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papercorgiworld · 3 months

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The Death Eater Drabbles IV

“This is your second chance, here with me.”

Mattheo, Theo, Enzo, Draco and Blaise

Unspoken feelings can no longer be denied and choices must be made.

You don’t have to read part one, two or three, but it’ll make more sense if you do.

Warning: nope, just some angst and fluff

Personally, I like this one, because there’s so much emotion. This part can be seen as the end of the Death Eater Drabbles or as some kind of season finale, I haven’t decided yet. As always happy readings and feedback is very welcome.

Neither of you would act on it, but you could both feel it in your bones. You loved one another. There was no escaping it. It was in every look, in every silence in every touch. Each morning you would wonder if today was the day you would finally admit the obvious.

What neither of you knew, was that today was your last chance to say it.

“Here you go.” He says holding a warm cup and walking towards you, making you look up from your book. Suddenly you hear the door slam open, but before you can even recognise his voice Harry has already cast a spell that slams the slytherin into the wall. Hermoine follows quickly, binding his hands with one flick of her wand. Harry picks him from the ground holding him by the collar of his shirt. “You better hope Luna’s alive or this will be your last day!” With one harsh move Harry pushes him towards the door. You watch the scene unfold, eyes filled with horror.

Mattheo

Panic shoots through your body and you take a step between Mattheo and your friends. “What’s going on? What are you doing? You can’t take him.” Mattheo’s heart aches at the sound of your voice. This is exactly what he had wanted to avoid. You should’ve never started caring about him. “They have Luna!” Harry yells in your face. Her name rings in your ears. You feel like you can’t breathe as you realize Voldemort has her. “We’re going to try to trade him… for her.” Hermoine’s voice is filled with fear, she obviously doesn’t have much confidence in their plan.

Mattheo can only see your back but he can imagine the painful expression that must be on your face. His own fate worried him as well. Harry’s eyes were set to kill, but honestly death might be the better option since he knew not to expect a warm welcome from his father after getting caught.

Ignoring your still shocked face Ron reached for Mattheo’s arm pulling him towards the door. Harry and Hermoine follow him, leaving you as you process everything that’s happening. Suddenly, you snap out of it and clench your jaw as you reach for your wand. “You’re not taking him.” You tremble, but hold your wand firmly pointed at Harry. They all turn around and are shocked and confused to see you have your wand pointed at them. Except for Mattheo his eyes are filled with pain. I’m not worth the trouble, love. “We need to get Luna back.” Hermoine argues as she takes a step towards you, making you point your wand at her. “We’ll find another way.” She frowns and it’s then that Mattheo decides he cannot let you do this.

He walks towards you and your eyes move to his. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me, love. Think of Luna.” Your eyes get teary as you shake your head. “You won’t be fine. We have to find another way.” With his hands still tied together he reaches for your hand urging you to lower your wand. “This is your second chance, here with me.” You start sobbing and Mattheo closes his eyes hoping it will make the sound go away. With dead, heartbroken eyes Mattheo turns away from you. “We need to go now, we’re wasting precious time.” The only thing he could do for you now was save Luna. Harry, Ron and Hermoine nod, realizing what they just witnessed was pure heartbreak. For a moment you look down at the ground, tears streaming down. This is unfair.

“You must know where they are keeping her.” You whisper looking up at Mattheo’s back. “We could save her and you could stay.” You sound painfully hopeful, but it convinces your friends to consider your suggestion and look at Mattheo. He however turns to you, torn by what you’re asking of him, to betray all he knows. “Malfoy Manor? Someplace in the dark forest?” Hermoine urges, wishing for everyone's sake that he knows and he’ll tell. With dead eyes he looks at you. “There’s a tower near Marunween Lake. That’s where they would take her.” I want my second chance here with you. You rush towards him and grab his face to kiss him, tears still streaming down your cheeks. He chose to save Luna, he chose you.

Theodore

You immediately reach for Theodore’s arm pulling him towards you and away from the door. “What are you doing? He didn’t do anything.” You defend him with worried eyes. Theodore looks over at your figure softly shaking and your hand tightly holding on to the sleeve of his shirt. You were afraid to lose him and he hated to see you like this. Ron steps between you two, forcing you to let go of Theo. “They took Luna, they’ll hurt her.” He argues, putting no thought into Theodore’s fate. Your eyes go wide as you try to remember the last time you saw Luna. “We hope to get Luna back if we give them Nott.” With your thoughts still circling around Luna, Harry moves Theodore away from you and towards the door.

“No. You can’t do this.” You panic when you realize they’re still planning on taking Theodore. Hermoine notices how Theo closes his eyes at the sound of your begging. Harry walks over to you slightly frustrated. “He’s one of them. He’ll be fine and if not, one less death eater to worry about.” His words break your heart. “No-“ You start, but Theo turns towards you. “I am one of them, (y/n). Forget about me. You were never supposed to care in the first place.” It’s like all air leaves the room and it takes every bit of strength for you to breathe and speak. “But I do care!” Your loud voice startles everyone. “We’ll save Luna, just not by sacrificing you.” Slowly your friends catch on about what’s been going on between you two. “This is your second chance, Theo, here with me. You can still get out.”

Stop caring, (y/n), I beg you. Caring hurts. Theodore shakes his head and forces his tortured eyes to look away from you. There is nothing for me here. When you notice him turn away from you, desperation takes over and you grab his shirt pulling him towards you. You crash your lips on his with determination. “We’ll find another way to save Luna, I need you to stay.” Your hands cling to his shirt afraid to let go. Theo just stares at you. He has no words for you. “How?” Hermoine suddenly asks. “How can we save Luna?” Your eyes flicker around the room as you try to come up with something. “I think I know where they would take her.” Theodore’s words remove the heavy air from the room as hope fills everyone's eyes.

Theodore looks at you slowly allowing himself to believe in that second chance you were talking about. A chance with you. “The Marunween Lake tower.” His eyes don’t leave yours. “We’ll save her.” You whisper with determination, still clinging to Theodore. He nods and lets his head rest on yours. We’ll figure it out and I won’t leave.

Enzo

“Don’t.” You say with a stern voice as you take a step to defend Enzo. “Whatever’s going on he has nothing to do with it.” Your firm words startle everyone, but Hermoine is the first to shake it. “We need to save Luna. We need him so we can get her back.” Your eyes widen as it dawns on you. “How? What happened? Where is she?” Enzo wishes he could hold you and comfort you, but instead he’s tied up and should probably be more concerned about what will happen to him. Voldemort barely trusted him before, now he was most likely done for it.

Hermoine understands that you had a million questions, but bluntly pushes you aside to reach Enzo. There was simply no time to be wasted with Luna’s life on the line. “Enzo and I deserve a say in this. Trading him is a shitty plan and you can’t just throw him back out there.” The trio is getting a bit annoyed with you and your concern for their enemy. When Hermoine and Harry continue to guide Enzo towards the door you realize that they won’t listen so you make a drastic move. You point your wand at Ron, who was still standing near you.

“Enzo’s staying.” You say, again your stern voice is back. Hermoine and Harry go pale as they see a horrified Ron with your wand pointed at his face. Enzo panics, he really doesn’t want you to do anything stupid for his sake. “(Y/n), (y/n), don’t do that. Okay, don’t worry. I’ll be alright. I always find a way out of trouble.” Harry lets him walk towards you and as you wrap your arms around Enzo. “You deserve a second chance. You’re not a death eater Enzo.” You squeeze him and he allows himself to enjoy your warmth one last time. “I’ll get my second chance. Now you have to think about Luna.”

Harry, Ron and Hermoine are surprised that Enzo is the one talking reason and calming you. Clearly something had been going on between you two. When Enzo pulls away silent tears start to make their way down and Enzo feels his heart squeeze like it's been hit by a cruciatus curse. “This is your second chance… here with me.” Enzo’s eyes get watery as he presses a soft kiss on your forehead. “I’ll be fine and I’ll be back. In the meantime just don’t cook and cut your finger again.” He tries to make you smile, but it only lasts for a second and then the tears are back. So, Enzo bites his tongue and turns away, nodding at Harry that it's time to go.

Suddenly, Hermoine’s voice breaks the darkening sadness with a spark of light. “Look Enzo, maybe you can help us save Luna… Do you have any idea where they would keep her?” Enzo frowns, but after a moment he slowly nods. “I’m going to need a map, but I might have an idea.” You gasp as you finally feel like you can breathe again. You undo Hermoine’s spell binding Enzo’s hands and he immediately pulls you into a hug. “We’re going to save Luna and you’re going to stay with me.” You whisper with your head on his chest. Enzo nudges his noses against you demanding you look up and the moment you do his lips are on yours. Now that I have you in my arms I’m not letting you go. Ever.

Draco

“This is insane.” You say as your eyes fix on Draco’s frightened face. “What are you on about? We need to help Luna.” Ron’s agitated voice startles you for a moment and then you finally realize it. “They have Luna?” You whisper and Harry nods with a pained expression, clearly worried about her. Hermoine points her wand at Draco and tilts her head towards the door, but as soon as Draco takes a step towards the door you panic. “No, you can’t just trade him.” You protest, not concerned about what the trio might think of you. Draco’s frightening eyes turn soft. Oh, please (y/n). Go back to thinking of me as the villain. Don’t make things weird with your silly feelings.

“(Y/n)? It’s Malfoy. Why are we even debating this. We need to save Luna.” Harry can’t wrap his head around your concern for Draco. You look at Draco who shakes his head at the sadness in your eyes. “Let me go back to being a death eater.” You feel tears welling up. “I know you don’t want to. I know that if you had a choice you would stay.” Draco clenches his jaw. “If I had a choice I-“ He stops himself from confessing how much he cares about you and how badly he wants to stay with you. It wouldn’t do any good, so he turns cold. “I don’t have a choice. And you should be ashamed of yourself for caring about someone like me.” His icy voice makes the whole room feel cold, but you see through him and shake the coldness. “But I’m not.” You walk up to him and kiss him. With your hand still on the back of his head you pull away and look over at Harry. “You can’t trade Draco. You need to come up with another plan.” Harry can’t believe what he’s hearing and at the same time he knows that arguing with you is pointless.

Draco's gaze is still fixed on you, still not fully believing you just kissed him. “Okay.” Hermoine breathes, really confused and also happy for you, still very confused. “Different plan. Any suggestions?” Ron looks at Hermoine with raised eyebrows, his brain just completely shut down after seeing you kiss Malfoy. “I might have an idea.” Draco whispers, not very excited to betray Voldemort and his family, but also not wanting you to lose Luna. “I think I might know where Voldemort is keeping his prisoners. We could try and get her out.” Harry, Ron and Hermoine exchange debating looks as you stare at Draco with loving eyes. You’re not a villain.

Blaise

Watching Blaise be slammed into the wall and dragged away from hurt you more than you could’ve ever imagined. A single tear rolls over your cheek as you turn to Harry. “Please, don’t do this. A life among death eaters isn’t a life for him. You have to let him stay.” The three friends stare at you in shock, not considering sympathizing with Blaise. He on the other hand can’t help but feel himself fall in love with you more as he watches a second tear roll over your pretty face. “It doesn’t matter, (y/n).” Blaise speaks up and your eyes are almost afraid to meet him. “I got more than I deserved, spending these few weeks with you. But now you should think of your friend, Luna.” As the trio slowly starts to think about Blaise’s fate, you finally realize Luna’s life is in danger.

Blocking out all feelings of humanity for Blaise, Harry grabs his arm to guide him towards the door. Ron and Hermoine follow, starting to feel bad about this whole situation as they leave you behind. “Blaise, help us save Luna and stay with me.” Your voice trembles and is filled with desperation. You friends turn to look at you, but Blaise remains with his back turned towards you. He clenches his jaw and you walk past him to face him. “Stop pretending that you don’t care. I know you. This is your second chance, here with me, don’t let it pass by. Help us save Luna.” He avoids your eyes, but your words sink deep within him. You reach for his tied up hands and wrap yours around his. “Even if I wanted to help, there’s nothing I can do.” Blaise whispers, finally able to look at you.

Starting to sympathise and seeing possibilities, Harry speaks up. “For starters you could tell us where they might be keeping Luna and how we get in.” Blaise closes his eyes as his heart battles over what to do. “You’ll get to stay with (y/n).” Hermoine adds, trying to convince Blaise. He opens his eyes, immediately locking his eyes with you. “I’ll help. I’m pretty sure I know where they’re keeping Luna.” Your smile radiates happiness and Blaise can’t help but smile in return as the enormous weight on his shoulders drops. You can no longer contain your love for him and sling your arm around him, kissing him with indescribable passion. Ron quirks an eyebrow at your joy and Hermoine even lets out a chuckle.

#slytherin #slytherin boys #theodore nott #theodore nott imagine #theodore nott x reader #enzo berkshire #enzo berkshire imagine #enzo berkshire x reader #blaise zabini #blaise zabini imagine #blaise zabini x reader #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy imagine #draco malfoy #mattheo riddle imagine #mattheo riddle x reader #mattheo riddle #papercorgiworldwritings

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theemporium · 8 months

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can u do a cuddles with Danny after a long day of hanging out with friends

pretending my blood pressure isn't through the roof with that race so!!! thank you for requesting!🫶🏽

“Baby.”

“Hm?”

“Need you to stay awake, honey, you haven’t eaten dinner yet.”

You let out a small groan, nuzzling your face further into the crook of his neck. “I don’t want dinner, I wanna go to sleep.”

Daniel snorted. “You’re delusional if you think I’m gonna let you go to bed without eating anything.”

“I ate earlier,” you defended weakly.

“Yeah, at two,” Daniel retorted. “It’s nine o’clock, baby, you gotta eat something else.”

“You’re ruining my beauty sleep, Ricciardo,” you grumbled to your boyfriend.

As the summer break rolled around, it gave you and Daniel both the chance to finally catch up on stuff the racing season had prevented. Whether it was shows you wanted to binge together, date spots you wanted to try out, or even just simple night-ins that you had been craving. It gave you the rest away from the world you needed.

It also gave you the chance to catch up with friends you hadn’t seen during the season. And what started off as simple plans for a catch up brunch ended up spending the whole day out and about, and it was safe to say you were exhausted—both physically and socially.

