#Dad always said this was one of those films that just everyone had to see to be human

[itsybitsylemonsqueezy]

It's Goncharov to you. To me, it's simply Gonch.

[1d1195]

Ding - Round 1

I had this little idea. The meeting came to me in a dream, no word of lie. Classic little trope, I know. I'm hoping to work in some smuttier things down the line. Hope I do it justice and you like it 💕 Erring on the side of caution; probably not suitable for Ramadan

You'll be able to read the rest here eventually: Ding

~3.8k words

As she did the wind took her door not much, nor hard but enough to bump into the car beside her.

The man rolled the window down, his deep green eyes, still blank. “You’ll have t’pay for that,” his voice was low and gravelly.

It was cold and rainy all day long. It made her want to curl up in a ball with a good book on her sofa and not get up for hours and hours. The kind of day where she wished she wasn’t an adult, and she was back home. Back when her dad would make her hot chocolate, they would watch old movies, and he would give insider information into all the hubbub that happened behind the scenes. How the actors interacted and when the props failed or something of that nature.

Her father was a great film critic. But he always said “even ‘bad’ movies have good.” She had seen tons of movies. Summers during school were filled with at least one movie a night. Sick days were made for marathoning series. When they weren’t watching movies, he was taking her to baseball games, teaching her how to cook—“the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, honey”—and making sure that she knew how to be spoiled by any man that deigned to enter her life. She was handy around the house and fiercely independent.

As much as she enjoyed cooking with her dad, baking was her real passion. She loved the science of baking: how butter affected cookies, temperature changed the consistency of cakes, and nothing made her happier than playing with baking powder and baking soda to change the rise of her pastries.

It led her to this spot. This little bakery. School for business and plenty of classes on cooking and baking. At the age of twenty-seven she was extremely lucky; for the last three years her business had been so successful. It was in local and state magazines about a hot spot for tourists and one of those shops that everyone just loved.

She wished her dad could see it but knew he would be proud of her regardless.

A strong gust of wind pulled her from her thoughts. There was a late-night closing report she needed to go over—a favor to her regular closer who needed to get home to her little baby. But really, A Pinch of Sprinkles was her baby and she loved to be in the little shop that smelled like the cupcakes she loved making.

She zipped her coat up, pulling her hood over her hair. It was hardly any further than a 40-yard dash to her little bakery door but in a steady rain like this, she thought not even her rubber boots would be enough to keep her dry for the short little sprint she would have in just a moment. She thought of her dad again, who would have run around to her door and held an umbrella over her head before getting out in the rain. With a deep, sad sigh, she braced herself, opened her door and reached for her umbrella and purse on the passenger seat.

As she did the wind took her door. It wasn't much, nor hard to create real havoc, but enough to bump into the car beside her. “Fuck,” she hissed getting out quickly, her belongings be damned her hair getting wet and stringy almost immediately. She slammed her door shut, turned to the car beside her, and made eye contact with the person in the driver’s seat. Her lips parted slightly, heart hammering in her chest. There was hardly anything more than a bit of a ding on the the stranger's car but the unmoving gaze that returned from the front seat intimidated her immensely.

The man rolled the window down, his deep green eyes still blank. “You’ll have t’pay for that,” his voice was low and gravelly.

It felt like thunder was inside her chest, the way her heart was thudding against her ribs. An intimidating man, his hair not quite buzzed off but not quite much more than an inch or two long, deep, soulful eyes. His gaze didn’t drop from hers. It was like he was having a staring contest.

“I... am... so sorry,” she whispered. She wasn’t afraid to admit she was terrified. It wasn’t that she was terrified of men. But in a dark parking lot and someone who looked so intimidating... well it was a modern-day-female nightmare.

The man smiled and suddenly he was no longer intimidating. Dare she say, he was even cute. The left half of his mouth quirked up and he glanced down at his hands on the steering wheel, tapped a quick rhythm on it, and turned back to her. “S’okay,” he shrugged, rolling the window back up. He stepped out into the rain in the same motion, rain not bothering him as it began to soak his hair and slid down his face. The man was gorgeous. A walking ad for raincoats and umbrellas. He meandered over to where she stood. Her heart still pounded now for an entirely new reason. He shoved one hand in his pocket, the other reached for the blemish on his car. “See, jus’ a ding,” he rubbed his fingers over the little indent a few times before turning back to meet her gaze again.

His grin was adorable.

The air came out of her in a whoosh loud enough to rival the one that took her door right into his car. “I’ll pay for it to be fixed,” she promised.

He chuckled. “S’fine, love,” he assured her. “S’jus’ a ding,” he repeated with a shrug.

By now she was drenched. It wasn’t a downpouring, but the steadiness of the raindrops won out. Without any regard to how she was stood still between the two cars—soaking the inside of her seat as well—he leaned in, grabbed her purse, umbrella and closed the door behind him. Honestly, it didn’t even cross her mind that he was going to rob her. That alone should have raised about ten alarm bells in her head. Instead, for whatever reason, she felt safe.

He handed her own bag to her. It felt so strange. Like she didn’t know what to do with it. He paid no mind to her uneasiness. Without any acknowledgment of their weird meeting and their even weirder interaction thus far, he opened the umbrella and held it over the pair of them to keep a little dryer—even though they were both already soaked.

“Let’s go,” he put a hand on her lower back to usher her out from between the cars.

Reality and her brain finally restarted in her head. “Excuse me? Go where?”

He shrugged. “Well... y’did ding m’car. Assumed y’could at least come with me.”

“Come with you where?” She repeated incredulously.

“Oh right, sorry. D’you have plans? A date?”

“Well...no...”

“Great,” he tiled his head in gesture toward their current path, the opposite direction of her bakery.

“Can you tell me where it is you want me to go?” But she was already following the gentle touch on her back to keep her moving in his current direction. She should have felt unsafe. This was unnatural. How could she not be scared?

He pointed at the municipal building—it was old and pretty. Pretty typical for a little tourist area. Lights caught the raindrops that fell to the ground that hung from ancient looking black iron sconces. Steps up to the main doors were cobblestone and probably brand new as they were replaced over the years. Back in the day it was probably home to many rousing mini-city debates. It was hard to imagine back then it would ever become the bustling little tourist center it was at present. “Y’ever been in?” He asked.

She shook her head. It was like he was a truth serum wrapped in a hot body. There was nothing to explain her reasoning to answering him. “Not since I was little. My dad took me to a magic show here.”

“Well, s’not quite as magical, but s’a fight tonight.”

“A fight?”

“Boxing.”

“Boxing?” She repeated.

“M’not trying t’be rude, are y’hard of hearing?”

“What? No,” she shook her head, confusion coloring her features. “Why?”

“Y’keep repeating everything I say,” his ever-present half-smile was mocking her.

She scowled at him, shook her head again, and halted them in the middle of the rainy sidewalk. “Please stop walking. I’m so confused,” she put her hands on her temples. Why was she even following him? She didn’t need to be with him right now. She could have walked the other direction just as easily and told him to take a hike.

“Mmm... I’d rather not, I’ve got t’get ready,” he explained inching further along the path with the umbrella in his hand still. “M’on the first card.”

“Let’s try this again,” she stood her ground. Deciding now that if he were a serial killer, it would be too late but at least she could have the satisfaction of trying. “I don’t know your name and contrary to my current actions I'm actually very wary of strangers. But I own the bakery right over there in the main square. I was going to run the closing report. I’ll wait there until your fight is over,” she suggested--where she at least had security cameras set up and would have proof of a stranger murdering her with a baking sheet. “You can come get my insurance info then,” she spun quickly away from him, and started back toward the direction of the bakery; he could keep the umbrella.

“Your bakery?” He asked, following her a few paces back.

“Yes. A Pinch of Sprinkles. It’s right over there,” she gestured to the main bustling little square.

“You own the bakery: A Pinch of Sprinkles?”

“Are you hard of hearing?”

He snorted at her and smirked once more. “Alright,” he sighed holding his hands up in surrender. “M’Harry. M’in a boxing match tonight. M’normally in there by now getting ready. But this really pretty girl dinged m’car,” his smile was so boyish for someone who scared the lights out of her only minutes before. “And y’did kind of promise t’come with me as payment,” he looked at her knowingly.

“I did not promise that,” her tone was defensive. “I said I would pay for the dent to be fixed.”

“I know y’did. S’very nice of you. S’not what I want. This is how I want you t’pay me.”

“By coming to watch your fight?”

He nodded eagerly. But she saw his eyes scanning her. He was still holding her umbrella while she continued to get soaked. Her dad would have a conniption at the sight of a stranger holding her umbrella and not keeping her dry. But it didn’t bother her. If anything, she kind of liked it if only because it gave her a chance to look at how adorable he was holding her flowery umbrella when she knew the embodiment of intimidation was going to punch someone at three-minute intervals.

Harry stepped closer, bringing her back under the umbrella. “Look... If y’really need t’go to your bakery, then no, of course m’not going t’stop you. But if it can wait, then s’how y’can repay me,” he shrugged. They were huddled close together under the umbrella. Her hair was a wet stringy mess. She knew very little about boxing. Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Rocky and The Eye of the Tiger. That was about the extent of her knowledge. Boxing wasn’t one of the major sports her dad imparted his wisdom about to her.

“You want me to go to your fight as payment for your car dent?”

“Are y’going t’jus’ keep saying the same thing as me but as a question all night?” She knew she was repeating herself again. She pursed her lips to refrain from asking another question. “C’mon, Cupcake... m’really starting t’run late here,” he pointed to his wrist with an imaginary watch.

Cupcake.

What was she getting herself into?

She took a deep breath trying to calm the bit of nerves. “I’m not really a go with the flow kind of girl. I have a lot of questions.”

He smiled sweetly. Nodded like he expected such an answer, like he knew her already. “M’sure you do,” he agreed. “But... I really need t’go in. Like right now. Louis is going t’kill me if I don’t appear in front of him four minutes ago. When the fight’s over, I’ll walk y’to A Pinch of Sprinkles. We’ll run y’closing report and I’ll answer every question y’have.”

It took every bit of her self-restraint to keep her mouth from repeating him again. We. “There’s also the whole... I don’t know you at all, thing,” she reminded him stepping out from the umbrella again. “Seems like a bad idea on my part.”

It was almost moot though. Even she heard the way her voice sounded like she was caving as she said it. He stepped closer again. “You’re right. S’good instincts that I admire y’have,” he held his phone out to her, the screen catching a few drops of rain. “S’my niece,” he told her of the baby on the lit screen. She was only a few months old based on the picture. “She’s got me wrapped around m’finger and she’s barely old enough t’even see me and know m’holding her. Least that’s what m’sister Gemma says,” he shrugged. The adoration, the love in his voice made her stomach flip. It was unbelievably adorable this scary man was in love with a little baby. His voice was so sweet, it made her feel at ease. “I grew up with Mum and Gemma,” he looked her squarely in the eye. “I know m’about t’go in there and punch another grown man, but m’not dangerous. Especially not towards a girl who parked in a dark parking lot who owns a bakery with a sprinkles pun," her heart softened. “I know y’have questions, Cupcake. But I really need t’go in there,” he was growing the slightest bit impatient. “Louis is gonna send Niall out looking for me and then m’screwed. I need y’decision either way.”

It was perhaps her dumbest idea ever. Even stupider than when she tried to make peanut butter cookies without peanut butter to make them allergy friendly. “Are you going to win?” She asked.

He chuckled. “Think so. Especially if you’re there as m’good luck charm," he winked.

When she thought about this in the future or when she ended up on a true crime TV episode, it would be this moment that thousands and millions of people would say "how could she be so stupid?"

But she started for the building ahead of him, anyway. He fell into step beside her holding the umbrella over her again. “Probably not a good idea to put stock into me when I just dented your car.”

“S’jus’ a ding, Cupcake,” he smiled. “Something t’remember y’by.”

She couldn’t believe how quick and flirtatious he was. He knew all the right things to say and wasn’t even the least bit nervous it seemed. When he went into the ring or something she would have to Google his name and see if she accidentally made a fool of herself talking to a professional boxer. “You’re something else.”

They entered the building from a back door guarded by a man who gave Harry a nod as he ushered the sweet girl inside. “You’re trying to kill him, aren’t you?” A blonde man with an Irish accent asked, running his hand through his hair right as the guard at the door pulled the door shut from the outside. “I was just about to go see what happened this time,” he started back down the hall, deeper into the building. “He’s losing his mind,” he warned.

Harry shrugged. “Met a girl,” he smiled back at her. “She owns the bakery. She’s gonna be my good luck charm”

“Oh, you’re the reason for my freshman fifteen,” the blond man wiggled his eyebrows at her as he turned to her as well.

