#I LOVE changing a character's usual wardrobe and only did it once? SERIOUSLY??

[lvnatiq]

Random Relationship Headcanons | Felix Escellun x gn!reader

a/n: Hey ! On todays menu I am serving you modern au relationship headcanons. I know for a fact that I can’t write headcanons AT ALL yet here we are, out of spite I will keep trying until I can manage to write good shit. I’m going through a chaotic time in my life so please be patient with me 😭

I’m currently working on tattoo artist! reader x Felix headcanons and college!enemies to lovers one-shot. Knowing that Felix’s fav trope is enemies to lovers, I will post it hopefully before his new chapter drops. I used most of the hcs that were sent to me but if you couldn’t see yours, then it will probably be used on the other works.

No beta we die like men.

warnings: curse words, nsfw under the cut, random sage moments, felix being a ‘the neighborhood’ song basically.

You persuade him to start an Instagram account, and because of his family's popularity, he quickly gains followers. His account is practically empty because he would rather spend his time stalking your account on Instagram. You noticed the emptiness and wanted to take him out and take some photos for his account, which turned out amazingly. He is a little camera shy, so be patient with him.

You like to watch him apply his eyeliner but he finds it so stressing to do under your gaze.  He used to be able to do it easily, but it has now become one of his most difficult tasks. You wanted to ask for his assistance in applying eyeliner to you in the hopes of making it simpler for him; he agreed but quickly regretted it when he realized how near your faces would be. You with your eyes closed, waiting for him to drag the line as he was only thinking about how bad he wanted to kiss you. 

Felix has a Polaroid of you and stella in his wallet I said what I said.

When it comes to himself, he can be a pessimist, but when it comes to you, he is the most loving and positive boyfriend you could ever ask for. You have a dream ? He is ready to help you achieve it. Do you want to change in your life ? Go for it, He’s more excited than you are.

He can be quite insecure at times when it comes to your relationship because he feels like you deserve the world but the world is too big for his tiny hands. Will his cuddles be enough ? God he hopes so.

He almost cried when you told him you loved him for the first time. He's also baffled as to how you might feel the same way about him.

Drunk Felix is really clingy and honest. Whatever he can’t say sober drunk felix can and definitely will.

“May the stars let my death be between your glorious thighs amen-“ “Felix-”

Felix is weird but it add to his charm. It’s not unusual for you to wake up in the middle of the night and find the pillow besides yours empty. In the dead of night, you will find Felix munching on some weird ass food combinations.

He also has a habit of doing things that are extremely adorable without even noticing it. Like walking around the house in his oversized shirts, his hand clutching at the cuffs whilst the other one sheepishly rubs his eye.

“Can I lay on your lap ? I promise I won’t fall asleep. I just need to rest for a little.” His voice is so soft and hushed. “Of course, come here.” He throws himself onto you as he comes hopping on his tip toes.

He falls asleep on his desk too often, so you have to carry him back to his room, where he snuggles against you while you lead him there. Once he's in his room, he insists that you stay with him, so you wait until he falls asleep as you play with his hair, and he wakes up thinking it was all a dream.

I firmly believe that Felix’s love language is acts of service. Like making you coffee and bringing you random snacks as you work or wrapping you up in fluffy blankets whenever he catches you slacking on the couch.

He's been romanticizing anything and everything since he met you. When he sees beautiful flowers, he wants to bring them to you, but he also believes that their beauty stems from the fact that they are alive, so he argues and stresses a lot when deciding what to do in simple situations like these.

His edginess belongs to his impulsiveness and his style only at any other situation he's a complete softboy.

And I'm certain he knows a variety of card tricks. He enjoys showing off, and he enjoys it even more when you become fascinated and beg him to share the trick.

If you're a morning person, you'll probably spend your mornings alone in solitude, finishing work before the day begins, but if you're a night owl, you and Felix will go out for night walks and Felix would go out for night walks, sharing headphones to play some music, enjoy each others presence and develop a habit of watching the sunrise together.

Felix makes you playlists at the most random times and with the most random names. Until one day he sent you a playlist at around 4 a.m called “you”, filled with his favorite music. He usually sees music as a safe space for himself and now that you are his safe place too it’s only appropriate for him to do so. This only further proves how he spends his time thinking about you.

I feel like Felix would have what most would call "attachment issues" but it’s mainly because of his protective tendencies. This is not to say that he’s this "overly jealous toxic" character; rather, he has never had anyone to truly call his own in his entire life so he would do anything to protect it.

Felix is also big on astrology, so if you want the perfect birth chart, he'll give it to you. Also he owns a lovely deck of tarot cards, and if you ask him for a love reading, he can't manage to keep his words and feelings to himself so he modifies your reading according to him and his desires. Let the boy abuse his powers for the sake of love.

His style could be described as dark academia, his wardrobe mainly consists of dark colors, lots and lots of blazers and a lot of oversized shirts. He also loves jewelry so he owns a lot of rings and chains. Just so you know, if you're wearing any of his rings, his heart is doing cartwheels.

Is it obvious that he loves it when you place your hand in his and play with his rings with your fingertips.

Spoil him. Buy him that baby blue hoodie with cat ears.

“Ah, you look adorable.” “Isn’t it a bit too b-big ?” “You could say that. Do you mind ?” “No, I like it that way.” “I would know.” You smirk followed by felix’s gasp. “If you so desperately wanted a cat boy you know you have me right ?” Nudging your shoulder, Sage leapt into the conversation. “What is he talking about ?”  Felix grumbled, only to notice two fuzzy triangular fabrics on top of his head as he brushed his fingertips over it.

He’s obsessed with your hands, kissing your knuckles, drawing circles in your palm. At a certain point it became an involuntary gesture he does it quite often without realizing.

He’s also canonically extremely blushy but he would never admit it. You’re convinced he uses some sort of make up because it is not possible for the pink dusting his cheeks to look this good.

He insists that you’re cold even in the warmest weathers because he wants to see you in his coat.

Sage forces Felix to take his thirst trap Tiktoks.

He really appreciates it when you add to his herbal tea collection without him noticing and he considers it a sign of affection because he takes his tea very seriously.

He loses it when you call him baby he gets flustered and frustrated but it’s all because it rolls off of your tongue so nicely that he can’t get enough of it.

Felix owns a broad collection of scented lip balms some of them are tinted. You didn’t hear this from me.

He never once took anything the Sage says seriously until he saw how well you two got along. He never thought that he would be standing there taking relationship and flirting advice from the frat boy.

Felix is a complete asshole when he wants to. He’s very verbal about it too. Consistent sarcastic remarks and eye rolls. I mean it runs in his blood, look at Escell.

You love it when he suddenly whips out the confident Felix, it’s not a daily occurrence you know.

When Felix is concentrated, he’s lost and there’s almost no way you or anything else can distract him. So it’s time to grab some colorful hair clips and ties to fuck around with his hair.

Felix is not the best at verbally expressing his gratitude towards you. He doesn’t know what he would do if you weren’t there for him at the lowest points of his life where normally he would close himself and bare the weight of his family problems and personal life issues that he can’t seem to get out of. Now he has you, someone who’s willing to listen to him and offer him a warm embrace when he needs the most. 

While you to play games together, when he wins he wears that iconic shit eating grin of his with pride looking at you through the corner of his eye. “Shit, what do you want me to say to that felix ? Perhaps I should call you master now that you won ‘one’ fucking round.” He is praying that the screen light is covering the fact that he is a blushy mess after hearing you say that.

NSFW

I cannot stress this enough but he is extremely vocal in bed. Whining, trying to restrict himself from making too much noise but failing miserably.

Muffled pants, choked sobs and lots of pleasure infused tears.

He loves getting praised during sex but what he loves more is to get praised after it’s all over. Like you telling him how great he was, how well he behaved, how good he made you feel. He experiences sub drops a lot so please assure him that he did well :(

He’s into power-play but not in a submissive or dominant kind of relationship, it’s more of a psychological thing where the fact that he can see how good he makes you feel gives him a rush of confidence and adrenaline.

I believe that this motherfucker is a masochist, pain makes him more excited than getting an update on his favorite author who went on a year long hiatus and that is saying a lot.

Bite him. Scratch him. It is so stimulating for him he can reach his high just from those actions.

Fuck do anything to his ears bite, lick, pull, blow on it. He is extremely sensitive so anything you do will basically drive him out of his mind. It will most definitely lead to him trembling beneath your fingertips.

You must think that you are the only one who is such a tease but you’re wrong. Felix teases you quite often mostly to direct your attention towards him or to keep your attention on him. He’s quite greedy when it comes to you and your hands on his body. Unbuttoning unnecessary amount of buttons on his shirt to show a little skin that he knows you’ll notice. Playing with his necklace placing the chain between his lips dragging it towards the inside of his bottom lip teasing the metallic charm with the tip of his tongue. He definitely ain’t oblivious he knows exactly what he’s doing and he makes sure that you know exactly what he’s doing.

When he’s in the mood he will tug the hem of your top meanwhile his eyes are glued to the floor or graze the temples of his glasses between his lips, his teeth lightly nibbling the pointy edge. He loves to play dumb too. When you question him, he acts like he doesn’t intend anything and that you need to get your head out of the gutter.

At the end of the session Felix looks divine. Drool leaking down from his bottom lip to his jaw line towards his neck, his bangs sticking on his sweat coated forehead, his chest rising up and down quickly. His eyes rolled at the back of his head, his hands still clutching tightly to the sheets. Faint whimpers and deep breaths filling the air.

Leading up to the after care, his shy self returns. He buries his face to your chest hiding his blushy cheeks beneath the palms of his hands.

He likes to experiment a lot and you are his favorite subject.

It shouldn’t be surprising to find random kink definitions or role-play ideas on the search history of your laptop. After all Felix just asked for it to write an email, that’s all there is to it. That’s until you offer to try them out.

He doesn’t act upon his jealousy, what he does instead is that leaving marks on you especially around your neck and your chest where he knows it will show. Don’t cover them up if you don’t wanna deal with him.

“People just don’t appreciate art anymore.” “Felix these are, hickeys.” “Oh so now you are judging my art medium ?” “Since when proving Sage that I got railed by you is a form of art ?”

I didn’t see anyone point this out but whenever he is in the sub space he tends to be more on the bratty side. He starts of shy but his confidence builds up as the tension rises. Meaning that you should be ready to get your patience tested.

When you two are in separate places your suggestive words and tone leads up to phone sex, which Felix secretly fantasized about a lot. What made everything even more dirty was the fact that you didn’t know that he was laying on your bed surrounded by your scent and humping your pillow. Once you come back home you are greeted with a fresh pair of sheets on your bed. Apparently Felix decided to do you a favor and clean your room as well as the the whole house. He’s crossing fingers that you don’t notice because he knows that he’ll never hear the end of it.

Felix knows a lot about sex but his knowledge is based upon fiction rather than experience. So, naturally, he is more interested about learning specifically how your body responds to certain actions, what you enjoy and what you’re interested in so teach him. He’s a good student and oh well he’s a quick learner.

Pull his hair pull his hair put his hair pull his hair pull his hair pull his hair pull his hair pull his hair.

When he settles between your legs as he ties his hair, he places the hairband between his lips and looks up at you with half lidded eyes. It’s his definition of torture.

Even though he doesn’t give off that vibe, he is very freaky if you would’ve known what his AO3 tags consisted of you would agree.

Tag list is open

[pochiperpe90]

Points of view – The Interview: Luca Marinelli

How do you approach your characters. 

Sometimes I also wonder how I get to the character. For “Non essere cattivo”, I had a very detailed script and a fascinating director at my disposal, so I didn't struggle to relate. It was a very brave script for the way it dealt with reality. At first my auditions went in the direction of Vittorio's character but also knowing the figure of Cesare, more than once I thought I would like to play him. I saw the auditions of others and I stopped to think how I could have done Cesare. Then at a certain point I remember that Claudio looked at Valerio and told him that it would be better to reverse the roles, to let me try Cesare, and so it went. When I read the script of “Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot”, the first thing that struck me, besides the courageous imagination, was to understand how a film of this kind could be made. 

In the first part of your career, you brought an image of introverted and staid youth to the screen. Was this a choice. 

Absolutely not. Or rather yes, it was the choice of those who met me first. Perhaps a part of my personality has been seen that could best marry the characters in question. It happened both in “La solitudine dei numeri primi” by Saverio Costanzo and later with Virzì in "Tutti i santi giorni", then it can be said that with Casare of “Non essere cattivo” and the Zingaro of “Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot” I was allowed to turn things around slightly, to play a character who had a disposition and behavior that was completely the opposite of what I had faced previously. 

What do you remember about your debut with Saverio Costanzo. 

He was my initiation into cinema, I came from the Academy and I had no idea what it was like to work on a set. The best memory, in addition to the experience of the film with him and Alba, is the first meeting, the first audition, where I really understood that I strongly wanted to work with him and that if this had happened I would have ended up in the hands of a great author. 

With that film you found yourself in the main competition of the Venice Film Festival. What memories do you have of that first time at the lido. 

Of a huge confusion and a big headache. We were tossed around from one interview to another and not only that, because the worst thing was always answering the same questions, and I was terribly worried not to make the situation even more boring for the machine operator, who never changed, and I don't think could take it longer to hear the same phrases over and over. Fortunately, Alba was there as well and saved me in more than one interview. The experience helped me because the following times I knew slightly more what I was going through and how to manage situations and keep stress at bay. Or maybe not yet, it's a long way. 

I noticed that when you talk about your job you do it using the verb “to play” (giocare). Is it a coincidence or the choice has a precise meaning. 

Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that in English the term recite is said precisely in this way because in my opinion to play, or the French jouez, represents the feeling of freedom and fun that is inherent in the job I do, better. As far as I'm concerned, the moment of the take is when the actor has to stop thinking, abandon worries, to be able to bring out the energy of his character. He has to play with the same seriousness and commitment with which a child does. I remember a piece of advice from Carlo Cecchi on the fact that in acting counts listening and the here and now. Being actively present to oneself and to others at that exact moment.

You have a method for achieving this condition. 

If someone asked me something about technique, I wouldn't know what to answer, apart from listening. On the set of Andrea Molaioli's film in which I am the father of the young protagonist, the actor who plays him, Ludovico, who is really good, full of talent and very smart, once asked me what was the technique to make the best of the character, and the only thing I felt able to advise him was to try to be present in that moment and then to let go, listen and not think about the rest. 

But I imagine that there are also practical aspects in the preparation that precedes the start of filming. 

As for me, I try to prepare as much as I can before arriving on set because at the start of the shoot it would be good to be ready. But not everything happens automatically, in the sense that you can’t always find the character immediately. However, I have always been lucky enough to have more or less long periods of rehearsal before starting a film. I remember this moment with Saverio and Alba, where we spent weeks among us and also with the kids who would have played us as children, to try the various scenes and to create a union and harmony between the characters. The same happened with Paolo Virzì, Thony and I, more than once we gather, facing the script, to clarify all the passages and moments of the scenes. 

And how did things go with Claudio Caligari. 

The same thing also happened with Claudio even though the illness made everything more complicated for him. He asked us to change our bodies, to participate in the auditions of the other actors. This allowed all of us, the cast, to integrate and develop a unity of purpose and a truly rare familiarity. So in front of the camera it seemed to me that the gang, to which Cesare and Vittorio belonged, was really part of my life, that it wasn’t hard to pass from Luca to Cesare, because I had found him. And always to identify with the environment of the story, I preferred a house in Ostia, and Alessandro often came to me from Rome to spend time between the two of us. Claudio, in addition to having reading meetings together, also showed us films that were a source of inspiration for him for this film, such as “Accattone” by Pier Paolo Pasolini, “Rocco e i suoi fratelli” by Luchino Visconti and “Mean Sreet” by Martin Scorsese.

Instead, I wanted to ask you what happens between takes, for example when you come home after a day of work. You stay inside the character as it happens to Daniel Day Lewis, or you put it aside and think of something else like Marcello Mastroianni did. 

I try to disconnect from the set. I try. I go home and try to do something else, but the last thought before falling asleep always goes to the next day's work plan and I leave myself a few minutes for the memory and concentration useful for tomorrow and then I close my eyes.  

We asked Roberta Mattei and we ask you too. During the processing you were aware of the exceptional nature of what you were doing. 

Yes. Let me explain: I saw with my own eyes that what was happening was exceptional, a man who was dying wanted to give his latest work to the public, to his audience, to his people, to people. This has no equal for me. Don't think about yourself in such a situation but about others.

Then it was the turn of Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot. 

I shot Jeeg Robot in March 2014, and therefore before “Non essere cattivo”. The fact that Mainetti's film is only coming out now is due to the long post-production period necessary to assemble the shot with the special effects present in the film. 

Here as well it was an interpretation and a character who completely overturns the transparent and pristine image of the first part of your career. 

To make Jeeg Robot we had to convince each other, Gabriele Mainetti and I, about my success in the character. I pushed him towards a theatricality and Gabriele towards a real madness, a pure pain. In the end, I think we have found the right amount. 

The construction of the Zingaro was already very clear in the writing and it was up to us, however, to find its true aspect. 

Guiding him is this crazy and boundless ego, and the obsession with having to leave a mark. The Zingaro's eccentricity is partly reflected in his look, halfway between a rock star and a suburban bully. For the costumes and make-up we were inspired by the great rock icons. We dared in some choices, such as the black coat with pink leopard lining that characterize the wardrobe. For the aspects related to the way of performing, his model was Anna Oxa and in particular the video of her at Sanremo, when she sings “Un’emozione da poco”. 

In part you have already answered, but I wanted to know how you choose to accept the proposals that are made to you and if you have any foreclosures towards television, or more generally towards commercial cinema. 

I choose the proposals on the basis of love at first sight that must happen with the film, with its screenplay. Then figure out who will be leading the film, meet the director. I don't have any kind of foreclosure, let's say that if I don't like something I don't do it and if I like it I do. And it doesn't matter if it's cinema or television. 

As a spectator what is the cinema you love. 

I like films that have something to say and that I also choose based on who directed and starred in it. Usually when they ask me to name some titles I have a void. Think that the same thing happened to me also during the audition to enter the experimental center, when Lina Wertmuller asked me the title of a film I had seen recently. I was struck by a cosmic void and instead of naming her an authoritative and important film I left her stunned by citing Batman, I think Nolan's first, still a good film, but I still had Wertmuller in front of me... But to go back to what you asked me, I tell you that in general I always like to watch films that come from Sundance, of which I remember, for example “Like Crazy”, which I found disarmingly beautiful, the films of P.T. Anderson, Wes Anderson, the Cohen, there are many, and among the Italians those played by Alba Rohrwacher, Valerio Mastandrea, Elio Germano, Kim Rossi Stuart and directed by Alice Rohrwacher, Costanzo, Virzì, Sorrentino, Garrone, Salvatores. Without forgetting those of the great Joaquin Phoenix. But in reality I look at everything, let's say that I try not to lose anything of these. 

Despite the certificates of esteem you have received for your performances, the impression is that of an understatement that almost seems not to be aware of what you have achieved so far as an actor. 

Whenever I see a film of mine I always think there is something I could have done better. But basically I'm happy with what I've done so far. Having said that, I think that the films alone should be enough to explain everything and that the interviews don’t add anything new to what there was to say before making them. But when I am in the dance, when I need to promote, I am committed to doing it in the best possible way. I strongly think that in life and at work it’s important to demonstrate that you know how to do and not to show at all costs that you do.

DREAMINGCINEMA

Just wanted to translate this old interview for the non-italian’s fans ^^ (sorry for my English)

[vagarius]

misukazu 21

(if you saw me fuck up the other one no you didnt)

EDIT I THINK THIS ONE GOT A LITTLE FUCKED UP TOO BUT IT’S... READABLE...

questions from this post, and answers originally written for this thread!!

If you had to change the pairing’s very first meeting, how would you change it?    their canon first meeting is already so good SHDGFLJASHG but if i had to choose a different one that's still within the context of mankai... meeting as kids and losing touch and coming back together completely different at mankai

What song fits your pairing the most?    uhhHHhhHHH i don't have a real answer but i do have a partial playlist for one of my misukazu aus and the only two songs in it are furaregai girl by sayuri and champagne's for celebrating by mayday parade and i feel like that says enough sldhgalsdhfalsh

What is your favorite AU/prompt idea/trope for your pairing?     ALL MISUKAZU AUS ARE GOOD but. i really love any au where their first meeting is in the future and both are still kind of lost but they're Older and it's hard to let themselves fall into the easy trust they find in canon. i just think that'd be neat.

Do you prefer canon ideas or do you have your own headcanons for them?     I'VE SAID THIS MANY TIMES BUT CANON MISUKAZU GIVES OFF MADE FOR EACH OTHER VIBES AND USUALLY I DON'T VIBE WITH THAT BUT THEY REALLY ARE WHAT THE OTHER NEEDS... AND I THINK EVEN IF THEY HAD TO PART THEY'D STILL BE ABLE TO BE BETTER PEOPLE BC THEY HAD MET

Favorite canon moment of them?     THERE ARE SO MANY but the one that immediately comes to mind is misumi carrying drunk kazu to bed (latest bday line) because drunk kazu is so soft and it implies that misumi wanted to wish happy birthday to kazu pretty late... what did he want to give him...

Least favorite canon moment of them?     hmm... there's not really one i can think of??? IM SORRY I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY I LOVE ALL THEIR CANON MOMENTS

Favorite headcanon trope/idea? (Your own or someone else’s)    this is somehow both vague and very specific but i think misukazu gives off this vibe: He's beautiful. I can't tell him. or "Kazu is always beautiful~" Don't call me that, Kazu thinks. I'm not. so... insecurities i guess ????? AJSHAJJD

Favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics?     THIS IS GOING TO SOUND SO CHEESY but i love how /real/ they allow themselves to be around each other. misukazu at their best is when one thinks "you're you. and i love that you" and the other knows this. i just. THEY VALIDATE THE OTHER SO MUCH CRIES

Least favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics? (Can be headcannon)     this isn't a "least fav" so much as "it makes me sad" but if either of them showed any sign of not being interested anymore the other is more likely to give up then push anything. sort of like "it was bound to happen, so i'll enjoy now until they drop me" or EVEN WORSE they think the other would be better off without them and pushes them away. so yeah the fact i can see one of these happening makes me sad.

If they aren’t a canon pairing, how would you get them together?     they give off "everyone knows we're dating but us" energy but at the same time i feel like they'd acknowledge there's something and just not define it bc a) they don't need to (misumi) or b) they're too nervous to (kazu). in other words i think one day they are holding hands and misumi says "kazu? is this dating?" and kazu holds his breath before asking "do you want it to be?"

If you had to take them and plunk them into another fandom, what fandom would that be? Why?     i think theyd be hilarious in any sports animanga (kazu is manager tho bc noodle arms but maybe they bond when misumi walks him through some of his usual training menu one night - ahem. anyway) BUT ALSO horimiya au...

How hard is it write/draw your pairing? Scale of 1-10.     AJDHAJDHSF I REALLY LOVE THEM SO IT COMES PRETTY EASILY... but sometimes you try to put them in tropes and realize they would Just Not Work Like That. idk where i'm going with this. but yeah. anyway 3 for sankaku.

Is there a pairing that you think rivals them?     in terms of what i ship, i tend to ship kazu and misumi individually with a lot of dif charas AJDHAKD. but in terms of like... in-universe "rival" pairings: kazu side: tsuzukazu (maybe, lbr it would take them 273924 yrs to actually get together), kazu x someone from winter (i... have my reasons but they'd take longer than what this answer entails) misumi side: ... surprisingly none that i can think of ahdjahd

Which character of the pairing do you like more? (Would you ever pair yourself with them?)     you know that tweet that's like "sometimes a ship is just your two favs"? yeah that's misukazu for me. but if i had to choose... misumi AJDHAJHDSF I HONESTLY WASNT THAT INTO YUME UNTIL THESE TWO CAME AROUND (NOT COUNTING 707)... but yeah if they wanted to hold me in their arms i wouldn't oppose

Which character of your pairing would be the one to break up with the other? Why?     OOOOOH BOY well. i think it could be either of them. i don't think they'd break up for lack of love but too much love and wanting the other to be happy and thinking that the only way to give them that is to let them go. so i guess the question is which of them would be more likely to be selfish and hold on. thinking this way, i think misumi would be more likely to break-up, bc kazu has lots of friends who are better than him!! and misumi is more ready to leave if he thinks he needs to than kazu is. now im sad.

Are they relatable as characters or as a pairing?     THE NUMBER OF TIMES I'VE BEEN CALLED KAZU KIN... in all seriousness kazu's struggles with speaking out and (shinobi spoilers) his uncertainty over his future hit real close to home... while i don't relate as much as misumi, his struggles always manage to tear my heart into pieces... ((oversharing alert) i guess what really separates me from misumi is his struggle with his desire to connect with family who has treated him poorly... whereas im more "lol fuck you") tldr i relate to kazu slightly more LOL

Did you once/ever dislike one/both of them?     i never disliked them but i was NOT expecting either of them to shoot up so quickly into my favs list ahdjahdjf. also i started shipping them Immediately After reading summer main story so there's that

On an estimate, how many posts have you made about them?    as of september 28th 2020 i make up 11/78 fics on ao3 in the romantic misukazu tag and 2/12 in the platonic one. i may have brainrot.

What made you decide to ship them?     TBH I FINISHED THE MAIN STORY AND WENT "OH MY GOD... THAT'S MY SHIP" but now that i'm here i continue to ship them because they have the potential to bring out both the best and the worst in each other and i'm all about that

Favorite genre for them? (Angst, fluff, etc.)     angst. i just. angst hurt/comfort all the way. im so sorry babies.

lol you thought there would just be 21 ANYWAY EXTRA 1: how do they spend breaks/vacation?    they'd travel a lot when they're older!! kazunari loves to travel and misumi would follow kazunari anywhere (also, new triangles!!) so they go somewhere new whenever they have the time. however i think eventually one or both of their future careers will take them anywhere and everywhere anyway, so their "ideal vacation" might turn into an evening in, cuddling and catching up (as if they didn't already send play-by-play updates over the phone of whatever they did during the day)

EXTRA 2: first date?     i don't they ever have an explicit first date, but if asked they'll cite the time they had a picnic in the park turned triangle hunt turned accidental dip in the duck pond. at least, kazunari will. misumi just tilts his head and wonders what you mean.

