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barbiewritesstuff · 2 years

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Church Encounters: Chapter 8 (part 1)

-- This fic is written in collaboration with @Igg5989 who is also posting this on her tumblr and her AO3 :) go give her some love!

Lads this chapter has made me in a Christmassy mood so don't mind me I'm off listening to Frank Sinatra Christmas albums and watching Love, Actually again! Enjoy!

Previous part

Taglist: @acarboni21 @unsurebuttrying @dempy @peaches-1998 @bbooks-and-teas --

“We have missed you so much!” Isabella Seresin said, practically jumping at your throat five minutes after Jake parked the truck and set about unloading bags, “My children,” she added, “Are making me go crazy.”

“Come osi, madre, noi siamo angeli,” Maria smirks, leaning against one of the porch pillars.

“Angeli! Angeli!” She exclaimed, “Non fai altro che litigare,” she said to her daughter, then she turns to you, “They only argue. I will go crazy if they keep arguing.”

“I don’t know how you think she’ll help that,” John said as he stepped out of the house and onto the porch.

“I do not think she will help, but it will be nice to speak with someone who doesn’t argue about everything,” Isabella replied, a satisfied look on her face.

“I don’t argue,” John replies.

“Yes you do, you’re doing it right now,” Maria said, stoking the fight.

“Ascolta qui, piccola merda --” John started.

“Non ti permetterò di usare quelle parole a casa mia, Giovanni Junior!” Isabella bellowed, pointing an accusatory finger at her son, “I am going crazy,” she mumbled to no one in particular.

“You are. Hai dimenticato che esisto,” Jake jokes, but there’s a hint of truth in what he said, in her haste to commiserate with you, she had all but forgotten that her youngest son had come too.

Isabella threw her hands in the air at the sound of his voice, and rushed to her son, “Povero bambino! Non ho dimenticato, vieni qui così la mamma può baciarti,” she forcefully grabs his face and peppers his cheeks in loud, purposefully exaggerated kisses that leave red lipstick marks all over his face. His sibling erupted into laughter and loud mocking repeats at the word, “Bambino,” and the laughter didn’t ease up when he resurfaced from his mother’s embrace looking dishevelled.

“Does our little Bambino need help with the bags?” Tony mocked and Jake threw a duffel bag at him. He would never live it down.

“Come on, Y/n, leave Bambino and come with us, Nonna and Papa are having coffee in the kitchen. We will say hello, he will catch up with us,” Isabella said before grabbing you by the hand and pulling you into the house after her.

Jake stared at his mother, and offended expression etched all over his face, “Grazie mille, Mamma, glad to know I am no longer the favourite,” he huffed

“You never were Bambino. I was,” Maria smirked.

Jake scoffed, “Not in a million years, you were far too much trouble.”

She pushed herself away from the pillar,“Oh yeah? che ha ricevuto un pony per il suo decimo compleanno?” she snapped, clearly offended that her place as favourite Seresin child might have been challenged.

“Alleviamo cavalli, stupido. Ho una macchina per il mio sedicesimo --” Jake retorted.

“ENOUGH! Enough! No more arguing or I swear to the Lord above, I will take out the argument jar again,” Isabella said, shaking her head in disgust. The mention of the argument jar quietened her children for about a second as each considered their next step and the gravity of the threat.

Maria seemed unable to hold it in, “Jake started it!” she exclaimed.

“Maria provoked me!” He shouted back, pointing at her with an open hand. He seemed to be silently pleading with his mother, whose head was going back and forth between her children as though she was spectating a tennis match.

Isabella seemed to be leaning on Jake’s side. He gave her his best puppy eyes and you saw she was about to end the argument in his favour but Maria would not let him win this easily, “He called me stupid!” she all but screamed.

“THAT’S IT, IT IS COMING OUT,” Isabella screams, you flinched at the noise. She moved her hand to rest on your arm as a silent, “Sorry”. You thought she might drag you inside then as everyone seemed to have calmed down but she didn’t move.

Giovanni coughed, “Ben giocato, idioti” you heard him mumble. It was low enough that if you had been standing further away you might have missed it, but you didn’t, and Isabella didn’t either.

“Giovanni, se sento ancora una parolaccia in casa mia…,” She threatened.

“Jake called her stupid not even a minute ago, but when I do it Mamma --” John tried to argue back, but before he could finish Isabella interrupted.

“I am upping the price of the argument jar, five dollars per offence” she spat out.

“FIVE DOLLARS?!” Jake, Maria and John exclaimed in horror.

Isabella said nothing but held out a hand. All three of the offending children took out their wallets and placed a crisp five dollar bill in her palm. It is only then that she turned around and pulled you inside the house.

She smiled a mischievous little smile, “By the end of the week, I will be rich,” she said, leaning against you conspiratorially.

You laughed a little, “What do you do with all the money?”

“I take the best behaved child and we have a fun day out. I have no doubt this year it will be you. Or maybe Alessandra’s baby if it ever decides to grace us with its presence…” Isabella said as she made her way through the house, linking her arm in yours.

You walked into the living room to find Alessandra looking miserable, “We have tried everything and still she doesn’t want to come out.”

“She’s comfortable,” You offered up as a consolation prize.

Alessandra grimaced, “She can be comfortable somewhere else. She is heavy and I am enormous, I cannot even get out of the couch to say hello to you and Jacob.”

She motioned for you to come closer, you leaned in to hug her and she practically squeezed the breath out of you.

“Isabella is right, they have been driving us up the wall with the bickering,” Alessa said as you helped her up, “Gio is the worst, I don’t think he even knows he is doing it,” She leaned close to your ear, “I think he is scared about the baby.”

You looked at her confused, “It’s not his first one though.”

“Oh you will see when you are pregnant. First, second, third or fourth, it makes no difference for them, they freak out just the same,” Isabella interjected.

“Gio has fainted at every single one of my births,” Alessa confirmed.

“And Tony almost missed mine,” Sofia said, walking into the room. All three of you look at her with a horrified expression, “He said it was an accident, but I don’t believe it. I think he’s a coward. I told him if he ever did it again, I would divorce him.”

“And you should! Che disgrazia,” She told her second son when he walked in the front door, carrying the duffel bag Jake had so unceremoniously flung at him.

He stopped and looked at his mother, then at his wife. He shot Sofia a scalding glare, “I had car trouble!” He exclaimed

“Giovanni, get the jar,” Isabella spoke towards the kitchen door.

“Already did it, it’s in the kitchen,” Her husband’s voice answered.

Isabella seemed pleased. She led you to the kitchen where Giovanni Senior and Nonna were sitting around the kitchen table. On the table was the largest jar you had ever seen, roughly the size of a four-year old child and as wide as a fully grown cat. The thing looked more like a glass chest than anything else, but the neat letters on the front proudly announced “Argument Jar, Price: 1$.”

Isabella let go of you to root through a drawer. A minute later, she came back with a sharpie and adjusted the price. She then dropped the 15$ she had already taken off of her children into the glass behemoth.

Gio and Jake walked into the kitchen a minute later looking crabby. Both boys took out their wallets and silently dropped a five dollar note before leaving again.

Nonna took a sip of her coffee, a strange expression on her face, “Isabella, hai dimenticato di insegnargli le buone maniere?” she asked Jake’s mother. Jake stopped by the threshold of the door for a moment before turning around.

“Sorry, Nonna,” Jake grumbled, kissing her on the cheek, “Sorry Pappa” he added, quickly patting his father on the shoulder and leaving again, taking the time to kiss the top of your head. Nonna huffed.

----

You awoke during the night to the sounds of a raging storm and the feeling of tiny little hands touching your face. You opened your eyes to see Catalina in a sleep shirt she must have borrowed from her cousin, as the hem touched the floor by her feet. Her curly blonde hair was adorably dishevelled and she flinched whenever thunder roared.

“I’m scared,” She stated, “Can I sleep with you?”

You were about to ask if she shouldn’t ask her parents to sleep with her, but lightning cracked and she practically dived into your covers, curling up underneath you so neatly that no part of her showed through the duvet.

“It’s just a storm, sweetheart” you tried to reassure her.

In all honesty, you had always been afraid of storms. They scared you ever since the day Annie had told you lightning sometimes landed on humans and proceeded to show you pictures of survivors. You weren’t afraid of death, in a line of work like yours, you had to be pretty comfortable with it, but goodness gracious were you afraid of the purple bruises and muscles pulled straight from the bone.

“I don’t like it, it’s loud,” she said, drowned out by another roar of thunder.

“Try to think of something pleasant,” you said, talking more to yourself than to the toddler, “Like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kitten, bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings,” you had gone into the song almost by accident. The Sound of Music had always been your favourite movie, Annie used to put it on whenever you got scared since the day she turned eight and was shown how to use a vhs player.

A knock rang through the door and Agostino appeared, looking scared out of his mind. He joined the both of you on the bed and curled up too, making sure to stay over the covers.

“We can’t all be on the bed,” you said as soon as Luca appeared three minutes later. Rounding up the younger ones you walked downstairs, the oldest holding onto your nightgown with a death grip.��

You dropped them all onto the sofa and tucked them into a red chequered blanket before closing all the curtains and kneeling down to look for something to watch. You almost wanted to play The Sound of Music, but the singing would have woken everyone up, so instead you picked something more appropriate for three in the morning. A box with Christmas movies had been laid out and How The Grinch Stole Christmas was on top, since it was also a favourite of yours, you put it on.

As the film started, you left for the kitchen. You opened up cupboards to find what you were looking for, you searched through everything twice before noticing the small box of hot chocolate mix at the back of the first cabinet you had looked in. You set a pan up on the cooker and heated up the milk before whisking the cocoa powder in. Once the hot chocolates were ready and cooled to an appropriate temperature for children, you handed each little pair of terrified hands a mug.

