#int: flashback

[azathothweirdo]

Wild that I'm bother arguing with someone on a month old reddit post calling Izumo stupid for not trusting Maria and rejecting Rin within her arc. Yeah, the traumatized girl is stupid for not trusting an adult who took her sister, and then attempting to protect someone she cares for years later.

This isn't OP even, this is another rando victim blaming Izumo.

[witchertorsten]

@elokian location: Bjarnheim, Iskaldrik notes: before the fall

Bjarnheim was historically uncooperative; everyone knew that even with the jarl's fist looming overhead, the merchant's guild was the real power here. They'd chiseled and whittled away at Iskaran law until a High King, with fists full of coerced gold, agreed to permit the presence of supernatural creatures within this bustling port city.

Because of this, it was home to all sorts, but under Iskaran law magic of any kind remained illegal. Few people were immune to the weight of a well-placed bribe, witchers included, but Torsten was not for sale. He'd tracked a witch to this port where they'd undoubtedly try to make with the nearest vessel to smuggle themselves away from here. Something Torsten would not permit to happen.

The tavern was lively until the witcher stepped through, armor bright as the moon above and just as daunting as his boots fell across the wooden planks as he strode inside. A drawing had been sketched out of the convict in question and Torsten held it aloft now as he surveyed the faces of every person in the tavern.

"This man is guilty of crimes against the Iskaran crown," he walked to the nearest message board and jammed a dagger into it as he pinned the parchment in place. His tone, written with a cold resolve, "Those who cooperate will be met with leniency, those who do not will join him when I return him to the mines."

[alucardrakul]

@hiddenlilja location: Haven (Technically I think Feronia is still alpha? She's old now tho) notes: last call before damnation

Fresh off of telling his father that he had joined the Legion of the Dead, Alucard made for what would be his last stop before he was posted at Nornwatch Keep. The dhampir was inherently uncomfortable in any social setting, but this one was already more intense because he couldn't shake the notion that the wolves here didn't like him on principle. Alucard did his best to appear friendly and approachable, he'd smiled at those who passed him by and he made strong eye contact to inspire something akin to intimacy... but so far nothing had worked.

Alucard's smiles looked more like snarls, and the piercing red gaze of a creature that didn't need to blink could only be called intimidating, but not intimate. Wearing the black armor of one of the Legion of the Dead, the cloak of the Church of Night of Veilcrest dragged behind him, stitched in gold embroidery with the sigil of Lusacan the dragon upon it. A symbol of the blight, but a beacon for the path that Alucard had walked before enlisting in the Legion.

"We may be the only dhampirs for miles." Alucard commented as he sat next to the stranger perched at the corner of the bar, gesturing toward the bartender who, instead, pretended not to see Alucard at all.

[shaxxophone]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[howcanibesadyetalsoacowboy]

bow cosplay dark souls

dark souls character creator is the hardest boss, but I'm semi-satisfied with him. went with the ponytail hairstyle partly because he has a ponytail in the vision of the future. but also because I felt it represented his hairstyle alright compared to the other choices?

btw if you try a bow only playthrough, I reccomend making use of a shield and of the red tearstone ring. I thought on the outset of this challenge that the leo ring would be good because I could get counter hits from a range without being hit, but I find that the weapon is just too slow, and enemies usually don't attack unless their gonna hit you if you don't dodge. the bow locks you in place while firing, and I'm in no place to be trading hits.

but regardless of the weaknesses, I definitely appreciate bows more now for what they offer. I also appreciate melee weapons a lot more too, now that I've gotten most of the way having to do without.

[britthellstrom]

     Something in her brother's tone as he spoke out an apology slowed her pacing to come to a stop in front of him. It wasn't that Britt was stunned to hear it. She'd always felt that she'd known her brother well, despite the age difference, despite being so young when he left, and despite the fact that she hadn't seen him in more than a decade. Of course he was going to feel remorse. Benny had a heart like that. She blinked at him, thoughts and emotions overprocessing, and all Britt could wonder was why.

Then he mentioned pride and wishes of having been there, and again, the blonde felt a hallowness to it all. Why was she the only one that had thought things could've been so different? As the youngest and therefore put upon Britt had been powerless and had been forced to move with things out of her control and without her say in motion. There was zero shadow of doubt, she'd wished Benny had been around as well. Not for help with bills or their mother's care as she fell in and continued to get worse rather than better through treatment. It wasn't a transfer of burden she wanted. What she'd missed out on was her older brother, her closest companion through childhood. Memories of him, of them, had suddenly stopped and shutdown—a ghost town in her own life.

On edge, twitchy fingers reached for her pack of cigarettes that had to be rummaged from the bottom of her bag. Britt was only an occasional smoker, typically when she'd needed to burn off stress. A cheap Bic lighter was stuffed into the pack and she fumbled with both for a second until one was lit off between her lips. There was a moment of hesitation, then Britt offered the pack and lighter to Benny. She didn't offer a response right away, there wasn't a rush to words or to fill in the silence. Instead she enjoyed a few pulls off of the cigarette before the thing dropped to dangle between her fingers at her side. 

❝ ⸻ Why did you stay gone so long? ❞ There were the obvious blanket answers. Words that felt in the same realm of asking how someone was doing and they gave the easy, generic answer. The question came from a sure voice but the woman behind it felt timid. Not only curious of Benny's life away, she was fascinated by how he'd managed to live and make it alone for so long. So young and cut off from the world and life he'd known. ❝ How come you never contacted us? ❞ Another drag from her cigarette while her eyes stared her brother down. What had his life been like during this huge chunk of time that he'd been missing from hers? Who was he, really? Was he still dangerous?

❝ There's a lot that I don't understand, Ben. A lot that needs explaining, ❞ Britt added before turning away to look out at the night. The cigarette was being burned through rather quickly. It definitely wasn't about the taste or the enjoyment of the act. If all her brother had needed to do was get out of Suffolk then why hadn't he come to them when she and Ulla had relocated to Briar Ridge? Why did it take a terminal illness to bring him here?

Benny's brows knitted tightly together, his expression twisting with confusion and concern as he wrestled with his immediate reaction to her words. A heavy weight settled in his chest, making it hard to breathe as he tried to comprehend the gravity of her situation. He had encountered variations of this same haunting sentiment before—echoed by friends, highlighted in novels, depicted on screen, and now, chillingly, conveyed by Britt. The mere thought of the worst sent a shiver down his spine, leaving him feeling sick to his stomach.

Caught in an emotional tug-of-war, he oscillated between an unfathomable anger that simmered just below the surface and a sorrow that threatened to consume him. Desperately seeking guidance, Benny lifted his gaze, hoping to find reassurance or clarity in her eyes. Instead, he was alarmed by her restless pacing, a physical manifestation of her distress. He straightened up, focusing solely on her as she continued to move.

Despite her pacing, Benny felt his brows relax when she mentioned her being in school. The warmth in his gaze and the slight grin that formed on his lips filled him with a profound sense of pride. Britt is the only person in their family who has gone to college. She had carved out her own path, making sacrifices that Benny had never fully grasped until now. The thought of her resilience tugged at him. If only he had been present in her life sooner, he mused, perhaps Britt could have reclaimed more of what she had lost. Instead, she found herself needing to defend her reality, insisting, "It wasn't always like this," as if it were happening on a more frequent occasion, it'd warrant more concern.

