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hughesyodaddy43 · 2 days

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Pizza solves everything - L.H

pairings: bf! Luke x fem!reader. Platonic!Ethan Edwards and Mark Estapa x reader Genre: fluff warnings: angst?,mentions of cheating, stressed reader, exam season synopsis: Lukes girlfriend gets worked up over finals. Ethan and Mark attempt to make her feel better. requested?: yes word count: 3.1k authors note: I am not from America so i don't know how exams and schooling work over there, i hope this still makes sense. i gave reader a nickname, 'missy' and will probably use that name for future Luke fics.

You groan as you type on your computer, sitting at your desk with mindless tv playing in the background. You currently live in a tiny apartment with your best friend, Ethan. It's a two bedroom and can only really house two people before feeling cramped. However it is right next to Umich and is far more convenient than living in the dorms.

You only started living with Ethan last year, after your previous roommate moved out and you needed someone to share utilities with. Seeming as though Luke was leaving for New Jersey and Ethan never left your house anyway - it seemed only logical that he started paying rent.

Having a boyfriend in the NHL is both a blessing and a curse, the blessing being the fact that your hot boyfriend is in the NHL and the curse being that everyone else thinks he is hot too.

You never were the jealous type, or at least not before you saw all the girls that crowded Luke when he went to parties. Something in you cringed when you saw how awkward he got when denying girls, it was common that you'd have to step in otherwise that man would have just stood there like a statue the entire encounter. It wasn't like he would ever cheat on you, you were confident that he wouldn't. However when your hair is fitted to a much darker shade then the girls he interacts with, it's hard to not think about him wanting a more ‘conventional’ Hockey Girlfriend.

Luke is always first to tell you he doesn't care about that stuff and you believe him, but when you haven't called him in days, sometimes weeks, it gets less easy to control the unsettling feelings.

Everytime you call with Luke, it's always cut short, whether it’s Ethan banging on your door at 11 o’clock for a ‘late night snack’ or Jack barging in to argue with Luke about something, you never get to talk about what you're really feeling.

Because of the distance and lack of communication, the relationship has been a bit strained, it's not like you could tell if luke felt the same since he's too busy sleeping or playing hockey to communicate that with you. You were so proud of Luke, no doubt about it, however something in you boiled when he only ever mentioned hockey during the ten minute phone calls.

Since the last phone call you had with him, you've only really exchanged small text messages every couple hours. It was upsetting that you couldn't talk to your boyfriend about everything going on but it was also a nice way to get away so you can finish up and focus on all the upcoming exams.

You had your next one tomorrow and really needed to knuckle down and get studying for it. You've managed to get what you needed done for tonight so you thought you'd call Luke for a final call before bed.

After wriggling comfortably against your pillows, you lean against your head board. bringing your phone up close to your ear, you press the dial on luke's contact listening closely to the ringing sound on the other end.

Ring

You breathe hitches as you hear Lukes voice on the other end, only this time it was his voicemail. You take one last deep breath before shutting your phone off and sinking into your pillows.

Your phone vibrates on your nightstand and you view a message from your best friend and biggest hater, Ethan.

House rat: the team got too much pizza, if you're still up I can bring you some?

House rat : Silence speaks volumes missy

Pissy missy : no. i'm just asleep

Pissy missy : You're disturbing my slumber

House rat: oh well pizza is good for your soul. Mark is coming too ;)

Pissy missy: Fuck.

You sigh and put your phone back down, wiping your eyes, you sit up against the headboard once again and pull your computer onto your lap, Resuming your place in your essay.

“MISSY COME HERE GIRL” Ethan calls out from the front door, walking towards your room in long strides. He bursts through the door with a box of pizza in his hand and makes his way to sit at the end of your bed, Mark slowly entering behind him. Mark moves to sit further on the bed, next to Ethan, pulling out a piece of pizza from the box.

“How are you?” Mark asks as he stuffs his face with the crust.

You sigh, reaching to rip a piece of pizza from the rest, bringing it up close to your lips

“Been okay, I guess” you take a bite, avoiding eye contact with the two boys in front of you “are you sure? You've seemed a bit distant'' Mark asks “im fine.” you say, taking another big bite of the saucy crust “are you sur-” “I'm fine so quit asking” you yell, adding an edge of venom to your words. Taking the boys by surprise “wow, someones a bit extra pissy tonight” Ethan adds.

That's when something in your throat tightens, you feel yourself bubbling over. You don't understand why, your whole nickname stems from the fact that you get pissy from time to time but it feels like that was the last straw.

Tears begin filling your eyes, vision goes blurry as you feel your cheeks burn up. Sniffles are heard as the boys go silent before you. Tears drip onto the final bite of your pizza.

“Im-sorry-i-just-so-stressed-and-upset-and-luke-hasnt-been-talking-to-me-and-i-miss-him-and-i-think-hes-gonna-breakup-with-me-and-im-just-so-sad-and-i-dont-mean-to-be-mean-but-im-just-so-angry” you hurry through muffled sobs as your eyes go red and your sinuses block up.

“Woah hey hey, Missy i didn't mean to make you upset.” Ethan says , leaning forward to meet your eyes

“Yeah, talk to us..but a bit slower please” Mark says softly, careful to not make you cry again.

You take a deep breath, lifting your head up to see the two young hockey boys worried faces, your lip quivers slightly as you breathe in and out, ready to spill out what has been hurting you.

“I don't know, I'm just so stressed with these exams and I think I'm gonna do fine but I'm just scared.” you start, trying to get one problem out at a time

“I know for a fact that you'll do fine in your exams and assignments” Ethan comforts “yeah! you're like the smartest person i know!”