They all sipped happily for twenty minutes, the storm all but forgotten when a particularly bad crack resonated through the house. You all looked at each other, then left your corner of the sofa to huddle with the children. Hurried footsteps came down the stairs.

“Are you scared of the storm too, Uncle Jake?” Luca asked, looking over the edge of the sofa to see Jake, sleepy and scared, trying to act natural.

“No,” Jake lied, “I was worried when I didn’t see you in your beds.”

“We’re watching the grinch,” you stated.

“Which one?,” Jake asked, “Don’t tell me it’s the new one?”

You looked at him, offended, “I’m not a heathen Jake, it's the live one with Jim Carrey,” at that moment thunder roared and he jumped over the sofa to sit next to you in as much time as it took you to blink, “Is that cocoa?” he asked, looking at your cup.

“There’s some in the kitchen,” You answered. Jake made a move to stand again but the storm loudly announced itself again and Jake sat right back down, grabbing you and holding you close.

“I don’t need it that bad,” he almost whimpered. You laughed, shoving your fear aside, you extricated yourself from his hug and left to make him a cup. By the time you were back, Gio had joined too.

“I’m not scared. I’m just keeping an eye on you two,” He said, trying to look menacing but the quiver in his voice gave him away.

By the time the credits rolled, the storm had calmed down and everyone had fallen asleep where they sat. You were the last one awake but losing your battle fast, there was just something about Isabella’s sofas, why did they have to be so comfortable?

When you woke up again, you found that Catalina had curled up on your knees like a cat. Gio was up already, he had cleaned up the kitchen and made you and Jake a cup of coffee before gently shaking you awake. He had had no success in waking Jake up so far. You lifted the sleeping girl off of your legs and moved from under Jake to help John prepare breakfast.

“Do you know how to crack an egg without leaving shell in the bowl?” He asked, having gotten out all the necessary ingredients to make pancakes.

Putting on your best air of innocence, you asked, “Is the inability to crack an egg genetic?”

“Are you arguing with me?” John asked, trying to hide an amused smile.

“No sir, I don’t argue.” you replied.

“Oooh I need to be careful with you,” He said, looking you up and down, “You’re a sly little --”

“Watch what you’re saying to my girlfriend,” Jake grumbled from the doorframe. He looked strangely attractive with his groggy voice, morning stubble and untidy hair.

“I’m not saying anything bad, I’m just --” John tried to defend himself.

“I heard you, you were about to --” Jake started, his voice sounding heated.

“Boys, you’re arguing again,” You interrupted. You pointed at the jar, taking care to catch John’s vindicated glare, “What?” you asked in your sweetest voice.

You were in it to win whatever the prize Isabella was putting up was, even if it meant pitting the rest of them up against each other. You were a youngest sister, causing chaos in a perfectly peaceful family situation was what you did best and you barely felt bad that Jake had to be caught in the middle.

----

Seresin family traditions dictated that the lot of you needed to head to the Christmas market in town and get a Christmas tree for the house. At home, in Indiana, you were used to going to the Christmas tree farm and cutting your own tree down. You hadn’t had a christmas tree in a few years, the holidays never felt the same when you were away from family, and yours didn’t get together all that often.

As you climbed into Jake’s truck after loading the kids in, they all wanted to ride with you, Jake pulled out of the ranch’s driveway. You turned the radio up, the local Christmas station was on and it was one of your favourites, Jingle Bell Rock. Uncaring of the occupants in the truck, you started to sing, “Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock. Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time. Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square, in the frosty air!”

Jake joined in on the next verse, “What a bright time, it's the right time. to rock the night away! Jingle bell time is a swell time, to go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh!”

The kids, not knowing the song too well just chattered along in the back, giggling at your singing. The whole way to the market was the same, the kids joining in the singing for Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, and You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.

When you arrived at the market, you found yourself disappointed. Despite the general Christmassiness of the atmosphere, something was heavily hampering your enjoyment of the Christmas fair. You thought for a few minutes about what it could be when you decided that it was the temperature.

Indiana was known for cold winters so you were used to biting cold, mittens, woollen hats and scarves and maybe some snow. Here in Texas, you could probably have walked around without a coat if you had been brave enough. Jake was brave enough. He sauntered around the market in jeans and a hoodie, holding only a to-go cup full of coffee to keep himself warm.

“Christmas day has a dress code, by the way. I think I forgot to tell you,” he said, “Christmas jumpers only. Well, not only, like, you’re allowed trousers and like stuff underneath but you know what I mean,” he over-explained. You stayed quiet, “I thought it might be cute if we got matching ones.”

“You are full of surprises Seresin,” you said, smiling up at him.

He tilted his head to look down at you, “Good ones I hope?”

“When we first met I really didn’t think you’d be like that,” You said, he seemed to flinch a little at your words, “That’s not what I mean, Gorgeous, I mean I wouldn’t have thought you’d be the matchy matchy Christmas jumper type.”

He hummed into his coffee cup, “You’re lucky you escaped the Halloween party, because I am also a matching costume person. And a his and hers coffee cups person,” He laughed, “I just like doing stuff with my girl.”

“It’s very cute, I like soft Jake,” You said, giving him a soft poke in the side.

“I won’t tell hard Jake,” He said, then seemingly catching the double entendre, “Nope, sorry I didn’t realise -- that’s not what I meant to say”

“You’re a goof,” you said, laughing at his unintentional dirty joke.

Brushing off your words with a shy smile and a blush, he said, “How about I win you a teddy,”

Looking at him confused, you asked, “I thought we were going to get matching jumpers?”

Jake shook his head, a mischievous look on his face, “Nope, I have them already.”

Giving him an overexaggerated look of fear, you said, “See, now I’m scared…”

He feigned offence, pressing one hand to his chest before firing back, “I thought you trusted me?”

“Win me a damn teddy bear,” you laughed. Jake stopped by a stand. After giving the man the fare, he picked up one of the revolvers lining the bench and pointed it at the wooden cowboys running around at the back of the stall. Jake managed to get them all down in one shot. He held the gun close to his face and blew the imaginary smoke out of the barrel while throwing you a wink.

“Which one will it be?” The stand’s owner asked. He was a pleasant looking man, smaller than both of you and with a moustache Rooster could only dream about adorning his very round face.

“The elf one please” You answered, pointing towards a large light brown bear that had an elf hat on, they had unceremoniously hung him from the ceiling. You felt bad for the guy, seeing him sway like that in the wind made you feel a little queasy.

“What are you going to call it?” Jake asked as he handed you the large bear.

“I’m going to call it…” You hesitated, your mind suddenly going blank. You had never been great under pressure and Jake was now seeing the extent of it, “Errr -- I’m going to call it -- Benjamin?”

“Benjamin?” Jake laughed, “Wow -- Actually -- Actually I like it. Benny the bear.”

“There you go! Benny the bear!” you said, glad that your floundering wasn’t overly noticeable.

“I am never letting you name our children, I hope you know that,” Jake said with a laugh, his voice teasing.

“Oh no, please don’t. I couldn’t handle it, I might go the Adams Family route and call it Pubert,” you laughed out.

Jake snorted hard enough that the air coming from his nose pushed the coffee out of his cup and it landed all over his grey University of Texas at Austing jumper, “Look at what you’ve made me do,” he complained, “Now I need a new drink,” he whined.

“We could get hot chocolates?” you offered, taking his hand in your own, the other holding your newly baptised Benjamin.

“With marshmallows?” Jake asked, fishing a paper tissue out of the pocket of his jeans and dabbing the coffee stains on his jumper. The drops on the decal went without a fight but whatever landed on the fabric would need to be washed out by hand.

“Obviously,” You replied. Whoever had Christmas Fair hot chocolates and didn’t pay the extra charge for marshmallows? The grinch, most likely.

With that settled, you walked to the drinks stand where you ordered. Jake had just gotten his card out of his wallet when someone tapped his shoulder and one of the new recruits he had been showing off in front of at the bar the night of your argument embraced him in a hug. He reciprocated in a way that showed he would much rather have been doing anything else, but hugged the man right next to him in a much warmer fashion. You used Jake’s distraction to tap your card against the machine and paid for both of your drinks.

Once he noticed what you had done, he frowned but still gratefully accepted the cocoa you were handing him.

“Friends?” You asked, briefly looking back at the two men he had been talking to.

“Friend. The other guy is his brother. He’s been sticking to me like toilet paper to a shoe… I just can’t get rid of him. He texted me to ask to hang out a few times… Seems like my usual method of being unfriendly and never texting back isn’t working on him,” he smiles a little guiltily.

“I need some food in me, what do you fancy?” He asked, looking around at a cluster of food vans.

You let out a sigh, “Don’t know…None of them feel Christmassy enough…”

“No? What do you mean? Chicken Chow Mein not screaming ‘Birth of Jesus’ to you?” Jake asked, laughing a little.

“Maria told me something,” you look at him, “She said you bullied them into changing a forty-year old tradition…”

Jake looked at the floor, “Don’t know what you mean,” he lied, his voice getting quiet.

You sighed before continuing, “Apparently you made them change the children’s Christmas reading from Italian to English”

“Maria needs to learn how to shut up,” Jake said, scuffing his foot against the dusty pavement.

“Jake, you don’t need to bully your family into including me,” you told him a little sternly, “But… I think it’s very adorable” you added.

“How about having some Christmas sauerkraut,” Jake changed the subject.

“Hard pass,” you replied, almost immediately, letting out a laugh, “You don’t even like sauerkraut.”

“Err… Christmas con carne?” He suggested, reading a sign for one of the trucks.

“Hot dogs?” you replied, “Wow, these are just getting worse… Christmas con carne sounds good.”