He paused, collecting his thoughts, as an overwhelming tide of emotions washed over him in a mere minute. It was a struggle to navigate through the mixture of pride and regret swirling in his chest. How could he articulate everything he felt? He couldn’t help but feel a swell of admiration for her educational accomplishments. Yet, that pride was overshadowed by deep remorse for leaving her to shoulder the burden of caring for their mother alone. The thought lingered painfully in his mind, and he was heartbroken as he wondered whether Britt ever felt safe, even once, after that fateful night he left.

A weary sigh escaped his lips, shaky and tinged with vulnerability. "I'm really sorry I left you to deal with all of that on your own," he said, thinking of Britt dealing with their mother's illness, the relentless grind of school, the burden of payments, and the absence of a safety net. Benny looked away for a brief moment, grounding himself with a deep breath that felt heavy in his lungs. "And I'm really proud of you. I wish I was there to watch you grow."

[jeonghanurl]

nicks mom and charlies sister are my favourite character as far as “I want them in my life”, but like, I don’t want to be insensitive but nicks older brother is my favourite character just like in terms of being a character he’s such an asshole

[beifong-brainrot]

I think my main 'issue' with Azula's portrayal in the Ashes of the Academy isn't that it's completely implausible that she was your stereotypical cruel, mean girl, but rather the fact that it's the most straightforward, uninovative thing you can do with her character.

And honestly the plushie burning was just comically over the top. Though she also did Wilhelm Tell her friend with fire in the flashbacks in the og show so who knows.

Which isn't a bad thing, perse. I find it absolutely plausible that Azula was an absolute monster in middle school. Azula was an innocent child that was manupulated by Ozai from a young age. But children are also notoriously assholes, especially if that behaviour was encouraged, which it was in Azula's case.

But I can understand why some people aren't totally jazzed about it. We sympathise with Azula, and many of us see ourselves in her. I see a lot of my child self in her, too. And I, of course, primarily see her as a victim of Ozai and the Fire Nation's ideals. She's very young, and was groomed through her childhood to be Ozai's weapon, which severely damaged her psyche. She's not pure evil, obviously not.

And I think that's why seeing her portrayed as an asshole rubs people the wrong way, especially in flashbacks, because it feels like villainsing a very young, very vulnerable victim.

But I think the older I get, the more ok I am with Azula being mean, cruel, etc. It doesn't erase her status as a victim and doesn't make her any less tragic to me.

I don't care whether Azula was an innocent, sweet kid that suddenly flipped the switch and became daddy's little weapon, or whether she was an absolute nightmare of a child that burned toys and bullied other children. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, tbh, but on either extreme, she is still a victim of an environment that hurt her and groomed her to hurt others and she deserves sympathy for it.

Hell, when I attended a shitty, pretentious, all girl's middle school, I met girls very similar to how Azula was at the time. The comic stresses multiple times that the Academy is an incredibly volatile place that encourages student infighting and rivalry.

And that's some serious rethoric, that of course would do some serious damage to a kid's worldview. And, of course, Azula, who fits into the system well, is rewarded for participating in it, while also seeing others who don't punished, will inernalise this.

While I don't think Ursa "lost" Azula when she entered the Academy, it certainly reinforced the seeds Ozai seemed to have been planting within Azula from when she started firebending. If we want to get technical about it, Ursa "lost" Azula whenever she decided or was forced to let Ozai influence Azula.

This is aggresively on the nose though. It feels vaguely ooc but not Excessively so. Let's chalk it up to emotional vulnerability due to what's happening to her.

And while nothing would make me happier than to see Azula get a redemption arc, I'm also not as set on it as I was a few years ago. I want healing for Azula, and I don't think she's too fargone for one. I don't think the creators do either. While she's still being presented as an antagonist and an overall mean person, especially in the recent comic, I think it's not veered into "irredeemable" territory quite yet.

The hard truth is that Azula truly having a redemption would require her to admit that she was wrong, certain fundamental truths of her life were wrong and she was, and likely still is, a very bad person. A victim, and a person deserving of help, and care, but still bad. Those two aren't mutually exclusive. Which is incredibly difficult for most people, but with the indoctrination Azula would be subjected to as a child, she would have even more resistance to it.

Like, while we do meme on Zuko getting physically sick after doing 1 good thing, it's a very good representation of how difficult it can be to change when you've had certain morals and ideals so rigorously ingrained into you from such a young age.

And Zuko, arguably, had much less incentive to be faithful to the Fire Nation and Ozai than Azula.

I don't think Ashes of the Academy was awful in the way it portrayed Azula. It certainly wasn't the best, and it was, let's be honest, rather lazy and uncreative. But it wasn't some huge blow to her character.

I'll also leave some links to my other metas concerning Azula:

How Azula became isolated from Ursa and opened up to Ozai's grooming

Why Zuko and Kuvira got redemptions and why Azula didn't? Hint: it has nothing to do with morality

[paigebueckersmommy]

nobody gets me - p.b

“how am i supposed to tell you I don’t wanna see you with anyone but me?”

paige bueckers x uconn wbb player

warnings: situationship, eating out, public sex

the season was coming to an end, and the team decided to go out to a sza concert, but there was one problem. there had been tension between you and paige ever since last year when the entire team was going out except you two due to a exam. you two had a deep conversation that night, and ever since that you two were inseparable.

six months earlier

you and paige were driving with the windows down, it was sunny. you two were best friends, and blasting your favorite song. Nobody gets me by sza. you guys were close to your destination, scream singing while you quietly admitted the way paige’s fingers gripped the steering wheel while her blonde hair flowed in the wind.

paige parked her car in the parking lot, sza int eh background. “how am i supposed to tell you i don’t wanna see you with anyone else?” you heard and thought of paige. she had finished parking, looking you in the eyes. the song ended, and the silence began. you looked at paige’s stunning face, when you caught a glimpse of her pink lips you only had one thought.

she started her face toward yours, her hand cupping your face, as her lips touched yours. a blaze of ecstacy flowing through you, only caring about paige in that moment. you pulled your face away from hers , “i-i’m sorry i didn’t know what i was thinking, uh let’s just go in.” ” you says flustered as you reaches for your door. she pull your shoulder tward you. “hey, don’t be sorry. i liked it.” she said with a smile, causing you to smile back.

end of flashback

ever since than you felt like paige chose when and when not you guys were more than friends. you two had never gone farther than making out on her bed, though the tension on and off the court was almost unbearable. some of your other teammates had noticed it too, and your fans noticed how easily you communicated on the court.

your team was all wearing cute outfits, in line to get our tickets checked for the concert. paige was conversing with other girls on the team in front of you, you doing the same. when your eye caught paige’s, she stopped talking to ice. she smiled a sweet smile that made you forget what you were talking to ines about.

when you had all got wristbands, you found your seats and while everyone had figured who they wanted to sit by, you ended up next to paige. you smiled, “hi paige” you said sitting down next to her. “heyy are you excited?” paige said smiling at you. “yea.” you say smiling back at her knowing you would have to hear your guys’ song in front of your team and have to act normal.