“Thanks.. It's not just that tho” you say, sniffling a bit as tears continue down your face and onto your swollen lips, the taste of salt sinks into your mouth. The Hockey players stay silent, waiting patiently for you to continue.

“Luke and I haven't really been talking and I think he wants to break up.”

The boys share a knowing glance but say nothing.

“And you know i've seen all the girls jack brings home, the pretty blonde girls i mean what if luke met one of them and they fell in love” you say, growing more and more hysterical as each thought processes through your head.

Logically you new Luke would never cheat but with your emotions running high you couldnt help but think that Luke had fucked the entire female poplutation of new jersey ranging from 18-25 by now.

“And all he every talks about when we do call is stupid fucking hockey” you rise your voice slightly before looking at the boys

“no offence” you add, placing your hands in your lap and finishing your pizza

“ he didn't even answer my call tonight” you finish, the last sentence being muffled as you swallow your food.

To your surprise the boys stay silent and stare at each other with Ethan looking down at his phone then back up at mark then sharing a look back to you.

“OMG SO HE IS GONNA BREAK UP WITH ME” you scream, tears streaming down your face harder

“WHAT NO NO NO” the boys choir, eyes wide.

“Then why are you looking at eachother like that? And who the fuck are you messaging at 12o’clock at night???” you yell pointing towards ethan.

“No-no one” ethan adds, throwing his phone away to the end of the bed.

Mark moves to sit next to you, throwing an awkward arm around you in a comforting embrace

“missy, he's probably not gonna break up with you'' Mark adds

“PROBABLY??” you cry

“NONO he means he is NOT going to break up with you” Ethan interjects, throwing a pointed look at Mark “oh yeah sorry that's what i meant” Mark stuttered

You groan loudly as your head flys back onto your pillows, you bury yourself into your blanket

“Okayyy so you're tired so we're gonna get outta here” Ethan says, dragging the pizza off your bed with Mark sliding off behind him.

“Good night, Missy'' Mark says, patting your head, peeking out slightly

“Good night!!” Ethan yells from the kitchen with a mouthful of pizza.

You wake up to the blaring sound of your alarm, you look at your phone that reads ‘7 am’ and still you have no response from Luke. You sigh and remove yourself from your bed, making your way towards the shared bathroom you have with Ethan.

You walk down the hall and pass Mark who is sleeping soundly on the couch, you continue walking and stop by Ethan's room, you peer in to see him sprawled out on his bed, keeping note that you should keep quiet as you get ready so you don't wake the two up prematurely.

You take time in your shower to clear your mind, enjoying the warm hug as the water runs down your back and soothes your sore neck. You recite in your head that everything will be okay and to just focus on your exam first, then worry about whatever bullshit Luke is pulling.you finish your shower and get dressed in warm attire. You pair your favourite long sleeve shirt with your fav baggy sweats and continue on with your hair and makeup. Finishing up, you leave the bathroom and are met with the inviting smell of fresh breakfast.

Walking down the hallway you are met with Mark and Ethan who have both woken up and are now stuffing their faces with every breakfast food you own.

“Good morning” you say, giggling slightly

“Morning” Mark says, eyes still drawn to the tv

“Heyy, do you want a bagel?” Ethan asks, walking over towards you “you're gonna need some brain food” he adds

“Maybe not, i'm too nervous to eat right now” you say

“Hmm, are you sure? What about I make you one for later?” he asks

“Maybe next time” you say as you turn on your heels back to your room, rummaging through your cupboard you find a comfy hoodie to throw over your body to keep you warm and toasty throughout your exam. You pack up your bag and walk back out into the kitchen. You return back to your room, retrieving your charging phone.

“Missy, do you need a ride?” Ethan asks

“Nah, the walk will be nice for me, good way to clear my head” you add, walking back out of your room.

You grab your bag and sling it over your shoulders

“Thank you by the way, for last night” you add looking back towards Ethan and Mark

“No problemo, i'm sure you'll feel better soon” Mark says, turning his head to give you a cheeky wink

You giggle a bit as You look back at ethan confusion still evident in your face

“Don't listen to him, he's weird” Ethan adds as he walks towards you to give you a pat on the back “you'll do great”

“Thank you” you say as you move out the door and towards school.

The timer blares through the room as everyone stands , making their way towards the teachers desk to send off their papers. You sit there for a minute, staring down at your paper, revising everything you wrote down. The girl beside you nudges you out of your trance as she waits for you to stand up and hand you paper i with her. All you can do is quietly walk your way down the daring stares that lead to the front of the class. You hand in your work with a deep breath and make your way back to your previous seat, ready to go home and eat your feelings.

“How do you think you went?” the girl beside you asks as you both walk out of the room,

“Um i think i did okay, passable i hope” you responde

“I'm sure you did great, you wrote a lot more than i did”

“Hmm how do you think you went?” you ask

“Good.. i hope”

“You did good, i know it”

“Thanks, missy. I was gonna ask before but how's everything going with Luke? Are you gonna see him soon?” she asks

“Maybe, idk. We haven't been talking too much recently”

“Aww thats a shame well i hope all goes well”

“Yeah, thanks”

“Bye missy” she exits the conversation, making her way over to her next class

“Bye” you add, thankful that this was the only class you had scheduled for the day.

The walk home was calming , the cold breeze blowing on your face created a refreshing cooling to your hot body as you walked through the campus, passing a couple friends and saying hi briefly before separating.