“Christmas con carne it is!” He said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

He needn’t have been. Even though it tasted okay, the look of it left so much to be desired that you only managed to eat about half of it before Jake disposed of both your paper plates and got the two of you some, still warm, Hershey’s kiss cookies to tide you over til dinner time.

In the distance, you spotted the rest of the Seresin clan making their way over to the food truck spot. You turned around to tell Jake something but you find him already looking at you with such a loving expression that it makes your stomach flutter. You leaned close to him, capturing his lips in a kiss and swirling your tongue against his bottom lip. You break the kiss a minute later.

Jake looked at you, a little dazed from the kiss, “What was that for?” He asked.

“You had chocolate around your mouth,” you explained, practically able to feel Jake thinking about going in for a second cookie. Before he can though, someone else’s hand dipped into the paper bag.

“It’s the ‘I have an amazing big brother’ tax,” Gio said, winking at you and breaking his cookie in half to share with his wife.

“We have the tree, no thanks to your help. We’ll be going home now,” Alessa said, giving you both a pointed look before seeing the teddy, “What the f--” she started, “What in the world is that?”

Jake followed her eye line, “That’s Benjamin,” he stated, as though that answer required no further explanation.

Tony, Sofia and Catalina caught up a minute later. Jake tried to hide the bag of cookies, but his brother is too fast, “And who does Benjamin belong to?” Sofia asked.

“He’s our child. I’m going to need Tony’s car seat, you know, to buckle him in properly,” Jake said, his nose in the air with sass.

“You’re a rake, not even married and already with child, I hope your girlfriend had a safe delivery, at least,” Tony said.

“You guys have the strangest senses of humour, I swear,” Alessa sighed, catching your eye and showing you a small, amused smile.

All three boys looked at her and smiled, “At least we’re funny Alessandra,” Jake replied.

“Absolutely not,” she scoffed, she opened her mouth to add something but Jake cut her off.

You know he’ll dig the knife of his comment deeper than necessary but you don’t stop him, “You’re just sour and mean and you never laugh --”

“IS THAT AN ARGUMENT?” Isabella shouts, her voice carrying loud and clear over the market goers, both Alessa and Jake flinch but John grumbled when his mother demanded payment, “Non voglio più un conto cointestato,” he told his wife, fishing his wallet out of his pocket and paying up.

As Isabella gathered up the money, you buckled Catalina into her carseat in the back of Jake’s truck. You were standing on the running board so that you could reach her buckles, when your foot slipped. You expected the pain of your shin hitting the side of the truck on your way down, but Jake caught you, “Careful there,” he said, his hands holding you steady against the truck as you clipped Catalina’s last buckle.

As you stepped down, turning in his arms, “Thank you,” you said quietly, his hands were warm against the slight chill nipping at your skin.

“Of course darlin’,” he said, giving you a quick peck before picking up Luca and setting him in his booster seat. Once everyone was loaded in and buckled up, Jake started the truck up and you were headed back to the ranch. The Christmas station was still on, but there weren’t any songs playing, only commercials. You hit the knob to turn the stereo off, instead turning to look in the back seat at your charges, only to find them all asleep.

You let out a small laugh, “I guess the market tired them out,” you said to Jake, turning back around to face forward.

He glanced in his rearview mirror, looking back at the sleeping kids, “I guess so,” he said quietly, his hand finding yours over the console, he gave you a cheshire smile before asking, “One day will you give me a truck full of sleepy kids?”

A blush burned across your cheeks at his words, “I’ll give you a truck full of kids as soon as you put a ring on this finger and make an honest woman out of me,” you said, an equally large grin on your own face.

With that the two of you drove the rest of the way back to the ranch in silence. When you got there, you took Catalina from the car, letting Jake carry the still sleeping boys in, and you placed them in their beds.

The rest of the family had gathered in the living room, everyone standing around the tree as Gio and Tony struggled with carrying it in. Tony, upon spotting Jake, said, “Hey muscles, get over here and help us,” adding under his breath,”the Lord knows you could carry this damn thing by yourself.”

Jake let out a laugh as he made his way over, “You jealous Tony?”

“I’m not jealous, just pointing out the facts here,” he said, getting a mischievous grin, “Are we sure all that muscle is real? I mean, I haven’t seen you work out once in the times you’ve been home.”

You saw Jake roll his eyes at Tony, “It’s all real, you can ask Y/N,” he said, not thinking about the meaning of his words.

Everyone in the house turned to look at him, “I mean, not in that way no, I just meant, she is a pilot too, we go to the same gym.”

Isabella just held the jar out to him, “For the sake of your girlfriend, you owe me ten dollars for that comment Bambino.”

The whole house broke out in laughter as Jake’s face flushed red, he pulled out his wallet and threw a ten into the jar before picking up the back half of the tree and helped his brothers carry it to the living room.

The tree was decorated before the little ones woke up, little fingers and glass ornaments were not a good mix. At the end of the night, you were surprised when Isabella came into the living room holding a large stack of boxes.

“The moment you have all been waiting for,” she announced to the room, handing the boxes out to the labelled person. Everyone waited to tear into the boxes at the same time. Jake gave you a nudge so that you would open yours as well.

Tearing into the paper, you gently took the top off the box, inside wrapped in tissue paper, was the most beautiful nightgown you had ever seen. It was a deep burgundy with lace trim across the neckline, delicate spaghetti straps were attached to the dress. As you pulled it out of the box, you noticed a grey bathrobe, just as soft as the night gown. Looking up, you realised that all of the women had the same gown and robe. Glancing over at Jake’s box, you saw that he had a grey t-shirt and soft cotton pants that matched the colour of your gown.

He looked at you with love in his eyes, “She always gets us matching pyjamas,” he said, “Do you like it?”

“I love mine, I’ll have to wear it year round,” you said with a smile.

Once the paper was cleaned up, and the children were put to sleep, you all helped Isabella spread the children’s gifts out under the tree. You were one of the first to go up to bed, wanting to try and get to sleep early so that you would be ready to get up for mass in the morning.

As you came out of Maria’s ensuite, pulling the blankets back on your bed, you heard Jake’s voice from the doorway, “Aren’t you a vision?” he asked.

Turning around, you found him dressed in his pyjamas too, the t-shirt straining around his biceps.

“Hey there sailor,” you said, wrapping the bathrobe tighter around yourself.

Jake made his way into the room, pointedly leaving the door open, he pulled you into his arms, giving you a hug. Into your hair he whispered, “Hey there beautiful.”

You pulled away from his embrace slightly to stand on your tip-toes and give him a kiss. He deepened it a little, pulling you back to him. You slowed him down, giving him a few quick pecks before pushing him away, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said, making his way back to the door, a whispered, “Sweet dreams,” thrown over his shoulder as he left.

You kneeled down next to the bed, bowing your head in prayer. You thanked God for sending his son down to live amongst us, for all the blessings he had bestowed in your life, and for Jake, that the two of you would have a good Christmas celebration.

You climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to your chin after taking off your bathrobe. The night dress was a little different from what you were used to, but it was very comfortable. As you fell asleep, you thought of the kiss that you and Jake shared, you dreamed sweetly all night.

#fanfic #top gun fanfiction #top gun x reader #top gun maverick #fanfiction #hangman x reader #original fic #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #hangman top gun

70 notes · View notes

wildegeist · 8 months

Note

📸, 🎭, both for Arctos and Zigzag as I'm very curious with these

Thanks for the ask!!

📸 Do they enjoy having their picture taken? what’s their go-to pose? do they like taking photos? what do they take photos of?

[ARCTOS]

He won't take many pictures of himself, but he doesn't mind having his photo taken either if he's asked. He poses for photos in a very... "proper" way, I guess. Back straight, well-composed, and a smile. Nothing particularly out there or fancy, but he definitely does try to look nice.

Arctos loves photography and it's one of the few things in the modern age he's actually really interested in! Back in his day, you couldn't just freeze and save images of things like that. Now he can just capture a moment in time and keep it as a saved memory forever! You can look back on photos of loved ones you lost or are apart from, something he was never previously able to do, and he would have loved to have that back in his time! He takes photos of anything he thinks is pretty- which is usually nature scenery, flowers, and views of space he gets from his ship's windows! He's actually pretty decent at photography and has a good sense of composition.

[ZIGZAG]

Zag's not much of a photo guy. He doesn't care either way about people taking his picture as long as they're not being weird or annoying. He's super boring about poses and will just stand there. He'll smile if he's asked to or if he's in a good mood. This kinda is more of a cultural thing for him, though- Infralanders don't care much about that kind of thing unless it's for documentation purposes, so you won't find many Infralanders into photos in general. Likewise, Zigzag's really only gonna take pictures of things if he might need the info for later. If he's feeling mischievous he might take a photo of someone in the middle of doing something really goofy, point and laugh at them, and then leave before they can react. (It's more of a silly/light teasing behavior on his part than a purposefully mean one, though- if the person isn't cool with that he won't do it.)

🎭 Do they act differently around certain people? what’s different between the way they act around friends, family, strangers, etc.?

[ARCTOS]

Arctos is quiet, shy, reserved, and wary around most strangers. It's what allows him to fade into the background, because he really doesn't like attention that much. He's very formal too. With friends and people he personally views as family, he's a little more open, but he still hides a lot. He does not like being vulnerable, even around those close to him- but those who are close are inevitably gonna see it at some point. But this also means they get to see him laugh sometimes, which is pretty rare, but a hint he enjoys a person's company! He's also good with kids and very patient and nice with them.

If he doesn't like you he is not going to hide it. He glares, he flicks his tail in annoyance, and he'll make flippant comments- but he'll tolerate you if you're not an active threat, and he's open to reasoning. If he hates someone, his politeness flies out the window, and things get a little scary. He'll be very direct about wanting you dead, and if he curses (something he rarely does), this is an indication that he is totally, completely, and wholeheartedly sick of your shit. With Orubrus, he's more on the flippant side instead though- he does violently hate the guy, but the two have just fought so much and that kind of unrestrained hatred eventually gets draining, y'know.