“Cupcake, this is Niall, he’ll keep an eye on you,” he assured her.

“Cupcake, hmm?” Niall chuckled. “Louis’ gonna kill you,” he skipped ahead of Harry. “Found him!”

“Harold you better have been held at gunpoint!” The shout was nearly hysterical as they approached the open room.

“He was just talking to Cupcake,” Niall was nearly giggling. Louis, she presumed, wasn’t the least bit amused. His face was hard. His blue eyes cold, his jaw as sharp as his words.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” he snapped. “Get your fucking clothes on,” he ordered.

Harry rolled his eyes and winked in her direction. “Hold this for me?” He asked, handing her his phone. The picture of the little babe illuminated the screen and a message from Mum was previewed on the screen so she couldn’t help but read, “Good luck honey bunny!” With about ten four-leaf clover emojis and just as many hearts. It warmed her heart so much to see the message on this scary man’s phone. She had doubts now that he was going to murder her later. A murderer wouldn’t have a supportive mom like that, right? Or a picture of their niece as their phone background? “See y’in a bit, Cupcake,” he gave her arm a squeeze and leaned her umbrella beside the door leading into the next room.

Niall was sipping a beer from a clear cup. “Y’ready, Cupcake?”

She snorted, sticking his phone into her purse alongside hers and nodded. “Sure. M’gonna have a lot of questions.”

He laughed. “Well, I have a lot of questions for you,” he promised pushing a set of double doors and into a thrumming, crowded arena.

It was definitely not a magic show.

Blinking, Niall put a gentle hand on her back and leaned toward her ear so she could hear better. “How do you know Harry?”

“I don’t,” she shouted back to be heard over the crowd. There were people getting things set up, announcements being made, and the like. There were people cheering and she couldn’t believe how big the boxing ring looked. The only boxing ring she had ever seen was the one in Rocky. Moreover, the only thing she knew about that ring was that the audience in the movie was given a free chicken dinner for showing up to the arena and they dimmed the lights, so it looked like more people were there. “My car door hit his car.”

“You hit Clay?”

“Who’s Clay?”

“His car!”

“He named his car, Clay?”

“Like Cassius Clay?”

Again, she didn’t know much about boxing, but she realized immediately that Harry named his car after the greatest heavyweight boxer ever. Oh, Lord. What did you get yourself into? She thought to herself. “Er… yeah… I guess so.”

“And he didn’t...” Niall drifted off curiously. “Hmm,” it seemed he surmised something in his head but didn’t let her in on the secret. He gestured to a chair that was front and center of the corner of the ring for her to sit. He took the seat beside her and leaned close as she spoke to him again. “How do you know Harry?”

“We’ve been best friends since Uni,” he shrugged. “Been icing his bruises for years.”

She nodded. “I see. Are you recently graduated? You said freshmen fifteen?”

Niall laughed. It was contagious. Made her feel safe still. The whole last ten minutes were surreal. She really followed a stranger to a boxing match. She was sitting with his best friend asking questions about someone she hardly knew. “Just a joke, Cupcake. You are single handedly responsible for my recent weight gain since you moved into town. Well, you and that Irish soda bread you made last March. It tasted like home.”

“Really?” She asked excitedly. “I was so nervous about it!”

Talking about sweet treats and breads and cupcakes was more her speed. “Oh, it was perfect, Cupcake. Rivaled my nan’s.”

Well, maybe Harry wasn’t so scary.

At least his friends were nice. Although... “Louis hates me, doesn’t he?” The thought of someone hating her, even though she didn't even know him made her sad.

Niall rolled his eyes. “No, he’s just so sick of Harry being late. Thinks because he’s undefeated on this circuit he can do whatever he wants.”

“Undefeated?” She was grateful Harry wasn’t there to hear her question repeating the same thing Niall said again.

“Not much of a boxer are you, Cupcake?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

He chuckled. “Harry’s very good. You’ll see.” Clearly. What did he need a good luck charm if he was already undefeated. She really needed to research him.

As if he heard his own name, he dropped into the seat across from her. It would be inside the ring between rounds but for now it allowed him to gaze at the pretty girl he met moments before. “Hi Cupcake,” his smile was sugary—and she knew sugar.

“Hi,” she murmured, willing her eyes to stay focused on his face and not his bare torso. A litany of tattoos painted his skin and a pair of vines dipped into the band of the shorts he wore. Everything was black. His shorts, his tattoos, his shoes, and his gloves. She could see tape going up half the length of his forearm keeping the bottom of his gloves in place.

“That’s a record for you getting ready. Must be your good luck charm,” Niall nudged her with his elbow. “Didn’t I tell you those soda breads were delicious?”

Harry kept his eyes on her and nodded. “Y’did.”

“Told you,” Niall assured her.

“Wouldn’t shut up ‘bout them,” Harry was unmoving, his body, his gaze. His phone was in her purse. He was looking at her like she was pretty, and she knew her makeup and hair was ruined by the rain. “M’a bigger fan of those raspberry filled cupcakes of yours,” he told her. “S’like heaven in a cupcake.”

“Harry, I swear to God!” Louis shouted.

Harry smiled ruefully, winked at her again and finally moved, heading back toward the sound of Louis’ voice. “Niall, don’t let her leave, yeah?”

Niall saluted him and she watched him leave again. She cleared her throat, turning in her seat toward the door, she exited to get to her ring-side seat. “Good luck, Harry,” she called, unsure if he would hear her over the building crowd.

Harry turned back right as he got to the door and winked again. “Thanks Cupcake,” he called back loud enough for everyone to hear that he was talking to her. Niall chuckled, shook his head, and put a friendly arm across the back of her chair.

He was kind enough to lean to her ear so that others wouldn’t hear the next thing he said because it made her blush and nearly melt to the floor right in front of Harry’s best friend and the very ring, he would be punching another grown man in just a few minutes. “Hope you like your boyfriends like your frosting, Cupcake. Because that man is already whipped for you.”

--

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[pensat-i-fet]

His very own real princess (Pedri x Reader)

**I'm back with another imagine! This one was requested many moons ago and the anon who sent it might have forgotten about it so sorry 😕 but I got the inspiration for it and so I wanted to share it! I'm not so used to writing short format anymore so I feel everything could be a series. Let me know if you'd like this concept to be one! ☺️ And enjoy! ❤️**

Word count: 3675

Masterlist

Wattpad

Being famous was not as great as people made it up to be. For Pedri, it meant leaving the house was too much sometimes. He had to deal with people following him and even getting in front of his car just to get his attention. He was asked to sign autographs and to take photos every couple of minutes. While he loved his fans, it could be a bit much. Especially when he could tell they were filming him so they could post the video on TikTok for a couple hundred likes. So, one day, he tried to avoid those people by going to a park. He could probably lose them there. There were so many trees and dogs that made it harder to move quickly around the area.

For you, it had been a bit different. Growing up your family wanted to keep you a secret almost. For security reasons…or so they said. So, naturally, you wanted to rebel against them and do the complete opposite. Still, it wasn’t until you turned 18 that you started to show up at official events. And now you were 20, you realised maybe your parents had been right all along. But you weren’t going to tell them that. Of course. So while some paparazzi were chasing you, you spotted a park and thought you could hide there for a bit. Maybe even call your chauffeur so he could pick you up and save you from the vultures.

“Oh! Sorry”.

Pedri turned to look at the girl who was apologising to him. You had bumped into each other and he hit you in the head with his shoulder without meaning to. He hadn’t even seen you there.

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. Are you alright?”

And then, it happened. You looked up to see his face and you couldn’t believe who it was that you were talking to.

“Oh my God…oh my God”, was all you could say.

“I take it you know who I am”.

“Yeah, who doesn’t?”

Pedri chuckled. “I guess there are some lucky folks out there who don’t. But really, are you ok?”

“Yes, it’s fine. Just more shocked to see you here than anything else”.

Pedri smiled at you and you were trying hard not to swoon. Being hidden from the public eye meant you hadn’t been around a lot of famous people before. Your second cousins were way more used to this and always told you famous people were just normal people. To them…not to you. To you, famous people were…fascinating.

“I was planning on hiding here for a bit”, you said.

“Me too, but I don’t want to ruin your plan so I could leave…”.

Pedri started to look around, getting ready to leave so you stopped him. “You don't know who I am so that makes you good company. Perfect company actually. So you can stay. Also, you got here first”.

“Should I know who you are?”

“I guess not”, you shrugged. Not everyone followed your family. Thankfully.

“Are you a singer?

“Babies cry when I sing”.

“Actress?”

“Nope”.

“Influencer”.

“I only influence how much money there is left in my dad's bank account”.

You thought it was really cute how he concentrated, trying to guess. “Then…a model?”

“No, but I appreciate the compliment”.

“What compliment?”

“If you think I could be a model, then you think I'm pretty”.

“Well”, he started. “I like to invite pretty girls to eat or have a drink so…which one is it going to be?”

“There is an ice cream ban there…if you dare approach it”.

It made you laugh how Pedri looked around the area, making sure no one who could know him was there and then he turned to look at you again.

“What flavour?”

“One ball of coffee and one of vanilla, please”.

“Sounds sophisticated”.

“I guess you’re getting closer to my identity”, you laughed.

“What are you? A princess?”

“Nah, the princesses are my cousins”.

Pedri laughed before going to the ban to get the ice cream. The funny thing about being part of the Royal family was that it was so weird that many thought you were joking when you said that. But you weren’t. Not many people knew your parents but they still were part of the family so…they got attention. And now, you got the attention too.

“Here is your ice cream, your Majesty”.

“Thank you, Golden boy”, you joked back.

“Does that make me royalty too?”

“I guess. Football royalty so less hated than real royalty”. “Less hated? You clearly aren’t on Twitter”.

No, you weren’t. No amount of therapy would heal you after reading what people wrote about you or your family there.

Sitting down on the grass and eating an ice cream while chatting with Pedri was something that healed your mood. It was so nice to be with someone who didn’t know who you were but that also understood how you felt. Even if he didn’t know it yet.

“There are a lot of kids and parents around now. I feel no one will even look at us while we leave”.

You looked around and agreed with his assessment. “Ok, where should we go?”

“I don’t know. Wanna go walk near the beach? It’s usually where I end up when I go out. It’s not often I do but it’s nice to go there”.

“I like the beach”.

“Where are you from?”

“Well…it’s a funny question that one”, you sighed.

“How so?” “I was born in The Netherlands, then lived in Madrid for a bit, went to school in Switzerland and Wales and now I’m back in Spain. I go to different cities all the time. I like travelling”.

“Wow, that’s a lot. Was it a boarding school you went to?”

“Yeah”.

“Maybe you are a princess after all”.

You giggled and looked down to hide your blush. Yes, your life sounded very much like that of a princess. Even if about 40 family members needed to die for you to become one for real.

“I love this”, you said, looking around and feeling so…normal.

“Yeah? That’s good”.

Pedri smiled at you and you realised maybe it wasn’t so normal what was going on. Sure, you were on a walk like a normal person but you were walking with a very famous footballer. That didn’t happen every day. At least not to you.

“And I see pizza there. Do you want a slice?”

“I probably shouldn’t…”.

“But Pedri! Today everything is possible! You’re not a football player but just Pedro from Tenerife. And I’m not a princess”.

“What are you then?”, he asked, smirking.

“I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy…asking him to get some pizza”.

The excitement of the crazy afternoon made you lose a bit of the control you usually had and you grabbed Pedri’s arm to take him to the pizza ban. It wasn’t like holding hands but…once the physical contact started, you were both very aware of it. But pretended it was all normal.

After buying the pizza slices, you didn’t wait a second to start eating. You were so hungry and it wasn’t often you got to eat greasy pizza with your hands.

“That burns!”, you complained, opening your mouth and using your hand as a fan.

“Maybe wait a little to eat”.

“I was hungry”, you pouted and that made Pedri stare at your lips.

“You got some sauce on your mouth”.

“I think I have a mirror on my bag…”.

But before you had time to find it, Pedri used one of his napkins to clean your face. When you looked up at him, you noticed he seemed to have done that without even realising.

“Sorry”.

“No, don’t be. Thank you for not letting me look dirty while we walked”.

“Princesses have to always look perfect”.

“Exactly”, you told him, laughing.

But good things had to come to an end and soon Pedri started to notice people looking at him. That meant it was time to go home.

“I’m sorry. It just…that’s my life”.

“I get it”, you told him, wanting to explain to him how much you actually got it. “It was fun to spend some time with you though”.

“Would you like to do it again?”

“I would. But maybe somewhere more private”.

“Do you have Instagram? So you can follow me and we can talk about meeting”.