you guys had been screaming the whole concert, having the time of your lives. but when sza started singing nobody gets me, your mind flooded with memories of the past year. you were close with nika, so when the song came she nudged you and smiled bruce’s she knew how confusing you had been by paige’s actions, or the things she hadn’t taken action on.

everytime you talked to paige you felt like there was tension, sexual tension between you. you were still screaming, “how am i supposed to tell you i don’t wanna see you with anyone but me” when in the corner of your eye, you saw the blonde staring you down intensely. she smiled at the way you stopped singing and looked her. “bathroom?” you read her lips as it was extremely loud around you.

you nod as you take the hand she reached out, following her down stairs and past merch stands. it was nearly the end of her set, so little to no people in the bathroom. paige smiled as she led you to the big stall. paige locks the stall door, hand resting on your hip.

paige started kissing you, your tongue grazing her lip as she allowed it in opening her mouth slightly. paige lifts herself onto the small counter for personal belongings, still kissing you, you remove her tanktop.

you start to remove her black cargo pants, as paige moans into your kiss. when her pants are fully off, you press a finger to her clothes clit causing her to gasp. “please,” paige breathes out as you contained to tease her clothes cunt.

you finally place your face between her legs, moving her panties to the side as your tongue immediately went to work on her throbbing cunt. “shit,” paige said through deep moans. your free hand found her clit and began rubbing small circles causing paige to moan. “fuck baby,” you tongue still prodding at her entrance when her legs began to shake as your tongue explored.

“fuck right there i’m close,” paige said as she threw her head back through pleasure. “shit i’m cumming” paige said as she watched herself release over your mouth, her slick coating your tongue.

you stand up, wiping her juices off your chin and kiss her as page still catches her breath.

[cxpectopatronum]

Un fino ladeo de labio hacia la izquierda; ese gesto fue suficiente y no necesitó decir más. —Vamos —instó. Scarlett Travers ya había elegido seguirle. ¿Podría obligarla? Sí, mas ahora sentía curiosidad por su aceptación a la "aventura". No la conocía bien, todo era posible. Con sigilo se movió hacia una de las puertas de madera más pequeñas del sitio, sin adornos, parecía la continuación de la pared. Amycus la tocó con la varita y se abrió, sin halo de luz, ya que el pasillo no estaba iluminado. Sin educación cordial ni preocupándose por esta, entró primero.

Intentó analizar al contrario y aunque le era imposible, no encontró en él aquel tipo de gestos que solían hacer sus ex-compañeros, cuando querían gastarla una broma. Recordó así cómo los antiguos slytherins solían invitarla a sitios inventados para reírse de ella, haciendo que la rubia se tuviera que resguardar en su cuarto del colegio en multitud de ocasiones, solo por no acudir a la sala común. Rápidamente Scarlett asintió con la cabeza. "De acuerdo." Ahora, después de todo, no quería echarse para atrás. "Si es cierto lo que dices, iré contigo." Comenta seguidamente, no queriendo parecer demasiado entusiasmada.

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

Just how much power did Marcy have over her friends pre-Amphibia? When they throw the kpop puppy party at school, the principal assumes "those two" pushed Anne into it, and Anne kind of admits it. When Anne is about to sacrifice herself, she says "all my life I've followed you two". During her one and only S1 appearance, she's seen maliciously nodding alongside Sasha when Anne steals the box, and with Marcy asking to meet up on Anne's birthday, while Sasha is the one to carry out the order, the implication is that they're almost like... working together. I know she was supposed to be "meaner" when they were working on S1, and I think they changed her personality because Haley Tju made her too adorable(? and maybe also because Matt thought the whole show would fall apart if people didn't like Marcy (considering what a huge impact she has on everything that happens, I'd say he was right). But Anne's line in THT and the flashback in All In implies she wasn't nearly as much as a doormat as it may seem sometimes, at least not as much as Anne.

Or maybe she was? Because you also see her in this place of submission when it comes to Sasha (and also Anne?), especially in BOTB, when she's happy to switch from Anne's song to Sasha's without even hearing the first, only stopping to consider Anne's approval. That scene struck me as her always happy to go along with her friends' wishes and never having much of an opinion of her own. That's why she was so desperate for them to get along during The Dinner, and why she never took a side when Anne told her she and Sasha had a fight. She closest thing to defying Sasha that we ever see her do is when she's working alongside like 10 other people to protect Newtopia from the Toad Army, and she says they had to "defeat Sasha and Grime" specifically, which I think makes sense considering they're attacking the city she's supposed to protect (she's IS a high-ranking member of its military forces AND a close advisor to its king), and not wanting to "defeat Sasha" would rock the boat with everyone else involved, Anne included. Yet we never really see her angry at Sasha for what she's doing, she just wants her and Anne to "work things out". I think it's clear that Marcy struggles with empathy, because if she put herself in Anne's shoes, she wouldn't expect her to "just work things out" with Sasha. In fact, she would have taken Anne's side agessssss ago, but she's way too focused on herself (her goal is for everyone to be happy forever and get along, while Anne and Sasha may want something else). Marcy being self-centered isn't a hot take, and I don't think she's any more self-centered than Anne was during most of S1. In fact, I'd argue Anne was even worse lol. The difference is that Anne made a million relatively small mistakes while Marcy made like two or three very big, very bad mistakes (bringing them to Amphibia, striking a deal with Andrias behind their backs, and not taking a side in Anne and Sasha's fight, which is something I never see people bring up as one of Marcy's most flawed moments).

So... going back to the question I made in the beginning... did Marcy just go along with Sasha's plans so enthusiastically when compared to Anne, who had more doubts and had to be pressured into them, that it made it look like she and Sasha were more in cahoots than they actually were? I think this is very likely. I also think it's likely that she and Sasha genuinely shared a liking for rule breaking back in LA, and her own self-centered-ness prevented her from realizing Anne wasn't comfortable with it. Maybe she never even considered if she liked to go along with Sasha's plans, like, Marcy strikes me as someone who doesn't look inwards much. I think we can rule out both Sasha and Marcy being equally controlling and possesive of Anne, because her relationship with Sasha was very much not one of equals, with Anne as a third wheel. Was she more of a third wheel? We know Anne and Sasha don't share most of her interests and will often ignore her and her needs, and we know she feels like losing them is becoming dangerously easy. We also know Sasha has no qualms taking Anne on some kind of birthday date without Marcy which I'm 75% convinced it's because she had a huge crush on Anne but I digress which, from a doylian perspective, is explained by the fact that they seemingly didn't want to show Marcy too early, but from a watsonian perspective, it just comes across as Sasha not priorizing Anne spending her birthday with both her best friends. Like, you can do with or without Marcy. She doesn't seem to remember Marcy until she texted her, actually.

