#this is not me saying i agree with the complete estrangement they have in part 2 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

burntblueberrywaffles · 4 months

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the desperate anidala bitches shall rejoice, because i come offering a second rec list 😌 /lh

My Anidala/Vaderdala rec list! (part 2)

You can find the first rec list here!

sorry I took so long this got buried way down in my drafts but it's finally out 🫡

some of these are not complete so do check chapter count and pls dont yell at me asdfhgkjfh

Modern AUs

The Bet

Anakin's had a crush on Padmé since fourth grade, and after putting up with his pining for seven years, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are finally stepping in and making a bet that he can't ask her to junior prom in the spring. Meanwhile, Padmé is realizing that Anakin isn't as annoying as she'd always thought. In fact, her feelings towards him are starting to go in quite the opposite direction...

Snow Place Like Home

For genre-typical convoluted reasons involving ill-timed blizzards, Padmé is forced to spend the holidays at Anakin's house. Anakin isn't as upset about his boss staying with him for Christmas as he probably should be.

Second Chances

When Luke Amidala and Leia Skywalker meet at summer camp, they're shocked to discover that they're long-lost twins. The logical next step? Getting their estranged parents back together.

I usually avoid Parent traps AU just because I dislike it as a setup, but when it comes to Anidala a bitch is desperate, and this was a cute and fun one, I really enjoyed it!

Lemon

“What other secret fantasies do I have that are glaring neon signs for you?” Anakin asks. “You’re conflicted,” Padmé says, “because on one hand you want to be a very good boy for me, but on the other you want to misbehave so I have a reason to punish you.” He blows out a plume of smoke and taps the ash off his cigarette. “You know, I really thought you were a nerd. I thought I'd have to be like, ‘Hey, how about you tie me up sometime.' Get you into this stuff little by little. But no, you’re diving right in like we met on a BDSM subreddit or something.” Or: Padmé has car problems. Thankfully she knows a good mechanic.

normally, I probably never would have checked out this fic, (mommy kink is just not my thing) but as previously stated, A BITCH WAS DESPERATE and you know what it actually slapped 😌

Rebound

Padmé Naberrie has just been broken up with. She wasn't prepared for a night out with her girls to find her a rebound. She certainly wasn't prepared for Anakin Skywalker.

Sith-Raised Anakin

the inevitable end of dancing with the devil

"Maybe it was too crass to compare the devil to such a creature—Lord Vader wasn’t the devil, he was worse." Senator Amidala was undoubtedly one of the most respected and adored public servants to walk the galaxy. Lord Vader was not. Vaderdala AU. Arranged Marriage AU

A Worthy Sacrifice

Chancellor Palpatine has dropped the act and decided to rule the galaxy openly as Darth Sidious. His reign wouldn’t be half as successful without his unhinged attack dog Darth Vader, a much rumoured warbringer who appears in black robes with a saber red as blood and brings even the strongest revolutionaries to their knees. Padmé is not only fighting for her home country but the freedom of the known regions and she is desperate to turn the tides of this war which is why she agrees to the deal Sidious offers her: A child with this favourite Sith Lord in exchange for her home: Naboo.

This is one of my favourite fics with this trope!

Pearl in My Head

Padmé's just starting her career as a Senator when she attracts some unwanted attention from the Emperor, who has decided on a very different role for her in the Empire. [empire already exists, arranged marriage/forced proximity au! loosely follows some aotc/rots events]

What Was I Made For?

Darth Vader was not a man made for love, but this was not love. Or, Basically, Padme and Vader are friends with benefits, but she's so nice to him that it makes him question his entire existence.

FOR YOUR LOVE (i’ll do whatever you want)

𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰? 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰? 𝐢'𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐢’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐢’𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 He gave her that devilish smirk of his. The one that had gotten her into this mess in the first place. “I’ll give you what you want.” OR, A rare moment of intimacy happens for Padmé and Anakin – whose relationship is strictly carnal.

I have yet to read the second chapter (will get on that when I get out of the snowbaird hole lol) but I really enjoyed the first one!

Vaderdala

love me, love me (like you used to do)

In which Vader fails to capture his son, but gains a daughter, his wife, another pair of twins... and the past.

this fic was SO GOOD holy shit literally made me feral when i fiorst read it

Love Like Ghosts

There are very few people who know the location of the Rebel Alliance’s base on Naboo. Even fewer who know the names of any of the people who work there. So when Padmé gets up on a cold morning, the windows frosted and harsh wind rattling the doors of the large house that’s been the headquarters of the Alliance for nearly two decades, to see a package with her name on it sitting on the doorstep, her heart stops in her chest.

loved this fic but as a heads up it doesn't provide "they get back together" closure so be ready for that

news of old by @ineedausernamel829

Padme is a member of the rebel alliance. During a mission, her past relationships with darth Vader comes to light

No vaderdala interactions, but exploration of the relationship through Padme talking about it - It’s so so good

Sad Vaderdala hours

Imperial Socialite

In a timeline where Darth Vader doesn't face immolation and Padmé Amidala lives, their marriage continues in a form that is at once far more honest and deeply dysfunctional. Though Padmé tries to remain within the Imperial Senate, the trauma of her husband's betrayal--and the apparent deaths of her children--force her into early retirement. Too much of a liability to aid the emerging Rebel cause directly, Padmé seeks out new avenues of defying the Empire: by leveraging her connection to Vader to mess with the Imperial Elites of Coruscant.

it could be sweet

an interconnected collection of stories based on the idea of what would have happened if Padmé had lived. (aka me finally writing down my self-indulgent vaderdala daydreams aka me living my best life)

This series is so good in a "rip my heart out of my chest and steps on it" way

all joy sucked dry

Her husband had fallen, her life’s work had crumbled, and her own babies were strangers to her. But she didn’t even care, and that was the worst part. Or: Padme deals with postpartum depression, and Vader is ill-equipped to help her

Others

Across the Seas

Padmé Amidala - the daughter of the royal governor of Jamaica - never expected her life to be much more than it already was. Her routine is to dress in her finest clothes, put on a pretty face, and ensure she is presentable to not only the people but to the many men attempting to court her. However, Padmé's world is flipped around when pirates attack, and the young woman finds herself in the company of their fearsome, brash, (dashing) Captain. Initially sickened by the roughish man, Padmé will quickly learn there is so much more to the mysterious Captain Skywalker. A pirate's life for me

The pirate AU I didn’t know I needed. So good

Right & Wrong

After they watch a holoshow that portrays reprehensible content, Anakin unwittingly reveals the concerning way Chancellor Palpatine acts towards him. Padmé will not let anyone harm her husband — and she’ll make this Obi-Wan, the Jedi Council, and even the whole galaxy’s problem if she needs to.

when the grooming is actually adressed >>

cestrum nocturnum

Summer on Naboo, the Clone Wars have yet to begin, and Anakin is tasked with protecting Senator Amidala after an attempt is made on her life. It's too bad that every moment with her has him in agony, and every moment apart is even worse—especially after that night in the courtyard ... Or: Anakin spends a torturous time on Naboo in the company of the person he loves because he doesn't know how to tell her his true feelings.

Naboo smut 🤭

And that's it! if anyone has recommendations for a fic that isn't in either of my rec lists, please let me know! I am so so desperate I need my anidala fix

Since I was deep into the Star Wars hole and desperate, I’ve also been reading non-Anidala/non-Anidala centric fics about Darth Vader/Anakin/the Skywalker family, so I will be posting a rec list for that soon! (When i say soon it can mean anything from a day to months, my brain is not always great at tasks, if anyone wants to be notified when I do post it lmk and I’ll tag you ❤️)

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aficionadoenthusiast · 2 years

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anybody else notice how convoluted and honestly bad the Hogwarts housing system is? I've been thinking a lot about it lately, and there are some things that really don't sit right with me.

first, the sorting hat supposedly decides a person's house by which one will bring a person to their greatest potential, whether bad or good being decided by the individual, completely ignoring if a person values happiness over success or vice versa. for example, snape. the man would have done just fine in ravenclaw (and he had the mind for it), and he would have been happier as he wouldn't have fallen in with the death eaters, thereby wouldn't have been influenced into their bloodpurists views, subsequently keeping his friendship with Lily all the while not forming a rivalry with the marauders. this is not to say he wouldn't have found bad influences in racenclaw or wouldn't ever have found himself on the marauders' bad side, but I think we can all agree his social network wouldn't have been nearly as toxic had he been placed in ravenclaw. nevertheless, the sorting hat saw the potential slytherin offered him as a future spy and dumbledore's right hand man, resulting in snape losing all chance of a happy life in which he didn't bully innocent children because they might've saved his obsession's life in another timeline. with that in mind, the marauders would have done incredibly well as slytherins. they were cunning, enough to figure out how to become animagi before they were even halfway through school, without anyone figuring it out (besides McGonagall, i refuse to believe she didn't know). they also created the marauders' map, a stunning mosaic of advanced spellwork and potions. they kept remus' werewolf secret for their whole lives (except for The Prank obviously). they spent countless hours creating pranks specifically designed to screw with people they didn't like. this seems a bit familiar, yes? draco malfoy, goblet of fire, those stupid badges he made about harry and cedric, and then later "weasley is our king" in ootp. now, while the other pranksters of the wizarding world were certainly just as smart and creative in their pranking, there is one important difference. the weasley twins mainly just wanted to cause chaos and a bit of fun in an otherwise boring (at least to them) environment. the marauders and draco often specifically targeted someone or a group of people (*cough* slytherins *cough*) whether obvious or not. while Peter is the outlier in this example, he was not without cunning. he spent a significant part of the war betraying his best friends just to make sure he would come out on top, again, without anyone realizing. the marauders may have been courageous, but I think that their cunning overshadowed their bravery by a long shot, but the sorting hat saw the path Gryffindor offered them: direct ties to the greatest hero known to the wizarding world. the only excuse for these housing mistakes is that the sorting hat is dumbledore's dramatic little weasel.

speaking of the sorting hat, its blood status bias is off the charts. how else can we explain the uneven distribution of purebloods and muggleborns? are there no cunning muggleborns? we know that's not true because of hermione, who also would have been a great candidate for slytherin. also, regulus. I can't imagine he would have done any worse in ravenclaw than he did in slytherin. the biggest reason he was in slytherin was cowardice born from fear of disappointing his parents as his older brother did. this only ruled him out of gryffindor, though, not ravenclaw. however, as the "pure blood" house, the sorting thought it a better fit for him. in slytherin, he suffered, and his cowardice continued to be nurtured along with pureblood ideals until the moment his conflicting character traits went head to head and he died at the tragic age of 18, estranged from his brother and stuck in a war he had no choice but to join but finally having let his conscience win. this is the great potential the sorting hat gave him. if the sorting had ignored his blood status, he could have been a hero of the war alongside his brother, or, more than likely, he would've still died young in a war he had no choice but to join. despite this, the sorting hat placed yet another pureblood in slytherin while keeping other more deserving characters such as Hermione and Remus in gryffindor. yet another example is Neville. he would have done so much better in Hufflepuff where he would have been nurtured instead of mocked. snape wouldn't have hated him as much because of the rivalry. and he would have had better access to the greenhouses with sprout as his head of house. instead, the sorting hat put him in Gryffindor where so many other purebloods had been put before because it is one of the two "main" houses where people are more likely to be noticed.

finally, distribution. there is no way to place people evenly and equally in the houses as first years while still doing justice to their potentials and personalities. if the sorting hat were to give an equal number of students to each house every year, there would absolutely be kids in houses completely unfit for them. this is not a slight against the sorting hat; this is plain fact. there is just no way that each year of students could be evenly distributed between houses. however, if one house gets say 12 students and another gets 2, that isn't fair to each house. the house that gets more students would have more responsibility to keep their kids in line, keep their grades up, stuff like that, but they would have a better chance of winning the house cup (more kids to win house points) and quidditch cup (more kids to choose from with a greater variety of skills). meanwhile, the smaller house could have two super smart kids, bringing up their yearly average, but they would be less likely to win house points, and it would be difficult to be picky about who was on the quidditch team. another danger would be if there was only one kid in a house in one year. the kid would be more isolated and would have a hard time making friends. it would be a very lonely 7 years. beyond that, what if there were no kids sorted into a house in one year? one seventh of house points are lost, and that whole grade loses an entire section of people who are meant to help them develop. either way, equal distribution with bad housing placements or unequal distribution with unfairness, many kids each year suffer.

in conclusion, while funky and fun on paper, the housing system has many flaws, including but not limited to potential prioritized over happiness, obvious bias, and bad distribution management. this is not even accounting for the stereotypes and prejudices that come with each house, yet another mark that people have to live with but get no choice in. it would be far better if the kids were sorted by age with specific interests being available through clubs and allowing kids to choose their roommates as they grow up. however, no system will ever be perfect, but we can at least try to minimize the negative effects kids have to deal with because of a choice they didn't even get to make.