You were ready for your bed, but your boyfriend was not letting that happen.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m the bad guy,” he mused before playfully slapping your ass. “Now up you get, I’ll make you a grilled cheese.”

You lifted your head, an innocent expression on your face. “Carry me?”

Daniel let out an exaggerated sigh, but he couldn’t hide the massive grin on his face as he climbed off the couch with your body clinging onto him like a koala. He made his way to the kitchen, setting you on the counter with a chaste kiss before he began to run around to make the grilled cheese he promised.

You watched with a fond smile, fighting back the yawns and exhaustion that had set in your bones. And when he was done, you took the plate with a grateful smile. You silently ate as he made himself one too, both enjoying each other’s company during the simple dinner.

When you were both finished, he placed the plates in the sink to wash in the morning before making his way to the counter again, picking you up with ease and heading towards your shared room.

The comfortable silence continued as you both went through your nightly routines until you were both crawling into bed. You didn’t give Daniel much of a chance to complain as you settled your body practically on top of him, a sleepy smile on your face when you felt his chest moving with laughter as he wrapped his arms around you.

“I had fun today,” he murmured, his hands sliding under the fabric of your shirt.

“Me too,” you whispered, your lips brushing against his bare chest as you spoke. “I missed days like this with you, with our friends.”

His lips twitched upwards. “Well, I’m all yours for another few weeks.”

You nuzzled your face further into him. “Good, I’m not letting you go.”

Daniel grinned. “I have no issues with that, baby, no issues at all.”

#daniel ricciardo #formula one #f1 #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo x you #daniel ricciardo x y/n #daniel ricciardo fic #daniel ricciardo one shot #formula one x reader #formula one x you #formula one x y/n #formula one fic #formula one one shot #f1 x reader #f1 x you #f1 x y/n #f1 fic #f1 one shot

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magicfootballstuff · 9 months

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Dirty Little Secret - part 3 (leila ouahabi x reader)

Summary: A love story about secrets, flirty messages, football rivalries, and useless lesbians who don’t know how to communicate. And it all starts with one badly timed challenge in the Champions League.

Leila Ouahabi x Arsenal!reader

Part 3/?

Read other parts here.

———

Your life can be split into two parts - before the Arnold Clark Cup and after the Arnold Clark Cup.

Or before Leila and after Leila.

You return to Arsenal and it’s surprisingly easy to settle back into the club routine and prepare for the next league game. You’d been slightly worried that it would be difficult to adjust, an abrupt return to reality after ten days of secret meetings and illicit hookups, but life at Arsenal is exactly as it was before.

It helps that the Arnold Clark Cup almost feels like it took place in a different reality. What you had with Leila was just a holiday fling between two consenting adults. You’ve both returned to your real lives now.

But then one evening three weeks after the international break, you’re tidying your apartment and sorting through things to have a clearout, when you find Leila’s red Spain jersey amongst a pile of clothes. You trace your finger over the yellow number fifteen on the front, then flip it over to look at Leila’s name on the back. You haven’t yet washed it and when you lift it to your nose and inhale, you’re sure you can still smell Leila’s scent on it, and you know that you didn’t imagine those two weeks at all.

You haven’t talked to Leila since you parted ways at the end of the international break, but seeing her shirt brings a whirlwind of memories that leaves you yearning for something.

Before you even have time to second guess yourself, you’re swapping your sweatshirt for Leila’s football shirt, then sprawling artfully across your bed as you take a selfie from above and send it to Leila.

You Thanks for the new pyjamas

It’s just a bit of fun - just like every other moment you shared with Leila. Part of you doesn’t expect her to reply. And she doesn’t straight away, you’ve given up on sorting and have settled down on the sofa to watch a Manchester City men’s game on the television when your phone finally vibrates with a response.

Leila Looking gooood 🤤

She doesn’t say anything else and you leave it there, not sure what else to say without coming across as too eager, so you set your phone aside and give your full attention to the football.

An hour has passed before another message comes through.

Leila Sorry I was out for dinner but home now

She’s attached an image to her message, a picture of her wearing the England shirt you exchanged with her. Except that she’s wearing just the England shirt, the hem coming down to cover her hips but very little else, her long legs bare.

You Leilaaaaa

Suddenly you don’t care about the football on the TV anymore.

———

Arsenal gets knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter finals by Wolfsburg, which means you miss out on the opportunity to play against Leila again in the semi final. Your last glimmer of hope that you might get to see Leila before a possible meeting during the Euros in the summer is snuffed out.

But when Barcelona beats Wolfsburg to advance to the final, you receive a surprising message a few days later.

Leila You coming to the Champions League final?

You hadn’t really given it much thought to be honest, since your own Champions League journey came to an end and it became irrelevant. The final is after your own season ends and there’s been talk amongst some of your Arsenal teammates of going on holiday together before you all split off into your various national teams for the Euros, but nothing set in stone.

The chance to watch Leila play in such an important match, to possibly even see her lift the trophy that every footballer in Europe dreams of lifting, would be special. But you haven’t seen Leila since the Arnold Clark Cup and there’s not enough of a thing going on between you for it to seem appropriate for you to just show up without Leila’s permission.

You Do you want me to come?

Before even waiting for Leila’s response, you already start checking your diary, working out the logistics of a spontaneous weekend in Turin and whether it fits in with your pre-Euro schedule.

Leila Yeahhhh. I can get a free ticket if you want? Barca friends and family area

You smile to yourself as you type out your reply.

You Aww, am I your friend? 😉 Why do you think I’d be cheering for Barca anyway? Maybe I’m a big Lyon fan

Leila replies straight away.

Leila 🖕

———

It turns out that Leila is serious about her offer of a ticket to the Champions League final, which is why just two weeks after the end of your season with Arsenal and the heartbreak of missing out on the title by just a single point, you get on a plane to Turin by yourself.

You don’t own a Barcelona shirt and though you take the Spain shirt from Leila with you, it stays in your suitcase as you head to the stadium. Having not yet had the chance to talk to Leila in person, you’re still not sure exactly what’s going on between you and it feels like a step too far to show up to one of her games wearing her name on your back.

Instead, you’re trying to keep a low profile, donning a pair of dark sunglasses in the hope that it’ll make you less likely to get spotted by eager-eyed fans curious to discover why you’re sitting in the Barcelona family section.

It’s easy to get swept up in the atmosphere of the stadium. There are way more Barcelona fans than Lyon fans and the noise they make is immense. You’re a Manchester City fan, an Arsenal player, but tonight you’re a culer. You don’t know the chants but you don’t need to because you get caught up in the pure thrill of it all. Even when Barcelona go one, two, three goals down, the singing continues and there’s still belief that they can pull this back. Alexia gets one back just before half time that feels like a reward to the fans for their belief in the team.

But despite Barcelona’s best efforts in the second half, Lyon’s three goals prove too much to overcome and when the final whistle blows, they collapse to the pitch, exhausted and defeated.

You watch as Leila, who spent the game on the bench, wanders onto the pitch at full time, and your heart breaks for her when you see the hurt on her face and the tears shining in her eyes. You know that Barcelona were favourites and if you’re completely honest, you expected them to win. You thought that you would be celebrating with Leila tonight, but Lyon have the best record in this competition for a reason and now you need to prepare yourself to console her.

It’s quite a lot for something that’s just a casual friends with benefits situation, but then again, so is flying to Italy to watch the final in the first place.

The trophy ceremony seems to drag on forever, as if you’re down there on the pitch on the losing team yourself. You’ve been on the wrong side of a cup final enough times yourself to know that there are very few worse feelings in football than having to stay on the pitch after losing such an important game and watching another team celebrate with the trophy you wanted to lift, so you know exactly how Leila must be feeling right now.

After the ceremony, the Barcelona players wander over to this section of the crowd and greet their families over the advertising boards. You hang back as Leila exchanges hugs with what you assume to be her family. This moment is for them, not for you, and you know that you need to wait for Leila to beckon you across if she wants to see you. What would you say to them anyway? You can hardly introduce yourself to Leila’s parents as the girl who hooked up with their daughter for two weeks in February. If the roles were reversed, you don’t know if you’d want to explain the situation to your own family.

So you wait, and you keep waiting.

But Leila doesn’t beckon you over. In fact, she doesn’t even acknowledge you’re there at all.

The longer you’re standing there, the more the doubt starts to cloud your mind. At first it was explainable - there are obviously other people here to see Leila who she would prioritise talking to after the game more than you. But when she moves away from her own family to talk to the family of her teammates, then eventually moves back onto the pitch and hovers around a group of dejected Barcelona players, you start to wonder if Leila has forgotten that she invited you entirely.

Maybe you should’ve been more assertive. Maybe you should’ve stood closer to the barrier so that Leila couldn’t miss you.

You sit down again on the plastic stadium seat and pull out your phone, deciding to message Leila instead

You Sorry about the result but I’m so proud of you anyway! Let me know when you’re free? I can’t wait to see you!

When you look up, you can no longer see Leila. You scan the few blaugrana shirts still on the pitch just in case, but most of the team seems to have returned inside to the dressing room and you can only assume that Leila is one of them. The crowd has thinned out too, even the friends and family sections that were full long after the rest of the fans started to leave the stadium is starting to empty, and you know it’s probably time for you to leave too.

As you make your way out of the stands, you find a quiet corner on the almost deserted stadium concourse and decide to call Leila. You’re not sure if she’s checked her phone yet since the final whistle, so it’s not exactly a surprise when it rings straight through to her voicemail, but you decide to leave a message anyway.

“Leila, it’s me,” you say. “Listen, I…” You let out a sigh, then say, “I know you must be hurting right now. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling and I … and I just wish I could do something or say something to make it better but I can’t. But I’m proud of you. Just getting to the final is an achievement. Shit, I know that’s not what you need to hear right now but…”

You lean your head against the nearest wall and close your eyes in frustration, fully aware that you’re rambling almost nonsensically at this point.

“I’m here if you need me,” you continue. “Or if you don’t, that’s fine too. I’m leaving the stadium to get some food, then I’ll probably go back to my hotel, but just let me know you’re okay?”

You hesitate for just a few seconds, unsure how to sign off, before you panic and just end the message there.

“Fuck!” you growl.

You turn around to lean your back against the wall, only to realise that the concourse isn’t as empty as you thought, but that two fans in Barcelona shirts have just witnessed your outburst.

“Sorry,” you apologise to them, but they don’t seem bothered by your swearing. In fact, they actually approach you, a little giddy, and you suddenly remember that you’re not as anonymous as you’d often like to be.

“Can we get a selfie?” one of the girls asks, taking out her phone. “My friend is a huge Arsenal fan. You’re one of her favourite players.”

You force a smile onto your face. Normally you don’t mind fan interactions, in fact it usually warms your heart to know that there are people out there who you don’t even know who support you and look up to you, but there’s a time and place for that and you’re really not in the mood right now. Despite that, Leila is to blame for your sour mood, not them, and you’re not going to take out your frustrations on a couple of innocent fans.

“Of course,” you tell them, positioning yourself so that one girl stands on either side of you and smiling at the outstretched phone of the girl on the left.

“Thank you,” they say, once the selfies have been taken.

“No problem,” you reply, and you only let the smile slide off your face when they’re out of sight.

You really need to get out of here. And fast.

———

You thought that by distancing yourself from the stadium and the match, it might ease your mind a little. But by the time you get back to your hotel with a paper bag of takeout food, you feel more uneasy than ever.

Leila is still silent. No texts, no calls, nothing on social media.

You replay your voicemail message over and over again in your mind, each word sitting like a brick on your chest, making it difficult to breathe. Was it too much? Surely Leila would have messaged you when she was ready. What if your message comes across as needy, as smothering? What if you’re only pushing her away further?

Fuck. Leila probably doesn’t even want you here at all. You’re only a hookup to her, a bit of fun to pass your downtime during the Arnold Clark Cup. You were wrong to read anything more into the invitation to watch the final. She can only have wanted you here on standby, a plaything to use as a celebration if Barcelona won the trophy. But they didn’t and she doesn’t need you, she doesn’t want you.

The more you spiral, the more you want to speak to her. Just a single message, a word of reassurance or even just an acknowledgement that she’s not in the right headspace to see you tonight, would be enough to settle your anxiety.

As it is, you’re alone in a hotel room in an unfamiliar city with nothing but a bag of food and your own intrusive thoughts.

You want to call someone, to talk to a friend before you completely fall apart. Leah, perhaps. You’ve known her forever and out of all your friends, she’s probably the least likely to judge you if you call her up out of nowhere in floods of tears and tell her you’re having a breakdown in a hotel room in Turin over some girl you hardly know. In fact, Leah is such a good friend that if she knew you were distressed, she’d probably hop on the first flight to Italy to comfort you in person.

But Leah is on holiday in America and she deserves the time off before the Euros without having to worry about her idiotic best friend having girl problems on the other side of the world.

You’re just going to have to deal with this alone.

Hot tears spill down your face and you cocoon yourself beneath the bedcovers, wishing that the bed would swallow you whole.

You don’t know how you could’ve been so stupid to think that this meant something, how you could’ve been so stupid to catch feelings for Leila when there are clearly far too many obstacles between you for it to ever work out. In your defence, it’s only now that you’re starting to realise that you are catching feelings for her, but still… you could’ve done more to stop it from happening in the first place.

The doubt and the self-loathing clouds your mind and you cry it out until you can’t cry anymore, until you finally succumb to exhaustion, passing out into a dreamless sleep with tear-stained cheeks.

———

You wake up alone, having had a bad night’s sleep, to several messages from Leila, which can be summed up by the most recent one.

Leila Can I see you today?

The rest of her messages, all sent within the last couple of hours this morning, are a mixture of pleas and apologies.

You’re still pissed at her for not responding to any of your messages last night. But you flew all the way to Turin at Leila’s request, used the ticket that she gave you for free to watch the match, and you don’t fly back until later today. And, despite your anger, you do still want to see her.

You’re not going to make an effort though, which is why you message her back with the address of your hotel. If Leila wants to see you, then she can be the one to make the effort to come and see you herself.

When she arrives at your hotel, you decide to meet her downstairs in the hotel restaurant, instead of inviting her up to your room. There’s less temptation to let her seduce her way back onto your good side if you meet in public.