Clara's really the only person he ever loosens up around. His humor's a little more open when he's around her, he's much more talkative, he's significantly more relaxed, and more willing to participate in new experiences that would frighten him otherwise- he is also more willing to listen to her than he is with most people. Her presence also makes him way calmer and his temper eases up a lot more.

[ZIGZAG]

This varies greatly. Around most strangers (civilians he reads as harmless/not threats), he's courteous and casual- really just chill, normal guy behavior. He's particularly respectful of the elderly, and around those people, he has the disposition of a polite country boy who you'd never even come close to guessing is a mercenary who regularly gets in gun and fist fights- he even dials the cursing all the way back. This is reflective of how he acted with his actual family when they were alive, and the fact that he lost his family is probably part of why he's like this. He does not know how to handle kids. At best he has "cool uncle who's a slightly bad influence" energy. At worst he is at the mercy of the kid in question and helpless to stop them while they run amok.

With friends he loosens up and he'll make playful jabs at them, but nothing mean-spirited. He's at his most laid back around people he trusts, but he still withholds most of his super personal information unless he's extremely close with someone, so people rarely get to see his more emotional side unless they spend loads of time around him. He's troubled and he doesn't want to "burden" other people with that kind of thing.

If you're his enemy and he knows this kind of thing bothers you, he's gonna make rude and crass jokes about you. Insulting nicknames, making fun of you, doing anything possible to rile you up. Because it's funny

#dillo you're my RP buddy you already know some of these things--#BUT THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME A CHANCE TO SPEAK ABOUT MY DUDES REGARDLESS...... ;v;#wilde answers #ask game

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ialwaysknewyouwerepunk · 3 years

Text

fearless - a close reading

this is louis speaking from the heart, getting so honest it hurts. good thing these lyrics are not directed at me bc wow i would be brittle. it’s louis the strong leader shining through, the wise older brother who gently offers advice when someone he cares about is going in the wrong direction. yea ig i did that sorry

i care about this one a lot, and genuinely it’s just another fucking banger, so here we go.

walls, track 8

*playground noises*

Cash in your weekend treasures For a suit and tie, a second wife

(another inconsistency with louis’s album booklet: there it says “cashing” - imp “cash in” makes the most sense, since otherwise there wouldn’t be a sentence)

“weekend treasures” - earns money over the weekend? has fun? good experiences? or is it sarcastic and is “you” just escaping for the sake of it

“cash in”: exchange your fun life for the one in a suit with a wife - living a double life

“suit and tie”: trope of the businessman with the family living a lie (- she)

superficial - looks, image of someone who has their shit together

Now I’m not saying that you could’ve done better Just remember that I, I’ve seen that fire alight

i’m saying you can be better though. i’m an old friend, i know you, and i can see now that your fire has been extinguished

Tell me, do you, tell me, do you still remember feeling young? Tell me the truth, tell me, do you still remember feeling young

conversation; louis is pressing the matter gently, repeating his question with added “tell me the truth” bc “you” is lying, to louis and to themselves

“you” can live a lie all they want but louis sees through it and won’t take them lying to him too. louis wants to get the truth out of them in order to help them

always “young” - old friends, lifelong experiences

And strong enough to get it wrong in front of all these people?

“you” is not being strong atm, though they used to be

“enough” - implies that the challenges and expectations are high and it takes a lot of strength to handle them

“you” is afraid to fail, and though they used to be resilient enough to get back up when it did happen, they lost that will to fight

“all these people” - who are they? an audience, watching? people judging them? “these” also implies they’re still there, and also that they’re close to/ (perhaps) watching louis - otherwise he would’ve used “those”

general “they” on walls, always with the eerie connotation of people judging, exercising influence

“wonder what they’d say if they could see us now” - wmi

“don’t know why they put all of this on us when we’re so young” - wmi

“when they said a love like this would never last” - too young

“and they’ll say, ‘i told you so’” - only the brave

Just for tonight, look inside and spark that memory of you Strong enough to get it wrong in front of all these people

stop ignoring yourself, for once

this person has thoroughly lost themselves: they need to spark the memory first, since that “you” is buried so deep down

“spark” - “fire alight”: keeping up the metaphor of this person’s personality and life force as fire, burning bright

Fearless, fearless Fearless, fearless

remember when you were fearless?

come on, babe, let’s be strong, proud, happy

Now if happiness is always measured By the life you design, that car on the drive

a life by design: fake

material possessions won’t bring you happiness, although “you” seems to be chasing happiness in that direction - got priorities wrong

louis’s own mentality about happiness shining through: it’s all about staying true to yourself, that’s when you’re truly happy

Then you should feel better than ever But you know as well as I, it’s all lies

“we’re in the same boat” - louis knows about this side of life: trying to chase happiness through wealth + living a lie

the life you have as a celebrity is not real: the riches, the attention, the stories; but “you” has lost sight of that, lost themselves in it - started living the lie without staying grounded in their real self, like they used to

implication that a celebrity always leads a double life, no matter what, and the way to stay sane is to keep that split in check, keep those lives separate

Tell me, do you, tell me, do you still remember feeling young?

SYNTHESIS

In Louis’s own track by track, he stays very close to the lyrics (for once) when explaining what the song is about. Additionally, our Peter Pan says that it’s about “encouraging youth and a little bit of recklessness.” *act my age starts playing*

This definitely reminds me of Louis’s relationship with a certain someone, but I’ll leave that in the middle. (There’s so many interpretations that I won’t interfere with your own findings, or my own future findings for that matter. I’d honestly love to hear whatever you think about this song!!)

In any case, Fearless is interesting in how it tells a story about someone else, someone Louis is speaking to and knows well, while it reveals a lot about Louis too. This “you” that has lost their way, lost their spark, has gone down a path that Louis could have gone down too, and maybe he almost did, or even tried out for a bit. Louis is full of patience and understanding, because he knows how hard it can be. He also knows, and says, that it’s necessary to keep re-evaluating yourself and what you’re doing in order to not get lost. He knows how easy it is to lose yourself and lose sight of what really makes you happy. It’s what he’s been singing about throughout the entire album.

Here, his friend, who he’s talking to as if he’s an older brother, almost, seems to have given up the fight without meaning to. What that fight is, in specifics, is something we’ll never know, of course, but Louis is still very revealing. Money, a second wife? If there’s one thing celebrities have said is how easy it is to lose yourself once you’re in the limelight. The attention, the money, the whirlwind of press surrounding you, a manufactured image to keep fans and labels/... as happy as possible... it sounds like hell to try to stay sane. If you have a network of people around you who genuinely care about your wellbeing, you might succeed in keeping your feet on the ground, but not everyone is that lucky. “They” might not have your best interests at heart, which is something Louis seems to have a lot of experience with.

Being a celebrity and staying sane as a someone in the public eye involves this image that’s all lies, but Louis seems to be saying that there’s no way around it. He’s definitely been vocal about how the industry is full of shitty experiences, Copy of a Copy of a Copy as a loud example of that, but he might be saying that the public image, the front that the fans and outsiders believe in, is necessary to be able to maintain some sanity, privacy, happiness.

What “you” has been doing, though, is leaning into that life, that image, that focuses only on material wealth, looks, having the picture-perfect job and relationship, and has lost of who they are along the way. And Louis, their friend since a long time, is asking them to calm the fuck down and use their brain for just one second to see if they can even remember who they used to be. (Honestly, if someone would ask me that? If I could spark the memory of me? I would burst into tears and sob until I was dehydrated. Seriously wtf.)

So, I definitely think there is truth in what Louis said in his track by track, but it digs a little deeper than just asking his friend to take life less seriously. As usual.

I hope the person who this song was directed to got the message and perhaps also made the decision to spend some more time with his old friend Tommo, bc he’s on the right side of things here. (As I think he usually is.) And he’s got their back.

#fearless #lyric analysis #walls analysis #i enjoyed this one very much <3 #such a good song with such great lyrics #also keep in mind that i'm purposefully only hinting at who this might be about bc really i have no idea #it's just a feeling #and it fits for me and that's how i like to roll yk #my brain my reality #anyways let me know what you think!!!

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necros-writing-stuff · 3 years

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"You're joking." Bailey took another drag from his cigarette, an unamused glare leveled at his only real friend. Eden sat across from him, on the other side of his desk. The chair he was in, too small for his height and weight. It creaked when the hunter shifted, sitting up straighter in the chair ment for children and teens.

"I'm not." Eden's deadpan expression and monotone response felt like a punch in the gut. Or a knife in the back. Not that Bailey would let him know that.

The caretaker let out a cloud of smoke before snuffing his cigarette in the ashtray to his left. He opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, the cheap stuff you used to get wasted fast. He kept the good stuff at home, the expensive, quality kind ment to be sipped on while reading by the fire, his spouse's head in his lap. Resting, or blowing him; he didn't care which. God, he wished he could be there instead right now.

The cap of the bottle was uncerimoniously flicked off, bouncing off the wall and landing in the trash across the room. Bailey brought the glass to his lips and began drinking the amber liquid.

"Nice shot-"

"Don't fucking start with me, Eden." Bailey snapped, bringing the whiskey down hard on his desk. The sound was a lot louder in the otherwise quiet room. For a moment, the only sound was from his ancient computer. The monitor humming with life. He had three new emails from high paying clients, but he couldn't focus on anything but the sick joke in front of him.

"You're being childish." Eden grunted, shifting in the wooden chair.

