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#i realized how chill everyone is here and how i’m FINALLY living how i wanted to
crdteezv · 3 months
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Frat House - Prologue
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RULES (important): This will be a choose-your-own ending type of fic! At the end of the prologue, I will have links at the end for each member so you can choose the one you want to spend the night with!
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Paring: frat boys! ot6 wayv x afab! reader
Genre: College!au, frat! Suggestive
Synopsis: College au where your best friend Ten invites you over after you tell him you were stressing from all your upcoming exams. You play different kinds of drinking games with all of his friends. Towards the end, you played an interesting game of spin the bottle...
Warnings: Alcohol use, kissing & a little bit of exhibitionism. Since this is the prologue nothing much happens until you choose who you want to be with at the end. 
Word Count: 2.6k 
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**AUTHOR NOTES**: I'm still writing for some people as I go, so the others will be updated in due time! I hope you all will enjoy this series and will come back once I post the other members.
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It was a late Friday night. 
You were exhausted from all the studying you had to do for your upcoming exams. Finals are coming up and it's starting to become overwhelming. You decided to take a little break and call your best friend Ten. 
You guys have known each other since freshman year - orientation to be exact. You both hit it off pretty well from the jump. You’ve realized you had a lot of things in common and would hang out a lot. 
It's always been purely platonic between the two of you. However, he has flirted with you from time to time. Most of the time he was joking and you never took him seriously. He was just a flirt by nature and you got used to it. 
“Hey, how are you? I haven’t heard from you all day!” Ten asked you on the phone.
“Yeah, I know, sorry about that, I've been studying like crazy. I wanted to take a break and talk to you for a bit.”
“Ah I see, I understand since exams are coming up. But to be honest, I barely studied for any of my exams. I think I will be fine since I’m an art major. Most of my finals aren’t going to be that hard for me.”
“Lucky. I’ve been studying for hours now. I wish I could take an actual break and unwind for a bit.” 
“You know what? Why don’t you come over to my place tonight?”
You were thinking that it would be a pretty good idea to go. It’s the weekend and a Friday night at that – meaning you have no class tomorrow.
“Sure why not! But won’t all the other guys be there?”
“Nah most of them went out partying tonight. It's just Kun, Winwin, Xiaojun, Hendery, Yangyang, and I here. You don’t have to worry about all the other members trying to get in your pants.”
You sighed in relief. 
Everyone that is in the frat house, tried to get with you at least once. Anytime you would come over, you were like eye candy to them. That’s why you usually just chill in Ten’s room and play games with him. 
“Alright, what did you have planned?”
“We were planning on having a little game night, drink a little, truth or dare, etc.”
This all sounds pretty exciting so far. You were ready to be anywhere but your room tonight.
“Ok, I’ll head over now.”
You both said your goodbyes and you started to get ready to leave. You decided to wear a loose crop top with some shorts and sneakers. You headed out of your dorm and walked over to the frat house that Ten is a part of. It’s not too far from your dorm. You were thinking about how Ten recently joined the fraternity. 
He joined last semester and has gained a lot of new friends since. He introduced you to all 19 of them. It’s crazy how they all manage to live together. You don’t even know how they survive. You swear all they ever do is party and it's always too chaotic for your liking. However, some of them were actually kind of cool and you became good friends with them.
You arrived at the house and rang the doorbell. To your surprise, Hendery answered it.
“Oh, it’s you.”
“Whatever, I’m coming in”. You rolled your eyes and pushed him out of the way to let yourself in. 
You and him never got along, and would always bicker. He always claims that he is better than you at everything – but that is not even the case most of the time. Most of the time you come out victorious and he acts like he doesn't care. 
You enter the living room where the remaining 5 are sitting and setting up all the games. You were first greeted by Ten with a smile and hug.
“Hey, I’m glad you could make it! We’re just about to get started, do you want anything to drink?”
“Oh nah I’m good! I don’t plan on drinking tonight. I won’t be staying long.”
“You’re so boring - you know that right? Why’re you even here if you not going to drink at least once?” Hendery said in a snarky tone.
“Shut up alright? I should’ve stayed home if I knew you were going to be this annoying.”
He rolled his eyes and didn’t grace you with a response,  and he sat right next to Yangyang. 
“Hey, if she doesn’t want to drink that's fine. She only came here to take a break from studying and to unwind. It’s not like we’re not forcing her.”
Hendery nodded and you had this smug look on your face. Tonight you were going to pay him no mind and focus on having fun tonight.
You sat between Ten and Xiaojun. You have always been comfortable with Xiaojun. You guys actually used to be friends in high school. You both used to be close back then, but not so much anymore. After entering college, you didn’t see him as often as you used to. Ever since Ten joined the frat, you've been seeing Xiaojun more and you guys have gotten close again, fortunately.
As for Yangyang, Winwin, and Kun, you only just met them not too long ago, so you guys don’t talk as much. You're cool with them but you never hung out with them or anything.
As the night went on, you played games like Uno, Just Dance, etc. It was getting to the point, however, where things started to get a little boring. So, they decided to start playing some drinking games. You eventually caved and began drinking with them as well. You started to become more and more intoxicated as the night went on.
In the last game, you guys played Spin the Bottle with a little twist to it. Whoever the bottle lands on has to do a truth or dare made by the other person, and if they refuse they have to take a shot. If the bottle lands on the person who spun it first, everyone else in the group can collectively come up with a truth or dare for them to do.
You were too out of it to refuse to participate even if you wanted to. Everyone sat in a circle around the coffee table, and you were in between Kun & Ten. 
You’ve never sat this close to Kun before, and you sensed this distinct aura from him. It felt intimidating and domineering in a way. You guys made eye contact for a split second then you looked away.  
However, you still felt his eyes on you. 
You start to squirm around and begin to feel nervous. You always felt a bit intimidated by Kun. However, you were also very intrigued and wanted to know more about him. Hopefully this game of truth or dare can help with that. 
Across from you is Yangyang & Winwin. You thought they were both relatively attractive. You're closer to Yangyang since you both have the same math class. You talked to him a couple of times outside of class too but every once in a while. You would honestly give him a chance if he offered.
Winwin, however, you’ve talked to him once or twice when you came over to the house. He just stays in his room and usually keeps to himself. You find Winwin to be quite mysterious. 
Hendery grabbed an empty bottle lying around and decided to be the first one to spin it.
It landed on Ten.
“You know what? Fuck it, hit me with a dare.”
Hendery had this smirk on his face like you know he was about to say something stupid.
“I dare you to kiss the person sitting on your left.”
It was you.
God, Hendery was so chidish, asking him to do something like that. It feels like you were in high school all over again.
Ten gave you a look of hesitation, seemingly trying to prevent any rising awkwardness
“Hey, look, you don’t have to do it alright. You know Hendery just wants to make things awkward-” You started.
While you were mid-sentence, Ten pulled the side of your face towards him and gave you a light kiss on the lips. When he pulled away, he was sporting a mischievous look on his face. It seemed he had been wanting to do that for a while now.
You didn’t want the kiss to be over, so you went back to kissing him in front of everyone. 
All eyes were on both of you at this point. 
The tension in the air was thick, which started to make you feel anxious but excited. Your heart started racing like crazy and you began to feel hot all over.  Having all of them watch you make out with Ten was starting to turn you on. 
You hear Winwin and Yangyang whispering about something – but you can’t make out what they are saying. Xiaojun however felt so flustered that he was looking away the whole time, waiting for this all to end. Kun was previously on his phone but now is looking up at your making-out forms. 
On top of this, the outfit you were wearing wasn’t making this any better. Your thighs were being exposed from your shorts. Kun couldn’t keep his eyes off of them. You felt him staring at them earlier, but thought you were just being paranoid. 
Your crop top was starting to ride up a bit after put your arm over Ten’s shoulders. Your bra was about to get exposed, and you felt Hendery searing a hole into your head.
To be honest, you wanted to get under Hendery's skin because you knew how much he hated seeing you enjoy yourself. For a split second, you open your eyes and make eye contact with Hendery, all the while making out with Ten. 
The look on his face was absolutely priceless.
You grinned into Ten’s mouth and slipped your tongue in. He accepted your advances and things started to become even more intense between the two of you. 
Hendery couldn’t bear to watch this anymore. He started abruptly, “Alright, goddamn. That’s enough. You guys should go get a room if you want to make out with each other so fucking bad.”
You can sense the hint of jealousy in his words when he said that. You found yourself liking this side of him. 
“But weren’t you the one who dared me to do it in the first place?” Ten rebutted.
The room went silent when he said that. Everyone was taken aback for a bit.
“I don’t see why you’re so mad about it. It seemed like she enjoyed it so much she came back for seconds. Isn’t that right darling?” 
He was staring back at you with an alluring look on his face.
Something about the way his aura changed after saying that was kind of hot to you. You don’t know why you started to burn up even more. The making out from earlier was still on your mind. Sure he would always flirt with you in the past… but this time something felt different.
You nodded and didn’t say anything because you were starting to feel a little flustered.
Then, the realization started to hit you like a truck. 
You just made out with your best friend in front of all of his close friends.  
Ten boldly saying what he said in front of everyone really did something to you. You were wondering if anyone else felt jealous of him and wished they were in his place instead. The thought of that alone was driving you crazy.
However, Hendery felt almost embarrassed after putting himself on the spot. Winwin and Yangyang were trying to hold back their laughter. 
Yangyang decided to be the next one to spin the bottle to clear the tension in the air. 
It landed on Kun.
“I’ll do a truth.”
“Playing it safe I see? Ok, is it true that out of all of us, you’ve slept with the most people?”
He scoffed and had a cocky look on his face. “What makes you want to know huh?”
“I'm just curious is all, since you have the most experience here out of all of us.”
This did intrigue you. It would make since he is the oldest here - and a senior at that. Ten and Winwin were also seniors. Everyone else was juniors including you. You were curious to hear his response.
“Yeah, I for sure have fucked around more than all of you guys combined. I used to get around but not really anymore. I’m focusing more on my studies since I’m graduating soon.”
Everyone had a shocked look on their face - including you. Who would have known that Kun was the biggest player of the group.
It made you wonder what he would be like in the bedroom.
“Wait, really? Damn Kun! I didn’t know you used to be like that… wow. Who wants to spin next?” Yangyang said.
♡♡♡♡
It was starting to get late, having been 2 am at this point. 
You started to feel a little bit sober after not drinking for a while. You all got so immersed in the game, you forgot all about drinking. Mostly everyone would follow through with their truth or dare.
After this rotation, it was your turn to spin the bottle. You were the last person for the night because everyone (including you) was starting to get tired.
You spin the bottle and it lands back on you. This means that the guys can collectively choose what they want from you. 
You decided to do a dare, because what did you have to lose?
They were huddled in a circle for what seemed like forever. You started to become a little anxious about what they had planned for you. Eventually, they stopped plotting and Hendery had a smug look on his face. It’s almost as if he knows you’re going to be fucked.
You began to feel nervous, but somewhat excited at the same time. 
Hendery said, “OK, we dare you to spend the night with one of us in our rooms.”
No, you couldn’t simply go through with this. This is absolutely crazy. You’re not even that close with most of them.
“Come on love. It is pretty late anyways… I don’t think it’s safe for you to walk home this late at night.” Ten said in a teasing manner.
He did have a point. 
It would be kind of crazy to walk alone at this time – especially when you still feel a bit inebriated. 
“Fine, but I get to choose who I stay with right?”
There goes Hendery with that cocky grin on his face. He was really starting to get on your nerves.
 “Not quite. We’re going to spin the bottle again and whoever it lands on you room with for the night.”
You hated how much Hendery was enjoying this. He knows that if it lands on him, it's about to be absolute hell for you. He will for sure get on your nerves the whole night and piss you off. 
Or even worse try and get in your pants. However, that thought had crossed your mind before you guys even became rivals. You can admit that he’s really attractive. It's just his personality that pisses you off.
You were feeling pretty bold tonight, so you agreed to the terms of the dare.
He spun the bottle, your heart racing with anticipation in the meantime.
You waited in a mix of fear and anticipation for who it would land on….
Will the bottle land on [KUN] [TEN] [WINWIN] [XIAOJUN] [HENDERY] [YANGYANG]?
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You Catch More Bees With Honey: Chapter 5
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Pairing: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x Reader
Part of the San Diego Dogfighters universe
Summary: Bradley Bradshaw, blindsided by a team he trusted like family has been traded to the San Diego Dogfighters. Across the country from the place he calls home, Bradley feels lost and betrayed. Not to mention the familiar faces and ghosts from his past that he now has to face every day at work. Bradley’s caught between wanting to show his former team the mistake they made in double-crossing him and wondering if it’s time to hang up his skates after one final season. You’re living your dream as the PR representative for the Dogfighters. When Coach Maverick made a bid to bring his godson to the team, you hadn’t batted an eye. Bradley was a good teammate, and a good player. Unfortunately, the Bradley that shows up in San Diego is nothing like your research suggested. He’s moody, irritable, aggressive, and angry, throwing a wrench in all your careful planning. What’s caused such a drastic change in him? And can you figure out how to help him before he makes a mistake you can’t fix?
Chapter CW: 18+ ONLY, swearing, dead parents, mentions of major character death, mentions of physical violence, angst, age gap (28 and 38), enemies to lovers, suggestive language, hockey inaccuracies etc. No use of Y/N.
Word Count: 4.9k
A/N: We’re back! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! 🥰
Previous Chapter // Series Masterlist // Next Chapter
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Bradley Bradshaw is standing in front of you. This has to be some kind of colossal joke. Mickey would never do that, though, would he? Bradley looks like he’s fighting every impulse to shove his hands in his pockets as he shuffles from one foot to another.
“Can I help you?” You ask warily, still unsure if you’re getting pranked.
“I…” he starts before he falls silent again. He clears his throat awkwardly, finally surrendering to the urge and shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, tightening his broad shoulders. “I was eating at that restaurant and I saw you waiting and uh…” he hesitates again. “You’ve been waiting a while, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” A flush is slowly creeping up his neck, dusting the skin a rosy red. Warmth steals up yours as you realize he’s been watching you.
It’s Friday. You were supposed to be meeting the guy from the dating app today. The key word being were. You’ve been standing outside of the restaurant in a dress not at all appropriate for the chill in the air tonight for almost thirty minutes. You didn’t see Bradley walk by you which means he’s been here the whole time. You don’t feel like explaining your embarrassing plight to Bradley but with every passing minute, it gets harder and harder to lie without looking like a bigger fool. “I’m on a date…” you swallow, hard. “At least I’m supposed to be on a date.” You can’t help the way you fidget with your hands. At work, you’re on an even playing field. You have a job to do, a title that you wear like a shield. You’re at your most polished, ready to be seen by the world and taken seriously. Now you’re standing here on a curb in some unfamiliar part of town, all but shivering in front of a man who’s done nothing in the past but cause you pain and make you feel small. And he’s being nice to you. You don’t know what nice looks like from Bradley Bradshaw and you’re not sure you’re prepared to see him like this. It feels like you’re throwing your sword down in front of him, making him privy to a part of you that no one sees.
“He didn’t show?” You can hear the twinge of disgust in Bradley’s voice but the concern is louder.
“He’s just not here yet.” You attempt to cover for your date, but have no idea why. You don’t even know the man besides the few messages you’d exchanged over the past week.
“Honey, he hasn’t been here for thirty minutes. I don’t think he’s coming.” You expect to see pity in his eyes, maybe a smirk at your plight but you see something else, something unreadable. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he looks almost protective, but the lingering pain in your jaw and the ache in your heart tell you no.
“Yeah, maybe not.” You manage awkwardly, shifting on your feet.
“You could join me, if you want?” You blink, surprised. You’d expected a lot of things when Bradley Bradshaw walked out of the restaurant behind you but an invitation to join him was probably the last thing you’d have guessed. You actually would be less surprised if he produced tomatoes from his pockets and pelted you with them. What surprises you even more is that you nod and start for the doorway and you feel the gentle brush of his fingertips against your back, guiding you forward, respectfully avoiding the expanse of exposed skin at the top of your back in favor of the fabric lower down. You suppress a groan of relief at the warmth in the restaurant. “Over there,” Bradley gestures to an unoccupied table with several half-eaten plates on it. You pause as you reach the table, your eyes catching on the bouquet of daisies laid on the table.
“Oh my god am I interrupting something, like a date or something?” You sputter as you back up, bumping into Bradley’s broad chest. You turn to look at him and gasp softly as you realize exactly how close he is. Your back is pressed against his torso and you can feel him breathing through your clothes. Your lips are inches from his where you’re turned slightly backward to see him and his deep brown eyes are wide and boring into yours. You’re both staring for longer than socially appropriate, caught by surprise at the closeness. He backs up, hands ghosting over your waist to ensure you don’t stumble at his sudden movement and you can see the rosy hue creeping up his neck.
“They're for my mom.” He blurts and you look at him, confused. His file states that Bradley’s mother is deceased. “Daisies were her favorite.” Your heart aches at the confirmation that Carole Bradshaw has indeed passed away.
You’re not sure what to say so you awkwardly reply. “Irises were my mom’s favorite.” You watch the way his shoulders relax and slide into the booth across from where he was clearly sitting before this. He follows suit and you’re sitting face to face, squirming under the weight of each other’s gaze. You can’t take the silence so you keep talking. “My dad used to get us bouquets of irises and sunflowers, because those were our favorite, with baby’s breath to tie it all together. He used to say he was like them, the baby’s breath, there to make sure his girls shined.” You’ve never told anyone about this, so you’re not sure why you’re suddenly telling Bradley. You hadn’t really spoken about your mom in years. The last person you told about her was your grief counselor all those years.
“Are you close? You and your dad?” Bradley asks, his voice quiet, like he’s afraid to disturb you, to break the reverie holding you in this state.
You nod. “As much as you can be but I was always closer to my mom.”
“I didn’t know, you know,” Bradley murmurs and he averts his eyes, clearly uncomfortable. “About your mom.” His throat bobs and when he looks back up at you his eyes are simultaneously firm with determination and soft with guilt, “I never would have said that if I knew.” You shake your head, lowering your gaze.
“No one knows, really. Mickey only knows because he was there. I don’t talk about it. I don’t talk about HER.” You fall silent because you can’t explain why, because you don’t know why. Because you don’t blame yourself for her death, do you? Do you?
“If you don’t talk about her it’s like she’s still there.” His voice is almost a whisper like it’s a thought that was just meant for him but slipped past his lips regardless and your heart clenches at the truth in them and you nod. He nods back, lost in thought as he keeps going. “My family house in Virginia, I still legally own it. I haven’t been back there since I left for college, because then maybe she’s still in the kitchen, laughing and singing to herself, waiting for me to come home.”
“I haven’t been home in eight years.” You whisper. “Not since the funeral.”
“How did she…?” You flinch in anticipation of a word that never comes like he knows what it’s like, to feel it tear apart every seam you’ve painstakingly mended in a Frankenstein attempt to return to your old self.
“She had a heart attack, they couldn’t do anything to save her. It was instant.”
“I’m sorry.” He whispers back.
You barely shake your head. “It’s not your fault.”
“Maybe not, but other things are.” He hesitates before continuing. “I hurt you before, emotionally… and physically and I didn’t mean to.” You can tell it’s not easy for him to admit, that he’s not good at saying sorry. Your jaw takes that moment to throb with an aftershock of pain. Truth be told, it’s almost completely healed. Your hand reaches for it instinctively at the twinge but Bradley beats you there. He’s so large that his arm crosses the table with ease as his finger brushes over the spot where your jaw’s bruised under your makeup. You jerk back like his touch has shocked you and in a way, it has, not with electricity but with surprise.
“Fuck! Did I hurt you?!” You watch the panic on his face as he withdraws his hand instantly. You shake your head quickly. Bradley Bradshaw is an enigma. How is this the man who’s been nothing but casually cruel to you up until today? You secretly wonder if he has an evil twin.
“No, no, you just surprised me. Sorry.” You watch him grimace before his hands return to his lap and you can tell from the way his shoulders flex that he’s fidgeting with them in his lap.
“Sorry, my mom always said I need to remember I’m a big guy, and that women can get the wrong idea. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.” He grimaces again. “Not anymore, I mean, I guess I already have.” You blink, surprised. You’ve always assumed that Bradley’s the type of guy who uses his size to his advantage. He certainly does on the ice. You’ve watched him throw around smaller players like their chump change. But this Bradley, sitting in front of you, is completely different. You think back to the time he was squished into the chair in your office, and then to the way he instantly backpedaled when you flinched after he slammed his hands on your desk and you wonder exactly how aware of his size he really is.
You’re saved from responding by the waitress finally approaching the table. She gives you a bright polite smile and asks if you’d like something to eat. Luckily, you’d already studied the menu online enough times that you could probably rattle it off from memory. You order a double bacon cheeseburger with onion rings and fries and the waitress retreats before you face a dumbfounded Bradley. “What? Never seen a woman eat before, Bradshaw?” You arch a judgmental eyebrow as he shakes his head quickly, schooling his expression quickly.
“No, I just. You don’t look like the type of girl who would.” He grimaces instantly like he realizes how it sounded. “Sorry I didn’t mean it like that, I just-“
You interrupt, saving him from further humiliation with a shrug. “I’m not trying to get laid, so no need to pretend I’d rather have a salad. No offense.” You give him a pointed look. “Plus, I didn't really think we were trying to impress.” Your eyes move to the various plates of food on the table in front of his singular person before going back to his. He just nods curtly before pushing a plate of lukewarm cheese fries in your direction. You could easily wait for your own mountain of food but you take a fry to fight off the awkward silence that threatens to consume the two of you.
“So, why hockey?” Bradley breaks the silence around a fry of his own. You chew thoughtfully before you answer him.
“Hockey was always a part of this fairytale that my mom used to tell me.” Bradley’s brow furrows in confusion. “When she was in college she had this whirlwind romance with a hockey player.” You clarify. “She never said who, but hockey became this little special thing between us. We’d giggle when we saw pond hockey teams play on the drive home from school. Sometimes we’d watch games in passing while flipping channels. And then when I was in college I had to share the practice rink with the hockey team. That’s how I met Mickey, and I ended up getting close to the team. Now I work with them for a living.” You shrug nonchalantly as you select another fry.
“So wait, your mom dated a hockey player and what? He went pro and disappeared?” Bradley frowns, his mustached lip curled in disgust.
You chuckle softly, smirking at him around the fry as you lean in conspiratorially. “Nope, she did.”
Bradley looks dumbfounded, sitting back, an impressed look on his face. “Good for her.”
You grin as you reach for another fry. “She got scouted for the U.S. Olympic figure skating team. Not even a year later she won her first medal, good for her indeed.” He whistles lowly, clearly impressed. You can’t help the way your chest puffs with pride over your mom’s accomplishments. There’s never been a moment when you aren’t proud to be her daughter. The lull that falls between the two of you is more comfortable now so you decide to take the jump.
“Okay your turn, what’s going on with you and Maverick? And before you deny it, Mickey said there’s been noticeable tension between the two of you and you mentioned something when you were drunk. However, since your drunk self makes some questionable, and apparently forgettable, decisions, I want to hear it from you sober.” You pause for a moment before adding. “I’m not on any side here, Bradley. Not Mavericks, not yours. But I could be. My job is to be on your side, if you’ll let me do it.” You’re tired and you don’t feel like doing this right now, especially when you’ve just started to feel like you’re getting somewhere with Bradley, but right now he’s unguarded. It’s the best chance that you’re going to get and you don’t want to curse yourself tomorrow when he’s back to his old self.
Bradley’s shoulders tense and you watch his hand clench into a fist where it lays on the table next to the plate of fries. You curse yourself for jumping the gun and pushing so soon, ready to watch his walls snap back up and shut you out again. He surprises you when he unclenches his fist, reaching out to toy with a French fry. When he speaks it’s, slowly. “You know Maverick’s the reason I’m in San Diego.” It’s not a question but you nod anyway. “Well, it wasn’t this beautiful reunion that the media seems to think it was.” You know about that too. While they don’t know that Maverick is Bradley’s godfather, there’s been plenty of buzz regarding the reunion of the Mitchell and Bradshaw names. “He didn’t even call to tell me that he’d requested the trade let alone ask for my permission, but that’s just Pete Mitchell. He blows in when it’s convenient and leaves just as easily.” He shakes his head, exhaustion, and disgust on his face.
“He wasn’t really around when I was growing up. Everyone likes to think he raised me in my dad’s place but the most he did was send my mom checks to pay for hockey. And I didn’t even know about that until he told me.” He sighs, tired, but you can tell you’ve breached some dam in his mind because he continues without hesitations. “The first time I even met him was at my mom’s funeral. He suddenly felt like he wanted to be a part of my life but I didn’t need him. He went behind my back anyway and paid for my college education. The second I got my first check from the NHL I started paying it back. That's the extent of our relationship. He threw money at me like I was a problem he could solve with it and I threw it back. Then the next thing I know I’m waking up to headlines and messages from friends telling me I’ve been traded to San Diego.”
“Wait, they didn’t even tell you?!” This is news to you. “Like, god, I know they’d been trying to get rid of you but after playing with them for that long you think they’d at least give you the courtesy of telling them in person!” You’re rambling, fueled by rage. You’d already gotten a bad impression of the Flyers when they were so eager to give up Bradley during negotiations but this was a new low.
“Wait, what do you mean they were trying to get rid of me?” Bradley looks wary but genuinely surprised by this new information. You scowl, not at him, but out of mutual anger at the Flyers.
“When we called to negotiate the trade, your old manager said he’s been trying to trade you for the better part of two seasons.” Your heart clenches as you watch Bradley’s face fall slightly. “He… he was being a complete asshole about it, honestly. He kept saying you can’t teach an old dog new tricks and how they’d much rather fill the roster with rookie talent they could mold over the years.” Bradley’s unknowingly crushed the fry he was toying with earlier. You can tell he’s holding it in, the rage and hurt. Your heart aches. “He didn’t have any right to talk about you that way.” You’re not sure why you say it, why you feel the need to stand up for him against a man who’s not even here. “You played with him for over a fucking decade and played well might I add. You’re consistent, dependable, the perfect player to counteract the flux of developing rookie talent and ground a team but of course, all assholes like him can see is money.” You throw your hands up in frustration and it’s only then that you realize that Bradley’s watching you, a strange look on his face.
