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#rachel berry i know what you are
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there have been a lot of (canonly) unexplained moments on various television shows i’ve watched over my years being alive, but the one that haunts me the most is definitely quinn fabray asking rachel berry “when you were singing that song, you were singing it to finn and only finn, right?” and then holding back tears when rachel hugs her. what was up with that? what was. what was that. what WAS that?????????
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decent0distraction · 1 month
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I often forget that season 3 and a lot of season 4 of Glee exists
And when I am reminded, I am …disturbed
Also Run Joey Run. I love it, I do, but also. Traumatizing. As is most of Glee.
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calsvoid · 8 months
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rachel grabbing tina’s boobs during you’re the one that i want, how did anyone think this girl was straight
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angelhummel · 2 years
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Just curious, have u always saw Rachel as a lesbian or did u have a different sexuality hc for her at one point?
Umm well at first I just let her be straight bc I hated her and I always hated Finn so I was like "they both suck they deserve each other" and didn't care about her sexuality lol
Buuut then I think maybe I imagined her as ace for a while and then maybe bi for a second until I was like "mm nope this is a Lesbian" and that's how I've been ever since lol
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okay but genuinely and legitimately how do I get kissed? I refuse to enter my 24th year of living when my only kiss is one I was too drunk to remember and with my also very drunk heterosexual 43 year old divorced mother of 2 colleague because that's just embarrassing. (admittedly she did say she'd go to a gay club with me to help like:
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but I don't think she realises brighton does not equal guaranteed attention. but she's TRYING she's a little confused but the spirit is there)
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kor-ee-an-door · 2 years
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Why did people like the bullies/mean people in TV series? Like Santana in Glee or even Jade in Victorious, every time they came on screen it just made me so tired, I don't understand why these characters were thought funny for emptionally abusing other characters, notably the main lead who wasn't so nice or great either but undoubtedly didn't deserve this level of treatment.
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Controversial Character Tournament Round 2: Blaine Anderson from Glee vs Barok Van Zieks from The Great Ace Attorney
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(remember that these characters are fictional and your fellow tumblr users are real. i will block you if you harass others in the notes, please consider sending your unhinged harassment to my inbox instead)
Propaganda under the cut, may contain spoilers:
Blaine Anderson:
LOVE: - "you know that post that's like "fandom will call a character evil and immature and then the character is just 15 yo" because that's what happens with blaine. he's just a sweet but socially inept kid with a lot of insecurities who's trying his best. compared to most glee characters he hasn't done anything wrong in his life. and yes he cheated on his boyfriend that one time, but he was super depressed afterwards (also this is glee literally every character has cheated and none have suffered as most as blaine because of it). in conclusion he's just a silly goose. my little princess <3"
HATE: (tumblr will not let me format this one bc its too long)
"A lot of people say he's the male Rachel Berry, and while I think that is absolutely a true statement, I actually don't mind his personality all that much. Literally everyone in Glee has a personality that ranges from inconsistent to downright horrendeus, so instead of talking about what he's like, here's some things he canonically does (buckle up, this'll be long): In season 2, when we first meet him, he's the leader of his school's showchoir. (redflag no.1/j) This gives him the freedom and authoritity to do a lot of stuff- not all bad, but he does serenade a closeted guy he doesn't know all that well, who works in costumer service AT HIS WORKPLACE, with a song about sex toys. (The guy in question ends up getting fired of course). He also gives some pretty hypocritical advice to his love interest, Kurt, about how he should try to blend in (hypocritical, cuz Blaine does the opposite and he's thriving under the attention), and he asks some insesitive questions, but those are all pretty excusable, or at least standard for Glee. In s3, him and Kurt are boyfriends, and he transitions school for him, which we could absolutely count as a decent thing, however it all kinda sours when he gets the part of Tony in the school's production of West side story. Why is this important? Kurt is a senior, and the performing arts university he's applying for is really competitive, so he needs all the extra curriculars and theatre experiance he can get. He asks Blaine to not aidition for Tony- which he agrees to- than promptly goes against that by singing one of Tony's songs at audition. He then gets offfered the role, doesn't turn it down, tells Kurt he should be happy for him, and honestly, BY GLEE STANDARDS, this is also pretty chill. Meanwhile: enter Sebastian Smythe, another contraversial character, who's now the new captain of Blaine's former showchoir, and who decides that either 1. Blaine is hot 2. Gonna use Blaine as an informat (His reasons are unclear tbh) Either way, he starts flirting with Blaine, who does end up rejecting his advances and telling him he's taken (though much later than it's probably ethical, idk tho, I'm aro). He (Blaine) really enjoys the attention though, so they end up keeping in touch. (Important for later.) Back to our main plot though; Blaime doesn't have sexual chemistry with his co-star, so the director tells him to lose his virginity (yes, you heared that right, it is fucked up). So he tries to sleep with Kurt, who of course, doesn't know that his boyfriend's sudden interest in him is due to directoral instructions. And then probably the most contraversial Blaine scene happens- see, Blaine, Kurt, and Sebastian (who Kurt hates with passion) end up going to this gaybar. Blaime gets drunk (though he only drinks one beer on screen, so we don't exactly know how drunk), and tries to sleep with Kurt in the parking lot. Kurt is visibly upset, and tells him no multiple times. Blaime doesn't oblige, and Kurt ends up shouting at him, which Blaine...doesn't take well, and blames Kurt, then leaves by foot. (They end up having sex by the end of this episode btw. No, Kurt still doesn't know about the directoral instructions. Whether he does it out of love or fear that Blaine will leave him is unclear) So we already know these two are not very good at boundries and communication, but the writers say they're "soulmates" so apperantly it's okay? Anyway, this all culminates in cheating incident no.1, where Kurt meets a guy whom he shares similar interests with, and who gives him some very cheesy compliements. They exchange numbers, and text a lot. Blaine doesn't like this. He checks their texts in secret, and then sings a song in front of the entire Glee club about how he's being cheated on, to humiliate Kurt.
Kurt insists it's not cheating, giving the example that Blaine's doing the same/used ro do the same with Sebastian. Blaine says "that's different" and they leave it at that. Kurt apologises via song. S4- Kurt moves to New York. Has to work a lot, since rebt is high, and also gets an internship at vague, so he's quite busy. Blaine feels ignored, so he cheats on him with some guy we only see the facebook profile of. They break up. S5- Blaine has a crush in this other guy, Sam. (He's been trying to get Kurt back, so him moving on is a big deal). Except gay marrige gets legalized, and Blaine decides to propose to Kurt. So he gets back together with him, then bot a week later he arranges a huge public proposal where it'd honestly just be plain emberassing to say no, but dontcha worry, because Kurt accepts. They move to New York together. Blaine becomes insecure, because Kurt gets ripped thanks to his fencing lessons, meanwhile he lrts go of himself a bit, enjoying all the fine food New York has to offer. His reaction to this is to try manipulating/tricking Kurt into eating copious amounts of food too. (To be fair, Kurt's reaction to the situation isn't perfect either, but this is not about him, their actions can co-exist without one of them necessarily having to be "the right one") S6- Kurt breaks up with Blaine. Blaine ends up going back to Ohio, and dating the guy who bullied, non-consensually kissed, than threatened to kill Kurt. (The guy did have a redemption arc, but I still dunno how to feel) You might be wondering- "wow, this was so lpng and extensive", and you'd be right but also this was mostly romantic relationship centric. There's also a lot of stuff Blaine says to his friends that make me question my sanity, but this is Glee, so that's every character in basically every episode. What makes me hate Blaine isn't even JUST all this- it's the fact that in universe, he almost never gets called-out, people take his side, it's as if the writers are condoning his actions, and I Don't Like That. I'm all for liking morally grey, or even morally dispicable characters, as long as their actions don't get excused. Hell, I started out just mildly disliking Blaine, but a lot of people paint him as innocent and pure, and that didn't feel right. Then I was ready to like him BECUASE of his questionable morality- but turns out, the guy doean't have much else going on besides this. His personality is almost the same as Rachel, except Rachel's more...full? If that makes sense? Blaine is just...bland. And inconsistent, and boring, and I just Do Not Like Him At All."
Baron Van Zieks:
LOVE: - "man's 6'4", british, looks like a vampire, took a mental health break for 5 years thanks to the dead bodies that cropped up after he lost in court, and is uhhhhhh kinda racist which is a key part of his character. the explanation for it is divisive but he does grow as a character eventually?? i think he's fun. there's a bonus case exclusive to the 3DS version of the games where he mentions he was almost poisoned in one of the first cases he ever handled. he objects with his leg. he brings wine into court but rarely drinks it. he has bats in his office. we have no idea where the scar on his face came from. his voice actor did a subway commercial. i think he wants to believe he is the sane one in the courtroom but that title belongs to the 16 year old judicial assistant for the defense." - "I love to hate him tbh!!! He's a complex interesting character tied up in things outside of his control and being used by the antagonist to hurt people, isolated due to his grief and rumors from the public. He also sucks SO fucking bad and I want to punch him. Lovingly. But I love him I promise."