"Childish? I'm being childish?! You're the one who's trying to fuck my kid!" Bailey's hands came down on the desk, his chair pushed out from under him as he stood. Eden quirked an eyebrow.

"You sell children all the time. Figured it'd be the same with that one." He shrugged, much too calm for Bailey's liking. He grit his teeth and breathed heavy out his nose. There'd be no good in killing Eden. He'd feel bad about it, his kid would be crushed and, most importantly, his spouse would be upset.

He used his foot to drag his leather office chair back to him and ran his hands through his hair, mussing it. He dropped back down in his seat and glowered at his "friend".

"It's different with my kid." He said sternly. He hadn't kept many secrets from Eden in regards to his home life. Hell, he let you visit him! Eden knew damn well you were one of two people he gave a shit about and yet here he was!

"Is it because your spouse?" Eden asked, cocking his head to the side like a dog. He spent too much time in the woods. He was going feral. He was going fucking feral and he wanted to buy Bailey's only (actual) child. He didn't give a shit if you were an adult, almost finished with high school and ready for uni. He was your father damn it! You were still a baby to him!

"No. It's not because of my spouse." Before he felt the itch to grab his gun itch up his arm, he took another long swig of whiskey. How could Eden not get it? He was like family to you! To him! What the actual fuck?!

"You think someone else would take better care of them?" Eden countered. Had Bailey said that out loud? Regardless, the caretaker pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That's not the point Eden." He let out a defeated groan.

"What is?" Bailey stared hard at Eden, searching for any hint of humor or malice, or anything that might give away that his childhood friend didn't actually want to bone his baby.

"The point," He found none. Bailey ran his hands through his hair again.

"Eden, is that you're like an uncle to them. It's as close to incestuous as you could possibly get. Not only that, you're significantly older than them and quite frankly," Bailey pulled out another cigarette and lit it. He took a long drag before letting the smoke fill the air between them.

"I'd rather they leave for uni and never have to come back here. I don't want them living in the forest with a man who's forgotten basic decencies. Like not requesting to engage in sexual acts with their friends' kid." Bailey held his fresh cig between his middle and ring fingers, studying Eden. He didn't want it to come to blood, but he'd done worse things in his life. Eden chuckled.

"So there's something you won't take money for." He said, his smile genuine and amused. His spouse would be so upset if he killed Eden. They'd be so, so disappointed if he went home with bruises and bloody knuckles from beating the shit out of their friend. He was sure they would understand, of course, he just didn't want them knowing it came to blows. His perfect little spouse was already aware of all the horrible, fucked up shit he did. He didn't want to push it.

"Two somethings." Bailey corrected. He had a small picture of you and your other parent hidden in his desk. Helped him not kill the orphans that were too young to sell. It was also helping him resist the urge to smash the half drank bottle of whiskey over Eden's head.

"I'm not asking for you to pimp them out." Eden spoke like they were talking about the weather. Like Bailey wasn't doing his damndest not to kill him.

"I said, I wanted to buy them. For keeps." Bailey flicked the ash off his cigarette.

"And what does for keeps mean?" Bailey could see the gears turning in Eden's head. He didn't like it. Eden wasn't dumb muscle. He was strong, sure but he was also smart and resourceful. That made him dangerous. After an agonizing minute passed, Eden spoke.

"Like you and your spouse." Bailey blinked slowly, dumbfounded.

"You want to marry my eighteen year old. Who you've known since they were an infant."

"Yes." Bailey sat back in his chair and pulled a phone from his pocket. Not one of his burner phones he used for criminal activity, but one he bought specifically to contact you and his spouse. He quickly selected your other parent's number and called them.

The pair listened as it rang, and a soft voice came from the line. The sound of something boiling and the clattering of dishes could be heard in the background.

"Hello?" Bailey's spouse answered. Bailey ran his free hand through his hair again, further wrecking it. He was an incredibly prideful man. If Eden had been anyone else, he'd be dead. If his spouse was anyone else, he wouldn't speak to them. If you were anyone else, he wouldn't give a shit. But three strikes and he's out.

"Eden's lost his mind. I can't speak with him. Please explain to him why he can't marry our child." He knew he sounded pathetic and defeated. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. Thus, he chose the option that wouldn't affect his marriage.

"I'll be there in five." Oh. They sounded so... Angry. He hadn't expected that. They were always so soft and gentle, they rarely got really, truly angry at any one person. Of course, this was their baby they were talking about. You were as precious to them as you were Bailey.

Eden seemed just as curious to see them pissed off as he was.

(- anon 🚩 then Prequel!pc showed up, the three of them yelled at eachother, exchanging low blows and personal insults and then current!pc came in cause no one was home and eden proposed and they said yes and they left together and fucked for a whooooooooole week. The end.)

Oh what I would give to be a fly on that wall.

And you just know Current-PC and Eden would come visit for dinner every week and Bailey would have to sit there while his best friend hand-feeds his kid, who still sits in his lap regardless of where they are. Pre-PC might purposefully burn Eden’s food.

#🚩 anon #younger au #spill your guts #Eden the Lonely #Bailey the Caretaker #others stuff

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orsuliya · 3 years

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Many are saying, that there is no passion betweenAwu and XQ. That from the beginning they both behave like old couple that have been together for 50 years. Calm, respect and domestic bliss. No craziness, no passionate words and deeds, no nothing. And I feel so sad that their crazy passionate all consuming love is not obvious to everybody. I've been married for 12 years now and my hubby still treats me like I'm made of glass. There is no craziness, but the calm I feel in mt heart... It is invaluable. For me their love is the perfect one. And I honestly haven't seen anything so perfect on the screen before.

Many need to check their glasses prescriptions, because that passion is right there and small it ain’t, that’s for sure. I thumb my nose, oh ye doubting Thomases, at this alleged lack of passionate words or deeds. Don’t know about you, good people, but for me the Re-do Wedding itself maxes out the scale; as far as grand gestures go that one is just perfect: very grand indeed, utterly shameless, more than a little schmoopy and, at the end of the day, surprisingly useful. Do I even need to comment on all those timely rescues? For all that Awu is not exactly a damsel in distress, she sure has been a subject of a lot of those. I hear that dramatic rescues are supposed to rate among the most romantic things a male lead can do, was my info faulty...? And it’s not like that’s one-sided since Awu runs into danger without hesitation, declaring that should anything happen to her husband or father, Song Huaien will need to carry her own cold, stiff body back home. As far as passionate romantic declarations go...!

Also, let be me disgustingly prosaic for a moment: for all that nobody gets naked onscreen (well, other that Mi’er), it is rather obvious that Awu and Xiao Qi get it on. A lot. In probably rather adventurous ways. I mean, they see absolutely no problem with promising each other various... things. While in public. In the middle of the Imperial Palace. Where anybody can hear them - and they probably do! - but is there even a hint of genuine, non-playful bashfulness to be found in their demeanor? The answer is a big, fat NO.

At the end of the day, their relationship - as is yours, you Unbelievably Lucky Nonnie - is the eternal fire of the hearth and the steady heartbeat of the home. A love like that doesn’t throw us at the mercy of waves and storms, but anchors us to home, wherever that home might be. For all the things simple and domestic to withstand the withering effects of time and everyday adversities, there must be a great burning love hidden in that hearth; hidden does not mean non-existent, but rather treasured and carefully guarded.

Okay, that is getting a tad too sentimental even for me, back to more prosaic considerations! The reason why this particular drama doesn’t seem to resonate with a good portion of younger audiences is rather simple. Bloody Mouse from Hell. Okay, not only Disney, western pop-culture as a whole. See, we’ve been taught that all conflicts and sweeping declarations of passion come before the marriage or even before the first grand kiss. After that there’s only the Happily Ever After, a concept as mind-boggling as it is suspicious. Yes, I know that Disney has been stepping away from their straighforward romance formula recently, but I am a true millenial, I have a constitutonal right to point some very pointy fingers at dear old Walt. All the work gets done before the final declaration of feelings and it’s smooth sailing from then on. Any male who makes an effort is guaranteed to be rewarded with a female; the only healthy exception being Gaston, who, when you think about it, is the scariest villain of them all (and there is good reason for that). Moms die in mysterious ways and females supporting females is a thing that happens from time to time... but is by no means guaranteed. Oh, and if you are not a walking talking perfection with one, maximum two funny quirks, there’s no place for you among the heroines. Those are the lessons I learned in my childhood. Didn’t stick, let me tell you. Wait a bloody moment, Zitan totally watched himself some Disney!

Now, let’s look at what happens in a considerable portion of mainstream adult programming. What happens is that if a couple gets together in the first season finale (which is early all the same), there is little chance of them being left to simply... be, unless they get relegated to background characters. Happily Ever Afters are booooring. Fine, I say, maybe they are. You need CONFLICT. And that’s fair! But there is no reason why you can’t spice things up using external factors; have this couple form a united front against a common danger and there’s your conflict! Yeah, no. Internal conflict and especially romantic one is much easier and cheaper. I am not saying it’s all bad - couples naturally go through such obstacles - but there comes a point where you have to ask this question: why the hell are they still together when they would never be able to trust each other again? Forgiveness only stretches so far and does not mean a totally blank slate. This is not, by any means, an invitation to start fridging female characters! I see what you’re doing, you bastards!

Thankfully things are changing. Not always and not always in the right direction. Disney in particular is doing something... weird with its main canon or was Mulan a one-off hiccup of terrifying proportions? Female-empowering that wreck was certainly not. Unless they meant Special Females, who are not like Other Females... okay, not the point right now.

The point is that Awu and Xiao Qi are married by episode 8 and in love by episode 14. Which is right where the end of the first season would be. And then... nothing. They are in love and form a rock-solid front against external enemies. The only real change in their relationship is that they grow stronger, first individually and then together.