That made you pause. You had an official account controlled by people hired by your family but also a private one. So maybe you could use that one to follow him.

“Yeah. I’ll follow you later and send you a message”.

“Cool. See you…soon?”

You nodded, not knowing what to do. Should you hug him? But then all the people ready to surround him showed you that no, a hug wouldn’t be a good idea. So you said goodbye and left.

Pedri was entering the dressing room a couple of days after you met, not really looking at his teammates but at his phone. You two had been texting ever since you separated. And he was constantly checking to see if you had sent him a new message.

“Hello, your Majesty”, said one of Pedri’s teammates and it took him a second to notice he was looking at him.

“Sorry?”

“I just said hi to your Majesty. Would you like us to find a throne for you to sit on?”

“What are you on about?”

“Haven't seen the cover of the magazine yet?”, asked Frenkie.

“I haven't done any covers lately…”.

“The gossip magazine”, pointed out Lamine. “It’s all everyone is talking about”.

“I don’t get it. I haven’t done anything to be in one of those magazines”.

“How about going out with a pretty girl the other day? Paparazzi are everywhere. You should know that by now”.

So people had seen him when he was hanging out with you. Great. You didn’t seem like someone who’d enjoy the attention. But why make such a big deal out of him being seen with someone unknown?

“You also chose the wrong girl to date”.

“I’m not dating her but she's just a normal girl…”.

“Who's related to the Royal family. And here we were worrying about Gavi being the one who could become king”.

“I would have made a great king”, said Gavi, raising his chin proudly.

“You would have made a terrible king”, told him Fermín, shaking his head.

“What do you mean Royal family?”

Pedri was about to start freaking out. You joked about being a princess but…was it not a joke? What? He knew the princesses! Leonor, Sofía, Victoria, …none of them were you. So what the heck was going on?

“She’s like a second or third cousin of the real princesses but the media has been trying to find out everything about her in the last few years”, explained Pau.

“How do you know so much about that?”

“My mum loves the Royals. I live with her and she talks about it”, shrugged the youngster.

The jokes continued but Pedri didn’t care. He just kept thinking about how you had lied to him. And he got it in a way. It couldn’t be easy to be in your position but…you had spent two days talking to each other about a lot of personal stuff. Didn’t you trust him enough to tell him the truth?

When he finished training and picked up his phone again, he saw a text from you saying “I’m sorry”. A part of him wanted to ignore it but you didn’t deserve that kind of treatment despite your lies. So he asked you to meet instead. But you were in Madrid for a couple of days so it’d have to wait. You apologized multiple times and Pedri told you it was ok but…you weren’t so sure.

“What’s wrong?”, asked your cousin Sofía, who was a real princess.

“You saw the magazines, right?”

“Yes. Wanna talk about it?”

“I…we bumped into each other randomly and it was so good to meet someone who didn’t know who I was. You get it, Sof. If someone gets it, it’ll be you”.

“I do. Is he mad at you for lying?”

“Not really”, you said, frowning. “I expected him to be but he seems to understand why I lied. He also gets it”.

“I bet he does. So, what are you going to do?”

“We’ll meet when I get back to Barcelona in a few days”.

Sofía laughed looking at you. “That smile…someone is smitten!”

“How could I not be? Have you seen him? And he’s super nice too, not just handsome. But I fear I’ve ruined it”.

“Don’t be so negative. Let’s just get ready for the match and forget about your Barça boy for a couple of hours”.

It wasn’t a secret that the king of Spain supported Atlético de Madrid and a lot of people suspected his daughter Sofía did as well. However, it was very hard for her to attend matches without people noticing but she had become a bit of a pro at it. And now she was taking you to the match too.

The match was fun and Atleti won so Sofía was very happy. And you didn’t get spotted by anyone…or so you thought.

“Pepi!”, called Ferran when Pedri was entering the dressing room in the morning.

“What?”

“Your princess is a traitor, she doesn't even support you”.

“What are you talking about?”

“She was at the Atleti match yesterday with Princess Sofía. But I bet you can turn her into a Barça fan”.

Ferran’s wink didn’t stop Pedri from feeling so weird about this whole situation. Or more like jealous. What if you had your eye on an Atleti player?

But he could only stare at the photos in the article. After your meeting, he had only the memory of how you looked that day. Your private Instagram only had a handful of photos and a few were of your dogs. The official Instagram only had a few official photos and…even though that was you too, it wasn’t the you Pedri knew. The girl in the photos from the Atleti match was you. Laughing with your cousin and looking so happy.

The article…he didn’t like as much. After the photos of what the press called “a date” were published, they just assumed you were seeing Pedri. So what were you doing watching a rival team? It wasn’t as if you went to see a Real Madrid match, God forbid. But still…shouldn’t you be supporting “your boyfriend”?

“Hi”.

A few days later, you were back in Barcelona and Pedri invited you to have lunch with him. Finding a place where no one would see you was hard, but your family knew a few tricks to achieve that.

“Hey. It’s good to see you again”.

This time, you did hug as a greeting. Even if you had spoken only via texts, it still felt like you knew each other so well now. So a hug seemed like the right thing to do.

“I’m sorry about everything that happened. I just…I don’t know, Pedri. Being with you made me forget who I was for a second and I didn’t think about how this could affect you”.

“It’s ok. You know I get it. It’s the same for me. My every move is overanalysed. Though I guess being a princess is a bit more important”.

“Not this again”, you shook your head, laughing. “I’m not a princess. I’m a nobody, really. But the press was waiting for a moment like this. A scandal or whatever”.

“Eating pizza in public is very scandalous. I don’t know how your reputation will recover”.

You laughed at Pedri’s joke but also remembered what you had been told. “It’s not so much what I did but who I did it with”.

“Oh…ok”.

When the photos were published, your parents talked to you about all the reasons why you should stay away from Pedri. Before you even had time to say nothing was going on…at least not yet.

“It’s stupid. I told you I’m a nobody. But family connections dictate this or that…I don’t want to date a politician or another royal just because it’s what I’m supposed to do. I don’t have it as bad as my cousins. You know, the real princesses. But still…it’s boring. I want to be able to make my own decisions”.

“You don’t want to date a politician…but would you like to date me?”

Being so annoyed with your family and their restrictions, you didn’t realise Pedri wasn’t stupid and could easily read between the lines.

“You’re better than a politician so…”.

“Look”, said Pedri, grabbing your hand to hold it. “No relationship was going to be easy for me. I knew that. So…this doesn’t scare me”.

“Really? I was actually worried it would”.

“I could see it in your face”.

“Can you read minds now? Is that how you know where to shoot the ball?”

“No, that’s because I’m a generational talent”, joked Pedri, making you laugh. “But I mean it. I’m not scared. Are you?”

“Not as much as I probably should”.

“But…are you an Atleti fan? These are the important conversations we need to have before trying to date”.

“That’s my cousin. I don’t really have a team. So I might let you convince me to become a Barça fan. I already support Spain so…”.

“Even against The Netherlands?”, he asked. Your mum was Dutch so it was a fair question.

“Only if you play for Spain that day”.

And so you both forgot about what people would say, what people would demand from each of you and started to date. There was no need to hide since there were photos of your first date online already. Even if back then you didn’t want to admit it was a date.

Being together compensated for any comments or insults…but Pedri was starting to get a bit tired of his teammates curtsying in front of him and calling him Majesty. They did it with you too, which only made you laugh.

“I told you, guys. I’m not a princess”.

“No. Not officially”, told you Pedri. “But you are my very own princess. My queen even”.

Your blush made everyone laughed. It was so obvious to everyone how in love you both were.

However, the media was going to try to find anything that could make it sound like your lovely love story wasn’t so lovely.

Something your family always had to do was attend charity events. It was probably one of the few things you liked doing, since many of those events raised money for great causes. So when you were invited to one to raise money for cancer research, you said yes immediately. It being organised by the Atlético de Madrid foundation didn’t matter to you. But for the press…it was a different story.

“Hi, it’s nice meeting you”.

You turned to see it was Álvaro Morata, the player who presided the event, saying hello to you.

“Thank you, it’s nice meeting you too”.

“I heard about you and Pedri…sorry if it’s too informal of me to say this”. “It’s ok, don’t worry”.

“So…you two are really together?”

“Yes”, you said, blushing.

“Good. He’s a good guy. I’ll see you around the Spain matches then”.

“You will”.

Other players were there too and you were introduced to all of them. Mario Hermoso, Marcos Llorente, …they were all very nice to you. But it was a younger player you had to sit next to at your table. One that you hadn’t met before but that introduced himself as Rodrigo Riquelme. However, that wasn’t what his teammates called him.

“Should I call you Rodrigo or Roro?”

“I feel I can’t ask someone of your station to call me such a nickname”.

You laughed seeing the Atleti player blushing. “I don’t mind. I’m not really that important”.

“You are the most important person here”.

“Depends on who you asked”, you shrugged.

It was lovely having someone young to chat with at such an event. You were usually surrounded by old politicians and entrepreneurs who bored you to death with their conversations. So you had a great time…Pedri didn’t have as much fun seeing all the posts on social media talking about how his girlfriend was being too friendly with another player.

He knew it was stupid. You were just chatting with Riquelme. Pedri knew you now and realised that was how you talked to his friends too. That was how you talked to Ferran, for example. It was nothing like how you talked to Pedri.

But still…it wasn’t nice to see so many people doubting your relationship. And, what was worse, insulting you.

“You look unhappy”, you said when you met him again in Barcelona. “Is it because of the articles? Nothing happened with Riquelme. I swear”.

“I know”, he sighed, wrapping his arms around your waist and kissing your forehead. “I just hate how people will try to find any excuse to try and hurt us”.

“We knew it was going to happen…”.

“It’s not nice anyway”.

“But we’re fine?”, you asked, worried.

“We’re fine. I missed you a lot”.

“I know. I missed you too”.

Knowing Pedri trusted you was so important and you felt you needed to prove you were worth that trust. So, even though you knew you were likely to get in trouble, you forgot about protocol and attended his match wearing his shirt.

It wasn’t even the most important match but when it ended, you went as close to the pitch as you could and called Pedri so he could go meet you. Every one of his teammates that walked past curtsied and called you two “your Majesties”. But you didn’t care. You looked around, noticing the cameras were all pointed at you, and kissed Pedri.

“Making sure everyone knows you’re just my princess?”, he whispered.

“Yes. And while we’re at it, everyone can also learn you’re my prince”.

[justforbooks]

‘Chandler Bing,” wrote Matthew Perry in his puckish, self-mocking memoir, “changed the way that America spoke”. The actor’s bold words were true – but only up to a point. Yes, there was a period in the late 1990s when people overemphasised the verb to comic effect: “Could that be any more annoying?” But that was really more of a verbal tic. The Matthew Perry/Chandler Bing paradox was that he demanded not to be taken seriously, and in doing so, became the ego ideal of generation X, which is a pretty serious job. So even though he had – no question – the best lines in Friends, he was never what he would have been in an earlier era: the sidekick.

So much of the plot structure rested on Chandler being the second string: the maladroit loser to Joey’s lothario, the joker skating beneath Ross’s romantic gravity. He was never intended as the leading man. He and Monica were never story-arced to get married. The One With Ross’s Wedding: Part 2 was meant to just be a one-night stand. Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman said years later: “We thought it was going to be funny, then we were going to get rid of it.” In the event, they actually had to stop taping because people in the delighted audience were screaming.

Of course Chandler was the romantic lead. His was the spirit of the age: self-deprecating, metrosexual, all ironic distance, no ambition. It had a gravitational pull. It’s the classic stuff of romance, the Emma plot: the guy who creeps up on you, because, duh, he’s everything. Except Chandler did that to his own creators. Incidentally, he’s a way better character before he gets together with Monica. And he’s a way better character when he hates his job. The unfolding of adulthood was like kicking two legs off a stool. Gen X is a shadow of itself when it grows up.

Perry always said how much like his character he was, to the extent that when he auditioned for the role, he went completely off script and just started delivering more material: he wrote 10 jokes for every episode, and reliably got two in. His particulars were telling: an only child whose parents divorced when he was one. His real-life dad was an alcoholic, later recovered, an actor, but small-time. His mother was press aide to Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister. Before Perry developed acting ambitions he was an obsessive tennis player, nationally ranked in Canada by the age of 14. He discovered drinking around the same time and was, he wrote, “a broken human being” by 15, when he moved to Hollywood.

The great mystery of Friends is why none of its players made much cinematic impact beyond its enormous influence – and this was truer of Perry than of anyone. He turned in completely fine performances in unremarkable films: Fools Rush In, Almost Heroes, The Ron Clark Story. He co-created and co-wrote the TV series Mr Sunshine in the early 2010s, but it lasted only a year before low ratings killed it. It is possible that the residuals model sapped everyone’s ambition: Warner makes a billion dollars a year from syndication reruns, of which the cast get 2% each. That’s $20m (£16.5m) apiece.

