the fuck out but is talked by ron into continuing, partly because their getting it undone and partly because Bridgette herself admits Ron looked past her baggage.. even if his is larger, she can at least try to. Also Ron is voiced by Chris Parnell who, with archer delayed event hough i’m watching it again and having stopped wtching rick and morty, I dearly missed. Glad to have you back dude. I’m also unsuprised he’s in this as the man is in everything. He’s a fucking workhorse.

Anyways Alex happily agrees, has his own brief freakout because bridget didn’t tell him about the conjoined twins thing despite being a room away, but quickly rebounds and.. actually hits it off with Joy. even better than Bridgette is with ron who she soon realizes won’t shut the hell up about hiking. Soon Bridgette.. is jealous. Both because Alex is moving on way easier and found someone way quicker, Joyce shares his weird taste in viking erotica, and because she may still have some feelings left. We saw a bit of that in “Robot Tutor”: Bridgette got jealous real quick when alex saw someone elsed espite them being there mostly as sex pals, and admitted there was still some unresolved stuff there they hadnt gotten past on both sides. They hit the club and things continue to degrade, with Bridgette even more jealous because Alex never took her dancing. And being that bridg is a musician and loves clubbing and what not, i’ts pretty understandable to be frustrated with her ex talking about how it took someone else to get him to do the worm.. also Alex doing the worm is a sheeer delight. When the cojoined ex couple leave, with Ron once again bringing up climbing machu pichu because apparently it’s in chris parnells contract he can never play an actually likeable romantic intrest, Bridget tries to bail but Alex wants to stay since it’s not his fault his date is going well and her’s isn’t. Bridgette makes the mistake of saying “If you like joy so much why don’t you just conjoin with her”.. and Alex being alex says “why dont’ I and we end up at conjoin, the place Ron and Joy got bonded in the first place. Ever since 1994, you won’t regret this. Actual signs up there and they are wonderful. Bridgette, still jealous even ifs he can’t stand ron offers to be conjoined to him both in a desperate attempt not to losoe alex and to one up him. However Alex finally calls her out, as while he’s perfeclty happy for her to move on, as this episode showed.. she can’t stand to see him with someone else, and Ron wisley tells her he can’t be attached to someone who isn’t unattached from her ex. When bridgette counters with the oppsitie ron is suprisingly pogniant “We can detach from each other physically but you two can’t detach from each other spirtually”. WHile bridgette quips about him finally saying something intresting, he’s right. She’s not ready and this night clearly proved it and even if she was she was only doing this to show up Alex. Joy likewise breaks things off. a bit more abrubtly since Alex has’nt been nearly as obvious as bridgette.. but alex himself shows he too still has some feelings when he accidentlya dmits to having written an entire section of his memoir about her teeth. Would could be creepy or you know, standard alex ends up really sweet as Bridgette is not only touched by the gesture, but Alex explains why “THeir all the parts that make up your smile” The two share a look, Joy wants what they have and Ron wants to masturbate alone. The end.

Sadly this isn’t followed up on yet, if at all if there isn’t more episodes next week, as the next ep with the two in it, the finale for today, has the two in seperate plots that only dovetail at the end. But this honestly feels like a posisble arc for the show; Will the two get back together and work past the issues that got them to divorce in the first place or stay divorced and move on? And regular show, with one exception i’ve ranted enough about and will again, was really good at romantic storylines eventually and this could be really intresting for a number of reasons. I’m realy hoping this isn’t just a one off ending, could be but we’ll hopefully see. Either way this episode is really damn good with both plots , while not intersecitng connecting thematically: ONe couple relives a horrifying mirorr version of their first date while a former couple goes on their first real date with other people since the split but finds they might not be as done as they thought. IT’s a good juxtopision and the whole conjoining bit is both horrifying and good Beisdes having my ship at the center i’ts just a damn good time and the best of the season so far (or at all atain the 8 episodes thing is really throwing me off).

Snailed It: This one should go quicker as its a much simpler ep: Emily has been working way too much and neglecting Candace, including a crypt based board game they’ve been playing for her job because she’s being a doormat. however i’ts not unresonable since said job gives them health insurance which given their lives, they REALLY need. She’s being such a doormat because she’s understandably afraid if she stands up for herself it could risk her job and they’d loose important stuff. Emily TRIES to juggle things by doing a charity garden/publicity stunt to distract thigns at the school btu the comination of extra work from her boss and the children not actually gardening makes it fail and candace more upset. Emily finds help in the most unlikely of places: A giant talking snail that offers to let her use his magic hat to speed up time and complete the garden in exchange for some of the veggies. He’s also voiced by nice dude and mighty boosh alum noel fielding in what hoenstly feels like a boosh character got out of that universe, if their not the same unvierse which is possible, and snuck into this one. Emily accepts, and is tempted to use the hat to do more of her job, with the snail calling her a shit parent. Fuck you man, sh’e sa good mom she’s just making mistakes. Emily decides to do it anyway and it works but she soon finds out using the hat outside the garden ages her while the snail decides fuck it and kidnaps candace by aborbing her into his stomach and making her be his legs so he can get dumplings because why not. What follows is a horrifc and tense chase between the two as candace’s life is on the line and the snail has a backup hat and emily time blasting him only makes candace age or deage, horrifyingly becoming a fetus at one point and a teenager later. It’s ar eally tense well done seen that combines the show’s usual insanity with it’s horror side to great effect Meanwhile josh feels useless since his job is less important, and he feels less important as he’s on call and skipping rocks with randy because apparently that’s what he does on call. Randy gets a great moment though, explaning to josh that h’es like the stones their skipping: he’s immoible and seemingly useless most of the time but when it matters he’s there . He’s there rock. Their support.. and naturally with emily slowly dying from her hat, a rare sentence, Josh steps upa nd saves the day via stone skipping, emily throws the hat in and the fundraiser, due to the madness, sucesffuly buired the scandal and Emily finally tells mr salt no.. and he’s really cool about it just telling her to come in a little later. Things are back on track and we’re out. This wasn’t a bad one, but it both feels less after the prevoius episode and somehwhat simple comaprd other emily centreic episodes. WHile the snail is a great villian and noel fielding, like rich fulcher before him, fits into this kind of world nicely. Not a bad one, just one sandwitched between two far more interesting episodes. Speaking of which, we’re in the endg ame now. Next time it’s dog days and weird fucking al baby, until very soon later days.

#close enough #hbo max #jg quintel #first date #snailed it

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theunboundmeg · 5 years

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Nefarious (Chapter One)

Summary: It wasn’t a year ago and Y/N can still remember being the new girl in school. Now it’s a new year, SENIOR year...and there’s another new kid at Hawkins High School. Billy Hargrove is a jerk, headstrong, and extremely presumptuous. And yet...he still manages to find his way in Y/N’s path...and it’s really starting to cause some “problems.”

Pairing: Billy Hargrove X Y/N (Reader)

Word Count: 2,973 Words

Rating: 18+ (For the Future)

Warnings: Cussing, insinuation, angsty angst! And some other stuff!

Other: Please note, this story takes place at the beginning of Season Two and actually follows to the storyline. I thought it would be interesting to write from a different perspective of the main story and see what happened to one of our favorite characters while the others were off fighting the demodogs! Enjoy this and if you guys like this chapter, I’ll probably write more! <3 Also note that there is no planned amount of chapters for this yet. I will write this story until it just naturally folds up. So...look forward to MANY more to come!

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Chapter One: Tell Your Friends It Was Nice to Meet Them

The first day was always supposedly the worst day, right? Well, this wasn’t exactly the first day...but still. I looked in the mirror at myself, cringing slightly. What in the world was with my sense of fashion today? Seriously? And why was it that no matter what I put on, I felt as though I was an imposter? It just felt...different. That day did, anyway.

“Y/N! YOU’RE GOING TO BE LATE!”

My mother’s voice echoed up the stairs and floated about the space in my room. She wasn’t wrong. And it wouldn’t be the first time either. One more tardy mark in homeroom and I’d be serving detention for a week. That was just how “serious” Mrs. Perkins had become with me. I didn’t exactly have a great relationship with my homeroom teacher, but we still managed to coexist...for the most part.

“Coming!” I screamed, grabbing up my backpack and taking one last look in the mirror. Out of control hair, high rise skinnies and a tank. Fine. It would do.

___

Just as the last bell sounded off, so did my footsteps on the tile of my classroom.

“Ah, Y/N! You did manage to make it on time! How gracious of you!”

Mrs. Perkins, along with the twenty or so other students in the classroom all gazed at me, causing my face to flush even more than it already was.

“Yeah, sorry. Just...tough morning” Not much to really say on the matter, I just shrugged and made my way to the back of the classroom.

Nancy and Jonathan were both there, seemingly lost in a hushed conversation that was only becoming more hurried and hushed the closer I got. I let my backpack hit the tabletop of my desk, causing Nancy to nearly jump out of her skin, which in turn brought a snort from Jonathan.

“You guys talking about creepy monsters again? Or am I actually going to understand the conversation you’re having this time around?” I asked.

Their adventures from before weren’t exactly a mystery to me. In fact, Nancy and I had become so close, she’d disclosed nearly everything that had happened before our friendship had blossomed. She’d told me all of it: from the Upside Down to how some small chick named Eleven or Elle or...Ellen...(I honestly couldn’t recall half of the time) had saved everyone in Hawkins. And while I’d be forever grateful to the girl I’d never meet for saving the small town I’d only just recently moved to with my mother, it was just difficult for me to buy...most days. Naturally, the thought of such a story intrigued me, it even drove my imagination on the dullest of my days. But still...monsters? Right here in this place? Come on now.

“Nooo...I was just telling Jonathan that he should reconsider the Halloween party. They’ll eventually be handing out flyers, but I already heard something about it.” Nancy replied, shrugging her shoulders and leaning back slightly.

I perked a brow and looked to Jonathan, who began to shake his head immediately.

“No.”

“Come on.”

“Nooooo.”

“Seriously?”

“No.” he hissed, clearly firm on the answer.

I glanced to Nancy then and shrugged again.

“I’d tell him to come but, he’s clearly made up his mind.”

“We’ll see.” Nancy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

She wasn’t really in the wrong for wanting him to come. Jonathan hardly got out much lately. Ever since the incident with his brother Will, he’d always made a point of trying to be home with him as often as possible. Then again, who could blame him? If I’d almost lost my mother, I’d be the same way. She was the only person I had left in the world, after all. It was then my attention was yanked back to the present by the door creaking open. The male walking in seemed to attract the attention of pretty much everyone in the room, even Mrs. Perkins. A mullet well kept, jean jacket and tight fighting jeans to boot and one would almost assume they were looking at a model.

“Mrs. Perkins! Sorry for the interruption! I’ve got a Mister Hargrove for you.”

The Principal pressed his lips together firmly as Billy moved past him, looking around for a chair. Something about him already seemed to pick at me. Not a word had escaped from between his lips and there was just something that was off about him. Cockiness? Or maybe he was an asshole.

“Mister Hargrove, are you-”

“We probably won’t be here for long, so maybe it would be worthwhile to just skip over my introduction and move on to better things...Mrs. Perkins, was it?”

While Billy had pretty much insulted Mrs. Perkins and talked over her, he’d done so in a way that oozed charisma. Asshole. Definitely asshole. I frowned and glanced downwards.

“Please...find a seat then.”

It wasn’t long and Billy was making his way between the desks, girls giggling and whispering about him as he passed them. Nancy leaned over towards me, lowering her voice.