It gets worse! We, the viewers, get a metric tonne of false leads of the kind, which we have been taught will inevitably lead to at least four episodes of conflict. So where are our four episodes of dealing with Xiao Qi’s household and uppity maids? Do as Wangfei says, that’s what we get. Where’s Xiao Qi’s burning jealousy over Zitan? I would prefer you not to go, but do as you wish, that’s the extent of it. By all known rules, he should start looking at Awu with suspicion once he guesses that Song Huaien is infatuated with her or at least take Huaien to task. There’s... absolutely nothing? This whole affair with Screecher? What do you mean you can simply ask your husband what happened and then trust his answer?! That’s not how it works! Get thee away to Turnip’s house for a couple of episodes at the least! And don’t even start me on the great performance of the Yuzhang Acting Company! There is a reason why people were loathe to recognize it as a performance and nothing but!

The Rebel Princess keeps purposefully missing those obvious cues for conflict and thus the viewer, used to much, much higher emotional amplitudes, simply nods off on this relationship. But that’s not on the drama, that’s on our erstwhile trainers.

#ask and answer #the rebel princess #okay sorry for the rant #and the preaching #but I simply had to #and don't ever start me on Mulan live-action Disney thingy UGH

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cinaja · 3 years

Text

(First speaker is Bryce, second Hunt)

Look, they are both assholes, okay? Hunt's last line especially wins him no favours at all with me. Still, Bryce is the one I'm actually more angry with here. This is why:

Hunt is a slave who was ordered by his owner to watch her constantly without being given a choice in the matter (at least as far as Bryce knows, the reader is, of course, aware that him and Isaiah came up with it as a way to keep him away from Sandriel). Bryce is AWARE that he is a slave, just as she is aware that he had no choice in following that order. Still, she doesn't show a hint of sympathy, or tries to make things easier for him. (In fact, she will later go out of her way to make his life miserable.)

Obviously, Bryce isn't obligated to allow Hunt into her flat. She doesn't even have to open the courtains to let him watch TV. But considering that he is a slave who had no choice in being there, I'd like to at the very least see some proper explanation for why Bryce makes him spend the entire night on the roof, without doing anything to make it more comfortable for him. Her privacy would work as a reason, but we never actually see her caring about that. Same goes for not wanting a strange man in her flat, but, again, she doesn't seem to care about that from what we can tell from her pov. (She also purposefully walks around in her underwear where he can see later, which does not seem like him watching her makes her uncomfortable in any way. She might be hiding it, but we don't see any sign of discomfort in her pov either, so I think it's safe to assume she doesn't actually have a problem with it.) Or, idk, we could hear about her having bad experiences with cops (being half human) and therefore not trusting him. (Which obviously wouldn't work since most of her best friends were cops, but well. In theory.) All these explanations would WORK. All these explanations would make me perfectly understanding to Bryce refusing to to open the courtains or let him use her guest room. But we never get any of these explanations, nor do we ever see anything in her pov that hints at one of those explantions being true. Instead, we have this:

She might accept Athalar's protection, but she didn't need to make it easy for the swaggering asshole.

This was in the last chapter, and with this (and also Bryce's later actions) in mind, I can't help but feel that the sole reason for her acting the way she does is that she is trying to provoke Hunt or make his situation as uncomfortable as possible on purpose. Which, considering his circumstances, honestly makes her a pretty terrible person.

(For the record, Hunt is ALSO shitty. But so far, most of that has only been his narration - with that "sweetheart" line and maybe the fact that he didn't say "please" when asking for a list of suspects being the exception. Any and all verbal tension between them has, as far as I can tell, been initiated by Bryce, who really has no proper justification for acting the way she does. Unless she can somehow read his thoughts, but it's been established that she is not a mind reader.)

#anti sjm #anti ccity #sjm and oppression #anti bryce #anti hunt #(yes they are both shitty. bryce is just being MORE shitty rn)#cinaja reads ccity

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iturbide · 4 years

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The more I look at it, it's like... Grima doesn't do anything. Like they prattle off some villainy sounding lines but. It makes Lucina's future seem weird? Like, Grima actually did something? Lucina, I'm not doubting you, but are you sure? And considering all we see them do is nothing but sound ominous, it makes it even more odd that they and the grimleal keep referring to everything as if it's a play.

( ✧ ∇ ✧)

Welcome to the secret clubhouse friend I think our membership is still less than 10.

Fun story: when I first finished Awakening, I was really, deeply touched by the storyline. I did end up going with the route of Robin’s sacrifice (and post-credits return), and that whole wrap-up was just...really moving to me. It stuck with me really, really hard, and I kept thinking about it in the days and weeks that followed.

...and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a lot of things didn’t make sense.

Grima grandstands at the Dragon’s Table. Grima talks this big game about being there to ensure that destiny came to pass and all of their actions were meaningless in the grand scheme of things blah blah blah...but the deeper I dug into the logic, the more it all started to fall apart. In no particular order, here’s a short list of things that I dug up (some of which I’ve covered before, some of which I haven’t touched on so much):

Based on the fact that Lucina has clear memories of her father and states in several supports that she learned her swordplay from him, it’s fairly reasonable to assume that Chrom didn’t die until years after she was born (perhaps as few as ten or as many as sixteen -- I personally tend to err on the higher side and put it between fourteen and sixteen). If their purpose really was to ensure that destiny came to pass again, why wait at all? They made direct contact with Validar following the failed assassination attempt on Emmeryn, they had all of Robin’s memories, and they knew what Chrom would be doing and therefore when he would be weakest during the two years of post-war restoration; why not attack early and kick things off while the Shepherds’ kids were hopelessly scattered and unable to mount a defense?

In her own timeline, Lucina clearly had a run-in with the apocalypse dragon -- and yet, she very clearly survived it. We never see how in the game, but the fact that Grima had her very nearly in their jaws and didn’t destroy her is incredibly strange.

On top of that, Grima not only helps her in her fight against the Risen by blowing them away when she’s wildly outnumbered, but also gives her the biggest hint about what to do: ”the future is built upon the past,” they tell her -- aka “go find Naga and change things so that this never comes to pass.” Why in the world would they tell her that at all?

Grima claims that they had to step in to keep the future “secured” -- and yet, despite having a perfect opportunity to do just that, using the newly resurrected apocalypse dragon to wipe out not only the Shepherds in the revised timeline but the children who came back to prevent the dire future...they don’t. They fly off beyond Origin Peak instead, out over the ocean, where their power and size are less likely to affect anyone.

Grima says that they revived Validar after the failed assassination attempt, supposedly because he was necessary to ensuring that the doomed future came about. Why let him die before the ritual was completed, then? If he was so necessary, why did Grima do nothing when Robin and Chrom revealed their bluff and then took Validar down, especially if reviving the sorcerer really was within their power in the first place?

And on the topic of the assassination: given that Grima was there at the time, why did it fail? Couldn’t they have just impersonated Robin to get into Ylisstol castle and eliminate Emmeryn themselves? I’ve seen some speculation that Grima didn’t have a corporeal form at the time, but this makes no sense to me personally since Robin was a physical entity and that’s the vessel Grima’s presently inhabiting -- plus, Grima sure as heck has a physical body when they meet Robin after the two year timeskip.

Speaking of Validar: why did he even need the revised timeline’s Robin to become Grima if he already had Grima right there with him? Grima claims that the journey through time diminished their power, but wouldn’t it have made more sense for them to focus the ritual on the Grima in their ranks rather than trying to raise a second one?

Grima insists that the course of fate might change but not its destination. Why bother following Lucina into the past at all if they’re so confident?

This isn’t even all of them. This is just the stuff that comes quickly to mind.

The more I started putting this together, trying to puzzle through what must have happened in Lucina’s doomed past and how it compared to the revised future, the more I noticed how incongruous Grima’s actions were with the words they said. And that’s about when it hit me:

The whole thing is an act.

Validar, Aversa, the rest of the Grimleal cult, they think this is real, but Grima? The one they’re supposedly following and serving? Grima’s specifically trying to avoid walking the same path of ruin. Grima came back to help Lucina, and unlike the children, they decided to do it by infiltrating Validar’s operation and trying to dismantle it from the inside out, since they knew from their own timeline exactly how things played out. They ensured that Chrom wasn’t attacked during the two year gap, accelerated the timeline in hopes that Validar wouldn’t be able to amass the necessary resources on an abbreviated timescale (or reduce the loss of life should that fail), and gave the Shepherds every possible chance to take them down before the ritual could be completed by grandstanding and monologuing rather than attacking them at any point during the confrontation at the Dragon’s Table. They were purposefully playing off of the Ylisseans’ belief in Grima as an evil entity in hopes of goading them into attacking and therefore preventing disaster before it could take place.

At some point during the two years between the end of the Ylisse-Plegia war and the beginning of the war with Valm, Validar realized that something wasn’t quite right with the situation. Despite having Grima in the fold, they weren’t making anywhere near as much progress as he would have expected toward his goals of raising the fell dragon. The issue, for him, was that he didn’t have control of Grima the way he wanted, and even his mind control seemed ineffective -- so he set his sights on Robin, instead, intending to harness all of Grima’s powers into the vessel born into the revised timeline while keeping Grima’s will locked out, granting him power enough to destroy and conquer whatever he set his sights on. Thankfully, he didn’t pull it off, since his mind control was significantly weaker due to how accelerated the timeline was thanks to Grima’s interference, and Grima relished that death before trying to orchestrate their own -- though Aversa’s interference in completing the ritual Validar had prepared was unexpected and also unwelcome, and contributed to their flight away from the Dragon’s Table and Plegia on the whole rather than striking down the Shepherds.