“You really think that?” His voice is hesitant.
You shrug. “Of course, if I didn’t I wouldn’t have agreed with the decision to request your trade. You’re exactly what a team like us needs. Sure, I felt for Maverick’s supposed emotional stake in the trade, hell I did the same thing to get Mickey here, but I still looked at you objectively and evaluated you as a necessary player to this team.”
You both fall into silence and the waitress chooses that moment to arrive with your burger. You turn your attention to gobbling down the cheesy goodness as Bradley mulls over your words. You’re polishing off the last of the burger with an onion ring dunked in ranch when he finally speaks again.
“Thank you.”
“Fwo wat?” You ask around the onion ring. He frowns slightly at your garbled words and your cheeks heat in embarrassment as you swallow your food and wash it down with water. Bradley’s not like your other colleagues, he’s the oldest on the team and ten years your senior. You owe him a little more respect than talking with your mouth full. “Sorry, for what?”
“For saying that, for telling me what my old manager said.” He pauses and you take the opportunity to snag another onion ring. “This whole time, I’ve been blaming Maverick. He used to play for the Flyers so I thought he called in some kind of non-negotiable favor, but now I know he’s not the only one to blame.”
You swallow, choosing your words carefully. “I know you’re not exactly happy here and it’s not really my place to tell you how you should feel, but for the record? If it were me? I’d much rather be unhappy somewhere I’m wanted than happy somewhere I’m not.” You pop a fry into your mouth, chewing thoughtfully as Bradley turns your words over in his mind.
He’s quiet until the waitress comes back with the check and he lets her know the food will be all in one check. Before you can protest, and honestly you weren’t really going to, he fixes you with a firm look. “I owe you one, plus I invited you.” You could point out that he didn’t really invite you so much as save you from further embarrassment and potentially a loitering charge, but instead, you just give him a shrug and pop a manicured finger into your mouth to lick the ranch off. He follows you out of the restaurant and with the setting of the sun the temperature has dropped even more and you silently curse your choice of attire. Your traitorous body seems to have forsaken your New England upbringing and fully adjusted to the near-constant heat of southern California. You try not to visibly shiver but then a warm presence falls across your shoulders. You turn to see Braldey has shed his flannel to place it across your shoulders.
“Thanks” you murmur and he gives you a curt nod.
“Where are you parked?” He asks and you groan internally.
“I’m not, I Ubered here.” You admit, embarrassed. “I figured if things went poorly at least I could have a couple of drinks and if they went well then…” you trail off, not exactly feeling like explaining to Bradley that you’d been hoping to get laid tonight. You needed it, the stress relief alone would do wonders for you. He gives you another curt nod, thankfully not asking you to elaborate.
“This way then.” He guides you towards the parking garage down the street, his fingers a gentle pressure against your back through his shirt that you’ve wrapped around your shoulders like a cape.
“You didn’t valet?” You ask as you ignore the way your stiletto heels are biting your toes as you follow after Bradley through the parking garage.
He looks back at you like you’ve suggested something ridiculous. “No one drives the Bronco.” He states and you roll your eyes as he unlocks the car. You climb into the passenger seat. The car is surprisingly clean, no trash lining the floors and the cup holders are spotless, not even a forgotten gum wrapper. You buckle yourself in and Bradley fiddles with his phone in the little mount. “Where am I dropping you off?” He asks, pulling up Google Maps.
“Mickey’s place,” you answer. He’d told you to come right over if you didn’t end up going home with this guy so he could get all the details while they're fresh. You didn’t have much to share but you’re sure he’d want to know regardless. You realize Bradley’s still waiting and rattle off the address as it occurs to you that Bradley’s probably never been over to Mickey’s house.
“Can I ask why Mickey’s house?” He asks once you’re on your way and you shrug.
“Maybe I don’t want you to know where I live.” You try to stop the grin tempting your lips. He snorts. “How am I supposed to know that you’re not a serial killer?” You challenge.
“You’ve literally done extensive background checks on me, and you got into my car without any fuss.” He points out.
“Okay but you’re a loner, you don’t have any friends-“
“I have friends.” He interrupts, sounding offended that you would suggest otherwise.
“Bradley Bradshaw, you most certainly do not.” You fire back and you see the edge of his mouth twitch.
“Well, how do I know you’re not homeless and living on Mickey’s couch?” You think he might be smiling but it’s too dark to tell.
“I’m not HOMELESS!” You squawk. “I just have friends, unlike you.” He rolls his eyes as he gets on the highway. “Mickey said he wanted to hear all about the date after.” You shrug, settling back into the leather seat.
“But you didn’t go on the date,” Bradley points out. You shrug again.
“And so I have to chew him out for that since it was his idea in the first place.” You explain and he nods in agreement. “He thinks I need to have a life outside of work which is ridiculous.” Bradley nods at that too. The conversation fizzles out into a silence that doesn’t feel uncomfortable and Bradley fiddles with the radio and the 80s station comes on.
You hum idly along with whatever song is ending before another familiar one takes its place. You hear Whitney Houston’s familiar voice croons through the speakers. You’re not sure when you started singing along, “I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebody,” but your voice mixes with Whitney’s in the quiet of the Bronco.
When the song ends, Bradley speaks up. “You have a good voice.” You feel your cheeks heat at the reminder that you have an audience.
“Sorry,” you apologize immediately, sure that Bradley didn’t sign up for an impromptu concert when he turned on the radio to fill the silence, but he shakes his head.
“You don’t have to apologize, I don’t mind. Like I said, you have a nice voice.” You think about pointing out that he said you had a good voice, not a nice voice, and that a good and a nice voice are two completely different things but instead you join Belinda Carlisle in remarking that “Heaven is a Place on Earth.”
***
When you pull into Mickey’s driveway, Bradley shifts the car into park while you shrug off his shirt. When you hand it to him he hands you the bouquet of daisies and you blink at him, surprised.
“She’d want you to have them.” Bradley clarifies and you clutch them tightly.
“Thank you, Bradley, for all of it. Thank your mom for me.” You add and you see something flicker in his eyes for a moment as you climb out of the car. Bradley stays in the driveway until you’re at the door, ringing the doorbell. Only pulling out when Mickey swings the front door open, grinning wide.
“Welcome home, Casanova!” He greets you, dragging you in and slamming the door behind you. You’ve barely made it into the living room when Bob turns around from where he’s perched on the couch, looking out the window behind it.
“Mickey I was right, you owe me fifty bucks! That absolutely was Bradley’s Bronco!” You roll your eyes as Mickey comes in from the kitchen where he was fetching a vase for the daisies. You let him take them and arrange them in the vase as he looks at you, a question in his eyes.
“Okay yes, that was Bradley’s Bronco.” You admit and Bob lets out a crow of joy as Mickey scowls at him, fishing in his back pocket for his phone, Venmoing Bob fifty dollars.
“Babe, what were you doing with him of all people?” Mickey demands as he throws himself onto the couch next to Bob. You give an exhausted sigh before throwing yourself in between the two boys, groaning.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Don’t tell me that dating app guy was Bradley all along and it was a catfish?” Mickey screeches, sitting up so he can look you in the eye as you roll them shaking your head.
“No no, not that insane. The dating app guy stood me up and I was standing outside the restaurant for half an hour waiting for him like an idiot, and you wouldn’t believe who happened to be eating at the exact same restaurant.” Mickey groans, sinking back into the couch next to you, dropping his head onto your shoulder.
“Mami, you really got the double dose of bad luck today didn’t you.” You drop your head on top of his.
“And then he came out and asked me to join him.” Mickey’s head whips out front under yours and you yelp in surprise. “You didn’t!”
You shrug. “Mickey Garcia, have you ever known me to say no to free food?”
“You’re right but tell me you at least ate him out of house and home.” He groans and you laugh nodding, a grin spreading over his face.
“Double bacon cheeseburger, extra bacon, with fries and onion rings.”
“That’s my girl!” He says, throwing an arm across your shoulders and you snuggle into his embrace.
“Plus it wasn’t actually that bad, I got to talk to him, get a better idea of what's going on inside his head.”
“I wasn’t aware there was anything going on in there.”
You snort as you bump his head with yours. “Says the guy who punched him.”
He tightens his grip on your shoulders. “He deserved that and you know it.” You don’t answer and he knows that’s the closest he’ll get to you agreeing.
“He’s not that bad, honestly.” You say finally. “He’s angry, and he’s hurting, but under all that I think he’s just tired, and honestly he’s an okay guy.” Mickey snorts disbelievingly. “He apologized for yesterday and before that too. Which reminds me, you need to apologize to him tomorrow.”
“For what?” He squawks and you fix him with a hard look. “Fine, fine, if you insist, Mami, just for you. But while his apologizing to you is nice and all, I won’t believe it until I see it. He needs to be nicer to you. Civil at least. You’re just trying to do your job.” You nod and he sighs. “What do you say we all watch a movie and then you can crash here for the night? You have stuff upstairs in the guest room anyway and we can give you a ride to work tomorrow.” You nod, extricating yourself from his arms to trudge upstairs to change into your extra pajamas.
You’re not sure that tonight will change anything between you and Bradley but at the least, you hope that he’ll consider what you said to him because whether he chooses to believe it or not, the Dogfighters need him. You just hope you can get through to him before he does something you can’t fix for him.
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A/N: Will this be the mark of a new leaf turned for our angry angry boy?
179 notes · View notes
peachhcs · 1 month
Text
being oblivious | the wonder years
hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)
the guys find out will knows samy & demand to meet her!
word count: 1.9k
i’m writing this as if they were 16 so that’s why the dialogue might be kind of silly, but anyways. i imagine them being very fan girly about meeting samy & also excited so here’s their origin story :) p.s. i’d love any prompts or ideas for little blurbs or imagines for them so if you have any send them my way :)
au masterlist
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the boys agreed to a slow and lazy sunday with the first day of ntdp practice tomorrow and no one wanted to be too bent out of shape. drew and aram's voices were the only ones filling the living room as they argued over mario kart together while everyone else just tuned them out. will was splayed across one of the chairs mindlessly scrolling through his phone when someone nudged his leg.
the blonde's gaze found ryan's whose eyes were wide with disbelief. "what?" will mumbled as ryan flipped his phone so his friend could see what made him look so surprised.
his screen was a photo of will and samy hughes standing next to one another at the beach with wide smiles. not understanding ryan's shock, will raised his eyebrow in confusion.
"you know samy hughes?" ryan finally got out. his words caught the attention of the rest of the guys sitting around them. their heads spun in will and ryan's direction, waiting for a response.
"uh..yeah? you guys didn't know that?" will wondered, gazing at everyone else.
"no? how do you know her? do you know luke, jack, and quinn too?" ryan continued, excitement now in his voice.
"we're family friends. we grew up together. i grew up skating with her brothers," will had to laugh. he for sure thought it was common knowledge that their families were close and spent every summer together since they were babies.
"you're lying," ryan countered, disbelief on all of his features.
"no, i'm not. you see the picture. that's obviously me," the blonde chuckled while the rest of the guys started crowding around to see the other pictures ryan had dug up from mrs. smith's facebook account.
"why on earth would you keep this information from us?" aram muttered.
"i didn't know you guys didn't know. i dunno. it's not that big of a deal," will shrugged some, falling back into his chair.
"not a big deal? are you serious? you're family friends with some of the best hockey players in this country," ryan exasperated.
this was quite amusing to will. sure, he knew how popular the hughes family was, but it never really mattered to him and he never really thought about it until now. he's always just hung out with them every summer and that was so normal for will that he didn't realize it was a big deal to other people.
"wait, ann arbor is like..thirty minutes from here. do you think we'll ever run into samy?" drew exclaimed after the realization. a few of the other guy's faces lit up too and they all looked to will for an answer.
"uh..i don't know? maybe?" the boy shrugged. he didn't really know what samy did during the school year besides go to school and play soccer.
"wait. do you think we can meet her because you know her?" ryan's head popped back up.
"erm..i don't know. maybe?" will mumbled.
"what do you mean maybe?" gabe raised his eyebrow and suddenly will felt like some teacher with kids surrounding him waiting for answers like the guys were surrounding him with wide eyes at the idea of meeting samy hughes.
"i mean..we're close, but not that close. she hung around with grace a lot, so i don't really know how she'd feel about a bunch of guys wanting to hang out with her," will shrugged again.
"dude, you know samy hughes and grew up with her and you're telling us she doesn't wanna hang out with you?" aram deadpanned.
the blonde rolled his eyes and huffed out a sigh, “okay, i’ll ask, chill out.” the guys grinned, pumping their fists at the idea of meeting samy.
will immediately got a response after sending a brief text samy’s way. she was very much up to the idea and agreed to talk to her mom about letting them drive down to ann arbor for the day. after some more final arrangements, will, gabe, ryan, drew, and aram were all stuffed into a car together driving the 30 minutes to samy’s house.
the entire car was filled with excitement and chatter as they discussed samy and her brothers. will just kept to himself, still thinking how amusing all of this was and how much these guys were simping over samy.
they rolled into the driveway and will spun around in the driver’s seat, “just don’t be too weird, okay? don’t make her uncomfortable.”
“roger that, smitty,” ryan teased making everyone snicker but will. the five boys clamored out of the car and followed their friend up to the front porch, letting will do the honors of knocking.
some footsteps could be heard until the front door swung open and a very smiley samy stood before the five boys. all of them but will suddenly became shy under the girl’s bright smile. “will!” the girl exclaimed and immediately pulled the blonde into a tight hug.
“hey hughesy,” will chuckled as he squeezed her back. the two embracing missed the looks that came from will’s friends as they watched the interaction unfold.
“come on in. jeez, i can’t believe you’re gonna be in michigan for the next two years with me,” samy continued talking as she led everyone into the foyer.
“i bet you wish it was grace instead,” the blonde teased making samy roll her eyes. “whatever. it’s so cool to meet some of you guys. i guess you already know who i am,” the brunette chuckled as she turned her attention to will’s friends who still stood silently and awkwardly behind them.
“it’s nice to meet you. i’m ryan, that’s gabe, drew, and aram. we kind of begged smitty to meet you,” ryan spoke up, sticking his hand out. samy giggled as she happily shook ryan’s hand.
“wow, i’ve never had fans before. it’s always been my brothers,” the girl smiled.
“don’t let the ten year old girls hear you say that,” will mumbled. samy flushed before ignoring his comment.
“is that will?” a new voice came into the mix. the boys looked up and saw mrs. hughes walking towards them with a large smile on her face. the older woman tugged her arms around will’s frame, squeezing the boy tightly much like samy did.
“hey mama el, it’s good to see you again. thanks for letting us come over,” will chuckled.
“of course, anytime. you know you’re always welcome here now that you live 30 minutes away. i know i’ll be expecting a lot of visits from you. all of you, actually. our home is your home. my boys have all been through the dev program, so we know what it’s like,” ellen smiled towards the other guys.
“i’m sure that’s the only reason why they came over is to see quinn, jack, and luke’s baby photos,” samy giggled in a teasing tone. some of their faces flushed in response.
“come on, i’ll show you guys around,” the girl started further into the house leaving the boys no other option but to follow her.
after the extensive grand tour of the hughes family home, the six sat around the deck enjoying the remaining bits of summer weather. “what are you guys most excited about for the dev program?” samy wondered, trying to get to know everyone else some more.
“probably just getting to hang with these guys all the time. we’ve all gotten pretty close already,” aram chuckled as he reached over to tussle up drew’s hair. the other boy squirmed away, quickly fixing his hair.
“new people, new place, new coaches. lots of things to start learning,” ryan added in.
“is it weird being away from home? my brothers never had to go far since we already lived here when they all did it,” samy wondered and most of the guys nodded.
“for sure, but it’ll be a good experience, you know?” ryan said and samy nodded.
“well, at least you guys have one more friendly face around here. you’re all welcome to come to my soccer games this season too,” the girl quickly beamed.
“right, i forgot you switched sides,” drew said.
“if you guys ever play with her, you better hope she’s on your team,” will cut in making samy flush and the other guys chuckled.
“uh oh, she better than you at soccer?” gabe snickered, pushing at will’s shoulder.
“she’s better at me in everything,” will nodded.
“remember that time i scored 3 goals on you and luke on the ice? ugh, i still think about that day and how you two had to pay me each $10,” samy laughed.
“don’t remind me. you cheated anyway,” the blonde crossed his arms, eyeing the girl beside him.
“i did not! you guys were just mad a girl was better than you at your own sport,” samy quickly defended herself.
“whatever. we’ll get our redemption this year,” will huffed. the girl just rolled her eyes and the two once again missed the looks from everyone else.
the entire time they’d been there it was nonstop flirting from both samy and will. they expected the two to be close, but they didn’t expect the amount of teasing and very painfully obvious to everyone but them flirting. will’s cheeks reddened anytime samy poked fun at him and they saw the way samy’s gaze lingered on the blonde when he wasn’t paying attention anymore.
no one said anything until they were back in plymouth that night. all of them kept glancing at the blonde, wondering if he’d say anything, but nothing came from him as he stretched out on the couch and started scrolling through his phone.
ryan eyes bounced from gabe’s to aram’s and then to drew’s. will didn’t realize the silence until he noticed the guys lingering by the entryway occasionally glancing at him.
“what?” the boy laughed, confused by their behavior.
“you and samy are a lot closer than you led on,” ryan started causally as he leaned down on the couch.
“i guess. she’s like a sister,” the blonde chuckled, clearly not understanding the deeper implication trying to be made. the family zone. it definitely did not look like a sibling relationship to the guys.
“a sister? you flirt with her like she isn’t,” aram finally got to the point, a teasing, shit-eating grin on his lips as he took one of the chairs.
“flirt with her? what the hell are you on about?” will grew confused.
“dude, be so serious right now. there’s no way you don’t see it,” ryan laughed.
“see what?” now will was getting frustrated with the laughter coming from his friends.
“you guys were literally flirting with one another the entire time, it was disgusting. there’s no way you haven’t had feelings for her or some shit,” aram cut in again.
“for samy? no way. we’re friends. we always have been. i could never see her like that,” the idea even made will shudder. all he had ever seen her as was another sister to get annoyed at and bother him whenever he was doing something.
“mhm,” gabe mumbled.
“jesus, you guys are so annoying. i kind of regret bringing you along,” the blonde rolled his eyes, refocusing his attention on his phone.
“you say that, but i give it a year at the most and then you’ll realize what we’ve been saying was right all along,” ryan snickered with another annoying grin. the other guys nodded in agreement.
the only thing will could do was ignore their comments because none of them were true. him and samy were like brother and sister. there were no feelings nor would there ever be.
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jaetyun · 1 year
Note
Most likely to with some trainees please?
Boys planet MLT’s; a thread!
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featuring: gyuvin matthew s.hanbin keita junhyeon zhang hao seunghwan honghai gunwook jay
fluff!
a/n: i use mlt kind of loosely, making every question less of a rant of most - least but more one option - another option
being pampered vs pampering
being pampered
honghai, gyuvin
i mean it’s kinda obvious
honghai is a total baby
he just wants to be little spoon after a long day of work and can u blame him :(
gyuvin LIVES off praise, he needs to hear from you hes doing it right even if it’s just simple things like cooking or doing chores
both of them spend nights giggling kicking their feet twirling their hair biting their finger over sweet texts you send
just clingy
so incredibly clingy
the more i write the more i realize gyuvin is so bf coded ☹️☹️
gunwook, matthew
now you might be wondering
how is gunwook not with the former??
to that i say he’s totally pamper you to as a congrats
you aced an exam? he’s out buying you ice cream and best BELIEVE he’s gonna be feeding you
if you can’t sleep he’ll tuck you in and sing you a lullaby <33
matthew has no preference
you just happen to end up spoiling him more often
you just can’t resist his aegyo ☹️❤️
he uses this to his advantage
“babbbbyyyyy can you pleassseee make ramen for me” while batting his eyelashes
jay, junhyeon
it’s very unpredictable w them
theres no set dynamic w either of them
you want him to buy something for you? sure!
he’s feeling little spoon in the moment? you’re big spoon 🫵
neither of them care very much
if i had to pick one way or the other jay is more likely to spoil you and junhyeon is more likely to be spoiled
potentially unpopular opinion..
junhyeon seems like he’d be very calm and chill in a relationship
he uses all his energy and humor with his friends youre his little safe area to recharge his social battery
jay is just always a very down to earth guy
he doesn’t really care either way 90% of the time
keita, zhang hao
they just have very motherlike tendencies
they’ll naturally buy things for you cause “you’ll run out soon anyways”
keita writes songs for you all the time
if morning texts were a love language that’s what zhang hao has
he hasn’t missed a single day of saying good morning and good night to you even if there was no other conversation that day
keita likes paying
i cant explain it but anytime you’re out you might as well not bring your wallet cause he’s gonna fist fight you before you’ll ever buy anything around him
the ONLY time you’ve paid was on your first date where you split the bill
seunghwan, hanbin
seunghwan moreso than hanbin
his face would curl in disgust at your attempt of big spooning
“what do you think you’re doing?? come over here” he wraps arms around your waist, leaving you as mush in his hold
hanbin is also very motherly
would literally make a lunchbox for you everyday if he could
both of them are just so good at indulging and pampering like i’m at a loss for words
i cant even explain on paper it just makes sense okay
i’m right my word is final!!!
pampering
easily jealous vs secure
easily jealous
gyuvin, gunwook
not necessarily possessive??
but they’re the type to death glare ANY guy that comes your way
gyuvin is probably a lot more pouty and gunwook
like gyuvin would be so clingy if he felt threatened in your relationship
hes just a lil insecure and needs reassurance but it’s okay cause we love him for it 💔
gunwook says he likes pda cause he likes physical touch
hes lying
it’s so he can basically let everyone around the two of you know you’re off limits
he feels like you’re too good to be true
he needs to fight for you yk
if you tell either of them to knock it off they def will though
junhyeon, keita
they’re more willing to let things go
like if it’s just someone checking you out they’re chilling
it’s when flirting starts that drives them mad
i think keita would be more vocal about it
he’d do something immediately
“you’re just so stunning-“ “arent i lucky?”
junhyeon would watch on the sidelines then scold you afterwards
once you give a friendly reminder they’re perfect for you theyre back to chilling
not nearly as much guard dog energy as the other two
but don’t mistake that as chill
keita has def said some things in the moment he wish he could take back
honghai, hanbin
the pouty boys
it takes a while for them to crack, it wjen it happens they’ll be SO WHINY
hanbin is so petty
“how does this look on me?” “why don’t you ask ___?”
hai isn’t passive aggressive he just gives you the silent treatment
most of the time some rando isn’t gonna hurt their pride
it’s your friends thatre a lil too close to you…
which results in full blown fights
it gets resolved though cause communication is sexy 🙏
zhang hao, jay
it’s not that they don’t get jealous
they just handle it pretty well
instead of being like gunwook who’s practically holding you or like keita who makes sly remarks theyll be silent in the moment
afterwards they rationalize it in their head and their fine
it’s not that there’s no communication
they just realize you’re loyal and they don’t have to worry 💯💯
i think hao is more likely to say something
not a whiny or petty comment but just a genuine “do you realize ___’s intentions with you?”
very down to earth men
they don’t wanna fight they just wanna head empty love partner
and we love that tbh
seunghwan, matthew
SO SELF ASSURED
like they would argue with their friends over their lack of jealousy
“why would i be worried about ___? they’re not the one kissing y/n are they?”
they genuinely cannot fathom a possibility where you cheat
which is reasonable cause let’s be real youd FUMBLEEE if you lost one of those two 😵‍💫
seunghwan might have doubts here and there but overall he can realize how important he is to you and that solves most issues
secure
going out vs staying in for dates
going out
junhyeon, seunghwan
it’s like an adventure to them
so many more possibilities on things to do
junhyeons fave dates are when you go out late at night and see what’s open
will you end up spending 4 hours at a theatre hopping around random movies at random times? will you find a cool dinner spot? will you scavenge through an abandoned building? it’s always an adventure!
seunghwan likes going to romantic places
takes you on picnics, going to a carnival, renting a karoke bar, bowling
he would totally have a bucket list of cliches he’d want to fulfill
he also just likes showing you off to the world <33
the best part is when you guys go home together both exhausted and rambling about everything you experienced throughout the day
taking showers after spending a hot day in the sun in the summer 😵‍💫 or a warm bath if it’s a cold winter day ❤️
*WALL*
jay, gyuvin
definitely prefer staying at home
does not mind going out though!
gyuvin has made it his personal duty to find the best cafe in town with you
you both have your own ranking you bicker over all the time
secretly his long term goal is learning your perfect pastry and trying to recreate it
he’s not telling you though itd ruin the sincerity of the coffee shop nights
jay wouldn’t mind every once in a while
it would get draining after like the second time a week though
has a soft spot for places like an aquarium or an arcade
places that might come off as childish
those jay could go to all day everyday
still doesn’t beat a nice cuddle session while watching a movie by a LONG SHOT for either of them
hanbin, keita
homebodys at heart
would do it for you though
especially if they have super outgoing s/o’s
very easy to convince
will react in very opposite ways though
if hanbin ends up agreeing on a date night out hes making 100000 steps and plans
he knows exactly where you’re going and when you’re going down to the minutes
he wants it to be perfect for you!
keita though
he lets you pick
“you wanted to go out! so where should we go??”
very easygoing though
down for literally anything you’d wanna do
except like rock climbing sky diving or axe throwing
that’s a hard no
matthew, gunwook
i honestly have nothing to say here
it just makes sense okay
im tired
bare with me
zhang hao. honghai
okay homebody by ph-1
their ideal date is making a lil dinner for you then playing a board game or video games
simple men
they just like being with their safe person in their safe space
zhang hao will show you all his fave tv shows and want your reactions
hai will spent HOURS just scrolling on tiktok with you next to him
it’s like a game to see how synchronized your fyps are
if either of them have a pet they’d love playing with their pets w you
if you have a pet theyd have play dates
doesn’t matter the species
you guys will make it work
like who says it wouldn’t be iconic to have a dog and bird friendship??
staying at home
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its-all-stardust · 6 months
Text
Head Above Water
Matt Murcock/GN!Reader
3.9k
Summary: A month after Thanos turns half of all life to dust with the snap of his fingers, you find a man sitting on a bench in the rain, alone.