Leila looks like shit - that’s your first impression. She looks like she’s had even less sleep than you have, her eyes puffy, her expression weary, her usual smile absent.

If she hadn’t pissed you off yesterday, you’d probably hug her.

Instead, you just let her sit down across from you and ask her, “Do you want to eat?”

She shakes her head.

“I’m not hungry today.”

“Coffee, then?” you suggest, because she definitely looks like she needs it.

Leila nods.

You’ve already ordered yourself a coffee (you’re normally a tea person but you don’t want to risk the Italian tea not being to your taste) and a sandwich, but you call over the waiter once more for Leila.

“So what happened?” you eventually ask, once Leila has ordered her coffee.

“I’m sorry,” Leila apologises with a shrug, and from the way that her eyebrows are furrowed together, it seems like she’s having a difficult time trying to hold herself together.

“Sorry for what?” you ask, waiting for her to admit that she messed up, but when she doesn’t, you continue talking. “I flew here by myself, I sat in the family section surrounded by people I don’t know, all speaking a language I don’t understand. The only person I knew in this city yesterday was you. You invited me here. I thought you wanted me here.”

“I want you here,” Leila pleads with you. “But a lot happened yesterday and it was too much.”

“I get that. You think I’ve never lost a cup final? I came here to support you, win or lose. And then you hurt me. You made me feel like an idiot.”

The effort that Leila has been putting into not falling apart crumbles and the sobs heave through her body, shoulders trembling and tears spilling down her cheeks. Annoyed with her or otherwise, it’s not nice to see, and you feel a pang of regret that your harsh words have upset her.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” you say, reaching for one of the unused napkins on the table and passing it across to Leila, letting your fingers brush against her hand as you do. “I’m pissed off, but I don’t want to see you cry. I don’t care that you didn’t win the Champions League. I would’ve loved to watch you lift that trophy but I’m proud of you anyway for making it to the final.”

Leila uses the napkin to wipe her tears, and the silence, as well as the sad look in her eyes, compels you to keep talking.

“And it’s not like I was expecting anything from you yesterday either,” you tell her. “If you didn’t want to see me or you were too busy, that’s fine. But just one message to let me know what was going on and I wouldn’t have been left waiting around feeling stupid.”

“I know, I know,” Leila says, her voice cracking ever so slightly. “So much stuff is happening right now. It’s all too much. But you’re right, I should have messaged.”

You don’t know what to say. It almost feels like you’re back to square one, like you don’t even know Leila at all. But then you realise - do you even know Leila? It’s not like you’ve actually spent any time getting to know each other. There’s an obvious attraction between you, and physical chemistry too, but do you actually have anything in common beside your profession?

“Can I make it up to you?” Leila blurts out.

“How?” you ask.

You’re expecting a smirk to slide across Leila’s lips and for her to suggest you go somewhere private for her to apologise to you in a more physical way, but instead, she looks you straight in the eye and says, “Come to Barcelona?”

“When?”

“This week. We have another final - la Copa de la Reina. You could come to the game.”

You let out a sigh. You can’t put yourself through what you’ve been through this weekend again, as tempting as it is to just forgive Leila and succumb to her request. Yet despite the fact that you cried yourself to sleep last night because of Leila, you can’t deny the fact you’ve still got a soft spot for her and it’s incredibly difficult to say no to her.

“I’ve got an England camp coming up soon,” you try to reason with her. “We’re starting our Euro prep.”

“Just for a few days,” Leila pleads with you. “I really want you to come. Please.”

“I can’t just drop everything at short notice,” you tell Leila, though your plans for the next couple of weeks don’t involve much more than relaxing as much as possible before getting straight back to work with the Lionesses.

“Okay,” Leila says, and though that’s all she says, you can tell she’s disappointed.

Would it really be so bad if you said yes? Would it hurt to give her another chance? You don’t want what happened yesterday to ruin what’s been going between you forever, which means forgiving her at some point. Maybe a little holiday in Barcelona, especially before you enter the biggest summer of your life so far, is exactly what you need.

It’ll be like the Arnold Clark Cup all over again, an escape from reality until you have to return to life as a footballer and Leila’s on-pitch rival.

“Fine, I’ll look at flights to Barcelona,” you concede. “I can give you two days, maybe three, before I need to be back in England.”

“Thank you,” Leila says, smiling at you gratefully.

She reaches into the little bag that she brought with her and pulls out a piece of blue and pink fabric, and as she unfurls it you realise it’s a Barcelona shirt.

“My jersey from yesterday,” she explains as she passes it across the table. “To thank you for coming to see me. If you can come to Barcelona next week, you could wear it to the final?”

Wearing Leila’s name to one of her matches sounds serious. It sounds like a commitment. As is flying to Turin, or even to Barcelona to watch one of her games, but that hasn’t quite gone to plan.

Things were so easy when you were flirting from different countries, or sneaking around St George’s Park for a bit of fun. The rational part of your brain tries to warn you that it’s probably not a good thing that at the first sign of this perhaps actually being a little more serious, it’s resulted in this misunderstanding and both of you getting upset.

But the pleading look in Leila’s bloodshot eyes is impossible to say no to.

“Thanks,” you say, refolding the jersey and setting it aside.

“When do you go home?” Leila asks.

“This afternoon,” you answer. “My flight’s just after four. You?”

“In a couple of hours,” Leila tells you. “I can’t stay much longer. Only Patri knows I’m not at the team hotel.”

You can’t help but smile, reminded a little of the way you both snuck around St George’s Park back in February, only now your secrecy has led you to fly to a whole different country while Leila has snuck across town to see you.

This thing between you, this connection that has been growing since that tackle back in Barcelona, is far from easy. But aren’t the best things in life worth the fight?

“Come here,” you say, pushing back your chair and getting to your feet.

You hold your arms out wide until Leila understands and gets up too, stepping around the table and into your embrace. Her arms wind around your back as you pull her close, burying your face into her shoulder

“Thank you for giving me another chance,” Leila mumbles into your hair.

You don’t say anything in response, instead simply squeezing her closer and savouring the feeling of her body against yours. If you can make the logistics of a trip to Barcelona next week work, it won’t be long until you can hold her again like this, but that doesn’t mean you’re not going to make the most of every second you can get with her before you have to go in separate directions again.

If this tumultuous weekend in Turin has taught you anything, it’s that you can’t take anything for granted.

#woso x reader #woso imagine #leila ouahabi x reader #leila ouahabi imagine #dirty little secret

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my-mt-heart · 7 months

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I obviously haven’t been very stoked about a lot of choices this first season—the opposite if I’m being honest—but when I first listened to the radio scene, it felt like a reprieve from those feelings. Norman’s performance is perfect. I could sense his urgency to get a hold of Carol, and of course once he does, his tone melts into something much softer, something we know he reserves only for her. I appreciate the long pauses he takes to study her voice. He hears something in her words that we don’t (🤨). He worries that maybe she’s not really okay.

Carol’s line “you never need to worry about me, Daryl” makes me think back to her “I love you too” in the series finale, or more specifically the weightlessness of it. Melissa said it was Carol’s way of taking care of Daryl. She wanted to make it easier for him to leave, and at first, I wondered if this time was supposed to represent more of the same. We understand why Daryl sounds excited because we have the privilege of reading his body language. Maybe when Carol hears it, she thinks he’s enjoying himself out there. Maybe she's reluctant to admit how much she misses him because she doesn't want to take him away from where he really belongs.

Here’s where I’m struggling though. Theoretically, Melissa would’ve had Norman’s footage to play off of while she recorded her side of the conversation. That's how it's typically done. We know both of them always play off each other brilliantly. We’ve seen it countless times. It’s why their chemistry works. It’s why we ship them. But in this scene, I'm not getting any of that. There’s no emotion behind the words, none of Melissa's nuances, and the more I listen to it, the more I realize it isn’t Melissa’s voice at all. It really pains me to say it, but it sounds like AI.

If that’s true, then you'll have to be patient with me while I take the time to fully process my feelings about it. After everything—booting Melissa from the show in the first place and then gaslighting her fans about it—AMC wants to use a copout loophole in Melissa's contract (what many actors have had in their contracts hence the need for a strike) to jeopardize Melissa's integrity, deny everybody what they've had to wait a long time for, Melissa, and cheapen what could've been the most impactful scene of the season? Are you fucking kidding me? That’s just lazy, manipulative, disrespectful, and infuriating.

I was really excited to analyze a new Caryl scene today. Believe it or not, I don't want to keep hating on the show. I want to enjoy my two favorite characters, but as others have said, I’m tired of bending over backwards to arrive at some—any—hopeful conclusion about Caryl’s future. It’s hard enough when the writing is as inconsistent as it has been, but now AI is involved? No one should have to exert energy on analyzing a performance that doesn't exist. It's a poor reflection of Melissa's talent and a huge disservice to Caryl's story. I'm heartbroken.

Good to see her trending though. She deserves all the love she's getting today.

On another note, because I don't want to make a separate post about it, I also watched the scene where Daryl gets mad at Laurent. **TRIGGER WARNING*** As someone who grew up in a very "loud" household and experienced PTSD from it, I wasn't put off by the anger. I understand Daryl wants to go home, and the kid ruined what seemed like his only chance. It's the name-calling and Daryl putting his hands on Laurent that specifically crossed the line for me. The show is clearly trying to force Daryl to draw comparisons between him and his dad, but this feels like something Daryl has already worked through on the flagship show. The moment he saw Carol flinch on the farm, he knew he wanted to be different. Carol and TF helped him be different. He is different. He doesn't need to prove that to himself or anyone else anymore. Enough of the character regressions.

#caryl #caryl spinoff #carol peletier #melissa mcbride #darylneedscarol #twd spoilers

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chenfordspiral · 1 year

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A Chenford Thesis on 5x08

So, during my latest season 5 rewatch (thank you, hiatus nr 28593 this season), I kept getting stuck at 5x08. I could watch the Chenford scenes a hundred times a day. I’ve had a lot of time to think about why I absolutely love this episode and the way Chenford finally happened.

Apologies if I keep repeating myself sometimes. This got way out of hand for some reason and I might’ve lost track a bit, so…

Anyway, let’s get started with my essay, or whatever this is, on how we got to the end of 5x08 and why Chenford’s development makes me weak in the knees.

Would a big love confession scene because one of them is in danger have been nice to see in the moment? Sure. Would it have taken away from the impact of it all? Yes, yes, I think it would’ve. Because these two characters are not that. They’re private people, Tim especially, and yes, Lucy is more outgoing and once told Nolan to go for a big-ass proposal with Bailey, but when it really matters, that’s also not her. A big confession in the heat of the moment would’ve been OOC for them. The quieter, just the two of them outside way worked way better than anything else could have.

But I’m getting ahead of myself already. Let’s start at the beginning.

All of 5x08 is the perfect lead-up to the end scene of that episode.

Both Tim and Lucy are clearly uncomfortable at the idea of having to spend an entire shift together in the same car. They haven’t been the same with each other since they found a certain someone on Lucy’s couch and Tim encouraged her to go to UC school.

They’ve become so much more than just colleagues to one another, but neither one of them is ready to have to face the other for the next approximately 10-12 hours. At this point, we’ve seen Lucy realize that Tim means more to her than just a friend, and we’ve definitely seen that Tim fell head-over-heals in 4x22/5x01 and just a little bit more each episode since.

So, there is nothing easy about having to be this close to each other again while thinking the other doesn’t return those romantic feelings. We see that weirdness in the shop before Lucy decides to break the silence. Without even trying, the manage to slip into a conversation that feels like them. They’re bickering like an old married couple.

They disagree, but don’t insult each other for their different opinions – they banter back and forth, the way they have since sometime during Lucy’s rookie year.

This wonderful moment, where we briefly saw them being them again, gets interrupted by Lucy’s idiotic WIP. Be warned, I will not be nice to this guy. I might even get through all of this without having to type out his name. Yes, I’m that petty. No, I’m not sorry.

Lucy looks super uncomfortable right from the start. She doesn’t want to talk to this guy right now, especially not with Tim right next to her. But Assford doesn’t even register her unease. She manages to avoid having to talk very long, and couldn’t have hung up the phone any more quickly after he says he loves her.

Now, we know Tim isn’t one for personal talk in the shop, even though Lucy’s already broken through that barrier here. But we saw the way he was avoiding even looking Lucy in the eye before she scurried off to get the war bags back at the station. He doesn’t want to have to spend so much time being so close to her.

He doesn’t want to get involved in her personal life again. (Okay, he does, but you know what I mean.) But he clocks in on her uneasiness. And yeah, he didn’t think Lucy and the idiot he set her up with were serious enough to be talking about moving in together. So, he starts a conversation about something personal. Because he needs to know.

“Are you two moving in together?” He looks and sounds a little broken. Because if they’re that serious, he really never has a chance. I know, he doesn’t think he has one now, but that would shut that door even more. Lucy doesn’t say yes, but she also doesn’t say no. But she does say that mr. clingy just dropped it on her earlier that day. We all see how confused and nervous she is.

He asks if they’re happy – notice his use of ‘right?!’ at the end of that question; it’s become a pattern with them – and that moving in would be the obvious thing to do next. See, he can’t have her but still wants her to be happy. Even though he clearly doesn’t like the guy she’s with. Tim, you big selfless idiot.

And Lucy tries to deflect, tries to convince him, and herself, that she’s happy with the guy. But we can all tell that she isn’t. And that Tim isn’t convinced either.

The conversation is put on hold because they get called to a dispute. This might seem very random, but that couple served two purposes. One, giving an example of a couple that might be doing things better than Lucy with her WIP but still not the right way. And two, showing that sometimes, cops get called to weird scenes that seem totally random. But that’s patrol.

Then they’re all busy trying to help the woman who’s had a bomb strapped to her neck. We see what they have to deal with on patrol, the inhuman things people do. We see them trying to handle seeing a woman killed by a bomb.

They’re still talking about it when they’re back in the shop after it all went down. Again, they’re pulled out of the moment by her pathetic-excuse-for-a-boyfriend. This time, he seems to call to make sure she’s okay after hearing what happened on the news. But as soon as she says she’s ok, he changes course. Immediately putting pressure on her by talking about a house they should move on if she likes it.