As for Lucina’s future, sadly I do think that it was destroyed -- not by Grima’s design, but by Validar’s. As we know from the game itself, Validar sacrificed a substantial number of Plegians in order to fulfill the ritual of raising the apocalypse dragon; in Lucina’s future, the death toll was likely higher still, since Validar had longer to prepare and strengthen the mind control magic he eventually used on Robin. All of those dead bodies ended up turned into Risen -- and while the they are physically strong, mentally Risen aren’t all that bright, making them difficult to control. With so many of them, it proved impossible, and so they eventually overran everything. In a bid to change a course of events they never wanted to play out in the first place, Grima pointed Lucina toward Naga, then followed her into the past to help her prevent that terrible future from coming to pass again.

#answered #anonymous #fire emblem: awakening #grima #and this is how i ended up with the concept for future built #as a side note i also tend to think that awakening isn't true to reality #liberties were taken with some things #like what grima actually said to robin when they were alone #and that grima actually reached out to plead for robin's help #to make sure that this ended and could never come to pass again #i have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this particular topic okay

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dent-de-leon · 7 years

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Wait, i just... I need to ask you 'cause i'm really confused. You think sheith will be canon? Please don't take it as an attack, you can of course ship it in fanon but i really don't see how it could ever happen in canon? It's been mentioned multiple times that Shiro is a mentor/brother figure to Keith (and even said by Keith in the show) and hinted that there's this big age gap, and we actually saw Keith in his student uniform while Shiro's wearing his teacher one in the flashback so?? pls tell

Alright, so–the fact of the matter is, I just don’t see how Shiro or Keith could end up with anyone besides each other in canon. All of their major character development coincides with one another, they’re each integral to each other’s story arcs. They care for one another first and foremost, are closer to each other than anyone else. Keith in canon has this desperate desire to see Shiro–in his trial, Kolivan says as much. Keith’s constant fear of losing Shiro and this sense of longing for him–you don’t see that in a platonic, brotherly relationship. Keith’s fear of Shiro walking away and abandoning him is far more characteristic of unrequited love.

Shiro and Keith’s dynamic is built up like a romantic relationship rather than a brotherly one. It’s written with clear parallels to zaggar,

and the dynamic is noticeably different from Matt and Pidge–two actual sibling characters. This isn’t an accident, it’s very much apart of the narrative. Compare the way Matt looks at Pidge to how Shiro looks at Keith. There’s an obvious difference:

Keith’s overarching quest to save Shiro “as many times as it takes,” is also incredibly romantic. The way Keith mourned Shiro like his grief was the only pain that mattered, like no one else could’ve possibly cared about Shiro the way he did, like he’ll keep carrying a torch even when everyone tells him Shiro would want him to move on, that reads far more like someone grieving a lost lover than a brother. And you could see it in how differently Pidge reacts to losing Matt.

There’s also the fact that Shiro always gets these very personal, tender goodbyes with Keith, something you’d expect from a love interest. Not to mention how Shiro is the only one Keith will prioritize over the mission. And even Shiro and Keith’s first scene would’ve established them as clear love interests if Shiro were a girl. The longing gazes Shiro and Keith share certainly aren’t brotherly either. And so many sheith scenes are very purposefully given a mood, framing, and intimacy of romance. Consider how Keith reunites with Shiro in the first episode compared to him seeing the other paladins. The closeups, softness, and tender way Keith reaches out to turn Shiro’s head closer. Or how they both hug after the BOM like they’re the only two people in the world, with Allura staring on and then quickly turning away guiltily–as if she’s intruding on something very private and intimate.

Or how the reunion between Keith and Kuron was exclusively for them and no one else. No team, no loud excitement or group celebration. Just two people longing gazing out at one another as they slowly drifted into each other’s orbit. Or look at any scene where Shiro and Keith are having a tender heart to heart. They’re usually either under a sunset or lowlight. The bedroom scene is especially telling, particularly when you compare it to Keith’s talk with Lance afterwards.

One shows Keith and Shiro in the dark and vulnerable, there’s a heavy atmosphere and gravity to the scene that you didn’t get with the lightheartedness from Lance. The way Keith and Shiro are so close yet so far, closer to one another than they’ve ever been with anyone else, but still backing away and holding their distance–that’s not brotherly. It seems more like two people who are trying to suppress their feelings and are afraid to make that breach. And there’s always that sense of gravity that draws them together anyway

There is the “Shiro, you’re like a brother to me,” line. But curiously, I’ve never seen anyone say kl/ance was impossible because Hunk throws his arms around Keith and Lance and says, “We’re brothers.” I’ve never seen people say ka/llura or all/urance or sha/llura is impossible because Allura says “I’ve grown to consider you and the paladins my new family.”

I’ve never seen people say you couldn’t ship Keith with anyone on Team Voltron because, prior to the brother BOM line, holo Shiro says, “We’re all the family you need.” We as in, everyone on team Voltron is seen as Keith’s found family. Keith singling out Shiro with his brother line response is interesting though, because–yes, he does see all of Team Voltron as family.

But he only focuses on his bond with Shiro, because it runs much deeper than what he feels for everyone else. Focusing on one line out of context as if Keith and Shiro is the only instance of found family is really transparent to me. If you’re going to discount sheith for that, every other ship between Team Voltron is out too. All of them.

And as a bi guy, I’ll tell you that I’ve pulled the “you’re like a brother/sister to me” card before because I was scared of admitting my feelings for someone and it was a way to backpedal out of the situation without worrying that the other person would leave me for it. And we do know Keith’s worst fear is feelings, know that Josh said “[Keith’s] constantly scared he’s gonna say or do something wrong and he’s gonna lose Shiro.” It makes sense for Keith to hide his feelings. Plenty of people who’ve felt romantic attraction have done something similar. Also–Harry and Ginny, Ed and Winry, Aang and Katara–why is it that thinking of someone as just being like a brother or sister and then having it evolve into something more is seen as a natural progression if you’re straight, but somehow doesn’t apply if you’re gay?

We already know that age isn’t a problem in canon because Matt flirted with Allura. He did that. That was fine. Allura has been said to be about the same age as Keith (who started at 18 and now is either 19 or turning 19) and we know Matt is the same age as Shiro. They were in the same class, and they graduated together. One wears the cadet uniform though and one wears an officer uniform. This is because, despite age, they have different ranks. Shiro has never been referred to as a teacher and has only been acknowledged as a past student at the garrison by staff. And we also know that Shiro graduated only a few years prior to Kerberos. You also don’t go up to your teacher and say you think of them as a brother. That’s not how it works and they’re not student and teacher. And if Shiro mentored Keith a bit in piloting, I don’t see a problem. Katara mentored Aang in water bending, but they still got married.

Staff have repeatedly supported Shiro and Keith in a romantic context, and have done so since the very beginning. To the point where Shiro’s VA came up with the ship name for it and one of the episode Directors drew fanart of it. Doesn’t sound to me like they were trying to push the whole “brotherly” idea very much.

And we’ve been told that the show runners are fighting for lgbt representation, and that it’s something they’ve been working towards since the very beginning, that the start of that has been there since the first season:

Lauren (after being asked about the lgbt rep in korrasami and whether Voltron would ever “take that step”): “We have those first 13 episodes and if we ever went beyond that, we would like to push the envelope.” (source here)

Will we be seeing any lgbt representation?

Lauren: “It’s super important to us.”

Joaquim: “Just know that from our prospective, we’re fighting to create as open and broad a spectrum of characters as we can.”

Lauren: “We can’t give you any definite answers, but just know that–”

Joaquim: “We’re fighting for as broad and open representation as we can.”

The only possible relationship I can think of that could’ve grown between two characters since season 1, that the writers have been steadily growing and still supporting, that has even a fraction of a chance of happening and would be worth fighting for in how prominent and well written it would be–is sheith. I know people like kl/ance too, but the writers have already said point black it isn’t happening and have only used female pronounce to describe Lance’s future love interest:

Interviewer: “I feel like there was a little tease? It seems shippers want to ship Lance and Keith together, so are there gonna be any hints of that at all? Or is it just more like–okay, they’re friends, they’re starting to become friends.”

Lauren: “I think we had a very natural arc in mind for those two. Which is, they start out at odds, but then they grow to kind of respect each other. And if that leads into people being like–they’re spending time together! Then that’s a ‘thing,’ but…We’re not trying to cater to or bait anyone into anything, we’re just trying to do what’s right for the story.”

Joaquim: “We also try not to be overtly affected by what popular opinion might be.”

Lauren: “And we’re working in animation. Our schedule is so far in advance for that–even if people shipped Keith and Lance, we couldn’t go back and just change the story–to be like and now they’re in love!”

Joaquim: “There’s just no way. We’re already years past that storyline, you know?” (source)

Interviewer: What would Lance look for in a future Mr. or Mrs. Blue Lion? I’m gonna guess she meant Red Lion now. I think she’s trying to fill out her space Tindr profile. But yea, what is Lance’s–And I like this, because Lance is kind of all over the place. He hits on anything that moves and is pretty, which all the aliens are pretty. But what would he look for, really, in a partner or a soulmate?

Lauren: I don’t know if Lance knows what he needs. I know what he might look for, but what he might look for is not necessarily what he needs. I think he needs someone who is self-assured and knows herself, so that he can kind of become that same person and know himself. (source)

So if there’s going to be any lgbt relationship, I’m certain it’s sheith. Recently, Lauren has also talked about fans pointing out the sheith cameo at the garrison, and excitedly said, “I put that shit in there!” And added that, “Shiro was still his guiding light. It was good.” I honestly think part of why she got so enthusiastic over it was because they’re coming closer and closer to revealing a relationship they’ve worked very long on and fought hard for and have kept under wraps. This was also teased when Jeremy said, “Hey, backstory guys. There’s more of it.” And Joaquim added, “It exists!” So there is a big story there, and we’re definitely getting it. (source)

Unlike Matt and Pidge, any inkling of Shiro and Keith’s backstory prekerberos is something the narrative’s always very secretive about it. Why keep that hidden unless it was going to reveal something monumental about their relationship? Like say, Keith harboring feelings for Shiro? Even just throwing in this little cameo like that, people might say it’s nothing. But we saw a similar background cameo with Zarkon and Honerva in the Black Lion’s flashback–and that leads to a whole love story. It honestly makes sense to me if they were planning something similar with Shiro and Keith.