Notes: This is my first fic here, and to be honest, I'm testing the waters a little bit with it lol. I hope to write more fics for Matt and other characters in the future! My ask box is open and feedback is appreciated ❤️
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Thunder claps in the distance, and you know the rain is only going to get heavier. Part of you doesn’t mind, despite the already-soaked legs of your jeans. Your small umbrella barely covers your shoulders, the occasional drip hitting you when you let it tilt the wrong way in your daze. You meant to get a new one ages ago, especially when the fabric started lifting away from the metal. But you never got around to it.
And now, you don’t care.
It’s been a month since the world ended. A month since you lost your sister.
A month since half the world—or half the universe, if what the news report you barely listened to is true—turned to dust.
And fuck, do you hope Lizzie turned to dust. Hope that she didn’t go down with the plane as it crashed in the middle of some town, engulfing everything in a fiery blaze.
You hope she turned to dust. You think about her last moments often.
Would she have been terrified if she noticed her limbs fading away before she ceased to exist? Or would she have been confused? Was she awake when it happened, or was she asleep?
Did she cry when the plane started to plummet?
Dust or fire, either way, she’s gone.
The rain feels nice, in a way. A chilling reminder that the world stopped and still stops. The streets are practically empty with so many people gone and the natural dislike of being caught out in a storm.
But it never feels like enough.
The world stopped, but it didn’t end.
Someone walks by on the other side of the street.
A month.
It’s only been a month, and you and everyone else are expected to live as if the worst tragedy in history hadn’t just happened.
You can’t go back to work. You were supposed to. But your days are consumed by grief after losing the only person you loved. How can you go back, pretend that it never happened, that you’re fine?
You’re not fine.
You don’t think you’ll ever be fine.
You don’t have a job anymore.
Your foot catches on something, sending you stumbling and pulling you out of your dark reverie. Rain spills down your back as your umbrella tilts forward. You don’t know what you tripped over, nor do you care very much. You adjust your umbrella and try to take another step forward, but stop when you send a cane clattering down the sidewalk.
The sight of it makes you pause, confused. Your state of mind slows any thoughts that aren’t of Lizzie. It takes a moment to realize you’ve stopped next to a bench. 
A bench with a man sitting on it.
“I’m sorry,” you quickly say. The cane must belong to him. 
You’re still not used to how empty the streets of New York City feel and have grown used to the lack of people running about, no longer needing to carefully avoid hitting others or having someone slam into you with abandon. You haven’t needed to avoid being in someone’s way for what feels like an eternity.
It’s been a month.
Shaking away the cloud of thought, you reach down, pick up the cane, and turn to the man, who hasn’t said a word since you ripped it away from him.
Holding it out, you wait for the man to take it, but he doesn’t move. Then you notice his dark glasses and what type of cane you’re holding.
The man is blind.
“Uh…” you start, stumbling over what to say. “Here’s your cane. Sorry.”
Like a statue coming to life, the man finally moves. Reaching for his cane, you set it in his hand.
“Thank you,” he says quietly, settling back into the bench. 
You should leave. You’ve done your due diligence and given the man back his cane, but your feet don’t want to move.
The man is soaking wet, dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants. He had no jacket or umbrella of his own. His hair is plastered to his head, and raindrops collect on the lenses of his glasses briefly before falling. He looks like a mess. You’re not one to judge because you looked much the same over the past month. 
Looking past him, you see the church.
“You uh…need help getting inside? It’s a little wet out here,” you finish awkwardly. You have no idea if he even believes in God enough to want to go inside, if he just came from it, or if this is just the first bench he found. Whichever it is, you don’t like the idea of him sitting out in the rain with not even a jacket to keep the rain off, especially not with a storm coming.
More thunder nearly drowns out the man’s answer: a short, simple “No.”
But still, you stand there in front of him, watching water drip down through his dark hair and land on his cheek.
“Here,” you say suddenly, mind made up. “Take this.”
The man looks confused, the first expression you’ve seen on his face. But he doesn’t say anything, just holds out his free hand, where you place the handle of your umbrella.
“What’s this?” he finally asks.
“An umbrella,” you say and start to turn away.
“Don’t you need it?” the man calls after you.
You pause and turn back. “Not anymore.”
Despite his frown, the man goes quiet and settles the umbrella against his shoulder, the rain now no longer able to reach his face. Water still drips down his hair as you turn to leave, walking a little faster to get back to your apartment before you end up like the man outside the church.
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It’s still raining the next day, but it does nothing to stop you from going on your daily depression walk.
You couldn’t stay curled up on the floor of your apartment any longer, so you’ve taken to spending the day wandering the city streets, lost in thought, trying to wear yourself out so you can sleep at night.
You’re berating yourself today, one of the iterations of thoughts you cycle through these days.
How can you walk miles throughout the city for days on end but can’t make yourself go to work? You lost your job, and the landlord—the new landlord, after the old one turned to dust, is bound to catch on that your rent payment is late. You don’t think you can get evicted during a state of emergency, but you wouldn’t bet on it.
The world ended. Your world ended. You shouldn’t be expected to have picked up the pieces and moved on like everyone else.
The world never stopped turning, though. Part of you knows you can’t keep doing this forever—avoiding life and praying everything goes back to normal. It won’t, not with Lizzie dead. But if you don’t, you’re sure you’ll find some way to join your sister in whatever afterlife she ended up in.
Your foot knocks against something, and you stop. You wandered too close to a bench where someone sits, making you walk right into a cane extended into your path.
Not thinking much of it, you’re about to step around it when you recognize the man on the bench. You’re at the church again, and the same man as yesterday sits outside. Without the umbrella you gave him.
You’re afraid he’s been here since yesterday without moving, but you see that the t-shirt and sweats he’s wearing today are black as opposed to the gray he had on when you first saw him.
You can’t help but be a little annoyed that the man appears to have lost your umbrella. But as you stare at him, at the blank expression on his face, and the defeated slump of his shoulders, it reminds you of yourself. If you didn’t despise wearing soaking wet clothes, you’d likely be without an umbrella, too.
You want to help, but you’re not particularly inclined to give him another umbrella for him to lose, not since you just bought this one on the way home yesterday.
So you sigh and, unsure if the man even knows you’re there, sit next to him on his right side, immediately soaking the seat of your pants on the wet bench. Shifting your umbrella to cover both you and the man, you sit back and wait.
Silence surrounds you for long enough to congratulate yourself on buying a larger umbrella. Your right side, and presumably the man’s left, is being hit by the rain, but it’s doing a decent job of covering two people not pressed close together.
“What…are you doing?” the man finally asks, either just noticing your presence or deciding to acknowledge it. His voice cracks, making you wonder when he last spoke and how long he’s been in the rain.
“Waiting for the rain to stop,” you tell him as if it were obvious. You adjust your grip on the handle to rest it against your arm. You could be here for a while and want to be as comfortable as possible.
“...why?”
“You lost my umbrella,” you say, looking at him. “At least, I assume you did since you don’t have it, and I don’t want you to get wet. Well, any wetter than you already are.” You finish awkwardly.
A look of realization comes over the man’s face. He recognizes you now.
“I…forgot it,” he says simply, and you wonder if that’s true. Maybe he wandered out into the city without it on purpose, hoping the rain would either cleanse him or punish him.
You know the feeling well.
Silence descends again. So far, the rain hasn’t shown any signs of stopping, nor has the man seemed uncomfortable with your presence.
Then he shivers. Maybe you’ll bring him a jacket tomorrow if he’s still here. If you find one his size, which you can only guess at.
Next, the man’s hands start fidgeting with his cane, the most movement you’ve seen from him during your brief interactions.
“Are you okay?” you ask softly.
The man scoffs, a bitter smile on his face. “No.”
His voice shakes, and you watch as he swallows and clenches his jaw. You’re familiar with the reaction. You’ve done it a lot over the past month when you want to avoid crying in front of others.
You look away from his face and down to his hands. He’s clutching his cane in a white-knuckle grip with both hands, and it’s a wonder he doesn’t snap the thing in two.
Something comes over you then, and you don’t know if you should do it or if it’s even a good idea. But you give in to temptation, sitting up to reach over with your right hand and place it on the man’s clenched fists.
“Neither am I,” you say softly, pressure starting to build in the back of your throat.
The man freezes, and you’re afraid you’ve overstepped, crossed a line with this stranger that you had no business crossing.
You’re about to pull away when he shifts, one of his hands turning to grasp yours, clutching it like a lifeline.
Neither of you speaks, both trying to breathe through the wave of emotion welling up inside you.
Connecting like this with someone is…nice. Practically everyone around you lost someone because of the attack, but this is the first time you don’t feel alone in your grief.
You don’t know how long you sit like that, but you’re disappointed when you notice the rain finally stopped. Letting go of the man’s hand, you move your umbrella off to the side and close it.
You’re unsure where to go from here, what the next step is now that you’ve held hands with and found comfort in a stranger.
Glancing over at the man, you see his hand is still open as if waiting for you to take it again. You hesitate briefly before giving him your name.
It’s almost as if he comes alive then, taking a deep breath like it’s his first taste of air. He shifts, turning to face you.
“I’m Matt,” he says.
“Matt,” you repeat, a small smile on your lips. “It’s nice to meet you.”
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Matt kept sitting on the bench outside Clinton Church. He’d been doing it since the day everyone died. First Karen and Foggy turned to dust in front of him. Then, when his head cleared enough, he went to the orphanage to look for Maggie.
She was gone, too.
And so he sits outside the church, going back to his apartment when he needs to. But he always returns. Matt doesn’t go inside, doesn’t pray. He’s just numb and doesn’t have anywhere else to go.
Then, one day, you appeared and gave him an umbrella.
And you kept coming back.
A week in, though the two of you barely spoke, Matt asked why you did. You tensed and hesitated long enough that Matt was about to try to take the question back when you quietly admitted, “I like sitting with you.”
He froze, not knowing how to react. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but the thought that you enjoyed his silent company never occurred to him. It was an odd thing for Matt to hear.
The fallout with his friends was only just recovering after his disappearing act. He had just learned to truly let the people who cared about him in. And with everyone suddenly gone, the idea that a stranger wanted to be around Matt was shocking.
Uncomfortable with the feeling welling up in his chest, Matt changed the topic.
“Do you always walk this way?” He’s mostly out of it while losing himself outside the church, but even so, he didn’t remember someone walking by every day at the same time like clockwork.
“I only just started this way,” you explained with a shrug. “Needed to change up my route.”
You went silent, and Matt could feel the melancholy pouring out of you.
He didn’t ask why. He could guess well enough why you’d be sad about changing a familiar walking route or why you never seemed to be going anywhere in particular. Instead, he stayed silent, thinking about how he liked sitting with you, too, and how warmth still radiated on his skin from when you held his hand.
As the days went on, you and Matt slowly started talking more, carefully avoiding mentions of friends or family. You started sitting with him for longer, and Matt began to expect you at 2:14 every day and looked forward to your warmth at his side.
But it’s 2:22, and you’re not here. Matt listens for your heartbeat, the sound of your footsteps on the concrete, but there’s no trace of you. He fidgets with his phone, having it repeat the time as if it’ll go back or make you appear. Ever since that first day, you were never late, and something in his chest—which he refuses to believe is his heart—constricts at the thought that something happened to you.
He wants to believe that you simply changed your route again. That maybe you were tired of him, didn’t want to be around him, and just didn’t know how to tell him. But Matt remembers how quiet you were yesterday. How your silence reminded him not of the unfamiliarity of a stranger but of a sadness barely held in check. Your breath hitched, and you let out a small gasp before cutting your visit short and leaving with a strained smile pulling at the corners of your mouth and a promise to see him tomorrow.
But you’re not here.
Matt’s conflicted. Should he try to find you? Does he have any right to? What would you think of him if he did? Should he stay and wait, see if you show up late? Wait until tomorrow before truly worrying?
Something is wrong.
The thought won’t leave him. What started as a scratch has turned into claws digging into his gut, trying to pull him forward toward—
Where would he even look for you?
Matt stops a few feet away from the bench. He hadn’t realized he had even started moving.
Where would he look for you? He doesn’t know where you live or the route you take. Finding you would be nearly impossible.
Except he hears the faintest trace of your voice. He’s familiar with the cadence, matching perfectly with the one in his memory.
Matt follows without a thought, crossing into the street and forcing someone to slam on their breaks to avoid hitting him with their car. He tries not to run, instead staying at a fast-paced walk. You don’t sound like you’re hurt. In fact, you’re…humming?
Matt forces himself to stop. The tune sounds familiar, but in his panic, he can’t quite place it before you stop.
Maybe…maybe you are fine, and you just… didn’t want to see him anymore, unable to find the same comfort in him that he found in you. His stomach sours at the thought, his face twisted at the small pain in his chest.
And then he hears something else.
“I miss you.”
Your voice is so quiet, and Matt is so far away he almost misses it. The pain in his chest eases, but now he’s less sure about what to do.
You’re clearly unharmed, but Matt remembers what you said to each other that second day.
Neither of you are okay.
And you wouldn’t have kept coming back for days if you hadn’t found some sort of stability, some familiarity in him.
Matt keeps walking. You’ve stopped talking, but he has a decent idea where you are. He doesn’t think you moved, either. If you do, Matt’s sure he’ll be able to follow you easily, especially now that he���s caught your heartbeat.
Within minutes, he finds you sitting on some other bench, hunched forward, holding something in your hands. There’s saline in the air around you. You’ve been crying. There aren’t any tears on your cheeks now, but he can tell your eyelids are swollen from earlier.
Matt stands there, taking you in, unsure if he should approach or walk by and hope you’ll say something. He licks his lips and starts forward, decided. When he gets close enough to the bench, Matt taps the end with his cane before sliding it along the ground to hit your foot.
Startled, you jerk your feet back as he says, “Sorry, is this seat taken?”
“Matt?” you ask, confused when you see him standing next to you. “You…left your bench.”
“I…did.” He was in such a rush to find you that he hadn’t considered that you would find it strange for him to be somewhere else.
“Why?”
Matt flounders for a moment, unable to tell you the truth, before repeating something you said to him. “I needed to change my bench.”
You nod in understanding, believing he could no longer sit somewhere that held so many memories—the reason you had to change your route.
You slide down the bench. “Sit.”
The usual silence falls between you as Matt takes the spot next to you, but he isn’t comfortable in it this time. You’re staring at the thing in your hands and chewing your lip. Matt shifts in his seat, unable to maintain his usual stillness. He doesn’t know where to go from here. He didn’t come up with a plan.
“Do you like this place?” you ask suddenly.
“The…city?” Now it’s Matt’s turn to be confused.
You laugh lightly. “The bakery.” You tilt your head back to gesture. “Behind us,” you say when you remember he can’t see.
Matt has been so focused on you that he blocked everything else out. Now, as he takes in the space around him, the scent of all sorts of baked goods wafting over him from the building only feet away. He doesn’t even need his heightened sense for it. It’s a bit of a wonder, he thinks, that it’s still open.
“I’ve never actually been here,” he admits. “Have you?” As soon as he says it, he realizes that the thing in your hands is a cupcake and that you’ve just come from the bakery yourself.
“Yeah,” you say softly, focusing intently on the desert. “It’s my sister’s favorite place. Was her favorite.”
With those words, you start crying. For the first time, you cross the unspoken line between you to not talk about whoever you lost. You both avoided the topic not to create a barrier or to keep from knowing too much about each other but because it was too hard. Your tears are evidence. But even still, you told him.
Matt is shocked but won’t stop you if you are ready to take that step.
“What’s her name?” he asks gently, careful not to pry too deeply. When your breath hitches, he reaches out, fingers brushing your forearm.
“Elizabeth. Lizzie. She was my best friend.” Raising a hand, you wipe your face. “It’s her birthday.”
Matt lets out a breath, practically feeling your pain. No wonder you’re so upset, why you left yesterday.
“Here,” you say suddenly before Matt can speak. “It’s a cupcake.”
“Isn’t it for her? Shouldn’t you eat it?” he asks, yet reaches for it anyway. You wince as you set the cupcake in his hand.
“I actually hate red velvet. It was always her favorite flavor. Uh…I heard it’s good, though,” you awkwardly assure, making Matt let out a soft chuckle.
“We’ll find out.” Matt starts peeling the wrapper off but doesn’t take a bite. Instead, he sits there, wondering if he should share with you what he lost. If he even can.
But he wants to try.
“When I was a kid,” he starts slowly, finding the words and prying them out from that place in his heart where he locked them away.
“I lost my dad and grew up in the orphanage just behind the church we sit at.”
You stay silent, letting Matt speak, giving him your rapt attention. It seems you’re just as shocked that he’s sharing with you.
“I didn’t really have anyone growing up. And then I met Foggy while I was in college. And Karen a couple of years ago. And then, a few months ago, I…found my mother in that very church. Maggie.” A fond smile finds its way onto Matt’s face. He hasn’t said any of their names in so long. It feels good.
But it quickly falls.
“They’re gone now,” he finishes. He doesn’t need to explain how.
You reach out, taking Matt’s free hand in your own and intertwining your fingers. He feels the warmth radiating from you, driving away the permanent chill in his bones.
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop missing her,” you say.
“I know I won’t stop wishing they were still here.” Matt feels tears starting to well up in his eyes. But his hands are full, and he can’t wipe away the tear that slips down his cheek.
“Do you want to be friends, Matt?” you ask, a spark of hope filling you, making a small smile appear on your face.
The two of you weren’t yet friends, despite how much time you spent together on the bench. You never shared enough, never talked enough for it to happen.
Matt nods and squeezes your hand.
“I’d like that.”
And unbeknownst to the other, you both think that now that you’ve met, you’ll be able to get through the rest of this life together and, perhaps, be happy.
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evilphrog · 7 months
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Watching Wheel of Time without reading the books: Season 2, episode 1
I'm at it again! I know I never posted the season 1 finale review, and maybe I will go back and do that later. But for now, I just finished the season premiere, and I have to say, Perrin is 100% correct. The five of them are much more impressive together than apart. Which isn't to say I disliked it. They are all on the struggle bus, but that is where character development is at its peak, and where we get to see their true inner strength. Which is to say, I LOVED it. Bring on the angst!
The season opener with the round table of evil plotters was a fun and clever way to deliver some exposition without boring us. Having a little girl crawling under the table, disturbing the Very Important Shadowy Cloak Meeting really humanized every single one of them, and seeing the Fake Dark One be so gentle and patient with her gives some insight into how people can become dark friends. They are just concerned parents. I am now calling him Nancy Reagan, since he is their leader. I also definitely want to pet a trolloc. They look much cuter when they aren’t being ordered to kill everyone in sight. Are they tamable? Or...redeemable? I am still not sure of their level of free will/sentience, so I am not sure which word applies.
The first scene post-credits is Moiraine working hard to take her Very Sad Alone Time Depression Bath. Just one woman, chilling in a hot tub, cuz the water gets cold without magic. It was a very good idea to show the first hot tub scene in the recaps, so I could get the full emotional subtext here. Bathing is a communal activity in this culture, but she can’t handle having someone else see her in such a vulnerable position when she already feels so vulnerable all the time. But the longer she spends isolated, the more alone and vulnerable she will continue to feel.
She and Lan are hiding out with their friends, Sassy Twin, Serious Twin, and Tom. Tom is married to one of them, but I forget which one. Without the warder bond, Lan must have lost the rapid healing that allows him to withstand his severe clothing allergy. Good thing the Sassy Twin is there to helpfully point out additional clothes that might be hurting him, and to reassure him it would be fine to remove them in her home. She truly speaks for all of us. I’m glad Lan has these three friends around to support him as he supports Moiraine. This poor man is having to learn, at the tender age of forty-something, to use his words to describe how he feels. He is afraid for his best friend, he is hurt about being pushed away at a time when he would expect to be leaned on even harder, I am pretty sure he blames her for blocked bond because she had put the block up prior to being shielded, and he feels like he is losing his only purpose in life.
And in the face of all that, he has to exhibit so much patience as Moiraine acts like every insecure teenager ever and tries to push him away. His previous experience with teenagers taught him what this behavior is like, but not how to handle it. Her “I am so aloof and do not care at all about the feelings of others” routine was incredibly transparent to everyone except Lan. He really needed his friends to lovingly slap him in the ego and remind him that the only way to truly help her is to let himself be the vulnerable one, so she can see how it' it's done, and realize it's something she can live with.
But now he has to do it the old fashioned way, by walking upstairs to check on her. Good timing, too. Slightly worse timing for Serious Twin, but at least she could handle all the Eyeless. Hopefully one of the twins does healing.
Meanwhile, at Aes Sedai High, Nynaeve and Egwene are in novice training. Egwene is dealing with a bit of culture shock. She accidentally witnesses an actual, honest to Light, bisexual orgy on screen. She is going from being a big fish in a small pond to being a big fish in an ocean surrounded by other big fish, but she is handling it better than I expected. Nynaeve is handling the entire thing exactly as I hoped she would. While Egwene focuses on adding extra challenges by learning to weave with both hands tied behind her back, Nynaeve is semi-consciously stopping herself from doing any magic at all. Polly tries playing on her pride, by saying she is just scared, and Nynaeve responds by drinking dirty dishwater while making direct eye contact. Such a power move, there. Unfortunately, it leads directly to an unwanted face-to-face discussion with JK Rowling, which quickly turns into a surprise duel. I thought JK was torturing Nynaeve by hurting her, but my husband said she was only making the air too thick for Nynaeve to move through. And really, nothing could possibly torture Nynaeve more than placing an unwanted restriction on her. She did end up shielding her, temporarily, and that was described as one of the most brutal forms of assault. Pretty sick, but also pretty consistent with boarding school hazing rituals.
Later, Nynaeve and Egwene read the letter from Perrin, where he hopes they will all stick together. And JK Rowling goes down to her secret Man Dungeon For Men to read a heavily edited version of the letter to her prisoner, New Mat. And, to this I have to say, come on JK Rowling! Why do you go and pull a stunt that the actual JK Rowling also used in her own book? Your name is getting more and more accurate as time goes on, and that is not a compliment. Anyways, Mat responds in pretty much the same way Harry Potter did, by trying to break out of jail. I’m not sure how I feel about New Mat so far. He seems a bit like a soggy bed sheet, but he is also in the exact circumstances that would lead to soggy bed sheet behavior. His puckish attitude was mostly a mask he put on to lift the spirits of those around him, and his private moments were entirely spent dwelling on his own misery. Presumably the only person he has interacted with for months now is someone who actively feeds on that misery. JK Rowling is a cursed dagger unto herself.
We get a brief glimpse of Rand, with his new haircut. He is sad and has no lines. I assume he will be more present in future episodes. He lights a lantern, presumably for his mother, but maybe for the innocent version of himself that will never exist again. Maybe for his friends he thinks he can never see again. They light the lanterns for those they lost, which might not necessarily mean the ones who died.
Perrin, meanwhile, is on a quest to find Padan Fain and steal back the magic horn. He has found another Wolf guy, who seems to be teaching him how his wolf powers work. Apparently he can see the past? Maybe he is smelling the places where things used to be, like Angua does in Discworld? So then, is he a werewolf? This is a very confusing power that has still not been explained at all. I would have liked to see Perrin get a training sequence similar to Egwene and Nynaeve, but the defining trait of wolf guys is that they aren’t a chatty bunch. They find a bunch of bodies of the traitors from the final battle, presumably disposed of once they were no longer useful. The group holds a proper funeral for them, which confuses Perrin. He doesn’t understand how they can go to such effort for the people responsible for the deaths of hundreds. The prince guy responds that if his people spent their time seeking revenge on those who betray them, they wouldn't have time for anything else. It is more helpful to the ones left behind to let it go and focus on the mission. Sort of the way of the leaf, but with a more productive twist. Perrin is really on a quest for a moral philosophy that he can live with, and this one seems slightly more compatible with him.
At Bel Tine, he lights a lantern for his wife. The first time he has to do so. He places his wedding ring on the lantern, but takes it back at the last second. He isn’t ready to let go of his own guilt just yet, but at least he can move forward while carrying it now. Loial seems good for him. And Perrin is good for Loial. He’s way more likeable now that he has gotten used to the wonder of living in the human world, and stopped condescendingly and incorrectly explaining how it all works. They are both figuring that out together. I am not sure how he survived being stabbed with the cursed dagger. By all rights it makes no sense. So I guess… Loial returned somehow. And we are also moving on from it and focusing on the mission, even if we carry our confusion with us.
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littleliquor · 1 year
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When Daylight Fades (pt. 3)
Note: Wednesday’s coming in part 5 (posting later so stay tuned)! I figured out how to head into her story over my lunch break. This chapter is going to be a bit of a bonding time. A little lighthearted (or not?) Feel free to leave me a message if you want more :)
Summary: Witch!Reader receives an unexpected visit from her “Coven family” who delivered a word of wisdom that upset her. Tyler opened up about his anger towards his mother’s passing and outcasts. The two bonded over the treatment towards Hydes from the outcasts. 
Warning: 
Part 1   Part 2   Part 4   Part 5  Part 6  Part 7
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No one ever told me what to do when your sunshine in life became darkness. No one ever told me how addictive and how much I’d want it more as the darkness crept over him. Tyler was the light in this life to guide me through the clouds and shadows. But the more the darkness of Hyde became him, somehow I wanted more. I wanted more darkness, more shadows, on him and finally onto me. It felt as if a lifetime of bloodlust that lurked within me had finally gained its vicarious outlet.  
It started off as vengeance, when normies stormed into my village with flaming torches and pitchforks, killing my kins like lambs to their slaughter. So I hunted them down, one by one, until I was strong enough. Then I took their entire village same way they took mine, sparing no souls behind. At one point, I grew weary and fearful of what I had become. But then I began to enjoy it. Each life I took, I took joyously. The scream of the dying made my heart race and my blood boil. 
Until I met Tyler. For the first time in many lives, I remembered the smaller things that brought me so much happiness. Playing make believes in treehouse, skipping rocks by the river side… For once, I wanted to be normal, without the burden and the sickly urge to harm. 
Chatters in the quad were usual in the morning. What was unusual was the unsettling and worrisome atmosphere surrounding it. 