You make your way to your apartment, trudging up the stairs in a final burst of energy. Unlocking the door you walk into your heated apartment, looking down as you remove your bag, take off your hoodie and hang your keys up, not making note of the tall figure sitting on the bar stools next to your kitchen.

You turn around and are met with Luke - your boyfriend. The man who you love. The man who's been ignoring you.

“Hey baby” he says, standing up to walk towards you

You take a step back, anger and confusion plastered on your face

“Well at least you have the courtesy to do it in person” you say, crossing your arms over your body, sliding your sleeves over your knuckles.

Luke looms over at you, he stares in confusion, trying to read your emotions.

“What are you talking about?”

Your gaze leaves the floor and meets his, anger bubbling inside your stomach

“You wanna break up?” you say bluntly, mono toned and unnatural

“What?? No ??Why would you think that?” Luke argues, voice becoming higher and his breath itching slightly at the information that his girlfriend thinks he drove 9 and a half hours just to break up with her.

“Are you serious? No call? no text? no nothing, not even a stupid instagram reel and you think my mind wouldn’t wander to that?” you say, stepping forward at each word, announcing your words with a spit of fury.

“I did call and I did text” Luke defends, hands slapping against his sides.

“Barely, Luke we only called for ten minutes a week and all you talked about was stupid hockey and I love hockey but that's all you would talk about. And not to mention the dry messages I mean we barely even talked like normal people, just robots with no love for each other.” you rant on, eyes feeling heavy as tears glistened in your sockets, afraid to let them fall you do your best to blink them away before luke notices.

“Missy” Luke whispers, snaking his hands to your forearms

“I was only trying to give you space, I knew you would get stressed with your upcoming finals so I wanted to give you as much time as you needed to study. I didn't mean to be dry and unloving towards you” his voice was soothing and calm, his fingers brushing lightly on your clothed arms.

“Well it was a dumb decision” you argue, earning a snicker from luke

“yeah , it was and I'm sorry.” he agrees

“So why are you here then? If you aren't gonna break up with me?”

“I was planning to come down after your finals were finished, I was originally driving in tomorrow but Ethan messaged me last night telling me to come early”

“Oh. so that's why they were acting weird” you say, reciting the events of last night in your head.

“Yeah, Do you know why he said that?”

“Well i was a bit emotional last night, i was crying while stuffing my face with pizza” you laugh looking back up at luke.

“Oh my, so is that why Ethan sent me 43 messages at midnight?” Luke adds, smiling to himself before pulling up his phone to show you the absurdly concerning amount of texts from the boy.

“I'll take it that Ethan and Mark were not very good at comforting you?” he says, sitting back down on the bar stool and pulling you to stand in between his legs

“They weren't too bad , maybe not the best tho” you say, giggling slightly at the situation

Silence fills the room for a bit before luke speaks up

“I'm sorry I caused you so much stress, I love you and I wouldn't trade you for the world. Maybe I should try and talk to you more and not just about hockey, hm?” he speaks, tucking a stray piece of hair behind your ear

“Yes please” you smile before leaning in to give him a deep kiss. You both pull away before going back in for a warm and comforting hug, swaying slightly.

“I don't know about you but i'm starving, do you wanna go get some food?” Luke asks, speaking into the crook of your neck

“mhm, exams make me hungry and that breakfast bar Ethan snuck into my bag wasn't very filling” you add, moving so you can look at Luke once more, placing a delicate kiss on his lips

“About Ethan, should I talk to him about how pizza doesn't solve every problem?”

You giggle at his comment, staring softly into his muddy blue eyes before being interrupted by Ethan opening his door

“PIZZA SOLVES EVERYTHING” he shouts just before slamming his bedroom door closed.

“He's been home this whole time?” I ask Luke

“Who do you think let me in?” Luke chimes, smirking down at you.

wriggling out of his arms its not long till you're pulled back by a gentle hand on your wrist

“Wait, I gotta ask how your exam went” Luke asks, hands sneaking around my waist and resting on my lower back.

“It went okay, i didn't give up so that's good” i say, shrugging.

“Mhm good, never give up” he says, finishing his comment by patting my head.

Silence is left between us once again, eyes frowning as he tries to read my expression

“I missed you, Lukey. Don't pull that shit again”

“I missed you too, and judging by how angry you were when you came home i definitely won't” he says as we both make our way out the door and down the stairs.

#nhl hockey #nhl imagine #ethan edwards #luke hughes x y/n #luke hughes imagine #mark estapa #Lh43

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gilbirda · 1 day

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what are your thoughts on watcher’s new announcement?

So.

I've been watching the Boys since they started back in 2016 (i think around that era), and honestly I'm very conflicted about the decision. I've read so much stuff in favor and against the announcement and I don't know if my answer will satisfy you.

I have managed a community and I have the blessing and curse of being somewhat of a Name, experiencing the ordeal of being Known, and I can tell you that 1)you can never please everyone 2)people will always rush to crush you the second you do something they don't agree with 3)people will always twist everything you do with the worst faith in mind and 4)fandom forget very quickly that at the end of the day you are just human.

I think they made a calculated risk based on a purely economical viewpoint. I think they considered their loyal fanbase and how willing people have been so far with spending extra cash to support them — The live shows, the exclusive streams (like the Valentine's Too Many Spirits) and Patreon. How much of their fanbase was the "broke students" tumblr claim they are and how much was people with spending money willing to pay extra for them.