More important but harder to quantify was the cultural effect of Friends: people really fell for those characters, hard. All six of the actors had the world at their feet, but nobody really wanted to see them step out of role – because it broke the spell. It is impossible to overstate how seriously we all took it, when Jennifer Aniston married Brad Pitt. It was as if Rachel herself had achieved the unthinkable, a Little Mermaid move where she crashed out of the ocean and brought the fairytale into real life.

Perry’s romantic history was, of course, chequered, which is to say, eventful, but nothing lasted. The details of his relationship with Julia Roberts are so 1990s, it is unreal: he wooed her by fax (yes, kids, this was a thing). And Perry dumped Roberts to avoid getting dumped himself, he said later, relaying deliciously: “I can’t begin to describe the look of confusion on her face.” It was a move that had all the logic of Chandler Bing himself.

Back then, we would have called Perry a commitment-phobe, but what he actually was was a drug addict. The story of his dependency is told through his changing appearance in the passing seasons of the show: “heavier” when he was drinking, thin when he was on drugs, thin with a goatee when he was on a lot of drugs. The rest of the cast protected him when he was too gone to deliver his lines, and tried to intervene many times, having guessed at only a tiny fraction of his substance abuse.

It is incredible, really, how long he survived, plausibly playing this character who may have started life so similarly to Perry himself, but diverged in one critical way: like all the Friends characters, his was almost impossibly clean-living. It never really made sense, all the high jinks they got up to, powered only by coffee. It was very much generation X, the US edition: such a show in the UK would have had at least one very heavy drinker, and Central Perk would have been a pub. Perry was its guilty secret, the One Who Wasn’t Really Very Like His Character at All Any More, and he was powerfully aware of that.

That 2022 memoir, called Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, concluded with a thankful utterance that was no less credible for being obligatory in a recovering addict: “At this point in my life,” he wrote, “the words of gratitude pour out of me because I should be dead, and yet somehow, I am not.”

Perry’s entire adult life was plagued by addiction. Telling his story in numbers, he estimated that he had been in twice-weekly therapy for 30 years, checked into rehab 15 times, and attended more than 6,000 AA meetings. He had numerous other health crises, including a perforated colon in 2019 that put him in a two-week coma. “So full of shit it nearly killed me,” he said of the event.

But in a pre-opioid world, he would have just got clean, eventually. Maybe he wouldn’t have made old bones, but he wouldn’t have died this young, not at 54. He should have had a longer sunset. His death feels tragically discordant – an unjust end to a life lived in the service of the punchline.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[queer-reader-07]

don't mind me i'm just dropping my review of dune part 2 here because i really really really loved this movie and it changed me on a molecular level and i can't stop thinking about it and everyone should watch it it's so good i'm not joking it's literally one of the best films i've ever watched. ok anyway, review:

I remember very clearly the day I finished Dune. I remember how I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating rice & beans with a spoon in one hand, and holding my dad's battered and loved mass market in the other hand. I remember how I read the final words and closed the book slowly. How I got up to go sit in my dad's home office and stare into space in disbelief at what I'd just read. I remember how I looked at my dad and I said "I can see why it's your favorite. I think it's mine too."

I saw Dune Part 2 on opening night, in IMAX, with my dad. And to say it was a night to remember is an understatement. I can say with full confidence that seeing this film is sure to become a core memory.

The sheer power of this film is something to behold. I don't think there was a single moment in those 166 minutes that I wasn't entirely immersed in the film, my eyes were glued to that screen like never before.

There were moments during the movie where I was genuinely frightened, moments that had me on the edge of my seat. I know how this story goes, I know how it ends, I know who lives and who dies. And yet...

Paul Atreides is a scary man by the end of this story. The transformation he undergoes after drinking the Water of Life is unsettling, and Timothee did a fantastic job of portraying it. Paul's speeches about how he is The One- The Lisan Al-Gaib- are damning. You can see how much he believes now that he must be the messiah and how deeply the Fremen believe in him, but you can also see how dangerous he is. The power in his words is scary because I know how much damage the search for one person to save us all can cause. His final speech instills a sense of breath-stealing deep in the audience. It's frightening and disturbing because I know that this kind of religious zealotry is not being played up for the sake of theatrics; it is very, very real.

Jessica's religious indoctrination is scarily accurate to the indoctrination I've witnessed in my own life. The way she talks of "converting the non believers" reminds me a little too much of how I was taught to share the Word of God with those who didn't believe in Christ or God while I was in catholic school. And while her own indoctrination is terrifying to witness, what is worse is watching how she spreads her propaganda amongst the Fremen. By the end, they believe that Paul will save them; rather than being saved by their own people.

Despite knowing that Stilgar's faith is largely due to Bene Gesserit propaganda that speaks of a messiah, I still find him to be an admirable character. His unwavering and unshakeable faith mimics the faith of many religious people I know in real life. I've always envied that kind of faith, the kind that prevails regardless of hardship or pain or loss. I sometimes wish I could have that kind of faith, I wish I could believe in something that strongly. Stilgar is not shaken by anything Paul or Chani or any other Fremen say. He believes with his whole being that Paul is the Lisan Al-Gain, and that he will save them all.

"I don't care what you believe. I believe!"

And it's just such a well crafted movie. Shai-Hulud looks so good in this film (the sand worm riding scenes were breathtaking). The cinematography, the soundtrack, the acting; everything feels so intentional. I'm so grateful this film exists.

This movie will stick with me for a while, if not forever. It so faithfully portrays not only the story but the themes of Dune. This film was clearly made with love, care, and adoration for the source material. I couldn't be more grateful.

As the film came to a close, as Jessica's final words rang in my ears, as I watched Chani prepare to ride Shai-Hulud, I did not know what to do with myself. As the credits began to roll everyone around me stood up while I stayed seated. As I peeled myself out of my seat to leave, the music that played rang throughout the theater. I was breathing heavy, I turned to my dad, and we concluded that this was a truly wonderful film.

in conclusion, i can die happy knowing my favorite novel of all time has been so perfectly adapted.

[g-xix]

Dating + Cat Dad HC's  | King Kenny

Getting the first pet -He lives with his friend and you semi-permanently live there (you have your own flat) -You and his friend agreed to surprise him with a little kitty for his birthday -Vlogged getting the cat that morning -Got so many little treats and climbing frames and stuff for little guy -Came home when Kenny was groggily waking up -Snuck the cat into friend's room and watched as the cat began gently pawing at mattress + smacking the duvet corner around -Waited for rest of Kenny's friends to arrive at flat (birthday lunch was happening at his flat) -At the end of lunch you and friend got the cat out. -AJ, Chunkz and Sharky were surprised but laughed and smiled as they saw Kenny react -Kenny had his hands over his mouth and was "Oh!"-ing in surprise -Heart absolutely melted at the sight of the little guy -As soon as you handed Kenny the pet he was so soft with him -Gently stroked cat's head like he was fragile china -Baby talking to the cat and acting like nobody else was there -Niko loves and always wanted a cat as well and was a mixture of sad, surprised and happy for Kenny as it reminded him of litte Reng -Kenny said he'll call it Samurai -Everyone laughed at the name bc the cat looked anything BUT aggressive -Over the next few days Kenny ignores EVERYONE but Samurai -Litr comes home from training and finds Samurai before greeting you or anyone else -Samurai prefers your company because he's used to you working from home and seeing your more -Samurai literally follows + walks after people -You want privacy from Samurai when you're using the bathroom or whatevs but feel bad closing the door on his little face -Whatever Kenny does he tries to have Samurai near him though -When sat watching a film, he's got your legs across his lap and Samurai resting on your shins so he can stroke him -While sat editing with you in his lap on the gaming chair, Samurai is besides the keyboard smacking a mouse across the desk -Kenny realised early on that Samurai loved sitting at his desk and hitting the mouse -So Kenny bought Samurai his own cheap mouse to play with -We all know Kenny has a rly loud explosive sort of laugh -Like, he laughs like he's been holding it in since 17461BC -Every time he lets out one of those laughs, Samurai does a little jump and rapidly spins around to see Kenny whilst he laughs -Every time Samurai reacts Kenny just laughs more -Kenny would be SUCH a proud cat dad asw -Takes mountains of photos & videos of Samurai just doing little things or sitting somewhere unconventional -Always shows his cat pictures to his friends excitedly saying "Look at what my cat did!" -Kenny spoils that mf with toys as well -Goes to pet shop every so often just to see if they have something new that Samurai might like -At one point was even considering adopting another cat so Samurai would have a friend -You stopped him because you knew that you'd be the one feeding, cleaning and caring for that cat whilst Kenny was working -Big Gibber and JJ also have cats though, and one night just before bed, Kenny let it slip that they'd all sorta been talking about their cats together... -Kenny had said they could both come 'round tomorrow so all their cats could "meet". -Next morning at the ass-crack of dawn, JJ was knocking at your door, and you could hear his bald ass cat meowing from outside too.   -Let him in (and Gib an hour later) and you have breakfast + pet Samurai whilst Kenny and JJ avidly talk about their cats and all their little quirks. -Whilst you're petting Samurai, you have Buu trying to climb up the island stool next to you -Wallace (Gib's cat) is a bit older and just finds purchase on the sofa and goes to sleep/smacks the other cats when they get too close -Kenny's proper happy to see all the cats together though -Every single cat jumps whenever Kenny laughs. Also whenever JJ laughs they all jump before meowing frustratedly at the sheer MAGNITUDE of their laughs -For some reason Niko also came at one point despite not having a cat. -Niko just wanted to play and watch all the cats tbh, he doesn't really care if he doesn't have a cat to bring to the meetup -That night once Buu and Wallace were gone, Kenny couldn't get a smile off of his face bc he feels like a proud dad having introduced his cat to the "community" -Cute HC but Kenny's so protective over everyone he cares about -Like, when he called you once and heard you with a stuffy voice and sneezing, he Uber-ed his way to your house with noodle and a much of medicine -Told you to lie your ass down and rest whilst he did all your house-jobs -It was just a three-day cold or whatever, but Kenny still didn't want you overworking yourself when you were sick -Same vibe- when Samurai first got ill, Kenny dropped EEEEVERYTHING to look after his guy. -Literally got Samurai a whole new blanket just to swaddle him up so Samurai didn't get any colder -Kenny's a constant mix of dying-from-cuteness and concerned for Samurai whenever he hears him sneeze -Carries Samurai around with him everywhere when he's sick- swaddles him up like a baby and j carries him wherever Kenny goes -In the lead up to a fight, Samurai got ill and you were on work abroad, so Kenny took Samurai to camp -Put Samurai in the cup-holder, outer section of the backpack (iykyk) -Sent you a video of all the tough muscly guys at camp passing Samurai around, cooing and stroking his head when he first showed Samurai -Kenny puts his backpack + Samurai on the bench and tells whoever's resting there to make sure Samurai is all good -Whenever Kenny gets rest break, he goes and sips water to the side with Samurai on his lap, just talking nonsense to himself and the cat whilst he's recovering -Coming home and seeing Kenny tryna bathe/wash Samurai would be so funny asw -Samurai HATES baths with like, a BURNING passion, and Kenny hates getting splashed by the water -Kenny's shirtless and complaining at the cat to just " 'low it and let me scrub you!" whilst Samurai is meowing unhappily and dodging his hands in the tub -You're laughing and filming clips from the doorway before eventually giving a helping hand -Kenny's mood brightens again at the end though as he takes pictures of his cat, now skinny as all his fur sticks to his body post-bath -I reckon Kenny uses proper cute little names for Samurai other than his acc name as well though -Namely either calls his cat "big guy" or "little guy" -Samurai's very small but for some reason there's some irony in Kenny saying "Oi big guy come here", before bicep-curling Samurai -Yeah, also uses Samurai like a dumbell sometimes? -Samurai seems to enjoy it so you have no problem, but it is j kinda funny seeing Kenny curling Samurai sometimes -Also Kenny does air-jail with Samurai -If Samurai's too hyper or starts trying to bat the mouse from the computer when Kenny's using it, Kenny will put Samurai up in air-jail and type one-handed instead. -Therefore in conclusion:

[nattinatalia]

Jack Harlow x Reader : THAT’S NOT FAIR!

“Well that’s not fair.”

You turn around to face your daughter and notice she’s pouting and has her arms crossed.

“What’s not fair baby?”

“Why does daddy get to have dogs in his video and we can’t even have one at home for us.”

You smile and face your husband, who just sat down next to you and Mia.