“Y/N!” Bianca waved at me to the fountain. “Where have you been last night?” Her clear blue eyes had concern written all over them. 
“I spent the night at Tyler’s. What’s wrong? Wait, you didn’t tell anyone I wasn’t here, right?” I lowered my voice. 
“Of course not! What kind of friend do you think I am? Haven’t you heard? Some kids were murdered in the woods last night. I thought you were one of them.” She showed me the news on her phone. 
“Can’t say I have heard.” I denied swiftly, frowning at the news content. 
Gruesome Murder of Four Teenagers Found in The Woods. 
“Speaking of, judging from your constant sleepovers, it’s safe to assume that your dates’ been going well?” Bianca’s lips curled up into a sly smirk. “I didn’t even know when you guys started!” 
“It was, dramatic.” I laughed dryly. Whatever happened in the cave wasn’t something you could just share to everyone. 
“Not the type I’d imagined you’d like but I’m happy for you.” Bianca shrugged, giving me a cheeky wink before walking to her class. 
At our herbology class, I couldn’t help but noticed that Thornhill’s eyes kept flowing to my direction, colder and colder with each glare. If I was an innocent teenage girl, her looks could send some proper chills down my spine. Luckily, I was not. 
“I heard you got closer to the sheriff’s son.” Xavier turned around to my desk, whispering in a tone which I could only identified as disappointment. 
“The rumour’s true.” I spun my pen in between my fingers with a carefree attitude, though deep down, I felt apologetic for dating the person who ran with his bullies. “I’m sorry what he and his friends did to you…” 
“No, it’s cool. I just want to… warn you. He’s bad news.” Xavier sighed, shaking his head with a bitter smile. 
“You do realize the more you tell me not to do something, the more I want to do that right?” I joked lightheartedly, hoping to lighten up the atmosphere. 
“I sure do. Just be careful.” He scoffed quietly. 
I went to the Weathervane after the fencing practice. Seemingly it had become a part of my daily routine to sneak off to see Tyler. Weathervane at the late night hour was about as quiet as a graveyard. As I walked through the door, his eyes shot from behind the counter. A big, stupid grin crept onto his face. 
“You’re late today!” Tyler leaned against the counter, beaming with my usual order in his hand. 
“Do you say that to every customer?” I gawked, brushing his hand while picking up the coffee. 
“Only reserved for my special VIP.” 
As I turned around, I noticed a certain familiar figure sitting at my usual booth, one I could never forget, as much as I wished. Draped in her tightly fitted leather jacket and six-inch killer stiletto heels. A wide grin pulled her red lips ear to ear as I reciprocated to her anticipating gaze. I let out a long, somber sigh, sitting down across her. 
“Joy, what are you doing here?” I pursed my lips together in an unconcealed annoyance. 
“Y/N, I’m doing fine. Thanks a lot for asking.” Joy didn’t not find my aloofness to be strange. I didn’t want to see her and she was well-acquainted with my disdain towards most members of the Coven. The idea of “big family” didn’t quite sit well with me. 
“You didn’t come all the way from Europe for small talks, did you?” I crossed my arms in front of my chest, leaning back to the chair. 
“I believe it would be even more torturous to you if my answer was yes. Luckily, no.” Joy swept her hair behind her shoulder, speaking in a volume only we could hear. “I’m here to warn you. I’m worried. I’d seen how hard you’ve tried to steer away from your history. I just don’t want you to repeat it. Being close to a creature of violence and darkness will only derail you from the path you’ve been building.” 
“I already told you, I know what I’m doing. I don’t need your lecture.” I said, stirring my coffe in a swift, clockwise motion. 
“Think about it. Centuries ago, you wouldn’t let yourself be in a crowd of normies without killing at least a few. Right now, you have the power to wipe out this entire town or turn them against one another in the blink of an eye and yet you didn’t. That was more self-control and determination than I’ve ever seen in a lot of witches. I don’t want you to let that all go to waste. I know you don’t believe you need any of us but…” Joy propped her elbows on the table, looking into eyes with a candidness that I didn’t believe. 
“Where were you when I needed saving? When they burnt me on the stake, I called for you. No one came. Now you expect me to believe a word that came out of your snake’s tongue? You have no rights to come up here in the first place.” I narrowed my eyes. In front of her, I could barely hold the rage that burned from the depth of my stomach. A rage that I’d been repressing for longer than I remembered. 
Joy opened her lips for a moment, but then decided against it. She sighed in dejection as she stood up from the seat. 
“Say what you want. If you need me, us, in anyway, you know how to find me.” That was the last words she left before the clacking sound of her heels headed out of Weathervane. 
I placed my palms over my face and took a deep breath to regain my poise. I knew Joy cared about me truly but I would give up the world before I give up on Tyler. I wondered if the path of darkness was the only path I could walk with him by my side, or could things be different. 
The moment my father found out about my abilities, I noticed the way he looked at me changed. I wasn’t the innocent little girl he nurtured, but a creature that sends chills down his spine the more I stayed under his roof. He didn’t desert his responsibilities, of course, no. He merely avoided anything more than that. 
I was left on my own for a very long time, until the Coven recovered me. They took me in like one of their own. Yet, none of their pretentious kindness could repent for their indifference when I called for their help at my demise, last demise. 
As I placed my hands back on the coffee, my eyes were met by a pair of turquoise ones. I jumped slightly out of shock. 
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I thought I saw you guys arguing over something. You look pretty upset there.” Tyler placed a freshly baked scone in front of me. Even the plate was lukewarm. The chocolate scent was enough to make anyone’s day. 
“It’s just some… family business. She means no harm.” I smiled dryly, poking the pastry with a fork. Tyler’s look softened when I mentioned “no harm”. Part of me was relieved that I didn’t accidentally murdered the Supreme of my own Coven. “Joy is the leader of my Coven. She just dropped by to see if I was doing alright in Nevermore.” 
“Not much of a happy kind of family reunion?” Tyler asked, fingers twitching lightly in a quiet, nervous disposition. 
“In case you haven’t noticed by now, I’m kind of the rebel in the family. Surely even my dad has talked to yours about just how much of a headache I am.” I shrugged. It didn’t bother me much that my troubling nature had been found rather unbecoming by many more around me. Not that I cared enough to change. 
“I might have overheard. Not to me though, you aren’t.” He gleamed comfortingly.
“Then you clearly don’t know me well enough.” I bit down on my lower lip. There were many secrets to a person that should never be uncovered. Some past were too grim to be heard of on this earth again. Tyler’s look lingered on me, searching for a non-existing sign that I was joking around. 
“I don’t want to pressure you. I think, when you’re willing to let me in, you’d be surprised.” He was reluctant to give up on pursuing for the skeletons I kept behind my closet, but my silence and unsettling did seem to worry him. 
“I could say the same about you. You know, therapist aren’t your only outlet. I’m always here if you need me.” My fingers danced along the veins on the back of his hand, expecting him to become defensive and withdrawing just as the first time I visited him after his mother’s wake. The image of him slamming the door with a stone-cold look was burnt in the back of my mind. At time, I stopped talking to him altogether to avoid agitating him further, in hopes that he would be in good hand with his father. However, it didn’t seem to be the case at all. 
Tyler didn’t shy away from my touch or my attempt to opening him up about his mother this time. He turned his wrist up, smoothing over my pulse point.
“I’m angry, had been since she was gone. He… uh, doesn’t want to talk about her at all. And you, you stopped talking to me for some reasons. Somehow, I’ve never felt more… alone.” 
“I thought you needed your peace when I visited after the wake. I’m sorry I didn’t come check up on you sooner.” 
“I did slammed the door… You have every right to keep the distance from me. I should be saying sorry to you. But that’s not what I was angry about.” Tyler shook his head. He was smiling but tears were glistening in his eyes. 
“Then what is it?” 
“You see, a while after she passed. Your teacher came to me, claiming that she knew the true reason why Mom made that decision. Mom used to go to Nevermore, but when she needed their help, they never gave her any help nor guidance. They were all too scared. Ironic, isn’t? Outcasts fearing another outcast. It’s their rejection and isolation that pushed her off the cliff. All her life, she thought that was a place where she belonged and it betrayed her when she needed them most.” As Tyler explained, his expression darkened with a ghastly shadow, cold, angry, almost sadistic. It was a look that I’d never seen on him before, except for the time when he looked at my bullies outside of Weathervane. 
“Fear makes people do things. As far as I know, several Hydes were accepted in Nevermore throughout its long history, until they were banned for being too violent, unpredictable and uncontrollable.” I pursed my lips in disapproval, having known far too well how fear makes the worst in people magnify in the most catastrophic way. “That’s a crock of shit. People fear things that they don’t understand, but they don’t seek ways to understand it.” 
I had gone through some readings about the school’s history for leisure entertainment. The accepting and inspection on the species stopped after a terrible incident inside the school. A whole hall student population was wiped out overnight as a Hyde lost control. They did nothing to help, simply keeping all Hydes out as if they never existed. I’d seen it far too many times. A fate like this often happens between human and outcasts. Luckily, outcasts built themselves a safety haven that was Nevermore. Casted out by outcasts? That was the true tragedy. 
“You think there’s a way to control… it?” Tyler’s eyes shot up to mine, gazing into mine with disbelief. 
“There has to.” I rested my face on my palm, reaffirming with a seething determination.
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starblazer124 · 2 years
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FTM Reader & Red Hair Pirates - Period Headcanons
My period started yesterday and I’m feeling hardcore dysphoric because of it. Here, have some self-indulgent comfort with my current obsession.
Cw/Tw - Period/Menstrual discussion, dysphoria mention, mentions of blood
Let’s be honest, Shanks’ crew is a sausage-fest. It can be a bit intimidating as a trans guy, but it’s not like you aren’t welcome. The crew know that you’re trans and all of them treat you like ‘one of the boys’, so it’s not too stressful. That is until your first period since you joined starts. 
There’s not necessarily a reason to hide it from everyone. You feel uncomfortable about mentioning it though since you don’t know how all these cis-men will react. You don’t want to be teased, no matter how well meaning it is, and you don’t want too many questions since you’re feeling so dysphoric. You’ve hidden your cycle before and you figure you can do it again. All it takes is some rags to keep things cleaned up and a chance to wash them without the others noticing!
Now, while you might have been able to keep things hidden from civilians in the past, that’s much harder to do on a pirate ship, especially when said ship has a super intelligent monkey on board. That’s right, Monster is your downfall in this scheme. He may be a strong, clever guy, but he’s still got an animal’s sense of smell and has learned to pick up the smell of blood a mile away. At first, he tries to get your attention and usher you to the infirmary. Then, when he realizes you’re stubborn, he begins to drag you in that direction. It’s a much bigger struggle - he’s a big ol’ monkey, after all - but you still manage to either wrestle free or outsmart him.
Monster will get frustrated and eventually resort to going straight to Hongo, raising a big fuss until he follows. Hongo does of course because Bonk had made a point of training Monster to alert the doctor of injuries. The crew can be a little too macho at times and play off wounds, so this isn’t exactly his first experience with this. 
Oh, my dude, the chewing out you’re about to endure... Hongo is one of the more serious members of the crew and he takes his job as a doctor very seriously. He’s relieved to know you aren’t hurt obviously, but he keeps close track of everyone’s health and that includes your cycle. Thankfully, he understands this might be a sensitive topic, so he pulls you into his office. It’s actually not too awkward and Hongo makes sure to keep using affirming language. MVP, Doc. Way to go!
Meanwhile, while Hongo’s hunting you down, Bonk’s wondering what’s been up with Monster. Since he’s the one that trained him, he knows that the monkey’s behavior means you’re bleeding and without thinking, he mentions this to a few of the other officers. Lucky Roux and Howling Gab don’t think of it either, so the three of them try to piece together what might be wrong.
Yasopp, however, is the only guy on this crew to be married. He lived with Banchina for years and while she was a sweetheart, Yasopp learned real fucking quick not to make jokes about her period. (Fear the might of this woman’s anger.) He tells the three to lay off and changes the subject before they can argue. Afterwards, you’ll notice that he’s extra nice and even offers to help with your bulk of the chores for the rest of the week.
Limejuice, I think, has several sisters back home, so he’s also pretty lax about your situation. He acts a lot like Yasopp does, but he’ll let you know that he’s aware of your period (and why, so you don’t freak out) and offers to let you chill with him if you need to vent frustrating emotions/mood swings. Him and Snake, who finally got the memo of why you’ve been so tired, are happy to train and spar with you if you need some exercise to work off cramps. They don’t go easy on you, but their advice afterward is constructive and there’s snacks - courtesy of Lucky Roux.
During your impromptu check up with Hongo, he encouraged you to talk with Shanks about what’s going on. “He’ll want to know if you’re hurting, physically or emotionally. Knowing him, Boss will lighten your workload and let you rest.” You were scared, to say the least, but Hongo offered to come with you and help. 
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?! Go back to bed. We can handle things just fine for a few days. Captain’s orders!” Shanks is completely understanding. As silly as he might act during parties, he can be serious when needed and was fully aware of what having a trans crewmate might entail. You’re his friend though. Your health matters to him, along with your comfort, so the last thing he wants is for you to push yourself too far while you’re in pain. As it is, he feels bad that you didn’t feel safe telling him beforehand.
If you really are adamant about being able to work, Shanks will agree with the compromise that you take plenty of breaks. You know your own body better than he could, so he’ll trust your judgement on what you can and can’t do. Expect him and Benn to be interrupting throughout the day though. You are their responsibility and they won’t let you forget it.
Speaking of Benn Beckman, he’s your rock when it comes to validation. When he spots you looking down or stressed, he’ll lead you to a quiet part of the ship and sit with you. He’s direct when he speaks, makes it clear that whatever demons are whispering in your head, they don’t know shit about you or your gender. “You’ve got that look in your eyes again. You know those thoughts aren’t true. You’re as much of a man as the rest of us, regardless of what your body might be doing.” It’s simple, it’s brief, but it’s exactly what you need to get out of your dysphoric funk.
Shanks also offers some comfort, but that mostly shows through how he talks about you to the rest of the crew. “Yeah, Y/N already finished with that. I swear, that man can tackle anything. And did you hear the story he told last night over drinks? The guy’s a natural! He had Rockstar and me rolling on the floor laughing! He’s the king of punchlines, I tell ya.” Every opportunity to refer to you by male terms, he’s using it. 
Parties get a bit different too. The drinking and merrymaking are the same, but you notice that the guys keep you a little closer, one of the men always clapping you on the back or slinging an arm around your shoulder. By the time everyone has passed out on deck, you’re snug between Gab and Bonk, warm and safe among your friends.
By the time that first period ends and you’re back to your usual self, the ship just so happens to be pulling into a winter island famous for its hot springs and onsens. Shanks rallies the crew and, because it’s his territory, brings everyone to the biggest bathhouse in town. Everyone is relaxing in the steamy water and you’re smack dab in the center, truly embraced as one of the guys.
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ghost-with-a-teacup · 11 months
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𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐧𝐨𝐰 ~ 𝐀𝐥𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮 & 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 (𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲)
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Summary: It wasn't easy being a child from the Village of Shadows, even more so when you are reborn as a daughter of the infamous Lady Dimitrescu. With no recollection of who you once were, your life begins anew with a Mother and three sisters by your side. Yet your sisters are keen on making your life a living hell, all the while your heart only yearns to be included as one of them. But jealousy is a fickle thing (or sickle thing, rather) after all.
Warnings: None!
Author's Notes: Hello everyone! This is the first part of a larger project I have been working on over the last few weeks. The rest can be found on my AO3 here. Enjoy!
Cold.
That was all you felt as you looked onward and into the dark abyss ahead of you. An empty void of nothingness.
You didn’t understand why you were here, nor could you remember how you got here. It was like your mind had been wiped, with no semblance of who you once were in sight. The only thing you did know was that you wanted to get out, no, needed to.
With slow steps, you walked through the darkness, with no way of knowing where you were going. You tried calling out, but your voice seemed to be trapped in your throat just as your body was trapped in this void.
A few minutes passed. No...hours? Days? Who knows anymore. But regardless, after a little while the eerie silence was replaced by a soft noise. You couldn’t place your finger on what it was, but it sounded...familiar. But at this point, you would take anything other than the chilling cold and utter silence.
Following the sound you trailed after it like a moth to a flame, clinging onto anything that could possibly get you out. And little by little the noise grew louder, closer. Finally, you could put a description to the sound; it was like a soft waterfall. The droplets made their own little sound and created a symphony as they fell. And yet still not quite, for no waterfall sounded so sporadic yet calculated, nor could it sound so gentle.
No, it wasn’t the sound of water as it fell, it was the fluttering of wings, and it was quickly growing louder. Eventually, it became so loud it thundered in your ears like a tornado of flying insects; and you were in the eye of the storm.
Louder and louder it grew, and you could do nothing but let it overtake you.
All of a sudden, a flash of light, and then...nothing.
The sound of pen on paper and the crackle of a fire quickly replace the silence, then blearily you’re opening your eyes.
An unfamiliar ceiling in an unfamiliar place and an even more unfamiliar woman by your side looking at you with worried yet curious eyes.
Mother, your mind whispered. Unsure of all of your surroundings, you were sure of this. With the realization your eyes fill with burning tears as you try to reach out to no avail, your body protesting in its weak state.
With soft eyes the woman reaches out instead, clasping your hand with her significantly larger one as she gently wipes away your falling tears.
“Do not cry little one. You’ll be alright now,” she says soothingly, her warm voice easing your worried heart.
“Mother...” you say hoarsely, your voice weak in its disuse yet finally finding itself again.
“Yes, my darling. I’m your Mother,” she says as a hand smooths over your hair that’s damp with sweat, unconsciously you lean up into the comforting touch. “Do you know where you are?”
Glancing around the room it still sparks no recognition no matter how hard you try to reach into the depths of your mind, so with a frown, you shake your head.
“That’s quite alright, I didn’t expect you to. You’ve just gone through a very difficult procedure after all. If anything it would be unusual for you to remember, do not fret,” she reassures. “This is Castle Dimitrescu, your home, and I am Lady Dimitrescu,” she explained. Lady Dimitrescu...it was nice to put a name to her face despite the fact that you would call her Mother.
“We live here with your older sisters; Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela,” she says before being interrupted by the loud bang of the door opening, three massive swarms of flies flying in. At the noise you jump, moving in closer to your Mother in fear. She places a comforting hand on your shoulder to calm you down a bit.
Glancing up at her quickly she only nods towards the swarms, prompting you to turn back to look.
With wide eyes you watch as the three swarms morph into humans, each with almost identical appearances save for the different coloured pendants on their matching necklaces. Each had a dark hood masking their faces, giving them an ominous look.
“Ah, here they are now. But where are your manners? Bursting through the door and spooking your new sister right as she awakens,” she scolds, a disapproving look on her face. “Regardless, daughters! Introduce yourselves, and do take off those hoods. You have no use for them here,” Mother says.
Obediently each daughter does as they’re told, removing their hoods with a flick of the wrist. At the sight of their expressions, they chill you to the bone. Each sister had a matching glare on their face as though you had somehow already done something to get on their bad side despite you having no recollection of who they were.
“Bela, I’m the eldest,” the blonde one introduces, seemingly the most civil of them. Glancing to her side she looks at the next sister.
The brunette one all but huffs, her eyes rolling in annoyance. “Cassandra,” she says simply, and even that seemed like a tedious task for her. Last but not least, the redheaded sister.
“Daniela, the youngest. Or I would be until you came along,” she all but sneers, spinning a frightening-looking sickle around.
Mother only looks towards her daughters incredulously, baffled by their attitude.
“What has gotten into you all today? Have I taught you no courtesy? Your sister barely survives her procedure, and when she finally wakes up she is met with this horrible behaviour?” Lady Dimitrescu scoffs, eyes narrowing. “I’ve had enough of this attitude, leave us at once,” she says.
“But Mother!” Daniela begins to protest but is swiftly cut off.
“Go.” Mother says, her tone final, and with a final glare from each of them they’re off, the door shutting much quieter now. You turn your attention back to Mother, meeting her gaze nervously.
“I’m...sorry, little one. I’m sure your sisters are a bit uneasy with a new addition to the family, it had been only us for so long after all, regardless, their behaviour is inexcusable. But they’ll come around,” she assures you.
“Now!” she says with a clap of her hands. “Since we’re past formalities, I have to give you a small checkup, just to see how you are fairing. How do you feel?” she says as she places a pair of glasses on the bridge of her nose, a journal and pen in hand.
You try to speak but only a croak leaves your throat.
“Ah, yes. Here you go,” Mother hands you a glass of water from the bedside table. Taking generous gulps, you down the cup in seconds.
“Ah, ahem,” you test your voice. Please with how it sounds, you speak properly for the first time in a while.
“I feel quite alright actually,” you say before a violent shiver racks through your body, the room seeming a lot colder than before. “Just...a bit cold if anything, Mother.”
“Hm...curious. You seem to be a lot more sensitive to the cold...” she murmurs to herself as she notes the finding down. With a loud clap of her hands that startles you greatly, a maid swiftly enters the room and awaits orders from the Countess.
“Bring in more firewood, and ensure this room stays very warm. Bring a few woollen blankets and a pot of tea as well while you’re at it,” your Mother orders.
“Right away, my lady,” the maid says with a curtsy.
“Thank you, Brienne.”
“Of course, my lady.” With that she turns and leaves, the door clicking shut behind her.
“I would have been fine, Mother. You didn’t have to do all that,” you say softly.
“Nonsense, we can’t have you getting cold now, can we?” she says with a smile, her tone almost jestful and yet her eyes said otherwise. With a sigh, she speaks again.
“I might as well tell you now since you have no recollection of the past. It would do no one any good to keep this a secret,” she says, grasping your chin to turn it toward her for your full attention.
“You...aren’t like other people, little one. The procedure was a necessary decision, but it changed some aspects of your body. You saw your sisters, yes?” Nodding, you continue listening.
“You too can do the same, albeit slightly...unique. Your powers manifested differently, their insects being blowflies whereas yours are moths. But you’re powerful now, any physical injury you can recover from instantaneously, your life becomes prolonged, and your hunger for the life force that comes in the form of human flesh. Essentially you’re immortal, darling, inhuman. It’s what it means to be a part of the Dimitrescu family. Do you understand?”
You were sure your expression was one of absolute confusion. You? A powerful immortal being? It was a lot to take in but regardless you nod your head, urging Mother to continue.
“But these powers do not come without a price, little moth. While you are powerful against physical foes, your body cannot handle the cold, seemingly especially so since your body is reacting this way even as the fire warms the room. Stay out too long and your body will freeze quickly as it is made up of insects, and you will wither away and fade to dust. Therefore you mustn’t go outside, understand?” Mother says, her voice stern to make her point clear.
“Yes, Mother,” you say obediently.
“Good, little one.”
“Will...will I be able to turn into those swarms like my sisters, Mother?” you ask innocently, so much so your Mother lets out a hearty chuckle.
“Yes, my darling. With time and practice perhaps you may even be more powerful than them!” she says, a gentle hand smoothing over your head.
‘Hm...perhaps you could be’ you thought happily, excited that you had such a strong family to call your own, with powers that are unrivalled by anyone on Earth.
But little did you know, right outside the door three girls stood listening in on the conversation, their Mother’s words ringing out loud and clear. With a shared glance filled with hurt, they each turned and swarmed off, embers of jealousy sparking in their hearts.
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thatstrangegiiirrlll · 11 months
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I love that I’ve found someone who takes request for nijiro. Could you pretty please do a long time best friend nijiro falling in love and confessing to reader. Just some cute shy boy niji for the soul 🙏
Finally finished this! I’m so sorry if I made you wait long. I hope that it ends up being worth the wait, my love.
Nijiro Murakami x Reader
Summary: You invite Nijiro to your housewarming party when he asks you to step outside with him to talk.
“Nijiro,” you say, looking him up and down in the doorway. You sling an arm over his shoulders and pull him in for a heartfelt hug. “I’ve missed you.”
He brings his arms around you, exhaling himself into the hug. “I’ve missed you, too.”
You release from the embrace and shut the door, locking it. You turn to him smiling. “Um, grab a drink, have some food—do whatever you want. My home is your home. You know that.”
He nods frigidly, scanning the living room in front of him. You currenly have about a dozen people over; just a chill housewarming party. Buying your first home at such a young age is a big deal.
Nijiro walks over into the kitchen and grabs a beer, striking up a conversation with people already in there. Hm. That’s new. Nijiro, to your knowledge, doesn’t drink. And you know that man better than he knows himself. You watch him for a second in amazement. You’re overjoyed to see him like this after almost a year. Everything feels complete to you now.
His eyes glance over to your focused stare and your eyes widen a bit before smiling. He caught you being a little creep.
He shifts in his stance, leaning against the counter. You nod to yourself, leaving him to finish his conversation.
“Y/n, your house is gorgeous,” one of your college mates compliments. “If you need a landscaper in the near future, hit me up, okay?”
You ruffle their hair playfully. “Of course. Who else would I ask?”
While trying to steal another look at Nijiro, you realize how much of a negligent host you are.
“Fuck,” you curse, palming your forehead. You make your way through the clutter of bodies in your living room and enter the kitchen.
“Niji,” you call, grabbing his wrist lightly. “Let me formally introduce you to everyone.”
He looks from the people he was talking to and back to you. He whispers timidly, “You don’t have to do that.”
You dismiss him altogether and clear your throat powerfully. “Attention, please.”
The room goes quiet and everybody turns to you. Some of them make jokes or silly noises.
“This is my best friend since fourth grade. My heart, my soul, Nijiro Murakami,” you announce, kissing his cheek.
The room fills with applause and a few hoots here and there. You squeeze Nijiro’s hand and smile
He blushes and snickers, peering down at his feet like they’re the most interesting thing ever. “Thank you, everyone. Nice meeting you all.”
“Aw. He’s shy,” one of them says. “We don’t bite, Nijiro. It’s Y/n you gotta watch out for, shit.”
They laugh and you glare at them “Yeah, y’all would know, huh?”
Nijiro looks at you as you reply; a look of adoration. Still chuckling, you turn to face him. Your hand is still intertwined with his.
His palm gets a little damp and he pulls away, scratching the back of his neck. “Can I talk to you outside, y/n?”