But then you have lines from Anne about how "if you friend wants to you steal something, you do it, because if you don't, they may not want to be your friend anymore", which, oh boy, if she at least perceived Marcy as pressuring her into stealing the box (rather than it being 100% Sasha's idea) that would shed a whole new light on her relationship with Marcy, because it would seem like she, too, feels like their friendship could fall apart if she didn't go along with the other two's plans. And I do think Marcy at least somewhat participated in pushing Anne into it. It wouldn't be the first time she made Anne do something bad - she told her to lie to Valeriana about stealing the box, something Anne later appeared to be ashamed of, and she insisted of going along with the puppy party when Anne was having doubts. I imagine Sasha (who also pressured Anne into doing very much not so "lawful good" things, in more extreme ways than Marcy) might have come up with the idea of stealing it, and Marcy just supported it. Marcy taking Sasha's side. Possibly over and over again. We know Sasha didn't exactly manipulate her because she didn't have to: Marcy just always did everything she said. Anne was the one who needed a bit more convincing.

Marcy's relationship with Anne and Sasha is fascinating. She's definitely the most morally gray of the trio, and possibly the most complex one too, in the sense that she's full of realistic contradictions - an adorkable manipulator, an amoral softie, a self-centered sweetheart who loves her friends more than life itself, a possesive kidnapper with a heart of gold, a very selfish and self-sacrificial person... and it's never just a mask or anything, she's not just pretending to be nice, she really is that way, she really is all of that together. I think that's why people struggle to read her a lot of the times, because so much about her characterization seems conflicting with itself... but I think that's the key to making characters deep and realistic. In real life, we're all walking contradictions and we don't really make sense. Marcy's character doesn't seem clumsily put together to me, like they frankeinsteined all the different character traits she needed to make the plot work without any cohesion between them. I think she's a complex tapestry that sometimes requires a closer inspection to decypher it, and I think the glue holding everything together is her lack of intrapersonal intelligence, her inability to look inwards and notice her own contradictions.

We know she felt unloved by her friends yet desperately clung to them with everything she had, going to extreme measures to ensure they all stayed together, even when it hurt them. We know she's capable of manipulation, scheming and lying to the people that love her most in order to guarantee that goal. We know she's possesive with them, but she also loves them enough to let them go in the rare cases when she realizes she's hurting them (as seen in A Day in the Aquarium). From her journal, we also know she feels very ashamed of these possesive impulses. We know she'll neglect to form her own opinions and ideas to agree always with her friends' wishes, which means she feels completely lost when they want different things. But this also shows that she would never think of an idea of hers as being explicitly opposed to what her friends want. She wouldn't consciously do something that they wouldn't like. Which is insane, because, who would want to be separated from their family and thrown into a different world without any sort of notice? Which leads us to understand that Marcy has zero emotional intelligence and has never looked inwards in her LIFE, AND that her empathy skills are in negative digits because it would have taken her a nanosecond of thought to realize Anne and Sasha probably wouldn't like to be kidnapped. And since we know she never wants to do something they dislike, she must have just... not thought about it at all. No thoughts head empty. It really was just BLANK up there when she made that decision. I think Marcy is a very "true neutral" character who struggles with empathy and humility, who loves her friends but doesn't have the emotional intelligence to really understand them, and who is happy and enthusiastic to be Sasha 2 Electric Boogaloo because... that's what she knows. That's how her friend group works and her goal was never to have a deeper and more genuine connection to them, but to keep it close to her.

So... my conclussion is that, pre-amphibia, Marcy was Sasha's very enthusiastic (but emotionally neglected) right hand man, with Anne as their oblivious victim. It really IS complex because you have to then add Anne always looking out for her, losing sleep over her, yet also ignoring her needs, and Sasha not even bothering to hide how much she doesn't care about Marcy's feelings (which reflects on Marcy not consciously caring about her own feelings). There's also Marcy always assuming the best from them too, despite repeated evidence of their disinterest, and her fear of displeasing them looming over her constantly. Ik I said Anne was Sasha and Marcy's victim, but I meant that like... symbolically, because Anne is not innocent here either. She wasn't a great friend to Marcy before Amphibia. Here's why I always say Anne couldn't develop a deeper, more genuine and open connection with Marcy because of Sasha's oppressive presence and her own lack of emotional maturity. And Marcy couldn't develop a deeper, more genuine and open connection with Anne because of her own lack of empathy and reluctance to face any kind of conflict. So Marcy is Sasha's enthusiastic but emotionall neglected right hand man, who also feels subordinate to Anne despite Anne feeling subordinate to her. That's why they both feel like third wheels at different times. There's an illusion of Marcy with more agency and power than she actually has. In reality, only Sasha is on top, and the other two are two very flawed individuals, one slowly cracking under the weight and the other, less sensitive to the same pressure, trying to uphold the status quo.

[butterfilledpockets]

Casey Jones teaches Casey Apocalypse Jones to be a teenager (TMNT 2012 x ROTTMNT)

(aka some doodles I spent far too much time on after re-discovering 2012 emo songs)

fashion advice, 12!Casey saw Jr still wearing his end of the world outfit and as muhc as it was "metal" he thought he could do better. It quicly became appparent to everyone else that he could not.

(MORE CLOSE UPS UNDER CUT)

Every Casey Jones shares one thing, they are part fo the fam (pre makeover, about to go into battle)

(fuck the 2012 turtles are so hard to draw) 12!Donnie secretely hoping he could snatch Jr, but now learns Casey was teaching him rebellion.

April spent basically the entirety of the early seasons of the show trying to save her father, she knows what its like to loose a father figure adn get them back 'different'. I feel like these two would really get along.

Leo walks in halfway through the makeover, is having flashbacks to Donnie's MCR phase and hurting (for people who struggle to read the text it has the lyrics to "dear maria count me in" int eh background, and "an ungodly amount of eyeliner" pointing at Rise Casey)

his training has paid off (let me tell you I spent way way too long looking for weird funny goth/emo shirts, if you guys have any PLEASE PLEASE drop them to me I wanna see what the internet as to offer)

[kawacake]

The Things We Hate in Ourselves | “Emotion is weakness, be better.”

M. Kaiser x Fem!Reader

series masterlist, prev, next

warning(s): alcohol use & underage drinking, party setting (loud music, crowds), emotional manipulation, verbal confrontation / public argument, mentions of mental health struggles (past trauma, dissociation), implied emotional abuse (from parents, referenced in flashbacks), strong language / profanity, emotional vulnerability / breakdown (Kaiser), slight gaslighting / psychological tension, subtle self-hate references, and my proofreader didn’t proofread this (she’s useless)

a/n: heyy guys I just wanna say this chapter does go into a little of readers backstory and Kaiser showing some vulnerability 👀 I hope you enjoy this chapter, please leave a heart and a reblog if you enjoyed they’re appreciated and comment if you wanna be added to the Taglist, baii 👋🏼💕(Lorenzo made a guest appearance serving drinks)

w/c: 5k+

INT. DORM ROOM - YOUR ROOM - MORNING

A loud banging on the door scared you awake as you looked around the room that was pitch black due to the black out curtains you put up two weeks ago. The banging started again as you stood up and hurried to the door confused with messy hair and one of your pajama pants legs was up your thigh. 