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jjsmaybank20 · 1 year
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please could i request a top!reader x bottom!santana.
It’s like she acts all big and bad in glee club and R always calms her down then someone talks bad about her, like Rachel with the stripper line about her and the usually calm and collected peace keeper R changes at a snap of a mf finger. You see Quinn and Britt’s eyes go wide asf and Santana goes to cuss out Rachel but R stops her, putting a hand on her chest and sitting her back down and does the sweetest smile toward Rachel.
Quinn and Britt be like: oh you messed tf up that’s her murder smile!
Santana gets confused and hurt like wtf why is her gf letting yentl bad mouth her but then sees the murder smile on her gf and sits back folding her arms and smiling evilly.
In the end R gets sent home and Santana drives her taking the rest of the day off too.
Once they get to R’s room santana is like ‘that was so hot’ and decides her knight in shining flannel armour deserves a reward for saving her from the big hairy beast called Rachel Berry and her tall lap dog and lets R do whatever she desires to her😏
My Defender
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Santana Lopez x fem!reader
Summary: You protect your girlfriend form Rachel's hurtful comments, and in return you get to do whatever you want to her.
Warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI fluff, oral (Santana receiving), fingering (Santana receiving)
Word Count: 1.8k
A/N: Hope you like it! My smut isn't spectacular.
navigation glee masterlist
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A lot of people wondered how you and Santana had such a healthy relationship, but your close friends knew it was because you balanced each other out. She was the chaos, and you were the power that reigned it in. Every time Santana would want to go off on someone, you would be the voice of reason, the voice that talked her down. Now, as you were approaching Valentine’s Day, you and Santana were so wrapped up in each other that nothing could bother either of you. Nothing except for one Rachel Berry.
Mr. Shue begins to write something down on the board, announcing that week's lesson. “Alright guys, I have one word for you.” Brittany raises her hand enthusiastically, and Mr. Shue calls on her when he turns around. “Is it love?” She then turns to her boyfriend and quietly says, “Totally gonna graduate now.”
Mr. Shue and some of the Glee members look at her, confused, before shaking it off and getting back on track. “Valentine’s day is coming up. So, for this week's lesson, I want you guys to pick a partner, because you're going to sing to them what you think is the world's greatest love song. Yeah, find a song that communicates all the things that love means to you. Now, partner up.” You and Santana glance at each other, smiling and already knowing that the other person would be their partner. Finn raises his hand before asking, “Mr. Shue, can I say something?” Mr. Shue waves him up and Santana rolls her eyes at the boy.
“I just wanted to point out that for the first time, an entire week has gone by without any one of us getting slushied.” Everyone looks around for a second in surprise before beginning to clap. Almost everyone stops clapping as Finn continues on with his speech. “I think the fact that I led the football team to a conference championship might have something to do with it. The fact is that I’m the closest thing that this Glee club has to a celebrity right now, and just like a famous athlete, I want to give to a charity. You guys. So I’m setting up a kissing booth. For a dollar a smooch. And donating the proceeds to Glee club, to help us-”
Mercedes rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, interrupting him. “Don’t even act like you tryna help this glee club out, you just wanna kiss a bunch of girls.” Your girlfriend scoffs next to you before piping up, saying, “I’ve kissed Finn, and can I just say? Not worth a buck. I would, however, pay a hundred dollars to jiggle one of his man-boobs.” You sigh exasperatedly when she brings up the fact that she has kissed him, and she grabs your hand in comfort.
“Do you ever get tired of tearing other people down?” Santana pretends to think about it for a second before leaning back. “No, not really.” Finn shrugs his shoulders, sounding smug. “Cause you always just seem to be meddling in other people’s business.” Santana rolls her eyes, looking around the room.
“Oh please, you guys love me. I keep it real, and I’m hilarious.” You nod in agreement, and you see that Quinn and Brittany are nodding as well. “Actually, you're just a bitch,” Lauren states from where she is sitting next to Puck. Everyone ooos and Santana scoffs angrily. You begin to get angry as well, but you don’t show it as obviously on your face.
Rachel stands up from where she is seated, and that’s when you knew that shit was about to go down. “The truth is Santana, you can dish it out but you can’t take it. Okay, maybe you're right, maybe I am destined to play the title role in the Broadway musical version of Willow, but the only job your going to have is working on a pole.”
Everyone looks at the two of them in shock, but Quinn and Brittany watch you carefully. They see your eyes darken in anger and they watch as you clench your hands into fists. Santana doesn’t seem to notice, and she stands up to cuss Rachel out. “Okay, fine. You wanna be like that? ¿Voy a ser stripper? Bueno, todo lo que vas a ser es una vieja bruja de Broadway sin amor-” You grab her waist and pull her down before giving Rachel a sickly sweet smile.
Santana looks at you, confused and hurt that you were being so nice to the girl who said such an offensive thing about her, but then she sees Quinn and Brittany mouthing for her to take a closer look at you. She sees the smile on your face, and she instantly recognizes it as the one that people call your ‘murder smile’. It was the same smile you had on your face right before you broke Karofsky’s nose for throwing a slushie on Santana. The Latina leans back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest and grinning evilly.
You slowly stand up and turn around to face Rachel, who still has a smug and satisfied look on her face. You tilt your head to the side, still smiling at her, before bringing your fist back and punching her straight in the face. Her head flies back and you move to continue hitting her, but Mike and Sam restrain you before you can do any further damage.
Mr. Shue sends you to the principal’s office, and Principal Figgins decides that you need to be sent home and that you are suspended from school for a couple of days. You accept your punishment with no regrets, not at all angry to be getting in trouble for defending your girlfriend.
She decides to take the rest of the day off and drive you home, and you know that you are in for a treat when you see her lustful gaze on you the entire car ride to your house.
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When you get into your room, you drop your things on the ground. When you turn around, you see your girlfriend stalking towards you before she wraps her arms around your neck. She places a kiss on your lips before saying quietly, “You punching Berry was hot. I think you deserve a reward for being my defender, so I’m going to let you do whatever you want to me.”
You grin in excitement before you push her down onto the bed, kissing her passionately. Your hands explore her body, and soft moans escape her mouth as your bodies fit together perfectly.
''You're so pretty, Santana Lopez.'' Your hand makes its way to clasp her face, staring into her eyes fondly before kissing her hard. Smiling into the kiss, Santana feels her cheeks warm up at the compliment.
''I'm going to fuck you so hard, you won’t be able to walk tomorrow.'' Santana pushed her body up against yours, but you press back, maintaining control and making her fall onto her back. Staring at you in a haze of lust, she watches as you climb on top of her.
Your hands cup her breasts over her top, and you help her strip into her underwear. You kiss down her body, watching her shiver beneath you. Biting her thighs softly as you make your way closer to her dripping center, your hand stroked over her damp underwear. Smirking, you look up at Santana. Your hands make their way to the top of her underwear and you pull them down her thighs.
You begin lightly sucking on her clit, watching her shake with pleasure. Your fingers were playing with her opening, as you moved your tongue in circular motions. Santana's back began to arche up as she moaned loudly into the room, her hands grasping onto your hair pushing your head further between her thighs.
''Fuck, it feels so good. Please don't stop.'' her breath turned into pants as she moaned, moving your head with her hands. Riding your tongue, your fingers getting deeper and deeper inside her with every movement.
You continue this motion until you feel Santana’s body begin twitching, getting ready to climax. You moved away from her, removing your fingers from inside her and watched as she whimpered. Her eyes teared up as she tried to move against you to gain some type of friction.
''Please, let me cum Y/N,'' Her body was still twitching, her clit pulsating. ''Please.'' Santana begged, whining at you. You begin playing with her nipples, twirling them between your fingers as she gasps at the touch.
You wait for a few moments, watching Santana pitifully beg to be touched by you before placing a singular finger inside of her. You move your face so that it is inches away from her clit as your girlfriend moans with pleasure above you.
''You told me that I could do anything to you. Now, I might be nice, and I might let you cum, or I might not.'' there was an evil glint in your eye as you spoke, and a big smirk was plastered on your face.
You move slowly inside of Santana, watching her whimper for more.
''Please, be nice,'' she gasped, biting her lips as your free hand continued to play with her nipples.
''Only because you asked so kindly.'' You pinch her clit between your fingers, pulling a scream from the beautiful girl above you. Her legs were shaking as you inserted another finger inside of her, curling them up and pressing on her G-spot. 
You bury your face in between Santana’s legs, licking her clit with your tongue as your fingers move quickly inside of her. Santana’s hands moved back to clasp your hair, riding your face once more. Moaning loudly as her body twitched, Her eyes rolled back and she shook violently.
''Fuck, I'm cumming-'' she moaned loudly into the room.
You continue to push your fingers inside of her, helping her ride out the aftershocks. When she pushes your head away due to overstimulation, you crawl back up her body and kiss her lazily. She moans at the taste of herself, and you roll off of her making her whine. 
