#trying to decide. because it would work better for the plot for isaac to go looking for allison and therefore leave scott alone

[many-gay-magpies]

teen wolf folks random question. what would be more in character? allison remembering how often scott allegedly sends isaac to check up on her and texting them both when she and her dad are about to take a day off to go hunt kate so that doesnt happen, OR she forgets to text them and isaac shows up in the woods looking for her because she, once again, missed school without explanation and he and scott got worried. hm?

[andr3w-the-d0dgeb4ll]

Gem and the Scotts side plot?!?!?! I wrote a story about how Impulse joined the mafia :D

Sitting on the floor of his shitty apartment, eating a shitty pb&j for dinner, was a man named Isaac Sullivan. The lights were off due to him not being able to pay his rent that week, so he was sitting by the window in the light of the nearby street lamp. He was sitting on the floor, specifically, because he had no furniture. Only a small twin sized bed in his small bedroom and a small night stand that barely fit.

The apartment only had three rooms--The bedroom, the bathroom, and a living room that was combined with a kitchen. It was the only apartment he could afford on his salary since being a freelance music teacher didn't pay.

Even if Isaac could afford furniture, it wouldn't fit. Not with the various instruments taking up space. The drumkit on its own made the room feel incredibly cramped, stuffed in the corner like it was.

Even though his living situation sucked, Isaac was more or less happy with his life. He got to do what he loved, and his landlord was nice enough to let him stay even when he didn't pay rent for months on end.

Sure, he lived in a heat-less, AC-less, light-less apartment in the middle of one of the most crime-ridden cities in New Jersey, but he was fine. He didn't need money, he didn't need help. He was fine. Skizz could offer him money all he wanted, Isaac wasn't taking it.

Maybe he did throw his life away when he wasted his scholarship on a music degree instead of the engineering degree his parents insisted he get. Maybe he did waste all those years spent in highschool, working his ass off to prove he was just as smart as the rest of those kids, even if he wasn't from a well off family like the rest of them. Maybe he did make a mistake trying to be a musician, giving up on his dreams of being an inventor, just because he thought he liked music better.

....

That didn't matter, though. He was here now, no going back, and he was happy. He didn't need help. He was fine. He was eating a shitty pb&j in his apartment alone in the dark on the floor, and he's happy, god damn it.

That's when he heard a knock on his door- strange. Who needed him at this hour? It was--Isaac checked the clock on the wall--nine pm. Most people would be home, eating dinner, like him.

There was another knock, more insistent this time, so Isaac decided to get up and tell this weirdo to go away. He walked over and opened the door to find.. oh.

Two teenagers, both crying their eyes out, ran barreling into him. They hugged him and he immediately brought them inside, closing the door behind him. It was Gem and Scott, two of his music students. They were good kids, talented kids, but he knew what this was probably about. He wasn't happy.

"Our- our parents they-" Gem started, heaving and choking on sobs between words, "they kicked us-"

"Hey, hey, it's ok." Isaac soothed. "You don't need to tell me, it's ok. Lets just sit down and chill out. I'll get you some water."

He ushered them to sit down and went to grab some water bottles from a battery powered mini-fridge he'd rigged up after the power went out for the first time. He handed them both the drinks and then sat cross-legged across from them.

"Ok, first things first. Are you hurt at all?" Isaac asked.

"No." Scott croaked, sounding like his entire world had just ended. Maybe it had.

"D-dad tried to grab us, but we.. we ran before he could." Gem rubbed at her eyes, already taking sips from her water.

"Do.. is this what I think it is? They found out?"

"Y-yeah." Gem sobbed, hunching over. "I- we- I thought. I didn't. Mom read my diary."

Isaac cursed under his breath and pulled them both into a hug. "I'm so sorry."

"Can we stay here?" Scott said, loudly and pointedly, cutting the moment short.