The bright light from the hallway halfway blinded you as you looked at who was in front of you. “YOU'RE LATE!” Bachira yelled at you as you looked at him with a confused expression “Wait what? and be quiet my roommate is asleep.” “NO YOUR ROOMMATE LEFT SHE'S ON HER WAY TO CLASS.” Chigiri shouted at you “What the fuck? What time is it?” “BITCH IT'S 7:55 GO GET READY WE GOT TWENTY MINUTES!” Bachira said, pushing you into the dorm room rushing you to get ready as Chigiri followed behind.

“Go wash up I’ll get your clothes, jewelry and shoes, Bachira go get her matcha caramel Frappuccino.” Chigiri ordered as Bachira nodded and sat down his drink and flew out the door as you rushed into the bathroom to get ready. 

Chigiri pulled out an outfit that was similar to his. The top was a plain white cropped tank top that he covered with a white button up that’s only buttoned in the middle so you can somewhat see the chest area and your midriff a little that he paired with some light gray jeans with some white and grey adidas that he found at the bottom of your closet.

“CHIGIRIIII.” You yelled from inside the bathroom as he walked in and saw you washing your face, “What?” He asked, looking at you through the mirror. “Can you look under my pillow and get me two ibuprofen?” You asked as he nodded going back into your room and lifting up your pillow seeing multiple pill bottles grabbing the one that said ibuprofen and rushed back into the bathroom handing you the pills as you took it.

“I told you not to drink too much cause we had class.” “‘I’m not very big on being told what to do.’” You quoted what he told you last night after you told him to go to the bathroom and throw up instead of in your bed, “Whatever.” He said handing you your outfit for today and walked out of the bathroom. 

The outfit was something simple and easy so it was complicated to put on so it took you two minutes max to put it on and as soon as you walked out chigiri had your bag and his bag on his back ready to walk out of the door. “Come on.” He grabbed you by the sleeve of your button up and dragged you out of the dorm. 

“I’m so tired.” You let out as you watched the elevator number hit one and the door opened as Bachira stood in front of you and Chigiri with you coffee in hand and when he noticed the two of you he lit up “Oh my goodness, thank gosh you two came down we’re about to be late come on.” He said handing you your drink as the three of you left the female dorms. 

“Kaiser literally stopped me and laughed then walked away with a fucking green tea…from a coffee shop..” Bachira said, explaining his weird encounter with Kaiser. “What’s his problem anyways?” You asked while taking slow blinks as if you were about to fall asleep while walking so bachira wrapped his free arm around your waist just in case. 

“All I know is that his mom left and his dad beat him.” Chigiri said, sipping his iced coffee. “That should be enough to not wanna make him be a dick like why torment people and act like you’re some sort of goddess when you literally have a bad history.” You say just letting words spill out as the three of you finally arrived at the building that your class was in.

“Chigiri, did you give me the right ibuprofen?” You asked looking over at him as he nodded his head yes “It was two, the regular ibuprofen and then ibuprofen PM.” You said as everyone stopped “I think you took ibuprofen PM…” Bachira said, looking at your tired body but it was too late to turn around. You were already at the class.

“Fuck it.” You said entering the class instantly going to your seat and putting your head down as the two boys watched sleep take over you.

-

You let out yawn finally waking up fully after sleeping through your first class due to Chigiri giving you the wrong pill. You took a seat that was in the middle of the class but still near a window putting your earbuds in because this class was mostly just the professor reading off a PowerPoint that he made the night before that he also sent to all of his student so why listen when you could just read off the PowerPoint while also listening to music. 

The class started to fill up rather quickly as a familiar face walked in causing your heart to drop to your ass. Literally. ‘Why me god WHY.’ You said to yourself as you saw the figure approaching you and then taking a seat directly beside you only making you want to sink into the cold ground. 

You turned your music hoping that would be a way to distract you from the boy beside you that you had just got into a petty argument with a few weeks ago. “Didn’t know you were in this class.” He said as your body had stiffened up as you slowly turned to look at him, he had that same shit eating grin as any other time he talks to you. “If you would have come the last two weeks you would have seen me.” You say with a smile on your face as you picked your phone up to find a song to turn to so maybe he would get the hint to stop talking to you. 

“What’s your problem?” He asked as your eyes went wide and looked at him with a shocked expression. “I don’t have a problem, you were the one that gave a smart remark the other day, I don’t even know you.” You let out.

“That’s funny, because the whole school seems to know me and you're the first person to treat me like I’m not a big deal.” He said eyes staring forward at the front of the class. “Maybe that’s the problem. You’ve only been around people who kiss your ass. Now someone doesn’t, and suddenly you’re spiraling.” You glanced over at him meaning every word. 

He paused no longer giving you that shit eating grin or a sassy eye roll “You’re mouthy for someone who just transferred.” “And you’re sensitive for someone who thinks he’s untouchable.” You whisper putting in your other earbud so you wouldn’t hear anything else he had to say to you.

EXT. COLLEGE CAMPUS - AFTERNOON 

“And then he’s like ‘what’s your problem’ BOY WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?” You shouted while using your hands to talk as Reo listened but scrolled on his phone and Bachira and Chigiri nodded while you ranted about what happened to you in class. “So he hasn’t been in class since this semester started so when he does come he’s like why are you here? Fucking dickhead.” Reo chuckled out while walking towards the soccer field because today all the boys had practice cause they had a game next week.

“Well the prince himself is going to be at our practice.” Chigiri said, taking the water bottle out of your hand to drink it, a scoff left your lips. “I didn’t come here to deal with people like him, if anything I came here to get away from people like him.” You say but honestly you were very curious about him, like why does he act like that? Who hurt him so badly that he has to treat others like shit? And why do you care so much?

“Make sure you’re writing down the notes from this morning and when you’re done go get some lunch.” Reo says upon arrival at the soccer field, after the first encounter with each other he started treating you like a little sister even if he knew very little about you and that’s what you liked about Reo.

[Listen to Crack Baby by Mitski for full experience]

“I will.” You said climbing up the bleachers sitting down in one of the middle rows “I'LL BE WATCHING YOU!” He yelled as you just gave a thumbs up pulling out your computer to do the work you missed. As you open your laptop and pull up the notes that Chigiri sent to your email, you put your earbuds in while playing the first song on your playlist, Crack Baby by Mitski and the starting beat reminding you of a familiar sound.

March 12, 2012

A girl sat in front of a chair across from a man reading from a leather bound notebook as your fingers tapped the metal part of the chair due to nervousness. “You are not your feelings. You are control.” The man read, of course you knew what it meant, it's common sense. 

The line ‘you are not your feelings’ is stating that your emotions are a temporary thing, they don’t reflect who you are as a person, and the line ‘you are control.�� Emphasizes that you have the ability to observe your feelings, regulate them, then make a conscious decision. 

That’s what it meant.

But for your parents it was like a way to say emotions don’t matter; anything outside of happiness was treated like a moral failure. They forced this fake narrative inside your mind so maybe one day you’d understand and soon think like them and think the word emotion was just another word in the English language.

“But my teacher said it was okay to cry.” You say forcing the knot in your throat down and the tears in your eyes go away. “You’re not real, emotion is weakness, be better.” Was the last thing your father had said before taking a stand and making his way out of the empty cold room.