You and your daughter decided to come on set and join Jack while he films part of his music video for Nail Tech.

“Daddy.” Mia turns on her seat to face him. “You didn’t get just one, you got three and they are humongous. Why can’t I get a tiny little one?”

“Well, that’s a great question princess. Your mom will tell you why.”

You raise your eyebrows, “Oh no you don’t Jackman, you answer her yourself.”

“But babe, one look into her eyes and I’ll give in.”

“Then give in.”

He shakes his head, “No, I can’t deal with all that responsibility.”

“That means job right? Like taking care of it?” Mia asks, interrupting you both.

“Yes baby.”

“Then I take care of it. My dog, my chores, please daddy?” She then gets up from her chair to come to you and shakes your arms. “Momma, please tell daddy to get us a dog.”

You smile, “Baby, dad doesn’t do well with dogs. Those dogs he was holding were trained and he only had to stand there and hold their leash.”

“Maybe we can train ours?”

“Maybe when you’re a bit older Mia, that way you know how to look out for it properly.” Jack tells her.

“But da-”

“Mia, look what I got.” Urban says as he’s walking towards the three of you.

“What is it?” She asks, getting excited.

Urban is standing closer to Mia, his hands behind his back and he’s smiling. “You have to guess.”

“A chicken?”

“What? No, no chickens here.”

“A duck?”

“Nope.”

“A baby?” You and Jack laugh at that, while Urban is wide eyed, looking at the three of you.

“I mean a baby, yes, but not human.” He shrugs.

You and Jack look at each other confused.

“Ugh Nino Urby, just show me please. I’m already sad dad said not to dogs.” Mia tells him, crossing her little arms.

“He said no to puppies? That’s rude. Good thing, I’m the cool nino.” He then shows Mia what he was hiding.

“OH MY GOD IT’S A PUPPY.!!!!” She yells. “MOM, DAD, IT’S A PUPPY.”

“I can see that, Nino Urban might be in trouble.” Jack says, glaring at his best friend.

Urban hands the puppy to Mia and she immediately starts cuddling him and kissing on him. “You are so pretty.”

“So your Nina wanted a dog and I knew you wanted one too, so you both get to share him. He will stay with us but whenever you want to have play dates with him, you just call and we will bring him right over to you.” Urban tells Mia, kneeling down beside her.

“What’s his name?”

Urban shrugs “You name him.”

“But it’s Nina’s doggie too, she needs to pick.”

“She said to let you do that.”

She then looks at the dog, then at Urban and smiles. “He’s Wyatt.”

“Wyatt?”

Mia nods, “You’re my nino, my bestest friend, so yeah, Wyatt.”

“You’re about to make me cry.” Urban says.

Mia smiles at him, then continues to hug on the puppy.

“That’s nice of your Nino and Nina, right Mia?They got a puppy and letting you have him for playdates.” You tell her. “What do you say?”

“Thank you Nino.” She goes to hug her padrino.

“You’re welcome princess, now let’s go show everyone why I’m your favorite uncle.”

She was about to walk away, but headed towards her dad instead. “When I’m older, you get me my own dog?”

Jack smiles and nods. “It’s a promise baby.”

Mia smiles and nods. “You’re still my number one, don’t be sad.”

“Oh, I know I’m your number one. Just make sure your uncles know that.” Jack tells her and kisses her head.

Mia rolls her eyes smiling, “Always.” She kisses her dads cheek and then leaves with Urban and Wyatt.

*********************

Liked by jackharlow, yourusername, claybornharlow, yourbestiename, and 8,567,345 others

urbanwyatt Chilling with Wyatt- My goddaughter named him and I ain’t mad at it. This is exactly WHY I’m her favorite.

View all 1,700 comments

jackharlow 🙄

yourbestiename She did an amazing job at naming him 🥹❤️

yourusername She really did. She’s in love with him and Urb, you won extra uncle points.

urbanwyatt I always do 🥰

claybornharlow Thanks, all I hear now is Wyatt this and Wyatt that!!!!! You cheated!!!! Jack said no pets and what do you do? GET THE ONE THING SHES BEEN ASKING FOR!!!!!!

urbanwyatt Not my fault you’re too slow.

mamamaggie She also wants a farm with lots of ducks, horses, cows and turtles. Let’s see who wins points with this!!!

jackharlow MOM NO PLEASE!!!

yourusername 😂😂😂😂😂

•

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Your Name

Bakugou Katsuki x Female Reader (part 3)

(part 2)

"(Y/n)? Are you all right? ~ You've been staring at your dinner like it's wronged you?" Mrs. (L/n) commented, looking at her spaced out daughter with a worried look. "Did something happen at school dear?"

The girl glanced up at her mother, her lips pursed into a tight frown. (M/n) knew her daughter well, and seeing her child like that immediately set off her alert. Something was bothering her baby, and she wasn't going to just sit around and do nothing whilst her only child suffered.

"You know you can tell me anything, right dear?" She spoke up, taking the girl's hand in her own and giving it a gentle squeeze.

Letting out a heavy sigh (Y/n) finally spoke up. "I've just been.. thinking.." She began. "About my mark, and about dad.."

Upon the mention of her husband, (M/n) stiffened. Ever since what happened to her father, it had always been a sensitive subject to talk about. And this only made her worry about her child more.

"What made you think of that sweetheart?" The woman asked in a comforting manner, trying her best to remain calm for the sake of her daughter.

"Well.." (Y/n) began with a heavy tone. "I met Bakugou today.."

At the mention of his name, (L/n)'s mother raised a brow. Under normal circumestances she would've been thrilled to find out that her daughter had finally met her potential soulmate. But seeing the girl's distraught state was telling her that perhaps there was something more to it. Something she had a feeling she wouldn't be too happy about.

"He's in my class." Began (Y/n), tossing the piece of sushi from one side of her plate to the other. The girl had a distant look on her face while doing so, as if she was lost in deep thought. "I actually ran into him before class even started, but I didn't yet know it was him."

"Well what are you all-so gloomy about then dear? For all we know there's a good chance that boy's your soulmate? Shouldn't you be a bit happier that you've finally met him?" Her mother asked, pausing for a moment. "That is, if you even want him to be your soulmate?"

"It's not that- It's just.." By now the grip she had on her chopsticks was much tighter than before. If she were to apply even a bit more pressure they could break in half. "I'm affraid.. ~ Because of what happened to dad."

Her eyes were focused on the meal on her plate as she continued. "I mean- I don't even know if he's my soulmate or not?"

She paused before, glancing up at her mother. "When I first talked to him he was so rude.. And, not just with me! ~ He was like that with everyone for the entire school day!"

"He treated everyone like we were all some sort of extras in his twisted film. ~ Hell, even actual extras get better treatment than how he treated us!"

A deafening silence filled the room as the girl quieted down. Both mother and daughter stood there in utter silence. One due to not knowing what to say and the other as a means of calming down.

(Y/n) was the one to cut the silence. "I don't know how to feel.. What if he's not my soulmate? What if he's my enemy? What if-"

"(Y/n)." Her mother interjected, placing a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Even if that boy isn't your soulmate, it doesn't mean that the past will repeat itself."

The girl glanced up at her mother, her eyes meeting the woman's own and almost immediately the girl could feel the calming effects her mother's gentle nature had on her.

"You're strong girl (Y/n), don't you ever forget that. Just because he might not be your soulmate doesn't mean you should be afraid. You're more than capable of taking care of yourself now."

At those words, the girl smiled softly and wrapped her arms around her mother, embracing her in a big hug. With her face buried in the crock of her mother's neck, she said. "Thanks mom.. I don't know what I'd do without you."

(M/n) lightly ruffled her daughter's hair as she sighed softly. "Me too kiddo. Me too."

***

"Katsuki! I told you to take out the trash, damn it!" A feminine, yet rough voice yelled.

Followed an equally rough, but masculine tone. "And I fuckin' told you I've got shit to do!"

"Well whatever you've "gotta do" can wait a second! Stop being so damn lazy and take out the trash, you brat!"

"Fuckin- Fine! I'll take out your stupid trash!" Bakugou growled as he begrudgingly got up from his desk and headed down towards the kitchen. Entering the room he took the garbage bag out of the trashcan and proceeded to take it outside, before finally throwing it into the much larger garbage can.

Once his chore was done, the blonde returned back to the house and entered the kitchen where his mother was once more. Katsuki was being far more quiet than usual and his mother was quick to notice the sudden change in behaivour her son was showing.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" She asked, turning her attention away from the dirty dishes in the sink to look at her scowling son.

"Is that the best way you could've asked?" He scoffed, before rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

It was painfully obvious that both mother and son shared a handful of similarities. Be it from their appearance to their personalities, it was as if young Bakugou was a copied and pasted version of his mother. With a few minor tweaks and changes of course.

So it should come as no surprise that they conversed with one another in a rather... Unusual manner..

"Will you just spit it out already? I've got work to do, y'know?" Even though Mrs. Bakugou came off as someone who didn't care for her child, that was far off from the truth. In actuality, you could see that she was just like any other mother. That is, if you looked hard enough.

And just like every mother out there she cared and worried about her child's well-being, even if Mitsuki made it almost impossible to notice.

"Met her today." Katsuki stated, his tone was as monotone as it could possibly be, void of any and all emotion and practically impossible to read.

"(L/n)?" His bewildered mother asked, her eyes locked onto her son's unmoving figure.

"Yeah."

With a slight smile on her face, Mistuki began. "Well? What's she like?"

At that question, the blonde simply shrugged his shoulders. "Clumsy." He answered. "Damn girl ran into me this morning. ~ But at least she doesn't seem that weak. Could make for a decent enemy."

"Or a good soulmate." She asked added. "Why do you keep going on about this whole enemy thing? You should be hoping that girl's your soulmate otherwise you're as good as single forever."

"Tch. How many times do I have to tell you? I don't fucking need a shitty soulmate! I'm fine on my own and I don't want some stupid-ass soulmate holding me down."

The woman let out a defeated sigh upon hearing his harsh words. "Listen, Katsuki. You can't stick to this whole "I don't need no one" crap. I know it may seem like it but believe me. Having someone by your side is better than being alone. Together you are stronger than when you are apart."

She paused, looking down at her wrist. "I couldn't be luckier to have met your father. I too thought that I would be better off alone but he changed that." She said smiling softly. "Changed me."

"So, I guess what I'm trying to say is.. Give her a chance. ~ And for the love of god don't fuck things up if she does end up being your soulmate."

With yet another eye roll, Bakugou looked away. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Tch.. As if I'd ever stoop so low.

***

That's the thing about people. They think they know everything, but the reality is far from it. And this only makes it seem like they barely know anything.

Just when you think you've got someone figured out, you find out things you never knew about that person. Things you would've never believed if you hadn't seen with your own eyes.

And the most important part about it?

That person who you thought you knew could, well in fact, turn out to be you.

***

Fresh air always helped relax a person, and Bakugou was no exception to that rule. He, for one, relished in the comfort and tranquility the outdoors brought him. If you'd let him walk around nature he wouldn't stop until getting absolutely exhausted.

However that wasn't the only reason he went out on such walks. The ashen blonde often found himself out and about whenever he felt the need to think, or when he simply had a lot on his mind.

Such was the predicament he found himself in today.

After the talk with his mother, the boy felt the need to go and get some fresh air. And so, he did.

He couldn't recall for how long he had been walking, but judging from his surroundings, he'd have to guess that it had been around 10 minutes.

He was no longer near his house and had come across the park he used to play in when he was younger. Just looking around filled him with all the memories he made in there.

Allowing his legs to lead the way, the crimson eyed boy found himself arriving at a far too familiar fence.

A soft smirk tugged his lips as he looked at the barbed wire gate. Taking a look around to see if anyone was watching, he opened the gate and walked beyond the fence, stepping foot deeper into memory lane.

The surrounding nature brought a sense of calmness with it. Leading the boy further in.

It took him another ten minutes till he arrived at a familiar sight. It was the tree bridge from all those years back. But now, almost completely unrecognizable. It was rotting and broken in half. Only to be expected from a tree that old.

As he stared at the damaged log, his mind trailed off to that faithful day.

The first time he saw her name.

Raising his left hand the blonde looked down at it. His ruby eyes focusing on the words neatly written on it.

"(L/n) (Y/n)"

His words were heavy, yet her name rolled off his tongue with such ease.

"Tch.. You better be a worthy opponent." He spoke, his eyes still focused on his hand.

Bakugou would be lying if he said that he didn't feel an odd sensation in his wrist the moment he first heard her name. It was a rather peculiar feeling if you ask him. Something like goosebumps on the skin where the name was written.

It wasn't anything too extraordinary, just a light tingly sensation. Strong enough, however, to get his attention.