I also think that the decision seem stupid if you look at it from the perspective of "why the hell would I pay $6 to watch such little variety of content?" and that's a Correct Assumption, but Observe — they have been very slowly pulling everyone that made Buzzfeed famous and enrolling them in. Very recently they gathered the Worth It boys, the second show that kind of carried Buzzfeed back in the day (apart from the Try Guys). I think they can't talk about it right now, but the goal is to relaunch Buzzfeed but without ads and without making it the soulless content machine it became. I think their dream and goal has always been making what Buzzfeed could have been with better management, kind of like "If I was the Management in this company, things would have been better" dream fulfillment. That's why they made the direct jump to a streaming service instead of the logical steps of Patreon-exclusive content or even jumping to Nebula like other youtubers. It was never meant to stay one single channel, it was supposed to be bigger.

Is the projection of making a "better Buzzfeed" worth risking this step? Time will tell. I don't know. I personally never cared about anyone except Buzzfeed Unsolved. I still watch Unsolved on repeat. Is my comfort show. Maybe they are overestimating how much people care about other shows not hosted by them.

Although they did hint that "we want shows not hosted by us". This tells me that they are settling down, they want to ramp down a little bit, do the hook with Ghost Files aka Unsolved Supernatural Lite for the streaming service, and once people are hooked, launch more shows by the old-school Buzzfeed people. Won't be as big as a show hosted by Shane and Ryan, but it will still make people feel like they are getting their money's worth.

I would forgive all of this if only they didn't use the excuse of "if we want to do Netflix-level productions we need money". I'm sorry but that means nothing to me. We loved them when it was a powerpoint slide show with 2 idiots in a set. We didn't fall in love with the toys or the trips or the high tech. We didn't fall in love with the fancy animations at the beginning of Ghost Files episodes that they are so proud of. That was all their idea.

I've seen this trend of content creators ramping up their creations to an unsustainable point, completely crash and burn and then having to apologize about having to step back. Then making it the moral trap of an argument that they have been doing their best to bring quality content to their audience, and of course making it impossible to argue against. If you speak up and say "well we never asked you to break your back" then you are ungrateful audience. That's exactly what's going on in here with the Watcher announcement — "true fans" criticizing people who point out the fact that they created this money problem on their own. Is not the fanbase responsibility to cater to a company's bad money decisions. Is not our fault that they decide to scale up their operation to a point they "haven't been making a profit for 2 years". It's unfair that the fans are at each other's throats for daring stepping back and saying "I don't want to be part of this".

I don't think Watcher Entertainment is actively wanting to collapse their fandom like this. I don't think this was a calculated move. But I do think that they are a group of adults trying to make a career of something they enjoy doing. I think they made this move with the perspective that fandom is not end all and they can always rebuild it.

— And that they are planning on making a machine that can work without them, and that requires breaking something in the fans, it requires kicking themselves out of the pedestal fans have put them on. They know they won't be allowed to have a normal life until people stop looking at them waiting for them to say their phrase.

In conclusion I think they made a choice that made sense if they are planning on separating Watcher Entertainment from "The Ghoul Boys" fame, and it makes sense if they are aiming at something bigger than what they've been doing now. Money of course is the goal and the reason presented, but there's a lot that they are not saying and we will not know until it happens.

Until then, it does feel like they have just shot their careers in the foot.

Also I'm salty that I can't join the service because I'm outside the US.

#gil answers #miki-meh #watcher entertainment #watcher #you don't have to agree with me this is just my 2 cents #so far they've done everything right and this feels out of nowhere and very dumb #it makes me think there's A LOT they are not saying #they are planning on something bigger and riskier and they need to know how many of their fans would blindly follow #i also think they will step back from hosting in like 1-2 years or so #all the contemporary youtubers are stepping back right now #havent you guys noticed?#always the same 2 excuses #'the stress is taking a toll on my mental health' and 'ive been doing this for 10 years i want to move on'#i think they are preparing for making that step and dont want to say it

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wambsgansshoelaces · 2 days

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Turmoil; Chapter 10

Roman Roy x Reader

short but oh well! kind of sucks but soo la voo as the french say (pls understand that reference)

let me know what u think x I’ve missed this

Word Count: 2.022k

We need to figure things out. Now.”

Your arms are folded over your chest. You’re stood, Kendall and Shiv sat down on the plush sofa in your office.

Roman pipes in from across the room. “And it’s not me.”

Kendall and Shiv eye each other. “Realistically, it’s me,” Kendall says first. “I’ve been at the company the longest in the position closest to CEO. I’m the logical choice.”

“Who gives a shit who’s kissed Dad’s ass the most?” Shiv interrupts. “I’d bring better business. I’d be better for a rebrand- we could become ethical for once.”

“Okay, Shiv, while that’s respectable, the company would collapse before you could do any of that.” Kendall leans back, crossing his ankle over his knee. “You can’t make changes to a company that you can’t keep alive.”

Roman’s crossed the room to stand near you, intently inspecting the curtains on the windows overlooking the city. “Nice fabric,” he murmurs to you, glancing back at you to make sure he has your attention. You can tell he’s not comfortable with anything that’s happening at the moment. But he’ll stick it out because you have to be here. He’s thinking of you more and more, these days.

He doesn’t know what to do with all these new feelings. New sensations.

Kendall and Shiv glare at each other, words passing between them in a language you’ll never understand. Roman turns back to the curtain, clearly anxious, linking one of your pinkies with his.

“The way I see it, you both are the right decision. Just do it together,” you tell them. “Two CEOs, Kenny handles the nitty gritty and Shiv does all of the media stuff. Problem solved.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Shiv manages through gritted teeth.

“Is it really?” you question. “Because that’s my offer. If you want my help, it’s both of you take over the company after we go to court. Or it’s neither.”

It’s ridiculous of you to do so, but you know it’s the only way you’ll get them both on board. You were never going to give it to anyone else, anyway.