You knew what you wanted, and you needed it badly, you needed to feel any emotion other than happiness. If that meant harming yourself mentally and physically you’d do it just to taste anything other than happiness.

Present time

So much time had passed you didn’t even notice, your eyes shifted down to the field looking at Bachira and a couple of other people laughing with each other while kicking the ball around playfully as your mind flickered. 

The same girl from before sitting at the kitchen table, silent listening to every word your parents were saying like the obedient child you were. Crack baby, I still love you, even if I can���t. A sigh left your lips as you mumbled under your breath “I left you back there, didn’t I?” You asked yourself, eyes still looking down at the field.

Your eyes shifted from Bachira and his group to Kaiser and his, he was giving his teammates a smug look. “Emotion is weakness, be better.” Echoed in your mind while you looked at him, it matches his expression, now you realized why he bothered you so much.

He’s not your dad but acted like your dad, acts like the world owes him obedience, just like your dad. But then another memory flashed through your mind, a new one. “I didn’t come here to deal with people like him.” But you did, you just didn’t realize it.

-

“You Alive?” Reo asked, snapping you out of your day dreaming as the wind practically smacked you in the face, “Yeah.” “Come on practice is over.” He said putting your things in his bag before throwing your bag over his shoulder. “We’re going to a party.” Reo spat out while walking down the bleachers towards the others that were waiting on you.

“Who?” You said genuinely curious on who the ‘were’ are in that sentence. “US! As in everyone.” He said making sure you understood this time as the two of you reached the boys that waited for you. 

“Who’s party?” You raised a brow “Kaisers.” Chigiri said nonchalantly “I’M NOT GOING TO HIS DAMN HOUSE!” You said looking at Chigiri like he’s gone mad. A sigh left his lips “You’ll change your mind when you see the view, and the drinks.” Reo said, nudging you in the side with a smirk. “You asshole, you didn’t even give me time to give her a response.” Chigiri said as his eye twitched and he looked like he wanted to hit Reo.

“Calm down now princess.” Reo said, patting Chigiri’s hair as he smacked his hand away from his hair “WATCH THE HAIR YOU PURPLE HAIRED FREAK.” Chigiri shouted, causing everyone to laugh. “Go get ready brat but don’t wear anything you really care about, it might get a little messy.” Chigiri said, stopping near the entrance of the girl’s dormitory, “AND REO IS GOING TO PICK US UP IN ONE OF HIS FANCY CARS!” Bachira shouted as you turned around and put a finger to his lips to get him to be quiet as he just nodded.

You walked into your dorm instantly hit with a strong perfume and loud music as you hurried and shut the door and rushed into your roommates room. “Asami please turn it down.” You said as she looked over at you confused on what you were saying “HUH?” “TURN THAT SHIT DOWN NOW!” You yelled as she finally heard what you said, turning the music down. “Where are you going?” You questioned her “A party that this crazy soccer player is hosting.” She said, drenching herself in expensive perfume.

“ME TOO!” You say getting excited knowing you weren’t just going with a bunch of soccer boys. “But Ima go get ready now, one of my friends will be taking me.” “Aw man I was going to see if ya wanted to ride with me cause I totally didn’t wanna ride home alone.” She sulked with a hand on her hip, “Just come find me when you wanna go I’ll ride with you.” You said while walking away towards your room to get ready.

First you’d take your shower then look for the outfit.

You didn’t want to go full party glam because chigiri did say it was going to get ‘messy’ or whatever that meant, so it was best if you wore a pair of shoes just in case something popped off. “Oh my goshhhh.” You threw your head back struggling to come up with an outfit.

“Navy blue?” You asked yourself looking at the navy blue Adidas you had pulled out but soon it’s like a lightbulb turned on in your head as you went straight to your closet pulling out random pieces of clothing that would match the shoes.

The top was a navy blue tube top paired with a low rise distressed denim mini skirt that had a chain belt that had charms on it that complemented the gold that was on the navy blue Adidas. For an extra look you added a vintage styled navy blue Christian Dior shoulder bag, next was some gold rings and some chunky bracelets. 

“YES!” You said excitedly looking at the fit in the mirror, you reached for the perfume that was gifted to you by Reo on the first week of you meeting each other for some unknown reason. You then pulled out your mini makeup drawer for some light makeup that matched the outfit, you just really wanted the eyeshadow to match the outfit, gold in the inner corner and a little on top with some navy blue blending it together making it prettier than you thought.

Reo💜

You should be done…

Y/n

God forbid a girl wants to take her time getting ready

Reo💜

You have 5 minutes

Y/n

I’m coming 🥀

You put your phone in your bag making sure you got everything you needed and begin to leave your dorm turning the lights off throughout the dorm before exiting the room. 

Walking down this hall towards the elevator creeps you out just a little bit making you feel vulnerable till you enter the elevator where the lights shined down on you as you clicked the floor number as it took you to the first floor.

Reo was parked right in the front as a smile appeared on your face as you rushed out. “Reo it looks so fancy!” You said looking at the car then seeing the logo “And it’s a Porsche with a convertible roof.” You were so starstruck by the vehicle not noticing the guys in the back giggling at you. “Yeah yeah get in.” He said, rolling his eyes as you made your way around to the open front seat.

The car pulled off while you put on your seatbelt before turning around slightly “Hi.” You waved at the boys in the back then noticed Isagi sitting beside Bachira who was picking at him. “Queen, is he bothering you?” You asked, looking at Isagi as he gave you a nervous laugh “Uhh no he’s just fine.” He nervously said, looking away from you, “Isagi, she's just messing with you, calm down.” Chigiri said, patting his shoulder causing him to calm down just a bit. 

“Play some music.” You say sitting back in your seat as Reo looked down for a split second and grabbed the aux cord and handed it to you as you connected it to your phone with a smile on your face. “You guys listen to Can’t Feel My Face by The Weeknd?” You asked as they nodded their heads as you played the song. As the song started Reo tapped his finger on the steering wheel as Bachira started feeling the beat, finally leaving Isagi alone.

“And I know she’ll be the death of me.” Reo said as your eyes opened realizing they actually knew the song as the bachira started singing next “And she’ll always get the best of me the worst it’s yet to come.” He said pretending to hold a microphone as he sang his heart out. 

“This I know, yeah This i know.” You say with a smile on your face causing the boys to smile too, turning the volume up as the wind coming in from the top of the car blew on you setting the mood even more. “We both know we can’t go without it!” You sang holding Reo’s shoulder as if you were talking to him while he just smiled while keeping his eyes on the road. “I CAN’T FEEL MY FACE WHEN I'M WITH YOU BUT I LOVE IT!” you all screamed in unison as you felt free in this moment along with everyone else in this car. 

“And I know she’ll be the death of me at least we’ll both be numb.” Chigiri sang as his hair blew in the wind making him look even more majestic than usual. Bachira was now out of his seat, arms in the air, hair blowing showing the dyed hair underneath while Isagi took a picture of the boy. “She told me, “Don’t worry about it” she told me, “don’t worry no more” WE BOTH KNOW WE CAN'T GO WITHOUT IT SHE TOLD ME, “YOU’LL NEVER BE ALONE,” OH, OH, WOO!” you all screamed on top of your lungs as Reo prayed that a cop wasn’t around at this time.