She hasn’t even seen the house. Let alone actually agreed to even look at houses. In the morning, she said “I’ll think about it. We’ll talk tonight.” That was not a yes. It was a ‘maybe; can we please talk about this later’. But he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t realize how much he’s bothering and smothering her right now.

Tim only has to take one look at Lucy to see that she’s uncomfortable. He was already looking at her when she turned to glance at him, likely looking for his help to get her out of this conversation. Lucy, honey. Wanting to get out of a conversation with your WIP should ring several alarm bells. You shouldn’t need ‘saving’.

But Tim does what he always does – making sure Lucy’s okay. So he puts on his best TO voice and tells her to stop taking personal calls while on duty. Dumbass takes the hint, but not before throwing some shade at Tim.

Lucy takes a moment to regroup after hanging up the phone before she turns to Tim. “Thanks”. Tim nods his acknowledgement, and they both turn their focus back to work. But I’m still stuck at how Lucy looked for comfort and help from Tim and he gave it willingly. Because he wants her to be happy. And those phone calls put her on edge.

So he did what he could do to help make her feel a bit better. I love this guy and his big-ass heart.

The next time we see them in the shop, Lucy is looking at her phone again. Tim takes one look at her after glancing at her phone (Timmy, you bein’ kinda nosy) and starts talking again. Again, he is the one to start a conversation about personal stuff.

He doesn’t shy away from the truth and just says it as it is: tell your idiotic WIP that you don’t wanna move in if you don’t want to move in. And I’m not sure if Lucy is just very out of tune with her feelings or what, but come on, she knows exactly what the problem is and why she doesn’t want to move in with mr. ignorance.

Every time I rewatch this episode and get to this specific scene, I cannot stop myself from saying “You know exactly what the problem is. It’s sitting right there next to you” after Lucy says she doesn’t get what the problem is. Seriously, even if I’m not actively listening, that part always gets my attention and I mutter those words.

Lucy keeps talking, saying that she and the WIP are great together and that they never fight. Well, Tim coming in again with the truth: maybe that’s the problem. Or one of them, anyway. If you don’t fight, there’s barely any passion. Lack of friction and arguments doesn’t leave much room to improve and work on a relationship if you want to make it last.

Lucy isn’t one to shy away from confrontation. We’ve seen her stand her ground with Tim basically since day one. Why is she not herself with Ch… oh, almost typed his name. Woops. Anyhow, we all know Lucy usually confronts what’s bothering her head-on. Why is she hiding?

In semi-typical Chenford (or is it Lucy?)-fashion, she tries to deflect a bit here, jokingly asking if she and her can’t-read-the-room-bf should be more like the couple from the call they dealt with earlier. Tim denies, because that is not what he means.

“Do you guys not fight because you don’t disagree on things or because you don’t think it’s worth the bother?”

Again, right to the point. He hits the nail right on the head. We can see that Lucy realizes the latter to be true. She doesn’t argue with ADA Boring because it’s not worth it. She doesn’t put in the effort like she usually does. Why?

Well, because those arguments would immediately show that they are not compatible, and it would likely end that relationship sooner rather than later. Deep down, Lucy knows that.

Right from their first interaction, you could see that they don’t see eye-to-eye on things. Yes, her and Tim don’t agree on a lot of things, either. But she puts in that effort. Because she cares.

This whole conversation shows that she’s staying with the dumbass not because she really wants to, but more because of guilt, fear, and the fact that she doesn’t want to commit to any guy. Well, there is one she’d love to commit to, but thinks she’ll never have the chance to.

Guilt because she stills blames herself for the Rosalind debacle even though we all know it’s not her fault. Commitment issues because she hasn’t felt about anybody that seriously before, until... well, we’ll get to that and the fear part later.

Tim can see that she realizes that she’s just along for the ride in that relationship, trying to commit to someone who seems great on paper but isn’t right for her. Once more, Tim tells her what he thinks.

“You deserve someone who’s worth the effort.”

Because he wants her to be happy, because he cherishes and adores and loves her.

Because he wants her to be in a relationship where she wants to work through the tough stuff, where she doesn’t shy away from the conflict, where she can be herself.

Because he wants her to realize that she’s not gonna be happy with this guy when she can’t even be herself without having that relationship implode.

Time and time again, they’ve shown us how incompatible Lucy and mr. you-can-leave-anytime-now are. Even their first encounter was indicative that this would never work out (still baffles me that she went out with him again after that double date). He seems more interested in forming her into someone he wants instead of really accepting who she is.

And that just won’t do in a relationship. Ok, again, Tim and Lucy constantly try to make the other see things differently, but they’re not trying to change each other. At least not in a way that would totally go against who they are. They want them to be better versions of themselves.

I mean, come on. Lucy as a lawyer? Tim retiring at 40ish? Who are these people who claim to love them?

Tim and Lucy constantly make each other want to be better.

And look at Lucy. Surely, she can see that montage that the Rookie SM account posted as part of the sneak peak before the episode aired play out before her eyes. All the times they’ve put in an effort. For each other. Even when they were still rookie and TO.

She made an effort back then. Why not with her collar of a WIP? It took some time, but I’ve come to realize that the title for the episode might as well have referred to Assford’s presence in Lucy’s life and how he’s like a weight holding her down.

The conversation seems to be over for the time being as they both turn a bit away from one another, lost in thought, especially Lucy. She absorbs everything he just said. The wheels are starting to turn in her head.

Before either one of them can too wrapped up in thoughts, we see a car speeding past them. They discover that a second person has become victim of having a collar bomb strapped around their neck.

I’m gonna skip over some case related moments but will say that I love how easily they slip from personal talk in the shop to being solely focused on the case and trying to find a way to help the guy. Now, let me jump right to when Creighton just takes matters into his own hands and starts cutting the bomb off with garden tools.

It’s just a little moment in an episode with many awesome Chenford scenes, but I absolutely love how Tim reaches for Lucy to get her to cover behind the door of the shop. And then how he’s shielding her, keeping her behind him as best as possible with one hand on her shoulder and the other on her arm.

Tim, your love for her is showing. And I’m getting emotional again.

This entire sequence, from seeing the collar bomb on Creighton to when Tim radios in to pick up their suspect shows how easily Tim and Lucy slipped back into their partnership. He lets her take charge with the interview. They wordlessly communicate with one another. They just need to share a few looks to know what the other is thinking and move forward with the questioning.

You can’t force this kind of connection, it’s just there. We can all see and feel it. And they probably do as well.

We get to the last Chenford podcar scene of the episode. They’re coordinating with Harper on how to proceed after getting the last victim’s name. After, we hear Lucy’s phone going off, again. Thank god it’s not another face time call with what’s-his-name and just a message.

But even just a text is mildly pissing Lucy off. Because dude keeps sending her stuff even though she’s made it perfectly clear she wanted to talk about it with him later, not while on duty.

Tim immediately picks up on it again and asks if it’s more listings, which, of course it is. Because ADA clueless is being an inconsiderate idiot. Even more so for sending listings for places Lucy would never even consider living, even if she wanted to move in with jackass.

Off of her frustration, Tim works up the courage to ask something he’s probably been wondering about since the start of their day. “Do you love him?”

No, Timothy, she does not. Otherwise she’d be happy to talk to the WIP about it every chance she gets, not be completely frustrated with him. But he asks anyway because he needs to hear the answer.

Lucy tries to deflect again, similar to the way she did when he asked if she was happy. ‘They haven’t been dating long’... which, well, is semi-true. It is the longest relationship for Lucy that we’ve seen on the show (gag).

And it’s been roughly 10ish months at this point (thank you, TR, for the super wacky timeline. I’m deciding to go with November here, hence the 10 months, because we saw a date of Nov ’22 in 5x09; but who really knows…).

After so long, you know whether you love someone or not. And Lucy knows she doesn’t love him but tries to avoid having to admit it right away.

Tim seems to accept her obvious avoidance. But lets her know that dumbass loves her. So she shouldn’t lead him on if she doesn’t feel that way about him.

I don’t know why I always get so emotional watching this. Probably because Tim’s statement could easily be about himself, too.

And now Lucy might finally be realizing the problem. She knows that her WIP loves her (although, I’m still not convinced, because he shouldn’t be trying to change and pressure her into anything if he really did love her).

Lucy knows that she should, theoretically, love him back. Because on paper, he seems great and she even says, “he’s so great in so many different ways”.

I hate this line. Because time and time again, they’ve managed to show him as a not great guy. No matter how much I try, I cannot for the life of me think of him as anything but annoying and so obviously not right for Lucy.

Anyway. Lucy proceeds to talk as she processes what’s bothering her and comes to the conclusion that “he’s just not…“ and immediately looks over at Tim before looking back out the window. Lucy, what?!

Could you be more obvious? You basically just said you can’t love Assford because he’s not Tim. You basically just said you’re in love with Tim… cool. I’m cool. Perfectly fine. Not losing my mind over this at all.

That was the loudest unspoken ‘you’ I’ve ever heard. And that’s the problem of it all, isn’t it? She’s realized at some point that she likes Tim more than she thought possible and seems frustrated with herself for not being able to let him go after thinking he rejected her. Frustrated with the whole situation, really.

But that’s also just it. You can’t just stop wanting someone. Yes, you try to move on when you think it’s never gonna happen, but that doesn’t mean it’s gonna be easy or happen quickly.

Lucy seems to never truly have been in love with anyone before. Otherwise she would’ve committed to someone already, and not just tried to settle for dumbass ADA bitch.

Finally, Lucy has voiced the problem of it all: she can’t love anybody else because somehow, she fell in love with Tim. Again, she can’t love Assford because he’s. not. Tim. Swoon.

I’m sure Tim could feel that her gaze shifted toward him… whether he knew that’s what she almost said or not, I’m not sure. But I am sure he hoped that’s what she could mean.

He looks over at her, trying to figure her out. But she’s already looking away, so he turns his focus back on the road. Both of them are left with their own thoughts and the case. And I can practically feel the tension through my screen.

Tim and Lucy, my loves. Can you two please actually talk to one another? Without leaving any room for doubts, without subtext, without beating around the bush.

Just say what you really wanna say. The other person might surprise you with their answer.

And then we get to the last scene of the episode. Every moment has led to this.

We see Tim sitting outside the station, alone, before we see Lucy walk up to him, getting them in the same shot together. And isn’t that just the perfect metaphor for their relationship? Tim was alone and broken when they met in the Pilot. And then there comes Lucy, sunshine personified, and bit by bit, brings light back into his life, stealing his heart along the way without even trying.

She constantly challenged him, made him see when he was in the wrong and why, yet never judged or blamed him for things out of his control (wife who abandoned him, learning differently, childhood trauma because of an abusive father, taking the blame for everything) and made sure he knew that those things were nothing bad or to be ashamed of or his fault.

Unlike so many other people in his life, Lucy never tried to change him. She simply brought out the person he is underneath all the tough guy exterior. She didn’t ask him to change - he wanted to be better because her opinion of him started to matter at some point.

We might all see the difference Lucy made in Tim’s life more easily than the impact he’s had on her, but the deeper we look, the more obvious it gets.

The Lucy from 1x01 needed to learn that the world was not as nice as we’d all sometimes wish it were.

Tim said it himself in 3x11. She’s a kind and empathetic person who needed to see the world in a different light. He might’ve gone about it a bit controversially at first, but that all stemmed from a place of deep-seated hurt and heartbreak (still no excuse, but more understandable and shows that he’s human).

But he still managed to challenge her. Made her see that she could be and is a great cop. Trained her to believe in herself and her abilities - something her parents never did. And something Lucy desperately needed in her life. Someone who believes in her and trusts her choices. Someone who accepts her the way she is. Someone who has her back.

They both became better versions of themselves because of each other. Because there was finally a person who didn’t judge. No, it wasn’t romantic right from the start. But that pull toward one another has always been there. It’s only gotten stronger as they got to know each other better and then eventually bubbled to the surface at the end of season 4 and beginning of 5.

Kay, back to the actual scene.

I still really wanna know what Lucy was planning on talking to Tim about. Somebody please tell me… because “We need to talk” is usually not accompanied by anything good.

I love how Tim immediately puts his phone down and turns his attention, and his body, toward Lucy. She has his full attention, no matter what this conversation is going to be about.

Now, Lucy is the one who comes to Tim, but he is the one to start the conversation. And because they’ve been talking about her relationship with mr. can’t-read-the-room-and-pick-up-on-Lucy’s-discomfort before, it’s what he thinks they’ll continue to talk about.

First though: just think about how weird this must be for them. All day, Tim’s been trying to help the woman he’s fallen for work through her relationship with someone else. And Lucy’s been working through the problems she has with her WIP with the guy she’s actually in love with.

Yup, weird.

Anyway.

We can tell that Tim is not expecting this conversation to be about anything but Lucy and her relationship with Assford. He doesn’t even entertain the idea that Lucy might’ve come to him to talk about them. He just wants to help her see that whatever she’s doing is not working. He’s being the friend he’s become for her over time. Because he’s not expecting to ever mean as much to her as she means to him.

“Look, this clearly isn’t working out. I don’t know why you won’t just admit it.”

Thank you, Tim, for saying what the entire fandom’s been thinking for a while now.

“Unless, I mean, is it guilt? Is it because of what Rosalind did to him?”

For some reason, likely because she’s frustrated with the situation as is and really didn’t want to talk about her WIP, Lucy deflects. Again. “Oh, like I’m the only one who stayed too long when things aren’t working? You dated a lifeguard. You don’t even like going to the beach!”

Okay, I have to admit that I love Lucy’s roasting. So I need to pause here for a second. I had this all semi-planned out but then my emotions got the better of me. So, enjoy while I air out some of those frustrations.

Both Tim and Lucy stayed with their respective partners for far too long. And for the wrong reasons.

I get that Lucy felt guilty, and is too compassionate to leave someone when they’re hurt. Especially when she thinks it’s her fault.

And neither one of them wanted to be alone. But Tim never should’ve stayed with Lifeguard Bitch after he realized they were on completely different paths regarding the future.

I’m not saying she should change what she wants for Tim, but neither should he settle for something he clearly doesn’t want. He even said in 4x05 that he expected to already have kids. So he still wants it. He shouldn’t be with someone who clearly doesn’t want it.