Your smile drops, slightly worried. “Sure, Niji.”
You shut the door behind the two of you, stepping out onto the front porch. You must admit though, the anxiety dancing around in your stomach is making you queasy.
“What's going on, Niji?” you ask, your frantic mind already assuming the worst.
He fiddles around with his fingers, tugging on the sleeves of his sweater. You recognize this gesture all too well. He's nervous as fuck right now.
“Just promise me you won't freak out, okay?” he half asks half warns. Your stomach and chest tighten apprehensively. Is this why he was drinking? Is he this petrified about telling you whatever it is he's about to tell you?
“Niji. Stop it. You're scaring me,” you answer, shoving his shoulder. “Just say it. You know how much I hate it when people beat around the bush.”
He sighs and begins to rub his elbow, finding it hard to keep still.
“You know how you asked me a few weeks ago if I was seeing anyone yet?” he begins, recalling a previous conversation.
You nod once. “Yeah?”
“Well, I lied about my reason,” he resumes, locking eyes with you. “It's not because I haven't found a good person yet. I have. I'm just worried they won't like me back.”
You chuckle making a sad face. “Oh, babe. What's not to like? You're a sweetheart. A true gentleman, Niji.”
You inch closer to him and rub his arm soothingly. “Shoot your shot, love. I'm sure they're gonna be so happy that you did.”
He looks at you in a way you've never seen before. The look gives you a sensation he's never given you before. You take a step back. Shit, shit, shit. I’m so fucking dumb, you shout in your mind.
“Nijiro,” you say in a tone so hushed, it's barely audible.
He stares at you apologetically, the soft sun highlighting the side of his face. The glow from the sun paired with the heat of the moment is making your limbs weak.
“I'm sorry,” he apologizes, fumbling around with his fingers even more. “I can't help it. I don't see myself with anyone else, y/n. I love-”
“Wait,” you cut him off, holding onto the wooden handrail on your porch. “Hold on a minute. Ten minutes ago you were just my childhood best friend. So, my bad for needing a second.”
He looks away, eyes guilty and full of hurt. “I should have stayed quiet.”
You shut your eyes tight, relishing in the short but refreshing breeze that tickles your skin. The sound of the trees in the wind brings you back to the present.
“Niji,” you say, trying to gather yourself. “I'm not mad at you, okay? I just-”
His face is beet red from embarrassment as he looks anywhere but at you.
“I'm confused, taken aback, happy, and flattered right now,” you confess shaking your head as you speak. “Because... I feel the same way about you, Niji.”
His sad eyes widen at your words. “Y/n...”
You nod, standing just inches from his face now. “I've been scared of my feelings toward you for a while now. Especially since I haven't seen you in so long. I've been scared of all of it: you liking me back, you not liking me back...terrified of you not liking me at all anymore. All of it.”
His eyes get watery as he smiles. “You're beautiful, so damn beautiful.” his hand presses against your cheek, shaky and unsteady. He kisses you softly and you melt into the action. The kiss is the best one you've ever had. Not because of the technique or the depth of the kiss, etc. But because there's a mutual transaction of deep love and connection already established between you two.
You share an emotional hug and talk a bit more. The sun is starting to set.
“Hey,” you say, tapping under Nijiros chin. “How about I kick these idiots out and me and you just chill and eat the rest of that junk food in there?”
He smirks and nods in excitement. “That honestly sounds like heaven right about now.”
🥁 I'm baaaaaccckkk. - Ash <3
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weixuldo · 1 year
Text
Enigma// ch 8
Anakin x Reader
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(a/n: sorry for the wait guys, FINALS ARE KILLING ME!!! but this chapter is super long!!)
Ahsoka invites you to a small dinner
warnings: alcohol, yelling, cursing, making out, hard dick?
______________________________________
A few weeks went by before you physically saw Anakin again; you’d often check up on him through text. He’d always respond the same,
Fine.
You knew he was pretty upset that you found out about his disabilities, but you didn’t care. You were worried about him and you wanted him to know you would treat him no different than normal. Honestly, you only saw the legs, you didn’t understand the full extent of his injury. 
School was rough this week, but Ahsoka was there to make it better. You were studying in the library and your laptop was about to die, when Ahsoka walked in.
“Hey, Y/N. How are you?” he asked in a hushed tone as she sat in the seat beside you.
You sighed and leaned back in your seat, “I’m so exhausted, I feel like I’m gonna die just like my computer”.
She noticed the battery light blinking and quickly got up and plugged in your laptop. 
“Hey, look! Your laptop isn’t gonna die now, and neither are you. You just need a break” she offered, rubbing your back. “Would you like to come to dinner with me tonight?” 
“Sure”.
She smiled brightly and hugged you tightly, “Awesome!!”.
“Shh” an angry looking librarian hushed.
“Oops, Sorry” Ahsoka responded, sinking down in her chair.
For the next few hours the two of you studied, she said the dinner was going to be casual so you didn’t need too much time to get ready. You were honestly relieved the dinner was going to be low-key; you didn’t know if you had the energy to party today. 
You learned the dinner was going to just be at someone's house and was actually for Ben’s fiance Satine, she got a significant promotion and Ben wanted to celebrate. You were actually quite excited to meet her, you had heard so much about her from Ben and Ahsoka. 
_______________________________
Dinner time came around, so Ahsoka and you headed to the parking lot to get in her car. Half way there you realized Anakin would most likely be there. 
Fuck.
How could he not, Ben is basically his brother. Hopefully he would be done acting weird, because you genuinely just wanted a chill dinner away form the stress of school. You also worried that he would make things awkward for everyone; Ahsoka and Ben still had no idea about that night and you intended to keep it that way.
You loved Ahsoka but you definitely didn’t want her knowing about your massive crush on her friend. She knew you thought he was cute, but she didn’t know that you liked-liked him and if she found out you spent the night at his place and helped him that night, you’d never hear the end of it. 
You were caught up in your own head when you felt the car coming to a stop. Oh shit. You were at Anakin’s place. You didn’t expect the dinner to be … here.
Ahsoka parked the vehicle and smiled at you, “Surprise, surprise!”.
She had no idea about any of your interactions with Anakin… To her, this was the first time you're seeing him since the night you stayed over with her. She was clueless. 
You put on your best facade and blushed (and not for the reasons she was thinking). He’s not gonna be happy.
The two of you knocked on the door and moments later heard Anakin’s voice through the door, “Go ahead and answer it Ben”.
Soon the door opened to reveal Ben’s smiling face, “Well hello there!”.
“Hey Ben!” Ahsoka chirped, giving him a big hug. 
You walked in behind her and received your own hug from the man. 
“Nice to see you again, Y/N”.
You smiled and returned the sentiment to the older man. As you got further into the living room you saw two other people sitting on the couch; one was a jovial looking bald guy and the other was a stunning blonde woman. That had to be Satine.
Soon, you saw Anakin coming from the kitchen, he was wearing sweats, a hoodie and of course his gloves. He looked really good…
He sported a soft smile as he saw everyone together; that was until his eyes landed upon you. His gaze became icy and he completely shut down. 
You felt your heart thumping against your chest. What did you do? You didn’t know the dinner was at his house. You glanced at Ben who looked concerned as he eyed Anakin; he definitely knew something was up. 
‘Y/N, this is my fiance, Satine '' Ben broke the tension, directing your attention to the blonde woman. 
“Hello! I’ve heard so much about you! You're gorgeous” you offered, shaking her hand.
“Oh, you’re too kind, look at yourself, you're beautiful!” she replied, making you feel good.
You blushed at her comment as you took a seat next to Ahsoka on the couch. You watched with worried eyes as you saw Anakin glaring at you from the other side of the room.
Everyone could feel the tension between the small space; Ben and Satine shared glances, Ahsoka messed on her phone, and the man who introduced himself as Rex, tried to lighten the mood.
“So, Satine! Congratulations on the promotion, we all knew you would get it!” the bald man said.
“Why, thank you Rex! I really couldn’t have done it without you guys’ support” Satine smiled.
“With the pay raise you're getting, we better see some of that thanks, '' Rex joked, eliciting a punch to the arm from Ahsoka.
“Idiot, don't ya know it's rude to say that stuff?” she said.
“Haha, ya know i’m just jokin’, kid” he laughed as he rubbed his arm.
The room became more lively from then on out, you conversed with Satine and Ben, while Ahsoka and Rex goofed around. Anakin was the only outlier, honestly he was acting like a spoiled brat just standing there, barely engaging with anyone. 
Once it came time to eat, everyone made their way to the kitchen; the table was already set up nicely and all there was to do was sit down. You chose the seat closest to you, but before you could sit down you heard a callous voice behind you. 
“That’s my seat” 
You nearly passed out from the fright. Anakin towered over you from behind and had his arms crossed. Instead of fighting for the seat you just nodded and went to find somewhere else to sit. You ended up sitting between Ahsoka and Satine, but you were directly across from a very menacing Anakin.
Dinner commenced and everything was going relatively well, until Rex pointed out that Anakin seemed off. Anakin answered his friend coldly, before landing his gaze on you. He looked so annoyed to even be in your presence. 
Anakin left to get something from the kitchen and you excused yourself to go to the bathroom. You rounded the corner and found him in the kitchen with a bottle in one of his hands. 
“Anakin?” 
He looked over with wide eyes and an expression that looked like he got caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. 
“What do you want?” he spat as he finished opening the bottle. 
“I just wanted to check up on you, are you alright?” you asked, worry laced in your voice. 
“Fine. happy now?” he rudely said.
You were taken aback by his brash behavior and silently stepped aside allowing him to pass. You noticed his limp was slightly more pronounced meaning he was getting tipsy. Not much you could do, so you sighed and continued to the bathroom.
_________________________________
The rest of the evening was nice except for the occasional jab Anakin threw at you; everyone could tell something was up, but no one wanted to ruin the night by bugging Anakin about his feelings. 
The five of you toasted to Satine’s promotion and sat in the livingroom for awhile until people began to get sleepy.
“Thank you so much for hosting, Anakin. The construction guys should be done with out new bathroom soon” Ben smiled as he gathered his and Satine’s coats.
“Yes, Thank you Anakin” Satine smiled as they headed for the door.
Rex and Ahsoka stretched and talked a bit more before deciding to head out too. You were pretty tipsy and were determined to confront Anakin. So when Ahsoka asked if you wanted to leave with her, you kindly declined and told her you were planning to uber back because you had to do something else before you went back. Her and Rex said their goodbyes, leaving you alone with Anakin. 
“You leaving soon?” he rudely asked, popping the cap off of another bottle of beer.
Seriously? 
All night Anakin had been acting off, you knew he was upset about that night, but you had done nothing wrong. You kept your promise and didn't tell Ben or Ahsoka, so why was he acting so childishly?
“Anakin, can we talk?” you asked, against your better judgment. 
“Fuck off Y/N” he said as he walked out of the kitchen into the living room.
You followed Anakin and watched him flop onto the couch.
“What the fuck is your problem?!” you practically yelled at him.
He halted his movements and slowly turned his head so you could see him glaring at you. 
“What did you just say?” He seethed.
“I haven’t done anything wrong, why are you acting like this?” you said.
He leaned forward on the couch and stared at you, “acting ‘like this’? You're speaking as if you know me. you don’t know the slightest thing about me, little one”. 
“Don’t you see?! I’m trying to! I want to know you, Anakin!” you pleaded
“Shut up.”
“No, I want to know you but you won’t talk to me” you continued.
He began to lift himself from the couch, “I said shut up”.
“Anakin, I care about you, why wont you just let m-”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” he yelled, scaring you into silence.
You froze with wide eyes and watched as he continued towards you.
No.
You weren't about to let this man make you feel like shit anymore.
“Did you really just shout at me? Real mature Anakin. Real fucking mature” you scoffed as you crossed your arms and stared into his blue eyes. 
He was taken aback by your assertiveness and advanced towards you until your back was against the wall. You couldn’t quite read his face, was he still mad? Was he feeling violent? 
“maybe there's a reason I don’t want you to know me… I don’t want to fuck anyone else up” he lamented, placing a hand by your head to lean on th wall.
“Try me”
His eyes darted to yours and you saw a spark of interest; your heart was racing and you were feeling things. Maybe it was the alcohol getting to you, but you wanted him so badly.
It seemed he felt the same way because he quickly closed the gap in between the two of you and crashed his lips into yours. You were caught off guard and stifled a moan to which he responded to with a whimper. 
He placed a stiff hand on your side to steady you as you ran your hands through his hair. You kissed him as if you were starving for it; it didn’t even matter that it was sloppy.
You tried a small tug on some of his hair making him moan. He took his other arm and placed it on your neck before tilting your head so he could kiss downwards. 
He was marking your neck hungrily and you were loving it, he was touching you…the man you couldn’t get out of your mind since you first met him was actually touching you. 
He broke away from the heated kiss to pant, “Should we be doing this?”
“Probably not, but I don’t want to stop,” you admitted, pulling him closer to you once more. You felt butterflies in your stomach when you felt his hardened length brush against you.
“Me either” he said before he resumed the kiss. 
You were probably going to regret this later, but damn did it feel so good.
***
a/n: damn, sorry for the wait and this really convoluted chapter lolll, so many unnecessary details…. but it’ll get better soon !
Taglist: @dnamht @sxoulohvn @angeelcoree @wtf-andys @httpeachesblog @katsukiswrld @jetiikote @poisonedsultana
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pensat-i-fet · 1 year
Text
Take Two: Part 1 (Rúben Dias)
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Part 2 l Part 3 
Masterlist
Wattpad
“So the movie is being filmed in London, right?”, asked Mariana.
“Mainly, but there are other locations in England where you’ll have to do some small scenes”.
“Ok, I hope it’s not too cold there”.
She could see her agent rolling her eyes at her. Anyone could tell she had been unbearable lately. Complaining about every little detail when she usually just worked and never mentioned anything in a negative way. But moving to England…it brought back too many memories. The main one was her ex, who was now living there. But she wouldn’t have to see him at all. She’ll go to London and all those little towns in the middle of nowhere and get this film done. After the success of her last two roles, everyone agreed it was time for her to go for a role that could get her nominated for some type of award. And this role was exactly that. 
“Ready to go?”, asked Amelia, her make-up artist and best friend. Life in Hollywood was lonely. One didn’t know who they could really trust, but Amelia had proven to be a good friend multiple times.
“Yeah”, she answered and entered the jet. 
The flight was going to be a long one, so they planned on spending it watching a couple of movies and trying to get some sleep to better adjust to the British timezone once they landed. 
                                                             **
When they made it to England, Mariana was tired and desperate for a relaxing bath. 
“Want to order some food and watch a movie?”, asked Amelia.
“Sorry Ames, I’m shattered”.
“Ok, grandma. Do you want me to get your schedule to your room when Felix gets here? So he doesn’t bother you?”
“Please!”
Back in her room, she quickly took her clothes off and got the bath ready. The selection of oils wasn’t that great for a 5-star hotel but it’d have to do. Just another annoying thing to add to her already growing list of complaints.
Her bath time was like meditation time for her. Almost sacred. She didn’t listen to any music or watch any movies. She just closed her eyes and took deep breaths, trying to empty her mind. And more often than not, she fell asleep.
“Babe?”, she heard Amelia say from the other side of the door. She always got a spare key to Mariana’s room.
“Coming!”
The water was starting to get cold and she felt a chill all over her body when she got out of the bath.
“What is it?”, she asked once she was back in the room.
“Your schedule”, said Amelia, with a weird look on her face.
“What’s that look for?”
“Just look at the schedule”.
And so she did.
  -Oct 10th-20th: filming in London. Parts 3 and 5 from the script.
  -Oct 22nd-26th: filming in Birmingham. Studio. Parts 1, 7 and 8.
  -Nov 1st- Dec 12th: filming in Manchester. Rest of the script.
“I thought I was filming in London!”, she yelled. “That motherfucker!”
“Babe, no. Wait! Mariana!”.
But Amelia’s plea fell on deaf ears because Mariana left her room, wearing only a bathrobe, and ready to confront Felix. How could he do that to her?
“Open the door right now!”, she screamed, almost punching the door instead of knocking.
“You got the schedule, then”, said Felix, as if nothing had happened.
“You lied to me! You lied to me multiple times! I said England was bad enough but Manchester?”
“It’s the best role you could get to finally get the award you crave so much. I’m doing what’s best for you”.
“You’re fired”, screamed Mariana.
“No, I’m not. You are going to bed now and you’ll realize that I’m doing what’s best for you. Then you’ll stop being a brat and you’ll thank me when you do your speech at the stupid Oscars”.
Her fury was getting worse and worse. How dare he talk to her like that?
“Felix, do you think you’re untouchable or something?”, she hissed.
“No, I just know I’m good at my job and that I’m doing what’s best for my client. No, actually, not only that. I’m doing what she, what you asked me to do. This is the role you wanted. The film has to be done in Manchester too and that’s that. I can’t tell them where to film when they’ve been preparing for this movie for months just because you don’t want to be there”.
“Yes, I don’t want to be there. I don’t want to be in the same country as him and I don’t want to be in the same city as him. The last time we were seen in the same place, people went mad. I can’t do that again!”
“I thought you were over him”.
“I am”, she said, firmly.
“Then act like it. People won’t even know where you are filming apart from London. I’ll deal with the paparazzi”.
“I still hate you”, she said, leaving and conceding this defeat. She knew he was right and that annoyed her most than anything else.
                                                        **
London was full of paparazzi trying to catch her and the rest of the cast filming scenes for the movie. Security had a hard time getting rid of them. But as Felix had predicted, by the time they moved to Birmingham, no one followed them. She even managed to go shopping around the city centre without bodyguards and not one person bothered her. That felt good. Almost like being back to the times before she became famous. It definitely lifted her spirit. She hadn’t been her cheerful self for a while and she could tell that the stories that would come out of this set would be about what a bitch she was.
She was just tired. And homesick. And lonely. So lonely. 
But Birmingham was great. She loved filming in beautiful locations but there was something about studios that she loved even more. And even though some of the hardest scenes had to be filmed on those sets, she enjoyed it. Comedy wasn’t her forte, she was a drama actress and she planned on proving that to everyone with this film.
“Here”, said Amelia when she sat down in Mariana’s bed.
“What is it?”, she asked, unwrapping a box. “Under eye patches?”, she laughed.
“That’s the best present I can give you. Crying so much for those scenes is making your eyes too puffy”.
“Aren't you the best make-up artist?”, teased Mariana. “Then you’ll be able to make me look good next week despite the puffy eyes”.
“I don’t know, babes. I can’t perform miracles”.
And they both fell on her bed laughing. It was so good to have someone she could be herself with. She had missed that feeling.
                                                           **
Somehow, October had already finished. The filming of the movie was going well but it was time for the biggest part of it. The part that was filmed in Manchester.
“It’ll be fine”, said Felix, holding Mariana’s hand while they were being driven to the hotel.
“So you keep saying”.
“I got it under control”, he reassured her.
Felix wasn’t only an agent and publicist, he was her other good friend. Someone who knew how to help her in every situation and not just because of money. He had proven that many times before as well. 
“What’s my schedule for the days before we go back to filming?”
“We have a photoshoot for Vogue. It took a lot to get it so you better make the best out of it. And then we have a gala. I managed to get Louis Vuitton to dress you for it. We’re doing the fitting tomorrow”.
“Sounds good”, she said, sighing and looking out of the window at the city she’ll be spending a lot of time in. His city.
                                                             **
"I don't like not having you as my make-up artist", complained Mariana on her way to the photoshoot.
"You know how these fashion people are. I'm not good enough for them".
"They don't know much then".
"Hey, you ok?", asked Amelia, noticing her friend looking out of the window with sad eyes.
"Just one of those moments when everything feels like too much, you know?”
"Well, I'm here to talk".
"I know", said Mariana, putting her head on her friend's shoulder and closing her eyes.
When they got to the studio, everyone started to move her around to get her ready. She felt three hands pulling at her hair while others tried to put clothes on her to see what looked best. It was unbearable. 
"So you're an actress?", asked one of the women doing her makeup.
"Yes".
"Would I know you from something?"
"I don't know. Did you watch the last Jake Matthew's movie?"
"Oh yeah, the one with the cute blonde on it, right?"
"That one, yeah", she sighed, knowing she meant her coprotagonist, Josh.
"He's so hot. Who were you in the movie?"
"The one that played his wife".
"Can't remember that".
And that was the story of her career. Being the pretty actress next to the actor who got all the fame and recognition. That's why she was tired of those movies and wanted to do something serious. Something real. Something that showed people she was good at her job. 
"Wait", said the stylist. "Didn't you date a footballer?"
From the corner of her eye, Mariana saw Amelia looking at her worryingly.
"No. You must be confusing me with someone else", she answered, wanting to avoid the conversation altogether.
"Yeah, the City guy. The hot Portuguese".
"Who?", asked another one of the make-up artists.
"I can't remember his name. My boyfriend loves him and I love looking at him”, she laughed making everyone else join her. “Are you sure you didn't date him?"
"Confident", said Mariana with a fake smile. It was a good thing she was really good at her job.
The shoot lasted three long hours and by the time she was done, she could overhear the photographer telling the stylist that maybe one of the photos could be used to which she responded that it was ok because “no one knew her in the UK anyways”. 
Mariana took her coat and left without even saying goodbye. She was so tired of all these fake people. And of having to be fake herself.
"You ok?", asked Felix when she got to the hotel's lobby.
"Sure".
"How was the shoot?"
"Alright".
"Do you know how to speak long sentences?", he asked her, annoyed at her attitude.
"I'm just tired. I'll take a bath and go to bed".
"No, you have the Louis Vuitton fitting".
"Now?"
"Don't whine".
"Felix, please", she begged, almost crying. She just needed to be alone for an hour or two.
He hugged her and let her use him as support like she had many times. 
"Just do this quickly", he whispered, "and then I'll get you your favourite food and leave you alone until tomorrow evening, ok?"
"Ok", she sighed and walked to her room, where the Louis Vuitton people were waiting for her. Time for more fake smiles. When had she gotten so good at faking?
                                                           **
Felix had kept his promise and allowed her to have a morning off. She spent some of her time going through the script. Practising her accent as her coach had taught her. Most people were surprised to find she wasn't American when they heard her talk in English letting her accent come through. 
Once she was done, she asked Amelia to go shopping and for lunch. She didn't really know the area but was sure she could find a cute little place to eat. She tended to avoid the big spaces…even if no one really knew her in the UK. She thought about that line again, rolling her eyes. Who knew them two anyway? 
"So because of the gorgeous neckline of the dress, I thought about putting your hair up. And then we'll do a smokey eye in the same shade as the dress. It'll compliment your eyes so well", said Amelia, excitedly. She loved her job just as much as Mariana loved hers, and she also loved playing with her face as if she was a doll. If it made her friend happy, she'd let her experiment as much as she wanted.
"I'm sure you'll make me look perfect but don't use all the time on me, you need to get ready too".
"Eeeeek!", screamed Amelia, making everyone look at them. "Sorry, I still can't believe you convinced them to let me have a dress too so I could attend the event with you".
"A bit stupid of me to take someone prettier than me as a plus one but oh well, I'll allow you to outshine me for one night", she laughed.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure all the big celebs will fall in love with me".
"You never know", said Mariana with a wink.
After a long shower, she started to get ready with the help of Amelia. For once, it was just the two of them, plus the occasional visit from Felix, and it just felt like two friends getting ready for a night out. Mariana didn’t stop smiling the whole time. 
"Ready?", asked Mariana when they were about to leave the limo to join the red carpet.
"No, but I can't hide now, can I?"
"No", she laughed, taking her friend's hand.
The red carpet was another place where she could just act and pretend. She kept her head high while she heard the photographers yelling all types of things at her. And once she reached the end of the carpet, she took a deep breath.
"That was amazing!!!!", said Amelia.
Mariana turned to see her beaming. At least someone enjoyed the experience.
The aim of the night was to show her clothes and to say hello to the important people. Or those who everyone thought were important people. 
"Can I steal her from you for a second?", asked Felix smoothly while taking her away from everyone else.
"What is it?"
"I need you to not freak out", he said, making her freak out.
"Why?"
"Rúben is here".
She could feel her chest contracting at the words. What was he doing here?
"How?"
"I don't know. I checked the list at least 20 times and his name wasn't there. It isn't there now. But he is here. Unless he's got a twin that showed up at the event and I find that a bit unlikely".
Mariana closed her eyes to try and control her reaction. She couldn't see him. They couldn't be seen together. Not again. 
"I need the toilet", she said.
"Don't run away without telling me, please".
"I won't", she promised. And continued her way to the bathrooms.
She kept looking at herself in the mirror trying to find there the strength to deal with this moment. Her face looked pale from the shock of the news and her eyes were watering. But she wouldn't let anyone notice how affected she was. She would just say goodbye to everyone and leave before Rúben could even realize she was there.
Determined, she made her way back to where she thought Felix would be.
"Ana?", she gulped after hearing that voice. His voice. And that nickname. No one called her that anymore. She made sure of it.
"Hi Rúben", she said back, turning to look at him. Seeing him up close after such a long time made her knees feel weak. He had changed a little, but not much. He still looked like her Rúben and that made her heart beat too fast. Hearts can be so stupid sometimes.
"I didn't expect you to be here".
"Yeah, same. I gotta go and talk to people. It was nice seeing you, though", she said and tried to get away from him as quickly as possible.
"Don't go", he said, holding her arm. The contact made her skin burn. "Can't we talk and maybe catch up? We haven't seen each other in so long".
"I don't want people seeing us together", she said and saw him flinch.
"Ok".
"I…I didn't mean it like that. I just, you remember the last time we were in the same restaurant and people thought we were back together. It was madness for our publicists. And we weren't even there the same day".
"Is that all you care about now? About publicists and what people think of you?", he said, with a sad look.
"Don't judge me like that. You play the same game. And I have to care. You don't get how hard this career is".
"Whatever you say, Mariana”, he said, making her own name sound like an insult. “I'll leave you so I don't taint your perfect image".
His words tickled her.
"Don't be a child", she said, following him and tripping on her long gown. Damn it!
"You ok?", asked Rúben, kneeling down to check on her.
"Yeah, just twisted my ankle. But I'll be fine".
"Here. Let me help".