But for a moment you forgot where you were going but now you weren’t upset about it. You were happy as long as you didn’t run into him at his party, at his house, you’d be just fine or just maybe don’t speak to him. Sounds like a plan.

It’s like the music came to an end at the perfect time as Reo pulled up to the giant house that was already packed to the brim as lights from the inside could be seen from the outside. “Damn.” You said hopping out of the car leaving any personal belongings inside so they wouldn’t get taken. “Reasonable reaction.” Isagi said from behind you, causing you to turn your head to look back at him as he flashed you a boyish smile and began walking as you followed behind. 

Upon entering you were hit with flashing lights, a fog machine, the smell of alcohol, and a hint of smoke along with people scattered everywhere and Tia Tamera by Doja cat played on the loudspeakers. It’s like something straight out of a movie where the main character is going to his/hers first college party. A few people looked your way as you entered the house moving through the crowd with the same people you entered with. 

“Here you gotta take the red cup.” Chigiri said, bending over grabbing red cups and handing it to everyone “Wait, why do I have to have the red cup?” You asked, taking the cup and also picking up the bottle of Jose Cuervo to pour into the cup along with some others that were there “Because you’re single and not ready to mingle because I don’t want some random dude up in my car.” Reo said pouring Pink Whitney into his cup and seeing that sent a shiver down your spine. 

“Ohh okay.” You said taking a sip of the cup of death you just made, making a sour face once you were done. “LET’S DANCE!” Bachira yelled to you over the music and you nodded your head and started to follow him towards the open floor. 

Ayo by Chris Brown and Tyga had started playing and Bachira was already feeling the music pulling you into him as you playfully danced on him as he hyped you up as everyone around had gotten even more excited and hyped pulling out their phones jumping up and down flashlights on and everything. 

“AAYOO!” The crowd screamed as Bachira held your hand up while you and him bounced up and down with everyone as cameras were now pointed at Bachira and you since he was one of the star soccer players as he had a big grin on his face holding you close to him in a friendly manner.

“THAT’S MY CHILD!” Reo said with a bottle of Tito’s in his hand pointing at you and Bachira who were still jumping with the crowd as the music started drowning everyone’s voice out. Everyone was through the roof. “CAUSE WE POPPIN LIKE, AYOO!” Everybody screamed, feeling the music.

“Hold up, I need to step outside.” You said holding one finger up making your way towards the back door that had sliding glass doors, it was hot as fuck in there. A few people were standing outside just talking with cups in their hand and some were hurled over about to throw up. “Damn.” A voice said from beside you looking at one of the guys that was throwing up, the guy who said it had pinkish hair with blonde roots, he was a pretty boy.

“You think we should help him?” You asked, turning your head to fully look at the guy beside you but he just shook his head no, “Nah poor guy does this to himself at all of kaisers parties.” You let out a small ‘oh’ And nodded your head. “Are you new? You seem new or you've never been to one of Kaiser's parties before.” He said before downing the rest of the drink that was in his cup, “Yeah I’m new I came from America.” You said taking a sip out of your cup.

“Mm the parties there must have been more fun than this.” He said body is now facing yours so you’re looking at him face to face. “No parties were boring where I lived, it was nothing like the movies that I watched,” You expressed as he just nodded his head and listened “I had to sneak out just to go to them but ended up ditching the party to do stupid stuff with my ‘friends’ which was honestly better than the parties.” You finished off looking up at the boy who just stared at you, like he was trying to find something in you or something.

“I just followed Kaiser around most of the time so if he went to a party I went to a party.” He put his head down “You’re friends with that jackass?” You asked as he just nodded his head yes causing your eyes to widen.

“But he wasn’t always like that, he was once a little boy who just strived to play soccer for the fun of it, like it was his escape from the bad people in his life. But then over time he started to gain recognition and the bad people that were once in his life just went away and it’s like he just changed.” The guy explained and you couldn’t lie, you felt a little bit sad for both Kaiser and this unknown guy who knew so much about him probably one of his many slaves that he kept close. 

“Ouch that actually hurts me just thinking about being in a situation like that.” You said pressing your lips in a line, “But let’s not get all sappy, we're here to have fun not dwell on the past, or at least not right now.” You said with a smile making him smile too.

“Alexis Ness.” He said holding his hand out “Nice to meet you Ness I’m Y/n L/n.” You said smiling ear to ear shaking his hand before letting go. “You know Y/n you don’t smile like someone who’s happy. You smile like someone who’s trying to be.” He said shifting the mood once again as it kind of disturbed you just a bit but that was soon disrupted by a familiar voice.

“Y/n come on we’re about to take shots.” Your roommate said stepping outside “The purple haired guy told me to come get you from outside so we can take shots.” She said as Chigiri followed behind her as he noticed who you were talking to and his face twisted up. “Oh alright, I’ll see you.” You said waving Ness bye and started following behind your two friends.

“Why were you talking to him?” Chigiri asked with a concerned look “We were just talking about the party and how some guy always gets wasted.” You reassured him while approaching the island where people were standing with bottles and shot glasses and a person with a microphone stood on the other side of the island.

“Alright put your bottles away, we'll be doing something a little different.” The guy that had Lorenzo on the back of his shirt said as two people brought out multiple glasses. One of them was carrying glasses with Jägermeister in it and the other was carrying small glasses of Red Bull. “Holy fuck we’re about to get fucked up.” Someone said from beside you causing you to let out a laugh. They sat down two of both Jägermeister and Red Bull down in front of everyone surrounding the island as the person controlling the music started to count down.

“3..” “2..” “1..” You dropped the glasses of Red Bull into the glass of Jägermeister and quickly drank both glasses, placing it down on the island as Chigiri looked over at you like he just saw a monster. Now this felt like something straight out of a movie, the song Shots started playing as Chigiri started contemplating life and why he came knowing he was a lightweight. 

“We got Casamigos, Don Julio, and more, come get your shots.” Lorenzo said over the microphone a few minutes before the part of the song everyone was waiting for. You licked the space between your thumb and index finger pouring a little salt with a little lime in your other hand. As the part came up the crowd behind you started screaming “SHOTS!” As you licked the salt, took the shot and bit the lime. 

“HELL NO!” Reo said pulling you away from the island after you took another Jägerbomb. “Calm your little ass down.” He said to you as the clearly wasted Bachira just laughed at you. “I’m going to be so fucked in the morning.” You said starting to feel your first few shots getting to you. 

“Oh my gosh and I was talking to one of Kaiser's friends or whatever and I felt so bad for him.” You said loud enough for the group to hear but you were just loud enough for a few others to hear.

“I didn’t know we were just... letting anyone come to Blue Lock parties now. What dorm are you from again?” A girl said walking up to you with a few of her friends behind her obviously drunk as she held a small bottle of vodka in her hand. “Oh and I heard you say something about Kaiser, Kaiser usually goes for girls who, like, know how to shut up. Maybe he’s into something new.” You blinked a couple of times trying to register what was happening before it clicked.