There’s no future there. But being alone wasn’t an option either because then he wouldn’t have been able to try to ignore his feelings for Lucy for as long as he did.

In typical Tim Bradford fashion, he compromised who he is and what he wants to please the person he’s with.

Take his reaction to Lifeguard’s revelations in 4x21: “Ok… great”. No Tim, not great. You clearly want the wife, the house and the 2.5 kids. Why are you not telling her that? End it right then and there.

Why are you always the one compromising? Relationships are supposed to be a give and take, not just give for you, and take for Blondie.

If she really did love him, she wouldn’t have dumped him the way she did. And not for the reason she did. Seriously, did she not know what his job was when they first went out? I mean, Bitch please.

Sorry for the choice of words. My distaste for her and mr. hums-the-song just grew exponentially while writing this. Anyway, let me get back to the Chenford of it all.

Now it’s Tim’s turn to be frustrated. Because this is not what this is about. All day he’s been trying to figure out why Lucy is still with Assford when she is clearly not happy, despite what she said earlier. He’s been trying to help her figure it all out.

Tim wants Lucy to realize she deserves better, someone worthy of her. And no, he doesn’t think that’s him. In his mind, she is far too nice to ever possibly being able to like him in that way. So, this isn’t for him. It’s not about him.

He says it himself: “This is not about me. No, it’s not about me, it’s about you. Staying in this safe relationship... because you’re scared.” Damn Tim. Straight to the point.

But as soon as he says it, Lucy turns the conversation on its axis and actually makes it about them. Because all this time, it’s been about them, about him. “Of course I’m scared. If we do this and it doesn’t work, I’ll have ruined the most important relationship in my life.”

Again: Lucy?! What did you just say? My lack of words here is an accurate representation of my reaction when we were all watching it for the first time in December.

And, yeah. I’ve seen different opinions about this whole scene. I don’t think it’s entirely out of the blue. We’ve seen them both struggle with their emotions and feelings for each other for a while at this point. Maybe we’ve seen it more from Tim’s side lately and that’s why it was surprising that it was Lucy who just blurted it out.

But I think it’s so wonderfully in character for her to just get lost in the moment and say what she’s been feeling for so long now because the word ‘scared’ triggered everything she’s been trying to ignore and work through. Her biggest fear is losing Tim completely.

“Most important relationship in [her] life.” Yeah, I was not expecting to hear this. But I love it. We all know Lucy doesn’t want to put names to her relationships. She didn’t want to with Nolan (sorry for even mentioning this), not with Emmett and she made it perfectly clear that mr. hums-the-song was her WIP, not her boyfriend.

But with Tim it’s somehow been a relationship for a while. She even called it that on her last day of training, which I still find hilarious, btw. They’re not together. Tim doesn’t even think she feels the same way as he does. Clearly, he was not expecting to hear this, either.

She’s literally stunned him into silence. Look at the look on his face. He can’t believe what he’s hearing. He’s never been put first in any relationship. Okay, I firmly believe that he was Isabel’s priority once upon a time, but she too, chose something else over him at the end. Just like everybody else has.

But suddenly he hears Lucy say he is the most important to her. Him. Not anybody else. Him. Tim is the most important person in someone’s life.

And then we see Lucy as she realizes what she just revealed to him. And she tries to backtrack. She’s not taking it back – she’s simply realizing that maybe she shouldn’t have revealed herself to him and drop this on him.

But he doesn’t let her take it back. He agrees. Because they would lose each other if it didn’t work out. There’d be no going back to before. It’s either all in and risk it or continue this weird limbo they’ve found themselves in.

And Lucy takes Tim’s “You’re right” as confirmation that it’s not gonna happen. That it’s not worth it to risk it all. Because she doesn’t want to lose him. There’d be no other person able to fill the hole that losing Tim would create. So they should just keep going as they have. Right?

And yet. He doesn’t accept her “right?” the way he did in 5x01 in that hotel room. Because this is different. He can feel that this is different. That he seems to have a chance at a relationship with her after all. So he puts his cards on the table. And tells her that he thinks it is worth the risk.

“Unless it is.”

Three words. Just three words and now it’s Lucy’s turn to be speechless for a moment. Because she had honestly thought that he wasn’t an option, either. Not after he told her to go to UC school and it was “time for [her] to move on.” She took it as rejection, he thought he was doing her a favor by removing himself from the equation that seemed to leave no space for him.

We see the wheels turning in her head as she realizes that he seems to want this as much as she does. She lets out a little breath as the tiniest smile starts to form on her lips as she stares at Tim.

And he just looks back at her, gauging her reaction. He seems to find what he’s looking for because he leans back a bit, building up the courage to ask what he’s been dying to ask her for so long. Come on, we all know it’s true. His shoulders drop as he lets the weight fall off them and smiles.

He starts to form words as he leans toward her again, but takes another second before he lets them out. “Do you wanna get dinner sometime?”

Not ‘go on a date’. No. Because even in this moment, where they’re the only people that matter, he knows she still has a WIP. But he took his chance the moment he realized they were on the same page anyway. And I love it. Because he wastes no time at all to show her what he wants. He took a leap the second he realized she might feel the same way.

All the previous heartbreak that started during his childhood seems to fade away from him. Right now, this is all that matters. Lucy is what matters. Because he matters to her, more than he ever thought possible. He’s willing to risk it all because all he wants, everything he’s been looking for his entire life, is right there in front of him.

I will never not tear up at the way his eyes are so glassy with emotion and brimming with hope. Hope that she’ll say yes. Hope that this is finally the start of something he’s wanted for longer than he realized.

And look at Lucy. She takes a moment to absorb everything that’s just happened. From realizing that she basically blurted out how she feels about him, to having him confirming that it’s reciprocated. That he’s willing to give this a shot because he believes they can make it work.

He believes in her. In them. And that’s beautiful. Because Lucy doesn’t have many people like that in her life. She grew up with parents who always expected more of her, no matter what she did. We saw that in a few episodes in previous seasons and it’s so heartbreaking because we know Lucy wants to make her parents proud. She wants their approval.

But they never gave it to her. And yet somehow, here’s Tim. Who believes in her. First professionally, then personally and now romantically. Who makes her feel like she is enough. Because she is. For him, she is more than enough. She’s everything.

They’ve both been exactly what the other has been looking for their entire lives. They’ve endured different kinds of trauma that only the other has managed to slowly heal because they’re two parts of one whole and only truly happy and themselves when they’re together. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true.

She answers so clearly, so… sure. Like, ‘Yes of course you idiot. Why wouldn’t I want to go out with you? Nothing I’d want more.’

And then the relief in his eyes when she says yes. My heart hurts in the best way possible whenever I watch this scene and hear his breathless little “Yeah?”’. Happy Tim is my absolute favorite thing to see on the show.

The elation of getting confirmation that she wants this just as much as he does. That she’s willing to risk it all with him. He’s been so afraid of getting rejected again, like he did in 5x01 (when, again, your timing was a bitch, Timothy). We saw how he considered talking to her in 5x06 in the parking lot and then the total devastation after the missed opportunity because a certain someone had to interrupt again.

So, this time, he took his chance the second he saw an opportunity.

But as happy and elated he his right there, he completely deflates after Lucy says “No” right after. Because that’s the answer he expected. The one he feared. The (apparent) rejection after putting his heart on the line.

He turns away from Lucy, trying to put the wall back up. His whole demeanor just changed. Watch his hands – he puts them up as if physically trying to distance himself again. But he accepts her ‘no’: “Okay”. Because her happiness will always matter more than his own.

But Lucy tries to make clear that’s not what she meant. “No, no, it’s just… not yet. I owe it to [jackass] to end things the right way with him”. (No you don’t Lucy. He’s an idiot.)

Again, Tim accepts her decision, turning away again. He looks like he’s ready to stand up to leave. But Lucy stops him. We can’t see it, but I’m guessing Lucy touches his leg to get his attention again. And she does; he turns back toward her again, listening to what she has to say.

“Ask me again. Later. After.”

There’s no question here as to what she wants. She’s not there yet, because she still as a WIP. But as soon as he’s gone, she wants this. She wants Tim. She’s ready to commit to the only guy she’s ever fallen for.

And we’re back to happy smiley Tim. “Deal”. He’ll wait as long as she needs. Because now he knows there’s something to wait for. He’s not alone in this. She’s right there with him and she wants it as much as he does.

And I cannot get over how they look at each other then. There’s nothing between them anymore but happiness and the knowledge that they want the same thing: to be together.

And for the first time we really see shy, bashful, in love Tim Bradford. Look at the way he looks away from Lucy. He looks like a lovesick puppy. And my heart is bursting with happiness again.

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I totally understand the (initial) confusion about this scene. Because yes, at first it did seem as if it came out of nowhere. And that there might be a scene or dialogue missing. But after some time to reflect on it, I’ve come to realize how much I love the way they handled it. Because it didn’t come out of nowhere.

Look, this relationship has always been super layered, long before they took the leap here.

But, as pointed out above, the way Lucy just blurts it out is beautiful to me.

Because she got comfortable with Tim in this moment. After months of being at odds with one another, she felt safe enough to finally say it.

Tim spent the whole shift helping her navigate what was bothering her - Assford and his insistence to annoy her with more house offers even though she was clearly uncomfortable while dealing with a tough case - and why it was bothering her – he’s not Tim.

It wasn’t supposed to be about Tim, but he didn’t even realize that the whole problem was him in the first place. He’s the reason why she can’t and won’t move forward with jackass. Because she can’t do that while not letting Tim go.

And that’s the whole point. After Tim told her it was time for her to move on in 5x02, she tried to make it work with dumbass. But in all that time, she’s never truly let Tim go. Because he’s the one she wants at her side, whether she’s always realized it or not.

She could stay with clueless as long as she tried to tell herself that Tim didn’t matter to her like that. But that firmly established wall kept crumbling ever since Tim drew it up. Every episode following 5x02 crumbles that wall further and further - until it’s finally gone in this beautiful scene outside their place of work.

Until Lucy finally realizes that no relationship will work as long as it’s not with Tim, she won’t give it her all. Yes, she tries to tell herself it’s not worth to take the risk, but as soon as Tim reveals his hand, she’s on board.

Because they both want the same thing. To finally be together, in every possible way and not just as quasi-partners on the job. Finally, they’re on the same page.

And what makes this even more special: it’s Tim being ready before Lucy is. It’s him waiting for her.

I never would’ve even imagined for it to happen this way around. Given everything we knew pre-season 5, Lucy seemed like the more likely option to want to talk about things. She always wants to talk things out.

But maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised after 5x01. After all, Tim was the one who wanted to talk about them in that hotel room in Vegas. And yes, again, the timing was awful, seriously Timothy, but he couldn’t ignore the feelings stirring within him.

And the fact that Tim is even willing to risk it all with someone who’s become so extremely important to him is beautiful and shows how much he’s grown and found himself again since the Pilot. He’s been broken so many times before that nobody would blame him to just never try this again. Even Lucy inadvertently broke his heart in that Vegas hotel room.

But he wants to. With Lucy, he wants to, despite the previous heartbreak. Because she’s Lucy. Because she is one of the very few people who hasn’t just walked away. And she’s just offered him an in.

Yes, they’ve been distant with one another for months before this, but even then - she didn’t leave. She wanted to be there when he was injured and then raced back to the hospital after hearing he had emergency surgery to make sure he was ok. Even through their awkwardness, she stayed. She made an effort. She cared.

She’s seen every side of him and yet, she stayed.

It’s interesting, actually, that Lucy might have been one of the few people that Tim (briefly) walked away from. Because Tim holds on to the people he loves as tightly as he can but will also put their happiness above his own no matter how much it might hurt him.

He walked away from Isabel because he felt it was what was best for her, not for him and only once he knew she was getting better. We don’t know what happened with Rachel and who broke up with who, but she was the one to leave for another state. Lifeguard Bitch dumped him while he was in the hospital, right after he woke up from emergency surgery because he wouldn’t do what she wanted.

Lucy has never walked away from Tim. But there he was, willing to let her go because he felt that that was best for her. He put her (seemingly) best interest above his own. Because he couldn’t, or wouldn’t see that she didn’t regret what happened between them, that she values him for who he is. That he means more to her than she, or he, could’ve ever imagined. Because somewhere deep down, he still doesn’t believe he’s worthy of love. (I wish I could give pre-canon-Chenford Tim a hug so badly.)

For two people who know how to communicate with one another, they really did a number on themselves in eps 5x01 and 5x02. Neither one of them actually listens to the other. It’s not communicating. They don’t ask for clarification; they just assume to know what the other means.

Tim walked away in 5x02 before either one of them let their masks slip and we could see that they were both heartbroken, thinking the other regretted whatever it is that happened between them.

These two have evolved from TO and Rookie, who, for all intends and purposes, should never care about each other as anything more than colleagues, to friends during Lucy’s rookie year, to best friends who bicker and annoy each other like a married couple.

And somewhere along the way, they fell for each other without noticing, without meaning to. And I think neither one of them quite knew what do to once they had that moment of realization.

We saw them struggle with it up until the very end of 5x08 when it all came out. When they just couldn’t hold it in any longer. Because they’re the light in each other’s life and just want to be together.

And now they get to know what it’s like to actually be together the way they’ve wanted to for a while. From now on, they get to live life together. And I definitely didn’t tear up thinking about this last part.

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I understand everyone’s opinion about this episode, good or bad.

I simply think that, yes, it was a slow burn, but you can’t drag it out too long before it eventually burns out. Why create more drama when there is no real reason to? If they had written more drama for Chenford, it would’ve been created to keep more roadblocks in their way. No one would’ve wanted Lucy to move forward in her relationship with mr. boring. But that was the (almost) last thing keeping them apart.

What could they have done to keep them apart for longer? The only thing I would’ve been okay with would’ve been a time in which they just hang out as friends every chance they get before taking the plunge. Drama? I don’t want that.

But that might’ve also only lasted a few episodes before everything bubbled to the surface. Even with a slow burn, the flame’s gotta ignite at some point.

Okay, Tim being her superior would’ve actually been a very real obstacle that many of us thought would keep them apart for longer. Especially since he’s such a stickler for rules. But I think I get why they moved them forward the way they did. Both Tim and Lucy got caught up in the moment – nothing but the two of them mattered. No rules, no significant others, no power imbalance at work could’ve kept them from going after what they wanted.