"Yeah. Yeah of course." Isaac pulled back and looked at the two of them. "For as long as you need."

~~~~

Isaac's heart was hammering in his chest. He swore to himself he'd never do this, but he had to. He couldn't take care of two teenagers living like he was.

He needed help, so he knocked on the door.

Skizz opened the door soon after, looking down at Isaac. He smiled but it quickly fell from his face as he took in the state of Isaac.

Skizz hesitated--just for a moment--but that moment was all it took for Isaac to panic. To think Skizz would refuse him help, shut the door and turn him away. He wondered if this is how the kids felt, for that split-second before Isaac let them in. He hated the idea that they could ever think he wouldn't help them. Even for just half a moment.

Of course, his worries were for nothing. Skizz quickly pulled him inside with a worried shout of alarm. He shut the door and pulled Isaac into a big, Skizz-like hug.

"Impulse, buddy, are you ok?? You look terrible!" Skizz looked Isaac over, pulling back slightly to get a better view. "What happened?"

"Skizz- I- I need help." It took everything in Isaac not to take it back, to pretend this was just some joke, but those kids needed him.

Skizz's expression flashed through a few emotions. First surprise, then even more concern, then something darker Isaac couldn't place. He didn't want to.

"How about we sit down?" Skizz took Isaac by the shoulders and sat him down on the couch, plopping down next to him. "You never ask for help. What's going on? Is there someone I need killed?"

Isaac laughed sadly. "Do.. Do you remember those two kids I told you about? Two of my students?"

"The ones you were worried about? Cause their parents threw you off?"

"Yeah. I hate to say I was right, but.." Isaac sighed and let his head fall to his hands, tail flicking with irritation. "The two of them are out of a home. They went to me."

Skizz cursed and wrapped a wing around Isaac, he could feel the strange eyes against his back. "And you don't have the means to take care of them, do you?"

"I don't." Isaac admitted, his voice cracking. "I don't. But I can't just turn them away!" He turned to look at Skizz suddenly, his friend starling back.

"Hey, buddy, calm down- It's gonna be fine! I can lend you some money, ok? No biggie." Skizz spoke calmly. "You can pay me back later."

"You and I both know I can't. I don't have stable income, I'll never be able to pay you back." Isaac refused to use Skizz like that, use their friendship. He'd felt terrible about using Skizz's money back in highschool, when all they spent it on was candy and fizzy drinks. He'd feel even worse using Skizz's money to sustain himself.

Skizz's face contorted for a moment before smoothing into more concern. "Ok, ok. I know you hate owing people-"

Isaac cut him off. "I hate owing you. You've done so much for me already."

"You hate owing me." Skizz corrected. "But I have another solution."

"Anything."

"There's.." Skizz hesitated, the wings on his eyes closing for just a moment. "There's this job that needs doing and the family's yet to find someone we can trust to get it done without issue. You do it for me and I give you money in return."

Isaac must've hesitated for a second too long because Skizz was quick to continue. "You won't owe me anything!"

"I.. I'm not sure. That sounds- bad. I don't want to take a job from someone more qualified just because I'm friends with you. It's kinda scummy."

"Hey. The job will get done whether or not you give me a hand, but I'd rather skip the vetting process. I know you- the family knows you! My dad adores you. We trust you." Skizz reasoned. Isaac supposed it made sense.

He didn't know what, exactly, Skizz's family did. His father, Keralis, refused to discuss it for longer than needed. All he knew is they made a lot of money and that it was a family business, rooting all the way back to before their family moved to Jersey from Italy.

"So I just.. do this job for you? That's it?"

"Yeah. And if you need more money, you just do another one. Our last guy, he-" Skizz's expression turned annoyed, looking away from Isaac. "Let's just say he was.. rodent-like."

Isaac snorted. "Rodent-like?"

Skizz let out a short laugh. "Rodent-like! A real ratty fellow." He claimed, nodding in confirmation.

"Oookkayyy. Well, I promise not to be 'rodent-like', whatever that means."

"Oh, I have no doubts." Skizz smiled at him brightly, voice loud with excitement. "So you'll do it?"

"Yeah.. for Gem and Scott. I'll do it."

"Oh Impulse, you're the best!" Skizz stood and picked Isaac up in a big sweeping hug, spinning the two of them around. "I knew I could count on you!"

Isaac laughed, hugging Skizz back. "Man, I'm the one counting on you here."

"Nah! We're counting on each other! That's why we're best friends."

"That's.." Isaac felt his throat constrict, choking up. "That's what friends are for. God- thank you Skizz. I don't know what I would've done without you."

"Dude." Skizz set Isaac down and stepped back, holding his hands. "I told you you could always come to me if you needed help. Don't act suprised I kept my word, ok?" He giggled. "Makes me look bad."

"I just.. I don't know what to do." Isaac leaned forward and put his head on Skizz's shoulder. "I'm not ready for this."

"I don't think anyone's ever ready for kids."

"They need me. I can't provide for them like this, Skizz, but they need me. What am I gonna do?"

Skizz put a hand on the back of Isaac's head and just held him. His breathing began to hitch, shoulders shaking. He didn't cry, not yet, but he might as well have been, as he wrapped his arms around Skizz. The angel just kept him close, in his arms, and waiting for Isaac to calm down.

When Isaac finally got his breathing under control, Skizz spoke. "I mean.. My dad can probably help you out with that part." They both laughed.

"I guess he could, huh?" Isaac lifted his head from Skizz's shoulder. "Do you think he'd mind, or would I need to do a second job to be paid in advice?" They laughed again.

"Nah, man. Like I said, he likes you! You're like a second kid to him man. I think he'd be more excited to finally have grandkids, more than anything else." Skizz pulled away from the hug and turned to go to the kitchen.

Isaac trailed after him. "Still? I haven't seen him since we graduated highschool.."

"Loyalty is everything to my family, Impulse. Everything." There was an underlying tone to Skizz's voice, as he pulled a soda from the fridge and handed it over, that Isaac tried not to place. He didn't want to think about it.

"I'm loyal."

"I know you are.”

[peppymintdreams]

Crime and Idiocracy

Isaac x Pickle

It’s time to relax and Isaac and pickle choose to watch a crime show but everything angers Isaac

It was supposed to be a relaxing evening. Pickle had curled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, Isaac lounging beside them, his feet propped up on the coffee table. The two of them had decided on a crime drama something simple to wind down with after a long day. At first, everything seemed fine. The detective had found the first clue, the crime scene was intriguing, and Pickle was getting into it.

But Isaac? Not so much.

"Wait, hold on," Isaac said, frowning at the screen. "Why are they bagging the evidence like that? The glove wasn’t even put in a sealed bag what are they, amateurs?"

Pickle chuckled, shoving a handful of popcorn into their mouth. "It's just a show, Isaac. They can't get everything right."

Isaac sighed, clearly unconvinced, but let it go for now. They watched in silence for a few more minutes, the plot thickening as the lead detective found a suspect, but Isaac’s expression grew darker with every passing second.

"No," he muttered, sitting up a little straighter. "No, no, no, this doesn’t make sense. Why would the killer leave a clue that obvious? That's literally the first thing you’d check! What kind of criminal mastermind are they supposed to be?"

Pickle tried to suppress a laugh. They knew Isaac had a tendency to overthink things, especially when it came to mysteries, but this was next-level frustration. “Maybe it’s a red herring,” they suggested. “You know, to throw the audience off.”

Isaac scoffed. “Throw the audience off? It’s throwing me off. That’s not how real investigations work! The guy would be caught in two seconds. Look at him! He’s practically announcing he did it. And why is the detective just standing there, acting like he’s solved the case already?”

Pickle raised an eyebrow, amused. “You could always turn it off if it’s that bad.”

“No,” Isaac said stubbornly, crossing his arms. “I want to see how much worse this gets.”

Pickle giggled, leaning into him. “You’re such a critic.”

“I’m not being a critic,” Isaac replied, though he was clearly annoyed. “I just hate it when shows don’t even try to be accurate. Like look, they didn’t even take fingerprints from the weapon. How are they going to solve this case if they’re ignoring basic forensics?”

Pickle smiled, resting their head on Isaac’s shoulder. “It’s for entertainment. Not everything has to be realistic.”

But Isaac was far from entertained. The show continued to throw curveballs, none of which seemed logical in Isaac’s eyes. By the time the detective miraculously found the killer based on a single, vague clue, Isaac was practically fuming.

“Are you kidding me?” he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “There’s no way he could’ve figured that out from a smudge on a window! They didn’t even check the alibis properly, and somehow they’ve solved the case in one episode? This is nonsense!”

Pickle burst into laughter. “You’re taking this way too seriously,” they teased, nudging him with their elbow. “It’s just a guilty pleasure. It’s not supposed to be perfect.”

Isaac ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head in disbelief. “Guilty pleasure? More like guilty torture. Who writes this stuff? They didn’t even do the bare minimum of research.”

“Maybe they thought no one would notice,” Pickle offered, still chuckling. “But I guess they didn’t expect you to be watching.”

Isaac rolled his eyes, though a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, well, I’d make a much better detective. At least I wouldn’t trip over the obvious clues or let a murderer walk right past me because I’m too busy brooding about my tragic backstory.”

Pickle snuggled closer, trying to stifle their amusement. “You’d probably solve the whole thing in five minutes and ruin the suspense.”

“I’d rather solve it in five minutes than spend an hour watching someone bungle their way through it,” Isaac muttered, though he seemed to be relaxing a bit now, the initial anger fading. “At least try to make it believable.”

“Maybe next time we’ll watch something more up your alley,” Pickle suggested. “Like a documentary or something with actual facts.”

Isaac let out a soft chuckle, wrapping an arm around them. “I think that’d be better for my sanity. But if you really want to watch this ridiculous stuff, I guess I can put up with it… for you.”

Pickle smiled, enjoying the warmth of his embrace. “It’s not about the show, anyway. It’s about spending time together.”

Isaac glanced down at them, the frustration in his eyes replaced by something softer. “You know what? You’re right. As long as I’m watching it with you, I guess I can tolerate the nonsense.”

Pickle grinned and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. “Good. But next time, you’re picking the show.”

Isaac smirked, already thinking of something more to his taste. “Deal. Just don’t be surprised if I pick something with actual logic.”

[apesarecuul]

Oscar Isaac characters and video games/gamer!reader

Anselm one was inspired by @reallyrallyauthor

Steven Grant:

I know what you’re going to say. Cliche but he 100% plays animal crossing. It’s cliche but it is RIGHT. He loves digging up little artifacts and seeing them in the little museum. You will have to try hard to get him to play anything else. He’s not much of an action game guy. One night he’s watching you play Red Dead Redemption 2 and decides to give it a try. HE LOVES IT. Does he make any progress? absolutely not. Does he make you watch him play? absolutely.

Marc Spector:

Believe it or not I don’t see Marc as a first person shooter guy. He’s seen more guns and death than you can imagine. Why would he play a game about something he’s already seen first hand? I do think that once he finally gets comfortable he’ll secretly play games like Stardew Valley or Firewatch. He likes experiencing lives he hasn’t had. He won’t tell you that’s the reason for it. He is going to tell you that he plays them ironically. That’s why he romanced every character in Stardew…. To be ironic.

Jake Lockley:

We all know that Jake is an old man on the inside. He’s never been able to indulge in anything that really takes time. So when you got him a tablet for Christmas he didn’t really know what he was supposed to do with it. It was ok at searching up things but not as convenient as his phone, you couldn’t use it to call people but it was good for searching up cooking tutorials behind your back. Once when you got bored on a long car ride you borrowed his tablet and downloaded a few of those games that are riddled with ads. Merge Mansion, Candy Crush, Dragon City, etc. Once he gets it back he’s like ‘what the hell is this?’ And now he’s addicted like an iPad kid. Congratulations. I bet you feel proud of yourself 😠

Anselm Vogelweide:

(NSFW)

He’s not exactly a ‘gamer’. Sure he has all the fancy equipment, VR, PC, haptic suit, tracking, etc. He bought it for you before you two even really started dating because you mentioned wanting a VR headset one day. He doesn’t deny that he was attempting to seduce you and you don’t deny that it worked. What made him start using it however was when you mentioned something called virtual reality porn. Look at what you’ve done. He now has access to even more porn. As if he didn’t have enough. When you’re gone for more than a day he pulls it out and tries to pretend it’s you. He wanted you to make a VR porn game just for him. You had to break it to him that you had no idea how that would even work. Don’t you worry. He will find a way.

Cecil Dennis:

Call of Duty. He has a ratty taped up controller that his cousin through against the wall. He loves the Story mode way better than online. He doesn’t like online because he enjoys the plot more than the competition. (he’s bad at the game and gets bullied) He doesn’t rage. He cries when he dies too many times on a hard segment of the game and either makes to sit in his lap while he tries to get past that segment or he flat out lays ontop of you. Face buried in your neck sniffling.

[moeitsu]

Can i ask you about your OC Kate?

Where did your inspo for her character come from? Does she represent anything about yourself?

I really love your fic. I think it’s an interesting approach to Arthur’s character to explore the parental guilt he has for what happened to Eliza and Isaac. And I love the way you do that by introducing a character that’s pretty much a mirror of himself, but under different circumstances. And she has broken the cycle already. Her backstory literally gave me chills when I read it. You have a great way of adding so much detail in such a short amount of words! I really look forward to each chapter :)))

AHH OF COURSE YOU CAN!!!! 💗♥️💜

Ty Ty Ty for asking it means so much to me when you guys ask question/give feedback/leave comments on my work. I’m so serious it literally brightens my day.

I wish this wasn’t anon so I can thank you properly, but please DM me and if you want I will add you to the tags for the next chapters!!

I’m so ready to dive into the Kate McCanon lore, I’m sorry if I get carried away:

I can’t really take any credit for her name. It’s from a Colter Wall song called “Kate McCanon”, but her character is nothing like the woman he’s singing about. I just really loved the name tbh. (And I’m a big fan of his music)

As far as my inspo for her character traits, they kinda just developed over time. I began forming ideas of her as I played rdr2 for the first time, at first I kinda pictured myself in the time period and how I would respond/react to certain events. Then as the story progressed I was like hm, I would definitely be dead by now if this was me. So i made someone stronger but also kept certain aspects like her humor, sarcasm, honesty, intelligence and kindness that I think are sorta reflection of myself.

In a nutshell, the Kate we see with Arthur and the gang is a free spirited tomboy who fully embraces the freedom and possibilities of life in the west and she also defies the gender stereotypes of that time period.

However, the lack of description of Kates appearance was entirely on purpose. I dropped little snippets of her looks at the beginning such as her height and size. (She’s a big woman) But tbh i didn’t want the focus of the story to be on what she looked like or what she was wearing. I purposely mentioned she is half Italian on her mothers side, (bc that will come up again later in the story for the plot) but I also wanted you guys to picture her however you felt was right. In my mind, she is a woman who appears intimidating but once you get to know her she’s a total sweetheart (much like Arthur hehe)

One of the reasons why I choose to keep Kate out of most missions is because she genuinely wants to be done with hurting people. She gave that life up and vowed to do better. Only when she’s pushed and survival is at stake do we see her break that promise. It’s almost ironic considering she is with a gang of outlaws, but like the girls, and Arthur too, she sees them as just people trying to get by. When she meets Jack and Abigail she sees a future dangling on a thread, and decides that if there’s something good she can do here. Then it’s going to be helping that family escape this life. Falling in love with Arthur just happens to be a bonus ;)

I had always intended to give Kate a traumatic backstory (sorry girlie). It started with her family, I wrote out an entire detailed timeline of her life. With names and dates and even random life events that will never make it in the story. But it helped me so much with building her background. It made her feel more real to me. I did so much research on the time period and what Boston was like in the 1800s. Even though I didn’t go into grave detail about her childhood or the death of her family members. But by doing so, it made it easier for me to write about that hopelessness and vulnerability she felt when she finally lost everything.

I chose to open the story with her burying her husband and child because (spoiler alert, but not really if you’ve been actively reading) that is the tie that links her soul with Arthur’s. Even though she does not blame herself for their deaths, it’s something that is engraved into the very being of her identity. And it pretty much dictates the person she becomes throughout the story.

When Kate is captured and taken to a military fort, that is where her “rock bottom” hits its “peak” so to speak. She has nothing left to lose at this point but herself. And in a way, she does lose herself. River is a character I hold very dear to me. And i might write a small spin off about him and Kate in the future. He was a reflection of what Kate would have become if she did not make a change. At first, he was her hope. But when his family met the same fate as hers, he became consumed by the darkness and rage. And unfortunately, she was in a state where Rivers anger nurtured her own. (I want to make it clear River is not a villain, he’s a victim)

I do kinda regret not exploring their relationship more in the chapter. But tbh it probably wouldn’t have added anything. However, I will say the two of them pretty much trauma bonded. They loved each other deeply, but not really in a romantic sense. River offered to marry her, but it was more out of “you are the only one i have left” kind of way. He was never going to give up that life and settle down again, getting married to Kate would just be a way to seal their relationship and vow to stand by each other till the very end. (Does this kinda mirror Arthur/Mary? That might be a reach idk)

All in all, I wanted to give Arthur someone who already understands him, but doesn’t know it yet. Someone that he doesn’t need to explain himself to because Kate has already been there. Arthur knows he’s a bad man, and he knows Kate has been a bad woman. He believes he is beyond saving, beyond redemption. But Kate sees someone who can be saved, he just need the support to do it.

I’ve been trying to plant the seeds over time that Kate truly misses being a mother, and feels robbed of the life she should be living. Raising her daughter. Jacks character has helped me manifest that in the story a lot. Especially that first kiss scene. Kate longs for a family. But she’s pretty much convinced herself that she will never have one again. So by helping the Marstons it alleviates some of that yearning. Arthur believes he has failed as a father, but what Kate sees is the potential for him to be a very loving parent. And it makes her head dizzy with adoration. (There will be many more tender moments with Jack/Arthur/Kate in the future btw)

I hope you guys don’t think my Arthur is too out-of-character. In the game, his son really isn’t mentioned a whole lot, and we know the reason he gives John such a hard time is because he doesn’t want to see him make the same mistakes. But I honestly believe Arthur would have made a wonderful father. The motivation behind this whole fanfic is really just exploring grief and parenthood. Which is ironic because i don’t have children lmao.

TLDR: Kate McCanon domesticates the wild outlaw known as Arthur Morgan 😂

I can’t believe I rambled so much on this. I hope I didn’t overwhelm you. But I guess it just goes to show how much I appreciate your question, and the fact that you’ve taken time out of your day to read my story.

I love you guys! ♥️

[jmagnabo92]

World War Teatime

After their plot to put their relationship back on their terms, Hetty and Trevor decide to date one-on-one in secret with Jay's help

AO3

*** 

          As Hetty cuddles into him in their secret room, one on the main floor rather than in the basement, Trevor can’t help grinning that their plan worked.  Sure, they hadn’t exactly planned for it to happen this soon, but Stephanie forced their hand.  

           Stephanie wanted to tear them apart, and so did Nigel, that much was obvious with his behavior in the last few months, thus when he tried to force them out of hiding, they had come up with a plan: they would come out and be extra obnoxious (Trevor's convinced that Hetty loves when he is being extra) and have a terrible date with Isaac and Nigel causing them to question the relationship and complain to their 'friends', who quite frankly they didn't expect to be helpful, and then stage a break up.  

           Now, they could go back to their relationship on their terms.  It was perfect.

           Hetty hums.  "It is too bad that I cannot stay all night."

           "It has been nice to have our nights together the passed week."

           "However, this is for the best."

           "Yeah, I'm glad our planned worked - we should get to decide when we're ready to be out to everyone and not that dirty little teapot."

           Hetty giggles.  "Exactly, and although I hated praising Elias over you -" at this, she shivers.  "- it worked quite splendidly.  Although I cannot believe Isaac agreed with me - that man was a terrible menace and horrible at dinner parties."

           "As horrible as I was?"

           "You were trying to be terrible, Dear," Hetty states.  "He was not - he was just terrible."

           Trevor grins.  "That's true.  I tried not to be as obnoxious as I was with the whole hitting on Sam thing, but I think bringing up 'flavored water' after an hour of talking about tea and deliberately spreading my legs was pretty bad."

           Hetty giggles.  "Personally, I liked the view of your genitals on display, especially because it clearly drove Nigel around the bend because you're clearly bigger than him."

           Trevor laughs.  "I never thought you'd be the one to approve of such measures or stroke my ego, but I like it."

           "I can do a little stroking every now and then," Hetty grins.  "Especially after our fake fight, I realize with recent events it might hurt you more to hear those things then..."