The odd thing was that he had never felt such an emotion before. So you could only imagine what it could've made him feel.

Confused, was one way to put it. He didn't know what was happening, nor why it was even happening in the first place. But one thing was for sure. Not knowing the cause was seriously pissing him off.

He wasn't one to particularly 'like' being left in the dark and not understanding things. And this whole feeling was only raising more questions than answering.

"What's so special about you, huh?" He asked, referring to the girl whose name was written on his hand. "I don't fucking need a specific name to know who my enemy is. So why the fuck is this even a thing?"

"How come you're so sure it's your enemy and not your soulmate?"

His mother's words rang in his mind.

"For all we know it could be either."

Kicking a pebble and causing it to fall into the small river below, Katsuki clicked his tongue. "Yeah, right." He shoved his hands into his pockets and began walking once more, although this time, heading back home.

"As if a mere extra like her could be my soulmate."

(part 4)

[strangerthingssimps-blog]

Joe keery x Reader

You were sat there watching Free guy, with your 7 year old daughter on disney plus. She loved the movie, she had watched it 12 times since it came out. You didn’t mind it either.

Keys came onto the screen..

“Mom, look it’s dad” She said pointing at the screen, you looked and saw your husband Joe on the scene. He was so gorgeous in any role he had. You had met Joe in college and you got married 2 years after college in 2012.

It was a beautiful wedding, your family flew all the way from England for the wedding. Joe’s mom and sister’s helped you pick out your wedding dress since your mother wanted nothing to do with the bridal side. She just turned up to congratulate you.

You never had a good relationship with your parents; they were always away on business trips while you were stuck looking after your younger brother. Your brother was a little angel. He was 11 at the time of your wedding.

You were getting ready and one of Joe's sisters said someone wanted to see you and then your little brother walked in the room wearing a suit and handed you some flowers. You started tearing up and gave him a massive hug.

Instead of your father walking you down the aisle, Your brother found it adorable how a little boy was walking his big sister down the aisle.

In 2016, Joe got the biggest role in his life as Steve harringron. He then grew as an actor and soon you was known as the wife of the famous Joe keery. It was weird at first but then you got used to it.

In 2017, You gave birth to your daughter. Joe was emotional when he saw his daughter for the first time. He had always wanted a daughter and now he had one. You both decided to name Grace Lillie Ann keery.

Here you were now in 2021 watching his newest movie where he was playing a geeky nerd. He still was good looking to you. It reminds of what Joe looked like when you first met in college all those years ago.

Grace had Brown hair and hazel eyes, she had inherited that from her father but she had your face shape and smile which Joe is thankful for. She was wearing her Scoops ahoy hoodie that she brough when season 3 came out. She loved meeting everyone when he took her on set. She was mostly fond of Gaten since she saw him the most.

3 months later…

Joe was in Indiana filming the fourth season of Stranger things, they were all in costume and they were on a break when all of sudden they heard..

“GATEN” They all looked to see your daughter running up to gaten. Gaten then picked her up while the cast members looked in awe,

Joe saw this and saw you and ran up to you, he was happy to see both of you and his other baby, he picked up his pet pomeranian that you got him for his 24th birthday.

Gaten then passed Grace around the cast members introducing her to Jamie and Joseph, Jamie was out of costume and Joseph was dressed as Eddie. Grace smiled and gave them both a high five. They accepted and gave her a high five back.

After everyone had held Grace…

“Daddy” Grace said running up Joe in his Steve Harrington Costume. Joe saw this and kneeled down and opened his arms so that Grace could land into his arms. Grace then jumped and landed into his arms and Joe pulled her close and gave her a giant hug.

“Oh no daddy you're hurt” Grace says as she looks at Joe who was wearing the outfit he was wearing when he went into the upside down world the first time. He has fake bite marks and scars and it upset Grace.

“NO DADDY” Grace says as she starts crying at the thought of her father being hurt. All the Cast then look at Grace in awwe. Grace then started to cry harder as Joe looked at her and started to comfort her.

“No sweetie daddy’s fine, it’s fake i promise you. It’s for the scene. Daddy’s not really hurt” Joe says while trying to calm your daughter down while tears fell down her cheeks.

“You promise” Grace said through some sniffles as she calmed down.

“I promise” Joe says reassuring your daughter while the cast members stood there in Awwe. On how good Joe was with her when she was upset. None of them not even gaten had ever seen her cry before so they were a bit shocked. A couple minutes later she calmed down and stopped crying.

You then went up to Joe and gave him a quick kiss before you took your daughter into her arms and rocked her to sleep.

“You better get back to filming, me and Grace will be sitting in your Trailer while you do this alright” You say as you say goodbye to the rest of the cast and put Grace back into the stroller and head to his trailer.

When you get there the trailer is in great condition as always, you still remember when Joe had to come shoot Season 2 and it was only a few weeks after Grace was born, he felt so guilty leaving you with a newborn so he made sure he got a new trailer to fit the needs of a Newborn so that you could come and stay in the trailer while he worked on scenes.

You then got Grace out of the stroller and laid her on the little bean bag that he bought for her to sleep on in 2018, when he was filming Season 3.

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Friday everyone! We are in the final 5 episodes of S1. Can't believe it. Thank you to everyone who's been on this ride with me.

1x16 Greenlight

Let me start with this. This is the episode I always dread watching for s1. Not cause it isn’t good. Its very good. Heartbreaking but well done. Always makes me cry with Capt Anderson... Well off we go. FYI This episode was sadly a gif desert. Which is sad since it's Zoe Anderson's Swan Song. So I'm going to be using a lot of screen shots I took with my phone to fill the gaps ha.

Episode starts off with Capt Anderson telling them all about doing reversals this week. Having undercover cops making sure everyone is on the up and up. Reporting back to IA what they discover. Tim isn’t a fan of these. Feels it’s just cops ratting out other cops. Think's its a waste of time and resources.

Lucy needless to say has an opinion on the matter. She thinks if it helps their image to the public she doesn’t see the problem. That it even sounds like its worth doing. Tim being the deeply loyal person he is doesn’t see it that way. (He also has some past issues with IA) He sees it as a betrayal not something that will help them in the long run internally. Tim goes on to say it has to do with trust. How can they trust one another if they’re trying to get each other to screw up?

Lucy makes a crack about his Tim tests in her rebuttal. You can see it rubs him the wrong way when she does. Always challenging him. I do love that about her. Makes him think about why he does what he does. His heart is in the right place when it comes to those tests. Especially with Lucy. I think whenever she gives him crap for his tests it unintentionally brings up his dad issues. Its why he's so defensive. That's far in the future those being addressed but I think it still holds true. Clearly she has no idea she's doing that. He sure as hell doesn't realize thats the reason yet either. But that's a discussion to be had in the distant future.

To Tim he’s building her up to be the best cop she can be. Doing it to protect her for when she’s on her own someday. To have Lucy reach the potential he see's in her. If he didn’t do that he would fail her as her T.O. So once again his intentions are good natured when to comes to that. To her. For Tim its giving her the best tools he can. Lucy knows this but can’t help but give him a hard time about it. She wouldn't be her if she didn’t do this. Hehe it’s written all over her face in that last gif above.

First off I love me some wet Tim Bradford. A+ visual right here. Second Lucy is so cute being all star struck by Mario Lopez. It is funny to watch Tim be rude to him. Because Mario and Eric are close in real life. Sure they both had a blast filming this scene. That cute little smile on her face dissipates when Tim hands her back his stuff.

She knows it’s right back to business. Mario takes the worst tactic he could with them. Honestly its what gives him away. By trying to bribe his way out of his ticket. Tim is already on edge due to these reversals and this sets him off. As he is reading Mario the riot act he realizes this is a reversal. Then he looks over and see’s Murphy from IA in her car across the street. He sets off to talk with her.

She makes a bitchy comment right off the bat. That if she knew it was going to be him, she would’ve put a strung out cop behind the wheel. He would let them get away with it then. I want to punch her in the damn face. He’s worked so hard to get past all that and she’s drudging it up like it’s nothing. There is a history there we don't know about just yet as the viewer. All I do know is I do NOT like her.

After this Tim goes fully off and lists a million different ways to write him up. Lucy just stands there not sure if he’s serious or not. Poor Tim…Murphy pulling at the sutures of his emotional wound so he’s lashing out. Lucy has no idea what she said to him or why he's going off. Mario's reaction to the laundry list of offenses is too funny.

They later respond to a break in at a grow house. Guy who broke in is stuck in a bear trap. Tim was already on edge before but after his talk with Murphy he’s off the charts. Guy says he’ll split half the crop with them if they let him go. Lucy laughs and Tim says ‘Ok’ her reaction is hilarious LOL

He mentions Detective Murphy and reporting back to her. See if she would like that deal. The guy is confused af as is Lucy. It’s shortly after that she realizes Tim thinks this is another reversal. Murphy got in his head so quickly makes me sad. Has Tim all turned around and he's convinced this is a second reversal. He tries to remove the bear trap from the guys legs thinking its a fake. Tim quickly realizes it’s real...and the guy passes out.

They get back to the station and Lucy says he’s lucky that guy gonna keep his leg. It's clear he isn't in the moods for jokes. Tim is agitated and replies it’s the reversals not him. That Murphy has gotten in his head. (To say the least love) Otherwise he would've realized that guys injury was real. Lucy can sense there is more going on here than he’s saying. No one has ever been able to read Tim Bradford the way she does. She knows its more than just the reversals that is under his skin.

Lucy asks what went down between him and Detective Murphy? She's trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Wondering what is at the root of his anger today. She asks if he was investigated by her or something. He tries to be vague and say ‘Indirectly...’ It’s then Lucy puts two and two together and realizes it’s about Isabel. She voices this thought. Tim freezes and takes a deep breath before he explains the connection she suspects.

Lucy is confused why this detective is giving him a hard time still. She doesn't understand why she's coming at him so hard. Lucy mentions he’s not Isabel so what’s her beef with him? She's coming off a little protective of him in the process. (which I love) Its her natural instinct to try and work this out with him.

Their relationship is in a weird limbo at this point. Where they aren’t friends yet, but it’s clear what they have is more than the standard T.O./Rookie relationship. They’re still establishing what’s going on between them. So things are bound to still be a little rocky especially when his personal life is involved. Regardless of this fact her concern for him and his well being is evident and she voices as such.

Sadly Tim isn’t in the headspace to receive it and snaps at her. His reply is reminiscent of his early days with her. Her reaching out only to get her head bit off. Only this time she walks away dejected, retreating to lick her emotional wounds. No retort for her. It feels like he's regressing in this moment. Tim has grown a lot but also still has a long way to go. This is showing that Isabel is still such a sore spot for him. Not only that but Murphy has gone after something dear to him. His integrity and character.

The way she popped off about Isabel was her shot at that. Tim isn’t ready to open up to Lucy right now. This a wound that has only just begun to scab over. He’s currently in his head raging and fighting demons he thought he had put to rest. Makes me more agitated with Murphy tbh. The fact that she's brought this angry insecurity out in him.

I do love Tim being the first to stand up for Nolan when he shows up after being Green-lit. Him coming back to work was a big decision. Everyone follows suit after Tim. Something sexy about him doing that to me. Probably one of the very rare times he actually admires Nolan as a cop LOL

Tim see’s the detective as they’re gearing up to go out and engages her. Asking why she’s here. The way Murphy misjudges Tim makes my blood boil. Her POV of him is so skewed. She is trying to get him to crack under pressure. She is goading him in order to get him to snap like Isabel did. Having this vendetta against him because of what happened before. It's so wrong. Like she’s never had someone she loved enough to be blind when they’ve messed up. The hurt in his eyes makes me wanna cry. You can see the shift in them from anger to shame in that first gif. Damnit Eric you’re killing me. Goes on to say she’s gonna file a conduct unbecoming complaint against him. Tim instantly gets defensive. Tells her what a Busch League move that is.

Lucy spots the way she is riling him up. Baiting him. Steps in and distracts him away from her. Such a good wifey. What I love about this scene other than the obvious protective Lucy we get to see. Its the fact she is using the same mechanisms on him that he does for her when she’s highly emotional. Tim knows she doesn’t actually need his help. That Lucy is using it as diversion but he listens. She gets him to disengage and walk away. Which is HUGE. She knows him so well and is protecting him from further battle with this woman.

The look on Lucy’s face when she basically tells a superior officer to F-off is glorious. She does this in the most Lucy way ever. Meaning business but respectful by tacking ‘ma’am ‘ on at the end haha F U with a cushion. Lucy isn’t going to let this woman throw Tim off balance anymore than she already has. She takes a stand and makes her back the hell off him. I love seeing protective Lucy. She’s watched Murphy rattle his cage all damn episode. This anger she is invoking in Tim is making him go crazy and regress.