EXTRA 3: gifts?     IM FEELING REALLY CHEESY SO I'M MAKING THIS ABOUT ANNIVERSARY GIFTS they both end up getting each other jewelry (although kazu was really really nervous bc he wasn't sure if misumi would wear it). kazu gets misumi a bracelet (with triangles, of course although misumi only wears it sometimes because he doesn't want to lose it) and misumi gets kazu a pair of triangle earrings "so we can match!" and kazunari combusts at the implications

EXTRA 4: sharing clothes     THEY'RE ACTUALLY AROUND THE SAME SIZE (and tend to wear baggier stuff barring kazu's skinny jeans)... but they have completely different Styles so it's still really obvious when steal each other's stuff ahdjajdkaf. as cute as kazu would look in sumi's sweatshirt i think the much more likely scenario is kazu wrapping misumi in his jackets because this boy nEVER BRINGS HIS ANYWHERE anyway just. accidental shared wardrobe misukazu.

EXTRA 5: lake house au    consider: kazunari living in a house on the shore of a lake for a summer for Art Purposes (and a little bit for Dealing With Life purposes but he's not gonna admit that) and meets his lake neighbor misumi who kazu thinks might be a ghost or spirit for a while but he actually just lives further down the lake and misumi unknowingly helps kazu with his Life Issues and maybe they fall in love

[jesatria]

Fic: Simple Pleasures, Chap. 7

Title: Simple Pleasures Fandom: Kushiel’s Legacy Characters: Isidore d’Aiglemort, Anne Livet Pairings: Isidore/Anne Word Count: 3.747 Rating: NC-17 Summary: The story of Isidore d’Aiglemort & the gardener’s daughter of Lombelon. WIP. Disclaimer: I do not own Kushiel’s Legacy. This is only for fun & no profit is being made from it.

Previous Chapters:

1. The Visit

2. Desire

3. The Harvest Festival

4. Triumph

5. Gifts

6. The Eagle Unbound

Chapter 7: Lighting the Candle

           Consort.

           It was an honor I’d hardly dreamed of during the years of my acquaintance with Isidore. Oh, there were a few times when the thought came into my mind, what it would be like to be his consort. In truth, I would’ve been happy to remain his lover. I knew how he felt about me and made my feelings for him quite clear. What more was needed? But now… now a whole new realm of possibility had opened up.

           We spoke more on the matter during his visit. “You’ll need to be presented at court,” he told me one evening as we sat together in the great hall.

           “What will that entail?” I asked.

           “You’ll be formally announced at a court function, and then I’ll name you my consort.”

           “It’s truly that simple?”

           “Truly. The hardest part will be preparing you for it, I’ll need to have a dress appropriate for court made, to begin with,” he elaborated.

           I tried to imagine myself in the kind of expensive gown worn by sophisticated ladies of the court and couldn’t. I’d hardly ever even seen such things, as court ladies were in short supply at Lombelon since Lady Shahrizai gave it to Isidore. “I think I would feel rather silly wearing somewhat like that.”

           He smiled. “Mayhap. The trick is not to let it show and look as if you’ve always belonged there. Anyway, rest assured I’ll do everything possible to ensure you’re looking your best when the time comes.”

           “I doubt I’d be any good at looking like I belong at court.”

           He put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer on the sofa we shared. “Don’t worry about it overmuch. You’re hardly the first commoner to become the consort of a peer. It’s not so uncommon that they’ll see you as some kind of oddity to gawk it.”

           “Well, that’s a little bit comforting.”

           “You won’t need to come to court regularly unless you want to. I’ll not ask it of you if you truly despise it. If you like, I’ll buy you your own townhouse in the City and you’ll never need to set foot in the Palace.”

           I blinked. “A… townhouse?” That was rather more than fancy dresses and jewelry befitting the consort of a Duc.

           “Yes, a townhouse. Many peers have them in the City.”

           “Do you have one?”

           “No, I make do with quarters in the Palace. We would stay there when in the City, but I won’t force you to if you’d prefer a townhouse.” He gave his head a slight shake. “I’m getting far ahead of myself. The first order of business will be getting you a wardrobe befitting your new station.”

           All of this was quite a bit to take in. I never expected it, never wanted it. I was happy with my life at Lombelon. As long as I had my gardens and loved ones around me, I was content. Now I was about to be thrust into a world beyond my experience. It was exciting and a bit frightening. I would go from Anne Livet, gardener’s daughter to Anne Livet, consort of the Duc d’Aiglemort. It was plain my relationship with Isidore had entered a new stage.

           “… before that,” he was saying, “I think some changes are in order here. I’ve been remiss in keeping you as well as I should’ve been and I mean to remedy it. You should no longer be working as a servant here.”

           “But the gardens…”

           He held a finger to my lips and I fell silent. “I wouldn’t dream of parting you from your gardens. You’ll be free to do whatever you like with them. As for the rest of your duties, you are from now on free of them. I never got the impression you particularly enjoyed them anyway.”

           I thought of the dull drudgery of cleaning and replied, “No, I do not. Except for cooking. That I would miss.” Ever since the quiche, which I’d since made several more times, I’d cooked a number of dishes for us. These had included more Camaeline dishes which were previously unfamiliar to me. They were hearty dishes, meant to fill you up during a long winter. Isidore was not very particular when it came to food, but he did come to miss the familiar cuisine of home when he’d been away for a while.

           “I’d never forbid you from doing anything you like to do,” he said with a small smile. “Cook as much as you like.”

           It was quite a bit to think on. I’d been a servant all my life and had long ago accepted it as my lot in life. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself without the usual rounds of chores, and a life of leisure was exactly what he was offering me. There was nothing I’d rather spend my time doing more than working in gardens, but what would I do when the season was over? What did noblewomen do all day, anyway? I supposed I would find out.

           There was more to my new status than freedom from tedious chores, as I was to discover that night. Rather than go to the master suite, Isidore led me to the smaller bedchamber adjoining it. The room was familiar to me—I’d cleaned it plenty of times. It had been aired out and fresh sheets laid upon the bed. “This is yours, if you want it. About time we had adjoining bedchambers.”

           I smiled. “I agree.” The room was mayhap twice the size of the one I’d lived in my entire life. “You mean for me to stay here even when you’re not.”

           He nodded. “I know your current room has great significance for you. I’ll not ask you to stay here if you’d prefer not to.”

           “To sleep on a feather bed every night? Of course I would. Though,” I noted, “I’d like to keep my own room too. Giving it up just feels… wrong. And there isn’t a shortage of space for the staff, so it’s hardly needed.”

           That was the night I became the lady of the manor where I’d grown up. Some part of me could not quite believe it, though it was in keeping with everything which had happened since Isidore asked me to be his consort. There were more than a few jealous stares directed at me the following day, but that was nothing new—I’d been getting those since the day Thèrese had me bring Isidore a bottle of pear brandy. Others were genuinely happy for me. These included Marcel, who held no bitterness over it. “I’m truly glad that you’re happy, Anne,” he told me, “and I hope you’ll still consider me a friend.”

           “Of course!” I exclaimed before pulling him into an embrace.

           The rest of Isidore’s visit passed in a blur. Before leaving, he assured me he’d return as soon as he was able. As sad as I was to see him go, my head was clearer after he left, with the haze of love lifted. I had much to think on.

 **

           The day after Isidore left, I approached Thèrese. I needed some advice on particular womens’ matters and she’d been the closest thing I had to a mother growing up. She’d been the one to teach me how to cook and sew when I wasn’t occupied with my schooling or working in the gardens beside my father. I waited until the evening, when I knew she’d be overseeing the cleaning of the kitchen after dinner. I was keenly aware of my new status and did not want to flaunt it over them, so I had my meal brought to the dining room and ate alone. Had I taken my meal in the kitchen, I’d have earned more of the same jealous glares I’d already been subjected to.

           I breathed a small sigh of relief when I stepped into the kitchen and found it empty save for Thèrese. “Pardon me for interrupting, Thèrese, but may I speak with you?”

           She placed a stack of plates in a cupboard and turned to face me. “Of course, Anne.” We both sat down at the table.

           “I need some advice,” I began, feeling suddenly awkward. “I’m… thinking of lightning the candle.”

           There was no need for elaboration; Thèrese gave me a knowing look. “In the Duc’s name, I take it?”

           “Yes,” I breathed.

           “Ah. Well, these recent changes show he’s treating you as more than a casual bedmate.”

           I nodded. “He means to make me his official consort, have me presented at court and all.”

           Thèrese’s eyebrows rose. “He’s taking it quite seriously, then.”

           “I’m quite certain of how he feels about me, but I can’t help thinking mayhap I should wait to see…”

           “You want to know how I felt when I lit the candle,” Thèrese cut in.

           “Yes.”

           “My situation was different, clearer. I was married and I lit the candle on my wedding night. Normally I’d suggest you think on it to make sure, but in your case it seems clear to me that his grace has strong feelings for you and intends to see you well cared for.”

           I want to take care of you, Anne. “He does.”

           “Then you have your answer.” She smiled coyly. “I do recall you speaking about wanting children before. You’ve a good figure for child bearing, in any case.”

           I couldn’t help but smile in return. “Thank you, Thèrese. I believe I’ve made up my mind.”

           Later, I would come to wonder if mayhap I should’ve waited until I was officially named consort or at least to speak with Isidore on the subject. But I was eager, and in the end it proved to be a good thing that I was. I used my newfound leisure time to visit the shrine of the Eisheth in the village. It was far from a proper temple, consisting only of a simple shrine and living quarters for the two priestesses who maintained it. It also served as a hospital and apothecary of sorts. I’d visited many times to fetch herbal tea for my father. The last time I’d gone to the shrine had been when he was dying…

           I shook my head to dismiss the memory. That was hardly what I needed to be thinking of at this particular moment. I opened the door to the shrine and stepped inside. The priestess was there, cleaning remnants of burnt incense from the offering bowl. She set it aside once she caught sight of me. “Welcome, Anne. Do you wish to make an offering?”

           “Of a sort. I would like to light the candle to Eisheth.”

           The priestess gave me a knowing smile. “I thought you might choose to light the candle someday.” Her statement made me wonder if word of my change in status had reached the village. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if it had. They’d known about me and Isidore for ages.

           The priestess fetched a candle and led me over to the shrine. It consisted of nothing more than a statue of Eisheth. An offering bowl stood in front of it, along with a rack meant for candles. Only a few were currently burning. The priestess handed me a thick white candle and a flint striker. “Light the candle and place it in front of the statue,” she instructed.

           I took a breath to steady myself and lit the candle. A place was free in the center of the rack and I set it there, careful not to spill hot wax on my hands. I lifted my eyes to gaze upon the statue of Eisheth. She clutched a harp in one hand; the other was raised in a gesture of blessing. Her face wore a expression of gentle serenity. It was time to speak the prayer. I did not need the priestess to tell it to me; every woman knew it. “Blessed Eisheth, hear my prayer,” I said, keeping Isidore’s beautiful face in my mind’s eye, “open the gates of my womb.”

           It was done.

           The flame burned bright and steady. I chose to take that for a good sign. Before I left the shrine, the priestess took me aside to explain the changes I’d now experience. It was nothing I’d not heard of before—I’d heard plenty of women who’d lit the candle complain of their monthly courses before and I couldn’t say I was looking forward to them. The priestess was kind enough to give me herbs to take if I was afflicted with cramps and headaches.

           “If Eisheth should choose to grant your prayer and you get with child, please feel welcome to come to me with any questions you may have,” said the priestess. She was the closest thing we had to a chirurgeon and she acted as midwife to both Lombelon itself and the village. I thanked her for her assistance and took my leave.

           The next weeks passed incredibly slowly. I was bursting with eagerness to see Isidore and tell him what I’d done. We’d never spoken of having children before and in truth I wasn’t entirely sure how he’d react. I doubted he would be angry—I’d not have done it I thought it would anger him—but beyond that I couldn’t say. Letters came from him regularly and I considered telling him in my replies before deciding against it. Somewhat of such important had to be said in person.

           Summer finally turned to fall. By then I’d grown slightly more comfortable in my new station, though it was still strange to see my familiar possessions in such a different setting. Some of the initial jealousy had abated and the others generally treated me with courtesy. I couldn’t help but think how much harder it would be to adjust to life as Isidore’s officially-acknowledged consort. Well and so, I would deal with that when the time came.

           The leaves were falling when Isidore at last returned to Lombelon. His eagerness was immediately apparent, as he all but ran over and swept me into his arms, accompanied by the familiar rounds of cheers from his men-at-arms. It was comforting to know there were people in his world who approved of us. I doubted I’d be so lucky when I met the entirety of his friends and family. One of them was Lady Shahrizai, after all, and that woman made my skin crawl.

           I chose to tell him that evening, after we’d retired to his bedchamber for our nightly round of lovemaking. “There’s somewhat I need to tell you before we go any further,” I began as we sat together on the bed.

           “What is it?”

           I took a breath to fortify myself, then spoke. “I lit the candle to Eisheth in your name.”

           I’d never seen Isidore look shocked before, but he did then. He stared at me, blinking slowly, trying to form a response to this revelation. “You did… what?” he finally said.

           “I lit a candle to Eisheth,” I repeated, finding it suddenly hard to meet his eyes. “I suppose I should’ve spoken with you about it, I just… felt inspired to do it after your last visit.”

           The mattress shifted and a moment later his arm was around my shoulders. “Anne, I’m not angry with you—I’m shocked is all. You’ve scarcely said aught to me on this matter before.”

           “I’m sorry. I really should’ve spoken to you about it.”

           He pulled me closer. “Tell me.” His voice held in it the now-familiar note of command.

           “There’s not much to say. I’ve always wanted a child and when you told me you meant to make me your consort, I thought mayhap you might feel the same,” I admitted. My hand rose to stroke his hair. It was soft as silk. “Is it so strange that I’d want to have a child with the man I love?”

           Somewhat softened in his fathomless black eyes. “No, it’s not. It’s a natural thing and I shouldn’t be surprised by it. I confess us having children is not somewhat I’ve considered, forgive me.”

           “Would you?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

           He was silent for a moment, gazing upon me with those lovely eyes I found so easy to get lost in. “Yes, I would.”

           I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into an embrace. It was hard to contain my excitement. “Truly?”

           “Yes, Anne. Truly.”

           After, as I lay in his arms, I found myself too excited to fall asleep easily. A child. We were, provided Eisheth answered my prayer, going to have a child. I wondered if all women felt this way after lighting the candle, a rush of elation at the thought of getting a child by the men they loved. It might’ve happened this night, for all I knew. That we weren’t married was of no concern. A bit unusual, mayhap, but it wasn’t as if there weren’t women who got children with men who were not their husbands. Eventually my excitement gave way to exhaustion and sleep took me.

           We spoke more on the subject of children the following day. “You were several steps ahead of me,” he admitted, the beginnings of a smile playing at his lips. “I’ve only just told you my intention to name you my consort.”

           “Call it a rare moment of impulse,” I replied.

           “It’s not somewhat I’ve thought about much, in truth.”

           “Really? I thought all the peers were concerned with getting heirs.”

           “Many of them are. I’ve known it is my duty to produce an heir for House Aiglemort from a young age, but I might say I was lucky my father neglected to arrange a betrothal for me before he died,” he explained, “and I’ve had less time and appetite for the game of courtship played by most of my peers.”

           I said a silent prayer of thanks to Blessed Elua that the late Duc d’Aiglemort had not seen fit to marry his son off at a young age. “And now that you’ve given the matter some thought, how are you feeling?”

           “Excited at the prospect of getting a child on the woman I love.”

 **

           Isidore visited frequency that autumn, I daresay more frequently than he had any other season. If my revelation had anything to do with it, he didn’t say, only that it was easy enough for him to spend most of his time at Lombelon and travel to the City when needed. More than a month had passed since I lit the candle and I was quite dismayed when the monthly courses I’d been warned about came. The sensation was almost unpleasant enough to make me regret lighting the candle. Almost.

           I didn’t let any of that discourage me. It wasn’t uncommon for it to take a bit of time, I knew. Our desire for each other had, if anything, grown more intense over time. I was his and he was mine. We belonged to each other.

           “Sometime next year, I think,” he said as we sipped brandy together one evening.

           “Why next year? It seems a long time to wait.”

           His gaze moved away from me to the fire burning steadily in the fireplace. “There is like to be trouble on the border.”

           “The Skaldi raiding in large numbers again?”

           “Yes, only worse,” he replied. “They’ve managed to find a leader to unite them.”

           I thought back to what he’d told me about the Skaldi before. “You said they were a fractious people. It must be an impressive leader who was able to unite them.”

           “From everything I have heard on the matter, he is exactly that.” He drained his glass and set it on the table. “I don’t believe in keeping troubling news from you, but I don’t want you to worry about this.”

           I clasped the arms of my chair tightly. “I can’t help but worry.”

           His expression softened. “I know. If it’s any comfort I have been doing my best to strengthen the border defenses and plan on making a request to the King for more men soon. We are taking the threat seriously. Now,” he stood and took my hand in his, “I can think of more pleasant ways to pass the night than worrying about the Skaldi.”

           I stood and followed him to the bed, thoughts of a possible Skaldi invasion draining from my mind. A moment later our hands were at work undoing each other’s clothes as we kissed deeply. The feeling of his lips on mine sent pangs of desire coursing through me. No matter how many times we made love, our passion for each other burned as hotly as ever. Our clothes were soon a pile on the floor. His rough, calloused swordsman’s hands were on me then, stroking and caressing every part of me. Ah, how I loved the feel of them on my bare skin!

           I lay back on the pillows and spread my legs. He took his place between them, then bent to perform the languisement. It didn’t take long, wet as I was already. He pleasured me with sure, quick strokes of his tongue until my arousal was nearly unbearable. When he pulled away, Naamah’s Pearl ached from the loss. He sat upright on the bed between my legs and I felt his rigid phallus press against me. Knowing what he was about, I lifted my legs to rest on his shoulders as he thrust inside me. It was a position we found in the Trois Milles Joies, ones we were both fond of. His firm grip held me legs in place as he rode me. I kept my eyes on his face, finding it impossible to look away from his smouldering dark eyes and the smile he gave me, that small, secret smile I always loved to see. My own climax was nearly upon me; I slid a hand between my legs to rub Naamah’s Pearl. I let the waves of pleasure overtake me and I cried out his name when I reached my peak. His followed shortly after mine. When it was done, he fell back on the plush pillows and pulled me close to him. We fell asleep that way, in perfect contentment.

 **

           It was a little over a month later, as the last leaves were falling and winter’s chill could be felt in the air, when I realized I was with child.

[msjr0119]

The American Adventure

Part 2

Prince Liam and his closest friends are sent to a summer camp in America for a month, whilst in Cordonia the nobles are preparing for Prince Leo’s social season unknowingly to him. During their time there, Liam and Drake become besotted with the same girl- Riley Brooks.

A/N: For those who have read my series ‘Cordonian Wags’, there are a lot of similarities in this series. However there has been a mix up with the pairings in this series. I’ve completely changed my original plan for this series. For some chapters it will be split between the past and present. *Some quotes and similar scenes are based from the film 'The Best of Me'*

Book: The Royal Romance (A/U for majority of this series, some canon will be used but with slight twists)

All characters belong to Pixelberry apart from; Lindsey Brooks, Andy Brooks, Jackie Brooks, Nate Cooper, Lola Hughes and Bethany Hughes.

Warnings: PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER 18! Adult language, mention of sexual abuse, mention of depression suspicion, mention of domestic abuse suspicion, mention of character death (present tense).

Word count: 3,750

Tags- if you want to be added or removed let me know; @pedudley @kacie-0156 @loveellamae @annekebbphotography @texaskitten30 @cordonianroyalty @bascmve01 @sanchita012 @princessleac1 @queenjilian @kingliam2019 @lodberg @rainbowsinthestorm

Catch up here

*****

“Why are you both hiding in a wardrobe? You both look ridiculous.”

“As I said, surprise! Uncle serious picked me up. He was in a rush, insisting that he needed to get back as soon as possible. But I get to spend an extra night with you! I heard what you said about Nate, I’m going to kill the bastard- don’t you worry!”

“Lindsey!” The girl looked at her father sternly, wondering why she was defending Riley and her father had blatantly ignored the facts surrounding Nate.

“Just saying, anyway now she knows that I’m here, we’ll head to our cabin.”

“Quick question, why aren’t you in Europe in the army?” Riley asked her second father figure, still shocked and confused as to why he was here.

“Erm... sick leave.”

“So you’re going to help out then?”

“I can’t, sick leave remember?” The two girls left the men alone, Riley caught Lindsey up on everything that had happened on the first day. When the coast was clear, Andy turned to his childhood friend shaking his head with a slight smirk.

“Sick leave? Seriously? That’s all that you could think up of?”

“How do you think the truth would have turned out... ‘oh hey girls, I don’t work in the army anymore- instead I’m a royal guard for the royal family...by the way the Prince is your fellow camper.’ I promised King Constantine that their identities will not be disclosed, as did you. If anything happens to any of them especially Liam it will all be my fault- I suggested this adventure for them to the King and Queen.”

“As long as the girls don’t know the truth, or anyone for that matter- there shouldn’t be an issue. You have my word, Bast. It’s great to have you back in the states buddy.”

****

Everybody arrived at the cabin allocated for ‘staff only’. On route they bumped into Jackie who agreed on the three men staying with them- she had arranged for Nate to join some other people. As much as Jackie would have loved for him to be ‘a loner’, she wasn’t that cruel.

“This is lovely. It’s like Jackson’s cabin back at home. Isn’t that right, Drake?” Nodding, Drake didn’t want to be here. Especially after his altercation with Riley. Not wanting to be such a prick towards her, he regretted how he behaved immediately. Lola took charge deciding the sleeping arrangements, not allowing for anyone else to have a say in the matter.

“Is that a picture of a blonde Riley and her sister I presume?” Liam questioned Daniel. To begin with there were some hidden feelings towards Riley; an instant attraction. But now that he had seen a picture of her sister, he began to have conflicted feelings.

“Yeah, I think Riley suits blonde. Lindsey is pretty scary if anyone hurts her kid sister, just warning you all now.” Hearing the door slam open, they all stood frozen after originally jumping in unison.

“Talk of the devil.” Daniel winked towards the visitors.

“I’m going to kill him. I swear to god if he touches a single hair on your head he’s a dead man... he thinks because his father is rich he can do whatever the fuck he wants!”

“And people think that I’m a bitch...” Lola giggled. “Hey you two, you have company.”

Lindsey faked a smile, turning from the hulk into an angel. She now knew that Nate Cooper was going to be on her radar at all times during this years camp. But would place those thoughts to the back of her mind. For now at least.

“Hey, Lo... hello handsome strangers...”

“Linz, these ‘strangers’ are newbies so play nice. This is Liam, Maxwell and Drake.”

“So you’re the infamous, Drake.” Overhearing his name, Riley joined them all blushing- unable to look at Drake. Why are they here? Why is he here?

“Hello, it’s nice to finally meet you. Riley spoke highly of you to myself.” Liam introduced himself, his heart began to flutter erratically.

“Shame... she didn’t mention about you...” The two of them remained dormant, just staring into each other’s eyes. As if they was in a trance, which was soon interrupted by Riley.

“What are you guys doing here? Where’s Nate?”

“They are staying here with us! Surprise.”

“Great...Erm I’m going to bed, early start.”

“Stop being such a prune. Have some fun will ya?” Lola knew for a fact that her closest friend was hiding something- usually she would be a night owl but her attitude had changed recently.

“I’ve got a bad headache. Enjoy everyone.” Riley excused herself, after providing them all with a soft smile. A fake one at that.

****

The morning after, Riley tip toed past the guests hoping to not wake them up. Not really making eye contact with any of them she decided to make a coffee before sneaking out to breathe in the fresh morning air.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t know that you was up. I’ll go somewhere else.” What is his issue with me?

“Why are you avoiding me so much?” I don’t want to avoid you. I really don’t. But I have to.

“I’m not avoiding you. I don’t know you.” That’s why you get to know someone, what a dickhead.

“Rather than just assume what my life is like and paint a picture of me....get to know me...” I want to, I really do. But I can’t, especially after I imagined kissing you in the lake.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We will never see each other again, Brooks. We are not friends...” Is he shy? It doesn’t matter if we don’t see each other again, make every moment count!

“Meet me at the lake at six tonight. I just want you to not judge me before getting to know me.” Not giving him chance to respond she left him alone, wanting to have the last word. If not they could have been there all morning debating about why they couldn’t be fiends. At least.

****

After their brief talk, Drake needed some excuse to not meet her. Of course he wanted to get to know her. Wanting to spend time with her. However, he knew that it would only end up in heartbreak. The group arrived at fencing, Nate had been persistently asking where they had all been staying. Why he had been forced to move into another cabin? Drake immediately hated him more every second that he spent with him.

“So, Riley and Lindsey will demonstrate. Then I’ll pair you all up.” The two girls defined the definition of sibling rivalry. Neither wanting to give in and lose. After a while their mother abruptly stopped them, calling it a draw. Much to Lindsey’s annoyance.

“Madeleine, Olivia... are you both ready?” Olivia stood up abruptly ready to battle, where as Madeleine was hesitating. The blonde knew that Olivia enjoyed any activity which could harm her opponent.

“I think I’ll see this one out, thank you very much.” Madeleine suggested as she fluttered her eyes towards Jackie.

“Get up now Amaranth! What’s up? Scared that I’m going to slit that perfect skin of yours?”

“Olivia! No violence please.”

“I’m only joking Mrs Brooks.” Or am I? Madeleine gulped, knowing for a fact that her so called friend wasn’t joking. “I don’t feel too good. Is it okay if I head back?” Jackie sighed, knowing that Madeleine wasn’t going to cooperate in any way or form. Agreeing just to avoid any conflict, she watched Madeleine make her way back to the dorm. Jackie decided to pair up with Olivia herself, once they had finished the older woman now knew why Madeleine looked terrified at the mention of being the red heads opponent.

“Drake, Nate. You’re both up next.” Jackie suggested after catching her breath. Not noticing how the two of them were providing each other with looks that could kill prior to her pairing them up.

“Great. It’ll be like a proper duel. People who are below my standard don’t stand a chance.”