           "I know you're not embarrassed of me anymore, Hetty.  I know you didn't mean the things you said - it was all part of our plan and I'm okay with that."

           "Oh, good."

           "Still, maybe it wouldn't hurt if we did try dating just the two of us."

           "Have we not been dating for months now?"

           "Hetty, I told you- this is pillow talk.  It is not the same thing as dating," Trevor states.  "It's just something you do in the afterglow to extend the intimacy."

           "Trevor, we spend hours just talking after engaging in amorous congress, cuddled up together and enjoying one another's company.  That is not dating?"

           "Well, we're dating, but not actually dating."

           She looks confused.

           "I mean, we started this thing out as just two horny people getting their jollies off together, but now, we're more than that - and yet, we only really spend time in bed together.  Dating would mean going on dates just the two of us.  Actually talking outside of cuddling in bed."

           "What exactly are you proposing?  We just proved teatime is not our thing, and everyone believes we broke up."

           "Will you let me think of something and just go along for the ride?"

           "I suppose."

           "Good, now... what is our next step in getting back at Nigel?"

           Hetty grins.  "Well, I have a few ideas..."

***

           It seemed like with their public breakup, everyone as all over them wanting to make them feel better or get the dramatic details of their torrid affair.  He's pretty sure that they just wanted to make sure that they didn't miss any ensuing drama, but the fact is that it took more than a week before he could find Jay alone and feel comfortable enough to approach him about his date idea.  

           Thankfully, Jay has the iPad open, and he could type something into word and have it read it out loud to Jay.  

           Hey Jay, can I ask a favor?

           Jay jumps about a mile causing Trevor to laugh.  "I'm guessing - Trevor?"

           You finally learned my name!

           "I always knew your name, but I liked driving you nuts by calling you ‘no pants’ until you decided to get back at me with those magnets.  I just wanted you to stop using the magnets on the fridge to insist I call you by name or you'd use them to pick on me – I guess that means I am using your name."

           Well, it worked.  You call me by name now.

           "Yeah, yeah, what do you want?"

           I need a favor, that I need you to keep a secret.

           "This doesn't involve my sister or cat phishing, does it?"

           Of course not.

           "Alright, what is it?"

           I was hoping you would cook a nice dinner - nothing fancy just something you and Sam would be able to eat as leftovers - and bring it out to the carriage house on Friday night."

           Jay stares at the iPad for a solid minute before he asks, "I thought you and Hetty broke up."

           We did.

           "Then, who's the date for?"  

           Figuring that Jay would definitely not help if he wasn't honest, Trevor sighs.

           Can you keep a secret?

           "Of course."

           Hetty and I faked our breakup, and this date is for the two of us.  

           "What?  Why would you - you know what?  I want the details.  From start to finish - how did we get here because Sam has told me nothing."

           It's a long story...

           "Do you want my help or not?"

           Fine.

***

           Telling Jay the story had gotten him on board to help, he even cleaned up the carriage house a bit.  Not enough to be suspicious if Sam discovered it, but enough that he and Hetty could enjoy their date without feeling like they were dinning in dust.  

           "Alright, I am assuming you're here - the remote for the TV is on the table.  It's already set for that movie that I can only assume is for Hetty, you just have to turn it on.  Don't forget to turn it off when you leave," Jay says as he pops the tops off a couple of Snapples, despite the fact that they wouldn't be able to drink them.  "I'll be back in the morning, but I hope you two will have a nice time."

           Trevor moves to the saltshaker, knocks it over and spells out Thanks, Jay in the salt.

           Jay laughs, "You're welcome - I'm kind of excited to be part of this secret, but you know I have to clean that up now, right?"

           Sorry.

           "Oh, I almost forgot," Jay says, as he begins to clean up the salt.  "I'll put these on the table."  

           He's referring to the two flowers that Trevor asked him to buy.  A yellow rose and a blue ranunculus - the first for friendship and the second for attraction and playfulness.  He thought about more relationship type flowers, but they weren't quite there yet despite their pseudo dating.  They should probably take this slow.

           Thanks again.

           "Alright, I'm going to head out now.  Enjoy."

           Jay leaves the carriage house just as Hetty enters.  

           He smiles, somewhat nervous.  They've spent a lot of time together, talking and enjoying each other's company, but nothing like an established date.  

           "Hi, you, uh, made it," Trevor stutters, and Hetty laughs.

           "What would have prevented me from 'making it' as you say?"

           "Well, usually it's like traffic or something else coming up- I forgot momentarily that we're ghosts and those normal, well, for me, things that used to come up on dates no longer applied."

           As he moves to pull out her chair, he realizes, again, that he can't do that either.  Sometimes being able to touch things makes him forget that he's a ghost.  Even as he realizes that he needs Jay's help for setting up the date.

           "I have noticed that you tend to forget that you are a ghost often," Hetty says as she sits.  "However, it is a normal occurrence.  I suspect that having Jay and Samantha around has not helped you in that regard, but it does appear to be tapering off."

           "Yeah, it comes and goes," Trevor states as he sits across from her.  "I know that we can't really eat, but I had Jay cook us up something he and Sam can eat later, and I figured with the TV in here, we could watch a movie after."

           Hetty doesn't give any indication either way as she looks at the flowers thoughtfully.  

           "I know it's the boring average dinner and a movie date except we can't actually eat dinner, but I figured we could attempt it..."  He's starting to feel nervous again, so he mutters, "Maybe this wasn't the best idea."

           "It's lovely, Trevor.  I was just attempting to understand the flowers - you were attempting to send a message with them, correct?"

           "Oh, yes.  Uh, in honor of our fun together, the ranunculus is for attraction and playfulness, while the the yellow rose is for friendship.  I figured that since this is our first date - a red rose would be too much."

           "I like them," Hetty states.  "I learned the flower meanings a long time ago, but it has been so long that I could not remember.  To be honest, I am surprised that you know flower meanings."

           Trevor laughs.  "Do you remember when you caught Thor and I looking at the environment stuff on Sam's computer and called us Deviants?"

           "Yes, and it was an easy assumption to make."

           "Says the woman who then asked me to look up stable boys."

           Hetty gives him a look, but asking, "Perhaps, you should get to the point."

           Trevor hums.  "Well, the reason we were looking up environmental stuff was because I've learned in my years of dating that the person you're dating usually likes when you have something in common.  So, I tried to find things that would strike up conversations the best - nail polish, flower meanings, and chapstick flavors were surprising hits.  So, I memorized them and struck up conversations with those ideas as starters."

           "One must have worked a lot harder in your time to date."

           Trevor nods.  "It was fun to learn something I otherwise wouldn't have, but yeah, I put a lot of work into it."

           Hetty hums and nods.  "You know, chapstick was invented just before I died, I believe the first flavor was sweet cherry, before that we used honey or natural oils to smooth one's lips."

           "That explains why you taste like honey," Trevor replies with a grin.  "I used to mess around with all of the different flavors because if I was going to be mocked for using it - I mine-as-well lean into the idea, right?"

           "Which would explain the strange taste of some sort of candy on your lips."

           "I had both cotton candy and the bubble gum flavored blow pops on my lips when I died - although I'm sure you can also taste the alcohol and cocaine because I can."

           Hetty hums as she reaches her hand across the table to hold his, "Perhaps that is why you are so addictive."

           "We finally figured out what you like about me."  Trevor laughs, squeezing her hand.  "Well, that and my ass."

           "A lady does not discuss asses at the dinner table, Trevor."

           "Fair, let's go back to the taste of my lips instead," he teases.

           "One would think that chapstick or flowers would be more appropriate."

           Trevor smiles. "Lady's choice."

           "Flowers."

           "Good choice."

***

           The flower talk bled way into some of their other interests.  First, more talk about the flavors of Chapstick, before delving into the fun facts on Snapple caps.  Hetty thought they were a bit silly, but she indulged him, adding a few of her own fun facts that she learned over the years.  

They discussed the changes in their afterlives with a brief respite to complain about Nigel still stealing Hetty’s time with Isaac.  Their subtle plan of annoying him out of the mansion was perhaps a bit too subtle, but they didn’t want to do anything as daring as Nigel’s blatant blackmail or the tea party fiasco since that had made things worse for her relationship with Isaac.  

Then, things made way to some of their favorite things to discuss – the role play scenes they love to play out and of course, horses.

Trevor, naturally, knew that Hetty loved horses, and although he had only ridden a horse a few times, he could relate to that.  Hence, why when the horse talk started to dwindle, he told her that he had picked two movies with horses that they could watch.

She’d been delighted to watch both Flicka and The Horse Whisperer but had fallen asleep on him as they had gone from sitting side by side with his arm around her shoulders to laying down with her on top of him.  

He should wake her up, but he’s much too comfortable.  He’ll just close his eyes for five minutes and then wake her.  

Unfortunately, five minutes turned into five hours, and he’s jerked awake by the sounds of Jay muttering about electricity as he turns off the TV.

Oops.  

Hetty groans.  “It is impolite to make such a racket this early in this morning.”

“Jay probably assumes we aren’t here,” Trevor states.  

“I did not mean to fall asleep on you, Trevor,” Hetty states, despite not moving.

“That’s okay, you don’t hear me complaining,” Trevor counters with a grin.  

She gives him a kiss, and says, “Thank you for a lovely date.  I shall return to my room before Isaac awakens so that he does not suspect we are up to our old tricks, again.”

He nods.  Isaac kept tabs on Hetty far more than Thor kept tabs on Trevor.

“However, I shall see you later?”

Trevor grins.  “Our room?  Unless you’d like to use one of these rooms for more privacy?”

“I would like that.  Normal time?”

“Agreed.”

Hetty gives him one last kiss before making her way out of the carriage house.  He gets up and finds that Jay has put this phone on the counter.  He types a text to Jay’s phone in – so it’ll read it out loud.  

Sorry, we fell asleep.

Jay jumps.  “Oh, Trevor, sorry, man.  Must’ve woken you up, then?”

Yeah, but it’s fine.  If we’re to keep this a secret, it’s better for Hetty to be back in her room before Isaac notices she’s missing.

“Ah, okay.  So, did it go well, then?”

It did.  I think we have more in common than we thought.  You wouldn’t mind doing it, again, would you?

“Of course not, I like being part of ghost shenanigans for once.”  Jay grins.  “You know, maybe we might even have something in common if you ever wanted to hang out with me?”

It’s baseball season, isn’t it?

“You like baseball?”

Not as much as football or basketball, but yeah.

“Then maybe we should watch the next Mets game together?”

I’d like that.

“And we can plan your next date with Hetty.”

At first, Trevor wants to say no, but Jay does have some sound dating advice and he’s a great husband to Sam, so it wouldn’t hurt to get his advice.  Definitely would be better than Pete’s – and Sass/Thor’s advice was laughable. Good thing he hadn’t been looking for it then.

I’d like that.

“Great!”

***

Trevor could admit that he loved pulling one over on everyone.  Between his bonding with Jay, the dates with Hetty and the fact that no one had any idea that he and Hetty were enjoying some private fun time, he felt like he was pulling an epic prank on the house, and it definitely got his juices flowing.  Especially because he and Hetty were slowly ousting Nigel from the house and arranging things so that they were interrupting Nigel and Isaac’s time together just like Nigel did for Hetty and Isaac’s time together.  

It wasn’t that either of them wanted to mess up Isaac’s relationship with Nigel, but they wanted Nigel to admit what he did, to know that he wasn’t in charge, and to actually respect Hetty and her time with Isaac.  Hetty had had enough of the disrespect from men her life (especially while she was alive) and the one thing she loved about being a ghost was the inherent respect of her fellow male ghosts, but Nigel was frustratingly bucking that tradition.  

The fun part with Nigel for Trevor was whenever he’d start a conversation with him, he’d drive him nuts with details about sexual exploits and positions.  In fact, he knew a whole slew of male-male positions that he figured Nigel might not know about since he’s been dead for 250 years.  Since he knows Nigel’s frustrated with the pace of their baby stepping their relationship (probably why he’s so jealous of him and Hetty – and walking in on them), the sex talk is especially fun because he puts sex on Nigel’s mind knowing he’s not getting any.  

It was even more fun, when Trevor had gotten Flower and Alberta involved, since Nigel obviously wants to be more involved with the mansion ghosts (and incorrectly assumed that such ‘ladies’ would not be vulgar enough to discuss sex positions), he’d been delighted when they joined the discussion.  Trevor, on the other hand, wanted to celebrate with his little T-Money thing, but restrained that for later.  

When he told Hetty of these delightful conversations, she actually wanted the details, which had delighted Trevor to no end.  Of course, the first time he told her about the sex positions, she had asked how he knew about them, and he admitted about his past relationship with Ari.  It had actually been a pivotal moment for them because he had expected for her to not be accepting or mock him for being with the man that threw his body in the lake, but she hadn’t done either of those things.  She understood that sometimes you can’t help you fall for and that it sucks to want someone who doesn’t want you back.  It was at that point that she confessed about her crush on Isaac, and what a fool she thought she was for not knowing about Isaac being into men or would never be into her after the last century together.  

Trevor had assured her that she wasn’t a fool for being attracted to someone who was never attracted to her or for not knowing something that had taken Isaac two hundred and fifty years to figure out.  She had smiled and told him that at least now they both had someone that actually wants to be with them.  

That was definitely a step forward in the right direction.  

Unfortunately, more than a month after Hetty and Trevor’s first date, Nigel hasn’t combusted or realized that Trevor was just getting back at him.  Although he did complain to Isaac about the topic of conversation during their pondering time (Hetty told him about it), and which Isaac had responded that that was just Trevor.  That he, Flower, and Alberta are quite open about sex and often have some very disturbing conversations in relation to sex (at least according to him).  Hetty had added that it was only natural that Trevor would be thinking about sex all of the time with his pants off and thoughts of the hot limo driver that he didn’t have sex with (because he gave his pants to Pinkus) right when he died.  It’s like Flower dying high or Isaac’s dysentery – Trevor died horny, and he couldn’t help it.

He jokes that she, too, died horny but hadn’t had it unleashed until recently, which he gets the benefit of.  Still, Nigel remains steadfast, and they remain going out on secret dates.

Tonight, Jay had agreed to a ghost version of a ‘wine tasting’, which wasn’t wine (because wine’s too expensive for this) and was actually different types of Snapple that Trevor had, at one point, tried and that Jay could explain the taste of if Trevor couldn’t.

“Alright, you two ready?” Jay questions as he prepares to undo the first Snapple bottle.  

Trevor grins as he writes onto the iPad: Yes, we’re ready.

“This first one is the classic – the original Snapple – Apple,” Jay says, putting it down for them to sniff.  “And your fun fact is: A full moon is nine brighter than a half moon.”

“That can’t be true,” Hetty denies as she leans down to sniff.  She hums.  “I miss apples.”

Trevor hums.  “I like the taste of apple flavored things, but I never really liked eating apples for some reason.”

“Do you enjoy the smell?”  

“I do – it is very strange.”

“Ready for the next one?” Jay questions.

Trevor looks at Hetty, who nods.

Yes.  

Jay grins as he pulls out another bottle from behind the counter.  “This one is Pink Lemonade.”

“How do you make a pink lemonade?” Hetty questions as Jay uncaps the bottle.  “Lemons are not pink.”

Trevor can’t help giggling at that.  It’s a rather similar reaction to everyone he’s met, his brother had been particularly adamant that it was impossible, and he can’t help the memory of him arguing that it was not possible.  

Hey, Jay, will you tell Hetty how it’s possible to make pink lemonade?

Trevor, of course, knew, but he knows Jay wants to be involved, so he figures this is a great way to get him involved.

“Of course,” Jay grins.  “Pink lemonade is created by adding additional fruit juices, flavors, or food coloring to the recipe. Although this one – like most store-bought pink lemonade is simply colored with concentrated grape juice or dyes.”

“Added juice, really?”

“Yes, really,” Trevor grins.  “It’s really easy to make and it tastes good.”

Thank you.

“Oh, and your fun fact: Fresh cranberries can be bounced like a rubber ball.”

“Now that must be impossible,” Hetty says.

“Why are you doubting the power of the Snapple Fun facts?” Trevor teasingly asks.  

“That is highly unlikely to be true.”

“Snapple fun facts never lie.”

Hetty gives him a look, and he gets an idea.  

Hey Jay, any chance you want to try that one out?  Buy some cranberries and bounce them around?

Jay bursts out laughing.  “I suppose that Hetty’s not believing the Snapple facts?”

Definitely not.

“Well, then, maybe for your next date.”

“See?  Jay’s on board to test out the fun facts,” Trevor smiles at her.

“If we spend all of our next date bouncing cranberries around the room –”

“–it would still be better than tea and you know it,” Trevor teases.

Hetty laughs, and nods.  “I happen to like tea parties, but I could see how bouncing cranberries around would entertain you more than a tea party.”

Trevor smiles.  “I would have been fine with a tea party where we talked about more than just tea.”

“Maybe someday.”

“I like the sound of that… now onto more Snapples.”

***

Trevor was definitely enjoying this date, as more than an hour later and a dozen different Snapples and fun facts, and Hetty hadn’t believed a single one.  He and Jay couldn’t help laughing at how adamant she was that they had were simply putting made up ‘fun facts’ inside the caps just to mess with her.

“No, Hetty, we are not messing with you,” Trevor says.  “The caps are sealed – plus, look at them, how do you think Jay managed to make them look all the same.”

Hetty does look at the dozen or so caps on the counter.  “I suppose – I am still suspicious.”

“I’m telling you, they’re real – I’ll look up the Snapple fun facts webpage later, alright?”

“And how do I know you have not created a fake website page with these Snapple Fun Facts?”

Trevor bursts out laughing and turns to the iPad.

Can you believe this, Jay?  Hetty is insisting that we made up those ‘fun facts’ and that I would’ve created a website just to prove I’m right.

“That’s an elaborate lie – even for you, but I could see you doing it,” Jay teases.

What?  You’re supposed to say ‘no, he would never do that’.  

Jay grins.  “Well, it’s not like you don’t have the ability – you did manage to figure out and rework our website system in one night.”

Yes, I know computers, but that doesn’t mean that I would create a website to tell Hetty fake facts on our date.

Jay laughs.  “You know, Hetty, Trevor’s been working really hard to be a good boyfriend and he’s smart enough to know that creating a website for an elaborate lie like that would hurt your relationship, not help.”

Thank you, Jay.

“Besides, it would take a long time to make a whole website – think about how long we spent on our B&B website – and we don’t leave Trevor alone with computers for very long after the dating profile thing.”

I thought we were passed that.

“We are – I just making a point that it would take far too long on your own to do it – I’m helping you.”  

Jay grins at him.

“Jay’s right,” Trevor states.  “You saw how much effort it took to do that thing a few months back, I wouldn’t waste all that energy just for that.”

Hetty hums.  “I suppose that is true.  Besides, those magic fingers of yours have been quite busy entertaining me to create a website.”

Trevor grins, pulling her close for a kiss.  “Well, I can’t resist pleasing you with them – especially when you call them ‘magic fingers’.”

“Oh, my God,” a new voice says, jarring their attention to the doorway.  

It’s Sam.

“What is going on here?” Sam asks.

“We’re having a Snapple smelling – in lieu of a Wine Tasting,” Jay says, grinning.

“So, you know that Hetty and Trevor are in here talking about magic fingers?” Sam asks, trying not to gag.

“That part I didn’t know but we were just talking about websites and his power so… but we agreed that if you needed private time, you would tell me.”

It wasn’t going to be like that – it just came up, but we were going to return to the Snapple Smelling.

“I don’t understand – what is going on here?  Didn’t you two break up two months ago?”

“It was a fake breakup,” Jay says, gleefully.  “I finally know something you don’t know.”

Sam looks majorly confused.  “What?”

Before Hetty or Trevor could explain, Jay asks, “Oh, can I tell the story?  I really want to be involved.”

Go ahead.

           With that, Jay goes on to explain the story from start to finish, and when he finishes, Sam says, “Why didn’t you tell me about Nigel?”

           “Isaac has known me for 130 years and he still dismissed my concerns.  I do not want to mess things up for him, but I do want to be respected in my own house,” Hetty states.  “I have not experienced such disrespect since I died, all of the ghosts have respected me, but ever since Isaac and Nigel have gotten involved, Isaac has not appeared to respect his friendship with me and Nigel, well, getting to know him as not helped.  Especially not with the respite nonsense, deliberately snubbing me, and then, to blackmail me in my own home?  No, I was not going to have it, thus we took control.”

           “And we’ve been trying to drive Nigel crazy so that he’ll want to go back to the shed with Jenkins,” Trevor states.  “Or help him admit what he did and be forced to respect Hetty.  Unfortunately, he’s rather stubborn.”

           “Much like you two,” Sam comments.  “But honestly, if Nigel was giving you such trouble, I would’ve just suggested that he can’t move into the library, especially since Isaac didn’t ask me if he could – which honestly, upset me, too.”