#old

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jujumin-translates · 5 months

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Event | Act 3.5 Event - NEW ERA GARDEN | Chapter 6

*Contains spoilers for Act 12 - eternal moment*

Yukio: I don’t think Okita Souji has that unworldly of a feel about him. I think he rather clung to life and struggled until the end.

Reni: I want to enchant the beautiful and fleeting life of Okita Souji.

Yukio: Well, I want to see you do a more human and clumsy Souji, Reni!

Kasumi: …Are we seeing those two fighting more than usual? I hope they’ll be okay.

Yuzo: I think they’re both gettin’ so heated because they both wanna make somethin’ good. We should probably just leave ‘em be…

Reni: I don’t agree with what you’re saying at all, I just can’t picture it.

Reni: If you insist on that idea so much, do it yourself.

Yukio: --...

Yukio: Even if I were to do it, it wouldn’t be an Okita Souji that blooms in the way that only you can, Reni.

Reni: …

*Clapping*

Syu: Alright, let’s take a break.

Reni: --.

Yukio: Right, sorry. I’m going to get something to drink.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Reni: …

Syu: It’s really like back then.

Reni: No kidding. I’ve never been this mad at my age.

Syu: That’s a good thing.

Syu: (I still couldn’t help but butt in.)

Syu: (--I remember dragging them along back then too.)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

I never really liked Yukio Tachibana ever since I first joined the group, and even after Reiji left, I still had a hard time changing my mind about him.

It was because of Reiji’s invitation that I joined MANKAI Company in the first place.

Should I continue to stay in the theater company even without him?

Reiji wasn’t in contact with me much then, probably feeling awkward about leaving the troupe so suddenly.

The estrangement from my close and true friend was all due to Yukio Tachibana.

My frustration grew quickly, building up until I felt like I could explode, so I tried to avoid having any relationship with Yukio as much as I possibly could.

But then on the first day of Winter Troupe’s performance--.

I ignored all of Yukio’s direction and performed the role in a completely spur-of-the-moment way.

It was 100% out of rebellion against Yukio. It was childish on my part, I didn’t even think about the other members on stage.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

After the performance, Yukio, looking calm as ever, came to me while I was changing out of my costume.

“...Was that the way you wanted to bloom in your own way, Syu-san?”

When he asked that, I nodded in response, annoyed.

“I see… that’s fine then.”

Yukio spoke quietly, but I felt like he could see through my lie.

I wasn’t really considering the performance.

I just wanted to take out my frustration on Yukio.

I think I did the worst thing I could’ve possibly done as an actor.

It was the biggest disgrace in my entire acting career.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

After that, the rest of Winter Troupe and the other troupe’s members worried about me as I calmed down. And the next day, I returned to the original plan and continued to perform as usual.

I thought to myself about how I had become such a half-assed actor.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Then, after the finale, Yukio stopped me in the dressing room again.

While I was thinking that he might blame me for the first day’s performance or kick me out of the troupe, Yukio said something that surprised me.

“I want you to be the lead of the next Winter Troupe performance.”

“Hah?”

“I got the idea after seeing your performance on opening day. It didn’t fit this play, but it gave me a look into a new side of you, Syu-san.”

“You’re always so detached from the world and cynical, it seems like the always manly Syu-san has been hiding a darker side all this time… I was excited to think that you might be able to bloom on stage in this way as well. Maybe I got too caught up in stereotypes. I want to try this new side of you out for the next play.”

Yukio’s eyes were sparkling as he told me that…

Even though I didn’t like the guy, I couldn’t help but be stunned.

He calmly sees through any situation and follows his heart as a director and as a man of theater rather than his personal feelings.

He’s a far cry from me, the guy who nearly ruined an entire performance because of his own feelings.

As a man of theater myself, I had to admit that it had me grinding my teeth in frustration.

I thought he was exactly like I wanted to be, the man who I hated as a person, but respected as a man of theater.

So I couldn’t quit yet.

I made a strong vow that day… that I wouldn’t quit this theater company until I had taken everything I possibly could from this man.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Reni: …Cheers.

Syu: Yukio and Hiro are also going out for drinks today.

Reni: Seems like they’re taking turns inviting each other out during rehearsals. Another thing I don’t get.

Syu: It was interesting that he happened to have invited Yuzo for a drink first.

Reni: Well, I don’t think they’ll have too many meetings like that.

Syu: Yuzo, me, Hiro, and now Zen. Have you went yet, Reiji?

Reni: We’ve been preparing together since before rehearsals started, so there’s nothing for us to talk about now.

Syu: I think you two should have a long talk and really get into it about the image of Okita Souji.

Reni: …What does he think about the way you’re playing Hijikata Toshizou?

Syu: Well…

Syu: I also talked to Yukio about it the other night over drinks here.

*Flashback start*

Yukio: He’s a different type of leader compared to the straightforward Kondou Isami, he’s a leader who will try and achieve his ideals by any means, a leader who’s willing to take on both the good and the bad…

Yukio: I think that kind of role fits you well, Syu-san.

Yukio: Even back in those days, you thought about the stage more than your own feelings, and put yourself first as an actor and a man of theater, didn’t you, Syu-san?

Yukio: I think a lot of you overlaps with the kind of person Hijikata is…

Syu: (…That’s something I learned from you, though.’

*Flashback end*

Reni: Willing to take on both the good and the bad… I see.

Syu: …By the way, I secretly told the first-gen Winter Troupe about that time.

Reni: …I thought we said that was confidential.

Syu: C’mon, all of GOD-za knows about it, don’t they?

Reni: …

Reni: For various reasons during “Traces of a Dream,” I couldn’t tell them beforehand.

Syu: Because of Yukio’s indiscriminate scouting, most of the first-gen members had no intention of making a living in theater.

Syu: They’re all not involved in theater anymore, but they were all happy.

Syu: Even if it’s not through theater, even if we’re no longer on stage together, it’ll never change. We’re still all friends who once stood on the same stage.

Syu: Relationships like that aren’t meant to just be broken. …I’ve come to believe that after seein’ the guys in the newborn troupes.

Reni: …

Syu: …In exchange for what we lost, we also gained something. And so did you, right?

Reni: …Yeah.

Reni: …However, there are moments when I unexpectedly think back to something I once lost.

Syu: The Souji you have in mind is Yukio, isn’t it?

Reni: …

Reni: A desire that can never be fulfilled, an idolization.

Reni: I couldn’t help but think of that and try to pursue it during rehearsal.

Reni: I thought that… we swore we’d stop chasing after what we lost.

Syu: Talk to Yukio before the performance. He’s the one who remembers the old days.

Syu: That’s why I have to let him say it this time.

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

#a3!#a3! translation #reni kamikizaka #yukio tachibana #syu otomiya

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dr-brainrot · 28 days

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Alastor's Time Alive + Deal Theory

You know why it’s important to know who Alastor’s victims were?

Because it’ll explain A LOT.

If Alastor was just another run of the mill serial killer, he probably killed for the thrill coupled with ego, trauma, and untreated psychological issues. His victims either had no connection, or they had a hyper specific trait but they were innocent people. Think Joker.

HOWEVER, let's say Alastor killed not so great people. Rapists, abusers, violent people, etc. I’m imagining a vigilante taking the law into their own hands. Alastor gets a thrill of living the double life while also feeling power over taking out shitty people. This would make sense given what we already see from him in the show. To our knowledge he doesn’t go after lesser sinners unless they cross him, he takes out big overlords, and anyone’s soul he has tied to him doesn't seem physically tethered to him. The souls he has (Husk, Nifty?) appear to live their lives until Alastor calls on them. This is much more humane (for hell) compared to certain overlords we’ve seen (*cough*Valentino*cough*).

So what? Alive Alastor (possibly) kills shitty people, gets a thrill from getting away with it and the power trip, he dies because he was sloppy with one of the bodies, and seems to be continuing his hunt for power and dominance in hell. Why does this change anything?

Because that would make him complex. Instead of just being this serial killer, he’s a serial killer with a vigilante complex and some sort of moral code.

And him being complex could point to who his deal is with and what his deal could be related to.

When Alastor is freaking out, he mentions “Once I figure out how to unclip my wings.” I don’t think this is alluding to Alastor being an angel (saint? Since he’s human idk if it's an angel), but it might allude to Alastor having a deal with an angel. But who? Haven’t we met all possible angels? Not necessarily.

Where’s Eve?

You’re telling me that the woman who ate the apple, a pretty significant part in bringing evil to earth, Adam’s second wife, is NOWHERE TO BE SEEN??? Yeah, no.

Adam and Eve are probably estranged, given Adam seems very interested in every other woman except Eve. I’m wondering if Eve would take the role of a 50s trad wife? I think the guilt and shame Lucifer has for being a fallen angel and his hand in bringing evil to the world could be mirrored in Eve, where she tries her best to be the perfect wife, perfect woman, to repent for her mistakes. She’s allowed in Heaven because she begs for forgiveness.

When the first extermination happens, she probably went down to Hell with Adam, to see what her actions resulted in. She gets to Hell and is shocked with what she sees. She sees sinners, but she also sees how complicated sinners are. They have families, there’s children down here, some sinners are trying to protect their loved ones from the extermination, fearful for their lives. She can’t unsee the human in the sinners.

And then she runs into Alastor, who just so happened to take a stroll to see where all these angels are coming from and wtf is going on??? Eve sees Alastor and she just has this gut feeling about him. A killer sure, but he was as complex as any of the other sinners down here.

So she goes up to him.

She talks with him and thinks that his actions were brutal, but he wasn’t killing anyone who’d be missed. He had a very specific moral code, with twisted execution, and probably grew up in a traumatizing environment. She sees how powerful he is and, while standing in the middle of blood and carnage, she makes a deal with him. She’ll give him some of her angelic powers under the condition that he will be her Hell diplomat, making sure Hell isn’t screwed over completely by Heaven. I feel like Eve would have a soft spot for Hell and its sinners and would feel bad that she got to go to Heaven, even with her sin, while the rest rot in Hell. Alastor 100% agrees because hell yeah more power. Eve’s first order is for Alastor to go down to Earth and make sure there are still sinners coming into Hell, even with the extermination happening.

So that’s what he does. He’s on Earth making sure souls come to hell for 7 years. Which would make sense of why Alastor knows modern slang in Stayed Gone. Granted he could have heard it in Hell, but he hasn't been in hell for the past 7 years, so how tf would his great depression ass know what a podcast is? I think Heaven would hear the news about Charlie’s hotel (They know about Angel Dust, they’re somewhat aware of the goings on in Hell) but because they thought it was a fruitless plan they didn’t really care, except for Eve. Eve eventually hears about Charlie’s idea and immediately wants to help her, sending Alastor back to hell to keep an eye on her and her hotel. Cue season 1.

This would make sense of why Alastor thought he could take on Adam without angelic weapons. He was already given some angelic powers, surely he’d be strong enough to hold his own! Until he gets his ass handed to him. Cue freak out.

I think the correlation between Lilith and Alastor both disappearing 7 years ago is just a coincidence, I think Lilith’s deal with Adam is separate from Alastor’s deal with Eve. I have other thoughts on Lilith and Adam’s deal but that’s for another post lol.

And I'm also operating under the impression that the exterminations have been going on for 7 years and not longer, but again that's another post.

I’d love to hear other theories! I’m still on the fence on Eve's motivations, and also her relationship to Lucifer? Like were they actually- uh… bow chika wow wow-ing??? What would that mean for Lucifer and Lilith’s relationship? Is Eve a jealous ex trying to get into the royal hell family??? That would mess up the story we’re told in the beginning, though I doubt the book was written with truth at the forefront (possibly propaganda). Honestly I’m buzzing with theories🤯

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel theory #hazbin hotel analysis #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin hotel eve #thisone'sadoozy #theory crafting #character thoughts

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fics-by-em · 7 months

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Amorous Facades - Chapter Thirteen

A wild night out leaves the lives of Jamie Tartt and Ophelia Adams more intertwined than they ever would have imagined.

Will their decision to try and use the situation to their advantage work out in their favour or will they realize that they should have cut their losses when they had the chance?

———-

previous chapter

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Note: I know I said I wouldn't be updating every week and that still stands, but I was inspired and had a little extra time this week so I finished this chapter faster than I expected and I'm so bad at waiting to post!

Still no guarantees on any kind of posting schedule, but please enjoy and let me know what you think!

———-

It was amazing to Lia how different she felt after taking her relationship with Jamie to the next level.