“Nate, please don’t hurt him.” Riley pleaded quietly, knowing that he wouldn’t take any notice anyway.

“Why? Do you have a crush on him? When you have me here?”

“No! They are new. You’re an expert at it, just go easy. Please.” Nate knew exactly what she thought of Drake. The blush that appeared upon her face gave her true feelings away instantly.

“I’ll go easy, if you can give me a good luck kiss...” kissing him on the cheek, that is all he would ever receive from her.

“Aw, I think they make a cute couple.” Maxwell said, before looking at Drake who was hiding his jealousy well due to his friends comment. “Do you need a good luck kiss, Drake?”

“Not from you! I don’t need good luck.”

****

Walking by the lake, she was disappointed that Drake wasn’t there as arranged earlier on in the day. Sitting on the edge on the jetty- she just needed a break away from everyone. Deep down, she was upset that he hated her in an instant. But she hated the fact that she was the opposite. Liam was handsome she couldn’t deny that but she felt something for Drake even if he was a jerk with her.

“Hi, Riley!” The younger campers shouted towards her. They adored her, as she ‘mothered’ them all. Just smiling and waving towards them- she checked the time. He’s not coming, Riley. Just accept it. Slowly standing up, her heart was breaking but her mind informed her to act normal- as if she didn’t care. As she walked away from the jetty she noticed two familiar faces walking her way.

“Hey, where is he?” The two men looked at each other confused, wondering who she was referring about.

“Who?” Maxwell questioned not knowing why he would know anything.

“Drake.”

“Oh, he’s at the cabin. He wasn’t feeling too well.”

“Okay.” Smiling at the two of them, she explained that she was going to go to the canteen. Luckily they believed her.

Drake heard the door open, turning his head he didn’t want to see her. It wasn’t a date anyway he believed.

“I decided to not come. I’m not feeling too well.” Speaking quietly, he felt guilty for standing her up. He daren’t turn around to face her, he could only imagine what her facial expression would be. Anger. Mixed with hurt possibly.

“No shit sherlock.” Sternly responding to him, she couldn’t wait to hear what lame excuse he came up with.

“I didn’t have a number to contact you. So I couldn’t get a hold of you to let you know.”

“Well I was at the lake. You do have legs right? You could have walked there and explained that you wasn’t staying.”

“Why are you so bothered? Is this a little game that you’re playing? Trying to make Nate jealous by spending time with us instead?” Laughing she couldn’t believe how his mind ticked. At how defensive he sounded even if he was in the wrong according to her.

“That’s crazy. You’re crazy.”

“No, you’re crazy. Wanting to spend time with someone like me.”

“Maybe I like men that are normal. Intelligent. Adventurous. Maybe, just maybe....” pausing, he didn’t seem the slight bit interested as he remained in the same position that he was in when she first arrived. “You just don’t get it do you, Drake?”

“Maybe I don’t.” Turning around, she didn’t want this conversation to elaborate now. That’s enough of trying to look desperate.

“You know. It wasn’t a date. I just wanted to talk. Is that too much to ask? You’re here for a month, all I wanted to do was sit down near the lake. You ask me questions. I ask you questions. If it was too awkward for you, and you want to continue hating me- fine. Fair enough. But at least we tried. Forget it, I’m done.”

Storming off, he was like a magnet - her mind was trying to think up of any excuse to talk to him. To try to talk. As she walked back in, Drake had defused himself from the couch- her eyes widened as she saw his face.

“This is why I didn’t want to meet you.”

“What happened?”

“During fencing when you left, he was talking about you like you was a piece of shit. After he did this to me, he warned me to stay away from you.”

Nate pushed Drake into a mucky puddle that was surrounding them. Losing his balance, Drake fell backwards. Hearing Olivia cheer for Nate, he grit his teeth. Feeling humiliated, he used the self defence skills that Bastien and his father had taught him and the others from such a young age.

“I won! Why couldn’t you just accept defeat?” Nate snapped as he fell next to Drake.

“Let’s call it a draw.” Hearing the crowd cheer, Nate decided to become a professional actor in front of everybody. Helping Drake up, he then pat him on the back. Once everybody was getting ready for the next ‘match’, Nate dragged his opponent out of the way of prying eyes. Raising his fist, he aimed straight for Drake’s cheek bone.

“What the fuck? Are you insane?”

“Are you?”

“What the fuck are you on about, Nigel?” Emphasising Maxwell’s nickname for Nate, Drake knew that it would irritate the hell out of him.

“Listen, stay away from Riley. She’s mine. You really think that she will look at someone like you? You’re not even from around here so keep those puppy dog eyes lingering somewhere else. You and the blue eyed blonde prick.”

“I don’t like her. But she isn’t your property. So stop disrespecting her. If she is ever going to be yours you need to learn to treat her right!”

“Oh I will, money buys you everything. I’ll make her mine- even if I have to force it upon her.”

“Don’t talk about her like that. If she doesn’t want you, get over yourself.”

“Aw what’s up? Are you going to be a hero? Make her fall in love with you instead for all of what... four weeks? You can keep that thought. Because that’s all it’ll ever be. I get what I want, one way or another. See ya.”

“I’m so sorry. Drake... I....”

“It’s fine.” Closing the distance between the two of them, she gently touched the injury causing him to flinch.

“Please don’t touch it.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll sort it out.”

“Don’t. Honestly, I’m fine. It’s fine. If you want, we can talk another time? Once the dust settles.”

“Pass me your phone. I’ll put my number in it so you can contact me when we aren’t in the groups. I’ll see you later?”

“Sure.”

Once she left, a smile crept up on his face. Regretting not meeting her to begin with, he would make amends behind closed doors. Not wanting Nate, to be a danger towards anyone. Especially, Riley. He decided to give her a quick text, so she also had his number.

Receiving his text, a smile crept up on to her face. Unable to wipe it away, she was pleased that she had a persistent attitude. Noticing Nate, she pulled him away from the group that he was sat in.

“Hey, beautiful. Feeling any better?”

“I’m feeling much better than you’ll be feeling.” Swinging her fist back, she aimed straight for his nose. Blood immediately poured everywhere, as he fell backwards not expecting this type of behaviour from her.

“Stay away from me. Stay away from everybody else...” Stay away from Drake. Realising that he was the attention of the full camp, he felt humiliated beyond words as gasps and whispering echoed around him. Stupid bitch. Were the two words that he wanted to express out loud. Instead he bit his tongue, not wanting to push her away any further. Escaping from the ‘crime scene’ he began plotting how to get his revenge- not on Riley specifically, but the new boys who had caused all of this in his mind.

****

Feeling slightly guilty that she had used her fists- she was a lover not a fighter, the adrenaline soon drained and she began to rethink about her unexpected actions. Drake had defended her to begin with, even without elaborating on the true facts about what Nate said regarding her. She believed that there was possibly much more to that conversation, but Drake didn’t have the heart to go into full details. Most likely to protect her feelings. Or so she hoped. Deep down, she knew that he wasn’t an arsehole under all of those scowls that prevented his true personality from making an appearance. Even though she was the directors daughter, her father wouldn’t treat her any differently and would send her to the isolation cabin for a night as well as a full day as he would do for anyone else breaking any rules.

“Riley......”

“I know, I’ll pack my bag.”

“Baby, don’t touch him again. Ignore him in the future.”

“So it’s okay for him to give Drake a black eye? Demand that Drake stays away from me after he protected and defended me?”

“He did what?”

****

Riley closed her eyes, most people close to her assumed that she was suffering with depression. Possible domestic abuse added to those suspicions even if she denied it. Hence the weekly meetings in this office. Staring at the same four walls that she had become accustomed to for the last four weeks, it became tedious. Pointless, in her mind.

“So after you informed your father about what Nate had done to Drake, what happened next?” Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. Remembering how determined she was to just talk to him. Shaking her head, she didn’t want to elaborate on the heartbreak that she had suffered. Stupidity from her part believed that they could have had the fairytale ending as Andy and Jackie did. Now, it was just distant memories. Memories that often resurfaced every now and again.

“Summer camp, was a major part of your childhood right up to young adulthood. If your parents were still here would you be able to return even with the memories about Drake, Nate and your friends.”

“One day I will have to return. To face it all again. I’m just not ready yet. That year, I finally understood what love was. I understood about how my parents instantly fell in love in a similar situation....”

“Next week, if you want- we can continue where we left off if it helps? Explain what happened for the remainder of the camp season.” Riley thanked Sharon, her counsellor. Even ten years later, she still struggled with what happened at camp that time that the five strangers attended. Lindsey had recently forced her sister to have sessions especially after losing their parents tragically. As she exited the building, her cell began to ring on an unknown number.

“Hello?”

“Hello, may I speak to Riley Brooks please?”

“I am... I was Riley Brooks. I’m married now. But yes, you’ve found her.”

“Riley, my name is Harris Watson and I’m the estate attorney for your Uncle. I’m afraid I have some bad news...”

“Oh god...”

****

The last day or two had been specifically hard for Drake. He had purposely self isolated himself in his fathers cabin. Not wanting or allowing himself to socialise or interact with anyone. Not even, Liam. Thirteen years had passed since he had lost his father. Twelve and a half years since his mother had done a vanishing act. A year since his sister mimicked their mothers actions. Two days ago he lost someone else, the only other person who he was close to. Slowly sipping the whiskey, he stared at the photo above the fire place. A photo that was taken ten years prior. The picture could paint a thousand words, but for Drake its only meaning was the one and only time that he had truly fallen in love. Unexpectedly.

Here’s to you, Ri. I hope that you are doing all of those amazing things. Those aims that you said you would do when you forced me to talk to you for the first time. I’m so sorry for hurting you. I miss you every second of each day.

Hearing his phone ring, he was knocked out of his trance from all those years ago.

“Hello, is that Drake Walker?”

“Yes, this is he.”

“Drake, my name is Harris Watson and I’m the estate attorney for....” Drakes heart sunk, he knew exactly what this phone call was regarding. Suddenly he seemed very sober. “Upon his request, he had requested for yourself and four others to come to New York City. I will forward you a copy of the letter that he left; it will include the names of those people. But I will require for you to come to my office for ten am on Monday. I will forward the directions. Is that okay?”

“Sure. See you there. Thank you.” Hanging up, tears immediately rolled down his face uncontrollably. Receiving the notification he opened the document as his hand shook.

Dear Drake, my son.

I’m sorry that I couldn’t help you locate Savannah as promised. As soon as I had heard about what the King had done to you all of these years, I couldn’t hold back. He’s going to kill me, hence why I am writing this. I’m sorry for leaving you. But I had to defend you. My will hearing will be in New York, I need you to travel there with; Liam and Maxwell. Possibly take Leo with you? Maybe Tariq too? I know you don’t like Tariq much, but does anyone? I know you’re probably laughing at that comment right now. Maybe you could combine this trip with Liam’s premature bachelor party? Have a blast you lot! I’m going to look down on you as well as two other special people in my life. I hope that you find happiness that you deserve. You are loyal, and I’m proud to have been able to call you my son. Bast.

[llucy-san]

CHARACTER STUDY

Tagged by lovely @pd3 ❤️ and maybe someone else but.... 🤷‍♀️

@faithchel @ja-crispea @smithandrogers @shelliechen @v3ryvelvet @veinereastath @dieguzguz @f0xyboxes @fadedjacket @risenlucifer @tomexraider @fromathelastoveritaserum @goodboiboomer-fc5 @geronimo-11​

I made it as my OC's would answer this ask game, so go ahead and read if you want to know more about them or how they interact.

LAYER 01: THE OUTSIDE

NAME: Hope Amelia Lansdowne but Hope is enough.

EYE COLOUR: It's mix of blue and green, but more of blue.

HAIR STYLE / COLOUR: Long, wavy blond hair, but I like to comb it into a bun or a ponytail.

HEIGHT: 5′6″

CLOTHING STYLE: I usually wear comfortable things like T-shirts, pants, combat boots and of course my military jacket. But you won't find anything fancy like dress in my closet.

BEST PHYSICAL FEATURE: *shrugs* Don't know, whole body i guess. I'm trying to be fit.

LAYER 02: THE INSIDE

FEAR: Lose the ones I love.

GUILTY PLEASURE: I got drunk once so hard with mates, Sharky and Hurk that you don't even want to know where we woke up the next day. A week after our little meeting, I felt still little dizzy. But I would never trade my two to ride and die. NEVER.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE: My plane!! You can look at it but don't touch it.

AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE: Live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment with our loved ones.

LAYER 03: THOUGHTS

FIRST THOUGHTS WAKING UP: Glaring at those little numbers on my alarm clock and whisper “I hate you” but then *sighs* I remember all the things that awaits me that day and somehow, I get out of bed.

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT MOST: If I will have the strength to get up the next day.

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT BEFORE BED: My baby!! I usually fall into bed and instantly fall asleep.

WHAT THEY THINK THEIR BEST QUALITY IS: My flying skills and maybe my humour. There is nothing better than being sarcastic to someone who you don’t like. Or if I won fight over men twice my size.

LAYER 04: EITHER OR

SINGLE OR GROUP DATES: I don't do dates, and quite frankly, I don't even have time for it. But if I have to choose, I prefer single.

TO BE LOVED OR RESPECTED: Can't I choose both? I think they're both corresponding.

BEAUTY OR BRAINS: Brains, definitely.

DOGS OR CATS: Both, take a look at Bommer and Peaches. They're both so adorable.

LAYER 05: DO THEY

LIE: Who hasn't? I try to be honest but sometimes some situations requires it.

BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES: What kind of bloody question is that? *frowns* Of course, I believe in myself.

BELIEVE IN LOVE: If you meet the right one, go ahead. Though, I was not so lucky.

WANT SOMEONE: Why are you asking? You offer?

LAYER 06: HAVE THEY

BEEN ON STAGE: Nope.

DONE DRUGS: Sharky has a lot of stuff, but I keep my hands off it, so no.

CHANGED WHO THEY WERE TO FIT IN: I don't need to pretend in front of anyone to fit in. I am who I am and I will never force myself.

LAYER 07: WHAT'S THEIR

FAVORITE COLOR: Don't have one.

FAVORITE ANIMAL: Wolves, I adores them.

FAVORITE BOOK: *shrugs* I don't read much, but when I do, I read what's first hand.

FAVORITE GAME: If you consider games where you drink a lot, then yes. *shifts in her seat* Hey, you should come to Spread Eagle with me sometimes and we can play our drinking games. Hurk will bring his liquor he got from many journeys he survived and Mary will make her famous cocktails.

LAYER 08: AGE

DAY THEIR NEXT BIRTHDAY WILL BE: 24th September

HOW OLD THEY WILL BE: 25

LAYER 09:

I LOVE: Flying, I have flying in my blood, or just being in lap of nature.

I FEEL: *sighs* Tired of your questions.

I HIDE: My bourbon! You wouldn't believe how hard it is for me to bring it here unseen. Especialy from Sharky cause he will drink anything he can see.

I MISS: My parents. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye with them one last time or go to their funeral.

I WISH: To be done with this so I could go.

LAYER 01: THE OUTSIDE

NAME: Marcus Adam Lansdowne but Marcus is fine.

EYE COLOUR: Blue

HAIR STYLE / COLOUR: Short-cut blond, short on the sides and up here *combing his hair* I have to comb it back or hold it with something, usually cap helps me.

HEIGHT: 6′1″

CLOTHING STYLE: T-shirts, pants but also something elegant like suits. But I wear them only at special occasions. 

BEST PHYSICAL FEATURE: Arms, for sure. But Avery, my wife, will tell you something else.

LAYER 02: THE INSIDE

FEAR: My family above all. All I have left is my sister and my loving wife. So if you so much as look at both of them in the wrong way, *leanes closer in his seat* then, you and I have a problem, mate. 

GUILTY PLEASURE: You would believe me but singing while playing on my guitar.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE: When I lose something and Avery or Hope says, "Well, where was the last place you had it?" Seriously? That's being helpful? If I knew the last place I had it, it wouldn't be lost, now would it?

AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE: I don't know. I have everything I need and don't need anything else.

LAYER 03: THOUGHTS

FIRST THOUGHTS WAKING UP: Time in the army taught me to get up early so, next question.

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT MOST: Family

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT BEFORE BED: What kind of question is this? *frowns* The bed equals rest. What else should I think about? Oh you mean. *clears his throat* Next one.

WHAT THEY THINK THEIR BEST QUALITY IS: Strength, devotion, intellect.

LAYER 04: EITHER OR

SINGLE OR GROUP DATES: I don't know what you want from me anymore.

TO BE LOVED OR RESPECTED: Respect from others and love from family.

BEAUTY OR BRAINS: Brains.

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs.

LAYER 05: DO THEY

LIE: I hate it when people lie to my face, but I'm not an innocent either.

BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES: Yes, I do.

BELIEVE IN LOVE: Yes

WANT SOMEONE: *quirks his eyebrows* I'm hapilly married. Avery is only one I want.

LAYER 06: HAVE THEY

BEEN ON STAGE: No

DONE DRUGS: Never in my life.

CHANGED WHO THEY WERE TO FIT IN: No.

LAYER 07: WHAT'S THEIR

FAVORITE COLOR: Dark blue, black, dark green.

FAVORITE ANIMAL: Wolves, dogs, I don't know.

FAVORITE BOOK: I don't know, but the last time I read something was by Faulkner.

FAVORITE GAME: Hope once took me to one of their gatherings in Falls End and it didn't go so well. Although, I had fun like never before, but I have never had such hangover in my life. And I have to warn you about Sharky's home-made liquor. Strong as hell.

LAYER 08: AGE

DAY THEIR NEXT BIRTHDAY WILL BE: 2nd February

HOW OLD THEY WILL BE: 33

LAYER 09:

I LOVE: Enjoying days with my family and friends or spending time in the woods.

I FEEL: Fine

I HIDE: Nothing you need to know about.

I MISS: Parents. I miss them very much.

I WISH: To stop asking me these odd questions.

LAYER 01: THE OUTSIDE

NAME: Hayley Louise Moore but friends calls me Hale.

EYE COLOUR: Olive green

HAIR STYLE / COLOUR: Semi-long chocolate hair and at the ends it turns into soft waves.

HEIGHT: 5′5″

CLOTHING STYLE: It's usually a blouse and a pencil skirt, but also a dress. But what I love most are my sweaters and sweatpants, which I wear in the late evenings while reading books.

BEST PHYSICAL FEATURE: I run around the docks every morning so I'd say legs. Nature here isn't like in Atlanta or New Orleans, but it's much more beautiful.

LAYER 02: THE INSIDE

FEAR: *laughs* Well, my husband's flying. Like, I'm not afraid of flying, but the last time he took me with him and he did his wild stunts like front flips or whatever he calls it, I almost killed him after we landed. I'm not kidding. *shift in her lovechair* Affirmination and I are not friends.

GUILTY PLEASURE: Dancing while vacuuming or cleaning the ranch.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE:

AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE: Seeing my kids grow up into the wonderful adults we're with John trying to raise.

LAYER 03: THOUGHTS

FIRST THOUGHTS WAKING UP: New day new beginning. Morning is my favourite time of day.

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT MOST: Kids, Family, you know stuff like this.

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT BEFORE BED: Sleep, only sleep, and maybe something else, *whisper while leaning closer* but that's not appropriate.

WHAT THEY THINK THEIR BEST QUALITY IS: My persuasive skills. I always get what I want because I learned from the best, I know.

LAYER 04: EITHER OR

SINGLE OR GROUP DATES:  Single, certainly single. Actually I think I've never been to a group dates before.

TO BE LOVED OR RESPECTED: Both

BEAUTY OR BRAINS: Brains. No matter how handsome or beautiful you are, I care how you will deal with difficult situations so I choose brains.

DOGS OR CATS: Cats

LAYER 05: DO THEY

LIE: Not often, but only here and there.

BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES: Yep.

BELIEVE IN LOVE: I do.

WANT SOMEONE: Why are you asking? Only my husband.

LAYER 06: HAVE THEY

BEEN ON STAGE: Nope

DONE DRUGS: No, it will completely destroy your brain.

CHANGED WHO THEY WERE TO FIT IN: I've never been able to pretend who I'm not, so no.

LAYER 07: WHAT'S THEIR

FAVORITE COLOR: I don't have a favourite colour, but my wardrobe mostly consists of soft colours and black and white combination.

FAVORITE ANIMAL: Cats because of their eyes.

FAVORITE BOOK: Fitzgerald. I love Great Gatsby.

FAVORITE GAME: I don't play games much. I'm not very good at them.

LAYER 08: AGE

DAY THEIR NEXT BIRTHDAY WILL BE: 15th August

HOW OLD THEY WILL BE: 27

LAYER 09:

I LOVE: Watching my husband cook, because have you seen someone like him work around in the kitchen? *glances behind her shoulder* I just adore him.

I FEEL: Good

I HIDE: My cookies!! Listen, I love Jacob, he is my favourite brother in law but he always eats almost everything on plate before I can. I have to be fast if I want at least one or two cookies from Faith.

I MISS: Every now and then I miss my life in Atlanta and my best friend Nadia. *sighs* God, you should meet her, you’d love her.

I WISH: To have at least one of those delicious cookies cause my brother in law just came so if you don't mind I will go.

[celticheartedfangirl]

My OUAT Rewatch -- S6E4 -- Strange Case

Link to Rewatch Review and Ranking archive

Okay, there’s A LOT to unpack in this one, but before we do THAT . . . . . it’s time once again for our new favorite game show . . . . 

What the Fuck is Emma Wearing??????

Seriously, after S6 Ends the S6 Emma Snarky Fashion Show post is coming . . . . . if you have any snarks on ANY of her S6 wardrobe, you are welcome to send it to me via messenger or message and I will keep it on file until the big event!  I don’t think there was ever a full on “Drag Emma’s S6 Wardrobe” in-depth post, and I am here to fill that much-needed gap!  Stay tuned!  

By the way, sub-category just for this episode . . . . what the fuck is BELLE wearing?????

I usually love Belle’s wardrobe.  I’m usually either drooling over how stunning she is or seething with envy that I’m not skinny enough to wear the stuff she wears.  And very often I’m doing both.  

But THIS ugly-ass thing?  WTF is it supposed to be?  A dress?  A nightgown?  A dressy nightgown?  A nightie dressgown?  It’s ugly, its so bland it washes out her coloring (and the wig she’s wearing in this one, OMG!!!!  Hideous!), just -- yech all around.  Probably the ugliest thing she’s EVER worn.  Not sure what they were going for costume wise here, but EPIC FAIL.

Okay . . . . . . now that that’s out . . . . . here’s the thing, and it might surprise you . . . . . . I didn’t totally HATE this episode.  Yup, you read that right.  Don’t worry, you’re as surprised as I am, because I expected to come on here ranting and screaming and all like . . . . . 

But nope.  

I mean . . . . I didn’t LOVE the episode.  It’s not one I’ll watch over and over again.  But there are WAY worse episodes in this series than this one.  I don’t do the tally till after I do the review, and I went in expecting this to be in the negatives, possibly even moving the shitfest that was Smash the Mirror out of the bottom spot.  I don’t think it will be in the negatives.  We’ll see when I end this, but . . . . . . it wasn’t THAT BAD.  And I was aggressively and unapologetically hate watching when this originally aired.  Also, David Goodman was one of the writers so of COURSE there’s going to be some shit in here because it’s GOODMAN.  

So . . . . . ready to discuss?  Yes there WILL be Belle dragging but I will politely do this to the Belle dragging so that those who don’t want to read it can skim on by.  

Come on in . . . . . . 

BTW, for those reading this at a later date, or those just flat out not in the know . . . . . Bobby filmed the movie Trainspotting 2 during the summer between S5 and S6, and he had to cut his hair and grow out a porn ‘stache.  Well he didn’t HAVE to, and actually ABC told him NOT to, but he basically said “Fuck ABC” and did it anyway.  So over the summer of 2016 he looked like this:

So yup . . . the past three episodes he was wearing a very bad wig.  And there’s a lot of debate on which Rumple is the hottest, and S6 Rumple wins for many.  S7 is MY preference, but I’ve grown to appreciate the short hair.

Anyhow . . . . this episode was actually WAY better than I remembered.  I mean Belle was a fucking bitch, that hasn’t changed, Hook was being shoehorned into the Rumbelle story, as he’s being shoehorned into EVERY story to see where he can be useful (the answer would be NOWHERE because he’s a fucking useless lamp with no real purpose on this show), and of course the CLASSIC Swan Queen #no homo moment:

Swan Queen: Social Distancing since October 2016!

You know, I didn’t remember this moment being in THIS episode.  I honestly thought it was later.  But then again, S6 is a blur of me bitching, drinking, and being blocked by the fandom because I called a fictional character a bitch, so what do I know?

Anyhow, this moment . . . . . oh the FUN we had with it!

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/151930060407/scarimor-the-internet-is-on-the-ball-this

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/151932134492/swanmills-just-in-case-you-forgot-this

So the Jekyll and Hyde stuff . . . . . was actually not that bad.  But honestly kinda anti-climactic?  Because they set up Hyde to be a S6 Big Bad and he’s DEAD by Episode FOUR???  But then again A&E have always sucked at follow-through, so is anyone surprised?

Also the lovely Karen David is now on board as Jasmine and I cannot WAIT to see how these hacks will fuck HER story up!

Also LMAO, Snow sucks at teaching!

So back to the Rumple/Belle/Rumbelle shit . . . . . . . 

1.  I side with Rumple

2.  Belle was being an unreasonable dumbass and I wanted to smack the ever living fuck out of her the entire episode

2.  What in the actual FUCK is Hook doing there?  And a magic seashell, REALLY????  Don’t they both have PHONES?????  More Stu propping, ugh.  Also he tried to murder Belle FOUR TIMES, please stop with this fuckery!

I had lots of opinion about this episode when it aired, and honestly I only half assed watched it at the time so let’s review my opinion and see if I still agree with them . . . . . . . . 

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/151930433837/for-those-who-didntdont-want-to-watch-a-brief

Okay, I didn’t think Rumple was THAT OOC and the Snow stuff was fun.  Other than that -- agree.  Next . . . . 

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/151908421027/okay-help-me-out

Yup.  

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/151908871377/fucking-hook-propping

Absolutely agree!