           Hetty glances at Trevor.  “Could it be that easy?”

           “Isaac might question, why now if you were to say something,” Trevor points out.

           “That’s a good point, but maybe the answer is to just tell Isaac the truth.”

           “Risking everything?”

           “Aren’t you risking everything already?” Sam questions.  “By messing with Nigel instead of facing it head on, you’re risking looking like the bad guy.  And that isn’t the answer – all Nigel has to do is tell Isaac that he thinks you’re pushing him out and that’ll be that.  Whoever speaks first, would be the one to be believed.  Besides, you said the other ghosts were there when the check mate conversation happened, surely Isaac is suspicious about that?”

           “Yeah, you know Sam might have a point,” Jay says.  “After all, didn’t you tell me that the tea party chaos made Isaac chose Nigel’s side?”

           “That is true,” Hetty states.  “Isaac did not believe me, and I had to apologize despite knowing that I was not wrong.”

           “But this time is different,” Sam states.  “The whole room saw the check mate conversation; all you have to do is have Nigel explain what it was about – Nigel won’t be able to explain without admitting what he did.”

           Hetty still looks uncertain.  

           “It’s up to you, Hetty, but I think we’ve proven our plan isn’t working,” Trevor offers.

           “I suppose it does not hurt to give it a try.  Tomorrow.”

           “Why not now?” Sam asks.  

           “One simply does not abandon one’s date for one’s friend – especially not for a potentially unpleasant conversation.”

           “Fair enough,” Sam states, before sitting down at the counter and taking a sip of one of the Snapples.  “Ooooh, Black Cherry – love it.”

           “What are you doing?” Trevor questions.

           “Well, you two wanted a double date – so, I figure why not do it, now?”

           “Well, for one thing, you weren’t invited this time,” Trevor says.

           “Additionally, one should arrive on time to a double date, Samantha.  Our date started over an hour ago, one cannot simply come in randomly and join late,” Hetty adds.

           “That’s not fair – Jay was invited to this date, and I wasn’t,” Sam complains.

           “You didn’t want to double date us,” Trevor states, plainly.

           “That’s because you were being obnoxious – which seems to be your default setting.”

           Before Trevor can react besides a laugh, Jay intervenes, “You’re going to talk to him like that and then be mad you weren’t involved or invited?”

           “Jay!” Sam says.  “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

           “And I am – always.  It’s just – that the reason Trevor came to me about the whole dating thing is partially because they didn’t want you involved – they just wanted to date by themselves and needed a little help.”

           “Yeah, it’s not exactly – not wanting you involved, it’s just – we’re still working on dating ourselves before double dates,” Trevor states.

           “Although, if you are interested, perhaps next time,” Hetty says.  

           Trevor smiles.  Clearly, their dating as given Hetty some confidence that they could attempt a double date.  

           Sam nods.  “Uh, yeah, Jay, would you like to double date with Hetty and Trevor the next time?”

           “Oooh!  The board game date?  I’d love to,” Jay says.  “Plus, it’ll probably help to have us there.”

           “Board games?”

           “We were talking about things we liked to do growing up and Jeremy and I played a lot of board games,” Trevor offers.  “Hetty’s never played any of them, and Jay thought it was a good idea, so… we’ve been trying out different types of dates…”

           “Interesting.  What kind of dates have you had?”

           “Well, we had the traditional dinner and a movie, a walk by the lake – didn’t exactly go well, I’m not fond of the lake knowing my body was there for so long –, we watched Jay cook something – it was an attempt at a cooking date –, we just watched TV alone together, we attempted a reading date – I figured that she might like erotic literature but that … well –”

           “Erotic literature?” Sam asks, sounding appalled.

           Jay laughs, “I told him that could either go really well or terribly bad.”

           Trevor laughs, “I think it sort of worked?”

           Hetty nods.  “Although we did not make it very far into the book.”

           “Right – yeah.  Then, we tried a sports date – where we watched the Mets game and I tried to talk her through baseball…”

           “I bet that went well.”

           “And then, there was the computer date where I showed her some of the things I used to do on the computer and tried to use some Sims thing to create computerized us for Jay, but that one ended early…”

           “Because of the whole ‘magic fingers’ thing?” Sam asks before gagging.  “Oh, god, don’t answer that.”

           Trevor grins.  “Then, we tried dinner and dancing and now, this – attempt at a wine tasting.”

           “All very interesting dates, I must say,” Sam states.  “Well, I suppose we’ll join you for the board game date, and until then, I bid you adieu.”  She raises her Snapple in a ‘cheers to you’ fashion.  “Don’t keep my husband too late.”

           “We won’t.”

           “Good.”

***

           Trevor could tell that Hetty is nervous about the meeting with Isaac because she’s pacing back and forth nervously in the upstairs den.  He wants to reassure her, and support her, but she wants to do this on her own (well, with Sam’s support).  Sam had offered to be a part of the conversation since Isaac and Nigel had disrespected her, too, and had pointed out that these days women didn’t need men to defend them.  

           It almost makes Trevor proud that Hetty’s understanding that she doesn’t have to defer to a man in any way and that she can stand up for herself, it’s amazing the change in her in recent months, but he still wishes he could be there for her.  Instead, he squeezes her hand as he makes his way passed her and leaves the room just in time for Isaac to enter.  

           Since he absolutely was not going to not know how it goes, he positions himself where he isn’t seen, but can still hear what’s going on in the room.

           “Hello, Isaac, thank you for coming,” Hetty says.  “Please have a seat.”

           “I admit I am a bit surprised by the tone of the invite and the change of our pondering location.”  He pauses. “Also, I believe that you have been quite insistent that our pondering time be alone.  No offensive, Samantha.”

           “Actually, Isaac, this isn’t about pondering.  This is about some disrespect that Hetty and I have been dealing with and accepting, but we’ve decided not to allow it anymore.”

           “Oh, and you’d like me to discuss the issue with Trevor for you.”

           “What?  No, it’s not Trevor,” Sam states.  “We wouldn’t discuss that with you, anyway.  We’d be perfectly capable of handling that ourselves, and he’s actually been surprisingly good lately.”  Sam clears her throat.  “Anyway, you’re not in charge of this house, but you acted like it when you invited Nigel to live in the library without consulting us.”

           “We would have let such a slight go if it were not for Nigel’s behavior of late.”

           “Is this about the tea party, Henrietta, we’ve talked about this –”

           “No, you talked, and I listened.  If there was one thing I decided long ago, it was that I would not be railroaded like I was by Elias in life in death, too.  However, it is clear that something has got to give…”

           Hetty then goes in to explain in detail the slights and disrespect that Nigel has been doing towards her and finishes with explaining the attempted blackmail and the comments during their teatime date.  Sam adds a few details here and there about the more demanding nature of his requests compared to the other ghosts.  

           “You have to understand, he’s used to be in charge and automatically assumed –”

           “That shall not matter.  It has not mattered with Thorfinn or Sasappis and despite your Captain position when you died, you have never treated me this way before.  Certainly, no one else has ever disrespected my position as Lady of the House until now, and I will not stand for it any longer.  Especially considering that he has not apologized and continues to attempt to get between us.  Intervening on our time together, interrupting me when I speak, and attempting to brush passed the rules of TV time or backrubs when I am involved.  I have noticed his attempt to circumvent our system only appears when it is my turn.”

           “Well, I – I will speak to Nigel, and he’ll apologize, surely…”

           “I do not want some phony bologna apology, Isaac, and we both know that is what he would give just like with the tea party,” Hetty states and Trevor has to hold back a laugh.  Clearly, they’ve been spending way too much time together.  

           “Well, how do we resolve this issue if an apology won’t be accepted?”

           “We’re proposing that Nigel move back to the shed, and that, when he can give a sincere apology that he may work towards being allowed to move back in,” Sam says.  “And it would not be on your terms or Nigel’s.  It would be when Hetty and I agree that he can respect us as the ladies of this house, he can come back.”

           “You want me to ask him to move out?”

           “Yes, we’ll be there to explain if you like, but essentially, yes.”

           “I – well, I suppose that’s only fair.”

           “Good.”

           With that, they obviously decide to go talk to Nigel because the sounds of them getting up filter through the air, and now, Trevor doesn’t have to worry anymore.

***

           Hours later, cuddled up together in one of the rooms in the carriage house, Hetty has just finished telling him the story of their confrontation with Nigel, where he admitted everything and that he was sort of jealous because Hetty and Isaac share a room while he and Isaac have been baby stepping their way to a sexual relationship.  He felt that it was partially Hetty’s fault, thus he’d taken it out on Hetty.  

           Hetty sighs, happily.  “I just cannot believe that Isaac has believed me after all that.  I truly thought he would give me up for Nigel.”

           “He could never give you up – you’re his best friend,” Trevor retorts.  “But, at least, all is well, and you’ve officially won World War Teatime, which I knew you would.”

           “World War Teatime, Trevor?” Hetty asks, incredulously.  

           Trevor laughs.  “That’s what I’ve been calling it in my head.  You versus Nigel in a war on teas – well, tea parties.”

           “I love it.”  Hetty grins.  “And as the official winner of World War Teatime, I believe I deserve a prize.”

           “A prize.”

           Hetty hums.  “Those delightful magic fingers of yours.”

           Trevor grins.  “That’s one prize I’d be delighted to give you.”

           “Good.”

[wiypt-writes]

Leave No One Behind

Chapter 16: Endings Beginnings

Co written with @icanfeelastormbrewing​

Summary: Ari and Hannah settle into life back home, but it isn’t all as smooth as they’d have hoped…

Warnings: Bad Language words.

Pairings:  Ari Levinson x OFC Hannah Horowitz

Word Count- 4.5k

A/N: It was recently brought to our attention that in a few other chapters there have been a couple of things that Ari has said/done that are not technically accurate for someone of Jewish heritage. First up, it was reference to Ari observing a ‘Sunday Roast’ when he visited Mama Navon. We just wanted to remind people that Hannah is of Catholic Christian and Jewish heritage (Spanish Catholic Mother, American Jewish Father) and her and Sammy’s upbringing has always been a combination of the two. So, when Ari visited Mama Navon when he was home from Sudan, clearly this was her tradition he was observing. Secondly, in another chapter Ari was praying to the ‘God and the Saints’. Of course, Judaism does not have saints, so there’s a slip up on our part with that one. As with the third point, when we described Ari rushing Sarah to the alter. He would have rushed her to the hoopa.

Regarding all of the above, we would hasten to add, that Ari grew up in the USA, leaving when he was 18. From what little we learn of him in the film, we know was taken by a British Soldier, who married an American Nurse. From the way he talks about it, we don’t get the impression his ‘adoptive’ parents were Jewish, so that alludes us to suspect he had a largely Christian upbringing, whilst clearly  being aware of his heritage. Therefore, we don’t think it is beyond the realms of possibility that he would pick up the odd little thing such as the above three points.  

That aside, we hope the above didn’t distract anyone else from the narrative as it did the reader who brought it to our attention.

Now, just a personal plea from myself in general. Myself and Storm do this for free, and not being a person who pays much attention to religion at all (that’s another debate in itself) it is for this reason I was VERY nervous about continuing this storyline beyond the plot of the film. We certainly don’t have the time, nor brain capacity to be researching things into any kind of huge depth. It’s why most of my story lines centre along similar types of things that I have a good background in. This fic was never supposed to focus on the ins and outs of a particular race of people, just the lives of two dumbasses in love. As all writers on here, we do this for free, and the moment it becomes hard work or unenjoyable, we won’t be continuing. So any other little slip ups, please, unless they’re offensive, give us a little leeway and put it down to Ari being exceptionally Westernised as pointed out above.

Sorry if this comes across as being a little harsh, but this has been playing on my mind a lot over the past few days, to the point I was seriously considering if we ended the fic where it currently stood. That said, I think we have a lot left to tell of Hannah and Ari’s story so, I’ll shut up now and let you read it…if you want that is.

Leave No One Behind Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Part 15

“You haven’t forgotten tomorrow?” Hannah heard her mother ask, as the woman stood up from the table while holding the teacup and saucer to place them in the sink. “You do remember you have to pick Sammy up from the airport tomorrow afternoon, right?”

 Hannah rolled her eyes at her mother’s back. “No, I haven’t forgotten,” she sighed as she played with the crumbles of the pastry she had been nibbling on, “I mean, it’s not like I’ve got anything else going on, is it? Seeing as Ari is with Maya and according to Sarah’s stupid rules I can’t be there with them…”

 At that, Maria Navon turned, giving her daughter a sympathetic look and Hannah snorted in anger.

 It had been four months since they arrived back in Tel Aviv, and Hannah had to concede that for the first few weeks it was fine. She and Ari settled nicely in the apartment Mossad rented in Ari’s name once all the paperwork following the end of the mission had been sorted. Ari had asked Isaacs for an upgrade of his living quarters, given he was now having Maya over to stay every other weekend, plus numerous nights of the week. Not to mention the fact Hannah was moving with him. When Isaacs had asked Ari to put a justification forward, he had simply shrugged, “I fucking earned it, Isaacs.”

 So he got it. Just like he usually got what he wanted, one way or another.

 Hannah was back working at the clinic. Her hands and the experience she had acquired while in Africa were needed more than ever now that it was only her mother and her to run it, although how long it was before her mom decided to retire fully was anyone’s guess. It had been a couple of busy months, what with interviewing for new nurses and locum staff, but Hannah would be lying if she denied having enjoyed every minute of it. She might have Mossad secret agent skills, obviously passed down by her father, but she was a doctor at heart. And that hadn’t changed in the two years she had been away.

 The team had split up within a month of arrival back in Tel Aviv.  Ari and Max had been working to help the refugees. Many of them had simply melted away post their arrival, still not trusting the mysterious white men who had come to their aid. However, some had stuck round; being housed temporarily in hostels, and was those who Ari and Max were tirelessly working for. They focussed their efforts on obtaining them permanent, legal status along with finding them better places to live and jobs of sorts to help them fit in their new reality. 

 Jake had headed back overseas to continue work as a diving instructor, this time in Jamaica, whilst Sammy had been in the States with Rachel for almost two and a half months now, and was, as Maria just reminded Hannah, due back the following day. Hannah suspected, however, not for long, fully expecting him to move there permanently to be with Rachel.

“Sammy is lucky, you know? He has none of this shit with Rachel’s ex.” Hannah grumbled, “Sarah is just being a pain in the ass. And I know for a fact it’s because we told her we got engaged. She was fine with me being there when Maya was until that point.” Hannah finished her rant as she placed her teacup and saucer on her mother’s extended hand. 

“You can’t be sure about that, sweetheart. Maybe there’s something else."

“No, she’s being a bitch.” Hannah quickly stopped her mother’s attempts at justifying Sarah’s behaviour. “She seems perfectly fine with us having dinner during the week and going out and stuff but won’t let Maya stay when I’m there on a weekend, basically just preventing us from spending those days together, for no reason other than she’s bitter.”

Maria Navon sighed. She knew where her daughter was coming from but, being the gentle and caring woman she was, she couldn’t help but try to put herself in the other woman’s shoes. She saw Hannah bite her lip and twirl her engagement ring round her finger, a rounded blue sapphire as deep as the ocean set against a halo of smaller white diamonds on a white gold band, before she spoke again.

 “I wouldn’t mind mama but they’ve been legally separated for years! The terms of their divorce are basically already been agreed. All they need to do is sign the damned papers but recently, well, Ari seems afraid to even raise the issue in case Sarah starts making it all awkward again and stops him seeing Munch.”

“Hey, sweetheart. Listen to me.” Hannah’s mother caught her attention as she pulled out a chair to sit next to her. “Everything is going to be ok, she’ll sign eventually. She knows there isn’t anything she can do about it, she’s just grieving.”

 Hannah’s brow creased at her mother’s choice of words. “Grieving for what? She left him, years ago!”

“She left him because she couldn’t cope with his lifestyle anymore, and he wasn’t winning any awards for being husband of the year, Han. That doesn’t mean she didn’t love him,” Maria woman spoke softly as if to appease her daughter’s raging tone.

“So, basically, I’m just stuck here waiting until she gets her head out of her ass?” 

“Have a little patience, honey. You two have waited over a decade, one way or another, to be together. You sure can wait a few weeks more.” Maria smiled as she reached out for Hannah’s hands who were fiddling with a teaspoon. 

“That’s the thing, Mama.” Hannah sighed as she looked up to meet her mom’s eyes. “I don’t think it’s just going to be weeks.”

“You don’t?” The woman frowned. “Well maybe she’s more stubborn than I thought.”

Hannah shook her head and then noticed her mother’s features had suddenly softened into a smile and she was looking straight over her shoulder. Hannah turned to see Ethan walking into the kitchen in his signature crisp work suit.

“Hi Ethan,” Hannah smiled at him and then looked up at the clock over the fridge before standing up and shrugging. “I should go. Spend the night with my fiancée before I’m banished back to my childhood home for the weekend like a love sick teenager.”

As she left the kitchen dramatically, she heard Ethan ask Maria. “That bad?”

“She’s pissed off,” Hannah heard her mom whisper back, “can’t say I blame her but she needs to make an attempt to see this from the other side, so to speak.”

With an angry growl, Hannah slammed the door and set off walking back to their apartment, in even more of  bad mood than she’d been in when she arrived at her mother’s. 

 Why was anyone treating her like she was the spoiled brat?

****

Ari was getting ready for Hannah’s arrival. He had been cooking, or sort of, making an attempt at dinner for a while and was now setting the table for two. He wanted to make tonight special as he knew this week was going to be the third weekend out of six that he and Hannah would be apart thanks to Sarah and her fucking rules. 

He was finding it hard himself. He’d gotten used to sleeping besides his Firefly since they had got together in Sudan, especially at night. But he knew Hannah was finding it harder. He was sacrificing their time together so that he could spend his allotted weekends with his daughter, which lessened the blow a little, but Hannah was basically being banned from living her life as it was for two days every two weeks, and that make his heart ache. 

And the worst bit about it all, was that he had seen it coming a mile off, and had been powerless to prevent it.

It was a bright Friday morning when they told Maya about their engagement. The previous evening Ari had proposed to Hannah for a second time after buying her a lavish ring. Thus, they had decided to take Maya for a walk and ice cream to break the news to her.  The little girl had been over the moon with the idea of her dad and Hannah getting married, which hadn’t surprised Ari seeing as his daughter had been all over his fiancé ever since they had met at Mossad headquarters the morning they had arrived home.

Now, as he approached Sarah’s apartment to take Maya back, he was about to tell his ex-wife and he was not particularly looking forward to it. But, he was being cautiously optimistic. Sarah had, after all, been amendable since they’d gotten home and seemed okay with Hannah being a part of Maya’s life.

Still, he felt his stomach churn as Maya walked up the apartment they had all shared once upon a time, and rang the doorbell.  No sooner had Sarah opened the door, Maya bounced in blurting the news out without hesitation.

 “Mom, guess what? Dad and Han are getting married! He asked her yesterday and she said yes!”

Ari groaned internally to himself, “Sarah, I didn’t ask her last night,” he smiled bashfully as he explained himself, “and I certainly didn’t do it in front of Maya.”

Sarah shook her head and brushed it off.  “Don’t worry, Ari and … erm, congratulations, I guess.”

“Erm… thanks.” Ari blinked. “I just thought you should hear it from me first… even if you technically did hear it from Munch.”

Despite the civil exchange, Ari could tell that Sarah was hating she didn’t have time nor the privacy to digest the news, and that wasn’t what he’d planned at all. He’d wanted to tell her, quickly, and leave, but Maya had put paid to his plans. Ari could feel coldness of his estranged wife’s stare, along with the tell-tale faint twitch of her nose and upper lip. He knew Sarah well and he, also knew how she deep down felt about him and Hannah. 

“She seemed cool about it but I know her, Han. Too cool for Sarah.” Ari told Hannah that night over dinner. “I can’t help feeling this is going to be bad…”

For once, Ari wished to God he’d been proven wrong. But, Sarah ended up doing what he feared, reverting back to being petty and petulant. She called him the next day to announce from that moment on, when Maya stayed with him, be it during the week or on her agreed weekends, Hannah wasn’t to be there overnight because, as Sarah had put it, it wasn’t appropriate for Maya to be around when they were… well, “up to stuff.

Hannah went ballistic, telling Ari his estranged wife was being ridiculous and she could go to hell, but Ari knew Sarah well enough to know she needed to get this out of her system. He tried his best to explain to Hannah that until she did, there was nothing he could do but roll with it, certainly for the time being. Making Sarah angry would not only risk her going back on terms of the divorce they’d set out in their separation degree, but also, he feared, make her get pissy about him seeing Maya. And that simply wasn’t something he was prepared to risk. He’d already missed too much of Maya over the years, admittedly through his own fault, but he didn’t want to miss a single second more than he had to.