“Relax, baby. I’m just getting a cloth so that I can clean you up.” She shakes her head and pulls you back down next to her, snuggling into you. You don’t fight against it, knowing this is what your girlfriend needs. “Seriously though, thank you for defending me against Berry. I could have done it myself, but still. It means a lot to me. I love you.” 
You hug her closer to your body, and you place a gentle kiss on her head. “I love you too, baby. I’ll always protect you, no matter what.” The two of you cuddle together until you feel yourself drifting off. You know that when you wake up, your beautiful girlfriend will still be there with you, and you can’t help but dream about how much you love her.
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i’d love to read a secret relationship set in high school, preferably they’re already together but it’s fine if not!! if you know of any please lmk!! thanks
I've chosen these from our secret relationship tag, as i think they best fit what you want, where they are in high school and secretly dating! Hope they are what you are looking for. ~Jen
One More Night by @gleefulpoppet
Based on the wildly popular fan-made video “One More Night” by Alison447.  High school is a caste system where kids fall into certain slots. Popular kids are up in the penthouse, which is where Rachel Berry reigns supreme. She’s got the hottest guy in school and everything she’s ever dreamed of right in front of her. The Invisibles are on the bottom floor. That is where you will find Kurt Hummel, daydreaming about his first kiss and trying to survive the torment each day brings at the hands of bullies and cowards. And then, there is Blaine Anderson. Is he everything he appears to be? Straight, in love with the most popular girl in school, and set to take the lead in the school play? Or is there more to him than anyone knows?
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Ripped at Every Edge by @klaineanummel
Nobody can know, but that doesn’t make it any less real. Badboy!Blaine, cheerio!Kurt
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Not another ‘Jesse’ thing by nolongeractive butnotdeleting 
Kurt and Blaine are dating in secret until Rachel finds out by accident and tells the entire Glee club about them. AU, bitchy Rachel and Klaine fluff. Hope you enjoy Complete
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logbush · 1 year
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Defender
627 words
fluff
quinn fabray x reader
request- Can I request Quinn Fabray x fem!reader where Quinn gets into a heated argument with someone and Quinn begins threatening them, so reader picks up Quinn and carries/drags them out of the room before anyone gets hurt, fluffy please!
a/n- guys if you have any glee requests, please send them my way i will write about pretty much any character.
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you sat in the choir room next to your girlfriend quinn. you were cuddled up next to the blonde, your head on her chest as she talked to santana and brittany. you were all waiting for mr. schue to come in and let everyone know the solo results. you had tried for it, as well as rachel (as always). everyone was expecting her to get it. not because you were bad, but because schue had a tendency to give rachel all the solos.
a few minutes later, mr. schue walked in. “alright, so as you guys know, last time we had our little try outs. “ he clapped his hands together to add emphasis to what he was saying, “and after thorough consideration, i have decided to give the solo to y/n!” schue pointed his arms towards you with a smile.
you sat stunned, amazed even. you had done better than rachel berry and got the solo. quinn kissed the top of your head “i’m so proud of you” she whispered against your head. you smiled and sat up as a wave of applause washed over you. “you go y/l/n, give her a run for her money” santana says with a smile, lightly snapping her fingers.
“mr. schuester?” rachel says, raising her hand. you groan internally, quinn does it loudly for you, “why did you give her the solo?” she says. “well, quite frankly, she blew it out of the park, rachel. she brought tears to my eyes.” rachel scoffs, “you’re just saying that. the truth is you just want to hurt me and my career” quinn tensed up under you. you perked up, trying to end the problem before it started “its fine, she can have it.”
quinn looked down at you before looking back up at rachel. “i mean it she can have it its okay.” rachel smiled before beginning to walk to her seat. quinn shot up and began walking towards rachel. “rachel does it make you feel better to put down others?” she asked sternly, walking closer to her with her arms down, her fists clenched by her hips. rachel began moving backwards. “i asked you a question.” the blonde said, still walking towards her. rachel nodded “yes” she said meekly, hitting a wall in her backing up.
quinn looked at rachel. “you are an insanely selfish person rachel. to make my girlfriend give you her solo, that she fought for and got fair and square. you make me sick and i swear to god, if you ever try to tear down my girlfriend again, it will be the last time you ever say anything”
you shot up as soon as she finished talking, quinn’s arm going back to punch rachel. you ran over to her and picked her up, quickly running out of the room. the cheerleader in your arms was fighting you as you did this. as soon as you reached the hallway you put her down. she looked at you angrily. “that was adorable quinnie” you said with a smile, cupping her cheek. quinn frowned, “i wasn’t supposed to be adorable, i was supposed to be scary.” you placed a kiss on the tip of her nose, “oh and you were dont get me wrong, but i mean how you defended me, i’ve never had someone defend me like you do” the blonde placed a gentle kiss on your lips, “i’ll do it time and time again”
you smiled and brought your hands down her shoulders to pickup her hands, slowly starting to bring the cheerleader back inside.
“can i still beat up rachel?” she asked with genuine concern.
“mmm i’m gonna say no, maybe another time” quinn frowned at your reply before you brought her into the choir room.
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kaleidoscopiccc · 20 days
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hello here’s every rtc characters favorite musical as close to canon as possible [except I actually cite my sources]
ocean - Shakespearean plays [“othello? don’t be jealous! romeo and juliet? teen sex kills! king leer? maybe a mandatory retirement age isn’t such a bad idea…”], wicked if we’re talking strictly musicals [Tiffany tatreau loves wicked and I feel ocean would too], the outsiders if we’re talking strictly musicals AND ignoring the timeline [“the outsiders!” “easy, stay in school, don’t smoke”], if we’re being even more lenient she would also like glee [tiffany once dressed up as Rachel Berry for Halloween and ocean literally is Rachel guys come on]
noel- chicago [a lot of the choreo in Noel’s lament is clearly inspired by Velma Kelly], moulin rouge [its French. come on. also nick martinez is literally in it on Broadway rn], cabaret and rocky horror picture [literally just pure vibes]
mischa- mischa does not like musicals, I’m sorry to break it to you
ricky- cats [in the 2018 promo photos, the one where the choirs all celebrating his birthday, there’s a cats poster in the background]
jane- she is literally 20 minutes old, she doesn’t know what musicals are
constance- mamma mia [“watching my baby brother dance naked to ABBA!!”]
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no-one-fuck-a-man · 1 year
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Berry Blues
Season Two
Part Sixteen - (Original Song) Trouty Mouth!
Quinn Fabray x Reader
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Summary: Against what you considered your teams better judgement, the New Directions were convinced to write original songs for the upcoming competition, that could seal your hopes and dreams of -temporarily- getting out of the small town you called home. If only drama didnt follow the club like a plague.
Word Count: 5,352
WARNINGS: Maths, argument, yearning, that’s mostly it
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"Guys, I've got some bad news."
"Oh, just what I want to hear on a morning," you sassed from your seat beside Artie, the boy helping you finish your calculus homework last minute.
"No one does, Y/N," Mr Schue drawled, "You know how we decided on 'Sing' by My Chemical Romance for Regionals? Well, I hold in my hand a cease and desist letter from the band. We can't do it."
Puckerman scoffed from the back of the choir room, "It was the perfect anthem."
At the Spanish teacher's statement, you pulled your attention where you were scribbling a -probably wrong- equation onto the paper in your lap, looking at him with furrowed brows.
"That really doesn't sound like something the band would do."
"How much do you wanna bet Coach Sylvester has something to do with this?" Mercedes asked, shaking her head.
"One step ahead of you."
"So, what are we gonna do now?" she continued.
Before Mr Schue could begin to offer up some words of confidence, whilst he secretly worried inside, Rachel voiced her opinion.
"I think we should write original songs for Regionals."
"Oh, nope. That's still a bad idea." You shook your head, turning back to your homework.
You hate to admit it because you loved your sister dearly, but your hand was one of the firsts that rose into the air after Santana's declaration.
"All those in favour of voting Rachel down a second time?"
However, what came next shocked you to your very core.
"No, I think Rachel is right."
With horrified eyes, you turned to look over your shoulder at the blonde sitting behind you.
"Who are you, and what the hell have you done with Quinn Fabray?"
The girl rolled her eyes at you.
"This team works best when we push ourselves and do something a little different."
At Quinn's defence for your sister, everyone with their hands raised slowly started to lower them, listening to her reasonings intently.
"That's true, but if the all the other teams are doing amazing songs, we're not gonna be so good."
"You're right. We're not gonna be as good. We're gonna be better," Quinn countered Mercedes, "We won't be using other people's words or music. It'll be our own. Our own heart, soul, not just our voices. We have a really talented songwriter in our midst. Rachel, I was thinking maybe you and I could write a song together."
Okay, now something was definitely up.
Not only was Quinn Fabray volunteering to spend time with your sister, working on a project, when you knew full well that she could barely stand the shorter diva Berry.
But she also called her a "talented songwriter", when if she was forced to hear any of the drafts you had been, you knew she would not be saying that. Nor would she be jumping -creating- the opportunity to work with her.