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/151894995482/emospritelet-onceandfuturekikiouat-i-100

THIS THIS THIS, ALL OF FUCKING THIS!!!!!

So one good thing that this episode gave us were these BTS gifs that a fan filmed of Bobby goofing around on set:

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/151900061412/just-ustas-lets-go-rumple-he-is-so

But otherwise . . . . . . S6, a summary so far (that will continue):

BTW, on a side note -- Creation released their promo poster for the 2016-2017 OAUAT Convention season -- and this was it:

In case you ever had ANY doubt who was the “most important” character on the show.  

Points tally:

40 points to start

10 points for Rumbelle centric ISH

5 points for socially distanced but still more chemistry than with a man Swan Queen

I’m doing 2 points Rumple in character and deducting 2 points for him OOC because I didn’t think he was either but he was both.  And that makes no sense but neither does some of this shitty writing

5 points deducted for Hook

10 points deducted for OOC Belle

10 points deducted for Belle and Hook GTFO

10 points deducted for Goodman

10 bonus points for Rumple losing the damn wig

Sorry, gotta dump 25 points for all the Rumbelle bullshit and all the Hook propping bullshit

Total points:  5

Wow, not in negatives!  Color me stunned!

Follow #celtichearted OUAT ranking tag for more to come!

[lailaliquorice]

learned to travel light

big trigger warning for eating disorders and small self harm reference

this is a heavy one loves. being open, it’s pretty much four thousand words of projection which I’ve wanted to write for a long time and has been a little bit therapeutic to be honest. but please take the trigger warnings seriously, and anyone is so welcome to message me if they need to talk to someone. I poured my heart out into this one and I’m really proud of it but please take care of yourselves

my amazing sibling @jarneiarichardnxel wrote a character study from aragon’s point of view which offshoots from this which you can find here. abs I love you so much and thank you for always being up for our headcanon sessions <3

Anne was used to being told she was too much.

It was the epitome of everything she’d been criticised for in her old life: too loud, too opinionated, just too much for a queen. And somehow the comment occasionally followed through to this new life that she’d hoped so desperately would be a new fresh start. She was still too loud, still too opinionated, and too pushy on stage and constantly trying to make everything about her at the expense of her fellow queens. For the most part though, she could chalk those comments up to her just following the script since that was all people saw of her and not take them to heart too much.

But suddenly there was also the added ammunition of the twenty first century standards she’d suddenly found herself measured by. Suddenly it wasn’t just her personality that was too much. She was too tall, too awkward, standing out against the rest of the queens. It was enough to make her skin crawl whenever she put her costume and caught her reflection in the full length mirror.

Sat in her costume at the dressing room table after a show, a quick glance through social media while she got her breath back wiped the smile from her face as someone had thought to tag the show account in a hard hitting comment. ‘Saw six for the first time and honestly couldn’t stand boleyn after 5 mins. Idk how the other queens put up with her when the show’s over. And she sticks out like a sore thumb in that skimpy outfit.’

Shame burned at the back of her throat as she subconsciously covered the gap between her top and her skirt with one hand. Normally she loved her costume but in the space of a split second she felt uncomfortable with so much of herself on show, wishing she had a dress like Jane’s that didn’t leave her stomach and her arms and her legs so exposed.

“Oi! Cleves calling Boleyn, are you receiving?”

Anna’s shout made Anne jump in her seat, giving Anna a shaky smile as she laughed at her reaction. “Sorry Anna, in a world of my own there. Did you say something?”

“I said we’re all going to the pub for dinner when we’re changed, you coming?” Anna repeated.

Normally Anne would have nodded immediately, always eager to spend a night out with her friends after a tiring day. But her first thought instead went to the comments on her phone, the constant reminder of how she was too loud and too overbearing every time she refreshed the page. “Not tonight, gonna go home and go to bed early,” she said with a quick shake of her head.

Both Anna and Aragon looked surprised, but to Anne’s relief they didn’t comment on it. “Alright babes, get some rest,” Anna said, picking up her costume to take down to wardrobe before she left for the night. “Usual drill, let someone know you’re home and all that, alright?”

“Yeah,” Anne nodded, deliberately keeping her eyes trained on Anna so she didn’t have to meet Aragon’s concerned expression that she could feel boring into the side of her skull.

She looked back down at her phone as Anna left, waiting for Aragon to leave before she got changed into her own clothes since the thought of any more of her body being on view for scrutiny made her stomach knot. But she couldn’t keep avoiding Aragon when she walked over and leaned on the desk right next to where Anne was sitting. “Are you ok” she asked quietly.

Anne immediately plastered the most convincing smile she could muster on her face, desperately hoping that Aragon’s kind eyes couldn’t see through her mask. “Yeah, I’m fine, promise,” she said quickly, any gratitude for the concern quashed by her desperate wish that Aragon would leave her to her shame.

Aragon gave a nod of acceptance though her eyes betrayed her lack of conviction. “Alright. If you’re not having dinner with us then I’ve got some leftovers in the fridge from last night you can have,” she said, repeating Anna’s request that Anne let them know when she was home before she left and shut the dressing room door behind her.

The minute she was alone Anne sagged, not needing to keep up the pretence any longer. She closed her eyes for a moment, willing herself the energy to get up and go home and not just sit in her chair gathering dust until the next show, and after giving a tired huff she pushed herself up and started to take her hairpieces out. She deliberately kept her gaze towards the floor as changed out of her costume as fast as possibly but still managed to catch the odd glimpse of herself in the mirrors surrounding her and winced every time she did so.

Once home she did send a text to the group chat. But she didn’t eat Aragon’s leftovers.

~~~

The same pattern repeated itself several times more over the course of the next few weeks. It wasn’t only meals out, if a couple of the other queens were eating at the table together then Anne would come up with a hasty excuse to take her plate up to her room so she wouldn’t have to bother them by joining them. The more time progressed the fewer meals she would actually eat, more times than not just letting it go cold as she continued to distract herself with a tv show or something before emptying the plate into the bin once the others had gone to bed.

She didn’t know when the aim of her behaviour transitioned from avoiding mealtimes to avoiding meals themselves. The feeling of hunger became something she could fixate on to avoid thinking about how much she was burdening everyone. Having absolute control over her food felt like a lifeline after being so used to drifting uncontrollably through her past life dictated by others.

If she knew she had to be present for dinner then any thought of lunch would go out the window so she could compensate, and she’d spend the entire meal fidgeting in her chair and pushing food around her plate to distract from how little she was eating. She kept quiet for the most part so as not to bother the others with her presence but made sure she was chatty whenever someone spoke to her, desperately making sure that no-one picked up on anything she didn’t want them too. That no-one picked up on the fact that those mealtimes made her so anxious she wanted to cry.

When the hunger kept her up at night she distracted herself with the thought that she was doing everyone a favour. If everyone thought she was too much then she would make herself smaller; smaller emotionally, smaller physically, small enough that no-one could criticise her anymore.

It was only a few weeks before she started seeing changes whenever she could bear to look in the mirror. And as she stared at her reflection, hollow cheeks and angular shoulders and visible collarbones, she couldn’t quite make up her mind whether it scared her or not.

So she kept going.

The biggest change in her after noticing those results was that the usually cuddly and clingy Anne couldn’t bear the idea of anyone touching her anymore. It wasn’t the fear of being touched itself – secretly she still craved that as much as she refused to admit it to herself – it was the fear of anyone else noticing something different about her body. She knew that what she could see in the mirror had to be noticeable beneath other people’s hands, which was a risk she couldn’t take.

Shrinking beneath Anna patting her on the shoulder and wriggling out from Cathy’s arm around her or Jane and Kat’s hugs felt like an arrow to her own heart, but she knew she had to do it. What hurt the most though were the shadows of worry in Aragon’s eyes whenever she watched Anne doing so. The thought that she was disappointing Aragon above anyone else felt infinitely worse than she had ever expected it to.

She’d noticed Aragon keeping a close eye on her more and more as time and habits progressed, bringing her to try avoiding Aragon’s watchful gaze whenever humanely possible in an attempt to throw her off. But she knew that she couldn’t hide forever.

Anne was sat at the table in the kitchen that evening, elbows rested on the tabletop and head hanging between hunched shoulders. She’d done her usual routine of pretending to take her dinner upstairs but not taking a mouthful and emptying the plate as soon as everyone had gone to bed, but an unexpected wave of dizziness and exhaustion had left her near-collapsed on a chair with her empty plate next to her. Her breathing was heavy as she tried to ignore the dark spots in her vision, heart beating a panicky rhythm at the thought of someone walking into the kitchen and seeing her in that state.

Sure enough, the sound of someone coming down the stairs was followed by the kitchen light being flicked on and a soft gasp as she was spotted. Anne screwed her eyes shut as the footsteps continued towards her, knowing it was too late to make a run for it now even if she thought her shaking knees would be able to carry her up two flights of stairs.

“Anne?”

It was Aragon. Anne hardly responded to the sound of her name being called, just winced slightly when she placed a gentle hand on Anne’s arm after sitting down beside her. “Anne, what’s going on?”

Anne couldn’t make herself answer for a couple of seconds, her mind too occupied by the emptiness in her stomach and her unsteady breathing and the fear that Aragon could feel every bone in her shoulderblade. “Nothing’s going on, I’m fine,” she answered, but even she could hear the weariness in her voice.

“Don’t.” Aragon’s tone was firm yet gentle as she shook her head, and when she removed her hand from Anne’s shoulder Anne managed to look round and just about meet her gaze. “Don’t say that. I know something’s wrong. There’s things I’ve noticed that aren’t ok and I’m worried about you.”

She might have continued to push Aragon away if it wasn’t for that last comment. It was the first indication she’d been given that what she was doing to herself wasn’t better for the other queens, that they might have possibly been happy with her the way she was. Even while the louder voice in her mind shoved that idea away almost immediately, she couldn’t help the shaky “What?” that escaped her lips.

Even with the forgiveness in Aragon’s voice softening the blow, Anne couldn’t help but feel as if she was being read out a list of her crimes. “You’re quieter, you look exhausted all the time, you don’t have the same energy during the show that you used to. And while the others all think you’re just having an off few weeks, I think I know what the cause of it might be.”

Anne was silent as she watched Aragon tap the plate that was still sat like a barrier between them.

“Back in the time following Arthur’s death I was kept here to wait for Henry to come of age,” Aragon started after a long pause. Anne wondered briefly why there was such a note of hesitation in her voice and glimmer of fear in her eyes, but that was answered as soon as she continued. “I was a pawn for both our fathers; I had no control over my life and my future. So I took control over one of the few things I had the power too.”

“Food,” Anne said quietly, filling in the blank where she paused.

Aragon gave a single nod. “I fasted excessively during those years. I believed it would bring me closer to God, hoped that He would be more inclined to answer my prayers and secure my future. It became an obsession with surviving on as little food as I could and I welcomed the suffering it caused me, since like many I believed that pain brought me closer to Christ.”

She broke off with a rough sigh before adding “but I did suffer. I made myself ill for most of those seven years; stomach pains, fevers, cold sweats, headaches and dizzy spells.” After another pause to let her words sink in, she asked “Do some of those sound familiar?” as she looked into Anne’s eyes.

“Mhm,” Anne hummed almost silently. Now that she knew Catherine understood what was going through her head she didn’t try to pretend otherwise.

“I thought so,” Aragon said, reaching out to take Anne’s hand in hers as she continued. “And that’s why I want to help you. Because I know how much of a vicious cycle this is and how hard it is to break out of it. I could never eat properly for the rest of my life after I let it go on for so long and I don’t want that for you. We want the old Anne back who comes out with us and dances around and smiles more, we miss you.”

Clearing her throat almost embarrassedly, she finished with a mumbled “I, err, I miss you.”

Staring at their conjoined hands, Anne couldn’t quite work out who’s hand was trembling the most. Hers, from lack of food, or Catherine’s.

“I’m fine though,” she heard herself saying before she was fully aware of it, pulling her hand from Aragon’s and moving to stand from her chair. She almost pitched over sideways as her head spun for a second, but she refused to let herself accept the hand held out to steady her and instead caught herself on the kitchen counter. “I know what I’m doing. I’m not gonna let myself get sick or anything. I just… I’m better this way, alright? I’m not too much anymore and that’s better for everyone.”

“Anne, please-“

“No!” she choked out in a tone nearing hysteria, hot tears threatening to spill as she backed away from the temptation of Aragon’s help. She was better how she was, she had to keep telling herself that. “Thank you, really, but I don’t need anyone’s help.”

She couldn’t look at Aragon’s expression before turning tail and sprinting up the stairs towards her room, throwing herself onto her bed as she sobbed with self-hatred and guilt.

Aragon’s words kept playing over and over throughout the mostly sleepless night, keeping Anne awake with longing for that lifeline she’d been thrown and regret for how she’d essentially chucked it back in Aragon’s face. Part of her wanted to keep pushing onwards, still convinced that she was doing the right thing and making the right choice, but the voice in her head screaming for her to stop was speaking up again after months of being silenced. It was enough to keep her up for hours, only dozing off as the first hints of dawn peeked in from under her curtains and jolting awake as her alarm blared barely a few hours later.

She avoided Aragon like the plague the next day as much as it hurt her, feeling more like she was missing something the further away they were. But Anne couldn’t deny that something from Aragon’s conversation had clicked in her mind since she realised during their warmup how tired she already felt, how little conversation she joined in with in the dressing room, and how loosely her skirt sat around her hips when it had once hugged her waist comfortably.

Suddenly she found herself disliking her body for a new reason entirely.

The dregs of exhaustion clung on as the day progressed, and somehow the nap she took between the shows left her feeling even more groggy and spaced out than she’d done after finishing the matinee. While waiting behind the curtain before the evening show a sudden spell of dizziness had her sagging onto Anna’s throne for a moment as her legs threatened to give up on her again, ignoring the worried looks that Kat and Jane both sent her. She was fine. She could make it through the show, she couldn’t let her friends down like that.

And she was right, but only just.

She vaguely realised as Jane’s section of the megasix was transitioning into Anna’s that she’d stopped singing at some point and hadn’t even realised it, her mouth forming the words but not a single sound coming out. She managed to keep dancing though, making sure she was at the back of the group so that the audience would focus on the rest of the queens and not notice anything was wrong. Her normally shouted ‘Beheaded!’ was barely a squeak as she realised her sight was blurring again and it was nothing to do with the stage lights.

Straightening up after taking a bow made her head spin so much that she thought she was going to fall over there and then. Black static spotted around her vision and her legs felt like cotton wool as she realised she needed to get off stage immediately.

Dancing around with the other queens before they left the stage was forgotten when the music kicked back in, taking full advantage of her position at the end of the line to make a stumbling exit.

She didn’t make it more than two steps into the wing before her vision turned to black and she fell, legs folding underneath her as she hit the ground hard and didn’t get up.

~~~

A couple of hours later found Anne curled up on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around her

Her soft cries went unheard and tears unseen in the dark room, since she’d made no indication to the other queens that she was awake yet. She could hear them all talking in the kitchen through the connecting wall, unable to pick out any individual words though she could still sense the tension in the conversation just by the quiet and strained way they were all talking.

Guilt twisted at her stomach when she realised she’d done that. She’d created that worry, she’d put herself in danger despite Aragon’s warning, she’d let them down.  

She could still see their terrified faces as she’d come round from fainting as if they were burned into her mind. Aragon’s eyes were the first she saw since she cradled Anne’s head in her lap to keep her off the unforgiving floor, with Jane and Kat each gripping onto one of her hands and Anna and Cathy crouched beside them. The sheer volume of love and sorrow in their expressions had been too overwhelming to look at as she turned her face into Aragon’s lap to hide her tears, too weak to protest as she was picked up like she was lighter than a feather and carried away from the stage.

As the hall light flickered on and footsteps left the kitchen she hid her face in her blanket this time, expecting that someone would check on her and not wanting them to catch her crying yet again that day. She’d hardly stopped during the journey home, bundled into a taxi and squashed in between Kat and Cathy with their legs pressed up against hers. Normally it was Cathy who was always forced to sit in the middle since she was the smallest queen by far, and the fact that Anne was now sat in her place somehow drove her reality home again just like her ill-fitting costume had done earlier that day.

The living room door being pushed open spilled light into the room, illuminating Anne’s damp cheeks despite the blanket pulled up to her nose. “Oh sweetheart,” sighed Jane’s soft voice, closing the door and turning on one of the lamps to fill the room with a warm glow.

Anne scrambled to sit up as Jane moved to sit beside her, keeping the blanket wrapped around her as if it could shield her from the conversation she knew was coming. She was almost surprised that it wasn’t Aragon there since she’d spoken to her the night before and had the best idea of what she was going through, and that thought drove her to blurt out “Is Catherine mad at me?” before Jane had a chance to speak.

“Of course she isn’t love,” Jane said soothingly, the assuredness in her face calming Anne’s fear. “She looked exhausted so I told her to get some rest. None of us are angry at you, we’re just all so worried.”

She didn’t react at first, just felt slightly uncomfortable at the idea of everyone worrying so much about her. None of them deserved that.

A minute of comfortable silence passed, before Jane turned to face her and began the conversation she’d been dreading. “Anne, love, I’m going to ask you something and I want you to be as honest as you can be, alright? I’m not going to be disappointed at anything you tell me, I just want you to be honest,” she said, waiting for Anne to give the tiniest nod before she asked “Have you eaten anything today?”

“A bit,” Anne said truthfully, though what might have once been a defensive tone of voice was reduced to a quiet mumble. “I had breakfast, and I had a something between the shows. I didn’t not eat anything.”

“But that’s never going to keep you going for two shows love. Our food is our fuel, and you can’t perform while running on empty.”

Anne didn’t have the words to comment on that, still trapped in a mindset where she wasn’t ready to confirm it but didn’t have the strength to deny it anymore. Instead she just asked “What were you all talking about in the kitchen earlier?” while rubbing beneath her eyes with a rough hand.

Jane seemed to pause for a moment as if trying to find the right words to start with. “We were speaking about you but I promise it was nothing bad at all. Catherine told us a few things that she was worried about and we were discussing how we might be able to help you. Because we want to help you sweetheart, if you’ll let us.”

There was something about the pleading look in Jane’s eyes and the gentle offer in her words that made Anne crack at long last. Months’ worth of anguish poured out as she sobbed into her hands, before Jane wrapped her up into a hug and Anne clung onto her with all the strength she had left in her worn-down limbs. Jane whispered soft assurances in her ear as she shuddered and shook within her embrace, rubbing Anne’s back comfortingly with one hand as she held her close while she cried.

“I don’t want to be like this anymore,” Anne choked out after a while, pulling back a little to look at Jane through red-rimmed eyes. “I hate it so much, I thought I was making things better but it’s so much worse. And I don’t know what do to. I want help, I just need help.”

“We’re here to help you love, we’re here and we’re not going to let you get worse, I promise,” Jane said, reaching out to push a strand of dark hair away from Anne’s face and gently wipe the tears streaming down one cheek.

Anne nodded, letting Jane pull her back in to rest against her with her head resting on her chest. Jane was soft and comfy and everything that Anne wasn’t with all her sharp angles and bony joints – if Jane was mum shaped then Anne was skeleton shaped, she realised with a tang of bitterness on her tongue. She was still at war with herself over how she felt towards her body, half of her looking at the changes with relish and the other half with disgust, but with the day she’d had she was leaning very firmly towards the latter.

But those thoughts all quietened down as Jane held her close despite how Anne knew she could probably feel the outline of her ribs and hip with the hand on Anne’s waist. A fresh wave of exhaustion crashed over her and she tried to lift her head against the sudden tiredness, though gave up when Jane let out a soft chuckle and stroked a hand over her hair. “You can sleep love, it’s alright,” she whispered, giving Anne the permission she needed to close her eyes. “You’re safe now, tomorrow is a new start and we’re all here beside you.”

It was a scary prospect, challenging the habits that had become her safety net over the last few months. But she was tired of pushing herself into a mould that was too small for other people’s satisfaction. The faintest hint of a smile graced her features as she slipped into sleep and waited for her brighter dawn.

[mellz117]

Hello all and welcome to part 4 of my playthrough of KH2 on the PS2. If you haven't seen the previous entries please go do that.

[ _1_ ] [ _2_ ] [ _3_ ]

To recap: The Wonders of Twilight Town are boring as hell. We spoke to Namine again, Roxas finally realizes his life this week is a lie and starts to remember his life in the Organization. DiZ is racist against Nobodies but we already knew that. Roxas and Axel fight, I wanted to cry. Roxas meets Sora in his sleeping pod before disappearing, I wanted to cry.

And the adventure continues

I wanna know how Sora wakes up in the real world when Roxas merges with him in the virtual one. How in CoM does Sora go to sleep in Castle Oblivion, the whole-ass chamber and then some get transferred to Twilight Town, Roxas meets him in a virtual version of the mansion, and Sora wakes up in the real mansion in KH2? Nomura please explain this series. Is Final Fantasy ever this convoluted?

Donald and Goofy call out to Sora and we're once again reminded this is a Disney game. I don’t know why but the fact that Disney owns the original Kingdom Hearts characters bothers me. It means, unless DISNEY gives the OK, Sora will never be in Smash Bros. and that makes me sad.

I don't know much about comas but after a year of total inactivity, wouldn't your muscles atrophy like, A BUNCH? At least is wasn’t 7... OR VENTUS WITH A WHOLE DECADE WTF?

Again WHY COULDN'T JIMINY JUST KEEP EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN CHAIN OF MEMORIES WRITTEN DOWN IN HIS JOURNAL INSTEAD OF A CRYPTIC MEMO TO THANK NAMINE?

The trinity trio wanders out of the mansion, loot some chests, and find their way to the back alleys of town.

Hayner is rude RIGHT outta the gate, wow. Ok I remember that Pence actually met Roxas in Days, and so to me he seems to recognize Sora through his memories of Roxas despite the two sharing like, one visual similarly: blue eyes. But KH3 to my understanding reveals that the virtual versions of characters affect the real version so I dunno!! WHAT IS THIS SERIES?

"Have you finished the summer homework yet?" Olette asks Sora and his two ANIMAL COMPANIONS as if seeing two anthropomorphic animals is fucking normal in a town comprised entirely of humans and exactly one moogle.

Sora doesn't have any homework. For over a year he's been away from home and his mom couldn't make him go to school. I wonder how she's doing? Does she miss her son? Kingdom Hearts and parents don't gel.

I like how.. When Pence describes this cloaked figure who was looking for the trinity trio, as having big, round ears, they have to think about who it could possibly be. They’re not too bright.

Why is “sofa” capitalized? Also they weren't even sitting on it, neither of them were!

HAYNER IS A RUDE BOY! He tells us so ask Seifer about the town, as we are new. Bruh, if you’re this rude to us I’m sure how much worse Seifer and his posse are.

Seifer is immediately confrontational. “You here to pick a fight with us?” and Sora’s all like “No, we’re new here.” and DONALD FUCKING DUCK! INSULTS SEIFER AND NOW EVERYONE’S READY TO THROW DOWN! THANKS TO THIS DUMB FUCK DUCK!

But thank Christ big chungus appears out of nowhere and stops the children and two adult furries from causing a scene.

This dude is WAY too into the Struggle tournament. Seifer has an unwanted faaaaan! Bro, go away, you’re creeping on a teenager.

I wanna fight Seifer.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

I'm not working on this like I should be. I'm going on vacation soon and since we're all in quarantine I can't really do anything fun so this is the opportune time to catch up.

Moving on! We make our way to the train station and oh no, we're ambushed by Dusks! Because of COURSE we are. Who could've seen THAT coming? /s

I- I like how, even after hearing his voice, and seeing his fucking mousey silhouette, the gang STILL might not be sure this is their stupid rat king. One brain cell between the three of them, I swear, and Goofy is the primary carrier, and it only sometimes works.

Why do we need to purchase tickets to travel on a magical train embarking to an ethereal plane of existence? I guess it's the principal of it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED TO HUG THIS BOY. LOOK, HE'S CRYING!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Pence is so cute. I didn't care much for him when I was younger but he's such a cutie. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………

I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED TO HUG THIS BOY. LOOK, HE'S SAD!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

It's fat cat Pete. For like ever, I had no idea he was a cat. Wonder what Maleficent saw in him to ally with him.

The trinity trio laughing about killing (or at least taking part in killing) Maleficent. "She's toast!" this sure is early 2000's dialogue...

Heartless everywhere! "You mean the worlds aren't at peace after all" well, no sweetie. It takes time for things to recover from horrible events. *looks at current state of the real world*

So like, I had no idea Yen Sid was a Keyblade warrior??? I had read about that in his Wiki page when I googled if any Keyblade warriors were left handed. (Ven might be, but more likely ambidextrous) But I guess being Mickey's teacher would imply his Keyblade wielder roots but whatever, I didn't pay attention when I was a teenager.

Yen Sid's decor is baffling. What are these bookshelves? What are these BOOKS? They're huge!

Good on Yen Sid for using singular “they” pronouns in 2005.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

On to our change of wardrobe. Without a doubt Sora's best look in the whole series, in my humble opinion. Lookit my handsome boy. 

And Sora learns about drive forms, blah, blah, blah, powerful forms, gotta sacrifice something like in Duel Monsters, in this case an ally.

Yen Sid is so boring.

All seriousness and tension is just broken as soon as Goofy’s name is uttered, at least Sora and Donald have normal names wtf.

It’s interesting how like, 15 years later, Union X explains how Maleficent was able to return after her defeat. Something about, as long as someone from your original time remembers you and you have a physical object to represent you you’re able to basically some back from the dead. Right? Am I right on that? I haven’t played it but I’m hanging by a thread on this loop.

Sora’s hard work down the drain...

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Hollow Bastion! And of course there’s trouble. Heartless, Nobodies, and Yuffie, oh my!

A problem sequels have to work around is when the protagonist needs to relearn their abilities. KH does a well and good job with this one. In CoM, it’s a different battle style, in KH2 Sora’s been asleep for a hear prior.

Also, Merlin “leant” Sora some magic spells? How does that work? Like, once you learn it you can’t just... give that knowledge back...?

……………………………………………………………………………………………

How old is Leon? He has no right being this pretty.

Another ambush by Nobodies. Give it a rest, would ya? Battle ensues, Leon deals the final blow against an enemy, and as the camera usually does, zooms in on the victor and we get a nice slow-mo crotch shot of Leon. Thanks, game... Then, Xemnas’s very sexy, very manly voice echoes across town and the organization appears before our protagonists. I’m weak.