Just as Ari was turning down the heat under their dinner, Simon’s ears pricked up and a second later Hannah’s key was heard in the door. Air smiled at the dog, who let out an excited whine, and leaned to give him a scratch behind his ears.

“Mama’s home, buddy.”

The pooch looked up at his master almost like he was pondering his words and Ari scoffed. 

Yeah, home. Bar the weekends when she’s banished to her mother's…

 Simon trotted off and soon after Ari heard Hannah greeting him. A moment later she walked into the living area and gave him a tired, but genuine smile. 

“Hey Lobo.”

 Ari beamed at his fiancé as he walked to meet her and without warning, he grabbed her face with both hands and stamped his lips on her plump ones, kissing the hell out of her. Hannah moaned in surprise but melted into his hold, her hands instantly reaching for Ari’s bearded cheeks.

“Hey Firefly.” He whispered when he broke the kiss.

She smiled at him as her hands travelled upwards and tangled in his hair. “Something smells good.”

“Thanks, I just showered.” Ari drawled, a cheeky smile on his face.

“I meant the food, you ass.” Hannah laughed as one of her hands slapped Ari shoulder, but his grin never faded.

“I’m a whole meal, honey.” He continued, playfully. Hannah rolled her eyes and stepped back. “But yeah, I’ve been cooking or rather mixing things in pots and pans.”

“Hmmm should I be worried?” She shrugged off the light jacket she was wearing to shield her from the summer showers.

“Well, Simon tasted everything and he’s still breathing.”

“Simon used to eat jellyfish, Ari. That’s not a bar to measure your cooking with.”

“Hey, I tried, okay? Give me some credit. I’ve never cooked for a woman before.” He grabbed her hips and pressed her to his body, one of his big hands splaying over her back.

At that Hannah smiled at him lovingly. He was right. She suspected he had never cooked for Sarah and he certainly hadn’t cooked for her, not once. Never in the brief amount of time they had been secretly dating, and at the resort it had been Chef Aziz's job to cook for everyone.

“I’m honoured, and I’m sure it’ll be great. Give me five to go wash up okay?”

“Sure, babe. I’ll plate the food and open the wine.” He winked at her and Hannah stood on her toes and gave him another quick peck before she headed into the bedroom, Simon following her.

True to his word Ari had done a pretty good job and thirty minutes later they were both sat at the table after having enjoyed a dammed passable and tasty attempt at a beef stroganoff on Ari’s part that left Hannah pleasantly surprised. 

She sighed with satisfaction as she left her fork on her plate and when she looked up she noticed Ari was looking at her intently, his eyes shining under those long eyelashes.

“You trying to seduce me before my carriage turns into a pumpkin tomorrow, Levinson?” Hannah asked before bringing her glass of wine to her lips.

“Hannah...” he sighed.

“What?”

“Please don’t, sweetheart. I don’t want to argue.” 

It was her turn to sigh, heavily. Ari’s words were more of a plea than a warning to her, but she couldn’t help the way she was feeling. Granted, she wasn’t quite as pissed as when she had left her mother’s house, but she still had a sour feeling which was nagging at her. 

“I don’t want to either, Ari. I just don’t like the prospect of spending my weekend away from you. Again.”

“And you think I do?” He asked, reaching for her hand over the table. “Honey, this won’t be forever. Sarah just needs to get her stupid tantrum out of her system.”

“Yeah, I know and I don’t want you having trouble with Maya because of me, I wouldn’t keep you from Munch, ever. But you’re my fiancé and I just...” she trailed off, shrugging, “I don’t want us to be apart.”

Ari licked his lips and pondered for a moment as he looked at their entwined hands. “Okay, I’ll talk to her when I pick Maya up tomorrow.” He nodded with determination when he looked up at her. “See if I can reason with her and...”

“Don’t Ari. You’ll only set her off.” Hannah rapidly cut him off.

Ari groaned and let go of her hand, his look and voice growing harder. “Well then, what do you want me to do? You literally just said-“

“I know, but I don’t want you to poke the bear! I just want this fucking ridiculous situation to be over.” Hannah shook her head. She knew she was riling Air up, but she was sick of everyone trying to get her to accept the situation they were in without so much as a word of complaint. “I’m not blaming you, it’s just…forget it, can we just pretend we are a normal couple who are having a normal evening dinner?”

“We are a normal couple. Well, as normal as most anyway.” Ari took her hand again, his features softening. “Look, I’m sorry. I really am. I just don’t know what I can do.”

“Love me.” Hannah stated after a while.

Now that puzzled Ari. Was that a request or was she doubting him. She couldn’t be doubting him, right? With concern written all over his face he pushed his chair back to stand up and hurriedly crouched beside Hannah, his hands grabbing her thighs firmly as his eyes searched for something in hers. 

“Firefly, I do love you. You know this… I mean, at least, I hope you do.”

“I do.” She nodded as she looked down to him. “Just don’t stop loving me, no matter what crazy ideas Sarah comes up with.” 

“Hannah, that’s not gonna happen.” He assured her after swallowing hard. “I promise you. Nothing she says or does is gonna change the way I feel about you.” 

****

Ari meant what he said and took it upon himself to make sure his Firefly was left with no doubt as to his feelings for her all through the night. And then again he made sure she hadn’t forgotten the following morning too before she left to pick Sammy up from the airport.

Ari collected Maya, as arranged, from the summer holiday camp run by her school and then, throwing caution to the wind, took her to Maria’s to see not only Hannah, but Sammy and the family. Hannah was surprised, but pleased to see them both and hugged Maya tight as the girl threw herself at her, chatting away about her day. They ate a lovely dinner, courtesy of Maria, and later, retired to the shared garden in the warm, July air. 

As Maya sat with Sammy, who was telling her stories about the states and Rachel’s kids, Ari found himself watching Hannah. She was sat with her mom and Ethan, the three of them sipping wine as the dusk drew in. It wasn’t long before the first little twinkles around the tree flashed through the darkness, signalling the fireflies had come out to play. 

Ari’s mind quickly travelled back to when he first met Hannah, how those little bugs had been present in the garden, earning her the nickname. His nickname for her, which had stuck and become a term of his love for her, symbolised by the pendant round her neck. It was that pendant, or more specifically how he had given her that pendant, which had fixed the idea on how to present her with the sparkling sapphire and diamond ring on her finger…

It was a Thursday morning, and Hannah walked into the bedroom after her morning shower. Ari looked up from where he was fastening up his short sleeved shirt and smiled as she grinned back at him. 

“You really do suit that colour, pretty sure Ethan’s secretary will approve.”

“Ethan’s secretary?” Ari continued, stopping two buttons under the collar.

“Yeah, that’s what I said Lobo.” 

“Ethan’s secretary is nearly a hundred years old, Firefly.” Ari rolled his eyes with a chuckle, his hands on his hips as Hannah frowned.

“Well who was the young, blonde girl at her desk the other day when I called in?” She picked up her hairbrush from the top of the chest of drawers that served as her vanity unit.

“Lorraine? She’s an intern, Mrs Goldman is training her.”

“She likes you. I can tell.” Hannah hummed, combing out her locks which had been piled on top of her head to prevent them getting wet.

Ari rolled his eyes as Hannah pulled her hair back into a neat ponytail. “Whatever.”

“You can whatever me all you want,” Hannah sang as she picked up a bottle of lotion and sat on the bed, “I can sense these things.”

Ari snorted, looking down at his girl as she sat on the bed applying lotion to her legs. “You getting all territorial on me?”

“Do I need to?”

“Don’t be an ass!” Ari snorted, leaning down to kiss her. 

As they moved around the room, Ari took his time, a lot longer than usual, dragging his morning routine out as long as possible. If Hannah noticed he was making a meal out of tidying his beard up, something he had taken to doing since returning to civilisation, she didn’t notice.

He was stalling for one reason, and one reason only. The surprise that was waiting for her in her underwear drawer.

After what seemed like an age, she crossed the room and pulled it open. Ari held his breath as she reached in for a pair of panties, but instead she gasped, he hand flying to her mouth.

Bingo.

When Hannah spun around, the red, velvet box in her hand, Ari was waiting on one knee, beaming up at her. “Still wanna marry me, Firefly?”

Tears brimmed in her eyes and she nodded, her voice thick with emotion, “yes, you know I do!”

“Had to ask with a ring, sweetheart.”

He watched as she opened it, her mouth dropping open once more as she stared at the ring. 

“Lobo, it’s gorgeous… I… I love it!”

As Ari rose to his feet, he sighed with relief, “good, ‘cause I had a hard time finding something worthy of my girl.”

“It reminds me of the ocean,” she smiled up at him, “and your eyes.”

“Kinda why I bought it, the ocean that is.” Ari smiled as he took the ring from the box, slipping it over her knuckle, watching as the sapphire settled at the base of her finger. “Hannah Maria Navon, I love you, baby girl.”

Hannah glanced at the ring before she beamed, her hands cupping his cheeks, “and I love you, Ari David Levinson.”

Ari smirked a little at the memory, they were totally late for work after getting a little ‘distracted’ so to speak celebrating their engagement once more, only this time in a bed and not the back of a shitty jeep in the Sudanese desert. 

“Dad?” Maya bounced into his lap, drawing a huff from him as she accidentally elbowed him in the ribs, “Are those fireflies?”

“They are Munch.” He nodded, kissing her head as she watched them zipping around. “Can you see now why I call Hannah my Firefly?”

She grinned, “yip!”

Hannah, who had been watching them, cleared her throat. “Ari, it’s getting late. Shouldn’t you two be heading back to your apartment?”

Ari looked at her pointedly. “Our apartment, sweetheart.”

Hannah was about to shoot a response back but then remembered Maya was there so she merely sighed. “Ari, look, you shouldn’t even be here now anyway. It’s not worth the argument if she finds out.”

“Why can’t we stay here, dad? I wanna stay with Han!” Maya piped up and Hannah groaned a little, shooting Ari a look.

“Because Han needs to stay with Sammy tonight, she’s not seen him for a while. You can stay some other time, okay?”

“I’m not gonna say anything to Mom if that’s what you scared of.”

At that, Ari and Hannah exchanged a look. “Why do you say that? Why would we be scared?” He asked and Maya shrugged.

“I heard Mom say some things.”

“What things, Munchkin?” Ari smoothed her long hair back and waited for her to reply.

“Well, I was upset, because at first I thought Hannah didn’t like me anymore as she always left when I stayed over. But one day last week, I heard Mom tell Grandma on the phone she had made you and Hannah spend the weekends apart because I was with you.” Maya paused and looked at Hannah, “Is that why you don’t stay with us at the apartment?”

Hannah blinked, she was stuck. She didn’t want to lie but also didn’t want to start bad mouthing Sarah in front of Maya, no matter how tempting. “Erm, it’s, well it’s complicated, sweetie. You and your dad need to spend time together. But I promise you it’s absolutely not because I don’t like you. I do, I love you very much.”

At that Maya stood up and launched herself at Hannah.  “I love you too, Han.”

Ari and Hannah could do nothing but exchange a look, which Hannah broke as she leaned down to hug Maya, tears visible in her eyes.

And it left Ari feeling even more like shit than he already did.

No, he had to fix this, even if it meant pulling Sarah up on her attitude despite Hannah asking him not to. Whilst he understood Sarah’s anger, and that she had every right to direct it at him, the fact that it was clearly having an impact on Maya was something he couldn’t let slide.

With a sigh, he stood up, instructing Maya to bid everyone good night. Before he left, he pulled Hannah into a kiss, his hands cupping her face.

“I’m gonna fix this,” he whispered against her lips, “trust me, baby.”

“I do.” She sniffed a little, her nose bumping his. “Go, go on. I’ll see you Sunday.”

As they walked the few blocks home, Maya’s hand locked in Ari’s, he was only partially listening to his daughter as she spoke. 

“Dad!” Her voice drew him from his thoughts about how exactly he was going to approach the subject with his soon to be ex-wife. He glanced down at her.

“What?”

“We’re you listening to a word I just said?”

“Honestly, no!”

“Daaaaaad!” She whined and Ari chuckled.

 “I’m sorry baby, what were you saying?”

“I was saying that I should get Hannah something for luck.”

“What do you mean?”

 “Well, Mom was talking to Auntie Louisa, and she said that Hannah was going to need plenty of luck being married to you so…”

Ari took a deep breath, anger flashing through his system, rolling his eyes. “Oh, did she?”

“Yup.” Maya nodded.

“And, do you think Hannah’s gonna need luck?”

Maya looked at him, and grinned cheekily. “Well, you are an idiot!”

“Rude!” Ari narrowed his eyes playfully, “mind you, technically, you might look more like your mom but you’re half me. Guess that makes you half an idiot, huh?”

Maya went to dig him in the ribs and with a chuckle, Ari swung her up and onto his shoulders. Her hands tangled in his hair as she giggled, before she leaned down, fingers threading into his beard.

“Han’s right, you do look like a wolf.”

Ari laughed, his hands tightening around his daughter’s ankles as her heels lightly bounced against his chest with each step he took.

[selfawarejester]

It's The Vanilla And Spice That Does You In (Cora Hale x Reader)

Hey, Kit! Thanks for the first request dearest 🥰🥰! (I remembered that you wanted more Derek, so here you go!)

pairing: Cora Hale x Reader

rating: nothing saucy, they just sleep in the same bed.

You and Cora were never the closest people in the pack.

As a human, you gravitated to Stiles and Lydia — even though the strawberry blonde was a banshee, she was still more on your side of the scales than the others’. Scott was someone you’d spent many an evening with, third-and-fourth wheeling to whatever crazy theory Stiles had been plotting up in his room, which eventually led to you being accepted into the nerdtastic duo… and you don’t regret any of it.

Allison was a tad too serious, and you’d only really become friends with her after she broke up with Scott, which yeesh, but she still offered to help you learn how to defend yourself which you appreciated immensely. Similarly, Isaac was a friend, but you weren’t that close.

The Hales were a whole different can of beans. Derek used to be this terrifying entity that made you have a heart attack every interaction you had, but now was just a bitter, deeply flawed man that you used to crush on when you were a kid. Peter was the creepiest of all creepers, and you gave him a wide berth in every way possible.

Cora… well, she was nice enough. It was a distant kind of politeness, the kind that made you think it was just out of routine and not because she actually cared about being nice to you — the same way she opened doors for Lydia, or unscrewed jars for Stiles (though she did make fun of him mercilessly for it), or offered to walk with you and Isaac to Biology.

So, it happens during a pack meeting; or we’ll, right after one. You’re talking about implementing patrols, just to come out ahead of whichever serial killer was coming after all of you next. Stiles and Isaac had ended up arguing, of course — “Maybe this is just you being paranoid, Buzzfeed Unsolved.” “Hey, that is a great show, and it’s not my fault if you wanna be lazy, Lahey!” “Ha, big words from the guy who won’t be doing any legwork!”

And slowly, sides started to form, at which point Derek interceded and suggested that everyone go home for the evening and sleep it off. Stiles, Scott and Lydia took the chance and ditched everyone, eager to get away from the tension and finally introduce the girl to Star Wars.

Allison rolled her eyes, and leaned over to you. “Stiles is gonna regret it when she starts pointing out the scientific inaccuracies.” And you have to laugh, remembering the torturous night that she decimated Total Recall. But what shocked you was the chuckle that came from the other end of the couch, and the quirk of Cora’s lips as she browsed through her phone. You brushed it off, assuming that it was a meme or something.

“So. Do you need a ride home? It’s on my way.” Allison asks, and you refuse, citing that you wanted to help Isaac with biology.

“Oh, why didn’t you ask Lydia-?”

“Nope!” Isaac calls out from the kitchen, puttering in with arms stacked high full of snacks. “She’s mean.”

Allison… has to agree and leaves you to your studying.

Unfortunately, y’all are bad at it.

After a good thirty minutes of rage-quitting, Cora finally gives in with a loud groan that startled both of you. You hadn’t noticed that she was still there.

“Move over, dimwits, I’ll help.”

So, maybe you were ignorant or she was just great at hiding it, but she was great at Biology. Not Lydia level, but she understood the concepts well enough that she was able to tailor the explanation differently for you and Isaac. By the end of it, you were grinning widely, feeling like you actually understood something.

You thank her, saying as much, and there’s this underlying fondness to her smile — a very rare, pretty thing that you found yourself wanting more and more of — and jostles your shoulder with hers. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Well, what’s going on here??” You all groan in unison, and ignore Peter leaning over the back of the couch to gaze intently on his niece… who’s sidled up to you pretty close. “You know, Ms. L/N, we have strict rules for our little girl.”

“Shut up, Peter.” Cora growls, throwing a venomous glare that you can’t help but try (and fail) to mirror. “Yeah, don’t you have other teenage girls to perv on?” Isaac chimes in, backing you up. Peter holds up his hands in mock surrender, before returning to his usual schmooze of I know better than you.

“All I wanted to do was tell you that the storm is getting really bad.” All of your heads’ snap to the window— god, it was really coming down. You had to walk back in that?? You’d die of hypothermia, if you didn’t slip or get in an accident.

“Sorry, Y/N, my music was turned up too high.” Cora says quietly, right next to your ear. A shiver goes down your spine, and you convince yourself it’s the cold, and shake your head. “Hey, it’s okay. You couldn’t focus, I get it.” And then you turn back, frowning at the lightning that lights up the loft for a moment. “But there’s no way I can go home tonight.”

“You can stay here.” You whip your head to Cora, wide-eyed but genuine behind you. You’re too thrown off-guard by her proposition to notice how quick it came, but Peter and Isaac do, sharing a sly glance before the teenage wolf realizes who he’s doing it with and grimaces, shaking his head. “Yeah, you can bunk with Cora.”

“Oh, I don’t wanna impose… I can sleep in Isaac’s.” You offer. You don’t want to impose, but you recognize the burgeoning bundle of emotion in your chest, and it won’t be helped by sleeping the same room as the gorgeous Hale. Cora shakes her head, pushing herself to her feet. “Won’t work, Isaac’s room is messy as hell-“ “hey!”

Peter slinks forward. “I would offer, but considering my history…” He turns his sharp look onto his niece, who’s scowling at him again.

“It’ll be easier this way. C’mon.”

She holds out a hand, and you take an embarrassingly long moment staring at it, before taking it and letting her haul you up. She urges you up the stairs to her room, shrugging off her jacket and kicking off her shoes with no hesitation, while you’re standing next to the doorway like a statue. She slants an elegant eyebrow, and your heart flutters because oh my god-

“Are you coming?” She asks slowly, before dropping onto the bed. You gape, pulling off your jacket and ditching your boots with no little trepidation. You sit on the bed with shaky moves. “Okay, why are you so anxious? I’m not going to make fun of your movie, I swear.” “W-what?” “The… movie? I asked you in the hall?”

Oh, she had? Okay. Okay, yeah, you could do a movie! You picked something funny, cheesy, a little kitschy — you wouldn’t be offended if she decided to tear it to shreds. But she doesn’t, just sits there and laughs at the jokes, and raises an eyebrow at the bits that don’t land. But she watches it seriously, much seriously than you, and when you bring it up, laughing and drunk off of Sprite, she just levels you with a serious look and says in a voice that sends shivers up your spine again. “It was important to you, why would I make fun of it?”

Now you know which of the Hales is the one with the game. Further proof is how Derek immediately barges in and glares at both of you. “That’s enough.” He bites out. “Sleep.”

You’re glad for the interruption, but Cora mutters something in Spanish under her breath, and you’re almost positive it was a curse.

You clamber down to the floor, pulling the extra pillow with you when Cora grabs your hand. “Whoa, whoa, where are you going?” You blink, and point downwards. “…to sleep?” And she laughs, pulling you back up. “Do you have any idea how much colder the concrete’s gonna get overnight? You’ll freeze. Just sleep here, I don’t mind.”

You should know better, you really should, but she’s so sweet that you relent and slip in beside her.

You usually can't sleep well in other people's homes - it took you months before you could even nap on Stiles' couch - but you don't even remember falling asleep.

All you can recall is the morning sun slipping through the slit in the curtains, falling on the wall opposite you thankfully and causing you to stir.

There's a delicate arm around you, but you know Cora's much stronger than her frame gives away. Her face is buried in your hair, which doesn't seem comfortable, but you can her breathing evenly. She smells great, like vanilla and spice... just as alluring and mysterious as the woman herself. Your cheeks color as she makes a content sound and cuddles into you closer. Her eyelashes are really long, closed and brushing across rosy apples cheeks. She never needed make-up, and it was obvious now, with her freckles in full display, with petal-like full lips that you gravitate towards...

You flinch when the door slams open again, a panting shirtless Derek glaring at you again.

"Rain's gone. Bye."

"Go away, Derek." Cora says, voice much too crisp and clear for someone still sleeping.

"Stop putting the moves on someone three feet from my room, and I will." He hisses, making Cora lift her head and give him an impassive look that sends him stalking off.

"He's got a point, you know." She says, shifting to sit up against the headboard, brushing silky chestnut locks away from her face. "How about breakfast at the little diner down the street?"

You grin as you realize what she's been playing at, very carefully poking at your boundaries and checking out your reaction, since yesterday.

"I'd love that."

[groovyzombiellama]

It’s Those Eyes

Title: It’s Those Eyes

Requested? Yes.

Plot: Derek having a crush on you and debating if he should tell you. You are Isaac’s older sister. Written from Derek’s POV

Word count: 1140

---***---