She took his hand and let him pull her up and closer to him than she had been in a very long time. They both were thinking the same. It was clear in the way they looked at each other.
A camera flash woke them up from their daydreaming. 
"Fuck! Great!", said Mariana, separating herself from Rúben.
"Do you need help? To go back to your people?"
"No, thank you. I'm fine. You enjoy your night".
And she ran to where she thought Felix would be, but couldn't find him at first. Her panic kept rising but Amelia found her to save the day once again.
"You ok?"
"No. Can we go?"
"Of course. You've done the red carpet already and talked to reporters. Let's go find a car".
                                                            **
Once they were back in their comfortable pyjamas, Amelia made them some hot chocolate and they sat down on the bed to talk.
"I'm sorry I cut the night short, Ames. I know you wanted to experience this kind of event but seeing him…".
"Hey, I get it", she told her, holding her hand. "How are you feeling?"
"I don't know. We hadn't really seen each other since our break up and…I just, I…having him so close and talking to him, it felt so natural. But then we were already getting annoyed at each other. It confused me".
"He was your first love. It's understandable".
Rúben wasn't just her first love. He was her only love. 
"I just hope I don't see him again while I'm here. I don't need this".
"I'll get him banned from all of the places we go to", said Amelia, trying to make her friend laugh and achieving it.
"It should be fine. No more events. Just work and then we go back to LA".
"Yes", agreed Amelia. "Do you want me to stay with you tonight?"
"Please".
                                                         **
The next morning, Mariana woke up determined to not let her encounter with Rúben affect her. 
"Morning Fifi", she said to Felix, joining him at his table for breakfast.
"You are in a good mood", he said, like it was a bad thing.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Have you checked your social media?", he asked.
"No, why?"
She had actually avoided her phone last night. It wouldn't have been the first time she felt vulnerable and went to Rúben's Instagram to check what he was up to. Seeing him moving on with his life both helped her move on with her own and made her hurt. It depended on the day.
"See it for yourself", he said, giving her his iPad.
There he had collected all the articles about her and Rúben. The photo featured in all of them was of them holding hands and looking into each other's eyes. She couldn't deny they looked like a couple. 
The headlines and articles weren't much better. All of them wondered if her being in Manchester had anything to do with him, if they had decided to give their relationship a second chance. 
The hardest part was seeing all the old photos they posted. All of those photos from their happy times together. She had those photos saved and looked at them sometimes, remembering the good times. They actually tended to lift her spirit but they did the exact opposite this time.
What would be Rúben's reaction to all of this? Would he care? He seemed upset at her for being bothered by what people could think but would he just brush it off and move on? She wished she could ask him. But asked Felix instead.
"What do Rúben's people think of this?"
"I still haven't been able to talk to them", he told her, disappointing her. "Are you ok?"
"No", she said, laughing sadly. "But I will be. People will forget in a couple of weeks like they did the last time, right?"
"We can hope. Besides, you're back to filming soon and can concentrate on that".
"Yes", she said with a smile. "I'll do that".
                                                         **
For the next couple of days, Mariana concentrated on work. She and her co-lead had decided to do some rehearsals on their own. It was great to finally work with someone who took his job as seriously as she did. And that allowed her to forget about Rúben for a couple of hours every day. Until she had to go back to the hotel and ask Amelia to stay with her and take her phone. She was so tempted to contact Rúben. Felix told her his publicists kept ignoring his calls and emails and she didn't know what to think of that. Did he not care at all? Did he not care about her being hurt by this situation? She wondered about how he was dealing with it all the time.
"Hear me out", said Felix when he got to her trailer where she was going through her lines.
"Nothing good has ever come out of your mouth after saying that. Plus, we are in a public place and you know I can't make a scene. So rip the band-aid quickly so I can refuse your idea just as quickly and we move on".
"You need to fake date Rúben".
Out of all the things he had ever said, that was the craziest one yet.
"I'm sorry. Are you on drugs?"
"I've tried to keep you away from all of it, but everyone is going crazy over your photos together. Your name has never been mentioned in the press this much and his social media engagement has gone crazy. And his publicists need the good press. He's been single for too long and that leads to rumours they don't like. A serious boyfriend image gets contracts more easily. You know how it works".
"No, you're actually high. I'll get someone to get a cup you can pee in and test it".
"Mariana, come on. It wouldn't be your first rodeo".
And that hurt more than the suggestion of this publicity stunt with Rúben. Yes, she had done the same with her last two co-protagonists. Everyone in Hollywood did it. But this was different.
"It's not the same. I dated Rúben for two years and it was very real. I can't act when it comes to him. I'm not a sociopath", she said, fighting the tears.
"I know it would be hard for you. It wasn't my idea, you know?"
"Whose idea was it?"
"Rúben's PR people".
Why would they want that? Didn't people just assume football players slept around? Wouldn't they prefer for him to be single so a potential cheating scandal could be avoided? It made no sense.
"What would I get from that? He's the one who wins in this situation but what about me? He isn't even famous in America and that's my main market".
"All fair points", conceded Felix. "But you really wanted to get that role in the next movie by your favourite Portuguese director and this would help. You’ve been away for so long, people don’t even see you as Portuguese anymore but he represents the national team in soccer".
"Football", she corrected him but Felix ignored her.
"And I've already gotten requests from many magazines asking to feature you both if you are back together. Do you know how hard it was to get one photo of you in British Vogue? And now I have all these Portuguese magazines asking to have you on their covers".
If it was someone else, she would have said yes. She hadn't been interested in dating ever since her break up with Rúben anyways.
"Can I think about it?", she asked.
"Talk to him".
“I don’t…I can't”.
“Talk to him”.
But she wasn't sure that was going to help.
                                                          **
After much debating and getting Amelia's advice, Mariana decided to talk to Rúben. She needed to know if this was as crazy of an idea for him as it was for her. It had to be. He would have never accepted something like this before and she doubted he had changed that much in these two years.
Many meeting spots were out of the equation because of how public they were. And so was Rúben's apartment. Paparazzi had been there ready to get a photo of the two of them for days. So they met at one of his teammate's houses.
"So, what do you think?", she asked.
"I don't know. When I was first told about it, I wanted to tell them to fuck off but they made good points, I guess".
"That's why we hired them. They make crazy ideas sound slightly logical", she said with a small laugh.
"I guess. Um…so what do you think of all of it?"
"I mean, the decision is yours, Rúben. I have so much work between filming and castings. I don't have time to date anyways, so there's no risk of meeting someone. But if you did and this got in your way, I'd feel so bad and…".
"What do you mean not having time for dating?", he interrupted her. "You were dating those actors you worked with. So there is time for that".
When she looked up at him, she realized how quickly he understood what her look meant.
"It was also fake".
She nodded.
"So you haven't been with anyone else since we broke up?", he asked.
"No. I mean, I've been with men but…nothing serious. You?"
"Same".
And there was something about that admission that made both of them feel relieved. 
"So, are we doing this?", asked Rúben.
"If we do it’s with one condition. Non-negotiable".
"What?"
"We don't lie to our parents", she said. "I loved your parents and mine loved you. I can't lie to them about this. Give them…hope, you know?"
"We'll disappoint them instead, then?"
"Better than lying to them", she said, seriously. It really was her only condition. 
"Deal", he said, offering his hand for her to shake. And that's how they embarked on what could be their best idea…or the worst.
138 notes · View notes
I read Clementine Book One 9 times so that you don’t have to read it at all
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Spoiler-free review: It’s not great. 1.5/5 stars. 
"Clementine is back on the road, looking to put her traumatic past behind her and forge new path all her own. But when she comes across an Amish teenager named Amos with his head in the clouds, the unlikely pair journeys North to an abandoned ski resort in Vermont, where they meet up with a small group of teenagers attempting to build a new, walker-free settlement. As friendship, rivalry, and romance begin to blossom amongst the group, the harsh winter soon reveals that the biggest threat to their survival...might be each other. “
The best way I can describe Clementine in this is if TFS never happened and this is an older, slightly less angsty ANF Clementine who also lost a leg.  She’s not great.
Amos is the best character. He has a goal, a drive to reach that goal, and an actual personality that shines through in every page he’s in. He’s also the only character Clementine has any real chemistry with, which isn’t good news for her new love interest. 
Speaking of which, Ricca didn’t reach the potential I felt she should’ve. She has a fine backstory, but the way it was delivered was info-dumpy and not built up well. Her “romantic chemistry” with Clementine is practically non-existent, rushed, and a little awkward. 
The twins, Olivia and Georgia, were bland and annoying.
The baddie of the story is weak as hell. They do something terrible for a reason so overdone that it actually makes my brain mad.
The story is okay for the first half, but takes a steep nose dive in the second half that ruins what little good will it got outta me. Everything mentioned that was from the games felt shoehorned in for fanservice points and not because it contributed to the story. The pacing is all over the place, and the ending is just... annoying. The artwork isn’t Tillie Walden’s best, I know she can do so much better when she’s allowed to play with color and give her work a more dream-like quality, which the story doesn’t.
I originally rated it a 1/5 stars, but after reading it 9 goddamn times, I bumped it up to a 1.5/5 stars mostly for Amos, the few chuckles it got out of me, and one part that I genuinely liked. 
My full detailed review is below. It’s long, gives a recap of the 12-page Clementine Lives comic from Skybound X, addresses the harassment Tillie Walden has gotten over this, and spoils everything within book one. 
so how the hell did we even get here?
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On August 14, 2018, the first episode of Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season was released, a game developed by a team that showed great care and passion for the story they wanted to tell and was meant to give Clementine’s story a satisfying ending. It’s not a game without flaws, both in its storytelling and mechanics. If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you know I have my complaints about each of the games but at the end of the day, I love them, flaws and all. 
On September 21, 2018, we got the news that Telltale Games would be closing its doors. About 90% of their employees were let go with only about 25 remaining to fulfill the important obligations they couldn’t wiggle out of... y’know, like finishing a version of Minecraft Story Mode made for Netflix.... which if you know me, you know how I feel about MCSM and I’m sure you can guess the speed at which my eyes rolled upon reading that. 
With the closure of Telltale Games came hundreds of people suddenly out of a job, the cancellation of several games, and the realization that we wouldn’t get the rest of TFS. Sad times all around, statements were being made by Telltale [ex] employees, not fun in the slightest, you would go to youtube to watch playthroughs of episode 2 when it dropped and every creator was original enough to title their videos “GOODBYE TELLTALE” or “THE END OF CLEMENTINE.” 
But then Robert Kirkman told everyone to chill the hell out, Skybound Entertainment worked out a deal with Telltale, they’re going to finish off TFS through their Skybound Games division, all with the original development team who were working on it. 
The fans rejoiced, the Telltale team got to complete their game the way they wanted, and Skybound were heroes being praised by the fans. TFS was great, my personal favorite of the four main games. 10/10, would play it 100 more times. Clementine finally got the happy ending she deserved.
....But then we got Clementine Lives as a part of the Skybound X collection...and Clementine Book One was announced for summer 2022. 
A lot less happy after that. 
“blah blah die a hero or live long enough to be the baddie or something.” -Scarecrow, probably
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 In hindsight, we should’ve seen this coming. What, Skybound gets all the rights to Clementine and we expected them to respectfully leave the conclusion of her story alone? That’s not how the money is made, babe! 
Clementine is a cow who just wants to be free and eat dewy grass all day in the warm sunlight but that isn’t about to stop Skybound from locking her up in a barn stall before getting on their hands and knees to pull and twist and squeeze every single last drop they can get outta her. Even if she runs outta milk, they can just shoot her and turn her meat into steaks and ribs and tenderloins and anything else you can get out of a cow down to the bones. When they’re desperate enough, they can make some bone broth.... I don’t really know where I’m going with this, we can just pretend I meant this as a metaphor for how they butchered her or something. 
Anyway, anything to continue making money on a franchise that is still fairly popular... I think? Aside from Telltale’s The Walking Dead, I’m not a big fan of the TWD franchise in general, any other content I tried intaking was meh at best. I lost interest in the show after S1. The books about the Governor weren’t all that interesting. I browsed the comics and they couldn’t hold my attention.  
I even played and finished the awful Daryl Dixon prequel game that no one else played. The most interesting thing in that game is if you run for more than 3.5 seconds, sweat blurs and drips down the screen as Daryl shits himself... riveting.
Now we have a Clementine trilogy to throw in there. 
Skybound decided they wanted to branch out into the young adult and middle grade world. Makes sense. Reach out to new fans, get some young blood to flow into crevices left by old fans who are no longer interested, expand your reach as far as possible... all they have to do is tell a compelling story in their well-established world with fleshed out characters while also checking all the boxes to ensure success. Sounds easy, right?  
Enter Skybound X and within it Clementine Lives, a 12-page comic tying together TFS and Clementine Book One.
I have a full in depth look at that comic here, but for a refresher: 
After the events of TFS, Clementine sneaks out of Ericson one morning without telling anyone and we find out that she’s planned her departure for a while. She has maps and supplies hidden away, as well a car stashed somewhere. Before she can get away, though, an older AJ appears wearing Clementine’s hat... Ugh.
He’s rightfully pissed that she would ditch out on everything like this, insists that he’s coming along, and Clementine tells him no. Her explanation for all of this, the reason she’s abandoning AJ and everyone at Ericson, is that she’s not happy... which spoiler alert, is kinda contradicted in chapter 8 of book one??? but we will get into that later. AJ lets Clementine leave and she sets off on her new journey that brings us to the events of book one. 
To say Clementine Lives was poorly received would be a vast understatement. Fans ripped it to shreds, they hated the damn thing, and they were vocal about it. There’s no way in hell Skybound didn’t know how much fans despised Clementine Lives. I mean, people were making long-winded posts/videos about how it was an insult to Clementine’s character and asking everyone to not support the Clementine trilogy, to let Skybound know that this isn’t what they wanted.
Fans hated the portrayal of Clementine and AJ. They felt it had more in common with a fanfic written by someone who didn’t play the games themselves but instead watched a youtube playthrough one [1] time, thought Clementine was cool but didn’t like anyone else and said, “Hey what if Clem ditched everyone and hung out with my OC’s instead??” than it did with the canon of the games.
I mean, who wrote this, right? Did they even play the games? Well...
Tillie Walden and the Curious Case of Clementine’s Character [and other short stories involving obnoxious twdg fans who have nothing better to do with their lives than stalk her instagram account]
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I hadn’t heard of Tillie Walden prior to the announcement that she would be the one writing this Clementine book trilogy.
I’ll admit, I hated the 12-page comic, too. In my review I said, “...Skybound and Tillie made this comic, they put it out there and asked for money for it, therefore I’m allowed to explain why it’s garbage as well as ponder over the questionable intent and whether or not Tillie actually has played these games.”
“This comic is awful. It misses the point of everything TFS, and the rest of the series, stood for. There is no heart here. I feel no happiness in reading it, and I don’t detect any passion behind it. It’s a lifeless comic that retcons everything in order to throw AJ away and start fresh with a new adventure for Clementine that makes no sense because the cow isn’t profitable unless it’s milked.”
That was then and this is now, though. While I still don’t like the comic and feel it’s not in line with Clementine as a character or a good direction for the comic, I do believe Tillie has played the games... the problem is she admitted during the Skybound Games XPO stream that she hadn’t played the games prior to getting the job. Skybound reached out to her and THEN she played through them, and she played through them fast...and I doubt she played them more than once. That’s an issue. 
I’ve read some of her other works- On a Sunbeam, Spinning, A City Inside- and I think they’re good, I think she’s a talented artist. Some of the writing choices/themes are a bit iffy but most times I can overlook that because I genuinely love the art. It’s colorful, surreal, dreamy, creative, the kind of art you look at and feel something, y’know? Oh, and she likes to point out, “very gay.” Even if you hate the Clementine books she’s writing, I still encourage you to give her other works a chance. There’s a lot more life and creativity there. I can see why she was considered, despite Tillie saying herself that she didn’t think she was the “obvious choice” for this project..... which yeah, even she knows.
This one pesky little problem has more to do with Skybound than it does Tillie: creating a continuation of Clementine’s story after TFS is a dumb move... especially when the artist you hired didn’t work on the original games, doesn’t typically write stories in a zombie apocalyptic setting so their art style doesn’t let itself well to this particular project, doesn’t have a good grasp on the main character’s previous establishment, hasn’t played the games more than once or twice, probably has to follow a strict set of rules put in place by Skybound because they’re just like that, is under an extreme time constraint of having to finish a trilogy only three years mostly by herself, and is forced to make shit up about the previous games in order to make this comic’s plot exist.
In my honest opinion, Tillie wasn’t a good match for a Clementine story, and if she was allowed to write something completely original within the TWD universe, then this would’ve been a more compelling story to follow. 
Let me say this about Clementine Book One: If anyone else was the protagonist of this story, it would’ve been better. I would’ve given it a 3.5/5 stars if Clementine was replaced with an original character. 
That’s the problem. 
I know a lot of people put the full blame on Tillie for how bad this whole thing is. She wrote it right? She “ruined” Clementine, it’s all her fault that this beloved character and reputation is “tarnished” and she should just cancel the rest of the series, blah blah blahhh. 
I don’t entirely blame Tillie for this. She was hired to write this story because Skybound knew people would buy anything with Clementine’s name on it, good or bad. They knew Tillie had a fanbase who would buy anything she wrote. They knew that no matter how much fans bitched and moaned about it, Clementine Book One would sell. I believe she should’ve familiarized herself with the source material better, but she’s a professional artist. I believe she tried her best to create a good story for this trilogy but it’s weighed down by the fact that the main character had to be Clementine. 
Which leads me to this bullshit that pisses me off. 
There are plenty of assholes out there who stalk her instagram so they can harass every post she makes [even ones that have nothing to do with Clementine] with “#notmyclementine” and “dis comic make no sense clam wuld never lev aj u sux” as if that’s going to do anything. Not to mention the comments wishing for her to be fired, hoping she loses her entire career over this, calling her a fucking groomer, and other disgusting things that you don’t have to scroll far to find in her instagram comments. 
This is the part where I tell everyone to sit the fuck down and stop. There is no reason to harass Tillie for doing the work she was hired to do. Telling her [and Skybound] that she should be fired, making homophobic remarks, insulting her appearance, wishing harm on her, telling her how much you hate her, calling her a groomer, and harassing fans of hers who want to support her is fucking disgusting. 
Clementine is not real. She is a fictional character in a video game. This comic doesn’t hurt her feelings because she doesn’t exist. Clementine, the video game character, is not a real life person. I don’t give a single shit how important Clementine is to you. You are not defending anyone’s honor or protecting them from harm when you post shit like that. You’re causing the harm over a fictional character. Tillie Walden is a real person.  You can dislike the work while still showing human decency to the creator. You can criticize the work while remaining respectful to the creator. It’s not hard. 
Now that you’ve scolded us for the shitty people on instagram, are you gonna actually review the book or are you gonna keep procrastinating...?
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Hey, don’t call me out on something I’m totally doing.
And yes, we can review the actual book now that I’ve gone over how we got here and hit you over the head with the “don’t harass Tillie over the comic, shithead” bat. 
Yeesh, so impatient. 
The Plot: it’s thickening... like curdled cheese
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First thing’s first, let’s go over the story, the plot, of this thing. Then I’ll go in depth for each of the characters, talk about the “romance,” finish up with my final thoughts, and then talk about Clementine Book Two coming out June October 2023. Cool? Cool. 
Clementine has left Ericson behind and is traveling alone with nothing but a pair of crutches to keep her warm at night. She's discovered by a group of Amish teens after being startled by her own period. Gotta say, I love the attempt to include Clementine having her period tastefully by having one of the other girls be like, “Oh, I just started mine, too,” only for another to be like “Don’t tell her that, ewwwwww!” 
Remember how well ANF handled that? No? Just me? Whatever. 
Anyway, they notice Clementine has a prosthetic leg and offer to take her back to their town to meet Rabby, a dentist who creates prosthetics. This town they take her to is actually neat. They have high walls, guards who have a system of keeping track of everyone who comes and goes, they’re not rude to her during the entrance procedure, there are several buildings with a lot of people walking the streets, they have horses..... oh and Meredith, one of the girls who found Clementine, calls the walkers “devils,” which is fun. 
Clementine gets her new leg before ditching them to go back on the road where she meets Amos, an Amish teen who is out on his Rumspringa [a period when some Amish youth experience greater freedom. The idea is that teens will come back after tasting the modern world] with his horse, Helen, his carriage, and his 16 shirts.
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Amos is heading to a mountain base up north in Vermont to help a group build a “strong homestead” throughout the winter, then when the snow melts, he’ll be rewarded with a plane ride. Clementine thinks that’s bullshit, planes don’t fly around anymore, but Amos insists that he saw the plane in the sky. 
Y’see, a man showed up looking for recruits to help build these houses and then flew his plane over as proof that this was real. Amos really wants to ride in a plane, something he’s not supposed to do, hence why he’s going on this adventure for his Rumspringa. 
Clementine gets a ride from him where they save a group of people who were under attack by walkers. However, one of the guys they saved gropes Clementine and she attacks him. 
It’s difficult to tell that’s what happened due to the sloppy art, though. Initially I interpreted it as Clementine thinking he turned into a walker and attacked, but uh no, he groped her. She stomps on his hand after he challenges her with a, “do it,” and then as she’s hurrying to get away, someone else from inside the carriage says, “What did you do to that girl?!”
I would say I’m surprised but given some of the other stuff in Tillie’s works, I’m not. 
Anyway, Amos leaves the carriage with those people, takes Helen and catches up with Clementine. He wants to travel with her, she calls him ridiculous and “I’m not interested in being a bodyguard anymore.”
It doesn’t take much to convince to her, though- Amos promises to leave Helen with her once he gets there since he knows she’d take care of her. 
And I’m strangely reminded of Clementine’s trauma regarding horses from TFS where dead horses appear in her nightmare due to the one she was riding getting shot at the ranch... no mention of that anywhere, but are we surprised? 
They spend a week traveling together. We get a montage of them that I actually like, and adds to my point that Amos has the most chemistry with Clementine in this book. 
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They make it to the mountain base where a pair of twins are waiting, and they’re suspicious as hell. 
Red flag #1: No names. They refuse to give their names. 
Red flag #2: One twin shoots Helen without even talking to Clementine or Amos, they just assumed they brought the horse for them to eat when nooo, Amos wanted to leave Helen with Clementine when they parted ways.
Red flag #3: They immediately view Clementine as a liability for her leg and tell her they’re not feeding anyone who can’t pull their weight... two people who refuse to give their names are in charge of your food and shelter, huh?
Red flag #4: Clementine says they’re dangerous and refuses to leave Amos alone with them. 
Red flag #5: the mountain they’re on is literally called Killington. My eyes, look at them roll, there they go across the floor...
Hey, do you think these twins might be bad news? Because I dooooo~
But there’s a really sweet hug between Amos and Clementine after she insists she stays with him. You really feel that he’s scared and hurting after Helen’s death and he’s relieved to have her. 
Up the mountain, we’re introduced to Ricca and.... y’know, not even Louis and Violet eye-balled Clementine this fast. I’ll save it for the romance section but uh... yeah. Ricca’s interest is apparent pretty quick... like right after their first conversation and then it goes no where.
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So the twins explain that they need wood for building and the stove, snow melts down for water. Stick to the paths when out because the twins won’t come looking for them [red flag #6], they work from sunrise to sunset but the days are short up in the mountains so they need to move fast. They lose a lot of days to storms, they need to keep track of all their tools and bring them in during those storms or else they’ll never be seen again. Walkers don’t come up here because it’s too cold. 
The twins refuse to answer more questions, and Ricca says she’s been calling the one with the ponytail “Right” and the one with her hair down “Left.” 
Side note: I had a helluva time trying to keep these damn twins straight, you cannot tell them apart for shit especially since they change their goddamn hair styles and have the same goddamn face!
Oh but put a pin in the fact that Amos can tell them apart because “Left has much brighter eyes.”
So they all get to work. Clementine, Amos, and Ricca get pretty close. They go on joyrides with the snowmobile, they spend their nights reading novels together, getting into snowball fights that Clem takes too seriously, hunting, and talking about how sus the twins are. These sections are good, I like them. Especially when they’re reading together- Amos and Clementine read out loud, and when they don’t know a word, Ricca looks it up for them in the dictionary. The three of them are curled up in their sleeping bags, reading by candle light, it’s very sweet. It’s too bad there isn’t more of that in here. 
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While out chopping wood one day, Clementine hears a noise that is supposed to foreshadow walkers being underground, and we find out Ricca is a smoker. 
Oh, and Amos gets sick with a fever. Not fun. 
Now let’s talk about the generator because this is funny. Not good funny, though, so don’t get too excited. 
So they have this portable generator, right? It’s for the other lift that they just fixed, so Clementine and Ricca have to drag it about three miles away from the main base, but can take a shorter way over a bridge the twins built. They take a map, put it on the snowmobile, and Ricca let’s Clementine drive. Smart. 
But uh oh, the bridge is broken! Guess they gotta turn around and go the other- just kidding, they’re gonna tie a rope around the generator and swing it to the other side. I wish I was joking but I’m not, aren’t you laughing???
Ricca fucking falls down with the generator and Clementine jumps down after her. 
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While down in the pit, they’re attacked by walkers. Turns out the twins weren’t entirely truthful about there being no walkers up here. Ricca breaks her glasses, Clem breaks her prosthetic [which we learn she named Kenny UGH] and Ricca dumps her backstory which I’ll get into during her section.
Ricca then climbs back up and promises to come back, we get a flashback of AJ about to cut Clementine’s leg off? for some reason? and then she starts exploring the cave for a way out... only to be overwhelmed by walkers and then saved by this random dude named Tim who comes out of nowhere.
Tim gets bit, or scratched...? I don’t know, you can’t tell what the fuck is going on during the part. He says it’s just a scratch on the cheek but I thought you only turned if you were bit? Or is it a bite and Tim’s trying to downplay it? I don’t fucking know. 
Clementine feels super bad that he’s gonna die because of her. They have a heart to heart, and it’s one of the better parts of this book. Tim talks about how he lost his husband at the start of all this, how he actually used to look after the twins [whose names are revealed to be Olivia and Georgie- correction, her name is GeorgIA, not GeorgIE, but characters just call her one or the other and it gets confusing] and how this whole building houses thing is for their sick mother. Clementine opens up about how she can still feel ghost pains in her leg and how she ended up alone- every group was the same, they fell apart, so she wanted to come up north to live alone. 