“Steve and I saw him pull up outside earlier. Think he’s got a sister too.”

She tilted her head, her tone holding that of a curious nature. Other than that, she didn’t really seem to have much more to offer. The scrape of a chair caused me to jerk my gaze away and look to my left. Billy had apparently decided to make himself at home in the empty desk next to mine. Just my luck...a whole fucking classroom full of other people and he’d chosen to sit by me. Great.I made a point of looking away from him and back over towards Nancy.

“So about this Halloween party? I’ve got nothing to wear, but I thought I might go out today and see if I can find something at one of the thrift stores in town. Think there might be something good?”

Jonathan scoffed.

“Could always go looking like a goddess or a cat? Like most other girls do.” he replied.

I shrugged. “I happen to like cats, Jonathan.”

The chair scraped again, this time forcing my attention away once more and back over towards Billy as he leaned back, seemingly considering whether or not he could balance himself in his chair with his feet up on the desk. The look on my face must have said enough, because he took the time to actually stare back, inquiring now.

“You got a problem?” he asked, eyebrows shooting up.

“Not yet.” I replied, sniffing.

“Not. Yet?” he repeated, furrowing his brow.

“Did I stutter?” I asked.

Okay, perhaps that’d been a bit too forward or rude. After all, I’d been the new kid once as well...and I’d known how hard it was to acclimate to a new setting and new people. Just as I opened my mouth to apologize, he began to laugh. Billy actually began to laugh and just shook his head.

“My first day at this place and I thought I was going to run in with a bunch of airheads. Instead, I only run into a few airheads and one smartass. Might even be too smart for her own good!” he barked.

I could feel my face going hot as his chair finally sat back on all fours and he leaned over towards me.

“Sweetheart, lighten up. I’m not going to bite you. Unless you’re into that sort of thing.”

His gaze roamed downwards slowly, then back up, causing the heat in my face to travel to my ears and neck. Finally catching hold of myself, I inhaled sharply and shook my head.

“You know...I WAS going to apologize for being an asshole, but I feel like you feed into that sort of thing.” I retorted.

“I feed into whatever feeds me.”

It suddenly felt like a sparring match of sorts. The more I threw at this guy, the more willing he became to throw it right back at me. Dealing with my mom and her various boyfriends had always caused me to become a bit more straight edged...perhaps even cold. I’d never really been able to flirt well and guys tended to stray away. Usually. So, this encounter was different. He was flirting...but he was also being a dick about it. THAT was what made me feel more irritated.

“By the way, cat ears would look good on you. Don’t let the guy who’s clearly never been laid tell you otherwise.” Billy said, jerking his chin in Jonathan’s direction.

“God. Welcome to Hawkins.” I grumbled, looking away.

Nancy had managed to keep herself quiet during the small exchange. Her gaze darted between me and Billy, and then back again. Jonathan seemed to be struggling with something to say, perhaps even something towards Billy for his comment about the cat ears.

“Christ...” I mumbled, glad to hear the bell ringing to signal the beginning of classes.

Chairs were pushed and shoved and the stampede of feet began towards the door. I grabbed up my things and nodded to my two friends. “I’ll see you guys in second. Going to head to Chem and hope I don’t die from boredom.” And I’m also in desperate need to get away from this jerk.

I glanced towards Billy one last time, who seemed to be in no rush to get to his first class of the day and shook my head. He was going to end up being one of those. You know the one. He gets in good with the Kings and Queens of the school. Cool guy, cool hair...cool car probably too. And they’d suck him dry. Or perhaps it would be the other way around. Of course, that crowd didn’t exactly exclude me either. I’d been very lucky my mother had the money she did. And because of that, I’d earned a free ticket into the club as well. And while I never really partook in any of the “cool” kid activities, I made myself known there ever so often with Nancy and Steve.

“Come and get sheet faced?” I heard Jonathan say to Nancy as they left the classroom.

If I’d been paying any sort of attention, I would have seen the flyer that had been waved in my face before the girl had given up and given it to the person behind me. The flyers they were talking about were the Halloween party ones everyone had been buzzing about. Well, perhaps cat ears would end up being a thing after all. I shrugged, my backpack shifting weight on my back, and began heading off to class.

___

The day hadn’t really been anything to write home about. Classes had dragged and by the time sixth period had rolled around, my brain was fried. Chemistry test in first period, and countless amounts of note copying in the classes after had made me wish I’d stayed home. The only thing that had pretty much gotten me through the day were my friends and trying to figure out what costume I’d be wearing to the party. I pushed open the door to the front building and began making my way around. The courtyard was empty, save for a few students rushing from the back building to the front. I had my last class of the day in the detached building and like most, enjoyed the possibility of skipping. Such was the freedom of being able to actually...you know...go outside between classes.

“Hey! Cat Ears!”

I stopped and looked around. Cat Ears? I furrowed my brow and searched until my gaze fell on Hargrove. He stood there, just out of sight enough of the common passerby so that he could sneak his cigarettes under the stairwell on the side of the building.

“You going to class or you actually doing what I think you’re doing?”

I moved over towards him, nose wrinkling at the smoke curling upwards into the air. I’d only ever smoked once in my life. While I didn’t really complain about it, I’d heard from my mother it was probably something I shouldn’t pick up. The smell was just something she didn’t enjoy...therefore I shouldn’t either.

“We have a back building. I’ve got my last class of the day there.” I huffed. “I do have a name, you know?”

“Cat Ears just fits you so much better though. Makes you seem...more...crafty.”

“Crafty?”

“Did I stutter?”

There it was...he was throwing it back at me again. Then again, I’d probably deserved it. Especially since I’d said it to him earlier.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be? Like class?” I asked, shifting the weight of my backpack again.

Billy’s eyes roamed over my face and he reached up, plucking the cig from between his lips.

“Sure, I’ve got class.” he replied, “But I figured I’d take in the scenery first.”

He motioned towards me, causing me to feel that hot feeling creeping up my neck again. He wasn’t terrible to look at. But he also seemed like the sort of guy that had a shit personality...and enjoyed collecting women like he collected trophies. And I wasn’t about to fall for THAT sort of type. He stepped forward and circled around me, causing me to turn and watch him. Now, my back was near the wall and he stood out in the open.

“What’s your name?” he asked, finishing off the cigarette and flicking it away.

“Y/N.” I replied, curtly as possible.

“You don’t seem like the other Hawkins girls. Sure, you dress like the royalty, but you don’t seem like them.”

“I’m not from here.” I replied, “ My mother and I just moved here this past year.”

“Ohhhh, so we DO have something in common.” he jested, grinning that wolflike grin.

“We have NOTHING in common,” I said, stepping forward to try and pass him.

Billy sidestepped and put himself directly in between me and my route to freedom. It wasn’t long and he was stalking forward, causing me to back up until my back was firmly planted against the wall. He paused...eventually. He stood close enough that I could smell the mix of cigarettes and cologne on his jacket. He was clean and the way his jaw worked, it almost made me hold my breath.

“Here’s the thing Y/N. Usually, I get what I want. And right now, I’m wanting to know more about you...a lot more. Want to skip class with me and find out more about me to?”

Was he actually asking what I think he was asking? For fuck’s sake.

“Listen...buddy...” I reached forward and gave him a small push, causing him to blink in surprise.

“You might not be used to being turned down by girls, so let me go ahead and educate you. I’m not some prize to be won. I don’t just randomly go off with guys and explore with them. You seem like the type that enjoys an easy catch, so how about I point you in the direction of Carol and her flock of bitches.”

If Carol had heard me talking about her like that, she’d probably have ousted me from the “group” then and there. But she hadn’t...and this guy knew nothing about the social system at Hawkins High. Yet. Billy stood there, taken aback, before letting out another round of that barking laughter.

“You’re actually-?”

“Yes. I’m actually turning you down. A nice looking guy who is acting vile and quite frankly looks like he enjoys the feeling of being on top.”

“Well, you got one of those things right for sure.” he affirmed, nodding slowly.

He watched me, like a predator hunting his prey. But I wasn’t about to become his prey. Not today. Not ever. And yet? Some part of me...deep down...I felt that feeling. I felt it. He ENJOYED that about me. And perhaps that was why we were in the situation we were in now. He held his hands up and backed up.

“Pretty girl like you...I just couldn’t NOT ask. Was worth a shot.”

The smell of his cologne lingered on my jacket and in my nose. That’s how close he’d been to me...and it was going to haunt me for the rest of the day, I just knew it. I let out a breath and perked a brow.

“Maybe if you didn’t put off that asshole vibe, I would be more inclined to be curious about you.” I said, stepping back further.

“What can I say? People just seem to love that about me.” he replied, opening his arms wide.

It was sarcasm, but I understood what he was saying. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried not to think about the way he’d looked at me. It was a look that had made me feel something I almost wished I’d never felt. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t the least bit curious about him. But I knew Billy’s type. I knew we’d only destroy each other if we got close enough.

“I hope I see you at the party!” he called after me as I turned and began to walk away.

I shook my head and looked to the ground, feet carrying me as quickly as I could. I only just made it to class and sat down, clearly looking as though I’d run a marathon.

“What’s wrong with you?” hissed Nancy.

Yeah, having class with her this many times in the day had brought about a great friendship. And an open one at that. Though, part of me didn’t want to tell her about running into Billy. News was already spreading around the school about the hot, new guy...and I really didn’t want to get THAT look from my friend.

“We’re going to that stupid Halloween party.” I replied, “And need to find some fucking cat ears.”

_______________________________________________________________________

Chapter Two>

Author’s Note:

Hey guys! So, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything and I’m super sorry! I apologize if this chapter seems a bit short, but I’m rusty and finally starting to get back into writing again. This story idea came to me while I was lying in bed one night and I just couldn’t help but get started on it. I really love the idea of seeing a more thoroughly explored story for Billy during the events of season two and even season three...so I’ve decided to give us one! I hope you liked this and stay tuned for Chapter Two! Let me know if you guys have ANY suggestions!

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thethirdwheel404 · 4 years

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Med Series Rewatch (#12)

S3 E12: Born This Way.

Episode description: Dr. Manning and Dr. Choi are faced with a tough decision.

Literally when are they not.

Okay, last episode ended with the first Ava/Connor kiss, so this episode should be a rollercoaster of emotions.

let’s get into it.

- okay, already we’re starting in connor’s apartment, so cue ava walking in bc they slept together?

- i think its hilarious that her casual clothing is.. a flannel. like lmao idk

- it is so unbelievably funny and stupid to have a one night stand with someone you work closely with. i mean come on

- never forget that dr. ava bekker has a fish tank

- this is exhausting. the tentative back and forth is so fucking exhausting

- another bit of evidence. ava is never not confident, and especially not to this extent, and she never follows connor’s lead. so, the fact that she is standing back and waiting for him to make the decision? stupid.

- it screams that she is having a moment of anxiety, which is why she isn’t up to make the decisions in the exchange.

-to be clear: what i’m claiming here is that the only reason ava actually got with connor was bc she was having a moment of anxiety because he was the only person she had built a relationship with after living in this city for six months.