Demyx’s laugh, dude. I love it. Sora is ready to throw hands with anyone in his way. Honey, you’re barely out of a magic coma and this dude is like, two whole feet taller than you. Not to mention very fit.

I’m done thirsting over Xemnas...

After a few taunting words, the new villains depart, Donald attempts to give chase somehow? Where you gonna go? They disappeared behind dark corridors. It seems Goofy is still holding onto that shared brain cell.

The Bastard

I like the majority of the Organization. Xigbar is definitely one of my favorites based on this next scene alone. He’s so snarky and full of shit. I love it. He’s great. He was definitely a stoner at some point.

I’m confused though. “He used to give me that same exact look!” the Wiki says Xigbar’s talking about Ven but I always thought he was referring to Roxas? Did Braig and Ven have a history? That’s implied in Days (which released before BbS) IDK dude. I’m surprised I’ve gone this long without spoiling myself too much on BbS. Like, a few story beats here and there but a lot of it isn’t gonna be known until I play it.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

The dialogue for KH2 was so different from the first game. It dates itself so much in comparison.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Xiggy stands like this for 7 whole seconds parting with a condescending “Be a good boy now!” before disappearing. I love this fucker.

Leon, who’s been sitting on the sidelines this whole time, joins Sora and the others after the real threat is gone. We chitchat for a little bit and say our goodbyes. It’s time to leave this place and move on to one of two available worlds.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

At the Beast's Castle. After fighting a hoard of Shadows, the least intimidating enemy in the series (although the demon tower in kh3 is quite frightening nlg), the Beast himself makes his appearance, takes out the Heartless that suddenly stop multiplying upon his arrival, disgracefully shoves his supposed friends aside, and takes his precious rose to the west wing, which is where it SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FIRST PLACE. ADAM WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

No joke one of the funniest actual gags in the whole series is:

*Donald Duck manhandling Cogsworth*

Cut to Sora saying "I'm glad you're OK." to Lumiere

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OK the minigame where you gotta light the magic torches, why do we have to make sure Cogsworth  has enough strength to keep the lever down when we have two perfectly capable companions that can hold it down instead? I remember this sequence being a lot more annoying when I was a teen.

Xaldin's voice makes me feel things. Ahhh he sounds so tired lol. He peaces out and we fight the Beast. I remember getting him to calm down being harder.

"Xaldin used my anger to control me!" Says Beast. He angers very easily so this must have been a cinch. Xaldin's been obsessed with him since Days so I would imagine this intel would come in handy.

More fodder to fight and on to the boss. Phase one is just an angrier version of the Darkball Heartless. Phase two is just skinny Ganon. I like its design though.

“Belle, I’m sorry. I wasn’t myself, being all rude and overall kind of a jackass to you and my servants” Except that’s kinda how you’ve always been lmao. Just because you couldn’t choose not to be an ass here doesn’t change that this IS in character. Still gotta work on that a bit.

“You don’t have to apologize” No, no he still does.

They all reconcile and the Trinity Trio departs until Xaldin shows up again to wreak more havoc.

Time to move on to the next world.

[king-moron]

maple...... fireside..... harvest ;)

Autumn ask meme!

maple - is there a hobby/skill that you’ve always wanted to try but never (in my case ‘seriously’) did?--I really would like to pick up learning how to speak Russian! My family is Russian! and speak it all the time-- what I know is pretty broken-- but I hope to change that once I start my uni holidays :^)!! --I also really! want to !! learn how to pay the balalaika!! its a Russian folk guitar that i think is absolute s t u n n i n g ! -- as a kid i used to be able to play one but I don't have one anymore and I can only project my learnings onto a ukulele ;m; fireside - if you had your dream wardrobe, what would it look like? -- a mash of so many types of clothes!!! firslty-- they’d be properly fitting >.--Id love LOVE to have some old victorian/semi steampunk? stuff-- I adore waistcoats and puffy sleeves so much - i cant even start to express how much i love that ‘scientist who hasn't slept in 48 hours’ look -- its very fitting -I also also ! really dig that 1980′s look, like in stranger things? funky shirts tucked into jeans with rolled up ankles and rad sneakers-- thats the bonus to secondhand shopping! you can legit find all of that-- ;^) -- I also like the ‘casual chaotic’ look - jeans, undershirt, and some dumb flower print button up thrown over the top --I just like looking like a chaotic mess m’guy- even though most days i opt for just jeans and a shirt harvest - what fictional character do you most identify with? Why?HAH! -points and laughs- Pat ilym man -- we were talking about this last night.... - I really couldn't just pick one... it depends on? how im feeling during the day i suppose..? Martin from TMA is a w h o l e mood. especially s4 martin. Sometimes its dr urvidian from eos 10 eheheee - or Shaun from the good doctor.. other days its Doug rattmann-- -- its--i guess i just flip around, but i find that characters help me get through whatever work i had to do that day so whatever one i identify with? its usually influenced with whatever work i have to do :) 

[redhairdontcare732]

Fangs Fogarty X Jones! OC

Author’s Note: Slight backstory, Jean Jones is the twin sister of one Jughead Jones. Oh, I also don’t own any characters except for her, nor do I own any picture/media used!

Jean’s POV:

“Girl, you’re delusional. Everyone can see the way that you two pine for each other except for you two airheads”, Toni groaned. My other friends nodded vigorously in agreement from their various spots in the student lounge. Cheryl was perched next to Toni on the loveseat they shared, Betty on the opposite end of the couch I sat on, and Kevin in a chair nearest to my end of the couch.

“I am so beyond tired of this discussion. There’s nothing left to say TT, Fangs does not see me that way! I’m so over you guys ganging up on me about this”, I snapped back. Ever since the Southside students had been moved to Riverdale High I not only had to deal with Toni’s incessant meddling into my relationships (or lack thereof) with one Fangs Fogarty, but now Kevin, Cheryl, Betty, and all my other northside friends had hopped on the bandwagon. When Jug and I found ourselves at Southside High, I was immediately drawn to the Serpent gang and was accepted much faster than my dopey brother. I clicked with all the young Serpents, but instantly found myself falling for a certain tall, dark, and handsome Serpent. Fangs and I were definitely closer than myself and any of the other gang, but to my extreme disappointment I’d never felt like he viewed me as anything other than a friend. I mean, he was naturally a very flirty person, and I was a notorious cuddle bug so it was only natural that I would end up in his arms or lap more often than not. Honestly, I pretty much ended up in everyone’s lap at some point, evidenced by the way my legs were draped across Betty’s lap at this very moment.The way he acted around me was no different than with any of the other young serpents. According to everyone else, he was just as obvious as I was with his “feelings”, but I think that they all just saw what they wanted to see. Confiding in Toni about my feelings was turning out to be the biggest mistake I'd ever made.

Thankfully, I was saved from whatever snarky comment Cheryl was clearly thinking up by Jug, Fangs, and Sweet Pea walking into the lounge. My friends knew better than to say anything in front of the boys, but for good measure I shot them all a death glare. The guys all settled in, greeting everyone; Jughead perched himself on the arm of the sofa Betty and I shared, giving her a quick peck in way of greeting.  Sweet Pea sat on an empty chair near Toni and Cheryl (or as I called them, Choni), and Fangs took up the spot between Betty and I. I lifted my legs so that they were laying across the handsome boy’s lap instead, who responded by casually throwing an arm over my shoulder. Instinctively, I scooched in closer to him, finding comfort in his broad chest as his arm began to trace delicate circles on my bare shoulder.

“And how are my favorite people doing on this fine day?”, he asked, looking around at the group. I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the butterflies I felt bubbling up in my stomach at his gentle touch. I also avoided looking at any of my annoying friends; I didn't even have to look to know that they were giving me that stupid look. Everytime Fangs and I made any type of physical contact (which was often, given our personalities) they all sent the same smug look. It made me want to smack them. As if they knew everything about our friendship just because they were around. Please. Although, I found it difficult to be too angry when the guy I was secretly in love with was sitting so close to me and rubbing his fingers up and down my bare arm.

“Jean?”, I heard my twin speak up, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Mhm, yeah?”.

“I asked you if that's my flannel”, he stated simply, eyebrow raised. I looked down to the flannel I'd grabbed this morning and tried around my waist, and shrugged.

“Probably”, I replied, unfazed. Cheryl rolled her eyes.

“Classy”, she said teasingly as I felt the soothing vibrations of Fang's chuckle on my side.

“What? It was the closest shirt available. You guys know I don't do mornings”, I shot back good naturedly.

“Oh please, you wouldn't care what you wear regardless of the time of day”, Toni laughed. I giggled. It was true; I was notorious for my extensive collection of oversized t-shirts and ripped jeans, and I often could be found wearing my twin’s clothes (much to his annoyance). Today I was found in a pair of simple black leggings, a white oversized long-sleeved shirt, Jug’s flannel, and my favorite pair of old worn out converse hi-tops. I couldn’t care less about makeup, and my hair was thrown up in my usual messy bun with a bandana tied around my head in order to keep the mass of dark hair in place.

“It’s true Jean, I swear you couldn’t actually be bothered to pick clothes that were actually flattering if you tried”, Cheryl snottily replied with a strange spark in her eyes that I didn’t trust. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

“Uhm, ouch Cheryl. That was kind of harsh”, Betty chided as Kevin nodded.

“Yeah, I personally love her personal brand of comfort chic”, he defended. I smiled at him, reaching across the space and grabbing his hand to squeeze.

“Thank you Kevie!”. Cheryl rolled her eyes once more before checking on her nails.

“Well, all I’m saying is you have a banging body, and I wish that you would show it off more”, she soothed. “In fact, I’ll bet you $100 that you can’t dress like you actually care for one week”. My eyes widened in surprise.

“You Northsiders are freaking nuts”, Sweet Pea commented, shaking his head. Fangs nodded from beside me.

“Seriously Cheryl. A hundred bucks just for changing her clothes? Why can’t you just let Jean wear whatever she wants?”, he asked , tightening his arm around me. My heart fluttered and I felt my face flush a little.

“I just want to see what it would look like if you actually put in effort. Obviously you are gorgeous either way”, Cheryl replied, not bothered in the least. “Also I truly don’t think that you could actually rise to the challenge”.

“Oh I absolutely can. I just don’t want to”, I practically spat, crossing my arms. Jughead snorted.

“I beg to differ sister dear. You practically live in my clothes, and I’m the only one here who actually has to deal with your grumpy ass in the mornings. There is absolutely no way you could go an entire week without rolling out of bed and leaving like ten minutes later” he challenged.

“Okay, super not appreciating you hopping on the bandwagon traitor”, I grumbled. “Also I had to share a womb with your fat head for 9 months, I think you can deal with sharing your shirts”. I felt Fang’s arms encircle me from the side and I snuggled further into his embrace gratefully.

“Don’t worry mamita, I think you look great everyday”, he whispered into my ear. I shivered involuntarily at his pet name for me, hoping to God that he didn’t notice.

“Okay, say that I did decide to take you up on your ridiculous offer. What kind of terms are we talking about?”, I countered. In all reality, Jughead and I could really use the hundred bucks given Dad’s current situation. Everyone thought that we were doing fine, but without an actual income things were getting pretty tight around the Jones household. Not that I’d ever admit that out loud to anyone other than Jug. Cheryl crossed her legs and placed her now folded hands over one of her knees, looking more like a business shark than any highschool sophomore had any right to.

“The terms are this: You have to come to school everyday with clothes that are actually yours, no stealing from your brooding brother or one of the other guys. Clothes borrowed from any of us girls are acceptable. No sneakers, no combat boots, no oversized anything. You have to actually style your hair, and you have to actually wear makeup, including lipstick, everyday for one week”, Cheryl rattled off. My jaw dropped.

“Jesus Christ, how long have you been thinking about this? That is way too many rules!”, I exclaimed. Cheryl returned to examining her nails, unbothered.

“Oh, and at least one of the days you have to wear a skirt”, she added. I leaned down, elbows on my knees, and narrowed my eyes once more.

“If I’m gonna go to that much trouble, I expect at least $200”, I countered. Cheryl leaned back in her seat, slightly considering. Suddenly, she stood up and stuck her hand out to me. I too stood and met her halfway across the space.

“Deal”.

“I have to say, I think this entire this is stupid, but I am pretty stoked to see this whole thing play out”, Sweet Pea chuckled. I flipped him off, smiling sweetly. Jug rolled his eyes.

“Of course you are, you don’t have to live with her”, he complained. I frowned at the two.

“Does no one have faith in me?”, I questioned looking around the group, met with averted stares and awkward silence. “Oh you guys suck! I can so totally do this!”.

The next day:

Okay this deal was officially going to be the death of me. As much as I really wanted that $200,  sacrificing my precious sleep was not as easy as I had anticipated. I had to wake up a full hour earlier than I normally did, and there was no amount of coffee in the world that could counter such a travesty. Despite the fact that I felt like I was going to fall asleep at any moment, I couldn’t help but be proud of the outfit that I’d chosen as I shut down my bike and prepared to walk into school. After the terms were set for the bet I practically begged Toni to let me raid her closet, seeing as our styles were the closest out of all the girls. I loved Betty to death, but the girl’s clothes were a little too Leave to Beaver for my taste, a single piece of Veronica’s wardrobe cost more than my entire life so she was out, and there was no way I was going to Cheryl for help. To my slight surprise, I’d found plenty of outfits in TT's wardrobe however, my favorite of which I was wearing today.

My current ensemble consisted of a pair of my favorite pair of high waisted, ripped skinny jeans with a pair of fishnet tights underneath, a pair of black heeled booties, a black crop top, and a flannel (which was actually mine) tied around my waist for comfort. My waist-length raven locks were curled lightly, falling in waves around my face with half of my mass of hair tied up in a bun at the crown of my head. My makeup was pretty bomb if I do say so myself. I’d opted for a shade of burgundy eyeshadow that matched the  deep matte lip I’d found with a winged liner. Though on the outside I’m sure I looked confident, in all reality I was kind of freaking out at the prospect of what everyone would say today. Cheryl’s bet was so public I was certain I would be subjected to all kinds of taunting and opinions from my friends. Mentally, I steeled myself for whatever comments were sure to be directed towards my sudden wardrobe change.

For all my mental preparation, I could never have predicted the reaction from my friends as I entered Riverdale High, coffee in hand. Betty and Jughead smiled lightly from their position near our lockers, silently supporting me. Bless them. Cheryl and Toni shot me smug looks from where they stood, Cheryl even clapping lightly in potentially mocking support (it was always hard to tell with her). Archie looked confused as always, and Veronica and Kevin appeared to be nearly drooling at the stark difference in my fashion choices. But by far the most surprising reaction came from the Serpent’s youngest dynamic duo. Sweet Pea and Fangs looked downright shocked to see me this morning, jaws dropped practically to the floor. I felt my face heat up marginally at all the eyes on me, but I maintained my nonchalant facade as I strode over to my friend group.

“Morning everyone”, I mumbled, tired. I wandered over to Kevin, wrapping my arms around his tall frame and leaning my head on his chest, eyes closing. He immediately began rubbing my back comfortingly.

“Tired this morning are we Jeanie?”, I heard him laugh from the confines of his strong arms. I turned around in his arms and leaned my back against his chest, groaning dramatically.

“We might as well start an IV of straight espresso into my veins”, I complained.

“Alright, if no one's going to say it I will. Jean looks fucking hot”, Sweet Pea, exclaimed looking around at the group incredulously. I felt my face blush furiously, but I rolled my eyes in a futile attempt to hide it. Fangs elbowed his best friend hard while glaring at him.

“Eww dude, that's my sister”, Jughead moaned, scrunching his nose in disgust. Betty, in turn, slapped his arm and threw him a pointed look.

“Don't listen to these Neanderthals, Jean, you look beautiful as you always do”, Veronica intervened. “Doesn't she look beautiful Archie?”.

Poor Archie still looked as confused as ever, but he straightened up when Veronica not-so-subtly pinched the ginger boys bicep.

“Uhmm yeah Jean, you look beautiful as always. It's just uh, different you know?”, he stammered while rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I mean...it's just uhm..”. I'd known Archie as long as Jughead, and I knew that whenever he was feeling awkward (which was literally all the time) he rubbed his neck like that. Deciding to save him from himself, I interrupted his rambling.

“Yes Arch it is different, because a certain red-headed syrup heiress decided that if it's different enough it apparently is worth $200”, I said while smiling not so sweetly at Cheryl. “But honestly guys, it makes it pretty difficult to visualize my well-earned winnings with you staring like that. So can we please go back to our daily lives and leave my clothing choices out of it?”.

Sweet Pea opened his mouth to respond just as the first bell rang out through the halls. I smiled with victory as I held out my arm for Fangs so we could walk to our first period class together like we did every morning. Today though, he seemed out of it and took a few extra seconds before snapping out of whatever was holding his attention and linking his arm through mine. Seeing his dazed expression I frowned and asked,

“You okay Fogarty? You seem out of it”. He looked down at me and threw me that megawatt smile that caused my insides to melt and my legs to turn into jelly.

“I'm fine mamita. Now come on let's get to English”, he replied. He squeezed my forearm in reassurance, and we began our walk down the halls.

A few Days later: Day 6 of the bet.

“For the record, I've never thought you guys know what your talking about, but now I'm certain you're crazy. I mean he's barely even spoken to me all week for Chrissakes!”, I sighed exasperatedly. Once again my relationship with Fangs, or more accurately my lack thereof, was my irritating friends’ choice of conversation topic. Currently we sat in the lunchroom waiting for the other subject of this ridiculous discussion to arrive with his tall friend. I silently prayed that he would arrive soon and spare me from hearing any more of the gang's insane theories about his feelings.

“Please Jean, spare me the dramatic will-they-won't-they crap”, Veronica declared dramatically. “You're too smart for that, and besides Fangs hasn't taken his eyes off you all week”. I wrinkled my forehead in disagreement, ready to tell her exactly where she could stick her bougie New York opinions, but before I could open my mouth to speak Betty interrupted gently.

“Seriously Jean, he normally can't tear his eyes off you but in the last week it's like he's got them practically glued to your face”, she interjected. I shook my head; now I knew the girls were clinically insane. Normally Fangs and I hung out often, both in school and out, but for the last few days the raven-haired serpent had been notably absent from my side. I don't know what I did to piss him off, but I figured whatever it was that I should give him some space to work through it before confronting him. Not gonna lie though, I missed his goofy personality and stupid jokes. I hoped that whatever problem he had with me would sort itself out soon, because I was really starting to miss my best friend.

“Guys I'm seriously as over it as a person could possibly be with this discussion. For the last fucking time, just drop it”, I practically hissed. Never one to back down, Veronica opened her mouth to respond, but thankfully the boys came and sat down at our table before she could get anything out.

“Hey Jean, last day of torture. You excited to go back to dressing like a sloth again”, Sweet Pea teased as he took the open seat next to me and Fangs the seat across from me. Dishearteningly, I received only a simple nod from Fangs before he turned his attention to his lunch. Shaking off my extreme disappointment I shoved Pea lightly.

“Shut up Sweets, you're just jealous that I met you and got to know your real self before you knew how hot I was”, I taunted back grinning. He smirked back playfully.

“There's always time doll”, he joked and winked at me. I full on laughed at his stupidity, while Jughead walked up behind him and smacked the back of his head before taking the seat next to Betty.

“Man for the last time, quit saying shit like that about my sister. Especially during lunch, people are trying to eat”, he whined. I shot him a look and motioned to Betty.

“I'm on it”, she said before smacking him upside the head. I nodded in appreciation and Jughead glared at his girlfriend and I.

“First of all, you're a moron Jones. And secondly, your sister is hot so learn to deal with it. At least I'm kidding, she's been getting looks all week and I'm sure they aren't being all gentlemanly about their thoughts either”, Sweet Pea said plainly. I felt my face blush lightly at his comment. It was true, for the past week I'd gathered much more attention from guys than I was used to. I wasn't oblivious to the looks I'd received in the past few days, and truthfully I was more than ready to leave their wandering eyes behind when this whole thing was over. Today was particularly bad seemingly, and I was willing to bet anything that it had to do with the outfit I was wearing. It was the second to last day of the bet, and I begrudgingly decided to wear the skirt Cheryl had included in the rules. I wore a simple black pleated skirt, fishnet tights underneath, with a white v-necked white long sleeve shirt and a pair of Toni’s knee high heeled combat boots. I’d figured out on day 3 or so that Cheryl found my naturally wavy curls acceptable as long as I added some defining gel and made it look like I’d actually combed it, so today my waist length hair was all on full display. My makeup was similar to the rest of the days: winged dark eyeliner, minimal bronzer/highlighter, and a dark burgundy matte lip. I’d put this day off until nearly the end because I didn't have a single skirt in my wardrobe and had to borrow one from Toni. Problem was, I was significantly taller than the pink haired serpent, and the skirt rode up my thighs much more than hers. I subconsciously shifted in my seat to futilely attempt to pull my bottoms down a smidge. My attempt did not go unnoticed by Veronica's eagle eyes and she smirked my way.

“Calm down girl, your outfit is fine. Good lord you'd think you've never worn a skirt in your life”, she said with an air of exasperation. I flipped her off daintily, smiling innocently in her direction. Sweet Pea and Betty laughed, while Jug simply shook his head and took another gigantic bite of his burger.

“Well not that I'm not loving this debate over my appearance, but I'm gonna go. I've gotta meet up with Kevin to talk about our history project”, I stated, standing up to leave. As soon as I turned to leave I found my face jammed into a hard chest, causing me to stumble backwards a bit. I looked up to see the smug face of one Chuck Clayton looking down at me with a look like a cat that caught a canary.

“Hey there Jean, looking fine today. Loving the new look”, he practically purred, looking me up and down. I physically gagged in response. He had been one of the worst of all the guys that had suddenly taken notice to me this week.

“Fuck off Clayton”, I spat. I moved to push past him, but he blocked my path with his arm.

“Woah woah, no offense princess. Just wanted you to know how much we all appreciate the looks you've been serving this week”. His attempts at flirting were becoming more aggressive as the days went on. He was so pathetic; he would've never debased himself to speak to me before, so the fact that he was now so relentless in his pursuit of me was utterly disgusting to me.

“Screw off Chuck, she's not interested”, I heard Betty snarl from behind me. My friends were evidently feeling much like me. Sweet Pea had turned and stood next to me in a protective stance with his arms crossed, Betty and Jug looked as disgusted as I'm sure I did, and even Fangs had looked up from his lunch to glare menacingly at Chuck. My heart lurched at the darkness swirling in his normally chocolate brown eyes and the way his strong jaw was clenched tightly. It was nice to know he still cared, even with the unfortunate circumstances.

“What's the matter Cooper, finally realizing that you missed out on all this action?”, Chuck replied, unfazed.

“I think I heard my sister tell you to fuck off Clayton, I'd listen to her if I were you”, Jughead growled from across the table. Normally my twin preferred to let me fight my own battles, because let's be honest he wasn't exactly the tougher of the two of us, but I knew he was still not over the whole Chuck and Dark Betty fiasco from our birthday. I turned towards him to give him a reassuring look, but as I did I felt a hand creep up my skirt and cup my ass tightly.

Skin crawling, I whipped around and found Chuck's remorseless face looking at me with his lip caught between his teeth. I cocked my arm back to take a swing, but before my fist connected with Clayton's someone else beat me to the punch. Literally.

“DON'T FUCKING TOUCH HER”.

Fangs was all over Chuck, punching him repeatedly and screaming. Chuck was on the ground, Fangs on top of him, and the two rolled around hitting and shoving one another. I'd never seen Fangs like this before, he was almost scary in his intensity. Shocked, I stepped forward to try and break them up.

“FANGS, STOP! CHUCK GET OFF OF HIM”, I yelled helplessly. Sweet Pea grabbed my arms as I made a move to try and pry the two off of one another. He shook his head.

“No, let them go. This has been brewing for a long time”, he muttered. I gaped at the tall boy.

“No, are you kidding me?! He's gonna hurt him and they're going to get suspended!”, I shouted, struggling against Pea's vice grip. As I struggled, I saw Weatherbee enter the cafeteria, making a beeline for the two boys. I managed to wrangle my way out of Sweet Pea's hold and attempted to grab Chuck away from Fangs. As I got my hands on his arms, he reared his fist back and I felt all the breath rush out of my body when his elbow caught me in the stomach. Doubled over, I heard a number of voices swimming around me. Weatherbee's angry demands, Veronica and Betty's frightened voices, and Chuck's irritating excuses. But most of all, I heard a low, soft voice in my ear frantically trying to get my attention.

“Mamita, are you okay? Jeanie?”, Fangs soothing baritone hurriedly questioned. I leaned on his strong shoulder and his arm found my waist. I looked up to his gorgeous face and was immediately horrified to find that he had a large bruise blossoming under his right eye. His eyes were wild as they searched mine scanning for any signs of injury and he still hadn't fully caught his breath. In any other scenario I might have swooned at his fierce features. I brought my fingers gently to his cheek, eyes swimming with tears that I refused to let fall.

“Your eye…” , I murmured as he brought his hand up to grasp mine against his cheek, deep mocha eyes boring into mine. He looked as sad as I'd ever seen him and I felt my heart break nearly in two at the sight. The deeply distressed expression didn't belong on his normally cheerful, handsome face.

“Mamita..”, he softly began to reply.

“Clayton, Fogarty, Jones, my office. Now”, Weatherbee demanded while walking out of the cafeteria and down the hall. Steeling myself for whatever consequences were coming our way, I straightened up and grabbed Fangs hand as we followed Weatherbee. I internally hoped that he wouldn't pull away from me like he had for the past week; after all that just happened I don't know if I could deal with the total rejection of my best friend. I really needed him in my life most days just to make it through in this nightmarish town we called a home, but in this moment I needed him more than ever. Thankfully, Fangs seemed to be on the same page as me. His strong, rough hand gripped mine tightly, almost as if he were afraid if he let go I may disappear. I squeezed his hand in reassurance and nodded curtly as we found ourselves standing in front if the principal's office. Weatherbee motioned at Fangs.

“Alright Mr. Fogarty, you're first, step into my office”, he barked. Fangs squeezed my hand near painfully, and his other hand balled into a fist as he shook his head.