The only thing that mattered was finally being able to be together after realizing they both wanted it.

I personally really appreciate that they kept this real. Yes, the writers chose to have 5x08 be the ep to move things forward. But story-wise, it’s very true to real life. Tim and Lucy didn’t have much of a choice but to ride together again after Grey told them to. Not without revealing what exactly the reason for their discomfort was.

Real life is when things happen when you least expect them. When you have to deal with things sooner than expected. When you blurt things out without thinking. When you put your heart on the line without knowing how the other feels.

I haven’t been in this fandom long and have only watched The Rookie and shipped Chenford since mid-2022. But even I was becoming inpatient for them to be together after only 6 months.

We’re all allowed to have our opinions. We can all have mature conversations about this and discuss it with respect. But the minute you completely disregard the fact that every person working on that show is a human being and call them names, and even tag them in those posts, you’ve gone too far.

They don’t owe us anything. They don’t have to move the story forward the way we want. Yes, fans keep shows going to a certain degree, but it’s the writers’ decision what to do. Or maybe it’s the network’s decision and they have to run with it and make it work.

Basically all I saw all summer long was comments about needing Chenford to be together asap. Then it happens, and yet, this is when the negativity (and disrespect) in the fandom started.

I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: we were never all gonna get it the way we envisioned it. And maybe we all should’ve kept that in mind going into season 5 (I’m including myself in this, yes). But it’s okay to be disappointed.

Did I expect it to happen the way it did? Nope. Was I a little thrown at first? Yup. But I’ve fallen in love with it since then. It’s so them.

Let them learn together. Let them grow together. Let them become even better together.

There is so much left to explore. Them getting together opened up a whole new world of potential storylines. And I for one cannot wait to see what is next in their journey.

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Additional note 1: I will forever be mad at The Rookie for making the-one-who-shall-not-be-named sound like the nicest guy when all I can see is red flag after red flag. They introduced him as a pesky ADA, who I immediately disliked, who was suddenly a real ‘nice guy’ the next time we saw him. It’s like they completely changed course and decided to use him in any way possible to keep Tim and Lucy apart. And make me uncomfortable in the process.

I know there might be some fans out there who really like him, but I just always see the guy humming the song Lucy sang to keep herself calm when she was dying. Dude, that’s the woman you’re dating. How does that song get stuck in your head and NOT trigger you?

Even this episode alone is reason enough for me to dislike him. I could go on for another 5 pages, but I’ll stop here and just say: I’m glad Lucy dumped him in maybe the least nicest way possible for someone as empathetic as her.

Additional note 2: I’ve mostly been very positive about Chenford’s development, but even I can admit that some things haven’t sat right with me all the time (and I mean pre-canon and after), mostly because I expected things to happen differently at times. But that doesn’t mean the way they’re handling it is bad or wrong. We can’t expect for them to integrate callbacks to all the significant moments from earlier seasons.

I’ve simply chosen to be positive whenever I post something because I accept and appreciate what they’ve given us, but I understand and respect if some fans don’t. As long as we don’t expect everyone to see everything the way we do, and we don’t get all childish and mad when we don’t all agree (seriously, why do we always have to get mad at each other when we disagree on things?!), I’m happy to be here. Because Chenford and The Rookie are my safe space, my escape from reality. And sometimes I just need to get lost I these characters for a while to get back on track in real life.

Thank you to @escapismqueen for listening to my constant ramblings whilst writing this and being my nr one supporter while I was struggling to get this done! I think I need to credit her for some of this because we think so much alike that she easily could’ve written parts of this herself.

#i apologize for the length of this #no it is not 20 pages in a word doc #or is it #yes this is obviously written with a knowledge up to 5x17 #so i know some of what comes next in their journey #but i can't wait for what comes after #5x18 I'm looking at you #these are just my ramblings so i don't expect everyone to like it or agree #i just needed to get this out #because i freakin' love 5x08 #so what do i do now to survive the rest of the hiatus?#suggestions anyone?#chenford #the rookie #lucy chen #tim bradford #a chenford thesis

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violettduchess · 1 year

Text

"Aere Perennius" 🌟

A/N: I have long admired @ana-thedaydreamer and her beautiful artwork. I am so excited to finally be able to share what we have been working on together! Ana, you are a talent beyond measure and I was overjoyed at the chance to collaborate with you, especially on something honoring our favorite vamp 💜Thank you for your hard work, your time, and your support.

"Aere Perennius" is Latin for, "More lasting than bronze"

Leonardo - Holiday Fluff

Word Count: 1221

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There are many things to love about the holiday season, but one tradition that never fails to brighten my spirit like a string of fairy lights in the dark are the Christmas markets. The booths are a feast for the eyes, endless degrees of craftsmanship on display in the form of bright, homemade candles, intricate wooden toys and puzzles, beautiful stained glass decorations, knitted wonders of all shapes and sizes. The smell of mulled wine and hot chocolate mixes with the scent of candied almonds, roasted meat, and gingerbread. Even the crowds are a part of it, the voices calling for small children to stay close, the greetings called across people’s heads to one another, the couples cuddling close together, warm and snug under the twinkling lights.

This is where I am right now, tucked up against Leonardo’s side as I observe the crowds from a cozy corner of the market, right next to the stand that claims it has the best mulled wine in all of Paris (with a recipe straight from Germany, I note with a wry grin). One long arm is wrapped around my waist, holding me close. The other lifts his mug of wine to his lips as he people-watches with me. The woman who runs the stand watches us both, bright-eyed, offering to refill our mugs the moment they are empty. Starting right from the first empty mug, she was so insistent with her benevolent pouring, I decided to keep holding mine close as if there were still something inside but Leonardo….he has been taking her up on her offers, tossing coins whose number grows more and more generous with every refill.

He’s nearly got a handful of them now when I realize I've been so lost in watching the bustle of the market that I haven’t been keeping track of how long we've been standing there. And how many refills he’s had. It’s too hard to see his face clearly in the shadowy corner we're standing in but there is a laxness to his body, a looseness in his stance that catches my attention.

Perhaps it's time to get a move on.

“It’s getting late,” I say as I gently extract the empty mug from his hand and set it down on the wooden counter.

He looks somewhat startled at having to say goodbye what feels to him like so soon but I tug on his arm, leading him away. “Thank you Madame, it was delicious!” he calls back towards the stand. The woman behind the counter looks as sad as he does, waving goodbye despondently, sad little Christmas dishrag in her hand. I steer him through the crowd, toward the end of the market. He is hailed by so many people who know and admire him: the watchmaker lifts a mug of beer in salutation, the music teacher calls his name with a vibrant “Yoo hoo!”, the bookstore owner nods respectfully. He is such a part of the fabric of this community, the brilliant golden thread that runs through it, brightening everything.

The lights and sounds and smells of the market give way to a dark winter sky littered with bright stars and the cool calm of night time. Arm in arm, we walk. His strides are slower than usual, his eyes bright, cheeks tinged pink with wine. We take a turn, strolling down one of the main streets with displays in the windows. When we reach the toy store, he suddenly stops.

“Cara mia….wait a moment…” He stands in front of the window where tiny lights illuminate the various toys: a shiny train set with a big black engine, the porcelain dolls with their curls and big round eyes, tin soldiers marching in a row. But what has his attention is the model hot air balloon hanging from a string, floating above the other toys. He raises one hand, pressing it against the cool glass. “Stupendo,” he sighs, almost longingly. I smile softly as I place a gloved hand on his lower back. It is well-documented how fascinated Leonardo Da Vinci has always been with the idea of man and flight. Notebooks full of his theoretical drawings of various contraptions and machines can be found in museums all over the world.

“It happens, you know. America, 1903. They invent a flying machine that becomes the basis for air travel.” My voice is as soft as the glow of the lights through the window, my eyes on his face as he stares at the toy balloon.

He doesn’t answer. Instead he pulls his far-away gaze from the shop window and turns his full attention to me.

A lock of hair falls across his forehead, his cheeks are still tinged pink. He looks young, boyish. Almost vulnerable. The mask of the cool, eternal vampire sloughed off with every sip and now all I see in the warm light is a man whose expression is filled to the brim with tenderness. He reaches out, his soft leather glove brushing the skin of my cheek.

“Who needs to dream of the sky,” he murmurs in a voice as soft as the silver starlight overhead, “when I can look at you and see the face of heaven?”

It seems the wine, the starlight, the remembrance of dreams has brought out the poet in the man I love. His words fill my heart, lifting it like heat does a hot air balloon. Now my cheeks are flushed and it has nothing to do with any drink.

I drop my gaze, a sudden shyness overwhelming me until he catches my chin between his fingers, tilting my face back up. I thought the lights in the window or the stars in the sky were luminous. They pale in comparison to the radiance of his golden eyes.

“C’mere,” he whispers, his free arm pulling me toward him, holding my chin as he lowers his mouth to mine. I can taste the echoing flavors of the mulled wine, the cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves as well as the faintest whisper of smoke from his cigarillos. Here in his arms, there is only the present. His dreams in the past, the uncertainty of the future fade with every movement of his lips, every sigh, every touch. If I have learned anything from loving this man, it is the need to live in the right here, right now. Even this moment, an embrace under a dazzling winter sky on an empty Parisian street will end. And somewhere in the future, there will be airplanes. And rockets. And the eternal vampire will experience it all.

Without me.

But I believe it is moments like this one, as I wrap my arms around his shoulders and return his kiss with all the love in the world, that will capture a hallowed place in his eternity and light his heart when shadows dare creep near.

The kiss comes to an end, yet he does not move away. Maybe he’s dizzy with wine and needs to be still for a moment. Maybe he does not want to lose the closeness we share. Either way, he doesn’t step back but instead presses his forehead against mine, eyes closed.

“I love you.”

I breathe out, a hand stroking the back of his neck.

“I love you too, Leonardo. Always.”

-----

Tagging: @aquagirl1978 @alixennial @alexxavicry @queengiuliettafirstlady @rhodolitesrose @ikemen-prince-writers-posts @bellerose-arcana @thewitchofbooks @redheadkittys @dear-mrs-otome @firestar-otomeobsessed @curious-skybunny @leotoru @kpop-and-otome @writingwhimsey @mxrmaid-poet @silver-dahlia @wendolrea @otomefoxystar @neoqueen-sailorvirgo @myonlyjknight @kissmetwicekissmedeadly

#ikemen series #ikemen vamp #ikevamp #ikevamp leonardo #ikemen leonardo #leonardo da vinci #christmas fluff #holiday fluff #ikemen art #ikevamp art #ikemen fanfiction #ikemen fanfic #otome fanart #otome fanfic #ana thedaydreamer #violettwrites

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angelasscribbles · 7 months

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Sunday Six 09.17.23

I know I haven’t posted a chapter in a couple of weeks. I’ve posted extras, character boards, memes, links, cleaned out most of my asks, etc. But no story updates.

Rest assured that it’s simply because I have so much on my plate. Sometimes I get fixated on one story and you get regular, frequent (maybe too frequent) updates on that one story, while the others can sit untouched for months. Other times, my interest, and my attention, bounce around like a damn volleyball and while I’m still writing regularly, I have multiple projects I’m running between so many things are getting closer and closer, but nothing is actually ready to go yet.

Throw in that both the school year and volleyball season are back in full swing and I am underwater with projects, obligations, and events in real life as well.

No promises on the when of any of the below, but I wanted to give a little update about where I am with all the things. So without further ado…..

Spoilers are under the cut:

ONGOING SERIES….

Heir Apparent Chapter 21:

In the months following the press conference, things settled considerably with Liam. He had stopped pushing the idea of a Cordonian Arrangement and had been nothing but solicitous and courteous with both Drake and Riley.

All of them continued with therapy and progress had been made. Liam and Drake gradually fell back into the patterns of their lifelong friendship as the tension between them eased.

Riley and Drake agreed to relocate temporarily to the palace as they awaited the birth of Cordonia’s heir. While things had calmed between the three of them, the press had only ramped up their frenzy over the impending birth.

Riley couldn’t go anywhere without being set upon by the paparazzi, so she stopped going out. Everything and everyone came to her. It was both a perk and a restriction of being the mother to the heir apparent to the throne.

The baby was doing well, they had collectively decided to wait and find out the gender at birth. They had learned to do a lot of things collectively, everyone was settled and happy, or at least content with the way things were.

Then all hell broke loose.

Savage Love Chapter 35:

Leo

I shifted nervously as the car pulled up in front of the small, clapboard house on a quiet residential street in a working-class neighborhood. We had opted for a sedate sedan rather than drawing undue attention by pulling up in a limo.

If Max was right, she was here. If Riley’s intel was correct, she was in Hidar. But even if she wasn’t home, perhaps the woman that raised her would be and I could get some answers. If she was home, then I was about to meet my sister for the first time.

My sister.

The Dark Kingdom Chapter 6:

She took a step sidewise, away from Drake and toward the door, “Maybe I should leave. Coming here was a mistake-“

“Riley please!” Drake’s hand shot out to stop her, but he halted his momentum as he watched her flinch away from him. He drew his hand back and then held both of his arms up in front of him, palms open, “I’m sorry! I understand what you’ve been through, and I would never do anything to-“

Her gaze swung wildly from Drake to Liam, “You told him?”

“No!” Liam looked aghast, “I mean, not exactly…not like you think!”

“What other way is there? Either you told him, or you didn’t!”

Liam met her eyes with equanimity, “You told him… when you told me.”

“I…don’t understand….”

Drake’s gaze bore into her, but he didn’t attempt to grab her again, “Please give us a chance to explain!”

Unexpected Chapter 7:

“Besides that, I’m pretty sure there’s something going on between her and Beaumont.”

Liam’s head snapped up, his brows furrowing, “Bertrand?”

“No,” Drake snorted, “Maxwell.”

Liam sat back in his chair, steepling his fingers and bringing them to his lips, “Why do you think that?”

ONE-SHOTS

(Titles are just working titles and will most likely change)

Four (Bad Romance):

The air was thick with anticipation as the door to the royal apartment closed behind them.