- when connor says that he has plans you can see her fold in on herself. this stems from a place of anxiety

- remember when they did surgery on the panda? that’s when the show peaked

- ava in her lab coat will never not get me. especially with the gloves, running towards a patient (very hot)

- connor still looks kinda looks like a mess but ava is immaculate here like what dude out of your league

- ava asking the family questions (ik this is standard doctor stuff but showing worry, interest, all that jazz)

- okay, see here! here! ava calls connor out, saying that his procedure is too invasive. before, ava’s procedures where invasive, which everyone used as evidence to her being super cold, but now, we see that she purely does what she deems best for the patient at hand

- also, once again, the concern ava feels. you can hear it in her voice. we forget this part of her way too often

- the smile on ava’s face when she gives the family good news. god wept

- and then more concern when connor tells her they need to put him on ecmo

- the reason that ava is frustrated that connor didn’t go with her decision for their patient care is because she truly believes that if they don’t go with her treatment, he will die. don’t make it anything different. don’t argue she’s frustrated because he’s not listening to her. don’t make it anything about their relationship. she puts their patients care first and foremost

- there’s a stark shift in her demeanor when in the room with the parents vs. her alone with connor. in the room, you can see she’s stewing. she’s sucking on her teeth, she’s holding her emotions. she has control, she’s a professional. out of the room, she has full reign to be as mad with connor as she wants, which she does.

-AVA RAN INTO THE ROOM AGAIN WITH THE LAB COAT AND GLOVES AND IDK IT JUST HAS ME FEELING SOME KINDA WAY

- the way ava acknowledges everyone in the room (the nurse just informed them that the drug was running, ava nodded. just a little thing but yk)

- ava shaking her head at this sad, sad man (connor, who is floundering for a solution and misplacing his anger)

- their entire relationship is misplaced anger

- the fact that the last shot of the scene has connor in the foreground looking over the bed and ava watching from the door but ava is the one in focus - some cool cinematography points

- IS THIS THE EPISODE WHERE MAGGIE GOES TO JAIL

- med really went all over the place

- JUST THE AMOUNT OF CONCERN ON AVA’S FACE. im gonna say it again. look me in the eyes and tell this women is a psychopath. the med writers are fucking insane

- and when the parents ask ava if she disagreed with connor’s treatment decision, she has every opportunity (and right, frankly) to throw him under the bus and undermine him. but still, she says “it’s a complicated situation.” like. she never ever makes it personal, or loses her head. especially not to a patient. and she doesn’t have to defend connor. he’s made a lot of mistakes, and taken it out on her a bunch of times. yet she’s still nice to him, when he’s not even in the room

- it’s insane

- this is also the legendary scene where she comforts the family. there’s not a lot that i haven’t already said. this is the scene that most exemplifies ava’s humanity, the way she seems to feel, at least residually, what these parents are going through (since she obviously hasn’t gone through anything like this herself [unless.]). the way she kneels down, and gets on the family’s personal level.

- I... okay listen. I absolutely HATE the parallel they pull her between the line “I believe whenever you do something out of love, it can never really be wrong” and connor. especially because they show him when she says that line. and yeah, there’s obviously a connection that can be drawn between the meaning of that line and her sociopathic behavior in s4 and s5.

- it honestly feels like when writing s4, the writers hit so much of a wall they just googled the most ‘iconic’ ava moments and thought ‘how can i use these in the worst way possible?’ That’s honestly probably what they did (ava’s first interaction with connor - ‘you better watch yourself,’ this moment). There is no nuance to her character in s4. it is astoundingly terrible.

- lets move on

- THE WAY CONNOR LOOKS AT AVA HER MAKES ME FUCKING SCARED. HE HAS NO EMOTION ON HIS FACE. I know that we’ve been screen capping ava throughout this series but can someone find pictures of connor looking at ava bc, i need yall to remember how weird he looks

- like, no shade to connor, but just the emotion is undecipherable, but it is in no way a good one

- ava getting concerned (and looking slightly embarrassed) when she sees connor watching her by the door. obviously yeah she’s gonna feel weird you just caught her in a very uncharacteristic moment, outwardly expressing comfort. fucking back off

- i am so fucking protective of her and i demand he no longer look at her. it’s banned

- sam abrams looking at sarah’s dad’s head ct and asking if he’s a criminal. oh boy

- from a writer’s perspective, the storyline with sarah’s dad is actually pretty good

- ava ran into the room with gloves and lab coat again, if anybody wanted to know

- for the record, want it to be noted, ava was the one who realized that it was an issue with the machine again, so you could say she fixed connor’s mistake, again. so.

- connor making a big deal about handing the reins over to ava (if he really was selfless he wouldn’t have made a whole big thing, he still has an enormous hero complex)

- handing off control was very hard for him. boo hoo get some fucking humility I think they sell it at walgreens

- sarah fucking walking across the ed like she’s going to war. dramatic

- med really said pedophiles deserve rights with this ep huh

- anyway

- the way ava smiles

- the way she smiles when she turns him down. CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT? SHE TURNED HIM DOWN. in the aspect of the story i cannot remember why she turned him down, but hey, i’m happy

- and it only further proves my story that the hook up came from a place of anxiety, and this is her realizing how silly that decision was. and her smiling was her laughing at herself for making such a stupid decision

- ALSO. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT THIS DECISION, THE DECISION TO TURN HIM DOWN, HAPPENED IN THE SAME EPISODE WHERE SHE SAID ‘IF YOU DO SOMETHING FOR LOVE, IT’S NEVER REALLY WRONG’

- like she literally says ‘last night was a mistake.’

- honestly, it’s fucking hilarious. connor deserves nothing

- and the confusion on his face when she walks away. hilarious

- if you wanted to take this the reesker route you could argue that the idea of ‘a decision of love’ was ava coming to terms with her slight little crush, though i don’t know how clean it would be if you argue that she panicked and told herself those were feelings meant for connor. idk, i’ll have to think about it further

- watching sarah let herself be betrayed by both herself and the people around in the story surrounding her dad will never not be hard to watch

This was a very good episode, character wise, for all the reasons stated above. It just hammers home the point of how strong a character Ava was. Key word, of course, being ‘was’. My conclusion over the last two episodes is that this specific sexual encounter with Connor was born out of a moment of anxiety from Ava. I suggest that over that last few weeks or days she has been experiencing some amount of anxiety out of having been living in Chicago for six months and only having one interpersonal relationship. So, that idea kind of built where she told herself the reason she only had one relationship was because she was in love with him. Then. after going through the story with this kid and comforting his parents, she realizes that she never actually loved Connor and maybe has a thing for someone else. I’m glad that I keep coming up with more ideas for this character, I was afraid the initial theory was somewhat of a one-off, but this only proves the idea of the complexity to Ava’s character.

I’m sure it’ll get worse from here, though.

as always, thanks for sticking through

read the rest here:

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Extra

#chicago med #med rewatch series #ava bekker #mine #born this way

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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221. Sonic the Hedgehog #153

Oh god, is Sonic, like… okay? Is he all right up there? What horrific manner of trouble did he get himself into this time to have his face become deformed like that? Also, I like how this cover implies that Sonic is being hunted down by someone shooting lasers or something, when literally nothing even close to the sort happens within the issue. I know it's perhaps getting a bit stale to point out every time the cover art doesn't reflect the stories inside, but dammit, it makes me laugh so I'm gonna keep doing it.

Songoose (Part 1 of 2)

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Jason Jensen

Eggman has a new agenda to enact. He's offered Nack the Weasel a large sum of money in exchange for assassinating someone very important within Knothole, and despite Nack's apparent reservations about waltzing into a place where he's wanted for quite a few crimes, he seems pretty jazzed to accept the offer nonetheless. Within Knothole, Sally has arranged a mock battle training exercise between the Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix to strengthen team bonding and combat skills, and oversees the training along with General D'Coolette, discussing the various combatants' strengths and weaknesses.

Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. In fact, at that moment they get a call from the king and queen, still halfway around the world, and apparently the king is also exhibiting similar symptoms to the general, prompting Sally to muse on whether their illnesses are related. She wonders if they should cut their trip short and return home, something which the king is against but the queen tentatively supports, but the conversation is interrupted when suddenly, the general seizes up and then collapses onto the ground. That's… probably not a good sign. Worse still, "Antoine" doesn't even seem to care, though of course we know why.

So this is actually a plot point that's kept up throughout a lot of subsequent issues - apparently, Tails' crush on Fiona is still going strong, despite the fact that he literally "fell in love" with a robot duplicate of her which had nothing in common with the real her. It's honestly a very weird detail to seize upon, as while Fiona being a real person and a unique character in her own right is interesting, and the fact that she's joined the Freedom Fighters even more so, Tails trying to like… flirt with her and become her boyfriend is just a bizarre place to take it, especially considering the age difference. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know it's not uncommon for a kid to end up with a crush on an older teenager, but multiple writers from here on out write Tails as being actually infatuated with her and unable to "let her go" after her robot duplicate broke his heart. It just doesn't feel like Tails to me and it's frustrating, to say the least. But anyway, moving on, everyone agrees it's a good idea to go to Mina's concert tonight and disperse. Sonic catches up to Fiona and tries to explain that Tails looks up to her, but she just makes a snarky comment about Sonic being one to talk about respect given how he acted the other day towards her - yeah, apparently he still hasn't told everyone that it was his evil double flirting with all the girls. Also, we never actually saw Evil Sonic come on to Fiona before, but I guess it just happened offscreen. She then admits to him that she hated him for a long time for leaving her behind in Robotnik's prison camp all those years ago, but changed her mind after seeing him sacrifice himself for the planet during the Xorda invasion, making her realize that he never left her behind on purpose. Aww, that's actually nice! Fiona has the potential to be a really interesting and complex character, and, well, honestly she's one of my favorites of the later comics, so I'm glad to see her getting more screentime.

That night, Sonic and the others show up backstage at the venue to give Mina a friendly pep talk before her show. She hugs Sonic, thanking him for the encouragement, and Ash immediately becomes very jealous and butts in to remind everyone that he's Mina's boyfriend and band manager and that she needs to go to the stage now, prompting a clueless Sonic to wonder what his problem is. However, Mina's performance actually kind of reveals that Ash has a good reason to be suspicious of her interactions with Sonic, as the sappy, lovey-dovey lyrics of her songs all reference the color blue in various ways, and are clearly influenced by her previous infatuation with Sonic. But things aren't as happy and peaceful as they seem, as a suspicious figure lurks in the crowd…

So Mina was Eggman's target, huh? Strangely enough, Nack, with a totally clear shot to the stage, misses and hits a tree several feet above and to the side of Mina. Like, it's not even played off as "oh, he was trying to make the tree fall on her, or someone bumped his elbow" or something - he just straight up misses for no reason, sets the tree on fire with the blast, and then tries to make a run for it. Some assassin you are, especially considering your alternate name is Fang the Sniper! Sonic, Bunnie, and Ash immediately race onstage to check on the startled but unharmed Mina, and Bunnie focuses on putting the fire out while Sonic races after Nack, catching and knocking him out easily. Nack wakes up hours later in Knothole's jail, where Sally and Sonic attempts to question him on his motives, and he decides to be all flippant and act like it's no big deal that he was caught, as he'd rather spend some time in prison than ruin his "cred" by giving up the name of his employer. I'm sorry, Nack, but what freaking cred are you even talking about? Like what, are you gonna go around telling prospective employers that your skill set includes missing a target forty feet away, setting a random tree on fire, and then immediately getting arrested? Sally merely points to the cell across from him, where he's quite perturbed to see the three other weasel associates who helped him kidnap her a year ago, and she invites him to go ahead and spend his time in jail sharing space with them after he knowingly left them to take the fall for his failed plan. Of course, he spills the beans on Eggman immediately.