There I was again, sitting in my car, with my glasses on, slouching a bit so she wouldn’t notice me, hopefully. This might appear to some as stalker behaviour and I would agree with that, but there is just something about her that makes me feel and act like I never have before. I can’t even remember the last time I felt nervous around someone, but when I see Y/N it’s almost like I’m back to when I was still a human and I was having my first crush. Everything about her was just fascinating to me, the way she talked, the way she moved, the way she thought, and I just couldn’t get enough of her. It had come to the point that I think I’m thinking about her way too much, that she has even invaded my dreams almost every night. I don’t know what it is, but she awakes this instinct in me to protect her, and to make sure she is constantly okay. So when I heard from her younger brother, Isaac that she was having a bit of bad blood with some of her teammates in her basketball team, I had to make sure they knew she was not someone they can win over.

That she will always have me to protect her, no matter if she ever returns my feelings or not. And to be clear, I’m not gonna go all violent on those girls, but if they ever try to hurt Y/N in any way, I’ll have to step in. She told Isaac that they insult her and pick fights with her just because she’s better at the sport at them. I was at the Lahey house one evening with the rest of the pack, we were discussing some topics about the new entities in the town and Y/N walked through the door with a grim look on her face, waving a quick hello to us and walking upstairs to her room. That’s when Isaac told us that they had probably picked on her again. And Y/N is a strong girl, she can defend herself, another one of her qualities that I find truly endearing, but that doesn’t mean that she has to do it on her own all the time. Being in a toxic environement all the time can cause dammage to her mental health and I don’t want that to happen to her.

So I was waiting outside the gym, listening in on what was going on inside, trying to pinpoint Y/N and if anyone was talking to her. One girl tried to insult her, and I was about to exit my car to walk in and say I came over to watch the practice, not because I wanted to settle the score or anything, Y/N is too strong to be brought down by stupid insults that these girls come up with, but I wanted her to not feel down and know that I’m there to cheer her on and cheer her up if she needs it and that if she has a thought to take any insult by heart she could look at me and know that what these girls were saying about her was lie upon lie and she would hopefully feel better. But as I was reaching to open the door, I heard her talk back to them, and smirked. Damn, this girl is way too under my skin, everything she does is just so intriguing to me, even if she’s just telling off annoying people who were trying to throw her off her game. I put my hand down, deciding against going in, as along with Y/N standing her ground, the coach had said she has private matters to attend to and today’s practice was gonna be cut short.

Y/N was among the first to come out, and I thought that she was just gonna put her earphones in like she usually does, press shuffle on her playlist and start walking home, and I would go home myself, and after doing some research on the new supernatural entities roaming our town, I’d have another debate with myself weather I should confess how I feel to Y/N. To tell her that I just constantly think about her, just everything about her, her face, her smile, her eyes. Damn, it’s those eyes that make me fall for her the most. Eyes are the first thing that I notice in a person and looking into Y/N’s eyes I felt like I could get lost in them forever. So you can imagine my shock when Y/N started walking straight towards my car. She probably noticed it when she walked out, or she had seen it before and was no confronting me. Oh god, I’m gonna look like a creep, just following her around, not even bothering to talk to her.

“This is the fifth time that you are here while I’m in practice, Hale. How long were you planning on doing this before you told me about it? You do realise you can watch the practice from the inside if you’d like?“ So she has caught me before but chose not to approach me, great, now I look like more of a creep. Now I have no debates to have weather I should tell her how I feel, I’ve scared her away. She folded her arms against her chest, her eyes squinting at me, and I almost said out loud how cute I think she looks when she does that. “I know, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay, with the new entities running around you never know.“ I say scratching the back of my neck. What is this girl doing to me? No other woman has had this effect on me ever. Her lips curve into a beautiful smile, that beautiful smile that I’ve fallen for as she invites me to just come in next time and that she would love to have me there. I half expected her to say that I’d be there as a friend, but she didn’t, which has me thinking maybe she feels the same... I offered her a ride home, and she accepted with that same smile not leaving her face, shining through the night. During the car ride we talked about everything and anything, I just liked hearing her opinion on topics and my heart leapt in my chest when I figured out we feel the same way about something. My eyes widened as she kissed my cheek when I stopped in front of her house as a goodbye. Watching her walk into her home, I touched the spot where she had kissed, smiling like an idiot to myself, before driving off home. Maybe I do actually have a chance, now I just need a plan on how to confess.

---***---

@agentpretoria​ I hope you like it :) I left it a bit vague, so you can imagine the way you want him to confess and you can do it for yourself or we could work on a part 2 if you have something in mind :D I don’t know if you like baseball, but I just put it in because I didn’t want it to have a feel of Derek stalking her for no reason to keep her safe, if that makes sense I guess :D I was watching a game while writing and that was the first thing that came to mind to write :D

---***--- Signing out for tonight, my throat is sore from BANGBANGCON21, and I’m getting sleepy :D See ya tomorrow my folks <3

[sunmoontruth-stiles]

Ok so Derek and Allison.

Wow both so pretty lol. Just to warn people before I go on, I love Allison and I think she has an amazingly interesting character arc but this isn’t going to be the most pro-Allison rant. Also this is not about shipping at all, so please don’t go there if you add on, which is always welcome.

Ok so I’ve said before that I think Allison deserved much more of an arc on her own because her plot was too closely tied to Scott and his progression. We began to see her on her own in season 3, but she also had a big decrease in screen time.

In season one, Allison was mostly in the dark about everything until later on. She had Kate in her ear, and her dad was still a code-following-hunter. Overall, she had a way more complex set up than I expected from her as the main love interest. Her and Derek don’t interact much this season, but he makes his first impression as our big tough werewolf. Oo scary

Season two comes along and Derek is the alpha. Allison is still pretty shell shocked about Kate, but she’s also made completely aware of the fact that Kate was a mass murdering bitch that had it coming. So, we see some trauma but not much grieving from Allison. She’s actually more afraid of Kate as we can see from her later delusions in s. 3 of Kate killing her. Overall, Derek and Allison’s plots don’t cross significantly until Derek bites her mom while saving Scott, and we all know how much Derek values the bite. So, it’s safe to say that Derek didn’t really want to bite her. Ultimately, she did turn; however, we all are aware of how the hunting-code ended this one. So, Allison hates Derek, and hey, if he had killed her mom in cold blood, I’d completely understand. But no, Scott decided to withhold some of the more important self-defense details where Derek saved his life. Poor Derek, always trying his best but coming up short. It’s this point where Gerard really takes hold of Allison, and imo we start to see real notes of a villain arc from her. I mean, she’s ready to kill her werewolf peers. They’re sixteen and sobbing in the woods to try to save each other, but yeah Allison just keep shoot them with arrows. Also, this is a complete opinion, but I really do think Allison knew about Stiles getting kidnapped. Like, she helped put Erica and Boyd in the basement, and she knew about the warehouse. I think she’d know about Stiles being taken. I really think she just didn’t care about anyone she saw as against her at this point. She had a very Kate view on collateral damage. Anyway, Allison stabs Isaac a bunch. Scott betrays Derek, then Gerard. Allison realizes Gerard was actually awful, wow shocker, and she self reflects on her own actions and sees now that she’s been deflecting her grief and using hunting as a poor coping mechanism while her misplaced anger actually was hurting innocent- oh wait no she just does this…

Right, because Erica and Boyd were released injured and scared, so they got taken by the alpha pack.

And Erica never made it out.

So, it’s here where I understand Derek never trusting Allison. She’s hurt him, his pack, and her relationship with Scott always reminded him of Kate and himself. So, I’m over here expecting SOMETHING from Allison. I mean, he didn’t kill your mom like you thought, you knows the hunting code is bullshit, you know werewolves are just people, you know everything Derek’s lost because of YOUR family???? But no. We just get the scene of Derek having to work with her again and her little defiant glare as he points out that she shot his pack full of arrows. Like? What? Was I supposed to laugh and think she’s a #girlboss for being so tough there?? Wtf? He’s right???

At this point, they barely cross in the plot. Chris spent more time legitimately growing closer to Derek and making amends than Allison ever would. And maybe if she had made more of an effort to make amends with Boyd and Isaac, I’d feel better about her arc, but she never really did?? Isaac honestly just fell for her and she liked him. Allison did very little if anything to actually make up for her actions. I enjoyed her arc. I liked seeing the cute love interest become the badass villain, but it’s like season two just never happened. She just goes back to being the cute love interest-kinda and also being the badass. Teen Wolf always had a problem with show vs tell, and I think that’s the case here. In season 3 they kinda just said,

Allison has been redeemed!

Me- what? When??

She’s been redeemed!!

I think it’s that which makes me just love Derek that much more. He just goes along. He just understands eventually that she’s not his enemy, not really, and he forgives and forgets. I feel like these two are so complicated and their relationship even more so. They are the last generations of a war that cost them both. I wish we’d seen more from Allison because we did see Derek doing what he could to make up for everything. I love complex characters and arcs, and I’m glad neither of them are wholly good or bad. They both broke so far from their original archetype mold. Maybe Allison never being fully redeemed is perfect because it leaves her arc unfinished and even more impactful. However, I think I’m giving the actual writing of Teen Wolf a lot of benefit of the doubt for that one.

[galactichoneybee92]

Disorganized Thoughts on Sex Education Season 3

I binge watched the entirety of season 3 on Friday, and after sitting with it for a couple days, I have composed myself enough to offer some thoroughly disorganized thoughts on what I’ve seen. 

     While I did enjoy many things about this season, I don’t understand the people who claim it was the strongest. In fact, I believe that it was the weakest. I don’t know what exactly happened during the delay, but I swear they have to have lost staff. Writers, perhaps editors? Whoever usually reins things in a bit, keeps the show grounded, and everyone in character. Whoever had that job, they’re either gone, or they’ve just stopped giving a fuck which, while relatable, is unfortunate in regards to this show. Now what do I mean by that? Let me elaborate:

1. This season was gross. And I don’t mean in general, like I didn’t like it. No, I mean that the writers decided that being sexually explicit wasn’t funny enough and decided to add just a fuck-ton of fart jokes and toilet humor. And I get it, okay? This show prides itself on being crass. But you can be crass without being disgusting. I acknowledge that this comes entirely down to personal preference, but I can’t stand toilet humor and I feel like this season really ramped it up. Every episode was someone farting or talking about shit, or that god forsaken thrice cursed bus scene. Sex doesn’t gross me out, talk about sex all fucking day I don’t care, but I don’t need to watch an extended scene of someone digging their own shit out of a bus toilet in a sock and chucking it out the window onto someone’s car. And even just smaller things, like Aimee talking about the flour constipating her or her taking a massive shit in Jean’s toilet when she and Maureen were there. Those scenes weren’t necessary for the plot in any way, which leads me to believe they were just there because someone thought they were funny and if that’s you’re thing go off, but it most definitely isn’t mine. 

2. Ruby and Otis. And more importantly, what was the point of Ruby and Otis? Now don’t get me wrong, I like Ruby as a character and I found their relationship interesting. And I think that it would have been even more interesting if the writers had devoted more time to properly developing it- Ruby was getting better as a person but she wasn’t there yet. I liked it once Otis started standing up for himself more, and demanding respect in the relationship and as she started to actually care for him she did come to treat him more respectfully. I think with more time they could have been really good. But they didn’t get that time- she said she loved him and they didn’t even work through that fiasco before he was kissing Maeve at a gas station. Overall it had a lot of potential but the way they played it left me just sitting here like...why? Like from a narrative standpoint what was even the purpose? Because from where I’m sitting it really only served as yet another roadblock standing between Otis and Maeve and even though I shipped them like CRAZY in season 1 and 2 the constant unnecessary roadblocks are getting a little old. Which leads me to my next point...

3. Why was Maeve and Otis so unsatisfying? That’s not actually a rhetorical question, I can tell you: Because the writers put so little effort into what is supposed to be the main couple on the show. I feel like they put more effort into keeping them apart and then when it comes time to put them together they’re just kind of like NOW KISS, they only talk like once after and then they ship Maeve off to America. Now I’ve heard rumors that Emma Mackey might not want to return to the show for season 4 so if I had to guess at all of this I would say that both this point and the last was a sloppy attempt to cover their asses in the event that they can’t get her to sign back on. If she does return, they can explore the relationship between her and Otis in season 4. If she doesn’t, they’re probably going to put him back with Ruby. But they couldn’t just write her off without at least touching on the relationship they spent the past 2 seasons building, even though Otis and Maeve barely interact in this season, which is frankly another reason why it felt so shoddy. They spent exponentially more time talking to other people and then half the time when Otis was talking to her he was super cringe. 

     Overall, despite loving their relationship initially, the characters have changed so much from their original dynamic, and have interacted so little, that I really don’t even know what’s pulling these characters together. It’s disappointing to admit that I’m kind of over it but honestly even the writers don’t feel invested. it kind of feels like they put them together because the audience expected it and after 3 seasons of anticipation the payoff was generally underwhelming. 

4. Otis. Just...Otis. I understand that Otis was introduced as being a very nice helpful character in season one. He was the quintessential good guy. And then in season 2 he got to explore being a douche for a bit- which is fine. He is a teenager and he was going through some shit. But I really felt that by the end of season 2 he should have resolved that particular plot point. And he was a little better in season 3 I guess? But he didn’t really progress until the end of this season and from a writing standpoint I feel like they really dragged that out for too long. 

5. What’s with this show and it’s hard on for cheating? Like seriously, why does almost every relationship have some kind of infidelity. Like, were Otis and Ruby officially broken up when he kissed Maeve? Maeve certainly hadn’t broken up with Isaac, and this was almost directly on the heels of their very emotional sex scene. There was the issue with Jean and Jakob last season, and Eric cheating on Rahim with Adam. And then Eric (for some reason) cheating on Adam this season with random Nigerian dude whose name I can’t remember. Just...why is this a thing? 

     But also can we just talk about how weird the break up was? And out of left field? Like they literally spent the whole season developing their relationship, and then they get to Nigeria and after hiding the whole time he is subtly able to talk about Adam to his grandmother. And he sounds so proud, and so nice when he’s doing so, and not at all like he’s planning to end this wonderful relationship he’s describing. And then when he gets back, guilty after cheating on said boyfriend (like he should be) he asks Adam, seemingly as a test, if he would go out to a club with him. And Adam says no because that isn’t his scene and like...Eric knows that isn’t his scene. But at the same time, I feel like if Eric had sat him down and been like “You don’t have to wear makeup or dress outlandishly, just come to the club with me because it’s important to me” I really think Adam would have gone. And if the clothes and make-up were a dealbreaker like...why? You know who you’re dating. And while wanting him to tell his mom isn’t an overwhelmingly outrageous request, when you start getting into his physical appearance then that’s just actually trying to change him as a person and that’s just a really shitty thing to do. 

6. I promise there will be some positives in this list at some point but before that...what the fuck Eric? Like, I understand that Eric wants to get out there and explore his options, find someone more comfortable doing the things that he wants to go do. That’s realistic I guess, your high school relationships don’t work out and just because Adam came out for him he still isn’t obligated to stay in a relationship with him. But from a fictional narrative standpoint? What the fuck is this? Adam and Eric were one of the most popular ships on the show. They have been foreshadowed since season one, and had so so much effort put into developing them both as characters. Adam has come such a long way. They have brought him so far out of him comfort zone that Adam in season 3 is almost a completely different person to Adam in season 1. They spent so much of this season further developing the relationship they established last season, and for what? To break them up at the very end? WHY? 

7. Following on the heels of point 6, Aimee and Steve. They didn’t need to break up. I understand the direction the writers were taking this- Aimee wants to be single for a while to fully process her trauma and get to know her own body again. And that’s valid. I just don’t like it because I very strongly suspect that she will have a new love interest next season and that all her stuff about being single isn’t going to be shown. It will all happen off screen during whatever time skip they employ between seasons and then they’re going to use the fact that she is single to introduce a new more dramatic love interest for her since golden retriever boy Steve wasn’t interesting enough for them. Maybe that’s just me being cynical but if anyone can come out of season 3 NOT feeling a little cynical it would probably be a miracle. 

8. A positive! Finally a positive! I love the relationship between Adam and Rahim. Do I want them to date? Not particularly. I wouldn’t be mad if it happens, but I really just like them as like awkward begrudging friends. Some of my favorite scenes this season were the interactions between the two of them (Once again, the disgusting bus ride notwithstanding) I like Rahim a lot more when he isn’t interrupting my ship (which is a habit of mine. I liked Ola a lot more once she broke up with Otis) 

9. I don’t think Viv was out of character. Some people have been saying that she was, but I don’t think so. She has always been ambitious and even Jackson understand that about her in the show. And even when she was working for Hope and carrying out her rules, she was never an antagonist because she never gave up her personal morals to do it. For example, when Hope had them divided into boy and girl lines, Jackson asked her where Cal should go. She told him that boys went to the left and girls went to the right but as soon as Cal was like “Im not a boy or a girl,” Viv was immediately like, “ Oh! Right! Let me ask Hope.” She approached the situation in a way that made it clear that she recognized this issue as a legitimate problem and when she went to Hope it wasn’t framed like “This person is being an issue refusing to choose,” but instead like “We didn’t account for this possibility, that was our bad. How should we fix it?” Later on, on the class trip, Viv even lied to Hope and told her everything was fine because she didn’t want to get anyone in trouble. Viv took the opportunities presented to her, but I never interpreted it as her being an antagonist in any way. 

10. I love that Viv and Jackson remained friends, and I love that Viv has her sexy long-distance boyfriend who sexts about wheat XD Her sexting was one of my favorite scenes- well written, laugh out loud hilarious. No complaints. Sexy boyfriend was indeed very sexy and honestly, Viv absolutely deserves him. 

11. Mr. Groff better apologize to Adam next season, or at the very least have any kind of fucking conversation with his son at all or else why the fuck did I watch SO MANY scenes developing him as a sympathetic character? They could have spent that time developing ANYONE, but instead we were focused on him so like...I’m going to need some kind of payoff. Make it relevant

12. I want more bonding scenes between Adam and Maureen. I love Maureen- I love her friendship with Jean and I love how she always chooses her son over  her estranged husband (as she should) I especially love her very loving and supportive relationship with Adam, even though Adam is terrible at communication. It’s a self indulgent wish, I’d just like to see more. 

13. Isaac. I made many posts after the season 2 release, about how much I despised Isaac. Unlike Ola, I find that I didn’t have a complete change of heart but I don’t hate him AS MUCH as I did before. I still don’t like him though and while you might think “Yeah but you hate anyone who stands in the way of Otis and Maeve” no. This is historically accurate and yet, this season? Not true. For example, I don’t hate Ruby. Do I think her inclusion in the story was handled poorly in a way that made the entire plot point unnecessary? Yes I do. I also feel that way about Isaac, but less so because I feel like the relationship between him and Maeve deepening was better foreshadowed and was kind of the natural conclusion given the events of the previous season. As a character though, I still don’t really like him, and after 2 seasons of him I don’t think it has anything to do with him interfering with Maeve’s relationship with Otis- I just legitimately don’t like him. And I don’t like him with Maeve. I think the biggest irritant this season was the way that, after confessing about deleting the message he was like “yeah I fucked up but only because I like you so much, just forgive me” And then at one point I believe I remember Maeve apologizing to him for her reaction to everything. But then when he found out that she kissed Otis (admittedly a shitty thing to do) he got so mad and like, held a fucking grudge about it. And I get it, he has a right to be mad, but also boy you were the one groveling like 2 episodes ago get over yourself. They both fucked up in different ways but he acts like he has the moral high ground all the time and it gets really annoying. I don’t know, maybe I’m letting my general dislike of the character color my perception of events, but this show has managed to change my opinion on characters before but it still hasn’t made me like him so I think it’s just not going to. 