“Didn’t know we were on Shark Tank,” Kendall mutters. “But fine. I’ll do it if you do,” he says, turning to Shiv. She heaves a sigh.

“Fine.”

“Fucking finally,” Roman says. He’s sitting in your desk chair now, feet reclined. “Actually, no. You both caved too fast.”

“Oh, shut up, Roman. They agreed to it, let’s fucking make sure it stays like that.” He catches your eyes and makes a face at you. You ignore him, turning your attention back to Kendall and Shiv. “We should speak to Connor.”

Shiv scoffs. “And say what?”

“He could be what wins us the case. Do you know how valuable he’d be as a witness?” you ask, watching the gears turn in Kendall’s head. “The fact that he was framed could be all we need to send your dad packing. We just need some hard evidence.”

“It’s worth I shot, I think,” Kendall offers. “If Shiv doesn’t want to do it, I will.”

“No, no, we’re doing it together. Honestly, Roman should come, too.” She turns to glance at him, over relaxed at your desk. “I think there’s a lot of things we need to talk about as a family, anyway.”

Kendall stands, clapping his hands together. “Well, I’m glad we figured this out.” His neck’s tense, a smile out of place on his strained face. He stands still for a moment, taking a breath. His shoulders sag, relaxing, and he adjusts his tie before coming to give you a hug.

A little surprised, you weakly return it, giving his back a light rub. Every muscle your hand glides over is taut.

Whatever’s going on in his head, you know you’re going to hear about it later.

He pats your back, squeezing you tight. “You’re a godsend,” he says, his voice suddenly warm and light, a stark comparison to his previous stiffness. “Thank you,” is all he says before he leaves, nodding at Roman, not sparing Shiv a glance.

“Fucking hell,” she manages, grabbing her purse and getting to her feet. She doesn’t say goodbye. She doesn’t even look at you, merely stalking out of your office after Kendall.

Roman rocks backwards in your chair, watching his siblings through the glass panes of your office walls. “They’re not doing that shit.”

“Not doing what?” You slide onto the edge of your desk, glancing over at him.

“The CEO thing. They’ll rip each other’s throats out before they even get near that.” He picks up a trinket from your desk, handling it delicately. “Cute.”

You sigh. “They’re going to have to suck it up until the court case They can do whatever the fuck they want after the company’s theirs.”

He starts spinning himself around in your chair. “Crazy thought,” he begins on spin one, “you give it to neither of them. Steal from the rich and give to the poor. Robin Hood.” He spins again.

“What, just walk out onto the street and choose some hobo to become Prince Ali?”

He snorts. Another spin. “Not the poor poor. The millionaire poor. Or something.” He spins again. “They won’t be able to handle it. They’ll implode. All of this buddy buddy stuff-” he flaps a hand at the windows, Kendall and Shiv long gone “-won’t ever happen again.” He sticks his leg out to halt his whirling, facing you. “And I… I don’t really want that. It’d… I can’t just watch our relationship disintegrate like that.”

☾𖤓

You straighten your blazer, Cherry flitting about your office straightening things out. She’s paranoid like that- always has been. You treat her well, she treats you well. What started out as a symbiotic relationship is now a genuine friendship, one that you’ve both nurtured and hope to continue nurturing.

“If he screams, I’ll run in with the fire axe,” she mutters to herself. “Self defense.”

“This building has a fire axe?” You take a manila file from an assistant who’s rushing by, setting them on your desk.

“What do you know about Siobhan?” Cherry asks suddenly. “Other than that she’s a Roy.”

You round your desk, slipping into your chair and spreading various documents just the way you like them. “She’s sweet when she’s not scheming.” Your eyes snag on a sticky note pasted to the surface of your desk.

You’ve come to recognize Roman’s handwriting when you see it. It’s his messy script on the Post-It, his messy doodles. It’s only one word- hi, the rest of the paper covered in hearts and shitty stick figures. He’d labeled two for you, the both of them holding hands, a heart floating between their heads. Y/N and Roman, he’d written, a cloud of hearts surrounding his script.

You bite your lip, suppressing a smile. You peel the sticky from your desk, resticking it to on of your desktop monitors.

Cherry’s voice pulls you from your thoughts. “She’s really pretty in real life,” she says hesitantly, straightening out a portrait on your wall.

“Oh?” You let yourself smile now. “Is she ugly on TV? I think someone's a bit lovesick,” you say, watching her fumble with the frame.

Her face flushes pink. “Is she even into girls?”

“I’ll ask for you.” She opens her mouth to protest, but one of the front desk receptionists buzzes in to your desk phone. You make a face at Cherry, watching her scuttle from the room with a stupid grin on her face, her middle finger stuck out at you.

“Mr. Roy is on his way up. He refused to sign in,” the receptionist says, irritated.

“Thank you, Garrett,” you say back, making quick note to do something nice for your staff once everything was done and over with.

Before you know it, Connor’s sat across from you, grin on his face. “L/N, about time you had me in.” He settles into the armchair, his skinny limbs splaying at awkward angles. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me.” His expression is as confident as you’ve seen it, his eyes carrying a relief you haven’t seen before.

“Don’t worry. I could never forget about you,” you say coyly, gathering a few papers and stacking them.

“Well, come on.” He shifts in his seat. “What’s the big news? You must’ve finally let me in for a reason. I’m not as stupid as Pops says I am. I know you’re avoiding me.”

You feel a pang in your chest. You’ve thought all of this over thousands of times, and each time, you’ve felt worse and worse for Connor. The poor guy just wants to be happy. And in the end, so did you. How could you ever hate someone for that?