Well… I suppose that's not even out of character for Eggman, considering his original counterpart also hated music. Sally decides to assign Sonic as Mina's personal bodyguard for now, while the other Freedom Fighters keep an eye out at the next night's concert to make sure nothing comes near Mina. Ash isn't pleased at all with Sonic being close to his girl, and stomps off, with a bemused Sonic commenting to Mina that he's pretty sure her boyfriend doesn't like him. Gee, what gave you that idea, Sonic? Sally's caution is warranted, however, as back in New Megaopolis we see Eggman preparing his next plan of attack in the wake of Nack's abysmal failure - he's rebuilt Heavy and Bomb, and is ready to sic them on Mina! Man, it's been a while since we saw those guys, huh? Now that I think about it, after they got reprogrammed by Eggman before, Sonic just kind of straight up killed them when they tried to attack the royal family, and no one seemed upset about it at all. Well, maybe with them back, they'll get a chance to be freed and find redemption… or maybe the writers still don't care and they'll get fridged again. Guess we just gotta wait and see!

Fairy Tale (or the Adventures of Pirate Sally)

Writer: Romy Chacon Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: Josh Ray

Wow, it's been quite some time since we last had a "telling a bedtime story based on real events in the storyline to kids" episode, huh? Apparently, Rosie's three young charges have caught a bad cold, and as she brings them medicine to try to help them sleep they all start begging for her to tell them a story. She's reluctant, claiming she's not good at stories, but relents when they persist in asking. She invents a magical world of pirates and wizards, where the "Elfen Fox" falls onto "Pirate Sally" and "B-Bot's" ship, having had one of his two magical tails stolen by the "Rogue Assassin," who doesn't really live up to her name if all she's doing is going around stealing things. Man, what is it with wildly ineffective assassins this issue? Pirate Sally and B-Bot decide to help out the fox, and along the way meet their new allies Ant the Foole and the Blue Knight, who help them defeat various baddies based on the main villains of the comic's storyline. Finally, they make it to the Evil Wizard Kintobor's lair, whom they fight against as a team and help the Elfen Fox take back his missing tail.

I actually love this story, entirely because of the way the kids just start roasting Rosie's storytelling skills as soon as the whole thing is over. Hey, look on the bright side Rosie - now that they're preoccupied with coming up with a way to fix your terrible story, they won't be pestering you for more anytime soon!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 153 #writer: karl bollers #writer: romy chacon #pencils: ron lim #pencils: art mawhinney #colors: jason jensen #colors: joshua d ray

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4birds-of-a-feather · 4 years

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Chapter 27 - Wonder whose arms will hold you good and tight (when it’s exactly twelve o’clock that night) [part 1]

Birds Of a Feather

(title credits: What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?, Ella Fitzgerald)

Eddie had almost finished his third cigarette when, from the distance, he noticed a silhouette running in his direction while waving its arms around – his lips curled into a smile and, before he had completely crushed the cig under a boot, the person had finally reached him. “I’m so fuckin’ sorry, Ed” Sara managed to mutter, panting like she had just run the New York Marathon “I had to bring The Godfather I and II back – and you know how Video Isle is literally on the other side of town – and then I caught a bus at the last second and also literally threw myself off of it when it didn’t seem to stop at that bus stop over there and-” “Hey, no problem at all: I already bought the tickets for both of us-no, don’t start with all that ‘you didn’t need to buy mine too’ bullshit, I wanted to do it” he stopped her protests, gaining a snort and a scowl from the girl (though her red cheeks and nose didn’t manage to make her look threatening in the least) “I’m sorry you had to go to the trouble of going to another store, sounds like you had quite the Odyssey” “Nah, don’t worry: it was quite good, I also found a couple of movies that I need for an exam and that El hasn’t been able to book for me, so it’s a total win-win” she grinned at him, taking the ticket he was handing to her and suddenly running toward the entrance “Popcorn is on me and that’s mandatory!” The guy shook his head laughing but followed her nonetheless.

************************************************************************************************ Layla was standing in the middle of her room, carefully examining the pile of clothes she had scattered on the bed. “Ok, I gotta make a selection now or I will still be here for the midnight countdown” she sighed and started grabbing and putting stuff back in the closet. “It’s New Year’s Eve so no sad colors… and no pants!” she put away all her pants and jeans, leaving out the skirts. The girl held up her denim mini skirt and let out a brief cackle as she remembered Eddie’s drunk rant about that particular piece of clothing; she shook her head and put the skirt away, then spotted a blue velvet micro dress. “... Jesus, I totally forgot this even existed” she recalled having worn it only twice, and both times it was with her ex boyfriend. The memory immediately made her throw the dress back into the closet, although she told herself the reason was it was a little too skimpy for a house party. “What about this?” Layla was now looking at a red lacey longsleeve, walked over to the mirror and held the top against herself to see if it could go. “Yeah, the color is great! But I’ll need a darker skirt to match” the choice fell on a black leather skirt which was basically the shortest one she owned. “Uhm… will it be too much?” she ended up trying on the skirt over her house clothes “Nuh, not that bad: nude tights and Docs and it’ll go” she clapped her hands and the doorbell rang right at that moment. Layla went to see who it was and didn’t think too much about it. “Hi, guys! Thank you for coming to help setting things up but you didn’t need to show up so early” she excitedly told Mike and Elias, letting them in. “Early? You told us like twenty times to be here at half past five, I even set an alarm! Anyway, very nice choice, you look great” Elias smirked, eyeing the girl from head to toe. Mike couldn’t punch him because his hands were busy carrying a big box full of stuff for the party and instead was about to stomp not so lightly on his foot but Layla was too shocked to be concerned with her Earth Day t-shirt stuck into her skirt and grey track pants underneath. “HALF PAST FIVE?? IS IT HALF PAST FIVE ALREADY?!” she started hyperventilating and bolted into her room, leaving the two guys standing dumbfounded in the hallway. “AND WHERE IS STONE?” she asked her friends as she passed them by again, sprinting into Sara’s – once Jeff’s – room. “He’s parking the car, he’ll be here in a minute… errrrr-where can I put this stuff?” McCready asked, struggling to keep the balance because of the heavy carriage. “Oh! Thank you Mikey, give it to me” Layla came out and snatched the box from the guitarist’s hands, then carried it easily to the kitchen as it weighed nothing, something that made him suddenly feel self-conscious. “I love strong women” Elias remarked and this time Mike was able to slap him on the nape.

************************************************************************************************ “So… no Tom Hagen? He dies before the movie can even start? Just like that?” Ed muttered in disbelief, his mouth half-full with popcorn. “Fuckin’ bullshit, I can’t believe it...” the girl shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose in order to find some patience to endure the outrageous truth “They had the nerve to tell both my second favorite character of the whole saga and Robert Duvall to fuck off! Who let this happen??” “But who’s gonna be the new Consigliere? I mean, he was a brilliant lawyer and has worked with three Dons, how can you substitute someone like-” “I fuckin’ knew that filming this goddamn thing after 15 years would have meant turning everything into a giant pile of shit… Fuck my life” Sara sighed, dejectedly watching Sofia Coppola awkwardly flirting on screen with Andy García “UGH, look at her! She looks constipated, just look at her disgusted expression…! I can’t keep on watching this, who the fuck allowed this casting?!” “... did you seriously just ask me why the director’s daughter was chosen for a part in her father’s movie?”

************************************************************************************************ “The number 1 should be a little more to the left, it’s too close to the 9… Yes, a little bit more… No, too much! Yeah, that’s it, Layla, good” Stone was leaning against the wall in the living room eating popcorn, giving orders to his friends “Elias, would you please stop checking her but-ehm, I mean, holding her ladder? It’s pretty safe, she doesn’t need your help. But those sparkly banners do, they won’t hang up by themselves... And come on Mike, with those balloons! We don’t have the whole day” “Are you kidding me? I’ve been blowing fucking balloons for an hour, I’ll have no breath left by the new year’s countdown!” Mike protested. “Ok, Mikey, don’t get all worked up for nothing. I was just saying that… you could do it a little bit faster maybe, I don’t know” Gossard innocently remarked with a shrug. “FASTER?? WHY DON’T YOU DO WHAT YOU’RE DOING A LITTLE BIT FASTER TOO? OH WAIT, YOU CAN’T, BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT DOING ANYTHING!” Mike blurted out, throwing a deflated balloon towards the other guitarist that missed the target and hit the wall beside him. “Oh oh pleeeease, you had no idea what to do before I arrived... You’d still be unpacking and playing with those party hats if I didn’t come and tell you what to do” Stone chuckled and Mike took a deep breath. “Come on guys, each one of us has a task” Layla tried to calm the two guitarists. “Yeah, Stone’s task is to get on people’s nerves” Elias remarked. “... And Mike’s and Elias’s task was to stick party cones into their noses, right?” Gossard smirked. “Actually, I had them in my ears” Elias pointed out and Layla rolled her eyes and got down from the ladder. “There! What do you think?” the girl looked proudly at the big number-shaped balloons she had just hung on the wall. “Uhm, well…” Mike mumbled something as Elias simply squinted at the decoration. “I think… that I really can’t wait for the Versailles Peace Conference, Jesus!” Stone exclaimed, barely holding back a laugh. “... What?” Layla frowned. “Your eyes are pretty, El, but I think you should put your glasses on” the guitarist kept on teasing her while the other two were shaking with laughters. Layla took the glasses she had left on the kitchen table, put them on and just snorted when she read 1919.

************************************************************************************************ “She’s useless but I love how she’s dressed – the yellow skirt was so pretty too!” Sara gushed over Mary Corleone’s latest outfit, a black tailleur matched with a cute hat of the same shade “... Holy Vittorio De Sica, I’m spending too much time with Maux” “Who’s Maux?” “Just a friend of mine who studies Fashion Design… now please, shut the fuck up because I wanna see if this storyline is heading where I think it’s heading – please, for once in my life I’d really like to be wrong about something” “Hmm-hm, judging from the sultry looks I think they’re almost there” Eddie munched a few popcorn, his grin growing wider when he heard her almost retch. “Oh yes, we Italian people get horny while making pasta together! Look at that chemistry born amongst the flour and-wait a minute, is he sobbing because he’s gettin’ an erection over his cousin??? I’m not watching this, I won’t be an accomplice to this disgust-EW, ABORT!” she covered her eyes but kept on peeping through her fingers, while the guy let out a hearty chuckle. “Didn’t know you guys had such strong bonds with your cousins…” he teased her, laughing even more when she let out a torrent of words that he couldn’t understand but that he knew were the best insults she could muster at that moment. At the end of the projection he had to ask for their translation, he simply had to.