"I'm with Quinn and Rachel," Finn spoke, looking between the two teenagers he had dated, making you roll your eyes at him, "I mean, if these two can agree on something, it's probably an idea worth considering."
"Well, I still think it's a bad one."
"Wait a minute. So suddenly, you two are writing music for Regionals?" Santana asked, almost affronted, "No way. I think that everyone should get a chance to write a song."
Sam was quick to agree with his girlfriend.
"Santana's right. We can do this."
"What do you think, Mr Schue?" Mercedes asked the man standing in the centre of the room, cease and desist letter still within his grasp.
The curly-haired man shrugged, giving a tight-lipped but pleased smile.
"I think we're doing original songs for Regionals."
After the short applause, both young Berrys turned to gander at the blonde behind them.
Rachel with a thankful smile.
And yourself, with a snappy comment.
"Seriously, who are you?"
---
Early the next day, before your first class, you meandered the halls, looking for one of your friends to chat with for the short time before the bell rang.
And that's exactly what you found.
Only, they didn't look how you expected.
"Oh, what the hell happened to you two?" you asked the two ex-cheerleaders, whose clothes were caked in soil, mouths also coated in the stuff, looking as if they had been eating it.
"Sue put dirt in our lockers," Santana explained as Brittany spat the stuff from her mouth, trying to pluck it away with her just-as-covered fingers. Her statement made your eyes drag behind them to where their lockers sat, filled with dirt.
"That's insane. Why'd she do it?"
"She's still pissed at us for not going to the Cheerios Nationals and the fact that she's not a cheer coach anymore."
"She is the prettiest person I have ever met, and I live with my sister." Gesturing them towards you, you said, "Okay, let's uh... let's get you two a change of clothes. Unless you wanna look like you just dug yourselves out of shallow graves."
Hours later, you had escorted the -now changed- girls into the choir room, dispersing throughout. A lot of club members with open notepads on their laps and pens in hand, just waiting for the director to enter the room so that they could start their lesson.
With a tall stack of yellow books in his arms, the man said, "All right, guys, let's hear it for our first songwriting seminar."
You still thought it was a bad idea, but you had decided to go with it nonetheless. It's better for you to try and fail than to not try at all.
"While Quinn and Rachel are hard at work, we're gonna try to write an anthem of our own," Mr Schue told, as he handed out the thick books, "Now, these are rhyming dictionaries for all of you."
"Mr Schue, Tina, and I have been uh already working on a song that I wrote," Santana offered.
"Really? That's amazing. Well, can we hear it?"
The Latina gave a small nod before moving to stand in the centre of the room, Tina making her way to the heys of the piano.
"This is a song that I wrote for Am. It's called 'Trouty Mouth'."
The blonde boy's sweet smile fell at that.
"Wait. What's it called?"
Only for Mike to lean over and whisper, "'Trouty Mouth'."
You didn't know a song could make you this happy.
Every one of Santana's lyrics was better than the last.
That was until Sam had to go and ruin it for you.
"Okay, can we stop?" he asked, outraged, as he jumped to his feet, "Stop with the mouth jokes."
"No, no, no!" you whined, aghast, once the music was abruptly cut off.
"Sit down. I'm not finished."
"Yes, you are." The boy then turned to the seated teacher, "Mr Schue, we're not doing a song at Regionals called 'Trouty Mouth'."
The man stuttered, rising from his own seat as he gestured to the blonde, "You know what? I have to agree with Sam on this one."
"Oh, I disagree." You shook your head with a bright smile tugging at your lips. "'Trouty Mouth' has got to be an iconic anthem. Really a song for generations."
"Y/N," Mr Schuester scolded you before turning back to Santana, "But such a good first effort. I just don't think it's got the epic feel we need for Regionals."
"I do." Your hand shot into the air, playfully being shoved by Sam as he manoeuvred back to his seat.
It seems Santana wasn't the only eager participant in the room, as Puckerman soon voiced his own involvement with a raise of his hand.
"Mr Schue, I wrote a song too. I wrote it for Lauren." The girl looked away awkwardly at that, spurring the boy into manoeuvering further into her line of sight. "I know that when I sang 'Fat Bottomed Girls', it might have hurt your feelings a little bit, but... I think this makes up for it." The delinquent continued down to replace a disgruntled Santana. It's got a bit of a rockabilly feel, so it could give us an edge this weekend."
"I'm inclined to agree with you there," you admitted as your teacher nodded the boy on.
"All right. Show us what you've got."
You couldn't help but laugh as Santana walked by Mr Schue, muttering to the man, "Don't touch me. Don't touch me."
"It's called 'Big Ass... Heart'."
"Why was that good?" you asked once the boy's short performance was over, "Stop making things that I like."
Mr Schuester, it seems, didn't share your same opinions, 'cause as soon as he could, he popped up out of his seat, hoping to get the boy off of the floor.
"All right, guys, let's make Puck's song a contender, but I don't totally think we're there yet. Everyone look at your rhyming dictionaries, and let's work on banging out some songs that rock."
---
"I have to talk with you."
With a short yell, you startled back, slamming your locker door in reaction. Snapping your head to the side, you spotted your sister, an almost conspiring look upon her features.
"Hey. Why do you always have to scare me? How was your songwriting session with blondie?" you asked, beginning to make your way down the hall, forcing a trailing Rachel to jog to catch up, to be by your side.
"It was fine. Quinn lacks my vision and years of studying lyrics and the meaning behind songs, but with some more work, I'm sure she could help me."
You rolled your eyes in reaction to her grandiose words while she quickly shook her head. "But that's not what I want to talk to you about."
"Aha. And what's on your mind?"
"I think Finn is dating Quinn again."
A familiar weight sunk in your chest. Cold and heavy. Something close to hopeless despair.
But you couldn't let your sister know that.
And you couldn't tell her that you knew they had been fooling around, even with no proof of that fact, considering she had flat-out believed Quinn's lie in the last celibacy club session you had attended. It would destroy her, and even though you knew you should tell her the truth, it would be the right thing to do, but you just didn't want to see her hurt.
"What makes you say that?"
"They were talking, and they were really close."
You gasped sarcastically, "I'll call the Pope!"
"Y/N, would you take this seriously?"
"And why the hell should I do that?" you asked, talking with a hand whilst the other held onto the strap of your backpack, "They were just taking, Rach. They can do that."
"Yeah, but it seemed... different."
"'Different' how?"
"Like they were talking about their relationship."
"And how does that look?" you almost laughed, "Look, Rach, at the end of the day, it's none of our business what they were talking about, no matter if he's your ex or not- If anything, you have less of a right to know."
Before she could reply, you were literally saved by the bell ringing overhead, signalling the start of your next class.
"Now, if you'll excuse me." You pointed over your shoulder with your thumb. "I have to go get a 'C+' on my calculus homework... with any luck," you finished to yourself as you walked away from her,
Thoughts of Quinn and Finn swam through your mind as that sinking feeling continued to grow.
---
It was a relief when Mercedes pulled you away from the rhyming dictionary before you with the incredible song she wrote and performed for everyone in the choir room.
"Yeah. Mercedes," Mr Schuester applauded with the club, speaking over everyone's cheers, "Really, really good."
"Thank you." The girl beamed.
"But, um..."
Mercedes' smile dropped at that.
"'But' my butt, Mr Schue. That song was amazing." She pointed a finger in the man's face as to get her point across.
"No, I agree. I'm just not sure that it's Regionals material."
The girl sighed softly, making her way over to the seats.
"Mr Schue, I wrote another verse of 'Trouty Mouth'," Santana voiced, bringing the attention to her, spurring Sam to raise the sign he had scribbled onto his notepad in support of Mercedes' song, reading 'hell no'.
Nodding along with the Latina from your seat beside her at the piano, you said, "I helped."
"No, no, no. Guys- Guys, just think about it. What's your favourite song of all time?"
"'My Headband'," Brittany spoke instantly.
"I'll let Rachel know that one person likes the song she's been torturing me with for weeks now."
"Allina Morissette's 'You Oughta Know'," Santana offered next.
Puckerman was Next. "'What's going on', Marvin Gaye."
"Puckerman, you're on a roll." Zizes complimented from where she stood, leaning against the side of the piano closest to you.
Taking the time to think on it while Santana and Puck had offered their favourite songs, you wracked your brain to find one of the songs that you loved.
"'Piano Man' by Billy Joel." You nodded, playing with the pen between your fingers.
"Okay, and what are all those songs about?" the teacher questioned.
"Headbands?" Brittany shrugged behind him.
Deciding to ignore the dirty blonde's answer, the man continued, "All these songs come from a place of pain. Look, the greatest songs are about hurt. And that's the side of yourself I want you to get in touch with."
"That should be easy," Artie stated, "Coach Sylvester tortures us for no reason and tries to get the entire school to hate us."
"Not that they didn't already." You shrugged. "At this point, it's just beating a dead horse with a stick."
"Yesterday, she filled Britt's and my lockers with dirt."
Mr Schuester rushed up to the whiteboard to begin listing Sue Sylvester's verbal abuse to the club.
"Okay, okay. Slow down."