I know his short fuse earlier with Lucy was due to this. He hasn't snapped at her like that in awhile. The detective has no idea the emotional wounds she’s re-opening. The way she’s split his focus since their first convo earlier. Or maybe she does.. Either way Lucy isn’t going to stand for it any longer. That's what this scene represents. Her shoving back best she can to give him breathing room. She has his back 100 % and will protect Tim from her. So proud of her. Standing up for him when he was too muddled to do it for himself.

We get to part of the episode I dread the most..but I have to say watching the balls on Anderson during this scene is amazing. Her and Nolan get captured by Cole and she shows no fear only confidence. Telling him what an idiot he was for capturing a police captain. She was such a BAMF till the very end. Took out his entire crew single handed. This was after she un-cuffed herself by breaking her thumb underwater.

God this scene is hard to watch every single time I have to do it. The only reason she died was an errant bullet from Cole. It’s as unfair as its gets and a very tragic end to her character. The look on her face as she falls back into the water. Ugh hurts to watch happen. If nothing else she went down like the bad ass we all know she was though. Nolan holding her as they all arrive kills me. The utter shock on all their faces when they see their captain lying there. Beyond heartbreaking.

If this scene right here doesn’t make you tear up I think you might be dead inside lol The reactions from everyone as they wheel her out. Especially Lucy and Angela. My heart. The way they’re all trying to keep it together and saluting her. That single tear Angela lets escape after she's loaded into the ambulance. Ugh hurts my heart. Such a gut punch from the writers. I remember being so shook when this first aired. Nolan telling her how sorry he is. It's all kinds of sad.

Grey comes in like a raging bull after Midas, he easily gives up his son when he finds out he’s killed their captain. Tells them where he's going to be. They all wait at a check point for him to arrive. Tim and Lucy are standing together readying themselves. Tim is trying to console her. He knows she and the Capt. were close. Had a bond.

Tim Tells her whether this guy lives or dies it won’t make things better. Lucy says she knows and he answers her you only think you do. She tells him she can’t handle him telling her that grief will make her better cop right now. His reply is perfection. ‘I'm not. Grief is grief. It’s a hole that can’t be filled. But over time, it’ll shrink enough so that you won’t fall in every time you take a step.’

You can see he reverts back to the Tim he was before his run ins with Murphy. He continues on tells her if she’s going to use anything to be a better cop it’ll be her life not her death. You can see its resonates with Lucy. The look on her face shows its hitting home. It's a damn shame this moment doesn't have a gif set. it’s a wonderful one between them.

Tim sees Detective Murphy after they arrest Cole and goes after her despite Lucy’s protests. He’s ready to throw down again when she says Grey wanted her to witness this. For IA to see how well they were going to handle it. She says she’s sorry about their Captain. That she really liked her. Also lets him know she wasn’t going forward with his conduct unbecoming complaint against him.

That he was right. It was Busch League. She turns to leave and Tim stops her. He then does something I don’t think Murphy expects. He tells her she was right too. Says Anderson would want him to say this. Which I adore so much. He's honoring her by doing this. Her impact was so profound on all of them.

I’m so damn proud of him in this scene. Look at my man continue to grow. He’s completely honest with her. Admits his part in her being an addict and not reporting it towards the end. He is so god damn sincere in the way he explains it. Gets me. Says at the end of the day she was his wife and all he wanted was to help her.