************************************************************************************************ “I’m home!” Jeff yelled as he shut the door with a kick, since he was carrying shopping bags and couldn’t use his hands. “Hi, Jeff!” Layla answered from the living room. She had just arranged the balloon-numbers in the right order and now was laying a red cloth on the large table “Oh, and be careful to the-” She couldn’t even finish the sentence and Ament got caught in the gold foil curtain Mike had just hung over the doorway. “WHAT THE… WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” the bass player struggled to get free and almost let the groceries fall but instead managed to save them and enter the room. “It was Layla’s idea!” Elias raised his hands as he made eye contact with him. “Well, isn’t it nice? A magical entrance to a magical party!” Layla grinned nervously and made a mental note of getting back at him on the first occasion. “Yeah yeah, you know what would be very magical? SOMEONE HELPING ME WITH THESE FUCKING BAGS!” Jeff struggled to reach the kitchen until the girl finally helped him. “Thank you Jeff, you’re the best! Did you find everything?” she asked as she started to pick up the food from the paper bags. “Yeah… pretty much…” “He surely found the most important stuff!” Stone added from outside the kitchen, as he was bringing up beer and wine cases he and Mike had unloaded from Jeff’s truck. “Oh, you took whipped cream too! Good idea, Jeff! I can use it for something last-minute” Layla remarked as she took the can out of the bag. “Thanks but I didn’t do anything, it was on the list” Ament shrugged nonchalantly. “No, it wasn’t” “Yes, it was” he repeated and was about to help her, but the girl started rummaging faster and faster through the bags until she nervously tore the last one off Jeff’s hands. “No no no… tell me it’s a joke” “What the fuck is wrong with you now?” Jeff earned judgemental looks from his friends and corrected himself “Err-I mean, what are you looking for, darling?” “Whipping cream. Where is it?” “It’s right there in front of you” the bass player repeated as he pointed at the same can the girl mentioned before. “No, it’s not. That is whipped cream – I asked you for whipping cream, that’s what I wrote in the list” Layla almost whined. “Isn’t it just the same?” Mike asked, hoping not to start a war with that. “NO! I wanted to make chocolate ganache” she explained as it was the simplest thing in the world. “And… so?” it was Stone who broke the tumbleweed moment of silence. “You can’t make ganache with whipped cream, how will the chocolate melt? You gotta boil whipping cream and add chocolate and butter” “Uhm you… can’t you just microwave chocolate and then, you know, mix it with the whipped cream?” Elias came up with a solution and Jeff could see one of Layla’s eyes starting to nervously twitch. “No. I can’t do that.” she said and everyone took a sigh of relief because they were already expecting the worst reaction. “Do you think you can come up with a different recipe for the cakes, Layla?” Stone asked cautiously “If you can’t, I’m sure Jeff will be glad to go out and buy the right cream for you – right, Jeffrey?” “Fat chance” mumbled his bandmate. “Oh no, it’s freezing out there, I’ll never let you go out again just for that. I’ll think about something else” the girl was now her usually sweet self and just shrugged. <Disaster averted> Mike thought as he went back to help Stone with putting away alcohol in the kitchen. “Jeff, please, since you’re here, would you please move the furniture as I start cooking?” the girl asked him. <He can’t read shopping lists but at least he’s strong> “Why is this my apartment and you’re the one giving all the orders?” he squinted at her and Layla took him by the arm and led him to the middle of the living room. “Jeff, please! Ehm… do you really think I could ask those three?” she whispered and they both looked towards the kitchen, where Elias was spraying whipped cream in his open mouth directly from the can. “... Alright” he nodded and took off his jacket. “I’ll begin with the appetizers, so we can put them on the table and make space here” the girl added, walking back into the kitchen. <Maybe she won’t notice I ate all the bugles on the way home…> the bassist thought as he put his hands on the backrest of the armchair.

************************************************************************************************ “The Italian Communist Party welcoming the Corleones to Sicily with a banner! This is glorious, I’m so glad I didn’t miss it” Sara exclaimed, her sides already hurting because she was laughing too much. “Oh, so now you’re glad you’re watching this mess?” “Ed, you can’t understand: this is simply hysterical, it’s even better than hearing that pathetic excuse they keep on using as Italian languag-like that! Did you hear it? Oh fuck, it was so bad… I just wanna cry” “You sure look like someone who’s enjoying this” “Fake laughter to hide my real pain” she clutched dramatically at her chest, one hand flying towards her face in a gesture of exaggerated discomfort.

************************************************************************************************ “MIKEY! CAN YOU COME HERE, PLEEEASE!” the guys heard Layla call and the girl startled the guitarist right when he was about to grab something to eat from the table. <What the fuck? Did she put cameras?> McCready thought, as he looked up around the living room. “Hahaha, it’s not like she can see you, you dork” Jeff laughed. “Actually, she doesn’t need to see you, she already knows what you were doing” Stone remarks. “Now you’re screwed, man” Elias shook his head and then he happily put a sandwich in his mouth. “MIIIIIKE!” “Why only me and not you?” the guitarist complained as he watched him stuffing his face freely. “Sorry” Elias shrugged and the other two snickered in silence. “ALRIGHT, WHERE ARE YOU, LAYLA?” Mike timidly yelled as he was about to leave the room. “I’M IN MY ROOM, CAN YOU COME HELP ME WITH SOMETHING?” Mike smiled to himself. <Maybe she’s not calling me to scold me for stealing food, but it can be a tactical move… I’d better not let the guard off> “Hey! Maybe I can come help her too now that I-” Elias started to say but Mike put his finger against his mouth. “Sorry!” he exclaimed, then shrugged cheerfully and started to walk across the hallway, up to Layla’s bedroom, where he knocked on the door. “Come in!” the girl let Mike in, then shut the door right behind his back and whispered to the singer “Did you manage to go to the hardware store? You know, to buy those things I asked you?” “Oh! Yes, I did! I had almost forgot, sorry” McCready confirmed. “And you didn’t say or show anything to the guys, right? You know it was a secret, don’t you?” Layla wiggled her brows and he nodded, although he still wasn’t sure what she would need that weird toolkit for. “Sure, I kept it all hidden and slipped the bag into Jeff’s-I mean, Sara’s room as you asked” he replied. “Well done! Thank you, Mikey. You can go back with the guys now” “You’re not gonna kill me for stealing food, then?” “DID YOU STEAL FOOD? Come on, it’s for the party!” the girl’s smile disappeared from her face all of a sudden. “Of course not! I was just kidding! Gotta go now… see what those jerks are up to, you know” Mike left the room both awkwardly and quickly and Layla sighed, then left too and tiptoed to Sara’s room, sneaking in. She looked at the cute and fancy jumpsuit she had picked from Sara’s closet and remembered when she first saw it: Sara had spotted it at a thrift shop where they had gone together and had fallen in love with it instantly. It was ocean blue, sleeveless and with golden decorations embroidered all over it that represented the zodiac signs. It was simply adorable and, seeing her friend doing puppy eyes at the garment, Layla had immediately decided to buy it for her as a present. But Sara hadn’t worn it once yet. <I wanna see my present finally put into good use…> she thought <This is gonna be the perfect occasion> The only problem was: would Sara agree with Layla’s decision? That was why she had Mike buy her something that could give Sara a little push in the right direction…

************************************************************************************************ On screen Mary Corleone had just fallen under the bullets, while her mother’s desperate cries were already filling the air. Sara was about to give a sarcastic comment on Andy García’s monotone shout, when suddenly the first notes of Cavalleria Rusticana started to play; she immediately forgot her previous idea and focused her entire attention on what was happening on screen: Al Pacino was silently screaming into the void – the perfect embodiment of suffering, just like the famous Munch’s painting – and kept on doing it for forty endless seconds, until he let himself collapse on the stairs. She felt a shiver down her spine. Then, just when she had remembered to breath again, the screen erupted with images of Michael Corleone dancing with his daughter, but with Apollonia and Kay too – and all of that melted as she felt some tears rolling down her cheeks. Now Michael was sitting outside, very much older and still reminiscing much happier times of his life, and the crescendo of the music accompanied his fall on the ground – just like his father had once done. By the end of the scene, Sara was sobbing uncontrollably.

************************************************************************************************ The doorbell rang and Stone went to open the door since Jeff was helping Elias with the stereo (that is, Jeff was doing all the work) and Mike was busy in the kitchen with Layla. The girl smartly decided that the best way to keep an eye on him and prevent him from finishing all the food before the party even started was to make him work. “HO HO HO SANTA’S HERE!” a feisty Cornell appeared outside the door, holding a case of beer and waving it around dangerously as if he was ringing a Christmas bell. “Christmas was last week, Chris” Stone smirked and backed away a little from the door. “Oh, did I say Santa? I meant Satan. SATAN’S HERE!” “Hail, Satan! Give it to me” Jeff showed up and took the beer from Cornell’s hands to prevent a disaster, then went to put it in the fridge. “Don’t tell me I’m the first party guest… that’s so… not cool” Chris stated after he tried to enter the living room and got stuck in the middle of the foil curtain, only to be untangled and saved by Elias, who had come to the rescue. “It’s still early! Hi, Chris” Layla came out of the kitchen, cleaning her hands on the apron she had put over her fancy outfit. “I correct myself. That’s a good thing I came early so I can take my time to introduce myself properly to this beautiful piece of princess!” Chris took the girl’s hand and half of his speech was actually mumbled against Layla’s fingers, before he actually kissed her hand in a long romantic gesture. “Err… ok” Layla half smiled, not knowing what to do as she waited to get her hand back. “You may be the first one at this party but I guess you started a party on your own way before” Stone remarked and Jeff chuckled. “Forgive them, honey. They’re like… like… how do you call ‘em? You know, the Flintstones…” Chris kept ranting, keeping Layla’s hands in hostage. “... Cavemen?” Elias suggested. “Cavemen! Exactly! They don’t know the manners” the singer snapped his fingers at the correct answer then gave Layla a drunk smile. “And you know them so well, you use them every single time, right?” the bassist joked. He couldn’t decide what was more funny: Cornell’s intoxicated state or Layla’s awkwardness. He set up for both and went on to enjoy the show. “What the-” the singer frowned but was then interrupted by Mike, who wanted to spare him the embarrassment. “What Jeff and Stone are trying to say is that you already know Miss Boulais here” “Who?” “Layla” Mike repeated. “The girl who must have a desensitized hand by now” Stone added and pointed at the girl in the center of the room. “Oh sorry, darling!” Chris let go of Layla’s hand and then continued, turning to look at the guys and pointing at the girl, as if she couldn’t hear him “Anyway, what the fuck are you talking about?! I’d remember if I had met... such a… a megababe like this before” “I introduced you and Matt to her and her friend, Sara, don’t you remember?” McCready explained. “Another one? Was it a babefest or something?” Cornell kept on whispering in an actually very loud way. “They’re the neighbours… Sara is the one who slapped Jeff in the face after our first show… Layla is her vet friend” Stone added some info to the scenario. “Why do you always have to mention that episode?” Ament whined, rolling his eyes. “Matt did the other time, I’m innocent” Gossard raised his hands laughing at his bandmate’s face. “Yeeeeah! I do remember now! Sorry sweetie, I blame the shots of tequila I did with Kim before leaving, I’d never forget such a glorious slap” the singer took Layla’s hand again and the guys almost simultaneously facepalmed. “Not her! Her friend did!” Elias pointed out. “Oh! Sorry, well, you know, tequila and everything... what I said before... But where the fuck is Kim? How long do you take to find a fuckin’ parking place in this fuckin’ neighborhood...” Chris kept ranting as he made his way to the window and left the girl dumbfounded in the middle of the room, as the other three guys were doubled over with laughter.