Once the line had been crossed, Jamie was more than happy to embrace the shift in their relationship and he made sure that she was constantly and consistently satisfied. His level of enthusiasm and commitment to the cause left her feeling giddy, refreshed and like she was glowing all the time. Similarly to the way she felt after she lost her virginity, she was sure that her sexual gratification was written all over her face and she was amazed that it wasn’t entirely obvious to everyone that she was getting regularly and thoroughly well fucked.

But life kept going with the world mostly oblivious to the change in her mood and demeanour. Lia found herself watching the clock more - as she was much more eager for time to pass quickly so she could get home to Jamie - but for the most part the days went by as they normally did.

Until one day an unexpected customer caught Lia completely off guard.

She was standing at the till, printing off a few receipts for returns they’d had earlier that morning when she heard the bell above the door ring. She called out a greeting without even looking up, but the voice that answered her immediately drew her attention.

“Hi, Lia,” Katie waved sheepishly. “How are you?”

It took Lia a moment to process the sight of her estranged best friend, but when she finally found her voice, her response was curt.

“I’m fine. What are you doing here?”

“I think I owe you an apology…”

Lia had been wanting to hear those words from Katie ever since she’d last seen her, but after all the time that had passed she just found the statement irritating.

“Yes, you absolutely do,” Lia informed her. “But it might be too little too late.”

The way Katie’s face fell had Lia feeling surprisingly conflicted. She felt the immediate flicker of smug satisfaction that she’d expected, but it was followed by a pang of guilt for being responsible for the sad look on her face. She had to admit that she looked rough. She was pale with dark circles under her eyes and the stringy, flat look of her hair told her that it hadn’t been washed for a few days. Considering Katie usually took great pride in her appearance, her dishevelled state made it clear that she was going through some kind of turmoil.

“I really hope it’s not,” she murmured, nervously biting her lip before turning her pleading eyes up to meet Lia’s. “Can I please just have a few minutes to explain? I want to make this right.”

All the many things that Katie had done to hurt Lia flashed through her mind. The way she never took her concerns about Daniel seriously and ignored her requests to be around him as little as possible, her unwarranted dislike of Jamie and rude assumptions about him, and the way she’d agreed with Mike and Daniel when they insisted that Lia had asked for all of the unwanted attention that Daniel had given her. The sting of hurt was still fresh and had an ache clenching her heart as she knew that there really wasn’t much that Katie could say to make amends for what she’d done.

But even with Jamie’s harsh criticism of her being a people pleaser giving her some doubts, Lia was still a firm believer in giving people a second chance.

“You can have fifteen minutes,” she decided after letting Katie sweat for a moment as she mulled it over. “My dad should be back soon and then I can take my break.”

“Perfect, thank you, Lia,” Katie said with a noticeable sigh of relief. “I’ll just, uh, browse while I wait.”

Lia nodded and Katie scurried off as if she wanted to get away before Lia could change her mind and when her dad came back from the errands he’d been running a few minutes later, the feeling was bittersweet. While Lia was admittedly curious about what Katie had to say and what had sparked her sudden epiphany that she needed to apologize, she knew it wasn’t going to be an easy conversation and the thought of any further conflict made her stomach twist with anxiety.

“Everything okay?” Her dad asked as he walked up to the counter. “You don’t look very well. Actually, you look like you’re about to be sick.”

“Katie’s here,” she informed him, knowing that he knew enough about what had happened between them to recognize how stressful that news would be. “She wants to talk, do you mind if I take my break early today?”

“No, not at all,” he assured her before pausing for a moment and adding, “Unless the right answer to that question is ‘no, absolutely not, we’re far too busy for you to have a break at all today’?”

His offer to be her scapegoat had a smile sliding onto his face, but she quickly shook her head.

“No, I think it’ll be okay,” Lia said with a cautious optimism in her voice. “I’d like to hear what she has to say and if worst comes to worst then at least I’ll get some closure out of it.”

“You’re wise beyond your years,” her dad teased as he walked around the counter to relieve her of her duties. “But good luck, I hope it all goes well.”

Lia murmured her thanks before slipping away and heading to the office to grab her things. She would absolutely need coffee to handle the conversation she was about to have and was planning on dragging Katie to the café next door, but as she grabbed her bag and picked her phone up off the desk, she paused to shoot off a quick text.

Hi Jamie. I’ll have to bail on our lunch date today, Katie just showed up and wants to chat. She says she owes me an apology, but I’m not optimistic that she’s truly come to her senses.

She was barely out of the office when her phone pinged with a response.

If you need me to come and teach anyone a lesson then you just let me know xx

His immediate readiness to leap to her defense had Lia biting back a smile and gave her confidence the lift that she needed as she ventured out to find Katie. It took her a minute to track her down, but the section of the bookstore that she found her in had Lia unable to resist making a snarky comment.

“Interesting that you’re in the self-help section,” she mused, catching Katie’s attention. “I’m not sure we have anything for people looking for advice on how to cope with the fact that their boyfriend’s best friend is a massive pervert.”

To her surprise, there was no eye roll or defensive comeback and Katie simply flashed her a sad smile.

“I was hoping for something more along the lines of ‘how to make a good apology’,” she admitted. “But if you do know of any books to help me with that problem too then I would be happy to read them.”

“I don’t, but I could probably give you a few tips about where you’ve gone wrong so far.” Lia hesitated as Katie cringed, but she continued before she could reply. “Can we pause this conversation for a minute though? I don’t have long and I need to run next door to grab a coffee, but we can talk there if you want to come with me.”

Again, Katie eagerly agreed as if she was worried that at any moment she would say something that would make Lia kick her straight to the curb, but an awkwardness crept in as they walked out of the store to the coffee shop next door with neither of them really knowing what to say to each other. Lia had a million questions and she was sure that Katie did too, but diving into any kind of small talk before they’d addressed the bigger issues seemed pointless. So, they waited quietly until they had their drinks in their hands and Lia had led them to a quiet table at the back of the small café.

“Is it okay for us to talk here?” Katie asked once they’d sat down. “Aren’t you worried about being recognized or that someone might overhear?”

“I never get recognized unless I’m with Jamie and even then he’s the one who draws the attention,” Lia shrugged. “Football fans aren’t super into the gossip of who the players are dating and people who are into the gossip don’t care enough about me to memorize my face.”

“Oh, well, that’s good,” Katie smiled. “I was worried about you and how being so well-known would affect your life.”

“Oh, really?” Lia questioned, her incredulity clear in her voice. She hadn’t planned to dive straight into things, but Katie’s supposed concern was too ridiculous to go unchallenged. “You didn’t seem very worried about me when you invited Daniel out for drinks with us the night you met Jamie just so he could continue to harass me.”

“I didn’t know he was going to do that,” Katie protested. “I genuinely thought he wanted to apologize and make peace!”

“Okay, but when he started making comments, you didn’t speak up, did you?” Lia pressed. “Do you have any idea how humiliating that was for me? You sat in front of my boyfriend and let Daniel and Mike act like I’d practically been trying to cheat on him. Telling him that I was flirting and playing hard to get all the time, trying to seduce Daniel. If Jamie didn’t trust me as much as he does then that could have completely ruined our relationship!”

“I know, it was awful. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for the conversation to go that way, I promise.”

Katie had the decency to look ashamed, but Lia’s anger was still bubbling up inside her as she finally had the chance to say everything that she wanted to say.

“But what about the fact that you agreed with them? You knew how uncomfortable Daniel made me, you knew that I genuinely didn’t like being around him and had no interest in him romantically, but you agreed with everything that they said and made me look like an absolute idiot.”

“I just panicked,” Katie tried to explain with a frantic edge growing in her voice. “I know it’s completely unforgivable, but I was so torn between you and Mike and I just wanted it all to go away.”

Katie’s words stung Lia as if she’d been slapped in the face. She knew that Katie was trying to own up to her mistakes, but hearing her admit that she prioritized keeping the peace over protecting Lia hurt more than she’d expected. She’d known all along that that was exactly what had happened, but there was something hard to swallow about hearing her admit it and a scoff fell from her lips.

“Well, I guess you got what you wanted then. With me out of your life, there’s no conflict.”

“Having you out of my life was not what I wanted,” Katie’s voice was firm, but there was a sheepishness to it when she continued. “And it hasn’t stopped the conflict either.”

“I can’t say that I’m surprised,” Lia said with a roll of her eyes, but her curiosity had her asking, “What’s happened now?”

“He scared off my new flatmate,” Katie admitted. “She was so sweet and lovely, we got along so well and I thought it was going to be a great fit, but we all went out for drinks one night and Daniel wouldn’t leave her alone. Then he started showing up at the flat all the time, pretending like he thought Mike was supposed to be there, but it was obviously just an excuse to get close to Lily. It freaked her right out and now she’s moving out by the end of the week.”

“And now you believe that I was right when I said that he was the problem.”

“I do,” she nodded. “But I don’t know what to do. Mike can’t see that Daniel is doing anything wrong, he thinks everyone is just overreacting and misunderstanding him because he sees such a different side of him.”

Again, Lia felt a sting of hurt. Mike had been like a brother to her and it felt like a huge betrayal that he still thought she was being dramatic even after another woman had proved that Daniel’s behaviour was a pattern and not an isolated incident. But then another thought hit her and had the simmering anger boiling up again.

“Wait, is that why you’re here? Did you just come to get advice because you’ve landed yourself in a shit situation?”

“No! I came here to apologize!” Katie insisted. “I realized how awful I’d been to you and how right you were about him being dangerous, if you had any insight to offer then that would just be a bonus.”

“I have no insight for you,” Lia scowled. “You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out.”

“I know, but I don’t know how,” she practically whispered with a wounded look on her face that had Lia battling a flicker of guilt despite her pride at her uncharacteristic ability to stay strong. “I messed up, Lia. I want to make it right, but Mike will never cut ties with Daniel which means he’ll always be a part of my life.”

It took Lia a moment to process her admission and Katie watched her closely for any sign of a reaction, but Lia knew exactly what Daniel’s presence would mean for their friendship.

“Then I won’t be.” The words came out less confidently than she would have liked, but the impact was all the same and Katie deflated completely. It tugged at her heart, but she knew for her own mental health, it was the only answer. “I’m not going to put myself in a position where I’m constantly forced to be around someone who makes me feel unsafe and acts like I’m some sort of lying slut who was trying to cheat on my boyfriend and only got mad when I got caught. I don’t deserve that.”

“You don’t,” Lia agreed. “But I can’t convince Mike that he’s wrong and I can’t lose Mike so I don’t know what I can do to fix this.”

“I don’t have an answer for you, but there’s no point in us even trying to fix our friendship if he’s still around.”

At first, Katie opened her mouth like she was about to argue, but all that came out was a sigh.

“Alright, I can understand that,” she relented. “It makes me very sad, but I understand where you’re coming from.”

The fact that Katie felt she had a reason to be sad did nothing to earn her any sympathy or ease any of Lia’s frustration. She was the victim in the Daniel situation and Katie was the only one who could fix it. She was the powerless one who was stuck between losing her best friend or being subject to constant sexual harassment, Katie had no right to be upset by her decision if she was going to do nothing to change the situation.

“Yes, it makes me sad too, but I guess sometimes that’s just life,” Lia snapped as she rose from her seat. “I need to get back to work, but thanks for stopping by, Katie. It was…enlightening.”

Without waiting for Katie to respond, Lia walked out of the café. It took more willpower than she cared to admit not to look back and see what Katie’s reaction was to her bold exit, but she needed some time to wrap her mind around the conversation they’d just had. She’d accepted the fact that their friendship would not be a quick fix - if they even managed to fix it at all - but she had to admit that she’d let her hopes rise a bit when Katie first walked into the bookshop waving the proverbial white flag. Knowing that she still wasn’t ready to make the changes in her life that would be necessary for them to start building bridges was disappointing to say the least and Lia almost wished she hadn’t bothered to stop by at all.

——

The rest of the day passed by as Lia floated around in a fog. She was distracted as she replayed her conversation with Katie over and over again in her head, but by the end of the day she’d found no more clarity than she’d had when she left the café. Her dad had watched her worriedly and even offered to stay late and tidy up the shop for her so she could go home early, but she half-heartedly and unconvincingly assured him she was fine and she did enjoy the solitude she had when he left, flipping over the open sign and locking the door behind him.

However, her time alone with her thoughts was quickly interrupted by the sound of someone tapping on the window, but the sight of Jamie waving when she turned around had a weak smile sliding onto her face as she hurried to open the door.

“Hi,” he greeted her, his hands in his pocket as he anxiously rocked on his heels. “Is it alright if I come in?”