“No way I'm leaving her out here with that asshole”, he practically growled. I cast my eyes downward, heat rushing to my face. I was so worried about Fang's well being that I had nearly forgotten why he was even fighting with Chuck in the first place. Bile rose to my throat and my jaw clenched tightly as I remembered the feeling of his hands on my ass, and I whipped my head suddenly towards Chuck. Judging by the way he slightly recoiled, the disgust and anger I felt was apparent on my face. Fangs brought me back down to earth by rubbing gentle circles on my hand with his thumb. Weatherbee seemed to consider Fangs’ outburst for a moment before relenting.

“Very well. Ms. Jones, Mr. Fogarty, in my office please”, he sighed.

Once we were all settled in and seated, Weatherbee folded his long fingers together in front of himself and leaned forward on his desk.

“Well Mr. Fogarty, what do you have to say for yourself?”, he questioned. Fangs looked down at our still intertwined fingers for a brief moment before answering.

“Clayton was harassing Jean sir. I had to step in before anything else happened”, he stated carefully, his face becoming an emotionless mask.

“Harassing?”, Weatherbee repeated. “And you felt like the answer to that was violence?”.

As I listened to Fangs being lectured, I internally wondered if his nonchalant facade was the result of many interactions like this one with authority figures over the years. As I faintly heard Weatherbee and Fangs speak I felt a wave of sadness and guilt wash over me. Fangs was in this situation because of me and that stupid bet that I had made with Cheryl; I felt tears spring to my eyes at the realization that he would likely be in more trouble than either Chuck or I. Weatherbee wouldn’t care how he stood up for me, or how perverted Chuck was. All he was going to see was the jacket he wore and punish him based solely on that. My hands balled into fists, and I stood abruptly.

“Principal Weatherbee, none if this is on Fangs. Chuck grabbed me inappropriately, and basically assaulted me.  Honestly, if Fangs didn't step in I would have done much more damage to him. What he did was disgusting, and Fangs was just defending me against that pervert!”, I exclaimed loudly. “I hope Chuck gets expelled for what he did, but at the very least you should let Fangs go, because not one bit of this is his fault!”.

Fangs and Weatherbee looked at me, surprised by my sudden outburst. Fangs had an expression on his face that I couldn't quite place as he peered up at me from where he still sat. His tanned features displayed emotions something akin to amazement, and truthfully, if we weren't currently under interrogation from our school's principal I would probably have grabbed his gorgeous face and kissed him. Thankfully for me, we were in the presence of the man doling out punishments and I would be spared the awkwardness of explaining to my supposed best friend why I was aggressively making out with him.

“Is that true Mr. Fogarty? Did Mr. Clayton touch Ms. Jones inappropriately without her consent?”, Weatherbee asked. Fangs was still staring up at me with that beautiful look, not hearing a word Weatherbee said. I elbowed him lightly.

“Uhm yeah, basically that's what happened. But it wasn't Jean's fault sir. Clayton is the one who should be punished”, he said quickly after shaking his head like he was clearing his thoughts. Weatherbee leaned back in his seat as he looked as if he was actually. considering what we'd said. My heart raced as he rubbed his face in thought; I know our principal wasn't exactly perfect, but I hoped to every deity I could think of that he was smart enough to see what had truly happened. After what felt like an eternity, Weatherbee finally spoke up.

“While it's very… noble of you to defend Ms. Jones's honor, I'm sure you know that we don't condone violence here at Riverdale High”, he started while looking at Fangs. “I will punish Mr. Clayton accordingly for what he did, but you cannot expect me not to reprimand you for your role in what occurred either. So, Mr. Fogarty you will serve one week of after school detentions starting today”.

Fangs nodded, and I felt myself let out a breath I didn't know I was even holding.

“As for you Ms. Jones, I want to assure you that Mr. Clayton will be suspended for his actions. I encourage you to let me or another staff member know if anything like this happens again or if you feel in anyway unsafe here”, Weatherbee continued while turning his attention to me. “If Mr. Clayton continues this kind of behavior, I won't hesitate to get law enforcement involved”.

I nodded, thankful for Weatherbee's sudden outpouring of good judgement. He dismissed us from his office and Fangs and I walked quickly away and out to the halls. Once there, Fangs pulled me back by my hand, which I hadn't even realized he was holding until now. He gently brought his hands to my face and his deep brown eyes scanned my face once more.

“Mamita, are you sure you're fine? I mean, he didn't hurt you did he? I swear, I'll kill him if you're hurt”, he seethed. I brought my hands up to my face, covering his much larger ones.

“Fangs I'm fine, I swear”, I promised. I looked deeply into his darkened eyes, trying to convey my sincerity through my own eyes. He seemed to consider my words for an eternity before he sighed in relief and brought his forehead to rest on mine.

“Okay”, he murmured. Butterflies running rampant through my stomach, I allowed myself the briefest moment of contentment before I brought my hand sharply up to his arm and slapped him. Hard.

“Ow. Jean what the hell?”, he whined rubbing his arm slightly. I glowered at him.

“Why on Earth would you do that Fangs? I could've handled Chuck just fine on my own, but no you had to go ahead and put yourself at risk. You know Weatherbee already hates the Serpents! You could've ended up being kicked out!”, I raged, glaring at the handsome teen in front of me. He frowned.

“Oh so what I'm just supposed to let him get away with groping you? Fuck that Jean, that asshole got what he deserved. Actually, you know what, no he didn't because I should have been kicking his ass long before today”, he practically growled. “All week I've had to put up with his disgusting, repulsive comments about you and your body and I'm honestly not a bit sorry for what happened today. In fact, I wish Weatherbee would've shown up just a few minutes later so I could've gotten a few more swings in”.

“Who the hell cares what Chuck thinks? Everyone knows he's a pig!”, I spat back.

“I care! Okay? I do”, he seethed. “No one should be able to look at you like that, let alone make comments. Everyone knows that you're….”

He cut himself off abruptly, shaking his head and I raised my eyebrow.

“Everyone knows what Fangs? I mean I'm just as pissed at Chuck, but  Sweets said that his has been ‘brewing for a long time'”, I said placing quotes in the air for emphasis. “I don't see what the big problem is!”. He huffed.

“The problem is that these stupid northsiders can't take a fucking hint. The problem is that I should be the only one who gets to look at you like that. The problem is that you're to god-damned hot for your own good, and I can't stand that everyone now suddenly sees you for the beautiful bombshell that you are before I…”.

My heart hammered against my chest like thunder as I took in his every word searching for answers. During his little rant Fangs had walked closer and closer to where I stood with my back against the lockers. Never one to back down, I stood firmly in place while I anxiously wondered if he could possibly mean what it sounded like.

“Before you what?”, I questioned breathlessly.  His eyes widened, and he looked almost scared. It was like he hadn't intended for that last part to come out of his mouth, and he was desperately trying to find a way to shove the words back in. “Fangs?”.

He shifted his weight from foot to foot and hung his head down before muttering something I couldn't quite hear. I raised an eyebrow once more, utterly confused.

“What? I couldn't hear anything you just said”, I murmured. Fangs looked up at me with a heartbroken expression that left me reeling with the desire to comfort the normally upbeat serpent. He sighed and looked away before answering again in a slightly louder voice.

“Before I could figure out how to make you mine”, he said finally. I felt my stomach drop to my feet as I stood still as a statue trying to process what I was hearing. “I've been trying for months, racking my brain for anything that would give a dipshit like me a chance with a girl as badass, smart, funny, and completely fucking gorgeous as you, and I've come up short every time. Ever since you walked into the cafeteria at Southside High, I've been waiting for the right moment to confess how I feel to you, but I always end up chickening out. And then this whole bet fiasco started, and suddenly every guy could see what I've seen since day one: that you, Jean Marie Jones, are the single most beautiful girl in Riverdale. I couldn't take it and I'm so sorry that you found out this way and I'll completely understand if you don't want to speak to me ever again but please just…”.

By the end he was rambling, fumbling for words and tripping all over them trying to find a way to apologize. My heart lurched at the possibility that even after all of the events of today, and pretty much everyday since we met, everything would suddenly be lost if I let him continue. I felt more emboldened than I ever had, and I did the one thing I could think of to stop his rambling before he took back anything he said. A rush of confidence overtook me. Hands shaking slightly, I grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him into me, lips brushing together for the briefest of moments before I tore myself away.

My eyes were closed as I leaned backwards and I felt a rush of fear overwhelm me. What if I had completely misjudged the situation? What if he didn't want me that way? Oh God, what if I'd made the biggest mistake of my life and our friendship was ruined forever? I didn't have much time to worry however, because soon I heard Fangs breathe my name and I felt the sweetest sensation in the entire world.

Fangs smooth, strong lips were back on mine as he pressed me back into the row of lockers and kissed me with an intensity like I'd never felt before. I felt sparks of electricity in each spot where our bodies met, and I found my hands grasping at his strong, chiseled jawline as my lips furiously locked with his. I poured all the emotions that have been building ever since I met the handsome, sweet boy into our embrace. His hands roamed my hips and squeezed my body deliciously. I tugged at his thick, raven locks and he moaned into my mouth, causing my entire body to feel like it was on fire. His big hands gripped my waist tightly as his tongue teased the entrance of my mouth, begging for the entrance that I readily granted. Our tongues battled for dominance as our hands roamed each other's body, exploring the places that only our eyes were privy to before.

Though I felt like I could go on kissing Fangs forever and never tire of it, eventually oxygen did become an issue and I had to pull away from our heated session. Fangs appeared to be on the same page as me, and our foreheads met in the middle to lean against one another for support. I sighed in complete bliss, smiling as I caught my breath. I finally ventured a look to the beautiful man in front of me, and was elated to find that his face was a mask of utter peace. I'd thought his strong features were handsome before, but now I decided that there was nothing more stunning than the look he now wore. Gone was the tough, brooding serpent facade he put on for others, and gone too was the goofy, happy-go-lucky guy that I'd fallen for these past months. Fangs looked wholly, dare I say, happy. His deep brown eyes were alight with sparks of joy, his rugged jawline was relaxed, his plump lips still slightly red and swollen from our previous activities, and his sweet smile was one I'd never been blessed enough to see before. I vowed right then and there to do everything in my power to make him look this way as often as possible.

“So does this mean I get to say you're mine now?”, I questioned gently, a small part of me still fearful of rejection. Fangs chuckled breathlessly before placing a tender kiss to my forehead, and pulling me into a crushing hug. I settled against his broad chest as my heart crashed in anticipation, awaiting for his response.

“Mamita I have been yours since the day we met”, he murmured fondly into my hair. I sighed in relief, but pulled back after a few moments to look up into his eyes.

“So you think I'm the hottest girl in Riverdale?”, I questioned teasingly. His face flushed slightly at my words, but his eyes never wavered from mine.

“Mamita I think you are so much more than that. You're the kindest, smartest, funniest, and most genuine woman I've ever met. And yeah you're hot, but you're also the most gorgeous girl that I've ever laid eyes on”, he confessed softly. I felt my knees go weak and my stomach erupt in butterflies. Slightly embarrassed, I cast my heated cheeks downward in an attempt to conceal my blushing face. Fangs was having none of that, hooking gentle fingers under my chin to bring my face up to meet his loving gaze.

“That's part of why it was so hard for me not to kill all the asshole guys that were making comments about you this past week. I had to avoid you because there was no way I was going to be able to handle all the looks and whispers sent your way”, he continued. “The idea that they could trivialize all your worth and make it all about the way your ass looks in your new clothes or the way your chest was out on display was infuriating. You're worth so much more than your body, no matter how fucking sexy it is. And believe me mamita, I think you're really, really God-damned hot”.

“How did I get so lucky to find a guy as perfect as you?”, I pondered softly. I pecked his lips once more as a silent appreciation for his beautiful words.

“Please, I'm the lucky one Jeanie”, he replied quietly. I rolled my eyes.

“I can't believe this all started because of one of Topaz's freaking skirts. Maybe I should start dressing like this more often”,  I joked semi-seriously. Now it was Fangs’ turn to roll his eyes. He placed an arm around my shoulder and we began walking down the hall towards our bikes.

“Mamita, I think you're hot no matter what clothes you choose. As long as these other guys get the message that they can look but not touch, I couldn't care less what you wear”, he stated confidently. “Although…”

He leaned down to speak to me closely, lips teasing the shell of my ear and making me shiver.

“... I wouldn't mind if you saved that skirt for just the two of us. After all, that damned skirt is the one that finally got me my dream girl”.

[leobelgrave]

LEONIDAS BELGRAVE [CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONNAIRE]

BASICS - 1. Height?

Leo is 6′0.

2. Eye color?

Blue/Gray.

3. Do they need glasses?

No.

4. Scars and birthmark?

They have a star-shaped scar on the back of their neck, due to them being incidentally stabbed with a screwdriver by their older brother. They also have a small, round birthmark on the right side of their rib cage, which they affectionately refer to as Pascal, the third nipple.

5. Tattoos and piercings?

They have a poke tattoo of the Aries constellation on their left shoulder blade, which they have no memory of getting.

6. Right or left handed?

Left!

7. Any disabilities? Physical or mental.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

8. Do they have any allergies?

Not that they’re aware of.

9. Favorite color?

Doesn’t have one. Prefers warmer colors, though.

10. Typical outfits?

As eccentric as possible. Sometimes, when they feel more modest they’ll opt for baja hoodies, shawls, mismatched socks. But they also aren’t too shy to wear something more revealing. Sometimes skirts, sometimes slacks, one time literally nothing at all. The colors are always vibrant and eye catching regardless of what they are wearing though.

11. Do they wear any makeup?

Sometimes, though usually only when going out. They like to keep it simple, with a bit of mascara, eyeliner, and gloss. Their nails are always painted, though.

12. What weapon do they use, if any?

They always carry a mace around in their bag, but never once have they used it. Why a mace, you may be wondering? Because it is just as chaotic as they are.

PERSONALITY - 13. Are they more optimistic or pessimistic?

Optimistic.

14. Are they introverted or extroverted?

Extroverted. It’s nearly impossible for them to meet a stranger.

15. What are their pet peeves?

Boring conversation, people who act indifferent about everything, people who get offended easily, using eating utensils when you could use your hands, slow walkers, people who don’t wipe their mouths when they’re eating.

16. What bad habits do they have?

Oh boy. They chew on their cheek, they pull on loose threads, they fidget, they’d bite their nails if polish wasn’t so damn expensive. They are willing to take anything for a temporary escape: usually alcohol and halfling weed but... they are open to other options. They also tend to switch topics quickly and usually focus on having their own reply ready instead of focusing on what the other person is saying.

17. Do they have any phobias?

Getting old. Not physically, but spiritually. In a sense, they’re afraid there’ll be a day where they wake up and realize everything they thought they’d achieve is behind them and they no longer have anything to look forward to or be excited about. Also, sailing. They get seasick easily and there’s too much about the ocean that remains unknown. No thanks.

18. How do they display affection?

They’re super physical. They hold hands a lot, and poke people, and kiss their cheeks, and lay in their laps, and would probably permanently attach themselves to someone if they could swing it. They’re all about affection. It’s intimacy, true, genuine vulnerability, that they can’t really get comfortable with. All the physical attention usually does a good job as a deterrent, though.

19. How competitive are they?

They are ridiculously competitive, even when they don’t mean to be. If they see someone else walking toward the exit at the same time as them, they consciously walk faster and when they beat the other person, who is likely completely unaware there was a race, Leo thinks to themselves, ha, I won!

20. If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?

Bigger butt. Next question.

21. Do they have any obscure hobbies or routines?

They are really good at knitting and crocheting. A good percentage of their wardrobe is home crafted. They also collect rocks and crystals so that they can make jewelry out of them. They always considered themselves artistic, but their drawing and painting abilities were abhorrent, and their singing voice was... well, not great either. So they found their expression through clothing, which is why they make such weird and bold fashion choices.

BACKSTORY - 22. What are the names and ages of their close family members? Parents, siblings, etc.

His parents, Percival and Herron, are each 59. His brother Tiberius is 34, his sister Elexus is 31, and his brother Maximus is 23.

23. Is their family alive and are they still in contact with them?

Yes, and no. To Leo’s knowledge, they have not spoken in about seven years. They have no memory of this, but they only left home about 11 months ago.

24. Where are they from? City, nation?

They were born in Crowmire, Hegaehend. They grew up there, but ultimately moved to Khaggon in their early twenties.

25. Did they have a childhood best friend?

Leo has never had many close friends, as they tend to hold others at a distance for fear of rejection and of any other sort of downfall that would dampen their spirits. They’re open to the idea, but also no one has bothered to try and break down the walls thus far so in a way, they feel they’ve been right to build them up in the first place.

26. Have they had any pets?

They would love one, but they’re way too irresponsible. There is a stray cat that often hangs out on their windowsill. Leo calls it Blue because it is actually red, and sometimes they feed it scraps.

27. Did they grow up rich or poor? What were their living conditions like?

They grew up pretty comfortable. Their father owned several profitable businesses in Crowmire, so they were lucky to afford a house big enough to fit four children comfortably, and Leo never had to worry about going to bed hungry. All the siblings were meant to stick around and take over the businesses as their own. To Leo’s knowledge, they are the only one who left.

28. What is their educational background?

They went to school full-term, but genuinely did not apply themselves. For instance, when their mother demanded Leo take language courses, they took Draconic and Sylvan. Once they felt they’d learned everything they needed to learn, they sort of tuned it out and waited for it to be over. As a result, Leo isn’t very smart in terms of academic knowledge, but they feel they more than make up for it with street smarts and life experience. (However, they do not in fact make up for it.)

29. As a child, what did they want to be when they grew up?

A performer of some sort. They used to put on dramatic performances with their family where they’d write scripts and force each of them to play characters. Leo, of course, was always the lead. And yes, it was silly, but they actually weren’t a half bad actor. Oh well.

30. What advice would they give to their younger self?

They’d say, “If Mom ever tells you she is good at cutting hair, disagree and politely decline. And the way you’re feeling right now: overlooked, misunderstood, confused- that um... that gets better. You end up liking yourself, so, uh, you know. Might as well start right away. Oh, and when you’re at that one bar with the dog that pees on that dwarf lady, don’t smoke what she sells you. Seriously. Still don’t know where my pants went that night and those were some expensive pants.”

31. Growing up, were they ever bullied or were they the bully?

When they were younger, back before they really discovered themselves, they were bullied quite a bit. But as they grew to enjoy themselves and realized how cool they were for someone so young, they started to genuinely not care, and also they developed really good debate skills so when someone tried to belittle them, Leo usually ended up coming out with the upper hand.

32. Who do they look up to/who is their role model?

There really isn’t anyone they’d consider a role model. They are not at all like the people who raised them and there weren’t many outside influences who ever bothered to try. That might be a large reason Leo is so aimless most of the time: they don’t know which direction they want to go in yet.

PRESENT - 33. Do they currently have a place of residence?

They have an efficiency apartment that they pretty much just use to shower and, sometimes, to sleep.

34. What is their most treasured possession?

Their Reliquary! They keep it in their closet under their sewing supplies but anytime they’re going on a long trip they bring it with them.

35. What is their drink of choice?

Alcoholic. They don’t care if it is the cheapest ale or the most expensive spirit one can find. If it gets them drunk, it’s good.

36. Which king/queen are they loyal to, if any?

If they had to choose one, probably Kaylynn just because she’s the only one who isn’t currently dealing with a war. They actually don’t mind the idea of moving to Anari some day, and would seriously consider it if it didn’t mean such a long sea voyage.

37. Have they ever killed anyone?

They aren’t sure, but they hope not.

38. What was their last promise and did they keep it?

They promised their landlord that they would have the rent, and they did! Two days late, but, still. 

LOVE - 39. What was their first kiss like, if they’ve had one?

They were thirteen and had to kiss a boy named Oliver at a slumber party. As far as they recall, it was not terrible. It must not have been too bad, because they kissed again several times after.

40. Are they in a relationship/have a love interest?

No. Single and terrified of intimacy, unfortunately.

41. Have they ever been in love?

They don’t think of love as some sacred thing that is rare to find; Leo has loved lots of people and lots of things and experiences and memories. Have they ever been in love? No. But if you asked them, they’d lie and say it was all the same.

42. Have they ever had their heart broken?

Absolutely. One of the reasons Leo is so guarded from everyone is because they care so easily. And they trust unwavering. And they’re devastated when things don’t pan out the way they expected them to.

SPIRITUALITY - 43. Do they follow a god, if so who?

Yes: Tymora. There was a while where Beshaba was actively trying to get them to start following her instead, but Leo doesn’t remember this. Not that it matters, they ultimately stuck with Tymora anyway.

44. What do they think happens to them after death?

They don’t know. They keep their options open, but if gods exist and magic exists then it’s perfectly reasonable to believe that there is something waiting when the journey is done.

45. What is their spirit animal?

Fox. Chaotic and sly and pretty and full of mischief.

[shewhohangsoutincemeteries]

desire (kinds of love)

Tony Stark x Reader

Part Two of the Kinds of Love Series

Summary: prequel to ‘affection’. you moved into the avengers facility shortly after the events of civil war. tony is, for the most part, tony, but you can’t stop seeing that haunted expression in his eyes. your friendship grows as the two of you spend more time together, until one night he finally admits to you what happened in siberia, and everything between you changes.

Characters/Pairings: tony stark x reader

Warnings: fluff, then angst. smut. explicit language. a hint of dom!tony tbh.

Word Count: 4,539

Prequel - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 -  Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 -

MARVEL MASTERLIST

“Tony?”

“Yes, dear?”

“Is there a reason you’re in my lap?”

It had been a bit more than a month since you’d packed up the cramped little dorm room at N.Y.U. you’d been calling home for the last three years and had moved into a considerably more spacious bedroom at the Avengers facility outside of the city. You were still trying to accustom yourself to having a room all your own, let alone one of its size, not to mention the private en suite and walk-in wardrobe. You still found it strange to walk into the latter and see your battle suit hanging up in plain sight, ready and waiting just in case. But in all the time you’d spent in the facility, you hadn’t had to wear it. And you hadn’t actually seen very much at all of Tony Stark.

Sometimes, you attended the same sessions of Rhodey’s physical therapy – but you usually took a back seat in conversation then, as Tony tweaked the harness he’d designed to better work with Rhodes – and occasionally you’d cross each other in the hall late at night on your way to the fridge. Otherwise, though, it often felt like you weren’t even living in the same building.

The only real hint you got that he was always around was given to you when you cooked. You made dinner almost every night, cooking enough to feed everyone else as well. Rhodey and Happy would often join you for dinner, and even Vision would occasionally keep you company (even though you were yet to see him actually eat anything), but Tony never did. Still, every night you filled the Tupperware you’d labelled with his name and set it in the fridge, and it was always empty and in the sink by lunch time the next day. Even if all you’d made was pasta and sauce from a jar or scrambled eggs.

You weren’t actively trying to take care of Tony; you knew it would only insult him if you tried. But he was letting you have free run of a high-tech, million-dollar facility that came complete with an entertainment center, indoor pool and a state-of-the-art gym, and you didn’t even have to pay rent. The least you could do was leave him leftover sausages and mashed potatoes.

So, after weeks of little communication with a man who seemed like a shell of his former self, it was surprising to say the least when he’d come strolling in while you were watching a movie and flopped onto the couch beside you with a sigh, his head falling to rest in your lap. His eyes had gone straight to the screen in front of you, and he hadn’t looked up at you yet.

“So, what are we watching?”

You smirked at the collective; you hadn’t planned on having company, but you weren’t going to complain now that you did. You liked Tony a lot; he was witty, clever and easy to talk to even if you hadn’t spent much time with him in the past, aside from missions. You’d mentioned one night to Vision that you were worried that you were imposing and that was why he wasn’t around, but he’d assured you that Tony was happy you were there. He’d even suggested that your shared stance on the Accords and your standing alongside him against your friends had endeared you to him considerably.

“You should know, it’s your movie collection,” you pointed out, letting your question drop. You weren’t going to get a straight answer as to why you were being used as a cushion, and you didn’t really have an issue with it. He was warm and comfortable, and his easy demeanor relaxed you. The others were friendly enough, but Happy and Rhodey both tended to treat you like a kid, even if they didn’t mean to. “How’s the lab work going?”

“It’s boring.” He shrugged, his shoulders bumping gently against your thigh. “How’s the study?”

“I’m all studied out, to be honest.”

“Excellent.”

“How is that excellent, exactly?”

He smiled, eyes still on the television. “Means you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”

You snickered, shaking your head. “And how do you know I don’t just want to be alone right now?”

He finally tore his gaze away from the screen, meeting your eyes with his chocolate-brown ones, his lips curved in one of his patented, self-satisfied smirks. “Because about two minutes ago you started playing with my hair.”

Your eyes flickered to your hand in surprise; your fingers were curled in his dark locks and you had absolutely no idea why you’d started doing it. You withdrew your hand quickly.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Y/N,” he teased, poking you in the belly with his finger. “You’re not alone. The Iron Man fan site lists my hair as my fourth most attractive feature.”

“Only you would spend time on your own fan site,” you snarked. “What are the other three?”

“Smile. Ass. Goatee.” He counted them out on his fingers proudly, and you scoffed. He raised an eyebrow at you. “You’re telling me you’ve never wanted to see what everyone thinks of the mighty Barricade?”

“I’m a girl who had, upon occasion, walked down the street in downtown New York. I hear that a lot.” You replied drily. “And don��t get all excited, Tone. I wasn’t even thinking about your hair.”

“Then what were you thinking about? The other three?”

Snickering, you poked his temple lightly. “Nah. Maybe I just wish I had a cat.”

He chuckled. “Sweetheart, you put your hand back in my hair and I’ll buy you a hundred of them.”

You scoffed at that, but you relented as you looked down at him. After weeks of seeing Tony tired and withdrawn, it was nice to see him looking so relaxed and to have a part in that. You slid your fingers back through his hair, ruffling it as your fingertips grazed gently against his scalp. It was surprisingly soft against your skin – no doubt thanks to whatever overly expensive products he used – and you took up a soothing rhythm as you returned your attention to the movie.

Your free hand dithered for a moment, unsure of where to rest, and he rolled his eyes and grabbed it, pulling it down to rest on his chest. You could feel the faint line of the scar left behind by the arc reactor under his t-shirt. He sighed contentedly, settling back into your lap more comfortably. You shook your head in amusement. “You are so weird, Tone.”