************************************************************************************************

“So…” Ed cleared his throat, hands shoved inside the pockets of the jacket “Want to talk about it?” Sara, still feeling wobbly on her feet, shot him an icy glare and grunted: “Talk about what?” “About what happened back there… I-I’ve never seen anyone before having such a strong reaction to-” “There’s a first time for everything, I suppose” she sniffled, careful to avoid his inquisitive glance. “Yeah, but you surely can agree with me that this whole ordeal is a bit too much; I mean, don’t misunderstand me, I don’t wanna sound patronizing but-” he let out a long sigh “You know you can talk to me, right?” “We’ve met two months ago, I don’t see how you could be the right person for all this hypothetical venting I’m supposed to do” the girl retorted, picking up the pace like she wanted to lose him. “And that’s where you’re wrong, because you and me – we have the same trauma” Sara turned around abruptly: “I don’t have any fuckin’ trauma! Don’t try to psychoanalyze me or project your own bullshit on me just because you’re fucked up and it makes you feel better, I won’t be your accompl-” she roared, but stopped when the guy took her by the wrist. “... I know what it means to lose a loved one” In response, the girl looked at him with wide eyes full of tears, then yanked herself free and started to run. “Hey! HEY! WAIT!” Eddie immediately followed her, cursing his big mouth “What the fuck’s wrong with me? Was it really necessary to push her like that?!” He saw her taking a couple of turns and ending in a small alley, where he almost bumped into her; she was leaning against the wall, with her hands supporting her and the knees a bit bent. Her breath was short and, at first, he thought it was because of that impromptu marathon she had just finished to run, but he quickly realized that something else was going on. “Hey…” he croaked, trying to speak as softly as he could “You okay?” “Just peachy” she managed to mutter, between a ragged breath and another “This is routine, nothing to wrap your pretty little brain around” “Routine?” “Look,” the girl finally looked at him, her face oddly pale “I just have a heart murmur – some congenital shit, okay? That’s fine, I just have to live with this… it’s no big deal, really” Eddie felt a wave of sympathy towards her, and hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder; she was still shaking and, when he touched her, she startled, though she quickly regained a bit of composure. “Sara… that’s not a heart murmur – or, at least, it’s not just that” “And what the fuck is this supposed to mean, huh? Are you majoring in Medicine, Doc? Did you suddenly develop an interest in cardiovascular diseases? What the-” “You’re having a panic attack” Ed interrupted her, mildly squeezing her shoulder “And quite a serious one, I must add” “You mustn’t, chief” she hissed back, shaking his hand off and wobbling towards the main street “I’m heading back home, El is going to have a fit if I’m not in time for the party” “Since when are you having these crisis, Sara?” “I told ya, it’s congenital – I was born with this, it runs in the famil-”“I meant the panic attacks” “... That’s not what they are” she stubbornly quickened her pace, not wanting to hear him blabber around like the clever meddler he was. “I think you should see someone – talk to somebody, maybe they can also prescribe something that could help you… It’s unnatural living like that, you don’t have to do this to yourself” “I’m not going to see a shrink, case closed” the girl cut short “Now lemme go home and do me the favor of keeping your big mouth shut… oh, and also-” “I will arrive at the apartment 10 minutes later than you, so anybody won’t suspect we have spent the afternoon together, I get it” “... you’d better do that” she gave him a last icy glance and turned around, disappearing among the crowd. Eddie sighed: he hadn’t offered to accompany her back because he knew she would have refused but, seeing how much she was still shaking, he was already regretting his decision.

#Eddie Vedder #Jeff Ament #Eddie Vedder fanfiction #Pearl Jam fanfiction #grunge fanfiction #Jeff Ament fanfiction #Birds of a Feather #chapters

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princess-cordelias-writingblog · 6 years

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YOUR DARK SIDE. (Void!Stiles x Reader)

A/N: THIS IS SICK (that gif makes me sweat jfc) Also, I changed a lot but I don’t think I need to tell you that bc is not really important lmao. I split this into several parts, 1 bc I haven’t had time to write more and I don’t actually know how to get to the end of this and 2 it is very long compared to my other writings, @all-alone-he-turns-to-stone @sarcxstic-stilinski thought you guys might wanna read this <3

This is for @roseringleader13 hope you like this part. <3

Words: 2,196

Warning: NOT A HAPPY STORYLINE. This whole plot is kinda about an abusive relationship?? between Void and reader? beware, the reader might have a suicidal wish and low self-esteem. Pretty much obsessed with the boy lmao.

Listen to me.

Part I / Pt. II / Pt.III / Pt.IV

How much pain are you willing to stand for someone?

I’m a good person, I have good grades and always listen to what my mom says, I help my friends when they’re in trouble and I’ve never talked shit about a person in my life. Until now.

My friends and I fight against supernatural things all the time, everything that was always there to cause us pain and terror was defeated at some point, we stuck together through thick and thin, and that was all that matters.

You may have noticed how I keep saying “we”. I’m not exactly talking about my friends, I’m really only talking about him. This guy has been my friend since the very beginning; we are as close as my awkwardness allows, but the problem is that I’m in love with Stiles and I have no interest in being just a friend.

I can’t recall when I started to have these feelings for him, I know that at some point I saw him in the hall and the “Holy shit, He’s beautiful” hit me with no prior notice, but to say that I can remember exactly how I fell in love?, I can’t.

However, the sudden realization of my true feelings for the boy didn’t scare me away, in fact, they were keeping me close, holding me tight beside him and never breaking the contact, hoping that we would be together at the end.

“Hi there, y/n/n,” Stiles sat at the girl’s side, nudging her teasingly

“How’s life?”

“Good, what about you?” The girl slid closer to him, very aware of how her cheeks flushed.

“I- uh, I haven’t slept well recently,” He sighed “I’m tired, and having trouble concentrating at school and stuff.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” Y/N frowned.

“I’m aware of that” Stiles replied drily “Look, I’ll be fine I just need a few good hours of sleep and then I’ll be as good as always.”

“Why don’t you go see a doctor?”

“There’s no need, I promise I’m fine”

“Stiles, you can’t know that. What’s wrong with looking for a professional opinion anyway?” Her hand automatically reached for his, which he accepted, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb.

“Y/N...” He mumbled tiredly.

“She’s right though,” Lydia said, glancing up from her phone “You have no way to know that whatever is happening to you is just from lack of sleep, it could be something more.”

Stiles shifted awkwardly in his chair, biting his lip, Y/N wished they were the only ones on that table so no one could interrupt them.

“If you really think I should... I guess it’ll be okay”

And there it was, the real problem. Stiles’ undying love for Lydia Martin. At this point, I should’ve moved on and found a cute guy with good intentions and a huge heart, unfortunately, that was all he was. The sweet boy Stilinski, always there for everyone, the hero of every story. The feeling of having him so close yet so far was unbearable, I had a plan too just like he had one for Lydia. A three-year-long plan in which Stiles was going to notice me and figured on his own how significant I was in his life, by the time we were going to be on Senior year he’d be utterly in love.

I admit I started to grow bitter, the grudge I held against both of them wasn’t healthy and it wasn’t fair for either of them. I was being childish and stupid, they were my friends!; I found myself holding back from rolling my eyes everytime Stiles stared at the girl when he was talking with me, and clenching my fists whenever she said something remotely nice to him. There was this dark, heavy thing growing bigger and bigger with each passing day, consuming my heart, my rage was starting to be completely out of control.

Lydia was everything I couldn’t. Brave, smart, beautiful... I couldn’t compete with her. I didn’t want to.

We soon figured what was wrong with Stiles.

“An evil fox?” Y/N said, not able to believe it “Are you telling me that Stiles is being possessed by the evil spirit of a fox?”

“This is not funny Y/N, Stiles could die” Lydia scolded “don’t you care about what could happen to him?”

“I care more than you know” She growled, the smile disappearing completely of her face “You know I’d do anything to keep him safe.”

“And yet you’re not doing anything to find him.” Isaac mumbled.

Before they got the chance to get into an argument, Scott stopped them.

“The plan is to bring him back before it’s too late, Stiles has been holding on for too long, at this point is very likely that the Nogitsune has more power over him.”

“Yeah but if I find him, How am I supposed to stop him? I, a seventeen-year-old girl, whose only supernatural power is the will to stand all this bullshit” Y/N’s comment was not well received by her friends, that groaned in exasperation.

“Just be sure to have a way to contact us in case you find something helpful,” Scott grabbed his own phone and walked out of the room, Lydia following behind, giving her an apologetic smile.

“Ugh, fuck off,” Y/N thought, not in the mood to accept Lydia’s kindness.

What did Lydia have that she didn’t? What made her worthy of his heart, or what made me her unattractive to him, Y/N was so tired of being ignored, she was exhausted to see all her or so call “friends”, treating her like she was an inconvenience. The little human who was not even good at research like Stiles was, Y/N held her breath and count to ten, her blood boiling with impotence.

It was getting darker and still no sign of Stiles. I entered every abandoned building I could find, I looked around the forest and in my last attempt, I even checked his house in case he had a glint of sanity and decided to go back, but there was nothing.

I went home feeling defeated, just thinking about what could possibly be happening to Stiles in that very same moment gave me goosebumps, I was hoping that Scott could find him fast when I found him in my living room.

“Stiles! Where the fuck have you been?” Y/N dropped her bag and stood there in shock, “I’ve been worried sick, you disappeared and we thought you died!”

“Well, I can assure you I’m not dead” He looked like shit, dark circles under his eyes and dry lips, Y/N was surprised he could stay conscious “I need your help, Y/N/N”

The light in the room flickered when Stiles walked slowly to where the girl was, he looked at her up and down and licked his lips, the broken expression soon turning into a small, dark smile.

Suddenly realizing what was happening, she let him walk until they were face to face, knowing it wasn’t good but so terrified she couldn’t move a muscle to save her life.

“You’re not Stiles” she whispered in anger “You’re the other thing... Void.”

“Hi there,” He replied in a calm voice, looking at her hungrily “I’ve been waiting to officially meet you for too long”

“You’re despicable” Y/N had the urge to run to the opposite side, but she was so angry with this thing possessing the boy she loved that her emotions took control on her actions. “Why are you here?”

“Because of you.” He said, voice clear and intimidating.

“Y-you what?”

Time seemed to stop when he took a final step, his face so close now she could see the darkness in his eyes. “I’ve been feeding of this boy for so long, and I’ve been able to see his life, all the people around him, so many accidents and death surrounding this kid that it was impossible for me not to want him, but you, you’re something else.”

“I know your heart,” He whispered seductively “I can see you love this boy and want desperately to have him just for you,” He tilted his head and pulled her closer, his face buried in her neck. Being able to perceive the dark feelings coming out of the girl, he moaned “I’m starving Y/N, and your anger is overwhelming... I’m sure we could get to an agreement”

Y/N wanted to scream, she wanted to kick and punch and bite as much as she could until Scott finally appeared kicking down the door or something heroic as hell like he used to, her heart was pounding against her chest and Stiles had such a tight hold on her neck she was sure it could break it in a second.

“Let me go!” She grabbed his wrist and tried to get him off herself, but it was useless.”Stiles!”

“I’m not Stiles!” He snarled, grip becoming tighter “You think you have any chance to fight against me? you’ll die as soon as you try to escape and you know it.”

“You won’t kill me, I-I’m his friend” Y/N choked out “He would never hurt me”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” He said, grabbing her waist with his free hand and smiling wickedly “he doesn’t care.”

“You’re lying” The girl tried to push him in a desperate attempt to make him trip, but Void was faster, he slammed her against the wall, the pain stunned her enough for him to take her to her room with no objections.

“Why would I?” He replied, “I’m in control now, but he can hear and see everything as well, he knows your feelings and is disgusted by them.”

Her heart shattered at his words, of course she had always known that Stiles didn’t like her back, but being actually disgusted? that was enough to make her want to erase herself from existence.

“You’re free to think he’s fighting against this, but he’s not” He closed the door and pushed her against it, rubbing her cheek “it’s such a shame that you’re wasted like this, living in the shadows of a boy who is not interested in having you.”

“Please” Y/N begged, she didn’t want to hear anything else, it was too cruel.