“It is big news,” you say, smiling softly. You paperclip the sheets together before sliding them into the manila folder that’d you’d set on your desk earlier. You paste the kindest, most benevolent expression onto your face as you hand him the folder. “You’re being served.”

You can see his heart stop.

“Sorry?”

You use a pen to gesture at the folder. “You’re being served,” you repeat. “I’m suing you.” You keep your words clipped, yet soft. You still feel bad for him, in the end. He’s just a pawn in this sick and twisted game, same as you. Might as well give him grace.

Connor breaks down before you. “I thought they were joking,” he manages. “Just trying to scare me.” He drops his head into his hands.

“Siobhan and Kendall aren’t your father,” you say gently. They’d gone to speak with him, as they’d agreed, but Roman had strangely not shown up. He’d given you a quick excuse when you’d asked him at home, the words rolling quickly off of his tongue. “And I’m not, either.”

Connor’s face is tear stained when he looks back up at you. “I have nothing,” he tells you. “Nothing, and I keep losing, I keep going into debt…” He wipes at his eyes, struggling to speak.

“I can help.” You unlock a compartment in your desk, taking out the paperwork you’ve been painstakingly working on since you met with Logan in that restaurant you’ve come to hate. You slide it towards Connor. The papers are structured similarly to the ones you’ve already handed him, but the defendant’s name is different.

His fingers begin worrying at the bottom of his sweater. You notice it’s beginning to fray. He looks over the papers, his features still drawn in a heartbreaking mixture of pain and desperation. “What’s this all mean?”

“That I can right some wrongs for you.” You keep your eyes locked on him, despite his avoidance of your gaze. “More importantly, I could get you a lot of money. You won’t have to keep scrambling. You won’t have to resort to crime, which, by the way, you never had to do.”

“How does this change things?” he asks quietly, his eyes trained on one part of the first paper in his hands. You know what he’s looking at.

“Things won’t ever be the same with him, Connor,” you murmur. “But they haven’t been good for a while. He can only use you for as long as you let him.” He sets the papers on your desk with shaky hands. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I’m just urging you to think through your options. I’m here to help… he’s not. You’re just a means to an end for him.”

“I’ll do it,” he says immediately. “I’ll do it. I’ve been doing the wrong thing for too long. It’s time I righted my wrongs,” he says, reusing your words. “I can finally right my wrongs.” All of a sudden, he’s out of his chair and has thrown his arms around you. You’re stiff with surprise in your chair, only for a moment, until you awkwardly return the hug. He’s struggling to breathe, but doing a good job of hiding it. He quickly straightens up, composing himself. “I’ll do good this time. I promise.”

“I believe you.”

“I’m so fucking grateful that you do.”

#roman roy #roman roy x reader #roman roy x you #succession #succession hbo #wambsgansshoelaces #succession x reader #succession fic #turmoil

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shiro-luvs-victor · 20 hours

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This is just my impression so far on the MCs of Ikemen Series. I have seen posts about Ikemen MC not having enough spite, dumb, damsel and distress etc etc....and to some point I do agree with it. Even I made a post about MCs being overly positive. But at the same time I feel like this is done on purpose from the writers' part.

Let's just say it, the MCs are not really that relatable even though they try to make it look like that. MCs in these games are very kind-hearted for no reason, overly positive and lack basic common sense. For example, take this scene from Harry's story event:

Harry did mention to her before this that he can detect if a person is lying or not when he makes eye-contact. In the scene mentioned above, a person with common sense can easily tell that Harry lost on purpose. But for some reason Kate thought he lost because she was able deceived him. It is only later that Harry told her and Kate looked genuinely surprised. I don't think Kate is dumb. But I feel like the writers think we players are not that smart enough to distinguish between Harry's lies and truth. It makes me laugh some times.

I just honestly feel like MCs are portrayed this way so that we players could understand the game and its characters better. Like Paimon from genshin, who repeats everything in baby terms so that we could understand what we have to do (even if her screechy noise is annoying). MCs here are played by us, so when male characters has a plan that they don't reveal, MCs try to find out what their plan is so that we could understand. That's it. MCs are here just simplify the story to make us understand the character's better. They'll only ask the male characters what's needed to know right now and not anything extra. If it where a realistic MCs, she would ask more logical questions like:

Is Victor also cursed?

If Crown consists of only 'cursed' people and Victor went around to search these people, are there any 'cursed' people out there who rejected his request?

More questions on their abilities like: Can Harry still detect lies if someone closes their eye? Can Elbert trigger sad memories if a person doesn't have a sad memory? etc etc...

But we don't see Kate asking these questions.

I feel like the reason why we feel sometimes frustrated when MCs act in a certain way is because these MCs are not at all realistic. I'll never believe that someone with common sense did not try to run away after watching a murder happen. I'll never believe that someone with common sense falling into easy traps. Like this one scene from Silvio's story where, Silvio's daddy visits Rhodolite because his lost son is found and he also wants to know if Rhodolite King is dead blah blah blah...you guys know that story (I assume). Emma has to choose the next King without Silvio's dad knowing and they wait for Sariel's call. A servant comes to Emma's room to call both her and Rio. This servant itself is sus because Emma clearly states that she hasn't seen that servant before. When I read this, I immediately knew it was red flag. But even so, Emma and Rio ignores the red flag and goes with the servant and what do you know? They get kidnapped. The scene was very predictable. But it's so frustrating because, realistically speaking I think normal people would feel a little bit suspicious about the person given the situation. Maybe even question the servant. That's why I'm saying...I do feel MCs are not realistic enough. I don't think anyone is overly-kindhearted to the point that they would accept insults from the male leads and be like "I'm going to prove myself to you!". Normal people would just be like "fuck off!" and won't listen to their insults. No one is so dumb it fall into easy traps and no normal person is like "I will work hard to get to know them better." Majority of the people are way smarter and way selfish (not in a bad way though!). Many people have attitude, not everyone are kind to strangers. That's why MCs are not realistic, so there is no use in comparing MC to your personality or your intelligence. They are just tools for explaining the story in a simplified way and moving the plot forward. Because like I said, if Emma and Rio didn't go with the servant and get kidnapped, Silvio's story wouldn't move forward.