"Literally no one else was talking," you uttered.
Mercedes voiced her own complaint about the blonde coach next, "Well, she literally throws sticks at me."
"Okay, what else? What else?"
"She called the Ohio Secretary of State saying she was me and that I wanna legally change my name to Tina Cohen-Loser."
You couldn't help but snort at that as everyone looked on in shock.
"She...?"
"Mean. Mean."
"I'm sorry," you told the girl, "I just wasn't expecting that."
"Okay, and how does that make you feel?"
"That she shouldn't be around children."
Fin had something else to say, however.
"Well... at first it hurts, but... then it mostly makes you wanna win."
"Guys..." the teacher smiled. "I think you may have just found your song."
"And that song is 'Trouty Mouth'." You pointed.
"No!" Mr Schue and Sam called out at the same time. Disappointing both you and the Latina who created the song.
"Now let's get to writing," the curly-haired man psyched everyone up as the title 'Loser Like Me' sat on the board behind him.
With a deep, grunted sigh, you dropped your head onto Santana's shoulder, preparing yourself for the only lesson to go.
By the end of the Glee Club meeting, your brain was fried by the number of words that ran through it. You were pretty sure you wouldn't be able to string together a sentence if your life depended on it.
To come to your sister's aid, however? That was a whole other thing entirely.
It was the end of the school day, and you knew Rachel would be working overtime on her songwriting, dragging Quinn along with her.
And considering you would rather not have a murdered sister, you were on your way to the auditorium, fully intent on dragging her kicking and screaming from the school if you had to. 'Cause, there was no way in hell that you were coming back to pick her up.
Only, you didn't have to do anything of the sort.
You were stunned in place just before you could reach the backstage door of the auditorium when your sister strode out, tears spilling from her eyes, trying to keep her sobs at bay.
"I'll be waiting in the car," she whimpered, rushing past you, trying to get out of the school as quick as possible but knowing that you weren't about to let her state slide.
So, as you watched her leave down the hall, your face grew hard, anger boiling up within you, face turning into a snarl as you span on your heel, slammed the door open, and strode over to where the blonde was sitting at the piano on the stage.
"Hey, what the hell did you say to her?!" you asked, pointing behind you.
Quinn sniffed, blinking back the wetness building up in her red eyes.
Maybe if you weren't so angry at her, you would have noticed apparent distress of her own.
"I just gave her a dose of reality," she said primly, straightening out the papers scattered along the grand piano.
"Reality that makes her cry?"
"Life sucks, sometimes, Y/N," she snapped, "She needs to get used to it- The rest of us have."
You scoffed at that, shaking your head in reaction.
"You know, though last year you were pregnant and had all of those demon hormones, so that if I said, "Hey, I don't like this flavour of gum," you would go into an eternal rage. But at least you weren't such a heinous bitch all the time!"
The blonde was gobsmacked by your sudden snapped reaction, gasping and pointing to her chest as she repeated your words, in offence, "You think I'm a heinous bitch?"
"Oh no, I know you are!"
"And what?" she challenged, "You want me to go back to being that sad, pregnant girl? Just so that you will like me?"
"No." You shook your head, obviously. "I want you to go back to that girl who cared about people other than herself."
"You think I don't care?"
"Do you call this caring?!" you argued, gesturing to the space around you wildly, "Really? So, what was this "dose of reality" you gave her that you consider caring?" you asked, utilising air quotes as you did.
"I told her that she didn't belong here, in this town. She was going to get out of here, and I was just sending her on her way." She almost sneered, confusing you, as you thought she had insulted your sister and not told her exactly what she wanted to hear. "That I was going to get married to Finn and start a family, he was going to get Burt's tire shop, and I would become a successful real estate agent, and she-" Quinn had to take in a sharp breath to gear herself up for what she was about to say. "She knows that she's going to get everything she has ever dreamed of... just not the boy she loved in high school."
The blonde had a hard time reading you as you stood there, silently evaluating her.
"Is that really what you think of yourself?" you asked finally, confusing her.
"What?"
"You think you're gonna be stuck here for the rest of your life?"
"That's my dose of reality. I've gotten used to it."
Suddenly, your dwindling anger spurred back to life.
"After- After everything I told you, you still believe that?"
"What do you mean?"
"How many times have I told you you can do anything, Quinn Fabray?" you stepped up to her now, unknowingly mirroring her and Rachel's positions from only minutes ago, only flipped in your favour.
But still, the girl was stubborn. Looking up at you with a hard pour, not backing down.
"You're amazing, and you don't fucking see it. You once told me that you wanted to help change the word, make it a better place-"
"That was just a silly dream!" She yelled, flinging her arms out by her sides.
"No, it's not! It's not silly, and it's less a dream and more of a plan. Being a real estate agent is all well and good, but you are destined for far better things- Greater things."
It was only then that you noticed the hopeless look in her eyes, the way they shone with tears, reddened and burning as she fought them off tooth and nail.
"Quinn," you breathed, "Is... is this about-?"
"Don't." She sneered. "Just... just don't, Y/N. I don't want to hear this right now."
She turned, trying to walk away before you could confront her truth when it was too hard for her to do so herself.
"You don't need to hide yourself like this."
"What do you know?!" she yelled, spinning back to face you, tears fully built up in her eyes, but still, none fell, as she stormed back over to you, "You've never had to do it! You've never had to be someone you're not. You're lucky enough to have a family that accepted you the second you were born. Not only that, but your parents relate to you on that!"
"Yeah, you're right." You nodded after a few moments of silence. "I don't understand exactly what you're going through. But I do know that you don't have to throw yourself into a life you truly don't want just because you're too scared to be you. Look, I'm not telling you to come out or lead the fucking pride parade. That's up to you. It's your choice. You can still live the life you want without doing all that. Don't throw your dreams away because you're scared of how other people will perceive you."
And with that, you left the blonde alone to her thoughts, heading off to comfort your crying sister as best you could.
You couldn't get anything out of her during the whole car ride back home, which was abnormal for her when she was in a state such as ones like this.
Even when you arrived home, Rachel rushed straight up to her pastel yellow room, leaving you to watch from her doorway as she cried and scribbled lyrics onto her notepad, surrounded by multiple drafts crumpled up around her.
With a deep sigh and a droop of your shoulders, you knew there was nothing you could do to help her at that moment. She didn't want any help nor did she want comfort, so there was no likelihood that she would accept it.
Stepping foot into your own room, your eyes travelled to where your own pad of paper sat at your desk, infesting your brain with thoughts of writing your own song.
Shaking your head, you quickly decided, "absolutely not." Instead, you pulled out your textbook to work on your homework, your brain was broken enough from songwriting today, and you needed to finish your history for tomorrow. Even if you wanted to lay down and nap for the next four hours.
---
The next few days passed in a blur and yet dwindled along slowly, at the same time, mainly when you and your sister had to be around the blonde and her boyfriend.
But the day had finally arrived.
Regionals.
You had to admit that you weren't that hopeful, with your songs being original and all that, but you were still gonna give it your all. If not for yourself or your team, but for your sister.
As usual, your club was late arriving at the competition, so as the announcer introduced the first competitors over the PA, you scooted your way through the rows to your designated seats.
"-Let's have a warm welcome for Aural Intensity!"
"Still sounds like a stupid term for going down on someone," you mumbled over to Mike, who had to stifle his laugh into his shoulder.
The expression you wore was one of disgusted astonishment, watching Sue's clear attempt at pandering to the judges, which only further grew with the cheering crowd.
You just hoped that Kurt and the Warbler's performance was far better than what you were just forced to sit through.
That hope was quickly proved true, as to your utter surprise, your friend began the setlist for his Glee Club, which made you beam out of pure happiness for this chance for him to shine in front of an audience.
Both Berry's in the crowd found their eyes trailing over to the couple that was Quinn and Finn, noticing the way that their hands were linked. Rachel and yourself yearning for opposite people in said couple. How two people could captivate a pair of siblings and be together like it was nothing, effortlessly crushing both Berry's hearts, was beyond you. It just seemed like a sick joke the world was playing.
Tearing your eyes away from them, you focused back on your friend and his boyfriend.
You suppose that is why he didn't let you know that he would be singing front and centre for this competition. He was far too excited to gush about the boy he had been harbouring feelings for, for months now, who had become his boyfriend. And not only that, he had had his first real kiss, that wasn't with Brittany. Or, unknowingly to you, taking from him by Karofsky.
After their duet and Blane's rendition of 'Raise Your Glass', that got the whole crowd jumping on their feet, it was the New Direction's turn to perform.
Walking through the backstage area with Santana by your side, you overheard Finn talking to your sister.
"I really like your song."
"It sure is better than 'My Headband'." You threw over your shoulder, gaining a soft glare from Rachel before she swiftly turned back to talk to her ex-boyfriend.
"I still think I should have sung 'Trouty Mouth' as the solo."
Breathing out a laugh, you threw your arm over the girl's shoulder. "Oh, I agree with you there."