“Shhh,” he hushed you teasingly. “I’m watching a movie.”

“Your eyes are closed.”

“Which makes it so much harder to understand what’s happening when I can’t hear it.” He broke out in a grin as you laughed. You fell into comfortable silence for a while, fingers still massaging idly away at his scalp.

“Tony?”

“Mmm?”

“Thank you for letting me stay here.”

He shrugged again. “Not a problem. Room was set up for you when this place was built.”

“I know, FRIDAY told me,” you replied. You’d been uncomfortable with the idea of moving into one of the other member’s rooms, but the AI had assured you that yours was designed specifically for you, and that the others’ rooms were all closed off by Tony once he’d gotten back from Siberia. “I meant… just… thanks.”

His lip curled in the hint of another smile. “It’s fine. I’ve been enjoying the foray into student food.”

You smacked his chest lightly, and he laughed.

“…Tony?”

“Yes, Y/N?”

You hesitated, biting your lip. “What happened in Siberia?”

Tony stiffened against you, and exhaled. He sat up, rubbing the back of his neck. “I should get back to work.”

“Tone, I—”

“I’ll see you later, Y/N.”

He walked out without looking at you, leaving a hollow feeling in your chest.

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

You smirked to yourself as you glanced up from your work, not turning around from the desk. “Can I help you with something, Tony?”

“How’d you know I was here?”

Your smile widened as you returned your eyes to your textbook. “I can see your reflection in the computer screen.”

“Very sneaky, kid. Romanoff would be proud.”

‘Later’ had turned out to be while you were preparing dinner two days after your conversation on the couch. Tony had come wandering in and offered a wine pairing for the curry you were cooking. To your surprise, he’d joined you and Rhodey that night, and almost every night since, even when Rhodey and Happy had other plans. On those nights, the two of you would find some terrible movie or painful reality show to make fun of, and would sit there long after your plates were empty. He even helped you with clean-up, and you had to admit, there was something endearing about seeing billionaire Tony Stark with soapy hands or packing a dishwasher.

He tilted his head to the side. “You know, I always thought ‘studying’ was a euphemism. No one actually studies this much.”

“Not all of us are in the genius class,” you replied. You spun your chair around, eyebrow raised in amusement. “What did you think I was doing?”

“Is it wrong to say it was something blush-worthy?” he grinned teasingly, wetting his lips with his tongue.

“Why, Tony Stark, I do declare!” you said, affecting a Southern accent and fanning yourself with your hand. You were used to seeing Tony flirt, even occasionally with you, and you knew not to take him seriously. He chuckled, sauntering across the carpet to your side. You turned back to the desk and he leaned over your shoulder, one hand braced on the armrest, the other resting on the back of the chair.

“What are you doing?”

“You know what I’m doing,” you aid, returning dutifully to your book. “Although I’m kind of scared to ask what you’ve been imagining it is.”

“You should try living a little dangerously, then, Y/N.” he replied softly, and you felt his warm breath fan against your neck.

“We’re Avengers, Tone. We already do.” You watched the reflection of his jaw tense for a moment, and you sighed. “Or we did, at least.”

Tony pulled the book out of your hands and tossed it on the floor behind him.

“Hey!”

He caught the chair by the armrests as you turned, caging you in and leaning over you. You were a little taken aback by how close his face was to yours, so you gave up and leaned back in the chair again. “You need a break.”

You sighed, “Tony, if you’re hungry, just say so. But I was just—”

“I am capable of feeding myself, you know.” He told you, smirk on his lips and shining in his eyes. “And you’re not cooking tonight.”

“I’m not?”

“Like I said, you need a break.”

“That’s what the girls at the dorms used to say when they were trying to convince me to come out and either get blind drunk or laid,” you said drily.

Mischief sparkled in the look he gave you. “Did it work?”

“For the first part? Sure, I’m not an animal.” You replied nonchalantly, and he laughed. Your tone turned a little coy as you continued. Always best to keep Stark on his toes. “Getting laid? I didn’t really need their help.”

He snorted at that, and you stuck your tongue out at him petulantly.

“So, what am I doing tonight, then, Astro Boy?”

“’Astro Boy’?”

You shrugged, folding your arms across your chest. “Metal, rocket boots, hero-type. Seemed like a fair comparison.”

“Huh. Fair enough.”

“You gonna answer my question?”

“Nope. Now, get your ass up, Y/N. Dinner will be here in ten minutes.”

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

“So, it turns out you’re actually a sorority girl, after all,” you mocked, holding up your half-gone drink in a toast. Tony tapped his glass against yours, and you both tossed them back easily. His idea of a break had turned out to be another night on the couch, this time with a sinful amount of food and a pitcher of apple martinis waiting for you. You were already halfway through it, a happy buzz settling in your brain. Instead of the usual bad T.V. he had music playing when you’d walked into the entertainment center; the low sounds of classic rock providing the soundtrack for your evening.

“Oh, please tell me you were in a sorority,” he shot back, leaning forward to refill both your glasses. You were sitting side by side on the couch, shoulders barely brushing. His legs were loosely crossed, his knee resting on yours. Your fingers brushed against his as you accepted your glass from him again. “The idea of you wearing a cute little sorority sweater over your mission outfit is just too good.”

“God, no.” you scoffed, stealing the last bite of his potato gratin with your fork. His mouth dropped open in mock-offence, and you grinned at him as you popped it into your mouth. “You really didn’t have to order so much, Tony.”

He shrugged. “Wasn’t sure what you felt like. Besides, the chef at Le Cirque is a friend of mine.”

“Le Cirque? Now I feel way underdressed,” you joked, gesturing at your jean shorts and your oversized sweater. “Seriously, Tony, that place is so expensive. I would have been happy with P.F. Chang’s.”

“You take another bite of that lobster risotto and tell me that.”

“I can’t.” you admitted, pursing your lips to hide your smile. “I finished it already.”

“Dessert, then?” he offered enticingly, finishing his drink. You followed suit. “There’s crème brulee in the fridge.”

“Mr. Stark, you spoil me,” you replied, grabbing his knee to stop him from rising. “Uh-uh. You stay. I’ll get it.”

Standing quickly before he could object, you swayed slightly when the alcohol rushed to your head. You felt Tony’s hands on your waist, steadying you, and amusement colored his voice when he spoke. “Easy there, sweetheart. I got you.”

Your hands covered his for a moment as you regained your balance, and you felt them ghost briefly down your thighs as he released you, letting you step away. Goosebumps erupted along your bare skin in their wake.

“Want me to make another pitcher?” he called out as you dug spoons out of the drawer, pouring the last of the cocktail into your glasses.

“Nah,” you replied, handing him his dessert and sitting back down. You slung your legs across his lap, back resting against the armrest, and smiled back at him when he looked at you with a mix of amusement and surprise. You held up a bottle of scotch you’d snagged from the bar. “Got you covered.”

***

You hummed happily, throwing back another mouthful of scotch. It was incredibly smooth, barely burning as it hit your tongue. Between the two of you, you were halfway through the bottle, dessert long finished. You tilted your head to the side. “I like this song.”

“Yeah?” Your legs were still thrown over his lap, and his hand slid up your calf at a glacial pace, his eyes following it as if he was committing your skin to memory. You weren’t entirely sure when he’d started doing it, but it felt nice, the warmth and surprising softness of his palm soothing you.

“Yeah,” you said, giving him a lazy smile. His hand reached your knee, and it slowly made its way back down again. “You like it too, right? You play it a lot. I hear it from my room.”

“You’re one of the few people who haven’t complained about that,” he said wryly, eyes still on his hand.

“I like being able to hear your music,” you admitted with a shrug. “Let’s me know you’re around.”

Tony smiled at you, accepting the bottle when you tilted it towards him. His eyes didn’t leave yours as he took a sip, and you felt a shiver settle in the small of your back.

“I like having you around, too.” He passed it back, his fingertips grazing over your knee to the bottom of your thigh and back down again. “Makes this place a little more lively.”

“Do you miss the others?” you asked before you could think it through, and you bit your lip. He exhaled shakily, bowing his head. You leaned forwards, hands on your knees. His fingertips brushed against yours the next time he reached the top of your calf. “Tony, it’s okay to miss them. I do.”

“It’s not that easy…”

You frowned, hesitating. His hand froze on your leg, and your scooted closer to his side, your knees bending. “Tony? What happened in Siberia?” He groaned, his other hand running through his hair. When he didn’t speak, you tried again, your voice almost a whisper. “Tony, please?”

“He killed them.” He said, his voice thick. He was staring at some invisible point on the wall, and the hollow look you kept catching when you’d pas him in the hall late at night was in his eyes again. “Buc—” he shook his head. “The Winter Soldier killed my parents.”

“Oh my God…” you murmured, stricken. “Did… did Steve…”

“Rogers knew.” His voice hardened to almost a growl. “Rogers knew the whole goddamn time.”

“Tony—”

“He fucking knew it, Y/N.” Tony turned to you, and there was a kind of heartbroken desperation in his eyes. Tears burned in them, and you felt them begin to well up in your own. “My dad loved him, thought he was a hero. And all this time Rogers fucking knew what he did. He slept in my house and worked on my team and he let me call him a friend and this whole time he knew what happened… he knew what that piece of shit did to them.”

“Tony, I’m so sorry,” you could feel the tears building in your throat. Your hand closed around his, and he squeezed it back so tightly it hurt. “I’m so, so, sorry…”

“I don’t know who I can trust anymore, Y/N.” he whispered, and those words broke your heart.

You cupped his cheek with your free hand, turning him to face you again. The hand not clasped around yours squeezed your calf, as if he was trying to anchor you to him. His gaze met yours, and you brushed your thumb against his cheek, wiping away an escaped tear. “You can trust me, Tony. I promise. You can trust me.”

His gaze bore into yours for what felt like forever, burning into you to the point where you almost felt like you had to turn away. But you didn’t, staring back at him with fierce earnest in your eyes, your hand gripping his own. The hand on your leg moved again, and you could feel it shaking slightly as it rose up your leg and to your hip; your sweater rose with it, and your breath caught slightly as his fingertips brushed against the bare skin of your waist.

“Y/N…” he murmured, and there was something anxious in his voice, different from before. Something that made you bite your lip and slide the hand on his cheek around to rest on his neck, your thumb brushing against his ear.

“You can trust me, Tony.”

The hand on your waist pulled you towards him, and he closed what little distance between you was left, his lips meeting yours in a fierce kiss. You gasped against his mouth, surprised, but found yourself gripping at the hair at the nape of his neck and answering in kind. His hand tightened on your waist; the other one releasing your hand to glide up your arm and tangle in your hair, his grip on it flirting with the edge of painful. Your hands moved to his chest, twisting in the fabric of his t-shirt, tugging him closer.

His lips were soft despite the aggression in his kiss, his teeth grazing against your bottom lip. You felt his tongue swipe against it, and you parted your lips, meeting it with your own with a whimper. His forehead rested against yours when he broke away to catch his breath, his hand still in your hair, and you slid your arms from his chest to wrap around his neck, suddenly desperate for his touch.

You hadn’t imagined your night to go this way – you hadn’t even fully admitted your attraction to Tony to yourself, but now you felt like you could drown in it.

You encouraged him to kiss you again, and you felt his hand brush against the side of your throat and down your side, whispering past the curve of your breast and down your ribs to rest on your hip, mirroring his other one. Your surprised squeal was muffled by his mouth as he lifted you and stood unexpectedly easily, gripping the bare flesh of your thighs and guiding your legs around his waist.

You felt your back meet the wall of the hallway as he carried you god knows where, and you gasped again once you felt his lips press roughly just below the angle of your jaw. Your fingers tensed on his shoulders, and you braced yourself against them to press yourself against his crotch. He groaned at the sensation, his teeth scraping against your throat, and then his lips found yours again, somehow more eager than before.

Your hand ran through his hair, disheveling it, and you giggled against his lips as he kicked open the door to his room, crossed the floor and dropped you on the bed. You felt your belly tighten as he stood over you, his eyes dark, his expression almost possessive. There was no smart-ass smirk or self-satisfied quip, just an aura of desperate need that rolled over you like a wave and made your thighs clench. You pushed yourself up the bed until you reached the pillows, legs parting slightly in invitation.

Tony pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside, and unfastened his jeans, and you wet your lips as he crawled up the bed towards you. He paused long enough to push your sweater up slightly and press a kiss to your hip in a surprisingly affectionate moment before his lips were on yours again and he was running a hand over your thigh.

You broke away long enough to remove your sweater, desperate to feel his skin against your own, and you were immediately rewarded when his hand moved from your thigh to grip your waist, pinning you to the mattress. His lips moved over your neck in a teasing combination of teeth and tongue to your collarbone and then to your breast, sucking at the skin at the edge of your bra. He answered your moan with one of his own, and you struggled to unclip it. His mouth found your nipple as soon as the lace was pushed away, teeth grazing against the hardening point. Everything was rough and almost careless, and you reveled in the feeling of Tony’s hold on you.

He repeated the actions on your other breast until you were breathless, and he kissed your sternum before sitting back and tugging your shorts and underwear down your legs. You kicked them off, squeaking as Tony’s hands pushed your thighs roughly apart. His body covered yours again as you felt his hand ghost over your folds, and you pushed awkwardly at the waistband of his jeans, urging them down his thighs. He pushed them off, fingers teasing over your clit for a moment before you felt him push his cock into you, all the way to the hilt.

You gasped at the sensation, clinging to his shoulders, and he gave you both a moment to adjust, his forehead resting on your shoulder, and his breathing heavy. You wrapped your legs around him and urged him closer, and his lips found yours again as his hips took up an almost punishing pace. The room filled with the sounds of your hips meeting, your breathy moans and his muttered curses; your name fell from his lips and you moved your hips to meet his, encouraging him to say it again.

“Oh, fuck… Tony…” you moaned as your head fell back, and his lips found your neck again. He felt so good, that coil in your belly ever-tightening as he filled you. One of his hands gripped at your breast, and your nails scored against his shoulders, making him hiss. “Fuck…”

“That’s right, sweetheart,” he murmured, his voice low and husky. He angled his hips until you keened, brushing against that sweet spot inside you with every thrust. You leaned up to kiss his neck, scoring his throat with open-mouthed kisses. You felt him shiver against you as you ran your tongue over the shell of his ear, and you caught his earlobe between your teeth, drunk on the sound of his moan. “I got you…”

His fingers ghosted over your belly down to rub circles over your clit, and you felt yourself tighten around him. Your hand clamped over his, holding it in place and he increased the pressure obediently; your eyes rolled back, your thighs shaking. “Oh, God, Tony, I’m gonna—”

“Come for me, sweetheart,” he whispered against your ear, his teeth teasing the shell of it. “Fucking come for me.”

The coil broke in you and you came with an almost pornographic moan of his name, drawing his lips back to yours for a kiss. He followed you soon after as you clenched around him, groaning against your lips as he spilled himself inside you. You slowly unwrapped your legs from his waist and he fell against you, his face pressed into the crook of your neck, his hands on your hips.  He touched a gentle kiss to the side of your throat before rolling off you, and you clenched your thighs at the empty feeling between them.

You looked over at him as you felt his hand take yours, and he intertwined your fingers, bringing them up to press his lips to the back of your hand. “Come here.”

He tugged you over to him, and you curled into his side, letting his arm settle around you to rest his hand on your hip. You slid a leg over his, your hand alighting on his chest. He covered it with his own.

“…Guess you really are just like the girls I go to school with,” you said, and smiled as he rewarded you with a quiet laugh. You ran your fingers over the scar left behind by the arc reactor carefully.

“You’ll stay, won’t you?” his voice was a whisper, an echo of his confession earlier. I don’t know who I can trust anymore.

“I’ll stay as long as you want me, Tone,” you replied, tugging the blankets up over the both of you. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He gave a soft sigh of contentment, tangling his fingers with yours on his chest. You closed your eyes and listened to his heart, feeling his lips press softly against your hair.

.

.

.

tags: @lovely-dreamer19 @spacesuitsforemergency @fandoms-pizza-wifi-ym13 @kileybird @sebbystanlover-vk @moistpotatobear @pelicanbelly @dannydevitodevoted @tonystarkxreader @wittyforachange @eurusholmmes @writing-journeyx @capsironunderoos

[killian-whump]

OUAT 3x01: Rewatch Blog

Welcome aboard, mateys! It's time to start rewatching Season 3! As usual, I'm a bit behind everyone else on this rewatch, but I've decided it's more fun for me to move at my own pace, so I probably won't be catching up anytime soon ;)

That said... Let's get started on Once Upon a Time Season 3!!!

Whoa. Wait a minute. Eleven Years Ago?! I really AM behind... ;)

Seriously, though. Do they really have to handcuff her ankle to the bed? Do they have a problem with women in labor jumping up and escaping prison right at that precise moment in their lives?

That's sad, though :(

Ooooh... I love the deadly stillness after the ship "lands" in Neverland. It's so... eeeeeeeerie. 

Ahhh, and the ominous look on Killian's face.

You can just FEEL the tension in the air.

"Aye. Neverland."

AHHHHHHHH TENSION AND ANGST

Kinda lame title card, haha.

Aw, great. It's this guy. NOBODY MISSED YOU GREG. YOU CAN GO BACK TO WHEREVER YOU WENT DURING THE HIATUS NOW.

SHIT. HE BROUGHT TAMARA, TOO.

I really hate these two, guys. Like, really.

Oh, come on. Don't shove a fucking kid, you asshat. Fucking GREG. You're an insult to your name, and I don't even like your name.

Oooooh, spooky noises. I love the atmosphere they built for this realm.

"Who we work for is not your concern, kid." Well, according to YOU as of about 20 minutes ago in show time, it's not YOUR concern either, dipshit.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THERE'S SAND IN YOUR BATTERY COMPARTMENT, YOU FUCKING MORON. WHO PUT SAND IN YOUR BATTERY COMPARTMENT, HUH? YOU FUCKING IDIOT.

Shut up, shut up. I know it was Peter Pan. LET ME HAVE MY MOMENT.

"It's a good thing you guys don't ask any questions." Hahahaha, bested by an 11-year-old and sand.

...and there he goes, shoving the damn kid again. You're just a colossal jerk, aren't you, Greg?

At least Tamara has the sense to look mildly concerned right here.

"Oh, I know, my hot-headed queen."

I JUST DIED. Forward my mail to my gravesite.

I totally forgot that line ever happened. I love rewatching this show.

"I hope not, or we've wasted our lives." AAAAAAANGST

"Your lives... well... THEY'VE SUCKED" hahaha, Why don’t you tell them what you really think, Emma XD

"We found you." Awww... "And lost Henry! And Neal!" Well, to be fair, it's not like you can expect them to give two shits about Neal. They met him, like, last week. And he's kinda a dick. And his Dad's, like, evil incarnate. But okay.

"Oh, that's a great use of our time: A wardrobe change." One of the best lines ever, really.

I mean, did Rumple really need to do the dramatic cane-spinning exit, though? It makes for good TV, so it's cool and all, but imagine it in real life. Like, just a boat full of people staring at where he once stood, thinking, "JFC That was unnecessarily dramatic."

OH, YEAH, LET'S LIGHT A FUCKING FIRE, GREG. THAT'S A GREAT FUCKING IDEA, GREG. Fucking loser.

Yes, I do plan on doing this until he dies. You have your hobbies; I have mine.

"You making S'Mores?"

HAAAAAAHHAHAHAHA OMG LOOK AT HIS FACE:

Fucking goon. Haha. I named that screencap "assface" when I saved it, because I feel it's fitting for both the character AND the face he's making.

"What if the empty communicator wasn't an accident?"

You mean the one someone OBVIOUSLY filled with sand instead of batteries ON PURPOSE??? Noooooooooooo.

"Don't let the kid get in your head." He's not even TRYING, Greg. He's just hungry and wants some fucking S'Mores. I want some S'Mores, too. We all want fucking S'Mores. S'Mores are delicious, FuckingGreg.

OH LOOK, IT'S FELIX.

AND ALL THE REST OF THE LOST BOYS ONES BOYS. I think we’re calling them “Boys” now. Must have gotten the rights.

Kill him, Felix. Somebody. Anybody. I'll even settle for the annoying Lost Boy with the face that annoys me, although I don't think he's in this season, but he's welcome to join it IF HE KILLS GREG.

"Then you're not getting the boy." Oh, Greg. It is entirely too late for you to do anything remotely likable now. Like, I literally want to throw Henry at them now just to spite you.

YEEEEESSSSSSSSSS RIP THAT MOTHERFUCKER'S SOUL OUT OF HIS BODY. TAKE HIS SPINE, TOO. THE ENTIRE SKELETAL SYSTEM. MAYBE A DISEMBOWELING'S CALLED FOR HERE?

Or, you know, you can just leave his husk there by the fire to rot away. That's good, too. I'm not picky.

GREG IS DEAD, EVERYBODY.

Tamara and Henry are running! Oh no! Will they make it? Will they-

This is a great scene, everybody. Thank you so much. This is the best thing to ever happen to me and the season only started 10 minutes ago.

Hahaha, they even show us a close-up of Tamara lying motionless on the ground, and then Greg. Like they KNOW we've all been waiting for their demise and they wanted to give us screenshots for our scrapbooks.

Anyway, thanks Felix! That was pretty cool. Much obliged.

Hey, look. An enterprising young chap has helped Henry up. There's no way he could be a bad guy.

I have to say, of all the "twists" in Once, this was one of the worst ones in terms of how OBVIOUS it was.

To some extent, it's the casting department's fault, because Robbie Kay is just TOO fucking perfect for Peter Pan. Like, he just EXUDES Peter Pan and he's not fooling anybody.

Heeheehee CS flirting <3

"What do you want?" All due respect, but it's HIS fucking ship? Like, he doesn't really need a reason to be below deck on his own ship?

"I didn't realize you were sentimental." "I'm not."

I love it when he spits the cork out, but how many corks does this man go through?!

Oh, look. Speak of the devil - It's Neal.

"Tell Emma I'm alive. And I love her."

Well, that's a GREAT message to pass on through your kiiiiiid. Won't get his hopes up or anything.

ANYWAY.

"Long enough to know I miss him, too." T_T

UH OH. TROUBLE'S AFOOT!!!

Oh, Dave and Snow are at the helm. That explains it. LEARN HOW TO DRIVE, SNOWING. Gosh.

Pun intended. I'm so sorry.

Regina: "What the hell are you two doing?!" Ahahahahaha :D

"Prepare for attack!" "Be more specific!" I love all these interactions. This is like the WORST family vacation EVER and I love every second of it.

"What's out there? A shark? A whale?" "A kraken?"

YOU FUCKING WISH.

Actually, no, Dave probably doesn't wish... but Kraken-san does! :D

Emma's response is classic. "Mermaids?!" Like what the fuck else does she have to put up with in this crazy sham of a life NOOOOW?

Dave's kinda hot manning that cannon, I gotta say. He's showing off some guns firing off that gun, if you know what I mean.

But really, what did they plan to DO with one mermaid, anyway? Especially after Regina chased them all off with her fireballs?

Oh, look. Henry and Totally-Not-Peter-Pan are on the run!

I'm super fooled by him talking himself up in third person, though XD

"If Pan wants you... he WILL get you."

"Pan will rip their shadows into oblivion."

"Pan loves nachos with spicy cheese."

"Pan is the awesomest guy on this island."

Aw, man. This scene is a snoozefest :/

Literally. They're all just watching Aurora sleep XD

Wait. HOW is Neal feeling better? He got shot, like, 10 minutes ago in show time and he's had no REAL medical care, aside from whatever they bandaged him with, since none of these folks here have magic.

HOW IS HE FEELING BETTER?!

I gotta be honest, though. Rumple is hot as SHIT in this season. I ain't gonna pretend otherwise. This leather clad badass thing WORKS for him.

Oh, look. Tamara's still alive.

"C-Can you forgive me?"

I'm gonna guess that is a HARD ASS NO, bitch.

Haha, love the way he flicks the dust off his fingers.

"GET THAT THING OFF MY SHIP!"

I love how panicked he is by the mermaid XD It gives my entire life meaning :D

I wish we had more information in canon about Hook's time in Neverland. We can tell this is FAR from his first skirmish with mermaids, but how/when/why/what happened? I NEED TO KNOW! Especially if it involved wounds or peril or other things relevant to my interests...

Touching Mulan and Neal chat.

More running in the woods with Not!Pan.

"Well, I'm all out of fish food." Love you, Regina <3

"Fillet the bitch." Seriously, love you so much bae <3

Snow's face, tho XD

This is 110% why I watch this show. SHENANIGANS.

...and a pirate. Don't forget the pirate.

"I've outrun many a storm!" We know you have, babe. We know. You keep telling us...

SHAMPOO COMMERCIAL TIME!!!

PERIL ON THE HIGH SEAS!!!

CERTAIN BLETH DEATH!!!

SUPER DRAMATIC MUSIC!!!

...as we cut to a peaceful, though somewhat dilapidated, castle in the Enchanted Forest. Birds are singing, dawn is breaking, the world is alight with hope and possibili-

JUST KIDDING. GET BACK TO THE FUCKING DRAMA STORM, SHOW.

I hate it when they do this.

Hey, Sean. Nice intro.

"You don't want to see ID?" Neal... ISTFG.

Disappearing arrow, heehee. SHENANIGANS.

I love how interested Robin is in what's inside the vault XD Always a thief, eh?

"This isn't a storm. It's bloody damnation!" Love that line <3

"Let the slags go!" Haha "Don't call my wife a slag!" Haha!

BOY FIGHT!! BOY FIGHT!!!

They're all wet, too! Slow down, cameraman! I wanna see ALL of this!!!

Oooh, almost gutted with his own hook. Haaaaarsh.

Emma, no one's listening to you. Emma, no one's... They're not... They're not even looking or paying any attention at all... They won't even- Oh. Okay. Somehow everyone saw you jump, despite literally being in a fight for their respective lives. Neat.

...aaaaaaand cue the convenient rigging falling loose and hitting her in the head.

SHENANIGAAAAAAAAANS

Oh, look! They're flying!!!

This would be super touching if it wasn't, you know, exactly what Pan wants XD

Haha, Emma looks so ethereal floating there, unconscious, in the waters of Neverland, facing certain death.