“Who the fuck is this bitch talking to?” You scrunch your nose up looking over at Chigiri and Reo while pointing at the girl as they shrugged their shoulders “I thought so,” you said turning back to the girl. “She’s not in the best state so I’d advise you to go ahead.” Chigiri said moving the girl away from you creating some space just in case one of you decided to leap. “She’s just loud because she wants everyone to forget she’s not that interesting. Besides, it’s not like you’re used to being invited to things like this, right? I figured I’d give you a chance to feel... relevant when I saw you walk in..” Said the man you were trying to avoid all night.

Now Reo stepped in front of Kaiser looking him up and down before you moved him out of the way. A dry laugh left your throat “Bold talk for someone who’s the human version of a gold-plated mirror. Shiny, fake, and can’t show anyone the real him.” You snapped as a few people chuckled at that as his smile dropped, “Keep talking like you know me. You don’t even know who you are.” He said as the one loud room fell quiet as you just stared at him in disbelief as everyone just disagreed with how low he had gone “What the fuck is your problem?” Bachira said he was ready to pounce on him any second.

Kaiser snapped, not just at you but at everyone including his teammates. “None of you know me! You think standing next to me makes you relevant? Go suck up to Isagi next time, fake-ass teammates.” He said now storming off pushing past people making them drop their stuff.

“I’ll be back, I gotta pee.” You said to the guys you were around and began making your way upstairs following behind the now upset Kaiser. He stood out on the balcony that was connected to his room as you walked through his lifeless room. “If you’re going to just sit here and criticize me you can leave.” “Wow, bold of you to assume I would do that after you just did that to me!” You said closing the door of the balcony. 

“What’s your problem like I was trying to avoid you so we wouldn’t have any conflict but you still decided to find me and criticize me with a girl I don’t even know.” You said leaning against the railing looking down at Kaiser's tattooed hands that were visibly shaking.

He looked straight down at the cars that were parked in his driveway “They don’t know me. They don’t care. You think I’m cruel? Try being worshipped for a version of yourself that doesn’t even exist.” You looked over at him who had a neutral expression “So instead you tear down anyone who gets close and try to help you? That’s your solution?” He looked you dead in your eyes, his eyes looking like crystals you could stare into all night.

“You can’t treat people like trash just because you’re scared to be one.” You lifted up from the railing and he didn't say a word. “And who are you to judge another when you yourself walk imperfectly?” You say looking back at him once more before getting ready to make your way downstairs but his hand grabs you stopping you from going any farther.

He was now looking at you while the moon shined down on the both of you. “People only love what they can use. The moment I stop being impressive, I stop being needed.” He said bringing you closer where he was now towering over you.

He leans down as if he was about to kiss you, not romantically but almost like he wanted to feel a connection but you pulled away. You brung your hands up to his face as you shook your head no. “You’re not ready for that connection yet, but you’re not scary Kaiser, you’re just really fucking sad.” You said finally making your way out and this time he just watched.

Once you got back downstairs you realized they were standing waiting for you. “I’m ready to go.” “Okay let's go.” Reo said, throwing an arm around you as everyone minus Isagi made their way back to Reo’s car.

Taglist🩵: @hainge @inojinieeee @scoosh4you

[nikoramsey]

     As his ex-wife rose to her full height, which, to be fair, wasn't a huge difference from when she'd been kneeling down Niko couldn't tear his eyes away from the new, closer gifted view of her. The years hadn't really changed her all that much. With the exception that she looked a lot happier now than she had when she'd been with him. At least in that last year or so of their marriage. Niko harbored a lot of regrets about that and perhaps that had been why his smile was weak in her presence. 

It was bittersweet. His heart still beat the pain of the loss of her while his conscience reminded him that their downfall had been his doing. The remorse that hung around him like heavy, humid air.

❝ ⸻ Oh, σκατά, that's right— ❞ Niko had actually forgotten or not really recalled that detail until just now. Seeing Valentina had taken him out of anything but the moment and displaced him. Looking at her face he could be exactly sure where he was. Given the immediate cutoff and Valentina leaving there hadn't been conversation about where she'd be going, just that she wanted a divorce and next thing Niko knew she was gone. 

What was throwing him for a loop was the coincidence of it all and he had never really believed in those before. ❝ My γιαγιά moved into a retirement home here by the beach. I come down to visit her, ❞ he needlessly explained. Valentina hadn't asked yet he felt it important to let her know that he hadn't been trying to intrude on her space. 

Seeing that positive movement of her lips eased a fraction of the awkward tension he'd been feeling. It was nearly jarring to have a surprise encounter like this with someone that was once your whole world and then gone because of his failure to keep her happy. ❝ It's definitely one of the best, ❞ he agreed of Casablanca, though Valentina knew it wasn't his favorite Bogart film. For Niko it was The Maltese Falcon. ❝ I'm just glad you hadn't forgotten the line. ❞ Why? Because maybe some parts of their marriage still meant something to her.

When she went for her cart Niko crouched and put his hands on the metal, ❝ here, I got it. ❞ The cart was righted with ease and he then collected the remaining items that had fallen out and scattered when the basket had tipped over and made it's crash against the grocer floor. After he set them in her basket, still smiling to himself over her mutterings in Spanish, he locked eyes with his ex-wife once more. He'd learned the language because of her, after they had met and started dating, because he knew it was going to be important. ❝ You've never been ridiculous. I think anyone would be startled seeing the ghost of Christmas' past, ❞ he attempted another spot of humor if it'd gain him anymore movement of her lips like the last time. 

❝ I'll, uhh, be in town for a few more days if you'd be interested in a coffee or a bite to catch up. ❞

Slowly, realizing how awkward it was for her to be on the ground looking up at him, she rose to her feet, unable as she did so, to tear her gaze away from him. ¡Mierda! Had he gotten even more handsome since they’d been together? How was that possible?? 

Having finally made it to her feet, she tore her gaze away before it became too apparent that she had been staring. Tossing a box of macaroni and cheese back into her still overturned cart, she shrugged, doing her best to appear unaffected. “I live here.” she explained. “Leyla’s from Briar Ridge and we both moved down here after…” her voice trailed off, it felt too on the nose, too painful to actually say the words, ‘our divorce,’ in that moment.

Clearing her throat against the awkward lump that had formed there, she pushed her hair over her shoulder before finding her gaze snagged in his, as he explained. Without her permission, her lips quirked upwards just the tiniest fraction at the length he had gone to to reference a piece of their shared history. “Well, you picked a good one, Casablanca was definitely my favorite.” And they’d had many a debate about it.  

Chewing on her bottom lip, Val was overwhelmed with an unfamiliar sense of not knowing what to do with herself. Normally, the brunette was so confident, barely thinking twice before acting. But here, in front of her ex husband, the ex love of her life, after years of dealing with the trauma of finding out the one person she trusted most had cheated on her, she had no clue what to do. 

Emotions warred through her, a surprising amount of warmth at seeing him creeping in on her despite the pain he’d put her through. But she needed to shut that down. Turning back to her disaster of a shopping cart, she considered it for a moment before leaning down and attempting to pick it back up. “¡Dios mío! ¿Es que puedo ser más ridícula?” she murmured under her breath, trying once more to lift it by herself.