Murphy sees this and finally relents. Asking Tim how she’s doing now. He tells her she’s better. She’s clean. Murphy is also sincere and tells him she’s glad and walks away. Their conflict finally at rest. His strides forward as a character are still there. Just took a little backseat with his issues/demons being re-opened against his will. He’s not a perfect man and that's ok. Makes him so real He's a beautiful WIP. ❤️

~~~~

Non Chenford Notes-

The whole SL with Anderson kills me. She had a short stint on this show but such an impactful one. I always mourn her when she goes.

Sorry for the lack of gifs there wasn’t a ton to choose from. But it’s a damn good ep none the less. Emotional af for lot of reasons. Gets me every time I rewatch it.

Thank you all for your continued support through likes, reblogs and comments. They mean more to me than you know. Shall see you all in 1x17 :)

[justyouraverage-simp]

yucky// tony stark

pairing: tony stark x daughter!reader

warnings: tony being a cute dad, a poorly written fic

summary: no matter how old y/n is when she's not feeling great she will always want her dad to hold her

Being Tony’s daughter meant that you were protected by not only her dad but her multiple aunts and uncles, they would always be able to tell if you weren't yourself and today was one of those days. You had been sat either in your room or the living room for most of the day which was uncommon for you. 

Normally you were quite sociable and would enjoy being in everyone’s company but today you just weren't feeling great. Your nose was a little stuffy, you had a bad headache and to top it off you felt a little sick. This meant you weren't overly excited to leave your bed only leaving when there was food involved although this made you feel more sick. 

You were sitting on one of the sofas in the living room and watching a film with your head resting on Peter’s shoulder. Peter would keep peering down at you to make sure you were okay and to see if you were still okay. 

“You okay, you’re quite quiet” Peter said, peering down at you again. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired” You said with heavy eyelids. 

“You sure, you can tell me anything you know that right?” Peter said as he rubbed his thumb up and down your arm. 

“I know, I think I’m going to go to bed. Night Peter” You said as you stood up.

“Night Y/N” Peter said as he watched you walked up to your bedroom. As he sat on the sofa he began to worry about how quiet you were. He decided the best thing to do was to talk to your dad, Tony. You and him were extremely close as your mum didn’t want to know you as you were a result of a one night stand back when your dad was a playboy although after you were born he took you in and left those days behind him.

As Peter arrived at the door to the lab he knocked on the door, he heard a “come in” called from inside the room. 

“Hey kid, you okay?” Tony said as he wiped his hands on a cloth that was on the table.

“Yeah I’m fine” Peter said “Um- I’m worried about Y/N” This made Tony loom up immediately, you hadn’t told him anything and he had been working in the lab all day so it was news to him.

“Why? Is she okay?” Tony said, walking over to where Peter was standing, perching on the table in front of him.

“I don’t really know, we were watching a film and she was really quiet and looked a little pale but when I asked if she was okay she said she was just tired and then went to sleep”

“Ok, I’ll go check on her. Thanks for telling me kid. I’ll come find you when I know she’s okay, alright?”

“Ok thank you” Peter said as he and Tony walked out the lab.

-

Tony walked up to your room quickly, he arrived outside your room and knocked on the door. He heard a quiet mumble from inside although it was unclear what you had actually said. Tony opened your door slowly and poked his head through the gap. He saw you curled up in a ball on your bed wrapped in your duvet. 

“Hey sweetheart, are you okay”

“I don’t know dad”

“Oh sweetheart” Tony said as he walked into your room and sat on the bed, you immediately curled up to his chest. The warmth that radiated off of him soothed the chill that ran through your body although as your head touched Tony’s chest he could feel how warm you was. “Honey, your boiling”

“I have goosebumps though and I feel really cold” 

“I think you have a bit of a fever, do you feel sick?”

“A little and my head hurts a bit”

“Okay, wait here and I’ll get you some paracetamol”

“Can you ask Pep to make me some of her chicken soup please” 

“Of course”

Although you were practically a grown adult you would always need your dad for comfort especially when you didn’t feel well. 

notes: eww i actually hate this fic so much but I’ve spent so long writing it you can have it anyways because i like the plot i may rewrite it better but for now enjoy this version.

[jackhues]

Hiii and congrats on 1000 followers!! Can I request 🤍 for buttercup/peanut meeting Bedard for the first time? I think it would be funny either way because bee's not super happy with the comparisons with her dad, while peanut probably doesn't even understand who he is

thank youu <33 haha, here's a short blurb on both of the meetings

buttercup:

the stadium groaned in unison as the horn sounded to signal the end of the game. buttercup, along with the other fans, took a moment to clap and cheer on the boys as they left the ice.

plastering a smile on her face, she made her way out of the stands and through the halls reserved for players and family.

"you played a hell of a game out there," she gave tristan jarry, the pend goaltender, a hug.

he nodded half-heartedly, patting the top of bee's head fondly as he moved towards the locker room.

bee smiled sadly after him, always sad to see the goaltenders sad after losing a game.

sid shoved his glove in his daughter's face as he walked by, trying to get her to cheer up a little. bee made a face, swatting his sweaty glove, but giving him a hug.

"i saw your goal," she said. "you're lucky. i just got back from getting some candy. if you were any earlier, i would've been upset that i missed it."

sid laughed, "oh it's my fault you miss seeing the goal?"

"obviously," she answered.

"oh get outta here," he shoved his glove near her face again.

"you can't talk to your child, your own flesh and blood, like that," she called after him, waiting in the hallway as he continued making his way to the locker room.

whenever she watched the game, she had a habit of staying in the hallway until the last penguins player left, and then heading over to wait for her dad finishing up his media.

like always, sid went ahead to get a head start so they could go home and bee would be ready for school the next day, while she congratulated all the pens players on their game.

"your russian's getting weak!" geno called as the two of them finished a half-english-half-russian conversation.

"not my fault!" bee called back.

she craned her head to see if there were any more pens players coming out of the tunnel, freezing as she saw a different jersey.

before she knew what was happening, the blackhawks team made their way past her, too lost in their own huddles and the adrenaline of winning to care about a little girl in a penguins hoodie standing at the sidelines.

bee froze, wide eyed, as players she only knew from watching the game, made their way past her in real life.

they stopped near the hallway before heading to the locker room, huddling up with their teammates and congratulating each other on plays. everywhere bee looked, there was a blackhawks jersey.

"you okay?"

bee looked up at nick foligno, a veteran hockey player now playing with the blackhawks.

"i'm good," she answered, though she wasn't sure how convinced he was.

"are you lost or something? need help?" another person asked.

bee looked at connor bedard, the rookie sensation. she raised a brow.

she expected him to be taller.

"bee?" jon, the equipment manager, called out from the front of the room. "c'mon, your dad's done media for the day. he's waiting in the second hallway."

"i'm coming," bee said, making her way towards him.

behind her, most of the players were now trickling into the locker room, still excited over the win. but she could hear some players whisper "oh, that's sidney crosby's kid!"

she was pretty sure one of those whispers belonged to connor bedard.

-

peanut:

"peanut, where are you even going?" mama sighed, following her kid.

peanut had been adamant on seeing her dad and saying hi to him, and then saying hi to mitchy, and then saying hi to everyone else on the team. now, she was refusing to get back to her seat in the stands.

"you want me to watch her for a while?" jennifer, one of the media coordinators for the leafs, asked. "we're just gonna be here for twenty minutes or so to film chicago's entry."

"fun!" peanut clapped her hands, taking a seat on the floor.

mama made a face, "well, i guess i'll stay here with you guys."

jennifer laughed, setting up the cameras to get some shots ready. soon enough, a trickle of chicago blackhawks players made their way through the hall, some stopped by peanut wanting to claim the hallway to do tricks instead.

"mama, watch me," peanut said suddenly jumping up and blocking connor bedard's path. she looked up at him, "you need to move backwards. i wanna show my mama a trick."

"oh dear god, why is she like this?" mama muttered to herself, embarrassed.

jennifer tried her best to hide her laughter, recording the trick peanut wanted to show mama.

after doing three (partial) cartwheels, peanut threw her hands in the air and grinned. "ta-da!!"

mama, jennifer, and connor clapped dutifully as peanut ran back to sit on the floor.

"that was great," connor grinned, giving the little girl a high five before moving past.

"sorry about her," mama chuckled. "she's at the age where she thinks she's the most important person in the world, and her dad's coddling doesn't help that."

connor shook it off, "no worries. i'd actually have been disappointed if i missed that. she's a cute kid."

"thanks, i made her."

[invisibleraven]

"We can look out for each other." + QPR JatP?

Reggie hummed as he scaled the ladder of Alex's treehouse, hoping he'd find his friend in there. That's where his mom said he'd find him anyhow. Only when his head popped through the opening, he saw Alex in a huddle, clinging to his knees.

"Lexie?"

Alex looked up, his eyes red-rimmed, and his bottom lip bitten raw. "Hey Reg," he said in a small voice.

"What's wrong?" Reggie said, scrambling over to his side. Alex shook his head. "You want me to call the others over?" Alex nodded. "Alrighty."

Reggie leant over, squeezing an arm around Alex, a tiny reassurance before he reached for the walkie-talkie. They all had one, using them to talk late into the night, to summon the others to their side at problems or just to let the group know where the ice cream truck was.

He pressed the button, wincing at the loud squawk it let out. "Y'all we got an upset Alex, can you hustle over here pronto? Over."

"Ten four good buddy, hopping on my bike now," Luke replied. "Over."

"Sorry, trapped doing chores," Bobby grumbled. "Alex you can keep me on the channel or tell me later, over."

Alex shook his head subtly, and Reggie nodded. "He'll call you later Bobbers. Stay strong, over."

"Papi is going to walk me over in a few, and mami is giving me cookies to share. Chocolate chip, Alex's favourite," Julie said. "Over."

"I hope you're bringing enough for everyone, because you're crazy if you don't like chocolate chip," Reggie replied. "See you all soon, over and out."

Reggie sat there, softly rubbing Alex's back, breathing deep in hopes his friend would copy the rhythm, instead of the stuttered, rattling thing he was doing now. Humming a Whitney Houston song, grinning when Alex slowly started to sing along, his voice shaky and unsure.

They were still going when they heard Luke's bike hit the ground under the tree, and Julie's dad calling out to be home for supper-and that they were all welcome, as always.

"Alrighty, what's the problem?" Luke asked as he sat criss cross on an apple box he had claimed as a chair.

"Is it your parents?" Julie asked quietly as she handed Alex a cookie, then one to each of the other boys. "Are they being awful again?"

Alex waved his hand back and forth in a so-so motion, taking a bite of the cookie. "They started going on about high school starting next week, about the clubs I need to join, the girls I need to meet up with. They made it sound terrifying and horrible."

"Did you ask Livvie?" Luke asked around a mouthful of cookie.

Alex shook his head. "She's away with friends out of town, at some cabin or another. I don't know how to get in touch."

"Will she be home before she heads back to school?" Reggie asked, taking smaller bites of his treat, wanting to savour each bite.

"For a few days, mom insisted," Alex replied. "I'll talk to her then, but that's ages away."

"We're all in the same boat you know," Julie said quietly, nibbling her cookie. "None of us know what high school will be like. What the teachers are like, or the classes. I'm nervous."

"I'm not," Luke said with a shrug. "School is school. Same boring subjects, same awful food."

"You can front all you want, I know you aren't that brave," Reggie said, playfully shoving him. "But it'll be alright. We can look out for each other."

"We always have each other right?" Julie asked with a wide grin.

Alex finally managed a smile at that. "And we always will." He reached for another cookie. "Do you think the school has a set of drums I can use?"

"I bet they do," Luke mused. "Maybe we can see about us all taking the same music class, start up that band we always talked about."

"You're never giving up on that are you?" Julie asked with an eye roll.

"Nope!" Luke replied jubilantly. "We all rock, we all play instruments. Julie's dad knows all those club owners to help us get gigs, and can film us."

"Bobby's lola has the van, and she'd drive us around, until we can," Alex added.

"I can design a super cool logo for us, if we ever decide on a name," Reggie piped up.

"Well let's get to high school first and we can figure the rest out later," Julie said. "For now let's get out of this tree house, I can hear it creaking every time one of us moves and I'm terrified it'll collapse under us."

At that the wood gave an ominous groan and they all shared a look, scrambling out of the tree house, which was still standing when they were on the ground, but Alex silently thought if any of them tried to go in it again they would be coming down with it.

"So, what's for supper?" he asked Julie. "It's not your dad's spaghetti is it?"

"Come on, Ray's spaghetti isn't that bad," Reggie argued.

"Yes it is," Alex and Luke chorused.

Julie giggled at that. "It's mami's night to cook, so it's probably going to be tamales and pork adobo bowls."

"Yum!" Reggie exclaimed. Then he picked up the walkie. "Hey Bobbers, you up for Rose's cooking for dinner? Over."

"Anything beats leftover meatloaf," Bobby's voice came down the line. "I'll be there in thirty, then you can tell me what I missed at the meeting. Over."

"You're supposed to say over and out Robert," Luke teased. "Over."

Alex grinned as he listened to his friends squabble, laughing and joking with each other. Knowing that despite their arguing, he knew he could count on them-no matter what. And he always would.

[cordycepsfem]

Pageboy Readthrough, Part Six

Previously:

EP gets an acting job and has to wear "girls" clothing which she dislikes

she also acquires a stalker

he is a Creepy Fuck

Toronto is revealed as the Raccoon Capital of the World

EP's father is the opposite of "helpful" and "sympathetic" in regards to her stalker situation and I offer my own father to EP

EP dumps herself into an eating disorder

Now:

Chapter Seven

EP decides she doesn't want her parents to come watch her film

they agree to this, which surprises her

EP stays with some friends while she films which leads to this rhapsodic writing

Speaking from experience in reinventing oneself, EP, I'm glad you were happy, but nobody thought you were a boy. You can reinvent yourself whenever you're around new people but literally everyone at that time knew you as a girl.

this happiness lasts all of a page before we get back into the shit

EP then relates multiple separate times that she experienced sexual assault and rape at the hands of people in the entertainment industry, specifically one male and one female

and then the chapter ends

I need to have a moment of levity so I will say here that I did not learn anything about Canada in this chapter and I feel like I'm missing out somewhat

but FUCK what is EP's life? I am so sad for her. This tracks immensely with what so many of us have read about girls who decide to transition: always felt out of place, possibly on the spectrum, possibly lesbians, groomed and sexually assaulted and raped by men... the more I read that showed me how EP and I were alike as kids, the more I understand how she ended up where she did and why she thought it was the right thing to do

and all I feel is sad

Chapter Eight

we return to the days of 2014 where EP came out as gay

on her speech:

on what happens to her at a party days later

"Men are predators and you're just afraid of them" is a wild thing for a predatory male to say while being predatory, very on the nose

Predatory Fuck continues being, well, predatory:

"it is going to taste like lime" opens wide an arena filled with many questions for me, yes I know it's not the time to have questions about this, but she wrote and I had to read it with my own two autistic eyes and now I am hyper-focused.

I will not share any of those questions because what the fuck is this

Predatory Fuck comes to apologize and just doubles down on being an asshole; he blames it on being drunk but swears he doesn't have a problem with gay people

EP goes on to explain how her being openly gay and trying to be her true self did not help her in the industry

Gaycation was the show where she famously said that we're all born into a homophobic world and gay people should not be made to change to feel "normal"

and based on where she ended up she did not believe herself when she said it

but let's see where this goes

apparently this goes off into the next chapter where there's sex and I am too tired, dear readers, to read that tonight, even for EP

The offer of my dad, of better family, still exists, EP. I talked to my dad tonight and he was absolutely hilarious. There are good people in the world.

[elvisabutler]

so i originally was thinking to myself "conceal don't feel" about my feelings about this year and basically gushing about all of y'all but everyone has been doing it and look, look, i'm trying to be better about not coming off as an aloof person when i'm really the sort of person who thrives on at least little tiny hellos from people who i know like me. despite being as old as i am i'm secretly always that shy 12 year old who has her people and wants more people but sucks at talking, alright?

anyway! none of that is the point. the point is that i haven't been in fandom for about 5ish at least years? like don't get me wrong, read fic, watched shows but me writing fics and interacting? good heavens no. and i think the last time i wrote fic was 2011 ( ironically also an rpf-ish fandom, there's something to be said about that maybe ) and so when i went into elvis i wasn't expecting much. but then i watched it and like- i had been a causal fan of elvis before- my parents were both born in the 50s so they're just about that interesting age to where my mom wished she could have been elvis's girl ( her older sisters too so clearly it's genetically a thing on my mom's side haha ) and my dad thought he was cool. point being i always knew of him and he was some at least tiny part of my life and that's part of the reason i wanted to go see the film. plus i honestly wanted to se ehow plastic looking they made austin look because baby those posters did him no justice.

and then i fell head over heels. watched it 5? times in theaters maybe 6, once with my mom who fell head over heels for austin butler which was not something i had on my 2022 bingo card and yet! and realized that oh heavens the fandom was mostly on tumblr let's boot up the old account and make a side blog and write a fix it fic ( that i am trash and still haven't finished ) and then @floralcyanide made their discord and eventually let me join and the rest was history?

not going into a lot of detail but i really cannot overstate how much this fandom and how genuinely sweet it is came to me at the right time. i've been missing having a solid and consistent creative outlet since i got married but especially since i had my daughter. and then in comes the elvis movie and austin butler and elvis in general and lord help me it's been a whirlwind. filled with stuff i'd never write and just a lot of fun times.

i wanna say thank you to all my favorite people who i either read your stuff or you read mine or i drool over your gif work or something else seeing y'all in my notifs always brightens my day just a little.

@superbatson @powerofelvis @headfullofpresley @venus-haze @cryingabtab @infatuatedharleys @areacodefan @star-shard @purejasmine @burninlovebutlerr @pearlparty @troubleinapinksuit @imperialmarchingthroughthegalaxy @karamelcoveredolicity @foreverdolly @powerofelvis @fantuhsise @flwrs4aust @she-is-juniper @elvisstyles @butlerstyles @missmaywemeetagain @bisexualwvtson @carnevol @mamaspresley @sassy-ahsoka-tano @butler-on-beale-street @dreamersparacosm @lindszeppelin @pennyroyalcreep, @slowsweetlove @blainesebastian and @ anyone else who regularly likes my stuff or engages with me i see y'all and i adore y'all. if i missed y'all don't take it personally i'm so tired today it's a wonder i remembered my own name.

and to my queens of graceland @aconflagrationofmyown @ab4eva and @butlersxbirdy y'all already know my love and to my other daily my life would not complete if i didn't say hello to y'all @blurredcolour, @eliseinmemphis and @bcofl0ve i love you guys. and @succsessions don't think i'll ever forget that one time you messaged me out of the blue when i was so stressed and wrote Some Tags ( tm ).

i'm gonna make it my mission to get to know some of y'all more in 2023 because truly i love this fandom so much and if it wasn't for this creative outlet appearing out of thin air, i think i'd been in a bit of a rougher spot than i am today and really i wanna just talk and interact more. and i promise y'all i don't bite if you're scared to talk to me, i'm an actual puppy, ask anyone who talks to me for longer than two minutes.

but basically happy new year y'all hoping all of our 2023s are fantastic and i love everyone in this bar so much. does that meme date me, i feel like it does.

[cakebatteronabrickwall]

I don’t know whether I’m getting the wrong idea but I really got the impression in that scene that Shiv realised Roman had experienced some form of sexual abuse. I was never a supporter of that theory but I honestly can’t read that situation any differently. She’s clearly watching Roman’s reaction and lightbulbs go off in her head for whatever reason which leads her to ask the old guard how bad her dad actually was, and she and her brothers had experienced Logan’s emotional abuse and she witnessed Roman’s physical abuse so what else could it be?

Oh, anon, short answer is- I don't know.

But I'll give you a long one, too. (And I made the important bits bold, haha)

First of all, I'm also not really in support of the csa theory, mainly because it asks the viewer to do a lot of inbetween the lines reading, more so than Succession already does on the regular. Secondly, and I hope I don't sound like a dick, I find it a little bit too much. But. Considering that a) there are indeed hints + some cut stuff from the scripts implying it and b) Succession is inspired by "Festen" (and csa is sort of the topic of that film) it is not impossible. Most things in this show aren't impossible if you have a valid argument, which this theory does.

But you are asking me. Personally, "lightbulb moment" yes, 100% love that phrasing. What I think it is- like you said- is Shiv seeing her worst suspicions about abuse (emotional, physical, not sexual) reflected so clearly to her by Roman. Roman of all people, the one that always jokes and makes light of his own abuse and messy inner world. She is starting to connect the dots of bad childhood memories (one of which she just talked about in front of everyone and made it into a somewhat positive thing) and real impact. Like, we know getting yelled at for playing in front of the office might not be the end of that story, especially not for Roman's side but that is left open. But, I guess, Shiv would know. And she would know that there is a direct line from back then to how she sees her brother act and react now. I can't believe I'm saying it, but it's almost like Roman became a real person to her just now.

But she can't have those dots connect right now, because there is business to be done and a father to imitate while doing so. So, she goes to Frank and Karl, she knows they will give her an answer she can live with for now. I think Frank says something like "he was a tough old nut" but, unfortunatly, that other "what you see is what you get" comment is not at all what Shiv wanted to hear, since she did see all kinds of things and there is no good to balance it, not even from the old guard.

On a side note, I also find it interesting that the scene is shot in a way where the story seems to ask Shiv "Will you follow your brother for a real answer or go for the easy way out" and then, when even the easy way is not satisfactory, she doesn't try again. (I do so hope she tries again in the finale)

tl,dr: anon, you are not getting it wrong, i think there are many ways to read this and the ambiguous space that question exists in is exactly what makes it so haunting.