14. What the hell were they trying to do with Hope? Like legitimately, what? Because I can’t quite figure it out. And that’s mostly because I feel like they were trying to make her a nuanced and sympathetic villain, but they broke a cardinal rule- To make a villain sympathetic you must also ensure that nothing they do is inherently irredeemable. For example, principal Groff. He was a grade A dick for the past 2 seasons but I still feel that, now that we have a sympathetic backstory, if handled properly he could still come back from this. He can see the error of his ways and if he works really really hard to make amends to his family he could perhaps have his character turned around. In Hope’s case however, I would argue that they did makes her nuanced, but failed to make her sympathetic because as a character she went too far. If they had stuck to her just being a general tyrant of a headmaster - enforcing strict rules and regulations but doing so out of insurmountable pressure from her own bosses -  and then softened us towards the character by showing us her willingness to help Maeve get a scholarship, her troubled marriage, and her inability to conceive, it could have worked. The trouble is when they brought in her racism and general bigotry. Those weren’t flaws brought on by stress, those were deeply rooted character flaws that the character isn’t going to overcome because by the end of the season the character hasn’t even admitted them to herself. The issues were addressed by others, but not by Hope herself, leaving me to believe that the character herself still views them as a nonissue. I would be very surprised if she even appears in season 4 and moreso if they manage to even half-way redeem her. I’m relatively certain we won’t see her again, which makes me question the effort put into her character development. 

15. I like Jakob as a character, I don’t like him as a love interest for Jean, but I LOVE him as a father figure for Otis. It’s very conflicting because I want him to stay in Otis’s life, but I don’t like him as a romantic interest for Jean. also it’s pretty clear he isn’t Joy’s father so that’s going to be an awkward fucking conversation. If she even tells him. The way the show is going I kind of feel like she won’t, or will at least put it off for as long as possible. 

16. I want more interaction between Otis and Jean. Positive interaction, not just her being intrusive or Otis being a little bitch. I like their mother-son dynamic when they’re getting along so I just generally want more of it. 

17. Adam. Adam has become my favorite character in this show and I just generally want more of him and his relationships with others. I love his relationship with his mother but I want more if him and Emily, and him and Ola and now him and Ruby. I want to see him and Ruby discussing the Kardashians. I want him to train Madam and enter her in more competitions and just ultimately grow his social circle. Get all the love and support for god’s sake this boy needs it. 

Im sure there are plenty of things I’m forgetting and you can ask me about them if you like but for now it’s late and I’m tired. 

[crystalkitty1220]

IBVS AU and/or songfic and/or animatic I had come up with a while ago but never got around to making: The Night the Lights Went Out in Foxfield

The AU is clearly based off of the song The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia by Reba McEntire but if you don't want spoilers for the AU read the rest of this before listening to the song.

(IBVS is by onebizarrekai)

Trigger warnings: character death, murder, the song mentions hanging and guns. Nothing really spooky, it's just dark.

First off, there's a few things changed from normal IBVS so that the AU works a bit better. Nevin and Chris are dating, because otherwise the whole main plot of the song would be gone. Nevin and Drew have negative and positive auras respectively, which is already a headcanon/theory of mine but in this AU it's canon. Otherwise, just some characters acting a bit out-of-character so that the plot works better.

It starts with Drew and Nevin coming back home from a vacation or trip of some sort. Drew takes the role of the narrator from the song, and Nevin is the narrator’s brother and main character. Nevin takes a walk to the park as soon as he gets home, and sits down on a park bench. Isaac appears out of nowhere, as to be expected from Isaac. He takes the role of Andy Wo-Lo. Isaac tells Nevin, as in the song, “Sit down, I’ve got some bad news that’s gonna hurt.” “Your boyfriend ain’t home tonight,” He proceeds to inform Nevin that Chris has been seeing Harley behind his back, and then shamefully admits to also spending a night with Chris.

Nevin is extremely angry, and Isaac gets scared and leaves. On his way home, Isaac runs into Drew and Edward. Drew asks if he’s okay and Isaac recounts the conversation he just had with Nevin, and mentions that he’s worried about how Nevin will take this.

Nevin takes a bit of time to cool off in the park before going home. Before he gets to his house, he checks inside Chris’ window to see if he’s there. He’s not.

Still very pissed off, Nevin decides Isaac ran off too quickly and Nevin didn’t get any time to interrogate him or give him a piece of his mind. So, he goes to pay Isaac a visit. However, he notices two sets of footprints (it had been raining earlier and the ground was still wet about an hour and a half ago, but was now dry enough for footprints not to be left anymore) leading behind Isaac’s apartment building and follows them. At the end of the trail, he finds Isaac. Well, Isaac’s body, with his head bashed in.

Barry, who was just trying to take a nice stroll around the town but got curious about two pairs of footsteps he found, finds Nevin standing over Isaac’s body. Nevin opens his mouth to explain, but Barry interrupts him. "Why'd you do it?"

Cut to a scene in the forest near Edward's house, where Ed, Barry, and Charlie are having a trial for Nevin. They chose to leave Drew out because they weren't sure he would want to (or was mature enough to) deal with this situation. They also tried to find Chris, but nobody could (not even Charlie, who admitted to feeling like something was seriously wrong and demanded to join in on the trial). Nevin rancorously claims that Chris is probably at Harley's house just like Isaac said, but his bitterness doesn't really help his case. Charlie is also really insistent that Nevin did something to Chris, accusing him of kidnapping or murdering him.

Barry asks why they couldn’t just take this to the police, but Ed reminds him that the police will note how it looked like Isaac was hit over the head and just think they’re all crazy when they bring up Nevin possibly doing that with his superstrength. And even if they do find Nevin guilty, how is anyone supposed to keep him locked up? He literally has superstrength and some kind of goop power, there’s no way any normal person could safely keep Nevin anywhere without him escaping. The police could do an investigation but Nevin's trial was the Investigation Bureau of the Very Supernatural's responsibility.

They discuss how the footprints leading behind Isaac's building were Nevin-sized footprints, and how Nevin has no alibi because nobody had seen him since Isaac told him about the Chris situation (Barry even called to ask Drew when the last time he saw Nevin was). The trial goes on, Nevin’s aura not exactly working in his favor and Drew not here to calm everyone down. Barry mainly just wants to come to a fair conclusion, Ed is trying his best to hold it together and acts like he just wants to protect Foxfield but in reality he’s distraught over Isaac and wants whoever killed him to be punished, and Charlie just seems convinced something happened to Chris and is determined to either get Nevin to fess up or find Chris and make sure he's safe.

Eventually Edward finds Nevin guilty. In the song the judge makes the decision to execute the main character, but this is IBVS so I decided to change that part. Instead Ed calls up Dez and ask her to find a sort of reverse summoning ritual. A trapping ritual. Of course she asks what this is for, but Ed insists that he'll explain in school and that he just needs the ritual right now. Dez finds one which will trap a subject in a parallel dimension frozen in time (frozen, except for the subject) and can be reversed to free the subject if necessary. One needs to create the reversal ritual themself so that nobody can just go around freeing every trapped soul in existence. She sends a picture of this page to Ed.

And so, Nevin gets trapped in the knockoff-Eighth-Day until there's proof it wasn't him. Then comes the hard part of telling Drew and Chris. Well, it seems just Drew, because Chris is still nowhere to be found. Edward and Barry try to explain to Drew what happened in the least upsetting way possible, telling him that the police wouldn’t have been able to do anything and how they’re sorry but just letting Nevin roam around while he was the main suspect wasn’t an option. They don’t tell Drew about the reversal because they’re afraid he’ll bring Nevin right back.

And, well, perhaps this is the best time to listen to the actual song. I couldn’t do it justice.

[seven-oomen]

Breaking the cycle | How Teen Wolf portrays its traumatized fathers

First of, I would like to say that the following words are my take on this. I am a 29 year old trans man of Caucasian descend who is an domestic violence and abuse survivor. I am diagnosed with ADHD since 12 and diagnosed with CPTSD since this year. I understand trauma and I understand what it does to people. But I am not a professional. I am a fan.

Secondly, the characters I’ll be talking about today are specifically the fathers of some of the main characters in Teen Wolf. Namely Chris Argent, Peter Hale, and Noah Stilinski. 

I realize there are many more traumatized parents who would fit well in this essay and while I thought about including them, I decided that for now, these are the three characters I’m focusing on.

I would love to hear your thoughts about some of the other parents and how their traumatizing pasts might have contributed to the way they raised their children.

Sources are listed under the read more. The gifs I’m using are from Google.

I will be focusing on these characters, discuss what sort of trauma they have, how it affects them and how it affects the way they then raised their children. And why their stories are important for trauma and abuse survivors.

Let’s start with Noah Stilinski.

From Episode 3, Season 6 Sundowning we know the following about Noah’s homelife:

Elias was known for being both emotionally and physically abusive, and on at least one occasion, Noah stepped in to protect his mother from his abuse, causing his father to inadvertently throw him into a glass coffee table; his shoulder was scarred, and tiny fragments of glass remain under the now-healed wound even in the present day.

He even tells Scott: (While talking about a memory of him and Claudia in College.) “The kind of father I wish I had. The kind I... I hope to be."

In the same episode Noah also refers to the incident above as “That time.” Indicating that it wasn’t the first time this happened and it wasn’t the last either.

Piecing all the information together we can conclude that Noah was emotionally, psychologically, and physically abused by his father. We can also conclude that this abuse extended to his mother. Meaning he was also a victim of domestic violence.

There is also evidence in the episode that Elias might have abused Stiles, or at the very least has a very negative opinion of his grandson.  “ That's right! Act like I'm not even here! Go crawling back to your dead wife and loser son!”

This scarred Noah, both physically and mentally. We see evidence of this in episodes where he reacts violently and explosively any time his son is hurt. He immediately blows up and threatens physical violence against the people who hurt his son. 

A part of that is parental protection, but imagine that someone beat the living crap out of you and those you love every day of your life. Once you’re free of that person it leaves a mark and a smoldering fear of seeing the people around you getting hurt. When it happens you get angry, at the people who hurt your loved one, and at yourself. You weren’t there to protect them, you were too late.

Noah blames himself whenever Stiles gets hurt. I believe, based on his childhood home life that Noah corresponds his son getting hurt with failure as a parent. And knowing where he comes from, that’s an extra sore subject for him.

We have basis of it in canon.

We can also see that Noah’s guilt tends to eat at him if he ever has to discipline Stiles or yell at him. As shown in the following scene.

I believe that the abuse Noah endured makes him a very scared individual especially when it comes to raising his son. He’s constantly afraid he’s turning into his father, his afraid of making the same mistakes. He’s afraid he’ll scar and traumatize his own as he was traumatized himself.

The fact that Noah is aware of what he’s doing, that he stops when asked is enough of an indication to tell us, the audience, that he isn’t his father. Once Stiles indicates he’s okay, or simply tells his father to stop, Noah stops immediately. He usually hugs his son or initiates a kind physical contact right after. 

He stops, he reflects, realizes his mistake, and tries to do better.

This is one way to break the cycle. Noah’s not perfect at it, we can see him struggle many times. He insults Stiles or his intelligence without meaning to, passing it off as a joke, he’s constantly working and is not around as much as he should be. And those are valid criticisms of this character.

But deep at his core Noah’s trying to break a cycle of physical and emotional abuse, he’s trying to be there for Stiles. Tells him to go to school, tries to keep an eye on Stiles and tries to talk to him whenever he has the chance to explore Stiles’s wellbeing and feelings.

This is a man who went through hell as a child, became a father, and decided to do better.

Noah is a character who effectively broke a viscous cycle and has a wonderful and strong relationship with his son as a result. It’s not without flaws and Noah’s not perfect. But he’s generally not abusive or an abuser. And that is a step in the right direction.

It also shows us, the audience, that no matter what home life you come from, you can arise above your own traumas and do better for the next generation.

-

Now Chris Argent is an interesting one. I already talked about Chris and trauma in my daddy’s little soldier meta.

Considering the type of person Gerard is, and how he treats several teenagers in the show. I believe Chris is also a victim of emotional, psychological, and physical abuse. We don’t know much about his home life with his mother, so that I can not speculate on.

What we do know is, Gerard has no qualms about hurting children and teenagers. He’s admitted that he would kill his own son if it meant he survived. He’s raised his own son to be a weapon and to compartmentalize his emotions. I shudder to think as to what methods Gerard must have used on Chris. But as we never see them, I can only speculate.

So how did Chris break his cycle of abuse?

By not raising Allison to be a hunter. For the first seventeen years of her life, Allison didn’t know the Supernatural existed. She was kept out of her father’s life until it was no longer possible. She was never raised as a soldier, she wasn’t raised to hide her feelings. If anything, her father encouraged her and nurtured her to the best of his abilities. Chris tried to be there for his daughter. 

He even moved her to France to get her away from their lives. He quit something he was raised to do and did it successfully, just to protect his daughter. He grew up to be everything his father wasn’t.

And while Chris, too, is not perfect at it, he does try and breaks the cycle.

He’s aware of their problems, addresses them, and tries to do better. He even extends this nurturing and protective side to Isaac later down the line. 

Chris, a victim of abuse, sees the signs of abuse in Isaac, and decides; this one, this one I will nurture and protect too. Which he eventually accomplishes by bringing him to France and away from the craziness that is Beacon Hills. (Would have been nice to get a good plot about Chris adopting Isaac, but well, that’s another rant.)

Chris, like Noah, shows that even if you were raised in the worst circumstances, by being aware of your trauma and how that affects others, you can break the cycle and come out on top.

-

And last but not least we have someone who went through an horrific event and possibly emotional abuse from his family, discovered he was a father, and then had to adjust.

I’m talking about Peter Hale.

Now Peter is not a morally good character in general. He has no qualms about killing people who get in his way. From what we know about his childhood Peter also had anger issues as a small child and often broke his toys. 

However, the reason why I’m stating that Peter was most likely emotionally abused (I think by his sister Talia) is because we know that Talia, would not believe Peter about the fire and the Argents and waved his concerns away without considering them. She manipulated multiple of his memories and frequently hid the truth from him. And we know that their relationship from before the fire was strained.

We also know that Peter does care about his family. He cared for Cora in the hospital and he does care about whether Derek lives or dies and tends to keep an eye out for his nephew. In later seasons we also see Peter caring about his only daughter Malia and even express fear for her wellbeing when they go up against the Anuk-Ite. 

His love for Malia is eventually what frees him from the Ghost Riders control and his wish for her to live is what motivates his decisions in Season 6 to try and keep her safe, and when he can’t keep her away from the fight, he joins her and tries to protect her.

Now I believe that the Peter we see in S1,2, 3 and S6B are the real Peter Hale. A traumatized man who believes his only way to stay alive is through manipulation and careful planning. But he does genuinely seem to care about a few people, Cora, Derek, and Malia.

In Season 1 Peter is still coming out of his traumatic event (being burned alive and then being in a coma) and he has to navigate a new world. He kills Laura (or so it is speculated) for her Alpha power and to heal himself. Because to Peter, he is the only one who can avenge his family and resolve the traumatic event he went through.

Revenge, of course, is generally not a good way to resolve trauma and the plan doesn’t work. His trauma is not resolved by killing Kate and he dies that night.

When Peter comes back practically powerless he has to navigate carefully and he does so through manipulating the people around him. To Peter, manipulation is the only way to stay alive and get ahead. This idea of his, had to come from somewhere.

This is where my theory of emotional abuse kicks in. Because if Peter was emotionally abused by his sister (for which there is evidence in canon), he most likely picked up his tactic of manipulation as a survival tactic.

Now out of the list. Peter is the only person who doesn’t fully rise above his past. The past still haunts him as he becomes a protector of Beacon Hills in S6B. But I firmly think that if we got to see more of Peter past this point, we would have seen a man starting his journey to recognizing his toxic traits and trying to do better by them. But that of course, is just speculation.

Peter’s story teaches us that the road to healing and becoming a better person isn’t always linear. It’s not a given that you’ll heal if you aren’t ready to accept it. Or if you’re so focused on getting revenge that healing is impossible, it’s also not going to work. And usually, trying to heal requires a positive presence in your life (Malia), a support system (Malia and the pack), and a willingness to recognize what you’re doing wrong and to better yourself moving forward.

Sources:

Breaking the Cycle of Child Abuse - Article written by a psychologist and peer reviewed by a psychiatrist

The cycles of violence - Article written for the WHO by the University of Birmingham

The Teen Wolf Wiki - for all information and episodes of these characters

Teen Wolf - MTV tv show that owns the characters.

[bootleg-sara]

Thinking about old an Tboi au concept

Okay so, I’ve been thinking about this old Tboi au I had that I want to revamp and give a new coat of paint. I haven’t given this concept much thought in a good year or so but I was scrolling through some art and got reminded of it.

((Au info in undercut, it’s really long))

It’s a lot more simple than my main big project for the basement, as it’s like the more common goal-orientated story structure rather than the less traditional setting of the former.

The story of this au follows Isaac, a young teen boy living with his mother. As per usual his dad left a long time ago and his mom is very religious. Though with his dad out of the picture, his mom now works a lot more, leaving Isaac with a lot more free time to himself. While he can’t really do much anyhow given his mother’s very strict life style, there are a few things Isaac loves to do. Some of those activities being playing with his cat Guppy and reading.

During one of his boring days Isaac hears some shuffling coming from his attic, a place his mother forbidden him from entering. While investing, he comes across a bunch of old items stores away messily in an old box. Most of it doesn’t have any immediately noticeable use, stuff like old keys, used containers and the like. Though what caught Isaac’s interesting were a few books that laid at the very bottom of the box. A small pocket Bible, and two older looking books with nothing but strange symbols on the covers. Further investigation from Isaac lead him to discover said books where known as the Book of Shadows and the Satanic Bible. With nothing better to do, he figured might as well read them and see if there’s anything interesting to pass the time on.

Some time passes, Isaac has a less than ideal encounter with a ghost, his mom is getting more and more irritable with every passing moment, and before you know it the poor kid is running for his life away from a maniac mother wielding a knife. Through unknown means Isaac finds himself knocked out and wakes up in an unfamiliar place along with Guppy who doesn’t look quite right anymore. Before he can give it much thought however, he’s being dragged away by some guy named Cain before he can get killed by a big scary monster with coins for eyes.

More stuff happens, and Cain and his “friend” keeper deduce that Isaac had somehow ended up in hell despite not being dead. Cain brings Isaac over to where he stays with Lilith. At first she’s pretty apprehensive to having to hide yet another person in her home, but her soft spot for Isaac’s plight wins her over. Together Cain and Lilith of them watch Isaac while trying to help him find a way back home. Which would be hard enough but of course the rulers of the citadel they live in are slowly catching on to this and absolutely hate Isaac for seemingly no real reason. And with rumors of heaven and hell going through some dramatic changes in the near future, time of the essence.

Feel like I did a bad job explaining it but whatever there’s a not-quite-a-plot-synopsis-but-story-descriptor.

The au itself follows 3 core aspects:

Isaac’s normal life, how life on earth stands > Isaac’s journeys through hell and a bit of heaven > the aforementioned looming “apocalypse”

There’s a lot of details that need working out. Like, haven’t decided why exactly Isaac ends up here without dying, if Isaac will at one point gain access to travel freely through the afterlife and earth, how heaven operates, character designs (though that one is least priority atm), and a bunch of other story details and what exactly happens

I have a pretty sizable chunk of the cast role’s made and decided. Isaac, Cain, Lilith are the mains, Judas and Eve are the main antagonists, the Lost plays an important role but mostly via the side lines, and Apollyon has their own role in stone (hehe).