“I’m giving you an option, dove” He licked his lips anxiously “you’ll never have what you want, he’s too out of your reach. I however am willing to let you have him if you give me what I want.”

“I-I don’t understand...”

“Let me take all that darkness in you, and you'll have Stiles for you and only for you, of course, you will not be able to talk to him or feel his presence since I’m the one in charge now, but- look at me, Y/N” He grabbed her face aggressively, forcing her to see the face of the boy she loved, now completely different from what she remembered “this is all you got.”

“He’s right,” Y/N thought.

Stiles didn’t love her, didn’t want her around, even after all those times when she tried to convince him that she was the right choice, even after she was the one he called when things got complicated, Stiles simply couldn’t see it, he didn’t want to see.

And Y/N loved him so much, so desperately, that she found herself sinking in despair, knowing that her only wish in life was never going to happen, it destroyed her, the last remnants of her sanity finally disappearing.

“If I help you... Will I die?”

Void’s smile grew wider, his eyes with a wild glint that she couldn’t ignore, making her shudder.

“I need you to feed me, the boy is too weak now... we need you, you want to take care of him, this is how you’ll do it” He put a stray of hair behind her ear “which means, I can’t kill you.”

“What’s gonna happen to Stiles?” Y/N felt herself drowning in empty lies, but it felt so good to have Stiles like this, so close to her body.

“I’ll leave his body eventually.” He seemed to be hiding something important, but at that point, Y/N didn’t mind.

What things would you do to be with the person you love?

She looked into those honey brown eyes, and soon enough she realized there was something missing, but she also noticed that this was the first time Stiles looked at her with such intensity, and her mind went blank. Drunk with his scent and proximity, she nodded, one last tear falling down her face.

“Good girl” Void whispered.

Before she could react, Void grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her fiercely, dominating every movement and making very clear who was in charge. While Void kissed her, she felt as if she was being drained, a strange emptiness taking over her body, but at the same time, the overwhelming sensation of having Stiles’ lips on her own, was enough to distract her from any possible danger.

Things were about to go worse than expected.

#void stiles revolution #teen wolf imagine #stiles x reader #void stiles fic #My writing

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unfolded73 · 7 years

Text

The Nonlinear Property of Time (1/4)

A Season 7 AU story with time travel. Eventual Explicit rating; this part rated G.

This fic is dedicated to @allrightfine -- you finally wore me down.

A few important notes:

1. I came up with this fic before 7x02 aired based on a lot of the speculation going on in fandom, and even after it was no longer consistent with canon, I couldn’t resist writing it. It just became more involved to fully describe the time travel scenario. Anyway, the point is Wish Hook isn’t in this. But that does not mean I’m anti-Wish Hook -- surprisingly, I’m pretty psyched for that story now. So please don’t compliment this fic by slamming that character and his storyline, because I don’t really want to see that.

2. This story is going to eventually have a present-Killian/future-Killian/Emma threeway. If that’s not your thing, this fic might not be for you, and that’s okay!

3. This whole scenario turned out to be way more angsty than I anticipated going in. (No wonder the Doctor is such a big mope.) Which I love but also it makes me glad this isn’t what happened canon.

Hyperion Heights, Present Day

The curse broke with a kiss, as these things so often do.

Killian blinked away the prismatic flash and gasped as centuries of memories crashed into his mind in a millisecond. Henry (gods, his stepson) and Jacinda’s lips parted, and he could tell that it was hitting them too, the fact that they’d fallen in love years ago in another realm, the fact that Lucy really was Henry’s daughter after all, just as she’d been telling them all along. Killian sat down heavily on the chair behind him and put his head in his hands while everyone else enjoyed a happy reunion.

He struggled to put the pieces of his life together in his mind, but he had lived so many years, it was like a 5000 piece puzzle had just been dumped out on a table in front of him. Fragments of memories flashed before his eyes: Smee clapping him on the shoulder, Liam issuing a command from the helm of the Jewel, his father hitting him hard enough to knock him to the floor, Milah laughing over a dice game, crossing dulled practice swords with a younger Henry, waking up in bed with his wife. Emma. He gasped as his worst fear struck him. Emma was back in Storybrooke, and he wasn’t with her.

“Grandma!” he heard Lucy say, and he looked up to see her run into Regina’s arms. The touching sight brought to mind more recent years in the realm where Henry and Cinderella’s story had begun, years when he had longed for Emma and yet somehow had not been worried that she was alone. Shaking his head in confusion, he struggled to remember when he’d left Storybrooke, and why.

Then it hit him, and if he hadn’t already been sitting he probably would have collapsed. The other him. He could remember coming to Henry’s rescue and being confronted with another version of himself.

“Do you remember?”

Killian looked up to see Henry had come over to check on him.

“It’s… I fear my memories are playing tricks on me, lad.” His voice was hoarse.

“Yeah, you told us that you would have trouble piecing it together, right before it was time for you to go back to Storybrooke.” He smirked. “Rude of your future self not to mention that we were all going to get cursed, though.”

“That… that was real? I met myself… from the future?”

Henry nodded, his eyes full of compassion, and sat down next to him. “It was real. A decade ago, you and my moms came through a portal because I needed help, and…” He paused, his eyes closing briefly as something like guilt washed over his face. “And then not long after, future you showed up and told all of us that he would have to return to Storybrooke with Emma, while present you would have to stay here.”

“Why? I haven’t seen my wife in ten years just because of some…”

“Time travel paradox? I know.” Henry’s hand settled on Killian’s back in a comforting gesture. “But if you hadn’t been with us… Remember when Lucy was born? It took everything you and Regina had to keep us safe. I’ll… I’ll never be able to repay you for everything you sacrificed for us.” Killian’s eyes followed Henry’s gaze over to Jacinda and Lucy.

“Repayment doesn’t enter into it when it’s family.” He could remember a little more now — could remember the certainty that he would willingly sacrifice anything for Henry’s safety, even his happy ending with Emma — but much of it was still fuzzy.

“So how do you get back to Mom?” Henry asked.

Killian clenched his jaw, still feeling anxious even though he remembered now that if things went according to plan, Emma wouldn’t have to be without him the way he’d been without her. “I haven’t the foggiest.”

“Well, we should probably talk to Grandpa, then.”

“I assume you mean Rumpelstiltskin and not Charming,” Killian said, even as he was internally reeling once again. All of that time he’d spent with Weaver, not knowing what he really was. What their history really was. It was enough to drive a person completely mad.

“Yeah.” Henry looked over at his family again, his expression full of longing. It was obvious that he was torn between his desire to reconnect with his wife and child and an obligation to help his stepfather reunite with his own family.

“Go be with them,” Killian said. “I’ll find the Crocodile.”

“Wow, I haven’t heard you call him that in a while.” Henry’s face once more swam with guilt. “I can come with you; it’s the least I can do.”

Killian shook his head firmly. “You need to be with your wife and daughter right now.” He clapped his stepson on the back. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Okay, just… don’t do any time traveling without saying goodbye, all right?”

“I won’t, my boy.”

“I haven’t heard you call me that in a while either,” Henry said with a smile. “I missed it.”

~*~

“I wondered when you’d turn up,” Rumple said, sitting at the bar and swirling dark liquor in a glass. A half-full bottle of whiskey sat at his side.

Killian walked forward. “Why am I not surprised you broke into Roni’s when it was closed?”

“I don’t think Regina will mind.” He tipped the remaining contents of his glass into his mouth. “Join me for a drink?”

“I’ll pass, thanks all the same.”

Rumple spun around on his barstool and regarded him impassively. “Ah yes, I suppose you’ve got no time to waste, eh? You’ve got a time loop to close.”

“I was hoping you would know something about that, Dark One. How do I do it? How do I get back in time to meet Emma when we came through the portal to help Henry all those years ago?”

Rumple’s eyes widened, and then he threw back his head and laughed.

Killian felt a sharp pain in his jaw as he clenched it. “What’s so bloody funny?”

Just as quickly as he had laughed, Rumple’s face dropped back into a sneer. “What’s funny is that you somehow stumbled into a way to not be separated from your wife and to help your stepson simultaneously, and you don’t even know how you did it. If that’s not textbook Captain Hook, then I don’t know what is.”

“Are you implying that my life has been easy?” Killian said, narrowing his eyes and clenching his fist.

“I’m implying that you’re far too stupid to have lived as long as you have.” He turned back to the bar and refilled his glass. “In any case, I haven’t the slightest idea how you traveled in time in the first place, only that you did. I locked off Storybrooke, and lo and behold there was one Captain Hook there, and one in the realm where Henry met his bride. As if one of you weren’t more than enough.”

“What do you mean, you locked off Storybrooke?” Killian said, stepping up to the bar next to his old enemy.

Rumple raised an eyebrow at him. “This curse really scrambled your brain, didn’t it, old man? Or was it existing in two places in this realm at once that did it? In any case, yes, when I realized the dark power that was rising, thanks mostly to my grandson’s taste in women, I locked Storybrooke off. No portal passage, no mirror messages, no magical sea shell telephone calls, nothing. Not until that dark power was defeated.”

Killian slammed his fist down on the bar. “So the reason I’ve had no contact with my wife in a decade is because of you?”

“I’m fairly certain you are the architect of your separation from your wife. And if I hadn’t protected Storybrooke, then everyone you know and love there would have been destroyed. So you’re welcome. Not to mention, every moment you and your future self exist in the same realm destabilizes the universe. It’s a miracle you didn’t cause a paradox that resulted in everything just winking out of existence. But yes, by all means, blame me.”

“I apologize,” Killian forced himself to say, his throat constricting as if to keep the words in.

“You aren’t the only one with a family in Storybrooke. And unlike you, I don’t get to travel back in time and experience all the things with my son that I missed.” Rumple blinked balefully at him.

Killian felt sudden sympathy for the Crocodile, which was a foreign emotion when it came to this man. “You could come with me.”

His glass slamming on the table, Rumple stood up. “No, I can’t. I can’t, because I didn’t. Don’t you get it? You being in Storybrooke for the last few years may be in your future, but it’s in my past. I can’t be there because I wasn’t there.”

Running his hand over his face in frustration, Killian exhaled sharply. “Well, I can’t be there either if I don’t figure out how it works.”

“And that will create a paradox that will tear apart the realm. You must have left yourself a message. Instructions. A magical object. Think. Is there something in your apartment here in Seattle? Something you couldn’t identify while you were cursed?”

He thought about the sad little place that Detective Rogers had called his home. “No, nothing.”

“Here you are, finally,” Zelena proclaimed as she marched through the door. “I’ve been looking all over for this place.” Regina was following close behind her. “Imagine my surprise, running into my sister on the street and finding out she owns a bar!”

“I was cursed,” Regina muttered, glaring at the two men. “You’re gonna pay for what you drank.”

“Since when does the Evil Queen care about a little bit of cheap booze?” Rumple said.

“Can we focus, please?” Zelena interrupted. “Hook, I have something for you.” She held out a wooden box that sparked a memory of the Jolly Roger. He could almost smell the salt air, looking at that box.

“Where did you get that?”

“You gave it to me in Storybrooke. Along with a date and a location: Roni’s bar, in a little neighborhood called Hyperion Heights in Seattle, Washington. Robyn and I decided to make a cross-country road trip out of it. I have to say, Mount Rushmore was a bit of a let-down. Too many dicks on the dance floor.”

“Zelena, can you please get on with explaining what brought you here?” Regina said.