“Of course,” Lia nodded, furrowing her brow as she stepped aside. Jamie stopped by almost every night to help clean and drive her home and he’d never seemed so hesitant before. “Are you okay?”

“Depends,” he shrugged. “Are we okay?”

The question only deepened her confusion.

“As far as I know,” she nodded. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

The tension visibly drained from Jamie and Lia was relieved that she didn’t have to wait much longer for some insight into his strange behaviour as he quickly explained.

“Dunno, just got nervous when you didn’t answer my text earlier. Thought maybe Katie turned you against me.”

“Oh, Jamie, I’m sorry,” she frowned, feeling a genuine pang of guilt at leaving him waiting in suspense all afternoon. He’d messaged her shortly after she’d returned to work and while she’d seen the text, her racing thoughts seemed too wild to condense into any kind of summary short enough to fit into a text message. She’d intended to reply and assure him that she’d fill him in later, but it had slipped her mind. “I meant to answer you, but I’ve been a little distracted. She could never turn me against you though, no matter what she said.”

Leaning the broom she’d been sweeping with against the wall, Lia quickly closed the space between them to wrap her arms around Jamie’s waist and as he pulled her in close against the muscles of his chest and his scent surrounded her, she felt clear headed for the first time all afternoon. None of her problems had disappeared and it didn’t erase the pain of how their conversation had unfolded, but Lia felt grounded, safe, and reassured that she still had someone in her corner.

“I’m glad to hear that,” he murmured, pressing a kiss against the top of her head. “But how did it go? Are you friends again?”

“No, not even close,” Lia scoffed, slipping out of his grasp. “She basically just told me that I was right about Daniel because he harassed her new flatmate until she decided to move out just to get away from him and then whined about being unable to do anything about the situation because Mike still doesn’t believe any of it.”

“What a prick. Both of them. All three of them, actually.” Jamie shook his head in disgust and the blunt - but accurate - conclusion he’d drawn had a smile sliding onto Lia’s face. However, when he continued, her brief amusement subsided and she felt her heart growing heavy again. “It’s also pretty shit that she only decided that you were right after someone else told her the same thing. If she’s supposed to be your friend then your word should be enough.”

“Exactly,” Lia nodded. “And I don’t know what Mike’s problem is. I know that he’s close to Daniel and he’s known him forever, but he was like a brother to me and he should know that this isn’t something I would lie about. Besides, what have I gained from the situation? I lost someone who I thought would always have my back, I lost my best friend.”

She could feel her eyes filling with tears no matter how hard she blinked them back and as her voice cracked when the finality of the admission left her mouth, she worried that she wouldn’t be able to hold back the flood much longer. Sensing her rising emotions, Jamie quickly pulled her back into his arms and soothingly rubbed her back.

“I’m sorry, babe,” he murmured. “It’s a shit situation and you don’t deserve to be treated like that.”

“I know,” Lia sniffled. “That’s why I stayed firm and refused to talk about fixing our friendship until she sorted out the mess on her end, but it’s all just made me feel so alone.”

“You’re not alone, you have me.”

There was a twinge of hurt to Jamie’s voice and Lia rushed to explain, leaning back to look up at him.

“I know and I’m so grateful that I found you,” she told him sincerely as she wiped her eyes. “But I don’t really have any friends. It sounds completely pathetic, but I’ve lost touch with all of my school friends and working here with my dad isn’t a great way to meet people. It’s always just been me and Katie so now it’s just me.”

It was humiliating to admit and she knew it sounded incredibly pitiful, but it was true. She’d never been a particularly social person and her introverted nature had always paired well with Katie’s extroverted need for constant company. Whenever Lia felt like socializing, Katie was more than happy to oblige and the closeness that they’d shared left her with little need for other friends, but now she could see the benefit to having a wider social circle.

“You have Keeley, and Rebecca.”

“Yeah, but that’s a bit complicated. Keeley’s your ex,” she pointed out. “And Rebecca’s your boss. They’ve been so kind and welcoming and I love spending time with them, but there’s some elements of ‘girl talk’ that I’d find a little strange to discuss with them.”

“What, like when you want to slag me off?” He questioned before flashing her a smirk and adding, “Or when you wanna brag about how amazing I am in bed?”

“Both.” Lia managed to crack a smile. “It’s just nice to have someone that you can tell everything to, you know?”

“Well, if I’m bein’ honest, I don’t think neither of them would mind if you wanted to talk a little shit about me. They’d probably be happy to join in.”

“But what about when I do want to brag about how incredible you are in bed? Might be a little awkward when Keeley starts comparing notes.”

“I guess so,” Jamie shrugged. “But that’s a conversation I wouldn’t mind hearing.”

“That’s the last thing your ego needs.” Lia rolled her eyes despite the giggle that slipped from her lips, but it was quickly followed by a sigh. “Sorry for dumping all of this on you. I know that I’ll be fine and I’m so lucky to have a lot of great people in my life, like you . It’s just…I loved Katie like a sister and it’s hard to accept that she’s willing to toss me aside the way she has, I need to wallow for a while.”

“No need to be sorry. I’m your boyfriend, it’s my job to listen to you complain.” The teasing edge to his voice had Lia biting back another smile and feeling grateful that he so effortlessly managed to lift her spirits. “And I don’t mind letting you wallow, but I did have another idea you might be interested in.”

The suggestion and the somewhat shy delivery had Lia’s intrigue rising and she raised an eyebrow as she prompted him to continue with a gentle, “Go on…”

“Your dad’s still closing the shop next week, yeah?” She nodded in confirmation as they closed every summer for a few days and while her dad used that time to do some extra cleaning and organizing, he was always adamant that Lia take the days off. “I was thinking that maybe we could go away somewhere? You work so much, you could use a decent holiday and maybe a change of scenery could help get your mind off things.”

Lia felt a flicker of excitement twist in her stomach as the idea sounded incredibly appealing.

“That would be amazing,” she quickly agreed. “Where were you thinking? Down to the coast, maybe? Or if we went up to the Lake District we could visit your mum on the way.”

“Uh, I was thinking something a little further away than that.”

“You were? Like where?”

“Italy,” he confessed. “How do you feel about Capri?”

She’d heard of it, but it had the excitement she’d been feeling fading to disappointment almost as quickly as it had appeared. As far as she knew it was a luxurious place where celebrities and wealthy people liked to holiday and while Jamie might have fit that description, she did not.

“I feel like it’s a beautiful place that I’d never be able to afford,” she reluctantly admitted, regretting that her lack of financial stability would be holding him back from the five star holiday that he was used to. “I can’t afford flights to anywhere so last minute and I definitely can’t afford to visit somewhere so fancy.”

“Good thing you won’t be paying then.” There was a proud grin on Jamie’s face and when Lia opened her mouth to protest, he continued before she had the chance. “C’mon, babe. I’m not being funny, but one holiday is nothing to me and you deserve it. It can be an early birthday present if that makes you feel better.”

“Do you even know when my birthday is?”

She was trying to buy some time as she mulled over his offer, but it was a valid question as she realized that she didn’t actually know when Jamie’s was.

“No,” he admitted without even bothering to guess or pretend. “But if it’s already happened then it can be a Christmas gift instead.”

“It’s in September.”

“Then that’s perfect, only a couple months away. Mine’s in October, but football will be back by then so this will be a good time to celebrate them both.”

It was tempting and after her emotional day it was even more enticing. The last few months had been a whirlwind of change and having a few days away from all the problems and responsibilities of day to day life with nothing to do but enjoy a little time with Jamie was practically impossible to say no to.

“Are you sure?” She questioned, feeling her resistance starting to weaken. “It’s a lot of money to spend for just a few days.”

“Absolutely."

His assurance was said so sincerely that Lia had no choice but to relent and accept his generous offer.

“Alright, then you can go ahead and book it.”

“Already did,” he admitted with a cheeky smile that had a laugh falling from Lia’s lips. “Knew I’d be able to convince you eventually.”

“Well, aren’t you sneaky,” Lia teased before stretching up to press a kiss against his lips. “But thank you, Jamie. That’s very generous and very thoughtful of you.”

“It’s fine. It’s a gift for me too, be nice to get you all to myself for a few days.” Jamie’s words had her heart fluttering with affection, but then he smirked and tightened his grip on her hips as he added, “But if you really wanna thank me, you can take my card this weekend and go buy yourself some sexy little bikinis for me to peel off of you.”

“Hmm, I’m not sure how spending more of your money would be a good way to thank you for booking us an extravagant holiday.”

“Alright then, guess we’ll just have to finish up here quickly so we can get home and you can thank me another way.”

“What way would that be?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Jamie informed her, dipping his head to steal a quick kiss before he moved his body away from hers. “But it will definitely involve you being very naked.”

Lia laughed and shook her head as she retrieved the broom from where she’d set it down.

“Well, I look forward to whatever creative idea you come up with,” she assured him as she held the broom out for him to take. “But if you want us to get out of here anytime soon, you better make yourself useful and finish sweeping while I cash up the till.”

Jamie gave a little mock salute before hurrying off to do his task with an eagerness that had another giggle slipping from Lia’s lips as she took a moment to appreciate how grateful she was to have him. It was strange to think how fast things had progressed between them. A few short months earlier she didn’t even know he existed then suddenly he was her fake husband and now he was someone whose mere presence lifted her spirits. The ache of abandonment she felt from her conversation with Katie still lingered in her mind, but knowing she had Jamie to support her did soften the blow as her heart filled with hope for the life that they were slowly building together.

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#jamie tartt #jamie tartt fanfic #jamie tartt fic #jamie tartt fanfiction #jamie tartt x ofc #ted lasso fanfiction #ted lasso fanfic #amorous facades

21 notes · View notes

inej-ruination-ghafa · 2 years

Text

PLAYING WITH THE BOYS

PART 12; AFTER CHASING SUNSETS

Warnings: mentions of death, mentions panic attacks, ptsd, mental health, fears of death, swearing, suggestive language, commitment

Summary: Robin finally finds out why he left and the reason breaks her more than she ever expected it to but now she has closure, or a new beginning

Wordcount: 2.3k

Robin sat at home, eyes trained on some miscellaneous object in the distance as she heard the muffled sounds of her mother and sister in the other room. Bradley had brought her home that afternoon, driving her back to the house and dropping her off.

She had begged for him to stay and he reluctantly agreed. They had ordered pizza in and had sat and watched a film.

She was enjoying the domesticity of the whole thing and could almost imagine the rest of her life with him. She could imagine marrying this man, having his children, working in the hangar together until they retired.

The thought made her smile and she ignored all the issues that they had just for a second as she imagined their house, brimming with joy. It seemed perfect.

He walked back in, sitting down next to her and she wanted to forget about the mission and just hang out like they weren't scared of what was going to happen and scared that he could die, leaving her.

He only had her and Maverick, the latter was more estranged from his life. He didn't want to have to put all the pressure on her, even now.

“How are you after today?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

She sighed, “Better, I haven't really reacted like that for a while. I guess all the emotions of Allana were all brought back up with the crash,” she explained.

When they had gone down, all Robin could think about was the sight of her best friend dead in her arms in that forest. It wasn't just Allana who died that day, part of Robin had died too. She had broken her leg and had crawled all the way to her best friend, her head bludgeoned against the rock. The image still haunted her, in nightmares, during the day, earlier today when she had envisioned the same thing happening to Phoenix or Bob.

She remembered having to tell Allana's parents about what had happened and the moment that her mother had broken down in tears in her fathers arms. Her younger sister had been called as well and the girl just sobbed over the phone.

“I was really worried about you,” he said, a sad smile on his face as he looked at him.

“You really helped me Bradley, it meant a lot that you cared so much,” she said.

She wanted to tell him just how much it had helped her. Just his presence had calmed her down completely and just knowing that he cared enough to stay made her forget it all.

That's one thing that this mission has allowed her to do. She had managed to forgive him for everything that happened in the years prior.

"I'm worried about the mission too,” he stated, shaking his head, “Its stupid, I know,”

"You don't have to be worried," she replied, placing her hand over his.

"What if I don't make it this time?" he asked, running his hand through his hair. Robin cant remember the last time that she had seen him this worried.

"Don't say stuff like that," Robin said, the thought hurting too much.

She was scared as well. Scared that she would be in that command room in three days and she would be listening to his plane crash into the cavern. That she would have to sit and do nothing as his plane exploded from a missile. She felt completely helpless at the idea and even after the target practice today, she was still horrified.

"But what if I don't? There's so much I want to tell you," he said, fingers tracing liht patterns on her skin.