“Would anyone like a drink?” Liam asked, suddenly a little stiff. He had very little sexual inhibitions. By any standards, he was pretty adventurous. He was both a voyeur and an exhibitionist, he liked to watch, he liked to be watched. He was pansexual, the attraction was about the person, not their gender. His relationship with Riley was open sexually, they both indulged in the occasionally meaningless hookup. He was no stranger to group sex. Being part of a committed throuple, threesomes were common enough. Bringing a third, or fourth person in had happened on a few occasions.

None of that was the problem.

His eyes slid across the room surreptitiously as he poured thirty-year-old bourbon carelessly into four tumblers while taking in his best friend’s nervousness.

At least he wasn’t the only one.

Drake was the problem. The man was gorgeous but straight. Liam had put any unrequited romantic or sexual feelings in a box and locked it long ago. They were friends.

Best friends.

Their relationship had survived falling for the same woman but their arrangement, up until now, had kept their respective sex lives with her separate.

The memory of Drake naked in the shower after their last workout flitted through his mind and his dick twitched.

Shit.

Leo Smut (A Bad Romance Prequel Story):

Leo Rys, former crown prince, and current international playboy made his way leisurely through the crowd, searching for prey. The BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn Music Festival was one of his favorite New York events. All summer long, free, outdoors, and full of eligible, hot women.

He had been at loose ends since he abdicated the throne. Sailing around the Mediterranean on a cruise ship had been amusing for a little while. Until he’d gotten his heart handed to him. Again.

He knew he should be doing something with his life, but he didn’t know what. Not yet. He would give himself a couple of years to have fun, then he would get serious about something.

Meanwhile, he was on the prowl for his next good time.

He spotted her next to the stage. The lead singer was eye fucking her, and she wasn’t exactly discouraging it.

She was wearing a crisscross tie-dyed halter top, her hair spilling down her back in luscious dusky waves as she undulated her body seductively while keeping her eyes locked on the singer.

His focus narrowed. Target acquired.

NEW STUFF/COMING SOON(er or later)

Cordonian Royal Airlines

Insurrection Chapter 2

The long-awaited follow-up to King Breaker. I really wanted to post a snippet, but almost every line is a huge spoiler so just know that it’s in process.

Queen of Hearts:

Premise: Crown Princess Riley Rys has no interest in marrying any time soon but she’s not above taking advantage of the diversions offered by the endless stream of hopeful young noblemen that are paraded in front of her by their ambitious parents. But what happens when someone a little more…common catches her eye?

Format: A possibly open-ended series of the ongoing adventures of Cordonia’s untamable princess. (Still deciding)

Credit to @karahalloway for the series title.

Disclaimer: I know I’m not the first or only person to flip Riley into the role of royalty and I’m sure I won’t be the last. This is simply my take on it.

A/N: While I’ve made Riley the princess, I have not flipped Liam into the commoner role (that role belongs to Drake), but I have, instead, made Leo and Liam members of the Cordonian nobility.

Board:

#angelasscribbles #sunday six #the royal romance #trr #the royal romance fanfic #trr fanfic #trr fandom #choices

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inejschumacher · 3 months

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You actually have the nerve to tag Pedri while hating on him 😂

Did you even watch other teams aside from BVB or Madrid? Pedri played a huge part in making Barca win la Liga last season. Despite playing as a pure cm he was among the players who single-handedly won the most points for his team (12 points) just by his match-winning goals. Whenever Pedri was fit he was always one of the most consistent Barca players. I agree availability is the most important aspect in football. And this season Jude is currently the better footballer (just because Pedri was mainly injured this season and couldn’t stay fit long enough to prove everyone wrong). But no way in hell is he a better midfielder than Pedri - a better goalscorer yes but Pedri clears him midfielder wise. Jude doesn’t even play as a pure cm, of course he will always have more goals than Pedri since he plays more as an attacking midfielder/ second striker. Look at those stats analysing the amount of key passes per game and passes in the final third. Pedri is above Bellingham. Without goals people will soon realise that they were hyping Jude up too much, he’s a good player and an excellent goalscorer but he isn’t close to Pedri and Musiala when you compare them as midfielders. Having the highest rating when your team plays doesn’t mean shit because at the end of the day Madrid still lost and it just proved the point that one player can’t carry a team no matter how amazing he is. Jude can only shine because he is surrounded by good players that will enable him to assist and score. No matter how many chances you create, if you have no one to convert the chances it’s useless and you can’t look good. Pedri has to play in a dysfunctional where all his chances always get wasted. Put him in Madrid and you will see him already have 5-6 assists like Kroos. It is what it is. People are gonna hype up Jude until he doesn’t score in every game anymore and then they will realise who the higher ceiling has. Pedri has so much more talent than Jude. People disrespecting him and actually thinking he’s not a generational talent are just blinded. People are so focused on goals and assists that they don’t even regard other aspects that lead to the goal in the first place. Just as a little side information: In the el clasico Pedri had more key passes than Jude despite playing 60 minutes and not 90 minutes like Jude, yet Jude is the one that got away with an assist. If you only look at the stats then why are you even calling yourself football fan? Just say you’re only valuing rating apps. The eye test will always be on Pedri’s side.

And don’t tag Pedri when you hate on him. I just warn you because you will surely get a lot of hate. Hate on twitter because there are more blinded football fans like you who would surely love to hear your opinion on him.

I’m not reading all of this good lord

I tag Pedri bc it’s easier for me to navigate through that tag to track what I and others have said about him and Jude, in case there are some points I haven’t made clear or to build on something

Also, I haven’t been attacking Pedri, I just agree that Jude is a more complete player overall and the better player this El Clasico, and I’m excited to see who proves themselves better this season

I think Pedri is a great player and vital for Barca’s successes, and I really do enjoy seeing him play, so don’t think I’m a blind, uneducated hater (that seems to be you)

Btw, Jude has single-handedly won 9 points so far in just La Liga with game-winning goals (even against Barca omg) so clearly he’s not undeservedly being hyped up

And don’t pit Musiala and Bellingham against each other when both are almost equally great players💕

Anyways, Hala Madrid🤍💜

p.s. clearly I spoke too soon about peace in my inbox

#answered asks #jude bellingham #pedri #real madrid #fc barcelona

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reyna-isabellaa · 2 years

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My thoughts on common things the show has been hated for:

“The main plots from book have now been replaced with political storylines which no-one asked for”

it’s clear here you did not read the books because Lissas entire plot is her growing into her political power and taking a seat at the table, speaking against injustice and against the crazy policies from extreme royals. Rose consistently explains the political context of what’s going on in the books and especially points about the commodification of dhampir women. This is all in the books AND NOW represented in the show. Don’t know what you mean about main plots because I see a lot of book plots being set up to play out through out the season. Main plot IS Dimitri training Rose to adequately protect Lissa when they graduate. That is EXACTLY what the show is about. if you watch longer than 5 minutes before throwing a fit you would see that. Each episode continues the story in an accurate compelling way, and the developing of characters and relationships begins to show. Most shows have 22 episodes and 10 seasons to see everything. we’ve been given four, of the very beginning, obviously not EVERY SINGLE little thing will be represented yet nor would a word for word adaptation make sense or be interesting because that first book has BEEN done already. But those general elements for the plots and characters are present.

“origins of mythology is gone”

This was NEVER represented in the books, in the sense that everywhere Richelle drew inspiration from wasn’t throughly explained and context for WHY each vampire is who they are. The intro DOES explain the lore for this specific story and weaves bits through dialogue. Don’t know why it was expected to do a deep dive to where certain things come from because that was never the books strigoi were strigoi, moroi were moroi, if you want that it’s interviews and discussions with the author in her inspirations not the show.

“romanian and russian backgrounds of most of the characters”

no one dug their feet in on this until the cast wasn’t fully white, characters were never stated to for sure NOT have these backgrounds. Representation is important and there is still time for this to be seen and represented. Like Dimitri still being from Russia but ppl constantly hated assuming he had no link at all and roza/comrade was gone (it’s not if u haven’t given the show a chance yet). I know this is important to people and don’t want to disregard anyone but using it to hate the show when the movie didn’t explore it that much either let alone the books that mentioned moroi ancestors being from there every once in a while which again could be mentioned in the show.

“Stunts are unrealistic”

they aren’t meant to be it’s a fantasy show with vampire hybrids who are LITERALLY build different to fight vampire monsters

“Outfits are all over the place”

ROYALS wear designer clothing and attend balls and ceremonies.

Non Royals try dressing up for these events but dress “normal”

Dhampirs dress in athletic clothing for training, all black uniforms for various events, and “normal” outfits.

The book discusses Rose dressed more practical as she began taking her training more serious, and the moroi esp royals would be in designer dresses and outfits, non royals wanting to imitate that on a budget which is exactly what’s is represented.

It’s clear the lack of understanding of how television works, we as book readers would LOVE to see every single last word played out EXACTLY how it was in the books but it’s not possible storytelling wise when creating a hit show that lasts and gains viewership. Some things and characters were changed because in the long run it will all come together and make sense both to book plots and the whole story the show is telling. If you weren’t so hellbent on hating this show you would see just how much Sisi, Daniela, and the whole cast play these characters so well, and what is being set up for the season and later seasons. The intention is to have all the books represented across many seasons and to even have bloodlines adapted. but it’s OUR support that will allow that to happen. So tired of the same ridiculous comments most of which stem from racism towards the cast and it’s unacceptable. Having a different/negative opinion is fine but hating and dragging the show down because you can’t open your eyes to what’s on the screen and making comments that are just false or hateful isn’t okay. I’d understand saying that you can’t enjoy this because the books aren’t playing out in the order you expected or wanted, or a character you liked was missing but saying the entire things is the absolute worst because natalie and aaron, the two most important VA characters are gone. natalie is in sonya and mia, a change, but one that connects these characters for many seasons provided direct links to each other to keep them in the show universe, not being gone for a season or two and coming back because a link between one random character to another small character back to another character do you see what I mean? anyways. I’m a virgo mercury and hate seeing things posted that are easily explainable and tear the show down because the cast doesn’t deserve that. Also yes Richelle does love it she doesn’t have to post or be on podcasts talking about how she appreciates the changes, ships victor and robert, loves seeing the show but she does!

#vampire academy #rose hathaway #lissa dragomir #dimitri belikov #christian ozera #adrian ivashkov #mia karp #eddie castile #mason ashford #sonya karp #mikhail tanner #victor dashkov #tatiana vogel #richelle mead #bloodlines

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boldlyvoid · 9 months

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a dirty dancing hotch fic you say?

I UNO reversed this one so Aaron is Baby and the Reader is one of the dancers at Kellermans

It’s kinda hard to miss him.

From the moment he rolls up behind his family's car on a motorcycle, every girl at the resort had ideas about what they’d like to do with him during summer vacation. Both the goody-goody girls with daddy’s money, seeing the resort as a waste of their time when they could be partying, and the servant girls who needed this job to live through the other 3 seasons of the year, were captivated by the new man.

“Really, he’s just another white boy with brown hair, he’s not special,” Y/N shoved the shoulder of a co-worker whose jaw hit the floor.

“He’s the older Hotchner boy, we haven’t seen him in a few years,” another voice explains. Sandy… Y/N turns to see her and then turns right back around.

“Yeah, I’m sure there’s a reason,” she’s snippy. Never able to share a nice word with Sandy, not since she stole her solo this year at the Carlton.

Every year the 2 best dancers are sent to the neighbouring resort to give a performance, and it has a huge payout. It’s normally given to the most senior, dedicated dancer to Kellerman’s, which would’ve been Y/N if Sandy didn’t start dating the owner's son for the season. She did it on purpose, she rubbed it in, and she clearly had a thing for this Hotchner guy.

So Y/N walked right over to him, with a smile on her face and a pep in her step, “Welcome to Kellerman’s, where friendships are born,” she gives the cheesy tagline and watches the smile take over his face. “Anything I can do to help you settle in?”

He just looks her up at down, “You’re not dressed like the wait staff…”

“I’m with the entertainment crew,” she corrects, “but it looks like all the girls are too busy staring at your ass in those leather chaps to actually help move your luggage to your cabin.”

“Finally,” his father's voice draws her attention away, “here, we’re going to the Presidential Suite.” He puts 2 dress bags in her arms and then 4 boxes of shoes on top.

“Dad,” he looks like he’s ready to swing at him. “She’s not a servant.”

“She offered, didn’t ya sweetheart?”

She nods, not sure how to deal with conflict or old rich men.

He rolls his eyes and takes the shoe boxes, “come on,” he points in the direction of their usual cabin, so it would seem. “I’m sorry about him.”

“Is he usually like that or was it a long drive?”

“Both,” he sighs, “I’m Aaron by the way, most people call me Hotch, though.”

“Y/N,” she smiles, “I heard it's been a few summers since you’ve been here?”

“I went to college,” he doesn’t go into detail. “I just got into Law School, Dad thought it would be nice to have two weeks off but I think he just wanted to make sure he has enough time to convince me to go to his choice school.”

“Rich boy problems,” she teases him. Reaching the VIP suites, she opens the presidential door and places the bags on the main bed, “my parents didn’t want me to be a dancer full time, but look at me now.”

“What did they want you to do?”

She shrugs, “I’ll tell you when I figure it out. Till then, dancing pays the bills and there’s free lodging here.”

He takes her hand before she can head back to help bring more luggage to his family's room, “come on, let’s get out of here.”

“I can’t,” she tugs her hand away, “if I bring enough bags here, your dad might give me a 20 and I could buy some snacks for the week.”

“I get it,” he looks upset, probably feeling used like all the other girls make him feel. He just walks off into the woods, taking the chance of them being friends with him.

#wip wednesday #aaron hotchner #dirty dancing hotch fic

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thefinalboss387 · 10 months

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Okay so I am currently watching through Black Sails for the first time and

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOOOOOVE THEIR PORTRAYAL OF EDWARD “BLACKBEARD” TEACH

Gonna explain why under the cut. And also ask some questions that people who know a lot about pirates and/or are familiar with other great pirate shows/movies can hopefully answer for me!

Before I go any further, I want to preface everything by saying that I just finished season 4, episode 5 today. It’s my first time watching the show (so please don’t spoil anything beyond that episode for me), and so far I can happily say it is one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen. I’m SO impressed with the layers and depth of the story, how literally EVERY action has consequences (even the ones you don’t expect), etc. This show has all the political intrigue and power dynamics of Game of Thrones, without the noticeable decline that show unfortunately had. Season 4 has been AMAZING so far and I don’t expect the next half of the season to disappoint me. I’m genuinely starting to get a little sad that I’m so close to the end, because... NOW WHAT???