“I can’t... I can’t do this. I can’t keep watching people die. That’s why I wanted to be alone.”
Tim gives her some encouragement about building a better world and lets her to go, she does, and then she reunites with Ricca. Yay. 
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Back at the base, Clementine tells the twins what happened and they’re freaked out because Tim’s alive. They interrogate her about him, and Right runs outta there to go find him... Left tries to stop her, and it turns to violence.
With Right gone, Left is super sad, and Ricca is super sad that Clementine didn’t tell her about Tim after they were reunited and then outta nowhere just, “I don’t need a girlfriend or to know all your secrets, just... God, I sound stupid. Just... next time you meet a stranger in a cave, a heads up might be nice.”
Feel that romantic tension? 
Speaking of romantic tension, Left asks Amos to come behind the curtain to her area, and Amos is like “Can I get you something?”..... and then Clementine’s hears a gasp from behind the curtain and Ricca is like “let them have their fun.”
So apparently Amos and Left were fooling around... remember when Amos said Left had brighter eyes? I guess that was foreshadowing all the smoochin’ they were gonna do in the background? I dunno. I’m surprised Amos would be chill with foolin’ around, and Left just got into a fight with her sister which I don’t imagine is a mood setter. 
Right comes back in the middle of the night covered in blood. I believe we’re assuming she found and killed Tim, who was a walker... maybe? She later mentions that Tim told her something sooo did she kill him when he was still alive? Maybe. Who knows? We never find out for sure.
Oh, and Amos was sleeping behind the curtain with Left.... Keep that in mind. 
The next morning Amos fixes up Clementine’s leg, and Clementine asks for the whole story behind him and Left, who he calls Olivia... meaning she told him her real name. But Clementine asks him if he wants to take a walk when night falls because they haven’t gotten to spend much time together, to which Amos tells her, “That would be delightful, Clementine.” 
Can I just- Clementine, why don’t you ever ask to spend alone time with Ricca? That’s a serious question, why? I’m seriously truly to feel something with Clementine and Ricca but all I can say is she has better chemistry with Amos.... Tillie, I don’t understand, you write wlw and you’ve done it well before, why is this so... full of nothing? 
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Anyway, Right is being pissy, and Left tells Clementine that she’s going to leave with Amos once they’re all done here. She wants to go back to his town, but her sister can’t know...... because of course not. I’m sure nothing bad will happen because of this. 
Right comes in even more pissed off because Amos is gone and so is the snowmobile. Turns out he took the generator [which Left fixed after it was broken in the fall] to save this “screwed up camp,” as Clementine puts it. 
And Right goes, “there’s a storm coming in, he’ll never make it... but at least it’ll be one less mouth to feed.”
RED FLAG #8 HELLO??
The storm hits, and Right just stands outside like a brooding, suspicious asshole who refuses to come in. Left then explains that they’re here building houses because of her mother. Her mother grew up in the area and thought this would be the perfect spot to rebuild when the world went to shit. She kept them alive, so the twins feel like they owe her, especially since she’s sick. 
Which.... okay? But also what? Like alright, jumping ahead a bit, we do get to see the mother and the place they’re staying in and it’s huge, AND there are people.... why is it just the twins doing this shit? Tim fucking dipped out last winter so why are the twins here? Do they think building houses will make their sick mother magically better? Spoiler alert, it will not! 
This whole part doesn’t make sense. 
But then RICCA decides to go out looking for Amos, and tells Clementine to stay behind because she doesn’t want to leave Left alone with Right.... 
But then fucking CLEMENTINE goes out by herself to look for both of them, all while thinking about Ricca and Amos and the nights they spent reading together.  
But guess what? You’ll never guess- Amos and Ricca are alive and he did it, Amos got the lift to work! He crashed the snowmobile, but that’s okay! The other lift works now! They rush to bring the twins the good news, everything is happy!
And then Right pushes Amos off a cliff. 
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...............................Yep.
This is where the story takes a nose dive into shit- Amos is killed because Right found out about Left’s plan to leave with him... apparently?? Left is sobbing on the ground, Right fucking stomps on her back and tells her to shut up, and then pulls out her gun on Clementine and Ricca, who run away. 
Are you laughing? because I’m not. 
What was the fucking plan, you moron??? “Oh step one, push Amos to his death in front of everyone. Step two, break my sister’s back. Step three, fucking shoot Clem and Ricca. Step four, ??????” It doesn’t make sense.
Up until this point, I was fine. It wasn’t great by any means, the plot is kinda dumb with them building houses in extreme weather, everything with the generator was dumb..... Right’s always been an asshole, but now she’s decided to be evil. 
The story just killed off its best character out of nowhere. It feels very “we have to kill someone off, and Tim wasn’t enough, we have to kill off a likable character so that the reader is sad.” 
And like... I can’t even say it wasn’t foreshadowed? because right from the start, you know Right is a bitch. You know she’s an asshole, much more so than Left. Then Left starts smooching Amos and asks Clementine not to tell Right? C’mon... even though we get no indication that she knows about Left’s plan to leave with him. Maybe she saw him peeking from behind the curtain where she knows her sister sleeps and figured out they were smoochin’? I don’t know, I really wish things were actually clear in this damn thing. 
So yeah, Right decides murder is a good idea because she won’t let anyone take her sister away... I feel like I’ve seen something similar to this before. 
We get another Lee flashback, and now Ricca and Clementine are crying. Ricca wants to go looking for him, but Clementine tells her there’s no way Amos survived that fall.... even though he probably could have, we never see his body so I dunno if this is Tillie leaving things open for him to come back or if she didn’t want to show his body to all the middle graders reading this but this is TWD... no body? they can always come back. 
Clementine and Ricca decide they can’t just ditch the mountain yet, they have to save Left from Right- oh excuse me, Olivia... they have to save Olivia from Georgia. 
So they sit outside of camp and wait for sundown... but here is where I get even more pissed than I was before: Clementine explains why she left Ericson. 
“I spent so many years trying to find somewhere safe. And I did. This old school. There were good people there. People I loved. But after I lost my leg, everything felt different. No one said it, but I could feel it- they thought I was a liability. But I think the real issue... was that I couldn’t talk to any of them about it. They were all around my age, and I... I just wanted to talk to Lee about it. Someone older, and... I don’t know...”
“Lee?”
“He, um, was with me in the beginning. Took care of me, as long as he could. After leaving the school, I was alone, like I was when he first found me. And I realized... I was waiting for him. For Lee to come find me. And I was so pissed at him for not trying harder, which doesn’t make any sense, he’s dead... When I was on my own, it was nice for a while. I was so focused, my mind got quiet... I got so sad I would just cry for days, and then I’d get scared... about what my future would be like. That maybe this sadness would never go away.”
“Has it?”
“Honestly? No... not really.”
................I just-
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I thought Clementine left because she wasn’t happy? That’s what she told AJ in Clementine Lives, so what? “Well actually, I really left because everyone at Ericson thought I was a liability and I just wanted to talk to Lee again but he’s dead and I’m pissed at him for being dead and not trying hard enough to save me again.” 
This “reveal” is so... bad. It’s bad, I don’t like it one bit because I actually played TFS... more than once. I’ve played it several times, I’ve streamed it about what? Four or five times? Shit, maybe more? I know the story, I know the characters, I know Clementine.
You’re gonna look me in my big dumb face and try to convince me that Louis and Violet looked at Clementine like she was a liability? After everything she did for them? After all they went through? Clementine didn’t feel like she could talk to them about how she was feeling? That they didn’t care enough to reach out to her?
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I don’t believe you. 
I think you’re full of shit. 
I’ll rant about this more in Clementine’s section. We gotta move on because believe it or not, we have even more bullshit to cover. 
ANYWAY.... Georgia has Olivia gagged and tied up so she can’t escape.... I just, what is the plan?? What does she expect to happen??
 Clementine and Ricca trick her into coming outside and-
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Clementine gets her with the hatchet, but Georgia has a gun up her sleeve and shoots Ricca. The gunshots cause an avalanche. The place is covered in snow, Ricca and Olivia are *not* okay, and Georgie is just spouting cheesy villain lines about leaving Clementine’s body on the mountain. 
Oh, and she starts trying to guilt Olivia with the whole “Everything I did was for you! I’ve always protected you! He was going to take you away from me! Tim told me not to let you go!”
...Again, I feel like this is very familiar.... hmmmmm....
“You’ve never loved anyone, Clementine, I can see it. You have no idea... how far I’ll go... what I’ll do...”
No seriously, why do I feel like there was another, much better written twin character behaving like this.....? hmmmmmm....
Anyway, Georgia gets bit by a walker while trapped in the snow, and Clementine FINALLY says something I agree with:
“Out of everyone in this world that your sister could’ve picked... you were so lucky it was Amos.”
Georgia and Olivia say their goodbyes, Ricca calls Clementine “baby,” and they drag her outta there. 
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Now it’s just Clementine, Ricca, and Olivia left. The three of them travel to the lift and get off this damn mountain. They get the bullet outta Ricca when Clementine hears a noise outside. She follows it and finds a one-eyed kitten alone under some junk... because sure. They name the kitten Dr. Barnwell. 
I can’t wait for that kitten to be tragically killed off for dramatic effect later in the series. To be fair to Tillie, she couldn’t possibly write an beloved pet death as bad as Rueben’s in MCSM.
Now the plan is to get back to Olivia’s place, sneak past her mother, and steal the plane. Reasonable, yes? Planes are easy to steal, and easy to fly, too!
Ricca also mentions that Clementine talks in her sleep, but won’t tell her what she says until they’re in the sky. 
They finally make it there, sneak in, Olivia tells her mother she’s sorry before slipping a note under the door, they run around and knock some guards out, and it’s revealed that Olivia’s mother is a walker. 
I think.
The art is too sloppy to fully tell but I think that’s the big reveal. 
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So... did they know that the whole time? This is what they meant when they said she’s sick? or was she sick before and then died during this time so they have no idea? Ugghhh I don’t know.
They find the plane that Olivia just happens to know how to fly thanks to her uncle teaching her, they take off into the sky, and they plan to go back to Vermont so they can fly over and “let’s show Amos the plane one more time.”
Oh, and that note Olivia left? 
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The FUCKING END. 
That’s it, that’s everything that happened in Clementine Book One. I can’t believe I’ve read this time nine times, holy shit-
The Art Style: I have no idea what’s happening
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I struggled with this art style. 
Remember how I said Tillie’s a talented artist? She is, she truly is... when it’s her original works and she’s allowed to play with color and doesn’t haven’t to be gritty to fit the TWD aesthetic. Her original stuff is so clean and you can actually see what’s happening. 
Some examples:
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and I get it, her style won’t be for everyone, and that’s fine. I happen to really like it.... but not when it feels like she’s trying to implement elements of TWD grit while also working in greyscale.  
Tillie’s style doesn’t lend itself well to this story. Maybe it would if there weren’t such restrictions put on her by Skybound because I’m sure they gave her a bunch.... but this ain’t it, chief.
As I talked about before, trying to tell the twins apart in this was a nightmare. Olivia has a ponytail, Georgia doesn’t.... but when this is so messy and at times sloppy I can’t tell shit about the hair. 
There’s also the fact that if you removed Ricca’s glasses, she would look exactly like the twins. Clementine and Amos are the only two of the five who you can always recognize. 
Rabby has a good design, and so does Tim... but they aren’t around enough. The walkers- oh god, the walkers- look like blobs most of the time. 
And don’t even get my started on Clementine’s face. 
I can’t with Clementine’s face. 
Clementine: there’s a reason fans are calling her “Tangerine”
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This section of the review is the most overwhelming for me because where do I even begin? 
There is never a point in this book where I feel like this is the Clementine I remember from the games. And y’know, I always like to remind everyone who plays the games that no Clementine is the same. We all play the games our way, she shape our Clementine through the choices we make, we have different interpretations of her personality, relationships, how she rationalizes her decisions. My Clementine is different than yours, that’s the fun of these games. 
When you take a character who has thousands of different interpretations, who can follow several different paths, and try to make her into a condensed version for a graphic novel while also trying to stay true to her character and not invalidate any choices.... it’s not going to work. It’s just not. 
So how does Tillie Walden interpret Clementine for this first installment? Who is Clementine here?
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She’s dull. Awkward. Angsty. Feels more in line with ANF Clementine than TFS Clementine but toned down. She has a few moments where she teases Amos and Ricca and that’s cute, that’s some personality I want to see... but then she starts on about how talking is hard or makes a rude comment so... that’s cool. 
She feels dumbed down when it comes to first aid solely because the book needs a way to inform the reader of proper amputation care... even though we never see Clementine washing her leg after that.
She’s pessimistic, grumpy, and again, only really shows a soft spot for Amos... which is not good news for Ricca, her actual love interest. Even when she opens up to Ricca after Amos’ death, it doesn’t feel... earned? warm? It doesn’t feel tender, or comforting.... ugh, I’ll talk more in the romance portion.
Clementine does get emotional after Amos’ death, she cries and explains why she left Ericson and I’m still shaking my head at the fact that this book is trying to sell this to me. 
This would be an emotional moment if it were coming from anyone BUT CLEMENTINE.... I played TFS and this doesn’t add up. 
Clementine wasn’t happy at the end of TFS, everyone around her looked at her like she was a liability, so she left. She left AJ. 
Except no? What are you talking about? 
Oh, and by the way? She never mentions AJ to anyone. Not by name, not in passing, nothing. AJ get a single panel flashing back to when he cut her leg off. That’s it. 
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Also look at the way he’s drawn. Someone who never played the games would probably think AJ was a baddie who cut off her leg but you and I both know how fucking raw and painful it was for AJ to beg her to get up and come with him. That one lousy image holds nothing from the original.
AJ might as well not exist. If you took that panel out, nothing would change. Honestly? I almost get a bit of bitterness from it. She goes on and on about how she realized she was going to live while everyone around her kept dying, she would spend some days just crying and crying.... it’s not great. 
Clementine feels... immature? And yeah, she’s seventeen in this and seventeen-year-olds aren’t the pinnacle of maturity. I feel like Tillie was trying to present her as mature for her age given her life experience in the apocalypse, but it comes off as emo teenager who thinks they’re mature because they write faux deep poetry on tumblr and wear combat boots. 
This isn’t like Clementine in TFS where you do feel she’s mature. She has to be, she has a child she’s raising and protecting. She has to be strong and smart for him. She has to be the adult in their relationship... but she has those moments of vulnerability to remind you that she’s not an adult, she’s a teenager who was forced to grow up too fast and it hurts. 
In ep4 of TFS, when they’re in the caves after getting separated from the group, she and AJ get into an argument. She tells him that he’s just a child, and he throws it right back at her- “So are you.” and you can see it on her face... y’know? 
You want her to be happy, you want to give back the childhood that was taken from her at the start of the apocalypse, you want her to overcome every obstacle thrown her way.  You understand her feelings about Lee, why he meant so much to her and why she struggled to let him go even after accepting that he was dead. 
You remember that she is a teenager who makes mistakes, she doesn’t know everything, she fucks up. She’s doing everything she can to protect those she loves. You feel that she wouldn’t hesitate to give her life for the little boy she raised. She still has a lot of growing to do but you don’t doubt that she’s gonna do it. 
This Clementine? She has none of that. This Clementine doesn’t feel like the kind of person who could raise and protect a child, who would give her life to ensure that child was safe. You don’t get the vibe of a teen who had to grow up too fast in order to survive, someone who is clever in their survival tactics. This Clementine doesn’t know basic first aid. She was mad that Lee didn’t save her despite being dead. This is a Clementine that I can’t imagine breaking onto a boat full of kidnappers to get her friends back... and it’s not the amputation. 
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TFS Clementine, amputation or not, she would’ve charged that damn boat herself if it meant saving those she loved. Comic Clementine couldn’t even be bothered to check and make sure Amos really was dead, it’s just easier to assume there was no way he survived... but then she turns around and insists they go back for Olivia, a character she has no real connection with. It doesn’t make sense. 
It’s just.... not her. I’m sorry, Tillie, but this characterization is okay at best, insulting at worst. 
Amos: I’m signing the adoption papers as we speak, he’s my son now
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Amos is the best character in this book, and I’ve yet to find anyone who would disagree with that. Every review I’ve read/watched boils down to “this comic was bad but I liked Amos.”
Let’s be real- he was only made so likable so that we’d all be forced to feel something when he died. 
Before I get more into his character, I wanna nip something in the butt that I keep seeing even after this book’s release- Amos isn’t just white Louis. Amos isn’t a “hey can I copy your homework” of Louis’ character. The most they have in common is freckles and being the friendliest person in the group. 
A key difference being Louis uses cheerfulness as a shield to keep people at a safe distance from him where Amos is just genuinely cheerful in a very naïve and selfless way. 
Or uhh, @pi-creates​ put it much better when we were talking about it-
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So no, Amos isn’t just a rehash of Louis, you can stop calling him the white Louis of the comic now, you’re only making it clear that you know nothing about Louis as a character when you do that. As much as I like Amos, he isn’t anywhere near as nuanced and layered as Louis is soooo stop. 
 Anyway, Amos! My dude! The only character I liked! The only character with an interesting personality, motivation, and a set goal he worked his ass off for.... only to fucking die.
Of all the characters to die in this damn thing, it would be Amos, wouldn’t it? Ugh. 
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Amos grew up in an Amish community his entire life. When a man, presumably Tim, showed up to recruit workers to help build houses, Amos got to see the promised plane fly over his head and he describes it as the best day of his life. 
So, he worked to convince the council to allow him to go on his Rumspringa, they agreed, and here he is on the road. He fights with an axe, he owns 16 shirts, love his horse, and wears a fun hat. Overall positive, glass half full kinda guy. 
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He wants to help people. It’s mentioned by the townspeople that he brings survivors there often, he saves that group of people while he and Clementine are on the road and even goes as far as to leave his carriage with them to go after Clementine and stay with her. 
 Amos trusts Clementine enough to leave Helen with her even though they’ve only known each other for only a week, but through the “montage” page you really get a vibe for how well they work together. I wish it wasn’t just a spread of moments but instead gave actual depth to their journey through dialogue, y’know? 
He finds Clementine funny [good for him, I wish I did, as well] and likes being around her. Also they share some looks that I feel should’ve been reserved for the love interest.... sooooo what the hell. 
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When they meet the twins, Amos is quick to be like, “well actually no-” when they start talking about her being a liability for having only one leg, which was sweet. 
I felt so bad for him when Olivia just fucking shot his horse, too... he’s so upset and Clementine’s trying to calm him down, really sucks. 
Oh speaking of Olivia.... their “romance” makes no sense? There wasn’t any build up to it, the only hint we got that he maybe liked her was the comment about her having brighter eyes than Georgia, and her sticking with him when he was sick... but then she asks him to come behind the curtain with her, there’s a gasp, and I assume they were doin’ kissing stuff. Like... why? Why even bother? Unless you needed an excuse for Georgia to murder him? You couldn’t think of a better way to kill him off? So dumb.
He’s not all that complex or anything, just an all around good dude. His biggest flaws are his naivety and being too trusting of the wrong people [Georgia]. I mean.... he just wanted to fly in a plane. He wanted to help people, work hard, and fly in a plane. It’s hard to dislike him for that. 
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When Amos died, it was the first time while reading this that I felt something other than “eh this is fine.” I’m still annoyed, pissed even. His death ruined a lot. It marked the start of a steep decline toward the ending. So much bullshit, and for what, y’know? 
In conclusion- Amos makes up an entire star of my rating, the only one worth reading this book for, and he’s supposedly dead now so that doesn’t bode well for Book Two. The only way I’ll forgive Tillie is if Amos comes back as a twist villain, angry that they didn’t even try to go after him. 
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Ricca: wearing glasses doesn’t qualify as an entire personality, baby
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Oh good, I get to talk about Glasses now.... 
Ricca is... fine. She’s not terrible, but not great. I feel like she had the foundation to be a cool character, but a lot about her falls flat. Her best moments are when she’s with both Clementine and Amos, but things become a little more awkward when it’s just her and Clementine.
She’s a smoker, she’s Jewish, she owns 36 pairs of glasses, has a drier sense of humor that works well with Amos, those two have a couple cute moments in this... uhhh let’s see, she threw a snowball at Clementine once, who overreacted and attacked her which prompted Amos to get between them and Ricca was like “whaaa don’t stop, I was just having fun,” so y’know.... flirting, I guess. 
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She does come off as a bit whiney sometimes, which gets grating... especially when she gets butthurt at Clementine for stuff and then tries to act like “but whatever” about it. 
The reason she’s here is to learn how to build houses. That’s why she agreed to work out there, she wants to have the skills to start over, to rebuild what has decayed. 
But her big backstory reveal has to do with why she owns 36 pairs of glasses-
At the start of the outbreak, Ricca was with her brother. He looked out for her at first, but as time went on, he started using her as a “canary in a coal mine.” Basically whenever there was any potential danger ahead of them or if he got bored, he’d push her in to things like camps, caves, herds. She was just a little kid, and there was no where else for her to go... but then she got older, and when he sensed that she was going to leave him, he broke her glasses. 
Ricca had no way of surviving without him after that. She had no choice but to fight mostly blind and deal with her brother. It got to the point where she started wishing for death.... until she was out looking for food one day in a dark building and felt an entire wall of glasses-
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-but I’m gonna ignore that for right now. She tried on every single pair, found one that worked, and then ditched him. She has no idea if he’s still alive or not. Wonder if he’ll come back as a surprise villain, who knows. 
Sooo... glasses are a big part of her character, which is fine. I like seeing characters with glasses, personally. There’s also an uncomfortable feeling seeing her talk about her brother and describing how she felt when she got to see clearly again only for the world to be so disgusting that she was sick for weeks. 
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Unfortunately that’s about as deep as her character goes and I wanted more. 
She does want to go after Amos after he dies, which I appreciate, but Clementine tells her no. She gets shot, so that sucks for her. 
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For being Clementine’s new love interest, and the fact that this is Tillie Walden’s work we’re reading, I expected her to be waaaaay more compelling but she didn’t hit to mark.
But to be fair, she’s going to be in Book Two so I’m assuming that with Amos dead until he comes back as a twist villain we’ll get to focus on her some more and her personality will shine a bit. 
Olivia: the left twin
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Olivia is bland. 
A block of raw tofu has more meat than Olivia does. 
I have read this fucking book NINE times now, and the only thing I can tell you about Olivia is that she’s the “nice” twin, she did some smoochin’ with Amos in the background, and she’s super sad that her sister’s an asshole. 
Oh and she shot Helen without asking if they brought the horse for food or not, and then is like “oop sorry, I didn’t know, but it’s cool, I get it, my sister ate our hamster when this started.” 
If I was Amos, I’d tell her to the hell away from me, you shot my beloved pet! and I certainly wouldn’t let her be smoochin’ on me!
Anyway, she knows how to fly a plane, which upon looking back through the book, it turns out it was her uncle that taught her... so that’s cool. She’s the one who named the kitten, she... gets sad a lot? 
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I’m sorry, but Olivia is so forgettable and it sucks. I want to be invested in these twins because they clearly have a troubled relationship, and Georgia steps all over her [sometimes physically] and it could’ve been interesting to see her deal with the conflict of staying vs leaving her sister..... kinda like the dilemma Ricca had with her brother..... were those supposed to be connected somehow....? parallels...? hhhnnnnngggggggg thinking too much into it-
ANYWAY... I honestly don’t have much to say about her. Maybe Book two will give her more characterization, but at this point the pothole in my driveway has more depth than she does so... lame.
Georgia: the right “evil” twin
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Ugh.
Alright, no more beating around the bush, Georgia is a watered down version of Minerva... but where Minerva is a great, tragic character with good writing... Georgia sucks.
AND she killed off the best character in the book so she sucks extra hard!  Oh my god, she fucking sucks.
Like okay, the twins are here to build a community for their sick mother because the mom thinks this would be the perfect spot so they’re gonna build some goddamn houses in the middle of winter for her with the help of strangers... if that sounds like a dumb reason to you, then you’re right, it IS dumb but here we are. I don’t know what Georgia’s deal is, but she’s an asshole. That’s her entire character: ASSHOLE.
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Right off the bat from meeting her and Olivia, you can tell she’s the baddie. You can tell where this is going, she’s going to be the one who turns on the group, maybe she’ll convince Olivia to her side and then she’s gonna try to murder everyone on this mountain called Killington.
She’s the one who tells Clementine that she won’t feed anyone who can’t pull their weight, immediately assuming Clementine can’t do shit because of her leg. She never smiles, never cracks a joke, is never kind to anyone, and apparently she’s super possessive and controlling of her sister. 
Also, she’s a goddamn moron because what did she think would happen when she killed Amos?? that Olivia would just be like “oh okay sorry” after you murdered her boyfriend and then gagged and tied her up while waiting for Clementine and Ricca to come for her so that you could also shoot them??
Y’know, when Minerva confronted the group on the bridge in order to kill Tenn, it made sense- she was bitten, dying, and had pretty much lost her goddamn mind after a year of trauma and brainwashing, being forced to kill her sister, and then losing her new “family” after Clementine blew up the boat. She was furious, out of control, bitten, covered in guts and completely out of her goddamn mind. There was no saving her from the start, and she had nothing left to lose.
Georgia’s just an asshole who doesn’t give us any real indication that she’s dangerous. She’s all talk and glares... then she comes back covered in blood after finding Tim soooo are we to assume that’s when she lost it? When she was like “I think killing Amos will make everything better,” or was it a sporadic, in the moment decision? 
In fact, why wasn’t she the one to shoot Helen then?? Why did you have Olivia, who is supposed to be a thing with Amos later, when you could’ve really established Georgia as the real threat when she shoots the horse and is like, “too bad, so sad” and then have Olivia come in and calm the situation? 
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Establish that she’s possessive of Olivia early on, not when she’s two seconds from death and spouting, “He was gonna take you away from me! I had to kill him! I did it all for you!” nonsense...
There’s just so many little things that could’ve been tweaked or added to make her a better antagonist, but no, we’re left with nothing with irritation. 