"Then tell me," she said, smile on her face as she encouraged him to open up to her, "Brad, I'm always gonna be here for you and you know that you can tell me anything,"

"I want to tell you why I left," he said, averting his gaze from hers, almost like

"Okay," she said.

He took a deep breath, “I had found this box of stuff from my mum, like letters and notes and pictures of my family before my dad died,” he explained and she could see the tears beginning to form in his eyes as he told her about what was happening, “And all I could think of was you. I wanted this life with you and I had thrown it all away,”

He ran a hand through his hair, almost nervous as he explained the situation to her.

“So I drove to San Diego to see you again, to make it all better and I saw you sitting on a bench with Allana. You were eating ice cream I think and I realised how happy you looked there, happier without me,” he explained, biting his lip as he looked over at her, “And I didnt want to hurt you again so I drove away to my next mission,”

“But why did you leave in the first place?” Robin questioned. It was the only question that she wanted the answer to, something that he had been avoiding since they had gotten back.

He took a deep breath looking away from her. It was like he was trying to find the right words to explain but they were coming to him, “I remember being five years old and watching my mother sob in Mavericks arms as he told her about my dad having died. I, uh, I remember the weeks afterwards where she didn't seem at peace in her own home and I remember the tears in her eyes whenever we'd look at pictures or home videos,” he explained, “I was distraught after my dad's death but didn't quite understand how he could be dead. I didn't understand the workings of life and it broke my heart. I missed bedtime stories or letters he’d send home when deployed or the pasta that he used to make all the time because it was the only thing he could cook,”

He laughed at the memory, a sad smile on his face before he looked up at Robin, seeing that the girl had tears in her eyes as she heard his story.

She'd never thought about how much his past had affected him in relationships, about how his fathers death would translate into his fear of commitment and of death, specifically leaving people behind after death.

“I never wanted to do that to anyone. I told myself that I would never put someone through the same thing that I had to go through, that my mother had to go through,” he smiled as he looked up at her, “But then I met you. The most beautiful, funny and caring girl in the world who wasn't afraid to embarrass herself or stand up for others or get her hands dirty. I met you and I forgot about it all,”

She was crying now, hand squeezing him as she noticed the tears that were welling up in his eyes too. She had never really seen him cry that much so it was clear he was emotional about what he was talking about.

“Then I fell in love with you and I thought that it would be better to break your heart now then later when you had to bury me. I fell so madly in love with you that I wanted to start a family with you and then I realised that if I died, I'd leave you a widow with children to raise. I would have left my own child in the same way my dad had and I couldn't do that to you. You deserved the world, you deserved better than me,”

“Bradley, all I ever wanted was you,” she said, her words coming out as a sob.

“You didn't deserve the same life as my mother had. You deserved a husband who was there all the time and you didn't deserve to be a widow. So I made the decision to spare your feelings in the long run,” he explained, a single tear rolling down his cheek at his words.

Now it all made sense, why he left so quickly, the reasons why he left. Robin felt a bit dumb for not having figured it out earlier.

She knew that if he could, he'd go back and though it would be difficult, he would have chosen to stay with her and honestly, that meant the world.

“Don't leave me again, next time you feel like that, you talk to me about it,” she said, a hand on his cheek.

He leaned into her touch, a smile on his face, “I'm never leaving you again sweetheart,” he said, the words a promise to her. It was an oath and he wasn't going to break it.

He pulled her closer to him so she was on his lap, body pressed up against him.

"God you're so perfect," he whispered as he nuzzled his head against her neck, inhaling her sweet smell. It was distinct to her, this mix between vanilla and engine grease that he used to find hilarious and now, now he just found it addictive.

He could have spent forever in her arms

"I'm never-" he pressed a kiss to her jaw, "never," he kissed her cheek, "never," he kissed her lips, "-ever letting go of you again,"

She giggled, like a schoolgirl, and it made him laugh, the two falling into the domestic vibes of the moment. It seemed like just for a moment it was them against the world.

It was so euphoric, the way that his lips were moving against hers, his hands sliding under her shirt. He never wanted to forget the curves of her body or the feel of her skin against his.

The moment was so perfect until they realised that they were in Robin's house and her sister and mother were just next door.

“Ew!” They heard a shrill voice exclaim and both turned to the doorframe to see Amelia standing there, arms crossed and a look of disgust plastered on her face as she realised what her sister was doing.

“Leave us alone Amelia,” Robin said as Bradley placed his head on her chest to hide the red flush on his cheeks, his deep laugh reverberating through her chest.

“Leave us alone?” she repeated, questioning it, “This is my house too and you're the ones in a public space making out with each other!”

That was Penny's cue to come out of the kitchen, her brows furrowed in confusion but she understood what her second daughter meant when she saw Bradley and Robin.

His hands were on her hips, no longer under her shirt and he had detached his lips from her neck.

Penny sighed, "I can't believe you two," she stated, suppressing a smile.

She was so glad that after all these years of moping around and dating guys who were never as good as Bradley, the two were back together.

They had always been the perfect duo, never wanting to leave each other's sides and seemingly being able to read each other's minds. They were soulmates. Joined together by some other force that had managed to pull them back together and Penny knew that they were both going to make it back for the mission.

"Mum!" she exclaimed, quickly moving so that she was no longer perched on her boyfriend's lap.

"No, no, it's okay, as long as you guys don't have sex whilst we're on the house," she said with a smirk. They always forget that once upon a time, she was like that too. That once she had snuck around with Maverick behind her father, the admirals, back.

"Oh god," Robin muttered, tucking her head in the crook of Bradleys neck so that her mother didn't have to see the red of her cheeks from how embarrassed she was.

"Hey, you live under my roof, you follow my rules," she said and she looked up, seeing her mothers smug smile.

"Technically I have equal share in the house," Robin stated, her hand still in Bradleys.

"Don't be a smart ass Robin," penny said, raising an eyebrow at her daughter, “We’ll leave you to it, just no sex in the house,”

She groaned, “God, yes mum,” she said and her mum smiled before walking out, ushering an annoyed Amelia out.

Penny smiled to herself. She leant against the door, looking at the scene. They were totally in love with one another and it felt like some sort of fairytale the way that they had gotten back together, like there was an invisible sting pulling them together despite the circumstances.

“I adore you Robin Benjamin,” he said, brushing a piece of her out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.

“I adore you too Bradley Bradshaw,” she said, a blush on her face as she leant in, connecting her lips with his.

She sighed into the kiss. She could have stayed like that forever. The kiss was tender, a loving kiss shared between lovers and for the first time in seven years, that was what they were. Everything felt right and there were no secrets being kept and no lies and no fears, it was just the two of them, together at last.

“You're it for me babe, I’m not leaving again,” he muttered against her lips before leaning in again, hand on the back of her neck as he pulled her towards him.

Series Masterlist Part 12

A/N, it's nearly mission time and we're going to get to see Robin overcome her fears. Next chapter will be the funeral and then we'll get to some angsty good stuff

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mihai-florescu · 1 year

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i am an extremely new fan, and i can admit that i dont know much about eichi and therefore i cant give an unbiased opinion on him at this point!!

i see your points i see all of them and. you are right. his desperation led him to do wrongs during war era, and he regrets it. i understand this completely, and i agree that he shouldnt be portayed as the only villain because of what his desperation did to him.

however, based on the stories ive read so far in !!, he is...unnecessarily cruel. i get that he'll do whatever it takes to reach his vision of the idol industry, but the way he phrases his conversations with the others does NOT paint him in a good light. this might be because the game is making him look like the bad guy though tbh. he thinks alkaloid is, quote, a box of mudballs, and says this directly to their faces. now, this might just be tough love, but..to say that to tatsumi, who just got out of the hospital? whom he bonded with over their health issues? it just feels...idk.

that might also play into your point about him not realizing that people want to be his friends, and seeing them as business partners tho!

adding onto that, idk the full story for this, but i was informed that tsumugi didnt want to be paid/contracted and like, begged him to be friends? idk about that i might be completely wrong!! it also might not be tsumugi actually i was told this a while ago

I got a bit rambly and had screenshots on hand uh. Sorry for the long reply.

In regards to Alkaloid, I must confess, I'm having a hard time going through the main story cuz I just.....find certain characters and dynamics annoying and/or they just dont interest me much. So i am probably lacking the full depth of what eichi has said to them but i do have two posts about my view on him and alkaloid together (well, more from a meta perspective i suppose). But then again, eichi has this tendency to make other characters want to hate him out of a deep rooted belief that he doesn't actually deserve love, even after his "happy ending", there will always be something bigger to achieve and more sins to atone for.

I'm not necessarily arguing he's not flawed (although i am arguing he's just human, not good or bad, or rather both, i think that's one of the core messages of enstars too.) He's too self aware and pragmatic for his own good. Even he himself says in Sanctuary that he's falling back to how he used to be in the war to reach his ideals.

(Sanctuary, translated here)

So i guess what i'm saying is not that you must forgive all his actions cuz he never did anything wrong etcetc but more my plea for people to read his stories and see why he's the way that he is. Because i just cannot stand to watch another tiktok full of misinformation. I could, and i probably have in the past, gone on a rant about how people blame eichi alone for the war completely disregarding keito and akatsuki's crucial roles in taking down kanata. Meanwhile my guy Eichi was in the hospital that whole time. But anyway, this was besides the point. Or maybe not. Moving on,

As for Tsumugi, the story you're referencing is Element. It was animated in the show as well, but i do recommend reading it. And then, connected to it, Daydream. Oh my god. Eichi's Daydream Monologue...

The thingbwith Tsumugi is that he just started believing in Eichi's ideals to the point where the war fully would not have succeeded without him. He wanted to be Eichi's friend and to bring him happiness so he joined old Fine, he just thought the contract was a formality. I'm not sure on the "begged to be friends" part, i think that phrasing is a bit extreme, but you gotta remember Eichi was generally distrustful that people like him beyond his wealth. And with a family like Tsumugi's, divorced parents, estranged brother, a mother that keeps falling prey to scams and losing their savings, Eichi thought Tsumugi's motive for wanting to get close was to obtain enough money to cut ties with his mom. Oh. Another thing, i can reblog some story screenshots afterwards, but Eichi does project a lot of his issues onto others. Not the best coping mechanism, clearly.

I do see why Eichi isn't for everyone. I would rather you read his stories and then decide you don't agree with his ways than someone liking him only for fluff (aka only the sweet scenes with wataru) and ignoring the rest of his character. Honestly my answer might make you hate him even more, but i hope out of spite you will read Ep:Link at least. Maybe Sanctuary, but definitely do Not start with that, it needs 7 years of stories as context. Black Tea, Milky Way, Jingle Bells and Tempest should also be good beginner's guide to Eichi stories at the top of my head.

#ok. end of ramble. im tired. no clue if i was coherent. snork mimimimi #ask #anon #enstars #eichi tenshouin

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attempted--eloquence · 1 year

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sorry to the anon who sent me a super well thought out Sceo question and somehow my answer got fucking chopped, screwed, and deleted after posting lmao. Reposting here for posterity:

Ask:

yes i completely agree that theo’s feelings towards scott were.. complicated to say the least lol.

i feel like most people agree that it’s kind of a uncertain mix between i want you and i want to be you and theo himself isn’t really sure which he feels more but i also think despite everything he always saw scott as safety?

we don’t know much about theos childhood other than he was sickly and clearly was vulnerable for some reason (theos conversation with stiles about his sister in s5 where he describes her as always looking out for him) and from what we know about the dread doctors victims they all had troubled or unstable home lives. theo talks about his sister as someone who looked out for him but there’s still resentment when he talks about her and he compares her to stiles who he clearly doesn’t get along with (my theory is that their parents were probably neglectful in some way but tara was probably the favored child and she was probably mean to him in the way siblings are mean even if (at the time) she was the person who loved him most and looked out for him most)

scott i think theo always saw as someone above it all and a purely good person who cared about him and who theo felt safe with. i thought it was interesting that the th ing theo held on to all these years was a memory of scott helping him through an asthma attack and how that clearly had an effect on him and i think that informed a lot of how theo felt about scott.

theos resentment towards scott is also inevitable since they started off in the exact same place, both weak and somewhat sick, and theo sees him as everything he could have and should have been so he literally wants to become him and before hell he thinks the only reason he isn’t scott or can’t be him is because he’s not a real werewolf.

theo seeing scott primarily as someone he feels safe with even after everything is most obvious with how he immediately asks scott for help when getting dragged by the skin walkers. i think his whole life when he thought about someone who cared about his well being for no ulterior reason he thought of scott, and even when he gets attacked by the spider-anukite thing his instinct is to call scott but post hell clarity now makes him feel shameful of asking him for help. (and the hunters kidnap him but again the first thing he does when he gets free is use the two werewolf’s to have an excuse to go to scott).