“There’s not much else to tell.” She took a deep breath. “Hook came to me several weeks ago in Storybrooke. He had this box, which was locked, and asked me to bring it 3000 miles and deliver it right here, right now. Said that the fate of his family and possibly the entire realm depended on me doing this.” She squinted at Killian. “So are you a clone? An alternate universe version of yourself? Or did you take an airplane here just to fuck with me?”

“He’s the same person, just earlier in his timeline than the one who gave you that box in Storybrooke,” Rumple supplied.

“Ah, that explains the other thing you told me, which was that when I got to Seattle, I was not reveal anything about Emma or… anyone else in town. I suppose you were afraid it would muck up the timeline if you knew too much.”

“Can you unlock the box?” Regina asked him.

“It's keyed to my hook, which I don't have,” he said, looking down at the functional prosthetic hand he'd worn when he thought his name was Rogers. “Oh, right, I have that too,” Zelena said, snapping her fingers and reaching into her handbag. She rooted around for a minute before finally producing the shiny metal appendage. Taking the hook from Zelena, Killian turned it around and slid the key in the base of it into the keyhole on the chest. Giving it a ninety-degree turn, the lock clicked open.

“That’s a handy trick,” Zelena commented as he opened the lid.

Everyone peered inside.

“Is that the Black Fairy’s wand?” Regina reached in and took it out.

“That it is,” Rumple said darkly, staring at it. “Taken out of my shop, I’d wager.”

Killian was already reading the instructions that were also in the box, written out in his own careful handwriting. “You’re welcome to keep it, once it gets me where I need to go,” he said, his eyes on the page. Once he’d digested the directions, he passed them over to Regina to read. “Think you can handle it?” he asked her once she’d also read them.

“Shouldn’t be a problem.” She eyed him. “How much do you remember about that day you’re returning to?”

“Almost nothing. It’s like…” He tried to remember it again, tried to force his mind to go back and imagine it, facing another copy of himself, and he squeezed his eyes shut at a sharp pain in his forehead. “It’s like every time I try to think about it, my mind slides away. Trying to force myself to remember makes my head hurt.”

“Probably a side effect of time travel. Or of meeting yourself. It’ll be interesting to see how your mind processes it once you’ve experienced it from the other side,” Regina said, her curiosity clearly piqued.

“Well, I suppose you can ask me yourself, if you’re going back to Storybrooke,” he said to her.

She didn’t respond to that, consulting the spell instructions again. “Are you ready to do this?”

“I need to see Henry again first,” he said, his heart pounding in his chest. “I won’t be able to see any of you for a long, long time, and…” He could hardly process what he was feeling, impatience about finally being with his wife again but a deep sadness that he’d be saying goodbye to his stepson.

“Call him,” Regina said, her eyes full of sympathy. “We can wait.”

Henry came barreling through the door of the bar only a few minutes later with Lucy on his heels.

“It’s time?” he asked Killian.

“Yeah.” Killian pulled Henry into a hug, squeezing as hard as he could. “I’m going to miss you, son.”

“You’ll see me in the past, before you return to Storybrooke with Emma. As I recall, it takes a day or so for the portal to Storybrooke to reopen.”

Killian digested that information. He honestly couldn’t recall what had occurred on that day. “I’ll need to keep my distance, though, lest I reveal anything about your future,” he said, tilting his head down toward Lucy.

“Good point,” Henry conceded.

“Will you bring the family to Storybrooke soon? Your mother will have been missing you terribly. And she’ll want to meet your family.”

“I promise, I’ll see you soon,” Henry said, his voice raspy from barely restrained tears.

“Bye, Grandpa,” Lucy said, and Killian bent down to hug her.

“Bye, Petal,” he said, the nickname he had for her prior to the curse coming easily to his tongue. “From your perspective, you’ll see me again in no time.”

“Finally I’ll get to visit Storybrooke!” she said excitedly, looking up at her dad. “And I’ll get to meet my aunt or uncle, right?” she said.

At the mention of his own child, Killian turned to look at Zelena, but she turned purposefully away. He wasn’t going to get even a hint about his future out of her, it seemed. “After I’ve gone, Zelena can tell you if it’s an aunt or an uncle,” he said cheerfully to Lucy, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him that it might be neither. Emma had only been a few weeks pregnant, and any number of tragedies might have befallen his family. There might not be a child at all. He wanted to grab hold of Zelena and shake her until she at least told him if his baby had been born. Instead, he gave his granddaughter a kiss on the cheek and stood up.

“I’m ready, Regina.”

~*~

Storybrooke, Years Ago

“I’m afraid to tell people,” Emma whispered, her chilled hand resting against the open V of his shirt. She kept her eyes trained on the flames dancing in the fireplace. Killian reached down and adjusted the afghan over their legs with his hook while he pulled Emma closer with the arm wrapped around her. He returned his hand to stroking her hair. “We don't have to tell anyone until you’re ready, my love.” “I have a feeling it’ll be obvious way before I’m ready.” To him, it was obvious already. He’d seen the small swell of her belly that morning as she stood before the closet in her underwear, and the sight had been so arresting, it had made him stumble over his own feet. “I just know the minute I tell people, something will go wrong,” Emma sighed. “Nothing will go wrong. The doctor said everything is fine.” “She said that last time too. A few weeks later…” Emma didn’t have to remind him what had happened a few weeks later. The way she’d started to bleed, and how by the time he’d gotten her to the hospital, there was so much blood that Killian had been terrified he’d lose them both. But Emma hadn’t been in any danger, the doctor had told them, even as she had broken the terrible news that the pregnancy was over. These sorts of miscarriages likely indicate that something was wrong with the fetus, she’d said. This is a common occurrence, and it doesn’t mean you won’t get pregnant again and have a healthy baby.

But it had taken them so long to conceive in the first place, and as Emma had sobbed into his chest that night, she’d expressed the fear that was in his own heart: that they weren’t meant to have a child of their own. Seven months later there was another positive pregnancy test, and a tentative, terrified hopefulness bloomed between them as they contemplated the future. “Everything's going to be fine, love.” He ran the flat of his hook over her abdomen. “We're going to have a baby.” “Yeah.” Emma sighed heavily. “I just—” There was a knock on the door. Killian looked over his shoulder and glared at the painted wood, wondering who was disturbing their peaceful evening, while his wife untangled herself from him to go and open the door. “Henry needs us,” Regina said without preamble, marching into the room with little concern for niceties. “What do you mean?” Emma asked. “He sent one of your bottle messages.” She pulled the clear, glass bottle out of her purse and uncapped it. “Help, I’ve been captured by Lady Tremaine,” Henry’s voice projected from the bottle clearly. “Send Emma, Regina, and Captain Hook!” Emma was already reaching for her jacket. “You stay, love. Regina and I can go.” He opened an end table drawer and pulled out two iridescent beans, tucking one in his pocket for later. At least eight others were nestled in the drawer. Once nearly impossible to come by, the restored crop of magic beans was finally flourishing, and he had collected a nice cache of the tiny passports that allowed them to cross realms. “Why wouldn’t Emma go?” Regina said indignantly. Killian met his wife’s eyes, trying to think of an excuse, but Emma just rolled her eyes.

“I’m pregnant, and Killian’s being overprotective,” she explained. “Because of the miscarriage.”

Regina’s eyes softened; she’d been a surprising source of comfort (albeit her own brand of pragmatic, analytical comfort) when they’d lost the baby. “That’s wonderful, Emma.”

“We don’t know what we’re getting ourselves into in Henry’s realm,” Killian said.

“All the more reason to go in with as much firepower as we can,” Emma replied.

“Regina and I can handle it.” The thought of his wife rushing into danger right now made him sick to his stomach. “If I don’t have to worry about you, then I can focus on Henry. Please, love.”

Emma groaned. “Way to guilt trip me. Okay, fine. But hurry, please?”

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m sure we’ll make all haste, darling.”

“Just don’t tell Henry yet, okay? Especially about… you know. What we’ve gone through. I don’t want him worrying and rushing back here just for me.”

“He’ll want to know he’s going to have a sibling, Emma,” Regina pointed out.

“I know, but I’m not ready to tell him yet.”

“I promise, not a word to Henry,” Killian said, cutting off any further protestation from Regina as he went to stand beside her, hastily buckling on his sword belt. “Are you ready?”

“Don’t open a portal in here,” Emma said, collapsing on the sofa and covering herself up with the afghan again. “It’ll blow everything around and make a mess. “Go out in the yard. And be careful! And tell Henry I love him!”

~*~

A Fairy Tale Realm, Years Ago

“I still think it’s a mistake, not telling him the truth about why Emma didn’t come with us,” Regina murmured to him as they followed Henry through the forest to his cottage.

“She’s feeling superstitious about it. As you recall, it wasn’t long after we’d announced the pregnancy to everyone that she lost the baby. She just hated…” He scraped his hook against a tree trunk. He wasn’t sure if he’d need to find his way back to the location where their portal had opened up, but he wasn’t taking any chances. “She hated people looking at her with pity. That’s why she valued your friendship during that time so much. You didn’t look at her that way.”

“That’s just my cold, standoffish nature,” Regina said with a sardonic smirk.

Killian chuckled. “Whatever the reason, she found it helpful.”

They moved in silence for a while. “So…” Regina drawled. “Henry’s fallen in love with another version of Cinderella?”

“Looks that way.” He scraped a mark in another tree trunk.

“I’m not sure I approve.”

“I’m not sure your approval matters, love. He’s a man grown, leading his own life.”

“I don’t approve of that either,” she said with another smirk, “especially in a realm without modern contraceptives.”

“Do I need to have a man-to-man talk with him about potions now? And here I thought I’d finished with all of that.”

Regina laughed, causing Henry to turn around and glance at them. She lowered her voice again and whispered. “You’re having a baby, remember? You’re starting it all over again. Perhaps with a daughter this time.”

Killian groaned.

“Here it is,” Henry called as he broke through into a clearing up ahead. “Home, sweet home.”

Regina and Killian emerged to see a small, rather run-down hovel. ‘Modest’ was probably the most charitable way it could be described.

“It’s… nice,” Regina said, visibly trying not to recoil.

“Come on in, I’ll get you something to drink and we can talk about what to do next.”

Before they could act on his invitation, a spinning golden portal opened up in the clearing, and Emma Swan rushed through it, her hair in disarray and her red jacket askew on her shoulders.

“Sorry, I couldn’t wait,” she said as the portal closed, and looked at Henry. “Oh my God, you’re so tall!” She ran into his arms.

“Mom!” Henry said, grinning widely and hugging her back. “I thought you were fighting a swarm of tiny dragons.”

Emma pulled away and eyed Killian. “Is that what you came up with? No, Killian wanted me to rest and I thought I could, but I had to see you.”

“Why did you need to rest, are you okay?” Henry asked.

“Yeah, I’m great.” She glanced at Killian and Regina, then back at her son. “I’m pregnant.”

“Oh, Mom, that’s fantastic news!” He hugged her again and then glared at Killian. “You weren’t going to tell me this?”

“Emma asked me not to!” he protested.

“Sorry, sorry, I did,” Emma admitted. “We’re not telling people yet, but…” she paused, giving her son a grinning shrug. “I missed you, kid.”

“I missed you, too.”

Before they could hug each other again, or go inside Henry’s hovel for a drink, or strategize about how to handle Lady Tremaine, another portal opened.

And another Hook stepped out of it.

Chapter 2

#cs ff #captain swan ff #ouat s7 #s7 au ff #hooked queen friendship #captain cobra #tw: miscarriage mentions

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