Awww! A big group effort rescue!!! Good job, team!

"Told you." Right, but no one was listening...? So how do they even know what she's talking about? Well, I guess maybe they WERE listening...?

Shenanigans? idek anymore...

SHENANIGANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awww... Bobby's acting is so great right here. This is awesome. Very moving. The part after the shenanigans, I mean. Although they’re great, too.

Felix, you're kinda a dick, though. That’s kinda a compliment, tho?

I love it when magic flops :D Dramatic music aaaaaand... nothing.

"Actually, I quite fancy you from time to time, when you're not yelling at me."

You like her even more when she's yelling at you, son. IT IS KNOWN.

His offended face when Charming says, "With him?" XD DAVE, WHY WOULD YOU SAY THIS ABOUT ME. DAVE, I THOUGHT WE WERE PALS. DAVE. DAAAAVE.

Hahaha, his adorable shrug to Regina. SHENANIGANS <3

"You couldn't be more right, Henry."

I'm so glad they didn't try to drag out the reveal of Pan to another episode, because he seriously wasn't fooling aaaaaanybody.

Except for Henry. Oops?

It's so great how ominous they're being at the end of this episode, advancing on Henry like that...

Although Pan's "let's play!" is a lot less frightening when you know he literally means "let's dance around a fire and create a rhythmic ruckus" but hey. It still works for the ending of this episode, which is now... OVER!!

PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!!! PEW PEW PEW!!!

[seriouslycromulent]

(Lengthy) Thoughts on Fantastic Beasts 2: Crimes of Grindelwald

I don’t really plan to write a full review of FB2, but since I said I was more excited for it than Widows, Aquaman, and Bohemian Rhapsody, it feels wrong not to share some general thoughts on the second installment of the Fantastic Beasts franchise. 

Especially since I just got back from seeing it a second time in the theater.

As usual, I haven’t read any reviews, nor do I plan to. I think I’ve established by now I don’t care what critics think. Never have. The only opinion that truly matters in how I view any work of art or entertainment is mine, so if you’re mostly expecting to see me repeat or refute any critics’ opinion of the film here, you might want to keep scrolling. (I address a few at the end. But it’s very cursory.)

Anyway, here are some of my reactions to FB2. And yes, there are spoilers below. I tried to keep them vague as to not give too much away, but I was not as successful in doing so as I might have hoped. You’ve been warned.

And away we go ...

Overall, I enjoyed the film greatly. It didn’t give me the warm fuzzies at the end that the first FB did, but it’s not supposed to. It’s not the first chapter that kicks off the story. It’s the next chapter that leads us down the darker path in the tale that introduces us to true struggle and turmoil that we’re going to have to deal with through the remaining 3 films.

It’s not meant to be shiny. It’s not meant to be sweet. But it is meant to present us with a few twists, turns, and new information to keep us invested in the story. And with that in mind, I was not at all disappointed.

I don’t know if I’ve communicated this yet, but I truly love the look of Fantastic Beasts in general. The 1920s is one of my favorite eras when it comes to design and history. From fashion to automobiles to architecture to hairstyles to music to literature to advancements in technology, etc., I think it’s a very underrated era when it comes to human ingenuity and cultural significance. And to set the second film in 1920s’ Paris was just brilliant. In the first film, I got to enjoy the ‘20s of New York, but now we get a splash of NYC and London, but mostly Paris as our backdrop, and the visual design and production were even more amazing.

I was nervous that they were going to use Leta Lestrange to drive a wedge between Newt and Tina, and even though they sort of did, I was happy to see it was a bit of a red herring. And she was never any real threat to Newt and Tina. Crappy love triangle averted!

Now with that out of the way, I really did feel sorry for Leta. Once we learn her backstory, it all comes together and makes sense. When she says the line, “Newt, you never met a monster you couldn’t love,” I was shook by the accuracy of that.

Newt was probably drawn to that ever-present, misunderstood sadness in Leta that he quite honestly sees in Tina as well. I like Tina, but she does have her terminal anxiety covered by that fake-it-til-you-make confidence that allows Newt to see a bit of himself in her. And I think in no small part, plays a role in their attraction to one another.

I do find it unfortunate that I’m seeing so many people rush to show concern for Queenie’s character and express empathy for her, wanting to protect that character going forward, but I see so little of that consideration and empathy shown toward Leta. Which is ... telling.

While we’re also on Leta Lestrange, I was pleasantly surprised by Zoe Kravitz’s performance. I’ve been a bit hard on her for the past year or so. Not because I don’t like her, but because, frankly, I’ve yet to see her deliver a great acting performance worthy of all the love and praise she gets from fans. I feel like most people just like her because of who her parents are, and they want to see her succeed in Hollywood because of it. But she’s yet to really impress me with her acting at all. I’m not saying she’s changed my mind entirely in FB2, but this performance was definitely one of her better and stronger ones. So kudos to her.

Now I’m not disappointed in terms of performance, but a part of me is really annoyed by Queenie in this. I get that she wants to marry Jacob, and the Ministry in America says no, but what was she thinking in enchanting Jacob?! Like he said, when was she going to wake up him? After they were married and had 5 kids? Come on, Queenie! How was that the answer to your problem?

Yes, I’m upset she joined the dark side in the end. But I’m trying to be understanding because Grindelwald is making some enticing points on why people should join him. For Queenie, she thinks that if Majs are in charge, they can get rid of this silly rule about who can marry whom. But at the same time, she knows Grindelwald is dangerous. Does she think Majs will gain control over the No-Majs without casualties? Does she even care? And with her telepathic abilities, she’s going to make Grindelwald a powerful operative -- as we saw in the end when he asked her about Credence’s mental state. Damn it, Queenie! Why did you have go to the dark side?!

It does make me wonder: If Queenie had known what Grindelwald had done to the family that originally lived in that Paris apartment, would she still have joined him? Is she willing to see innocents killed (even children) in the name of creating Maj rule just so she can marry Jacob?

Also, can someone explain to me why it was OK for Queenie to call Jacob a coward -- especially since we know he fought in the war -- but it wasn’t OK for him to think she was crazy? Why is she allowed to insult him, but he’s not allowed to insult her? Again, she annoyed me with this.

Going back to the look of the film, I not only enjoyed the production design, but I also loved the many special effects. From the Kappa (the Japanese water demon in the tub at the circus) to whatever that giant deer with the enormous jaw Newt was feeding in his lab to the Zouwu (the giant Chinese New Year dragon-meets-Falcor from Neverending Story creature) to the simple stone statue of the woman in Paris who hid the underground entrance, I thought most of the special effects were ... well, quite fantastic.

The only effect that threw me at all were the protective felines, Matagots, at the French Ministry. They not only looked disturbing, but they also didn’t look real enough. They almost felt like they stepped out of a video game. And not one of today’s video games either, but one from like 2013. Perhaps it was intentional because they’re meant to be a bit surreal with their huge eyeballs, but I’m afraid that also made them appear just a tad less believable. Which is odd considering all the things we’ve seen in the Potterverse that skirts the concept of realistic. Oh well. It wasn’t enough to make me dislike the other special effects, so I’ll shrug it off.

Shallow moment reveal: I want Tina Goldstein’s leather trench coat and I don’t even wear leather.

I adore Jacob Kowalski. That is all. Change nothing about him. 

I love that their solution to showing Young Dumbledore even younger is to remove the strands of gray he has from his beard. 

This is going to sound odd, but Callum Turner’s face is perfect for this film. Why? Because he has that classic bone structure we used to see all the time in old films from the 1920s and 30s. Seriously, put a straw boater hat on Theseus and give him a bamboo cane, and he looks like he walked out of the background of a Buster Keaton movie. Maybe it’s just the combined effect of the movie’s setting and wardrobe. Maybe it’s the fact that Callum’s skin is so damn tight across his cheekbones he looks like if he sneezes, he’s going to rip his jawline from the bone. I don’t know. But I do know that he has the perfect face for this film.

When I heard that J.K. mirrored Grindelwald’s speech at the cemetery after some of the things Hitler used to say in his speeches, I knew he was going to be a great villain. In the first Fantastic Beasts, Grindelwald is really just a boogie man. What we know of him is more in relation to how people react to him. Even when it’s revealed that he was wearing a Percival Graves-glamour to hide while doing his dirty work, we still don’t truly see him as the dangerous menace that he is. In that respect, he was a man seeking power (and Credence) to get his ultimate plan underway. The rest are newspaper headlines.

But to see Grindelwald talk to his minions in the Paris apartment and at the cemetery with such effortless manipulation was somewhat jarring. Especially when you think of present day parallels with the rise of more authoritarian regimes around the world. Grindelwald uses seductive language to coax his followers into believing their desires are born from love and a need for safety, not born from hate and fear. He tells them that No-Majs are not worthless, but simply of “other value.” He softens the declaration of war by painting what could be an impending genocide by insisting it’s for the betterment of all mankind. 

This is a villain for a story written for adults. Voldemort is for children. He doesn’t get the window-dressing and subtlety of true real-life villainy. Grindelwald, on the other hand, can exist in our world today. Voldemort cannot.

Now I’m aware that a lot of people are talking about the reveal regarding Credence’s lineage -- which was the truth bomb that left quite a few people stunned while the credits rolled. Understandably. But until I see someone piece together a theory on how Credence can be a Dumbledore (although it would lend itself to explaining his Obscurial nature), I’m inclined to believe that Grindelwald was just lying through his teeth.

When he says that the Phoenix comes to Dumbledore family members in their time of need, why did the bird that Credence was nursing suddenly transform into one? At that moment in time, Credence was not in his most need. Why wouldn’t the Phoenix have shown up in New York prior to Newt’s visit? Why didn’t the Phoenix show up after Credence had gone ballistic and ripped up half of NYC and retreated into the subway? 

Hopefully, at some point in the next film, Credence will question Grindelwald and demand some sort of proof. But even if he does, I can see Grindelwald manufacturing something semi-credible to manipulate Credence further. We’ll have to wait and see.

One of my favorite lines: The line where Dumbledore says he and Grindelwald were more than brothers ... I see what you did there, J.K. ... I see what you did there. ;-)

You know what I want for this film series now? More Nicolas Flamel in future FB films. :-)

I also want more Dumbledore, but I suspect that wish will be easily granted as the series continues. And if we can have more Dumbledore with Grindelwald, I would like to order that as well.

I’m not sure of the name of the actor who played a young Newt Scamander in the Hogwarts flashback scenes, but wow! Talk about matching the perfect youngun’ to the right adult actor. That kid was completely believed as a young Newt. Hell, he’d be believable as a young Eddie Redmayne.

Notice how when Credence goes to Grindelwald in the cemetery, he puts his head on Grindelwald’s shoulder? He did it just like he did when Credence thought Grindelwald was Graves. It was a nice, but subtle callback to the connection these two formed -- even if temporary -- in the first film. And back then, Grindelwald was manipulating him just like he is manipulating him now, by filling a void disguised as love, affection and genuine concern. And Credence is still susceptible because he’s spent most of his life devoid of that.

Although I feel like he would have shown more hesitation at the idea of leaving Nagini behind. But maybe he figured since this is what they were working toward all along, she might understand with time.

I did see some people complain about the exposition scene where we learn of Leta’s secret, Yousef’s oath, and Credence’s connection to the Lestrange family. I thought they did a wonderful job getting the audience through that level of detail without making it boring. You hear a narration, but the visuals communicate the story perfectly. For such a tragic tale to be included in a film where some may think it’s all about love stories and magic wands, I appreciate the inclusion of how evil like Grindelwald’s exists in every generation. And its lasting effects helped create the situation everyone is struggling with in this current story. That is some expert-level storytelling.

Can I just say I love the relationship between Newt and Theseus? It’s not perfect, but it’s not mean-spirited. When Newt says, “This is probably the greatest moment of my life,” after Tina uses her wand to tie Theseus to a chair so they can escape, you can see that these two brothers have had a bit of a rivalry in the past, but you also see love there in the beginning when Theseus warns Newt that the ministry is watching him. And when Theseus is heartbroken after Leta tries to take down Grindelwald, that hug from Newt with the line, “I’ve chosen a side,” really says it all about their relationship. They’re brothers who love each other, even if at times, like many brothers, they don’t always like each other.

It was sad to see the poor Niffler get hurt because of the whole blue fire scene, but it’s also awesome that he snagged Grindelwald’s keepsake. One of the trailers said “No nifflers were harmed in the making of this movie.” Better not be. ;-)

OK. I think that’s all I have for now in terms of original reflections on the film. I’m sure more will come to me as I am exposed to other’s feedback. Like I said, I don’t read reviews. But I do hear different things being uttered by others on social media and in casual conversations. And to that, I say this: I’ve yet to hear one complaint about this film that I agree with. Not. One.

For example:

I don’t agree with the complaint that it had too much plot. (What the f*ck does that even mean?!)

I don’t agree that Queenie was acting out of character. (How is that possible if the person who created the character wrote her doing those things in the script? Not liking what a person does is not the same as acting out of character.)

I don’t agree that J.K. didn’t do a good job with the screenplay. A) She wrote the screenplay for the first one, and B) That’s utter bullsh*t because your desire to not think when you go into a cinema doesn’t have to translate into a script that caters to your desire to not think.

Johnny Depp did a phenomenal job, as expected. And no. He should absolutely not be replaced or recast.

And no. Leta Lestrange was not a disappointment. Quite the opposite.

I try to stay away from reviews, because mainly, I enjoy thinking for myself. So I honestly don’t know what all the critics are saying. All I keep hearing is that the movie is getting “mixed reviews.” So clearly some people like it. While others don’t.

I don’t know what others were looking for, but I do know that this film was exactly what the next act in this story should be. I look at Fantastic Beasts like a 5-act play. The Crimes of Grindelwald is the second act, and it did what a second act should do. The second act introduces a significant complication, develops the primary and secondary characters’ personalities further, and increases the action on all fronts in the plot. 

I think it’s unfortunate that some critics (and perhaps fans) thought that they were going to walk out of FB2 feeling the same way they did when they walked out of FB. And I can’t help but feel that some of the criticism being lobbed at J.K. has more to do with trying to take her down a peg and attempting to find a flaw in her skillset than it is about a genuine critique about what appears on the screen in Fantastic Beasts 2.

I don’t support mindless entertainment. I don’t even want my cartoons and action films to be mindless. It’s a sad state when we see critics demanding films cater to the lowest level of attention spans and depth. And I’m happy to see J.K. not give over to that idea.

As I said in the beginning, I enjoyed the film greatly -- enough to see it twice in 4 days. So you’ll likely see me praising the movie as much as the previous one until the next chapter (or Act 3) is ready for me to enjoy.

[closetspngirl]

Love Heals the Soul (Part 12) - The Panel

Summary: Panel day! Nothing could happen here...with Jensen and Jared on stage...

Masterlist

Pairing: Jensen x reader, Jared

Word Count: 2397 (sorry…)

Warnings: Fluff, rolled in fluff, with a little extra fluff sprinkled on top, ya know, for safe measure.

A/N: I am soooo sorry that I was still being lazy. I need to get back into the swing of things. Feedback is always welcome! Italicized are lyrics, POV thoughts or text conversations; you can tell by the context.

The next morning you awoke surprisingly easy, 30 minutes before your alarm, which was rare for you on a day off, let alone after a late night. Knowing that I’m seeing Jensen today has *nothing* to do with it I’m sure… With your extra time, you decided to go down to the hotel gym and run a few miles, get the heart rate going, sweat a little; that was always a good way to start the day. You changed your sleep shorts and tank for some leggings and a fitted lightweight hoodie, grabbed your headphones and went downstairs. By the time you reached the gym, you had already put your headphones in, blaring some AC/DC, not paying attention to anyone or anything going on around you. Once on the treadmill, situated and running, you tried to shut off your mind for the duration. Running on a treadmill was more or less a last result for you, preferring the outdoors to stationary running. But, given the time constraint today, the ungodly hour on a day off and the weather, here you were, staring at the same spot that was out the window across from you.

The sound of your alarm that you decided to set before you started your run pulled you back to the reality of the hotel gym. You didn’t realize it, but you had been going for almost 25 minutes at a fairly steady pace, usually changing it to whatever song was playing. You shut the machine off, hopped down and grabbed one of the towels provided to wipe your face a little, as you started walking out the door…That wasn’t too bad. Now I’m ready to start the…

“Oof!” You exclaimed as you nearly fell on your butt after running into a solid wall of muscle, but being caught by two very strong hands that steadied you and kept that from happening. It took you a second to register what just happened, and when you figured it out, you looked up to see whom it was that you collided with. “Oh my god, Jensen! I’m so sorry!” You instantly regretted not washing your face last night, and now mixed with the sweat, you were definitely a hot mess.

All Jensen could do was stand there and smile, that all too genuine, gorgeous smile, letting a small chuckle escape his lips. “It’s ok, it’s not the worse way to start my day. I finished up my workout and saw you finishing up your run and was coming over to say good morning,” he leaned down and kissed your cheek and took your hand in his. “Ugh, Jen, I’m sweaty and gross, at least let me take a shower first,” you whined, still enjoying the fact that he did that. He just responded with a smirk and something in his eye, you couldn’t quite decide what it was. “You look perfect, as always.”

The two of you were making your way to your rooms, hand in hand, exchanging the general pleasantries. “Ready for your panel this morning?” you asked him. “Yeah, Jar and I have a lot of fun at these, despite the early hours of the gold panel. And speaking of early, we still have another…” checking his watch, “hour and a half before we need to be there, want to grab coffee before?”

“Sure, I’ll just need to shower and change….wait…we?” You were at your door by now, but you were suddenly stock still at the realization of what Jensen said. He laughed a little. “Yeah, we, if that’s ok? I figured you could come hang out with us; the gold panel is only a half hour, not long at all. And there’s always someone in the green room to hang out with. Jar and I have our autographs and photo ops after that throughout the afternoon, and then the last panel,” Jensen finally took a breath, but hoping he made good work of trying to convince you to come along for the day.

“Are you’re sure no one will mind? I’m not exactly with the show.” You questioned him nervously. “No one. They all love you, and if anyone has an issue with it, we’ll tell them you’re with me, in every sense of the phrase,” Jensen answered expectantly. Your face was suddenly redder than it was from the run. “Ok then, I guess I’ll go get ready,” stepping up on your toes to give him a kiss on the lips, slow, meaningful, but not anything to distract the two of you form your newly made plans. “Give me 25 minutes?” you asked. “Perfect.”

You had the shower as hot as you could stand, washing off the morning run while also trying to relax you before the day ahead. Your conversation with Kim and Briana had been brief; they left you to get ready while they went to grab some breakfast before their day started. After your shower you rifled through your bag for a change of clothes, when your eyes fell on a certain blue shirt. I’m a nobody here, no one will notice, and I don’t have to talk about it…you thought as you put on the safe and familiar flannel and rolled the sleeves up. You finished off the outfit with simple make up, a messy bun, jeans and converse; this outfit being a staple of your wardrobe.

Just as you stepped outside the door, you saw Jensen walking down the hall, simply dressed as well; jeans, boots, long sleeve and a coat. “I’m a fan of the shirt,” Jensen said with a chuckle. “Yeah…I was kind of nervous to wear it, I’ve noticed that a lot of the convention goers have chosen that as their…outfit of choice. But, it…” you trailed off, barely getting all of that out without sounding nervous. Jensen cut you off before you had to think of what to tell him, “It’s fine. I love it on you.” He wrapped his arm around your waist, kissing the top of your head.

“Coffee? Despite the workout, I could definitely use the caffeine.”

“Mm. Agreed.” You responded.

With your coffees in hand, you made your way to the green room, still having a little time before the panel started. That gave the two of you time to sit and talk until Jared got there.

“Hey, Y/N! How was the rest of your guys’ night?” he questioned, looking between the two of you. Jensen and yourself shared a look, having a silent conversation. Your eyes settled back on Jared, “It was good, really good,” a smile a mile wide was spread on your face. Jared chucked, “Good. You ready Jen?”

You realized then that the guys on stage had started playing, which was the cue for Jensen and Jared to go out there. “Have fun!” You told Jensen, getting a kiss in response, followed by one of his winks and heart stopping smiles before he walked through the curtain.

The crowd, of course, went crazy for them; you couldn’t blame them, they were pretty amazing. Rob and Rich introduced the guys, not that they needed it, and then joined you, when Jared started with, “Hi guys!”.  You could sit and watch them all day; the chemistry between the two of them and how they interacted with the fans was incredible. They had stories for days, ones that left you with tears streaming down your face from the hilarity of them, but they were also genuine and serious when fans would tell them how much the show, character stories or even actors’ stories helped them with their own lives. I can’t believe that I actually get to see this first hand.

They started in on the questions, some of them being ones they normally get at cons; favorite story from set, favorite prank, favorite character line and so on. The next fan got up to ask their question.

“Hi, my name is Hailey.” She started, quietly. “Jared, Jensen” Jared smarted off, pointing between the two of them, eliciting laughs from the crowd. Always a classic. You couldn’t help yourself by letting out a laugh.

Hailey laughed, “So, my question is for Jensen.  First, I really enjoyed your and Y/N’s performance last night at the concert.”

A huge smile settled on Jensen’s face, as well as yours you realized. He shyly gave her a warm “Thank you.”  

“So, can you tell us how you met Y/N?” she asked nervously, almost afraid that he wouldn’t answer it. He let out a laugh, Jared giving his ‘story time’ face and a big smile. Watching on the monitor in the green room, you could see form there the twinkle he got in his eye at the question, which in turn made you smile, yourself thinking back to that night.

“Well, let’s say I was a huge dork when it came to meeting Y/N,” drawing a laugh from the crowd, Jared piping in with an “It’s true, I was there!”, only to be met with a scoff from Jensen. “But seriously, it wasn’t my finest moment, but one that I’m really glad happened.”

Jared started in again, “So get this, Briana, Kim, Jen and I walk into a café…”

“First of all, that sounds like the set up to a really bad joke…” Jensen cut in, only getting an exaggerated shrug from Jared. He continued, “It’s true, it does. So Briana invited us to an open mic night a few weeks back, where Y/N happened to be performing. She also happened to do an acoustic version of ‘Brother’, which let me tell you, after the first word, I was done for.”

There was a collective ‘aw’ from the crowd while your smile was still sitting on your lips, Jared gave Jensen a sappy puppy dog face, Jensen smiling ear to ear. “And can I tell y’all a secret…”, Jensen waited until the crowd quieted down, “…she’s bakes.” You let out a laugh at that one, along with Rob and Richard. “You bake? Really?” Rob and Rich both asked you, damn near in unison.

You looked at them surprised. “Uhh…yes?” Stifling a laugh, “I’m a pastry chef, stop by the café sometime.”

They looked at each other and then back to you with Rich continuing, “Can you uh…bring cookies sometime?” both of them with big dopey grins on their faces. “Sure guys,” you said with a laugh. “Sweet!” they said, once again in unison, resulting in a face palm from you over their unintended pun.

You heard Jensen and Jared still on the subject of your meeting each other. “Really? That’s the secret?” Jared questioned, looking squarely at Jensen, his expression saying there was more to be said. “I mean…the lesser sappy part of the secret…?” Now it was Jensen’s turn to give an exaggerated shrug. “Go on,” coaxed Jared with about ninety percent of the crowd.

“Ok, ok, ok. She really is a baker, I wasn’t lying about that,” the smile on his face so bright. What could he possibly say after this? There’s nothing secret to tell about me…or us? “Y’all know that author…uhh…you know, romantic guy…Mandy Moore was in the movie?” Jensen asked, mainly to the audience. “Nicholas Sparks!” the fans answered back. “Yeah! That guy. Well, that night at the café, when Y/N came over to our table after she was done, that was our meet cute, our Nicolas Sparks movie moment. The entire café faded away as soon as she smiled at me, I knew right then that she was something special.”

All you could do was stare at the monitor. “Y/N…?” You couldn’t tell whether it was Rob or Rich who talked, all you could think about was that night, the moment that he just told eight hundred people about. Ohmygod. He felt the same thing I did? “Y/N??” It was Rob. “Hmm?” you absently replied, eyes still glued to the screen, not entirely sure if your heart was still beating or if you were even breathing.

You jumped at the feeling of a hand on your shoulder. “Hey, Y/N, it’s ok, it’s just me,” Rob said softly. “You ok? We need to go out and wrap up their panel,” you finally managed to tear your eyes away from the screen. “I’m fine. Perfectly fine,” a smile finding its way to your lips.

The guys went out to play the song signaling the last question while Jared went out to the crowd to find the lucky lady. After the question and all of the antics that generally come with the last question, Rob, Rich and the rest of the band played the guys off the stage. You took that as your cue to stand up to make your way to where they would be coming in, being greeted by Jensen and Jared laughing at something, not sure what the subject was.

As soon as Jensen’s eyes fell on you, he could sense that your demeanor had changed, despite the smile that was still settled on your lips. Jensen walked over to you, rested a hand on your hip and cupped your cheek with the other, “Y/N, what is it?” All you could do was look into his eyes, those bright emerald gems, right into his soul. “I’m happy. For the first time in a really long time, I’m happy. I mean I feel it deep down in my heart. And I…I…am about to sound ridiculously sappy.”

Jensen kept his gaze on you, waiting for you to finish. “I felt it too, that ‘Nicolas Sparks’ moment you talked about, that night in the café. I thought I was crazy, that it was just post performing adrenaline or being star struck. But, now I realize that I wasn’t crazy.” You were rambling, giving in to your nervous habit, but before you could keep going, Jensen had cut you off with a kiss. A kiss so deep and passionate, it actually took your breath away.

Given the fact that you were standing in the green room, which wasn’t exactly private, neither of you let the kiss get too out of hand. Jared gave a friendly cough, to announce that he was still standing there, “Uhh guys, we are standing in a hotel, with rooms, that each of you have,” clearly trying not to laugh. “Shut up Jar,” you and Jensen said in unison, still not breaking his gaze. “I’m happy too, Y/N.”

Tags: @maralisa124 @somilotopia @delightfullykrispypeach @steffiemeheus @lizwinchester16 @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester @mystrie @supernatural-lover-teamfreewill @cats-are-untrustworthy @superromijn @gifsforgomez @sherlock44 @life-through-the-lenss @1233088 @fandomloveyeah