From across the way, almost as if his ears had been attuned to the two words so that he would be able to hear them strung together within a five-mile radius, Sam yelled, "Stop talking about 'Trouty Mouth'!" Harbouring laughs from the club in reaction.
"And now, from William McKinley High in Lima, Ohio, the New Directions!"
You were by Finn's side during the entirety of your sister's performance, arms folded across your chest, all the while he listened to the lyrics intently, with an awestruck look on his face.
"She was crying while she wrote this."
"Why?" he breathed back as if speaking any louder would disrupt the performance. Unable to take his eyes off of his singing ex.
You could have told him about her and Quinn's argument, but you thought it best to give him the whole, blaring, obvious truth.
"Because she's still in the love with you."
His breath shortened then, while you glanced behind him, spotting his girlfriend, who had obviously heard your statement, staring into your soul with a look you couldn't quite decipher. She was frustrated and annoyed you could tell that much, even though she hid it well. But there was also a hopelessness and longing emitted from her.
But there wasn't long for you to dwell on it, as a few moments later, she and the rest of the girls were marching out. Followed by the boys and yourself after Rachel had introduced your team. Which quickly lead into your next and final song for the competition.
You were glad that it wasn't another slow number, where you had to be careful and intricate with your dance moves, but instead was one where you could end it off by dousing the audience with shiny red confetti, masquerading in slushie cups along with a cart. A reference, which only people who knew about and attended your school would know of.
After the judges had taken a short amount of time in their deliberation, the three Glee Clubs and their directors were gathered on stage to hear the results of the competition.
"And now, to announce our winner, Lieutenant Governor Stevens' wife, Carla Turlington Stevens."
"Who are these random-ass people they get for these things?" you whispered, once again to Mike, as you joined everyone else to applaud for the woman.
"Do you think they would be able to get anyone else to do it?" he countered.
"Touché, I supposed not."
Once the woman took the stage, she felt that to be the ideal time to get her troubles off of her chest.
"My husband is verbally abusive, and I have been drinking since noon." Feedback from the microphone was the only thing that filled the awkward silence her confession had garnered. "I'm bored. Let's just see who won, huh?" Suspense filled the three hopeful teams as the drunk woman opened the first-place envelope. "The New Directions, you're going to Nationals in New York."
The celebrations with your team were cut short, thanks to Sue Sylvester's outburst, where she strode up to the Governor's wife and knocked her out cold.
Talk about being a sore loser.
---
You were sat beside your sister when Mr Schuester walked into the choir room, carrying a small trophy, busy talking on the phone.
"I'll show you the video when you get home. Have fun at the sweat lodge." You cringed at the next words he cooed down the line, trying -and failing- to hide it from his students. "Namaste to you too. Okay, bye."
Leaning closer to Rachel you muttered, "She could do so much better than him." Knowing that he and Holly Holliday had been seeing each other since she came in to teach everyone about sex, because they were so bad at hiding it.
Only she wasn't the only person who had heard your comment.
Quinn Fabray, who was seated in front of your sister, peered at you from the corner of her eye, a ghost of a smile shadowing her lips. Sending a hopeful rush through you, even though your mind was screaming at you that it was worthless to even feel.
"Miss Holliday sends her best," he turned to tell the team, "And can't wait to congratulate you all in person when she gets back from her meditation retreat. Now, we all know that winning Regionals was a team effort, and Nationals isn't going to be any different. But... like in sports, every winning team has a player that rises above to help carry their teammates to victory. The M.V.P.." He pointed before bringing the gold star trophy into view. "And I would like to start a tradition of honouring that player after every one of our competitions. So, per a unanimous vote by all of you... our Regionals M.V.P. is... Miss Rachel Berry."
The club applauded for your sister as the director waved her down to accept her award.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you." She beamed. "If I could just say a few words?"
"Sure."
"And here she goes, making me regret voting for her," Santana said dryly.
"Same." You nodded, smiling down at Rachel playfully. Please don't start singing."
She rolled her brown eyes at you.
"Well, first of all, I just wanna say how amazing the song you guys wrote was. I-I was so inspired. You know, it's funny. I've won a lot of trophies before for singing competitions, and dancing competitions but... I've always felt like the girl who never gets the brass ring... and maybe I never will." She shrugged. "But today a-and at Regionals... the way you guys believed in me and... took a chance with me... all I've ever wanted was to feel special... and to feel chosen. And... I just, um... I wanted to thank you guys so much for giving me that. So, that's all."
After your sister's tearful speech, you lead the charge in giving her a hug, a proud look on your face, at her -not arrogant- speech.
So maybe doing original songs wasn't the worst idea ever.
You still thought it was pretty dumb, though.
However, there was no way you were gonna let Rachel know that anytime soon.
After all, you were far too excited for one thing and one thing alone.
New York City.
-----
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spaceorphan18 · 4 months
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My Season 3 Diatribe
for @wowbright who gave me a platform that I really didn't need but took anyway. ;)
The thing about Glee was that it started with a woman being fake pregnant for thirteen episodes and then ended the season with a baby being born while Bohemian Rhapsody blared in the background. It was weird and crazy and insane and just edgy enough that it was being talked about but not too niche that it couldn't find an audience. It also hit in the sweet spot of the Obama years when, as a nation, we could get on board with being a little different and a little crazy.
Ryan Murphy is both a genius and insane at the same time. I'm not really fond of him, and I think his tendency for going big sometimes obscures the nuances of really good storytelling. But he knows how to make a loud statement. And Glee was that loud statement.
And then it got big. Too big. It got more money, an awards, and the national stage, and then all eyes were on it. And Ryan Murphy got tired because that's also Ryan Murphy - being distracted by American Horror Story where he could be abstract in the way his brain really wanted to go. And so, new writers were brought in, but having all eyes on it meant you had to dial it back, and the new writers didn't jive the same way, nor could they really juggle all of the new network notes, ballooning cast, mandates of the Glee project and responsibility for now having to be a 'role model' for all the new outsiders who were hanging on.
The show was once about being an awkward kid in the 80s. And then it was forced into becoming a mouthpiece for the changing times of the 2010s.
And that... doesn't work.
The funniest thing is way back when... after I had stopped watching the show for a while, Season 3 is what brought me back. I did think, for a moment in time, that I liked it better than Seasons 1 or 2. I can't exactly tell you why. But The First Time is when I fell in love, and maybe you feel connected to something when you fall in love with it that you can't really discribe.
And I hated Season 4. and I was listening to a podcast of the day (Those of you who remember Lima Heights Adjacent?) and the group of people were talking about how, with all of its faults, Season 4 was at least NOT Season 3. And I was confused because at the time - I much preferred Season 3. Because my favorite couple was at least a couple back then -- because the cast was people I liked. Because the episodes were easy to digest and the structure of it, while being bland and predictable, fit into a nice, uniform way of storytelling.
And then time moved on, and I left my twenties, and digested the entire story (the second half, with all of its faults, does not get the recognition it deserves -- despite it falling apart at all times) and got a lot better at critical analysis and media analysis and being open to the ideas of others and just... shake my head.
When you look at the whole, Season 3 isn't AS bad as I make it seem sometimes. There's a good chunk of it, right in the middle, that is... more watchable than what's at the beginning and end.
There is, however, a laundry list of reasons why it's not good -- from questionable story telling choices to dulling the edge of a more biting comedy to just not being able to service all the characters it has in a satisfactory way. They botched Santana's story, which had been set up nicely in season 2. They threw in guest stars and special episodes to throw off that they didn't really know what to do with the story other than praise Rachel Berry and get those kids winning nationals and graduated. They took Kurt and completely neutered him in a way that went against everything they had built him up to be in the first two seasons. And so on and so on and so on.
But I suppose most egregiously -- they played it safe and it was no longer interesting.
I don't fully understand why people love it so much. But I will say - part of the reason might be why I liked it at the time. There's a huge influx of newer fans always coming to the show. And like Klaine, Brittana (which has a following unlike it ever did when it aired) remains together and having the most screen time in Season 3. All the original characters are around, and the story structure, if nothing else, is secure and sound and plays out exactly as its supposed to. Rachel Berry gets the crown, Will gets the teacher of the year, and they all win nationals - hell, even Sue gets a baby. Cue the music and roll credits.
To each their own.
Season 4 comes next with its awkward new characters and its break ups and its wild ups and downs. And then season 5 with its grief and queer in a way that's not accessible but fuck it who cares and season 6 that just wants to go back to the beginning and end it all like the weird creation it was when it started. And as complicated as all of that is -- it's not as digestible as Season 3. I like the afterwards better. But I understand that some people won't. It has, after all, taken me years to get to this level of appreciation.
Who knows how people are going to look at it in ten, fifteen, fifty years. I'm sure, as streaming shows continue to go on and on and on and nothing dies any more, it'll take on different tones and different meanings.
Maybe this time around - those people just need that comfort.
I can't tell you.
But it won't ever be my favorite. And that's fine. As always, ymmv.