That's all. This no hate, this is just how I felt after reading quite amount of stories both in-game and on tumblr. MC's don't have much background because the writers don't really put too much thought about their personality. MCs are basically last on their lists. They just make sure that she's an adult, working woman (doing some odd jobs like a flowershop lady or something, because I've never seen a CEO MC), and they are very kind for some reason. They don't have family (except for Emma), they don't have a story, they don't have anything that impacts their personality. At least it would have been nice to see why a MC is so kind-hearted would be nice. But otome games' main selling points are the male leads. The male leads falls for MC's purity in their dark world.

#this is just my opinion #no hate at all #i do think mcs in ikemen games are fine #ikemen series #ikemen villains #ikemen prince #ikemen genjiden #ikemen sengoku #ikemen revolution #ikemen vampire #ikemen game #otome #otome game #ikemen mcs

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dsknsk · 16 hours

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I feel like the very concept of E.G.O Corrosion isn't talked enough about (maybe due to their hair nearly always remaining) but just stop and realize how creepy it is.

So, picture the following.

You are going into battle, together with your allies. Both you and them are armed and skilled, even if you don't always know what you will be facing. For emergency cases, your superior has given you something called E.G.O. And to gain it, you had to come into contact with...something. Something clearly not human. Something that you don't fully understand, but you know that it behaves with a totally different logic and morality than what you consider familiar. They call it an 'Abnormality', after all.

But somehow, you resonated with it. It was like something from deep inside of you accepted it. Like you felt what it felt. Maybe it was its struggles that particularly moved you. Or just everything it stood for.

You don't know. Either way, it resulted in you being able to synchronize with it, just for a moment, transforming you to draw out its powers to fight with. It's like a short while that you cooporate, it agreeing with you just for a moment.

And yes, it talks to you.

Usually, it's in the background and you can easily drown it out with your own thoughts. And you only talk back when you're using E.G.O. But it's there. You feel a bit mentally drained after using E.G.O too, so you prefer not to use it too often.

At first, the fight goes just about okay. You start to think that you'll get this cleared together anytime soon. Your allies are fighting next to you, and everytime they happen to win a clash, your mind brightens up a little, boosting your own confidence in turn.

But then.

One of your allies fails a clash, and their punishment is harsh. The enemy doesn't seem to stop their assault on them, staggering them and beating them into a pulp. And then, you've lost them.

You know that in the end, you'll all be brought back, but it nonetheless takes a toll on you. Your mind blurs, and you find yourself losing your focus much more often. At the very least, you see that your allies aren't doing so well, either.

It doesn't take long before things go from bad to worse, and your mind can't take it anymore. The voice of the Abnormality you resonated with rings in your head still, but now, you can't bring yourself to suppress it anymore. Your mind is too weary to do such a thing.

So you allow for it to swallow you whole.

Your consciousness falls into a dark abyss, your body warping as the Abnormality takes over, speaking through your mouth, with your voice. You've lost all common sense and couldn't care less for arbitrary things like 'ally' or 'enemy'. Why do they matter, anyway? You can't bring yourself to think about it.

So you lash out. You let it lead for you, letting it run wild with free reign. Your body is changed, cruelly contorted into...something that they stare at in horror. The cries and desperate shouts of those around you don't reach you anymore. It's all clouded over, until...

You're back.

Still in a daze but also not, you feel that you can think for yourself again. You're not doing great, but you're not going off the deep end like just then either. You now know what you just did - the looks on your allies' faces tell you enough. And even now the voice is back to being just slight background noise, your acts just then will always feel like it was on some level, your own.

There's no time to think about that, though. For the battle hasn't yet ended.

#limbus company #yes i think abnos talk to the wielders of their ego #weve read it in kalis book in ruina #and in the same game the abno associated text appears above the nugget head when you choose them for an abno page

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aardvaark · 7 days

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parker being the one to voice concerns that nate is getting more sadistic is so funny to me. twenty minutes ago you poisoned someone & started giggling and kicking your feet when they passed out

#the order 23 job #parker leverage #parker #leverage #nathan ford #leverageposting #wren speaks #to be fair i think it’s like. parker doesn’t mind hurting people & she doesn’t feel bad abt it or whatever. but that’s apathy not sadism.#she likes tasing people bc it shuts them up. she laughs about stabbing & drugging bc it’s just a natural thing that’s gonna happen in her #line of work so logically she isn’t gonna feel ashamed or guilty. but she also doesn’t necessarily get any enjoyment out of it. so nate #appearing to enjoy tormenting & hurting someone is a little concerning to parker. it’s apathy vs sadism.#(and she does start thinking more morally abt not hurting ppl but this is early season 2 & she doesn’t mind much yet)#it’s just funny that she’s like telling on him to sophie. as if she didn’t drug someone. plus sophie is like ‘ik its kinda hot right?’.#they’ve made him a thief & now they’re letting him get a taste for blood. fun family dynamics :-)#enabling is their love language

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andersdotters · 4 months

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I think most people would agree that gift giving is Zhongli's highest love language (giving). After that, I think would be words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, then physical touch. As for his highest love language (receiving), it'd probably be quality time.