You got some characters like Samson, Keeper, Bethany, Eden, and Magdalene who I have general ideas for but still need to flesh out.

Blue baby/??? is… there. Oh boy is he there.

Azazel, Lazarus, and Jacob/Esau have alignments but currently no I have clue as to how to use them.

And I have no ideas for Forgotten. Absolutely none.

I do plan on having tainted forms show up in some capacity because they are fun concept to play around with, but in all honesty don’t know how’d they’d fit yet.

There’s just, a lot that needs to be worked on before I can say anything for sure. Because really in its current state all this au is is a concept with set pieces. The citadel the main group lives in is rather large and run by Judas/Eve, with the sins as second in commands. Everywhere outside the citadel is overrun by the horsemen who are constantly fighting for territory. The only reason the citadel is safer than most of hell is because of Judas/Eve. Satan is around but rarely does anything other than observe.

There’s more I can get into, but that would be mostly looking into random story beats, character stuff, and setting, which would probably be confusing given the information I have given now.

On that note that’s all I have about that for now.

I’ll probably work more in this later in between my main Isaac story.

Sorry if the grammar is worse than usual I wrote this at 5 in the morning pft

[camelely]

Good Trouble Finale...

Okay I liked that episode. It had all the elements to make a good finale, it fit the tone of the show, and it got us ready for the next season. It wasn't the best but I did really appreciate it. Anyone else think they did multiple cliffhangers so they could gage how the audience would want to see these plots end before actually writing an end lol?

First things first the Callie plot

Judge Wilson!!!! I'm so glad they brought him back to call out Callie in the dream sequence in the courtroom. It was so good. His speech. Roger Bart's delivery. The emotional impact and Maia's performance. It was a great scene and the perfect scene for both characters.

On to her actual plot. Why didn't they tell us the verdict? This whole season has been building on this case. If one thing needed to be resolved by the finale it should have been this. Also they brought up Jerrod but once again provided us with no updates!

It's interesting how all of Jamie's character development has been off screen. Like is it too much to ask for some of it to happen in front of us? It doesn't even need to be in front of Callie? Like we can just see him doing something or learning something outside the courtroom.

If all this is building to Jamie and Callie starting a firm together I would be here for it. But only if Callie takes in the message of actually listening to other people sometimes. It is important to fight but if you dont hear what others are saying how can you fight?

Callie needs to learn not every case is some big fight to change the system case. The justice system works best when both sides have decent legal representation and yes we live in a world where that rarely happens. And juries are rarely actually impartial. But Callie is a lawyer. She's not a politician and she's not a judge. She thinks she is morally superior to everyone around her and I'm so tired of it. I really hope the dream sequence finally pushes her into some character growth.

As for her and Gael I've always disliked them as a couple. In every season before this she has treated him like a second choice and never given him the support he deserved. Everytime she went to him it was because of a fight she had with Jamie or Mariana. It kinda felt like he was finally just returning the favor this season lol. Also like I said before I actually kinda like Isabella and I'm excited to see where Gael goes when he isn't attached to a bad love triangle plot.

TBH at this point I'd rather see Jamie and Gael be happy then actually try to work things out with Callie lol. They both seem to be in better places without her and she needs sometime without a guy.

The Mariana plot

Okay I hate it here. I know the message is friendships come first but like wtf the girls were really horrible to Mariana. It's really shitty that lady... jackie? stole the app idea and idk what I wanted from this plot but the fight club girls deciding to be friends with Mariana again just wasnt it. They treated her like shit all season. Also there were more of them at the start of the season lol. Also Jackie and Evan working together like wtf. Evan was a decent guy nothing in his character makes me think he would be the type of person to be vindictive after a break-up... this feels all sorts of weird and unnecessary. Even if they end it with him choosing to help Mariana I can't see this plot actually doing anything exciting tbh. Mariana is my favorite character and this plot is already exhausting, I have a feeling it's only going to get worse from here. Overall this was the worst plot of the season and I'm not happy to continue it into next season. I just want Mariana to be happy lol.

The Dennis plot

I love it. The truck connecting back to his past trauma and healing process is 10/10. The way he is finding a passion is 10/10. Overall 10/10 lol.

The Davia plot

Also mostly good. Again they chose a cliffhanger when in reality they didn't need to? I think if you dedicate an entire season of a show to a question and have the character (or a jury lol) come to decision in the finale and then choose to not tell the audience it cheapens the whole experience and drags a plot passed its expiration date. If you want a plot to end in a cliffhanger thats fine but this isn't a cliffhanger... this is just cutting out audio that should naturally be there... for the sake of creating fake tension. Doing it once is bad enough but twice in the same episode felt personal lol.

The Malika plot

Ah Malika and the only cliffhanger that actually works. Isaac. I love Isaac. Like he's amazing and I love him so much. I really liked how their plot was focused on Malika exploring how a Poly relationship could be/is right for her. The whole plot is really well done. If she decides she wants to be monogamous with Isaac I'd be okay with that as long as it is a well written thing focusing on her choices and not his. I also wouldnt mind if Isaac and her get closure and he moves on. I think him deciding to be poly could work but I also think he made it clear that isn't really what he is looking for. Maybe an open relationship or something like that could work for them? Idk exactly but I'm very excited to see where this all goes and I'm confident the writers will do right by these characters.

More exciting is her work/activism plot. It's clearly going to cause problems with her and Dyonte but honestly Dyonte and his personality is my least favorite part of the Malika plot lol. He reminds me of Speech from the band Arrested Development. That probably isn't a fair comparison and probably makes no sense but it's the vibe I get. I like Angelica and I hope her ex/friend is a good person. I have high hopes for this plot and I really hope GT doesn't let me down. Lol watch this be the worst plot next season and Mariana be the best just because I predicted the opposite.

The Alice plot

This was the one with the most consistent writing IMO. It wasn't perfect. They had some weird character choices/build with Alice's comedy group And honestly they could have cut the program down to like four finalists. All of them started to blend together anyway. I think bringing a few into the spotlight a little more would have helped balance the character choices and if one of them was to betray Alice it would have been more emotional if we actually knew them. I liked the choice to quit but it was a lot of money and a great opportunity too. It was a truly wild way to end the plot lol. As for her and Sumi... Okay so Sumi was my least favorite Alice LI, but over this last season she really grew on me and I'd be okay if they eventually found their way back to each other. For now I'm glad they are making the more responsible choice and staying friends.

Overall this finale was very much in keeping with the themes and choices the show tends to make. But it was 90 minutes long and didn't answer any of the big season long questions. It was a really well made episode though and I liked watching it.

[rogershoe]

Lights, Camera, Action

Part five

(Part four)

Masterlist

Summary: You’re a production assistant on the set of Cursed. The night before your first day at work, you opened your laptop to shockingly realise you’d be working with Daniel Sharman (and a plethora of other amazing actors), someone you’d been watching on screen since you were a teenager. You kept your expectations low, the PAs rarely got to interact with the talent…what was your chance?

Word count: 2.6k

Tag list: @sxperncturalimpala67 @mrsaaronkeener @tinygardensoul @disasterday​ @5am-cigarette @lancelotapricot @demoiselle-en-detresse00 @slytherlight @18somethingpsyche @ceruleanmusings@glxctt@cavillxhenry@lovelyapplessss@hereagainsstuff@linkpk88@aliceperdida@weeping-redemption@magicalsaladnacho@lancelotapricot@ineedyourskulls@fandomarstrash@cheythefangirl @pure-ghost @estrielle @tessxblxckthorn @isaac-lahey-is-bae​ @bubblyanis​ @proudhufflepuff77​

Warnings: age gap between reader and Daniel, swearing, blood/fear of blood, reader gets injured (cut on her finger), slow burn

Notes: This chapter is a lot shorter than the last one but also definitely more exciting!! I hope you guys like it and plzz lmk in the comments whether this was alright or not! I know that the plot of this part is a bit exaggerated but bare with me hahaha

You looked at Daniel and found that he had closed his eyes and Jasmine was dabbing a bit of powder over his T zone…probably to absorb the excess oil that she had proudly told you he didn’t have. 

“Do you do a lot of makeup yourself?” Jasmine asked you

“Not usually but sometimes I guess” you said

“So you know all the different brushes?”

 You thought back to the hours of mindless makeup videos you would spend hours watching at 3:00 am when you couldn’t sleep. 

“Yep, I do actually” you said confidently. Thank god you weren’t completely clueless in this new endeavour.

“Oh awesome! That’ll make all of this so much easier Y/N”

You laughed, happy that you were doing something right. You honestly just could’ve spent this whole time looking at Daniel but you obviously didn’t want to seem like a creep. You wondered if he recognised you from the battery station or his trailer. Not likely…you doubted that your face was all that memorable. 

“Can you pass me the spoolie?” she said, closing the powder and putting it on the counter. “It’s in the first drawer”

You quickly opened the drawer, and bent down to look through it. You were uncomfortably self conscious of how close you were to Daniel, your hips were almost brushing against his chair. 

Thankfully you spotted the spoolie and grabbed it, standing up straight and using your free hand to close the drawer. As you turned to give it to Jasmine, you took the opportunity to glance at Daniel. What you didn’t anticipate was to find his piercing eyes looking right back at you. His lips turned up and he smiled slightly at you. A small smile spread across your face and you felt your cheeks heat up.

 You hoped he didn’t notice you blushing and quickly turned away as Jasmine took the tool from your hand. You looked at her and saw her narrowing her eyes suspiciously at you. Trying to act natural, you looked around to see Cassandra walking back to you from talking to an extra across the trailer. Although she was one of the head make-up artists, she didn’t seem that old at all and looked to be in her early thirties.

“How’s it going Y/N? Not too overwhelmed I hope?” she said, a snide smirk on her face.

You swallowed slightly and attempted to sport a carefree smile on yours, “No, not yet”

She ignored your answer and instead went to look at Daniel. 

“Oh your beard needs a quick trim” she said laughing

Daniel smiled, “Do you have to? I’m trying to grow it out” he said laughing and running a hand across his jaw. You could tell by his expression that he was joking. 

Cassandra giggled like a little school girl making you raise your eyebrows and your stomach lurch. You could tell she was enjoying working with Daniel just as much as you

“Y/N, pass me the facial scissor” 

You looked towards the counter where she was pointing and saw a tin full of multiple small scissors, some open some closed. As you wrapped your fingers around one of the tools, you felt a sharp pain on your index finger and quickly pulled your hand away, the scissor clattering onto the floor. As you had snatched your hand from the tin, the scissor had probably dragged across your finger, making your injury deeper and longer. You looked at your finger, beads of blood falling from the deep cut and cursed under your breath. Why did you have to be so fucking clumsy?

You looked at the floor and saw the scissor at Daniel’s feet, where he was already picking it up. 

“ Oh god…I’m so sorry” you said and grabbed a tissue to try to dab the blood away. You looked at Daniel through the mirror and saw him looking at you. 

“Are you okay?” he said, and for a second after hearing his voice, you forgot all about your bleeding finger.

Before you could respond, Cassandra interrupted you, “I’m sure she’s fine…right Y/N?”

You nodded clutching your finger and trying not to wince, the pain was slowly increasing.

“Go and get cleaned up Y/N” she said, her face showing sincerity…whether it was real or not you couldn’t tell. 

“Thank you” you were about to leave when you heard Jasmine’s voice, 

“Can I go with her Cassandra?”

“Of course not…who else is supposed to help me if you’re gone too?”

You ignored her response and walked out of the trailer thankful that at least there was one person in there who liked you. 

When you got outside you weren’t surprised to find your vision going slightly hazy. You could watch hours of gory, bloody fights and killing on your TV but the second you saw anyone, (especially yourself) bleeding in real life, your warped brain suddenly decided it was time for you to start fainting. 

You walked to the side of the tall trailer and leaned against the vehicle, taking deep breaths. The metal was still wet from the rain this morning and so was the ground. Your head started throbbing and you hoped with everything that no one would walk out of the trailer and see you. The only people who had seen you before like this were your parents and Talia…it was rare for you to bleed anyways. 

For some reason your vision and head weren’t getting any better. It was probably the lack of sleep or food and water you had had since you had stupidly decided to skip breakfast this morning. You knew you had to sit down so you walked to the edge of the trailer farther from the door and sat on the tarmac. It was wet and you felt the water soak through your jeans. You put your elbows on your bent knees and your throbbing head in your hands. It was only your second week and you were already lightheaded. If only you had been more careful while grabbing the stupid scissor. 

You tried not to look at your finger that was now wrapped in the thin tissue you had hurriedly grabbed. That was probably a bad idea since the rough material would most likely start to stick to the blood. You took a deep breath and glanced at your finger to see the tissue was soaked through..how deadly was that scissor?

You suddenly heart footsteps coming towards you and quickly looked up, scared to see who it was. You breath caught in your throat and you could’ve sworn your heart stopped beating when you saw Daniel’s face come into view. Oh god….out of all the people it had to be him?

“Fuck, are you okay?”, you saw his lips move as he came over to you and knelt down.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine” you said and looked at him. Even in your awful state you noticed the way one strand of his hair fell across his face and how soft his dark blue hoodie looked. 

“Are you sure?”

“Oh yeah…definitely” you lied. To prove yourself right, you swallowed and put your uninjured hand on the ground and stood up. Of course you did it too fast and suddenly your vision went blurry again. You reached out a hand to lean it against the trailer but instead of feeling the cold metal of the vehicle, you felt warm skin. You looked up quickly to find that Daniel had taken your hand in his. Now that you were standing you were even more intimidated by how his tall figure towered above you. For a second that felt like minutes, you stared at both your hands….was he seriously holding yours right now? Maybe it was a sick illusion your brain had conjured up. 

“Oh no you aren’t” he said laughing slightly. He looked at the door of the trailer before gripping your hand tighter with his long fingers, probably afraid that you’d collapse again. Nevermind, it definitely wasn’t an illusion. Your heart beat faster because of the close proximity you two were in. 

“I think you should come with me” he said looking worried.

“What? No, I can’t” you said shaking your head, the concrete dancing underneath your eyes. 

You looked up at him and saw the confused look on his face, your head still throbbing, “Cassandra would kill me”

You saw the glint in his eyes as he grinned slightly, “Cassandra? I’ll deal with her…we need to get some fluid into your body or you could faint”

You knew he was right, you were just scared that if you were alone with him you might just end up fainting anyways. 

“It’s okay…honestly, I can just go get some water myself” you said not wanting to trouble him, he probably had to get back to the trailer anyways. 

“I have water in my trailer, I was on my way there to get my phone anyways”

You smiled through your pain and gave in, “Okay…thank you”

He smiled and started walking towards his trailer. You found yourself gripping his hand tightly, not because you wanted to but because you had to. Your knees felt like they would give away if you didn’t. The fact that it was Daniel Sharman’s hand was just a huge plus. 

Once you finally got to his trailer he stopped by the stairs and gestured for you to go in. You smiled gratefully and stumbled up the stairs into the familiar trailer. Your head was getting better now as Daniel had almost completely distracted you from your cut. 

He came inside behind you but didn’t close the door. 

“You wanna wash that up?” he said looking at the cut and grimacing slightly. He gestured to the door that you had suspected would lead to the bathroom.

You blushed and looked down at it, completely and utterly embarrassed. It was bloody and disgusting. 

You rushed into the bathroom and slowly peeled the tissue away, wincing at the pain. The blood had dried up and pulled at your torn skin. It hurt and tears welled up in the corners of your eyes but you blinked them away quickly. You finally got it off and threw it into the toilet and then flushed it (not wanting to dirty his dustbin). 

You turned the tap on and ran your finger underneath it, closing your eyes in pleasure at the cool stream. 

“Do you need help?” you heard his voice from outside the bathroom.

“No no..I’m alright” you said quickly. He had already wasted so much of his time on you so you tried to hurry up and closed the tap. The bleeding had thankfully almost stopped but the cut was still raw. 

You walked outside and found him bending down looking through a mini fridge. 

“Oh good you’re okay” he said smiling and gesturing to the purple couch, “sit down”

He pulled a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and handed it to you, “Here Y/N”

Your eyes widened when he said your name. 

You grabbed the cold bottle, “You know my name?”. As soon as you realised what you had said in your hazy state you looked down and wanted to slap yourself. Had you really just asked him that?

He laughed showing his teeth and you couldn’t help but smile as well when he sat beside you on the other side of the couch, “Of course I do….Cassandra said it like ten times”

For some reason your heart ached at her mention. 

You suddenly felt a wetness where you were sitting and remembered the ground had been completely wet where you had sat down. You hurriedly got up and looked at the couch which was now also damp where you had been sitting. Fuck, you had lost count of how many times you had embarrassed yourself in front of Daniel just today. 

“Shit, I’m so sorry” you said, and clasped a hand over your mouth

“Oh no, it’s fine” he said sporting a confused expression. 

“It was raining outside” you said hurriedly, not wanting him to think it was some other accident.

He looked at you a soft grin on his face, “I know, don’t worry”, his voice was oddly soothing, calming your nerves almost immediately. 

He walked to a cupboard near the bathroom and pulled out a towel. He placed it on the damp spot.

“There we go” he said smiling. He put his hands on his hips, looking at you and then towards the couch, “you can sit now”

You did but decided you had bothered him enough for one day.

“I should get going now…I’m so sorry for troubling you” you said getting ready to get up. 

“Wait your cut…and drink some before you get up” Daniel said softly, pointing to the bottle in your hand. You opened it and took a sip, you could feel the sweet cold liquid travel down your throat and through your chest. You took another.

“Feels good doesn’t it?’ he said from his position on the counter. From what could you see, he was rummaging through his wallet. He pulled out a large bandage and came over to you.

“Here…it won’t do much but it’ll keep the cut covered until you can get it wrapped by the medic inside the studio” he quipped handing it to you. 

“Thank you so much…seriously” 

“Do you need help putting it on?” he said grabbing his phone and putting it into his back pocket. 

“Oh no, I’ll manage….I’m sorry again”

“I have to go now but you stay here as long as you like, okay?” he said. 

“Thanks” you said smiling, who knew he would be so nice?

“Oh and do me one favour” he said grinning, as he was making his way out the door.

“Anything” you replied, curious to hear what he had in mind.

“Stop apologising” he laughed, before leaving the trailer. 

You smiled widely to yourself. 

Had this all really just happened? Seeing Daniel was insane in itself but actually interacting with him? You honestly still didn’t understand how you got a word out of your mouth. He seemed intimidating, but when he spoke to you, his voice was soothing and you felt like you could’ve talked to him forever. You looked down in awe at the hand he had held. You knew you were acting like a crazy fangirl, but you couldn’t surpress your emotions all the time. 

You snapped back to reality when you felt your cut suddenly sting. He had said there was a medic inside the studio. You got up quickly, Cassandra was probably wondering where you were and you had to get your finger wrapped first. 

8:12 am

You took a deep breath as you walked up the stairs of the make up trailer to Cassandra, Jasmine, and Daniel. You hoped that Cassandra wouldn’t be mad at you for taking so long. You hadn’t realised how bad the cut actually was until you took it to the on set medic and he wrapped your fingers in who knows how many layers of gauze. 

Your heartbeat accelerated as you opened the door slowly. You thankfully calmed down when you saw that everyone was loud and bustling around, no one had even noticed you had entered. You walked over to Daniel’s chair, where Jasmine was looking closely at the mirror. As you got closer you saw that there were multiple pictures of the weeping monk stuck into the frame of the mirror. She whipped her head around when she saw you in the mirror. 

“Y/N!” A worried expression adorned her face, “are you okay?”

“Oh yeah I’m fine…It looks worse than it really is” you said waving your finger in the air to show her. 

“Are you sure? Are you okay to help us?”

“Oh yeah definitely” you said scoffing, “It’s nothing”

She smiled, “Okay good”

You looked in the mirror at Daniel. He was looking at you, a knowing smile on his face. You looked away. You still couldn’t believe that he had seen you in such a flustered and sick state. It had been exciting when he had helped you but now you realised that he probably thought you were some kind off freak, going berserk over such a small amount of blood. 

All of a sudden feelings of sadness, anger and embarrassment flooded over you. Sadness because this was essentially the first impression that Daniel had of you, and anger directed towards yourself for freaking out like you did.