i think theo has a mix of infatuation hero worship and resentment towards scott (and probably was in love with him in a twisted way for a while) but i also think it’s interesting that his relationship (in s6) with scott also reminds me of how liam and scott’s relationship briefly was right after liam almost killed scott (so like a estranged and strained relationship between a parent and child where the child knows they were in the wrong and needs the parent back)

i don’t know if any of this made any sense but i guess what i’m getting at is that scott filled a lot of roles for theo in a way i think and kid!theo imprinted on him in a way and saw him as someone safe and a source of love but that was at constant war with the part of him that thought he should be scott.

i know this is super long but one last thing is that do you think scott is aware of theo’s “being in love with him at some point”? because then that makes me think of post he’ll post s6 scott knowing that theo and liam are falling for each other and scott being concerned because he knows what theo did to the last person he was in love with and scott and theo talking about theos old feelings for scott and how he feels about liam

Answer:

Ooooooh the childhood connection is such a good point 🥲 also makes me think that the asthma attack story is so telling. Like, Theo as a child having a very scary thing happening to his body beyond his control and then having Scott there to help him through it. Flash forward to his time with the DDs. Still a child. Probably a lot of scary things happening to his body beyond his control. He’s alone to go through it. It’s not hard to believe that memory would be a point of fixation for him.*

and I sooo agree that a large part of Theo’s resentment absolutely has to do with the fact that Scott could’ve been him/he could’ve been Scott. (I always think about this in the context of what Peter said to Stiles in s1, how Stiles could’ve easily been the one that was bitten instead of Scott; on a similar note, I always wonder what would’ve happened had Theo never gotten wrapped up with the DDs as a kid)

I think to Theo, Scott was coincidentally in the wrong place at the wrong time (or the right place at the right time??) and ended up a true alpha. Meanwhile Theo’s entry into the supernatural world was handcrafted to make him the Beast and he still fell short of that glory. Got his childhood taken away from him, suffered to be where he is, so it should be him that has the power, the adoration, the pack devoted to him. (Cue DD’s “you have the entitlement and narcissism typical of your generation” speech) In his eyes maybe Scott got to have his cake and eat it too.

I LOVE that you mentioned the spider thing bc I think that’s another “scary thing happening to my body” moment, and he immediately considers going to Scott about it AH.

Hmmm. I can’t say I that I would automatically think Theo’s feelings are something Scott was aware of. ALTHOUGH I really like where you’ve gone with that idea and I’ve never considered it that way!!👀 I do think, if Scott were privy to the potentially romantic nature of Liam and Theo’s relationship, that he would have reservations based on Theo’s past alone.

Tysm for sending this! I hope it was…coherent? I have now been consumed by s5 Sceo brainrot, thx <3

*bonus points if you headcanon scott as a guardian angel kinda figure for him during his early years w the DDs. And it works for a while until it doesn’t or until Theo has been hardened/conditioned enough to see only weakness in that memory. Couple years down the line he hears about Scott being an alpha, a true one at that, and ohhhh how that fond memory corrodes into fucking jealousy and loathing 😵‍💫 he comes back and knows what he’s gonna do. Plans on hating Scott. But Scott’s the same. Scott is a true alpha but he’s still the same good guy he was when they were kids and that makes it a little harder to hate him, but his power makes it a lot easier to resent him. Butttt Theo doesn’t want just Scott’s power, he wants to take his place entirely (hence his insistence to stiles that he wants Scott’s pack, minus Scott) and I think that goes beyond supernatural ability, and translates over into the disparate lives they lived as well. And I wonder if there’s something to be said about what Theo thinks he’d gain by taking Scott’s place (besides the obvious). Would he finally feel he’s grown out of being that scared kid having the asthma attack? Is he his own hero? Etc etc

**which obviously doesn’t acknowledge the shit Scott went through to become a true alpha. But I don’t think Theo would care nor emphasize with that struggle at that point.

#also I’m screaming at ‘post hell clarity’#lmaoo I love it! imagining Theo coming back from hell and being like ‘damn. I was wildin a little bit huh😳’#also forgot to mention this. but YEAH the way Liam & Theo both are working overtime trying to be trustworthy to Scott s6 #this is all probably v surface level interpretation sorry I’ll go think on it some more

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bestworstcase · 1 year

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Okay so, one thing I will say about the possibility of Summer willingly working for Salem: I hope they don't just do it to make Raven look like a better mother than she actually is.

I have long been of the opinion that Yang disowning Raven and cutting her out of her life entirely will be CRITICAL to her developing into a healthy adult. Ever since we learned about Raven, her arc has been building up to the realization and acceptance of the fact that Summer Rose was her real mother all along, and that she shouldn't waste her life chasing the toxic relationship Raven offered.

Point is, if Summer has thrown her lot in with Salem, it needs to have been out of love for her daughters, an impulsive and foolish decision made to keep her babies safe.

The best part of the juxtaposition of Summer and Raven is how it turns the age-old "wicked stepmother" trope on its head by having the stepmother be loving and kind while the biological mother is cold and heartless.

(That, and Raven's arc concluding with her realizing that she can't use her Semblance anymore because she burned all her bridges and nobody wants her in their lives anymore, and being forced to live with that knowledge, would be the perfect comeuppance for how willing she's been to sacrifice all her loved ones, up to and including her own daughter, just to save herself. Especially if she's given multiple chances to redeem herself and screws up every chance until everyone's just too sick of her nonsense to give her a twenty-third chance she doesn't deserve.)

as far as yang’s relationship to raven goes, i don’t get the impression that rwby as a narrative has any interest in resuscitating raven’s motherhood—i mean, she flat out admits that she wasn’t kind to yang when they met and later whispers “i’m sorry” right before taking off again, lmfao. but equally i’m not sure i would agree that complete estrangement is really the healthiest goal for yang; it’s a pendulum swing to the opposite side of the spectrum from where she started and i think restricts her ability to meaningfully process the complicated feelings she has about her mother. there is a very wide band of grey area between emotional dependency on a bad or absent parent and full no-contact estrangement and—speaking here from the perspective of being inside that middle zone—i think partial estrangement is usually the better option, except when the parent is actively and viciously abusive to the point that no form of contact is safe.

with a parent like raven—who is absent and unreliable, not abusive—there can a lot of emotional value in just accepting the relationship as a distant one with minimal contact. and with yang being someone whose biggest emotional problem is bottling up things that hurt her, i think full estrangement stands to harm more than it helps because it puts a solid barrier in front of her feelings toward her mother. even if in practice she never sees raven, leaving herself the option to do so will make it easier to air those feelings out.

i also do not think that anything raven has done demands narrative retribution versus the compassionate framing given to, say, cinder fall or salem; she’s a bandit who abandoned her kid and her cause because ozpin molded her into his spy while she was a teenager or in her early twenties and then she couldn’t cope with the horrors she discovered or the personal threats salem is implied to have made to her. as reasons for being a deadbeat mom go that is a… fairly understandable one, and i do not think there is anything uniquely or egregiously more awful about walking out on your family than other kinds of wrongdoing—and certainly in terms of material harm it isn’t even close to the worse thing raven “some people?? pillage defenseless villages and leave the survivors to the grimm?? to cope??” branwen has ever done in her life.

anyway to the actual point:

summer rose working for salem stands to be compelling in a lot of ways, but the one that appeals most to me is a scenario where she didn’t choose it for her daughters. what have we been told about summer? she was the best of the best. the living ideal of what a huntress should be and an amazing mom—and then she took off without telling anybody where she was going to confront salem by herself, which, reading between the lines? summer rose got put on a pedestal and subjected to such intense pressure that she burned out and attempted suicide by pointless heroic sacrifice—either because she actively wanted to die or because she believed she had a responsibility to throw her life away for the cause.

and then salem offered her a way out.

now—from salem’s insistence that ruby be kept alive, and from her reaction to yang identifying herself as summer’s other daughter—i think it’s fairly clear that, whatever the exact circumstances are, there IS a standing agreement that salem will avoid harming them to the extent possible. but my personal hope is that the decision to join salem was one summer made for herself, to save herself from being the Sacrificial Hero, because she could not live like that any longer. this would be congruent with rwby’s thematic stance on heroic selflessness and self-sacrifice as a corruptive force and introduce layers of emotional messiness that appeal to me, in that summer can love her daughters with everything she has and yet leave them behind because she herself has been driven to an emotional brink where if she doesn’t escape by joining salem she is going to get herself killed on purpose, and the betrayal experienced by her now grown-up children when they learn this is mediated by their own experience of the same pressures that pushed her to that point (and presumably by the revelation of salem’s actual plan being less “nihilistically torch the world” and more “lure the gods back to defeat them once and for all so that this can finally end”).

insofar as there is a comparison to draw between raven’s abandonment and summer’s it’s one that removes summer from her supermom pedestal and renders her in a more flawed—and thus more human—light. not the good mom who died and the bad mom who left but two mothers who chose to leave their children for similar reasons and will likely differ in how they handle the inevitable reunion. (if “red like roses pt ii” is anything to judge by, summer is desperate to give her daughters the kind of explanation and closure yang wanted and didn’t get from raven, and has little if any desire to make excuses. that’s where the true difference lies.)

and i think rwby is doing something more interesting here than simply flipping the wicked stepmother trope upside-down. why is the stepmother wicked? why is the mother good? how do cultural narratives about motherhood create these categories? summer rose is the good stepmother, but she is also the absent mother; she left ruby around the same age that raven left yang, but yang’s memories of summer as her own mother and the presumption of summer’s death give ruby a fundamentally different experience of not having a mother. and likewise a significant amount of yang’s abandonment trauma has less to do with raven than it does her father’s secrecy and refusal to talk to her about it, which allowed the pain and confusion to fester. it’s all wrapped up in the storytelling themes and the reality is that mothers are just people who cannot be neatly reduced to fit inside fairytale archetypes.

#i would also point out that #the characters have not exactly been #falling over themselves to give raven second chances #like qrow straight up disowned her #ruby tried to appeal to her better nature ONCE before the depth of betrayal became clear #and yang chewed her out and more or less told her to open the vault and then get lost #which isn’t a second chance so much as it’s a purging of a lot of emotional shit yang needed to express #so if raven IS given a second chance it will have to be because she asks for it #and if she does that she will have already made an important change yk #because as it is now she’s not willing to make herself that vulnerable #and nobody else is interested in reaching out first

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llycaons · 8 months

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ep 32 (3/3): BRUTAL

in the book it was said that wwx was 'half-dead with fear' when he heard this. I loved the phrase

oh NOW you're telling him to play? lwj you're at some kind of crisis here you don't know WHAT you want

on my first watch I remember so clearly thinking 'oh teehee I've seen the spoilers there's nothing to surprise me only to GASP when this shot happened

I can tell it's su she's stupid upper lip and stupid nose too. he has very distinctive lower facial features

I was fully sobbing by this point so idk if I have any more commentary beyond *whimpering noises* look how terrified they are...that's their big sister

pretty fucked up that he's a jiang sect member

oohh, this shot is devastating. seeing him from across the battlefield, in this one instant, they're together again, and then-

this shot KILLS me. I know I talk a lot about wwx but jc loves jyl so much. he loves her so much. that's his big sister too. part of the reason the estrangement is so painful is because I get it. I get his anger and his violence and his bitterness. I don't agree with how he handled it, but I understand it

ohh this shot

honestly it looks a little wonky. there have been several shots this episode that have looked awkward. but who cares

I've been looking forward to the postres arc because it's not as relentlessly sad but I'm going to miss jyl SO much. look at her. she deserved the world

this is another line that slaughters me. she refers to wwx earlier at jinlintai, but this can also refer to their entire relationship. despite his closeness with jyl, wwx has often avoided true vulnerability or honesty with her. especially recently, for political reasons - stepping back, offering formality, running off, slipping away, bouncing her questions back to her. even with this person who's the closest he has to a mother, he couldn't sit down with her and entirely be with her in the way she wanted them all to be. and that hurt her! she wanted that closeness for all three of them, for the rest of their lives. oh jyl im so sorry you all couldn't make it in this lifetime

and this. fuck

oh! that WAS the brother of the archer! it was mentioned in the book but I couldn't remember if it was canon to here as well. ugh, how appropriate it was for revenge