#voltron spoilers #voltron #sheith #shiro #keith

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shostakobitchh · 7 years

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Good luck at that camp! Update gitp soon, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for it😆 I have a oneshot request for severus finding out Ariel had a boyfriend.. BUT.. lily is still alive so she's there too. Please! I love you💞🌺❤️

“BOYFRIEND?”

Sev’s voice booms throughout the house, causing Lily to almost drop the book she’s been trying to get through for the past half hour. She swears the plaster is crinkling off the wall as Harry’s head pops into the den.

“Heads up – the cat’s out of the bag. Snape is ready to rumble.” he says, looking more excited than uneasy.

Lily sighs, setting down her book – she’ll be learning how to baste a turkey by Valentine’s Day, at this rate. She’s horrid at cooking, and her family knows this, but it doesn’t stop her from trying. This will be Ariel’s last Christmas as a minor – as a child, even though Lily knows she hasn’t been for quite some time – and had thought roasted bird of some kind was fancy enough for the occasion.

“What tipped him off?” Lily asks, not in any kind of mood to meditate between the two of them. Severus and Ariel were cut from the same cloth, which explained their closeness – from the day she’d been born, they’d been inseparable – but it also meant that when they went at it, things got nasty quickly. There were limits to their relationship, however, which was why Ariel had told Lily she’d been seeing someone, and not Severus.

“Ariel used the word ‘date’ by accident.” Harry tells her, finally looking worried as the floor vibrates beneath them – something’s fallen… or been smashed purposefully. “He’s on the warpath.”

“He’s a big baby,” Lily mutters under her breath. “it’s jealousy more than anything. He doesn’t like sharing people’s attention.”

“Was he like that with you?”

“When we were kids. It stopped when he got into it with a colleague from work he thought was flirting. Turns out my colleague was in a happy, long term relationship with his boyfriend. That shut him up for good.”

Harry appears to be biting back a laugh. “Well… Damon definitely isn’t gay, Mum. He’s made that very clear.”

“I wish you hadn’t said that.”

“Sorry. Just trying to lighten the situation.”

The “situation” seems to have gone completely nuclear as Lily steps into the kitchen. Harry hangs back, at least twenty paces from the archway; just enough to see what’s going on, but not too far in to be actually seen himself.

“You are acting ridiculous!” Ariel is strangling out when Lily finally intervenes. When she catches sight of her, Ariel looks to Lily and points her finger at her father. “He’s being ridiculous!”

Lily eyes the broken bowl scattered across the linoleum. “Whoever broke my china is definitely not the brightest.”

Severus doesn’t seem to fit the word “ridiculous;” rabid seems to be more appropriate. There’s that crazed, manic look in his eyes that only appears when he’s really got himself worked up. Lily’s only ever witnessed it a handful on times – when Dumbledore told them about the Prophecy is one occasion that comes to the forefront of her mind. He’s trembling too, operating on that frequency only Severus can function on. It’s more like he’s vibrating, really… or maybe it’s just his magic. Over the years, Lily has given up trying to decode him and resigned herself to accepting that Sev will never really operate like a normal human being when he gets worked up like this.

“Did you know?” Severus demands of Lily in a low, dangerous voice.

Lily gives him a bored look. “That Ariel has been seeing Damon? Yes, I have. He’s a wonderful boy, Severus. There’s really no reason for all of this.”

“You knew and didn’t tell me?” Severus hisses – Lily can practically hear his molars smoking as his teeth grind together.

“I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d break my china.” Lily glares at him pointedly. “Ariel has been waiting for the right moment. It’s her first real relationship –”

“I don’t need you to speak for her.” he snaps. “She’s already rattled off her excuses.”

“I’m trying to explain everything to you, but you won’t listen!” Ariel shouts back, obviously exasperated. “

Lily narrows her eyes at the both of them. "I think you both need to cool off a bit. Ariel, don’t raise your voice at your father, and Severus, stop being so condescending. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Hasn’t done – she’s been sneaking around with some miscreant!” Severus gives her an incredulous, insulted look. “She’s been lying for months!”

“I’m seventeen!” Ariel interjects. “I don’t need your permission to date someone!”

“As long as you live under my roof, you’re to obey my rules.” Severus snarls. “Lying to me for months on end is more than a violation. I have half a mind to take your wand.”

Ariel’s eyes widen in horror. “If you take my wand, I’ll –”

“Threats, now? Please, keep going, show me how untrustworthy you’ve become.”

“I was waiting for the right moment, Dad! I wasn’t trying to keep you in the dark! I wanted to tell you…”

“So why didn’t you?”

“I wanted to get to know him better before I introduced you… if we didn’t work out, I didn’t want you to meet him only for us to break up a week later, but things are serious now.”

Wrong word, Lily thinks to herself as Severus’ face thunders. Serious might as well mean eloped, in his state.

“Serious?” he rumbles. “How serious?”

Ariel’s face goes as red as her hair. “He… well, he told me he loved me.”

Lily’s eyebrows hit her forehead. This is news to her too. It’s not unwelcome, but it is a bit startling. Then again, James had told her that he loved her on their first date. She thanks any deity listening that Damon seems to possess a little more tact.

Severus is quickly turning grey, the color in his lips fading as quickly as the light in his eyes. The black umber are rapidly becoming smoking coals, ready to spark a flame that’ll burn anyone in their line of fire.

Now definitely isn’t the time to be telling Severus this, regardless of how happy Lily fleetingly feels for Ariel. Severus is going to make her regret ever looking at a boy, if Lily doesn’t do something, and soon.

“I think what Ariel is trying to say,” Lily quickly inserts herself between Severus’ impending aneurysm and the tears that would result. “is that she didn’t want to seem like she was going about this carelessly, and I agree with her. I’d rather Ariel bring home someone that she thinks she’ll be with long term rather than a different boy every month.”

Severus’ nostrils flare. “There are no boys. Ever.”

Lily has heard this statement at least a million times since the day Ariel was born. She knows he means it, because he’s scared off the majority of boys that look Ariel’s way. Everyone knows about the Death-Eater-Turned-Spy-For-the-Order, and no one wants a piece of him.

Ariel foolishly thinks Severus is exaggerating. “So what? You want me to be alone for my entire life? No grandchildren?”

He looks downright horrified for a split second before his face rips itself back into a mask of fury. “Why in Merlin’s name would I want that?”

Ariel gets very quiet all of a sudden. She leans away from Severus, an almost hopeful expression on her face, like morning light fading as clouds creep over the sun.

“Do you mean that?” Ariel asked quietly. “You really won’t give Damon a chance?”

“He could be the bloody heir to the crown, and I still wouldn’t accept it.”

Ariel’s face pinches together in hurt, and then, stone cold resignation. It was the kind that made Lily’s ribs ache, like she was watching something happen that shouldn’t. But she knew what Ariel was feeling, and what she was about to do because of it.

She spins on her heel and marches through the doorway Harry has holed himself in. Lily quickly gives her son a look, one that conveys what he’s already doing before she can thank him with her eyes. Harry is already holding open Ariel’s bedroom door for her, slipping inside after her, but letting her send Severus a final message with a dramatic slam.

“Well, that was fun.” Lily says flatly. “You sure know how to put some flair into a performance. Revolted by grandchildren? Icing on the cake, Severus. Really.”

His palms hit the counter, hunched over as his eyes slide closed. “Seventeen is much too young to think about… yes, I’m revolted by the fact that she’s even considering that now. She’s too damn smart to give up everything for some schoolgirl romance.”

“Ariel isn’t talking about now, you dolt.” Lily rolls her eyes. “She was projecting.”

Severus doesn’t respond to that – not even the name-calling, which is at least enough to warrant a lip curl. Lily knows he needs to vent, to rage and shout until he’s exhausted, but he seems to have extinguished himself. There’s a strange, pensive look on his face Lily’s never seen him wear before. It usually takes him a day or so to realize he’s fucked up, but then again, Ariel has always been a special case. The second she started crying as a child, Severus would bend, even if Ariel was in the wrong.

“Why wouldn’t she tell me?” he asks, his voice suddenly very quiet. “She doesn’t keep things from me. That’s not who she is. It’s this boy…”

“No, Sev.” Lily shakes her head. “It’s not Damon. She’s afraid of you.”

His head snaps up. “Afraid of me?”

“I don’t think Ariel wants to disappoint you. She wants your approval… it’s important to her… maybe more important than it should be.”

“No boy is good enough for her.” Severus growls. “I’m not disappointed – I could never… she’s settling.”

“No, Sev,” Lily places a hand on his arm. “she’s happy. Isn’t that what matters most?”

He looks up at her, his face a dome of many colors.

“You should apologize to her for overreacting.” Lily says. “And to me, for breaking my plate.”

Severus doesn’t react – she’s not used to that, but she takes the hint and leaves him to wallow, and ponder. He and Ariel are one and the same when it comes to this kind of thing. Lily knows she’s right when she runs into Harry in the hallway.

“She wanted to be alone,” he tells her. “I thought she’d want to vent, but…”

Lily nods, but keeps an ear open for the next several minutes.

When she hears a knock ring from down the hallway, she smiles, and goes back to her book.

#redsorrow #oneshot #writing until my hands fall off #lily vibes #ariel vibes #snape vibes

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