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star-girl69 · 1 year
Text
Ultraviolence
Natalie Scatorccio x Fem!Reader
—-
a/n: i hope you all enjoy!!
warnings: mentions of death, swearing, mentions of a knife, mentions of starvation, tell me if i missed anything!!
Chapter Six - Prayers
Chapter Six - Prayers
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1996-
Late last night, Misty had heated up the blade of the axe she used to cut Coach Ben’s leg off, and pressed it to his wound. He screamed for only a moment, before it tapered off- stopping abruptly.
When you got up to check if he was still alive, Misty was wrapping the new burned wound on his leg, and his breathing was harsh and heavy, but he was breathing.
With the silent forest, save the crackling of the fire and the sounds of the wilderness, you eventually fell asleep- telling yourself that morning will come, and so will rescue.
When you woke up, there was no rescue, and all of the girls whispered that it would simply come later in the day.
In the meantime, the grave digging started.
They weren’t finished until noon, using scrap bits of metal from the plane as shovels. Everyone stands around the small plot of graves, marked by pieces of metal with names drawn in marker.
You wonder faintly if that’s what they would have wanted.
Now, the earth is freshly scared with the imprint of the bodies, raising up the soil, but soon- the scars will fade. The ground will level out again. And besides for the metal marking the graves- no one would know they’re there.
“Before we took off,” Van starts, staring at the grave right in front of her, “I heard Rachel say that she was going to see Oasis at the Meadowlands next month. She was really excited. And she’s never gonna hear “Wonderwall” again.”
You can’t help but dig your feet into the ground, the tip of your Converse making a small indent in the soft soil. You thought back to what Shauna said to Javi. Is it really like sleeping? Does the dirt feel like a blanket? Are they warm? Cold?
“Come on,” Laura Lee says after a moment. “Let’s join hands.”
Squished between two freshmen, you hold out your hands, and the two girls on either side of you tenderly intwine their hands with yours.
“We’ll pray for them,” she says, and you almost smile- because what else would you expect from Laura Lee?
Slowly, all of the girls follow suit, grabbing hands, closing their eyes.
“Rachel,” Laura Lee starts, “You just moved up from JV, so we didn’t really know you. But, in Trig, you never confuses your secants and your cosecants. You seemed really smart. Anyone else?”
“I saw her carry a flute case once,” Van rushes out.
“Oh, Lord, please accept Rachel Goldman into your arms so that she may fill your kingdom with music.” She licks her lips, and blinks harshly. “Please accept Coach Martinez into your glory, too, and flight attendant Janet, pilot Robert, pilot Fred. Even thought I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”
The world seems to fade out, and you faintly remember the funeral your mother had taken you too, the open casket, the eerie stillness of the body of a woman you never knew. But she knew you.
Your mother had told you not to be scared of death. But she had never been to the wilderness before.
“The Lord is my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is my strength. Whom shall I fear?”
“I’m going for a walk,” Tai announces suddenly, letting go of the others hands, walking towards the forest, away from the graves.
And soon, everyone followed suit, their hands dropping.
—-
“This is all we have?” one of the girls asks, a group gathered around the small collection of food and drinks the flight attendant was giving out.
“Yeah. We gotta ration,” Van says. She studies the small collection, before glancing at Shauna. “Okay. Cut them,” she says, leaving the knife next to the food. “Split this water,” she says to another girl, giving her a plastic water bottle.
“Well,” Jackie starts, looking at a small chocolate covered treat Shauna had given to her, “Maybe we can find something in the forest. I saw some berries-”
You perk up. “What did they look like?”
Jackie frowns. “Uh… they looked like little oranges.”
“Oh, no, you can’t eat those.” Everyone looks at you, confused and curious. You feel your cheeks warm up, but a suddenly realization comes to you. You are useful. You know the plants. “They’re probably Buckthorn berries, which are native around here. If you eat them, they cause swelling of uh, the nervous system, I think.” Another moment of silence. “My mother is a botanist, so…”
“Shit, really?” Van asks, looking around the woods. “You know what we can eat from here?”
You nod, feeling a little proud. “Um, elderberries should be around here too. If we cook those, then they’re not poisonous, but uncooked one’s are.”
“Okay,” Shauna nods, “we’ll have a little more to go off of.”
Akilah starts rationing out the water using the little plastic from the cart, everyone reminding her not to spill any.
Suddenly, Travis stands up and marches over to the pile of food, grabbing a bag of CornNuts.
“Dude!” Can shouted after him.
“Travis, what are you doing?” Jackie asks, and all of you watch as he marches off, not even looking back.
You stare at the small bag he has clutched in his fist, your stomach twisting angrily at the sight.
“Uh… Maybe you didn’t notice, but we’re kind of in a situation here, Flex.” Lottie says.
“Don’t.” Nat says.
Travis turns around for just a moment, leveling a sharp glare at Lottie, before continuing into the trees.
“Who died and made him king of snacks?” Lottie spits.
“His dad, Lottie. Literally… his fucking dad.”
“Nat’s right,” Jackie sighs. “We should cut him some slack.”
“I guess it’s fine if we all starve to death, as long as Travis’s feelings are okay…” Mari says.
“No one is starving to death. When the rescue team gets here, it’ll be fine, but for now-” Jackie starts.
“You mean if it gets here.”
“Don’t say that, Van.” Jackie says, looking slightly shocked.
“It… has been three days, Jackie.”
She smiles a bit, whether to cover up her true feelings, or if she really believes that they’ll come, you don’t know.
“They’re coming.”
—-
“Guys!” Tai shouted, returning finally from her long walk, panting. “Guys! There’s a lake! There’s a lake. I saw it from over that hill,” she points, “It looks about 4 or 5 miles away.”
You couldn’t help a small smile from winding its way onto your face. Elderberries would grow well in the soil by a lake, and other plants too. Maybe if you could just get there and recognize a few of them, you would remember more, and be able to help more-
“Do you think we can hike it?” Shauna asks.
“It’s pretty rocky,” Taissa breathes, “but yeah.”
“Uh, we, uh, we can’t… we can’t just leave,” Jackie stutters, standing up and gesturing from the plane to the direction Taissa came from.
You can tell she has no support.
“We have two days of water, tops.”
Jackie shakes her head slightly, as if to say “so?”
“And then what?” Tai continues. “Just sit around and die?” Your stomach twists.
Before all of this, you had things you wanted to do, a life you wanted to live.
“What of the rescue team comes?”
“Do you think they’re taking their time on purpose?” Taissa looks around, and while some people haven’t accepted it- you’re not a fool. If they were coming, they would have come by now. “If they knew where we were then they would be here already.”
“You don’t know that,” Jackie sneers, not unkindly, but she gets the point across.
“What do you think, Coach?”
Everyone turns to the man who you once thought wouldn’t make it through the night, now barely alive, sitting on a plane seat the girls had dragged outside. He relied on Misty for everything.
“I don’t- I don’t know,” he says, clutching his amputated leg. “Uh, I mean, you’d have to leave me behind. But, whatever.”
“We could make you a stretcher,” Tai declares, looking around. But at the first inkling that going to the lake would keep you all alive for longer- most of the girls were swayed.
“Oh, okay,” Jackie laughs.
“Seriously. If we take turns carrying it-”
“N-no! This-this is bullshit. I say no. Okay? No way.”
After Jackie’s outburst, no one speaks for a second. You look around the group of girls gathered, and most of them can’t even look at Jackie. They’ve already made their decision. You look at Nat, but her eyes are fixed to the floor.
“Let’s put it to a vote,” Tai says, staring at Jackie. “All in favor of waiting here?” Jackie raises her hand. Only a few other girls follow suit. “All in favor of the lake?” Tai raises her hand, and after a moment, you do as well.
Natalie raises her hand too.
Even Shauna raises her hand, which earns her a scorching glare from Jackie, but before anything else can happen, Tai speaks.
“Then it’s settled.”
—-
You stuffed all your clothes into your bag, a hairbrush, other toiletries- and finally, after a moment, you grabbed the small glass cube. Your mom had gifted it to you a few years ago, back when she was around more, before your dad had left, and she hadn’t thrown herself into your work and slowly stared to forget about you.
The rest of these girls probably all had people who cared for them. Who wanted them to come home. You wondered if your mother had even noticed your absence.
Inside the small glass cube was a preserved sample of deadly nightshade. A small stem with a few berries, one leaf. You wondered often if the poison still worked.
Slowly, everyone filed into a rough line, and you all began your descent to the lake.
You wondered faintly if Laura Lee should have lead you all in prayer before you started the hike.
—-
taglist:
@sweetdayme4427 @dreaming-for-an-escape @peachydoki
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i-miss-faberry · 1 year
Text
At a New Directions intervention for Quinn
Kurt: Look, we all know. Just admit it.
Quinn: I will admit to nothing.
Santana: It’s not even a big deal. Why won’t you say it?
Quinn: Because it’s not true.
Puck: Come on, even I know that it’s true.
Quinn: Weird how you know that when it’s not.
Tina: We’re only doing this because it’s time for you to face this head on.
Mercedes: We only want what’s best for you.