HEY. DON'T PLAY THAT

I've seen a really angry post (in the lwj tag no less) trying to put this situation into a modern context and it characterized wwx as super careless and irresponsible and uncommunicative, who was directly the cause of jyl running into 'a gang fight' and 'getting caught in the crossfire' idk it was super defensive of jc punching wwx but I think it misrepresented a lot of details unfairly. like this is a really complicated and painful situation for EVERYONE that wwx does bear some responsibility for, even if it happened due to other people's decisions besides him. and also he was trying to save innocent people from being murdered, idc how little info jc had about the state of wwx's core he DID know that and he simply didn't care or like try to extend some sympathy and support for him? that's like one of the most understandable goals...ever

anyway saying that wwx was directly responsible for jyl's death is simply untrue. she chose to come to the fight (HOW DID SHE GET THERE??? HOW DID SHE KNOW ABOUT IT??? WHERE'S HER GUARDS??? UNIMPORTANT). she came to look for him, sure, but he never wanted her anywhere near it. she was injured by something they thought was under wwx's control, true. but she died because she chose wwx over herself

that's not something he had any control over. and to hold that over his head when there was nothing he could have done once he realized what was happening, for someone who already bears a lot of guilt for simply surviving/being loved/being taken off the streets, it's just a horrifically cruel thing to put on him. and hey, grief doesn't always make sense. but I understand completely why wwx did what he did next. and after he comes back to life, it's even more obvious how much he needs his close relationships to be with people who don't hold anything over him or blame him for simply being alive or demand things from him that he simply can't give

oh....

wwx kills this guy with his bare hands but like. who cares, right? no focus is on this man at all, curiously. jc could have blamed him instead. but he seems wholly convinced that every single bad thing that's ever happened to him was wwx's fault. to be fair, they don;t know about the second flautist yet so it doesn't look great for him, but also...you know how much your sister and brother loved each other! dude!

anyway i feel wretched

personal hightlights (what a joke. no this was a good episode)

god. "I want to stay with him a bit longer" and jyls' face when she sees wwx

madam jin breaking down and sobbing once she leaves the room

the heroic music setting wwx up as the villain of the story is a REALLY good touch

white paint on wwx's face <3

the cry-laughing

all of his lines on the roof but especially the ones about how he has to be careful who he hurts even though anyone can try to kill him with impunity and 'your hatred and admiration both come so cheap!' + the significance that has for wx

pulling out the arrow and killing the archer with it was BALLER

jc holding jyl in his arms is an unforgettable image

#cql re-rewatch

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aeirithgainsborough · 1 year

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I have a bit of a hot take regarding tlou/tlou2 which is that sometimes a parent will make a decision that goes against a child's wishes for their own wellbeing. I've heard it said "What parent wouldn't make the choice Joel did" and I think it relates to that, taking in everything with the fireflies and that Ellie is A Child, I think Joel was in the right to make that choice for her. I hope this doesn't come across as dismissive of Ellie, because I'm more trying to think of it from the point of view of a parent. Sorry this was so long.

i honestly think this is a very normal take and any to the contrary i find so baffling lol. like look we can debate all day about whether joel did the morally right or wrong thing in terms of the wider world and in regards to his lying too. i personally think he lied to alleviate ellie of this burden she was carrying that she personally had to save the world to make it up to her loved ones that they died and she didn’t. in the context of him telling her that he’d struggled with surviving but you had to find something to live for i can see his wish for her to not carry that burden cus ofc as a parent you wouldn’t want that and for me i think it’s a bit of a superficial take to say he saved her and then lied out of selfishness cus he couldn’t bear to lose her bcus whilst yes it benefits him too, i don’t see that as his primary reasoning - I think this is backed up too when he tells ellie that he’d do the whole thing again. that’s so striking to me cus the (stupid) consequence of his actions was losing a kid for a second time but despite that pain, knowing that consequence, he’d do it again. doesn’t smack of selfishness for me, i think that’s incredibly selfless of him actually considering he’d lost a kid before and took so long to get over it. but that’s MY interpretation and everyone’s will be different and i can at least acknowledge that.

but this continued nonsense about joel doing the wrong thing for ellie when he saved her bcus he was taking away her agency makes me want to die actually. it’s so fucking weird. ellie is ready to die bcus of TRAUMA. and that’s not actually a good reason to let a 14yr old kid die. if we wanna talk about agency/autonomy let’s talk about how the fireflies were attempting to manipulate/exploit ellie’s trauma and survivor’s guilt in order to justify what they were going to with her, cus that’s far more fucked up and is what ACTUALLY takes away ellie’s agency. it so fucking exploitative. ‘you know she’d want this’ well first of all then at least have the decency to actually ask her and second of all yeah i think she’d have agreed to it but wanting to out of guilt and trauma isn’t actually a free choice lol? and there should be no fucking debate on that. joel absolutely did the right thing to stop them.

i think a big part of this agency/autonomy thing is a result of part 2 lol. i think it’s easy to use it as some war cry to justify why joel had absolution coming to him and deserved to be beaten to death the disgusting way he was. almost as though it’s some sort of justification for abby and liking her. joel had it coming blah blah he stole the cure from the world and he took away ellie’s agency go abby!! which is just bullshit imo but what can you do.

what i think is the biggest shame of all is that part 2, in its attempt to justify a complete estrangement between joel and ellie so that her suffering would be Worse when he died (cus they didn’t give her enough trauma in that horrible game), went with this idea of ellie being mad that joel took away her chance to have a life that mattered. that fucking sucks for me cus she’s my favourite character and i wanted more for her. i wanted to see her overcome that trauma and let go of her guilt by realising it wasn’t her fault her friends died and i most of all wanted her to realise her life ALWAYS mattered and that’s why joel saved her. instead ofc the narrative wouldn’t work unless we had 25 hours of it being shoved down our throats that joel was so Wrong for saving ellie that they didn’t examine his actions and the reasons with any nuance or care, it was just so superficial and boring and heavy handed. how sad that at 14 ellie was ready to die bcus of trauma and thought her life didn’t matter/have value unless she was a cure and at 19 she still thought her life didn’t matter cus she wasn’t a cure. she deserved better. from the narrative AND this fandom that, if they actually cared about her as a character, wouldn’t keep banging on about joel taking away her agency/autonomy and would have wanted to see the same growth in her i wanted to see instead of thinking it’s some great masterpiece that she’s completely stagnant, even after she’s been tortured relentlessly for 25 straight hours lmao. i find it all so bizarre to see ppl claim to care about ellie but don’t see anything wrong with how the devs treated her in order to tell their misery porn story. these are the same ppl who so patronisingly write on this app about how they’re ‘the real fans’ (ive had this directed to me personally) cus they were sooooo clever to understand part 2 lmfaoooo.

anyway this got away from me and was far bitchier in parts than id intended it to be ajsjjs it just Grinds My Gears when this agency crap comes up cus it’s ridiculous BUT yes i agree with you completely.

#the last of us spoilers #tlou2 #tlou

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bonniebird · 8 months

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Meredith Sulez x Male!Druid!Reader

Requested by Anon

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Request: shadowcatgirl09 asked: Hey Bonnie! I don't know if you still have a slot left for full requests but if you do can I please request Meredith Sulez with a Male Druid!Reader? Reader is the cousin of Bonnie McCullough and he comes to visit her in Fell's Church. Meredith doesn't trust him at first until he helps with a vampire attack saving Meredith

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Bonnie stared awkwardly at you. She remembered being your age but she seemed to have lost the ability to recall anything that happened. Though, to be honest it wasn’t as if her teens were exactly normal. Also, you weren’t really a teen anymore. Almost twenty she found herself unable to find common ground.

“So…” You weren’t sure what to say. Bonnie wished more than anything she had taken up Caroline’s offer to come with her to pick you up. ‘I don’t want to overwhelm him.’ She had said. Caroline had given her a look that she now realised was a look that said ‘Are you completely insane do you not know how terrifying teens are.’ or something along those lines.

“Your. Powers are coming in. Your mom said.” Bonnie said quickly and smiled. You nodded slowly and shifted in your chair, rubbing your palm on your jeans.

“Yes. It’s urm. Powers.” You said quickly. Bonnie arched an eyebrow curiously.

“I just. Mom doesn’t like to talk about it.” You explained. Bonnie’s eyes widened and she grinned.

“Oh well, I don’t mind that at all. Better to talk about it than have something wrong. You don’t want vampires flying all over the place.” She grinned until you made a small noise of confusion. “Kidding. I… don’t… um.”

“Vampires are our enemy.” You said quickly. She hummed thoughtfully and nodded slowly. Bonnie's dad had said something about the estranged part of the family having strong feelings about vampires.

“Some.” Bonnie agreed wisely. Bonnie decided that she would take you home to settle in and head over to Caroline’s the next day. You seemed to settle in reasonably quickly. She could hear you unpacking your bags.

In the morning the two of you had breakfast together. It was quiet but Bonnie couldn’t tell if it was an awkward quiet or not. She kept glancing at you as you poured over a grimoire while eating.

“I thought I’d introduce you to my friends later.” Bonnie said quickly. She smiled nervously and you nodded. Your uncle had called you and talked about Bonnie’s friends. You felt comfortable enough in your powers that you weren’t nervous. After breakfast, you finished getting ready and Bonnie drove you to Meredith’s house and explained whose house it was. Caroline was passing on the porch and hurried down to Bonnie. Meredith was on the phone looking through the open door.

“Car, at least let Bonnie in through the front door before you start panicking.” Meredith scolded. Caroline gripped Bonnie’s arm.

“You need to do that spell. The one to find things and people. Stefan can’t find Elena!” Caroline hissed out in a quick loud whisper. Bonnie led the way inside while Meredith continued her phone call. She eyes you carefully, something about her made you tingle nervously.

“Bonnie.” She called out and held the phone out for Bonnie to take. It was an old powder pink phone. It looked as if it must have been handed down and was wired into the wall so Bonnie had to stretch the cord as far as it would go to stand in the doorway and listen to whoever was on the phone while directing you on how to set up the spell.

“Are you sure?” She asked and vanished out of sight. Caroline and Meredith sat down at the table with the confidence of people who had helped with this kind of spell before. It irked you. Bonnie’s approach to magic seemed to be too casual for your liking.

“Guys. Will… will you all be alright? Stefan needs me to look at some kind of runes. They followed something… He wasn’t very clear.” Bonnie asked and looked a little nervous.

“Of course.” Caroline said as she waved you off.

“I’ll keep him safe from Caroline.” Meredith said in a monotone voice. She shot a glare at Meredith and Bonnie was sure that Mer was giving her one of her smiles that didn’t look like she was smiling at all. Nodding she hurried off. “You know how to do the spell?”

“Yes. I am far more practised than Bonnie.” You said stiffly. The women glanced at each other but said nothing as you finished. “Close your eyes.”

They both closed their eyes but Meredith cracked one open. “Bonnie doesn’t normally make us close our eyes.” She said.

“Well, she’s supposed to.” You snapped and started the spell. With a shrug she took one of your hands and Caroline’s in the other, closing her eyes as she listened to the spell you recited. When you finished she watched you closely. Bonnie had said that you were a distant cousin. You were to visit while your mentor was investigated by the other witches in your town for the magic they had been using. Bonnie was excited for you to come but Meredith found an uncomfortable feeling. Though she got that feeling with everyone and rarely trusted those around her.

The spell gave you all a rough area to look in and after a quick call to Stefan, who confirmed that he had found Bonnie and promised to send Matt to the house with a list of the runes, managed to figure out that Elena was being held in whatever building was sealed off by the runes.

“So there are no vampires there?” Meredith asked and hummed. She hung up on Stefan when something at the window caught her eye. There was someone familiar in the back garden.

“Caroline, go and check if that was Damon… or if Matt took the shortcut.” She instructed. Caroline frowned, commenting on the fact that if Matt had taken a shortcut he would be coming from the wrong direction. But she did it just the same. Meredith had just enough time as she opened the door to fling herself halfway across the room like a cat taking a great leap and yanked Caroline out of the way.

“Was that the cute pizza boy? Why is he a vampire!” Caroline complained.

“Now is really not the time.” Meredith reminded her as she grabbed something to defend herself. When she stood, leaning over Caroline to protect her, regardless of whether she needed protecting or not, her eyes went wide. Your hand was thrown out and the vampire was choking. They were caught mid-air and every now and then their legs or arms flailed.

“I can’t keep this up!” You gasped. Meredith pulled Caroline behind her, turning her in a way they had practised with Stefan so that Caroline could kick the door and stop a second vampire from coming in. She was across the room, wielding her weapon in seconds.

“Why are they here if they wanted your friend?” You asked.

“Despite having two tame vampires. The others are not so willing to be friendly.” She said coldly as she watched the vampire outside the window, staring at them as they waited for a way in. “Besides. The two were only turned because they could access the house. No wonder they needed to come in because of the short change problem last week when we got take out.”

“Great. So if they’re here, what do they want?” Caroline asked. Meredith didn’t answer. As she moved back and forth she realised that the vampire wasn’t watching her. It was watching you.