#genshin impact #zhongli #zhongli x reader #ngl i was torn between which would be his lowest #i mean logically it is physical touch #thats the obvious response #that being said zhongli views acts of service to be primarily transactional #not in a passive aggressive sense mind you #but he only engages in acts of service if it is according to the contract he has set in place #if it is not within the terms of the contract he will not act #just look at his voice lines #the traveler pays for all expenses incurred while he's on the team #an interesting note though is that while zhongli ranks high in words of affirmation (he does truly mean what he says) like....#everything must be taken with a grain of salt #esp when it has to do with his feelings toward a person #it's interesting as a whole #zhongli speaks openly and without hesitation regarding his thoughts and feelings if he's allowed to #and yet..... he never reveals any of his heart #he can say he has warm feelings towards you but you will never be sure the depth of them #so even though he ranks high in words of affirmation it paradoxically makes you even more insecure about your relationship #like he's not lying. he's not lying when he speaks of his warmth toward someone #but it's the equivalent to a grandfather to his toddler grandchild #or a human toward an ant

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sketchy-scribs-n-doods · 3 months

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to add on to the philosophy of 'you're not unattractive you're just not your type' -

sometimes, you gotta see yourself in other people first in order to comprehend your own beauty

this works both in body positive and in gender affirming ways of course. who among us has not felt better about the things that cause us gender dysphoria after seeing someone else w the same features absolutely own it?

but today i'm mostly thinking about being at the grocery store and seeing the beauty in a stranger's exposed belly as their skin folds when they reach around for something and their croptop rides up, hips turning and revealing pale stretch marks.

like. oh. yeah my belly folds like that. my hips look like that. and they're beautiful.

or when a cashier at the gas station laughs at a joke you made and when they smile it's all pink gums and little peeking teeth.

and you think wow. what a lovely smile. i smile like that.

idk. i just think that falling in love with the mundane beauty of the people around you can sometimes help remind you of your own quiet beauty.

#i am feeling hozier's 'i fall in love just a little bit oh a little bit everyday with someone new' in this chili's tonight #and i am adding self-love to it as a logical conclusion to the concept #im from the 'fake it till you make it' school of thought so i dont relate exactly to many ppls body image struggles #bc i just decided one day to start acting and treating myself like i was god's gift to humanity and the sexiest bitch on earth #until i trickedy brain into believing a palatable version of that confidence #but ye. i love the human body and that's gotta include mine by default so #body posititivity #does this fall under that #yea probably #sketchy speaks

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lucihens · 10 days

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this a very unnecessarily philosophical, potentially verbose, written by a barely 20 odd year old with the mental age of a 10 year old whose innate logic comes directly from the autism gremlin in her mind take on tim bradford. you have been warned.

it's interesting that tim thinks he's been lying to himself and is mad at himself for seemingly actually being what he thinks he fundamentally isn't, rather than what he thinks or thought he was. but he doesn't understand that he can't be fundamentally anything in respect to action and nature. he can't define who he is as a whole as one clear cut, unchanging thing that he lives by for the rest of his life. because that's the complete opposite of what human nature is in my opinion. his personality may be consistent. but his nature never will be. because it changes. ALL THE TIME. pretty much everyday your processes change even a little bit with new information you gain. who you are now is not who you were last week. and while you may have a strict and specfic moral law in which determines the way you act in the long run, the decisions you make and the way you act (short term) depend on the moment. so tim is saying that what he did in the moment back in the army, and what he did in the moment dealing with ray, and what he did in the moment lying to IA, was him going against his code and who he thought he was, and that must therefore mean that who he has been consistently in the past was actually all a lie, was him pretending to be something he wasn't just because he did somethings 'out of character'. i don't think he can understand that being as strict and by the book as he is is not actually a sustainable human trait. because many instances call for many different reactions. but him setting such rigid guidelines he must follow so he can actually consider himself a good man, has set him up to fail again and again in respect to his feelings of self worth. setting such high standards for himself that he'll never be able to live up to has made it so easy for his self-belief to falter, teeter, and completely fall off the edge. confusing his personality with his nature has made it practically impossible to realise that his actions, if flawed, reckless and bringing negative consequences, don't make him fundamentally flawed. fundamentally wrong and screwed up. he doesn't realise that actions merely add to the portfolio of a person's life, good or bad, and despite the contents of his biography, he is still worthy of love. because he is not fundamentally flawed, or a fraud, but a man who regularly shows empathy, and loves anyway, despite being told (by others, but mainly himself) he won't experience the same in return.

#i have always been bewildered by tim and the way he thinks since he's very black and white #but doesn't realise that all the colours of the rainbow are inside of him #i have an egotistical logic man in my brain who always thinks he's right #so if this is illogical to you blame him #but this is my inexperienced philosophy on the difference between fundamental personality vs enviroment influenced nature #i like to speak the things that flow out of my brain #so feel free to disagree #i am not always correct #but i love tim and i need him to realise he's a little dumb and unwilling to realise the true attributes of what makes a human #and that he's not wrong for doing what humans do #which is make mistakes and learn from them #and he's still allowed to be loved #because humans love each other despite what they do because it's fundamental to humans to be like this #you are not special baby #it's okay #you'll be fine #just like i am fundamentally tautologous #yet you like my posts anyway #i'm very sorry #especially if you loathe my lack of capital letter usage #goodnight #the rookie #chenford #tim bradford

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