Quinn: Okay, you know what? Fine. I’ll admit it. I am in love with Rachel. And yes, she makes me happy and my life has been better since I met her and she makes everyday that I see her much more bearable. Yeah, she’s beautiful and her smile is amazing and she is beyond perfect. I think it’s really cute how she draws little things when she’s taking notes in class. She makes me really nervous and every time I see her I want to kiss her-
Brittany: Wait a minute… what are you talking about?
Kurt: Quinn, this was about your One Direction obsession…
Quinn: Oh… Well in that case; I will admit to nothing.
Santana: Last time I was at your house, you played Little Things like one hundred times.
Quinn: Wrong. That was One Thing.
Blaine: Aha! Proof!
Rachel: Excuse me, can we just rewind for a second here-
Everyone else: No.
Rachel: Oh… Okay… I was just-
Santana: We just made a breakthrough. Now is not the time, Berry.
Rachel: I feel like maybe we actually made a couple breakthroughs. And I would kind of like some more information on one of them.
Quinn: Well, too bad. There is no more “information” in my non-existent One Direction obsession.
Rachel: Not really the one I was talking about, but okay.
Quinn: Why are you even here? You like One Direction.
Santana: Because she’s in love with you. Anyway, you literally have all of their albums on vinyl and CD. Plus every song on iTunes.
Quinn: Oh, okay. And no, I do not.
Rachel: Okay? That’s really all you’re going to say after that whole thing?
Quinn: Um… Do you wanna make out to a One Direction song after this?
Rachel: Absolutely. Yes. We should do that.
Santana: What did I tell you guys?
Puck: That you could get Rachel and Quinn together and also get Quinn to admit her obsession in the same sentence.
Santana: Exactly. And what just happened?
Tina: Rachel and Quinn got together and also Quinn admitted her obsession in the same sentence.
Quinn: I admitted nothing!
Rachel: You kind of did.
Quinn: Do you want to make out or not?
Rachel:
Quinn:
Rachel: She admitted nothing.
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amazonworrier · 5 months
Note
Any chance for snixmas we can have head cannons of santana and quinn in the future and how their jobs intersect with their relationship?
Merry Snixxmas!
*Since there are sooooooooooo many possible Quinntana futures out there I’m going with a personal fave: Publicist Santana and Author Quinn get together as adults after not seeing each other for like ten years. I also made this up as I went along & accidentally spun it into a mini fic rather than just HCs which is totally not what you asked for sorry sorry sorry…
Their jobs are actually how they reconnect again. Sort of. Santana’s at an event for one of her clients (asshole actor) and Quinn happens to be dating said asshole actor. Santana does not realise this at the time, because the actor is an asshole and failed to tell his publicist he was dating someone new (a famously devout Christian author, at that!) before bringing her to a highly publicised industry event. It’s a whole thing. Quinntana end up squabbling in front of the press and a picture of them yelling at each other makes the tabloids.
They meet up to do damage control. Asshole actor (let’s call him Adam) is a no-show. Quinn is impressed by Santana’s entourage of assistants and how far she’s come in the ten years since they lost touch. Santana reluctantly admits the same of Quinn, even if she’s not buying the whole ‘born-again’ religious thing. Quinn neither confirms nor denies that she’s using her religion to make a name for herself as a writer. They make peace once Santana explains why she reacted the way she did, make a plan to manage the bad press, then end up going out to lunch afterwards to catch up.
The plan goes out the window immediately when another photo of them at lunch makes the tabloids - specifically, of them hugging goodbye for a little longer than they probably should’ve. Speculation abounds for different reasons this time…
Adam is not happy. He tries to fire Santana over it, which gets her into trouble with the higher ups because he’s a major account. She goes to his house to make amends but Quinn opens the door and they get snapped by the paparazzi again. What a mess.
Adam is stupid and believes all the rumours. He breaks up with Quinn, drops Santana as his publicist and outs Quinn to the media as a lesbian. Quinn is shook. Particularly when it jeopardises the upcoming book tour for her latest novel: ‘Straight & Narrow: My Journey Back Into Faith.’
Quinn’s publisher is furious, but at Quinn’s insistence they believe her when she says it’s all a big misunderstanding. Santana meets with the publisher to assure them that Quinn is telling the truth and offers her services pro-bono. They reject her offer and make an obtuse, incredibly offensive comment about her sexuality in the process. Santana looks to Quinn, but Quinn doesn’t defend her. They have a very tense goodbye and stop speaking after this.
Meanwhile by sheer coincidence, Quinn bumps into Rachel Berry, of all people, at another writer friend’s birthday party. They too have not seen each other in years but Rachel is promoting her new autobiography ‘Barbra and Me: How a Legend Inspired an Icon’ so they have friends in common again. Rachel pretends not to see Quinn at first (in a very obvious Rachel way where she absolutely DID see her), and when Quinn finally catches up with her admits that Santana is actually her publicist and she knows all about what went down between her and Quinn. She’s firmly on Santana’s side in all of it, and politely informs Quinn that straight women don’t have sex with their female friends on Valentine’s Day. Let alone twice. Quinn is floored.
Life goes on. Quinn’s book tour is a success but she very quickly begins to feel like a fraud. During a bookshop Q&A someone asks her what it’s like to be mistakenly associated with someone ‘like Santana,’ and when she realises what they’re getting at something inside her snaps. She outs herself this time. Owns her sexuality for the first time in her life, says she’s been with a woman, that the woman was Santana, and that she had such a great time they did it twice. She voices her regret about a lifetime wasted on the Adams of the world to a room full of press, then walks out. Book sales be damned.
Obviously, Quinn’s publisher drops her. But she doesn’t care. She starts writing a new book almost immediately, an honest one this time. A fiction piece about a girl from a Christian household who spent so long trying to be good she lost sight of what good really was. Good is integrity, good is kindness, good is… a made up word determined entirely by the subjective opinion of the individual. It’s also the working title of her new book until she thinks of a better one.
Santana hears about Quinn’s Q&A epiphany through the grapevine (Rachel) and is quietly impressed. That is, until she hears another rumour that the new work Quinn is shopping around to publishers heavily features a lesbian character from the wrong side of the tracks who serves as both best friend and antagonist to the main character. Seeing red, Santana has her executive assistant secure a copy of the manuscript at all costs.
Santana doesn’t have time to read, so she has her assistant do it for her. What she doesn’t expect is to walk into her office the next morning to find said assistant sobbing over the final chapter. He tells her it’s something she should read for herself, and between that and all the crying Santana is sufficiently disturbed enough to decide she will ABSOLUTELY avoid reading it altogether. She snatches the manuscript, tracks down Quinn’s address and ambushes her after work that night instead.
Quinn gets an offer from a small independent publisher for a limited print run, which she celebrates by opening a bottle of wine and drinking alone in her apartment. When there’s a knock at her door, the last thing she expects is to find Santana standing there, red-faced, waving her own manuscript in her face. She lets Santana rant for a while about betrayal and exploitation and the like, then politely requests that she read the book before passing further comment. Then, she closes the door in Santana’s face.
Santana goes to see Rachel that weekend, who is surprised because honestly Santana never makes social calls anymore. She then sits there while Rachel reads the book all day instead (Rachel actually had other plans that day but you try telling an angry Santana that...). When she reaches the final chapter Rachel starts tearing up, and when Santana asks her WHY, begins reading aloud. It turns out Quinn’s book is a tale of lost love, of the ‘could’ve been’ - of a brief moment in time with the one that got away, and the years long struggle that followed the main character as she continued to deny the truth of who she was and who she loved. By the time Rachel finishes reading it is abundantly clear that the ‘one who got away’ is based on Santana.
Santana goes to Quinn’s apartment again. This time, she’s furious for a different reason. How dare Quinn misrepresent their friendship like that. How dare she misrepresent Santana??? She says Quinn is just as much a fraud as she always was - she’s just swapped manipulating Christian readers for sales to manipulating vulnerable teens instead. Shame on her, she says. Shame. On. Her. Quinn shuts her up by kissing her.
They start dating, slowly at first because Santana is still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Six months later, they finally make it official. Quinn’s book is a hit, in part thanks to the whisper campaign Santana sets up in her spare time because her publisher can’t afford to promote it properly and Santana simply cannot sit idly by while the best book she’s read in years flops. They become a bit of a power couple after that - Santana continuing with her day job as a publicist to the stars but using her skills and connections to quietly support Quinn’s career wherever she can too. Quinn holds her own just fine though. She carves out a lovely little niche for herself as a YA author, and is a regular guest at talks, panels and fan conventions across the country.
It’s a good life. Their careers are adjacent enough to one another for them to have things in common but far enough apart not to make their world feel too small. Some (Rachel) may say the situation still gets a little chaotic at times. After all, Quinn has and always will be Quinn, and Santana remains Santana. There’s going to be some bad in amongst the good... But they soon determine that being good all the time doesn’t matter as much as being honest with each other; as being kind even in those moments when it’s easier to be cruel. And by that definition their relationship is good. It is. Always. It’s so good in fact, that Quinn will probably write a book about it one day.
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