Meredith tags:

@gillybear17 @ravennoore14 @the-caravello-post @killing-gremlin @aegonandaemondtargaryenslut18 @lchufflepuffcorn @evattude

#meredith sulez #meredith sulez x reader #the vampire diaries #bonniebird

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moviemunchies · 8 months

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I had decided to watch Mockingjay, Part 1, but Roku informed me that it’s been removed from all of the streaming services I have access to. Oh, well.

I promise we’ll do something different next time.

It goes like this: after the events of the last movie, Brian is now street racing in Miami, when he’s picked up by the Feds. They’re not happy with him for letting Dom go at the end of the last movie, but they don’t want to arrest him, they want him to go undercover again. See, cartel boss Carter Verone is up to no good, but he’s hiring drivers, so US Customs wants Brian to infiltrate the gang with a partner. The partner supplied is crap though, so he picks his own–his estranged friend Roman Pearce. If they complete this job, both of them will have their criminal records purged. Joining them is Customs Agent Monica Fuentes, undercover as Verone’s girlfriend.

Brian and Roman will have to get over their antagonism and use both their skills and their wits if they’re to secure their freedom, and get out of Verone’s clutches alive.

My understanding is that this movie is the least well-regarded in the series. And re-watching it now? Yeah, I get it. Despite Roman being a memorable addition to the cast and a fun character, along with a good balance to Brian, the Plot isn’t very interesting, Brian barely goes anywhere as a character, and Verone is a boring and shallow villain.

Brian gets a new love interest in Monica, but only kind of? She’s just… there. I don’t want to say she’s just eye candy, as she’s a federal agent, but she doesn’t really do that much in the Plot that couldn’t have been done any other way. She and Brian are clearly interested in each other, but it doesn’t go anywhere, and they don’t really know each other. TV Tropes claims that there was originally a sex scene that was cut because Eva Mendes didn’t want to do it, and given how little these two actually know each other, I agree, but it seems silly, all in all. She keeps flirting with Brian even when it would blow up in her face, given her cover as Verone’s girlfriend??

Her role is dumb, is what I’m getting at.

[Also, the suggestion that Brian always instantly falls in love with whatever beautiful woman is in front of him cheapens his relationship with Mia in the first film, I think?]

Not helped is that Verone is pretty boring? He’s a generic crime lord. He doesn’t even really get cool lines or anything. He has a couple of scenes where he’s especially menacing, but he’s not a memorable villain, which leads to a pretty forgettable Plot. Look, the original film is far from genius, but it’s at least got some really interesting bits. Our lead has to choose whether to admit that his new friends are actually crooks, and from there whether to turn them in to the law enforcement he works for or to help them out. This is just, “Oh hey! This guy is an evil douchebag.”

If you like racing and car stunts though, this movie has got you covered. I think some of these scenes are downright spectacular and fun to watch. I will admit that I am not a car guy, so maybe it’s crap, but it looks nice to the layman. I suspect it is impressive all-around though, because this is a movie aimed at car enthusiasts. It’s also got a disclaimer during the credits that the stunts you see are done by trained professionals, and that you absolutely should not be doing this at home.

And Roman Pearce. He’s a highlight in this film. Brian is not that interesting of a guy, especially in this movie, and Rome is much more entertaining. He’s funny, he’s interesting, he’s got… well, not complexities, I guess, because this is not that deep of a movie. But he’s probably the best part of this movie, bringing most of the memorable moments and being a likable, capable character. He’s not always the smartest guy, but he’s fun to watch on screen, so if there’s something to watch this movie for other than the stunts, it’s him.

I did not find this movie that impressive. The first movie isn't brilliant, but this feels like a typical early 2000’s dumb action film. Yeah, you could do worse, and if you want to be a completionist for the series, you probably want to see it. But otherwise, you could do a lot better for movies.

#2 Fast 2 Furious #Movie Munchies #reviews #The Fast and the Furious

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musingsinmountains · 11 months

Text

Hold The Line Chapter 8.

Synopsis: If you would have guessed, you peaked in middle school. It was when you were at your happiest and your best friend in the universe, Kazutora Hanemiya, was deeply involved in your life. And one day, he disappeared. Life went on, but he was gone. Part of your soul died without him. Just as easily as your life as you knew it ended, fate had plans this weekend for you and your estranged middle school bestie.

C/W: Some OOC, characters aged to 20+, depression, talk of suicide, violence, talk of blood, sexual tension, profanity, f!reader, nicknames, smut, suggestive themes, fluff, angst, oral (both parties giving and recieving), masturbation, pillow talk

Pairings: Kazutora x afab!reader, suggested Baji x afab!reader

Previous. Next

Chapter 8: It always feels like somebody's listening

Quarter to eight. Letting loose a deep sigh, you roll out of bed. You’re groggy. You slept horribly last night. But it was time to get on your way. Your shop was rarely ever closed for a day. Slipping into your morning routine, you are the first one up and ready. Peke J was waiting by his bowl when you entered the kitchen. “Mornin’ boy,” you pat his head and fill his bowl. Then it was your turn. You start the rice maker and prepare two filets of fish.

A soft click comes from the hall. Followed by the tip tap of little Missy’s paws. “Mornin’,” Baji gurgles. He instinctively starts pulling water to make enough soup for the two of you. “It already feels like a long day,” he yawns. His tone sounded like he wanted to blame the events of the early morning for his disheveled start to the day. The both of you know that, even if your roommate hadn’t gotten the shit beat out of him, that no one would have gotten rest.

“I doubt it, Sundays are moderately busy,” you plate up the fish and rice, “Plus we have a product shipment arriving today. We’ll be plenty busy for the day to pass fast”. Setting the table with your culinary work, you go back to the kitchen to grab a can of coffee.

“Soup?” Baji asks, holding a bowl up for you. The earthy scent of miso fills your nostrils.

“Yeah, Thanks,” you say, accepting the bowl of warmth. It was a quiet and quick breakfast. They usually are the day after Hurricane Tora comes home in the middle of the night. “Want me to drive today?”

“Would you mind, Matsuno?”

“My treat,” you smile. “We need to get going, the delivery is gonna be at the shop at 8:45.”

And just like that, you and Baji head off to work for the day. The weekly delivery arrived within minutes of your arrival. You enjoyed the days where the store got products delivered. There was something about checking off the manifest and unloading boxes onto shelves that just made you beam.

As Baji stocked shelves, you attended to customers. For a Sunday, it was rather busy in the morning. At lunch, you checked the sales and noticed that the sales goals had been hit and then some. “Dude, we hit our goals!”. Baji wasn't as excited as you were but he did smile.

“Dope, does that mean we can close for lunch?” his stomach growled.

“Yeah,” you reply, “Why don't we go get some Yakisoba?”. Baji agrees. Upon return and completion of lunch, the rest of the day goes by quickly. When 4pm came around, closing the store was never faster. The ride home also seemed to go fast.

“Looks like Tora’s home. I wonder how it went,” Baji said as you pulled into your parking spot.

“Me too,” you mused, “I wonder if they’d be down for pizza.” You head up the stairs with your business partner.

“Probably,” Baji smirked, unlocking the door. The apartment was unusually dark, save for the LED lights that were on in Tora’s room and a light seeping into the hall from under the bathroom door. And it was quiet, almost too quiet.

Then you hear it. “Takin’ me like a champ, s’good f’me,” It was Kazutora’s voice. His voice comes through the walls again with a declaration of climax and you cover your ears.Turning to your friend, you nudge Baji in the ribs.

“Holy fuck,” you whisper, “They don’t know we are home do they?”

“Probably not,” Baji shrugs, “but good for them,” An evil smirk curls over his lips, exposing his fang like canines, “I wanna fuck with ‘em.” His laugh was almost evil. Baji softly pads over to the bathroom door, knocking loudly. “ Yo, Tora. Can you hurry the fuck up?”. When Baji comes back to where you are standing, you stifle a giggle.

A couple minutes later, Kazutora and his girl exit the bathroom. You can tell she’s a little embarrassed from how she's hiding behind Kazutora as he welcomes you and Baji home. “Please tell me you guys cleaned up in there,” you chide.

“We just took a bath,” Tora explains.

“Don’t fuckin’ lie Tora,” Baji says, “We’ve been home for a while.” His intent didn’t match his tone. You could hear a familiar sniffle, Momo was crying.

“Can you guys close your eyes for, like, two minutes?” Kazutora scowls at you and Baji until both sets of eyes silently comply. You can hear him whisper something and the pitter patter of impatient feet across the apartment. “Alright, you can open them,” Kazutora fiercely tells you both, “Why did you have to call us out like that?”

“I was just razzing ya,” Baji said, “We razz each other all the time.” Which was true, mostly it was Baji and Kazutora razzing each other, but you did join in sometimes.

“Couldn’t you have waited to say something until later?,” he growled, “You made her cry, I can imagine she’s embarrassed.” Kazutora’s hands are balling into fists. His jaw was clenched. This was the second most angry you had ever seen him.

“Shit dude,” you say, seeing how angry he was getting. You slowly approach him, softly putting your hands on his upper arms. “Take a breath with me,” you instruct as you deeply inhale, hold for a few seconds, and exhale. “It was a bad call on our end. We’ll apologize to her. Neither of us should have called you out”. Keisuke nodded very slightly.

“Please do,” some of the tension left his hands and jaw upon releasing his breath, “Oh and to answer your question Matsuno, yes we did clean up”. He walks to his room, quietly opening the door. The sound of soft sobbing briefly enters the common living area and it disappears with a click.

“We fucked up,” Baji breathes.

“We? I didn’t knock on the door,” you protest.

“Ya didn’t stop me. And you were the one who asked if the bathroom was fuckin clean,” Baji retorted. His head tilted to the side and he gave it a little shake. “We both played a role here.”

He had a point. You had to figure out how to make it right. “I feel bad for making her cry. How do we fix this?” you muse aloud. Baji paced by the balcony. You sat in the swirly chair, twisting back and forth. “We have to apologize,” you say, breaking the silence.

Baji looked at you like he was breaking the fourth wall, like you’ve seen characters do in shows. “No shit ‘Fuyu,” his voice was dripping with sarcasm, “I s’pose that we should do it sooner rather than later.”

You nodded. The sooner you two made amends, the less awkward the remaining time she was here would be. Plus, if she and Kazutora became an item, the last thing you want is tension in the house. It wouldn't be good for you, or the cats. Together, you decide to give them a few more minutes to calm themselves before you knock on the door. Baji starts looking at deals on take out pizza while he waits. You, on the other hand, have had to take a leak for over an hour. They did a nice job in the bathroom, don't look like anything even happened in here, you think as you relieve your bladder.

That five minutes seemed like forever. Walking over to the door, you motion with your head for Baji to follow you. You knock softly, “Can we come in?” you gently say. A gruff yes lets you know that you and Baji could enter. “Momo,” you make eye contact with her, “ we wanted to say we were sorry,”

“None of our chiding was meant for you,” Baji continued, “Just ol’ Tiger boy here.” he nudged Kazutora’s shoulder. Kazutora squinted at him and Baji fired back his usual dumb smile. Momo just stares at both you and Baji, blinking slowly before taking a breath.

“Do you know how it feels to be treated like that?” She scolds you both. Her tone drops, making your eyes widen and you look at your feet. Baji recoils like a cat being yelled at for peeing on the carpet, “Do you do that to one another when you rub one out and it's audible?” Her voice trembled like she was holding back more tears, “Like I get it that you fuck with one another like that all the time. I’d expect that from people with well developed friendships.” She takes another deep breath, “Did you even think about how your actions were going to affect someone else who isn't used to being chided? Who isn’t on that level with you yet,” she frowned, “it really seems like you didn't”.

“You’re right,” you began, “we didn’t think it through”.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry, especially after we had such a good friend moment the other night,” Baji continued.

“Hopefully, in the future, we will have the kind of friendship that is comfortable for razzing,” you add.

Together, you bow in her direction. “Please accept our apology,” you and Baji say in tandem. You’re holding your breath.

“Of course I accept,” she says. Her voice is brighter. You release your breath with a sigh. You’ve never felt so relieved.

“We were thinkin’ of going to get some pizza, wanna join us?” you ask. Baji was already showing them the deals for his favorite local place.

Kazutora and Momo smile at you, “Of course!”

Dividers by @benkeibear

© All works belong to musingsinmountains. Please do not pirate my work onto other platforms. Support my releases with likes or reblogs on Tumblr and Kudos on AO3. Please support the official release of Tokyo Revengers

#Musings In Mountains #Hold The Line #kazutora hanemiya #Kazutora x reader #tokyorev x reader

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