God, Joan from ANF was a more layered villain than this and she was boring as hell.... ugh. 
Tim: where did he come from?? where did he go?? where did he come from, Cotton-Eye Joe???
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Tim’s pretty chill, but a waste of a character. 
He comes outta nowhere to save Clementine and gets bit in the process, but he’s fine with it because it was bound to happen sooner or later, and at least he saved Clementine.
There isn’t too much to say about Tim that I haven’t already said. The scene with him was pretty good, but he’s not around enough to feel like an actual character. He’s just here to make sure Clementine feels bad that she got yet another person bit and to give some info on the twins. 
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But he’s dead now so... cool. 
The “Romance”: if you squint hard enough, you might see it? 
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I don’t understand why the marketing around this book put such an emphasis on the romance aspect. Remember when the trailer dropped and we got a look at Ricca and it was like “ooohhh new love~”
What love? There is no love, there’s no chemistry, there’s no soft sad uwu wlw love story here! What the hell?? Just gonna lie to me like that, huh?? 
Okay look... I went into this with an open mind about Ricca. Truly, I did. You know me, you know I’m a never gonna change my mind that clouis is the best, but I took both clouis and violentine and set them aside. I put them out of mind and let myself go into this wanting to ship Clementine and Ricca. I was ready for the sad girlfriends trying to survive this bullshit together with their token straight buddy. 
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And then I came outta this wondering why Amos wasn’t the love interest? I mean, I know the answer to that so a better question: Tillie, why not just make Amos a girl and have Clementine fall for her instead? The foundation was set, there’s a lot of interesting things you could’ve done with that given Amos being Amish and all. They had a solid thing going on and the only reason I knew they weren’t going to end up together was because it was written by Tillie Walden, a queer woman who writes wlw. 
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So I’m baffled at everything lacking between Clementine and Ricca! I mean, Tillie could be saving the meat of the romance for the next installments which fine, if that’s the case then I will happily keep an open mind and see if this relationship improves since right now? This ain’t it, chief. 
Lemme give you an example of something that could’ve been sweet, m’kay? After they have the generator fixed, Clementine asks Ricca why she always leans in so close to her. 
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Ricca begins to explain that everything has started getting blurry... meaning her eyesight is getting worse and all these glasses she owns may not work for long. A scary thought, especially when you factor in her backstory with her brother. 
This feels like a set up for soft moment, something I wanted to see more of... only for it to be rudely interrupted by Amos being murdered. 
Like.... C’moooooon maaaaan...
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UGH
There’s no warm fuzzy feelings here, and the only time I went, “they could be cute if it could get me invested” was the ending where Ricca is clinging to Clementine as Olivia boots up the plane and starts flying.... but even then, that moment is cut short because Clementine has to be all, “let’s show Amos the plane one more time.” 
They don’t kiss here, either. There isn’t a first kiss moment, there isn’t a confession scene, there isn’t even an admission of feelings on either side. Ricca calls her “baby” and now I guess they’re something? 
“Clementine, baby, don’t let me die here~”
Ugh. Do you know what I think of when I hear the words “Clementine” and “baby” in the same sentence? I think of the voicemail Clementine’s mother left in ep1 of S1: “Clementine, baby, if you can hear this, call the police... it’s 9-1-1... and we love you... we love you...” 
So excuse me if I don’t have a great response to that. 
Anyway, maybe it’ll improve with the next book which shouldn’t be too hard given all the nothing this book gave. 
The Lee Flashbacks/Nightmares: hey, remember season one? remember Lee? remember when Lee died and Clem was sad? do you remember??
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Uuuuggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......
To their credit, these flashbacks are pretty loyal to the games as far as dialogue and setting, but the main point of them is for fans of the games to read this and be like “ohhh I remember Lee, he sparks joy!” and for new readers to have a face to a name when Clementine talks about him to Ricca. 
But they don’t do much to improve the story. The only time I appreciated how one tied into the story was when Clementine watched Amos fall. We see her and Lee on the train, and we get this dialogue:
“Ask me anything, Clementine.”
“Will the pain ever stop?”
because yeah... watching Amos die was pretty damn painful, ties in well. 
But other than that? Meh... which is crazy to say about LEE but that’s the comic for ya. 
Final Thoughts: I can’t believe I read this 9 times
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What’s that thing called when you keep repeating a thing hoping it’ll be different but never is? Madness? Is that what I’m feeling right now? 
9 times, good god....
It wasn’t worth reading that many times and yet, here I am, a mad lass dissecting a comic I don’t like that remains unfaithful to a character I love. I watched and read so many interviews with Tillie, I kept tabs on reddit threads about this book, I pestered my discord buddies about it... can’t wait to do this two more times... 
In the end, this book isn’t good. I like a couple things, but the good doesn’t outweigh the bad. It’s definitely not canon with the games, no matter how hard Skybound whines that it is. 
I can’t recommend it to any of you. If you’re gonna read it, you can find the whole thing for free on youtube. If you wanna support Tillie Walden without supporting this series, check out her other works. I’d recommend On a Sunbeam or Spinning. 
btw did y’all hear they released the description of Book Two?
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“Clementine and her new friends are rescued by an island community led by an enigmatic doctor called Miss Morro, but just as Clementine's scars are finally beginning to heal, she discovers dark secrets that threaten to tear her new life apart. Can Miss Morro be trusted? What about the rest of the islanders? And just how far will Clementine go to protect the ones she loves? Tilllie Walden's acclaimed trilogy continues! ”
I dunno how I’m gonna survive Book Two if I don’t even have Amos to look forward to..... guess Tillie’s just gonna have to make me like Ricca, huh? 
I also need to keep in mind that this IS a trilogy, so questions I have now and am annoyed about may get answered in the next book, Olivia might go from being stale white bread to a wonderful slick of cinnamon and raisin bread, and the romance may start existing... won’t know until June. 
No wait, excuse me, October... they’ve already pushed the release date later for the next one soooo that’s interesting. 
This is the part where I ask what you thought. What are your thoughts on Clementine Book One? I’m curious to know. Send an ask or leave a comment on this review. I know this was long but hey, thanks for sticking around to the end, it’s appreciated. 
Thanks for reading!  💚
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unhappycylinder · 1 year
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Gonna Be Trouble (Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x F!Reader) Part 1
Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x Female Reader
Word Count: 3049
Warnings: none really, just some anxiety about school ig (reader is in college), flirty hangman, awkward reader, fluff and flirting to a concerningly self-indulgent point
Summary: Y/n goes back to her hometown airshow to escape the stress of school for a weekend and reconnect with her childhood passion. Hangman just happens to be a demo pilot at this same air show and falls for y/n instantly. Part 1 of idk how many but this will be ongoing and will move beyond the airshow pretty quickly. Strangers to lovers arc. Hangman is a sucker for a smart woman what can I say...
Part 2 Part 3
The sun was just setting under the desert horizon and you still had an hour and a half before you were back in Las Vegas. You had moved away to go to college three years ago and were looking for literally any excuse to escape the hell-hole that was university and reconnect with yourself. Years of books, essays, exams, and frat parties had taken their toll on you and your health (and your liver but we don’t have to unpack that yet because you literally turned 21 a month ago). 
Anyway…even though planes weren’t your main thing anymore, you still loved them. Everyone has a soft spot for their childhood obsession. Most kids loved dinosaurs or the Titanic or horses, but not you, no…the American military’s aviation department really tickled your fancy when you were in elementary school. You even wanted to be a pilot for a while, contemplated joining the Navy and everything, but your family’s academic goals put a stop to that pretty quickly.
There was a quaint hotel within a few miles of base that you opted for instead, deciding to take the shuttle to and from the air show each day.
As your music played quietly over the car radio you finally got some time alone with your thoughts. Time to unpack all the crazy shit that had happened to you since college started, and time to think about what was next for you after you graduated next year. You decided that you were going to focus on yourself this weekend and nobody else. You’d silence your phone, try not to take pictures and post much on Instagram, and for the love of God you’d leave your barren dating apps alone cause lord knows nothing was gonna happen there. 
“Love Me Tonight” came on the radio and you turned up the volume, swaying to one of your favorite songs as you passed the final mountain and saw Las Vegas in the distance, sighing in relief that your 15 hour day had finally come to an end.
–The Next Morning–
You only heard two gunshots outside your hotel last night, which to be fair was pretty chill for a night in Vegas, and the sunrise indicated that it was time for you to start getting ready for your day on base. You wanted to beat the crowd so you could have time to check out all the static displays before trying to find a seat in front of the runway.
Throwing on an outfit of leggings and a tight black long-sleeve with a denim bomber jacket on top, you finished getting ready before leaving your hotel room.
Hopping on the shuttle, you realized the only open seat was next to a man in his 70s wearing a Vietnam War Veteran ball cap who was blankly staring out the window with a slight frown on his face.
“Excuse me sir,” you said, “can I sit here?”
He perked up almost instantly and shuffled lightly towards the window, patting the seat gently and smiling up at you.
“Of course honey, it’d be a pleasure”
“Are you here with your family, or is it just you today?” You asked, leaning in to make sure he heard you
“Just me I’m afraid. My grandkids all live out of state and well my wife passed not too long ago. It’s just me now, and I haven’t missed one of these shows in years” he nodded
You smiled at him and nodded, “Me too. I used to come every year as a kid and this is my first time back since starting college”
“Oh how wonderful! What do you study?”
You and the old man chatted for what felt like half an hour but was really only the 10 minute ride to base. His name was Hank and he served two tours of Vietnam when he was 19. He met his wife, Marlee, a couple months after the war at an air show in California where he was promoting a veterans organization and they were married for forty-five years. He asked you about college, family, your interest in planes, and complimented you any chance he got. When the bus parked he struggled to get up, pulling out a cane from in between the seats and trying his best to wiggle his way out of the bus until you grabbed ahold of his other arm and helped him off the vehicle and through the air show gates.
“You know y/n you remind me an awful lot of my wife when I first met her. She looked just like you…” he paused, studying your face, “did her hair the same way, talked the same way you do”
“Aw thank you Hank that’s really kind,” you brought your hand to your chest and smiled at him, he beamed back.
“You know I hope you get to experience a life like me and my Marlee did, I just know it’ll happen for you”
You thanked him again and smiled, it was a sweet thing for him to say and you didn’t have the heart to tell him your only romantic endeavors thus far had been one-night-stands off of bumble. He smiled once again and shook your hand, hobbling off with his cane towards a C-5 parked right in front of the gate.
“And y/n,” he said while walking away, “enjoy the air show”
A-10s, F-15s, F-16s, F-35s, a B-1, and so many more aircraft that defined your childhood lined the runway along with the frequent hot dog and pretzel vendors. You wandered past each plane, circling them to check out their engines and empennages, taking special note of all the specs and features you used to obsess over as a kid. 
“Any questions over here ma’am?” a tall brunette in camo and aviators asked you from beneath the wing of the A-10.
“Oh god, I don’t think so. This was my favorite plane as a kid and I’m just kinda reminiscing about it now,” you responded, squinting from the sun which was over the plane right now
“She’s my favorite too, I mean I’d hope she was cause I fly her, but y’a know”
“What’s it like to fly ‘em?”
“Magnificent ma’am, truly indescribable,” he said while walking closer to you
“I’ll ask you a question about them then if they were your favorite as a kid, how’s that sound ma’am?” He asked, you laughed
“Jeez okay go ahead, hit me with it”
“Alright, how many pounds-” he was cut off by a little kid running up and playing with the ‘remove before flight’ tags on the aircraft
“Excuse me miss” he said in a hurry as he ran to the child and politely but sternly asked him to stop fiddling with the aircraft. You chuckled and shook your head as you walked quickly behind the plane.
It was then that your eye was caught by the most magnificent thing you had ever seen in your entire life. You must have skipped over this part in the brochure online, because nothing would have enticed you more than the U.S. Navy’s very own F/A-18 Super Hornet. If the A-10 was your favorite plane as a kid, the F/A-18 might as well have been the reason you considered a career in the military or pursued anything aviation related at all. This plane was your absolute dream, and you had zero clue one was going to be here.
Completely forgetting your trivia game with the A-10 pilot, you practically ran over to the jet, shedding your jacket in the process. It was still early in the day and this bird was the last display on the lot, so nobody else was in sight. You dropped your jacket to the ground as you approached the jet, scanning every single inch of it, especially the name painted on the side below the cockpit:
Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin 
Your eyes were wide as you walked the length of the wing, hovering your hand over the grey metal, being afraid to touch it and damage it. As you got behind the wing however you noticed the beautiful dark blue Navy logo and simply couldn’t resist reaching out to trace your fingers along the gold ribboning which encircled the logo. Just as you made contact with the jet a voice erupted from behind you, making you jump.
“Scuse me ma’am,” it was said in the most delectable Southern drawl you’d ever heard
“Jesus Christ!” You yelled, turning around and immediately shrinking into yourself.
Standing before you was God’s very own favorite creation…literally the most beautiful man you had ever seen. He was in a dark green flight suit and aviators with his dark blonde hair slicked back from a side part. He twirled a toothpick in his mouth, which was twitched into a seductive smile as he peered down at you.
“Sorry,” you struggled to get out, turning red in the face, “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking,” you turned back towards the wing and started walking to pick up your jacket from the nasty ground. A strong hand grabbed a hold of your upper arm before you could take more than a step.
“Darlin’ it's okay, sorry I startled you, didn’t realize you didn’t see me coming up behind you”
He pulled you back in front of him and kept his hand gently on your shoulder, you almost combusted from his touch.
“I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to yell, or to touch the jet, I seriously don’t know what got into me. I mean I just watched a kid get yelled at for doing basically the same thing and now here I am, a grown woman, doing the same exact thing, feeling up the aircraft.” You rambled and he just smiled, letting out a little chuckle here and there, “I don’t mean feeling it up, not like that. Sorry. I mean touching it. I shouldn’t touch government property, that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen…”
“I’m gonna cut you off now darlin’,” he interjected while rubbing your shoulder, “no need to apologize for feeling up my jet, I get it, I feel her up all the time” he winced at his comment.
“...your jet. You’re the pilot?”
“I’d hope so, last I checked that was my name up there on her cockpit��
You both glanced up to the name then down to his name patch on his suit…they did indeed match.
“Lieutenant Jake Seresin ma’am, callsign Hangman,” he removed his hand from your shoulder and held it out for you to shake it
“Y/n Y/l/n” you responded, placing your smaller hand in his and giving it a firm shake. He glanced down at your hands as you shook them.
“You got a strong handshake there miss y/l/n, you sure you’re not in the military?”
You chuckled, “no sir, thought about it, but no. I guess I just have big hands?”
You held your hands up in front of you and wiggled your fingers, making Jake laugh. 
“C’mere,” Jake said as he stepped towards the jet where you had been looking earlier, motioning for you to follow.
“She’s an F/A-18E Super Hornet, but we like to call them-”
“The Rhino,” you cut him off, looking up at him with wide eyes
“So you’re a plane nerd, huh?” Jake asked, leaning against the fuselage of his jet
“Sorry. I used to be. These were my dream plane, I always wanted to fly them”
“You can touch it,” Jake smiled at you, you were still standing a good 2 feet from the jet, afraid to get any closer.
“No really it's okay, I don’t need to-”
“Come here,” Jake grabbed your right hand and pulled you towards him as he rested against the plane. You two stood there face to face for a second, inches from each other, hands interlocked, before Jake stood behind you and lifted your hands to touch the Navy logo together. His large calloused hand rested on top of yours as he guided your hands in a circle around the logo, his chest bumping into your back when you had to reach a little farther to touch the top of it.
“It’s a beautiful jet lieutenant” you said as you touched the plane, you felt his breath hitch when you said that last word. You looked over your shoulder to face him, his face inches from yours, his eyes more visible now through his sunglasses.
“You sticking around for the whole day?” He asked, removing his hand from yours and resting it against the jet so you were between him and the jet, enclosed by his arm.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m here both days all day” you said, looking up at him, blushing beyond belief. How you were functioning right now was beyond you.
“Good. I’m gonna be taking her up in a few hours and I’d love for you to watch me. Maybe after I land we could go out for a drink,” he smirked, twirling the toothpick with his tongue to the other side of his mouth. God this man was doing unspeakable things to you.
“Are you asking me on a date?” You said with absolute disbelief, chuckling as if it was a joke. No part of you could believe that an actual in-person man was asking you out for the first time, and it was even more unfathomable that that man was the sexiest fighter pilot in the entire U.S. Navy.
“I suppose I am miss y/l/n, if you’d have me,” he said, his confidence wavering the slightest bit after your response.
“I can’t believe it. There’s no way! Look at you!” You gestured up and down to him
“Look at me? Darlin’ you must not have a mirror cause all I’m seeing in front of me is pure beauty. You’re gorgeous sweetheart, and damn smart too” Jake brought his hand off the plane to fix a stray hair that had stuck to your lip gloss, tucking it behind your ear.
“I-” you began but you couldn’t seem to form the words, “Yeah, yes. You’re perfect. Drinks after you fly, I’ll be there.” That was apparently the most coherent thing you could come up with.
Jake smiled a million dollar smile and took his sunglasses off his face, resting them on the zipper of his suit. His eyes were a gorgeous light green and they creased at the sides when he smiled, making you absolutely melt. He bent down until his mouth was right next to your ear, his warm breath sending chills down your neck.
“I’m looking forward to it Y/n,” he practically growled, “meet me back here after the demo,” he planted a soft kiss on your cheekbone as he pulled his head back, winking at you once you finally got the courage to make eye contact with him.
All you could do was smile and nod as Jake walked away and returned with your jacket,
“Don’t want you forgetting this darlin’, gotta stay warm, don’t want you catching a cold before our date,” he beamed.
You smiled up at him as you took your jacket, intentionally running your hand down his as you took the fabric, making his eyes widen and stare deeper into yours.
“You’re gonna be trouble for me, I can already tell,” he smirked and spun on his heels, walking over to a family approaching the nose of the aircraft. You stood behind the wing clasping your jacket in front of you, too shocked to move or think.
“What the actual fuck,” you whispered as you shook your head and started walking towards the stratotanker to the left of the jet. You fixed your hair as you walked, fiddling with the strands to alleviate your anxiety about whatever just occurred. Jake focused on the way your ass moved under those leggings as you walked away from his jet, completely ignoring the kid in front of him asking him a gazillion questions about his plane. He was right, you were definitely going to be trouble for him.
----
This is just part 1!! Let me know what y’all think. This is my first time posting a fic to tumblr so pls drop suggestions below!! Part 2 coming soon
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carsonnieve · 10 months
Text
masterpost of my fics on ao3
Just doing this because I want to have something pinned on my page here but well, a reminder of my old fics from different fandoms because kudos and comments are appreciated as well so it motivates me to keep on writing. Hopefully there's new ones updated soon as long as my inspiration kicks in.
Currenly working on two mevie fics so let's see how that goes!
username: carsonnieve
Let's start with the ones that are completed and I'm really proud of.
it's always about fate pairing: beca and chloe (pitch perfect) rating: T
Summary: Chloe sighed and walked in the coffee shop with the phone in her hands. She didn’t want to have this conversation today and yet there she was, talking about it when she just wanted a coffee and have a relaxing afternoon writing down new ideas for her stories and not pining over her online friend. Then the moment she looked up she saw someone she really wanted to see too and the reason why her heart was so divided and yet confusing. Beca.
2. unsay these spoken words pairing: regina mills and emma swan (once upon a time) rating: T
Summary: Because maybe, after all, she could take the pain and continue with her life. But maybe she thought she could, when actually her heart was already broken and the scattered pieces all over her chest were not enough to make her realize that she was alone, and hurt. She had hope... until she saw the ring on her finger.
3. fool for you pairing: harry hook x evie grimhilde (descendants) rating: T
Summary: Her smile forever gone after the images came back to her mind, sending chills all over her body and a strange feeling going slowly up her spine. And in that instant, she closed her eyes. Right when it hit her. Right when Harry stood up and placed a hand on her arm. “It reminds ye o’ that night, eh?"
4. let me pairing: mal and evie (descendants) rating: T
Summary: "Mal?" "I'm fine. Let's change and go dance, okay?" The girl tried to slip away from her arms but Evie kept holding her because she knew something was off. And it was right there, in that hug, when she felt a sting of pain way worse than the last. Her hand immediately went to her skin to keep it hidden. But Evie's eyes were already on the injury. And Mal was so ready to hear her complain about the dress she just destroyed because she wasn't careful enough with it. And to be honest, she just couldn't deal with that in that exact moment.
5. watch me ride the beat pairing: mal and evie (descendants) rating: E
Summary: “Oh! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking.” Wow, she’s even prettier in front of me. Evie thought with both of her hands on her shoulders for support, as the blonde’s hands kept a hold on her hips, keeping her still. “I’m really sorry.” The brunette ran her fingers through her hair and her other hand touched the girl’s nape, without her even noticing it. She seemed to be too busy holding Evie by her waist. Her fingers slightly touching her bare back. “Don’t worry. It’s not your fault. I wasn’t paying attention either.” or the smutty club!au fic no one asked for but i needed to write
and here comes the unfinished ones but that will be finished one day, trust me.
some things are meant to be pairing: mal and evie (descendants) rating: M
Summary: Everyone knew what a soulmate was back in Auradon, where princes and princesses lived their own happily ever after. Where their parents taught them what true love was without fear. Needless to say they believed in their own destiny but the idea of having a soulmate was so exciting for all of them. But back on The Isle… Descendants of pure evil weren’t fond of the idea, especially considering what their parents taught them; "love is not for us, love is weakness, we’re villains and you are our next generation to take over the world and finally get the revenge we so desire." But everything changed when four of them were sent to Auradon. And it all started when two girls were 6 years old... or the Soulmate!AU nobody asked for but I really wanted to write.
2. to find the light even in the darkest places pairing: mal and evie (descendants + shadowhunters universe) rating: E
Summary: Evie and Harry are two of the best shadowhunters of their generation. They never get in trouble and they always get the job perfectly done… until they go on a mission and everything starts to change and leads them into an unexpected path. Should they continue their normal lives or live as they want to without thinking of the consequences? Is it more important to find and follow love than their duties as shadowhunters and working for the Clave? Even when a new source of evil arises and things start to get more serious… is everything worth fighting for? It all starts with a simple order from the Clave… or the shadowhunters!au no one asked for but we needed to write
There's also two in Spanish in case I have followers who actually speaks the language and not just me and the last one is one of my favorites from my favorite couple so please check it out, thanksssss!!
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cowgurrrl · 3 months
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idk if you've seen any of them but W magazine has some great celebrity interviews, they're pretty chill and fun. sometimes it'll feature two random celebs together and idk! the idea of rockstar!joel and actress!reader being cute in those types of interviews is ADORABLE to think about. like them in any interviews together is cute but specific ones like these i LIVE for. ( i adore this couple SO MUCH!!!)
https://youtu.be/2Hls8pQuLgM?si=lJ-tfeKAmZn156aU
here's a recent one for context lol
Omg yes i have seen those!!
I think they would work around rockstar!joel and actress!reader schedules SO HARD because they want to interview them together so bad and when it finally works out they’re like YES this is how I imagine it going (because I’m too lazy to write out a whole thing but I love this dynamic)
Interviewer: What was the first thing you ever booked?
Joel: I think it was a gig at a little dive bar back in Austin. I was probably… sixteen? Seventeen, maybe.
Reader: Did you get paid?
Joel: I think they gave us one free beer each and I promised to not tell my mom.
Reader: So, we’ll be getting a call from your mother the second this airs.
Joel: Probably.
Interviewer: What about you? What was your first gig?
Reader: I played Mary in a Nativity scene at school and I was most definitely not paid.
Joel: I didn’t know that!
Reader: Yes, you did! We talked about it during Sammy’s first Christmas.
Joel: Okay, that doesn’t count ‘cause we were sleep deprived.
Reader: Then, how come I remember it?
Joel: ‘Cause you’re a world better than me.
Reader: Mhm.
Interviewer: Who was your cinematic crush?
Joel: Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing. Without a doubt.
Reader: I had a crush on Russell Hammond in Almost Famous.
Joel: Really?!
Reader: Yeah! I don’t know what it was. I just think I liked the whole guitarist thing…
Joel: D’you just realize somethin’ bout yourself?
Reader: Maybe, just a little bit.
Interviewer: What’s your karaoke song?
Reader: Dancing Queen by ABBA because I can be bad but everyone will still be excited.
Joel: I don’t have one.
Reader: Yes, you do!
Joel: What is it?
Reader: Piano Man by Billy Joel. He has two drinks and he thinks he’s The piano man.
Joel: ‘Cause I am.
Reader: It’s that or something country like Johnny Cash or Loretta Lynn.
Joel: Oh, that is true.
Reader: And the kids hate it.
Joel: They pretend to hate it because I’m their dad and they refuse to admit I’m cool.
Interviewer: What movie always makes you cry?
Reader: Steel Magnolias.
Joel: The Beginning of the End.
Reader: Joel, you can’t say my movie!
Joel: Why not? It makes me cry.
Reader: Because… ethics or whatever.
Joel: Is it unethical to say I like my wife’s movies?
Reader: No, it’s just-
Joel: You just don’t like it when I compliment your work in public because it makes you blush.
Reader: That’s not true!
Joel: It is and it’s really cute even when you pretend like you hate it.
Reader: There are just so many other movies.
Joel: Not ones that my wife is in.
Reader: I’ve already decided to keep you. You don’t have to butter me up all the time.
Joel: Little extra love never hurt.
Interviewer: What are you secretly good at?
Reader: Joel’s a really good cook.
Joel: I’m an okay cook.
Reader: Stop. Don’t get modest on me now, cowboy. He made an amazing three course meal and dessert for our anniversary last year. All from scratch, too.
Joel: She is really good at fixing things around the house like the other day, Sophia put a hole in one of our walls and I didn’t even notice you fixed it.
Reader: Somebody’s gotta use all the tools in the garage.
Interviewer: Where was your first kiss?
Joel: Under the bleachers at a football game.
Reader: On stage for a high school production of The Music Man.
Joel: That had to be weird.
Reader: Oh, yeah. Half the entire theatre department was there. It was awful!
(This ended up being SO long but it was so fun and yes these questions ARE directly from the video suck my dick (lovingly))
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