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE SHOW UP TO SEASON 4 EPISODE 5

My only real experience with pirate fiction or history at all before this show was really Pirates of the Caribbean and Peter Pan. Even Treasure Island I’m largely unfamiliar with - I remember watching the Muppet version as a kid, I loved Treasure Planet but admittedly haven’t seen it in decades, and I barely remember either version, but yeah. I was recently in a pirate mood after that new Peter Pan movie came out on Disney+, Googled recommendations for a good pirate show, and Black Sails was the top of that list. And BOY am I glad I gave it a shot!!!

In particular, I found myself REALLY drawn to the character of Blackbeard. He showed up pretty late in the story so obviously I have a lot of other favorites as well, but he won me over VERY quickly. I’m at a point in my watch through where Teach is now dead, and unless he keeps coming back in Miranda-style visions (doubtful), I thiiiiink I’ve seen his entire story and am at a place where I can comfortably talk about his character arc?

Honestly, my only complaint is that I wish we saw more of him. He only ultimately shows up for like maybe 10 episodes, but MAN what a presence he brought with him!! As soon as he first showed up in that cabin being confronted by his ex-wife’s angry family, I was excited. He was played by the late RAY STEVENSON!!! I’ve only seen that particular actor in one other role, but he was my favorite Dexter villain BY FAR, so I knew he’d kill the role. I’m also super excited to see him in the upcoming Ahsoka show, but that’s neither here nor there lol. I feel like Teach’s overall lack of screentime hurts his chances of landing himself in my “favorite characters of all time” list, but I need time to digest the show for a bit before I decide on things like that. Because in the limited time we DO get with him, he hits all the right buttons for me!

I know Blackbeard is a super-famous real life pirate, and that he shows up a lot in popular fiction, but the only real knowledge I have of the man is what we saw in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. His portrayal in that movie was.... fine? I didn’t dislike him, but he definitely didn’t impress me either. He was a serviceable villain in a franchise that has had way better and more effective villains.

I work with kids, I serve as a mentor figure to them, and honestly my mission is to be the adult I wished I had in my life when I was a kid. Mentor/mentee, parent/child, “found family” relationships are something I LOVE to explore in fiction. Since I also tend to love villains, a lot of my FAVORITE fictional characters of all time are villains that explore a more toxic, dark side of those mentor relationships.

What I love about this portrayal of Blackbeard, primarily, is his relationship with Charles Vane. Despite how dangerous and arguably toxic both men are, their relationship was surprisingly sweet.

Blackbeard is a SCARY dude, and he very quickly establishes himself and makes it clear that he hates how soft and docile pirate society has become in his absence, and immediately goes about building a crew of hardened badasses that violently prove their worth to him. Yet, everything about his relationship with Vane is empathetic, understanding, and gentle.

Now, obviously, Vane is one of the most hardened and badass characters in the show. It’s easy to see why someone like Blackbeard would take a liking to someone like Vane. He grows to see Vane as a son, and despite the betrayals Vane puts him through, Teach never holds it against him, never lifts a finger to harm him, and even passionately seeks to avenge his death after the fact. His absence for literally half of the show’s run is because Vane betrayed him and exiled him, and in his words, he left because he would’ve had to kill Vane if he stayed.

He reveals, privately, to his lover that he is slowly dying from shrapnel in his chest, and wants to cement a legacy for himself through Vane - a fact that he never actually TELLS Vane or anyone else because he doesn’t want to manipulate or guilt him. Everything about Teach’s motivations revolved around Vane. But even beyond that, he grows something of a mentor-y dynamic with Jack Rackham after Vane’s death, and it’s implied that he took Israel Hands under his wing before Vane. He is entirely driven by his need for a son, even if that son is not biological -- after Vane’s betrayal, he laments that only God makes sons. As someone who also really wants to be a parent, and has a lot of mentor relationships instead, I really relate to that sentiment and feel the heartbreak behind it.

I genuinely love his style. A brilliant tactician, yet so ruthless and violent in a fight. I loved that he would be sword fighting people, only to randomly pull out a gun and shoot his opponents in the face. I loved his death scene and his utter defiance right until the very end. He wasn’t looking to make a statement, or inspire a riot, he just wanted to fuck with his murderer and ruin his moment.

So, I have a question for the pirate enthusiasts out there. How accurate is this version of Teach? Did he have this tendency to take people under his wing and mentor them despite his ferocity? Are there other fictional portrayals of him out there that have that quality to him? Even in Pirates of the Caribbean, he was pretty notable for the relationship he had with Angelica, who may or may not have been his daughter, but how genuine and caring that relationship was is left pretty ambiguous from both sides.

Either way, Black Sails is really sparking my interest in pirates in general! I recently purchased Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag on Steam, and plan to play that very soon. I went and downloaded the shows Crossbones and Our Flag Means Death, but haven’t started watching them yet. I downloaded the anime One Piece, but am unsure when/if I want to watch it because holy crap it’s a huge commitment haha. It also occurs to me that I should probably read/watch Treasure Island, but I am fully aware that the pirate characters are two-dimensional villains without any of the complexity or nuance of Black Sails, so that’s disappointing. I know almost nothing about any of those above shows/anime/movies/games though so I’m in for a ride!!

But, my pirate enthusiast friends, another question: Any other great pirate media out there I should go consume?? I already know I’m going to miss this show when it’s over so I’m already starting to look for the next thing to watch to keep myself busy!

#Edward Teach #Blackbeard #Black Sails #Ray Stevenson #Charles Vane

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ciaossu-imagines · 1 month

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Okay. Cool. That’s good to know. A part of me figured that was the case but since that everything purely said ‘Ask box closed’ I figured I’d better be safe than sorry and should wait until you opened it up again. And I’m so sorry that someone sent in that spoiler with a request. I really do hate that. And that’s great to hear that you slept so amazingly ☺ Gods, me too. I have this weird thing where I absolutely have no idea how much sleep I actually need beause I’m always tired, even if I sleep more than normal. Sure, I feel slightly more refreshed, but still hella tired. Okay. I’ll try to come up with everything I thought of saying at the time and will send it next time you respond to our DMs. And thank you so much for saying that. It most definitely was a great chapter and I hope I have good enough thoughts to add onto everything you’ve already said about it. Oh I see. That makes sense. I also usually go for those kinds of things and rarely watch purely romantic series, unless they’re recommended to me or they’re said to be really good. It really is. I finished A: TLA a few days ago and cried so much at the end. And I hope that you also get the chance to rewatch it at some point and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it when the time comes. I immensely enjoyed rewatching A: TLA and it’s funny beause even though it’s been a while that I’ve watched it before , I still knew a lot of everything concerning the story but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the moments. Like I still cried at another emotional scene a few episodes before the end beause it really is just so beautiful. I just started the last season of Demon Slayer that’s out today and I’m just in awe of the animation and how it looks and it’s making me emotional. I’m really so grateful that a series as good as that has such a beautifully well done adaptation. Couldn’t ask for anything more and hope that they continue doing it justice until the very end, though I have a feeling they will.

Thank you. I managed to get through everything I didn’t get the chance to read yet today, as you may have noticed 😅 And I enjoyed all of them and have written my thoughts down for them, though I feel like they’ll probably look quite repetitive 😅 Yeah, fandom is amazing like that. I’m really grateful for that and the way that they write all of the wikis. Yeah, one of the filler arcs in Bleach is really weird and I never rewatch that one. Oh that’s nice to know. And it’s also cool to know that they also translated the songs. Were they sung by the English voice actors or something?

It really was and luckily, now that I’ve restarted my computer again since it was being really slow, it’s gone back to how it used to be. And that could be. And thank you for calling the explanation clear. And that sounds good. I hope you get to read it beause one of the matches centres on some of my favourite babies and I really do hate that they messed up the adaptation like that. At least I’ll always have the manga, though it still sucks 😭 Yeah. And the fourth season still has some really well-done scenes, and there’s this scene of another kind of fave that I haven’t mentioned at all, that appears in that season, and they have like this really beautiful shot of his eyes. And that’s nice to know. No problem at all. Even though I probably won’t rewatch the movies, I do really appreciate that they animated those extra scenes beause they’re all important in their own way. Shame can’t be said for some later stuff and I know Covid had something to do with the second half on the fourth season, but the movie of this year and those OVA’s from many years ago have no excuse so yeah, it’s still a shame (I know I’m being really salty here so sorry for that). The chapter limitation really does suck, especially because both were really easy to get through for me, someone who doesn’t read as fast so I hope that you do get to read both on your normal app one day. Yeah, me too. Like even though I do have my faves that I’ve talked to you about, I still love all of the characters and am so proud of the growth that certain ones went through and it’s just all so nice. Like even my non-faves make me emotional. And yeah, especially those. Like the other boy I’m not normal about has such noticeable flaws and is such a silly boy (like I call him silly so often while rewatching some of his scenes) but he’s such a well-made character that you can’t help but love him.

Oh I’m so sorry to hear that and I can’t blame you for being upset by it. I hope at least that that character has good reasons or something. I’m also scared now, but also kind of intrigued to see it all. And true and that’s really nice. And you’re amazing for that. Glad to see that I’m not the only one who likes justified text. And no problem at all 😄 I’m doing pretty alright. Like I said, I watched some Demon Slayer today, which put me in a good mood but my mum was really judgemental about a certain thing concerning my dad which was so horrible to hear sine it was during dinner time so I just had to sit there and listen to everything she had to say, especially since I couldn’t come up with enough stuff to counter her. It really is always so painful to have to hear her comments about all kinds of things but I won’t let it keep me down because I know I have your writing to look forward to and many great anime and all kinds of stuff. Just couldn’t help but mention it. Hope you’re doing amazing and that the writing is going great 😊

I know you had figured that and I think it’s really sweet of you to be concerned about bothering me! You’re never a bother though and I enjoy seeing you in the inbox 😊Thanks – that one was rough as I’ve done amazing at avoiding Jujutsu Kaisen spoilers (blacklisted the general tag until I’m completely finished the manga read just to make sure of that). Though, just saying – I called that one way back in our messages but ouch, rough yeah, for both being spoiled and for what it said happened. I need way more sleep than the four to six hours I’m lucky to get a night. I’m horrible in being a super light sleeper where every little sound wakes me up though, even with my pills being in me. Caffeine is my best friend in all forms (coffee, energy drinks, caffeine infused chocolate or my favourite, chocolate covered espresso beans, even caffeine pills if the insomnia is really bad…yeah, I know, I’ll probably die of a heart attack from all the caffeine guys but adult life sucks and requires you to stay awake). Sounds good! I’m hoping to get a reply to our dm’s off maybe this weekend in between writing other things, where I have a weekend off. I can definitely get checking out series that are recommended to you, even if they’re not what you’d normally watch. I recently paused watching my other shows to binge through Mashle because it came highly recommended by two people I trust, even though it seemed like it would be just a blatant rip-off of One Punch Man. Turns out they were right and I loved it. I hope it will be that for you with the romance series when you do watch it through! The ending of A:TLA was definitely worthy of the crying and I remember crying quite a bit throughout that show. I loved Iroh, but I really had a soft spot for Azula and things got real rough for my girl around the end of the show. I felt horrible for her, I really did. I’m so glad that you enjoyed your rewatch of it, that it could still hit you in all the right ways despite knowing what was coming. When you say last season, do you mean this is it? It will wrap everything up completely or is there a plan for more (like a spin-off or anything) after this season or a follow-up like Naruto: Shippuden? I’m so glad the last season is starting out so well though and I’m with you in hoping it will continue to be beautifully done right up until the end, and not just because it’s high on my watch list.

I noticed and appreciated all the likes and am happy you enjoyed them all! And I never find your thoughts repetitive and am always really glad to hear your thoughts on my posts! Comments are always wonderful and motivating! I hate the Bount arc for Bleach and when I do get the urge to watch it, I always skip that arc, since it’s pure filler anyway! I’m pretty sure it’s all the English VA’s singing the songs but I noticed about halfway through season 2 there were some songs they didn’t translate and upon googling it, it looks like sometimes it’s hard to get the permissions needed to translate and revoice those songs. Either way, the music is really solid all through the show!

I’m glad your computer has gone back to how it should be and hopefully isn’t running super slow anymore! It definitely was clear and it helps me know what to expect. I’m someone who likes to get every single moment, so even if the movies are a lot of recycled stuff, I still need to watch them. Oh no! It sucks that your favourite didn’t really get what they should have when it came to the anime adaptation. I know how that feels and it sucks big time! I hadn’t even actually thought about the impact Covid would have had on animators and studios! A lot of what came out during that time would make more sense if they couldn’t really all do their work successfully from home, I guess. And hey, no, please feel free to be salty. Everyone has things they’re salty about, even me, and it’s cool that you feel comfortable enough with me to feel safe getting salty about things. Thank you for that! And so far, all the characters are great. I was pretty sure I’d dislike Hinata going into it, because those kind of characters normally bore me but I ended up just adoring him, which is the one that surprised me the most!

Thank you! I do hope that, when I get to reading and finishing up everything for the manga, I’ll see the reasons the author went that direction and that it ends up making sense in the story. If not, I’m sticking just with writing Nanbaka up to the end of the anime seasons haha! I’m so glad you’re doing okay and that you had some good moments, though I’m really sorry to hear that about your mother. I personally am of the opinion that spouses shouldn’t bicker or pick at each other in front of their children, but I know it happens all too often. It’s awkward for the person sitting there and uncomfortable. I’m sure you did your best to defend your dad and that he appreciated it a lot! I know it’s hard but try to focus on some of the positives of your day or lose yourself in something you enjoy and don’t let her steal your joy, my dear! You deserve more than that! And thank you! I’m doing okay tonight – just got my pills into me, sitting on my couch in boxers and a comfy t-shirt, eating a McCain cake out of the tin and writing (just finished a chapter…it was supposed to be a request for a one shot little drabble about me travelling with comfort characters and now it’s bloated into a whole multi-chaptered fic, haha)!

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